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1 2 3

THE

Print of His Shoe:

OR,

FOLLOWING CHRIST.

Wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth,
there I have coveted to set my foot tool

•^Bunyan's Pilgrim,

BY THE

REV. WILLIAM WYE SMITH>

."• •

• •••

BOSTON AND CHIGA^:

•• •

..'•/

•• » -• • •

•^7-^^6-6

Copyrig ht, 188 7, by
Congregational ScNR^^^Bi-Z^K^sPuBUSHiNG Society.

•«.

•-.•

s , ,

'ft » - («»

• »••

EJf^ifrotyped and Printed By
I \\» Stanley &» Ufker*, 171 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass.

PREFACE.

The short cjMipters in jthis volume were mostly writ-
ten for the young; but I have found that what is
suitable for young persons is generally interesting also
to those who are older. A few of the pieces have
appeared in The Sunday-school Times, Philadelphia,
and in the Sunday-school periodicals of Mr. David C.
Cook, Chicago ; and are reproduced here with the per-
mission of the publishers of those papers. The author
hopes his little book may be serviceable to those
beginning to follow the footprints of the Master^ and
to those who are not unwilling to receive counsel
from an older pilgrim.

WILLIAM WYE SMITH.
Newmarket,. Ontario, 1886.

CONTENTS.

PAOB

The Print of his Shoe i

The Likeness of Christ 8

Assurance 12

Indifference iS

Christ's Robe 18

The City Lieth Four-square 22

The Jubilee 26

My Will, Which is Myself 3'

The Conscience . 35

Acted Parables -39

Reading Between the Lines 42

Enlisting with Christ 47

Crossing the Red Sea 49

Christ Alive $2

One Thing or the Other 54

Thinking in Right Order 56

Justification and Holiness 58

CONTENTS.

■*■ FAGB

Born from Above 6i

The Far-reaching Nature of God's Law .... 63
The Three-fold Aspect of God's Covenant . . .69

Good Sayings of Bad Men 71

Dividing our Time • 74

Helpers in Prayer , , yy

Working from Within 80

Sowing and Reaping 82

Jesus on the Cross ........... 84

Christ as a Yoke-fellow 89

Jesus in the Old Testament 92

Providence '95

The Secret Marriage 98

One Rule loi

What Did He Do? 104

Not all Sin Seen at Once 106

Giving God Reasons 109

The End of Sin ...» .111

Conviction through Evidence 113

Only One Among the Rest . . . . . . . .115

The Sinner a Covenant-breaker 119

Value of First Impressions . 122

The Purpose of Prophecy 124

CONTENTS. vH

PAOK

It is Finished ! 127

Religion for Use 1 29

Some One Thing 131

Not only Objecting, but Proposing 134

Tribulation 138

In the Treasury 140

*• The Lord is my Shepherd" 142

Daily Bread . 144

Among the Standing Grain 147

What Can We Know About Heaven? . . . '150

Memorials 156

■L_

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

" T HAVE loved to hear my Lord spoken
A of," said Mr. Standfast, one of Bunyan's
pilgrims, "and wherever I have seen the
print of his shoe in the earth, there I have
coveted to set my foot too." And our one
great aim, our one motto and principle all
through life, ought to be : " To follow Christ ;
to please God." A life without an aim is a
life frittered away and wasted. And no aim
is worthy of having that perishes with the
life spent in pursuing it. Our life will never
rise unless it has something above itself to
rise to.

" But how can I find the print of his shoe ?
How can I know exactly what pleases him ? "
You have his Word. God has given us
all that he saw to be necessary and best in
the Bible. You will find there, either in
general principles or in specific advice and

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

direction, what the character and acts of a
Christian are and should be. And you will
find the same in examples given; the best
example of all being Christ himself.

" But then there are so many circum-
stances in which I am placed, where I have
no example of Christ. I do not know
whether he ever was in such circumstances
or not."

Let me see : you are a school-boy of
eleven or twelve. Are there any good boys
in your school }

" Oh, the boys are all good. At least,
they are all pretty fair.*'

But try to fix upon one who tries to
please God ; who imitates Christ as far as
he can.

"Well, there's Willie Roberts. I think
he is about as sure for heaven as any body I
know. Yes, I believe Will tries to be like
Christ."

It would be easy, would it not, for you to
suppose what Willie Roberts would do in

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

circumstances in which you find yourself,
but which you never saw him in ?

" Yes, I think so. Now if a fellow wanted
to fight Will, I could just think beforehand
how he would act. Or if he got an insulting
note from somebody, or some one asked him
for help in some distress, I think I know just
what he would do."

You know how your friend would act in
any possible circumstances. If you were
equally acquainted with Christ, would you
not know how he would speak and act } And
would it not be a good exercise for your
imagination to dwell on Christ morfe, and
judge from his character what he would do
and say in any given case ^ And you your-
self do the same. Wouldn't that be follow-
ing Christ ••* Would n't that be discovering
the print of his shoe, that .you niight set your
foot there too } Do you think that Jesus
went to school at your age, as you do ?

" I don't know. Probably they had n*t
any schools like ours, in Nazareth."

4 T//E PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

You are right : we can not tell. But
we may be certain he mingled with other
boys and had at times to stand provocation
and injustice. Now, if he were at your
school, he would be something like Willie
Roberts, only better and more perfect.

" But is it right to talk about Christ that
way } to make him so common-like, and bring
him right in among us } "

Why, yes. And it is putting Christ so
far away from their every-day life that is the
trouble with most people in the world. Piety
for a death-bed ; religion for the inside of
churches ; Bible-reading for Sunday ; every
thing else for self and for this world only.
I once spoke to an old farmer about his
drinking — a man who was very pious on
Sunday, and who would have been vexed to
be considered any thing else than a Christian.
He said he had a long distance to haul his
crop of wheat for sale in winter, and found it
absolutely necessary to call at a half-way
tavern and drink something. I said to him

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

that Christ went about from place to place,
preaching, when he was upon earth, and was
very kind and familiar, and talked to people
on the way. Now if he should overtake.
Jesus on the road, and he going to the same
market-town, what would he do with him ?
Why, he would ask him to ride, and give
him a good seat on his sleigh, on his bags of
wheat. But what would he do when he came
to his half-way house ? Would he leave
Jesus sitting on the load of wheat in the
wintry wind, while he himself went into the
bar-room for his whisky.? Or would he
take him into the bar with him }

He interrupted me at this point, and said
he " did n't think it was right to talk about
our Lord in that way." But he would not
answer my question. My dear boy, we need
to find Christ's tracks every day in the week.
We want to have him with us every-where
and at all times. And if it would degrade
Christ to be with us and to do as we do, then
we are degrading ourselves by going where

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

Christ would not go, and doing what Christ
would not do. Now that is one very good
way of finding "the prints of Christ's shoe
in the earth." And the habit of thinking,
" What would Christ do if he were in my
place .^" or "What would Christ say if he
were here "i " — this habit will soon become so
strong and fixed that even in dangers and
difficulties suddenly arising, the mind will
decide at once : " If Christ were in my place
he would do so and so " ; or, " If Christ were
here he would speak thus."

And don't forget, religion is like every
thing else : it becomes easier and more per-
fect as you practice it. The soldier learns
to march. The step, at first, is too long or
too short for him and it is very wearisome
always keeping step with the others. But
after a time he drops into the confirmed
habit ; you can tell him by his march, as
you see him all alone on the street. And
he can't bear now to walk with any body
without keeping step with him. And our

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

renewed nature becomes our only nature.
And we are unhappy if for ever so short a
time we feel that we have left Christ's foot-
prints. The pilgrim was right who coveted
to set his foot wherever Christ had left " the

PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

!»i

THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST.

"OHOW me," says the worldling, "a man
O who exhibits in his character and con-
duct a perfect likeness of Jesus Christ, and
then I '11 believe that there is something
else than hypocrisy among professors." My
dear friend, you are too exacting. Your own
sons do not show all your characteristics,
though each of them shows something of the
father. All the world and a great deal more
would not equal God ; and it takes all the
world and a great deal more to image Christ.
Yet every Christian, if he zs a Christian,
shows some feature of Christ.

We look at some masterpiece of ancient
sculpture, and we say : " There is the perfec-
tion of the human figure." But the statue is
not the likeness of any one man who ever
lived. We may imagine Phidias or Praxite-
les loitering around the Olympic or Isthmian

THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST.

games, taking observations. There the poise
of a head would attract him, and draw forth
his ready pencil to trace it on some little
tablet ; there the outline of a bust ; there a
leg ; here a hand ; elsewhere, and in detail,
the various features of the face — one having
the perfection of form in one feature, another
in another; till at last, by combining all
these in one ideal form, he produced what we
all recognize as a perfect representation of a
perfect human figure. So with the likeness
of Christ among men. You can not find it,
or any thing nearly approaching it, in any one
man or any one circle of men. But pick
out the likeness of Christ among Christians,
feature by feature, and there is more of
the likeness of the great Master than we
imagine.

The sister of a little boy had died. It was
before the age of photographs, and no like-
ness remained of the lost dear one but in the
fond memories of her friends. The little
brother was inconsolable.

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

" Could n't somebody paint a picture of
sister? "

But the parents reasoned : " But you have
no little picture or any thing to show the
painter. How could he tell what your sister
looked like ? "

" I could tell him," said the boy.

At last, to gratify and console the little
fellow, he was sent to Boston on a visit to
friends, and authorized to make the attempt
to find a painter who could produce the like-
ness of a girl he had never seen and of whom
no likeness remained. He went to one painter
and then to another. But they shook their
heads. At last one, younger perhaps and
more enthusiastic, said to the boy : —

" Come with me where we can see many
pictures of people, and point out one that
looks like your sister."

They went to a gallery of portraits.

" That is like her eyes," he said, pointing
to one. " Her hair was like that," he again
exclaimed. " Her mouth was like that.

THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST,

That is her forehead." And thus, feature
after feature, he pointed out the likeness of
his dead sister. And the painter, by combin-
ing all these in one, made a portrait that
all her friends said was a perfect image of
the loved and lost one. Are we hypocrites
because we each can show but some one
feature of our blessed Lord ?

It:

ASSURANCE.

OUR salvation depends on the meritorious
work of Christ, and his truth in telling
us of it. But I can not judge of Christ's truth
by looking into my own heart. I may find
whether I believe him ; but his worthiness
to be believed is to me a matter of evidence,
not of feeling. There is a serious mistake
made here by many who have no assurance,
because they are not considering " the record
that God gave of his Son," but only their
own feelings.

I have to cross a bridge. I have heard
many conflicting reports about it. I have
seen some who had utterly refused to trust
themselves on it, while others assert they
have gone over it. I am in sight of it, and
my trouble increases. Shall I sit down and
ask myself : ** Am I bold enough to go
over it ? Shall I risk it ? " and stay there till

ASSURANCE,

I get my feelings wrought up to the pitch of
rushing over it ? No ! I have taken up the
wrong question. The only sensible question

ought

to ask and answer is : ** Is the

l^ridge safe ? Is it strong enough ? " I shall
not get these answers out of my feelings.
I shall get them out of the right use of my
senses and my judgment. I see people
passing safely over it. Now that is evi-
dence the bridge is strong enough to bear
others. I cautiously and carefully examine
the foundations and the superstructure ; and
the evidence of my eyes pronounces it good.
I get acquainted with the builder of it, and
find he is a skillful and an honorable man.
I take evidence as to dates, and I find it has
not lasted yet nearly as long as it is intended
to last. On every point and at every turn I
find satisfactory evidence. Now I walk over
with perfect confidence. I had, in fact, for-
gotten to think about my feelings. My feel-
ings had to follow my judgment ; and my
judgment was satisfied.

I \i

# .fi

T//E PRINT OF Ills SHOE.

So about Christ. If you think he is not a
safe Saviour, examine his credentials ; test
his character ; listen to those who have been
saved by him ; find out what his work is and
how he does it.

As said an old man in Scotland, who had
been converted in his old age and was now
dying : " You see, I *11 tell you how it is : he
says it, and I just believe it ; and that *s all
there is about it ! " This is assurance. God
says he will save me if I trust Christ.
I do trust him (I surely know that much
about myself), and I know he will keep his
word. That is the " assurance of faith," and
it is the only kind of assurance the Bible
offers me. The modern " Master, we would
see a sign from thee," is to look for visions
and trances and wondrous ecstatic feelings,
and to rely on these.

INDIFFERENCE.

PEOPLE often wish they had " more con-
viction of sin." Jesus says the Holy
Spirit " will convict the world in respect of
sin " (Revision), and they wonder why the
Spirit is in some way neglecting his duty
with them. "If the Holy Spirit would only
convict us of sin ! " We are " so cold and
indifferent."

You are quite cold and indifferent, you
say ?

** Yes, perfectly cold and dead ; frozen up.
Oh, if I could only be thawed out ! "

Now, if the Holy Spirit began to work
with you, as just now you wished he would,
where do you think he would begin ?

" Why, he would begin to make me mourn
over my sins, to weep and pray, and lead me
to accept Christ's pardon and grace."

He would not, probably, do all these things

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

at once. He would give you one lesson and
insist on your learning that before he gave
you another. Is not that what you would
do with a scholar you were teaching }

" Yes."

Well, he has given you o«e important
lesson — that you are this moment guilty of
a great sin. God has done so much for you,
and yet you have no gratitude for him.
Christ has died for your sins and yet you
do not trust him. Christ loves you, and yet
you refuse to love him. He is warm toward
you, and yet you are cold toward him. Your
coldness and indifference is your sin. The
Holy Spirit convinces you of that. Go to
Christ with your sin, confess it , forsake it,
and be pardoned for it.

