When a responsible being has made a wrong use of his
^ Bishop J. Percival.
ISAIAH
35
powers, nothing is more reasonable than that he should call himself to account for this abuse. Nothing, certainly, is more necessary. There can be no amendment for the future until the past has been cared for. But that this examination may be both thorough and profitable, it must be made in company with the Searcher of hearts. For there are always two beings who are concerned with sin ; the being who commits it, and the Being against whom it is committed. We sin, indeed, against ourselves ; against our own conscience, and against our own best interest. But we sin in a yet higher, and more terrible sense, against Another than ourselves, compared with whose majesty all of our faculties and interests, both in time and in eternity, are altogether nothing and vanity. It is not enough, therefore, to refer our sin to the law written on the heart, and there stop. We must ultimately pass beyond conscience itself, to God, and say, " Against Thee have I sinned." It is not the highest expression of the religious feeling when we say, " How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against my conscience ? " He alone has reached the summit of vision who looks beyond all finite limits, however wide and distant, beyond all finite faculties, however noble and elevated, and says, " How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? "
IT Modern history began in the year 1521 when an Augustinian monk, by the name of Martin Luther, went to the Diet of Worms to give an account of himself to the Emperor of Germany. The appearance of Luther before the emperor is a picture that ought to be burned into the retina of the eyes of every young man in America. It is April, and evening has come. The torches have been lighted, and they cast a flickering glow over the faces of the earnest men who have come together to hear this monk from Wittenberg. As Luther goes through the door, the greatest general of Germany taps him on the shoulder and says, "My poor monk, my poor monk, you are on the way to make such a stand as I have never made in my toughest battle." And what the general said was true. The emperor is there, the electors, and the princes of Germany are there. In front of the king there is a table on which are piled books which this Augustinian monk has written. Luther is now thirty-eight years old. Eor over fifteen years he has been a monk. The fundamental principles of the Eoman Catholic Church have been built into his mind. But as a student he has learned that the church coimcils can make mistakes. He has said so, and has said so openly. The question before the Diet of Worms
36 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
is : Will this Augustinian monk recant ? The emperor tells him haughtily that he is not there to question matters which have been settled in general councils long ago, and that what he wants is a plain answer without horns, whether he will retract what he has said contradicting the decisions of the Council of Constance. Luther rises to reply, and this is what he says : " Since your Imperial Majesty requires a plain answer, I will give one without horns or hoofs. It is this, that I must be convinced either by the testimony of Scripture or by clear argument. I cannot trust the pope or councils by themselves, for both have erred. I cannot and will not retract." An awful silence falls upon them all. And then the Augustinian monk continues: "I can do nothing else. Here I stand. So help me God. Amen."
But in what way can God approach a man in order to reason with him ? There are more ways than one.
1. First, and clearly. He may reason through Conscience.
It will be admitted that the first requisite of all moral improvement is that there should be thoughtfulness, seriousness, attention to our conduct. We often hear the excuse, " I did not give it a thought " ; to which the only reply can be, " But you ought to have given it." Self-recollection and self-collection are essential to sound speech, true thought, wise action. And what are these again but a partial human answer to the Divine invitation, " Come, and let us reason together " ? It would make that answer far less partial, much more complete, if, when we enter into the innermost chamber of the soul to reflect and collect ourselves, we would remember who meets us there, and whose shrine that chamber is. It is the Eternal Himself who meets us there. The Apostle's words are true : " Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own."
There is, indeed, no human soul surely that has failed at some time or another to be in debate with itself. And what is implied in this ? Most certainly condemnation of some course of conduct which seems at the moment preferable ; most certainly also a rule, external to the soul, which claims, and on all occasions, to be imperial.