theological ^cmiuani, ' V No. Case, ''''')^^ ^ _ No, Shelf,_SecX\ov4^,,,,.. .__^__ No. Book. No. The John M. Ivr<'bs Donation. I . - BS 477 .H35 1856 Hamilton, James, 1814-1867 Emblems from Eden EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. / BT JAMES HAMILTON, D.D., F.L.S. UBRARY OF PRINCETON SEP 5 2003 THEOLOGICAL SEiVilNARY NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 286 BROADWAY. 1856. A FEW of the following Illustrations have already appeared in a more fugitive form; and, now that they are gathered together, they are submitted to the indulgent perusal of those who find pleasure in the symbolical teaching of Scripture, and to whom Nature herself is more dear since they found a key to her language in the Lively Oracles. December 22, I8b^. CONTENTS, THB TREE OP LIFE , ► . , 1 THE VINK . . ^ , . 33 THE CEDAR .*.... 6C THK PALM ...... 94 THE GARDEN INCLOSED . . . .118 IIAUVF.ST HOME ..... 134 TUB AMARAKTH ; OR, UaMOHTALlTY . 146 THE TREE OF LIFE. Waking up to conscious existence in tlie midst of a garden, it would seem as if man had not entirely forgotten the wonderful vision on which his eyes then opened. At least, there is no passion more general than the admiration of beautiful flowers. They kindle the rapture of infancy, and it is touching to ?eo how over the first king-cups or daisies its tiny hand closes more eagerly than here- after it will grasp silver coins or golden. Tlie solitary blossom lights a lamp of quiet gladness in the poor man's chamber, and in the palace of the prince the marble of Canova and the canvas of Raffiielle are dimmed by the lordly exotic with its calyx of flame or its petals of snow. With these companions of our departed innocence we plait the bridal wreath, and, scattered on B 2 EMBLEMS FROM EDKN. tlie coffin, or planted on the grave, there seems a hope of resurrection in their smile, a sympathy in their gentle decay. And whilst to the dullest gaze they speak a lively oracle, in their empyrean bloom and unearthly fra- grance the pensive fancy recognises some mys- terious memory, and asks, — ** Have we been all at fault? Are we the sons Of pilgrim sires who left their lovelier land ? And do we call inhospitable climes By names they brought from home ? " But in the midst of that primeval Garden the eye was arrested by two objects, of v/liicli the counterpart cannot now be found in the field or the forest. One of these was " the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," — regarding which God said, " Thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The other was "the Tree of Life," which possessed a supernatural virtue. To eat of it was to live for ever. Its fruit was the antidote of death and the means of sustaining man in his ori- ginal immortality. The Tree of KncwlcdGre was a test of obc- THE TREE OP LIFE. 3 (lience. Any act of transgression would have forfeited man's tenure of Paradise ; but in making a covenant with Adam God was pleased to select one special form of absti- nence as the criterion of his self-denial and his loyalty. Around this Tree, so " good for food" and so "pleasant to the eyes," the Su- preme Lawgiver reared a fence, and saying, " Thou shalt not eat of it," He concentred man's attention on a single point, and, so to speak, reduced his trial to a single issue. But the subtilty of Satan and the attractions of the forbidden tree proved too strong for man's loyalty. He took the tempting fruit. He ate, and was undone. The Tree of Life was a token of the Crea- tor's preserving care and a memento of the creature's dependence. What like it was we do not know, but it possessed a marvellous efficacy. As long as man ate of it he could not die : and it has been ingeniously suggested that the protracted lives of the antediluvians were owing to the power of this Paradisaic antidote lingering for ages in the human con- stitution. But however this may be, the Tree was a type of the one Great Source of Ini- 4 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. mortality. It taught the creature that ho was not his own preserver. It reminded him that the "Fountain of Life" was external to himself, and that the only security for his own life's prolongation was the constant command of this soul-gladdening and life-confirming sustenance. And most likely every time that he partook of it he was conscious of an in- tenser immortalit3^ Possibly the consum- mation of each day's lightsome labour, and coincident with those visits of his Heavenly Father which made so welcome the cool of the day, we can imagine him resorting to the spot where stood the sacramental symbol, — its very continuance a sign that on either side the covenant continued still inviolate, — de- voutly stretching forth his hand to the laden bough, and whilst he and his partner ate the mystic fruit, which filled all tlisir being with celestial jo}'- and raised them nearer tb the angels, overhearing from above the voice of God, answering with their evening hymn, and then sinking into hallowed slumber be- neath the sacred shadow. After man's transgression, the Tree of Life ceased to be accessible. Lest, in his despera- THE TREE OF LIFE. 5 tion, man should rusli to it, and by its mis- timed use entail on himself immortal misery, God sent him fortli from the garden of Eden, and with a flaming sword and chcrub-senti- iiels guarded every avenue. And now the gates of the primeval Paradise are closed. That short dispensation is ended. That co- venant is broken beyond all possibility of reparation ; and in this world there is no longer any innocent creature to whom God can say what he said to Adam, " Do this and Uve." But there is still a Tree of Life. Instead of abandoning our guilty race to self-entailed destruction, in His unspeakable mercy, God has interposed, and in the mission and atone- ment of His own dear Son has provided a salvation for sinners of mankind. And throughout the inspired records, the Saviour and His work are repeatedly introduced under the veil of this most ancient emblem. In Ezekiel's vision of the Temple Waters we are told, that on the bank of the river "shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fiide, neither shall tlie fruit thereof fail : every month they shall bring forth fruit b2 6 t.'klliLEMS FROM EDEN. nXresli : and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, find the leaf thereof for medicine : " a passage predicting that great outburst of Gospel bless' ings with which the Church of Christ is yet to surprise herself and renovate the world, and which connects itself so obviously with John's vision of the New Jerusalem : " And lie showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the .street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve fruits, and yielded its fruit cvcrj month : and the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations : " or, as it has been rendered in the pleasant rhyme of that forgotten bard who long since sang " Jerusalem, my happy home : " — ** Thy gardens and thy gallant walks Continually are green ; There grow such sweet and pleasant flowers As nowhere else are seen. Quite through the streets, with silver sound. The flood of life doth flow ; Upon whose banks on every side The trees of life do grow. TUE TREE OF LIFE. 7 These trees each month do yield their fruit, For evermore they spring ; And all the nations of the world To thee their honours bring." So profuse is the immortality, and so uni- versally accessible are the blessings of this happy region, that either prophet speaks in these passages as if the trees of life wero many : just as elsewhere, with allusion to His manifold operations and offices, the one great Comforter is called "the Seven Spirits of God." Elsewhere, however, where precision and personality are required, the primitive unity reappears; and in the promise to the faithful of Ephesus we read, " To him that overcometh will I grant to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God," — repeated and extended in the last page of the canon, " Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." In our present contemplation of this celes- tial Tree we shall restrict ourselves to its health-restoring and life-sustaining efficacy. The pre-requisite to all enjoyment is health. 8. EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. You are sick, and your little sister brings in a snowdrop from the garden, or a sprig of verbena from the conservatory, and you take it with a languid smile, and lay it beside your pillow, and hardly look at it again. And your brother comes in and shows you a splen- did present which has just been sent you, or he opens a letter and announces that the law- suit is gained, and that you are heir to a noble property : but the pain just then is exquisite, and in this intensity of torture there is no- thing you desire but deliverance from anguish. Or in the adjoining chamber a charming me- lody is played ; but you beg them to leave off, for the noise is driving you distracted. And so, spiritually, there is no health in us; but the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. Desire has failed. The soul of man takes no interest in the objects which once stirred it with liveliest emotion ; but whether it be in the dull discomfort of habi- tual ungodliness, or in the acuter paroxysms of sinful passion and guilty remorse, those objects which fill a holy universe with delight are the objects of the sinner's aversion or con- tempt. And Avere you saying to him, " Here THE TREE OF LIFE. 9 is a pearl of great price which your Elder Brother has sent you from the far country : this is a letter announcing that our Advocate has gained the case, and secured for the mem- bers of this family the fair inheritance of Heaven," he would only listen "vvith languid curiosity ; and were you inviting him to take part in any of those holy recreations which form the pastime of spirits pure and healthy: " Listen to this description of God's love. Let us sing together this psalm of thanks- giving," the invitation would only vex him. But Christ is the cure of sin. His atone- ment pacifies the conscience; His Spirit purifies the heart; His person, — the life He led, and the words He spake, — give new and endearing views of God. And just as in the days of His earthly sojourn, to go to Him was to be cured of what disease soever any man had, so now that He is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, it is to bestow repentance and remission of sins ; and if you go to Him, whatever be your nature's malady, He will make you whole. If covered with sin's leprosy, and ashamed to carry into a Presence f-o pure defilement so repulsive, moved witli 10 EJIBLEMS FROM EDEN. compassion He will say, " I -will : be thou clean," and that word of kind omnipotence will make you a new creature. If prostriite in sin's fever, — if tossed with passion, and delirious with wild desire, — He will take you by the hand and raise you up, and, restored and tranquillised, you will be able to minister to the Master. If sick of the palsy, — if bereft of spiritual power, and shut up in the shaking- sepulchre of a dreary and disconsolate exist- ence, trembling for the future, but unable to improve the present, — He will say, " Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee," and like him, who^ strong in the infusion of a celestial happiness, "took up his bed" and departed to his house, the Saviour's par- doning word will fill you with immortal youth, and send you on your way rejoicing. Alexander the Great was dying of a wound which did not seem very dangerous at first, but it baffled his physicians, and was rapidly becoming mortal. One nigiit, how- ever, he dreamed that some one had brought him a peculiar-looking plant, which, when 'ipplied to the festering sore, had cleansed ind closed it. In the morning when he awoke, THE TREE OF LIFE. I 1 he described the plant, and the historian says, that being sought for, it v/as fbitii:! and applied, and the licry wound was healecl. Now, dear reader, your soul has got a deadly hurt. It has been bitten by that old serpent, the devil ; and although the injury may not look alarming at the first, sin has got into the system, and left to yourself you will never recover. The wound gets worse. Your very efforts to heal it, only exasperate it more and more. You have broken the Sabbath ; you have taken God's name in vain ; you have been overtaken Avith strong drink ; you have been guilty of some deed, harsh, cruel, dis- honest ; or you have spoken some word ma- lignant, impious, or untrue : — something has occurred which stounding through your con- science, calls attention to the neglected stab in your nature. And you try to heal it. You lay some flattering unction on the sore. You promise to yourself and to God that you will never do the like again. You form ear- nest purposes, and you sketch out excellent schemes of daily conduct. You bind your- self to a daily task of Bible-reading ; you go iTgularly to church ; perhaps in the hope of 12 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. a decisive benefit, you even force yourself forward to the communion. But nothing comes of it. The damage is too deep. Un- godliness, — the virus that kills the soul, — has got into the blood ; it bounds in every re- bellious pulse, it breathes in every selfish prayer, it converts into a worse disease each self-righteous palliative; and though for a season your conscience may be soothed, the wound is still deadly, your nature is still unrenewed. But despised and rejected of men, there is a tender plant known to God, and revealed in the Gospel, which is able to heal you. It is the Balm of Gilead, — the finished work of Immanuel, the substitution in the sinner's stead, and the satisfaction rendered to Divine justice by God's -beloved Son. In order to obtain its healing essence, they used to wound the Balsam Tree ; and so for our transgres- sions the Saviour was wounded. In order to give forth in one crowning and conclusive act the merit of His life, lie was obedient unto death, and He made His soul an offering for sin. In the fires of Gethsemane " the green tree" burned, and was not consumed ; THE TREE OF LIFE. 13 but in that hour of hot indignation, when His sweat was as great drops of blood falling to the ground, the first drops of this heavenly balm exuded, and when on Calvary His blessed side Avas pierced, the full current followed. The blood then poured forth, meeting as it did the great maxim in Hea- ven's jurisprudence, " Without shedding of blood there is no remission," and bringing to a climax the vicarious sufferings of the Di- vine Redeemer, is often spoken of as if it had been the entire price which purchased re- demption, and is constantly employed as an affecting synonyme for Immanuel's atoning sacrifice. " This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins." " Ye are redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish." " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." With its peace-speaking, soul-cleansing efficacy, this precious blood is the balm which God has provided to restore soundness to the sin-stricken nature. Most usually in the vehicle of some " faithful saying," the Holy f^pirit takes the truth concerning Jesus and C 14 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. applies it to the understanding and tlio heart. In some thoughtful or anxious moment lie sheds a new and endearing light on the sacrifice and intercession of the Saviour ; and, whilst surveying the great appointed Antidote, love, thankfulness, and praise, steal into the mind of the beholder. The aspect of the Godhead is altered ; and, surrendering to the grace of the Gospel, the rebel is sub- dued into a penitent, and the penitent is sur- prised into the gratitude and new obedience of the prodigal restored. As a North- American Indian once de- scribed it to an audience in London : " You know we Indians are great deer-hunters, and when we shoot the deer he runs away as if he was not hurt; but when he gets to the hill, he feels the pain, and he lays down on tliat side where the pain is most severe. Then he feels the pain on the otlier side, and turns over ; and so he wanders about till lie perishes. After I learned to pray, tliat pain in