But space cannot measure thee: neither can room confine thee. Neither canst thou empty the store of riches : with which Christ is willing to adorn thee. O therefore take therefrom without stint : put on continually day by day. Put on robe after robe: crown after crown; Put on, spare not for every moment there is something new. O when the time for thy adorning shall have run out : and thou shalt have put on thy last jewel; And thou shalt shine as the bride : that waiteth the coming of the bridegroom; How beautiful shall be thy apparel: how marvellous the change into the glory of the Lord. Thou shalt be meet for the company: where are gathered the spirits of just men made perfect. - Thou shalt enter with them into the house of the Lord thou shalt stand amidst his children in glory. Before the firstborn of the family in heaven: the only begotten Son of God. Glory and praise be to Him his kingdom endureth for ever. XIV. THE CHRISTIAN A WRESTLER. O LORD! Thou hast called me : Thou hast aroused me from slumber. I saw thy glory in the light of thy new risen sun I heard thy voice in the breeze of the morning. And I prayed and said: abide with me, Lord, through this day. Be Thou my defence in the midst of mine enemies. For many and mighty are they that are come up against me and they would fain overthrow my soul. Principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. And their arms are smooth and nimble for deceit and strong and mighty for violence. Help me, Lord, in the wrestle against them : refresh me that I faint not. Anoint me with the oil of thy Holy Spirit : renew my strength in the inner man. Uphold me against the pushing of their violence that I yield to them no ground this day. Keep me stedfast in the grapple : that neither their force nor their fraud overthrow me. Give me the watchfulness of a quick con science give me the skill of experience in thy statutes; That I be not caught by their false motions: nor entangled in their embraces. Set my footsteps where they shall not slide: fix me where I shall never be moved. Not on the miry clay of this world but on the rock of Christ. There will I stand, and not fear there will I wrestle, and shall not be overcome. O Lord, in thee is my trust: Thou art my helper and defender. March/ip/s XV. A COMMITTAL INTO THE HANDS OF CHRIST. O LORD! my limbs are full of strength : and my heart beateth with joy. Thou, even Thou, hast been my keeper all the night long : Thou hast hidden me in thy pavilion ; So that the enemy should not come nigh unto me and that my body and my soul should be safe in Thee. Thou hast refreshed my body with sleep : and comforted my soul with thoughts that savour of Thee. Even in the dreams of the night Thou hast been with me: Thou hast not suffered the evil one to prompt them. And now what shall be the offering of my thanksgiving what return shall I make for all thy mercies? O Lord, accept me in body and in soul : I put them into thy hands. Receive the sacrifice of my body: the devotion of my soul. They are thine, Thou madest them : be they thine again by my use of them. O how blessed is he that hangeth entirely on Thee O how pleasant to have no prop or stay but Thee. He shall never fall his hope shall never be confounded. But it shall wax in the fulness of measure of content and shall overflow with joy. Thus let me cleave unto Thee and enjoy the earnest of thy fulness; Which Thou shalt bring in the day of thy coming in the time of the restitution of all things. Then Thou wilt receive thine own unto Thee: and nothing shall separate them from Thee for ever. But where Thou art, there they shall be with Thee in glory everlasting. : And Thou shalt be their king: and they shall be thy people. hath 15th 1865 XVI. THE CHRISTIAN LABOURER. : WHO calls so loud at my bedside who cries with such importunity in my chamber? A voice from the end of the watches of the night: a voice from the dawn of the morning. The voice of my Master: He calleth his servants to their work again. Awake, arise, for it is time: the night is past when no man can work. Make haste, put on thy raiment : come unto my vineyard. Thy fellow-workmen are already there: they stand arrayed in their order. Thy work is all portioned out : thy name will shortly be called. I come, O Lord, I come: I will make no long tarrying. Great is thy mercy in giving me another day: enable me with strength for my work. Give skill to my hands and diligence unto my heart. Eye-service availeth not with Thee: O Thou Judge eternal in heaven. Establish, therefore, my spirit in faithfulness and stir up thy fear and love within me. Let me not think to take mine ease in thy |