es wrong as well as falsity by coming to ence be true, however eas, they must prevail, ! truth. mis paper, and borrow f Pascal's "Provincial ter if I had had more 'Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus la faire plus courte." XII.-A LAY SERMON ON THE TI SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBO (1881.) In honour of the memory of our g Faraday (whose simple monument is Highgate Cemetery), a lecture is delive year, at the Royal Institution, the scen and triumphs, from the time when he enter capacity of laboratory boy, until his dea behind him the reputation of the great philosopher that ever lived, and also the ch active, simple-minded Christian. In the second of these triennial lectur Hofmann relate an anecdote of the cel Liebig. Hofmann and Liebig and two men were out on a walking tour in morning was hot, and the pedestrians a the first place they came to where they rest during the sultry afternoon. Just be the inn, Liebig noticed in the doorway of labourer stricken down with fever, an examined him. He joined his companion them. After dinner, while they were lig Liebig went out quietly and enquired the way to the nearest druggist's, and was told that it was a long way off, in a village on the other side of the hill. Regardless of the heat, he toiled over the hill, and when he reached the village, found the druggist's shop closed, the owner being away for the day. On pushing his inquiry, he learned that the key of the shop was left with a neighbour. He procured the key, and rummaging among the bottles, made up a quantity of medicine for the present and future use of the poor patient. He then left a sum of money on the counter, locked up the shop, returned the key, and proceeded to the cottage of the poor man, where he gave plain directions for the use of the physic. He then returned to his companions to enjoy his pipe and well-earned siesta. Will you not agree with me that this conduct is Christlike? "Sick and ye visited me." "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." How poor, in comparison with this, are the strifes of rival theologies; the nice interpretation of doctrinal texts, the definition of a true Church, the apostolical succession, the eastward position, lighted candles on the altar, a mixed chalice, vestments, incense, the ringing of a little bell, and similar non-fireproof structures of wood, hay, stubble which men build on the foundation other than which can no man lay than is laid, namely, Christ; and yet for the sake of these perishable structures men are content to go to law and spend thousands of pounds, and even to remain in prison, when as it would seem to a poor layman like myself— a single text is sufficient to define what is meant by true and undefiled religion before our God and Father, namely, "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." When the young man inquired of our Lord how he could inherit eternal life, the answer was, love God with heart, soul, and strength, and thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other Commandment greater than this. In the same spirit is the legacy of the new commandment that ye love one another; and the climax, the culminating point of this love, is to be willing to lay down one's life for the good of mankind. After the most splendid example of this sacrifice, other bright examples will readily occur to my hearers. But what does Scripture teach us in detail as to this love of our neighbour? And, first of all, who is my neighbour? "A certain man went down to Jericho and fell among thieves." You know the story; the priest and the Levite ignored him, he is not one of my flock, not one of my caste, doesn't go to my church or chapel or synagogue. The good Samaritan cared for none of these things, the man was wounded and helpless, and that was enough for him. He was his neighbour who showed mercy on him-go thou and do likewise. But poor erring human nature is startled at the breadth and completeness of the divine commands. "How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him, until seven times ?" No !—until seventy times seven ! But in common justice I may retaliate, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? No! Resist not evil. But at least blow for blow? No: whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. But if a man go to law with me to take away my coat, what am I to do? Let him have thy cloak also. But there is Jack Noakes round the corner who is continually seeking my hurt; he is my enemy, may I not hate him? No! "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you." But why, what shall I gain by it, what is the reward? The grandest, greatest that man can conceive-our heavenly Father will adopt you as one of His children. Such, then, is the perfection of Christian teaching for which we are to strive. The apostle, in taking leave of the Corinthians, says, "Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you." As to the mode in which poor imperfect human nature is to obey these divine commands, the orthodox rule is, I believe, that we are to act up to their spirit since we cannot obey the letter, "for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life." Adopting these words apart from their context, seems to me to lead to a perversion of their meaning. St. Paul does not say that we are to act up to the spirit of the law, but that the divine commands are to be written "not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh," which is a very different thing; for if the divine commands are written upon our hearts with the finger of the living God they must transform our whole being, so that we cannot fail to obey them in all their fulness and comprehensive breadth. If, on the contrary, men were allowed to obey these commands according to the spirit in which they conceived them to be enacted, they would very soon be explained away and accommodated to men's conduct and professional practices, to the customs of the trade, to the requirements of fashion and the allurements of vice. And I would ask whether, in the daily and hourly behaviour of most men, we have any assurance that these laws are operative at all? Do any two men act alike under like conditions of the same law; or, rather is not each man his own interpreter of the law until it receives so many interpretations as eventually to mean nothing at all? "Love your enemies." Look at the vast standing armies of Europe, the bitter feuds of rival Churches; nay, of disintegrations among the members of the same Church, and even the same congregation. Look at our law courts, the readiness of man to resent real or imaginary wrongs. In such cases and in multitudes of others it cannot even be said that the letter killeth, seeing that the divine commands are ignored altogether. But suppose the law to be written on men's hearts with the spirit of the living God, it would bear good fruit to the refreshment of all the world. If "love your enemies" were cultivated with half the zeal that men love themselves, pursue gain, rank, distinction, pleasure, &c., it would be a happier because a better world. I believe, then, that the maxim of acting up to the spirit of the law, and not to the letter, is a misapplication of St. Paul's words, and I come now to a view of the subject for which I may venture to claim some originality, and to expect some censure. It is so ordered in the Providence of God, that every one who cultivates the higher faculties of his nature forms to himself an ideal of perfection, which he strives after yet cannot attain. The executed music is sublime; Sublimer thoughts stirred the composer's mind : The poet's lyre was tuned to loftier rhyme. That painting shows us Nature's loveliest clime; And to o'ertake it all too short is time. N |