VI–TRUE ABSTINENCE<\/p>\n
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.<\/p>\n
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.–1 COR. ix. 27.<\/p>\n
In the Collect for this day we have just been praying to God, to give
\nus grace to use such abstinence, that our flesh being subdued to our
\nspirit, we may follow His godly motions.<\/p>\n
Now we ought to have meant something when we said these words. What
\ndid we mean by them? Perhaps some of us did not understand them.
\nThey could not be expected to mean anything by them. But it is a sad
\nthing, a very sad thing, that people will come to church Sunday after
\nSunday, and repeat by rote words which they do not understand, words
\nby which they therefore mean nothing, and yet never care or try to
\nunderstand them.<\/p>\n
What are the words there for, except to be understood? All of you
\ncall people foolish, who submit to have prayers read in their
\nchurches in a foreign language, which none, at least of the poor, can
\nunderstand. But what right have you to call them foolish, if you,
\nwhose Prayer-books are written in English, take no trouble to find
\nout the meaning of them? Would to Heaven that you would try to find
\nout the meaning of the Prayer-book! Would to Heaven that the day
\nwould come, when anyone in this parish who was puzzled by any
\ndoctrine of religion, or by any text in the Bible, or word in the
\nPrayer-book, would come confidently to me, and ask me to explain it
\nto him! God knows, I should think it an honour and a pleasure, as
\nwell as a duty. I should think no time better spent than in
\nanswering your questions. I do beseech you to ask me, every one of
\nyou, when and where you like, any questions about religion which come
\ninto your minds. Why am I put in this parish, except to teach you?
\nand how can I teach you better, than by answering your questions? As
\nit is, I am disheartened, and all but hopeless, at times, about the
\nstate of this parish, and the work I am trying to do here; because,
\nthough you will come and hear me, thank God, willingly enough, you do
\nnot seem yet to have gained confidence enough in me, or to have
\nlearnt to care sufficiently about the best things, to ask questions
\nof me about them. My dear friends, if you wanted to get information
\nabout anything you really cared for, you would ask questions enough.
\nIf you wanted to know some way to a place on earth you would ask it;
\nwhy not ask your way to things better than this earth can give? But
\nwhether or not you will question me I must go on preaching to you,
\nthough whether or not you care to listen is more, alas! than I can
\ntell.<\/p>\n
But listen to me, now, I beseech you, while I try to explain to you
\nthe meaning of the words which you have been just using in this
\nCollect. You have asked God to give you grace to use abstinence.
\nNow what is the meaning of abstinence? Abstinence means abstaining,
\nrefraining, keeping back of your own will from doing something which
\nyou might do. Take an example. When a man for his health’s sake, or
\nhis purse’s sake, or any other good reason, drinks less liquor than
\nhe might if he chose, he abstains from liquor. He uses abstinence
\nabout liquor. There are other things in which a man may abstain.
\nIndeed, he may abstain from doing anything he likes. He may abstain
\nfrom eating too much; from lying in bed too long; from reading too
\nmuch; from taking too much pleasure; from making money; from spending
\nmoney; from right things; from wrong things; from things which are
\nneither right nor wrong; on all these he may use abstinence. He may
\nabstain for many reasons; for good ones, or for bad ones. A miser
\nwill abstain from all sorts of comforts to hoard up money. A
\nsuperstitious man may abstain from comforts, because he thinks God
\ngrudges them to him, or because he thinks God is pleased by the
\nunhappiness of His creatures, or because he has been taught, poor
\nwretch, that if he makes himself uncomfortable in this life, he shall
\nhave more comfort, more honour, more reason for pride and self-
\nglorification, in the life to come. Or a man may abstain from one
\npleasure, just to be able to enjoy another all the more; as some
\ngreat gamblers drink nothing but water, in order to keep their heads
\nclear for cheating. All these are poor reasons; some of them base,
\nsome of them wicked reasons for abstaining from anything. Therefore,
\nabstinence is not a good thing in itself; for if a thing is good in
\nitself, it can never be wrong. Love is good in itself, and,
\ntherefore, you cannot love anyone for a bad reason. Justice is good
\nin itself, pity is good in itself, and, therefore, you can never be
\nwrong in being just or pitiful.<\/p>\n
But abstinence is not a good thing in itself. If it were, we should
\nall be bound to abstain always from everything pleasant, and make
\nourselves as miserable and uncomfortable as possible, as some
\nsuperstitious persons used to do in old times. Abstinence is only
\ngood when it is used for a good reason. If a man abstains from
\npleasure himself, to save up for his children; if he abstains from
\nover eating and over drinking, to keep his mind clear and quiet; if
\nhe abstains from sleep and ease, in order to have time to see his
