tired of play, wishes to go to bed, or like a seaman who only waits for a favourable wind to raise his anchor, 2 Thess. I. 6, 7. How faithfully does the labourer exert his strength, that he may honestly earn the hire for which he has undertaken to bear the burden and heat of the day! Now and then he looks wistfully at the lengthening shadows, and notices how far the sun has gone down in the heavens, Job 7. 2. Most welcome to him will be the hour of rest and payment; but he does not suffer himself to suspend his work until the time agreed upon is come. The time for rest will come when the time for work is over. Thus is man set upon the earth to work the work of God for an appointed season; and thus faithfully should he spend himself, and be spent in the service of his gracious Maker. He owes to his Maker every faculty of soul and body; and that gracious Being has promised to all who serve him truly a rich reward when the day of life is over. The reward, indeed, will be of grace and not of debt, for at best we are unprofitable servants, who have done only what it was our duty to do. And which of us has done even so much? On the other hand, the grave to the wicked is a slaughter-house; death like a wolf feeds on them; like sheep they are laid in the grave where their beauty consumes, while the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning of the Resurrection, Ps. 49. 14, Prov. 7. 22. Telugu.-The man who has crossed a river and reached the shore, cares no longer for the hide-sewn boat; why should the man who has attained happiness trouble himself about the body? 2 Cor. 5. I, Phil. 3. 13. Urdu.-When I die, I shall get a good nap. Atmabodha. Having crossed the sea of Fascination, and having killed the giants, Inclination, Aversion, the wise shall, married to Peace, enjoy repose of soul. He sparing the Rod hates his Son.-PR. 13. 24. The bee sucks sweet honey out of the bitterest herb So God will by afflictions teach his children to suck sweet knowledge, sweet obedience, out of all the bitter afflic tions and trials he exercises them with; that scouring and rubbing which frets others, shall make them shine the brighter; that weight which crushes and keeps others. under, shall but make them, like the palm-tree, grow better and higher. Stars shine brightest in the darkest night; torches give the best light when beaten; grapes yield most wine when most pressed; spices smell sweetest when pounded; vines are the better for bleeding; gold looks the brighter for scouring; the juniper smells. sweetest in the fire. Joseph's advancement might have been fatal to him, had he not been previously prepared for it by a long. course of suffering. We should have looked upon him with concern, had we seen him in bonds and known his innocence. But God, who had a far more indulgent and tender compassion for him, left him in a condition from which we would have delivered him, Gen. 37. 23-36,. 39. 20, 21. 23. So with the Israelites in the wilderness, and God's love in subjecting them to such trials in it, Deut. 8. 3-6, 15, 19. Proud Nebuchadnezzar became humble after his awful punishment, Dan. 4. 34-37. So with JehoshaphatGod destroyed his fleet to disengage him from his connexion with wicked Ahaziah, 2 Chron. 20. 35-37, and it seems to have had this effect, 1 Kings 22. 49. It is a mercy to have that taken from us that takes us from God. The people of Judah were sent into captivity to Babylon for their good, Jer. 24. 5-7; and in this, as appears from Ezra, Ezra 9. 10, and from Nehemiah, Neh. 9, the effect was good. Paul's thorn in the flesh was sent to preserve him from pride, 2 Cor. 12. 7; these examples show that the gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without adversity, that affliction is an angel of mercy sent to lead us out of Sodom; that the way of the Cross is the royal way to the Crown; and that the waters, which drowned the world, only lifted up the ark. Who shall see God?-MAT. 5. 