,,our ,,master ,thoughts for ,salvationists about ,their ,lord ,,by ,general ,bramwell ,booth4 ,as man ,he suffered--as ,god ,he taught4 ,,to ,,my ,,wife ,contents4 ,preface ,i4 ,the ,man for the ,century ,,ii4 ,the ,birth of ,jesus ,for unto you is born this day in the city of ,david a ,saviour1 which is ,christ the ,lord4 7,luke ii4 #aa47 ,the firstborn among many brethren4 7,rom4 viii4 #bi47 ,,iii4 ,contrasts at ,bethlehem ,,iv4 ,christ ,come ,again ,and she brought forth her firstborn ,son1 and wrapped ,him in swaddling clothes1 and laid ,him in a manger4 7,luke ii4 #g47 ,christ formed in you4 7,gal4 iv4 #ai47 ,v4 ,the ,secret of ,his ,rule ,for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 but was in all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin4 7,heb4 iv4 #ae47 ,,vi4 ,a ,neglected ,saviour ,and ,he came and found them asleep again3 for their eyes were heavy4 7,matt4 xxvi4 #dc47 ,,vii4 ,windows in ,calvary ,and they crucified ,him1 and parted ,his garments1 casting lots3 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet4 ,they parted ,my garments among them1 and upon ,my vesture did they cast lots4 ,and sitting down they watched ,him there4 7,matt4 xxvii4 #ce1 #cf47 ,,viii4 ,the ,burial of ,jesus ,and after this ,joseph of ,arimathea1 being a disciple of ,jesus1 but secretly for fear of the ,jews1 besought ,pilate that he might take away the body of ,jesus3 and ,pilate gave him leave4 ,he came therefore1 and1 took the body of ,jesus4 7,john xix4 #ch4 ,and following verses47 ,,ix4 ,conforming to ,christ's ,death ,that ,i may know ,him 4 4 4 being made conformable unto ,his death4 7,phil4 iii4 #aj47 ,x4 ,the ,resurrection and ,sin ,concerning ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 which was 4 4 4 declared to be the ,son of ,god with power1 according to the spirit of holiness1 by the resurrection from the dead4 7,rom4 i4 #c1 #d47 ,,xi4 ,salvation ,is of the ,lord ,salvation is of the ,lord4 7,jonah ii4 #i47 ,work out your own salvation4 7,phil ii4 #ab47 ,,xii4 ,self-,denial ,if any man will come after ,me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross1 and follow ,me4 7,matt4 xvi4 #bd47 ,,xiii4 ,in ,unexpected ,places ,and 4 4 4 while they communed together and reasoned1 ,jesus ,himself drew near1 and went with them4 ,but their eyes were holden that they should not know ,him4 7,luke xxiv4 #ae1 #af47 ,,xiv4 ,ever the ,same ,blessed be the name of ,god for ever and ever3 for wisdom and might are ,his3 and ,he changeth the times and the seasons4 7,dan4 ii4 #bj1 #ba47 ,i am the ,lord1 ,i change not4 7,mal4 iii4 #f47 ,preface ,the present volume contains some of the papers bearing on the ,birth and ,death and ,work of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ which ,i have contributed from time to time to ,salvation ,army periodicals4 ,i hope that in this form they may continue the service of souls which ,i am assured they began to render when1 one by one1 they were first published4 ,much in them has1 ,i do not doubt1 come to me directly or indirectly by inspiration or suggestion of other writers and speakers1 and ,i desire therefore to acknowledge my indebtedness to the living1 both inside and outside our borders1 as well as to the holy dead4 ,bramwell ,booth4 ,barnet1 ,may1 #aijh4 ,i4 ,the ,man for the ,century ,i4 ,the ,need4 ,the new ,century has its special need4 ,the need of the twentieth century will be men4 ,in every department of the world's life or labour1 that is the great want4 ,in religion1 in politics1 in science1 in commerce1 in philanthropy1 in government1 all other necessities are unimportant by comparison with this one4 ,given men of a certain type1 and the religious life of the world will thrive and throb with the love and will of ,god1 and overcome all opposition4 ,given men of the right stamp1 and politics will become another word for benevolence4 ,provided true men are available1 science will take her place as the handmaid of revelation4 ,if only men of power and principle are at hand1 commerce will prosper as she has never yet prospered1 rooted in the great law which ,christ laid down for her3 ,do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you4 ,if the men are found to guide it1 philanthropy will become a golden ladder of opportunity by which all in misfortune and misery may climb1 not only to sufficiency and happiness here1 but to purity and plenty for ever4 ,and1 given the men of heart1 head1 and hand for the task1 the government of the kingdoms of this world will yet become a fulfilment of the great prayer of ,jesus3 ,thy will be done on earth1 as it is done in ,heaven4 ,but all1 or nearly all1 depends on the men4 ,,ii4 ,the ,man4 ,the new ,century will demand men4 ,but if men1 then certainly a man4 ,human nature has1 after all1 more influence over human nature than anything else4 ,abstract laws are of little moment to us until we see them in actual operation4 ,the law of gravitation is but a matter of intelligent wonder while we view its influence in the movements of revolving planets or falling stars2 but when we see a baby fall terror-stricken from its little cradle to the floor1 the attraction of large bodies for small ones takes on a new and heart-felt meaning4 ,the beauty of devotion to truth in the face of opposition hardly stirs an emotion in many of us1 as we regard it from the safe distance of our own self-satisfied liberty2 but when we see the lonely martyr walk with head erect through the raging mob1 and kiss the stake to which he is soon to be bound2 when we watch him burn until the kindly powder explodes about his neck1 and sends him to exchange his shirt of flame for the robe he has washed in the ,blood of the ,lamb2 then1 the beauty1 the sincerity1 the greatness1 the ,god-likeness of sacrifice1 especially of sacrifice for the truth1 comes home to us1 and captures even the coldest hearts and dullest minds4 ,the revelation of ,jesus in the flesh was a recognition of this principle4 ,the purpose of ,his life and death was to manifest ,god in the flesh1 that ,he might attract man to ,god4 ,he took human nature that human nature might see the best of which it was capable4 ,he became a man that men might know to what heights of power a man might rise4 ,he became a man that men might know to what lengths and breadths of love and wisdom a man might attain4 ,he became a man that men might know to what depths of love and service a man might reach4 ,the men we need1 then1 for the twentieth century will find the pattern ,man ready to their hand4 ,be the demands of the coming years what they may1 ,god is able to raise up men to meet them1 men after ,his own likeness--men of right1 men of light1 men of might--men who will follow ,him in the desperate fight with the hydra-headed monsters of evil of every kind1 and who will1 by ,his ,name1 deliver the souls of men from the slavery of sin and the ,hell to which it leads4 ,,iii4 ,standards4 ,the new ,century will demand high standards1 both of character and conduct4 ,explain it how we may1 the fact is evident that religion has greatly disappointed the world4 ,the wretched distortion of ,christ's teaching which appears in the lives and business of tens of thousands of professed ,christians1 the namby-pambyism of the mass of ,christian teachers towards the evil of sin1 and the unholy union1 in nearly all the practical proceedings of life1 between the world and the bulk of the ,christian churches1 no doubt largely account for this1 so far as ,christianity is concerned4 ,mohammedanism is in a still worse plight1 for though1 alas6 it increases even faster than ,christianity1 it is helpless at the heart4 ,the mass of its devotees know that between its highest teaching and its best practice there is a great gulf1 and they are slowly beginning to look elsewhere for rules by which to guide their lives4 ,and what is true of ,mohammedanism is true also of ,buddhism--the great religion of the ,east4 ,its teachers have largely ceased to be faithful to their own faith2 and1 as a consequence1 that faith is a declining power4 ,beautiful as much of its teaching undoubtedly is1 millions who are nominally ,buddhist are estranged by its failures2 and are1 with increasing unrest1 looking this way and that for help in the battle with evil1 and for hope amidst the bitter consciousness of sin4 ,such is a cursory view of the attitude of the opening century towards the great faiths of the world4 ,perhaps one word more than another sums it all up--especially as regards ,christianity--and that word is ,,neglect--cold1 stony neglect6 ,and yet men are still demanding standards of life and conduct4 ,the open materialist1 the timid agnostic1 no less than the avowedly selfish1 the vicious and the vile1 are asking1 with a hundred tongues and in a thousand ways1 ,who will show us any good8 ,the universal conscience1 unbribed1 unstifled as on the fateful day in ,eden--conscience1 the only thing in man left standing erect when all else fell--still cries out1 ,,you ,,ought6 still rebels at evil1 still compels the human heart to cry for rules of right and wrong1 and still urges man to the one1 and withholds him from the other4 ,and it is--for one reason--because ,jesus can provide these high standards for men1 that ,i say ,he is ,the ,man for the ,century4 ,the laws ,he has laid down in the ,gospels1 and the example ,he furnished of obedience to those laws in the actual stress and turmoil of a human life1 afford a standard capable of universal application4 ,the ruler1 contending with unruly men2 the workman1 fighting for consideration from a greedy employer2 the outcast1 struggling like an ,ishmaelite with ,society for a crust of bread2 the dark-skinned1 sad-eyed mother1 sending forth her only babe to perish in the waters of the sacred river of ,india1 thus giving the fruit of her body for the sin of her soul2 the proud and selfish noble1 abounding in all he desires except the one thing needful2 the great multitude of the sorrowful1 which no man can number1 who refuse to be comforted2 the dying1 whose death will be an unwilling leap in the dark--all these1 yea1 and all others1 may find in the law of ,christ that which will harmonise every conflicting interest1 which will solve the problems of human life1 which will build up a holy character1 which will gather up and sanctify everything that is good in every faith and in every man1 and will unite all who will obey it in the one great brotherhood of the one fold and the one ,shepherd4 ,,iv4 ,liberty4 ,the new ,century will call for freedom in every walk of human life4 ,that bright dream of the ages--,liberty--how far ahead of us she still lies6 ,what a bondage life is to multitudes6 ,what a vast host of the human race1 even of this generation1 will die in slavery--actual physical bondage6 ,slaves in ,africa1 in ,china1 in ,eastern ,europe1 in the far isles of the sea and dark places of the earth1 cry to us1 and perish while they cry4 ,what a host1 still larger1 are in the bondage of unequal laws6 ,little children1 stricken1 cursed1 and damned1 and there is none to deliver4 ,young men and maidens bound by hateful customs1 ruined by wicked associations1 torn by force of law from all that is best in life1 and taught all that is worst4 ,nine men out of ten in one of the great ,european armies are said to be debauched morally and physically by their military service2 and all the men in the nation are bound by law to serve4 ,what a host--larger1 again1 than both the others--of every generation of men are bound by custom in the service of cruelty4 ,it is supposed that every year a million little children die from neglect1 wilful exposure1 or other form of cruelty4 ,think of the bondage of those who kill them6 ,look at the cruelty to women1 the cruelty of war1 the cruelty to criminals1 the cruelty to the animal creation4 ,what a mighty force the slavery of cruel custom still remains6 ,all that is best in man is crying out for emancipation from this bondage1 and ,i know of no deliverance so sure1 so complete1 so abiding as that which comes by the teaching and spirit of ,jesus4 ,but1 even if freedom from all these hateful bonds could come1 and could be complete1 without ,him1 there still remains a serfdom more degrading1 a bondage more inexorable than any of these1 for men are everywhere the bond-slaves of sin4 ,look out upon the world--upon your own part of it1 even upon your own family or household--and see how evil holds men by one chain or another1 and grips them body and soul4 ,this one by doubt1 this by passion1 this by envy1 this by lust1 this by pride1 this by strife1 this by fear1 this one by love of gold1 this one by love of the world1 and this one by hatred of ,god6 ,is it not so8 ,what men want1 then1 is ,,personal1 ,,individual ,,liberty ,,from ,,sin4 ,given that1 and a slave may be free4 ,given that1 and the child in the nursery of iniquity may be free4 ,given that1 and the young man or maiden held in the charnel-house of lust may be free4 ,given that1 and the victim of all that is most cruel and most brutal in life may still be free4 ,oh6 blessed be ,god1 he whom the ,son makes free is free indeed6 ,this1 and this alone1 is the liberty for the new ,century--the ,gospel liberty from sin for the individual soul and spirit1 without respect of time or circumstance2 and here alone is ,he who can bestow it--,jesus1 the ,lion of the ,tribe of ,judah4 ,this1 ,i say1 is ,the ,man for the new ,century4 ,v4 ,knowledge4 ,the new ,century will be marked by a universal demand for knowledge4 ,one of the most remarkable features of the present time is the extraordinary thirst for knowledge in every quarter of the world4 ,it is not confined to this continent or that4 ,it is not peculiar to any special class or age4 ,it is universal4 ,one aspect of it1 and a very significant one1 is the desire for knowledge about life and its origin1 about the beginning of things1 about the earth and its creation1 about the work which we say ,god did1 which ,he alone could do4 ,oh1 how men search and explore6 ,how they read and think6 ,how they talk and listen6 ,where one book was read a generation ago1 a hundred1 ,i should think1 are read now2 and for one newspaper then read1 there are now1 probably1 a thousand4 ,every man is an inquiry agent1 seeking news1 information1 or instruction2 seeking to know what will make life longer for him and his2 and1 above all1 what can make it happier4 ,and here1 again1 ,i say that ,jesus is ,the ,man for the new ,century4 ,he has knowledge to give which none other can provide4 ,i do not doubt that universities1 and schools1 and governments1 and a great press1 can1 and will1 do much to impart knowledge of all sorts to the world4 ,but when it comes to knowledge that can serve the great end for which the very power to acquire knowledge was created--namely1 the true happiness of man--then1 ,i say1 that ,,jesus is the source of that knowledge2 that without ,him it cannot be found or imparted2 and that with ,him it comes in its liberating and enlightening glory4 ,oh1 be sure you have that6 ,no amount of learning will stand you in its stead4 ,no matter how you may have stored your mind with the riches of the past1 or tutored it to grapple with the mysteries of the present1 unless you know ,him1 it will all amount to nothing4 ,but if you know ,him who is life1 that is life eternal4 ,knowledge without ,god is like a man learned in all the great mysteries of light and heat who has never seen the sun4 ,he may understand perfectly the laws which govern them1 the results which follow them1 the secrets which control their action on each other--all that is possible1 and yet he will be in the dark4 ,so1 too1 knowledge1 learning1 human education and wisdom are all possible to man2 he may even excel in them so as to be a wonder to his fellows by reason of his vast stores of knowledge1 and yet know nothing of that light within the mind by which he apprehends them4 ,nay1 more6 he may even be a marvellous adept in the theory of religion1 and yet1 alas6 alas6 may never have seen its ,,sun--may still be in the blackness of gross darkness1 because he knows not ,jesus1 the ,light of the world1 whom to know is life eternal4 ,,vi4 ,government4 ,the new ,century will demand governors4 ,every thoughtful person who considers the subject must be struck by the modern tendency towards personal government all over the world4 ,whatever may be the form of national government prescribed by the various constitutions1 it tends1 when carried into practice1 to give power and authority to individual rulers4 ,whether in monarchies like ,england1 where ,parliament is really the ruling power2 or in republics like ,france and the ,united ,states1 where what are called democratic institutions are seen in their maturity2 or in empires like ,germany and ,austria1 the same leading facts appear4 ,power goes into the hands of one or two who1 whether as ministers1 or presidents1 or monarchs1 are the real rulers of the nation4 ,perfect laws1 liberal institutions1 patriotic sentiments1 though they may elevate1 can never rule a people4 ,a crowd of legislators1 no matter how devoted to a nation1 can never permanently control1 though they may influence it4 ,out of the crowd will come forth one or two2 generally one commanding personality1 strong enough to stand alone1 though wise enough not to attempt it4 ,in him will be focussed the ideas and ambitions of the nation1 to him the people's hearts will go out1 and from him they will take the word of command as their virtual ruler4 ,it has ever been so4 ,it is so to-day4 ,it will always be so4 ,and as with nations so with individuals4 ,every man must have a king4 ,call him what we will1 recognise him or not1 every man is the subject of some ruler4 ,and this will1 if possible1 be more manifest in the future than in the past4 ,men will not be satisfied to serve ideas1 to live for the passing ambitions of their day1 they will cry out for a king4 ,am ,i wrong when ,i say that ,,jesus ,,is ,,the ,,coming ,,king8 ,in ,him are assembled in the highest perfection all the great qualities which go to make the ,,king ,,of ,,men4 ,and so the new ,century will need ,him1 must have ,him2 nay1 it cannot prosper without ,him1 the ,divine ,man1 for ,he is the rightful ,sovereign of every human soul4 ,,vii4 ,a ,new ,force4 ,the new ,century will demand great moral forces as well as high ideals4 ,nothing is more evident than that the forms and ceremonies of religion are rapidly losing--even in nominally ,christian countries--all real influence over the lives of men4 ,the form of godliness without the power is not only the greatest of all shams1 but it is the most easily detected4 ,hence it is that a large part of mankind is either disgusted to hostility or utterly estranged from real religion by theories and ceremonials which1 though they may continue to exist in shadow1 have lost their life and soul4 ,for example1 the old lie1 that money paid to a ,church can buy indulgences which will release men in the next world from the penalty of sin committed in this1 and the miserable theory which made ,god the direct author of eternal damnation to those who are lost1 are among the theories which1 though they are still taught and professed here and there1 have long ago ceased to have real influence over men's hearts or actions4 ,in the same way1 there are multitudes who still conform to the outward ceremony of ,confirmation1 upon whose salvation from sin or separation from the world that ceremony has absolutely no influence whatever1 although1 for custom's sake1 they submit to it4 ,but a greater danger than this lies in the fact that it is possible to hold and believe the truth1 and yet to be totally ignorant of its power4 ,sound doctrine will of itself never save a soul4 ,a man may believe every word of the faith of a ,churchman or a ,salvationist1 and yet be as ignorant of any real experience of religion as an infidel or an idolater4 ,and it is this merely intellectual or sentimental holding of the truth about ,god and ,christ1 about ,holiness and ,heaven1 which makes the ungodly mass look upon ,christianity as nothing more than an opinion or a trade2 a something with which they have no concern4 ,the new ,century will demand something more than this4 ,men will require something beyond creeds1 be they ever so correct2 and traditions1 be they ever so venerable2 and sacraments1 be they ever so sacred4 ,they will ask for an endowment of power to grapple with what they feel to be base in human nature1 and to master what they know is selfish and sinful in their own hearts4 ,and right here ,the ,man for the ,century comes forward4 ,the doctrine of ,jesus is the spirit of a new life4 ,it is a transforming power4 ,a man may believe that the ,american ,republic is the purest and noblest form of government on the earth1 and may give himself up to live1 and fight1 and die for it1 and yet be the same man in every respect as he was before2 but if he believes with his heart that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 and gives himself up to live1 and fight1 and die for ,him1 he will become a new man1 he will be a new creature4 ,the acceptance of the truth1 and acting upon it1 in the one case1 will make a great change in his manner of life--his conduct2 the acceptance of the truth1 and acting upon it1 in the other1 will make a great change in the man himself--in his tastes and motives1 in his very nature4 ,again1 ,i say1 this is what we shall need for the new ,century4 ,not good laws only1 but the power to observe them4 ,not beautiful and lofty ideals only1 but the power to translate them into the daily practice of common lives4 ,not merely the glorious examples of a pure faith1 but the actual force which enables men to live by that faith amid the littleness1 the depression1 the contamination1 and the conflict of an evil world4 ,,viii4 ,atonement4 ,the new ,century will demand an atonement for sin4 ,the consciousness of sin is the most enduring fact of human experience4 ,from generation to generation1 from age to age1 amidst the ceaseless changes which time brings to everything else1 this one great fact remains1 persists--the condemning consciousness of sin4 ,it appears with men in the cradle1 and goes with them to the tomb2 without regard to race1 or language1 or creed it is ever with us4 ,it was this robbed ,eden of its joys2 it is this makes life a round of labour and sorrow2 it is this gives death its terrors2 it is this makes the place of torment which men call ,hell--for the unceasing consciousness of sin will be the worm that never dies4 ,all attempts to explain it away1 to modify its miseries1 to extract its sting--whether they have come from the party of unbelief1 or the party of education1 or the party of amusement1 have failed--and failed utterly4 ,no matter what men say or do to get rid of it1 there it is--staring them in the face6 ,whether they look amongst the most highly civilized peoples or amongst the lowest savages2 whether they look into the past history of mankind or into its present condition1 there is the stupendous fact of sin1 and there is the incontrovertible fact that everywhere men are conscious of it4 ,it is going to be so in this twentieth century4 ,if ,god1 in ,his mercy1 allows the families of men to continue during another hundred years1 this great fact will still stand out in the forefront of life4 ,sin will still be the skeleton at every feast1 the horrid ghost haunting every home and every heart1 the spectre1 clothed with reproaches1 ever ready to plunge his dripping sword into every breast4 ,sin4 ,the world's sin4 ,the sin of this one generation4 ,the sin of one city4 ,the sin of one family4 ,the sin of one man--my sin6 ,ah6 depend upon it1 the twentieth century will cry aloud1 ,what shall be done with our sin8 ,yet1 thanks be to ,god6 there is an atonement4 ,the ,,man of whom ,i write has made a propitiation for our sins1 and not for ours only1 but for the sins of the whole world4 ,he stands forth the ,,only ,,saviour4 ,none other has ever dared even to offer to the sin-stricken hearts of men relief from the guilt of sin4 ,but ,he does4 ,he can cleanse1 ,he can pardon1 ,he can purify1 ,he can save1 because ,he has redeemed4 ,thou wast slain1 and hast redeemed us unto ,god by ,thy blood1 out of every kindred1 and tongue1 and people1 and nation4 ,will you come and join in our great world-mission of making ,his atonement known8 ,will you turn your back on the littleness1 and selfishness1 and cowardice of the past1 and arise1 in the strength of the ,god-,man1 to publish to all you can reach1 by tongue1 and pen1 and example1 that there is a sacrifice for men's sins--for the worst1 for the most wretched1 for the most tortured8 ,as you set your face with high resolve towards the unknown years1 take your stand with ,,the ,,man ,,for ,,all ,,the ,,ages2 and let this be your message1 your confidence1 your hope for all men-,behold the ,lamb of ,god1 which taketh away the sin