my heart increased more severe. I could not sleep. Like the wounded deer I turned from side to side, and could not rest. At last I got up at one or two o'clock at night, and walked ubouf THE TREE OF LIFE. 15 my room. I made another effort in prayer, and said, * O Jesus, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me ;' and before the break of day, I found that ray heavy heart was taken uway. I felt happy. I felt the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. I found Jesus indeed sweet to my soul." A hundred years ago, there was a vigorous- minded man and an able scholar, the rector of Wintringham in Lincolnshire. Entering the ministry witliout love to God or to tho souls of men, for years he spent his profes- sional income on self-indulgence ; and whilst the pastor amusctd himself, the people perished. At last his conscience was awakened, and as lys conduct grew correct, his preaching be- came earnest and arousing. Still he was ig- norant of " Christ crucified," and as his was not the ministry of reconciHation no effect followed his solemn exhortations. He was vexed at the epistle to the Romans : for, hard as he found it to attain a life of superior .sanctity, St. Paul seemed to make no ac- count of human goodness however eminent ; and although he read Grotius and Ham- mond, thej^ did not resolve his difficulties. 16 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. But being a man of strong native sense, he could not rest in this uncertainty. Accord- ingly, one day he " spread the matter before the Lord," and entreated Him to pity his dis- tress, and guide him by His Holy Spirit into the understanding of the truth. Then taking up his Greek Testament, he read carefully over the first six chapters of the Romans. To his unspeakable astonishment his difficulties disappeared. The righteousness of God was revealed to him. He saw that justification through Jesus Christ alone is the great bur- den of the Gospel, the grand display of God's perfections, and the only piinciple of gen- uine holiness. He rejoiced with exceeding joy. " His conscience was purged from guilt through the atoning blood of Christ, and his heart set at liberty to run the way of God's commandments, in a spirit of filial love and holy delight ; and from that hour Mr. Adam began to preach salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, to man by nature and practice lost, condemned under the law, and, as his own expression is, * Always a sinner.' " But if the balsam of this immortal Tree is renovation to the soul, there is in its very THE TREE OF LIFE. 17 leaves a sanatory virtue. They are " medi- cine." They are " for the healing of the nations." The sayings of Jesus, and the silent charm of his recorded actions, are an influence doing good in the world every day ; and no one can come beneath the Tree of Life but straiglitway his mind is better. Is he carking and care-worn, afraid lest his supplies be cut off, and he be left without a competency ? Then at his feet he gathers a leaf inscribed, " Behold the fowls of the air ; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your Heavenly Father fecdeth them. Seek first the king- dom of God and His righteousness, and take no thought for the morrow." Is he lonely ? mourning friends estranged or buried ? Then amidst a musical whisper overhead there falls flickering into his bosom a leaf which says, " If a man love me, he will keep my words : and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Is he vexed and angry ? fuming at some offence, vowing vengeance for some in- dignity ? Then, like a rose-petal, soft and fragrant, there glides down some memorial of c2 18 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. Calvary, or the fifth petition in a well-rcmcm- bered prayer ; and as it lies upon his heart so calm, his angry spirit cools, and he gets grace to cry, " Father, forgive." For Christ's name sake Mr. Simeon was at one time an object of much scorn and contempt in the University of Cambridge; and it was very trying to be a man so marked, that no one would like to be recognised by him or seen walking with him. One day as he strolled along, weary with continual re- proach and buffet.mg, he prayed that God would send him some cordial in His Word ; and opening his little Testament, the first sentence on which his eye alighted was, " They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name ; him they compelled to bear his cross." Relating the incident, he added, " You know Simon is the same name as Simeon ; and when I read that, I said. Lord, lay it on me, lay it on me ! I will gladly bear the cross for Thy sake. And I thenceforth bound persecution as a wreath of glory round my brow." That was a leaf from the Tree ; and as in the instance of that opportune text, it has often happened that the mourner in Zion has come TUE TREE OF LIFE. 19 into the sanctuary with some matter too hard for him, or with some thorn in the flesh or some wound in his spirit he has sate down to read or to meditate, and, like the leaf brought into the anxious ark by Noali's dove, some faithful saying brought home by the Com- forter, has turned fear into hope, and languor into life, and sent him on his way rejoicing. Nor is it only to the individual believer that these leaves bring healing. At this mo- ment numbers of them are blown about the world ; and although drifted to and fro, soiled, withered, and fiir distant from the Tree, even in their promiscuous flight they have helped to heal the nations. They banished the gla- diatorial games of old Rome, and cured the abominations of classic Paganism. In modern Europe they have extinguished slayery, and around person and property they have thrown a sanction and securities formerly unknown. Even now they mitigate the enormities of war, and with the Sabbath and many softening influences coming in be- twixt Mammon and the toiling million, they win an occasional respite for the bleared eyes and blistered hands of Industry. And even 20 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN, when crushed beneath the careless foot, or draggled in the way-side mire, they still emit Iheir heavenly fragrance ; and although they may ho only quoted to adorn an idle speech or tale, no tongue can tell how much the Saviour's holy words are doing to soften the heart of Humanity and purify the air of Time. But if the leaf of this Tree is for medicine, its fruit is for food to the nations of the saved. The person of Immanuel is the great store- house of the Church's strength and happi- ness ; and it is by apprehending His character and availing ourselves of His kindness that we are to grow in hope towards God and in personal holiness. For although the Tree of Life is now transplanted to the midst of the Upper Paradise, his branches stretch to "this lower ground :" the blessings which He purchased are brought nigh, even to the hand and mouth of sinners here on earth. And as the fruits of this Tree are yielded in twelve- fold succession, there need not be a month in any year, nor a day in any week, in which the soul does not enjoy the tranquillising, invigorating, and sanctifying results of com- munion with the Saviour. THE TREE OF LIFE. 21 In Eastern poetry tliej tell of a wondrous tree, on which grew golden apples and silver bells; and every time the breeze went by and tossed the fragrant branches, a shower of these golden apples fell, and the living bells, they chimed and tinkled forth their airy ravishment. On the Gospel Tree there grow melodious blossoms ; sweeter bells than those which mingled with the pomegranates on Aaron's vest; holy feelings, heaven-taught joys ; and when the wind blowing where he listeth, the south-wind waking, — when the Holy Spirit breathes upon that ssul, there is the shaking down of mellow fruits, and the flow of healthy odours all around, and the gush of sweetest music, whose gentle tones and joyful echoings are wafted through all recesses of the soul. Not easily explained to others, and too ethereal to define, these joys are on that account but' the more delightful. The sweet sense of forgiveness ; the consci- ous