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3Fntm  t\^t  Ilthrar^  of 

l^qu^atl^ri  bg  lytm  to 

tl|f  Eibrarg  of 

Pnnrrtott  Slj^ologtral  S^nntttarg 


BV  30  .W3  1895 

Walpole,  G.  H.  S.  1854-1929 

Daily  teachings  for  the 


for  fge 

dxiBtian  'gear. 


Sot  t^e  C^mtian  ^ear 

ARRANGED  IN  ACCORDANCE  IVITH 

Z^t  ^ea0on0  of  f^e  C^urc^ 


BY    THE 

v/ 
REV.  G.  H.  S.  WALPOLE,  M.A.,  S.T.D., 

Professor  of  Dogmatic   Theology,  Gen.    Theo.  Sein.,  New   York 


"  Ye  became  obedient  from  the  heart  to  that 
form  of  teaching  whereunto  ye  were  delivered." 


BRENTANO'S 


CHICAGO  PARIS  WASHINGTON 


Copyright,  i8gs,  by 
BRENTANO'S 


THE    CAXTON    PRESS 
NEW  YORK 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


T  GLADLY  comply  ivitJi  the  request  of  the  publish- 
ers zuho  have  asked  for  a  few  words  by  way  of 
introduction  to  this  volume^  though  persuaded  that  its 
author,  zvell  known,   Jionored,   and  trusted  as   he  is 
among  us,  needs  no  introduction  to  our  people. 

He  has  done  us  an  additional  service  in  giving  us 
these  good  and  helpful  sayings  for  daily  use  ;  and  the 
book  will  be  zuelcome  in  many  a  CJiristian  home  in  the 
land. 

Like  the  Year,  of  which  the  course  is  here  pursued, 
it  brings  before  the  reader  every  topic  of  the  Gospel ; 
the  Mysteries  on  zuhich  all  else  rests ;  the  Articles  of 
the  Christian  Faith  ;  the  Virtues  to  be  attained;  the 
Examples  for  our  encouragement ;  the  disclosure  of 
the  Great  Rezvard  in  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 

To  follow  the  leading  of  the  Church  patiently, 
thoughtfully,    lovingly,   step   by    step,   through    signs 


and  seasons,  and  days  and  years,  is  to  zvalk  in  the 
road  zvhich  leads  to  peace . 

May  all  ivJio  read  this  volume  be  guided,  npheld, 
and  comforted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  wJio  spake  by  the 
prophets  and  is  still  speaking  by  those  whom  He  in- 
spires in  tJie  present  age. 

MORGAN  DIX. 
Trinity  Rectory, 
iVov.  20,  iSqS- 


(preface. 


AlO  many  excellent  books  of  daily  readings  have  been  pub- 
^^  lished,  that  to  add  another  to  the  list  requires  some 
justification.  It  is  hoped  that  this  may  be  found  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  selections,  the  purpose  of  which  is  that  they  may 
serve  as  a  convenient  handbook  for  those  who  desire  to  enter 
into  the  spirit  and  thought  of  the  Church  as  reflected  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  It  must  not  be  supposed,  however, 
that  these  "  Daily  Teachings "  have  in  view  church  people 
only;  the  growing  and  widening  interest  that  the  Prayer  Book 
incites  amongst  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  its  use  in  wor- 
ship, leads  to  the  hope  that  they  may  be  found  useful  by  a 
larger  circle  of  readers  than  that  to  which  they  more  immedi- 
ately appeal.  Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  there  is  no 
subject  chosen  for  meditation  which  has  not  the  common  inter- 
est of  all  Christians,  whilst  a  glance  at  the  list  of  authors  will 
show  that  an  honest  endeavor  has  been  made  to  make  the  scope 
of  teaching  as  wide  as  the  limits  laid  down  would  admit.  If  the 
names  of  some  well-known  Christian  writers  are  omitted  whilst 
those  of  others  are  included,  it  has  been  partly  on  the  ground 
that  the  particular  truth  that  needed  expression  found  its  best 
embodiment,  so  far  as  was  known,  in  the  passage  chosen ;  and 
partly  because  it  was  felt  that  a  testimony  from  without  to  a 
subject  of  Christian  faith  or  morals  had  a  special  value  of  its 
own.  Whilst  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  that  tht 
choice  in  all  cases  will   meet  with  the  reader's  approval,  it  is 


(pttfi 


ace. 


hoped  that  it  may  be  found  able  to  command  the  truth  it  con- 
veys to  his  mind  and  conscience. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  book  is  divided  into  two  parts :  the 
first  contains  chiefly  extracts  bearing  on  Church  Doctrine; 
the  second,  those  which  concern  Christian  Duty.  In  the 
first  part  the  readings  are  chosen  in  harmony  with  the 
Church's  Year ;  only  one  thought  being  taken  for  each  week 
and  that  in  accordance  with  the  teaching  of  the  Sunday,  and 
but  one  extract  selected  for  each  day  in  sympathy  with  the 
teaching  of  the  week.  So,  for  example,  the  thought  for 
the  first  week  in  Advent  being  the  final  Judgment,  the  se- 
lections are  intended  to  emphasize  its  various  aspects.  It  is 
hoped  that  in  this  way  the  reader  will,  at  the  end  of  the  week, 
have  been  impressed  with  its  leading  thought,  and  led  to 
pray  in  sympathy  with  the  mind  of  the  Church.  The  choice  of 
this  weekly  subject  was  not  difficult  for  the  first  six  months  in 
the  year.  Advent  speaks  clearly  of  our  Lord's  Second  Coming  ; 
Christmas,  of  His  Incarnation;  Epiphany,  of  His  Manifesta- 
tion ;  the  three  weeks  before  Lent  have  from  time  immemorial 
been  set  apart  for  the  contemplation  of  the  Creation  and  the 
Fall;  Lent  brings  before  us  Sin,  and  its  Remedy, — the  Cross  of 
Christ;  Easter,  the  Resurrection;  Ascension-tide,  the  Mystery 
"which  gives  the  season  its  name  ;  Whitsunday,  the  Coming  and 
Work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  way  a 
week's  teaching  has  been  given  on  all  the  Great  Mysteries  of 
our  Lord's  life. 

It  was  not  so  easy  to  determine  the  principle  of  arrangement 
for  the  Sundays  after  Trinity.  One  thing,  however,  seemed 
clear.  The  Church  appears,  as  has  often  been  noticed,  to 
make  a  distinct  change  in  the  character  of  the  teaching  she 
supplies   for   these     Sundays.       For    the     first     six    months 


preface. 

after  Advent,  we  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  doctrinal  sig- 
nificance of  the  great  facts  of  the  Faith  ;  but  from  Trinity  till 
Advent,  witli  their  ethical  bearing.  We  have,  it  is  true,  many 
miracles  chosen  as  the  subjects  of  tlie  Gospels,  but  it  would 
seem  as  though  they  were  for  the  most  part  selected  rather  to 
point  certain  moral  lessons  than  to  establish  truths  of  doc- 
trine. Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  there  can  hardly  be  any 
question  that  the  predominating  feature  of  the  teaching  of  the 
second  half  of  the  Christian  Year  is  ethical.  An  attempt  has 
therefore  been  made  to  arrange  a  graduated  system  of 
readings  on  Christian  Ethics.  The  teaching  begins  with 
the  Cardinal  Virtues,  as  the  foundation  of  all  Christian 
morality;  it  then  makes  an  advance  in  the  revelation  of  the 
Law  of  Life  given  at  Sinai ;  the  Beatitudes  follow  next,  as  re- 
vealing the  Life  of  Happiness;  and  the  whole  is  crowned 
with  the  sublime  lessons  of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love. 

It  is  thus  hoped  that  no  important  teaching  of  doctrine  or 
practice  is  omitted  in  the  extracts  given  in  the  course  of  the 
year.  For  the  second  half  of  the  book  the  compiler  is  chiefly 
indebted  to  his  wife,  without  whose  aid  this  little  work  would 
never  have  been  attempted. 

It  is  impossible  to  acknowledge  the  deep  obligation  we  are 
under  to  the  Authors  from  whose  works  selections  have  been 
made,  or  their  publishers  who  have  given  them  to  the  world. 
Special  thanks  are,  however,  due  to  Messrs.  Longmans  &  Co. 
and  to  Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co.,  who  have  met  the  compiler's 
request  to  use  their  books  with  their  usual  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness. If  liberties  have  been  taken  which  ought  not  to  have 
been,  he  trusts  that  some  indulgence  may  be  granted  on  the 
ground  of  the  large  number  of  authors  quoted,  and  the  impos- 
sibility in  many  cases  of  obtaining  their  consent.     He  sincerely 


preface. 

trusts  that  this  fresh  endeavor  to  commend  the  weekly  teach- 
ing of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  to  "  all  who  profess  and 
call  themselves  Christians,"  may  have  some  share  in  the  valu- 
able missionary  work  which  this  great  heritage  of  the  Anglican 
Church  is  accomplishing  throughout  the  world. 

All  Saints'  Day,  i8qs. 


ContentB, 


Preface     .     .     . 
List  of  Authors 


TART  I. 


Advent 

Week  of— 

1st  Sunday  in  Advent :    The  F'uial  Judgment i 

2d  "  Holy  Scripture,  a  Means  of  preparing 

for  the  Final  Judgment     ....         8 
3d  "  The  Ministry,  a    Means   of  preparing 

for  the  Final Jtidgtnent     ....        15 
4th  "  The  Manifold  Comings  of  Christ,  prepare 

for  the  Final  Judgment     ....       22 

SAINTS    COMMEMORATED    IN   ADVENT. 
^i.  Andv&vf  i^ov.  -^oth):  Bringing  others  to  Jesus  Christ    .     .     .     391 
St,  Thomas  (Dec.  21st) :  Doubts,  and  hozu  to  overcome  them     .     .    392 

Christmas. 

"(Breaf  is  f^e  (JPgeferg  of  (BobftnesB." 

Christmas  Eve  :      .     .      The  Vision  of  these  latter  days      ...  28 

Christmas  Day :     .     .      The  Wonder  of  the  Incarnation    ...  29 

St.  Stephen  (Dec.  26th):  The  Incarnation  and  Self  Sacrifice  .     .  30 
St.  John  the  Evangehst — 

(Dec.  27th)  :  The  Incarnation  and  Human  Thought  .  31 


PAGE 

The  Holy  Innocents — 

(Dec.  2Sth) :  The  Incarnation  and  Suffering     ...       32 
The  last  Days  of  the  Old  Year— 

(Dec.  29th) :  The  Incarnation  and  the  Revelation  of 

the  Love  of  God    .     , 33 

"         (Dec.  30th)  :   The  Incarnation  and  Life 34 

"         (Dec.  31st):    The  Dying  Year 35 

The  New  Year  and  Season  of  Epiphany. 

"(Bob  t»a6  moxKX^t^i  \\\  f^^Sfes^." 

The  Circumcision — 

(Jan.  isl) :    The  New  Year  and  Self- Mortification .        36 

(Jan."  2d):    The  Incarnation  and  Ideals 37 

38 
39 
40 
41 


(Jan.  3d) :    The  Incarnation  and  Common  Life  . 

(Jan.  4th) :  The  Incarnation  and  Reality     .     .  . 

(Jan.  5th):    The  Incarnatio7i  and  Huyyiility     .  . 

TheEpiphany(Jan.6th):  The  Manifestation  of  Christ    .     .  . 

Week  of — 
1st  Sunday  after  Epiphany  : 

Christ's  Character  manifested  to  the  World  48 

2d  "  Manifestation  of  Christ  to  His  Disciples  55 

3d  "  Manifestation  of  Christ  to   the  Sinful 

and  Afflicted 62 

4th  "  Manifestation  of  Christ  in  Nature    .     .  69 

5th  "  Manifestation  of  Christ  in  Teaching      .  76 

6th  "  Manifestation  of  Christ  as  the  Sinless  One  83 

Festivals  of  the  Season. 
Conversion  of  S.  Paul — 

(Jan.  25th) :  A  true  conversiott 393 

Feast  of  the  Purification — 

(Feb.   2d) :    Diligent  Devotion 394 


Week  of — 
Septuagesima   . 
Sexagesima . 
Quinquagesima 


PAGR 

Lent. 

"^xxBiificb  in  ^ipivit" 

The  Preparation. 

T/ie  Creation 90 

The  Fall  of  Man 97 

.Sin 104 

The  Forty  Days. 
Week  of — 

1st  Sunday  in   Lent:     The  Atoning  Wo7'k   of   Christ  and  its- 
Obligations.     (The  Baptism)    .     .     .     1 1 1 

2d  "  The  Atoning  Work  of   Christ  and  its 

Obligations.     (The  Fast)    .     .     .     .     n8 

3d  "  The  Atoning    Work  of   Christ  and  its 

Obligations.     (The  Temptation)  .     .     125 

4th  "  The    Atoning    Work   of    Christ.    (The 

Agony) 132 

5th  "  The  Atoning  Work  of  Christ.  (The  Cross 

and  Passion) I39 

Palm  Sunday:       .     .      The  Great  Act  of  Atonetnent     ....     146 

Festivals  of  the  Season. 

St.  Matthias : The  Lost  Crown 395 

Feast  of  the  Annunciation  :    Self- Stir  render 396 

Easter. 

"  ^een  of  O^ngeffi." 

Easter  Week    .     .     .      The  Fact  of  the  Risen  Life        ....     153 

Week  of — 
1st  Sunday  after  Easter:  The  Church,  the  Embodiment  of  the  Risen 

Life 160 

xiii 


PAGE 

Week  of— 
2d  Sunday  after  Easter  The  Church^ s   Unity,  the  Expression  of 

the  Risen  Life 167 

3d  "  Christian  Morality,  the  Evidence  of  the 

Risen  Life 174 

4th  "  The  Sacraments,  the  Application  of  the 

Risen  Life 181 

5th  "  Prayer,  the  Energy  of  the  Risoi  Life     .     iSS 

Ascensiontide. 

"(Heceit?eb  \xi^  info  (Bfor^." 

Ascension  Day  and  Week  after  :    The  Ascension  and  its  Lessons   .     192 

Whitsuntide. 

"  ^ireac^eb  unfo  f^e  (BeitfifeB." 

WhitsunEve:       .     .      The  promised  Gift  of  the  LJoly  Ghost     .      201 
Whitsun  Week :  The  Coming  of  the  Lloly  Ghost      .     .     .     202 

Saints  Commemorated  in  the  Season. 

St.  Mark  (April  25th)  :     .     .     .      Our  duty  to  the  Gospel     ...     397 
St.  Philip  and  St.  James  (May  i):    The  severe  and  social  virtues    .     398 

Trinity. 
"(gefietjeb  on  in  i^t  n^orfb." 

Week  of  Trinity  Sunday  :    The  mystery  of  the  Lloly  Trinity  .     .     209 

Saints    Commemorated  in  the  Season  of  Trinity. 

S.Barnabas  (June  1 1 tb):  Tolerance  of  Religious  Error    ....     399 
S.  John  the  Baptist — 

(June24tb):   The  Character  of  Christian  Rebuke    .     .     400 
S.    Peter  (June  29th):  JVie  Service  of  Love,  Thoughifulness  and 

Self  surrender 401 

xiv 


Confente. 


PAGE 


S.    James  (July  25th):  Degrees  in  Glory 402 

S.  Bartholomew — 

(Aug.  24th):  Quietness 403 

S.Matthew  (Sept.  21st):  The  Divine  Election 404 

S.  Michael  and  All  Angels — 

(Sept. 29th):   The  Restraining  Injltience  of  the  Angels.    405 

S.    Luke     (Oct.  1 8th):  Healing  and  Peace 409 

S.  Simon  and  S.  Jude — 

(Oct.  28th):  Christian  Zeal  407 

All  Saints'  Day— 

{^oy,l?,i):  The  Life  of  the  Blessed  in  Paradise    .     .    408 

PART   II. 

t^e  Christian  feife. 


FOUNDATION    VIRTUES. 

"  O^bb  fo  voutr  faif3  tJtrfue." 

Week  of — 

1st  Sunday  after  Trinity :  yz^j/zV^ 216 

2d  ''  Prudence        223 

3d  "  Temperance 230 

4th  "  Fortitude         237 

THE   REVELATION    OF    LIFE. 

"  3f  i^ou  fwiff  enfer  \\\io  fife  See^j  f^e  CommanbmenfB." 

5th  Sunday  after  Trinity  :  Fi^-st  Commandment 244 

6th  "  Second  Commandment 251 


7th  S 

unday  after  Trinity 

8th 

(( 

9th 

" 

loth 

<( 

nth 

« 

1 2th 

(( 

13th 

« 

14th 

« 

Third  Commandment 
Fourth  Commandment 
Fifth  Commandfuent  . 
Sixth  Commandment 
Seventh  Commandment 
Eighth  Co7?i??iandment 
Ninth  Commandment 
Tenth  Comfnandmejtt 


PAGE 
258 

265 
272 
279 
286 

300 


THE   REVELATION    OF    HAPPINESS. 

"  giB  biBCt^efi  C(xmt  wwio  %xm :  ant  %t  oi^twtb  gtB  mout^  anb 

15  th  Sunday  after  Trinity  :  First  Beatitude 314 

1 6th  "  Second  Beatitude 321 

17th  "  Third  Beatitude 328 

1 8th  "  Fourth  Beatitude 335 

19th  "  Fifth  Beatitude        342 

20th  "  Sixth  Beatitude 349 

2 1st  "  Seventh  Beatitude 356 

22d  "  Eighth  Beatitude 363 


THE   CROWN    OF   LIFE. 

greafefif  of  f^eee  10  c^aritg." 

23d  Sunday  after  Trinity  :  Faith 370 

24th  "  Hope 377 

25th  "  Charity 384 


&,iBi  of  (^uf^or0  ^uofe^. 


ASHWELL,  A.  R. 

Augustine,  St. 
aurelius,  m. 

Barrow,  Bishop. 
Benson,  Archbishop. 
Benham,  W. 
Besson,  Pere. 
Body,  George. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon. 
Brooks,  Phillips,  Bishop 
Browning,  Robert. 
Bright,  William. 
Bramston,  Mary. 
Bunyan,  John. 
Bushnell,  Horace. 
Butler,  Bishop. 
Butler,  Archer. 

Campion,  W.  T.  H. 
Carlyle,  Thomas. 
Carter,  T.  T. 
Channing,  William. 
Church,  Dean. 
Clark,  Andrew,  Sir 
Coleridge,  S.  T 

Dale,  R.  W. 

Davies,  Llewellyn. 
DiDON,  Pere. 
Dix,  Morgan. 
Dollinger,  J.  von. 

Fenelon,  Archbishop. 
FiELD:^,  James. 
Forbes,  Bishop. 
Fox,  Caroline. 

Gent,  C.  W. 
Gladstone,  W.  E. 
Godet,  F. 
Goodwin,  Harvey, 

Bishop. 
Gordon,  General. 


Gore,  Charles. 
GouLBURN,  Dean. 

Hall,  Bishop. 
Hall,  A.  C.  A.,  Bishop. 
Hare,  Augustus, 
Hare,  Julius. 
Herbert,  George. 
HiNTON,  James. 
Holland,  H.  S. 
Hooker,  Richard. 
Huntington,  W.  R. 
HUTCHINGS,  W.  H. 

Ignatius,  St. 
Illingworth,  J.  R. 

Keble,  John. 
KiDD,  Benjamin. 
King,  Bishop. 
KiNGDON,  Bishop. 
Kingsley,  Charles. 
Kip,  Bishop. 

Lacordaire,  Pere. 
Latham,  H. 

LiDDON,  H.  P. 
Lincoln,  Abraham. 
Lock,  W. 
Lyttelton,  a. 

MacColl,  Malcclm. 
Magee,  Archbishop. 
Mair,  A. 
Martensen,  H, 
Masom,  a.  J. 
Maurice,  F.  D. 
Maxwell,  Clerk. 
Medd,  p.  G. 
Mill,  J.  S. 
Mill,  W.  H. 

MiLLIGAN,  W. 

Moberly,  Bishop. 
Moberly,  R.  C. 
Moore,  Aubrey. 


MooRHOusE,  Bishop. 
Moule,  H. 

MOZLEY,  J.   B. 

Newbolt,  W.  C.  E. 
Newman,  J.  H. 
NORRIS,  J.  P. 

Paget,  Francis. 
Pascal,  Blaise. 
Pearson,  Bishop. 
Plato. 

Puller,  F.  W. 
PUSEY,  E.  B. 

Richter,  Jean  Paul. 
RiDGEWAV,  C.  J. 
Robertson,  F.  W. 
Row,  C.  A. 
Rousseau,  J.  J. 

RUSKIN,  J. 

Sadler,  M.  F. 
Seeley,  Professor. 
Sen,  Keshub  Chunder. 
Smiles,  S. 
Steere,  Bishop. 
Strong,  T.  B. 

Taylor,  Jeremy. 
Tennyson,  Lord. 
Thomas  a  Kempis. 
Thomson,  Archbishop. 
Trench,  Archbishop. 

Vaughan,  C.  J. 

Watson,  Ellen. 
Webb,  Bishop. 
Westcott,  Bishop. 
Wilkinson,  Bishop. 
Williams,  Isaac. 
Woodford,  Bishop. 
Wordsworth,  Bishop. 
Wordsworth,  Elizabeth 
Wotton,  H.,  Sir. 


PART  1, 


^c  C^tietiAn  ^Aii^ 


ADVENT  TO  TRINITY 


"Without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness: 
God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of 
angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world, 
received  up  into  glory." 


Advent  Sunday.] 

t^t  Sinaf  3ubgmenl 

THE  UNCERTAINTY    OF   ITS   DATE. 

Yourselves  hiow  perfectly  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  cometh  as  a 
thief  in  the  night. — 1  Thess.  v.  2. 


"T^HE  date  at  which  the  great  Advent  will  take  place  is  en- 
^^  tirely  unknown  to  us.  It  cannot  be  calculated  from  the 
symbolical  numbers  of  S.  John  ;  nor  can  the  most  spiritual 
discernment  be  sure  of  reading  unerringly  the  signs  of  its 
approach.  If  in  reaction  from  the  profane  curiosity  which 
delights  to  make  out  the  day  and  hour,  we  hold  that  it  is  still 
far  distant,  our  very  thinking  so  is  more  of  a  sign  that  it  is  at 
hand  than  otherwise  ;  for  the  one  thing  certain  about  the  date 
is  that  it  will  throw  out  all  computations,  "  for  in  such  an  hour 
as  ye  think  not,  the  Son  of  Man  cometh."  (S.  Matt.  xxiv.  44.) 
Assuredly  Christ  will  not  come  till  the  very  moment  of  the 
"fulness  of  the  times"  any  more  than  at  the  first  coming. 
But  if  the  world  does  not  yet  appear  ripe  for  the  end,  no  one 
can  calculate  how  long  or  short  a  time  might  be  needed  for  the 
ripening.  "One  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years" 
(2  Pet.  iii.  8) ;  and  events  might  move  with  an  appalling  rush 
if  it  pleased  Him  to  give  the  impulse.  The  ingredients  are  all 
in  the  cup  ;  it  only  needs  the  addition  of  some  drop  to  resolve 
and  precipitate  them.  There  is  but  one  lesson  which  Our  Lord 
inculcates  on  every  mention  of  His  Coming — to  be  always 
watching  for  it,  and  never  to  acquiesce  in  the  belief  that  it  is 
far  away.  A.  J.  MASON. 


[Monday. 

$^e  (Breat  ^ubsment. 

CERTAINTY    OF    THE    FACT. 

As  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the  Jtidg- 
ment. — Heb.  ix.  27. 


'Jt^ERE  there  is  no  room  for  doubt  or  disputation.  The 
^y  judgment  must  be  ;  and  it  must  be  personal  to  every 
child  of  Adam.  The  prophecies  that  proclaim  it  are  for  the 
most  part  referable,  not  to  detached  nations  or  tribes  of  men, 
but  to  man  as  such ;  to  have  been  born  into  this  world  is  the 
sole  condition  for  being  the  subject  of  this  tremendous  dispen- 
sation. In  the  very  being — the  rational  and  moral  being — that 
God  has  given  us.  He  has  inwoven  the  future  judgment ;  He 
has  constructed  our  nature  so  that  it  demands  this  award  as 
its  necessary  completion.  Our  daily  life  is  one  long  prophecy 
of  that  day.  In  the  gloomy  recollections  of  age,  in  the  man  of 
crime  who  struggles  in  vain  to  crush  a  rebuking  conscience,  in 
the  youth  who  weeps  the  bitter  fruits  of  passion,  in  the  very 
child  who  runs  to  hide  his  conscious  fault — in  all  alike  is  fore- 
shadowed the  terrible  decree  of  universal  judgment.  For 
judgment  we  are  born,  for  judgment  we  flourish,  grow  old  and 
die ;  nature  herself  dares  not  deny  the  certainty  of  retribution ; 
the  Gospel  but  confirms  her  conviction ;  for  even  in  regions 
where  the  Gospel  has  never  sounded,  HER  voice  speaking  in 
all  nations,  languages  and  times  has  proclaimed  from  pole  to 
pole,  that  God  shall  judge  His  creature. 

William  Archer  Butler. 


First  Week  in  Advent?^ 


Tuesday.] 

ITS   CHARACTER. 

Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  ti?ne,  until  the  Lord  come,  who 
both  ivill  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness.^  and  will  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts. — 1  Cor.  iv.  5. 


T^HE  Judgment  of  Christ,  the  Son  of  Man,  is  the  revelation 
^^  of  things  as  they  are.  His  judgment  does  not  change 
the  judged :  it  simply  shows  them.  It  is  not,  as  far  as  we  can 
conceive,  a  conclusion  drawn  from  the  balancing  of  conflicting 
elements  or  a  verdict  upon  a  general  issue.  The  judgment  of 
God  is  the  perfect  manifestation  of  truth.  The  punishment  of 
God  is  the  necessary  action  of  the  awakened  conscience.  The 
judgment  is  pronounced  by  the  sinner  himself  and  he  inflicts 
inexorably  his  own  sentence.  In  our  present  state  a  thousand 
veils  hide  from  us  the  motives,  the  thoughts,  the  conditions 
which  give  their  real  character  to  men  and  the  conduct  of  men. 
We  judge  of  others  by  what  we  see  in  them  :  and,  what  is 
more  perilous  still,  we  are  tempted  to  judge  of  ourselves  by 
what  others  can  see  in  us.  But  in  the  perfect  light  of  Christ's 
Presence  everything  will  be  made  clear  in  its  essential  nature, 
the  opportunity  which  we  threw  away,  and  knew  that  we  threw 
away,  with  itsuncalculated  potency  of  blessing,  the  temptation 
which  we  courted  in  the  waywardness  of  selfish  strength,  the 
stream  of  consequence  which  has  flowed  from  our  example, 
the  harvest  which  others  have  gathered  from  our  sowing. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


[Wednesday. 

t^c  Sinaf  3u^gmenf. 

NO     PROBATION     AFTER. 

And  the  door  was  shut. — S.  Matt.  xxv.  10. 


^qO  this  life  succeeds  judgment;  and  judgment  is  always 
^^  spoken  of  as  if  it  were  something  complete  and  final. 
There  is  no  perspective  disclosed  beyond  the  doom  which  follows 
it.  The  curtain  falls;  the  drama  seems  played  out:  it  is  as  if 
we  were  to  understand  that  all  is  henceforth  over.  We  have 
specimens,  figurative  specimens  doubtless,  of  the  great  process 
and  trial,  specimens  of  the  sentence  ;  and  the  figures  are  taken 
from  what  is  most  decisive,  most  irrevocable  in  human  life. 
The  curtain  drops ;  and  whatever  may  happen  afterwards,  we 
are  not  shown  it.  The  harvest  of  the  world  is  reaped  ;  wheat 
and  tares  are  separated  ;  "  all  things  that  offend  and  they  which 
do  iniquity  "  are  cast  out  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  :  the  harvest  is 
the  end  of  the  world.  The  sentence  is  pronounced,  the  execu- 
tion of  justice  follows:  and  after  the  Judge's  acceptance  and 
the  Judge's  rejection,  there  appears  nothing  more.  It  is  the 
winding  up  and  close  of  that  scene  of  time  in  which  we  have 
all  been  so  deeply  interested  ;  henceforth  a  new  stage  of  exist- 
ence begins,  into  which  the  consequences  of  this  life  pursue  us, 
but  of  which  all  the  conditions  of  life  are  absolutely  beyond  our 
comprehension.  R.  W.  CHURCH. 


First  Week  in  Advent.] 


tHURSDAY.] 

$5eStnaf3ubgmenl 

THE     SENTENCE     ON     SIN. 

These  shall  go  away  into  eternal  piniishment. — S.  Matt.  xxv.  46. 


^JlE  cannot  misunderstand  about  the  gathering  of  all 
nations  before  the  Throne,  about  the  great  division  to 
the  right  hand  and  to  the  left.  We  cannot  misunderstand 
about  the  door  shut  on  the  unready  virgin,  on  the  prayer  urged 
so  eagerly  but  too  late.  We  cannot  misunderstand  about  the 
judgment  passed  on  "the  wicked  and  slothful  servant,"  cast  out 
to  "  the  outer  darkness,  where  there  is  weeping  and  gnashing 
of  teeth."  Whatever  may  be  the  measures  and  differences  of 
sin,  we  cannot  misunderstand  about  retribution,  absolute,  as 
terrible  as  words  can  describe  it,  on  sin  which  has  not  been 
forgiven.  We  cannot  misunderstand  the  appalling  significance, 
far  as  it  is  beyond  our  power  to  fathom  it,  of  the  "wrath  of 
God":  and  the  phrase  belongs  to  the  New  Testament  as  truly 
as  that  of  the  "  love  of  God."  Of  the  closing  retribution  our 
Lord  has  used  words  and  figures,  which  have  graven  them- 
selves deep  in  the  memory  and  imagination  of  mankind — the 
eternal  punishment,  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched,  the 
v*^orm  that  dieth  not,  the  place  of  torment  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  What  could  our  Saviour  mean  us  to  under- 
stand by  all  this?  Surely  He  did  not  mean  simply  to 
frighten  us.  Surely  He  meant  us  to  take  His  words  as 
true.  We  may  put  aside  the  New  Testament  altogether:  but 
if  we  profess  to  be  guided  by  it,  is  there  anything  but  a  "  cer- 
tain fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,"  for 
obstinate,  impenitent,  unforgiven  sin,  sin  without  excuse  and 
without  change  ?  R.  W.  CHURCH. 


[Friday. 

t^c  Sinaf  2itx^Qmcnt 

THE  JUSTIFICATION   OF   THE   RIGHTEOUS. 

T/ien  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from  God. — 1  Cor.  iv.  5. 


yftrOOD  Christians  will  see  Jesus  Christ  on  the  throne  of  His 
^^  glory.  Those  words  of  David,  "The  Lord  is  known  by 
the  judgments  which  He  executeth,"  will  come  true  :  He  will  be 
known  in  His  righteousness  and  His  power;  He  will  teach  every 
soul  what  He  is  in  Himself,  what  He  has  been  to  it:  He  will 
justify  His  award  to  all  and  to  each  by  a  complete  revelation 
of  His  mercy  and  of  His  justice.  More  than  this,  He  will  teach 
us  to  know  ourselves  as  we  have  never  known  ourselves  be- 
fore. In  His  soft  light  we  shall  see  light :  we  shall  see  our- 
selves. Those  who  have  known  and  loved  Him  amidst  coldness 
and  misunderstandings,  but  with  an  inward  sense  of  His  living 
Presence,  which  made  them  the  while  indifferent  to  earthly 
things,  will  then  be  seen  as  they  are — saved — sav^ed,  because 
robed  in  righteousness  which  is  not  theirs.  When  Christ,  who 
is  their  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  they  also  appear  with  Him 
in  glory.  It  will  be  their  day  of  triumph  over  all  the  crit- 
icisms which  have  been  levelled  at  their  presumed  folly;  it  will 
be  their  high  day  and  feast  of  recompense  for  all  the  humilia- 
tions and  sufferings  which  they  have  undergone. 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 


First   Week  in  Advent^ 


Saturday.] 

J^e  Sinaf  ^ubgment. 

OUR    DUTY    TO    ANTICIPATE    IT. 

IVait  for  His  Son  from  Heaven. — 1  Thess.  i.  10. 


n[TlE  ought  to  anticipate  the  day  of  judgment.  "  If  we 
would  judge  ourselves,  we  [should  not  be  judged." 
When  you  are  going  to  be  examined,  you  do  test  papers  first 
to  try  yourself.  When  you  spend  money,  you  keep  an  account 
if  you  are  wise,  so  that  you  may  not  run  into  debt.  What  are 
we  doing  to  prepare  for  the  last  and  most  searching  examina- 
tion of  all  ?  What  are  we  doing  to  prepare  for  our  last 
account  ?  Are  we  keeping  any  watch  over  ourselves  ?  At 
night,  for  instance,  do  we  go  to  bed  without  one  thought  how 
we  have  spent  the  day  ?  When  Saturday  comes  round,  do 
we  plunge  into  a  new  week  without  going  over  the  faults  com- 
mitted in  the  old  one  ?  When  New  Year's  Day  or  our  birth- 
days come,  do  we  let  a  fresh  anniversary  begin  without  any 
heart-searching,  any  repentance,  any  cry  for  pardon  through 
the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Judge  and  Redeemer?  A  time 
will  come,  we  may  be  sure,  when  five  or  ten  minutes  bestowed 
in  this  way  will  be  worth  more  to  us  than  all  the  hours  and 
hours  we  have  spent  on  some  of  the  many  accomplishments 
and  acquirements  we  are  so  eager  after. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


[Second  Sunday  in  advent. 

^of^  ^ctipiute,  a  ()Xlc(xnB  of  ^re^aring  for  t^e 
Sinaf  3u^gmenf . 

THE    DIVIIIE    CHARACTER   OF    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

A /I  Scripture  is  given   by  inspiration  of  God. — 2  Tim,  hi.  16. 


-yJ^HERE  is  without  a  doubt  something  in  the  Old  Testament, 
^y  as  well  as  in  the  New,  quite  different  in  kind,  as  well  as 
in  degree,  from  the  sacred  books  of  any  other  people  ;  an 
unique  element,  which  has  had  an  unique  effect  upon  the  human 
heart,  life  and  civilization.  This  remains  after  all  possible 
deductions  for  "  ignorance  of  physical  science,"  "  errors  in  num- 
bers and  chronology,"  "  interpolations,"  "  mistakes  of  tran- 
scribers," and  so  forth,  whereof  we  have  read  of  late  a  great 
deal  too  much,  and  ought  to  care  for  them  and  for  their 
existence  or  non-existence  simply  nothing  at  all;  because, 
granting  them  all — though  the  greater  part  of  them  I  do  not 
grant,  as  far  as  I  can  trust  my  critical  faculty — there  remains 
that  unique  element,  beside  which  all  these  accidents  are  but 
as  the  spots  on  the  sun  compared  to  the  great  glory  of  his 
life-giving  light.  The  unique  element  is  there ;  and  I  cannot 
but  still  believe,  after  much  thought,  that  it — the  powerful  and 
working  element,  the  inspired  and  Divine  element  which  has 
converted  and  still  converts  millions  of  souls — is  just  that 
which  Christendom  in  all  ages  has  held  it  to  be;  the  account 
of  certain  "  noble  acts  "  of  God  and  not  of  certain  noble 
thoughts  of  man — in  a  word,  not  merely  the  moral,  but  the 
historic  element ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  value  of  the  Bible 
teaching  depends  on  the  truth  of  the  Bible  story.  That  is  my 
belief.  Any  criticism  which  tries  to  rob  me  of  that,  I  shall 
look  at  fairly,  but  very  severely,  indeed. 

Charles  Kingsley. 


Monday.] 

^ofi^  ^tipiute,  a  (gleans  of  ^xtpaxinQ  for  t^e 
Sinaf  Jfu^gment. 

THE    BIBLE    THE    CHARTER    OF    HOPE. 

Whatsoever  things  were  zvritten  aforetime  luere  written  for  our 
learning.,  that  zve  through  patience  of  the  Scriptures  .  .  .  might 
have  hope.  — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


3N  spite  of  every  discouragement  we  cling  to  the  trust  with 
which  we  were  born.  Even  when  the  last  conclusions  of 
despondency  are  forced  upon  us  by  the  facts  of  life,  the  lieart 
will  not  surrender  its  loftiest  aspirations.  And  the  Bible  justi- 
fies them.  The  Bible,  in  which  we  can  see  human  life,  the 
simplest  and  the  loftiest,  penetrated  by  a  Divine  life,  gives  us 
as  an  abiding  possession  that  which  nature  and  the  soul  show 
only  far  off  for  a  brief  moment,  to  withdraw  it  again  from  the 
gaze  of  the  inquirer — the  vision  of  a  Divine  Presence.  The 
Bible  discloses  to  us  behind  the  veil  of  phenomena  something 
more  than  sovereign  law,  something  more  than  absolute  being. 
It  may  for  long  ages  be  silent  as  to  the  future,  but  from  the 
b(!ginning  to  the  end  it  is  inspired  by  the  Eternal.  It  places 
man  face  to  face  with  God  from  the  first  symbolic  scene  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  to  the  last  symbolic  scene  in  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem. It  makes  us  to  discern  with  spiritual  perception  One 
Who  is  not  loving  only  but  Love,  One  from  Whose  will  all  crea- 
tion fiows,  and  to  Whose  purpose  it  answers,  of  Whom  and 
through  Who?n  a?id  unto  Whom  are  all  things.  In  a  word, 
the  Bible  writes  hope  over  the  darkest  fields  of  life.  Man 
needs  hope  above  all  things  :  and  the  Bible  is  the  charter  of 
hope,  the  message  of  the  God  of  revelation.  Who  alone  is  the 
God  of  hope.  BiSHOP  Westcott. 


[Tuesday. 

gof^  ^cxipixxvc,  a  (gteane   of  ^cpatirxQ  for  t^e 
Sinaf  3ul>gmenf. 

THE    CONSOLATION    OF    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

Comfort  of  the   So-iptiires. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


CC\^  not  many  recollect  the  bright,  cheerful,  aged  piety  of 
^^  those  who  have  gone  to  their  rest  ?  What  was  the 
character  of  that  cheerful  piety  ?  What  was  the  outward  sign 
of  it  ?  I  do  not  know  whether  others  will  agree  with  me — but 
I  should  say  the  Bible.  The  people  I  mean  never  had  their 
Bibles  far  away.  Old  people  read  in  it  many  times  a  day. 
They  read  their  chapter  in  a  morning.  They  sat  quiet  and 
read  it  in  the  afternoon.  They  read  it  by  the  last  sunlight  at 
their  windows,  or  when  the  evening  lamp  came.  Their  spec- 
tacles lay  on  it — ready  for  use  together.  Their  son  or  their 
daughter  read  it  to  them  before  they  went  to  bed.  They  made 
their  grandchildren  read  it  aloud  to  them.  Yes,  they  knew 
the  Scriptures;  and  they  \\2.(S.''  Comfort  of  the  Scriptures." 
They  were  a  more  cheerful,  pious  generation  than  we.  Now 
the  Bible  m.ay  be  more  scientifically  studied  by  a  few.  But  it 
is  not  so  much  the  stay  of  all.  Doubtfulnesses  which  have 
been  created  about  this  or  that  point,  which  will  in  their  time 
either  receive  their  answers  or  become  useful  helps  in  the  inter- 
pretation, have  been  permitted  in  a  sickly,  infectious  way  to 
creep  about  the  whole  of  some  people's  religious  opinions  ;  so 
that  they  are  like  children  who  do  not  look  into  this  room  or 
that  passage,  for  fear  there  should  be  a  ghost  there.  Thus 
they  use  their  Bibles  less.  .  .  .  They  have  not  a  notion 
how  insignificant  all  the  verbal  difficulties  are  in  comparison  of 
the  great  powers  and  strengths  and  truths  and  insights  which 
S.  Paul  or  S.  John  could  teach  them  direct  from  the  lips  of 
the  Son,  or  the  breathings  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Archbishop  Benson. 

Second  Week  in  Adz'ertt.]  lo 


Wednesday.] 

gof^  ^cnpture,  a  (ttteane  of  preparing  for  t^e 
Sinaf  ^u^Qmtnt 

THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  MAKETH  WISE. 

T/ie  Holy  Scriptures  which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  tmto  salva- 
tion.— 2  Tim.  hi.  16. 


QrjES,  this  is  the  great  power  which  S.  Paul  claims  for  the 
f^  Old  Testament — that  it  will  accustom  men  to  the  right 
way  of  looking  at  things,  and  make  them  see  the  meaning  of 
their  own  life  more  nearly  as  God  sees  it ;  that  it  will  give  them 
more  of  that  strong  and  pure  and  quiet  wisdom  which  poor  and 
simple  people  often  have,  and  with  which  they  go  on,  quite 
clear  and  unperplexed,  amidst  all  the  problems  and  sophistries 
which  entangle  many  who  are  more  clever  and  less  spiritual. 
The  shrewdness  of  the  unworldly,  the  penetrating,  steady  in- 
sight  of  those  whose  eye  is  single,  who  have  done  with  selfish 
secret  aims — this  is  what  men  may  gain  from  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures which  Timotheus  knew.  They  may  be  made  wise  to 
understand  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is ;  they  may  take  the 
measure  of  all  earthly  things  so  truly  and  surely,  with  so  just 
an  estimate,  that  they  may,  indeed,  recognize  the  Crucified  as 
the  fulfilment  of  the  world's  true  hope,  and  glory  in  His  Cross; 
that  they  may  see  how  sacrifice  both  was  and  is  the  one  true 
way  of  victory  in  this  world,  and  that  there  is  no  strength  like 
that  which  hides  itself  in  patience  and  humility ;  that  Christ 
ought  to  have  suffered  these  things,  and  so  to  enter  into  His 
glory.  Francis  Paget. 


[Thursday. 

gof^  ^ctipime,  a  (JUeane  of  (Jpte^jaring  for  f^e 
Stnaf  Jfu^gment. 

THE    PROPHETS    CLEAR    UP   DIFFICULTIES. 

And  we  have  the  zvord  of  pi- op  he  cy  made  more  sure;  tvherunto  ye 
do  ivell  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  lamp  shinhig  in  a  dark  place. — 
2  Peter  i.  19. 


^1  HE  compilers  of  the  Lessons  have  been  much  more  careful 
^^  to  exhibit  the  Prophets  as  preachers  of  righteousness 
than  as  mere  predictors.  I  have  felt  that  this  aspect  of  their 
lives  has  been  greatly  overlooked  in  our  day,  and  that  there  is 
none  which  we  have  more  need  to  contemplate.  The  history 
of  the  Hebrew  Monarchy,  without  the  light  which  it  receives 
from  Jewish  prophecy,  seems  to  me  as  unintelligible  and  in- 
coherent as  it  does  to  those  who  reject  it,  or  who  try  to  recon- 
struct it.  Seen  by  that  light,  I  can  find  nothing  more  orderly 
or  continuous,  nothing  more  consistent  with  itself  or  more  help- 
ful in  interpreting  the  modern  world.  I  have  found  that  the 
Old  Testament  Prophets,  taken  in  their  simple  natural  sense, 
in  that  sense  in  which  they  can  be  understood  by  and  presented 
to  a  lay  student,  clear  up  difficulties  which  torment  us  in  the 
daily  work  of  life;  make  the  past  intelligible,  the  present  en- 
durable, the  future  real  and  hopeful ;  cast  a  light  upon  books ; 
deliver  us  from  the  tyranny  of  books ;  bring  the  invisible  world 
near  to  us  ;  show  how  the  visible  world  maybe  subjected  to  its 
laws  and  principles.  F.  D.  Maurice. 


Second  Week  in  Ad7>ent.] 


Friday.] 

i^of^  ^ctipiute,   a  (^eans  of  ^re^aring  for  t^e 
Stnaf  Jfu^gment. 

THE    GOSPELS    SANCTIFY    THE    HUMAN    AFFECTIONS. 

Ve  are  clean  through  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you. — 
S.  John  xv.  3. 


T^HESE  Inspired  Histories  do  not,  except  incidentally  and 
^^  subordinately,  instruct  us  in  doctrines ;  they  present  to 
our  mind's  eye  a  Person;  One  who  exhibited  (while  on  earth), 
in  harmonious  combination,  all  the  graces  of  human  character, 
yea,  rather  I  should  say,  all  the  Perfections  of  the  Godhead, 
mirrored  in  the  crystal  glass  of  a  sinless  Humanity.  ...  If 
by  these  inimitable  portraitures  of  His  earthly  career,  a  man  be 
drawn  towards  the  risen  Saviour  in  the  bonds  of  affiance,  trust 
andi  love;  so  drawn  as  to  cultivate  a  heavenly  friendship  with 
Christ  in  the  way  which  He  Himself  has  appointed,  by  "keep- 
ing His  commandments";  so  drawn  as  to  find  in  spiritual 
Communion  with  Christ  a  solace  and  refreshment,  which  He 
seeks  in  vain  elsewhere:  so  drawn  as  for  the  love  of  Jesus  to 
bear  with  the  infirmities  of  Jesu's  members,  and  to  submit 
Himself  in  meekness  to  the  Cross  which  Jesus  lays  upon  him  ; 
then  have  the  Gospels  fulfilled  towards  that  man  their  great 
spiritual  purpose,  and  he  is  sanctified  through  the  Truth  of 
God,  brought  to  bear,  in  an  efficient  and  practical  manner, 
upon  his  Affections.  E.  M.  GOULBURN. 


?3 


[Saturday. 

^of2   ^ctipiuu,  a  (gleane  of  ^xtpatirxQ  for  f§e 
Sinaf  3u^gment. 

THE    BIBLE    TO    BE    USED. 

T/iey  searched  the  Scriptures  daily. — Acts  xvii.  11. 


"Ti^HE  Bible  is  not  a  charm  that,  keeping  it  on  our  shelves,  or 
^^  locking  it  up  in  a  closet,  can  do  us  any  good.  Nor  is  it  a 
story  book  to  read  for  amusement.  It  is  sent  to  teach  us  our 
duty  to  God  and  man,  to  show  us  from  what  a  height  we  are 
fallen  by  sin,  and  to  what  a  far  more  glorious  height  we  may 
soar  if  we  will  put  on  the  wings  of  faith  and  love.  This  is  the 
use  of  the  Bible,  and  this  use  we  ought  to  make  of  it.  Use  it, 
then,  for  this  purpose,  each  according  to  his  means.  All 
indeed  have  not  time  for  much  reading  ;  but  every  one  who 
wishes  it  may  at  least  manage  to  read  a  verse  or  two,  when  he 
comes  home  of  an  evening,  and  of  a  morning  before  going  to 
work.  Now  a  couple  of  verses  well  thought  over  will  do  a 
man  more  good  than  whole  chapters  swallowed  without 
thought.  Do  but  this  little;  and  God,  Who  judges  us  accord- 
ing to  our  means,  and  Who  looked  with  greater  favor  on  the 
mites  of  the  poor  widow  than  on  all  the  golden  offerings  of 
the  rich,  will  accept  your  two  verses  and  enable  your  souls  to 
grow  and  gain  strength  by  this,  their  daily  food.  Christ,  Who 
is  the  way  of  life,  will  open  your  eyes  to  see  the  way.  He  will 
send  you  the  wings  I  just  spoke  of;  and  they  shall  bear  you  up 
to  Heaven.  AUGUSTUS  W.  Hare. 


Second  Week  in  Advent^ 


Third  Sunday  in  Advent.] 

J^e  (JJtiniefrg,  a  (gteanc  of  ^xcpatinQ  for  f ^e  Sinaf 
Jfu^cjmenl 

THE    EXAMPLE    OF    THE    BAPTIST. 

A   prophet?   yea,  I  say    unto  you,   and  mo7-e   than  a  prophet. — 
Gospel  for  the  Week. 


fOW  much  depends  on  each  ordination — how  much  to 
those  who  are  ordained,  how  much  to  those  whom 
they  are  to  feed  and  teach  until  Christ  calls  them  to  their 
account!  Each  one  of  them  is,  as  to-day's  collect  reminds  us, 
to  be  a  precursor  of  the  second  Advent — to  be  as  S.  John  the 
Baptist,  to  prepare  and  make  ready  Christ's  way,  by  turning 
the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Just,  that  at 
His  second  coming  to  judge  the  world  we  may  be  found  an 
acceptable  people  in  His  sight.  Will  they  be  this  or  anything 
hke  this  ?  "  Who  knows,"  you  say,  "  the  history  of  a  soul — 
what  it  has  been  in  the  past  what  it  is  likely  to  be  in  the  time 
to  come  ?  "  "  Certainly,"  I  answer,  "  who  knows  ?  "  But  this, 
at  least,  we  do  know — that  we  may  all  of  us  do  something 
towards  settling  the  question;  we  may  pray  for  the  newly 
ordained,  we  may  show  a  Christian  interest  in  them,  we  may 
make  them  feel  that  we  expect  much  at  their  hands,  that  we 
esteem  them  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake.  We  may 
discourage  and  frown  down,  even  sternly,  the  cowardly  dispo- 
sition to  which  ordained  men  sometimes  yield,  to  drug  their 
own  conscience  and  to  seek  a  transient  and  worthless  popular- 
ity by  denying  the  high  commission  which  Christ  has  given 
them.  "  Like  priest,  like  people."  Yes — but  also,  "  Like  people, 
like  priest."  Expect  a  man  to  be  courageous,  and  you  have 
done  something  to  make  him  so.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


[Monday, 

t^t  (^iniBiti^,  a  (gleans  of  0xepannQ  for  t^e  Sinaf 
3u^5menf. 

THE    PURPOSE    OF  THE    MINISTRY. 

J^or  the  perfecting  of  tJie  Saints,  for  the  work  of  the  Ministry,  for 
the  edifying  of  the  Body  of  Christ. — Epii.  iv,  12. 


nj^HAT  is  that  purpose  ?  It  is,  it  must  ever  be  remembered, 
that  same  purpose,  that  and  no  other,  for  which  the 
Christian  ministry  was  set  up  in  those  ancient  days  when  the 
New  Testament  was  being  written.  With  all  the  changes  of 
time  and  circumstance,  with  all  its  own  infinite  variety  of 
functions,  that  ministry  is  still  essentially  what  it  was  then, 
meant  for  a  great  missionary  institution.  The  reason  why  it 
exists  is,  to  spread  light,  to  strengthen  and  build  up  goodness, 
to  carry  on  the  never-ending  war  against  wrong  and  evil  and 
degeneracy.  That  astonishing  work  which  we  read  of  in  the 
Acts,  which  we  see  going  on  in  the  Epistles  of  S.  Paul,  that  is 
the  work  which  must  go  on  now,  which  must  go  on  in  every 
age,  if  the  world  is  to  be  sought  and  gained  for  Christ.  The 
contrast  of  conditions,  of  our  accepted  and  settled  religion 
with  those  days  when  it  was  breaking  for  the  first  time  upon 
mankind,  sometimes  confuses  us.  Those,  we  imagine,  were 
the  times  of  sowing,  of  driving  the  plough  into  the  fallows  and 
the  waste;  now  are  the  easier  times  of  reaping.  Those  were 
the  times  of  attack  and  war,  these  of  ordering  our  conquest  in 
place.  Do  not  let  us  be  led  away  by  appearances.  The  times 
of  peace,  the  times  of  reaping  are  yet  a  long  way  off.  .  .  . 
Ah  !  the  warfare  is  not  over,  in  its  terrible  and  increasing 
vicissitudes.  The  successesof  to-day  are  reversed  to-morrow  : 
the  ground  gained  by  one  man  is  lost  by  another  ,  while  behind 
the  line  of  immediate  struggle  still  lies  the  vast,  thick  and 
unshaken  mass  of  human  darkness,  human  barbarism,  human 
selfishness,  human  degradation.  R.  W.  CHURCH. 

Third  Week  in  Adz>ent.]  i6 


Tuesday.] 

Z^t  (glinisf t)^,  a  (gleans  of  ^cpmnq  for  f ^e  Stnaf 
gu^gmenf, 

THE    MINISTRY    OF    PREACHING. 

//  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  thetn  that 
believe. — 1  Cor.  i.  21. 


.^^IRST  amongst  the  appointed  means  of  Grace  comes  the 
0^  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  instinct  of  the  Church 
has  led  her  not  to  class  preaching  among  the  Sacraments,  al- 
though there  would  be  much  reason  for  doing  so.  It  was  dis- 
tinctly ordained  by  Christ  Himself — "Preach  the  Gospel,"  He 
said,  "  to  the  whole  creation  '"  (S.  Mark  xvi.  15).  The  interior 
form  in  which  it  is  clothed,  though  not  addressed  to  sight  or 
touch,  is  addressed  to  hearing,  so  that  the  body  also  has  share 
in  it,  as  in  other  Sacraments.  And  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
there  is  a  truly  sacramental  grace  and  power  in  preaching. 
The  words  are  not  mere  words,  but  vehicles  of  something 
beyond  words.  Christ  says,  "  The  sayings  that  I  have  spoken 
unto  you  are  spirit  and  are  life"  (S.  John  vi.  6^.  Speech  alto- 
gether is  a  great  mystery;  and  no  one  can  pretend  to  under- 
stand or  measure  the  power  exerted  by  mind  upon  mind  by 
means  of  vibrations  of  sound,  imparting  ideas  which  alter  the 
whole  career  and  character  of  a  man  for  good  or  for  evil. 

A.  J.  Mason, 


[Wednesday. 


$5e  (gtiniefti?,  a  (Uleane  of  0tcpannQ  for  t^e  Sinaf 
3u^gment. 


THE    MINISTRY    OF    GRACE, 


T/ie  Head,  even  Christ  :  frojn  whom  the  whole  Body  fitly  joined  to- 
gether and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to 
the  effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase 
of  the  Body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love. — Eph.  iv.  15, 16. 


"T^HE  work  of  Christ  is  not  perpetuated  merely  in  words ; 
^^  there  is  more  to  be  done  than  teaching.  "  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  not  in  word  but  in  power."  There  is  the  gift  of  grace, 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  manifold  gifts  from  the  Spirit  in  view 
of  man's  manifold  needs;  and  the  Church  is  the  home  in  which 
this  rich  treasure  is  distributed,  the  household  of  God  in  which 
is  distributed  the  bread  of  life,  a  portion  to  each  in  due  season. 
It  is  by  the  ministration  of  these  manifold  gifts  of  grace  that 
our  humanity  is  raised  again  into  its  true  relation  to  God,  and 
brought  back  into  union  with  Him.  And  the  Church  shares 
also  Christ's  Kingly  function.  The  pastoral  office  is,  at  least, 
as  much  an  office  of  ruling  as  of  feeding.  The  Church  is  to 
discipline,  to  guide,  to  strengthen  the  manifold  characters, 
wills  and  minds  of  men,  till  this  human  life  of  ours  is  brought, 
in  all  its  parts  and  capacities,  into  the  obedience  of  Christ. 
Thus  the  Church  perpetuates  the  threefold  mission  of  the 
Christ.  "  As  my  Father  hath  sent  Me  prophetic,  priestly, 
kingly,  so  send  I  you,  prophetic,  priestly,  kingly." 

C.  Gore. 


Third  Week  in  Advent.'] 


Thursday.] 

t^c  dP^iniBixi^,  a  (gleans  of  preparing  for  t^e  finaf 
3[ubgmenf» 

THE    MINISTRY    OF    DAILY  WORSHIP. 

And  they^  continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and 
breaking  bread  from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with  gladness 
and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God  and  having  favour  with  all  the 
people. — Acts  ii.  46, 47. 


3F  the  reality  of  prayer  and  of  the  Father's  immediate,  sym- 
pathetic, effective  acceptance  of  it  is  to  us  in  the  least  un- 
certain, then  a  Daily  Service,  with  but  two  or  three  frequenting- 
it — aged  or  unoccupied  persons — will  tire  and  fret  us  and  be 
not  worth  keeping  up.  But  if  it  be  true  doctrine  that  to  Him 
omnis  voluntas  loquitur,  and  that  ubi  ires  vel  duo  ibi  ecclesia, 
then  it  is  also  true  that  each  small  group  which  intercedes  for 
a  sinful  town  or  careless  neighborhood  in  open  prayer,  for  "  all 
estates  of  men,"  and  for  "the  good  estate  of  the  Catholic 
Church,"  is  working  good  for  busier  people  in  the  one  way  pos- 
sible, and  every  nucleus  of  such  people  in  our  parishes  confers 
on  all  a  benefit  beyond  their  day.  Of  their  quiet  Communions 
the  effect  must  be  unlimited  and  eternal,  if  it  be  a  real  Fellow- 
ship with  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  with  all  his  pleading  Saints  and 
People.  Daily  prayers  will  be  more  and  more  used,  as  healthy 
convictions  grow  as  to  Christ's  High  Priestly  Life  and  cease- 
less Office  in  the  Church  on  earth. 

Archbishop  Benson. 


[Friday. 

t^  (ntiniefri?,  a  (^canB  of  ^tepavirxQ  for  t^e  Sinaf 
Jfub^ment. 

THE    MINISTRY    TO    THE    POOR. 

/am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  Barbarians;  both  to  the  wise 
and  to  the  unwise. — Rom.  i.  14. 


>4r\UR  Gospel  is  emphatically  the  Gospel  of  the  poor,  and  we 
^^  are  sent  to  be  the  servants  of  those  who  cannot  help 
themselves.  .  .  .  Debtors  we  are  to  them,  to  take 
thought  for  them,  to  sympathize  with  them,  to  make  their  in- 
terests ours.  Debtors  we  are  to  them  "  to  warn  the  unruly,  to 
comfort  the  feeble-minded,  to  support  the  weak."  Debtors  we 
are  to  break  through  the  mass  of  obstacles  which  rise  up  and 
keep  us  from  their  real  thoughts  and  ways,  and  to  find  points 
of  contact  between  their  minds  and  ours.  Debtors  we  are  to 
them  for  wisdom,  for  patience,  for  considerateness ;  debtors  to 
them,  to  be  honest  and  genuine  and  real  with  them  in  speech 
and  bearing,  and  not  to  be  tempted  to  take  easy  and  danger- 
ous advantages,  even  to  recommend  truth  and  to  do  them  good. 
Debtors  we  are  to  the  rude  and  untaught,  to  those  also  to  whom 
it  is  far  harder  to  be  of  use,  the  half  taught.  Debtors  to  both 
to  help  them  to  understand  the  awful  truth  and  greatness  of 
man's  lot,  and  history  and  hope ;  his  high  fellowship  with  the 
Unseen,  his  place  in  the  family  of  God. 

R.  W.  Church. 


Third  Week  in  Advent.^ 


Saturday.] 

$^e  (gtiniefri?,  a  (Steans  of  ^re^^aring  for  t^e  Sinaf 

THE    MINISTRY    TO    THE    EDUCATED. 

/  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  Barbarians ;  both  to  the 
wise  and  to  the  unwise. — Rom.  i.  14. 


njlE  have  a  debt  to  all  this  mass  of  intellect,  doubtful,  in- 
different, hostile,  sometimes  so  fair,  sometimes  so  un- 
fair, but  for  the  most  part  so  clear  and  so  versatile,  which 
sways  our  society.  Perhaps  we  cannot  look  to  making  much 
direct  impression  on  it ;  but  we  owe  it  a  debt  nevertheless. 
We  owe  it  the  debt  of  a  witness  to  the  Faith,  distinct,  outspoken, 
unshrinking;  we  owe  it  the  debt  of  an  earnest  and  fearless 
witness  of  the  truth  and  depth  of  our  convictions;  we  owe  it 
the  debt  of  showing  that  we  are  not  ashamed,  not  even  now, 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Indeed,  with  such  ages  behind  us, 
we  have  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of;  we  have  nothing  to  fear 
for  that  future  which  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  alone  among 
religions,  persists  in  declaring  to  be  its  own.  But  we  owe  it 
the  debt  of  showing  our  convictions,  as  wise  and  self-com- 
manding men  show  them.  .  .  .  We  owe  the  debt  of  keep- 
ing from  ignorant  and  indiscriminate  hostility  ;  of  not  assuming 
to  mu'selves  and  our  own  persons,  with  empty  and  boastful 
impertinence,  the  superiority  and  the  sacredness  of  our  cause; 
of  keeping  clear  of  that  dreadful  self-complacency  which  so 
often  goes  with  imperfect  religion.  .  .  .  We  owe  it  to  our 
august  ministry,  we  owe  it  to  those  who  observe  and  perhaps 
oppose  us,  to  be  brave,  to  be  honest,  to  be  modest. 

R.  W.  Church. 


[Fourth  Sunday  in  Advknt. 

t^  (glamfof ^  Comings  of  C^xiBi  pvtpavc  for  i^ 
Sinaf  gu^gmenf. 

CHRIST    HAS    COME    IN    THE   PAST. 

Verily  I  say  tinto  yon,  That  there  be  some  of  them  that  stand  here, 
zvhich  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  have  seen  the  kingdom  of  God 
come  with  power. — S.  Mark  ix.  1. 


T^HE  Apostles  looked  for  Christ  and  Christ  came  in  the  life- 
^^  time  of  S.  John.  He  founded  His  immovable  kingdom. 
He  gathered  before  Him  the  nations  of  the  earth,  old  and  new, 
and  passed  sentence  upon  them.  He  judged,  in  that  shaking 
of  earth  and  heaven,  most  truly  and  most  decisively  the  living 
and  the  dead.  He  established  fresh  foundations  for  society 
and  a  fresh  standard  of  worth.  The  fall  of  Jerusalem  was  for 
the  religious  history  of  the  world  an  end  as  complete  as  death. 
The  establishment  of  a  spiritual  Church  was  a  beginning  as 
glorious  as  the  Resurrection.  The  Apostles,  I  repeat,  looked 
for  Christ's  coming  in  their  own  generation,  and  Christ  came. 
The  form  of  His  Coming,  His  Coming  to  judgment,  then  is  a 
lesson  for  all  time.  .  .  .  We  see  in  that  Coming  the  type 
and  the  promise  of  other  Comings  through  the  long  ages,  till 
the  earthly  life  of  humanity  is  closed.  ,  .  .  At  the  foundation 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  the  fourth  century,  at  the  conversion 
of  the  modern  nations  in  the  eighth  century,  at  the  birth  of 
modern  Europe  in  the  thirteenth  century,  at  the  re-birth  of  the 
old  civilization  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Christ  came  as  King 
and  Judge.  BiSHOP  WeSTCOTT. 


Fourth  Week  in  Advent^ 


Monday.] 

t^t  (glanifof  ^  Comin^B  of  C^mi  prcpatc  for  t^e 
Sinaf  Jfub^ment. 

CHRIST    COMES    IN    THE    PRESENT. 

T/ie  Lord  is  at  ha^id. —  Epistle  for  the  Week. 


Tl  HERE  are  abundant  signs  of  change  about  us  now.  New 
^^  truths  are  spreading  widely  as  to  the  methods  of  God's 
working,  as  to  our  connexions  one  with  another  and  with  the 
past  and  with  the  future.  Through  these,  as  I  beheve,  Christ 
is  coming  to  us.  coming  to  judge  us,  and  His  coming  must 
bring  with  it  triais  and  (as  we  think)  losses.  Every  revelation  of 
Christ  is  through  fire,  the  fire  which  refines  by  consuming  all 
that  is  perishable.  It  may  then  be  that  we,  to  our  bitter  loss, 
shall  fail  like  those  of  earlier  times  to  read  our  lesson  as  it  is 
given.  It  may  be,  the  Spirit  helping  us,  that  we  shall  in  part 
interpret  it  and  use  it  for  our  inspiration  and  guidance.  It  may 
be,  at  least,  that  we  shall  gain  a  living  assurance  that  Divine 
powers  are  working  about  us,  and  a  Divine  purpose  going  for- 
ward to  its  end,  and  a  divine  judgment  passing  into  infallible 
execution  :  a  living  assurance  that  the  article  of  our  Creed 
which  we  are  considering  is  not  for  the  past  only  or  for  the 
future  only,  but  for  the  present,  too:  a  living  assurance  that 
we  may  gain  strength  in  the  performance  of  our  common  duties, 
in  the  study  of  the  world  about  us,  from  knowing  that  Christ 
shall  come  again,  is  coming  again  to  judge  the  quick  and  the 
dead.  BISHOP  Westcott. 


23 


[Tuesday. 

Z^^  (S^anifof  b  Cominge  of  Christ  ptepatc  for  f^e 
Sinaf  ^u^Qtnent 

CHRIST    COMES    IN    THE     HOUR     OF    TEMPORAL    JUDGMENT. 

Therefore  be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the 
Son  of  Man  cometh. — S.  Matt.  xxiv.  44. 


/V^OW,  as  of  old,  He  meets  the  peoples  of  the  world  chiefly 
vi  in  the  hours  of  temporal  judgment.  He  meets  them  in 
social  unsettlement — in  depression  of  trade — in  the  transfer  of 
the  sources  of  wealth  to  the  other  m.arkets  of  the  world — in  the 
collapse  of  credit — in  all  the  consequences  which  then  follow 
wherever  wealth  exists  under  highly  artificial  conditions  and 
where  all  depends  on  confidence.  .  .  .  Ay,  and  He  meets 
us  as  men,  as  sons,  as  fathers,  as  wives,  as  mothers,  as  single 
human  beings  each  on  our  trial.  He  meets  us  in  the  many 
vicissitudesof  private  fortune — in  failure  of  work — in  the  aliena- 
tion of  trusted  friends — in  the  death  of  those  we  love — in  the 
stealthy  approach  of  illness  felt  in  our  own  bodily  frame — in 
permanent  loss  of  health  and  spirits — in  the  never  knowing 
what  it  is  to  have  a  night's  rest.  These  things,  I  say,  do  not 
come  to  us  by  chance,  nor  does  He  Who  sends  them  merely 
send  them  to  us  and  let  them  do  their  work.  They  are  the 
very  instruments  of  His  approach.  They  are  the  very  chariot 
on  which  He  rides,  as  He  draws  near  to  the  single  soul  and 
looks  it  straight  in  the  face,  and  asks  it  how  it  could  bear  the 
glance  of  His  eye,  and  whispers  to  it,  "Prepare  to  meet  thy 
God."  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


Fourth  Week  in  Advent^ 


Wednesday.1 

Z^e  (gXanifof^  Comings  of  C^isi  pxtpatt  for  t^e 
Sinaf  3ubgment. 

CHRIST    COMES    IN    THE   HOLY    COMMUNION. 

'T/ie  ctip  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  cojumnnion  of  the 
Blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion 
of  the  Body  of  Christ  ?—\  Cor.  x.  16. 


A^  MYSTERY !  beyond  reach  even  of  the  spiritual  under- 
^"^  standing,  however  illuminated,  which  the  ceaseless  opera- 
tions of  Divine  powers  and  love  through  such  long  ages  con- 
spired to  accomplish — a  real  Communion  with  the  Living  God, 
the  assimilating  of  the  Heavenly  Substance  with  our  own  in  a 
oneness  of  eternal  life,  the  Infinite,  the  Ancient  of  Days,  coa- 
lescing in  loving  harmony  with  the  finite,  the  creature  of  an 
hour!  What  a  yiew  does  it  exhibit  of  the  spirituality  of  the 
life  into  which  we  pass  !  All  we  are — spirit  and  body,  flesh 
and  blood,  every  thought,  every  feeling,  every  organ,  every 
faculty  in  us — Ijecomes  the  seat  of  God's  mysterious  Presence. 
He,  indwelling  wholly  within  us,  comes,  as  we  receive  Him,  to 
spiritualize  every  thought,  feeling,  faculty  in  us  like  unto  Him- 
self. All  that  is  of  nature  in  us,  through  this  union  with  Him, 
is  gifted  with  grace  to  become  heavenly;  all  of  self  to  pass  into 
God  ;  all  the  human  to  be  identified  with  the  Divine,  the  life 
of  the  creature  assimilated  to  the  Life  of  the  Eternal  Godhead. 

T.  T.  Carter. 


25 


[Thursday. 

t^  (gtanifofb  Comings  of  C^mi  pttpan  for  t^e 


CHRIST    COMES    IN    DEATH. 

Prepare  to  meet  thy  God. — Amos  iv.  12, 


<^  /I^REPARE  to  meet  thy  God,  O  Israel !"  Every  man  who 
\X^  believes  that  God  exists,  and  that  he  himself  has  a 
soul  which  does  not  perish  with  the  body,  knows  that  a  time 
must  come  when  this  meeting  will  be  inevitable.  In  the  hour 
of  death,  whether  in  mercy  or  in  displeasure,  God  looks  into 
the  face  of  His  creature  as  never  before.  The  veils  of  sense 
which  long  have  hidden  His  countenance,  then  are  stripped 
away;  and  as  spirit  meets  with  spirit  without  the  interposition 
of  any  film  of  matter,  so  does  man  in  death  meet  with  his  God. 
It  is  this  which  renders  death  so  exceedingly  solemn.  Ere  yet 
the  last  breath  has  fairly  passed  from  the  body,  or  the  failing 
eyes  have  closed,  the  soul  has,  partly  at  any  rate,  entered  upon 
a  world  altogether  new,  magnificent,  awful.  It  has  seen  beings, 
shapes,  modes  of  existence,  never  even  imagined  before.  But 
it  has  done  more  than  that.  It  has  met  its  God  as  a  disem- 
bodied spirit  can  meet  Him.  H.  P.  Liddon. 


Fourth  Week  in  Advent^ 


Friday.] 

$^e  (Stanifofb  Comings  of  C^mi  pvtpaxe  for  t^e 
Stnaf  3u^gment. 

THEIR     RELATION    TO    THE     SECOND     ADVENT. 

Be  patient   therefore,   brethren,    tmtd    the  coming   of  the  Lord. — 
S.  James  v.  7. 


rVy  ECENTLY  men  have  been  drawn  with  much  profit  to  con- 
\L  sider,  more  definitely  than  before,  some  less  extraor- 
dinary facts  and  events  in  the  Church's  life  as  Comings  of  Our 
Lord.  He  comes  in  the  Sacraments,  and  in  His  Word.  He 
comes  to  the  soul  at  death.  He  comes  to  the  Church  in  those 
great  moments,  like  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem,  the  Conversion  of 
Constantine,  the  Reformation,  which  we  rightly  call  crises  or 
acts  of  decision  and  judgment.  But  these  all  are  but  tentative 
and  preliminary  Comings.  They  form  points  of  transition  from 
one  scene  in  the  long  tragedy  to  another.  But  we  still  wait 
for  a  great  denouement,  which  will  give  an  appropriate  and 
artistic  close  to  it  all,  gathering  up  in  one  final  catastrophe  all 
that  the  minor  Advents  have  prefigured.  A.  J.  Mason. 


27 


[Christmas  Eve. 

THE   VISION    OF    THESE    LATTER    DAYS. 

For  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time,  but  at  the  end  it 
shall  speak,  and  not  lie:  though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it;  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry. — Hab.  ii.  3. 


-Tf^HERE  came  unto  this  world  long  ago,  a  little  Child;  of  a 
^^  winter's  night,  and  in  a  humble  city  among  hills ;  in  the 
garb  of  poverty  and  without  state  or  splendors  of  any  kind, 
save  that  the  skies  were  for  a  few  moments  light  near  the  place 
where  He  was  born,  and  that  watchers  seemed  to  hear  un- 
earthly music  above  them,  like  songs  from  a  better  world  than 
this.  The  little  Child  grew  to  be  a  Man  ;  and  the  Man  died  a 
hard  and  bitter  death ;  and  He  disappeared.  But  with  that 
departure  from  among  us,  and  immediately  thereafter,  came  a 
vision  ;  it  was  such  as  never  mortals  beheld  before  ;  it  lit  the 
earth  as  does  the  great  sun  when  it  stands  above  the  hills  and 
looks  across  the  plain  ;  it  lit  hearth  and  home,  the  cottage  of 
the  lowly  and  the  palace  of  the  knights;  it  lit  up  the  dark  souls 
of  men  and  their  weary  eyes;  in  its  radiance  intellect  grew  and 
conscience  revived  ;  virtue  was  transfigured  into  righteousness, 
truth  flourished  once  more  upon  the  earth  and  error  and  super- 
stition began  to  crumble  away.  Let  us  note  that  men  beheld 
in  that  vision  which,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  followed  upon 
the  advent  of  a  humble  Child — a  calm  and  suffering  Man,  Ask 
not  of  others  what  may  be  seen  in  it ;  ask  of  your  own  hearts; 
for  surely  they  can  tell  you  better  than  any  other. 

Morgan  Dix. 

Ch  risttuas-tide.'] 

28 


Christmas  Day.] 

THE    WONDER    OF    THE    INCARNATION. 

His  name  shall  be  called  Wonder fuL — First  Lesson  for  the  Day. 


T^HIS  is  the  great  wonder  of  the  love  of  God — not  that  He 
^^  loved  mankind,  but  that  He  loved  them  beyond  His 
world ;  not  that  He  redeemed  them — but  that  He  came  Him- 
self to  redeem  them  by  becoming  one  of  them.  This  was  the 
awful  surprise  which  burst  upon  the  world  when  first  it  was 
told  among  men  that  their  God  and  Maker  had  come  dow^n 
to  earth,  and  had  been  born  of  a  woman,  and  had  lived  a  poor 
man's  life,  and  had  died  the  death  of  a  slave.  No  wonder  that 
it  startled  Jew  and  Gentile,  Greek  and  Barbarian — startled 
some  to  love  and  adoration  ;  startled  others  to  unbelief  and 
mockery.  Some  were  drawn  to  repentance  and  a  holy  life, 
while  others  were  driven  away  in  shuddering  fear  at  so  awful 
a  surprise,  at  so  near  a  God.  No  wonder  that  those  who  did 
not  receive  it,  counted  it  as  foolishness.  It  must  be  so  unless 
we  see  in  it  the  inconceivable  and  infinite  love  of  God.  It  must 
be  a  stumbling-block  to  every  one  who  thinks  what  it  is,  that 
God  should  be  made  man,  to  give  everlasting  life  to  men,  un- 
less it  is  to  him  the  spring  and  source  of  all  that  is  deepest  in 
his  thankfulness,  most  serious  in  his  faith,  most  transporting  in 
his  joy.  R.  W.  Church. 


39 


[St.  Stephen. 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    SELF-SACRIFICE. 

T/iey  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death, — Rev.  xii.  11. 


^ASTLY,  men  have  asked  why  Christmas  Day,  of  all  days 
^^  in  the  year,  should  be  followed  by  the  Festival  of  the 
first  Christian  Martyr — the  Birthday  of  the  world's  True  King, 
by  the  anniversary  of  a  tragedy.  The  answer,  surely,  is  not 
far  to  seek — at  least,  for  a  practical  Christian.  Yesterday  pro- 
claimed the  Great  Christian  Truth ;  to-day  points  the  moral. 
The  Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  is  not  a  speculation  of  the 
understanding.  It  is  incomparably  the  greatest  fact  in  the 
whole  history  of  our  race.  And  as  such  it  imposes  on  us  men 
corresponding  moral  duties.  If  the  Everlasting  and  the  Al- 
mighty laid  aside  His  glory  to  enter  into  conditions  of  time, 
and  to  robe  Himself  in  our  frail  human  nature,  that  He  might, 
by  His  atoning  Death,  and  by  His  supernatural  gift  of  a  new 
nature  unite  us  to  God  through  our  union  with  Himself,  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say,  that 

"  Were  the  whole  realm  of  nature  mine, 
That  were  an  offering  far  too  small; 
Love  so  amazing,  so  Divine 
Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all." 
And  Stephen,  shedding  his  blood  thus  freely  and  joyfully  for 
the  Master  who  had  redeemed  him,  shows  what  faith  in  an 
Incarnate  God  should  mean  for  Christians. 

H.   P.   LiDDON. 


Christmas-tide^ 

30 


St.  John  the  Evangelist.] 

THE    INCARNATION    AND     HUMAN   THOUGHT. 

T/iis  is  the  disciple  zuhich  testijieth  of  these  things     .     .     .     and 
we  know  thai  his  testimony  is  true. — Gospel  for  the  Day. 


^^HE  central  characteristic  of  his  {i.e.  S.  John's)  nature  is 
^^  interiority,  interiority  of  thought,  word,  insight,  life.  He 
regards  everything  on  its  Divine  side.  For  him  the  eternal  is 
ah-eady  ;  all  is  complete  from  the  beginning,  though  wrought 
out  step  by  step  upon  the  stage  of  human  action.  All  is  abso- 
lute in  itself,  though  marred  by  the  weakness  of  believers.  He 
sees  the  past  and  the  future  gathered  up  in  the  manifestation 
of  the  Son  of  God.  This  was  the  one  fact  in  which  the  hope 
of  the  world  lay.  Of  this  he  had  himself  been  assured  by  evi- 
dence of  sense  and  thought.  This  he  was  constrained  to 
proclaim  :  "  We  have  seen  and  do  testify."  He  had  no  labored 
process  to  go  through,  he  saw.  He  had  no  constructive  proof 
to  develop  ;  he  bore  witness.  His  source  of  knowledge  was 
direct  and  his  mode  of  bringing  conviction  was  to  afifirm.  .  .  . 
So  we  shall  look  upon  the  Incarnation,  the  greatest  conceiv- 
able thought,  the  greatest  conceivable  fact,  not  that  we  may 
bring  it  within  the  range  of  our  present  powers,  not  that  we 
may  measure  it  by  standards  of  this  world,  but  that  we  may 
learn  from  it  a  little  more  of  the  Gospel  grandeurs  of  life,  that 
by  its  help  we  may  behold  once  again  that  halo  of  infinity 
about  common  things  which  seems  to  have  vanished  away, 
that  thinking  on  the  phrase  the  Word  became  flesh,  we  may 
feel  that  in,  beneath,  beyond  the  objects  which  we  see  and 
taste  and  handle  is  a  Divine  Presence,  that  lifting  up  our  eyes 
to  the  Lord  in  Glory  we  may  know  that  phenomena  are  not 
ends,  l3ut  signs  only  of  that  which  is  spiritually  discerned. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


[The  Holy  Innocents. 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    SUFFERING. 

T/iese  were  redeemed  f?-o?}i  among  ineii,  being  the  first  fruits  unto 
God  and  to  the  La?nb. — Epistle  for  the  Day. 


^^HRIST  on  this  festival  honors  infants,  consecrates  suffer- 
^^  ing,  holds  up  to  us  the  minds  of  little  children,  and  it  is 
another  radiance  and  beauty  added  to  the  manger  throne  of 
Bethlehem,  that  from  it  streams  the  gospel  of  the  poor,  the 
gospel  of  the  lonely,  the  gospel  of  the  sick,  the  lost,  the  afflicted, 
the  gospel  of  little  children.  The  wisdom  of  Greece  and  Rome 
could  only  spare  at  this  time  a  push,  or  a  threat,  or  a  curse, 
which  said  to  the  little,  the  poor,  the  weak,  Depart ;  get  you 
out  of  the  way ;  it  was  left  for  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
Blessed  Lord  to  say:  "Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
Me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 
We  are  reminded  to-day  of  the  great  company  standing  upon 
Mount  Zion,  before  the  throne,  worshipping  the  Lamb  with 
praise  and  honor  and  blessing,  and  the  harpers  are  there  harp- 
ing with  their  harps — men,  whose  lives  have  been  strung 
and  drawn  by  the  tension  of  suffering,  until  they  have  emitted 
in  the  blows  of  martyrdom,  the  song  of  praise  acceptable 
before  God.  And  to-day  they  sing  a  new  song.  It  is  the  song 
of  infant  wailing ;  an  inarticulate  cry  ;  the  voice  of  those  whose 
only  language  is  a  cry.  The  new  song  of  Christianity,  which 
Stoic  and  Epicurean  had  failed  to  learn  ;  the  dignity,  the  force, 
the  power  of  simple  suffering.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


Christmas-tide  J\ 


December  29.] 

€?n0fma6. 

THE  INCARNATION,   A   REVELATION   OF  THE    LOVE   OF   GOD. 

God  so  loved  the  woi-ld  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son^ 
that  luhosoever  believeth  in  Hi?n  should  not  perish^  but  have  everlasting 
life. — S.  John  hi.  16. 


T^HE  thought  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  in  that  moral  sense 
^^  which  implies  His  love,  is  so  familiar,  at  least  superficially, 
to  us,  that  the  less  thoughtful  among  us  are  apt  to  assume  it 
as  something  self-evident;  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  course 
apart  from  Christ's  revelations.  And  it  does  not  require 
much  thought  to  enable  us  to  perceive,  or  much  sympathy  to 
enable  us  to  feel,  that  the  world  apart  from  Christ  gives  us  no 
adequate  assurance  that  God  is  Love.  The  Psalmist  indeed 
argues,  "  He  that  made  the  eye,  shall  He  not  see  ?  "  and  Robert 
Browning  has  taught  us  to  add  :  "  He  that  created  love,  shall 
He  not  love  ?  "  But  if  love  in  man  argues  love  in  God,  Whose 
offspring  he  is,  yet  there  is  much  on  the  other  hand  to  give  us 
pause  in  drawing  such  a  conclusion.  .  .  .  That  love  is 
God's  motive ;  that  Love  is  victorious,  that  Love  is  universal 
in  range  and  unerringly  individual  in  application,  in  a  word  that 
God  is  Love — it  is  this  that  our  Lord  guarantees,  because  He 
has  translated  Divine  love  into  the  intelligible  lineaments  of  the 
corresponding  human  quality.  We  behold  in  Jesus'  love  the 
motive,  love  individualizing,  love  impartial  and  universal,  love 
victorious  through  death  ;  and  he  that  hath  seen  Him,  we  know 
hath  seen  the  Father.  C.  Gore. 


33 


[December  30. 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    LIFE. 

/  say  unto  you,  that  likewise  joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  which  need 
no  repentance. — S.  Luke  xv.  7. 


T^HIS  revelation  of  the  spiritual  grandeur  of  all  life 
^^  enhances  the  importance  of  the  single  life.  Each  single 
life  is  seen  in  the  Incarnation  to  be  in  the  Divine  place  an  ele- 
ment of  the  Body  of  Christ ;  and  we  come  to  understand,  when 
we  meditate  on  the  dependencies  of  things,  how  in  the  vast 
chorus  of  Creation  one  voice  of  little  human  praise  is  missed. 
And  not  only  does  each  life  gain  this  solemn  significance  from 
its  relation  to  the  vaster  life  in  which  it  is  included,  but  each 
least  part  of  the  individual  life  assumes  a  proportionate  value. 
Nothing  can  be  of  the  man  only  :  nothing  can  be  of  the  body 
only.  The  deed  of  the  member,  of  the  member  of  the  society, 
of  the  member  of  the  family,  reaches  as  far  as  the  life  reaches, 
even  if  we  have  at  present  no  powers  to  measure  its  effects. 
This  conviction  of  the  illimitable  consequences  of  action  would 
be  of  overwhelming  awfulness  if  we  were  not  able  to  lift  our 
eyes  when  the  burden  is  heaviest  to  the  Son  of  Man  ;  if  we  were 
not  able  to  bring  to  Him  the  stained  and  fragmentary  offering 
of  ourselves  and  to  find  in  Him  that  which  is  needed  to  cleanse 
and  to  complete  it.  Bishop  Westcott. 


ChrisUnas-iiae  .\ 


December  31.] 

THE     DYING    YEAR. 

Gather  up    the  fragments    that  remain,    that    nothing   be    lost.- 
S.  John  vi.  12. 


/T^HE  words)  express  an  attribute  of  the  divine  nature,  a 
^  ^"^  law  of  the  divine  mind,  an  eternal  principle  of  the  divine 
action,  and  therefore,  when  they  appeal  as  an  injunction  to 
ourselves,  we  can  obey  them  in  the  full  assurance  that  they  are 
no  mere  accommodation  to  our  weakness,  casual  in  its  origin, 
and  therefore  uncertain  in  fulfilment,  but  part  and  parcel  of  the 
one  great  method  by  which  our  Father  has  worked  hitherto 
and  by  which  therefore  in  our  case  also  He  will  work.  It  is  in 
this  assurance  that  I  would  ask  you  to  recall  the  words  to- 
night and,  as  another  Christian  year  is  ending,  to  gather  up 
the  fragments  that  remain.  For  another  year  is  over,  and  we 
have  but  fragments  few  and  frail,  as  the  autumn  leaves  upon 
our  trees.  Seventy  years  are  few  enough  for  the  work  we  have 
to  do,  but  fifty  are  the  lifetime  of  an  ordinary  man,  and  in  these 
days  of  great  catastrophes,  and  accidents,  and  illnesses,  who 
is  there  that  can  venture  to  call  fifty  years  his  own  ?  .  .  . 
It  is  a  hard  task.  .  .  .  But  there  are  two  thoughts  to  give 
us  courage  and  cheer  us  onward  to  the  work — the  thought  that 
we  are  working  on  the  lines  which  our  God  has  Himself  laid 
down  for  us,  and  the  thought  that  we  are  following  where 
others,  age  by  age,  have  gone  before. 

J.  R.  Illingworth. 


[Feast  of  the  Circumcision. 

THE    NEW   YEAR    AND    SELF-MORTIFICATION. 

And  when  eight  days  were  acco^nplished  fo7-  the  circumcising  of  the 
Child,  His  Naf?ie  was  called  Jesus. — Gospel  for  the  Day. 


A^UR  Lord  underwent  this  rite  of  circumcision  in  order  to 
^■^  persuade  us  of  the  necessity  of  that  spiritual  circumcision 
which  was  prefigured  by  it.  This,  the  "  true  circumcision  of  the 
Spirit"  is  explained  in  the  Collect  to  mean  "that,  our  hearts 
and  all  our  members  being  mortified  from  all  worldly  and  carnal 
hosts,  we  may  in  all  things  obey  God's  Blessed  Will."  .  .  . 
What  is  the  essence  of  this  spiritual  circumcision  }  Surely  it  is 
the  mortification  of  earthly  desire.  The  great  problem  of  life, 
it  has  been  said,  is  to  keep  desire  in  its  proper  place.  For  de- 
sire is  the  strongest  of  the  chariot-horses  of  the  soul;  in  what- 
ever direction  we  are  being  borne,  it  is  love  of  some  kind  that 
carries  us  forward.  .  ,  .  Hence  the  necessity  for  the  cir- 
cumcision of  the  Spirit.  The  mortification  of  degraded  desire, 
of  desire  which  no  longer  centres  in  God,  is  not  the  by-play,  but 
the  most  serious  business  of  a  true  Christian  life.  This  is  what 
our  Lord  meant  by  the  searching  words,  "If  thy  right  eye 
offend  thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee."  Perhaps,  on 
New  Year's  Day,  some  of  us  are  looking  out  for  a  good  reso- 
lution to  be  acted  on,  by  God's  grace,  during  the  next  twelve 
months.  Can  we  do  better  than  resolve  to  do  everyday  some- 
thing which  we  naturally  dislike,  as  an  act  of  love  and  worship 
to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Who  was  made  to  be  circumcised 
and  obedient  to  the  Law,  for  us  men  ? 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 

36 


January  2.] 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    IDEALS. 

/  am  the  way,  the  truth,  a)?d  the  life. — S.  John  xiv. 


3 DEALS  are  the  soul  of  life.  The  simplest  human  act  is  di- 
rected to  an  end ;  and  life,  a  series  of  unnumbered  acts, 
must  answer  to  some  end,  some  ideal,  mean  or  generous,  seen 
by  the  eye  of  the  heart,  and  pursued  consciously  or  often  un- 
consciously, which  gives  a  unity  and  a  clew  to  the  bewildering 
mazes  of  human  conduct.  The  word  progress  is  unmeaning 
without  reference  to  an  ideal.  And  I  would  say  of  ideals  that 
which  was  said  of  abstract  thoughts  by  a  distinguished  scholar 
and  statesman,  that  they  "  are  the  meat  and  drink  of  life." 
They  support  us,  and  still  more,  they  rule  us.  It  is,  then,  mo- 
mentous that  we  should  pause  from  time  to  time  to  regard  our 
ideals.  They  exercise  their  influence  upon  us  insensibly.  We 
grow  like  the  objects  of  our  desire  perhaps  before  we  have 
distinctly  realized  its  true  nature;  and  so  we  may  find  our- 
selves, like  some  of  the  souls  at  the  close  of  Plato's  Republic, 
involved  in  unexpected  calamities  through  a  heedless  choice. 
At  the  same  time,  the  effort  to  give  distinctness  to  our  ideals 
brings  with  it  a  purifying  power. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


[January  3. 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    COMMON    LIFE. 

Whatsoever  things  a^-e  true^  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  what- 
soever things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  thijtgs 
are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report  :  if  there  be  any  vir- 
tue and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things. — Phil.  iv.  9. 


^^HE  Incarnation  should  be  exhibited  as  a  safeguard  against 
^^  a  narrow  and  conventional  estimate  of  Christian  duty 
and  virtue.  The  proposition  upheld  of  old  against  the  Apolli- 
narians,  that  Christ  "  assumed  the  whole  of  that  nature  which 
He  came  to  redeem,"  may  be  used  to  represent  the  interest 
which,  as  Son  of  Man,  He  takes  in  all  our  life  as  such — nihil 
hitmafii  a  se  aliejiiwi  piitans.  As  the  natural  world  is  under 
God's  ordering,  and  its  laws,  being  His,  are  sacred,  so  the 
Christian  will  seek  to  bring  every  part  of  his  week-day  conduct 
"into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ,"  and  to  "do  all 
things"  in  the  one  all-sanctifying  Name.  He  will  not  forget 
that  as  the  soul  is  greater  than  the  body,  so  the  spiritual  order 
of  life  transcends  the  physical  and  the  secular,  and  forms  an 
interior  circle  pervaded  by  a  special  Divine  Presence ;  but  his 
behavior  will  be  a  permanent  witness  for  the  solidarity  of  all 
true  work,  as  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  obedience  to  that 
Master  Who  is  to  be  found  and  served  in  "whatsoever  things 
are  true,  noble,  great,  pure,  lovely,  and  of  good  report" — in  all 
that  is  morally  matter  of  "  praise."  WiLLIAM  Bright. 


January  4.] 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    REALITY. 

IVe  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is  come  and  hath  given  us  an 
understanding.,  that  we  may  know  Him  that  is  true;  and  we  are 
in  Him  that  is  true,  even  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  true 
God,  and  eternal  life.  Little  children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols. — 
1  S.  John  v.  20-21. 


3N  the  presence  of  the  awful  reahty  of  the  Incarnation  there 
is  no  room  left  for  "  shadows  of  religion"  ;  and  we  com- 
memorate it  year  by  year  that  we  may  try  to  impress  more  and 
more  upon  our  minds  how  stern  as  well  as  how  gracious  a 
truth  it  is.  It  can  be  the  foundation  of  no  idle  and  dreamy  and 
sentimental  religion.  So  tremendous  a  fact  in  the  history  of 
mankind  cannot  be  consistent  with  any  religious  system  or  any 
religious  practice  which  does  not  feel  its  keenness  and  its 
force.  It  is  too  great,  too  definite,  too  solid  a  thing  for  a  religion 
of  words,  and  phrases,  and  formulas,  repeated  till  they  lose 
their  meaning ;  for  a  religion  of  understandings,  and  fictions, 
and  conventionalities;  for  a  religion  of  mere  forms  and  orderly 
impressive  ceremonies.  If  it  has  doctrines,  they  mean  what 
they  say.  If  it  has  Sacraments,  they  are  no  figures  of  things 
past  and  absent,  but  assurances  of  things  present.  If  it  has 
worship,  it  sets  us  before  the  throne  of  God.  If  He,  the  Lord 
who  "humbled  Himself,"  has  promised  to  be  with  us.  He  is, 
indeed,  with  us.  If  He  has  told  us  anything:  we  must  take 
Him  at  His  word.  R.  W.  Church. 


[January  5. 

THE    INCARNATION    AND    HUMILITY. 

Though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor. — Cor.  vixi.  9. 


A^O  lot  could  seem  much  more  comfortless  and  destitute 
\i<  than  that  into  which  Our  Lord  was  born  on  Christmas 
Day.  Out  of  all  the  different  conditions  which  this  world  af- 
fords, He  had  chosen  one  of  the  very  poorest;  one  most  remote 
from  any  privilege  of  wealth  or  rank  ;  one  which  could  least 
attract  attention  and  respect ;  one  which  lacked  all  that  most 
men  seek.  And  surely  in  that  choice  God  spake  unto  us  by 
His  Son.  and  speaks  continually.  .  .  .  It  is  not  always  in 
our  power  to  choose  our  place  in  life  ;  many  of  us  may  have  to 
work  under  circumstances  which  we  would  (orthink  we  would) 
gladly  make  simpler  and  plainer  if  we  could.  But  in  whatever 
state  we  are,  the  fact  that  Christ  willed  to  come  among  men  as 
He  did  holds  still  its  deep,  persistent  lesson  for  us.  It  stands 
with  many  words  of  His  which  cross  nil  easy  acquiescence  in 
prosperity  and  warn  us  that  a  man's  lot  in  life  maybe  none  the 
less  perilous  for  being,  perhaps,  inevitable.  Whatsoever  our 
lot  may  be,  we  have  to  follow  His  example  ;  and  if  we  cannot 
follow  it  in  the  outward  setting  of  our  life,  we  are  bound,  as  we 
love  our  own  souls  and  Him  who  died  for  them,  to  follow  it 
with  genuine  reality  in  the  ordering  of  our  affections,  in  the 
discipline  of  our  thoughts  and  desires,  by  stern  dealing  with 
every  form  of  pride  and  vanity.  FRANCIS  Paget. 


Feast  of  the  Epiphany.] 

ITS  LESSON. 

TAaf  the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow-heirs,  and  of  the  same  body,  and 
partakers  of  Tlis  promise  in  Christ,  by  the  Gospel. — Epistle  for 
THE  Day. 


^THE  Festival  of  the  Epiphany  must  be  deemed  of  very  high 
^^  importance  by  a  beheving  and  thoughtful  Christian.  It 
does  not  merely  commemorate  one  of  the  most  beautiful  inci- 
dents of  our  Lord's  Infant  Life.  It  asserts  one  of  the  most 
fundamental  and  vital  features  of  Christianity ;  the  great  dis- 
tinction, in  fact,  between  Christianity  and  Judaism.  The  Jewish 
religion  was  the  religion  of  a  race.  .  .  .  Was  a  merely  na- 
tional religion  like  this  a  full  unveiling  of  tlie  mind  of  the  com- 
mon Father  of  the  human  family  ?  Was  His  eye  ever  to  rest 
in  love  and  favor  only  on  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Palestine  ? 
Was  there  to  be  no  place  in  His  Heart  for  more  races,  who  lay 
east  and  west  and  north  and  south  of  the  favored  region  ?  Or 
was  the  God  of  Israel  like  the  patron  deities  of  the  heathen 
world,  the  God  of  Israel  in  such  sense  that  Israel  could  last- 
ingly monopolize  His  interest,  His  protection.  His  love;  that 
heathendom,  lying  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death, 
would  lie  on  in  it  for  ever,  without  a  hope  of  being  really  light- 
ened by  His  Countenance  or  being  admitted  to  share  His  em- 
brace ?  It  could  not  be.  The  Jewish  revelation  of  God  con- 
tained within  itself  the  secret  and  the  reason  of  its  vanishing 
by  absorption  into  the  brighter  light  which  should  succeed  it. 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 


[Monday. 

t^t  (Stanifeefatton  of  C^mt 

WHAT     IT     HAS     DONE     FOR     THE    GREEK. 

/  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Christ:  for  it  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth;  to  the  Jew  first,  and 
also  to  the  Greek. — Eom.  i.  16. 


'T^HIS  it  seems  to  mo,  Christianity  did  for  a  race  which  had 
^^  apparently  lived  its  time,  and  had  no  future  before  it — 
the  Greek  race  in  the  days  of  the  Caesars.  It  created  in  them, 
in  a  new  and  characteristic  degree,  national  endurance,  national 
fellowship  and  sympathy,  national  hope.  It  took  them  in  the 
unpromising  condition  in  which  it  found  them  under  the  Em- 
pire, with  their  light,  sensual,  childish  existence,  their  busy  but 
futile  and  barren  restlessness,  their  life  of  enjoyment  or  of  suf- 
fering, as  the  case  might  be,  but  in  either  case  purposeless  and 
unmeaning;  and  by  its  gift  of  a  religious  seriousness,  convic- 
tion and  strength  it  gave  them  a  new  start  in  national  history. 
It  gave  them  an  Empire  of  their  own,  which,  undervalued  as  it 
is  by  those  familiar  with  the  ultimate  results  of  western  history, 
yet  withstood  the  assaults  before  which,  for  the  moment,  west- 
ern civilization  sank,  and  which  had  the  strength  to  last  a  life 
— a  stirring  and  eventful  life — of  ten  centuries.  The  Greek 
Empire  with  all  its  evils  and  weaknesses,  was  yet  in  its  time 
the  only  existing  image  in  the  world  of  a  civilized  state.  It  had 
arts,  it  had  learning,  it  had  military  science  and  power ;  it  was, 
for  its  day,  the  one  refuge  for  peaceful  industry.  It  had  a  place 
which  we  could  ill  afford  to  miss  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

R.  W.  Church. 

First  after  Epiphany .\ 


Tuesday.] 

t^t  (gtanifestafion  of  C^mi, 

WHAT    IT    HAS    DONE    FOR   THE    LATIN    RACES. 

/  am  7'eady  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  that  are  at  Rome  also. 
Rom.  I.  15. 


7^0  the  light-hearted  Greeks  Christianity  had  turned  its  face 
^^  of  severity,  of  awful,  resolute  hope.  The  final  victory  of 
Christ,  and,  meanwhile,  patient  endurance  in  waiting  for  it — 
this  was  its  great  lesson  to  their  race.  To  the  serious,  practical 
hard-natured  Roman  it  showed  another  side — "  love,  joy, 
peace  ;" — an  unknown  wealth  of  gladness  and  thankfulness  and 
great  rejoicing.  It  stirred  his  powerful  but  somewhat  sluggish 
soul;  it  revealed  to  him  new  faculties,  disclosed  new  depths  of 
affection,  won  him  to  new  aspirations  and  new  nobleness.  And 
this  was  a  new  and  real  advance  and  rise  in  human  nature. 
This  expansion  of  the  power  of  feeling  and  loving  and  imagin- 
ing, in  a  whole  race,  was  as  really  a  new  enlargement  of  human 
capacities,  a  new  endowment  and  instrument  and  grace,  as  any 
new  and  permanent  enlargement  of  the  intellectual  powers;  as 
some  new  calculus,  or  the  great  modern  conquests  in  mechan- 
ical science  or  in  the  theory  and  development  of  music.  .  .  . 
And  for  this  great  gift  and  prerogative,  that  they  have  produced 
not  only  great  men  like  those  of  the  elder  race,  captains,  rulers, 
conquerors — not  only  men  greater  than  they,  lords  in  the  realm 
of  intelligence,  its  discoverers  and  masters — but  men  high  in 
that  kingdom  of  the  spirit  and  of  goodness  which  is  as  much 
above  the  order  of  the  intellect  as  intellect  is  above  material 
things — for  this  the  younger  races  of  the  South  are  indebted  to 
Christianity.  R.  W.  Church. 


