Christians

Prosperity Dangerous. — Ships never strike on rocks out in the great deeps. Children, perhaps, may fancy that a shallow sea is the safest, but an old, sailor knows bet ter. While he is off the Irish coast the captain has to keep a good look out, but while he is crossing the Atlantic he is in far less danger. There he has plenty of sea-room, and there is no fear of quicksands or of shoals. When the sailor enters the Thames he encounters first one sand bank and then another, and he is in danger, but out in the deep water, where he finds no bottom, he is but little afraid. So, mark you, in the judgments of God. When he is dealing out affliction to us it is the safest possible sailing that a Christian can have. “What,” says one, “trial safe?” Yes, very safe. The safest part of a Christain’s life is the time of his trial. “What, when a man is down do you say he is safe?” Yes, for then he need fear no fall; when he is low he need fear no pride; when he is humbled under God’s hand then he is less likely to be carried away with every wind of temptation. Smooth water on the way to heaven is al ways a sign that the soul should keep wide awake, for danger is near. One comes at last to feel a solemn dread creeping over one in times of prosperity. “Thou shalt fear and tremble because of all the good that God shall make to pass before thee,” fearing not BO much lest the good should depart as lest we should make an ill use of it, and should have a canker of sloth, or self-confidence, or worldliness growing up in our spirits. We have seen many professed Christians make shipwreck, in some few instances it has been attributable to overwhelming sorrow, but in ten cases to the one it has been attributable to prosperity.

The Idle Christian a Hindrance. — Many church members think that if they do nothing wrong, and make no trouble, then they are all right. Not at all, sir; not at all. Here is a chariot, and we are all engaged to drag it. Some of you do not put out your hands to pull; well, then, the rest of us have to labor so much the more; and the worst of it is we have to draw you also. While you do not add to the strength which draws, you increase the weight that is to be drawn. It is all very well for you to say, “But I do not hinder;” you do hinder, you cannot help hindering. If a man’s leg does not help him in walking, it certainly hinders him.

The Righteous Safe. — A certain carping infidel, after having argued with a poor countryman who knew the faith, but who knew little else, said to him, “Well, Hodge, you really are so stupid that there is no use of arguing with you, I cannot get you out of this absurd religion of yours.” “Ah! well,” said Hodge, “I dare say I am stupid, master, but do you know we poor people like to have two strings to our bow?” “Well,” said the critic, “what do you mean by that?” “Master, Til show you. Suppose it should all turn out as you say; suppose there is no God, and there is no hereafter, don’t you see I am as well off as you are? Certainly, it will not be any worse for me than it will be for you, if we both of us get annihilated. But don’t you see if it should happen to be true as I believe, what will become of you!” Clearly in either case it must be right with the righteous; for if he should have ignorantly received a cunningly devised fable, yet, seeing according to his own experience, it makes him a better and a happier man, so far so good — he is no loser here; and he will be cer tainly at the last in no worse a position than the man who rejected the holy and comfortable influences of what he styled a deception. While, if the religion of Jesus should be true — ah! ghastly IF for you who doubt it? — if it should all be true, ah! then your weeping and your wailing at the discovery will be a terrible contrast to the joy and glory which God has reserved for them that love him. Upon the very lowest possible ground it will be well with the righteous, as well at any rate as with the best of other men.

Impressions Easily Wear Away. — I stood once by the side of a poor boy, whom I had taught as a Sunday-school teacher; he had received very little good training at home, and tho he was but a lad of seventeen, he became a drunkard and drank himself to death at one debauch. I saw him, and talked to him, and tried to point him to the Savior, and heard at last the death-throttle in his throat, and as I went down stairs I thought everybody a fool for doing anything except preparing to die. I began to look upon the men who drove the carts in the streets the men who were busy at their shops, and those who were selling their wares, as being all foolish for doing anything except their eternal business, and myself most of all foolish for not pointing dying sinners to a living Christ, and inviting them to trust in his precious blood. And yet, in an hour all things took their usual shape, and I began to think that I was not dying after all, and I could go away and be, I fear, as heartless as before.