exercise of all the devout affections, and grateful and adoring emotions Godward ; the lull of sinful passions, itself ecstatic music; an exulting sense of the security of the well- ordered covenant; the gladness of surety- 9.9. EMI'.LLMS FK03I EDKN". rigliieousness, and the kind Spirit of adoption encouniging you to say, "Abba, Father ;" all the delightful feelings which the Spirit of God increases or creates, and which are summed up in that comprehensive word, — "joy in the Holy Ghost." Such was the happy case of Dr. Doddridge when he wrote as follows to an absent friend : "My days begin, pass, and end in pleasure, and seem short because they are so delightful. •I have more of the presence of God than 1 ever remember. He enables me to live for Him, and to live with Him. When I awake in the morning I address myself to Him. and converse with Him ; and He meets me in my study, in secret and family devotion. It is pleasant to read, pleasant to compose, pleasant to converse with my friends at home, pleasant to visit the sick, the poor ; pleasant to write letters of necessary business by Avhicli any good can be done, and pleasant to preach the Gospel to poor souls ; pleasant in the week to think how near another Sabbath is, and oh ! how much more pleasant to think how near eternity is, and that it is but a step from Earth to Heaven." TIIK TREE OF LIFE. ^3 Were such a state of mind continuous, the beatified existence would become a Heaven on Earth ; and the only reason why it is not continuous is, that we wander away from the Tree of Life ; we forget what Jesus is, or cease to avail ourselves of His intercession. Accepted in the Beloved, and, whatsoever we do, doing it in the name of Christ Jesus, " our days would begin, pass, and end in pleasure." "My Beloved," says the Church, "is as the apple-tree. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Intimacy with the Saviour is happiness, and from that adoring and affec- tionate communion there should be seen to arise a decisive effect on the temper and con- duct. 1. For instance, confidence in God. No man hath seen God, but the only-begotten Son had a most intimate knowledge of the perfections of the Most High ; and that know- ledge filled Him with ineffable complacency. It was His happiness to know that the throne of the universe is occupied by spotless recti- tude, boundless benevolence, and infallible 24 EMBLEMS FKCM EDEN. wisdom ; and in holding communion with God, He held communion with the holiest of happy beings, and the happiest of the holy, and this infinitely holy and happy being His own Father in heaven. Jesus Christ had perfect confidence in God. In all His doings He rejoiced, and in all His require- ments He cheerfully acquiesced, evermore saying, " Father, I thank Thee : Father, Thy will be done ;" and undisturbed by one oppos- ing wish, undeflected by one antagonist in- terest, the mind that was in Christ, and the mind that is in God, were in constant unison. The will of God and the life of Jesus made one music : — the Pattcrn-^Ian and the mani- fested Jehovah, and so a perfect Mediation : — Heaven enshrined in Humanity, and Hu- manity enfolded in the bosom of infinite Love. And whosoever will in meekness sit at Christ's feet will soon learn right views of God's character. The representation of God's disposition, so forgiving, so compassioniite, so fatherly, which He so often gave in His para- bles and discourses ; which was illustrated in His own beneficent career, and at last crowned by His peerless sacrifice ; — when a thoughtful THE TREE OF LIFE. 25 eye has fixed upon it and a candid spirit owned its truth, it works a marvellous trans- formation. Strange prejudices vanish, — pre- judices old as memory and deep as sin ; and in the society of One whom God hails as His beloved Son, and whom the sinner learns to recognise as his own Divine and adorable Brother, views of the unseen Jehovah break in upon the mind akin to those which in- spired and irradiated the Saviour Himself: until in the Maker of vrorlds the spirit finds its truest Father, its kindest and most intimate Friend : until that great and inevitable Being whom the guilty conscience eyed askance as the frowning Spectator of all its actions, and the incubus on all its merriment, becomes the brightness of the present and the hope of the future, the strength of the heart and its portion for ever. 2. An endeared command. To a worldly man the commands of God are briars and thorns. They wound him in his attempt to reach his sinful pleasures, and perhaps he flies into a rage , and kicks against the pricks, — piercing himself through with many sorrows. But just as the naturalist tells us that spines D 26 EMBLEMS rnO.^l EDEN. arc abortive buds, and that if tlicj had been allowed to develope fully, they might have adorned the tree with fragrant blossoms and fair fruits, — so the precepts, which on the dry trunk of Pharisaism stand out as mere prickly prohibitions, expand on the Tree of Life and become equivalent to great and precious pro- mises. Requirements so exceeding broad as the love of God with all the soul, — so very deep as holiness of heart and purity of thought, — so strangely high as good-will to enemies and the repayment of cruelty with kindness ; — commands, which to the man trying to earn his own heaven, are only an interruption and a provocation ; to the believer^ in Jesus are " the mark of a high calling," — the index of the rank to which he himself is yet to rise, — the pledge of eventual perfect holiness. As found on the Tree of Life the thorn has developed into a pleasant fruit, and fraught with his Saviour's love and fragrant with good things to come, the disciple finds it sweet to his taste. 3. Self-denial. Said our Lord, "If any man will be my disciple, let him take up his cross, and deny himself, and follow me." The THE TliEE OF LIFE. 27 fruit of tlie Tree of Life is tonic and invigo- rating, and nowhere is self-denial so easy as in the society of the meek and lowly Re- deemer. But what is self-denial ? Is it sackcloth on the loins ? Is it a wooden block for a pillow? Is it pulse or lentil -pottage for the daily meal ? Is it a crypt or kennel for one's lodging ? Ah no ! In all this flesh- pinching there is often a subtile self-pleasing : but when the temper is up to rule the spirit, and over a "manly revenge" to let Christian magnanimity triumph, — that is self-denial. To take pains with dull children, and with ig- norant and insipid adults, — that is self-denial. To hide from the left hand what the right is doing : to ply the task when fellow-labourers drop away and lookers-on wax few : for the Lord's sake still to follow up the work when the world gives you no credit,— that is self- denial. When you might tell your own ex- ploits, to let another praise you, and not your own lips ; and when a fancy - touch would make a good story a great deal better, to let the "yea" continue simple yea, — that is self-denial. Rather than romantic novel- ties to prefer duty with its sober common- 28 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. place routine, and to stand at your post when the knees are feeble and the heart is faint, — that is self-denial. From personal indulgence, — from the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, to save wherewithal to succour the in- digent and help forward Christ's kingdom on earth, — that is self-denial. ** O cowld we learn tliat sacrifice, What lights would all around us rise! How would our hearts with wisdom talk Along life's dullest, dreariest walk ! We need not bid for cloister'd cell Our neighbour and our work farewell, Nor strive to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky. The t?ivial round, the common task, Would furnish all we ought to ask ; Room to deny ourselves ; a road To bring us daily nearer God." 4. Wandering on the strand, it sometimes happens that the castaway picks up a golden apple or some bright fruit which reminds him of his own sunny clime, and makes him wish that he were there once more. And so when there is winter in his world, — when joy has THE TKEE OF LIFE. 29 fled away and nights are growing