[Wednesday. 

t^c  (gXanifeefafion  of  C^mt 

WHAT    IT    HAS    DONE    FOR    THE    TEUTONIC    RACES. 

He  went  down  with  thein,  and  cavie  to  Nazareth  and  was  subject 
unto  them. — S.  Luke  ii.  51. 


A^NE  more  debt  our  race  owes  to  Christianity — the  value  and 
^"^  love  which  it  has  infused  into  us  for  a  pure  and  affec- 
tionate and  peaceful  home.  Not  that  domestic  life  does  not 
often  show  itself  among  the  Latin  races  in  very  simple  and 
charming  forms.  But  Home  is  specially  Teutonic,  word  and 
thing.  Teutonic  sentiment,  we  know,  from  very  early  times 
was  proud,  elevated,  even  austere,  in  regard  to  the  family  and 
the  relations  of  the  sexes.  This  nobleness  of  heathenism 
Christianity  consecrated  and  transformed  into  all  the  beautiful 
shapesof  household  piety,  household  affection,  household  purity. 
The  life  of  Home  has  become  the  great  possession,  the  great 
delight,  the  great  social  achievement  of  our  race:  its  refuge 
from  the  storms  and  darkness  without,  an  ample  compensation 
to  us  for  so  much  that  we  want  of  the  social  brilliancy  and 
enjoyment  of  our  Latin  brethren.  R.  W.  CHURCH. 


First  after  Epiphany^ 


Thursday.] 

t^c  (^anifeefafion  of  Christ. 

WHAT  IT  HAS  DONE  FOR  THE  WORLD. 

T/ie  kingdom  of  this  zvorld  is  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord, 
and  of  His  Christ. — Eev.  xi.  15. 


Christianity  both  produced  a  type  of  character  wholly 
new  to  the  Roman  world  and  it  fundamentally  altered 
the  laws  and  institutions,  the  tone,  temper,  and  tradition  of 
that  world.  For  example,  it  changed  profoundly  the  relation 
of  the  poor  to  the  rich  and  the  almost  forgotten  obligations 
of  the  rich  to  the  poor.  It  abolished  slavery,  abolished  human 
sacrifice,  abolished  gladiatorial  shows  and  a  multitude  of  their 
horrors.  It  restored  the  position  of  woman  in  society.  It  pro- 
scribsd  polygamy,  and  put  down  divorce,  absolutely  in  the  West, 
though  not  absolutely  in  the  East.  It  made  peace,  instead  of 
war,  the  normal  and  presumed  relation  between  human  so- 
cieties. It  exhibited  life  as  a  discipline  everywhere  and  in  all 
its  parts,  and  changed  essentially  the  place  and  function  of 
suffering  in  human  experience.  Accepting  the  ancient  morality 
as  far  as  it  went,  it  not  only  enlarged  but  transfigured  its  teach- 
ing, by  the  laws  of  humility  and  forgiveness  and  by  a  law  of 
purity,  perhaps  even  more  new  and  strange  than  these.  .  .  . 
All  this  was  not  the  work  of  a  day,  but  it  was  the  work  of 
powers  and  principles  which  persistently  asserted  themselves 
in  despite  of  controversy,  of  infirmity  and  of  corruption  in 
every  form,  which  reconstituted  in  life  and  vigour  a  society 
found  in  decadence,  which  by  degrees  came  to  pervade  the  very 
air  we  breathe,  and  which  eventually  have  beyond  all  dispute 
made  Christendom  the  dominant  portion,  and  Christianity  the 
ruling  power  of  the  world.  W.  E.  Gladstone. 

45 


[Friday. 

t^t  (manifeBfation  of  C^viBt 

ITS    PRESENT    POWER. 

I/e  went  forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer. — Rev.  vi.  2. 


^|YlE  might  even  say  that  we  get  a  more  vivid  proof  of  the 
wonderful  regenerative  and  elevating  power  of  Chris- 
tianity in  modern  mission  work  than  in  that  of  the  ancient 
Church.  In  the  early  ages  it  came  into  contact  only  with  the 
comparatively  high  civilisation  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  for 
centuries  encountered  no  such  degrading  peoples  as  the  Esqui- 
maux, the  Australians,  and  many  of  the  tribes  of  Southern  and 
Central  Africa,  of  the  South  Seas  and  even  of  India.  But  it  has 
encountered  such  tribes  in  its  modern  advance,  and  has  demon- 
strated that  it  has  the  capacity  of  descending  to  the  very  lowest 
depths,  of  meeting  the  wants  of  the  most  degraded  nations,  and 
of  raising  them  up  to  the  platform  of  Christian  life  and  civilisa- 
tion. Of  this  the  thrilling  story  of  mission  work  in  many  of  the 
above-mentioned  fields,  as  detailed  not  merely  by  missionaries, 
but  by  other  intelligent  observers,  furnishes  a  most  interesting 
and  satisfactory  proof.  Alexander  Mair. 


First  after  Epiphanyi\ 

46 


Saturday.] 

$0e  (Jtlanifesfation  of  C^viBt 

ITS    FINAL    TRIUMPH. 

T/iey  shall  bring  the  glory  and  the  honour  of  the  nations  into  it. 
Eev.  XXI.  26. 


TjIHEN  the  Prophet  of  the  Apocalypse  looked  upon  the 
Holy  City  of  the  new  creation,  he  saw  that  there  was 
no  longer  any  temple  there — that  was  the  symbol  at  once  of 
religious  fellowship  and  religious  separation— /i^r  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  is  the  Temple  of  it  and  the  Lamb ;  he  saw 
that  it  had  no  need  of  the  sun — that  was  the  symbol  of  the 
quickening  energy  of  nature  and  the  measure  of  M\mQ.—for  the 
glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  a7id  the  lamp  thereof  was  the 
Lamb  ;  he  saw  the  nations  (not  the  nations  of  them  which  are 
saved,  according  to  the  gloss  of  the  common  texts)  walki?ig  in 
the  light  of  it,  and  so  revealed  in  their  true  abiding  power ; 
he  saw  the  kitigs  of  the  earth  bring  their  glory  into  it,  offering, 
that  is,  each  his  peculiar  treasures  to  complete  the  full  measure 
of  the  manifested  sovereignty  of  the  Lord.  This  is  the  end  ; 
in  this  magnificent  vision  of  faith  the  Church  and  the  nations 
are  at  last  revealed  as  one  in  the  open  presence  of  God,  And 
meanwhile  the  promise  is  for  our  encouragement  and  for  our 
guidance,  as  we  strive  to  win  for  Christ  the  manifold  homage 
of  men.  Bishop  Westcott. 


[First  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

C^viBfB  Character  (^anifeefe^  to  t^e  ^otf^. 

THE    EFFECT    ON    THE   JEWISH    RABBIS. 

A7zd  all  that  heard  Him  were  astonished  at  His  U7ider standing  and 
anszuers. — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


3MAGINE  Him,  this  Child,  standing  among  the  Rabbis,  not 
affrighted  or  abashed  certainly  by  tlieir  dignity,  but  also 
showing  no  signs  of  forwardness,  not  eager  to  speak  but  will- 
ing to  listen.  .  .  .  And  can  we  imagine  that  these  Rabbis, 
after  so  many  years  of  reading  and  copying  out  the  law,  had 
ever  felt  such  a  presence  of  Divinity  come  over  them  as  now? 
They  would  not  have  said  so  in  so  many  words,  but  they  must 
have  felt,  and  did  feel,  that  there  was  awe  and  mystery  pierc- 
ing clear  and  bright  through  that  Child- Face.  It  was  the  Face 
of  a  Galilean  peasant's  Child,  they  saw  It  as  their  own  flesh 
and  blood,  but  It  would  have  said  to  them,  "  It  is  more  glorious 
to  be  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood  with  anything  that  is  called 
Man,  than  to  have  all  this  learning  of  ours."  Then  His  ques- 
tions, what  were  they?  He  pronounces  on  nothing.  He  does  not 
lay  down  the  law  on  this  matter  or  that.  The  day  will  come 
when  He  will  go  up  into  the  mountain  and  teach  as  One  having 
authority;  but  that  day  is  not  yet.  It  is  at  the  feet  of  the 
Scribes  He  may  be  asking  what  they  think  the  greatest  com- 
mandment in  the  Law;  what  is  their  interpretation  of  this 
or  that  Psalm  ?  No  doubt  at  first  the  answers  are  all  ready. 
They  will  give  out  their  oracles  with  an  air  of  patronage  or 
condescension  to  the  Youth.  And  yet,  what  is  it  which  moves 
them,  perplexes,  terrifies  them  as  the  questioning  goes  on?  It 
is  that  the  questions  go  beneath  commentary  and  text  as  well, 
and  second-hand  answers  do  not  avail.  W.  Benham. 

48 


Monday.] 

C^tiBfB  Character  (gtanifeefeb  to  t^e  TTorf^. 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  GREAT  LEADER  OF  MEN. 

Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God. — S.  Mark  xv.  39. 


3N  Lycurgus,  Numa,  Confucius,  Mahomet,  I  see  lawgivers, 
but  nothing  which  rev^eals  the  Deity.  It  is  not  so  with 
Christ.  Everything  in  Him  amazes  me  :  His  mind  is  beyond 
me  and  His  will  confounds  me.  There  is  no  possible  term  of 
comparison  between  Him  and  anything  of  this  world.  He  is  a 
Being  apart.  His  birth,  His  life,  His  death,  the  profundity  of 
His  doctrine  which  reaches  the  height  of  difficulty  and  which  is 
yet  its  most  admirable  solution,  the  singularity  of  this  mysteri- 
ous Being,  His  Empire,  His  course  across  ages  and  kingdoms 
— all  is  prodigy,  a  mystery  too  deep,  too  sacred,  and  which 
plunges  me  into  reveries  from  which  I  can  find  no  escape  ;  a 
mystery  which  is  here  under  my  eyes,  which  I  cannot  deny, 
and  neither  can  I  explain.  Here  I  see  nothing  of  man.  Christ 
speaks,  and  from  that  time  generations  are  His  by  ties  more 
strict,  more  intimate  than  those  of  blood  :  by  a  union  more 
sacred,  more  imperative  than  any  other  could  be.  .  .  .  What 
a  gulf  between  my  misery  and  the  eternal  reign  of  Christ, 
preached,  praised,  loved,  adored,  living  in  the  whole  universe! 
Is  this  to  die  ?  Is  it  not  rather  to  live  ?  Such  is  the  death  of 
Christ— the  death  of  God.  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 


[Tuesday. 

C^mfe  Character  (gtanifeefeb  to  t^e  Worf^» 

TESTIMONY    OF    AN    ENGLISH    PHILOSOPHER. 

And  they  marvelled  greatly  at  Him. — S.  Mark  xii.  17. 


OjJ^BOVE  all,  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  effect  on  the 
V^iy  character  which  Christianity  has  produced  by  holding  up 
in  a  Divine  Person  a  standard  of  excellence,  and  a  model  for 
imitation,  is  available  even  to  the  absolute  unbeliever,  and  can 
nevermore  be  lost  to  humanity.  For  it  is  Christ,  rather  than 
God,  Whom  Christianity  has  held  up  to  believers  as  the  pattern 
of  perfection  for  humanity.  It  is  the  God  Incarnate,  more  than 
the  God  of  the  Jews  or  of  Nature,  Who,  being  idealised,  has 
taken  so  great  and  salutary  a  hold  on  the  modern  mind.  And, 
whatever  else  may  be  taken  away  from  us  by  rational  criticism, 
Christ  is  still  left;  a  unique  figure,  not  more  unlike  all  His  pre- 
cursors than  all  His  followers,  even  those  who  had  the  direct 
benefit  of  His  personal  teaching.  .  .  .  When  this  pre-emi- 
nent genius  is  combined  with  the  qualities  of  probably  the 
greatest  moral  Reformer  and  Martyr  to  that  mission  who  ever 
existed  upon  earth,  religion  cannot  be  said  to  have  made  a  bad 
choice  in  pitching  upon  this  Man  as  the  ideal  Representative 
and  guide  of  humanity ;  nor  even  now  would  it  be  easy,  even 
for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a  better  translation  of  the  rule  of 
virtue  from  the  abstract  into  the  concrete  than  to  endeavour  to 
live  so  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life. 

J.  S.  Mill. 


Second  after  Epiphany !\ 


Wednesday.] 

C^mfB  Character  (^anifeeteb  to  t^e  nTorfb. 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  FRENCH  PHILOSOPHER. 

Is  not  this  the  Christ? — S.  John  iv.  29. 


^AN  it  be  that  He,  whose  history  the  Gospel  relates,  is 
but  a  man?  Is  that  the  tone  of  an  enthusiast  or  ambitious 
sectary  ?  What  sweetness,  whatpurity  in  His  manners  !  What 
touching  grace  in  His  instructions  !  What  elevation  in  His 
maxims  !  What  profound  wisdom  in  His  discourses  !  What 
presence  of  mind,  what  acuteness,  what  justness  in  His  replies! 
What  command  over  His  passions  !  Where  is  the  man,  where 
is  the  sage,  who  can  act,  suffer  and  die  without  weakness  and 
without  ostentation  ?  When  Plato  paints  his  imaginary  right- 
eous man,  covered  with  all  the  opprobriums  of  crime,  and 
worthy  of  all  the  rewards  of  virtue,  he  paints,  feature  for  feature, 
Jesus  Christ.  The  resemblance  is  so  striking  that  all  the 
fathers  felt  it,  and  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it.  What  prej- 
udice, what  blindness  we  must  have,  to  dare  to  compare  the 
Son  of  Sophroniscus  to  the  Son  of  Mary  ?  What  a  distance 
the  one  is  from  the  other !  .  .  .  The  death  of  Socrates, 
philosophising  tranquilly  with  his  friends,  is  the  gentlest  one 
could  wish ;  that  of  Jesus,  expiring  in  anguish,  reviled,  mocked, 
cursed  of  a  whole  people,  is  the  most  horrible  that  one  can 
fear.  Socrates  in  taking  the  cup  of  poison  blessed  him  who 
presents  it  weeping;  Jesus,  in  the  midst  of  terrible  agony,  prays 
for  His  infuriated  executioners.  Yes,  if  the  life  and  death  of 
Socrates  are  those  of  a  sage,  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  are 
those  of  a  God.  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau. 


[Thursday. 

C^mfs  C^axacUt  (SXanifeete^  to  t^e  '^orfb. 

TESTIMONY    OF    A    GERMAN    PHILOSOPHER. 

When  CJu-ist  cometh^  will  He  do  more  miracles  than  these  which 
this  Man  doeth  ? — S.  John  vii.  31. 


^TESUS,  the  purest  among  the  mighty,  the  mightiest  among 
Cjv  the  pure,  with  His  pierced  hand  raised  empires  off  their 
hinges,  turned  the  stream  of  centuries  out  of  its  channel  and 
still  commands  the  ages,  .  .  .  Only  one  spirit  of  surpassing 
power  of  heart  stands  alone,  like  the  universe,  by  the  side  of 
God,  For  there  stepped  once  upon  the  earth  a  unique  Being, 
Who  merely  by  the  omnipotence  of  hoHness  subdued  strange 
ages,  and  founded  an  eternity  peculiarly  His  own.  Blooming 
softly,  obedient  as  the  sunflower,  yet  burning  and  all-attracting 
as  the  sun,  with  His  own  gentle  might  He  moved  and  directed 
Himself  and  peoples  and  centuries  at  the  same  time  towards 
Him  who  is  the  original  and  universal  Sun.  That  is  the 
gentle  spirit  Whom  we  call  Jesus  Christ.  If  He  really  ex- 
isted, then  there  is  a  Providence,  or  He  Himself  were  Provi- 
dence. Tranquil  teaching  and  tranquil  dying  was  the  only 
music  by  which  this  highest  Orpheus  tamed  wild  men  and 
charmed  rocks  harmoniously  into  cities. 

Jean  Paul  Richter. 


Second  after  Epiphany^ 


Friday.] 

TESTIMONY    OF    AN    AMERICAN    PHILOSOHPER. 
Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  jvisdoni  of  God. — 1  Cor.  i.  24. 


TJ^HIS  Jesus  lived  with  men:  with  the  consciousness  of  unut- 
^^  terable  majesty.  He  joined  a  lowliness,  gentleness,  hu- 
manity and  sympathy  which  have  no  example  in  human  history. 
I  ask  you  to  contemplate  this  wonderful  union.  In  proportion 
to  the  superiority  of  Jesus  to  all  around  Him  was  the  intimacy, 
the  brotherly  love  with  which  He  bound  Himself  to  them.  I 
maintain  that  this  is  a  character  wholly  remote  from  human 
conception.  To  imagine  it  to  be  the  production  of  imposture 
or  enthusiasm,  shows  a  strange  unsoundness  of  mind.  I  con- 
template it  with  a  veneration  second  only  to  the  profound  awe 
with  which  I  look  up  to  God.  It  bears  no  mark  of  human 
invention.  It  was  real.  It  belonged  to,  and  it  manifested,  the 
beloved  Son  of  God.  W.  E.  Channing. 


53 


[Saturday. 

C^Bfe  C^atacUt  (Btanifesfeb  to  t^e  OTorfb. 

TESTIMONY    OF    A    HINDU     PHILOSOPHER. 

I/is  face  did  shine  as  the  sun. — S.  Matt.  xvii.  2. 


TJ^HE  two  fundamental  doctrines  of  Gospel  ethics  which 
^^  stand  out  prominently  above  all  others,  and  give  it  its 
peculiar  grandeur  and  its  pre-eminent  excellence,  are  in  my 
opinion,  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  and  self  sacrifice,  and  it 
is  in  these  we  perceive  the  moral  greatness  of  Christ.  These 
golden  maxims  how  beautifully  He  preached,  how  nobly  He 
lived !  What  moral  serenity  and  sweetness  pervade  His  life  ! 
What  extraordinary  tenderness  and  humility !  What  lamblike 
meekness  and  simplicity!  His  heart  was  full  of  mercy  and 
forgiving  kindness;  friends  and  foes  shared  His  charity  and 
love.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  how  resolute,  firm  and 
unyielding  in  His  adherence  to  truth  !  He  feared  no  mortal 
man,  and  braved  even  death  itself  for  the  sake  of  truth  and 
God.  Verily,  when  we  read  His  life.  His  meekness,  like  the 
soft  moon,  ravishes  the  heart  and  bathes  it  in  a  flood  of  serene 
light ;  but  when  we  come  to  the  grand  consummation  of  His 
career.  His  death  on  the  Cross,  behold,  how  He  shines  as  the 
sun  in  its  meridian  splendour.         Keshub  Chunder  Sen. 


Second  after  Epiphany.'] 


Second  Sunday  after  Epiphany.] 

(gtanifesfation  of  C^mi  to  gis  V)impftti. 

FAITH    IN    A    HEAVENLY    LORD. 

TAis  beginning  of  miracles  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and 
manifested  forth  His  glory,  and  His  disciples  believed  on  Him. — 
Gospel  for  the  Week. 


A\F  none  less  than  the  Son  could  be  affirmed  that  He  "  mani- 
^■^  fested  forth  His  glory  ";  for  every  other  would  have  mani- 
fested forth  the  glory  of  God ;  for  the  *' glory  "  here  must  have 
all  its  emphasis ;  it  is  assuredly  no  creaturely  attribute,  but  a 
Divine;  comprehended  and  involved  in  the  idea  of  the  Logos  as 
the  absolute  light.  As  such  He  rays  forth  light  from  Himself, 
and  this  efifluence  is  *'  His  glory ."  This  His  ''glory"  during 
the  time  that  He  tabernacled  upon  earth  for  the  most  part  was 
hidden;  the  veil  of  our  flesh  concealed  it  from  the  sight  of  men: 
but  now,  in  this  work  of  His  grace  and  power,  it  burst  through 
the  covering  which  concealed  it,  revealing  itself  to  the  spiritual 
eyes  of  His  disciples ;  they  '*  beheld  His  glojy,  the  glory  as  of  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father.'*  And  as  a  consequence,  ''His 
disciples  believed  on  Him."  The  work,  besides  its  more  imme- 
diate purpose,  had  a  further  end  and  aim,  the  confirming, 
strengthening,  exalting  of  their  faith,  who  already  believing  in 
Him,  were  thus  the  more  capable  of  receiving  an  increase  of 
faith, — of  being  lifted  from  faith  to  faith,  advanced  from  faith 
in  an  earthly  teacher  to  faith  in  a  heavenly  Lord. 

Archbishop  Trench. 


55 


[Monday. 

(glanifeefafion  of  C^mi  to  ^10  ^iscipfcB, 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE     BISHOP. 

Christ  liveth  in  me. — Gal.  ii.  20. 


^lY^HO  are  you,  O  ungodly  one,  who  so  hurriest  to  disobey 
our  orders,  and  persuadest  othe.is  to  their  own  destruc- 
tion } 

"  No  one  can  call  the  God-bearer  ungodly,"  answered  Ig- 
natius, "  unless  you  mean  that  I  am  the  enemy  of  these  gods 
who  fled,  as  devils,  from  the  servants  of  God ;  then  I  confess 
it,  for  I  have  a  King — Christ — Who  brings  all  their  counsels 
to  nought." 

"Who  is  the  God-bearer.^"  asked  the  Emperor. 
"  He  who  carries  Christ  in  his  heart." 

"  Have  we  no  gods  whose  help  we  use  against  our  foes  ?  " 
"You  are  wrong  to  call  the  powers  of  the  Gentiles  gods," 
said  Ignatius.     "  There  is  one  God,  Who  made  Heaven  and 
earth,  and  sea,  and  all  that  is  in  them;  and  one  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  Son  of  God,  Whose  Kingdom  would  that  I  might  win!  " 
**You  mean  the  Crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate?" 
"Yes,  I  mean  Him  who  crucified  my  sin  with  its  first  father, 
and  Who  has  thrown  down  all  devilish  wickedness  and  malice 
under  the  feet  of  those  who  carry  Him  in  their  hearts." 
"  Do  you,  then,  carry  Christ  about  within  yourself  ?  " 
"Yes,  for  it  is  written  :    *I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  will  walk 
up  and  down  in  them.'  " 

S.  Ignatius  {as  quoted  by  H.  Scott  Holland). 


Third  after  Epiphany ^ 

56 


Tuesday.] 

(gtanifeefafion  of  C^mi  to  gie  Vimpfts. 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE    MAN    OF    LETTERS. 

Jesus  Christ  our  hope. — 1  Tim.  i.  1. 


®LL  the  help  I  can  offer,  in  my  poor  degree,  is  the  assu- 
rance that  I  see  ever  more  reason  to  hold  by  the  same 
hope — and  that  by  no  means  in  ignorance  of  what  has  been 
advanced  to  the  contrary,  and  for  your  sake  I  would  wish  it  to 
be  true  that  I  had  so  much  of  "genius"  as  to  permit  the  testi- 
mony of  an  especially  privileged  insight  to  come  in  aid  of  the 
ordinary  argument.  For  I  know  I  myself  have  been  aware  of 
the  communication  of  something  more  subtle  than  a  ratiocina- 
tive  process,  when  the  convictions  of  "genius"  have  thrilled 
my  soul  to  its  depths,  as  when  Napoleon,  shutting  up  the  New 
Testament,  said  of  Christ:  "Do  you  know  that  I  am  an  under- 
stander  of  men  ?  Well,  He  was  no  man  !  "  Or  as  when  Charles 
Lamb,  in  a  gay  fancy  with  some  friends  as  to  how  he  and 
they  would  feel  if  the  greatest  of  the  dead  were  to  appear  sud- 
denly in  flesh  and  blood  once  more — on  the  final  suggestion, 
"  and  if  Christ  entered  this  room  ?  "  changed  his  manner  at 
once  and  stuttered  out — as  his  manner  was  when  moved,  "  You 
see  if  Shakespeare  entered  we  should  all  rise;  if  He  appeared, 
we  must  kneel."  Or  not  to  multiply  instances — as  when  Dante 
wrote  what  I  will  transcribe  from  my  wife's  Testament — 
wherein  I  recorded  it  fourteen  years  ago:  "Thus  I  believe, thus 
I  affirm,  thus  I  am  certain  it  is,  that  from  this  life  I  shall  pass 
to  another  better,  there,  where  that  lady  lives,  of  whom  my 
soul  was  enamoured."  Dear  friend,  I  may  have  wearied  you  in 
spite  of  your  good  will.  God  bless  you,  sustain  and  receive 
you.     Reciprocate  this  blessing  with  yours  affectionately, 

Robert  Browning. 

57 


[Wednesday. 

(glanifestation  of  C^mi  to  gie  ©ieci^jfee. 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE    STATESMAN. 

J^or  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  Christ,     .     .     .      was  not  yea  and  nay, 
but  in  Him  is  yea. — 2  Cor.  i.  18. 


3  KNOW  there  is  a  God  and  that  He  hates  injustice  and 
slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming  and  I  know  that  His 
hand  is  in  it.  If  He  has  a  place  and  work  for  me — and  I  think 
He  has — I  believe  I  am  ready.  I  am  nothing,  but  truth  is 
everything.  I  know  I  am  right  because  I  know  that  liberty  is 
right,  for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 


Third  after  Epiphany. \ 


Thursday.] 

(gtanif est ation  of  C^mi  f o  ^is  ©ieci^jfes. 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE    PHYSICIAN. 

/  am  not  ashamed,  for  I  know  Whom  I  have  believed^  and  am  per- 
suaded that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  co??imitted  unto  Him 
against  that  day. — 2  Tim,  i.  12. 


QlOU  know  a  doctor  of  medicine  is  full  of  theories  ;  and  it  is 
(^  good  it  should  be  so,  because  hypothetical  explanations  of 
things,  and  suggestionsfortreatmentof  diseases,  stir  us  up,  keep 
us  alive,  and  cause  us  to  maintain  inquiries  and  experiments. 
I  hear  a  man  talking  about  Bright's  Disease  "  I  should  adopt 
such  and  such  a  method."  I  say,  "Very  well,  let  us  try  it." 
In  that  sense,  in  that  sense  only,  apply  this  argument  to  Chris- 
tianity—  Try  it.  Though  any  man  who  is  arguing  with  me 
should  show  me  that  the  grounds  I  have  taken  are  unreal  or  false 
or  anything  else,  still — Try  it.  I  believe  I  am  justified  in  saying 
that  if  tried  in  the  right  way,  it  never  fails.  So  that  when  all 
arguments  are  at  an  end,  if  the  man  is  earnestly  seeking,  striv- 
ing for  the  truth ;  and  if  he  can  humble  himself  like  a  little 
child  and  say  there  is  somethijig  in  this  Christianity,  let  it  be 
tried;  and  if  he  approaches  Christ,  he  will  discover  the  most 
wonderful  revelation  that  can  be  made  to  man ;  he  will  dis- 
cover the  way  in  which  to  live,  to  die;  and  how  self  abasement 
is  self-finding.  He  will  discover,  too,  that  the  life-sacrifice 
which  Christ  asks,  the  life  of  service,  the  life  of  love,  is  cheap 
at  the  cost  which  it  demands,  and  is  found  to  be  the  only  life 
which  can  be  called  life  indeed.  Sir  Andrew  Clark. 


59 


[Friday. 

(Jttanifestafion  of  C^mi  to  ^16  ©tecipfee. 

TESTIMONY    OF    THE  SOLDIER. 

T/ie  life  which  1 7tow  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  7vhich  is  in 
the  Son  of  Godj  Who  loved  ?He  and  gave  Himself  for  ?ne. — Gal.  ii.  20. 


3  FEEL  sure  that  nothing  but  a  complete  and  entire  surren- 
der of  everything-  to  Christ  will  be  available.  He  z's  able 
to  fill  us,  and  to  render  us  much  more  happy  than  any  worldly 
pleasures  can  do ;  that  is  an  undeniable  axiom.  But  we  must, 
after  having  given  up  everything,  be  patient,  and  wait  for  the 
"  filling  up."  I  say  this,  for  I  am  trying  the  experiment  of  giv- 
ing up  all  hindrances  to  a  holy  life,  and,  though  rid  of  those 
hindrances  (which  were  pleasures  to  me),  I  am  yet  empty  of 
any  increase  of  spiritual  joy.  However,  it  is  certain  the  in- 
crease will  come,  so  I  must  patiently  wait  for  it  and  avoid 
going  down  into  Egypt,  i.e.  the  world.  The  experiment  is  a 
safe  one;  it  is  like  going  through  a  severe  operation  for  an  ill- 
ness, with  \ht  certaifily  of  ultimate  cure. 

General  Gordon. 


Third  after  Epiphany. ^ 

60 


Saturday.] 

Otamfestafion  of  C^mi  to  gi0  ©isci^^fee. 

TESTIMONY  OF  THE  MAN  OF  SCIENCE. 

Christ  Jesus,   Who  of  God  is  t7iade  unto  us  zvisdofti,  and  righteous- 
ness,  and  sanctif  cation,  and  redemption. — 1  Cor.  i.  30. 


^^EACH  me  so  Thy  works  to  read 
^^     That  my  faith — new  strength  accruing — 
May  from  world  to  world  proceed, 

Wisdom's  fruitful  search  pursuing; 
Till  Thy  Truth  my  mind  imbuing, 

I  proclaim  the  Eternal  Creed, 
Oft  the  glorious  theme  renewing 

God  our  Lord  is  God  indeed. 

Give  me  love  aright  to  trace 

Thine  to  everything  created, 
Preaching  to  a  ransomed  race 

By  Thy  mercy  renovated. 
Till  with  all  Thy  fulness  sated 

I  behold  Thee  face  to  face 
And  with  ardour  unabated 

Sing  the  glories  of  Thy  grace. 

James  Clerk  Maxwell. 


6i 


[Third  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

(gtanifeefation  of  CfyciBi  to  t^e  ^infuf* 

THE    LEPER    CLEANSED. 

And  Jesus  put  forth  His  hand,  and  touched  him,  saying,  I  will,  be 
thou  clean. — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


^TTOW  full  of  instruction  is  all  this  incident  to  us,  when  by 
M^J  prayer  and  meditation  we  bring  it  home,  as  it  is  intended 
we  should  do.  Each  one  to  himself.  The  same  power  is 
present  to  heal  when  we  feel  and  know  ourselves  to  be  "  full  of 
leprosy."  And  the  like  humiliation  of  ourselves  and  the  like 
faith,  will  be  heard  as  it  then  was.  But,  alas  !  leprosy  of  soul 
and  uncleanness  in  the  sight  of  God  is  not  so  known  and  felt 
as  bodily  disease  would  be.  Otherwise  there  is  the  same 
remedy,  the  same  nearness  to  the  all-healing  Presence,  the 
same  will  to  restore  us.  Nay,  far  more ;  there  is  the  same 
life-giving  Body  in  the  Holy  Eucharist ;  ready  to  communicate 
Himself  to  us  as  He  touched  the  leper  and  made  him  clean. 
And  then  there  is  the  same  lesson  of  obedience  that  we  may 
continue  in  that  holy  fellowship.  "  Show  thyself  to  the  Priest," 
as  Moses  in  the  Law  commanded,  and  "  offer  the  gift"  ;  but  to 
us  it  is  not  the  command  of  the  Law  only,  but  also  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  the  gift  is  not  that  of  dead  animals,  but,  as  the 
Church  says  to  us  at  this  season,  in  the  words  of  S.  Paul,  "  I 
beseech  you  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies 
a  living  sacrifice."  ISAAC  Williams. 


63 


Monday.] 

(glanifestafion  of  C^tisi  io  f^e  ^infuf. 

THE    PENITENT    GUIDED. 

One  thing  I  know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see. — S.  John  ix.  25. 


^O  was  I  speaking,  and  weeping  in  the  most  bitter  centn- 
er tion  of  my  heart,  when  lo !  I  heard  from  a  neighboring 
house  a  voice,  as  of  boy  or  girl,  I  know  not,  chanting  and  oft 
repeating,  "  Take  up  and  read  ;  Take  up  and  read."  Instantly 
my  countenance  altered,  I  began  to  think  most  intently,  whether 
children  were  wont  in  any  kind  of  play  to  sing  such  words ; 
nor  could  I  remember  ever  to  have  heard  the  like.  So  check- 
ing the  torrent  of  my  tears,  I  arose  ;  interpreting  it  to  be  no 
other  than  a  command  from  God,  to  open  the  book,  and  read 
the  first  chapter  I  should  find.  .  .  .  Eagerly  then  I  returned 
to  the  place  where  Alypius  was  sitting;  for  there  had  I  laid 
the  volume  of  the  Apostle,  when  I  arose  thence.  I  seized, 
opened,  and  in  silence  read  that  section  on  which  my  eyes  first 
fell :  Not  zn  rioting  and  drtmkenness,  not  in  chambering  and 
wantonness,  not  in  strife,  and  envying:  but  put  ye  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  atid  make  not  provision  for  the  flesh,  in  concu- 
piscence. No  further  would  I  read ;  nor  needed  I :  for  instantly 
at  the  end  of  this  sentence,  by  a  light  as  it  were  of  serenity 
infused  into  my  heart,  all  the  darkness  of  doubt  vanished  away. 

S.  Augustine. 


[Tuesday. 

(JjElamfesfation  of  C^Bi  to  t^e  ^infuf- 

THE    PENITENT    REWARDED. 
Thou,  Lord,  art  good  and  ready  to  forgive, — Ps.  lxxxvi.  5. 


rt  OVE  and  affection  for  Christ  did  work  at  this  time  such  a 
^*  strong  and  hot  desire  of  revengement  upon  myself  for 
the  abuse  I  had  done  to  Him,  that  to  speak  as  then  I  thought, 
had  I  had  a  thousand  gallons  of  blood  in  my  veins,  I  could  freely 
have  spilt  it  all  at  the  command  of  my  Lord  and  Saviour.  The 
tempter  told  me  it  was  vain  to  pray.  Yet,  thought  I,  I  will 
pray.  But,  said  the  tempter,  your  sin  is  unpardonable.  Well, 
said  I,  I  will  pray.  It  is  no  boot,  said  he.  Yet,  said  I,  I  will 
pray:  so  I  went  to  prayer,  and  I  uttered  words  to  this  effect : 
Lord,  Satan  tells  me  that  neither  Thy  mercy  nor  Christ's  blood 
is  sufficient  to  save  my  soul.  Lord,  shall  I  honour  Thee  most 
by  believing  that  Thou  wilt  and  canst,  or  him  by  believing  that 
Thou  neither  wilt  nor  canst  ?  Lord,  I  would  fain  honour  Thee 
by  believing  that  Thou  wilt  and  canst.  As  I  was  there  before 
the  Lord,  the  Scripture  came.  Oh !  man,  great  is  thy  faith, 
even  as  if  one  had  clapped  me  on  my  back. 

John  Bunyan. 


Fourth  after  Epiphany^ 


Wednesday.] 

(glanifesfafion  of  C^mi  io  t^e  ^infuf. 

THE    IMPORTUNATE    HEARD. 

^nd  after  the  earthquake  a  fire;    but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire: 
and  after  the  fire  a  still  sfnall  voice. — 1  Kings  xix.  12. 


QJOUR  sense  of  sin  is  not  fanaticism  ;  it  is,  I  suppose,  simple 
f^  consciousness  of  fact.  As  for  helping  you  to  Christ,  I  do 
not  believe  /  can  one  inch,  I  can  see  no  hope  but  in  prayer, 
in  going  to  Him  yourself,  and  saying:  "  Lord,  if  Thou  art  there, 
if  Thou  art  at  all,  if  this  be  not  all  a  lie,  fulfil  Thy  reputed  prom- 
ises, and  give  me  peace  and  the  sense  of  forgiveness,  and  the 
feeling  that,  bad  as  I  may  be.  Thou  lovest  me  still,  seeing  all, 
understanding  all,  and,  therefore,  making  allowance  for  all." 

I  have  had  to  do  that  in  past  days;  to  challenge  Him  through 
outer  darkness  and  the  silence  of  night,  till  I  almost  expected 
that  He  would  vindicate  His  own  honour  by  appearing  visibly 
as  He  did  to  S.  Paul  and  S.  John;  but  He  answered  in  the 
still  small  voice  only;  yet,  that  was  enough. 

Charles  Kingsley. 


65 


[Thursday. 

Olanifeetation  of  C^rief  to  t^e  (^ffficte^. 

THE    DEPRESSED    CHEERED. 

In  the  ti??ie  of  trouble  He  shall  hide  7ne. — Psalm  xxvii.  5. 


T^HIS  last  week  has  been  a  rather  trying  one  because  I  have 
^^  been  so  often  tired,  and  then  I  expected  to  be  so  taken  up 
with  my  work  in  the  present  that  there  would  be  no  room  for 
regrets ;  but  they  grow  stronger,  so  that  I  dare  not  think  of 
home  or  the  dear  friends  outside  it.  But  I  am  not  and  never 
shall  be  again  despairing.  At  the  very  worst  times  such 
strength,  not  my  own,  has  been  lent  me,  that  now  I  know  it 
will  not  fail. 

The  people  here  are  all  so  kind,  and  I  ought  to  be  contented, 
but  I  am  not.  I  am  often  impatient  to  be  stronger  and  able 
to  do  more.  A  year  or  two  ago — but  the  lights  are  all  changed. 
Yet  I  would  not  go  back  to  that  time  of  light-hearted  ambi- 
tion. There  is  something  better  than  happiness  :  the  blessed- 
ness which  comes  to  us  in  our  worst  griefs. 

Ellen  Watson. 


Fourth  after  Epiphany.^ 


Friday.] 

(Slanifeefation  of  C^Bi  to  f^e  ©ffficte^. 

THE    SICK    ENCOURAGED. 

//  is  good  for  nie  that  I  have  been  hi  trouble, — Ps.  cxix.  71. 


3  HAVE  been  brought  through  a  sharp  little  attack  of  bron- 
chitis, and  feel  bound  to  record  my  sense  of  the  tender 
mercy  that  has  encompassed  me  night  and  day.  Though  it 
may  have  been  in  part  my  own  wilfulness  and  recklessness  that 
brought  it  on,  that  and  all  else  was  pardoned,  all  fear  of  suffer- 
ing or  death  was  swallowed  up  in  the  childlike  joy  of  trust ;  a 
perfect  rest  in  the  limitless  love  and  wisdom  of  a  most  tender 
Friend,  Whose  will  was  far  dearer  to  me  than  my  own.  That 
blessed  Presence  was  felt  just  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the 
hour,  and  the  words  breathed  into  my  spirit  were  just  the  most 
helpful  ones  at  the  time,  strengthening  and  soothing.  This 
was  specially  felt  in  the  long,  still  nights,  when  sometimes  I  felt 
very  ill:  "  Never  less  lonely  than  when  thus  alone  with  God." 
Surely  I  know  more  than  ever  of  the  reality  of  that  declaration, 
"  This  is  Life  Eternal,  that  they  might  know  Thee  the  only 
true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  Whory  Thou  hast  sent."  I  write 
all  this  now,  because  my  feelings  are  already  fading  into  com- 
monplace, and  I  would  fain  fix  some  little  scrap  of  my  experi- 
ence. I  had  before  been  craving  for  a  little  more  spiritual  life, 
on  any  terms,  and  how  mercifully  this  has  been  granted  !  And  I 
can  utterly  trust  that  in  any  extremity  that  may  be  before  me 
the  same  wonderful  mercy  will  encompass  me,  and  of  mere 
love  and  forgiving  compassion  carry  me  safely  into  Port. 

Caroline  Fox. 


[Saturday. 

(ttlanifeefation  of  C^mi  to  f^e  (^ffficte^. 

THE    FORSAKEN    VISITED. 

//e  hath  said,  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee. — Heb.  xiii.  5. 


3  HAVE  sent  Stewart  off  to  scour  the  river  White  Nile,  and 
another  expedition  to  push  back  the  rebels  on  the  Blue 
Nile.  With  Stewart  has  also  gone  Power.  ...  So  I  am 
left  alone  in  the  vast  palace  of  which  you  have  a  photograph, 
but  not  alone,  for  I  feel  great  confidence  in  my  Saviour's  pre- 
sence. The  peculiar  pain,  which  comes  from  the  excessive 
anxiety,  one  cannot  help  being  in  for  these  people,  comes  back 
to  me  at  times.  I  think  that  our  Lord,  sitting  over  Jerusalem, 
is  ruling  all  things  to  the  glory  of  His  Kingdom,  and  cannot 
wish  things  different  than  they  are,  for,  if  I  did  so,  then  I  wish 
my  will,  not  His,  to  be  done.  The  Soudan  is  a  ruin,  and 
humanly  speaking,  there  is  no  hope.  Either  I  must  believe  He 
does  all  things  in  mercy  and  love,  or  else  I  disbelieve  His  exist- 
ence ;  there  is  no  half-way  in  the  matter.  What  holes  do  I  not 
put  myself  into!  And  for  what?  So  mixed  are  my  ideas.  I 
believe  ambition  put  me  here  in  this  ruin ;  however,  I  trust, 
and  stay  myself  on  the  fact  that  not  one  sparrow  falls  to  the 
ground  without  our  Lord's  permission ;  also  that  enough  for 
the  day  is  the  evil.  "  God  provideth  by  the  way  strength  suf- 
ficient for  the  day."  General  Gordon. 
\_2jih  February,  i88g.     One  of  his  last  letters^] 


Fourth  after  Epiphany. ^ 

68 


Fourth  Sunday  after  Epiphany.] 

(Jltanifesfafion  of  C^mi  in  ()X(xiuxt. 

CHRIST    THE    LORD    OF  'NATURE. 

T/ien  He  arose  and  rebuked  the  winds  and  the  sea  ;  and  there  was 
a  great  calm. — Gospel  foe  the  Week. 


A^AESAR'S  confidence  that  the  bark  which  contained  him 
^^^  and  his  fortunes  could  not  sink,  forms  the  earthly  coun- 
terpart to  the  heavenly  calmness  and  confidence  of  the  Lord. 
We  must  not  miss  the  force  of  that  word  "  rebuked^  preserved 
by  all  three  Evangelists;  and  as  little  the  direct  address  to  the 
furious  elements,  "  Peace  be  still,"  which  S.  Mark  only  records. 
To  regard  this  as  a  mere  oratorical  personification  would  be 
absurd;  rather  is  there  here,  as  Maidonatus  truly  remarks,  a 
distinct  tracing  up  of  all  the  discords  and  disharmonies  in  the 
outward  world  to  their  source  in  a  person,  a  referring  them  back 
to  him,  as  to  their  ultimate  ground;  even  as  this  person  can  be 
no  other  than  Satan,  the  author  of  all  disorders  alike  in  the 
natural  and  spiritual  world.  The  Lord  elsewhere  ''rebukes" 
a  fever  (Luke  iv.  39)  where  the  same  remarks  will  hold  good. 
Nor  is  this  rebuke  unheard  or  unheeded.  For  not  willingly  was 
the  creature  thus  made  "  subject  to  vanity."  Constituted  to  be 
man's  handmaid  at  the  first,  it  is  only  reluctantly,  and  sub- 
mitting to  an  alien  force,  that  nature  rises  up  against  him,  and 
becomes  the  instrument.of  his  hurt  and  harm.  In  the  hours  of 
her  wildest  uproar,  she  knew  the  voice  of  Him  who  was  her 
rightful  Lord,  gladly  returned  to  her  allegiance  to  Him,  and  in 
this  to  her  place  of  proper  service  to  that  race  of  which  He  had 
become  the  Head,  and  whose  lost  prerogatives  He  was  reclaim- 
ing and  reasserting  once  more.  ARCHBISHOP  TRENCH. 

69 


[Monday. 

(gtanifestation  of  C^mi  in  (Uafure. 

CHRIST    THE    CROWN    OF    NATURE. 

The  Ji7'stbor7i  of  all  creation. — Col.  i.  15. 


^|YlHAT  is  the  testimony  of  nature  in  regard  to  the  super- 
natural Christ  ?  First,  then,  nature  is  a  unity  and  an 
order.  In  nature  there  can  be  nothing  detached,  disconnected, 
arbitrary,  as  Aristotle  said  of  old,  like  an  episode  in  a  bad 
tragedy.  Secondly,  nature,  on  the  whole,  represents  a  progress, 
an  advance.  There  is  a  development  from  the  inorganic  to  the 
organic,  from  the  animal  to  the  rational — a  progressive  evolu- 
tion of  life.  Thirdly,  this  development,  from  any  but  the 
materialist  point  of  view,  is  a  progressive  revelation  of  God. 
Something  of  God  is  manifest  in  the  mechanical  laws  of  inor- 
ganic structures ;  something  more  in  the  growth  and  flexibility 
of  vital  forms  of  plant  and  animal ;  something  more  still  in  the 
reason,  conscience,  love,  personality  of  man.  Now,  from  the 
Christian  point  of  view,  this  revelation  of  God,  this  unfolding 
of  Divine  qualities,  reaches  a  climax  in  Christ,  God  has  ex- 
pressed in  inorganic  nature  His  immutability,  immensity,  power, 
wisdom  :  in  organic  nature  He  has  shown  also  that  He  is  alive: 
in  human  nature  He  has  given  glimpses  of  His  mind  and  char- 
acter. In  Christ  not  one  of  these  earlier  revelations  is  abro- 
gated ;  nay,  they  are  reaffirmed  :  but  they  reach  a  completion 
in  the  fuller  exposition  of  the  Divine  character,  the  Divine  per- 
sonality, the  Divine  love.  C.  Gore, 


Fifth  after  Epifhany.] 

70 


Tuesday.] 

(gtanifestation  of  C^xiei  in  (Uature. 

CHRIST'S    MIRACLES    IN    ACCORD    WITH    NATURE. 

Afy  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work. — S.  John  v.  17. 


^fVlHILE  the  miracle  is  not  thus  nature,  so  neither  is  it 
against  nature.  That  language,  however  commonly 
in  use,  is  yet  wholly  unsatisfactory,  which  speaks  of  these 
works  of  God  as  violations  of  a  natural  law.  Beyond,  nature, 
beyond  and  above  the  nature  which  we  know,  they  are,  but  not 
contrary  to  it.  .  .  .  The  miracle  is  not  the  unnatural,  nor 
can  it  be  ;  since  the  unnatural,  the  contrary  to  order,  is  of  itself 
the  ungodly,  and  can  in  no  way  therefore  be  affirmed  of  a 
Divine  work,  such  as  that  with  which  we  have  to  do.  The  very 
idea  of  the  world,  as  more  than  one  name  which  it  bears  testi- 
fies, is  that  of  an  order;  that  which  comes  in,  then,  to  enable  it 
to  realise  this  idea  which  it  has  lost,  will  scarcely  itself  be  a 
disorder.  So  far  from  this,  the  true  miracle  is  a  higher  and 
a  purer  nature  coming  down  out  of  the  world  of  untroubled 
harmonies  into  this  world  of  ours,  which  so  many  discords  have 
jarred  and  disturbed,  and  bringing  this  back  again,  though  it 
be  but  for  one  mysterious  prophetic  moment,  into  harmony 
with  that  higher.  The  healing  of  the  sick  can  in  no  way  be 
termed  against  nature,  seeing  that  the  sickness  which  was 
healed  was  against  the  true  nature  of  man,  that  it  is  sickness 
which  is  abnormal,  and  not  health.  The  healing  is  the  restora- 
tion of  the  primitive  order.  We  should  term  the  miracle  not 
the  infraction  of  a  law,  but  behold  in  it  the  lower  law  neutra- 
lized, and  for  the  time  put  out  of  working  by  a  higher. 

Archbishop  Trench. 


[Wednesday. 

(Jltanifeefafion  of  C^mi  in  (TVature. 

CHRIST'S  MIRACLES  THE    SIGNS  OF  HIS  PRESENT  WORKING. 

But   though    He   had  done  so   nuuiy   signs  before  thetn,  yet  they 
believed  not  on  Him. — S.  John  xii.  37. 


^J^HE  miracles  are  in  consequence  of  the  unique  way  in  which 
^^  Jesus  works  them,  the  signs  of  a  glory  belonging  to  Him- 
self personally ;  they  are,  moreover,  the  visible  symbols  of  the 
work  which  He  came  to  accomplish  here  below.  They  are  the 
signs,  not  only  of  what  Jesus  is,  but  also  of  what  He  does. 
When  Jesus  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  for  what  purpose  did 
He  do  it?  Did  He  purpose  to  put  an  end  to  physical  blindness 
on  the  earth  ?  Certainly  not.  .  .  .  What,  then,  is  the  object 
of  such  miracles  ?  He  wishes  to  make  the  world  understand 
the  moral  work  which  He  is  come  to  accomplish.  He  says  by 
these  actions  what  He  expressed  in  words  when  He  adds,  "/ 
ajn  the  Light  of  the  world."  He  makes  Himself  known  as  He 
who  is  come  to  scatter  the  moral  darkness  into  which  sin  has 
plunged  mankind.  .  .  .  When  He  raised  Lazarus,  it  was 
to  manifest  Himself  to  the  eyes  of  men  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins  as  He  who  was  come  to  bring  to  our  souls  resurrection 
and  life.  Every  miracle  is  the  visible  type,  the  speaking  pledge 
and  earnest  of  a  spiritual  miracle,  greater  and  still  more  saving 
than  the  eternal  one.  F.  GODET. 


Fifth  after  Epiphany. "[ 


Thursday.] 

(gtanifeetafion  of  C^mi  to  f 0e  ^onjtvB  of  ©arftnees. 

HIS    AUTHORITY    OVER    THEM. 

JVAai  have  zve  to  do  with  Thee,  Jesus  Thou  Soft  of  God? — Gospel 
FOR  THE  Week. 


3T  is  worthy  of  note,  indeed,  that  all  those  demoniacs  whose 
miraculous  cure  is  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  were  drawn 
to  Jesus  by  an  irresistible  force.  The  spirit  which  spoke  by 
their  mouth  never  failed  to  proclaim  the  Messianic  character  of 
Him  Whose  sovereign  power  they  dreaded.  This  was  one 
method  of  opposing  the  Prophet,  for,  by  calling  Jesus  the  Holy, 
the  Holy  One  of  God,  the  Son  of  David,  and  lastly  the  Messiah, 
they  aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  crowd  those  false  ideas  which 
attached  to  this  title,  and  we  know  that  nothing  would  be 
better  calculated  to  impede  the  work  of  the  true  Messiah. 
Jesus  commanded  their  unworthy  voices  to  be  silent,  not  so 
much  because  their  hypocritical  and  perfidious  testimony 
repelled  Him  as  because  He  knew  that  reserve  and  caution 
were  necessary  to  His  work.  He,  the  Sovereign  Master  of 
spirits,  exorcises  them  ;  Master  of  the  soul,  He  transforms  it ; 
Master  of  the  body,  He  restores  its  balance  and  health  ;  He  only 
heals  the  body  to  save  the  soul ;  He  only  saves  the  soul  by 
freeing  it  from  the  Evil  One,  and  He  only  sets  it  free  by  com- 
municating to  it  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  cure  of  those  pos- 
sessed is  only  a  particular  case  of  the  healing  power  of  Jesus, 
one  of  the  phenomena  which  most  fully  symbolize  His  great 
work  of  deliverance.  PeRE  Didon. 


[Friday. 

(gtanifeef  ation  of  C^mi  to  t^e  ^otwers  of  ®arSne00. 

HIS    METHOD    OF    DEALING    WITH    THEM. 

So  the  devils  besought  Him,  saying,  If  thou  cast  us  out,  suffer  us 
to  go  away  into  the  herd  of  swine.  And  He  said  unto  them,  Go. — 
Gospel  for  the  Week. 


T^HE  point  for  us  to  note  is  this  •  Our  Lord  does  not  annihi- 
^^  late  evil.  He  does  not  regard  it  as  an  outlawed  in- 
truder who  had  eluded  God's  notice,  and  who,  as  soon  as  he 
is  discovered,  is  to  be  expelled  from  the  universe  at  once.  His 
Father  has  suffered  evil  to  be,  and  He,  Christ,  follows  in  His 
ways.  Evil  may  still  do  its  work,  only  not  on  men.  This  evil 
influence,  we  must  observe,  is  something  external  to  the  man; 
it  would  seem  to  belong  to  an  order  of  existences,  engaged  in 
working  ill,  as  their  congenial  business ;  whispering  bad  coun- 
sel, something  in  the  way  that  God's  Spirit  whispers  good, 
only,  of  course,  not  in  such  deep  authoritative  tones ;  and,  in 
these  cases  of  possession,  it  masters  the  whole  being  of  the 
sufferer.  Why  this  was  allowed  to  be,  is,  of  course,  a  mystery, 
but  yet  it  is  hardly  a  greater  mystery  than  why  evil  in  its  other 
forms  should  be  allowed  to  exist,  and  without  evil  in  some 
shape,  as  we  have  seen,  this  earth  would  be  a  very  imperfect 
exercise  ground  for  mankind.  Henry  Latham. 


Fifth  after  Epiphany !\ 

74 


Saturday.] 

(gtanifesfafion  of  C^mi  io  i^t  ^oa^cvB  of  ©atSneas. 

SIGNS    OF    HIS    VICTORY    OVER    THEM. 

And  He  said  tmto  them:    I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from 
heaven. — S.  Luke  x.  18. 

TjIE  cannot  doubt  that  the  might  of  hell  has  been  greatly 
broken  by  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh  ;  and 
with  this  a  restraint  set  on  the  grosser  manifestation  of  its 
power;  "  I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven  "  (Luke 
X.  i8).  His  rage  and  violence  are  constantly  hemmed  in  and 
hindered  by  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  the  ministration 
of  the  Sacraments.  It  were  another  thing,  even  now  in  a 
heathen  land,  above  all  in  one  where  Satan  was  not  left  in  un- 
disturbed possession,  but  wherein  the  great  crisis  of  the  conflict 
between  light  and  darkness  was  finding  place  through  the  first 
proclaiming  there  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  There  we  might 
expect  to  encounter,  whether  in  the  same  intensity  or  not, 
manifestations  analogous  to  these.  Rhenius,  a  well-known 
Lutheran  missionary  in  India,  gives  this  as  exactly  his  own  ex- 
perience,— namely,  that  among  the  native  Christians,  even 
though  many  of  them  walk  not  as  children  of  light,  yet,  there 
is  no  such  falling  under  Satanic  influence  in  soul  and  body  as 
he  traces  frequently  in  the  heathen  around  him  ;  and  he  shows 
by  a  remarkable  example,  and  one  in  which  he  is  himself  the 
witness  throughout,  how  the  assault  in  the  name  of  Jesus  on 
the  kingdom  of  darkness,  as  it  brings  out  all  forms  of  devilish 
opposition  into  fiercest  activity,  so  calls  out  the  endeavour  to 
counterwork  the  truth  through  men  who  have  been  made  di- 
rect organs  of  the  devilish  will. 

Archbishop  Trench. 

75 


[Fifth  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

(gtanifeefation  of  C^mi  in  Z^^^c^i^^- 


ITS    FORM. 


T/ie  kingdoin  of  heaven  is  likened  unto  a  man  ivhich  sowed  good 
seed  in  his  field. — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


^JTAD  our  Lord  spoken  naked  spiritual  truth,  how  many  of 
r^  His  words,  partly  from  His  hearers'  lack  of  interest  in 
them,  partly  from  their  lack  of  insight,  would  have  passed 
away  from  their  hearts  and  memories,  leaving  scarcely  a  trace 
behind  them.  But  being  imparted  to  them  in  this  form,  under 
some  lively  image,  in  some  short  and  perhaps  seemingly  para- 
doxical sentence,  or  in  some  brief  but  interesting  narrative, 
they  awakened  attention,  excited  inquiry,  and  even  if  the  truth 
did  not  at  the  moment,  by  the  help  of  the  illustration  used,  find 
an  entrance  into  the  mind,  yet  the  words  must  thus  often  have 
fixed  themselves  in  their  memories  and  remained  by  them. 
And  here  the  comparison  of  the  seed  is  appropriate,  of  which 
the  shell  should  guard  the  life  of  the  inner  germ,  till  that  should 
be  ready  to  unfold  itself,  till  there  should  be  a  soil  prepared  for 
it,  in  which  it  could  take  root  and  find  nourishment  suitable  to 
its  needs.  His  words  laid  up  in  the  memory  were  to  many 
that  heard  Him  like  the  money  of  another  country,  unavailable 
it  might  be,  for  present  use, — of  which  they  knew  not  the 
value,  and  only  dimly  knew  that  it  had  a  value,  but  which  yet 
was  ready  in  their  hand,  when  (hey  reached  that  land  and  were 
naturalized  in  it.  When  the  Spirit  came  and  brought  all  things 
to  their  remembrance,  then  He  filled  all  the  outlines  of  truth 
which  they  before  possessed  with  its  substance,  quickened  all 
its  forms  with  the  power  and  spirit  of  life. 

Archbishop  Trench, 

76 


Monday.] 

(glanifeefafion  of  C^mt  in  Z^ac^irxQ, 

ITS    AUTHORITATIVENESS. 

The  people  tvere  astonished  at  His  doctrine^  for  He  taught  them  as 
One  having  authority^  and  not  as  the  scribes. — S.  Matt.  vii.  28-29. 


TJ^HAT  which  struck  the  people  was.  His  possession  of  au- 
^^  thority — a  threefold  authority  it  might  seem — the  author- 
ity of  certain  knowledge,  the  authority  of  entire  fearlessness, 
the  authority  of  a  disinterested  love. 

The  authority  of  certain  knowledge.  The  scribes  argued,  con- 
jectured, balanced  this  interpretation  against  that — this  tradi- 
tion against  the  other.  They  were  often  learned  and  laborious, 
but  they  dealt  with  religion  only  as  antiquarians  might  deal 
with  old  ruins  or  manuscripts.  .  .  .  When  then  our  Lord 
spoke  with  clear  distinctness,  as  One  Who  saw  spiritual  truth 
— Who  took  the  exact  measure  of  the  seen  and  of  the  unseen — 
Who  described  without  any  ambiguities  what  He  saw — the 
effect  was  so  fresh  and  unlooked  for  as  to  create  the  astonish- 
ment which  S.  Matthew  describes.  Doubtless,  the  prophets 
would  have  contrasted  advantageously  with  the  scribes  of  our 
Lord's  day  in  this  respect ;  but  there  is  an  accent  of  author- 
itative certainty  in  our  Lord,  which  no  prophet  ever  assumes, 
when  He  corrects  error  or  unveils  truth.  "  It  hath  been  said 
by  them  of  old  time,"  He  says  again  and  again,  and  then 
He  adds,  "  but  /  say  unto  you  " — His  authority  He  feels  super- 
sedes all  that  has  gone  before.  He  knows  it.  .  .  .  Jesus 
with  His  "Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,"  is  the  Teacher  of 
teachers — the  most  authoritative  Teacher,  pouring  forth  a  flood 
of  light  upon  all  the  great  problems  of  human  interest — on  the 
reality  of  the  Divine  Providence,  on  the  destiny  of  the  human 
soul,  on  the  secret  miseries  and  certain  cures  of  human  life,  on 
the  means  of  access  to  the  Eternal  Father;  and  He  is  conscious 
— always  conscious — of  His  supreme  place  in  the  religion  of 
history.  H.  P.  Liddqn. 


[Tuesday. 

QJtanifesfation  of  C^xiBi  in  ^eac^ing. 

ITS    ORIGINALITY. 

And  when  He  was  come  into  His  own  country ,  He  taught  them  in 
their  synagogue,  insoviuch  that  they  were  astonished^  and  saidy 
Whence  hath  this  ma7i  this  wisdo??i  ? — S.  Matt.  xiii.  54. 


0(ys  the  vision  of  this  majestic  simpHcity  and  sufficiency  rises 
VC/  ever  more  clearly  before  our  eyes,  are  we  not  impelled 
to  put  to  ourselves  the  question  of  the  men  of  Nazareth, 
"  Whence  hath  this  Man  His  wisdom  ?  "  Whence  hath  this 
son  of  a  carpenter,  without  learning,  whose  short  life  was  com- 
pressed into  the  brief  space  of  thirty-three  years — whence  hath 
He  gained  His  imperial  insight,  this  unwavering  firmness,  this 
sublime  consciousness  of  authority  ?  How  is  it  that  from  so 
low  a  level  of  contemiporary  life  and  thought  He  had  gained  at 
a  single  bound  truth  about  God  and  man's  relation  to  God, 
which  no  previous  generation  hath  discovered,  and  which  no  sub- 
sequent generation  has  been  able  to  hold  fast  and  realize  ?  How 
is  it  that  until  to-day  He  sits  throned  above  us  all,  still  calling 
with  the  same  voice  of  mingled  appeal  and  authority,  "  Come 
unto  Me  ?  "  "  Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom  ?  "  What- 
ever be  the  answer  which  men  shall  ultimately  give  that  greatest 
question  of  our  time,  one  thing,  I  hope,  we  have  clearly  seen. 
He  did  not  get  His  wisdom  from  Gentile  culture,  or  from  the 
popular  teaching  of  contemporary  Jewish  orthodoxy. 

Bishop  Moorhouse. 

Sixth  after  Epiphany ^ 

78 


Wednesday.] 

(fflmifcBiaiion  of  C^xist  in  t^ac^irxQ, 

ITS    TENDERNESS. 

/  speak  to  them  in  parables  because  they  seeing,  see  not. — S.  Matt. 
xiii.  13. 


IJ^E  has  qualified  the  bhnding  light,  He  has  shadowed  it 
^y  down  to  tlie  dark  in  which  men  abide ;  He  has  divided 
His  teaching  into  stages,  so  as  to  protect  these  obstinate  hearts 
against  their  own  prejudices;  He  has  fallen  back  on  these  par- 
ables. The  parable  is  just  the  teaching  that  is  convenient  for 
those  who  hear  and  yet  hear  not,  who  see  and  yet  see  not. 
Something  they  hear — a  picturesque  tale,  a  Hvely  image  ;  this 
is  attractive,  there  is  no  one  who  will  not  give  it  some  entry. 
Even  those  who  most  vehemently  repudiate  the  more  emphatic 
message  ;  even  those  who  might  in  indignation  take  up  stones 
to  kill  Him  if  they  heard  the  full  claim,  will  stand  and  listen  to 
these  parables,  and  if  they  listen,  and  are  pleased  to  walk  away 
without  further  question,  no  irremediable  harm  will  be  done, 
only  they  will  be  much  as  they  were  before,  only  they  will  post- 
pone the  day  of  possibility,  they  will  not  have  been  brought  up 
near  enough  to  the  fire  to  be  scorched  by  it,  they  will  have  been 
saved  the  uttermost  disaster.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  there 
are  any  there  who  have  ears  to  hear  and  eyes  to  see,  then  the 
parable  will  work  its  perfect  work  upon  them  ;  they  will  never 
be  satisfied  by  its  mere  beauty,  they  will  feel  the  prickings  of  a 
diviner  secret,  the  parables  will  quicken  and  animate  them  into 
more  eager  expectation;  something  in  them  will  provoke  them; 
they  will  be  restless  until  they  have  gone  farther  ;  they  will 
press  in  with  the  other  disciples  into  the  house  with  the  Master 
— they  will  insist  on  being  told  what  it  all  means:  "Declare 
unto  us  the  parable."  H.  ScoTT  Holland. 

79 


[Thursday. 

(gtanifesfation  of  C^tiet  in  Jeoc^ing. 

ITS     TRUTHFULNESS. 

/a7?i  the  Trtith. — S.  John,  xiv.  6. 


T^HE  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  contain  many  things ; 
^^  but  they  contain  not  one  compliment ;  not  one  word 
spoi<en  in  mere  complaisance,  in  unmeaning  acquiescence, 
in  worldly  flattery.  Whoever  came  to  Him,  friend  or  foe — 
whoever  invited  Him  to  his  house,  whoever  appealed  to  Him 
for  His  counsel — must  make  up  his  mind  to  being  dealt  with 
according  to  truth.  A  sinner  is  a  sinner — a  hypocrite  is  a  hypo- 
crite— a  traitor  a  traitor — and  as  such  he  is  accosted.  We 
scarcely  feel,  as  we  read  with  eighteen  centuries  between,  what 
a  phenomenon  this  must  have  been,  in  a  world  just  as  flattering 
then  and  just  as  false  as  now.  There  was  one  Person  moving 
upon  the  earth.  Who  evidently  took  the  measure  of  every  life 
and  sounded  the  depth  of  every  heart ;  one  Who  could  charac- 
terise and  made  it  His  business  to  characterise  each  human 
being  who  came  to  Him — exactly  as  he  was — moral  or  im- 
moral, sincere  or  insincere,  earnest  or  indifferent,  false  or  true. 
No  one  else  could  do  this  justly;  no  one  else  could  do  this  with 
propriety ;  but  there  was  that  in  Christ  which  made  men 
endure  it  from  Him,  and  though  the  words  might  rankle,  they 
must  be  borne.  And  the  words  are  there  still.  The  imperish- 
able book  records  them.  They  are  written  for  our  admonition. 
Jesus  Christ  sees  us  as  we  are,  and  He  can  only  deal  with  us 
on  a  footing  of  reality.  C.  J.  Vaughan. 


Sixth  after  Epiphany  !\ 


Friday.] 

(gtanifestation  of  C^mi  in  Jeac^ing. 

ITS    MASTER-THOUGHT. 

A/'o  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father;  neither  knoweth  any 
man  the  Father^  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  ivhomsoever  the  Son  will 
reveal  Him. — S.  Matt.  xi.  27. 


A\UR  Lord  gave  a  new  meaning  and  force  to  the  word  Father 
^■^  as  applied  to  God.  ...  It  not  only  became  a  name 
for  God,  but  the  name,  the  almost  exclusive  name  by  which,  in 
future,  He  was  to  be  known.  If  any  one  should  still  doubt 
whether  the  revelation  of  God  as  the  loving  Father  of  all  men 
was  the  master-thought  of  our  Lord's  teaching,  let  him  turn 
to  that  Sermon  on  the  Mount  which  by  common  consent  con- 
tains the  pith  and  substance  of  His  message.  There  we  find 
Him  treating  of  the  religious  duties  of  almsgiving,  prayer  and 
fasting,  which  made  up  so  much  of  the  religious  life  of  those 
days.  The  question  is,  how  are  they  to  be  performed  ?  And 
our  Lord's  answer  is— quietly  and  in  secret.  And  why?  Be- 
cause they  are  not  to  be  done  to  win  popular  applause,  but  as 
the  expression  of  love  for  our  heavenly  Father.  Do  men  find 
that  they  can  only  do  well  under  the  stimulus  of  reward  ?  Then 
let  them  seek  their  reward  in  heaven.  Pray,  fast,  do  your  alms, 
in  secret,  and  "your  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  Himself 
reward  you  openly."  Are  any  anxious  about  their  worldly  for- 
tunes— about  wealth  and  food  and  raiment  ?  Let  them  re- 
member how  their  heavenly  Father  feeds  the  birds  and  clothes 
the  lilies — and  does  He  not  know  that  they  have  need  of  all 
these  things  ?  ...  To  sum  up  all  in  one  word,  "  Be  ye 
therefore  perfect  as  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven  is  perfect." 
Be  love,  as  He  is  love,  and  your  love  shall  be  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law.  Bishop  Moorhouse. 


[Saturday. 

ITS    SELF-ASSERTION. 

Except  ye  believe  that  I  am  He.,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins. — S.  John 
VIII.  24.  

3T  is  characteristic  of  what  may  be  termed  the  second  stage 
of  our  Lord's  public  teaching  that  He  distinctly,  repeatedly, 
energetically,  preaches  Himself.  .  .  .  He  speaks  of  Himself 
as  the  Light  of  a  darkened  world,  as  the  Way  by  which  man  may 
ascend  to  the  heaven,  as  the  Truth  which  can  really  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  the  soul,  as  the  Life  which  must  be  imparted  to  all 
who  would  live  in  very  deed,  to  all  who  would  really  live  for 
ever.  He  is  the  Bread  of  Life.  He  is  the  Living  Bread  that 
came  down  from  heaven;  believers  on  Him  will  feed  on  Him, and 
will  have  eternal  life.  .  .  .  He  is  the  Vine,  the  Life  Tree, 
of  regenerate  humanity.  All  that  is  truly  fruitful  and  lovely  in 
the  human  family  must  branch  forth  from  Him,  all  spiritual  life 
must  wither  and  die  if  it  be  severed  from  His.  He  stands  con- 
sciously between  earth  and  heaven.  He  claims  to  be  the  one 
means  of  a  real  approach  to  the  Invisible  God :  no  soul  of  man 
can  come  to  the  Father  but  through  Him.  He  promises  that 
all  prayer  offered  in  His  Name  shall  be  answered  :  "  If  ye  ask 
anything  in  My  Name  I  will  do  it  " — He  contrasts  Himself  with 
a  group  of  His  countrymen  as  follows  :  "Ye  are  from  beneath, 
I  am  from  above ;  ye  are  of  this  world,  I  am  not  of  this  world." 
He  anticipates  His  death,  and  foretells  its  consequences :  "  I,  if 
I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Myself." 
He  claims  to  be  the  Lord  of  the  realm  of  death.  He  encourages 
men  to  trust  in  Him  as  they  trust  in  God;  to  make  Him  an 
object  of  faith  just  as  they  believe  in  God,  to  honour  Him  as 
they  honour  the  Father.  H.  P.  Liddon. 

Sixth  after  Epiphany ^ 

82 


[Sixth  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

(gtanifeefation  of  C^tiBi  as  t^e  ^infees  ^e. 

HIS    HOLINESS    ALWAYS    ASSUMED. 

Ve  are  from  beneath;  I  am  fro?n  above. — S.  John  viii.  23. 


/\|^UT  although  the  characteristic  itself  is  internal  and  super- 
VO  natural — that  He  professed  to  be  sinless,  that  He  made 
this  pretension,  that  He  used  this  language,  is  part  of  the  vis- 
ible and  eternal  character  as  portrayed  in  the  Gospels — the 
assumption  pervades  His  acts  and  speech ;  it  is  as  much  a  por- 
tion of  the  Gospel  biography  as  His  benevolence.  His  compas- 
sion. His  purity,  His  courage,  His  resignation  ;  as  much  as  His 
judging  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  instructing  the  poor,  suffer- 
ing for  righteousness'  sake,  witnessing  to  the  truth,  and  delivering 
Himself  to  death  in  behalf  of  His  Mission.  What  a  man  thinks 
or  says  of  himself,  his  view  of  himself,  his  estimate  of  himself, 
is  a  most  important  characteristic  of  the  man  in  secular  biog- 
raphy. The  writers  of  the  life  of  Christ  have  transmitted,  as 
an  essential  portion  of  Him,  this  great  act  of  self-assertion,  this 
tone  about  Himself,  which  was  quite  unique,  and  to  which  there 
was  no  approach  in  human  history.  Nor  can  this  character- 
istic be  removed  without  a  complete  destruction  of  the  whole 
portrait,  and  the  substitution  of  another  Christ  for  the  Christ 
of  the  Gospels;  Whose  profound  statement  respecting  Himself 
reappears  in  the  Epistles,  as  believed  and  bowed  to  by  the 
Apostles,  and  made  the  foundation  of  a  new  message  to  man- 
kind. J.  B.  MOZLEY. 


83 


[Monday. 

(glanifeefation  of  C^mt  aB  f ^e  ^tnfese  (One. 

DEMANDED   BY  HIS  MISSION. 
A  house  divided  against  a  house  falleih. — St.  Luke  xi.  !?• 


7;  HE  consciousness  of  Christ  is  altogether  in  harmony  with 
^^  the  nature  of  the  mission  with  which  He  claims  to  be 
charged  to  the  human  race.  He  calls  Himself  the  Physician 
of  humanity,  sent  to  those  who  are  sick;  could  He  have  been 
so  had  He  been  sick  Himself?  He  calls  to  Him  those  who 
are  "weary  and  heavy  laden,"  and  promises  to  give  them  rest; 
could  He  do  so  if  He  did  not  feel  Himself  free  from  the  bur- 
den which  was  oppressing  them  ?  He  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  "  that  which  was  lost ;  "  how  could  He  fulfil  that  mission 
had  He  been  lost  Himself?  He  is  not  only  the  Physician  of 
sick  humanity,  He  is  the  Victim  Whose  Blood  makes  atone- 
ment for  it.  "  He  came,"  He  says  Himself,  "  to  give  His  life 
a  ransom  for  many ;"  could  He  do  so  had  He  needed  to  be 
Himself  ransomed  ?  A  few  hours  before  His  death,  He  utters 
this  sacramental  saying,  "  This  is  My  Blood,  shed  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins."  The  law  would  accept  no  victims  but  such 
as  were  without  blemish  and  without  spot.  Would  Jesus  have 
thought  it  permissible  to  offer  Himself  upon  the  altar  of  atone- 
ment, had  He  discerned  in  Himself  the  smallest  taint  of  sin  ? 
To  claim  for  Himself  the  ofifice  of  a  victim,  offered  for  the  sins 
of  the  world,  while  not  conscious  of  perfect  holiness,  would  have 
been  the  extreme  of  madness.  F.  Godet. 

Seventh  after  Epiphany .\ 

84 


Tuesday.] 

(Stanifesfation  of  C^Bi  ae  t^e  ^infees  6ne. 

ATTESTED  BY  HIS  FRIENDS. 

"A  lafnb  without  blemish  and  zvithout  spot." — 1  Peter  i.  19. 


T/HEY  tell  us  that  during  their  intercourse  of  three  years 
^^  His  was  a  Hfe  unsuHied  by  a  single  spot ;  and  I  pray 
you  to  remember  that  tells  us  something  of  the  holiness  of  the 
thirty  previous  years ;  for  no  man  springs  from  sin  into  perfect 
righteousness  at  once.  If  there  had  been  any  early  wrong- 
doing— though  a  man  may  be  changed — yet  there  is  something 
left  that  tells  of  his  early  character — a  want  of  refinement,  of 
delicacy,  of  purity;  a  tarnish  has  passed  upon  the  brightness, 
and  cannot  be  rubbed  off.  If  we  turn  to  the  testimony  of  John 
the  Baptist,  His  contemporary,  about  the  same  age,  one  who 
knew  Him  not  at  first  as  the  Messiah  ;  yet  when  the  Son  of 
Man  comes  to  him  simply  as  a  man,  and  asks  him  to  baptize 
Him,  John  turns  away  in  astonishment,  shocked  at  the  idea. 
"  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee,  and  comest  Thou  to  me  ?" 
In  other  words,  the  purest  and  the  most  austere  man  that 
could  be  found  on  earth  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  in 
Him  who  came  for  baptism  there  was  neither  stain  nor  spot 
that  the  water  of  Jordan  was  needed  to  wash  away.  So  we 
see  there  was  no  actual  transgression  in  our  Blessed  Lord. 

F.  W.  Robertson. 


85 


[Wednesday. 

(gtanif eefafionlof  C^nsi  as  t^e  ^infese  due. 

A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  WORLD. 

Which  of  you  cojivinceth  ]\fe  of  sin. — St.  John  viii.  46. 


^^rriS  religious  character  has  the  remarkable  distinction  that 
M^  it  proceeds  from  a  point  exactly  opposite  to  that  which 
is  the  root  or  radical  element  in  the  religious  character  of  men. 
Human  piety  begins  with  repentance.  It  is  the  effort  of  a 
being,  implicated  in  wrong  and  writhing  under  the  stings  of 
guilt  to  come  unto  God.  The  most  righteous  or  even  self- 
righteous  men  blend  expressions  of  sorrow  and  vows  of  new 
obedience  with  their  exercises.  But  Christ,  in  the  character 
given  Him,  never  acknowledges  sin.  It  is  the  grand  peculiarity 
of  His  piety,  that  He  never  regrets  anything  that  He  has  done 
or  been  ;  expresses  nowhere  a  single  feeling  of  compunction, 
or  the  least  sense  of  unworthiness.  On  the  contrary.  He  boldly 
challenges  His  accusers  in  the  question — which  of  you  con- 
vinceth  Me  of  sin  ?  and  even  declares,  at  the  close  of  His  life, 
jn  a  solemn  appeal  to  God,  that  He  has  given  to  men  unsullied 
the  glory  divine  that  was  deposited  in  Him.  .  .  .  Piety 
without  one  dash  of  repentance,  one  ingenuous  confession  of 
wrong,  one  tear,  one  look  of  contrition,  one  request  to  Heaven 
for  pardon — let  any  one  of  mankind  try  this  kind  of  piety,  and 
see  how  long  it  will  be  ere  his  righteousness  will  prove  itself  to 
be  the  most  impudent  conceit!  .  .  .  No  sooner  does  any 
of  us  begin  to  be  self-righteous,  than  he  begins  to  fall  into  out- 
ward sins  that  shame  his  conceit.  But  in  the  case  of  Jesus  no 
such  disaster  follows.  Beginning  with  an  impenitent  or  unre- 
pentant piety.  He  holds  it  to  the  end,  and  brings  no  visible 
stain  upon  it.  Horace  Bushnell. 

¥ 

Seventh  after  Epiphany?^ 


Thursday.] 

(gtanifesfaf ton  of  C^mi  as  f ^e  ^jnfess  &nt, 

A  LESSON  TO   THE  WORLD. 

Leaving   you    an    example^    that   ye   should  follow   His  steps.- 
1  Peter  ii.  21. 


OfYlHAT  is  the  lesson  ?  Surely  this  :  to  remember,  when  we 
talk  of  the  example  of  Christ,  that  the  interpretations 
and  readings  of  it  are  all  short  of  the  thing  itself ;  and  that  we 
possess,  to  see  and  to  learn  from,  the  thing  itself.  We  should 
be  foolish  and  wrong  to  think  ourselves  above  learning  from  all 
that  wise  and  holy  men  have  seen  in  it.  But  the  thing  itself, 
the  Divine  Reality,  is  apart  from,  and  is  ever  greater  than, 
what  the  greatest  have  thought  of  it  and  said  of  it.  There  it 
is  in  itself,  in  its  authentic  record,  for  us  to  contemplate  and 
search  into,  and  appreciate,  and  adore.  Let  us  not  be  satis- 
fied with  seeing  it  through  the  eyes  of  others.  Mindful  how 
we  ought  to  look  at  it — remembering  what,  after  all,  have  not 
ceased  to  be  the  unalterable  conditions  of  knowing  truth — 
purity,  humility,  honesty, — let  us  seek  to  know  Him  directly 
more  and  more,  as  He  is  in  the  New  Testament ;  as  those  saw 
Him  whose'souls  took  the  immediate  impression  of  His  Pres- 
ence and  His  Spirit.  So  does  the  Apostle  describe  the  prog- 
ress of  the  great  transformation,  by  which  men  will  grow  to 
be  like  "their  Lord  and  their  God.  ''  But  we  all,  with  open  face, 
beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into 
the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord."  R.  W.  Church. 


87 


[Friday. 

(glcimfestaf ton  of  C^mi  ae  t^e  ^infeee  (Due. 

THE  STIMULUS  OF  MAN'S  BEST  ENDEAVOURS. 

Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  Hi77i  piirijieth  himself  even  as 
He  is  pure. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


3F  our  Lord  be  thus  the  Pattern  or  Ideal  Man,  we  men 
must  love  Him,  not  merely  for  what  He  has  done  for 
us,  but  because  He  is  what  He  is — because  He  is  fairer  than 
the  children  of  men  while  yet  He  is  one  of  them.  This  love,  I 
say,  is  no  mystic  reverie — no  rare  spiritual  accomplishment; 
it  is  a  moral  necessity.  For  what  is  it  that  provokes  human 
love  ?  Always  and  everywhere,  beauty,  whether  beauty  of 
form  or  beauty  of  thought,  or  beauty  of  character.  And  as 
there  is  a  coarse  and  a  false  beauty  which  commands  the 
passion  of  degraded  love,  so  should  a  true  and  pure  beauty 
provoke  the  purest  and  strongest  affection  of  a  spiritual  being. 
And  therefore  S.  Paul  says :  "  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity."  Therefore  S.  Paul  says 
too,  "  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  an- 
athema." The  love  of  the  one  perfect  being  is  a  true  test  or 
criterion  of  our  actual  state.  We  shall  certainly  love  Him  if 
we  are  looking  upwards — if  we  are  trying,  however  imperfectly, 
to  improve,  and  have  caught  a  sight  of  Him  ;  and  it  is  the  first 
condition  of  our  becoming  better.  With  this  consu'mmate 
ideal  of  human  perfection  before  our  eyes,  our  whole  nature 
will  rise  to  a  higher  level  with  the  upward  movement  of  our 
hearts.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


Seventh  after  Epiphany^ 


Saturday.] 

(gXanifeetaf ion  of  C^et  ae  t^e  ^infess  due. 

THE  SATISFACTION  OF  MAN'S  DEEPEST  NEEDS. 

When  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Hitnj  fo)-  we  shall  see  Him 
as  He  is. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


'Tt'HE  sinless  Christ  satisfies  a  deep  want  of  the  soul  of 
^^  man — the  want  of  an  ideal.  No  artist  can  attempt  a 
painting,  a  statue,  a  building-  without  some  ideal  of  what  he 
means  to  achieve  in  view;  and  an  ideal  is  not  one  whit  more 
necessary  in  art  than  it  is  necessary  in  conduct.  If  men  have 
not  worthy  ideals  before  their  mind's  eye,  they  will  furnish 
themselves  with  unworthy  ones.  There  is  no  better  test  of  a 
man's  character  than  the  ideals  which  excite  his  genuine 
enthusiasm,  there  is  no  surer  measure  of  what  he  will  become 
than  a  real  knowledge  of  what  he  heartily  admires.  And  like 
other  families,  other  societies,  other  schools  of  thought,  other 
centres  of  enthusiasm,  Christendom  too  has  had  its  ideals 
many  and  various — some  of  them  looked  up  to  by  a  generation 
— some  of  them  by  centuries, — some  of  them  the  inheritance  of 
a  village,  of  a  city,  of  a  country, — some  of  them  the  common 
glories  of  all  who  acknowledge  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  But 
these  ideals,  great  as  they  are  in  their  several  ways,  fall  short 
each  of  them  of  perfectness,  in  some  particular,  on  some  side. 
When  we  examine  them  closely,  however  reverently  we  scan 
them,  there  is  one  beyond  them  all — only  One — One  who  does 
not  fail.  They,  standing  beneath  His  throne,  say,  each  one  of 
them,  to  us  with  S.  Paul,  "  Be  ye  followers  of  me,  even  as  I 
also  am  of  Christ."  But  He,  above  them  all,  asks  each  gener- 
ation of  His  worshippers — asks  each  generation  of  His  critics 
— that  passes  along  beneath  His  throne,  "  Which  of  you  con- 
vinceth  Me  of  sin  }  "  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


[Septuagesijia  Sunday. 

$^e  Cnaiion, 

THE    MYSTERY    OF    A    BEGINNING. 
In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth. — Gen.  i.  1. 


3T  is  as  impossible  to  conceive  by  a  mere  effort  of  thought 
that  the  world  had  a  beginning  as  it  is  to  conceive  that 
it  had  not  a  beginning.  We  might  therefore  be  inclined  to 
reckon  this  question  like  the  last  as  one  wholly  insoluble  by 
reason.  But  light  here  comes  from  an  unexpected  quarter ;  and 
larger  experience  points  to  a  distinct  decision  as  far  as  the 
present  order  is  concerned.  If  we  pursue  the  interpretation  of 
phenomena  sufficiently  far,  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  the 
present  order  has  existed  only  for  a  finite  time,  or  in  other 
words,  that  the  present  order  cannot  be  explained  on  the 
supposition  of  the  continuous  action  of  forces  which  we  can  now 
observe,  acting  according  to  the  laws  which  represent  to  us 
what  we  can  observe  of  the  characteristics  of  their  action. 
This  conclusion  that  the  world,  as  we  know  it,  has  existed  only 
for  a  measurable  time,  is  one  of  the  latest  and  perhaps  most 
unlooked-for  results  of  physical  research.  The  general  law 
from  which  it  follows  is  known  as  that  of  "the  dissipation  of 
energy."  BISHOP  WesTCOTT, 


90 


Monday.] 

$5e  Creation. 

THE    MYSTERY    OF    CREATION. 

In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth. — Gen.  i. 


HjlHAT  is  Creation,  in  this  primary  Biblical  sense  of  the 
term  ?  Clearly,  it  is  not  mere  production  of  any  kind. 
The  Everlasting  Son  of  God  is  begotten  of  the  Father  by  an 
unbegun,  unending  production,  eternal  with  the  being  of  God, 
which,  using  poor  human  words  to  express  a  Divine  mystery, 
we  call  an  eternal  generation.  He  is  begotten,  yet  not  made. 
Nor  is  creation,  in  its  strictest  sense,  the  giving  form  and  shape 
to  pre-existent  matter.  Of  that,  within  limits,  man  is  capable. 
In  that  sense,  indeed,  God  has  continued  to  create  ever  since 
the  creation.  It  is  possible,  as  a  great  writer  in  the  heart 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  a  distinguished  naturalist  of  our  own 
time,  have  maintained,  that  God  has  developed  continually, 
since  that  first  primal  creative  act,  new  species  of  creatures  by 
various  acts  of  natural  selection  out  of  fewer  species  previously 
existing.  In  this  and  kindred  ways  it  may  well  be  that  God 
has  worked  hitherto ;  but  that  which  is  proper  to  Him  is  the 
summoning  into  being  matter,  substance,  life  which  before  was 
not,  by  the  act  of  His  almighty  will.  It  is  true  that  the 
Hebrew  word  translated  created  in  our  Bibles,  although  al- 
ways used  to  describe  the  action  of  Almighty  God,  is  in  some 
places  used  to  describe  creation  in  the  lower  sense  of  forming 
new  beings  out  of  already  existing  matter.  But  the  word  must 
mean  more  than  this  in  the  opening  verse  of  Genesis.  It  must 
mean  that  the  Universe  originally  owed  both  its  form  and  its 
substance  to  the  creative  fiat  of  God.  The  Christian  Bible, 
like  the  Christian  creed,  begins  with  stating  that  all  that  is  not 
God  owes  its  being  to  the  will  of  God.  H.  P.  LlDDON. 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  Creation. 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    THE    UNSEEN    UNIVERSE. 
In  the  beninning;  God  created  the  heaven. — Gen.  i.  1, 


T^HE  creature  was  in  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  and  yet 
^^  it  was  not  developed  fully  at  once.  We  seem  to  read 
that  before  the  visible  universe  was  created  there  was  called 
into  being-  a  veritable  host  of  creatures,  whom  man  cannot  see 
until  his  spiritual  perception  has  been  cleared  and  trained  for 
the  purpose.  Holy  Scripture  implies  that  these  glorious  beings 
were  called  into  existence  before  the  visible,  tangible,  material 
creation.  While,  perhaps,  we  may  not  ascribe  to  poetry  the 
solid  characters  of  historic  narration,  yet  poetry  would  be 
meaningless  without  some  phenomenal  groundwork.  .  .  . 
There  is  much,  then,  to  be  learned  from  the  passage  in  Job 
where  we  are  told  that  the  angels  hymned  the  creative  act  of 
calling  the  material  universe  into  existence.  "  Whereupon  are 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  fastened  ?  or  who  hath  laid  the 
corner-stone  thereof  when  the  morning  stars  sang  together 
and  all  the  Sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.'*"  .  .  .  We  may 
perhaps  see  a  record  of  their  creation  in  the  first  words  of 
Genesis,  "In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens;"  for 
Heaven  is  their  "  local  habitation."  Here,  too,  curiously  enough, 
some  scientific  men  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion.  It 
has  been  argued  that  the  present  maintenance  of  the  seen  uni- 
verse could  not  abide  without  the  continual  activity  and  inter- 
ference of  an  unseen  universe  to  keep  order,  if  we  may  say  so. 
If  there  is  any  foundation  for  this,  it  would  argue  that  the  ex- 
istence of  the  unseen  agency  would  precede  the  seen  universe. 

Bishop  Kingdon. 

Septuagesinia?^ 


"Wednesday.] 

$3^  Creation. 

THE    MYSTERY    OF    THE    VISIBLE    UNIVERSE. 

/;/  the  beginning  God  created  tJie  heaven  and  the  earth. — Gen.  i.  1. 

AANE  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this  world  in  which 
^■^  we  live  is  the  mystery  which  pervades  it  all.  There  is 
mystery  everywhere — above,  below,  around  in  sky,  on  land 
and  sea — something  that  in  the  last  analysis  eludes  the 
utmost  skill  of  human  science.  Examples  show  the  path  of 
the  inquirer.  On  the  threshold  he  meets  the  mystery  of  the 
origin  of  life.  Spontaneous  generation  is  a  discredited  doctrine 
among  the  leading  teachers  of  physical  science.  Whence,  then, 
came  the  first  germ  of  life  ?  It  is  a  mystery  which  science  has 
not  been  able  to  solve.  Man  can  make,  unmake,  and  remake 
a  crystal  ;  he  can  never  rekindle  the  vital  spark  that  has  been 
quenched  in  any  of  the  myriad  forms  of  organic  life.  But  in 
addition  to  those  innumerable  mysteries  which  baffle  human 
reason,  there  is  another  class  of  mysteries  which  reveal  them- 
selves, some  to  trained,  others  to  special,  faculties.  In  the 
forms  of  mountain  and  the  formation  of  rocks  the  uneducated 
mind  sees  nothing  more  than  meets  the  eye  ;  on  the  same  rocks 
and  hills  the  geologist  reads  the  complex  history  of  extinct 
worlds.  But  Nature  has  secrets  which  scientific  knowledge 
alone  can  never  unlock.  Special  faculties  are  needed.  The 
artist  sees  visions  which  the  merely  scientific  man  cannot 
behold,  and  he  gives  them  enduring  form  in  marble  or  on  can- 
vas. The  poet  sees  other  visions  still,  and  clothes  them  in 
immortal  language.  .  .  .  We  have  thus  in  this  world  which 
we  inhabit  a  series  of  mysteries  unfolded  one  within  the  other, 
which  require  partly  trained  and  partly  special  faculties  to 
apprehend  them.  Malcolm  Maccoll. 

Septuagesima^ 

93 


[Thursday. 

$^e  Creation. 

THE    MYSTERY    OF    MAN. 

^S**?  God  created  man  in    His    own    i?}i.age,    in   the    image   of  God 
created  He  him;  male  and  female  created  He  them. — Gen.  i.  27. 


A\NE  thing  at  least  is  clear  from  these  words  that,  accord- 
^•^  ing  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture  man  stands  in  a  posi- 
tion of  exceptional  nearness  to  God ;  and  the  corresponding 
words  in  the  second  chapter  confirm  the  truth  under  a  different 
aspect.  There  is,  to  express  the  thought  otherwise,  such  a 
relation  between  man  and  God,  that  man  is  fitted  by  His 
essential  constitution  to  receive  a  knowledge  of  God.  Revela- 
tion is  made  possible  for  him  from  the  first.  He  is  not  con- 
fined to  thoughts  which  are  suggested  to  him  by  self-examina- 
tion or  by  the  study  of  creation  ;  he  is  capable  of  apprehendmg 
divine  truths,  he  can  learn  concerning  God  what  God  is  pleased 
to  teach  without  any  essential  change  in  his  original  constitu- 
tion. The  conception  of  God's  nature  and  mode  of  working 
may  be  above  his  imagination,  but  it  is  not  above  his  power 
of  apprehension.  This  unique  position  of  man  in  the  visible 
order  is  emphasised  by  other  details.  He  has  dominion  over 
other  creatures ;  he  assigns  to  them  their  names  ;  he  finds 
among  them  no  companion  fitted  for  him.self.  As  he  appears 
first  in  his  true  nature  he  is  "little  lower  than  a  divine  being" 
at  perfect  peace  in  himself,  towards  nature  and  towards  God. 
He  is  made  for  God  and  to  this  end  he  is  made  "  in  the  image 
of  God."  Bishop  Westcott. 


Septuagesima .  ] 

94 


Friday.] 

Z^e  Creation. 


THE   GREATNESS    OF    MAN. 

Thou  hast  made  him  but  little  hnuer  than  God. — Ps.  viii.  5. 


AVJ  AN  is  constituted  of  real  greatness  ;  so  that  he  is  great 
v-  even  in  knowing  himself  to  be  miserable.  A  tree  is  no 
more  sensible  of  misery  than  felicity.  It  is  true,  the  knowing 
himself  to  be  miserable  increases  man's  misery;  but  then  it  is 
no  less  a  demonstration  of  his  greatness.  Thus  his  greatness 
is  shown  by  his  miseries,  as  by  its  ruins.  They  are  the  miseries 
of  a  mighty  statesman  in  disgrace,  of  a  prince  dispossessed 
and  dethroned. 

Man  is  a  reed,  and  the  weakest  reed  in  nature ;  but  then  he 
is  a  thinking  reed.  There  is  no  occasion  that  the  whole  universe 
should  arm  itself  for  his  defeat ;  a  vapor,  a  drop  of  water,  is 
suf^cient  to  despatch  him.  And  yet  should  the  world  oppress 
and  crush  him  with  ruin,  he  would  still  be  more  noble  than  that 
by  which  he  fell,  because  he  would  be  sensible  of  his  fate, 
while  the  universe  would  be  insensible  of  its  victory.  Thus 
our  whole  worth  and  perfection  consists  in  thought :  it  is  hence 
we  are  to  raise  ourselves,  and  not  from  the  empty  ideas  of  space 
and  duration.  Let  us  study  the  art  of  thinking  well :  this  is 
the  rule  of  life  and  the  fountain  of  morals.  It  is  dangerous  to 
inform  man  how  near  he  stands  to  the  beasts,  without  showing 
him  at  the  same  time  how  infinitely  he  stands  above  them. 
Again,  it  is  dangerous  to  let  him  see  his  excellence,  without 
making  him  acquainted  with  his  vileness.  And  the  greatest 
danger  of  all  is  to  leave  him  in  utter  ignorance  of  one,  and  of 
the  other.  But  to  have  a  just  conception  of  both  is  his  great- 
est interest  and  happiness.  Blaise  Pascal. 


[Saturday. 

$^e  Creation. 

ITS    CHARACTERISTIC    FEATURE. 

Behold,  it  was  very  good. — Gen.  i.  31. 


Cfl^  you  go  down  the  catalogue,  and  as  each  item  Is  named 
Vw'  in  its  order,  as  each  stanza  of  the  poem  is  brought  to 
its  conclusion,  you  have  not  only  the  words  "  morning  and 
evening,"  which  describe  the  completion  of  the  creative  "day," 
but  you  have  the  ever-recurring  refrain — "  And  God  saw  that 
it  was  good."  It  is  like  the  air  in  a  musical  composition,  which 
is  always  coming  back  upon  your  ear  however  widely  the  vari- 
ations may  have  wandered.  It  is  like  the  chorus  in  which  all 
concur  after  each  voice  of  a  song  has  been  sung.  It  is  as  if  all 
creation  was  being  interrogated,  it  is  as  if  all  the  works  of  God 
were  being  passed  in  long  review,  it  is  as  if  each  were  being 
asked  in  turn:  "Did  evil  come  in  with  you,  or  you,  or  you  }'* 
Earth,  air  and  sea,  each  in  its  turn  replies:  "Evil  came  not 
with  me,  for  God  made  me,  and  when  God  made  me  He  pro- 
nounced me  good."  And  then  when  at  last  you  come  to  God's 
greatest  work  of  all,  man — man,  in  whom  evil  seems  to  have 
reached  its  greatest  height,  .  .  .  then  you  have  a  still 
stronger  affirmation  introduced.  Other  things  were  good,  man 
is  more.  It  is  not  only  that  man  was  good,  but,  twice  over,  as 
if  to  mark  the  emphasis  with  double  force,  you  read  that  God 
made  man  "  in  His  own  image" — so  far  from  there  being  aught 
of  evil  in  him  to  start  with — "in  the  image  of  God  created  He 
him."  .  .  .  Man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God  Who  is 
the  good,  and  with  the  creation  of  man  comes  the  old  refrain 
repeated  with  a  special  emphasis:  "And  God  saw  everything 
that  He  had  made,  and  behold,  it  was  very  good." 

A.  R.  ASHWELL. 

Septuagesima?^ 

96 


Sexagesima  Sun-day.J 

t^c  Saff  of  (glan, 

NECESSITY    OF    TEMPTATION. 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  temptation. — Jas.  i.  12. 


T^HOUGH  the  Creator,  looking  down  upon  His  newly 
^^  formed  image  in  Eden,  pronounces  him,  or  rather,  the 
world  and  man  in  it — "  very  good,"  the  goodness  was  not  a 
final  and  completed  goodness.  The  "  original  righteousness  " 
in  which  we  were  made,  was  the  goodness  of  a  perfectly  fair 
and  noble  beginning.  It  was  the  goodness  of  holy  infancy  as 
compared  with  that  of  a  fully  developed  saint.  It  consisted 
in  a  perfectly  well-ordered  constitution,  which  only  needed  to 
be  normally  exercised  that  it  might  reach  a  true  moral  as  well 
as  natural  perfection.  But  in  order  that  the  promise  of  that 
first  fair  start  might  be  realized,  it  was  necessary,  so  far  as  we 
can  see,  that  it  should  be  brought  to  the  test.  Good  disposi- 
tions do  not  ripen  into  virtues  except  by  seeing  and  respecting 
their  opposites.  Though  made  *'  in  the  image  of  God,"  it  is 
significantly  said  that  man  was  made  "  after  His  likeness." 
He  was  not  as  yet  actually  like  in  character  to  God,  but  had 
the  power  and  tendency  to  rise  into  that  likeness  and  to  make 
it  voluntarily  his  own  by  the  proper  and  harmonious  use  of  his 
varied  faculties.  Man  had  himself  to  train  ;  and  he  had  besides 
a  duty  towards  the  world,  over  which  he  was  to  rule  as  God's 
representative.  To  rule  over  the  world  in  any  full  sense,  he 
needed  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  all  that  it  contained  ;  and 
to  have  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  all  that  the  world  con- 
tained at  once  involved  a  possible  seduction. 

A.  J.  Mason. 

97 


[MOXDAY, 


t^c  Saff  of  (gtan. 

