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■s6t#>t^ 
 
 
 A iCtiianlr of l^lur* 
 
^ l^iibtianli o( Blu( 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER BIBLE STUDIES 
 
 BY 
 
 J. HUDSON TAYXOB. 
 
 (A COMPAmOH VOLUME TO "ONION AND COMMUNION," 
 AND TO "separation AND SERVICE.") 
 
 Toronto, Canals 
 
 CHINA INLAND MISSION. 6« rHTiprw cT«x.r, 
 
 :xv£.i:« 
 
 T. 
 
6S5lfO 
 
 T3q 
 
 PRINTBD BV 
 
 WOODFALL AND KINOBR, LONG ACRB 
 
 LONDON 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 A Ribband of Blue . 
 
 Blessed Prosperity . 
 
 Blessed Adversity . 
 
 Coming to the King 
 
 A Full Reward 
 
 Under the Shepherd's Care 
 
 Self-Denial 
 
 All-Sufficiency. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 • 7 
 
 . 20 
 
 • 53 
 
 • n 
 
 . 88 
 . 98 
 . Ill 
 . 118 
 
S( J^mutia of Hint. 
 
 '^^E would draw the attention -»f 
 beloved friends to the instruc- 
 tive passage with which the fifteenth 
 chapter of Numbers closes ; and may 
 God, through our meditation on His 
 precious Word, make it yet more 
 precious and practical to each one of 
 us, for Christ our Redeemer's sake ! 
 The whole chapter is full of im- 
 portant teaching. It commences with 
 instructions concerning the burnt-offer- 
 ing, the sacrifice in performing a vow, 
 and the free-will offering. It was not 
 to be supposed that any one might 
 present his sacrifice to God according 
 to his own thought and plan. If it 
 
8 A Ribband of Blue, 
 
 were to be acceptable— a sweet savour 
 unto the LoRD—it must be an offering 
 in every respect such as God had ap- 
 pointed. We cannot become accept- 
 able to God in ways of our own devis- 
 ing; from beginning to end it must be, 
 " Not my will, but Thine, be done." 
 
 Then, from the seventeenth to the 
 twenty-first verse, the Lord claims a 
 first-fruits. The people of God were 
 not to eat their fill, consume all that 
 they cared to consume, and then give 
 to God somewhat of the remainder ; 
 but before they touched the bread of 
 the land, a heave-offering was to be 
 offered to the Lord ; and when the 
 requirement of God had been fully 
 met, then, and not till then, were they 
 at liberty to satisfy their own hunger 
 and supply their own wants. How 
 often we see the reverse of this in 
 daily life ! Not only are necessaries 
 
A Ribband of Blue, g 
 
 first supplied from the income, but 
 every fancied luxury is procured with- 
 out stint, before the question of the 
 consecration of substance to God is 
 really entertained. 
 
 Next follow the directions concern- 
 ing errors from heedlessness and igno- 
 rance. The people were not to 
 imagine that sin was not sinful if it 
 were unconsciously committed. Man's 
 knowledge and consciousness do not 
 make wrong right or right wrong. The 
 will of God was revealed and ougk^ 
 to have been known : not to know that 
 will was in itself sinful ; and not to do 
 that will, whether consciously or un- 
 consciously, was sin^sin that could 
 only be put away by atoning sacrifice. 
 God dealt in much mercy and grace 
 with those who committed sins of 
 ignorance; though, when th^sm h«oo^p 
 known and recognised, confession and 
 
10 A Ribband of Blue, 
 
 sacrifice were immediately needful. 
 But, thank God ! the sacrifice was 
 ordained, and the sin could be put 
 away. 
 
 It was not bO with the presumptuous 
 sin. No sacrifice was appointed for a 
 man, whether born in the land or a 
 stranger, who reproached the Lord by 
 pre^mptuous sin. Of that man it was 
 said, "that soul shall utterly be cut 
 off; his iniquity shall be upon him." 
 
 This distinction is very important to 
 make. We are not to think that our 
 holiest service is free from sin, or can 
 be accepted save through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. We are not to suppose that 
 sins of omission, any more than sins 
 of commission, are looked lightly upon 
 by God : sins of forgetfulness and 
 heedlessness or ignorance are more 
 than frailties— are real sins, needing 
 atoning sacrifice. God deals very 
 
A Ribband of Blue, 1 1 
 
 gently and graciously with us in these 
 
 matters; when transgression or iniquity 
 
 is brought home to the conscience, " if 
 
 we confess our sins, He is faithful and 
 
 just to forgive us our sins, and to 
 
 cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 
 
 Even when walking in the light, " as 
 
 He is in the light," we are not beyond 
 
 the need of atonement. Though our 
 
 fellowship with God be unbroken by any 
 
 conscious transgression, it continues 
 
 unbroken only because "the blood of 
 
 Jesus Christ His Son is cleansing us 
 
 from all sin." 
 
 The man, however, who would pre- 
 sume on God's forgiveness, and despise 
 God's holiness and His claim upon His 
 people, by doing deliberately the thing 
 that he knows to be contrary to God's 
 will, that man will find spiritual dearth 
 and spiritual death inevitably follow. 
 His communion with God is brought 
 
12 
 
 A Ribband of Blue. 
 
 to an end, and it is hard to say how 
 far Satan may not be permitted to 
 carry such a backsh'der in heart and 
 hfe. It IS awfully possible not merely 
 to "grieve " and to "resist," but even 
 to "quench " the Spirit of God. 
 
 We have a solemn example of pre- 
 sumptuous sin in the case of the man 
 found gathering sticks on the Sabbath 
 day. He was not— he could not be 
 Ignorant of God's ordinance concern- 
 ing the Sabbath. The gathering of 
 sticks was not to meet a necessity; his 
 case was not parallel with that of the 
 poor man who perhaps has received 
 his wages late on Saturday night, and 
 has had no opportunity of purchasing 
 food in time to prepare it for the day 
 of rest. To the Israelite, the double 
 supply of manna was given on the 
 morning of the day before the Sabbath; 
 and as the uncooked manna would not 
 
A Ribband of Blue. 13 
 
 keep, it was necessary that early in that 
 day .t should be prepared for food. 
 He had, therefore, no need of the sticks 
 to cook h.s Sabbath's dinner. And 
 
 would kindle a fire from choice or 
 preference. His object in gathering 
 
 the sticks was simply to show, openly 
 and pubhcly, that he despised God! 
 
 rtJn 1 '°. °'''^"'' ■''^'y °'dinance 
 death^' ' ""^ *^' ■"*" P"' t° 
 
 But occasion was taken in connec- 
 tion with this judgment to introduce 
 the weanng of the 
 
 "ribband op blue." 
 
 « ^^A ^""^^ ^^"^ '" H'^ P^op'e wear 
 a badge. Throughout their generations 
 they were to «aake them Hngg^ ;„ ^^^ 
 
 borders of their garments, and top": 
 upon the fringe of the border a rib-" 
 
14 A Ribband of Blue. 
 
 band of blue, that they might look 
 upon it and remember all the com- 
 mandments of the Lord, and do them, 
 and might be a holy people, holy unto 
 their God, who brought them out of 
 the land of Egypt, to be their God. 
 
 Blue is the colour of heaven. The 
 beautiful waters of the jea reflect it, 
 and» are as blue as the cloudless sky! 
 When the clouds come between, then, 
 and then only, is the deep blue lost! 
 But it is the will of God that there 
 should never be a cloud between His 
 people and Himself; and that, as 
 the Israelite of old, wherever he went, 
 carried the ribband of blue, so His 
 people to-day should manifest a 
 heavenly spirit and temper wherever 
 they go ; and should, like Moses, in 
 their very countenances bear witness 
 to the glory and beauty of the God 
 whom they love and serve. 
 
A Ribband of Blue, 15 
 
 How interesting it must have been 
 to see that ribband of blue carried by 
 the farmer into the field, by the mer- 
 chant to his place of business, by the 
 maid-servant into the innermost parts 
 of the dwelling, when performing her 
 daily duties. Is it less important that 
 the Christian of to-day, called to be a 
 witness for Christ, should be mani- 
 festly characterised by His spirit? 
 Should we not all be "imitators of God 
 as dear children," and « walk in love' 
 as Christ also hath loved us, and hath 
 given Himself for us"? And should 
 not this spirit of GoD-likeness be carried 
 into the smallest details of Xxi^^ and 
 not be merely reserved for specraf ' 
 occasions ? If we understand aright 
 the meaning of our Saviour's direction, 
 " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is per- 
 feet," it teaches this great truth. 
 
16 
 
 ^ Ribband of Blue, 
 
 ^Ve are to h^ fh^ i 
 
 and the light of If Ti' °^ "'^ ^«h 
 
 0"e of thet 3/0^,7''' "°''°'''^^k 
 not to give ^v 5 ^^n'^andments, 
 
 'hethoSx;rrtr'°'°'^'"^ 
 
 P/omises,ori„co/vSio„r'"°'"^'' 
 than yea or nay Th? ° "^^ """'^ 
 
 '--ottobTinduSr^l.r'^- 
 ness of sDin> ,-o * 1- ' ^ yielding. 
 
 "onheSgirttrr'"'''^'^''"^ 
 
 despitefullyusrusattf"."^'^^""^ 
 
 Wed.an/p^ydTtP''"'"'"'^ 
 the direction "Z 1 ^^" ''"'"es 
 
 evenasyoXtrrSr^'' 
 's perfect." In fho r^.^^'^^" heaven 
 
 f««^«^e,asi*Vr,^t"^of 
 
 trials and nprc«^. *• ^ serious 
 
 «t«a persecutions to wh,Vh *u 
 Christian is exposed, he is to k ^ 
 
 Father ^^'"'"^ "^ ^^*^ heavenly 
 
A Ribband of Blue. 17 
 relative. A needle may be a perfect 
 needle, m evc-y respect adapted for the 
 work for which it was made. It is not 
 however, a microscopic object ; unde; 
 magmfymg power it becomes a rough 
 
 honeycombed poker, with a ragged hoi; 
 •n the place of the eye. But it was 
 not made to be a microscopic object ; 
 and, bemg adapted to the purpose for 
 
 wh,ch .t was made, it may properly be 
 considered a perfect needle. So we 
 are not called to be perfect angels, or 
 m any respect Divine, but we are called 
 to be perfect Christians, performing the 
 privileged duties that as such devolve 
 upon us. 
 
 Our ^i^imKxcaV^ according to ffis 
 perfection the least little thing that He 
 makes The tiniest fly, the smallest 
 animalcule, the dust of a butterfl!^ 
 
 wmg, however hiehlv vm, n,,., , ., 
 
 them, are seen to be absolutely perfect 
 
 C 
 
1 8 A Ribband of Blue, 
 
 Should not the little things of our daily 
 life be as relatively perfect in the case 
 of each Christian as the lesser creations 
 of God are absolutely perfect ? Ought 
 we not to glorify God in the formation 
 of each letter that we write, and as 
 Christians to write a more legible 
 hand than unconverted people can be 
 C3i ;)ected to do? Ought we not to 
 he more thorough in our service, 
 not simply doing well that which 
 will be seen and noticed, but as our 
 Father makes many a flower to 
 bloom unseen in the lonely desert, 
 so to do all that we can do, as under 
 His eye, though no other eye ever take 
 note of it ? 
 
 It is our privilege to take our rest 
 and recreation for the purpose of pleas- 
 ing Him ; to lay aside our garments at 
 night neatly (for He is in the room, 
 and watches c -jr us while we sleep). 
 
 
«»• 
 
 "'iT;' 
 
 A Ribband of Blue, 19 
 
 to wash, to dr^s,;, to smooth the hair, 
 with His eye in view; and, in short, in all 
 thaf we are and in all that we do to use 
 the iull measure of ability which God 
 has given us to the glory of His holy 
 Name ? Were we always so to live 
 how beautiful Christian life would be- 
 come ! how much more worthy a wit- 
 ness we should bear to the world of 
 Him whose witnesses we are ! May 
 the life we are living be characterised 
 by that growth in grace which will 
 glorify God ; and may tell-tale faces, 
 and glad hearts, and loving service be 
 to each one of us as "a ribband of blue » 
 reflecting the very hue of heaven, and 
 reminding ourselves and one another 
 of our privilege to « remember all the 
 coiamandments of the Lord, and do 
 them." 
 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 S i 
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE FIRST PSALM. 
 INTRODUerORY. 
 
