STEPS

TO

CHRIST
_______

BY

MRS. E. G. WHITE
_______

1892 edition
CONTENTS
_______

I. The Sinner's Need of Christ...................................... 3

II. Repentance...............................................................
14
III. Confession..............................................................
40
IV. Consecration...........................................................
50
V. Faith and Acceptance.............................................. 61
VI. The Test of Discipleship........................................ 74
VII. Growing up into Christ......................................... 91
VIII. The Work and the Life........................................ 108
IX. A Knowledge of God............................................. 122
X. The Privilege of Prayer........................................... 136
XI. What to Do With Doubt......................................... 158
XII. Rejoicing In the Lord......................................... 175

-1-
-2-
 I. THE SINNER'S NEED OF CHRIST

Man was originally endowed with noble

powers and a well-balanced mind. He was
perfect in his being, and in harmony with
God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy.
But through disobedience his powers were
perverted, and selfishness took the place of
love. His nature became so weakened
through transgression that it was impossible
for him, in his own strength, to resist the
power of evil. He was made captive by
Satan, and would have remained so forever
had not God specially interposed. It was the
tempter's purpose to thwart the divine plan
in man's creation, and fill the earth with woe
and desolation. And he would point to all
this evil as the result of God's work in
creating man.

In his sinless state, man held joyful

communion with Him "in whom are hid all

-3-
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."*
But after his sin, he could no longer find joy
in holiness, and he sought to hide from the
presence of God. Such is still the condition
of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony
with God, and finds no joy in communion
with him. The sinner could not be happy in
God's presence; he would shrink from the
companionship of holy beings. Could he be
permitted to enter heaven, it would have no
joy for him. The spirit of unselfish love that
reigns there--every heart responding to the
heart of Infinite Love--would touch no
answering chord in his soul. His thoughts,
his interests, his motives, would be alien to
those that actuate the sinless dwellers there.

He would be a discordant note in the melody

of heaven. Heaven would be to him a place
of torture; he would long to be hidden from
him who is its light, and the center of its joy.
It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God
that excludes the wicked from heaven: they

-4-
are shut out by their own unfitness for its
companionship. The glory of God would be
to them a consuming fire. They would
welcome destruction, that they might be
hidden from the face of him who died to
redeem them.

It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to

escape from the pit of sin in which we are
sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we can not
change them. "Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean?--Not one." "The carnal
mind is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be."* Education, culture, the exercise of the
will, human effort, all have their proper
sphere, but here they are powerless. They
may produce an outward correctness of
behavior, but they can not change the heart;
they can not purify the springs of life. There
must be a power working from within, a
new life from above, before men can be
changed from sin to holiness. That power is

-5-
Christ. His grace alone can quicken the
lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to
God, to holiness. The Saviour said, "Except
a man be born from above," unless he shall
receive a new heart, new desires, purposes,
and motives, leading to a new life, "he can
not see the kingdom of God."* The idea
that it is necessary only to develop the good
that exists in man by nature, is a fatal
deception. "The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually
discerned." "Marvel not that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again."* Of Christ it
is written, "In him was life, and the life was
the light of men," the only "name under
heaven, given among men, whereby we
must be saved."*

It is not enough to perceive the loving

kindness of God, to see the benevolence, the
fatherly tenderness, of his character. It is

-6-
not enough to discern the wisdom and
justice of his law, to see that it is founded
upon the eternal principle of love. Paul the
apostle saw all this when he exclaimed, "I
consent unto the law, that it is good." "The
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good."* But he added, in the
bitterness of his soul-anguish and despair, "I
am carnal, sold under sin." He longed for
the purity, the righteousness, to which in
himself he was powerless to attain, and he
cried out, "O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death?"*
Such is the cry that has gone up from
burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages.
To all, there is but one answer, "Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world."*

Many are the figures by which the Spirit

of God has sought to illustrate this truth, and
make it plain to souls that long to be freed
from the burden of guilt. When, after his sin

-7-
in deceiving Esau, Jacob fled from his
father's home, he was weighed down with a
sense of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he
was, separated from all that had made life
dear, the one thought that above all others
pressed upon his soul, was the fear that his
sin had cut him off from God, that he was
forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down
to rest on the bare earth, around him only the
lonely hills, and above, the heavens bright
with stars. As he slept, a strange light broke
upon his vision; and lo, from the plain on
which he lay, vast shadowy stairs seemed to
lead upward to the very gates of heaven, and
upon them angels of God were passing up
and down; while from the glory above, the
divine voice was heard in a message of
comfort and hope. Thus was made known
to Jacob that which met the need and
longing of his soul, a Saviour. With joy and
gratitude he saw revealed a way by which
he, a sinner, could be restored to
communion with God. The mystic ladder of

-8-
his dream represented Jesus, the only
medium of communication between God
and man.

This is the same figure to which Christ

referred in his conversation with Nathanael,
when he said, "Ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the Son of man."* In the
apostasy, man alienated himself from God;
earth was cut off from heaven. Across the
gulf that lay between, there could be no
communion. But through Christ, earth is
again linked with heaven. With his own
merits, Christ has bridged the gulf which sin
had made, so that the ministering angels can
hold communion with man. Christ connects
fallen man, in his weakness and
helplessness, with the source of infinite
power.

But in vain are men's dreams of

progress, in vain all efforts for the uplifting

-9-
of humanity, if they neglect the one source
of hope and help for the fallen race. "Every
good gift and every perfect gift"* is from
God. There is no true excellence of
character apart from him. And the only way
to God is Christ. He says, "I am the Way,
the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto
the Father but by me."*

The heart of God yearns over his earthly

children with a love stronger than death. In
giving up his Son, he has poured out to us
all heaven in one gift. The Saviour's life and
death and intercession, the ministry of
angels, the pleading of the Spirit, the Father
working above and through all, the
unceasing interest of heavenly beings; all are
enlisted in behalf of man's redemption.

O, let us contemplate the amazing

sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us
try to appreciate the labor and energy that
heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and

- 10 -
bring them back to the Father's house.
Motives stronger, and agencies more
powerful, could never be brought into
operation; the exceeding rewards for right-
doing, the enjoyment of heaven, the society
of the angels, the communion and love of
God and his Son, the elevation and
extension of all our powers throughout
eternal ages; are these not mighty incentives
and encouragements to urge us to give the
heart's loving service to our Creator and
Redeemer?

And, on the other hand, the judgments of

God pronounced against sin, the inevitable
retribution, the degradation of our character,
and the final destruction, are presented in
God's word to warn us against the service of
Satan.

Shall we not regard the mercy of God?

What more could he do? Let us place
ourselves in right relation to him who has

- 11 -
loved us with amazing love. Let us avail
ourselves of the means provided for us that
we may be transformed into his likeness,
and be restored to fellowship with the
ministering angels, to harmony and
communion with the Father and the Son.

* Col. 2:3. * Job 14:4; Rom. 8:7. * John

3:3. (margin.) * I.Cor. 2:14; John 3:7. *
John 1:4; Acts 4:12. * Rom. 7:16, 12, 14. *
Rom. 7:24. (margin.) * John 1:29. * John
1:51. * James 1:17. * John 14:6.

- 12 -
- 13 -
 II. REPENTANCE

How shall a man be just with God?

How shall the sinner be made righteous? It
is only through Christ that we can be
brought into harmony with God, with
holiness; but how are we to come to Christ?
Many are asking the same question as did
the multitude on the day of Pentecost, when,
convicted of sin, they cried out, "What shall
we do?" The first word of Peter's answer
was, "Repent." At another time, shortly
after, he said, "Repent . . . and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out."*

Repentance includes sorrow for sin, and

a turning away from it. We shall not
renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness;
until we turn away from it in heart, there
will be no real change in the life.

There are many who fail to understand

- 14 -
the true nature of repentance. Multitudes
sorrow that they have sinned, and even make
an outward reformation, because they fear
that their wrong-doing will bring suffering
upon themselves. But this is not repentance
in the Bible sense. They lament the
suffering, rather than the sin. Such was the
grief of Esau when he saw that the birthright
was lost to him forever. Balaam, terrified by
the angel standing in his pathway with
drawn sword, acknowledged his guilt lest he
should lose his life; but there was no
genuine repentance for sin, no conversion of
purpose, no abhorrence of evil. Judas
Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, exclaimed,
"I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the
innocent blood."*

The confession was forced from his

guilty soul by an awful sense of
condemnation and a fearful looking for of
judgment. The consequences that were to
result to him filled him with terror, but there

- 15 -
was no deep, heart-breaking grief in his
soul, that he had betrayed the spotless Son
of God, and denied the Holy One of Israel.
Pharaoh, when suffering under the
judgments of God, acknowledged his sin, in
order to escape further punishment, but
returned to his defiance of Heaven as soon
as the plagues were stayed. These all
lamented the results of sin, but did not
sorrow for the sin itself.

But when the heart yields to the

influence of the Spirit of God, the
conscience will be quickened, and the sinner
will discern something of the depth and
sacredness of God's holy law, the foundation
of his government in heaven and on earth.
The "Light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world,"* illumines the secret
chambers of the soul, and the hidden things
of darkness are made manifest. Conviction
takes hold upon the mind and heart. The
sinner has a sense of the righteousness of

- 16 -
Jehovah, and feels the terror of appearing, in
his own guilt and uncleanness, before the
Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God,
the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he
longs to be cleansed, and to be restored to
communion with Heaven.

The prayer of David after his fall,

illustrates the nature of true sorrow for sin.
His repentance was sincere and deep. There
was no effort to palliate his guilt; no desire
to escape the judgment threatened, inspired
his prayer. David saw the enormity of his
transgression; he saw the defilement of his
soul; he loathed his sin. It was not for
pardon only that he prayed, but for purity of
heart. He longed for the joy of holiness,--to
be restored to harmony and communion with
God. This was the language of his soul:--
"Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
imputeth not iniquity,

- 17 -
And in whose spirit there is no guile."
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
thy loving kindness;
According unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions.
For I acknowledge my transgressions; and
my sin is ever before me. . . .
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. . .
.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence,
And take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with thy free Spirit. . . .
Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God,
thou God of my salvation:
And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy
righteousness."*

A repentance such as this, is beyond the

reach of our own power to accomplish; it is

- 18 -
obtained only from Christ, who ascended up
on high, and has given gifts unto men.

Just here is a point on which many err,

and hence they fail of receiving the help that
Christ desires to give them. They think that
they cannot come to Christ unless they first
repent, and that repentance prepares for the
forgiveness of their sins. It is true that
repentance does precede the forgiveness of
sins; for it is only the broken and contrite
heart that will feel the need of a Saviour.
But must the sinner wait till he has repented,
before he can come to Jesus? Is repentance
to be made an obstacle between the sinner
and the Saviour?

The Bible does not teach that the sinner

must repent before he can heed the
invitation of Christ, "Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest."* It is the virtue that goes
forth from Christ which leads to genuine

- 19 -
repentance. Peter made the matter clear in
his statement to the Israelites, when he said,
"Him hath God exalted with his right hand
to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins."* We can no more repent without the
Spirit of Christ to awaken the conscience
than we can be pardoned without Christ.

Christ is the source of every right

impulse. He is the only one that can implant
in the heart enmity against sin. Every desire
for truth and purity, every conviction of our
own sinfulness, is an evidence that his Spirit
is moving upon our hearts.

Jesus has said, "I, if I be lifted up from

the earth, will draw all unto me."* Christ
must be revealed to the sinner as the Saviour
dying for the sins of the world; and as we
behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of
Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins
to unfold to our minds, and the goodness of

- 20 -
God leads us to repentance. In dying for
sinners, Christ manifested a love that is
incomprehensible; and as the sinner beholds
this love, it softens the heart, impresses the
mind, and inspires contrition in the soul.

It is true that men sometimes become

ashamed of their sinful ways, and give up
some of their evil habits, before they are
conscious that they are being drawn to
Christ. But whenever they make an effort to
reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it is
the power of Christ that is drawing them.
An influence of which they are unconscious
works upon the soul, and the conscience is
quickened, and the outward life is amended.
And as Christ draws them to look upon his
cross, to behold him whom their sins have
pierced, the commandment comes home to
the conscience. The wickedness of their
life, the deep-seated sin of the soul, is
revealed to them. They begin to
comprehend something of the righteousness

- 21 -
of Christ, and exclaim, "What is sin, that it
should require such a sacrifice for the
redemption of its victim? Was all this love,
all this suffering, all this humiliation
demanded, that we might not perish, but
have everlasting life?"

The sinner may resist this love, may

refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does
not resist, he will be drawn to Jesus; a
knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead
him to the foot of the cross in repentance for
his sins, which have caused the sufferings of
God's dear Son.

The same divine mind that is working

upon the things of nature is speaking to the
hearts of men, and creating an inexpressible
craving for something they have not. The
things of the world cannot satisfy their
longing. The Spirit of God is pleading with
them to seek for those things that alone can
give peace and rest,--the grace of Christ, the

- 22 -
joy of holiness. Through influences seen
and unseen, our Saviour is constantly at
work to attract the minds of men from the
unsatisfying pleasures of sin to the infinite
blessings that may be theirs in him. To all
these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink
from the broken cisterns of this world, the
divine message is addressed, "Let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely."*

You who in heart long for something

better than this world can give, recognize
this longing as the voice of God to your
soul. Ask him to give you repentance, to
reveal Christ to you in his infinite love, in
his perfect purity. In the Saviour's life the
principles of God's law--love to God and
man--were perfectly exemplified.
Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of
his soul. It is as we behold him, as the light
from our Saviour falls upon us, that we see
the sinfulness of our own hearts.

- 23 -
 We may have flattered ourselves, as did
Nicodemus, that our life has been upright,
that our moral character is correct, and think
that we need not humble the heart before
God, like the common sinner: but when the
light from Christ shines into our souls, we
shall see how impure we are; we shall
discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity
against God, that has defiled every act of
life. Then we shall know that our own
righteousness is indeed as filthy rags, and
that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us
from the defilement of sin, and renew our
hearts in his own likeness.

One ray of the glory of God, one gleam

of the purity of Christ, penetrating the soul,
makes every spot of defilement painfully
distinct, and lays bare the deformity and
defects of the human character. It makes
apparent the unhallowed desires, the
infidelity of the heart, the impurity of the

- 24 -
lips. The sinner's acts of disloyalty in
making void the law of God, are exposed to
his sight, and his spirit is stricken and
afflicted under the searching influence of the
Spirit of God. He loathes himself as he
views the pure, spotless character of Christ.

When the prophet Daniel beheld the

glory surrounding the heavenly messenger
that was sent unto him, he was overwhelmed
with a sense of his own weakness and
imperfection. Describing the effect of the
wonderful scene, he says, "There remained
no strength in me; for my comeliness was
turned in me into corruption, and I retained
no strength."* The soul thus touched will
hate its selfishness, abhor its self-love, and
will seek, through Christ's righteousness, for
the purity of heart that is in harmony with
the law of God and the character of Christ.

Paul says that as "touching the

righteousness which is in the law,"--as far as

- 25 -
outward acts were concerned,--he was
"blameless;"* but when the spiritual
character of the law was discerned, he saw
himself a sinner. Judged by the letter of the
law as men apply it to the outward life, he
had abstained from sin; but when he looked
into the depths of its holy precepts and saw
himself as God saw him, he bowed in
humiliation, and confessed his guilt. He
says, "I was alive without the law once; but
when the commandment came, sin revived,
and I died."* When he saw the spiritual
nature of the law, sin appeared in its true
hideousness, and his self-esteem was gone.