\nbusiness properly done; if he abstains from spending money on
\nhimself, in order to spend it for others; if he abstains from any
\nhabit, however harmless or pleasant, because he finds it lead him
\ntowards what is wrong, and put him into temptation; then he does
\nright; then he is doing God’s work; then he may expect God’s
\nblessing; then he is trying to do what we all prayed God to help us
\nto do, when we said, “Give us grace to use such abstinence;” then he
\nis doing, more or less, what St. Paul says he did, “Keeping his body
\nunder, and bringing it into subjection.”<\/p>\n
For, see, the Collect does not say, “Give us grace to use
\nabstinence,” as if abstinence were a good thing in itself, but “to
\nuse such abstinence, that”–to use a certain kind of abstinence, and
\nthat for a certain purpose, and that purpose a good one; such
\nabstinence that our flesh may be subdued to our spirit; that our
\nflesh, the animal, bodily nature which is in us, loving ease and
\npleasure, may not be our master, but our servant; so that we may not
\nfollow blindly our own appetites, and do just what we like, as brute
\nbeasts which have no understanding. And our flesh is to be subdued
\nto our spirit for a certain purpose; not because our flesh is bad,
\nand our spirit good; not in order that we may puff ourselves up and
\nadmire ourselves, and say, as the philosophers among the heathen
\nused, “What a strong-minded, sober, self-restraining man I am! How
\nfine it is to be able to look down on my neighbours, who cannot help
\nbeing fond of enjoying themselves, and cannot help caring for this
\nworld’s good things. I am above all that. I want nothing, and I
\nfeel nothing, and nothing can make me glad or sorry. I am master of
\nmy own mind, and own no law but my own will.” The Collect gives us
\nthe true and only reason, for which it is right to subdue our
\nappetites; which is, that we may keep our minds clear and strong
\nenough to listen to the voice of God within our hearts and reasons;
\nto obey the motions of God’s Spirit in us; not to make our bodies our
\nmasters, but to live as God’s servants.<\/p>\n
This is St. Paul’s meaning, when he speaks of keeping under his body,
\nand bringing it into subjection. The exact word which he uses,
\nhowever, is a much stronger one than merely “keeping under;” it means
\nsimply, to beat a man’s face black and blue; and his reason for using
\nsuch a strong word about the matter is, to show us that he thought no
\nlabour too hard, no training too sharp, which teaches us how to
\nrestrain ourselves, and keep our appetites and passions in manful and
\ngodly control.<\/p>\n
Now, a few verses before my text, St. Paul takes an example from
\nfoot-racers. “These foot-racers,” he says, “heathens though they
\nare, and only trying to win a worthless prize, the petty honour of a
\ncrown of leaves, see what trouble they take; how they exercise their
\nlimbs; how careful and temperate they are in eating and drinking, how
\nmuch pain and fatigue they go through to get themselves into perfect
\ntraining for a race. How much more trouble ought we to take to make
\nourselves fit to do God’s work? For these foot-racers do all this
\nonly to gain a garland which will wither in a week; but we, to gain a
\ngarland which will never fade away; a garland of holiness, and
\nrighteousness, and purity, and the likeness of Jesus Christ.”<\/p>\n
The next example of abstinence which St. Paul takes, is from the
\nprize-fighters, who were very numerous and very famous, in the
\ncountry in which the Corinthians lived. “I fight,” he says, “not
\nlike one who beats the air;” that is, not like a man who is only
\nbrandishing his hands and sparring in jest, but like a man who knows
\nthat he has a fight to fight in hard earnest; a terrible lifelong
\nfight against sin, the world, and the devil; “and, therefore,” he
\nsays, “I do as these fighters do.” They, poor savage and brutal
\nheathens as they are, go through a long and painful training. Their
\nvery practice is not play; it is grim earnest. They stand up to
\nstrike, and be struck, and are bruised and disfigured as a matter of
\ncourse, in order that they may learn not to flinch from pain, or lose
\ntheir tempers, or turn cowards, when they have to fight. “And so do
\nI,” says St. Paul; “they, poor men, submit to painful and
\ndisagreeable things to make them brave in their paltry battles. I
\nsubmit to painful and disagreeable things, to make me brave in the
\ngreat battle which I have to fight against sin, and ignorance, and
\nheathendom.” “Therefore,” he says, in another place, “I take
\npleasure in afflictions, in persecutions, in necessities, in
\ndistresses;” and that not because those things were pleasant, they
\nwere just as unpleasant to him as to anyone else; but because they
\ntaught him to bear, taught him to be brave; taught him, in short, to
\nbecome a perfect man of God.<\/p>\n
This is St. Paul’s account of his own training: in the Epistle for
\nto-day we have another account of it; a description of the life which
\nhe led, and which he was content to lead–“in much suffering, in
\nstripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watching, in
\nfastings”–and an account, too, of the temper which he had learnt to
