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Title: How to Live a Holy Life

Author: C. E. Orr

Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6999]
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE ***




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How to Live a Holy Life

C. E. Orr




DEVOTIONAL READING.


A person may almost be known by the books he reads. If he habitually reads
bad books, we can pretty safely conclude that he is a bad man; on the
other hand, if he habitually reads religious books, we can reasonably
presume that he is a religious man. Why is this? It is because the nature
of a person's books is usually the nature of his thoughts; and as a man
thinks, so he is.

Consequently, our reading devotional literature is a great aid to our
being devotional. Too few, I fear, realize how important to our spiritual
advancement is the cultivation of a taste for devotional reading. As a
rule, those who have a taste for spiritual books and gratify that taste
prosper in the Lord, while those who have no relish for such books labor
at a great disadvantage. Some one has said that "he who begins a devout
life without a taste for spiritual reading may consider the ordinary
difficulties multiplied in his case by ten." The most spiritual men of all
ages have had a strong love for reading spiritual books. If, however, my
reader happens not to have such a taste or such a love, he should not be
discouraged, for it can be created and increased through perseverance in
reading devotional literature. Just as a person who does not relish a
certain food may learn to like it if he will persist in eating it, so a
person who does not have a taste for devotional books may come to enjoy
them if he will diligently and prayerfully peruse them.

Spiritual reading invigorates the intellect, warms the affections, and
begets in us a desire for more of God's fulness and for a more heavenly
life. It is especially helpful to prayer. When the mind is dull and the
spirits low and we have no inspiration for prayer, the reading of a
spiritual poem will often so stimulate the mind, raise the spirits, and
animate the soul, as to make it easy for us to pray.

As to what books to read, the Bible, of course, is the best of all. But we
need others. Although no other book can take the place of the Bible and
none of us should neglect reading it, there are many books that can
profitably be read in connection with it.

But whatever devotional book you are reading, do not read too fast. Think
and digest as you go. Let there be a frequent lifting of the heart to God
in prayer. It is not the bee that flies so swiftly from flower to flower
that gathers the honey, but the bee that goes down into the flower. A few
sentences taken into the mind and heart, and dwelt upon until they have
become a part of us, are better than many pages read superficially.




PREFACE.


If the reading of this little book encourages any on their pilgrim way; if
it arouses them to greater diligence; if it creates in them a stronger
desire to live more like Christ; if it gives them a better understanding
of how to live,--this poor servant of the Lord will be fully rewarded for
all his labor.

Even among the children of God in this beautiful gospel light of the
evening there is an inclination, on the part of a few at least, and maybe
more than a few, to slow down and not be their very best and most active
for God. We hope that this little book will arouse such ones to greater
zeal and earnestness. Diligence, yea, constant application, is the secret
of success in all manner of life and especially in the Christian life.

This volume is written for all those who desire to please God with a well
-spent life. It is sent forth in Jesus' name, with a prayer--that God bless
and help both the reader and the writer to live life at its very best and
fulfil the purpose of God concerning them.

Your humble servant in Christian love,

The Author.




INTRODUCTION.


We have only one life to live, only one. Think of this for a moment. Here
we are in this world of time making the journey of life. Each day we are
farther from the cradle and nearer the grave. Solemn thought. See the
mighty concourse of human lives; hear their heavy tread in their onward
march. Some are just beginning life's journey; some are midway up the
hill, some have reached the top, and some are midway down the western
slope. But where are we all going? Listen, and you will hear but one
answer--"Eternity." Beyond the fading, dying gleams of the sunset of life
lies a boundless, endless ocean called Eternity. Thitherward you and I are
daily traveling.

Time is like a great wheel going its round. On and on it goes. Some are
stepping on and some are stepping off. But where are these latter
stepping? Into eternity. See that old man with bent form, snow-white
locks, and tottering steps. His has been a long round, but he has made it
at last. See the middle-aged. His round has not been so long, but he must
step off. See the youth. He has been on only a little while, but he is
brought to the stepping-off place. He thought his round would be much
longer. He supposed he was fairly getting started when that icy hand was
laid upon him and the usher said, "Come, you have made your round, and you
must go." The infant that gave its first faint cry this morning may utter
its last feeble wail tonight. And thus they go. But where? Eternity.

If you were to start today and ask each person you met the question,
"Where are you going?" and, if possible, you were to travel the world over
and ask each one of earth's inhabitants, there could be but one answer--
"Eternity."

  "Oh, eternity,
  Long eternity!
  Hear the solemn footsteps
  Of eternity."

Only one life to live! Only one life, and then we must face vast, endless
eternity. We shall pass along the pathway of life but once. Every step we
take is a step that can never be taken again. With this fact in mind, who
does not feel like calling upon the All-wise to direct his every step. If
when we make a misstep we could go back and step it over, then there would
not be such great necessity to step carefully. But we can never go back.
We are leaving footprints. Just as our steps are, so will the footprints
be which will tell the story of our life. If we had a score of lives to
live, how to live this one would not be of such great moment. We should
then have nineteen lives in which to correct the errors and sins of this
one; but alas! we have but one. What, then, should we seek more earnestly
than to know <i>how to live?</i>

We doubt not but there is in the heart of the reader a strong desire to
live life as it should be lived. Thank God, you can. You desire your life
to be like the fertile oasis, where the weary traveler refreshes himself.
You have seen the rays of light lingering upon the hillside and treetop
and gilding the fleecy cloud after the sun had gone down. You desire the
beautiful rays of light from your life to linger long after your sun has
gone down. You can have it that way. The deeds you do will live after you
are gone. They are the footprints. Some one has said that we each day are
here building the house we are going to occupy in eternity. If this be
true, nothing should concern us so much as how to live. Some men are
devoting their time and the power of their intellects to invention; some
are studying statesmanship; some are studying the arts, others the
sciences; but we have come to learn a little more about how to live. Many
are thinking much about how they wish to die, but let us learn how to
live. If we live well, we shall die well.

Since we have but one life to live and with it we must face eternity, I am
sure there are many who want to make the most of life. There are many who
want to be their best in life. This is not a play-ground, or a place to
trifle with time. It is a place of work and effort, a place of purpose and
earnestness, a place to do something. Life is not given us to squander nor
fritter away, but was given us to accomplish a purpose in the mind of the
Creator. If we will set ourselves to live as we should, God will help us
and no man can hinder us. We are purchasing treasures for eternity by
making a proper use of time. To trifle away time is indeed to be the
greatest of spendthrifts. If you squander a dollar, you may regain it; but
a moment wasted can never be regained.

There is great responsibility in life. It means much to live. The time was
when you and I were not, now we are. We are, and there can never come a
time when we shall not be. You and I shall always exist somehow,
somewhere. One sweet thought to me is that I have time enough to do all
that God intends for me to do, and do it well. Then comes another
thought--a thought that awes: the good that I do, the sum of my
usefulness, will be less than it should be if I spend a moment of time
uselessly. God will give us all the time we need to accomplish all he
purposes us to accomplish, but he does not give us one moment to trifle
away.

The mission of this little volume is to strengthen and energize and help
you to spend life as you should. May it please the Great Teacher, who has
promised to "show us the path of life," to bless this little work and by
it help some one to a pure and noble life and to the accomplishment of all
God's design in giving them life.

The Author.




CONTENTS.


Devotional Reading............................................. 4

Preface........................................................ 5

Introduction................................................... 7

The Way the Sail is Set (Poem)................................ 15

The Model Life................................................ 17

How to Live the Christ-Life................................... 22

The Bible Way................................................. 25

The Heavenly Way.............................................. 29

Keeping the Commandments...................................... 31

"Be Doers of the Word"........................................ 37

Who are the Wise?............................................. 39

Keeping the Commandments a Test of Love....................... 41

The Blessedness of Obeying God's Word......................... 43

The Relationship We Have with Christ through Obedience........ 45

Our Life is to Adorn the Gospel............................... 46

The Christian an Epistle of Christ............................ 48

How We may Live as the Bible Reads............................ 50

How to Keep the Word of God in the Heart...................... 52

Man the Vehicle for Exhibiting God's Perfections.............. 54

Some Use to Jesus (Poem)...................................... 63

Godly Living.................................................. 65

Something to Do............................................... 69

Spiritual Dryness............................................. 76

Prayer........................................................ 81

Keep the Roots Watered........................................ 85

Under the Fig-Tree............................................ 87

Shut the Door................................................. 91

Alone with God................................................ 93

Prayerful Remembrance (Poem).................................. 95

He Careth for Thee............................................ 96

"Consider the Lilies"........................................ 102

Sorrowful Yet always Rejoicing............................... 105

Gentleness................................................... 113

Tenderness................................................... 117

The Christian Walk........................................... 124

The Christian is to Walk Circumspectly....................... 125

The Latest Improved.......................................... 129

The Christian's Walk a Walk with God......................... 130

A Holy Life.................................................. 148

Lukewarmness................................................. 151

Steadfastness................................................ 156

How to Understand God's Will................................. 160

A View of Jesus.............................................. 164

Devotion to God.............................................. 166

The Golden Rule of Life...................................... 174

Timeliness in Doing Good..................................... 177

The Warfare of a Christian Life.............................. 181

Life by Faith................................................ 183

A Valuable Legacy............................................ 185

Some Scriptures for Daily Practise........................... 188




THE WAY THE SAIL IS SET.


  I stood beside the open sea;
   The ships went sailing by;
  The wind blew softly o'er the lea;
   The sun had cloudless sky.


  Some ships sailed eastward, some sailed west,
   Some north, some southward trend.
  How can ships sail this way and that?
   But one way blows the wind.

  An old sea-captain made reply
   (His locks with salt-spray wet):
  "'Tis not the wind decides the course;
   'Tis way the sails are set."

  *       *       *       *       *

  I stand beside the sea of life;
   The ships go sailing by;
  The winds blow fair from heaven's land;
   No clouds bedim the sky.

  But one sails eastward, one sails west,
   One north, one southward goes:
  How can ships sail this way and that
   With selfsame wind that blows?

  A voice made answer to my soul:
   "'Tis not how blows the gale;
  Each voyager decides the goal
   By way he sets the sail."--Selected.




How to Live a Holy Life


THE MODEL LIFE.


In doing anything, it is always well to have a model by which to fashion
our work. In fact, nothing is done without a pattern, either real or
imaginary. The little boy making a toy has in in his mind a model by which
he is framing his work. Likewise, the sculptor has in his mind a model,
and as the "marble wastes, the image grows" into the likeness of the
vision in his soul.

To live this one life of ours as it should be lived, we must have a
perfect model after which to pattern. Thank God, this perfect model of
life can be found. Of all the vast number of lives that have been lived
since Adam down to this present day, there has been only one that we can
take as a model. This one is the life of Jesus. He says, "I am the life."
To live this life of ours well, to live it to the highest degree of
perfection, we must fashion it according to the glorious life of Christ.
The life of Jesus is the model life for every other human life. He invites
us, yea, commands us, to follow him, to step in his steps, to walk as he
walked.

There have been many good men in the world, but none of them afford us a
true pattern of life. There was a man who said, "Be ye followers of me,"
but he immediately added, "even as I also am of Christ." Man may so live
as to reveal to us the life of Christ. We can then follow, not them, but
the Christ-life they manifested through them.

Let me here say a word on a subject on which we may have more to say
hereafter. The grandest, noblest work man has ever done is by his life to
reveal the life of Christ to another, thereby helping that person to be
fashioned more after the image of Jesus. A little flower grew in a place
so shaded that no ray from the sun could fall directly upon it. A window
was so situated that at a certain time in the afternoon it refracted the
sun's rays and threw them upon the flower, thus giving it color and
beauty, and aiding it to bloom. Some people are living in the dense shade.
No light from Christ has ever shined upon them. If you so live as to
refract the life of Christ and turn it upon them and thus stamp upon them
a holier life, you have not lived in vain. To set the life of Christ in
its purity and beauty before some one and influence him, though only a
little, to live better and love Jesus more, is a work the worth of which
can never be computed. He who helps another to a better way of living does
more than he who gains great worldly honor and riches. Blessed indeed is
that life which causes some other life to be more like Christ. Oh, may
this thought seize upon our hearts and fill us with a greater passion to
live the life of God.

We are told by the voice of Scripture to be "followers of God as dear
children." When children are dear to the heart of the parent, he loves to
have them obey him. God's children are dear to him, and he would have them
follow him. To follow God is to imitate him, or be like him. This is the
true way of life.