dark, the Christian pilgrim sometimes finds at his feet an unexpeeted memento of his heavenly home. It has descended from the Tree of Life, and brought down to Patmos the very air of Pa- radise ; and as he presses to his lips tlic great and precious promise, he can only cry, " Even so, Lord Jesus ; come quickly." He is an exile from Eden, and as there is now little to de- tain him here, he longs "to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." " Do you feel reconciled ? " asked a friend of the dying Payson. " Oh ! that is too cold," he exclaimed. " I rejoice, I triumph. And this happiness will endure as long as God Himself, for it consists in admiring and adoring Him." Or as a few days before he wrote to his sister, " Were I to adopt the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah, of which I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant. The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the river of death, d2 v30 EMBLEMS FRO:^r EDEN. which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, and now he fills the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the beams of the sun, exulting yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this exces- sive brightness, and wondering with unutter- able wonder why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm." A frame of mind like this is the vestibule of heaven ; and as it is in acquaintance with Christ that such blessedness began, so it is in closer communion with the Saviour that this blessedness expands and becomes the joy of a glorified existence. " To him that over- oometh will I grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." The Tree of Life is transplanted, and the old Eden is extinct ; but for His ransomed God has provided some better thing than that ancient Paradise. In the fair climes of that celestial country there is reproduced in a more exalted rendering all that was bright THE TREE OFL IFE. ol ar.d beaiiiiful in Adam's native garden, with this unspeakable enhancement that probation and peril are for ever past and all is now fruition. There is no more curse, and the tears with which our first parents quitted their aboriginal bowers and which since then have been so often shed in quitting a loved home or familiar haunts, will be wiped away on entering a scene whence the inhabitant knows that he will go no more out. The presence of God is no longer limited to the cool of the day, but is itself the day-spring of the glad eternity, — the palpable pervasion and immortal sunshine of the holy place; and " there is no night there." Nor can sin ever enter. No serpent can scale the brilliant battlements, or cross the crystal river, or glide through the green pastures of that blood- bought Paradise ; and the flaming sword which let the ransomed sinner pass, ^nly shuts out the tempter and the fear of evil. Knowing as they are known, overwhelmed with the beatific vision and all those disclo- sures which it wnll require eternity to study and comprehend, there will be no inducement to snatch forbidden fruit or intrude into hid- 32 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. den mysteries ; and now. that the cherub-sen- tinel has changed his station, and now that the Tree of Life grows on either side the river, now that there is no barrier of flesh and blood to interrupt communion with the Saviour, and no sin to hinder access, — the denizen of that free and forgiven country may spend a celestial noon beneath the balmy shadow, and for holier services and yet higher praise may quaff from the clustered boughs fresh draughts of immortal vigour. THE VINE. ** Unity in diversity" is a principle by which the entire creation is pervaded ; and, as the Former of the universe is the Father of our spirits, He has adapted the one to the other ; and whilst the variety is a source of imme- diate and universal enjoyment, the oneness which underlies that variety is to the more thoughtful minds at once the germ of poetry and the root of natural religion. However distinct, and at first sight dis- similar, the objects may appear, a closer in- spection always reveals a latent identity. They are the filling-up of one great plan ; they bear the stamp of the self-same Intel- ligence. And this ultimate identity running through the multiform creation forces on our minds the conviction that the Creator is one, 34 EMBLEMS FUOil EDEN. whilst it reveals His varied benevolence and His boundless resources. As in the expe- riment where the philosopher sowed seeds which grew up green letters,* the materials with which the Eternal writes His name may vary ; but the style of the hand-writing is evermore the same. And whether in illumi- nated characters He paints it on the field, or in starry alphabet bids it flame from the fjice of the firmament ; whether He works it in the curious mosaic of a shell, or in Hebrew letters inscribes it on tables of stone, Devotion recog- nises its Heavenly Father's Hand and adores the matchless autograph. The same principle in the creation, with the corresponding propensity in our own minds, accounts for the force which all feel in analo- gical reasoning, and the delight which most persons derive from metaphorical language. Deep in our nature there exists a tendency to seek amongst all interesting objects points of resemblance ; and when some intuition keener than our own reveeils that resemblance, we bow to its truth or acclaim to its beauty. For instance, when human life is compared to * Dr. Beattie. THE VINE. 35 the course of a river, — cradled in the moss- fringed fountain, tripping gaily through its free and babbling infanc}', swelling into proud and impetuous youth, burdened with the great ships in its sober and utilitarian manhood, and then merging in the ocean of eternity, — who is there that does not sec the resemblance, and in seeing it find his mind richer by at least one bright thought? There may be little resemblance betwixt a clouded sky and the human countenance ; and yet, when that sky opens and lets through the sunshine, we say that it is smiling, and when that dull countenance opens and lets out the soul we say that it is shining ; and in the metaphor we feel that we have given a new animation to the sun, a new glory to " the human face divine." This tendency to metaphor, and the uni- versal delight in parables, comparisons, and figures of speech, are no mere freaks of man's fancy. They have their foundation in the mind and method of Deity, whose thoughts are all in harmony, and whose works and ways are all connected with one another, so that what we call the imagination of the poet, if 36 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. his reading be correct, is really the logic of Omniscience. And -without expatiating far- ther on the subject at present, we may here recall the fact that already the universe con- tains one masterpiece of Infinite Wisdom, in whom all the diversities coexist and make up one matchless unity. In Christ, at once very God and very man, the Father of Eternity, and yet for a season the tenant of the tomb ; in Christ, with His glorified materialism and prai-material divinity, our Brother, and yet the Son of the Highest, the Root and yet the Offspring of David, we have the substance of all shadows, the conciliation of all opposites, the acme of every excellence, the pinnacle of every perfection, the glorious and ultimate Unity in whom centre and coexist the whole of Creation's boundless diversities. Like crea- tures flying through the night, we touch what feels at first a separate leaf or a solitary plant, but it proves to be the outmost twig of a great tree. Traced down a little way, the little twig joins another, and both together spring from a branch, which followed out is found with its twin branch to issue from a goodly bough, till at last all branchinprs and bifurcations THE VINE. ^7 conduct you back to the ultimate unity in the common trunk and central stem. So, every object in Nature, and every incident in Providence, however isolated it may appear for a moment, is found to have relations which link it to some other, and these again have a connexion which leads back to something deeper and still more intimate ; till at last in the Alpha and Omega, the tree of Life Him- self, you reach the source of all variety and the centre of each divergence, the counterpart to every Hebrew type and the key to Nature's mighty emblem. If these views arc correct, — if the Person of Immanuel is that adorable Unity which within itself includes and harmonises all diversities of goodness and beauty, we see that there is a foundation in the nature of things for the typical instruction so abundant in Scripture, and we perceive with what significance it was that Jesus said of Himself, " I am the true Vine." • In applying the types or expounding the symbols of Holy Writ, we may fall into errors of detail, but we are still secure in the general principle. And if wc study them rightly, they will confer a double benefit. 