Perseverance. — How do I know the winner at the foot race? There are the spectators, and there are the runners. What strong men! what magnificent muscles! what thews and sinews! Yonder is the goal; and there it is that I must judge who is the winner: not here, at the starting-point; for “They which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize.” I may select this one, or that other person, as likely to win, but I cannot be absolutely sure until the race is over. There they fly! See how they press forward, with straining muscles! But one has tripped, another faints, a third is out of breath, and others are far behind. One only wins — and who is he? Why, he who continued to the end. So I may gather from the analogy, which Paul constantly allows us, from the ancient games, that only he who continueth till he reaches the goal may be accounted a Christian at all. A ship starts on a voyage to Australia: if it stops at Madeira, or returns after reaching the Cape, would you consider that it ought to be called an emigrant ship for New South Wales? It must go the whole voyage, or it does not deserve the name. A man has begun to build a house, and has erected one side of it: do you consider him a builder if he stops there, and fails to cover it in or to finish the other walls? Do we give men praise for being warriors because they know how to make one desperate charge, but lose the campaign? Have we not, of late, smiled at the boasting despatches of commanders, in fights where both combatants fought with valor, and yet neither of them had the common sense to push on to reap the victory? What was the very strength of Wellington, but that, when a triumph had been achieved, he knew how to reap the harvest which had been sown in blood? And he only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war’s trumpet is blown no more. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, “Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.” So, under God, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, “Excelsior;” or, if it be not, you have not learned the noble spirit of God’s princes.

Did Not Really Wish to Die. — A missionary told me the story of an old negro woman in Jamaica who used to be continually singing, “Angel Gabriel, come and take Aunty Betsy home to glory,” but when some wicked wag knocked at the door at the dead of night, and told her the angel Gabriel was come for Aunty Betsy, she said, “She lives next door.” I am afraid it may possibly be so with us, that though we think we wish the waves of Jordan to divide that we may be landed on the other shore, we linger on the bank shivering still.

The Christian’s Secret. — I have looked at this rest after rest as being a treasure concealed in a precious box. The Lord Jesus give to his people a priceless casket, called the gift of rest; it is set with brilliants and inlaid with gems, and the substance thereof is of wrought gold; whosoever possesses it feels and knows that his warfare is accomplished and his sin is pardoned. After awhile the happy owner begins to examine his treasure. It is all his own, but he has not yet seen it all, for one day he detects a secret drawer, he touches a hidden spring, and lo! before him lies a priceless Koh-i-noor surpassing all the rest. It had been given him it is certain, but he had not seen it at first, and therefore he finds it. Jesus Christ gives us in the gift of himself all the rest we can enjoy, even heaven’s rest lies in him; but after we have received him we have to learn his value, and find out by the teaching of his Spirit the fulness of the rest which he bestows.

Vagrant Thoughts. — I remember a certain narrow and crooked lane in a certain country town, along which I was walking one day, while I was seeking the Savior. On a sudden the most fearful oaths that any of you can conceive rushed through my mind. I put my hand to my mouth to prevent the utterance. I had not, that I know of, ever heard these words; and I am certain that I had never used in my life, from my youth up, so much as one of them, for I had never been profane. But these things sorely beset me; for half an hour together the most fearful imprecations would dash through my brain. Oh, how I groaned and cried before God. That temptation passed away; but ere many days it was renewed again; and when I was in prayer, or when I was reading the Bible, these blasphemous thoughts would pour in upon me more than at any other time. I consulted with an aged godly man about it. He said to me, “Oh, all this many of the peo ple of God have proved before you.” But,” said he, “do you hate these thoughts’?” “I do,” I truly said. “Then,” said he, “they are not yours; serve them as the old parishes used to do with vagrants — whip them and send them on to their own parish. Groan over them, repent of them, and send them on to the devil, the father, to whom they belong — for they are not yours.” Do you not recollect how John Bunyan hits off the picture? He says, when Christian was going through the valley of the shadow of death, “There stepped up one to him, and whispered blasphemous thoughts into his ear, so that poor Christian thought they were his own thoughts; but they were not his thoughts at all, but the injections of a blasphemous spirit.” So when you are about to lay hold on Christ, Satan will ply all his engines and try to destroy you. He cannot bear to lose one of his slaves; he will invent a fresh temptation for each believer, so that he muy not put his trust in Christ.”

