esteemed wife is called by the Hindus a jewel of a woman. See parable of the Pearl, Mat. 13. 45. The righteous are like jewels in seven points : 1. All jewels are dug out of the earth from rubbish, except the pearl found in the oyster; the diamond is only crystallized carbon or coal hardened in the earth; so believers at first of the earth earthy (I Cor. 15. 49) dead in trespasses. 2. Jewels receive a fine polish, which requires a long time. A wheel is used for this purpose, so adversity polishes believers to put on the new man as it did to Job and David; the polishing continues till all the flaws are removed, thus the Church hereafter by affliction's rubbing, will be without spot or blemish. 3. Jewels are rare. Many stones and metals are not equal in value to a small one, so believers a little flock, Luke 12. 32, not many wise called. Silver and gold were, however, as stones in Solomon's times, 1 Kings 10. 27, so again in the New Jerusalem. 4. Jewels are very beautiful—yellow, green, purple ; so the graces are beautiful-as love with John, humility as in Mary, patience as in Job-whatever things are lovely, Philip. 4. 8. Believers like jewels shine in the dark, so believers are the light of the world, so Peter and John's boldness was admired, though they were ignorant men, Acts 4. 5. Stephen's face shone when dying. Jewels are ornamental, set in a crown, ring, or seal, used by brides and kings; so the believer's crown will be an ornament to Christ's crown, Ex. 28. 29. To angels is manifested the love of God to man. 5. Jewels are durable; such as the Kohi Nur of Ranjit Sing. This is one cause of their value, so the hidden man of the heart, I Peter 3. 4; when earthly jewels shall be destroyed at the last day the righteous shall shine forth, Mat. 13. 43; many seeming jewels are only glass, so with hypocrites. 6. Jewels are very valuable; so the righteous are the pearls of creation, of great price, Mat. 13. 45, redeemed not with corruptible things, 1 Peter 1. 17, the precious sons of Zion were esteemed by the Chaldeans as earthen vessels, Lam. 4. 2, yet regarded as the apple of God's eye, Deut. 32. 10. Ten jewels-i.e., good men-would have saved Sodom could they have been procured. 7. Jewels are kept carefully; so believers are kept by the power of God; angels have charge over them, Mat. 4. 6. The Lord is their shade. Chanak. That jewel knowledge, which is not plundered by kinsmen, nor carried off by thieves, which does not decrease by giving, is great riches. Urdu.-Among men some are jewels and some are pebbles. Sanskrit.-The sandal grows not in every wood. God a Judge.--REV. 20. 12. From God's judgment-seat there is no escape by bribery. God spared not the devils, neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Pharaoh. He is the Father of Lights, and knows the law he himself made; he is patient, because he is eternal; he spared the world in Noah's time 120 years; and the world has been spared now 6,000 years. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. There is no secret place in which the sinner can hide himself; for God, who is present everywhere, sees in the dark as well as in the light. He hears us when we do not speak, because he hears our thoughts. As the light of the sun reaches to the ends of the world, so his power is everywhere, Ps. 139. God differs from earthly judges in four points: The judge, who punishes sins in a court of justice, receives his information from others, and can know only that which the witnesses tell him. But God is both judge and witness, and knows all things. When the judge has condemned a man and he is put to death, he has no more that he can do; but the power of God reaches beyond the grave, for he can destroy both the soul and body in hell. His hand shall find out those whom the grave has hidden from our sight, and they shall be brought forth, and placed before his judgmentseat to be judged for their past lives. Thefts, murders, and other sins which were committed in the dark, and were hidden from men so long as the offenders lived, shall then all be discovered, and made known. With the fear of this, the guilty shall tremble when they rise from their graves; then shall they call upon the mountains to fall upon them, and hide them from the face of their judge, Rev. 6. 16. Bengal.-Sand sharpens a knife, a stone the axes, good words a good man, a thrashing a rogue. Bengal.