38 EMULEHS FROM EDEN. Like Jacob-, when liis pillovv^ of rock became tlie first step in a staircase wliich ascemled to God and tlie angels, they will make the stones of the field the starting-point of holy medita- tions, and will fill the landscapes of earth with light from Heaven. ^Yere you going early in the year to the banks of the Rhine, you would see the people on every slope busied about some important plant. To your nearer view it looks little better than a wooden peg, a dead and sapless pin. But return in September, and you will find that the wintry peg has shot into a pillar of verdure, and from purple bunches is pour- ing fatness and frngrance on the soil. The shout of the vintage and the brimniing vat explain the labours of the spring. On the hills of Palestine the Heavenly Husbandman planted a goodly vine. But at first it had no form nor comeliness, and pro- mised little. It was a root out of a dry ground, and few expected that it would come to anything. And v»dien its heavenly origin was hinted, in a rage the men of Nazaretli ■cast it over their vineyard- wall, and soon THE VINE. 39 afterwards tlie men of Jerusalem took the tender Plant, and having bruised and tram- pled it under their indignant feet, they hoped that they had destroyed it for ever. But the Heavenly Husbandman did not lose sight of it. He planted it again. This time, how- ever, He concealed it from view. He so con- trived, that though the branches were seen, the vine-stock should no longer be visible. Grafts might be joined to it and fruit might be gathered, but the stem itself was hidden. A few weeks passed on, and a warm rain fell. A sweet and springy odour filled the air. It was the budding of the invisible Vine. It was the tender grape appearing. There were thousands of blossoms ; and from year to year thereafter there was many a glorious vintage. And though rude days have followed ; though the passengers have plucked it, and the persecutor has often torn the branches and burnt them in the fire, the Lord of Hosts will ere long return and visit this His Vine. He will cast out the heathen and plant it. He will prepare room before it, and cause it to take deep root, and fill the earth. The hills of the Millennium will be 40 EMBLEMS FRO:.I EDEN. covered with its shade, and the boughs thereof will be like the goodly cedars. This earth was the land of the curse — it was the world of sin, death, and sorrow, — when God sent His Son. He freighted the Mediator's person with life, righteousness, peace of conscience, and every mercy that a sinner needs. " As the Father hath life in Himself, so did He give to the Son to have life in Himself," and thus furnished with an abundance of life, He sent the Only-Begotten into the world. But the world hated Him. It saw nothing attractive in Him. It rejected the Saviour. It slew Him. But God raised Him again, and withdrew Him out of niorta;! sight. Though now hidden from our view, He remains what He was during the days of His visible Incarnation. He is still the Saviour. He is still the sole repository of heavenly blessings for our guilty and necessitous race. Though invisible, He is the great Vine -stock in which all merit and spiritual vitality reside. It is from His fulness that salvation is derived, and only from the grace that is in Him that we can get anything gracious. Though Him- self unseen. His members are visible. Be- THE VINE. 41 lievers are tlie brandies of this wondrous Vine. At Pentecost they were freshest and fairest. They are, perhaps, equally numerous, but more sparse and straggling noAv. But to see the goodly Vine in its glory, \vc must wait till the present winter is past, and the summer of the cartli is come ; till for pardon and peace willing millions resort to Immanuel, and the rejected Koot has become the Plant of Renown. Those whom- Christ originally addressed were fond of parables, and there was no in- struction v.'hich they more enjoyed than that which was conveyed in emblems and figures. But perhaps your mind has no turn for meta- phor. You are rather confused than assisted by it. You have difficulty in following an allegory where people are compared to the branches of a Vine ; and when Christ speaks of a man being a branch "in Himself," and of "abiding in Himself,"* you do not clearly apprehend it. But with a little con- sideration you will easily make out the main idea. Christ compares Himself to a Vine, and when you remember what a glad and lifesome tree it is, — the tree through which vegetative * See John, xv. 1-10. e2 42 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN vigour pours the fastest and most freely, and the tree with which the most refreshful and exulting associations were connected ; and when you farther recollect that it was to bring abundance of life and felicity that Jesus came into the world, you can see how naturally in this " Tree of Life" Jesus found the emblem of Himself. But this detached and independ- ent vine-sapling which I hold in my hand, — how is it to be made partaker of the life and fatness of the living vine ? By creating the closest connexion possible. You engraft it. You take this leafless rod, and you insert it in the quick vine-stock, and speedily the graft has taken. Fibre by fibre, and- vein by vein the sapling clings and coheres, till the life of the tree is the life of this adopted branch, and the graft buds and blossoms and matures its clusters from the flowing juices of the vine. And Jesus " has life in Himself." He is now a man of joys. He knows that the Father loves Him, and having completed the work given Him to do. He rests again in the Father's bosom, secure in the Father's com- placency, and most blessed for evermore. But here is a dead and sapless soul, here is a THE VINE. 43 spirit to which holy joy is a stranger, and to which God is still unknown as a reconciled God and a loving Father. How is this dead and dreary soul to be made partaker of Christ's life and joy ? By creating the closest possible connexion. That sapless twig lives when united to the Vine. That sinner lives when united to the Saviour. But what is the closest possible connexion between the sinner and the Saviour? It is such a connexion as joins soul to soul. It is such a connexion as joins the feeble and finite soul of the sinner to the holy and Divine soul of the Saviour. It is such a union as confidence and love, con- geniality and dependence, create. It is con- fidence, — for Jesus died that He might bring us unto God, and Avhen a soul is persuaded that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost and resigns itself entirely to Him as a suffi- cient Saviour, — the soul which thus clings to Christ for salvation is by God regarded as one with Christ. A soul which trusts in the Surety will never come into condemnation, for the Surety would thereby be condemned ; and a soul which cleaves to the Lord Jesus for pardon is justified alrciady, for it is now 44 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. part of that Substitute who was justified long ago. And this union is love. You speak of souls that are knit together when they are affectionately attached to one another; and Christ and the Christian are joined by an intense, mutually-pervading, and death-sur- viving