SERMON XXXVIII.

ALL SAINTS.

REVELATIONS vii. 9, 10.

After this I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands: and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

WE heard these words read this morning in the Epistle for this day, the Festival of All Saints; the Festival, that is, which the Church keeps in commemoration, not of any one or two of her members, as is the case with the rest of what are called Saints' days, but of all God's people; of her whole communion, both past and present, reaching back to the remotest times, and extending to the farthest countries. Amongst those whom she this day commemorates, Patriarch and Apostle, Prophet

and Preacher, Jew and Gentile, Asiatic and European, old and young, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, are met together; amidst innumerable differences, nay, too often amidst fierce controversies, one thing alone is to be remembered of them this day, that they were God's people, living and dying in His faith and fear, and supported by His Spirit in a lifelong warfare against his enemy.

And those whom God has so joined together let no man put asunder. True it is, that as one star differeth from another star in glory, so the services rendered by all this blessed company to their one great cause have been by no means equal: true it is also, that there have been points in the lives and in the doctrine of all of them which have done their great cause injury. There are many amongst them who have built hay and stubble upon Christ's foundation, or who valued it so highly when it had been built by others, that they have been very bitter in their feelings and conduct towards those who wished to clear it away. It might be done, indeed, but it were a thankless labour, to look over the list of God's saints, of those, I mean, whose lives and minds are in any way known to us, and to notice the blemishes in each; how some, according to their several constitutions of mind and circumstances, have omitted duly to cultivate one virtue, and others have omitted to cultivate another; how some have too much neglected some great

truth, whilst others have raised to the level of truth, or even above it, some monstrous error: how some have been very zealous for much that was evil, while others have been too cold towards much that was good. Above all, it would be possible, but very painful, to mark so often their alienation from each other; how they mistook each other for enemies, and shunned each other's society; insomuch that, as in the sad story of the contention between Paul and Barnabas, they parted altogether from one another, and instead of doing the Lord's work together, they each were obliged to do it alone. All these things might be noticed, and history must notice them. But with all this, there is another point no less true, which is equally matter of history, and which it is far more profitable to us to contemplate; that with all this difference, nay, with all the sense of discord which actually may have prevailed, there was in all, even where they themselves observed it not, a secret harmony; all were Christ's soldiers and Satan's enemies; all, in that great struggle between good and evil which has gone on in the world since man's first sin, were, according to their measure, fighting on the side of good.

Therefore now, when all have entered into their rest together, and they who were parted from one another here, find to their exceeding joy that they must needs be one for evermore, inasmuch as they

each are one with Christ, let not the Church dwell upon their differences, nor attempt to fix which of them shall sit nearest to Christ, on his right hand and on his left; but let us consider them all with thankfulness and great joy, giving thanks for them earnestly to God, their Father and ours, that He has magnified His grace in them, and made them conquerors over sin and death; and praying that we may be added to their number, and that we too may be a subject for thankfulness and not for sorrow to the generations which shall come after us.

These are the general feelings which this day should awaken in us. It gives a sort of consistency to the pleasures with which we read of good men in various ages and countries; it bids us unite them all together in thought, and to view them as enjoying that perfect good which by faith they formerly saw and loved. But besides this general joy, there are also many particular trains of thought connected with this festival, too full to be exhausted now, but some of which it will be proper to notice, and for a certain distance at least to follow.

We have acknowledged, what is indeed most evident, that there have been great differences amongst God's saints, and that many of them have been marked by some great sins. What is there then in them which makes us regard them as so essentially united, and as being undoubtedly, notwithstanding their sins, received into the kingdom of

God? One of the most striking and most universally known instances of what I mean is the character of David. We all know that his life was stained with two sins in particular, such as even common men rarely commit, adultery and murder. And yet we know the language in which the Scripture generally speaks of him, and to which the judgments and hearts of Christians, who abhor those sins most earnestly, have yet borne constant witness. Other instances might be given in great numbers, but this one sufficiently shows the nature of the question. What is that in human nature which emphatically entitles a man to the name of good? with which, although he may have committed great sins, he still belongs to God's true people; without which, although his life may be marked by no direct evil nearly so flagrant, he does not and cannot belong to them?

Now the Scripture, I think, will at once suggest the words of our answer: we should say in the language of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that what distinguishes God's people from those who are not God's people, was the presence of faith on the one hand, or its absence on the other.

And this would

be a true answer; but, as so given, it would not be a clear one. For we may be asked, what is faith? as the word has undoubtedly been used in many various senses, and what is very truly said of it in one sense, may be most untrue when said of it