God does not regard all sins as of equal

magnitude; there are degrees of guilt in his
estimation, as well as in that of man; but
however trifling this or that wrong act may
seem in the eyes of men, no sin is small in
the sight of God. Man's judgment is partial,
imperfect; but God estimates all things as
they really are. The drunkard is despised,

- 26 -
and is told that his sin will exclude him from
heaven; while pride, selfishness, and
covetousness too often go unrebuked. But
these are sins that are especially offensive to
God; for they are contrary to the
benevolence of his character, to that
unselfish love which is the very atmosphere
of the unfallen universe. He who falls into
some of the grosser sins may feel a sense of
his shame and poverty and his need of the
grace of Christ; but pride feels no need, and
so it closes the heart against Christ, and the
infinite blessings he came to give.

The poor publican who prayed, "God be

merciful to me a sinner,"* regarded himself
as a very wicked man, and others looked
upon him in the same light; but he felt his
need, and with his burden of guilt and shame
he came before God, asking for his mercy.
His heart was open for the Spirit of God to
do its gracious work, and set him free from
the power of sin. The Pharisee's boastful,

- 27 -
self-righteous prayer showed that his heart
was closed against the influence of the Holy
Spirit. Because of his distance from God, he
had no sense of his own defilement, in
contrast with the perfection of the divine
holiness. He felt no need, and he received
nothing.

If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to

make yourself better. How many there are
who think they are not good enough to come
to Christ. Do you expect to become better
through your own efforts? "Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? Then may ye also do good that are
accustomed to do evil."* There is help for
us only in God. We must not wait for
stronger persuasions, for better
opportunities, or for holier tempers. We can
do nothing of ourselves. We must come to
Christ just as we are.

But let none deceive themselves with the

- 28 -
thought that God, in his great love and
mercy, will yet save even the rejecters of his
grace. The exceeding sinfulness of sin can
be estimated only in the light of the cross.
When men urge that God is too good to cast
off the sinner, let them look to Calvary. It
was because there was no other way in
which man could be saved, because without
this sacrifice it was impossible for the
human race to escape from the defiling
power of sin, and be restored to communion
with holy beings,--impossible for them again
to become partakers of spiritual life,--it was
because of this that Christ took upon himself
the guilt of the disobedient, and suffered in
the sinner's stead. The love and suffering
and death of the Son of God, all testify to
the terrible enormity of sin, and declare that
there is no escape from its power, no hope of
the higher life, but through the submission
of the soul to Christ.

The impenitent sometimes excuse

- 29 -
themselves by saying of professed
Christians, "I am as good as they are. They
are no more self-denying, sober, or
circumspect in their conduct than I am.
They love pleasure and self-indulgence as
well as I do." Thus they make the faults of
others an excuse for their own neglect of
duty. But the sins and defects of others do
not excuse any one; for the Lord has not
given us an erring, human pattern. The
spotless Son of God has been given as our
example, and those who complain of the
wrong course of professed Christians are the
ones who should show better lives and
nobler examples. If they have so high a
conception of what a Christian should be, is
not their own sin so much the greater? They
know what is right, and yet refuse to do it.

Beware of procrastination. Do not put

off the work of forsaking your sins, and
seeking purity of heart through Jesus. Here
is where thousands upon thousands have

- 30 -
erred, to their eternal loss. I will not here
dwell upon the shortness and uncertainty of
life; but there is a terrible danger--a danger
not sufficiently understood--in delaying to
yield to the pleading voice of God's Holy
Spirit, in choosing to live in sin; for such
this delay really is. Sin, however small it
may be esteemed, can be indulged in only at
the peril of infinite loss. What is not
overcome, will overcome us, and work out
our destruction.

Adam and Eve persuaded themselves

that in so small a matter as eating of the
forbidden fruit, there could not result such
terrible consequences as God had declared.
But this small matter was the transgression
of God's immutable and holy law, and it
separated man from God, and opened the
flood-gates of death and untold woe upon
our world. Age after age there has gone up
from our earth a continual cry of mourning,
and the whole creation groaneth and

- 31 -
travaileth together in pain, as a consequence
of man's disobedience. Heaven itself has
felt the effects of his rebellion against God.
Calvary stands as a memorial of the amazing
sacrifice required to atone for the
transgression of the divine law. Let us not
regard sin as a trivial thing.

Every act of transgression, every neglect

or rejection of the grace of Christ, is reacting
upon yourself; it is hardening the heart,
depraving the will, benumbing the
understanding, and not only making you less
inclined to yield, but less capable of
yielding, to the tender pleading of God's
Holy Spirit.

Many are quieting a troubled conscience

with the thought that they can change a
course of evil when they choose; that they
can trifle with the invitations of mercy, and
yet be again and again impressed. They
think that after doing despite to the Spirit of

- 32 -
grace, after casting their influence on the
side of Satan, in a moment of terrible
extremity they can change their course. But
this is not so easily done. The experience,
the education, of a life-time, has so
thoroughly moulded the character that few
then desire to receive the image of Jesus.

Even one wrong trait of character, one

sinful desire, persistently cherished, will
eventually neutralize all the power of the
gospel. Every sinful indulgence strengthens
the soul's aversion to God. The man who
manifests an infidel hardihood, or a stolid
indifference to divine truth, is but reaping
the harvest of that which he has himself
sown. In all the Bible there is not a more
fearful warning against trifling with evil
than the words of the wise man, that the
sinner "shall be holden with the cords of his
sins."*

Christ is ready to set us free from sin,

- 33 -
but he does not force the will; and if by
persistent transgression the will itself is
wholly bent on evil, and we do not desire to
be set free, if we will not accept his grace,
what more can he do? We have destroyed
ourselves by our determined rejection of his
love. "Behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." "To-
day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts."*

"Man looketh on the outward

appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart,"* the human heart, with its conflicting
emotions of joy and sorrow, the wandering,
wayward heart, which is the abode of so
much impurity and deceit. He knows its
motives, its very intents and purposes. Go
to him with your soul all stained as it is.
Like the Psalmist, throw its chambers open
to the all-seeing eye, exclaiming, "Search
me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and
know my thoughts; and see if there be any

- 34 -
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting."*

Many accept an intellectual religion, a

form of godliness, when the heart is not
cleansed. Let it be your prayer, "Create in
me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me."* Deal truly with your
own soul. Be as earnest, as persistent, as
you would be if your mortal life were at
stake. This is a matter to be settled between
God and your own soul, settled for eternity.
A supposed hope, and nothing more, will
prove your ruin.

Study God's word prayerfully. That

word presents before you, in the law of God
and the life of Christ, the great principles of
holiness, without which "no man shall see
the Lord."* It convinces of sin; it plainly
reveals the way of salvation. Give heed to
it, as the voice of God speaking to your soul.

- 35 -
 As you see the enormity of sin, as you
see yourself as you really are, do not give up
to despair. It was sinners that Christ came to
save. We have not to reconcile God to us,
but--O wondrous love!--God in Christ is
"reconciling the world unto himself."* He is
wooing by his tender love the hearts of his
erring children. No earthly parent could be
as patient with the faults and mistakes of his
children, as is God with those he seeks to
save. No one could plead more tenderly
with the transgressor. No human lips ever
poured out more tender entreaties to the
wanderer than does he. All his promises, his
warnings, are but the breathing of
unutterable love.

When Satan comes to tell you that you

are a great sinner, look up to your
Redeemer, and talk of his merits. That
which will help you is to look to his light.
Acknowledge your sin, but tell the enemy
that "Christ Jesus came into the world to

- 36 -
save sinners,"* and that you may be saved
by his matchless love. Jesus asked Simon a
question in regard to two debtors. One
owed his lord a small sum, and the other
owed him a very large sum; but he forgave
them both, and Christ asked Simon which
debtor would love his lord most. Simon
answered, "He to whom he forgave most."*
We have been great sinners, but Christ died
that we might be forgiven. The merits of his
sacrifice are sufficient to present to the
Father in our behalf. Those to whom he has
forgiven most will love him most, and will
stand nearest his throne to praise him for his
great love and infinite sacrifice. It is when
we most fully comprehend the love of God
that we best realize the sinfulness of sin.
When we see the length of the chain that
was let down for us, when we understand
something of the infinite sacrifice that Christ
has made in our behalf, the heart is melted
with tenderness and contrition.

- 37 -
* Acts 2: 38; 3:19. * Matt. 27:4. * John 1:9.
* Ps. 32:1,2; 51:1-14. * Matt. 11:28. * Acts
5:31. * John 12:32. * Rev. 22:17. * Dan.
10:8. * Phil. 3:6. * Rom. 7:9. * Luke
18:13. * Jer. 13:23. * Prov.5:22. * II Cor.
6:2; Heb. 3:7,8. * I Sam. 16:7. * Ps.
139:23,24. * Ps. 51:10. * Heb. 12:14. * II
Cor. 5:19. * I Tim. 1:15. * Luke 7:43.

- 38 -
- 39 -
 III. CONFESSION

"He that covereth his sins shall not

prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
them shall have mercy."*

The conditions of obtaining mercy of

God, are simple and just and reasonable.
The Lord does not require us to do some
grievous thing in order that we may have the
forgiveness of sin. We need not make long
and wearisome pilgrimages, or perform
painful penances, to commend our souls to
the God of heaven or to expiate our
transgression; but he that confesseth and
forsaketh his sin shall have mercy.

The apostle says, "Confess your faults

one to another, and pray one for another,
that ye may be healed."* Confess your sins
to God, who only can forgive them, and
your faults to one another. If you have

- 40 -
given offense to your friend or neighbor,
you are to acknowledge your wrong, and it
is his duty freely to forgive you. Then you
are to seek the forgiveness of God, because
the brother you have wounded is the
property of God, and in injuring him you
sinned against his Creator and Redeemer.
The case is brought before the only true
mediator, our great High Priest, who "was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin," and who is "touched with the feeling of
our infirmities,"* and is able to cleanse from
every stain of iniquity.

Those who have not humbled their souls

before God in acknowledging their guilt,
have not yet fulfilled the first condition of
acceptance. If we have not experienced that
repentance which is not to be repented of,
and have not with true humiliation of soul
and brokenness of spirit confessed our sins,
abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly
sought for the forgiveness of sin; and if we

- 41 -
have never sought, we have never found the
peace of God. The only reason why we do
not have remission of sins that are past is
that we are not willing to humble our hearts
and comply with the conditions of the word
of truth. Explicit instruction is given
concerning this matter. Confession of sin,
whether public or private, should be
heartfelt, and freely expressed. It is not to
be urged from the sinner. It is not to be
made in a flippant and careless way, or
forced from those who have no realizing
sense of the abhorrent character of sin. The
confession that is the outpouring of the
inmost soul finds its way to the God of
infinite pity. The Psalmist says, "The Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."*

True confession is always of a specific

character, and acknowledges particular sins.
They may be of such a nature as to be
brought before God only; they may be

- 42 -
wrongs that should be confessed to
individuals who have suffered injury
through them; or they may be of a public
character, and should then be as publicly
confessed. But all confession should be
definite and to the point, acknowledging the
very sins of which you are guilty.

In the days of Samuel, the Israelites

wandered from God. They were suffering
the consequences of sin; for they had lost
their faith in God, lost their discernment of
his power and wisdom to rule the nation,
lost their confidence in his ability to defend
and vindicate his cause. They turned from
the great Ruler of the universe, and desired
to be governed as were the nations around
them. Before they found peace they made
this definite confession: 'We have added
unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.'*
The very sin of which they were convicted
had to be confessed. Their ingratitude
oppressed their souls, and severed them

- 43 -
from God.

Confession will not be acceptable to God

without sincere repentance and reformation.
There must be decided changes in the life;
everything offensive to God must be put
away. This will be the result of genuine
sorrow for sin. The work that we have to do
on our part is plainly set before us: "Wash
you, make you clean; put away the evil of
your doings from before mine eyes; cease to
do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment,
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow." "If the wicked restore
the pledge, give again that he had robbed,
walk in the statutes of life, without
committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he
shall not die."* Paul says, speaking of the
work of repentance, "Ye sorrowed after a
godly sort; what carefulness it wrought in
you, yea, what clearing of yourselves; yea,
what indignation; yea, what fear; yea, what
vehement desire; yea, what zeal; yea, what

- 44 -
revenge! In all things ye have approved
yourselves to be clear in this matter."*

When sin has deadened the moral

perceptions, the wrong-doer does not discern
the defects of his character, nor realize the
enormity of the evil he has committed; and
unless he yields to the convicting power of
the Holy Spirit, he remains in partial
blindness to his sin. His confessions are not
sincere and in earnest. To every
acknowledgment of his guilt he adds an
apology in excuse of his course, declaring
that if it had not been for certain
circumstances, he would not have done this
or that, for which he is reproved.

After Adam and Eve had eaten of the

forbidden fruit, they were filled with a sense
of shame and terror. At first their only
thought was how to excuse their sin, and
escape the dreaded sentence of death. When
the Lord inquired concerning their sin,

- 45 -
Adam replied, laying the guilt partly upon
God and partly upon his companion: "The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." The
woman put the blame upon the serpent,
saying, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did
eat."* Why did you make the serpent? Why
did you suffer him to come into Eden?
These were the questions implied in her
excuse for her sin, thus charging God with
the responsibility of their fall. The spirit of
self-justification originated in the father of
lies, and has been exhibited by all the sons
and daughters of Adam. Confessions of this
order are not inspired by the divine Spirit,
and will not be acceptable to God. True
repentance will lead a man to bear his guilt
himself, and acknowledge it without
deception or hypocrisy. Like the poor
publican, not lifting up so much as his eyes
unto heaven, he will cry, "God be merciful
to me a sinner," and those who do
acknowledge their guilt will be justified; for

- 46 -
Jesus will plead his blood in behalf of the
repentant soul.

The examples in God's word of genuine

repentance and humiliation reveal a spirit of
confession in which there is no excuse for
sin, or attempt at self-justification. Paul did
not seek to shield himself; he paints his sin
in its darkest hue, not attempting to lessen
his guilt. He says: "Many of the saints did I
shut up in prison, having received authority
from the chief priests; and when they were
put to death, I gave my voice against them.
And I punished them oft in every
synagogue, and compelled them to
blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad
against them, I persecuted them even unto
strange cities."* He does not hesitate to
declare that "Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

The humble and broken heart, subdued

by genuine repentance, will appreciate

- 47 -
something of the love of God and the cost of
Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving
father, so will the truly penitent bring all his
sins before God. And it is written, "If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness."*

* Prov. 28:13. * James 5:16. * Heb. 4:15.

* Ps. 34:18. * I Sam. 12:19. * Eze. 33:15.
* Isa. 1:16,17. * II Cor. 7:11. * Gen.
3:12,13. * Acts 26:10,11. * I John 1:9. *

- 48 -
- 49 -
 IV. CONSECRATION

God's promise is "Ye shall seek me, and

find me, when ye shall search for me with
all your heart."

The whole heart must be yielded to God,

or the change can never be wrought in us by
which we are to be restored to his likeness.
By nature we are alienated from God. The
Holy Spirit describes our condition in such
words as these: "Dead in trespasses and
sins," "the whole head is sick, and the whole
heart faint," "no soundness in it." We are
held fast in the snare of Satan; "taken
captive by him at his will."* God desires to
heal us, to set us free. But since this
requires an entire transformation, a renewing
of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves
wholly to him.

The warfare against self is the greatest

- 50 -
battle that was ever fought. The yielding of
self, surrendering all to the will of God,
requires a struggle; but the soul must submit
to God before it can be renewed in holiness.

