SERMON IX.

ALL SAINTS' DAY.

HEBREWS, xii. 1, 2.

Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.

IN the Epistle and in the Gospel for this morning's service, the Church has set before us a comparison of the condition of the saints of God in the place of their Heavenly home, and in that of their earthly pilgrimage; in the former, describing to us the happiness and glory of those, whom God has gathered into His kingdom; in the latter, those virtues and sufferings, by which, under Christ, and through the help of God's Spirit, these blessed promises are to be obtained.

In the Epistle (for the book of Revelations, out of which that portion of Scripture is taken, can be regarded in no other light than as an epistle to the seven Churches of Asia), in the

Epistle, St. John, after mentioning, what to his countrymen, the Jews, was of most immediate interest, the number of Israelites who should receive the faith of Christ and enter into his kingdom, goes on to describe the far greater multitude of Gentile converts, who, being called to the acceptance of His Gospel, and persevering in His faith and service, should be gathered together in Paradise, in joyful expectation of the last great Judgement, and of that new Heaven and new earth in which their bliss should receive its full completion, and when, in the presence of their Father and their God, they should live and reign for ever. "After this," says the Apostle, - meaning after the fullness of Israel was come in, and the appointed number of their tribes had received in their foreheads the Divine seal of baptism, "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 which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!' And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their face, and worshipped God, saying, Amen blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and

thanksgiving, and honour, and might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

Do desire to know what manner of men ye these have been in the present life, who in the other world are so greatly honoured? — these, whose number was to be complete, before the destroying angels had power to harm the earth or the sea - these, who wear white robes, the sign of kingly power in ancient times, and palm branches, the sign of victory; these, whose shouts of joy are heard aloud in the courts of God; who are equal with the angels themselves; and who, with the angels, are counted worthy to worship and join in the praise of Him who sitteth on the throne, and of the Lamb? Do you desire to know what part they acted, what place they held among mankind, whom the Lord of Heaven and earth will honour thus exceedingly? Turn to the Gospel which followed in the service of this day: and the words of our Saviour Christ Himself will answer you that question. These inheritors of Heaven have not been the great, or wise, or mighty on the earth; these servants, in whom God is well pleased, are not they whose deeds have filled the mouths of men, and their names been glorious among the nations; these, who now drink of the river of God's pleasure, and are increased with the riches of His sanctuary, are 1 Rev. vii. 9, 10, 11, 12.

not they on whom the goods of this world have been most largely bestowed, and whose path through life has been strewed with roses. On the contrary, these inheritors of Christ's fullest blessing have been those whom the world is least disposed to admire or envy, -the poor in spirit, the mourners for sin, the meek, the hungry after righteousness, the merciful, the pure, the peace-makers, the persecuted, the slandered for the sake of the Gospel. These are they, who are, in this life, encouraged by the Son of God, "to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is their reward in Heaven." These men they are, and men like these, whom St. John saw standing with triumphant palms in the presence of the Almighty. "One of the elders" St. John continues, "answered, saying unto him, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they?' And I said unto him "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His Temple. And He that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 1 St. Matt. v. 12.

fountains of water and God shall wipe away all tears from all eyes."1

This difference between the frequent distresses of the saints in this life, and their happiness in the life to come; between the neglect, or contempt, or slander, which they often receive from sinful men, and the everlasting honour which the praise of God will one day confer on them; the dreadful mistake of the wicked who despise that condition in this world which is most favourable to holiness, that meek and humble temper which neither does evil nor revenges it, and that heavenly-mindedness which neglects all the pleasures and honours and enjoyments of the world, in comparison with the service of God and the recompence of reward which He holds out to us, is represented in many other parts of the Sacred Volume. In the first Lesson for this morning's service, we read how God hath punished the righteous in the sight of men, and tried them like gold in the furnace2; and in the second Lesson, we have a lively picture presented to us by St. Paul of the manner in which the faith of the martyrs of old time was triumphant over the malice of their enemies. We there read of the tortures, the cruel mockings and scourgings, the bonds and imprisonments, the many kinds of death, the hunger, cold, and nakedness 2 Wisdom, iii.

Rev. vii. 13 — 17.