{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52001/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52001","id":"gutenberg_52001","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52001","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Study and teaching -- Juvenile literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Teaching & Education","Christianity -- Juvenile literature","Theology, Doctrinal -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\nItalic text enclosed with _underscores_.\n\nSmall\u2010caps replaced by ALL CAPS.\n\nTables require a monospace font in order to align properly.\n\nMore notes appear at the end of the file.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Emma and her Grandmamma.]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                           THE LITTLE CHILD\u2019S\n\n                           BOOK OF DIVINITY;\n\n                                  OR,\n\n                       GRANDMAMMA\u2019S STORIES ABOUT\n                            BIBLE DOCTRINES.\n\n\n                            BY THE AUTHOR OF\n\n                 \u201cMORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,\u201d \u201cFAITHFUL\n                           PROMISER,\u201d &c. &c.\n\n\u201cFrom a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to\nmake thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ\nJesus.\u201d\u20152\u00a0Tim. iii. 15.\n\n\u201cAnd all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be\nthe peace of thy children.\u201d\u2015Isa. liv. 13.\n\n\n                            SECOND EDITION.\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n                JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.\n                                MDCCCLV.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               EDINBURGH:\n                   PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,\n                              PAUL\u2019S WORK.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n                                         PAGE\n                           INTRODUCTION     3\n                           FIRST NIGHT      4\n                           SECOND NIGHT    12\n                           THIRD NIGHT     20\n                           FOURTH NIGHT    30\n                           FIFTH NIGHT     40\n                           SIXTH NIGHT     48\n                           SEVENTH NIGHT   57\n                           EIGHTH NIGHT    66\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                           THE LITTLE CHILD\u2019S\n\n                           BOOK OF DIVINITY.\n\n\nLITTLE Emma was one Sabbath evening alone in the room with her\ngrandmamma. Good old Mrs Allan (for that was her grandmother\u2019s name) was\nseated in her arm\u2010chair, beside a blazing winter fire. A small table was\nbefore her, with a Bible and a pair of spectacles lying upon it.\n\nEmma came jumping up upon her grandmamma\u2019s knee, and kissed her, and\nsaid\u2014\n\n\u201cDear grandmamma, there is much in that large Bible I do not understand;\nI should like so much to know all it tells about. When I was at church\nthis forenoon, I heard Mr R., our clergyman, speak to the people about\nwhat he called \u2018doctrines;\u2019 and when he was telling about them, there\nwere many things the people liked to hear which were too difficult for\nme. Do you think you could tell me about them in very simple words, and\nmake them plain to me? I will promise to be very attentive to all that\nyou say.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall be truly happy,\u201d said the other, looking with a kindly smile on\nher little grandchild, \u201cto do what you ask me. And if you will come to\nme for a few minutes every Sabbath night, I will try to explain these\nBible doctrines to you as simply as I can.\u201d\n\nSo saying, she put aside her spectacles, and drawing her chair closer by\nthe fire, with her arm round little Emma\u2019s neck, began as follows:\u2014\n\n\n                              FIRST NIGHT.\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Being of God.] \u201cThere was a time, my dear child, far,\nfar back in eternity, when no one lived but the Great God, when no angel\nwaved his wing, and no star glittered in the sky.\n\n\u201cThis ever\u2010living God did not need angels or worlds to make Him happy.\nHe was quite glorious without them.\n\n\u201cThis great Being was _one_ God; but there were three persons in the\nGodhead\u2014God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Of these,\nthere was none higher or greater than the other; they were all equal in\npower and in glory.\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Creation of all things.] \u201cThis Great God resolved on\nmaking angels and worlds; and He just said, \u2018I wish them to be,\u2019 and\nthey were all made by the word of His power. And it was not a few that\nHe made, but a very great many. He made large armies of angels; and such\na number of stars and worlds, that they cannot be counted.\n\n[Sidenote: Of our World.] \u201cAmong these crowded worlds which you see in\nthe dark sky at night, there was a very little one\u2014so little, as\nscarcely to be seen or noticed amid those around it.\n\n\u201cThis little star was called \u2018_the Earth_;\u2019 and God loved it very much,\nand the Three Persons in the Godhead resolved to do something very\nwonderful with regard to it. God put a happy and holy creature into it,\ncalled _Man_; and He made him after His own image, and placed him in a\nbeautiful garden.\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Covenant of Works.] \u201cWhile there, God entered with man\ninto what is called a _Covenant of Works_.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does a _covenant_ mean?\u201d inquired Emma.\n\n\u201cI shall tell you, my child,\u201d said her grandmamma. \u201cIt is an agreement,\nor bargain, between two people. In the garden of Eden, the two parties\nwere God and Adam; their covenant or agreement was this;\u2014God said to\nAdam, \u2018If you do what I ask you, you shall live and be happy. If you\ndisobey me, you must \u201csurely die.\u201d\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Fall.] \u201cGod told him not to eat of the fruit of one of\nthe trees in the garden; but though Adam had all the rest of the trees\nin Eden to eat of, he forgot God\u2019s command, and took of the forbidden\none; and he was driven out of his happy home, and became a lost and\nruined creature.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow sad for poor Adam,\u201d said Emma, \u201cto be banished from his beautiful\ngarden!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the other; \u201cand sadder still to be banished from his God,\nwith nothing before him but certain death!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how was it, grandmamma,\u201d inquired Emma, \u201cthat Adam did not die all\nat once? How did he continue to live after God had said that, if he\ndisobeyed Him, he should \u2018surely die\u2019?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was just going to explain this to you, my dear,\u201d said Mrs Allan. \u201cOur\nfirst parents could not have lived for one moment after their \u2018Fall,\u2019 if\nit had not been for another and more glorious covenant the Bible tells\nus of.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what was the name of that covenant?\u201d inquired Emma, eagerly.\n\n\u201cIt was called _the Covenant of Grace_,\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cI\nshall try, my dear child,\u201d continued she, patting her grandchild on the\nhead, \u201cto make this very great and glorious subject as simple as I can\nto you; and after you hear me, you will, perhaps, be able to explain it\nto others.\u201d\n\nLittle Emma was again very attentive, and her grandmamma proceeded:\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Parties in the Covenant of Grace.] \u201cI want to see,\nbefore I begin, if my little scholar remembers what I have just been\ntelling her,\u2014who the two parties were in the _Covenant of Works_?\u201d\n\n\u201cGod and Adam,\u201d replied Emma.\n\n\u201cYes, dear, you are right. And in this new covenant or agreement I am\ngoing to speak about, there were two parties also. Do you think you\ncould tell me who they were?\u201d\n\n\u201cWas it God and Adam again?\u201d inquired the little girl.\n\n\u201cNo, my child,\u201d said the old lady. \u201cMan, having broken the first\ncovenant, could no longer enter into terms with God. There was some one\nwho came in the place of guilty man. Can you tell me who this was?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was the Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d said Emma.\n\n\u201cQuite correct,\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cGod was angry with man, and\ncould no longer speak with him. But Jesus said, \u2018_I_ will come in the\nroom of those lost sinners, and speak to God _for_ them.\u2019 So God and\nJesus made a covenant together. It was as if Jesus said to God, \u2018O my\nFather, if Thou wilt pardon these poor sinners, I will leave my glorious\nthrone, and come down to the earth, and die for them, and wash their\nguilty souls in my precious blood.\u2019 And then God promised, and said, \u2018I\n_will_ pardon them! They deserve nothing but wrath; but, for the sake of\nwhat Thou art to do and suffer, as their Redeemer, I will shew them\n\u201c_Grace_.\u201d\u2019 Hence this new covenant between God and Jesus was called\n\u2018_the Covenant of Grace_.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like to hear more,\u201d said Emma, \u201cabout this glorious Being who\nloved man so much as to die for him. Why is He called by the name of\n_Redeemer_?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Person of the Redeemer.] \u201cJesus is called \u2018Redeemer,\u2019\nbecause He \u2018buys back\u2019 the lost souls of men. No one but God, in our\nnature, could do this. If the highest angel in heaven had tried to save\nus, he _could_ not. Jesus Christ was both God and man. He had lived from\nall eternity \u2018_with_ God, and _was_ God.\u2019 He took upon Him our nature,\nand was born a little babe in the stable of Bethlehem. How sweet for\nlittle children to think that Jesus was once himself _a little child_!\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Humiliation of Christ.] \u201cHow wonderful!\u201d said Emma,\n\u201cfor the great God of heaven to come down to dwell with man on the\nearth\u2014to be called the \u2018Man of Sorrows\u2019\u2014to be poor and hated, and have\n\u2018nowhere to lay His head,\u2019 till He laid it on the Cross, and there died\na cruel death!\u201d\n\n\u201cWonderful indeed,\u201d replied her grandmamma. \u201cCan you tell me, my dear\nchild, what became of Jesus after He died?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of His Resurrection and Exaltation.] \u201cYes,\u201d answered Emma; \u201cI\nthink He was laid in a grave in the middle of a garden in Jerusalem. A\nstone was put at the mouth of it, and soldiers were made to watch it.\nBut after lying dead three days, He rolled away the stone, and came\nforth alive.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, my child,\u201d said Mrs Allan. \u201cBy this, God the Father\nshewed that He had accepted the work of His dear Son\u2014that the wages of\nsin were all paid, and that His holy law was satisfied and honoured.\nAfter remaining forty days on the earth, Jesus went up among rejoicing\nangels to heaven.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd where is the Lord Jesus now?\u201d inquired Emma.\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Intercession of Christ.] \u201cHe who once was \u2018despised\nand rejected of men,\u2019\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cis seated on a very\nglorious throne in the skies, where blessed spirits without number adore\nHim. But He has not forgotten poor sinners on earth. He is engaged in\npraying to God for them; and whatever He asks on their behalf, His\nFather is ready to give; for Him He \u2018heareth always.