ARGUMENT. NoT Pleasure, but heavenly-mindedness, is the true undertone for all life. But Pleasure cannot be safely ignored or crushed. Pleasure is natural and lawful. Physical, mental, social, affectional, and spiritual pleasures, all have their place and work in the constitution of man. Two theories of life stand on either side of this acknowledgment of the legitimacy of Pleasure. One is the denial of Pleasure-Asceticism. The other is the abuse of Pleasure-Profligacy. The right use of Pleasure is discussed in connection with balls, theatres, horse-races, and other pastimes. Pleasure is not a legitimate end, but a legitimate incident of life. Work and the development of the whole man is shown to be the legitimate end of life, and the only right way of seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. The man of Pleasure and the man of Work are then contrasted, as each draws to the close of life. The Thirteenth Discourse deals with sacrifice. The grounds of Ascetism are stated, and the necessity of rightly defining Pleasure is pointed out. The law of sacrifice comes in to harmonise the two. The darkness and the brightness of sacrifice are then illustrated. Sacrifice is beautiful when illumined by benevolence, patriotism, love. The Divine Sacrifice is then referred to. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is explained, and some hints are given to guide us in applying the law of sacrifice to ourselves. Twelfth Discourse. ON PLEASURE. DELIVERED DECEMBER 10, 1871. T. MATTHEW (vi. 33) records these words of Christ: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things (the necessaries and satisfactions of life) shall be added unto you.' And these words strike the key-note of the right relations between pleasure and duty. You could not have a more sobering undertone of feeling than this to accompany you every day of your lives, 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.' There should be something strong, steady, settled as the under-current of life. There are plenty of little eddies, plenty of little gusts of wind coming and breathing fitfully upon the surface of the waters, which may be extremely healthy and delightful, but down below should be calm depths-something deep and permanent must strike the key-note of your life-a moral something. I cannot remind you too often that the inward principle of Christian life is Divine, whilst the outward form of Christian life is human. Let me explain myself at once. Human society is divinely constituted. Jesus Christ exhibited that divine constitution to the world more clearly than it ever had been revealed. He spoke of the Kingdom of God, and of God's righteousness. The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, is not only something distant in the future, although it is that; but it is something present with us now. 'This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.' Christ came to found that Kingdom of God as an outward and visible kingdom. He came also to found on earth an invisible kingdom in the heart of man; and the reason why you are here before me to-day, why you call yourselves Christians, why you are bound together, signed by the seal of one baptism, is this, because you have been constituted in the order of a divine kingdom set up on earth. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,' seek to realise outwardly in the world the invisible kingdom of God which is in the heart, 'seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,' and then 'all these things,' i.e., all that is necessary both for your body and your mind, for your complex life, all that is good for you, will in some way or other be added to you; the sacrifices of life will be good for you, even pains physical and mental will be good for you, when you have learned to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And pleasure shall be good for you when you know how to use it, when you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. 125. Now, in view of these remarks, I advance upon the special consideration of pleasure. I want to know what is the right place which pleasure ought to hold in our every-day life. I want to know whether pleasure is a pestilent thing to be crushed, or whether it is a good gift coming down from the Father of Lights to be used? I wish, in fact, to lay down some kind of doctrine of pleasure for the Christian man. Now we cannot disguise from ourselves that almost every system of morality and many religions have sneered at pleasure, or have attempted to assign to it a most degraded rank; when tolerated at all, it has been brought under very strained, severe, and coercive laws. There is no doubt, brethren, that Christian morals, as they are very often taught, are supposed to be diametrically opposed to pleasure; so that in one sense it would be impossible, being a Christian, to have what you call a doctrine of pleasure. I will say once for all, that any religious doctrine which denies me pleasure is a dangerous and false doctrine. Do not suppose that I am advocating unbridled license under the name of pleasure. I am not standing up for ill-regulated enjoyments of any kind; or for any pleasure that is calculated to prove hurtful to your body or soul; but I say this, that there have been sometimes a religion and moralities which have so lamentably misunderstood the constitution of our nature as to suppose that all those faculties which we have within us for |