of the world6 ,,ii4 ,the ,birth of ,jesus4 ,for unto you is born 4 4 4 a ,saviour1 which is ,christ the ,lord4 --,luke ii4 #aa4 ,the firstborn among many brethren4--,romans viii4 #bi4 ,the birth of ,jesus is one of the great signs of ,his condescension2 and1 no matter how we view it1 is perhaps scarcely less wonderful than ,his death4 ,if the one manifests ,his glorious divinity1 then the other exalts ,his wonderful humanity4 ,if ,calvary and the ,resurrection reveal ,his power1 does not ,bethlehem make manifest ,his love8 ,and did not both the former come out of the latter8 ,the infinite glory which belongs to the cross and the tomb had its rise in the gloom of the stable4 ,if the ,babe had not been laid in the manger1 then the ,man would not have been nailed to the tree1 and the ,lamb that was slain would not have taken ,his place on the ,everlasting ,throne4 ,i claim1 therefore1 a little more attention to the events which relate to the ,saviour's birth1 and to the lessons which may be derived from them2 and though1 perhaps1 something of what ,i have to say will have already occurred to some who will read this paper1 ,i will venture to suggest one or two thoughts as they have been presented to my own mind4 ,their very simplicity has made them of service to me4 ,i4 ,he ,came4 ,the nature of the whole work of our redemption is made manifest by the one fact--,he really came4 ,his everlasting love1 ,his infinite compassion1 ,his all-embracing purpose were from eternity2 but we only got to know of it all because ,he came4 ,if ,he had contented ,himself with sending messages or highly-placed messengers1 or even with making occasional and wonderful excursions of ,divine revelation1 man would1 no doubt1 have been greatly attracted1 and perhaps even helped somewhat in his tremendous conflict with evil2 yet he might never have been subdued in will1 he might never have been touched and won back to ,god2 he might never have been brought down from his pride to cry out1 ,my ,lord and my ,god4 ,no1 it was ,his coming to us that wrought conviction of sin1 and then conviction of the truth in our hearts4 ,he came ,himself4 ,there is something very wonderful in this principle of contact as illustrated by the life of ,jesus4 ,just as to save the human race ,he felt it necessary to come into it1 and clothe ,himself with its nature and conform ,himself to its natural laws1 so all the way through ,his earthly journey ,he was constantly seeking to come into touch with the people ,he desired to bless4 ,he touched the sick1 ,he fed the hungry1 ,he placed ,his fingers on the blind eyes1 and put them upon the ears of the deaf1 and touched with them the tongue of the dumb4 ,he took the ruler's dead daughter by the hand1 and the maid arose4 ,he lifted the little children up into ,his arms1 and blessed them2 ,he stretched forth ,his hand to sinking ,peter2 ,he stood close by the foul-smelling body of the dead ,lazarus2 ,he took the bread1 and with ,his own hands brake it1 and gave it to ,his disciples at that last farewell meal4 ,he even took poor ,thomas's trembling hand1 and guided it to the prints in ,his hands and the wounds in ,his side4 ,yes1 indeed1 it is written large1 in every part of ,his life1 that ,he really came1 and that ,he came very near to lost and suffering men4 ,is there not a lesson here for us1 my comrade8 ,as ,he is in the world1 so are we4 ,this principle in ,his life was not by accident or by chance1 it was an essential qualification of ,his nature for the work entrusted to ,him4 ,it is a necessary qualification for those who are called to carry on that work4 ,is this1 then1 the impression you are able to give to those among whom you labour3 that you have come to them in very truth2 that in mind and soul1 in hand and heart1 you are seeking to come into the closest contact of love and sympathy with them1 especially with those who most need you8 ,oh1 aim at this6 ,do not for your own sake1 as well as for your ,master's1 move about amid your own people1 or among those to whom ,god and ,the ,army have given you entrance1 as one who has little in common with them1 who does not know them1 who does not feel with them4 ,go into their houses1 put your hand sometimes to their burdens1 take a share in their toils1 nurse their sick1 weep with them that weep1 and rejoice with them that rejoice4 ,make them feel that it is your own religion1 rather than ,the ,army system1 that has made you come to them4 ,let them see by your sympathy and kindness that love is the over-mastering influence in your life1 the influence that has brought you to them4 ,compel them to turn to you as a warm-hearted unselfish example of the truths you preach4 ,let them feel that you are indeed come from ,god to take them by the hand1 as far as may be1 and lead them through this ,vale of ,tears to the ,city of ,light and ,rest4 ,,ii4 ,his ,humble ,origin4 ,everything associated with the advent of ,jesus seems to have been specially ordered to mark ,his humiliation4 ,it is true that ,mary1 ,his mother1 was of the lineage of ,king ,david1 but her relationship with the royal house was a very distant one1 and the family had fallen upon sad times4 ,the ,romans were masters in the land1 and a stranger sat upon the throne of ,israel4 ,mary1 therefore1 was but a poor village maiden2 ,joseph1 her betrothed husband1 was a carpenter--an ordinary working man4 ,bethlehem1 the place of the ,saviour's birth1 was a tiny straggling village1 which1 though not the least1 was certainly one of the least of the villages of ,judea4 ,and ,nazareth1 where ,he grew from infancy to childhood1 and from youth to manhood1 was another little hamlet among the hilly country to the north of ,jerusalem1 and was held in low repute by the people of those days4 ,the occupation chosen for the early life of ,jesus was a humble one4 ,he learned the trade of a joiner1 and worked with ,joseph at the carpenter's bench4 ,his associates and friends were of the village community1 and ,he whose ,name is above every name passed to and fro and in and out among the cottage homes of the poor--as one of themselves4 ,probably none but ,his mother had1 in these early years1 any true idea of the mysterious promise which had been given concerning ,him4 ,what a contrast it all presents to the years of stress and storm and of victory which were to follow1 and to the supreme influence ,his teaching and example were to exert in the world6 ,is there not something here for us8 ,do not the lowly origin and simple country habits and humble tastes of some of our comrades make them hesitate on the threshold of great efforts1 when they ought to leap forward in the strength of their ,god8 ,let them remember their ,master1 and take courage4 ,let them call to mind the unfashionable1 uneducated1 uncultivated surroundings of ,nazareth4 ,let them bear in mind the carpenter's shed1 the rough country work1 the bare equipment of the village home1 the humble service of the family life4 ,let them1 above all1 remember the plain and gentle mother1 and the meek and lowly ,one ,himself1 and in this remembrance let them go forward4 ,to be of lowly origin1 or of a mean occupation2 to come out of poverty and want2 to be looked down upon by the rich or the powerful ones of earth2 to be treated as of no consequence by governments and rulers1 and yet to go on doing and daring1 suffering and conquering for ,god and right2 what is all this but the fulfilment of ,paul's words1 ,and base things of the world1 and things which are despised1 hath ,god chosen1 yea1 and things which are not1 to bring to nought things that are3 that no flesh should glory in ,his presence8 ,nay1 what is it all but to tread in the very steps that the ,master trod8 ,,iii4 ,his ,high ,nature4 ,but if1 on the human side1 our ,redeemer's origin and circumstances were of the humblest1 and we are thus enabled to see ,his humanity1 as it were face to face1 there was united with it the ,divine nature2 so that as our ,doctrines say1 ,he is truly and properly ,god1 and ,he is truly and properly man4 ,many mysteries meet by the side of that manger1 some of them to remain mysteries1 so far as human understanding can grapple with things1 till ,god ,himself reveals them to our stronger vision in the world to come4 ,but1 blessed be ,god1 some1 things that we cannot compass with our mental powers are very grateful to our hearts4 ,how ,thou canst love me as ,i am1 ,yet be the ,god ,thou art1 ,is darkness to my intellect1 ,but sunshine to my heart4 ,and we to whom the ,living ,christ has spoken the word of life and liberty1 although we may not now fully comprehend this great wonder of all wonders--,god manifest in the flesh--and may not be able effectively to make it plain to others1 we cannot for ourselves doubt its central truth--that ,,god dwelt with man4 ,here was1 indeed1 a perfect union of two spirits4 ,there was the suffering and obedient spirit of the true man2 there was the unchanging and ,holy ,spirit of the true ,god4 ,it was a union--it was a unity4 ,it was ,god in man--it was man in ,god4 ,a being of infinite might and perfect moral beauty1 sent forth from the bosom of the ,father2 and yet a being of lowly and sensitive tenderness1 having roots in our poor human nature1 tempted in all points like as we are1 and touched with the feeling of all our infirmities4 ,is it not to something of the same kind we are called8 ,is not every true ,salvation ,army ,officer designed by ,god to be also 7not1 of course1 in the same degree1 but still up to the measure of his own capacity and of his ,master's will7 a dual1 or two-fold creature1 with associations and roots and attachments in all that is human1 and yet with the divine life1 the divine spirit1 divine love1 divine zeal1 divine power1 divine fire united with him and dwelling in him8 ,the perfect man would have been a great marvel1 a great teacher1 a great prophet2 but without the ,god he could never have been the perfect ,saviour4 ,the ,divine1 without the human1 would have been an awe-inspiring fact1 a spectacle of holiness too great for human eyes2 but ,he could not have been a ,saviour4 ,if it were possible for us to conceive the one without the other we should certainly not find a ,,jesus in either4 ,and so1 your merely human ,officer1 no matter how pure1 how strong1 how thoughtful1 how clever1 how industrious1 will fail1 and ever fail4 ,and even so the ,officer who is lost in visionary seeking after the ,divine alone1 to the neglect of action1 of duty1 of law1 of self-denial1 of the common conflicts and contracts of the man1 will equally fail1 and always fail4 ,it is the man we want4 ,the ,,man--but the man born of the ,,spirit4 ,the ,,man--but the man full of the ,,holy ,,ghost4 ,the ,,man--but the man with ,,pentecost blazing in his head and heart and soul4 ,comrade1 what are you8 ,are you striving to be a prophet without possessing the spirit of the prophets8 ,are you trying to be a priest without the priestly baptism8 ,are you labouring to be a king without the ,divine anointing8 ,beware6 ,,iv4 ,from ,infancy to ,manhood4 ,birth implies the weakness1 the dependence1 the ignorance of infancy4 ,but it implies1 also1 the promise of growth1 of increase1 of advance from infancy to manhood4 ,thus it is with man generally4 ,so it was with the ,son of ,man4 ,first1 ,he was wrapped in swaddling clothes1 and laid in a manger4 ,presently ,he goes forth in ,his mother's arms into ,egypt1 and back to ,nazareth4 ,by and by it is written that the ,child grew and waxed strong in spirit1 and the grace of ,god was upon ,him4 ,then ,he is found in the ,temple1 asking that wonderful question about ,his ,father's business1 and at last we find ,him increased in wisdom and stature1 and in favour with ,god and man4 ,we know1 also1 that ,he was found in fashion as a servant1 and was obedient unto death2 that ,he was tempted of the ,devil1 and that ,he learned obedience by the things that ,he suffered4 ,in fact1 a very slight acquaintance with the history of ,his life reveals the truth that in some wonderful way ,he steadily grew in wisdom and grace2 in the power to love and to serve1 and in strength to grapple with sin and death--all the while ,he journeyed from the cradle to the grave and the victory beyond4 ,his life was a discipline1 in the very highest sense of the word4 ,many of the hopes ,he might rightly entertain about the success of ,his work were dashed4 ,much of ,his love for those around ,him was disappointed1 and ,his trust betrayed4 ,he was despised where ,he should have been honoured3 rejected where ,he should have been received4 ,he came unto ,his own1 and ,his own received ,him not4 ,not this man1 they cried1 but ,barabbas4 ,but out of it all ,he came forth perfect and entire1 lacking nothing--the chiefest among ten thousand1 the altogether lovely4 ,it may be a mystery1 but it is a fact all the same1 that the more the precious and wondrous and eternal jewel was cut and cut again1 the more the light and glory of the ,day-spring from on ,high was made manifest to men4 ,and here also ,i find a word of help and courage and cheer for you and me1 my precious comrade4 ,i am not sure that you could receive any more valuable ,christmas gift than the full realisation of this truth--that your advance from the infancy to the manhood of your life in ,god will not be hindered and delayed1 but rather will be helped and quickened by the storms and trials1 the conflicts and sufferings1 which will overtake you4 ,it was so with the man ,christ ,jesus2 it has been so with thousands of ,his chosen4 ,as ,he1 our dear ,lord1 was made perfect through suffering1 so are ,his saints4 ,we are chosen in the furnace of affliction1 and often cast into it1 too6 ,and yet ,he who chooses all our changes1 might have spared us every trial and conflict1 and taken us to victory without a battle1 and to rest without a toil4 ,but ,he knows better what will make us men1 and it is men ,he wants to glorify ,him--men1 not babes4 ,the dark valleys of bitterness and loneliness are often better for us than the land of ,beulah4 ,a certain queen1 once sitting for her portrait1 commanded that it should be painted without shadows4 ,without shadows6 said the astonished artist4 ,i fear your ,majesty is not acquainted with the laws of light and beauty4 ,there can be no good portrait without shading4 ,no more can there be a good ,salvationist without trial and sorrow and storm4 ,there might1 perhaps1 remain a stunted and unfruitful infant life--but a man in ,christ ,jesus1 a ,soldier of the ,cross1 a leader of ,god's people1 without tribulation there can never be4 ,patience1 experience1 faith1 hope1 love1 if they do not actually grow from tribulations1 are helped by them in their growth4 ,for what says the ,apostle8 ,tribulation worketh patience1 and patience experience1 and experience hope1 and hope maketh not ashamed4 ,the finest pine-trees grow in the stormiest lands4 ,the tempests make them strong4 ,surgeons tell us that their greatest triumphs are often those in which the patients have suffered most at their hands--for every stroke of the knife is to heal4 ,the child you most truly love is the one you most anxiously correct1 and whom the ,lord loveth ,he chasteneth4 ,oh1 do believe that by every blow of disappointment and sorrow ,he permits to fall upon you1 ,he is striving to bring you to the measure of the stature of a man in ,christ ,jesus4 ,do work with ,him in the full knowledge that ,he will not forsake you4 ,he1 the ,man who has penetrated to the heart of every form of sorrow1 and left a blessing there2 ,he who has watched in silence by every kind of earthly grief1 and found its antidote3 the ,man who trod the wine-press alone--,he will be with you4 ,and1 since ,he is with you1 see to it you acquit yourself well in ,his presence4 ,it is related of an old ,highland chief that when advancing to give battle he fell at the head of his clan1 pierced by two balls from the foe4 ,his men saw him fall1 and began to waver4 ,but their wounded captain instantly raised himself on his elbow1 and1 with blood streaming from his wounds1 exclaimed1 ,children1 ,i am not dead2 ,i am looking to see if you do your duty6 ,my comrade1 this is the path of progress1 the way of advance from the littleness and weakness of infancy to the battles and victories of manhood4 ,it is the way of duty1 and your ,captain1 with the wounds in ,his hands and ,his side1 is looking on4 ,,iii4 ,contrasts at ,bethlehem4 ,the birth and infancy of ,jesus--notwithstanding that ,christmas time comes round again and again--receive less attention than they deserve2 owing1 no doubt1 to the interest attached to the events of ,his manhood and death4 ,nevertheless1 they suggest some useful lessons1 especially to those of us who have much to do with the weak and trembling1 and are ourselves1 alas6 often weak and trembling1 too4 ,may ,i offer one or two thoughts on the subject1 which1 though quite simple1 have proved of blessing to my own heart8 ,i4 ,great weakness may be quite consistent with true greatness and goodness4 ,it is unnecessary to dwell even for a moment on the weakness of the ,infant ,jesus4 ,the ,scripture has left no possible doubt about it4 ,unable to speak1 to walk1 indeed to do anything for ,himself--weak with all the weakness of the human race2 yea1 more truly helpless than a young bird or a tiny worm1 the ,holy ,child was laid in the manger hard by the beasts that perish4 ,and yet we know that there was the ,divine ,,son1 the ,express ,image of the ,father1 the ,everlasting ,king1 the ,enthroned ,one1 the ,creator1 without whom was not anything made that was made6 ,it is indeed a contrast1 which first astounds us1 and then compels our adoration and love4 ,our ,god is a consuming ,fire--our ,god is a little ,child4 ,holy1 ,holy1 ,holy1 is the ,lord of ,hosts2 the whole earth is full of ,his glory--and yet ,he is there in fashion as a ,babe1 for whom1 in all ,his sweet innocence1 they cannot find a room in the crowded inn4 ,yes1 my friend1 to be weak1 to be small1 to be sadly unfit for the strifes of time2 to feel weary and unequal to the hard battles of life2 to realise that you are pushed out and away by the crowd1 to be contemptuously forgotten by the multitude shouting and singing across the road--all this may be your case2 and yet you may be ,god's chosen vessel1 intended--framed to suffer and triumph with ,him4 ,you1 even you1 may be destined by ,his wisdom to fill for ,him some great place in action against the hosts of iniquity and unbelief4 ,above all1 you may be appointed by ,god the ,father to be like ,his ,son1 with a holy likeness of will1 of affection1 of character4 ,for1 indeed1 weakness in many things is not inconsistent with goodness1 and purity1 and love4 ,the manger has in this also a message for us4 ,out of that mystery of helplessness came forth the ,lion-,heart of ,love1 which led ,him1 for us1 to the winepress alone1 and which1 while we were yet rebels1 loved us with an everlasting love1 going1 for us1 to a lonely and shameful death4 ,take heart1 then1 remembering that it is out of weakness we are to be made strong4 ,be of good courage--to-day may be the day of the enemy's strength1 when you are constrained to cry out3 ,this is your hour and the power of darkness6 but to-morrow will be yours4 ,the weakness and humiliation of the stable must go before the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 the ,mount of ,calvary1 the ,resurrection ,glory1 and the exaltation of the ,father's ,throne4 ,take heart6 ,,ii4 ,a condition of complete dependence may be quite consistent with a great vocation--the call1 that is1 to a great work4 ,i suppose that there is nothing known to man so absolutely dependent upon the help of others as a little child6 ,life itself begins in total dependence upon another life1 and is only preserved in still greater dependence on powers outside itself--for air1 for light1 for heat1 for food1 for clothes1 for comfort--indeed1 for every needed thing4 ,this is especially the case with the child4 ,the young lions and sheep1 the tiny flies and the small fishes--these are all able to do something for their own support2 but the new-born babe presents a picture of complete dependence4 ,and this ,babe was no exception4 ,what a service of imperishable worth to all the world was rendered by ,his mother in her loving care of ,him6 ,and yet we know something of the stupendous task to which ,he came6 ,that little ,child was to become the greatest ,example1 the greatest ,teacher1 the greatest1 the only ,saviour1 the greatest ,healer of the sorrows of men1 the greatest ,benefactor1 the greatest ,ruler and ,king4 ,upon ,him and upon ,his word1 who lies there in ,his ,virgin mother's arms1 dependent on her breast for life and warmth1 unnumbered multitudes were to rest their all for this life and the next--tens of thousands1 in the face of inexpressible agonies1 were to trust to ,him their every hope1 and for ,his sake were to die a thousand deaths4 ,let not1 then1 your heart be troubled because you also are so dependent on others--so hedged in by your circumstances1 so limited by sickness and pain1 so incompetent through inexperience and ignorance1 or that you are so compelled to stand and wait when you would fain rush on and do or dare for your ,lord4 ,all this may be even so1 and yet you may be called to share in the same high vocation as your ,saviour4 ,i read lately of an old saint chained for weary years to a dungeon-wall1 unable even to feed himself1 whose testimony for ,jesus was powerful to the deliverance of many of his persecutors4 ,he was killed at last1 lest1 one by one1 he should convert the jailers also who were employed to supply him with food4 ,are you bound in some way8 ,are you chained fast to some strange trial8 ,are you appointed to serve in what seems like a den of beasts8 ,are you under the compulsion of some injustice8 ,are you made to feel helpless and useless without the support of those around you8 ,ah1 well1 do not repine4 ,do not forget that ,god's call comes often--,oh1 so often--to just such as you--to witness for ,him in spite of these bonds1 to declare the truth1 to dare to reprove sin4 ,above all1 do not doubt your ,god4 ,you may be very dependent to-day1 but you may be more than victorious to-morrow4 ,,iii4 ,poverty and friendlessness are often found in company with a great heart4 ,there was no home for ,jesus in ,bethlehem4 ,there was no room for ,him in the inn4 ,there was no cradle in the stable4 ,there was no protector when ,herod arose to kill4 ,what a strange world it is6 ,did ever babe open eyes on such a topsy-turvy condition of affairs8 ,the ,king of ,glory had not where to lay ,his head6 ,mary1 it is true1 was strong in faith1 but both she and ,joseph must needs soon fly into ,egypt with the ,babe4 ,refused at the inn1 soon even the stable must cast them out6 ,he came to take all men into ,his heart1 and they1 ere ever they saw ,him1 cast ,him forth as an outlaw6 ,and we who know what it means to be loved of ,him1 what can we say8 ,our hearts are bowed with something of shame and grief that ,he thus suffered1 and yet we have a secret joy because ,he suffered so well6 ,for of all the greatnesses of the ,babe this is the greatest--the greatness of ,his heart4 ,the ,sacred ,heart of ,jesus1 the ,romanists call it4 ,the ,all-,conquering ,heart of ,jesus1 ,i prefer to name it4 ,for it was ,his wealth of love that really gave ,him the victory4 ,does one read these lines who is poor1 who is cast out by those who are dear1 who is a stranger in a strange land1 who is driven from pillar to post1 who is harassed by open foes and wounded by secret enmity8 ,well1 to that one let me say1 remember your ,lord's poverty and friendlessness2 remember the tossings up and down of ,his infancy2 the frugal cottage home in ,nazareth wherein ,his family was finally gathered--despite its bareness and toil--was a place of peace and abundance1 compared with the stable1 the flight into ,egypt1 and the sojourn among aliens there4 ,are you1 dear friend1 tempted to complain of your narrow surroundings1 of your small opportunity to shine before others1 or of a want of appreciation of your service and gifts and powers by those who should know you8 ,oh1 remember the ,babe1 and the long years of ,his condescension to men of low estate1 to the cramped surroundings of the carpenter's shed1 and the sleepy ,jewish village4 ,are you tried sometimes because you have to suffer the hatred or jealousy1 secret or open1 of those for whom you feel nothing but goodwill1 and who perhaps once thought themselves happy in your friendship8 ,well1 in such hours1 remember your ,master1 and the hatred of ,herod seeking to kill the ,child4 ,try to call to mind something of the secret1 as well as the open1 bitterness of men1 religious and irreligious alike1 which began to hunt ,him while yet in swaddling clothes1 and which hunted ,him still all through ,his days4 ,but amidst it all1 what a great heart of