God, then, of His infinite mercy give all of us who are parents grace to do our parts! Then may we indeed hope to rejoice with these our children on earth now, and hereafter in heaven before Him whose we are, who with the Son and the Holy Ghost reigneth for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON X. Feast of St. Philip and St. James. LUKE x. 1. "The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come." HE feast of St. Philip and St. James recals to His disciples to preach peace and God's kingdom to the world, peace in the forgiveness of sins, and God's kingdom in the gospel of His Son. The feast being double, not of one apostle only, but of two together, reminds us of our Lord's sending them, not singly and separately, but "two and two, before His face, into every city and place whither He Himself would come." The advantages of this method, though the reasons for it are not specially given, are obvious enough in the comfort and assistance the apostles of the Word would thence derive from one another's company, in the performance of a new and arduous office under circumstances of difficulty and danger, in the course of which they would be exposed to various accidents as well as the common infirmities of men. But, perhaps, a chief end proposed might be thus to secure to them the use and benefit of common prayer; for L such is the will of our Lord, that common prayer should have a promise and an effect peculiar to itself, He having been pleased to say, "Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them;" and, again, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven." Let us all remember and think of this, that we may perceive not our duty only in attending the service of the Church, where we meet together for this purpose, but the blessing and privilege we enjoy in having a church to go to and assemble in for the holy and effectual purposes of common prayer and of hearing the Word of God. But as this feast recals to our minds the method our Lord was pleased generally to adopt in sending forth His disciples to preach, and this again suggests to our reflection in all reason the ends and objects of it, shewing how thankful and diligent we all ought to be in the right use of the blessing we enjoy above many other people; so being thus brought, as it were, to the very time and occasion of their being sent, we call to mind also the authority with which the apostles were invested, and which indeed we never should forget, for at our peril it is when we heed not that which they have delivered, and which we may read in the Scriptures of the New Testament. At that same time that our Lord sent them forth, He said, "Whoso heareth you, heareth Me;" and, "Whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you, it shall be more tolerable in the day of judg ment for Sodom and Gomorrha than for them." And what preached they? "They went out and preached everywhere that men should repent." Therefore we see, that to continue in sin, doing the things we will, like natural men, and not the things we ought, according to God's holy law and ordinance, is to refuse to hear the disciples and apostles of our Lord, and is sure to incur His everlasting condemnation. Let us consider also the greatness of their authority, in that they had power to bind and to loose, to make laws and unmake them, as they saw fit; and were sent in that respect with a sending like that of our Lord Himself, who said, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth;" and, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you;" "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." Therefore it cannot be that we are at liberty to do as we please in matters of religion, and to follow this rule or that rule, and hear this teacher and preacher or that teacher and preacher, as we may fancy and think fit; but only such as are sent by those who were themselves sent and commissioned in this way and for the same purpose by the apostles of our Lord, and obey and observe such rules as from time to time are ordained in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church for our use and guidance unto edification. Conscience that suggests any other duty is a perversion of the term, or it is conscience run mad. And this is the reason why they who are Christians in deed may not go sometimes to the meet ing-house and sometimes to the church; and why we may not admit to our communion those who, after being admonished, continue still to do so, which would be to encourage rebellion and impiety, and introduce confusion in the place of order, and establish heresy and schism, against which in the Litany we continually pray, instead of a right faith. The feast of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James reminds us, then, in this way, of the association of the apostles and the unity of their labours; of the strength and comfort derived from the company of persons who are actuated by one spirit, and have the same objects and pursuits in living, and the same hope in their end; of the advantages also and the promise that belongs to common prayer, of our own blessings in the enjoyment of it as on this day and in this place, and of the authority of the apostles in founding and ordering the Christian society, and of our duty and allegiance to the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Of these things, I say, the feast of St. Philip and St. James reminds us this day. The manner also in which, from ancient practice, we are accustomed to rejoice on this feast, with garlands of flowers, hath a meaning which we will not pass over without mention. The spring-tide is itself an image of the resurrection, when all nature returns, as it were, to growth and fertility, and for a garment of death puts on one of joy and life. We may learn, too, a good and useful lesson |