Let us believe that God's
good laws, and God's good order, are in themselves and of
themselves, the curse and punishment of every sin of ours; and that
Ash-Wednesday, returning year after year, whether we be glad or
sorry, good or evil, bears witness to that most awful and yet most
blessed fact.
My friends, this is the preacher's Ash-Wednesday's message: but,
thanks be to God, it is not all. It is written--'If thou, Lord,
wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss: Oh Lord, who may abide
it? For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared.'
It is written--'On whomsoever this stone shall fall, it shall grind
him to powder:' but it is written too--'Whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken;' and again, 'The broken and the contrite
heart, O God, thou shall not despise.' There is such a thing as
pardon; pardon full and free, for the sake of the precious blood of
Christ. Lent may be a time of awe and of shame: but it is not a
time of despair. Meanwhile remember this; that God has set before
you blessing and cursing, and that you may turn your life and God's
whole universe, as you will, either into that blessing or into that
curse.
SERMON XII. WORK
(Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity.)
Proverbs xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit.
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