in company with the recipients of the Holy Spirit's bounty, you shall see and know what a power there is in true religion, and how grievously they mistake, who treat it only as a form or a ceremony. CURE FOR CARE. 1 PETER v. 7. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He IT is a bad thing to talk about what we do not understand, as if we did understand it. Of course, it is quite right and necessary to talk, if we wish to be taught. Our tongue is a noble member. We ask questions to gain information, and we put our difficulties before people, and this is often done by the voice. But then we often talk to fill up gaps of time, and we say things for the mere sake of preventing the reign of silence, which is considered stupid. Now, on religion, it is not only bad, but dangerous, to talk without proper thought or understanding. Dangerous, I say, because by such a habit holy things become like common things to us, and we lose reverence for God and truth, and our heart often becomes careless and hard. I feel this particularly as a minister of the Gospel. When I preach I do not always feel what I say. say. I M am afraid that, sometimes, perhaps, I do not understand what I say. 'Tis a sad confession to make, alas! This arises partly from the mystery which hangs around sacred things, and partly from that proneness to forgetfulness through habit, which is one of the infirmities of our nature. Again, when I call on you, you expect me to talk to you about religion. It comes as a matter of course; and, alas! too often it goes away again as a matter of course. And you talk religiously too, or try to do so, to please me, or to keep up a sense of propriety, or something or other. But you will observe in all this, if you take notice, a great deal of hollowness, a mere pretence. See how habits affect us!—And are we never to talk about religion? Oh, yes. We ought to talk about religion, but in a proper way. I never like to hear a man take the sacred Name into his lips, and talk of the LORD with as much familiarity as he talks of his neighbour. It is to me always a bad sign. I love reverence. We say and sing hymns. We read and repeat Scripture. We talk on sacred topics in too common, too worldly, a way. Let us try and be more particular. But what has this to do with the text? I will tell you. The text speaks of a great privilege which is allowed true Christians, even the privilege of casting all our anxious care on God. This is a most wonderful truth, and yet how often people talk of it, as if it were the easiest thing on earth to do; whereas, I believe, very few know anything at all about it, except in talk. |