SERMON XI.
OFFICE OF FERVENT CHARITY TOWARDS OUR FORGIVENESS.

SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION DAY.

1 S. PET. iv. 8.

"Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."

DURING these days of waiting, the days between Holy Thursday and Whitsunday, the Church will not allow us to forget the warning words, in the sound of which He departed. He will come again in "like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven." She gives us therefore a lesson for the week, which takes us on to the Last Day. "The end of all things is at hand." As surely as the heavens opened on Ascension Day to let the Son of Man, our Redeemer, pass through into heaven; so surely, and that before long, will the same heavens open again, and He will pass outwards once more, not now alone, and in humility, but in power and glory, His Angels and saints all with Him. And that will be the end of all things: the end of all these things that we see, and live amongst, here on earth: the end of caring and labouring for the body: the end of earthly schemes, fancies, and passions; of eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, planting and building. It will be the end of all these, and the beginning of heaven and of hell. It will surely be, and that before long. It is at hand: the thunders are gathering in the air. What are we to do? " Be sober, and watch unto prayer." There be will an end of eating and drinking; therefore be sober. Give not yourself over to base and filthy satisfactions, which make a man uneasy beforehand, which are gone in a moment, and are loathsome when they are over. Be sober, and be awake: " watch unto prayer." Observe, it is S. Peter who speaks: one of those who being told to watch, while his Lord was praying in the Garden, fell asleep, and that three times over: and who afterwards fell into the more grievous fault of denying his Saviour just three times. It is S. Peter who bids us all "watch unto prayer," for he knows better than most, how dearly we must pay for it, if we refuse to watch. Our Lord had said to him, "Watch, and pray," and he had not watched, and had fallen into temptation: but having recovered, he now delivers on the message to us. Our Lord had said, "he that betrayeth Me is at hand;" S. Peter says, "the end of all things is at hand." And then it is as if he added, "I did not altogether watch, and great indeed was my danger, and my escape narrow: do you try and do better than I did." Watch and pray: and before all things, be found of Him in love: take care that, when He comes, you may go out to meet Him with fervent love towards one another in your hearts. You must love: your hearts must be full of love: love to Him, love to one another: and you must love with all fervency: the fire must be kept clear and bright, or it will surely go out. Have fervent charity towards one another: keep it up, feed it, fan it, purify and quicken it. It is not to be bright only, to make a fair shew to persons at a distance, and make them think we are alive and busy: but it must have in it warmth also, genial and continual warmth, for the support and comfort of those who are close at hand. As those who have to spend the night abroad in the hot countries where lions and tigers are found, take care to make a good fire before they lie down to rest, and take turns also to watch the fire at night, this being the best way to keep off the ravenous beasts until the morning: so it behoves us, one and all, to keep up the fire of Christian love, inwardly in our hearts and outwardly in our behaviour, as long as we are in this wilderness, in the darkness or dim twilight of this dangerous world: and so to keep off that roaring lion, who goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. Our one care should be, that when He cometh, Who will come as a thief in the night, He may find us with oil in our lamps, i. e. with charity in our hearts and behaviour. Now, mark the reason alleged for this: observe the special cause set down by the chief Apostle, why we should labour above all to have fervent charity among ourselves. Of course many, very many, and very true and good reasons might have been mentioned. He might have said, "Have fervent charity, for it is the only sufficient sign of faith: have fervent charity, else you will be unlike your Lord: have fervent charity, else heaven itself, could you go there, would not make you happy." But in this place he does not say either one of these things; but the Holy Spirit guides him to say another thing equally true, and equally needful for us all to remember: "have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins:" i. e. "if you have true love for God and for one another in your hearts; if you have kept this holy fire up by the constant practice of your lives, and so are found at the last Day really loving, fervently loving both your God and your neighbour, this love will in some way or other cover and hide your sins, and shelter you from the wrath to come. The Almighty Father for Christ's sake will accept it: Christ will present it, "as He does our prayers and good works, joining all to His one only perfect Sacrifice: Christ will present it, for He is our Advocate, ever living to make intercession for us: and thus although not in the way of merit, properly so called, for in nothing can we sinful creatures make God our debtor, but according to the true way of His most merciful covenant by the Gospel, our charity will really help us to obtain pardon for our sins. The Almighty, pleased with us, will cast all our sins behind His back: i. e. He will remember them no more, He will make as though He did not see them, they shall be fully and freely forgiven.