\nshow amid such a life of vexation, and suffering, and shame, and
\ndanger–“approving himself in all things the minister of God, by
\npureness, by wisdom, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the spirit of
\nholiness, by love unfeigned;” “as dying, and behold we live; as
\nchastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as
\npoor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all
\nthings.”–In all things proving himself a true messenger from God, by
\nbeing able to dare and to endure for God’s sake, what no man ever
\nwould have dared and endured for his own sake.<\/p>\n
“But”–someone may say–“St. Paul was an apostle; he had a great work
\nto do in the world; he had to turn the heathen to God; and it is
\nlikely enough that he required to train himself, and keep strict
\nwatch over all his habits, and ways of thinking and behaving, lest he
\nshould grow selfish, lazy, cowardly, covetous, fond of ease and
\namusement. He had, of course, to lead a life of strange suffering
\nand danger; and he had therefore to train himself for it. But what
\nneed have we to do as St. Paul did?”<\/p>\n
Just as much need, my good friends, if you could see it.<\/p>\n
Which of us has not to lead a life of suffering? We shall each and
\nall of us, have our full share of trouble before we die, doubt it
\nnot.<\/p>\n
And which of us has not to lead a life of danger? I do not mean
\nbodily danger; of that, there is little enough–perhaps too little–
\nin England now; but of danger to our hearts, minds, characters? Oh,
\nmy friends, I pity those who do not think themselves in danger every
\nday of their lives, for the less danger they see around them, the
\nmore danger there is. There is not only the common danger of
\ntemptation, but over and above it, the worse danger of not knowing
\ntemptation when it comes. Who will be most likely to walk into pits
\nand mires upon the moor–the man who knows that they are there around
\nhim, or the man who goes on careless and light of heart, fancying
\nthat it is all smooth ground? Woe to you, young people, if you fancy
\nthat you are to have no woe! Danger to you, young people, if you
\nfancy yourselves in no danger!<\/p>\n
“This is sad and dreary news”–some of you may say. Ay, my friends,
\nit would be sad and dreary news indeed; and this earth would be a
\nvery sad and dreary place; and life with all its troubles and
\ntemptations, would not be worth having, if it were not for the
\nblessed news which the Gospel for this day brings us. That makes up
\nfor all the sadness of the Epistle; that gives us hope; that tells us
\nof one who has been through life, and through death too, yet without
\nsin. That tells us of one who has endured a thousand times more
\ntemptation than we ever shall, a thousand times more trouble than we
\never shall, and yet has conquered it all; and that He who has thus
\nbeen through all our temptations, borne all our weaknesses, is our
\nKing, our Saviour, who loves us, who teaches us, who has promised us
\nHis Holy Spirit, to make us like Himself, strong, brave, and patient,
\nto endure all that man or devil, or our own low animal tempers and
\nlusts, can do to hurt us. The Gospel for this day tells us how He
\nwent and was alone in the wilderness with the wild beasts, and yet
\ntrusted in God, His Father and ours, to keep Him safe. How He went
\nwithout food forty days and nights, and yet in His extreme hunger,
\nrefused to do the least self-willed or selfish thing to get Himself
\nfood. Is that no lesson, no message of hope for the poor man who is
\ntempted by hunger to steal, or tempted by need to do a mean and
\nselfish thing, to hear that the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore need and
\nhunger far worse than his, understands all his temptations, and feels
\nfor him, and pities him, and has promised him God’s Spirit to make
\nhim strong, as He himself was?<\/p>\n
Is it no comfort to young people who are tempted to vanity, and
\ndisplay, and self-willed conceited longings, tempted to despise the
\nadvice of their parents and elders, and set up for themselves, and
\nchoose their own way–Is it no good news, I say, for them to hear
\nthat their Lord and Saviour was tempted to it also, and conquered
\nit?–That He will teach them to answer the temptation as He did, when
\nHe refused even to let angels hold Him over the temple, up between
\nearth and heaven, for a sign and a wonder to all the Jews, because
\nGod His Father had not bidden Him to do it, and therefore He would
\nnot tempt the Lord His God?<\/p>\n
Is it no good news, again, to those who are tempted to do perhaps one
\nlittle outward wrong thing, to yield on some small point to the ways
\nof the world, in order to help themselves on in life, to hear that
\ntheir Lord and Saviour conquered that temptation too?–That he
\nrefused all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, when
\nthe devil offered them, because he knew that the devil could not give
\nthem to Him; that all wealth, and power, and glory belonged to God,
\nand was to be got only by serving Him?<\/p>\n
Oh do you all, young people especially, think of this. As you grow
\nup and go out into life, you will be tempted in a hundred different
\nways, by things which are pleasant–everyone knows that they are