Now if, in respect to this life there is
something very important told you, you don't
stop to think of your feelings about it.
Feelings are not consulted in the matter.
It is a matter of its being false or being true.
If it is true, you will rejoice ; if not, you will

INDIFFERENCE.

not. And you seek for the evidences. But
the evidences are not in you ; they are in the
facts. Just so in spiritual things. The Bible
professes to have good news for you. Your
anxiety should not be about your feelings,
but about the evidences of truth in the
news. If Christ has died for you, believe it
and rejoice. And if you do not seem to
be sure about that fact, for the sake of your
eternal interest and for the sake of Christ
himself, whose honor is involved, investigate
its truth at once.

I if

CHRIST'S ROBE.

A SOLDIER might still be a soldier,
though he had no uniform given
him, but was dressed like a citizen, and
every soldier according to his own fancy.
But a Christian can not be a useful
and accepted Christian without Christ's
robe. There are many advantages in having
soldiers in a distinctive garb. They are known
to be soldiers. Each one is known to belong
to such and such a regiment or arm of the
service; and the men themselves feel that
their uniform is an authority and a protection.
So ** putting on Christ," that is, becoming a
professed Christian, is a great advantage to
the believer. It reminds him of what he is
and it encourages others. But the principal
sense in which it is to be understood, is our
taking Christ for our moral character in which
to stand before God.

r>3

CHRISrS ROBE.

Justification is an acquittal from guilt.
Paul says : " By whom ye have now received
the atonement ; " that is, putting on Christ
for our justification. It is an acceptance
of us as righteous. Now we have no good-
ness or righteousness of our own; it is
all Christ's. And when God looks at us he
wants to see if we have Christ's righteous-
ness, just as a commander looks at a man, and
knows by his having on the uniform that he
is one of his soldiers. So God knows Christ's
robe wherever he sees it. It may be on my
unworthy shoulders, but if it is Christ's robe,
and I am wearing it, I am accepted for the
sake of him who has given me the robe
to wear.

Hear a little parable. There was a beauti-
ful city, and a good king reigned there,
and all the people in it were very happy.
But it was pure as well as happy, and it was
happy because it was pure. And the law of
the city was that no one who was unworthy
should come in there. Outside one of the gates

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

a poor man sat on a stone. He often could
see in a little, when the gate was opened ; but
he was afraid to try to go in, for he knew he
was not worthy. The prince, the king's son,
took a walk out and saw this poor man sitting,
and spoke kindly to him. He asked him if
he would like to go in. He said. Yes, only
he was not worthy ; and so it was against the
law for him to go in.

"Well," said the prince, "I am worthy,
and any body I take in will be accepted and
considered as worthy, if he is in my company.
So come with me."

So the poor man got up, and the prince
put his arm around him and flung one corner
of his princely robe over the man's shoulders,
so that the one robe covered them both ; and
thus they went towards the gate. And
when the keepers of the gate saw them
coming, they sent word to the king that
"the prince was coming, and he had with
him a man who was not worthy." And the
king gave orders to " admit both the prince

CHRISTS ROBE.

and any man the prince had with him ; for
his worthiness made the other worthy."

We need not be afraid that God will fail
to recognize the robe of Christ wherever he
sees it. Jacob knew Joseph's coat when it
came home to him dabbled in blood. " It is
my son's coat ! " he cried. The father of
Lord William Russell knew the headless
body of his son, it is said, as he stood by his
coflfin, and said : " I would not give my dead
son for the living son of any man in Chris-
tendom." After Richard Cameron had fallen
at Ayrs-moss, and his head and hands, before
they were nailed up over the gates of Edin-
burgh, were brought in to his old father, who
was in prison for conscience' sake, — with a
purpose thus to add to his misery, — and he was
asked if he knew whose they were, he took
them tenderly in his hands and said : " They
are my dear son's. God has been very mer-
ciful to me and mine."

And if it is thus with human fathers, will
God see his Son's robe on us, and not know
it and not accept it }

THE CITY LIETH FOUR-SQUARE.

PROBABLY the principal idea to be
gathered from the city's lying four-
square is the perfection and symmetry of
its plan. It all existed in God's thought
from eternity, perfect and holy, and need-
ing no additions or "improvements" like
cities of man's building. And the three
gates on every side may remind us of the
sanctuary in the wilderness in the center of
the camp, with three tribes encamped on
each side of it — an ancient suggestion of
heaven ; for Dr. Binney was right when he
said that " all Old Testament facts were
doctrines ; " and all nations and people of
the earth may equally come into it and
on the same terms.

But perhaps for a moment we might put
a finer point upon it still, and say that you
may come to God from all the various sides

THE CITY LIETH FOUR-SQUARE. . 23

of human experience and feeling. You may
come in at the east gates, with the morning
sun upon you, in all the fresh and joyous
feelings of a consecrated youth. And happy
are they who thus come. What a pity to
give the best of our youth to the world, when
it might have been given to God ! It is
a mistake and a loss which we find, all our
life, can never be fully repaired.

Or you may come in at the south gates,
led by the fervid warmth of your emotions.
Mary, she of the alabaster box, came thus.
Many people do thus enter by the south
gates ; more than by the north. Our warm
emotions were given us for the very purpose
that they should rise up toward God, as the
fire ascends towards the sun. And if we
begin to be so full of love to God that
we can not keep away from him, we shall be
glad that the south gates are so invitingly
near and so easy of access.

Or you may enter by the north gates, cool
and intellectual, compelled to believe by the

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

■; ;■

overwhelming evidence presented that " Jesus
is the Christ." Some men who thus come to
God are very strong in faith. As the Holy
Spirit, working through their reason, has
compelled them to believe, so nothing short
of overturning their reason can loosen their
hold on Christ.

Or you may enter by the sunset gates,
turning back, as it were, almost, but not quite,
too late : your whole life a long day of wan-
dering, but getting home at last. The whole
path in error ; the last turning only right. How
touching is the testimony of some who have
thus come to God in old age ! How anxious
to make the most of the time that is left, and
to warn others to avoid their mistake, and to
come in on the eastern side, as the worshipers
entered the temple of old.

But thanks be to God, the street from every
gate leads to the dazzling center — the throne
of God ! There is the same salvation, the
same mercy, and the same grace, come when
you will. Only, it is present rebellion and

THE CITY LIETH FOUR-SQUARE. 25

present sin not to come at once ; and there is
eternal danger in the delay. The east gates
would not have been opened if it had been
none of your duty to enter thereby ; and to
pass by them is to run the risk of never
entering the City at all.

THE JUBILEE.

WHETHER it was every forty -nine
years or every fifty years did not so
much matter to the poor Hebrew, a§ to know
that it was sure to come at the right time. I
think, however, it was every forty-nin:^ years.
Every seven years came the Sabbatic year,
the year of rest ; and every seven Sabbatic
years brought round the great Sabbatic
year, the Jubilee.

The land all went back to the old proprie-
tors ; and it taught the people that the land
was God's. This family or that family might
have it for their " inheritance ; *' but after
all, they only "occupied" it under the great
Proprietor. How a pious Hebrew would
think : " My ancestor had this little farm given
to him by Joshua, hundreds of years ago.
God has restored it to me, and will give it to
my children after me. The earth is Jeho-

THE JUBILEE.

vah's, and the fullness thereof.*' When
William Rufus of England was found dead
in New Forest, we read in history that a
woodman named Purkis took the body in
his cart to Winchester. And Henry I gave
him, as a reward, two acres of ground where
his cottage stood in the forest. And a very
dear friend of mine, the Rev. George Purkis,
tells me that small estate of two acres has
been for eight hundred years in the family,
and is in the family still. He himself is a
direct descendant of the old woodman, and a
near relative of the present owner. Christ
says : " The meek shall inherit the earth ; "
not inherit the world, the globe, but the
land^ the " soil," the portions of their fathers
before them. " They shall not be rooted out
of the soil."

And the bondmen were all set free. Many
a time it would happen that a man would get so
much ** behind " that he saw no possible way
of getting out of debt and still preserve
his liberty. Think of the poor widow who

THE PRINT OF JUS SHOE.

\\ ,

came to Elisha: "Thy servant, my husband,
is dead. And thou knowest thy servant did
fear the Lord. And the creditor is come to
take unto him my two sons to be bondmen."
Thus it must often have been in old times.
But how they would count the years, then
the months, then the days, till the year
of Jubilee came in !

The Roman law had far less mercy than
the Hebrew law. The third of the twelve
tables of the Roman law provided that if a
man was sued for debt before a judge, he
should have thirty days to make up the
money. If he did not, or could not, the cred-
itor could throw him into prison for sixty
days. He must, however, give him one pound
of flour daily to live on. And during this
period of sixty days, proclamation must be
made on two several market-days, stating
the circumstances ; so that, if he had any
friends they might come forward and release
him. At the end of the sixty days, if no one
appeared to pay his debt, he was handed over

THE JUBILEE.

to the creditor, who could either kill him or
make him a slave. It was a terrible thing, in
those days, to be in debt and have nothing
to pay. Just the position, exactly, the sinner
is in with respect to his sins in the matter of
God's broken law.

Now, not all the bondmen would be equally
miserable. Some would be well fed, and only
moderate work exacted from them. We might
speak to such a slave and say : —

" You have good food and are well lodged
and kindly treated. Why can't you be con-
tent t "

" Oh," he would say, "I am a slave. I
must live and die away from my family and
my home."

And so the poor slave of Satan can not be
content, however "well off" he may seem to
be. When God made the soul he put a spark
of heavenly patriotism in it ; and it never
** can sing the Lord's song in a strange land."
And on behalf of every enslaved sinner we
thank God for that. The sinner will do it
for himself when he is converted.

3°

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

And notice, too, that the year of Jubilee
began on the day of atonement. First par-
don, and then blessing ; first the atonement
for sin, and then freedom from sin. " If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be
free indeed."

It was all a beautifully acted parable, or
object lesson, to teach God's ways of dealing
with poor sinners, and so wisely arranged
that it conferred a great incidental blessing
in the meantime.

MY WILL, WHICH IS MYSELF.

MY will is myself. And when I com-
plain that my will is opposed to God,
it simply means, if I take its true meaning,
that I make myself God's enemy. My will
is not something distinct from myself, but
the inner principle, the soul, the mind. The
will is the ego: tha»: which constitutes my
personality. But my feelings or emotions
are not myself. They belong to me — as my
clothes belong to me — but they are not I.
My will is myself ; and I can and ought to
control myself. But I can not always control
my feelings and emotions. Especially are
they rebellious when I would claim them all
and fully for Christ and his service. What,
then, shall I do } Shall I sit down and wait,
as others do, "till I can feel more deeply".?
or "till I get my feelings all right".? Let
me answer by an illustration : —

3«

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

A city had rebelled against a good and
paternal king. He came to besiege it. It
had a citadel (so thought) which commanded
and dominated the city. Whoever possessed
the citadel held the city. The commander
of this city and fortress determined to sur-
render. He treated with the king. One
morning the royal standard was seen floating
over the citadel. The royal troops were in
possession. The king was there and was
just issuing a proclamation of amnesty or
pardon. The citizens were furious: "They
had been betrayed ! " The rabble was de-
termined to " carry on the war.** The king
does not reproach the commander for not
having taken counsel of the citizens, or for
not winning over the rabble to his views be-
fore surrendering the fortress. "I knew I
could not bring the rabble over," said the
late commander to the king, " and so I took
no counsel with them. I could surrender the
fortress, and that I did. Thou must put
down the rabble ! " A year later we visit the

MY WIJ.Ly WHICH IS MYSELF.

city, and all is quiet. The unruly populace
is loyal and peaceable. They found that
when the citadel was given up, it was in vain
to think of further resistance.

That citadel is my soul, my inner self,
my will. I can not bring my feelings (the
** rabble") into subjection; but Christ can.
I can, however, surrender to him the cita-
del, the soul ; and he will bring my feelings
and emotions into complete subjection. Bet-
ter than any possible control of mine,

For Christ to come

And make his home

In the poor dwelling of my soul!

Try it, dear friend, try it ! Give Christ
your will. And when you surrender your
will, which is surrendering yourself, — with-
out first waiting to get your feelings, your
emotions, all right, — your emotions will, of
necessity, soon follow. We have all often
done what we did not feel inclined to do;
and have done it just because it was right

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

and proper to do it ; and we soon found that
we began to like it better as we continued
it. The will must rule the emotions, not the
emotions control the will. "Give me thine
heart ! " that is the command.

THE CONSCIENCE.

THE conscience is God's consul in the
soul. I see a foreign flag flying in one
of our cities, and I learn that the foreign
consul lives there. That house is, by the
unwritten law of nations, a part of the foreign
country. No legal process from our courts
runs there. The consul came from his own
country and is amenable only to his own coun-
try's laws. Man's soul was originally an ema-
nation from God, and that department of its
action that we call conscience seems to be
the only part of it that still retains a memory
of the lost communion of Eden.

In Brock's Life of Havelock we are told
of a former British " resident " in Cashmere.
The people were very unfriendly and suspi-
cious and, as if to bring trouble to a crisis,
the rajah died, and several of his wives deter-
mined to obtain heaven by being burned

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

alive upon their husband's funeral pile. The
treaty with the British was such that the
consent of the resident must first be ob-
tained before the suttee could take place ; and
the already exasperated populace was ready
to break out into violence and murder, if that
consent were even delayed. The resident
had no troops and was sick in bed ; he had
no helper but God. He calmly expostulated
with the deputation that waited on him ;
told them that even in their own most an-
cient religious books such practices were
condemned ; that they would offend the Brit-
ish government, whom it was their interest
to please ; and that the thing was wrong
of itself. And then, like Luther at the Diet
of Worms, he was ready to say : " God help
me ! I can do no more ! *' But the resident
was not murdered, the populace did not
break out, and the women were not burned.
God was there.