\u2019\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Second Coming of Christ.] \u201cAnd is there not a day of\nawful glory drawing near,\u201d said Emma, \u201cwhen Jesus shall appear in the\nclouds of the sky, seated on a \u2018great white throne\u2019? How dreadful to be\nfound, on that great day, on the left hand of the Judge! Will there be\nno chance of His being merciful to these miserable wicked, and of making\nanother \u2018_covenant of grace_\u2019 with them?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no; impossible, my child!\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cGod\u2019s\nholiness, and righteousness, and justice, and truth, could not admit of\nmercy _then_. Jesus is now seated on a throne of _Grace_, and entreats\nsinners to come to Him and be saved. But when once seated on His throne\nof _Judgment_, the time of grace is at an end. Those who there seek Him\nfor the first time will never find Him. God has said, \u2018Then shall they\ncall on me, but I will not answer.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like you,\u201d said Emma, \u201cto tell me what you mean by \u2018seeking\nJesus.\u2019 I fear I may never yet have sought Him in earnest.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall be happy, my dear child, to explain this and many other things\nto you; but as it would take me too long to\u2010night, I shall wait till\nnext Sabbath, when, if God spare me, I will speak to you about some more\nof these solemn truths. I am old, and must soon stand before that great\nthrone; but I have long sought and found Jesus the _Saviour_, and I am\nnot afraid to meet Jesus the _Judge_!\u201d\n\nThe little child knelt down on her grandmother\u2019s lap, to offer up her\nevening prayer. The aged Christian entreated earnestly that Jesus would\nearly give her an interest in His \u201ccovenant of grace,\u201d that she might be\nfound at last on His right hand, at the great day, an heir of glory!\n\n\n                             SECOND NIGHT.\n\nSabbath evening again returned; and when the shutters were closed, and\nfresh wood had been piled on the fire, little Emma climbed on her\ngrandmamma\u2019s knee, and asked her to explain some more \u201cScripture\ndoctrines.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall do so with pleasure, my child,\u201d said Mrs Allan; \u201cand I must ask\nyou to give me to\u2010night your close attention, as I am going to speak to\nyou about some very important and precious truths.\u201d\n\nEmma thanked her for her great kindness, in being at so much pains to\ninstruct her; and her grandmamma thus began:\u2014\n\n[Sidenote: Of Justification.] \u201cYou will remember, my dear, that the\nBible tells us we are all condemned by nature\u2014in a lost and ruined\nstate. In order to make us understand what this state is, it\nrepresents,\u2014\n\n[Sidenote: The Judge.] \u201cGod as a great Judge, \u2018of purer eyes than to\nbehold iniquity,\u2019 and who cannot look upon sin.\n\n[Sidenote: The Prisoner.] \u201cIt represents the sinner as standing at His\nbar, called to answer for his many thousand transgressions.\n\n[Sidenote: The Witnesses.] \u201cAnd, as in a court of earthly justice\nwitnesses are brought in to condemn the prisoner, so Satan accuses the\nsinner\u2014his own heart accuses him\u2014God\u2019s Law, which he has broken, accuses\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what more?\u201d said Emma.\n\n[Sidenote: The Sentence.] \u201cThese all,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cpronounce\nthe sinner \u2018_guilty_\u2019\u2014the Holy Judge passes upon him a sentence of\n_condemnation_. Oh! how dreadful to think, that, if \u2018out of Christ,\u2019 we\nare _at this moment_ in a _condemned state_! We have not to wait till a\nday of judgment to have the sentence pronounced upon us. The Bible tells\nus we are \u2018condemned _already_,\u2019 and that \u2018the wrath of God _abideth_\nupon us.\u2019 We are, as it were, shut up in a condemned cell; the kindness\nand clemency of our Judge alone delaying the execution of the awful\nsentence!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut is there no hope,\u201d said little Emma, \u201cfor the poor sinner? Must he\ndie in that state of condemnation and misery?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: God\u2019s Method of Mercy.] \u201cNo, dear child,\u201d replied her\ngrandmamma. \u201cGod is willing, for Christ\u2019s sake, to \u2018_justify_\u2019 us.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what do you mean by that word?\u201d said Emma.\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d said the other, \u201cand I will endeavour to explain. I have\nalready told you that the sinner, standing in the court\u2010room of justice,\nwith the chains of condemnation fastened round him, cannot answer a word\nfor himself; his \u2018mouth is stopped,\u2019 and he has become \u2018guilty before\nGod.\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: The Advocate.] \u201cBut, in the midst of that court\u2010room, there\nis one who stands up to \u2018answer\u2019 _for_ him!\u2014it is the \u2018Advocate with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.\u2019\n\n\u201cGod the Judge asks, \u2018Sinner! can you say anything to justify yourself?\u2019\nThe sinner says, \u2018Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O God! for\nin Thy sight no flesh living can be justified.\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: The Grounds of Pardon.] \u201cGod is about to execute the awful\nsentence; but Jesus, his advocate, stands up, and says, \u2018_I_ have\nsuffered, \u201cthe Just for the unjust;\u201d I have obeyed the law the sinner\nshould have obeyed; I have been \u201cmade sin for him;\u201d I have paid with my\nown blood the price of his redemption!\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: The Acquittal.] \u201cThe Great Judge says, \u2018It is enough! Take\nthe chains of condemnation off him. I pronounce him, for the sake of\nwhat Jesus has done and suffered, \u201c_not guilty_!\u201d Let him go out of the\ncourt\u2010room a \u201cjustified man;\u201d for \u201cthere is no condemnation to them that\nare in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you mean to say, grandmamma,\u201d said Emma, \u201cthat God thus graciously\npardons _all_ the iniquities of the sinner for the sake of Jesus?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Two parts of Justification.] [Sidenote: 1. Forgiveness of\nSin.] \u201cYes, my child; it is an amazing thought. But, on account of what\nthe Lord Jesus Christ has done, in pouring out His precious blood, this\ngreat and holy Judge looks upon the sinner _as if he had never sinned at\nall_! He is, in the eye of law, \u2018_justified_\u2019\u2014considered \u2018_just_.\u2019 Jesus\nis said to be \u2018wounded for his transgressions, and bruised for his\niniquities.\u2019 Like the scape\u2010goat under the Jewish law, God \u2018has laid\nupon Christ the iniquities of us all.\u2019 These He has carried away into a\nland of forgetfulness, where they can never more be found!\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is a wonderful doctrine indeed!\u201d said little Emma, \u201cand\u201d\u2015\u2015\n\n\u201cStay, my child,\u201d interrupted her grandmamma, \u201cI have not yet told you\nthe most wondrous part of it:\u2014\n\n[Sidenote: 2. Acceptance as Righteous in God\u2019s sight.] \u201cIn justifying\nsinners, God does more than merely _pardon_ them. He not only reckons\nthe sinner as \u2018_not guilty_,\u2019 but, for Jesus\u2019 sake, He counts him as\npositively _righteous_. All the righteousness of Christ\u2014His obedience,\nand patience, and love, and resignation, and forgiveness of injuries,\nand all the holy things of His holy life,\u2014are put down to the sinner\u2019s\naccount; and a holy God actually counts as if they had all been done by\nthe sinner himself. This is what is called _Christ\u2019s imputed\nrighteousness_.\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d said Emma, \u201cthis explains the meaning of that verse I was\nreading to you this morning in Isaiah\u2014\u2018He hath clothed me with the\ngarments of salvation; He hath covered me with a robe of\nrighteousness\u2019?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; you are right, my dear. The holy life, and virtues, and obedience\nof Jesus, are spoken of as a bright shining robe or garment, in which\nthe poor sinner clothes himself. By nature, in his condemned state, he\nis black with sin; and his language is, \u2018O Lord, look not on me, because\nI am black;\u2019 but when he puts this imputed garment on, he can say, \u2018O\nLord, look upon me, for I am all bright and shining with a Saviour\u2019s\nrighteousness!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cHow kind is God,\u201d exclaimed Emma, \u201cto do all this for vile sinners!\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Justification all of Grace.] \u201cYes, my child; well may\njustification be called \u2018an act of God\u2019s _free grace_;\u2019 for man has no\npart in it. He deserves nothing at God\u2019s hand but wrath, and vengeance,\nand condemnation. He might have been sent away trembling from His bar,\ncrying out, \u2018It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living\nGod!\u2019 His justification proceeds from free sovereign mercy; and through\nall eternity his confession will be, \u2018By the grace of God, I am what I\nam.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI fear I may be wearying you,\u201d said Emma; \u201cbut I have just one other\nquestion to ask you about this glorious doctrine\u2014how can _I_ be\njustified, and get the great God thus to pardon and accept ME?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Received by Faith.] \u201cThat is a very proper question,\u201d replied\nher grandmamma, \u201cand I am happy to think I can give you a simple and\neasy answer. You are justified \u2018_by faith_;\u2019 by _believing_ that God is\nable and willing to receive you\u2014that Jesus has shed His precious blood\nfor you\u2014that He died for you on earth, and now lives and pleads for you\nin heaven. \u2018He that _believeth_ on the Son of God hath life.\u2019 \u2018_Believe_\nin the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.\u2019 \u2018Therefore being\njustified _by faith_, we have peace with God.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis glorious subject of Justification,\u201d continued she, \u201chas occupied\nus so long, that it will be better not to speak of any other doctrine\nto\u2010night. If spared till another Sabbath evening, I shall do so. I would\nhave you, my child, think very much about this most precious Bible\ntruth\u2014_How a sinner is justified before God_.\n\n[Sidenote: The Article of a Standing and Falling Church.] \u201cLuther, the\ngreat father of the Reformation, said, that a church could not stand for\na moment without this doctrine. Like a house without a foundation, it\nwould fall to pieces. And an older saint than Luther\u2014the apostle\nPaul\u2014had his mind so full of it, that you cannot read his writings, and\nunderstand them, without keeping this blessed doctrine constantly in\nview.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh how peaceful, and safe, and joyous,\u201d exclaimed Emma, \u201cmust the\njustified sinner be!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly,\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cHe has nothing to fear. On the\ngreat day of judgment, however many his enemies and accusers may be, he\ncan look around him on all of them, and exclaim, with the great apostle,\n\u2018Who shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s elect? It is GOD THAT\nJUSTIFIETH; who is he that condemneth?\u2019 Here is a beautiful verse of a\nhymn I should like you to learn by heart,\u201d she added, repeating twice\nover to little Emma the following lines:\u2014\n\n                 \u201c\u2018Jesus! Thy blood and righteousness\n                 My beauty are, my glorious dress,\n                 \u2019Mid flaming worlds, in these array\u2019d,\n                 With joy I shall lift up my head!\u2019\u201d\n\n\n                              THIRD NIGHT.\n\n\u201cAre you ready now?\u201d said little Emma, coming skipping into her\ngrandmother\u2019s room. \u201cI have just finished learning my verses in Romans,\nand I so weary to hear about some more Scripture doctrines.