\npleasant enough–but wrong. One will be tempted to be vain of dress;
\nanother to be self-conceited; another to be lazy and idle; another to
\nbe extravagant and roving; another to be over fond of amusement;
\nanother to be over fond of money; another to be over fond of liquor;
\nanother to go wrong, as too many young men and young women do, and
\nbring themselves, and those with whom they keep company, and whom
\nthey ought, if they really love them, to respect and honour, down
\ninto sin and shame. You will all be tempted, and you will all be
\ntroubled; one by poverty, one by sickness, one by the burden of a
\nfamily, one by being laughed at for trying to do right. But
\nremember, oh remember, whenever a temptation comes upon you, that the
\nblessed Jesus has been through it all, and conquered all, and that
\nHis will is, that you shall be holy and pure like Him, and that,
\ntherefore, if you but ask Him, He will give you strength to keep
\npure. When you are tempted, pray to Him: the struggle in your own
\nminds will, no doubt, be very great; it will be very hard work for
\nyou–sin looks so pleasant on the outside! Poor souls, it is a sad
\nstruggle for you! Many a poor young fellow, who goes wrong, deserves
\nrather to be pitied than to be punished. Well then, if no man else
\nwill pity him, Jesus, the Man of all men, will. Pray to Him! Cry
\naloud to Him! Ask Him to make you stout-hearted, patient, really
\nmanful, to fight against temptation. Ask Him to give you strength of
\nmind to fight against all bad habits. Ask Him to open your eyes to
\nsee when you are in danger. Ask Him to help you to keep out of the
\nway of temptation. Ask Him, in short, to give you grace to use such
\nabstinence that your flesh may be subdued to your spirit. And then
\nyou will not follow, as the beasts do, just what seems pleasant to
\nyour flesh; no, you will be able to obey Christ’s godly motions, that
\nis, to do, as well as to love, the good desires which He puts into
\nyour hearts. You will do not merely what is pleasant, but what is
\nright; you will not be your own slaves, you will be your own masters,
\nand God’s loyal and obedient sons; you will not be, as too many are,
\nmere animals going about in the shape of men, but truly men at heart,
\nwho are not afraid of pain, poverty, shame, trouble, or death itself,
\nwhen they are in the right path, about the work to which God has
\ncalled them.<\/p>\n
But if you ask Christ to make true men and women of you, you must
\nbelieve that He will give you what you ask; if you ask Him to help
\nyou, you must believe that He will and does help you–you must
\nbelieve that it is He Himself who has put into your hearts the very
\ndesire of being holy and strong at all; and therefore you must
\nbelieve that you can help yourselves. Help yourselves, and He will
\nhelp you. If you ask for His help, He will give it. But what is the
\nuse of His giving it, if you do not use it? To him who has shall be
\ngiven, and he shall have more; but from him who has not shall be
\ntaken away even what he seems to have. Therefore do not merely pray,
\nbut struggle and try YOURSELVES. Train yourselves as St. Paul did;
\ntrain yourselves to keep your temper; train yourselves to bear
\nunpleasant things for the sake of your duty; train yourselves to keep
\nout of temptation; train yourselves to be forgiving, gentle, thrifty,
\nindustrious, sober, temperate, cleanly, as modest as little children
\nin your words, and thoughts, and conduct. And God, when He sees you
\ntrying to be all this, will help you to be so. It may be hard to
\neducate yourselves. Life is a hard business at best–you will find
\nit a thousand times harder, though, if you are slaves to your own
\nfleshly sins. But the more you struggle against sin, the less hard
\nyou will find it to fight; the more you resist the devil, the more he
\nwill flee from you; the more you try to conquer your own bad
\npassions, the more God will help you to conquer them; it may be a
\nhard battle, but it is a sure one. No fear but that everyone can, if
\nhe will, work out his own salvation, for it is God Himself who works
\nin us to will and to do of His good pleasure. All you have to do is
\nto give yourselves up to Him, to study His laws, to labour as well as
\nlong to keep them, and He will enable you to keep them; He will teach
\nyou in a thousand unexpected ways; He will daily renew and strengthen
\nyour hearts by the working of His Spirit, that you may more and more
\nknow, and love, and do, what is right; and you will go on from
\nstrength to strength, to the height of perfect men, to the likeness
\nof Jesus Christ the Lord, who conquered all human temptations for
\nyour sake, that He might be a high-priest who can be touched with the
\nfeeling of our infirmities, because He was tempted in all points like
\nas we are, yet without sin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VI–TRUE ABSTINENCE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.–1 COR. ix. 27. In the Collect for this day we have just been praying to God, to give us grace to use such abstinence, that our flesh being subdued to our spirit, we may follow His godly motions. Now…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}