genuine love, and a disposition to perform holy and righteous deeds, does not precede forgiveness, but always follows it. Help me, O Christ! that I too may experience within me the power of Thy death. There is in the fellowship of the sufferings which Thy love led Thee to endure, a power never to be acquired, let me do my very utmost, by the works of the law. If Thou chasten me, it will be for nothing but for having failed, every hour of my life, to recognise with humiliation of heart the magnitude of Thy compassion, and for having too seldom contemplated Thee, O crucified Love, in order that, inflamed by the sight, I might crucify my own lusts and desires. For those who are Thy disciples there now remains no guilt but one, and that is, the guilt of thinking too meanly of Thy love. That is the sin which breeds all the rest. Oh, forbid that I should any longer repair to other fountains for supplies of strength! Thou, and Thou only, art He who can strengthen feeble knees and weary hands and fainting hearts, and to Thee I look up, O God of my salvation! 43. I am formed of the Clay. Man is not of one substance made; His soul is breath divine, His body but a hut of clay That serves it for a shrine. Mark, then, the limits of the two with care, And many a heart-ache thou thyself wilt spare. JOHN, XX. 13. "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him." JOB, Xxxiii. 6. "Behold, ... I also am formed out of DIS ISCIPLE.-Alas! I too must exclaim with the Magdalene, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him," for He is no longer in my heart. Master.-Did He then depart of a sudden? D.—I was aware of it only a few moments before, and prayed to Him, "Abide with us, for it is towards evening." 1 But He went. M.-I marvel that He went so suddenly—nay, even that He went at all; for the Word of Truth declares, “No man shall pluck my sheep out of my hand."2 And again, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit with Him." 3 D. That is why I weep: I was unprepared for it, and knew not how it happened. Oh, tell me if thou canst where He is, that I may go and seek Him. M.-And by what token dost thou know that He hath forsaken thee? D. By the sorrow with which my heart is overwhelmed. For hath He not said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you; and your joy no man taketh from you" } 4 M.-It seems as if thou knew only one source and one kind of sorrow—viz., that which is experienced when the Sun of the spiritual heaven is overcast and the terrors of divine judgment fall upon the soul. But, my son, there is a sorrow of a different kind, and which arises when the dark cloud intercepts the natural sun and discharges its burden upon the earth. D.—Master, it seems to me that thou comminglest earthly with heavenly things. M.-Take care, my son, that thou art not confounding the two; there is a spiritual joy and sorrow, and there is likewise a bodily joy and sorrow. The apostle speaks of rejoicing in the Lord,5 of joy in the Holy Ghost, and of joy and peace in believing. Thou sayest that the cause of thy sorrow is the departure of thy Saviour from thee. Art thou then, poor soul! destitute of an intercessor with God, and hast thou no advocate when thy sins afflict thee? D.—Oh, master, God forbid that it should be so! I have learned something of the loving-kindness of the Lord, and know that whoso cometh unto Him, He will in no wise cast out. Of that I am assured, but I would fain also feel that He loves me. M.-Thou sayest that thou hast an advocate when thy sins afflict thee; and if so, no doubt thou canst also pray the prayer, "Abba, Father"? D.-Yes, I can; for I know that since Christ has appeared and become my intercessor, no one can now condemn me. M.-If thou canst so pray, and still complainest that thou art unhappy, I would say, in reply, that thou hast thyself to blame for thy sorrow. Once thou wert cast out into the open field, and there was no eye to pity thee, and thy God passed by and saw thee in thy blood, and said unto thee, "Live." Now thou art washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord. He has opened to thee His heart, and said— If me thou for thy Master choose, And what thy heart sincerely rues, All this thou believest; and with such a message sent to thee canst thou still be unhappy, like those who have no hope? D.-Master, thou searchest the inmost recesses of my heart, and when I look into it myself I certainly find that I am not so sorely troubled as those who are without hope. The deeper I go, if I may venture to disclose it to thee, the more it seems as if I heard a voice constantly saying, Peace be unto thee! But the voice is very low, and my heart all the while in its anxiety beats so loudly that it drowns the consoling accents which come from beneath. 1 Rom. xv. 13. 2 Ezek. xvi. 6. 31 Cor. vi. 11. M.-My son, it would appear that as yet thou art but slightly acquainted with the Example Book of God's Saints. Hast thou not there read what the Word of Truth declares, that there is a peace of the soul even in the midst of trouble? according to the words of the Psalmist, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul."1 St Paul also says, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair." 2 Nay, he tells us that a child of God may indeed sorrow and yet at the same time rejoice; for his words are, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." For just as thou mayest see dark clouds flying in the heavens while the blue firmament behind them remains the same yesterday and to-day; or as thou mayest perchance imagine that the darkness which oft overspreads it reaches as far back as the vault extends, and yet behind the stars keep their places unmoved, so in all his tribulations is it with the heart of the Christian who is saved by faith. D.-As the dew cools the heat, so, dear master, does thy discourse refresh my soul. I see well that I have misunderstood both myself and the Lord. Speak on and correct me, that I may grow wise. M.-Observe, my son, that as man has been made of the dust of the earth, and dwells in a tabernacle of clay, his feelings do not proceed solely from the spirit which has been breathed into him by the Godhead, but often likewise from the tabernacle in which the spirit is enshrined; and consequently, that in questions respecting the inner life of the soul it is highly necessary to mark in how far its feelings are human and in how far they are divine, and to discriminate between what comes from the dust and what from the spirit. When a person is sorrowful without having any spiritual ground for it—when sorrow merely lights upon him, as the gnats do, which in summer play about the head-in that case, the feeling certainly comes from the dust to which he is allied. On the other hand, if he be in a cheerful mood, and yet knows of no spiritual 2 2 Cor. iv. 8. 1 Psalm xciv. 19. 3 2 Cor. vi. 10. ground for cheerfulness, so as, for instance, to be able to say that he rejoices in the Lord; then likewise, no doubt, have the sweet and pleasant sensations flowed from the earthly frame which he bears about with him. And if so be that at times the sun, the air, and the genial temperature of the elements can beget a gladness of heart at which we wonder, why, on the other hand, may not the sun and the air and the inclemency of the elements likewise engender in us sensations that are bitter and unpleasant in a manner of which we can give no account? Never, therefore, ought a soul to vex itself as if it were forsaken of the Saviour so long as it still retains its belief in the Intercessor for sin. The Saviour, whose seat is in the inmost recess of the soul, is there under the form of mere testimonies respecting Him, which may sometimes, for gracious purposes on the part of God, be withdrawn without the soul having any ground for anxiety. It is only when they have taken away from it the Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, that the soul has just cause to conceive alarm. Inasmuch, however, as Christ will sit at the Father's right hand, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and will there intercede for all who are sanctified by Him, never more can peace be taken away from the heart of a believing Christianthat peace in which he can pray, " Abba, Father." D.-Master, as rain drops upon the parched field, so does thy discourse recruit my soul. My peace becomes like a mighty river when I rightly take to heart that the covenant of grace which has been made with me is so sure and steadfast. Man's emblem is a tree, which sinks its root To earth one part is kin, to heaven the other, |