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am quite ready,\u201d said her grandmamma; \u201cbut it would make me happy,\nbefore I begin, to hear you repeat whatever verses you have been\ncommitting to memory to\u2010night.\u201d\n\nSo saying, Emma stood by her grandmother\u2019s chair, and, without a\nmistake, repeated from the 10th to the 15th verse of the eighth chapter\nof Romans. The last one was this, \u201cYe have not received the spirit of\nbondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption,\nwhereby we cry, Abba, Father!\u201d\n\n\u201cI am happy, my dear child,\u201d said old Mrs Allan, \u201cthat these have been\nyour verses to\u2010night, as they refer to the very subject I should like\nnow to speak to you about.\n\n\u201cYou remember what I explained to you last Sabbath?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, grandmamma,\u201d said Emma. \u201cIt was about _Justification_. God the\nGreat Judge trying the sinner at His bar, and sending him away freely\nforgiven for the sake of Christ.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of Adoption.] \u201cYou are right, my dear; and we are now going\nto speak about _Adoption_. I wonder if you know what that is.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no. I have often wondered what that word can mean, and I long to\nhear from you.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Difference between Justification and Adoption.] \u201cWell, then,\nmy child, as in Justification God acts as a _Judge_, so in Adoption God\nacts as a _Father_.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow I should like to hear about this, grandmamma! There is something\nterrible about the thought of a _Judge_; but there is nothing but love\nand joy in the thought of a _Father_!\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of our State by Nature.] \u201cIt is true, my dear,\u201d said her\ngrandmother; \u201cbut by nature none of us are in the family of God; we are\ncalled \u2018children of wrath;\u2019 \u2018children of the devil;\u2019 \u2018enemies!\u2019 God puts\na very solemn and striking question about us\u2014\u2018How shall I set thee among\nthe children?\u2019 He sees that we are such poor miserable sinners, that if\nHe had dealt with us as we have deserved for our sins, we should have\nbeen for ever \u2018children of wrath!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then, could have made God adopt us into His family?\u201d said little\nEmma.\n\n[Sidenote: Difference between Man\u2019s Adoption and God\u2019s.] \u201cThis, my\nchild,\u201d replied the other, \u201cis the thing in which _God\u2019s_ Adoption\ndiffers from _man\u2019s_. When a man takes a little orphan child into his\nhouse, and is kind to it, and brings it up as his own, it is because of\nsomething attractive, and lovely, and engaging in the child. I knew an\nold gentleman who saw a lovely little boy with golden locks, and he was\nso struck with his beauty, he would never part with him, but brought him\nup as his own son. But how different is it with us and God! The Bible\nrepresents sinners as lying all filthy and vile in the open field; so\nvile, that none would look at them, \u2018all passed them by!\u2019 But God came,\nlifted them up, and said unto them, \u2018Live!\u2019 \u2018_I_ will be a Father unto\nyou, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.\u2019 What, my dear Emma, would\nyou call this act of God in Adoption?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Adoption all of Grace.] \u201cOh, I would say,\u201d said her little\nhearer, \u201cthat it is the same as with Justification. It is an \u2018_act of\nGod\u2019s free grace_\u2019\u2014that is to say, that there was nothing about us to\nmake God love us, or be kind to us, and that it was all of His own great\nand wonderful kindness and mercy in Christ Jesus!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, my darling; and do you remember the name of an aged\ndisciple of Jesus who delighted more than all the rest to speak of God\u2019s\nlove? And perhaps you remember, too, what he says about this adopting\nlove of God?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said Emma; \u201cI think that will be the text Mr R. was preaching\nfrom last month:\u2014\u2018Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed\nupon us, that we should be called the sons of God!\u2019 But, dear [Sidenote:\nWhen Adoption takes place.] grandmamma,\u201d continued she, \u201cyou told me\nlast Sabbath that Justification takes place _in this world_, whenever\nthe sinner believes in Jesus. It cannot surely be that this great honour\nof being children of God, and adopted into His family, can begin on\nearth?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, dear child, it does,\u201d said her grandmother. \u201cJustification and\nAdoption are just different names for one great act. God, as I said, is\nrepresented in the one as a _Judge_, in the other as a _Father_. I don\u2019t\nknow if Mr R. [Sidenote: The Apostle John\u2019s Testimony.] took the next\nverse in that beautiful chapter along with his text. If he did so, it\nwill tell you _when_ the believer is adopted, and can call God his\nFather.\u201d\n\nLittle Emma quickly turned up her Bible, and read as follows:\u2014\u201cBeloved,\nnow are we the sons of God!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou see, my child,\u201d continued the old lady, \u201c_when_ this act of\nfatherly love takes place; it is \u2018_now_;\u2019 and if my dear little Emma\nloves the Lord Jesus, she can _now_ look up to the Great God, and say,\n\u2018He is my _Father_;\u2019 and to Jesus, and say, \u2018He is my _Elder Brother_!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cHow kind in God,\u201d said Emma, with the tear in her eye, \u201cto love sinners\nso much, and deal with them so tenderly! I think this, too, explains my\nfavourite story in the gospel\u2014does it not, grandmamma?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Our Lord\u2019s Parable about Adoption.] \u201cI remember now what your\nfavourite is,\u201d said the other, after thinking a moment; \u201cit is the\n_Prodigal Son_; and you are very right; there is no portion of the Bible\nwhich speaks more beautifully of God\u2019s adopting love. You remember, at\nthe very same moment that God forgave the Prodigal, He ordered \u2018the ring\nto be put on his finger\u2019 (the ring of _adoption_); and He calls him,\n\u2018_This, my son!_\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I shall love to read that parable more than ever,\u201d said Emma. \u201cI\ndon\u2019t think any earthly father would have been so kind to an ungrateful\nson. But you often tell me that \u2018God\u2019s ways are not as man\u2019s ways;\u2019 and\nit is surely so in this.\n\n[Sidenote: Evidences of Adoption.] \u201cBut how can I know, dear grandmamma,\nwhether _I_ am a child of God? I would feel as if I was richer and\nhappier than the richest in the world, and greater than earthly kings or\nqueens, if I could be sure that the Great God was my Father, and that I\nwas His child.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a very natural question, my dear, and I shall do what I can to\nanswer you. Let me ask you another question. What are your feelings\ntowards your earthly parents?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Love of God.] \u201cI love them,\u201d said Emma, \u201cvery much; I try to\ndo what they bid me, and I am always unhappy when I do anything that\nvexes or hurts them.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Hatred of Sin.] \u201cIt is the very same, my dear,\u201d said her\ngrandmother, \u201cwith the children of God. If you are really a child of\nGod, you will love Him, and try to do all His will, and be unhappy\nwhenever you sin against Him or displease Him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you another thing, grandmamma,\u201d interrupted the little\ngirl; \u201cI am never happy when I am far away from my father, or when my\nfather is far away from me. Sometimes he has to go away for many days to\na distance, and I so weary for his coming back. I think and speak of him\nall the day long; and once I remember, when I was a week away at aunt\nFanny\u2019s, I so longed to get back again to be with him.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Filial Nearness.] \u201cWell, dear child, you have just given\nanother mark by which you may know if you are a child of God. Do you\nlove your Heavenly Father\u2019s presence? Do you love prayer, [Sidenote:\nPrayer.] which brings you always near Him? and are you always unhappy\nwhen you forget prayer, which drives you away from God; or commit sin,\nwhich drives God away from you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, dear grandmamma, I think I can say I am; but then, I often\nsin, and I fear\u201d\u2015\u2015\n\n\u201cStop, my dear child,\u201d said the old lady. \u201cRemember, it is a great cause\nof grief to the true child of God, that the power of sin is so strong in\nhis heart, and that the devil is so often tempting him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d exclaimed Emma, \u201cdoes not the Bible say, \u2018We _cannot_ sin,\nbecause we are born of God\u2019?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: How the Child of God \u201ccannot sin.\u201d] \u201cYes, my child, you are\ncorrect; but I must tell you the real meaning of that verse, so that you\nmay not be cast down by supposing it asks what you cannot give. That\nverse means, that God\u2019s children cannot go on in a _course_ of sin. They\ncannot love sin, and continue _in_ sin; but it does not mean that their\nlives are so perfectly holy that they never can know what it is to have\na bad heart and wicked thought. Alas! this never can be, till the\nadopted children of God get safe into their Father\u2019s house in heaven!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! how I wish,\u201d said Emma, \u201cI could love this kind Heavenly Father\nmore than I have ever yet done; and hate sin more and more every day!\u2015\u2015I\nam afraid, dear grandmamma, I tire you with my questions; but I have\njust one more to ask to\u2010night, and then I shall go to bed. You often\nspeak of it being our duty to \u2018_fear_ God.\u2019 Now, how should we _fear_ a\nGod that you have just been telling me to _love_?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: What it is to \u201cfear\u201d God in Adoption.] \u201cI do not wonder, my\nchild, at your question. But there are two kinds of fear; the wicked\n\u2018_fear_\u2019 God as an awful Judge; they fear Him\u2014that is, they are _afraid_\nof Him, and tremble to think of His hatred of sin, and His judgment day.\nBut the children of God \u2018_fear_\u2019 their Heavenly Father in another sense;\nthey \u2018_fear_\u2019 to _offend_ Him. It is because they _love_ Him so very\nmuch, that they are _afraid_ of doing anything that would displease Him.\nThe wicked man\u2019s fear is what the Bible calls \u2018the fear that hath\ntorment.\u2019 The other is the fear, and reverence, and godly awe of\n\u2018perfect love.\u2019\n\n\u201cGood\u2010night, then, my dear,\u201d said the kind old lady, kissing her little\nscholar. \u201cI love you much as an earthly parent; but your Heavenly Father\nloves you more. When you go down on your knees to pray to Him to\u2010night,\nthink of that sweet verse in Jer. iii. 4, \u2018_My Father!_ thou art the\nguide of my youth!\u2019\n\n\u201cYou will not know all the wonders of the subject I have been speaking\nabout to\u2010night till the gracious Heavenly Father who adopts you opens to\nyou the gates of His own palace in glory, and when, taking you by the\nhand, and shewing you all the unsearchable riches which Jesus has\npurchased for you, He will say, \u2018My child! _thou art ever with me; and\nall that I have_ IS THINE!\u2019\u201d\n\n\n                             FOURTH NIGHT.\n\n\u201cI fear I weary you, grandmamma,\u201d said little Emma, as she opened the\nroom\u2010door on the following Sabbath, and resumed her accustomed seat by\nthe good old lady\u2019s side\u2014\u201cI fear I weary you, coming so often to hear\nyour nice explanations of Bible doctrines; but you have already enabled\nme to understand a great deal I never knew before, and have made my\nSabbath evenings so happy!