Persecution the Fertilizer of Religion. — George Whitefield said, when he preached on Kennington Common, where they threw dead cats and rotten eggs at him, “This is only the manure of Methodism, the best thing in the world to make it grow; throw away as fast as you please.” And when a stone cut him on the forehead, he seemed to preach the better for a little blood-letting.

Sham Religion. — It was but a little while ago that I had in my house a gentleman, an excellent man, and I believe a true child of God, who told me he had been brought seriously under impression, on account of sin, through hearing a sermon of late. “But,” said he, “I was baptized in my childhood. When I was but young, there was a revival in our village, in New England. Mine was the hardest heart in our village; but I was found out at last. There was scarcely a girl or boy that did not join the church, and I was at last brought under deep impression. I used to weep before God, and pray to him. I went to the minister and told him I was converted, deceived him, and was baptized.” And then he went on to tell me that he had dived into the blackest crimes, and gone far away, even from the profession of religion; that after going to college he had been struck off the church-roll on account of wickedness, and that up to this time he had been an infidel, and had not so much as thought of the things of the kingdom. Take heed, many of you, that you do not get a sham religion. Many jump into godliness as they would into a bath; but they are very glad to jump out of it again, when they find the world pays them better.

Indifference to Slander. — It often happens, when the devil cannot ruin a man by getting him to commit a sin, he attempts to slander him; he sends a hawk after him, and tries to bring him down by slandering his good name. I will give you a piece of advice, I know a good, minister, now in venerable old age, who was once most villainously lied against and slandered by a man who had hated him only for the truth’s sake. The good man was grieved; he threatened the slanderer with a lawsuit, unless he apologized. He did apologize. The slander was printed in the papers in a public apology; and you know what was the consequence. The slander was more believed than if he had said nothing about it. And I have learned this lesson — to do with the slanderous hawk what the little birds do, just fly up. The hawk can not do them any hurt while they can keep above him — it is only when they come down that he can injure them. It is only when by mounting he gets above the birds, that the hawk comes sweeping down upon them, and destroys them. If any slander you, do not come down to them; let them slander on.

A Christian Home. — A religious house is the best proof of true piety. It is not my chapel, it is my house — it is not my minister, it is my home-companion who can best judge me; it is the servant, the child, the wife, the friend, that can discern most of my real character. A good man will improve his household. Rowland Hill once said, he would not believe a man to be a true Christian if his wife, his children, the servants, and even the dog and cat, were not the better for it. That is being religious. If your household is not the better for your Christianity — if men cannot say, “This is a better house than others,” then be not deceived — ye have nothing of the grace of God. Let not your servant, on leaving your employ, say, “Well, this is a queer sort of a religious family; there was no prayer in the morning, I began the day with my drudgery; there was no prayer at night, I was kept at home all the Sabbath-day. Once a fortnight, perhaps, I was allowed to go out in the afternoon, when there was nowhere to go where I could hear a gospel sermon. My master and mistress went to a place where of course they heard the blessed gospel of God — that was all for them; as for me, I might have the dregs and leavings of some overworked curate in the afternoon.” Surely, Christian men will not act in that way. No! Carry out your godliness in the heart of your own family.