The government of God is not, as Satan

would make it appear, founded upon a blind
submission, an unreasoning control. It
appeals to the intellect and the conscience.
"Come now, and let us reason together,"* is
the Creator's invitation to the beings he has
made. God does not force the will of his
creatures. He can not accept an homage that
is not willingly and intelligently given. A
mere forced submission would prevent all
real development of mind or character; it
would make man a mere automaton. Such is
not the purpose of the Creator. He desires
that man, the crowning work of his creative
power, shall reach the highest possible
development. He sets before us the height
of blessing to which he desires to bring us,
through his grace. He invites us to give

- 51 -
ourselves to him, that he may work his will
in us. It remains for us to choose whether
we will be set free from the bondage of sin,
to share the glorious liberty of the sons of
God.

In giving ourselves to God, we must

necessarily give up all that would separate
us from him. Hence the Saviour says,
"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not
all that he hath he can not be my disciple."*
Whatever shall draw away the heart from
God must be given up. Mammon is the idol
of many. The love of money, the desire for
wealth, is the golden chain that binds them
to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are
worshipped by another class. The life of
selfish ease and freedom from responsibility
is the idol of others. But these slavish bands
must be broken. We cannot be half the
Lord's and half the world's. We are not
God's children unless we are such entirely.
There are those who profess to serve God,

- 52 -
while they rely upon their own efforts to
obey his law, to form a right character, and
secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved
by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but
they seek to perform the duties of the
Christian life as that which God requires of
them in order to gain heaven. Such religion
is worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the
heart, the soul will be so filled with his love,
with the joy of communion with him, that it
will cleave to him; and in the contemplation
of him, self will be forgotten. Love to
Christ will be the spring of action. Those
who feel the constraining love of God do not
ask how little may be given, to meet the
requirements of God; they do not ask for the
lowest standard, but aim at perfect
conformity to the will of their Redeemer.
With earnest desire they yield all, and
manifest an interest proportionate to the
value of the object which they seek. A
profession of Christ without this deep love,
is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy

- 53 -
drudgery.

Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice

to yield all to Christ? Ask yourself the
question, "What has Christ given for me?"
The Son of God gave all--life and love and
suffering--for our redemption. And can it be
that we, the unworthy objects of so great
love, will withhold our hearts from him?
Every moment of our lives we have been
partakers of the blessings of his grace, and
for this very reason we can not fully realize
the depths of ignorance and misery from
which we have been saved. Can we look
upon him whom our sins have pierced, and
yet be willing to do despite to all his love
and sacrifice? In view of the infinite
humiliation of the Lord of glory, shall we
murmur because we can enter into life only
through conflict and self-abasement?

The inquiry of many a proud heart is,

"Why need I go in penitence and humiliation

- 54 -
before I can have the assurance of my
acceptance with God?" I point you to
Christ. He was sinless, and more than this,
he was the Prince of heaven; but in man's
behalf he became sin for the race. "He was
numbered with the transgressors; and he
bare the sins of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors."*

But what do we give up, when we give

all? A sin-polluted heart for Jesus to purify,
to cleanse by his own blood, and to save by
his matchless love. And yet men think it
hard to give up all! I am ashamed to hear it
spoken of, ashamed to write it.

God does not require us to give up

anything that it is for our best interest to
retain. In all that he does, he has the well-
being of his children in view. Would that all
who have not chosen Christ might realize
that he has something vastly better to offer
them than they are seeking for themselves.

- 55 -
Man is doing the greatest injury and
injustice to his own soul when he thinks and
acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy
can be found in the path forbidden by him
who knows what is best, and who plans for
the good of his creatures. The path of
transgression is the path of misery and
destruction.

It is a mistake to entertain the thought

that God is pleased to see his children suffer.
All heaven is interested in the happiness of
man. Our Heavenly Father does not close
the avenues of joy to any of his creatures.
The divine requirements call upon us to
shun those indulgences that would bring
suffering and disappointment, that would
close to us the door of happiness and
heaven. The world's Redeemer accepts men
as they are, with all their wants,
imperfections, and weaknesses; and he will
not only cleanse from sin and grant
redemption through his blood, but will

- 56 -
satisfy the heart-longing of all who consent
to wear his yoke, to bear his burden. It is his
purpose to impart peace and rest to all who
come to him for the bread of life. He
requires us to perform only those duties that
will lead our steps to heights of bliss to
which the disobedient can never attain. The
true, joyous life of the soul is to have Christ
formed within, the hope of glory.

Many are inquiring, "How am I to make

the surrender of myself to God?" You
desire to give yourself to him, but you are
weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt,
and controlled by the habits of your life of
sin. Your promises and resolutions are like
ropes of sand. You cannot control your
thoughts, your impulses, your affections.
The knowledge of your broken promises and
forfeited pledges weakens your confidence
in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel
that God cannot accept you; but you need
not despair. What you need to understand is

- 57 -
the true force of the will. This is the
governing power in the nature of man, the
power of decision, or of choice. Everything
depends on the right action of the will. The
power of choice God has given to men; it is
theirs to exercise. You cannot change your
heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its
affections; but you can choose to serve him.
You can give him your will, he will then
work in you to will and to do according to
his good pleasure. Thus your whole nature
will be brought under the control of the
Spirit of Christ; your affections will be
centered upon him, your thoughts will be in
harmony with him.

Desires for goodness and holiness are

right as far as they go; but if you stop here,
they will avail nothing. Many will be lost
while hoping and desiring to be Christians.
They do not come to the point of yielding
the will to God. They do not now choose to
be Christians.

- 58 -
 Through the right exercise of the will, an
entire change may be made in your life. By
yielding up your will to Christ, you ally
yourself with the power that is above all
principalities and powers. You will have
strength from above to hold you steadfast,
and thus through constant surrender to God
you will be enabled to live the new life, even
the life of faith.

* Jer. 29:13. * Eph. 2:1; Isa. 1:5,6; II Tim.

2:26. * Isa. 1:18. * Luke 14:33. * Isa.
53:12.

- 59 -
- 60 -
 V. FAITH AND ACCEPTANCE

As your conscience has been quickened

by the Holy Spirit, you have seen something
of the evil of sin, of its power, its guilt, its
woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence.
You feel that sin has separated you from
God, that you are in bondage to the power of
evil. The more you struggle to escape, the
more you realize your helplessness. Your
motives are impure; your heart is unclean.
You see that your life has been filled with
selfishness and sin. You long to be
forgiven, to be cleansed, to be set free.
Harmony with God, likeness to him,--what
can you do to obtain it?

It is peace that you need,--Heaven's

forgiveness and peace and love in the soul.
Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot
procure it, wisdom cannot attain to it; you
can never hope, by your own effort, to

- 61 -
secure it. But God offers it to you as a gift,
"without money and without price."* It is
yours, if you will but reach out your hand
and grasp it. The Lord says, "Though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool."* "A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you."

You have confessed your sins, and in

heart put them away. You have resolved to
give yourself to God. Now go to him, and
ask that he will wash away your sins, and
give you a new heart. Then believe that he
does this because he has promised. This is
the lesson which Jesus taught while he was
on earth, that the gift which God promises
us, we must believe we do receive, and it is
ours. Jesus healed the people of their
diseases when they had faith in his power;
he helped them in the things which they
could see, thus inspiring them with

- 62 -
confidence in him concerning things which
they could not see,--leading them to believe
in his power to forgive sins. This he plainly
stated in the healing of the man sick with
palsy: "That ye may know that the Son of
man hath power on earth to forgive sins,
(then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise,
take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."*
So also John the evangelist says, speaking of
the miracles of Christ, "These things are
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye
might have life through his name."*

From the simple Bible account of how

Jesus healed the sick we may learn
something about how to believe in him for
the forgiveness of sins. Let us turn to the
story of the paralytic at Bethesda. The poor
sufferer was helpless; he had not used his
limbs for thirty-eight years. Yet Jesus bade
him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." The
sick man might have said, "Lord, if thou wilt

- 63 -
make me whole, I will obey thy word." But
no, he believed Christ's word, believed that
he was made whole, and he made the effort
at once; he willed to walk, and he did walk.
He acted on the word of Christ, and God
gave the power. He was made whole.

In like manner you are a sinner. You

cannot atone for your past sins, you cannot
change your heart, and make yourself holy.
But God promises to do all this for you
through Christ. You believe that promise.
You confess your sins, and give yourself to
God. You will to serve him. Just as surely
as you do this, God will fulfill his word to
you. If you believe the promise,--believe
that you are forgiven and cleansed,--God
supplies the fact; you are made whole, just
as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk
when the man believed that he was healed.
It is so if you believe it.

Do not wait to feel that you are made

- 64 -
whole, but say, "I believe it; it is so, not
because I feel it, but because God has
promised."

Jesus says, "What things soever ye

desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them and ye shall have them."* There is a
condition to this promise,--that we pray
according to the will of God. But it is the
will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make
us his children, and to enable us to live a
holy life. So we may ask for these
blessings, and believe that we receive them,
and thank God that we have received them.
It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be
cleansed, and to stand before the law
without shame or remorse. "There is
therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit."*

Henceforth you are not your own; you

are bought with a price. "Ye were not

- 65 -
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, . . . . but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot."* Through this simple act of
believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten
a new life in your heart. You are as a child
born into the family of God, and he loves
you as he loves his Son.

Now that you have given yourself to

Jesus, do not draw back, do not take yourself
away from him, but day by day say, "I am
Christ's; I have given myself to him;" and
ask him to give you his Spirit, and keep you
by his grace. As it is by giving yourself to
God, and believing him, that you become his
child, so you are to live in him. The apostle
says, "As ye have therefore received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him."*

Some seem to feel that they must be on

probation, and must prove to the Lord that
they are reformed, before they can claim his

- 66 -
blessing. But they may claim the blessing of
God even now. They must have his grace,
the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities,
or they cannot resist evil. Jesus loves to
have us come to him just as we are, sinful,
helpless, dependent. We may come with all
our weakness, our folly, our sinfulness, and
fall at his feet in penitence. It is his glory to
encircle us in the arms of his love and to
bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all
impurity.

Here is where thousands fail: they do not

believe that Jesus pardons them personally,
individually. They do not take God at his
word. It is the privilege of all who comply
with the conditions, to know for themselves
that pardon is freely extended for every sin.
Put away the suspicion that God's promises
are not meant for you. They are for every
repentant transgressor. Strength and grace
have been provided through Christ to be
brought by ministering angels to every

- 67 -
believing soul. None are so sinful that they
can not find strength, purity, and
righteousness in Jesus, who died for them.
He is waiting to strip them of their garments
stained and polluted with sin, and to put
upon them the white robes of righteousness;
he bids them live, and not die.

God does not deal with us as finite men

deal with one another. His thoughts are
thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest
compassion. He says, "Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts; and let him return unto the
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy
transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins."*

"I have no pleasure in the death of him

that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore
turn yourselves, and live ye."* Satan is
ready to steal away the blessed assurances of

- 68 -
God. He desires to take every glimmer of
hope and every ray of light from the soul;
but you must not permit him to do this. Do
not give ear to the tempter, but say, "Jesus
has died that I might live. He loves me, and
wills not that I should perish. I have a
compassionate Heavenly Father; and
although I have abused his love, though the
blessings he has given me have been
squandered, I will arise, and go to my
Father, and say, 'I have sinned against
heaven, and before thee, and am no more
worthy to be called thy son; make me as one
of thy hired servants.'" The parable tells you
how the wanderer will be received: "When
he was yet a great way off, his father saw
him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell
on his neck, and kissed him."*

But even this parable, tender and

touching as it is, comes short of expressing
the infinite compassion of the Heavenly
Father. The Lord declares by his prophet, "I

- 69 -
have loved thee with an everlasting love;
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee."* While the sinner is yet far from the
Father's house, wasting his substance in a
strange country, the Father's heart is
yearning over him; and every longing
awakened in the soul to return to God, is but
the tender pleading of his Spirit, wooing,
entreating, drawing the wanderer to his
Father's heart of love.

With the rich promises of the Bible

before you, can you give place to doubt?
Can you believe that when the poor sinner
longs to return, longs to forsake his sins, the
Lord sternly withholds him from coming to
his feet in repentance? Away with such
thoughts! Nothing can hurt your own soul
more than to entertain such a conception of
our Heavenly Father. He hates sin, but he
loves the sinner, and he gave Himself, in the
person of Christ, that all who would, might
be saved, and have eternal blessedness in the

- 70 -
kingdom of glory. What stronger or more
tender language could have been employed
than he has chosen in which to express his
love toward us? He declares, "Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yea, they may forget; yet will I not forget
thee."*

Look up, you that are doubting and

trembling; for Jesus lives to make
intercession for us. Thank God for the gift
of his dear Son, and pray that he may not
have died for you in vain. The Spirit invites
you to-day. Come with your whole heart to
Jesus, and you may claim his blessing.

As you read the promises, remember

they are the expression of unutterable love
and pity. The great heart of Infinite Love is
drawn toward the sinner with boundless
compassion. "We have redemption through

- 71 -
his blood, the forgiveness of sins."* Yes,
only believe that God is your helper. He
wants to restore his moral image in man.
(As you draw near to him with confession
and repentance, he will draw near to you
with mercy and forgiveness.

* Isa. 55:1. * Isa. 1:18. * Eze. 36:26. *

Matt. 9:6. * John 20:31. * Mark 11:24. *
Rom. 8:1. * I Peter 1:18,19. * Col. 2:6. *
Isa. 55:7; 44:22. * Eze. 18:32. * Luke
15:18-20. * Jer. 31:3. * Isa. 49:15. * Eph.
1:7.

- 72 -
- 73 -
 VI. THE TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new

creature; old things are passed away; behold,
all things are become new."

A person may not be able to tell the

exact time or place, or to trace all the chain
of circumstances in the process of
conversion; but this does not prove him to
be unconverted. Christ said to Nicodemus,
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is
every one that is born of the Spirit."* Like
the wind, which is invisible, yet the effects
of which are plainly seen and felt, is the
Spirit of God in its work upon the human
heart. That regenerating power, which no
human eye can see, begets a new life in the
soul; it creates a new being in the image of
God.

- 74 -
 While the work of the Spirit is silent and
imperceptible, its effects are manifest. If the
heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God,
the life will bear witness to the fact. While
we cannot do anything to change our hearts,
or to bring ourselves into harmony with
God; while we must not trust at all to
ourselves or our good works, our lives will
reveal whether the grace of God is dwelling
within us. A change will be seen in the
character, the habits, the pursuits. The
contrast will be clear and decided between
what they have been and what they are. The
character is revealed, not by occasional good
deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by the
tendency of the habitual words and acts.

It is true that there may be an outward

correctness of deportment without the
renewing power of Christ. The love of
influence and the desire for the esteem of
others may produce a well-ordered life.

- 75 -
Self-respect may lead us to avoid the
appearance of evil. A selfish heart may
perform generous actions. By what means,
then, shall we determine whose side we are
on?

Who has the heart? With whom are our

thoughts? Of whom do we love to
converse? Who has our warmest affections
and our best energies? If we are Christ's,
our thoughts are with him, and our sweetest
thoughts are of him. All that we have and
are is consecrated to him. We long to bear
his image, breathe his spirit, do his will and
please him in all things.