THE    TEMPTER. 

An  enemy  hath  done  this. — S.  Matt.  xiii.  28. 


'^ HE  Serpent  beguiled  Eve. — So  then  it  was  not  even  as  if 
^^  evil  had  arisen  by  some  monstrous  growth  from  the  soil 
of  our  own  hearts.  Man  was  misled  from  without ;  it  was  not 
even  as  if  he  had  been  misled  by  false  light  from  within. 
And  God  in  His  mercy  has  given  us  this  history  of  the  Fall  as 
the  basis  on  which  to  rest  His  offer  of  leading  us  right  again, 
and  His  resolution  of  the  means  whereby  He  does  it.  It  is  the 
first  round  of  that  great  ladder  of  Divine  teaching  whose  foot 
is  planted  on  the  earth  and  whose  top  shall  reach  to  Heaven. 
Thus  much,  then,  for  the  broad  fact.  The  history  of  the  Fall  is 
the  first  sound  of  those  many  voices  from  God  to  man  of  which 
the  last  sound  will  not  be  heard  until  the  herald  angels  shall 
come  forth  again  to  gather  in  the  redeemed  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Glory;  until  the  time  when  God  shall  have  wiped  away  all 
tears  from  all  eyes  and  have  finally  undone  the  work  of  the 
Evil  One.  It  is  the  explanation,  so  far  as  it  goes,  of  the  enigmas 
of  which  our  inner  life  and  the  outer  world  alike  are  full.  Just 
as  when  the  Master  in  the  parable  makes  answer  to  his  inquir- 
ing servants,  "  An  enemy  hath  done  this;  "  so  God  in  this  his- 
tory of  the  Fall  is  saying  to  us — "  It  is  an  enemy  of  Mine,  it  is 
the  enemy,  who  has  brought  this  evil  on  you ;  trust  yourself  to 
Me.     I  will  bruise  his  head,  and  in  the  end  will  set  you  free." 

A.  R.  ASHWELL. 


Sexagesima?^ 


Tuesday.] 

t^  Saff  of  (JJtan. 

THE    TEMPTATION    AND    FALL. 

Ske  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat,  and  gave  unto  her  hus- 
band with  her:  and  he  did  eat. — Gen.  hi.  6. 


^TTE  (Adam)  has  no  hereditary  disposition  to  self-will ;  the 
fZy  harmony  of  his  nature  is  undisturbed  ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  stored-up  tendency  towards  obedience.  He 
has  to  show  forth  and  confirm  the  harmony  of  his  nature  by 
his  action  in  the  world.  He  is  innocent,  but  untried  ;  perfect, 
but  not  perfected.  Then  comes  the  suggestion  of  evil — the 
appeal  to  the  immediate  gratification  of  sense,  to  the  natural 
curiosity  of  the  intellectual  powers,  neither  of  these  wrong  in 
itself,  but  fatally  wrong  when  set  in  motion  by  an  inner  distrust 
of  God.  Neither  of  the  motives  given  in  the  story  of  the  Fall 
was  in  itself  a  wicked  thing;  but  the  desire  for  food  and  the 
desire  for  knowledge  both  took  their  colour  from  the  attitude 
with  which  the  soul  regarded  God.  This  spring  of  action, 
rising  in  the  inmost  self,  where  God  is  nearest,  converts  the 
pleasures  of  the  senses  into  sensuality,  and  the  intellectual 
curiosity  into  the  inquisitive  insolence  of  pride.  The  sin  comes 
from  the  higher  self ;  the  disunion  with  God  has  touched 
a  higher  self;  the  spirit  of  man  has  entered  into  bondage 
to  the  creature  rather  than  the  Creator.  The  powers  given 
for  man's  advancement  prove  to  him  an  occasion  of  falling. 

Thomas  B.  Strong. 


99 


[Wednesday. 

t^t  Saff  of  (Stan. 

ITS    MORAL   CONSEQUENCES. 

Your  iniquities   have   separated  between    you   and  your    God. — 
Is.  LIX.  2. 

'TJTHEY  are  those  which  tell  upon  the  character  or  inward 
^^  being  of  a  man,  those  which  are  exerted  from  within  a 
man's  own  constitution.  ...  Of  these  moral  consequences 
there  is  (i)  Separation  from  nature.  This  we  find  in  the  verse, 
"they  knew  that  they  were  naked."  The  deep  spiritual  mean- 
ing here  is  that  it  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  sin  without 
becoming  thereby  separated  from  nature.  Things  naturally 
innocent  and  pure  become  tainted  by  sin.  The  worst  misery  a 
man  can  bring  on  himself  by  sin  is  that  those  things  which  to 
pure  minds  bring  nothing  but  enjoyment  are  turned  for  him 
into  fuel  for  evil  lusts  and  passions,  and  light  the  frames  of  hell 
within  his  soul.  .  .  .  Another  of  these  moral  consequences  is 
separation  from  God.  Adam  and  his  wife  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day ; 
and  they  hid  themselves  from  His  presence,  for  they  were 
afraid.  .  .  .  To  our  first  parents  in  the  most  hallowed 
hour  of  the  whole  day  the  voice  of  God  seemed  like  the  thunder- 
ing of  the  Divine  anger.  A  child  might  interpret  that  rightly 
to  himself.  When  he  has  done  wrong  he  is  afraid,  he  dares 
not  hear  a  sound.  .  .  .  To  the  apostles  the  earthquake  at 
Philippi  was  a  promise  of  release  from  prison  ;  to  the  sinful 
jailer  a  thing  of  judgment  and  wrath :  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to 
be  saved  }"  .  .  .  The  third  of  these  moral  consequences  is 
selfishness.  The  culprits  are  occupied  entirely  with  their  own 
hearts ;  each  denies  the  guilt  which  belongs  to  each ;  each 
throws  the  blame  upon  the  other  ;  Adam  says  it  was  Eve,  Eve 
that  it  was  the  serpent.  And  this  is  the  very  central  principle 
of  sin  :  properly  speaking  there  is  no  other  sin  but  selfish- 
ness.   ...  F.  W.  Robertson. 

Sexagesuna.']  loo 


Thursday,] 

t^  Saff  of  (man. 

THE    PENAL    CONSEQUENCE. 

In    the   day    that    thou    catest    thereof,    thou  shalt  surely   die. — 
Gen.  II.  17. 


IpTOLY  SCRIPTURE  sums  up  all  the  disturbances  of 
f*^  human  life,  which  are  the  result  and  punishment  of  sin  in 
the  designation  Death.  '*  The  wages  of  sin  is  death  "  (Rom. 
vi.  23;  James  i.  15;  Rom.  v.  12).  There  are  various  kinds  of 
death ;  and  Revelation  means  by  the  term  not  only  the  death 
which  concerns  the  inward  life — the  spiritual  semblance  of  life, 
the  mock  being  which  the  sinner  leads  apart  from  God,  not 
only  the  divided  state  of  the  inner  man,  the  breaking  up  and 
dismemberment  of  the  spiritual  pov^^ers,  which  is  the  result  of 
sin ;  but  also  the  death  which  embraces  the  outward  life,  the 
whole  array  of  sicknesses  and  plagues  which  visit  the  human 
race,  and  "all  the  various  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,"  which  are 
consummated  in  death — in  the  separation  of  the  body  and  the 
soul.  In  calling  the  death  of  the  body  the  wages  of  sin,  we 
give  expression  to  a  doctrine  belonging  to  that  department  of 
our  knowledge  which  is  the  darkest.  We  find  the  doctrine  in 
Revelation,  and  it  is  naturally  associated  with  the  horror  that 
we  feel  in  the  thought  of  death  as  something  which  is  un- 
natural in  nature,  as  "the  last  enemy  that  is  to  be  detroyed." 
This  is  not  a  feeling  to  be  condemned  as  merely  sensual ;  in  its 
inner  essence  it  is  of  a  spiritual  and  moral  kind,  and  is  found 
not  only  in  the  rude  and  natural  man,  but  is  confirmed  in  the 
most  spiritual  of  all  religions,  in  Christianity  itself. 

H.  Martensen. 


[Friday. 

t^c  Saff  of  (Vaan. 

ITS    CONSEQUENCES    TO    THE    RACE. 

In  Adam  all  die. — 1  Cor.  xv.  22. 


T^HE  position  which  Adam  occupies  with  regard  to  the 
^^  human  race  makes  his  fall  a  matter  of  more  than 
personal  consequence  to  himself.  Mankind  is  so  bound  up 
together  that  even  now,  what  befalls  any  member  of  the 
species  affects  the  fortunes  of  the  whole.  "  No  one  of  us 
liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  one  dieth  unto  himself."  But  Adam 
was  not  a  mere  individual  of  the  species  like  one  of  ourselves. 
He  was  the  whole  of  young  humanity.  It  was  all  gathered 
into  one  person.  .  .  .  All  the  flood  of  beings  then,  to  whom 
Adam  has  transmitted  his  nature,  are  evil  and  sinful.  The  evil 
penetrates  their  moral  fibre,  their  flesh  and  blood,  their  imagi- 
nation and  intelligence,  their  very  conscience  and  spirit.  And 
yet  amidst  all  this  woeful  ruin  there  are  signs  of  hope.  Men 
are  not  in  the  condition  of  devils.  Here  and  there,  indeed, 
some  men  have  attained,  as  has  been  terribly  said,  to  "  a  dis- 
interested love  of  evil."  But  they  are  few,  and  they  were  not 
born  so.  Human  nature,  though  fallen,  has  not  lost  its  true 
prerogative  and  characteristic.  Although  it  no  longer  naturally 
develops  into  the  Divine  likeness,  but  the  opposite,  yet  it  still 
retains  the  Divine  image,  broken  and  obscured,  but  remaining. 
Even  in  doing  evil,  we  are  sorry  for  it,  and  feel  it  to  be  un- 
worthy of  us.  While  this  remains  there  is  something  that  can 
be  laid  hold  of.  Man,  though  lost,  is  still  capable  of  being 
saved.  A.  J.  Mason. 


Sexagesima.'] 


Saturday.] 

t^  Saff  of  (jaan. 

NOT    IRRECOVERABLE. 

So  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive. — 1  Cor.  xv.  22. 


T^HOUGH  from  the  history  of  the  Fall  itself  we  can  clearly 
^^  vindicate  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  from  the  charge  of 
injustice,  yet  it  is  from  the  history  of  our  redemption  that  we 
draw  our  fullest  and  most  triumphant  proof  of  its  justice. 
Imputation  is  to  be  seen  in  our  salvation  as  well  as  in  our  con- 
demnation. If  it  be  true  that  by  the  imputed  "offence  of  one 
many  were  made  sinners,"  it  is  also  true  that  by  the  imputed 
"obedience  of  one  many  are  made  righteous."  If  we  are  ac- 
counted to  have  fallen  in  the  first  Adam,  we  are  accounted  to 
have  risen  in  the  second  Adam.  Were  it  not  for  this  fact  there 
might  still  remain,  even  in  the  minds  of  those  who  admitted 
the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  a  lurking  and  uneasy  doubt  of  its 
justice.  But  when  we  see  Christ,  our  representative,  by  one 
act  undoing  all  the  wrong  which  our  first  representative  in- 
flicted on  us  ;  when,  against  the  painful  mystery  of  sin  imputed 
and  inherent,  we  can  see  the  glorious  mystery  of  righteousness 
imputed  and  imparted ;  when  we  know,  therefore,  that  none 
ever  perished  because  of  original  sin,  for  that  condemnation  is 
not  for  having  sinned  in  Adam,  but  for  having  refused  to  accept 
the  righteousness  of  Christ ;  when  we  can  see  that  if  God  has 
"concluded  all  under  sin,"  it  is  that  "He  may  have  mercy 
upon  all";  these  doubts  and  difficulties  give  place  to  gratitude 
and  praise,  and  we  cry  out  —  "Oh!  the  depth  of  the  riches, 
both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God!  how  unsearch- 
able are  His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out ! " 

Archbishop  Magee. 
103 


QUIXQUAGESIMA  SUNDAY.] 


^in. 


UNIVERSALLY    RECOGNIZED. 


Their  conscience  also  bearing  witness^  and  their  thoughts  the  mean- 
while accusing  or  else  excusing  one  another. — Rom.  ii.  15. 


3T  would  be  a  very  great  error  to  suppose  that  Christianity 
has  invented  the  idea  of  sin  only  for  the  purpose  of 
remedying  it.  If  sin  were  not  a  fact  independent  of  Christian- 
ity;  if  it  were  not  an  integral  feature  of  human  life,  Christianity 
would  long  ago  have  perished.  .  .  .  It  is  true  that  Chris- 
tianity, as  a  revelation  of  the  highest  moral  truth,  has,  beyond 
any  other  religion,  educated  man's  sense  of  sin;  but  this  sense 
of  sin  was  not  itself  a  result  of  Christianity.  Long  before 
Christ  came,  the  moral  sin  and  sickness  of  the  world  was  felt, 
rather  then  explicitly  recognized.  It  was,  of  course,  recognized 
by  the  educated  conscience  of  Israel,  with  its  moral  law,  creat- 
ing a  knowledge  of  sin,  and  its  sacrificial  system,  deepening  the 
sense  of  the  guilt  of  sin.  .  .  .  But  this  heart-sickness  of 
the  world  was  also  a  fact  very  vividly  present  to  the  com- 
paratively uneducated  conscience  of  Greece.  .  .  .  The 
general  fact  of  disloyalty  to  such  moral  truth,  as  he  knew,  is 
often  admitted  by  the  leading  minds  of  antiquity.  They 
acknowledge  man's  secret  misery  ;  his  proneness  to  yield  to 
temptations  which  his  conscience  condemns  ;  his  forfeiture  of 
the  light  which  he  actually  enjoys,  by  disobedience  to  its 
requirements.  "  I  see  and  approve  of  the  better  course,"  says 
Ovid,  "  I  follow  the  worse."  "  Nature  has  given  us  small 
sparks  of  knowledge,"  says  Cicero ;  "  we  corrupt  and  extin- 
guish them  by  our  immoralities."  "  We  are  all  wicked,"  says 
Seneca ;  *'  what  one  of  us  blames  in  another,  each  will  find  in 
his  own  bosom."  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


Monday,] 

OUR    GREATEST    ENEMY. 
Thine  ene?ny  which  sought  thy  life. — 2  Sam,  iv,  8. 


/V^O  doubt  we  shall  all  of  us,  one  day,  come  to  see  (what- 
\i»  ever  we  may  think  about  it  now,)  that  Sin  is  our  only  real 
enemy,  the  one  thing  to  be  really  afraid  of.  Even  the  sting  of 
Death  is  only  Sin.  And  it  is  always  the  part  of  a  wise,  as  well 
as  of  a  brave  man,  to  look  his  worst  enemies  in  the  face,  to 
study  their  nature  and  character,  and  the  secret  of  their  power 
of  mischief,  that  he  may  the  better  know  how  to  be  on  his 
guard  against  them,  how  to  meet  them,  how  to  disarm  and 
overcome  them.  Sin  is  not  the  same  thing  as  Crime.  When 
we  speak  of  Crime,  we  are  thinking  of  something  which  is  an 
offence  against  human  Law,  punishable  in  this  life  by  sentence 
of  a  human  tribunal.  When  we  speak  of  Siti,  we  are  thinking 
of  something  which  is  an  offence  against  a  far  higher  Power, 
and  which  may  have  further  reaching  and  more  enduring  con- 
sequences. Not  all  sins  are  crimes  such  as  human  Law  either 
does  or  could,  or  perhaps  ought  to,  punish.  And  not  all 
crimes  or  offences  against  human  Laws  are  sins.  For  human 
Law — though  one  of  the  most  sacred  things  on  earth,  and  chal- 
lenging, as  a  rule,  our  reverent  respect  and  obedience  as  a  mat- 
ter of  conscience — is  not  infallible.  It  may  prescribe  things 
which  an  enlightened  conscience  cannot  conform  to,  whatever 
the  consequence  may  be.  .  .  .  Sin  and  Crime  are  not,  then, 
absolutely  identical  and  coextensive.  A  sin  may  be  no  crime  ; 
a  crime  may  be  not  only  no  sin,  but  an  act  of  the  highest  good- 
ness. P.  G.  Medd. 

Week  pf  Ash  IVedn esday . ] 


[Tuesday. 

A    TRANSGRESSION    OF    THE    LAW. 

Every  one  that  doeth  sin  doeth  also  lawlessness :  and  sin  is  lawless- 
ness.— 1  S.  John  hi.  4. 


^^  ^^IN  is  the  transgression  of  the  law  " — this  is  an  account 
J^  of  sin  that  a  child  can  understand.  We  are  born  under 
a  Law  which  has  an  absolute  authority  over  conduct.  It  deter- 
mines how  we  ought  to  regulate  our  personal  life ;  and  we 
transgress  it  when,  for  example,  we  are  guilty  of  drunkenness, 
or  of  gluttony,  or  of  indolence,  or  of  any  other  sensual  sins.  It 
determines  our  duty  to  others,  and  we  transgress  it  when  we 
deceive  other  men,  or  treat  them  unjustly,  harshly,  or  ungen- 
erously ;  or  when  we  disregard  any  of  the  obligations  which 
arise  out  of  the  structure  of  human  society — the  mutual  ob- 
ligations, for  example,  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and 
children,  brothers  and  sisters,  masters  and  servants,  rulers  and 
subjects.  It  determines  our  diity  to  God,  and  we  transgress  it 
when  we  fail  to  reverence  Him,  to  trust  Him,  to  love  Him,  or 
to  obey  Him.  All  the  demands  of  this  Law — those  which  re- 
late directly  to  the  ordering  of  our  personal  life,  or  to  our 
conduct  to  other  men,  as  well  as  those  which  define  the 
duties  which  we  owe  to  God  Himself — are  sustained  by  God's 
authority.  The  Law  is  God's  Law;  and,  as  the  old  version 
reads :  "  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law.  " 

R.  W.  Dale. 

Week  of  Ash  Wednesday  .'\ 

io6 


Ash  Wednesday.] 

A    REBELLION   AGAINST    GOD. 
Against  Thee,  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned. — Ps.  li.  4. 


T^HIS  fact — that  a  sin  is  against  God — is  that  in  which  con- 
^^  sists  the  greatness  of  its  guilt ;  for,  even  among  men, 
we  measure  the  guilt  of  crimes,  not  by  the  actual  injury  result- 
ing from  them,  but  by  their  injurious  tendencies.  The  traitor 
who  has  attempted  the  life  of  his  sovereign;  the  rebel  who  has 
tried  to  overthrow  his  authority,  are  rightly  held  as  guilty  when 
they  fail  as  if  they  had  succeeded.  They  are  punished,  not  for 
the  harm  that  their  rebellion  or  their  treason  has  done,  but  for 
the  harm  which  rebellion  and  treason  must  do  if  not  repressed. 
Now,  what  is  a  sinner  but  a  rebel  ?  He  who  sins  has  defied 
the  sovereign  authority  of  his  God ;  he  has  set  the  will  of  the 
creature  against  the  Creator.  It  is  true  that  such  rebellion 
can  harm  only  the  rebel  himself — the  wickedness  of  man  no 
more  extendeth  to  God  than  his  goodness  does.  The  potsherd 
of  the  earth  seeks  in  vain  to  strive  with  his  Maker;  neverthe- 
less, his  sin  has  in  it  all  the  malignity  of  treason.  The  revolt 
of  his  will,  if  it  were  only  successful,  would  end  in  the  dethrone- 
ment of  God.  .  .  .  Is  it  not  plain,  then,  that  disobedient 
opposition  to  God  is  the  very  deadliest  crime  possible  in  a 
system,  the  well-being  of  which  depends  upon  the  perfect  sub- 
mission of  all  things  to  His  will,  and  that  a  sinner  is  a  miser- 
able anomaly  in  the  midst  of  an  obedient  universe — a  wretched 
rebel  against  almighty  power  and  eternal  law,  who  for  the  sake 
of  the  peace  and  safety  of  creation,  must  be  subdued,  or 
destroyed  utterly  and  for  ever  ?  ARCHBISHOP  M  agee. 


[Thursday. 

HOW    CHRIST    REGARDS  IT. 

To  Jiim  that  kiwweth  to  do  good  and  doeth  it  not,  to  Jiijn  it  is  sin. — 
St.  James  iv.  17. 

T^HE  natural  instinct  of  man  is  to  narrow  its  range.  .  .  . 
^^  How  different  is  the  Lord's  judgment !  Extortion,  in- 
justice, adultery — these  play  a  very  slight  part  in  his  denuncia- 
tions of  sin  ;  indeed,  it  needed  not  a  special  revelation  to  re- 
veal their  character.  But  His  eye  passes  deeper  still  ;  the 
first  movement  of  anger  in  the  heart,  the  look  of  lust,  the  word 
of  scorn,  these  have  ah'eady  the  mark  of  sin  upon  them.  The 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  thus  tracks  sin  home  into  the  heart;  but 
the  parables  carry  the  quest  further.  Think  of  the  chief 
grounds  of  condemnation  in  the  Lord's  severest  judgments. 
There  is  Dives  in  torments — why  ?  Because  he  did  nothing, 
when  Lazarus  was  at  his  gates.  The  servant  with  one  talent 
is  cast  into  outer  darkness — why  ?  Because  he  did  nothing 
with  his  talent,  and  so  was  slothful  and  unprofitable.  The  un- 
charitable heathen  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment — why  ? 
Because  they  did  nothing;  they  did  not  obey  the  simple  in- 
stincts of  humanity.  The  man  without  a  wedding  garment  is 
bound  hand  and  foot — why?  Because,  though  coming  to  a 
king's  wedding,  he  made  no  preparation.  Here,  then,  sin  is 
tracked  further  back  to  the  sluggish  selfish  will,  which  refuses 
to  stir  itself  for  God  or  man.  When  the  Lord  laid  down  the 
two  great  commandments  as  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of 
our  neighbour,  then  failure  to  love  God  and  to  love  man  became 
the  two  great  sins  of  man.  When  He  added,  "This  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  in  Him  whom  He  hath  sent," 
failure  to  believe  in  Him — the  timid,  selfish  want  of  self-com- 
mittal, the  self-satisfied  limitation  to  the  things  of  sight,  this 
too  was  stamped  with  the  mark  of  sin.  W.  LOCK. 

IVeek  of  Ash  JJ'ednesda_y.] 

io8 


Friday.] 


^in. 


ITS    BONDAGE. 

Whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the  slave  of  sin. — S.  John  viii.  34. 


^  ^  TQl^O,"  asks  S.  Basil,  "  is  free  ?  "  The  man  "who  is  his 
own  master."  There  is  no  such  "  being  amongst 
men."  If  he  is  not  the  servant  of  God,  he  is  the  slave  of  sin. 
We  understand  that  state  of  bondage  in  which  a  man  struggles 
vainly  against  some  degrading  sin,  yielding  again  and  again  to 
some  petty  temptation,  powerless  against  unworthy  habit.  "  He 
is  a  slave,  and  he  knows  it,"  and  the  misery  of  bondage  is 
increased  by  the  misery  of  self-contempt,  and  the  loss  of  self- 
respect.  "  What  I  would,  that  I  do  not;  but  what  I  hate, that 
do  I  "  (Rom.  vii.  1 5).  That  bondage  we  see  and  pity,  or  we  feel 
and  despise  ourselves  for  it.  Sin  means  much  more  than  this. 
But  what  of  those  chains  that  men  bear  so  easily  ?  What  of 
the  '•  false  freedom  "  of  him  whose  aimless  life  is  at  the  mercy 
of  chance  desires,  who  lives  on  vaguely  in  the  hope  that 
"something  will  turn  up,"  who  suffers  his  will  to  be  determined 
by  circumstances,  his  morality  by  his  next-door  neighbour,  his 
intellectual  position  by  the  newspapers.  What  of  the  thousands 
wno  are  toiling  out  their  lives  in  mere  money-making,? 
Remember  that  the  cruelty  and  suffering  which  we  commonly 
associate  with  slavery  is  not  its  essential  quality.  That  which 
really  constituted  slavery  is  that  it  is  a  moral  evil;  that  it 
maims  and  degrades  human  nature  in  that  in  which  it  is  most 
like  God  ;  that  it  disfranchises  man  of  his  rights  as  a  citizen  in 
God's  world.  Aubrey  L.  Moore. 


109 


[Saturday. 


ITS    CONSEQUENCES. 

T/ie  wrath  of  the  Lamb. — Rev.  vi.  16. 


T^HROUGHOUT  the  ages,  man  has  been  incessantly  im- 
^^  pelled  to  ask  what  there  is  in  moral  evil  more  than 
meets  the  eye ;  what  sin  will  turn  out  to  be  when  we  see  it 
in  the  light  of  the  real  world.  And  if  we  still  confine  our- 
selves to  observation  of  history,  quite  apart  from  revelation, 
Shakespeare's  words  are  literally  true — "  The  weariest  and 
most  loathed  worldly  life  that  age,  ache,  penury  and  imprison- 
ment can  lay  on  nature,  is  a  paradise  to  what  we  fear  of  death." 
The  judgment  of  man  upon  himself — whether  we  gather  it  from 
savage  races  or  from  the  remote  beliefs  of  Egypt,  or  of  our  own 
Indo-European  ancestors,  or  from  the  truest-sighted  intellect 
of  intellectual  Greece — has  been,  that  the  consequences  of  sin 
cannot  but  last  beyond  the  grave.  "  Where  is  Ardioeus  the 
Great  ? "  asks  the  Spirit  in  Plato's  vision,  and  is  answered, 
"  He  shall  not  come  forth  from  hell  for  e/er."  Nor  can  it  be 
maintained  for  a  moment  by  any  serious  critic  that  this  univer- 
sal judgment  of  man  upon  himself  is  due  to  the  invention  of  an 
interested  priestcraft.  It  is  simply  the  expressed  conviction  of 
the  human  conscience  in  all  ages  that  moral  evil  is  a  thing  in- 
finitely greater  and  more  terrible  than  even  those  terrible 
results  of  it  which  we  see  in  this  present  world. 

J.   R.    ILLINGWORTH. 


Week  of  Ash  Wednesday. '\ 


First  Sunday  in  Lent.] 

$^e  (^toning  n2?otft  of  C^et 

HIS    BAPTISM     AND     REPENTANCE, 

By  Thy  Baptism,  good  Lord,  deliver-  us. — The  Litany. 


Ojy  TRULY  righteous  being  like  God  could  never  be  satis- 
V^iy  fied  with  exacting  penalties  which  left  the  mind  of  the 
offender  unaltered.  He  must  needs  require  that  the  offender 
should  come  to  look  upon  his  offence  with  the  same  eyes  as 
Himself.  The  sinner  must  be  brought  to  regard  the  sin  in  its 
true  light,  and  to  measure  it  with  the  true  measurement.  This 
once  fully  done,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  more  is  wanting  to  a 
satisfactory  reparation.  This  is  just  what  the  sinner  is  unable 
by  himself  to  do.  He  cannot  fully  confess  or  feel  his  sin.  The 
sin  itself  impedes  him.  His  eyes  are  blinded  by  it,  and  his  con- 
science benumbed.  He  has  lost  the  ideal  of  holiness  ;  and, 
therefore,  cannot  appreciate  the  contrast  between  the  ideal  and 
the  actual.  None  but  a  perfectly  healthy  and  pure  conscience 
can  adequately  take  in  the  heinousness  of  sin,  or  adequately 
give  expression  to  it.  But  Christ  could  do  this.  Having  no 
sin  of  His  own  to  dull  His  perceptions.  He  could  feel  to  the 
full  the  demands  of  a  holy  law,  and  acknowledge  their  unalter- 
able justice;  and,  therefore,  He  could  gauge  the  extent  to 
which  His  brethren  had  fallen  short.  He  would  be  able  to 
give  an  absolute  and  unwavering  consent  to  that  wrath  of  God 
which  went  out  against  sin — not  deprecating  it,  .  .  .  but 
going  the  whole  length  with  it,  and  sympathising  with  its 
entire  reach  and  range  of  indignation  and  fury. 

A.  J.  Mason. 


[Monday. 

t^  ^ioninQ  TTorH  of  C^mt 

HIS     BAPTISM     AND    HUMILIATION. 
I/e  Jnimbled  Himself  . — Phil,  ii,  8. 


7/  HE  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ  was,  next  to  His  death,  the 
^^  greatest  instance  of  His  submission  to  the  will  of  His 
Father.  For  in  it  He  consciously  submitted  to  be  reckoned 
amongst  sinners  as  if  He  were  one  Himself,  and  to  receive  the 
outward  sign  of  the  cleansing  away  of  that  evil  and  defiling 
thing  in  which  He  had  no  part.  "The  Baptist  stood  by  the 
river,  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  sinners,  publicans  and  har- 
lots, '  confessing  their  sins.'  Men  and  women  of  all  charac- 
ters, the  most  notorious  and  outcast,  the  reckless  and  unclean, 
pressed  to  Him  with  '  violence,'  to  be  washed  of  their  im- 
purities. The  whole  land  seemed  moved  to  give  up  its  sinners 
to  the  discipline  of  repentance ;  the  whole  city  poured  out  its 
evil  livers  to  the  new  and  austere  guide  of  penitence.  It  was 
an  act  of  public  humiliation  to  join  Himself,  and  to  mingle  in 
such  a  crowd,  to  partake  their  shame.  And  at  that  time  He 
was  known  only  as  'the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Joseph.'  He 
had  wrought  no  miracles,  exhibited  no  tokens  of  His  Divine 
nature  and  mission.  He  was  but  as  any  other  Israelite,  and 
as  one  of  a  thousand  sinners,  He  came  and  received  a  sinner's 
baptism."     (Manning.)  M.  F.  Sadler. 


First  week  in  Lent.\ 


Tuesday.] 

t^c  (^ionirxQ  ^ot^  of  C^mt 

HIS    BAPTISM    AND     CONFESSION. 

T/ms  it  becojneth  tis  to  fulfil  all  righteousness. — S.  Matt.  hi.  15. 


/>|^EFORE  descending-  into  the  river,  the  converts  who  came 
>0^  to  John  for  baptism  made  confession  of  their  sins  to 
him.  Jesus  presenting  Himself,  Hke  any  other  Israelite,  should 
have  done  the  same.  In  what  did  this  confession  consist  ?  If 
there  is  a  human  feeling-  which  is  alien  to  the  heart  of  Jesus — 
and  there  is  one  and  one  only — it  is  that  of  penitence.  He 
made  a  confession  like  Isaiah,  Daniel,  Jeremiah,  laying  before 
God  the  sins  of  the  nation,  and  humbling  Himself  for  them  in 
its  name;  but  with  this  difference — that  Jesus  in  using  the 
word  Me,  did  not  use  it  with  any  sense  of  personal  participation 
in  the  general  sinfulness,  but  only  under  the  influence  of  the 
profoundest  sympathy.  What  can  be  more  human  than  that 
feeling  of  solidarity  in  which  the  love  of  Jesus  rivets  forever,  in 
that  solemn  moment,  the  chain  which  binds  Him  to  a  guilty 
humanity  !  This  was  the  spectacle  which,  a  little  later,  moved 
John  the  Baptist  to  utter  these  sublime  words:  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  ! "  He 
had  recognized  in  Jesus,  on  the  day  of  His  Baptism,  that  sacred 
Victim  Who,  while  separating  between  Himself  and  sin  by  a 
profound  abyss  as  far  as  His  will  was  concerned,  was  at  that 
same  moment  making  the  sin  of  the  whole  race  His  own,  in 
respect  of  solidarity  between  Himself  and  them. 

F.  GODET. 


[Wednesday. 

REPENTANCE. 

Repent  ye,  for  the  kifigdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand. — S.  Matt.  hi.  2. 


Ojy  LIFE  which  is  an  imitation  of  Christ  crucified  will  then 
^ay  be  a  life  lived  under  the  guidance  of  the  virtue  of  con- 
trition. Contrition  is  the  special  virtue  given  to  us  to  guide  us 
sinners  in  the  way  of  life.  .  .  .  Every  human  life  lived  in  confor- 
mity with  the  will  of  God  is  to  be  lived  under  its  sway  until  the 
end  comes;  it  shapes  the  life  of  the  Faithful  in  Paradise, it  gives 
its  special  character  to  the  life  of  the  just  on  earth.  The  sor- 
row of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  crucified  lives  on  in  the  con- 
trite members  of  His  mystical  body.  They  drink  of  the  cup  of 
which  He  drank,  they  are  baptized  with  the  baptism  wherewith 
He  was  baptized.  Repentance  is  the  common  experience  of 
Christian  people  ;  it  is  a  universal  feature  of  Christian  life.  A 
Christian  always  and  everywhere  until  the  Lord  come  must  be 
a  penitent.  .  .  .  (And)  Contrition  is  the  very  essence  of  re- 
pentance ;  only  contrition  must  not  be  identified  with  a  merely 
emotional  paroxysm.  Its  sphere  of  action  is  not  man's  soul, 
but  his  spirit ;  it  is  spiritual  sorrow  for  sin.  ...  It  begins  in 
conviction  of  sin  issuing  in  self-condemnation — which  is  the 
action  of  the  mind.  It  passes  on  into  the  sorrow  of  a  true 
regret  for  the  ingratitude  of  sin  as  committed  against  God's 
love,  and  of  a  deep  horror  of  sin  because  of  its  exceeding  sin- 
fulness— which  is  the  action  of  the  heart.  It  issues  in  amend- 
ment of  life  and  in  self-surrender  to  God's  penitential  discipline 
— which  is  the  action  of  the  will.  GEORGE  Body. 


First  week  in  Lent.] 


Thursday.] 

SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Lei  a  man  examine  himself. — 1  Cor.  xi.  28. 


7^00  many  penitents  content  themselves  with  general 
^^  acknowledgments  of  their  sinfulness,  while  they  shrink 
from  the  labors  and  the  pain  of  searching  out  each  sin,  and 
pondering  upon  its  guilt,  and  bringing  it  distinctly  and  by 
name  to  God  for  pardon.  Such  persons  will  never  have  that 
deep  and  humbling  sense  of  their  own  sinfulness  which  they 
ought  to  have ;  they  may  have  the  clearest  and  soundest  views 
of  the  corruption  of  human  nature,  they  may  use  the  strongest 
and  most  humbling  general  confessions  of  sin,  and  yet  be 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  corruption  of  their  own  hearts,  of  the 
grossness  of  their  own  sins.  This  can  only  be  learned  by  fre- 
quent self-examination,  by  searching  resolutely  and  closely  into 
all  the  secret  recesses  of  that  deceitful  heart,  which  shows  its 
deceitfulness  in  nothing  more  than  in  its  power  of  hiding  its 
own  desperate  wickedness;  for  the  heart,  chameleon-like, 
changes  its  aspect  in  the  shadow  of  him  who  bends  over  it  to 
examine  it.  .  .  .  If  you  would  be  really  penitent,  you  will 
cultivate  and  practise  this  most  difficult  duty  of  self-examina- 
tion ;  you  will  not  rest  satisfied  with  acknowledging  that  you  are 
a  sinner,  but  you  will  seek  to  know  how  much  and  how  often 
you  have  sinned — you  will  call  up  each  sin,  one  by  one,  for 
judgment;  you  will  not  hastily  dismiss  it  from  your  mind,  but 
you  will  examine  it  and  consider  all  the  circumstances  of  it 
until  you  see  all  the  guilt  there  was  in  it,  and  until  you  feel  for 
it  the  shame  and  the  sorrow  you  ought. 

Archbishop  Magee. 

"5 


[Friday. 

3te  CotvcBpon^irxQ  ^figafione. 

CONFESSION. 

Take'  loith  you  words. — Hosea  xiv.  2. 


Oj^ND  though  contrition  is  only,  as  I  have  said,  the  first  part 
Vw'  of  penitence,  it  is  one  of  those  halves  that  contains,  in 
itself,  the  whole.  For  real  contrition  must  express  itself,  first 
in  word  and  then  in  deed  ;  and  so  it  leads  us  onward  to  con- 
fession and  satisfaction.  It  must  do  so  if  it  is  real,  for  all  real 
thought  or  feeling  burnsimpatiently  within  us  till  it  has  clothed 
itself  in  language.  Thought  and  feeling,  which  has  not  yet 
come  forth  into  contact  with  the  outer  world,  is  still,  in  a 
measure,  abstract,  indefinite,  unreal;  and, therefore, the  contri- 
tion which  comes  of  knowing  that  we  have  wounded  love, 
must,  in  proportion  to  its  intensity,  thirst  for  utterance  in  words 
— out  of  the  fulness  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaking.  And  yet 
it  has  been  said  with  terrible  truth,  in  a  popular  attack  upon 
modern  Christianity,  that  the  language  of  our  public  confes- 
sions is  rather  rhetorical  than  real, — a  tale  of  little  meaning, 
though  the  words  be  strong.  .  .  .  Make  an  effort  to  view 
confession  as  gathering  up  and  investing  your  contrition  with 
the  reality  of  the  spoken  word,  remembering,  when  you  make 
it  publicly,  that  you  are  members  one  of  another  and  have  sinned 
against  your  brethren,  and  through  and  in  the  persons  of  your 
brethren,  against  the  Son  of  Man,  who  is  the  Son  of  God,  and 
against  your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven  ;  and  realizing,  if  you 
make  it  privately,  that  the  root  and  essence  of  all  your  sin  is 
alienation  from  the  Divine  love  and,  therefore,  from  the  human. 

J.   R.   ILLINGWORTH. 

First  week  in  Lent."] 


Saturday.] 

3t6  ConcBpon^irxQ  <O6figation0. 

PENITENTIAL    ACTION. 

Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance. — S.  Matt.  hi. 


A^ONTRITION  must  also  find  expression  in  penitential 
^^  action.  First  it  will  express  itself  by  patience  under 
all  the  trials  of  life.  Meekness  is  ever  a  characteristic  of  a 
penitent.  And  meekness  is  the  virtue  that  enables  men  to 
bear  in  patience  and  in  silence  even  the  injustices  they  meet  in 
life.  The  penitent  knows  that  all  these  trials  form  a  part  of 
the  "living  correction"  wherewith  God  trains  those  whom  He 
receives;  he  recognises  clearly  that  in  many  of  them  he  is  but 
receiving  "  the  due  reward  of  his  deeds  "  ;  often  he  knows  that 
in  these  trials  he  is  reaping  what  he  has  sown  by  direct 
sequence  of  cause  and  effect,  and  even  where  the  sequence 
is  not  recognised  he  sees  clearly  that  God  in  His  justice  decrees 
that  he  must  endure  himself  wrongs  like  to  those  he  has  done 
to  others.  .  .  .  Contrition  will  breathe  itself  out  in  what 
spiritual  writers  have  specially  termed  reparation.  True 
sorrow  for  sin  will  be  very  special  and  definite.  It  will  fill  the 
penitent  with  a  hatred  for  his  own  past  sins,  especially  for 
that  the  memory  of  which  most  constantly  lives  in  his  mind 
and  grieves  his  heart.  .  .  .  And  this  regret  will  and  must, 
if  it  be  altowed  its  due  course,  breathe  itself  out  in  devotion  to 
God's  work  in  every  sphere  in  which  His  people  seek  to  sub- 
due the  evil  in  which  he  was  once  held  in  bondage. 

George  Body. 


117 


[Second  Sunday  in  Lent. 

$^e  (^toninej  <WorS  of  C^mt 

HIS  FAST  AND  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  SIN. 

^y  thy  fastingi  good  Lordy  deliver  us. — The  Litany. 


.^OR  forty  days  this  fast  of  the  Lord  endured.  But  where- 
0m^  fore  for  exactly  this  number,  for  forty,  and  neither  more 
nor  less.  .  .  .  On  a  close  examination  we  note  it  to  be 
everywhere  the  number  or  signature  of  penalty,  of  affliction,  of 
the  confession,  or  the  punishment  of  sin.  Thus  it  is  the  sig- 
nature of  the  punishment  of  sin  in  the  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  during  which  God  announces  that  He  Vv^ill 
cause  the  waters  by  the  deluge  to  prevail  (Gen.  vii.  4,  12); 
in  the  forty  years  of  the  Israelites'  wanderings  in  the  desert 
(Num.  xiv.  33);  in  the  forty  stripes  with  which  the  offender  should 
be  beaten  (Deut.  xxv.  3) ;  in  the  desolation  of  Egypt  which 
should  endure  forty  years  (Ezek,  xxix.  11).  So  also  is  it  the 
signature  of  the  confession  of  sin.  Moses  intercedes  forty  days 
for  his  people;  the  Ninevites  proclaim  a  fast  of  forty  days; 
Ezekiel  must  bear  for  forty  days  the  transgression  of  Judah. 
.  .  .  And  in  agreement  with  all  this,  resting  on  the  forty 
days'  fast  of  her  Lord,  is  the  Quadragesimal  Lent  fast  of  the 
Church ;  and  so,  too,  not  less  the  selection  of  this  Scripture  of 
the  Temptation  to  supply  the  Gospel  for  the  first  Sunday  in 
that  season,  as  being  the  Scripture  which  duly  laid  to  heart, 
will  more  than  any  other  help  us  rightly  to  observe  that  time. 

Archbishop  Trench. 


Monday.] 

t^  (^ionirxQ  ^ox^  of  C^mt 

HIS   FAST  OUR   EXAMPLE. 

/  have  given  you  an  example. — S.  John  xiii.  15. 


A^UR  Saviour's  fast,  like  every  act  of  His  life,  bears  the 
^■^  character  of  an  example,  and  instructs  us  that  this  par- 
ticular exercise  of  religion,  while  it  exposes  to  temptations  of 
its  own,  is  yet  in  itself  a  great  preliminary  safeguard  against 
sin — a  source  of  facility  for  vanquishing  all  temptation.  That 
there  are  demoniacal  possessions  which  no  means  without  this 
can  reach  effectually,  is  the  express  assertion  of  our  Saviour  on 
another  occasion ;  and  His  example  here,  no  less  than  His 
precept  to  His  chosen  followers  there,  instructs  us  forcibly 
that,  while  Christianity  is  the  most  mild  and  liberal  of  institu- 
tions, its  founder,  no  preacher  in  the  desert  like  Elias,  or  his 
fore-runner  the  Baptist,  but  one  who  came  "  eating  and  drink- 
ing," as  His  censors  remarked,  neither  fearfully  flying  nor 
morosely  disdaining  the  ordinary  converse  and  habits  of  man- 
kind,— it  yet  requires  the  highest  prudence  and  assistances  of 
grace  proportional,  to  maintain  this  intercourse  with  the  world 
either  with  safety  to  ourselves  or  benefit  to  others  ;  and  these 
assistances  are  to  be  found  where  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Him- 
self sought  them — in  occasional  retirements,  in  meditation, 
prayer,  and  fasting.  W.  H.  Mill. 


¥ 


119 


[Tuesday. 

t^  (^fonins  OTorft  of  C^mt 

HIS     FAST     AND     MORTIFICATION. 

For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  Myself. — S.  John  xvii.  19. 


A\N  one  of  these  forties  Tertullian  dwells  with  peculiar 
^"^  emphasis  ;  often  bringing  out  the  relation  between  the 
forty  clays  of  our  Lord's  Temptation  and  the  forty  years  of 
Israel's  trial  in  the  wilderness.  His  fast  as  the  true  Israel,  as 
fulfiller  of  all  which  Israel  after  the  flesh  had  left  unfulfilled, 
as  the  victor  in  all  where  it  had  been  the  vanquished,  v^2iS  as 
much  a  witness  against  their  carnal  appetites  (for  it  was  in  the 
indulgence  of  these  that  they  sinned  continually.  Exod.  xv, 
23,  24:  xvi,  2,  3)  as  a  witness  against  Adam's.  It  was  by  this 
abstinence  of  His  declared  that  man  was  ordained  to  be,  and 
that  the  true  man  would  be  lord  over  his  lower  nature.  In  this 
way  Christ's  forty  days'  fast  is  the  great  counter-fact  in  the 
work  of  redemption,  at  once  to  Adam's  and  to  Israel's  com- 
pliances with  the  suggestions  of  the  fleshly  appetite  ;  exactly  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  unity  of  tongues  at  Pentecost  is  the 
counter-fact  to  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel  (Gen.  xi,  7-8; 
Acts  ii,  6-11),  to  which  the  Church  would  draw  our  attention 
in  the  selection  of  the  latter  as  one  of  our  Whitsuntide  lessons. 

Archbishop  Trench. 


Second  iveek  in  LenL] 


Wednesday.] 

3t0  Corree|?on^mg  (Ofifigations. 

NECESSITY     OF     SELF-MORTIFICATION. 

Mortify  therefore  your   members   which   are   upon   the   earth.- 
Col.  III.  5. 


/^|YELIEVE  me,  the  way  of  mortification  is  the  only  way  of 
>0^  spiritual  emancipation.  Holy  desires  without  discipline 
will  never  make  us  free.  Emotional  confessions  not  issuing 
in  discipline  will  never  strike  off  our  chains.  Constant  attend- 
ance on  the  means  of  grace  in  the  sanctuary  or  in  the  closet 
not  issuing  in  discipline  will  never  set  our  feet  at  liberty.  Help- 
ful indeed  are  these  to  those  who  seek  to  live  the  mortified 
life,  but  without  the  practice  of  mortification  they  cannot 
secure  our  spiritual  freedom.  This  is  ours  only  when  our 
lower  nature  is  m.ortified  in  imitation  of  and  in  dependence  on 
Jesus,  and  Him  crucified.  On  this  matter  I  pray  you  do  not 
allow  yourself  to  be  deceived.  For  no  law  of  spiritual  life  is 
more  certain  or  more  imperative  than  this  law  of  mortification. 
There  cannot  be  such  a  thing  as  the  perseverance  in  Christian 
life  of  an  unmortified  Christian  who  has  come  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion. Obedience,  we  repeat,  is  religion  ;  and  mortification 
is  the  essential  condition  of  obedience,  for  it  is  the  condition  of 
its  actual  expression  and  of  the  recovery  of  that  spiritual  free- 
dom without  which  that  expression  is  impossil^le  for  sinful  men. 

George  Body. 


[Thursday. 

FASTING    AS    AN     ACT     OF     OBEDIENCE. 

06ey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you. — Heb.  xiii.  17. 


3F  this  be  any  one's  first  Lent,  I  would  give  some  simple 
rules  which  may  smooth  some  difficulties.  Let  it  be  an 
act  of  obedience.  A  sacred  poet  of  our  own  says,  "  the  Scrip- 
ture bids  us  fast,  the  Church  says  now."  Thus  shall  we  do  it 
more  simply,  not  as  any  great  thing;  not  as  of  our  own  will, 
but  as  an  act  of  obedience ;  so  will  the  remarks  of  others  (if 
such  there  be)  less  disturb  us,  as  knowing  that  we  are  doing 
but  little,  and  that,  not  of  our  own  mind.  But  little  in  itself,  it 
is  connected  with  high  things,  with  the  very  height  of  Heaven 
and  the  depths  of  hell ;  our  Blessed  Saviour  and  our  sins.  We 
fast  with  our  Lord,  and  for  our  sins.  The  Church  brings  us 
nigh  to  our  Lord,  Whose  fast  and  the  merits  of  Whose  fasting 
and  Passion  we  partake  of.  We  have  to  "humble  our  own 
souls  with  fasting"  for  our  own  sins.  Remember  we  both. 
Review  we  our  past  lives ;  recall  to  our  remembrance  what 
chief  sins  we  can;  confess  them  habitually  in  sorrow,  with  the 
use  of  the  Penitential  Psalms  and  especially  that  daily  medicine 
of  the  penitent  soul,  the  fifty-first.  Fast  we,  in  token  that  we 
are  unworthy  of  God's  creatures  which  we  have  misused. 
Take  we  thankfully  weariness  or  discomfort,  as  we  before 
sinned  through  ease  and  lightness  of  heart.  And  thus,  owning 
ourselves  unworthy  of  all,  think  we  on  Him,  Who  for  us  bore 
all;  so  shall  those  precious  sufferings  sanctify  thy  discomfort, 
the  irksomeness  shall  be  gladsome  to  thee  which  brings  thee 
nearer  to  thy  Lord.  E.  B.  PuSEY. 

Second  week  in  Lent.^ 


Friday.] 

BENEFITS  OF  FASTING. 

As  they  j?iinistered  to  the  Lord,  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said, — 
Acts  xiii.  2. 


3T  is,  we  believe,  because  this  duty  is  so  little  practised  as 
a  regular  habit  that  its  benefits  are  so  undervalued.  It  is 
often  eagerly  commenced  in  a  fit  of  transient  zeal,  but  the 
natural  inclinations  raise  their  remonstrance — it  is  found  weari- 
some and  painful — and  after  one  or  two  attempts  entirely  laid 
aside.  But  is  it  not  true,  that  this  is  scarcely  giving  it  a  trial  ? 
To  be  appreciated,  and  its  benefits  felt,  it  must  be  a  habit — be 
practised  often — and  become,  as  it  were,  a  portion  of  our  regu- 
lar religious  service.  Thus,  that  which  at  first  was  performed 
with  difficulty  is  rendered  easy ;  and  we  learn  at  last,  that  the 
ancient  Saints  in  primitive  days  knew  human  nature  better  than 
we  do,  and  when  they  urged  those  who  should  come  after  them 
to  "crucify  the  flesh"  as  a  source  of  spiritual  benefits,  were 
only  giving  the  result  of  their  own  experience.  This,  then,  is 
that  discipline,  by  whose  severity  we  are  to  weaken  the  force 
of  passion,  and  of  those  appetites  which  elseassert  the  mastery 
over  the  soul  and  bind  it  down  to  earth.  "  I  keep  under  my 
body,"  says  S.  Paul,  "and  bring  it  into  subjection;  lest  that  by 
any  means  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be 
a  castaway."  And  S.  Chrysostom  declares  "  Fasting  restrains 
the  body  and  checks  and  bridles  its  inordinate  sallies,  but 
makes  the  soul  much  lighter,  and  gives  it  wings  to  mount  up 
and  soar  on  high."  BISHOP  KiP. 


[Saturday. 

3f6  £orre0:pon^mg  ftfifigafione. 

FASTING    AND   SELF-CONTROL. 

I  keep  tinder  my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection. — 1  Cor.  ix.  27. 


3N  Christianity  we  have  this  principle  which  men  had 
approached  from  various  sides  engrafted  into  the  rehgion 
which  is  to  meet  man's  inmost  needs — man  is  a  complex 
being,  body,  soul,  and  spirit  ;  he  must  not  neglect  his  body;  it 
is  useful,  it  is  blessed,  it  is  holy;  but  the  body,  if  a  good  serv- 
ant, is  a  terrible  master — within  every  man  the  will  must 
reign  supreme,  and  therefore  the  will  must  show  its  suprem- 
acy. Where  Satan  is  leading  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  his 
victims  captive  in  gluttony  and  drunkenness  all  around  us,  the 
will  of  the  Christian  must  be  able  to  show  his  body  temperate, 
curbed,  restrained.  He  must  be  able  to  say,  so  far  from  being 
allured  into  excess,  I  can  voluntarily  cut  off  those  things  which 
men  think  pleasant  or  necessary,  and  forego  their  very  use. 
When  the  world  is  following  pleasure  and  ease,  and  neglecting 
the  eternal  interest  of  the  soul,  the  Christian  ought  to  be  able 
to  say,  instead  of  being  entrapped  by  pleasure,  I  can  of  my 
own  free  will  lay  it  aside  if  need  be.  Where  the  world  shrinks 
from  unpleasant  duties,  the  Christian  ought  to  be  able  to  say, 
I  welcome  pain,  I  welcome  suffering  as  something  which  God 
sends  me.  The  flesh  is  a  spoilt  child,  it  cries  out  for  every- 
thing which  it  sees  or  wants.  The  will  is  the  disciplinarian 
who  thwarts  it,  curbs  it,  controls  it,  and  does  not  mind  in 
what  way,  if  in  any  way.  it  can  make  it  obedient.  What  is  an 
army  without  discipline  ?  What  are  the  great  forces  of  nature, 
unless  we  can  regulate  them  ?  What  is  man  without  self- 
control  ?  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 

Second  week  in  Lent.] 


Thied  Sunday  in  Lext.] 

t^e  (^toning  TTorS  of  C^Bt 

THE     MYSTERY     OF     HIS     TEMPTATION, 
By  Thy  temptation^  good  Lord,  deliver  us. — The  Litany. 


T^HE  Second  Adam,  no  less  than  the  first,  had  to  pass 
^^  through  his  probation.  That  probation  of  the  Incar- 
nate Son  is  by  no  means  easy  to  understand.  Any  firm  grasp 
of  the  case  makes  it  clear,  to  begin  with,  that  Christ  could  not 
sin.  To  suppose  Him  peccable,  however  sinless  or  fallible, 
however  free  from  actual  error,  betrays  a  Nestorian  concep- 
tion of  His  Person  ;  it  shows  that  He  is  thought  of  as  possessed 
of  a  double  personality — a  Divine  Being  lodged  in  a  man. 
Christ  is  a  single  Person  and  that  Person  is  a  Divine  Person. 
In  that  accommodation  of  Himself  to  human  limitation  which 
S.  Paul  speaks  of  as  "emptying  Himself"  (Phil.  ii.  7),  He  by  no 
means  emptied  Himself ;  He  only  caused  that  holiness,  like 
His  love,  of  which  it  is  a  part,  to  manifest  itself  under  new  con- 
ditions. But  the  conditions  under  which  this  indefeasible  holi- 
ness was  manifested  were  those  of  a  real  and  a  progressive 
human  nature.  The  Divinity  of  His  Person  did  not  lift  Him 
up  out  of  the  reach  of  natural  human  wants  and  impulses. 
Quite  the  contrary.  .  .  .  His  very  Divinity  made  it  pos- 
sible for  Him  more  fully  than  for  others  to  taste  the  ingredients 
of  human  life.  And  although,  by  His  freedom  from  original 
sin,  He  had  none  of  the  vicious  and  depraved  desires  which  are 
congenital  to  us,  and  could  only  think  of  such  with  an  instinc- 
tive abhorrence,  yet,  being  human.  He  could  not  fail  to  be 
tempted  by  the  same  things  which  had  tempted  our  first 
parents.  A.  J.  MASON. 

125 


[Monday. 

$^e  (^forving  Worft  of  C^mt 

THE  REALITY  OF  THE  TEMPTATION. 

In  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. — Heb.  iv.  15. 


T^HOUGH  all  His  faculties  were  in  harmony  from  the  first, 
^^  no  illusion  misleading,  no  inordinate  affection  disturbing 
— was  therefore  the  practice  of  high  virtue  in  Him  attended 
with  no  difficulty,  no  opposition  and  reclamation  from  the 
strongest — and  at  the  same  time  most  innocent — instincts  of 
humanity  ?  Let  the  last  suppression  of  human  will  in  the 
agony  of  Gethsemane,  let  the  whole  course  of  His  obedience 
unto  death  answer,  if  this  preliminary  essay  of  temptation  can- 
not. The  expression,  "  Not  My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done," 
uttered  with  respect  to  that  which  would  then  only  become  sin- 
ful if  followed  in  preferejice  to  the  Divine  v/ill,  may  inform  us 
where  mere  temptation  ends  and  where  sin  (which  in  Him  had 
not  the  remotest  place)  begins.  And  may  we  not  conceive  also 
that  the  more  acute  apprehension  of  things  which  the  perfect 
contexture  of  His  humanity  brought  with  it, — the  keener  sense  of 
pain  and  distress,  as  well  as  of  others'  ingratitude  and  treach- 
ery, which  His  sinless  soul  entertained, — might  give  a  sharper 
edge  to  this  description  of  trial  in  Him  ;  and  far  more  than 
counterbalance,  in  respect  of  hardness  of  endurance,  that  which 
less  holy  and  duller  spirits  have  to  encounter  from  what  in  Him 
had  no  place,  the  remnants  of  native  corruption,  and  ill  desires 
imperfectly  modified.  W.  H.  Mill. 


Third  week  in  Lent.'\ 

126 


Tuesday.] 

t^c  (jXionirxQ  ^orft  of  C^viet 

THE    STRENGTH     OF     HIS    TEMPTATION. 

Being  tefiipted  He  is   able    to   succour    fheni    that  are    tempted.- 
Heb.  II.  18. 


^  ^  Tt^HE  TEMPTATION  "  is  a  subject  around  which  gathers 
^^  so  much  that  is  terrible,  a  subject  in  which  it  is  so  easy 
to  be  presumptuous  and  irreverent,  and  yet  a  subject  of  such 
intense  helpfulness,  that  again  and  again  the  soul  must  return 
to  it  for  comfort,  instruction  and  help  ;  here  are  the  devil's  tac- 
tics, here  is  the  devil's  masterpiece,  here  is  One  tempted  Who 
could  not  sin.  Away,  then,  for  ever  with  the  horrible  thought 
that  the  suggestions  for  evil  are  mine,  that  the  thoughts  and 
motives,  and  the  phantoms  of  evil  all  come  from  within.  If 
the  Holy  One  of  God  could  be  tempted  without  sin,  so  I  may 
hope  yet  for  my  weary  life,  that  when  the  day  of  reckoning 
comes,  something  may  be  disentangled  out  of  the  black  mass ; 
this  came  from  without,  this  never  entered  in, this  was  tempta- 
tion, but  not  sin.  Yes — as  we  enter  upon  this  mysterious 
scene, — two  things  are  stamped  upon  it — a  warning  and  a  con- 
solation. No  one  is  exempt,  every  one  shall  be  tempted.  Not 
the  age  of  Job,  not  the  position  of  Judas,  not  the  past  inno- 
cence of  David,  not  the  spotlessness  of  our  Blessed  Lord  Him- 
self shall  be  spared  ;  but  at  the  same  time  as  we  get  to  be  like 
Him,  temptation  shall  be  more  external,  the  sentinels  shall  be 
more  trustworthy,  there  shall  be  no  fear  of  treachery  from 
within.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


[Wednesday. 

t^t  (^toning  ^ov&  of  C^xist 

THE   ISSUES    INVOLVED    IN  HIS   TEMPTATION. 

T/ie  great  dj-agon  was  cast  out. — Rev.  xii.  9. 


OjTS  with  the  Baptism  so  also  with  the  Temptation.  It  is 
^^1^  quite  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the 
victory  which  was  then  gained  by  the  Second  Adam  or  the 
bearing  which  it  had,  and  still  has,  on  the  work  of  our  re- 
demption. It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  as  Augustine  said  often, 
that  the  entire  history,  moral  and  spiritual,  of  the  world  revolves 
around  two  persons,  Adam  and  Christ.  To  Adam  was  given 
a  position  to  maintain  ;  he  did  not  maintain  it,  and  the  lot  of 
the  world  for  ages  was  decided.  And  now  with  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Second  Adam  the  second  trial  of  our  race  has 
arrived.  All  is  again  at  issue.  Again  we  are  represented  by 
a  Champion,  by  One  Who  is  in  the  place  of  all, — Whose  stand- 
ing shall  be  the  standing  of  many,  and  Whose  fall,  if  that  fall 
had  been  conceivable,  would  have  been  the  fall  of  many,  yea, 
of  all.  Once  already  Satan  had  thought  to  nip  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  in  the  bud,  and  had  nearly  succeeded.  If  it  had  not 
been  for  a  new  and  unlooked-for  interposition  of  God,  for  the 
promise  of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  he  would  have  done  it.  He 
will  now  prove  if  he  cannot  more  effectually  crush  it,  and  for  ever. 
Then  on  that  first  occasion  there  was  still  a  reserve,  the  pattern 
according  to  whom  Adam  was  formed  ;  who  should  come  forth 
in  due  time  to  make  what  Adam  had  marred  ;  but.  He  failing, 
there  was  none  behind  ;  the  last  stake  would  have  been  played 
— and  lost.  Archbishop  Trench. 

Third  week  in  LentP[ 

128 


Thursday.] 

THE    NECESSITY    OF    TEMPTATION. 

T^e  Lord  thy  God  led  thee     .     .     .     to  humble  thee^  and  to  prove 
theey  to  know  what  was  in  thy  heart. — Detjt.  viii.  2-3. 


3N  the  Wilderness  of  Temptation,  holiness  is  gained  by  the 
true  child  of  God.  Such  has  been  the  experience  of  the 
past:  for  the  Wilderness  is  the  place  where  the  Church's 
Saints  have  been  formed.  They  have  become  "  strong  in  the 
Lord  and  in  the  pow^er  of  His  Might,"  not  by  being  shielded 
from  temptation,  but  by  meeting  its  fiercest  assaults.  The  life 
of  S.  Anthony  has  an  abiding  message  for  the  Church,  and  it  is 
that  the  one  way  to  Christian  strength  and  sanctity  is  through 
conflict  with  the  Evil  One ;  and  the  fact  is  as  true  to-day  as  in 
days  of  old,  that  it  is  the  very  purpose  of  Him,  "  Whose  ways 
are  not  as  our  ways,  and  Whose  thoughts  are  not  as  our 
thoughts,"  to  form  the  first  graces  of  the  Christian  character  in 
the  "great  and  terrible  wilderness,"  where  the  saints,  like 
Israel  of  old,  have  fought  their  fight  with  sin.  Remember 
what  that  holiness  is  which  God  looks  for.  It  is  not  merely  an 
outward  life  conformed  to  His  Laws:  it  is  an  inward  freedom 
from  sin,  an  inward  conformity  to  His  Image.  The  outward 
obedience  is  precious  in  His  sight,  because  it  is  the  revelation  of 
the  character  here  who  is  "  glorious  within."  Hence  God  leads 
you  into  this  life  of  temptation  that  He  may  make  you  a  par- 
taker of  His  Indwelling  Holiness ;  and  for  this  reason,  that  in 
it  you  may  learn  the  evil  that  is  in  you,  and  which  must  be  put 
away  if  His  work  is  to  be  perfected.  George  Body. 


[FraDAY. 

TEMPTATION  TO  BE  RESISTED  AT  THE   OUTSET. 

Enter  not  into  the  path  of  the  luicked,  and  go  not  in  the  way  of 
evil  men.  Avoid  it^  pass  not  by  it,  turn  from  it,  and  pass  away. — 
Prov.  IV.  14,  15. 


T^HE  great  thing  in  religion  is  to  set  off  well,  to  resist  the 
^^  beginnings  of  sin,  to  flee  temptation,  to  avoid  the  com- 
pany of  the  wicked.  And  for  this  reason,  first  of  all,  because 
it  is  hardly  possible  to  delay  our  flight  without  rendering  flight 
impossible.  When  I  say,  resist  the  beginnings  of  evil,  I  do  not 
mean  the  first  act  merely,  but  the  rising  thought  of  evil. 
Whatever  the  temptation  may  be,  there  may  be  no  time  to 
wait  and  gaze,  without  being  caught.  Woe  to  us  if  Satan  (so 
to  say)  sees  us  first,  for  as  in  the  case  of  some  beast  of  prey, 
for  him  to  see  us  is  to  master  us.  Directly  we  are  made  aware 
of  the  temptation,  we  shall,  if  we  are  wise,  turn  our  backs  upon 
it,  without  waiting  to  think  and  reason  about  it ;  we  shall  en- 
gage our  mind  in  other  thoughts.  There  are  temptations 
where  this  advice  is  especially  necessary ;  but  under  all  it  is 
highly  seasonable.  For  consider  what  must  in  all  cases  be  the 
consequence  of  allowing  evil  thoughts  to  be  present  to  us, 
though  we  do  not  actually  admit  them  into  our  hearts.  This, 
namely,  we  shall  make  ourselves  familiar  with  them.  Now  our 
great  security  against  sin  lies  in  being  shocked  at  it.  We 
gazed  and  reflected  when  we  should  have  fled.  It  is  some- 
times said,  "Second  thoughts  are  best";  this  is  true  in  many 
cases ;  but  there  are  times  when  it  is  very  false,  and  when,  on 
the  contrary,  first  thoughts  are  best.  J.  H.  NEWMAN. 

Third  week  in  Lent.'\ 

130 


Saturday.] 

3t0  Cotte0:ponbmg  ^figations. 

FAITH     OUR    ATTITUDE     IN    TEMPTATION. 

God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye 
are  able. — 1  Cor.  x.  12. 


yj^OD  is  Master  on  this  battle-field  and  can  regulate  the 
^^  incidents  of  the  temptation  one  by  one.  This  is  most 
clearly  revealed  in  the  text.  Here  the  whole  sphere  of  temp- 
tation is  sketched  as  in  a  map.  The  Christian  soldier  stands 
on  the  defensive  in  the  battle-field,  ready  for  the  fight.  Then 
the  foe  approaches,  when,  as  with  lightning  speed,  the  tempta- 
tion assaults  him,  and  the  conflict  begins.  But  God  is  present 
there  watching  the  fight,  and  its  whole  course  is  clear  to  His 
mind,  and  its  intensity  and  duration  are  regulated  by  Him. 
Remember  the  trials  that  Job  endured,  and  see  an  illustration 
of  each  step  of  the  way  as  here  sketched  by  S.  Paul.  The 
temptation  is  permitted  ;  for  until  God  gives  Satan  permission 
he  cannot  iay  hands  on  him.  Then,  when  the  permission  is 
given,  the  temptation  is  regulated  by  the  Divine  Will ;  for  God 
first  permits  to  him  to  touch  only  his  belongings,  and  then 
to  touch  the  person  of  the  patriarch  himself.  And  when  the 
trial  had  lasted  as  long  as  God  willed,  He  withdrew  His  ser- 
vant from  the  field  where  he  had  fought  and  conquered.  "  The 
Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job."  "  I  have  heard  of  the 
patience  of  Job,  and  have  seen  the  end  of  the  Lord ;  that  the 
Lord  is  very  pitiful,  and  of  tender  mercy." 

George  Body. 


131 


[Fourth  Sunday  in  Lent. 

t^c  (^ionm  'WorS  of  C^mt 

THE   AGONY:  ITS    MYSTERY. 

By    Thine   Agony  and  bloody    Sweaty  good  Lord,    deliver   us. — 
The  Litany. 


^^HE  Redeemer  here  appears  harrowed  by  a  misery  which 
^^  many  a  martyr  has  been  free  from,  utterly  perturbed  by 
a  prospect  which  a  Stephen,  an  Ignatius,  a  Ridley  viewed  with- 
out dismay.  If  no  more  than  death  is  in  question,  we  should 
expect  an  example  of  calm  reliance  on  the  present  help  of  God. 
But  we  find  the  unaccountable  agony,  the  bloody  sweat,  the 
prayer  for  deliverance ;  all  fortifying  and  calming  influences 
seem  withdrawn  for  a  time  from  Him  Who  through  His  life  so 
constantly  enjoyed  them.  We  are  astonished  that  the  curse  of 
our  race  should  be  suffered  to  press  in  all  its  terrible  reality 
upon  the  sinless  and  Divine  Son.  Yet,  there  is  the  description 
of  His  great  struggle.  We  cannot  refuse  to  see  that  it  relates 
to  One  utterly  broken  down  for  a  time  in  a  wretchedness  be- 
yond our  conception,  a  prey  to  thoughts  which,  judging  by 
their  outward  effects,  were  far  darker  than  those  of  the  felon 
the  night  before  his  execution,  when  he  counts  the  quarters  of 
each  hour,  and  hears  the  hammers  that  are  busy  at  his  scaffold. 
If  our  salvation  is  to  be  made  an  easier  work,  if  the  price  paid 
is  to  be  abated,  we  must  forget  Gethsemane  or  deny  it.  But  if 
we  believe  with  the  Apostle  that  God  hath  made  Him  to  be 
sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  Him,  then  the  terror  and  the  agony 
become  accountable.  ARCHBISHOP  THOMSON. 


13a 


Monday.] 

t^t  (^foning  nTotg  of  t^mt 

THE  AGONY:    ITS  CONFLICT. 

TAe  Prince  of  this  world  cometh   and  hath   nothing  in  Me. 
S.  John  xiv.  30. 


A%UR  Lord  viewed  His  agony  and  Passion  as  a  coming  of 
^^  tile  Evil  One.  And  if  a  coming,  then  necessarily  a 
coming /<9r  conflict,  for  final  conflict.  For  one  conflict  there 
had  been  already  at  the  commencement  of  His  ministry,  after 
which  we  were  told  that  "  the  Devil  left  Y^\x\\  for  a  season^ 
The  Evil  One  is  now  returning  for  the  conclusive  conflict,  and 
the  Saviour  knows  it.  .  .  .  And  in  the  deep  shades  of  the 
garden  the  great  trial  or  temptation  is  to  commence.  The  con- 
sciousness of  His  being  on  His  trial  is  implied  in  His  words, 
"  Pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation."  He  must  enter  into 
it.  Another  moment,  and  it  is  upon  Him.  He  is  in  the 
agony.  The  very  word  agony  means  conflict  and  struggle. 
The  fearful  account  of  it  indicates  intense  spiritual  effort  called 
forth  by  something — by  some  one — external  to  Him.  Else  why 
so  tranquil  one  moment,  and  so  agonized  the  next  ?  But  we 
are  left  in  no  doubt :  our  Lord's  own  words — so  calm  again — 
so  suddenly  calm  again,  when  for  the  moment  it  is  over — reveal 
to  us  its  nature:  "This  is  your  hour  and  the  Power  of  dark- 
ness " — it  was  with  "  the  Power  of  darkness  " — with  him  who 
in  this  dark  hour  had  power  "  to  bruise  His  heel," — that  He 
had  been  struggling,  and  was  yet  again  to  struggle  (it  may  be) 
on  the  Cross.  .  .  .  What  the  mysterious  necessity  for  that 
personal  conflict  was,  we  cannot  know.  Our  Lord's  use  of  the 
word  "  temptation  "  suggests  the  idea  that  this  conflict,  like 
that  in  the  wilderness,  was  of  the  nature  of  a  temptation. 

J.  P.  NORRIS. 
133 


[Tuesday. 

t^e  (^foning  WorS  of  C^mt 

THE  AGONY:    ITS   LONELINESS. 

Jle  was  withdrawn  from  thon  about  a  stone's  cast,  and  kneeled 
down  and  prayed. — S.  Luke  xxii.  41. 


/^SPECIALLY  was  Jesus  our  Lord  solitary  in  His  awful 
^^  sorrow.  We  may  well  believe  that  the  delicate  sensi- 
bilities of  His  Bodily  Frame  rendered  Him  liable  to  physical 
tortures,  such  as  rougher  natures  can  never  know.  But  we 
know  that  the  mode  of  His  Death  was  exceptionally  painful. 
And  yet  His  bodily  sufferings  were  less  terrible  (it  might 
seem)  than  the  sufferings  of  His  mind.  The  agony  in  the 
Garden  was  of  a  character  which  distances  altogether  human 
woe.  Our  Lord  advisedly  laid  Himself  open  to  the  dreadful 
visitation  ;  He  embraced  it  by  a  deliberate  act ;  He  "  began  to 
be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy."  He  took  upon  Him  the  burden 
and  misery  of  human  sin — the  sin  of  all  the  centuries  that  had 
preceded  and  would  follow  Him — that  He  might  take  it  to  the 
Cross  and  expiate  it  in  Death.  As  the  Apostle  says,  "  He 
bore  our  sins  in  His  own  Body  on  the  tree."  But  the  touch  of 
this  burden,  which  to  us  is  so  familiar,  to  Him  was  agony  ;  and 
it  drew  from  Him  the  Bloody  Sweat,  which  fell  from  His  fore- 
head on  the  turf  of  Gethsemane,  hours  before  they  crowned 
Him  with  the  thorns  or  nailed  Him  to  the  Cross.  Ah,  brethren, 
we  endeavor  to  enter  into  the  solitary  sorrows  of  the  Soul  of 
Jesus,  but  they  are  quite  beyond  us.  .  .  .  Before  Him  we 
are,  indeed,  but  children  ;  happy  if  we  share  their  simple  and 
free  sympathies,  but  certainly  like  them,  unable  to  do  more 
than  watch  with  tender  and  reverent  awe,  a  mighty  burden  of 
misery  which  we  cannot  hope  to  comprehend. 

H.   P.   LiDDON. 

Fourth  iveek  in  Lent.] 

134 


Wednesday.] 

t^e  (^ionm  '^orft  of  C^tsf. 

THE  AGONY  OF  A  PERFECT  OBEDIENCE. 

Though  He  were  a   Son,  yet  learned  He  obedience  by  the  things 
which  He  suffered. — Heb.  v.  8. 


T^HIS  is  one  of  the  many  points  of  view  under  which  our 
^^  Lord's  death  upon  the  Cross  may  and  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered; it  was  the  last  and  consummate  expression  of  a  perfectly 
obedient  Will.  ...  He  was,  as  S.  Paul  says,  "  obedient 
unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  Cross."  "Therefore,"  He 
said  Himself,  "doth  My  Father  love  Me,  because  I  lay  down 
My  life,  that  I  may  take  it  again.  .  .  ."  Not  that  the  tear- 
ing of  soul  and  body  asunder  by  a  violent  death  ;  not  that  the 
mental  anguish  which  He  embraced  in  its  immediate  prospect 
cost  Him  nothing:  He  was  truly  human.  "  What  shall  I  say? 
Father  save  Me  from  this  hour;  yet  for  this  cause  came  I  unto 
this  hour."  "  Remove  this  cup  from  Me  ;  nevertheless  not  My 
Will,  but  Thine,  be  done."  This  is  what  gives  to  every  inci- 
dent of  the  Passion  such  transcendent  interest;  each  insult 
that  is  endured,  each  pang  that  is  accepted,  each  hour,  each 
minute  of  the  protracted  agony,  is  the  deliberate  offering  of  a 
perfect  Will,  which  might  conceivably  have  declined  the  trial. 
"  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray  to  My  Father,  and  He 
will  presently  send  Me  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels." 
And  so  when  the  suffering  was  over.  He  said,  "  It  is  finished," 
just  as  at  the  close  of  His  ministerial  life  and  on  the  threshold 
of  His  agony,  He  had  said,  "  I  have  glorified  Thee  on  the 
earth  ;  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest  Me  to  do." 

H.  P.   LiDDON. 


[Thursday. 

t^e  dXioninQ  ^ot&  of  C^mt 

THE  AGONY  OF  A  PERFECT  CONTRITION. 

He  offered  up  prayers  and  supplications  with  strong  crying  ana 
tears. — Heb.  v.  7. 


OfYlHEN  we  are  told  that  "  Christ  suffered  for  sins  that  He 
might  bring  us  to  God,"  we  look  to  find  in  the  story  of 
His  redemption  not  only  the  record  of  bodily  pain,  but  even 
more,  that  of  spiritual  sorrow.  And  that  which  we  expect  we 
find.  See  this  in  the  agony  in  Gethsemane.  Behold  the  Lord, 
as  in  that  still  midnight  hour,  lit  up  by  the  rays  of  the  paschal 
moon,  He  lies  beneath  the  olive-trees.  Recall  to  mind  the 
words  of  the  Evangelist  as  he  paints  that  scene  for  us  : 
"  Being  in  an  agony  He  prayed  more  earnestly,  and  His  sweat 
was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood  falling  down  to  the  ground." 
What  is  this  agony  but  that  of  a  bitter  sorrow  for  the  sins  of 
men  }  In  it  "  His  soul  is  an  offering  for  sin."  It  is  the  agony 
of  a  perfect  contrition.  He,  the  Representative  Man,  is  bearing 
on  His  human  spirit  the  burden  of  a  world's  transgressions. 
He  sees  man's  sin  as  God  sees  it ;  He  hates  man's  sin  as  God 
hates  it ;  He  condemns  man's  sin  as  God  condemns  it ;  He  is 
moved  to  wage  war  against  it  as  God  ever  contends  with  it. 
And  He  is  the  Sin  Bearer  by  identification  with  the  sinful  race 
of  man.  So  He  opens  His  heart  to  receive  into  Himself  as  the 
Representative  Man  God's  reproof  of  man's  sin.  Beneath  that 
reproof  His  human  spirit  tastes  the  bitter  dregs  of  the  cup  of 
contrition.  "  Thy  reproof  hath  broken  My  Heart,  I  am  full  of 
heaviness."  George  Body. 

Fourth  week  in  Lent.] 

136 


Friday.] 

t^  (§,ioninQ  ^ot&  of  C^mt 

THE    AGONY:    ITS    SECRET    POWER. 

He  that  hath  seeti  Ale  hath  seen  the  Father. — S.  John  xiv. 


OfYlHEN  the  tempest  comes ;  when  affliction,  fear,  anxiety, 
shame  come,  then  the  Cross  of  Christ  begins  to  mean 
something  to  us.  For  then  in  our  misery  and  confusion  we 
look  up  to  heaven  and  ask,  "  Is  there  any  one  in  heaven  who 
understands  all  this?  Does  God  understand  my  trouble? 
Does  God  feel  for  my  trouble  ?  Does  God  know  what 
trouble  means  ?  Or  must  I  fight  the  battle  of  life  alone, 
without  sympathy  or  help  from  God,  who  made  me  and 
has  put  me  here  ?  Then  does  the  Cross  of  Christ  bring 
a  message  to  our  heart  such  as  no  other  thing  or  being 
on  earth  can  bring.  For  it  says  to  us,  God  does  understand 
thee  utterly ;  for  Christ  understands  thee.  Christ  feels  for  thee  ; 
Christ  feels  with  thee;  Christ  has  suffered  for  thee,  and  suf- 
fered with  thee.  Thou  canst  go  through  nothing  which  Christ 
has  not  gone  through.  He,  the  Son  of  God,  endured  poverty, 
fear,  shame,  agony,  death  for  thee,  that  He  might  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  thine  infirmity  and  help  thee  to  endure,  and 
bring  thee  safe  through  all  to  victory  and  peace. 

CHARLtS   KlNGSLEY. 


137 


[Saturday. 

t^c  @foning  <^orS  of  Christ 

THE   AGONY:  SOME   LESSONS. 

Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example  that  ye  should 
follow  His  steps. — 1  Peter  ii.  21. 


ANUR  Lord  throusjhout  His  mysterious  sorrows  affords  us 
^■^  His  most  perfect  example ;  and  so  far  as  we  approach 
Him  in  following  it,  we  shall  partake  of  the  efficacy  of  His 
Passion.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  did  He  Who  said, 
•*  Learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly,"  humble  Himself  to 
the  lowest  of  all  humiliations ;  for  what  posture  of  prayer 
could  be  more  low  than  that  of  prostration  on  the  ground  } 
From  the  tfficacy  of  these.  His  humiliations,  it  has  passed  into 
an  eternal  law  that  he  who  humbles  himself  shall  be  exalted. 
.  .  .  Again,  teaching  us,  in  the  severest  of  our  own  trials, 
to  be  ever  mindful  of  others,  in  the  midst  of  His  agonies  our 
Lord  returns  from  His  devotions,  being  ever  mindful  of  His  dis- 
ciples more  than  of  Himself  in  His  Divine  love  ;  and  teaching 
us  to  combine  our  prayers  for  others  with  kind  offices  to  them. 
Again,  He  returns  to  prayer,  teaching  us  by  His  own  example 
what  He  had  so  often  taught  by  precept  and  parable,  "that  we 
faint  not  in  prayer,  but  continue  in  the  very  word  of  prayer, 
until  we  obtain  what  we  have  begun  to  demand."  Having  en- 
joined us  to  seek  retirement  in  prayer,  this  also  He  teaches  us, 
by  Himself  on  each  occasion  going  apart ;  and  here  again,  by 
His  own  example  also,  as  well  as  by  the  examples  of  others 
whose  entreaties  He  answered,  He  instructs  us  to  say  the 
same  words,  though  we  use  not  vain  repetitions. 

Isaac  Williams. 
A 

Fourth  week  in  Lent.] 


Passion  Suxday.] 

t^t  dXionm  ^or6  of  C^mt 

THE   VICTORY   OF   THE   CROSS. 

TAe  royal  banners  forward  go. — Ancient  Hymn. 


A^HRIST  came  that  He  might  render  powerless  him  that 
^^  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil.  And  He  has 
done  this.  .  .  .  Sin  was  the  weapon  by  which  he  made 
death  so  terrible  ;  "the  sting  of  death  is  sin."  And  it  is  from 
this  apprehension  that  the  faithful  are  freed  by  the  Death  of 
Jesus  Christ.  By  dying,  the  Apostle  tells  us,  our  Lord,  as 
Man,  invaded  this  region  of  human  experience  and  conquered 
for  Himself  and  for  us  its  old  oppressor.  When  He  seemed  to 
the  eye  of  sense  to  be  Himself  gradually  sinking  beneath  th? 
agony  and  exhaustion  of  the  Cross,  He  was  really,  in  the 
Apostle's  enraptured  vision,  like  one  of  those  Roman  generals 
whose  victories  were  celebrated  by  the  most  splendid  cere- 
monies known  to  the  capital  of  the  ancient  world — He  was  the 
spoiler  of  principalities  and  powers,  making  a  show  of  them 
openly,  triumphing  over  them  in  His  Cross.  The  Day  of  Cal- 
vary ranked  in  S.  Paul's  eyes,  in  virtue  of  this  one  out  of  its 
many  results,  far  above  the  great  battle-fields  which  a  genera- 
tion before  had  settled,  for  four  centuries  as  it  proved,  the 
destinies  of  the  world, — Pharsalia,  Philippi,  Actium.  Satan 
was  conquered  by  the  Son  of  Man;  because  the  sting  of  death 
— sin — had  been  extracted  and  pardoned  ;  because  it  was 
henceforth  possible,  for  all  who  would  clasp  the  pierced  hands 
of  the  Crucified,  to  pass  through  that  region  of  shadows  as 
more  than  conqueror  through  Him  that  loved  them. 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 

139 


[Monday. 

t^e  ^toning  <^orft  of  C^tist 

THE  PAIN  AND   SHAME  OF  THE  CROSS.  ' 

By  Thy  Cross  and  Passion,  good  Lord,  deliver  us. — The  Litany. 


^^WO  things  are  most  observable  in  this  Cross :  the  acer- 
^^  bity  and  the  ignominy  of  the  punishment ;  for  of  all  the 
Roman  ways  of  execution,  it  was  most  painful  and  most  shame- 
ful. First,  the  exquisite  pains  and  torments  in  that  death  are 
manifest,  in  that  the  hands  and  feet,  which  of  all  the  parts  of 
the  body  are  the  most  nervous,  and  consequently  most  sensible, 
were  pierced  through  with  nails ;  which  caused,  not  a  sudden 
dispatch,  but  a  lingering  and  tormenting  death;  insomuch  that 
the  Romans  who  most  used  this  punishment,  did  in  their 
language  deduce  their  expressions  of  pain  and  cruciation  from 
the  cross.  And  the  acerbity  of  this  punishment  appears  in 
that  those  who  were  of  any  merciful  disposition  would  first 
cause  such  as  were  adjudged  to  the  cross,  to  be  slain,  and  then 
to  be  crucified.  As  this  death  was  most  dolorous  and  full  of 
acerbity,  so  it  was  also  most  infamous  and  full  of  ignominy. 
The  Romans  themselves  accounted  it  a  servile  punishment,  and 
inflicted  it  upon  their  slaves  and  fugitives.  It  was  a  high 
crime  to  put  that  dishonour  upon  any  freeman;  and  the  greatest 
indignity  which  the  most  undeserving  Roman  could  possibly 
suffer  in  himself,  or  could  be  contrived  to  show  their  detesta- 
tion to  such  creatures  as  were  below  human  nature.  .  .  . 
Thus  may  we  be  made  sensible  of  the  two  grand  aggravations 
of  our  Saviour's  sufferings,  the  bitterness  of  pain  in  the  tor- 
ments of  His  Body,  and  the  indignity  of  shame  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  His  enemies.  Bishop  Pearson. 

Passion  JFeek.] 


Tuesday.] 

$5e  (^toning  n2?orS  of  C^tist 

THE    REDEMPTION    OF    THE    CROSS. 

We  have  redemption  through  His  Blood. — Eph.  i.  7. 


A^ONSIDERED  as  restoration,  there  seem  to  be  three 
^'^  grades  or  stages  of  redemption  indicated  in  the  New 
Testament.  First,  there  is  the  unanimous  declaration  that  the 
object  of  our  Lord's  life  and  death  was  to  free  us  from  sin.  In 
the  most  sacrificial  descriptions  of  His  work  this  further  result 
of  the  Atonement  is  implied.  The  "  Lamb  of  God  "  is  to  "  take 
away  the  sin  of  the  world  " ;  His  Blood  was  to  be  "  shed  for 
the  remission  of  sins  "  ;  by  "  the  precious  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  of  a  Lamb  without  blemish  "  men  were  "  redeemed  from 
their  vain  conversation";  He  "gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquityy  In  the  next  place,  this 
deliverance  from  sin  is  identified  with  the  gift  of  life,  which  is 
repeatedly  connected  with  our  Lord's  life  and  death.  "I  am 
come  that  they  might  have  life  "  ;  for  "  I  will  give  My  flesh  for 
the  life  of  the  world."  He  "  bear  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on 
the  tree,  that  we  being  dead  to  sins  might  live  unto  righteous- 
ness." Lastly,  this  new  life  is  to  issue  in  union  with  the  life  of 
God  in  Christ.  "  Christ  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the 
unjust,  that  He  might  bring  us  to  God."  "  In  Christ  Jesus  we 
that  once  were  far  off  are  made  nigh  in  the  Blood  of  Christ." 
In  such  passages  the  Apostles  are  only  drawing  out  the  mean- 
ing of  our  Lord's  own  declaration,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  Me."  Arthur  Lyttelton. 


[Wednesday. 

$0e  (^ionirxQ  nTorS  of  C^viBt 

THE   PEACE   OF   THE  CROSS. 

IVe   have   peace   with    God    through   our   Lord  Jesus    Christ, — 

E.OM.   V.   1. 


T^HAT  the  Death  of  Christ  was  a  Sacrifice  for  the  sins  of 
^^  the  world,  and  that  through  the  Blood  of  Christ  we 
have  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  has  been  verified  in  the  actual 
experience  by  the  Christian  Church.  Nothing  is  more  real 
than  the  sense  of  guilt ;  and  there  have  been  multitudes  of 
men  who  have  been  filled  with  anguish  by  it.  They  have  found 
no  relief,  while  they  endeavoured  to  increase  the  bitterness  of 
their  sorrow  for  sin.  .  .  .  They  prayed — sometimes  with 
passionate  earnestness — but  God  seemed  far  away.  They  had 
sinned  :  it  seemed  as  if  no  power  on  earth  or  in  heaven  would 
break  the  iron  chain  which  bound  them  to  their  sins.  At  last 
they  saw  that  Christ  had  died  for  their  sins ;  and  then  the 
shadow  broke  and  passed  away ;  the  light  of  God  shone  upon 
them;  they  knew  that  they  were  forgiven.  It  is  a  wonderful 
experience.  No  one  who  has  not  passed  through  it  can 
imagine  its  blessedness.  It  is  an  experience  that  seems  impos- 
sible until  it  is  actually  known  ;  and  then  the  reality  of  it  is 
one  of  the  great  certainties  of  life.  When  I  discover  that  I 
am  forgiven  I  will  condemn  my  sin — condemn  it  perhaps  more 
sternly  than  ever.  ...  I  abhor  it  as  I  may  never  have 
abhorred  it  before;  .  .  .  but  when  I  approach  God  through 
Christ  as  the  Propitiation  of  my  sin,  the  guilt  of  it  crushes  me 
no  longer ;  God  is  at  peace  with  me  ;  I  have  perfect  rest  in  His 
love.  R.  W,  Dale. 

Passion  VVeek.'\ 


Thursday.] 

t^c  (^ionirxQ  "^orfl  of  C^mt 

THE   POWER   OF   THE    CROSS. 

T/ie  p7'eaching   of  the    Cross     .     .     .     is    the  poiver   of   God. 
1  Cor.  I.  18. 


^fYlE  cannot  resist  recalling  one  Sunday  evening  in  Decem- 
ber wlien  Thackeray  was  walking  with  two  friends 
along  the  Dean  Road  to  the  west  of  Edinburgh — one  of  the 
noblest  outlets  to  any  city.  It  was  a  lovely  evening,  such  a 
sunset  as  one  never  forgets;  a  rich  dark  bar  of  cloud  hovered 
over  the  sun,  going  down  behind  the  Highland  Hills,  lying 
bathed  in  amethystine  bloom  ;  between  this  cloud  and  the 
hills  there  was  a  narrow  slip  of  the  pure  ether,  of  a  tender  cow- 
slip color,  lucid,  and  as  if  it  were  the  very  body  of  heaven  in 
its  clearness  ;  every  object  standing  out  as  if  etched  upon  the 
sky.  The  north-west  end  of  Corstorphine  Hill,  with  its  trees 
and  rocks,  lay  in  the  heart  of  this  pure  radiance;  and  there  a 
wooden  crane,  used  in  the  granary  below,  was  so  placed  as  to 
assume  the  figure  of  a  cross;  there  it  was,  unmistakable,  lifted 
up  against  the  crystalline  sky.  All  three  gazed  at  it  silently. 
As  they  gazed,  Thackeray  gave  utterance  in  a  tremulous, 
gentle  and  rapid  voice,  to  what  all  were  feeling  in  the  word 
"  Calvary  "  !  The  friends  walked  on  in  silence,  and  then 
turned  to  other  things.  All  that  evening  he  was  very  gentle 
and  serious,  speaking,  as  he  seldom  did,  of  Divine  things, — of 
death,  of  sin,  of  eternity,  of  salvation,  expressing  his  simple 
faith  in  God  and  in  his  Saviour.  James  T.  Fields. 


143 


[Friday 

t^c  ^ionm  Worg  of  Christ 

THE   POWER   OF   THE   CROSS. 

/,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  ea7'th,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me, — 
S.  John  xii.  32.  

Ojy  PHYSICIAN,  a  native  of  the  province  of  Yunnan,  had 
V-/  since  his  arrival  at  Charsa,  led  so  strange  a  life,  that  he 
was  called  hy  O-vtryhody  the  Chinese  her7nzt.  He  never  went 
out  except  to  visit  the  sick,  and  generally  visited  only  the  poor. 
.  .  .  He  dedicated  to  study  all  the  time  which  was  not  spent 
in  visiting  the  sick ;  he  even  passed  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  at  his  books  ;  .  .  .  his  face  was  extremely  pale  and  thin, 
and,  though  his  age  was  at  the  most  thirty,  his  hair  was  nearly 
white.  One  day  he  paid  us  a  visit  while  we  were  repeating  our 
breviary  in  the  little  chapel ;  he  stopped  at  some  paces  from  the 
door,  and  waited  silently  and  gravely.  A  large  colored  image, 
representing  the  crucifixion,  had  undoubtedly  arrested  his  atten- 
tion, for  as  soon  as  we  had  finished  our  devotions,  he  asked  us 
hastily,  and  without  waiting  to  pay  us  the  usual  compliments, 
...  to  tell  him  the  meaning  of  this  image.  When  we  had 
complied  with  his  request,  he  folded  his  arms  on  his  breast 
and  stood  motionless  and  without  uttering  a  word,  his  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  image  of  the  crucifixion.  When  he  had  remained 
about  half  an  hour  in  this  position,  his  eyes  were  at  length 
moistened  with  tears,  he  stretched  his  arms  towards  the  Christ, 
then  fell  on  his  knees,  struck  the  ground  thrice  with  his  fore- 
head, and  arose,  crying  out :  "This  is  the  only  Buddha  whom 
men  ought  to  worship  !"  Then  turning  to  us  he  added,  after 
making  a  profound  reverence  :  "  You  are  my  masters,  take  me 
for  your  disciple." 

(  Voyage  eft  Tartarie  et  en  Thibet — quoted  by  F.  GODET.) 

Passion  Week.\ 

144 


Saturday.] 

t^c  ©toning  TTorft  of  C^Bt 

THE  POWER  OF  THE  CROSS. 

//  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 
EOM.  I.  16. 


3T  was  on  the  21st  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1558,  at  the  convent  of  Yuste,  in  Spain,  that  one 
commonly  known  in  history  as  Charles  V.,  departed  this  mor- 
tal life.  He  had  been  in  his  time  Emperor  of  Germany,  King 
of  Spain,  and  also  ruler  of  the  Indies,  Naples,  and  the  Nether- 
lands ;  the  most  powerful  monarch  in  Europe.  Resigning  all 
those  crowns,  however,  in  the  year  1555,  he  withdrew  to  a 
monastery  of  the  Jeromites,  near  Placentia,  and  tarried  there  in 
seclusion  till  he  died.  Let  us  hear  after  what  manner  the 
Great  Emperor  of  this  world  bade  it  farewell.  It  was  towards 
two  in  the  morning  of  St.  Matthew's  Day,  the  feast  of  that 
Apostle  who  for  Christ  had  forsaken  wealth  as  Charles 
had  forsaken  imperial  power.  The  Emperor  feeling  the 
last  moment  at  hand,  asked  for  a  crucifix,  which  he  had 
long  kept  in  reserve  for  that  supreme  hour.  Receiving 
it,  he  for  some  moments  silently  contemplated  the  Figure 
of  the  Saviour,  and  then  clasped  it  to  his  bosom.  Those 
who  stood  nearest  to  the  bed  heard  him  say  quickly,  as  if  re- 
plying to  a  call,  "  Ya,  voy,  Seiior"  "  Now,  Lord,  I  go."  As 
his  strength  failed,  his  fingers  relaxed  their  hold  on  the  cruci- 
fix, which  the  primate  took  and  held  it  up  before  him.  A  few 
moments  of  death- wrestle  between  soul  and  body  followed ; 
after  which,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  cross,  and  with  a  voice 
loud  enough  to  be  heard  outside  the  room,  he  cried  '•  Ay 
Jesus"  and  expired.  Morgan  Dix. 

145 


[Palm  Sunday. 

t^c  &tcai  ^ci  of  (^fonemenl 

THE   PRELUDE. 

By    Thy  precious  Death  and  Burial,    Good  Lord.,  deliver  ms. — 
The  Litany. 


A^UR  Lord's  entrance  into  Jerusalem  on  Palm  Sunday  was 
one  of  the  most  important  events  of  His  whole  earthly 
life.  It  was  the  great  public  act  by  which  He  entered  upon 
the  duties  and  sufferings  of  the  week  in  which  He  died  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world  ;  and  by  it  He  gave  notice,  if  I  may  so 
say,  to  the  faithful  and  to  mankind  at  large,  of  what  He  was 
about  to  do  and  to  suffer.  Palm  Sunday  is  the  solemn  intro- 
duction— if  the  metaphor  is  allowable,  it  is  the  overture — to 
the  week  which  follows ;  and  it  anticipates,  but  with  due 
reserve,  the  solemn  tragedy  which  it  introduces.  And  so  this 
is  one  of  the  few  events  in  our  Lord's  Life  which  is  described  by 
all  the  four  Evangelists.  Approaching  the  Passion  from  very 
different  points  of  view,  each  Evangelist  is  alive  to  the  unique 
character  of  the  entry  into  Jerusalem,  as  a  proceeding  which  is 
marked,  on  the  part  of  our  Lord,  with  even  more  deliberation 
than  are  His  actions,  always  so  deliberate,  on  other  occasions. 
.  .  .  The  occasion  was,  indeed,  of  capital  significance  in 
the  Life  of  our  Lord  ;  and  its  bearing  upon  His  work  and  suf- 
ferings, and  claims  upon  the  faith  and  homage  of  mankind 
have  been,  from  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  constantly  and 
earnestly  recognised.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


146 


Monday.] 

Z^t  iBnai  (^ci  of  (Atonement. 

THE   LAST   SIGN. 

Presently  the  fig  tree  withered  away. — S.  Matt.  xxi.  19. 


rn  EMEMBER  that  Christ  is  coming  to  the  fig-tree  to  look 
\L  for  fruit,  to  look  for  the  fruit  of  His  precious  death  ;  to 
look  and  see  of  what  good  His  dying  has  been  in  the  world. 
He  comes  to  us  in  our  turn,  as  He  came  to  the  Jews  in  theirs ; 
as  He  has  come  year  after  year  since,  to  all  who  were  alive  at 
the  time,  and  had  heard  of  His  dying.  The  remembrance  of 
His  death  has  come  round  again ;  and  He  comes  and  asks  us 
all.  What  are  we  the  better  for  His  having  died  ?  What  differ- 
ence would  it  have  made  to  us  if  He  had  not  died  at  all  }  We 
are  now  the  fig-tree  to  which  He  comes  seeking  fruit.  Of 
leaves  there  are  abundance,  of  the  show,  and  name,  and  profes- 
sion of  religion  there  is  no  lack.  It  is  on  all  sides  of  us,  it  is  in 
ourselves.  We  are  inviting  Him  to  come  ;  we  are  putting  forth 
the  leaves  of  promise.  .  .  .  What  is  there  besides  leaves.'* 
What  is  there  behind  the  leaves  ?  How,  if  it  should  be  with 
any  one  of  us — that  Christ  is  finding  only  leaves  ?  Do  you 
remember  what  He  said  ?  "  No  man  eat  fruit  of  thee  for  ever." 
"And  presently  the  fig-tree  withered  away."  "Presently/" 
though  He  was  just  on  the  point  of  dying  for  the  world. 

R.  W.  Church. 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Bteaf  (^  of  (Atonement. 

THE  LAST  WARNINGS. 

And  all  the  people  came  early  hi  the  Diornitig  to  Him  in  the  temple 
for  to  hear  Him, — S.  Luke  xxi.  38. 


TT^HERE  are  two  things  which  especially  strikes  us  in  His 
^^  dealings  with  the  crowds  and  multitudes  in  these  few 
days  before  His  crucifixion.  The  first  is  the  way  in  which  He 
showed  Himself  to  them,  when  He  entered  into  Jerusalem 
riding  on  the  ass's  colt.  .  .  .  Another  is  the  increased 
earnestness  and  plainness  of  His  speech  to  them  and  before 
them.  It  was  His  last  opportunity  of  speaking  to  them.  His 
last  opportunity  of  teaching  them  in  those  wondrous  words  of 
goodness  and  truth  and  wisdom,  which  they  had  so  often 
heard,  and  so  often  heard  in  vain.  So  at  this  time  He,  as  it 
were,  breaks  through  all  ceremony,  and  teaches  with  a  burning 
zeal,  with  a  power,  with  an  authority,  which  moved  all  who 
heard  Him.  All  that  He  had  said  to  them  was  now  summed 
up.  All  the  warnings  He  had  given  them,  all  the  invitations 
He  had  set  before  them,  were  once  more  renewed,  in  different 
and  more  solemn  forms.  He  taught  now,  no  longer  in  distant 
Galilee,  by  the  remote  sea-shore,  in  the  desert,  or  on  the  moun- 
tain-side ;  but  there  in  a  place  of  concourse,  and  the  seat  of 
wisdom,  in  the  great  centre  of  common  worship — in  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem.  And — speaking  to  the  crowds  who  were  there — 
He  told  them  with  new  plainness  and  severity  ot  speech  of  the 
dangers  on  the  edge  of  which  they  stood. 