A Worldly Christian. — No man can serve God and mammon because there is not enough life in the heart to serve the two. Alas! many people try this, and they fail both ways. I have known a man who has tried to let some of his heart run into the world, and another part he allowed to drip into the church, and the effect has been this: When he came into the church he was suspected of hypocrisy. “Why,” they said, “if he were truly with us, could he have done yesterday what he did, and then come and profess so much to-day?” The church looks upon him as a suspicious one: or if he deceive them they feel he is not of much use to them, because they have not got all his heart. What is the effect of his conduct in the world? Why, his religion is a fetter to him there. The world will not have him, and the church will not have him; he wants to go between the two, and both despise him. I never saw anybody try to walk on both sides of the street but a drunken man: be tried it, and it was very awkward work indeed; but I have seen many people in a moral point of view try to walk on both sides of the street, and I thought there was some kitid of intoxication in them, or else they would have given it up as a very foolish thing. Now, if I thought thh world and the pleasures thereof worth my seeking, I wouM just seek them and go after them, and I would not pietend to be religious; but if Christ be Christ, and if God b<9 God, let us give our whole hearts to him, and not go shares with the world.

The Christian’s Victory. — Victory! There is something beautiful in that word. The death of Sir John Moore, in the Peninsular war, was very touching: he fell in the arms of triumph; and sad as was his fate, I doubt not that his eye was lit up with luster by the shout of victory. So also, I suppose, that Wolfe spoke a truth, when he said, “I die happy” — having just before heard the shout, “they run, they run.” I know victory, even in that bad sense — for I look not upon earthly victories as of any value — must have cheered the warrior. But, ah! how cheered the saint, when he knows that victory is his! I shall fight during all my life, but I shall write “vici” on my shield. I shall be “more than conqueror through him that loved me.” Each feeble saint shall win the day; each man upon his crutches; each lame one; each one full of infirmity, sorrow, sickness, and weakness, shall gain the victory. “They shall come with singing into Sion; as well the blind, and lame, and halt, and the woman with child, together.” So saith the Scripture. Not one shall be left out; but he shall “bring forth judgment unto victory.” Victory! victory! victory! This is the lot of each Christian: he shall triumph through his dear Redeemer’s name.

Unwilling Doubts not Sins. — You that are vexed at your own doubts are not to come to the conclusion that the Lord utterly rejects you. He discriminates between the folly of a child and the wickedness of a rebel: he knows what is in your heart, and knows that you are his. You are like a ship that is well anchored, and tho the tide ia rushing in, and makes your vessel roll from side to side, so that you yourself stagger, yet the vessel is not loosed from its moorings, neither are you in any danger. Your faith is fixed on Christ, and this anchor holds you; tho you are tossed about a little, you will suffer no shipwreck because of sin, but much sea-sickness because of folly.

Making Idols of Children. — A mother who had lost her babe fretted and rebelled about it. She happened to be in a meeting of the Society of Friends, and there was nothing spoken that morning except this word by one female Friend, who was moved, I doubt not, by the Spirit of God, to say, “Verily, I perceive that children are idols.” She did not know the condition of that mourner’s mind, but it was the right word, and she to whom God applied it knew how true it was. She submitted her rebellious will, and then, as if it were magic, was at once comforted.

Attractive Christians. — They used in the old times to catch pigeons and send them out with sweet unguents on their wings: other pigeons followed them into the dovecote for the sake of their perfume, and so were captured. I would that every one of us had the heavenly anointing on our wings, the divine perfumes of peace, and joy, and rest; for then others would be fascinated to Jesus, allured to heaven.

