Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
of workmen whom God had put into their charge. I have seen great
landowners live truly royal lives, doing with all their might the
good which their hand found to do; and, after the likeness of their
heavenly Father, causing their sun to shine on the evil and on the
good, and their rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. Yes; in
every station of life, thy dealings will be right with men, if thy
heart be right with God.
Yes. Let us bear in mind this--that whatever we cannot be, we can
at least be honest men. Let us go to our graves, if possible, with
the feeling that there is not a man on earth, a penny the worse for
us. And if we have ever fouled our hands with the unrighteous
Mammon, let us cleanse them by the only possible plan, by making
restitution to those whom we have wronged; and so make friends of
the Mammon of unrighteousness, who shall forgive us, and receive us
as friends in heaven, instead of making enemies, and going out of
the world with the fearful thought, that we shall meet at God's
judgment-seat people whom we have made miserable, who will rise up
to accuse us, and demand payment of us when it is too late for ever.
Let us bear in mind, even though we cannot copy, the dying words of
Muhammed the Arab, who, when he found his end draw near, went forth
into the market-place, and asked before all the people, 'Was there
any man whom he had wronged? If so, his own back should bear the
stripes. Was there any man to whom he owed money? and he should be
paid.' 'Yes,' cried some one, 'those coins which you borrowed from
me on such a day.' 'Pay him,' said Muhammed: 'better to be shamed
now on earth, than shamed in the day of judgment.' He was a
heathen. And shall we Christians be worse than he? Then let us
pray for the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, which will
make us faithful and true; so that no man may be the worse for us in
this life; no man may have to say of us, when he hears that we lie
dying, 'He wronged me, he cheated me, he lied to me; God forgive
him:' but that our friends, as they carry us to the grave, may feel
that they have lost one whom they could respect and trust; and say,
as the earth rattles in upon the coffin lid, 'There lies an honest
man.'
SERMON XXV. THE SIGHS OF CHRIST
(Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.)
Mark vii. 34, 35. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith
unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears
were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake
plain.
Why did the Lord Jesus look up to heaven? And why, too, did he
sigh?
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