\u201d\n\n\u201cI assure you, you have made me happy too, my dear child,\u201d said Mrs\nAllan, wiping the tear that was rolling down her withered cheek. \u201cI can\ntruly say, I have no greater joy than to talk to you about these\nglorious truths. I will soon be in that silent place,\u201d continued she,\npointing, as she was closing her shutters for the night, to the\nchurchyard, on which the moon was then shining; \u201cbut it makes me happy\nto think, that when you can hear my voice no more, you will remember,\nwith joy, the Sabbath evenings we have spent together. Happy, dear Emma,\nwill it be,\u201d her face brightening as she spoke, \u201cif we meet to speak of\nthese blessed truths in the better Sabbath in heaven!\u201d\n\nEmma was about to reply, when her grandmother took her by the hand, and\nsaid, with a kindly smile, \u201cWell, dearest, and what would you have me\ntalk to you about to\u2010night?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are the proper judge,\u201d replied her little scholar, \u201cas to what will\nbest follow after the two beautiful doctrines you have last explained to\nme, of _Justification_ and _Adoption_. The other day I came to a\ndifficult word in a book, which, [Sidenote: Of Regeneration.] if it\nwould not be out of place, I should like to know something about. The\nword was _Regeneration_, and\u201d\u2015\u2015\n\n\u201cStay, my dear,\u201d interrupted her grandmother; \u201cthat is the very subject\nI was thinking of. You could not have named a better; and if you will\ngive me all your attention, I shall try to open up this great doctrine\nto you as simply as I can.\n\n\u201cDo you remember what I told you about _Justification_?\u2014What God does to\nthe sinner when He justifies and adopts him?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Difference between Justification,] \u201cHe changes his _state_,\u201d\nreplied Emma. \u201cHe brings him from a _state_ of _wrath_ to a _state_ of\n_grace_,\u2014from a _state_ of _condemnation_ to a _state_ of _pardon_.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have given me just the answer I wanted,\u201d said her grandmother\u2014\u201cthat\nit is a change of _state_ or _condition_. In Justification, from being a\n_rebel_, the sinner is pardoned by [Sidenote: Adoption,] his Sovereign.\nIn Adoption, from being a _prodigal_, he is received back into his\nFather\u2019s lost home. Now, dear,\u201d continued she, \u201cdid I say that in these\nthere is produced also any change in _character_?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d replied Emma.\n\n\u201cYou are right; and you will instantly see how well it is that I should\nspeak to [Sidenote: And Regeneration.] you about Regeneration to\u2010night,\nwhich is the very word which tells about this great change of\n_character_ or _mind_, which is as necessary to salvation, as the great\nchange of _state_ and _condition_ of which I have already spoken. What\nis your own idea, my dear child, as to the meaning of Regeneration?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, grandmamma,\u201d replied Emma, \u201cit is such a long and difficult\nword, that I am ashamed to tell, though I have often heard it mentioned\nin Mr R\u2015\u2015\u2019s sermon, I never understood it aright.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou should never be ashamed, my dear, to ask those older than yourself\nto explain Bible difficulties to you. Many grow up to be big people, in\ngreat ignorance, owing to this false shame.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it the same, grandmamma,\u201d said Emma, \u201cas _Repentance_? I think I\nunderstand _that_ word better.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Bible Terms about Regeneration.] \u201cYes, my child, there are\nmany words in the Bible used to denote this same great change, and which\nyou must often hear ministers speaking about. \u2018The _new birth_\u2019\u2014being\n\u2018_born again_\u2019\u2014\u2018_Conversion_\u2019\u2014\u2018_Repentance_\u2019\u2014\u2018_Regeneration_;\u2019 but the\nmeaning of them all may be summed up in this,\u2014the necessity of a new\nheart, produced by the Holy Spirit, who turns the old heart from the\nservice of sin to the service of God.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Necessity of Regeneration.] \u201cBut must every one have this\nentire change of heart before he can be saved?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, dearest, it is a doctrine many don\u2019t like to believe, or to hear\nabout, because they think it makes the way to heaven too strait and\nnarrow; but do you remember anything Jesus said about it, when He was\nspeaking to inquiring Nicodemus?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: What Jesus says of it.] \u201cOh, yes,\u201d said Emma, \u201cyou have put\nme in mind of the verse now\u2014\u2018Except a man be born again, he cannot see\nthe kingdom of God.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are quite correct,\u201d replied the old lady. \u201cThat same blessed\nSaviour never spoke an unkind word, and He would never have uttered\nthis, unless it was a solemn truth, \u2018Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye\n_must_ be _born again_.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if the sinner,\u201d asked Emma, \u201cis justified in the sight of God, and\nGod calls him \u2018_not guilty_,\u2019 and _pardons_ him, and says of him there\nis _no condemnation_, what more does he require, in order to be saved?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: A Change of State and a Change of Heart must go together.] \u201cA\ngreat deal more,\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cLet me ask you,\u201d said she to\nEmma, \u201ctwo questions, which may help to explain the matter to you. If a\nking pardoned a rebel, and if that rebel still hated his sovereign, and\nsought to kill him, would it be safe for the king to receive the\nungrateful rebel into his palace?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d replied Emma.\n\n\u201cOr, if a father received back a prodigal son; but if that son\n_continued_ prodigal as ever, breaking, with fresh sin, his poor old\nfather\u2019s heart, and corrupting his other brothers, could that father\npermit him to live in his house?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, _surely_,\u201d still replied Emma.\n\n\u201cWell, dearest, what would require to be done to make it safe for the\nking to keep company with the rebel he had pardoned; and the father to\ntake the son to live with him in his own household?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf they had changed and better hearts,\u201d said Emma.\n\n\u201cYou have just given again the answer I wanted,\u201d said her grandmother.\n\u201cI want you to see it is the same with the sinner. God the _King_ has\npardoned the _sinner\u2010rebel_. God the _Father_ has adopted the\n_sinner\u2010prodigal_; but He never could receive him into His glorious\npalace of heaven, unless what?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Change of Heart in Regeneration needed for Heaven.] \u201cOh,\nunless his heart is _changed_,\u201d exclaimed Emma. \u201cI understand it now. He\nmust have a _holy_ heart,\u2014a heart to love God and hate sin. I see quite\nwell he could not get into heaven with an unchanged heart!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my dear child,\u201d said the other (happy that her little\ngrand\u2010daughter was now able to see the meaning of Regeneration); \u201cand\neven if the sinner could get into heaven with his sinful, unchanged,\nunconverted heart, could he be happy?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Heaven a place for holy Hearts.] \u201cI don\u2019t think,\u201d said Emma,\n\u201che could; he would be miserable in that holy place, amid holy angels\nand a holy God. I see quite well now the truth of what Jesus says,\n\u2018Except ye be converted, ye cannot enter in the kingdom of heaven.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d continued little Emma, getting more interested in the subject, \u201cI\nshould like much to know _how_, and _when_, and _where_ we are\nregenerated, and get this new mind.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: The Agent in Regeneration.] \u201cLike every other thing in\nsalvation,\u201d replied the old lady, \u201cthis great change of heart and life\nis the work of God; and though all the glorious Trinity are engaged in\nproducing it, it is more especially brought about by the agency of the\nthird person in the blessed Godhead\u2014the Holy Ghost.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how do you know when it takes place?\u201d continued Emma. \u201cAre we aware\nof the time when the Holy Spirit works this great change?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: The Method of Regeneration.] \u201cNo,\u201d replied her grandmother.\n\u201cYou remember how simply and beautifully Jesus speaks of this to one who\nwas asking about it, and wondering about it, like _you_. That, just as\nyou cannot tell where the wind comes from\u2014you hear it blowing, but\ncannot tell _from where_\u2014\u2018so is every one that is born of the Spirit.\u2019\nThat new birth, or change, is wrought silently in the soul. It is like\nthe little dew\u2010drops that sparkle in the morning sun, which gather\nunseen and unnoticed during the night; or like the Temple of Jerusalem\nof old, which was built without any noise of \u2018hammer, or axe, or any\ntool of iron;\u2019\u2014it rose without din or observation; and this is the case\nwith every renewed heart when it becomes a \u2018temple of the Holy Ghost.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThen it takes a long time, grandmamma, before a sinner\u2019s heart can be\nchanged?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Various Modes of Operation.] \u201cThe Spirit of God, my child,\nacts _how_, and _where_, and _when_ He pleases. He sometimes converts\nand renews, _in a moment_, as He did the thief on the cross and the\njailer of Philippi, or the thousands at Pentecost. Sometimes He does it\n_gradually_ (or by _degrees_), as in the case of Nicodemus; and\nsometimes, as I trust, my dear Emma, is the case with you, He sanctifies\nfrom infancy, changes the young heart, as He did in the case of Timothy,\nand Samuel, and Jeremiah.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Am I Regenerated?] \u201cOh! I am happy to hear you say so,\u201d\nreplied Emma, \u201cfor I was beginning to fear that I had never felt the\nHoly Spirit _changing my heart_, and that I must surely be yet\nunregenerated and unsaved. Such a thought would be very awful to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI trust, my dear child,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cI have good reason to\nbelieve that God, by His grace and Spirit, has \u2018turned you from darkness\nto light,\u2019 and given you a heart to love Him and serve Him. I wish that\nmany little children would have such a [Sidenote: Awful Importance of\nRegeneration.] _fear_ as you speak of. I wish many, too, would remember\nthat one little word MUST, and _who_ says it, \u2018Ye _MUST_ be born\nagain!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cDear grandmamma,\u201d said Emma, \u201cI must pray more than I ever have done\nfor a _clean heart_. I fear, till you have been explaining this to me, I\nhave thought too much about my sins being washed in Jesus\u2019 blood, and\ntoo little about my heart being changed and made holy by Jesus\u2019 Spirit.\nI see that I need both, and will try and pray for both.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is a good resolution, my dearest,\u201d said the other; \u201cand the Great\nGod, for your encouragement in asking for a change of heart, gives you\nin His own blessed Bible both a _prayer_ [Sidenote: A Prayer for it, and\nits Answer.] and an _answer_. Give me your Bible,\u201d continued she, \u201cand,\nas I feel unable to speak more to\u2010night, I will mark the two places to\nwhich I refer, and you can take them with you to your own room, and read\nthem to yourself.\u201d\n\nThe good old lady kissed her little grandchild, putting two pieces of\npaper at what she had so marked. Emma, saying \u201cGood\u2010night,\u201d ran\nup\u2010stairs with her Bible in her hand, and, having shut her door, read to\nherself, before she knelt down to her evening prayer, these two verses:\u2014\n\n_The Prayer._\u2014\u201cCreate in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit\nwithin me\u201d (Ps. li. 10).