R.  W.  Church. 

Holy  PFeek.] 


Wednesday.] 

^^  dSnai  (^cf  of  ^fonemenf. 

THE  BETRAYAL. 

I/e  co7iimu7ied  with  the  chief  priests  and  captains^  how  he  vtighi 
betray  Hi7?i  unto  them. — S.  Luke  xxii.  4. 


fY)  IPENED  hypocrisy  ended  soon  in  open  betrayal.  Stung, 
vL  as  it  seems,  by  the  gentle  reproof  through  which  his 
Lord  would  have  brought  him  to  Himself,  and  by  the  loss  of 
what  he  coveted,  he  sold  his  Master  for  the  price  of  a  slave. 
Yet,  doubtless,  here,  too,  he  had  his  excuses  for  himself. 
Avarice  had  blinded  his  eyes.  The  sinner  seldom  wants  a 
plea,  or  mitigation  for  his  sin.  Few  cannot  cozen  or  deaden 
themselves.  What  some  have  urged  in  excuse  for  Judas, 
doubtless  Satan  taught  him  in  excuse  for  himself.  He  doubt- 
less, too,  thought  that  our  Lord  should  be  a  king ;  he  had 
heard  our  Lord  profess  that  He  would  be  delivered  up  ;  he 
had  seen  His  power  and  His  miracles  ;  he  himself  had  wrought 
miracles  in  His  name.  He  had  seen  how  Jesus  passed  through 
the  crowd  unharmed,  when  led  lo  the  brow  of  the  hill  of  His 
city  Nazareth,  and  in  this  very  Jerusalem  where  they  would 
have  stoned  Him  ;  and  again,  but  a  very  little  before,  when 
"they  sought  again  to  take  Him."  Why  should  He  not  now.'* 
Why  might  he  not  himself  replace  his  share  of  the  wasted 
ointment,  and  compel  his  Master  to  put  forth  His  power  and 
declare  Himself  the  Christ?  It  is  certain  that  he  did  not 
expect  Jesus  to  be  condemned  ;  for  when  he  saw  that  He  was 
condemned,  he  repented  himself.  He  persuaded  himself,  per- 
haps, that  he  might  enjoy  his  gain  and  his  Master,  too,  be  the 
gainer.  E.  B.  PUSEY. 

149 


[Maundy  Thursday 

t^e  &teai  (§.ci  of  @fonement. 

THE  FIRST  OFFERING. 

TAzs  is  My  Body  which  is  given  for  yozi, — S.  Luke  xxii.  19. 


A^UR  Lord  delivered  Himself  up  in  the  Last  Supper  in  the 
^""^  upper  chamber.  He  did  so  by  an  expressive  action 
prefiguring  His  death,  before  He  gave  Himself  to  be  received 
in  Communion.  For  as  He  raised  the  sacred  elements,  He 
said,  "This  is  My  Body,  which  is  given  for  you;  this  is  My 
Blood,  which  is  shed  for  you  ! "  and  this  before  He  gave  them 
to  be  taken.  It  was  a  complete  surrender  of  Himself,  through 
the  force  of  love,  when  as  yet  there  was  no  constraint,  when  no 
violence  had  been  laid  on  Him.  Wicked  men  were  afterwards 
to  bind  Him  on  the  altar  of  the  Cross,  as  the  victim  whom  they 
wished  to  slay.  But  in  the  Upper  Chamber,  not  even  the  full 
pressure  of  the  Father's  Will  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  obedi- 
ent impulses  of  His  suffering  Soul,  as  afterwards  was  shown 
in  the  Agony.  As  yet  at  that  Last  Supper  He  was  tasting  only 
the  joy  of  a  sweet  intercourse  with  His  "friends," all  resting  in 
love  and  peace,  and  the  world  wholly  shut  out  from  their  view. 
But  even  then  He  consigned  Himself  voluntarily  to  the  victim's 
death.  "  For  the  remission  of  sins "  His  body  was  then 
"  given."  His  "  Blood  of  the  New  Testament "  was  then  shed 
in  will.  The  Sacrifice  was  then  entire.  The  surrender  of 
Himself  was  finished.  The  Lamb  of  God  was  sealed  to  death 
by  His  own  free  act,  as  these  sacrifical  words  which  interpreted 
his  action  passed  His  lips.  T.  T.  Carter. 


Holy  Week.] 


Good  Friday.] 

$3e  (Breaf  (^d  of  (^fonemenl 

THE   FINISHED   OBLATION. 
//  is  finished. — S.  John  xix.  30. 


ri%ERFECT  patience,  perfect  unwearied  patience,  perfect 
Vr  unbroken  love  ;  having  loved  His  own,  He  loved  them 
to  the  very  end  ;  nothing  had  been  left  undone.  He  had  done 
all  things  well — just  at  the  right  time,  just  in  the  right  place, 
just  in  the  right  way ;  not  too  much  nor  yet  too  little.  "  It  is 
finished  !  "  it  was  done,  and  He  could  rest.  And  yet  it  was 
not  merely,  so  to  speak,  the  satisfaction  that  He  had  done  all 
this,  but  the  real  satisfaction  was  rather  this:  that  now  the 
great  sacrifice  was  over,  the  Lamb  of  God  was  slain,  and  the 
debt  of  the  world  was  paid.  This  is  included  in  the  "  It  is 
finished";  the  one  perfect  sufficient  sacrifice  which  was  made 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  We  are  saved  ;  we  are  saved  by 
the  Blood  of  Jesus.  He  has  been  bearing  our  sins,  and  has  been 
offering  up  Himself  to  the  Father  for  us  ;  and  we  are  delivered. 
We,  though  we  may  have  been  sinners,  yet  may  be  saved. 
.  .  .  The  veil  is  rent  in  twain,  the  wall  of  partition  is  thrown 
down,  and  there  is  free  access  now  to  the  throne  of  Christ;  all 
men  now,  if  they  will,  may  be  saved.  That  is  the  Father's 
wish,  this  is  what  the  Son  came  to  accomplish,  that  was  what 
enabled  Him  to  say  with  joy  "  It  is  finished."  The  bridge,  as 
it  were,  between  Earth  and  Heaven  is  completed ;  Jacob's 
ladder  is  set  up,  and  there  is  now  a  way  from  earth  to  Heaven, 
and  the  poorest,  and  the  most  unlearned,  and  the  youngest, 
the  wayfaring  man,  may  go  on  this  way  if  they  will  and  need 
not  err.     This  was  the  joy  of  "  It  is  finished." 

Bishop  King. 


[Easter  Eve. 

Z^c  (Breaf  @cf  of  atonement. 

ITS  UNIVERSAL   EFFICACY. 

I/e  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison. — i  Peter  hi.  19. 


3T  was  a  fundamental  article  of  Apostolic  tradition  (i  Peter 
iii.  19;  Eph.  iv.  9),  and  the  general  belief  of  the  Christian 
Church,  that  while  His  Body  lay  in  the  grave,  our  Lord  de- 
scended in  spirit  into  the  kingdom  of  the  dead,  and  preached  to 
the  spirits  who  were  there  kept  in  prison.  Great  as  is  the 
darkness  in  which  this  doctrine  is  involved,  it  nevertheless 
expresses  the  idea  of  the  universal  and  cosmical  efficacy  of 
Christ's  work ;  the  idea  of  the  efficacy  of  the  work  of  atonement 
for  the  generations  of  men  who  lived  before  Christ's  advent, 
for  all  who  had  died  without  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  and 
for  all  who  had  died  in  faith  of  the  promise.  Those  spirits  of 
men  who  still  stood  in  a  mystical  union  with  the  organism  of 
humanity,  as  members  of  the  great  family  of  man,  were  made 
partakers  of  that  Restitution  which  was  now  being  realized 
in  the  centre  of  the  organism.  By  His  descent  into  Hades, 
Christ  revealed  Himself  as  the  Redeemer  of  all  souls.  The 
descent  into  the  realm  of  the  dead  gave  expression  to  the  truth, 
that  the  distinctions  Here  and  There — the  limits  of  place — are 
of  no  significance  regarding  Christ  and  do  not  concern  His 
Kingdom.  ...  No  power  of  nature,  no  limits  of  space  or 
of  time  can  hinder  Christ  from  finding  His  way  to  souls. 

H.  Martensen. 


152 


Easter  Day.] 

t^c  fact  of  f^e  a^iBm  £ife. 

THE  GREAT   DAY    OF   ITS  MANIFESTATION. 

Tkis  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made.,  we  will  rejoice  and  be 
glad  in  it. — Psalm  cxviii.  24. 


Tf'HIS  is  indeed  "  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made."  No 
^^  such  day  has  been  like  it  since  the  world  began.  No 
such  day  of  wonderful  change  in  the  hopes  of  men.  No  such 
day  of  turning  back  all  that  had  continued  to  be  since  the 
beginning  of  the  creation.  No  such  day  of  the  stretching  forth 
of  God's  mighty  arm  to  save  and  help  mankind.  No  such  day 
of  sure  and  solid  gladness ;  gladness  which  need  fear  no  dis- 
appointment and  no  end.  There  had  been  shadows  and  like- 
nesses of  this  great  day  of  power  and  of  joy.  Under  the  Old 
Testament  m.en  had  seen  in  figure  the  Day  of  Christ,  and  had 
rejoiced.  Such  a  day  was  that  when  Noah  looked  forth  after 
the  Flood,  upon  a  world  new  born,  and  was  called  once  more 
to  a  happier  and  brighter  life.  .  .  .  Such  a  day  was  that 
when  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  from 
among  the  strange  people.  .  .  .  But  these  days  were  but 
faint  types  of  this  day.  They  were  but  its  promise,  its  outward 
and  visible  sign.  The  deliverance  was  but  for  a  while.  .  .  . 
But  the  deliverance  of  to-day  is  for  ever.  It  is  a  deliverance 
not  for  one  family,  or  one  people,  but  for  all  the  tribe  of  human 
kind  that  ever  have  been,  and  that  ever  will  be.  It  is  a  change 
from  darkness  to  light,  from  fear  to  hope,  from  death  to  end- 
less life,  for  the  world  at  large.  R.  W.  Church. 


153 


[Easter  Monday. 

t^c  Sacf  of  f^e  (giBtn  £ife. 

THE   REALITY   OF   ITS    MANIFESTATION. 

Behold  My  hands  and  My  feet,  that  it  is  Myself.  Handle  Me  and 
see,  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  Me  have. — 
S.  Luke  xxiv.  39. 


OfYlHAT  tender  censure  it  is  !  There  is  no  expression  whicli 
betrays  grief  or  anger.  He  meets  their  excitement  with 
the  mildest  rebuke,  if  it  be  a  rebui<e.  "  Why  are  ye  dis- 
quieted }  Why  do  critical  reasonings  arise  in  your  hearts  ?  " 
He  traces  their  trouble  of  heart  to  its  true  source,  the  illusion 
which  was  in  possession  of  their  understandings  about  His 
being  only  a  spirit.  In  His  tenderness  He  terms  their  dread, 
their  unworthy  dread,  a  mere  heart  disquietude.  They  are  on 
a  false  track.  He  says,  and  He  will  set  them  right.  They  doubt 
whether  what  seems  to  be  the  body  which  hung  upon  the  Cross 
is  really  before  them.  Let  them,  then,  look  hard  at  His  hands 
and  at  His  feet  which  had  been  pierced  by  the  nails.  They 
doubt  whether  they  can  trust  their  sense  of  sight.  Very  well, 
let  them  handle  Him ;  they  will  find  it  is  not  an  ethereal  form, 
which  melts  away  before  the  experiment  of  actual  contact. 
He  appeals,  let  us  observe,  to  the  lower  senses,  as  well  as  to 
the  higher — not  merely  to  hearing  and  to  sight,  but  to  touch. 
"Handle  Me,"  He  says,  "and  discern."  And  St.  John's  lan- 
guage at  the  beginning  of  his  first  Epistle — "  That  which  we 
have  heard,  that  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we 
have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled,  of  the  Word  of 
life  " — seems  to  show  that  they  took  Him  at  His  word. 

H.  P.  LiDDON. 

Easter  Week.\ 


Easter  Tuesday.] 

t^e  Mcu:i  of  t^e  (Hteen  £ife. 

THE     APOSTOLIC    TESTIMONY     TO    IT. 

IVe  have  seen     .     .     .      and  bear  zviiness. — 1  S.  John  i.  2. 


OfYlE  may  observe  how  incredible  it  is  from  the  nature  of 
the  testimony  alleged  that  the  Apostles  could  have  been 
deceived.  The  sepulchre  in  which  the  Lord  had  been  laid  was 
found  empty.  This  fact  seems  to  be  beyond  all  doubt,  and  is 
one  where  misconception  was  impossible.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  manifestations  of  the  Risen  Saviour  were  widely  extended 
both  as  to  persons  and  as  to  time.  St.  Paul,  and  in  this  his 
record  is  in  exact  accordance  with  that  of  the  Evangelists, 
mentions  His  appearance  not  only  to  single  witnesses,  but  to 
many  together,  to  "  the  twelve  "  and  to  "  five  hundred  brethren 
at  once."  One  person  might  be  so  led  away  by  enthusiasm  as 
to  give  an  imaginary  shape  to  his  hopes,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
understand  how  a  number  of  men  could  be  simultaneously 
affected  in  the  same  manner.  The  difficulty,  of  course,  is  fur- 
ther increased  if  we  take  account  of  the  variety  as  well  as  of 
the  number  of  the  persons  who  were  appealed  to  as  witnesses 
of  the  fact  during  their  lifetime;  and  of  the  length  of  time 
during  which  the  appearances  of  the  Lord  were  continued. 
.  .  .  Every  avenue  of  delusion  seems  to  be  closed  up.  For 
forty  days  Christ  was  with  the  Disciples  talking  with  them  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  If  we  cannot 
believe  that  the  Apostles  deceived  others,  it  seems  (if  possible) 
still  more  unlikely  that  they  were  the  victims  of  deception. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


[Wednesday. 

t^t  Sacf  of  f^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

S.  PAUL'S   TESTIMONY   TO   IT. 
Lasf  of  all  He  was  seen  of  me  also. — 1.  Cok.  xv.  8. 


/ytOW,  it  is  in  this  way  that  St.  Paul  concludes  his  masterly 
vi^  argument.  He  proves  the  resurrection  from  the  histor- 
ical fact,  and  by  the  absurdity  which  follows  from  denial  of  it ; 
and  then  he  shows  that  so  proved,  it  is  only  parallel  to  a  thou- 
sand daily  facts  by  the  analogies  which  he  draws  from  the  dying 
and  upspringing  corn,  and  from  the  diverse  glories  of  the  sun, 
and  moon,  and  stars.  Let  us  distinguish,  therefore,  between 
the  relative  value  of  these  arguments.  We  live,  it  is  true,  in  a 
world  filled  with  wondrous  transformations,  which  suggest  to 
us  the  likelihood  of  our  immortality.  The  caterpillar  passes 
into  the  butterfly,  the  snowdrop  dies  to  rise  again,  Spring  leaps 
to  life  from  the  arms  of  Winter,  and  the  world  rejoices  in  its 
resurrection.  God  gives  us  all  this  merciful  assistance  to  our 
faith.  But  it  is  not  on  these  grounds  that  our  belief  rests. 
These  are  not  our  proofs  :  they  are  only  corroborations  and 
illustrations;  for  it  does  not  follow  with  certainty  that  the  body 
of  man  shall  be  restored  because  the  chrysalis,  an  apparent 
corpse,  still  lives.  No :  we  fetch  our  proofs  from  the  Word  of 
God,  and  the  nature  of  the  human  soul ;  and  we  fetch  our  prob- 
abilities and  illustrations  from  the  suggestive  world  of  types 
which  lies  all  around  us.  F.  W.  ROBERTSON. 

Easter  Week^ 

156 


Thursday.] 

t^t  Sod  of  t^e  (giBtn  £ife. 

THE    TESTIMONY     OF     THE    CHURCH, 

The  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth. — 1  Tim.  hi.  15. 


3T  is  hardly  possible  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  the 
existence  of  the  Church  as  a  visible  institution  from  a  brief 
interval  after  the  crucifixion  to  the  present  hour.  .  .  . 
That  this  great  society  came  into  existence  at  a  particular  date, 
and  in  a  particular  place,  is  an  historic  fact.  No  less  certain 
is  it  that  the  Messianic  conception,  on  which  it  v^as  recon- 
structed, was  one  wholly  different  in  character  from  that  which 
was  entertained  by  the  original  followers  of  Jesus.  The  cruci- 
fixion rendered  their  old  Messianic  conceptions  utterly  unten- 
able, and  unless  new  ones  had  been  speedily  adopted,  the  little 
society  must  have  eventually  perished  in  its  Founder's  grave. 
Consequently,  during  the  interval  which  elapsed  between  the 
crucifixion  and  the  first  attempt  to  reconstruct  the  Church,  the 
Disciples  must  have  abandoned  the  old  idea  of  a  visible  and 
conquering  Messiah,  who  was  to  establish  Jewish  supremacy 
over  the  nations ;  and  have  adopted  the  new  one  of  an  invis- 
ible and  spiritual  one,  and  all  the  consequences  thence  result- 
ing. But  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  they  would  have  ven- 
tured on  such  a  step  unless  they  were  firmly  persuaded  that 
they  had  received  their  Master's  positive  directions  to  recon- 
struct the  Church  on  this  new  foundation  ;  still  more  is  it  im- 
possible to  believe  that  they  would  have  done  so  in  view  of  all 
the  opposition  which  they  were  certain  to  encounter. 

C.  A.  Row. 


[Friday, 

t^t  Socf  of  t^e  (Risen  feife. 

ITS   SIGNIFICANCE  TO  THE   INDIVIDUAL. 

Christ  the  firstfruits  ;  afterward  they   that  are   Chrisfs  at  His 
coming. — 1  Cor.  xv.  23. 


AETHER  resurrections  there  had  been,  as  of  those  whom  in 
^"^  the  days  of  His  Flesh,  Christ  had  brought  to  this  world 
from  the  mysterious  Unseen.  But  they  were  but  cases  of  a 
return  to  the  same  earthly  life  they  had  lived  before.  Not  so 
with  Christ  in  His  Resurrection.  The  earthly  life  of  fiesh  and 
blood,  with  all  its  infirmities  and  needs,  which  in  Him,  though 
sinless,  were  as  real  as  in  us,  was  over.  He  had  entered  into 
His  glory.  His  "natural  body  "  of  flesh  and  blood  has  now 
become  a  "  spiritual  body."  "  There  is  a  natural  body,  and 
there  is  a  spiritual  body."  And  a  spiritual  body  is  not  mere 
spirit.  This  Christ  was  careful  to  explain  to  His  wondering 
disciples.  "  Behold  My  Hands  and  My  feet."  "  Reach  hither 
thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  My  side."  The  solid  frame  is 
there  ;  the  dear  familiar  form ;  the  recognizable  marks.  The 
difference  is  that  the  quickening  principle  is,  now,  not  that 
merely  animal  one,  which  is  akin  to  that  of  the  beasts  that 
perish,  but  exclusively  that  spiritual  principle,  most  akin  to 
the  angelic  and  Divine,  of  which  we  possess  but  the  faint 
germs  in  our  nature  at  present,  though  it  is  the  object  of  Relig- 
ion now,  and  especially  of  our  union  with  Christ  by  Faith  and 
Sacraments,  so  to  strengthen  it  that  it  may  assert  its  suprem- 
acy over  the  lower  and  temporary  forces  and  impulses  within 
us,  and  so  may  ultimately  dominate  our  whole  nature. 

P.  G.  Medd. 

Easter  Week.'\ 


Saturday.] 

t^t  Scvcf  of  f^e  (giBtn  £ife. 

ITS   BEARING   ON   THE   BODY. 

TAe  body  is     .     .     .     for  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  for  the  body.- 
1  Cor.  VI.  13. 


A^UR  present  body  is  as  the  seed  of  our  future  body.  The 
^■^  one  rises  as  naturally  from  the  other  as  the  flower  from 
the  germ.  We  cannot  indeed  form  any  conception  of  the 
change  which  shall  take  place,  except  so  far  as  it  is  shown  in 
the  Person  of  the  Lord.  Its  fulfilment  is  in  another  state,  and 
our  thoughts  are  bound  by  this  state.  But  there  is  nothing 
against  reason  in  the  analogy.  If  the  analogy  were  to  explain 
the  passage  of  man  from  an  existence  of  one  kind  (limited  by  a 
body)  to  an  existence  of  another  kind  (unlimited  by  a  body),  it 
would  then  be  false  ;  but  as  it  is,  it  illustrates  by  a  vivid  figure 
the  perpetuity  of  our  bodily  life,  as  proved  in  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ.  The  moral  significance  of  such  a  doctrine  as  the 
Resurrection  of  the  body  cannot  be  overrated.  Both  person- 
ally and  socially  it  places  the  sanction,  if  not  the  foundation, 
of  morality  on  a  new  ground.  Each  sin  against  the  body  is  no 
longer  a  stain  on  that  which  is  itself  doomed  to  perish,  but  a 
defilement  of  that  which  is  consecrated  to  an  eternal  life.  In 
this  way  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  turned  into  a  reality 
the  exquisite  myth  of  Plato  in  which  he  represented  tyrants  and 
great  men  waiting  for  their  final  sentence  from  the  judges  of 
Hades,  with  their  bodies  scarred  and  wounded  by  lust  and 
passion  and  cruelty.  Bishop  Westcott. 


[First  Sunday  after  Easter. 

t^c  C^txtc^  t^e  (Bmfiobiment  of  t^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

CREATED   BY   THE   RISEN  LORD. 

And  when  He  had  said  this,  lie  breathed  on   them. — Gospel  for 
THE  Week. 


3T  was  by  the  Risen  Lord  that  the  Church  was  instituted — 
except  in  so  far  as  she  was  summed  up  in  Himself.  She 
was  called  into  existence,  not  during  His  earthly  ministry,  but 
after  His  Resurrection.  Two  great  epochs  may  here  be  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other;  but  both  of  them  belong  to  a 
period  after  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead.  The  first  is  that  of 
which  the  first  and  fourth  Gospels  give  us  the  account,  when 
the  Risen  Lord  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  the  midst  of  the 
Disciples.  The  second  is  that  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  in  connection  with  the  Day  of  Pentecost.  We  need 
not  enter  here  upon  the  distinction  between  the  two.  It  is 
enough  to  adduce  that,  be  the  distinction  what  it  may,  it  was 
only  after  He  rose  from  the  dead  that  our  Lord  sent  forth  His 
disciples  on  their  mission  ;  that  after  they  went,  we  read  for 
the  first  time  of  "  the  Church."  The  nature  of  the  case  indeed 
forbade  that  it  should  be  otherwise,  for  it  was  in  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  that  the  Church  was  constituted,  and  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  "was  not  "  before  Jesus  was  glorified. 

William  Milligan. 


160 


Monday.] 

t^c  C^txtc^  t^e  €m6o^imenf  of  f^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

ITS   PURPOSE. 

By  the  CJnwch  the  manifold  zvisdom  of  God. — Eph.  hi.  10. 


^TV^HY  should  such  a  society  exist  ?  What  does  it  do  that 
accounts  for  and  justifies  its  existence  }  Churchmen 
beHeve  that,  as  great  moral  and  social  and  political  ideas  are 
preserved  in  life  and  force  by  being  embodied  in  the  common 
ana  living  convictions  of  the  society  which  we  call  the  State, 
so  great  spiritual  ideas,  which  are  the  offspring  of  Christianity, 
are  preserved  in  life  and  force  by  becoming  the  recognized 
beliefs  and  motives  of  the  society  which  we  call  the  Church. 
Human  society  keeps  up  its  great  ideas — justice,  liberty, 
patriotism,  veracity,  the  family  tie,  respect  for  law  in  the 
organized  State.  Christian  society  keeps  up  its  great  ideas — 
its  hold  and  reliance  on  the  unseen,  its  standards  of  character 
and  life,  its  obligations,  its  memories,  its  affections,  its  hopes, 
its  relations  to  God,  its  personal  allegiance  to  Christ,  in  an 
organized  and  undying  body,  the  Christian  Church.  The  Church 
is  to  Christian  religion  what  the  State  is  to  political  doctrines, 
their  public  and  common  embodiment  and  realization.  The 
best  constitution,  the  best  religion  in  the  world,  would  be  a 
mere  intellectual  vision  without  a  real  society. 

R.  W.  Church. 


[Tuesday. 

t^c  C^mc^  i^c  (Bmfiobimenf  of  f^e  (giBcn  £ife, 

THE   BODY   OF   THE   RISEN    LORD. 

TAe  Churchy  which  is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that  fill eth 
all  in  all.— Eph.  i.  22-23. 


'YYlHEN  the  Church  is  described  in  Scripture  as  a  Body,  and 
the  Body  of  Christ,  the  description  is  more  than  a  meta- 
phor. It  is  not  a' case  of  mere  analogy.  The  Church  stands 
to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  same  relation  as  a  man's  body  does  to 
his  personal  self.  Of  course  there  are  differences  in  the  mode  of 
connexion,  which  it  would  be  easy  to  point  out ;  but  the  con- 
nexion is  as  close  and  vital  as  in  the  case  of  the  natural  body. 
.  .  .  Whatever  the  relation  may  be  between  His  glorified 
Body  and  the  mystical,  it  is  certain  that  He  has  not  done  with 
the  earth,  and  withdrawn  from  it.  He  still  is  incarnate,  not 
only  in  heaven,  but  here  also.  He  wears  a  bodily  presentment 
upon  earth,  which  expresses  Him  and  is  identified  with  Him. 
Clothed  in  it,  He  acts  and  speaks  among  men  still.  It  is  a  true 
body,  with  a  clear  and  visible  and  well-defined  outline,  as  well 
as  with  a  strong  differentiation  of  its  parts,  and  an  organic  bond 
between  them.  That  body  is  His  Church.  It  is  not  enough 
to  say  that  she  represents  Him,  for  a  representative  has  a  per- 
sonal life  apart  from  him  who  is  represented.  But  the  Church 
has  no  personal  life  apart  from  Christ.  It  is  His  own  life  which 
animates  her,  and  which  forms  the  bond  between  her  various 
members.  It  is  His  spirit  which  inhabits  her,  and  creates  in 
her  an  identity  of  consciousness  with  His  own. 

A.  J.  Mason. 


First  Week  after  Easter^ 


Wednesday.] 

t^c  C^txtc^  t^e  6m6o^imenf  of  f^e  (giBcn  £ife, 

THE   VISIBLE  BODY   OF   THE   RISEN   LORD. 
IVe  are  members  of  I/is  Body. — Ern.  v.  30. 


3T  is  more  especially  in  the  last  figure  of  the  Church,  as  the 
Body  of  Christ,  that  it  (the  Resurrection)  finds  its  peculiar 
application.  The  idea  which  this  figure  expresses  springs, 
indeed,  properly  out  of  the  belief  in  a  Risen  Saviour.  Antici- 
pations of  the  idea  are  found  in  the  later  discourses  of  Christ 
.  .  .  and  elsewhere  He  spoke  of  His  continual  presence 
among  men  in  the  persons  of  the  poor  and  of  His  ministers. 
But  these  and  other  intimations  of  a  like  kind  fall  far  short  of 
the  full  grandeur  of  the  conception  which  S.  Paul  lays  open. 
Nor  can  it  be  without  significance  that  the  revelation  is  made 
to  us  through  him  who  was  resolved  not  to  know  "  a  Christ 
according  to  the  flesh,"  and  to  whom  the  Lord  was  first  mani- 
fested in  the  majesty  of  His  Divine  glory.  The  Church  is  (if 
we  may  so  speak)  the  visible  Body  of  the  Risen  Christ :  it  is 
through  this  that  He  still  works,  in  this  that  He  still  lives. 
Three  principal  relations  are  included  in  this  conception  of  the 
Church  as  the  Body  of  Christ.  Christians  as  such  are  essen- 
tially united  together  in  virtue  of  their  relation  to  Christ,  and 
that  irrespective  of  any  feeling  or  will  of  their  own.  Next  they 
are  bound  to  one  another  by  the  obligation  of  mutual  offices, 
the  fulfilment  of  which  is  necessary  for  the  well-being  of  the 
whole.  And  lastly,  all  alike  derive  their  life  from  their  Head 
Who  is  in  Heaven.  Bishop  Westcott. 

¥ 
163 


[Thursday. 

t^c  C^VLXC^  i^  (gmfio^iment  of  t^e  d^iztn  feife. 

THE  VOICE   OF  THE   RISEN   LORD. 

TAe  Church  .  .   the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth. — 1  Tim.  hi.  15. 


3F  Christ  the  Eternal  Truth  hath  built  the  Church,  truth, 
transformed  by  the  Spirit  into  love,  is  become  living 
among  men.  The  Divine  truth,  embodied  in  Jesus  Christ, 
must  thereby  be  bodied  forth  in  an  outward  and  living  pheno- 
menon, and  become  a  deciding  authority  if  it  is  to  seize  deeply 
'on  the  whole  man,  and  put  an  end  to  pagan  scepticism, — that 
sinful  uncertainty  of  the  mind,  which  stands  on  as  low  a  grade 
as  ignorance.  It  is,  then,  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  preach  the 
pure  Word  of  God;  to  communicate,  on  the  authority  of  God, 
those  truths  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  God  and  the  destinies 
of  creation  which  He  has  revealed  ;  to  impress  upon  the  intel- 
lects of  men  the  true  doctrine  of  Christ, — by  oral  instruction, 
by  the  development  of  a  school  of  theology,  by  symbolical  and 
suggestive  rites,  by  catechetical  instruction,  by  preserving  and 
interpreting  Holy  Writ.  Its  emphatic  office,  as  far  as  regards 
the  intellects  of  men,  is  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  men  an 
abiding  conviction  of  certain  truths  ;  which  truths  not  merely 
tend  to  a  holy  life  here  and  to  salvation  hereafter,  but  of  which 
the  mental  acceptance  is  itself  a  part  of  the  integral  Christian 
life,  one  phase  of  that  supernatural  life  which,  begun  in  this 
life,  receives  its  fulness  in  the  eternal  world. 

Bishop  Forbes. 


164 


Friday.] 

t^  C^utc^  f^e  6m6o^imenf  of  f^e  (giBcn  £tfe. 

THE   HANDS  OF  THE  RISEN   LORD. 

/  wi//  therefore  that  men  pray  everywhere,  lifting  up  holy  hands.- 
1  Tim.  II.  8. 


IPTE  lives  Still,  a   priest    for  ever,  pleading,  interceding  for 
riJ     mankind.     And  so  the  Church,  His  Body,  carries  on  this 
priestly  work  on  earth.     "  Sacerdotalism,  priestliness,  is  the 
prime  element  of  her  being."     She  is  the  source  of  blessing  to 
mankind.     She  pleads  and  intercedes  and  gives  herself  for  all 
mankind.     Christians   as   a   body    are  "a    royal    priesthood." 
Christ  made  them  "priests  unto  His  God  and  Father";  they 
can  "  enter  in  unto  the  holy  place,"  like  priests,  "with  hearts 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience  and  bodies  washed  with  pure 
water."     They  are  "the  genuine  high-priestly  race  of  God:" 
"  every  righteous  man  ranks  as  a  priest :  "  "  to  the  whole  Church 
is  a  priesthood  given."     This  priesthood  is  exercised  through- 
out life,  as  each  Christian  gives  his  life  to  God's  service,  and 
the  whole  Church  devotes   itself    for  the  good  of   the  whole 
world.    But  it  finds  its  expression  in  worship,  for  worship  is  the 
Godward  aspect  of  life.    It  expresses,  it  emphasises,  it  helps  to 
make  permanent  the  feelings  that  mould  life.     It  is  the  recog- 
nition that  our  life  comes  from  God  ;  that  it  has  been  redeemed 
by  God  ;  it  is  the  quiet,  joyous  resting  upon  the  facts  of  His  love, 
— it  is  the  conscious  spiritual  offering  of  our  life  to  God;  it  is 
the  adoration  of  His  Majesty.     This  worship  the  Church  leads 
and  organises.     "  In  the  Church  and  in  Christ  Jesus"  is  to  be 
given  "  the  glory  to  God  unto  all  generations  "  for  ever  and  ever. 

R.  C.  MOBERLY. 

165 


[Saturday. 

t^e  C^urc?  t^e  6m6obtmenf  of  f^e  (Risen  feife. 

THE   WITNESS   OF  THE  RISEN    LORD. 
/  believed,  and  the^-efore  have  I  spoken. — 2  Cor.  iv.  13. 


T^HE  glorified  Lord  is  to  be  made  manifest  in  the  Confes- 
^^  sion  of  His  Church.  Our  Lord  came  into  the  world  to 
confess  His  Father  before  men,  to  be  a  witness  to  His  being 
and  character  and  aims.  ...  A  similar  confession,  then, 
a  similar  witnessing  is  demanded  of  the  Church  when  she 
manifests  her  Redeemer's  glory  and  carries  on  His  work.  It 
is  true  that  the  Church  of  Christ  bears  this  witness  in  every- 
thing that  she  is  and  does, — in  her  life,  her  work,  and  her  wor- 
ship. But  that  she  is  to  bear  it  also  in  word  is  clearly  indi- 
cated by  such  passages  of  the  sacred  writings  as  speak  not 
only  of  confession  by  the  individual  believer,  but  of  the  open 
acknowledgment  of  a  common  faith.  Thus  we  read  that 
Christians  are  to  be  baptized  "  in  the  Name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ";  that  to  salvation  a  public 
profession  of  faith  is  necessary;  that  we  are  trusted  "to  hold 
fast  our  confession  "  and  the  "  confession  of  our  hope  ".  ... 
Passages  such  as  these  point  to  an  open  proclamation  of  her 
faith  on  the  Church's  part,  whatever  be  the  particular  purpose 
to  which  her  confession  may  be  applied.  It  could  not  be  other- 
wise. All  strong  emotions  of  our  nature  find  utterance  in 
words  as  well  as  deeds.     When  we  believe  we  speak. 

W.    MiLLIGAN. 

First  W  eek  after  Easter l\ 


Second  Sunday  after  Easter.] 

Z^  €Burc^*0  (TJuitg  t^e  (BxpvtBBion  of  fSe  (^^iBcrx  £ife. 

THE  NECESSITY  FOR   THIS   UNITY. 

T/iey  shall  hear  My  voice  ;   atid  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one 
shepherd. — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


@  CHURCH  which  is  the  embodiment  of  the  risen  hfe  of 
Christ,  and  the  instrument  of  His  indwelhng  Spirit, 
is  necessarily  marked  by  unity.  The  Christian  Church  is,  and 
can  be,  but  one.  .  .  .  The  Church  is,  and  can  be  but  one, 
because  Christ  founded  but  one  society  and  endowed  it  with  but 
one  hfe.  His  Apostles  were  not  sent  forth  to  form  separate 
schools  of  followers,  working  in  friendly  emulation,  and  each 
school  provided  with  some  partial  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Apostles  were  the  united  chiefs  of  a  single  organization,  in 
which  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit  dwelt.  Their  watchword  was, 
"  One  Body,  One  Spirit."  By  this  watchword  both  her  numer- 
ical and  her  integral  unity  are  secured,  and  we  see  that  there 
cannot  be  more  than  one  Church,  nor  a  Church  composed  of 
finally  severed  fractions.  A  single  life  cannot  build  for  itself 
more  than  a  single  living  domicile  :  and  a  single  organism  can- 
not represent  more  than  a  single  inward  principle.  The  one 
Spirit  is  a  guarantee  of  the  Unity  of  the  Body,  the  one  Body  is 
a  guarantee  for  the  Unity  of  the  Spirit.  The  Church  is  both 
outwardly  and  inwardly  one — one  through  the  whole  length  of 
time  from  the  first  century  to  the  nineteenth,  one  all  over  the 
world  of  space, — one  in  all  conditions  of  human  existence  ter- 
restrial and  ultra-terrestrial.  A.  J.  Mason. 


167 


[Monday. 

t^t  C^mc^'B  QXnifi?  f  ^e  €xprcBBion  of  t^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

THIS   UNITY   VISIBLE. 

There  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope 
of  your  calling. — Eph.  iv.  4. 


-T^HE  life  of  the  Risen  and  Glorified  Lord  is  not  a  life  in 
^^  spirit  only,  but  in  an  exalted  and  glorified  body ;  and,  so 
lived  it  is  at  the  same  time  alike  one  and  visible.  It  exhibits 
no  discordant  elements  ;  its  different  sides  or  aspects  present 
no  hindrances  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  common  end.  The 
Divine  does  not  obliterate  the  human  ;  the  human  does  not 
limit  the  Divine.  The  body  of  the  Risen  Lord  is  not  lost  in 
His  Spiritual  Existence  ;  the  manifold  operations  of  His  spirit 
find  their  appropriate  expression  through  the  different  mem- 
bers of  His  body.  In  the  perfect  harmony  of  both  body  and 
spirit  He  is  One.  But  He  is  not  only  One.  He  is  also  visible 
both  to  His  angels  and  to  His  Saints.  To  the  former  He  "ap- 
peared" after  His  resurrection;  the  latter  "follow  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  He  goeth."  If,  therefore,  it  be  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  represent  her  Lord  among  men,  and  if  she  faithfully 
performs  that  duty,  it  follows  by  an  absolutely  irresistible  neces- 
sity that  the  unity  exhibited  in  His  person  must  appear  in  her. 
.  .  .  She  must  not  only  be  one,  but  visibly  one  in  some  dis- 
tinct and  appreciable  sense — in  such  a  sense  that  men  shall  not 
need  to  be  told  of  it,  but  shall  themselves  see  and  acknowledge 
that  her  unity  is  real.  W.  MiLLlGAN. 

%» 

Second  week  after  Easter. 'X 

i68 


Tuesday.] 

t^c  C^uxc^'b  QJnitg  f^e  (BxptCBsion  of  t^e  (giscn  fcife. 

MEANS   AND   CONDITIONS, 

One  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism,  one   God  and  Father  of  all. 
Who  is  above  all  and  through  all  and  in  you  all. — Eph.  iv.  5-6. 


"T^HUS,  then,  we  have  from  Holy  Scripture,  as  means  and 
^^  conditions  of  the  unity  of  the  Church,  one  All-Perfect 
Author,  the  "One  God  and  Father  of  all";  one  end  to  which 
all  tends,  the  "one  hope  of  calling";  "One  Head",  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  our  "One  Lord";  "One  Spirit",  giving  life  to 
every  living  member  ;  the  same  Sacraments,  "One  Baptism" 
and  "One  Bread,'  by  which  we  are  all  ingrafted  into  or  main- 
tained in  the  One  Body  of  our  One  Head;  one  Apostolic 
Descent  of  the  Bishops  and  Pastors  of  the  flock,  coming  down 
from  One;  "One"  common  "Faith,"  that  which  was  given 
once  for  all,  with  the  anathema  that  we  hold  no  doctrine  at 
variance  with  it,  although  an  Angel  from  Heaven  were  to 
preach  it.  Of  these  we  are  receivers  only.  These  if  any  wil- 
fully reject,  they  reject  Christ,  They  sever  themselves  not 
only  from  the  Body  of  Christ,  but  directly  from  the  Head,  loosing 
the  band  which  binds  them  unto  Him,  These  while  Christian 
bodies  retain,  they  are,  so  long,  like  the  river  which  "went  out 
of  Eden  to  water  the  Garden  ;  and  from  thence  it  was  parted  and 
became  into  four  heads,"  They  come  from  the  fountain  of 
blessedness;  they  flow  down  to  the  ocean  of  the  Eternal  Love 
of  God  ;  they  water  the  parched  land  ;  they  cool  and  refresh 
the  weary  and  the  thirsty  in  the  places  which  God  has  appointed 
for  them  with  the  one  stream  coming  down  from  Him, 

E.   B.   PUSEY. 
¥ 

169 


[Wednesday. 

t^c  C^urc^'0  (^niii^  t^e  (BxpttBBion  of  f^e  d^iBen  £ife. 

UNITY  THROUGH    TRUTH. 

T/ie  imity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God. — 
Eph.  IV.  13. 


V^  sort  of  natural  prophecy.  It  is  contrary  to  the  common 
judgment  of  our  time.  Unity  through  compromise — that  is 
the  new  maxim.  Unity  by  extending  ourhst  of  non-essentials, 
and  surrendering  them  as  fast  as  we  may.  We  are  making 
such  progress  with  this  index,  that,  as  if  all  our  own  difficulties 
were  insignificant,  we  find  ourselves  already  being  counselled 
to  recognise  our  unity  with  even  other  religions  of  the  world. 
.  .  .  But,  short  of  such  incoherent  dreams,  what  would  be 
the  end  of  this  negative  way  of  decreasing  differences  by  defin- 
ing non-essentials  ?  The  differences  that  remain  would  be  as 
obstinate  as  ever,  unless  we  took  a  shorter  method  and  defined 
as  non-essential  all  the  things  we  differ  in.  At  present  we 
agree — God  be  praised  ! — in  more  things  perhaps  than  we  know. 
And  surely  the  sound  hope  of  unity  lies  in  urging  all  men  to  seek 
and  find  what  are  realities  ;  then  to  speak  these,  demonstrate 
these,  live  these.  As  we  seek  and  use  realities  in  science,  in 
history,  in  philosophy,  so  also  in  morals  and  in  the  revelation 
of  God.  Then  the  non-essentials  that  are  harmful  become  as 
if  they  had  never  been.  ...  If  all  seek  truth,  not  self,  nor 
party,  nor  traditions  as  such,  we  have  unity  already  in  will.  And 
even  when  we  can  see  no  next  step  clear,  let  us  keep  our  faces 
longingly  towards  the  light,  daily  deepening  (as  we  know  how) 
our  knowledge.  The  yearning  of  multitudes  is  not  in  vain. 
After  yearning  comes  impulse,  volition,  movement. 

Archbishop  Benson. 

Second  zveek  after  Easter. '\ 


Thursday.] 

t^  C^txxc^'B  (Unit)?  f^e  (BvptcBBion  of  f ^e  (gmn  feife. 

THE   GREAT   NEED. 

Ask,  a7id  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock^  and 
it  shall  be  opened  tinto  you.  .  .  .  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know 
how  to  give  good  gifts  tinto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your 
heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  Him  ? — 
S.  Luke  xi.  9-13. 


3T  will  be  said,  It  is  mere  enthusiasm  to  believe  that  while 
all  these  varieties  of  conflicting  opinion  remain,  we  can 
have  unity.  Our  reply  is,  "Give  us  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  we 
shall  be  one."  You  cannot  produce  a  unity  by  all  the  rigour 
of  your  ecclesiastical  discipline.  You  cannot  produce  a  unity 
by  consenting  in  some  form  of  expression  such  as  this,"  Let  us 
agree  to  differ."  You  cannot  produce  a  unity  by  parliamentary 
regulations  or  enactments,  bidding  back  the  waves  of  what  is 
called  aggression.  Give  us  the  living  Spirit  of  God,  and  we 
shall  be  one.  Once  on  this  earth  was  exhibited,  as  it  were,  a 
specimen  of  perfect  anticipation  of  such  an  unity,  when  the 
*'  rushing  mighty  wind  "  of  Pentecost  came  down  in  the  tongues 
of  fire  and  sat  on  every  man;  when  the  Parthians,  and  Medes, 
and  Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  the  "Cretes 
and  Arabians,"  the  Jew  and  Gentile,  each  speaking  one  lan- 
guage, yet  blended  and  fused  into  one  unity  by  enthusiastic  love, 
heard  one  another  speak,  as  it  were,  in  one  language,  the  mani- 
fold w^orks  of  God ;  when  the  spirit  of  giving  was  substituted 
for  the  spirit  of  mere  rivalry  and  competition,  and  no  man  said 
the  things  he  had  were  his  own,  but  all  shared  in  common. 
Let  that  spirit  come  again,  as  come  it  will,  and  come  it  must; 
and  then,  beneath  the  influence  of  a  mightier  love,  we  shall 
have  a  nobler  and  more  real  unity.  F.  W.  Robertson, 


[Friday. 

C^tiBiian  QJnif^  f^e  €xpvcBBior\  of  f^e  (gism  £ife. 

HOW   IT   IS   TO   BE   SOUGHT   FOR. 

£e  of  the  sa?ne  7nind  one  toward  another.     .     .     .     Be  not  wise  in 
your  ozvn  co7iceits. — Rom.  xii.  16. 


^^HEN  we  speak  of  tlie  hopes  of  reunion  of  separated 
Churches,  it  is  obvious  that  the  first  point  to  be  thought 
of  is  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  better  understanding,  for  taking 
counsel  together,  and  for  discovering  eirenic  explanations  of 
the  existing  confessions  of  faith.  The  first  thing  is  to  distin- 
guish dogma  from  opinion,  traditional  doctrine  from  the  arti- 
ficial products  of  theology,  use  from  abuse,  to  remove  well- 
grounded  causes  of  scandal,  and  to  restore  to  its  original  form 
what  has  become  corrupted.  Two  divided  Churches  cannot 
rush  at  once  into  each  other's  arms,  like  two  friends  meeting 
after  a  long  separation.  And  we  see  what  infinite  dififiiculty  a 
single  difference  in  doctrine  may  occasion,  and  how  it  may 
frustrate  the  most  various  and  well-meant  endeavours,  in  the 
separation  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches,  which  is 
not  yet  by  any  means  wholly  got  rid  of,  notwithstanding  the 
grand  union  between  them.  There  is  needed  a  powerful  and 
dominant  spirit  of  union,  such  as  is  not  often  found  in  the 
course  of  centuries,  and  a  common  controlling  principle  inde- 
pendent of  individual  caprice.  Above  all,  the  union  of 
Churches  is  only  then  possible  when  a  high  measure  of  mental 
culture  is  found  in  connection  with  religious  intelligence  and 
zeal.  From  a  lower  intellectual  standpoint  differences  of  rite 
and  ceremonial  are  regarded  as  questions  on  which  salvation 
hinges,  and  instead  of  quiet  and  peaceful  inquiry,  men  rush  to 
arms.  John  I.  von  Dollinger. 

Second  week  after  Easter?^ 


Saturday.] 

t^c  C^uvc^^B  (Unit^  i^t(BxpnBBion  of  t^e  (Rieen  £ife. 

OUR  DUTY. 

Be  zealous  therefore,  arid  repent. — Eev.  hi.  19. 


-^IRST ;  sin  in  the  Church  must  be  duly  recognised,  and,  in 
^  our  prayers  to  God  for  unity,  acknowledged  as  the  origin 
of  schism.  It  was  partly  Solomon's  lapse  into  idolatry,  and 
partly  Rehoboam's  intolerable  arrogance,  which  brought  about 
the  secession  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  And  it  was  partly  the  deep 
degeneracy  of  the  mediaeval  Church,  its  corruptions  in  faith 
and  practice,  .  .  .  partly  the  insolent  and  arrogant  preten- 
sions of  the  Bishop  of  Rome ; — which  alienated  Continen- 
tal Protestants  from  the  Apostles'  Fellowship.  .  .  .  And  in 
our  own  Communion,  some  half  century  ago,  it  was  the  secular- 
ity  of  the  clergy,  their  pluralities  and  sinecures  .  .  .  which 
raised  up  in  many  a  parish  a  meeting  house,  and  organised  a 
schism.     .     .     . 

Secondly;  the  present  divided  state  of  the  Church  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  punishment ;  just  as  the  rending  away  of  the  Ten 
Tribes  from  the  house  of  David  was  the  Divinely  inflicted  pen- 
alty of  Solomon's  apostacy.  ...  It  is  not,  therefore,  in 
our  power  entirely  to  alter  the  state  of  things.  That  state 
must  continue  until  the  chastisement  has  done  its  work,  and 
God  removes  His  hand.  I  do  not  say  that  we  must  not  pray 
and  strive  for  another  and  happier  condition  of  affairs;  but 
only  that  the  most  effectual  mode  of  securing  the  happier  con- 
dition would  be  by  thoroughly  repenting  of  and  avoiding  the 
sins  that  called  down  the  chastisement — superstitions,  arro- 
gance, indolence,  unfaithfulness,  and  so  forth. 

E.  M.  GOULBURN. 
173 


[Third  Sunday  after  Easter- 


C^tiBiian  (^oxafiii^  t^e  (Etji^ence  of  f ^e  (giBtn  £tfe. 

THE  SOCIAL   SIGNIFICANCE  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN  MOVEMENT. 

These  that  have  turned  the   world  upside  down  are  coj?ie  hither 
also. — Acts  xvii.  6. 


^^HE  new  force  which  was  born  into  the  world  with  the 
^^  Christian  rehgion  was,  evidently,  from  the  very  first,  of 
immeasurable  social  significance.  The  original  impetus  was 
immense.  The  amorphous  vigour  of  life  was  so  great  that 
several  centuries  have  to  pass  away  before  any  clear  idea  can 
be  obtained  of  even  the  outlines  of  the  growth  which  it  was 
destined  to  build  up  out  of  the  dead  elements  around  it.  From 
the  very  beginning  its  action  was  altogether  unusual.  The  con- 
structive principle  of  life  was  unmistakable;  men  seemed  to 
be  transformed ;  the  ordinary  motives  of  the  individual  mind 
appeared  to  be  extinguished.  The  new  religion  evoked,  "  to  a 
degree  before  unexampled  in  the  world,  an  enthusiastic  devo- 
tion to  its  corporate  welfare  analogous  to  that  which  the  patriot 
bears  to  his  country."  There  sprang  from  it  "  a  stern,  agres- 
sive,  and  at  the  same  time  disciplined  enthusiasm,  wholly 
unlike  any  other  thathadbeen  witnessed  upon  earth."  Amid  the 
corruption  of  the  time  the  new  life  flourished  as  a  thing  apart ; 
it  took  the  disintegrated  units  and  built  them  up  into  the  new 
order,  drawing  strength  from  the  decay  which  was  in  progress 
around  it.  Benjamin  Kidd. 


174 


Monday.] 

C^etian  (Jllorafif i?  f ^e  6t)i^ence  of  f ^e  (gieen  feife, 

ITS   CHARACTERISTIC  FEATURE. 

The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure. — S.  James  hi.  17. 


3T  is  always  recognised  as  a  characteristic  feature  of  Chris- 
tian morahty  that  it  has  from  the  first  laid  down  so  strict 
and  universal  a  law  of  chastity.  ...  As  soon  as  Christ 
ceases  to  be  acknowledged  as  the  authority  over  life,  nature 
is  ready  to  assert  itself  and  the  requirement  of  the  Christian 
law  begins  to  seem  too  universal  or  too  stringent.  M.  Renan, 
for  example,  writes  that,  after  giving  up  the  Christian  faith,  he 
saw  that  nature  does  not  prescribe  chastity.  .  .  .  And 
Whitman  is  the  American  poet  who  boldly  declares,  in  the 
name  of  Nature,  that  he  renounces  decency  as  well  as  chastity, 
that  he  may  be  like  the  birds  and  the  beasts.  To  believe  in 
Christ  is  to  be  taught  differently.  We  have  not  so  learnt 
Christ.  We  are  bidden  to  repudiate  sternly  the  dominion  of 
the  flesh  and  of  nature.  The  passions  are  to  have  no 
supremacy  in  a  member  of  Christ.  Christian  morality  is  im- 
perious in  the  name  of  Christ  on  this  point.  It  treats  marriage 
as  an  obviously  Divine  ordinance,  and  prescribes  a  respectful 
regard  towards  all  the  rules  concerning  the  relations  of  the 
sexes  which  the  society  into  which  a  man  is  born  has  been  led 
to  enact.  Such  rules  are  not  to  be  absolute  or  final  to  the 
Christian,  but  it  is  his  duty  to  treat  them  with  deference  until 
they  are  improved.  .  .  .  The  one  unalterable  decree  of 
Christian  morality  is  that  individual  passion  is  not  to  claim  to 
do  what  it  likes,  that  Nature  shall  not  be  recognised  as  the 
mistress  of  human  conduct.  T.  Llewellyn  Davies. 


[Tuesday. 

C^visiian  (JXloxafifi^  t^e  (Et^i^ence  of  t^e  d^ism  £ife. 

ITS   EFFECT  ^ON   LABOUR. 

T/iis  ive  commanded  you,  that  if  any  ivoiild  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat. — 2  Thess.  hi.  10. 


"T^HE  large  share  which  Christianity  had  in  bringing  about 
^^  the  aboHtion  of  slavery  is  admitted  by  all  thinkers. 
Slavery  is  an  institution  so  very  far  removed  from  our  day  and 
habits  of  thought,  that  we  do  not  always  realise  the  tremendous 
revolution  which  its  disappearance  from  the  world  involved. 
But,  in  truth,  the  abolition  of  slavery  meant  an  entire  change 
in  the  way  men  thought  of  labour.  As  long  as  slaves  were  an 
institution,  labour  itself  was  held  in  contempt;  it  was  some- 
thing which  no  free  man  could  handle  and  yet  retain  his  self- 
respect.  It  meant  giving  up  one's  own  free  will  and  becoming 
a  machine  in  some  one  else's  hands.  Now,  Christianity  changed 
all  that.  It  asserted  that  labour  was  an  honourable  thing, 
because  it  was  the  natural  use  of  those  gifts  of  strength  or 
intelligence  which  our  Heavenly  Father  has  given  us ;  and  it 
pointed  to  the  example  of  Him  Who  had  worked  in  a  carpen- 
ter's shop,  and  Who  had  chosen  a  few  humble  fishermen  to  be 
His  Apostles  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  But  it  did  more  : 
it  asserted  that  every  man,  just  because  he  was  a  member  of 
the  whole  human  family  for  which  Christ  died,  had  a  worth  of 
his  own.  Therefore  no  man  had  a  right  to  use  his  fellow  merely 
as  a  means,  to  the  end  that  he  himself  might  be  made  great  or 
rich.  C.  W.  Gent. 

Third  "week  after  Easter^ 

176 


Wednesday.] 

C^Biian  (JCCloxafitt  i^c  (gi^i^ence  of  %  (Rieen  £ife. 

OUR   RESPONSIBILITY  TOWARDS   ALL   MEN. 
Honour  all  tnen. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


/TOOTHING,  perhaps,  would  do  more  to  keep  us  right  in  all 
\^  our  relations  with  men,  of  all  classes,  of  all  sorts,  than, 
first,  to  be  thinking  often  of  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  His 
patience  and  considerateness ;  and,  secondly,  to  do  our  best  to 
realise  that  the  issue  of  every  human  life  is  everlasting — that 
beyond  this  world,  for  all  alike,  for  those  who  have  fared 
hardest  and  most  strangely  in  it,  for  those  who  have  seemed  to 
drop  out  and  get  lost  in  its  confusion,  no  less  than  for  our- 
selves, there  is  another  world,  a  judgment-day,  a  state  of  bliss 
or  misery  in  comparison  with  which  the  best  and  the  worst 
that  this  world  yields  may  seem  as  nothing ;  and,  thirdly, — if 
ever  the  sight  of  goodness  has  appealed  to  us,  if  ever  we  have 
known  the  surpassing  beauty  of  an  unselfish  life,— to  remember 
that  a  splendour  such  as  that,  and  more  than  that,  may  be 
preparing  even  now  in  the  secret  discipline  of  any  human  soul 
with  whom  we  have  to  do,  and  on  whom  our  life,  our  conduct 
tells.  Such  thoughts  as  these  may  surely  guard  us  from  the 
hateful  sin  of  scorn ;  they  may  save  us  from  blunders  which 
would  be  terrible  to  us  if  we  were  not  too  blundering  to  be 
aware  of  them;  they  may  lead  us,  if  it  please  God,  to  two 
great  elements  of  happiness  which  are,  perhaps,  the  best  that 
can  be  found  in  this  life — the  joy  of  recognising  goodness,  and 
the  joy  of  truly  serving  others.  Francis  Paget. 


177 


[TnunsDAY, 

C^miian  (^orafif i?  f ^e  (Bi)i^cncc  of  t^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

OUR    RESPONSIBILITY   TOWARDS   THE   CHURCH. 

Love  the  brotherhood. — Epistle  p^or  the  Week. 


'Tjh'HE  citizen,  we  have  either  learnt  or  are  rapidly  learning, 
^^  is  the  servant  of  the  state,  and  is  bound  to  use  all  his 
endowments  for  the  common  good.  How  much  more,  then, 
is  the  Christian  bound  to  yield  that  which  God  has  committed 
to  him — position,  or  wealth,  or  intellect,  or  influence,  or 
character — for  the  good  of  the  Church,  the  living  Body  of 
which  he  is  a  member?  There  is  a  difference,  of  course,  be- 
tween the  work  of  the  layman  and  the  work  of  tlie  clergyman ; 
but  there  is  not  this  difference,  that  the  one  works  and  the 
other  does  no  work.  The  layman,  let  us  remember,  has  re- 
ceived his  own  proper  ordination,  when  in  confirmation  the 
Bishop's  hand  was  laid  upon  him.  He  has  been  solemnly  set 
apart — appointed  in  God's  own  way — to  discharge  his  own 
office  in  the  Church ;  and,  as  we  humbly  trust,  God  has  in  this 
ordinance  pledged  to  him  the  strength  to  accomplish  that 
which  it  is  his  duty  and  his  privilege  to  do.  Laymen  and  lay- 
women  are  bound  to  work.  And  in  our  experience  of  life,  we 
all  know  by  this  time  how  much  we  need  the  counsel,  the  ex- 
perience, the  support,  the  enthusiasm  of  all.  The  life  of  the 
whole  is  shewn  at  each  point  of  the  living  body,  and,  if  the 
Church  is  to  fulfil  its  true  mission  to  the  world,  we  cannot  dis- 
pense with  the  Church-wide  witness  of  life. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


Third  -week  after  Easter.'] 

178 


Friday.] 

C^viBiian  (JJlomfiti?  f ^e  (Bmttncc  of  t^e  (Risen  £if e. 

THE  REALITY   OF   RESPONSIBILITY  AND   ITS   LIMITS. 
J^ear  God. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


yj^OD  made  man,  and  desires  impartially  man's  good.  "  He 
^^  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good  ;  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  So  long  as  man 
is  doing  his  duty,  God  will  provide  for  him,  as  for  the  birds  of 
the  air  and  the  flowers  of  the  field.  Now,  the  birds  and  the 
plants  accumulate  to-day  the  resources  which  are  to  serve  them 
hereafter.  The  birds  could  not  hatch  their  eggs  if  they  had 
not  in  due  time  previously  built  their  nests.  The  flowers  could 
not  bring  forth  their  bloom  if  they  had  not  been  accumulating 
their  resources  long  before.  But  all  this  takes  place  without 
anxiety.  Granted  the  fulfilling  of  function  day  by  day,  God  will 
provide.  The  Christian  society,  then,  recognising  this  principle 
in  the  conscious  life  of  man,  is  to  know  the  limits  of  its  respon- 
sibility. It  did  not  create  the  world  or  found  the  Church. 
.  .  .  It  cannot  alter  the  predestined  goal  of  the  world's 
movement.  But  it  can  facilitate  or  thwart  the  purpose  of  God 
within  its  own  area.  .  .  .  This  means  that  in  commerce 
we  shall  resolutely  do  the  will  of  God,  and  abide  by  the  conse- 
quences; in  dealing  with  individuals,  we  shall  not  be  more 
merciful  than  our  Master,  or  attempt,  as  He  did  not  attempt,  to 
save  men  in  spite  of  themselves.  We  shall  aim  at  appealing 
to  men's  wills  and  strengthening  their  sense  of  responsibility. 
We  shall  not  be  afraid  of  letting  truth  loose  for  fear  of  its  caus- 
ing havoc.  We  shall  be  ready  to  say  in  our  turn,  "  I  am  not 
come  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword,"  C.  Gore. 


[Saturday. 

C^xiBiim  (glorafif ^  f ^e  €t)ibence  of  i^c  (giBtn  £ife. 

OUR   RESPONSIBILITY   IN   NATIONAL   LIFE. 
Honour  the  King. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


^^HE  first  principles  governing  the  attitude  of  individual 
^^  Christians  towards  the  various  organisations  of  human 
society  are  laid  down  in  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Render  unto 
Csesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's."  The  command,  taken  in  connection  with  its 
context,  involves  two  principles :  first,  the  recognition  of  the 
claims  of  civil  society,  and,  secondly,  their  limitation  by  a 
higher  order  of  claims,  where  they  come  into  conflict  with  the 
first.  The  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Rom.  xiii. 
i-io),  in  which  S.  Paul  deals  with  the  duties  of  Christians 
towards  "  the  powers  that  be,"  is  a  commentary  on  his  Master's 
teaching.  .  .  .  These  passages  of  the  New  Testament  put 
in  the  clearest  light  the  duty  of  obedience  to  civil  authority. 
They  lay  down  its  theological  ground  in  the  derivation  of  all 
power  from  God  ;  and  its  moral  ground  by  showing  that  such 
obedience  is  one  form  of  justice,  and  justice  itself  one  aspect  of 
love.  They  thus  give  to  the  commands  of  those  wielding 
authority  in  human  society  the  firmest  sanctions.  If,  on  the 
one  side,  Christianity  seems  to  set  up  conscience,  as  the  guar- 
dian of  the  things  of  God,  against  positive  law,  it  gives,  on  the 
other,  a  Divine  sanction  and  consecration  to  the  whole  order  of 
things  connected  with  the  state  by  showing  its  ministerial  rela- 
tion to  its  defined  place  and  function  in  God's  ordering  of  the 
world.  W.  T.  H.  CAMPION. 

Third  week  after  Easter?^ 

180 


Fourth  Sunday  after  Easter.] 

t^c  ^ocramenf 0  i^e  (^ppfkaiion  of  f ^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

THE   GIVER   OF  THE   RISEN    LIFE. 

//e  shall  receive  of  Mine,  and  shall  shew  it  tmto  yoti. — Gospel  for 
THE  Week. 


3T  was  only  by  way  of  compensation  for  the  loss  of  Christ's 
visible  presence  that  the  Spirit  was  to  come  instead  of 
Him.  The  Holy  Spirit,  it  has  been  well  said,  "  did  not  so 
come  that  Christ  did  not  come,  but  rather  He  so  came, 
that  Christ  might  come  in  His  coming."  He  came  to 
secure  this  spiritual  presence  of  Christ,  whose  "entrance  into 
glory "  was  the  necessary  antecedent  to  the  coming  of  the 
Paraclete,  even  as  that  coming  was  required  in  order  that 
the  whole  work  of  the  Incarnate  Saviour  might  have  its  due 
effect, — might  be  explained,  illustrated,  provided  with  a  sphere 
of  operation.  Thus  as  the  Holy  Spirit  had  presided  over  the 
formation  of  our  Lord's  immaculate  flesh,  so  did  He  form  the 
company  of  believers  into  a  body  mystical  of  Christ.  So  He 
"took  of"  the  teaching  which  our  Lord  had  given  during  His 
ministry,  brought  it  back  into  full  remembrance,  illuminated 
its  far-reaching  significance,  and  vitalised  it  as  a  continuous 
"Word"  for  the  perpetual  instruction  of  the  Church.  The 
same  law  of  Divine  co-operation  holds  good  in  regard  to  all 
the  means  of  grace.  By  them  the  Spirit  unites  us  to  the  life- 
giving  manhood  of  our  Redeemer.  Baptism  is  a  birth  "from 
water  and  the  Spirit,"  and  "by  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized 
into  one  body."  And  He  has  always  been  regarded  as  the 
consecrating  Agent  in  the  Holy  Eucharist — an  idea  vividly  set 
forth  in  ancient  rites,  and  still  in  the  rites  of  two  of  our  sister 
Churches,  by  what  was  called  the  Invocation  on  the  elements. 

W.  Bright. 


[MoyPAY. 

t^c  ^acvamtniB  t^e  (^ppficaiion  of  f^e  (Hieen  £ife. 

THE    REALITY   OF   THE   GRACE   GIVEN. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  yoti. — 2  Cor.  xiv.  28. 


^OOK  at  the  wonderful  phenomenon  of  grace.  Grace  is 
'^  not  that  mere  barren,  inoperative  sentiment  of  good  will 
or  favour  on  the  part  of  the  Supreme  Being,  which  a  secret 
anthropomorphism  in  the  Socinian  theologians  led  them  to  as- 
cribe to  Him,  mainly  because  they  were  familiar  with  a  like 
shadowy  benevolence  in  themselves.  In  God,  to  will  is  to  act, 
to  favour  is  to  bless  :  and  thus  grace  is  not  simply  kindly  feeling 
on  the  pa-rt  of  God,  but  a  positive  boon  conferred  on  man. 
Grace  is  a  real  and  active  force  ;  it  is,  as  the  Apostle  says,  "  the 
power  that  worketh  in  us,"  illuminating  the  intellect,  warming 
the  heart,  strengthening  the  will  of  redeemed  humanity.  It  is 
the  might  of  the  Everlasting  Spirit  renovating  man  by  uniting 
him,  whether  immediately  or  through  the  Sacraments,  to  the 
Sacred  Manhood  of  the  Word  Incarnate.  Here,  again,  is  a  fact, 
controverted  by  scepticism,  but  certain  to  faith,  which  can  be 
as  little  omitted  in  any  comprehensive  and  adequate  doctrine 
of  Progress  as  the  law  of  attraction  could  be  ignored  by  a  phys- 
ical philosopher  who  was  explaining  the  system  and  movements 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


Fourth  iveek  after  Easter^ 


Tir.SDAV.] 

t^  ^cvcmmente  t^e  (^ppficaiion  of  f ^e  (giBtn  £ife. 

GRACE   GIVEN   THROUGH    SACRAMENTS. 

T/ie  ctip  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
Blood  of  Christ  /—I  Cor.  x.  16. 


'J^HEIR  chiefest  force  and  virtue  consisteth  ...  in 
^  that  they  are  heavenly  ceremonies,  which  God  hath  sanc- 
tified and  ordained  to  be  administered  in  His  Church,  first,  as 
marks  whereby  to  know  when  God  doth  impart  the  vital  or 
saving  grace  of  Christ  into  all  that  are  capable  thereof,  and, 
secondly,  as  means  conditional  which  God  requireth  in  them 
unto  whom  He  imparteth  grace.  For  since  God  in  Himself  is 
invisible,  and  cannot  by  us  be  discerned  working,  therefore 
when  it  seemeth  good  in  the  eyes  of  His  heavenly  wisdom,  that 
men  for  some  special  interest  and  purpose  should  take  notice 
of  His  glorious  Presence,  He  giveth  them  some  plain  and  sensi- 
ble token  whereby  to  know  what  they  cannot  see.  For  Moses 
to  see  God  and  live  was  impossible,  yet  Moses  by  fire  knew 
where  the  glory  of  God  extraordinarily  was  present.  The 
angel,  by  whom  God  endowed  the  waters  of  the  pool  called 
Bethesda  with  supernatural  virtue  to  heal,  was  not  yet  seen 
of  any,  yet  the  time  of  the  angel's  presence  was  known  by  the 
troubled  motions  of  the  waters  themselves.  The  Apostles,  by 
fiery  tongues  which  they  saw,  were  admonished  when  the 
Spirit,  which  they  could  not  behold,  was  upon  them.  In  like 
manner  it  is  with  us.  Christ  and  His  Holy  Spirit  with  all  their 
blessed  effects,  though  entering  into  the  soul  of  man  we  are 
not  able  to  apprehend  or  express  how,  do.  notwithstanding,  give 
notice  of  the  time  when  they  use  to  make  their  access,  because 
it  pleaseth  Almighty  God  to  communicate  by  sensible  means 
those  blessings  which  are  incomprehensible. 

Richard  Hooker. 
183 


[Wednesday. 

t^t  ^acrament6  t^e  (^ppficaiion  of  t^e  (Rieen  £ife. 

THE   GRACE  OF   BAPTISM. 

0/  His  own  will  begat  He  us  with  the  word  of  truth  that  we 
should  be  a  ki^id  of  first-fruits  of  His  creatzires.—EFisTi.E  for  the 
Week.  

3T  is  the  possession  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  being  made  par- 
takers of  Christ,  the  fact  of  union  with  Him,  which  makes 
the  difference  between  the  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate, 
and  there  can  be  Httle  question  what  is  the  act  by  which, 
according  to  Scripture,  we  are  brought  into  union  with  Christ. 
"  To  be  baptized  into  Christ "  is  a  favorite  expression  of 
S.  Paul.  We  lose  the  whole  force  of  the  expression  if  we 
make  it  mean  no  more  than  that  we  are  baptized  into  the 
faith  of  Christ,  into  Christianity,  into  allegiance  to  Him, 
or  into  the  number  of  His  followers.  If  these  were  but  isolated 
expressions,  indeed,  we  might  suppose  that  they  meant  no 
more  than  when  S.  Paul  in  one  place  speaks  of  the  Passage  of 
the  Red  Sea  as  the  baptism  of  Israel  into  Moses.  But  where 
else  does  he  speak  of  being  in  Moses,  or  members  of  Moses, 
or  of  Moses  being  the  head  and  Israel  the  body,  or  of  living 
in  Moses,  or  any  of  those  phrases  which  are  so  commonly  used 
of  Christ  ?  Evidently  that  baptismal  initiation  into  Christ  was 
in  S.  Paul's  eyes  the  beginning  of  a  real  participation  in  the 
living  personal  Christ  Himself.  It  was  much  more  than  a 
metaphor ;  it  was  a  literal  fact.  The  bond  which  unites  man 
and  wife  in  one  flesh  was  feeble  and  distant  in  comparison 
with  that  which  has  bound  the  Christian  and  his  Lord.  A  real 
identity  of  existence  has  been  set  up, — though  without  con- 
fusion of  persons.  .  .  .  They  cannot  henceforth  be  re- 
garded apart  from  Him,  nor  He  from  them. 

A.  J.  Mason. 

Fourth  zveek  after  Easter?^ 


Thursday.] 

J^e  ^ocramente  f ^e  (iXppfkaiion  of  t^  (^mn  £ife. 

THE    GRACE   OF   CONFIRMATION. 

Every  good  gift  and  every  pei'fect  gift  is  frotti  above,  a7id  comet  h 
down  from  the  Father  of  Lights,  with  Whotn  is  no  variableness, 
neither  shadow  of  turning. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


3N  Baptism  the  Holy  Ghost  pours  down  gifts  of  Grace, 
which,  as  coming  from  Him,  may  be  called  gifts  of  the 
Spirit ;  but  in  Confirmation  He  imparts,  not  merely  gifts  of 
grace,  but  Himself.  In  Baptism  the  Holy  Ghost  re-fashions  the 
person  whom  He  is  regenerating,  into  a  holy  temple,  meet  to 
be  the  dwelling-place  of  God;  and  then,  in  Confirmation,  the 
Shechinah,  the  tabernacling  presence  of  God's  glory,  comes  to 
take  possession  of  the  shrine  which  has  been  prepared  for  Him. 
.  .  .  In  Baptism  the  Grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  comes  down 
as  the  incorruptible  seed  from  the  Everlasting  Father,  to  fecun- 
date the  laver  of  regeneration,  which  is  the  womb  of  the 
Church,  so  that  those  who  are  being  joined  to  Christ  may 
"become  the  sons  of  God,  and  be  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  But  in 
Confirmation,  by  the  Spirit's  personal  Advent  and  indwelling, 
the  regenerated  soul  is  anointed  with  the  Divine  unguent,  and 
is  admitted  to  a  certain  share  in  the  priesthood  of  the  Messiah, 
and  is  marked  out  as  destined  in  the  future  to  participate  in 
His  royalty.  F.  W.  Puller. 


185 


[Friday. 

t^t  ^ocramenf 0  t^e  (^ppficaiion  of  t^e  (giBm  £ife. 

THE   GRACE   OF   HOLY   COMMUNION. 

I/e  shall  take  of  Mine. — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


7^0  the  eye  of  faith,  the  Christian  Altar  appears  like  a  head- 
^^  land  jutting  into  a  vast  and  open  sea ;  waves  roll  in 
from  the  eternal  space,  to  strike  upon  the  shores  of  time.  It 
is  a  mirror  of  all  truth,  human  and  divine.  It  has  a  twofold 
aspect,  being  sacrifice  and  sacrament  in  one ;  it  is  each  in  turn, 
in  complete  and  matchless  perfection;  it  is  the  pure  and  un- 
bloody offering,  the  heavenly  Feast.  It  represents  the  work 
of  the  world's  High  Priest,  now  going  on  above  ;  it  brings  Him 
verily  and  indeed  into  our  midst  with  Holy  gifts.  ...  As 
Christ  stands  at  the  mercy-seat  on  high,  appearing  before  His 
Father  as  our  Meditator  and  Redeemer,  and  making  inter- 
cession for  us,  so  stands  the  priest  as  His  representative,  offer- 
ing on  earth  the  same  oblation  which  Christ  offers  in  Heaven 
and  sending  up  the  liturgical  prayer.  Christ  promised  to  feed 
men  with  His  Flesh  and  Blood,  adding,  "whosoever  eateth 
My  Flesh  and  drinketh  My  Blood  hath  everlasting  life  and  I 
will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  Here  in  Holy  communion 
He  meets  His  faithtul  children  for  that  purpose,  and  under 
forms  selected  from  the  natural  world,  and  hallowed  and 
blessed  for  a  supernatural  effect,  He  gives  them  what  He 
promised.  In  its  double  aspect,  as  sacrifice,  as  sacrament; 
this  Rite  is  first  in  dignity,  and  in  power,  most  efficient. 

Morgan  Dix. 

Fourth  ivcek  after  Easter  A 

186 


S.VTUrDAY.] 

t^c  ^acramenf 6  i^t  (^ppficaf ion  of  f ^e  (giBm  feife. 

GRACE  MEETING   EVERY  NEED. 

My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee. — 2  Cor.  xii.  9. 


PjJ^Nt)  so  we  may  see  the  Spirit-bearing  Church,  with  whole- 
k!j  hearted  recognition  of  all  the  elements  and  wants  of 
human  life,  proffering  to  men  through  visible  means  the  mani- 
fold gifts  of  grace  needed  for  their  progress  and  welfare  in  the 
way  until  they  reach  the  Country.  As  temptation  grows  more 
complex  and  severe,  and  the  soul  begins  to  realize  the  warfare 
that  it  has  to  wage,  the  Personal  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
vouchsafed  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  completes  the  prepara- 
tion of  Christ's  soldier;  as  the  desolating  sense  of  failure 
threatens  to  unnerve  the  will  and  to  take  such  hold  upon  the 
soul  that  it  is  not  able  to  look  up,  the  authoritative  message  of 
forgiveness  brings  again  the  strength  of  purity  and  the  light  of 
hope,  and  recalls  the  scattered  forces  of  the  inner  life  to  expel 
the  encroaching  evil  and  to  regain  whatever  had  been  lost. 
For  special  vocations  there  are  special  means  of  grace  ,  by 
ordination  God  vouchsafes  to  guilty  men  the  glory  of  the  priest- 
hood ;  and  in  Christian  marriage  He  confers  the  grace  that 
hallows  human  love  to  be  the  brightness  and  the  safeguard  of 
an  earthly  home,  and  the  earnest  of  the  home  in  Heaven.  And 
thus  in  the  manifold  employment  of  the  Sacramental  principle 
there  again  appears  that  characteristic  excellence  of  Christian- 
ity, which  is  secured  in  the  very  nature  of  Sacraments:  namely, 
its  recognition  of  the  whole  problem  with  which  it  claims  to 
deal.  It  speaks  to  us  as  we  are:  there  is  no  true  need  of 
which  it  will  not  take  account ,  it  will  lead  us  without  loss  to 
the  realization  of  our  entire  being.  Francis  Paget. 

187 


[Fifth  Sunday  after  Eastek,  or  Rogation  Sunday. 

^ra^er  f^e  (Bnergj^  of  f^e  (giBcn  £ife. 

NECESSITY  OF  THOUGHT  BEFORE  PRAYER. 

Grajit  that  by    Thy  holy  inspiration  we  may    think    those    things 
that  be  good. — Collect  for  the  Week. 


^  ^  aJXeFORE  thou  prayest,"  says  the  wise  man, "  prepare  thy- 
v3^  self."  Let  the  mind  as  much  as  may  be,  be  solemnized, 
calmed,  toned  down,  by  taking  in  the  thought  of  the  presence 
of  God,  and  the  sublime  idea  of  coming  to  Him.  .  .  .  Lift 
up  the  mind  gradually,  and  by  stages,  to  some  apprehen- 
sion, however  dim  and  unworthy,  of  the  majesty,  the  might, 
the  wisdom,  the  holiness,  the  love  of  God  ;  and  when,  to  use 
the  Psalmist's  expression,  "  the  fire  kindles,  then  speak  with 
your  tongue."  The  ready  excuse  for  not  complying  with  this 
advice,  which  springs  to  every  lip,  is,  "  Time ;  the  sort  of 
prayer  you  describe  asks  time  ;  and  my  occupations  drive  me 
into  a  corner  for  time."  To  which  the  answer  is  two-fold  : 
first,  that  time  might  probably  be  gained  by  a  very  little  of  that 
self-discipline,  which  surely  no  man  should  grudge  to  bestow 
on  the  work  of  his  salvation.  Let  conscience  answer  whether 
despite  all  this  pressure  of  occupation,  time  is  not  continually 
made  for  engagements  of  an  agreeable  nature  }  And  if  made 
for  them,  why  not  for  more  serious  engagements  }  Secondly; 
that  as  in  other  things,  so  in  prayer, — a  little  done  well  is 
vastly  better  than  more  done  superficially.  Let  it  be  re- 
membered, too,  that  both  the  precept  and  the  model  which 
our  Lord  has  given  us,  rather  discountenance  long  prayers. 
We  are  expressly  counselled  by  Him  against  using  vain  re- 
petitions, and  thinking  that  we  shall  be  heard  for  our  much 
speaking.  E.  M.  Goulburn. 


Monday.] 

^ra^er  t^e  (Bnerg^?  of  t^e  (gmn  feife. 

PRAYER   AND   GOD'S   OMNIPOTENCE. 

As^  and  ye  shall  receive   that  your  joy  may  be  fulL — Gospel  for 
THE  Week. 


^I^EOPLE  say,  or  think,  if  they  do  not  always  say,  that  if 
\l  God  interferes  exceptionally  about  the  weather  at  all,  as 
He  is  Omnipotent  and  All-loving,  He  will  surely  do  what  I 
want,  and  what  is  good  for  me,  without  any  asking  on  my  part ; 
and  further,  they  will  say,  does  it  not  unduly  elevate  man's  im- 
portance to  think  that  he  should  presume  to  ask  God  Almighty 
to  take  a  certain  course,  dictating  thereby  to  Him  the  line  of 
action  which  He  is  to  assume.  To  these  objections  it  is 
sufficient  surely  to  say  that,  first  of  all,  God  is  a  living  God  ; 
that  He  has  not  abdicated  His  power  in  favour  of  any  law,  how- 
ever good  and  uniform  in  its  action  ;  secondly,  that  all  prayer 
is  conditioned,  as  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  by  these  three  limita- 
tions, "  Hallowed  be  Thy  Name  ";  grant  my  prayer  only  if  it 
be  to  Thy  glory;  "Thy  Kingdom  come";  grant  my  prayer 
only  on  condition  that  it  be  to  the  spread  of  Thy  great  Empire 
of  justice  and  truth;  "Thy  will  be  done";  hear  my  prayer 
only  so  far  as  it  coincides  with  Thy  great  plan.  Grant  me  my 
wishes  only  so  far  as  they  are  in  accordance  with  Thy  great 
will.  And  thirdly,  we  may  say  (and  this  is  a  truth  which  we 
need  to  note  very  carefully) ;  that  when  God  asks  us  to  pray. 
He  is  merely  asking  us  to  do  that  which  He  requires  of  us  at 
every  stage  of  our  life,  as  a  condition  of  every  blessing  ;  namely, 
to  work  together  with  Him,  to  do  our  part  in  contributing  to 
our  own  needs  before  He  extends  to  us  His  bounty, 

W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 

189 


[Rogation  Tuesday. 

^va^^t  t^e  €nerg)^  of  i^e  (giBzn  £ife. 


PRAYER   AND    NATURE. 


£/ias  zuas  a  majt  subject  to  like  passions  as  zve  are,  and  he  prayed 
earnestly  that  it  might  not  rain,  and  it  rained  not  .  .  .  and  he 
prayed  again,  and  the  heaven  gave  rain. — S.  James  v.  17-18. 


^Y>HAT  is  it  that  inspires  this  unquenchable  determination 
to  continue  hoping  against  hope,  this  clogged  resolve  to 
believe  in  God's  ability  not  merely  to  hear,  but  also,  if  He  will, 
to  accede  to  the  petitions  His  children  bring?  It  is,  I  think, 
the  conviction  lying  deep  down  in  the  mind,  and  fast  rooted 
there,  that  God  is  a  Person,  not  a  mere  force  like  magnetism 
or  heat  or  attraction,  but  a  Being  possessed  of  what  we  know 
among  ourselves  as  reason,  and  will,  and  loving- kindness,  one 
capable  of  forming  a  purpose  and  working  out  a  plan.  .  .  . 
We  are  often  told  that  it  argues  a  downright  puerility  to  sup- 
pose that  God  either  can  or  will  answer  our  requests  because 
Nature  is  clearly  and  beyond  all  question  an  intricately  con- 
trived machine,  no  more  able  to  alter  its  motions  and  change 
its  bearings  in  compliance  with  a  spoken  word  of  request  than 
a  steam-engine  or  a  clock  or  a  loom.  This  would  be  an  un- 
answerable argument  in  favor  of  fatalism,  and  against  the 
potency  of  prayer,  were  Nature  a  machine  of  which  we  could 
see  the  whole,  but  it  is  not.  There  is  a  background  of  mystery, 
a  region  none  of  our  senses  can  penetrate,  and  there,  wholly 
out  of  sight,  lie  the  beginnings  of  power.  It  may  be  that 
behind  the  veil  which  sunders  the  seen  from  the  unseen,  the 
hand  which  keeps  the  wheel-work  all  in  motion  is  turned  this 
way  rather  than  that,  or  that  way  rather  than  this,  because  two 
or  three  believing  souls  have  agreed  on  earth  touching  some 
blessing  they  desire  to  have,  some  work  they  would  see  done. 

W.  R.  Huntington. 

Fifth  week  after  Easter?^ 

190 


RooATiox  Wednesday.] 

^ra^er  t^e  €nergi?  of  f ^e  (gieen  £ife. 

ANSWERS   TO    PRAYER   A   MATTER   OF   EXPERIENCE. 

Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  My  Na?tie,  He  zo I II  give  it 
y0ii_ — Gospel  for  the  Week. 


'T^HAT  prayer,  sooner  or  later,  is  answered  is,  for  all  who 
^  have  prayed  earnestly  and  constantly,  in  different  degrees, 
a  matter  of  personal  experience.  David,  Elijah,  Hezekiah, 
Daniel,  the  Apostles  of  Christ,  were  not  the  victims  of  an  illu- 
sion, in  virtue  of  which  they  connected  particular  events  which 
would  have  happened  in  any  case  with  prayers  that  preceded 
it.  They  who  never  pray,  or  who  never  pray  with  the  humility, 
confidence,  and  importunity  that  win  a  way  to  the  Heart  of 
God,  cannot  speak  from  experience  as  to  the  effects  of  prayer  ; 
nor  are  they  in  a  position  to  give  credit,  with  wise  and  gener- 
ous simplicity,  to  those  who  can.  But,  at  least,  on  such  a 
subject  as  this,  the  voice  of  the  whole  company  of  God's  serv- 
ants may  be  held  to  counterbalance  a  few  a  />rwri  surmises 
or  doctrines.  It  is  the  very  heart  of  humanity  itself  which 
from  age  to  age  mounts  up  with  the  Psalmist  to  the  Eternal 
Throne—"  O  Thou  That  hearest  prayer,  unto  Thee  shall  all 
flesh  come."  And  Christians  can  penetrate  within  the  veil. 
They  know  that  there  is  a  majestic  pleading,  which  for  eigh- 
teen centuries  has  never  ceased,  and  which  is  itself  omnipotent 
—the  pleading  of  One  who  makes  their  cause  His  Own  :  they 
rest  upon  the  Divine  words,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the 
Father  in  My  Name,  He  will  give  it  you. 

H.   P.   LiDDON. 


191 


[Ascension  Day. 

$:^e  (^0cen6ion. 

ITS   NATURE. 

And  when  He  had  spoken  these  things,  while  they  beheld,  He  was 
taken  up,  and  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight. — Epistle  for 
Ascension  Day. 

T^HE  ascent  of  Christ  into  Heaven  was  not  metaphorical 
^^  or  figurative,  as  if  there  were  no  more  to  be  understood 
by  it,  but  only  that  He  obtained  a  more  heavenly  and  glorious 
state  or  condition  after  His  resurrection.  For  whatsoever 
alteration  was  made  in  the  body  of  Christ  when  He  rose,  what- 
soever glorious  qualities  it  was  invested  with  thereby,  that  was 
not  His  ascension,  as  appeareth  by  those  words  which  He 
spake  to  Mary,  Touch  Me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet  asce?ided  to 
My  Father.  .  .  .  Now  this  kind  of  ascension,  by  which 
Christ  had  not  yet  ascended  when  He  spoke  to  Mary  after  His 
resurrection,  was  not  long  after  to  be  performed  ;  for  at  the 
same  time  He  said  to  Mary,  Go  to  My  brethren,  and  say  unto 
them,  I  ascend  ittto  My  Father  and  your  Father.  And  when 
this  ascension  was  performed,  it  appeared  manifestly  to  be  a 
true  local  translation  of  the  Son  of  Man,  as  Man,  from  these 
parts  of  the  world  below  into  the  heavens  above ;  by  which  that 
body,  which  was  before  locally  present  here  on  earth,  and  was 
not  so  then  present  in  heaven,  became  substantially  present 
in  heaven,  and  no  longer  locally  present  on  earth.  For  when 
He  had  spoken  unto  the  disciples,  and  bltssed  them,  laying  His 
hands  upon  them,  and  so  was  corporally  present  with  them,  even 
while  He  blessed  them  He  was  parted  fro?n  thejn.  .  .  .  This 
was  a  visible  departure,  as  it  is  described,  a  real  removing  of 
that  body  of  Christ,  which  was  before  present  with  the  Apos- 
tles ;  and  that  body  living  after  the  resurrection,  by  virtue  of 
that  soul  which  was  united  to  it.  Btshop  Pearson, 

Ascensiontide.'] 


Friday.] 

$0e  (^0cen0ion. 

A   SUBJECT   FOR   DEVOUT   CONTEMPLATION. 

No7v  I  go  My  ivay  to  Hi77i  that  sejit  Me:  and  none  of  you  asketh 
Me,  Whither  goest  Thoti  ? — S.  John  xvi.  5. 


-T^HERE  was  so  much  that  He  was  waiting,  longing  to  be- 
^^  stow  on  them,  so  much  of  comfort,  guidance,  hght,  if 
only  they  had  looked  up  and  away  from  their  own  fears,  and 
had  pressed  on  to  ask  Him,  "Whither  goest  Thou?"  It  is 
just  one  instance  of  the  world-wide  pathos  of  neglected  oppor- 
tunities— of  blessings  close  at  hand,  unnoticed  or  misunder- 
stood or  slighted ;  the  pathos  of  God's  willingness  while  men 
will  not.  And  surely,  the  teaching  of  the  words  bear  plainly  on 
us  all.  They  bid  us  ask  ourselves  whether  the  great  truth  of 
our  Lord's  Ascension,  the  disclosure  of  the  height  to  which 
He  has  lifted  our  manhood,  has  ever  told  on  our  thoughts  and 
lives  at  all  as  He  would  have  it  tell.  "  None  of  you  asketh  Me, 
whither  goest  Thou  ?  "  We  may  almost  imagine  Him  speak- 
ing so  to  us,  when  our  poor  views  of  human  life,  our  subjection 
to  sorrow  or  despondency,  our  loss  of  heart,  our  halting,  timid 
aspirations,  show  so  little  sense  of  the  triumph  we  celebrate 
to-day,  so  little  energy  of  thought  and  care  about  the  glory 
which  He  has  entered,  the  way  which  He  has  opened  us,  the 
place  which  He  prepares  for  us.  The  answer  to  that  question, 
"Whither  goest  Thou?"  can  be  given  in  this  life  but  partially 
and  very  gradually ;  given  in  the  manifold  experience  of  living, 
suffering,  repenting,  praying.  But  even  then  fragments  of  the 
answer,  if  we  really  try  to  work  them  into  our  daily  thoughts, 
our  practical  estimate  of  what  we  ought  to  be  and  do,  our 
survey  of  the  world  and  of  our  place  in  it,  may  disclose  un- 
ending stores  of  light  and  power.  F.  PAGET. 

If» 

193 


[Saturday. 

^^e  (Recension. 

ITS   LESSONS. 

What  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  tip  where  He  was 
before. — S.  John  vi.  62. 


^JlHEN  we  declare  our  belief  in  Christ's  Ascension,  we 
declare  that  He  has  entered  upon  the  completeness 
of  spiritual  being  without  lessening  in  any  degree  the  complete- 
ness of  His  Humanity.  The  thought  is  one  with  which  we  need 
to  familiarize  ourselves.  We  cannot,  indeed,  unite  the  two  sides 
of  it  in  one  conception,  but  we  can  hold  both  firmly  without 
allowing  the  one  truth  to  infringe  upon  the  other.  And  as  we 
do  so  we  shall  see  how  the  Ascension  illuminates  and  crowns 
the  lesson  of  the  Resurrection ;  how  it  brings  home  to  us  now 
all  that  the  Apostles  learnt  by  their  companionship  with  Christ, 
their  earthly  Teacher,  and  with  Christ  their  Risen  Lord.  By 
the  Ascension  all  the  parts  of  life  are  brought  together  in  the 
oneness  of  their  common  destination.  By  the  Ascension 
Christ  in  His  Humanity  is  brought  close  to  every  one  of 
us,  and  the  words  "in  Christ,"  the  very  charter  of  our  faith, 
gain  a  present  power.  By  the  Ascension  we  are  encour- 
aged to  work  beneath  the  surface  of  things  to  that  which 
makes  all  things  capable  of  consecration.  We  ponder  these 
lessons  of  the  Presence  of  Christ  Ascended  about  us  and  in  us 
all  the  days  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  sense  of  our  own 
weakness  becomes  perhaps  more  oppressive  than  before. 
Then  it  is  that  the  last  element  in  our  confession  as  to 
Christ's  work  speaks  to  our  hearts.  He  is  not  only  present 
with  us  as  Ascended  :  He  is  active  for  us.  We  believe  that 
He  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty. 

Bishop  Westcott, 

Ascensiontide. "[ 

194 


Sunday  after  Ascension  Day.] 

CHRIST  EXALTED   AS   KING  OF   KINGS. 

Jesus  Christ  to  whom  be  praise  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen. — Epistle  for  the  Week. 


3T  is  our  Lord's  supreme  place  in  the  universe  now,  and 
His  reign  now  in  the  worlds,  visible  and  invisible,  which 
we  commemorate  in  His  ascension.  We  are  specially  told  in 
Scripture  never  to  think  of  our  Lord  as  having  gone  away  and 
left  His  Church,  but  alway  to  think  of  Him  as  now  reigning, 
now  occupying  His  throne  in  heaven,  and  from  thence  ruling 
over  all.  He  rules  in  His  invisible  dominions,  among  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect ;  He  rules  in  the  Church  here  below 
still  in  the  flesh.  There  He  receives  a  perfect  obedience,  here  an 
imperfect  one  ;  but  He  still  rules  over  all ;  and  though  we  may, 
many  of  us,  resist  His  will  here,  He  overrules  even  that  resist- 
ance, to  the  good  of  the  Church,  and  conducts  all  things  and 
events  by  His  spiritual  providence  to  their  great  and  final  issue. 
"  The  Lord  is  King,  be  the  people  never  so  impatient ;  He  sit- 
teth  between  the  cherubims,  be  the  earth  never  so  unquiet." 
This  (festival)  especially  puts  before  us  our  Lord  in  His  human 
nature,  because  it  was  in  that  nature  that  He  ascended  up  to 
heaven.  "  Thou  madest  Him  lower  than  the  angels,  to  crown 
Him  with  glory  and  worship.  Thou  madest  Him  to  have 
dominion  over  the  works  of  Thine  hands,  and  hast  put  all  things 
in  subjection  under  His  feet."  So  was  it  accomplished  on  that 
day,  when  our  Lord,  even  as  the  Apostles  beheld  Him,  "  was 
taken  up  and  received  into  heaven,  and  sat  on  the  right  hand 
of  God."  "  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates;  and  be  ye  lift  up, 
ye  everlasting  doors:  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in." 

J.  B.  MOZLEY. 

195 


[Monday. 

$^e  @6cen6ion. 

CHRIST    MADE  AN    HIGH    PRIEST   FOR   EVER. 

We  have  such  an  high  priest.  Who  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens. — Heb.  viii.  1. 


'JT'HERE  are  two  closely  connected  ways  by  which  Christ 
^^  after  His  glorification  began  a  new  work  for  mankind, 
the  one  inward,  towards  God  ;  the  other  outward,  towards  the 
world.  The  first  is  the  exercise  of  an  immeasurably  increased 
power  of  intercession.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we 
appear  to  be  given  to  understand  that  so  far  from  having 
accomplished  and  laid  aside  His  priestly  function  with  His 
death,  our  Lord  was  first  truly  consecrated  to  His  priesthood 
on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection  (Heb.  v.  5,  6.).  The  sac- 
rificial task  was  not  at  an  end  when  His  life  was  laid  down  on 
Calvary,  which  answered  to  the  slaughter  of  the  typical  vic- 
tims. The  whole  point  of  the  sacrifice  lies  in  the  presentation 
of  that  life,  enriched  and  consecrated  to  the  utmost  by  having 
undergone  death,  and  still  and  for  ever  living,  in  the  inmost 
presence  of  God.  Christ  then  has  passed  within  the  veil  to 
complete  His  merciful  work  for  men,  by  pleading  for  them, 
.  .  .  appearing  for  them  "  in  the  presence  of  God," — and  by 
pleading  for  them  in  the  irresistible  power  which  His  perfect 
discharge  of  His  mission  has  given  Him.  What  may  be  the 
nature  and  mode  of  His  advocacy  is  beyond  our  power  to 
conjecture  ;  but  we  can  feel  it  to  be  reasonable  that  the  needs 
of  the  creation  should  in  some  such  way  find  representation 
through  Him  who  is  its  first-born,  not  only  ideally,  but  by  being 
the  first  to  pass  from  the  natural  into  the  spiritual  order,  "the 
first-begotten  from  the  dead"  (Col.  i.  18.). 

A.  J.  Mason. 

Ascensiontide. ^ 

196 


Tuesday.] 

$^e  @0cen0ton. 

A   SUBJECT   FOR  FAITHFUL  CONTEMPLATION. 

We  see  Jesus,  Who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the 
suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. — Heb.  ii.  9. 


^fYlE  may  confess,  there  are  some  special  difficulties  pre- 
sented by  this  event  when  we  contemplate  it,  ask 
what  it  means,  consider  what  it  involves.  It  is  not  only  that, 
whereas  Christmas  brings  the  Eternal  into  our  very  midst,  the 
Ascension  "parts  Him  from  our  sight,"  hides  Him  behind  the 
veil  of  the  unseen  world  ;  it  is  also  impossible  to  answer  the 
questions  that  may  be  raised  as  to  the  actual  removal  of 
Christ's  human  body  into  "  the  heavenly  places,"  or,  as  S.  Paul 
once  phrases  it,  "  far  above  all  the  heavens."  But  can  we 
exp^ect  to  answer  them  ?  It  has  been  well  said  that  "  physical 
difficulties  in  such  a  case  are  practically  trifling,"  because  we 
do  not  understand  the  conditions  of  existence  attaching  to  that 
which,  as  belonging  to  the  Incarnate,  is  in  truth  the  "  body  of 
God  ";  nor,  in  fact,  do  we  know,  in  any  full  sense,  what  is 
meant  by  "  the  highest  heaven,"  considered  as  the  scene  of  our 
Lord's  glorified  life.  Nor  must  we  look  for  the  heaven  of 
"  God's  right  hand  "  among  the  skies  which  astronomy  has 
examined,  and  which,  as  S.  Peter  says,  "  are  in  the  way  to  be 
dissolved."  At  the  same  time  we  are  well  assured  that  the 
Resurrection  of  Christ  carried  with  it  His  Ascension  ;  given  the 
one,  the  other  follows:  He  could  not  tarry  on  earth — He  could 
not  but  go  up  on  high,  that  is,  transfer  His  bodily  existence 
into  some  inmost  sanctuary  of  Divine  glory,  some  central  home 
of  eternal  power  and  life.  W.  Bright. 

Ascensiontide. ^ 

197 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  (^sceneion. 

ITS   MORAL   POWER. 

But  he,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  looked  up  steadfastly  into 
heaven,  and  sazv  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right 
hand  of  God. — Acts  vii.  55. 

^TTeRE  is  the  great  thought  that  this  time  brings  with  it, 
^y  the  thought  of  the  close  fellowship  and  kindred  which 
Christ  has  made  between  earth  and  heaven  ;  the  thought  that 
one  of  the  sons  of  men  is  actually  and  really  lifted  up  to  the 
throne  of  God  ;  the  thought  that  in  Him,  we  too,  His  brethren, 
belong  to  heaven.  Oh,  that  we  could  take  in  and  learn  some- 
thing of  this  truth,  of  this  astonishing  thought !  "  Who  is  he 
that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather,  that  is  risen 
again.  Who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  Who  also  maketh 
intercession  for  us."  If  we  could  but  feel  it  in  its  full  reality, 
surely  it  would  be  too  great  to  speak  of.  But  at  least  let  us 
dwell  on  it  as  we  can.  And  not  now  only,  not  as  a  Sunday 
thought,  a  thought  for  Church  and  for  the  hours  of  prayer 
and  praise.  That  is  not  the  time  when  you  most  want  it  ;  that 
is  not  the  time  for  which  it  was  chiefly  sent  you,  that  is  not  the 
time  when  it  may  do  you  most  good.  When  you  are  in  the 
world,  in  its  business,  its  troubles,  its  amusements,  then  is  the 
time  to  recollect  your  fellowship  with  heaven  and  how  near 
that  high  and  wondrous  place  has  been  brought  to  our  lowli- 
ness and  poverty.  .  .  .  Think  of  it  when  you  are  tempted 
to  be  selfish,  shabby,  ill-natured,  base-minded.  Think  of  it 
when  the  gain,  or  honor,  or  pleasure  of  the  world  is  beginning 
to  blind  your  eyes  and  dull  your  heart.  .  .  .  Oh,  wonderful 
and  merciful  Saviour,  lift  our  hearts  to  Thee,  and  teach  us  Thy 
lesson  to  be  heavenly-minded.  R.  W.  Church. 