Those who become new creatures in

Christ Jesus will bring forth the fruits of the
Spirit, "love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance." They will no longer fashion
themselves according to the former lusts, but
by the faith of the Son of God they will

- 76 -
follow in his steps, reflect his character, and
purify themselves even as he is pure. The
things they once hated, they now love; and
the things they once loved, they hate. The
proud and self-assertive become meek and
lowly in heart. The vain and supercilious
become serious and unobtrusive. The
drunken become sober, and the profligate
pure. The vain customs and fashions of the
world are laid aside. Christians will seek
not the "outward adorning," but "the hidden
man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit."*

There is no evidence of genuine

repentance, unless it works reformation. If
he restore the pledge, give again that he had
robbed, confess his sins, and love God and
his fellow-men, the sinner may be sure that
he has passed from death unto life.

When as erring, sinful beings we come

- 77 -
to Christ and become partakers of his
pardoning grace, love springs up in the
heart. Every burden is light; for the yoke
that Christ imposes is easy. Duty becomes a
delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. The path
that before seemed shrouded in darkness,
becomes bright with beams from the Sun of
Righteousness.

The loveliness of the character of Christ

will be seen in his followers. It was his
delight to do the will of God. Love to God,
zeal for his glory, was the controlling power
in our Saviour's life. Love beautified and
ennobled all his actions. Love is of God.
The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or
produce it. It is found only in the heart
where Jesus reigns. "We love because he
first loved us."* In the heart renewed by
divine grace, love is the principle of action.
It modifies the character, governs the
impulses, controls the passions, subdues
enmity, and ennobles the affections. This

- 78 -
love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life,
and sheds a refining influence on all around.

There are two errors against which the

children of God--particularly those who
have just come to trust in his grace--
especially need to guard. The first, already
dwelt upon, is that of looking to their own
works, trusting to anything they can do, to
bring themselves into harmony with God.
He who is trying to become holy by his own
works in keeping the law, is attempting an
impossibility. All that man can do without
Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It
is the grace of Christ alone, through faith,
that can make us holy.

The opposite and no less dangerous error

is, that belief in Christ releases men from
keeping the law of God; that since by faith
alone we become partakers of the grace of
Christ, our works have nothing to do with
our redemption.

- 79 -
 But notice here that obedience is not a
mere outward compliance, but the service of
love. The law of God is an expression of his
very nature; it is an embodiment of the great
principle of love, and hence is the
foundation of his government in heaven and
earth. If our hearts are renewed in the
likeness of God, if the divine love is
implanted in the soul, will not the law of
God be carried out in the life? When the
principle of love is implanted in the heart,
when man is renewed after the image of
Him that created him, the new covenant
promise is fulfilled, "I will put my laws into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them."* And if the law is written in the
heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience--
the service and allegiance of love--is the true
sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture
says, "This is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments." "He that saith, I know
him, and keepeth not his commandments, is

- 80 -
a liar, and the truth is not in him."* Instead
of releasing man from obedience, it is faith,
and faith only, that makes us partakers of the
grace of Christ, which enables us to render
obedience.

We do not earn salvation by our

obedience; for salvation is the free gift of
God, to be received by faith. But obedience
is the fruit of faith. "Ye know that he was
manifested to take away our sins, and in him
is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not; whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him,
neither known him."* Here is the true test.
If we abide in Christ, if the love of God
dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our
actions, will be in harmony with the will of
God as expressed in the precepts of his holy
law. "Little children, let no man deceive
you; he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as He is righteous."*
Righteousness is defined by the standard of
God's holy law, as expressed in the ten

- 81 -
precepts given on Sinai.

That so-called faith in Christ which

professes to release men from the obligation
of obedience to God, is not faith, but
presumption. "By grace are ye saved
through faith." But "faith, if it hath not
works, is dead."* Jesus said of himself
before he came to earth, "I delight to do thy
will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my
heart."* And just before he ascended again
to heaven he declared, "I have kept my
Father's commandments, and abide in his
love."* The Scripture says, "Hereby we do
know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments. . . He that saith he abideth
in him, ought himself also so to walk, even
as he walked."* "Because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
ye should follow his steps."*

The condition of eternal life is now just

what it always has been,--just what it was in

- 82 -
Paradise before the fall of our first parents,--
perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect
righteousness. If eternal life were granted
on any condition short of this, then the
happiness of the whole universe would be
imperiled. The way would be open for sin,
with all its train of woe and misery, to be
immortalized.

It was possible for Adam, before the fall,

to form a righteous character by obedience
to God's law. But he failed to do this, and
because of his sin our natures are fallen, and
we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since
we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly
obey a holy law. We have no righteousness
of our own with which to meet the claims of
the law of God. But Christ has made a way
of escape for us. He lived on earth amid
trials and temptations such as we have to
meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us,
and now he offers to take our sins and give
us his righteousness. If you give yourself to

- 83 -
him, and accept him as your Saviour, then,
sinful as your life may have been, for his
sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's
character stands in place of your character,
and you are accepted before God just as if
you had not sinned.

More than this, Christ changes the heart,

he abides in your heart by faith. You are to
maintain this connection with Christ by faith
and the continual surrender of your will to
him; and so long as you do this, he will
work in you to will and to do according to
his good pleasure. So you may say, "The
life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me."* So Jesus said to
his disciples, "It is not ye that speak, but the
Spirit of your Father which speaketh in
you."* Then with Christ working in you,
you will manifest the same spirit and do the
same works,--works of righteousness,
obedience.

- 84 -
 So we have nothing in ourselves of
which to boast. We have no ground for self-
exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in
the righteousness of Christ imputed to us
and in that wrought by his Spirit working in
and through us.

When we speak of faith there is a

distinction that should be borne in mind.
There is a kind of belief that is wholly
distinct from faith. The existence and power
of God, the truth of his word, are facts that
even Satan and his hosts can not at heart
deny. The Bible says that "the devils also
believe, and tremble;"* but this is not faith.
Where there is not only a belief in God's
word, but a submission of the will to him;
where the heart is yielded to him, the
affections fixed upon him, there is faith,--
faith that works by love, and purifies the
soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed
in the image of God. And the heart that in

- 85 -
its unrenewed state is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be, now delights
in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the
Psalmist, "O how love I thy law, it is my
meditation all the day."* And the
righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us,
"who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit."*

There are those who have known the

pardoning love of Christ, and who really
desire to be children of God, yet they realize
that their character is imperfect, their life
faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether
their hearts have been renewed by the Holy
Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw
back in despair. We shall often have to bow
down and weep at the feet of Jesus because
of our short-comings and mistakes; but we
are not to be discouraged. Even if we are
overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off,
not forsaken and rejected of God. No;
Christ is at the right hand of God, who also

- 86 -
maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved
John, "These things write I unto you, that ye
sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous."* And do not forget the words of
Christ, "The Father himself loveth you."*
He desires to restore you to himself, to see
his own purity and holiness reflected in you.
And if you will but yield yourself to him, he
that hath begun a good work in you will
carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ.
Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As
we come to distrust our own power, let us
trust the power of our Redeemer, and we
shall praise him who is the health of our
countenance.

The closer you come to Jesus, the more

faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for
your vision will be clearer, and your
imperfections will be seen in broad and
distinct contrast to his perfect nature. This
is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost

- 87 -
their power; that the vivifying influence of
the Spirit of God is arousing you.

No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell

in the heart that does not realize its own
sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by
the grace of Christ will admire his divine
character; but if we do not see our own
moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence
that we have not had a view of the beauty
and excellence of Christ.

The less we see to esteem in ourselves,

the more we shall see to esteem in the
infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour.
A view of our sinfulness drives us to him
who can pardon; and when the soul,
realizing its helplessness reaches out after
Christ, he will reveal himself in power. The
more our sense of need drives us to him and
to the word of God, the more exalted views
we shall have of his character, and the more
fully we shall reflect his image.

- 88 -
* II Cor. 5:17. * John 3:8. * I Peter 3:3,4.
* John 4:19. R.V. * Heb. 10:16. * I John
5:3; 2:4. * I John 3:5,6. * I John 3:7. *
Eph. 2:8; James 2:17. * Ps. 40:8. * John
15:10. * I John 2:3-6. * I Peter 2:21. * Gal.
2:20. * Matt. 10:20. * James 2:19. * Ps.
119:97. * Rom. 8:1. * I John 2:1. * John
16:27.

- 89 -
- 90 -
 VII. GROWING UP INTO CHRIST

The change of heart by which we

become children of God is in the Bible
spoken of as birth. Again, it is compared to
the germination of the good seed sown by
the husbandman. In like manner those who
are just converted to Christ are, as "new-
born babes," to "grow up"* to the stature of
men and women in Christ Jesus. Or like the
good seed sown in the field, they are to grow
up and bring forth fruit. Isaiah says that
they shall "be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified."* So from natural life,
illustrations are drawn, to help us better to
understand the mysterious truths of spiritual
life.

Not all the wisdom and skill of man can

produce life in the smallest object in nature.
It is only through the life which God himself

- 91 -
has imparted, that either plant or animal can
live. So it is only through the life from God
that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of
men. Unless a man is "born from above,"*
he cannot become a partaker of the life
which Christ came to give.

As with life, so it is with growth. It is

God who brings the bud to bloom and the
flower to fruit. It is by his power that the
seed develops, "first the blade, then the ear,
after that the full corn in the ear."* And the
prophet Hosea says of Israel, that "he shall
grow as the lily." "They shall revive as the
corn and grow as the vine."* And Jesus bids
us "consider the lilies, how they grow."*
The plants and flowers grow not by their
own care or anxiety or effort, but by
receiving that which God has furnished to
minister to their life. The child cannot, by
any anxiety or power of its own, add to its
stature. No more can you, by anxiety or
effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth.

- 92 -
The plant, the child, grows by receiving
from its surroundings that which ministers to
its life,--air, sunshine, and food. What these
gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such
is Christ to those who trust in him. He is
their "everlasting light," "a sun and a
shield."* He shall be as "the dew unto
Israel." "He shall come down like rain upon
the mown grass."* He is the living water,
"the bread of God . . which cometh down
from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world."*

In the matchless gift of his Son, God has

encircled the whole world with an
atmosphere of grace, as real as the air which
circulates around the globe. All who choose
to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will
live, and grow up to the stature of men and
women in Christ Jesus.

As the flower turns to the sun, that the

bright beams may aid in perfecting its

- 93 -
beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to
the Sun of Righteousness, that Heaven's
light may shine upon us, that our character
may be developed in the likeness of Christ.

Jesus teaches the same thing when he

says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye
abide in me. . . Without me ye can do
nothing."* You are just as dependent upon
Christ, in order to live a holy life, as is the
branch upon the parent stock for growth and
fruitfulness. Apart from him you have no
life. You have no power to resist temptation
or to grow in grace and holiness. Abiding in
him, you may flourish. Drawing your life
from him, you will not wither nor be
fruitless. You will be like a tree planted by
the rivers of water.

Many have an idea that they must do

some part of the work alone. They have

- 94 -
trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin,
but now they seek by their own efforts to
live aright. But every such effort must fail.
Jesus says, "Without me ye can do nothing."
Our growth in grace, our joy, our
usefulness,--all depend upon our union with
Christ. It is by communion with him, daily,
hourly,--by abiding in him,--that we are to
grow in grace. He is not only the author but
the finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and
last and always. He is to be with us, not
only at the beginning and the end of our
course, but at every step of the way. David
says, "I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be
moved."*

Do you ask, "How am I to abide in

Christ?"--In the same way as you received
him at first. "As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him."
"The just shall live by faith."* You gave
yourself to God, to be his wholly, to serve

- 95 -
and obey him, and you took Christ as your
Saviour. You could not yourself atone for
your sins or change your heart; but having
given yourself to God, you believed that he
for Christ's sake did all this for you. By
faith you became Christ's, and by faith you
are to grow up in him,--by giving and
taking. You are to give all,--your heart, your
will, your service,--give yourself to him to
obey all his requirements; and you must take
all,--Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to
abide in your heart, to be your strength, your
righteousness, your everlasting helper,--to
give you power to obey.

Consecrate yourself to God in the

morning; make this your very first work.
Let your prayer be, "Take me, O Lord, as
wholly thine. I lay all my plans at thy feet.
Use me to-day in thy service. Abide with
me, and let all my work be wrought in thee."
This is a daily matter. Each morning
consecrate yourself to God for that day.

- 96 -
Surrender all your plans to him, to be carried
out or given up as his providence shall
indicate. Thus day by day you may be
giving your life into the hands of God, and
thus your life will be moulded more and
more after the life of Christ.

A life in Christ is a life of restfulness.

There may be no ecstasy of feeling, but
there should be an abiding, peaceful trust.
Your hope is not in yourself; it is in Christ.
Your weakness is united to his strength,
your ignorance to his wisdom, your frailty to
his enduring might. So you are not to look
to yourself, not to let the mind dwell on self,
but look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon
his love, upon the beauty, the perfection, of
his character. Christ in his self-denial,
Christ in his humiliation, Christ in his purity
and holiness, Christ in his matchless love,--
this is the subject for the soul's
contemplation. It is by loving him, copying
him, depending wholly upon him, that you

- 97 -
are to be transformed into his likeness.

Jesus says, "Abide in me." These words

convey the idea of rest, stability, confidence.
Again he invites, "Come unto me . . . and I
will give you rest."* The words of the
Psalmist express the same thought: "Rest in
the Lord, and wait patiently for him." And
Isaiah gives the assurance, "In quietness and
confidence shall be your strength."* This
rest is not found in inactivity: for in the
Saviour's invitation the promise of rest is
united with the call to labor: "Take my yoke
upon you, . . and ye shall find rest."* The
heart that rests most fully upon Christ will
be most earnest and active in labor for him.

When the mind dwells upon self, it is

turned away from Christ, the source of
strength and life. Hence it is Satan's
constant effort to keep the attention diverted
from the Saviour, and thus prevent the union
and communion of the soul with Christ. The

- 98 -
pleasures of the world, life's cares and
perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others,
or your own faults and imperfections,--to
any or all of these he will seek to divert the
mind. Do not be misled by his devices.
Many who are really conscientious, and who
desire to live for God, he too often leads to
dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses,
and thus by separating them from Christ, he
hopes to gain the victory. We should not
make self the center, and indulge anxiety
and fear as to whether we shall be saved.
All this turns the soul away from the source
of our strength. Commit the keeping of your
soul to God, and trust in him. Talk and
think of Jesus. Let self be lost in him. Put
away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with
the apostle Paul, "I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me; and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me."* Rest in God. He is able to keep that
which you have committed to him. If you

- 99 -
will leave yourself in his hands, he will
bring you off more than conqueror through
him that has loved you.

When Christ took human nature upon

him, he bound humanity to himself by a tie
of love that can never be broken by any
power save the choice of man himself.
Satan will constantly present allurements to
induce us to break this tie,--to choose to
separate ourselves from Christ. Here is
where we need to watch, to strive, to pray,
that nothing may entice us to choose another
master; for we are always free to do this.
But let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ,
and he will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus
we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of his
hand. In constantly beholding him, we "are
changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."*

It was thus that the early disciples gained

their likeness to the dear Saviour. When

- 100 -
those disciples heard the words of Jesus,
they felt their need of him. They sought,
they found, they followed him. They were
with him in the house, at the table, in the
closet, in the field. They were with him as
pupils with a teacher, daily receiving from
his lips lessons of holy truth. They looked
to him, as servants to their master, to learn
their duty. Those disciples were men
"subject to like passions as we are."* They
had the same battle with sin to fight. They
needed the same grace, in order to live a
holy life.

