Life Natural life is common to devils, worms, trees, flies; man dies as the beast, but lives for ever in his soul. preserves from corruption, so does spiritual life. Who are Brands plucked from the Burning.—ZECH. 3. 2.. The fire is already blackening and scorching the brand ;: but there is yet time to snatch it from the flame, and to save it for some nobler use. Linger not, but seize it, ere too late. Another minute, and you could not have plucked it from the fire. It bears the marks of the peril from which it has been scarcely saved; but having thus far concerned yourself to preserve it, you will not lightly throw it back again in to the flame. All we are as brands plucked out of the fire, and bear indeed the marks of the scorching flame; but God has not plucked out the brand only to cast it into a yet fiercer furnace. The Apostle Judas bid us, save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Each of us is as a brand plucked out of the fire; and it is owing to the distinguishing mercy of God that we were not left in the guilt of original sin, or were not left to perish in our sin's fuel for hell-fire. Persian. He should be exposed to danger of death in order that he may be content with fever. Doing Good is Bread cast on the Waters.-ECCL. II. I. In the East rice is sown upon the waters, but before sowing, the ground, while still covered with water, is trodden by oxen which go mid-leg deep; and as the rice is sown on the water so it springs up through the water, and the height of its stem is generally in proportion to the depth of the water on the surface of the soil. It is in reference to this practice of the rice in the rains being formed into balls, and sunk in water, that the passage in Is. 32. 20, is to be explained, "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." In Egypt a rice crop comes up in six months. The relief given in secret to a stranger, who may never be seen again, shall be blessed not only to him, but still more surely to the donor; it shall be found after many days; so Abraham entertained angels, Heb. 13. 2, who afterwards requited him. And the same may be said of the word of good advice, given "in season" to some one at a period of brief intercourse; nor shall any effort fail of due fruit, by which persons have shown forth their love to Christ their Saviour, Mat. 10. 42, Luke 19. 16. The corn-seed thrown into the mud, at the subsidence of the Nile, seems lost, but nothing is lost that is done for God. The fruit will be found at the resurrection of the just, Luke 14. 14; so also is the case with instruction, Is. 55. 10, Prov. 19. 17, charity is loan to God. Persian.-Give in this world, receive in the next (Mat. 10. 42). Turk. What you give in charity in this world you take with you after death. Do good and throw it -if the fish does not know it God into the sea does. Russian.-Throw bread and salt behind you, you get them before you. God a Builder.-HEB. II. IO. God as a builder different from earthly builders in five points. A good builder must be clever to plan, so known to God are all his works; there was the pattern on the Mount, Heb. 8. 5; he lays a good foundation, so God laid the pillars of the earth; man's foundation has often bad materials in it; employ a variety of workmen, so God has angels, men, Nature, the firmament, in his hands, Ps. 19. A variety of work-God made the fountains of the great deep, the windows of heaven, hell the prison, and paradise the garden; he tells the number of the stars. Earthly builders are mortal; limited in knowledge; build for others: improve in their plans; require materials for a building. Abraham looked for a city without foundations, Heb. II. IO. The Telegus compare one who uses bad agents to one scratching his head with a firebrand; but God can make the wrath of man to praise him, Ps. 76. 10. The Burden of Sin.-MAT. II. 30. A burthen presses heavily on the chest as the tenderest part, so sin on the heart, provided it be not past feeling, Eph. 5. 14; Christ, pressed by the weight of the world's sins, sweat blood, Luke 22. 44; a burthen impedes action, so does sin, Heb. 12. 1; believers are to bear one another's burthens, Gal. 6. 6; not so did the priest who passed by on the other side of the way, Luke 10. 31; the Jewish law ordered one to relieve even the ass of an enemy. Sin is to be carried not as a golden chain round the neck, but as an iron chain round the feet. The devil, when he mocked Eve, did not see sin a burthen, neither did the old world when it ridiculed Noah's building the ark, Gen. 3. 4. 5. A burthen is unpleasant. China. Forethought is easy, repentance is hard. Bengal.-Faith in God is the root of all devotion; deliverance from evil is only her servant. Japan.-Good physic is bitter. Trusting in Riches compared to a Camel passed When Christ says it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, he meant those who trusted in riches rather than in God, those who use riches for purposes of pride, oppression, sensuality, Jas. 2. 6; as Haman, Esth. 5. II, Esau, Gen. 36. 7; for Abraham was a rich man yet good, Gen. 13. 2; so were Isaac, Gen. 26. 13; so Joseph, Gen. 45.8; Joseph of Arimathea, Mat. 27. 57. Oriental.-Unmitigated evil is as rare As wings upon a cat, or flowers of air, As rabbits' horns, or ropes of tortoise hair. Bengal.-Putting an elephant into a narrow dish; a horse's eggs, or a flower in the air. Cingalese. Like seeking feathers from turtles. Talmud. To let a camel go through the hole of a needle. Persian. A needle's eye is wide enough for a friend; the whole world is too narrow for foes. The Wicked are Captives.—2 TIM. 2. 26. Truth only makes free. Christ, in his first sermon which he preached at Nazareth, stated he came as a Redeemer to purchase the captives. Men are captives to-(1) sin, Rom. 7. 14—26; ancient tyrants fastened captives to a dead body face to face until they were suffocated by the stench; (2) Satan, 2 Tim. 2. 26; (3) the Law, Gal. 4. 25; (4) Death, in Heb. 2. 15, called the king of terrors. The believer's body may be captive, but his mind is free as in Paul's case. Captives in war were often stripped naked, and thrown into a dungeon; their eyes were put out, as Zedekiah's, 2 Kings 25.7; or as the Mahrattas gouged out the eyes of the Great Mogul in Delhi; they were often loaded with chains, devoured by vermin, fed on bread and water, living in darkness among rats. Bengal.-One at the will of another, an ox with his nose pierced. Japan. The bird that flies upward does not ruffle the water. Telugu.-A scorpion under a shoe-i.e., held under restraint. Choked with Care.-LUKE 8. 14. Cast thy burthen on the Lord, Ps. 55. 22; Ruth committed her cares to God, Ruth 1. 16, 2. 12; so Ezra in the desert, Ezr. 8. 21-23, 32. China.-Past events as clear as a mirror, future as dark as lacquer. Bengal.-Anxiety is the fever of the mind; the burning sun acts like a fever on clothes. Turk.-To everyone his own care, the miller's is water. Bengal.-Grass at a distance looks thick. Sanskrit.-Mountains are beautiful at a distance, rugged when near. Bengal.-My mind is troubled in collecting money to pay the rent, how then can I worship Vishnu ? Russian.-Rust eats iron, care the heart. Arab. A heart free from care better than a full purse. Oriental. The grief of the morrow is not to be eaten to-day. Mat. 6. II. Bengal. The ant's wings grow to its own death. Hitopadesha.-Strive not too anxiously for thy support, thy Maker will provide. No sooner is a man born than milk for his support streams from the breast. Chastity. Samson, a giant, was made a dwarf in soul through his passions; he ground in fetters of brass, Judg. 16. 20. Lot was vexed with the filthy conversation of Sodom. Kural. Of what avail are prisons barred, For chastity is woman's guard. Hebrew.-Impurity in the beginning like a spider's web, in the end like a cart rope. Tamul.-Beauty without chastity, a flower without fragrance. Solomon.-A bad woman's lips a honeycomb, her end wormwood. Prov. 5. 3. Badaga. The unchaste will vanish away like a handful of mud. Is. 51. 6. |