A  scensiontide?^ 

198 


Thursday.] 

THE  VARIOUS   SPHERES  OF  BEING  IN   HEAVEN. 

In  my  Father' s  house  are  many  mansions:  if  it  were  not  so  I 
ivould  have  told  you. — S.  John  xiv.  2. 


a|Xy  our  Lord's  Ascension  into  Heaven,  we  mean  His  dis- 
^&  appearance  into  the  spiritual  realm  which  pervades  the 
material.  And  that  realm,  as  He  has  Himself  assured  us,  con- 
sists of  various  spheres  of  being.  The  common  notion  about 
heaven,  I  suppose,  is  that  it  is  one  vast  place  in  which  the 
whole  human  race  together  with  the  angels,  shall  be  assembled 
after  the  general  judgment,  and  there  live  for  ever  in  ceaseless 
adoration.  Very  different  is  the  view  which  our  Lord  gives  us 
of  heaven.  He  describes  it  as  a  world  of  many  abodes.  "  In 
My  Father's  house  are  many  dwelling-places ;  if  it  were  not  so 
I  would  have  told  you."  In  other  words,  it  is  natural  to  expect 
that  there  should  be  different  dwelling-places,  different  spheres 
of  being,  different  plans  of  existence  in  the  spiritual  world  ;  so 
natural  indeed  is  it  that,  were  it  otherwise,  our  Lord  would 
have  made  a  special  revelation  on  the  subject ;  .  .  .  our 
own  instincts  confirm  our  Lord's  declaration.  .  .  .  Human 
beings  are  pouring  daily  into  the  spiritual  world  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  a  minute.  This  vast  multitude  pass  out  of  this  life  in 
every  stage  of  moral  development  or  degeneration,  and  it  stands 
to  reason  that  they  are  not  all  equally  fitted  for  the  same  abode 
in  the  world  of  spirits.  Even  those,  who  make  the  best  of 
their  opportunities  here  do  not  necessarily  inhabit  the  same 
abode  in  the  next  world.  The  faithful  servant  who  increased 
his  Lord's  money  ten-fold  received  "  authority  over  ten  cities"; 
while  he  whose  pound  gained  five  more  was  made  ruler  "over 
five  cities."  .  .  .  Each  received  the  full  measure  of  his 
ability  to  enjoy.  MALCOLM  MacColl. 

199 


[Friday 

Z^c  (Recension. 

THE   HAPPINESS   OF   HEAVEN. 

Blessed  is  he    that    shall  cat   bread  in    the    kingdom    of   God. — 
S.  Luke  xiv.  15. 


'TVlHILE  the  goal,  the  resting-place,  the  perfect  work  is  in- 
deed beyond  our  scrutiny,  we  know  enough  to  teach  us 
which  are  those  blessings  of  our  present  life  wherein  the  purest 
foretaste  of  the  life  to  come  is  granted  to  us.  I  shall  always 
remember  with  gratitude  the  words  which  a  poor  woman 
used  to  me  not  long  after  her  husband's  death,  in  speaking  of 
her  difficulty  in  thinking  clearly  about  heaven.  Her  husband 
had  borne  with  very  beautiful  and  steadfast  patience  an  illness 
of  many  years'  duration  ;  and  she  in  the  intervals  of  hard  work, 
had  tended  him  with  constant  gentleness.  And,  having  spoken 
quite  simply  of  her  privilege  in  this,  as  she  felt  about  in  her  mind 
for  the  thought  that  might  come  nearest  to  her  hope  about  the 
rest  that  remaineth  for  God's  people — "  Sometimes,"  she  said, 
"  I  think,  sir,  that  being  very  happy  with  some  one  as  you  know 
is  living  a  good  life,  must  be  more  like  it  than  anything  else." 
Surely  she  was  not  wrong.  A  writer  of  fine  culture  and  pene- 
tration .  .  .  has  spoken  of  "the  earthly  rudiments  of  the 
eternal  happiness."  "  We  think,"  he  writes,  "  there  is  a  Divine 
love  which  shall  be  our  happiness  in  heaven  ;  ve  think  it  has 
been  manifested  on  earth,  and  that  earth  still  retains  traces  of 
it,  which  are  foretastes  to  those  who  find  them."  The  two 
minds  trained  so  differently  meet  exactly  in  owning  the  same 
simple  truth  ;  in  recognizing  the  same  line  of  continuity  between 
the  purest  happiness  that  is  known  on  earth  and  the  happiness 
of  heaven  that  cannot  yet  be  known.  F.  Paget. 

Asce7ist07itjde.\ 


WiiiTSUN  Eve.] 

2:0e  (^eceneion. 

THE   PROMISED   GIFT   OF   THE  HOLY   GHOST. 

When  He  ascended  up  on   high.  He  led  captivity  captive  and  7-c- 
ceived  gifts  for  nien.      Eph.  iv.  8. 


3F  the  Apostles  had  been  altogether  left  to  their  own 
resources  by  their  ascending  Lord,  could  they  have 
formed  so  true,  so  wonderful  an  estimate  of  the  bearmgs  and 
proportions  of  His  Life,  as  by  their  writings  to  rule  the  thought 
and  kindle  the  enthusiasm  of  all  the  ages  of  Christendom  ? 
Are  the  Epistles  of  S.  Paul,  or  is  the  character  of  S.  John  to 
be  explained  by  any  searching  analysis  of  their  natural  gifts,  of 
their  educational  antecedents,  of  their  external  contact  with  the 
manifested  Redeemer,  of  the  successive  circumstances  and 
directions  of  their  lives  ?  Surely  not.  Even  though  the  Pente- 
costal miracle  had  not  been  recorded,  some  supernatural  inter- 
ference must  have  been  assumed,  in  order  seriously  to  account 
for  the  moral  transformation  of  the  Apostolical  character, 
and  for  the  intellectual  range  of  the  Apostolical  writings.  Of 
itself  the  departure  of  our  Risen  Lord  would  neither  have 
permanently  illuminated  the  reflections  of  the  Church,  nor  yet 
have  quickened  the  graces  of  its  separate  members.  But  He 
left  this  earth  in  His  bodily  form,  to  return  as  a  quickening 
Spirit,  present  in  force  and  virtue,  before  He  comes  to  be 
present  in  judgment.  He  ascended  up  on  high  to  obtain  gifts 
for  men,  and  having  received  of  the  Father,  as  the  bounteous 
first-fruits  of  His  opening  and  omnipotent  intercession,  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  shed  upon  the  earth  those 
wondrous  gifts  which  the  first  Christians  saw  and  heard. 
With  the  Apostles  we  must  wait  until  Pentecost  if  we  would 
enter  into  the  full  expediency  of  the  Ascension. 

H.  P.   LiDDON. 


[Whitsunday. 

t^c  Coming  of  f^e  gof^  &^Bt 

THE    DAY   OF    PENTECOST. 

T/iey  Tuere  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place. — Acts  ii.  1. 


T^HERE  they  continued  where  they  were  gathered  together, 
^^  the  small  band  of  Disciples,  the  mustard-seed  which  was 
to  grow  into  the  great  tree  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  there  they 
awaited  the  Advent  of  the  Comforter;  musing  on  the  past, 
.  .  .  and,  intent  on  the  future,  with  holy  anxiety  picturing 
to  themselves  what  this  Other  Comforter  should  be, — not 
knowing  whether  He  would  appear  in  human  guise,  or  as  an 
angel  of  light,  or  whether  He  would  be  all  Divine  ;  wondering 
how  He  should  be  to  them  what  Jesus  had  been  in  His  per- 
sonal ministry,  and  how  He  would  even  have  a  closer  fellow- 
ship with  them,  and  that,  not  for  a  time,  but  "for  ever." 
They  continued  in  supplication,  listening  to  every  sound,  ex- 
pecting His  arrival  every  moment,  when  suddenly — the  build- 
ing trembled  with  the  sound  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and, 
to  their  amazement,  there  spread  out  upon  them  and  around 
them  from  one  centre,  a  seraphic  shower, — tongues  of  fire  like 
one  vast  halo  of  glory,  and  "  sat  upon  each  of  them," — and  the 
Apostles  were  filled  with  the  same  Spirit  which  had  dwelt 
from  the  days  of  Nazareth  in  the  Manhood  of  Jesus.  It  was 
the  enlargement  of  the  Spirit's  Home  in  Human  Nature, — as 
He  had  been  able  to  "  rest  "  on  Christ,  so  now  the  fiery  tongue 
"  sat  "  upon  each  of  them,  so  calm  and  abiding  is  that  Presence. 
O  dearly  bought  Mystery!  All  the  Mysteries  of  our  Lord  led 
the  way  for  this ;  His  Birth,  Life,  Death,  Resurrection,  Ascen- 
sion, Glorification,  were  so  many  stages  in  procuring  it.  "  I 
am  come,"  saith  Christ,  "to  send  Fire  on  the  earth." 

W.    H.    HUTCHINGS. 


Whit  Monday.] 

t^  Coming  of  f ^e  gof^  (B^0t 

ITS   EFFECTS. 

They  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy   Ghosts  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues  as  the  spirit  gave  them  utterance. — Acts  ii.  9. 


^ET  us  remark  the  effects  of  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
^^  The  Apostles  became  new  men.  They,  who  a  few  days 
since  had  forsaken  Christ  and  fled,  now  suffered  gladly  for 
Him.  One  of  their  number,  who  had  quailed  at  a  woman's 
voice  in  the  high-priest's  hall,  and  had  thrice  denied  his  Master, 
now  valiantly  confessed  Him  in  the  presence  of  priests  and 
Pharisees,  and  charged  them  with  having  killed  the  Just  One. 
They  who  had  taken  refuge  in  an  upper  room  with  closed  doors 
"  for  fear  of  the  Jews  "  now  came  forward  in  streets  and  public 
places,  and  in  the  sight  of  all  men  "  spake  the  word  with  bold- 
ness." They  who  so  lately  had  striven  together  who  should 
be  the  greatest,  now  "had  all  things  common."  They  whose 
eyes  were  blinded  that  they  could  not  understand  the  Scriptures 
concerning  their  Master,  had  now  a  "  mouth  and  wisdom  which 
all  their  adversaries  were  not  able  to  gainsay,"  and  now  proved 
from  those  Scriptures  that  He  is  very  Christ.  They  who  had 
been  dumb  with  dismay  and  could  scarce  speak  their  own  lan- 
guage with  propriety  (for  the  Galilean  dialect  of  S.  Peter  be- 
wrayed him  to  be  illiterate  and  of  a  despised  province),  now 
spake  with  holy  eloquence  in  every  language  under  heaven,  "as 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance."  Such  was  the  agency  employed 
by  God  to  teach  the  Apostles:  such  were  the  results  of  the 
coming  and  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Bishop  C.  Wordsworth. 

203 


[Whit  Tuesday. 

t^t  Coming  of  t^e  gofi?  (B^obI 

HIS  WORK   IN   NATURE,  PROVIDENCE,  AND  THE  CHURCH. 

/^nd  the    Spirit  of  God  7noved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. — 
Gen.  I.  2. 


^^HE  special  glory  of  the  Church  is  the  personal  indwelling 
^^  Presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  making  it  the  "  Habitation 
of  God,"  the  "Temple  of  the  Living  God."  S.  Paul  says  that, 
in  the  Body  of  Christ,  we  "have  been  all  made  to  drink  into 
one  Spirit."  In  Nature,  God  the  Holy  Spirit  is  hovering  over 
us;  very  near  to  us;  touching  us;  kissing  Nature,  brooding 
over  it ;  filling  it  with  life  and  light  and  beauty.  He  is  near, 
also,  in  Providence  ;  guiding  and  governing  the  nations,  lightly 
touching  the  wills  of  men,  swaying  their  minds,  giving  the  im- 
pulse to  what  we  may  call  "the  spirit  of  the  age."  All  is 
working  out  the  Will  of  God,  the  Plan  of  God.  All  this,  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  to  do  with ;  lifting  on  the  ship  of  humanity, 
swelling  its' sails  with  His  breeze;  guiding  the  world  of  Provi- 
dence, yet  still,  not  within  it.  Over  Providence  He  spreads 
His  wings,  and  "  sweetly  and  prudently  ordereth  all  things," 
with  His  controlling  power.  But  in  the  Church,  He  works 
from  within.  Within  the  innermost  sanctuary  of  our  being, 
stands  self;  and  behind  self,  in  some  real  and  true  way,  is  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  the  Church,  working 
out  His  purposes  from  within,  till  they  reach  the  soul  and 
body;  uplifting  the  affections  of  the  soul  and  finally  quickening 
and  reanimating  the  body.  Bishop  Webb. 


Whitsuntide. 'X 


Wednesday.] 

t^c  Coming  of  f^e  gofg  <B^6l 

HIS  WORK    IN  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

fV/io  spake  by  the  Prophets. — The  Nicene  Creed. 


^ITe  Who  was  the  Divine  Agent  in  the  blessed  Incarnation, 
^y  He  Who  made  and  sustained  the  manhood  of  the 
Second  Adam,  it  is  He  who  was  the  Divine  Agent  in  this 
glorious  parallel  process,  the  construction  of  Scripture.  He 
so  managed  the  long  antecedent  march  of  prophecy  that  Moses, 
whatever  was  the  Prophet's  consciousness  in  writing,  wrote  of 
Christ,  and  "  David  in  the  Spirit "  called  Him  His  Master,  and 
Isaiah  saw  His  glory  and  spake  of  Him  ;  yes,  so  that  the  risen 
Redeemer  Himself  found  " /;z  all  the  Scripttcres"  ihtXh'mgs 
concerning  Himself.  So  did  He  design,  manipulate,  and 
accomplish,  that  "  every  Scripture  hath  in  it  the  Spirit  of  God." 
So  did  He  speak  by  the  Prophets  that  when  an  Apos- 
tolic writer  quotes  the  words  of  Jeremiah,  he  ignores,  as  it 
were,  the  Prophet's  personality,  intense,  tender,  and  profoundly 
interesting  and  instructive  as  that  particular  personality  was. 
.  .  .  He  is  citing  the  words  as  capable  of  carrying  authori- 
tative, decisive  weight  on  eternal  principles  and  facts.  And  he 
sees  nothing  for  that  purpose  but  their  ultimate  Authorship  : 
"Whereof  the  Holy  Ghost  also  is  a  Witness  unto  us  ;  for  after 
that  He  had  said  before,  This  is  the  Covenant,"  etc.  The 
words  are,  in  a  sense,  in  a  true  sense,  Jeremiah's.  But  for 
the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  they  are  simply  the  words  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  And  so  they  must  be  to  us,  if  we  would  lean  the 
whole  weight  of  our  human  need  on  them  in  life  and  in  the 
hour  of  death.  Evacuate  Scripture  of  its  Divine  authorit3%  and 
you  so  far  paralyze  its  power  for  Divine  consolation. 

H,  C,  G.  Mqule. 

Whitsuntide.'] 

205 


[Thursday. 

t^c  Coming  of  f^  ©of^  (B^Bt 

HIS   INTERCESSIONS. 

//e   maketh   intercession  for   the  saints  according  to  the   zuill  of 
God. — Rom.  viii.  27. 


T^HERE  are  two  ways  in  which  the  Divine  Spirit  deals  with 
^^  our  prayers,  so  marvellously  changing  them  as  that  they 
become  His  own.  First,  He  corrects  what  is  amiss  in  the 
breathings  of  the  soul  in  which  He  dwells.  .  .  .  He  residing 
in,  and  acting  with,  the  regenerate  soul,  knowing  our  neces- 
sities before  we  ask,  and  our  ignorance  in  asking,  illumines  the 
soul  as  to  what  its  want  is,  or  pleads  for  that  true  need  which 
lies  at  the  root  of  every  prayer,  so  that  under  His  gracious  in- 
fluence our  prayers  are  accepted  as  the  desire  of  our  hearts,  not 
for  the  false  good  which  we  have  ignorantly  implored,  but  for 
the  real  good  which  we  know  not.  It  is  His  gracious  work  in 
the  hearts  of  God's  servants  to  direct  aright  to  right  objects 
and  in  a  right  channel  the  groanings  of  redeemed  humanity; 
His  work  to  give  form  and  substance  to  the  profound  but  vague 
aspirations  of  the  soul  of  man ;  to  prevent  men  from  lapsing 
into  mere  idle  dreamers,  instead  of  being  energetic  labourers 
in  God's  world,  which  is  the  great  snare  of  intellectualism  ;  to 
convert  these  undefined  desires,  groanings  not  to  be  put  into 
words  by  human  philosophy,  into  specific  anxiety  to  be  shown 
God's  will  and  enabled  to  do  it,  specific  prayers  for  the  mastery 
of  passion,  the  purification  of  the  appetites,  the  extermination 
of  sin;  for  the  being  made  earnest  fellow-workers  with  God 
here  in  the  dispersion  of  ignorance  and  the  relief  of  suffering, 
for  the  being  conformed  now  unto  His  likeness  in  all  purity 
and  truth  and  thus  prepared  for  a  closer  vision  of  Himself  here- 
after !  Bishop  Woodford. 

Whitsuntide.'] 

206 


Friday.] 

t^c  Coming  of  t^e  ®of^  (B^osl 

HE   GIVES    INSPIRATION    TO   DUTY. 

He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire. — S.  Luke, 
III.  16.  

^ZTe  not  merely  gives  clearness  to  truth,  but  gives  delight  and 
^^  enthusiastic  impulse  to  duty.  These  Ephesians  had  not 
merely  believed  much  Christian  truth,  they  had  been  trying 
also  to  do  what  was  right ;  they  had  accepted  the  Christian 
law  so  far  as  they  knew  it.  We  can  think  of  them  as  very 
patient,  persevering  workers,  struggling  to  do  everything  that 
they  were  told  they  ought  to  do.  Now,  what  did  Paul  do  for 
them  here  when  he  brought  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy 
Spirit?  I  think  the  answer  will  be  found  in  that  verse  of  the 
Saviour's  in  which  He  described  what  the  Holy  Spirit's  work 
should  be.  "He  shall  take  of  Mine  and  shall  show  it  unto 
you,"  Jesus  had  said.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  was  to  make 
Jesus  vividly  real  to  men.  What  He  did  then  for  any  poor 
Ephesian  man  or  woman  who  was  toiling  away  in  obedience 
to  the  law  of  Christianity,  was  to  make  Christ  real  to  the  toil- 
ing soul  behind  and  in  the  law.  He  took  the  laborer  there  in 
Ephesus  who  only  knew  that  it  was  a  law  of  Christianity  that 
he  ought  to  help  his  brethren,  and  made  it  as  personal  a 
thing,  as  really  the  wish  of  Christ,  that  he  should  help  his 
brethren,  as  it  had  been  to  the  twelve  Disciples  when 
they  were  living  under  Christ's  eye.  .  .  .  This  was  the 
change  which  the  Holy  Spirit  made  in  Duty.  He  filled 
it  with  Christ,  so  that  every  laborer  had  the  strength, 
the  courage,  the  incitement  to  fidelity  which  comes  from  work- 
ing for  one  whom  the  worker  knows  and  loves.  .  .  .  Duty 
has  been  transfigured.  The  weariness,  the  drudgery,  the 
whole  task-nature,  has  been  taken  away. 

Bishop  Phillips  Brooks. 


[Saturday. 

t^c  Coming  of  t^e  gof^  (B^0t 

HE    GLORIFIES    CHRIST. 

//e  shall  glorify  Me:  for  He  shall  receive  of  Mine,  and  shall  shew 
it  tuito  you. — S.  John,  xvi.  14. 


TJ^HIS  is  what  the  Comforter  does  through  the  whole  of  His 
^^  threefold  work.  In  every  part  of  it  He  glorifies  Christ. 
In  convincing  us  of  sin,  He  convinces  us  of  the  sin  of  not 
believing  in  Christ.  In  convincing  us  of  righteousness.  He 
convinces  us  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  of  that  righteous- 
ness which  was  made  manifest  in  Christ's  going  to  the  Father, 
and  which  He  received  to  bestow  it  on  all  such  as  should 
believe  in  Him.  And  lastly,  in  convincing  us  of  judgment,  He 
convinces  us  that  the  Prince  of  this  world  was  judged  in  the 
Life  and  by  the  Death  of  Christ.  Thus  throughout  Christ  is 
glorified ;  and  that  which  the  Comforter  shows  to  us  relates  in 
all  its  parts  to  the  life  and  work  of  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God. 
In  like  manner  all  the  graces  which  the  Spirit  bestows  are  the 
graces  which  were  manifested  in  the  life  of  Christ.  It  is  Christ's 
love  that  He  shows  to  us  and  gives  to  us,  .  .  .  and  Christ's 
joy  in  His  communion  with  His  Father, — and  the  peace  which 
Christ  had  when  He  had  overcome  the  world, — and  Christ's 
long  suffering  in  praying  that  His  murderers  might  be  for- 
given,— and  Christ's  bounty  in  giving  of  all  the  treasures  of 
heaven, — and  the  faithfulness  of  Him  Who  is  the  faithful 
Witness,  Himself  the  Truth, — and  the  gentleness  with  which 
Christ  took  up  little  children  in  His  arms  and  blessed  them, — 
and  Christ's  meekness  in  never  answering  again  ;  ...  all 
these  graces  the  Spirit  of  God  desires  to  give  to  all  who 
believe  in  Christ  Jesus,to  every  one  of  you,  so  that  Christ  may 
be  found  in  you,  and  that  your  life  may  be  swallowed  up  in  His 
life.  Thus  shall  ye,  too,  glorify  Christ ;  and  with  Him  you 
will  glorify  the  Father.  Julius  Charli.s  Hare. 

Whitsuntide .  ]  208 


PART  II, 


C^e  C^tieti&n  ^tfe 


TRINITY  TO  ADVENT 


Add  to  your  faith  virtue." 


"  If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  Commandments. 


"And  seeing  the  multitudes,  He  went  up  into  a  mountain: 
and  when  He  was  set.  His  disciples  came  unto  Him  :  and  He 
opened  His  mouth,  and  taught  them." 


"And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three;  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity." 


Trinity  Sunday.] 

$9e  (glgsf erg  of  f ^e  ^ofj?  ttiniii^. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  DOCTRINE. 

Earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  njito  the 
saints. — Jude  3. 


^TjHK  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity  in  Unity  has  proved  itself 
^^  the  conservator  and  upholder  of  other  beliefs  which 
appeal  more  evidently  to  the  affections  than  it  does  itself,  but 
which,  experience  has  proved,  will  in  the  long  run  stand  or  fall 
with  it.  This  is  the  reason  why  Trinity  Sunday  is  made  the 
crown  and  climax  of  that  part  of  the  Christian  year  which  com- 
memorates the  life  of  Christ.  All  the  momentous  truths  that 
lie  scattered  along  our  path  from  the  first  Sunday  in  Advent  to 
Whit-Sunday,  are  gathered  up  into  a  single  sheaf  to-day,  and 
this  strong  formula  serves  as  a  three-fold  cord  to  bind  them 
into  unity.  Take,  for  example,  the  belief  of  which  Christmas 
Day  is  the  commemoration,  namely,  the  union  of  the  Divine 
and  the  human  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  Eternal  Fatherhood  and  the  Eternal  Sonship  which  alone 
can  keep,  as  experience  would  seem  to  teach,  that  precious  faith 
of  the  Saviour's  Divinity  bright  and  clear.  But  the  doctrine 
of  the  Eternal  Fatherhood  and  the  Eternal  Sonship  is  part  of 
the  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  Disown  the  threeness  of  the 
Godhead,  and  presently  your  teaching  about  Christ's  Divinity 
will  become  thin,  shadowy,  vague.  Again  take  the  doctrine  of 
the  Atonement,  the  belief  in  the  sacrificial  character  of  the 
Death  of  Christ ;  certainly  all  must  acknowledge  the  tremendous 
hold  which  that  has  had  upon  the  affections  of  men.  .  .  . 
Deny  the  essential  Deity  of  Christ,  declare  Him  to  be  a  creature, 
and  a  creature  only,  and  what  doctrine  could  be  more  monstrous 
than  such  a  one  as  the  Atonement  ?      W,  R.  Huntington. 


[Monday. 

$^e  (^i^Bictt  of  t^e  gof^  ^nni% 

PREPARATION     FOR     ITS     REVELATION. 

He  left  not  Himself  without  witness. — Acts,  xiv.  17. 


^^HE  doctrine  that  there  is  some  kind  of  Trinity  in  the  Divine 
^^  nature,  derives  much  antecedent  probabiUty  from  a  con- 
sideration of  the  mythology  and  philosophy  of  ages  and  nations 
to  which  Christianity  as  such  was  wholly  unknown.  It  is 
singular  that  three  should  always  have  been  a  sacred  number, 
its  only  rival,  and  that  at  a  considerable  distance,  being  seven, 
for  which  also  a  reason  can  be  found  in  our  revelation.  If 
there  be  natural  reasons  why  these  numbers  should  be  so  re- 
garded, then  is  that  fact  yet  more  remarkable.  It  is  surprising 
that  almost  all  the  Pagan  systems  of  Theology  which  have  pre- 
vailed among  refined  and  intellectual  nations,  should  have  made, 
at  least  the  higher  deities  easily  groupable  in  threes.  Surely 
one  would  rather  have  expected,  among  the  Greeks,  for  in- 
stance, four  brothers;  one  to  be  supreme  over  each  element, 
.  .  .  or  at  least  that  when  we  come  to  the  Fates,  to  the 
government  of  the  gods  themselves,  we  should  at  last  have 
arrived  at  absolute  unity,  instead  of  which  we  do  in  fact  find 
triplicity  in  both  cases,  and  triplicity  allied  to  unity,  for  they 
are  triplets  of  brothers  and  sisters.  But  still  much  more  re- 
markable is  it  that  Plato  should  have  suggested,  and  his  heathen 
followers  developed  a  kind  of  Trinity,  or  rather  perhaps  Tri- 
unity,  seeing  that  even  this  is,  as  it  were,  developed  from  Unity. 
.  .  .  But  if  Plato  surprise  us,  what  shall  we  say  when  we 
find  the  head  of  one  of  the  chief  philosophical  sects  of  China, 
Laou  Tsze,  asserting  a  very  similar  doctrine  ?  What  but  that 
in  nature,  or  primaeval  revelation,  there  must  be  something  to 
reconcile  men  to  this  doctrine,  and  even  to  suggest  and  foster  it. 

Bishop  Steere. 

Trinity  IVcei.] 


Tuesday.] 


A    HELP    TO    THE    REASON. 


JVe  speak  the  wisdo7n  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even  the  hidden  wisdom, 
zvhich  God  ordained  before  the  world  nnto  our  glory. — 1  Cor.  ii.  7. 


^HE  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  has  indeed  a  place  by  itself,  as 
^  concerned  with  a  truth  so  infinitely  remote  from  us  as 
the  nature  of  the  Deity;  though  even  that  doctrine  was  not 
maintained  in  the  early  Church  apart  from  a  moral  ground,  a 
ground  of  natural  feeling  and  religious  instinct.  For  when  the 
unity  of  the  Deity  was  objected  to  by  Pagan  opponents  of 
Christianity,  on  the  ground  that  it  involved  a  solitary  state,  and 
that  a  solitary  state  was  not  in  agreement  with  our  natural  idea 
of  happiness,  the  objection  was  admitted  as  a  natural  one,  but 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  adduced  in  answer  to  it ; 
according  to  which  the  Deity  was  not  represented  as  a  solitary 
Being,  but  as  having  a  kind  of  society  within  Himself.  And 
certainly,  whether  we  look  to  the  popular  or  the  esoteric  ideas 
of  the  Deity  in  the  ancient  world,  to  the  established  religions 
or  to  the  theological  systems  of  philosophical  schools,  the 
notion  of  a  solitary  Deity  does  not  seem  to  have  approved 
itself  to  the  human  mind.  Those  who  asserted  in  opposition 
to  the  polytheism  of  the  mass,  the  unity  of  God  still  qualified 
it ;  and  it  may  safely  perhaps  be  said  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  had  some  kind  of  anticipation  of  it  in  ancient  philosophy. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  thus  regarded,  is  rather  a  con- 
cession to  our  reasonable  and  intellectual  nature,  than  a  stum- 
bling-block to  it.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  understand  how  persons 
can  really  consider  it  philosophical  to  reduce  the  unity  of  the 
Deity  to  such  a  unity  as  we  understand  and  attribute  to  human 
persons.  J.  B.  MOZLEY. 


[Wednesday, 

$^e  {glt^0f eri?  of  i^c  J^of^  tnnii^* 

NOT    TO    BE    COMPREHENDED. 

Verily  thou  art  a  God  that  hidcst  Thyself,  O  God  of  Israel,  the 
Saviour. — Isa.  xlv.  15. 

rV^OT  only  do  we  see  Him  at  best  only  in  shadows,  but  we 
Vi  cannot  bring  even  these  shadows  together,  for  they  flit 
to  and  fro  and  are  never  present  to  us  at  once.  We  can  indeed 
combine  the  various  matters  which  we  know  of  Him  by  an  act 
of  the  intellect  and  treat  them  theologically,  but  such  theolog- 
ical combinations  are  no  objects  for  the  imagination  to  gaze 
upon.  Our  image  of  Him  never  is  one,  but  broken  into  num- 
berless partial  aspects,  independent  each  of  each.  As  we  can- 
not see  the  whole  starry  firmament  at  once,  but  have  to  turn 
ourselves  from  east  to  west,  and  then  round  to  east  again, 
sighting  first  one  constellation  and  then  another,  and  losing 
these  in  order  to  gain  those,  so  it  is,  and  much  more,  with  such 
real  apprehensions  as  we  can  secure  of  the  Divine  Nature. 
.  .  .  Break  a  ray  of  light  into  its  constituent  colours,  each 
is  beautiful,  each  may  be  enjoyed :  attempt  to  unite  them,  and 
perhaps  you  produce  only  a  dirty  white.  The  pure  and  indi- 
visible Light  is  seen  only  by  the  blessed  inhabitants  of  heaven  ; 
here  we  have  but  such  faint  reflections  of  It  as  its  diffraction 
supplies  ;  but  they  are  sufficient  for  faith  and  devotion.  At- 
tempt to  combine  them  into  one,  and  you  gain  nothing  but  a 
mystery,  which  you  can  describe  as  a  notion,  but  cannot  depict 
as  an  imagination.  And  this  holds,  not  only  of  the  Divine 
Attributes,  but  also  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  Unity.  And  hence, 
perhaps,  it  is  that  the  latter  doctrine  is  never  spoken  of  as  a 
Mystery  in  the  New  Testament,  which  is  addressed  far  more 
to  the  imagination  and  affections  than  the  intellect. 

J.  H.  Newman. 

Trinity  If'eek.] 


Thursday.] 

$?e  (^i^Bhx2  of  f^e  ^ofi^  ttiniit* 

APPREHENDED   BY   EXPERIENCE. 

IVe  have  knozvn  and  believed. — 1  S.  John  iv.  :6.' 


3T  is  remarkable  that  the  Apostles  seem  to  have  experienced 
no  intellectual  difficulty  in  regard  to  this  Trinity  in  the 
Godhead.  I  suppose  this  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  difficulties  in  logic  do  not  trouble  us  at  all  where  facts  of 
experience  are  in  question.  Thus  we  are  often  ludicrously  at 
fault  in  attempting  to  give  a  logical  account  of  quite  familiar 
experiences,  for  example,  of  the  inner  relations  of  those  three 
strangely  independent  elements  of  our  spiritual  being,  will  and 
reason  and  feeling,  or  of  the  relation  of  mind  and  body.  But 
our  inability  to  explain  facts  logically  goes  no  way  at  all  to 
alter  our  sense  of  their  reality.  Now  the  Apostles  lived  in  a 
vivid  sense  of  experienced  intercourse,  first  with  the  Son,  then 
with  the  Father  through  the  Son,  later  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  through  the  Holy  Ghost. 
This  vivid  experience,  outward  and  inward,  made  logical 
formulas  unnecessary.  When  the  formula  of  the  Trinity — 
three  persons  in  one  substance — was  developed  in  the  Church 
later  on,  through  the  cross-questioning  of  heresies,  it  was  with 
many  apologies  for  the  inadequacy  of  human  language,  and 
with  a  deep  sense  of  the  inscrutableness  of  God.  The  formula 
was  simply  intended  to  express  and  guard  the  realities  dis- 
closed in  the  Person  of  Jesub  Christ,  and  great  stress  was  laid 
on  the  Divine  Unity.  C.  GORE. 


[Friday. 

$^e  (gt^sterj?  of  t^e  gofi?  Jrinifi?. 

ACKNOWLEDGED     IN     THE     EUCHARIST. 

The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the 
communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all. — 2  Cor.  xiii.  14. 


'jt^ERE,  in  the  Eucharist,  we  can  so  easily  and  so  helpfully 
^^  acknowledge  the  full  plenitude  of  the  Trinity.  God  the 
Father,  the  mighty  Giver ;  God  the  Son,  the  perfect  Gift  ;  God 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  clean  and  pure  Receiver.  Each  one  His 
office;  each  one  His  part  and  place;  each  one  we  bless  and 
glory  and  thank.  At  no  part  do  they  fail  us,  the  whole  action 
is  complete,  on  every  side  of  us  is  support  assured.  We  move 
forward  to  His  high  altar,  surrounded,  unsurpassed  on  every 
side  by  the  whole  fulness  and  abundance  of  the  Godhead.  It 
is  the  Highest,  the  Holy,  the  Eternal,  who  spreads  His  table; 
it  is  the  blessed,  the  everlasting  Intercessor,  whose  fiesh  and 
blood  we  eat  and  drink;  it  is  the  Holy  Comforter  who  spreads 
out  hands  from  within  us,  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  the 
Father  the  Body  of  the  Son.  And  all  Three  are  One.  That 
which  is  given  is  holy  as  God  Himself,  the  Giver  ;  it  is  not  less 
holy  than  He ;  the  Gift  is  as  utterly  and  entirely  Divine  as  the 
Father  Himself  who  gives  it ;  the  Receiver  is  no  less  holy  and 
pure  than  the  Gift  or  the  Giver.  Nothing  is  lost  of  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  Gift,  nothing  is  spoilt  or  sullied ;  wide  and 
entire  the  Spirit  of  God  receives  that  holy  thing  which  the 
Father  gives  and  presents.  Yes  !  the  whole  united  authority 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity  assures  and  secures  to  us  our  salvation 
by  the  Body  and  the  Blood,  and  therefore  it  is  that,  in  spite  of 
all  our  miserable  and  hideous  defilements  we  .  .  .  can 
venture  ...  to  laud  and  magnify  the  glorious  Name  ever- 
more praising  God  and  saying,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God 
of  hosts,  heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  Thy  glory.  Glory  be  to 
Thee,  O  Lord  Most  High."  H.  ScOTT  HOLLAND. 

Trinity  Week.]  214 


Saturday.] 

t^c  (glgefeti^  of  f^e  gofi?  ttiniii^. 

ITS   LESSONS. 

Through  Him  we  both  have  access  by  one  Spirit  tmto  the  Father.- 
Eph.  II.  18. 


Ti'HOUGH  the  nature  of  God  must  needs  be  mysterious  to 
^^  our  understandings,  there  is  no  mystery  in  the  benefits 
we  receive  from  Him,  nor  any  darkness  in  the  duty  we  owe  Him. 
Without  comprehending  how  the  three  Persons  of  the  Godhead 
are  united  in  one  eternal  God,  we  may  glorify  Each  for  His 
Excellent  Greatness  and  Goodness  to  man.  We  may  glorify 
the  Father,  the  original  Fountain  of  all  things.  Who  sent  His 
only  Son  to  work  out  our  salvation.  We  may  glorify  the  Son, 
Who  undertook  and  has  accomplished  that  salvation.  We 
may  glorify  the  Holy  Ghost,  Who  is  graciously  present  with  the 
faithful  in  Christ  to  write  His  words  in  their  hearts,  to  comfort 
and  succour  them,  and  to  lead  them  in  the  steps  of  their  Re- 
deemer to  the  gates  of  heaven  which  He  has  opened.  The 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  were  not  revealed  to  us 
that  we  might  be  more  knowing  than  the  heathens.  We  were 
told  of  the  Father,  that  we  might  obey  the  Father;  we  were 
told  of  the  Son  that  we  might  be  delivered  from  our  sins  by 
the  Son  ;  we  were  told  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  we  might  wel- 
come Him  into  our  hearts,  and  throw  them  open  to  receive 
Him.  What  will  it  avail  us  to  have  heard  of  the  Father,  if  we 
choose  to  be  cast  out  for  ever  from  His  Presence  ?  What  to 
have  heard  of  the  Son,  if  we  reject  the  atonement  of  His  Blood  } 
What  to  have  been  brought  up  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  if  we  despise  His  warnings,  drive  Him  from  our  hearts 
by  our  impurities,  and  remain,  like  Gideon's  fleece,  dry  in  the 
midst  of  so  much  moisture  ?  AUGUSTUS  W.  Hare. 


[First  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

$^e  Sounbation  (SitiucB, 

JUSTICE,  PRUDENCE,  TEMPERANCE,  FORTITUDE. 

Add  to  your  faith  virtue. — 2  S.  Peter  i.  5. 


/teACH  of  us,  if  his  inward  faculties  do  severally  their 
^^  proper  wori<:,  will,  in  virtue  of  that,  be  a  just  man,  and  a 
doer  of  his  proper  work. 

Is  it  not,  then,  essentially  the  province  of  the  rational  prin- 
ciple to  command,  inasmuch  as  it  is  wise,  and  has  to  exercise 
forethought  in  behalf  of  the  entire  soul,  and  the  province  of 
the  spirited  principle  to  be  its  subject  and  ally  .'*  And  would 
not  these  two  principles  be  the  best  qualified  to  guard  the 
entire  soul  and  body  against  enemies  from  without ;  the  one 
taking  counsel,  and  the  other  fighting  its  battles,  in  obedience 
to  the  governing  power,  to  whose  designs  it  gives  effect  by  its 
bravery  } 

In  like  manner  we  call  an  individual  brave  in  virtue  of  the 
spirited  element  of  his  nature,  when  this  part  of  him  holds  fast, 
through  pain  and  pleasure,  the  instructions  of  the  reason  as  to 
what  is  to  be  feared  and  what  is  not. 

And  we  call  him  wise,  in  virtue  of  that  small  part  which 
reigns  within  him  and  issues  these  instructions. 

Again,  do  we  not  call  a  man  temperate  in  virtue  of  the 
friendship  and  harmony  of  these  same  principles,  that  is  to  say, 
when  the  two  that  are  governed  agree  with  that  which  governs 
in  regarding  the  rational  principle  as  the  rightful  sovereign 
and  set  up  no  opposition  to  its  authority  ?  Plato. 


216 


Monday.] 

$§e  Sounbafion  (Pirfues* 

JUSTICE. 

This  people  have  I  formed  for  Myself;  they  shall  shew  forth  My 
praise. — Isa,  xliii.  21. 


■T^HE  rights  of  God — they  are  not,  like  the  rights  of  man, 
^^  conferred  rights.  They  belong  to  God,  because  He  is 
what  He  cannot  but  be.  They  cannot  but  be  His,  God 
Almighty,  as  He  is,  cannot  place  anything  beyond  the  limits  of 
His  own  being.  All  that  exists,  exists  in  God.  We  live,  move, 
and  have  our  being  in  Him  Who  gave  it  us.  We  live  minute 
by  minute,  because  He  Who  gave  us  life  so  many  years  ago,  it 
may  be,  w^ills,  minute  by  minute,  that  we  should  continue  to 
enjoy  it.  As  our  Creator  then,  and  as  our  upholder  in  life, 
God  has  rights  over  us  to  which  there  is  no  parallel  in  the  rela- 
tions between  man  and  man.  We  cannot  assign  limits  to  these 
higher  rights.  What  is  each  human  life  but  a  drop  in  the 
ocean  of  the  infinite — free,  no  doubt,  to  mov^e,  to  act,  within 
certain  limits,  but  unable  to  pass  these  limits — unable  to 
escape  for  one  moment  from  the  encompassing  pressure — from 
the  inevitable  sovereignty — of  that  mighty  hand  which  has 
given  it  being,  and  has  assigned  to  it  its  place  in  His  universe. 
.  .  .  As  the  eternal  Truth,  He  claims  the  homage  of  the 
understanding  of  man.  As  the  perfectly  Holy  One,  He  claims 
the  homage  of  the  will  of  man.  As  the  eternal  Beauty,  He 
claims  the  homage  of  the  affections  of  man.  He  asks  for  these 
things  at  our  hands.  He  gives  us  the  power,  the  awful,  the 
momentous,  power  of  refusing  His  request ;  but  He  asks  us 
not  to  indulge  a  taste  or  a  sentiment,  but  to  do  justice  to  a 
right.  Yes,  we  owe  to  God's  revelation  of  Himself  such  tribute 
as  our  intellects  and  hearts  can  give  as  a  m.atter  of  justice. 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 
217 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  Soun^afion  (pirtues. 

JUSTICE. 

By  this  shall  all  men  ktiow  that  ye  are  My  disciples,  if  ye  have  love 
one  to  another. — S.  John  xiii.  35. 


OJJS  the  difficulty  of  discovering  what  is  right  arises  commonly 
vw''  from  the  prevalence  of  self-interest  in  our  minds,  and  as 
we  commonly  behave  rightly  to  any  one  for  whom  we  feel 
affection  or  sympathy,  Christ  considered  that  he  who  could 
feel  sympathy  for  all  would  behave  rightly  to  all.  But  how  to 
give  to  the  meagre  and  narrow  hearts  of  men  such  enlarge- 
ment? How  to  make  them  capable  of  a  universal  sympathy? 
Christ  believed  it  possible  to  bind  men  to  their  kind 
but  on  one  condition — that  they  were  first  bound  fast  to  Him- 
self. .  .  .  As  love  provokes  love,  many  have  found  it 
possible  to  conceive  for  Christ  an  attachment  the  closeness  of 
which  no  words  can  describe,  a  veneration  so  possessing  and 
absorbing  the  man  within  them,  that  they  have  said,  "  I  live  no 
more,  but  Christ  lives  in  me."  Now  such  a  feeling  carries 
with  it  of  necessity  the  feeling  of  love  for  all  human  beings. 
Love  wheresoever  it  appears,  is  in  its  measure  a  law-making 
power.  "  Love  is  dutiful  in  thought  and  deed."  And  as  the 
lover  of  his  country  is  free  from  the  temptation  to  treason,  so 
is  he  who  loves  Christ  secure  from  the  temptation  to  injure 
any  human  being,  whether  it  be  himself  or  another. 

Professor  Seeley. 


First  after   Trinity?^ 

218 


Wednksday.] 

$0e  Soun^afion  (Pirtue0. 

JUSTICE. 

He  that  is  faithful  in  that  zvhich  is  least,  is  faithful  also  in  much. 
— S.  Luke  xvi.  10. 


^fYlE  may  at  least  labour  for  a  system  of  greater  honesty  and 
kindness  in  the  minor  commerce  of  our  daily  life  ;  since 
the  great  dishonesty  of  the  great  buyers  and  sellers  is  nothing 
more  than  the  natural  growth  and  outcome  from  the  little  dis- 
honesty of  the  little  buyers  and  sellers.  Every  person  who 
tries  to  buy  an  article  for  less  than  its  proper  value,  or  who 
tries  to  sell  it  at  more  than  its  proper  value — every  consumer 
who  keeps  a  tradesman  waiting  for  his  money,  and  every  trades- 
man who  bribes  a  consumer  to  extravagance  by  credit,  is  help- 
ing forward,  according  to  his  own  measure  of  power,  a  system 
of  baseless  and  dishonorable  commerce,  and  forcing  his  coun- 
try down  into  poverty  and  shame.  And  people  of  moderate 
means  and  average  powers  of  mind  would  do  far  more  real 
good  by  merely  carrying  out  stern  principles  of  justice  and 
honesty  in  common  matters  of  trade  than  by  the  most  ingenious 
schemes  of  extended  philanthropy,  or  vociferous  declarations  of 
theological  doctrine.  There  are  three  weighty  matters  of  the 
law — justice,  mercy,  and  truth  ;  and  of  these  the  Teacher  puts 
truth  last,  because  that  cannot  be  known  but  by  a  course  of  acts 
of  justice  and  love.  But  men  put,  in  all  their  efforts,  truth  first, 
because  they  mean  by  it  their  own  opinions ;  and  thus,  while 
the  world  has  many  people  who  would  suffer  martyrdom  in  the 
cause  of  what  they  call  truth,  it  has  few  who  will  suffer  even  a 
little  inconvenience  in  that  of  justice  and  mercy. 

J.   RUSKIN. 


[Thursday, 

Z^c  Soun^aiion  (pirtuee. 

JUSTICE. 

Zoo/;  not  every  man  on  Jiis  ozvn  things,  bat  every  man  also  on  the 
things  of  others. — ruiL.  ii.  4. 


3F  under  Justice  we  include  Truth,  to  which  it  is  in  many 
respects  aUied,  and  understand  the  spirit  of  Fairness  as 
its  best  expression,  we  get  here  a  group  of  what  we  may  call 
the  self-respecting  virtues.  We  cannot  fall  short,  obviously,  of 
prudence,  or  of  fairness,  or  of  courage,  or  of  self-control,  with- 
out losing  our  self-respect,  unless  unfortunately,  our  standard 
has  become  perverted,  and  we  think  it  pretty  or  interesting  to 
seem  silly,  or  cowardly,  or  prejudiced.  .  .  .  Truth  and 
Justice  do  not  mean  simply  truth  in  word  and  action,  or  ab- 
stinence from  taking  unfair  advantages;  but  the  quality  of 
soul  which  strives  to  see  facts  as  they  are,  and  to  divest  our- 
selves of  all  bias  in  favour  of  ourselves  and  our  own  ideas; 
compared  with  those  that  are  not  our  own  ;  looking,  as  S.  Paul 
says,  not  only  on  our  own  things,  but  also  on  the  things  of 
others.  Who  can  say  that  he  is  perfectly  fair  in  all  his 
thoughts?  and  yet,  if,  as  we  believe,  God  is  perfect  Justice, 
how  else  can  we  try  to  grow  like  Him  except  by  acquiring  this 
virtue  ?  And  yet  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  it  overlooked  in  the 
practical  aims  of  the  Christian  Life.  Mary  Bramston. 


First  ajter   Trinity.^ 


Friday.] 

^^e  Soun^afion  (pirtuee. 

JUSTICE. 

That  Just  Man. — S.  Matt,  xxvii.  19. 


>StUCH  being  our  unjust  man,  let  us,  in  pursuance  of  the 
^^  argument,  place  the  just  man  by  his  side — a  man  of  true 
simphcity  and  nobleness,  resolved,  as  yEschylus  says,  not  to 
seem,  but  to  be  good.  We  must  certainly  take  away  the  seem- 
ing ;  for  if  he  be  thought  to  be  a  just  man,  he  will  have  hon- 
ours and  gifts  on  the  strength  of  this  reputation,  so  that  it  will 
be  uncertain  whether  it  is  for  justice's  sake,  or  for  the  sake  of 
the  gifts  and  honours,  that  he  is  what  he  is.  Yes,  we  must 
strip  him  bare  of  everything  but  justice,  and  make  his  whole 
case  the  reverse  of  the  former.  Without  being  guilty  of  one 
unjust  act,  let  him  have  the  worst  reputation  for  injustice,  so 
that  his  virtue  may  be  thoroughly  tested,  and  shown  to  be  proof 
against  infamy  and  all  its  consequences;  and  let  him  go  on 
till  the  day  of  his  death,  steadfast  in  his  justice,  but  with  a  life- 
long reputation  for  injustice. 

After  describing  the  men  (just  and  unjust)  as  we  have  done, 
there  will  be  no  further  difficulty,  I  imagine,  in  proceeding  to 
sketch  the  kind  of  life  which  awaits  them  respectively.  They 
will  say  that  in  such  a  situation  the  just  man  will  be  scourged, 
racked,  fettered,  will  have  his  eyes  burnt  out,  and  at  last,  after 
suffering  every  kind  of  torture,  will  be  crucified.         Plato, 


[Satukday. 

^^e  Sounbation  (Pirtuee. 

JUSTICE. 

With  me  it  is  a  very  S7nall  thing  that  I  should  be  judged  of  you,  or 
of  mail' s  judgment  :  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own  self.  He  that  judg- 
eth  me  is  the  Lord. — 1  Cor.  iv.  3,  4. 


Oj^COUIRE  the  contemplative  way  of  seeing  how  all  things 
Kiy  change  into  one  another,  and  constantly  attend  to  it, 
and  exercise  thyself  about  this  part  of  philosophy.  For  nothing 
is  so  much  adapted  to  produce  magnanimity.  Such  a  man  has 
put  off  the  body,  and  as  he  sees  that  he  must,  no  one  knows 
how  soon,  go  away  from  among  men  and  leave  everything  here, 
he  gives  himself  up  entirely  to  just  doing  in  all  his  actions,  and  in 
everything  else  that  happens  he  resigns  himself  to  the  universal 
nature.  But  as  to  what  any  man  shall  say  or  think  about  him 
or  do  against  him,  he  never  even  thinks  of  it,  being  himself 
contented  with  these  two  things,  with  acting  justly  in  what  he 
now  does,  and  being  satisfied  with  what  is  now  assigned  to 
him  ;  and  he  lays  aside  all  distracting  and  busy  pursuits,  and 
desires  nothing  else  than  to  accomplish  the  strait  course 
through  the  law,  and  by  accomplishing  the  strait  course  to  fol- 
low God.  Marcus  Aurelius. 


First  after   Trinity. \ 


Second  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

$^e  Sounbafion  ©itfues. 

PRUDENCE. 

Keep  sound  wisdom  and  discretion;  then  shalt  thou  walk  in  thy 
way  safely y  and  thy  foot  shall  not  stumble. — Prov.  hi.  21,  23. 


A^RUDENCE  in  man  does  two  things:  it  thinks,  and  it 
V^  either  acts  or  decides  to  abstain  from  acting.  It  looks 
beyond  the  present  moment.  It  is  mainly  concerned,  not  with 
what  is,  but  with  what  is  coming.  It  almost  lives  in  the  future, 
whether  immediate  or  remote,  but  with  a  view  to  present 
action.  Forecast  without  action  is  mere  dreaminess.  Action 
without  forecast  is  always  folly.  Prudence  is  foresight  with  a 
practical  object.  We  all  of  us  know  it  by  sight  when  we  meet 
it  in  the  ordinary  paths  of  life.  Prudence  ?  It  is  the  labouring 
man  who  reflects  that  he  will  not  be  always  strong  and  young, 
and  who  puts  something  by,  year  by  year,  if  he  can  manage  to 
do  so,  for  his  old  age.  Prudence  ?  It  is  the  parent  who  scans 
again  and  again  the  character  of  his  son  before  he  decides  on 
his  work  in  life,  or  on  the  education  which  will  best  prepare 
him  for  it.  Prudence  ?  It  is  the  boy  or  the  young  man,  who 
thinks  to  himself  in  his  wiser  moments  that  health  and  high 
spirits  and  older  friends  and  opportunities  for  improvement 
will  not  always  last,  and  who  betakes  himself  seriously  to  the 
task  of  improving,  as  he  may,  his  mind  and  his  character. 
Prudence  sometimes  acts  by  deciding  not  to  act  where  action 
would  be  more  or  less  natural.  .  .  .  Such  is  prudence  in 
daily  life — sometimes  active,  sometimes  cautious  and  hesitating, 
but  always  thoughtful,  H,  P.  Liddon. 


223 


[Monday. 

$^e  Sounbaf ion  (Pirtues. 

PRUDENCE. 

Ponder  the  path  of  thy  feet,  and  let  all  thy  ways  be  established. — 
Prov.  IV.  26. 


/iKrUDENCE,  which  in  its  rudimentary  stage  we  call  good 
Vp  sense,  when  joined  with  the  virtues  of  Giving,  becomes 
Wisdom.  This  needs  the  two  qualities,  both  of  which  require 
cultivation,  though  some  have  them  by  nature  more  than  others  : 
Observation  or  Watchfulness,  and  Humility,  We  need  obser- 
vation, because  unless  we  keep  our  eyes  open  to  watch  the 
complex  arrangements  of  the  characters  and  circumstances 
among  which  we  are  thrown,  their  effect  on  us  and  ours  on 
them,  and  study  the  results,  we  shall  never  be  able  to  act  wisely 
without  producing  unnecessary  irritation  and  disturbances. 
We  need  humility,  because  if  we  estimate  ourselves  and  our 
own  importance  at  more  than  their  proper  value,  we  shall  pre- 
vent ourselves  from  observing  truly,  just  as  we  cannot  see  accu- 
rately through  a  piece  of  blurred  glass.  Yet  how  few  of  us 
look  upon  Good  Sense,  or  even  Wisdom,  as  a  virtue  which  we 
must  train  ourselves  to  obtain  like  any  other  virtue  !  and  all  the 
time  it  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  forms  of  our  religious  phrase- 
ology to  speak  of  "  the  Only  Wise  God  !  " 

Mary  Bramston. 


Second  after    Trinity.^ 


Tuesday.] 


PRUDENCE. 


T/ie  simple  believeth  every  tvord;  but  the  prudent  7?ian  looketh  ivell 
to  his  going. — Prov.  xiv.  15. 


^fYlE  must  not  give  ear  to  every  saying  or  suggestion,  but 
ought  warily  and  leisurely  to  ponder  things  according  to 
the  will  of  God. 

Those  that  are  perfect  men  do  not  easily  give  credit  to 
everything  one  tells  them ;  for  they  know  that  human  frailty  is 
prone  to  evil,  and  very  subject  to  fail  inwards.  It  is  great 
wisdom  not  to  be  rash  in  thy  proceedings,  nor  to  stand  stiffly 
in  thine  own  conceits  ; 

As  also  not  to  believe  everything  which  thou  hearest,  nor 
presently  to  relate  again  to  others  what  thou  hast  heard  or 
dost  believe. 

Consult  with  him  that  is  wise  and  conscientious,  and  seek  to 
be  instructed  by  a  better  than  thyself,  rather  than  to  follow 
thine  own  inventions. 

A  good  life  maketh  a  man  wise  according  to  God,  andgiveth 
him  experience  in  many  things. 

The  more  humble  a  man  is  in  himself,  and  the  more  subject 
and  resigned  unto  God ;  so  much  the  more  prudent  shall  he 
be  in  all  his  affairs,  and  enjoy  greater  peace  and  quiet  of  heart. 

Thomas  a  Kempis. 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  Soun^ation  (Virtues. 

PRUDENCE. 

Redeeming  the  time,  because  the  days  ai-e  evil. — Ephes.  v.  16. 


AI^RUDENCE,  in  the  service  of  religion,  consists  in  the  pre- 
Vr^  vention  or  abatement  of  hindrances  and  distractions ; 
and  consequently  in  avoiding  or  removing,  all  such  circum- 
stances as,  by  diverting  the  attention  of  the  w^orkman,  retard 
the  progress  and  hazard  the  safety  of  the  work.  .  .  .  But 
neither  dare  we,  as  Christians,  forget  whose  and  under  what 
dominion  the  things  are,  which  stand  around  us.  We  are  to 
remember,  that  it  is  the  world  that  constitutes  our  outward  cir- 
cumstances ;  that  in  the  form  of  the  world  which  is  evermore 
at  variance  with  the  Divine  form  or  idea,  they  are  cast  and 
moulded  ;  and  that  of  the  means  and  measures  which  prudence 
requires  in  the  forming  anew  of  the  Divine  image  in  the  soul, 
the  greatest  part  supposes  the  world  at  enmity  with  our  design. 
We  are  to  avoid  its  snares,  to  repel  its  attacks,  to  suspect  its 
aids  and  succours,  and  even  when  compelled  to  receive  them 
as  allies  within  our  trenches,  yet  to  commit  the  outworks  alone 
to  their  charge,  and  to  keep  them  at  a  jealous  distance  from 
the  citadel.  The  powers  of  the  world  are  often  christened,  but 
seldom  christianized.  They  are  but  proselytes  of  the  outer 
gate :  or,  like  the  Saxons  of  old,  enter  the  land  as  auxiliaries, 
and  remain  in  it  as  conquerors  and  lords. 

S.  T.  Coleridge. 


Second  after   Trinity^ 


Thursday.] 

$^e  Sounbaf  ion  (pirtuee, 

PRUDENCE. 

Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself, — Lev.  xix.  18. 


3T  deserves  to  be  considered,  whether  men  are  more  at 
Hberty,  in  point  of  morals,  to  make  themselves  miserable 
Vv'ithout  reason,  than  to  make  other  people  so;  or  dissolutely 
to  neglect  their  own  greater  good,  for  the  sake  of  a  present 
lesser  gratification,  than  they  are  to  neglect  the  good  of  others. 
It  should  seem  that  a  due  concern  about  our  own  interest  or 
happiness,  and  a  reasonable  endeavour  to  secure  and  promote 
it,  which  is,  I  think,  very  much  the  meaning  of  the  word, 
prudence,  in  our  own  language;  it  should  seem,  that  this  is 
virtue;  and  the  contrary  behaviour  faulty  and  blameable  :  since 
in  the  calmest  way  of  reflection,  we  approve  of  the  first,  and 
condemn  the  other  conduct,  both  in  ourselves  and  others. 
.  .  .  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  nature  has  not  given  us  so 
sensible  a  disapprobation  of  imprudence  and  folly,  either  in 
ourselves  or  others,  as  of  falsehood,  injustice  and  cruelty ;  I 
suppose,  because  that  constant  habitual  sense  of  private  inter- 
est and  good,  which  we  always  carry  about  with  us,  render 
such  sensible  disapprobation  less  necessary,  less  wanting,  to 
keep  us  from  imprudently  neglecting  our  own  happiness,  and 
foolishly  injuring  ourselves,  than  it  is  necessary  and  wanting  to 
keep  us  from  injuring  others,  to  whose  good  we  cannot  have 
so  strong  and  constant  a  regard.  .  .  .  Prudence  is  a 
species  of  virtue,  and  folly  of  vice  ;  meaning  by  folly,  some- 
what quite  different  from  mere  incapacity ;  a  thoughtless  want 
of  that  regard  and  attention  to  our  own  happiness,  which  we 
had  capacity  for.  BiSHOP  Butler. 

227 


[Friday. 


$^e  Soun^af  ion  (Pirtue0. 

PRUDENCE. 

Glorify  God  in  your  body. — 1  Cok.  vi.  20. 


AO  inconsistent  are  mankind,  they  ill-use  their  poor  bodies 
^^  most  cruelly,  most  wickedly  ;  they  treat  them  as  a  boy 
does  a  plaything ;  sacrifice  their  well-being  to  every  idle  whim 
of  the  mind  and  every  low  caprice  of  the  appetite.  If  they 
are  remonstrated  with  they  will  pay  no  heed  ;  they  say,  "  Oh,  I 
am  very  well,"  or,  "  I  am  never  accustomed  to  think  of  my 
health,"  or,  "  I  don't  believe  this  will  hurt  me."  They  will  go 
yet  further  ;  they  will  shut  their  eyes  to  the  plainest  indications 
of  suffering  health  ;  they  will  not  notice  little  ailments  ;  they 
will  think  they  are  nothing  and  persist  in  all  their  evil  practices, 
and  all  their  friends  encourage  them ;  until  at  last  the  mischief 
gets  a  little  worse,  they  become  what  they  call  ill,  and  all  is 
terror  and  distress.  A  fuss  is  made,  as  unreasonable  as  the 
former  neglect.  Everything  is  sacrificed  to  this  once-despised 
health,  and  yet  when  it  is  regained,  it  is  only  to  be  again  trifled 
with  in  like  manner.  ...  I  do  not  advocate  people  trying 
to  keep  well,  out  of  a  cowardly  fear  of  being  ill  or  suffering 
pain  or  losing  life,  but  as  a  religious  duty,  in  order  that  they 
may  render  to  God  the  full  service  He  demands  of  them. 

James  Hinton. 


Second  after    Trinity.^ 


Saturday] 

2^^e  Soun^ation  (Pirfues. 

PRUDENCE. 

Prepare  to  meet  thy  God. — Amos  iv.  12, 


^  ^  rt^REPARE,  prepare  for  death  ! " — surely  this  is  the  voice 
\r  of  prudence.  The  one  certain  thing  about  Hfe  is  that 
we  must  leave  it.  The  one  certain  thing  about  death  is  that 
we  must  die.  What  will  happen  first  we  know  not.  How 
much  time  will  pass  before  our  hour  comes  we  know  not.  What 
will  be  the  manner  of  our  death — violence  or  disease — an  acci- 
dent or  what  we  call  natural  causes — we  know  not.  Where 
we  shall  die — at  home,  or  on  a  visit — in  our  beds,  or  in  the 
street,  or  in  a  railway  train,  or  in  a  sinking  steamboat — this, 
too,  we  know  not.  Under  what  circumstances  we  shall  die — in 
solitude  or  among  friends — with  the  consolations  of  religion,  or 
without  them — in  spasms  of  agony,  or  softly,  just  as  if  we  were 
going  to  sleep — this  we  know  not.  The  time,  the  place,  the 
manner,  the  circumstances  of  death — these  are  hidden  from 
every  one  of  us.  But  that  which  stands  out  from  among  all 
these  uncertainties,  in  absolute,  unassailable,  tragic  certainty, 
is  the  fact  itself  that  we  must  die — each  and  all  of  us.  Scripture 
says — experience  echoes — "  It  is  appointed  ! "  "  Prepare,  then, 
to  meet  thy  God  ! " :  this  is  the  second  precept  of  prudence. 

H.   P.  LiDDON. 


229 


[TiiiuD  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

$^e  Sounbaf  ion  (pirtuee. 


TEMPERANCE. 


Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of 
life. — Prov.  IV.  23. 


T^EMPERANCE  is,  I  imagine,  a  kind  of  order  and  a  mastery, 
^^  as  men  say,  over  certain  pleasures  and  desires.  Thus  we 
plainly  hear  people  talking  of  a  man's  being  master  of  himself, 
in  some  sense  or  other  ;  and  other  similar  expressions  are 
used,  in  which  we  may  trace  a  print  of  the  thing.  But  is  not 
the  expression  "master  of  himself"  a  ridiculous  one  ?  For  the 
man  who  is  master  of  himself  will  also,  I  presume,  be  the 
slave  of  himself,  and  the  slave  will  be  the  master.  For  the 
subject  of  these  phrases  is  the  same  person.  Well,  it  appears 
to  me  that  the  meaning  of  the  expression  is,  that  in  the  man 
himself,  that  is,  in  his  soul,  there  resides  a  good  principle  and 
a  bad,  and  when  the  naturally  good  principle  is  master  of  the 
bad,  this  state  of  things  is  described  by  the  term  "  master  of 
himself";  certainly  it  is  a  term  of  praise — but  when,  in  conse- 
quence of  evil  training,  or  the  influence  of  associates,  the 
smaller  force  of  the  good  principle  is  overpowered  by  the 
superior  numbers  of  the  bad,  the  person  so  situated  is  described 
in  terms  of  reproach  and  condemnation,  as  a  slave  of  self,  and 
a  dissolute  person.  Plato. 


Monday.] 

$^e  Soun^ation  Virtues. 

TEMPERANCE. 
The  spirit  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind. — 2  Tim.  i.  7. 


.^ROM  Maximus  I  learned  self-government,  and  not  to  be 
0m^  led  aside  by  anything;  and  cheerfulness  in  all  circum- 
stances, as  well  as  in  illness  ;  and  a  just  admixture  in  the 
moral  character  of  sweetness  and  dignity,  and  to  do  what  was 
set  before  me  without  complaining,  I  observed  that  everybody 
believed  that  he  thought  as  he  spoke,  and  that  in  all  that  he  did 
he  never  had  any  bad  intention  ;  and  he  never  showed  amaze- 
ment and  surprise,  and  was  never  in  a  hurry,  and  never  put  off 
doing  a  thing,  nor  was  perplexed,  nor  dejected,  nor  did  he  ever 
laugh  to  disguise  his  vexation,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  was  he 
ever  passionate  or  suspicious.  He  was  accustomed  to  do  acts 
of  beneficence,  and  was  ready  to  forgive,  and  was  free  from 
falsehood ;  and  he  presented  the  appearance  of  a  man  who 
could  not  be  diverted  from  right  rather  than  of  a  man  who  had 
been  improved.  Marcus  Aurelius. 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  Soun^afion  (Pirtues. 


TEMPERANCE. 


He  that  is  slow  to  anger  is  better  than  the  mighty;  and  he  that 
ruleth  his  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a  city. — Pro  v.  xvi.  32. 


AeLF-RESTRAINT,  .  .  .  the  spirit  which  makes  us 
i^^  keep  ourselves  in  hand  :  wliich  does  not  let  us  become 
too  eager  in  pursuit  of  any  object,  however  personally  attractive 
it  may  be :  which  prevents  us,  in  fact,  from  letting  our  emotions, 
whether  of  desire,  fear,  or  anger,  carry  us  beyond  the  control  of 
our  will  and  our  reason.  Self-restraint  of  action  is  necessi- 
tated by  our  place  in  the  world  as  members  of  a  civilized  so- 
ciety;  but  we  are  apt  to  stop  at  restraint  of  outward  acts  and 
words  and  to  forget  that  if  we  are  to  be  as  well  as  to  do,  we 
want  the  inward  principle  also,  which  makes  us  hold  ourselves 
so  well  in  hand  when  no  temptation  occurs,  that  no  occurrence, 
however  sudden,  can  sweep  it  away.         Mary  Bramston. 


Third  after   Trintty.'\ 


Wednesday.] 

$§e  Soun^afion  (Pirfue0. 

TEMPERANCE. 

He  that  refrainelh  his  lips  is  wise. — Pkov.  x.  19. 


Tt^HE  great  sile?ii  men  !  Looking  round  on  the  noisy  inanity 
^^  of  the  world,  words  with  Httle  meaning,  actions  with 
httle  worth,  one  loves  to  reflect  on  the  great  Empire  of  Silence. 
The  noble,  silent  men,  scattered  here  and  there,  each  in  his 
department;  silently  thinking,  silently  working;  whom  no 
Morning  Newspaper  makes  mention  of !  They  are  the  salt  of 
the  Earth.  A  country  that  has  few  or  none  of  these  is  in  a  bad 
way.  Like  a  forest  which  had  no  I'oots  ;  which  had  all  turned 
into  leaves  and  boughs; — which  must  soon  wither  and  be  no 
forest.  Woe  for  us  if  we  had  nothing  but  what  we  can  show, 
or  speak.  Silence,  the  great  Empire  of  Silence;  higher  than 
the  stars  ;  deeper  than  the  Kingdoms  of  Death !  It  alone  is 
great ;  all  else  is  small.  I  hope  we  English  will  long  maintain 
owx  grand  talent  pour  le  silence.  Let  others  that  cannot  do 
without  standing  an  barrel-heads  to  spout,  and  be  seen  of  all 
the  market-place,  cultivate  speech  exclusively, — become  a 
most  green  forest  without  roots  !  Solomon  says,  There  is  a 
time  to  speak  ;  but  also  a  time  to  keep  silence. 

Thomas  Carlyle, 


[Thursday. 

$^e  Soun^ation  (pirtuee. 


TEMPERANCE. 

Fret  not  thyself. — Ps.  xxxvii.  1. 


A^OLI  aemulari;  Fret  not  thyself — is  the  Psalmist's  tlirice- 
vL  repealed  burden  in  Psalm  xxxvii,  when  he  contemplates 
what  Bishop  Butler  calls  "  the  infinite  disorders  of  the  world." 
Noli  cemulari  should  be  one  of  the  most  oft-repeated  watch- 
words with  us,  who  have  to  deal  in  our  time  and  sphere,  as 
best  we  may,  with  these  disorders.  We  may  need  it,  when 
honestly  constructing  a  plain  and  intelligent  theory  of  the  things 
that  most  concern  us  and  our  work,  and  when  the  actual  facts 
of  history  and  life  give  us  trouble  ;  for  whatever  our  theories, 
we  shall  be  sure  to  meet  with  something  inconvenient  and  per- 
plexing, which  we  could  wish  out  of  the  way.  We  shall  need 
it  in  our  practical  efforts  after  improvement :  for,  take  what 
line  we  may,  we  shall  be  sure  to  meet  with  hindrances  which 
we  cannot  account  for,  and  checks  which  we  had  not  expected. 
We  shall  need  it  when  we  are  going  wi^.h  the  flow  and  rise  of 
the  tide.  .  .  .  The  work  of  God's  righteousness,  the  work 
of  that  Infinite  Wisdom  and  Infinite  Charity,  Whose  servants 
we  are,  needs  cool  heads  and  self-commanding  spirits,  as  well 
as  pure  hearts  and  unflinching  purpose,  and  zeal  that  counts 
not  the  cost.  R.  W.  Church. 


Third  after  Trinity. \ 


234 


Friday.] 

g^^e  Sounbation  ^trf  ue0. 

TEMPERANCE. 

Every  man  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in  all  things. 
—1  Cor.  IX.  25. 


^iJlHEN  Daniel  was  first  brought  into  the  court  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, he  set  himself  a  strict  rule,  not  to  defile  him- 
self with  the  port  1071  of  the  kins^'s  meat  or  with  the  wi7ie  which 
he  drank,  but  rather  to  live  entirely  on  vegetables  and  water. 
That  is,  he  was  very  careful  in  eating  and  drinking,  to  observe 
all  the  laws  of  the  most  perfect  sobriety.  That  is  a  way  which 
God  is  sure  to  bless,  and  they  who  conform  to  it  steadily,  with- 
out taking  pride  in  it  themselves,  or  expecting  to  be  praised  by 
others, — they  are  in  the  fairest  way  to  obtain  grace  to  help  in 
time  of  greater  need.  For  God  cannot  but  be  pleased  with 
those  who  bear  His  presence  so  continually  in  mind  as  to  be 
directed  and  controlled  by  it  in  every  meal  they  partake  of. 
In  this  respect  the  more  trifling  the  matter  appears  in  which 
you  secretly  remember  your  Maker,  the  worthier  and  more 
acceptable  is  the  sacrifice  you  offer  Him,  whether  of  thanksgiv- 
ing or  self-denial.  Let  us  make  up  our  minds  to  throw  away 
no  more  time,  nor  any  more  weaken  our  spiritual  strength,  by 
vain  indulgences,  but  to  govern  our  bodily  appetites  by  this 
one  rule,  that  we  take  what  is  most  simple  and  wholesome,  not 
what  pleases  us  best;  we  shall  find  more  help  in  this  than  we 
can  well  imagine  beforehand,  when  we  come  to  severer  and 
bitterer  trials.  John  Keble. 


[SATtmCAY. 

$^e  Soun^ation  (Pirfuee. 

TEMPERANCE. 

The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  without  partiality. — S.  James  hi.  17. 


AeLF-INDULGENCE  is  not  the  only  enemy  of  self-con- 
^^  trol.  Self-will  is  a  more  subtle  and  far  more  formid- 
able enemy.  Self-will  is  to  mind  what  self-indulgence  is  to 
sense,  the  usurpation  by  a  part  of  that  which  belongs  to  the 
whole.  We  have,  or  we  think  that  we  have,  some  popular 
aptitude,  and  we  yield  ourselves  without  reflection  to  the 
desire  to  vindicate  our  superiority.  Or  we  are  moved  unadvis- 
edly to  express  a  judgment,  and  "  proudly  cling  to  our  first 
fault."  Or  in  the  very  wantonness  of  fancied  security,  we  play 
with  that  for  which  we  do  not  really  care.  In  one  way  or 
other  our  self-love  becomes  engaged  in  the  course  which  we 
have  hastily  adopted.  There  is  no  longer  any  room  for  the 
calm  fulfilment  of  our  whole  work.  We  have  yielded  ourselves 
to  a  tyranny  which  cannot  be  broken  more  easily  than  the 
tyranny  of  passion.  This  intemperance  of  self-will  needs  to 
be  guarded  against  the  more  carefully,  because  it  is  not  visited 
by  the  same  popular  condemnation  as  the  intemperance  of 
self-indulgence,  and  yet  it  is  no  less  fatally  destructive  of  the 
Christian  life.  We  can  all,  I  fancy,  recall  noble  natures  which 
have  been  ruined  by  its  evil  power,  and  looking  within  ourselves 
we  can  feel  the  reality  of  the  peril  which  it  brings. 

Bishop  Westcott. 


Third  after   Trinity.^ 

236 


Fourth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

^^e  Soun^ation  (pirfuee. 

FORTITUDE. 

None  of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  my- 
self, so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy. — Acts  xx.  24. 


^fYlHAT  is  fortitude?  It  is  the  courage  which  will  make  us 
not  only  fight  in  a  good  cause,  but  suffer  in  a  good 
cause.  Fortitude  will  make  a  fearful  person  brave,  and  very 
often  the  more  brave  the  more  fearful  they  are.  .  .  .  If  you 
want  to  see  true  fortitude,  think  of  what  has  happened  thousands 
of  times  when  the  heathen  used  to  persecute  the  Christians, 
How  delicate  women,  who  would  not  venture  to  set  the  sole  of 
their  foot  to  the  ground  for  tenderness,  would  submit,  rather 
than  give  up  their  religion  and  deny  the  Lord  Who  died  for 
them,  to  be  torn  from  husband  and  family,  and  endure  naked- 
ness and  insult  and  tortures,  to  read  of  which  makes  one's 
blood  run  cold,  till  they  were  torn  slowly  piecemeal,  or  roasted 
in  burning  flames,  without  a  murmur  or  an  angry  word — know- 
ing that  Christ, Who  had  borne  all  things  for  them,  would  give 
them  strength  to  bear  all  things  for  Him  ;  trusting  that,  if  they 
were  faithful  unto  death.  He  would  give  them  a  crown  of  life. 
There  was  true  fortitude — there  was  true  faith — there  was 
God's  strength  made  perfect  in  woman's  weakness  ! 

Charles  Kingsley. 


237 


[Monday. 

$^e  Soun^afion  (pirtuee. 

FORTITUDE. 

That   he  may  know  to  refuse  the  evil,  and  choose  the  good. — Isa.  vii. 


A^OURAGE  is  a  kind  of  safe  keeping.  The  safe  keeping 
^^  of  the  opinion  created  by  law  through  education,  which 
teaches  us  what  things  and  what  kind  of  things  are  to  be  feared. 
To  be  thoroughly  preserved  alike  in  moments  of  pain  and  of 
pleasure,  of  desire  and  of  fear,  and  never  to  be  cast  away. 
Dyers,  when  they  wish  to  dye  wool  so  as  to  give  it  the  true 
sea-purple,  first  select  white  wool,  and  then  subject  it  to  much 
careful  dressing,  that  it  may  take  the  colour  as  brilliantly  as 
possible  ;  after  which  they  proceed  to  dye  it.  And  when  the 
wool  has  been  dyed  on  this  system,  its  colour  is  indelible. 
When  we  were  selecting  our  soldiers  and  training  them,  we 
were  only  contriving  how  they  might  best  be  wrought  upon  to 
take  the  colours  of  the  laws,  in  order  that  their  opinion  con- 
cerning things  to  be  feared,  and  on  all  other  subjects,  might  be 
indelible,  owing  to  their  original  nature  and  appropriate  train- 
ing, and  that  their  colour  might  not  be  washed  out  by  such 
terribly  efficacious  detergents  as  pleasure,  which  works  more 
powerfully  than  any  potash  or  lye,  and  pain  and  fear  and  desire, 
which  are  more  potent  than  any  other  solvent  in  the  world. 
This  power  to  hold  fast  continually  the  right  and  lawful  opin- 
ion concerning  things  to  be  feared  and  things  not  to  be  feared, 
I  define  to  be  courage.  Plato. 


Fourth  after   Trinity.] 

238 


Tuesday.] 

$^e  Sounbaf  ion  (Pirfues. 


FORTITUDE. 


/  am  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Je^'iisaletn  for 
the  7iame  of  the  Lord  Jeszcs. — Acts  xxi.  13. 


3N  speaking  of  Courage,  it  is  a  truism  to  say  that  we  must 
not  confuse  animal  courage  with  the  courage  of  endurance, 
which  can  be  attained  by  those  who  have  no  animal  courage  at 
all.  But  the  courage  that  we  ought  to  cultivate,  as  a  quality, 
apart  from  the  occasion  of  its  exercise,  is  not  so  much  uncom- 
plainingness,  which  perhaps  comes  more  properly  under  an- 
other head,  as  gallantry  of  heart.  We  cannot  say  that  we  have 
courage  equal  to  that  shown  in  many  well-known  examples  of 
Pagan  history,  unless  we  have  cultivated  a  disregard  of  possible 
consequences  to  ourselves,  and  have  got  into  the  habit  of  look- 
ing possibilities  of  pain,  trouble  or  death  steadily  in  the  face, 
without  feeling  that  the  world  and  its  interests  would  come  to 
an  end  if  we  were  called  upon  to  face  them.  Otherwise  the 
softness  and  luxury  of  modern  civilization,  and  the  susceptibil- 
ity of  the  imagination  and  the  nerves  in  the  present  day,  have 
a  strong  tendency  to  make  us  cowards ;  and  a  spirit  of  cow- 
ardice means  paralysis  of  usefulness,  and  much  needless  suf- 
fering, even  if  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  proves  strong  enough  at 
some  supreme  moment  to  make  us  ashamed  not  to  face  the 
danger.  MARY  Bramston. 


[Wednesday. 

J^e  Sounbafion  (pirfues. 

FORTITIUDE. 

Let  Its  rttn  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  tis. — Heb.  xii.  1. 


"Ti  HERE  is  something  in  the  very  name  of  Fortitude  whicli 
^^  speaks  to  the  almost  indehble  love  of  heroism  in  men's 
hearts  ;  but  perhaps  the  truest  Fortitude  may  often  be  a  less 
heroic,  a  more  tame  and  business-like  affair  than  we  are  apt  to 
think.  It  may  be  exercised  chiefly  in  doing  very  little  things, 
whose  whole  value  lies  in  this,  that,  if  one  did  not  hope  in  God, 
one  would  not  do  them  ;  in  secretly  dispelling  moods  which 
one  would  like  to  show ;  in  saying  nothing  about  one's  lesser 
trials  and  vexations;  in  seeing  whether  it  may  not  be  best  to 
bear  a  burden  before  one  tries  to  see  whether  one  can  shift  it ; 
in  refusing  for  one's  self  excuses  which  one  would  not  refuse 
for  others.  These,  anyhow,  are  ways  in  which  a  man  may 
every  day  be  strengthening  himself  in  the  discipline  of  Forti- 
tude; and  then,  if  greater  things  are  asked  of  him,  he  is  not 
very  likely  to  draw  back  from  them.  And  while  he  waits  the 
asking  of  these  greater  things,  he  may  b^  gaining  from  the  love 
of  God  a  hidden  strength  and  glory  such  as  he  himself  would 
least  of  all  suspect :  he  may  be  growing  in  the  patience  and 
perseverance  of  the  saints.  Francis  Paget. 


Fourth  after   Trinity^ 


Thursday.] 

$^e  Soun^afion  (Pirfue0. 

FORTITUDE. 

My  son^  despise  7iot  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  zvhen 
thou  art  rebuked  of  Him;  for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth, 
and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  He  receivcth. — Heb.  xii.  5-6. 


T^HOSE  whom  God  is  calling  higher  still  must  learn  to  bear, 
^^  if  they  are  to  receive  God's  gifts — His  best  gifts.  We 
are  not  naturally  humble,  loving,  gentle,  meek.  Humility  is  not 
a  natural  virtue,  meekness  is  not  a  natural  virtue.  God  will 
send  you  some  trial,  some  little  one.  or  some  great  one,  if  He 
wishes  to  develop  in  you  this  saintliness.  Can  you  bear  it.? 
"Woe  unto  you  that  have  lost  patience;  and  what  will  ye  do 
when  the  Lord  shall  visit  you.?"  Are  you  "the  man  of  His 
right  hand,  the  son  of  man  whom  He  made  so  strong  for  His 
own  self?"  Or,  like  S.  Christopher  in  the  legend,  do  you  sink 
beneath  the  exceeding  weight  of  the  Holy  Child  }  It  was 
noticed  some  time  ago  that  a  man  had  discovered  an  invention 
for  making  a  form  of  crystallized  carbon,  which,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  was  a  diamond ;  but  his  invention  was  useless, 
because  of  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  getting  any  vessel  strong 
enough  to  bear  the  intense  heat  to  which  it  must  be  subjected 
during  the  process.  And  so  with  some  of  God's  saints,  they 
faint  beneath  the  trial,  and  the  saintly  virtue  is  not  formed 
within  their  characters,  because  they  have  lost  the  power  of 
endurance.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


241 


[Friday. 


^^e  Sounbafion  (Pitfuee. 

FORTITUDE. 

I  lay  it  dozujt  of  Myself  . — S.  John  x.  18. 


OYlAS  He  not  the  perfectly  brave  man — the  man  Who  endured 
more  than  all  living  men  put  together,  at  the  very  time 
that  He  had  the  most  intense  fear  of  what  He  was  going  to 
suffer?  And,  stranger  still,  endured  it  all  of  His  own  will, 
while  He  had  it  in  His  power  to  shake  it  all  off  at  any  instant, 
and  free  Himself  utterly  from  pain  and  suffering.  .  .  . 
Our  Lord  was  not  like  the  martyrs  of  old,  forced  to  undergo 
His  sufferings  whether  He  liked  them  or  not.  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  Son  of  God ;  He  had  made  the  very  men  who  were 
tormenting  Him  ;  He  had  made  the  very  wood  of  the  cross  on 
which  He  hung;  the  iron  which  pierced  His  blessed  hands; 
and,  for  aught  we  know,  one  wish  of  His,  and  they  would  all 
have  crumbled  into  dust,  and  He  would  have  been  safe  in  a 
moment.  But  He  would  not ;  He  eiidicred  the  Cross.  He  was 
the  only  man  who  ever  really  endured  anything  at  all,  because 
He  alone  of  all  men  had  perfect  power  to  save  Himself,  even 
when  He  was  nailed  to  the  tree,  fainting,  bleeding,  dying.  It 
was  never  too  late  for  Him  to  stop.  As  He  said  to  Peter  when 
he  wanted  to  fight  for  Christ,  "  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot 
now  pray  to  My  Father,  and  He  will  send  Me  instantly  more 
than  twelve  legions  of  angels  ?"    But  He  would  not. 

Charles  Kingsley. 


Fourth  after   Trinity.^ 


Saturday.] 

$0e  Soun^afion  (Pirtuee. 


FORTITUDE. 


Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  tejuptation;  the  spirit  indeed 
is  willing.,  but  the  Jlesh  is  weak. — S.  Matt.  xxvi.  4]. 


^JlHAT  is  chiefly  notable  in  her  is — that  you  would  not,  if 
you  had  to  guess  who  she  was,  take  her  for  Fortitude 
at  all.  Everybody  else's  Fortitudes  announce  themselves 
clearly  and  proudly.  They  have  tower-like  shields  and  lion- 
like helmets,  and  stand  firm  astride  on  their  legs, -and  are  con- 
fidently ready  for  all  comers. 

But  Botticelli's  Fortitude  is  no  match,  it  may  be,  for  any  that 
are  coming.  Worn,  somewhat ;  and  not  a  little  weary,  instead 
of  standing  ready  for  all  comers,  she  is  sitting,  apparently  in 
reverie,  her  fingers  playing  restlessly  and  idle — nay,  I  think, 
even  nervously,  about  the  hilt  of  her  sword. 

For  her  battle  is  not  to  begin  to-day;  nor  did  it  begin  yester- 
day. Many  a  morn  and  eve  have  passed  since  it  began— and 
now — is  this  to  be  the  ending  day  of  it  }  And  if  this — by  what 
manner  of  end  } 

That  is  what  Sandro's  Fortitude  is  thinking,  and  the  playing 
fingers  about  the  sword-hilt  would  fain  let  it  fall,  if  it  might 
be;  and  yet,  how  swiftly  and  gladly  will  they  close  upon  it, 
when  the  far-off  trumpet  blows,  which  she  will  hear  through 
all  her  reverie  !  J.  Ruskin. 


24a 


[Fifth  Sunday  aftek  Trinity. 

t^t  (Retjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     FIRST     COMMANDMENT. 

T/i02<  shall  have  none  olhcr  Gods  but  Me. — Ex.  xx.  3. 


'IpToW  very  little  even  the  best  of  us  take  in  of  the  vastness 
^^  and  comprehensiveness  of  God  !  How  few  of  us  realize 
that  our  own  service  is  dwarfed  and  crippled,  unless  we  recog- 
nize the  place  of  other  individuals,  and  other  races,  in  His 
favour!  It  is  in  vain  to  listen  while  anthropologists  teach  us 
by  means  of  custom  and  folklore  how  much  man  has  in  com- 
mon with  man,  unless  we  deduce  from  the  brotherhood  of  man 
the  lesson  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  and  from  thence  again 
our  own  duty  to  bring  that  Father,  as  He  revealed  Himself  to 
us,  nearer  to  our  less  favoured  brethren.  The  nucleus  of  all 
missionary  duty  lies  in  this  First  Commandment. 

We  sin,  therefore,  against  this  Commandment,  if  we  do  not 
recognize  that  God  is  not  only  our  God,  but  the  God  of  all  the 
world — that  no  nation,  no  class,  no  character  is  indifferent  to 
Him.  We  sin  against  it  if  we  do  not  recognize  His  universal 
claim,  not  only  over  others — over  the  whole  of  human  society — 
but  over  the  whole  of  ourselves.  If  we  keep  back  any  part  of 
ourselves  from  Him  ;  if  we  recognize  Him  as  the  God  of  our 
sorrow,  but  not  the  God  of  our  joy ;  of  our  affections,  but  not  of 
our  intellect ;  of  our  private,  but  not  of  our  public  life  ;  of  our 
childhood  or  our  youth,  but  not  of  our  maturity  of  womanhood 
or  manhood;  of  our  deathbeds,  but  not  of  our  daily  lives;  of 
our  Sundays,  but  not  of  our  working  days  ;  of  our  duties,  but 
not  of  our  amusements  ;  if  we  acknowledge  any  Lord  but  Him  ; 
if,  in  a  word,  we  give  Him  less  than  our  best,  less  than  our- 
selves, less  than  our  all !  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


Monday.] 

$0e  (Heuefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    FIRST    COMMANDMENT, 

/  have  set  the  Lord  ahvays  before  me. — Ps.  xvi.  8. 


T^HEY  who  would  have  God,  in  obedience  to  the  first  law 
^^  of  Divine  morality,  must  not  only  have  a  well-grounded 
belief  in  Him,  but  must  maintain  continually  an  awful  sense  of 
His  Universal  Presence  and  Divine  Knowledge.  They  must 
at  no  time  and  under  no  circumstances  be  without  it.  It  must 
go  with  them  into  the  company  of  others,  and  it  must  keep 
them  company  when  they  are  alone.  They  must  feel  it  as 
close  and  near  to  their  inward  thoughts  and  the  most  secret 
movements  of  their  will  as  to  their  external  gestures  or  overt 
acts. 

Now  this  continual  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  Almighty 
God,  as  it  is  truly  moral,  as  it  tells  directly  and  necessarily 
upon  the  formation  of  habit  and  character,  so  is  moral  also  as 
it  arises  from  distinct,  voluntary  and  habitual  effort,  for  the 
visible  things  of  this  world  surround-  us  so  closely,  and  seize 
upon  our  senses  and  thoughts  with  such  a  forcible  and  con- 
stant power,  that  it  needs  continual  effort  and  recollection  of 
mind  to  keep  the  Invisible  God  and  His  Invisible  Presence, 
and  all  the  other  thoughts  that  belong  to  that  Presence  uni- 
formly and  steadily  before  our  minds. 

Bishop  Moberly. 


[Tuesday. 

t^t  (gtuMion  of  £ife. 

THE     FIRST     COMMANDMENT. 

My  soft,  give  Afe  thine  heart. — Prov.  xxiii.  26. 


A^O  man  is  ever  safe  against  the  love,  the  service  of  sin,  save 
vS^  by  the  power  of  the  love  of  God.  There  is  no  sure  way 
of  i<eeping  the  evil  out  save  by  letting  Him  in — by  the  glad 
welcome,  the  trembling,  thankful,  adoring  recognition  of  Him 
Who  made  us,  that  we  might  find  our  freedom  in  His  service, 
and  our  rest  in  His  engrossing  love.  Yes,  for  here  is  the 
deepest  pathos  of  that  empty  throne  of  which  our  Saviour 
speaks — that  heart  so  easily  reoccupied  by  the  unclean  spirit 
that  has  been  driven  out  of  it ; — that  all  the  while  Almighty 
God  is  waiting,  pleading  that  He  may  enter  in  and  dwell  there  ; 
that  He  may  bring  into  the  wavering  and  aimless  soul  that 
growing  peace  and  harmony  and  strength  which  no  man 
knows  save  in  the  dedication  of  his  life  to  God.  ...  It  is 
pitiful  to  think  how  many  lives  are  passed  in  perpetual  peril 
and  hesitation  ;  how  many  hearts  grow  tired  and  feeble  in  the 
desultory  service  of  they  know  not  what ;  .  .  .  while  all 
the  time  it  is  only  a  little  courage,  a  little  rousing  of  one's  self, 
a  little  venture  in  the  strength  of  faith,  that  is  needed  to  en- 
throne alive  the  empty,  listless  soul,  the  one  love  that  can  give 
joy  and  peace  and  clearness  through  all  the  changes  of  this 
world  ;  the  One  Lord  Who  can  control,  absorb,  ennoble,  and 
fulfil  all  the  energies  of  a  spiritual  being. 

Francis  Paget. 


Fifth  after   Trinity. 

246 


Wednesday.] 

Z^e  (Reijefafton  of  feife. 

THE     FIRST    COMMANDMENT. 

Walk  before  Me,  and  be  thou  terfect. — Gen.  xvii.  1. 


/fJi^OD'S  Presence  calms  tlie  mind,  makes  us  rest  in  peace, 
^^  even  amidst  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day  ;  but,  then, 
we  must  be  given  to  Him  without  reserve.  When  once  we 
have  found  God,  there  is  nothing  farther  to  be  sought  for 
amongst  men  ;  we  must  sacrifice  even  our  dearest  friends — the 
true  Friend  is  wjthin  our  heart:  He  is  a  jealous  Husband,  Who 
will  admit  none  beside.  We  do  not  need  much  time  for  loving 
God,  for  placing  ourselves  in  His  Presence,  for  raising  the 
heart  to  Him,  for  adoring  Him,  for  offering  to  Him  all  we  do, 
and  all  we  suffer;  and  in  such  acts  lies  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
which  is  within  us,  which  nothing  can  trouble.  .  .  .  You 
should  frequently  arouse  within  yourself  the  desire  to  give  to 
God  all  the  faculties  of  your  soul, — that  is,  of  your  mind,  to 
know  Him  and  think  of  Him,  and  of  your  will  to  love  Him  ; 
and  further  seek  to  consecrate  all  your  outward  senses  to  Him 
in  all  their  actions.  ...  In  your  external  duties,  be  ever 
more  occupied  with  God  than  aught  else — they  will  be  well 
done  if  done  as  in  His  Presence  and  for  Him.  The  contempla- 
tion of  His  Majesty  shall  shed  inward  peace  upon  your  heart. 
One  word  from  Christ  at  once  calmed  the  troubled  sea ;  one 
glance  from  Him  to  us  can  do  the  same  within  us  now. 

Fenelon. 


[TlIUESDAY. 

$^e  (geijefation  of  £ife. 

THE     FIRST     COMMANDMENT. 

For  thy  Maker  is  thine  Husband. — Isa.  liv.  5. 


3F  self-dictation  over  the  heart  is  impossible,  as  we  suppose^ 
who  is  the  master  that  can  pretend  to  command  us  to 
love  him  ?  What  tyrant,  in  his  most  imperious  moments,  ever 
dreamed  of  such  a  demand  ?  Let  him  ask  anything  but  this,  if 
he  will;  but  here,  at  least,  he  reaches  his  limit:  his  thunders 
and  threats  may  do  the  worst,  they  cannot  touch  us  ;  our  love, 
at  any  rate,  is  free  and  unassailable.  Yet  God  assumes  the 
entry  even  of  this  last  refuge,  this  secret  home  :  even  hither  He 
penetrates  with  His  searching  decrees  :  He  lays  down  laws,  He 
makes  personal  claims:  "  Thou  shalt  love  Me."  It  is  a  rule  of 
His  dominion  that  He  should  be  loved.  Nor  is  it  to  be  merely 
a  vague  good  will  that  we  are  bound  to  give  Him :  nothing 
general,  or  loose,  or  impersonal,  or  impassionate  will  satisfy 
Him  :  it  is  vivid,  impetuous,  enthusiastic,  personal  love  that 
He  orders  us  to  feel  for  Him :  nothing  short  of  this  will  do  at 
all ;  love  without  limit,  love  without  reserve,  love  without  a 
rival,  love  without  an  end,  this  is  His  rule,  the  law  of  His  state. 
"  Thou  shalt  love  Me  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  mind,  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength.  H.  S.  Holland. 


FJfik  after   Trinity^ 


248 


Friday.] 

t^t  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    FIRST     COMMANDMENT. 

Seek  ye  first   the    kingdom    of    God,   and    His    righteousness- 
S.  Matt.  vi.  33. 


-^^IRST  or  last !  If  God  is  not  first,  He  is  last.  To  choose 
^  anything  with  God  is  to  set  up  an  idol  with  Him,  and 
He  had  said,  "  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  but  Me." 
.  .  .  To  choose  anything  wilfully  which  God  wills  not,  is  to 
dethrone  God  and  to  set  up  an  idol  in  His  stead.  What  is  any- 
one's God  but  that  from  which  he  seeks  Yxxs  good?  It  seems  to 
us  strange  when  Darius  forbade  any  prayers  to  be  made  for 
thirty  days,  save  to  himself.  But  what  else  do  they,  who  hang 
upon  the  favour  of  men,  who  find  their  happiness  in  man's 
praise,  who  do  wrong  things  to  please  man  or  for  fear  of  man, 
or  omit  what  is  right  in  God's  sight;  what  do  they  but  make 
man  their  God,  and,  so  far,  fall  under  the  curse  of  God  ? 
"  Cursed  be  the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,  and  maketh  flesh 
his  arm,  and  in  his  heart  departeth  from  the  Lord."  We 
think  it  strange  that  men  should  have  fallen  down  before  stocks 
and  stones,  and  worshipped  "  images  made  like  unto  corruptible 
man,  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping  things."  If  a  man 
covet,  "covetousness,"  saith  Holy  Scripture,  "is  idolatry." 
.  .  .  Whatsoever  a  man  desireth  out  of  God,  apart  from 
God,  that  is  his  god.  If  a  man  steal,  what  he  steals  is  that 
from  which  he  looks  for  contentment,  or  good  ;  it  is  his  god- 
If  a  man  heaps  up  luxuries  to  himself,  and  his  soul  takes  rest 
therein,  they  are  his  good  ;  that  is,  his  god. 

E.   B.   PUSEY. 

249 


[Saturday. 

t^t  (ReDefafion  of  £ife. 

THE     FIRST     COMMANDMENT. 

Love  7iot  the  ivorld,  neiihei'  the  things  that  are  in  the  zvorld.  If 
any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him, — 
1  S.  John  ii.  15. 


0(7SSUREDLY,  it  is  God's  world,  God's  order;  assuredly, 
^<-/  He  did  form  it  and  pronounce  it  good.  .  .  .  How  has 
disorder  come  into  this  order?  for  that  it  is  there,  we  all  con- 
fess. It  has  come  from  men  falling  in  love  with  this  order,  or 
with  some  of  the  things  in  it,  and  setting  them  up  and  making 
them  into  gods.  It  has  come  from  each  man  seeing  the  reflec- 
tion of  himself  in  the  world,  and  becoming  enamoured  of  that, 
and  pursuing  that.  It  has  come  from  each  man  beginning  to 
dream  that  he  is  the  centre  either  of  this  world,  or  of  some 
little  world  that  he  has  made  for  himself  out  of  it.  It  has  come 
from  the  multiplication  of  these  little  worlds,  with  their  little 
miserable  centres,  and  from  these  worlds  clashing  one  against 
another;  and  from  those  who  dwell  in  them  becoming  discon- 
tented with  their  own,  and  wishing  to  escape  into  some  other. 
All  these  disorders  spring  from  that  kind  of  love  which 
St.  John  bids  these  young  men  beware  of.  They  are  to  beware 
of  it,  because  if  it  possesses  them,  and  overmasters  them,  they 
will  assuredly  lose  all  sense  that  they  ever  did  belong  to  a 
Father,  and  that  they  are  still  His  children. 

F.  D.  Maurice. 


Fifth  after   Trinity. 'I 


250 


Sixth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

t^c  (ReDefafion  of  feife. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iozf  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,  nor  the  likeness 
of  anything  that  is  in  the  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in 
the  water  U7ider  the  earth.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them  nor  wor- 
ship them  :  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  and  visit  the 
sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children, unto  the  third  and  fourth  gejier- 
ation  of  them  that  hate  Me;  and  show  mercy  unto  thousands  in  them 
that  love  Me  and  keep  my  commandfnents. — Ex.  xx.  4, 5, 6, 


Tt^HE  feeble  cravings  of  visible  objects  of  worship,  and  other 
^'^  continual  tokens  of  Divine  presence  and  protection,  hav- 
ing been  the  weakness,  a  deep  and  grievous  deficiency  of 
strong  love,  the  opposite  to  this,  that  is  to  say,  a  brave  con- 
tentment with  an  invisible  God  showing  itself  in  faithful  and 
strong-hearted  maintenance  of  piety  in  the  absence  (if  it  should 
so  please  God),  or  the  apparent  scantiness  of  signs,  tokens, 
miracles,  and  other  visible  indications  of  the  presence  and  pro- 
tection of  the  Omnipresent  and  Omnipotent,  and  a  like  coura- 
geous and  faithful  abstinence  from  "making  to  themselves" 
unauthorized  images,  symbols,  and  emblems  of  Him  who  com- 
municated with  the  people  without  similitude,  must  be  the 
particular  quality  or  part  of  Divine  love  enjoined  under  the 
second  Law.  As  piety,  therefore,  is  the  heart  of  the  first  Law, 
so  is  spiritual  faith  iti  the  Unseen  the  heart  of  the  second. 
The  first  Law  says,  have  the  true  God ;  the  second  adds — 
spiritually.  BiSHOP  Moberly. 


