A Boston Unitarian (in Philadelphia) Sabbath Prayer

William Henry Furness (on the right with his lifelong friends Ralph Waldo Emerson and Samuel Bradford) was a Unitarian Minister and scholar best known for his abolitionism and his controversial works on Jesus of Nazareth.
Furness was the minister of First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia from 1825 to 1875.
I will write and exerpt much from Rev. Furness on this blog, but for today this prayer from his wonderful collection of Morning, Evening, and Occasional Prayers called Domestic Worship.

SUNDAY MORNING
OUR Father who art in heaven, again the sun has risen at thy command. Through thine unsleeping providence, refreshed by slumber, we stand upon the threshold of another day, a day of rest, of meditation, of worship and of prayer. May it be sanctified in the outward observance and in spirit and in truth. Let that holy light, of which the sun shining in the firmament is but a dim symbol, dawn upon our souls, dispelling unhallowed thoughts, revealing thy glorious presence, and leading us onward to that better life upon which, through thy grace, we may enter when we will. May this day, by the use which we make of its opportunities, by the answers of peace which it brings to our prayers, by the cleansing influences which it dispenses, prove a day never to be forgotten, a day worth ten thousand spent in the ways of the world.
O God, our Maker, who alone canst give us the light that we need, unseal our spiritual vision. Make us to discern the greatness of the grace which this day commemorates. It speaks of thine abundant mercy, of that best gift of thine, thy holy child Jesus, who appeared among men in the power of thy spirit and in the fulness of thy divinity, and the world saw in him the glory as of an only Son of God. Glad tidings of great joy he .brought from heaven to earth, tidings of infinite love and immortal hope. Teach us the value of these gracious messages, that we may know how to thank Thee, that the hymns and praises that we utter this day may be the prompting and the tribute of our souls. Let our faith be not in word but in power. May the spirit of thy Son be our spirit, the spring of our conduct, giving us strength to avoid every form of evil, and to cleave amidst all temptations to thy law, even although it should command the cutting off of the right hand or the plucking out of the right eye. And then, when Christ is thus formed within us, enthroned among our affections, then shall we be found meet for thy sanctuary ; for who, O Lord, shall stand before Thee but they that have clean hands and pure hearts. Then too shall we know its priceless worth, when we have once tasted, by personal experience, of the heavenly gift. Then shall we bring no dead offering, but a living sacrifice, and our praises shall rise like incense up to the very throne of God. And Thou, ever more ready to give than we are to ask, wilt delight to pour down upon us more abundant measures of truth and holiness. So, by true spiritual worship, by the private meditations and the public services of this day, we shall go from grace to grace and from strength to strength, until we stand for ever in thy presence. Merciful Father, we mourn that these our best desires are so faint, that we are so fondly attached to the things that perish, to the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, so seldom and so faintly impressed with the guilt of our ingratitude and disobedience, and that we live so willingly without God and a true hope. Increase our sorrow for our un- worthiness, and make it that godly sorrow which will quicken us to instant and thorough amendment. Encompass our minds this day with thoughts of heaven. Give thine angels charge concerning us that our feet may never more stumble, that we may run with patience the race that is set before us, in the straight and narrow way, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, and flinging aside every besetting sin. O come, thou Spirit of truth, come and take up thine abode evermore in our souls. Be the life of our lives, a fountain springing up within us to everlasting life, that we may never thirst again, and that these waste places, our hearts, may become like Eden, like the garden of the Lord. Almighty God, may thy kingdom be advanced in all hearts this day. May the truth, as it is in Jesus, be everywhere faithfully proclaimed, and received into honest and good minds, where it shall spring up and bring forth the immortal fruits of holy living. Send its blessed consolations into afflicted souls, and let it bind up the broken hearted and give liberty to the captive. May it be like a sword to pierce the hearts of the thoughtless and the rebellious ; and let all who profess and call themselves Christians depart from iniquity, and lead godly and peaceable lives, and glorify thy Son and his gospel, and Thee, the God and Father of all ; and thine shall be the praise for ever and ever. Amen.

Make the Sabbath "a day worth ten thousand spent in the ways of the world." Amen

we vegetate merely...