passionate love was ,his6 ,blessed be ,his ,name for ever6 ,whether the poverty and suffering and hatred were or were not favourable to it1 there it was--the ,great ,heart of all the world4 ,what about you8 ,can you ever be again the same since you learned that ,he loved you8 ,can you ever be again content to remain little and narrow1 with interests and affections that are little and narrow also8 ,will you not rise1 as ,he rose1 above the small ambitions of the spiritual pigmies who meet you at every turn1 determined to look beyond your own tiny circle1 and the low aims of those around you8 ,depend upon it1 you ought to do so4 ,depend upon it1 the ,holy ,saviour can enable you to do so4 ,depend upon it1 the world's great need is ,great ,hearts4 ,will you be one8 ,,iv4 ,christ ,come ,again4 ,and she brought forth her firstborn ,son1 and wrapped ,him in swaddling clothes1 and laid ,him in a manger4--,luke ii4 #g4 ,christ formed in you4--,gal4 iv4 #ai4 ,the life of ,jesus ,christ in ,palestine was a foreshadowing of ,his life in all who accept ,him4 ,god appointed ,him a ,saviour1 not only because ,he should bring redemption nigh by a sacrifice which ,he alone could offer1 but because ,he was also appointed to be the firstborn of many brethren1 to be the head of a new family1 the beginning--the new ,adam--the first of a new line1 in which character should cease to be merely human1 even though perfect with all human perfections1 and should become a union of the human and the ,divine2 in which1 in fact1 the body and mind and spirit of man should continue to exhibit the wonder of ,christ's ,incarnation1 and show forth ,god clothed with man4 ,the life of ,jesus divides itself quite naturally into several distinct periods1 each having its own special characteristics and peculiar history4 ,there is ,his birth and infancy2 ,his childhood2 ,his youth2 ,his manhood2 ,his perfected or completed life following ,calvary and the ,resurrection2 and1 may we not say1 ,his eternal glory1 upon which a few of ,his disciples saw ,him begin to enter in the transcending splendour of the ,ascension4 ,every one of these phases or sections of ,his wonderful experience of earth has its continuing lessons for us4 ,all speak aloud to us of ,his purposes and plans1 and reveal to us the power and force of ,his inner life in the outward or public appearances and acts which belong to each4 ,god has hidden many things from us--mysteries of nature1 of grace1 of eternity2 but this mystery of ,god's relations to men1 ,he has exhausted ,his resources in order to make plain4 ,before all else the life of ,jesus is a revelation of the mind and methods1 the principles and the practices of ,god1 as they ought to appear1 and as they ought to work out1 amid the surroundings and limitations of humanity4 ,it is to the beginnings of that life to which our thoughts turn at this ,christmas season4 ,we dwell with affection on the oft-depicted picture1 and repeat the oft-repeated words1 and join in the old1 old ,hallelujahs of the shepherds with something of the zest and freshness of a first love4 ,the story is so unlike all others1 and touches with such unerring potency chords in the human soul which call it to a higher and nobler life1 that1 no matter who gazes upon the ,babe of ,bethlehem1 he feels a kinship with all the world in hailing the ,desire of all ,nations4 ,the manger1 the silent companions of the stable1 the swaddling clothes--what a touch of human tenderness--motherliness1 so to speak--is in that line1 and wrapped ,him in swaddling clothes6--the adoring shepherds1 the star1 the wise men 7all thoughts of their wisdom for the moment gone72 the gold1 the frankincense1 the myrrh1 the rejoicing and yet trembling mother1 the little ,child--we see it all4 ,seeing1 we believe2 and believing1 we rejoice4 ,the ,day ,star from on ,high hath visited us4 ,we know in whom we have believed4 ,the great condescension is before us4 ,strength has made itself dependent on weakness1 cause upon effect1 eternity upon time1 ,god upon man2 and ,he has done it for our sakes4 ,the ,divine condescension never appears so new and so real to us as when we stand at the side of this lowly cradle4 ,here are no high-sounding doctrines1 no hard words1 no terrible commands1 no far-off thunders of a new ,sinai1 no rumblings of a coming ,judgment4 ,here we see ,jesus1 and ,jesus only4 ,jesus showing ,himself in our very own flesh and blood2 submitting ,himself to the weakness of our infirmities2 voluntarily clothing ,himself with our ignorance1 and making ,god the present tangible possession of the whole human family1 bringing ,him very nigh to us1 in our mouth and in our heart1 if we can but believe4 ,and1 more than this1 ,god joined in that ,babe ,his great strength to our great nothingness2 ,he bound us to ,himself2 ,he robed us1 as it were1 with ,himself1 and ,he robed ,himself in us4 ,henceforth the ,tabernacle of ,god is with men4 ,henceforth every one of us may be conscious of an inward ,presence1 of which we may say in holy joy3 ,angels and men before ,him fall1 and devils fear and fly4 ,it is this manifestation of ,jesus in ,his people for which the ,apostle prays in the words ,i have quoted1 ,my little children1 of whom ,i travail in birth again until ,christ be formed in you4 ,nothing less will satisfy him1 because he knew that nothing less will prevail against the power of the world1 the flesh1 and the ,devil1 in any human heart4 ,christ formed in you1 ,christ born again in them--that is his agonised prayer1 his one hope for them4 ,in the workshops of human effort no instruments1 no skill1 no motive power exist for the formation and development of character apart from the energising vitality of ,god's ,spirit dwelling in us4 ,he is the indispensable foundation of any goodness1 or wisdom1 or beauty that can last4 ,purity begins and ends in ,him4 ,faith finds her author and finisher in ,him4 ,truth1 which is the beauty of the soul1 is but a reflection of ,his image1 and love has no being but in ,him4 ,and so ,paul says1 ,let ,him in4 ,conformity to ,his example is only possible by the re-formation in you of ,his life1 and the growth again in you of ,his person2 the mind of ,christ in your mind1 the spirit of ,christ in your spirit1 the presence of ,christ in your flesh and blood2 the motive power of ,christ1 the ,father's will1 prompting your every thought and word and deed1 and thereby transforming your body into a temple of the ,son of ,god4 ,and1 because1 in this unity of purpose with the ,father1 the ,christ of ,glory stooped to the infancy and childhood of ,nazareth1 yielding ,himself completely to the bonds and limits inseparable from the life and conditions of a little child1 and thinking no humiliation of our nature too deep for ,his love to tread1 so ,he will condescend to the lowest depths of weakness and want revealed in your heart and life4 ,he will meet you where you are4 ,he will deal with you just where you are weakest and worst4 ,this is indeed the key-note of all that ,god has to show you4 ,it is your own link in the long chain of patient and ever-new revelations of ,god to man4 ,for what is the history of man1 what is the story the ,bible has to tell1 what is the testimony of all time1 but that ,god has ever been speaking to man1 appearing to man1 opening now his eyes1 and now his understanding1 and now his heart1 and making an everlastingly new revelation to the soul that ,god in him is his sole hope of glory4 ,and ,his ,christmas-message to-day is still the same4 ,to you1 if you are willing1 ,christ will come as really1 as sensibly1 as wonderfully--nay1 a thousand times more so--as ,he came to ,mary and to ,bethlehem4 ,in truth1 a second coming2 but in many and wonderful ways like unto the first4 ,i4 ,the childhood of ,jesus was attended by remarkable recognitions of ,his ,divinity4 ,at ,his birth1 at ,his dedication1 in ,herod's instant resolve to kill ,him1 in the ,temple with the fathers1 by many clear tokens men confessed and acknowledged that ,he was the ,son of ,god4 ,if ,he is being formed in you there will be equally definite and not very dissimilar signs of recognition4 ,first1 before all else1 you will know1 with ,mary1 that the new life entrusted to you is ,divine2 that ,god has entered into your heart to make all things new4 ,it is just the absence of this assurance which stamps so much of the ,christianity of the present day as--in effect--a religion without ,god4 ,its professors have no certainty4 ,they seek1 but they do not find2 they ask1 but they do not receive2 they have no sure foundation in the sanction of their own consciousness to the indwelling ,person2 they have no revelation2 they have1 in short1 no ,god4 ,how far--even as the east is from the west--is this from the glorious confidence with which ,mary sang1 and in which you can join1 if1 indeed1 your ,christ is come3 ,my soul doth magnify the ,lord1 and my spirit hath rejoiced in ,god my ,saviour4 ,salvation is of the ,lord1 and so is the assurance of it4 ,where there is the life of ,god1 there will be ,his witness1 even in the heart of the weakest and slowest servant of all ,his household4 ,if you are not clear about this first evidence of your ,lord's coming1 let me counsel you that there is something wrong4 ,if ,christ be formed in you1 you will assuredly know it beyond the power of men or devils to make you doubt4 ,but others than ,mary also acknowledge this appearance of ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,the shepherds and the ,wise ,men1 ,holy ,simeon1 and ,herod the king1 each in his own way adds his own tribute to the ,new ,life that had come down to man4 ,the shepherds and the strangers from afar bow down and worship4 ,strangers1 perhaps1 were more ready to rejoice with you than your own kith and kin when first ,christ came to you4 ,simeon1 who had so desired to see the salvation of ,god1 sees and is satisfied4 ,perhaps some ,simeon had thus watched and waited and wept for you1 and when the ,lord came to ,his temple1 he saw it1 and was ready to depart with joy4 ,herod the king sought to kill the ,child4 ,so it is even now4 ,don't be deceived2 where ,christ comes1 storms come4 ,the world of selfishness and power and wealth will kill the ,divine ,thing in you1 if it can4 ,between the prince of this world and the ,prince of the world to come no truce was possible long ago in quiet ,judea1 and no truce is possible now4 ,the spirit of the world is still the spirit of murder4 ,it is called by other names to-day1 and1 under its influence1 men will tell you that the life of ,god in you is not to take those forms of violent opposition to wrong1 and of passionate devotion to right1 and of burning zeal and self-denial for the lost1 which they took in ,jesus4 ,the real meaning of their tale is that they are seeking to kill the ,child4 ,but do not be dismayed4 ,remember ,mary's flight into ,egypt4 ,the great peril of her ,son made her regardless of her friends1 of her reputation1 of her home1 of her life4 ,she must guard that precious ,life at any cost1 at any risk1 at any loss4 ,is there not a lesson in her example8 ,let nothing1 let not all the sum total of this world's pleasures and possessions lead you to risk the ,life of ,god in your soul4 ,listen to no voices that counsel friendship1 or parley1 or compromise with the world--the spirit of ,herod is in it4 ,if you cannot preserve that ,indwelling without flying--from somewhere1 or something1 or some one--then fly4 ,if you cannot guard that ,presence without losing all1 then let all be lost1 and in losing all you shall find more than all4 ,,ii4 ,side by side with these evidences of ,his ,divinity the infancy and childhood of ,jesus revealed ,his dependence and weakness2 that is1 the reality of ,his human nature4 ,the first recorded act of ,his mother shows us one aspect of that weakness after a fashion which appeals to the tenderest recollections of the whole human family1 ,she wrapped ,him in swaddling clothes2 and then1 as though to mark for ever the perfection of dependence1 the history goes on1 and laid ,him in a manger4 ,there are other equally striking incidents teaching just as clearly that the ,babe was a babe1 and that the ,child was really a child4 ,it is the perfect union of ,him ,who was1 and is1 and is to come1 with him who flourisheth as the flower of the field2 the wind passeth over him1 and he is gone4 ,even so may ,christ be formed in you4 ,the purity and dignity of ,his life will be all the more wonderfully glorious in the eyes of men and angels because it is linked with dependence and trial1 and weakness and sorrow4 ,as it was at ,nazareth1 so it is now4 ,hand in hand with ,divinity walked hunger and weariness1 poverty1 disappointment1 and toil4 ,did we think it would be otherwise8 ,did we1 do we1 sometimes wonder why the road is so rough1 and the burden so heavy1 and the sky so dark8 ,are we found asking the old question about sitting on the twelve thrones1 judging those around us1 and sharing in some way the royal glory of a ,king8 and is there an echo of murmuring at these bonds and infirmities and drudgeries of daily duty and common sorrow8 ,so did the ,rabbis of old1 and1 in consequence1 refused ,him4 ,ah6 the answer to it all is in the one word1 it was because ,he was made perfect through suffering2 it was because ,he learned obedience by the things ,he suffered that ,he must do it again through you--in you4 ,every energy of your being may thus be sanctified4 ,every pain1 every sorrow1 every joy1 every purpose will be--not taken away2 not crushed and hardened into a series of unfeeling forms and empty signs2 not passed over as having no relation to his life1 but touched and purified and ennobled with the love and power of an indwelling ,god4 ,yes1 it is man whom ,he came to restore--it is man1 whose beauty and power were the glory of creation1 that drew ,him with infinite attractions from the centre of ,his ,father's heaven1 and plunged ,him into the centre of a very hell of suffering and shame4 ,it was man whose nature1 passing by the angels1 ,he took upon ,him4 ,it was man ,he swore to save4 ,he loves our manhood--its will--its intelligence--its emotions--its passions2 and it is our manhood ,he has redeemed4 ,he designs to make men really men1 to cleanse--to restore--to indwell in them1 and finally to present every one in the beauty of a perfected character before the presence of ,his ,father1 without spot or blemish or any such thing4 ,it is this great principle of ,redemption that has found expression in ,the ,salvation ,army4 ,we are of those who see in every human being the ruins of the ,temple of ,god2 but ruins which can be repaired and reconstructed1 that ,he may fit them for ,his own possession1 and then return and make them ,his abode4 ,never listen to that fatal lie1 that to be a man means of necessity to be always a sinner2 that humanity is only another word for irreclaimable desert or irreparable despair4 ,when the enemy of your soul whispers to you out of his lying heart that because sin has found one of its strongholds in the appetites and propensities of your poor body1 or in the original perversity of a rebellious spirit1 and that you cannot be expected to triumph over that evil nature because it is your nature1 remember ,bethlehem1 and answer him with the promise of ,god1 ,i will dwell in you1 and walk in you4 ,it was because ,he purposed to cleanse wholly1 body and soul and spirit1 that ,he came1 taking the body1 soul1 and spirit of a man1 and that ,he will come again1 taking your body1 soul1 and spirit as ,his dwelling-place4 ,,iii4 ,the birth and childhood of ,jesus were the beginning of ,his great sacrifice1 as well as the preparation for it4 ,the spirit of ,bethlehem and the spirit of ,calvary are one4 ,he was born for others that ,he might die for others4 ,the mystery of ,god in the ,babe was the beginning of the mystery of ,god on the cross4 ,the one was a part of the other4 ,if they had not laid ,him in a manger for us1 they could never have laid ,him in the tomb1 that ,he might taste death for every man4 ,and it was because ,he grew1 and waxed strong in spirit1 and increased in wisdom1 and the grace of ,god was upon ,him in those early years1 that ,he was able afterwards to tread the winepress alone1 to work out a perfect example of manhood1 to wrestle with ,death and the ,grave1 and finally to stand forth for us as the great ,victorious ,one1 conqueror of all our foes4 ,and is it not in this same fashion and for this same purpose that ,christ is to be formed in us8 ,he grew4 ,progress is the law of happiness1 the law of holiness1 the law of life4 ,to stand still is to die4 ,it was not enough for the fulfilment of ,his great mission that ,he should be born1 that ,he should live--,he must grow4 ,let us take that lesson to our hearts1 in this superficial1 painted1 rushing generation4 ,let us beware of resting our hope to satisfy the eternal claims of ,god upon some great event in our spiritual history of long ago4 ,it is not enough to have been converted4 ,it is not enough to have had the adoption of the ,father4 ,it is not enough to have entered the spiritual family of ,christ4 ,it is not enough that even ,jesus revealed ,himself in us4 ,thousands of false hopes are built on these past events1 which1 divinely wrought as they may have been1 have ceased to possess any vital connexion with the life and character of to-day4 ,such a religion is a religion of memory1 destined to be turned in the presence of the ,throne to unmixed remorse4 ,but how1 and in what1 are we to grow8 ,in manner and in substance like our ,lord4 ,jesus grew in strength and stature1 in wisdom and in grace--the grace of ,god was upon ,him4 ,in spiritual strength and stature2 that is1 from the timid babe to the bold and valiant soldier2 in the power to do the things we ought to do1 in the ability to obey the inward voice4 ,it is by the exercise of the muscles and tendons of the babe that the bodily frame is fitted for the rush and struggle of life4 ,it is by the ,a ,b ,c of the infant class that the mind is fitted to comprehend and appreciate the duties and obligations of political1 social1 physical1 and family relationships4 ,it is by the humble wail of the penitent1 and the daily acts of loving help1 that the soul learns to soar on eagles' wings1 and shout the truth that ,god is gracious1 and to brave difficulty and danger in ,his service4 ,they go from strength to strength4 ,are you so journeying8 ,in wisdom4 ,wisdom is a thing of the heart more than of the brain1 and the wisdom of ,god is really a revelation of the love of ,god4 ,to be wise unto salvation is to learn the lesson of love4 ,to be wise to win souls is first to love souls4 ,to feel that it is more blessed to give than to receive1 is the fruit of love4 ,how different this from the calculating wisdom of this world6 ,dear comrade and friend1 are you taking care that the ,divine ,life in you shall grow after this ,christ-like fashion8 ,when ,i hear ,christian people say3 ,oh1 ,i have so little love1 so little faith1 so little joy1 ,i generally find that it is so because they stifle and quench the blessed yearnings of the ,divine ,spirit to seek the souls of others2 because they leave unanswered the urgings and promptings of duty which ,god in their conscience is demanding2 because they neglect prayer1 and self-denial1 and heart-searching1 and the ,word of ,god2 because1 in short1 they starve the ,child4 ,what wonder if love and faith are feeble1 and joy is like to die6 ,and the grace of ,god was upon ,him4 ,here was the promise of that entire sacrifice for men which culminated when a man cried out to ,him on the cross3 ,he saved others2 ,himself ,he cannot save4 ,it is ever thus that ,god repeats ,himself4 ,when we are ready to be offered up for the blessing and saving of others1 then grace will come upon us for the struggle as it came upon ,him4 ,when ,christ formed in us finds free course for all ,his mind and all ,his passion2 when our eyes are opened to the great purposes of ,his life in the salvation of the whole world2 and when we hear1 through ,him1 the cry of those for whom ,he was born1 and for whom ,he died1 ,god will pour out on us grace to send us forth--grace sufficient1 grace abundant1 grace triumphant4 ,have you come to this8 ,can you say ,he is thus dwelling in you1 and working in you1 to will and to do of ,his good pleasure8 ,do not turn away with the paralysing fear that it cannot be2 that the life of ,jesus can never be lived out again in flesh and blood4 ,remember1 ,he is the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever4 ,all ,he was in ,bethlehem1 to ,mary and ,joseph2 all ,he was to ,his work-mates at ,nazareth2 all ,he was in the wilderness1 fighting with fiends1 in the deserts feeding the hungry1 or among the multitude--healing the sick1 blessing the little children1 casting out devils1 and preaching the ,kingdom2 all ,he was in ,bethany1 weeping over ,lazarus1 and crying1 ,lazarus1 come forth2 in the garden of ,his agony1 in the darkness of ,his cross1 in the hour of ,his ,resurrection1 all this--all--all--all--,he is to-day4 ,he belongs to the everlasting ,now4 ,all ,he was to the martyrs who died for ,his ,name1 all ,he has been to our fathers1 ,he is to us1 and will be to our children1 for with ,him is no variableness nor shadow of turning4 ,yes6 ,this unchanging ,christ is in us1 except we be reprobate1 the ,life and ,image of ,god1 and the ,hope of ,glory4 ,v4 ,the ,secret of ,his ,rule4 ,for we have not an ,high ,priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities2 but was in all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin4--,heb4 iv4 #ae4 ,we hail the ,christmas season as the anniversary of our ,king's birth4 ,our eyes turn to the manger1 and our hearts to ,mary1 for a thousand and one reasons1 but the chiefest is that ,jesus was born in ,bethlehem as the ,divine ,son and the ,royal ,branch4 ,although we know that many shadows darken the way of the ,cross1 and that it is roughened by many thorns and agonies1 many dark descents and weary struggles1 we have always the assurance that at the end1 and at the right time1 there will be a crown and a throne4 ,standing at the manger1 and looking over the hills of hatred and suffering1 we can already see the great white ,throne4 ,from the wilderness of the ,temptation we can even catch a glimpse of the marriage supper of the ,lamb4 ,in the darkness around the cross1 we have visions of a great multitude1 which no man can number1 casting their crowns at the feet of the ,crucified4 ,written large on all the life of ,jesus there is1 in fact1 the witness that ,he will triumph4 ,we know and feel it4 ,it is revealed even when it is not stated4 ,it is assured even when not promised4 ,but ,i do not think that it is by virtue of this that ,jesus ,christ has exerted ,his greatest influence on the hearts of men4 ,to be a king1 to be in the royal line1 is a great thing2 and to be the ,divine ,king is infinitely greater4 ,to be a king1 however1 is one thing2 to be a ruler is often quite another4 ,the right descent1 the royal birth1 the due recognition1 the ultimate taking possession of the throne1 are enough to make the king1 but far from enough to make the ruler4 ,principles1 of course1 there are1 very important and far-reaching1 involved in any sort of kingship4 ,we have all heard of the divine right of kings4 ,we all see--even if we cannot understand it--the love of peoples for a king4 ,even when the heads of states are called by some other name than king1 the fact of kingship is still there4 ,all this denotes the working of great principles1 having their roots in the deepest feelings of the human race4 ,but ,i repeat1 that to rule is quite another thing than to be a king4 ,history abounds with examples of great monarchs who have not ruled1 and of true rulers who have had no royal blood and no kingly throne4 ,and just as there are facts in human experience which have made kings necessary and possible1 so are there principles by which alone it is possible to rule4 ,the kingship and rule of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord was no exception4 ,it is not my purpose to dwell here on the great and unchanging demands of the human soul which make ,his sovereignty a necessity of our well-being alike as citizens1 and as individuals of ,his world4 ,unless the ,lord is ,king1 all must be confusion1 dissonance1 and disaster4 ,the supreme fact in human life after all is1 that our ,god is the creator1 preserver1 and governor of all things4 ,but what of ,his rule8 ,there another principle comes into operation4 ,on what is ,his rule based8 ,by what agency does ,he extend ,his authority until it becomes control8 ,and here it must be remembered that ,he aspires to rule men's hearts4 ,his kingdom is moral and spiritual first1 and then physical and material4 ,that is why it will endure for ever4 ,it is in the region of motive and affection1 of reason