 'pHERE is a prosperity which is not 
 blessed ; it comes not from above 
 but from beneath, and it leads away 
 from, not towards heaven. This pros- 
 perity of the wicked is often a sore 
 perplexity to the ser\'ants of God; 
 they need to be reminded of the 
 exhortation, " Fret not thyself because 
 of him who prospereth in his way, 
 because of the man who bringeth 
 wicked devices to pass." Many be- 
 sides the Psalmist have been envious 
 a^ viiv ivwusii Tviicxi seeing tne pros- 
 
J 
 
 i 
 
 Blessed Prosperity, 21 
 
 perity of the wicked, and have been 
 tempted to ask, « Is there knowledge 
 in the Most High?" While Satan 
 remains the god of this world, and 
 has it in his power to prosper his 
 votaries, this source of perplexity will 
 always continue to those who do not 
 enter into the sanctuary and consider 
 the latter end of the worldling. 
 
 Nor is it the godless only who are 
 tempted by the offer of a prosperity 
 which comes from beneath. Our 
 Saviour Himself was tempted by the 
 arch-enemy in this way. Christ was 
 told that all that He desired to accom- 
 phsh for the kingdoms of this world 
 might be effected by an easier path 
 than the cross ~a little compromise 
 with him who held the power and was 
 able to bestow the kingdoms, and all 
 should be His own tk^ 1,,;^^ ...:i_^ 
 
 of the seducer were instantly rejected 
 
22 Blessed Prosperity. 
 
 by our Lord ; not so ineffective are 
 such wiles to many of His people ; a 
 little policy rather than the course for 
 which conscience pleads ; a little want 
 of integrity in business dealings; a 
 little compromise with the ways of the 
 world, followed by a prosperity which 
 brjngs no blessing— these prove often 
 that the enemy's arts are still the 
 same. 
 
 But, thank God! there is a true 
 prosperity which comes from Him and 
 leads towards Him. It is not only 
 consistent with perfect integrity and 
 uncompromising holiness of heart 
 and life, but it cannot be attained with- 
 out them, and its enjoyment tends to 
 deepen them. This divine prosperity 
 is God's purpose for every believer, in 
 all that he undertakes ; in things tem- 
 poral and in things spiritual, in all the 
 relations and affairs of this life, as well 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 23 
 
 as in all work for Christ and for 
 eternity, it is God's will for each child 
 of His that " whatsoever he doeth shall 
 prosper y 
 
 Yet many of His children evidently do 
 not enjoy this uniform blessing; some 
 nnd failure rather than success the rule 
 of their life : while others, sometimes 
 prospered and sometimes discouraged, 
 live lives of uncertainty, in which 
 anxiety and even fear are not infre- 
 quent. Shall we not each one at the 
 outset ask. How is it with me ? Is 
 this blessed prosperity my experience ? 
 Am I so led by the Spirit in my 
 doings, and so prospered by God in 
 their issues, that as His witness I can 
 bear testimony to His faithfulness to 
 this promise ? If it be not so with me, 
 what is the reason ? Which of the 
 necessary conditions have I failed to 
 fulfil? May our meditations on the 
 
I 
 
 24 Blessed Prosperity. 
 
 •itst Psalm make these conditions more 
 Clear to our minds, and may faith be 
 enabled to claim definitely all that is 
 included in this wonderful promise ! 
 
 THE NEGATIVE CONDITIONS OP 
 BLESSING. 
 
 ..y'^"ff' "" '"'" "^ """l^'i m in the 
 "unset of the ungodly." ""nine 
 
 More literally, O the blessings, the 
 manifold happinesses of the man wiiose 
 character is described in the first and 
 second verses of this Psalm ! he is 
 happy in what he escapes or avoids, 
 and happy and prospered in what he 
 undertakes. 
 
 .1, Jk^ ^'''l '^'^^f^'^'cristic given us is 
 that he walks not in the counsel of the 
 ungodly, the wicked. Notice, it does 
 not merely say that he walks not in 
 wicked counsel : a man of God clearly 
 

 Blessed Prosperity, 25 
 
 would not do this ; but what is said is 
 that he " walketh not in the counsel 
 of the wicked." Now the wicked have 
 often much worldly wisdom, and be- 
 come noted for their prosperity and 
 their prudence, but the child of God 
 should always be on his guard against 
 their counsel ; however good it may 
 appear, it is full of danger. 
 
 One of the principal characteristics 
 of the wicked is that God is not in all 
 his thoughts ; he sees everything from 
 the standpoint of self, or, at the highest, 
 from the standpoint of humanity. His 
 maxim, "Take care of number one" 
 would be very good if it were meant 
 that God is first, and should always be 
 put first ; but he means it not so : self 
 and not God is number one to the un- 
 godly. The wicked will often counsel 
 ♦'^ honesty, not on the gro! 
 
 «.«i.ixi mat 
 
 honesty is pleasing to God, but that 
 
 it 
 
26 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 is the best policy ; if in any particu- 
 lar business transaction a more profit- 
 able policy appears quite safe, those 
 who have simply been honesc because 
 it pays best, will be very apt to cease 
 to be so. 
 
 The child of God has no need of the 
 counsel of the ungodly ; if he love and 
 study God's Word it will make him 
 wiser than all such counsellors. If he 
 seek for and observe all the counsel of 
 God, through the guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit, he will not walk in dark- 
 ness even as to worldly things. The 
 directions of God's Word may often 
 seem strange and impolitic, but in the 
 measure in which he has faith to obey 
 the directions he finds in the Scripture, 
 turning not to the right hand nor to 
 the left, will he make his way prosper- 
 ous, will he find good success. 
 The history of the early Friends 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 27 
 
 in America, who would not take a 
 weapon to protect themselves against 
 the savage Indian tribes, shows how 
 safe it is to follow the Word of God 
 and not to resist evil. And their later 
 experience in the recent Civil War, in 
 which no one of them lost his life, 
 though exposed to the greatest dangers 
 and hardships because they would not 
 fight, further confirms the wisdom as 
 well as blessedness of literally obeying 
 the Scripture. The eyes of the Lord 
 still run to and fro throughout the 
 whole earth to show Himself strong in 
 behalf of those who put their trust in 
 Him before the sons of men. The 
 enlightened believer has so much 
 better co- nsel that he no more needs 
 than condescends to accept the counsel 
 of the ungodly. 
 
 "(J 
 
 TTIOC UHi« 
 
 And. mnrp f-lior* fViio fK/^ 
 
 j ---»^«,«. ^»*t.%4a Li^Xi^i bil^ 
 
 of God will carefully ascertain the 
 
2S Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 standpoint of a fellow-believer before 
 he will value his counsel ; for he learns 
 from Scripture and experience that 
 Satan too frequently makes handles of 
 the people of God, as, for instance, in 
 Peter's case. Little did the astonished 
 Peter know whence his exhortation to 
 the Lord to pity Himself came ; " Get 
 thee behind me, Satan," showed that 
 our Lord had traced this counsel, 
 which did not seek first the Kingdom 
 of God, to its true source. Alas, the 
 counsel of worldly-minded Christians 
 does far more harm than that of the 
 openly wicked. Whenever the sup- 
 posed interests of self, or family, or 
 country, or even of church or mission 
 come first, we may be quite sure of the 
 true source of that counsel; it is at 
 least earthly or sensual, if not devilish. 
 
 Further, the truly blessed man— 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 29 
 
 Standeth not in the way of sinnen. 
 
 Birds of a feather flock together; 
 the way of a sinner no more suits a 
 true believer than the way of the 
 believer suits the sinner. As a wit- 
 ness for his Master in the hope of 
 saving the lost, he may go to them ; 
 but he will not, like Lot, pitch his tent 
 towards Sodom ; lest he be ensnared 
 as Lot was, who only escaped himself, 
 losing all those he loved best, and all 
 his possessions. Ah, how many parents 
 who have fluttered moth-like near the 
 flame, have seen their children destroyed 
 by it, while they themselves have 
 not escaped unscathed ! How many 
 churches and Christian institutions, in 
 the attempt to attract the unconverted 
 by worldly inducements or amuse- 
 ments, have themselves forfeited the 
 blessing of Gnn • c\r\i\ Viatm c^ ?^^f 
 
 spiritual power, that those whom they 
 

 30 Blessed Prosperity. 
 
 have thus attracted have been nothing 
 benefited ! Instead of seeing the 
 dead quickened, a state of torpor and 
 death has crept over themselves. 
 
 There is no need of, nor room for, 
 any other attraction than that which 
 Christ Himself gave, when He said, 
 "I, if I be lifted up . . . will draw all 
 men unto Me." Our Master was ever 
 " separate from sinners," and the Holy 
 Spirit speaks unmistakeably in 2 Cor. 
 vi. : "What fellowship hath righteous- 
 ness with unrighteousness? and what 
 communion hath light with darkness ? 
 ... for ye are the temple of the living 
 God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them ; and I will be 
 their God, and they shall be my 
 people. Wherefore come out from 
 among them, and be ye separate . . . 
 and touch not the unclean thing; and I 
 will receive you, and will be a Father 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 31 
 
 unto you, and ye shall be my sons 
 and daughters, saith the Lord 
 Almighty." 
 
 '* A^<?r sitteth in the seat of the scornful:^ 
 
 The seat of the scornful is one of 
 the special dangers of this age. Pride, 
 presumption, and scorn are closely 
 linked together, and are far indeed 
 from the mind which was in Christ 
 Jesus. This spirit often shows itself 
 in the present day in the form of 
 irreverent criticism. Those who are 
 spiritually least qualified for it are to 
 be found sitting in the seat of judg- 
 ment, rather than taking the place of 
 the inquirer and the learner. The 
 Bereans of old did not scornfully reject 
 the, to them, strange teachings of the 
 Apostle Paul, but searched the Scrip- 
 lures daily to see whether these things 
 
 were 550- Nnw foncnnth tViA Q^rir*. 
 
 tures themselves are called in question, 
 
32 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 and the very foundations of Christian 
 faith are abandoned by men who would 
 fain be looked upon as the apostles of 
 modern thought. May God preserve 
 His people from abandoning the faith 
 once for all delivered to the saints, for 
 the baseless ephemeral fancies of the 
 present day ! 
 
 THE POSITIVE CONDITIONS OF 
 BLESSING. 
 
 We have considered the things which 
 are avoided by the truly blessed man. 
 O, the miseries and the losses of those 
 who fail to avoid them ! We have now 
 to dwell upon the special characteristics 
 of the man of God, those which are at 
 once the source of his strength and his 
 shield of protection. 
 
 " His delight is in the law of the LORD ; 
 *'^«^ ?«.&■« law doth he meditate day and 
 ni^ht," 
 
I^lessed Prospetity. 
 
 The unregenerate cannot delight in 
 the Law of the Lord. They may be 
 very religious, and may read the Bible 
 as one of their religious duties. Thev 
 may admire much that is in the Bible 
 
 andbeloudinitspraise-forasamere 
 book ,t IS the most wonderful in the 
 world. Nay, they may go much further 
 than this; and may imagine, as did 
 i>aui the persecutor, that their life is 
 ordered by its teachings, while still 
 hey are far from God. But when 
 fl^K^"?^ converted, they discover 
 ha they have been blind; among the 
 all thmgs that become new, they 
 find that they have got a new Bible • 
 and as new-born babes they desire the 
 unadulterated milk of the Word tlmt 
 they may grow thereby. Well is it 
 
 nnf fk"'"^ -— ^ui uoD, and have 
 not their taste corrupted, and their 
 
 D 
 
34 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 spiritual constitution destroyed, by 
 feeding on the imaginations of men 
 rather than on the verities of God. 
 