Changeable Christians. — I knew a Christian man right well to whom I was accustomed to use one salutation whenever I saw him. He was a good man, but changeable. I said to him, “Good morning, friend! what are you now?” He was once a valiant Arminian, setting young people right as to the errors of my Calvinistic teaching. A short time after, he became exceedingly Calvinistic himself, and wanted to screw me up several degrees; but I declined to yield. Anon he became a Baptist, and agreed with me on all points, so far as I know. This was not good enough, and therefore he be came a Plymouth Brother: and after that he went to the Church from which he originally set out. When I next met him I said, “Good morning, brother, what are you now?” He replied, “That is too bad, Mr. Spurgeon; you asked me the same question last time.” I replied, “Did I? But what are you now? Will the same answer do t” I knew it would not. I would earnestly say to all such brethren, “Be sober.” It can not be wise to stagger all over the road in this fashion. Make sure of your footing when you stand; make doubly sure of it before you shift.

Folly of “the Blues.” — A sick and suffering brother rebuked me the other day for being cast down. He said to me, “We ought never to show the white feather: but I think you do sometimes.” I asked him what he meant, and he replied, “You sometimes seem to grow desponding and low. Now I am near to die, but I have no clouds and no fears.” I rejoiced to see him so joyous, and I answered, “That is right, my brother, blame me as much as you please for my unbelief, I richly deserve it.” “Why,” he said, “you are the father of many of us. Did you not bring me and my friend over yonder to Christ* If you get low in spirit after so much blessing, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” I could say no other than, “I am ashamed of myself, and I desire to be more confident in the future.” Brethren, we must hope, and not fear.

Sent of God. — Strengthen your soul upon the persuasion that God has sent you, and then go forward. If God has sent you, who can stand against you? A Queen’s messenger claims that we clear the road for him. An officer who bears the Queen’s authority is authorized to lay all persons under orders to speed him. He who rides on royal business has precedence over all others. Get to feel, Christian friend, that Jesus has sent you, and herein will lie food for your courage. Know that you have a mission, and go at it; and let it be unsafe for any one to stand in your way. Let opposers know that somebody will have to clear out; for if God sent you, in that sending there is a force and an energy which nothing can safely resist. Do not make a noise. For bear all blustering; but quietly set yourself to work. If God has sent you, you will be like the greater Sent One, of whom we read, “He shall not strive, nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets,” but at the same time “he shall not fail, nor be discouraged.” The Martyr’s Victory. — There is a martyr in prison: the chains are on his wrists, and yet he sings. It has been announced to him that to-morrow is his burning day. He claps his hands right merrily, and smiles while he says, “It will be sharp work tomorrow, I shall breakfast below on fiery tribulations, but afterward I will sup with Christ. Tomorrow is my wedding day, the day for which I have long panted, when I shall sign the testimony of my life by a glorious death.” The time is come; the men with the halberts precede him through the streets. Mark the serenity of the martyr’s countenance. He turns to some who look upon him, and exclaims, “I value these iron chains far more than if they had been of gold; it is a sweet thing to die for Christ.” There are a few of the boldest of the saints gathered round the stake, and as he unrobes himself, ere he stands upon the fagots to receive his doom, he tells them that it is a joyous thing to be a soldier of Christ, to be allowed to give his body to be burned; and he shakes hands with them, and bids them “Good-by” with merry cheer. One would think he were going to a bridal, rather than to be burned. He steps upon the fagots; the chain is put about his middle; and after a brief word of prayer, as soon as the fire begins to ascend, he speaks to the people with man ful boldness. But hark! he sings whilst the fagots are crackling and the smoke is blowing upward. He sings, and when his nether parts are burned, he still goes on chanting sweetly some psalm of old. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

Run When You Cannot Fly. — Now, you are not commanded in the text to be always in such a high, exalted, rapturous state of mind as that. “Rejoice evermore,” but you cannot always rejoice at that rate. I have said that you cannot, and I mean it literally. There is a physical impossibility in it. The strain upon the mind would be much too great. We could not live in such a condition of excitement and tension. Sometimes we can swim in the deep waters; but who can always swim? We can take to ourselves the wings of eagles, and soar beyond the stars; but we are not condors, and cannot always fly: we are more like the sparrows which find a house near the altar of God. When we cannot mount as on wings, we think it quite sufficient if we can run with out weariness, and walk without fainting.