Conscience is that resident in the liomaii.
of the soul. We have not two spiritual enti-

THE CONSCIENCE.

ties within us — the soul and the conscience.
We have but one immaterial part, which
we call variously the soul, the spirit, or the
mind. And the conscience is but the soul
in one department of its action. I see an
elderly gentleman walking the street and
attending to ordinary matters of business.
To-day he is but a citizen. Yesterday,
however, he was a judge. I saw him in
court hearing and deciding causes. To-mor-
row he is announced to preside at a meeting
of learned men, and will for the time be a
philosopher. But it is the same man in a''
these different positions. So with my soul :
it is the same, but variously engaged. When
my soul becomes an historian and recalls
the past, I call it memory ; when it becomes
a seer and peers into the western sky, where
the evening clouds of this life are golden
with a reflected radiance, — from whence, I
can not see, — I call it hope ; when my soul
is stirred up to think of others rather than
myself, — to see with others' eyes and feel with

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

Others' hearts and live with others' lives, — I
call it love. And when the soul becomes a
judge and sits in review upon its own actions,
and bound, as every good judge is, by the
law, and not by consanguinity to the offender,
we call it conscience.

,— I

pies a
ions,

If the
uder,

JCX

ACTED PARABLES.

WITHOUT a parable spake he not to
them," we are told of Christ. And
again : " When he was alone, he expounded
all things to his disciples." But Jesus some-
times taught by acted parables, as well as
spoken parables. Probably we are to take
that as an acted parable (Mark 8), where
Jesus led the blind man out of the town and
restored his sight gradually. And the curs-
ing of the barren fig-tree was an acted para-
ble to teach faith.

And I have no doubt that Christ repeated
his parables over and over again, as occasion
required. I know that Moody repeated anec-
dotes in America, and afterwards the same
in Edinburgh ; then in London, and then in
America again. And by that time people
were reading them in a book, somebody hav-
ing gathered them from his oral utterances.

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

¥•■■

And some one might say : " Ah, I heard him
give that anecdote ; but there was more of it
— a sequel, which is not given here. I like it
better as I heard it." And yet the stenog-
rapher was perfectly correct who reported
it. He reported it as he heard it ; and the
other man remembered it as he heard it.
This will explain most of the alleged discre-
pancies in the Gospels.

The parable of the marriage supper has in
Matthew a sequel which is wanting in Luke.
Why is it necessary for us to decide that
Jesus used this parable only once, or always
gave it exactly the same.^ In Matthew's
sequel, which may be called " The Sifting of
the Guests," there is a deep lesson for us as
to the way we come to God. We can not
come on any ground personal to ourseb'es ;
it must be wholly on the ground of Christ's
worthiness : we must have on the " weddin*]:
garment." The first part of the parable
shows how men wickedly put off obeying and
coming to God ; and also, how the poorest, the

ACTED PARABLES.

most despised, and the most unlikely are
bidden and exhorted to come. Sometimes
there would be more need for the one part
of the parable, and sometimes for the other ;
for I have iio doubt it was often repeated.

Having repeated in a meeting an anec
dote of a man who went to Perth to do some
work for the Lord, in the hearing of a minis-
ter now deceased, this brother called out to
me in another meeting ; " Tell us about the
man who went to Perth ; '* and I gave it again.
So it comes to pass with every public teacher.

And we may learn this too : that Jesus
would not only have us understand his para-
bles, spoken and acted, but he gives them to
us as examples of what can be done by illus-
trative teaching ; and we have the liberty,
and by experience find the advantage, of
making parables and bringing forward illus-
trations on every hand.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES.

((

WHAT does that mean, papa?" said
little Edwin. " I can't see any thing
between the lines but white paper."

** It means," said his father, "that you
must understand what the words are written
for. Now, intelligent children will often
know the meaning of the words well enough,
and yet not know why the author wrote the
words. Knowing that may be said to be
reading * between the lines.' Or, sometimes
there is a deeper, further meaning than ap-
pears on the surface : there is something you
have to gather which is not spoken, and that
is reading 'between the lines.' "

"Our lesson next Sunday is the parable
of the sower. Now, is there any thing * be-
tween the lines there ' ? "

" Why, our Lord tells you himself what it
all means."

READING BET WE FN THE LINES.

said

'* Oh, yes, I know ; but that was maybe for
the Jews, or the people in old times. But if
Jesus were speaking it now, or explaining it
right in our Bible class, I wonder what he
would say ! "

" Well, suppose I Iry to read between the
lines of that parable. Suppose the blessed
Master were sitting here and telling us what
the parable meant ; perhaps he would say
something like this : —

"THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER."

"A preacher went out to preach, and as
he preached, some of his good words reached
a number of boys ; but they were thinking
about their fun and paid no attention ; and
when they got home, they could n't remember
where the text nor the reading was, nor what
the preacher had been saying. And so the
preaching did them no good.

"And some of his words reached som^
other boys, and they thought they would
try and be good and religious, and would

THE PRINT OF IIIS SHOE.

pray and love Jesus just as the preacher ad-
vised. But when, after two or three days,
the other boys found out they would not
bluster and fight, and use bad words and do
mischief at night, they began to mock them,
and call them names, and work spiteful tricks
on them. And the boys who thought they
would try to be good got angry, and seemed
ashamed to be caught * being good,* and in
less than two weeks were just as bad as any
of the other boys. They left off trying to
follow Jesus just because somebody laughed
at them.

"And some of the preacher's words fell
among the men and women who were very
full of business and cares. And the men
said : * We must attend to our souls,' and the
women said : * It is of more importance to be
saved than to be fashionable.' And the
preacher thought there was going to be a
great revival and many converts ; for they
began to come to the prayer-meetings, and
some of them took pews in the church, and

READING BETWEEN THE LINES.

a few became members of the church. But
the men said : * A man can't do business
on Christian principles;' and the women
said : * It was impossible to be in society, and
take care of one's house and family, and be
religious too.' And their religion all seemed
to fade out, though they did not all give up
their pews. And when the preacher died, he
said he hoped he should meet some of them
in heaven ; but he was not quite sure.'

** And some of the preacher's words fell on
the ears of some boys and girls and men and
women who were sick of sin, and tired of
being enemies of God. And they took his
advice and went that very day to Christ in
prayer, and said to him : * O Lord Jesus ! We
don't want to love sin any more. We want
to be thine. From this hour we will be thy
willing servants forever. We give ourselves
away to thee. Save us ! ' And people soon
found out that they were Christians. At
first some tried to laugh at them ; but they
remembered that people laughed and mocked

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

at Christ and he did not get angry at it. And
some of them went away as missionaries ; and
still more of them did good missionary work
at home and in their families. And all of
them gained wisdom, though few of them
gained fame. And when their neighbors who
had mocked at them got sick, they sent for
these Christian friends to come and pray
with them. And when they died, the world
around them said they were good men and
women — the salt of the earth. And some
did more than others ; but all did something
for Christ.'*

ENLISTING WITH CHRIST.

^NCE in talking with an old soldier
O^'f ^sked him the circumstances of h.s

^ ,,ic,ment. I said : ,.„ the recruiting

"^^"'frory'u could you properly
officer got hoUof^ you. J^.^^,,,.

-rOh^^Telaid^'-I suppose when I took
the shiUing and was sworn m.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^
"That IS It, 1 T" the articles of war ;
enlisted ; y^/^J^f L^wS have been
r'TbaS iuTtelfme. Did you , know
brought bacK. tidier' s duties?"

any thing, as yet of a sol _^ ^^^^^^

" Why, no, he rephed. ^^^ ^

of the drill, or any th "S ^^^^^ ^^ ^egin

raw recruit; but now ^tw^^^^^^^

-;;;t'ro?-vt^:^-term:;;:h:

with the Christian soldier. The mome

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

11. ! I'

surrenders his soul to Christ and believes
and trusts him, he is a Christian. He has
enlisted. It is true he does not know how
to pray connectedly, or to read the Script-
ures with understanding, or to help others,
or to combat the enemy, or a hundred other
things a Christian oug^t to do ; he does not
know the drill yet. Still, he is a soldier,
and he is going to learn the whole duty of a
Christian soldier, and to begin at once. But,
meanwhile, he is one of the army. He has
been sworn in ; his name is down on the
books ; and the Great Commander recognizes
him as his."

. CROSSING THE RED SEA.

I HAVE much sympathy with those who
are sometimes sneered at as '* finding
something spiritual in every pin of the tab-
ernacle ; " for I believe with Paul that these
were all "ensamples" of heavenly things.
Take the passage of the Red Sea and the
desert journey. The crossing of the Red
Sea completely cut off the Israelites from
their former life and from the land of their
bondage. Through all their generations it
was looked back upon as the crisis and be-
ginning of their affairs as a nation. They
were before that but a host of fugitives ; now
they were a migratory nation. And they
were not out of Egypt till they did cross the
Red Sea. Their faces were desert -wise, but
they were not yet free in the desert. They
still trod the soil of the land of their

« I

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

i I !

captivity. Once the crossing, and all that
was changed.

How like the Christian experience ! The
poor sinner may have been turning his back
upon his sins, and endeavoring to escape
from them ; but he is not safe, nor in circum-
stances to sing his song of deliverance, till he
stands on the farther shore of the sea and
sees Christ's blood between him and his
former life. That is his Red Sea.

Nor was it before the Israelites crossed the
Red Sea, but after it, that they were led to
Sinai to learn God's law. And he who would
learn the will of his Father in heaven must
first cross the Red Sea ; must first put
Christ's blood between him and his former
life : then he will be prepared to learn
and love God's law. When Mr. Legality
would have Christian go to Mount Sinai
first, before ever he had entered the gate of
repentance, the poor seeker after peace was
well-nigh overwhelmed with the lightnings
and the earthquakes. God has but one glori-

CROSSING THE RED SEA.

ous path to Canaan : the Red Sea first, then
the law at Sinai, the desert journey, the
Jordan, the Land of Promise ! Are you
sure you have crossed the Red Sea ? If you
have not, how are you going to get to
Canaan ?

lit

ill
hi-

CHRIST ALIVE.

THE first Sunday I ever spent in Eng-
land was at Walthamstow, a few miles
north of London. The good minister in
whose house I was to pass the Sabbath was
called out of the room on the Saturday
evening, to see some one, and left me to
amuse myself with books and magazines for
half an hour. When he returned he excused
himself for leaving me so long, saying I would
forgive him when he told me all about it. It
seemed a gentleman in the neighborhood had
been in Italy a few years before, and brought
back with him an Italian body-servant. This
man had duties to attend to on Sunday
mornings, but was always present at public
worship in the afternoons. ** You will
have him in your congregation to-morrow
afternoon," said my friend ; for I was to take
his-place in the afternoon, while he should go

CHRIST ALIVE.

out to preach under one of the few trees now
remaining in Epping Forest to the throngs of
Sabbath-idlers who came down from London.

The Italian had been thoughtful, and had
finally begun to indulge a hope in Christ
Jesus. He had come to the minister on that
Saturday night, and in his broken English
told him his tale.

" In my countree," said he, " in my Italic,
the priests always show us Jesus dying ; Jesus
on the cross ; Jesus in the grave. You show
me Jesus ^/m'; Jesus love me; Jesus think
of me ; Jesus in heaven. And I love Jesus,
and I thought I would come and tell you
I love that Jesus who is alive."

It is even so. While our sins are atoned
for by his sufferings and death, let us remem-
ber that Christ's death is always connected
with his resurrection ; the pledge of our
rising from the grave ; the evidence of the
Father's acceptance of his substitution. He
lives that he may love us, and we need, as
the Italian did, a living Christ, to love us and
think of us and reign over us.

ONE THING OR THE OTHER.

s(
n
11

WE can not be two contradictory things
at once. We can not be the inti-
mates and bosom friends of bad mer and be
good men ourselves. We can not be sepa-
rate from Christ and yet be acknowledged
by him as his. We can not pass by the
Lord Jesus Christ, as he hangs on the cross,
and join the mocking crowd that wagged
their heads and reviled him, without shutting
ourselves out, at the same time, from meeting
him in paradise. We can not despise God's
mercy without at the same time daring and
provoking God's wrath.

But, on the other hand, we can not seek
God's mercy without at the same time putting
away all trust in ourselves. We can not
hold on to Christ without letting go every
false hope. We can not sincerely seek

ONE THING OR THE OTHER.

pardon without hating sin. We shall not
seek God without finding him. We shall
not find God without at the same time find-
ing peace, happiness, and heaven.

a;i

■1 I

THINKING IN RIGHT ORDER.

IN the Old Testament prophecies, the
threatenings are sure to end with a sweet
promise. And the Holy Spirit, who thus
taught the prophets, teaches us in the
same way still. It is easy for us to say : " I
am a great sinner ; I shall surely perish ! "
Just as David mistakenly said : " I shall now
perish one day by the hand of Saul." And
when we read in the Word of a great Saviour
it is still easy for us to say : " Yes, a great
Saviour, but then I am a great sinner."
The order of the facts in the Spirit's teach-
ing is quite different. The Spirit reverses
the order : " You are a great sinner, but
you have a great Saviour."

Where there is an element of hope and
an element of despair, it makes a great
difference which comes last. Don't let us
look for the fading of the light and the

THINKING IN RIGHT ORDER.

»»

coming of the darkness ; but ralher believe
that " the darkness is past, and the true
light now shineth." **0 Israel, thou hast
destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help."