 It is not difficult to discover what a 
 man delights in. " Out of the abund- 
 ance of the heart the mouth speaketh." 
 The mother delights to speak of her 
 b^be, the politician loves to talk of 
 politics, the scientific man of his 
 favourite science, and the athlete of his 
 sport. In the same way the earnest, 
 happy Christian manifests his delight 
 in the Word of God ; it is his food and 
 comfort ; it is his study and his guide ; 
 and as the Holy Spirit throws fresh 
 light on its precious truths he finds in 
 it a joy and pleasure beyond compare. 
 Naturally and spontaneously he will 
 often speak of that which is so precious 
 to his heart. 
 
 By regeneration the believer, having 
 become the child of God, finds new 
 
)) 
 
 Blessed Prosperity, 35 
 
 interest and instruction in all the works 
 of God. His Father designed and 
 created them, upholds and uses them, 
 and for His glory they exist. But this 
 is peculiarly true of the Word of God. 
 Possessing the mind of Christ, in- 
 structed by the Spirit of Christ, he 
 finds in every part of God's Word 
 testimony to the person and work of 
 his adorable Master and Friend. 
 The Bible in a thousand ways endears 
 itself to him, while unfolding the mind 
 and ways of God, His past dealings 
 with His people, and His wonderful 
 revelations of the future. 
 
 While thus studying God's Word the 
 believer becomes conscious of a new 
 source of delight; not only is that 
 which is revealed precious, but the 
 beauty and perfection of the revelation 
 itself grows upon him. He has now no 
 need of external evidence to prove its 
 
 D 2 
 
3^ Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 inspiration; it everywhere bears the 
 impress of Divinity. And as the 
 microscope which reveals the coarse- 
 ness and blemishes of the works of 
 man only shows more fully the perfect- 
 ness of God's works, and brings to 
 light new and unimagined beauties, so 
 it is with the Word of God when 
 closely scanned. 
 
 In what remarkable contrast does 
 this Book stand to the works of men ! 
 The science of yesterday is worthless 
 to-day ; but history and the discoveries 
 of our own times only confirm the 
 reliability of these ancient sacred 
 records. The stronger our faith in the 
 plenary, verbal inspiration of God's 
 Holy Word, the more fully we make it 
 our guide, and the more implicitly we 
 follow its teachings, the deeper will be 
 our peace and the more fruitful our 
 service. " Great peace have they which 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 3^ 
 
 love Thy law : and nothing shall offend 
 them." Becoming more and more 
 convinced of the divine wisdom of the 
 directions and commands of Scripture, 
 and of the reliability of the promises' 
 the life of the believer will become 
 increasingly one of obedience and 
 trust; and thus he will prove for himself 
 how good, acceptable, and perfect is 
 the will of God, and that Bible which 
 reveals it. 
 
 The words, " the Law of the Lord," 
 whicii we understand to mean the whole 
 Word of God, are very suggestive. 
 They indicate that the Bible is intended 
 to teach us what God would have us 
 to do; that we should not merely seek 
 for the promises, and try to get all we 
 can from God ; but should much more 
 earnestly desire to know what He 
 wants us to be and to do fnr FTi'm t«. 
 is recorded of Ezra, that he prepared 
 
38 Blessed Prosperity. 
 
 his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, 
 in order that he might do it, and teach 
 in Israel statutes and judgments. The 
 result was that the hand of his God 
 was upon him for good, the desires of 
 his heart were largely granted, and he 
 became the channel of blessing to his 
 whole people. Every one who searches 
 the Scriptures in the same spirit will 
 receive ?».nd communicate the blessing 
 of God : he will find in it the guidance 
 he needs for his own service, and oft- 
 tiiixes a word in season for those with 
 whom he is associated 
 
 But not only will the Bible become 
 the Law of the Lord to him as teach- 
 ing and illustrating what God would 
 have him to be and to do, but still 
 more as revealing what God Himself 
 is and does. As the law of gravitation 
 gives us to know how a power, on 
 which we may ever depend, will act 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 39 
 
 under given circumstances, so the 
 Law of the Lord gives us to know 
 Him, and the principles of His govern- 
 ment, on which we may rely with 
 implicit confidence. 
 
 The man of God will also delight to 
 trace God in the Word as the great 
 Worker, and rejoice in the privilege of 
 being a fellow-worker with Him— a 
 glad, voluntary agent in doing the will 
 of God, yet rejo'cing in the grace that 
 has made him willing, and in the 
 mighty, divine power that works 
 through him. The Bible will also teach 
 him to view himself as but an atom, as 
 it were, in God*s great universe ; and 
 to see God's great work as a magnifi- 
 cent whole, carried on by ten thousand 
 agencies ; carried on through all spheres, 
 in all time, and without possibility of 
 ultimate failure — a glorious manifesta- 
 tion of the perfections of the great 
 
-^Wx. 
 
 40 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 Worker ! He himself, and a thousand 
 more of his fellow-servants, may pass 
 away ; but this thought will not paralyse 
 his efforts, for he knows that whatever 
 has been wrought in God will abide, 
 and that whatever is incomplete when 
 his work is done the great Worker will 
 in His own time and way bring to 
 completion. 
 
 He does not expect to understand 
 all about the grand work in which he 
 is privileged to take a blessed but 
 infinitesimal part; he can afford to 
 await its completion, and can already 
 by faith rejoice in the certainty that 
 the whole will be found in every 
 respect worthy of the great Designer 
 and Executor. Well may his delight 
 be in the Law of the Lord, and 
 well may he meditate in it day and 
 night. 
 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 41 
 
 THE OUTCOME IN BLESSING. 
 
 We next proceed to notice the 
 remarkable promises in the third 
 verse of this Psalm— one of the most 
 remarkable and inclusive contained 
 in the Scriptures : — 
 
 *' Aiid he shall be like a tree planted by the 
 
 rivers of water ^ 
 " That bringeth forth hisfrtni in his season; 
 ** Jlis leaf also shall not wither ; 
 ^^ And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper,^* 
 
 If we could offer to the ungodly a 
 worldly plan which would ensure their 
 prospering in all that they undertake, 
 how eagerly they would embrace it! 
 And yet when God Himself reveals an 
 effectual plan to His people how few 
 avail themselves of it ! Many fail on 
 the negative side aid do not come 
 clearly out from the world ; many fail 
 on the positive side and allow other 
 
42 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 duties or indulgences to take the time 
 that should be given to reading and 
 meditation on God's Word. To some 
 it is not at all easy to secure time for 
 the morning watch, but nothing can 
 make up for the loss of it. But u 
 there not yet a third class of Christians 
 whose failure lies largely in their not 
 embracing the promise and claiming it 
 by faith ? In each of these three ways 
 failure may come in and covenant 
 blessings may be lost. 
 
 Let us now consider what are the 
 blessings, the manifold happinesses 
 which faith is to claim when the con- 
 ditions are fulfilled. 
 
 I. Stability. — He shall be like a tree 
 (not a mere annual plant), of steady 
 progressive growth and increasing fruit- 
 fulness. A tree planted, and always 
 to be found in its place, not blown 
 about, the sport of circumstances. 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 43 
 
 The flowers may bloom and pass away, 
 but the tree abides. 
 
 II. Independent Supplies. — Planted 
 by the rivers of water. The ordinary 
 supplies of rain and dew may fail : his 
 deep and hidden supplies cannot. He 
 shall not be careful in the year of 
 drought, and in the days of famine he 
 shall be satisfied. His supply is the 
 living water — the Spirit of God— the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and for ever : 
 hence he depends on no intermitting 
 spring. 
 
 IIx. Seasonable Fruitfulness. — The 
 careful student of Scripture will notice 
 the parallelism between the teaching 
 of the First Psalm and that of our 
 Lord in the Gospel of John, where in 
 the sixth chapter we are taught that he 
 who feeds on Christ abides in Him, 
 
 and in thf» fiffppnfVi tViaf V»a wVir* oKirloq 
 
 brings forth much fruit. We feed 
 

 44 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 upon Christ the incarnate Word 
 through the written Word. So in this 
 Psalm he who dehghts in the Law of the 
 Lord, and meditates upon it day and 
 night, brings forth his fruit in his season. 
 There is something very beautiful in 
 this. A word spoken in season how 
 good it is; how even a seasonable look 
 will encourage or restrain, reprove or 
 comfort! The promise reminds one 
 of those in John about the living water 
 thirsty ones drink, and are not only 
 refreshed, but become channels through 
 which rivers of living water are always 
 flowing, so that other thirsty ones in 
 their hour of need may find season- 
 able refreshment. But the figure in 
 the Psalm is not that of water flowing 
 through us as through a channel ; but 
 that of fruit, the very outcome of our 
 
 own transformed life— a life of union 
 ...^1.1. /"*-- ^^ 
 
Blessed Prosperity, 45 
 
 It is so gracious of our God not to 
 work through us in a mere mechanical 
 way, but to make us branches of the 
 True Vine, the very organs by which 
 Its fruit is produced. We are not, 
 therefore, independent workers, for 
 there is a fundamental difference 
 between fruit and work. Work is the 
 outcome of effort; fruit, of life. A 
 bad man may do good work, but a 
 bad tree cannot bear good fruit. The 
 result of work is not reproductive, but 
 fruit has its seed in itself. The work- 
 man has to seek his material and his 
 tools, and often to set himself with 
 painful perseverance to his task. The 
 fruit of the Vine is the glad, free, 
 spontaneous outcome of the life within; 
 and it forms and grows and ripens in 
 its proper season. 
 
 And what is th^ fmit «rl,l'/^u tu^ 
 believer should bear ? May it not be 
 
46 Blessed Prosperity, 
 
 
 expressed by one word 
 It is interesting to 
 
 Christliness 
 notice tha 
 
 ? 
 
 the 
 
 Scripture does not speak of the fruits 
 of the Spirit, in the plural, as though 
 we might take our choice among the 
 graces named, but of the fruity in the 
 singular, which is a rich cluster com- 
 posed of love, joy, peace, longsuffer- 
 ing, etc; How blessed to bring forth 
 such fruit in its season ! 
 
 IV. Continuous Vigour. — ** His leaf 
 also shall not wither." In our own 
 climate many trees are able to maintain 
 their life through the winter, but unable 
 to retain their leaves. The hardy ever- 
 green, however, not only lives, but 
 manifests its life, and all the more 
 conspicuously because of the naked 
 branches around. The life within is 
 too strong to fear the shortened day, 
 the cold blast, or the falling snow. So 
 with the man of God whose life is 
 
Blessed Prosperity. 47 
 
 maintained by hidden communion 
 through the Word; adversity only 
 brings out the strength and the reality 
 of the life within. 
 
 The leaf of the tree is no mere 
 adornment. If the root suggests to us 
 receptive power in that it draws from 
 the soil the stimulating sap, without 
 which life could not be maintained, 
 the leaves no less remind us of the 
 grace of giving, and of purifying. They 
 impart to the atmosphere a grateful 
 moisture; they provide for tl aveiler 
 a refreshing shade, and they purify the 
 air poisoned by the breathings of 
 animal life. 
 
 Well, too, is the tree repaid for all 
 that it gives out through its leaves. 
 The thin stimulating sap that comes 
 from the root, which could not of itself 
 build up the tree, thickens in giving 
 out its moisture, and through the 
 
48 Blessed Prosperity > 
 
 leaves possesses itself of carbon from 
 the atmosphere. Thus enriched, the 
 sap goes back thropgh the tree, build- 
 ing it up until the tiniest rootlets are 
 as much nourished by the leaves as 
 the latter are fed by the roots. Keep 
 a tree despoiled of its leaves sufficiently 
 long and it will surely die. So unless 
 the believer is giving as well as re- 
 ceiving, purifying by his life and in- 
 fluence, he cannot grow nor properly 
 maintain his own vitality. But he 
 who delights in the Law of the Lord, 
 and meditates in it day and night— his 
 leaf shall not wither. 
 
 V. Uniform Prosperity.—'' "Whditso- 
 ever he doeth shall prosper." Could 
 any promise go beyond this? It is 
 the privilege of a child of God to see 
 the hand of God in all his circum- 
 stances and surroundings, and to serve 
 God in all his avocations and duties. 
 
