{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50349/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50349","id":"gutenberg_50349","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50349","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life"],"text":"A BASKET\n OF\n BARLEY LOAVES.\n\n BY THE\n AUTHOR OF \"THE HIGH MOUNTAIN APART\" AND \"SACRAMENTAL SABBATHS.\"\n\n\"There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves.\"--JOHN vi. 9.\n\n\n PHILADELPHIA:\n PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,\n No. 1334 CHESTNUT STREET.\n\n\n Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by\n THE TRUSTEES OF THE\n PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,\n In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.\n\n\n WESTCOTT & THOMSON,\n _Stereotypers, Philada._\n\n\n\n\n TO\n MY FORMER PASTOR,\n REV. ALEXANDER DICKSON,\n\n WHO TAUGHT ME\n \"THE WAY OF GOD MORE PERFECTLY,\"\n AND WHOSE THOUGHTS AND VERY WORDS ENTER LARGELY INTO THESE PAGES,\n\n I DEDICATE THIS\n BASKET OF BARLEY LOAVES.\n\n\n\n\nEDITOR'S PREFACE.\n\n\nTo those who crave more of Christ in the soul and in the daily life,\nto those who long for holiness and assurance, this BASKET OF\nBARLEY LOAVES will bring welcome refreshment and nourishment. The\ndevout, even though trembling, believer, who hungers after\nrighteousness, will here find that which will kindle his affections\nand lead them to the only satisfying source of love and peace, Jesus\nChrist. What of sweetness and strength there is in these meditations\nis due to God's word, of which they are full. Sweeter than honey and\nthe honey-comb, more precious than silver or gold, was that word to\nthe Psalmist; and thence these chapters draw their flavor and force.\nBy them the weary, the needy, the longing, will be led nearer to\nChrist and be more filled with the power of his love. May these few\nBarley Loaves feed many thousands of hungry souls!\n\nJ. W. D.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                   PAGE\n I.\n JESUS SOUGHT AND FOUND                              11\n\n II.\n HIS NAME                                            24\n\n III.\n THE ASSURANCE                                       31\n\n IV.\n THE PERFECT WORK                                    41\n\n V.\n THE CHASTENING                                      52\n\n VI.\n THE COMPASSION                                      61\n\n VII.\n THE SYMPATHY                                        69\n\n VIII.\n THE LOVE                                            78\n\n IX.\n THE LIFE ABUNDANT                                   85\n\n X.\n THE FORGIVENESS                                     90\n\n XI.\n THE HELP                                            97\n\n XII.\n THE DELIVERANCE                                    102\n\n XIII.\n THE HEARER OF PRAYER                               107\n\n XIV.\n THE REWARD                                         112\n\n XV.\n THE SOUL'S PORTION                                 119\n\n XVI.\n THE CROSS                                          127\n\n XVII.\n THE PRESENCE                                       131\n\n XVIII.\n THE APPEARING                                      136\n\n XIX.\n THE CONCLUSION                                     143\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n A BASKET\n OF\n BARLEY LOAVES.\n\n\n\n\n I.\n _Jesus Sought and Found._\n\n\nThe crowd was thronging and jostling. Eager and wistful faces were\nturned to One who stood in the midst. His countenance was mild and\ncompassionate; and as I gazed upon him, a deep desire filled my heart\nto know and follow this Man of Sorrows. With swiftest steps I hurried\non and pressed into the crowd. The lowly, suffering woman was\nsatisfied to touch the hem of his garments, and it was enough. But I\nwas not content until I had grasped his hand. Yes, I put my hand in\nhis--my guilty hand that nailed him to the cross.\n\n\"Who touched me?\" He turned, and we stood face to face. In answer to\nhis inquiry I whispered, \"Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou\ngoest.\" A look of love glanced from his eye; nearer he drew me to his\nside and whispered, \"Beloved.\" Oh how it thrilled my heart! Excess of\njoy choked my utterance, and I could only grasp his hand more firmly\nand exclaim, \"My Lord and my God!\"\n\nTell me not now of loneliness and desolation. Jesus is mine, and so we\njourney hand in hand; and as he whispers to me of love unchangeable, I\nhide this sweet secret in my heart and answer, \"I am thine.\"\n\n\"They tell me,\" we said to an aged man, \"that you have no rock on\nwhich to plant your feet.\" \"No rock?\" he said, calmly, with a\nsmile--\"no rock? Well, my creed does differ from yours. Mine is love\nto God and love to my fellow-men. I do not believe such a man as Jesus\nChrist ever lived. The world has had many saviours. Mine is a\nprinciple--a rightening principle. I have tried all beliefs, and here\nI am content to rest.\"\n\nBut we have not so learned Christ.\n\nInfidels may tell me such a man never lived; humanitarians may tell me\nhe was mere man and no God; careless worldlings may tell me there is\nno beauty in him that I should desire him; but from the far-off region\nof light, beyond the mist-clouds that encircle the earth, I hear a\nvoice, calm in its majesty and tender in its tones: \"I am Alpha and\nOmega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and\nwhich was, and which is to come, the Almighty.\" \"I am the light of the\nworld: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have\nthe light of life.\" \"I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,\nthy Saviour.\" \"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no\nSaviour.\" \"O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine\nhelp.\" \"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem\nthem from death.\" \"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy\nladen, and I will give you rest.\"\n\nHearing this voice I draw nearer. \"Have I been so long time with you,\nand yet hast thou not known me? Thou hast both seen him, and he it is\nthat talketh with thee.\" \"Lord, I believe.\" \"I know thee who thou art,\nthe Holy One of God.\" With the eye of faith I have seen thee, and I\ncan testify that \"thou art fairer than the children of men.\" With the\nhand of faith I have grasped thine, O thou \"Friend that stickest\ncloser than a brother.\" And thou hast talked with me. \"Never man spake\nlike this man.\" I cannot utter half the words Jesus has spoken to my\nsoul; but this I say: Into his hands I commit my soul with all its\ninterests; \"for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he\nis able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.\"\n\n  \"O Jesus, Friend unfailing,\n    How dear thou art to me!\n  And, cares or fears assailing,\n    I find my strength in thee.\n\n  \"I love to own, Lord Jesus,\n    Thy claims o'er me and mine;\n  Bought with thy blood most precious,\n    Whose can I be but _thine_?\"\n\n\"As the late lamented Dudley Tyng was passing from the earthly\nvineyard to his higher position in the heavenly,\" writes Boardman in\nhis book entitled \"Him that Overcometh,\" \"he said to his father, while\nlight fell upon him from the open gateway, 'Father, stand up for\nJesus.' Then, after advancing a little farther on into the fuller\neffulgence, he spoke again, saying, 'Father, stand up in Jesus.' These\ninjunctions were reported by his father as they fell from the lips of\nhis son, and went abroad all over the land. The first one struck a\nchord which vibrates still, and passed into a watchword for all\nChristian enterprise and for all enterprising Christians, but the\nsecond seemed to find no chord keyed up and ready to respond. It is to\nbe feared that this is indicative of the true state of the Christian\nworld to-day--_for_ Christ, more than _in_ him; and yet, if we may\nbelieve the words of Christ himself, and the history of all the\nprogress of his kingdom, we have the secret of all power in these two\nwords, \"in Jesus,\" with the converse of them, \"Jesus in us.\"\n\n\"_Abide in me, and I in you._\" Christ within is better even than\nChrist beside us, as the apostles found after Pentecost. This is the\nsecret of all joy and the source of all strength.\n\nTo those who are just starting on the Christian pilgrimage we would\nrepeat these words of the Master, \"Abide in me.\" Guide-books are good,\nbut a trusty guide is better. We might fill our pages with minute\ndirections concerning the way, but we would rather point to Christ,\nwho is the way. We remember that there are times when travelers forget\ntheir guide-books and cling to their strong and sure-footed guides.\n\nConsider our Guide. He knows every step of the way, and he will guide\nus with his eye. Let us meditate upon Christ till our hearts are led\nto desire more intimate fellowship with him. \"My meditation of him\nshall be sweet\"--\"sweet\" when I remember his name, his character, his\nwork, his promises and the peace he gives.\n\nBut it may be that some to whom these pages are addressed find many\ndark threads of doubt woven into their meditation of Christ. You have\nnever, perhaps, been fully assured of your acceptance with him; or, if\nconfident at the commencement of your Christian course, doubts and\nfears may have gathered around your pathway before journeying very far\ninto the wilderness. The chilling winds of unbelief make winter in\nyour soul. The days are short and cold; the nights are long and\ncolder. Yes, even the day seems as the night--all darkness. Some\naround you seem to be enjoying perpetual spring-time, because Christ\nshines so constantly upon their happy souls, and your coldness and\ndarkness seem all the sadder in contrast with their warmth and\nbrightness.\n\nHow can you account for this? Ask some Christian friends, and they\nwill tell you that you must not expect so much joy--that the Christian\nlife is a constant conflict with doubt and sin, and you cannot expect\nto be always as happy as perhaps you were at first. You turn away\nsadly disappointed. They are older Christians, and you think they must\nknow better than you. What will you do? Will you sit under the clouds,\nor struggle to get out into clear sunshine?\n\nWe cannot think that God intends you to have a limited measure of joy\nand peace. Why should you not grow happier in your love to Christ as\nyou learn to know him better? Why should not the promises become more\nprecious as you prove them and find them all \"yea and amen in Christ\nJesus?\"\n\nLet us inquire into the cause of your darkness. The Saviour does not\nwillingly withhold his smile which makes spring and summer in the\nsoul. When God made a covenant with you he gave you this promise: \"I\nwill never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\" God has not then forsaken\nyou. Perhaps you have neglected the means of grace. Perhaps you are\ncherishing some secret sin. Perhaps you have looked more to your own\nframes and feelings than to Christ's perfect work. Your mind has dwelt\ntoo much upon self. Take the advice of one who walked with God and was\nnot, because God took him: \"For one look at self take ten looks to\nChrist.\" The advice is good, and it has lifted many a Christian above\nthe clouds.\n\n\"Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth? I sought him, but I found him not.\"\nIs this your sad lament?\n\nSeek him again. Seek him earnestly, prayerfully, constantly. Seek him\nin the place of secret prayer. Jesus had his secret place upon the\nlonely mountain. Though he lived in constant communion with his\nFather, though his every step was a hymn of praise and his every act\nwas a prayer, still he felt his need of a place where he could pour\nout his soul in supplication. If secret prayer was necessary for the\nMaster, is it not more needful for you? If you have neglected that, it\nis not strange if it is winter in your soul.\n\nSeek Jesus also in his holy word. In the garden of the gospel you may\nmeet him and walk with him, holding sweet communion. Here he reveals\nhimself. Obey his own commandment, \"Search the Scriptures.\" This is\nthe reason and this the reward, \"for they are they that testify of\nme.\" They testify of Christ. Yes, they are full of Christ. Rays from\nhis cross shine through both the Testaments. Prophets and saints of\nold looked forward and rejoiced--\"not having received the promises,\"\nit is true, \"but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them\nand embraced them.\" Fuller, clearer light now shines on Calvary. Draw\nnear and read again the sacred story. Yes, \"search the Scriptures,\"\nfor here you will surely find Jesus. His love prompted every promise,\nand is the pledge and fulfillment of every promise.\n\nSeek him in the place of social prayer. Thomas was not at the\nprayer-meeting when Jesus manifested himself to his disciples. How\nmuch he lost by staying away! When Jesus draws near and says, \"Peace\nbe unto you!\" then let me be within hearing of his gentle voice. Let\nme be near when he says, \"Receive ye the Holy Ghost.\" \"_Only_ a\nprayer-meeting,\" do you say? _Only_ a visit from Jesus, the Giver of\npeace! Who would miss a visit of so much profit--a visit of so much\npleasure!\n\nSeek Jesus at the sacramental supper. Jesus is there. There you may\nenjoy his longest, sweetest visits. There he speaks peace to his\npeople. Sweet it is to meet Jesus in the closet; sweet visits there he\npays his beloved and betrothed. Sweet it is to meet him in the holy\nScriptures; sweet to find him in the place of social prayer. But\nsweeter far are his visits at the communion-table. To sit like Mary at\nhis feet, to lie like John upon his bosom--was ever joy like this? was\never Jesus nearer? No longer do we say, \"Saw ye Him whom my soul\nloveth?\" We have found him! we have found him! \"His left hand is under\nmy head, while his right doth embrace me.\" I charge you, my unstable\nheart, that you forsake not, nor grieve again \"Him whom my soul\nloveth.\"\n\nNow that you have found him, cleave to him. \"Abide in me,\" the Master\nsays. In union with Christ the Christian finds his safety, strength\nand happiness. And the closer this union, the greater is the security,\nstrength and happiness of the Christian. Would we be guided by his\neye? Then must we be continually \"looking unto Jesus.\" Do we need\nstrength? \"In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.\" Are we\nseeking happiness? \"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his\nhelp, whose hope is in the Lord his God.\"\n\nCling closer, young Christian, cling closer to Christ. Learn to walk\nwith him daily in sweet communion. Be not satisfied with an occasional\nvisit from your Lord, but beseech him to abide with you. He is willing\nto come and abide with you. \"If any man love me, he will keep my\nwords: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and\nmake our abode with him.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n II.\n _His Name._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember his name_.\n\nWe need not say, as did Jacob, \"Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.\" We\nknow thy name, _Jehovah Tsidkenu_, \"The Lord our Righteousness.\" We\nare all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy\nrags, and all the soap and nitre in the world cannot make us pure and\nholy. \"If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so\nclean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes\nshall abhor me.\" But in the covenant of the cross we come and change\nclothes with Christ. He takes our filthy rags and gives us his own\nspotless robe; and we are \"accepted in the Beloved,\" not having our\n\"own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the\nfaith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.