William Henry Furness (1802-1896) was born in Boston and attended Harvard Divinity School before becoming pastor of the then small Unitarian congregation in Philadelphia, a position he would hold for 50 years (followed by 21 as minister emeritus.)  More on Furness over the next few days.  Today, an excerpt from the sermon, "Stand Upon Thy Feet:"

"SON OF MAN, STAND UPON THY FEET, AND I WILL SPEAK UNTO THEE."  Ezekiel 2:1

Such is the word of the Lord that came to an ancient prophet. How truly is the same word addressed to every son of man! " Stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee."

Truth is the word of the Lord. To hear that word spoken to us by God himself, or, in other words meaning exactly the same thing, to know the Truth as clearly as if it were sounded in our ears by a supernatural voice, the indispensable condition is, that we stand upon our feet, upright.

Who is there that is thus standing ? Thousands lie bound hand and foot by those appetites that seek their food in the dust, and are deaf to everything but their own indulgence. And they hear not the voice of Truth, even when the very ground under them shakes and yawns at its thunders...

We are, or profess to be, greatly shocked by any speculations that so much as seem to bring into question the being and providence of God. Yet we are ourselves, to all vital purposes, fearfully atheistic. There is an atheism that infects us, which is the only kind of this form of unbelief that is worthy of any attention, or should cause any alarm. And this it is, alienation from the great Source of Life, that causes beings so rarely organized, so miraculously endowed, to live and die without exerting the power that we may. We vegetate merely. Or we are machines set in motion by external influences, or the abject victims, broken in spirit and strength, of low desires which use us at their will. We might be godlike spirits, in intimate communion with the Highest Power, victorious over all obstructions, and rendering all things subservient to our triumphs. But we are not. And the reason why we are not is, that we have not centred ourselves in God. We have no conviction of His being overpowering all other loves and fears. There is a superstitious reverence for His name; but He, whom even religious people profess to believe in, is scarcely anything more than a name, the tradition, the phantom, of a God."

Blessings

see all things as they are...

I often turn, in my morning devotions, to William Henry Furness' collection of prayers, "Domestic Worship." I find them especially valuable during those times when my prayer life is a little...dry. This, the conclusion to a morning prayer...(See here or search this blog for Furness for much more)

"Grant, O our Father, that this day, whether it be a day of gladness or of sorrow, may be spent acceptably to Thee, and profitably to ourselves. Sanctify to our best good whatever trials it may bring, and may thoughts of thy love heighten all its enjoyments. As we have eyes to see, let us not look idly and in vain upon the great spectacle of life, but from all its changes may we draw wisdom and strength, and see all things as they are, and neglect nothing that is important, and magnify nothing that is trifling. Through all events, thy spirit is for ever teaching lessons of heavenly import. As we have ears to hear, may we take heed how we hear. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen."

Blessings

A likeness to thy Son...

For the most part, western churches do not include the Sundays during lent among the 40 days as Sunday looks to Easter in its celebration of the triumph of Jesus over death. In this book of devotions, Laura Tilden (daughter of William Phillips Tilden and compiler of this devotional) includes scripture and, usually, a hymn (this week by William Henry Furness)

(The picture I have included is a detail of picture I remember so vividly hanging in my Grandparent's home when I was growing up. It was framed in ornate plastic and, for some reason, I remember it as backlit, thus providing a glow. It is, and always will be, a central visual representation of Jesus for me.

The First Sunday in Lent (Scripture Readings)

"DESPISEST thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. our Lord.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. . . .
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans)

_______________________________________________________

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. (Hymn)

I FEEL within a want
Forever burning there.

What I so thirst for, grant,

O Thou who hearest prayer

This is the thing I crave, —

A likeness to thy Son :

This would I rather have

Than call the world my own

'Tis my most fervent prayer;

Be it more fervent still ;

Be it my highest care ;

Be it my settled will.

William Henry Furness.

Have a blessed Sabbath.

an active heart knowledge...

Yesterday, Rev. Furness asked, "What is the mystery of the Gospel of Christ?"  Today, the beginning of his answer.

"...with what confident familiarity do some people talk of " the scheme" of the Gospel, as if they saw through it all, and knew exactly the design of the Almighty in sending Christ into the world !

It is not my present design to attempt anything of this kind. I cannot tell the final purpose of God. The question is: What is the office which Christianity is to discharge here and now ? What special advantage do we receive from it ?