Blessed Prosperity. 49 
 
 Whether he eat or drink, work or rest, 
 speak or be silent ; in all his occupa- 
 tions, spiritual, domestic, or secular, 
 he is alike the servant of God. No- 
 thing lawful to him is too small to 
 afford an opportunity of glorifying 
 God; duties in themselves trivial or 
 wearisome become exalted and glorified 
 when the believer recognises his power 
 through them to gladden and satisfy 
 the loving heart of his ever-observant 
 Master. And he who in all things 
 recognises himself as the servant of 
 God may count on a sufficiency from 
 God for all manner of need, and look 
 with confident expectation to God to 
 really prosper him in whatever he 
 does. 
 
 But this prosperity will not always 
 be apparent, except to the eye of faith. 
 
 When Chorazin anH TliafV.or.;j« : x. j 
 
 our Lord's message, it needed the eye 
 
 E 
 
I 
 
 50 Blessed Prosperity. 
 
 of faith to rejoice in spirit and say, 
 " Even so, Father ; for so it seemed 
 good in Thy sight." Doubtless the 
 legions of hell rejoiced when they saw 
 the Lord of Glory nailed to the 
 accursed tree ; yet ive know that never 
 vras our blessed Lord more prospered 
 than when, as our High Priest, He 
 offered Himself as our atoning sacri- 
 fice, and bore our sins in His own 
 body on the tree. As then, so now, 
 the path of real prosperity will often 
 lie through deepest suffering ; followers 
 of Christ may well be content with 
 the path which He trod. 
 
 But though this prosperity may not 
 always be immediately apparent, it will 
 always be real, and should always be 
 claimed by faith. The minister in his 
 church, the missionary among the 
 heathen, the merchant at his desk, the 
 mother in her home, the workman in 
 
Blessed Prosperity. 5 1 
 
 his labour, each may alike claim it. 
 Not in vain is it written, " Whatsoever 
 he doeth shall prosper." 
 
 VI. Finally, let us notice that these 
 promises are all in the indicative 
 mood, and, provided the conditions 
 are fulfilled, are absolute. There is 
 no "may be" about them. And 
 further, they a- ade to individual 
 believers. If oiher believers fail, he 
 who accepts them will not ; the word 
 is, " Whatsoever he doeth shall 
 prosper." 
 
 THE CONTRAST. 
 *' The ungodly are not so.'^ 
 
 It is not necessary to dwell at any 
 length upon the contrast. The un- 
 godly cannot enjoy the happinesses of 
 the child of God, for they cannot 
 carrv out the conditions Thmr ,-,«ifK^.. 
 can, nor desire to, avoid the counsel, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Blessed P? -asperity, 
 
 the society, or the ways of their own 
 fellows; and they lack that spiritual 
 insight which is essential to delighting 
 in God's Word. Instead of being full 
 of life, like the tender grain, they 
 become hard and dry ; and the same 
 sun that ripens the one prepares the 
 other for destruction. Instead of being 
 "planted," the wind drives them away; 
 and He who delights in the way of 
 His people, causes the way of the un- 
 godly to perish. 
 
 
S3 
 
 I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 JN our meditations on the First 
 Psalm we have dwelt on " Blessed 
 Prosperity." But all God's dealings 
 are full of blessing : He is good, and 
 doeth good; good only, and con- 
 tinually. The believer who has taken 
 the Lord as his Shepherd, can 
 assuredly say in the words of the 
 twenty-third Psalm, "Surely goodness 
 and mercy shall follow me all the days 
 of my life: and I will dwell in the 
 house of the Lord for ever;" or, 
 taking the marginal reading of the 
 Rerised Version, -'• Only goodness and 
 mercy shall follow me." Hence, we 
 
54 Blessed Adversity. 
 
 may be sure that days of adversity are 
 still days of prosperity also, and are 
 full of blessing. 
 
 The believer does not need to wait 
 until he sees the reason of God's 
 afflic'ive dealings with him ere he is 
 satisfied; he knoivs that all things 
 work together for good to them that 
 love God ; that all God's dealings are 
 those of a loving Father, who only 
 permits that which for the time being 
 is grievous, in order to accomplish 
 results that cannot be achieved in any 
 less painful way. The wise and trust- 
 ful child of God rejoices in tribulation, 
 "knowing that tribulation worketh 
 patience," experience, hope—a hope 
 that " maketh not ashamed ; because 
 the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost which is 
 given unto us.'* 
 
 The history of Job is full of instruc- 
 
Blessed Adversity, 55 
 
 tion, and should teach us many 
 lessons of deep interest and great 
 profit. The veil is taken away from 
 the unseen world, and we learn much 
 of the power of our great adversary ; 
 but also of his powerlessness apart 
 from the permission of God our 
 Father. 
 
 god's testimony and challenge. 
 
 " The LORD gave, and the LORD hath 
 taken avmy ; blessed be the Name of the 
 lord: -^oh i. 21. 
 
 In the 8th verse of the ist chapter^ 
 God Himself bears testimony to His 
 servant : " that there is none like him 
 in the earth, a perfect and an upright 
 man, one that feareth God, and 
 escheweth evil " ; and in the 2nd 
 chapter and 3rd verse. He repeats the 
 same testimony, adding: "still he 
 holdeth f^ft his integrity, although 
 
5^ Blessed Adversity, 
 
 thou movedst Me against him, to 
 destroy him without cause." Stronger 
 testimony to the life which God's 
 grace enabled Job to live can scarcely 
 be imagined. The chastisement that 
 came upon him is declared to have 
 been without cause so far as his life 
 and spirit were concerned. Let us 
 thank God that the same grace which 
 enabled Job, so long ago, to live a life 
 that pleased God, and received His 
 repeated commendation, is unchanged; 
 and that by it we may also live lives 
 that will be well-pleasing to Him with 
 whom we have to do. 
 
 Satan would very frequently harass 
 the believer in times of sorrow and 
 trial by leading him to thirk that God 
 IS angry with him—that this is a 
 punishment for some unknown offence, 
 and many of the comforts and con* 
 solations that might otherwise be 
 
 ; 
 

 ! i* 
 
 Blessed Adversity, 57 
 
 enjoyed may thus be clouded. Do we 
 not rather see from the Word of God 
 that He is hke a glad father, dehght- 
 ing to be able to encourage a strong, 
 healthy son to undertake some athletic 
 feat which will entail arduous effort 
 and careful training, or to stimulate 
 him to prepare for a difficult literary 
 examination by a prolonged and toil- 
 some course of study, knowing he *vill 
 obtain honours and permanent advan- 
 tage from his attainments ? So, our 
 Heavenly Father delights to trust a 
 trustworthy child with a trial in which 
 he can bring great glory to God, and 
 through which he will receive perma- 
 nent enlargement of heart, and blessing 
 for himself and others. 
 
 Take the case of Abraham : God so 
 thoroughly trusted him, that He was 
 not afraid to call upon His servant to 
 offer up his well'beloved son. And 
 
5 8 Blessed Adversity. 
 
 here, in the case of Job, it was not 
 Satan who challenged God about Job, 
 but God who challenged the arch- 
 enemy, the accuser of the brethren, to 
 find any flaw in his character, or 
 failure in his life. In each case grace 
 triumphed, and in each case patience 
 and fidelity were abundantly rewarded; 
 but nlore of this anon. 
 
 THE UNSEEN HEDGE. 
 
 The reply of Satan is noteworthy. 
 He does not need to ask, "Which 
 Job ?" or, « Where does he live ?" He 
 had considered God's servant, and 
 evidently knew all about him. How 
 came it that he was so well acquainted 
 with this faithful man of God? It 
 may have come about in this way: 
 those subordinate spirits of evil who 
 are evidently under the control of 
 
Blessed Adversity. 59 
 
 Satan had in vain tried ordinary means 
 of temptation with the patriarch. Pro- 
 bably reporting their want of success 
 to some of the principalities and 
 powers of evil, these likewise had 
 essayed their diabolical arts, but had 
 not succeeded in leading Job to swerve 
 from his integrity. Last of all, the 
 great arch-enemy himself had found 
 all his own efforts ineffectual to harass 
 and lead astray God's beloved servant. 
 He found a hedge around him, and 
 about his servants, and about his 
 house, and about all that he had, on 
 every side— an entrenchment so strong 
 that he had been unable to break 
 through, so high that, going about as 
 a roaring lion, he had been unable to 
 leap over, or to bring disaster within 
 the GoD-protected circle. 
 
 j^^TT -j^i-^jo'-u It iiiuot iiuvu ueen to 
 dwell so protected! The work of 
 
6o Blessed Adversity, 
 
 Job's hands was prospered— his sub- 
 stance increased in the land, and he 
 became the greatest as well as the best 
 of all the men of the East, for in 
 that day God manifested His approval 
 largely, though not solely, by the 
 bestowal of temporal blessings. 
 
 Is there no analogous spiritual bless- 
 ing to be enjoyed now-a-days ? Thank 
 God, there is. Every believer may be 
 as safely kept and as fully blessed, 
 though, perhaps, not in the same way, 
 as Job— may be delivered from the 
 power of the enemy, and preserved in 
 a charmed circle of perfect peace. 
 The conditions are simple, and are 
 given us by the Apostle Paul in the 
 4th chapter of Philippians, v. 4-7, 
 
 "Rejoice in the Lord alway 
 
 Let your moderation [your gentleness, 
 or yieldingness] be known unto all 
 men. The Lord is at hand." Not 
 
Blessed Adversity. 6 1 
 
 your power of resistance of evil, and 
 of "maintaining your own rights;" 
 but your spirit of yieldingness, be- 
 lieving that the Lord will maincain 
 for you all that is really for your ,, 'cod; 
 and that in any case He is at hrod! 
 and will soon abundantly rewa.d 
 fidelity to His command. And lastly, 
 " Be careful for nothing ; but in every 
 thing by prayer and supplication with 
 thanksgiving let your requests be made 
 known unto God. And the peace of 
 God, which passeth all understanding, 
 shall keep your hearts and minds 
 through Christ Jesus." 
 
 How is it that believers so often fail 
 to enjoy this promised blessing? Is 
 it not that we fail to be anxious for 
 nothing, and to bring everything by 
 prayer and supplication with *1ianks- 
 giving before God? We mnv k.;„« 
 nine difficulties out of ten to Him, 
 
62 Blessed Adversity, 
 
 and try to manage the tenth ourselves, 
 and that one little difficulty, like^ a 
 small leak that runs the vessel dry, is 
 fatal to the whole ; like a small breach 
 in a city wall, it gives entrance to the 
 power of the foe. But if we fulfil the 
 conditions, He is certainly faithful, 
 and instead of our having to keep our 
 hearts and minds— our affections and 
 thoughts— we shall find them kept for 
 us. The peace, which we can neither 
 make nor keep, will itself, as a garrison, 
 keep and protect us ; and the cares 
 and worries will strive to enter in 
 vain. 
 
 THE TESTING OF JOB. 
 
 Reverting to the history of Job : 
 the great accuser, having no fault 
 to find with his character or life, 
 insinuates that it is all the result of 
 selfishness. "Doth Job fear God 
 
Blessed Adversity. 6$ 
 
 for nought." Indeed, he did not, as 
 Satan well knew ! Nor has anyone, 
 before or since, ever feared God for 
 nought. There is no service which 
 pays so well as the service of our 
 Heavenly Master ; there is none so 
 royally rewarded. Satan was making 
 a true assertion, but the insinuation 
 he connected with it, that it was for 
 the sake of this reward that Job served 
 God, was not true. 
 
 To vindicate the character of Job 
 himself in the sight of the angels of 
 God, as well as of the evil spirits, 
 Satan is permitted to test Job, and 
 take away all those treasures for the 
 sake of which alone Satan imagined, 
 or pretended to imagine, that Job was 
 serving God. "All that he hath," 
 said God, "is in thy power; only 
 
 ""^- iJi>^^.u ^ui, iiui iurcn thme 
 
 hand." 
 
64 Blessed Adversity. 
 
 Satan's malignity. 
 
 And soon Satan showed the mah'g- 
 nity of his character by bringing 
 disaster after disaster upon the de- 
 voted man. By his emissaries he 
 incited the Sabeans, and they fell upon 
 the oxen and the asses feeding beside 
 them, slaying the servants with the 
 edge of the sword, suffering one only 
 to escape— and this, not in any pity or 
 sympathy, but that he might bear the 
 message to his unhappy master, telling 
 of the destruction of his property and 
 servants. The evil one appears, also, 
 to have had power to bring the light- 
 ning from heaven— by which the sheep, 
 and the servants caring for them, were 
 destroyed. Here, again, one servant 
 only was left, by his messa^-e to in- 
 crease the distress of the afflicted man 
 of God. 
 
