The Good News of God Part 2

They rest from their labours. All their struggles, disappointments, failures, backslidings, which made them unhappy here, because they could not perfectly do the will of G.o.d, are past and over for ever.

But their works follow them. The good which they did on earth--that is not past and over. It cannot die. It lives and grows for ever, following on in their path long after they are dead, and bearing fruit unto everlasting life, not only in them, but in men whom they never saw, and in generations yet unborn.

SERMON IV. THE SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN

DANIEL iii. 16, 17, 18.

O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

If it be so, our G.o.d whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy G.o.ds, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

We read this morning, instead of the Te Deum, the Song of the Three Children, beginning, 'Oh all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.' It was proper to do so: because the Ananias, Azarias, and Misael mentioned in it, are the same as the Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, whose story we heard in the first lesson; and because some of the old Jews held that this n.o.ble hymn was composed by them, and sung by them in the burning fiery furnace, wherefore it has been called 'The Song of the Three Children;' for child, in old English, meant a young man.

Be that as it may, it is a glorious hymn, worthy of the Church of G.o.d, worthy of those three young men, worthy of all the n.o.ble army of martyrs; and if the three young men did not actually use the very words of it, still it was what they believed; and, because they believed it, they had courage to tell Nebuchadnezzar that they were not careful to answer him--had no manner of doubt or anxiety whatsoever as to what they were to say, when he called on them to worship his G.o.ds. For his G.o.ds, we know, were the sun, moon, and planets, and the angels who (as the Chaldeans believed) ruled over the heavenly bodies; and that image of gold is supposed, by some learned men, to have been probably a sign or picture of the wondrous power of life and growth which there is in all earthly things--and that a sign of which I need not speak, or you hear. So that the meaning of this Song of the Three Children is simply this:

'You bid us worship the things about us, which we see with our bodily eyes. We answer, that we know the one true G.o.d, who made all these things; and that, therefore, instead of worshipping THEM, we will bid them to worship HIM.'

Now let us spend a few minutes in looking into this hymn, and seeing what it teaches us.

You see at once, that it says that the one G.o.d, and not many G.o.ds, made all things: much more, that things did not make themselves, or grow up of their own accord, by any virtue or life of their own.

But it says more. It calls upon all things which G.o.d has made, to bless him, praise him, and magnify him for ever. This is much more than merely saying, 'One G.o.d made the world.' For this is saying something about G.o.d's character; declaring what this one G.o.d is like.

For when you bless a person--(I do not mean when you pray G.o.d to bless him--that is a different thing)--when you bless any one, I say, you bless him because he is blessed, and has done blessed things: because he has shown himself good, generous, merciful, useful. You praise a person because he is praiseworthy, n.o.ble, and admirable.

You magnify a person--that is, speak of him to every one, and everywhere, in the highest terms--because you think that every one ought to know how good and great he is. And, therefore, when the hymn says, 'Bless G.o.d, praise him, and magnify him for ever,' it does not merely confess G.o.d's power. No. It confesses, too, G.o.d's wisdom, goodness, beauty, love, and calls on all heaven and earth to admire him, the alone admirable, and adore him, the alone adorable.

For this is really to believe in G.o.d. Not merely to believe that there is a G.o.d, but to know what G.o.d is like, and to know that He is worthy to be believed in; worthy to be trusted, honoured, loved with heart and mind and soul, because we know that He is worthy of our love.

And this, we have a right to say, these three young men did, or whosoever wrote this hymn; and that as a reward for their faith in G.o.d, there was granted to them that deep insight into the meaning of the world about them, which shines out through every verse of this hymn.

Deep? I tell you, my friends, that this hymn is so deep, that it is too deep for the shallow brains of which the world is full now-a- days, who fancy that they know all about heaven and earth, just because they happen to have been born now, and not two hundred years ago. To such this old hymn means nothing; it is in their eyes merely an old-fashioned figure of speech to call on sun and stars, green herb and creeping thing, to praise and bless G.o.d. Nevertheless, the old hymn stands in our prayer-books, as a precious heir-loom to our children; and long may it stand. Though we may forget its meaning, yet perhaps our children after us will recollect it once more, and say with their hearts, what we now, I fear, only say with our lips and should not say at all, if it was not put into our months by the Prayer-book.

Do you not understand what I mean? Then think of this:-

If we were writing a hymn about G.o.d, should we dare to say to the things about us--to the cattle feeding in the fields--much less to the clouds over our heads, and to the wells of which we drink, 'Bless ye the Lord, praise him, and magnify him for ever?'

We should not dare; and for two reasons.