\n\n_The Answer._\u2014\u201cA new heart also will I give you, and a right spirit will\nI put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your\nflesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh\u201d (Ezek. xxxvi. 26).\n\n\n                              FIFTH NIGHT.\n\n\u201cI am now ready for you,\u201d said old Mrs Allan, as little Emma was waiting\nanxiously for the time when she might again seat herself by her\ngrandmother\u2019s chair. \u201cWhat am I to tell you about to\u2010night?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have been thinking,\u201d replied Emma, \u201cif you have no more to explain\nabout the great work in the soul of the believer, that I should like to\nhear more of that glorious Being to whom the sinner owes all the\nprecious blessings you have been telling me of.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Of the Person, Offices, and Work of Christ.] \u201cI shall gladly\ndo so, my dear child. It is a delightful subject to converse upon the\nPerson, Offices, and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was\nrich, yet for our sakes He became poor.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall hear attentively,\u201d said Emma, \u201cwhat you have to say, as there\nis much about the _Person_ of Jesus I do not rightly understand. He is\ncalled [Sidenote: Christ the Son of God and Son of Man.] both \u2018Son of\nGod\u2019 and \u2018Son of Man.\u2019 I often wonder how this can be.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis, my child,\u201d replied her grandmother, \u201cis the great mystery of\ngodliness, \u2018God manifest in the flesh,\u2019\u2014but it is a glorious mystery;\nand happy shall I be to speak to you upon it.\n\n[Sidenote: Son of God.] \u201cThe Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of\nGod. He was \u2018with God, and was God.\u2019 Before this world, or any worlds\nwere made, He dwelt from everlasting with the Father. He is equal with\nHim in power and in glory. If He had been an angel, or an archangel, He\ncould not have saved us, for the highest archangel is only a\n_creature_\u2014and one created being cannot atone for the sin of another. In\none word, if Jesus had not been _God_, He could not have been the\nSaviour of man.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Son of Man.] \u201cBut is he not spoken of,\u201d said Emma, \u201calso as\nthe Son of Man?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my dear; and I must add, if He had not been man, He could not have\nsaved us. As our surety, it was necessary for Him to suffer and die in\nthe nature which had sinned\u2014and besides, you know, that _as God_, He\ncould not have suffered, because the Divine nature is a spiritual one.\nTherefore it is that He says, \u2018A _body_ hast thou prepared Me.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI think, too,\u201d said Emma, \u201cit is a blessed thought that our great\nRedeemer was a man. If He had been God only, He could not have felt for\nus in the way He can do as the \u2018Son of Man.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, my dear child. This is one of the most delightful\nthoughts about the person of Jesus, that He is our \u2018elder brother,\u2019 and\nnot ashamed to call us \u2018brethren.\u2019 He can say to all of us, \u2018I know your\nsorrows,\u2019 for He was Himself \u2018the Man of Sorrows,\u2019 and felt them all.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Titles of Jesus.] \u201cWould you explain to me,\u201d said the young\ninquirer, \u201cthe meaning of some more of the names of the Lord Jesus\nChrist?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Immanuel.] \u201cHe is called,\u201d said her grandmamma, \u201cby that\nbeautiful word, which tells that He is both God and man, \u2018_Immanuel_,\u2019\nwhich means, \u2018God with us.\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: Jesus.] \u201cThen He is called \u2018_Jesus_,\u2019 because He \u2018saves\u2019 His\npeople\u2014the word Jesus meaning \u2018Saviour.\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: Messiah, Christ.] \u201cThen He is called \u2018_Messiah_,\u2019 and\n\u2018_Christ_,\u2019 because He is the anointed of God\u2014both words meaning\n\u2018anointed.\u2019 As kings, in ancient times, had anointing oil poured upon\ntheir heads when they were set apart to their royal office, so our\nblessed Saviour had the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit poured upon\nHim, to qualify Him for His offices as mediator.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe _Offices_ of Jesus; dear grandmamma, I have often heard these\nspoken of. Will you kindly explain to me what they mean?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: The Offices of Christ.] \u201cThe Lord Jesus Christ, my dear\nchild, stands in different relations, and performs different acts with\nregard to the Church He has redeemed with His precious blood. I shall\nmention to you the three under which He is most frequently referred to.\n\n[Sidenote: Prophet.] \u201cJesus is the _Prophet_ of His Church. He is her\ngreat Teacher. By means of His precious Word, and the influences of His\nSpirit, He makes known to us His own will, and the will of God for our\nsalvation.\n\n[Sidenote: Priest.] \u201cJesus is the _Priest_ of His Church. A priest, you\nknow, in former times, offered sacrifices on the altar. Jesus is called\nthe \u2018Great High Priest of our profession.\u2019 He was Himself both the\nPriest and the Victim, for \u2018He gave Himself for us;\u2019 and just as the\nJewish high priest of old went into the holy of holies and sprinkled on\nthe mercy\u2010seat the blood of the slain sacrifice, and prayed to God for\nthe people, so Jesus has carried the merits of His own blood into\nheaven, and, as _our_ High Priest, is there pleading our cause at God\u2019s\nright hand. You remember, too, the high priest of old, after being\nwithin the vail, came out to bless the waiting people. So Jesus, our\nGreat High Priest, will, at His second coming in glory, bless His\nassembled Church, saying, \u2018Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the\nkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.\u2019\n\n[Sidenote: King.] \u201cJesus also is _King_ of His Church, the ruler _in_\nit, and ruler _over_ it. He protects it from its enemies; and though\noften, like the bush which Moses saw in the wilderness, it burns with\nfire, He will prevent it from ever being consumed. He will continue to\nreign over it as King, until all enemies be put under His feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a wonderful and complete Saviour, grandmamma!\u201d exclaimed Emma.\n\u201cJesus is so great, and yet so compassionate! I feel as if I can adore\nHim as God, and yet love Him as a brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, most true, my dear child; He is all you need\u2014the very Saviour you\n_do_ need. It is a wonderful thought, His Godhead and His Manhood! As\nGod, angels and seraphs worshipped Him. As Man, little children smiled\nin His arms!\u201d\n\n\u201cI love to think of Him, too,\u201d said Emma, \u201cas my High Priest in heaven.\nIt does [Sidenote: Christ\u2019s Intercessory Work.] not make me afraid to\napproach the Great God, when I have so kind a Saviour to intercede for\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, my dear,\u201d said the other; \u201cthere is no thought more\npleasing and delightful, than that we have in glory \u2018a Prince\u2019 that has\n\u2018power with God,\u2019 and must \u2018prevail.\u2019 The Apostle Paul rejoiced much in\nthis truth. It gave him \u2018boldness,\u2019 as he calls it, to approach the\nthrone of grace. And the Apostle John, in his vision on the Isle of\nPatmos, beheld Jesus as the Angel of the Covenant, with a \u2018censer\u2019 in\nHis hand. His people on earth put all their prayers into this censer,\nand a fragrant cloud ascends from it before the throne.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the meaning of that?\u201d asked Emma.\n\n\u201cIt tells us, my child,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cthat the believer\u2019s\npoor, imperfect prayers, when sprinkled and made fragrant with the\nincense of Christ\u2019s adorable merits, ascend with acceptance into the ear\nof God Himself. God hears the poorest and unworthiest of His saints, for\nthe sake of the work and merits of Jesus.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can now well understand,\u201d said Emma, \u201chow the Apostle Paul could say\nwith such a grateful heart, \u2018Thanks be to God for His unspeakable\ngift!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the other, \u201cit _is_ unspeakable\u2014and the more you know of\nJesus, the more wonders will you discover in His person, and the more\nglories in His work. Oh! seek to love him more and more every day. Let\nit be your constant wish, and desire, and prayer\u2014how can I do enough for\nthis Saviour who has done so much, so very much for me?\n\n\u201cBut I can say no more to\u2010night. May this blessed Saviour, my dear\nchild, be yours\u2014yours now, and yours for ever!\u201d\n\n\n                              SIXTH NIGHT.\n\n\u201cIt is a long time,\u201d said Emma, running to her grandmother\u2019s side,\n\u201csince you were last able to tell me those nice things about Bible\ndoctrines. I have been longing much for you to be able to speak to me\nagain about them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI feel better and stronger now,\u201d said old Mrs Allan, who had been for\nmany weeks laid aside, \u201cand I am as happy as my little Emma can be, to\nfind myself once more in my old oaken chair, with her at my knee.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, grandmamma,\u201d said she, clinging affectionately to her\nwithered hand; \u201cand what are you going to speak to me about to\u2010night?\u201d\n\n\u201cOur last conversation, my child, if I remember well, was on the\nintercessory work of the Lord Jesus. I think you would like to hear me\nspeak of the final great act of His mediatorial reign, when He will come\nat the [Sidenote: The Resurrection and Judgment.] resurrection to judge\nthe world.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d said Emma; \u201cI should like much to hear of that awfully\nglorious day. I often tremble when I think about it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt has no terrors, my child, to God\u2019s own people. It is to them a very\njoyful day\u2014the happiest of all their lives; for then they shall be\nbrought to the full enjoyment of God for ever.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Souls of Believers at Death.] \u201cBut, dear grandmamma, I\nthought, when believers die, they go to heaven at the very moment of\ndeath; that the angels of God are waiting by their pillows to carry them\ninto Jesus\u2019 bosom.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue\u2014most true, my child,\u201d replied the aged lady; \u201cthe moment the saint\ncloses his eyes on this world, he opens them in heaven. The souls of\nbelievers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do\nimmediately pass into glory. You perhaps remember some of the things the\nApostle Paul said in the prospect of death?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Emma; \u201c\u2018Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ,\nwhich is far better;\u2019 \u2018Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to\nbe present with the Lord.\u2019 I remember, too, of Stephen, when his wicked\nmurderers were stoning him, how he cried out, \u2018Lord Jesus, receive my\nspirit.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite right, my dear; and that other saying of the Saviour to the poor\nthief on the cross is more to the point still, when He said to him,\n\u2018Verily I say unto thee, _To\u2010day_ shalt thou be with me in paradise.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut then, from all these verses,\u201d said Emma, \u201cis not heaven begun at\nthe hour of death?