Blessed Adversity. 6t. 
 
 Working in another direction, the 
 Chaldeans were led to come in three 
 bands and carry off Job's camels, 
 slaying all the servants with the edge 
 of the sword, save the one left to 
 convey the evil tidings. And, as if 
 this were not sufficient, even the 
 very children of Job, his seven sons 
 and three daughters—children of so 
 many prayers— were swept away at one 
 blow, by a terrible hurricane from the 
 wilderness, which smote the four 
 corners of the house so that it fell 
 upon them, leaving only one servant 
 to bear witness of the calamity. One 
 only of all his family—his wife— seems 
 to have been left to Job. But so far 
 from being a spiritual help to him in 
 this hour of sorrow and trial, she lost 
 faith in God; and when further 
 
 r«n !o*V^.<-«» y«n«<w.~ 1 • • . 
 
 ^-«xc.ixiiuj, ^uiiic upon nmi, ana he was 
 in sore bodily suffering and affliction, 
 
 F 
 
66 Blessed Adversity, 
 
 his trial was added to by the words of 
 his despairing wife : « Curse God, and 
 die." We see from this, that even she 
 was left to Job through no mercy 
 on the part of the great enemy, 
 but simply to fill the cup of affliction 
 to the full in the hour of his ex- 
 tremity. 
 
 GRACE SUFFICIENT. 
 
 But He who sent the trial gave also 
 the needful grace, and in the words 
 which we have already quoted. Job 
 replied: "The Lord gave, and the 
 Lord hath taken away; blessed be 
 the Name of the Lord." 
 
 Was not Job mistaken ? Should he 
 not have said : " The Lord gave, and 
 Satan hath taken away?" No, there 
 was no mistake. The same grace 
 which had enabled him unharmed to 
 
Blessed Adversity, 67 
 
 receive blessing from the hand of God, 
 enabled him also to discern the hand 
 of God in the calamities which had 
 befallen him. Even Satan did not 
 presume to ask of God to be allowed 
 himself to afflict Job. In ihe ist 
 chapter and the nth verse he says: 
 "Put forth Thine hand now, and 
 touch all that he hath, and he will 
 curse Thee to Thy face ; " and in the 
 2nd chapter and the 5th verse : " Put 
 forth Thine hand now, and touch his 
 bone and his flesh, and he will curse 
 Thee to Thy face." Satan knew that 
 none hit GOD could touch Job ; and 
 when Satan was permitted to afflict 
 him, Job was quite right in recognising 
 the Lord Himself as the doer of those 
 things which He permitted to be done. 
 Oftentimes shall we be helped and 
 blessed if we bear this in mind— that 
 Satan \% servant^ and not master^ and 
 
 F 2 
 
^8 Blessed Adversity. 
 
 that he and wicked men incited by 
 him are only permitted to do that 
 which God by His determinate counsel 
 and foreknowledge has before deter 
 mined shall be done. CoiDe joy, or 
 come sorrow, we n ay always take it 
 from tlie hand of Goa 
 
 Judas betrayed his :>:aster with a 
 kiss.;. Our Lord dul not stop short at 
 Judas, nor did He even stop at the 
 gteat enemy who filled the heart of Judas 
 to do this thing ; but He said : "The 
 cup which My FATHER hath given 
 me, shall I not drink it ? " How the 
 tendency to resentment and a wrong 
 feeling would be removed, could we 
 take an injury from the hand of a 
 loving Father, instead of looking 
 chiefly at the agent through whom it 
 comes to us ! It matters not who is 
 the postman—it is with the writer of 
 the letter that we are concerned, it 
 
Blessed Adversity. 
 
 69 
 
 matters not who is the messenger— it 
 is with God that His children have 
 to do. 
 
 We conclude, therefore, that Job 
 was not mistaken, and that we shall 
 not be mistaken if we follow his 
 example, in accepting all God's pro- 
 vidential dealings as from Himself. 
 We may be sure that they will issue in 
 ultimate blessing; because God is 
 GOD, and, therefore, "all things work 
 together for good" to them that love 
 Him. 
 
 DEEPER TRIALS. 
 
 Job's trial, however, was not com- 
 pleted, as we have seen, when his 
 property was removed. When the 
 Lord challenged Satan a second time : 
 "Hast thou considered my servant 
 Job ....?" Satan has no word of 
 commendation, but a further insinua- 
 
70 Blessed Adversity, 
 
 tion : " Skin for skin, yea, all that a 
 man hath will he give for his life .... 
 touch his bone and his flesh, and he 
 will curse Thee to Thy face." Receiv- 
 ing further permission to afflict him 
 bodily, but with the charge withal to 
 save his life, Satan went forth from the 
 presence of the Lord, and smote Job 
 with sore boils from the sole of his foot 
 to his crown. 
 
 The pain of his disease, the loath- 
 someness of his appearance, must have 
 been very great .; when his friends came 
 to see him they knew him not. His 
 skin was broken and had become loath- 
 some ; his flesh was clothed with worms 
 and clods of dust. Days of vanity 
 and wearisome nights followed in sad 
 succession ; his rest at night was scared 
 by dreams and terrified through visions; 
 
 so that, withnnf aico «« «^ — ii.- ^. 
 
 ' ""'^ %.«a%^ \jt. leapiic, Strang- 
 
 ling would have been a relief to him. 
 
Blessed Adversity. 
 
 71 
 
 le 
 
 7- 
 
 n 
 o 
 e 
 
 b 
 t 
 
 and death chosen rather than life. 
 But of death there was no danger, for 
 Satan had been charged not to touch 
 his life. 
 
 His kinsfolk failed him, and his 
 familiar friends seem to have forgotten 
 him. Those who dwelt in his house 
 counted him as a stranger, and his 
 servant gave no answer to his call when 
 he entreated help from him. Nay, 
 worse than all, his own wife turned 
 from him, and in his grief he exclaimed : 
 "My breath is strange to my wife, 
 though I entreated for the children's 
 sake of mine own body." No wonder 
 that those who looked on thought 
 that God Himself had become his 
 enemy. 
 
 Yet it was not so. With a tender 
 Father's love, God was watching all the 
 
 long enough to vindicate the power of 
 
72 Blessed Adverly. 
 
 God's grace, and to prepare Job him- 
 self for fuller blessing, then the afflic- 
 t.ons were taken away ; and in place of 
 the temporary trial, songs of deliver- 
 ance were vouchsafed to him. 
 
 THE LOVING-KlmNESS OP THE LORD. 
 
 Nor was the blessing God gave to 
 His servant a small one. During this 
 time of affliction, which, perhaps, was 
 not very prolonged. Job learned lessons, 
 which all his life of prosperity had been 
 unable to teach him. The mistakes he 
 made m the hastiness of his spirit were 
 corrected ; his knowledge of God was 
 deepenedand increased; he ha ' learr >d 
 to know Him better than he could have 
 done m any other way. He exc!.;i, ,ied 
 that he had heard of Him previously 
 by the hearing of the ear, and knew 
 GOD by hearsav onlv ; b"f t''"' 
 
Blessed Adversity, 73 
 
 his eye saw Him, and that his 
 acquaintance with God had become 
 that which was the result of personal 
 knowlt'ige, and not of mere report. 
 All his self-righteousness was gone : 
 he abhorred himself in dust rid 
 ashes. 
 
 Then, whon he prayed for his friends, 
 the Lord removed the sorrow, restored 
 to him the love and friendship of those 
 who pre iously were for the time 
 alienated, . d blessed the latter end of 
 Job more th . 1 the beginning. His 
 sheep, his ramels, his oxen, and his 
 asses, were dou j. Again seven 
 sons and three daughter^, were granted 
 to him, and thus the number of his 
 children also was doubled ; for those 
 who were dead were not lost, they had 
 only gone before. And after all this. 
 Job lived 140 years, and saw his 
 children, and grandchildren, to the 
 
74 Blessed Adversity. 
 
 fourth generation ; and finally died, 
 being old and full of days. 
 
 May we not well say that if Job's 
 prosperity was blessed prosperity, his 
 adversity, likewise, was blessed adver- 
 sity ? " Weeping may endure for a 
 night, but joy cometh in the morning ; " 
 and the night of weeping will bear a 
 fruit more rich and permanent than 
 any day of rejoicing could produce. 
 " The evening and the morning were 
 the first day." Light out of darkness 
 is God's order, and if sometimes our 
 Heavenly Father can trust us with a 
 trial, it is a sure presage that, if by 
 grace the trial is accepted, He will ere 
 long trust us with a blessing. 
 
 In this day, when material causes 
 are so much dwelt upon that there 
 
 ic Aprncrf^r r\f fnrorAttinor tliA iincApn 
 
 agencies, let us not lose sight of the 
 
Blessed Adversity. 
 
 7S 
 
 existence and reality of our unseen 
 spiritual foes. Many a child of God 
 knows what it is to have sore conflict 
 with flesh and blood ; and yet, as says 
 the Apostle, " we wrestle not against 
 flesh and blood, but against . . wicked 
 spirits in heavenly places" (margin). 
 It would be comparatively easy to deal 
 with our visible foes, if the invisible 
 foes were not behind them. With foes 
 so mighty and, apart from God's pro- 
 tecting care, so utterly irresistible, we 
 should be helpless indeed if unpro- 
 tected and unarmed. 
 
 We need to put on the whole armour 
 of God, and to be not ignorant of 
 Satan's devices. Let us not, on the 
 other hand, lose sight of the precious 
 truth that God alone is Almighty ; that 
 God is our Helper, our Protector, and 
 
 our OUlCiU, iia iTCii a.o v«j. ^^^---^---^-...Q 
 
 great Reward. "If God be for us. 
 
76 Blessed Adversity, 
 
 who can be against us?" Let us 
 always be on His side, seeking to 
 carry out His purposes ; then the power 
 of God will always be with us, and we 
 shall be made more than conquerors 
 through Him that loved us. 
 
 ;.>.j' WV 
 
17 
 
 Comins to t]^e Ikvx^. 
 
 *'■ And King Solomon gave unto the Queen 
 of Sheba all her desire y whatsoever she askedy 
 beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal 
 bounty.'''' — i Kings x. 13. 
 
 'T'HE beautiful history recorded in 
 the chapter from which the above 
 words are quoted is deeply instructive 
 to those who have learned to recognise 
 Christ in the Scriptures. The refer- 
 ence to this narrative by our Lord 
 Himself was surely designed to draw 
 our attention to it, and gives it an 
 added interest. The blessings, too, 
 received by the Queen of Sheba were 
 of no ordinary kind. She was not 
 only pleased with her reception, and 
 
78 Coming to the King. 
 
 with what she saw, but all her difficul- 
 ties were removed, all her petitions 
 were granted, all her desire was ful- 
 filled. She was satisfied — so satisfied 
 that, with glad and thankful heart, she 
 turned and went away to her own 
 country to fulfil the duties which, in 
 the providence of God, devolved upon 
 her. 
 
 If we may learn from this narrative 
 how to approach the Antitype of King 
 Solomon, and to receive from Him 
 blessings as much greater than those 
 received by the Queen of Sheba as 
 Christ is greater than Solomon, we 
 shall not meditate without profit on 
 this portion of Scripture. 
 
 In many respects we resemble the 
 Queen of Sheba. Though of royal 
 birth, she was doubtless, like the bride 
 in the Song of Solomon, black, because 
 the sun had looked upon her. The 
 
 A 
 
Coming to the King, 79 
 
 post which she was called to occupy 
 was no easy one ; in her own life, and 
 in her duty towards others, she found 
 many hard questions to which she saw 
 no solution. She heard of one reign- 
 ing in the power of the Lord, whose 
 wisdom exceeded that of the wisest of 
 men, and who, if any one could, might 
 afford her the help that she needed. 
 She felt sure that the reports that she 
 heard of his wisdom and of his acts 
 were exaggerated ; yet, even allowing 
 for this, she was prepared to take a 
 long and difficult journey that she 
 might see his face and prove for herself 
 how far her difficulties could be solved 
 by him. And she came not empty- 
 handed ; she came not only to receive, 
 but also to give, "with a very great 
 train, with camels that bare spices, and 
 very much gold, and precious stones," 
 not because she thought Solomon 
 
80 Coming to the King, 
 
 poor And needy, but because she knew 
 of his magnificence she sought to bring 
 gifts worthy of his royal dignity, and 
 so coming she was not disappointed. 
 