\"\n\nWe know thy name, _Jehovah Shalom_, The Lord of Peace. Sweet peace\nspeedily follows as one of the results of justification. \"And the work\nof righteousness shall be peace, and the effects of righteousness\nquietness and assurance for ever.\" Or, as the apostle expresses it in\nthe Epistle to the Romans, \"Therefore, being justified by faith, we\nhave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" Peace was one of\nthe notes in the song which angels sung when He was born who himself\n\"is our peace.\" And when he was parting from his disciples \"peace\" was\namong the last words that fell from his lips: \"Peace I leave with you;\nmy peace I give unto you.\" \"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose\nmind is stayed on thee.\" \"Perfect peace,\" being interpreted, means,\n\"Peace, peace.\" So that we shall have a double portion, \"good measure,\npressed down and shaken together and running over.\"\n\nWe know thy name, _Jehovah Nissi_, The Lord my Banner. \"Thou hast\ngiven a banner to them that fear thee.\" He his own self is our\nstandard and our standard-bearer, and we need not fear that our flag\nshall ever be taken, or that those who fight under it shall be beaten.\nThough we are but weak worms of the dust, and are called to contend\n\"against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness\nin high places,\" there is nothing more sure than that we shall win the\nday. \"If God be for us, who can be against us?\" Looking at the end\nfrom the beginning, and confident of victory, we can say, when\nbuckling on the harness before the battle is begun, \"We are more than\nconquerors through Him that loved us.\"\n\nWe know thy name, _Jehovah Rophi_, The Lord my Healer. When he began\nhis holy ministry here on earth, \"Jesus went about all Galilee,\nteaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,\nand healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among\nthe people.\" Some came to him groping in their blindness, others came\non crutches, and many were carried to him on their beds; and he healed\nthem all. Though he came from heaven mainly to heal diseases of the\nmind, yet while he labored here in the flesh he healed more diseases\nof the body. He is still the only Physician of the soul, and by far\nthe best Physician of the body. \"He knoweth our frame,\" this our\nmortal body, better than the wisest men, for he made it, and without\nhis blessing the best prescription will do us no good. He is our\nPhysician. When we are taken sick he is first called to our bedside.\nBy prayer we lay hold of something at the mercy-seat that rings a bell\nin heaven, and he makes haste and comes down and \"healeth all our\ndiseases.\"\n\nWe know thy name, _Jehovah Jireh_, The Lord will Provide. He provided\na lamb upon Mount Moriah for Abraham in his greatest emergency. He has\nalso provided a Lamb for us--a Lamb without spot or blemish, \"the Lamb\nslain from the foundation of the world.\" \"Even Christ our Passover is\nsacrificed for us.\" On his guiltless head our guilt was laid. And\nhaving provided a Lamb for us, he will provide anything else. \"My God\nshall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ\nJesus.\" As the greater includes the less, so the unspeakable gift\nembosoms all minor blessings. \"He that spared not his own Son, but\ndelivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us\nall things?\"\n\nWe know thy name, _Jehovah Shammah_, The Lord is there. Wherever we\nmay be called to go, the Lord is there. What strong consolation, what\ngood cheer there is in this blessed truth,\n\n  \"Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,\n  I am surrounded still with God!\"\n\nIn every duty, in every difficulty, the Lord is there. In the lion's\nden and in the fiery furnace, the Lord is there. In sickness and in\nhealth, in sorrow and in joy, the Lord is there. When our pilgrimage\nis almost over, and we are going down into the dark valley, blessed be\nhis name, we shall find that the Lord is there. \"Yea, though I walk\nthrough the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for\nthou art with me.\"\n\nBeyond the valley there is a place about which we know very little;\nbut we know that there is a house of many mansions, and we know that\nthe Lord is there. \"I go to prepare a place for you.\" There is a holy\ncity along whose golden streets these feet shall one day walk; \"And\nthe name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.\"\n\n\"Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.\" He\nis everything to us. Are we sinners? He is our Righteousness. Are we\nin trouble? He is our Peace. Are we soldiers? He is our Banner. Are we\nsick? He is our Healer. Are we in want of anything? He will provide.\nAre we going into eternity? He is there, waiting to receive us up into\nglory. \"Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name\ntogether.\"\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" when I remember his name, for\n\"they that know thy name shall put their trust in thee.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n III.\n _The Assurance._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember the assurance\nhe has given me_.\n\nTo his dear children God is pleased to give earnests or pledges of the\nfuture bliss. We cannot think that any of the heirs of glory are\nwholly deprived of foretastes of heaven. Some indeed walk in the\nmist-clouds of doubt for a great part of their lives. Only at\nintervals the clouds part and reveal a ray of heavenly sunshine. They\nlive amid clouds--it may be they die amid clouds--and never know clear\nshining until they reach the land of perpetual sunshine.\n\nOthers there are who pitch their tents upon \"the high hill Clear.\"\nThey live in the land Beulah, where the sun is ever shining and the\nbirds are ever singing, where Giant Despair never comes and where\nDoubting Castle is not so much as seen. They live in the sunshine,\nthey die in the sunshine--no, they do not die; they pass away, onward\nand upward, into clearer light and brighter sunshine. Light is sown\nfor them on earth by Him who is the light of the world, and the\nharvest in eternity is abundant and glorious. The first-fruits here,\nthough nothing compared with the after-fruits, are beautiful and\ngreatly to be desired. Why may they not be enjoyed by all?\n\nWe hardly think it is God's will that his children should have a\nlimited measure of peace and joy. Neither can we think it humility to\ndoubt the words of our Lord Jesus: \"I give unto them eternal life; and\nthey shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" we hear you saying, \"this is comforting for Christians, but am\nI a Christian? The clouds of unbelief often envelop me and exclude all\nheavenly light. 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit the land?'\nWho will assure me of my interest in Christ?\"\n\n\"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.\" Can\nyou remain ignorant of so great a change wrought within by the Spirit?\nAre there not many signs to prove to you that you are in Christ? Do\nyou not believe and know that a change has passed over all your\nfeelings and affections? Do you not love the things you once hated and\nhate the things you once loved? Do you not love all who bear the\nSaviour's image? Is not sin odious to you? Do you not find some\npleasure in drawing near to God in prayer? Is not the thought of\ncontinuing in sin painful to you? Would you willingly grieve your\nSaviour?\n\nWe would not say, \"Peace! peace!\" when there is no peace. We would\nhave you look well to the foundations of your hope. Examine it\nclosely. Let the light of the Word fall full and clear upon it. Look\nat it on every side, and rest not till you know that it is founded\nsimply and solely upon the merits of the Redeemer. If you are sure\nChrist's work is really begun in your soul, you need have no doubt\nabout its being continued and finally completed. The Master counts\nwell the cost when he begins his work in the sinner's soul, and none\nshall ever mock his work, saying, \"This man began to build and was not\nable to finish.\"\n\nHaving ascertained this all-important fact, you may be \"always\nconfident\" till you enter his presence \"with exceeding joy.\" You need\nnot fear that you shall fall away. \"Rejoice not against me, O mine\nenemy: when I fall, I shall arise.\" You shall be \"kept by the power of\nGod through faith unto salvation.\" You need never fear that Christ\nwill weary of his work, but you may be \"confident of this very thing,\nthat he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the\nday of Jesus Christ,\" and you shall stand \"without fault before the\nthrone.\"\n\nWe know some humble and sincere disciples will shrink back, saying,\n\"We are not able,\" when we beg them to make Paul's language all their\nown. With their hands upon their mouths and their mouths in the dust,\nthey dare not look up with perfect confidence; they think it almost\npresumption, or at least they say, despondingly, \"It is not for me.\"\n\"Paul,\" they say, \"was an uncommon Christian--he attained a tall\nstature in holiness.\" So he did; and why? Because his was no half-way\nservice; he gave no divided heart to his master. That was the reason\nwhy he so well understood the doctrine of full assurance. \"If any man\nwill do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.\" Do you understand\nthese words of the Master? He does not say, \"If any man fully keeps\nthe law, which is the perfect will of the Father, he shall know of the\ndoctrine,\" for it is not possible for any mere man perfectly to keep\nthe commandments of God. Nor does he say, \"If any man _does_ the\nwill,\" but, \"If any man _will_\"--is willing to do his will. If he\nshows a willing heart and mind, God will enlighten him more and more.\nAnd what is implied in this willing heart and mind but full\nconsecration?\n\nWhen shall we learn the secret of a happy life? \"Ye cannot serve two\nmasters.\" Those who give themselves up to Satan's service may lead an\nunhappy life, but greater must be the unhappiness of those who are\ntrying to make a compromise between God and Satan. They can enjoy\nneither service; they are of all men most miserable.\n\nO ye who have professed the name of Christ, come away from all\ninferior pleasures! Pleasures? They are not worthy of the name. One\nhour with Christ is worth them all. Will you then suffer them to hide\nthe Saviour from your view?\n\nOnce we were happy all the day long, having given ourselves to Christ\nin the covenant of the cross. Christ was the source of our life, the\nfullness of our joy, all our salvation and all our desire. Having\nenjoyed his precious presence, we dreamed not that we could ever\nwander; we thought our hearts would cleave to him for evermore. We had\nno doubts in those days. \"My Beloved is mine, and I am his,\" was the\nconstant language of our heart. But, alas! the world again entered our\nheart, dividing it and leaving but half for God. Then came the clouds\ngathering thick and fast, till our Saviour was hidden from our view.\nUpon the ear of the watchman who went about the streets soon fell our\nmournful cry, \"Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth?\" We sought him, but we\nfound him not. Our gloom and grief increased. Oh for one hour of\nJesus' presence! \"Let all other joys forsake this heart,\" we cried,\n\"if only we may again enjoy Jesus' presence.\" Feeling thus, we thrust\nthe joys (falsely so called) of earth away, and kneeling at the\nmercy-seat, we renewed our covenant with Jesus. True, there was no joy\nin our hearts; we saw not yet his smile. But we could trust him where\nwe could not trace him; so we confessed to him all our wanderings. We\ntold him how we had thought to serve him with half our hearts, but now\nwe would give him all. The first steps were taken in darkness, but God\nsoon revealed his smiling face.\n\nIf this assurance is attainable by one, why not by all? If at one time\nit may be enjoyed, why not at all times? We have \"for a foundation a\nstone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation,\"\nlaid in Zion by the great Master-Builder.\n\nFoundation-stones are chosen with great care and laid with care, for\nupon them the whole building depends. Look at this foundation-stone.\nTell me, is it not perfect, sure and tried? This is the stone that the\nbuilders rejected: they perished, but it remaineth, and upon it the\nLord hath built his Church. Believers in all ages and climes have\nbuilt all their hopes of heaven upon it. Is it not a tried stone?\nSatan tried it and found no flaw; Pilate tried it and found no fault;\nthe Father tried it and pronounced it good; and we have tried it and\nproved it so. What a sure foundation it is, with Christ for the\ncorner-stone, the next stone faith, then repentance, hope, submission\nand all the graces! \"Master, see what manner of stones are here.\" Are\nthey not goodly stones? and will they not make a beautiful temple?\n\nUpon Christ, the precious corner-stone, let us build our hopes of\nheaven, and dismiss all fears for the future.\n\nMy hope, my joy, my salvation, my desire, my righteousness, my\nstrength, my all--Christ in me \"the hope of glory.\" \"Lord, who shall\nabide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?\" I have not\nclean hands, nor a pure heart. Behold, I am vile. Nevertheless, I\nshall abide in thy tabernacle; I shall dwell in thy holy hill. Why?\nBecause Christ is mine. His hands are spotless, his heart is pure, his\nrighteousness is perfect. All his is mine, for he is mine. I build my\nhopes upon the Rock Christ Jesus. These hopes shall never be\noverthrown; I have no fear of it.\n\n_When_ the head stone shall be placed I cannot tell, but I wait and\nwork with joy, hoping unto the end. Sometimes weariness almost\novercomes me, for building is hard work. Foes within and foes without\nmake the labor exceedingly hard. But whether in joy or grief, the\nbuilding goes on, and from the completed structure shouts shall ascend\nto the great Master-Builder: \"Grace, grace unto it!\" \"Glory be to the\nFather, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost! Amen.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n IV.\n _The Perfect Work._\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider his perfect\nwork_.\n\nWhat consternation must have been felt among the ranks of holy spirits\nwhen sin entered into the world, \"and death by sin!\" Could grief\nintrude into heaven, we should imagine _that_ an hour of deepest\nanguish when the Father, looking down upon the fallen race, exclaimed,\n\"How shall I pardon thee for this?\" \"How shall I put thee among the\nchildren?\" How could the just and holy God justify the sinner? Not one\nof all the heavenly host could solve the problem. \"How shall I give\nthee up?\" burst from the heart of the loving Father. The beloved Son\nexclaims: \"Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a\nransom.\" \"Who will seek and save these wanderers?\" says the Father.\n\"Father, send me,\" the Son replies; \"I will seek them, and save them,\nand bring them home. I will bear the wrath due to them for sin; I will\ndie for them.\" The Father accepts the Substitute; the Son lays aside\nhis glory and girds himself for the mighty conflict. He looks along\nthe line of weary years, and though he sees nothing but suffering,\nreproach and death, his holy purpose remains unshaken. The lost sheep\nof the house of Israel must be saved, and none but Jesus could save\nthem.\n\n\"So he was their Saviour.\"\n\nHis work of _justification_ is perfect. Look at it for a moment. What\nis justification? \"Justification is an act of God's free grace,\nwherein he pardoneth _all_ our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in\nhis sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and\nreceived by faith alone.