and emotion1 of preference and choice1 that ,he designs to be ,ruler4 ,it is to reign in men's hearts that ,christ laid aside ,his heavenly crown and throne4 ,if ,he cannot be a ,ruler there1 then ,he will account little of ,his kingship in the skies4 ,by what1 then1 does ,he rule8 ,is it not by ,his compassion8 ,has not that been the chief influence which has drawn men to ,him1 and held them in ,his service8 ,just think for a moment of one or two commonplace facts4 ,i4 ,the ,children4 ,at least three-fourths of the human family are always little children4 ,to what does ,he owe the influence ,he exercises in the minds and hearts of multitudes of these little ones8 ,his exalted throne8 ,his royal lineage8 ,his majesty8 ,no2 ,i think not to these1 but to the revelation of ,his pity1 ,his sympathy1 ,his patience1 ,his sweet1 forgiving grace1 ,his tender compassion as a ,saviour4 ,to them ,he is the ,friend above all others--the ,lowly ,one1 the ,gentle ,jesus1 meek and mild4 ,viewing ,him thus1 they confess to ,him in sin1 they fly to ,him in sorrow4 ,his creative power1 ,his everlasting habitations1 ,his throne of unapproachable glory1 ,his glorious and terrible judgments1 are little more to the children than words and phrases--may ,i not say8--at best but the trappings of ,his person4 ,they solemnise1 they inspire1 perhaps1 with reverent fear2 but they do not1 they could not1 secure that true ascendency over the nature of the child by which alone there can be real control and true rulership4 ,,ii4 ,the ,sorrowful4 ,sorrow is the most common of all human experiences4 ,there are no homes without it1 and there are very few hearts which have not tasted of its cup4 ,earth is a vale of tears4 ,sooner or later1 all men suffer4 ,man is born unto trouble1 as the sparks fly upward1 and to millions of men ,christ has appeared in their affliction and taken possession of their lives4 ,what was the secret of ,his influence over them8 ,was it ,his dominion from sea to sea8 ,was it even ,his victory over death and ,his kingly conquest of the grave8 ,was it ,his sovereign throne of power8 ,no1 ,i do not think it was thus ,he won them2 but as the ,man of ,sorrows and acquainted with grief1 who learned obedience by the things that ,he suffered1 and who could compassionate with them in their sorrows also4 ,it is one of the commonplaces of life that people associated in great suffering and trials obtain great influence with each other4 ,and it is so here4 ,let the human heart once realise that in its deepest depths of sorrow it may have for helper ,one who has been deeper still2 and it is in the nature of things that it should fly to that ,one for succour1 for sympathy1 for strength4 ,and when that ,one out of ,his riches gives of ,his own might1 and of ,his own sweet1 unfathomed consolations1 then ,his government is assured1 ,his rule is established4 ,,iii4 ,the ,tempted4 ,did ,i say that sorrow was the commonest of all human experiences8 ,ought ,i not to have said temptation8 ,we all know the reality of temptation3 its biting wounds1 its power to assail1 to harass1 to irritate1 to worry2 its appeals to the senses1 the animal in us2 its assault of our confidence2 its liberty to terrorise and to torment4 ,yes1 every man is tempted4 ,how shall he withstand temptation8 ,what is it in ,jesus ,christ that calls the sorely-tempted one to ,him8 ,is it ,his divine purity1 ,his kingly holiness1 ,his might as the supreme ,sovereign whose law is good8 ,no2 ,i think that only those who have learned to love ,him will love ,his law4 ,is it not rather the wonderful pity of ,him of whom it is written1 ,we have a great ,high ,priest1 4 4 4 touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 4 4 4 in all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin8 ,touched with the feeling of our infirmities4 ,there is the attraction of a supreme compassion for the tempted4 ,there is the means by which the ,king of ,righteousness becomes also the ,ruler over tempted and sinful men4 ,i can add but one other word now4 ,if it is only by ,his continual compassion that our ,master obtains and maintains ,his rule1 will it not be by a similar means that we may hope to bless and influence the souls of men8 ,yes2 that has been already the great lesson of ,the ,salvation ,army4 ,it is founded on sympathy1 on a universal compassion4 ,the moment we turn away from that1 and rely merely on our system1 or on methods1 or our teaching1 we cease just in that proportion to be true ,salvationists4 ,we aspire to rule men's hearts4 ,we care nothing for the position of a church or sect2 we care everything for a real control over the souls and conduct of living men and women1 that we may lead them to ,god and use them for ,his glory4 ,it is by tenderness we shall win it4 ,by seeking them in their sorrows and sins2 by making them feel our true heart-hunger over them1 our true love1 our entire union with the ,christ in ,his compassion for them4 ,and the same principle will hold good in training those whom we have already won4 ,this was1 no doubt1 the secret of ,paul's great influence with his people4 ,his whole heart was theirs2 and they knew it4 ,we were gentle among you1 he says1 even as a nurse cherisheth her children2 so1 being affectionately desirous of you1 we were willing to have imparted unto you1 not the ,gospel of ,god only1 but also our own souls1 because ye were dear unto us4 ,we know his courage1 his lofty standard1 his splendid impatience of shams1 his tenacity of the truth1 his contempt for danger1 his daring unto death2 and yet he can say of himself that1 with it all1 he was gentle among them as a nurse cherishing her children--ready to give up his very soul for them4 ,ah1 ,colonel1 ,captain1 ,sergeant1 leaders all1 whatever name you bear1 do you want to lead and rule the people whom ,god has given you as a charge8 ,then here is the true secret of power--be for ever pouring out your heart's deepest1 tenderest love for them1 and most of all for the weak and the most unworthy and sinful amongst them4 ,do this1 and you will not merely be walking after ,paul--you will be walking with ,christ4 ,,vi4 ,a ,neglected ,saviour4 ,and ,he came and found them asleep again3 for their eyes were heavy4--,matt4 xxvi4 #dc4 ,i4 ,there are few more instructive or more touching things in the life of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ than ,his evident appreciation of human sympathy4 ,whether we observe ,him at the marriage feast1 or in the fishing-boat1 or on the ,mount of ,olives1 or when spending a time apart with ,his disciples1 or in the ,garden of ,his ,agony1 this appreciation expresses itself quite naturally and consistently4 ,the ,son of ,man1 though one with the ,father1 yet found joy and comfort in the society of men4 ,what we call companionship had real charms for ,him4 ,it helped to draw ,him out to the hungerings and thirstings of men2 it assisted in revealing to ,him the facts of human sin1 and the needs of the human soul4 ,thus it enabled ,him more perfectly to be our living example1 as well as the propitiation for our sins4 ,and as ,he valued the consolations arising from human friendship and love1 so also ,he had to suffer the loss of them1 in order that ,he might carry out ,his great work for ,god and man4 ,for ,his work's sake1 ,his soul was required to pass through the agony of losing every human consolation4 ,many were ,his moments of bitterness4 ,the world proved itself to be1 what it still remains1 a cold-hearted affair2 ,his own1 to whom ,he came1 received ,him not4 ,but the bitterest sorrow which can come to a leader was added to ,his cup1 when ,he witnessed the failure of ,his trusted disciples in the hour of trial1 and when ,he realised that their unfaithfulness was towards ,himself as a person1 as well as to the great mission to which ,he had consecrated both ,himself and them4 ,now1 when we are called upon to suffer in the same way1 may we not be brought into very intimate fellowship with ,jesus8 ,shall we complain because the servant is not above his ,lord8 ,shall we doubt ,his love1 and care1 and power1 because ,he does not always shield us from that same blast of loneliness which swept over ,his own soul in the ,garden1 when for the second1 aye1 and for the third time1 ,he found ,his three disciples asleep8 ,,ii4 ,sad as it is1 it is none the less certain that we1 too1 must expect some in whom we have trusted to fail us in that hour when we most need them1 be it the hour of supreme temptation1 or of great opportunity1 or of deep sorrow for the ,kingdom's sake4 ,it was precisely this which happened to our ,lord4 ,it is bad to be so dependent on men--even on the most beautiful1 or most perfect souls--that we cannot fight on without them4 ,the dependence of love must work hand in hand with the independence of faith1 if we are to take our share in this trial of our ,master and to profit by it4 ,those who thus fail us will1 perchance1 be the very persons upon whom we have most reason to rely1 and whom in some sore trial of our faith or moment of danger1 we have specially called upon for defence and prayer1 for strength and sympathy1 as did our ,lord in the case of these disciples4 ,until now1 ,peter had been a valiant1 not to say1 reckless follower of ,jesus2 while all1 ,john especially1 had been well beloved and tenderly watched over by ,him4 ,and yet this woeful sleep deadens them to it all4 ,even for one short hour they cannot watch with ,him4 ,,iii4 ,but such failure on the part of those who were loved and trusted will add immensely to the burden of the battle that we are fighting for ,god and the souls of men4 ,it did so even to ,jesus4 ,nothing more pathetic1 more deeply heart-moving1 is written in all ,god's ,book1 than this simple picture of the ,man of ,sorrows--struggling for the life of the human race1 absolutely bereft of human aid--coming in the midst of ,his dark conflict to seek the touch of sympathy1 a hand-grasp1 a word1 a look from those ,his well-loved followers1 only to find them asleep in the gloom4 ,retracing ,his steps1 ,he casts ,himself on the ground1 and cries1 ,my ,father1 if it be possible1 let this cup pass from ,me4 ,am ,i wrong in saying that it was an added ingredient of bitterness in that cup to find that these1 ,his trusted ones1 could only sleep1 while ,he must go forward to suffer8 ,but their failure did not stop ,him4 ,no1 not for one moment4 ,there was agony in ,his heart1 there were death shadows around ,him1 and bloody sweat upon ,his brow1 but ,he did not waver4 ,he went right on to finish the work ,he had promised to do4 ,gladly would ,he have had them with ,him2 steadfastly ,he goes forward without them6 ,here also is a lesson for you and for me4 ,the work is more than the worker4 ,and in times when we must lose1 for our work's sake1 that which we count dearer to us than our lives1 when the iron of disappointed love enters our souls1 as it entered ,his1 we must follow ,him1 and go forward1 steadfastly forward4 ,,iv4 ,and after all1 the failure of the disciples was very human4 ,their eyes were heavy4 ,they were weary and sore tired4 ,this1 too1 is typical of many of the losses we ,salvationists are called upon to suffer4 ,some on whom we have relied and trusted grow weary in well-doing4 ,the strain is so great6 ,the tax on brain and heart and hand is so constant6 ,life becomes so burdened with watchings and prayings and sufferings for and with others1 that there is little1 if any1 time or strength left for oneself6 ,and so they cannot keep up1 but seek rest and quiet for themselves elsewhere4 ,they are heavy1 and no longer feel the need to watch with us4 ,dear comrade1 in your like trial do not doubt that the ,lord ,jesus is with you4 ,suffering of this kind will help to liken you to ,him--it is a very real bearing of the ,cross of ,christ4 ,pitiful followers of ,him should we be1 if we wished to have only joy when ,he had only suffering4 ,v4 ,but the disciples' strange failure did not call forth one word of bitterness from our ,lord's lips4 ,a gentle reproach was certainly implied in the words1 ,could ye not watch with ,me one hour8 but no shade of personal displeasure expressed itself1 much as the occasion might seem to warrant it4 ,no6 ,jesus knew the failures begotten of human weakness1 as well as the horror of human sin4 ,and so ,he made allowances1 and was as patient with those who left ,him1 as ,he was tender to those who were steadfast4 ,he loved them both4 ,go thou1 and do likewise4 ,in your home2 in your family circle2 in your ,corps2 in your office2 in your work1 be it what it may2 when men fail and forsake your ,lord2 even if all disappoint and desert you1 you must love them still4 ,be faithful with them2 but1 above all1 be steadfast in your own purpose1 and devote all your zeal and strength to finish the work that ,god has given you to do4 ,in short1 go forward without them2 but let your words1 and thoughts1 and prayers for them be like your ,master's4 ,and ,jesus utters no word of complaint about this failure4 ,the silence all through that great anguish is indeed very wonderful4 ,abandoned by man1 ,he abandoned ,himself all the more earnestly to ,his work for men without a murmur4 ,and abandoned by ,god--as for a little time it seemed--,he all the more completely abandoned ,himself to ,god4 ,to have fellowship with ,him1 you and ,i will have to walk the same path1 and mind the same rule4 ,when friends1 or followers1 or comrades trample upon the solemn covenants made alike to us and to ,god1 and forsake1 and leave us to finish our work and tread our winepress alone1 let there be no moaning because of the pain it inflicts4 ,when those upon whom we had a right--right by reason of natural law1 or right by reason of the obligations and precious vows of friendship1 or right on the ground of spiritual indebtedness--when those1 ,i say1 upon whom we had a right to depend fail us1 let there be no complaining of their treatment because it is painful to us4 ,let there be no filling of the earth with laments and wailings1 no accusing of our accusers1 no reviling of those who revile us4 ,let us be silent in the patience of ,jesus and in the strength of ,his love1 and let ,his way of meeting the loneliness of desertion be our way--let us pray4 ,but all the same1 that sleep1 that failure to respond to the personal claim of ,jesus1 was a sure forerunner of the cowardly flight1 and the deadly denial which followed it4 ,the seeds of ,peter's lies and curses were sown in the selfishness and slumber of the garden2 they came to maturity in the kitchen of the judgment hall4 ,poor ,peter6 ,how many hours of bitter self-reproach would you have been spared1 had you but held out during that one brief hour of your watch in ,gethsemane6 ,how differently we could have regarded your poor wobbling nature6 ,how differently1 too1 your ,lord's great trial would have come to ,him6 ,how different might have been the history of mankind6 ,,vi4 ,the method of love which ,jesus adopted towards the forsakers received the sanction of success1 for they all came back4 ,in spite of their shame and their fears1 they returned to their allegiance1 with1 ,i think1 much more than their old faith and love4 ,judas was the only exception1 and even he sought a place of repentance1 and1 but for his horrid league with the jealous and cruel religionists1 would1 ,i think1 have found one4 ,you see the lesson8 ,if you go on with your work for ,god1 and finish it1 paying no heed to those who1 having put their hand to the plough1 look back2 and if1 in spite of your sorrow1 you will struggle steadily forward in the face of the coldness and carelessness of those between whom and you there was once the tenderest love1 ,god will not only carry you through your appointed labour for the world1 but ,he will restore many of those others to their allegiance to ,him and ,his4 ,will they ever be quite the same8 ,will they not have lost something8 ,yes1 they will indeed have lost2 but1 if they come back1 in reality they will gain more4 ,the new union will be more divine than the former one4 ,they will not merely 4 4 4 rise on stepping stones ,of their dead selves to higher things2 but the beauty1 and excellence1 and glory of love1 the exceeding profitableness of enduring grace1 and the sweet aroma of faithfulness1 will be the more clearly manifest to the sons of men by reason of the weakness and breakableness of the human vessel4 ,let us1 then1 press forward1 without one backward glance1 until we finish our work4 ,let us thank ,god for those who are faithful2 let us love and pray for those who fail1 expecting to see them restored1 healed1 and purified4 ,,vii4 ,windows in ,calvary4 ,and they crucified ,him 4 4 4 ,and sitting down they watched ,him there4--,,matt1 xxvii4 #ce1 #cf4 ,passing words spoken in times of deep emotion often reveal human character more vividly than a lifetime of talk under ordinary circumstances4 ,conduct which at other times is of the most trifling significance1 reveals in the hour of fiery trial1 the very inwards of the soul1 even making manifest that which has been hidden1 perhaps1 for a generation4 ,thus1 while watching a man with the opportunity and the temptation to deceive or oppress those who are in his power1 you may see into the very thoughts of his heart2 you may learn what he really is4 ,or you may measure the depths of a mother's love in observing her when1 after violating every principle she has valued and lived for1 her prodigal boy comes to ask her to take him in once more4 ,in the same way1 words spoken by the dying are often like windows suddenly uncovered1 through which one may catch a glimpse of the ruling passion of life1 in the light of which their life-witness and life-labour alike look different4 ,it is this fact which often gives the dying hour of the meanest1 importance as well as solemnity4 ,the veriest trifler that ever trifled through this vale of tears has1 in that last solemn hour something to teach of the secrets of mortality4 ,and this revelation of the real facts of human experience is of the highest value to the world4 ,it is one of ,god's witnesses to truth1 that truth will out4 ,sooner or later1 selfishness and sin will appear in their naked deformity1 to horrify those who behold them2 and in the end1 justice and truth and love are certain to be made manifest in their natural beauty1 to convince and to charm and to attract their beholders4 ,it is not only one of the uses of trial to bring this about1 but it is one of the means by which ,god converts to ,his own high purposes1 the miseries and sorrows the ,devil has brought in4 ,the one burns the martyrs2 the other brings out of that cruel and frightful wrong the glorious testimony which is the very seed of ,his ,church4 ,the one casts us into fiery dispensations of suffering and loss2 the other takes these moments of human anguish and desolation1 and makes of them open windows through which a doubting or scoffing world may see what love can do4 ,thus ,he makes us to triumph ,in the midst of our foes1 while working in us a likeness to ,himself1 the ,all-patient and ,all-perfect ,god4 ,nor is it the good and true alone who are thus made object-lessons to others1 and to themselves1 by these ordeals of pain4 ,by them1 many a bad man also is forced to appear bad to himself4 ,many a hypocrite1 anxious about the opinions and the traditions of men1 is at last stripped of his lies to see himself the wretched fraud he really is4 ,many a heart-backslider1 whose religion has long ceased to be anything but a memory1 awakes to the shame of it and to the danger2 and often1 thank ,god1 awakes in time4 ,now1 the words of the dying ,christ on ,his cross are1 in the same way1 a true and wonderful revelation of ,his character and ,his spirit4 ,as it is only by the light of the sun that we see the sun1 so it is by ,jesus that ,jesus is best revealed4 ,never one spake like ,he spake2 and yet in this respect1 so real was ,his humanity1 ,he spake like us all--,he spake out what was in ,him4 ,the ,truth must1 above all1 and before all1 make manifest what is true of ,himself4 ,to whom1 then1 did our ,lord speak on the tree1 and what spake ,he8 ,what special thoughts and beauties of ,his soul do ,his words reveal8 ,jesus1 so far as ,his words have been recorded for us1 spoke from the cross to ,mary ,his mother1 to one of the thieves who was crucified with ,him1 to ,god ,his ,father1 and to ,himself4 ,i4 ,his ,words to ,mary4 ,when ,jesus therefore saw ,his mother1 and the disciple standing by1 whom ,he loved1 ,he saith unto ,his mother1 ,woman1 behold thy son6 ,then saith ,he to the disciple1 ,behold thy mother6 ,the position of ,mary in those last hours was peculiarly grievous4 ,she had lived to see the breaking down of every hope that a mother's heart could cherish for her son4 ,standing there amidst that mob of relentless enemies1 and watching ,jesus1 forsaken by ,god and man in ,his mortal agony1 her present sorrow1 great as it was1 was crowned by the memory of the holy and happy anticipations of ,his birth1 and the maiden exultations of her soul when the angels foretold that her ,son should be the ,saviour of ,his people and their ,king4 ,how cruelly different the reality had turned out6 ,how far1 how very far away1 would seem to her the quiet days in ,nazareth1 the rapture of her ,son's first innocent embraces1 and the evening communions with ,him as ,he grew in years6 ,what tender memories the sight of those dear bleeding feet1 those outstretched1 wounded hands1 would recall to that mother's heart6 ,yes1 ,mary on ,calvary is to me a world-picture of desolate1 withering1 and helpless grief--of pain increased by love1 and of love intensified by pain6 ,and ,jesus in ,his great agony--the ,man of ,sorrows come at last to the winepress that ,his heart might be broken in treading it alone2 come to the hour of ,his travail2 come to the supreme agony of the sin-offering2 face to face with the wrath of the ,judge1 blackness and tempest and anguish blotting out for the moment even the face of the ,father--forsaken at last--,,forsaken--,jesus1 in this depth of midnight darkness sees her standing by the cross4 ,bless ,him1 ,oh1 ye that weep and mourn in this vale of tears6 ,bless ,him for ever6 ,his eyes are eyes for the sorrowful4 ,he sees them4 ,he has tears to shed with them4 ,he is touched with the same feelings and moved by the same griefs4 ,he sees ,mary1 and speaks to her1 and in a word gives her to ,john1 and ,john to her1 for mutual care and love4 ,it was as though ,he said1 ,mother1 you bare ,me2 you watched and suffered for ,me1 and in this redeeming agony of ,my love1 ,i remember your anguish1 and ,i take you for ever under ,my care1 and ,i name you ,mine4 ,surely1 there never was sorrow like unto ,his sorrow1 and yet in its darkest crisis ,he has eyes and heart for this one other's sorrow4 ,far from ,him1 as the east from the west1 is any of that selfish thought and selfish seclusion which grief and pain so often work in the unsanctified heart1 aye1 and in the best of us4 ,what a lesson of practical love it is6 ,what a message--especially to those who are called to suffer with ,him for the souls of men--comes streaming from those words spoken to ,mary4 ,the burden of the people's needs1 the care of the ,church1 the awful responsibility of ministering to souls--these things1 sacred as they may be1 cannot excuse us in neglecting the hungry hearts of our own flesh and blood1 or in forgetting the claims of those of our own household4 ,dear friend and comrade1 in your sorrow1 in your sore trial of faith1 in your ,calvary1 take to your heart this revelation of the heart of the ,son of ,man1 and be careful of the solitary and heart-bleeding ones near you1 no matter how humble and how unworthy they may seem4 ,,ii4 ,his ,words to the ,thief4 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,verily ,i say unto thee1 ,to-day shall thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 ,the crucifixion of the two robbers with ,jesus was a sort of topstone of obloquy and disgrace contrived by ,his murderers with the double object of further humiliating ,him in the eyes of the people1 and of adding poignancy to ,his own agony4 ,the vulgarity and shamefulness of it were the last touch of their contempt1 and the last stroke of ,his humiliation4 ,there was a kind of devilish ingenuity in this circumstantial way of branding ,him as a malefactor4 ,and yet in the presence of this extremity of human wickedness and cruelty1 ,jesus found an opportunity of working a wondrous work of ,god2 a work which reveals ,him as the ,saviour1 strong to save1 both by ,his infinite mercy and by ,his infinite confidence in the efficacy of ,his own sacrifice4 ,to-day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 ,eyes and heart for the sorrowful ,he had1 as we see2 and now ears1 and hope nigh at hand1 for the sinful4 ,no word of resentment2 no sense of distance or separation between the spotlessness