A text of Scripture as rendered by the Revised Version is very appropriate
here: "Like as he which has called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy
in all manner of living." 1 Pet. 1:15. Only those who live godly in their
entire manner of life are spending the days of their pilgrimage as they
should. Jesus has walked the true way of life; we are told to walk in his
steps. If we will step each day just where Jesus stepped, then on looking
back, we can not see a footprint of our own; but if we take a single
misstep, our footprint will show our departure from the true way of life.
How deep and awful are the words of Scripture wherein we are commanded to
walk even as "Jesus walked"! Jesus says, "I am the way." There is no other
right and perfect way. If we will walk as Jesus walked, then we shall walk
in the true path of life. This only is the pathway that leads up to the
golden gates of glory and the sweet fields of heaven. That bright world of
bliss encourages us on. If we will follow Jesus and live as he lived,
God's approval will be upon us, and his outstretched hand will help us
along life's way and finally over the turbulent river of death to the
sunlit shore of eternal rest.

Many times we may become wearied and think the toils of the way almost too
heavy; but when we remember that it is the way that Jesus trod, then the
heavens open to our view, we look forward to the mansion prepared for us,
and the toils of the way grow lighter.

See that aged pilgrim journeying down the western slope of life. The sun
is nearing the setting. Long and toilsome has been his pilgrimage, but he
has walked in the path his Savior trod. For many years his life has been
hid with Christ in God. In Him he has lived and moved and had his being.
Now he is making his last step on the shore of time; he passes out of our
sight through the gates into that land where toils are ended and the sun
never sets. But his life was the life of Jesus. He was holy as God is
holy; he walked as Jesus walked. This is how to live. This is the true way
of life and the only way to life eternal. He who does not live with Christ
on earth can not live with him in heaven, and he who does not live as
Jesus lived does not live as he should. The life of Christ was the perfect
life. Ours is perfect to the degree that we imitate him.

  Take my life, O Christ divine,
  Make it holy, just like thine;
  Every act and thought and word
  Be an outflow from my God.

  Guide my feet and keep my heart;
  Let me not from thee depart;
  Let me breathe thy warming love,
  That my soul be drawn above.

  Draw me, Jesus, closer draw;
  Thy strong arm around me throw;
  Draw me to thy pierced side;
  In thy bosom let me hide.

  Teach me all thy will and word,
  That my life be filled with God;
  Teach me, Lamb of Calvary,
  How to live this life for thee.




HOW TO LIVE THE CHRIST-LIFE.


Man can not naturally live the Christ-life. But Christ has promised to
come into our hearts and live in us. In order that we may have Christ
dwell in our hearts and that we may live his life, there must be a giving
up of our self-life. There must be annihilation of self that Christ may
live. It is truly wonderful and as glorious as it is wonderful that man
can live the life of Christ in this world. But here is the secret: it is
man ceasing to live the self-life and Christ living in him.

Imagine a hollow brass figure in the exact image of a man. Suppose you
fill this hollow figure with a kind of life which we shall call self-life.
This life goes to using the hands and feet, and eyes, ears, tongue, in
short, all the members of this brass figure, but using them in the
interest of itself. Now you desire to make a change; you want that image
to speak, act, and think only for you. You must first put to death the
life that is using the figure, cleanse it entirely out, and then get into
it yourself. Once in, you can use all the members of that image for
yourself. Your body is that image. There was a life in you that used all
the members of your body in the interest of self. But there has been a
change. You were made a new creature. The life you once had was put to
death--was crucified; then Christ stepped into your heart, and now he
uses all the members of your body for himself. You still live, yet not
you, but Christ lives in you. Once you did things for yourself; now you do
them for Christ. Just as you once lived purposely and intentionally for
yourself, now you do things purposely and intentionally for Jesus, because
it is he that lives, and not you yourself. You remember how once you would
plan for yourself. In the evening as you lay upon your bed and again in
the morning and throughout the day you would think about what you were
going to eat or drink, what you were going to have for clothing, where you
were going to live, where you were going to go, and what you were going to
do. But now you are changed; you are a new creature. Now it is not you
that lives, but Christ lives in you. Now you eat not for yourself but for
Jesus. You now go, not where self would lead you, but where that life in
you loves to go and would have you go. You do things, not for yourself,
but for Jesus.

  O Christ, I die, that thou mayst live,
   That thou mayst live in me;
  That all I think or speak or do,
   May be, O Lord, for thee.

  May not the least of self remain,
   But all be put to death.
  Oh, may I nothing do for self,
   Nor draw one selfish breath!

  To have my Savior live in me,
   To occupy the whole,
  To make my heart his royal throne
   And take complete control--

  'Tis all I ask; 'tis all I wish;
   'Tis all my heart's desire,
  Content if but a wayside bush
   To hold God's holy fire.

  Low at thy feet, O Christ, I fall
   A yielded lump of clay,
  For thee to mold me as thou wilt,
   To have thy own sweet way.




THE BIBLE WAY.


If the Bible had not been given us, we should not always know the way that
Jesus walked. But he has given us his Word. The way of the Bible is the
way of Christ, and is therefore the true path of life. O pilgrim to the
heavenly kingdom, the Word of God will be a lamp unto thy feet and a light
unto thy way. It will lighten you home. There will never be a day so dark
but the beams of light from the blessed Bible will pierce through the
darkness and fall with a bright radiance upon your pathway. If sometimes
you can not see just where Jesus stepped, take the precious Book of God,
and it will be a lamp to show you the way he trod. One wintry morning a
father went a long distance through the deep snow to feed his sheep. A few
hours later a little boy was sent to call his father home. The child was
carefully stepping in the footprints before him, but soon a dark cloud
arose and the blinding snow-storm so dimmed his eye that he frequently
stepped aside. In the beautiful, clear light of the Bible we can see all
the way that Jesus trod. If we will walk according to the Bible, we shall
walk as Jesus walked and not show a double track. Make the blessed Word of
God your guide if you would walk aright the path of life and be happy.

  "And often for your comfort you will read the Guide
   and Chart:
  It has wisdom for the mind and sweet solace for the
   heart;
  It will serve you as a mentor; it will guide you sure
   and straight
  All the time that you will journey, be the ending soon
   or late."

'The Scriptures are given by inspiration of God and are profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect' 2 Tim. 3:16. If by faith we receive
into our hearts the instruction in righteousness as given by the
Scriptures, it will make us perfect in this life. O reader, if you would
know how to live, study the Bible. It points out the way clearly and
plainly. Let its truths in all their power reach to the depth of thy
heart. Let thy soul seize upon the Bible and drink its strength and
sweetness as the bee sips the sweetness from the flower. As the animal
eats the plant and by assimilation converts it into animal life, so eat
the Book of God and convert it into human life. It is the food of angels.
But rather than its being the Bible converted into human life, it is human
life transformed into the purity of the Bible. There are great depths to
the Bible. The simplest text contains depths to which we can ever be
descending.

They who would live a perfect life must set the life of Christ before them
as portrayed by the Holy Scriptures. You can not see much of this perfect
life by a passing glance. It is he who looks into the perfect law of
liberty and continues to look that will see the perfect life which it
pictures. The artist must look long at the landscape and get it imaged
upon his soul before he can produce it upon the canvas. The Bible
description of the life of Christ must fill your soul with admiration and
with a strong desire to possess it. Your heart must lay hold upon it until
that life is focused and printed upon your own soul. It is like the art of
photographing. The object must be set before the heart.

The Bible is the light that shines the image of Christ upon the soul. For
the pure in heart to develop into higher spiritual life, they must gain
such an admiration for the beauty of Christ that they will long to possess
him in greater fulness. The pleading of the heart will be, "Lord, let thy
beauty be upon us." Their souls will follow hard after his perfections. In
no other way will the soul unfold and develop into the higher Christian
life. He who has not learned how to grow in grace has not yet learned how
to live. To live life in the best possible manner is to be making constant
progress. Oh, let us give this world our best life! When we are nearing
the end of the way and life's sun is sinking low, if on looking back we
can see nothing but a life spent in the service of God, walking in the
light of his Word, this will afford us untold satisfaction.

  O blessed Word of eternal life,
  The lamp to guide the way
  Through this weary world of sin and strife
  To heaven's perfect day!




THE HEAVENLY WAY.


There is a heaven. There is a place of rest and happiness. I have not gone
to heaven, but heaven has come to me; therefore I know there is a heaven.
Many who have eaten oranges have never been in a land where oranges grow,
but these persons know there must be such a land, because they have tasted
its fruit. Likewise, I know there is a heaven because I daily taste its
joy.

Not only is there a heaven, but there is a way to heaven. All can go who
will. Heaven is a holy place, and the way to heaven is a holy way. A
prophet of God said, "An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall
be called the way of holiness." The Christian dwells in a heavenly place.

The writer to the saints at Ephesus says, "He hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places." To live in a heavenly place,
we must live a heavenly life. Those who do not live a heavenly life on
earth will never live in heaven. The heavenly life is the only life worth
living. It is the only life that ends in heaven. The way of holiness is
the way of happiness. Holy and happy is the true and right life of man.
This one brief life of ours should be constant holiness and happiness.
Without these, life is not as it should be. It is our privilege in Christ
to walk the path of life in perfect peace and joy and in perfect holiness.
Such a life will flow out into an eternity of joys unspeakable.

  Wait thou on God, O soul of mine!
   Listen to know his will;
  Light will come from the golden throne
   If thou, O soul, be still.

  If thou wouldst sail on tranquil sea,
   Wait thou on God, my soul.
  Speak, act, and think alone in him;
   Sweet rest shall be thy goal.

  If thou wouldst have life's way to be
   Verdant as the growing sod,
  Take each step 'neath the guiding eye,
   Keep in close touch with God.

  Sweet heavenly life! sweet happy life!
   Thy joys increase each day.
  O soul of mine, press up and on
   This high and holy way.




KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS.


God's Word is pure. Heaven itself and the great white throne is no more
pure than the Word of God. That life may be pure, it must be in sweet
harmony with the blessed Bible. A life that is lived in obedience to the
Bible is as pure as the Bible. Such a life is pure enough for heaven. The
writer of Revelation, being in the Spirit, saw "a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb." This pure stream was the wonderful word of life. It was as pure as
its source, which was the throne of God. The life through which this pure
stream flows will be as pure as the throne.

One of the Psalm-writers said, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." "Thy word is
pure; therefore thy servant loveth it." The writer of Proverbs says,
"Every word of God is pure." When the veil is drawn aside and our souls
are brought face to face with the purity of the Bible, then we understand
that a Bible life is the best, purest, noblest, and holiest life that can
be lived upon the earth.

  O soul of mine, unveil thine eye,
   Look upward to thy God,
  A wreath of purity to see
   Crowning his every word.

In the following words we have the sum of all true and right living: "Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep his
commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13. This text
as rendered in the Septuagint version brings out clearer the true
signification: "Hear the end of the matter, the sum. Fear God and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole man." Man is not entire, he is not
complete as originally intended, when not keeping all the commands of God.
Something is lacking in the life that is not in full obedience to every
word of God.

The Bible speaks of a beautiful city in that bright, celestial world. It
is a city of pure gold, clear as glass. Its walls are of jasper; its
twelve foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones; its
twelve gates are gates of pearl; its streets are pure gold. In that fair
city there is no sin, no pain, no sickness; sorrow and trouble never come
there; a tear shall never fall from any eye, for no tears are there. There
is no death in that wonderful city so fair. In the midst of the street
stands the tree of life. Oh, who does not desire to dwell forever and
forever in that city of love and light when the pains and sorrows, the
trials and tears, of this weary life are over?

Listen while I read to you in accents clear, distinct, and unmistakable--
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev.
22:14. O traveler to eternity, your entrance into the beautiful, glorious
city of God depends upon your conduct respecting the commandments of God
while you are making the journey across the turbulent sea of life. Keeping
the commandments of God is man's whole duty. If he does his whole duty
through life, he will come up out of the dark valley and shadow of death,
and find the gates of pearl unfolding. Who will not cleave to the
commandments of God? Who will not obey his voice and walk daily in his
holy ways? The obedient will be rewarded by an unfading inheritance in
that eternal city of gold. There is a beautiful mansion in the great house
of God for every obedient soul. Oh, how blessed!

  I am thinking of heaven tonight,
  Of the mansion prepared there for me,
  Where Jesus my Savior now dwells,
  And where I am longing to be.