The office of Christianity is discharged, its meaning is interpreted to all our intents and purposes, when we are reached and moved by the divine force of the personal character of Jesus Christ. This is "the glory of this mystery, Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ in you, not mystically, not by any extraordinary union of his nature and yours, but in you, through an active heart-knowledge of his divine excellence; in you, as every friend whom you revere is in your heart, animating that with lively sentiments of reverence and affection. We are baptized, we are regenerated, we are members of his body and his Church, when the life of his personal character circulates in our being, kindling us into a like beneficent activity. Then we have obtained from Christianity its chief good. It is accomplishing its main work in us."

Blessings

what is this that stirs within...

This poem from the quite wonderful minister in Philadelphia, William Henry Furness...














"THE SOUL
What is this that stirs within,
Loving goodness, hating sin,
Always craving to be blest,
Finding here below no rest?

Nought that charms the ear or eye
Can its hunger satisfy;
Active, restless, it would pierce
Through the outward universe.

What is it? and whither? whence?
This unsleeping, secret sense,
Longing for its rest and food
In some hidden, untried good?

'T is the soul! Mysterious name!
Him it seeks from whom it came;
It would, Mighty God, like thee,
Holy, holy, holy be!"

blessings

Sabbath eve hymn

This hymn by William Henry Furness:

The Temple of the Heart

To the Truth that makes us free,

To the Light that leads to Thee

We this hour would dedicate.

And thy blessings, Lord, await.

Canst Thou be approached by men?

Angels and archangels, when

God His brightness on them sheds,

Veils their faces, bow their heads.

Yet we know, O God, Thou art

Present in the lowly heart;

There will He descend and reign.

Whom the heavens cannot contain.

In our hearts Thy temple rear;

Show us, God, Thy glory there;

Fill us with that light divine,

Which shall make all places Thine.

Have a blessed sabbath.

justified in our own eyes...

I found these words from William Henry Furness powerful today.  His sermon "Stand Upon Thy Feet" continued:

"There are various causes that conspire to alienate us from the Highest, and reduce us to a condition of lamentable weakness.

1. In the first place, there is an uncomfortable consciousness of a want of harmony with the Best. Fixed as we may be in our self-indulgent habits, and ingenious as we are in deceiving ourselves, we cannot wholly escape a misgiving that there is a better than we are, which we are not, and that it is our own fault that it is so. But let our minds misgive us as much as they may on this score, we must guard and keep our self-esteem as the apple of the eye. It will never do to part with that. We should have no comfort in life, were our self-satisfaction tumbled in the dust; it would embitter every drop of the poor peace that we contrive to maintain. Accordingly, we are afraid to deal honestly with ourselves. We are afraid to change the comfortable posture of our self-ignorance, and stand up upon our feet, and look, and hearken, for the True Voice. We fear lest, finding ourselves standing in the presence of God, with a clearer vision of his perfections, and a more vivid apprehension of the Holiness, Rectitude, and Love, which are the attributes of God, we should be forced to see with grief and shame how impure, unjust and selfish we are. And, therefore, that we may keep ourselves, as well as we can, justified in our own eyes, we preserve the greatest possible distance from what will wound and condemn us; and lie down and let the music of this world's enchantments fill our ears. We desire only to be let alone, that we may sleep and dream. We will harm nobody if we can help it. We want only our pleasurable sensations undisturbed. We do not desire to see God as He is, lest we should see ourselves as we are. And so, although a sense of obligations unfulfilled haunts and troubles us, we evade and put off, living at best very precariously, and yet satisfied on the whole so to live; having the countenance of so many, leaning on others, kneeling now and then, professing to pray, but, in reality, doing no such thing; only pretending and trying to persuade ourselves that our prayers are what they purport to be. Thus, a vital atheism is produced, and we cut ourselves off from the Supreme Good, by the love and pursuit of which the real life of man is nourished and matured. No wonder that our life, instead of power, becomes weakness, instead of honor, shame, instead of a triumphant conflict, a camp of vanity and sloth."

Blessings

our most abundant prosperity...

William Henry Furness continues his sermon, "Stand Upon Thy Feet"...

"2. Again, all faith in God is destroyed within us, by our most abundant prosperity. We are heaped with the means and appliances of self-indulgence. The Giver is lost in his gifts. No observation is more common. Nothing does experience more abundantly attest. We are carried along by the rich full stream of the Divine Bounty, far away from its source; and we lose, as we go, all sensibility to generous emotions. Even natural affection and common humanity die away from our hearts. We lose faith in God and man. How little do the self indulgent care to quit their luxuries, and follow the guidance of self-denying duty! How deaf are we to the cry of our suffering brother! It is not of necessity that prosperity should have this effect upon us. But it does have this effect. It makes men so hard and selfish, that one feels as if he were committing an impertinence in suggesting to them the claims of humanity. The very stones in the streets, will cry out in answer to those claims as soon as they. Where common human sympathy has ceased to be, it is in vain to seek God."