and perfection of ,his character and this poor lonely convict--but a strange and wonderful nearness1 now and to come4 ,with ,me1 ,he says--,with ,me in ,paradise4 ,ah6 this is the secret of much in the life of the ,son of ,god--this intimate1 constant1 conscious nearness to sinners and to sin6 ,he had sounded the depth of evil1 and1 knowing it1 ,he pitied1 with an infinite compassion1 its victims2 ,he got as near as ,he could to them in their misery1 and died to save them from it4 ,that heart-nearness to the thief had nothing to do with the nearness of the crosses4 ,every one knows what a gulf may be between people who are very near together--father and son--husband and wife6 ,no1 it was the nearness of a heart deliberately trained to seek it2 a heart delighting in mercy1 and deliberately surrendering all other delights for it2 hungering and thirsting for the love of the lost and ruined4 ,the hart panteth after the waters1 ,the dying for life that departs1 ,the ,lord in ,his glory for sinners ,for the love of rebellious hearts4 ,and so ,he is quite ready1 at once1 to share ,his heaven with this poor defiled creature1 the first trophy of the cross4 ,again--what a lesson of love6--how different1 all this1 from the common inclination to shrink away from contact and intercourse with the vile6 ,oh1 shame1 that there can ever have been such a shrinking in our poor guilty hearts6 ,the servant is not above his ,lord4 ,he came to sinners4 ,let us go to them with ,him6 ,,iii4 ,his ,words to the ,father4 ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do4 ,this prayer for ,his murderers is a revelation of the wonderful nearness and capacity of love4 ,the ,saviour passes from pole to pole of human ken1 to find a ground on which ,he can plead for the forgiveness of those cruel and wicked men2 and ,he finds it in their ignorance of the stupendousness of their sin against ,him4 ,it seems as though ,he chooses to remain in ignorance of what they did know1 and to dwell only on what they did not4 ,they know not what they do6 ,it was ever so with ,him6 ,he has no pleasure in iniquity4 ,wrong-doers are so precious to ,him that ,he never will magnify or exaggerate their wrong--no1 not a hair's breadth4 ,he will not dwell on it--no1 not a moment1 except to plead some reasonable ground for its pardon1 such as this--the ignorance of the wrong-doer1 or the rich efficacy of ,his sacrifice4 ,he will only name sin to the ,father1 in order that ,he may confess it for the sinner1 and intercede for mercy and for grace4 ,this is the old and ever new way of dealing with injuries1 especially personal injuries4 ,is it yours8 ,are you seeking thus after reasons for making the wrong done to you appear pardonable8 ,is your first response to an affront or insult or slander1 or to some still greater wrong1 to pray the ,father for those whom you believe to be injuring you1 that ,his gracious gift of forgiveness may come upon them8 ,that is the principle of ,calvary4 ,that is the spirit1 the mind of ,christ4 ,that is the way in which ,he won the meed and crown3 ,trod all ,his foes beneath ,his feet1 ,by being trodden down4 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit4 ,death has always been held to afford a final test of faith1 and here the human soul of ,jesus passed through that mortal struggle which awaits us all when heart and flesh shall fail4 ,into ,thy hands--that is enough4 ,as ,he passes the threshold of the unknown--goes as we must--into the ,valley of the ,shadow1 faith springs forth and exclaims1 ,into ,thy hands4 ,all shall be well4 ,in this confidence ,i have laboured2 in this confidence ,i die2 in this confidence ,i shall live before ,thee4 ,,iv4 ,to ,himself4 ,it is finished6 ,thus in ,his last1 ever-wonderful words ,jesus pronounces ,himself the sentence of ,his own heart upon ,his own work4 ,it is completed4 ,every barrier is broken down1 every battle is fought1 every hellish dart has flown1 every wilderness is past1 every drop of the cup of anguish has been drunk up1 and1 with a note of victorious confidence1 ,he cries out1 ,it is finished6 ,looking back from the cross on all ,his life in the light of these words1 we see how ,he regarded it as an opportunity for accomplishing a great duty1 and for the fulfilment of a mission4 ,now1 ,he says1 ,the duty is done--the mission is fulfilled2 the work is finished6 ,truly1 it is a lofty1 a noble1 yea1 a godlike view of life6 ,is it ours8 ,death will come to us4 ,the living know that they shall die4 ,the waters will overflow1 and the foundations will be broken up1 and every precious thing will grow dim1 and our life1 also1 will have passed4 ,we shall then have to say of something1 ,it is finished6 ,it will be too late to alter it4 ,there is no man that hath power in the day of death4 ,what1 then1 shall it be that is finished8 ,a life of selfish ease1 or a life of following the ,son of ,man8 ,a life of sinful gratification1 of careful thought of ourselves1 unprofitable from beginning to end1 or a life of generous devotion to the things which are immortal in the honour of ,god and the salvation of men8 ,,viii4 ,the ,burial of ,jesus4 ,good ,friday ,fragments4 ,and after this ,joseph of ,arimathoea1 being a disciple of ,jesus1 but secretly for fear of the ,jews1 besought ,pilate that he might take away the body of ,jesus3 and ,pilate gave him leave4 ,he came therefore1 and took the body of ,jesus4 ,and there came also ,nicodemus1 which at the first came to ,jesus by night1 and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes1 about an hundred pound weight4 ,then took they the body of ,jesus1 and wound it in linen clothes with the spices1 as the manner of the ,jews is to bury4 ,now in the place where ,he was crucified there was a garden2 and in the garden a new sepulchre1 wherein was never man yet laid4 ,there laid they ,jesus therefore1 because of the ,jews' preparation day2 for the sepulchre was nigh at hand4--,john xix4 #ch-db4 ,death has many voices4 ,this death and burial speak aloud in tones of triumph4 ,it as a death that made an end of death1 and a burial that buried the grave4 ,and yet it was also a very humble and painful and sad affair4 ,we must not forget the humiliation and poverty and shame written on every circumstance any more than the victory1 if we would learn by it all that ,god designed to teach4 ,i ,he tasted ,death4 ,to many1 even among those who have been freed from guilty fear1 mortality itself still has terrors4 ,by ,divine grace they can lift up their hearts in sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection1 and yet they shrink with painful apprehension at the thought of the change which alone can make that resurrection possible4 ,there is probably no instinct of the whole human family more frequently in evidence than this repulsion for the grave4 ,death is such an uncouth and hideous thing4 ,nothing but bones ,the sad effect of sadder groans2 ,its mouth is open1 but it cannot sing4 ,all its outward circumstances help to repel us--the shroud1 the coffin1 the grave1 the silent shadows1 the still more silent worms1 the final nothingness4 ,the mental conditions1 too1 generally common to the last acts of life1 tend to intensify the feeling3 the separation from much that we love1 the sense of unfinished work1 the appreciation of grief which death most usually brings to others3 the reality of disappointed hopes1 the feeling that heart and flesh fail1 and that we can do no more--all these tend to make it in very truth the great valley of the dark shadow4 ,to many1 even among the chosen spirits of the household of faith1 approaching death also starts the great ,why8 of unbelief4 ,for1 in truth1 the death of some is a mystery4 ,it is better that we should say so1 and that they should say so1 rather than that we should profess to be able to account for what1 as is only too evident1 we do not understand4 ,in confronting death this mystery is often the great bitterness in the cup4 ,to die when so young6 ,to die when so much needed6 ,to die so soon after really beginning to live6 ,to die in the presence of so great a task6 ,oh1 why should it be8 ,how much of gloom and shadow has come down on hearts and households ,i have known1 from the persistency of that ,why8 intensifying every repulsion for the hideous visitor1 adding to every other the greatest of all his terrors--doubt4 ,now1 in the presence of such doubts--or perhaps ,i ought rather to call them questionings and shrinkings--has not this vision of the dead body of our ,lord something in it to charm away our fears8 ,does it not say to us3 ,i have passed on before2 ,i that speak in righteousness1 ,mighty to save4 ,i have trodden the winepress alone4 ,at ,my girdle hang the keys of life and death2 ,i1 even ,i1 was dead2 yes1 really1 cruelly dead2 but ,i am alive for evermore8 ,he tasted death4 ,the king of terrors was out to meet ,him4 ,the long shadows of the gloomy valley really closed ,him round1 and ,he crossed over the chilly stream just as you and ,i must cross it--all alone4 ,nothing was wanting which could invest the scene1 the hour1 the circumstances with horror and repulsion4 ,there was pain1 bodily pain2 there was mental anguish2 there was the howling mob1 the horrid contempt for ,him as for a malefactor2 the lost disciples and shattered hopes2 the reviling thief2 the mystery of the ,father's clouded face2 the final sinking down2 the letting go of life2 the last physical struggle--when ,he gave up the ghost and died4 ,yes4 ,he passed this same way before you4 ,he wore a shroud4 ,he lay in a grave4 ,the last resting-place is henceforth for us fragrant with immortality4 ,the very horrors1 and shadows1 and mysteries of the death-chamber have become signs that death is vanquished4 ,the tomb is but the porch of a temple in which we shall surely stand1 the doorway to the place of an abiding rest4 ,in ,my ,father's house are many mansions3 if it were not so1 ,i would have told you4 ,living or dying--but especially when dying--we have a right to cry with ,stephen1 the first to witness for ,christ in this horror of death1 ,lord ,jesus1 receive my spirit4 ,to ,him we commit all4 ,he passed this way before with a worn and bruised body1 in weakness and contempt1 with dyed garments and red in ,his apparel1 and on ,him we dare to cast ourselves--on ,him and ,him alone4 ,on ,his merits1 on ,his blood1 on ,his body1 dead and buried for us4 ,he will be with us even to the end--,he has passed this way before us4 ,,ii4 ,a ,savour of ,death unto ,death4 ,a celebrated ,roman ,emperor who had in the very height of his power embarked on a campaign for the extermination1 with all manner of cruelties1 of the followers of ,jesus ,christ1 spoke one day to a ,christian1 asking him in tones of lofty contempt and derision3-- ,what1 then1 is the ,galilean doing now8 ,the ,galilean1 replied the ,christian1 is making a coffin6 ,in a few years the great ,emperor and the vast power he represented were both in that coffin6 ,since his day1 how many other persecutors have also journeyed surely to it6 ,how many infidels--nay1 how many systems of infidelity1 have passed on to dust and oblivion in that same casket6 ,what multitudes of doubters--of ungodly1 unclean1 unregenerate--have been laid within its ever-widening bands6 ,what vast unions of darkness1 hatred1 and cruelty1 under the leadership of the great and the mighty1 have been broken to pieces beside that coffin6 ,how much that seemed for a time proud and rich and great in this poor world's esteem1 has at last passed into it1 and disappeared for ever6 ,yes1 the martyr of long ago1 on the blood-besmeared stones of persecuting ,rome1 was right1 the ,galilean ,saviour and ,king not only made a ,cross1 but ,he made1 and ,he goes on making1 a coffin6 ,will you not have ,his ,cross8 ,is there no appeal to you to-day from that hill side1 without the city wall8 ,does it not speak to you of the power1 the sweetness and nobleness of a life of service1 of sacrifice for others1 of toil for ,his world4 ,has it no message for you of victory over sin and death1 of life from the dead--life1 abundant life1 in the ,blood of the ,son of ,man6 ,believe me1 unless you accept ,his ,cross1 ,he will prepare for you a coffin4 ,the wages of sin is death4 ,it matters not how noble your aspirations1 how lofty your ideals of life and conduct1 how faithful your labour to raise the standard of your own life--unless you accept the ,cross1 all must go into the grave4 ,your highest aims1 together with your lowest1 your most cherished conceptions1 your most deeply-loved ambitions1 all must be entombed4 ,whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken1 but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder4 ,if ,his death-sacrifice be not a savour of life unto life it must be a savour of death unto death4 ,this is the single alternative4 ,jesus ,christ in life and death is working in you1 in us all1 toward one of these ends--either by love and tears and the overflowing fountain of ,his passion to gather us into the union of eternal life with ,him and with the ,father2 or to entomb us--all that we have and all that we are--in the death and oblivion of the grave ,he has prepared4 ,,iii4 ,and ,he was ,buried4 ,for a little time they lost ,him4 ,the grave opened her gloomy portals2 they laid ,him down1 and the gates were closed--for a little time4 ,and yet ,he was just as really there1 as really alive for evermore1 as really theirs and ours1 as really a victor--nay1 a thousand times more so1 than if ,he had never bowed ,himself under the yoke of ,nature4 ,he was gone on before1 just a little while1 that was all4 ,is not that the lesson of ,his burial for every one who sorrows for the loss of loved ones called up higher8 ,are they not buried with ,him8 ,are they not gone on before8 ,are they not ours still8 ,are we not theirs as really as ever8 ,he passed through that brief path of darkness and death out into the everlasting light of the ,resurrection ,glory4 ,do you think1 then1 that ,he will leave them behind8 ,the grave could not contain ,him4 ,do you think it has strength to hold them8 ,you cannot think of ,him as lying long in the garden of ,joseph of ,arimathaea2 why1 then1 should you think of your dear ones as in the chilly clay of that poor garden in which you laid them8 ,no--no6 they are alive--alive for evermore2 because ,he lives1 they live also4 ,yes6 this was the meaning of that strange funeral of ,his--this was at least one reason why they buried ,him4 ,it was that ,he might hold a flaming torch of comfort at every burial of ,his people to the end of time4 ,sorrow not1 then1 as those that have no hope4 ,he is hope4 ,your lost ones1 perhaps1 were strongly rooted in your affection1 and your heart was torn when they were plucked up4 ,you cried aloud with the ,prophet3 ,woe is me1 for my hurt6 my wound is grievous4 ,but ,i said1 ,truly this is a grief1 and ,i must bear it2 my tabernacle is spoiled1 and all my cords are broken4 ,ah1 but remember ,he was buried also4 ,he knows about the way4 ,he was there4 ,he has them in ,his keeping4 ,they are ,his1 and yours still4 ,you have no more need to grieve over their burial than over ,his4 ,they live1 they love1 they grow1 they rejoice4 ,they are blessed for evermore4 ,and our dear dead will meet us again1 if we are faithful1 in those bodies which our ,lord has redeemed4 ,that also is the witness of ,his burial and resurrection4 ,the corruptible shall put on incorruption4 ,in the twinkling of an eye shall it be done4 ,and we shall see them in the body once more1 even as ,his disciples saw ,him4 ,they supposed at first that they saw a spirit1 but ,he said3 ,no6 ,behold ,my hands and ,my feet1 that it is ,i ,myself3 handle ,me1 and see2 for a spirit hath not flesh and bones1 as ye see ,me have6 ,this blessed hope is our hope4 ,love is indeed stronger than death2 many waters1 nay1 the swellings of ,jordan themselves1 cannot quench it6 ,dear ones1 gone on before1 we shall embrace you again2 hand in hand--the very same hands--we shall greet our ,king3-- ,together we'll stand ,when escaped to the shore1 ,with palms in our hands ,we ,will praise ,him the more2 ,we'll range the sweet plains ,on the banks of the river1 ,and sing of ,salvation ,for ever and ever4 ,yes--we know and love you still1 because we know and love our ,lord4 ,,ix4 ,conforming to ,christ's ,death4 ,that ,i may know ,him 4 4 4 being made conformable unto ,his death4--,phil4 iii4 #aj4 ,conformable unto ,his death4 ,at first sight the words are something of a surprise4 ,his death8 ,has not the thought more often before us been to conform to ,his life8 ,his death seems too high for us--so far off in its greatness1 in its suffering1 in its humiliation1 in its strength1 in its glorious consequences4 ,how is it possible we should ever be conformed to such a wonder of love and power8 ,and yet1 here is the great ,apostle1 in one of those beautiful and illuminating references to his own experience which always seem to bring his messages right home to us1 setting forth this very conformity as the end of all his labours1 and the purpose in all his struggles4 ,what things were gain to me1 he says1 those ,i counted loss for ,christ2 yea1 ,i count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of ,christ ,jesus my ,lord3 for whom ,i have suffered the loss of all things1 and do count them but dung1 that ,i may win ,christ1 and be found in ,him991 having 4 4 4 the righteousness which is of ,god by faith3 that ,i may know ,him1 and the power of ,his resurrection1 and the fellowship of ,his sufferings1 being made conformable unto ,his death4 ,footnote 993 ,or1 as the ,revised ,version has it in the margin1 not having as my righteousness that which springs from the law2 but that which is through faith in ,christ1 the righteousness which is of ,god on the condition of faith3 4 4 4 becoming conformed unto ,his death4 ,there are probably deeps of thought and purpose here which ,i confess that ,i cannot hope to fathom2 which in the limits of such a paper as this ,i cannot even suggest4 ,is it possible1 for example1 that the sorrow and suffering which fall upon those who are entirely surrendered to ,god and ,his work are1 in some hidden way1 sorrow and suffering for others8 ,is this what ,paul means when he says in his letter to the ,colossians3 ,i fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of ,christ1 in my flesh1 for ,his body's sake1 which is the ,church8 ,it may be so4 ,this would indeed be a glorious and a wonderful fellowship of ,his sufferings4 ,or1 again1 consider what an entirely new light might be thrown upon ,god's dealings with us in afflictions and pain1 if it should appear1 in the world to come1 that1 in much which is now most mysterious and torturing to us1 we had but been bearing one another's burdens6 ,every one knows how often love makes us long to bear grief and pain for those dear to us2 every one has seen a mother suffer1 in grateful silence1 both bodily pain and heart-anguish1 in her child's stead1 preferring that the child should never know4 ,suppose it should turn out1 hereafter1 that many of the afflictions which now seem so perplexing and so grievous have really been given us to bear in order to spare and shield our loved ones1 and make it easier for them--tossing on the stormy waters--to reach ,home at last8 ,would not this add a whole world of joy to the glory which shall be revealed8 ,and would it not transform many of the darkest stretches of our earthly journey into bright memorials of the infinite wisdom and goodness of our ,god8 ,but ,i pass away from matters of which we have1 at best1 but a gleam1 to those concerning which he that runs may read4 ,but if ,christ upon ,his cross is meant for an object-lesson to ,his people1 is it not reasonable to expect that ,his words spoken in those supreme moments should throw light upon that conformity to ,his death of which we are thinking8 ,the words of the dying have always been received as revealing their true character4 ,death is the skeleton-key which opens the closed chambers of the soul1 and calls forth the secret things--and in the presence of the ,death-,angel men generally appear to be what they really are4 ,our ,lord and ,saviour was no exception to this universal rule4 ,to the latest breath1 ,we see ,his ruling passion strong in death4 ,his dying words are filled with illuminating truth about ,himself1 and they throw precious light upon ,his death4 ,let us1 then1 tarry for a few moments before ,his cross1 and look and listen while ,he speaks4 ,i4 ,father1 forgive them2 they know not what they do4 ,men were doing the darkest deed of time4 ,nothing was wanting to make it hateful to ,god and repulsive to mankind4 ,all the passions to which the human heart is prone1 and all that the spirits of ,hell can prompt1 had joined forces at ,calvary to finish off1 in victory if possible1 the black rebellion which began in ,eden4 ,everything that is base in human nature--the hate that is in man1 the beast that is in man1 the fiend that is in man--was there1 with hands uplifted1 to slay the ,lamb4 ,the servants of the ,husbandman were beating to death the beloved ,son whom ,he had sent to seek their welfare4 ,it was amidst the human inferno of ingratitude and hatred that these words of infinite grace and beauty fell from the lips of ,love ,immortal4 ,long nails had just pierced the torn flesh and quivering nerves of ,his dear hands and feet2 and while ,he watched ,his murderers' awful delight in ,his agony1 and heard their jeering shouts of triumph1 ,he lifted up ,his voice and prayed for them1 ,father--forgive4 ,there are thoughts that lie too deep for words4 ,the inner light of this message may be revealed--it cannot be spoken4 ,but one or two reflections will repay our consideration4 ,here was a consciousness of sin4 ,here was the suggestion of pardon4 ,here was prayer for sinners4 ,a consciousness of sin--of theirs--ours--not ,his own4 ,infinite ,love takes full account of sin4 ,boldly recognises it4 ,straightway refers to it as the source of men's awful acts and awful state4 ,o ,my ,father1 forgive6 ,on the cross of ,his shame1 in the final grip with the mortal enemy1 the dying ,christ--looking away from ,his own sufferings1 forgetful of the scorn1 and curses1 and blows of those around ,him--is overflowing with this great thought1 with this great fact--that men's first imperative1 overwhelming need1 is the forgiveness of their sin4 ,the suggestion of pardon4 ,he prays for it4 ,what a transforming thought is the possibility of forgiveness6 ,how different the vilest1 the most loathsome criminal becomes in our eyes the moment we know a pardon is on the way6 ,how different a view we get of the souls of men1 bound and condemned to die1 given up to selfishness and godlessness1 the moment we stand by the cross of ,jesus1 and realise1 with ,him1 that a pardon is possible6 ,the meanest wretch that walks looks different from us4 ,even the outwardly respectable and very ordinary person who lives next door1 to whom we so seldom speak1 is at once clothed with a new interest in our minds1 if we really believe that there is a pardon coming for him from the ,king of kings4 ,he prays4 ,yes1 this is the great prayer4 ,what an example ,he has left us6 ,it was not enough to die for the sinful--the ungrateful--the abominable--,he must needs pray for them4 ,dear friend1 you may have done many things for the ungodly around you--you may have preached to them1 and set them also a lofty example of goodness2 you may even have greatly suffered on their behalf2 but ,i can imagine one thing still wanting3 have you prayed the ,father for them8 ,remember1 ,he pleaded for the worst3 those very men who said1 ,let ,his blood be on us1 and on our children4 ,he prayed even for those1 and ,i do not doubt that ,he was heard4 ,indeed1 it was1 ,i earnestly believe1 ,his prayer which helped on that speedy revival in ,jerusalem2 and among the three thousand over whom ,peter and the rest rejoiced were some who had urged on and then witnessed ,his cruel death1 and for whom ,his tender accents ascended to the ,throne of ,god amid the final agony of ,his cross4 ,dear friend1 are you becoming conformed unto ,his death8 ,,ii4 ,to-day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4 ,he saved others-,he saved others--,himself ,he cannot save6 ,amidst the din of discordant voices1 this taunt sounded out clear and loud1 and fell upon the ears of a dying thief4 ,perhaps1 as so often happens now1 the ,devil over-reached himself even then1 and the strange words made the poor criminal think4 ',others'--'others'--,he saves others--then why not me8 ,presently he answered the railing unbelief of his fellow-prisoner2 and then1 in the simple language of faith1 said to the ,saviour3 ,lord1 remember me when ,thou comest into ,thy ,kingdom4 ,jesus ,christ's reply is one of the great landmarks of the ,bible4 ,it denotes the boundary line of the long ages of dimness and indefiniteness