Even John, the beloved disciple, the one

who most fully reflected the likeness of the
Saviour, did not naturally possess that
loveliness of character. He was not only
self-assertive and ambitious for honor, but
impetuous and resentful under injuries. But
as the character of the Divine One was
manifested to him, he saw his own
deficiency, and was humbled by the

- 101 -
knowledge. The strength and patience, the
power and tenderness, the majesty and
meekness, that he beheld in the daily life of
the Son of God, filled his soul with
admiration and love. Day by day his heart
was drawn out toward Christ, until he lost
sight of self in love for his Master. His
resentful, ambitious temper was yielded to
the moulding power of Christ. The
regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit
renewed his heart. The power of the love of
Christ wrought a transformation of
character. This is the sure result of union
with Jesus. When Christ abides in the heart,
the whole nature is transformed. Christ's
spirit, his love, softens the heart, subdues the
soul, and raises the thoughts and desires
toward God and heaven.

When Christ ascended to heaven, the

sense of his presence was still with his
followers. It was a personal presence, full of
love and light. Jesus, the Saviour, who had

- 102 -
walked and talked and prayed with them,
who had spoken hope and comfort to their
hearts had, while the message of peace was
still upon his lips, been taken up from them
into heaven, and the tones of his voice had
come back to them, as the cloud of angels
received him,--"Lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world."* He had
ascended to heaven in the form of humanity.
They knew that he was before the throne of
God, their friend and Saviour still; that his
sympathies were unchanged; that he was
still identified with suffering humanity. He
was presenting before God the merits of his
own precious blood, showing his wounded
hands and feet, in remembrance of the price
he had paid for his redeemed. They knew
that he had ascended to heaven to prepare
places for them, and that he would come
again, and take them to himself.

As they met together, after the

ascension, they were eager to present their

- 103 -
requests to the Father in the name of Jesus.
In solemn awe they bowed in prayer,
repeating the assurance, "Whatsoever ye
shall ask the Father in my name, he will give
it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in
my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full."* They extended the
hand of faith higher and higher, with the
mighty argument, "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."* And Pentecost
brought them the presence of the Comforter,
of whom Christ had said, he "shall be in
you." And he had further said, "It is
expedient for you that I go away; for if I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto
you; but if I depart I will send him unto
you."* Henceforth through the Spirit, Christ
was to abide continually in the hearts of his
children. Their union with him was closer
than when he was personally with them.
The light, and love and power of the

- 104 -
indwelling Christ shone out through them,
so that men, beholding, "marveled; and they
took knowledge of them, that they had been
with Jesus."*

All that Christ was to the first disciples,

he desires to be to his children to-day; for in
that last prayer, with the little band of
disciples gathered about him, he said,
"Neither pray I for these alone; but for them
also which shall believe on me through their
word."*

Jesus prayed for us, and he asked that we

might be one with him, even as he is one
with the Father. What a union is this! The
Saviour had said of himself, "The Son can
do nothing of himself;" "the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."* Then
if Christ is dwelling in our hearts, he will
work in us "both to will and to do of his
good pleasure."* We shall work as he
worked; we shall manifest the same spirit.

- 105 -
And thus, loving him and abiding in him, we
shall "grow up into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ."*

* I Peter 2:2; Eph. 4:15. * Isa. 61:3. * John

3:3. (margin.) * Mark 4:28. * Hosea 14:5,7.
* Luke 12:27. * Isa. 60:19. * Ps. 84:11. *
Hosea 14:5; Ps. 72:6. * John 6:33. * John
15:4,5. * Ps. 16:8. * Col. 2:6; Heb. 10:38.
* Matt. 11:28,29. * Ps. 37:7; Isa. 30:15. *
Matt. 11:28,29. * Gal. 2:20. * II Cor. 3:18.
* James 5:17. * Matt. 28:20. * John
16:23,24. * Rom. 8:34. * John 14:17; 16:7.
* Acts 4:13. * John 17:20. * John 5:19;
14:10. * Phil. 2:13. * Eph. 4:15.

- 106 -
- 107 -
 VIII. THE WORK AND THE LIFE

God is the source of life and light and

joy to the universe. Like rays of light from
the sun, like the streams of water bursting
from a living spring, blessings flow out from
him to all his creatures. And wherever the
life of God is in the hearts of men, it will
flow out to others in love and blessing.

Our Saviour's joy was in the uplifting

and redemption of fallen men. For this he
counted not his life dear unto himself, but
endured the cross, despising the shame. So
angels are ever engaged in working for the
happiness of others. This is their joy. That
which selfish hearts would regard as
humiliating service, ministering to those
who are wretched, and in every way inferior
in character and rank, is the work of the
sinless angels. The spirit of Christ's self-
sacrificing love is the spirit that pervades

- 108 -
heaven, and is the very essence of its bliss.
This is the spirit that Christ's followers will
possess, the work that they will do.

When the love of Christ is enshrined in

the heart, like sweet fragrance it cannot be
hidden. Its holy influence will be felt by all
with whom we come in contact. The spirit
of Christ in the heart is like a spring in the
desert, flowing to refresh all, and making
those who are ready to perish, eager to drink
of the water of life.

Love to Jesus will be manifested in a

desire to work as he worked, for the blessing
and uplifting of humanity. It will lead to
love, tenderness, and sympathy toward all
the creatures of our Heavenly Father's care.

The Saviour's life on earth was not a life

of ease and devotion to himself, but he
toiled with persistent, earnest, untiring effort
for the salvation of lost mankind. From the

- 109 -
manger to Calvary he followed the path of
self-denial, and sought not to be released
from arduous tasks, painful travels, and
exhausting care and labor. He said, "The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many."* This was the one great object
of his life. Everything else was secondary
and subservient. It was his meat and drink
to do the will of God and to finish his work.
Self and self-interest had no part in his
labor.

So those who are the partakers of the

grace of Christ will be ready to make any
sacrifice, that others for whom he died may
share the heavenly gift. They will do all
they can to make the world better for their
stay in it. This spirit is the sure outgrowth
of a soul truly converted. No sooner does
one come to Christ, than there is born in his
heart a desire to make known to others what
a precious friend he has found in Jesus; the

- 110 -
saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut
up in his heart. If we are clothed with the
righteousness of Christ, and are filled with
the joy of his indwelling Spirit, we shall not
be able to hold our peace. If we have tasted
and seen that the Lord is good, we shall have
something to tell. Like Philip when he
found the Saviour, we shall invite others into
his presence. We shall seek to present to
them the attractions of Christ, and the
unseen realities of the world to come. There
will be an intensity of desire to follow in the
path that Jesus trod. There will be an
earnest longing that those around us may
behold "the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world."*

And the effort to bless others will re-act

in blessings upon ourselves. This was the
purpose of God in giving us a part to act in
the plan of redemption. He has granted men
the privilege of becoming partakers of the
divine nature, and, in their turn, of diffusing

- 111 -
blessings to their fellowmen. This is the
highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is
possible for God to bestow upon men.
Those who thus become participants in
labors of love are brought nearest to their
Creator.

God might have committed the message

of the gospel, and all the work of loving
ministry, to the heavenly angels. He might
have employed other means for
accomplishing his purpose. But in his
infinite love he chose to make us co-workers
with himself, with Christ and the angels, that
we might share the blessing, the joy, the
spiritual uplifting, which results from this
unselfish ministry.

We are brought into sympathy with

Christ through the fellowship of his
sufferings. Every act of self-sacrifice for the
good of others strengthens the spirit of
beneficence in the giver's heart, allying him

- 112 -
more closely to the Redeemer of the world,
who "was rich, yet for your sakes became
poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich." And it is only as we thus fulfill the
divine purpose in our creation that life can
be a blessing to us.

If you will go to work as Christ designs

that his disciples shall, and win souls for
him, you will feel the need of a deeper
experience and a greater knowledge in
divine things, and will hunger and thirst
after righteousness. You will plead with
God, and your faith will be strengthened,
and your soul will drink deeper draughts at
the well of salvation. Encountering
opposition and trials will drive you to the
Bible and to prayer. You will grow in grace
and the knowledge of Christ, and will
develop a rich experience.

The spirit of unselfish labor for others

gives depth, stability, and Christ-like

- 113 -
loveliness to the character, and brings peace
and happiness to its possessor. The
aspirations are elevated. There is no room
for sloth or selfishness. Those who thus
exercise the Christian graces will grow and
will become strong to work for God. They
will have clear spiritual perceptions, a
steady, growing faith, and an increased
power in prayer. The Spirit of God, moving
upon their spirit, calls forth the sacred
harmonies of the soul, in answer to the
divine touch. Those who thus devote
themselves to unselfish effort for the good
of others are most surely working out their
own salvation.

The only way to grow in grace is to be

disinterestedly doing the very work which
Christ has enjoined upon us,--to engage, to
the extent of our ability, in helping and
blessing those who need the help we can
give them. Strength comes by exercise;
activity is the very condition of life. Those

- 114 -
who endeavor to maintain Christian life by
passively accepting the blessings that come
through the means of grace, and doing
nothing for Christ, are simply trying to live
by eating without working. And in the
spiritual as in the natural world, this always
results in degeneration and decay. A man
who would refuse to exercise his limbs
would soon lose all power to use them.
Thus the Christian who will not exercise his
God-given powers, not only fails to grow up
into Christ, but he loses the strength that he
already had.

The church of Christ is God's appointed

agency for the salvation of men. Its mission
is to carry the gospel to the world. And the
obligation rests upon all Christians. Every
one, to the extent of his talent and
opportunity, is to fulfill the Saviour's
commission. The love of Christ, revealed to
us, makes us debtors to all who know him
not. God has given us light, not for

- 115 -
ourselves alone, but to shed upon them.

If the followers of Christ were awake to

duty, there would be thousands where there
is one to-day, proclaiming the gospel in
heathen lands. And all who could not
personally engage in the work, would yet
sustain it with their means, their sympathy,
and their prayers. And there would be far
more earnest labor for souls in Christian
countries.

We need not go to heathen lands, or

even leave the narrow circle of the home, if
it is there that our duty lies, in order to work
for Christ. We can do this in the home
circle, in the church, among those with
whom we associate, and with whom we do
business.

The greater part of our Saviour's life on

earth was spent in patient toil in the
carpenter's shop at Nazareth. Ministering

- 116 -
angels attended the Lord of life as he walked
side by side with peasants and laborers,
unrecognized and unhonored. He was as
faithfully fulfilling his mission while
working at his humble trade as when he
healed the sick or walked upon the storm-
tossed waves of Galilee. So, in the humblest
duties and lowliest positions of life, we may
walk and work with Jesus.
The apostle says, "Let every man,
wherein he is called, therein abide with
God."* The business man may conduct his
business in a way that will glorify his Master
because of his fidelity. If he is a true
follower of Christ, he will carry his religion
into everything that is done, and reveal to
men the spirit of Christ. The mechanic may
be a diligent and faithful representative of
him who toiled in the lowly walks of life
among the hills of Galilee. Every one who
names the name of Christ should so work
that others, by seeing his good works, may
be led to glorify their Creator and Redeemer.

- 117 -
 Many have excused themselves from
rendering their gifts to the service of Christ
because others were possessed of superior
endowments and advantages. The opinion
has prevailed that only those who are
especially talented are required to consecrate
their abilities to the service of God. It has
come to be understood by many that talents
are given to only a certain favored class, to
the exclusion of others, who, of course, are
not called upon to share in the toils or the
rewards. But it is not so represented in the
parable. When the master of the house
called his servants, he gave to every man his
work.
With a loving spirit we may perform
life's humblest duties "as to the Lord."* If
the love of God is in the heart, it will be
manifest in the life. The sweet savor of
Christ will surround us, and our influence
will elevate and bless.
You are not to wait for great occasions

- 118 -
or to expect extraordinary abilities before
you go to work for God. You need not have
a thought of what the world will think of
you. If your daily life is a testimony to the
purity and sincerity of your faith, and others
are convinced that you desire to benefit
them, your efforts will not be wholly lost.

The humblest and poorest of the

disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others.
They may not realize that they are doing any
special good, but by their unconscious
influence they may start waves of blessing
that will widen and deepen, and the blessed
results they may never know until the day of
final reward. They do not feel or know that
they are doing anything great. They are not
required to weary themselves with anxiety
about success. They have only to go
forward quietly, doing faithfully the work
that God's providence assigns, and their life
will not be in vain. Their own souls will be
growing more and more into the likeness of

- 119 -
Christ; they are workers together with God
in this life, and are thus fitting for the higher
work and the unshadowed joy of the life to
come.

* Matt. 20:28. * John 1:29. * I Cor. 7:24. *

Col. 3:23.

- 120 -
- 121 -
 IX. A KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Many are the ways in which God is

seeking to make himself known to us and to
bring us into communion with him. Nature
speaks to our senses without ceasing. The
open heart will be impressed with the love
and glory of God as revealed through the
works of his hands. The listening ear can
hear and understand the communications of
God through the things of nature. The green
fields, the lofty trees, the buds and flowers,
the passing cloud, the falling rain, the
babbling brook, the glories of the heavens,
speak to our hearts, and invite us to become
acquainted with him who made them all.

Our Saviour bound up his precious

lessons with the things of nature. The trees,
the birds, the flowers of the valley, the hills,
the lake, and the beautiful heavens, as well
as the incidents and surroundings of daily

- 122 -
life, were all linked with the words of truth,
that his lessons might thus be often recalled
to mind, even amid the busy cares of man's
life of toil.

God would have his children appreciate

his works, and delight in the simple, quiet
beauty with which he has adorned our
earthly home. He is a lover of the beautiful,
and above all that is outwardly attractive he
loves beauty of character; he would have us
cultivate purity and simplicity, the quiet
graces of the flowers.

If we will but listen, God's created works

will teach us precious lessons of obedience
and trust. From the stars that in their
trackless course through space, follow from
age to age their appointed path, down to the
minutest atom, the things of nature obey the
Creator's will. And God cares for
everything and sustains everything that he
has created. He who upholds the

- 123 -
unnumbered worlds throughout immensity,
at the same time cares for the wants of the
little brown sparrow that sings its humble
song without a fear. When men go forth to
their daily toil, as when they engage in
prayer; when they lie down at night, and
when they rise in the morning; when the rich
man feasts in his palace, or when the poor
man gathers his children about the scanty
board, each is tenderly watched by the
Heavenly Father. No tears are shed that
God does not notice. There is no smile that
he does not mark.

If we would but fully believe this, all

undue anxieties would be dismissed. Our
lives would not be so filled with
disappointment as now; for everything,
whether great or small, would be left in the
hands of God, who is not perplexed by the
multiplicity of cares, or overwhelmed by
their weight. We should then enjoy a rest of
soul to which many have long been

- 124 -
strangers.

As your senses delight in the attractive

loveliness of the earth, think of the world
that is to come, that shall never know the
blight of sin and death; where the face of
nature will no more wear the shadow of the
curse. Let your imagination picture the
home of the saved, and remember that it will
be more glorious than your brightest
imagination can portray. In the varied gifts
of God in nature we see but the faintest
gleaming of his glory. It is written "Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love
him."*

The poet and the naturalist have many

things to say about nature, but it is the
Christian who enjoys the beauty of the earth
with the highest appreciation, because he
recognizes his Father's handiwork, and

- 125 -
perceives his love in flower and shrub and
tree. No one can fully appreciate the
significance of hill and vale, river and sea,
who does not look upon them as an
expression of God's love to man.