2. Our knowledge of God in heaven is expressed by seeing in four points: The Hindus express by darshan the privilege after a long pilgrimage of seeing the idol. ་ explained by the emblem of seeing, Knowing God is because sight is (1) the clearest of the other senses, as light is given, so our knowledge comes from God; (2) the sense most universally exercised; (3) pleasant, Ecc. II. 7, seeing a friend is very different from hearing about him, the eye is the window of the soul; (4) the most comprehensive the eye is never satisfied with seeing. Dirt loves not a sunbeam, nor the impure to see God, Gen. 3. 8, 4. 14. Moses saw God through Christ, Num. 22. 8, so did Jacob, Gen. 32. 30. Believers while pure walk in the light of God's countenance; like the moon dark when away from the sun; bright when facing it. Sins like Scarlet made White as Snow.-Is. 1. 18. Scarlet is obtained from the eggs of an insect found on the leaves of the oak in Spain; being bright is used for clothing, Saul's daughters wore it, 2 Sam. I. 24. Neither dew, rain, washing, nor long wear can remove the scarlet die, it is the fastest colour, so with sin the stain is not removed by ordinary means; a scarlet thread was fastened to the scapegoat on the day of atonement; white, on the other hand, was the emblem of purity, Rev. I. 14; hence the Nazarenes, a sect of the Jews, were said to be purer than snow, Lam. 4. 7. Who are the Sealed Ones ?-2 TIM. 2. 19. The Holy Spirit like a seal in three points: The ancient Hebrews wore seals in rings on their fingers, and in bracelets on their arms. The wicked queen Jezebel wrote the condemnation of Naboth, whose death she plotted to get his vineyard for her husband Ahab, and sent it to the elders of Israel, signed with his seal, 1 Kings 21. 8. So the ambitious Haman sealed the decree of king Ahasuerus against the Jews with the king's seal, Esth. 3. 12, 8. 8; it is afterwards stated that the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. The seal was a mark to prove that things were genuine, as in the above cases it showed that the royal authority was granted for the purposes named within; at other times, it was a pledge for fulfilling terms agreed on between two parties, and also to secure anything by closing it up. So God, when he seals us by his Holy Spirit, marks his image upon us. God is holy; and we cannot be marked with his seal unless we are made holy too. When the Holy Spirit so seals us, he also secures us to the day of redemption, as a thing is shut up from harm by being sealed up; in this way men seal up their writings and treasures, marking them with their own seal, that none may break in and steal them. The Jews used to write on the head of a corpse with ink, "May he be in the bundle of life, Jehovah the Lord;" this was called sealing the dead. The seal makes impressions like itself, so the believer is changed into the same image, 2 Cor. 3. 18; the wax must be soft to receive the impression, Heb. 10. 16; so the heart; the wicked have stony hearts; the things are secured, so believers sealed on their forehead, Rev. 7. 3; they are a fountain sealed-i.e., secured against weather, gand, beasts, Cant. 4. 12; the sins of the wicked are sealed up in a bag-i.e., not forgotten, but the seal of the Holy Spirit on the believer is God's image. The Woman's Seed bruises the Serpent's Head. In the Iceland Mythology the Deity is said to have bruised the Serpent's head, so among the Hindus Krishna tramples on the Serpent's head, who bites his heel. Jesus Christ was the seed of the woman-i.e., born of the Virgin Mary; he destroyed the Serpent's-i.e., Satan's head, or power; the head of the Serpent is the seat of life. Satan is the old Serpent, Rev. 12.9. Satan is like a serpent in five points : 1. Subtle, lies in wait in holes to catch his prey, so the Egyptians behaved to the Babylonians. 2. Poisonous, Deut. 32. 24, yet Paul by Divine aid shook off a viper, Acts 28. 8. 3. Watches opportunity to sting; so Ahab could not sleep on account of Naboth's vineyard. 4. Feeds on dust; Satan's food, sin. 5. Fair in appearance, 2 Cor. II. 14. Self-respect. Arabic. He who makes himself bran is pecked by hens. Syriac. Cut your vine with your own hand, not with the hand of others. Who are Servants of Christ ?-2 TIM. 2. 24. The Jews had a class of house servants, as the Hindus had, who were slaves sold for debt or by their parents; but among the Jews they were set free on the seventh year, unless they had with their own consent their ears bored with an awl, and fastened to the doorposts. |