>»

JUSTIFICATION AND HOLINESS.

i S'

I KNOW not where I could lay hold of a
sharper or clearer illustration of the rela-
tion between justification and holiness than
the enlisting and drilling of a soldier. We
will imagine him a veteran of twenty or thirty
years' service. We ask him : " Are you
drilled.!^" He evidently feels that is a ques-
tion not to be answered in a monosyllable.
He takes off his foraging cap, strokes his
gray moustache, and says : " Well, I thought
so once. I wrote to my mother, a couple of
months after I enlisted, that I had got all the
drill ; but I don't think so now. There are
a hundred things in gunnery, tactics, fortifi-
cations, military engineering, and the like,
that you would not understand if I should
tell you, that I am only beginning to know
something about. No ; I am not drilled, but
I am in process oi being drilled."

JUSTIFICATION AND HOLINESS. 59

'* Well, are you enlisted ? "

" Oh, yes. I am enlisted all I can be. That
was a thing that was begun and ended on the
very day I was sworn into the force."

So with Christ's soldier. His enlisting is
complete. His justification is a finished
grace. He "took the oath" when he ac-
cepted Christ ; and Christ accepted him and
justified hira. But, " Is he holy } Is he sanc-
tified } " He thought so, perhaps, for a few
weeks after his conversion. "There was a
time," said good old Bishop Latimer, "we
thought w^ could drive the devil out of Eng-
land by the ringing of holy bells and such
like foolery. And Satan did seem to think
it good sport, and did hide himself. But
when the Word came to be plainly taught
and plainly read, Satan did see it was no
child's play, and came out, and did rage and
fight." And as long as the young convert
thinks he has got all, and there is nothing
more to attain, Satan is content to hide him-
self and let him alone.

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

But holiness or sanctilication is not a place,
but a way. A way or road is to travel on,
not to live on. Isaiah says (35 : 8) : "And an
highway shall be there, and a way, and it
shall be called The way of holiness." That
is the road, dear Christian pilgrim, you are
to travel in — the "way of holiness." As
far as "sanctified" means "separated," and
it often has largely this meaning in the New
Testament, a Christian may say, " Yes, I
am sanctified." But as we generally use it,
to mean holiness, sinlessness, perfection, we
say, as the soldier said about his "drill":
" No ; we are not sanctified, but we are in
process of being sanctified."

)lace,
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As
and
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BORN FROM ABOVE.

SUCH is the alternative translation of the
"born again" of the third chapter of
John. The change is so great and thorough
that only a new birth can fitly image it. From
being an heir of hell, to be made a child of
God.

On this winter morning the snow is lying
thick and soft around and over the landscape.
It fell yesterday ; it is very pure and very
white. But it may become soiled. Day by
day impurities will gather in and upon the
snow. It is no longer beautiful to look upon.
It becomes filthy. Can it ever be cleansed,
made white and pure again } Not by wash-
ing it, nor by sweeping or dusting. It can
only be made pure again by being melted,
and exhaled, and rising as invisible mist into
the upper air, and gathered into clouds, and

■ 'I

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T//£ PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

softly sent down again pure once more —
"born from above!"

So is the soul, beneath the power of God,
drawn upward, purified, and born again, or
from above.

1 4,
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God,
1, or

■'I

THE FAR-REACHING NATURE OF

GOD'S LAW.

WHEN I was a child I knew that hatred
was a sin, and I wondered why there
was not a commandment which said : " Thou
shalt not hate." And I knew that telling
lies was sin, and I thought there should have
been a commandment against lying. I did
not know how far-reaching and all-embracing
are the commandments we have. There is not
a sin but is aimed at and denounced in one or
other of the ten. God looks over this awful
world of sin. He divides sins, just as we
divide languages, into certain classes or sets.
He takes ten great classes, or nations, or
languages, or tribes of sins, and denounces
them all.

Now each of these tribes or nations of sins
has a king, a chief. So the Almighty declares
war against the king or chief. As in the

,'ii

II ii

f I

T//£ PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

Crimean war the queen of Great Britain
declared war against " the emperor of all the
Russias," yet the war was really against the
whole Russian nation, so God declares war
against the king of each nation of sins by name ;
but the conflict is with the whole tribe or na-
tion of which he is head. Take hatred for an
instance, and look at the fifth chapter of
Matthew for an exposition of the sixth com-
mandment. The very warning that the rab-
bis gave about murder Jesus transfers to him
who hates his fellow-man. And John says :
" Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. "
The fact is, the nation is hatred, the king of
that nation is murder, and the declaration of
war is leveled against the king by name, but
includes, as every declaration of war does,
the whole nation.

And so with my other early difficulty about
lying. The most flagrant kind of lying we
could imagine is to swear away the life of an
innocent man and testify against him of
crimes he never committed. But the nation

NATURE OF GOD'S LA IV.

is a very large one ; all falsehood, prevarica-
tion, and concealment of truth are found
there ; but the king of that tribe is perjury,
and the command makes special mention of
him.

Another of my early cogitations was on
the relation of the first and second com-
mandments. I thought they had overlapped
and interlaced each other and were indeed
but one and the same command, but divided
into two for convenience of remembering,
or for some other reason. But it is not so.
The sin denounced in the first command-
ment is atheism and unbelief, and a turn-
ing away from God. The sin forbidden in
the second is the idolatry of ritualism and
forms taking the place of real worship. And
it would be difficult or impossible to explain
to a child who every day sees images adored,
in what way that very thing is not a break-
ing of the commandment against images.
This was Aaron's sin in the desert. He
" made a proclamation, and said, To-morrow

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

is a feast to the Lord." And he had the
golden calf all ready for the occasion. It
was an " improved " way of worshiping God.
The sacred ox or calf was a symbol of power,
and they imagined they could have a better
idea of God's power by having this figure
before them. A little friendless orphan
boy, sick in a hospital in India in the time
of the dreadful mutiny, said, when spoken
to about Jesus Christ : ** I think I could pray
to him better if I had a little image of him
to look at." The poor little fellow had been
left largely to the care of heathen servants,
and knew little of the true God. And that
is the very feeling to which a corrupt form
of Christianity panders.

But we as a people and as Protestants
are by no means free of blame in this matter.
We break the first commandment when we
put God out of our lives, and his thought
out of our hearts, and live only for money
or position or influence, or fame or selfish
indulgence. Wc have then ** some other god

NATURE OF GOD'S LAV/.

:he
It

before him." And we break the second com-
mandment when, not being so gross as to
set up a calf in the desert, or burn in-
cense to Nehushtan (2 Kings 18 : 4), all the
worship we give to God is to put on our best
clothes and go to church, or drop a coin into
the collection. If that is all the honor and
worship we give to God, we might just as
well put those clothes on a pole and make
an idol of them, or bow the knee before the
goddess portrayed on the coin.

Depend upon it, God does not twice fulmi-
nate a declaration of war against the same
hostile king. Once is enough. The king of
the nation of sins in the first commandment
is atheism — denial of God. The king in the
second commandment is idolatry ; the nation
is ritualism, serving God in vain ways of
our own, instead of serving him in spirit and
in truth. Now the worst degree of putting
God out of our lives is to deny his existence
altogether. We may not go so far as that ;
we may be merely careless of spiritual things,

:M? !!

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

yet we break God's first commandment. We
may not go so far as to set up idols and
images in our homes and in our churches ;
yet if all our worship is mere outward for-
mality, the religion of a Pharisee, we break
the second commandment.

And if our better appreciation of the far-
reaching nature of God's law drives us closer
and quicker to Jesus Christ, the great Law-
keeper and our great Advocate, then bless
God for his Ten Commandments, and for the
fact that they are so comprehensive that
every sin it is possible for man to commit is
included in one or? other of the ten nations or
languages into which God divides them.

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THE THREE-FOLD ASPECT OF
GOD'S COVENANT.

WHEN Christ sets us free from condem-
nation and gives us the rules of his
household for our guidance, we shall find they
are the same Ten Commandments we used to
look at and tremble. If we believe Christ, we
are saved already; we do not require a law
"that will save us; " we have a Saviour that
saves us. But we want to know what is
Christ's will, that we may do it ; and he says
in sweetest accents, ** If ye love me, keep my
commandments ; " and he gives us the ten
"words" that were spoken at Sinai, but he
calls them now by a different name : it is
" Christ's law ** now, our rule of life.

The fact is, the Decalogue comes to us in
a two-fold character, just as Christ comes to
us. Believe Christ, and you shall live ; he
will be to you a. savor of life unto life. Re-

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

ject Christ, and you shall die ; he will be
unto you a savor of death unto death. So
with the commandments. Take them as
the rule of your Christian life, and you will
find that Christ's- fulfilling of that law is put
to your account, and you are blessed by
them. Take them as a covenant of works,
and you are at once condemned by them.
" So the law was our pedagogue, to bring us
unto Christ ! " Just as the confidential slave,
the "pedagogue" who superintended the
education of the children, could not teach
them many of the branches himself, but was
responsible that the children were led or
carried to the teacher or professor, where
they could get the proper lessons, so the law
can not save us of itself, but it takes us to
Christ, who can save us.

\.-im.

GOOD SAYINGS OF BAD MEN.

THE wise man will not refuse wisdom,
come from where it will. In the case
of one good and holy, the words he utters
come to us with a force and dignity utterly
wanting in the case of a suspicious charac-
ter ; and yet the latter may give us a thought
or a principle that will do us good all our
lives. We have numerous examples of this
in the Scriptures. Some of our choice say-
ings may be traced to unworthy men. We
do not often repeat the false philosophy of
Cain, when he insolently and wickedly asked,
** Am I my brother's keeper ? " though I have
heard it urged in all seriousness by opponents
of the temperance movement. But we do, as
poor sinners, often feel like crying out, with
that unhappy man, " My punishment is
greater than I can bear ! " A saying of Ba-
laam's — crooked, disobedient, and unprinci-

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

pled as he was — lingers in our memories as
a strain of sweet music: "Let me die the
death of the righteous, and let my last end
be like his ! " Unhappy man ! he lived
among the wicked, and his death was like
his life.

Perhaps no character in the Scriptures is
more despicable than Ahab. Yet we adopt
one of his sayings for its truth and for its
beauty. The king of Syria had sent insolent
and oppressive demands, and when Ahab
demurred, the Syrian threatened him ; and
Ahab sent back this message : '* Let not him
that girdeth on his harness boast himself as
he that putteth it off."

When we use the proverb, "All that a
man hath will he give for his life," we are
quoting Satan himself. Again, we have in
the case of Nebuchadnezzar the utmost
worldly sagacity with the most brutal tyranny
and selfishness. Yet we repeat the question
concerning the Most High, and weave it into
our prayers : " None can stay his hand, or

GOOD SAYINGS OF BAD MEN.

as
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say unto him, What doest thou ? " Nor can
we avoid feeling daily the importance of the
question asked by the unprincipled procurator
of Judaea, when the Lord Jesus stood before
him: "What is truth?"

Thus we may learn, even from bad men,
and may profitably employ some of their utter-
ances; remembering always that a man's
words are often better than the man himself ;
and that with a bad man there may be some
part of the field of character not so utterly
given over to weeds and briers as the rest.

DIVIDING OUR TIME.

MANY a young convert is troubled over
this question : " How much time must
I give to religion, and how much may I use
for the world ? " He would, with his present
feelings, give all his waking hours to God ;
but he has ducies and necessities that compel
him to spend many hours every day in work
or business, and he seems to himself thus
robbing God.

Now the question he asks nobody can an-
swer except by saying, " Give God all your
time." And it seems to him, when his
friends tell him that, that they are mocking
him ; and when the Scriptures tell him the
same, that it is a riddle he can not solve.

Let us have a Socratic conversation upon
this matter.

** Does God appoint us any work — actual
bodily labor -- to do .? "

DIVIDING OUR TIME.

" Yes.

"Then is there any sin in doing what God
appoints ? "

"No."

"Then we have reached the conclusion
that all labor is not sin. Is God always pres-
ent with his children } "

"Yes."

" Then if you are a child of God, will God
be always present with you ? "

"Yes."

" In your hours of labor, as well as in your
hours of worship } "

" It must be."

"And is he not always pleased when we
do what he commands us .^"

"Yes."

"Then, when we are enjoined always to
have the Lord with us, and when God prom-
ises to be always with us, must it not follow
that we do not need to divide our time between
God and the world, but have God with us
all the time } If we can make him, as it

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

were, the senior partner in our business, or
the overseer of our labor, shall we not feel
that we must do honest business and do
reliable work ? Then we need not and must
not toil so as to unfit ourselves for converse
v/ith him who goes with us to our daily du-
ties and is greatly interested in our worldly
affairs."

Thus, if we set rigb^^'- about it, we do not
need to divide our time : we can give it all to
God.

HELPERS IN PRAYER.

WHY was it, when Christians many a
time might have escaped molestation
and persecution, if they ha ' only kept at
home and dropped all their meetings for
awhile, they would meet together for prayer,
and thus got themselves into danger ? Just
because they needed and wished the help
thai came through each other's prayers. They
could pray alone, but that was not enough ;
they must pray together, and thus help
one another, and bear each other's burdens.
The great helper is the Holy Spirit. But
his help is not so often in direct suggestions
to the mind as through some of his children.
He has n: ore interests than mine to consider,
and his sendin?^ riie help in the more indirect
way, by a hum< n brother, answers a double
purpose : it leaves a -blessing with the brother
who gives a blessin'^ to me.

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

Our f«)vmer mercies are great helpers for
us. lh;jre are many things we ought to for-
ge:, — sjns and rebellions and hard thoughts
of Q'Q<K — but mercies we are commanded to
r^meabcr. And we can use them as pleas
for more mercies.

