SERMON XIV. NATURE OF SAVING FAITH. By the Right Rev. JOHN BIRD SUMNER, D.D., MATTHEW xi. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. IN In my former discourses on the verse which precedes this text, I explained, that the invitation of our Lord, "Come unto me," is addressed to all, since all require it; and may be accepted by all: for those "that come unto him, he will in no wise cast out." I showed that it is encouraging-for it is made to those who labor with the business, cares, sorrows, and temptations of life; and that it is merciful, since it is made to those who are heavy laden with the burden of sin, and promises rest unto their souls. I proceed now to explain the words, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me. This is as much as to say, Devote yourselves to me: give your lives up to my service. Yoke, is the sign of service. Those who, with us are free servants, in ancient times were slaves; slaves taken in war, or bought for money; and, therefore, bearing a master's yoke which they could in no way cast off. Hence St. Paul's exhortation: "Let as many servants as are under the yoke," i. e., Let slaves, when converted to Christianity,"count their masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed." The phrase, then, means neither more nor less than this: Enter by faith into my service, and live as obeying a Master who is in heaven. But the expression has still greater propriety, when we remember that the persons to whom this command was given, were at present under the law of Moses, and, in fact, slaves to the Phari sees, who pretended to interpret the law, and in so doing loaded their countrymen with burdens grievous to be borne. In allusion to this, our meek and lowly Saviour takes up the word: Come unto me, ye who have long labored under the scrupulous attachment to outward ceremonies, by which the Scribes and Pharisees attempt to make up for their neglect of true and pure religion: you have been hitherto enslaved by sin, or if you have desired to turu towards God, the Pharisees have given you the shadow instead of the substance of religion; sackcloth and ashes, the mere appearance of contrition, in place of a tender and penitent heart; and cold, unmeaning forms, instead of true and spiritual worship: turn from these, and cnter into my service, for I have none of their self-righteousness or pride: and ye shall find rest unto your souls as only my religion can give. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: come to me in faith, and serve me in obedience: receive from me, as a servant is bound to receive from his master, what is and must be the character of those who enjoy my favor and reward. Such is the meaning of our Saviour's command, Take my yoke upon you-of HIS command, who bore a heavy yoke indeed for you; who put off the robe of divine glory which he had worn from the beginning with God, and took upon him, the burden of the flesh; the infirmities and pains of our weak and weary nature; so that having himself suffered, being tempted, he is better able to succour them that are tempted. Surely you are disposed to exclaim, We obey, O merciful Saviour; we receive thy call; we desire to throw off from this moment the yoke of Satan and of this world, as far as this world might detain us from thee, and to present ourselves, our souls and bodies, to thy reasonable and holy service: we resolve afresh to believe what thou has revealed, and to obey what thou commandest as necessary to our salvation. Do thou confirm our faith, and succor our weakness. The first thing which those would resolve who had thus surrendered themselves to a rightful Lord, would be diligently to seek and examine what faith and what obedience he required. And so our Saviour adds, learn of me. What is offered to our faith, as far as concerns himself, though all-important, is comprehended within a short compass; it is briefly this: mankind were lost, and he appeared to save them; we were under the dominion of Satan, whom he came to subdue; were condemned under the wrath of God to the just punishment of sin, which punishment he underwent in his own person. This is the truth, the main truth of the whole Gospel, that if any individual among us, or in the world, is saved from the penalty of sin, that man owes his salvation to the ransom paid by Jesus Christ; and also further, that He is ready to save from that penalty, and to present pure and blameless before the Lord, at the last day, every individual in the world or among ourselves, who comes to him and bears his yoke as a Redeemer and a Lord. This is the faith which we must take home to our souls, in order that the benefits which he has procured may be effectual to ourselves. This is the faith to which salvation is universally promised in the Gospel. I shall now consider the nature of that faith; the nature of that trust or confidence in Jesus Christ, which we emphatically term FAITH; and perhaps, what it is may be best explained by showing what it is not: as lights and marks are raised on a dangerous coast, not to signify the channel in which a ship should sail, but the sands and rocks which it should avoid. If I can succeed in discovering the insufficient notions which fall far short of real faith, though often mistaken for it, I may be better able to point out that which is indeed the way to eternal life. I. First, then, SAVING FAITH, that faith, to which God, by a merciful covenant, has annexed an everlasting reward, is not a mere historical belief; i. e. a belief, that eighteen hundred years ago, a person called Jesus Christ came into the world with a Divine commission, and effected a great change in the religion of mankind. This is indeed a true fact, and the basis of