Blessings

stupid indolence...

This prayer for Sunday morning by William Henry Furness from his book "Domestic Worship"

"What shall we render unto Thee, O God, for thy countless benefits, for days and weeks crowned with thy favour, for the means of grace and the hope of eternal glory! Thou hast dealt bountifully with us. Another Sabbath brings us tokens of infinite love. May it prove a Sabbath indeed, a day of rest from all harassing cares, a day of faithful self-communion and of fervent prayer. And when the sun sets in the west, may the Sun of righteousness still shine with steady, unclouded, life-giving brightness upon our hearts, and never set. May no earthborn thoughts obstruct its healing beams, but, enlightened by the truth, may we worship Thee this day in the beauty of holiness. Let not the world have power to intrude upon our meditations, and distract our minds and close them against thy gracious influence. Blessed be this day, thrice blessed, in the opportunities it offers, in the good resolutions it witnesses, in the strength it shall give us to meet all the coming duties and trials of life!
Father of all, Thou hast never left the world without witness of thyself. Thou hast always given men rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with joy and gladness. But Thou hast manifested thy providence still more expressively in the provision Thou hast made for our immortal nature. At different times and in various ways Thou didst speak unto the fathers by the prophets, raising up inspired men to turn thy children from their iniquities, to entreat them to forsake every form of sin, and saying unto them by the lips of thy holy servants, O do not this abominable thing which I hate.' And in the fulness of time Thou didst send thy Son Jesus Christ into the world, the brightness of thy glory, the very image of thy perfection. Through him Thou didst announce thine infinite good will, and throw wide open the way of life. He has shown us, by his life and his death, where lies our everlasting peace: even in lowliness of mind, in devotion to thy will and the good of all men, in a readiness to sacrifice all things, even life itself, for the sake of truth and right. The path of duty which he disclosed, blessed be thy name! is bright with the illumination of his steps. To us of this distant age and country, the precious records of his gospel have been transmitted. We praise Thee for its heavenly light, for its all-sufficient guidance, and its immortal hope.
What manner of love is this that we, heedless and unprofitable as we are, should be called to the rich inheritance of the children of God! O may we live as children of the light and of the day. May the power of thy truth penetrate and purify and mould our whole characters, quickening our sense of right, increasing our desire of goodness, until it becomes our ruling principle of action. Let us not flatter ourselves that we are Christians in thy sight, merely because we conform to the outward services of the Christian faith, but may we consider that they only are true believers who believe with the heart unto righteousness, and whose faith is shown by good works, works of justice and mercy. Whatsoever things are pure, honest and lovely — whatsoever things are true and just, may these things be ours. May we think on them and do them. Let our whole conduct be a religious service, our whole life a sabbath. To this end we invoke thy blessing on this day.
Let us not spend this holy season in stupid indolence, forsaking thy house, or entering it in mere conformity to custom. But may we bear in mind the greatness of the privilege we enjoy in being permitted to worship Thee according to the dictates of our own consciences, with none to molest us or make us afraid, surrounded by kindred and friends, mingling our hearts and voices with theirs. When we enter thy courts, may we leave all vain thoughts behind. May we listen with honest and well-disposed minds, applying the words of truth to our own souls, and feeling our own need, our own wants, deeply. Let thy house be to us an open gate of heaven, where we may catch the light of the unseen world, and hold communion with heavenly things.
We pray for our brethren of every order and denomination. May all enjoy the rest which this day offers. Let it not be abused into an occasion of selfish pleasure and of corrupting indulgence, but may men hearken to the strong cries of their immortal souls, to the wants of the mind and heart, and be fed this day with bread from heaven. Be this day blessed to the weary and heavy-laden. Let the name of Christ be sounded over the whole earth. Let all darkness vanish, and all chains be broken. Let the reign of the prince of peace commence. Drop down, ye heavens, and let the skies pour down righteousness, and let truth and goodness cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea; and thine, O God, shall be the glory for ever. Amen."

Have a blessed Sabbath everyone

an intimate and active reverence...