 Her long journey accomplished, she 
 reached Jerusalem, and was granted 
 the audience with the great king which 
 her soul craved. She not only un- 
 burdened her camels, she unburdened 
 her own heart, and found that her 
 difficult questions were no difficulty to 
 him. " Solomon told her all her ques- 
 tions : there was not any thing hid from 
 the king, which he told her not." And 
 so gracious was he that, without 
 restraint, " she communed with him of 
 all that was in her heart." Surely this 
 utter opening of the heart implies a 
 great deal. To none but the true 
 Solomon can we give such confidence, 
 but to Him we may lay bare the inner- 
 most recesses of our souls, and bring 
 
 ^tmmlmm mmMm^wm^ 
 
Coming to the King, 8i 
 
 the questions, diflficult, perplexing, or 
 sad, which we could breathe into no 
 human ear. 
 
 We know what came of the question- 
 ings, in the case of the Queen of 
 Sheba, aS to whether Solomon really 
 could be all that some enthusiasts had 
 reported. When she had seen his 
 wisdom, and the house that he had 
 built, his state and his magnificence, 
 and his ascent by which he went up 
 into the house of the Lord, there was 
 no more spirit in her; and she said to 
 the king, " It was a true report that I 
 heard in mine own land of thy acts 
 and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed 
 not the words, until I came, and mine 
 eyes had seen it ; and, behold, the half 
 was not told me : thy wisdom and 
 prosperity exceedeth the fame which I 
 heard. Haoov are thv m^n h-atM^^, 
 
 lis- ---J ; sits-^-|j-jr 
 
 are these thy servants, which ?tand con- 
 
 G 
 
82 Coming to the King. 
 
 tinually before thee, and that hear thy 
 wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy 
 God, which delighteth in thee, to set 
 thee on the throne of Israel : because 
 the Lord loved Israel for ever, there- 
 fore made He thee king, to do judg- 
 ment and justice." 
 
 Was there not the true spirit of 
 prophecy in these words? Solomon 
 has passed away, and all his magnifi- 
 cence ; the pleasant land is to this day 
 desolate under the power of the Turk ; 
 but the Lord has loved Israel for ever, 
 and soon a King shall reign in Mount 
 Zion *' before His ancients glori- 
 ously." But meanwhile this King, all 
 unseen to human sense, is reigning, 
 and to those who come to Him in no 
 sordid spirit, but gladly consecrating 
 the wealth of their heart's affection and 
 the most worthy gifts they possess — to 
 those who feel enriched by His accept- 
 
 vmm 
 
Coming to the King. Zl 
 
 ance of their gifts, and find pleasure in 
 bestowing on Him for His service the 
 best they can offer — to such there is 
 still given the opening of heart and 
 opening of eye to behold the King in 
 His beauty, and to find all needed 
 present solution of every hard question. 
 Do we not often give to a poor 
 Christ rather than to a rich one? 
 Are we not sometimes unwilling to 
 give until we know His work to be in 
 straits, and sometimes its very exist- 
 ence imperilled ? Are not our hearts 
 ofttimes more moved by the recital of 
 human needs than by Christ's claim 
 for the prosecution of the one work 
 for which He has left His Church on 
 earth ? A famine in India, a flood in 
 China, is more potent to bring temporal 
 relief than the continual famine of the 
 bread of life and of the increasing 
 floods of heathen ungodliness. It is 
 
 G 2 
 
84 Coming to the King, 
 
 well, it is CHRiST-like, to minister 
 temporal relief to suffering humanity, 
 but shall the deep longings and thirst- 
 ings of His soul, and the impressiveness 
 of His last command ere He ascended 
 on high, be less urgent ? How many 
 of the parents who refuse to let son or 
 daughter go into the mission-field 
 would refuse the Queen of England 
 were she to confer the honour of a 
 mission on their beloved children ? Do 
 we recognise the majesty of the King 
 of Glory, and the immortal honour that 
 appertains to His service ? To those 
 who do, the glad exclamations of the 
 Queen of Sheba afford well-suited 
 expressions : Happy are Thy subjects, 
 happy are Thy servants which stand 
 continually before Thee and hear Thy 
 wisdom. 
 
 To the Queen of Sheba, however. 
 
 — J 
 
 more was given than to those happy 
 
Coming to the King, 85 
 
 subjects or to those servants who 
 served the king in their own land To 
 her was given, as an eye-witness of the 
 majesty of the king, as a glad participant 
 of his bounty, to return to the far-off 
 land, and to testify to those to whom, 
 if they had heard at all, the half had 
 not been told. Not as she came did 
 she return, with a longing, yearning, 
 unsatisfied heart, with duties to dis- 
 charge for which she had not the 
 wisdom ; — with a royal dignity indeed, 
 but one which brought not rest to her 
 own spirit. Now she had seen the 
 king, now all her desire was met ; and 
 the glorious king, after thus marvel- 
 lously satisfying her, had further over- 
 whelmed her with unthought-of gifts of 
 his own royal bounty I 
 
 Do we know much of this, beloved 
 friends ? Has Christ become to us 
 such a living bright reality that no post 
 
Hi 
 
 86 Coming to the King, 
 
 of duty shall be irksome, that as His 
 witnesses we can return to the quiet 
 home side, or to the distant service 
 among the heathen, with hearts more 
 than glad, more than satisfied ; and 
 most glad, most satisfied, when most 
 sad and most stripped, it may be, of 
 earthly friends and treasures ? Let us 
 put all our treasures into His hand ; 
 then He will never need to take them' 
 from us on account of he^^rt idolatry; 
 and if in wisdom and love He remove 
 them for a time, He wili leave no 
 vacuum, but Himself nl< the void, 
 Himself wipe away the tear. 
 
 There is yet more for us than it was 
 possible to give to the Queen of Sheba. 
 King Solomon had to send her away, 
 he could not go with her; while' 
 though we have to leave the confer- 
 ence or convention, or the early hour 
 of holy closet communion with our 
 
Coining to the King, 87 
 
 Lord, for the ordinary duties of daily 
 life, our Solomon goes with us, nay, 
 dwells in us, to meet each fresh need 
 and to solve each fresh perplexity as it 
 arises. We have His word, " I will 
 never leave thee, never fail thee, never 
 forsake thee." Satisfied and filled to 
 begin with, we have the Satisfier, the 
 Filler, with us and in us. When He 
 says, " Whom shall We send and who 
 will go for Us ? " He means to send 
 us on no lonely errand, but on one 
 which will give to Him a better oppor- 
 tunity of revealing Himself, and to us 
 of " finding out the greatness of His 
 loving heart." Who will not answer 
 Him, "Here am I, send me;" or, 
 '* Here are mine, send them " ? 
 
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 JN this interesting narrative we have 
 another instance of the way in 
 
 tv^f. ^ "°'-" ^"°«' *««<=hel bj 
 
 Kmo by the account of the coming 
 of the Queen of Sheba to King Solo 
 
 IZ ^TT "^'^ "P^^'^'ly taught 
 how our hard questions are to be 
 
A Full Reward, 
 
 89 
 
 solved, and our hearts to be fully satis- 
 fied. Here a still higher lesson is 
 given us : How to serve so as to obtain 
 " a full reward," while as to the nature 
 of that full reward no little light is 
 given us. 
 
 To us these lessons are of special 
 interest, as bearing on missions to 
 foreign nations, and perhaps they 
 somewhat explain why He who de- 
 lights to bless, and is able to bless the 
 obedient soul, said so emphatically, 
 " Go, teach all nations ; " " Go ye into 
 all the world." The service of God 
 is a delightful privilege anywhere. 
 Those who stay at home, however, 
 need to become as strangers and pil- 
 grims there. This is not always easy 
 to do in the present day ; and many 
 fail, and forget their true position. To 
 those who are permitted to labour in 
 foreign lands, there is a lessened danger 
 
go 
 
 A Full Reward, 
 
 i 
 
 in this respect ; and hence many obtain 
 a fuller joy in present service, and look 
 forward to a fuller reward by-and-by, 
 than they anticipated ere they left all 
 for Jesus' sake. 
 
 Ruth was by nature a " stranger to 
 the commonwealth of Israel," but by 
 marriage with an Israelite was brought 
 amongst that people. On the death of 
 her husband, she still clave to her 
 mother-in-law and to her God, the God 
 of Israel. She so esteemed her privi- 
 leged position that for it she left her 
 native land and all its enjoyments ; lea 
 parents, relatives and fri. ;, and all 
 those attractions that led Orpah to re- 
 turn to Moab. To her it was better 
 to be the companion of her mother-in- 
 law, poor and desolate as she was, than 
 to enjoy for a season what in Moab 
 might have been hers. 
 
 This Sacrifiri* wnc «n rpol fUrt* Vr-,^-..; 
 
A Full Reivard. 
 
 91 
 
 much as she loved her daughter-in- 
 law, and desolate as she would be 
 without her, felt she could not wish it 
 for her own sake merely; but when 
 Ruth said, " Thy people shall be my 
 people, and thy God my God," she had 
 no further doubt to suggest, and no 
 further obstacle to put in her way. If 
 companionship with one of God's poor 
 servants is so precious, what shall we 
 say to Him who exhorts us, " Go ! . . . 
 and, lo, /am with you"? Is He not 
 saying : The good Shepherd must seek 
 the wandering sheep until He find 
 them. Go ye, too, and seek them, and 
 in so doing you shall find My com- 
 panionship ensured ? Shall we decline 
 this fellowship with Him, and leave 
 Him, so far as we are concerned, to 
 seek them alone ? 
 
 We next find Ruth toiling in the 
 burning sun as a gleaner, and there she 
 
92 
 
 A Full Reward. 
 
 meets for the first time the lord of the 
 hairest. The beauty of the narrative 
 of Boaz saluting his reapers with, "The 
 Lord be with you," and their reply, 
 The Lord bless thee," must dehght 
 every reader. And poor Ruth, too 
 though not a reaper-only a gleaner- 
 is made most welcome, and encour- 
 aged to remain in the fields of Boaz 
 until' all the reaping is done. With 
 touchmg simplicity and humility the 
 grateful gleaner replies, " Why have I 
 found grace in thine eyes, that thou 
 shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing 
 I am a stranger ? " Then the lord of 
 the harvest responds in the words we 
 have quoted at the head of this paper, 
 "It hath fully been showed me, all that 
 thou hast done," etc. 
 
 Let us then turn from Boaz to the 
 true Lord of the Harvest. Does He 
 meet us there, toiling in the heat of the 
 
A Full Reward. 
 
 93 
 
 summer's sun ? Knowing fully all we 
 have done, does that knowledge bring 
 joy to His heart ? and is it a joy to us 
 to know that He knows all? Our 
 risen and glorious Lord, so wonder- 
 fully described in Rev. i., still walks in 
 the midst of the golden candlesticks. 
 Can He say to us, "I know thy 
 works," with no word of rebuke? or 
 do we feel the blush of shame as the 
 eye as " a flame of fire " rests upon us ? 
 "And now, little children, abide in 
 Him ; that, when He shall appear, we 
 may have confidence, and not be 
 ashamed before Him at His coming." 
 Let us all leave the fatherland of 
 the world, and at least become 
 strangers and pilgrims in it. Let 
 us all toil in some way or other 
 in the great harvest-field, and if we 
 may lawfully do so, let us not be slow 
 to obey the command to " go, teach 
 
94 
 
 A Full Reward. 
 
 all nations." Where the need is great- 
 est let us be found gladly obeying the 
 Master's command. For it is in the 
 harvest-field, it is among the reapers, 
 that we shall find Him. 
 