First--There is a notion abroad, borrowed from the old monks, that this earth is in some way bad, and cursed; that a curse is on it still for man's sake: but a notion which is contrary to plain fact; for if we till the ground, it does NOT bring forth thorns and thistles to us, as the Scripture says it was to do for Adam, but wholesome food, and rich returns for our labour: and which in the next place is flatly contrary to Scripture: for we read in Genesis viii. 21, how the Lord said, 'I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;' and the Psalms always speak of this earth, and of all created things, as if there was no curse at all on them; saying that 'all things serve G.o.d, and continue as they were at the beginning,' and that 'He has given them a law which cannot be broken;' and in the face of those words, let who will talk of the earth being cursed, I will not; and you shall not, if I can help it.

Another reason why we dare not talk of this earth as this hymn does is, that we have got into the habit of saying, 'Cattle and creeping things--they are not rational beings. How can they praise G.o.d?

Clouds and wells--they are not even living things. How can they praise G.o.d? Why speak of them in a hymn; much less speak to them?'

Yet this hymn does speak to them; and so do the Psalms and the Prophets again and again. And so will men do hereafter, when the fashions and the fancies of these days are past, and men have their eyes opened once more to see the glory which is around them from their cradle to their grave, and hear once more 'The Word of the Lord walking among the trees of the garden.'

But how can this be? How can not only dumb things, but even dead things, praise G.o.d?

My friends, this is a great mystery, of which the wisest men as yet know but little, and confess freely how little they know. But this at least we know already, and can say boldly--all things praise G.o.d, by fulfilling the law which our Lord himself declared, when he said 'Not every one who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.'

By doing the will of the heavenly Father. By obeying the laws which G.o.d has given them. By taking the shape which he has appointed for them. By being of the use for which he intended them. By multiplying each after their kind, by laws and means a thousand times more strange than any signs and wonders of which man can fancy for himself; and by thus showing forth G.o.d's boundless wisdom, goodness, love, and tender care of all which he has made.

Yes, my friends, in this sense (and this is the true sense) all things can serve and praise G.o.d, and all things do serve and praise Him. Not a cloud which fleets across the sky, not a clod of earth which crumbles under the frost, not a blade of gra.s.s which breaks through the snow in spring, not a dead leaf which falls to the earth in autumn, but is doing G.o.d's work, and showing forth G.o.d's glory.

Not a tiny insect, too small to be seen by human eyes without the help of a microscope, but is as fearfully and wonderfully made as you and me, and has its proper food, habitation, work, appointed for it, and not in vain. Nothing is idle, nothing is wasted, nothing goes wrong, in this wondrous world of G.o.d. The very sc.u.m upon the standing pool, which seems mere dirt and dust, is all alive, peopled by millions of creatures, each full of beauty, full of use, obeying laws of G.o.d too deep for us to do aught but dimly guess at them; and as men see deeper and deeper into the mystery of G.o.d's creation, they find in the commonest things about them wonder and glory, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive; and can only say with the Psalmist, 'Oh Lord, thy ways are infinite, thy thoughts are very deep;' and confess that the gra.s.s beneath their feet, the clouds above their heads--ay, every worm beneath the sod and bird upon the bough, do, in very deed and truth, bless the Lord who made them, praise him, and magnify him for ever, not with words indeed, but with works; and say to man all day long, 'Go thou, and do likewise.'

Yes, my friends, let us go and do likewise. If we wish really to obey the lesson of the Hymn of the Three Children, let us do the will of G.o.d: and so worship him in spirit and in truth. Do not fancy, as too many do, that thou canst praise G.o.d by singing hymns to him in church once a week, and disobeying him all the week long, crying to him 'Lord, Lord,' and then living as if he were not thy Lord, but thou wast thine own Lord, and hadst a right to do thine own will, and not his. If thou wilt really bless G.o.d, then try to live his blessed life of Goodness. If thou wilt truly praise G.o.d, then behave as if G.o.d was praiseworthy, good, and right in what he bids thee do. If thou wouldest really magnify G.o.d, and declare his greatness, then behave as if he were indeed the Great G.o.d, who ought to be obeyed-- ay, who MUST be obeyed; for his commandment is life, and it alone, to thee, as well as to all which He has made. Dost thou fancy as the heathen do, that G.o.d needs to be flattered with fine words? or that thou wilt be heard for thy much speaking, and thy vain repet.i.tions?

He asks of thee works, as well as words; and more, He asks of thee works first, and words after. And better it is to praise him truly by works without words, than falsely by words without works.