What is your view of Jesus?  The casual way in which many religious liberals profess an admiration for his teachings can often seem pretty thin and the reverence that many Christians profess seems to focus less on those teachings than on what Marcus Borg calls the "post Easter Jesus."  William Henry Furness strikes me as having it about right.  His "Mystery of the Gospel" continued...

"This would seem at first sight to be a very easy and small result. Is this all ? Simply to be impressed with the character of Christ ? Are we not already familiar with that? Is it not everywhere acknowledged and revered ? Does not the fact that He has been for ages literally deified, show what an exalted idea of Him is cherished ?

It would seem to be so. And yet the more we consider the matter, the more clearly will it be seen that the one thing which Christianity has to give us, the one thing which we most need, is an intimate and active reverence for Jesus Christ. How I wish it were in my power to do full justice to my thought! The one special thing, I say, which Christianity through all its instructions and institutions has to give us, and without which all else is of little avail, is an inspiring veneration for Jesus Christ. " The glory of this mystery is Christ in you."

The world goes to him for creeds, theologies, sacraments, ecclesiastical organizations, mysteries, arguments for another life, and I know not what. He was sent, men say, to bring them these. It was his express purpose. And what an imposing show, what a continual noise, musical and otherwise, is made with them! One would imagine the kingdom of Heaven was instantly to appear. But, although the movement is great, there is no progress. The world's welfare, instead of being helped, how painfully is it hindered by the very things which are advertised as the instruments of its salvation! Amidst the din of dogmatism and controversy respecting modes of worship and of thought, the sacred laws of personal duty, which Christ so explicitly enforced, are habitually violated or ignored; the eternal voice of God, speaking through the natural affections of the human heart, is drowned, and the grand and varied lessons of nature and providence, written out on earth and sky, and in the course of all human events, are hidden and superseded by the little structures of human forms and traditions ; and the great temple, not made with hands, all alive and flaming with the glory of God, is forsaken for the fabrics reared by art and man's device."

Blessings

Our Eversasting Portion

Today is the anniversary of the death of William Henry Furness (1802-1896) Jesus scholar, abolitionist, FOE (Friend of Emerson) and pastor. His book of prayers, Domestic Worship, has long been a favorite of mine. A representative Morning Prayer:

"God of our lives! Maker of heaven and of earth, who dost every morning command the light to shine out of darkness, shine into our hearts now, and give us the light of the knowledge of thy glory. Let an everlasting day dawn within us. As we have risen refreshed by repose, we would go forth this morning with heart and hand ready for every good work. We would return to the active duties of life with a fresh sense of the great value of life, and more deeply impressed than ever by the thought of the momentous consequences involved in all that we do. But without Thee all our strength is naught, and we labour in vain. Grant us thy blessing. God be with us this day to guard and guide!
Feeble are we, O our Father, and life is a scene of constant danger. The foes of our inward peace assail us in the most deceitful forms, and our own hearts are treacherous. Without unsleeping vigilance and earnest prayer, we may go far astray from the path of life, and miss the only true fountains of life, and find all our labour vanity, vexation and anguish of spirit. We would flee to the shadow of thine all protecting wings. Thou art our refuge, and what are we without thine ever present care!
How deep and hearty should be our gratitude ! How should we call upon our souls and all that is within us to rejoice in Thee, almighty to protect and to save, the God of our salvation, whose bounty the multitude of our wants cannot weary, whose mercy all our sins, though they are many and great, cannot exhaust! Be thou ever present, in thy pure glory, to our hearts. Having Thee ever before our eyes, how shall we bear ever again to yield to evil solicitations or do any thing offensive in thy sight! How can we ever disregard thy will so clearly expressed or violate thy perfect law written on our hearts, announced by all thy works, vindicated by the whole course of thy providence, and revealed in a living form in the person of thy Son, our Saviour! Be Thou thus within us a preserving presence. Give us the most exalted conceptions of thy being, a practical conviction of thy nearness. At home and abroad, in our public walks, in our deepest retirement, let the fear of God restrain and the love of God animate us.
Father in heaven, may no corrupting inclinations be fostered in our bosoms this day. May we be pure hearted and single minded, and possess a perfect command over our passions, lest they alienate us from thee and put us at enmity with thy perfect purity, and cut us off from the light and blessedness of thy presence. Let not our imaginations give a false value to the fleeting gratifications of time and sense. Let us not look too fondly at the things which are seen and temporal, and mistake the shadow for the reality, the glare of the world for the eternal light of truth. May our hearts be set upon the attainment of inward, thorough, personal holiness. And until this be secured, may we feel that we have done nothing and gained nothing, however otherwise the labour of our hands may, in thy providence, be prospered. Save us from the tyranny of ungoverned passions, from those evil practices and habits which despoil the soul of all power and peace and cast it into outer darkness!
We sustain numerous and interesting relations to one another and to the world. Help us this day faithfully to discharge every social duty. May we be governed in all the transactions of this day by the strictest principles of honourable dealing. Let no pride or vanity blind us to the sacred rights of others and induce us to take unfair advantage of their ignorance, or to exult in their infirmities. Be that divine charity our governing principle, that charity which is the bond of Christian perfection, the brightest ornament of the Christian life, that charity which hopeth all things and endureth all things, rejoicing not in iniquity but in the truth. In this spirit may we never deny the claim which all men of every name and denomination have upon our sympathy and respect. May we forgive the injurious as we hope to be forgiven of God, and do unto others as we would they should do unto us.
Make this day, Almighty God, a day of steady improvement. Sanctify all its enjoyments. Disarm all its temptations. May every hour be spent in thy service. Should any calamity befall us, should sickness and death enter this dwelling, may we receive them as sent from God upon an errand of mercy. Whatever may be the course of thy providence, let our souls rejoice in thy goodness, and then we shall not fear though the earth be removed out of its place and the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea. Give us this trust in life and in death, and be Thou, O God, our everlasting portion; and unto thee will we ascribe the glory and the praise for ever. Amen."