God’s Special Care. — I think that many of you may say, “Though I am least of all his saints, yet in some respects the Lord hath specially blessed me hitherto.” I believe that every flower in a garden, which is tended by a wise gardener, could tell of some particular care that the gardener takes of it. He does for the dahlia what he does not for the sunflower; somewhat is wanted by the rose that is not required by the lily; and the geranium calls for an attention which is not given to the honeysuckle. Each flower wins from the gardener a special culture. The vine has a dressing all its own, and the apple-tree a pruning peculiar to itself.

Gloomy Days Our Own Fault. — We have a deep river of delights in the covenant of grace, yet we are content to paddle about its shores. We are only up to our ankles, the most of us, whereas the waters are “waters to swim in.” A great sun of everlasting love shines upon the globe of our life with tropical force, but we get away to the North Pole of doubt and fear, and then complain that the sun has such little heat, or that he is so long below the horizon. He who will not go to the fire ought not to complain that the room is cold. Present Victory. — We have seen the artist make with his pencil, or with his charcoal, a bare outline of his picture. It is nothing more, but still one could guess what the finished picture will be from the sketch before you. One acquainted with the artist could see upon the canvas all the splendor of color peeping through the dark lines of the pencil. Now, I want you to-day to see “the patterns of things in the heavens.” We have much of heaven here; at any rate, we have the Lamb who is the glory of the eternal city; we have the presence of him that sits upon the throne among us CTCU now; we have if not the perfect holiness of heaven, yet a justification quite as complete as that of the glorified; we have the “white robes,” for “the blood of the Lamb” has washed them even now; and if we have not yet the palm branches of final victdry, yet thanks be to God, we are led in triumph in every place, and even now “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Therefore —

“I would begin the music here,
And so my soul should rise;
Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear
My passions to the skies.”

The Common Christian Soldier. — In a great battle the general’s name is mentioned; but what could he have done without the common soldiers’? Wellington will al ways be associated with Waterloo; but, after all, it was a soldiers7 battle. What could the commander have done if those in the ranks had failed him? The commander-in-chief might very well have touched his hat to the least subaltern or to the humblest private, and have said, “I thank you, comrade. Without you we could not have conquered.” The chief troubles of the great day of Waterloo arose from certain very doubtful allies, who wavered in the hour of battle — those were the general’s weakness; but his hope and strength lay in those regiments which were as an iron wall against the enemy. Even thus the faithful are our joy and crown; but the unstable are our sorrow and weakness. Every ministering servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is in much the same condition as Paul; true, We are of a lower grade, and our work is on a smaller scale; but our needs are just as great. We have not all the grace which Paul possessed; but for that very reason we make the more pathetic an appeal to you, our friends and fellow-helpers, while we use the apostle’s language, and cry, “We beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with us in your prayers to God for us.”

The Man Holding the Rope. — It is like one who is willing to go into a far country, bearing his life in his hands; but he plaintively exclaims, “You won’t forget me, will you? Tho you stay at home, you will think of me!” It reminds us of Carey, who says, when he goes to India, “I will go down into the pit, but brother Fuller and the rest of you must contribute something — you must hold the rope.”

An Impregnable Fortress. — But David felt also great safety from his enemies. When he climbed the rock, and crept into his cavern, he knew that his enemies could not follow him. Had Saul come with all Israel at his back, David’s band could have kept armies at bay. He must often have felt like the eagle when it has flashed upward to its nest on the craggy rock and from thence looks down upon the hunters. He is almost out of sight, but he can see all the movements of the foe. However long the range of the rifle, the noble bird knows no fear, for he is beyond range. I think I see him sitting there quietly eyeing the enemy, of whom he knows no dread. Thus may a child of God defy the great adversary. “Let us sing,” said Luther, “the forty -sixth Psalm, and defy the devil.” The devil’s restless nature is fretted by the serenity of the firm believer in God; and let him be fretted. His utmost rage is insufficient to hurt a single hair of the head of a believer. No adversary can carry by storm our impregnable strong hold. Tyre stood a siege of thirteen years, but our fortress has been beleaguered throughout the ages and never captured.