God speaks to us through his

providential workings, and through the
influence of his Spirit upon the heart. In our
circumstances and surroundings, in the
changes daily taking place around us, we
may find precious lessons, if our hearts are
but open to discern them. The Psalmist,
tracing the work of God's providence, says,
"The earth is full of the goodness of the
Lord." "Whoso is wise, and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the
loving-kindness of Jehovah."*

God speaks to us in his word. Here we

have in clearer lines the revelation of his
character, of his dealings with men, and the
great work of redemption. Here is open

- 126 -
before us the history of patriarchs and
prophets and other holy men of old. They
were "men subject to like passions as we
are."* We see how they struggled through
discouragements like our own, how they fell
under temptation as we have done, and yet
took heart again and conquered through the
grace of God: and beholding, we are
encouraged in our striving after
righteousness. As we read of the precious
experiences granted them, of the light and
love and blessing it was theirs to enjoy, and
of the work they wrought through the grace
given them, the spirit that inspired them
kindles a flame of holy emulation in our
hearts, and a desire to be like them in
character,--like them to walk with God.

Jesus said of the Old-Testament

Scriptures,--and how much more is it true of
the New,--"They are they which testify of
me,"* the Redeemer, him in whom our
hopes of eternal life are centered. Yes, the

- 127 -
whole Bible tells of Christ. From the first
record of creation,--"for without him was
not anything made that was made,"*--to the
closing promise, "Behold, I come quickly,"*
we are reading of his works and listening to
his voice. If you would become acquainted
with the Saviour, study the Holy Scriptures.

Fill the whole heart with the words of

God. They are the living water, quenching
your burning thirst. They are the living
bread from heaven. Jesus declares, "Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you." And he
explains himself by saying, "The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life."* Our bodies are built up from
what we eat and drink; and as in the natural
economy, so in the spiritual economy: it is
what we meditate upon that will give tone
and strength to our spiritual nature.

The theme of redemption is one that the

- 128 -
angels desire to look into; it will be the
science and the song of the redeemed
throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is
it not worthy of careful thought and study
now? The infinite mercy and love of Jesus,
the sacrifice made in our behalf, calls for the
most serious and solemn reflection. We
should dwell upon the character of our dear
Redeemer and Intercessor. We should
meditate upon the mission of him who came
to save his people from their sins. As we
thus contemplate heavenly themes, our faith
and love will grow stronger, and our prayers
will be more and more acceptable to God,
because they will be more and more mixed
with faith and love. They will be intelligent
and fervent. There will be more constant
confidence in Jesus, and a daily, living
experience in his power to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God by him.

As we meditate upon the perfections of

the Saviour, we shall desire to be wholly

- 129 -
transformed, and renewed in the image of
his purity. There will be a hungering and
thirsting of soul to become like him whom
we adore. The more our thoughts are upon
Christ, the more we shall speak of him to
others, and represent him to the world.

The Bible was not written for the scholar

alone; on the contrary, it was designed for
the common people. The great truths
necessary for salvation are made as clear as
noonday; and none will mistake and lose
their way except those who follow their own
judgment instead of the plainly revealed will
of God.

We should not take the testimony of any

man as to what the Scriptures teach, but
should study the words of God for ourselves.
If we allow others to do our thinking, we
shall have crippled energies and contracted
abilities. The noble powers of the mind may
be so dwarfed by lack of exercise on themes

- 130 -
worthy of their concentration as to lose their
ability to grasp the deep meaning of the
word of God. The mind will enlarge if it is
employed in tracing out the relation of the
subjects of the Bible, comparing scripture
with scripture, and spiritual things with
spiritual.

There is nothing more calculated to

strengthen the intellect than the study of the
Scriptures. No other book is so potent to
elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the
faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of
the Bible. If God's word were studied as it
should be, men would have a breadth of
mind, a nobility of character, and a stability
of purpose that is rarely seen in these times.

But there is but little benefit derived

from a hasty reading of the Scriptures. One
may read the whole Bible through, and yet
fail to see its beauty or comprehend its deep
and hidden meaning. One passage studied

- 131 -
until its significance is clear to the mind, and
its relation to the plan of salvation is
evident, is of more value than the perusal of
many chapters with no definite purpose in
view and no positive instruction gained.
Keep your Bible with you. As you have
opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your
memory. Even while you are walking the
streets, you may read a passage, and
meditate upon it, thus fixing it in the mind.

We cannot obtain wisdom without

earnest attention and prayerful study. Some
portions of Scripture are indeed too plain to
be misunderstood; but there are others
whose meaning does not lie on the surface,
to be seen at a glance. Scripture must be
compared with scripture. There must be
careful research and prayerful reflection.
And such study will be richly repaid. As the
miner discovers veins of precious metal
concealed beneath the surface of the earth,
so will he who perseveringly searches the

- 132 -
word of God as for hid treasure, find truths
of the greatest value, which are concealed
from the view of the careless seeker. The
words of inspiration, pondered in the heart,
will be as streams flowing from the fountain
of life.

Never should the Bible be studied

without prayer. Before opening its pages we
should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy
Spirit, and it will be given. When Nathanael
came to Jesus, the Saviour exclaimed,
"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile." Nathanael said, "Whence knowest
thou me?" Jesus answered, "Before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig-tree, I saw thee."* And Jesus will see us
also in the secret places of prayer, if we will
seek him for light, that we may know what
is truth. Angels from the world of light will
be with those who in humility of heart seek
for divine guidance.

- 133 -
 The Holy Spirit exalts and glorifies the
Saviour. It is his office to present Christ, the
purity of his righteousness, and the great
salvation that we have through him. Jesus
says, "He shall receive of mine, and shall
show it unto you."* The Spirit of truth is the
only effectual teacher of divine truth. How
must God esteem the human race, since he
gave his Son to die for them, and appoints
his Spirit to be man's teacher and continual
guide.

* I Cor. 2:9. * Ps. 33:5; 107:43. * James

5:17. * John 5:39. * John 1:3. * Rev.
22:12. * John 6:53,63. * John 1:47,48. *
John 16:14.

- 134 -
- 135 -
 X. THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER

Through nature and revelation, through

his providence and by the influence of his
Spirit, God speaks to us. But these are not
enough; we need also to pour out our hearts
to him. In order to have spiritual life and
energy, we must have actual intercourse
with our Heavenly Father. Our minds may
be drawn out toward him; we may meditate
upon his works, his mercies, his blessings;
but this is not, in the fullest sense,
communing with him. In order to commune
with God, we must have something to say to
him concerning our actual life.

Prayer is the opening of the heart to God

as to a friend. Not that it is necessary, in
order to make known to God what we are,
but in order to enable us to receive him.
Prayer does not bring God down to us, but
brings us up to him.

- 136 -
 When Jesus was upon the earth, he
taught his disciples how to pray. He
directed them to present their daily needs
before God, and to cast all their care upon
him. And the assurance he gave them that
their petitions should be heard, is assurance
also to us.

Jesus himself, while he dwelt among

men, was often in prayer. Our Saviour
identified himself with our needs and
weaknesses, in that he became a suppliant, a
petitioner, seeking from his Father fresh
supplies of strength, that he might come
forth braced for duty and trial. He is our
example in all things. He is a brother in our
infirmities, "in all points tempted like as we
are;" but as the sinless one, his nature
recoiled from evil; he endured struggles and
torture of soul in a world of sin. His
humanity made prayer a necessity and a
privilege. He found comfort and joy in

- 137 -
communion with his Father. And if the
Saviour of men, the Son of God, felt the
need of prayer, how much more should
feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of
fervent, constant prayer.

Our Heavenly Father waits to bestow

upon us the fullness of his blessing. It is our
privilege to drink largely at the fountain of
boundless love. What a wonder it is that we
pray so little! God is ready and willing to
hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of
his children, and yet there is much manifest
reluctance on our part to make known our
wants to God. What can the angels of
heaven think of poor helpless human beings,
who are subject to temptation, when God's
heart of infinite love yearns toward them,
ready to give them more than they can ask
or think, and yet they pray so little, and have
so little faith? The angels love to bow
before God; they love to be near him. They
regard communion with God as their highest

- 138 -
joy; and yet the children of earth, who need
so much the help that God only can give,
seem satisfied to walk without the light of
his Spirit, the companionship of his
presence.

The darkness of the evil one encloses

those who neglect to pray. The whispered
temptations of the enemy entice them to sin;
and it is all because they do not make use of
the privileges that God has given them in the
divine appointment of prayer. Why should
the sons and daughters of God be reluctant
to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand
of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse,
where are treasured the boundless resources
of Omnipotence? Without unceasing prayer
and diligent watching, we are in danger of
growing careless and of deviating from the
right path. The adversary seeks continually
to obstruct the way to the mercy-seat, that
we may not by earnest supplication and faith
obtain grace and power to resist temptation.

- 139 -
 There are certain conditions upon which
we may expect that God will hear and
answer our prayers. One of the first of these
is that we feel our need of help from him.
He has promised, "I will pour water upon
him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry
ground."* Those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness, who long after God,
may be sure that they will be filled. The
heart must be open to the Spirit's influence,
or God's blessing cannot be received.

Our great need is itself an argument, and

pleads most eloquently in our behalf. But
the Lord is to be sought unto to do these
things for us. He says, "Ask, and it shall be
given you." And "he that spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?"*

If we regard iniquity in our hearts, if we

- 140 -
cling to any known sin, the Lord will not
hear us: but the prayer of the penitent,
contrite soul is always accepted. When all
known wrongs are righted, we may believe
that God will answer our petitions. Our own
merit will never commend us to the favor of
God; it is the worthiness of Jesus that will
save us, his blood that will cleanse us; yet
we have a work to do in complying with the
conditions of acceptance.

Another element of prevailing prayer is

faith. "He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him." Jesus said to his
disciples, "What things soever ye desire
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them."* Do we take him
at his word?

The assurance is broad and unlimited,

and he is faithful who has promised. When
we do not receive the very things we ask for,

- 141 -
at the time we ask, we are still to believe
that the Lord hears, and that he will answer
our prayers. We are so erring and
shortsighted that we sometimes ask for
things that would not be a blessing to us, and
our Heavenly Father in love answers our
prayers by giving us that which will be for
our highest good,--that which we ourselves
would desire if with vision divinely
enlightened we could see all things as they
really are. When our prayers seem not to be
answered, we are to cling to the promise; for
the time of answering will surely come, and
we shall receive the blessing we need most.
But to claim that prayer will always be
answered in the very way and for the
particular thing that we desire, is
presumption. God is too wise to err, and too
good to withhold any good thing from them
that walk uprightly. Then do not fear to
trust him, even though you do not see the
immediate answer to your prayers. Rely
upon his sure promise. "Ask, and it shall be

- 142 -
given you."

If we take counsel with our doubts and

fears, or try to solve everything that we
cannot see clearly, before we have faith,
perplexities will only increase and deepen.
But if we come to God, feeling helpless and
dependent, as we really are, and in humble,
trusting faith make known our wants to him
whose knowledge is infinite, who sees
everything in creation, and who governs
everything by his will and word, he can and
will attend to our cry, and will let light shine
into our hearts. Through sincere prayer we
are brought into connection with the mind of
the Infinite. We may have no remarkable
evidence at the time that the face of our
Redeemer is bending over us in compassion
and love; but this is even so. We may not
feel his visible touch, but his hand is upon us
in love and pitying tenderness.

When we come to ask mercy and

- 143 -
blessing from God, we should have a spirit
of love and forgiveness in our own hearts.
How can we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors,"* and yet indulge an
unforgiving spirit? If we expect our own
prayers to be heard, we must forgive others
in the same manner, and to the same extent,
as we hope to be forgiven.

Perseverance in prayer has been made a

condition of receiving. We must pray
always, if we would grow in faith and
experience. We are to be "instant in prayer,"
"to continue in prayer, and watch in the
same with thanksgiving."* Peter exhorts
believers to be "sober, and watch unto
prayer."* Paul directs, "In everything by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto
God."* "But ye, beloved," says Jude,
"praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves
in the love of God."* Unceasing prayer is
the unbroken union of the soul with God, so

- 144 -
that life from God flows into our life; and
from our life, purity and holiness flow back
to God.

There is necessity for diligence in

prayer; let nothing hinder you. Make every
effort to keep open the communion between
Jesus and your own soul. Seek every
opportunity to go where prayer is wont to be
made. Those who are really seeking for
communion with God, will be seen in the
prayer-meeting, faithful to do their duty, and
earnest and anxious to reap all the benefits
they can gain. They will improve every
opportunity of placing themselves where
they can receive the rays of light from
heaven.

We should pray in the family circle; and

above all we must not neglect secret prayer;
for this is the life of the soul. It is
impossible for the soul to flourish while
prayer is neglected. Family or public prayer

- 145 -
alone is not sufficient. In solitude let the
soul be laid open to the inspecting eye of
God. Secret prayer is to be heard only by
the prayer-hearing God. No curious ear is to
receive the burden of such petitions. In
secret prayer the soul is free from
surrounding influences, free from
excitement. Calmly, yet fervently, will it
reach out after God. Sweet and abiding will
be the influence emanating from him who
seeth in secret, whose ear is open to hear the
prayer arising from the heart. By calm,
simple faith, the soul holds communion with
God, and gathers to itself rays of divine light
to strengthen and sustain it in the conflict
with Satan. God is our tower of strength.

Pray in your closet; and as you go about

your daily labor, let your heart be often
uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch
walked with God. These silent prayers rise
like precious incense before the throne of
grace. Satan cannot overcome him whose

- 146 -
heart is thus stayed upon God.

There is no time or place in which it is

inappropriate to offer up a petition to God.
There is nothing that can prevent us from
lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest
prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the
midst of a business engagement, we may
send up a petition to God, and plead for
divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he
made his request before the King
Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be
found wherever we are. We should have the
door of the heart open continually, and our
invitation going up that Jesus may come and
abide as a heavenly guest in the soul.

Although there may be a tainted,

corrupted atmosphere around us, we need
not breathe its miasma, but may live in the
pure air of heaven. We may close every
door to impure imaginings and unholy
thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence

- 147 -
of God through sincere prayer. Those
whose hearts are open to receive the support
and blessing of God will walk in a holier
atmosphere than that of earth, and will have
constant communion with Heaven.

We need to have more distinct views of

Jesus, and a fuller comprehension of the
value of eternal realities. The beauty of
holiness is to fill the hearts of God's
children; and that this may be accomplished,
we should seek for divine disclosures of
heavenly things.

Let the soul be drawn out and upward,

that God may grant us a breath of the
heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near
to God that in every unexpected trial our
thoughts will turn to him as naturally as the
flower turns to the sun.

Keep your wants, your joys, your

sorrows, your cares, and your fears before

- 148 -
God. You cannot burden him; you cannot
weary him. He who numbers the hairs of
your head is not indifferent to the wants of
his children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and
of tender mercy."* His heart of love is
touched by our sorrows, and even by our
utterance of them. Take to him everything
that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too
great for him to bear, for he holds up worlds,
he rules over all the affairs of the universe.
Nothing that in any way concerns our peace
is too small for him to notice. There is no
chapter in our experience too dark for him to
read; there is no perplexity too difficult for
him to unravel. No calamity can befall the
least of his children, no anxiety harass the
soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape
the lips, of which our Heavenly Father is
unobservant, or in which he takes no
immediate interest. "He healeth the broken
in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."*
The relations between God and each soul are
as distinct and full as though there were not

- 149 -
another soul for whom he gave his beloved
Son.

Jesus said, "Ye shall ask in my name:

and I say not unto you that I will pray the
Father for you; for the Father himself loveth
you." "I have chosen you, . . . that
whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
name, he may give it you."* But to pray in
the name of Jesus is something more than a
mere mention of that name at the beginning
and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in
the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we
believe his promises, rely upon his grace,
and work his works.