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is, my child,\u201d replied her grandmother. \u201cI have already told you\nthat, at the moment of death, the soul of the saint is made perfectly\nholy, and happy too, beyond what we can now conceive; but its state of\nfinal and complete glorification will not take place until the day of\njudgment.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it,\u201d said the little inquirer, \u201cwhich will then add to its\nstate of glory and blessedness?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: The Bodies of Believers.] \u201cYou know, my dear,\u201d was the reply,\n\u201cthat the _body_ of the believer is not taken to heaven at the hour of\ndeath. It is laid in the tomb. You remember too well that sad day when\nyour little brother was laid in his grave in the churchyard. His happy\nspirit, I believe, is now in heaven, joyful in the presence and love of\nGod; but his full state of glory and blessedness will not be complete\nuntil his body is raised again on the resurrection morning. Perhaps I\nshould tell [Sidenote: Purchased by Christ.] you that the body, as well\nas the soul, is part of the purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every\nparticle of the saints\u2019 dust is redeemed by His blood. The Apostle\nspeaks of \u2018our _bodies_ and our spirits\u2019 as \u2018not our own,\u2019 but \u2018bought\nwith a price.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can this be?\u201d inquired Emma; \u201cdo you mean that the bodies of\nthose who have been buried for ages will come all to life again, and the\nsoul be once more united to these?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Raised from the Grave.] \u201cYes, my dear, it is indeed a\nwonderful thought. But what cannot the power of God do? He has _said_\nthat He will raise us up at the last day. Do you remember any of the\nwords of Jesus about this?\u201d\n\nEmma thought a little, and at last turned up her Bible to the verses,\nand read them: \u201cMarvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which\nall that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth;\nthey that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that\nhave done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.\u201d \u201cBut how,\u201d\ncontinued she, when she had finished, and once more repeating her\nquestion of surprise\u2014\u201chow, grandmamma, can this be?\u2014does not the dead\nbody crumble into dust? How can the particles that have for hundreds and\nthousands of years been mixed with the earth come together again?\u201d\n\n\u201cGod can do anything, I answer once more,\u201d was the reply of the other.\n\u201cWe should always remember that what is impossible with man, is possible\nwith God. We are not without examples, my child, in the natural world,\nof the wondrous changes which the power of God can produce in smaller\n[Sidenote: The Doctrine of the Resurrection probable from Analogy.]\nthings; and this shews us (from what is called _analogy_) that we have\nno right to question the doctrine I am now speaking about, however\nstrange and apparently impossible it may seem to be.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat instances, grandmamma,\u201d said Emma, \u201cmay I ask, do you refer to in\nthe outer world? I should like to understand better what you mean.\u201d\n\n\u201cI like to hear you asking for more information, dear Emma, and I shall\ntry to give it to you. Well, then, I know you have often seen the bright\nand beautiful butterfly with its golden wings and rings of silver. Can\nyou believe that that lovely insect was once a little grub or\ncaterpillar? I see you are astonished, my dear, at what I now say; but\nit is the case. During winter, these little worms lie in what is called\na _chrysalis_ state. During this time there is nothing in the least\nbeautiful about them\u2014I would say rather the reverse; but all at once,\nwhen the summer sun shines out, the little insect bursts its coating,\nand is changed into a lovely butterfly or moth, with expanded wings,\nflying up into the blue sky, or ranging at large amid the garden\nflowers.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh how wonderful is this!\u201d exclaimed Emma; \u201cand I see now, grandmamma,\nwhat you mean. This little creature teaches me to understand how the\nsame mighty power of God, that changes the caterpillar into a butterfly,\ncan bring about the still more wonderful change in raising our vile\nbodies from the grave.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, my child,\u201d said her grandmother. \u201cI am glad you have\nunderstood me; and if I had time, I might give you other instances of a\nsimilar kind. You have seen, for example, the farmer put the little\ngrains of seed into the ground; could you ever have expected that the\nsmall pickles thrown into the earth would spring up into the rich fields\nof yellow corn you have seen waving at harvest time?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh no,\u201d replied Emma; \u201cI have often thought how curious this is, and\nalso that the little annual seed I sow in my own garden\u2010plot should\nspring up such lovely flowers. The seed looks so small and withered\nlike, and the flowers are so beautiful in colour, and have such a sweet\nsmell.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, my dear, does not God give us proofs in these smaller things of\nwhat He can do in greater things. The body laid in the grave is like the\nseed laid in the ground, \u2018it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in\nglory.\u2019 I should like you,\u201d continued the old lady, \u201cto take your Bible\nand read all that striking and beautiful passage of the Apostle Paul on\n[Sidenote: Testimony of St Paul.] this subject.\u201d Emma immediately opened\nto the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, 42d verse, and read aloud as\nfollows:\u2014\u201cIt is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is\nsown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is\nraised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual\nbody. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.... Behold,\nI shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be\nchanged, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (for\nthe trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,\nand we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption,\nand this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall\nhave put 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.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a wonderful scene that will be!\u201d said Emma, as she closed her\nBible. \u201cDear grandmamma, can you tell me _when_ it will take place?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: When the Resurrection will be.] \u201cNo, my child,\u201d replied she;\n\u201cthe Bible tells us that \u2018Of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not\neven the angels that are in heaven.\u2019 God seems purposely to keep us in\nthe dark about the time of the coming of Jesus, that we may be always\nready for it. It matters little how long or how short it may be,\nprovided we are now living as we would wish we had done when we hear the\ntrumpet sounding.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what sort of bodies,\u201d said Emma, \u201cwill they be that will then rise\nfrom the graves?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll that I can tell you,\u201d replied her grandmother, \u201cis, that they will\nbe glorious [Sidenote: Glory of the Resurrection Body.] bodies,\nfashioned like unto Christ\u2019s glorified body. They will be no more\nsubject to decay, and weakness, and disease, and death. It is said of\nthem, \u2018They shall be like Him\u2019 (like Jesus), and also, \u2018Neither shall\nthey die any more.\u2019 And surely no blessedness can be greater than\nthis\u2014to be _like Jesus_, and _never_ to _die_.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, grandmamma!\u201d exclaimed Emma, \u201cI feel as if I would not be afraid to\ngo to the grave, after all that you have been now telling me.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue, my child, the lowliest grave in yonder churchyard, if it be the\ngrave of a true believer, is holy ground. Perhaps angels are watching\nover it, and Jesus himself counts its dust _precious_. The grave of the\nwicked is a prison house, where they are detained in captivity until the\nday of awful vengeance; but the grave of the saint is a casket holding a\nprecious jewel. It is a bed of rest, where he gently and peacefully\n\u2018sleeps\u2019 till awakened on the happy morning of immortality.\n\n\u201cBut I must here, my dear, pause for to\u2010night. We have been speaking so\nmuch about this wondrous doctrine of the body\u2019s resurrection as to\nrender it necessary that I should wait till another Sabbath to speak as\nI promised about the day of judgment.\u201d\n\n\n                             SEVENTH NIGHT.\n\n\u201cYou promised, grandmamma,\u201d said little Emma, as she found herself once\nmore seated by the old oaken chair, \u201cto tell me to\u2010night [Sidenote: The\nLast Judgment.] about the Day of Judgment. I long to hear you speak\nabout so solemn a subject. There is much about it I do not understand.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt _is_, my child,\u201d replied the other, \u201ca solemn subject. It will be a\ndreadful day to the wicked; but it will be a happy day to all God\u2019s dear\nchildren\u2014the happiest day in their lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, then, dear grandmamma, all that the Bible tells us about it. I\nshall promise to listen with great attention.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: What it is.] \u201cThe Judgment,\u201d answered the other, \u201cis that\ngreat transaction which is to take place at the end of the world, when\nevery man, and woman, and child, that ever lived, will be brought to\ntrial before God\u2019s \u2018great white throne.\u2019 A trumpet will sound over their\ngraves. As I told you last Sabbath, the mouldering dust will come to\nlife again, and the dead, small and great, will stand before God.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a wonderful and awful thought!\u201d exclaimed Emma; \u201cbut do you mean\nto say that _all_ will be there, without any exception?\u201d\n\n\u201cAll!\u2014all!\u201d replied the aged lady, \u201cfrom Adam to the last inhabitant of\nthe world. There will be those who lived _before_ the flood, and _since_\nthe flood. Patriarchs, and Prophets, and Apostles\u2014Jews and\nGentiles\u2014Pagans and Christians\u2014rich and poor\u2014young and old\u2014learned and\nunlearned\u2014kings and beggars\u2014not one will be wanting; and more still,\n_you_ and _I_ will be there. _Our_ eyes will look on that vast crowd.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd tell me,\u201d continued Emma, deeply impressed with the thought, \u201cwho\nis the [Sidenote: The Judge.] Judge that will be seated on the throne\nyou speak of? and what will He do?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you refer, my child,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cto the seventeenth\nchapter of Acts, thirty\u2010first verse, you will there read who is set\napart as Judge of the world.\u201d Emma turned up the passage in her Bible,\nand read as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cFor He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in\nrighteousness by _that Man_ whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given\nassurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I see now!\u201d she exclaimed, as she closed her Bible; \u201cit is the Lord\nJesus Christ who is to be Judge. It makes me glad to think of this; for\nif I love and serve Him now, I will not be afraid to meet Him then.\n[Sidenote: The Throne.] But why is it said that He is to be seated on a\n_white_ throne?\u2014will it really be so?\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot tell,\u201d replied the other, \u201cwhat the _outward_ marks of majesty\nwill be in which He will appear, although, doubtless, these will be very\ngreat; for it is said that He will come \u2018in His glory,\u2019 and that He is\nto have \u2018all His holy angels with Him.