Historic Sermons
A podcast where historic Christian sermons are brought back to life through clear, modern audio readings. Each sermon is read directly from original documents by Matthew Fisher, including Victorian Anglo-Catholic mission sermons, urban slum preaching, evangelical devotional texts, and rare parish addresses.
These are primary sources—experienced as they would have sounded when first delivered
Historic Sermons
Up to the Brim | A Sermon by Arthur Stanton on John 2:7
Father Arthur Henry Stanton (1839–1913) was one of the most vivid preachers of the Anglo-Catholic revival — a priest who spent decades among the working classes and the urban poor of Holborn. His preaching was fiery and tender, sacramental and practical, rich in theology and rooted in compassion.
In this video I’m reading his sermon “Up to the Brim” directly from his original text — not rewritten, not modernised — just as he preached it.
Stanton takes the miracle at Cana and focuses not on the wine, nor the feast, nor even the miracle itself… but on the servants.
The ones who simply obeyed.
The ones who — when told to fill the waterpots — did it “up to the brim.”
His message challenges:
half-hearted faith
“practical” unbelief
casual approaches to the sacraments
doing the bare minimum for God
And instead points us toward obedience, reverence, and love poured out fully — not cautiously or partially.
This is a sermon about service.
About trust.
About faith that listens and obeys.
Faith that fills the jar — not halfway —
but to the brim.
May it challenge and encourage us as it did his hearers over a century ago.