[Monday. 

Z^t  (Ret)efafton  of  £tfe. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

JV^o  is  ajnong  you  that  fear eth  the  Lord,  that  obeyeth  the  voice  of 
His  servant,  that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  hath  no  light  ?  Let 
hitn  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  slay  upon  his  God. — Isa.  l.  10. 


(X)ISTINGUISH  between  the  feelings  of  faith  that  God  is 
^^  present,  and  the  hope  of  faith  that  He  will  be  so.  There 
are  times  when  a  dense  cloud  veils  the  sunlight ;  you  cannot 
see  the  sun,  nor  feel  him.  Sensitive  temperaments  feel  depres- 
sion :  and  that  unaccountably  and  irresistibly.  No  effort  can 
make  yoM  feel.  Then  you  hope.  Behind  the  cloud  the  sun  is: 
from  thence  he  will  come :  the  day  drags  through,  the  darkest 
and  longest  night  ends  at  last.  Thus  we  bear  the  darkness  and 
the  otherwise  intolerable  cold,  and  many  a  sleepless  night.  It 
does  not  shine  now — but  it  will.  So  too,  spiritually.  There 
are  hours  in  which  physical  derangement  darkens  the  windows 
of  the  soul ;  days  in  which  shattered  nerves  make  life  simply 
endurance;  months  and  years  in  which  intellectual  difficulties, 
pressing  for  solution,  shut  out  God.  Then  faith  must  be  re- 
placed by  hope.  "  What  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now  ;  but  thou 
shalt  know  hereafter."  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about 
Him  :  but  Righteousness  and  Truth  are  the  habitation  of  His 
throne.  "  My  soul,  hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him, 
Who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance,  and  my  God." 

F.  W.  Robertson. 


Sixth  after   Trinity?^ 


Tuesday.] 

t^t  (ReDefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 
Fii^  thou  thy  trust  in  the  Lord,  and  be  doing  good. — Ps.  xxxvii. 


T^HE  second  clause  points  to  the  one  adequate  sequel  from 
^^  the  acceptance  of  the  first.  It  is  much  that  men  should 
be  able  to  endure  disappointment  and  perplexity,  to  be  quiet 
under  pain,  to  refrain  from  the  rebelliousness  of  anger  or  of 
despondency  ;  and  perhaps,  at  times,  we  may  be  thankful  if 
we  can  attain  to  this,  and  God  may  accept  it,  in  His  pity,  as 
the  best  that  we  can  offer  for  a  while.  But  the  progressive 
revelation  of  His  truth,  the  great  warrant  of  our  trust  in  Him, 
was  meant  to  give  us  strength  for  something  more  than  mere 
quiescence.  It  was  meant  to  keep  us  always  loyal  to  the  true 
end  of  life,  and  to  make  us  both  steady  in  the  singleness  of  our 
aim  and  also  careful  as  to  the  means  we  use.  For  a  lowered 
aim,  and  shifty,  worldly  means,  are  the  plainest  signs  that  a 
man  is  losing  trust  in  God — is  forgetting,  or  at  heart  denying, 
that  God  cares  for  men  and  for  the  issues  of  their  work.  To 
trust  God  is  simply  to  take  His  way  ;  to  strive  after  the  ex- 
ample of  His  goodness  both  in  the  general  plan  and  purpose 
of  our  life,  and  in  our  manner  of  dealing  with  its  problems;  to 
resist  every  temptation  and  hankering  and  attraction  that 
would  lead  us  aside  from  the  one  line,  the  narrow  way  of  doing 
good.  Francis  Paget. 


253 


[Wednesday 

t^c  (Hetjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

tVAo  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord?  or  zvho  hath  been  His 
cotinsellor  ?  For  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him,  are  all 
things  :  to  whom  be  glory  forever.     Amen. — Rom.  xi.  34,36. 


^fVlE  may  think  we  can  (as  it  were)  reproduce  God  in  some 
limited,  tangible,  concrete  way,  perhaps  by  resting  in 
a  set  of  phrases,  or  a  special  formula,  or  the  shibboleth  of  a 
sect,  or  the  cant  of  a  small,  mutually  admiring  religious  coterie. 
We  have  many  of  us  read  how  Odysseus  and  Diomedes  stole 
the  Palladium,  the  sacred  image  of  Athene,  and  thought,  very 
mistakenly,  in  so  doing,  to  insure  their  own  success  and  pros- 
perity. How  many  of  us  have  got  some  image  or  other  tucked 
away  under  our  cloaks,  as  it  were  ! — some  phrase,  some  set  of 
customs  or  habits,  something  that  gives  us  a  self-satisfied  feel- 
ing of  having  God  nearer  to  us  than  He  is  to  other  people.  It 
is  easier  to  do  so  than  to  have  that  high  and  enlarged  ideal, 
which  knows  nothing  of  sects  or  parties,  and  which  thinks  of 
God  as  He  is,  One  and  yet  manifold,  Eternal,  Universal, 
Omniscient,  and  All-loving.         ELIZABETH  WORDSWORTH. 


Sixth  after  Trinity.^ 


254 


TlIUnSDAY.] 

t^t  (Reuefation  of  feife. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

/  ^new  that  Thou  hearest  Me  ahaays.^^.  John  xi.  42. 


0(y  MAN  is  often  tempted  to  sink  in  faith,  because  he  has 
^^-/  not  perceived  that  degree  of  warmth  and  confidence  of 
feehng  within  him,  the  inward  answer  of  perceptible  grace  given 
to  his  prayers,  which  without  adequate  ground  of  promise  he 
has  expected.  In  such  a  case,  he  is  certainly  (however  little 
he  is  himself  aware  of  it)  making  his  faithfulness  of  continued 
cheerful  belief  and  obedience  depend  upon  his  receiving  a  sign 
of  acceptance  which  God  has  never  covenanted  to  give,  and 
which  may  be,  and  no  doubt  often  is,  withheld.  What  if  it  be 
withheld  in  trial  of  this  very  courage  of  spiritual  faith  in  the 
unseen  ?  What  if  God  be  hiding  for  a  little  while  the  light  of 
His  countenance,  in  order  to  test  the  strength  and  endurance  of 
that  heroic  faith  which  He  will  reward  hereafter  with  the  real 
vision  of  bliss  ?  ...  If  faith  in  the  unseen  can  in  God's 
grace  be  strong  and  brave  in  this  day  of  trial,  then,  no  doubt, 
greater  strength  and  greater  peace  shall  be  the  blessed  reward 
of  so  gracious  victory.  Bishop  Moberly. 


[Friday. 

t^t  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iis  is  the  triie  God  and  ete7'nal  life.     Little  children,  keep  your- 
selves fro7n  idols. — 1  S.  John  v.  20,  21. 


^^  ^^HIS  Jesus  Christ,"  S.  John  says,  "i 
^^     ated.    of   Whom   we    are  membe 


in  Whom  we  are  cre- 
)ers,  this  Lord  of  our 
spirits,  this  Light  of  our  understandings;  this  is  He  in  Whom 
alone  we  can  find  the  true  God.  This  is  He  Whom  men  have 
been  seeking  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  in  the  waters  under  the 
earth.  This  is  He  in  Whom  alone  they  can  find  that  eternal 
life  for  which  they  are  thirsting,  and  which  they  are  trying  to 
find  in  the  visible  earth,  or  in  some  fantastic  heaven,  or  in  some 
depths  which  none  have  been  able  to  sound.  Little  children, 
believe  that  you  have  not  to  ascend  into  heaven,  or  to  go  into 
the  furthest  corners  of  the  earth,  or  to  go  down  into  the  abyss 
of  hell,  that  you  may  find  God.  He  is  near  you  ;  He  is  with 
you.  Trust  Him  ;  abide  in  Him  ;  be  perpetually  renewing  your 
life  at  His  fountain;  then  you  will  not  bow  down  to  the  creat- 
ures of  His  hand;  then  you  will  not  confound  the  bright 
images  cast  forth  by  the  minds  which  He  has  made  in  His 
image — which  He  has  endued  with  a  portion  of  His  own 
creative  power, — with  your  Creator  and  Father.  You  will 
adore  Him,  in  His  Son,  and  He  will  enable  you,  by  His  Spirit, 
to  offer  up  yourselves,  and  all  your  powers,  and  the  earth 
which  He  has  placed  under  you,  as  sacrifices  to  Him." 

F.  D.  Maurice. 


Sixth  after   Trinity?^ 

256 


Saturday.] 

Z^c  (Retjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SECOND     COMMANDMENT. 

Vef  say  ye.  Why  ?  doth  not  the  son  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father? 
When  the  son  hath  done  that  zvhich  is  la^vful  and  right,  and  hath 
kept  all  my   statutes,  and  hath  done   them,  he   shall  surely   live. — 

EZEKIEL  XVIII.   19. 


^JlE  must  all  face  the  fact  of  heredity.  This  is  only  another 
way  of  saying-  that  we  come  into  the  world  with  what 
are  sometimes  called  "  family  failings."  Should  not  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  make  us  particularly  careful  in  those  respects  ? 
Our  ancestral  temptation  may  be  ambition,  sloth,  ill-temper, 
miserliness  (this  is  a  most  strongly  hereditary  failing),  vice, 
drunkenness,  insincerity,  hardness,  bigotry,  no  matter  what. 
Ought  we  not  to  fight  it  with  special  care  ?  Our  ancestral 
virtue  may  be  generosity,  fidelity,  or  any  other  good  quality. 
Do  not  let  us  be  proud  of  it,  nor  think  if  we  have  that,  it 
matters  not  if  we  neglect  the  rest.  Let  us  strengthen  our 
weak  points  so  far  as  we  can,  and  not  exaggerate  and  overdo 
our  strong  ones.  .  .  .  Not  one  of  us  can  live  or  die  to 
ourselves,  and  who  knows  whether  some  of  the  bitterest 
moments  that  may  be  in  store  for  us  when  we  leave  this  world, 
will  not  be  chiefly  bitter  because  we  then  see  in  a  terribly 
clear  light  the  evils  multiplying  themselves  in  a  third  and  fourth 
generation  which  we  might  have  checked  at  their  very  source 
if  we  had  listened  to  the  voice  of  our  own  individual  conscience, 
and  the  warnings  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ? 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


[Seventh  Sunday  after  Trinity- 

$^e  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    THIRD     COMMANDMENT. 

Thou  shalt  not  take  the  Name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain  :  for 
the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless,  that  takeih  His  Na?7ie  in  vain. — 
Ex.  XX.  7. 


T^HE  third  commandment  no  longer  speaks  of  God  as  He 
^  is  in  Himself,  but  of  the  NAME  of  God  ;  of  God,  that 
is,  as  He  can  be  named  or  spoken  of  in  human  words ;  of  God, 
not  as  the  intellect  of  man  contemplates  Him,  or  the  Faith  of 
man  holds  fast  the  belief  in  Him,  or  the  piety  of  man  worships 
Him  ;  but  as  He  is  pleased  to  allow  Himself  and  His  being  to 
be  projected,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  upon  the  imperfect 
media  of  human  and  earthly  things:  His  Name  named  in 
words,  His  Nature  confessed  in  creeds,  His  Truth  made 
known  by  inspiration  to  the  hearts  of  men,  and  by  them  spoken 
in  speech,  and  written  down  in  books.  His  Presence  attached 
in  some  manner  to  persons,  things,  and  places.  "Thou  shalt 
not  take  the  Name  of  the  Lord  thy  God,"  wheresoever  it  occurs 
to  meet  thee  in  thy  walk  or  passage  through  life,  "  in  vain  ;  for 
the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless,  that  taketh  His  Name  in 
vain."  Not  lightly,  vainly,  or  irreverently  shalt  thou  utter,  or 
handle,  or  regard,  or  otherwise  deal  with  the  Name  of  God 
wheresoever  it  meeteth  thee  in  thy  life. 

Bishop  Moberly. 


258 


MOlxDAY.J 

$^e  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    THIRD    COMMANDMENT. 

Friend,  ho2u  earnest  thou  in  kit  her,  not  having  a  wedding  garynetit? 
— S.  Matt.  xxii.  12.  

^JlORSHIP  is  the  conscious  self  prostration  of  a  reasonable 
creature    before    the    illimitable    greatness  of  its  God. 
Worship  is  the  highest  expression  of  reverence,  which  cannot 
help  prostrating  itself  in  adoration.     .     .     . 

And  here  a  main  purpose  of  worship  on  earth  on  the  part  of 
Christians,  who  believe  that  they  have  to  prepare  for  the  sight 
of  God  in  judgment  is  that  it  is  a  preparation.  Worship  is  an 
education  for  the  inevitable  future.  Worship  is  a  training  of 
the  soul's  eye  to  bear  the  brightness  of  the  everlasting  sun.  If 
there  were  no  future — no  judgment — nothing  but  this  earthly 
life,  and  sheer  extinction  at  the  end  of  it,  prayer  might  still  be 
prompted  by  a  sort  of  faith  in  a  ruler  of  life — in  a  dispenser  of 
its  blessings ;  praise  might  now  and  then  be  suggested  by 
occasional  gratitude ;  but  the  greatest  of  all  motives  for  wor- 
ship, public  and  private,  would  not  exist.  As  it  is,  we  Chris- 
tians adore  our  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
— if  intelligently — we  adore  Him  with  a  view  of  that  vast 
eternity  which  is  certainly  before  us,  and  compared  with  which 
the  claims  and  occupations  of  all  here  are  infinitely  little.  We 
try  to  learn  in  worship,  as  by  God's  grace  we  may,  to  tone  the 
manners,  the  occupations,  the  mental  and  moral  bearing  which 
will  engage  us  in  the  countless  ages  of  life  to  come.  Surely, 
then,  as  we  kneel  in  the  privacy  of  our  own  chambers,  or  as  we 
cross  the  threshold  of  the  Church,  each  soul  should  say  to 
itself,  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,"  Prepare  to  meet  Him  now 
and  here,  as  of  old,  and  in  a  more  special  way,  "  the  Lord  is  in 
His  holy  temple" — the  temple  of  the  soul — the  temple  of  the 
Church.  H.   P.   LiDDON. 

259 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Reuefation  of  £ife. 

THE    THIRD     COMMANDMENT. 

Be  thou  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day  long. — Prov.  xxiii.  17. 


AVy^NY  of  US  who  would  not  use  bad  words  ourselves  may 
V-  be  present  when  they  are  used.  Surely,  whenever  we 
are  in  a  position  to  do  so,  we  should  do  all  we  can  to  discoun- 
tenance such  practices.  Again,  we  can  do  a  good  deal  to  raise 
or  lower  the  tone  in  which  the  clergy  are  spoken  of,  in  our 
own  circles.  Reverent  behaviour  in  church,  or  at  family 
prayers,  the  habit  of  saying  grace  before  and  after  meals, 
simply  but  earnestly,  a  reverent  way  of  reading  the  Bible 
aloud, — all  these  things  naturally  grow  out  of  this  Command- 
ment. Some  phrases,  again,  too  common  on  the  lips  of  well- 
meaning  people,  might  well  be  checked.  I  confess  I  never 
like  to  hear  a  person  say,  "  I  will  do  such  and  such  a  thing 
when  the  spirit  moves  me."  This  may  serve  as  an  instance  of 
a  good  many  others.  We  pick  up  these  expressions  thought- 
lessly. Many  of  us  know  rhymes  and  phrases  in  which  there 
is  an  obvious,  but  unacknowledged  parody  of  Scripture,  and 
these  things  seem  trifles,  but  they  all  have  their  effect  on  our 
own  characters  and  those  whom  we  live  with  and  influence. 
Some  of  us  are  perhaps  tempted  to  go  to  theatrical  perform- 
ances, which  are  open  to  similar  objections.  But  of  one  thing 
we  may  be  sure,  the  more  truly  witty  and  humorous  people 
are,  the  less  they  need  to  resort  to  such  expedients — cheap  and 
easy  expedients — to  provoke  a  laugh  or  promote  good  fellow- 
ship. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

Seventh  after  Trinity.] 

260 


Wednesday.] 

Z^c  (Hetjefaf ton  of  £tfe. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

T^e  Lord  grant  thee  according  to  thine  own  heart. — Ps.  xx.  1,4. 


(P 


OOR  heart,  lament, 

For  since  thy  God  refuseth  still. 
There  is  some  rub,  some  discontent. 

Which  cools  rlis  will. 


Thy  Father  could 

Quickly  effect,  what  thou  dost  move  ; 
For  He  is  Power  :  and  sure  He  would  : 

For  He  is  Love. 

Go  search  this  thing, 

Tumble  thy  breast,  and  turn  thy  book; 
If  thou  hadst  lost  a  glove  or  ring, 

V/ouldst  thou  not  look  ? 

What  do  I  see 

Written  above  there  ?     Yesterday 
I  did  behave  me  carelessly, 

When  I  did  pray. 

And  should  God's  ear 

To  such  indifferents  chained  be, 
Who  do  not  their  own  motions  hear  ? 

Is  God  less  free  ? 

Then  once  more  pray  : 

Down  with  thy  knees,  up  with  thy  voice. 
Seek  pardon  first,  and  God  will  say. 

Glad  heart  rejoice. 

George  Herbert. 


261 


[Thursday. 

t^t  (Ret>efation  of  £tfe. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

God  is  light,  and  in  Him  is  no  darkness  at  all.  If  zue  say  that  7ve 
have  fellowship  7uith  Him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  zve  lie,  and  do  not 
the  truth. — 1  S.  John  i.  5-G. 


T^HERE  is  a  danger  affecting  faith — worse  than  any,  as  it 
^^  seems  to  me — and  that  is,  the  beheving  about  God  things 
unworthy  of  justice,  things  uncompassionate,  things  arbitrary. 
I  am  afraid  to  say  how  largely  it  seems  to  me  such  things  do 
enter  into  the  every-day  religion  of  good  Christians.  Some 
seem  to  believe  that  He  cares  not  for  goodness  in  itself — that 
a  good  heathen  (for  instance)  is  no  nearer  to  Him  than  a  wicked 
one — that  goodness  is  hollow  if  it  does  not  rest  on  a  belief 
exactly  like  their  own.  Others  seem  to  think  that  He  can  tol- 
erate and  dwell  with  evil:  that  He  can  abide  ungenerous  hearts 
and  selfish  lives  and  luxurious  habits  in  those  who  hold  Chris- 
tian Doctrine  in  pure  lives.  Others  that  He  can  rejoice,  or  at 
least  consent  to,  the  inevitable  ruin,  the  lasting  perdition  of  the 
chief  part  of  mankind,  when  they  have  had  no  chance  of  being 
better  than  they  were  or  knowing  better  than  they  did. 

The  opposite  kind  of  people  think  that  when  He  has  prom- 
ised to  us  great  blessings  of  forgiveness  and  salvation  on  cer- 
tain conditions.  He  will  give  them  us  even  if  we  perform  not 
those  conditions.  They  think  He  means  one  thing,  and  says 
another.  It  is  the  secret  hope,  the  only  hope  of  many.  Many 
other  such  things  there  are  which  people  persuade  themselves 
to  believe.  As  good  old  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor  said,  "  They 
believe  about  God  things  for  which  they  would  hate  a  man." 

Archbishop  Benson. 

Seve}zth  after   Trinity ^^ 

262 


Friday.] 

td^  (get?efaf ion  of  £ife. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

T/ie  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmities. — Rom.  viii.  26. 


3F  we  feel  our  spirits  apt  to  wander  in  our  prayers,  and  to 
retire  into  the  world,  or  to  things  unprofitable,  or  vain  and 
impertinent ; 

Use  prayer  to  be  assisted  in  prayer  ;  pray  for  the  spirit  of 
supplication,  for  a  sober,  fixed,  and  recollected  spirit;  and 
when  to  this  you  add  a  moral  industry  to  be  steady  in  your 
thoughts,  whatsoever  wanderings  after  this  do  return  irreme- 
diably are  a  misery  of  nature  and  an  imperfection,  but  no  sin, 
while  it  is  not  cherished  and  indulged  in. 

When  you  have  observed  any  considerable  wanderings  of 
your  thoughts,  bind  yourself  to  repeat  that  prayer  again  with 
actual  attention,  or  else  revolve  the  full  sense  of  it  in  your  spirit, 
and  repeat  it  in  all  the  effect  and  desires  of  it,  and,  possibly, 
the  tempter  may  be  driven  away  with  his  own  art,  and  may 
cease  to  interpose  his  trifles  when  he  perceives  they  do  but  vex 
the  person  into  carefulness  and  piety  ;  and  yet  he  loses  nothing 
of  his  devotion,  but  doubles  the  earnestness  of  his  care.  To 
incite  you  to  the  use  of  these,  or  any  other  counsels  you  shall 
meet  with,  remember  that  it  is  a  great  indecency  to  desire  of 
God  to  hear  those  prayers  a  great  part  whereof  we  do  not  hear 
ourselves.  If  they  be  not  worthy  of  our  attention  they  are  far 
more  unworthy  of  God's.  Jeremy  Taylor. 


263 


[Saturday. 

t^t  (gtuMion  of  feife. 

THE  THIRD  COMMANDMENT. 

All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God. — 2  Tim.  hi.  16. 


/TOOTHING  is  more  easy  tlian  to  create  a  laugh  by  a 
\^  grotesque  association  of  some  frivolity  with  the  grave 
and  solemn  words  of  Holy  Scripture.  But  surely  this  is  pro- 
fanity of  the  worst  kind.  By  this  Book  the  religious  life  of 
men  is  quickened  and  sustained.  It  contains  the  highest 
revelations  of  Himself  which  God  has  made  to  man.  It 
directly  addresses  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  and  all  the 
noblest  faculties  of  our  nature,  exalting  our  idea  of  duty,  con- 
soling us  in  sorrow,  redeeming  us  from  sin  and  despair,  and 
inspiring  us  with  the  hope  of  immortal  blessedness  and  glory. 
Listening  to  its  words,  millions  have  heard  the  very  words  of 
God.  It  is  associated  with  the  sanctity  of  many  generations 
of  saints.  Such  a  book  cannot  be  fit  material  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  jests.  For  my  own  part,  though  I  do  not  accept  Dr. 
Johnson's  well-known  saying,  that  *' a  man  who  would  make  a 
pun  would  pick  a  pocket,"  I  should  be  disposed  to  say  that  a 
man  who  deliberately  and  consciously  uses  the  words  of  Christ, 
of  Apostles,  and  of  Prophets,  for  mere  purposes  of  merriment, 
might  have  chalked  a  caricature  on  the  wall  of  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  or  scrawled  a  witticism  on  the  sepulchre  in  Joseph's 
garden.  R.  W.  Dale. 


Seventh  after   T^-hiity.'] 

264 


Eighth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

$^e  (Reuefaf ion  of  fcife. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Reineinber  that  thou  keep  holy  the  Sabbath-day.  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labour,  and  do  all  that  thou  hast  to  do,  but  the  seventh  day  is  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God.  In  it  thou  shalt  do  no  manner  of 
work;  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  thy  manservant,  and  thy 
maidservant,  thy  cattle,  and  the  stranger  that  is  ivithin  thy  gates. 
For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that 
in  the?}i  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day;  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the 
seventh  day  and  hallowed  it. — Ex.  xx.  9, 10, 11. 


^jYlHEN  the  time  for  the  great  events  of  the  redemption  of 
mankind  arrived,  the  crucifixion  fell  on  the  day  of  the 
preparation,  the  Friday,  in  order  that  the  actual  scene  of  death 
might  not  infringe  the  sanctity  of  God's  ancient  and  often- 
vindicated  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  itself  was  passed  by  the 
Redeemer  in  the  dimness  of  the  place  of  the  departed,  so  that 
to  the  waiting  Church  the  ancient  rest-day  became  the  day  of 
meek  resting,  and  faithful  though  sad  suspense.  With  the  first 
day  of  the  week  came  the  revival  of  joy,  hope,  and  life,  the  be- 
ginning of  feasts,  and  the  birthday  of  the  Church.  .  .  . 
How  should  Christians  in  after-days  mark  the  weekly  prepara- 
tion-day, but  as  the  sad  and  awful  day  of  the  crucifixion,  the 
day  of  sorrow  and  humiliation  for  sins  which  continually  crucify 
the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  Him  to  an  open  shame?  How 
should  they  keep  the  ancient  Sabbath,  but  as  the  weekly  return 
of  sober,  faithful  watching  ?  how  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
but  as  the  celebration  of  the  triumph  over  death  and  the  grave, 
assured  to  them  by  the  victory  of  the  Lord  ? 

Bishop  Moberly. 

265 


[Monday. 

t^t  (Hetjefaf ion  of  £if e. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

He  was  kiioiun  of  I  hem  in  breaking  of  bread. — S.  Luke  xxiv.  35. 


^pToW  shall  I  keep  Sunday }  The  highest  and  best  and 
^zJ  most  primitive  way,  no  doubt,  is  to  attend  the  service  of 
the  Holy  Communion,  as  was  their  habit  of  whom  we  read 
"  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  to- 
gether to  break  bread."  This  was  the  universal  custom  cer- 
tainly fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Saint  John.  This  is  the 
way  in  which  we  comply  with  our  Blessed  Lord's  command. 
"  This  do  in  remembrance  of  Me."  This  is  the  way  in  which 
we  "  shew  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come  "  ;  here  is  the  manna 
in  the  wilderness,  the  rock  in  the  desert,  the  food  of  immor- 
tality; this  is  the  way  in  which  we  can  render  each  Sunday  a 
true  Lord's  Day.  But,  short  of  this,  every  one  can  do  what  is 
meant  by  "  going  to  Church  " ;  nothing  should  hinder  us  in 
this  but  absolute  ill  health,  because  it  is  the  Lord's  right,  and 
the  Lord's  due,  that  we  should  "  bring  presents  and  come  into 
His  courts."  .  .  .  Oh,  when  we  lie  sick  upon  our  bed  and 
cannot  go,  then  we  miss  it,  and  wonder  that  we  should  have 
held  it  so  cheaply  before.  Yes,  and  we  miss  it  also,  even  if  we 
do  not  recognize  the  fact,  in  our  daily  trials  and  week-day 
business.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


Eighth  after   Trinity.] 


Tl-esday.] 

t^t  (geuefaf ion  of  £ife. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  and  do  all  thy  work. — Ex.  xx. 


3N  the  morning,  when  you  awake,  accustom  yourself  to  think 
first  upon  God  or  something  in  order  to  His  service  ;  and 
at  night  also,  let  Him  close  thine  eyes :  and  let  your  sleep  be 
necessary  and  healthful,  not  idle  and  expensive  of  time,  beyond 
the  needs  and  conveniences  of  nature;  and  sometimes  be  curi- 
ous to  see  the  preparation  which  the  sun  makes,  when  he  is 
coming  forth  from  his  chambers  of  the  east. 

Let  every  man  that  hath  a  calling  be  diligent  in  pursuance  of 
its  employment,  so  as  not  lightly  or  without  reasonable  occa- 
sion to  neglect  it  in  any  of  those  times  which  are  usually,  and  by 
the  custom  of  prudent  persons  and  good  husbands,  employed 
in  it. 

Let  all  the  intervals  or  void  space  of  time  be  employed  in 
prayers,  reading,  meditating,  works  of  nature,  recreation,  char- 
ity, friendliness  and  neighbourhood,  and  means  of  spiritual  and 
corporal  health.  Never  walk  with  any  man,  or  undertake  any 
trifling  employment,  merely  to  pass  the  time  away. 

Let  your  employment  be  such  as  may  become  a  reasonable 
person  ;  and  not  be  a  business  fit  for  children  or  distracted 
people,  but  fit  for  your  age  and  understanding.  For  a  man 
may  be  very  idly  !)usy,and  take  great  pains  to  so  little  purpose, 
that,  in  his  labours  and  expense  of  time,  he  shall  serve  no  end 
but  of  folly  and  vanity.  There  are  some  people  who  are  busy, 
but  it  is.  as  Domitian  was,  in  catching  flies. 

Jeremy  Taylor. 

267 


[Wkdnksday, 

$5e  (getjefaf ion  of  £ife. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

/  7uas  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord'' s  day. — Rev.  i.  10. 


3  BELIEVE  the  true  worth  of  Sunday  to  us  all  depends  on 
our  coming  to  find  in  it  the  opportunity,  the  hope,  the 
means  of  some  such  rising  above  this  world  as  that  of  which 
S.  John  speaks  :  some  approach  towards  that  entrance  among 
things  eternal  which  he  links  with  the  Lord's  day.  Yes,  what- 
ever may  be  our  place  and  work  in  life,  our  share  in  its  pleas- 
ures, and  hardships,  and  interests,  and  sorrows,  if  Sunday  is  to 
mean  more  and  not  less  to  us  as  the  years  go  by,  we  must  be 
using  it  to  learn  a  little  more  of  our  duty,  and  of  our  need  ;  of 
ourselves,  as  God  sees  us ;  and  above  all,  of  His  will.  His  ways, 
His  mercy,  and  His  justice. 

For  self-preservation,  and  self-possession,  for  the  renewal  of 
our  purpose  in  life,  for  a  fair  estimate  of  its  various  interests, 
for  calmness  and  strength  of  mind,  we  need  to  rise  at  times 
above  the  ways  of  this  world,  and  to  remember  what  we  are, 
whom  we  serve,  whither  we  are  called.  And  it  is  in  this  that 
the  right  use  of  Sunday  may  help  us  far  more  than  we  fancy. 
For  it  is  by  quiet  thought  in  the  realization  of  God's  Presence, 
and  by  prayer  and  worship,  that  we  must  regain  and  deepen 
this  remembrance  ;  it  is  by  the  Holy  Eucharist  that  God  is 
ever  ready  to  bear  it  into  our  hearts,  and  make  it  tell  on  all  our 
ways.  Francis  Paget. 


Eighth  after   Trinity.'] 


Thursday.] 

t^c  (Retjefaf ion  of  £ife. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  what- 
soever things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things 
are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report;  if  there  be  any 
virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things. — Phil.  iv.  8. 


A^OULD  we  not  try  to  make  our  Sunday  talk  a  little  better 
^■^  than  our  week-day  talk  ?  Of  course,  though  you  don't 
go  to  balls  or  theatres  on  a  Sunday,  yet,  if  you  spend  the  day 
talking  of  them,  it  comes  to  much  the  same  thing ;  or,  if  we 
discuss  secular  business,  money  matters,  and  the  like.  These 
nice  Sunday  walks,  when  two  friends  get  to  know  one  another 
so  intimately  ;  these  Sunday-evening  talks,  when  you  gather 
by  twos  and  threes  in  the  firelight,  and  talk  so  freely; — oh, 
what  a  power  they  are  for  good,  if  used  aright ;  what  a  power 
for  harm,  if  wasted  or  misused  !  No  one  wants  you  to  force 
the  conversation  into  an  edifying  channel ;  but  one  knows  how 
talk  bifurcates,  as  it  were,  and  how  often  there  is  a  choice  be- 
tween high  and  low,  wise  and  foolish,  kindly  and  unkindly. 
And  the  person  with  a  high,  fine,  pure,  noble  nature  chooses 
the  one,  and  the  coarse  and  common  nature  the  other,  and  so 
the  conversation  gets  drawn  up  or  dragged  down. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


269 


[Friday. 

t^t  (Het>efaf ion  of  £if e. 

THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Let  us  labour  therefore  to  enter  into  that  rest. — IIeb.  iv.  11. 


It^OW  shall  we  keep  Sunday — the  reflection  of  Easter 
'^^  throughout  the  year  ?  Surely  the  Apostle  furnishes  us 
with  the  key  when  he  calls  Sunday  the  Lord's  Day.  Monday 
to  Saturday  are  business  days,  or  pleasure  days,  Sunday  is  the 
Lord's  Day — a  day  that  is  set  apart  for  the  worship,  praise, 
honour,  thought  of,  instruction  about,  God.  And  let  us  note 
carefully,  first  of  all,  how  Sunday  is  not  kept.  Many  people 
think  that  getting  up  late,  a  change  of  clothes,  a  walk  in  the 
garden,  an  absolute  repose,  is  keeping  Sunday — if  so,  many 
people  keep  a  perpetual  Sabbath. 

Let  us  be  clear  on  this  point.  Idleness  is  not  rest.  It  is  not 
work  that  is  the  curse  of  the  fall,  but  fatigue.  Adam  worked 
at  tilling  and  dressing  the  garden  before  he  fell  into  sin;  after- 
wards it  was  hard,  dreary,  unblessed  work — work  in  the  sweat 
of  his  brow  which  was  his  curse.  Work  itself  is  Godlike  and 
Divine,  as  our  Blessed  Lord  said,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto, 
and  I  work."  No  ;  ceasing  from  labour,  as  labour,  is  not  the 
point  of  Sunday  observance  ;  it  is  ceasing  from  the  labour  of 
the  world,  to  labour  for  God,  to  do  His  work,  which  is  the 
highest  labour,  and  the  hardest  labour ;  giving  God  a  tithe  of 
the  week,  the  first  fruits  of  our  time,  as  a  mark  of  the  respect 
and  allegiance  which  we  owe  to  Him. 

W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


Eighth  after   Trinity?^ 


Saturday.] 

$^e  (Retjefation  of  &if e. 


THE  FOURTH  COMMANDMENT. 


In  it  thou  shalt  do  no  manner  of  7vork;  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy 
daughter,  thy  manservant,  and  thy  maidservant,  thy  cattle,  and  the 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates. — Ex.  xx.  10. 


A\NE  brief  word  on  the  custom  of  Sunday  dining  out,  which 
^"^  is  said  to  have  much  increased  in  London  society  during 
the  past  few  years.  If  any  of  you  are  hereafter  at  the  head  of 
a  family,  or  keeping  house  for  father,  brothers,  or  husbands, 
do  try  to  set  your  faces  as  much  as  possible  against  this.  We 
should  think  of  Sunday,  as  the  children's  day,  the  home  day, 
and  the  servants'  day.  While  you  are  young  yourselves,  don't 
grudge  your  parents  the  pleasure  of  having  you  with  them  on 
Sundays.  Some  day  you  will  look  back  to  those  Sundays  with 
gratitude.  When  you  have — if  you  do  have — children  of  your 
own,  do  prize  those  precious  hours  with  them,  do  not  give  them 
up  to' society.  Do  think  of  your  servants  ;  and,  I  may  add,  of 
cab-drivers,  postmen,  and  others  whom  you  casually  employ. 
Spare  them  as  much  as  you  can  on  Sundays.  When  a  letter 
will  do  just  as  well  on  Monday,  why  increase  the  pressure  of 
Sunday  work?  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


[Ninth  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

t^c  (gti)cMion  of  £ife. 

THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Honour  thy  father  and  tJiy  niotJicr:  that  thy    days    may   be   long 
in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God giveth  thee. — Ex.  xx.  12. 


@ 


S  the  Divine  life  is  the  hfe  of  the  association  of  love,  such 
is  the  ideal  of  the  life  of  the  Christian  family.  How  fair 
a  creation  of  God  it  is  when  it  is  conformed  to  His  will !  How 
noble  a  sphere  of  life  and  ministry,  since  in  it  one  can  imitate 
the  life  of  God,  and  reveal  Him  as  He  is  to  men  !  God  is  love, 
and  He  reveals  His  love  by  revealing-  to  us  His  life  in  the 
Blessed  Trinity.  And  there  is  no  sphere  of  life  where  God's 
life  of  love  can  be  more  truly  imitated  and  possessed,  where 
His  service  of  love  can  be  more  fully  shared,  where  union  with 
Him  can  be  more  completely  realized  than  in  the  home.  Seek 
ever  to  grasp  the  thought  of  its  high  dignity  and  its  exceeding 
opportunities.  Look  at  home  as  it  is  transfigured  by  the  light 
of  the  glory  of  God.  Shrink  from  the  sacrilege  of  desecrating 
this  consecrated  spot.  Seek  to  rise  up  through  self-sacrifice 
to  its  great  and  holy  joys.  Then  will  you  know  how  home  life 
has  a  sacramental  character  for  us  in  love,  You  will  sacrifice 
yourself  to  God  in  ministering  to  those  who  dwell  with  you 
within  its  walls.  God  will  make  every  duty  a  means  of  grace, 
every  sorrow  to  become  a  joy,  and  every  anxiety  will  He  turn 
into  peace.  George  Body. 


Monday.] 

t^c  CRetjefaf ion  of  £if e. 

THE  FIFTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Train  ttp  a  child  in  the  xvay  he  should  go:  and  when  he  is  old  he 
will  not  depart  from  it. — Pro  v.  xxii.  6. 


rfl  CHILD  must  be  brought  up,  from  the  moment  it  can 
^<1/  understand  anything,  to  obey  its  parents  readily  and 
cheerfully,  without  any  of  those  loitering  steps  and  angry  tears 
and  sullen  looks,  which  one  too  often  sees  in  children  ;  but 
which  no  good  and  thinking  man  can  witness  without  sorrow^ 
.  .  .  As  S.  John  reasons  about  love,  that,  if  a  man  love  not 
his  brother  whom  he  has  seen,  he  cannot  love  God  whom  he 
has  not  seen  :  so  may  we  also  reason  about  obedience,  that,  if 
a  child  does  not  learn  to  obey  its  earthly  parents,  neither  will 
it  obey  its  Heavenly  Father^  It  is  in  the  school  of  home,  amid 
the  little  hardships  and  restraints  and  crosses  and  disappoint- 
ments which  every  child  must  needs  meet  with,  that  the  great 
lesson  of  obedience  is  best  learnt :  as  it  is  written  of  Christ 
Himself:  "  Though  He  were  a  Son,  yet  learned  He  obedience 
by  the  things  which  He  suffered."  Now  in  no  place  is  this 
obedience,  which  we  have  all  such  great  need  to  learn  some- 
where, to  be  learnt  so  easily  and  with  so  little  suffering,  as  in 
our  father's  house,  in  childhood.  For  then  we  have  no  habits 
to  unlearn.  The  obstinacy  and  perverseness  of  our  natures 
are  still  in  the  bud.  They  have  not  blossomed  and  seeded. 
They  have  not  yet  grown  hard  and  tough  with  age. 

Augustus  W.  Hare. 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Retjefation  of  feife. 

THE     FIFTH     COMMANDMENT. 

For  though  ye  have  ten  thousand  instructors  in  Christ,  yet  have  ye 
not  many  fathers:  for  in  Jesus  Christ  I  have  begotten  you  through 
the  Gospel. — 1  Cor.  iv.  15, 


^lYlHEN  we  say  that  Bishops  are  successors  of  the  Apostles 
we  are  not  formulating  a  theory,  but  stating  a  fact  of 
history.  .  .  .  The  first  and  great  characteristic  of  the 
earthly  father  is  that,  under  God,  he  transmits  the  gift  of  phys- 
ical life.  This  is  his  prerogative  distinction  ;  it  most  nearly 
likens  him  to  the  Father  of  heaven ;  it  raises  his  relationship 
to  his  children  above  any  other  human  beings.  The  Bishop, 
too,  is  a  father  in  this  sense  ;  that  he  alone  can  transmit  minis- 
terial power  to  others.     .     .     . 

The  father  is  the  natural  teacher  of  his  children.  Their  in- 
telligence opens  under  the  rays  of  his  instruction.  His  is  the 
highest  wisdom  of  which  they  have  any  experience,  and  he 
brings  truth  home  to  them  by  the  voice  of  love.  If  he  cannot 
himself  teach  his  children,  he  not  only  has  the  right  but  is 
under  an  obligation  to  choose  a  substitute.  The  Bishop,  too, 
as  the  father  of  his  diocese,  is  the  one  teacher  within  its  limits. 
In  the  eye  of  the  church,  all  the  clergy  are  his  substitutes;  he 
can,  by  the  law  of  the  church,  whenever  he  wills,  take  their 
place.     .     .     . 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  is  lost  to  the  moral  force  of 
the  church  ...  if  a  Bishop  is  not  recognized  as  a  father 
of  his  flock,  both  lay  and  clerical  ;  the  one  man  to  whom  men 
instinctively  turn  for  advice  and  counsel  in  moments  of  moral 
or  mental  perplexity.  H.  P.  Liddon. 

Ninth  after   Trinity. '\ 

274 


Wednesday.] 

t^t  (Reijefafion  of  &ife. 

THE    FIFTH    COMMANDMENT. 

Lei  a  man  so  account  of  ns,  as  of  the  ministers  of  Christ,  and  stew- 
ards of  the  mysteries  of  God. — 1  Cor.  iv.  1. 


^fVjE  recognize,  as  a  great  fact,  that  one  essential  part  of 
Christ's  plan  was  to  found  a  kingdom  upon  earth — His 
Church — and  that  this  kingdom  at  His  departure  was  adminis- 
tered by  Apostles.  We  find  them  baptizing,  confirming,  break- 
ing the  Holy  Bread,  remitting  and  retaining  sins,  acting  as 
stewards  between  God  and  man.  Then,  as  the  Church  ex- 
panded, .  .  .  we  see  deacons  appointed,  and  elders,  or,  as 
we  should  say,  priests,  or,  as  they  are  called  in  the  Pastoral 
Epistles,  bishops,  and  bishops  (according  to  our  usual  idea  of 
the  office)  under  the  name  of  angels,  as  we  read  in  the  Book  of 
Revelation.     And  these  orders  exist  down  to  the  present  time. 

Is  it  not  clear  that  certain  duties  devolve  upon  the  people 
with  respect  to  the  clergy  ? 

I  venture  to  say  that  reverence  should  be  shown  to  them. 
Their  office  is  a  holy  one  ;  their  call  is  a  holy  one  ;  their  ordina- 
tion is  a  special  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  conferred  upon  them. 

Then,  secondly,  we  should  make  allowances  for  them.  .  .  . 
Truly  there  is  no  office  so  dangerous  and  so  responsible  as  the 
office  of  those  who  are  brought  very  near  to  God,  to  whom  He 
entrusts  the  guardianship  of  His  chosen  flock. 

And  then  we  ought  to  pray  for  them.  It  is  easy  to  criticise; 
it  is  hard  to  wrestle  with  God  in  prayer  for  the  priest  who  is 
gone  within  the  Holy  Place  to  offer  the  incense.  Surely  it  is 
for  you  to  support  him  while  he  offers  his  petition. 

W.  C.  E.  Nkwbult, 


[Thursday. 

t^t  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE     FIFTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Lt'^  every  soul  be  subject  unto  the  higher  pozvers.     For  there  is  no 
power  but  of  God:  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God. — Rom" 


A/Vl  AN  becomes  an  object  of  reverence  whenever  a  higher 
N-  greatness  than  his  own  rests  upon  him  ;  and  it  may  do 
this  in  one  or  two  ways,  as  the  greatness  of  office,  or  as  the 
greatness  of  character. 

High  office  among  men,  when  legitimately  attained,  deserves 
reverence.  High  office  always  and  everywhere  is  a  shadow  of 
the  majesty  of  God.  The  commandment  to  iionour  an  earthly 
parent  includes  in  its  spirit  the  duty  of  honouring  all  who  have 
upon  them  this  certificate  of  greatness.  "  To  love,  honour  and 
succour  my  father  and  mother,  to  honour  and  obey  the  Queen, 
and  all  that  are  put  in  authority  under  her,  to  submit  myself  to 
all  my  governors,  teachers,  spiritual  pastors  and  masters,  to 
order  myself  lowly  and  reverently  to  all  my  betters" — this  is 
how  every  child  among  us  explains  the  Fifth  Commandment ; 
for  the  Fifth  Commandment  does  not  cease  to  bind  when  we 
grow  up,  or  when  our  earthly  parents  are  removed.  When 
obedience  to  its  letter  is  no  longer  possible,  obedience  to  its 
spirit  becomes  more  than  ever  a  duty,  and  all  on  whom  there 
rests  a  shadow  of  the  divine  become  objects  of  a  conscientious 
reverence.  The  first  magistrate  of  a  state  may  be  an  heredi- 
tary monarch  or  an  elected  president,  but  the  precept  which 
bespeaks  for  him  the  reverence  of  men,  as  bearing  on  earth  a 
likeness  of  the  divine  authority,  is  always  obligatory. 

H.  P.  LiDDON. 

Ninth  after   Jnmty.] 

276 


Friday.] 

Z^t  (Reuefafion  of  feife. 

THE     FIFTH     COMMANDMENT. 

/7Z  lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  better  than  themselves.- 
Phil.  ii.  3. 


TITONOUR  to  parents  is  only  the  principal  and  most  impor- 
^jJ  tant  application  of  a  general  principle,  which  is  abund- 
antly recognized  by  all  teachers  in  the  School  of  Jesus  Christ. 
An  Apostle  says,  in  the  broadest  manner  possible,  "  Honour 
all  men";  and  again,  "In  lowliness  of  mind,  let  each  esteem 
other  better  than  himself."  There  is  no  crouching  and  cring- 
ing and  tuft-hunting  in  such  precepts  as  these,  or  the  conduct 
which  they  enjoin.  It  is  only  the  manly  expression  of  a  mind 
which  knows  its  own  poverty  and  infirmity  better  than  any  one 
else  can  know  it.  I  spoke  of  the  language  of  the  Catechism  as 
adapted  to  the  young;  but  the  language  of  the  Apostle  admits 
of  no  such  limitation,  and,  indeed,  any  one  who  has  looked  into 
his  own  heart  will  have  found  there  more  evil  than  he  dare  be- 
lieve of  his  brother,  and  so  each  may  honestly  think  his  brother 
to  be  better  than  himself.  Therefore  I  should  be  disposed  to 
press  upon  you  humility,  and  the  disposition  to  regard  others 
as  your  betters,  as  worthy  of  men,  still  more  of  young  men, 
chiefly  of  those  who  are  soldiers  of  Christ,  and  have  been 
signed  with  the  sign  of  His  Cross. 

Bishop  Harvey  Goodwin. 


[Saturday. 

t^t  (geuefation  of  feife. 

THE     FIFTH     COMMANDMENT. 

St7'ength  and  honour  are  her  clothing.  She  openeth  her  mouth 
with  wisdoni;  and  in  her  tongtie  is  the  lazv  of  kindness.  Her  chil- 
dren arise  up,  and  call  her  blessed. — Prov.  xxxi.  25,  26,  28. 


3F  children  are  to  honour  their  parents,  parents  ought  to 
honour  themselves ;  in  other  words,  to  feel  a  certain  kind 
of  self-respect,  and  make  their  children  respect  them.  In  ten 
years'  time  many  of  the  present  generation  of  young  women 
will  be  young  mothers.  How  are  they  to  make  it  possible  for 
the  next  generation  to  keep  the  Fifth  Commandment  ?  By 
letting  their  children  see  that  they  keep  a  watch  over  them- 
selves, their  words,  their  daily  habits,  their  very  looks.  If  a 
child  hears  its  mother  rude  to  its  father,  or  its  father  to  its 
mother,  no  wonder  if  the  example  be  soon  followed.  We 
should  never  take  liberties  with  others,  nor  allow  them  to  be 
taken  with  ourselves  by  our  children  or  servants.  A  vulgarism 
in  speech,  a  clumsy  trick,  an  irreverent  word  or  gesture,  can 
soon  be  copied  and  exaggerated.  Unpunctuality  in  hours,  an 
undecided,  hesitating  manner,  a  want  of  firmness  in  enforcing 
what  we  have  said,  the  mistaken  "unselfishness"  of  letting 
children  have  their  own  way,  or  over-indulgence  of  their  wishes 
and  unreasonable  whims — a  not  knowing  how  to  take  one's 
proper  place  and  keep  others  in  theirs — has  done  far  more  mis- 
chief in  homes  than  a  little  old-fashioned  sternness,  1  do  not 
say  severity.  Children  like  to  be  kept  in  order  ;  they  are  just  as 
^miserable  in  a  demoralized  household  as  grown-up  people; 
and  an  irregular,  unmethodical  mother  or  teacher,  who  does 
not  make  herself  reverenced,  will  find  even  the  love  she  has  to 
give  loses  half  its  value.  ELIZABETH  WORDSWORTH. 

Ninth  after   Trinity^ 

278 


Tenth  Sunday  afteh  Trinity.] 

^^e  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    SIXTH     COMMANDMENT, 

Thou  shall  do  no  murder. — Ex.  xx.  13. 


3T  is  easy  enough  for  us  to  forgive  (in  words  at  least)  a  man 
who  has  injured  us.  Easy  enough  to  make  up  our  minds 
that  we  will  not  revenge  ourselves.  Easy  enough  to  deter- 
mine, even,  that  we  will  return  good  for  evil  to  him,  and  do 
him  a  kindness  when  we  have  a  chance.  Yes,  we  would  not 
hurt  him  for  the  world  :  but  what  if  God  hurt  him  ?  What  if 
he  hurt  himself?  What  if  he  lost  his  money?  What  if  his 
children  turned  out  ill  ?  What  if  he  made  a  fool  of  himself, 
and  came  to  shame  ?  What  if  he  were  found  out  and  exposed, 
as  we  fancy  that  he  deserves  ?  Should  we  be  so  very  sorry  ? 
We  should  not  punish  him  ourselves.  No.  But  do  we  never 
catch  ourselves  thinking  whether  God  may  not  punish  him  ; 
thinking  of  that  with  a  base  secret  satisfaction  :  almost  hoping 
for  it,  at  last  ?  Oh  if  we  ever  do,  God  forgive  us  !  If  we  ever 
find  those  devil's  thoughts  rising  in  us,  let  us  flee  from  them  as 
from  an  adder ;  flee  to  the  foot  of  Christ's  Cross,  to  the  Cross 
of  Him  Who  prayed  for  His  murderers,  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do ;  and  there  cry  aloud  for  the 
blood  of  life,  which  shall  cleanse  us  from  the  guilt  of  those 
wicked  thoughts,  and  for  the  water  of  life,  which  shall  cleanse 
us  from  the  power  of  them.  Charles  Kingsley. 


[Monday. 

t^c  (ReDefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iis  is  the  message  that  ye  heard  from  the  beginning,  that  ye 
should  love  one  another.  Not  as  Cain,  %vho  was  of  that  wicked  one, 
and  slew  his  brother, — 3  S.  John  hi.  U,  12, 


^ET  us  remember  that  just  as  the  sin  of  murder  is  wrong 
'^  because  it  is  a  defacing  of  God's  image,  so  love  of  one 
another  is  an  imperative  duty,  because  in  loving  a  fellow-creat- 
ure we  love  the  work  of  God,  the  redeemed  of  Christ,  one  who 
is,  or  should  be,  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  we  cannot 
love  people  as  they  are,  let  us  love  them  as  they  ought  to  be, 
as  they  may  be,  and  as  we  may  help  them  to  become.  No 
matter  whether  it  is  we  who  are  tempted  to  despise  them  or 
they  to  despise  us ;  there  will  come  a  time  when,  God  willing, 
we  shall  understand  one  another  better.  Love  is  a  very  patient 
thing ;  it  has  all  Eternity  before  it ;  it  can  afford  to  wait  .  . 
but  it  must  go  on  loving;  it  must  add  faith  and  hope  to  itself, 
for  the  charity  that  "  believeth  all  things,  and  hopeth  all  things  " 
is  also  the  charity  that  never  fails. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


Tenth  after   Trinity.^ 


280 


Tuesday.] 

t^c  (Reoefation  of  feife. 

THE    SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Be  diligent  that  ye  may  be  found  of  Him  in  peace. — 2  S.  Peter  hi.  14. 


^fVlHILE  we  have  life  before  us  and  are  strong,  quarrels  and 
offences  seem  very  hard  things  to  get  over.  It  seems 
so  important  that  we  should  stand  on  our  rights,  that  we 
should  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  i)itt  upon,  that  we  should 
show  that  we  have  spirit,  that  we  should  make  those  who  have 
offended  us  feel  that  we  are  angry,  and  have  good  reason  to 
be  so,  and  are  not  to  be  trifled  with.  Jesus  Christ  would 
teach  us  that  there  is  a  very  different  way  of  looking  at  such 
things,  but  I  am  not  speaking  of  this  just  now.  But  only  think 
how  different  these  things  will  look  in  the  light  thrown  on 
them  by  death;  how  in  that  hour  of  truth,  and  of  the  greatness 
and  vastness  of  eternal  things,  our  jealousies  and  quarrels  will 
fade  and  shrink  up  into  trifles.  .  .  .  And  if  we  would  only 
now  get  to  look  at  them  as  we  shall  then,  surely  we  should  try 
to  put  a  check  on  them  even  in  the  moment  of  anger  and  vex- 
ation. This  will  help  us  to  overcome  our  evil  tempers,  our 
injustice  and  unfairness,  our  bitterness  and  selfishness,  and  to 
behave  in  our  disagreements  with  our  brethren  so  that  we  may 
not  be  ashamed  and  sorry  for  our  folly,  when  death  comes  to 
search  our  hearts  and  open  our  eyes.  R.  W.  CHURCH. 


281 


[Wed>'esday. 

t^e  (Rei?efation  of  £ife. 

THE     SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Charity  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things, 
endureth  all  thinsrs. — 1  Cop.  xiii.  4,7. 


JJT^HERE  are  some  ve^y  common  habits  of  mind,  which 
^^  .  .  .  lead  to  a  great  deal  of  enmity  of  a  certain  kind 
— sometimes  open  enmity,  sometimes,  when  this  is  avoided, 
still  to  bad  relations  towards  others.  There  are  many  persons 
who  can  never  be  neutral  or  support  a  middle  state  of  mind. 
If  they  do  not  positively  like  others,  they  will  see  some  reason 
for  disliking  them  ;  they  will  be  irritable  if  they  are  not  pleased  ; 
they  will  be  enemies  if  they  are  not  friends.  They  cannot  bear 
to  be  in  an  attitude  of  mind  which  does  not  give  active  employ- 
ment to  the  feelings  on  one  side  or  the  other.  They  are  not 
so  unreasonable  as  to  expect  that  they  can  like  persons  with- 
out knowing  them  ;  but,  if  they  know  them,  if  they  meet  them, 
if  they  live  near  them,  if  they  see  them  often,  if  they  have  deal- 
ings with  them,  and  still  do  not  like  them,  that  is,  do  not  see 
in  them  that  which  meets  their  taste — are  not  taken  by  any- 
thing in  their  character, — then  they  put  themselves  in  a  hostile 
relation  to  those  persons.  .  .  .  This  rule,  then,  of  their 
own,  has  the  necessary  result  of  placing  them  in  a  kind  of 
enmity  towards  numbers  of  persons  to  whom  there  is  not  the 
slightest  reason  for  feeling  it,  towards  those  who  have  done 
them  no  harm,  and  whose  fault  simply  is,  that  they  do  not 
please  or  suit  them.  J,  B.  MoZLEY. 


Tenth  after   Trinity.'\ 


282 


Thursday.] 

t^c  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life 
for  his  friends. — S.  John  xv,  13. 


^fVlHAT  is  meant  by  the  common  phrase  "the  sacredness  of 
human  hfe,"  it  is  not  easy  to  understand.  There  are 
many  things  which,  for  me,  are  more  sacred  than  my  hfe. 
"  The  sacredness  of  Hfe  !  "  My  loyalty  to  Christ  is  infinitely 
more  sacred.  Rather  than  deny  Him,  I  must  surrender  myself 
to  the  most  cruel  death.  The  authority  of  Truth  is  more 
sacred.  I  must  die  rather  than  abjure  a  single  article  of  my 
creed.  Honesty  is  more  sacred.  Rather  than  be  guilty  of  the 
slightest  fraud,  I  myself  must  perish,  and  I  must  see  those  I 
love  best  perish  too.  The  moral,  the  intellectual,  yes,  and  the 
ph}  sical  well-being  of  my  fellow-men  must  be  more  sacred  to 
me  than  life.  The  philanthropist  whose  strength  is  wasted 
and  who  comes  to  a  premature  grave  through  the  ardour  of  his 
devotion  to  the  wretched  and  the  suffering,  is  honoured  by  all 
men;  the  scientific  man  who  scorns  danger  in  his  enthusiastic 
investigation  of  the  mysteries  of  nature,  and  who  perishes  in 
his  pursuit,  is  not  a  criminal,  but  a  hero  ;  the  physician  who  at 
the  voice  of  duty  remains  among  a  people  stricken  with  pesti- 
lence, and  dies  himself  through  his  fidelity  to  them, — who  con- 
demns him  for  being  indifferent  to  "  the  sacredness  of  life  "  ? 
the  hearts  of  all  men  confess  that  he  is  faithful  to  what  is  more 
sacred  still.  R.  W.  Dale. 


283 


[Friday. 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iejz  came  Peter  to  Him,  and  said,  Lord,  how  oft  shall  my  brother 
sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him  ?  till  seven  times  ?  Jesus  saith 
unto  hijH,  I  say  not  nnto  thee,  Until  seven  times;  but.  Until  seventy 
times  seven, — S.  Matt,  x vtii.  21 ,  22. 


T^HERE  was  a  fundamental  error  in  the  question,  because 
^^  it  implied  a  right  on  the  part  of  man,  when  he  forgave 
another,  to  withhold  that  forgiveness.  But  man  has  no  such 
right.  "What  hast  thou,"  asked  S.  Paul,  "that  thou  hast  not 
received  ?  "  In  another  place  he  said  to  the  Christians  of  his 
day,  and  to  us  through  them,  "Ye  are  not  your  own;  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price."  We  are  not  our  own  to  do  just  as  we 
please.  None  of  our  faculties  is  our  own  exclusively.  Of  our 
personal  gifts  not  less  than  of  our  external  possessions,  we  are 
not  owners,  but  stewards,  and  are  just  as  responsible  for  the 
use  or  abuse  of  one  as  of  the  other.  Sinful  man  has  no  right 
to  refuse  forgiveness  to  the  man  who  has  offended  him ;  and 
therefore  our  Lord  answered  S.  Peter's  question  with  the 
proclamation  of  "new  Commandment"  of  love:  "I  say  not 
unto  thee,  until  seven  times;  but,  until  seventy  times  seven." 
That  is  to  say,  there  must  be  no  limit  to  our  forgiveness.  We 
must  always  forgive,  no  matter  how  often  we  are  offended. 
However  much  we  may  be  wronged,  we  must  always  be  ready 
with  a  loving  mind  to  forgive  the  offender  when  he  shows  the 
faintest  sign  of  penitence.  The  only  limit  must  be  the  man's 
own  impenitence.  That  does  not  limit  us  ;  it  only  limits  his 
capacity  of  receiving  our  forgiveness,  and  benefiting  by  our 
Christian  conduct.  MALCOLM  MacColl. 

Tenth  after   Trinity^ 

284 


Saturday.] 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SIXTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Nation  shall  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom. 
S.  Matt.  xxiv.  7. 


3T  is  this  judicial  character  of  war,  and  its  lawful  place 
in  the  world,  as  a  mode  of  obtaining  justice;  it  is  the 
sacred  and  serious  object,  which  so  far  attaches  to  war,  which 
gives  war  its  morality,  and  makes  it  to  produce  its  solemnizing 
type  of  character.  For  we  should  keep  clear  and  distinguished 
in  our  minds  the  moral  effects  of  war,  and  the  physical.  These 
are  apt  to  be  confounded  under  such  expressions  as  the  horrors 
of  war.  But  the  horrors  of  war  are  partly  bodily  torment  and 
suffering,  which  are  dreadful  indeed,  but  dreadful  as  misery, 
not  as  sin.  War  is  hateful  as  a  physical  scourge,  like  a  pesti- 
lence or  famine ;  and  again,  it  is  hateful  on  account  of  the  pas- 
sions of  those  who  originate  it,  and  on  account  of  the  excesses 
of  those  who  serve  in  it.  But  if  we  take  the  bad  effects  on 
those  who  serve  in  it  by  themselves — it  is  not  impossible  to 
exaggerate  them,  at  least  by  comparison;  for  while  war  has  its 
criminal  side,  peace  is  not  innocent ;  and  who  can  say  that 
more  sin  is  not  committed  every  day  in  every  capital  of  Europe 
than  on  the  largest  field  of  battle  ?  We  may  observe  in  the 
New  Testament  an  absence  of  all  disparagement  of  the  mili- 
tary life.  It  is  treated  as  one  of  those  callings  which  are 
necessary  in  the  world,  which  supplies  its  own  set  of  tempta- 
tions, and  its  own  form  of  discipline.  J.  B.  MOZLEY. 


285 


[Elkventh  Scnday  after  Trinity 

t^c  (Ret>efafton  of  £ife. 

THE     SEVENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iot(  shalt  not  commit  adultery. — Ex.  xx.  14. 


0(yFTER  all,  it  is  the  heart  whicii  is  the  source  and  seat  of 
^<y  sin.  In  the  suffrages  after  the  Commandments,  we  ask 
God  to  "  incline  our  hearts  to  keep  this  law. "  And  we  know 
how  our  Lord  says,  even  of  this  sin,  that  it  may  be  "  committed 
in  the  heart." — (St.  Matt.  v.  28.)  It  is  a  bad  sign  of  the  times 
that  many  men  and  women  who  would  shudder  at  the  idea  of 
impurity  in  act,  see  (apparently)  no  harm  in  impurity  in 
thought.  They  say,  perhaps,  "  Oh,  I  would  not  give  such  a 
book  to  my  daughter  or  younger  sister,  but  it  won't  hurt  me." 
As  if  it  ever  could  be  good  for  any  one,  at  any  time  of  their 
lives,  to  dwell  on  impurity !  I  am  not  speaking  here  of  the 
great  writers.  An  occasional  coarseness  in  Shakespeare  is 
swallowed  up  in  the  grandeur  and  truthfulness  of  his  whole 
drama,  but  it  is  not  so  with  the  little  writers,  who  give  us 
nothing  to  take  off  the  edge  of  their  unhealthy  and  degrading 
banquets  of  corruption. 

If  only  all  women  would  make  up  their  minds  never  to  go  to 
questionable  plays,  never  to  run  after  actors  or  actresses  how- 
ever celebrated,  who  were  known  to  lead  immoral  lives,  never 
to  talk  to  people  of  their  own  sex  (except  in  cases  of  absolute 
necessity)  of  things  they  would  not  say  before  the  other,  not  to 
permit  "fashionable"  magazines  and  papers  of  a  gossiping  or 
immoral  kind  to  lie  upon  their  drawing-room  tables,  we  might 
soon  hope  to  see  a  great  improvement  in  society. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

286 


Monday.] 

$5e  (getjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     SEVENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  hut  overcome  evil  with  good. — Rom.  x 


@S  for  those  who  are  ah-eady  involved  in  the  unhappiness  of 
a  relationship  founded  on  an  inadequate  basis,  they 
should  endeavour,  even  now,  to  make  it  a  truer  and  better 
thing.  There  is — be  sure  of  it — something  in  every  man  and 
in  every  woman,  which  God  can  love,  and  He  sees  in  every 
one  possibilities  of  worth  and  nobleness,  which  only  a  love  like 
His  own  can  discover.  You  ought  to  have  caught  some 
glimpses  of  that  loveableness,  and  of  those  possibilities  of 
goodness  and  strength,  before  you  were  married  at  all ;  and 
your  only  safety  lies  in  trying  to  discover  them  now.  Think  of 
your  wife,  think  of  your  husband,  as  they  appear  in  their  best 
and  highest  moments,  when  genial  influences  are  upon  them 
which  repress  their  selfishness  .  .  .  and  their  folly,  and 
develop  all  that  is  wisest,  most  kindly,  and  most  beautiful  in 
their  souls.  These  are  the  moments  in  which  their  true  self  is 
revealed ;  try  to  forget  all  the  rest.  You  do  not  root  up  the 
rose  tree  in  your  garden  because  through  the  dreary  months  of 
winter  there  is  neither  beauty  upon  it  nor  perfume;  you  do  not 
despise  it  because  it  looks  so  bare  and  ungracious ;  you  think 
of  the  shining  weeks  of  summer,  when  it  crowns  itself  with 
loveliness,  and  fills  the  air  with  sweetness.  .  .  .  Most  of 
us  require  the  same  forbearance,  and  the  same  faith  ;  and  the 
more  of  it  we  have,  the  more  fully  we  are  able  to  manifest  the 
perfection,  poor,  perhaps,  at  the  best,  of  which  our  life  is 
capable.  R.  W.  Dale. 

287 


fTUKSDAY. 

t^c  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE     SEVENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

And  they  come  to  Jesus,  and  see  him  that  zuas  possessed  with  the 
devil,  and  had  the  legion,  sitting,  and  clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind; 
and  they  were  afraid. — S.  Mark  v.  15. 


7^0  the  pure,  all  things  not  only  seem  pure,  but  are  really  so 
^^  because  they  are  made  such.  .  .  .  It  is  a  marvellous 
thing  to  see  how  a  pure  and  innocent  heart  purifies  all  that  it 
approaches.  The  most  serious  natures  are  soothed  and  tamed 
by  innocence.  And  so  with  human  beings,  there  is  a  delicacy 
so  pure,  that  vicious  men  in  its  presence  become  almost  pure: 
all  of  purity  which  is  in  them  is  brought  out ;  like  attaches 
itself  to  like.  The  pure  heart  becomes  a  centre  of  attraction, 
round  which  similar  atoms  gather,  and  from  which  dissimilar 
ones  are  repelled.  A  corrupt  heart  elicits  in  an  hour  all  that 
is  bad  in  us  ;  a  spiritual  one  brings  out  and  draws  to  itself  all 
that  is  best  and  purest.  Such  was  Christ.  He  stood  in  the 
world,  the  Light  of  the  world,  to  which  all  sparks  of  life  grad- 
ually gathered.  He  stood  in  the  presence  of  impurity,  and 
men  became  pure.  ...  To  the  pure  Saviour,  all  was  pure; 
He  was  lifted  up  on  high,  and  drew  all  men  unto  Him. 

F.  W.  Robertson. 


Eleventh  after    Trinity^ 

288 


Wednesday.] 

$0e  (geijefaf ton  of  £ife, 

THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

/  keep  tinder  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection. — 1  Cor.  ix.  27. 


'Tj'HE  word  tempera7tce  falls  far  short  of  the  original.  The 
^^  original  term  describes  that  sovereign  self-mastery,  that 
perfect  self-control,  in  which  the  mysterious  will  of  man  holds 
in  harmonious  subjection  all  the  passions  and  faculties  of  his 
nature.  Where  it  is  complete,  no  inipulse,  however  strong, 
no  endowment,  however  conspicuous,  finds  play  without 
the  sanction  of  that  central  ruling  power  which  represents 
the  true  self,  and  then  only  according  to  its  bidding.  In 
this  aspect  temperance,  self-co7itrol,  is  the  correlative  of 
freedom,  as  freedom  expresses  the  absolute  fulfillment  of 
individual  duty.  The  first  great  enemy  of  self-control  is 
self-indulgence.  It  cannot  be  necessary  for  me  to  speak 
here  of  the  grosser  forms  of  self-indulgence,  of  the  inevitable 
and  overwhelming  slavery  which  they  bring  with  them.  It 
can  scarcely  be  more  necessary  to  remind  those,  whose  experi- 
ence must  speak  only  too  plainly  of  the  danger  of  the  less 
noticeable  faults  of  self-indulgence  which  mar  the  power  of 
our  lives :  how  little  by  little  they  weaken  and  distract  and 
preoccupy  us :  how  a  trifling  duty  once  put  off  or  carelessly 
fulfilled  leaves  us  more  exposed  to  the  next  serious  temptation  ; 
how  idle  fancies  pursued,  vain  thoughts  dalUed  with,  come 
back  to  us  with  importunate  force,  when  we  would  gladly 
make  any  sacrifice  to  be  free  from  their  intrusion :  how  we 
grow  unable  to  commune  silently  and  seriously  with  our  own 
souls,  because  we  have  shrunk  from  the  discipline  of  solitude 
when  it  was  offered  for  our  acceptance. 

Bishop  Westcott. 
289 


[Thursday. 

^^e  (Reuefation  of  £tfe. 

THE     SEVENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall 
be  joined  unto  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  one  flesh, — Eph,  v.  31. 


^y^HERE  there  is  mutual  recognition  of  an  ideal  excellence, 
and  tiie  love  which  is  inseparable  from  it,  everything 
else  will  follow  which  is  necessary  lo  a  perfect  marriage. 
There  will  be  an  habitual  suppression  on  the  part  of  each,  of 
all  personal  tastes  and  preferences  v/hich  conflict  with  the 
happiness  of  the  other ;  there  will  be  no  weighing  and  measur- 
ing of  the  amount  of  concessions  on  either  side  ;  there  will  be 
no  thought  of  concessions,  but  a  greater  delight  in  the  mutual 
surrender  than  could  come  from  any  assertion  of  personal 
rights ;  both  will  find  it  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
In  all  the  details  it  will  be  plain  that  each  is  dearer  to  the 
other  than  wealth,  or  honour,  or  pleasure,  or  kindred,  or 
friends.  There  will  be  nothing  even  in  manner  to  suggest  that 
to  the  husband  any  other  woman  seems  more  than  his  wife — 
or  to  the  wife  that  any  other  man  seems  more  to  her  than 
her  husband.  There  will  be  a  certain  reserve,  not  assumed, 
but  natural  and  inevitable,  in  the  relations  of  each  to  all  the 
world,  indicating  that  with  no  one  else  can  there  be  the  inti- 
macy and  freedom  which  are  possible  between  themselves. 
There  will  be,  what  seems  to  me  absolutely  indispensable  to 
the  true  realization  of  the  strength  and  happiness  of  the  rela- 
tionship, perfect  mutual  trust.  R.  W.  Dale. 


Eleventh  after   Trinity^ 


Friday.] 

J^e  (Rtiydaiion  of  £tf e. 

THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

A  gracious  woman  rctameth  honour. — Prov.  xi.  16. 


^kHE  was  not  as  pretty  as  women  I  know, 
^^     And  yet  all  your  best  made  of  sunshine  and  snow 
Drop  to  shade,  melt  to  nought  in  the  long-trodden  ways, 
While  she's  still  remembered  on  warm  and  cold  days. 

Her  air  had  a  meaning,  her  movements  a  grace  ; 
You  turned  from  the  fairest  to  gaze  on  her  face  : 
And  when  you  had  once  seen  her  forehead  and  mouth, 
You  saw  as  distinctly  her  soul  and  her  truth. 

She  never  found  fault  with  you,  never  implied 
Your  wrong  by  her  right,  and  yet  men  at  her  side 
Grew  nobler,  girls  purer,  as  through  the  whole  town 
The  children  were  gladder  that  pulled  at  her  gown. 

None  knelt  at  her  feet  confessed  lovers  in  thrall  ; 
They  knelt  more  to  God  than  they  used, — that  was  all  ; 
If  you  praised  her  as  charming,  some  asked  what  you  meant, 
But  the  charm  of  her  presence  was  felt  when  she  went. 

The  weak  and  the  gentle,  ribald  and  rude, 
She  took  as  she  found  them,  and  did  them  all  good: 
It  always  was  so  with  her :  see  what  you  have  ! 
She  has  made  the  grass  greener  even  here  .  .  with  her  grave. 

E.  B.  Browning. 


291 


[Saturday. 

$^e  (Ret>efation  of  £tfe. 

THE  SEVENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Thou,  O  man  of  God,  flee  these  things;  and  follozv  after  righteous- 
ness., godliness,  faith.,  love,  patience,  meekness. — 1  Tim.  vi.  11. 


3  MADE  them  lay  their  hands  in  mine  and  swear 
To  reverence  the  King,  as  if  he  were 
Their  conscience,  and  their  conscience  as  their  King, 
To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 
To  ride  abroad  redressing  human  wrongs, 
To  speak  no  slander,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 
To  honour  his  own  word  as  if  his  God's, 
To  lead  sweet  lives  in  purest  chastity. 
To  love  one  maiden  only,  cleave  to  her. 
And  worship  her  by  years  of  noble  deeds. 
Until  they  won  her ;  for  indeed  I  knew 
Of  no  more  subtle  master  under  heaven 
Than  is  the  maiden  passion  for  a  maid. 
Not  only  to  keep  down  the  base  in  man, 
But  teach  high  thought,  and  amiable  words 
And  courtliness,  and  the  desire  of  fame. 
And  love  of  truth,  and  all  that  makes  a  man. 

Tennyson. 


Eleventh  after   Trinity.^ 


Twelfth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

t^c  (gci)daiion  of  £ife. 

THE    EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT. 

T/iot{  shall  not  sleaL — Ex.  xx.  15. 


T^HAT  every  man  should  quietly  enjoy  those  supports  and 
^^  those  conveniences  of  life,  which  in  any  honest  manner 
(by  God's  bounty  immediately  dispensing  it,  or  by  God's  bless- 
ing on  his  industry)  he  hath  acquired  the  possession  of,  or 
right  unto,  as  all  reason  and  equity  do  require,  so  it  must  be 
acknowledged  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
common  peace,  and  the  maintenance  of  civil  society  among 
men  :  to  secure  which  purposes,  and  to  encourage  honest  in- 
dustry, this  law  prohibiteth  all  invasion  or  usurpation  by  any 
means  whatever  (either  by  open  violence  and  extortion,  or  by 
clandestine  fraud  and  surreption)  of  our  neighbour's  proper 
goods  and  right :  he  that  in  any  way,  against  his  neighbour's 
knowledge  or  will,  getteth  into  his  power,  or  detaineth  therein, 
what  does  in  equity  belong  to  his  neighbour,  and  which  he  can 
restore  to  him,  doth  transgress  against  the  intent  of  this 
law;  as  we  see  it  interpreted  in  Leviticus,  where  it  is  thus 
expressed :  "  Thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbour,  nor 
rob  him:"  defrauding  by  cunning  practice  is  no  less  for- 
bidden, than  robbing  by  violent  force.  Anywise  to  purloin,  or 
(by  subtle  and  sly  contrivance)  to  separate  any  part  of  our 
neighbour's  substance  from  him  ;  to  exact,  or  extort  anything 
more  than  one's  due  ;  to  go  beyond,  or  overreach  our  neighbour 
in  dealing,  to  delude  or  cozen  him  by  false  speeches  or  falla- 
cious pretences,  are  acts,  in  S.  Paul's  expression,  to  be  referred 
hither,  as  so  many  special  acts  of  theft.         ISAAC  Barrow. 

293 


[Monday. 

t^c  (Retjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE     EIGHTH     COMMANDMENT. 

//j'e  have  not  been  faithful  in  that  zvhich  is  anothei^ s,  who  will 
give  you  that  zvhich  is  your  ozmi  ? — S.  Luke  xvi.  12. 


7)^HE  waste  of  God's  goods  by  His  human  stewards  is  one 
^^  of  the  sad  mysteries  of  the  moral  world.  It  keeps  pace 
with  God's  bounty,  just  as  the  activities  of  evil  generally  keep 
pace  with  God's  active  goodness, — just  as  the  activities  of 
falsehood  and  error  keep  pace  with  His  illuminating  truth. 
The  waste  of  property  is  the  form  of  waste  which  appeals  most 
strongly  to  the  eye  and  the  imagination.  The  man  who 
spends  what  he  has  always  upon  himself,  how^ever  decor- 
ously and  prudently,  wastes  what  he  has.  The  man  who 
hoards  what  he  has,  as  if  money  had  some  virtue  inherent  in 
itself,  and  could  be  kept  by  its  owner  forever,  wastes  what  he 
has.  The  man  who  does  not  make  a  conscience  of  consecrat- 
ing what  he  has  by  giving  a  tenth  of  it,  or  at  least  some  fixed 
proportion  of  it,  to  God  and  His  fellow-creatures  for  God's 
sake,  wastes  what  he  has.  He  wastes  it  for  this  reason. — that, 
whatever  he  does  with  it,  he  does  not  treat  it  seriously  as  God's 
property,  lent  to  him  for  a  certain  time,  to  be  used  by  him  for 
God's  glory,  to  be  accounted  for  by  him  one  day  at  the  foot  of 
Christ's  throne.  He  treats  it  as  in  some  real  sense  his  own ; 
and  this  fundamental  misapprehension  enters  into,  discolours, 
warps,  vitiates,  every  use  he  makes  of  it.  No  one  of  his  appli- 
cations of  what  he  has  involves  the  confession  that  he  is  a 
steward — that  he  is  only  administering  what  belongs  to  another. 

H.    P.   LiDDON. 

Tivel/th  after   Trinity.'] 

294 


Tuesday.] 

t^  (getjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     EIGHTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Lord,  zoJio  sJiall  abide  in  Thy  tabernacle  ?  ivho  shall  dzvell  in  Thy 
holy  hill?     He  that piitleth  not  out  his  money  to  ztsziry. — Ps.  xv.  1,  5. 


P^EOPLE  of  limited  means  are  very  apt  to  try  and  increase 
YP  them  by  dabbling  in  stocks  and  shares,  and  too  often 
fall  a  prey  to  clever  and  unscrupulous  speculators.  This  z's  a 
kind  of  dishonesty,  more  especially  if  we  borrow  (as  sometimes 
happens)  money  belonging  to  others  when  our  own  runs  short. 
Perpetual  buying  and  selling  of  stocks  and  shares  is  very  little 
better  than  gambling;  to  some  women  I  have  known  it  furnish 
an  excitement  almost  as  mischievous.  It  would  be  well  for 
us  all  to  remember  the  saying,  "  Wealth  gotten  by  vanity  shall 
be  diminished  :  but  he  that  gathereth  by  labour  shall  incre'ase." 
— (Prov.  xiii.  ii.)  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enter  a  protest 
against  actual  gambling  or  betting;  yet  as  long  as  we  hear  of 
women  degrading  themselves  in  these  ways,  it  may  be  as  well 
that  we  should  resolve  to  beware  of  even  apparently  harmless 
beginnings.  The  best  rule  is  nev^r  to  bet,  and  n^ver  to  play 
for  money  at  all.  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 


295 


[Wednesday, 

t^c  (Heuefaf ion  of  £tfe. 


THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Render  to  all  their  dues. — Rom.  xiii.  7. 


^fVlHO  is  the  lionest  man  ? 
'^     He  that  doth  still  and  strongly  good  pursue. 
To  God,  his  neighbour,  and  himself  most  true: 

Whom  neither  force  nor  fawning  can 
Unpin,  or  wrench  from  giving  all  his  due. 

Whose  honesty  is  not 
So  loose  or  easy,  that  a  ruffling  wind 
Can  blow  away,  or  glittering  look  it  blind  : 

Who  rides  his  sure  and  even  trot, 
While  the  world  now  rides  by,  now  lags  behind. 

Who  when  great  trials  come. 
Nor  seeks  nor  shuns  them  ;  but  doth  calmly  stay. 
Till  he  the  thing  and  the  example  weigh; 

All  being  brought  into  a  sum, 
What  place  or  person  calls  for  he  doth  pay. 

Who,  when  he  is  to  treat 
With  sick  folks,  women,  those  whom  passions  sway, 
Allows  for  that,  and  keeps  his  constant  way: 

Whom  others'  faults  do  not  defeat. 
But  though  men  fail  him,  yet  his  part  doth  play. 

Whom  nothing  can  procure, 
When  the  wide  world  runs  bias,  from  his  will 
To  writhe  his  limbs,  and  share,  not  mend  the  ill. 

This  is  the  mark-man,  safe  and  sure. 
Who  still  is  right,  and  prays  to  be  so  still. 

George  Herbert. 

Twelfth  after  Trinity.^ 

296 


TllUPvSDAY.] 

t^t  (ReDefation  of  £ife. 

THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

Gather  tip  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost. — S.  John 
VI.  12. 


"Jt^OW  seldom  most  of  us  regard  waste  as  a  sin  at  all,  especi- 
^^  ally  if  ...  we  are  surrounded  by  plenty.  But  waste 
of  any  of  God's  gifts,  great  or  small,  is  in  His  sight  a  sin.  Our 
Lord's  disciples  might  have  thought :  "  Why  gather  up  these 
fragments  of  bread  which  lie  scattered  among  the  grass  ?  The 
Master  has  no  need  of  them.  He  can  work  miracles  and  pro- 
vide bread  at  His  pleasure,  without  stint  or  effort.  Why  then 
should  we  trouble  ourselv'es  about  fragments  .''  "  Their  Master's 
command  taught  them  another  lesson.  So  now  a  servant  may 
think :  "  My  master  is  rich  ;  so  I  need  not  be  so  very  particular 
about  His  property.  I  need  not  trouble  myself  about  fragments 
of  time,  or  food,  or  furniture,  or  money.  If  he  were  a  poor 
man  it  would  be  different.  Then  of  course  it  would  be  wrong 
not  to  be  "careful  about  everything,  even  fragments.  Then 
waste  would  indeed  be  sin.  But  what  does  it  matter  in  the 
case  of  a  rich  man  ?  He  can  so  well  afford  it."  Now  the  mis- 
take in  all  this  reasoning  is  that  men  forget  that  they  are 
stewards  under  one  Supreme  Master  in  heaven.  And  He  is 
rich — who  so  rich  ?  Yet  it  was  He  Who  gave  the  command, 
"  Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost." 
But  it  is  not  servants  alone  who  are  prone  to  waste  :  it  is  a 
sin  of  which  we  are  all  guilty.  And  the  fallacy  which  lies  at 
the  root  of  it  is  not  understanding  that  waste  is  a  sin  in  itself, 
quite  apart  from  the  loss  or  gain  of  any  one. 

Malcolm  MacColl. 

297 


[Friday, 

t^c  (getjefaf ion  of  £if e. 

THE  EIGHTH  COMMANDMENT. 

A//  thxtjgs  come  of  Thee,  and  of  Thine  ozun  have  we  given  Thee. — 
1  Chron,  XXIX.  14. 


A^UR  Blessed  Lord  has  to  deal  with  no  new  precept,  but 
^^  with  one  aheady  existing,  when  He  mentioned  ahns- 
giving;  and  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  He  purifies  it,  re- 
moves it  into  the  region  of  pure  spirituahty,  puts  it  on  its  true 
and  proper  basis.  He  says  the  ahiis  of  the  Christian  must  be 
given  without  ostentation  or  vain  glory,  but  as  a  religious  act. 
The  left  hand  must  not  know  what  the  right  hand  doeth.  .  .  . 
Passing  on  to  Apostolic  times,  we  find  that  rules  on  the  subject 
are  gradually  being  formulated  by  the  Church.  S.  Paul  says, 
"  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by 
him  in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there  be  no 
gatherings  when  I  come ;  "  a  rule  which  finds  its  counterpart 
now  very  generally  in  the  weekly  offertory  ;  until  we  find  that 
it  is  the  custom  of  many  Christians  to  put  by  a  tenth  of  what- 
ever God  has  given  them,  to  be  devoted  to  good  purposes — 
partly  to  the  Church,  partly  to  various  good  works,  or  to  those 
organized  societies  for  doing  good  which  need  their  help.  And 
this  they  look  upon  as  a  debt  to  God,  after  which,  and  not  before 
almsgiving,  properly  so-called,  may  be  said  to  begin. 

W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


Twelfth  after  Trinity. 

298 


Saturday.] 

$^e  (HeDefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    EIGHTH    COMMANDMENT. 

He  that  is  itnjtist  in  the  least  is  twjtist  also  in  much. — S.  Luke  xvi.  10. 


OjJ'RE  we  quite  as  careful  as  we  ought  to  be  not  to  waste 
^^.y  other  people's  time  ?  Unpunctuality  is  really  a  form — 
often  a  most  annoying  and  inconvenient  form — of  dishonesty. 
It  is  a  kind  of  theft.  Again,  writing  a  bad,  illegible  hand  is  a 
kind  of  theft ;  you  make  other  people  incur  loss  of  time  and 
trouble  through  your  slovenliness.  Want  of  method  of  any 
kind  often  is  a  real  injustice  to  those  we  are  working  with. 
Are  none  of  us,  perhaps,  a  little  mean  about  money  matters  ? 
forgetting,  we  will  say,  to  pay  for  cabs,  and  other  small  ex- 
penses, to  return  loans,  to  abstain  from  those  indescribable  little 
acts  of  shabbiness  which  seem  so  tempting  to  some  natures; 
such  as  giving  people  commissions,  which  cost  time  and  trouble, 
to  save  ourselves  a  few  shillings,  or  even  pence  ?  Plenty  of 
instances  of  what  I  mean  will  occur  to  you.  There  is,  again, 
such  a  thing  as  literary  dishonesty:  cooking  up  materials 
which  have  taken  some  one  else  years  of  study  to  collect,  in  a 
cheap  and  popular  form  ;  stealing  other  persons'  ideas  and 
presenting  them  as  one's  own  ;  dramatizing  novels  without 
regard  to  the  author's  interests,  and  so  forth. 

ELizABiiTH  Wordsworth. 


299 


[Thirteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity, 

t^c  (ReDefation  of  £ife. 

THE     NINTH     COMMANDMENT. 

T/iott   shalt    not    bear    false    witness   against    thy   neighbour. — 
Ex.  XX.  16. 


^YjE  should  try  to  form  a  true  and  just  judgrnent  of  other 
people  before  we  say  anything  against  them.  A  wit- 
ness ought  to  be  sure  of  the  facts  to  which  he  bears  testimony. 
In  forming  our  judgment  of  others  we  should  remember  how 
often  our  actions  have  been  misinterpreted,  and  we  ourselves 
misjudged  ;  how  often  our  most  innocent  words  have  been 
misunderstood  or  ingenuously  perverted ;  and  we  should  be 
careful  not  to  inflict  on  others  the  wrong  of  which  we  our- 
selves indignantly  complained.  We  have  no  right  to  strain 
their  words  to  their  disadvantage,  nor  to  catch  at  any  unfor- 
tunate expression  which  slipped  from  them  accidentally,  nor  to 
ascribe  their  actions  to  the  worst  possible  motive.  If  any  rea- 
sonable hypothesis  will  relieve  their  conduct  from  blame  they 
ought  to  receive  the  benefit  of  it. 

We  have  no  right  to  give  our  mere  inferences  from  what  we 
know  about  the  conduct  or  principles  of  others  as  though  they 
were  facts.  .  .  .  We  may  be  unable  to  understand  how 
some  poor  woman  can  afford  the  dresses  she  wears;  but  we 
Jiave  no  right  to  say  that  she  gets  them  dishonestly  ;  we  have 
no  right  even  to  say  that  she  is  extravagant ;  for  perhaps  she 
has  friends  who  send  them  to  her.  We  have  no  right  to  say 
that  a  man  whose  name  seldom  appears  in  a  subscription  list 
gives  nothing  away ;  he  may  prefer  private  to  public  charity. 

R.  W.  Dale. 


300 


Monday.] 

$^e  (geuefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    NINTH     COMMANDMENT. 

As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them  likewise. 
S.  Luke  vi,  31. 


TpTOW  far  is  it  right  or  well  for  us  to  speak  of  our  neighbours 
riJ  at  all  ?  Surely,  if  it  be  true  that  "  out  of  the  abundance  of 
the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh,"  a  kindly  interest  in  our  neigh- 
bours must  infallibly  lead  to  conversation  about  them.  Even 
the  most  superior  men  cannot  live  entirely  on  facts  and  ideas. 
They  have  a  friendly  human  side — something  to  bring  them 
into  contact  with  the  every-day  world.  As  to  women,  take 
away  their  "  personal  talk,"  and  what  do  you  leave  them — the 
majority  of  them,  of  course  } 

Surely  we  come  back  to  the  old  rule  :  Do  as  you  would  be 
done  by.  You  would  not  mind  having  your  character  dis- 
cussed, or  even  your  looks,  dress,  and  manner.  You  would 
mind  two  people  gloating  over  some  humiliating  blunder  you 
had  made,  or  drawing  unfair  conclusions  about  some  appar- 
ently stingy  action,  which  was  really  inevitable.  You  would 
mind  (more  than  anything  else)  the  thought  that  nobody  cared 
to  talk  about  you  at  all.  You  would  not  like  people  to  take 
advantage  of  you  and  dwell  on  your  utterances  in  a  moment  of 
excitement,  and,  above  all,  to  repeat  things  said  in  such 
moments  to  the  person  of  whom  they  were  said.  What  we 
really  need  is  Christian  truth,  with  its  clear  and  unprejudiced, 
and,  I  may  add,  its  glorifying  vision,  and  Christian  love,  with 
its  warm  and  kindly  and  rapidly  communicated  glow. 

Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

301 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Reuefation  of  £ife. 


THE    NINTH    COMMANDMENT. 

The  tongue  can  no  man  tame. — S.  James  hi.  8. 


CYyOU  cannot  arrest  a  calumnious  tongue,  you  cannot  arrest 
(^  the  calumny  itself;  you  may  refute  a  slanderer,  you  may 
trace  home  a  slander  to  its  source,  you  may  expose  the  author 
of  it,  you  may  by  that  exposure  give  a  lesson  so  severe  as  to 
make  the  repetition  of  the  offence  appear  impossible ;  but  the 
fatal  habit  is  incorrigible  ;  to-morrov;^  the  tongue  is  at  work 
again. 

Neither  can  you  stop  the  consequences  of  a  slander;  you 
may  publicly  prove  its  falsehood,  you  may  sift  every  atom, 
explain  and  annihilate  it,  and  yet,  years  after  you  had  thought 
that  all  had  been  disposed  of  forever,  the  mention  of  a  name 
wakes  up  associations  in  the  mind  of  some  one  who  heard  the 
calumny,  but  never  heard  or  attended  to  the  refutation,  or  who 
has  only  a  vague  and  confused  recollection  of  the  whole,  and 
he  asks  the  question  doubtfully,  "  But  were  there  not  some  sus- 
picious circumstances  connected  with  him  ?  " 

It  is  like  the  Greek  fire  used  in  ancient  warfare,  which  burnt 
unquenched  beneath  the  water,  or  like  the  weeds  which,  when 
you  have  extirpated  them  in  one  place,  are  sprouting  forth  vig- 
orously in  another  spot,  at  the  distance  of  many  hundred 
yards ;  or  to  use  the  metaphor  of  S.  James  himself,  it  is  like 
the  wheel  which  catches  fire  as  it  goes,  and  burns  with  a 
fiercer  conflagration  as  its  own  speed  increases ;  "  it  sets  on 
fire  the  whole  course  of  nature  "  (literally,  the  wheel  of  nature). 

F.  W.  Robertson, 
¥ 

TJiirteenth  after   Trinity^ 

302 


Wednesday.] 

t^c  (gcuMion  of  £ife. 

THE     NINTH     COMMANDMENT. 

/,  as  a  deaf  man,  heard  not ;  and  I  was  as  a  dumb  man  thai  open- 
eth  not  his  jnouih.  For  in  Thee,  0  Lord,  do  I  hope :  Thou  wilt 
hear,  0  Lord  iny  God. — Psalm  xxxviii.  13, 15. 


7^0  whom  shall  I  give  credit,  O,  Lord  ?  to  whom  but  to 
^  Thee  ?  Thou  art  the  Truth,  which  neither  doth  deceive, 
nor  can  be  deceived.  And  on  the  other  side,  "  every  man  is  a 
Har,"  weak,  unconstant,  and  subject  to  fall.especially  in  words; 
and  therefore  we  must  not  immediately  give  credit  to  that 
which  in  outward  show  seemeth  at  the  first  to  sound  right. 

O,  with  what  wisdom  hast  Thou  warned  us  to  beware  of 
men ;  and,  because  a  man's  foes  are  they  of  his  own  house- 
hold, not  to  give  credit  if  one  should  say,  Lo  here,  or  Lo  there. 

My  hurt  has  been  my  instructor,  and  I  wish  it  may  make  me 
more  cautious  and  less  simple. 

"  Be  wary,"  saith  one,  "  be  wary,  keep  to  thyself  what  I  tell 
thee  ; "  and  whilst  I  hold  my  peace,  and  think  it  is  secret,  he 
cannot  himself  keep  that  which  he  desired  me  to  keep,  but 
presently  betrays  both  me  and  himself,  and  is  gone.  From 
such  tales,  and  such  indiscreet  persons,  protect  me,  O  Lord, 
that  I  neither  fall  into  their  hands,  nor  ever  commit  such  things 
myself. 

Grant  me  to  observe  truth  and  constancy  in  my  words,  and 
remove  far  from  me  a  crafty  tongue. 

ThOxMas  a  Kempis. 


[Thursday. 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  £ife. 

THE     NINTH     COMMANDMENT. 

I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall 
]ive  accoufit  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment. — S.  Matt.  xii.  36. 


AkURELY  it  is  only  at  first  sight  that  the  idle,  careless, 
^^  unscrupulous  use  of  the  great  gift  of  speech  can  seem  to 
us  a  trifling  fault.  Think  of  the  injustice,  the  pain,  the  anxiety, 
the  anger,  that  spring  up  round  reckless  talk.  Think  of  the 
confusion  and  uncertainty  that  comes  by  inaccurate  repetition 
of  inaccurate  reports;  think  of  the  loosening  of  mutual  trust, 
the  loss  of  real  interest,  the  rarity  of  thorough  sympathy,  be- 
cause one  has  to  doubt  the  justice,  the  trustworthiness,  of  so 
much  current  talk ;  think  of  the  lowering  of  the  standard  of 
truth.  Or  think,  again,  how  idle  words  not  only  disclose  the 
inner  character,  but  react  upon  it ;  making  dull  the  sense  of 
truth,  chilling  the  chivalry  of  allegiance  to  it ;  confusing  dis- 
tinctions, blurring  outlines ;  wasting  the  strength  that  should 
find  joy  in  the  sincere  and  arduous  and  patient  quest  of  the 
exact  truth.  Nor  is  it  a  little  thing  that  our  own  idle  words 
so  often  haunt  and  vex  us ;  that  we  find  it  hard  to  leave  off 
fretting  at  the  folly  of  our  own  talk — wishing  things  unsaid, 
wondering  what  harm  will  come  of  them. 

Francis   Paget. 


Thirteenth  after   Trinity^ 


Friday.] 

$^e  (Ketjefaf ion  of  feife. 

THE     NINTH     COMMANDMENT. 

The  lip  of  truth  shall  be  established  forever:  but  a  lying  tongue  is 
but  for  a  moment. — Pro  v.  xii.  19. 


T^HERE  is  the  duty  of  being  absolutely  truthful  in  what  we 
^^  do  say, not  exaggerating;  not  speaking  in  hyperbole, just 
to  give  point  to  a  story,  and  thus  perhaps  giving  a  very  unfair 
impression  of  our  neighbour.  You  call  one  person  "  splendid," 
"perfect";  another  "odious"  and  "detestable";  you  love  to 
heap  up  strong  epithets.  Then,  again,  you  say,  "  Truth  is  so 
dull."  I  beg  your  pardon.  Truth  is  the  only  thing  that  is 
never  dull,  and  the  only  means  by  which  we  can  escape  from 
dullness.  Why  ?  Just  consider.  In  all  art,  in  all  science,  in 
all  literature,  it  is  the  observation  of  delicate  mcances  that 
gives  interest,  that  delivers  from  conventionality,  that  insures 
progress.  The  conventional  person  says  the  sky  is  blue,  and 
probably  paints  it  so.  The  truthful  person  sees  that  the  sky  is 
gray,  pink,  yellow,  inky-black,  pale-green,  and,  no  doubt,  blue 
at  certain  times,  but  not  always  even  then  of  the  sam.e  un- 
broken shade  of  blue.  He  paints  or  describes  it  as  he  sees  it ; 
he  is  an  artist.  .  .  .  Just  so  it  is  in  our  observation  of 
character.  How  careless,  how  inartistic,  how  unscientific  we 
are  in  our  study  of,  in  the  judgments  we  pass  upon,  in  the 
language  which  we  employ  in  regard  to,  one  another,  and  how 
great  would  be  our  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  gain,  how  far 
more  attractive  our  conversation,  if  we  tried  to  cure  ourselves 
of  these  slovenly  habits  of  thought,  and  these  worse  than 
slovenly  habits  of  expression.     Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

305 


[Saturday. 

t^t  (Hetjefation  of  £ife. 

THE  NINTH  COMMANDMENT. 
Judge  not. — S.  Matt.  vii.  1, 


/^I^XeSIDES  what  is  reasonable  and  deliberate  in  judgment, 
^O^  there  is  all  the  judging  with  no  purpose,  with  no  control, 
judging  of  which  nothing  is  meant  to  come  or  can  come — except, 
perhaps,  mischief.  And  luhat  judging !  what  amazing  and 
easy  generalizations  from  the  slenderest  facts  !  What  reckless- 
ness of  evidence  !  What  ingenious  constructions  put  on  the 
simplest  or  the  most  imaginary  appearances !  What  defiant 
confidence  and  certainty,  coupled  with  the  grossest  indifference 
to  the  actual  truth,  and  the  grossest  negligence  to  ascertain  it ! 
What  superb  facility  in  penetrating  and  divining  hidden  cor- 
ruptions of  motive,  and  unavowed  ends  !  I  say  again,  what 
judging  is  that  of  which  we  have  so  much  experience — if  we 
will  be  honest — in  ourselves  ?  In  vain  S.  James  warns  us  of 
what  is  the  truth, — "  If  any  man  seem  to  be  religious,  and 
bridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  deceiveth  his  own  heart!"  In 
vain  he  exhausts  every  daring  image  to  impress  on  us  the 
sin  that  the  tongue  can  commit,  and  the  mischief  that  the 
tongue  can  do — "the  world  of  iniquity,"  "the  fire  which  sets 
on  fire  the  whole  wheel  of  life,  of  what  we  are  born  to,  and 
is  set  on  fire  of  hell."  In  vain  a  greater  than  S.  James  has 
left  on  record  the  command  which,  with  the  reason  given  for 
it,  might  make  the  best  of  us  tremble, — "Judge  not,  that  ye  be 
not  judged ;  for  with  what  judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be 
judged,  and  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured 
to  you  again."  R.  W.  Church. 

306 


Fourteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity] 

t^c  (Retjefaf ion  of  fetfe. 

THE    TENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbotc}'' s  house,  thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighboui^ s  wife,  nor  his  nian-servatit,  nor  his  maid,  nor  his  ox, 
nor  his  ass,  nor  anything  that  is  his. — Ex.  xx.  17. 