RIP

an interest in living...

A final excerpt from "Stand Upon Thy Feet" by William Henry Furness...

"O the blessedness of the man who, leaning on no human support, standing on his own feet, yields himself like a little child to the Divine Guide in the heart! In the sacred monitions that come to him from within, he hears the music of the Eternal Voice, majestic in its authority, unutterably tender in its love. Contradiction and violence cannot even ruffle the flow of his good will; for the Everlasting Mercy of God is in his bosom, and, as a bird gathereth her young under her wings, that would take under its protection the meanest and the most unworthy. He may be reviled, persecuted, crucified, but while his innocent blood is flowing away, the sacred stream of pity and forgiveness, at once human and divine, gushes forth from his inmost heart, only the more abundantly upon his destroyers. He never loses himself in a vague and barren ecstasy. He flings himself, heart and soul, into the dear cause of human welfare, even though every pleasant tie of life is sundered in the act. Though, at the Divine bidding, he is ready to give up his life at any moment, yet he has an interest in living, which we, who live only for some small purpose of our own, know not of. Standing on his own feet, seeing with his own eyes, hearing with his own ears the voice of God, he knows by his own experience, that such is the possible privilege of every living man ; and he cannot be silent or inactive when those who might hear God, who might know the Truth, are prostrate in the dust, under the weight of heavy chains, or weakly leaning upon others as weak as themselves. My friends, we may agonize to feel for our fellow-men the profound sympathy that we should, and from the depths of which we may draw strength to toil and suffer in their behalf: but it is all in vain. We shall continue hard and cold, until, by our own living experience, we know what man is, and how, if he will, he may hear God speaking to him."

Blessings

baffled and bewildered...

I had planned to move on from William Henry Furness but have really been taken by the sermons in his volume "Discourses."  This from the beginning of "THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL".

"COLOSSIANS I. 27.
THE Glory of this mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

"From the beginning of the world, and from the constitution of our nature, mysteries have always had an irresistible attraction. Although baffled and bewildered, we return to them again and again with a curiosity which may be wearied for awhile, but which can never be exhausted. A religion without mystery the world never has endured, and never will. When it could not find mysteries, it has invented them out of the rankest absurdities.

But the difference between true mysteries and false is decisive. Mysteries falsely so called cheat and forbid inquiry, while true mysteries most urgently invite and most abundantly reward it.

As then we are naturally prompted to search into deep things, and as the result, although of necessity partial, will be worth all the pains that we may take, let us look now into the mystery of the Gospel of Christ. All the pains that we may take! Could we only become as little children, blessed would be our eyes, for they would discern what learned men, theologians, and philosophers, have desired to see and have not been able.

The mystery of the Gospel of Christ; in other words the meaning of Christianity—what is it ? what is its work, purpose, influence in the world ?"...more tomorrow.

Blessings