Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third SeriesRobertson, Frederick William
Religion
Sermons Preached at Brighton: Third Series
Robertson, Frederick William
Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
a Christian feeling; and so doing, he might continue in it so long as
it would hold together. And so it was no doubt, with all the other
apostles. We have no evidence that before the destruction of the
Jewish polity, there was any attempt made by them to overthrow the
Jewish external religion. They kept the Jewish Sabbath, and observed
the Jewish ritual. One of them, James, the Christian Bishop of
Jerusalem, though a Christian, was even among the Jews remarkable and
honourable for the regularity with which he observed all his Jewish
duties. Now let us apply this to modern duties. The great desire among
men now, appears to be to alter institutions, to have perfect
institutions, as if _they_ would make perfect men. Mark the difference
between this feeling and that of the apostle, "Let every man abide in
the same calling wherein he was called." We are called to be members
of the Church of England--what is our duty now? What would Paul have
done? Is this our duty--to put such questions to ourselves as these?
"Is there any single, particular sentence in the service of my Church
with which I do not entirely agree? Is there any single ceremony with
which my whole soul does not go along? If so, then is it my duty to
leave it at once?" No, my brethren, all that we have to do is to say,
"All our existing institutions are those under which God has placed
us, under which we are to mould our lives according to His will." It
is our duty to vitalize our forms, to throw into them a holier, deeper
meaning. My Christian brethren, surely no man will get true rest, true
repose for his soul in these days of controversy, until he has learned
the wise significance of these wise words--"Let every man abide in the
same calling wherein he was called." He will but gain unrest, he will
but disquiet himself, if he says, "I am sinning by continuing in this
imperfect system," if he considers it his duty to change his calling
if his opinions do not agree in every particular and special point
with the system under which God has placed him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account