OfVjE  are  forbidden,  not  merely  to  attempt  to  get  for  ourselves 
by  illegitimate  means  what  belongs  to  our  neighbour,  but 
even  to  desire  that  it  should  be  ours  rather  than  his.  The 
statesman  must  not  wish  that  the  glory  of  his  successful  rival 
were  his  own  ;  nor  we  who  are  poor,  that  the  mansions,  and 
parks  and  libraries  of  the  wealthy,  were  ours.  The  disap- 
pointed lover  must  not  look  upon  the  wife  he  hoped  to  win  but 
has  lost,  and  regret  that  she  is  not  his;  nor  the  servant  secretly 
covet  the  happier  fortune  of  his  master,  or  the  larger  income 
of  a  man  who  is  in  higher  place  than  himself. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  a  hard  saying,  and  that  it  is  one 
of  the  impossible  precepts  of  which  there  are  so  many  in  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New,  But  what  is  the  moral  idea  on 
which  it  rests  ?  It  is  only  another  form  of  the  great  Com- 
mandment:  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  If  we 
can  obey  that  law,  we  can  obey  this.  If  I  love  the  rich  man 
as  I  love  myself,  I  shall  have  no  desire  to  live  in  his  house 
instead  of  him,  and  to  drive  his  carriages,  and  to  enjoy  his 
income.  If  a  statesman  loves  his  rival  as  well  as  he  loves  him- 
self, he  will  not  envy  his  rival's  triumph,  and  desire  his  rival's 
honour ;  the  only  motive  which  will  induce  him  to  strive  for 
power  will  be  the  conviction  that  he  is  better  able  to  serve  the 
State,  R.    W.  Dale. 


[Monday. 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  feife. 

THE    TENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

T/ie  love  of  vioiicy  is  the  root  of  all  evil:  ivhich  7uhile  some  have 
coveted  after  i  they  have  erred  from  the  faith.,  and  pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows. — 1  Tim.  vi.  10. 


3 F  it  be  a  peril  to  have  riches,  much  more  is  it  to  seek  them. 
To  have  them,  is  a  trial  allotted  to  any  of  us  by  God  ;  to 
seek  them  is  our  own.  Through  trials  which  He  has  given  us,  He 
will  guide  us  ;  but  where  has  He  promised  to  help  us  in  what 
we  bring  upon  ourselves  ?  Whence  also  Holy  Scripture 
speaks  of  this  special  peril.  "They  that  will  to  be  rich  fall 
into  a  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  many  foolish  and  hurtful 
lusts  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition."  It  says 
"fall  into  them,"  as  if  this  were  no  longer  a  peril  only,  but  the 
very  destruction  itself,  and  to  "  will  to  be  rich,"  were  itself  the 
very  pitfall  of  Satan.  For  what  men  have  themselves  made, 
they  love  the  more.  Money  which  men"  make  "  (as  they  say), 
is  a  sort  of  offspring,  which  they  cherish  with  a  parent's  love  ; 
it  is  the  end  for  which  they  have  toiled,  for  which  they  serve  ; 
yea,  it  is  the  very  idol  which  they  first  make  with  their  hands, 
and  then  fall  down  before  it  and  worship  it  as  a  god.  "  Cov- 
etousness,"  says  Scripture,  "  is  idolatry."  And  yet  this  is  the 
very  end  and  aim  in  this,  our  country,  the  very  nerve  of  what 
men  do,  the  very  ground  of  their  undertakings,  to  keep  or  to 
enlarge  their  wealth.  A  spirit  of  enterprise  infects  all ;  it  is 
the  air  men  live  in ;  prosperity  is  our  idol,  the  measure  of  all 
good  or  ill,  the  end  to  which  they  refer  all  other  ends.  And 
what  is  this  but  their  god  ?  E,  B.  Pusey, 

Fourteenth  after  Trinity.]  f 


Tuesday.] 

$3e  (getjefafion  of  £ife. 

THE    TENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Set  your  affection  on  things  above,  not  on   things  on   the  earth. — 
Col.  hi.  2. 


C{r)ESIRE  is  not  .  .  .  a  wrong  thing  in  itself.  When  is 
*^  it  wrong  ?  First,  when  we  desire  things  that  are  un- 
worthy of  us,  as  when  Nero  wished  to  be  applauded  as  a 
stage-performer,  or  when  a  great  man,  like  Browning's  "  Lost 
Leader,"  is  led  aside  from  his  path  by  the  offer  of  some  petty 
title  or  distinction  ;  and,  alas!  if  we  look  into  our  own  hearts, 
we  shall  often  find,  almost  with  a  sudden  shock  of  shame  and 
dismay,  how  miserably  petty  are  some  of  the  objects  around 
which  our  imagination  is  building  its  castles  in  the  air. 

Again,  Desire  is  wrong  when  it  throws  us  of¥  our  balance, 
and  makes  us  take  a  one-sided  view  of  life.  Have  you  not 
known  people  to  whom  nothing  seemed  important  but  the  ac- 
quisition of  money,  the  success  of  some  special  enterprise  or 
institution,  the  practice  of  some  one  accomplishment,  the  pursuit 
of  some  favorite  amusement,  the  somewhat  narrow  and  unen- 
lightened cultivation  of  a  particular  branch  of  study,  or  even 
the  foolish  or  exaggerated  worship  of  some  one  individual,  or 
the  petty  interests  and  mutual  admiration  of  a  literary,  artistic, 
or  social  coterie  ?  The  unfailing  result  is  that  the  very  thing 
they  sought  has  slipped  through  their  fingers  and  escaped 
them.  "Art,  for  art's  sake,"  for  instance,  is  about  the  most 
crippling  motto  the  artist  can  have.  Desire  is  clearly  blamable 
when  we  allow  it  to  absorb  us  and  make  us  forgetful  of  the 
needs  of  others.  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

309 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  '  (getjefaf ion  of  £ife» 

THE    TENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

And  he  was  aiigjy,  and  would  not  go  in:  therefore  ca^ne  his  father 
out,  and  entreated  him. — S.  Luke  xv.  28. 


3T  must  be  seen  that  besides  the  just  dissatisfaction  we 
may  have  at  other  men's  prosperity,  there  is  a  very  com- 
mon dissatisfaction,  which  arises  not  from  any  good  reason, 
but  from  jealousy,  because  the  jealous  person  does  not  like  to 
see  others  obtaining  what  he  desires  for  himself.  Not  that  the 
success  of  others  at  all  hurts  him,  but  he  derives  an  offence 
from  it  because  it  is  the  success  of  others,  and  not  his  own. 

It  requires  but  little  knowledge  of  human  nature  to  see  how 
strongly  mankind  are  affected  by  this  jealous  feeling,  and  how 
it  penetrates  everywhere  wherever  that  thing  which  Scripture 
calls  mammon  exists.  Wherever  there  are  those  temporary 
advantages  which  some  get  and  others  fail  to  obtain.  .  .  . 
Wherever  there  is  this  earthly  good  material  then,  of  mammon 
under  any  form,  it  provokes  and  calls  into  existence  the  jealous 
and  grudging  character — the  disposition  which  envies  others, 
and  would  withhold  good  things  from  them  if  it  could — a  dis- 
position which  expresses  itself  perhaps  with  the  greatest  free- 
dom in  the  poorer  class,  but  which  has  its  own  way  of  ex- 
pressing itself  in  all.  How  many  there  are  who  say  they  wish 
their  neighbours  to  go  to  heaven,  but  who  grudge  them  the 
least  success  in  this  world  ;  who  have  no  kind  of  objection  that 
they  should  have  spiritual  treasures,  but  to  whom  any  earthly 
prosperity  coming  to  them  is  an  offence,  J.  B.  Mozley. 

FourteentJi  after   Trinity.'] 


TiiunsDAY.] 

t^c  (Ket>efatton  of  feife. 

THE  TENTH  COMMANDMENT. 

I7vas  afraid,  and  luent  and  hid  Thy  talent  in  the  earth. — S.  Matt. 
XXV.  25. 


r/ "IE  SI  RE  is  wrong  when  indulged  in  such  a  way  that  the 
^^  failure  of  what  we  desire  makes  us  discontented.  Mere 
discontent — a  sort  of  sourness  that  grows  upon  people  who  see 
themselves  outstripped  in  the  race  of  life — an  inclination  to  be 
fretful  and  think  themselves  injured  or  overlooked,  a  disposi- 
tion to  give  up  everything  in  despair  because  they  are  not  so 
successful  as  others, — is  not  this  the  temptation  of  the  man 
with  the  one  talent,  the  man  whom,  after  all,  most  every-day 
people  resemble  ?  Many  of  us  need  a  sharp  illness  or  bereave- 
ment to  make  us  realize  how  very  much  there  is  to  be  thankful 
for  even  in  a  common-place  lot.  Perhaps  a  visit  to  the  incur- 
able ward  of  a  workhouse,  where  we  see  an  invalid  lying  on 
her  back  for  years,  yet  so  happy  to  try  a  new  pattern  of  patch- 
work, or  to  get  hold  of  a  new  book,  or  so  grateful  for  some 
tiny  luxury  in  the  way  of  food,  puts  us  sometimes  to  the  blush. 
I  used  to  think  the  man  with  the  one  talent — if  such  a 
thing  may  be  said  without  irreverence — was  a  man  who  had 
rather  hard  measure  dealt  out  to  him  ;  but  the  experience  of 
life  shows  every  year  more  forcibly  what  a  strong  lesson  needs 
to  be  given  to  the  mediocre  and  those  just  above  mediocrity, 
/.  e.,  to  most  of  us  Christians  who  have  7iot  the  stimulus  of 
brilliant  success  and  great  opportunities,  or  the  very  strong 
impulse  of  a  special  call,  and  yet  who  might  be  such  very  val- 
uable men  and  women  if  we  would  be  cheerful,  and  thankful, 
and  "faithful  in  a  little."  Elizabeth  Wordsworth. 

3" 


[Friday, 

t^c  (getjefaf ion  of  £if e. 

th;e   tenth   commandment. 

/  /lave  learned.,  in  ivJiatsoever  state  I  atn,  therewith  to  be  content. — 
Phil.  IV.  11, 


3  WISH  you  that  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit  which 
may  be  found  amid  all  the  trials  and  temptations  of  life. 
This  is  the  essential  difference  between  Babylon  and  the  City 
of  God.  The  inhabitant  of  Babylon,  however  intoxicated  with 
worldly  prosperity,  has  an  indefinable  heart's  craving,  which 
cries.  Not  enough  !  I  have  not  all  I  want ;  and  yet  more,  I  have 
that  which  I  want  not  !  But,  on  the  contrary,  the  inhabitant 
of  the  Holy  City  bears  in  his  heart  a  perpetual  Fzai  and  Aineji. 
He  wills  to  bear  all  his  troubles,  and  does  not  desire  any  of  the 
good  things  which  God  withholds.  Ask  him  for  what  he 
wishes,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  he  wishes  precisely  the  thing 
that  is.  God's  will  at  the  actual  moment  is  that  daily  bread 
which  is  better  than  all  else  ;  he  desires  all  that  God  appoints  in 
and  for  him.  This  will  satisfies  his  heart ;  it  is  a  never-failing 
manna.  "  Thou  shalt  honour  Him,"  Isaiah  says,  "  not  doing 
thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasures,  nor  speaking 
thine  own  words."     .     .     . 

Many  good  people  under  fair  pretexts  do  what  St.  Augustine 
accuses  the  Semi-Pelagians  of — assume  that  natural  merits 
come  first,  and  grace  follows  the  leading  of  nature:  ^*  Gratia 
pedissegua"  We  want  God  to  will  what  we  wish,  so  that  in 
accepting  His  will  we  may  have  our  own  way.  But  His  will 
must  prevent  ours,  and  He  must  be  all  things  in  us. 

Fenelon. 

Fourteenth  after  Trinity.'] 


Saturday] 

$^e  (^ci)daiion  of  &ife. 

THE    TENTH     COMMANDMENT. 

Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches;  feed  me  zvith  food  convenient 
for  me, — Pkov.  xxx.  8. 


jT^OW  happy  is  he  born  and  taught 
^y     That  serveth  not  another's  will ; 
Whose  armour  is  his  honest  thought 
And  simple  truth  his  utmost  skill. 

Whose  passions  not  his  masters  are, 
Whose  soul  is  still  prepared  for  death, 

Not  tied  unto  the  world  with  care 
Of  public  fame,  or  private  breath  ; 

Who  envies  none  that  chance  doth  raise 

Or  vice  ;  who  never  understood 
How  deepest  wounds  are  given  by  praise ; 

Nor  rules  of  state,  but  rules  of  good: 

Who  hath  his  life  from  rumours  freed, 
Whose  conscience  is  his  strong  retreat; 

Whose  state  can  neither  flatterers  feed, 
Nor  ruin  make  accusers  great ; 

Who  God  doth  late  and  early  pray 
More  of  His  grace  than  gifts  to  lend  ; 

And  entertains  the  harmless  day 
With  a  well-chosen  book  or  friend; 

This  man  is  freed  from  servile  bands 

Of  hope  to  rise,  or  fear  to  fall ; 
Lord  of  himself,  though  not  of  lands ; 

And  having  nothing,  yet  hath  all. 

WOTTON. 


[Fifteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

Z^c  (Retjefation  of  ^ap^imBB» 

THE    FIRST    BEATITUDE. 

Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit:  for  thei)^s  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
— S.  Matt.  v.  3. 


O^LL  the  saints  have  ever  taught  us  that  true  humiHty  is  tiie 
>^1/  groundwork  of  every  virtue  ;  for  humiHty  is  the  offspring 
of  pure  charity,  it  is  truth  itself :  ...  it  does  not  consist, 
as  some  suppose,  in  the  performance  of  outward  acts,  though 
in  themselves  they  are  valuable,  but  it  consists  in  being  what 
God  has  made  us.  He  who  prizes  anything  in  himself  is  not 
humble  ;  neither  is  he  who  seeks  anything  for  himself;  but  he 
who  so  entirely  forgets  himself  that  he  does  not  think  about  or 
contemplate  himself;  who  is  lowly  within  and  never  wounded  ; 
who  speaks  of  himself  as  he  would  of  another;  who  does  not 
affect  to  be  forgetting  himself,  whilst  he  is,  in  fact,  thinking  of 
nothing  else  ;  who  is  charitable  without  considering  what  the 
effect  may  be  ;  who  can  bear  to  be  thought  lacking  in  humility  ; 
finally,  he  who  is  full  of  charity,  this  man  is  truly  humble.  .  . 
The  humble  man  gives  himself  up  to  God  as  clay  in  the  pot- 
ter's hand  ;  and  therein  lies  true  humility.  A  truly  humble  man 
is  perfectly  obedient,  because  he  has  renounced  his  own  will ; 
he  yields,  unmurmuring,  to  all  that  is  ordered  for  him ;  he  has 
no  self-will.  He  seeks  nothing,  asks  nothing,  for  he  knows 
not  himself  what  he  needs  most.  Of  such,  Christ  has  said, 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Let  us,  then,  bravely  give  up  our- 
selves; if  God  does  nothing  with  us,  He  is  but  just,  for  what 
good  have  we  of  our  own  ?  If  through  us  He  work  any  good, 
it  will  be  His  glory,  and  we  shall  say  with  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
He  hath  regarded  our  lowliness.  Fenelon. 

314 


Monday.] 

$5e  (Hetjefafion  of  ^(xppincBB. 

HUMILITY. 

The  fear  of  the  Lord  is    the  instruction  of  wisdom;  and  before 
honour  is  hujnility. — Pro  v.  xv.  33. 


TJ^HERE  is  small  chance  of  truth  at  the  goal  where  there  is 
^^     not  a  childlike  humility  at  the  starting-post. 

Humility  is  the  safest  ground  of  docility,  and  docility  the 
surest  promise  of  docilibility.  Where  there  is  no  working  of 
self-love  in  the  heart  that  secures  a  leaning  beforehand  ;  where 
the  great  magnet  of  the  planet  is  not  overwhelmed  or  obscured 
by  partial  masses  of  iron  in  close  neighbourhood  to  the  com- 
pass of  the  judgment  though  hidden  or  unnoticed  ;  there  will 
this  great  desideratwn  be  found  of  a  childlike  humility.  Do  I 
then  say  that  I  am  to  be  influenced  by  no  interest  ?  Far  from 
it !  There  is  an  interest  of  truth  :  or  how  could  there  be  a 
love  of  truth  ?  And  that  a  love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake,  and 
merely  as  truth,  is  possible,  my  soul  bears  witness  in  its  inmost 
recesses.  But  there  are  other  interests — those  of  goodness,  of 
beauty,  of  utility.  It  would  be  a  sorry  proof  of  the  humility  I 
am  extolling,  were  I  to  ask  for  angels'  wings  to  overfly  my 
own  human  nature.  I  exclude  none  of  these.  It  is  enough  if 
the  "  leiie  clinamen,"  the  gentle  bias,  be  given  by  no  interest 
that  concerns  myself  other  than  that  I  am  a  man,  and  included 
in  the  great  family  of  mankind  ;  but  which  does  therefore 
especially  concern  me,  because  being  a  common  interest  of  all 
men,  it  must  needs  concern  the  very  essentials  of  my  being, 
and  because  these  essentials,  as  existing  in  me,  are  especially 
entrusted  to  my  particular  charge.  S.  T.  Coleridge. 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Ret>efafton  of  ^appincBB, 

HUMILITY. 

JVof  he  that  commendeth  himself  is  approved,  but  who?7i  the  Lord 
eommendeth. — 2  Cor.  x.  18. 


® 


ECAUSE  we  are  religious,  we  are  supposed  to  be  saints 


striving  earnestly  to  become  saints  ;  but  we  shall  not  be  sanc- 
tified by  what  other  men  think  of  us.  As  S.  Francis  used  to 
say,  What  we  are  in  God's  eyes,  that  are  we  and  nothing  more. 
The  habit  and  tonsure  are  worth  little,  or  less  than  nothing, 
if  our  hearts  are  not  clothed  with  purity,  and  detached  from 
the  love  of  this  world's  vanities.  What  will  it  avail  us  to  leave 
the  world  with  our  body  only,  if  the  world  still  lives  in  our 
hearts,  and  we  cannot  detach  ourselves  from  self  ?  How  much 
need  we  have  to  dread  the  good  opinion  of  men,  and  what  a 
burden  their  trust  in  us  lays  upon  our  weakness  !  A  peasant 
who  was  journeying  with  S.  Francis  of  Assisi,  said,  as  they 
went,  "  If  you  are  this  Brother  Francis  of  whom  such  wonders 
are  told,  take  heed  that  you  are  not  a  deceiver,  but  that  you  are 
in  the  eyes  of  God  what  you  seem  to  those  of  men."  It  is  said 
that  S.  Francis  fell  at  his  feet,  and  embraced  them,  so  joyful 
was  he  to  hear  such  words  of  truth  ;  and  though  perhaps  S. 
Francis  did  not  need  the  lesson,  other  men  do.  Worthless  as 
we  may  be,  we  are  always  tempted,  each  in  our  own  little 
sphere,  to  believe  ourselves  of  some  consequence.  Well  for 
those  who  are  saved  by  the  world's  rebuffs  or  neglect  from 
pride  and  self-satisfaction. 

Fifteenth  after  Trinity  ] 

316 


Pkre  Besson 


Wednesday,] 

t^c  (Het)efation  of  ^appimss, 

HUMILITY. 

Oui  of  ivcakness  zuere  made  strong. — Heb.  xi.  34. 


"Ti  HE  beginning  of  strength  is  to  know  our  weakness ;  and 
^^  yet  we  must  not  dwell  on  it.  The  worst  thing  possible, 
would  be,  of  course,  to  hover  over  the  thought,  "  How  very 
weak  I  am  ;  I  am  always  going  wrong;"  to  excuse  ourselves 
because  of  it.  "  I  cannot  help  this  or  that,"  or  to  moan  over  it. 
We  thus  let  humbleness  itself  canker  or  choke  like  a  weed  the 
the  springs  of  life.  Yet  we  must,  from  time  to  time,  take  one 
honest  look  at  our  weakness ;  we  must  have  a  solid,  sensible 
conviction  as  to  what  it  is,  or  we  shall  not  find  the  remedy  for 
it;  we  must,  on  the  other  hand,  never  acquiesce  in  it  as  a 
necessity  of  our  constitution.  And  then,  if  that  Accusing 
Spirit  taunt  us  with  our  weakness,  as  He  will  in  order  to  keep 
us  weak  and  low  ;  if  some  of  those  who  ought  to  strengthen 
us  "  cast  the  same  in  our  teeth,"  as  the  sons  of  the  prophets 
told  Elisha  that  his  influence  was  passing  away  from  him  with 
the  departure  of  Elijah,  .  .  .  we  have  but  to  answer  as  he 
answered :  "  Yea,  I  know  it,  hold  ye  your  peace — I  know  my 
weakness,  but  it  ccncerns  you  not — me  and  my  Lord  it  does 
concern  ;  and  He  out  of  weakness  will  make  me  strong."  We 
seek  His  strength — power  from  without,  from  above,  but  we 
must  ask  for  strength  reasonably,  knowing  what  we  want,  and 
why.  To  know  this  truthfully  is  like  the  way  we  prepare  for 
massive  building.  We  do  not  lay  the  stones  upon  the  surface  ; 
we  dig  deep,  and  clear  away  the  light,  drifted  soil,  that  the 
deeper  compressed  earth  may  receive  the  hard-grained  con- 
crete and  the  stone.  Archbishop  Benson. 

317 


[Thursday. 

$^e  (Hetjefafion  of  ^appincBB. 

HUMILITY. 

/  Aave  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear:  but  now  mine  eye 
seeth  Thee.  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes. — Job  xlii.  5,  6. 


/V^O  doubt  there,  is  the  consciousness  in  human  nature  that 
Vi  we  are  made  in  the  image  of  God.  We  are  tlie  masters 
of  our  own  destinies  ;  but  still  the  self-abasement  of  Job  is  not 
less  a  necessary  element  of  that  perfect  and  upright  character 
of  which  he  is  represented  the  type.  A  high-souled  church- 
man of  the  last  generation  used  to  say  that  his  abhorrence  of 
evil  in  himself,  and  his  loathing  of  it  so  increased  that  in  latter 
days  the  confession  of  sin,  which  in  youth  had  seemed  to  him 
exaggerated,  became  the  sincere  voice  of  his  heart ;  and  not 
only  in  moral  matters,  but  intellectual  matters  also,  we  learn 
this  need  of  humility.  How  often  do  we  hear  ignorant,  half- 
educated  men  pronouncing  on  difficult  problems  of  science  and 
religion,  with  a  certainty  which  to  maturer  years  seems  abso- 
lutely ridiculous.  We  all  of  us,  young  and  old,  need  the  grace 
of  modesty  and  humility — the  conviction  that  many  of  us,  per- 
haps most  of  us,  are  but  as  dust  and  ashes,  in  the  presence  of 
the  great  oracles  of  wisdom,  in  the  various  branches  of  knowl- 
edge, whom  God  has  in  this,  or  in  former  ages,  raised  up 
among  us.  We  all  of  us,  in  all  professions,  sacred  no  less 
than  secular,  need  the  willingness,  need  the  eagerness  to  be 
corrected  by  those  who  fear  to  tread  where  we  rush  boldly  in. 
We  all  of  us  need  the  desire  to  improve  ourselves  by  every 
light  that  can  dawn  upon  us  from  the  past  or  the  present,  from 
Heaven  or  from  earth.  A.  P.  Stanley. 

Fifteenth  after   Trinity.'\ 


Friday.] 

$^e  (getjefafion  of  ^appincB^. 

HUMILITY. 

A//  of  yoti  be  subject  one  to  another.,  and  be  clothed  with  htwnlity.- 
1  S.  Peter  v.  5. 


3N  the  life  of  equals  a  man  enters  upon  a  vast  field  of  rela- 
tions in  which  his  humility  and  his  generosity  pass 
through  an  ordeal  of  special  and  peculiar  severity ;  severity  far 
greater  than  that  which  attaches  to  any  trial  of  them  in  the 
relationship  to  inferiors;  for  the  simple  reason  that  a  man  is  in 
competition  with  his  equals,  and  he  is  not  in  competition  with 
his  inferiors.  To  a  superficial  person  it  might  appear  that  the 
great  act  of  humility  was  condescension,  and  that  therefore  the 
condescending  life  was  necessarily  a  more  humble  one  than  the 
life  with  equals.  But  this  is  not  the  true  view  of  the  case. 
The  hardest  trial  of  humility  must  be  not  towards  a  person  to 
whom  you  are  superior,  and  who  acknowledges  that  superiority, 
but  towards  a  person  with  whom  you  are  on  equal  footing  of 
competition.  .  .  .  The  relations  to  equals  are  thus  the 
more  real  trial  to  humility  than  the  relations  to  inferiors ;  and 
if  persons  will  examine  into  their  state  of  mind,  they  will,  I 
think,  find  that  their  own  feelings  and  sensations  will  verify 
this  comparison.  The  sense  of  defeat,  the  pangs  of  wounded 
pride,  the  mortification  of  aims  and  aspirations, — these  witness 
to  the  sharp  ordeals  which  the  life  of  equals  produces  ;  while 
certainly  if  these  are  borne  well,  they  constitute  a  safer  guar- 
antee to  a  real  humility  of  character,  than  any  condescension 
to  inferiors  in  the  nature  of  the  case  can  be. 

J.   B.  MOZLEY. 

319 


Saturday.) 

t^c  (Ret>efation  of  ^appirxtBS. 

HUMILITY. 

He  that  tvavereth  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea  driven   with   the   wind 
and  tossed. — S.  James  i.  G. 


AkURELY  we  are  apt  to  be  very  inconsistent  in  the  view  we 
^^  take  of  our  place  and  purpose  in  the  world  ;  in  some 
ways  vastly  exaggerating  our  importance,  and  in  others  failing 
of  the  reverence  we  owe  to  ourselves.  Sometimes  a  man 
seems  to  think  of  the  whole  world  as  revolving  round  his  life, 
and  measures  everything  with  reference  to  his  own  wishes  and 
opinions  ;  and  sometimes  he  is  content  to  drift  along  as  though 
he  had  no  distinct  power  of  choice  and  will.  Sometimes  he 
seems  unable  to  imagine  that  the  lives,  the  feelings,  the  con- 
victions of  others,  can  possibly  mean  as  much  to  them  as  his 
do  to  him  ;  and  sometimes  he  hardly  seems  to  have  a  con- 
viction in  him,  but  yields  to  any  pressure  that  is  on  him,  and 
calls  himself  the  victim  of  circumstances.  Sometimes  he  speaks 
as  though  his  knowledge  were  certain,  and  his  decisions  infal- 
lible ;  sometimes  as  though  he  could  know  nothing  at  all  of 
that  on  which  all  knowledge  depends.  Sometimes  he  seems  to 
himself  exempt  from  the  defects  he  sees  in  others,  and  inca- 
pable of  their  blunders  and  misdoings  ;  at  other  times  he  takes 
the  poorest  view  of  his  own  endowments ;  he  thinks  that  it  is  of 
no  use  for  him  to  aim  high,  or  to  attempt  a  noble  life;  that  he 
may  make  himself  easy  on  a  low  level  or  a  down  grade;  that 
there  are  temptations  he  cannot  withstand,  and  sins  he  will 
never  overcome;  that  people  must  take  him  as  he  is,  and  not 
expect  too  much  of  him. 


Fifteenth  after  Trinity. '\ 

320 


Francis  Paget. 


Sixteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

t^c  (Hetjefation  of  ^appinct>B, 

THE    SECOND    BEATITUDE. 

Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted. — S.  Matt. 
V.  4. 


£LUCH  sorrow  need  not  wait  in  any  of  us  for  a  season  of 
^  outward  affliction.  It  is  possible  to  mourn  for  sin — 
would  that  it  were  a  more  common  experience  ! 

Such  mourning,  strange  as  may  be  the  saying,  is  comfort. 
There  is  comfort  at  once  in  confession.  When  you  have 
sounded  the  very  depths  of  your  sinfulness  ;  when  your  foot 
has  touched  the  very  bottom  of  that  salt  and  acrid  sea;  when 
you  have  faced  the  truth,  and  dared  to  see  yourself  as  God 
sees  you  ;  then  there  is  a  beginning,  at  least,  of  a  peace  which 
passeth  undersla)idz?tg- ;  you  are  a  true  man  again,  disguises 
stripped  off,  and  the  worst  met  and  known.  I  say  that  in  that 
shame,  in  that  fear,  in  that  dread  exposure,  there  is  already 
the  glimmering,  and  already  the  germ  of  peace.  Light  is 
sprung  up—\\g\\t  has  entered — and  the  light  which  makes 
manifest  is  evermore  also  the  light  that  cheers.  How  much 
more  when  Christ  speaks,  saying,  /  was  made  si7t  for  thee ! 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Art  thou  guilty  ?  My  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 
Art  thou  self-despairing  ?  My  grace  is  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness. Art  thou  defiled,  and  sin-stained,  and  sin-enfeebled  ? 
My  Spirit,  Whom  I  will  send  unto  thee  from  the  Father,  is 
comfort,  and  life,  and  grace,  and  strength.  Blessed  indeed  are 
they  who  thus  tnoiirn  :  for  they  shall  be  comforted. 

C.  J.  Vaughan.  • 

321 


[Monday. 

Z^t  (Reuefation  of  ^cippintBB, 

CONTRITION. 

TAe  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit  ;  a  broken  and  a  contrite 
hearty  0  God,  Thou  wilt  not  despise. — ps.  li.  17. 


TJ^HE  Bible  says  little  about  conversion,  with  its  impassioned 
^^  "  Lord,  Lord."  It  says  much  about  repentance.  And 
this  is  hard;  this  is  difficult;  this  is,  if  you  will,  prosaic;  this 
implies  the  diligent  searching  of  the  heart,  the  long  and  wea- 
ried investigation  of  past  sins,  past  negligences,  past  igno- 
rances ;  this  implies  the  broken  and  contrite  heart,  broken  up, 
pulverized  with  sorrow,  into  a  soil  once  more  receptive  of 
good  ;  it  means  the  driving  away  of  the  birds,  the  diverting  of 
the  hard  mule-path,  the  pulling  up  of  the  briars,  the  upheaving 
of  the  rocks,  a  heart  bruised  and  broken  up,  or,  as  it  is  said,  a 
cotitrite  heart.  It  implies  that  humble,  loving  confession, 
"  Father,  I  have  sinned,"  not  merely  in  that  general  acknowl- 
edgment which  does  but  "  bless  with  faint  blame,"  but  in  the 
conscious  shame  of  individual  shortcomings  and  failure,  lead- 
ing us  to  a  painful,  weary,  laborious  amendment.  How  differ- 
ent to  the  easy  "  Lord,  Lord,"  with  which  the  soul  thinks  it 
can  rush  into  God's  presence  with  hands  yet  foul  with  black 
deeds,  with  feet  yet  weighted  with  a  life's  sin,  before  Him, 
Him  who  washed  away  the  sin  of  the  world  only  with  His  own 
Blood.  Repentance  is  troublesome,  but  it  is  the  will  of  God. 
The  "  Lord,  Lord,"  is  easy,  but  it  has  no  promise  of  rolling 
back  the  gate  which  bars  the  access  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 

Sixteenth  after  Trinity. 

322 


Tuesday.] 

t^t  (getjefatton  of  ^ap^incBS. 

CONTRITION. 

/  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father^  and  will  say  unto  Him^  Father y 
I  have  sinned  against  heaven^  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  Thy 
son. — S.  Luke  xv.  18,  19. 


rOEPENTANCE  is  not  merely  a  change  of  conduct,  but  a 
\^  change  of  conduct  based  upon  a  change  of  feeling  and 
mind.  It  is  repudiation  of  what  is  now  felt  to  be  sinful.  It  is 
not  enough  to  leave  off  from  doing  wrong  and  begin  to  do 
right ;  there  must  be  a  sense  of  guilt,  joined  with  sorrow  for 
having  done  wrong  in  the  past,  and  for  being  still  tainted  with 
inward  evil.  And  in  order  that  the  repentance  may  be  good, 
the  motive  for  sorrow  must  be  found  not  solely  in  the  sinner's 
hopes  or  fears  for  himself,  nor  even  in  the  thought  of  the  injury 
he  has  inflicted  upon  his  fellow-men  ;  but  in  the  knowledge 
that  he  has  grieved  and  offended  God.  The  determination  to 
make  what  amends  may  be  possible  (called  in  technical  lan- 
guage, satisfaction),  and  the  readiness  to  acknowledge  to  God 
and  (where  advisable)  to  man  the  whole  extent  of  the  wrong 
done  (or  confession),  must  be  the  outcome  of  a  loving  and 
unselfish  grief,  which  bears  the  name  of  contrition.  These 
— contrition,  confession,  amendment — are  the  three  parts  of 
repentance.  A.  J.  Mason. 


323 


[Wednesday. 

$0e  (Retjefafion  of  ^appincBB, 


CONTRITION. 


And  David  said  unto  Nathan,  I  have  sinned  against  the  Lord. 
And  Nathan  said  unto  David,  The  Loi'd  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin; 
thou  shalt  not  die. — 2  Sam.  xii.  13. 


j^ORD,  with  what  glory  wast  Thou  served  of  old, 
J^     When  Solomon's  temple  stood  and  flourished! 

Where  most  things  were  of  purest  gold; 

The  wood  was  all  embellished 
With  flowers  and  carvings,  mystical  and  rare: 
All  show'd  the  builder's,  crav'd  the  seer's  care. 

Yet  all  this  glory,  all  this  pomp  and  state. 

Did  not  affect  Thee  much,  was  not  Thy  aim; 
Something  there  was  that  sow'd  debate 
Wherefore  Thou  quitt'st  Thy  ancient  claim  ; 

And  now  Thy  Architecture  meets  with  sin 

For  all  Thy  frame  and  fabric  is  within. 

There  Thou  art  struggling  with  a  peevish  heart, 
Which  sometimes  crosseth  Thee,  Thou  sometimes  it: 

The  fight  is  hard  on  either  part. 

Great  God  doth  fight.  He  doth  submit. 
All  Solomon's  sea  of  brass  and  world  of  stone 
Is  not  so  dear  to  Thee,  as  one  good  groan. 

And  truly  brass  and  stones  are  heavy  things, 
Tombs  for  the  dead,  not  temples  fit  for  Thee : 

But  groans  are  quick,  and  full  of  wings, 

And  all  their  motions  upward  be ; 
And  ever  as  they  mount,  like  larks  they  sing: 
The  note  is  sad,  yet  music  for  a  king. 

George  Herbert. 


Sixteenth  after  Trinity. 

324 


Thursday.] 

t^c  (Het)efafton  of  happiness. 

CONTRITION. 

Godly  sorrow  zvorketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of. 
—2  Cor.  VII.  10. 


/pS^OD  sees  sin  not  in  its  consequences  but  in  itself:  a  thing 
^^  infinitely  evil,  even  if  the  consequences  were  happiness 
to  the  guilty,  instead  of  misery.  So  sorrow,  according  to  God, 
is  to  see  sin  as  God  sees  it.  The  grief  of  Peter  was  as  bitter 
as  that  of  Judas.  He  went  out  and  wept  bitterly;  how  bitterly 
none  can  tell  but  they  who  have  learned  to  look  on  sin  as  God 
does.  But  in  Peter's  grief  there  was  an  element  of  hope ;  and 
that  sprung  precisely  from  this — that  he  saw  God  in  it  all. 
Despair  of  self  did  not  lead  to  despair  of  God.  This  is  the 
great,  peculiar  feature  of  his  sorrow.  God  is  there,  accord- 
ingly self  is  less  prominent.  It  is  not  a  microscopic  self-exam- 
ination, nor  a  mourning  in  which  self  is  ever  uppermost:  my 
character  gone  ;  the  greatness  of  my  sin  ;  the  forfeiture  of  my 
salvation.  The  thought  of  God  absorbs  all  that,  I  believe 
the  feeling  of  true  penitence  would  express  itself  in  such 
words  as  these :  There  is  a  righteousness,  though  I  have  not 
attained  it.  There  is  a  purity,  and  a  love,  and  a  beauty,  though 
my  life  exhibits  little  of  it.  In  that  I  can  rejoice.  Of  that  I 
can  feel  the  surpassing  loveliness.  My  doings  ?  They  are 
worthless,  I  cannot  endure  to  think  of  them.  I  have  some- 
thing else  to  think  of.  There,  there  ;  in  that  Life  I  see  it.  And 
so  the  Christian — gazing  not  on  what  he  is,  but  on  what  he  de- 
sires to  be — dares  in  penitence  to  say,  That  righteousness  is 
mine.  F.  W.  ROBERTSON. 

325 


[Friday. 

$5e  (getjefafion  of  ^(xppincBB. 

CONTRITION. 
Afy  sin  is  ever  before  me. — Ps.  li.  3. 


3F  thou  wilt  make  any  progress  in  godliness,  keep  thyself 
in  the  fear  of  God,  and  affect  not  too  much  liberty. 

Restrain  all  the  senses  under  the  severity  of  discipline,  and 
give  not  thyself  over  to  foolish  mirth. 

Give  thyself  to  compunction  of  heart,  and  thou  shalt  gain 
much  devotion  thereby. 

Compunction  layeth  open  much  good,  which  dissoluteness  is 
wont  quickly  to  destroy. 

It  is  a  wonder  that  any  man  can  ever  perfectly  rejoice  in  this 
life  if  he  duly  consider  and  thoroughly  weigh  his  state  of  ban- 
ishment and  the  many  perils  wherewith  his  soul  is  environed. 

Know  that  thou  art  unworthy  of  Divine  consolation,  and  that 
thou  hast  rather  deserved  much  tribulation. 

When  a  man  hath  perfect  contrition,  then  is  the  whole  world 
grievous  and  bitter  unto  him. 

A  good  man  findeth  always  sufficient  cause  for  mourning 
and  weeping. 

For  whether  he  consider  his  own  or  his  neighbour's  estate, 
he  knoweth  that  none  liveth  here  without  tribulation. 

And  the  more  narrowly  a  man  looks  into  himself,  so  much 
the  more  he  sorroweth. 

Our  sins  and  wickednesses,  wherein  we  lie  so  enwrapt  that 
we  can  seldom  apply  ourselves  to  Heavenly  contemplations,  do 
minister  unto  us  matter  of  just  sorrow  and  inward  compunc- 
tion. Thomas  a  Kempis. 

Sixteenth  after  Trinity. 

326 


Saturday.] 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  gap|?tne06. 

CONTRITION.  ^ 

As  one  whom  his    mother  comforteth,  so   will  I  comfort  you. 

ISA.   LXVI.   13. 


aKS|ELIEVE  me,  we  can  know  very  little  of  true  joy  or  peace, 
vb^  unless  we  have  this  abiding  sorrow  of  contrition.  To  be 
self-condemned  is  to  be  Christ-comforted.  We  cannot  know 
the  tender  love  of  Him  who  wipes  the  tears  from  the  penitent's 
cheek  unless  we  shed  that  tear.  "  Sorrowful,  yet  always  re- 
joicing :  "  it  is  one  of  the  beautiful  paradoxes  of  Christian  ex- 
perience. In  it  we  not  only  taste  sorrow  coexisting  with  joy, 
but  the  measure  of  contrition  is  the  measure  of  joy.  If  we 
think  of  it,  this  will  become  perfectly  clear.  For  to  whom  will 
Christ  come  nearest  ?  Whom  will  He  comfort  most  ?  Whom 
will  He  cheer  with  His  tenderest  compassion  ?  Surely  those 
whose  cheeks  are  stained  with  penitent  tears :  it  is  they  who 
will  touch  His  Heart  and  move  Him  to  stretch  out  His  aiding 
Hand.  They  will  ever  be  the  most  comforted  who  give  them- 
selves up  the  most  entirely  to  the  sorrow  of  an  abiding  contri- 
tion. This  is  the  reason  of  the  small  measure  of  peace  and  joy 
we  find  in  so  many  believers.  They  are  not  living  lives  of 
generous  contrition.  Only  live  as  penitents  should  live,  and 
you  will  find  that  your  peace  and  joy  flow  as  a  mighty  river. 

George  Body. 


[Skventeenth  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

$5e  (Reijefafion  of  ^appincBB. 

THE    THIRD    BEATITUDE. 

Blessed  are  the  ??ieek  :  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. — S.  Matt.  v.  5. 


AVjEEKNESS  is  the  mark  of  a  strong  character.  It  is  self- 
vl  control,  moral  courage  working,  not  without,  but  within 
the  man ;  the  power  of  saying  "  no,"  not  to  foes  or  temptations 
from  outside,  but  to  the  man's  own  self.  It  is  the  temper,  keen 
to  feel,  and  quick  to  act,  trained  to  endure  and  forgive.  The 
wise  man  in  his  proverbs  tells  us  what  it  is,  "  Greater  is  he 
that  ruleth  his  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

And  how  does  meekness  show  itself?  It  has  a  double 
aspect ;  it  works  in  a  twofold  direction.  It  has  to  do  with  God 
and  with  man.  As  it  works  Godward  it  is  the  intelligent  sub- 
mission to  God's  will,  which  follows  His  guiding,  obeys  His 
call,  does  His  bidding.  ...  It  bends  under  the  dispensa- 
tion of  God,  it  bows  low  before  the  waves  of  trial  which  the 
Father  sends  or  allows.  And  this  meekness  is  strength.  It  is 
a  great  rock  that  nothing  can  shake,  for  it  comes  of  strong 
faith  in  a  God  Who  with  fatherly  love  is  ever  working  out  His 
children's  truest  happiness,  and  it  manifests  itself  in  a  strong 
patience.  But  it  has  a  manward  direction  too.  What  is  it 
then  ?  It  is  the  temper  which  is  not  easily  provoked,  but  over- 
comes evil  with  good.  It  recognizes  the  rights  of  others,  and 
realizes  the  important  truth  that  we  are  sent  into  this  w^orld  to 
be  a  discipline  to  each  other.  .  .  .  This  is  the  attitude  of 
the  spirit  trusting  in  a  living,  personal  God,  raised  above  the 
angry  and  irritable  and  vindictive.  C.  J.  RiDGEWAY. 


328 


Monday.] 

t^t  (Ret?efation  of  ^(xppinccB, 

MEEKNESS. 

And  there  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in  Israel  like  unto  Moses,  whom 
the  Lord  knezv  face  to  face. — Deut.  xxxiv.  10. 


r^piLESSED  are  the  meek:  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 
>0  Just  that  which  they  do  not  care  to  do  ;  just  that  which 
they  anxiously  shun  and  sedulously  forego  !  But  they  cannot 
help  it.  Meekness  is  power  ;  power  with  men,  and  power  from 
God.  You  all  remember  the  description  of  the  great  lawgiver 
of  Israel.  Now  the  J7tan  Moses  was  very  meek,  above  all  the 
men  which  zvere  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  Very  meek,  and 
yet  who  was  ever  so  powerful  ?  Who  else  ever  wrote  his  work 
upon  fifteen  centuries  with  his  will,  and  more  than  fifteen  be- 
yond without  it  ?  Who  ever  stamped  the  earth  like  him  with 
the  impress  of  his  mission  and  of  his  legation?  It  is  so  still. 
The  proud  man  may  overbear  some  oppositiun,  overawe  some 
threatening,  carry  some  weight,  for  a  lifetime:  yet  the  greatest 
works  of  all,  the  alone  enduring  works  below,  have  been 
wrought  by  the  meek,  and  they  have  been  loved  even  while 
they  conquered.  In  the  end  they  only  shall  be  remembered. 
Statesmen,  generals,  kings,  are  but  for  a  lifetime  :  the  men  of 
self-denial,  of  self-forgetfulness,  of  determined  and  absolute 
self-victory  for  the  sake  of  others,  they,  they  alone,  are  forever  ! 
They  have  walked  in  their  Master's  steps  :  they  shall  sit  down 
with  Him  in  His  throne !  And  this  likeness  to  Christ  can  be 
acquired  only  by  converse  with  Him  and  by  communion.  We 
shall  be  like  Him,  S.  John  says,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. 

C.  J.  Vaughan. 


329 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Reuefafton  of  ^appimBB. 

MEEKNESS. 

In  your  patience  ye  shall  win  your  souls. — S.  Luke  xxi,  19. 


3  REJOICE  to  hear  what  you  tell  me  of  the  vigorous  ef- 
forts you  are  making  to  restrain  your  natural  impetuosity. 
It  is  hard  work,  but  the  result  will  be  a  great  blessing  to  you, 
and  your  very  efforts  are  pleasing  in  God's  sight,  if  made  for 
His  sake.  Self  restraint  is  a  real  sacrifice  for  Him,  a  sign  that 
one  loves  Him  better  than  one's  self.  Do  not  be  disheartened 
if  you  do  not  succeed  all  at  once,  you  cannot  accomplish  your 
object  without  many  a  trial,  because  self-restraint  must  be  a 
habit,  and  that  can  only  be  the  result  of  repeated  efforts.  I 
would  impress  this  on  you,  because  I  know  myself  how  easily 
one  is  discouraged  by  one's  own  weakness;  and  the  more 
anxious  one  is  to  do  right,  the  harder  it  seems  to  be  so  long 
before  one  succeeds.  But  the  saints  did  not  conquer  their  pas- 
sions without  many  a  hard  fight,  and  patience  under  the 
struggle  is  a  good  step  won  towards  your  end.  Try  to  be  very 
patient  with  yourself,  checking  yourself  vigourously,  of  course, 
when  you  fall,  but  still  with  gentleness,  and  so  you  will  learn 
to  be  gentle  with  others.  For  the  most  part  other  people  try 
us  from  without  only  because  we  are  wanting  in  peace  within. 

Pere  Besson. 


Seventee7ith  after  Trinity?^ 


Wednesday.] 

t^t  (RcuMion  of  ga^|?me60. 


MEEKNESS. 


Humble  yourselves  therefore  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  that 
He  may  exalt  you  in  due  time. — 1  S.  Peter  v.  6. 


AtaUT   that  Thou  art  my  wisdom,  Lord, 
VO^     And  both  mine  eyes  are  Thine, 
My  mind  would  be  extremely  stirr'd 
For  missing  my  design. 

Were  it  not  better  to  bestow 

Some  place  and  power  on  me  ? 

Then  should  Thy  praises  with  me  grow, 
And  share  in  my  degree. 

But  when  I  thus  dispute  and  grieve, 

1  do  resume  my  sight; 
And  pilf  ring  what  I  once  did  give. 

Disseize  Thee  of  Thy  right. 

How  know  I.  if  Thou  shouldst  me  raise. 

That  I  should  then  raise  Thee  } 
Perhaps  great  places  and  Thy  praise 

Do  not  so  well  agree. 

Wherefore  unto  my  gift  I  stand ; 

I  will  no  more  advise; 
Only  do  Thou  lend  me  a  hand, 

Since  Thou  hast  both  mine  eyes. 

George  Herbert 


[Thursday, 

$^e  Q^etjefation  of  ^appintBB. 


MEEKNESS. 


Though  I  besio7V  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  thotigh  I  give 
my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it projiteth  me  nothing. — 


COK.   XIII. 


y[^REAT  and  serious  actions  and  events  do  not  make  up  our 
^^  liv^es ;  it  is  not  every  day  that  we  have  an  opportunity  of 
helping  some  neighbour  in  trouble,  or  of  bearing  some  great 
trial  well,  or  of  showing  our  patience  in  suffering.  These 
things  come  only  now  and  then,  but  our  ordinary  way  of  be- 
having to  one  another,  or  of  feeling  to  one  another,  never  stops, 
it  goes  on  all  day  long,  and  from  day  to  day,  and  from  week  to 
week.  And  the  truth  is,  that  what  a  man  is,  is  much  more 
shown  in  his  common  words  and  doings  than  in  his  uncommon 
and  seldom  ones,  and  therefore  it  is  these  common  words  and 
doings  which  are,  if  anything,  of  even  more  importance  than 
what  we  call  greater  occasions.  It  may  chance  that  a  person 
who  is  peevish  and  ill-natured  to  people  about  him,  may  be 
greatly  touched  by  some  case  of  distress,  and  may  even  put  him- 
self to  great  trouble  and  inconvenience  to  relieve  it.  It  is  a 
good  thing  that  he  should  do  so  ;  perhaps  he  may  look  on  it  as 
a  proof  of  his  ready  sense  of  duty,  of  his  love  to  Christ ;  perhaps 
he  gives  little  thought  to  the  peevishness  and  ill-nature  which 
prevail  generally  in  what  he  says  and  does,  but  I  greatly  doubt 
whether  this  continual  bad  temper  is  not  a  much  more  serious 
matter  in  Christ's  eyes  than  any  one  service,  however  appar- 
ently great. 

R.  W.  Church. 

Seventeenth  after  Trinity?^ 

332 


Friday.] 

Z^e  (Retjefafion  of  ga:p^?ine60. 

MEEKNESS. 
Her  children  arise  up,  and  call  her  blessed. — Prov.  xxxi. 


®UGUSTINE  enjoyed  the  blessing  of  a  holy  mother ;  and 
in  all  the  violent  conflicts  of  a  vigorous  intellect,  writhing 
with  convulsive  agonies,  if  we  may  so  speak,  like  a  spiritual 
Laocoon  in  the  serpentine  strictures  of  doubt  and  despair, 
which  threatened  to  strangle  him  ;  and  in  all  the  passionate 
voluptuousness  and  foul  corruptions  of  a  noble  nature  wallow- 
ing in  the  mire  of  sensuality  at  Carthage,  .  .  .  and  amid  the 
noble  aspirations,  first  of  Philosophy,  derived  from  Cicero's 
Hortensius,  and  next  of  the  still  higher  soarings  of  Platon- 
ism,  which  filled  him  with  unutterable  longings  for  what  was 
grand,  beautiful,  true  and  divine,  but  was  unable  to  satisfy  the 
appetite  which  it  created;  and  amid  the  refinements  of  literary 
studies,  and  the  fascinations  of  dramatic  entertainments ;  and 
in  the  excitements  of  his  rhetorical  lectures  and  exercises, 
which  attracted  many  admirers,  and  ministered  to  his  intellec- 
tual pride,  but  disqualified  him  for  tasting  the  simple  beauties 
and  humiliating  truths  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  never  lost 
sight  of  the  holy  example,  the  unquestioning  faith,  the  fervent 
devotion,  and  self-sacrificing  love  of  his  mother  Monica.  Her 
image  was  ever  at  his  heart,  and  the  consummation  of  all  his 
lonely  and  laborious  struggle,  and  the  victory  over  all  antag- 
onisms, from  within  and  without,  was  in  a  return  to  that  child- 
like docility  and  humility  which  drinks  faith  in  by  love,  looking 
upward  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  meekly  kneeling  beneath  it. 
Bishop  Christopher  Wordsworth. 

333 


[Saturday. 

$5e  (Reuefation  of  ^appincaa. 

MEEKNESS. 

T/ie  discretion  of  a  man  niaketh  him  slow  to  ange7'. — Prov.  xix.  11. 


OfVjASHINGTON  stands  out  in  history  as  the  very  imper- 
^^  sonation  of  dignity,  ])ravery,  purity,  and  personal  excel- 
lence. His  command  over  his  feelings,  even  in  moments  of 
great  difficulty  and  danger,  was  such  as  to  convey  the  impres- 
sion, to  those  who  did  not  know  him  intimately,  that  he  was  a 
man  of  inborn  calmness  and  almost  impassiveness  of  disposi- 
tion. Yet  Washiugton  was  by  nature  ardent  and  impetuous ; 
his  mildness,  gentleness,  politeness,  and  consideration  for 
others  were  the  result  of  rigid  self-control  and  unwearied  self- 
discipline,  which  he  diligently  practiced,  even  from  his  boy- 
hood. His  biographer  says  of  him,  that  "  his  temperament 
was  ardent,  his  passions  strong,  and  amidst  the  multiplied 
scenes  of  temptation  and  excitement  through  which  he  passed, 
it  was  his  constant  effort  and  ultimate  triumph,  to  check  the 
one  and  subdue  the  other."  And  again  :  "  His  passions  were 
strong,  and  sometimes  they  broke  out  with  vehemence,  but  he 
had  the  power  of  checking  them  in  an  instant.  Perhaps  self- 
control  was  the  most  remarkable  trait  of  his  character.  It  was 
in  part  the  effect  of  discipline,  yet  he  seems  by  nature  to  have 
possessed  this  power  in  a  degree  which  has  been  denied  to 
other  men."  S.  Smiles. 


Seventeenth  after  Trinity^ 

334 


Eighteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

t^c  (Reuefafion  of  ^appincBB, 


THE  FOURTH  BEATITUDE. 


Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after    righteousness^ 
for  they  shall  be  filled. — S.  Matt.  v.  6. 


T^HOUGH  thirst  is  painful,  yet  there  is  a  thirst  which  makes 
^^  men  happy  and  blessed.  "  Blessed  are  they,"  said  He, 
"that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall  be 
filled."  "  They  shall  be  filled,"  sooner  or  later,  He  had  said  in 
the  beginning  of  His  ministry,  and  now  He  tells  men  how. 
"  Let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink."  Let  him  know  Me,  let 
him  love  Me,  let  him  obey  Me,  let  him  trust  in  Me,  and  his 
thirst  shall  cease.     For  righteousness  shall  begin  to  be  his. 

Is  any  thirsting,  like  David,  for  the  purity  of  the  water  he 
drank  when  a  boy,  for  the  simplicity  of  innocence,  for  the 
confidence  in  prayer  ?     Christ  can  give  it  him. 

Is  any  thirsting  for  strength  to  bear  the  bitterness  of  life  ; 
is  any  thirsting  for  strength  to  fulfil  the  law  of  God;  for 
strength  to  resist  the  importunities  of  temptation,  crying  out 
from  within  ;  for  strength  to  resist  the  suggestions  of  an  un- 
wise friend,  pointing  out  the  way  of  evil,  and  ready  to  accom- 
pany him  along  it  ?  Christ  can  give  him  that  strength  if  he 
will  come  to  Him. 

Is  any  thirsting  for  an  assurance  that  he  shall  live  when 
time  is  over — live  and  not  die  when  human  life  is  past  ?  Christ 
can  give  him  this  too,  for  He  can  give  him  the  very  Life  itself. 

Innocence  restored,  strength  attained,  life  assured,  all  these 
are  in  the  draught  which  it  places  at  your  lips. 

Archbishop  Benson. 

335 


[Monday. 

$^e  Q^et>efafion  of  ^appincsB, 

DEVOTION. 

Are  yoii7-    minds  set    upon  righteousness,    O  ye    congregation  ? — 
Ps.  Iviii.   1. 

OjJ^LAS  !  why  are  we,  each  of  us,  so  pitifully  conscious  of 
>iiy  cramped  enthusiasms,  of  half-hearted  beliefs  ?  How 
little  of  prophetic  fury  is  there  about  us!  How  passive, 
how  indifferent,  how  unstirred  we  remain,  while  huge  sins 
walk  abroad,  and  the  earth  is  full  of  cruel  habitations! 
What  evils  are  there  that  shrink  before  our  indignation  ? 
What  wrongs  are  there  that  dread  our  loud  outcry  ?  What 
low  and  base  ambitions  are  there  that  creep  off  abashed 
when  we  are  near  ?  What  worldly  man  feels  uncomfort- 
able in  our  presence  ?  Why  is  it  that  no  rebuke,  no  repug- 
nance, goes  out  from  our  very  being  against  impurity?  Why 
do  sins  flourish  so  close  to  us,  without  fear,  and  without  scruple  } 
Something  is  wrong.  We  pray,  we  know  spiritual  hopes  and 
joys,  we  are  far  more  alive  than  many  men  about  us  to  religious 
emotions  and  religious  inspirations.  Why  is  it,  then,  that  we 
are  not  equally  conscious  of  a  purer  moral  tone  than  they,  of  a 
more  delicate  sense  of  right,  of  a  nobler  and  more  victorious 
wrath  ?  .  .  .  Our  individual  weakness  is,  surely,  due  to  our 
isolation.  We  do  not  hold  our  moral  life  as  a  debt  due  to  the 
Church  ;  we  do  not  work  righteousness  as  members  of  a  cor- 
poration, of  a  body  pledged  to  holy  living.  Alone,  and  fearing 
the  terrific  odds  that  are  against  us,  no  wonder  that  we  faint 
and  quail.  .  .  .  We  owe  it  to  all,  that  our  minds  should  be 
set  on  righteousness.  H.  S.   HOLLAND. 

Eighteenth  after   Trinity.'] 


Tuesday.] 

Z^c  (Ret?efafion  of  ^appintse, 

DEVOTION. 

Why  call  ye  Me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  ?- 
S.  Luke  vi.  46. 


3T  is  easy  to  allow  ourselves  a  certain  number  of  faults.  It 
is  easy  to  assert  that  God  allows  every  one  a  few  mis- 
takes. But  it  is  not  religion.  Doubtless  it  is  harder,  day  by 
day,  to  battle  with  a  besetting  sin,  which  men  call  a  fault,  than 
just  to  give  way,  and  call  upon  the  Lord  to  pardon  it.  But 
does  it  stop  here?  Is  it  it  not  just  at  the  weak  point  that  the 
whole  strength  gives  way  }  The  strength  of  a  chain  is  the 
strength  of  its  weakest  link.  Did  it  avail  Moses  that  he  was 
good,  devoted,  generous,  pure,  faithful,  brave,  religious  ?  His 
hasty  temper,  once  subdued,  so  that  he  became  noted  for 
meekness,  broke  down  again,  and  with  it  went  the  earthly 
crown  of  his  life.  Did  it  avail  Judas  that  he  was  an  earnest, 
self-denying  apostle?  He  broke  down  in  covetousness.  S. 
Peter,  again,  strong  in  other  points,  broke  down  in  self-confi- 
dence. No,  if  religion  is  the  force  within  us  which  seeks  to 
restrain  the  powers  of  death,  it  is  not  in  the  easy  acquiescence 
in  a  low  standard,  but  in  the  vigorous  determination  to  over- 
come rt//evil  that  she  pursues  her  toilsome  and  hard  task.  It 
is  hard  and  difficult  to  regulate  our  rebellious  life  according  to 
the  will  of  God  ;  it  is  easy  to  say,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  from  a  life  of 
no  effort  and  no  ambition.  But  "  Lord,  Lord,"  is  no  watch- 
word when  the  gate  is  closed;  "Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us," 
will  not  fill  the  empty  lamp,  nor  kindle  the  flame  which  heralds 
the  bridegroom's  approach.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  (getjefafion  of  ^appintBB, 

DEVOTION. 

T/ie  soul  of  the  sluggard  desireth  and  hath  nothing. — Prov.  xiit.  4. 


AkELF-INDULGENCE  is  the  soul's  languor,  which  numbs 
^'  it,  and  deprives  it  of  all  energy  for  doing  good  ;  but  it  is 
a  very  treacherous  languor,  secretly  exciting  the  soul  to  sin, 
and  hiding  a  devouring  fire  beneath  its  seeming  slow  ashes. 
You  need  a  vigorous,  manly  faith  to  check  this  indolent  soft- 
ness unremittingly.  If  once  you  parley  with  it,  all  is  lost. 
And  moreover,  it  is  as  mischievous  in  worldly  matters  as  in 
spiritual.  Self-indulgence  deprives  a  man  of  everything  that 
might  make  him  great ;  a  self-indulgent  man  is  scarce  a  man. 
He  is  a  poor  effeminate  creature.  The  love  of  ease  overpowers 
his  best  interests ;  he  cannot  cultivate  his  talents,  nor  acquire 
the  knowledge  necessary  for  a  profession,  nor  undergo  the 
work  of  a  troublesome  office,  nor  submit  to  the  tastes  and  tem- 
pers of  others,  nor  work  bravely  at  the  correction  of  his  own 
faults.  He  is  the  sluggard  of  Holy  Scripture,  who  "  desireth, 
and  hath  nothing,"  who  desires  to  do  what  is  right  at  a  dis- 
tance, but  drops  back  languidly  as  soon  as  he  comes  face  to 
face  with  work.  .  .  .  Beware  of  this  fault,  the  source  of 
so  much  evil.  Pray,  watch.  Watch  against  self.  Pinch  your- 
self, as  you  would  pinch  one  in  a  lethargy.  Get  your  friends 
to  prick  and  rouse  you.  Seek  the  Sacrament  diligently,  it  is 
the  fountain  of  life ;  and  do  not  forget  that  in  this  case  God 
and  the  world  are  for  once  agreed : — neither  kingdom  can  be 
won  without  taking  it  by  storm.  Fen:^lon. 

K» 

Eighteenth  after  Trinity .^ 

338 


Thursday.] 

Z^c  (Retjefation  of  ^appinces. 


DEVOTION. 


/  Aave  fought  a  good  fight^  I  have  finished  my  course^  I  have  kept 
the  faith:  Henceforth  there  is  laid  tip  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness.— 2.  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 


7|  HE  greatest  and  indeed  the  whole  impediment  is  for  that 
^^  we  are  not  disentangled  from  our  passions  and  lusts, 
neither  do  we  endeavour  to  enter  into  that  path  of  perfection, 
which  the  Saints  have  walked  before  us ;  and  when  any  small 
adversity  befalleth  us,  we  are  too  quickly  dejected,  and  turn 
ourselves  to  human  comforts.  If  we  would  endeavour  like  men 
of  courage  to  stand  in  the  battle,  surely  we  should  feel  the 
favourable  assistance  of  God  from  Heaven.  For  He  who  giveth 
us  occasion  to  fight,  to  the  end  we  may  get  the  victory,  is  ready 
to  succour  those  that  fight  manfully,  and  do  trust  in  His  grace. 

If  we  esteem  our  progress  in  religious  life  to  consist  only  in 
some  exterior  observances,  our  devotions  will  be  quickly  at  an 
end.  But  let  us  lay  the  axe  to  the  root,  that  being  freed  from 
passions,  we  may  find  rest  to  our  souls.  If  every  year  we  would 
root  out  one  vice,  we  should  sooner  become  perfect  men. 

Resist  thy  inclination  in  the  very  beginning,  and  unlearn  evil 
customs,  lest,  perhaps,  by  little  and  little  they  draw  thee  to 
greater  difficulty. 

O,  if  thou  didst  but  consider  how  much  inward  peace  unto 
thyself  and  joy  unto  others  thou  shouldst  procure  by  demean- 
ing thyself  well,  I  suppose  thou  wouldst  be  more  careful  of 
thy  spiritual  progress.  THOMAS  a  Kempis. 


339 


[Friday. 

Z^c  (Ket>efafion  of  ^appincBB. 

DEVOTION. 

Partakers  of  the  divine  nature. — 2.  S.  Peter,  i.  4. 


^YVjHAT  is  this  strength  of  Christ  that  comes  to  us  ?  There 
can  be  only  one  answer.  It  is  His  character.  There  is 
no  strength  that  is  communicable  except  in  character.  It  is 
the  moral  qualities  of  His  nature  that  are  to  enter  into  us  and 
be  ours,  because  we  are  His.  This  is  His  strength,  His  purity, 
His  truth,  His  mercifulness — in  one  word.  His  holiness,  the 
perfectness  of  His  moral  life.  It  is  not  that  He  made  the 
heavens,  it  is  not  that  He  is  the  Lord  and  King  of  hosts  of 
angels,  cherubim  and  seraphim,  who  do  His  will,  and  fly  on 
errands  of  helpfulness  to  labouring  souls  all  through  the  world 
at  His  command.  Those  are  the  external  strength  which 
Christ  supplies.  In  unknown,  countless  ways  He  furnishes  it. 
Even  the  powers  of  nature  He  can  mould  to  most  obedient 
servantship  to  His  disciple's  needs.  He  helps  us  as  the  divine 
can  help  the  human,  by  supplies  of  power  coming  from  with- 
out and  laying  themselves  against  the  tottering  life.  But  this 
is  not  the  strength  which  enters  in,  and,  by  a  beautiful  incor- 
poration with  the  disciple's  weakness,  becomes  his  strength. 
That  must  be  a  strength  of  which  the  human  disciple,  too,  is 
capable,  as  well  as  the  divine  Master.  It  must  be  that  holi- 
ness which  was  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  which  we,  because 
we  are  of  the  same  humanity  that  He  wore,  are  capable  of  pos- 
sessing and  developing.  This  is  the  strength  of  which  we  eat. 
and  which  like  true  food  enters  into  us  and  becomes  truly  ours 
while  it  is  still  His.  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks. 

Eighteenth  after   Trinriy.'] 

340 


SATtRDAY.l 

Z^c  (geijefation  of  gap|?ine00. 

DEVOTION. 

Seek,  and  ye  shall  find. — S.  Matt.  yii.  7. 


^JT^ARE  then  to  wish  to  be  spiritual,  is  what  we  would  say  to 
**^  any  man  of  the  world,  who,  devoted  to  the  objects  of 
this  world,  absorbed  in  its  exciting  struggles,  cannot  bring 
himself  even  to  form  the  wish  to  be  another  man  than  he  is  ; 
nay,  who  even  starts  back  from  wishing  for  it,  as  if  he  were 
wishing  for  his  death  ;  who,  even  if,  in  a  moment  of  disgust 
and  weariness  with  earth  at  some  failure  of  a  hope,  he  does 
utter  the  troubled  wish,  recalls  it  immediately,  and  almost  in  a 
desperate  hurry,  for  fear,  by  some  possibility,  God  may  take 
him  at  his  word,  and  give  him  a  new  spirit  in  spite  of  himself. 
To  such  an  one  might  we  not  say — Dare,  O  weak  and  faltering 
soul— dare  at  any  rate  to  wish  to  have  that  which  is  your 
chief  good?  You  imagine  it  now  to  be  a  sort  of  death,  but  it 
is  not  this,  it  is  life  from  the  dead.  You  think  now  that  to  be 
spiritually  minded  is  to  be  emptied  of  all  that  interests,  all  that 
invites  and  wins  desire,  all  that  attracts  sympathy;  to  have  the 
full  mind  and  the  life  which  overflows  with  stimulifs  changed 
for  a  blank  void.  But  it  is  not  so.  The  new  life  will  be  full 
of  interests  ;  full  of  desire.  Dare,  then,  to  wish  to  be  changed, 
and  do  not  be  terrified  like  a  child  at  the  mere  notion  of  a  new 
state.  J.  B.  MOZLEY. 


[Nineteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

^^e  (Retjefafion  of  ^appintBB. 

THE  FIFTH  BEATITUDE. 

Blessed  are  the  merciful:  for  tJiey  shall  obtain  mercy. — S.  Matt.  v.  7. 


^fVlHOM  He  has  "  conformed "  to  His  Image,  in  love  and 
patience  in  well-doing  to  his  brethren  here,  He  will 
make  like  the  Image  of  His  Glory  in  Heaven.  Whom  He  hath 
made  thus  far  like  the  Son  of  Man,  in  self-forgetful  love.  He 
will  make  like  to  the  Son  of  God  ;  '•  for  they  shall  see  Him  as 
He  is."  Think,  then,  what  it  will  be,  amid  the  terrors  of  that 
Day,  on  which  hangs  all  Eternity,  to  see  thy  Judge's  face  shine 
upon  thee,  the  earnest  of  that  love  which  shall  fill  and  satisfy  His 
own  with  the  very  love  of  God,  wherewith  the  Father  loveth 
the  Son:  think,  again,  what  it  would  be  at  that  hour,  that  His 
Face,  on  which  alone  hangeth  thy  only  hope,  should  be  turned 
away  from  thee,  unpitying  then  to  thee,  because  thou  pitiedst 
not  Him,  in  His  poor,  sick  outcast,  or  His  little  ones  ;  and,  as 
ye  would  obtain  mercy  in  that  day,  be  diligent, as  ye  can, out  of 
your  abundance,  or  out  of  your  deep  poverty,  through  the  cup 
of  cold  water,  or  the  widow's  mite,  or  large  glad  giving  out  of 
your  abundance,  through  the  toils  of,  the  whole  self,  whereto 
thou  art  called,  body  or  mind,  watchfulness  or  tender  care,  to 
show  all  deeds  of  mercy  in  this.  "  With  what  measure  ye 
mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again."  Grudge  not  your- 
self heavenly  crowns,  the  brightness  of  the  bliss  of  God,  the 
overflowing  fulness  of  His  unutterable  love,  His  good  pleasure, 
the  life-giving  light  of  His  Countenance. 


E.   B.   PUSEY. 


342 


Monday.] 

t^c  (Heuefation  of  gap^?ine66. 


MERCIFULNESS. 


A  certain   Samaritan  as  he  journeyed,  came   where  he  was:  and 
when  he  saw  hitn,  he  had  compassion  on  him. — S.  Luke.  x.  33. 


(jr>0  we  intend  first  of  all  that  anyhow  the  world  shall  be  a 
*^  place  for  us— a  place  which  shall  yield  us  enjoyment,  or 
success,  or  praise,  or  comfort  ?  Do  we  know  that  pride  or 
sloth  has  a  hold  on  us  which  we  have  never  resolutely  disputed 
and  shaken  off  ?  Or  is  the  will  of  love,  the  desire  to  imitate 
the  love  of  God  and  His  beneficence,  the  longing  to  lighten 
others'  burdens,  to  gladden  others'  lives,  deep,  and  unchecked, 
and  dominant,  and  effectual  in  us ;  is  there  in  us  the  charity 
which  beareth,  believeth,  hopeth,  and  endureth  all  things ;  is 
there  really  nothing  on  which  our  hearts  are  so  much  set  as  on 
the  service  of  our  fellow-men?  Then  quite  surely  in  the 
ordinary  ways  and  occurrences  of  life,  in  its  common  work  and 
pleasures,  wheresoever  our  course  may  lie,  we  shall  find  the 
relation  of  neighbourliness — ay,  and  of  friendship  and  of 
brotherhood — springing  up;  we  shall  "  come  to  be  near  "  to 
those  with  whom  we  have  to  do ;  we  shall  quicken  with  a  real 
humanity  all  intercourse  with  men.  Let  love  be  without  dis- 
simulation, quiet  and  undemonstrative,  but  strong  and  watch- 
ful, and  prepared  to  suffer,  and  it  will  not  lack  its  opportuni- 
ties. The  duty  of  love  is  not  bound  in  range  by  a  circle  drawn 
round  us  while  we  stand  still ;  we  shall  find  but  little  exercise 
for  it  if  we  wait  till  claims  are  made  and  proved ;  we  must 
move  forward  with  the  will  of  charity,  and  we  shall  find  its 
scope.  Francis  Paget. 


[Tuesday, 

$^e  (Hetjefafion  of  ^appincBB. 


MERCIFULNESS. 


Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeih  to  do,  do  it  zoith  thy  might;  for  there 
IS  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knozvledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave, 
whither  thoii  goest. — Eccles.  ix.  10. 


A^AN  you  not  recollect  something  or  other  in  which  you 
might  have  done  good,  might  have  relieved  suffering, 
might  have  comforted  the  distressed,  might  have  raised  up  the 
fallen,  and  you  did  not  do  it,  either  because  you  thought  it  too 
much  to  expect  of  you,  or  because  you  were  ashamed  to  be 
seen  doing  it,  or  because  you  were  too  lazy  and  would  not 
take  the  trouble  ?  And  how  do  you  feel  about  that  now  ?  Do 
not  you  wish  with  all  your  heart,  now  that  you  could  look  back 
and  feel  that  you  had  seized  the  opportunity;  do  not  you  feel 
how  poor  and  feeble  the  reasons  were,  of  shyness,  or  trouble,  or 
selfishness,  which  were  strong  enough  to  keep  you  back  when 
tlie  chance  was  in  your  hands  ?  I  do  not  think  I  can  be  mis- 
taken in  supposing  that  most  of  us  must  have  some  feelings  of 
this  kind.  And  if  you  have  these  feelings  now,  how  much 
more  keen  will  they  be  when  you  find  that  you  are  going  to 
have  done  with  this  world,  and  have  to  prepare  for  what  is  to 
be  after  death  ?  .  .  .  You  cannot  doubt  that  one  of  the 
bitterest  thoughts  of  the  hour  of  death  will  be  the  opportuni- 
ties of  good  wasted  and  abused.  Well,  then,  I  say,  let  that 
thought  stay  with  you  now.  Let  the  light  of  truth  be  reflected 
and  shine  back  from  your  dying  hours  on  to  what  fills  your 
living  hours  now.  R.  W.  CHURCH. 


Nineteenth  after  Tt-inityJ] 


Wednesday.] 

$5e  (Retjefation  of  ^appincee. 


MERCIFULNESS. 


//e  said,  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you,  that  this  poor  widoiv  hath  cast 
in  more  than  they  all :  For  all  these  have  of  their  abundance  cast 
in  unto  the  offerings  of  God  :  but  she  of  her  penury  hath  cast  in  all 
the  living  that  she  had. — S.  Luke  xxi.  3,  4. 


3  HAVE  known  before  now  of  a  poor  person  who,  having 
no  money  to  bestow  on  charitable  objects,  has  given  a 
day's  work  out  of  a  hard  hfe  ;  that  was  a  real  offering.  I  have 
heard  of  a  munificent  donor  whose  only  lament  about  his 
princely  gift  to  God  was  that  he  did  not  feel  it.  I  have  heard 
of  a  poor  woman,  almost  destitute  and  bedridden,  who  actually 
went  without  a  light  in  the  long  winter  evenings,  and  who 
thereby  (and  it  was  only  found  out  after  much  pressing)  con- 
trived to  give  sixpence  a  quarter  to  foreign  missions;  and 
when  she  died,  her  next  quarter's  sixpence  was  found  wrapped 
up  and  ready.  .  .  .  An  old  writer  says  a  certain  man  had 
three  friends,  whom  he  asked  to  lead  him  into  the  presence  of 
the  king.  The  first  took  him  half  way,  and  could  go  no 
further;  the  second  took  him  to  the  gate  of  the  palace,  unable 
to  do  any  more;  the  third  took  him  into  the  presence  of  the 
king,  and  pleaded  his  cause  for  him.  The  first  is  abstinence, 
which  helps  a  man  to  start  towards  God  ;  the  second  is  chas- 
tity, which  brings  us  where  we  may  see  God  ;  the  third  is 
mercy  and  almsgiving,  because  it  brings  us  into  God's  very 
presence,  Who  is  ever  calling,  from  His  throne  of  mercy, 
"  Gather  My  saints  together  unto  Me,  those  that  have  made  a 
covenant  with  Me  with  sacrifice."         W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 

345 


[Thursday. 

$^e  (Hetjefafion  of  ^appintBB. 

MERCIFULNESS. 

Be  ye   therefore  merciful.,  as  your   Father   also   is   merciful. — 
S.  Luke  vi.  36. 


@BOVE  all  things,  let  us,  the  ministers  of  Christ,  remember 
that  the  loving  Providence  of  our  good  God  is  never  so 
effectively  preached  as  when  it  is  preached  by  imitation.  Go 
to  your  heart-broken  sufferer,  and  tell  him  in  a  perfunctory  way, 
as  if  you  were  repeating  your  official  lesson,  that  he  must  cast 
all  his  care  upon  God,  since  God  careth  for  him,  and  the 
blessed  words  will  but  seem  to  blister  his  sore  and  open 
wound.  But  be  to  him  like  the  Providence  of  heaven,  a  Provi- 
dence in  act  as  well  as  a  Providence  in  language;  give  him 
your  time,  your  thought,  your  prayers,  your  substance,  if  need 
be,  give  him  above  all,  and  in  all,  your  true,  penetrating,  unaf- 
fected sympathy  ;  and  he  will  bless  your  presence  as  a  ray  of 
the  very  Face  of  God.  It  must  cost  us  something  to  be  like 
Him,  Who  did  not  merely  preach  that  God  is  mindful  of  man, 
but  Who  gave  His  life-blood  in  attestation  of  the  truth  which 
He  announced.  It  must  cost  us  something  if  we  are  to  follow 
His  precept  of  rising  so  perfectly  above  the  petty  selfishnesses 
of  life  as  to  be  true  children  of  our  All-Provident  Father  in 
heaven.  Who  maketh  His  sun  to  shine  upon  the  evil  and  the 
good,  and  sendeth  His  rain  upon  the  just  and  upon  the  unjust. 
But  with  His  love  in  our  hearts,  we,  too,  may  dare  to  tell  the 
world  of  our  day  that  God  is  really  mindful  of  man,  and  to  be 
certain  that,  after  whatever  discouragements,  in  the  end  our 
report  will  be  listened  to.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 

¥ 

Nineteenth  after  Trinity.'\ 

346 


Friday.] 

^^e  (Reuefafion  of  ^appincBB, 

MERCIFULNESS. 

Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ. 
Gal.  VI.  2. 


P^ERHAPS  we  come  across  some  one  who  is  a  power,  who 
VT^  attracts  the  love  of  httle  children,  to  whom  broken 
hearts  instinctively  turn  in  their  moments  of  crushing  sorrow, 
to  whom,  in  the  hour  of  awakening  from  sin,  penitents  will 
come  in  the  consciousness  that  they  will  find  a  heart  to  un- 
derstand them  ;  and  we  ask  ourselves,  where  does  that  man's 
power  lie  ?  Not  in  his  intellect,  for  he  is  certainly  not  an  intel- 
lectual athlete;  not  in  his  strength  of  will  or  force  of  character, 
for  he  is  very  often  lacking  in  strength  and  determination.  In 
what,  then,  does  his  power  consist  ?  In  the  strength  of  his 
sympathy. 

Sympathy  is  the  power  of  putting  ourselves  into  another  per- 
son's position  ;  it  is  that  power  by  which  we  take  upon  our 
mind  another  mind's  perplexities,  by  which  we  take  upon  our 
heart  another  heart's  grief,  by  which  we  take  upon  our  con- 
science the  burden  of  another's  conscience,  until  there  comes 
almost  a  conscious  identification  between  the  minister  and  the 
soul  to  whom  he  or  she  is  ministering.  Where  can  we  learn 
this  sympathy  ?  Only  in  the  school  of  human  experience. 
And  the  reason  therefore,  why  union  with  Christ  is  the  essen- 
tial condition  for  exercising  Christian  influence  lies  in  the  fact 
that  through  this  union  alone  do  we  learn  by  experience  what 
they  meet  who  tread  that  path  along  which  we  ourselves  have 
travelled  over.  G.  Body. 


[Saturdav. 

t^c  (get>efation  of  ^cippincBB. 


MERCIFULNESS. 


Pl^e  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak, 
and  not  to  please  ourselves. — Rom.  xv.  1. 


"T^HERE  is  nothing-  which  seems  to  try  men's  patience  and 
^^  good  temper  more  than  feebleness ;  the  timidity,  the 
vacillation,  the  conventionality,  the  fretfulness,  the  prejudices 
of  the  weak ;  the  fact  that  people  can  be  so  well-meaning  and 
so  disappointing, — these  things  make  many  men  impatient  to  a 
degree  of  which  they  are  themselves  ashamed.  But  it  is 
something  far  more  than  patience  and  good  temper  towards 
weakness  that  is  demanded  here.  It  is  that  the  strong,  in 
whatsoever  sphere  their  strength  may  lie,  should  try  in  silence 
and  simplicity,  escaping  the  observation  of  men,  to  take  upon 
their  own  shoulders  the  burdens  which  the  weak  are  bearing; 
to  submit  themselves  to  the  difficulties  amidst  which  the  weak 
are  stumbling  on  ;  to  be,  for  their  help's  sake,  as  they  are  ;  to 
share  the  fear,  the  dimness,  the  anxiety,  the  trouble  and  heart- 
sinking  through  which  they  have  to  work  their  way ;  to  forego 
and  lay  aside  the  privilege  of  strength  in  order  to  understand 
the  weak  and  backward,  and  bewildered,  in  order  to  be  with 
them,  to  enter  into  their  thoughts,  to  wait  on  their  advance  ; 
to  be  content,  if  they  can  only  serve,  so  to  speak,  as  a  favour- 
able circumstance  for  their  growth  towards  that  which  God 
intended  them  to  be.  It  is  the  innermost  reality  of  sympathy, 
it  is  the  very  heart  and  life  of  courtesy,  that  is  touched  here ; 
but  like  all  that  is  best  in  moral  beauty,  it  loses  almost  all  its 
grace  the  moment  it  attracts  attention.        Francis  Paget. 

Nineteenth  a/ier  Trinity. '\ 

348 


Twentieth  Sunday  after  Trinity.] 

$^e  (HeDefafion  of  ^appincBB. 

THE    SIXTH    BEATITUDE. 

Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. — S.  Matt.  v.  8. 


'jITOLY  Scripture  does  not  furnish  any  loftier  description  of 
^y  the  happiness  of  eternity  than  that  it  shall  be  spent  before 
the  throne  of  God,  in  Whose  presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at 
Whose  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore.  If  our 
evils  on  earth  are  like  those  of  exiles  who  are  suffering  exclu- 
sion from  the  joys  of  home,  our  restoration  to  the  lost  blessed- 
ness of  Paradise  must  consist  in  readmission  to  free  Com- 
munion, a  nearer  than  that  which  Adam  lost,  with  our  once 
grieved,  but  now  reconciled,  Father  and  Lord.  As  men  rejoice 
when  the  shadow  of  an  eclipse  has  passed  by,  that  they  can 
again  behold  the  glad  light  of  the  sun,  or  as  prisoners  just  res- 
cued from  a  dungeon,  exult  in  the  freedom  with  which  they  can 
now  breathe  again  the  freshness  of  the  winds  of  heaven,  so  will 
the  soul  of  man  recover  an  exalted  gladness,  of  which  the 
highest  earthly  delight  is  but  a  weak  representation,  when  the 
present  limitations  of  our  spiritual  sight  are  removed.  When 
the  mysteries  which  sin  has  woven  have  all  rent  away,  and 
when,  amidst  the  hosts  of  bright  and  unfallen  spirits,  we  are 
raised  to  see  God  face  to  face.  Such  is  the  unspeakable  re- 
ward which  is  promised  to  the  pure  in  heart.  ...  He  has 
promised  :  who  can  hesitate  to  believe  that  visions  beyond  all 
earthly  glory,  happiness  beyond  all  human  thought,  shall  be 
the  privilege  of  the  pure  in  heart  when  they  are  admitted  to 
see  "  the  King  in  His  beauty,"  to  behold  "  the  land  that  is  very 
far  off."  Malcolm  MacColl. 


[Monday. 

J^e  (Retjefation  of  ^appincse. 


PURITY. 


PF/io  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord?  or  who  shall  stand  in 
His  holy  place  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  hearty  who 
hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity. — Ps.  xxiv.  3,  4. 


/^|Xy  two  wings  a  man  is  lifted  up  from  things  earthly,  namely^ 
vI5^     by  Simplicity  and  Purity. 

Simplicity  ought  to  be  in  our  intention,  Purity  in  our  affec- 
tion. Simplicity  doth  tend  toward  God  ;  Purity  doth  appre- 
hend and  (as  it  were)  taste  Him. 

No  good  action  will  hinder  thee,  if  thou  be  inwardly  free 
from  inordinate  affection. 

If  thou  wert  inwardly  good  and  pure,  then  wouldst  thou  be 
able  to  see  and  understand  all  things  well  without  impediment. 

A  pure  heart  penetrateth  Heaven  and  Hell. 

Such  as  every  one  is  inwardly,  so  he  judgeth  outwardly. 

If  there  be  joy  in  the  world,  surely  a  man  of  pure  heart  pos- 
sesseth  it. 

And  if  there  be  anywhere  tribulation  and  affliction,  an  evil 
conscience  best  knows  it. 

As  iron  put  into  the  fire  loseth  its  rust,  and  becometh  clearly 
red  hot,  so  he  that  wholly  turneth  himself  unto  God,  puts  off 
all  slothfulness,  and  is  transformed  into  a  new  man. 

When  a  man  beginneth  to  grow  lukewarm,  then  he  is  afraid 
of  a  small  labour,  and  willingly  receiveth  external  comfort. 

But  when  he  once  begins  to  overcome  himself  perfectly,  and 
to  walk  manfully  in  the  way  of  God,  then  he  esteemeth  those 
things  to  be  light,  which  before  seemed  grievous  unto  him. 

Thomas  a  Kempis. 

Twentieth  after  Trinity?^ 


Tuesday.] 

$^e  (Retjefaf ion  of  ^appincBB, 

PURITY. 

Search  me.,  O  God,  and  know  7ny  heaj't :  try  me,  and  knozv  my 
thoughts  :  And  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  fne,  and  lead  me  in 
the  way  everlasting. — Ps.  cxxxix.  23,  24. 


T^HOSE  who,  spite  of  all  their  consciousness  of  sin  and  de- 
^^  filement,  are  yet  also  conscious  that  they  have  been 
renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  minds,  and  know  the  blessedness 
of  seeing  God,  oh,  how  anxiously,  how  jealously  should  they 
w^atch  their  hearts,  how  earnestly  seek  for  increasing  purity  of 
heart ;  for,  if  utter  impurity  of  heart  makes  it  impossible  to  see 
God,  then  it  is  also  true  that  partial  impurity  makes  it  difficult 
to  see  Him.  Never  does  there  rise  in  our  hearts  an  evil  desire, 
a  rebellious  thought,  a  vain  imagination,  that  it  does  not  dim 
our  vision  of  God.  And  not  only  does  it  make  it  more  difficult 
at  the  moment  of  its  presence  to  see  Him,  but  it  tends  to  im- 
pair our  spiritual  vision  ever  after.  No  evil  thought  can  pass 
through  the  imagination  without  leaving  its  trace  upon  the 
memory;  and  long,  long  after  it  has  been  repented  of  as  a  sin, 
it  may  return  again  and  again  to  haunt  as  a  temptation,  con- 
necting itself  by  some  subtle  law  of  association,  perhaps  with 
the  very  highest  and  holiest  subjects,  starting  upon  us  in  our 
most  solemn  meditations,  intruding  as  a  wandering  thought  in 
our  most  earnest  prayers.  ARCHBISHOP  Magee. 


351 


[Wednesday. 

Z^t  (geuefafion  of  ^appimsB, 


PURITY. 
IVe  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. — 1  S.  John  hi.  2. 


@LL  who  are  waiting  for  the  full  glories  of  the  sight  of  God 
to  be  vouchsafed  to  them  after  an  intermediate  time  of 
training  in  what  Scripture  calls  "  paradise  " — they  surely  will 
see  Him.  The  spirit  of  man.  we  cannot  doubt,  will  be  con- 
scious of  the  spirits  around — conscious  of  the  presence  of  Him 
Who  is  the  Father  of  Spirits — as  never  was  possible  while  it 
was  encased  in  the  body.  God  will  no  longer  be  to  it  a  mere 
abstraction,  a  first  cause,  a  first  intelligence,  a  supreme  moral- 
ity, the  absolute,  the  self-existent,  unconditioned  being.  .  .  . 
None  of  us  will  any  longer  play  with  phrases  about  Him  to 
which  nothing  is  felt  to  correspond  in  thought  or  fact,  for  He 
will  be  there  before  us.  "  We  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  His 
vast.  His  illimitable  life,  will  present  itself  to  the  apprehension  of 
our  spirits  as  .  .  .  a  present,  living,  encompassing  Being  Who 
is  inflicting  Himself  upon  the  very  sight,  whether  they  will  it 
or  not,  of  His  adoring  creatures.  What  will  that  first  appre- 
hension of  God,  under  the  new  conditions  of  the  other  life, 
really  be  ?  There  are  trustworthy  accounts  of  men  who  have 
been  utterly  overcome  at  the  first  sight  of  a  fellow-creature 
with  whose  name  and  work  they  had  for  long  years  associated 
great  wisdom,  or  goodness,  or  ability.  .  .  .  What  must 
not  be  the  first  direct  sight  of  God — of  God,  the  source  of  all 
beauty,  of  all  wisdom,  of  all  power — when  the  eye  opens  upon 
Him  after  death :  "  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  His 
beauty" — they  were  words  of  warning,  as  well  as  words  of 
promise.  H.  P.  Liddon. 

K» 

Twentieth  after  Trinity.] 

352 


Thursday.] 

$^e  (Retjefation  of  ^ajppincBB, 

PURITY. 

IValk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness   come    upon  yoti.-- 
S.  John  xii.  35. 


A\UR  Lord  warns  us  more  than  once  that  the  absence  of 
^"^  moral  purity  means,  in  the  spiritual  world,  a  sphere  of 
darkness.  Those  who  depart  out  of  this  life  with  characters 
unfit  for  heaven,  are  of  necessity  in  darkness,  a  gloom  more  or 
less  dense,  according  to  the  condition  of  their  spiritual  senses. 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  an  unholy  person,  one  whose  character 
had  been  moulded  on  the  principle  of  selfishness,  could  never 
enter  heaven  ;  because,  even  if  he  were  admitted  into  that  abode 
of  bliss,  it  would  not  exist  for  him  :  he  would  see  nothing,  hear 
nothing,  feel  nothing,  outside  of  himself.  He  might  be  bathed 
in  the  unearthly  glory  of  the  Beatific  Vision,  the  air  around  him 
might  vibrate  with  celestial  harmonies,  but  he  would  find  him- 
self in  a  dark  and  dreary  void,  seeing  nothing,  hearing  nothing, 
because  he  had  allowed  those  spiritual  senses,  which  we  have 
here  in  germ,  to  perish  for  lack  of  use ;  just  as  a  man  shut  up 
for  years  in  a  dark  dungeon  will  in  time  lose  the  use  of  his 
eyes.  .  .  .  Death,  as  God  intended  it,  is  the  rising  of  the 
soul,  not  through  the  regions  of  space,  but  in  its  mode  of  ex- 
istence. It  is  the  passage  from  the  lower  form  of  life  to  a 
higher.  And  the  lost  are  they  who  have  destroyed  the  powers 
which,  duly  exercised  in  the  lower  life,  would  in  time  have 
fitted  them  for  the  higher.  Malcot.^i  MacColl. 


353 


[Friday. 


PURITY. 


Every  77ian  that  hath  this  hope  in  Hi77i  purijieth  hiyjiself  even  as 
He  is  pM7'e.  For  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that 
He  might  destroy  the  zoorks  of  the  devil. — 1  S.  John  hi.  3,  8. 


r/'^ARK  and  sad  the  past  may  be,  we  cannot  wipe  it  out 
^^  from  our  memory  and  life.  But  One,  Who  can  do  what 
to  man  is  impossible,  can  hide  and  forgive  it.  And  if  we  can- 
not go  backwards  and  change  what  has  been,  we  can  go  for- 
ward and  change  what  is.  Human  hearts — blessed  be  God! 
are  not  unchangeable;  they  maybe  corrected  and  strength- 
ened. Our  sins  do  not  cleave  to  us  so  fast  that  the  grace 
which  comes  with  prayer  and  faith,  and  earnest  striving,  can- 
not tear  them  from  us.  There  is  a  Deliverer  Who  knows  the 
fierce  trials  and  battles  which  go  on  in  our  hearts,  and  Who 
can  break  the  chain  and  set  free  the  captives.  The  bowed 
and  crushed  spirit  may  be  raised  and  healed.  The  bitter  tem- 
per may  be  sweetened,  the  revengeful  one  may  be  overcome, 
and  the  sullen  and  spiteful  one  may  be  softened.  Christ  is 
doing  this  TIis  work  of  converting  and  sanctifying  every  day 
around  us,  as  He  has  been  doing  it  ever  since  He  came.  And 
what  He  has  done,  and  is  doing  to  others.  He  may  do  to  us. 
As  He  is  leading  others  step  by  step  to  the  blessings  of  the 
pure  in  heart  and  the  clean  in  hand,  so  He  may,  as  He  is  most 
willingf,  lead  us.  R.   W.  CHURCH. 


Txventitth  after   Trinity^ 

354 


Saturday.] 

$5e  (Ret)efafion  of  ^appincBB, 

PURITY. 

//  a  man  love  Me,  he  will  keep  My  zvords  :  and  My  Father  will 
love  him,  and  We  will  come  unto  him  and  make  Our  abode  with  him. 
— S.  John  xiv.  23. 


3  MUST  tell  you,  that  for  the  first  ten  years,  I  suffered 
much  :  the  apprehension  that  I  was  not  devoted  to  God, 
as  I  wished  to  be,  my  past  sins  always  present  to  my  mind, 
and  the  great  unmerited  favours  which  God  did  me  were  the 
matter  and  source  of  my  sufferings.  During  this  time  I  fell 
often,  and  rose  again  presently.  .  .  .  When  I  thought  of 
nothing  but  to  end  my  days  in  these  troubles,  I  found  myself 
changed  all  at  once,  and  my  soul,  which  till  that  time  was  in 
trouble,  felt  a  profound  inward  peace,  as  if  she  were  in  her 
centre  and  place  of  rest.  Ever  since  that  time  I  walk  before 
God  simply,  in  faith,  with  humility  and  with  love.  ...  As 
for  what  passes  in  me  at  present,  I  cannot  express  it.  I  have 
no  pain  or  difficulty  about  my  state,  because  I  have  no  will  but 
that  of  God,  which  I  endeavour  to  accomplish  in  all  things,  and 
to  which  I  am  so  resigned  that  I  would  not  take  up  a  straw  from 
the  ground  without  His  order,  or  from  any  other  motive  but 
purely  that  of  love  to  Him.  I  have  quitted  all  forms  of  devotion 
and  set  prayers  but  those  to  which  my  state  obliges  me.  And 
I  make  it  my  business  only  to  persevere  in  His  holy  presence, 
wherein  I  keep  myself  by  a  simple  attention,  and  a  general 
fond  regard  to  God.  which  I  may  call  an  actual  presence  of 
God;  or,  to  speak  better,  an  habitual,  silent,  and  secret  con- 
versation of  the  soul  with  God.  Brother  Lawrence. 

355 


[TWENTY-FIKST  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

$^e  (Heuefation  of  ^appintBB, 


THE  SEVENTH  BEATITUDE. 


Blessed  are  the  peaceinakers  :  for  they  shall  be  callea   the  children 
of  God. — S.  Matt.  v.  9. 


"^^HE  conversion,  the  building  up  of  souls,  one  by  one;  this 
^^  is  our  real  business.  To  this  all  else  is  subservient.  A 
clerical  life  which  is  spent  upon  literature,  even  upon  sacred 
literature,  without  a  practical  spiritual  object,  or  upon  material, 
philanthropy,  without  that  higher  philanthropy  which  loves  the 
human  soul,  is  a  wasted  life.  Possibly  a  Divine  call  and  a 
Divine  commission  are  not  needed  in  order  to  master  a  certain 
amount  of  Biblical  scholarship,  or  to  direct  a  well-considered 
effort  for  relieving  poverty.  But  to  deal  with  the  human  soul, 
with  one  human  soul ;  to  reveal  it  to  itself  ;  to  reveal  God  to  it ; 
to  lead  it  in  the  light  of  that  revelation  to  the  Cross  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  it  may  be  washed  in  His  Blood,  and  renewed  by 
His  Spirit;  to  make  it  thus  taste  of  the  good  Word  of  God  and 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come  ;  to  watch  earnestly  for  it;  to 
struggle  in  prayer  for  it ;  to  take  frequent  thought  and  to 
labour  for  it ;  to  translate  into  the  daily  work  of  life  that  ideal 
of  thought  and  care  embodied  in  the  word  Pastor, — of  care  and 
thought  which  guides  and  feeds  the  flock  of  Christ ; — this  does 
require  a  Divine  stimulus,  that  a  man  may  undertake  and  per- 
severe in  it.  .  .  .  For  it  requires,  beyond  everything  else, 
enthusiasm,  fervour.  H.  P.  LiDDON. 


356 


Monday.] 

Z^c  (Uetjefafion  of  ^c^ppincae. 

PEACEABLENESS. 

The  fruit  of  righteousness   is  so7vu   in  peace  of  them  that  make 
peace. — S.  James  hi.  18. 


.^IRST,  keep  thyself  in  peace,  and  then  shalt  thou  be  able 
0^     to  pacify  others. 

A  peaceable  man  doth  more  good  than  he  that  is  well  learned. 

A  passionate  man  turneth  even  good  into  evil,  and  easily  be- 
lieveth  the  worst. 

A  good,  peaceable  man  turneth  all  things  to  good. 

He  that  is  well  in  peace  is  not  suspicious  of  any.  But  he 
that  is  discontented  and  troubled  is  tossed  with  divers  sus- 
picions: he  is  neither  quiet  himself,  nor  suffereth  others  to  be 
quiet. 

It  is  no  great  matter  to  associate  with  the  good  and  gentle  ; 
for  this  is  naturally  pleasing  to  all,  and  every  one  willingly  en- 
joyeth  peace,  and  loveth  those  best  that  agree  with  him. 

But  to  be  able  to  live  peaceably  with  hard  and  perverse  per- 
sons, or  with  the  disorderly,  or  with  such  as  go  contrary  to  us, 
is  a  great  grace,  and  a  most  commendable  and  manly  thing. 

Some  there  are  that  keep  themselves  in  peace  and  are  in 
peace  also  with  others. 

And  there  are  some  that  neither  are  in  peace  themselves, 
nor  suffer  others  to  be  in  peace ;  they  are  troublesome  to 
others,  but  always  more  troublesome  to  themselves. 

He  that  can  best  tell  how  to  suffer,  will  best  keep  himself  in 
peace.  That  man  is  conqueror  of  himself  and  lord  of  the 
world,  the  friend  of  Christ;  and  heir  of  Heaven. 

Thomas  a  Kempis. 

357 


[Tuesday. 

$^e  (Reijefafion  of  ^appintBB, 

PEACEABLENESS. 

A  Jjian  of  understa7iding  holdeth  his  peace. — Prov.  xi.  12. 


^1  HE  peacemaker  has  learned,  in  God's  presence,  from 
^^  Christ's  example,  by  the  Spirit's  grace,  the  Divine  power 
of  not  returning  evil.  He  has  been  taught  of  God  to  7'ide  his 
spirit ;  that  higher  and  nobler  victory,  the  Word  of  God  tells 
us,  than  the  siege  and  capture  of  a  hostile  city.  He  does 
nothing  in  haste  :  until  he  has  regained  the  evenness  and  gentle- 
ness of  his  own  composure,  he  speaks  not,  writes  not,  acts  not ; 
when  he  does,  it  is  in  the  pursuit  of  peace,  in  the  endeavour, 
as  skilful  as  it  is  earnest,  to  win  back  to  love  one  who  has  lost 
it  and  is  the  loser. 

And  the  same  man  who  thus  makes  peace  with  others,  is  a 
peacemaker,  too,  betwee7i  others.  Partly  by  what  he  does  not. 
By  keepifig  his  month  as  with  a  bridle,  lest  he  repeat  that 
offensive  word,  lest  he  retail  that  injurious  story,  by  which  he 
might  easily  make,  not  peace,  but  discord.  It  is,  I  fear,  too  true, 
that  if  any  of  us  should  repeat  to  another  all  that  his  best  friend 
had  said  of  him,  we  could  indeed  easily  separate  them,  easily 
sow  a  discord  never  to  be  healed.  A  large  part  of  the  work  of 
the  peacemaker  is  done  in  this  world  by  a  watchful  silence. 
He  trusts  not  to  the  discretion  of  a  third  person  to  keep  to 
himself  what  he  indiscreetly  tells.  He  will  trust  none  but  him- 
self alone  with  that  which  might  make  mischief!  O,  it  is  not 
an  easy  thing,  even  this  Christian  reticence  ! 