 There is no Christian service in 
 which faith must not be in lively exer- 
 cise. At home, abroad, connected 
 with this branch of God's work or 
 that, without faith it is impossible to 
 please Him. Paul may plant, Apollos 
 water; God o-^^ gives the increase. 
 Every true minister of God, every true 
 missionary, every true Sunday-school 
 teacher and Christian worker is a faith- 
 worker. But in the foreign field 
 workers are peculiarly cast on God. 
 There are special dangers and diffi- 
 culties, special weaknesses and needs 
 that bring God very near— nearer than 
 most of the workers realised Him to 
 
 be w1li1*» th*»w rprnoi'r>^/4 a* U^ * J 
 
A Full Reward. 
 
 95 
 
 to those who have gone out without 
 human guarantee of support, who do 
 not know when the next help may 
 reach them, nor its amount, there is an 
 additional link with the great loving 
 heart of our Father and our God that 
 is unspeakably precious and welcome. 
 May we not say that in every 
 position of life when we are weak in 
 ourselves, our friends, our circum- 
 stances, then are we strongest in Him ? 
 And when in our great needs, for our- 
 selves or for the souls around us, we 
 lay hold on God and say, " My soul, 
 wait thou ONLY upon God ; for my 
 expectation is from Him," t %at rest 
 and security and certainty com : into 
 the waiting soul. And ah ! when 
 labouring in this spirit how words like 
 those of our heavenly Boaz come home 
 to the heart. "The Lord recom- 
 pense thy work, and a full reward be 
 
96 
 
 A Full Reward, 
 
 given thee of the Lord God of Israel, 
 under whose wings thou art come to 
 trust." Happy toiler in China ! Happy 
 toiler at Home ! if it is sometimes dark, 
 the shadow is but the shadow of His 
 wing, under which thou art abiding, 
 under which thou art come to trust. 
 
 We will not prolong this meditation. 
 
 He who comforted and blessed the 
 
 lonely gleaner while the harvest lasted, 
 
 became her husband when the harvest 
 
 toil was past. It was thus the Lord 
 
 recompensed her work. Israel was not 
 
 blessed apart from her, for David the 
 
 deliverer, and Solomon the glory of 
 
 Israel, were born of the seed which 
 
 Boaz had through her. Soon shall 
 
 come the glorious day of the espousals 
 
 of Christ and His Church. With her 
 
 He will come to deliver Israel and to 
 
 judge the world and even the angels. 
 
 -a?-r,c iimc jiijcw me nonour and hap- 
 
A Full Reward. 
 
 97 
 
 piness awaiting her when she left all 
 for God and His people. We know 
 the purposes of God's grace and the 
 glories in store for us. What manner 
 of men, then, should we be ; and how 
 earnest and faithful in the little time 
 which awaits us before we are called to 
 our reward, and to meet Him in the 
 air ? When He says. Go ! shall we 
 reply. No ? When Be asks us to con- 
 tinue in His harvest till the reaping is 
 over, shall we say Him, Nay ? 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 Wiitter tbt^fft9fitvV^€nvt. 
 
 A NEW YEAR'S ADDREtl. 
 
 <( 
 
 For ye were as sheep going astray ; hut are 
 now returned unto the Shepherd and 
 Bishop of your souls.'^ — i Peter ii. 25. 
 
 ii 
 
 Ye were as sheep going 
 ASTRAY." This is evidently 
 addressed to believers. We were like 
 sheep, blindly, wilfully following an 
 unwise leader. Not only were we 
 following self ourselves, but we in our 
 turn have led others astray. This is 
 true of all of us : " All we like sheep 
 ave gone astray ; " all equally foolish, 
 " we have turned every one to his own 
 way" Our first thought has been, " I 
 like this," or, "I don't like that"; 
 never thinking what the Lord would 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care, 99 
 
 prefer, we have just followed our own 
 inclinations. So terribly astray were 
 we that nothing less than the life-blood 
 of our good Shepherd could atone 
 for our sin, and save us from its power 
 and its penalty. In Isaiah liii, we 
 learn the substitutionary character of 
 the death of Christ unmistakably, as 
 also in the verse before our text. The 
 God of the Bible is a God who 
 punishes sin, and cannot pardon with- 
 out atonement. The substitution of 
 the innocent victim for the guilty 
 offerer is so cleaHy taught from 
 Genesis to Revelation, that he must 
 be blind indeed who does not see it. 
 Praise God, our Kinsman-Redeemer 
 has paid our debt; and "with His 
 stripes we are healed." 
 
 H. "But are now returned 
 UNTO THE Shepherd and Bishop 
 OF YOUR SOULS. '■ Far astray as we 
 
 H 2 
 
100 Under the Shepherd's Care. 
 
 were, by His grace we have been 
 brought back again ; and now we are 
 "returned"— some of us scarcely 
 returning so much as being carried 
 to the fold by our loving Shepherd. 
 And it is so blessed to realize that 
 now we are not without a Master, a 
 Leader, a Head. We were intended 
 to b^ followers. We always do follow ; 
 but, alas ! we did not follow the right 
 Master. Now the right Master has 
 found us ; and instead of following our 
 own foolish lead, we want to follow 
 His wise lead. And it is most restful 
 to realize that we are not left to live a 
 life at the mercy of circumstances, or 
 to walk in our own wisdom. We can 
 never foresee the future ; we never fully 
 understand the present. How danger- 
 ous would be our position were we left 
 alone ! But as believers we have been 
 brought back ; we " are now returned 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care, loi 
 
 unto the Shepherd and Bishop of 
 our souls." 
 
 III. How blessed it is to have such 
 a Shepherd, Bishop, Overseer, 
 One who is continually watching over 
 us in order to provide and lead, to 
 sustain anH deliver, to meet and 
 supply our cv^ery need ! All is found 
 in Christ Jesus ; in His presence, 
 in His power, in His love may we 
 more and more rest ! 
 
 I have frequently thought of words 
 I had the privilege of hearing some 
 years ago from Professor Charteris 
 at a united Communion service for 
 students in Edinburgh. He said that 
 there had been one life on earth of 
 steady, uninterrupted development 
 from the cradle to the Cross; but 
 that there had only been one such life, 
 for true Christian life always began 
 where the life of Christ ended, at the 
 
f 
 
 
 102 Under the Shepherd's Care. 
 
 Cross ; and that its true development 
 is towards the cradle, until the child of 
 God in the child-like simplicity of 
 faith can rest in the omnipotent arms 
 of infinite Wisdom and Love. Is not 
 this the growth and development we 
 long for, in order that we may be 
 among those to whom God will reveal 
 the things which are hidden from the 
 wise and prudent ? The more we rest 
 on this fact,— that we do not know the 
 way we are going, but that we have a 
 Guide who does know; that we do 
 not know how to accomplish our ser- 
 vice, but that He never leaves us to 
 devise our own service;— the more 
 restful does our life become. Then 
 we find we have just to do this— to 
 look to our Saviour, to be filled with 
 His perfections; not to be fretting and 
 fuming as to how the divine IiTa choii 
 manifest itself, tat to leave the life to 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care. 103 
 
 work spontaneously through us. A 
 heavy bunch of grapes on a tender 
 shoot would break it; but let the 
 shoot abide in the vine it will grow 
 stronger, and as the fruit develops, the 
 strength of the branch will increase 
 also, and the life left to its own natural 
 and healthy development will in due 
 time be brought to perfection. 
 
 As we look forward to the months 
 of this year, we know not where the 
 close will find us ; whether here or in 
 the eternal Home. We know not 
 what burdens, perplexities, or difficul- 
 ties it may bring ; but we know Him, 
 whose we are, and whom we serve. 
 HE knows all ; this suffices for us. 
 
 I have been looking at a few 
 passages which bring out the care of 
 our Lord for His people : — 
 
 LI £, X iilx* ii» ■»• y ) Jt /ts/ ft'tzrtuittivrv 
 
 of God standeth sure^ having this seal^ 
 
104 Under the Shepherd's Care, 
 
 The Lord knoweth them that are His:' 
 —The Lord knows every one of His 
 own. We may not know them. We 
 may make mistakes if we judge of 
 others. Some may be His, and we 
 may be unaware of it. The Lord 
 know^ them that are His. This is a 
 safe foundation. We, too, know in our 
 own souls whether the Lord is in- 
 dwelling us, whether His peace fills us 
 sustains and blesses us. ' 
 
 (2) Nahum i. 7, « The Lord is good, 
 a strong hold in the day of trouble ; and 
 He knoweth them that trust in Him:' 
 —He has a special knowledge of those 
 who put their trust in Him. Though 
 our trust at times is very poor, yet, if 
 there be any trust at all in Him, we 
 can say, "Help thou mine unbelief." 
 He knows we want to trust Him 
 better. 
 
 (3) Ps. ciii. 14, ^^He knoweth our 
 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care, 105 
 
 frame ; He remembereth that we are 
 dustJ^ — Our Shepherd knows our 
 weakness. He never lays more upon 
 us than we are able to bear. 
 
 (4) Ps. i. 6, ''The Lord knoiveth 
 the way of the righteous ^ — There may 
 be difficulties in our path ; we do not 
 foresee them, but He knows them ; 
 and when He puts forth His sheep He 
 does not leave them to meet difficul- 
 ties as best they can, but He goes 
 before them. 
 
 (5) Job said (xxiii. 10) ''He knoweth 
 ihe way that I take." — Job did not 
 understand the way the Lord was 
 leading him. He was bewildered by 
 the Lord's dealings with him. But 
 he had this comfort, " He knoweth the 
 way that I take." So when we can- 
 not understand God's dealings with 
 
 (6) Ps. xliv. 21, "He knoweth the 
 
io6 Under the Shepherd's Care, 
 
 secrets of the heart."— Wq are often 
 brought into circumstances of trial and 
 misunderstanding. People imagine 
 that this or that discipline is the fruit 
 of this or that sin. The Lord 
 knoweth the secrets of the heart. If 
 we ane unjustly accused or suspected, 
 if it is asserted that we have forgotten 
 the Name of our God, God knows the 
 secret of our hearts. Sometimes we 
 have trials which we cannot put into 
 prayer ; the Lord knows the secrets of 
 our heart. There are things that affect 
 us, and yet we cannot understand how 
 it is that we are so affected by them. 
 "He knoweth the secrets of the 
 heart." 
 
 (7) 2 Peter ii. 9, " The Lord knoweth 
 how to deliver the godly out of tempta- 
 tions, and to reserve the unjust unto the 
 day of judgment to be punished:'— 
 Sometimes we are involved in trial 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care. 107 
 
 because of our connection with others. 
 God knew how to punish the old world 
 and save Noah — how to punish Sodom 
 and save Lot. 
 
 (8) Then we have many needs. We 
 are like children, we need to be helped 
 continually, and our Saviour reminds 
 us (Matt. vi. 8, 32) that our " heavenly 
 Father knoweth what things" we 
 "have need of"; and that if we are 
 only concerned to seek "first the 
 Kingdom of God, and His righteous- 
 ness," "all these things shall be added 
 unto " us. So that we have no need 
 to be anxious about t:o-morrow. 
 It is quite sufficient that we have a 
 Shepherd, Overseer, Friend who 
 undertakes to provide for it all. 
 
 Nay, as He told us in Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, 
 He Himself is a " sun " to give us light 
 
 ail iiiiico \Ji. uain-liwoo, a,iiu o, oiU\>iu 
 
 to protect us in danger. The " grace " 
 
io8 Under the Shepherd's Care, 
 
 that we need for His service now, and 
 the " glory " that shall soon crown it 
 are all in Him, and all for us ; iox 
 "No good thing will He withhold 
 from them that walk uprightly." Not, 
 from them that walk perfectly, or sin' 
 lessly-h-no one does that ; not, from 
 them that are blameless— though we 
 all should be that; but if we are 
 honestly and uprightly seeking to serve 
 Him, no good thing will He withhold. 
 What a rich promise this is ! 
 