all faith; but it is only the first step towards the faith of a Christian. It is a point of history, which comes down to us on such strong and various evidence, that it is impossible we should deny it; but this mere assent which our reason cannot refuse to a known fact, can no more secure our salvation, than our assent to any other historical truth. For consider, that if this were saving faith, the grossest sinner or blasphemer might be saved: for even those "who make a mock at sin," and have not the most distant thoughts of obeying the Gospel, will readily confess, that Jesus taught an excellent system of laws for the use of mankind; and that after a life spent in benevolence and mortification, he suffered an unjust death upon cross; and that a religion, called after his name, and the framed according to his doctrines and commands, has been since diffused throughout the world. The very blasphemers of the Bible acknowledge this. I shall not delay upon a point so plain; and shall only add, upon the authority of St. James, that if this general assent to the historical facts of Christ's life and death were all that is required, the devils themselves might be saved. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:" but beware of thinking mere belief of this sufficient; remember "the devils also believe and tremble." Thus the Apostle warns his disciples, by a terrible instance, to beware how they satisfied themselves with a heartless assent to a truth which it was impossible they should deny, but which had no effect upon their lives. II. An historical faith, then, is not effectual to salvation; neither, 2ndly, is a nominal or baptismal faith. By these terms, I mean to signify that faith which is generally and indiscriminately professed by all persons in a Christian country. They are baptized in their infancy in the name of Christ; an inestimable privilege which gives them "the means of grace," and sets before them "the hope of glory:" they learn the Church Catechism; at a riper age they are confirmed: they attend public worship with tolerable regularity: they preserve a decent reputation; and if any one were to hazard a doubt of their religious principles, they would be surprised and angry. Neither would it be justifiable to say, without reserve, that their's is not a saving faith; for these external signs are presumptive evidence in their favor; and it is for God, not man, to judge the heart; but we may, and must say, on the authority of Scripture, that if they have only these external signs, they are far from that belief of the heart to which the promises of the Gospel are made. Baptism is an admission to the blessings of that merciful covenant, by which the Father has consented to bestow eternal life on as many as receive Jesus Christ for the Author of their salvation: but observe, there are two parties to the covenant; and he who is baptized and called a Christian, engages, on his side, to forsake "the world, the flesh, and the devil," and to lead a spiritual life, making the commands of God and the injunctions of the Gospel his rule throughout. I need not tell you, that all who are baptized do not lead this life; and all who do not lead it, make void the covenant, by not fulfilling its conditions. How many members of the visible church, how many who do not abstain from the public duties of religion, are contented to live on in the tacit violation of all they profess, and in virtual contradiction of all they hear; making the revealed will of God their law, only as far as it agrees with the practise of the world, or with their own inclination, or with the habits of their friends and neighbors. Neglecting the regular study of the Scriptures, they know little of the extent of those obligations which the Gospel imposes on its followers: and neglecting private prayer, they deprive themselves of that grace by which they might be enabled both to see "the truth as it is in Jesus," and to practice it. In the ordinary course of their lives, even if they are externally decorous and useful, they think nothing of that first and great commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. Their good works, are they done from a single principle of obedience to Christ, as their Lord and King? as offerings of gratitude for mercies, inestimable mercies received; as evidence to the world that they desire to follow him, and him alone, as their guide, and teacher, and great example? It is an awful reflection, my brethren, but Christ assures us that many who outwardly profess his name, and have perhaps been highly esteemed on earth, are not his, neither will he acknowledge them when he comes to judgment. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. III There is another species of faith which goes beyond either the historical or the nominal faith which I have described, and yet stops very far short of the faith inculcated in the Gospel. This, I shall term a partial faith. A partial faith entertains a vague idea of Christ as the Saviour of the world; but fails of of placing an entire reliance upon him for personal salvation. There are many persons who are ready to confess the obligations owed by all mankind to Jesus Christ, and who are not without an indistinct notion of certain mercies which they themselves have received through him; but are far, very far from taking home to themselves, and feeling in their own hearts, that their own individual salvation is only due to him; that their peace was his purchase; that his death was eternal life to them. In language, perhaps, they may profess to trust in Christ, and to acknowledge the mercies of which he is the Author; but when you pierce deeper, and examine the heart, it becomes very plain that the |