Will not heaven be well worth a life of obedience to the Word of God,
though obedience calls us through storms of persecutions, furnaces of
trials, oceans of tribulations, and years of toil and suffering? To Moses
the reproaches of Christ were greater treasures than the riches of Egypt,
"for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Sit quiet for a
moment and by a strong eye of faith look away into heaven and see that
bright mansion prepared for you. See those jasper walls, those pearly
gates, and those golden walks. See the crown of life, the harp of God, and
the light of the Lamb. Shall we not bear the trials of life a little
longer in patience? Shall we not be watchful to walk in God's ways and
obey him, that this rich inheritance may be ours forever? Methinks I can
hear a reply coming from the depths of many a sincere, trusting heart--
"Yes, I will live in humble obedience to God on earth, that I may be with
him forever in that celestial city of light." God bless you!

Beyond the shores of time and the kingdoms of this world is a kingdom
called the kingdom of heaven. It is the place where God has his great
white throne, around which the angels play upon their golden harps and
shout, "Blessing and honor and glory and praise and might be unto God
forever and ever." It is around this throne that those who have passed
through the tribulations and the trying scenes of this lower world and
burst through the gates of death are singing redemption's sweet song. Who
does not desire to join that happy, heavenly throng and wave those palms
and wear those white robes and sing those sweet songs over beyond the
shadowy vale of death? I seem to hear many voices saying, "I hope to be
among that blood-washed throng." Let me tell you in all tenderness and
love, but very plainly, that the realization of your hope depends entirely
upon how you live while here in this world. Oh, how much in that great and
awful future is depending upon our manner of life in this time-world! Let
us learn to live well, to be our best every day.

We may dream of a home in heaven; we may entertain hopes of seeing Jesus
and of inheriting a mansion on the shores of eternal bliss; we may imagine
ourselves walking through the blooming fields of paradise and sitting
beneath the tree of life; but our dreams, our hopes, and our imaginations
will never be realized unless we carefully keep the commandments of God.
More than a profession is necessary; obedience is the only door into the
kingdom of God. Jesus said, "Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven." Until our faith pierces through and beholds
the beauties and the realities of God so we can say from the very depths
of the soul, "I delight to do thy will, O God." and, "My meat and my drink
is to do the will of Him that sent me," we have not fully entered the true
and right pathway of life. Keeping the commands of God is the whole man
and the whole of a perfect life.




"BE DOERS OF THE WORD."


I want to remind you again that the mission of this little volume is to
teach you how to live. The life beyond depends on the life here. Let me
emphasize what I have repeatedly said before: to live as we should, we
must live by every word of God. To live by every word of God is not only
to hear it but also to do it. We have learned that, in order to enter the
city of God and eat of the tree of life, we must <i>do</i> his
commandments, and also that it is not "every one that sayeth, Lord, Lord,
that shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven."

Now I will read you a text from the Epistle of James, "But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." We are living
in a careless age. The Word of God is being treated with neglect. Many are
hearing it, but alas! how few are doing it! In this way people deceive
themselves. They think they are on their way to heaven, when they are not.
The only way to heaven is by doing the commandments. To illustrate this, I
will refer you to a few texts. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him." Rom.
12:20. "Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other also." Matt. 5:39. "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye
also to them likewise." Luke 6:31. If it comes most natural for us to live
according to these texts, we can begin to conclude that our hearts are
right with God. However, we must have a heart that does not rebel against
any text in the Bible.

We are exhorted earnestly by the apostle Peter to make our "calling and
election sure." The only way to do so is to live to every word of God. Oh,
my dear reader, those sweet hopes you have had of reaching heaven and of
seeing Jesus and those dear loved ones who have gone before you to that
other side will never be realized by you unless you be a diligent doer of
the Word of God. I feel like warning you against all carelessness and
neglect, and to keep yourself in the love of God. See that your heart and
life reads each day as the Bible reads, and you will then have an unshaken
foundation for your faith and hope. If you would know how to live and make
the best of life, read the Bible much and conform your life to its
teaching.




WHO ARE THE WISE?


Who is a foolish man? It is a man who hears the sayings of Jesus and fails
to do them. He is likened to a man who was foolish enough to build his
house upon the sand. This man would better not have built at all, for the
cost of building was lost. He could have had the money for his use and
enjoyment if he had not wasted it in building a house on the sand. A
foolish man, indeed! Who is a wise man? It is the man who hears the
sayings of Jesus and does them. He is likened to a man who built his house
upon a rock. From a temporal standpoint nothing else is so conducive to
man's happiness as a good home. No better use can be made of money than to
spend it in the building of a home, provided the house be built upon a
sure foundation. A man who hears God's Word and does it is likened to such
a man. To build up a Christian character in obedience to the Bible is the
greatest wisdom. That is building a mansion in heaven.

A real, true Christian experience and life cost something, but they pay,
because they will stand. A mere profession of Christianity may cost
something also, but it does not pay, since it will not stand. A man who
erects his house upon the sand can build at less cost than he who digs
deep and lays his foundation upon the rock, but at the very time when the
former man most needs his house--when the winds blow and the rain falls--
that is when it is destroyed. On the other hand, the man who builds upon a
rock has a house to shelter him through the storms. Likewise, he who
builds up a Christian experience in obedience to the Word of God will have
something to serve him in a time of need.

We thus learn from Jesus' parable of the wise and the foolish house
-builders that obeying the Bible is the true way of life.




KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS A TEST OF LOVE.


We are commanded to love God. It is the first and greatest commandment.
Love is more than an emotion; it is an act of the will. A mother loves her
child constantly, though she may not always experience the emotions of
love. Her care for her child is a proof of her love. We may not always
experience a feeling of love toward God, but we can always love him. Our
love is measured, not by our emotions, but by our obedience--our service.
We labor for those we love, and the love makes the labor light. It is not
an irksome thing to obey God when we love him.

It is possible to make a profession of love to God and not really love
him. It may be that many are deceived at this point. One scripture says,
"If any man love God, the same is known of him." Jesus says, "Why call ye
me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Love is something more
than mere words. It is useless to make a profession of love to Jesus and
not do what he says. A husband can not convince his wife of his love by a
mere profession of love, but he can convince her by his acts. We are to
love, not in word and tongue only, but also in deed and in truth. Again,
Jesus says, "If a man love me, he will keep my words." Here is an
unfailing test of love. If you will not obey God, he knows you do not love
him, no matter how much you may profess to love him.

So again we are reminded by the Holy Bible that, in order to spend this
brief life of ours as we should, we must keep the commandments of God. No
other life will find acceptance with God. No other life will please him.
He desires your love most certainly, but he wants such love as will prompt
you to obey him. Do not measure your Christian experience by your
feelings, but measure it by your obedience as proceeding from an internal
principle. When you find something in your heart that causes you to obey
God no matter how you feel, you have good reason to hope that you are a
Christian.

In subsequent chapters I will tell you something of what God's Word
teaches, but, first of all, I desire to fully convince you, and to help
you to feel, that the right and true way of life is in obedience to its
teaching.




THE BLESSEDNESS OF OBEYING GOD'S WORD.


Everything is said in the Scriptures that can be said to show us the need
of living in harmony with the Bible. If our lives are out of harmony with
one text in that blessed book, we are not yet fitted for heaven. We can
never be admitted into the everlasting kingdom of God if we knowingly
refuse or neglect to live to every word of God. We are therefore exhorted,
beseeched, entreated, encouraged, warned, and commanded to obey every text
in the Bible. We are encouraged to obedience by being told of the
blessedness of keeping the commandments.

It is natural for mothers to love to have their children well spoken of.
We do not fault them for this. When a young man, by his good deportment,
is gaining a fair name, mothers, when together, will remark, "It is
blessed to be the mother of a young man like that." There was a woman who
heard of the fame of a young man. He was casting out devils, healing the
sick, opening blinded eyes, and unstopping deaf ears, and consequently he
was gaining a wide and favorable reputation. This woman came to the young
man and with that mother in her heart said to him, "Blessed is the womb
that bear thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." It was, indeed,
blessed to be the mother of this young man. An angel from heaven
acknowledged this. In speaking to Mary of the birth of Jesus (for he was
the young man), the angel said, "Hail, thou that are highly favored, the
Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." She was more highly
favored than any other woman on earth, because she was to become the
mother of the Son of God. Can it be that any one can be more blessed than
this happy mother of Jesus? Let us hear his reply to the woman--"But he
said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it."
Jesus did not deny that it was blessed to be his mother, but said that
those who hear God's word and keep it are rather, or more, blessed. God
favors those who obey him. "The willing and obedient shall eat the good of
the land." "Hadst thou hearkened unto my commandments, then wouldst thy
peace be like a river." Happiness is the result of obedience, and heaven
is the final reward.




THE RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE WITH CHRIST THROUGH OBEDIENCE.


The reason why it is more blessed to obey the Word of God than to be the
mother of Jesus is obvious. Spiritual things are higher than physical
things. Spiritual relation is closer than natural relation. Brotherhood in
Christ is closer than brotherhood in the flesh. A brother in the Spirit is
dearer to us than a son of our own mother. Obedience to God makes us one
with God. Mary was the mother of Jesus after the flesh, but God's children
enjoy such a relation after the spirit. At one time somebody brought word
to Jesus that his mother and his brethren stood outside desiring to see
him. "But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother?
and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his
disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! for whoever shall
do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and
sister, and mother." Matt. 12:48-50. Every one who desires to spend life
in the highest possible degree of perfection should make a constant study
of the Bible and should carefully and diligently obey all its precepts.
Doing this will bring him into the closest possible relationship with God
and will make life the best man can live.




OUR LIFE IS TO ADORN THE GOSPEL.


To adorn is to make attractive, to beautify. We are exhorted by the
apostle Paul to adorn the doctrine of the New Testament by our every-day
life. This thought should be a powerful incentive to close living with God
and assiduously keeping all of his commandments. Who would not take
pleasure in adorning the teachings of Jesus by a pure life? This is the
joy of the Christian's heart. He cares nothing for the adornings of the
world, but oh, that he may so live as to make beautiful the blessed
Bible!--this is happiness enough to him.

In another of the Pauline Epistles we are commanded to "let our manner of
life be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." To become is also to make
attractive or to give a better appearance to. An article of dress is
becoming to us when it gives us a better appearance. We speak of any one's
bad conduct as not being becoming to him. We are to become the gospel of
Christ by holy living. When a life is lived as God designed that life
should be, that life will be an adornment to the Scriptures.

God will beautify his children with the glories of his redeeming grace; he
will adorn them with a meek and quiet spirit, which in his sight is very
precious, that they, in turn, may adorn his commandments. As a bride decks
herself with jewels, so the heavenly Father beautifies his children with
the robe of righteousness.

The life of a Christian is God's special treasure. "They shall be mine,"
says the Lord, "in that day when I make up my jewels," or "special
treasure" as rendered by the margin (see Mal. 3:17). By reading the
context we learn that it is those who fear the Lord that are his jewels.
To fear God and keep his commandments is man's whole duty. It is a perfect
life. Such a life is the Lord's jewel. Such a life is recorded in heaven.
Oh, how animating is such knowledge! How it strengthens our hearts to live
a righteous life. To live a life that is worthy to be recorded in heaven
and is a special treasure to God is truly wonderful. Our souls are awed by
such a thought. Oh, how it ought to move our hearts to carefulness in
life! How diligent we should be to walk as worthy citizens of our heavenly
state! Some day the Lord will come and gather up these holy lives and
place them in his heavenly courts above, where they shall shine as the
stars forever.

  Oh, take this life, this life of mine
  (To thee, O God, 'tis freely given),
  And polish it, that it may shine,
  And ornament thy Word divine.




THE CHRISTIAN AN EPISTLE OF CHRIST.


The life we live is being read. We are not going through the world
unnoticed. Some one is looking on, and some one is to some extent
fashioning his life after ours. Our life each day is being written down in
some one's memory. My own dear children group around me at times and talk
of their mother, who has gone to heaven. Her pure and holy life written in
their memory is read over and over to each other and to me. She still
lives as an epistle in their hearts. They read her daily life while she
was with them, and they continue to read it since she is gone. Christians
are said to be the epistle of Christ (2 Cor. 3:3). To read their life is
to read the life of Jesus. All the Bible that many will ever read is what
they read in the lives of Christians.