God does not mean that any of us should

become hermits or monks, and retire from
the world, in order to devote ourselves to
acts of worship. The life must be like
Christ's life,--between the mountain and the
multitude. He who does nothing but pray
will soon cease to pray, or his prayers will

- 150 -
become a formal routine. When men take
themselves out of social life, away from the
sphere of Christian duty and cross-bearing;
when they cease to work earnestly for the
Master, who worked earnestly for them, they
lose the subject-matter of prayer, and have
no incentive to devotion. Their prayers
become personal and selfish. They cannot
pray in regard to the wants of humanity or
the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, pleading
for strength wherewith to work.

We sustain a loss when we neglect the

privilege of associating together to
strengthen and encourage one another in the
service of God. The truths of his word lose
their vividness and importance in our minds.
Our hearts cease to be enlightened and
aroused by the sanctifying influence, and we
decline in spirituality. In our association as
Christians we lose much by lack of
sympathy with one another. He who shuts
himself up to himself is not filling the

- 151 -
position that God designed he should. The
proper cultivation of the social elements in
our nature brings us into sympathy with
others, and is a means of development and
strength to us in the service of God.

If Christians would associate together,

speaking to each other of the love of God,
and of the precious truths of redemption,
their own hearts would be refreshed, and
they would refresh one another. We may be
daily learning more of our Heavenly Father,
gaining a fresh experience of his grace; then
we shall desire to speak of his love; and as
we do this, our own hearts will be warmed
and encouraged. If we thought and talked
more of Jesus, and less of self, we should
have far more of his presence.

If we would but think of God as often as

we have evidence of his care for us, we
should keep him ever in our thoughts, and
should delight to talk of him and to praise

- 152 -
him. We talk of temporal things because we
have an interest in them. We talk of our
friends because we love them; our joys and
our sorrows are bound up with them. Yet
we have infinitely greater reason to love
God than to love our earthly friends, and it
should be the most natural thing in the world
to make him first in all our thoughts, to talk
of his goodness and tell of his power. The
rich gifts he has bestowed upon us were not
intended to absorb our thoughts and love so
much that we should have nothing to give to
God; they are constantly to remind us of
him, and to bind us in bonds of love and
gratitude to our heavenly Benefactor. We
dwell too near the low-lands of earth. Let us
raise our eyes to the open door of the
sanctuary above, where the light of the glory
of God shines in the face of Christ, who "is
able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him."*

We need to praise God more "for his

- 153 -
goodness, and for his wonderful works to
the children of men."* Our devotional
exercises should not consist wholly in
asking and receiving. Let us not be always
thinking of our wants, and never of the
benefits we receive. We do not pray any too
much, but we are too sparing of giving
thanks. We are the constant recipients of
God's mercies, and yet how little gratitude
we express, how little we praise him for
what he has done for us.

Anciently the Lord bade Israel, when

they met together for his service, "Ye shall
eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall
rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye
and your households, wherein the Lord thy
God hath blessed thee."* That which is
done for the glory of God should be done
with cheerfulness, with songs of praise and
thanksgiving, not with sadness and gloom.

Our God is a tender, merciful Father.

- 154 -
His service should not be looked upon as a
heart-saddening, distressing exercise. It
should be a pleasure to worship the Lord and
to take part in his work. God would not
have his children, for whom so great
salvation has been provided, act as if he
were a hard, exacting taskmaster. He is their
best friend; and when they worship him, he
expects to be with them, to bless and
comfort them, filling their hearts with joy
and love. The Lord desires his children to
take comfort in his service, and to find more
pleasure than hardship in his work. He
desires that those who come to worship him
shall carry away with them precious
thoughts of his care and love, that they may
be cheered in all the employments of daily
life, that they may have grace to deal
honestly and faithfully in all things.

We must gather about the cross. Christ

and him crucified should be the theme of
contemplation, of conversation, and of our

- 155 -
most joyful emotion. We should keep in our
thoughts every blessing we receive from
God; and when we realize his great love, we
should be willing to trust everything to the
hand that was nailed to the cross for us.

The soul may ascend nearer heaven on

the wings of praise. God is worshipped with
song and music in the courts above, and as
we express our gratitude, we are
approximating to the worship of the
heavenly hosts. "Whoso offereth praise
glorifieth God."* Let us with reverent joy
come before our Creator, "with
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."*

* Isa. 44:3. * Matt. 7:7; Rom. 8:32. * Heb.

11:6; Mark 11:24. * Matt. 6:12. * Rom.
12:12; Col. 4:2. * I Peter 4:7. * Phil. 4:6. *
Jude 20,21. * James 5:11. * Ps. 147:3. *
John 16:26,27; 15:16. * Heb. 7:25. * Ps.
107:8. * Deut. 12:7. * Ps. 50:23. * Isa.
51:3.

- 156 -
- 157 -
 XI. WHAT TO DO WITH DOUBT

Many, especially those who are young in

the Christian life, are at times troubled with
the suggestions of skepticism. There are in
the Bible many things which they cannot
explain, or even understand, and Satan
employs these to shake their faith in the
Scriptures as a revelation from God. They
ask, "How shall I know the right way? If the
Bible is indeed the word of God, how can I
be freed from these doubts and
perplexities?"

God never asks us to believe, without

giving sufficient evidence upon which to
base our faith. His existence, his character,
the truthfulness of his word, are all
established by testimony that appeals to our
reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet
God has never removed the possibility of
doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence,

- 158 -
not demonstration. Those who wish to
doubt, will have opportunity; while those
who really desire to know the truth, will find
plenty of evidence on which to rest their
faith.

It is impossible for finite minds fully to

comprehend the character or the works of
the Infinite One. To the keenest intellect,
the most highly educated mind, that holy
Being must ever remain clothed in mystery.
"Canst thou by searching find out God?
canst thou find out the Almighty unto
perfection? It is as high as heaven; what
canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst
thou know?"*

The apostle Paul exclaims, "O the depth

of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! how unsearchable are
his judgments, and his ways past finding
out!"* But though "clouds and darkness are
round about him, righteousness and

- 159 -
judgment are the foundation of his throne."*
We can so far comprehend his dealing with
us, and the motives by which he is actuated,
that we may discern boundless love and
mercy united to infinite power. We can
understand as much of his purposes as it is
for our good to know; and beyond this we
must still trust the hand that is omnipotent,
the heart that is full of love.

The word of God, like the character of

its divine Author, presents mysteries that
can never be fully comprehended by finite
beings. The entrance of sin into the world,
the incarnation of Christ, regeneration, the
resurrection, and many other subjects
presented in the Bible, are mysteries too
deep for the human mind to explain, or even
fully to comprehend. But we have no reason
to doubt God's word because we cannot
understand the mysteries of his providence.
In the natural world we are constantly
surrounded with mysteries that we cannot

- 160 -
fathom. The very humblest forms of life
present a problem that the wisest of
philosophers is powerless to explain.
Everywhere are wonders beyond our ken.
Should we then be surprised to find that in
the spiritual world also there are mysteries
that we cannot fathom? The difficulty lies
solely in the weakness and narrowness of
the human mind. God has given us in the
Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine
character, and we are not to doubt his word
because we cannot understand all the
mysteries of his providence.

The apostle Peter says that there are in

Scripture "things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable
wrest . . unto their own destruction."* The
difficulties of Scripture have been urged by
skeptics as an argument against the Bible;
but so far from this, they constitute a strong
evidence of its divine inspiration. If it
contained no account of God but that which

- 161 -
we could easily comprehend; if his greatness
and majesty could be grasped by finite
minds, then the Bible would not bear the
unmistakable credentials of divine authority.
The very grandeur and mystery of the
themes presented, should inspire faith in it
as the word of God.

The Bible unfolds truth with a simplicity

and a perfect adaptation to the needs and
longings of the human heart, that has
astonished and charmed the most highly
cultivated minds, while it enables the
humble and uncultured to discern the way of
salvation. And yet these simply stated truths
lay hold upon subjects so elevated, so far-
reaching, so infinitely beyond the power of
human comprehension, that we can accept
them only because God has declared them.
Thus the plan of redemption is laid open to
us, so that every soul may see the steps he is
to take in repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to be

- 162 -
saved in God's appointed way; yet beneath
these truths, so easily understood, lie
mysteries that are the hiding of his glory,--
mysteries that overpower the mind in its
research, yet inspire the sincere seeker for
truth with reverence and faith. The more he
searches the Bible, the deeper is his
conviction that it is the word of the living
God, and human reason bows before the
majesty of divine revelation.

To acknowledge that we cannot fully

comprehend the great truths of the Bible is
only to admit that the finite mind is
inadequate to grasp the infinite; that man,
with his limited, human knowledge, cannot
understand the purposes of Omniscience.

Because they cannot fathom all its

mysteries, the skeptic and the infidel reject
God's word; and not all who profess to
believe the Bible are free from danger on
this point. The apostle says, "Take heed,

- 163 -
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God."* It is right to study closely the
teachings of the Bible, and to search into
"the deep things of God,"* so far as they are
revealed in Scripture. While "the secret
things belong unto the Lord our God,"
"those things which are revealed belong
unto us."* But it is Satan's work to pervert
the investigative powers of the mind. A
certain pride is mingled with the
consideration of Bible truth, so that men feel
impatient and defeated if they cannot
explain every portion of Scripture to their
satisfaction. It is too humiliating to them to
acknowledge that they do not understand the
inspired words. They are unwilling to wait
patiently until God shall see fit to reveal the
truth to them. They feel that their unaided
human wisdom is sufficient to enable them
to comprehend the Scripture, and failing to
do this, they virtually deny its authority. It
is true that many theories and doctrines

- 164 -
popularly supposed to be derived from the
Bible have no foundation in its teaching, and
indeed are contrary to the whole tenor of
inspiration. These things have been a cause
of doubt and perplexity to many minds.
They are not, however, chargeable to God's
word, but to man's perversion of it.

If it were possible for created beings to

attain to a full understanding of God and his
works, then, having reached this point, there
would be for them no further discovery of
truth, no growth in knowledge, no further
development of mind or heart. God would
no longer be supreme; and man, having
reached the limit of knowledge and
attainment, would cease to advance. Let us
thank God that it is not so. God is infinite;
in him are "all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge."* And to all eternity men may
be ever searching, ever learning, and yet
never exhaust the treasures of his wisdom,
his goodness, and his power.

- 165 -
 God intends that even in this life the
truths of his word shall be ever unfolding to
his people. There is only one way in which
this knowledge can be obtained. We can
attain to an understanding of God's word
only through the illumination of that Spirit
by which the word was given. "The things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God;" "for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God."* And the
Saviour's promise to his followers was,
"When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth . . For he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you."*

God desires man to exercise his

reasoning powers; and the study of the Bible
will strengthen and elevate the mind as no
other study can. Yet we are to beware of
deifying reason, which is subject to the
weakness and infirmity of humanity. If we

- 166 -
would not have the Scriptures clouded to our
understanding, so that the plainest truths
shall not be comprehended, we must have
the simplicity and faith of a little child,
ready to learn, and beseeching the aid of the
Holy Spirit. A sense of the power and
wisdom of God, and of our inability to
comprehend his greatness, should inspire us
with humility, and we should open his word,
as we would enter his presence, with holy
awe. When we come to the Bible, reason
must acknowledge an authority superior to
itself, and heart and intellect must bow to
the great I AM.

There are many things apparently

difficult or obscure, which God will make
plain and simple to those who thus seek an
understanding of them. But without the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, we shall be
continually liable to wrest the Scriptures or
to misinterpret them. There is much reading
of the Bible that is without profit, and in

- 167 -
many cases is a positive injury. When the
word of God is opened without reverence
and without prayer; when the thoughts and
affections are not fixed upon God, or in
harmony with his will, the mind is clouded
with doubt; and in the very study of the
Bible, skepticism strengthens. The enemy
takes control of the thoughts, and he
suggests interpretations that are not correct.
Whenever men are not in word and deed
seeking to be in harmony with God, then,
however learned they may be, they are liable
to err in their understanding of Scripture,
and it is not safe to trust to their
explanations. Those who look to the
Scriptures to find discrepancies, have not
spiritual insight. With distorted vision they
will see many causes for doubt and unbelief
in things that are really plain and simple.

Disguise it as they may, the real cause of

doubt and skepticism, in most cases, is the
love of sin. The teachings and restrictions

- 168 -
of God's word are not welcome to the proud,
sin-loving heart, and those who are
unwilling to obey its requirements are ready
to doubt its authority. In order to arrive at
truth, we must have a sincere desire to know
the truth, and a willingness of heart to obey
it. And all who come in this spirit to the
study of the Bible, will find abundant
evidence that it is God's word, and they may
gain an understanding of its truths that will
make them wise unto salvation.

Christ has said, "If any man willeth to do

his will, he shall know of the teaching."*
Instead of questioning and caviling
concerning that which you do not
understand, give heed to the light that
already shines upon you, and you will
receive greater light. By the grace of Christ,
perform every duty that has been made plain
to your understanding, and you will be
enabled to understand and perform those of
which you are now in doubt.

- 169 -
 There is an evidence that is open to all,--
the most highly educated, and the most
illiterate,--the evidence of experience. God
invites us to prove for ourselves the reality
of his word, the truth of his promises. He
bids us "Taste and see that the Lord is
good."* Instead of depending upon the
word of another, we are to taste for
ourselves. He declares, "Ask, and ye shall
receive."* His promises will be fulfilled.
They have never failed; they never can fail.
And as we draw near to Jesus, and rejoice in
the fullness of his love, our doubt and
darkness will disappear in the light of his
presence.

The apostle Paul says that God "hath

delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son."* And every one who has
passed from death unto life is able to "set to
his seal that God is true."* He can testify, "I

- 170 -
needed help, and I found it in Jesus. Every
want was supplied, the hunger of my soul
was satisfied; and now the Bible is to me the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Do you ask why I
believe in Jesus?--Because he is to me a
divine Saviour. Why do I believe the
Bible?--Because I have found it to be the
voice of God to my soul." We may have the
witness in our ourselves that the Bible is
true, that Christ is the Son of God. We
know that we are not following cunningly
devised fables.

Peter exhorts his brethren to "grow in

grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ."* When the people of
God are growing in grace, they will be
constantly obtaining a clearer understanding
of his word. They will discern new light and
beauty in its sacred truths. This has been
true in the history of the church in all ages,
and thus it will continue to the end. "The
path of the righteous is as the light of dawn,

- 171 -
that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day."*

By faith we may look to the hereafter,

and grasp the pledge of God for a growth of
intellect, the human faculties uniting with
the divine, and every power of the soul
being brought into direct contact with the
Source of light. We may rejoice that all
which has perplexed us in the providences
of God will then be made plain; things hard
to be understood will then find an
explanation; and where our finite minds
discovered only confusion and broken
purposes, we shall see the most perfect and
beautiful harmony. "Now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I
know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I am known."*

- 172 -
* Job 11:7,8. * Rom. 11:33. * Ps. 97:2,
R.V. * II Peter 3:16. * Heb. 3:12. * I Cor.
2:10. * Deut. 29:29. * Col. 2:3. * I Cor.
2:11,10. * John 16:13,14. * John 7:17 R.V.
* Ps. 34:8. * John 16:24. * Col. 1:13. *
John 3:33. * II Peter 3:18. * Prov. 4:18.
R.V. (margin). * I Cor. 13:12.