-Before a turning-lathe a thing cannot remain crooked. Knowledge.-I SAM. 2. 3. Empty knowledge puffs up, I Cor. 8. I, 2. Menu.-A wooden elephant, an antelope of leather, and a Brahman without knowledge-these three things. only bear a name, Rev. 3. I. Atmabodh.-By ignorance the soul is ruined; when this is. removed, the soul shall shine forth as the sun when the clouds disappear. Atmabodh.-The flame of knowledge which blazes forth when the contemplation is unceasingly rubbed upon the fuel of the soul, consumes all the stubble of ignorance. Atmabodh.-Knowledge alone effects emancipation, as fire is indispensable to cooking. Avyar. He without knowledge is blind. Kural.-Those who know have eyes and see; those who know not have only two holes in front. Sanskrit.-The gem of learning is great wealth; it cannot be shared by cousins, nor lost by robbery, nor exhausted by liberality, Mat. 6. 19. Sanskrit.-A reasonable word should be received even from a child or parrot. Arab.-Ignorance is the greatest poverty. Sanskrit. The spring is the youth of trees, wealth is the youth of men, beauty is the youth of women, intelligence is the youth of the young. Arab.-One day of a wise man is worth more than the life of a fool. Niti Shatak.-The man without learning is a beast. Sin, a Leprosy.-Is. I. 6. Disease called an arrow flying at night, Ps. 90., such as cholera. David was a man after God's own heart;" though living in a palace of cedar, he could not prevent disease, the fruit of sin, from entering; no soundness in his flesh, no rest in his bones, an emblem of sin; this was the man once so lively who danced before the ark, Ps. 38. 7. Sin is like leprosy in twelve points : 1. Painful. Pain is often useful in warning of danger to the body; thus fire warns, but the absence of mental pain is often an opiate to the conscience; thus Cain did not feel at first that he was guilty of murder; he said, Am I my brother's keeper? Gen. 4., 9. So when David committed murder he slept well. On another occasion, however, he states the arrows of the Almighty are within him. A pain often points out the seat of disease; opiates are not good in such a case. The pain of future punishment should be anticipated like as in the case of the men that heard Peter, and who were pricked to the heart, Acts. 2. 37, others, however, as in Judas's case suffer pain without any benefit. 2. Wastes the body and beauty. His beauty consumes like a moth, Ps. 39. II. The Nazarites, whiter than snow, became black as a coal, Lam. 4. 8. God saw once every thing he made was good, even man's body, but sin has dimmed the fine gold. "They are altogether become filthy." The jaundiced eye does not always see its own ugliness; so with the sinner. 3. Impairs the strength of the limbs. The strong becomes very weak, so the sinner-" sin revived, I died." The sick man tries to walk, but falls; he has the will, not the power. The law in the members warring against the law of the mind, Rom. 7. 23. 4. Spoils the appetite. Food is necessary, yet there is no relish, hence death ensues; the manna of God's word is despised; the honeycomb of the promises is loathed; the wine and milk of Gospel truth are rejected; he turns as a dog to his vomit, and eats husks, Job 31. 21. Behold he prayeth, was the sign of Saul's spiritual appetite, Acts 9. II. 5. Blasts the comforts of life. The ear enjoys not music Job when a leper said, My soul chooseth strangling rather than life, Job 7. 15. Vanity of vanities, says Solomon, Eccl. 1. 2; as vinegar upon nitre, so songs to a heavy heart, Prov. 25. 20. 6. Unhinges the whole body. The heart and limbs feel local complaints. I am poured out like water, Ps. 22. 14; so the conscience calls bitter sweet, the whole head is sick, Tit. I. 5. The imagination is only evil. 7. Terminates in death. The blood is affected, and then the dust returns to dust; he that liveth in pleasure is dead, 1 Tim. 5. 6. How fearful are plagues, such as small-pox, cholera, yet how much more so the disease of sin. 8. Deeply seated. Not skin deep, but affecting the vital parts of the blood and the heart, which is deceitful above all things. 9. Widely spread since Adam's time; small-pox, leprosy are spread to every part of the body, so man's members are made instruments of unrighteousness; "his tongue, a world of iniquity;" his eyes full of covetousness; his hands defiled with bribes; his feet swift to shed. blood. |