love. Accordingly, He Himself calls this union a " continuance in His love." And it is congeniality. When tastes are identical, when persons love the same things and hate the same things, when desires move in concert, when the one treasures up the other's words and tries to anticipate the other's wishes, you say that hearts in such harmony are one spirit. And it is one spirit which fills Christ and the Christian — Christ's '.'words abide in him" (ver. 7). There is many an endeared saying of his Lord hidden in his fondest memory. And these sayings of Christ do not merely alight on him like rain on the vineyard, but live and abide in him like vital sap in the Vine. And these loved sayings and abiding words come out in new obedience (ver. 10), "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love." And it is dependence. Where parties are united in any way to one THE VINE. 45 anotlici', one of whom is greatly superior in strength, or wisdom, or skill, it becomes natural and inevitable . for the inferior to depend on the strength, or wisdom, or skill of that other. Now the believer finds him- self so weak, and ignorant, and sinful, that he is compelled to look to his Lord, in whom all these resources abound. Without Christ he can do nothing. But he has learned to lean on Him, who of God is made to him wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. Without Christ he cannot pacify an offended God ; without Christ he cannot escape the curse of a broken law; without Christ he can do nothing to deliver himself from hell, nor secure his persevering progress to heaven ; without Christ he cannot subdue a single sin nor overcome a single temptation. He dis- covers that it needs an Almighty power to sanctify. " It needs the same power to en- lighten his understanding as gave sight to blind Bartimeus ; it needs the same power to quiet his conscience as said to the tempest, Peace, be still ; it needs the same power to soften his hard and stony heart as melted rivers from the rock ; the same power to con- 46 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. vert his carnal affections into spiritual as changed the water into wine ; the same to subdue his rcbelliouiS passions as expelled the devils from the man possessed ; and the same power to make him pure of heart and fit for glorj as made the leper clean."* And for all holj obedience, he verifies the saying of Jesus, " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me." Wherever a soul believes in Jesus, loves Him, is made one spirit with Him, and depends on Him for wisdom, strength, and righteous- ness, that soul is united to Jesus. That soul is in the Saviour, even as the branch is in the Vine ; that soul is dear to God. It is accepted in the Beloved, and becomes an object of the Father's solicitude and care. And it will experience the benefits of this union. It will be fruitful ; it will be purified ; it will bo powerful in prayer ; for if union to Jesus be salvation, — productiveness, sanctification, and prevalency in prayer, are effects of this union which He Himself has specified. f * Clarkson's Sermons, folio, p. 482. t John, XV. 5, 2, 7. THE VINE. 47 1. The living branch is fruitful. Tho chemist who can analyse the fruit of the vine finds many ingredients there. Of these no single one, nor any two together, would form the juice of the grape ; but the combination of all yields the polished and delicious berry, which every one knows so well. In different climates, and even in diifcrent seasons, the proportion and blending of these constituents may vary, but that is not a good cluster where any is v/anting. The fruit of the true Vine has also been analysed, and in tlie best specimens the nine following ingredients are found (Gal. v. 22) :— LOVii:, GENTLENESS, JOY, GOODNESS, PEACE, FAITH, LONG-SUFFEPvING, MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE. In poor samples there is a deficiency of one or other of these elements. A dry and dimi- nutive sort is lacking in peace and joy. A tart kind, wliicli sets the teeth on edge, owes its austerity to its scanty infusion of gentle- ness, goodness, and meekness. There is a watery, deliquescent sort, which for the want 48 EJIDLEMS FROil EDEN. of long-siifFering is not easily preserved ; and there is a flat variety, which having no body of faith or temperance, answers few useful purposes. Love is the essential principle which is in no case entirely absent ; and by the glistening fulness and rich aroma which its plentiful presence creates, you can recognise the freshest and most generous clusters; whilst the predominance of some other element gives to each its distinguishing flavour, and marks the growth of Eshcol, Sibmah, or Lebanon. (1.) Wherever there is union to Christ there is love. This, as we have said, is the essential principle. Whatever else there be, if there be not love, it profits nothing, it proves nothing. Love to God and our neigh- bour is the essence of piety. It is the body, the basis, the staple clement ; and if the great commandment, and the next greatest be ab- sent, whatever else there be, there is not Christianity. Reader, have you got it ? To Christ's question, "Lovcst thou me?" is it your answer, " Lord, thou knowcst all things, thou knowest that I love thee?" Then, if you love Jesus, you will love Him whose ex- press image Jesus is. To God in Christ, THE VINE. 49 your soul will bo attaclied in gratitude, sub- mission, and complacency. You will not wish Him less lioh^, less rigliteous, less true. Awed by His glorious majesty, and melted by His ineffiible mercy, all that is dust and ashes in you will be humbled, and all that is devout and filial will be kindled into grateful adora- tion. If nothingness and sin bid you be silent, the sight of your Great Representative gone back to the bosom of His Father, inspires you with a joyful assurance and a humble confidence Godward ; and, boldest where you are most abased, beneath the Cross you learn to cry, Abba, Father. You love Him who first loved you, and " feeling it sweet to be ac- cepted of God on any grounds, to be accepted in hir, own beloved Son, you feel is sweeter fjir."* (2.) And joy. The essence of love is attachment. Joy is the happiness of love. It is love exulting. It is love aware of its own felicity, and rioting in riches which it has no fear of exhausting. It is love taking V view of its treasure, and surrendering itself to bliss without foreboding. " God's promises :ippear so strong, so solid, so substantial, more * Nevins' Remains, p. 27. P 50 EMBLEMS FROM EDEX. SO than the rocks and everlasting hills ; and His perfections, what shall I say of tliem? When I think of one, I wish to dwell upon it for ever ; bat another, and another equally glorious, claims a share of admiration ; and when I begin to praise, I wish never to cease, but to find it the commencement of that song which will never end. Very often have I felt as if I could that moment throw oiF the body, without first going to bid them farewell that are at homo in my house. Let who will be rich, or admired,, or prosperous, it is enough for rne that there is such a God as Jehovah, such a Saviour as Jesus, and that they are infinitely and unchangeably glorious and happy!"