\"\n\nCan there be anything more simple and beautiful and perfect than this?\nIt is free to all; it is sufficient for all: \"Whosoever will;\" \"And I\nwill pardon _all_ their iniquities.\" It is the work of a moment, but\nit abideth for ever. One look of faith, and life, eternal life, is\nyours.\n\n  \"The moment a sinner believes\n    And trusts in his crucified Lord,\n  His pardon at once he receives,\n    Redemption in full through his blood.\"\n\nHis work of _adoption_ is perfect. Like justification, it is done in a\nmoment, and it abideth for ever. \"Adoption is an act of God's free\ngrace, whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all\nthe privileges of the sons of God.\"\n\nThe Romans had a twofold form of adoption. The first was a private\ntransaction between the parties, receiving the person adopted into the\nfamily; the second was the public recognition in the forum.\n\nThe moment we are justified we are adopted. This is the private\ntransaction. Hearing a voice from heaven saying, \"Thy sins are\nforgiven thee; go in peace,\" we look up through our tears, and with\nrejoicing lips we cry, \"Father!\" \"_Now_ are we sons of God,\" placed\namong the children, because Jesus solved the mighty problem, showing\nhow God can be just and yet justify the sinner. The public recognition\nwill come very soon. When we reach the pearly gates, Jesus, our Elder\nBrother, will be waiting to receive and acknowledge us as his own.\nStanding before his Father and ours, he will stretch forth his hand\ntoward his disciples and say, \"Behold my mother and my brethren!\"\n\nHis work of _sanctification_ is perfect. It is not, like justification\nand adoption, an act done in a moment. It is a work slow and at times\npainful, yet sure and perfect. It begins when we are justified, it\nends when we are glorified. \"Sanctification is the _work_ of God's\nfree grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of\nGod, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto\nrighteousness.\" It is often a painful work. \"The flesh, with the\naffections and lusts,\" must be crucified. We must \"die unto sin.\" The\nsound of the hammer and axe and iron tools is not heard by those who\nare without, yet every blow causes the heart to quiver, and the\ncutting is very painful. Nevertheless, who would not be \"a carved\nstone\" in the temple of our God?\n\nWe praise thee for this work, O God. We rejoice to know that thou wilt\nnot weary of it, but wilt carry it on \"until the day of Jesus Christ.\"\nWe shall be perfect in that day. No imperfection shall remain in\nus--no sinful desire, no unholy thought. Jesus will say unto us, \"Thou\nart all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee,\" and he will present\nus \"faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.\"\n\nHis work of _redemption_ is perfect. Christ, our Prophet, instructs\nus, \"revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our\nsalvation.\" Christ, our Priest, offers up himself \"a sacrifice to\nsatisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God.\" He also \"maketh\ncontinual intercession for us.\" Christ, our King, subdues \"us to\nhimself;\" he rules and defends us, and restrains and conquers \"all his\nand our enemies.\" Is he not a perfect Redeemer? He redeems our souls\nfrom death, our bodies also from the grave. \"My flesh also shall rest\nin hope,\" always confident of a glorious resurrection. \"For I know\nthat my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day\nupon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet\nin my flesh shall I see God.\" \"I will ransom them from the power of\nthe grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be thy\nplague! O Grave, I will be thy destruction!\"\n\nThough some may cavil at this mystery and say sneeringly, \"How are the\ndead raised up? and with what body do they come?\" yet we trust in the\nword of our God, and \"_we know_ that if our earthly house of this\ntabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not\nmade with hands, eternal in the heavens.\" Christ, \"the first-fruits of\nthem that slept,\" is risen; then how say some among you that there is\nno resurrection of the dead? \"Christ is risen!\" Oh glorious truth,\nfirst proclaimed to the women who came weeping to his sepulchre! \"Fear\nye not,\" the angel answered, \"for I know that ye seek Jesus which was\ncrucified. He is not here; for he is risen, as he said.\" Christ is\nrisen! Then we which are Christ's shall rise also. \"Because I live ye\nshall live also.\" \"Behold, I show you a mystery:\" \"the dead shall be\nraised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible\nmust put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.\"\n\nO Lord, our Redeemer, Prophet, Priest and King, we praise thee for thy\nperfect work!\n\nYes, \"my meditation of him shall be sweet\" when I consider his perfect\nwork. My Master too regards it with satisfaction; he sees of the\ntravail of his soul, and is satisfied. His life on earth was\nsorrowful, but his triumph was complete. \"Having spoiled\nprincipalities and powers,\" God's enemies and ours, \"he made a show of\nthem openly, triumphing over them in it,\" or in _himself_, as it may\nbe rendered. As a victor returning from the fight, he ascended to the\nglory which he had with the Father \"before the world was;\" and the\nsong of the glorified filled the high heavens with richer harmony as\nthe Well-Beloved of the Father proved by the nail-prints that he had\nfinished the work which was given him to do.\n\nComing ages will testify to his triumph and to the completeness of his\nwork. On earth it was for the most part viewed not only with\nindifference, but even with unbelief and scorn. \"He came unto his own,\nand his own received him not.\" \"For a good work we stone thee not; but\nfor blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself\nGod.\" \"He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the\nchosen of God.\" \"If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.\" \"If he be\nthe King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will\nbelieve him.\" But now a mighty multitude swell the song, \"Worthy is\nthe Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and\nstrength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which\nis in heaven, and on the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all\nthat are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and\npower, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,\nfor ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and\ntwenty elders fell down and worshiped Him that liveth for ever and\never.\"\n\n  \"Ten thousand times ten thousand sung\n    Loud anthems round the throne,\n  When lo! one solitary tongue\n    Began a song unknown--\n  A song unknown to angel ears--\n  A song that told of banished fears,\n  Of pardoned sins and dried up tears.\n\n  \"Not one of all the heavenly host\n    Could these high notes attain,\n  But spirits from a distant coast\n    United in the strain;\n  Till he who first began the song,\n  To sing alone not suffered long,\n  Was mingled with a countless throng.\n\n  \"And still, as hours are fleeting by,\n    The angels ever bear\n  Some newly-ransomed soul on high\n    To join the chorus there:\n  And so the song will louder grow,\n  Till all redeemed by Christ below\n  To that fair world of rapture go.\n\n  \"Oh give me, Lord, my golden harp,\n    And tune my broken voice,\n  That I may sing of troubles sharp\n    Exchanged for endless joys:\n  The song that ne'er was heard before--\n  A sinner reached the heavenly shore--\n  But now shall sound for evermore.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n V.\n _The Chastening._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider his\nchastenings_, for \"blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord.\"\n\nOf all the beatitudes this may appear to be the strangest. To the\nyoung disciple chastisements may seem anything but happiness; you see\nin them no beauty that you should desire them. If you have never been\ntaught in the school of affliction, you cannot understand this;\nneither can you understand it if you have not learned well what you\nwere there taught. Perhaps you have been greatly afflicted, and yet\nyou can see no good fruits of it in your soul. Every disappointment\nhas only increased bitter feelings in your heart. You are conscious of\nthis. You are ready to say, \"Where are the blessed effects of sorrow?\"\nThe Master comes \"seeking fruit,\" and findeth none. Why is this? We\nreply, that sorrow in itself has no sanctifying power. Many are\nhardened by it, and rendered more unlovely and unholy. But the plane\nin the hand of the carpenter's Son cannot fail to make you better, and\nif you are not profited by it, it is because you do not rightly\nreceive your sorrows.\n\nWhile you were a stranger to the love of Christ you had no special\nconsolation to sustain you in the time of trial. The consolations of\nGod, which are neither few nor small, you had no right to appropriate.\nWith every stroke of the rod you seemed to hear a terrible voice\nsaying, \"I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.\" But\nnow that you are reconciled to God, all is changed; you hear another\nvoice saying, \"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.\"\n\nHenceforth, therefore, you may accept trials as love-tokens, for \"whom\nthe Lord loveth he chasteneth.\"\n\nPerhaps, like Jonah, you have been sitting with great delight under\nthe shadow of your gourd. To give you joy and comfort in the desert,\nGod caused it to spring up. You felt glad and even thankful because of\nits pleasant shade, and while you rested under its shadow songs of\npraise ascended to the Giver. Yet \"God prepared a worm.\" You woke one\nmorning to find your beautiful gourd all withered. Never did the\ndesert seem more dreary. You fainted under God's smiting, and with\naching and rebellious heart you prayed for death. There seemed to be\nnothing for which to live, and you said, \"It is better for me to die\nthan to live.\"\n\n\"Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?\"\n\nThere are times when God shows his mercy to us by turning a deaf ear\nto our foolish prayer. No, I should not say he turneth a deaf ear to\nour prayer. He does hear, and he does answer, but not according to our\nasking. You asked death; he sent grace to live. \"It is better for me\nto die,\" you said. God, by sparing your life, said most plainly, \"It\nis better for you to live.\" God knows best.\n\nIf you are still mourning over your smitten gourd, permit us to give\nyou some reasons why you should no longer mourn, or, at least, why you\nshould not murmur.\n\nRemember, the gourd was undeserved. You had done nothing to merit such\na blessing. Perhaps even when it came it found you, like Jonah,\nindulging in bitter, reproachful thoughts. Wayward and wandering were\nyou; loving and tender was God. Earthly parents bestow most tenderness\nand anxious thought upon the erring child. The Good Shepherd leaves\nthe ninety and nine to search for the straying one. These things but\nfaintly illustrate the dealings of God with his children.\n\nPerhaps you were in the path of duty, and were not unthankful while\nyou rested under the gourd. Still, you know that you deserve not the\nleast of all God's mercies. Your sufferings are less than your sins\ndeserve. \"He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us\naccording to our iniquities.\" \"Wherefore doth a living man complain?\"\nLet then this thought silence your complaints.\n\nRemember also that the hand that smote the gourd was the hand of your\nFather, your loving Father. And this thought surely will give you\ncomfort in your sorrow, and will even cause you by and by to sing\naloud for joy. Knowing full well that \"he doth not afflict willingly,\"\nyou seek to know why he thus dealt with you. It ought to be enough for\nyou to know that \"_God_ prepared a worm.\" \"What I do thou knowest not\nnow, but thou shalt know hereafter,\" should make us dumb before him,\nbut so great is his condescension toward them that love him that he\neven tells them _why_ the smiting was necessary. Your heart was fully\nset upon the gourd, and you were\n\n  \"Making a heaven down under the sun.\"\n\nIt may be that there was very little of the pilgrim spirit in your\nheart. The heart-tendrils were firmly fastened around the gourd; its\nuprooting seemed to rend you in twain. Bitter and severe was the pain,\nbut the hand that dealt the blow is ready to bind up the bleeding\nwound, and in after days you will love to look upon this scar, for you\nwill cherish it as a sweet reminder of God's faithfulness and\nmercy--not only as a monument, but also as a warning, for whenever you\nlook upon it, it will say to you, \"Little children, keep yourselves\nfrom idols.\"\n\nHave you ever noticed the old grave stones in some English\nburial-garden? The damp climate, which so soon obliterates the\nletters, has a kindly way of dealing with the horizontal stones. Into\nthe deep grooves of the lettering little seeds are carried by the\nwind, and, lodging there, the dampness soon causes them to germinate,\nand in place of the blackness of decay spring up the characters in\nliving green.\n\nInto the deep scars caused by God's sharp instruments the precious\nseeds of divine consolation shall be wafted. Watered by your tears,\nthey shall soon spring up, and in your sweet submission others will\nread your testimony to God's faithfulness: \"I know, O Lord, that thy\njudgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.\"\n\nWhen God uproots the gourd he gives us something better, and \"our\nlight affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more\nexceeding and eternal weight of glory.\"\n\nIf Paul could call his calamities \"light,\" surely we may; for what are\nour trials when compared with his? Behold what a crushing load he\ncarried! \"In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in\nprisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received\nI forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I\nstoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in\nthe deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of\nrobbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen,\nin perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the\nsea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in\nwatchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and\nnakedness.\" Oh what a life! How could he call all these afflictions\nlight? Placed in the balance with the exceeding weight of glory, they\nseemed as naught. The afflictions were but for a moment; the glory was\neternal.\n\n\"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth\nhim out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is\nbroken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous\nshall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants; and\nnone of them that trust in him shall be desolate.\"\n\nThen \"wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen\nthy heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.\" And let your meditation be sweet\nwhen you consider Him who smites the gourd in order that he may lead\nyou to the shadow of the great Rock.\n\n\"When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than\nI.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n VI.\n _The Compassion._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember his compassion_\nfor the multitude.\n\nIt was a beautiful thought to compile a record of loving and heroic\ndeeds, of all lands and ages, and to entitle it, \"A Book of Golden\nDeeds.\" Florence Nightingale, whose picture adorns the opening page,\nstands forth a fit exponent of the spirit of love that prompted these\nrecorded acts.