Life will be read just as it is, not as it may pretend to be. It is not
what we pretend to be, but what we really are, that will go down in the
memory of others. Those who read our lives have a way of reading between
the lines. We should strive not so much to make life holy as to be holy.
If you are holy, then live just what you are. We should never strive to be
what we are not. The only way whereby the Bible may be read in the life is
to get it in the heart. People will never read the Word of God in your
life simply because you have a neat little Testament in your pocket or a
large family Bible on your center table. The Bible can get into the life
only by beginning at the heart. There is power in the Word of God, but it
works from within. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." It will
transform the life so that the life will read just like the Holy
Scriptures.

The Word of God is a lamp to light us into a holy life. If we follow its
instructions in righteousness, it will make us perfect. It reveals our
imperfections and thus gives us an opportunity to make improvements. To
discover an imperfection in the life is not a bad thing, and we need not
think we are any the worse for the discovery. It is only when we let the
imperfection remain after it is revealed to us, that we become worse.

The heart that comes under the influence of the Bible will bear the image
of Jesus, but of this I shall have more to say elsewhere. So I conclude
here by saying, live upon the Word of God, desire the sincere milk of the
Word, and you will be an epistle of Christ. We should feel the
responsibility that is upon us, remembering that all the Bible some will
ever read is what they read in your life and mine. Oh! let us see that it
reads in our life as it does in the book, lest those who follow us will
not walk in the footprints of Jesus.




HOW WE MAY LIVE AS THE BIBLE READS.


It is just as natural and easy for a Christian to live the Christian life
as it is for a sinner to live a sinful life. The sinner needs make no
effort to live a sinful life; he lives it naturally and easily. Life
proceeds from the heart. The heart is the fountain, and the life is the
stream. As the fountain is, so the stream will be. It is not difficult to
live a Christian life when our hearts are pure. This is the secret of
purity of life.

The important question, then, is, "How can I have a pure heart?" Hearts
are made pure by the blood of Jesus. Then comes the command, "Keep thyself
pure." That the heart may be kept pure, it must be kept filled with that
which is pure. To keep darkness out of a room, we need only to keep it
filled with light. Carefully closing up every crevice will not suffice if
the light goes out. Darkness will be present. But simply keep the room
filled with light, and no effort is required to keep darkness out. In like
manner no effort need be made to keep impurity out of the heart and keep
the heart filled with that which is pure.

But what is pure? "The word of God is pure, as silver tried in a furnace
of fire, purified seven times." "Thy word is very pure; therefore thy
servant loveth it." "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," and your
heart will be kept pure. The Psalm-writer said, "Thy word have I hid in my
heart, that I may not sin against thee." Here is the only way to a sinless
life. Keep the heart filled with the Word of God. It is the way to live as
the Bible reads. To have a nicely bound volume of the Scriptures lying on
the center table will not keep the life sinless. We must have the Word in
our heart. One night while I was waiting for a train in one of our large
Eastern cities, I went into a mission. A man arose and said he had read
the Bible through forty-two times and could quote whole books of it from
memory. Later in his talk he said he committed sin more or less every day.
The Word of God did not keep him from sinning, for he had it in his head
instead of in his heart.

To live a Bible life is the only true and right way to live, and in order
to live such a life, we need to have the Word written in the heart. "I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Heb. 8:
10. Let us illustrate this by taking a single text: "Having food and
raiment let us be therewith content." When we have these words in the
heart, they will be true in the life. All fret and worry and murmurings
will be banished out of the life when the heart is full of the truth.




HOW TO KEEP THE WORD OF GOD IN THE HEART.


Since keeping the Word of God in the heart is the only way to successful
Christian living, you will at once want to know how to keep it in the
heart. The Word is kept in the heart the same as food is kept in the body.
The food is eaten, and then by the process of assimilation it becomes a
part of the body. This is something of a mystery; nevertheless we all know
it to be true. We feel weak in body, but soon after we partake of food, we
feel stronger. Somehow that food gets into the life and makes us stronger.
Now, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God." We can eat the Word of God, and we <i>must</i>
eat it in order to get it into our heart and life. By eating and the
process of assimilation the Word becomes a part of our inner being. We eat
it by faith, and the Spirit assimilates it into our hearts.

Let us take a text: "In honor preferring one another." It is blessed to
have an experience like this. To feel happy when others are honored and we
are not is certainly a desirable experience. We can have it. As you read
the above text, love it, admire it, desire it, ask for it, believe you
receive it,--and you have it. It will be a truth of beauty and of power in
your soul and life. But remember, you must have an eagerness for it. You
must lay hold upon it as the infant does upon the mother's breast. The
same is true with every text in the Bible. Eat the entire book, and thus
you will have it as a glorious source of power and purity in your life.




MAN THE VEHICLE FOR EXHIBITING GOD'S PERFECTIONS.


Man was created for a purpose, and that purpose was to glorify his Creator
(Isa. 43:7). But man sinned and came short of the glory of God. The Lord,
that he may yet be glorified in the man, provides a way of redemption.
Through the redemption we have in Christ we can live to the glory of God.
This is God's purpose. The whole of life should be such as will glorify
the Creator, and all that we do should be done with that end in view. God
help us. Living for God, honoring his Word, magnifying his name--this is
the duty of man. Awful responsibility! Oh, what carefulness it should work
in us. What vehement desire! what earnest seeking after God! that we may
live such a life.

Jesus was here in the world and was the light of the world. He had a human
body and in that body lived a life that glorified God. That was an
exemplary life. Such a life, and such a life only, is to the glory of God.
We must fashion our life after his if we would spend life as we should. To
know how Jesus lived is to know how we should live. Every life that is in
the likeness of Christ's life is accepted of God. No other life can be.
While Christ was here in the body, he was in the express image of the
Father. The true, holy character of God was revealed through Jesus' human
life to a lost and sinning world. God had done all he could to reveal his
true character to man by laws, ceremonies, and ordinances; but these were
only the shadow of the true life that was to be the light of the world.
Christ was both God and man. Having a physical form, which is visible, he
could set the holiness of God in plain view before the world. If you would
know the true life, look to Jesus.

But his life could be perfect only as it was given in sacrifice for man.
His life was holy because it was a life sacrificed to God. No life can be
possessed by God and used to his glory, that is not sacrificed to him.
Jesus gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God for us (Eph. 5:2).
This left him without a body or human life through which to demonstrate
moral principle to the world. But now comes the command to man, "I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service." Rom. 12:1. God would have this human life of ours
offered up in sacrifice, so that we are no more ours but his. When we do
so, there will be a change, a great and wonderful change. That life will
no longer be worldly or in the course of ordinary earthly-minded men. It
will be a transformed life, a life in which God can live and do his will.
Through the sacrifice of Christ, God will take the sacrificed life of man
and possess it by his Spirit and again demonstrate moral principle to the
world. O man, that is your calling in life. You are the vehicle to convey
the perfections of God to an unbelieving world. Only an empty vessel for
God to fill with himself and use to his glory.

O man, consider thyself, and know thyself, the purpose for which thou wert
created, and the place which thou dost occupy in creation. Thou art no
mean creature. Thou art highest of all. God condescends to walk and talk
with thee. He upholds thee in his hand. Angels minister to thee. When thou
passest through the waters, God himself will be with thee so that they
shall not overflow thee, and when thou walkest through the fire, he will
walk with thee so that the flame shall not kindle upon thee; because thou
art precious in his sight and honorable, and he has set his love upon
thee. Thou art so precious to him that he gave his only begotten Son to
die to ransom thee.

In the vast created universe, what place does man occupy? He stands out as
a creature that bears the stamp of the divine image, a creature that is
endowed with eternity. The heavens shall pass away, but man shall be
forever. He was made capable of holding communion with the Creator. He
occupies the relationship with God as child with parent. Being made in the
likeness of God, he steps out upon the stage of the mighty universe to
play the highest and noblest part in the entire drama of created
existences. The songs of the morning stars as they sing together, pouring
their anthems into the ears of God, are not such sweet music as is the
voice of praise and adoration from the holy soul of man.

Man was created for the very highest purpose in the mind of God. He is
chosen to represent the divine character. On the stage men and women
represent certain characters. Man upon the great stage of life is selected
to represent the holy character of God. Oh, that he might play his part
well! He who occupies the highest and most responsible part in this
wonderful play of the universe will sink to the lowest shame and disgrace
if he fails. The eyes of earth, heaven, and hell were turned upon man as
he stepped out to play his part. A garden eastward in Eden was selected as
the ground of exhibition. It was whispered throughout the corridors of the
universe, "Will he succeed? Will he play his part well?" Ah, the sad
story! He failed and he fell, bringing a world into shame and disgrace,
causing angels to weep and God to repent that he had ever made him.

But heaven's love was set upon him, and God sought a way whereby the
fallen man could be lifted from his low, degraded plane to the high
position he once occupied. After searching heaven through, God found but
one way for man's redemption, but one price to pay. Would he pay it? He
called his Son, his only Son, and pointed out to him the fallen condition
of man, and how He was robbed of glory and devils were rejoicing. The
Father said to his Son, "Only thy entering into that lower world in the
likeness of sinful flesh and suffering and dying can redeem man." The Son
replied, "I will go. I will suffer. I will lay down my life that man may
be restored to his former position, so that he can again take up the part
he was to play." The price was paid; the plan of man's redemption was
effected; the divine image was again stamped upon the man, so that in
Christ Jesus he could again come out and in his life's play reveal the
character of God to the world.

Reader, this brings us down to your day and mine. We have our part to play
in life. That part is to display the divine perfections. Through Christ
this is possible. Oh, what responsibility! Will we play our part well?
Again the eyes of earth, heaven, and hell are turned upon us. The apostle
says, "We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men."
1 Cor. 4:9. "Men" includes both good and bad; likewise the term "angels"
includes both good and bad angels. So, as I have said, earth, heaven, and
hell are spectators. To live life as it should be lived is to act out our
part upon the stage of life in such a way as to honor God and demonstrate
his character before this mighty host of spectators.

Such is man. Through him the righteous character of God is made visible to
the world. God himself is invisible; but since he comes into our heart and
life, and since our life is physical and visible, his holiness becomes
visible in our holy living. This is how to live. He who lives on a lower
plane than perfect holiness is not living to God's requirements.

God did not redeem man at such a great price merely for man's sake. He
redeemed him for his own glory. Redeemed man is God's purchased
possession, that 'he should show forth the virtues of him who hath called
him out of darkness into his marvelous light' (see marginal reading of 1
Pet. 2:9). Here again we learn that the mission of man is to show forth in
his daily life the true, holy virtues of his Maker and Redeemer. This
should be the first business of our life--living solely, purposely, and
earnestly for God. We are beings in whom God dwells and through whom God
is to display his own holy perfections. This is wonderful; this is
weighty. There is, I repeat, great responsibility on man. But unless he
feels it, he will never fill to the full the measure of life. Oh, how
delighted is the loving heart of God to find in this world a being in whom
he can dwell and through whom he can reveal his own beautiful life! Shall
we yield ourselves to him? Shall we invite him into our hearts? Shall we
consecrate our lives to him that he may hide our life in his life? Yes,
dear Lord, we are thine, wholly thine, now and forever. Take full
possession; live in us; reign in our hearts; use every faculty of our
beings to thy own glory. Thy will be done in us and with us as it is done
in heaven.

Jesus will gather his holy angels before him and address them thus: "Do
you behold Brother--? He is a pilgrim and stranger down there in the
earth. He is my child. I have washed him in my blood and clothed him with
the beautiful garments of salvation. His heart is pure and full of love.
He is dead to sin and the world. He loves my will, and his daily meat and
drink is to do it. He loves my Word and has hid it in his heart. He keeps
all my commandments. He seeks my glory. He often communes with me. He is
fervent in spirit and zealous in good works. His good deeds and prayers I
bottle up here in heaven, See that beautiful mansion yonder with its gates
of gold and walls of jasper, its floors of transparent glass, its
corridors of chalcedony, and colonades of topaz and beryl. That mansion is
to be his home when his pilgrimage in that under-world is done. By his
holy walk and devoted life he is now confessing me before men, and I take
great delight in telling you that he is my child and in confessing him
before you and my Father on his throne. Just as I have said in my Word, he
that will confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father and
the holy angels."

Redeemed man is a light in the world. In the darkness of this world he is
a dispeller of gloom. His life shines, shedding its peaceful rays of light
wherever he goes.

Man's life, when meeting the fullest purpose of God, is used as a
magnifying-glass through which others may look and see the beauties of
divine perfections. Alas! it is to be lamented that the life of many who
profess to be followers of Jesus is such that it blurs the perfections of
God.

In concluding this chapter, let me give you a few rules for daily living--
rules which, if followed, will make your life a conveyancer of light,
peace, and holiness from God to the world.

