everywhere whose characters are such that if they remain what they are, Christ’s gospel never can fill the whole earth, for it cannot fill their hearts. You know the men, they call themselves God’s dear people, and they would be dear if they were given away; certainly no one would buy them at the lowest price in the world. They say that they are his precious ones, and they must be very precious, or else he never would have any thoughts of mercy towards such a set as they are. And they will sometimes say, “Ah! we are the Lord’s elect”; and they live in sin. They say there are very few of their sort, and we reply, “What a mercy!” If there were we would need many of our public buildings to be turned at once into jails, to lock up such people. No, we do not believe in the characters of men who make a profession of religion, and yet do not live up to it. Do not tell us about such profession; just be quiet altogether. Do not call yourselves religious, and yet act as others do. I do prefer a man that is a right down blustering sinner when he is at it. Do not let him go into sin, and then mask and cover it all up. There is no use in it. The man is not honest. I do think there is some hope for a man who is a downright, thorough-bred sinner, that goes at it and is not ashamed of it; but a rascally, raving hypocrite, that comes crawling into our church, and yet lives in sin all the while — such a man — God Almighty may save him, but it is very seldom that he does save such people. He lets them go on, and reap the fruit of their own ways; he lets them find out, after all, that hypocrisy is a sure road to hell, and never can lead to heaven. We must look well to ourselves, by God’s Spirit, or else we must not pray this prayer: “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.”
16. And there is my friend Mr. Save-all. I am sure he cannot pray this prayer; at least I think I hear him in his soul say, “Oh Lord, let the whole earth be filled with your glory.” A contribution is requested to assist the cause in so doing. Oh! no, not at all. Like the old negro woman we have all heard of, who sang, “Fly abroad, you mighty gospel,” and put her eye up in such a devout frame, that her brother negro who was passing the plate that day could not get her to pay any attention to him, until he jogged her elbow, and said, “Yes, sissy, it is well enough to sing, ‘Fly abroad, you mighty gospel’; if you would give it wings then it might, but you are just singing this and doing nothing at all.” Now, what is the good of a man singing, “Fly abroad, you mighty gospel,” and praying this prayer, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory,” if he has six thousand pounds a year coming in for doing nothing at all? It is no use for a man to put on a pair of long sleeves, and say, “Oh, it is my devout desire that the whole earth may be filled with his glory,” and then leave the world to stare at him and consider what good he is. It is no use for a man simply to be a curate or something of that sort, buy his manuscripts cheap, come up and read off two sermons twenty minutes long, go home with a good conscience that he has done his duty twice, and then say, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” Why, my friends, there is no chance of it if that is the way it is to be done, not the slightest in the world; to cry, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory,” and then stand still and do nothing at all; or merely do some nominal well paid work, and feel it is all over. We need something in the ministry a little different before even ministers can pray this prayer in sincerity. I am not finding fault with any of my brethren, but I would recommend them to preach thirteen times a week, and then they can pray this prayer a little better. Three times a week would not do for me. It would hurt my constitution; preaching thirteen times a week is good healthy exercise. But you shut yourself up in your study, or what is ten times worse, you do nothing at all, but just take it easy all the week until the Sunday comes, and then borrow a sermon out of an old magazine, or buy one of the helps for ministers, or take down one of Charles Simeon’s skeletons and preach it. My good man, you cannot pray in that fashion. The poorest Sunday School teacher has a better right to pray that prayer than you have. You go to a fire that is raging vehemently, and say, “Oh, let it be put out!” and stand with your hands in your pockets, while a little boy that is standing there and passing the bucket may pray that prayer sincerely, but you cannot. No, my brethren, you must be up and doing for your Master, or else you cannot pray this prayer. You say, “I am doing my duty”; but my friend, that is not much use; you must do a little more than that; doing your duty, as you think, is often doing only a very small part of your duty. What is a man’s duty? “Why, as much as he is paid for, Sir.” Oh, no, I think not; a man’s duty is to do whatever his hand finds to do, with all his might; and until he does that he cannot with any sincerity offer this prayer, “Let the whole world be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.” Ah, there are some here that I could mention, who by their unparalleled philanthropy; by their unique and unrivalled love of their fellow creatures, have done much to fill the earth with God’s glory; for they have let the world see what Christian men and Christian women are able to do when God’s love has touched their hearts. There are to be found some who by devoting themselves to the service of their Master, and spending and being spent for him, have done much to heighten the opinion of the world towards Christianity, and make them think better of the Christian church than they would have done if it had not been for these few rare, mighty heroes in the midst of us. “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.” But it cannot be, speaking after the manner of men, unless we each of us labour and endeavour as God shall help us, to extend the kingdom of our Master.
17. And now, my friends, have I been urging you to an impossible task? Have I been telling Christian men to pray for what never can be granted? Ah! no, blessed be God, we are taught to pray for nothing but what God has been pleased to give. He has told us to pray that his kingdom may come, and his kingdom will come, and come most assuredly, too. Listen! listen! listen! I hear mustering for the battle; there in the dim distance I see the armies gathering; yes, I can dimly see their ensign, and behold the flag that waves before them! Who are these that come? Who are these? These are nobler and better men than we! These are warriors of Christ, as yet, perhaps, unborn. These are the mighty men, the rearguard; these are the imperial guard of heaven, who have been fighting long. The enemy has sometimes fled, but so far we have achieved very little, the phalanx of the foe stands still fast and firm, and we have blunted our blades against the shields of the mighty. As yet the victory is not complete; the Master stands on the hill with his reserve. Lo! I see them — they are coming, they are coming. Some of us shall live to see them — men those tongues are made of fire, whose hearts are full of flame, who speak like angels and preach like cherubim! The men are coming, and happy shall the man be that marks the triumph; each tramp of theirs shall be the tramp of victory, each blast of theirs shall level walls of spiritual Jerichos, each blow of their horn shall clear an acre of valiant foes; each stroke from their sword shall cleave a dragon; and every blow from their arm shall be mighty to overturn thrones and sceptres and kings! They come, they come; and until they come what shall we do? — Why fight on and hold our posts. But lo! they come. Let us be cheered with the thought that victory is certain. The hour comes when this mighty band of heroes shall sweep the earth with the banner of victory. And when in years to come, you and I shall look upon the plain of battle, we shall see there an idol broken, there a colossal system of wickedness dashed in pieces, there a false prophet slain, there a deluder cast away. Oh! glorious shall be that day when victory shall be complete; when the horse and the rider shall be overthrown; when the battle that is without blood and without smoke, without rolling of garments of warriors, shall be completed by the shout of victory through him who has loved us.
18. Beloved, we will wait awhile. We will still continue on this side with our Master; for though we are fighters now, we shall be winners by and by. Yes, man, woman, you who are unknown, unnoted, but are striving for your Master, by prayer, and praise, and labour, the day is coming when everyone of you shall have a crown of victory! The hour is coming when your heart shall beat high, for you shall share the conquest; those men who are coming, without whom we cannot be made perfect, shall not have all the honour. We who have borne the brunt of the fight shall have a share of the glory; the victors shall divide the spoil, and we shall divide the spoil with them. You, tried, afflicted, forgotten and unknown, you shall soon have the palm branch in your hand, and you shall ride in triumph through the streets of earth and heaven, when your Master shall make show of principalities and powers publicly, in the day of his victory! Only still continue, only wrestle on, and you shall be crowned.
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