\n\nThe record of Christ's life may truly be called \"A Book of Golden\nDeeds;\" and that blessed name, which is above every name, becomes the\nsymbol of \"whatsoever things are lovely and of good report.\" The works\nwhich mark his earthly career are wonderful beyond compare, and the\ncrowning act of this life of perfect self-abnegation is the greatest\nmystery of love.\n\nIt was noble in Dick Williamzoon, the Netherland martyr, when safely\nover the frozen mere, to turn back, at the peril of his life, and\nrescue his pursuer, whom he saw about to perish in the waters. He\nsaved his enemy, and was himself captured and burned at the stake--a\nmartyr for mercy as well as for truth. It was nobler still in the\nMoravian missionary to enter the hospital in order to preach Christ to\nthe lepers. \"If you go in, you can never be allowed to come out.\" \"I\naccept,\" he said, and entered, to go out no more. But the compassion\nof Jesus towers far above the devotion of mortals, and expresses\nitself in a manner which excites wonder in heaven and upon earth.\nLooking down from his heavenly throne, his heart was deeply affected\nby the ruin of our race. One blow of the arch-destroyer had marred\nGod's fair creation--man. Could no hand restore what in one dark hour\nhad been lost? O mighty Restorer! we wonder and adore.\n\n  \"He left his lofty throne,\n    And threw his robes aside;\n  On wings of love came down,\n    And wept and bled and died.\"\n\nYes, girding himself with full strength, he descended to the work his\nloving heart devised. Humbling himself to bear our sins, he became our\nSaviour. Not satisfied with simply bearing the sins of his people, he\nalso carried their sorrows, and so becomes their Sympathizer. \"Surely\nhe has borne our griefs\" as well as our guilt. He became \"a Man of\nSorrows\" in order that from henceforth and for ever his followers\nmight have not exemption from all sorrow, but a Saviour who would be\nable to sustain them fully in their afflictions, even lifting them so\nfar above their sorrows that at midnight and in prison they might sing\npraises.\n\nGazing along the line of centuries, the omniscient Jesus saw a mighty\nmultitude of bowed and suffering ones--in sickness, in pains, in\npoverty and chains; inheritors of \"cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,\nmoreover, of bonds and imprisonment;\" those whose portion should be to\nbe stoned, \"sawn asunder,\" tempted, \"slain with the sword;\" who should\nwander about \"in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute,\nafflicted, tormented.\" Seeing these, is it any wonder if his heart\nmelted with tenderness? In the simple story of his life we read: \"And\nJesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with\ncompassion toward them, and he healed their sick.\" \"In all their\naffliction he was afflicted.\" Blessed be our High Priest who is still\n\"touched with the feeling of our infirmities!\"\n\nWhen his life on earth ended and he returned to the glory which he had\nwith the Father before the world was, he left us an example that we\nshould walk in his steps. To his disciples belongs the honor of taking\nup and carrying forward the work of ministration. Partakers of\nChrist's love and sympathy \"look not every man on his own things, but\nevery man also on the things of others. Let the same mind be in you\nwhich was also in Christ Jesus,\" who \"took upon him the form of a\nservant.\" \"He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk\neven as he walked.\"\n\nHow did he walk? Study well the memorial of \"golden deeds.\" Compare\nyour life with his. How can you bear the test?\n\nNothing can be more beautiful than a life of self-abnegation. One\nsingle act of devotion to another's good is like a ray of golden\nsunshine in a darkened room, and a life of such deeds may well be\ncalled a golden life. Into the cabin of one of our government\ntransports was borne a poor wounded soldier, who, with many others,\nwas going home to die. He had just been laid in the middle berth--by\nfar the most comfortable of the three tiers of berths in the ship's\ncabin--and was still thrilling with the pain of being carried from the\nfield, when he saw a comrade in even greater suffering than himself\nabout to be lifted to the berth above him, and, thinking of the pain\nit would cost him to be raised so high, he exclaimed, \"Put me up\nthere; I reckon I'll bear hoisting better than he will.\"\n\nWhere can we find sufficient inspiration for a life of devotion to\nothers? \"Act as if the eyes of Cato were always upon you,\" was urged\nupon the Roman youth to stimulate him to virtuous deeds. Act as if the\neyes of Jesus were upon you, we urge, for surely he bends from his\nthrone to watch you as you endeavor to tread the path your Saviour\ntrod.\n\nTo some of us God has given leisure from arduous toil, wealth, talents\nand many opportunities for usefulness. Perhaps to all these gifts he\nhas added strong faith and bright hopes of heaven. What, then, are our\nduties to the poor and ignorant, the weary and feeble ones?\n\"Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to\nthem that are of a feeble heart, Be strong; fear not.\" Remember, and\nforget it not, ye favored ones, that \"unto whomsoever much is given,\nof him shall much be required.\" Let nothing be hoarded. \"Withhold not\ngood from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine\nhand to do it.\" Nature's and the Gospels' doctrine is, \"Be ready to\ndistribute, willing to communicate.\" Looking up at the twelve silver\nstatues in Yorkminster cathedral, Oliver Cromwell asked, \"Who are\nthose expensive fellows up there?\" He was told that they were the\napostles of Christ. \"Ah? let them be taken down and melted up,\" said\nthe old Puritan; \"then they, like their Master, will go about doing\ngood.\"\n\nIt is said that in China the rich buy up and distribute clothing to\nthe poor, and in times of scarcity of food, through the kindness of\nthe rich, rice is sold to the poor at a third or fourth less than the\nmarket price. This is done to win the favor of the gods. While we do\nnot hope to purchase God's favor by anything that we can do, yet we\nmay remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, \"Whosoever\nshall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water\nonly, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall in\nnowise lose his reward.\" \"And they that be wise shall shine in the\nbrightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness,\nas the stars for ever and ever.\"\n\nLet us daily strive to imitate our Master in compassion for others;\nthen shall our meditation prove profitable as well as pleasant.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n VII.\n _The Sympathy._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember his sympathy_\nwith his chosen ones.\n\nTo have a friend who is ready to rejoice with us when we rejoice, and\nto weep with us when we weep, how delightful it is! It doubles our\nevery joy and divides our every sorrow. Though some hearts seem to\nscorn this tender plant of heavenly origin, we believe that none are\nwholly insensible to the magic power of sympathy. Those who scorn it\nmost are often led to crave it most when the days of bitter grief draw\nnear. We call it a plant of heavenly origin, and so it is; for though\nit is often found in unrenewed hearts, yet it attains its fairest\nperfection in hearts regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Planted by the\nhand of God and watered by heavenly dews, it reaches its greatest\nheight, and wins the admiration of many who fail to understand the\nsecret source of its life.\n\nBut human sympathy, even the deepest and tenderest, often fails us in\nthe hour of our greatest need. Who will say that Peter and the two\nsons of Zebedee were not friends of the Lord Jesus? Certainly they\nloved him, for they followed him whithersoever he went. Feeling his\nneed of human sympathy--for he was the man Christ Jesus--he took them\nwith him to Gethsemane. All he asked was that they should watch with\nhim. \"Tarry ye here, and watch with me.\" Did they watch? You know the\nrecord well. \"And he cometh unto the disciples and findeth them\nasleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one\nhour?\" When brought to our Gethsemane, is not our experience something\nlike our Master's? Where we looked for sympathy we find indifference;\nwe are there alone. Perhaps our sorrow may be of such a nature that we\ncannot reveal it even to our best-beloved. Our secret grief lies like\nice upon our hearts, sending its chilling influences through every\nmember. The hands hang down listlessly and the feeble knees smite\ntogether; the aching of the head is only exceeded by the aching of the\nheart. Yet no one knows the agony that paralyzes our life. Or, sadder\nstill, the heart-friend may be snatched away, and while our hearts are\nbreaking by reason of bereavement, we may have no one left to whom we\nmay turn for comfort in our affliction.\n\nIs there no friend whose sympathy is deep, ever abiding and ever\naccessible? Thank God, there is One. His name is Jesus. In all our\nafflictions he is afflicted. He suffered that he might sympathize.\nComing to a race concerning whom it was written \"few are their days\nand full of trouble,\" \"it behooved him to be made like unto his\nbrethren,\" therefore he accepted the inheritance of suffering, and\nbecame \"a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.\" \"Himself took\nour infirmities.\"\n\nIs poverty your portion? Is it no uncommon thing for you to suffer\nhunger, cold and weariness? Do friends forsake and foes oppress you?\nGo and tell Jesus. Though no longer suffering the sorrows of earth, he\nremembers them well. Think you that _he_ has forgotten those\nwilderness seasons when he suffered hunger; or those times of weary\nwatching on the mountains; or that dark night when \"all the disciples\nforsook him and fled;\" or that sad hour when his Father forsook him?\nThough gone to God's right hand he is the same Jesus still. His heart\nis full of love and pity. \"He knoweth our frame,\" for he has put on\nour humanity. He put on our humanity; he has never put it off. \"Behold\nthe Man!\" \"And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of\nthe four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it\nhad been slain.\" \"And I heard the voice of many angels round about the\nthrone, and the beasts, and the elders; and the number of them was ten\nthousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a\nloud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and\nriches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.\"\n\nAnd is he absorbed by this homage? I tell thee nay.\n\nLet us recall that parting scene at Olivet. His days of suffering are\nnow ended, and he is about to return to the glory which he had with\nthe Father before the world was. A few words of parting, and then a\ncloud separates him from his sorrowing disciples. A cloud, the record\ntells us. So it appeared to them; to us it seems rather a company of\nshining ones--a heavenly convoy sent to attend King Jesus back to his\nheavenly throne. In the midst of the homage of this heavenly host he\ndoes not forget his sorrowful disciples, but arrests the glad song for\na moment that he may send words of comfort down to them. \"And while\nthey looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men\nstood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee,\nwhy stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up\nfrom you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him\ngo into heaven.\"\n\n_This same Jesus_ is not now absorbed by the homage of that \"great\nmultitude which no man could number.\" Surrounded by those \"which came\nout of great tribulation,\" can he for a moment forget those who are\ngoing through great tribulation? He does not forget them. The hand\nthat was nailed to the cross is still swift to obey the impulses of\nthat great heart of love, and hastens to wipe away the tear that\ngathers in the mourner's eye, to bind up the broken heart and to\nsmooth the pillow of the dying.\n\nWe cannot read the record of Christ's earthly life without perceiving\nthat his sympathy with suffering was deep and constant. Failing to\ncomprehend this, some may add to your grief by uttering these chilling\nwords: \"Trouble not the Master.\" Remember, and forget not the\nbroken-hearted father whose \"only daughter\" died before the help of\nthe Good Physician could be obtained. There comes one from the ruler's\nhouse saying unto him, \"Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.\"\nThe mournful message is heard by the Master, and turning to the\nsorrowing father, he said, \"Fear not; believe only, and she shall be\nmade whole.\" How speedily joy came into that darkened home when Jesus\nentered and took the maiden by the hand!\n\nLittle know they that great heart of love who say to the sorrowful,\n\"Trouble not the Master.\" Young disciple, heed them not. Think no\nsorrow too trifling to pour into his sympathizing ear. Whatever\ntroubles you interests him. \"In all their affliction he was\nafflicted.\" No tear falls unnoticed by him; no sigh escapes unheard.\nHe keepeth you \"as the apple of his eye.\" What encouragement to carry\nyour griefs to Jesus! Satan would suggest that we \"trouble not the\nMaster.\" He trembles to see such close communion between Christ and\nthe Christian. He knows that his power over the Saviour's \"hidden\nones\" is fast passing away, and he would be glad to raise all chilling\nbarriers to their delightful intercourse. \"Get thee behind me, Satan!\"\nMy Saviour invites, yea, urges, me to come to him with all my sorrows,\nand I will cast all my cares on him, for he careth for me. \"It is good\nfor me to draw near to God.\" Again and again have I found it good--oh\nhow good! All sympathy is sweet, but his sympathy is exceeding sweet.\nYes, so sweet is it that trouble is no longer trouble, because Christ\nshares it with me. He changes the \"valley of Baca\" into the \"land\nBeulah.\" He gives me songs in the night, and his presence turns my\ndarkness into day.\n\n\"Trouble not the Master.\"\n\nI tell you, Satan, it is no trouble for the Master to care for me; no\ntrouble to soothe my sorrowing spirit; no trouble to wipe away my\ntears; no trouble to pillow my aching head upon his bosom; no trouble\nto give me \"beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment\nof praise for the spirit of heaviness.\" Many and many a time has he\ndone this, blessed be his name! Nothing troubles him but my sins.\nWould to God they might trouble him no more! They grieve him; then let\nme forsake them. By his help I will. Begone, unbelief, pride,\nworldliness, ingratitude--begone! It is ye that trouble my Master!\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n VIII.\n _The Love._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider his love for\nme_.\n\nThe record of Christ's deeds of mercy toward a multitude of sick and\nsuffering ones gives us a wonderful glimpse of his heart. The thought\nof his perfect sympathy with his people has comforted the Church in\nall ages. But draw a little nearer and consider his _personal love for\nyou_, dear young Christian. Listen to his voice saying so tenderly, \"I\nhave loved thee.\" Forget for a moment the multitude that need his\ncompassion and the disciples who share his sympathy, and try to\nrealize his deep, personal love for you. Consider that love as shown\non Calvary. Remember the great price he has paid for your redemption.