about two things--assurance of salvation in this life1 and certainty of immediate blessedness in the life to come4 ,to-day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise6 ,there is nothing like it in all the ,scriptures4 ,it is as though great gates1 long closed1 were suddenly thrown wide open1 and we saw before our eyes that some one passed in where none had ever trodden before4 ,the whole freedom and glory of the ,gospel is illustrated at one stroke4 ,here is the ,salvation of ,the ,salvation ,army6 ,to-day--without any ceremonies1 baptisms1 communions1 confirmations1 without the mediation of any priest or the intervention of any sacraments--such things would indeed have been only an impertinence there--to-day1 ,,to-,,day shalt thou be with ,,me4 ,indeed the gates are open wide at last6 ,but the great lesson of the words lies rather in their revelation of our ,lord's instant accessibility to this poor felon4 ,his nearness of heart2 ,his complete confidence in ,his own wonderful power to save2 ,his readiness of response--for it may be said that ,he leaps to meet this first repentant soul--are all revealed to us4 ,but it is the fact that1 amid that awful conflict1 ,his ear was open to another's cry--and such another6--which appeals most to my own heart4 ,with those blessed words of hope and peace in my ears1 how can ,i ever fear that one could be so vile1 so far away1 so nearly lost1 as to cry in vain8 ,nay1 ,lord1 it cannot be4 ,,iii4 ,woman1 behold thy son4 ,when ,jesus had spoken these words to ,his mother1 ,he addressed the disciple ,he had chosen1 and indicated by a word that henceforth ,mary was to be cared for as his own mother4 ,great as was the work ,he had in hand for the world1 great as was ,his increasing agony1 ,he remembered ,mary4 ,he knew the meaning of sorrow and loneliness1 and ,he planned to afford ,his mother such future comfort and consolation as were for her good4 ,this tender care for ,his own is a rebuke1 for all time1 to those who will work for others while those they love are left uncared for2 left1 alas6 to perish in their sins4 ,if regrets are possible in the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 surely those regrets will be felt most keenly in the presence of divided families4 ,and if anything can enhance the joys of the redeemed1 surely it must be that they are families in ,heaven4 ,who can think1 even now1 without a thrill of unmixed delight1 of the reunions of those who for long weary years were separated here8 ,what1 then1 will it be-- ,when the child shall greet the mother1 ,and the mother greet the child2 ,when dear families are gathered ,that were scattered on the wild6 ,and what strength and joy it was to ,mary4 ,looking forward to the coming victory1 ,he knew that nothing could so possess her mother-heart with gratitude1 and fill her soul with holy exultation as this--that ,he1 the ,sacrifice for sin1 the ,conqueror of ,death1 and the ,redeemer of ,his people1 was her ,son4 ,and so ,he makes it quite plain that ,he1 the dying ,saviour1 was ,mary's ,son4 ,,iv4 ,it is finished4 ,there is a repose1 a kind of majesty about this declaration which marks it out from all other human words4 ,there is1 perhaps1 nothing about the death of ,jesus which is in more striking contrast with death as men generally know it than is revealed in this one saying4 ,we are so accustomed to regrets1 to confessions that this and that are1 alas6 unfinished2 to those sad recitals which so often conclude with the dirge-like refrain1 it might have been1 that death stands forth in a new light when it is viewed as the end of a completed journey1 and the conclusion of a finished task4 ,this is exactly the aspect of it to which our ,lord refers4 ,his work was done4 ,the suffering1 also1 was ended4 ,darkness had had its night of sore trial1 and now the day was at hand4 ,trial and suffering do end4 ,it is sometimes hard to believe it1 but the end is already appointed from the beginning4 ,it was so with the ,saviour of the world2 and at length the hour is come1 and ,he raises ,his bruised and bleeding head for the last time1 and cries in token of ,his triumph1 ,it is finished6 ,but is there not also here a suggestion of something more8 ,up to that concluding hour it was always possible for ,him to draw back4 ,i lay down ,my life for the sheep1 ,he had said2 no man taketh it from ,me1 but ,i lay it down of ,myself4 ,his was1 in the very highest and widest sense of the word1 a voluntary offering1 a voluntary humiliation1 a voluntary death4 ,up to the very last1 therefore1 ,he could have stepped down from the cross1 going no further toward the dark abyss4 ,but the moment came when this would be no longer possible2 when1 even for ,him1 the sacrifice would be irrevocable--when the possibility to save ,himself was ended1 and when ,he became for ever the ,lamb that was slain1 bearing the marks of ,his wounds in ,his eternal body4 ,when that moment passed1 ,he might well say1 ,it is finished4 ,is there not something that should answer to this in the lives of many of ,his disciples8 ,is there not a point for us1 also1 at which we may pass over the line of uncertainty or reserve in our offering1 saying for ever--it is finished8 ,is there not an appointed ,calvary somewhere1 at which we can settle the questions that have been so long unsettled1 and1 in the strength of ,god1 at last declare that1 as for controversy of any kind with ,him1 it is finished8 ,is there not at this very same cross of our dying ,saviour a place where doubt and shame may perish together--crucified with ,him1 and finished for ever8 ,this would be1 indeed1 a blessed conformity to ,his death4 ,v4 ,i thirst4 ,this is the first of the three words of ,christ which relate specially to ,his own inner experiences1 and which ,i have placed together for the purpose of this paper4 ,i thirst4 ,they gave ,him vinegar to drink--or1 probably1 in a moment of pity the soldiers brought ,him the sour wine which they had provided for themselves4 ,he seems to have partaken of it1 although ,he had refused the mixture that had been before offered ,him merely to deaden ,his pain4 ,to bear that pain was the lofty duty set before ,him1 and so ,he would not turn aside from it one hair's breadth4 ,but ,he humbled ,himself to receive what was necessary from the very hands that had been crucifying ,him4 ,he1 who could have so easily commanded a whole multitude of the heavenly host to appear for ,his succour1 and to whose precious lips1 parched in death1 the princes of the eternal ,kingdom would have so gladly hastened with a draught from celestial springs1 condescended to ask the help of those who mocked ,him1 and to take the support ,he so sadly needed from ,his triumphant persecutors4 ,oh1 you who are proud by nature1 who are reserved by nature1 who are sensitive in spirit1 who feel every wrong done to you like a knife entering your breast1 and who1 when you forgive an injury1 find it difficult to forget1 and harder still to humble yourselves in any way to those who1 you feel1 have wronged you--here for you is a lesson1 here for you is an example1 a precious example1 of the condescension of ,love4 ,yes4 to love those who seem to be against you1 to love those in whom there always appears to you to be some difference of spirit or incompatibility of temperament1 will mean1 if you are made conformable unto your ,master's death1 that you will be able to receive at their hands services1 kindnesses1 pity1 advice1 which your own poor1 fallen nature would1 without divine grace1 have scorned and spurned4 ,,vi4 ,my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,here is a great mystery4 ,no doubt1 to the human nature of our ,lord1 it did appear as though the ,father had forsaken ,him1 and that was the last bitter drop in the cup of ,his humiliation and anguish4 ,if men only knew it1 the realisation that ,god has left them will be the greatest agony of the sinner's doom4 ,and here upon the cross1 our ,lord1 undergoing the penalty of sins not ,his own has yet to experience fully the severance which sin makes between ,god and the human soul4 ,but1 even to many of those who love and serve ,god fully1 there does come at times something which is very similar to this strange and dark experience of our ,lord's4 ,before the final struggle in many great conflicts1 those inward consolations on which so much seems to depend are often mysteriously withdrawn4 ,why it should be so we do not know2 it is a mystery4 ,some loyal spirits have thought that ,god withdraws ,his consolations and ,his peace1 that the soul may be more truly filled with ,his presence1 thus substituting for divine consolation the ,god of consolation1 and for divine peace the ,god of peace4 ,in any case we have this comfort3 it was so with our ,master4 ,do not let the servant expect to be above his ,lord4 ,this terrible moment of seeming separation from the ,father1 and the dark cry which was wrung from our ,saviour's broken heart1 did not1 however1 make the final victory any the less4 ,and1 if you are one with ,him1 and have really set your heart on glorifying ,him1 and if you can only endure1 such moments will not take from your victory one shred of its joy4 ,oh1 then1 hold on to your cross6 hold on to your cross6 even if it seems1 as it sometimes may1 that ,god ,himself has forsaken you1 and that you are left to suffer alone1 without either the sympathy of those around you1 or the conscious support of the indwelling ,god4 ,hold on to your cross4 ,this is the way of ,calvary--this is becoming conformable to the death of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,,vii4 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit4 ,here our ,lord enters upon the extremity of ,his humiliation4 ,death must have been repulsive to ,him4 ,if the failure of heart and flesh1 the cold sweat1 the physical collapse1 the last parting1 the solitude and separation of the grave are all repelling and painful to us1 how much more to ,him6 ,and1 indeed1 the picture which ,christ presents to the outward eye in these last moments is unquestionably one of deep humiliation4 ,the disordered garments--stained with blood and dirt1 the distended limbs1 the bleeding wound in ,his side1 the face smeared with bloody sweat and dust1 the torn brow and hair1 and the swollen features1 must have combined with all the horrible surroundings to make one of the most gruesome sights that ever man saw4 ,and it was at this moment1 in ,his extremity1 that ,he says3 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit4 ,father1 ,i have done all that ,i can do2 now ,i leave ,myself and the rest to ,thee4 ,here is a beautiful message--the great message about ,death4 ,this is1 in fact1 the one way to meet the shivering spectre with peace and joy4 ,but the great lesson of this last word from the cross of ,jesus is the lesson of ,abraham1 and ,isaac1 and ,jacob3 that faith in the ,father is the inner strength and secret of all true service4 ,it was1 in a very wonderful and real sense1 by faith that ,he wrought ,his wonders1 by faith ,he suffered1 by faith ,he prayed for ,his murderers1 by faith ,he died1 by faith ,he made ,his atonement for the sins of the world4 ,the faith that not one iota of the ,father's will could fail of its purpose4 ,oh1 dear comrade and friend1 here is the crowning lesson of ,his life and death alike--,have faith in ,god4 ,will you learn of ,him8 ,in your extremity of grief or sorrow--if you are called to sorrow--will you not trust ,him1 and say1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend my bereaved and bleeding heart8 ,in your extremity of poverty--if you are called to poverty--,oh1 cry out to ,him1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend my home1 my dear ones4 ,in your extremity of shame and humiliation--arising1 maybe1 from the injustice or neglect of others--let your heart say in humble faith1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend my reputation1 my honour1 my all4 ,in your extremity of weakness and pain--if you are called to suffer weakness or pain--cry out in faith1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend this my poor worn and weary frame4 ,in your extremity of loneliness and heart-separation from all you love for ,christ's sake1 if that be the path you tread1 will you not say to your ,lord1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend my future1 my life2 lead ,thou me on4 ,yes1 depend upon it1 faith is the great lesson of the cross4 ,by faith the world was made2 by faith the world was redeemed4 ,if we are truly conformed to ,his death1 we also must go forward in faith with the great work of bringing that redemption home to the hearts of men2 and all we aim at1 all we do1 all we suffer1 must be sought for1 done1 and suffered in that personal1 simple faith in our ,father and ,god which ,jesus manifested on ,his cross1 in that hour when all human aid failed ,him1 and when ,he cried in the language of a little child1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit4 ,x4 ,the ,resurrection and ,sin4 ,concerning ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 which was 4 4 4 declared to be the ,son of ,god with power1 according to the spirit of holiness1 by the resurrection from the dead4--,romans i4 #c1 #d4 ,just as one of the great proofs1 if not the great proof1 of the truth of ,christianity is the vast fact of the world's need for it1 so one grand proof of the ,resurrection lies in the fact that no interpretation of ,christ's teaching or ,christ's life would be worth a brass farthing--so far as the actual life of suffering man is concerned--without ,his ,death and ,resurrection4 ,that teaching might be illuminating--convincing--exalting2 yes1 even morally perfect2 and yet1 if ,he did not die1 it would be little more than a superior book of proverbs or a collection of highly-polished copy-book maxims4 ,that life--that wonderful life--might be the supremest example of all that is or could be good and great and lovely in human experience2 and yet1 if ,he did not rise again from the tomb1 it would1 after all1 be only a dead thing--like a splendid specimen of carved marble in some grand museum1 exquisite to look upon1 and of priceless value1 but cold and cheerless1 lifeless and dead4 ,for it is a ,living ,person men need to be their ,friend and ,saviour and ,guide4 ,the splendid statue might possibly invite or challenge us to imitate it1 but it could never call a human heart to love its stony features4 ,noble and pure as ,jesus ,christ's example undoubtedly was1 it could of itself never satisfy a human soul or inspire poor1 broken1 human hearts with hope and love1 or wash away from human consciousness the stains of sin4 ,these things can only be done by a ,living ,person4 ,so it is that we are not told to believe on ,his teaching or on ,his ,church1 but on ,him4 ,he did not say ,follow ,my methods or ,my disciples1 but ,follow ,,me4 ,if ,he be not risen from the dead1 and alive for evermore2 if1 in short1 it be a dead man we are to follow and on whom we are to believe--then we are1 indeed1 as ,paul says1 of all men the most miserable4 ,i4 ,but it is the life of ,jesus1 and the evidence of that life1 in us that are really all-important4 ,no extent of worldly wisdom or historical testimony can finally establish for us the fact and power of ,christ's ,resurrection1 unless we have proof in ourselves of ,his presence there as a ,living ,spirit4 ,with ,st4 ,paul1 we must know ,him1 and the power of ,his resurrection4 ,that is the grand knowledge4 ,that is the crown of all knowledge4 ,that is the knowledge which places those who have received it beyond the freaks and fancies of human wisdom or human folly4 ,that is the knowledge which cleanses the heart1 destroys the strength of evil1 and brings in that true righteousness which is the power to do right4 ,that is the greatest proof of the ,resurrection4 ,no books1 not even the ,bible itself2 no testimony1 not even the testimony of those who were present on that first ,easter ,day1 can be so good as this1 the experimental proof4 ,it is the most fitting and grateful1 and adapts itself to every type of human experience4 ,and it is beyond contradiction6 ,what avail is it to contradict those who can answer1 ,hereby we know that we dwell in ,him1 and ,he in us1 because ,he hath given us of ,his ,spirit8 ,it is even beyond argument6 ,for of what advantage can it be to argue with a man that he is still blind1 when he tells you that his eyes have been opened1 and when he declares1 ,whereas ,i was blind1 ,,now ,i ,,see8 ,to us ,salvationists1 the hope of the world1 and the strength of our hard and long struggle for the souls of men1 centre in this glorious truth4 ,he is risen1 and is alive for evermore2 and because ,he lives we live also' ,all around us are the valleys of death1 filled with bones--very many and very dry4 ,love lies there1 dead4 ,hope is dead4 ,faith is dead4 ,honour is dead4 ,truth is dead4 ,purity is dead4 ,liberty is dead4 ,humility is dead4 ,fidelity is dead4 ,decency is dead4 ,it is the blight of humanity4 ,death--moral and spiritual death in all her hideous and ghastly power--reigns around us4 ,men are indeed dead--dead in trespasses and sins4 ,what do we need8 ,what is the secret longing of our hearts8 ,what is the crying agony of our prayers8 ,is it for any human thing we seek8 ,no4 ,god knows--a thousand times1 no6 ,we have but one hope or desire1 and that is life from the dead4 ,we want life1 the risen life--life more abundant--life ,divine1 amid these deep1 dark noisome valleys of the dead4 ,here1 then1 is our hope4 ,he rose again1 and ascended up on high1 and received gifts for men4 ,this is the hope which keeps us going on2 this is the invisible spring from which our weary spirits draw the elixir of an invincible courage--,christ1 the risen ,christ1 who has come to raise the dead6 ,you hath ,he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins4 ,hallelujah6 ,dead in sins6 ,jesus never made light of sin4 ,he used no disguise when ,he talked of it1 no equivocal terms1 no softening words4 ,there is no single suggestion in all ,his discourses or conversations that ,he thought it merely a disease1 or a derangement1 or a misfortune1 or anything of that kind1 or that ,he deemed it anything but a ruinous and deadly rebellion against ,god--the great disaster of the world1 and the most awful1 dangerous1 and far-reaching precursor of suffering in the whole existence of the universe4 ,he said it was bad1 bad all through--in form1 in expression1 in purpose2 above all1 in spirit and desire4 ,that there was no remedy for it but ,his remedy4 ,no rains in all the heavens to wash it1 no waters in all the seas to cleanse it away1 no fires in ,hell itself to purge its defilement4 ,the only hope was in the blood of ,his sacrifice4 ,and so ,he came to shed it1 to save the people from their sins4 ,that is our hope4 ,we are of those who see something of the fruits of sin1 and to whom it is no matter for the chastened lights of the literary drawing-room4 ,we know--some of us--how deep the roots of pollution can strike into human character by our own scorched and blistered histories2 and we know by our observation into what deeps of black defilement men can plunge4 ,the charnel houses of iniquity must ever be the workshops of the ,salvationist4 ,there we see of the havoc1 the cruelty1 the debauchment1 the paralysis1 the leprosy1 the infernal fascination of sin4 ,and we know there is only one hope--the ,lamb that was slain1 and rose again from the dead1 and ever liveth for our salvation4 ,,ii4 ,the only really satisfactory test of any faith1 or system of faiths1 lies in its treatment of sin4 ,human consciousness in all ages1 and in all conditions of development1 bears witness to the fact of sin with universal and overwhelming conviction4 ,men cannot prevent the discomfort of self-accusation which ever follows wrong-doing4 ,they cannot escape from the bitter which always lies hidden in the sweet4 ,they cannot forget the things they wish to forget4 ,even when they are a law unto themselves1 they are compelled to judge themselves by that law4 ,it is as though some unerring necessity is laid upon every individual of the race to sit in judgment upon his own conduct1 and to pass sentence upon himself4 ,he is compelled to speak to his own soul of things about which he would rather be silent1 and to listen to that which he does not wish to hear4 ,the proof that this is so is open1 manifest1 and indisputable4 ,human experience in the simplest and widest sense of the word attests it4 ,it stands unquestioned amid floods of questions on every other conceivable subject4 ,no system of philosophy1 no school of scientific thought1 no revelation from the heavens above or the earth beneath can really weaken it4 ,it is not found in books1 or received by human contact1 or influenced by human example4 ,it is revealed in every man4 ,it is felt by all men4 ,they do not learn it1 or deduce it1 or believe it merely4 ,they know it4 ,all men do4 ,you do4 ,i do4 ,many things contribute to this simple and yet supremely wonderful and awful fact of human experience4 ,one of them is the faculty of thought4 ,man is made a thinking creature1 and think he must2 and if he thinks1 he must1 above all1 think about himself1 about his future1 his present1 his past4 ,a great ,french writer--and not a ,christian writer--says on this subject3 ,there is a spectacle grander than the ocean1 and that is the conscience4 ,after many conflicts1 man yields to that mysterious power which says to him1 ',think4' ,one can no more prevent the mind from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to a shore4 ,with the sailor this is called 'the tide4' ,with the guilty it is called 'remorse4' ,god1 by a universal law1 upheaves the soul as well as the ocean4 ,and side by side with this thinking faculty1 there is the further fact1 that ,god will not leave men alone4 ,on those unerring and resistless tides ,he sends into the human soul ,his messages4 ,he visits them4 ,he arouses them4 ,he compels their attention4 ,in ,his providence1 by acts of mercy and of judgment--by sorrow and loss--by stricken days and bitter nights1 ,he makes them remember their sin4 ,all the weapons in ,his armoury1 and all the wisdom of ,his nature are employed to bring men to a sense of guilt--to prick them to the heart--in order to lead them to recognise and to confess and to turn away from sin4 ,if1 therefore1 man by any invention had found out a way by which he could escape from the consciousness of evil without putting it away1 ,god would not let him go4 ,clearly1 then1 the initial proof of success in religion must be that religion can deal satisfactorily with the conscious guilt of sin4 ,to this high test1 all theories1 all pretences1 all promises must come at last4 ,what are they in their actual effect on the memories and consciences of men in relation to their sin8 ,how do they treat with guilt8 ,how do they meet remorse8 ,can they silence the clamours of the night8 ,can they give peace when it is too late to undo what sin has done8 ,do they suffice amid the deepening shadows of the death chamber--the place where ever and anon the forgotten past comes forth to demand the satisfaction so long delayed8 ,but these1 after all1 are only the fruits--some of the fruits of sin4 ,what of the thing itself8 ,that is the sternest test of all4 ,the mere condemnation of sin1 no matter how fully it harmonises with our sense of what ought to be1 does not satisfy man4 ,the excusing of sin is no better2 it leaves the sinner who loves his sin1 a sinner who loves it still4 ,if excuses could silence conscience1 or set free from the bondage of hate or passion1 how many of the slaves of both would soon be at liberty6 ,the re-naming of evil which has often been attempted during the last two or three thousand years1 and again in quite recent days1 has little or no effect either upon its nature or upon those who are under its mastery4 ,the new label does not change the poison4 ,its victim is a victim still4 ,nor does the punishment of sin entirely dispose of it1 either in the sufferer1 or in the consciousness of the onlooker4 ,no doubt the discovery and punishment of sin do give men a certain degree of satisfaction1 but at best it is only a relief1 when what they need1 and what they see their fellows need1 is a remedy4 ,sending a fever patient to hospital is a poor expedient unless we cure the disease4 ,sending a thief to prison is a poor affair if he remains a thief4 ,it is not in reality a victory over thieving2 it is1 in fact1 a defeat4 ,yes--it is a cure we need4 ,and we know it4 ,a cure which is not merely a remedy for the grosser forms which evil takes in men's lives1 and their terrible consequences1 but a cure of the hidden and secret humours from which they spring4 ,the deceitfulness of the human heart4 ,the thoughts and intents which colour all men do4 ,the lusts and desires1 the