And our own human experiences are help-
ers. Do we not feel far more disposed to
grant a petition, are we not drawn out in a
far greater tenderness, when there is a long-
ing, loving, certain expectation of receiving ;
when there is a tender confiding in us, in
our love and liberality ; an expectation that
will not take a refusal, and which we can not
refuse } And is it not as tiue of God } " If
ye then, being evil, knov/ how to give good
gifts unto your children '* (and we know what
the yearning heart of a child is !) " how
much more shall your Father which is in
heaven give good things to them that ask
him } "

Your needs, your desires, your Christian
friends, God's own promises, your former

HELPERS IN PR A YER.

mercies, your human experiences, are all
helpers for you. In all these ways you have
also the help of the Spirit.

WORKING FROM WITHIN.

GOD'S plan of restoring human nature
is to begin within and have the reno-
vating influences work outward. Man's plan
is to begin on the outside ; but alas ! the
process stops there. To purify the stream
we must have the fountain pure ; and to have
our nature made holy we must have the prin-
ciple of holiness within, in the soul ; for it is
from the soul that actions proceed. Our Lord
showed this in the parable addressed to the
Pharisees about the cup and the platter. The
pollution was inward, in the contents. No
mere outward cleansing would reach that. I
knew a foolish but well-meaning man who
thought he could resuscitate a boy who had
been twenty-four hours drowned by warming
and rubbing the body. And he got the poor
rigid limbs supple and a certain feeling of
warmth in the surface of the body, but

WORKING FROM WITHIN.

there was no life, no breath, nor could
there be.

And so an outward reform merely will
never make a new man. The heart must be
given up to God. Christ's Spirit must dwell
within. The springs of human action must
be purified before the nature can be pure.
Have we not seen middle-aged men, polite,
polished in manner, soft in speech, and careful
not to offend, and yet we knew them to
be bankrupt as to every moral principle. So
it may be spiritually. There may be the out-
ward semblance of a changed nature, and yet
the nature remain unchanged. And do not
forget that if you shrink from having the
Holy Ghost rule over you and want still
to keep the control of your own moral
being, you can not become a child of God.
Self is on one side and God is on the other.
If we have God we have all things ; if we
have self we have only self.

SOWING AND REAPING.

HOW slow the world is to believe that
mental and spiritual sowing just as
surely brings forth a crop as any other sowing.
No one professes to doubt that wheat will
produce more wheat, or beans a crop of beans.
Yet men take in and believe and spread
around them bad principles and degrading
habits, and do not seem to think that these
will grow.

Not one of us has the right to do any thing
without expecting the appropriate reward or
result to follow. A bad boy naturally makes
a bad man, and an evil habit or bent of mind
will degrade th 2 whole soul. A man thinks
and resolves that he will never get into the
penitentiary ; yet he goes on robbing and
stealing, and he is sent there for fifteen years,
and dies in prison. He failed to see that
crime always leads to its punishment.

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SOWING AND REAPING.

But there is a deliverance. Not tliat Satan
becomes willing to let you go , not that sin
has ceased to be most abominable in the
sight of God; but this —that Christ has
come " to destroy the works of the devil."
And where does he find them.^ In your
heart, poor sinner ! This insensibility to the
evil of sin ; this putting off all serious
thought; this want of all desire to be rid
of sin ; this despising of God's mercy, —
Christ comes to make destruction of these.
You may keep him out ; you have done so
already ; but if you admit him — and you
have, in words at least, often prayed him to
come — he destroys all these. If a man is
not willing to have the evil rooted out of his
nature, he can not be saved.

^^U^Oj.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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23 WIST MAIN STMHT

WltSTiR,N.Y. 145M

(71«) •72-4503

JESUS ON THE CROSS.

THE heart-broken words, " My God, my
God ! why hast thou forsaken me ? "
adopted by Jesus from the Twenty-second
Psalm, I have often thought especially reveals
to us something of the penalty of sin, which
he bore for us — in our stead. Most Scotch
boys, of whom I was one, learn from the
Shorter Catechism this : "'All men, by their
fall, lost communion with God." By sin we
have "lost communion with God." We are
now, in our fallen and natural state, like
the branches of the apple-trees I see cast
over the road-fence by a farmer out of his
orchard, when he pruned it in the spring. I
have seen them with buds and small leaves,
sometimes with opening blossoms ; but they
are cut off from the tree, and must die.

Now was not this exactly the penalty pro-
nounced upon Adam ? He did not die in

t
t

yESUS ON THE CROSS.

the literal sense on the day he ate the fruit ;
he lived for nine hundred years. Nor are we
to think he died the eternal death ; for we be-
lieve he died in faith. But the penalty came
on the day he sinned, for God would keep
his word. Then how } Why, in this cutting
off from God. And he could only live again
by being newly grafted in. Our Lord's para-
ble about the vine and the branches, or Paul's
about the olive-tree, will explain it.

It was this very penalty — this cutting-off
from God, as a branch from a tree — that was
pronounced in Ezekiel : " The soul that sin-
neth, it shall die ! " For the penalty of sin,
the wages of sin, is in all ages the same.
And I apprehend that it was this very penalty
that our Lord bore upon the tree. He, in
taking our place, paid our penalty, whatever
that might be. And here we find him, in this
horror of darkness, cut off from God.

Yea, once Immanuel's orphaned cry

The universe hath shaken;
It went up single, echoless:

*' My God! I am forsaken!"

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

And the following circumstance brought
very vividly to my mind the peculiar form and
language of our Lord's cry on the cross. A
ministerial brother once told me of his eldest
son, who had died somewhere in the United
States. His employer had written the father
i letter, detailing the circumstances of his
son's sickness and death, and among other
things said : " During the last twenty-four
hours of his life he wandered much in his
mind, and spoke to himself all the time in
some language we could not understand."
"Oh," I said to my old friend, knowing he
was from the Highlands, "that would be
Gaelic." "Yes, I suppose so," replied he,
"but he never heard Gaelic in his father's
house. My wife and I when we were married
— we could speak both languages — agreed
that we would keep house in English and
use that language in our home ; and our chil-
dren never heard us speak any thing but Eng-
lish. No doubt he heard the Gaelic on the
school play-ground and among his little play-

yESUS ON THE CROSS.

„

mates from his earlier infancy ; but it could
hardly be called his native language." Yet
here it was; the poor fellow, dying among
strangers, wandered back in the mists of
death to the heather and the Highland hills ;
and he was once more in imagination a little
barefooted Highland boy, with tartan trews,
and the honest Gaelic tongue. And is it too
far-fetched to believe the same of Ch ist } that
he too wandered back to the vernacular he
had learned and lisped in his highland home
— for Nazareth was up among the hills, twelve
hundred feet high — and now the language
of his childhood was the language of his
dying thoughts. No doubt he had taught
much in Greek, — for Greek was the language
of public life, just as the English is now
among the Gaelic Highlands, — but the sanc-
tities of life and death, and mother and in-
fancy and home, all expressed themselves to
his mind in the home-like Aramaic.

Let us comfort ourselves with the thought
that whatever our penalty for sin was, Jesus

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

bore it for us ; and with the further thought
that his enemies can no more reach him now.
For he, "after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand
of God."

CHRIST AS A YOKE-FELLOW.

■A

BOYS have their thoughts, and perhaps
if they were to speak often er about
them they would get mistakes corrected much
sooner. In thinking about the words of Jesus,
" Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me,"
I used to imagine the Master sitting and
deciding for each one of us what kind and
weight of a yoke we should bear ; and that
yoke, whatever it was, should be on our necks
till death. But we are sure to learn, if we
are anxious to- learn ; and I now look upon
it in a much more cheerful light. Christ
appeals to us to become yoke-fellows with
him. He invites us to come and share his
experiences. Paul had his yoke-fellows, and
he sends kind remembrances to them. Our
Master does not put a yoke upon us, and
stand off at a distance to see us toil beneath
it. He rather asks us to come under the

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

yoke with him, and well assured are we that
in such a case the heavy part of the service
is done by him who now invites us.

What a blessed mark was put upon the
poor Cyrenian ! not the Simon who denied
his Master ; not the Simon who condescended
to invite Jesus to dine with him ; not the
Simon who practiced sorcery in Samaria ;
but the Simon who bore Christ's cross.
And Luke, with his usual care and exact-
ness, tells us that he bore it " after Jesus."
Of course it may mean that Jesus walked
before, guarded by the soldiers, and Simon
came behind, bearing the cross ; but we are
pleased to think that very likely it means
that Jesus, unable to bear the whole weight
any longer, continued to bear the forward,
and presumably the heavier, end, and Simon
bore the other end after him. Two things
would immediately occur to Simon's mind,
and have occurred to many a Christian's
mind since: i. He would necessarily be
obliged to keep step with Jesus ; and 2.

CHRIST AS A YOKE-FEU.OW.

'•

He could bear more of the load by getting
up closer to Christ. No doubt he did them
both, and we thank him for it !

Blessed companionship ! divine yoke-fel-
low ! How easy is thy yoke when thou dost
bear it with us ! And even the cross itself
has sung itself out of the disgrace men
sought to put upon it, and has become a
badge of discipleship !

** Light is the load when his grace goes with it.
Leader and Lover and Friend !
Sweet is the rest with his love beneath it,
Solace that never shall end!

Come to the Refuge, and you shall have rest;
Come to the Blessed, and you shall be blest;
Now and forever a friend and a guest ;
Come to the Saviour, come!"

JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

THINGS go in cycles, and the fashion
and form of spiritual thought is no
exception. Some years ago there was a dis-
position to neglect too much the Old Testa-
ment. " It gives us God's dealings with his
ancient people, and it prophesies concerning
Christ." This, and nothing more. But of
later years many people begin to see that
there is much more than this. If Christ
was king and leader of his Church in ancient
times as well as in what we call the Chris-
tian ages, — and his own Spirit indited the
word then even as he applies it now, — then
why would it not be perfectly easy for him so
to construct the word, and so to order the
ceremonies and guide the history, that every
thing should image spiritual experience and
teach us concerning himself }

I have heard Thomas Binney preach, one

yESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 93

of the great men of modern English Noncon-
formity ; and one of Binney's root-princi-
ples he was always teaching young men was
that "all Old Testament facts were doc-
trines." There is a depth in that thought it
would well repay us to elaborate and work
out. A friend of mine gave the other
evening a most instructive and elaborate
parable rendering of the marriage of Isaac
and Rebecca. The whole story is full of the
most apt and beautiful images of Christ and
the believer, the bridegroom and the bride.
And so it may be in every part of the old
and inspired record.

Mr. Moody, in speaking of Rahab and
Jericho, said there was a ** scarlet line " run-
ning all through the Old Testament, testify-
ing of Jesus and his blood. And if we could
imagine Christ taken out of the Old Testa-
ment, what would be left 1 Something of
history, something of philosophy, a little
poetry, a little theology, but nothing to give
a man a hope beyond the grave. It would
be a temple without a shrine.

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

" Take out my heart when I am dead and
gone," said an English statesman, dying,
"and you will find the name of England
there." So, penetrate to the heart of the
Old Testament and you will find it bright
with the name of Jesus. He dies in its sac-
rifices ; he testifies through its prophets ; he
intercedes in its high priests ; he receives us
in its cities of refuge ; he bears our sins in
its scape-goat ; he feeds us in its paschal
lamb ; he leads us in its pillar of cloud and
of fire. Jesus is in the sprinkled blood; in
the sin offering ; in the incense ; in the Holy
of holies ; in the holy breastplate of the
priest ; in the mercy-seat ; in the ark of the
covenant; in the temple. Thank God for
the Old Testament'

'■

PROVIDENCE

THERE is a misty idea in many men's
minds, as if " Providence " were separate
from the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost ;
a fourth Person, or a separate department in
the Godhead. Xhe Scriptures do not teach
us so. Paul and Silas were going into Bi-
thynia, "but the Spirit suffered them not."
It is not said " they were hindered by God's
Providence ;" though probably that would be
the way of expressing it in our day. It was
the same Spirit that enlightened, renewed,
and sanctified them, that managed their out-
ward affairs for them, opened the way for
them to go in one direction, and barred the
way in another.

It has been observed that " the Bible con-
tains or exhibits no department of God's
dealings with men which has not either con-
version or sanctification for its object." And

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

when the Holy Spirit reproves (" convicts '*)
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment (John i6: 8), it is not for the mere
sake of the sorrow, but for that to which the
sorrow leads, submission and conversion.
We call it "the work of the Spirit," when it
concerns the feelings in the heart ; but if
those feelings are brought about, as in most
cases they are, through occurrences in our
lives or surroundings, then we call it " Provi-
dence." In reality, it is the same.

Has it ever occurred to you, dear young
reader, that since sin has come into the
world, it is a good thing that sorrow came
with it } Think of the sin without the sorrow
that it brings. If the medicinal products of
nature, poisonous when used in sufficiency
for food, were all agreeable to the taste, how
deaths from poisoning would multiply ! So,
if sin had no sting and left no sorrow, how
many more souls would be destroyed by it !
Now the Spirit is one ; and all his manifesta-
tions are for the end of benefiting man.

PROVIDENCE,

And the inward uneasiness and sorrow, and
the outward circumstances that bring the
sorrow, are all parts of the administration of
the unseen God, who cares for us and loves
us and desires to save us.

And is it not an inspiring thought to the
child of God, that the same Spirit who has
been whispering to him of truth and duty, of
Christ and heaven, also directs his outward
life? Even as we learn to know that what
men call nature is the art of God, so also we
learn at last to know that what we have been
in the habit of calling Providence, often not
knowing exactly what we meant by it, is the
Holy Spirit managing and governing our
affairs and us.