 IV. In conclusion : Are we all enjoy- 
 ing this precious truth? Are we all 
 able to take this passage to ourselves 
 and say, " I was a sheep going astray, 
 but I am returned"? Can we all feel it 
 is true for ourselves ? If there be one 
 who cannot do so, the Shepherd, the 
 Bishop, is really present, though un- 
 seen ; He is ready to receive those who 
 will return now. " Come unto Me," is 
 
Under the Shepherd's Care. 109 
 
 His word. If there is one burdened 
 with sin, He is ready to pardon. If 
 there is one burdened with care, He 
 is present to receive your care. The 
 Lord Jesus is waiting : waiting to 
 take every burden away, to accept 
 every deposit, to fulfil every trust we 
 may confide to Him. He will be 
 faithful to keep that which we commit 
 to Him. We can entrust to Him the 
 keeping of our hearts, the ordering of 
 our lives, the care of our children, the 
 converts whom God has given us, the 
 work to which He has called us. We 
 may trust Him to keep us, in employ- 
 ments in which we are brought into 
 contact with the ungodly ; yes, what- 
 ever we commit to Him, He is both 
 able and willing to keep. 
 
 If we have come to Him, with what 
 blessedness may we go forward into 
 this year. We have not passed this 
 
 
I lO Under the Shepherd's Care. 
 
 way heretofore. We know not what 
 burdens the Lord has for us to bear, 
 or what blessings in store. We need 
 not be afraid if He gives great bless- 
 ing that He will let us become puffed 
 up ; or that great difficulties will be 
 too puch while trusting in Him. 
 That which was never meant for our 
 strength will be met by His strength. 
 May we be a docile flock, willing to be 
 cared for by Him, and every blessing 
 will then be ours ! 
 
Ill 
 
 ** // any man will come after Me, let him 
 deny himself attd take up his cross daily, atid 
 follow Me.^' — Luke ix. 23. 
 
 'V\^^ might naturally have thought 
 that if there was one thing in 
 the life of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 which belonged to Him alone, it was 
 His cross- bearing. To guard against 
 so natural a mistake, the Holy Ghost 
 has taken care in gospel and in epistle 
 to draw our special attention to the 
 oneness of the believer with Christ 
 in cross-bearing ; and also to prevent 
 misunderstanding as to the character 
 of Christian cross-bearing, and the 
 constancy of its obligation. The Lord 
 
112 ^ elf' Denial versus 
 
 Jesus, in the words we are considering, 
 teaches us that if any man, no matter 
 who he may be, will be His disciple, 
 he must — not he y/zoy— deny himself 
 and take up his cross daily and follow 
 his Lord. 
 
 Is^ there not a needs-be for this 
 exhortation? Are not self-indulgence 
 and self-assertion temptations to which 
 we are ever exposed, and to which 
 we constantly give way, without even a 
 thought of the un-Christliness of such 
 conduct ? That we owe something to 
 God all Christians admit ; and it may 
 be hoped that the number of those is 
 increasing who recognise His claim to 
 some proportionate J>art of their 
 income. But our Ma?tat> claims 
 much more than a pari oi our pro- 
 perty, of our time, of our affections. 
 If we are saved at all, we are not our 
 own in any sense, we are bought with 
 
Self- Assertion. 113 
 
 a price : our bodies we must present 
 to Him ; our whole life must be for 
 God. 
 
 Self-denial surely means something 
 far greater than some slight and in igni- 
 ficant lessening of our self-indulger'ces ! 
 When Peter denied Christ, he utt rly 
 disowned Him and disallowed ilis 
 claims. In this way we are called 
 to deny self, and to do it daily, if 
 we would be Christ's disciples in- 
 deed. "I don't like this," or, " I do 
 like that," must not be allowed ; the 
 only question must daily be. What 
 would Jesus like? And His mmd 
 and will, once ascertained, must 
 unhesitatingly be carried out. 
 
 As believers, we claim to have been 
 crucified together with Christ; and 
 Paul understood this, not merely 
 imputatively but practical!". That 
 cross put the world to death as regards 
 
 I 
 
114 Self- Denial versus 
 
 Paul, and put Paul to death as regards 
 the world. To the Apostle nothing 
 could have been more practical. He 
 does not say, "I take up my cross daily," 
 in the light, modern sense of the 
 expression ; he puts it rather as dying 
 daily ; and therefore, as one "in deaths 
 oft," he was never surprised, or stum- 
 bled by any hardship or danger in- 
 volved in his work. 
 
 We wish, however, to draw attention 
 to another aspect of self-denial which 
 is often overlooked, and perhaps we 
 shall do this most intelligibly by use of 
 the antithetical expression, self-asser- 
 tion. What does the Word of God 
 teach us about our rights, our claims, 
 our dues ? Does it not teach us that 
 condemnation, banishment, eternal 
 misery, are our own deserts? As 
 unbelievers, we were condemned 
 criminals; as believers, we are pardoned 
 
Self-Assertion, 
 
 115 
 
 criminals; and whatever of good is 
 found in us is but imparted, and to 
 God alone is due the praise. Can we, 
 then, consistently with such a position, 
 be self-asserting and self-claimant ? 
 
 It is clear that if we choose to remit 
 a claim due to us by one who is free 
 and our equal, that may not invalidate 
 or affect his claim on his neighbour— 
 no matter whether that claim be larger 
 or smaller than the one we remitted. 
 But what did our Saviour intend to 
 teach us by the parable of Matthew 
 xviii. 23-35? There the King and 
 Master and Owner of a slave remits 
 His claim in clemency and pity (and 
 does so, as our Lord elsewhere clearly 
 shows, on the express condition of His 
 servant's forgiving as he is forgiven 
 —Matt. vi. 14, 15); can that slave, 
 under thesp rimimcfor»o^« ^„^ — 4. 1 
 
 claim his rights over his fellow ? 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 Self- Denial versus 
 
 And is not this principle of non- 
 assertion, this aspect of self-denial, a 
 far-reaching one ? Did our Lord 
 claim His rights before Pilate's bar, 
 and assert Himself; or did His self- 
 denial and cross-bearing go the length 
 of waiting for His Father's vindica- 
 tion of His character and claims? 
 And shall we^ in the prosecution of our 
 work as ambassadors of Him whose 
 kingdom is not of this world, be 
 jealous of our own honour and rights, 
 as men and as citizens of Western 
 countries, and seek to assert the one 
 and claim the other,— when what our 
 Master wants is witness to, and reflec- 
 tion of. His own character and earthly 
 life, and illustration of the forbearing 
 grace of our God and Father ? 
 
 May God work in us, and we work 
 out in daily life, not seU-assertion but 
 self-denial —not ease and honour-seek- 
 
Self- Assertion, 
 
 117 
 
 ing and right-maintaining, but right- 
 abandoning and cross-taking— and this 
 for the glory of His own holy Name, 
 and for the better forwarding of His 
 interests, whether among His own 
 people or among the unsaved ! 
 
Ii8 
 
 " T/ie LORD GOD is a Sun and Shield : 
 \he LORD will give grace and glory : 
 
 ** No good thing will He withhold from them 
 that walk uprightly." 
 
 — Psalm lxxxiv. ii. 
 
 Tjr OW pleasant it is to the heart of 
 a true child to hear his father 
 well spoken of, and to rejoice that he 
 is the child of such a father ! We feel 
 that we can never thank God suffi- 
 ciently for our privileged lot, who 
 have been blessed with true and loving 
 Christian parents. But if this be the 
 case with regard to the dim and at 
 best imperfect earthly reflections, what 
 of the glorious Reality — the great 
 Father — the source of all fatherhood, 
 
All-sufficiency, 
 
 119 
 
 of all protection — of all that is blessed 
 here, and true, and noble, and good — 
 and of all the glories to which we look 
 forward in the future? "The Lord 
 God is a Sun and Shield : the Lord 
 will give grace and glory : no good 
 thing will He withhold from them that 
 walk uprightly." 
 
 "The Lord God is a Sun and 
 Shield," and this in the fullest con- 
 ceivable sense. None of His works 
 can fully reveal the great Designer, 
 and Executor, and Upholder ; and the 
 loftiest thoughts and imaginations of 
 the finite mind can never rise up to 
 and comprehend the Infinite. The 
 natural sun is inconceivably great, we 
 cannot grasp its magnitude; it is in- 
 conceivably glorious, we cannot bear 
 to gaze for one moment on its un- 
 tempered light. The source to us of 
 all heat, we have to shield ourselves 
 
 J 
 
I20 
 
 All-sufficiency, 
 
 from its tropical power, though millions 
 of miles from its surface : the sustainer 
 of the essential conditions of physical 
 life, and the great ruler and centre of 
 the solar system—how great and glori- 
 ous is the natural sun ! And yet it 
 may, be the very smallest of all the 
 countless suns that Gop has made ! 
 What of the glorious Maker of them 
 all! 
 
 "The Lord God is a Sun." Ah ! 
 He deserves the name. He is the 
 Reality of all that sun or suns exhibit 
 or suggest. My reader, is He the Sun 
 Xoyou ? Do you count all that to be 
 darkness which does not come from 
 and accord with His light : all that to 
 be disorder which does not implicitly 
 accept and delight in His rule ? " O 
 Lord of Hosts, blessed is the man that 
 trusteth in Thee ! " Self-will is un- 
 
 IXXIIi 
 
 5icu iKfiiyj is.ti unu IS injury and loss. 
 
All-sufficiency. 
 
 121 
 
 And the Lord God is a Shield. 
 Dangers encompass us, unseen, at every 
 moment. Within us, in the wonderful 
 and delicate organisation of our bodies 
 —around us, when in circumstances of 
 the greatest comfort and apparent 
 safety — are dangers unseen, which at 
 any moment might terminate our 
 earthly career. Dangers seen some- 
 times appal us, or appal those who 
 love us : but they are not more real 
 than many we never dream of. Why 
 do we live so safely, then ? Because 
 the Lord God is a Shield. 
 
 Foes, too, are never far from us. 
 The world, the flesh, and the devil are 
 very real \ and unaided we have no 
 power to keep or deliver ourselves from 
 them. But the Lord God is a Shield. 
 It is a small matter then to go to 
 China, a very small additional risk to 
 run ; for there, as here, the Lord God 
 
122 
 
 A ll-sufficiency. 
 
 is a Shield. Should war break out, in 
 this we may be confident ; for He has 
 said He will never fail nor x'brsake His 
 own. Only when our work is done 
 will He take us home; and this He 
 will do whether we serve Him here or 
 there., To know and to do His will— this 
 is our safety ; this is our rest. 
 
 Sweet are His promises — grace will 
 He give, and glory. Grace all un- 
 merited and free— that which is really 
 for our good, for Christ's deservings, 
 not for ours. And glory too — glory 
 NOW, the glory of being His, of serving 
 Him in each least duty of life, and 
 glory in the soul. Glory apparent, too, 
 as with unveiled faces we behold and 
 rejoice in His glory, and reflect it ever 
 more and more. And glory to come, 
 when we have done and suffered His 
 will here, and are " for ever with the 
 Lord ! " 
 
All-sufficiency, 
 
 123 
 
 "No good thing will He withhold 
 from them that walk uprightly." Ah ! 
 how often, when we have been dis- 
 satisfied with the ways of God, we 
 ought to have been dissatisfied with 
 our own ways ! We did not think, 
 perhaps, that in some matter or 
 other we were not walking uprightly. 
 If not so, however, then the thing we 
 desired was not for our good, and 
 therefore was not given ; or the thing 
 we feared was essential to our good, 
 and hence was not withheld. We are 
 often mistaken: God, never. "No 
 good thing will He withhold " : shall 
 we be so foolish, so wayward, as after 
 this to desire that which our Father 
 in heaven withholds ? 
 
 But sweet as are God's promises, 
 the Promiser is greater and better. 
 Finite human words fetter the expres- 
 sion of the heart of the Infinite Giver. 
 
124 
 
 A ll-sufficiency. 
 
 Hence if we had claimed all the pro- 
 mises, had opened our mouths most 
 wide, and had asked with all the 
 blessed presumption of loved 5.nd 
 favoured children— yet, above and 
 beyond the promises. He would still 
 be ab^e to do exceeding abundantly 
 above all we ask or think. He delights 
 to do so ! Let not low thoughts, God- 
 dishonouring thoughts, unbelieving, 
 distrustful thoughts, limit His bless- 
 ings; for ''No good thing will He 
 withhold from them that walk up- 
 rightly." 
 
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