Live such a life that the pure and devoted will be pleased to have you
come again.

Live so near to God that every man that meets you is made a little better
by having met you.

Live such a life each day that the world can see in you the true way of
life.

Be such a light that others can see the way to walk.




SOME USE TO JESUS.


  O Christ, the way, the truth, the life,
  Keep me safe mid the raging strife;
  Help me a warrior brave to be
  And take the battle-field for thee.

  I fear not the swift arrow's power
  Since thou art my high, strong-built tower;
  The darts may have a bitter sting,
  I shelter 'neath thy feathery wing.

  Before me the Goliaths tall
  Must quickly flee or headlong fall;
  The foe is bruised beneath my feet;
  In thee the victory is complete.

  Jesus, to thee I give up all,
  To live or die, to stand or fall.
  The sparrows have thy kindly care;
  I'm more than they, then need I fear?

  I have a refuge from all harm
  Within thy strong encircling arm;
  Thou keepest me by day and night,
  And guidest my weak steps aright.

  The hairs on my unworthy head
  Are numbered all, thy Book has said.
  Gathered, like the defenseless brood,
  My soul is kept in quietude.

  As kind and loving parents would
  Give to their children all things good,
  So from thy presence angels bring
  Unto thy child each needful thing.

  Sometimes thou hidest thy sweet face;
  The way is dark, I can not trace.
  Thou doest best; I'll not repine,
  But say, "Thy will be done, not mine."

  Since them art good, so good, to me,
  I beg to be some use to thee:
  Intensify thy love divine
  Within my heart, that I may shine

  A little brighter, Lord, for thee,
  That others thy great love may see.
  Oh, crucified let all self be,
  That thou mayst shine thy light through me.

  I would not be so dazzling bright
  That all the world might see my light,
  But in some quiet nook of thine,
  An out-of-way place, there I'd shine.

  'Tis not for me to shine afar,
  Like blazing sun or brilliant star;
  Just help me at my door to be
  A little candle-light for thee.




GODLY LIVING.


When some one is spoken of as living a worldly life, it is meant that he
lives in a worldly manner, or in a manner like the world. Likewise, when
some one is spoken of as living a godly life, it is meant that he lives in
a godly manner, or in a manner like God. To many this is a hard saying,
but it is possible for man to live just such a life; in fact, it is the
only right way of life. A godly life is the only true life. Such a life is
demanded by the Scriptures. We are to live "soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world" (Tit.2:12).

God's dear children are told to be "followers of him" (Eph. 5:1). In some
translations this reads, "Be ye imitators of God," and in some others, "Be
ye mimickers of God." From this we understand that to be a follower of God
is to live or act in a manner like him. Again, it is said of those who
abide in Christ, that they should walk even as he walked. Our manner of
life should be as was the life of Jesus. It is said of Christ that "when
he was reviled, he reviled not again." Although he was treated most
shamefully by his enemies, he did not seek to avenge himself. When
insulting remarks were made to him, he gave no reply. To live a godly life
is to live in the same manner. When Christians are reviled, they bless;
when they are persecuted, they suffer meekly and patiently. When Jesus was
being put to death by his enemies, he prayed the Father to forgive them.
When a man who had come to take Jesus had his ear cut off, Jesus in his
tender compassion healed this bitter persecutor's wound. This is the true
spirit of godliness.

The full standard of godliness is attained to only when the whole tenor of
the life is in simplicity and godly sincerity. The apostle Paul said in
testimony that his rejoicing was this: the testimony of his conscience
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the
grace of God, he had had his conduct in the world. A godly life is wholly
free from ostentation; every act is done in purest simplicity and truest
sincerity. As God scrutinizes every act by his all-seeing eye, he
discovers no impure motive, as vain-glory or lifting up of self; for all
is in godly sincerity.

The grace of godliness in the Christian character is capable of
cultivation and increase. There is a law in both the material and
spiritual that exercise is conducive to growth. The Spirit-filled apostle
said, "Exercise thyself unto godliness." In the Emphatic this reads,
"Train thyself for piety." Here is something for every soul that has any
aspiration to be more godly in life. Train yourself for piety. To become
of deeper piety and more godly is the joy of the Christian heart. By
training we become more pious. The lawn-tender forms an espalier by
intertwining the branches of the vine. He keeps intertwining them as they
grow, and by such training forms a latticework made of shrubbery. The soul
intertwined with the meek and lowly life of Jesus will form a character of
deep piety and sincere godliness. The daily life should be intertwined
with the life of Jesus. Let there be no reaching out for anything outside
of him. For a proper development of the Christian graces there must be a
constant training or intertwining of the soul with God. This linking more
tightly is the result of growth, and growth is produced by exercise, and
exercise consists in reading the Scriptures, in prayer, and in deep
thought or heart-communion with God. The athlete takes such exercises and
eats such foods as will most properly develop and strengthen his muscles.
The soul that has any longings for more of God must exercise to have its
yearnings gratified. To be conscious of a growing up into Christ, to feel
the soul intertwining more and more with the life of God, is fulness of
joy and perfect happiness. Christian reader, is there an ardent flame of
pure love in your heart? Do you walk with Jesus in a devout, trustful,
reverential spirit? Do you oftentimes find your mind contemplating the
wonders of creation and the glories of salvation? Is your soul habituated
to breathe in the atmosphere of heaven deeply? Is that holy awe filling
you? Is that tender sensibility of spiritual things filling your heart? Is
that fine, keen edge upon your soul that gives such avidity for holy
things? Is to become more godly a sincere desire of your heart? Then
diligently perform all the duties that belong to a godly life. Some give
great diligence for a time and make spiritual gain and then lose it all in
a day of slackness. But do not slack, be constant, be persevering, be
encouraged, reach forth, press forward,--and the prize of meekness, peace,
and godliness will crown your life.




SOMETHING TO DO.


There is so much to do that every one is needed to help in doing it. In
this great, busy world of life there is something for every one to do. The
command is, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
Think over these words for a moment. Does not your heart feel that they
imply great earnestness in life? They mean a life of labor--a life of
service. "Do with your might" implies putting your whole heart into your
work. Do it in just such a manner as shows you expect to make a success of
it.

God has a work for every one that comes into the world. This world is
going to be made a little better by your having come into it, or it will
be made worse. Which shall it be? No one can do the work of another, since
every one is given all he can do. It is true we are told to bear one
another's burdens. I am to help you bear your burdens; that is a part of
my work. You are to help me. We need the help of each other. But I can not
do what you ought to do; for I have all I can do. What you neglect to do
will have to go undone. If some one stops to do what you ought to do, just
as large a rent is made in his life's work as would have been made in
yours, but the reflection is on you.

A father who had five sons left them a certain work to do. He gave to each
his portion according to his ability. Upon his return he found that four
of them had done their part and done it well, but one had only partially
done his. Consequently, there was a neglected spot--a dropped stitch--
which constantly showed itself. If we fail to do the work in life that God
in his wisdom has assigned us, there will be in the Father's great plan a
blank space, a neglected part, that will show through all eternity. Is
your life or mine going to be the dropped stitch in the great web of human
life? Down in our heart there is a No for an answer, is there not?

Let not the precious moments of your life flee away unimproved. Jesus is
our example. He went about doing good. Everywhere he went, he left
evidences that he had passed along that way. O pilgrim on life's journey,
what are you leaving along the way to show in after-years that you have
passed along? Is it flowers you are strewing? Is it sunshine to cheer and
lighten the hearts of others? Sad indeed if there is none to say, "He did
me good."

It matters not how small may be the part of his great work the Father has
assigned you, do that little and do it well and do it with all the
earnestness of your heart. It is your part, and you should do it with as
much earnestness and interest as those who are engaged in the greater
works do their parts. If your part is not done well, there will not be
completeness in the divine plan. A single stitch dropped shows a blemish
in the garment. In the sight of God the most menial task is as sacred as
that of the highest order, and when well done as greatly meets his
approval.

That is a beautiful thought expressed by the Mohammed Bible. It tells of
Gabriel's being sent to earth to do two things. One was to keep King
Solomon from becoming so much engaged with the affairs of his kingdom as
to neglect the hour of prayer. The other was to give assistance to a
little ant that was trying to bear its load of food up a hillside. To
Gabriel the one duty was as important as the other because both came in
the plan of God. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might." Think these words over again. Let them have the full force of
meaning to your heart. Take as much interest in helping the little child
get the tangle out of the string as in building a church edifice.

Many are working, but alas! how few are doing their best! So much time and
labor are being wasted; so many things are being done that had as well not
be done. God wants not only our service but our best service. We are under
obligation to do our best every day. If we let a day pass by without doing
what we could and in the best way we could, our work is not perfectly
done.

God pours his blessings out upon us, but the blessing is not to end with
itself. Remember these words: "Freely ye have received, freely give." Seek
to be blessed of God, that you may pass the blessing on to others. Leave
some footprints here upon the sands of time, so that in after-years they
may guide some one to a noble deed and better way. When you reach the end
of life, you can experience no greater consolation than to know you have
done what you could. Improve the moments of time while you have them. They
are passing swiftly. They will not wait for you. Some people are going to
do, but behold, the opportunity passes before they are ready.
Opportunities do not wait. Do good while you may. You are going to give
the flower tomorrow, but tomorrow the flower may have faded. You intended
to speak a kind word yesterday, but thought you would defer until another
day. But the strain was so great the life went out, and your kind word
came too late. Today is the day to save the lost. Tomorrow may be too
late. How sad that a soul through all eternity will be crying out, "You
were going to help me, but you came too late." O God! help us to be up and
doing while it is called today. What work you are going to do, do it now
as the poet urges in the following beautiful lines:

  "Let's not be living in the past,
   On what we have been doing,
  Nor building castles in the air
   And after them pursuing.
  'Work in my vineyard, go today':
   The Master's time is narrow
  For yesterday we'll see no more--
   We may not see tomorrow.

  "If for discouragements you look,
   You certainly shall find them,
  But they are not discouragements
   Except to those who mind them.
  The future for itself will care,
   We'll not its trouble borrow;
  Sufficient evil is today,
   Then think not of the morrow.

  "Let's cast our bread upon the flood,
   In many days to gather,
  But then at eve hold out the hand
   For present blessings rather.
  We hide the seed deep in the ground
   And watch the closing furrow,
  When, lo! the field's already white,
   Not waiting for the morrow.

  "The sower and the reaper both
   May now rejoice together,
  For what they sow and gather in
   Is fruit that lives forever.
  The saint rejoices evermore,
   E'en in the midst of sorrow;
  He knows the weeping's but a night,
   Joy cometh on the morrow."

Man was made to labor. He is so constituted that he can not find true rest
and enjoyment in idleness. How much the Bible says about good works! We
are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them." Jesus purifies unto "himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works." We are told by the scriptures to
"be careful to maintain good works" to "be not weary in well-doing," and
to "do good unto all men." Time is given us to spend in usefulness, not in
idleness. Money lost may be regained, but a moment never.

As Christians we have the mind of Jesus. With such a mind we can not be
contented unless we are doing the will of God and making the proper use of
the moments he gives us. Mind is the same quality whether it be in Jesus,
in angels, or in men, and it is governed by the same laws. It is true that
after man's transgression he was told that in the sweat of his face he
should eat bread, but this does not imply that the disposition to labor is
a result of the fall. The disposition to labor that we find in man's
constitution is not the fruit of corruption in his nature, but is a part
of his original constitution. We find this disposition in the mind of
angels. They are ministering spirits. They are doing the will of God. How
often we read in the Book that tells of heaven how angels have visited
this transitory world of ours on errands of help, mercy, and consolation.
They have closed the mouths of lions, opened prison doors, stilled the
waves, whispered comforting words, rolled away the stone, and ministered
strength and help to the needy.

Man is not designed for prayer and praise only; he is designed for service
as well. His mission is twofold: he is to adore and praise his Creator and
to serve his fellow men. Some have symbolized the two functions of man's
life by the ascending and descending of the angels on the ladder that
Jacob saw in his dream. They ascended to God and descended to man. Life
should be spent in praising God and in serving man for God's sake.

There is something to do. There is much to do. There is too much to do for
us to idle away one moment of time. A full and well-spent life is one
which is spent in doing good out of pure love to God and man. When we
shall have come down to the end of life's journey, how sweet it will be to
know that we have done all we could to help other pilgrims make their
journey in safety! There is a reward for every generous act. Heaven is
faithful and will repay. What we do here will find an eternity of reward.
Let not, therefore, one day pass you by without your doing something
purposely for God.