A Son’s Boldness. — Religious people sometimes start back from the prayers of a true saint, and say, “He is too familiar.” Of course a child is too familiar for the imitation of a stranger; but have you ever blamed a child for clambering his father’s knee? And yet you would not think of copying him. Boy, dost thou know what thou art at? Thou art playing with a learned judge, before whom prisoners tremble, and courts are hushed. Even wise counselors speak to him as “My Lord.” That urchin does not say “My lord.” Look! He is plucking him by the beard; he is kissing his cheek. What presumption! No! he is the judge’s child; he who is judge to others is “father” to him. So the saints of God say, “Our Father, which art in heaven,” ever reverentially, but yet with sweet familiarity. They are at home with him. Beloved, may you know what that means by the teachings of the Spirit of sonship for only he can teach us the blessed freedom of being at home with God.

The Marks of Discipleship. — Somebody, years ago, uttered an atrocious lie against me — an abominable slander. I was very low and heavy of spirit at the tune; but when I read it I clapped my hands for joy, for I felt, “Now I have one of the marks and seals of a child of God, for it is written, ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.7” The love of the Lord’s brethren and the hatred of the Lord’s enemies are two things to be desired.

“The Christian’s Walk.” — Oh, that our way may be strewn with gracious acts, as when a cloud passes over a thirsty land, and blesses it with silver showers! I have known in a certain village a spot called “The Poet’s Walk,” and another called “The Lovers’ Walk.” Oh, that ours may be tl The Christian’s walk!” May the good Lord perfect us in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is profitable and well-pleasing in his sight!

Quarrelling With God. — I was greatly struck with a story a dear sister told me yesterday. She was very nearly being removed from the church: she had quarreled with the Lord for taking away her husband, and she would not go to any place of worship, she felt so angry about her loss. But her little child came to her one morning, and said, “Mother, do you think Jonah was right when he said, * I do well to be angry, even unto death ’ “?” She replied, “0 child, do not talk to me,” and put the little one away, but she felt the rebuke, and it brought her back to God, and back to her church again, humbly rejoicing in him who had used this instrumentality to set her right with her Lord.

Christian Fragrance. — You know the Persian story of the scented clay. One said to it, “Clay, whence hast thou thy delicious perfume?” It answered: “I was afore time nothing but a piece of common clay, but I lay long in the sweet society of a rose till I drank in its fragrance and became perfumed myself.” Oh, if you dwell much with God in seasons of retirement, and abide with him in all the affairs of life, you will be changed into his image. As surely as the type will make its impress upon the paper, and the seal will stamp itself upon the wax, so will the Lord impress himself upon you, and stamp his image upon you if you dwell in him.

The Christian’s Apparel. — The glory of God! How shall I describe it! I must set before you a strange Scriptural picture. Mordecai must be made glorious for his fidelity to his king, and singular is the honor which his monarch ordains for him. This was the royal order. “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.” Can you not imagine the surprise of the Jew when robe and ring were put upon him, and when he found himself placed upon the king’s horse. This may serve as a figure of that which will happen to us: we shall be glorified with the glory of God. The best robe, the best of heaven’s array, shall be appointed unto us, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Rooted Christian — I saw one day a number of beech trees which had formed a wood: they had all fallen to the ground through a storm. The fact was they leaned upon one another to a great extent, and the thickness of the wood prevented each tree from getting a firm hold of the soil. They kept each other up and also constrained each other to grow up tall and thin, to the neglect of root-growth. When the tempest forced down the first few trees, the others readily followed, one after the other. Close to that same spot I saw another tree in the open, bravely defying the blast, in solitary strength. The hurricane had beaten upon it but it had endured all its force unsheltered. That lone, brave tree seemed to be better rooted than before the storm. I thought, “Is it not so with professors?” They often hold together, and help each other to grow up, but if they have not firm personal roothold, when a storm arises they fall in rows. A minister dies, or certain leaders are taken away, and over go the members by departure from the faith and from holiness. I would have you be self-contained, growing each man into Christ for himself, rooted and grounded in love and faith and every holy grace. Then when the worst storm that ever blew on mortal man shall come, it will be said of your faith, “It could not shake it.”

