Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
And then, what blessed words are these from the Lord Jesus, which we
read in the book of Revelation? 'And I will give to him that
overcometh, a new name.' A new name for him that overcometh world,
flesh, and devil; that shall be our portion in the world to come. A
new name, perfect like the name of the Lord Jesus, which shall
express and mean all that we are to do hereafter, and all that we
have done well on earth. A name which shall declare to us our
calling and work in God's Church triumphant, throughout all ages and
worlds to come: and yet a name which no man knoweth saving he who
receiveth it. Yes, if we may dare to guess at the meaning of those
deep words, perhaps in that new name shall be recorded for each man
all that went on, in the secret depths of the man's own heart,
between himself and his God, unknown and unnoticed even by the wife
of his bosom. The cup of cold water given in Christ's name; the
little private acts of love, and kindness, and self-sacrifice, of
which none but God knew; the secret prayers, the secret acts of
contrition, the secret hungerings and thirstings after
righteousness, the secret struggles and agonies of heart, which he
could not, dare not, ought not to tell to any human being. All
these, he shall find, will go to make up his character in the life
to come, to determine what work he is to do for God in the world to
come; as it is written, 'Be thou faithful over a few things, and I
will make thee ruler over many things.' All these, perhaps, shall
be expressed and declared in that new name, the full meaning of
which none will know but the man himself, because none but he knows
the secret experiences and struggles which went toward the making of
it; none but he and God; for God will know all, He who is the Lord
and Saviour of our souls, our persons, our very selves, and can
preserve them utterly to the fulness of eternal life, because He
knows them thoroughly and utterly; because He judges not according
to appearance, but judges righteous judgment; because He sees us not
merely as we seem to others to be, not even as we seem at times to
ourselves to be;--but searches the heart, and can be touched with
the feeling of its infirmities, seeing that He himself has been
tempted even as we are, yet without sin; because, blessed thought!
He can pierce through the very marrow of our being, and discern the
thoughts and intents of our hearts, and see what we long to be, and
what we ought to be; so that we can safely and hopefully commend our
spirits to His hand, day by day and hour by hour, and can trust Him
to cleanse us from our secret faults, and to renew and strengthen
our very selves day by day with that eternal life which He gives to
all who cast themselves utterly upon Him.
SERMON V. SPONSORSHIP
1 Cor. xii. 26, 27. Whether one member suffer, all the members
suffer with it; or whether one member be honoured, all the members
rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in
particular.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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