THE SECRET MARRIAGE.

■'

A WOMAN who has suffered herself to
be inveigled into a secret marriage,
and who still, falsely and wrongly, calls
herself by her own former name, and will
not bear the name of her husband, puts her-
self altogether in a false and indefensible
position. Just so with the believer who will
not take the name of Christ ; for " I speak
concerning Christ and the church." Such a
believer has to hear his Lord evil spoken of,
yet he is afraid to take his part. Others
acknowledge him as their Lord and Master,
yet he stands aloof and will not put himself
with them as one of them.

And just as the woman who has placed
herself in that most false of all positions —
that of denying and keeping secret a mar-
riage — must listen, if her false position is to
be maintained, to other offers of marriage, so

THE SECRET MARRIAGE.

the soul that fails to avow openly its union
with Christ is always liable to the solicita-
tions of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
" You don't belong to the church. You don't
need to be so particular about the Sabbath,"
says one. "You may drink with a friend,''
says another ; ** you 're not a professor."
"You are not bound to educate your chil-
dren religiously ; you are free ; you can let
them have a little liberty." " You may turn
your back on the church when it becomes
unpopular in an ungodly neighborhood." So
the influence goes.

And such a believer is generally "be-
wrayed by his speech." He never says
" we," in talking of the Church of Christ or
of saints. It is always "they." No more
certainly did the Ephraimites lisp at the
word " shibboleth," than he stutters at the
word wei

Now Christ knew the danger and the
wrong of such a course. And he knew the
remedy. He says most solemnly to you, to

ICX)

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

me, to all : " Whosoever therefore shall con-
fess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him
will I also deny before my Father which
is in heaven."

■ \

n-
so
ut
m
:h

ONE RULE.

CHRISTIANS are sometimes at a stand
to know how they are to regulate their
lives ; how they are to increase in grace, and
what are to be the principles of success and
the tests of progress. Paul had no doubt
often met this difficulty in his apostolic work,
and he tells the Colossians what the rule
and the test is : " As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye
in him." The rule is simply this: to hold
fast the doctrines that converted us. We
are not to enter upon our Christian pilgrimage
with one set of Christian hopes and principles,
and then to walk all our lives by some other
set of principles. We are not to get pardon
and salvation by just believing what God
says about his Son (i John 5 : 9-1 1), and
then depend for assurance and joy upon
something we see wrought in ourselves.

ZOI

I02

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

Poor child of earth ! You began to live by
walking with Christ ; continue to walk with
him. You were saved by grace alone ; you
must walk every day by the very same
grace. When you first believed, it was
Christ only ; let it be Christ only now. You
set out, in the day of your espousals, to do
Christ's will ; continue to do his will and
you will have your joy continued. I appeal
to your memory of the days when you first
believed in Christ. If you had the same
zeal now, do you not think you would have
the same enjoyment } If there were in you
the same giving up of your own way and
taking Christ's way, would there not be the
same results now as then } If you had the
same desire for Christ's glory, now that you
have been in the church for some time, as
you had when you were just coming in,
would you not feel the same fervor } The
fact is, — and this is the line of Paul's
argument with the Colossians, — we are to
remember on what ground we are saved, and

ONE RULE.

103

to continue on it. It was all grace at the
first, and it must be all grace throughout
our life and to the end.

WHAT DID HE DO?

I WAS on one occasion preaching about
the Prodigal Son. It was in a little log-
house, where the beams of the "up-chamber"
were rather too low to be comfortable for the
tall men of the little company, and where the
little table in front of me did not stand very
firmly on the uneven floor, and the benches
were not steady. Yet the people were very
quiet and attentive. It had been a neglected
neighborhood, and they seemed glad to hear
the gospel from any body. In the middle of
the sermon I stopped and said : " Now I
want to ask you a question : When he had
come to his father, and the father kissed
him and forgave him, and commanded the
best robe to be put on him, what did the
prodigal do .? " And looking at a good man
sitting right before me, I said : " Mr. Wallis,
what did he do ? " He hitched round on his

|0|

WHAT DID HE DO/

105

seat and twisted up his mouth, as if he wanted
to find an answer, but could not think of
any thing. "Why," I asked, "he didn't
do any thing, did he?" "No!" "That
is it," I continued; "he just gave himself
up to the servants, that they might do what
they liked with him, according to the com-
mands of his father. His doing was in the
coming home ; now it was the father's doing,
and the dging of his servants, to receive
him as a son and to robe him for the feast.
So with the sinner. He must come to God
and give himself up to God's will ; and God's
Spirit will clothe him with the garment of
Christ's righteousness, and present him as a
son. But he must give himself up to the
Spirit, as the prodigal gave himself up to his
father's servants. He will have the robe,
the shoes, the ring, but he does not himself
put them on. It is God that saves us, but
we must give ourselves up to God to be
saved."

NOT ALL SIN SEEN AT ONCE.

IN the trespass offering a man might bring
a lamb from his flock, or two turtle-
doves, or young pigeons, or the tenth part
of an ephah of fine flour. Why this grada-
tion } I think we may assume that no man
was so poor as to be unable to bring the two
young pigeons, on account of the cost or the
value of them ; and that the gradation in the
offering pointed not only to the greater or
less wealth of the offerer, but also to his
greater or less apprehension of his guilt.
David would not give to the Lord "that
which cost him nothing;" and a pious
Israelite, feeling deeply his trespass before
God, would express it by more than the hand-
ful or two of finie flour.

The same gradation is found among our-
selves. Some have more of the feeling of
sin than others. But let every man who

zo6

NOT ALL SIN SEEN AT ONCE.

107

feels sia at all come to God with the sins he
does feel, and confess them. I am convinced
that if we felt our sins at the moment of
our coming to God with as great fullness of
apprehension as we gradually and in the aggre-
gate feel them through our Christian course,
we should die at once. The duty of coming
to God without waiting first for some
"deeper" insight into sin is not only duty,
but safety.

If I had so far forgotten God as to put
forth my hand to my neighbor's goods, and
had become full with the gains of robbery,
and then, struck with remorse and wrought
upon by God's Spirit, had desired to do what
was right and make restitution, what should
I do if much of the stolen property had been
spent or wasted? Should I postpone resti-
tution till, by the toil and labor and savings
of years, I could return every one in full, with
good interest, and by the splendor of my
restitution seem to palliate something of the
guilt of my sin ? No ; my duty would be to

io8

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

go to each man I had wronged, tell him of
my sin and my sorrow, bring back the part
of his property I had in possession, and tell
him I should never cease my efforts till I had
paid him all. So let us not wait to feel sin
deeper, but go with the sins we do feel.
There may be sin in some man's splendid
confession of sin.

GIVING GOD REASONS.

IF we have any good reasons why God
should answer our prayers, let us spread
out these reasons before the Lord. If there
are no reasons why we should be blessed, let
us not urge the unreasonable petition. God
is continually giving us reasons, and he de-
sires that we should use them. Thus did the
holy men of old. Abraham pleaded for Sod-
om by urging that its destruction would be
slaying the righteous with the wicked. And
he thought that surely there must be some
righteous men there. And if Abraham had
lived there instead of Lot, I can not but
think there would have been some converts.
When God threatened to destroy Israel, Mo-
ses pleaded God's own reputation — that the
heathen would say : "The Lord was not
able to bring them into the land." Daniel
prayed for Israel and for Jerusalem because

109

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

they were called by God's name. The Script-
ure is full of this principle. We always
find reasons for asking favors from men. It
is expected that we should have some good
reason to give.

We want salvation. Why.? Christ has
died to obtain it for us. It glorifies Christ.
It is according to God's desire. He has
promised to forgive us. We want to escape
wrath. We want to be holy. We want to
reach heaven. We want to be rid of the
dominion of sin. We want to be like Christ.
We want to lead others. All good reasons.
Spread them out before God. Depend upon
it, religion is the most reasonable thing in
the world. It is founded on good reasons.

THE END OF SIN.

„

IT is said of the ichneumon-fly that it
pierces the body of a caterpillar in its
more fleshy parts, and deposits there an egg,
which soon becomes a grub. The caterpillar
lives and feeds, and when autumn comeis
rolls himself up in his cocoon in preparation
for the Qpming sumriier, when he is to be a
butterfly. But to the caterpillar thus stung
no summer comes. Other caterpillars push
their way out of their cocoons and spread
their painted wings in the air, but not he. He
has nourished a grub ; that lives, but he is
dead.

So with sin. We can not tell by the looks
of a man whether he is sold to sin. The
homely caterpillar had his future butterfly-
wings all nicely folded within him ; but he
was stung with the fly, and they are all eaten
away. The angel wings God gives us in

III

112

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

germ we should keep as our lives ; but if the
principle of sin is nourished within us, we may
look like God's children, we may walk about
and transact business, and live and die, and
none suspect that our soul is destroyed ; but
when we would rise to heaven, we shall find
that our angel wings are gone, and for us no
glad future life remains. Dear young friend,
do you carry within you the principle of sin ?
Do you know its end ? Are you sure your
wings are safe ?

CONVICTION THROUGH EVIDENCE.

IF I had offended one of my fellow
creatures, and were in great trouble about
getting forgiveness, where would feeling
come in. My feelings would make no differ-
ence as to the fact of forgiveness existing or
not existing. What I should want, with re-
spect to that wished-for fact, would be evi-
dence. So between me and God, I do not need
to feel forgiveness, but to know that God feels
forgivingly toward me. I once heard Henry
Varley use this illustration : " If I were a
poor orphan, homeless child, and I got my
eyes upon a man whom I knew to be rich
and kind, and wished very much that he
would take me for his own child, my feelings,
however deep they might be, would not se-
cure the blessing nor bring me happiness.
But if I found out what his feelings were,
and came to know that he had observed me,

1x3

114

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

and inquired about me, and loved me, and
wished to adopt me and take me home, I
should be perfectly happy ! '*

It is of much more importance to know
God's feelings than to dwell upon our own.
Another of Mr. Varley's anecdotes was this.
He met an old Yorkshire friend he had not
seen for thirty years.

*"Well, my old friend," he said, as he
shook him by both hands, " how do you do }
And do you love Jesus ? "

" Ah, I can tell you something better than
that ! better than that, Mr. Varley ! "

" What is that ? "

** Jesus loves nje ! " said the old man, sol-
emnly ; " Jesus loves me ! "

Now the evidence of all this is in the Bible.
It is there we have to look to find out what
are God's feelings toward ourselves, and what
God in Christ has done for us. It is giving
evidence on the one side, and believing the
evidence on the other. ** And this is the^ rec-
ord " (the evidence), ** that God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."

md
J, I

low
[wn.
[his.
not

ONLY ONE AMONG THE REST.

IT is hard for us to bring ourselves down
to the level of our race and be content
to be saved along with the rest, without any
thing special or peculiar in our individual
case. Naaman wanted — so it proved —
something more than a cure ; he wanted a
little glory as well. He could have a cure by
going down into the deep valley of the Jordan
and dipping in its waters ; but he was angry
that the prophet did not come and, with great
deference and respect to him, pray Jehovah
to cure him, laying his hand on the leprosy.
That would have been pleasing ; the other was
not. But when he became humble enough to
receive the blessing in any way, in God's way,
the trouble was all over. I knew a man who
thought he could to a certainty get a new heart,
if he went alone to a distant barn of his and
prayed long enough. There was nothing

ii6

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

wrong in going to the barn nor in praying
for a new heart. The mistake was in not be-
lieving God was willing to save him in any
other way or any other place. And God
did not heal him in the barn, no more than
he did Naaman at the prophet's door. But
they were both blessed as soon as they were
humble enough to take the blessing in any
way God should send it.

There have been men who seemed to think
it was better to be noted for wickedness than
not to be noted at all. A conceited young
man in ancient times began to despair of
fame for doing any thing good or noble, and
so he thought that to do something very
wicked would bring him some kind of fame,
and no trouble to obtain it. He therefore
fired the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The
people and the young man himself thought
it was horrible and unsurpassable wicked-
ness.

And there are people now who think God
can not save them, they are so wicked. They

ONLY ONE AMONG THE REST.

117

be-

set up for an eminence in wickedness. They
are a little ashamed of trying to be very
wicked outwardly, for so many people are
looking on. But they are wicked in their
hearts, and they are sure they have got to
such an eminence in wickedness that God
will have to make some special arrangements
for saving them. The Light that hath ap-
peared to all men is not enough to illumine
their darkness. The Saviour who saves
others will fail in their case. God must
stand amazed at the failure of his plan of
salvation to reach them.

But who art thou, O sinner, whosoever
thou art, that God should refuse or be unable
to pardon thee? Thou art but one among
the rest. Listen ! God has done a greater
thing for thee already when he laid thy sins
on Jesus ! Thou wert not asking him then ;
it was all of his own love. He knew thou
wouldest need Jesus, and laid a foundation
for thy salvation long ago. And since God
has laid thine iniquities on Jesu^ (Is. 53 : 6)

ii8

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

before thou didst ask him, dost thou think he
will turn away from thy petition and thy
prayer now ? Nay, trust him as others have
trusted him, and be blest as they are blest.
Thou art but one among the rest, and thou
shalt have no other blessing than they. But
then thou art one among the rest, and the
common blessing has in it a share for thee.

re
It.

THE SINNER A COVENANT-
BREAKER.

WHERE the word Testament occurs in
our English Bibles, it might equally
well be rendered covenant, and is so ren-
dered in nearly every place in the Revision.
So our names for the two parts of the Script-
ures might fitly be "The Old Covenant,"
"The New Covenant."