\n\nDuring the dark days of the Netherland revolt there went forth a\ndecree from the cruel Philip the Second; and though many a bloody\nedict had gone out before from that throne, this one in cruelty\nexceeded them all, for it condemned to death all the inhabitants of\nthe Netherlands. \"Heretic\" was branded upon every one, and, without\nrespect to age or sex, they were doomed to destruction. Now, if a\nmighty deliverer could have traversed those gloomy streets proclaiming\nfull deliverance for those who were condemned, with what joy would he\nhave been hailed! Not only would the public thanks of the nation have\nbeen his, but each rescued one would have hastened to express his own\nthanks to his deliverer.\n\nLet then your heart overflow with grateful love when you remember the\ngreat Deliverer. \"Guilty\" was branded upon every forehead when Jesus\ncame to the rescue; and while the thanks of all the redeemed are\nascending to the throne, let your praises unite with theirs, for you\ntoo were under condemnation when Jesus offered pardon. His terms were\nsimple--\"only believe;\" and through the grace of God you were led to\naccept the offer of everlasting life. \"There is therefore now no\ncondemnation,\" for the Son hath made you free.\n\n\"No condemnation!\" How sweet it sounds! How much it means! Christ hath\nfulfilled the Law's requirements, and you are free. As we meditate\nupon it we seem to hear the Saviour saying, \"Lovest thou me?\" Dear\nLord Jesus, we cannot love thee as thou hast loved us. A mother's love\nis as naught when compared with thy love, for she _may_ forget, but\nthou hast said thou wilt never forget us. But yet our hearts cherish\nmost fondly this secret of thy love to us. \"I have loved thee with an\neverlasting love.\"\n\nIt gives us joy in our loneliest hours. We love to think about it when\nwe are all alone. Never are we less alone than when alone, for then it\nis we hear the sweetest whispers that ever fell on mortal ears. And\nwhen we hear the voice of our Beloved, can we be indifferent to his\nlove? I tell thee, nay. Love, a faint reflection of his own, rises in\nour heart, and falling on our knees before him, we exclaim, \"Lord,\nthou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.\" Sadly we feel\nthat it is a poor spark of love--nothing like his great love to\nus--yet we rejoice that the little spark is there, and pray that it\nmay be kindled into a steady flame. \"Lord, thou knowest all things.\"\nOh how glad we are of this! Thou knowest every emotion of our heart\ntoward thee. Thou knowest our grief because we do not love thee more.\n\nBut this meditation has its practical bearings. We may not always\ndwell upon the high mountain apart thinking about our Saviour's love.\nLet our communion with Christ be as close and confidential as\npossible, but let us never forget that He who spent whole nights\ncommuning with his Father also spent whole days ministering to others.\nLet, then, the love of Christ constrain us.\n\nStanding safely upon the Rock Christ Jesus, let our hearts go out in\npity for those who are still breasting the billows. Faint and\nexhausted, they seem ready to perish. \"Help, Master, help!\" Let our\nprayers for them ascend unceasingly. The Master is not far off, and in\nanswer to our prayers he will come and rescue them with his strong\narm. Let the love of Christ constrain us to labor for the perishing\naround us. This is our working-time, and this principle of love is the\nlife of our work.\n\nThis word \"constrain\" has several meanings. It might be thus\nexpressed: \"The love of Christ transports us.\" It carries away our\nsouls in ecstasy even from earth to heaven, and fills us with holy\nrapture. How often at the table of the Lord have we been thus\ntransported by thoughts of his everlasting love! And as we went on our\npilgrim way we cast frequent glances back to that hour of heavenly\nbrightness. Earth grew dim during those moments of holy communion.\nFain would we have tabernacled there.\n\nThe love of Christ _urges_ us, _prompts_ us. Sweet it will be to rest\nin the arms of his love. But this rest remaineth; we have not yet\nreached it; to the present belong toil and labor. There must be no\nloitering in the Christian life. Where the love of Christ fills the\nheart there can be no loitering. It is a prompting principle, ever\nleading us to new endeavors for the Master.\n\nThe love of Christ _unites_ us. Though diversities of opinion mark\nthose who bear the Christian name, yet, if the Saviour's love fills\nour hearts, we have one common platform where we may meet and hold\nsweet fellowship. Our experience is the same: \"we love him because he\nfirst loved us.\" Our Hope is the same: Christ in us, \"the hope of\nglory.\" Our home is the same: \"and there shall be one fold.\" Our\nShepherd is the same: \"and I will set up one Shepherd over them.\" And\nthough our creeds may differ, our chorus is the same: \"Thou art\nworthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood\nout of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.\" Angels and\narchangels round the throne join in the heavenly melody, saying, with\na loud voice, \"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and\nriches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.\"\n\"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under\nthe earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,\"\nbeing united by the love of Christ, join in the song which celebrates\nhis wondrous love.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n IX.\n _The Life Abundant._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider the life more\nabundant which he gives_.\n\nWe are amazed at the languid, feeble lives of many around us. Among\nthe aged we naturally look for inactivity, but, alas! \"even the\nyouths\" faint and are weary, and the young men utterly fall. Before\n\"the time of old age\" the grasshopper becomes a burden, and we hear\nthe young exclaiming, in world-weary tones, \"I have no pleasure in\nthem.\" They said in their hearts, \"Go to, now; I will prove thee with\nmirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.\" And behold they found it vanity.\nThey builded houses, and planted vineyards, and gathered silver and\ngold; but, looking back on all the works their hands have wrought,\nthey are compelled to acknowledge that all is vanity and vexation of\nspirit. Therefore they hate life and all their labor which they have\ntaken \"under the sun.\" \"For what,\" say they, \"hath man of all his\nlabor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under\nthe sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his\nheart taketh not rest in the night. This also is vanity.\"\n\nHow marked and beautiful the change when Jesus takes possession of\nthese weary souls! \"I am come,\" says the Master, \"that they might have\nlife, and that they might have it _more abundantly_\"--life in greater\nquantity; \"good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and\nrunning over.\"\n\nWe hear much about the power of love to arouse the dormant faculties\nand animate the feeble spirit. When this love is the dear, deep love\nof Jesus, who can estimate its life-giving power? Truly, we hardly\nbegin to live till Jesus reveals himself to us--until, kneeling at his\ncross, we consecrate to him our time, our talents and our all. From\nhenceforth life has for us new beauty, because Jesus is the charm of\nour life.\n\nLife \"more abundantly!\" Let us enter more deeply into the meaning of\nthese words. Let us understand that religion does not close the door\nupon any lawful calling. The days of religious seclusion are long\npast, but the days have not yet come when men have fully learned that\ndaily business is not antagonistic to Christian life, but that it is\none of the means of its development. It has been truly said that there\nhave been noble bands of Christians who have gone to heaven despising\nambition, refusing crowns, disdaining sceptres, unwilling to be\ncumbered with wealth, willing to bear hardship and suffering; but\nthere shall be another band of men who shall do more mighty things\nthan they--men of higher grace who shall conquer enemies more strong\nand terrible, who shall go to heaven even with crowns and sceptres or\nwith great wealth. Through abounding grace they learn Christian\ndevelopment in spite of, and by means of, those external things which\ncause the spiritual shipwreck of multitudes.\n\nLet the spirit of the Saviour, dwelling in us richly, sanctify all\ncommerce, all learning, all politics, all art. May religion dignify\nour every act. Religion was not simply designed for the dying hour.\n\"Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by\ndeath.\" \"For to me _to live_ is Christ.\"\n\nDear Lord Jesus, thou hast showed me \"the path of life,\" and by thy\npresence, even on earth, thou hast given me \"fullness of joy.\" Thou\nhast given me power when faint, and \"increased strength\" when I had no\nmight. Therefore my life shall praise thee. \"A new creature\" in\nChrist, henceforth I will not live unto myself, but unto Him which\ndied for me and rose again, \"for the love of Christ constraineth me.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n X.\n _The Forgiveness._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider the full and\nfree forgiveness he imparts_.\n\nThe hour in which we first felt the joy of sins forgiven can never be\nforgotten. The burden had grown so heavy that we could carry it no\nlonger, so, bending the knee at the foot of the cross, the burden was\ncast upon Christ.\n\nFor many days our joy and peace were so great that we fondly hoped to\nbe burdened no more; but as old wounds often break out anew, so it is\nwith the soul, and the memory of \"sins that are past\" often sweeps\nover the Christian like a bitter wave. Daily sins cause daily grief to\nthe heart that loves the Lord. The only way of peace is to carry them\nat once to Jesus, confess all and seek forgiveness. We never seek in\nvain.\n\nBut these past sins, these iniquities of our youth, how they rise up\nto condemn us and take away our peace! \"Thou writest bitter things\nagainst me,\" saith Job, \"and makest me possess the iniquities of my\nyouth.\" \"My sin is ever before me,\" cries David in the bitterness of\nhis soul. It must have been a lifelong grief to Peter that he had\ndenied his Lord and Master. Others might easily forget his hour of\nweakness and sin while they listened to his fearless words on the day\nof Pentecost and heard him exclaim, \"Him, being delivered by the\ndeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by\nwicked hands have crucified and slain.\" But though others could\nforget, how often must Peter's soul have been saddened by the memory\nof his weakness and sin! Sounding along the corridors of memory, ever\nand anon these words, \"I know not the man,\" must have smote upon his\nears like a funeral knell. The recollection of that look of love must\noften have brought tears to his eyes and filled his heart with tender\ngrief.\n\nHow many of us recall with deepest sorrow hours of weakness when,\nyielding to strong temptation, we fell into sin! Perhaps no eye but\nGod's marked our wandering steps, no ear but his heard our words of\nsin, no heart but his read the dark secret. The hour of true\ncontrition came when, ashamed and deeply grieved, we scarcely ventured\nto look up to our offended Father, but casting our tearful eyes upon\nthe ground, we knelt and cried in anguish, \"Thou hast set our\niniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy\ncountenance.\" Remembering that \"if we confess our sins he is faithful\nand just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all\nunrighteousness,\" we freely confessed all, and in the deep peace that\nfollowed we found a fulfillment of the promise. \"I acknowledge my sin\nunto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my\ntransgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my\nsin.\"\n\nBut though the Lord is \"ready to forgive,\" and \"plenteous in mercy\"\nunto all them that call upon him, yet these past sins are weapons that\nthe great adversary often uses successfully in his warfare with the\npilgrims, causing many almost to stand still when they should be\nrunning in the way of God's commandments.\n\nThink you that our God desires from us constant mourning over \"sins\nthat are past?\" If these are to lie a perpetual burden on our hearts,\nrobbing us of our peace and clouding our hopes of heaven, what\nadvantage then hath the Christian? or what profit is there in the\natonement of Christ?\n\nWe have somewhere heard of a chemist who was lecturing before his\nclass. A number of rags of varied hue lay before him, and by means of\nstrong chemicals he was changing their colors into whiteness.\nPresently he paused, and holding up a piece of Turkey red, he\nremarked, \"Ah! now we shall have some trouble, for of all colors this\nis the hardest to extract.\" Again and again he dipped it into the\nstrong solution, but with little effect; then cast it aside, saying,\n\"It must either remain as it is, or else lie in the solution till its\nvery fibres are destroyed.\"\n\nBut the blood of Christ has power to extract even scarlet stains.\n\"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though\nthey be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.\"\n\nThen \"why art thou cast down, O my soul?\" for \"the righteousness of\nGod, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all them that believe,\" is\n\"for the remission of sins that are past,\" as well as for the\nconstantly recurring sins of the present.\n\nShall we, then, never think of our past sins? Yes; think of them as\nthe mariner thinks of dangers past, and as the redeemed in glory think\nof past tribulations. \"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves\nthereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he\nbringeth them unto their desired haven.\" Yes; think of them with\ngratitude to God for deliverance, and let this be your song as you\npress on: \"He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many\nwaters: he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated\nme; for they were too strong for me.\" \"When I said, My foot slippeth,\nthy mercy, O Lord, held me up.\" \"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress,\nand my deliverer; the God of my rock: in him will I trust; he is my\nshield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my\nSaviour.\" \"For who is a God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save\nour God? Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the\nheathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.\"\n\nThink of them, also, with humility and self-distrust, and let this be\nyour constant prayer: \"Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my\nfootsteps slip not.\" \"Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under\nthe shadow of thy wings.\"\n\nBut oh do not carry the memory of past sins as a weight to drag your\nsoul down to the dust! If the Lord has forgiven and forgotten them,\nwhy not rejoice in this wonderful token of his love toward you?\nCasting aside every weight, you may thus rise to the enjoyment of \"a\npresent heaven.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XI.\n _The Help._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember the stones of\nhelp he has given_.\n\nFor forty days the champion of the Philistines had defied the armies\nof Israel. He was a man of great stature--a giant--and a man of war\nfrom his youth. \"And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man,\nfled from him and were sore afraid.\" All, yet not all, for one\naccepted Goliath's challenge and stepped forth to battle with him. Who\nwas he? The strongest, bravest and oldest veteran in the army? No; he\nwas not a soldier, but a shepherd-boy, and too young to be enrolled.\n\"A stripling\" the king calls him, and his weapons are only \"_five\nsmooth_ _stones_!