- 173 -
- 174 -
 XII. REJOICING IN THE LORD

The children of God are called to be

representatives of Christ, showing forth the
goodness and mercy of the Lord. As Jesus
has revealed to us the true character of the
Father, so we are to reveal Christ to a world
that does not know his tender, pitying love.
"As thou hast sent me into the world," said
Jesus, "even so have I also sent them into
the world." "I in them, and thou in me, . . .
that the world may know that thou hast sent
me."* The apostle Paul says to the disciples
of Jesus, "Ye are manifestly declared to be
the epistle of Christ, known and read of all
men."* In every one of his children, Jesus
sends a letter to the world. If you are
Christ's follower, he sends in you a letter to
the family, the village, the street, where you
live. Jesus, dwelling in you, desires to speak
to the hearts of those who are not acquainted
with him. Perhaps they do not read the

- 175 -
Bible, or do not hear the voice that speaks to
them in its pages; they do not see the love of
God through his works. But if you are a true
representative of Jesus, it may be that
through you they will be led to understand
something of his goodness, and be won to
love and serve him.

Christians are set as light-bearers on the

way to heaven. They are to reflect to the
world the light shining upon them from
Christ. Their life and character should be
such that through them others will get a right
conception of Christ and of his service.

If we do represent Christ, we shall make

his service appear attractive, as it really is.
Christians who gather up gloom and sadness
to their souls, and murmur and complain, are
giving to others a false representation of
God and the Christian life. They give the
impression that God is not pleased to have
his children happy, and in this they bear

- 176 -
false witness against our Heavenly Father.

Satan is exultant when he can lead the

children of God into unbelief and
despondency. He delights to see us
mistrusting God, doubting his willingness
and power to save us. He loves to have us
feel that the Lord will do us harm by his
providences. It is the work of Satan to
represent the Lord as lacking in compassion
and pity. He misstates the truth in regard to
him. He fills the imagination with false
ideas concerning God; and instead of
dwelling upon the truth in regard to our
Heavenly Father, we too often fix our minds
upon the misrepresentations of Satan, and
dishonor God by distrusting him and
murmuring against him. Satan ever seeks to
make the religious life one of gloom. He
desires it to appear toilsome and difficult;
and when the Christian presents in his own
life this view of religion, he is, through his
unbelief, seconding the falsehood of Satan.

- 177 -
 Many, walking along the path of life,
dwell upon their mistakes and failures and
disappointments, and their hearts are filled
with grief and discouragement. While I was
in Europe, a sister who had been doing this,
and who was in deep distress, wrote to me,
asking for some word of encouragement.
The night after I had read her letter, I
dreamed that I was in a garden, and One
who seemed to be the owner of the garden
was conducting me through its paths. I was
gathering the flowers and enjoying their
fragrance, when this sister, who had been
walking by my side, called my attention to
some unsightly briers that were impeding
her way. There she was, mourning and
grieving. She was not walking in the
pathway, following the guide, but was
walking among the briers and thorns. "O,"
she mourned, "is it not a pity that this
beautiful garden is spoiled with thorns?"
Then the guide said, "Let the thorns alone,

- 178 -
for they will only wound you. Gather the
roses, the lilies, and the pinks."

Have there not been some bright spots in

your experience? Have you not had some
precious seasons when your heart throbbed
with joy in response to the Spirit of God?
When you look back into the chapters of
your life experience, do you not find some
pleasant pages? Are not God's promises,
like the fragrant flowers, growing beside
your path on every hand? Will you not let
their beauty and sweetness fill your heart
with joy?

The briers and thorns will only wound

and grieve you; and if you gather only these
things, and present them to others, are you
not, besides slighting the goodness of God
yourself, preventing those around you from
walking in the path of life?

It is not wise to gather together all the

- 179 -
unpleasant recollections of a past life,--its
iniquities and disappointments,--to talk over
them and mourn over them until we are
overwhelmed with discouragement. A
discouraged soul is filled with darkness,
shutting out the light of God from his own
soul, and casting a shadow upon the
pathway of others.

Thank God for the bright pictures which

he has presented to us. Let us group
together the blessed assurances of his love,
that we may look upon them continually.
The Son of God leaving his Father's throne,
clothing his divinity with humanity, that he
might rescue man from the power of Satan;
his triumph in our behalf, opening heaven to
men, revealing to human vision the presence
chamber where the Deity unveils his glory;
the fallen race uplifted from the pit of ruin
into which sin had plunged it, and brought
again into connection with the infinite God,
and having endured the divine test through

- 180 -
faith in our Redeemer, clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, and exalted to his
throne,--these are the pictures which God
would have us contemplate.

When we seem to doubt God's love, and

distrust his promises, we dishonor him and
grieve his Holy Spirit. How would a mother
feel if her children were constantly
complaining of her, just as though she did
not mean them well, when her whole life's
effort had been to forward their interests and
to give them comfort? Suppose they should
doubt her love; it would break her heart.
How would any parent feel to be thus treated
by his children? And how can our Heavenly
Father regard us when we distrust his love,
which has led him to give his only begotten
Son that we might have life? The apostle
writes, "He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things?"*
And yet how many, by their actions, if not in

- 181 -
word, are saying, "The Lord does not mean
this for me. Perhaps he loves others, but he
does not love me."

All this is harming your own soul; for

every word of doubt you utter is inviting
Satan's temptations; it is strengthening in
you the tendency to doubt, and it is grieving
from you the ministering angels. When
Satan tempts you, breathe not a word of
doubt or darkness. If you choose to open the
door to his suggestions, your mind will be
filled with distrust and rebellious
questioning. If you talk out your feelings,
every doubt you express not only reacts
upon yourself, but it is a seed that will
germinate and bear fruit in the life of others,
and it may be impossible to counteract the
influence of your words. You yourself may
be able to recover from the season of
temptation and from the snare of Satan; but
others, who have been swayed by your
influence, may not be able to escape from

- 182 -
the unbelief you have suggested. How
important that we speak only those things
that will give spiritual strength and life.

Angels are listening to hear what kind of

report you are bearing to the world about
your heavenly Master. Let your
conversation be of him who liveth to make
intercession for you before the Father.
When you take the hand of a friend, let
praise to God be on your lips and in your
heart. This will attract his thoughts to Jesus.

All have trials; griefs hard to bear,

temptations hard to resist. Do not tell your
troubles to your fellow-mortals, but carry
everything to God in prayer. Make it a rule
never to utter one word of doubt or
discouragement. You can do much to
brighten the life of others and strengthen
their efforts, by words of hope and holy
cheer.

- 183 -
 There is many a brave soul sorely
pressed by temptation, almost ready to faint
in the conflict with self and with the powers
of evil. Do not discourage such a one in his
hard struggle. Cheer him with brave,
hopeful words that shall urge him on his
way. Thus the light of Christ may shine
from you. "None of us liveth to himself."*
By our unconscious influence others may be
encouraged and strengthened, or they may
be discouraged, and repelled from Christ
and the truth.

There are many who have an erroneous

idea of the life and character of Christ. They
think that he was devoid of warmth and
sunniness, that he was stern, severe, and
joyless. In many cases the whole religious
experience is colored by these gloomy
views.

It is often said that Jesus wept, but that

he was never known to smile. Our Saviour

- 184 -
was indeed a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief, for he opened his
heart to all the woes of men. But though his
life was self-denying and shadowed with
pain and care, his spirit was not crushed.
His countenance did not wear an expression
of grief and repining, but ever one of
peaceful serenity. His heart was a well-
spring of life; and wherever he went, he
carried rest and peace, joy and gladness.

Our Saviour was deeply serious and

intensely in earnest, but never gloomy or
morose. The life of those who imitate him
will be full of earnest purpose; they will
have a deep sense of personal responsibility.
Levity will be repressed; there will be no
boisterous merriment, no rude jesting; but
the religion of Jesus gives peace like a river.
It does not quench the light of joy, it does
not restrain cheerfulness, nor cloud the
sunny, smiling face. Christ came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister; and when

- 185 -
his love reigns in the heart, we shall follow
his example.

If we keep uppermost in our minds the

unkind and unjust acts of others, we shall
find it impossible to love them as Christ has
loved us; but if our thoughts dwell upon the
wondrous love and pity of Christ for us, the
same spirit will flow out to others. We
should love and respect one another,
notwithstanding the faults and imperfections
that we cannot help seeing. Humility and
self-distrust should be cultivated, and a
patient tenderness with the faults of others.
This will kill out all narrowing selfishness,
and make us large-hearted and generous.

The Psalmist says, "Trust in the Lord,

and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed."* "Trust in the
Lord." Each day has its burdens, its cares
and perplexities; and when we meet, how
ready we are to talk of our difficulties and

- 186 -
trials. So many borrowed troubles intrude,
so many fears are indulged, such a weight of
anxiety is expressed, that one might suppose
we had no pitying, loving Saviour, ready to
hear all our requests, and to be to us a
present help in every time of need.

Some are always fearing, and borrowing

trouble. Every day they are surrounded with
the tokens of God's love; every day they are
enjoying the bounties of his providence; but
they overlook these present blessings. Their
minds are continually dwelling upon
something disagreeable, which they fear
may come; or some difficulty may really
exist, which, though small, blinds their eyes
to the many things that demand gratitude.
The difficulties they encounter, instead of
driving them to God, the only source of their
help, separate them from him, because they
awaken unrest and repining.

Do we well to be thus unbelieving?

- 187 -
Why should we be ungrateful and
distrustful? Jesus is our friend; all heaven is
interested in our welfare. We should not
allow the perplexities and worries of every-
day life to fret the mind and cloud the brow.
If we do, we shall always have something to
vex and annoy. We should not indulge a
solicitude that only frets and wears us, but
does not help us to bear trials.

You may be perplexed in business; your

prospects may grow darker and darker, and
you may be threatened with loss; but do not
become discouraged; cast your care upon
God, and remain calm and cheerful. Pray
for wisdom to manage your affairs with
discretion, and thus prevent loss and
disaster. Do all you can on your part to
bring about favorable results. Jesus has
promised his aid, but not apart from our
effort. When, relying upon our Helper, you
have done all you can, accept the result
cheerfully.

- 188 -
 It is not the will of God that his people
should be weighed down with care. But our
Lord does not deceive us. He does not say
to us, "Do not fear; there are no dangers in
your path." He knows there are trials and
dangers, and he deals with us plainly. He
does not propose to take his people out of a
world of sin and evil, but he points them to a
never-failing refuge. His prayer for his
disciples was, "I pray not that thou shouldst
take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldst keep them from the evil." "In the
world," he says, "ye shall have tribulation;
but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world."*

In his sermon on the mount, Christ

taught his disciples precious lessons in
regard to the necessity of trusting in God.
These lessons were designed to encourage
the children of God through all ages, and
they have come down to our time full of

- 189 -
instruction and comfort. The Saviour
pointed his followers to the birds of the air
as they warbled their carols of praise
unencumbered with thoughts of care, for
"they sow not, neither do they reap." And
yet the great Father provides for their needs.
The Saviour asks, "Are ye not much better
than they?"* The great Provider for man
and beast opens his hand and supplies all his
creatures. The birds of the air are not
beneath his notice. He does not drop the
food into their bills, but he makes provision
for their needs. They must gather the grains
he has scattered for them. They must
prepare the material for their little nests.
They must feed their young. They go forth
singing to their labor, for "your Heavenly
Father feedeth them." And "are ye not much
better than they?" Are not you, as
intelligent, spiritual worshipers, of more
value than the birds of the air? Will not the
Author of our being, the Preserver of our
life, the One who formed us in his own

- 190 -
divine image, provide for our necessities if
we but trust in him?

Christ pointed his disciples to the

flowers of the field, growing in rich
profusion, and glowing in the simple beauty
which the Heavenly Father had given them,
as an expression of his love to man. He
said, "Consider the lilies of the field, how
they grow." The beauty and simplicity of
these natural flowers, far outrival the
splendor of Solomon. The most gorgeous
attire produced by the skill of art cannot bear
comparison with the natural grace and
radiant beauty of the flowers of God's
creation. Jesus asks, "If God so clothe the
grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-
morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"*
If God, the divine artist, gives to the simple
flowers that perish in a day, their delicate
and varied colors, how much greater care
will he have for those who are created in his

- 191 -
own image? This lesson of Christ's is a
rebuke to the anxious thought, the perplexity
and doubt, of the faithless heart.

The Lord would have all his sons and

daughters happy, peaceful, and obedient.
Jesus says, "My peace I give unto you: not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid." "These things have I spoken unto
you that my joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full."*

Happiness that is sought from selfish

motives, outside of the path of duty, is ill-
balanced, fitful, and transitory; it passes
away, and the soul is filled with loneliness
and sorrow; but there is joy and satisfaction
in the service of God; the Christian is not
left to walk in uncertain paths; he is not left
to vain regrets and disappointments. If we
do not have the pleasures of this life, we
may still be joyful in looking to the life

- 192 -
beyond.

But even here Christians may have the

joy of communion with Christ; they may
have the light of his love, the perpetual
comfort of his presence. Every step in life
may bring us closer to Jesus, may give us a
deeper experience of his love, and may bring
us one step nearer to the blessed home of
peace. Then let us not cast away our
confidence, but have firm assurance, firmer
than ever before. "Hitherto hath the Lord
helped us,"* and he will help us to the end.
Let us look to the monumental pillars
reminders of what the Lord has done to
comfort us and to save us from the hand of
the destroyer. Let us keep fresh in our
memory all the tender mercies that God has
shown us,--the tears he has wiped away, the
pains he has soothed, the anxieties removed,
the fears dispelled, the wants supplied, the
blessings bestowed, thus strengthening
ourselves for all that is before us through the

- 193 -
remainder of our pilgrimage.

We cannot but look forward to new

perplexities in the coming conflict, but we
may look on what is past as well as on what
is to come, and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord
helped us." "As thy days, so shall thy
strength be."* The trial will not exceed the
strength that shall be given us to bear it.
Then let us take up our work just where we
find it, believing that whatever may come,
strength proportionate to the trial will be
given.

And by and by the gates of heaven will

be thrown open to admit God's children, and
from the lips of the King of Glory the
benediction will fall on their ears like richest
music, "Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world."*

Then the redeemed will be welcomed to

- 194 -
the home that Jesus is preparing for them.
There their companions will not be the vile
of earth, liars, idolaters, the impure and
unbelieving; but they will associate with
those who have overcome Satan, and
through divine grace have formed perfect
characters. Every sinful tendency, every
imperfection, that afflicts them here, has
been removed by the blood of Christ, and
the excellence and brightness of his glory,
far exceeding the brightness of the sun, is
imparted to them. And the moral beauty, the
perfection of his character, shines through
them, in worth far exceeding this outward
splendor. They are without fault before the
great white throne, sharing the dignity and
the privileges of the angels.

In view of the glorious inheritance that

may be his, "what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?"* He may be poor,
yet he possesses in himself a wealth and
dignity that the world could never bestow.

- 195 -
The soul redeemed and cleansed from sin,
with all its noble powers dedicated to the
service of God, is of surpassing worth; and
there is joy in heaven in the presence of God
and the holy angels over one soul redeemed,
a joy that is expressed in songs of holy
triumph.

* John 17:18,23. * II Cor. 3:3,2. * Rom.

8:32. * Rom. 14:7. * Ps. 37:3. * John
17:15; 16:33. * Matt. 6:26. * Matt. 6:28,30.
* John 14:27; 15:11. * I Sam. 7:12. * Deut.
33:25. * Matt. 25:34. * Matt. 16:26.

- 196 -