loves and hates from which conduct springs4 ,the selfishness and rebellion which drive men on to the rocks4 ,the real question for us then is1 ,can our religion--does our religion1 when tried by the test of human experience--afford any remedy for these8 ,unless it does1 man can no more be satisfied or be set free by condemnations1 or excusings1 or re-christenings1 or punishments of sin1 than the slave can be contented with discussions about his owner's mistakes or emancipated by new contrivances for painting his chains6 ,,iii4 ,but what is this sin1 the consciousness of which is thus forced upon all--this determined1 persistent1 active evil8 ,it is not the mere absence of good-a negative gain--but it is the love of1 and the actual striving after that which is flatly condemned by ,god1 and is in open rebellion against ,him4 ,the centreing of the corrupt heart upon its own corruption4 ,opposition to the pure will of ,god4 ,pride1 falseness1 unscrupulous ambition4 ,self-seeking1 regardless of the means by which its object is obtained4 ,luxury1 effeminacy1 and sensuality4 ,the lusts and fleshly passions4 ,malice1 cruelty1 and envy4 ,the greed of gain4 ,the love and thraldom of the world4 ,there it is--the running sore of a suffering race4 ,the outflow of the carnal mind1 which is not subject to the law of ,god1 neither indeed can be4 ,there is no getting away from it4 ,against this immovable barrier--the existence of sin--the waves of philosophy have dashed themselves unceasingly since the birth of human thought1 and have retired broken and powerless1 without displacing the minutest fragment of the stubborn rock1 without softening one feature of its dark1 rugged surface4 ,and the worst of all is that sin is a wrong against ,god4 ,man sins1 of course1 against himself4 ,that is written large on human affairs1 so that no fool1 however great a fool1 may miss it4 ,well may the prophet say1 ,o ,israel1 thou hast destroyed thyself6 ,men mix the hemlock for themselves6 ,the sinner is a moral suicide6 ,man sins against his fellow4 ,nothing is more evident to us than that men tempt and corrupt one another4 ,they hold one another back from righteousness4 ,they break down virtue1 and extinguish faith1 and silence conscience in their neighbours4 ,they act as decoys and trappers for each other's souls4 ,they play the ,devil's cat's-paws1 and procure for him the rum of their fellows1 which could not be compassed without their aid4 ,in short1 the sinner is a moral murderer6 ,but1 after all--and it is a hideous all--the crowning wrong1 and the crowning misery1 is that sin is sin against ,god4 ,unless the ,bible be a myth1 and the prophets a disagreeable fraud1 and the whole lesson of ,jesus ,christ's life and death an illusion1 ,god is deeply concerned with man4 ,that concern extends to man's whole nature1 his whole existence1 his whole environment2 and most of all it is manifest with regard to his sin4 ,god puts ,himself forward in the whole history of ,his dealings with men as an intimate1 responsible1 and observing ,party in the presence of wrong-doing4 ,he watches4 ,he sees4 ,he knows4 ,he will consider4 ,he will remember or ,he will forget4 ,he will in no wise acquit the guilty1 or ,he will pardon4 ,justice and vengeance are ,his1 and so is forgiveness4 ,he will weigh in the balances4 ,he will testify against the evil-doer1 or ,he will make an atonement for him4 ,he will cut off and destroy1 or ,he will have mercy4 ,he will repay1 or ,he will blot out4 ,from beginning to end of ,revelation--and there is something in the human soul which strangely responds to ,revelation in this matter--we have a sense1 a spiritual instinct1 of the truth which ,job set forth1 ,if ,i sin1 then ,thou markest me1 and ,thou will not acquit me from mine iniquity1 which is confirmed by ,jeremiah1 ,though thou wash thee with nitre and take thee much soap1 yet thine iniquity is marked before ,me1 saith the ,lord ,god2 and which is insisted upon by the ,apostle when he writes1 ,we must all appear before the judgment seat of ,christ2 that every one may receive the things done in his body1 according to that he hath done1 whether it be good or bad4 ,yes1 it is against the ,lord ,god men have sinned1 and to ,him they are accountable4 ,and they know it4 ,here again is something which does not come by observation or instruction1 but by an inward sense which can neither be mistaken nor long denied4 ,sooner or later1 men are compelled to acknowledge ,god1 and to acknowledge that they have sinned against ,him4 ,as with ,david1 when he cried out1 ,against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned1 and done this evil in ,thy sight--so to every man comes at last the awakening4 ,we see1 as ,david saw1 that whomsoever else we have wronged1 ,god is most wronged2 whomsoever else we may have injured1 the great evil is that we have broken ,his law and violated ,his will4 ,in the light of that experience1 sin becomes instantly a terrible and bitter thing4 ,the fact that sinners can win the approval of men1 the honour of success2 that they can hide iniquity2 that they can for a time escape from punishment1 makes no difference when ,god appears upon the scene4 ,evil starts up for judgment4 ,memory marshals the ranks of transgression4 ,retribution seems the only right thing to look for4 ,punishment appears to be so deserved that nothing else can be possible4 ,in their own eyes they are guilty4 ,guilt is branded upon them4 ,it is from this realisation of having offended ,god that there spring the dark forebodings of punishment4 ,men may dread it1 and be willing to make superhuman sacrifices to escape it1 but they expect it all the same4 ,thus in all ages men have cried out less for pardon and release from penalty than for deliverance from the guilt and domination of evil4 ,their language by a universal instinct has been like ,david's3 ,have mercy upon me1 ,o ,god1 according to ,thy loving kindness3 according unto the multitude of ,thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions4 ,wash me throughly from mine iniquity1 and cleanse me from my sin4 ,for ,i acknowledge my transgressions3 and my sin is ever before me4 ,against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned4 ,,xi4 ,salvation ,is of the ,lord ,salvation is of the ,lord4--,jonah ii4 #i4 ,work out your own salvation4--,phil4 ii4 #ab4 ,salvation is of the ,lord1 or not at all4 ,it is a touch2 a revelation2 an inspiration2 the life of ,god in the soul4 ,it is not of man only1 nor of that greatest of human forces--the will of man1 but of ,god and the will of ,god4 ,it is not mere will-work1 a sort of self-raising power--it is a redemption brought home by a personal ,redeemer2 made visible1 tangible1 knowable to the soul redeemed in a definite transaction with the ,lord4 ,it brings forth its own fruits1 carries with it the assurance of its own accomplishment1 and is its own reward4 ,it is impossible to declare too often or too plainly that ,salvation is of the ,lord4 ,i4 ,and yet1 around us on every side are those who are relying upon something short of this new life4 ,they have set up a sort of human virtue in the place of the ,god-life4 ,they are slowly mastering their disordered passions4 ,the base instigations of their lower nature are being thwarted4 ,greedy appetites which reign in others are in them compelled to serve4 ,tendencies to cunning and falsehood1 the fruits of which are only too apparent in the world at large1 they watch and harass and pinch4 ,animosities1 and jealousies1 and envies--those enemies of all kinds of peace--are repressed1 if not controlled4 ,and these followers of virtue go further than this4 ,they aim at building up a character which can be called noble1 or at least virtuous4 ,and some succeed--or appear to themselves to do so4 ,they cultivate truth4 ,honesty is with them1 whether as to their business or their social life1 the best policy4 ,they are just4 ,they are temperate4 ,by nature and by training they are kind and generous2 so much so that it is as difficult to convict them of an unkindly act as it is easy to prove them more generous and liberal than many of the professed followers of ,jesus4 ,often they are charitable1 giving of their substance to the poor2 not hard to please1 considerate of their inferiors1 patient with one another2 in a very high sense they have true charity4 ,and after long periods of struggle1 and lofty and faithful effort1 they may be able to claim that they have developed a fine character2 that by self-cultivation1 and perhaps by a kind of self-redemption1 they have produced a very beautiful and desirable being6 ,i will not stay to inquire how far heart conceit and heart deceit may account for much of this1 or to suggest that a great contrast may exist between the outer life and the unseen deeps within4 ,i will admit for the moment that all is as stated1 and even more4 ,what1 then8 ,with much of grace and beauty1 it may be2 trained and tutored in the ways of humility and virtue2 able to live in the constant and kindly service of others1 and devoted to truth and duty--with all these excellencies they may yet be dead while they live4 ,that which is born of the flesh is flesh2 and that which is born of the ,spirit is spirit4 ,generous1 lovable1 dutiful1 honourable flesh1 but only flesh4 ,a chaste1 and1 if you like to have it so1 a useful life1 but ,,lifeless4 ,a fine product of a lifetime of labour in the culture of the physical1 intellectual1 and moral powers1 but1 after all--,,dead4 ,for ,he that believeth not on the ,son of ,god hath not life4 ,,ii4 ,in this view the body1 and in a larger degree the mind1 becomes a sepulchre for the soul4 ,all the attention given to education1 to refinement and culture1 to the develop ment of gifts--for instance1 such as music or inventive science--to the practice of self-restraint and the pursuit of morality1 is so much attention to the casket that will perish1 to the neglect of the eternal jewel that is enclosed4 ,it may be possible to present a kindly1 honest1 law-abiding1 agreeable life to our neighbours2 to go through business and family life without rinding anything of great moment with which to condemn ourselves2 to be thought1 even by those nearest to us1 to be living up to a high standard of morality1 and yet--for all this has to do with the casket only--to be dead all the while in trespasses and sins4 ,the young man who should spend his fortune upon his tomb would be scarcely so great a fool as he who spends his life on those things in himself which are temporal1 to the neglect of those which are eternal4 ,only think of the absurdity of devoting the splendid energy of youth and manhood1 the grand force of will1 the skill of genius1 and the other gifts which commonly men apply to their own advancement and success1 to the adornment1 enriching1 and extension of one's grave6 ,and yet this is very much the case of those of whom ,i am thinking4 ,all their advances1 whether in moral attainment1 in personal achievement1 or in worldly advantage1 are1 at the best1 but enlargements and adornments of a tomb1 and of a tomb destined itself to perish6 ,,iii4 ,do ,i1 then1 discourage good works8 ,has man no part to play in his own deliverance8 ,is he1 after all1 only an animal--the mere creature of circumstance and natural law8 ,have ,i forgotten that faith without works is dead8 ,no1 ,i think not4 ,i have but remembered that works without faith are dead also4 ,the one extreme is as dangerous as the other4 ,the legal1 mechanical observance of the rules of a right life1 apart from a living faith in ,christ1 can no more renew the heart in holiness and righteousness1 than can a mere intellectual belief of certain facts about ,christ1 apart from working out ,his will1 save the soul1 or make it meet for the inheritance of the saints4 ,in both cases the verdict will be the same4 ,the faith in the one is dead2 the works in the other are also dead4 ,the fact is1 ,salvation is a two-fold work4 ,it is of ,god--it is of man4 ,did ,god not will man's ,salvation he could not be saved4 ,unless man will his own ,salvation he cannot be saved4 ,god is free4 ,man also is free4 ,he may set up a plan for saving himself2 but1 no matter how perfect1 it will fail unless it have ,god for its centre4 ,and ,god1 though ,he has devised the most infinitely complete and beautiful and costly scheme of redemption for man1 will none the less fail unless the individual man wills to co-operate with ,him4 ,man is not a piece of clay which ,god can fashion as ,he likes4 ,he is not even a harp out of which ,he can get what strains ,he will without regard to its strings4 ,there is in man something--a force--an energy--which must act in union with ,god1 and with which ,god must act in wonderful partnership1 if ,his will is to be accomplished4 ,,iv4 ,it is true1 of course1 that ,god does much for a man without his aid4 ,i do not now refer to material blessings4 ,he it is who gives us life1 and breath1 and all things--and gives them largely without our effort4 ,but even in man ,god does much without his help4 ,he calls4 ,he stirs up conscience4 ,he gives flashes of light to the most darkened heart4 ,he softens by the hand of sorrow1 and rebukes with the stripes of affliction4 ,memory1 human affection1 hope1 ambition1 are all made means by the ,holy ,ghost to urge men to holiness4 ,the ministry of goodness in others is so directed as to point multitudes to the way of the ,cross4 ,but this will not provide the one thing needful4 ,instruction1 clear views of the truth1 belief in the facts of ,god's love and grace1 admiration of ,salvation in other lives1 even the desire to declare the ,gospel1 may all be present1 and yet the soul be--,,dead--dead in trespasses and sins--cursed1 bound1 and corrupted by dead works4 ,just as the noblest and highest efforts of man towards his own ,salvation1 without the co-operating1 life-giving work of ,god1 can result only in confusion and death2 so the most powerful1 gracious1 long-suffering and tender yearnings and work of ,god for man's ,salvation1 without the co-operating will of man1 can result only in distress1 disappointment1 and death4 ,v4 ,are you dead8 ,are you in either of these classes8 ,are you relying on ,god's mercy2 waiting for some strange visitation from on high2 depending with a faith which is merely of the mind upon some past work of ,christ2 but without the vital power of ,his mighty life in you8 ,filled with desires that are not realised2 offering prayers that are not answered2 striving at times to work out a law of goodness which you feel all the time is an impossibility for you8 ,living1 so to speak1 out of your element--like a fish out of water8 ,that is ,,death4 ,or are you1 on the other hand1 depending for ,salvation on your own labour to build up a good character1 and to live a decent1 honourable1 and honest life8 ,conscious of advance1 but not of victory8 ,the servant of a high ideal1 but without liberty8 ,the devotee of your own self8 ,all the powers and qualities of your nature growing towards maturity1 except the powers of your soul8 ,the casket--as life goes on--growing more and more adorned1 while the eternal spirit1 the priceless jewel made to receive the likeness of ,god and enjoy ,him for ever1 seems ever of less and less worth to you8 ,that also is ,,death4 ,the man who is in either class is dead while he lives4 ,he is a walking mortuary4 ,,xii4 ,self-,denial4 ,if any man will come after ,me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross1 and follow ,me4--,matt4 xvi4 #bd4 ,it is a striking thought that self-denial is1 perhaps1 the only service that a man can render to ,god without the aid or co-operation of something or some one outside himself4 ,no matter what he does--unless it be to pray1 which would hardly be included in the idea of service--he is more or less dependent upon either the assistance or presence of others4 ,if1 for example1 he speaks or sings for ,god1 whether in public or in private1 he must have hearers2 if he writes1 it is that he may have readers2 if he teaches1 he needs scholars2 if he distributes gifts1 there must be receivers of his charity2 if he leads souls to ,christ1 these souls must be willing to come2 if he suffers persecution1 there must be persecutors2 or if1 like ,stephen1 he is called to die for his ,lord1 there must be those who stone him1 and others who stand by consenting to his death4 ,a few moments' consideration will1 ,i think1 also show1 that even in the sphere of our personal spiritual experience1 it is very much the same4 ,we can1 after all1 do but little for ourselves4 ,salvation comes to men through human instrumentality1 and seldom apart from it4 ,we are1 ,i know1 saved by faith2 but how shall we believe unless we hear8 and how shall we hear without a preacher8 ,that instruction on the things of ,god1 which is a necessity for every true child of ,god1 comes almost invariably by the agency or through the experiences of others4 ,the joys and consolation of fellowship can only be the result of communion with the saints4 ,in spiritual things1 as in ordinary affairs1 it is the countenance of his friend which quickens and brightens the tired toiler as iron sharpeneth iron4 ,and though it is true that ,god can1 and often does1 wonderfully teach and inspire ,his people without the direct aid of any human agent1 it is equally true that ,he generally does so by the employment of ,his word1 which ,he has revealed to men1 or by the recalling of some message which has already been received into the mind and heart4 ,nor does this in the least detract from our absolute dependence upon ,him4 ,the man who crosses the ,atlantic in a steamship is no less dependent on the sea because he employs the vessel for his journey4 ,we are no less dependent upon the earth for our sustenance because we only partake of the wheat after it has been ground into flour and made into bread4 ,and so1 we are no less dependent upon ,god because ,he has been pleased to employ various humble and simple instruments to save1 and teach1 and guide us4 ,after full allowance has been made for the power and influence of intervening agencies1 it is in ,him we really live1 and move1 and have our being4 ,but ,i return to my first word4 ,there is one kind of service open to all1 irrespective of circumstances and gifts1 which can be rendered to ,god without the intervention of anyone4 ,and this we may truly call self-denial4 ,much that quite properly comes under that description need never--probably will never--be known to anyone but ,god4 ,it may be a holy sacrament indeed1 kept between the soul and its ,lord alone4 ,i4 ,there is the ,denial of all that remains of ,evil in us4 ,how many sincere souls1 when they look into their own hearts1 find1 to their horror1 evil in them where they least expected it2 find them part stone1 when they should be all flesh2 find them bound to earth and the love of earthly things1 when they should be free from the world and the love of the world2 find them occupied1 alas6 so often with idols and heart-lusts1 when ,god alone ought to rule and reign4 ,here is a sphere for self-denial4 ,here is a service to be rendered to ,god1 which will be very acceptable to ,him1 and which you alone can perform4 ,and if you would thus deny yourself1 then examine yourself4 ,study the evils of your own nature4 ,recognise sin4 ,call it by its right name when you speak of it in the solitude of your own heart4 ,if there are the remains of the deadly poison in you1 say so to ,god1 and keep on saying so with a holy importunity4 ,confess your sins4 ,attack them as the farmer attacks the poison-plant amongst his crops1 or the worms and flies which will blight his harvest1 and which1 unless he can ruin them1 he knows full well will ruin him4 ,that is the perfect self-denial--to cut off the right hand1 and to pluck out and cast away what is dear as the right eye1 if it offend against the law of purity and truth and love4 ,but you yourself are to do it4 ,do not say you cannot1 for you alone can4 ,if you would be ,his disciple--,his holy1 loving1 pure1 worthy disciple--you must deny yourself4 ,cry to ,him for help as much as you will--you cannot cry too often or too long--but you must do more than that3 you must arise1 and deny your own selfish nature2 pinch1 and harass1 and refuse your own inward sins1 and expose them to the light of ,god4 ,confess them without ceasing1 mortify them without mercy1 and slay them1 and give no quarter4 ,say1 and say in earnest3-- ,oh1 how ,i hate these lusts of mine ,that crucified my ,god6-- ,these sins that pierced and nailed ,his flesh ,fast to the fatal wood4 ,yes1 my ,redeemer1 they shall die-- ,my soul has so decreed2 ,i will not longer spare the things ,that made my ,saviour bleed4 ,whilst with a melting1 broken heart1 ,my murdered ,lord ,i view1 ,i'll raise revenge against my sins1 ,and slay the murderers too4 ,,ii4 ,there are ,denials of the ,will4 ,human nature is a collection of likes and dislikes4 ,the great mass of men are governed by their preferences4 ,what they like1 they strive after2 what they do not like1 they neglect1 or refuse1 or resist4 ,many of these preferences1 though not harmful in themselves1 lead continually to that subjection of the will to self-interest1 and help that self-satisfaction and self-love which are the deadly enemies of the soul4 ,now1 true self-denial is the denial1 for ,christ's sake and the sake of souls1 of these preferences4 ,to say to ,god3 ,i sacrifice my way for ,thy way--my wish for ,thy wish--my will for ,thy will--my plan for ,thy plan--my life for ,thy life--this is self-denial4 ,nothing can be more acceptable to a good father's heart than the knowledge that his son1 living and labouring far away from him amid difficulties and opposition1 is courageously sacrificing his own preferences1 and faithfully seeking to carry out his1 the father's1 will4 ,in such a son that father sees a reproduction of all that is strongest and best in his own nature4 ,and so it is with the ,heavenly ,father4 ,no greater joy can be ,his than to see the resolute surrender of ,his children's own will to ,his1 and the daily denial of their hopes and plans for themselves and theirs in favour of ,his plans4 ,,iii4 ,there are ,denials of the ,affections4 ,the precious things of earth-- ,the mother's tender care1 ,the father's faith and prayer-- ,from ,thee have birth4 ,and1 just because love is of such high origin1 and is the greatest power in human life1 it is often captured and held by the ,devil as his last stronghold against ,god4 ,the heart is at once the strongest and the most sensitive part of our nature2 and it is here1 therefore1 that we often find the most blessed and profitable opportunities for self-denial4 ,that pleasant companionship1 so grateful1 so fruitful of joy1 and yet so likely to tempt me from the path of faithful service1 ,lord1 ,i deny myself of it4 ,that mastering affection for wife1 or husband1 or children--so beautiful in its strength and simplicity1 and yet so exacting in its claims--,lord1 ,i deny myself of the abandonment to which it invites me2 ,i put it in its proper place1 second to ,thee1 and to the work ,thou hast given me to do4 ,that love of home1 and friends1 and circle1 which is so powerful a factor in life1 and enters so constantly into all the arrangements and details of our conduct1 influencing so largely all real plans for doing ,god's work--,lord1 ,i will deny it1 when it is in danger of lessening my labours for ,thee and ,thy ,kingdom4 ,the pleasant hour1 the quiet evening1 the restful book1 ,i will lay them at ,thy feet1 for ,thy sake1 when they hinder me doing ,thy will4 ,it is between me and ,thee alone2 it is the sacrifice of love4 ,how precious it must be to ,god to see such self-denial6 ,when the true lover sees the woman he has chosen leaving all for his sake1 calmly laying down the love of father and family1 and even braving the rebuffs and unkindness of those from whom before she has known nothing but affection1 in order that she may give him her whole heart and life1 how strong become the cords which bind him to her6 ,every sacrifice she makes for his sake forges another bond which will not easily be broken4 ,and is the ,lord a man1 that ,he should be behind us in loving with an everlasting love those who thus give up and deny their own loves for ,him8 ,no6 a thousand times no6 ,he will repay4 ,every self-denial is a seedling rich with future joys4 ,for it is indeed true that ,he that soweth to the ,spirit1 shall of the ,spirit reap life everlasting4 ,he that overcometh shall inherit all things1 and ,i will give him the morning star4 ,,iv4 ,there are ,denials with reference to our ,gifts4 ,look not1 says the ,apostle1 every man on his own things1 but every man also on the things of others4 ,that is1 even in the exercise of his choicest gifts and graces1 let a man forget his own in his desire to employ and bring forward the gifts of others4 ,let nothing be done through strife