\u2019 But He is spoken of as seated on\na great _white_ throne, to denote His awful purity and holiness; that He\nwill give on that day every one his due. His mercy will not interfere\nwith the exercise of justice and holiness, and sinners will not escape\nunpunished.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think I now remember, dear grandmamma,\u201d said Emma, \u201cof reading in\nthat same chapter in Revelation which speaks of the throne of the Judge,\nthat He is to have [Sidenote: The Books.] some books lying open before\nHim.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my child, you are right; \u2018the books,\u2019 we are told, are to be\n\u2018opened.\u2019 What these books may be we cannot tell; but perhaps they may\nbe the books of the Law and the Gospel\u2014the books of Conscience, and\nMemory, and Privilege; and especially the _Great Book of Remembrance_,\nin which all [Sidenote: The Book of Remembrance.] our words, and deeds,\nand actions, are preserved. All that every individual has ever done will\nbe found recorded in it. Many will wonder when they come to see how\nfaithful the pen of God has been in writing down _all_;\u2014heart sins, and\ntongue sins, and life sins. I fear not a few suppose that there are many\ntrifling faults (or, as they call them, \u2018little sins\u2019) which they\nimagine God does not think it worth while to take notice of. They will\nfind every one of them recorded. _They_ may have forgotten them long\nago; but they will all be brought to light again on that Great Day.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this,\u201d exclaimed Emma, \u201cbe indeed the case, who is there but must\ntremble at the thought of that day?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe wicked, my child,\u201d continued her grandmother, \u201cwill and must be\nafraid to think of it. All who have not known the salvation of Jesus,\nand fled to His precious blood, must be covered then with confusion and\nshame. They will then be led to see, what they never saw before, what an\nevil thing sin is, and what a holy being God is. But His own people will\nhave nothing to fear. They can say now, in the words of the beautiful\nhymn\u2014\n\n                \u2018Bold shall I stand on that great day;\n                For who aught to my charge can lay,\n                While by Thy blood absolved I am\n                From sin\u2019s tremendous guilt and shame?\u2019\n\nYes, dear Emma, they will be able to look up with joy in the face of\ntheir Judge, and say, \u2018_It is God that justifieth, who is he that\ncondemneth?_\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what! Do you mean, grandmamma, that God does not take account of\nthe sins of the righteous?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, my child; every one of their sins is written down as well as\nthose of the wicked\u2014dreadful pages of guilt, too, that might well\noverwhelm them with wrath and condemnation.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow, then,\u201d continued Emma, \u201ccan it be different with them from the\nothers? How can God pass over their many sins?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe _does_ not\u2014He _could_ not, my child,\u201d replied the aged lady, \u201cpass\nany sins over. But you may have heard of _another_ book which [Sidenote:\nThe Book of Life.] God will have before Him on that day. It is the _Book\nof Life_. There the names of all the redeemed are written. None who are\nwritten therein can be lost! It is as if the great Judge took His pen\nand drew it through every page of recorded sins, marking them all out\nwith the blood of the Lamb of God.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d asked Emma, \u201cwill it not make the believer very sad and sorrowful\non that day to see such an awful record of sins? It will be enough,\nsurely, to bring floods of tears to his eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not wonder at your saying so, my dear; but I think the thought of\nhis sins will be lost in a still more wondrous and amazing one\u2014I mean in\nthinking of the work of Jesus, that could take _so many sins_ away,\nmaking them all forgiven and forgotten, and blotted out for ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh that _my_ name, dear grandmamma, were safely written there! I feel\nas if I never could be for another hour happy or joyful until I felt\nsure that my name was in the _Book of Life_!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have, my dear child, all the assurance necessary, if you are now\nbelieving in the Lord Jesus\u2014trusting in His merits\u2014seeking to love\nHim\u2014to do what He commands\u2014and avoid what displeases Him. Of such He\nsays (Rev. iii. 5), \u2018I will not blot out his name out of the _Book of\nLife_; but I will confess his name before my Father and before His\nangels.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut tell me further,\u201d said Emma, \u201chow will the work of judgment\nproceed?\u201d\n\n\u201cJesus, my child, after the books have been opened, and the vast\nmultitude have been brought before Him, will go on to pronounce sentence\nupon each. It will be a solemn scene. We read that \u2018He will [Sidenote:\nThe Awards.] separate the righteous from the wicked as a shepherd\ndivideth the sheep from the goats.\u2019 In this world the good and the bad,\nthe \u2018tares and the wheat,\u2019 are mixed up together. _We_ cannot tell the\nholy from the unholy; but Jesus knows them all; and on that day He will\nparcel all mankind into these two great classes. In one or other every\nhuman being must be placed.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn whom will He pronounce sentence first?\u201d inquired Emma.\n\n\u201cHe will address the righteous first,\u201d said her grandmother. \u201cIt will\nnot, indeed, be with _them_ a day of wrath. Believers, at the time of\ntheir justification (as I explained to you on a former evening), were\ndismissed with the sentence of \u2018not guilty\u2019 pronounced upon them. They\nare brought before God\u2019s throne, that there they may be \u2018openly\nacknowledged\u2019\u2014receive a public acquittal before men and angels\u2014and\nlisten to that happy, happy sentence, \u2018Come, ye blessed of my Father,\ninherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI can well imagine their joy,\u201d said Emma; \u201cbut what next?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt will be a sadly different scene, my child. Let the words of Jesus\nhimself tell you of it\u2014you will find them in the 25th chapter of\nMatthew, 41st verse.\u201d\n\nEmma again turned to the passage, and read, \u201cThen shall He say also to\nthem on the left hand, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,\nprepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter this,\u201d continued the aged lady, \u201cwe read no more about the doings\nof that great day. The court is dissolved\u2014the trial over. We see the\ngolden gates of heaven open to receive happy saints and angels; and the\nmiserable wicked sink down to the regions of despair! This solemn day\nterminates the kingdom of grace on earth. The kingdom of glory is then\ncompleted. The elect are gathered into it from the four quarters of\nheaven. They \u2018enter into the joy of their Lord.\u2019 But this I must reserve\nspeaking to you about, if God spare me, till another Sabbath.\u201d\n\n\n                             EIGHTH NIGHT.\n\nSpring once more returned with its green fields and bright sky. The\nlittle birds were beginning to raise their earliest notes, as if telling\none another how happy they were that winter, with its snow and its\nstorms, was again over, and that the fresh buds were beginning again to\nappear. The small, old\u2010fashioned lamp, too, which was filled every\nSaturday, so as to be ready for the Sabbath evening, was, from the long\ntwilight, no longer required. As the last rays of the setting sun were\nfalling through the latticed window, Emma was found once more at her\ngrandmother\u2019s side.\n\n\u201cI think, my dear,\u201d said the latter, laying aside her spectacles, and\ndrawing her grandchild nearer her\u2014\u201cI think I left off speaking last\nSabbath when we were just beginning to talk of the most wondrous and\nglorious of all Bible subjects.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied Emma, \u201cyou had told me about the doings of the great\nDay of Judgment, and you were commencing to [Sidenote: Of Heaven.] speak\nabout the glories of heaven, when you thought it would be better to wait\ntill now.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly, my child,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201cI would require rather to wait\ntill that heaven itself begins, in order to give you any idea of its\nhappiness. We are told that \u2018eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither\nhave entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared\nfor them that love Him.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI was reading a little ago, when sitting at the window,\u201d said Emma,\n\u201cthe description of this glorious heaven given us in the last chapters\nof the Bible, where it is said to be a [Sidenote: How described in\nRevelation.] great city, with streets of gold like transparent glass,\nwalls of jasper, and foundations of precious stones. And here, too, is\nanother beautiful verse, grandmamma,\u201d continued she, as her eyes glanced\nover the 21st chapter of Revelation: \u201c\u2018And the city had no need of the\nsun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did\nlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.\u2019 And here yet another\nlovely description,\u201d she added, \u201cI love so to read it: \u2018And he shewed me\na pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the\nthrone of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on\neither side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve\nmanner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of\nthe tree were for the healing of the nations.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI have not interrupted you, my dear child, in reading these beautiful\nverses,\u201d said the aged lady; \u201cthey give us a bright and glowing picture\nof happiness and glory, which our minds can in no other way conceive.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: To be understood figuratively.] \u201cBut will there _indeed_ be\ngolden streets, and crystal walls, and all these precious stones that\nare here spoken of?\u201d inquired Emma.\n\n\u201cThere will be far greater magnificence, and far purer happiness,\u201d\nreplied her grandmother, \u201cthan all the gold and gems this world could\ngive. These are just figures or emblems employed by God in His Word to\nconvey to us some idea of the vast glory of heaven. No earthly words, or\nthoughts, or language, could describe this; and therefore, as men\nconsider gold and precious stones the most costly and valuable things in\nthe world, they are used as pictures to give us some feeble\nrepresentation of heavenly blessedness.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then, dear grandmamma, will heaven really be? What kind of a\nplace is it? and how are the righteous employed when they get there?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: The Scenery of Heaven.] \u201cI cannot tell,\u201d replied the other,\n\u201cwhat character of scenery there will be in heaven, nor in what\nparticular spot in the universe this happy place is prepared. The Bible\ndoes not gratify our curiosity about this. For anything that is known to\nthe contrary, there may be much there that we love and admire in this\nworld. There may be beautiful skies, and clear rivers, and gushing\nfountains, and lovely flowers, and sweet music. But still, as I have\nsaid already, regarding all these the Bible says nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, then, _will_ heaven consist in, grandmamma?\u201d inquired Emma.\n\n[Sidenote: Negative and Positive Blessedness.] \u201cI was just going to say,\nmy child, that there are many things we know will _not_ be there, and\nmany things we know _will_ be there. Does little Emma think she could\ntell me any of the things we have in this world that we shall _not_ have\nin heaven?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied the little girl, \u201cI think I know. We shall have no\n_sin_ there, and no _sorrow_ there, and no _death_ there.