In Exodus (34 : 28) we read : " The cove-
nant, the ten commandments." The word
"commandments" is in the margin "words."
The "ten words ; " that is, the ten articles of
the covenant. In this aspect the sinner is
not only a commandment-breaker, but a cove-
nant-breaker. The Decalogue itself takes a
new aspect when we consider it as a cove-
nant. God not only commands, but he en-
gages. Let us glance over the commandments.

XX9

1 20

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

and see what is inferred in each ; as is further
elaborated in many other parts of Scripture :

I. I am your God.

II. I will come near to you.

III. When thou callest upon me I will
deliver thee.

IV. "My presence shall go with thee,
and I will give thee rest. "

V. "The first [or chief] commandment
with promise."

VI. He will protect thy life.

VII. "I will protect the sanctity of thy
home, even as I forbid thee to desolate the
sanctity of another's home."

VIII. Thou shalt not need to steal.

IX. Truth shall be kept for thee.

X. " I have commanded others that they
shall not covet what is thine."

We have received all the blessings ; and if
there is any thing we have not received, it is
because we have neglected to take it and use
it. And shall we not fulfill our side of the
covenant ? We look upon a covenant-breaker

mmmm

A COVENANT-BREAKER.

121

with horror and disgust, as among the lowest
and most despicable of men. That is pre-
cisely our condition as unrepenting sinners.
We have broken the covenant with God.

VALUE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

THE statement of Zacchaeus the publi-
can, " the half of my goods I give to
the poor," etc., was not a self-righteous boast
concerning his former practice, but the vow
of a new convert, who perhaps thought that
a certain business talent for increasing wealth
was the only talent he possessed, and he
would dedicate that henceforth to God. And
this resolution would he greatly strengthened
by its being spoken.

Few men involved in the meshes of drunk-
enness, and who have, " on principle," refused
the temperance pledge, have ever been cured
of inebriety. And very few indeed who have
resolved to come to God, but to keep it a
secret and make no profession of religion,
have ever found Christ. John Brown of
Harper's Ferry used to say that in matters
of conscience and duty he always followed

133

VALUE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

123

his first impressions ; that they were purest
and best ; the " sober second thought " was
apt to be a selfish or indolent thought.
A lady in Glasgow sent me word, at the
close of a meeting, that if I would go home
with her she would give me a pound for the
mission for which I had been pleading, as
she had no money with her. And on the
way she told me that when it came into her
mind to do any thing for God, she could not
trust herself if she put off the doing of it ;
she wanted to commit herself at once, for
fear she would change her mind. " Whatso-
ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might."

THE PURPOSE OF PROPHECY.

I USED to be troubled to know how I
should ever understand some of Eze-
kiel, for instance. Was it to be taken liter-
ally ? Who was the prince ? And what
about the city? And the waters flowing
eastward ? And if it could not be satisfac-
torily understood, why was it given? But
I have learned to be more modest in my de-
mands, and to be content that future genera-
tions should have something new to discover,
instead of getting all their wisdom at second-
hand from us.

Our Lord furnishes us the key of all proph-
ecy when he says : " I have told you before it
come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye
might believe." It is given us to strengthen
faith when we see God's fulfillment of it. If
it were given merely to inform us before the
time, it would be given us with perfect plain-

124

asm

■Hi

THE PURPOSE OF PROPHECY.

125

ness. And then, it is much to be feared,
we should, when we saw the time approach-
ing, sit down and do nothing but wait for its
coming. A tribe of Ojibway Indians with
whom I am acquainted know within a few
days when the agent from the seat of gov-
ernment is coming to bring them their half-
yearly allowances, and they can do no work for
a fortnight — just lie on the river-bank and
watch for his canoe coming.

Take for an example of prophecy, this :
" He made his grave with the wicked, and
with the rich in his death,'* and fancy any
doctor of the law, how evangelical soever,
trying before the occurrence itself to explain
the allusion. How impossible to make any
thing of it! But the two thieves and
Joseph of Arimathea make it all clear. And
how consoling and strengthening to the first
believers must- it have been! How calcu-
lated to take away the horror they must have
felt at Christ's dying in such unworthy com-
pany, and how strengthening to their faith

126

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

to see that it was all. predicted, even to the
fact of his being buried in a rich man's tomb ;
a circumstance unimportant in itself, but
important as being a unique and conspicu-
ous mark of God's foreknowledge and divine
control.

When we approach prophecy, let us come,
therefore, with the key our Lord has given
us. When we use God's key we shall un-
lock God's treasures.

the
nb;
but
cu-
ine

ne,

un-

IT IS FINISHED.

THE finishing of any great work is always
a most interesting and important thing.
We should like to have been present at Saint
Paul's, when all the scaffoldings were down
and the grand space swept out, and hear the
architect say : "The work is finished ;" or if
it is a life-long work of history, how interest-
ing a moment when the historian lays down
the pen at the closing sentences and says :
" It is done." It was a memorable moment
when the Venerable Bede, propped up in bed,
dictated with fast shortening breath the last
words of his Anglo-Saxon translation of the
Gospel of John. " There remains but a sen-
tence," said the transcriber. " Haste thee ! "
said the dying man. And the work was
done.

Or if it is a statue or a picture, how the
artist lingers over the last touches, till he

137

128

THE PRINT OF' HIS- SHOE.

lays down the chisel or the brush and says :
"I can do no more." Or, a long and holy
life : how the calm of a heavenly eve steals
over its close. " Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, according to thy
word : for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
But what can equal the closing, the finish-
ing of the sacrificial v/ork of our Lord Jesus
Christ } It was a work which had been pre-
paring from the foundation of the world. A
work so extensive that the salvation of the
race depended on it. A work so important
that only the Son of God could accomplish
it. And it was finished on Calvary! We
can not add to it. It has never been laid
aside for something else to take its place. It
gives us a perfect plea before God : " Lord,
my Saviour has finished the work of atone-
ment for me; save me for his sake alone!"
Jesus knew the use we should make of his
last cry on the cross ; and he wished us to
make that use of it. The atonement is fin-
ished. No man can add to it. " Whosoever
will " may come and be saved.

BHBTjfl

RELIGION FOR USE.

THAT is a poor religion that is best
enjoyed alone. It may be compared
to the taking of food. None of us could
half so much enjoy a well-spread table if we
were all by ourselves and alone. The pleas-
ant company gives a relish to the food. And
although to be alone with God is the way to
get spiritual strength, yet the strength thus
obtained is to be used in the battle of life.
If it is right for me to leave the duties of
life, to live in retired contemplation, then it
is right for another ; and if all Christians
should retire to monasteries and hermitages,
what would become of religion in the world }
The fact is, the heart that is pure must show
its purity among hearts that are not pure,
that the contrast may influence them for
their good.

Religion is for use rather than for show.

129

I30

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

If a woodman would know whether an axe is
good, he does not test it by looking at it only^
but he goes down into the woods and tries it
in the timber. Or a ^armer, desiring to
know the qualities of a new scythe, puts it
into the grass. So if we would test our
religion, we must take it down with us into
the conflict and labor of life. If it wear
well there, it will wear well every-where.

And this very religion we have tested below
we take with us to the eternal mansions.
We know that that man is richer for this
life who seeks and keeps that purity of heart
and oneness of soul with Christ that marks
him as his disciple; and does it not follow
that he is richer to enter into heaven } It is a
great thing that a man on earth may learn
to do the work of God, and thus make this
life a preparatory school for heaven.

SOME ONE THING.

PAUL says: " This one thing I do." And
there is always some one thing a
person can do. The way we have chosen for
ourselves may be hedged up, and we may
not be able to do as we would; but some
other opening will appear. And I do not
know a better or a more Christian way than
first- to seek God's aid by prayer, and then sit
down and ask : " Now is there no way I can
turn in this juncture ? Is there no person to
whom I can apply ? Is there no other way
than the way I have thought of for accom-
plishing this, or for accomplishing something
else that will do just as well ? " Does poverty
stare you in the face ? There is some one
honest thing you can do to make a living.
Throw away pride and prejudice, and do it.

Are you a minister, a discouraged minister ?
There is some one person in your flock who

132

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

ill'
li..

is full of faith and praying and working
with you for a revival of the Lord's work.
Are you a young man away from home and
trying to push your way in the world ?
There is always some one thing you can do.
Don't let foolish pride keep you from doing it.
When all other resources seem to fail with
the Christian, he knows that one thing never
fails him : he can always go to God in prayer.
That door is always open to him.

Ever since I got this thought — and it
came to me like an inspiration, and long ago
— I can see more and more its value : that
a person is never so hedged up but there is
some one thing he can do ; some one way he
can turn ; some one person he can influence.
He is never without any resource.

Now here comes in the wisdom of God.
If we never got into difficulties we should
have little or no necessity for the skill we are
obliged to use to get out of them. If all our
plans seemed to go right we should gather
conceit and pride and self-righteousness. God

SOME ONE THING.

133

humbles us and teaches us by letting our
plans fail, and then we turn to him for
wisdom and strength. The philosopher who
could not get a college to give him a salary
nor a publisher to issue his works, instead
of dying of a broken heart, asked himself:
" What can I do ? " and began teaching some
little boys in a Sunday-school. His boys
became divines and philosophers and teach-
ers of others, and together did a hundred
times as much good as he could have
done, if every thing had gone straight with
him. There is always some one thing we
can do.

]

NOT ONLY OBJECTING, BUT
PROPOSING.

ANT body can pull down. It needs nei-
ther skill nor heart to do that. Any
• body can object and deny. The Turk has
been an intractable off-side yoke-fellow in the
team of humanity all along. He destroys
but never constructs.. He denies but never
affirms ; he objects but never proposes. We
would not wish to be, morally, only Turks.
Such a one can never be in the van of human
progress. He must wait till some one has
done something, constructed something, at-
tempted something, before there is any
scope for his peculiar taleni. Then he pulls
down, not to construct better, but to leave
a ruin — a wilderness. Such is not the part
of one who loves God, or who loves man.
To break down a man's cherished principles
or opinions only irritates him, if that is all

»34

OBJECTING AND PROPOSING. 1 35

you do. And he has a moral right to demand
of you that you give him something better
to take the place of what you have demol-
ished.

There is always something of soreness in
our minds when a faulty principle we held, or
a prejudice we cherished, has been over-
thrown and removed. Wc don't take kindly
to this process ; and the less so if there seems
to be in the other party a disposition to push
the victory and humiliate us. And when
"convinced against our will," — which is to
us a very disagreeable process, — we are very
stubborn about yielding. When, therefore,
we are in the other position, that of convin-
cing some one of an error or breaking down
some wrong principle, let us remember all
this, and lay our whole case before the other
person without expecting an immediate con-
sent. Expose the fallacy, propose the rem-
edy, pull down the wrong, build up the right,
but don't expect your friend will move right
into your nevr building and pay you rent for

136

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE,

it from that moment. Let him have time to
think it over ; let it simmer in his mind ; let
your request for his credence and consent be
rather a proposal than a demand ; and next
time you meet, your friend will say : '* Well,
when I come to think that matter over, I be-
lieve you were about right." And you have
retained your friend and gained, it may be,
an adherent to a very important truth.

I have tried to make it a life-long princi-
ple never to object to any thing without
showing a better way. It has often checked
me in objecting to things , and I have seen
afterwards that I should have been wrong to
object. Every thing has a reason for its exist-
ence ; and we do very wrong in objecting to
any thing before we have found the real or
assumed reason for it. If the reason is vis-
ionary or false, then we are ready, provided
we have something better to bring forward,
to pull down and construct better.

And this principle of not pulling down
only, but pulling down in order to build

OBJECTING AND PROPOSING. 1 37

better, is followed in the Scripture. Prophe-
cies end in promise. Denunciations of sin
are followed by advice and entreaty. And
we ourselves shall gain greatly by remem-
bering and practising the rule of "never
objecting to any thing without proposing
something better."

'
1

E :■!'

TRIBULATION.

IN the pictures of an ancient mode of
threshing grain, one man is seen stirring
up the sheaves and another is riding on a
rude dray, with three or four rollers instead
of wheels, drawn by a pair of oxen. This an-
cient threshing instrument was called by the
Romans tribulum. The rollers had sharp
stones, or rough bits of iron, imbedded in
their surface, to make them cut up the straw
and facilitate the separation of the grain.
From hence we get our word tribulation.
Just as the sheaves might be imagined to
complain of the sharp rollers going over
them and cutting into them, so a man in
great affliction would speak of himself as
a sheaf torn to pieces under the tribulum.
But as no thresher ever yoked his tribulum
for the mere purpose of tearing up his
sheaves, but, on the contrary, for the sole

138

)f
s

a
d
i-
e

■

TRIBULATION.

139

purpose of bringing the precious grain into a
shape to be useful to him as food, so our
loving Father never puts us under the tribu-
lum for the mere purpose of bringing upon us
tribulation, but always for a divine purpose
of good. ** Behold, the devil shall cast some
of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and
ye shall have tribulation ten days : be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life."

.hi

IN THE TREASURY.

THE Lord sat in the treasury and saw
what the worshipers gave ; and his
estimate was sometimes different from theirs.
He sits in the treasury still, and "weighs the
gold against the giver's thought," as of old.

The people came to the temple not only
to offer sacrifices and pray and receive instruc-
tion, but also to give money for the service
of God ; and Jesus looked on. The rich men
dropped in their gold coins or their handfuls
of silver, with a flourish and a jingle. But a
poor widow put in two mites ; it was all
she had, and she gave it all. And the Lord
Jesus was better pleased with her offering
than with all the gold of the rich men.