\" Is it any wonder that his elder brother chided him\nand that Goliath disdained him? Trusting in the Lord who delivered him\nout of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he went\nforth confident of victory. He took a stone from his bag and put it in\nhis sling, and buried it in the giant's forehead so that he fell\nprostrate to the ground. How wonderful!\n\nThere are giants still in the land--giant powers that defy the armies\nof the living God. There are giant sins and giant fears that throw\nthemselves across the path of every Christian and threaten his\ndestruction. And if this page shall meet the eye of some youthful\nwarrior who would fain overcome those spiritual foes that challenge\nthe soul, permit me to choose five smooth stones for you, with which\nyou shall prevail to lay the giants low.\n\n_The presence of God_ is one of these stones: \"Thou God seest me.\"\nSometimes, like David's first stone, it is enough to kill the Goliath\nof temptation. When sinners entice us, there is power enough to defend\nus in the thought that the many eyes of the Most High are looking on\nus, and the soul starts back appalled, saying, \"How then can I do this\ngreat wickedness, and sin against God?\"\n\n_The power of God_ is another of these precious stones. David declined\nto go forth to battle with Saul's armor. He could not go with weapons\nwhich he had not proved, but he took to himself \"the whole armor of\nGod.\" He had proved it, and knew by experience that there was more\nthan protection in that panoply. Goliath was a giant, but he was not\nGod. He was mighty, but he was not almighty. He was potent, but he was\nnot omnipotent.\n\n_The wisdom of God_ is still another of these stones. The mighty man\nof Gath was mailed from head to foot. He was completely covered with a\ncoat of iron and brass. His whole body was protected; only his\nforehead was left exposed that he might be able to see his antagonist.\nAnd, strange to say, the first smooth stone went straight to this only\nplace where it could harm him, \"and sunk into his forehead.\" God's\nwisdom guided it to its own place.\n\n_The faithfulness of God_ is another of these stones. In his holy word\nhe has made unto us many exceeding great and precious promises, and\nhis faithfulness ensures their fulfillment. He will do as he said.\nHeaven and earth may pass away, but his promises shall never pass\naway. If ordinary means will not suffice for their accomplishment,\nmiracles shall be wrought. The sun and moon shall stand still, if need\nbe. Taking the past as pledge of the future, \"there shall not fail one\ngood word of all that the Lord our God hath spoken.\"\n\n_The love of God_ is the last stone of help. \"And the last shall be\nfirst.\" It is the smoothest and most precious of the five. There is\nsome gold in all the others, but this one is all gold, and the most\nfine gold. In the presence, power, wisdom and faithfulness of God much\nlove is mingled. He goes with us and upholds us and guides us and\nremembers his covenant because he loves us, so that our last thought\ncrowns and comprehends all the others. The love of God is first and\nlast and best. Presence, power, wisdom, faithfulness and love, these\nfive; but the greatest of these is love.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XII.\n _The Deliverance._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider him as my\nDeliverer_.\n\nHow dense the gloom that gathers round the record of Adam's sin and\nfall! Reading this chapter without the cross before our eyes, it seems\nthe saddest in all the inspired volume. Issuing from the abyss of woe,\nSatan has found an entrance into a newly-created world. Sin and death\nhave bridged the gulf that separated earth from hell, and are swift to\nfollow in Satan's track, eager to complete the ruin his hellish hate\ndevised. Fiends from the pit rejoice, while angels, with grief-clouded\nfaces, gaze upon the guilty pair. \"Adam, where art thou?\" Sinful man\nhears the summons, and, compelled by power divine, appears in the\npresence of his offended Maker. \"Can any hide himself in secret places\nthat I shall not see him? saith the Lord.\" \"Though they hide\nthemselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out\nhence.\" Truly, \"there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the\nworkers of iniquity may hide themselves.\"\n\nBut when we read this record in the light of the cross, our grief\nspeedily changes into gladness. That the promise made to Satan, \"Thou\nshalt bruise his heel,\" has not been retracted, each disciple of\nChrist can testify. The old enmity hissed forth by the arch-apostate\nand his followers when the almighty Arm hurled them into their own\nplace, has not yet been destroyed. The conflict, begun in Paradise,\nbetween the seed of the woman and the serpent--that conflict darkly\nshadowed forth in the mythology of heathen nations and painfully\nexperienced by each regenerate heart--is raging still. \"O wretched man\nthat I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?\" cries\nthe Christian. \"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from\nme!\" prays the Christian's Lord and Master. That the bruising is not\nlight, Gethsemane and Calvary bear mournful testimony. Nevertheless,\nit is not vital. Thou mayest bruise his heel, Satan, but not his head.\nFrom the abode of demons a yell of triumph must have risen when the\nLight of Life was extinguished on the cross. But the triumph was\nshort-lived. \"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I\nshall arise.\" \"That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die.\"\n\"Thou shalt bruise his heel\" because Omnipotence allows it, for \"it\npleased the Lord to bruise him,\" but \"it shall bruise thy head.\"\n\"Traveling in the greatness of his strength,\" Jesus plants his feet\nupon the necks of his enemies and chains the captives to his triumphal\ncar. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has seized the prey. \"Judah, thou\nart he whom his brethren shall praise.\" \"Let all the people praise\nthee, O God; let all the people praise thee.\" And those who will not\nrender him willing homage shall be trampled under the wheels of his\nadvancing chariot. \"But these mine enemies, which would not that I\nshould reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.\"\n\nShiloh, the Pacificator, has come; and though the conflict has not\nceased, the combatants are already singing the conqueror's song. What\nmeaneth this shout of triumph that cometh up from the battle-field? It\nis the voice of them that shout for the mastery. They go forth\nsinging, \"Thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory, through our\nLord Jesus Christ.\" We hear their song above the clash of arms; amid\nthe smoke of the battle-field we see their look of quiet confidence;\nand as they fall in the conflict they shout, \"O Death, where is thy\nsting? O Grave, where is thy victory?\"\n\nFrom heaven above is now proclaimed the blessing above the curse; and\nthough Eden was lost through the disobedience of Adam, Paradise shall\nbe regained through the obedience of Christ.\n\nMercy closed Eden's gate. \"Behold, saith the Lord, the man is become\nas one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his\nhand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever,\ntherefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden.\" Life\neverlasting, even in the garden of Eden, would be no boon to a\nsin-stricken race.\n\nThe gates are open now not only \"that the King of Glory may come in,\"\nbut also for \"the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy\nface, O God of Jacob.\" \"They shall ascend into the hill of the Lord;\"\nthey \"shall stand in his holy place.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XIII.\n _The Hearer of Prayer._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider him as the\nHearer and Answerer of prayer_; for his promises concerning prayer are\nmany, making us \"always confident\" when we come to the throne of the\nheavenly grace. Surely, every Christian may approach with confidence,\nsaying in his heart, \"My God will hear me.\" He may adopt the language\nof full assurance and say, \"Father, I know that thou hearest me\nalways.\" The Bible abounds in promises relating to prayer. We also\nfind there many illustrations of God's willingness to answer the\nprayers of his children.\n\nBut some may say, \"Notwithstanding the promises which appear so\npositive, we do not always receive that for which we ask.\" There are\nmany reasons why this is so. Sometimes our motive in asking is wrong.\n\"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.\" Sometimes we do not\nask in faith, consequently, no answer comes; for thus reads the\nfaithful promise: \"All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,\n_believing_, ye shall receive.\" Therefore \"ask in faith, nothing\nwavering.\" There is another reason why we do not always receive the\nthings for which we ask. In our ignorance and short-sightedness we\noften ask for that which God in his wisdom sees would be hurtful to\nus. Loving us with more than a mother's love, he withholds the evil\nwhich seems to us good, and sends the good which seems to us evil.\nThough God's providence may seem to contradict his promise, yet this\nis a faithful saying: \"No good thing will he withhold from them that\nwalk uprightly.\" The wicked often prosper for a time. \"They are not in\ntrouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Their\neyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart can wish.\nBehold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase\nin riches.\"\n\nHow shall we solve this seeming contradiction? Suppose we cannot solve\nit. Shall we therefore arraign the justice of God? Shall we reject the\npromise because we cannot understand it in the light of God's\nprovidence? Oh, not so. Let us remember that now we know only in part.\nBut do we not often forget the condition of this promise? Do we not\nmake the promise void by our unworthy walking? \"No good thing will he\nwithhold from them that walk _uprightly_.\" \"If ye abide in me, and my\nwords abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done\nunto you.\"\n\nWe must remember that God's standard of judging between good and evil\nis very different from ours. In this our thoughts are not as God's\nthoughts. We call poverty, sorrow, sickness and bereavement evil; God\noften shows us that they are good. We ask health; in answer God sends\nsickness, which he blesses to the healing of all our spiritual\nmaladies. He can make our sick-chambers very Pisgahs, so that we shall\nthank him for sickness. Sometimes in our weariness and discouragement\nwe pray for death. God in answer sends sufficient grace. He maketh our\nfeet \"like hind's feet,\" equal to the way. Is not his \"a more\nexcellent way?\" It seems to us every Christian should be satisfied\nwith answers like these. Is it not better to have our portion\nappointed by God? It is better when praying for temporal blessings\nalways to say, in spirit if not in words, \"Nevertheless, not my will,\nbut thine be done.\"\n\nThere are some things for which you may ask without any limitations,\nand these are spiritual gifts; \"for this is the will of God, even your\nsanctification.\" You may also have this confidence when praying for\nthe conversion of friends. God has provided salvation sufficient for\nall. In our Father's house there is room enough, and in our Father's\nheart there is love enough, for all. None need perish with hunger. \"As\nI live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the\nwicked; but that the wicked should turn from his way and live.\" If,\nthen, you have a desire in your heart for the conversion of a soul, be\nassured that God awakened that desire. It is a token of his readiness\nto bless. \"Have faith in God,\" \"and wait on thy God continually.\"\nPlead till the answer comes; \"though it tarry, wait for it.\" \"What\nthings soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,\nand ye shall have them.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XIV.\n _The Reward._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I think of his reward for\nfaithful labor_.\n\nThe weariness of work is often very great, but if sufficient\nrecompense follows our endeavors, if success crowns our working, we\nsoon forget past toils, \"for the desire accomplished is sweet to the\nsoul.\" But if we can see no good resulting from our labors,\ndisappointment and grief increase our fatigue. Yes, the weariness of\ngrief far exceeds the weariness of successful labors, though they may\nbe \"labors more abundant,\" \"in season\" and \"out of season.\" The\nfaithful minister of Christ will here bear me witness, for of all\ntimes of exhaustion he will acknowledge this to be the greatest, when\nhe goes from the pulpit to the closet with this despairing cry: \"Who\nhath believed our report?\" \"Master, we have toiled all the night and\nhave taken nothing.\"\n\nIt was morning when upon the shore of Tiberias three tired fishermen\nwere seen. They were sad as well as weary, for the night had yielded\nthem no recompense. From the crowd that pressed upon him to hear the\nword of God, Jesus stepped forth and entered into Simon's boat. And\nwhen he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, \"Launch out into the\ndeep, and let down your nets for a draught.\" Naturally enough, Simon,\nanswering, said, \"Master, we have toiled all the night.\" They were\nvery tired now, and were greatly in need of rest and refreshment. \"All\nthe night.\" Slowly must the hours have worn away while they labored\nand waited. And then he added, \"We have taken nothing.\" We can almost\nhear the tone of disappointment in which he said it. It would have\nbeen no marvel if he had added, \"Lord, if we have been so unsuccessful\nduring the time that is generally the most favorable for fishing, will\nit not be useless for us to make another attempt? Besides, we are\nweary all over and almost sick with disappointment; let us at least\nwait till the falling darkness favors our work.\"\n\nBut Simon Peter's answer was marked by more faith than this. While he\nreminded the Master how long and unsuccessfully they had toiled, he\nquickly added, \"Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.\"\nAnd a great multitude of fishes was the result of this act of faith\nand prompt obedience. Peter and all that were with him were astonished\nat the draught of fishes which they had taken.\n\nTo our mind this astonishment does not confute the idea that this act\nof obedience was prompted by faith. The result so speedily followed,\nand was so great in its magnitude, that the strongest faith might well\nbe taken by surprise. Have you not sometimes been surprised by the\nblessed and abundant answer to prayer which you have received? Perhaps\nthe salvation of a dear friend was the deep desire of your heart. For\nthis you toiled till you nearly fainted at the mercy-seat. You prayed\nunceasingly, and you believed it was the prayer of faith; yet when the\nanswer came you were almost overcome with astonishment.\n\nContemplating this scene, let us take new courage. The sowing-time is\noften a time of exhaustion. It is also a time of weeping; from very\nweakness God's seed-bearers weep. The work is great; \"who is\nsufficient for these things?\" Sometimes God in his infinite wisdom\nsees fit to withhold from them the knowledge of the results they are\nreally accomplishing. Often he calls them away before the seed is\nfully ripe, and they never see the harvest, nor hear the joyful song\nof the reapers who come after them. They sow in tears, and then they\nlie down at the close of the day, and with sighs and tears they pass\naway; but God watches over the precious seed, and the tear-watering\ncauses it to flourish more abundantly and ensures a more glorious\nharvest. At the time of planting, if the husbandman sees no signs of\ncoming rain, he steeps his seed over night in water that it may spring\nup sooner; but no seed springs up so soon as that which is steeped in\ntears. \"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall\ndoubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.