SPIRITUAL DRYNESS.


We often meet with those who complain of dryness and deadness in their
worship. They are very unlike the Psalmist's picture of the "blessed man."
"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither." This is a
true picture of the Christian life. The soul should be as a watered
garden--fresh and green and sparkling. It should be a springtime. You have
seen a garden in the spring or one that is well-watered. All is beauty,
freshness, and vigor. Such a garden is used by the prophet to symbolize
the Spirit-filled soul. He says, "And the Lord shall guide thee
continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and
thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not." Isa. 58:11.

In order to have such a happy experience, however, the children of God
must meet certain conditions. The context says, "If thou draw out thy soul
to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul." If our souls are not drawn
out in pity for the hungry and we fail to do what we can to relieve them,
we need not expect anything other than a spiritual drought in our own
cases.

Spiritual dryness is sometimes the result of attachment to the world. "Set
your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth." Unless
we live by the Bible, we can not be spiritual. A little affection for the
things of earth robs the soul of spiritual life. In this matter Satan is
an excellent reasoner. He will suggest that your desires are only for the
glory of God; that you have no affection for the worldly object, but
desire it only for God's glory. A young lady to whom I gave warning said
that her desires were pure and that she had no affection for the object,
but sought only to please the Lord. Very soon, however, she came to the
realization that her soul was a desert place, and all because she had
believed the falsehood of Satan. Beware how you desire earthly things for
God's glory. Underneath may be a desire for self-gratification, ease, or
luxury. If you are troubled by a lack of sensible devotion in worship,
examine your affections. Possibly you may find some tiny roots twining
around something of this world.

Spiritual dryness may be the result of sloth. "Slothfulness casteth into a
deep sleep." Prov. 19:15. Spiritual idleness soon results in spiritual
dryness. That sophism of Satan's, "No time for prayer," is very dangerous.
Any neglect of spiritual devotion must result in lukewarmness. Oh, how
unreasonable is man and how easily the desires of the flesh deceive! If
you neglected to water your garden, you would not wonder for a moment why
it was drying up. Then, when you are neglecting to water the soul in
vigorous, spiritual exercises, why do you wonder at your being so
spiritually dull? "Awake, thou that sleepest!" Up and away to the hill of
the Lord. Be the frequent witness of a sunrise scene from the mount of
prayer.

The San Jose scale works imperceptibly at first. Oftentimes its presence
will be detected only by the experienced. Its presence will perhaps be
known first by the fruit. If your spiritual fruit is not as beautiful,
well-flavored, and fully developed as it should be, look for the presence
of sloth in the soul. The poison of sloth will get into the soul little by
little. First there will be a momentary delay of spiritual duties. Satan
is too wise to suggest an entire abandonment of them, but he will suggest
a little postponement. One delay will soon be followed by another and then
by another. These delays are an opiate that dulls the spiritual senses,
and thus they will yield more readily to postponements and finally find
pleasure in them.

Let me make this still more simple, for some may need it made very easy to
understand. When the soul is like a watered garden, it will be drawn to
God in prayer in the early morning. Any delay will cause uneasiness and
restlessness. The soul longs to hasten away to the presence of God. But
one little delay after another brings on a morbid condition. The soul
loses its keen relish; its senses become deadened, so that there is no
uneasiness; while the senses of the self-life will find pleasure in sloth.

When the soul once gets into the habit of idleness, it experiences no
little difficulty in getting out. On becoming aware of his state, the
individual may acknowledge his inactivity and make half-formed resolves to
be more earnest and diligent, only very soon to relapse into the same
former sluggishness. This virus of sloth inoculates the entire spiritual
being, poisoning the will and making spiritual activity most disagreeable.
Not only does it destroy the will of the soul, but it blindfolds the eyes
so that the individual can see no necessity for great fervency in spirit
or for diligence in spiritual exercise. In a half-dazed manner he
acknowledges that the "watchings often" and "fastings often" and "praying
always" of the apostle Paul were very consistent in him, but does not
realize that such would be as desirable in his own Christian profession.
He wonders why he is not healed as people were in the days of Paul. Why
wonder? He does not wonder why the flowers wither when it does not rain.
It is the fervent, earnest prayer that God hears.

Nothing but the greatest diligence and determination and strong laying
hold upon God will ever put spiritual sloth to death. In this respect it
is like the South American animal called the sloth. Though one species of
the sloth is only the size of a cat, and is extremely slow on the ground,
its highest rate of speed there being not more than ten feet an hour, yet
it is difficult to exterminate.

One reason why so many are slothful is that they do not realize the true
worth of prayer. Oh, I would to God that men rightly valued communion with
God or a few thoughts of him! The lifting of the heart to God in praise or
adoration is of greater value than the wealth of worlds. It is not enough
to know much about the doctrine of the Bible, to be acquainted with this
present reform, and to live a fair outward life; we must be filled with
the Spirit. We must be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose
leaf does not wither. Take plenty of time to gain heaven. Take time to be
spiritual. A home in heaven is worth laboring for. Work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. Spiritual dryness is the result of spiritual
indolence. Be active, and you will not be unfruitful.




PRAYER.


A work of this nature would be inexcusable for not saying something about
prayer, for who can live life triumphantly without prayer? Who can
properly estimate the true worth of prayer or rightly appreciate the
privilege of prayer? Man esteems it a great honor to be admitted into the
courts of the lords and kings of earth. What an honor it is to have
audience with the King of glory! He extends the golden scepter to us, and
we come hopefully, confidingly into his presence to tell him all that is
in our hearts. He loves us so. We should not dare to come into the awful
presence of the Great King did we not know that he loves us with an
everlasting love. When we understand his love toward us, we tell him with
joy and eagerness every desire of the heart.

Prayer is the energy and life of the soul. It is the invincible armor
which shields the devoted Christian from the poisoned missiles shot forth
from the batteries of hell. It is the mighty weapon with which he fights
life's battles unto victory. He who lives in prayer reigns triumphant. The
dark storm-clouds are driven away, mountains of discouragement are cast
into the sea, chasms of difficulties are bridged, hope is given wings,
faith increases, and joys abound. Hell may rage and threaten; but he who
is frequent and fervent in prayer experiences no alarm.

By prayer the windows of heaven are opened, and showers of refreshing dew
are rained upon the soul. It is as a watered garden, a fertile spot where
blooms the unfading rose of Sharon and the lily-of-the-valley; where
spread the undecaying, unwithering branches of the tree of life. By prayer
the soul is nourished and strengthened by the divine life. Do you long for
a brighter hope and deeper joy, for a deeper sense of the divine fulness,
for a sweeter, closer walk with God? then live in prayer. Do you love to
feel the holy flame of love burning in all its intensity in your soul?
then enkindle it often at the golden altar of prayer. Without prayer the
soul will weaken, famish, and die, the fountain of love dry up and become
as a thirsty and parched desert. Do you admire the character Jesus? Behold
his lowliness and humility, his gentleness and tender compassion. Have
they any beauty and do you desire them to grace your soul? then draw them
down from the skies in all their glorious fulness by the fervent prayer of
faith. As through the process of assimilation food is transformed into an
active, living being, so through the medium of prayer the character Jesus,
in all its transcendent beauty and glory, becomes the character of man.

If you desire victory during the day, begin it with prayer--not a few
hurried words, not a few ejaculations, but minutes of deep, intimate
communion with God. Linger at the altar of prayer until you feel particles
of glory drop in richness into your soul, scattering sweetness throughout.
In the early morning hours, when the still, balmy breath of nature plays
around you, let your soul fly away on the wings of prayer with its message
of love and praise to its Maker.

  "Sweet morning is the time to pray:
  How lovely and how sweet
  To send our early thoughts away
  Up to the mercy-seat!"

If you desire to be more deeply and sincerely pious, pray. If you desire
heights in his love, depths in his grace, fulness in his joy, and richness
in his glory, pray, pray with all sincerity of heart and intensity of
soul. Did you say you had no time for prayer? What a pity! Your happiness
and success in life depend upon prayer. Your eternal enjoyment depends
upon it. Then, oh, what a pity that you have no time for prayer! Satan
will tell you there is no need of so much praying. He will give you
indifferent feelings if he can, and tell you that you can get along well
enough without it. He will do all he possibly can to prevent your praying.
If there is not much benefit derived from prayer, why is he so concerned?
The Bible commands are: "Watch and pray," "Pray always," "Be instant in
prayer," "Pray without ceasing," etc. Beloved saints, I exhort you to a
life of prayer. I beseech you in Jesus' name to go often into your closets
and there in all earnestness of soul pray until the love of God and light
of heaven fill your beings. Pray until a rapture from the skies sweeps
over your soul, making the place of prayer the dearest spot on earth to
you.




KEEP THE ROOTS WATERED.


How often you admire a tree for the loveliness of its green foliage and
the profusion of its luscious fruit. You speak to your friend of the
beauty of the tree and of the goodness of God in bestowing such a gift to
men; but perhaps you do not speak nor even think of the coarse, unsightly
roots hidden deep in the ground. But that tree owes its beauty and its
life to roots. The foliage is bright and fresh and green because the roots
are burrowing deep in a rich and well-watered soil. The flavoring of the
fruit is generated by the roots down in the dark and silent chamber of the
earth.

Perhaps there comes to your mind now some whose faces you always see lit
up with a radiant glory. You can not fail to admire them. Their words
contain a secret power and seem to awaken in you all that is noble. They
seem to lift you into a higher life. From their words, their actions, and
their countenances flows an influence that causes you to forget the things
of earth and makes you feel as if you had joined the society of angels.
Such ones have a secret hidden root-life that generates this peculiar
charm in their visible life. Down in a closet is a secret laboratory where
the fragrance and beauty and glory that flow out of their lives are
compounded. There the roots of their inner life take hold upon the riches
of heaven's grace and drink in of the waters that flow. In their oft and
silent communion with God they take root downward, and then they go forth
into life and bear fruit upward. While others are talking with their
friends about the things of earth, they meet with God in the garden of
graces, where the sweet spices flow out and the frankincense and myrrh
scent the air, and there they become laden with a profusion of fruits and
impregnated with a sweet odor, which they bear out into the world. They
are like the tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf does not
wither.

O beloved pilgrim, see that the roots of your inner being are well
watered. Let them drink in the sparkling waters of life. Remember,
effectual work for God consists more in being than in doing. Do not go
about in your labor with an empty basket. It is only when you go out from
deep and silent communion with God that your labor will be effectual.
Never think that you have so much to do that you have not much time for
prayer. An hour's work done in the quiet, secret power of the Spirit is
worth more than a day of your own efforts. Keep the roots watered.




UNDER THE FIG-TREE.


In the beginning of his ministry Christ called to Philip to follow him.
Upon being called Philip went in search of Nathanael to tell him that he
(Philip) had found the Christ. Nathanael was somewhat doubtful, but at
Philip's invitation he went to see. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he
said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael,
wondering how this man happened to know him, asked, "Whence knowest thou
me?" Jesus answered, "When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw thee." John
1:48.

It is evident that something had occurred with Nathanael under the fig
-tree outside the common details of every-day life. If there had not
something rather unusual or something higher than the common events of
life occurred there, the Savior would not have mentioned this one
particular place. Any other place would have done as well. There was in
this answer something that was highly significant to Nathanael. At this
time there were many devout people looking for the "consolation of
Israel." They were looking for the coming of the King of the Jews. It is
not difficult for me to believe that Nathanael was under the fig-tree
praying to God for the speedy coming of the Messiah. When Jesus said to
him, "When thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee," Nathanael
immediately replied, "Thou art the King of Israel." He was doubtless under
the tree in prayer to this end not once only, but very probably for months
and maybe for years. He had been praying for this very thing. He had
selected one especial fig-tree as a place for prayer. It was not <i>a</i>
fig-tree, but <i>the</i> fig-tree. There he had prayed long and often for
Israel's King to come. So when Jesus said, "When thou wast under the fig
-tree, I saw thee," he knew at once that his oft-repeated prayers were
answered, and therefore said, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art
the King of Israel."

Many a devout one since that day has had his secret communion-place with
God. Perhaps it was in the woods on a mossy knoll, under an oak, on a
grassy spot on the bank of a stream, or under a shade-tree that grew by
the brook in the meadow. To these places of solemn silence they would
retreat when the shades of night were falling or when the light of the
morning was streaking the sky, and there from the fulness of their souls
they would pour out their praise and thanksgiving to God. These were the
dearest places in the world to them. It may be there are aged ones today
who had such places in the earlier days of their lives. Though they are
now far removed from those scenes, these are still sacred in their memory.

