An Offering
The sermon emphasizes the importance of a pure heart and the all-healing power of Christ, encouraging listeners to offer a united gift to God.
George Herbert emphasizes the importance of offering a pure heart as a gift to God, highlighting the need for self-reflection and the cleansing power of Christ's dual nature. He encourages the congregation to seek unity within themselves, to overcome divisions caused by worldly desires and passions, in order to present multiple gifts as one. Herbert points to the healing and transformative power of God's grace, urging the listeners to find solace in God's mercy and to offer their praises and gifts with a heart converted from sadness to gladness.
Text
Come, bring thy gift. If blessings were as slow
As men's returns, what would become of fools?
What hast thou there? a heart? but is it pure?
Search well and see; for hearts have many holes.
Yet one pure heart is nothing to bestow:
In Christ two natures met to be thy cure.
O that within us hearts had propagation,
Since many gifts do challenge many hearts!
Yet one, if good, may title to a number;
And single things grow fruitful by deserts.
In public judgements one may be a nation,
And fence a plague, while others sleep and slumber.
But all I fear is lest thy heart displease,
As neither good, nor one: so oft divisions
Thy lusts have made, and not thy lusts alone;
Thy passions also have their set partitions.
These parcel out thy heart: recover these,
And thou mayst offer many gifts in one.
There is a balsam, or indeed a blood,
Dropping from heav'n, which doth both cleanse and close
All sorts of wounds; of such strange force it is.
Seek out this All-heal, and seek no repose,
ntil thou find and use it to thy good:
Then bring thy gift; and let thy hymn be this;
Since my sadness
Into gladness
Lord thou dost convert,
O accept
What thou hast kept,
As thy due desert.
Had I many,
Had I any
(For this heart is none),
All were thine And none of mine:
Surely thine alone.
Yet thy favour
May give savour
To this poor oblation;
And it raise
To be thy praise,
And be my salvation.
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of a Pure Heart
- The Power of Christ's Cure
- The Unity of a Single Gift
- The Need for Repentance
- The All-Healing Power of Christ
- Christ's blood is a balsam that cleanses and closes all wounds
- We must seek out Christ and use His power to our good
Key Quotes
“In Christ two natures met to be thy cure.” — George Herbert
“There is a balsam, or indeed a blood, Dropping from heav'n, which doth both cleanse and close All sorts of wounds;” — George Herbert
“Since my sadness Into gladness Lord thou dost convert, O accept What thou hast kept, As thy due desert.” — George Herbert
Application Points
- We must seek out Christ and use His power to cleanse and close the wounds of our hearts, making them fruitful and united.
- Repentance and recovery of our hearts are essential for making them fruitful and united.
- Our hearts are often divided by lusts and passions, but we can overcome these divisions through Christ's power.