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Negative.] \u201cQuite right, my child,\u201d said her grandmother.\n\u201cThis is a world of sin, and therefore it has become a world of pain,\nand sickness, and sorrow, and death; but in heaven all these will be\nunknown. I thought I saw you, my dear, but yesterday seated in the\nchurchyard on little Robert\u2019s tomb; and when you came home, I observed\nby your eyes that you had been weeping for the loss of your little\nbrother. In that happy heaven I am speaking of there will be no graves\nand no tears, for there will be no sin and no death to cause them.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut then, dear grandmamma, will there be no other joys in heaven?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Positive.] \u201cYes, yes, my child,\u201d replied the aged lady; \u201cI\nhave only spoken to you of what is _not_ in heaven. I have yet to tell\nyou what _is_ there. Can little Emma answer this question too, as well\nas the last?\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall meet all my dear friends there,\u201d said Emma\u2014\u201cmy father and\nmother, who were both taken from me when I was so young, and little\nRobert, and you too, grandmamma, who have so kindly led me on in the way\nto that happy place, and told me often how I am to get there.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear child,\u201d said her grandmother, \u201call that you have said about\nmeeting departed friends there is true. All who are the friends of Jesus\nwill meet in that happy home. I _believe_ it to be true,\u201d she repeated,\nthe tear filling her eye as she spoke. \u201cParents will know their\nchildren, and children their parents; and brothers and sisters will meet\nnever to part any more. But this is but a very small portion of the joy\nof heaven. Can you not think of a far greater joy in that bright world\nthan even the meeting of the dearest earthly friends?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied Emma, \u201cwe shall meet God!\u2014we shall see Jesus face to\nface! [Sidenote: Vision of God.] This will be the greatest, surely, of\nall the glories of heaven\u2014to dwell for ever with God, and discover more\nof His grace and love!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly, my child,\u201d said the other; \u201cthis is to heaven what the sun\nis to the universe. All the other glories we can speak of are only, by\ncomparison, like the light of the stars to that sun, or like little\nstreams to the great ocean. We shall \u2018see God;\u2019 and what, perhaps, is\nmore wondrous still, we shall be _like_ God. Along with the holy angels,\nwe shall have no higher delight than doing His will. We shall feel that\nin His presence \u2018there is fulness of joy.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cBut shall we indeed _see God_?\u201d inquired Emma; \u201cthe thought seems so\nwondrous. How can this be?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: How God will be Manifested.] \u201cHere again, dear child,\u201d\nreplied her grandmother, \u201cwe must not try to be wise beyond what the\nBible has told us; for it is there said, that \u2018He dwells in light that\nis inaccessible and full of glory, whom no eye hath seen, neither can\nsee.\u2019 That there will be some bright and glorious manifestation of His\npresence I cannot doubt; but what the [Sidenote: The Presence of Jesus\nin the midst of the Redeemed.] nature of this will be I cannot tell.\nThis we know, however, with certainty, that Jesus, our blessed Redeemer,\nin His glorified human nature, will be seen and adored by the countless\nmultitudes of His ransomed people.\u201d\n\n\u201cI saw,\u201d said Emma, \u201ca verse immediately following the words I a little\nago read, which speaks of this. Here it is: \u2018And _they shall see His\nface_, and His name shall be in their foreheads.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, my child; and you may perhaps remember some other passages which\ntell the same blessed truth. Do you remember what made John so happy in\nthe prospect of heaven?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes,\u201d replied Emma, \u201cI recollect now. He says with such joy, \u2018We\nknow that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall _see\nHim as He is_.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite right, dearest,\u201d said her grandmother; \u201cI shall just remind you\nof one more. It is the Saviour\u2019s own last prayer for His people\u2014\u2018Father,\nI will that they also whom Thou hast given me be _with me where I am_,\n_that they may behold my glory_.\u2019 Do you remember the name by which\nJesus is spoken of again and again in the book of Revelation, describing\nto us how He now appears in glory?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Emma; \u201cI have often been struck with the title there\ngiven to Him. He is called \u2018the _Lamb that was slain_.\u2019 I often wonder\nwhy He should be called so, now that He is in heaven, seated on His\nthrone, with all His sufferings at an end.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is, my dear child,\u201d answered the aged lady, \u201ca very precious name.\nIt tells that He continues, and will continue, to wear His glorified\n_human_ nature there, and that, too, through all eternity. It tells us\nalso that the redeemed will never cease to remember that it was to the\nshedding of His precious blood that they owe every gem of their crowns.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd doubtless,\u201d said Emma, \u201cthe happy company of the saints will for\never delight to think more and more of the love of Jesus?\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Their Contemplation of Christ\u2019s Love.] \u201cYou are right,\u201d said\nthe other. \u201cIt will assuredly be one of the greatest joys in heaven to\ncomprehend with all saints what is the height and depth, and length and\nbreadth, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. They\nwill ever be trying to know more and more of this love; but they will\nnever be able to understand all its meaning.\u201d\n\n\u201cI daresay, too, much that we cannot now understand will be cleared up?\u201d\nsaid Emma.\n\n\u201cYes, my dear,\u201d replied her grandmother; \u201cGod\u2019s wisdom and faithfulness\nwill then be as fully revealed as His love. There is much that takes\nplace on earth which is perplexing [Sidenote: Providences Explained in\nHeaven.] to us\u2014what we call \u2018dark dealings,\u2019\u2014as, for example, when good\nand useful lives are taken away, and evil and worthless lives are\nspared; but Jesus, you remember, said, \u2018What thou knowest not _now_,\nthou shalt know hereafter.\u2019 I believe we shall then not only \u2018_know_,\u2019\nbut _see_, that \u2018all things have been working together for good to them\nthat love God.\u2019 Sore trials and afflictions will then call forth loud\nsongs of praise; and it will be made manifest that the Judge of all the\nearth had done right.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd will all these blessed saints,\u201d inquired Emma, \u201cbe equally holy and\nhappy?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey will all, my dear, be _holy_,\u201d said the old lady, \u201cfor \u2018without\nholiness no one could see God,\u2019 far less enjoy Him; and they will all,\ntoo, be _happy_\u2014not one tear will be in their bright faces. But I\nbelieve, too, that some [Sidenote: Degrees of Bliss in Heaven.] will be\nhappier than others. _All_ will be like vessels full to the brim with\nglory and happiness; but some vessels will be larger than others, and\nable, therefore, to contain more happiness. We read that they shall\ndiffer \u2018as one star in the firmament differs from another star in\nglory.\u2019 Some stars are of a larger size than others; some are nearer the\nsun than others: so those who have lived nearer Jesus on earth, and\nloved Him with larger hearts, will be nearer Him in heaven. While _all_,\ntherefore, who are believers will be happy, those will be happiest who\nare walking closest with God now. If you will turn to the twelfth\nchapter of Daniel, you will find there a striking verse, telling of\ndifferent degrees of coming happiness. Here it is,\u201d continued the old\nlady, pointing her little grandchild to the third verse: \u201c\u2018They that be\nwise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn\nmany to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! what a glorious, happy prospect, dear grandmamma! Would that I\ncould feel sure of being one even of these feeblest stars!\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: How Heaven is Obtained.] \u201cThere is but one way, my child,\u201d\nreplied the other, \u201cof joining that bright company of which we have been\nspeaking. It is the blood of Jesus alone that can open these glorious\ngates. But that blood _has_ opened them, and keeps them open still, to\nthe chief of sinners. That blessed Redeemer seems still to stand at the\ngate of heaven, and say, \u2018I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he\nshall be saved.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut I feel, my dear Emma, that my strength is failing, and I am unable\nto speak more to you this evening. Give me your Bible, and I shall\ndouble down the leaf at my favourite description of the joys of heaven.\u201d\nShe accordingly took her little grandchild\u2019s Bible, and putting a mark\nwith her aged finger at the seventh chapter of Revelation, thirteenth\nverse, returned it to her again, saying, \u201cShould you, my child, be with\nme at my dying hour, when my tongue is too feeble to speak, remember to\nread to me that sweet passage. I have often wished that I might have\nsome one to read to me these words when I pass through the Dark Valley.\u201d\n\n[Sidenote: Conclusion.] Little did Emma suppose that the words which now\nfell upon her ear would so soon come true. A few weeks only passed by,\nwhen her grandmother was laid upon a bed of sickness and pain, which\nsoon proved a bed of death. The aged saint bore up under her sufferings\nwith calmness and fortitude. She was kept in perfect peace, for her mind\nwas stayed on God. Her dear little grandchild was her faithful companion\nduring her last hours. The night before her death, when she was fast\nsinking, and her lips getting paler and paler, Emma remembered\nfaithfully the request made to her. The tear started to her eye as she\nopened her Bible, and saw the leaf still folded down. She read it with a\ntrembling voice. The poor old sufferer was able to do no more than clasp\nher withered hands as the happy sentences fell on her ears. When she had\nfallen asleep in Jesus, and was laid in the churchyard which she had so\noften looked to from her window, Emma delighted to go with her Bible in\nher hand, and, sitting on the green turf which covered her grave, to\nread the well\u2010known passage: \u201cAnd one of the elders answered, saying\nunto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence\ncame they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me,\nThese are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed\ntheir robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are\nthey before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His\ntemple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They\nshall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun\nlight on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the\nthrone, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of\nwaters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\u201d\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\nA Table of Contents has been added for convenience.\n\nIn the caption for the frontispiece, \u201cGrandmama\u201d has been changed to\n\u201cGrandmamma\u201d to make it consistent with the rest of the project.\n\nOn page 46, \u201cin\u201d has been corrected to \u201con\u201d at \u201cvision on the Isle of\nPatmos.\u201d\n\nObvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected.","title":"The Little Child's Book of Divinity: or Grandmamma's Stories about Bible Doctrines","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":15030}