Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII (of 8)Newman, John Henry
Religion
Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII (of 8)
Newman, John Henry
Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
But Moses conducted the Israelites from the house of bondage to their own
land, from which their fathers had descended into Egypt. He came to them
from God, and, armed with God's power, he smote their cruel enemies, led
them out of Pharaoh's territory, divided the Red Sea, carried them
through it, and at length brought them to the borders of Canaan. And who
is it that has done this for us Christians? Who but the Eternal Son of
God, our Lord and Saviour, whose name in consequence we bear? He has
rescued us from the arm of him who was stronger than we; and therefore I
say in this respect first of all, Christ is a second Moses, and a
greater. Christ has broken the power of the Devil. He leads us forth on
our way, and makes a path through all difficulties, that we may go
forward towards heaven. Most men, who have deliberately turned their
hearts to seek God, must recollect times when the view of the
difficulties which lay before them, and of their own weakness, nearly
made them sink through fear. Then they were like the children of Israel
on the shore of the Red Sea. How boisterous did the waves look! and they
could not see beyond them; they seemed taken by their enemies as in a
net. Pharaoh with his horsemen hurried on to reclaim his runaway slaves;
the Israelites sank down in terror on the sand of the sea-shore; every
moment brought death or captivity nearer to them. Then it was that Moses
said, "Stand still, and see the salvation of God." And in like manner
has Christ spoken to us. When our hearts fainted within us, when we said
to ourselves, "How is it possible that we should attain heaven?" When we
felt how desirable it was to serve God, but felt keenly the power of
temptation; when we acknowledged in our hearts that God was holy and most
adorable, and obedience to His will most lovely and admirable, and yet
recollected instances of our past disobedience, and feared lest all our
renewed resolutions to serve Him would be broken and swept away by the
old Adam as mercilessly as heretofore, and that Satan would regain us,
and yet prayed earnestly to God for His saving help; then He saved us
against our fear, surprising us by the strangeness of our salvation.
This, I say, many a one must recollect in his own case. It happens to
Christians not once, but again and again through life. Troubles are
lightened, trials are surmounted, fears disappear. We are enabled to do
things above our strength by trusting to Christ; we overcome our most
urgent sins, we surrender our most innocent wishes; we conquer ourselves;
we make a way through the powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil;
the waves divide, and our Lord, the great Captain of our salvation, leads
us over. Christ, then, is a second Moses, and greater than he, inasmuch
as Christ leads from hell to heaven, as Moses led the Israelites from
Egypt to Canaan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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