There are those today who have their altars of prayer in some secluded
place. There they meet God and tell him all their sorrows and cares, there
they recount to him his loving kindness, there they implore his grace to
sustain them through all their trying scenes of life, and there they
worship at his feet. Bless his name! Beloved, have you a "fig-tree"? and
are you often found under it? Have you a quiet nook somewhere which is
hallowed by the presence of God?

The beloved disciple John, when in the Spirit, saw golden vials in the
hands of the worshipers of the Lamb around the throne. These golden vials,
he says, were "full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev.
5: 8). Are you, dear reader, every day filling golden vials around God's
throne with the sweet odor of prayer? Again, this disciple, when the
seventh seal was opened, saw seven angels standing before God with seven
trumpets. Then came another angel, with a golden censer. To him was given
incense, which he offered with the prayers of saints upon the golden
altar, and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of saints
ascended before God. (See Rev. 8:3, 4.) We have the privilege of mingling
our prayers with the incense that is being offered before the throne.

The Psalmist seemed to comprehend something of the nature of prayer when
he said, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the
lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." Psa. 141:2. The prayers
that were offered by the devout Cornelius were so fragrant before God that
they were kept as a memorial of him. A memorial is something kept in
remembrance of any one. If you want to be kept in remembrance before God,
see that your prayers are highly impregnated with a sweet odor. You must
pray or die. No one can retain spiritual life any great length of time
without prayer. So we exhort you to a life of prayer.




SHUT THE DOOR.


It is as impossible to live and prosper spiritually without prayer as it
is to live and prosper physically without food. Those who enjoy a close
walk with God and have power with him are those who pray. Natural
abilities and intellectuality can never supply any lack in spirituality.
Unless you are spiritual, you are of but little use to God; and to be
spiritual, you must live much in prayer. It is not those who are on their
knees the oftenest or the longest that do the most praying. Some may pray
more real prayer in one hour than others in two or three hours. Too many
people leave the door open. Prayer that feeds the soul must be offered
with the door shut. "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret."
Matt. 6:6.

God is in secret. He is hidden from the world. The world does not see him,
neither knows him. You can never reach God in your prayers unless you shut
out the world. Shutting the door means something more than closing the
door of your literal closet. Persons may enter the literal closet and
close the door, and yet have the world in their hearts and thoughts. Such
have not closed the door in the true sense.

In the public assembly you must enter your closet when you pray, and shut
the door, or your prayers avail not with God. You must talk from your
heart to the heart of God. Those assembled may hear your words, but they
do not know the secret. The secret is between your heart and the heart of
God. You scarcely hear your words. You know and hear more of the speaking
of your heart. There is a blessing in such praying; there is a joy that
can not be told. Such prayer feeds the soul upon the divine life and lifts
us in realms of light and happiness. Thank God for the sweet privilege of
secret intercourse with him. O beloved, when you pray, enter into your
closet, and be sure to close the door.




ALONE WITH GOD.


This life of ours will never be all that it should be unless we are much
alone with God. Only those who are oft alone with him know the benefit
that is derived therefrom. You can not be like God unless you are much
with him, and you can not live like him unless you are like him. The
Scriptures tell us that Jesus departed into the mountain to be alone with
the Father and that he was often "alone praying." When Jesus had anything
of great importance to say to his disciples, he always took them aside
from the multitude. When he was transfigured, he took three of his
disciples into a mountain apart from all the world. When he was one time
alone praying with his disciples, he asked them who he was. Peter
answered, "The Christ of God" (Luke 9:18). It was only when he was alone
with them and after prayer that he could bring them into such nearness to
him that they might know in their hearts that he was the Son of God. When
amid the active duties of life and when in contact with the world, we can
scarcely come into that sacred nearness to God that will enable us to feel
in our hearts all that God is. We may get slight glimpses of his glory, we
may occasionally get a dim view of some of his beauty, we may feel a
little warming of his love in our bosoms; but only when alone with him are
we awed into wonder at the sight of his glory and great beauty. It is only
then that we see him in his purity and feel the warm sunshine of his love.
It is only then that our hearts can be deeply impressed with the knowledge
that he is God, and in childlikeness we can look up to him and call him
Father.




PRAYERFUL REMEMBRANCE.


  At evening time when dark'ning shades draw nigh
  And flickering rays of light go chasing by,
  When all around glad nature sweetly sings
  And seems you hear the sound of angel's wings,
  Some one in memory may be brought to thee.

  Maybe some one from distant land away,
  Of whom you had no thought for many a day.
  'Tis passing strange; you do not understand
  Why such a one and from such distant land
  Should step across the threshold of your mind,
  Why he to you at this time should be brought.
  'Tis mystery when all else claims your thought;
  You seek to understand, but learn it not.

  Maybe this one has conflict great and sore,
  Is struggling long and hard 'gainst grim despair,
  And God who rules the thought and mind of man
  Has brought him this long way to you for prayer.
  Then do not drive these whisperings from your mind
  Nor cast them carelessly upon the wind:
  'Tis but the voice of God, in tender care
  For suffering one on life's broad way somewhere,
  Inviting you to plead for him in prayer.

  Kind friend, if at morning, noon, or night
  I come to thee on wings of memory,
  It is no doubt because the fight is fierce;
  Then will you bow and pray to God for me?




HE CARETH FOR THEE.


Life will never be successful unless we learn to let God care for us.
Unless we have faith to know that God is our keeper and that hence we have
nothing to fear, we shall never be the cheer and sunlight in this dark
world that God designed us to be. This is a world of trouble. Sin envelops
many souls in awful midnight gloom. Some may never find Jesus unless they
see him smiling in your face. You as God's dear child are to be a light to
those poor, benighted souls. To be such a light, you must be full of
light, and to be full of light you must be full of hope by faith in the
cheering and encouraging promises of God. None can be truly happy, none
can be the cheer, comfort, and consolation to the world, who are bearing
their own burdens. Only those who have learned the sweet lesson of trust
in God and know that he cares for them are truly happy and free and
capable of cheering others.

  He who this one short life would live
  As heaven has designed
  Must scatter rays of cheering light
  From a heart with Hope enshrined.

There are many priceless promises in the Word of God. There is a promise
for every need, condition, and circumstance of life. Among these blessed
promises, here is one that has brought comfort to many a weary pilgrim on
life's way: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1
Pet. 5:7. If this promise does not lift you far above all the trials,
discouragements, and weariness of life, it is because you do not believe
it nor understand the fulness of its meaning. "He careth for <i>you</i>."
It is not your neighbor or your friend, but it is you. Cares will come to
you, certainly; you could never cast your cares upon God if you had none.
But you have them and doubtless many of them. The difficulty with many is,
they do not cast them on God. Reader, your life will never be, it can not
be, that free, happy, radiant, sunlit, helpful life that pleases God, if
you bear your own cares.

There is nothing too trivial in life to take to God. In the very smallest
concerns of your daily life he has an interest. In everything let your
requests be known unto him. Do learn to take everything to him. Fret over
nothing, never worry for a moment. Let nothing disturb or disquiet you. I
say <i>nothing</i>. "He careth for you." Do you comprehend the full
meaning of these words? Think them over for a moment. Let go of yourself
and let God keep you. Oh, the freedom that belongs to the children of God!
Theirs is a sweet land of liberty. But alas! how many will go on bearing
their own burdens and weighted down with care with these words right
before them: "He careth for you"! Why not let him?

Care is a grace-destroyer. If you would be strong in the grace of God, you
must live free from care. It gnaws at the very vitals of the soul. A
strong cable made of many fine wires was stretched across the river and
was used to tow a heavy scow back and forth. One of the small strands was
broken. This was thought to be a small matter. Soon another was broken and
then another. Still this was not of much consequence. One by one more were
broken but unheeded because each was so small. Finally all were broken,
and the boat went adrift. A little care does not seem to be of much
consequence. But the Bible says to be "careful for <i>nothing</i>," and to
"cast <i>all</i> your care upon him."

Some have thought that the bearing of burdens and cares made us strong in
the Lord. No, it is the casting of them on Jesus that makes us strong. For
a man to be down under a heavy weight is no exercise to his muscles; but
to be up on his feet and passing heavy weights on to another, this is
exercise. To be down under burdens and cares is no exercise to the soul,
but is really death; the passing of the cares on to Jesus is the exercise
and the strength of the spiritual powers. If you only knew how much grace
a little care destroyed, you would quickly cast them on Jesus. Some have
come to find themselves entirely without grace because they did not cast
their cares on the Lord. We knew a sister whose baby was such a care that
she could not keep saved. One day when asked how she was getting along in
the Lord, she answered, "Not well; the baby is such a care and worry that
I can not keep the victory I should like to have." Was it not too bad to
lay such a blame upon a poor little innocent child? I was asked one time
if it was possible to reach an experience where we would never fret or
worry. Certainly we can. We shall never get to a place where we shall have
no temptations, but we can get to a place where we shall not yield to the
temptations. Your life has not reached that degree of perfection that it
should, until you have attained to such an experience. Jesus says, "Take
no thought for the morrow." When you are having any great anxieties about
future things, you are doing what Jesus tells you not to do, and you can
not do something he tells you not to do without suffering spiritual loss.
Oh! why will you worry about anything, when Jesus says, "Be anxious for
nothing." "But," you say, "when there is no meat in the larder and no
flour in the bin, can we then be not anxious?" There are those who have
been in just such circumstances and yet have not been greatly troubled.

If you will be over-anxious about anything, you can never live close to
God. When anxieties knock at the door of your heart for admittance and you
open the door and let them in, you are opening the door to a dangerous
band of robbers. They are robbers of grace and peace. When anxieties step
over the threshold of your heart's door, grace and peace fly out of the
window. "But what am I to do?" sighs a care-worn soul. Do just what a good
man says he did. He said that he opened his heart to Jesus, and he came in
and shut the door. Let Jesus keep the door of your heart. When anxieties
come and want into your heart, tell them they must get permission from
Jesus, because you have given your whole heart up to him. This is what is
meant by "casting your care upon him." It is not enough to kneel down and
ask Jesus to take them; you must cast them upon him. In this is the soul's
needed exercise. The soul that will do this shall be strong. You must put
the burden over on the Lord's shoulders and let him bear it. He will bear
all your burdens for you if you will lay them upon him.

Not only must you put them upon him, but you must let go entirely. You do
not even need to look after them to see what he does with them. Your
little child comes to you with a tangled cord. It gives it over into your
hands, but holds to one end. Now, you know that in order to get the tangle
out, you must have both ends. O weary one, Jesus will disentangle all the
cares of life, but you must let him have both ends. He does not want your
help. You hinder him if you attempt to help him. Cares will come; things
that are of a trying nature will assail us as long as we live; but we have
a refuge in Jesus; he will bear our burdens; he will care for us.




"CONSIDER THE LILIES."


What a beautiful lesson Jesus has taught us of rest and quietness from the
lilies! "Consider the lilies of the field," he says, "how they grow: they
toil not, neither do they spin." He is trying to teach us how free we can
be--free from all earthly cares and anxieties. The lily does not struggle;
it has no anxieties about its future; but it grows. It grows to be
beautiful. Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of them.
God paints the flower with greater beauty than the robes of kings. If you
would be beautiful, you must rest in the Lord. Just a little struggling,
and you will mar the whole. Christ wants to reveal himself through you. He
will shine the beauty of his own glorious person into your soul if you
will but be quiet. Have no anxieties about the things that pertain to this
life, and Jesus will clothe you with the beauties of heaven. Character, as
the years pass on, is revealed on the face. The miser's face shows the
miserly condition of his heart. Jesus will stamp his own image upon the
soul if the soul is kept in quietness, and this image will stand out in
beauty on the face and outward life.

By this lesson of the lilies Jesus did not mean to teach that we should
not pray. He once said, "Men ought always to pray." We must pray much. If
we do not pray, Satan will have us toiling and spinning. Keeping close to
Jesus with a strong faith and a firm trust is the only way to rest, and we
can not do this without much prayer. "Cease thy toiling and care." Learn a
lesson from the lilies. Rest in the Lord, and he will make you an object
of Christian beauty that will bless the world. Even after you are long
gone, that restful, patient life will cast its rays of light and beauty
back and chase away the shadows from the life of others.

  The day has gone, the twilight fades,
  There's stillness everywhere;
  I seek some place of solitude,
  And humbly bow in prayer.