A very few years ago, in Montreal, a poor
young man, far gone in consumption, lay in
the hospital. He had no friends. Some-
body put a few words in The Witness, asking

J40

W THE TREASURY.

assistance for him. Two days passed, and
only a dollar or two came in. But a poor
Scotch woman, living alone and supporting
herself by her own work, saw the notice and
went to lb' hospital to see him. She had no
money to ' -: him; but what he. needed was
not so much money as care and love and
tender nursing ; and she took the young
man home to her poor hired room and
nursed him tenderly till he died.

The treasury is open still, and the widows
and the poor still cast in "all that they
have."

"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.

)»

THE whole Psalm is a spiritual song
about sheep and their shepherd. David
no doubt had in his mind his own early expe-
riences. Perhaps he wrote it and first sung
i it when a shepherd. East of Bethlehem and
beyond the corn-fields of his ancestor Boaz,
-the country grows rough and barren, with
tremendous gullies a thousand feet deep, and
sometimes only a few yards wide. Now here
is David with his few sheep in the wilderness ;
and he has made up his mind that there is
better grass on the other side of one of those
profound ravines or gullies, and he will take
his sheep across. There are sure to be wild
beasts in such places. And I think I see
him casting down great stones, and making
all the noise he can to frighten lions and
other wild beasts away, and then carefully
guiding his flock down some dangerous zig-

142

" THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD:'

143

zag path, carrying some weak lamb in his
arms, and getting quickly across the miry
bottom through the gloom of the place, and
clambering up the other side, glad to have
got safely through.

And then he thinks that is the way God
takes care of him. In the terrible risk of
being devoured by spiritual enemies ; in the
death-like shade and gloom of doubt and fail-
ing faith ; in death itself, his Shepherd will
protect him and bring him safely through to
pastures green and fair on the other side.
Thank God for such a hope and confidence !

11'

DAILY BREAD.

SOMETIMES children think the Lord's
Prayer, "Give us this day our daily
bread," asks only for wheat -bread ; and one
friend told me of his little boy who used to
add : " And butter, please ! " But as they
grow older they begin to think it means more
than wheat -bread, and more than mere food.
The translation of the Church of Rome ex-
presses it exactly : " Give us day by day our
supersubstantial bread." Only we can hardly
call it English. But ** supersubstantial,"
something higher and beyond the mere loaf
we hold between our hands, the material or
substantial bread for our mouths, is really
the thought here present. Our Lord else-
where says : " Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God." And so, praying the

144

Daily bread.

word's
daily
i one
ed to
they
more
food,
i ex-
r our
irdly
ial,"
Joaf
1 or
ally
ilse-
ead
out
Ithe

Lord's Prayer, we ask for mercy, love, pro-
tection, goodness — all we need for this day.
And many people think they can see this
further in it too: "Give us" implies more
than one praying, and "this day" implies
meeting together daily to pray ; and where
could the coming together to pray and the
praying thus every day be so perfectly seen
as in family prayer } But no one prays this
prayer, if he is able to work, and then sits
down in idleness, waiting for the loaf of
bread or the joint of meat to come. God
gives us bread, but he does not give it to us
ready-baked out of the oven. He gives us
strength to work, and soundness of mind to
do business, and rain and sunshine to make
the grain grow. And we take the money we
earn and buy the bread the farmer and miller
and baker have produced. But it is God
who gives it to us all the same. So God gives
us faith. I have heard men dispute whether
God gives us faith. I say to them : God
gives us faith just as he gives us bread. He

146

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

gives you all the materials for bread, life and
health and strength and skill and money,
or, failing these, kind friends, and you put
them together and you have bread. So he
gives you Jesus and his atonement ; he urges
you by his Word and his Spirit to let your
mind receive and believe what is true and
reject what is false : he gives you all the
materials for this " supersubstantial " bread.
When you receive them they are faith, and
you thank God, who is the great Giver of
it all/

AMONG THE STANDING GRAIN.

IN the East it is common for a num-
ber of farmers to have their grain
all growing in one large field together.
Every man knows his own land and does
not interfere with his neighbor. But the
public must have roads, whether, as here,
between the fences, or, as often with them,
mere paths among the grain. With us, a
path through a field would be plowed up
every time and again trodden hard by pass-
ing feet. But in Palestine the plows are, to
our eyes, very miserable, and they often let
the plow out at the paths ; indeed, they
can scarcely keep their plows in at all. And
so the paths follow, from year to year, the
same lines.

Now along one of these paths we see
Christ and his disciples walking. The wheat
(for it is likely it was wheat) was nearly ripe

148

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

and the heads heavy. And if there were
storms of wind upon the lake, there would
also be, at times, storms of wind upon the
land, and the wheat would straggle down
over the path. And so the disciples, Mark
tells us, " Began, as they went, to pluck the
ears of corn." But see the margin of the
Revision : ** began to make their way, pluck-
ing" the heads of the grain. The men
were hungry ; the stalks of grain hung over
the path ; they pulled the heads of some of
them, instead of trampling them down, and
rubbed the grain out in their hands, blowing
the chaff away. Have n't you often done
the same, little country boy }

The Pharisees were very particular about
the Sabbath day. They would not reap grain,
and they said pulling off a head of wheat
was just the same as reaping. They would
not thresh grain on the Sabbath, and they said
that rubbing out heads in your hand was
just another kind of threshing, and was a sin.

Johnnie said he wished it had been his

AMONG THE STANDING GRAIN.

149

field. The poor hungry disciples should have
had all the wheat they wanted to rub out,
Sabbath day or any other day.

" Well," said his father, " don't forget,
when you come to have a farm of your own;
to turn in a few bushels every year for char-
ity and for foreign missions and other things
that the Lord loves. The Master is never
hungry any more now ; he does not eat it
himself ; but he receives it from us all the
same, and remembers it at last. We don't
read in Mark that the owner of the field said
any thing, and we can have the rame pleasure
he had in seeing hungry disciples fed with
his grain."

WHAT CAN WE KNOW ABOUT

HEAVEN?

PERHAPS not very much ; and yet, by
trying to interpret God's dealings with
us and lessons to us, interpreting them with
respect to heaven even as we interpret them
with respect to earthly things, we may learn
more than now we think. We may safely
conclude — for we have it forced upon us by
all our life-long experiences — that there is a
spiritual lesson wrapped up in every provi-
dence, and a good moral to be drawn out of
every experience — drawn out of it because
God put it there, desirous that we should
draw it out. Now, taking what we find in
Scripture and applying the same Christian
common-sense to it that we do to matters
relating to the church and the home, what do
we find about heaven ?
Do they think about us in heaven } We

150

WHAT CAN WE KNOW?

151

say Yes ; and we arrive at it in this way :
we are told there is joy in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth. Now, if the angels
rejoice over the salvation of a sinner, is it
to be supposed that they keep the secret
among themselves and do not communicate
it to the saints ? Have they so great an
interest in a saint at the very beginning of his
career, being happy in his happiness, and do
they lose that interest and sympathy after-
wards ? If there was great rejoicing among
the angels when Saul of Tarsus was con-
verted, would they when he got to hea ca
lose so much of their interest in him as to
keep from him what they were then rejoicing
at — the salvation of some other sinner?
And would there be any thing wrong in his
asking the angels what they were rejoicing
at ? There would be nothing wrong in doing
it among the saints on earth. Why should
this experience of our spiritual fellowship —
that of asking questions on spiritual things —
be thrown away when we get to heaven?

152

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

Then we conclude that the angels will have
no desire to keep from the saints in heaven
the news they circulate among themselves,
of this one and that one being converted.
And if for one moment we could suppose they
had such a desire, they could not refuse to an-
swer the saints' questioning. And we shall
have our memories in eternity. If not, how
could we, as a matter of reward or punish-
ment, receive consciously to ourselves, "ac-
cording to the deeds done in the body " ? In
the parable of the rich man and Lazarus there
was in all the parties a perfect remembrance
of this life, and our Lord never gives us in
his parables specific circumstances which
teach false general principles. And if we
remember this life, shall we not remember
our friends 1 And shall we not often think
of them and speak of them .? It was one of
our great pleasures here : will it cease to be a
pleasure there } Yes ; our friends in heaven
think of us.

Shall we know each other there 1 It is not

WHAT CAN WE KNOW?

153

)

certain that we shall in every case at first.
We may need introductions to help our
recognition. Benjamin Franklin came home,
and when the forward fellow insisted on being
allowed to stay all night, his mother let him
sit in an arm-chair, instead of giving him the
" spare bedroom," because she did not know
it was her son. And how often must such
cases of non-recognition occur in the emi-
grating from earth to heaven. But how do
saints do on earth in such cases.? Even if
the features of that "spiritual body," what-
ever that expression may mean, do not give
a recognized likeness in cases of long sep-
aration, perhaps the voice may. And if nei-
ther looks nor voice lead to identification,
what is to hinder us from asking }

Do babes grow up in heaven } Yes ; why
not } All earthly analogy points in that
direction. It seems unreasonable to suppose
that a babe of a day old will the next day be
a mature intelligence in heaven, and able to
take its place in work and praise with the

154

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

apostles, martyrs, and angels, whose praises
are so much mingled with past memories, and
whose work is doubtless founded upon so
much past experience. And it seems equally
unreasonable to suppose an immature infant
always remaining just as it enters heaven.
We have no reason to believe that we shall
remain stationary in intelligence and spiritual
development, but every reason to the con-
trary. Why should it be otherwise with a
babe.^ I can remember, at the age of four
years, getting the most astonishing and rap-
turous piece of intelligence I ever got — that
boys grew to be men. I never knew it
before ; I supposed that boys were always
boys, and men always men. But now, oh,
how my prospects widened out ! Is it not
equally a "childish thing" to be " put away,'
that babes are always babes in heaven }
Well, if they neither leap at once to mature
intelligence nor remain always as they are,
there must be a "growing up" in heaven.
And oh, how much better a bringing up

WHAT CAN WE KNOW?

155

have they than we could give them ! Angels
and saints and Christ himself to take care of
our babes ; and all safe in their Father's
house, and trained in their first speech to
talk of our coming.

It will do us good to think of these things.
Our imagination is given us by God for good
and wise uses. Why should we not let it
out sometimes in long flights toward heaven }
The more we think about heaven, the more
we know of it. And the more we know of it,
the more we shall want to be there. And we
may each say, as an old friend of mine said
of himself: "I am bidden to the supper of
the Lamb, and I intend to go."

MEMORIALS.

WHEREVER there is any thing glori-
ous or great, or any man who has
greatly won the admiration of his race, there
is a desire that it or he should not be for-
gotten. "It is only a half-sized fir." There
are hundreds of better ones in sight. " But
this one was planted by Sir Walter Scott
just the year before he died." Ah, that
makes all the difference ! It is only an old
silver watch, the shape and size of a goose
egg. " An old turnip ! " says a youth at our
side. But it was carried by the great Pro-
tector, and money could not buy it ! It is
only a faded blue pennon ; the poorest fishing-
smack you see has a smarter one. But this
was carried by the Covenanters at Bothwell
Brig, and is their memorial.

And we are ever erecting memorials : tombs,
monuments, buildings, societies, stained win-

156

MEMORIALS.

157

dows, and whatever else we can devise.
It seems natural and right. The school-boy
carves his name on a tree or scratches it on a
rock, hoping some one may read it when he
is gone or after he is far away. The shep-
herd piles a cairn of stones on the high hill-
top ; the rich man builds a wing to a college,
and the new hall is named after him ; the
ship-owner calls his best and newest ship
after his favorite daughter ; and in every way
and always men seek and establish memorials
of themselves and others.

Now why should not God have his memo-
rial on the earth ? Watt, Fulton, and others
have theirs in the steam-engine, and Morse
in the telegraph. But this is only to the
civilized and the intelligent. To a red Indian
a steam vessel is only a fire-canoe, and the
telegraph a speaking-iron ; he knows nothing
of the intellects that brought them to perfec-
tion. So God has his memorials every-where.
The earth as well as the heavens is full of his
glory; but it is not observed by men as a

& .

158

T//E PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

race. Their eyes are shut and their ears are
dull ; they neither see nor hear nor know
the ever-present God. But there is a memo-
rial that can be known : holy men and women ;
converted souls; born citizens of the heav-
enly Zion. These are God's epistles, " known
and read of all men."

War has been man's memorial. The san-
guinary and terrible Attila boasted that "the
grass never grew where his horse had set
his foot ; " and at this very day the Turkish
dominions, in their length and breadth, are a
memorial of man's destroying hatred. But

'*Nae nicht shall be in heaven, and nae desolatin^

sea,
And nae tyrant-hoofs shall trample i' the city o' the

free."

God's memorial is peace. Instead of hatred
shall be love, and kindness shall come
for selfishness : " Instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier
shall come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be

MEMORIALS.

159

to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting
sign that shall not be cut off" (Is. 55 : 13).

Away with despair ! The earth has been
getting better ever since Christ was preached.
Every day builds new trophies and memo-
rials of God. God's memorials — redeemed
souls on earth, holy men and women, peace,
happiness, truth, kindness, brotherhood — are
filling and encircling the world. At the
height of the Roman Empire some one was
dissuaded from provoking the emperor by the
argument. Where could he go to be beyond
his power } There was not a country where
the emperor could not reach him. So the
whole earth is the empire of God. The unbe-
liever is confronted with these memorials of
his power and grace at every step.

We can not do the works of God, ])ut we
can testify of him. We can not plant our-
selves, but we can give ourselves up to the
planting of his hand.

** He also serves, who only stands and waits,"

i6o

THE PRINT OF HIS SHOE.

says Milton, and he can be a memorial of
God on the earth who becomes by his own
consent, but not by his own power, a pleasant
and fruitful tree, however lowly, in the|
garden of God.

emorial of
►y his own
a pleasant
fy in the*