\"\n\nThe present reward of work is very great, and much to be desired. \"In\nall labor there is profit.\" Every deed done for the good of others\nbrings a blessing to our own souls: seeking their happiness, we find\nour own. God's laborers are blessed above all others. He never forgets\nto reward the smallest work of love; even the cup of cold water given\nin his name shall be remembered. When we fail to accomplish the good\nwe designed, we cannot say that our labors were in vain or that we\nhave spent our strength for naught. God's designs have been\naccomplished; our souls have been disciplined; and as we sit down upon\nthe ruins of our brightest plans and fairest hopes, we glorify God far\nmore by our cheerful submission than we could have done by successful\nlabors.\n\nBut the _future_ reward, how great it is and how enduring! The\nharvest-time will be a time of joy. Past labor and weeping will be\nforgotten when the Lord of the vineyard shall call the laborers that\nhe may reward them abundantly. What a scene will then be presented to\nour view! From north, from south, from east, from west, will they\ncome--some who have toiled through the heat and burden of a long day;\nothers who have labored but one short hour. I, too, will obey the\ncall, saying, as I come and kneel before the God of the harvest,\n\"Master, behold my sheaves. I know they are very few and of little\nworth; yet, Master, behold my sheaves.\" Then shall these cheering\nwords come to me, and not to me only, but to all the faithful\nlaborers: \"Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the\njoy of thy Lord.\"\n\nWeary worker in the vineyard, waste not your strength in weeping. Say\nnot, \"I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for naught, and\nin vain;\" for surely your judgment is with the Lord, and your work, or\nyour reward, with your God. \"Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice\nfrom weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be\nrewarded, saith the Lord.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XV.\n _The Soul's Portion._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider him as my\nsoul's best portion_.\n\nAgain and again in God's holy word are we warned to avoid\ncovetousness. From the midst of the thunders and lightning of Sinai\nissues the emphatic command, \"Thou shalt not covet.\" \"Take heed, and\nbeware of covetousness,\" saith the Master, \"for a man's life\nconsisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.\" \"Let\nyour conversation be without covetousness,\" enjoins the great apostle,\n\"and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I will\nnever leave thee, nor forsake thee.\"\n\nIn order, then, to gain this sweet content, let us meditate upon\nChrist, who is our soul's eternal portion. Let us consider what we\nalready possess, and also meditate upon \"things to come,\" till our\nhands shall relax their grasp upon earthly things and our hearts cling\nmore closely to Christ. Our lips vainly declare, \"Christ is all,\" if\nour lives contradict our lips. The worldling looks at our daily life,\nand soon judges whether or not we are satisfied with Christ.\n\n\"Conversation\" means more than mere words. In its original meaning it\nincludes the whole life. Our whole lives, then, must prove that Christ\nis our all.\n\nCan we be contented in sickness, in sorrow and in poverty? Yes, we\ncan; \"for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\" In\nsickness the Lord will make all your bed; he will strengthen you upon\nthe bed of languishing; his left hand will be under your head, while\nhis right hand will embrace you. In sorrow he will be with you, for he\nhas said, \"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;\nand through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou\nwalkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the\nflame kindle upon thee.\" In poverty be content, for though you are\npoor and, it may be, despised of men, you are not forgotten by God.\nThat you might have eternal riches he became poor--so poor that he had\nnot where to lay his head. The manger was his cradle and the rich\nman's tomb was borrowed for his burial. \"For ye know the grace of our\nLord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he\nbecame poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.\"\n\nChrist is our _eternal_ portion, \"for he hath said, I will _never_\nleave thee, nor forsake thee.\" \"Lo, I am with you alway\" were his last\nwords on earth. Be content, then, with such things as ye have. Having\nChrist, ye possess all things, \"for all things are yours; and ye are\nChrist's, and Christ is God's.\"\n\nThe \"things present,\" which belong to us through the covenant of peace\nmade with Christ, are precious and greatly to be desired. We have the\npromise of all things needful for this life. \"My God shall supply all\nyour need.\" \"No good thing will he withhold from them that walk\nuprightly.\" Bread is sure; water is sure. \"The young lions do lack,\nand suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good\nthing.\" \"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what\nye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye\nshall put on.\" \"Consider the ravens\" and \"the lilies,\" and \"be not\nfaithless, but believing;\" for if God so feedeth the ravens and\nclotheth the lilies, \"how much more will he\" feed and clothe you, \"O\nye of little faith!\"\n\nCome and meditate upon his promises, for they are positive and sure,\nand full of sweet comfort. All your wants are supplied by your Lord\nJesus. Are you sick? He is your Healer. Are you weary? He is your\nRest. Are you in trouble? He is your very present Helper. Are the days\ndark? He is your Sun. Are you in danger from the darts of the\nadversary? He is your Shield. Does the desert sun beat hot upon your\nhead and the desert sand scorch your pilgrim feet? He is \"as the\nshadow of a great rock in a weary land.\" When the wicked, even your\nenemies and your foes, come upon you, he is your Fortress and your\nstrong Tower. He is your Teacher, Brother, Friend and Saviour. What\nmore do you desire?\n\nAnd when \"things present\" are about to pass away for ever, and your\ntrembling feet touch the cold waters of the river of death, before the\nlast fond grasp of earth is given, Christ will take your hand in his,\nand as he draws very near to you, you will feel in that hour that\nChrist is the best portion your soul can possess. His finger will\npoint plainly toward \"things to come,\" and he will doubtless give you\nglimpses of glory before the time.\n\nWe need not, however, wait till the last hour to consider the things\nGod has laid up for us. The lesson of present content is more easily\nlearned while we sit, like Bunyan's Patience, waiting for our good\nthings. Passion would not be satisfied till his lap was filled with\ngolden treasure, but Patience, with empty hands, was very quiet,\nthough Passion laughed scornfully. \"Patience,\" says Bunyan, \"is\nwilling to wait.\"\n\nWhat a beautiful figure of the Christian! And what are these good\nthings for which the Christian is willing to wait?\n\nFirst of all, he has a home in the future. No earthly home can be\ncompared to it, for it is a home where change and death never come.\nThe earthly home may be made desolate by death, but in the heavenly\nhome there shall be no vacant place. \"There shall be no more death,\nneither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for\nthe former things are passed away.\"\n\nThe Christian has also a crown laid up in the future. Here thorns may\nbruise his aching brow, but there he shall be crowned. And earthly\ncrowns will pale before the Christian's crown of glory. If he is wise\nin winning souls, they shall be placed as jewels in his crown; for\nthough all will have bright crowns, some shall be surpassingly\nglorious, being studded with immortal souls.\n\nLet me, dear Lord, be one of those who \"turn many to righteousness.\"\nGive me a glorious crown, and I will gladly lay it at thy feet. No\nmatter if it must be with weeping that I now go forth to win souls, no\nmatter if my heart be weary and my hands be heavy, the reward will\nmore than compensate for the weariness and weeping, and every redeemed\nsoul shall shine in my diadem of glory.\n\nLet the worldling keep his portion and clutch his paltry treasures\ntill they crumble to dust beneath his eager fingers, but let\n\n  \"My soul to heaven aspire,\n  And fix its all on God.\"\n\nHe is my best portion, and \"my meditation of him shall be sweet\" when\nI remember that this \"good part,\" which his grace has enabled me to\nchoose, \"shall not be taken away\" from me.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XVI.\n _The Cross._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider his cross and\nmine_.\n\nThe cross is the emblem of our religion. To it the awakened sinner\nflies when conscience fills him with gloomy fears. There is no place\nof safety for him save in its blessed shadow. Looking up with faith,\nhe sees Jesus, the suffering Saviour, and with the sight peace and joy\nfill his heart. As he starts upon his pilgrim course the cross is set\nbefore him, and these are his marching orders: \"If any man will come\nafter me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.\"\nOh how he learns to love that cross of shame! it becomes radiant with\nglory, and as he journeys he sings,\n\n  \"In the cross of Christ I glory.\"\n\nAs he bears his own personal cross, which sometimes is exceedingly\nheavy, he lays the heaviest end of it upon Christ, and looks up\njoyfully through his tears to the great Cross-Bearer and learns to\n\"glory in tribulation.\" Looking up, what does he see? Beyond the cross\nhe sees the crown. How dazzling! how enduring! No stain nor rust shall\never mar its beauty; none shall ever rob it of its sparkling gems.\n\nTell me, I ask, who shall wear these bright crowns? \"And he said unto\nme, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have\nwashed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\" Out\nof great tribulation into great exaltation. What a striking contrast!\nWhat a happy exchange! Like the Master, they passed from a lowly state\nof trouble into a lofty state of triumph. Because they were not\nashamed of him in his grief, he was not ashamed of them in his glory.\nThey were saved not because they suffered, but because they trusted in\nHim who suffered for them. Some of them suffered even unto the death,\nbut the blood that made white their garments was not their own; it was\n\"the blood of the Lamb.\" \"_Therefore_ are they before the throne of\nGod, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on\nthe throne shall dwell among them.\"\n\nHow happy are they now! Former trials, when recalled, only lead them\nto new songs of praise. They remember all the way of the past, and\nstrike the harp-strings with exultant fingers when they think of their\nsufferings, now exchanged for endless joys.\n\nConsider your cross, young disciple, and meditate upon it without\nbitter thought. It was a wise and loving Hand that laid it upon your\nshoulder, and that same Hand will lift it when he thinks you have\ncarried it long enough. \"He doeth all things well.\" The end shall be\nbetter than the beginning, and in eternity you will understand it all.\nYour voice will rise in higher, loftier strains when you remember the\nsickness that was sanctified and the sorrow that led you nearer to\nyour God.\n\n  \"Oh what a load of struggle and distress\n  Falls off before the cross! The feverish care;\n  The wish that we were other than we are;\n  The sick regrets; the yearnings numberless;\n  The thought, \"this might have been,\" so apt to press\n  On the reluctant soul; even past despair;\n  Past sin itself,--all, all is turned to fair,\n  Ay, to a scheme of ordered happiness,\n  As soon as we love God, or rather know\n  That God loves us!... Accepting the great pledge\n  Of his concern for all our wants and woe,\n  We cease to tremble upon danger's edge;\n  While varying troubles form and burst anew,\n  Safe in a Father's arms we smile as infants do.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XVII.\n _The Presence._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I remember his near and\nconstant presence_; for he is the joy of my life and the life of my\njoy. Joy without him is hardly worth the name of joy, and sorrow with\nhim is better than joy.\n\nWhen my heart is overwhelmed because of enemies and foes, my terrified\nsoul turns quickly to him, and David's prayer becomes all my own: \"Be\nnot thou far from me, O Lord; O my Strength, haste thee to help me!\nDeliver my soul.\" The answer quickly comes: \"Wait on the Lord; be of\ngood courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart.\"\n\nBut oh, my Saviour, \"they mar my path.\" Remove these enemies, even for\nthine own name's sake; for then shall I run in the way of holiness and\nmy ever-brightening path shall show forth thy praise.\n\nAnd again the answer comes: \"Commit thy way unto the Lord;\" \"My\npresence shall go with thee.\"\n\nNearer and nearer draws the Saviour; sweeter and sweeter is his\npresence in this time of my soul's sorest need. He lifts my prostrate\nsoul and bids my weary eyes survey the upward path. How glorious to\nbehold! He tells me \"these light afflictions\" are working out \"a far\nmore exceeding and eternal weight of glory.\" And when I feel his\nstrong arms around me, my soul breaks forth in singing:\n\n  \"I have no foe, with thee at hand to bless;\n  Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.\"\n\nBlessed is the man who has learned the secret of a happy life, and,\nlike Enoch, walks with God. We care not to know the outward\ncircumstances of him whose inner life is hid with God. His delighted\nsoul bathes in the sunshine of God's smile; his face reflects the\npeace that flows like a river through his spirit.\n\nIt was the presence of Christ that made the Emmaus journey so\ndelightful. We know that the favored two started with slow steps and\nheavy hearts, and there was a deep undertone of sadness in their\nvoices as they talked together of all the strange things that had\nhappened. But what a change came over them! A stranger joined their\ncompany, and as he talked with them their hearts burned within them,\ntill, drawing near the journey's end, they felt so unwilling to lose\nhis company that they constrained him to come in and tarry with them.\nAnd so it came to pass that the last hours of the day were the best\nhours. In the morning it was cloudy and dark, but at evening-time it\nwas light, for as they sat at meat the Sun of Righteousness shone full\nand clear into their hearts, dispersing all the clouds.\n\nDoes not this journey remind us of some of the days of our pilgrimage?\nThe morning found us heavy-hearted. We knelt at the mercy-seat, while\nsighs and groans took the place of songs and rejoicings. With slow\nsteps and aching hearts we began the duties of the day. But soon there\ncame a change. Jesus, our Lord, drew near. He spake some cheering\npromise, uttered some whisper of his love. Our hearts began to melt;\nagain we knelt at the mercy-seat. We prayed, we praised; we rose and\nhastened to our duties, singing as we worked; and so the hours sped\non. Night fell; still he tarried: we slept in sweet security, for \"so\nhe giveth his beloved sleep;\" we woke to find that we were still with\nJesus.