The great force of the expression, Keep thy heart above all keeping-necessity for keeping the heart, arising from the fact that it is the key of the spiritual position-the traitors within the fortress-the immense fertility of our thoughts and feelings a reason for watchfulness-variety of emotions in conversation. solitude offers as many temptations as company-let us pause at intervals, and make our thoughts give up their passport-what must be done when derangements of the heart are discovered-spiritual life carried on by many fresh starts-The necessity of resisting evil when first presented to the Imagination-prayer must be mixed with watchfulness in order to success-prayer the expression of our entire dependence upon God-great difficulty of keeping the heart should teach us this dependence-the peace which results from Christ's indwelling in the heart-The peace in the stable of "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not. This spake He signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Our Lord's prediction of the manner of St. Peter's death-how made perfect through sufferings-Christ's call to us to follow Him "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."-1 Cor. x. 31. An anecdote of St. John the Evangelist-every true repre- sentation of life must embrace its lighter as well as its more sombre passages-religion designed to leaven our whole life- analogy between Recreation and Sleep-we cannot afford to lose a single waking moment of our time-no waking moment morally indifferent-admission that recreation must be an unbending- recreation may be, and must be, directed by our minds to the glory of God-a passage of Scripture which implies this-What should be our intention in taking recreation, expressed in words- As to their form, Recreations must be innocent (not necessarily useful)—and innocent to us-experimental knowledge of our own moral temperament-amusements should be amusing-burden- someness of many (so-called) amusements-ordinary dulness of conversation-what remedies can be applied?-every mind has an interest somewhere-occasional toilsomeness of foreign travel- and its cause even in variety we should seek a unity of plan-a good education should comprise some lighter subjects of study- refreshment to the mind of even a slight knowledge of Nature- "Consider the lilies of the field "-avoid excess in recreations— long periods of leisure should pay the tax of additional devotion- general importance of the subject of recreation, from its influence ON THE WISDOM AND COMFORT OF LOOKING NO FURTHER THAN THE PRESENT DAY IN OUR SERVICE OF GOD. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much."-LUKE xvi. 10. PAGE Wisdom of limiting the field of research in the pursuit of knowledge-wisdom of beginning from one centre in the practical life of the Christian-the general principle applied to our timethe natural divisions of time-the day the least of them-the day a miniature of the whole life-illustration from a convex mirrorpassages of Scripture implying that the day is the rudiment of the life-our provisions meted out by the day-our anxieties to be limited by the day-forethought allowed within the horizon of the day our purposes to be limited by the same horizon-difficulty of so limiting them-the morning a miniature of youth-how much depends upon the way in which the morning hour is spent-entrance upon the business of the day compared to entrance upon the business of life-little crosses of the day compared to the great trials of life-consolatory prospect of the evening hour of devotion, if we maintain patience and watchfulness-Resemblance of Sleep to Death-and of rising to Resurrection-Look to it that the days be well spent; for they make up our life-But if we have thrown away (for all spiritual purposes) many days, still there a possibility of redeeming the time-how this may be done-let tomorrow begin a new era with us CHAPTER II. . 247 OF UNITY OF EFFORT IN THE SERVICE OF GOD. "Thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful."-LUKE X. 41, 42. Simplicity and depth of the words of Our Lord illustrated by the depth of a pellucid stream-necessity of peace in endeavour, as PAGE well as of peace in the consciousness of acceptance-desirableness of having one single principle at the foundation of our spiritual character-how is this to be reconciled with the obligation of fulfilling all God's commandments ?-the way in which Christian virtues hang together-prominence of a particular feature in all natural characters, and of a particular grace in all spiritual characters-growth in Nature proceeds from one nucleus-application of the principle-bend your efforts to the eradication of the bosom sin -other graces will form themselves while this process goes onChoose one maxim as the foundation of the spiritual character"Hallowed be thy Name"-what God's Name includes "Blessed are the poor in spirit"-the principle chosen should not be too narrow, so as to give rare scope for acting upon it-nor too broad, so as to include (virtually) many principles-it should lie in a line of thought to which we are naturally drawn-Cultivate quietness of mind as a great secret of success in spiritual endeavour-how this quietness may be had even under the consciousness of falls 257 CHAPTER III. OF THE WAY IN WHICH WE SHOULD SEEK TO EDIFY OTHERS. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." -MATT. V. 16. A desire to do good to others is the very spot of God's children this desire often directed in wrong channels-the history of schism-misdirected desire to edify-its mischievous results-fundamental passage on which the duty of Edification is builtSermon on the Mount a perfect code of Christian duty-danger of applying indiscriminately words spoken to the Apostles, or to individuals under peculiar circumstances-"Let your light shine before men" explained from the context-do nothing to hide your Christian profession-Our Lord speaks of edification by exampleand does not recommend even this for the sake of edificationevery light must shine unless you cover it up-danger of indiscriminate religious admonition-as an assumption (which may be groundless) of religious superiority-as being most often a failure in point of result-as being a display of spiritual feeling, which may be mischievous to this delicate plant-How we may edify others-Live close to God, and strive to do all actions as unto Him-never lower your principles to the world's standard-aim at appearing just what you are, neither better, nor worse-eschew affectation in every form CHAPTER IV. IN WHAT THE SPIRITUAL LIFE CONSISTS. 266 "And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. for their's is the kingdom of heaven."-MATT. v. 2-10. PAGE The author's excuse for introducing this subject at so late a period of the work-In what the Spiritual Life does not consistNot in ordinances-ordinances the means of kindling the flame or of feeding it, but not the flame-the gardener's tools not the life of the tree-our unhappy tendency to confound means with endsMonasticism assumes that the Spiritual Life consists in ordinances -Scripture, where it touches on the vitals of religion, omits all mention of ordinance-the Spiritual life does not consist of actions -the fruit is not the life-View of religion as mere usefulness congenial to the English mind-Spiritual life does not consist in activities-religious activity of the present day-we all catch the spirit of it-our natural zest for work quickened by the disgust of young and earnest minds with the controversial extravagances of the day the mischievous tendency of this result-Christian practice supposed to be separable from Christian doctrine-in what the Spiritual life does consist-answers from Scripture it is internal -not even private prayer is the spiritual life, independently of the mind with which it is offered-it is supernatural-the application of this term justified-it is developed amid trial and oppositionthis illustrated by the beatitudes of meekness and mercy-the first beatitude gives the fundamental grace of the Christian characterapplication of these various criteria in self-examination. CHAPTER V. 271 THAT OUR STUDY OF GOD'S TRUTH MUST BE WITH THE HEART. "But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away."-2 COR. iii. 15, 16. Jewish blindness resulted from a predisposition not to believeIn what form the truth is recognized that a man's judgment is liable to be prejudiced by his inclinations-non-recognition of this truth in the attempt of heathen philosophers to persuade men to virtue the method of Socrates-historically Christianity began with an appeal to the affections- the doctrine of the Gospel makes the same appeal-Moral effect which the story of Christ's death is likely to produce-justifying faith shown to be an operation of the heart-every forward step in the spiritual life must be made with the heart-the necessity of "unction" to effective preaching-study |