or vainglory1 but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves4 ,that is1 in your own mind take a humble view of yourself1 your own powers1 and your own worthiness1 and hold your comrades in higher esteem than you hold yourself1 in honour preferring one another to yourself4 ,that would be a very real self-denial to some people6 ,recompense to no man evil for evil1 though you know he well deserves it2 ,avenge not yourselves4 ,if thine enemy hunger1 feed him2 if he thirst1 give him drink4 ,rejoice with them that do rejoice1 and weep with them that weep4 ,that is1 deny yourself of your own joys1 that you may enter into the sorrow of others2 and lay aside your own sorrows and tears1 and silence your own breaking heart1 when you can help others by entering with joy into their joys4 ,you will see1 beloved1 that all this is work which no one can do for you1 and that it is in a very true sense high service to ,god as well as to man4 ,how1 then1 is it with you8 ,are you a self-denying disciple8 ,if not1 beware1 lest it should shortly appear that you are not a disciple at all4 ,,xiii4 ,in ,unexpected ,places4 ,and 4 4 4 while they communed together and reasoned1 ,jesus ,himself drew near1 and went with them4 ,but their eyes were holden that they should not know ,him4--,luke xxiv4 #ae1 #af4 ,i4 ,the ,knife-grinder4 ,the only person in the house1 except the man and his wife1 was a young domestic servant1 a ,soldier of ,the ,salvation ,army4 ,her employers were generally drinking when they were not asleep1 and the drinking led to the most dreadful quarrelling4 ,disgusting orgies of one kind or another were of almost daily occurrence1 and such1 visitors as came to the house only added fuel to the fiery furnace of passion and frenzy through which the girl was called to walk4 ,since that happy ,sunday afternoon two years ago1 when she gave herself to ,god in the wholesome village from which she came1 the meetings and the opportunity1 given her by ,the ,army1 of doing some work for other souls had been a bright light in her life4 ,little by little religion had come to have for her something of the same meaning it had for ,st4 ,paul3 though ,i fear she knew very little of ,st4 ,paul1 or of the great and wise things he wrote--domestic service is seldom favourable to the study of the ,scriptures4 ,but the same spirit which led the great ,apostle to confer not with flesh and blood1 and which took him into ,arabia before he went to ,jerusalem1 was leading this quiet1 country maiden to see that to be a follower of ,christ means something more than to win a fleeting happiness in this life and a kind of pension in the next4 ,she was beginning to understand that to be really ,christ's means also to be a ,christ2 that to be ,his1 one must seek for the lost sheep for whom ,he died4 ,and so ,rhoda--,i call her ,rhoda1 though that was not her name--when she found to what sort of people she had1 in her ignorance of the great city1 engaged herself1 had set to work to seek their salvation4 ,many very good people would probably think that she would have been a wiser girl to have gone elsewhere--that the risks of such a position were very great1 and so on4 ,no doubt2 but the light of a great truth was rising in ,rhoda's heart and mind4 ,she perceived in her very danger an opportunity to prove her love for her ,saviour by risking something for the souls of those two besotted creatures1 for whom she dared to think ,he really died4 ,and so1 day after day1 she toiled for them3 night after night she prayed for them4 ,and in her sober moments the wreck of a woman1 her mistress1 wept aloud in her slobbering way1 and talked of the days long1 long ago1 when she1 too1 believed in the things that are good4 ,the first flush of novelty in the sense of doing an unselfish thing for ,god wore away1 and presently ,rhoda's real trial began4 ,the drinking and fighting grew worse1 and the difficulty of getting out to a meeting grew greater4 ,gradually the weary body robbed the struggling soul of its time to pray2 and1 worst of all1 by slow degrees ,rhoda's faith was shaken1 for her prayers1 her agonising prayers1 on behalf of those dark souls were only too manifestly not answered4 ,was it worth while1 after all1 troubling about sinners8 ,was it her affair8 ,why should she care8 ,of what use could it be to become an ,officer1 in order to seek the many1 if ,god did not hearken to her cry for the few8 ,one day the ,captain of the ,corps to which ,rhoda belonged called1 and seemed grieved with her for neglecting the meetings4 ,this was a heavy blow4 ,she could not or would not explain1 and when that night1 in the midst of a drunken brawl1 her master struck her in the face1 heart and flesh both failed1 and she determined to say no more about salvation1 and to abandon all profession of religion4 ,that night seemed long and dark1 and when at last sleep came1 the pillow was wet with tears of anguish1 of anger1 and of pride4 ,scissors to mend6 to mend6 to mend6 ,the monotonous calls of ,london hawkers are a strange mixture of sounds--at one moment attractive1 at another repelling2 they are1 perhaps1 more like the cry of a bird in distress than anything else4 ,rhoda looked at her wood-chopper as the knife-grinder came nearer to the house1 and as he passed beckoned him1 and gave it to him4 ,she made no remark4 ,he was rough and grimy1 and his torn coat gave him an appearance of misery1 which his face rather belied4 ,she was miserable enough1 and made no reply to his cheery ,good morning6 ,presently the axe was sharpened1 and the man brought it to the door4 ,she paid him4 ,thank you1 he said4 ,and then1 with kindly abruptness--,excuse me1 but ,i see you have been crying4 ,do you ever pray8 ,and1 after a silence1 ,god answers prayer1 though ,he may not do it our way4 ,he did it for me4 ,i was a drunkard1 but my mother's prayers are answered now1 and ,i belong to ,the ,salvation ,army4 ,do you know any of them8 ,oh1 they just live by prayer6 ,rhoda stood in silence listening to the strange man till she ceased to hear him1 and looking at him till she ceased to see him6 ,another ,presence and another ,voice was there4 ,it was the ,christ4 ,rhoda was delivered4 ,she is still fighting for souls1 and loves most to do it where ,satan's seat is4 ,but the knife-grinder never knew4 ,,ii4 ,a ,kiss4 ,the heat and smell in the narrow slum were worse than usual4 ,a hot ,saturday night in midsummer is a bad time in the slums1 and worse in the slum public-houses4 ,it was so on the night ,i speak of4 ,in and out of the suffocating bar the dirty stream of humanity came and went4 ,men who had ceased long ago to be anything but beasts2 women with tiny1 white children in their bony arms2 boys and girls sipping the naphtha of perdition1 and talking the talk of fools2 lewd and foul-mouthed women of the streets1 all hustled and jostled one another1 and sang1 and swore1 and bandied horrid words with the barmen--and1 all the while1 they drank1 and drank1 and drank6 ,the atmosphere grew thicker and thicker with the dust and tobacco-smoke1 and little by little the flaming gas-jets burnt up the oxygen1 till by midnight the place was all but unendurable4 ,among the last to go was a woman of the town1 who betook herself1 with a bottle of whisky1 to a low lodging-house hard by4 ,there she drank and quarrelled with such vehemence that in the early hours of the morning the ,deputy--as the guardian of order is called in these houses--picked her up and threw her into the gutter outside4 ,there1 amid the garbage from the coster-mongers' barrows and the refuse of the town1 this remnant of a ruined woman lay in a half-drunken doze1 until the golden sunlight mounted over the city houses and pierced the sultry gloom on the ,sabbath morning4 ,another woman chanced that way4 ,young1 beautiful alike in form and spirit1 and touched with the far-offness of many who walk with ,christ1 she hastened to the early ,sunday morning service1 there to join her prayers with others seeking strength to win the souls of men4 ,what is that8 she asked her friend as they passed4 ,that1 replied the other1 is a drunken woman1 unclean and outcast4 ,in a moment the ,salvationist knelt upon the stones1 and kissed the battered face of the poor wanderer4 ,who is that--what did you do8 said the ,magdalene4 ,why did you kiss me8 ,nobody ever kissed me since my mother died4 ,it was the ,christ4 ,that kiss won a heart to ,him4 ,,iii4 ,a ,promotion4 ,henry ,james was coming rapidly into his employer's favour4 ,thoughtful1 obliging1 attentive to details1 anxious to please1 and1 above all1 thoroughly reliable in word and deed1 he was a first-class servant and an exemplary ,salvationist4 ,in the ,corps to which he belonged he stood high in the esteem both of the ,local ,officers and the ,soldiers1 and there was no more welcome speaker in the ,open-air or more successful fisher in the sinners' meetings than ,young ,james4 ,the question of his own future was beginning to occupy a good deal of attention4 ,ought he to offer himself for ,officership in ,the ,army8 ,he was very far from decided either one way or the other1 when one evening at the close of business his master sent for him4 ,he expressed his pleasure at the progress ,james was making1 and offered him a greatly improved position--the managership of a branch establishment1 with certain privileges as to hours1 an immediate and considerable advance in salary1 and the prospect of a still more profitable position in the future4 ,there was really only one condition required of him--he must live in premises adjoining the new venture1 and he must not come to and fro in the uniform of ,the ,army4 ,his employers had a high esteem for ,the ,salvation ,army4 ,it was a noble work1 and their opinion of it had risen since they had employed one or two of its ,soldiers4 ,but business was business1 and the uniform going in and out would not help business1 and so forbh4 ,the young man hesitated1 and1 to the senior partner's surprise1 asked for a week to consider4 ,during the week there were consultations with almost every one he knew4 ,the majority of his own friends said decidedly ,accept4 ,a few ,salvationists of the weaker sort said1 ,yes1 take it2 you will1 in the end1 be able to do more for ,god1 and give ,the ,army more time1 more money1 more influence4 ,on the other hand1 the ,captain and the older ,local ,officers answered1 ,no2 it is a compromise of principle2 the uniform is only the symbol of out-and-out testimony for ,christ2 you put it on in holy covenant with ,him2 you cannot take it off1 especially for your own advantage1 without breaking that covenant4 ,don't6 ,james promised himself--quite sincerely1 no doubt--that it should not be so with him4 ,and on the appointed day informed the firm that he accepted their proposal4 ,the new enterprise was a success4 ,everything turned out better than was expected4 ,at the end of six months the new manager received a cordial letter of thanks from the firm1 and a hint of further developments4 ,but ,henry ,james was an unhappy man4 ,he had gained so much that he was always asking himself how it came about that he seemed to have lost so much more6 ,position1 prospects1 opportunity1 money--these were all enhanced4 ,and yet he went everywhere with a sense of loss1 burdened with a consciousness of having parted with more than he had received in return4 ,as a man of business1 the impression at last took the form of a business estimate in his mind4 ,yes1 that was it2 he had secured a high--a very high--price that evening in the counting-house1 when the partners waited for his answer2 he had parted with something2 he had1 in fact1 sold something4 ,it was the ,christ4 ,it proved a ruinous transaction4 ,,xiv4 ,ever the ,same4 ,a ,new ,year's ,greeting4 ,blessed be the name of ,god for ever and ever3 for wisdom and might are ,his3 and ,he changeth the times and the seasons4--,daniel ii4 #bj1 #ba4 ,i am the ,lord1 ,i change not4--,malachi iii4 #f4 ,he changeth the times and the seasons4 ,what a beautiful thought it is6 ,instead of the hard compulsion of some inexorable and unchanging law fixing summer where it must1 and planting winter in our midst whether it be well or ill1 here is the sweet assurance that the seasons change at ,his command2 and that the winds and the waves obey ,him4 ,it is not some abstract and unknowable force1 taking no account of us and ours1 with whom we have to do1 but a living and ruling ,father3 ,he who maketh small the drops of water that pour down rain2 ,he who shuts up the sea with doors1 and says3 ,here shall thy proud waves be stayed2 ,he who maketh the south winds to blow1 and by whose breath the frost is given2 ,he who teaches the swallow to know the time of her coming1 and has made both summer and winter1 and the day and the night ,his servants--,he is our ,father4 ,how precious it is to feel that our times are in ,his hands2 and to know that1 whether the year be young or old1 ,he will fill it with mercy and crown it with loving-kindness6 ,do not be deceived by the modern talk about the laws of ,nature into forgetting that they are the laws ordained by your ,father for the fulfilment of ,his will4 ,every day that dawns is as truly ,god's day as was the first one4 ,every night that draws its sable mantle over a silent world sets a seal to the knowledge of ,god who maketh the darkness4 ,behind the mighty forces and the ceaseless activities around us stands the ,sovereign of them all4 ,the hand of ,him who never slumbers is on the levers4 ,the earth is the ,lord's1 and ,his chosen portion is ,his people2 and when ,he changes the times and the seasons1 ,he fits the one to the other4 ,it is with some such thoughts as these that ,i send out a brief ,new ,year's ,greeting to my friends4 ,i wish them a ,happy ,new ,year1 because ,i feel that ,god has sent it1 that ,he wills it to be a happy year--a good year3 that in all the changes it may bring1 ,he will be planning with highest benevolence for their truest welfare4 ,whether1 therefore1 it holds for them sorrow or joy1 it will be a year of mercy1 a year of grace1 a year of love4 ,blessed be ,god for ever and ever1 for wisdom and might are ,his4 ,he revealeth the deep and secret things4 ,he knoweth what is in the darkness1 and the light dwelleth with ,him4 ,let us1 then1 go forward1 and fear not4 ,i4 ,material ,changes4 ,all things that touch the life of man are marked for change4 ,as knowledge advances1 and men come nearer to the secrets of the world in which they live1 they find how true indeed it is1 that man is but a shadow dwelling in a world of shadows4 ,everything is changing--everything but ,god4 ,the sun1 the astronomers tell us1 is burning itself away4 ,the mountains1 say the geologists1 are not so high as they once were2 their lofty summits are sliding down their sides year by year4 ,the everlasting hills are only everlasting in a figure2 for they1 too1 are crumbling day by day4 ,the hardest rocks are softening into soil every season1 and we are actually eating them up in our daily bread4 ,the hills are shadows1 and they flow ,from form to form1 and nothing stands2 ,they melt like mists1 the solid lands1 ,like clouds they shape themselves and go4 ,the great ocean-currents are changing1 and vast regions of the earth's surface are being changed with them1 and ,time is writing wrinkles on the whole world and all that is therein4 ,but1 above it all1 ,i see ,one standing--my ,unchanging ,god4 ,thou1 ,lord1 in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth1 and the heavens are the works of ,thine hands2 they shall perish1 but ,thou remainest2 and they all shall wax old as doth a garment1 and as a vesture shalt ,thou fold them up1 and they shall be changed2 but ,thou art the same1 and ,thy years shall not fail4 ,what a contrast there is between the ,worker and ,his work1 between the ,creator and the creature6 ,we see it in a thousand things2 but in none is it so manifest for the wayfaring man1 or written so large upon the fading draperies of time1 as in this3 ,they shall perish1 but ,thou remainest4 ,and greater changes yet seem to lie ahead4 ,a universal instinct points to the time of the restitution of all things4 ,the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together1 waiting--and it has been a long1 weary waiting--for deliverance4 ,but the day of the ,lord will come4 ,as the lightning cometh out of the east1 and shineth even unto the west1 so shall the coming of the ,son of ,man be4 ,in his vision ,john saw1 as it were1 a picture of that final change4 ,lo1 he says1 there was a great earthquake1 and the sun became black as sack-cloth of hair--it looks as though the wise men who say it will burn itself out are right6--and the moon became as blood2 and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth1 even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs1 when she is shaken of a mighty wind4 ,and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together2 and every mountain and island were moved out of their places4 ,what a combination of astounding catastrophes is here6 ,earth and stars are to meet in awful shock6 ,sun and moon to fail6 ,cloud and sky to disappear2 the elements to melt with fervent heat--a world on fire6 ,but1 above it all1 the ,lamb that was slain will take ,his place upon the ,throne--unmoved1 unchanged1 amidst the tumult of dissolving worlds4 ,my ,god1 my ,saviour1 in ,thy unchanging love ,i put my trust3-- ,jesus1 ,thy blood and righteousness ,my beauty are1 my glorious dress2 ',midst flaming worlds1 in these arrayed1 ,with joy shall ,i lift up my head4 ,,ii4 ,changes of ,association4 ,but far-reaching as are the changes in our material surroundings1 those with which we have to battle in our personal associations are often as great1 and are often much more painful4 ,indeed1 man himself is the most changeable thing in all man's world4 ,it is not merely that our companions and friends and loved ones die--the wind passeth over them1 and they are gone1 and the dear places that knew them know them no more--it is not merely this2 nor is it that their circumstances change1 that wealth becomes penury1 that health is changed to weakness and suffering1 and youth to age and decay--it is not merely this1 but it is that they change4 ,the ardour of near friendship grows cold and fades away2 the trust which once knew no limitations is narrowed down1 and1 by and by1 walled in with doubts and fears2 the comradeship which was so sweet and strong1 and quickened us to great deeds1 as iron sharpeneth iron1 is changed for other companionships2 the love which seemed so deep and true1 and was ready to look on tempests for us1 becomes but a name and a memory1 even if it does not change into a well of bitter waters in our lives4 ,this fact of human mutability1 this inherent changeableness in man1 is the key to many of the darkest chapters of the world's history4 ,the prodigal1 the traitor1 the vow-breaker1 these have ever been far more fruitful sources of anguish and misery than the life-long rebel and law-breaker4 ,the ,psalmist touches the inner springs of sorrow when he says1 ,all that hate ,me whisper together against ,me2 yea1 ,mine own familiar friend1 in whom ,i trusted1 which did eat of ,my bread1 hath lifted up his heel against ,me4 ,no one who has once read it can forget that revelation of the pent-up shame and agony in ,david's heart1 which was voiced in his cry1 ,o my son ,absalom1 my son1 my son ,absalom6 would ,god ,i had died for thee1 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 my son6 ,the human heart probably fell to its lowest depth of ingratitude and sin when poor ,judas changed sides and sold his ,lord4 ,what a change it was6 ,alas1 alas1 what a quagmire of uncertainties and shifting sand unsanctified human nature must be6 ,nay1 is4 ,i suppose that few of us have escaped some sorrowful experiences of this kind4 ,even to those who have not tasted the fruits of human fickleness in the great affairs of ,christ's ,kingdom1 there has generally come some share of it into the more private relationships of life4 ,in the home1 in the family1 or in the circle of friendship or comradeship1 we have had to lament the failure of many tender hopes4 ,but1 blessed be the name of our ,god1 who knoweth what is in the darkness1 amidst the changing scenes we have found one ,comfort4 ,above the strife of tongues1 and over the stormy seas of sorrow1 when1 as ,job said1 even our kinsfolk have failed1 and our familiar friends have forgotten us1 there is borne to us the voice of ,one who sticketh closer than a brother1 saying1 ,i am the ,lord2 ,i change not4 ,with ,me there is no variableness1 neither the shadow of turning4 ,i will never leave thee nor forsake thee4 ,the more men change1 the surer ,god will be2 the more they forget1 the more ,he will remember2 the further they withdraw1 the nearer ,he will come4 ,,iii4 ,personal ,changes4 ,and we1 ourselves1 change also4 ,as the years fly past1 the most notable fact about us1 perhaps1 is the changes that are going on in our own experiences1 our habits1 our thoughts1 our hopes1 our conduct1 our character4 ,how much there was about us1 only a few years ago1 which has changed in the interval--nay1 how much has grown different even since last ,new ,year's ,day6 ,indeed1 might we not say of a great deal in us1 which to-day is1 that to-morrow it will be cast away for ever8 ,have you1 my friend1 not had to mourn over some strange changes8 ,has not your joy been often so quickly turned to sorrow that you have wondered how you yourself could be the same person8 ,has not some trifling circumstance often seemed to cloud your sky for days1 darkening all the great lights in your heaven1 so that your whole past1 and present1 and future have seemed different to you1 and you stood in the stupor of astonishment at the gloomy change8 ,has not your zeal for souls been subject to like strange and unaccountable changes1 so that the work you once thought impossible you have found easy2 or the work you once delighted in1 you now find hard1 difficult1 and barren8 ,has not your freedom in prayer1 and your desire for it1 wavered between this and that until you have not known what to think of yourself8 ,has not your perception of duty1 and your devotion to it1 at one time clear and strong1 become at another so dim and feeble1 that you have been utterly ashamed of your wobbling and cowardice1 and amazed at your failure8 ,and1 most sorrowful of all1 has not your love for your ,god and ,saviour been up and down--shamefully down--so that when you have afterwards reflected on your coldness towards ,him and ,his cause1 you have been covered with confusion and astonishment at the fickleness of your own heart8 ,and more than this4 ,how great are the changes wrought in us by the curbing influence of time6 ,how much that in youth and early manhood we meant to do1 and could do1 and did do1 has to be laid down1 or left to others1 as our years approach the limits of their pilgrimage6 ,i have known some men who1 for this reason alone1 did not desire to live beyond the years of strength and vigour--they preferred to cease at once to work and live4 ,the loss by death1 or disappointments worse than death1 of our friends and dear ones--what changes this also works6 ,unconsciously men narrow the sphere of their sympathies4 ,the mainspring of life--love--grows slowly rusty for want of use1 and from some hearts that were once true fountains of joy to those around them1 the living water almost ceases to flow4 ,criticism1 and fault-finding1 and censoriousness too often take the place of generous labour for the welfare of the world4 ,this may1 no doubt1 arise in part from the natural desire that others should profit by our past experiences1 which renders us the more observant of their conduct the more we love4 ,but1 no matter what the cause1 certain it is that within and without all seems to change4 ,is it not1 then1 a joy unspeakable that1 amidst all this1 whether we are or are not fully alive to the weakness1 and variableness1 and deceitfulness of our own hearts1 we can look up to the ,,rock that changeth ,,not8 ,in the darkest hour of disappointment with ourselves2 in the depths of that miserable aftermath of sorrow and failure which follows all pride and foolish self-assertion2 in the miry pit of condemnation and guilt in which sin always leaves the sinner1 we can look up to ,him whose power1 whose grace1 whose love is ever the same4 ,do you really believe it8 ,there is a great hope in it for you if you do4 ,high above all your changes1 high above all the storms and disappointments that belong to them2 high above all the wretched failure and doubting of the do-the-best-,i-can life you are living1 ,he lives to bless1 to save1 to uplift1 to keep4 ,unnumbered multitudes1 fighting their way to ,him in spite of the timidities and wobblings1 the couldn'ts and wouldn'ts of their own nature1 have proved ,him the ,faithful and ,unchanging ,god4 ,will not you8