\n\nHappy the soul that hath the abiding presence of the Saviour. Be this\nour constant prayer: \"Abide with us.\" \"Lord, I am not worthy that thou\nshouldst come under my roof,\" but yet my heart cries out, \"Abide with\nme.\" Give me light in the evening-time. Abide with me \"until the day\nbreak and the shadows flee away.\"\n\n  \"Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,\n  But as thou dwell'st with thy disciples, Lord--\n  Familiar, condescending, patient, free--\n  Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XVIII.\n _The Appearing._\n\n\n\"My meditation of him shall be sweet\" _when I consider his appearing_.\n\nTo those who have refused the Saviour's offer of mercy the thought of\nhis second coming is full of terror. With them there is a \"certain\nfearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.\" Having\n\"trodden under foot the Son of God,\" and \"counted the blood of the\ncovenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,\" is it any\nwonder if they fear to fall into the hands of the living God, knowing\nfull well that the fearful and unbelieving \"shall have their part in\nthe lake which burneth with fire and brimstone?\"\n\nBut the event which strikes such terror into the hearts of those who\nare without Christ and without hope in the world, fills the heart of\nthe Christian with exceeding joy. There is comfort, yea, great\ncomfort, in the thought of Christ's coming. The apostles departed from\nOlivet with new hope and joy after receiving this angel message: \"This\nsame Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in\nlike manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.\" Ever since, the\nwaiting Church has been gazing steadfastly toward heaven, \"looking for\nthat blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our\nSaviour Jesus Christ.\" And ever and anon angel voices have uttered\nwords of comfort to the waiting ones. Often the voice is the voice of\nour Beloved, the Angel of the Covenant. \"I will come again,\" he says,\n\"and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.\"\nHear his last prayer: \"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast\ngiven me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.\" Hear\nthe last words of inspiration: \"Surely I come quickly.\" And the\nwaiting company of believers joyfully respond, \"Amen. Even so, come,\nLord Jesus.\"\n\nThe thought of his coming comforts those whose dearest friends sleep\nin Jesus, for them will God bring with him. This shall be a time of\nglad reunions. Let us not sorrow \"as others which have no hope.\" We\nshall soon be ever with one another.\n\n_There is deliverance_ in the thought of Christ's coming; \"for we that\nare in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened.\" Yes, young disciple,\nwe have not yet reached that state of perfection when we have no\nburdens. We are yet in the body, and the burden of sorrow is often\nupon us; and though we try to cast this burden on the Lord, we yet\nlook forward with joy to Christ's coming, for then \"sorrow and sighing\nshall flee away,\" and \"God shall wipe away all tears.\" And though\nChrist has delivered us from the penalty of the broken law, yet the\nburden of sin is often upon us, and many times with contrition and\nshame we bow before the mercy-seat, saying, sadly, \"Father, I have\nsinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be\ncalled thy son.\" The burden of death is upon us, and Christ's coming\ngives comfort to those who through fear of death are all their\nlifetime subject to bondage.\n\nTrembling disciple, perhaps you are fearing what may never come upon\nyou. You may be among the number of those who shall be alive at the\ncoming of the Lord. The time may not be distant, for nearly all the\nprophecies have been fulfilled and the signs of the times seem to\ndeclare plainly, \"The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.\" Many a time,\nit is true, the waiting Church has fancied it heard the sound of his\nchariot-wheels, but the time was not yet. \"Where is the promise of his\ncoming?\" cries the scoffing world. \"Behold, I come quickly.\" Believers\nclosely clasp this promise to their hearts while they pray for\npatience to wait. Generations have passed away, but the word of the\nLord endureth for ever. \"I come quickly.\" Perhaps this generation\nshall not pass away till all be fulfilled. It may be so. Certainly\nthere is \"upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;\" men's\nhearts are \"failing them for fear, and for looking after those things\nwhich are coming on the earth.\"\n\n\"My Lord, I stand continually upon my watch-tower,\" remembering the\nbenediction, \"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh\nshall find watching.\"\n\nLast of all and best of all, _there is glory_ in the thought of\nChrist's coming. There is comfort, great comfort; there is\ndeliverance, great deliverance; there is glory, great glory, \"a far\nmore exceeding and eternal weight of glory.\" \"Behold, I show you a\nmystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a\nmoment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet\nshall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall\nbe changed; for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this\nmortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have\nput on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,\nthen shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is\nswallowed up in victory.\" What a glorious picture! No doubt is here\nadmitted. \"We _shall_ be changed;\" \"this corruptible _must_ put on\nincorruption;\" \"this mortal _must_ put on immortality.\"\n\nThis thought of glory overwhelms us; it is a \"weight of glory.\" To be\never with one another is blessedness; to be ever with the Lord is\nglory. To be free from this body of sin and death is deliverance; to\nwear the likeness of our glorified Lord is transfiguration--wonderful,\ndazzling, glorious!\n\nIs it any wonder, then, if our meditation is sweet when we reflect\nupon \"the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus\nChrist,\" \"who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned\nlike unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is\nable even to subdue all things unto himself?\" No wonder the apostle\ncalls it \"a blessed hope.\" It sustains the heart of the aged Christian\nwho has \"fought a good fight\" and finished his course. It also helps\nthe young disciple to \"run with patience\" the race that is set before\nhim.\n\n\"This same Jesus shall come again.\" How? \"In like manner as ye have\nseen him go into heaven.\" \"Behold he cometh with clouds,\" and with\n\"ten thousand of his saints.\" And why does he come? To take his weary\nchildren home. \"I will come again and receive you unto myself.\"\n\n\"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.\"\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n XIX.\n _The Conclusion._\n\n\n\"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.\"\n\nWe have meditated upon the names of Christ, and have found in them a\nsweet significance. Jehovah Tsidkenu satisfied the demands of the\nbroken law, making us righteous in the sight of God. Jehovah Shalom\ngave a peace which even this tumultuous world cannot take from us.\nJehovah Nissi leads us forth to battle against our mighty foes, and\nalways gives us the victory; \"thanks be to God!\" Jehovah Rophi healeth\nall our diseases with marvelous skill: even the broken heart is not\nbeyond his power, for his own word declares, \"He healeth the broken in\nheart, and bindeth up their wounds.\" Jehovah Jireh quiets all our\nfears for the future, for his name is sufficient pledge that he will\nsupply all our need. Jehovah Shammah completes and crowns our joy, for\nin his presence is fullness of joy; \"his presence is salvation.\"\n\nWe have rejoiced in \"the earnest of our inheritance.\" Glimpses of\nglory before the time have made us homesick. His \"perfect work\" has\nfilled our minds with amazement as we meditated upon our adoption,\njustification, sanctification and redemption. The thoughts of his\nchastenings were not painful, because we knew a blessing was concealed\nin the blow. His compassion for the multitude seemed to us a sweet\nthought; but as we learned something more about his sympathy with all\nhis \"sanctified ones,\" and his deep personal love for each individual\nChristian, our hearts melted within us, and drawing nearer to this\ngreat heart of love, we joyfully exclaimed, \"This is my Beloved, and\nthis is my Friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.\"\n\nWe have considered the life more abundant which he gives, until life\nwith Christ seemed the happiest life man can know. Thoughts of the\nfull and free forgiveness of all our sins, even sins of scarlet hue,\nwere comforting thoughts; and while we cast the past behind our backs,\nwe looked forward to the future with new confidence, remembering the\n\"stones of help\" provided by him to slay the giant sins. Deliverance\nfrom the curse was certainly a pleasant thought; and as we gazed into\nParadise regained, we gave thanks because Christ had purchased for us\nthe \"right to the tree of life\" which stands in the midst of the\nParadise of God.\n\nOur meditation was sweet when we thought of his faithful promises\nconcerning prayer, for his word confirmed our own experience, and we\nlearned to kneel and ask with a more unwavering confidence.\nConsidering his reward for faithful labors made us almost forget the\nweariness of work as we seemed already to hear his \"Well done, thou\ngood and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nChrist as the soul's best portion filled the heart with deep,\nunspeakable joy, and we took up our cross, singing as we walked,\nbecause his near presence made us almost unmindful of its weight upon\nour shoulder.\n\nOn Olivet we had our last glimpse of our living Lord. Here we stood\n\"gazing up into heaven\" at \"this same Jesus,\" who is as dear to us as\nhe was to the twelve. Our hearts thrilled over his parting blessing,\nand the thought of his coming again filled us with delight.\n\nOur meditations are over now. They have been \"sweet,\" or, as it may be\nrendered, \"as the calm evening hour.\" Meditating upon Jesus has\nincreased our joy: \"I will be glad in the Lord.\" Around his very name\nsweet thoughts thickly cluster. Jesus! my Jesus! In that dear name the\nbest music of heaven comes down to me.\n\nHow sweet it sounds! A bundle of myrrh it is--a hill of\nfrankincense--a mountain of spices. Through all the livelong day,\nthrough all the silent watches of the night, my mind may turn to Him\nwhose \"name is as ointment poured forth,\" and no bitter, doubting,\nfearful thought shall ever mingle with my musing. No dark thread shall\never weave itself into the silver web of my sweet meditation of him,\nfor my unbelief is banished when my Jesus is near. All my grief fades\naway in the presence of his glory, and he his own self is the joy of\nmy heart and the heart of my joy.\n\n\"My Beloved is mine, and I am his.\" All that he is is mine, and all\nthat I am is his. He is more than all the world to me, and without him\nheaven would not be worth having. \"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and\nthere is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.\" Jesus! my Jesus!\nEternal musings will not exhaust this hive of honey. He has saved me\nfrom my sins and betrothed me to himself for ever. O my soul, \"how\nmuch owest thou unto my Lord!\" The greatness of my indebtedness I will\nnot fully realize till I stand upon the yonder shore, and perhaps not\neven then.\n\n  \"Jesus, I ne'er can pay\n  The debt I owe thy love.\"\n\nI am, and ever will be, \"debtor.\" Thy gifts to me have been so great\nthat, though my giving cannot enrich thee, I would fain relieve my\ngrateful heart by giving thee some token of love.\n\nIn the stable at Bethlehem the Eastern sages open their costly\ntreasures. The sight is a strange one, and there seems a strange\nincongruity between the gifts and the receiver; also between the giver\nand the receiver. The wise men bow before a babe, and lavish the\nriches of the East upon the infant of the lowly manger. \"Lavish,\" did\nI say? Let not the thought of waste be here implied. This babe is \"the\nholy child Jesus,\" the King of the Jews. Bring costly sacrifices. \"The\nkings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of\nSheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down\nbefore him; all nations shall serve him.\"\n\nJesus, Saviour, once a child! Jesus, my exalted King! what shall I\nbring to thy footstool? What shall I give my Lord?\n\n  \"Were the whole realm of nature mine,\n  That were a present far too small.\"\n\nBut I am poor, very poor. No good works have I to bring; no incense of\nholy prayers; no golden thoughts in which there mingles no alloy of\nimpurity.\n\n  \"Thou willest that thy bride should be--\n    I bless thy will--most poor, most low,\n  Receiving everything from thee,\n    My Lord and God. Then be it so.\n\n  \"That I have nothing of my own,\n    Freely and gladly I to all declare.\n  This is my portion, this alone,\n    That thou permittest me thy name to bear.\"\n\nHave I then nothing to give? Stay, holy Christ; I have a heart. True,\nit is polluted--more than this, it is broken--yet I have heard that\nthough\n\n  \"Our God requires a whole heart or none,\n  Yet he will accept a broken one.\"\n\nAccept the gift. Take it and make it holy; fill it with love to thee.\nFill it even to overflowing; so that, having received all from thee, I\nmay be able to give thee all. Let me be wholly thine--thine in every\nthought and passion of my soul. Here, Lord, I give my soul to thee; I\nam thine.\n\n  \"Poor heart of mine, awake, arise!\n    And thou, my Bridegroom, my life's Sun,\n  Draw me to reach the heavenly prize,\n    Oh, do thou draw, and we will run.\n  Draw after thee thy fainting bride,\n    Who still is far, too far, from light and grace;\n  Till in thy presence, at thy side,\n    She see thee wholly--see thee face to face.\"\n\nMy meditation of him makes me long to see Him whom, having not seen, I\nlove. I would see him--not as I have seen him in the sanctuary and in\nhis holy supper, but I would see him \"face to face.\" I would see him\nas he is; and, blessed be his glorious name for ever! I shall one day\nsee him thus. Oh blessed hope! These eyes shall see Jesus; \"For I know\nthat my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day\nupon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet\nin my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine\neyes shall behold, and not another.\"\n\nAnd, better than all beside, I shall be like him; for \"we know that\nwhen he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he\nis.\" Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high; I cannot\nattain unto it.\n\n  \"Jesus! the very thought is sweet;\n  In that dear name all heart-joys meet;\n  But sweeter than the honey far\n  The glimpses of his presence are.\n\n  \"No word is sung more sweet than this;\n  No name is heard more full of bliss;\n  No thought brings sweeter comfort nigh\n  Than Jesus, Son of God most high.\n\n  \"Jesus, the Hope of souls forlorn,\n  How good to them for sin that mourn!\n  To them that seek thee, oh how kind!\n  But what art thou to them that find!\n\n  \"No tongue of mortal can express,\n  No letter write, its blessedness:\n  Alone who hath thee in his heart\n  Knows, love of Jesus, what thou art.\n\n  \"O Jesus! King of wondrous might;\n  O Victor! glorious from the fight;\n  Sweetness that may not be expressed,\n  And altogether loveliest.\"\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"A Basket of Barley Loaves","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":22283}