  I tell the story of the day--
  The joy, the grief, the care;
  I keep not back one secret thing,
  But tell it all in prayer.

  O heart of mine, be light and free,
  Not lightest burden bear,
  In everything let thy requests
  Be told to God in prayer.

  Yes, all; I tell it all to Christ
  In evening twilight dim:
  Somehow my heart much lighter grows
  Since all is told to him.

  I lay my life at his dear feet--
  O Jesus, I am thine!
  I'll walk the way of life with thee;
  Thy will, O Christ, is mine.

  And now I lay me down to sleep
  While gathering shadows fall,
  And sweet indeed my rest shall be,
  Since Jesus knows it all.




SORROWFUL YET ALWAYS REJOICING.


This world is sometimes called "the vale of tears." Jesus said, "In the
world ye shall have tribulation," but he also said, "In me ye shall have
peace." The way to heaven is through tribulations. Those whom John saw
standing before the throne and the Lamb arrayed in white robes and with
palms in their hands, were one day where we now are, and thank God, we,
coming up through great tribulation, shall some day be where they are.
While man in this world will meet with sorrow, he can by the grace of God
always rejoice. Alum thrown into muddy water will clarify it. The grace of
God thrown into a cup of sorrow will turn it to joy. Sorrows are needful.
It is only a barren waste where there is no rainfall.

We have sung, "No days are dark to me." This can indeed be true, but it is
not to be taken in the sense that there will be no clouds nor rainfall.
Show me a man who never has a cloud to float across his sky, and I will
show you a man who has not faith enough to see clearly in the sunlight. It
is those whose faith pierces through the cloud and keeps the smiling,
sunlit face of Christ in view that have the truest, sweetest joy. Their
rejoicing is in the Lord. By bravery and force of will some may shut
themselves against sorrow and soon become insensible to it. But the heart
that is steeled against sorrow is in all probability so calloused that it
can not experience joy. Those who know the deepest sorrow may ofttimes
know the fullest joy, and that in the midst of their sorrow. Do not harden
your heart against sorrow, but look to Jesus for that balm which heals,
that grace which sustains, that comfort which gladdens. Some have thought
that true joy consists in never having a sorrow; that those who have
sorrow have not found the way of peace. In this they err. Those who never
have a sorrow rejoice because they have no sorrows, but some who have
sorrow have learned to rejoice in the Lord. This is truest joy.

"Sorrowful," said one who was crucified with Christ, "yet always
rejoicing." He never once denied having sorrow; nay, he said, "I have
great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart." But he also said, "I
glory." It was the deep sorrow that made him most like Jesus. He had
feeling. "We sorrow," he said, "but not as those who have no hope." The
world knows a sorrow that the Christian does not know. Christians should
be careful lest in hardening themselves against feeling they do not render
themselves incapable of feeling compassion, sympathy, and pity.

Let the tears flow. If you keep them back, the fountain will dry up. May
the Lord pity those who have no tears! Jesus wept. The apostle Paul said,
"Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many
tears." Oh, that unfeeling heart that can not suffer, that dry heart that
has no fountain of tears! It weeps not over the sorrows of others and
consequently can not rejoice when others are joyful. Only those who weep
can truly rejoice.

You rejoice because you and your family are in good health, because your
friends are smiling upon you, because circumstances surrounding you are
favorable, because you have an abundance of good things to eat and of
clothing to wear. But your rejoicing is only in earthly things. We are to
be grateful for these things, but they are only the sea-foam of joy; the
water lies beneath. True joy is to rejoice not only <i>in</i> the Lord but
<i>with</i> the Lord. Rejoice in those things in which Jesus and the
angels rejoice. When your goods are being wasted, you find your deepest
joy because God is being glorified.

If you can not weep with angels, you can not rejoice with them. See that
aged pilgrim: his has been a hard and stony way; loved ones have gone one
by one from his embrace; riches have taken wings and flown away; sorrows
are multiplied; trials are many; burdens are heavy; he is footsore, sad,
and weary. Angels are bending over him weeping. Can you weep with him and
them? They comfort him. The sadness of his heart begins to die away; hope
begins to dawn. The dawning of the hope causes the angels to rejoice. This
is truest joy. Rejoice when souls are saved; rejoice when hearts are
gladdened; rejoice when God is praised. This is the true source of purest
joy. But it is only those who are capable of suffering deeply with the
sufferings of others, that can truly rejoice when their sufferings are
turned away. The more we are like Jesus, the more we have of his Spirit,
the tenderer will be our hearts and the more deeply will our souls be
moved by the sufferings of others.

When some dear friend has proved untrue; when some loved one has gone
astray; when the death-angel has left a chair vacant at your hearth-stone
and deep sorrow lies upon your soul, then it is that you feel nearer to
Jesus. You feel ripe for heaven. The world has suddenly gone out, and you
have cast your eyes upward. Do not try to keep back the tears; let them
flow. They are pearls in angels' sight. It is the tears of the child that
touches the heart of the parent, and cites him to give comfort to the
little one. It is the tears of the Christian that touches the great loving
heart of God and moves him to give that solace which only Heaven gives.
David said in a time of deepest sorrow--his son was seeking his life--"It
may be the Lord will look on my tears [margin], and that the Lord will
requite me good." Hezekiah was doomed to die. The prophet told him to 'set
his house in order, for he should die, and not live.' The dying man turned
his face to the wall and prayed, "I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how
I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done
that which is good in thy sight"; and he "wept with a great weeping
[margin]." This touched the heart of God, and he said, "I have heard thy
prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee."

If the heart of God's saints were a deeper fountain of tears, more sick
people would be healed in these days. Around are the sick and suffering,
but alas, how few tears! When saints have so deepened into God, cultivated
such a tenderness of heart, and become so deeply compassionate, that they
will "water their couch with their tears all the night" at the sight of
sick persons, they will get answers to their prayers. To such God will
say, "Behold, I will heal him." If tears will not reach God, the case is
hopeless. Esau sought for a place of repentance and sought it with tears,
but could not find it. The mentioning of tears here implies that the
addition of tears to earnest heart-seeking has influence with God.
Jeremiah, in his lamentations for fallen Israel, said, "Oh, that my head
were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" He knew that if
anything would avail with God, it would be tears therefore he wished that
his eyes were a fountain of tears, so that God might be moved to save
Israel.

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." There can be no harvest from
seed sown unless the seed is watered. As you go out to sow seed in the
Master's field, water them with your tears if you would have a joyful
harvest. May God save his people from unfeelingness of heart! A soul with
no tears is a soul with no flowers. There is no verdure where there is no
water. Those who are not deep enough in God to shed tears over a lost and
ruined world are not deep enough to shed tears of joy over a soul's
salvation. Out from the depth of his heart Jesus cried, "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem! how oft would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her brood
under her wing, but ye would not." When did you shed tears over lost
souls? Do you ever have a Gethsemane? Is your pillow ever dampened by
tears shed for a doomed world? Do you ever go out beneath the starry sky
and with outstretched arms cry in the severe pains of travail, "O lost
souls, lost souls! how oft would I have gathered thee to Jesus, as a hen
gathers her brood under her wing, but ye would not"? Only those who have
deep travail of soul for the lost can fully rejoice when the lost are
found.

One of the apostles said he served the "Lord with many tears." A heart
from which flows no tears is not a heart that is wholly imbued by the
Spirit of God. Tears of compassion for the suffering, tears of warning and
entreaty for the lost, tears of joy for the saved, will flow through a
perfectly holy heart as freely as water through a sieve. Sunlight
perforates the block of ice from the center outward; so the love of God
perforates the heart to its depths and lets the tears of affection, pity,
and sympathy flow out.

Do not try to escape suffering. Do not shut your heart against sorrow. It
is the bruised flower that gives out the sweetest scent. Open thy heart to
God and let him bruise it, let sorrow flow in and break it, that sweetness
may flow out. When the poet sang:

  "I no trouble and no sorrow
  See today, nor will I borrow
  Gloomy visions for the morrow,"

he sang not of sorrow for souls lost in sin, nor of needful heaviness
through manifold temptations, nor of sorrow awakened by the suffering of
others, but of that sorrow which arises from the world through distrust
and separation from God.

There is a sorrow which comes through Christ. It is as the refiner's fire,
purifying the soul and binding it closer to God. Such sorrow detaches the
heart from the world and from self, and hides it in God. It is impossible
for the soul to approach any degree of nearness to Christ only through
sorrow and suffering. In my own experience my heart once longed for deeper
grace. My whole soul breathed out, "O Jesus! give me more meekness." For a
few days a heavy cloud of sorrow lay upon me; when it had passed away, I
had an answer to my prayer.

I would have you beware of that unfeeling state in which one has no
sorrow, and mistakingly attributes its absence to grace. Grace helps us
bear sorrow, but does not harden our hearts against it. Sorrow brings us
to a throne of grace for grace and grace brings us joy, so that we have
joy in sorrow. No other joy is so sweet as this. It is the real and true
joy of Christ.




GENTLENESS.


Fruit-bearing trees are used in the Scriptures to represent the race of
mankind. The Savior likens the wicked to "corrupt trees," which bear evil
fruit and the righteous to "good trees" which bear good fruit (Matt. 7:15,
20). He also teaches very emphatically the impossibility of one's being a
good tree and yet bearing evil fruit, or of being a corrupt tree and
bearing good fruit. Since the nature of the fruit we bear determines what
manner of tree we are, it is very advisable that we as professing
Christians should frequently examine the fruit we are bearing. To be
Christ's, or to be a Christian, we must have the Spirit of Christ; for the
Scriptures say that "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his" (Rom. 8:9). As certainly as cause produces effect, those who have
the Spirit of Christ bear the fruit of the Spirit. Not to bear the fruit
of the Spirit is full proof that you have not the Spirit. Then a close
examination of the fruit you are bearing will reveal to you whether or not
you have the Spirit of Christ, whether or not you are his, whether or not
you are a Christian. You can make a superficial examination, and allow
yourself to be deceived. You can make excuses for yourself because of your
weaknesses, and thus deceive yourself. But a close, thorough, profound
examination will disclose to each one the manner of spirit he is of.

Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22). If we have the
Spirit of Christ, we bear this fruit. "Well," says one, "in my very make
-up I am rough, harsh, and hasty." You need to be made anew. When God finds
a man that is rough, harsh, and severe in his make-up, He will, if the man
will yield to the operation of the Holy Spirit, make him mild, gentle, and
peaceful. People go to a hospital and by a scientific operation have
abscesses and tumors removed from the stomach and other internal parts.
God, by a blessed, wonderful, and successful operation of the Holy Spirit,
will take that roughness, harshness, and severity out of your nature, and
instil mildness, tenderness, softness, and gentleness instead. Harshness
and roughness are a corruption that God, in his gracious plan of
salvation, is pleased to remove. If you will allow the Holy Spirit to work
in you that which is pleasing in God's sight, he will make you gentle.

What is gentleness? It is blandness, softness, mildness, and meekness. It
is the opposite of harshness, roughness, etc. It is sweetness of
disposition, mildness of temper, softness of manner, kindness, tenderness,
etc. Those who are of a gentle disposition act and speak without asperity.
They are not morose, sour, crabbed, and uneven, but are smooth, mild, and
even. Good manners are intimately connected with gentleness, and good
manners are no dishonor to Christianity.

The apostle Paul by way of testimony said to the Thessalonian saints, "We
were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children." 1 Thess.
2:7 Such was his manner. As a kind mother is to a delicate child, so was
he to those whom he loved. Vastly different was he then from what he was
when he was persecuting and wasting the church of God. He had been changed
by grace. He exhorts servants of the Lord to "be gentle unto all men" (2
Tim. 2: 24) and to be "gentle, showing all meekness unto all men" (Tit.
3:2). David, in his sublime tribute of praise to God in 2 Sam. 22: 36
says, "Thy gentleness hath made me great."

Would you, my reader, like to be more gentle in your manner? Are you too
harsh and rough? Are you, if a parent, as gentle to your children as you
should be, at all times? Husband, are you as kind and gentle toward your
wife as you should be? Do you believe you fill the Bible measure in this
particular? Are you as gentle to your domestic animals as you should be?
or do you have impatient feelings and act in a hasty, abrupt manner
towards them? If you meet with something quite provoking from your wife or
the children or the animals, do you keep as mild and sweet as you know you
should? Now, I hope you will examine closely. I do not mean to condemn
you; I want to help you. There are many professing saints today who are
not nearly so gentle as they should b