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Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;…
You know well what would become of a house of wood or of a rick if fire was kindled around it, on however good and solid a foundation of stone it might be raised. The foundation upon which it was built would not save it. So then there are works, done by those who do not yet forsake Christ, which shall not stand in the fire of the great day. What are they, then? Are they great, deadly sins, such as the apostle elsewhere speaks of, “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, hatred, drunkenness, revelling, and such like”? No. Such works are not and cannot be built upon the foundation; they, as far as in us lies, destroy the foundation, and the soul itself. They who do these things do not build upon “the Rock which is Christ”; they “build their house on the sand; and the ruin of that house,” our Lord says, “is great.” What, then, are these things done by a Christian which bring upon him such terrible loss for eternity? They are heaps of little sins; little self-indulgences against the law and will and mind of God, which do not extinguish the love of God in the heart, yet chill it exceedingly; little vanities; little envies; little self-seekings or selfishnesses; little detractions of a neighbour; little unseriousnesses; little contemptuousnesses; idle imaginings; petty angers; little deceitfulnesses or self-praise. Sins they are of which people make very little, because one by one they think them little sins, but which, weighed together, become very heavy. These encrust the soul, as it were, with habits of mind, in thought, word, and deed, with which they cannot enter heaven. In heaven there cannot be the slightest thought of vain-glory; no petty repugnance or mislike of one another; no suspicion; no comparison of ourselves with others; no discontent; no repining; no thought that we are not cared for enough or loved enough; no grudge; no remembrance of unkindness. And if all these things must be left and laid aside at the very portals of heaven; if none of these things can stand the fire of the day of judgment; if the slightest feeling of unlove would be a dark spot, seen through the whole brilliancy of heaven and unbearable in its transparent purity and brightness; what are any of us doing if we are not using our utmost strength, all the power of our souls, to lay them aside now?
All Along the Watchtower 
Another excellent sermon, thank you! Just after I read this though, I read a review of Peter Brown’s biography of Saint Augustine, which quotes extensively from his analysis of Augustine’s writings on sin and grace, and which tie in quite nicely to what Pusey has to say about venial sin above, particularly the recognition of how hard it is to really purify ourselves of self-love:
http://cburrell.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/brown-augustine-of-hippo/
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Yes, I think what comes through is that orthodoxy is orthodoxy and – like modernism, is found in all places
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Very true!
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Venial sins, in some way, are the almost silent enemy within. We spend so much time being vigilant on the mortal sins and leave our guard down on the venial and like a small insignificant leak in a ship, over time, it can capsize even a great ship. Well informed Catholics understand this, but how easy it is to slip into a lethargic response to such sins. A good reminder that needs to be preached several times a year in every parish.
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Amen to that. Unfortunately it is difficult to urge people to examine their consciences at all these days as, unless they have done something really obviously sinful, people tend to think they’re just fine as they are. We could certainly do with more sermons like this!
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Indeed we could, Mike. Sadly, many of our priests who are loathe to sit and listen to venial sins in the confessionals would do well to read this and ponder of its importance.
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Yes, I really would love to hear Pusey preached. He is unjustly neglected.
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The new school of modern homiletics has about made such a desire almost impossible I’m afraid.
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Yes, it is unfortunately the case that in many parishes it is the clergy that are most in need of a strong dose of orthodoxy into their systems. I think many would genuinely be shocked were they asked to preach a sermon like this. All that stuff about venial and mortal sin is surely something we’ve moved past after all 🙂
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Sadly that has been my experience in the majority of cases. There are exceptions but these priests seem to be in the minority. 🙂
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Benedict XVI’s small but faithful remnant is looking more and more like the best model for the future I think 🙂 Mind you, this has always been the task of the Church to some extent – to be willing to be cast into the earth and die in order that she might bear fruit again, or to be pruned so that the Vine can put forth fresh shoots.
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“encrust the soul” unique term and clearly presented .
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Augustine sees “concupiscence” here, and indeed the infection of sin being inherited from Adams primal sin! It will “not” be removed until death and or the Resurrection! “Sin in a human being is disorder or perversity, that is, an aversion to more preferable creator, and a conversion to the inferior creatures.” (Simpl. 1.2.18)
Btw, see two treatises written near the end of his life, which touch this also: De praedestinatione sanctorum (of course on predestination). And on perseverance: De dono perseverantiae. And btw, Augustine concludes that it is a pure gift and not a reward of initiative to know when to ask for redemption and to be able to act suitably (Simpl. 1.2.13); outside of grace there is no choice except to sin!
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And btw, the essence of concupiscence is lust! Here is that basic human desire and appetite itself, found in or from Original Sin. Any strong and abnormal desire itself. And yes, we ALL have it somewhere!
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And the General Epistle/Letter of James is a good place to read here… James 1: 14-15 ; see also chap. 4: 1-5, etc. In reality the whole Letter of James hammers our lusts and desire, but God, “he giveth more grace.” (4: 6) Thanks to be God!
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I agree – all good points Robert.
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*thanks be to God!
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Yes, “Chalcedon” I am something Augustinian myself! 🙂
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And btw the Book of James, as in the general place of the Jewish Wisdom Lit., is from the 1st Century Jewish Hellenistic position. And really covers a kind of collection of wisdom sayings, but it also includes a definite form of satire which is diatribe in nature. But, James does bring home that place of the NT Canon here with the proverb or aphorism. But again, the “spiritual” nature is surely Jewish and profound, and “biblical”! And we should note here too, that it was no doubt written early in the First Century, perhaps the early to mid-40’s?
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It is here too btw, that I see the general Authority of the NT itself, “over” the NT Church. The church historical and apostolic is itself in submission to the Text and Revelation of the NT! (Even as it came out later, or as the Church lived-out its infancy). See 2 Peter 1: 16-21, noting especially verses 19-21. But of course I take the classic Reformational and Reformed position here, on the presuppositional place and nature of the Word of God! Christ is Himself both the “Logos” and the “Rhema”! And we should note too the general ground of the Book of Acts, is from the OT ground to the NT Covenant, (Acts 28: 17-31).
*This will be hopefully a friendly place of disagreement with my Catholic Brethren! 🙂
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