Cry, if thou wilt, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord G.o.d of hosts;' but show that thou believest him to be holy, by being holy thyself. Sing, if Thou wilt, of 'The Father of an Infinite Majesty:' but show that thou believest his majesty to be infinite, by obeying his commandments, like those Three Children, let them cost thee what they may. Join, and join freely, in the songs of the heavenly host; for G.o.d has given thee reason and speech, after the likeness of his only begotten Son, and thou mayest use them, as well as every other gift, in the service of thy Father. But take care lest, while thou art trying to copy the angels, thou art not even as righteous as the beasts of the field.

For they bless and praise G.o.d by obeying his laws; and till thou dost that, and obeyest G.o.d's laws likewise, thou art not as good as the gra.s.s beneath thy feet.

For after all has been said and sung, my friends, the sum and substance of true religion remains what it was, and what it will be for ever; and lies in this one word, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.'

SERMON V. THE ETERNAL GOODNESS

MATTHEW xxii. 39.

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Why are wrong things wrong? Why, for instance, is it wrong to steal?

Because G.o.d has forbidden it, you may answer. But is it so?

Whatsoever G.o.d forbids must be wrong. But, is it wrong because G.o.d forbids it, or does G.o.d forbid it because it is wrong?

For instance, suppose that G.o.d had not forbidden us to steal, would it be right then to steal, or at least, not wrong?

We must really think of this. It is no mere question of words, it is a solemn practical question, which has to do with our every-day conduct, and yet which goes down to the deepest of all matters, even to the depths of G.o.d himself.

The question is simply this. Did G.o.d, who made all things, make right and wrong? Many people think so. They think that G.o.d made goodness. But how can that be? For if G.o.d made goodness, there could have been no goodness before G.o.d made it. That is clear. But G.o.d was always good, good from all eternity. But how could that be?

How could G.o.d be good, before there was any goodness made? That notion will not do then. And all we can say is that goodness is eternal and everlasting, just as G.o.d is: because G.o.d was and is and ever will be eternally and always good.

But is eternal goodness one thing, and the eternal G.o.d, another?

That cannot be, again; for as the Athanasian Creed tells us so wisely and well, there are not many Eternals, but one Eternal. Therefore goodness must be the Spirit of G.o.d; and G.o.d must be the Spirit of goodness; and right is nothing else but the character of the everlasting G.o.d, and of those who are inspired by G.o.d.

What is wrong, then? Whatever is unlike right; whatever is unlike goodness; whatever is unlike G.o.d; that is wrong. And why does G.o.d forbid us to do wrong? Simply because wrong is unlike himself. He is perfectly beautiful, perfectly blest and happy, because he is perfectly good; and he wishes to see all his creatures beautiful, blest, and happy: but they can only be so by being perfectly good; and they can only be perfectly good by being perfectly like G.o.d their Father; and they can only be perfectly like G.o.d the Father by being full of love, loving their neighbour as themselves.

For what do we mean when we talk of right, righteousness, goodness?

Many answers have been given to that question.

The old Romans, who were a stern, legal-minded people, used to say that righteousness meant to hurt no man, and to give every man his own. The Eastern people had a better answer still, which our blessed Lord used in one place, when he told them that righteousness was to do to other people as we would they should do to us: but the best answer, the perfect answer, is our Lord's in the text, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' This is the true, eternal righteousness. Not a legal righteousness, not a righteousness made up of forms and ceremonies, of keeping days holy, and abstaining from meats, or any other arbitrary commands, whether of G.o.d or of man.

This is G.o.d's goodness, G.o.d's righteousness, Christ's own goodness and righteousness. Do you not see what I mean? Remember only one word of St. John's. G.o.d is love. Love is the goodness of G.o.d. G.o.d is perfectly good, because he is perfect love. Then if you are full of love, you are good with the same goodness with which G.o.d is good, and righteous with Christ's righteousness. That as what St. Paul wished to be, when he wished to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, but the righteousness which is by faith in Christ.

His own righteousness was the selfish and self-conceited righteousness which he had before his conversion, made up of forms, and ceremonies, and doctrines, which made him narrow-hearted, bigoted, self-conceited, fierce, cruel, a persecutor; the righteousness which made him stand by in cold blood to see St.

Stephen stoned. But the righteousness which is by faith in Christ is a loving heart, and a loving life, which every man will long to lead who believes really in Jesus Christ. For when he looks at Christ, Christ's humiliation, Christ's work, Christ's agony, Christ's death, and sees in it nothing but utter and perfect LOVE to poor sinful, undeserving man, then his heart makes answer, Yes, I believe in that!