C.  J.  Vaughan. 


Tiventy-Jlrst  after    Trinity. ^ 

358 


Wednesday.] 

t^c  (Retjefation  of  ^appintdB, 

PEACEABLENESS. 

Follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness,  without  which   no  man 
shall  see  the  Lord. — Heb.  xii.  14. 


ri^EACE  is  our  proper  relation  to  all  men.  There  is  no 
\r  reason  why,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  we  should  not 
be  at  peace  with  everybody.  If  even  they  are  not  at  peace 
with  us,  we  may  be  at  peace  with  them.  Let  them  look  to 
their  own  hearts,  we  have  only  to  do  with  our  own.  Let  us 
"follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord."  It  is  not  without  design  that  these 
two  were  connected  together  by  the  Apostle — following  peace 
and  holiness.  A  life  of  enmities  is  greatly  in  opposition  to 
growth  in  holiness.  All  that  commotion  of  petty  animosity  in 
which  some  people  live,  is  very  lowering;  it  dwarfs  and  stunts 
the  spiritual  growth  of  persons.  Their  spiritual  station  be- 
comes less  and  less  in  God's  sight  and  in  man's.  In  a  state  of 
peace  the  soul  lives  as  in  a  watered  garden,  where,  under  the 
watchful  eye  of  the  Divine  Source,  the  plant  grows  and 
strengthens.  All  religious  habits  and  duties, — prayer,  charity, 
and  mercy,  are  formed  and  matured  when  the  man  is  in  a  state 
of  peace  with  others — with  all  men  ;  when  he  is  not  agitated 
by  small  selfish  excitements  and  interests  which  divert  him 
from  himself  and  his  own  path  of  duty,  but  can  think  of  him- 
self, what  he  ought  to  do,  and  where  he  is  going.  He  can  then 
live  seriously,  calmly,  and  wisely;  but  there  is  an  end  to  all 
religious  progress  when  a  man's  whole  mind  is  taken  up  in  the 
morbid  excitement  of  small  enmities.  J.  B.  Mozley. 


359 


[Thursday. 

Z^c  (Retjefafion  of  ^apupintBB. 

PEACEABLENESS. 

Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  a)'e  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.  Take  My  yoke  upon  you^  and  learn  of  Me;  for  I  am 
meek  and  lozuly  in  heart  :  ajid  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls. — 
S.  Matt.  xi.  28,29. 


aJXY  three  chief  ways,  I  think,  peace  comes  to  men  from  Him 
^w^  Who  Hved  and  died  to  make  it  possible.  By  His  example 
first.  For  His  example  ever  holds  before  us  that  one  manner 
of  thought  and  speech,  of  acting  and  of  suffering,  in  which 
peace  is  found.  Not  thinking  of  ourselves,  refusing  to  attend 
to  the  thought  when  it  arises;  not  troubling  about  our  own 
rights,  or  wishes,  or  position  ;  never  fancying  that  we  are 
slighted  ;  not  dwelling  on  our  own  success  or  failure,  nor  even 
on  our  own  mistakes  and  misdoings,  save  with  the  one  thought 
of  doing  better  in  the  future.  ...  So  shall  we  keep  clear 
of  vexing,  miserable  thoughts  that  wreck  all  inward  peace 
whenever  they  prevail.  And  secondly,  by  the  great  disclosure 
that  He  came  to  make.  His  peace  is  given.  For  He  made  men 
sure  that  God  is  Love;  and  in  His  life  and  death  we  see  how 
God  loved  and  loves  the  world.  As  we  watch  Him  in  the 
Gospels,  we  know  whom  we  have  believed  ;  and  we  are  certain 
that  He  never  can  betray  us,  or  despise  us,  or  be  weary  of  us. 
.  .  .  And  lastly,  by  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  for  His  sake. 
.  .  .  We  may  forget  God  or  ignore  Him,  or  keep  our 
minds  from  dwelling  on  the  thought  of  Him  ;  we  cannot  be 
entering  into  peace  with  Him  while  sin  is  kept  undealt  with, 
cherished  in  our  hearts.  Francis  Paget. 

Twenty-first  after  Trhiity.'] 

360 


Z^c  (Heuefation  of  JE^appincBB, 

PEACEABLENESS. 

Pray  one  for  another^  that  ye  may  be  healed. — S.  James  v.  16. 


/"^^lEWED  in  His  place,  in  "the  Church  of  the  First-born 
v.*'  enrolled  in  heaven,"  with  his  original  debt  cancelled  in 
Baptism,  and  all  subsequent  penalties  put  aside  by  Absolution, 
standing  in  God's  presence  upright  and  irreprovable,  accepted 
in  the  Beloved,  clad  in  the  garments  of  righteousness, 
anointed  with  oil,  and  with  a  crown  on  his  head,  in  royal  and 
priestly  garb,  as  an  heir  of  eternity,  full  of  grace  and  good 
works,  as  walking  in  all  the  Commandments  of  the  Lord 
blameless,  such  an  one  is  plainly  in  his  fitting  place  when  he 
intercedes.  He  is  made  after  the  pattern  and  in  the  fulness  of 
Christ — he  is  what  Christ  is.  Christ  intercedes  above,  and  he 
intercedes  below.  Why  should  he  linger  in  the  doorway, 
praying  for  pardon,  who  has  been  allowed  to  share  in  the  grace 
of  the  Lord's  passion,  to  die  with  Him  and  rise  again  ?  He  is 
already  in  a  capacity  for  higher  things.  His  prayer  thence- 
forth takes  a  higher  range,  and  contemplates  not  himself 
merely,  but  others  also.  He  is  taken  into  the  confidence  and 
counsels  of  his  Lord  and  Saviour.  .  .  .  Thus  he  is  in  some 
sense  a  prophet;  not  a  servant, who  obeys  without  knowing  his 
Lord's  plans  and  purposes,  but  even  a  confidential  "  familiar 
friend"  of  the  only- begotten  Son  of  God,  calm,  collected, 
prepared,  resolved,  serene,  amid  this  restless  and  unhappy 
•world.  O,  mystery  of  blessedness,  too  great  to  think  of  stead- 
ily, lest  we  grow  dizzy.  T.  H.  Newman. 


361 


[Saturday. 

Z^c  (Reuefafion  of  ^appintBB. 

PEACEABLENESS. 

For  they  have  healed  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  My  people  slightly^ 
saying,  Peace,  peace  ;  when  there  is  no  peace. — Jer.  viii.  11. 


/I^LI  only  talked  to  his  sons,  and  we  can  understand  how  he 
^^  may  have  persuaded  himself  that  talking  was  enough  ; 
that  instead  of  taking  a  very  painful  resolution  it  was  better  to 
leave  matters  alone.  If  he  were  to  do  more,  was  there  not  a 
risk  that  he  might  forfeit  the  little  influence  over  the  young 
men  that  still  remained  to  him  ?  Would  not  harsh  treatment 
defeat  its  object  by  making  them  desperate  ?  Might  they  not 
attribute  the  most  judicial  severity  to  mere  personal  annoy- 
ance? If,  after  speaking  to  them,  he  left  them  alone  they 
would  think  over  his  words.  Anyhow,  they  would  soon  be 
older,  as  they  grew  older  they  would,  he  may  have  hoped, 
grow  more  sensible  ;  they  would  see  the  imprudence,  the  im- 
propriety, as  well  as  the  graver  aspects,  of  their  conduct; 
.  .  .  in  any  case,  it  might  be  better  to  wait  and  see  whether 
matters  would  not  in  some  way  right  themselves.  This  is  what 
weak  people  do.  They  escape,  as  they  think,  from  the  call  of 
unwelcome  duty,  from  the  duty  of  unwelcome  action,  by 
stretching  out  the  eyes  of  their  mind  towards  some  very  vague 
future,  charged  with  all  sorts  of  airy  improbabilities.  They 
call  it  "the  chapter  of  accidents";  they  trust  for  relief  from 
their  present  embarrassments  to  the  chapter  of  accidents.  My 
brethren,  whatever  appearances  may  say,  there  is  no  such, 
chapter  in  the  book  either  of  man's  natural  history,  or  of  his 
religious  history.  H.  P.  Liddon. 

Tu-etity -first  after   Trinity .'\ 

362 


[Twenty-second  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

^^e  (Retjefafion  of  ^appintes. 


THE  EIGHTH  BEATITUDE. 


Blessed  are  they  which  ai-e  persectited  for  righteousness  sake  ;  for 
their'' s  is  the  kingdoin  of  heaven. — S.  Matt.  v.  10. 


'T^RE  case  seems  to  be  this : — those  who  do  not  serve  God 
^^  with  a  single  heart,  know  they  ought  to  do  so,  and  they 
do  not  Hke  to  be  reminded  that  they  ought.  And  when  they 
fall  in  with  any  one  who  does  live  to  God,  he  serves  to  remind 
them  of  it,  and  that  is  unpleasant  to  them,  and  that  is  the  first 
reason  why  they  are  angry  with  a  religious  man  ;  the  sight  of 
him  disturbs  them  and  makes  them  uneasy.  And,  in  the  next 
place,  they  feel  in  their  hearts  that  he  is  in  much  better  case 
than  they  are.  They  cannot  help  wishing — though  they  are 
hardly  conscious  of  their  own  wish — they  cannot  help  wishing 
that  they  were  like  him  ;  yet  they  have  no  intention  of  imitating 
him,  and  this  makes  them  jealous  and  envious.  Instead  of 
being  angry  with  themselves  they  are  angry  with  him. 

These  are  their  first  feelings.  What  follows  ?  Next  they 
are  very  much  tempted  to  deny  that  he  is  religious.  They 
wish  to  get  the  thought  of  him  out  of  their  minds.  Nothing 
would  so  relieve  their  minds  as  to  find  that  there  were  no  re- 
ligious people  in  the  world,  none  better  than  themselves. 
Accordingly,  they  do  all  they  can  to  believe  that  he  is  making 
a  pretence  of  religion ;  they  do  their  utmost  to  find  out  what 
looks  like  inconsistency  in  him.  They  call  him  a  hypocrite  and 
other  names.  And  all  this,  if  the  truth  must  be  spoken,  be- 
cause they  hate  the  things  of  God,  and  therefore  they  hate  His 
servants.  J.  H.  NEWMAN. 

¥ 
363 


[Monday. 

$^e  Q?et?efafion  of  ^appincBB. 


PATIENCE. 


Some  of  yoti  shall  they  cause  to  be  put  to  death.  And  ye  shall  be 
hated  of  all  men  for  Aly  Name'' s  sake.  But  there  shall  not  an  hair 
of  your  head  perish. — S.  Luke  xxi.  16, 17, 18. 


3T  is  a  grand  thing",  no  doubt,  to  be  like  Elijah,  a  stern  and 
bold  prophet,  standing  up  alone  against  a  tyrant  king  and 
and  a  sinful  people,  but  it  is  even  a  greater  thing  to  be  like 
that  famous  martyr  in  olden  times,  S.  Blandina,  who,  though 
she  was  but  a  slave,  and  so  weakly  and  mean  and  fearful  in 
body  that  her  mistress  and  all  her  friends  feared  that  she 
would  deny  Christ  at  the  very  sight  of  the  torments  prepared 
for  her,  and  save  herself  by  sacrificing  to  the  idols,  yet  endured, 
day  after  day,  tortures  too  horrible  to  speak  of  without  cry  or 
groan,  or  any  word  save  "I  am  a  Christian";  and,  having 
outlived  all  her  fellow-martyrs,  died  at  last,  victorious  over 
pain  and  temptation,  so  that  the  very  heathen  who  tortured  her 
broke  out  in  admiration  of  her  courage,  and  confessed  that  no 
woman  had  ever  endured  so  many  and  so  grievous  torments. 
So  may  God's  strength  be  made  perfect  in  woman's  weakness. 
You  are  not  called  to  endure  such  things.  No  :  but  you, 
and  I,  and  every  Christian  soul  are  called  on  to  do  what  we 
know  to  be  right.  Not  to  halt  between  two  opinions,  but  if 
God  be  God,  to  follow  Him.  If  we  make  up  our  minds  to  do 
that,  we  shall  be  sure  to  have  our  trials,  but  we  shall  be  safe, 
because  we  are  on  God's  side,  and  God  on  ours.  And  if  God 
be   with  us,  what    matter  if  the   whole  world  be  against  us? 

Charles  Kingsley. 

Twenty-secovd  after  Trinity ?\ 

364 


Tuesday.] 

Z^c  (Hetjefafion  of  ga:ppine0e. 

PATIENCE. 

Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  3Iy  patience,  I  also  will  keep 
thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world. 
—Rev.  III.  10. 


cJfyO  not  say,  "  T  cannot  endure  to  suffer  these  things  at  the 
*^  hands  of  such  an  one,  nor  ought  I  to  endure  things  of 
this  sort,  for  he  hath  done  me  great  wrong,  and  reproacheth 
me  with  things  which  I  never  thought  of;  but  of.another  I  will 
wilHngly  suffer,  that  is,  if  they  are  also  things  which  I  shall 
see  I  ought  to  suffer." 

Such  a  thought  is  foolish  ;  it  considereth  not  the  virtue  of 
patience,  nor  by  whom  it  will  be  to  be  crowned  ;  but  rather, 
weigheth  too  exactly  the  persons,  and  the  injuries  offered  to 
itself. 

He  is  not  truly  patient  who  is  willing  to  suffer  only  so  much 
as  he  thinks  good  and  from  whom  he  pleases.  But  the  truly 
patient  man  minds  not  by  whom  he  is  exercised,  .  .  .  but 
indifferently  from  every  creature,  how  much  soever,  or  how 
often  soever,  anything  adverse  befalls  him,  he  takes  it  all 
thankfully  as  from  the  hands  of  God,  and  esteems  it  a  great 
gain. 

For  with  God  it  is  impossible  that  anything,  how  small 
soever,  if  only  it  be  suffered  for  God's  sake,  should  pass  without 
its  reward. 

Be  thou,  therefore,  always  prepared  for  the  fight,  if  thou  wilt 
have  the  victory. 

Thomas  a  Kempis. 

365 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  (Reuefation  of  ^appincBB. 

PATIENCE. 

IVind  and  storm,  fulfilling  His  word. — Ps.  cxlviii.  8. 


AVlANKIND,  and  each  several  human  being,  with  all  their 

vl         sins,    waywardnesses,    negligences,    ignorances,    work 

out,  through  their  own  ungoverned  wills,  exactly  that  measure 

of  trial  which  Almighty  God,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  knew  to 

be  best  for  the  perfecting  of  those  who  love  Him,  or  for  the 

chastening  of  those  who  may  be  turned  to  love  Him.     God 

wills  not  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked.     But,  while  they,  by 

their  sinfulness,    bring  on  themselves  destruction,  their  very 

sins  are  to  the  good  the  occasion  of  good.     God,  being  good, 

makes  men's  evil,  against  their  will,  work  to  the  good  of  His 

own.     .     .     .     Evil    men    are    not   the  less    evil,  they  are  the 

more  evil,  because  God  is  good ;  but  God  is  so  good  that  they 

can  do  no  real  evil ;  their  evil  but  works  to  good  to  those  who 

love  God.     S.  Paul,  when  he  persecuted  the  name  of  Christ, 

and  took  part  in  the   death  of  S.  Stephen,  against  God's  will, 

fulfilled  His  will ;  when  converted  he  fulfilled  more  blessedly 

the  will  of  God  by  doing  it.     The  whole  noble  army  of  martyrs 

have  been  enrolled,  one  by  one,  through  the  cruelty  of  men 

who  hated  God  and  slew  them.     And  so  now  too.     Godwilleth 

not  the  wickedness  or  death  of  the  sinners  ;  but  no  sinners  can 

harm  the  good.     Nothing  can  harm  us,  while,  by  the  grace  of 

God,  our  own  will  stands  firm  to  serve  God.     God  willeth  not 

that   man  should   be  angry,    revengeful,  slanderous ;    but  He 

wills,  (if  so  be,)  that  our  tempers  should  be  proved  by  angry 

words,  our  patience  by  the  slanderous  tongue. 

E.   B.  PUSEY. 
Twenty-second  after  Trinity. \ 

366 


TUUKSDAY.] 

Z^c  (Ret>efafion  of  ^appincBB, 

PATIENCE. 

tVoe  unto  you,  when  all  men  shall  speak  well  of  you. — S.  Luke  vi. 


AUPPOSE  we  were  to  read  it  as  a  reproof  only — that  we 
^^  have  not  been  persecuted — that  we  have  not  upon  us  this 
mark  of  a  Hving  Christianity — might  there  not  be  profit  even 
so  ?  Surely  the  thought  should  awaken  in  us  some  searchings 
of  heart ;  how  is  it  that  this  Beatitude,  this  Benediction  of 
Christ,  is  inapplicable  to  me  ?  How  is  it  that  I  have  avoided 
reproach,  that  I  have  escaped  obloquy,  that  I  have  been  igno- 
rant of  all  suffering,  in  my  Saviour's  behalf  ?  Can  it  be  that  I 
have  been  true  to  the  Cross,  and  yet  found  in  it  no  offence  ? 
that  I  have  waged  my  warfare  bravely,  and  yet  met  no  antag- 
onist ?  that  I  have  been  Christ's  faithful  soldier  and  servant, 
and  yet  awakened  no  dislike  and  no  hostility  ?  This  can  only 
be  where  a  whole  household,  a  whole  circle,  is  in  deed  and  in 
truth  Christian,  is  it  so  with  mine  ?  As  a  general  rule,  no 
cross,  no  crown  !  Woe  unto  you,  when  all  men  shall  speak 
well  of  yoit  !  The  faithful  Christian,  he  who  will  indeed  live 
Godly  ifi  Christ  Jesus,  shall  suffer  persecutio7i.  O,  there  has 
probably  been  in  me  a  great  timidity  ;  a  culpable  reticence  on 
points  of  faith  and  duty,  or  else  a  systematic  compromise  with 
that  which  was  displeasing  to  my  Master !  He  says.  Blessed 
are  ye  when  vieii  shall  separate  you  from  their  company,  and 
men  have  sought  mine.  He  says,  Blessed  are  ye,  wheti 
men  shall  cast  out  your  name  as  evil,  and  men  have  done 
nothing  of  that  sort  with  mine.  The  thing  must  be  looked 
into;  why  is  it?  C.  J.  Vaughan. 

367 


[Friday. 

Z^c  (Reuefation  of  ^appintBti, 


PATIENCE. 


Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  Ale  and  of  My  words^  of  him  shall 
the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed,  when  He  shall  come  in  His  ozvn  glory, 
and  in  His  Father's,  and  of  the  holy  angels. — S.  Luke  ix.  26. 


^&OMETHING  more  than  fifty  years  ago  there  was  a  small 
^^  dinner-party  at  the  other  end  of  London.  The  ladies 
had  withdrawn,  and  under  the  guidance  of  one  member  of  the 
company  the  conversation  took  a  turn  of  which  it  will  be 
enough  here  and  now  to  say  that  it  was  utterly  dishonourable 
to  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.  One  of  the  guests  said  nothing,  but 
presently  asked  the  host's  permission  to  ring  the  bell,  and 
when  the  servant  appeared  he  ordered  his  carriage.  He  then, 
with  the  courtesy  of  perfect  self-command,  expressed  his 
regret  at  being  obliged  to  retire,  but  explained  he  was  still  a 
Christian.  Mark  the  phrase — for  it  made  a  deep  impression  at 
the  time — still  a  Christian.  Perhaps  it  occurs  to  you  that  the 
guest  who  was  capable  of  this  act  of  simple  courage,  must 
have  been  a  bishop,  or  at  least  a  clergyman.  The  party  was 
made  up  entirely  of  laymen,  and  the  guest  in  question  became 
the  great  Prime  Minister  of  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Victoria — he  was  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel.  .  .  .  Error, 
moral  and  intellectual  error,  stalks  everywhere  around  us,  now 
loudly  advertising,  now  gently  insinuating  itself — violent,  mod- 
erate, argumentative,  declam.atory,  all  by  turns.  And  is  the 
religion  which  our  Lord  has  brought  from  heaven  alone  to  be 
without  advocates  or  defenders  ? 

H.    P.    LiDDON. 

Tiventy-second  after  Trinity.'] 

368 


Saturday.] 

$^e  (Retjefation  of  ^appincBB. 

PATIENCE. 

Behold,  the  hour  comet h,  yea,  is  now  cotne,  that  ye  shall  be  scattered, 
every  man  to  his  own,  and  shall  leave  Me  alone  :  and  yet  I  am  not 
alone,  because  the  Father  is  with  Me. — S.  John  xvi.  32. 


3  HOPE  that  in  this  state  of  painful  isolation,  you  will  find 
the  best  of  consolations  apart  from  all  human  help.  God 
will  make  known  to  you  what  He  alone  can  be  when  all  else 
fails.  The  length  of  this  trial  will  serve  to  strengthen  you 
against  yourself,  and  to  render  your  self-abnegation  unbounded. 
In  giving  one's  self  up  to  God  while  all  is  quiet  and  peaceful, 
one  does  not  know  what  one  means  or  promises,  and  however 
sincere,  the  renunciation  is  at  best  superficial.  But  when  the 
cup  which  overflows  with  bitterness  is  offered  us,  nature 
shudders;  we  become  "sorrowful  unto  death,"  even  as  our 
Lord  in  the  Garden  of  Olives;  we  cry  out,  "  Let  this  cup  pass 
from  me  ! "  Happy  he  who  can  conquer  this  revulsion  and 
natural  repugnance,  and  add,  like  the  Son  of  God,  "  Neverthe- 
less not  My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done  !" 

Of  a  truth,  I  should  greatly  '•egret  were  you  to  lose  the  last 
drop  of  the  cup  God  gives  you  to  drink.  Now  is  the  time  to 
exercise  your  faith  and  love.  How  well  God  must  love  you, 
since  He  deals  you  such  heavy  blows!  Whatever  sacrifice  He 
may  require,  never  hesitate  to  give  it.  Fenelon. 


369 


[Twenty-third  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

t^t  Crotwn  of  feife. 


FAITH. 

The  just  shall  live  by  his  faith.— ^i^BAViKVK  ii.  4. 


^^HINK  of  the  infinite  power  of  God,  and  then  think  how  is 
^^  it  possible  to  live,  except  by  faith  in  Him,  by  trusting  to 
Him  utterly  ?  If  you  accustom  yourself  in  the  same  way  to 
think  of  the  infinite  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  infinite  love 
of  God,  they  will  both  teach  you  the  same  lesson ;  they 
will  show  you  that  if  you  were  the  greatest,  the  wisest, 
the  holiest  man  that  ever  lived,  you  would  still  be  such 
a  speck  by  the  side  of  the  Almighty  and  Everlasting 
God,  that  it  would  be  madness  to  depend  upon  yourselves 
for  anything  while  you  lived  in  God's  world.  For,  after  all, 
what  can  we  do  without  God  ?  J7t  Him  we  live,  and  move, 
and  have  our  being.  He  made  us,  He  gave  us  our  bodies,  He 
gave  us  our  life  ;  what  we  do,  He  lets  us  do,  what  we  say,  He 
lets  us  say;  we  all  live  on  sufferance.  What  is  it  but  God's 
infinite  mercy  that  ever  brought  us  here,  or  keeps  us  here  an 
instant  ?  We  may  pretend  to  act  without  God's  leave  or  help, 
but  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  do  so  ;  the  strength  we  put  forth, 
the  wit  we  use,  are  all  His  gifts.  We  cannot  draw  a  breath  of' 
air  without  His  leave,  and  yet  men  fancy  they  can  do  without 
God  in  the  world !  ...  If  we  are  mere  creatures  of  God, 
if  God  alone  has  every  blessing  both  of  this  world  and  the 
next,  and  the  will  to  give  them  away,  whom  are  we  to  go  to 
but  to  Him  for  all  we  want  ?  It  is  so  in  the  life  of  our  bodies, 
and  it  is  so  in  the  life  of  our  spirits.  If  we  wish  for  God's 
blessings,  from  God  we  must  ask  them. 

Charles  Kingsley. 
370 


Monday.] 

J^e  Ctotwn  of  £ife» 

FAITH. 

Oh  that  I  knezv  where  I  might  find  him  !  that  I  might  co?iie  even 
to  his  seat. — Job  xxiii.  3. 


/I^ERHAPS,  if  God's  existence  had  been  one  of  those  things 
\r  of  which  formal  proof  could  be  given  to  the  world,  the 
acknowledged  fact  would  have  lost  its  interest.  Few  men 
would  have  cared  to  verify  what  no  one  would  dispute.  The 
tendency  would  have  been  to  rest  upon  an  intellectual  assent 
to  the  proposition.  When  it  came  to  the  proof,  the  poor  and 
simple  would  have  been  at  too  great  a  disadvantage  compared 
with  the  philosopher.  We  should  have  lost  all  those  touching 
and  noble  associations  which  gather  round  the  name  of  faith, 
and  should  have  had  instead  a  cold  science — common  property, 
and  so  appropriated  by  none.  As  it  is,  each  man  has  to  prove 
the  fact  for  himself.  It  is  the  great  adventure,  the  great 
romance  of  every  soul — this  finding  of  God.  Though  so  many 
travellers  have  crossed  the  ocean  before  us,  and  bear  witness 
of  the  glorious  continent  beyond,  each  soul  for  itself  has  to 
repeat  the  work  of  a  Columbus,  and  discover  God  afresh, 
and  this  can  indeed  be  done  :  but  intellectual  argument  is  not 
the  sole  nor  the  main  means  of  apprehension.  At  best  it  pre- 
pares the  way.  Moral  purification  is  equally  necessary.  Then 
spiritual  effort,  determined,  concentrated,  renewed  in  spite  of 
failure — calm  and  strong  prayers  in  the  name  of  Christ — enable 
the  believer  to  say,  like  Jacob  after  he  had  wrestled  with  the 
Angel,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life  is  pre- 
served." A.  J.  Mason. 

371 


[Tuesday 

t^t  €rot»n  of  feife. 


FAITH. 


Seest  thou  hozv  faith  wrought  with   his  works,  and  by  zvorks  was 
faith  made  perfect  ? — S.  James  ii.  22. 


T^HE  right  faith  of  man  is  not  intended  to  give  him  repose, 
^^  but  to  enable  him  to  do  his  work.  It  is  not  intended 
that  he  should  look  away  from  the  place  he  lives  in  now,  and 
cheer  himself  with  thoughts  of  the  place  he  is  to  live  in  next, 
but  that  he  should  look  stoutly  into  this  world,  in  faith  that  if 
he  does  his  work  thoroughly  here,  some  good  to  others  or 
himself,  with  which  however  he  is  not  at  present  concerned, 
will  come  of  it  hereafter.  And  this  kind  of  brave,  but  not  very 
hopeful  or  cheerful  faith,  I  perceive  to  be  always  rewarded  by 
clear,  practical  success,  and  splendid  intellectual  power ;  while 
the  faith  which  dwells  on  the  future  fades  away  into  rosy  mist, 
and  emptiness  of  musical  air.  That  result  indeed  follows 
naturally  enough  on  its  habit  of  assuming  that  things  must  be 
right,  or  must  come  right,  when,  probably,  the  fact  is,  that  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  they  are  entirely  wrong,  and  going 
wrong:  and  also  on  its  weak  and  false  way  of  looking  on  what 
these  religious  persons  call  "  the  bright  side  of  things,"  that  is 
to  say,  on  one  side  of  them  only,  when  God  has  given  them  two 
sides,  and  intended  us  to  see  both.  J.  Rusk  in. 


Twenty-third  after  Trinity. 


Wednesday.] 

$0e  Crown  of  feife. 

FAITH. 

/  ^noiv  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him  against  that  day. — 
2  Tim.  i.  12. 


3F  a  man  does  really  know  that  God  is  giving  him  more  and 
more  revelations  of  Himself  every  day,  increasing  his 
faith  by  all  the  various  treatments  of  his  life,  all  that  is  neces- 
sary for  him  is  that  he  should  simply  accept  that  constant  growth 
in  faith,  rejoice  each  day  in  the  new  certainty  of  God  which  is 
being  gathered  and  stored  within  him,  and  not  look  forward, 
not  even  ask  himself,  how  he  will  meet  the  large  demands  of 
death  and  immortality  when  they  shall  come.  He  may  be  sure 
that  when  they  come  this  strength  of  faith  which  is  now  being 
stored  within  him  will  come  forth  abundantly  equal  to  the 
need.  So  a  soul  need  not  even  think  of  death  if  only  life  is 
filling  it  with  a  profound  and  certain  consciousness  of  God. 
The  ship  in  the  still  river,  while  its  builder  is  stowing  and 
packing  away  the  strength  of  oak  and  iron  into  her  growing 
sides,  knows  nothing  about  the  tempests  of  the  mid-Atlantic  ; 
but  when  she  comes  out  there,  and  the  tempest  smites  her,  she 
is  ready.  So  shall  we  best  be  ready  for  eternity,  and  for  death 
which  is  the  entrance  to  eternity,  not  by  thinking  of  either,  but 
f)y  letting  life  fill  us  with  the  faith  of  God. 

Bishop  Phillips  Brooks. 


373 


[Thursday. 

Z^  Crottjn  of  £ife. 

FAITH. 

Father,  I  will  that  they  also,  whotn  Thou  hast  given  Me,  be  with 
Me  where  I  am. — S.  John  xvii.  24. 


T^HERE  are  our  social  surroundings,  and  they  too  demand 
^^  faith,  and  a  faith  which  as  we  grow  older  is  less  easy  to 
retain — /.  e.,  faith  in  our  fellow-men.  .  .  .  Each  human 
soul  of  them  has  been  chosen  of  God  in  the  far  eternity,  and 
loved  by  Him  with  a  peculiar  love,  and  endowed  by  Him 
with  special  graces,  and  sent  earthward  with  capacities 
and  a  destiny  all  its  own  ;  and  throughout  its  days  of  pil- 
grimage is  being  waited  on  by  angels,  longing  to  bid  it  wel- 
come, at  the  last,  to  its  eternal  home.  Realize  this  by  faith, 
and  it  will  regenerate  the  world  for  you.  You  will  cease  to 
judge  by  the  surface,  and  to  impute  motives,  and  to  give  party 
names.  You  will  distinguish  the  divine  essence  from  the 
human  accretions  on  a  character.  Service  will  win  affection 
from  you  ;  acquaintance  become  friendship  ;  friendship,  instead 
of  fading,  will  gather  intensity  with  time  ;  the  vague  enthusiasm 
of  humanity  that  comes  and  goes  in  youth  capriciously,  will 
strengthen,  ripen,  fructify,  into  an  abiding  love  for  souls ;  and 
as  you  live  and  move  amid  spiritual  presences,  in  worlds  not 
realized  before,  you  will  know  the  blessedness  of  walking  by 
faith  and  not  by  sight.  It  is  an  effort — a  creative  effort,  but 
an  effort  worth  the  making.  J    R.  ILLINGWORTH. 


Twenty-third  after  Trinity. 

374 


Friday.] 

$5e  Ctotwn  of  £ife. 

FAITH. 

Otir  Father. — S.  Matt.  vi.  9. 


^&OME  have  no  doubt  read  the  story  told  by  one  who 
^^  laboured  hard  among  the  London  poor,  of  how  he  asked 
a  youth  what  he  knew  of  religion,  and  found  he  had  never 
had  any  instruction  or  been  within  a  church.  "Did  he  ever 
pray?"  "Yes,  night  and  morning."  "What  did  he  say?" 
"  Our  Father."  His  friend  supposed  that  he  said  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  but  shortly  found  that  he  knew  but  the  two  first  words 
of  it — and  still  he  had  not  failed  from  childhood  to  kneel  by  his 
poor  bedside  and  humbly  say  "  Our  Father."  It  was  all  the 
Faith  he  had ;  but  he  made  that  faith  his  own.  It  was  a  word 
of  love  and  reliance,  and  be  sure  he  was  not  disappointed  of 
his  trust. 

He  was  working  his  faith  into  his  heart  surely.  And  how 
does  such  a  dim,  sad  life,  making  the  utmost  of  its  one  strug- 
gling sunbeam,  testify  against  those  who,  having  all  the  Faith 
before  them,  ever  streaming  in  at  eye  and  ear,  flooding  their 
minds  if  not  their  hearts  with  light,  mingling  with  every  cus- 
tom, every  meal,  every  task,  every  innocent  pleasure,  are  doing 
all  they  can  to  work  the  Faith  out  of  their  lives.  How  shall 
such  a  spirit  rise  up  in  the  judgment  and  testify  against  those 
who  through  wilfulness,  through  carelessnes,  frivolity,  fear  of 
others,  make  their  Faith  into  a  fiction. 

Archbishop  Benson. 


[Saturday 

$^e  £rof»n  of  feife. 

FAITH. 

Jesus  saith  tiiito  him,  Thotnas^  because  thou  hast  seen  Me,  thou 
hast  believed  :  blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  be- 
lieved.— S.  John  xx,  29. 


r/"10UBT  is  moral  weakness.  Much  more,  it  is  religious 
^^  weakness.  Religion  is  only  possible  when  the  soul  lays 
hold  upon  one  on  whom  it  depends  and  to  whom  it  is  and  feels 
itself  to  be  bound  by  the  double  tie  of  love  and  submission. 
But  when  the  soul's  grasp  of  the  perfect  Being  is  weakened, 
loosened,  if  not  forfeited,  by  doubt,  then  religion  correspond- 
ingly dies  away,  and  the  soul  sinks  down  from  the  high  con- 
templation of  that  which  is  above  it  into  those  thick  folds  of 
material  nature  which  awaits  its  fall,  and  which,  when  it  has 
fallen,  complete  its  degradation.  Faith,  believe  me,  is  the  lev- 
erage of  our  nature.  Doubt  shatters  the  lever.  Do  not  let  us 
waste  compliments  upon  what  is,  after  all,  a  disease  and  weak- 
ness of  our  mental  constitution,  like  those  savages,  forsooth, 
who  make  a  fetish  of  the  animals  or  the  reptiles  from  whose 
ravages  they  suffer.  Let  us  resist;  let  us  conquer  it;  and  if 
we  quote  those  lines  of  the  laureate,  .  .  .  which,  to  speak 
the  truth,  are  perhaps  not  altogether  without  a  touch  of  para- 
dox, let  us  remember  that  his  friend  and  hero,  if  he  passed 
through  the  pain  of  doubt,  yet  fought  his  doubts  and  gathered 
strength : 

"  He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind, 

But  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind. 
And  laid  them.     Thus  he  came  at  length 

To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own." 

H.    P.   LiDDON. 

T7venty-third  after  Trinity.']  --,g 


TWENTY-FOUKTH  SUNDAY   AFTER  TRINITY.] 

ZH  Crotwn  of  £ife. 


HOPE. 


J^or  whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime  zuere  written  for  our 
learning,  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures, 
might  have  hope. — Rom.  xv.  4. 


^TTOPE  is  the  nerve — it  is  the  backbone — of  all  true  life,  of 
^_y  all  serious  efforts  to  battle  with  evil,  and  to  live  for  God. 
For  the  majority  of  men — especially  as  the  years  pass — life  is 
made  up  of  the  disheartening:  the  sunshine  of  the  early  years 
has  gone.  The  evening  is  shrouded  already  with  clouds  and 
disappointment.  Failure,  sorrow,  the  sense  of  a  burden  of 
past  sin,  the  presentiment  of  approaching  death — these  things 
weigh  down  the  spirit  of  multitudes.  Something  is  needed 
which  will  lift  men  out  of  this  circle  of  depressing  thoughts — 
something  which  shall  enlarge  our  horizon — which  shall  enable 
us  to  find  in  the  future  that  which  the  present  has  ceased  to 
yield.  .  .  .  And  here — the  Bible  helps  us  as  no  other  book 
does  or  can.  It  stands  alone  as  the  warrant  and  the  stimulant 
of  hope.  It  speaks  with  a  Divine  authority  ;  it  opens  out  a 
future  which  no  human  authority  could  attest.  There  are 
many  human  books  which  do  what  they  can  in  this  direction, 
but  they  can  only  promise  something  better  than  what  we  have 
at  present  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  There  are  many  books 
which  do  what  they  can  to  establish  hope  on  a  surer  and  wider 
basis  :  but  then,  as  far  as  they  are  trustworthy,  they  are  echoes 
of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  pre-eminently  the  book  of  hope. 
In  it  God  draws  the  veil  that  hangs  between  man  and  his 
awful  future,  and  bids  him  take  heart  and  arise  and  live. 

H.    P.   LiDDON. 


[Monday. 

$5e  Crown  of  £ife. 


HOPE. 


ForgeUiitg  those  things  which  are  behind  and  reaching  forth  unto 
those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize 
of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. — Phil.  hi.  13, 14. 


A^HRISTIAN  hope  should  be  making  us  think  of  and  order 
^^^  our  own  Hves,  and,  so  far  as  we  can,  the  lives  of  those 
who  come  under  our  influence,  as  intended  and  called  and  apt 
to  be  filled  more  and  more  with  the  love  of  God,  to  be  brought 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  life  of  Christ,  until  at  last  they  are 
made  perfect  in  Him  :  until  there  is  in  them  nothing  at  all  that 
is  not  His:  only  His  love,  His  life,  His  light.  .  .  .  His 
Holy  Spirit  would  increase  in  us  this  grace  of  hope.  And  we 
need  it  for  ourselves — ah  !  how  greatly — as  we  think  of  our 
innumerable  failures,  our  surprises  of  meanness,  our  unsteadi- 
ness of  purpose,  our  bad  days,  as  we  call  them,  our  broken 
promises,  our  haunting  sins.  Is  there  anything  that  we  need 
much  more  at  times  than  that  right  of  appeal,  for  Christ's  sake, 
to  the  goal  which  still,  in  spite  of  all  that  is  past,  is  set  before 
us;  to  those  promises  of  God  which  still  are  promises  to  us ; 
to  that  long-suffering,  unwearied  purpose  for  our  life,  which 
still  is  ready  to  be  the  strength  and  guide  of  our  hope,  unfail- 
ing and  ever  new  as  His  compassions  ?  And  we  need  hope, 
too,  continually  for  all  those  who  are  entrusted  to  our  care, 
that  we  may  never,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  acquiesce  in 
the  lowering  of  their  aim  ;  that  we  may  not  let  them  stop  short 
of  that  which  God  intended  them  to  be.       Francis  Paget. 

Twenty-fourth  after  Trinity.'\ 

378 


Tuesday.] 

Z^c  €rot»n  of  fcife. 

HOPE. 

/  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills ^  from  whence  cometh  my  help. 
— Ps.  cxxi.  1. 


3T  is  your  privilege  and  mine,  as  children  of  God,  to  be  sat- 
isfied with  no  help  but  the  help  of  the  highest.  When 
we  are  content  to  seek  strength,  or  comfort,  or  truth,  or  salva- 
tion from  any  hand  short  of  God's,  we  are  disowning  our 
childhood  and  dishonouring  our  Father. 

It  is  better  to  be  restless  and  unsatisfied  than  to  find  rest  and 
satisfaction  in  anything  lower  than  the  highest.  But  we  need 
not  be  restless  or  unsatisfied.  There  is  a  rest  in  expectation, 
a  satisfaction  in  the  assurance  that  the  highest  belongs  to  us, 
though  we  have  not  reached  it  yet.  That  rest  in  expectation 
we  may  all  have  now  if  we  believe  in  God  and  know  we  are 
His  children.  Every  taste  of  Him  that  we  have  ever  had  be- 
comes a  prophecy  of  His  perfect  giving  of  Himself  to  us.  It 
is  as  when  a  pool  lies  far  up  in  the  dry  rocks,  and  hears  the 
tide  and  knows  that  her  refreshment  and  replenishing  is  com- 
ing. How  patient  she  is.  The  other  pools  nearer  the  shore 
catch  the  sea  first,  and  she  hears  them  leaping  and  laughing, 
but  she  waits  patiently.  She  knows  the  tide  will  not  turn 
back  until  it  has  reached  her.  And  by  and  by  the  blessed 
moment  comes.  The  last  ridge  of  rock  is  overwashed.  The 
stream  pours  in ;  at  first  a  trickling  thread  sent  only  at  the 
supreme  effort  of  the  largest  wave ;  but  by  and  by  the  great 
sea  in  its  fulness.  It  gives  the  waiting  pool  itself,  and  she  is 
satisfied.  Bishop  Phillips  Brooks. 


379 


[Wednesday. 

$^e  Crown  of  &ife. 


HOPE. 


£i(^  ye  are  come  unio  Mount  Zion^  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living 
God,  the  heavenly  Jerusale77i  .  .  .  To  the  general  assembly  and 
church  of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  heaven. — Heb.  xii.  22,  23. 


T^HE  Christian  hope  of  immortahty  cannot  be  an  egotistic 
^^  hope,  because  the  affection  does  not  centre  upon  an  in- 
dividual ;  it  is  in  its  very  essence  social  ;  love  enters  into  its 
very  composition,  and  it  looks  forward  to  a  communion  of 
good  as  its  very  end  and  goal.  When  anything  beautiful  in 
human  character  takes  its  departure  from  the  world,  what  is 
the  first  ejaculation  of  the  human  heart  but  one  for  its  immor- 
tality 1  Can  it  perish — the  priceless  treasure  of  this  personal 
life  }  The  survivor  says  no  !  Such  being  must  go  on  being. 
He  pursues  the  sacred  form  through  unimaginable  worlds — 
even  the  bodily  form  ;  for  even  the  body  is  spiritual  so  far  as 
it  is  a  manifestation  of  the  personal  being;  and  he  feels  that, 
though  carried  away  and  shrouded  in  the  mist  which  en- 
circles human  existence,  it  is  safe  somewhere.  Being,  there- 
fore, would  find  out  being,  the  one  left,  the  one  gone,  drawn 
toward  it  by  the  current  which  penetrates  all  the  spiritual 
creation,  and  the  desire  of  immortality  is  as  much  for  another 
as  for  ourself.  It  is  not  a  selfish  instinct,  it  is  not  a  neutral 
one,  it  is  a  moral  and  generous  one.  Christianity  knows 
nothing  of  a  hope  of  immortality  for  the  individual  alone,  but 
only  of  a  glorious  hope  for  the  individual  in  the  Body,  in  the 
eternal  society  of  the  church  triumphant.       J,  B,   MOZLEY. 

m 

Twenty-fourth  after    Trinity. 

380 


Thursday.] 

$^e  Cretan  of  feife. 


HOPE. 


Hope  thou  in  God  ;  for  I  shall  yet  praise  Him,  Who  is  the  health  of 
V  rnttntfiianre.  atid  mv  God — Ps.  tt.tt.  11. 


iny  countenance,  and  my  God. — Ps.  xlii.  11 


^fVjOULD  you  then  grow  in  hope  ?  First  cast  out  all  vain 
^^  hopes;  hope  for  nothing,  hope  in  nothing,  out  of  God. 
Then,  hope  is  on  high  within  the  vail,  "Where  Christ  sitteth 
on  the  Right  Hand  of  God."  Grovel  not  in  things  below, 
among  earthly  cares,  pleasures,  anxieties,  toils,  if  thou  wouldst 
have  a  good  strong  hope  on  high.  Lift  up  thy  cares  with  thy 
heart  to  God,  if  thou  wouldst  hope  in  Him. 

Then  see  what  in  thee  is  most  displeasing  to  God.  This  it 
is  which  holdeth  thy  hope  down.  Strike  firmly,  repeatedly,  in 
the  might  of  God,  until  it  give  way.  Thy  hope  will  soar  at 
once  with  thy  thanks  to  God,  Who  delivereth  thee.  And  then 
cast  all  thy  care  on  God.  See  that  all  thy  cares  be  such  as 
thou  canst  cast  on  God,  and  then  hold  none  back.  Never 
brood  over  thyself;  never  stop  short  in  thyself;  but  cast  thy 
whole  self,  even  this  very  care  which  distresseth  thee,  upon 
God.  He  hath  said,  "  Cast  all  thy  care."  He  has  excepted 
none  ;  neither  do  thou. 

Hope  is  a  grace  and  gift  of  God.  Try  not  to  make  it  for  thy- 
self, nor  look  in  thyself  for  grounds  of  hope  ;  but  pray  God  to 
pour  it  with  faith  and  love  into  thy  soul.  Our  hopes  are  where 
our  hearts  are.  Meditate  often,  then,  on  the  love  of  God,  the 
Passion  of  thy  Lord,  the  Price  He  paid  for  thee.  His  inter- 
cession for  thee.  His  Providence  over  thee,  His  gifts  ever  re- 
newed  to  thee.  His  word  pledged  unto  thee.      E.  B.  PUSEY. 

381 


[Friday. 


$^e  Cvown  of  £ife. 

HOPE. 

fVAo  keepeth  His  pi'omise  for  ever. — Ps   cxlvi.  5. 


T^HE  acts  of  Hope  are: 

^^  To  rely  upon  God  with  a  confident  expectation  of  His 
promises;  ever  esteeming  that  every  promise  of  God  is  a  mag- 
azine of  all  that  grace  and  relief  which  we  can  need  in  that 
instance  for  which  the  promise  is  made.  Every  degree  of 
hope  is  a  degree  of  confidence.  To  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  a  mis- 
fortune or  seeming  sadness,  knowing  that  this  may  work  for 
good,  and  will,  if  we  be  not  wanting  to  our  souls.  This  is  a 
direct  act  of  hope,  to  look  through  the  cloud,  and  look  for  a 
beam  of  the  light  from  God  ;  and  this  is  called  in  Scripture, 
"  rejoicing  in  tribulation,  when  the  God  of  hope  fills  us  with 
all  joy  in  believing."  Every  degree  of  hope  brings  a  degree 
of  joy. 

To  desire,  to  pray,  and  to  long  for  the  great  object  of  our 
hope,  the  mighty  price  of  our  high  calling;  and  to  desire  the 
other  things  of  this  life  as  they  are  promised ;  that  is,  so  far  as 
they  are  made  necessary  and  useful  to  us,  in  order  to  God's 
glory  and  the  great  end  of  souls.  Hope  and  fasting  are  said  to 
be  the  two  wings  of  prayer.  Fasting  is  but  as  the  wings  of  a 
bird ;  but  hope  is  like  the  wing  of  an  angel,  soaring  up  to 
heaven,  and  bears  our  prayers  to  the  throne  of  grace.  Without 
hope  it  is  impossible  to  pray  ;  but  hope  makes  our  prayers 
reasonable,  passionate,  and  religious ;  for  it  relies  upon  God's 
promise,  or  experience,  or  providence.       JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Twenty -fourth  after   Trinity. 

38a 


Saturday.1 

t^c  €rot»n  of  feife. 


HOPE. 


£ye  hath  not  seen,  7ior  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  mto  the 
heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love 
Him.—\  Cor.  ii.  9. 


"Tf^HEREFORE  to  whom  turn  I  but  to  Thee,  the  ineffable 
^^  Name  ? 

Builder  and  maker,  Thou,  of  houses  not  made  with  hands! 
What,  have  fear  of  change  from  Thee  Who  art  ever  the  same  ? 
Doubt  that  Thy  power  can    fill  the  heart  that  Thy  power 
expands  ? 
There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good  !     What  was,  shall  live  as 
before  ; 
The  evil  is  null,  is  nought,  is  silence  implying  sound  ; 
What  was  good,  shall  be  good,  with,  for  evil,  so  much  good 
more  ; 
On   the  earth    the    broken    arcs  ;    in    the    heaven,  a  perfect 
round. 

All  we  have  willed,  or  hoped,  or  dreamed  of  good,  shall  exist ; 

Not  its  semblance,  but  itself ;  no  beauty,  nor  good,  nor  power 
Whose  voice  has  gone  forth,  but  each  survives  for  the  melodist, 

When  eternity  affirms  the  conception  of  an  hour. 
The  high  that  proved  too  high,  the  heroic  for  earth  too  hard. 

The  passion  that  left  the  ground  to  lose  itself  in  the  sky, 
Are  music  sent  up  to  God  by  the  lover  and  the  bard ; 

Enough  that  He  heard  it  once  ;  we  shall  hear  it  by  and  by. 

R.  Browning. 
¥ 

383 


[Twenty-fifth  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

^^e  Cretan  of  £ife. 

LOVE. 

Jesus     Christ,    the    same   yesterday,    and    to  day,    and  forever. — 
Heb.  XIII.  8. 


^fVjE  can  admire  in  man  the  nobleness  and  patience  which 
can  endure  trouble  without  complaining;  which  can 
bear  hard  words  and  unkind  thoughts  from  those  for  whom  he 
is  giving  up  his  own  ease ;  which  is  not  easily  provoked ; 
whose  kindness  is  not  tired  out  at  the  ill-return  it  meets  with. 
But  who,  among  men,  was  ever  tried  by  the  contradiction  of 
those  for  whose  sake  He  lived,  as  He  Who  came  to  save  us  ? 
Who  ever,  being  what  He  was,  and  doing  what  He  did,  bore 
so  much,  and  bore  it  so  meekly  and  enduringly,  for  the  love  of 
those  who,  for  His  very  goodness,  hated  Him,  and  for  His  very 
gentleness  and  humbleness,  despised  Him  ?  .  .  .  We  talk 
of  men  dying  for  others — no  stories  touch  us  more  deeply  than 
those  of  men  who  have  willingly  given  up  their  lives  for  the 
sake  of  their  fellow-men.  And  do  we  not  know  assuredly,  that 
the  Greatest  and  the  Highest  died  for  us,  even  as  a  man  lays 
down  his  life  for  his  friends ;  that  the  most  beautiful  and  ex- 
cellent life  that  ever  was  seen  in  this  world,  was  willingly  given 
up — given  up  to  all  that  can  add  to  the  bitterness  and  shame 
of  death,  and  put  an  end  to  amid  insult  and  torment — for  the 
sake  of  us  whom  He  loved  }  And  that  love  was  not  put  an 
end  to  by  death.  He  loved  us  before  dying  and  in  dying;  and 
when  death  was  over  He  loved  us  still.  We  know  that  He 
watches  over  us  with  the  deeper  love,  now  that  He  is  risen, 
because  He  once  loved  us  enough  to  die  for  us. 

R.  W.  Church. 

384 


Monday.] 

td^  Ctoi)m  of  feife. 

LOVE. 

And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  Him. — 1  S.  John  ir.  28. 


"TJTHE  tests  whereby  we  may  know  whether  we  have  this 
^^  love  of  God  for  Himself,  are  also  the  means  of  gaining  it, 
or  of  increasing  it,  if  through  them,  He  has  given  it.  How  is 
it  with  those  whom  you  dearly  love  on  earth  ?  Be  this  the 
proof  of  your  love  to  God.  You  gladly  think  of  them,  when 
absent.  You  joy,  in  their  presence,  even  though  they  be  silent 
to  you.  You  are  glad  to  turn  from  converse  with  others  to 
speak  with  them.  One  word  or  look  of  theirs  is  sweeter  than 
all  which  is  not  they. 

The  soul  which  loves  God  for  its  own  sake,  thinks  only  of 
God  when  it  needs  Him.  When  things  go  smoothly,  such  a 
soul  forgets  Him  ;  she  is  taken  up  by  her  own  pleasure,  and 
scarcely  or  coldly  thanks  Him;  in  trouble  she  recollects  her- 
self, and  flies  to  Him.  The  soul  which  loves  God  for  His  own 
sake,  gladly  escapes  from  the  business  of  the  world  to  think  of 
Him  ;  she  recollects  Him  in  little  chinks  and  intervals  of  time, 
in  which  she  is  not  occupied;  she  takes  occasion  of  all  things 
to  think  of  Him ;  is  glad  of  hours  of  prayer  that  she  may  be 
with  Him  ;  is  glad  to  be  alone  with  Him  ;  glad  to  come  to  Him 
here  in  this  holy  house  or  in  His  sacraments  ;  to  dwell  with 
Him  and  that  He  may  dwell  in  her.  She  prays  Him,  "  Abide 
with  me,  Lord  "  ;  hushes  herself  that  she  may  hear  His  Voice, 
gathers  herself  together,  lest,  in  the  distractions  of  things  of 
self,  she  should  lose  Him.  She  attends  to  the  lowest  whispers 
of  His  Voice,  lest  she  lose  any,  which  should  show  her  His 
mind  and  will  for  her.  E.  B.  Pusey. 

385 


[Tuesday. 

t^^e  Crotwn  of  £ife. 

LOVE. 

He   that   dive.lletJi    in   love   dwelleth    in    God,  and    God  in    him. — 
1  S.  John  iv.  16. 


"T^HE  failure  to  recognize  the  life  of  love  as  one  of  thus 
^^  gradual  development  has  been  the  great  cause  of  errone- 
ous teaching  and  erroneous  living  in  the  world.  And  yet,  from 
the  very  beginning  of  all  Christian  theology  two  sentences  had 
plainly  stared  men  in  the  face.  Plato  had  said,  "  The  true 
order  of  approaching  to  the  things  of  love  is  to  use  the  beauties 
of  earth  as  steps  along  which  to  mount  upward  to  that  other 
beauty,  rising  from  the  love  of  one  to  the  love  of  two,  and 
from  the  love  of  two  to  the  love  of  all  fair  forms,  and  from  fair 
forms  to  fair  deeds,  and  from  fair  deeds  to  fair  thoughts,  till 
from  fair  thoughts  he  reaches  on  to  the  thought  of  the  un- 
created loveliness,  and  at  last  knows  what  true  beauty  is."  And 
S.  John  had  said  :  "  If  a  man  love  not  his  brother,  whom  he 
had  seen,  how  can  he  love  God,  whom  he  hath  not  seen  .'* " 

The  beginning  of  the  dwelling  in  love,  therefore,  is  to  love 
the  things  that  we  have  seen — earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the 
stars,  and  forms  of  flowers,  and  twilight  on  the  hills,  and  the 
song  of  birds  and  the  quick  glancing  life  of  the  animals,  and 
the  strength  and  the  passion  and  the  beauty  of  woman  and  of 
man ;  and  then  the  great  world  of  art,  the  sculpture  of  Athens, 
and  Italian  painting,  and  the  music  of  our  modern  world  ;  and 
then,  lastly,  the  fair  thoughts  with  which  science  has  enriched 
us,  of  the  history  and  destiny  of  our  world  and  our  race.  It  is 
in  the  loving  of  all  such  things  that  we  learn  what  it  is  to  love. 

J.   R.    ILLINGWORTH. 

Twenty-fifth  after  Ti-imty. 


Wednesday.] 

Z^c  €tot»n  of  fcife. 

LOVE. 

Charity     .     .     .     beareth  all  thmgs,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
thins;s.  endureth  all  thins^s. — 1  Cok.  xiii.  4,7. 


OjJ^S  we  mix  in  life  there  comes,  especially  to  sensitive  natures, 
>w'  a  temptation  of  distrust.  In  young  life  we  throw  our- 
selves with  unbounded  and  glorious  confidence  on  such  as  we 
think  well  of — an  error  soon  corrected :  for  we  soon  find  out — 
too  soon — that  men  and  women  are  not  what  they  seem.  Then 
comes  disappointment  ;  and  the  danger  is  a  reaction  of  deso- 
lating and  universal  mistrust.  .  .  .  The  only  preservation 
from  this  withering  of  the  heart  is  Love.  Love  is  its  own 
perennial  fount  of  strength.  The  strength  of  affection  is  a 
proof  not  of  the  worthiness  of  the  object,  but  of  the  largeness 
of  the  soul  which  loves.  Love  descends,  not  ascends.  The 
might  of  a  river  depends  not  on  the  quality  of  the  soil  through 
which  it  passes,  but  on  the  inexhaustibleness  and  depth  of  the 
spring  from  which  it  proceeds.  The  greater  mind  cleaves  to 
the  smaller  with  more  force  than  the  other  to  it.  A  parent 
loves  the  child  more  than  the  child  the  parent ;  and  partly  be- 
cause the  parent's  heart  is  larger,  not  because  the  child  is 
worthier.  The  Saviour  loved  His  disciples  infinitely  more  than 
His  disciples  loved  Him,  because  His  heart  was  infinitely 
larger.  Love  trusts  on — ever  hopes  and  expects  better  things, 
and  this,  a  trust  springing  from  itself  and  out  of  its  own  deeps 
alone. 

Would  you  make  men  trustworthy?     Trust  them.     Would 
you  make  them  true  ?     Believe  them.       F.  W.  ROBERTSON, 

387 


[Thursday. 

t^e  Crotwn  of  £ife. 

LOVE. 

Lovest  thou  Me  ?  and  he  said  unto  Him,  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all 
things  ;  Thou  knowest  that  2  love  Thee.  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Feed 
My  sheep. — S.  John  xxi.  17. 


^OVE,  love  to  Christ,  which  is  the  one  sure  spring  of  love 
^"^  to  men,  is  the  foundation  of  service.  It  is  the  first  condi- 
tion of  the  divine  charge,  and  the  second,  and  the  third.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  the  new  Covenant  which  burns,  not  to  consume, 
but  to  purify.  In  the  prospect  of  work  for  others  or  for  our- 
selves we  can  always  hear  the  one  question  in  the  stillness  of 
our  souls,  "  Lovest  thou  me  ?  "  Love  may  not,  cannot,  be  at- 
tained in  its  fulness  at  once  ;  but  the  Person  of  Christ,  if  indeed 
we  see  Him  as  He  is  presented  to  us  in  the  Gospels,  will 
kindle  that  direct  affection  out  of  which  it  comes.  If  our  hearts 
were  less  dull  we  could  not  study  the  changing  scenes  of  His 
unchanging  love,  or  attempt  to  describe  them  to  others,  with- 
out answering  the  silent  appeal  which  they  make  to  us  in 
S.Peter's  words:  Lord,  Thou  k7iowest  that  1  love  Thee ;  y^s, 
and  still  more,  these  which  are  Thine  and  not  mine,  these  who 
fall  under  my  influence  in  the  various  relations  of  life,  for  Thy 
sake.  The  foundation  of  service  is  love,  the  rule  of  service  is 
thoughtfulness.  There  is  not  one  method,  one  voice  for  all. 
Here  there  is  need  for  the  tenderest  simplicity :  there  of  the 
wisest  authority:  thereof  the  ripest  result  of  long  reflection. 
The  true  teacher,  and  as  Christians  we  are  all  teachers,  will 
temper  the  application  of  his  experience  with  anxious  care. 

Bishop  Westcott. 

Tiventy-fi/th  after  Trinity. 


Friuay] 

t^  Cxoi»n  of  feife* 

LOVE. 

Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord    .    .    .    for  their  works 
do  follow  the?}t. — Kev.  xiv.  13. 


T^HEIR  works  follow  them  because  they  are  living  like 
^^  them  and  in  them,  living  in  the  love  which  was  their 
fruit,  and  which  mounts  with  the  saints  to  heaven,  not  to  lose 
there  its  primitive  character  of  choice  and  devotedness,  but  to 
preserve  it  there  for  ever  in  the  immutability  of  beatific  vision. 
The  saints  have  not  another  heart  in  heaven  than  that  which 
they  had  on  earth  ;  the  very  object  of  their  pilgrimage  was  to 
form  in  them,  by  means  of  trial,  a  love  which  should  merit  to 
please  God,  and  subsist  eternally  before  Him.  So  far  from 
that  love  changing  its  nature,  it  is  its  nature  itself,  it  is  its  de- 
gree acquired  in  the  free  exercise  of  the  will  which  determines 
the  measure  of  beatitude  in  each  elect  of  grace  and  judgment. 
According  as  man  brings  to  God  more  ardent  affection,  he  de- 
rives deeper  ecstasy,  more  perfect  felicity  from  the  vision  of 
the  Divine  essence.  It  is  the  movement  of  his  heart,  as  death 
has  seized  it,  which  regulates  his  place  at  the  seat  of  life,  and 
it  is  the  unalterable  perseverance  of  that  movement,  caused  by 
the  view  of  God,  which  alone  distinguishes  the  love  of  time 
from  the  love  of  eternity.  .  .  .  Nothing  is  foreign  to  the 
saints  in  the  sentiments  which  they  feel,  nothing  is  new  to 
them  in  their  heart.  They  love  Him  Whom  they  had  chosen  ; 
they  enjoy  Him  to  Whom  they  had  given  themselves;  they 
ardently  embrace  Him  Whom  they  already  possessed  ;  their 
love  expands  in  the  certainty  and  joy  of  an  inamissible  union^ 

Lacordaike. 


[Saturday. 

Z^^  €toi»n  of  £ife. 

LOVE. 

7^Aou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart. — S-  Mark  xii.  30. 


/Wj  Y  joy,  my  life,  my  crown  ! 

vl         My  heart  was  meaning  all  the  day, 

Somewhat  it  fain  would  say, 
And  still  it  runneth  mutt'ring  up  and  down 
With  only  this,  My  joy,  my  life,  my  crown. 

Yet  slight  not  these  few  words; 
If  truly  said,  they  may  take  part 

Among  the  best  in  art. 
The  fineness  which  a  hymn  or  psalm  affords. 
Is,  when  the  soul  unto  the  lines  accords. 

He  who  craves  all  the  mind. 
And  all  the  soul,  and  strength,  and  time, 

If  the  words  only  rhyme, 
Justly  complains,  that  somewhat  is  behind 
To  make  his  verse,  or  write  a  hymn  in  kind. 

Whereas  if  th'  heart  be  moved, 
Although  the  verse  be  somewhat  scant, 

God  doth  supply  the  want. 
As  when  th'  heart  says  (sighing  to  be  approved) 
O,  could  I  love  !  and  stops;  God  writeth.  Loved. 

George  Herbert. 


Twenty-fifth  after   Trinity.^ 


BRINGING  OTHERS  TO  JESUS   CHRIST. 

He  first  findeth  his  own  brother  Simon     .     .     .     and  he  brought 
him  to  Jesus. — S.John  i.  41,42. 

jf^HIS  is  the  special  characteristic  of  S.  Andrew.  He  did 
^  not  do  much,  but  he  brought  all  that  he  had  to  our  Lord, 
and  left  it  with  Him,  to  do  as  He  would  with  it.  He  brought 
S.  Peter;  he  brought  the  lad;  he  brought  the  Greeks;  and  left 
them  with  Christ.  He  gave  opportunities  to  Jesus  of  doing 
wonderful  things.  He  put  it  into  our  Lord's  power,  humanly 
speaking,  to  do  great  things  and  to  say  great  words.  He  was 
the  means  of  giving  to  our  Lord  one  of  His  most  valued  dis- 
ciples. He  enabled  Jesus,  so  to  speak,  to  feed  the  5,000,  by 
putting  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ  the  loaves  and  fishes;  he 
supplied  the  material  with  which  that  miracle  was  wrought, 
and  gave  opportunity  for  the  deep  sacramental  teaching  which 
followed.  And  if  he  had  not  brought  the  Greeks,  we  might 
never  have  had  those  wonderful  words  in  S.  John  xii.  24-32. 
.  God  has  given  to  each  of  us,— treating  us  not  as  slaves, 
but  as  friends,— a  free  will.  We  have  the  power  of  bringing 
certain  things  and  people  to  our  Lord,  by  our  words,  our 
actions,  our  prayers.  We  can  use  this  power ;  we  can  bring 
them  to  Christ ;  or  we  can  pass  on,  absorbed  in  our  own  oc- 
cupations. When  we  look  back  upon  our  lives,  we  shall  prob- 
ably see  that  every  day,  certain  persons  and  certain  things 
were  brought  to  us,  to  be  brought  by  us  to  Christ.  Every 
night  we  have  to  give  thanks  that  we  really  did  bring  them,  or 
we  have  to  confess  the  sin  of  omission   in  not  bringing  them. 

Bishop  Wilkinson. 

391 


DOUBTS  AND   HOW   TO   OVERCOME  THEM. 

Be  not  faithless,  but  believing. — (Gospel  for  the  Day.) 


T^HERE  are  real  doubts;  and  if  any  are  perplexed  by  diffi 
^^  culties  which  they  feel  to  be  an  actual  burden  and  sorrow, 
for  them  the  revelation  to  S.  Thomas  has  a  message  of  hope. 
Let  these  have  patience  under  their  trial ;  let  them  gain,  if 
they  can,  some  spaces  for  quiet  thought ;  let  them  consider 
carefully  how  far  their  difficulties  belong  necessarily  to  the 
subject  to  which  they  attach ;  let  them  try  to  conceive  some 
way  by  which  the  difficulties  could  have  been  avoided ;  and 
then,  when  they  have  arranged  all,  let  them  count  up  the  loss 
and  gain  on  this  imaginary  plan.  The  result  will  be,  if  the 
past  can  be  trusted,  that  they  will  find  signs  of  a  Divine 
presence  and  a  Divine  foresight  even  in  that  which  has  per- 
plexed them.  Christianity  shrinks  from  no  test  while  it  trans- 
cends all.  If,  therefore,  doubts  come  we  must  not  dally  with 
them  or  put  them  by,  but  bring  them  into  a  definite  form,  and 
question  them.  And  in  God's  good  time  they  will,  as  of  old, 
prove  an  occasion  for  fuller  unanticipated  knowledge.  The 
words  stand  written  for  the  latest  age:  Be  not,  or  more 
literally,  Become  7iot  faithless  but  believing.  Becoine  not :  The 
final  issues  of  faith  and  unbelief  are  slowly  reached.  But  there 
is  no  stationariness  in  the  spiritual  life.  We  must  at  each 
moment  either  be  moving  forwards  to  fuller  assurance  and 
clearer  vision,  or  backwards  to  a  dull  insensibility.  We  may 
discern  little  ;  but  if  our  eyes  are  steadily  turned  to  the  light, 
if  we  love  the  Lord's  appearing.  He  will  reveal  Himself  at  last. 

Bishop  Westcott. 

392 


$9e  tbntjereion  of  ^.  ^aufc 

A  TRUE  CONVERSION. 

They  glorified  God  in  7ne. — Gal.  i.  24. 


/I^ECULIAR,  marvellous,  unique  this  case  is.  Perhaps  the 
VP  world  has  never  seen  quite  such  another.  It  is  not  one 
thing — it  is  everything.  Mature  age,  settled  habits  of  mind 
and  conduct — great  resolution,  freedom  of  conscience  from 
known  sin — a  religious  career  already  entered  upon,  already 
made  the  interest  of  his  life — then  a  sudden  pause — a  revulsion 
and  reversal — followed  not  by  vacillation,  not  by  any  sign  of 
altered  character,  or  unsettled  mind,  but  by  a  course  equally 
determined,  more  self-denying,  because  entered  upon  by  the 
loss  of  all  things — persevered  in  through  difficulties  and  dis- 
couragements, through  obloquy  and  aspersion,  through  sick- 
ness and  suffering  unto  death.  Not  without  reason  does  the 
Church  keep,  not  S.  Paul's  birthday,  not  his  deathday,  but  his 
Conversion — that  was  the  hinge,  that  the  turning-point,  that 
the  pivot,  of  his  life — it  is  for  that  ^n^  glorify  God  i7i  him.  .  .  . 
Instead  of  denying  the  possibility  of  conversion — instead  of 
ridiculing  conversion  as  a  fancy — instead  of  denying  that  we 
miserably,  terribly  need  conversion  ...  let  us  ask  this — 
and  S.  Paul's  life  shall  give  it  us — that  conversion  shall  be 
solemn  enough  to  make  a  man  three  days  blind,  three  days 
fasting — that  conversion  shall  be  humiliating  enough  to  drive  a 
man  into  Arabia,  to  Sinai,  say,  for  secret  converse  with  Deity. 
.  .  .  and  then  we  will  admit  that  of  all  realities  this  is  the 
most  real,  just  because  it  shows  a  man  the  Real  One,  and 
admits  him  into  that  invisible  presence,  the  very  air  of  which 
is  truth.  C.  J.  Vaughan. 

393 


^tificaiion  of  ^.  (JJlat)^. 

DILIGENT   DEVOTION. 

And  when  the  days  of  her  purification^  according  to  the  law  of 
Moses  were  acco??iplished,  they  brought  Him  to  Jerusaleiii  to  present 
Him  to  the  Lord. — (Gospel  for  the  Day.) 


T^HE  Law  of  Purification  and  Presentation  did  not  strictly 
^^  apply  to  her  case  and  that  of  her  child.  There  was  no 
need  of  purification  in  that  Child-bearing;  she  had  contracted 
no  stain;  in  that  Birth  there  was  nothing  in  the  least  degree 
contrary  to  perfect  purity,  for  He  was  "  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary."  Nor  was  there  any  need  of 
redemption  in  His  case ;  He  was  indeed  Himself  the  Priest 
and  Victim,  the  First-born  Son  Who,  by  the  sacrifice  of  Him- 
self, was  to  redeem  all.  .  .  .  We  have  a  similar  example 
of  this  diligence  in  using  the  means  of  grace  in  Mary's  yearly 
visit  to  the  Temple.  It  was  not  of  obligation  on  the  woman's 
part,  as  it  was  with  men;  but  she  did  not  excuse  herself,  or 
urge  the  plea  that  it  was  difficult  to  leave  her  Child  at  home 
with  the  rough  crowd  at  Nazareth,  or  that  there  was  no  need 
for  her  to  go  up  to  the  Temple,  where  the  services  were  so 
perfunctorily  performed ;  she  was  better  employed  at  home 
with  her  Child  !  Blessed  Mary  gives  us  an  example  of  dili- 
gence, of  faithfulness  and  earnestness  in  seeking  God  in  all 
appointed  means  of  grace.  Then  let  us  examine  our  regu- 
larity in  the  use  of  the  means  of  grace — times  of  prayer,  sacra- 
ments, fasting  days,  rules  of  self-denial,  and  so  on.  And  not 
only  our  diligence,  but  our  eariiest7iess  in  our  use  of  them, 
coming  to  the  sacraments  with  right  dispositions,  with  a  real 
spiritual  appetite.  Bishop  A.  C.  A.  Hall. 


THE  LOST  CROWN. 

Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  tnan  take  thy  crown. 
Rev.  III.  11. 


T^HERE  is  something  sad  and  awful  in  this  Festival,  which 
^^  affords  it  the  same  suitableness  to  the  season  of  Lent  as 
the  Annunciation  afterwards  has  to  that  of  our  Lord's  Passion. 
For  our  thoughts  dwell  less  on  S.  Matthias  than  on  that  fallen 
Apostle,  into  whose  place  he  was  chosen.  The  history  of  Judas 
is  so  striking  and  impressive;  it  reminds  us  of  the  Angels  that 
kept  not  their  first  estate — of  our  first  parents  falling  from 
Paradise — and  especially  of  the  Christians  which  fall  from  their 
state  of  grace.  It  is  in  itself  so  fearful  and  wonderful;  the 
suddenness  of  his  fall,  its  irremediable  nature,  the  blessedness 
of  his  privileges,  the  trifling  temptation  for  which  they  were 
sold,  his  apparent  sanctity  even  throughout,  so  as  for  him  to 
have  been  suspected  of  none ;  our  Lord's  many  warnings  to 
him,  the  many  tokens  of  His  love  to  the  very  last ;  his  indiffer- 
ence to  them  all ;  the  vast  change  in  a  few  days,  as  from 
Heaven  to  the  depths  of  hell, — from  sitting  with  God  to  be 
the  companion  of  devils ;  and  all  these  things  left  on  record 
as  an  especial  warning  to  ourselves.  Thus  we  may  observe  in 
the  passage  from  the  Acts  appointed  for  the  Epistle,  S.  Peter 
dwells  much  on  the  history  of  Judas  ;  but  very  little  is  told  us 
of  S.  Matthias.  And  the  Gospel  that  follows  v.ath  its  call  to 
meekness,  points  out  the  way  to  escape  downfall  so  terrible ; 
warning  that  we  be  not  high-minded  but  fear,  with  our  Lord's 
own  peculiar  consolation  under  terrors  so  great. 

Isaac  Williams. 

395 


^^e  (Annunciation. 

SELF   SURRENDER. 

Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be  it' unto  me  according  to  Thy 
word. — (Gospel  for  the  Day.) 


^JTaVING  been  assured,  she  says,  "Behold  the  handmaid  of 
^i)  the  Lord,  be  it  unto  me  according  to  Thy  word."  It  was 
in  Mary's  power  to  have  refused.  The  Incarnation  might  have 
been  delayed,  and  another  instrument  would  have  to  be  found, 
furnished  and  prepared  for  God's  work.  The  Creator  will  not 
act  in  this  great  mystery  without  the  creature's  full  consent. 
The  Omnipotent  stands  on  ceremony  with  His  own  finite 
creature.  He  waits  for  Mary's  consent.  Yes,  God  has  raised 
us  to  too  great  a  dignity  to  use  us  as  mere  blind  instruments 
for  His  purpose,  whether  for  the  carrying  out  of  some  great  ex- 
ternal ^noxV,  or  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  work  7£////^/«  the 
soul.  He  has  bestowed  on  us  the  awful  but  blessed  preroga- 
tive of  Free  Will.  .  .  .  And  so  man  has  to  choose,  through- 
out the  probation  of  his  earthly  life.  God  never  forces  our 
will.  He  comes  to  us,  as  He  sent  the  Angel  Gabriel  to  Blessed 
Mary,  waiting  for  our  consent ;  as  He  came  to  Matthew  at  the 
receipt  of  custom  ;  he  was  called  to  follow  Jesus,  he  might 
have  remained  a  taxgatherer,  but  by  an  act  of  willing  obedience 
"he  left  all,  rose  up  and  followed  Him."  .  .  .  The  voca- 
tion comes,  God  speaks  plainly,  lovingly,  entreatingly,  but  He 
won't  constrain  us:  He  will  have  the  homage  of  our  loving 
choice.  Think  of  this  as  true,  not  only  in  the  great  crises  of 
life,  in  times  of  some  moral  upheaval,  some  great  conversion, 
but  it  is  likewise  true  in  the  continual  actions  of  daily  life. 

Bishop  A.  C.  A,  Hall. 

396 


OUR   DUTY   TO   THE  GOSPEL. 

And  He  gave  some     .     .     .     Evaiigelists. — (Epistle  for  the  Day.) 


/j^IGHTEEN  centuries  have  passed  since  S.  Mark  went  to 
^^  reign  somewhere  beneath  his  Master's  throne.  Whose 
hfe  he  had  described,  but  he  has  left  us  the  result  of  his  choicest 
gift :  he  has  left  us  his  Gospel.  What  has  it — what  have  the 
three  other  gospels — hitherto  done  for  each  of  us?  It  is 
recorded  that  John  Butler,  an  excellent  Church  of  England 
layman  of  the  last  generation,  stated  on  his  deathbed  that  on 
looking  back  on  his  life  the  one  thing  which  he  most  regretted 
was  that  he  had  not  given  more  time  to  the  careful  study  of 
the  life  of  our  Lord  in  the  four  Evangelists.  Probably  he  has 
not  been  alone  in  that  regret,  and,  if  the  truth  were  told,  many 
of  us  would  have  to  confess  that  we  spend  much  more  thought 
and  time  upon  the  daily  papers,  which  describe  the  follies  and 
errors  of  the  world,  than  on  the  records  of  that  Life  which  was 
given  for  the  world's  redemption.  The  festival  of  an  Evan- 
gelist ought  to  suggest  a  practical  resolution  that,  so  far  as  we 
are  concerned,  the  grace  which  he  received,  according  to  the 
measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ,  shall  not,  please  God,  be  lost. 
Ten  minutes  a  day  spent  seriously  on  our  knees,  with  the 
Gospel  in  our  hands,  will  do  more  to  quicken  faith,  love,  rever- 
ence, spiritual  and  moral  insight,  than  we  can  easily  think. 
"  For  the  words  of  the  Lord  are  pure  words,  even  as  the  silver 
which  from  the  earth  is  tried  and  purified  seven  times  in  the 
fire.  More  to  be  desired  are  they  than  gold,  yea,  than  much 
fine  gold  :  sweeter  also  than  honey  and  the  honey  comb." 

H.    P.   LiDDON. 

If 
397 


THE   SEVERE   AND    SOCIAL   VIRTUES. 

Every  7na7i  hath  his  pi^oper  gift  of  God.,  one  after  this  mantter,  and 
another  after  that. — I.  Cor.  vii.  7. 


Ak  JAMES,  surnamed  the  Just,  was  remarkable  for  the 
^*  severities  of  a  mortified  life,  and  a  meek  and  austere 
sanctity;  so  that  the  violent  death  to  which  he  was  put  by  the 
Jews  was  looked  upon  even  by  their  own  countrymen  as  bring- 
ing down  the  Divine  judgment  on  their  nation.  His  Epistle  is 
best  understood  when  we  bear  this  in  mind.  Hence  its 
memorable  precepts  of  the  blessedness  of  patience,  of  wisdom 
sought  from  above,  of  faith  and  prayer ;  hence  its  sententious, 
short  proverbs  of  heavenly-minded  wisdom,  and  the  sayings  of 
a  man  of  God,  interspersed  with  that  sweetness  which  is  ever 
found  with  self-denying  devotion.  S.  Philip,  on  the  other  hand, 
seems  rather  an  example  of  social  and  brotherly  charities,  easy 
of  access  to  all,  seeking  and  sought  for  in  Christian  friendship  ; 
as  when  he  goes  to  Nathanael,  to  S.  Andrew,  and  when  the 
Greeks,  who  would  see  Jesus  at  the  last  Passover  come  to  him. 
Great  as  is  the  blessing  of  such  a  temper  both  to  itself  and  to 
others,  yet  its  deficiency  is  apt  to  be  in  this,  that  it  less  realizes 
those  spiritual  mysteries  of  God  which  are  disclosed  to  the 
heart  in  secrecy  and  solitude  of  spirit.  .  .  .  Nevertheless 
it  must  be  observed,  that  Christian  grace  so  harmonizes  and 
fills  the  character,  that  such  personal  diversities  are  not  to  be 
pressed  too  far.  S.  James  the  less  was  greatly  beloved  of  all 
Christians  for  his  singular  meekness ;  and  no  doubt  S.  Philip, 
in  the  practices  of  mortification,  came  to  understand  the 
secrets  of  Divine  wisdom.  Isaac  Williams. 

39§ 


^.  (J$ama6a0. 

TOLERANCE   OF  RELIGIOUS   ERROR. 

He  was  a  good  niaji,  atid  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith. 
Acts  xi.  24. 


T^HIS  praise  of  goodness  is  explained  by  his  very  name, 
^^  Barnabas,  the  Son  of  Consolation,  which  was  giv^en  him, 
as  it  appears,  to  mark  his  character  of  kindness,  gentleness, 
considerateness,  warmth  of  heart,  compassion  and  munificence. 
His  acts  answer  to  this  account  of  him.  The  first  we  hear  of 
him  is  his  selling  some  land  which  was  his.  and  giving  the  pro- 
ceeds to  the  Apostles,  to  distribute  to  his  poorer  brethren. 
The  next  notice  of  him  sets  before  us  a  second  deed  of  kind- 
dess,  of  as  amiable,  though  of  a  more  private  character  (Acts 
ix.  26-27).  Next,  he  is  mentioned  in  the  text  and  still  with 
commendation  of  the  same  kind.  How  had  he  show^n  that  he 
was  a  good  man  ?  By  going  on  a  mission  of  love  to  the  first 
converts  of  Antioch.  .  .  .  On  the  other  hand,  on  two  occa- 
sions, his  conduct  is  scarcely  becoming  an  Apostle.  .  .  . 
Both  are  cases  of  indulgence  towards  the  faults  of  others,  yet 
in  a  different  way ;  the  one,  an  over-easiness  in  a  matter  of 
doctrine,  the  other  in  a  matter  of  conduct.  Now  I  fear  we 
lack  altogether,  what  he  lacked  in  certain  occurrences,  firm- 
ness, manliness,  godly  severity.  .  .  .  Our  kindness,  instead 
of  being  directed  and  braced  by  principle,  too  often  becomes 
languid  and  unmeaning,  is  exerted  on  improper  objects.  .  .  . 
We  are  over-tender  in  dealing  with  sin  and  sinners.  We  are 
deficient  in  jealous  custody  of  the  revealed  truths  which  Christ 
has  left  us.  J.  H.  Newman. 


^.  3o^n  m  (gapiiBt 

THE   CHARACTER   OF   CHRISTIAN   REBUKE. 

Make  us  so  to  follow  his  doctrine,  that  ive  may  after  his  example 
.     .     boldly  rebuke  vice. — (Collect  for  the  Day.)' 


T^HERE  are  three  things  which  we  remark  in  this  truthful- 
^^  ness  of  John.  The  first  is  its  straightforwardness,  the 
second  is  its  unconsciousness,  and  the  last  its  unselfishness. 
The  straightforwardness  is  remarkable  in  this  circumstance, 
that  there  is  no  indirect  coming  to  the  point.  At  once,  with- 
out circumlocution,  the  true  man  speaks,  "  It  is  not  lawful  for 
thee  to  have  her."  There  are  some  men  whom  God  has  gifted 
with  a  rare  simplicity  of  heart,  which  makes  them  utterly  in- 
capable of  pursuing  the  subtle  excuses  which  can  be  made  for 
evil.  There  is  in  John  no  morbid  sympathy  for  the  offender. 
He  does  not  say,  "  It  is  best  to  do  otherwise  ;  it  is  unprofitable 
for  your  own  happiness  to  live  in  this  way."  He  says  plainly, 
"  It  is  wrong  for  you  to  do  this  evil. "  Earnest  men  in  this 
world  have  no  time  for  subleties  and  casuistry.  Sin  is  detest- 
able, horrible,  in  God's  sight,  and  when  once  it  has  been  made 
clear  that  it  is  not  lawful,  a  Christian  has  nothing  to  do  with 
toleration  of  it.  .  .  .  In  the  next  place  there  was  uncon- 
sciousness in  John's  rebuke.  He  was  utterly  ignorant  that  he 
was  doing  a  fine  thing.  There  was  no  sidelong  glance,  as  in  a 
mirror,  of  admiration  for  himself.  He  was  not  feeling.  This  is 
brave.  .  .  .  There  was,  lastly,  something  exceedingly  un- 
selfish in  John's  truthfulness.  ...  It  was  the  earnest  lov- 
ing nature  of  the  man  which  made  him  say  sharp  things. 

F.  W.  Robertson. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  LOVE,  THOUGHTFULNESS  AND  SELF 
SURRENDER. 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  tinto  thee,  when  than  zuast  yottng,  thou 
girdedst  thyself,  and  walkedst  whither  thou  wouldest:  but  when  thou 
shalt  be  old,  thou  shall  stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall 
gird  thee,  and  carry  thee  whither  thou  wouldest  not. — S.  John  x^i.  18. 


T^HE  service  which  rests  on  love  and  is  ruled  by  thought- 
^  fulness,  issues  in  self-surrender.  The  impetuous  vigour 
of  early  days  loses  its  self-confidence,  without  losing  its 
strength.  The  servant  who  has  wrought  much  for  his  Lord 
has  learned  to  trust  Him.  His  joy  is  when  no  choice  is  left, 
his  freedom  is  to  give  up  his  own  desire.  The  sentence  which 
sounds  at  first  like  a  sentence  of  hopeless  bondage,  receives  a 
new  meaning.  .  .  .  The  tradition  of  the  death  of  S.  Peter 
offers  a  striking  commentary  on  the  thoughts  which  are  thus 
suggested.  On  the  eve  of  his  martyrdom,  as  it  is  said,  the 
friends  of  the  Apostle  obtained  the  means  for  his  escape. 
They  pleaded  the  desolation  of  the  Church.  He  may  have  re- 
membered his  deliverance  by  the  Angel  from  Herod's  prison. 
And  so  he  yielded  to  their  prayers.  The  city  was  now  left, 
and  he  was  hastening  along  the  Appian  way,  when  the  Lord 
met  him.  "  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ?  "  was  his  one  eager 
question  ;  and  the  reply  followed,  "  I  go  to  Rome  to  be  cruci- 
fied again  for  thee."  Next  morning  the  prisoner  was  found  by 
the  keepers  in  his  cell  ;  and  S.  Peter  gained  the  fulfillment  of 
the  Lord's  words,  and  followed  Him  even  to  the  cross. 

Bishop  Westcott. 

401 


DEGREES  IN   GLORY. 

To  sit  on  My  right  hand  and  on  My  left,  is  not  Mine  to  give,  but 
it  shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  My  Father. — 
(Gospel  for  the  Day.) 


rZ'^ID  He  mean  to  tell  them  that  the  office  of  dispensing 
^^  those  glories  was  not  His,  but  another's?  Surely  not; 
for  the  Son  of  Man  will  dispense  them  as  the  Judge  at  the  last 
day.  Did  He  mean  to  say  that  He  had  no  authority  of  His 
own  to  give  away  the  glories  of  heaven  ?  Surely  not ;  for  there 
is  given  to  Him  authority:  "All  judgment  is  commited  to  Him, 
because  He  is  the  Son  of  Man."  But  the  plain  meaning  was 
this,  that  they  were  not  His  to  give  by  absolute  or  arbitrary 
right.  There  were  certain  eternal  principles  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Deity,  which  must  guide  Him  in  their  distribution.  John, 
the  beloved,  asked  this  favour  of  his  Lord,  but  Christ's  per- 
sonal love  to  John  could  not  place  him  one  step  above  another. 
Personal  favour  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  justice  everything. 
Steps  of  glory  are  not  won  by  favoritism,  nor  by  arbitrary  se- 
lection. It  is  not  Mine  to  give  except  to  those  "  for  whom  it  is 
prepared  of  My  Father."  Who  are  they  for  whom  the  Father 
has  prepared  the  special  glories  of  the  life  to  come  ?  They 
who  have  borne  the  sharpest  cross  are  prepared  to  wear  the 
brightest  crown.  They  who  best  and  most  steadily  can  drain 
the  cup  which  God  shall  put  into  their  hands  to  drink,  are  the 
spirits  destined  to  sit  on  His  right  hand  and  on  His  left.  Our 
Master's  question  was  significant.  They  asked  for  honour. 
He  demanded  if  they  were  willing  to  pay  the  price  of  honour  ; 
Can  ye  drink  of  My  Cup  ?  F.  W.  Robertson. 


^.  gSart^fometw. 

QUIETNESS. 

Before  that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast  tinder  the  Jig  tree, 
I  saw  thee. — S.  John  i.  48. 


/I^HILIP  told  him  to  come  and  see  ;  and  he  went  to  see,  as 
\^  a  humble  single-minded  man,  sincerely  desirous  to  get 
at  the  truth.  In  consequence,  he  was  vouchsafed  an  interview 
with  our  Saviour,  and  was  converted.  Now  from  what  occur- 
red in  this  interview,  we  gain  some  insight  into  S.  Bartholo- 
mew's character.  Our  Lord  said  of  him,  "  Behold  an  Israelite 
indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile  !""  And  it  appears,  moreover,  as 
if,  before  Philip  called  him  to  come  to  Christ,  he  was  engaged 
in  meditation  and  prayer,  in  the  privacy  which  a  fig-tree's 
shade  afforded  him.  And  this,  it  seems,  was  the  life  of  one 
who  was  destined  to  act  the  busy  part  of  an  Apostle;  quick- 
ness without,  guilelessness  within.  .  .  .  An  even,  unvaried 
life  is  the  lot  of  most  men,  in  spite  of  occasional  troubles  or 
other  accidents,  and  we  are  apt  to  despise  it,  and  to  get  tired 
of  it,  and  to  long  to  see  the  world, — or,  at  all  events,  we  think 
such  a  life  affords  no  great  opportunity  for  religious  obedience. 
Here  we  have  the  history  of  S.  Bartholomew  and  the  other 
Apostles  to  recall  us  to  ourselves,  and  to  assure  us  that  we 
need  not  give  up  our  usual  manner  of  life  in  order  to  serve 
God;  that  the  most  humble  and  quietest  station  is  acceptable 
to  Him,  if  improved  duly, — nay,  affords  means  for  maturing  the 
highest  Christian  character,  even  that  of  an  Apostle.  Bartholo- 
mew read  the  Scriptures  and  prayed  to  God,  and  thus  was 
trained  at  length  to  give  up  his  life  for  Christ,  when  He  de- 
manded it.  J.  H.  Newman. 


THE    DIVINE   ELECTION. 

Atid  as  Jesus  passed  forth  from  thence,  He  saw  a  man  named 
Matthew  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom,  and  He  saith  zmto  him, 
Follow  Me. — (Gospel  for  the  Day.) 


AAH  !  the  strange  election  of  Christ !  Those  other  disciples, 
^■^  whose  calling  is  recorded,  were  from  the  fisher-boat, 
this  from  the  toll-booth  ;  they  were  unlettered  ;  this  infamous. 
The  condition  was  not  in  itself  sinful;  but  as  the  taxes  which 
the  Romans  imposed  on  God's  free  people  were  odious  so  the 
collectors,  the  farmers  of  them  abominable.  Besides  that,  it 
was  hard  to  hold  that  seat  without  oppression,  without  exac- 
tion. One  that  best  knew  it  branded  it  with  robbing  and 
sycophancy.  And  now  behold  a  griping  publican  called  to  the 
family,  to  the  Apostleship,  to  the  secretaryship  of  God.  Who 
can  despair  in  the  conscience  of  his  unworthiness,  when  he 
sees  this  pattern  of  the  free  bounty  of  Him  that  calleth  us? 
Merits  do  not  carry  it  in  the  gracious  election  of  God  but  His 
mere  favour.  There  sat  Matthew,  the  publican,  busy  in  his 
counting-house;  reckoning  up  the  sums  of  his  rentals;  taking 
up  his  arrearages.  That  word  was  enough.  Follow  Me  ;  spok- 
en by  the  same  tongue  that  said  to  the  corpse,  at  Nain,  Young 
man  1  say  to  thee,  Arise.  He  that  said  at  first.  Let  there  be 
light,  sdijs  nov^.  Follow  Me.  He  arose  and  followed  Him.  We 
are  all  naturally  averse  from  Thee,  O  God  :  do  Thou  bid  us 
follow  Thee,  draw  us  by  Thy  powerful  word,  and  we  shall 
run  after  Thee.  BiSHOP  Hall. 


THE   RESTRAINING    INFLUENCE   OF   THE   ANGELS. 

J^or  this  cause  ought  the  woman  to  have  power  on  her  head  because 
of  the  angels. — I.  Cor,  xi.  10. 


A^N  this  feast  of  S.  Michael  and  all  Holy  Angels,  think  of 
^■"^  that  holy  company,  not  "as  a  mere  feeling  and  a  sort  of 
luxury  of  the  imagination,"  but  as  a  real  help  in  our  heavenly 
course,  a  real  corrective  to  our  diseased  life.  Am  I  playing 
my  part  in  that  vast  order  over  which  the  angels  watch  ?  Am 
I  in  tune  in  the  celestial  harmony  ?  Is  my  worship  in  the 
courts  of  the  Lord's  house  worthy  to  be  joined  with  theirs  who 
see  God  as  He  is  }  Do  I  vex  and  weary  my  Guardian  Angel 
with  all  the  waywardness  and  forwardness  of  a  spoiled  child  ? 
or  do  I  walk  soberly  and  honestly  along  the  paths  of  life,  under 
his  guidance  and  protection  ?  If  our  eyes  were  opened  we 
should  see  ourselves,  as  did  the  servant  of  Elisha,  surrounded 
with  the  armies  of  heaven  We  should  see  our  daily  life 
with  all  its  cares  and  troubles  and  anxieties,  stretching  away, 
like  a  great  ladder,  into  heaven,  and  angels  ascending  and  de- 
scending on  it.  We  should  be  reverent,  pure,  holy  and  good, 
because  we  love  God  ;  because  we  fear  His  terrors  and  look 
for  His  glorious  appearing,  but  also  "  because  of  the  Angels." 
We  should  count  it  among  the  restraints,  as  it  is  undoubtedly 
among  the  consolations  of  our  spiritual  life,  that  we  are  come 
"  to  an  innumerable  company  of  Angels."  And  while  the 
world,  in  its  practical  Sadduceeism,  says  that  there  is  no  Resur- 
rection, neither  Angel  nor  Spirit,  we  shall  ...  in  faith, 
life,  and  precept,  to  our  own  intense  comfort,  yet  wholesome 
restraint,  confess  both.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt. 

405 


HEALING   AND    PEACE. 

How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  :he  feet  of  him  that  bring- 
eth  good  tidings,  that publisheth  peace. — Is.  lii.  7. 

7|  HERE  is  something  peculiar  in  S.  Luke's  day,  something 
^^  calm  and  soothing  connected  with  it ;  it  occurs  at  a  time 
when  summer  often  revives  a  little  before  it  finally  goes,  and 
sheds  on  us  a  parting  smile ;  there  is  something  in  St.  Luke's 
own  character  which  speaks  of  healing  both  to  body  and 
mind,  like  the  good  Samaritan,  into  the  wounds  of  both  pour- 
ing oil  and  wine.  We  connect  his  Gospel  especially  with  the 
Atonement,  and  the  mercies  of  God  to  penitents ;  it  is  the 
storehouse  of  consolation,  in  incident,  and  parable,  and  precept ; 
the  source  of  Evangelical  Hymns.  To  these  we  may  add  the 
personal  history  of  S.  Luke  himself.  In  the  service  for  the 
day  he  is  brought  before  us  as  the  faithful  companion  of  S. 
Paul  in  the  last  view  we  obtain  of  the  great  Apostle.  While  S. 
Paul  is  strengthened  for  his  last  trial,  and  ready  to  encounter 
death  with  calm  hope  and  joy,  the  good  Physician  is  found  by 
his  side  in  his  chains.  The  Epistle  for  the  day,  which  is  found 
the  same  in  our  own  Church  as  in  the  Missal,  rivets  our  atten- 
tion to  this  one  view  of  S.  Luke.  It  is  not  S.  Luke  in  his  Gos- 
pel or  in  the  emblems  that  denote  it ;  nor  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  which  he  wrote ;  but  by  love  made  partaker  of  S. 
Paul's  bonds,  having  the  privilege  of  being  with  that  great 
saint  when,  after  all  his  labours,  his  Lord  seemed  at  last  about 
to  draw  near  from  behind  the  veil,  and  to  say  unto  him,"  Thou 
hast  been  faithful  unto  death,  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

Isaac  Williams. 

406 


CHRISTIAN   ZEAL. 

T/2e  zeal  of  thine  house  hath  eaten  me  up. — S.  John  ii.  17. 


T^HE  Apostles  commemorated  on  this  Festival  direct  our 
^^  attention  to  the  subject  of  Zeal.  S.  Simon  is  called 
Zelotes,  which  means  the  Zealous  ;  a  title  given  him  (as  is  sup- 
posed) from  his  belonging  before  his  conversion  to  the  Jewish 
sect  of  Zealots,  which  professed  extraordinary  Zeal  for  the  Law. 
.  .  .  S.  Jude's  Epistle,  which  forms  part  of  the  service  of 
the  day,  is  almost  wholly  upon  the  duty  of  manifesting  Zeal  for 
Gospel  Truth,  and  opens  with  a  direct  exhortation  to  "con- 
tend earnestly  for  the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints."  The 
Collect  also  indirectly  reminds  us  of  the  same  duty,  forit  prays 
that  all  the  members  of  the  Church  may  be  united  in  spirit  by 
the  Apostle's  doctrine  :  and  what  are  these  but  the  words  of 
Zeal,  viz. :  of  a  love  for  the  Truth  and  the  Church  so  strong  as 
not  to  allow  that  man  should  divide  what  God  hath  joined 
together.  .  .  .  Now,  Zeal  is  one  of  the  elementary  religious 
qualifications,  that  is,  one  of  those  which  are  essential  in  the 
very  notion  of  a  religious  man.  A  man  cannot  be  said  to  be 
in  earnest  about  religion,  till  he  magnifies  his  God  and  Saviour  ; 
till  he  so  far  consecrates  and  exalts  the  thought  of  Him  in  his 
heart,  as  an  object  of  praise  and  adoration,  and  rejoicing  as  to 
be  pained  and  grieved  at  dishonour  shown  to  Him,  and  eager 
to  avenge  Him.  Such  is  Zeal,  a  Christian  grace  to  the  last,  while 
it  is  also  an  elementary  virtue;  equally  belonging  to  the  young 
convert  and  the  matured  believer:  displayed  by  Moses  at  the 
first  when  he  slew  the  Egyptian,  and  by  S.  Paul  in  his  last  hours. 

J.  H.  Newman. 

407 


(^ff  §ainU*  ®a^. 


THE   LIFE   OF   THE   BLESSED    IN    PARADISE. 

Blessed  are  the  dead   7uhich  die  in  the  Lord  frotn  henceforth. 
Rev.  xiy.  13. 


^fVlE  may  think  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us,  as  having 
consciousness  about  themselves  and  about  each  other; 
as  being  a])le  to  recognize  each  other,  and  as  having  a  condi 
tion  of  identity,  which  some  sort  of  blessed  bright  form  will 
give  them.  Search  the  Scriptures,  yourselves.  Take  every 
passage  which  discloses  the  individuality  of  those  who  have 
gone  into  the  invisible  world ;  you  will  scarcely  be  able,  it 
seems  to  me,  to  come  to  any  other  conclusion.  There  will  also 
be,  amongst  other  marks  of  life  and  consciousness.  Memory. 
You  know  what  Abraham  said  to  one,  "  Son,  remember !  " 
Look  back  upon  thy  life.  Think  of  what  you  did  with  the  means 
God  gave  you.  Think  of  those  who  were  so  close  to  you  at  your 
very  gate.  .  .  .  There  will  be,  then,  this  great  bond  and 
link  between  one  part  of  our  life  and  another,  which  seems  al- 
most indispensable  to  our  individuality  and  to  our  conscious- 
ness, the  wonderful  prerogative  of  Memory.  Together  with 
this  there  will  be  a  progress,  a  growth,  in  knowledge,  in  holi- 
ness. S.  Paul  learnt  in  Paradise  what  he  did  not  know  before, 
here  on  earth  ;  and  shall  not  we  there  learn  the  power  and 
meaning  of  truths  to  which  we  have  not  yet  attained  ?  Shall 
not  God  reveal  to  us,  in  Paradise,  the  truths  which  some  holy 
men  clearly  see  already,  but  whereunto  we  ourselves  cannot 
honestly  say  that  we  have  attained  }  "  God  shall  reveal  even 
this  unto  you."  Bishop  Webb. 


4c8 


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