Plainly this is the meaning of the words, "charity shall cover the multitude of sins:" plainly they refer to what will be at the last day; for the Apostle's thoughts in this place are all upon the last day. He is speaking of the end of all things; of our having to give an account as stewards; of the joyful revelation of Christ's glory. This is what the Apostle is speaking of; and not of any lesser comfort and satisfaction, how real soever, allowed us by the way. We are to draw a picture in our mind, as we read, of our Lord on His Judgement seat, and the Books opened, and the hidden things revealed according to what is there written. How then shall any man stand, since we are all born in sin, and in many things we offend all? The gracious Judge will cast, as it were, His own royal mantle over those who shall have been found in Him, in faith and in fervent charity: He will spread His skirt over His servants, accounting them His near kinsmen: He will blot out all the handwriting, all the entries that would otherwise stand against them in His account-books. Thus their charity will cover the multitude of their sins. For His Son's sake He forgave them in their Baptism their original sin, the sinful taint inherited from Adam. If they have since grievously sinned, yet upon their true confession, and turning to Him in loving penitence, He again forgave them, and gave them entire Absolution; still for His dear Son's sake. Again, as to their daily sins of infirmity, which, if despised, would grow to a most heavy burthen, like grains of sand, each one little in itself, but when heaped together, enough to sink a large vessel: these also, being daily confessed, daily renounced and striven against, will be found at the Last Day to be covered with that atoning veil of charity: as an old Father and Bishop says, "First is confession, then charity: for of charity what saith the Scripture? It covereth the multitude of sins."

But here we must be careful not to deceive ourselves. A man may think that he has this charity, and so that he will find his sins forgiven, while he is very far from it. Fervent charity is a precious medicine, made up of many ingredients: and persons may easily mistake and think it is all right, when perhaps some chief portion of the healing draught is left out. One man may depend on his good-temper, another on his warm and affectionate feelings, another on his freely parting with his money. Therefore Holy Scripture does not only tell us, as here in general, that we must have fervent charity, but mentions also in several places the chiefest and surest tokens of charity, for men to try themselves by. E. g. it is full of penitent thoughts: true love cannot bear itself for having behaved so ill to the beloved; it is not ashamed to confess; it grudges not to bear pain and self-denial; like the woman who washed our Lord's feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head: and for her reward, He Who is the Truth said of her, "Her sins which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." My brethren, are not our sins many? And how shall we ever obtain forgiveness for them, except by loving Him much, Who hath paid so dear that they might be capable of pardon? And again another Apostle, S. James, has used the very form of speaking in the text, about covering a multitude of sins. They are remarkable words, the very last words of his epistle. "If any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him: let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Here forgiveness is promised especially to one especial work of charity; converting sinners: doing good to perishing souls. Which of us all is tender and humbled in heart, from the recollection of wrong things weighing down his conscience, mingling in his prayers, chilling and damping his endeavours to please his Saviour? Let him with all his heart apply himself more and more, far more than he has done yet, to the profiting of his brethren's souls: let him not mind going out of his way, denying himself, giving more than he can well spare, if by any means he may attain to that highest honour, of being really God's instrument for the saving of one of Christ's redeemed. O how can we ever think enough of our merciful Lord's most tender and fatherly providence, in that He not only offers us pardon, but appoints, as one chief way of obtaining it, our helping, in good earnest, to the conversion of our fellow sinners! What happy meetings, to be looked forward to, hereafter in heaven! What double joy to the Angels, even now watching us on earth, when they behold each returning penitent making his own pardon sure by labouring to bring back others to repentance, and those again others, in a blessed chain, reaching, no one can tell how far! And for this among other reasons I would seriously advise every one of you, my friends, (for which of us all has not more than enough sins to be forgiven?) to give some little of his substance: to his power, yea, and beyond his power, to the missionary collections which we make half yearly among you. It is one way of helping to convert sinners from the error of their ways. Doubt not, then, that according to the Scripture it will help to hide your multitude of sins.

