First Sunday after the Epiphany.
Rural Sermon.
On Hell.—I.
The absence of Jesus, the chief woe of the lost.
Luke ii. 48. Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
1. He loses much who in a moment loses his wealth, as did Job.
He loses more who loses the favour of a king, and the love of an intimate friend, as did Absalom.
He loses more yet who loses himself, as did Ahithophel.
But he loses most who loses Jesus; for he who loses Jesus loses every thing, a treasure above price, the best of friends, the surest of counsellors, his all in all.
“Omnia si perdas, Jesum servare memento,
Ipse tibi Jesus omnia solus erit.”
The names Jesus and Jehovah are very similar, as St. Jerome observes, for what Jehovah signifies, that Jesus is—all in all. Oh! how sweetly does Ambrose exclaim, “Christ is our all.”
Art thou an infant? He is thy mother, her breast, her milk.
Art thou aged? He is thy staff, thy stay.
Art thou a boy? He is thy path, thy way.
Art thou sick? He is thy physician and thy medicine.
Art thou dying? He buries thy soul, not in the bosom of Abraham, but in His own pierced side, and
