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SERMON X.

THE LORD'S NEED OF HIS CREATURES.

MATT. XXI. part of ver. 3.

The Lord hath need of them.

HE occasion of these words is well known. They

THE

were spoken as the Messiah and his followers were about to make their solemn entry into Jerusalem, five days before the Passover: And when they drew nigh, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he shall send them.' He chose this modest triumph, when he might have claimed and taken to himself every circumstance of pomp; might have been surrounded with the chariots and horses of human sovereignty, or been attended by a retinue of angels in a majesty more than human. But the prophecy was to be fulfilled, 'Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.'

Now, in those days, and in that country, the associations connected with an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass, were not precisely the images which may occur to ourselves, of animals degenerate in their condition, depressed to the saddest and meanest drudgery. It

remains manifest, however, that the Redeemer required the services of these brute beasts, possessing little, or nothing, of consideration and dignity in the eyes of men; while, at the same time, he made a remarkable display of authority and prescience in the mission, which he gave to his disciples; and while he might have commanded the ministry of the whole world and all its inhabitants. Wonderful as the expressions must sound in our ears, The Lord had need of them."

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My brethren, let me hasten at once to apply this narrative. If the Lord had need of the inferior animals, He hath need also of mankind. Yet let me explain myself. He is the Lord of earth and heaven. He has at His disposal all the riches, all the resources of the universe. It cannot be, therefore, that He should be compelled, in his own behalf, and for his own sake, to have recourse to any of his creatures, as if in want of them, or in dependence upon them, while yet retaining the infinite prerogative of ever fresh creation in his hands. This, we repeat, cannot be. But, we say, it has always pleased God to act by the use of means, very frequently of human means; to make men the instruments of his will, for their present discipline in the state of trial, and for their eternal blessedness in the state of retribution. So it is still. In this sense, and for our own sakes, the Lord hath need of us. He hath need of us, because He chooses to have need of us. He hath need of the Angels, who are his ministers; He hath need even of us, whose privilege it is to be his servants. 'Behold,' then, if I may venture on the language of the Apostle, I shew you a mystery.' The Lord never can have need of us and yet the Lord hath need of us. Miserable and infatuated beyond speech or thought must we be, if we imagine that the Omnipotent God

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could not carry on his all-wise purposes without our aid; or that our doings were indispensable to his administration. It were the height, of at once folly and blasphemy, to dream, that human help is a necessity of the Divine nature. God could raise the very stones for the performance of His behests, as well as the children of Adam, or the children of Abraham.

But humility may attain gifts and blessings which are even beyond the aspirations of arrogance and selfconceit. Even in the present world, a selfish ostentation, a proud exorbitant ambition, is perpetually rebuked. A man thinks, perhaps, that he is necessary to the world, that the world cannot do without him; but in this lofty idea of his own transcendent importance he soon finds himself mistaken. He thinks, for instance, that some association, or some institution, in which he takes an interest, cannot prosper, or even exist, save by his guardianship and superintendence. He is thwarted in some favourite measure; and he withdraws in a fit of peevish and fretful spleen, expecting that the whole establishment is to fall to pieces. It does not fall to pieces: it gathers to itself new friends, and flourishes as much as when he was active in its management. Or, take any other examples of the same familiar kind, with which your own experience will furnish you. In the parliament where he sits, in the profession to which he belongs, in the association with which he is connected, or in the sphere in which he would shine, a man absurdly fancies that he forms a centre, to which every thing converges, and from which every thing is to radiate. In his secret opinion, he is the pivot, or axis, on which everything turns. If society were to lose him, the vacancy could not be supplied. Ah! only let him retire, only let him die. What a lesson it is to individual vanity, for a man to 12

B. S.

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reflect, how soon, in public life, or in private, in the senate, in the social circle, even by the fireside, his place can be filled up. He sinks in the great sea of existence. The waters swallow him up: they close over him. And in how short a time will their surface appear as smooth and tranquil, or glitter forth in the sun with as bright a ripple, as before. See, a monarch is expiring. But, in vain the grinning shadow of death is ushered in by the grinning shadow of etiquette.' Some few courtiers are in real or affected grief, on account of the royal sickness. But, for the rest, on green field and steepled city, the May sun shines out, the May evening fades, and men ply their useful, or useless, business, as if no Louis lay in danger'.' I do not mean, that a good man will not be missed; that there are no faithful hearts in which his image will dwell, and his memory be fondly cherished; that there is no affection, which can survive the victory of the grave: but, if a man could come back from that grave to his old scenes and companions but two years after his death, his closest connexions and his dearest friends would be troubled and embarrassed by his re-appearance, and there would be no longer any room for him.

And can you suppose, brethren, that God has more need of this man, or of that man, than the world has? And yet, O ye meek and lowly of heart, who can with difficulty be brought to believe, that your exertions can be useful, or that there is any occasion for your good offices, the Lord hath need of you. But are we not here contradicting what has been just said? No: or at least the apparent contradiction is very easily reconThe two statements, indeed, meet in this single

ciled.

1 See Carlyle's French Revolution, Vol. I. p. 4.

proposition. There is a broad field for all, but not an exclusive field for any; the well-being of humanity appertains, under God, to human beings in general, but does not depend upon one, or upon a few, striving to execute all the functions of society, and to occupy all its attention. This is the great Law, which God has ordained. While any man lives, diligent service is demanded of him by that Sovereign Lord and Proprietor of the universe, to whom he owes allegiance; if he dies, it is, because, by God's will, his earthly task is done; and, in God's good time, he is called out of the world, that others may be active in it; may perform their part upon the stage, and have their probation, their discipline, in their turn. If any man presumes upon the world's need of him, still more, if he presumes upon the Lord's, who is the supreme ruler of the world, he will assuredly pay in disappointment, in disgust, in deserved but most bitter humiliation, the due penalty of that overweening presumption; but if, with a single eye, and a submissive spirit, he looks not to ambition, but to duty, he will find, that to him, as to every man, the Lord hath appointed a work, and for that work the Lord vouchsafes to have need of him.

O saying most marvellous, and yet most true! The Lord has a general need of all his servants, and a peculiar need of each. He has a general need of them, both in the world, and in the Church. As they are men, they have a share in promoting the happiness of all; as they are Christians, they are called, collectively as well as severally, to subdue the unbelief and ungodliness of mankind by their efforts and their example, and to bear their part in the sacred conflict against the enemies of truth and goodness. Always there are obstacles to be encountered and removed, always there is

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