There are other works of charity mentioned especially by our Blessed Lord in His Sermon on the Mount, with express promise of the forgiveness of sins. One, you all know, since He has put it in your mouth to be spoken of, every time you say a prayer to Him. When ye pray, say, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." O, bear this in mind, ye sinners: take care to be very very forgiving: it will greatly help your own repentance and pardon. The Merciful One will not keep His anger for ever against you; He will chasten you, maybe, but only in love, if you, while you turn from your own faults, are free and speedy in pardoning others. Have pity on your fellow-servants, and He will have pity on you.

Again our Lawgiver said on the Mount, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Here is another most gracious help to pardon. Be candid, favourable, kind, in your sentences on others: slow to make yourself their judge: unwilling to believe or speak amiss of them. So will the Almighty more readily accept your endeavours to repent, and not be extreme to mark what is done amiss. Alas! how plain it is that Christians in general think little, far too little of their own sins; they are so very free in censuring their brethren, and making out bad meanings in all that they say and do! But why should it be always so with us? Surely we have a heavy burden of transgressions of our own; we cannot afford to part with any means of release. Christ has appointed, as one help and mean to our release, that we should not judge, should not be eager to find fault. If we judge not, He has promised that we shall not be judged. He has pointed out this as one work of that heavenly charity, which will be found at the last Day to cover a multitude of sins.

By this time, dear brethren, if you have been able to mind what was said, you will understand how that every where in Scripture forgiveness is offered to love, and to the fruits of love: and yet not a word is said, as though we by our good works could deserve or purchase it. No: the deserving and purchasing of our pardon depends, we know, on our Lord Jesus Christ entirely. "It cost more to redeem our souls:" "it is higher than heaven, what can we do? deeper than earth, where should we go?" And when Scripture speaks of love covering sins, it does not of course mean that our love, our faith, our works, any thing of ours could be a sacrifice, so as to do away with one sin. But it does mean that there are things, without which the pardon so dearly bought will not in the end be ours: it means that charity, forgiveness, conversion of other sinners, judging gently, and other good ways and works, do really help, in some way known to God, to make our pardon and cure more perfect: and, that although these things could never have obtained heaven for us, yet the neglect of these things may and will forfeit heaven, and fasten our sins freshly upon us. We could not have saved ourselves; but, being saved, we may ruin ourselves. We could not have called and elected ourselves: but we may make our calling and election sure, or we may unthankfully cast it away. Sin casts it away; love and charity make it sure. Are you then troubled at past sins? Pray and endeavour to love: busy yourself in all the works of love. Or is your care on account of your own present infirmities? Yet do all as well as you can; still love on, and be active in deeds of love; and of all things abhor known and wilful sin; for that absolutely excludes love. Your love must be fervent. You know how it is with regard to those for whom you have a partial kindness. Such in some measure ought to be your love of God: such also your charity to your brethren, as members of Christ. Those whom you love, you delight to think of: so, if you love our Lord, you will often draw nigh to Him by devout meditation and prayer. You will think of Him till your heart is full; and then you will look round and see, who of your brethren are now within your reach, to whom you have it in your power to do good. Make sure that in helping any such you are in fact helping the Lord; for each one of them is in the Lord's stead: of each one of them He will say, "Doing it unto him, ye did it unto Mef." Especially, He charges you, do what you can for the perishing souls of your brethren. Be very covetous, very ambitious to help in saving, if it may be, a soul from death. If you care little for the souls of men, be sure there is some very serious defect in your charity. You had need go over your doings again and again, and compare them with the Word of God and the love of Christ, until you are thoroughly vexed and ashamed of yourself: thoroughly touched with His love, Who is ready to pardon you all. This will help you to be really loving to your neighbour: a humble, contrite heart will help you to forbear and to forgive: a loving heart will desire that other hearts should be loving also. You will try to awaken them, that they and you may do good to one another: and so bye and bye, when you look for the account of your past sins, there will be no entry in that page: the Lord will have cast them all behind His back, they will have melted away "like the ice in the fair warm weather," and you, and those whom you charitably helped, will be on the Right Hand, will hear Christ's final Absolution, and will enter after Him into the Kingdom of Love.

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