Parochial and Plain Sermons
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PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS VOLUME III. RIVINGTONS gijnbxin Waterloo Plan (Dxforb High Street QTatnbribgc Trinity Street PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS By JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, B.D. FORMERLY VICAR OF ST. MARY'S, OXFORD IN EIGHT VOLUMES VOL. III. NEW EDITION RIVINGTONS l^ottbott, ©xCorb, anb CTambriiige I 1868 TO THE VENERABLE ROBERT HURRELL FROUDE, ARCHDEACON OF TOTNES, THE FOLLOWING VOLUME, WITH EVERY FEELING OF ESTEEM AND ATTACHMENT, AND WITH A GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF MANY KINDNESSES RECEIVED, IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. The Conversion of St. Paul, 1836. CONTENTS. SERMON I. ABRAHAM AND LOT. (Stn. xiii. 10, 11. PAGE ' Lot lifUd up his eyes, and beheld ctU the plain of Jordan, that it ii-as well loatered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom mid Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou earnest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan" ......... 1 SERMON II. WILFULNESS OF ISRAEL IN REJECTING SAMUEL. IJsalm xlvi. 10. ' Be still, and know that I am God : I will be eoccdted among the heathen, I mill be excdted in the earth" ..... 16 SERMON III. SAUL. ^)OSfit xiii. 11. " / gave thee a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My icraUC 29 viii Contends. SERMON IV. KAULY YEARS OF DAVID. 1 (Samticl xvi. 18. PAGB " Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehcmite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of tear, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is vnth him'' 44 SERMON V. J£BOBOAM. 1 1 glings xiii. 2. " He a-ied against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child sludl he born unto the house of David, Josiah by name ; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense tipon thee, and mens bones shall be burnt upon thee "..... 60i SERMON VI. FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. ^att. xix. 17. " // thou vnU enter into life, keep Hie commandments" SERMON VII. CHBISTIAN REPENTANCE. JJukc XV. 18, 19. " Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more trorthy to he called thy son ; make me as one of thy hired " servants .......... 9(! Contents. ix SERMON VIII. CONTRACTED VIEWS IN RELIGION. Cttkc XV. 29. PAGE \Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy eomniandment ; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that f might nmke merry icith my friends " .... 102 SERMON IX. A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE AS REVEALED IN THE GOSPEL. (Sftt. xvi. 13. Thou God seest me" ......... 114 SERMON X. TEARS OF CHRIST AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS. §ohn xi. 34-36. * Jesus said. Where have ye laid him ? They said unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Tlien said the Jews, Behold hmv He hred him /" 128 SERMON XI. BODILY SUFFERING. Col. i. 24. " / Jill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my 01' flesh f His body's sake, ichich is the Church" . 139 " Contents. SERMON XII. THE HUMILIATION OF THE ETERNAL SON. Igcbrttos v. 7, 8. PAog Who, in the days of His flesh, ivhen He had offered up prayers and , supplications with strong crying a7id tears unto Him that was m able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, 1 though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered . .156 SERMON XIIT. JEWISH ZEAL, A PATTERN TO CHRISTIANS. Jubgrs v. 31. " So let all thine enemies perish, Lord ; but let them that love Him, be as the sun when he gocth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years" 17? SERMON XIV. SUBMISSION TO CHURCH AUTHORITY. ^rob. iv. 24-27. Put a\my from thee a ftvward mouth, and peiTerse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be eetiMished. Turn not to the right hand nor to tlie left : remove thy foot from evil" 19fi Contents. xi SERMON XV, CONTEST BETWEEN TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD IN THE CHURCH. ^att. xiii. 47, 48. PAGE net, that was cast into the sea, Tlie, hingdom of heaven is like unto a they drew and (jaihered of every kind : which, when it was full, vessels, but to shore, and sat dovm, and gathered the good into " cast the bad away 206 SERMON XVI. THE CHURCH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE. 2 %im. ii. 20. ' In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of icood and of earth ; and some to honour, and some to dis- honour" 220 SERMON XVII. THE VISIBLE CHURCH AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO PAITH. ^eb. xii. 1. " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about loith so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" 236 xii Contents. SERMON XVIII. THE GIFT OF THE SPIBIT. 2 (Eor. iii. 18. PA We all, with open face behcHding as in a glass the glory of tJie Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by -"* tlte Spirit of the Lord" SERMON XIX. REGENEB.VTING BAPTISM. 1 Cor. xii. 13. " " By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body ... SERMON XX. INFANT BAPTISM. ^att. xviii. 5. " Whoso shaU receive one such little diUd in My name, receiveth Me " 28! SERMON XXI. THE DAILY SERVICE. ^Cb. X. 25. " Not forsaking the casemhling of ourselves togetJicr, as the manner of tome is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye seethe Day approaching" 3o Contents. xiii SEKMON XXII. THE GOOD PART OP MABT. Jttkc X. 41, 42. PAGE ' MartJut, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but one thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taJcen aicay from her'" .... 318 SERMON XXIII. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP A REMEDY FOR EXCITEMENTS. James V. 13. " Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray. Is any merry ? let him " sing psalms 336 SERMON XXIV. INTERCESSION. r €plus. vi. 18. " Praying always with aU prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" 350 SERMON XXV. THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, vi. 11. " And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as " they were, should be fulfilled 367 SEEMON I. ABRAHAM AND LOT. Gen. xiii. 10, 11. Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well vMtered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou earnest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him aU the plain of Jordan." rHE lesson to be gained from the history of Abraham and Lot is obviously this—that nothing but a clear pprehension of things unseen, a simple trust in God's •romises, and the greatness of mind thence arising, can aake us act above the world—indifferent, or almost so, its comforts, enjoyments, and friendships ; or in other v'ords, that its goods corrupt the common run even of eligious men who possess them. Lot, as well as \.braham, left his own country " by faith," in obedience God's a further trial, in which the command ; yet on vUl of God was not so clearly signified, the one was bimd "without spot and blameless," the other "was aved so as by fire." Abraham became the " father of iU them that believe ;" Lot obscured the especial hope "f his calling—impaired the privileges of his election —for a time allowed himself to resemble the multitude [III] A — 2 Abraham and Lot. of men, as now seen in a Christian country, who a religious to a certain point, and inconsistent in the lives, not aiming at perfection. His history may be divided into three parts : —firs from the time of his setting out with Abraham fro Haran, to their separation ; then, from his settleme: in the cities of the plain (as they are called), of whic Sodom was one, till his captivity and rescue ; and last] from his return to Sodom, to his escape thence to t] mountain, under the Angel's guidance, when the Scri ture history loses sight of him. Let us review these : order : 1. When Abraham and Lot first came into the lai of Canaan, they had received, as it seems, no Divii direction where they were to settle. They first car to Sichem ; thence they went on to the neighbourhoi of Bethel; at length a famine drove them down Egypt; and after this the history of their temptati (for so it must be called) begins. Abraham and Lot had given up this world at t word of God ; but a more difficult trial remain] Though never easy, yet it is easier to set our hearts religion, when we have nothing else to engage th —or to take some one decided step, which throws out of our line of life, and in a manner forces u) us what we should naturally shrink from ; than] possess in good measure the goods of this world, ( yet love God supremely. Many a man might m; a sacrifice of his worldly interests from impulse ; \ then having little to unsettle him, he is enabled to 1: fast his religion, and serve God consistently and acc< Abraham ajid Lot.