all do, what will our repentance be worth, where will be our hope, what trust shall we have in our last prayers for Christ's atoning mediation, if in our supplications, if when prostrate before the cross, the thought arises,-'Humble my own spirit as I may, break down my heart in sorrow, empty forth my soul in prayers for pardon, pour out as I may my failing strength in crying for what I need, the atonement of my God, still throughout the whole of my last spiritual struggle am I disheartened by the remembrance, made powerless in my efforts by the burden on my conscience, in that I know my sons, and my sons' sons, are dishonouring God, opposing His laws, wounding that Saviour to whom I would cry, and wounding Him because I neglected them; left them untaught, unheeding God, and sent them forth on their courses in a wicked world without the restraints of the fear of God, without prayer, without the supports of His grace?' This thought seems, as it were, enough even to stop the voice of that cry which throughout this life should be for ever rising, and in death should be the strongest and the most assured; it would seem almost enough, I mean, to stop the very voice of prayer to God itself; for such a case would appear to hold up a memory of guilt, wherein the most unbounded, the most utterly unlimited extension of the infinite loving-kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ is needful to find a place for pardon and salvation.

SERMON XXVII.

Fourth Sunday after Easter.

ST. JAMES i. 19.

Let every man be swift to hear.

HE Word of God is very full of plain and power

THE

ful rules and directions, all of which, if observed, would, under God, enable us to correct our faults and to strengthen ourselves in good living; and these rules are usually found to be directly opposed to our natural feelings and habits of life. This fact stands among the many evidences of the sinful nature of man.

The text before us is an injunction taken from the Epistle which the Church has ordered for the Communion Service of this day, and it is an instance which supports the remark I have made. By nature we are swift to speak, slow to hear, especially if we are required to listen to the statement of our own faults and errors. Before I enter, however, on the injunction which the text lays on us, I wish, in a short way, to state to you what the occasion was which gave rise to this General Epistle of St. James; and having so done, I will then enter on one or two points which may shew us that on some important

doctrines of our religion we are not "swift to hear;" that our want of this readiness arises from the small power which the Holy Spirit possesses in the hearts of many, and, consequently, that the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ over His flock is shortened much more than it ought to be.

The Epistle General of St. James was written under the following circumstances. St. James, the son of Cleophas, who, according to the flesh, was not very remotely allied to the household of the Lord, addressed this Epistle to the Church of Christ at large from his see of Jerusalem, over which he was bishop. St. James is supposed to have outlived the crucifixion, and the ascent into heaven of our Lord Jesus Christ, about thirty years. He was put to death in a tumult raised by the unbelieving Jews in the year 62 after the birth of the Redeemer. At this time Jerusalem was not in a fixed state of government, because Festus, the Roman governor, was lately dead, and Albinos, his successor, had not yet arrived at Jerusalem to succeed him in his government. This Epistle is supposed to have been written in the year 61, that is, immediately before St. James was put to death. St. James is styled the Bishop of Jerusalem by very early Christian writers. There is indeed no doubt but he presided in that city in the character of bishop; and in a very important meeting, in which it was debated how far it was necessary to urge upon the Gentile converts the strict adherence to the laws of Moses, it is clear that the arguments

were summed up and the rule thereupon was laid down by St. James, in the character of bishopa. Jerusalem, as the Church of Christ then stood, was the most important Church in Christendom; indeed, it was in a manner held to be the mother of the other Churches. St. James was advanced to this most eminent place immediately after the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and we may readily believe that his close connection with the family in which the Lord Christ appeared in the flesh may have been one of the leading reasons, which led to this selection. Some say that he was indeed appointed to this office by the Lord Jesus Himself. However this may be, his inflexible integrity and his holy zeal and self-denials, which procured for him the title of St. James the Just, appears to prove that he was elected by God's Providence out of the rest of the apostles to be the first bishop over the important see of Jerusalem.

The main intention of the General Epistle of St. James is to give force and strength to the true teaching and practice of the Gospels, in opposition to some very dangerous errors which began then to creep into the Church of the Lord God.

You are well aware that St. Paul's writings maintain very fully the doctrine that justification cometh by faith in Christ Jesus, and not by the works of the Law; meaning thereby, not by the works prescribed by the law of Moses, though, as we shall pre

a See Acts xv.

sently see, St. Paul's argument is equally true if it is applied also to the law of works as laid down by the Gospels of the Lord Jesus. Now this doctrine some of the Christian congregations had misinterpreted to mean that morality, pure, cleanly selfgovernment, good and charitable works, upright dealing, a virtuous life in general, were not of value, or of any esteem in the sight of God. From this it arose that very irregular living in many congregations of the Church began to bring disgrace on Christianity and on the name of the blessed Jesus; souls were falling into danger, and heathen licentiousness was appearing in the Christian world. The great object of St. James in this Epistle is to correct this fearful misunderstanding. Accordingly, as you read it, you will perceive that while it advocates very warmly the value and saving power of a warm faith in Jesus the Lord, still that it insists with equal earnestness on the necessity of a religious and pious life, if we would fulfil our covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, and would look forward with hope to salvation through that Saviour in whom we believe.

As a means whereby to keep our minds in a Christian state, to subdue ourselves to a humble spirit, to lead us to search out our own hearts, and so to bring us unto prayer for help, and thus to keep us in a holy tone of mind, striving always to abide in a strict obedience to God, St. James scatters throughout this Epistle many short but most saintlike and gracious portions of advice. As I have already said, these