Faith Which Cannot be Shaken. — We read that when the flood beat upon the wise man’s house “it could not shake it.” That is very beautiful. Not only could it not carry it away, but “it could not shake it.” I see the man: he lost his money and became poor, but he did not give up his faith: “It could not shake it.” He was ridiculed and slandered, and many of his former friends gave him the cold shoulder; but “It could not shake it.” He went to Jesus under his great trial and he was sustained: “It could not shake it.” He was very sick and his spirit was depressed within him, but still he held his confidence in Christ: “It could not shake it.” He was near to die; he knew that he must soon depart out of this world, but all the pains of death and the certainty of dissolution could not shake him. He died as he lived, firm as a rock, rejoicing as much as ever, nay, rejoicing more, because he was nearer to the kingdom and to the fruition of all his hopes. “It could not shake it.” It is a grand thing to have a faith which cannot be shaken.

Sham Christians. — The character of Talkative in Pilgrim’s Progress is ably drawn. I have met the gentleman many times, and can bear witness that John Bunyan was a photographer before photography was invented. Christian said of him “He talketh of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and his house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor.” We have too many such persons around us who are, as to what they say, everything that is to be desired, and yet, by what they are proven to be, mere shams. As tradesmen place dummies in their shops, papered and labelled to look like goods, while yet they are nothing of the sort, so are these men marked and labelled as Christians, but the grace of God is not in them.

The Hidden Fountain. — - You have seen a noble fountain in a continental city adorning a public square. See how the water leaps into the air; and then it falls into a circular basin which fills and pours out its fulness into another lower down, and this again floods a third. Hear the merry plash as the waters fall in showers and cataracts from basin to basin! If you stand at the lower basin and look upon it and say, “Herein is water;” that is true, and will be true of the next higher one, and so forth; but if you would express the truth as to where the water really is, you may have to look far away, perhaps upon a mountain’s side, for there is a vast reservoir from which pipes are laid to bring these waters and force them to their height that they may descend so beautifully. Thus the love we have to our fellow-creatures drops from us like the descending silvery cataract from the full basin, but the first source of it is the immeasurable love of God which is hidden away in his very essence, which never changes, and never can be diminished. Herein is love! If you and I desire to love our fellow Christians and to love the fallen race of man, we must be joined on to the aqueduct which conducts love from this eternal source, or else we shall socn fail in love.

The Christian Can Afford to be Poor. — “I can afford to be poor,” said Dr. Gill, when one of his subscribers threatened to give up his seat, and would not attend, if the doctor preached such-and-such a doctrine. So says the Christian, “I can afford to be poor; I can afford to be despised; I have in heaven a better and more enduring substance.” So, by the use of this blessed helmet, he is protected from the threatenings of the wicked world.

The Christian Defying Satan. — Martin Luther, you know, often used to defy Satan to battle. I care not to do that; but he used to say, in his queer, quaint way, “I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him; tell him to do his worst, and yet I will beat him, and tell him to put forth his fury, and yet I will overcome him.” This would be presumption if in our own strength. It is only faith in the providence of God that can enable us to say so. He that has made God his refuge need fear no storm; but just as sometimes in Christmas weather the wind and snow and storm outside make the family fire seem warmer, and the family circle seem happier, so the trials and temptations of Satan do sometimes seem to add to the very peace and happiness of the true believer while he sits wrapped up in the mantle of godly confidence.