* And in a similar frame an- other felt, " Were the universe destroyed, and I the only being in it besides God, He is fully adequate to m}^ complete happiness ; and had I been in an African wood, surrounded by venomous serpents, and devouring beasts, and savage men, in such a frame I should be the subject of perfect peace and exalted joy." f (3.) Peace. If joy be love exulting, peace * Payson's Life, cliap, 19. t Memoirs of Rev. S. Pearce. THE VINE. 51 is love reposing. It is love on the green pastures, it is love beside the still waters. It is that great calm which comes over the con- science, when it sees the atonement sulTicient and the Saviour willing. It is unclouded azure in a lake of glass ; it is the soul which Christ has pacified, spread out in serenity and simple faith, and the Lord God, merciful and gracious, smiling over it. (4.) Long-suffering. This is love enduring. K the trial come direct from God, it is enough. It is correction. It is his Heavenly Father's hand, and v/ith Luther the disciple cries, " Strike, Lord, strike. But, oh ! do not for- sake me." If the trial come from Christian brethren, till it be seven-fold seventy times repeated, love to Jesus demands forgiveness. If it come from worldly men, it is the occasion for that magnanimity which recompenses evil with good. And in every case, it is an opportunity for following a Saviour whom sufferings made perfect. That Saviour never loved the Father more intensely, than when His Father's face was hid, and when the bitter cup proclaimed His justice terrible, and His truth severe. One apostle denied Him, and o2 EMBLEMS FKOM EDEN. all the disciples forsook Ilim ; but Jesus prayed for Peter, whilst Peter was cursing, and His love followed the rest, even when they were running away. Jerusalem killed Him ; but in foresight of the guilty deed, it was over Jerusalem that Jesus wept; and when the deed was done, in publishing pardon and the peace of God, it was at Jerusalem that evan- gelists were directed to begin. (5.) Gentleness, or affectionateness.* This is love in society. It is love holding inter- course w^ith those around it. It is that cor- diality of aspect, and that soul of speech, which assure us that kind and earnest hearts may still be met with here below. It is that quiet influence which, like perfumed flame from an alabaster lamp, fills many a home with light and warmth and fragrance all together. It is the carpet, soft and deep, which, whilst it diffuses a look of ample com- fort, deadens many a creaking sound. It is the curtain which from many a beloved form, wards off at once the summer's glow, and the winter's wind. It is the pillow on which sickness lays its head and forgets half its THE VINE. 53 misery, and to wliicli death comes in a balmier dream. It is considerateness. It is tender- ness of feeling. It is warmth of affection. It is promptitude of sympathy. It is love in all its depth, and all its delicacy. It is every melting thing included in that matchless grace, "the gentleness of Christ."* (6.) Goodness or beneficence. Love in action, love Avith its hand at the plough, love with the burden on its back. It is love carry- ing medicine to the sick, and food to the famished. It is love reading the Bible to the blind, and explaining the Gospel to the felon in his cell. It is love at the Sunday class, or in the Ragged-school. It is love at the hovel- door, or sailing far away in the missionary ship. But Avhatever task it undertakes, it is still the same, — Love following His footsteps, " who went about continually doing good." (7.) Faith. Vriiether it means trust in God, or fidelity to principle and duty. Faith is love in the battle-field. It is constancy following hard after God, v.hen the world drags downward, and the flesh cries, '• Halt." It is zeal holding fast sound words when fer- * 2 Cor. X. 1. f2 54 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. vour is costly and sound words are obnoxious. It is firmness marching through fire and through water to the post where duty calls and the captain waits. It is Elijah before Ahab. It is Stephen before the Sanhedrim. It is Luther at Worms. It is the martyr in the flames. Nay, it is a greater than all. — it is Jesus in the desert.* It is Jesus in Gethse- mane. It is Jesus on the cross. And it is whosoever pursuing the path, or finishing the work which God has given him, like the great Forerunner, does not fear to die. (8.) Meekness is love at school, — love at the Saviour's school. It is Christian lowli- hood. It is the disciple learning to know himself; learning to fear, and distrust, and abhor himself. It is the disciple practising the sweet but self-emptying lesson of putting on the Lord Jesus, and finding all his righte- ousness in that righteous Other. It is the disciple learning the defects of his own cha- racter, and taking hints from hostile as well as friendly monitors. It is the disciple pray- ing and watching for the improvement of his talents, the mellowing of his temper, and the * Matt. iv. l-ll. THE VINE. 55 amelioration of his character. It is the loving Christian at the Saviour's feet, learning of Him who is meek and lowly, and finding rest for his own soul. (9.) Temperance, — Love in the gymnasium, love enduring hardness, love seeking to be- come healthful and athletic, love striving for the mastery in all things, and bringing the body under. It is superiority to sen- sual delights, and it is the power of ap- plying resolutely to irksome duties for the Master's sake. It is self-denial and self- control. Fearful lest it should subside to gross carnality, or waste away into shadowy and hectic sentiment, temperance is love alert and timeously astir ; sometimes rising before day for prayer, sometimes spending that day on tasks which laziness or daintiness declines. It is love with girt loins, and dusty feet, and hands which work makes horny. It is love with the empty scrip but the glowing cheek, — love subsisting on pulse and water, but grown so healthful and so hardy, that it " beareth all things, believeth all things, hoiXJth all things, endurcth all things." Header, if you abide in Jesus, — if His 56 EilBLEMS FROM EDEN. words abide in you, you will be neither bar- ren nor unfruitful. Graces such as these will be in you, and abound. Is it so ? The great vine-principle, the main element of the Christ- ian character, holy love, does it abound in you ? And blending with it, tinging it and deriving sweetness from it, can you detect froin time to time joy in God, peace of con- science, patience in suffering, and forgiveness of injury, affectionateness, beneficence, trust in God, and trustworthiness in your place and calling, a lowly willingness to learn and a rea- diness to take up the cross and deny yourself? When Christians live close to Christ His mind is transfused into theirs. " Purity and love shine forth in their character : meekness and truth guide their footsteps. Nay, in the experience of some, so great has been the change, that the very expression of their countenance has altered. Thus was it with Moses and Stephen. These blessed saints were full of God ; Christ was in them of a truth; and his likeness was thus by them peculiarly reflected. Nor is it wonderful that such should sometimes be the case with believers j for, when He thus fills their hearts THE VINE. 57 with His presence, when His peace dwells there; when the calm joy which He felt, when rejoicing in spirit, reigns there ; there must needs be gentleness in their manners, and heavenliness in their talk, and meekness in their eye, and angelic serenity and con- scious elevation in their whole countenance."* 2. Every fruitful branch is purged. " The husbandman purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." It is the propensity of even fruitful branches to wanton into excessive foliage. But besides spoiling the appearance of the vine, the sap spent on the leaves is stolen from the grapes, and the excessive shade keeps out the sun. The husbandman prunes these shoots and suckers away, and while he makes the branch more sightly, he lets the noon-beams freely in, and makes the clusters richer. So is it with the sincerest Christians, In prosperous weather, when all goes well with them, they are apt to flaunt out in world- liness, and luxury, and pride. They grow selfish. They study their own ease. They seek great things for themselves. And the Hus- * " Thoughts on Union to Christ," by Sosthenes. Edin. 1838, p. 213. 08 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. bandman, watcliful and considerate, consult- ing His own glory and the fruitfulness of the Vine, — the Husbandman comes, and with the pruning-shears of some afflictive providence, lops the deforming shoots away. " Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him for ever." This Avas the thought which conveyed reproof and new" quickening to a most amiable Christian,* after her great- est bereavement. " I felt that for the last twelve years I had misunderstood the great object for which I was made ; that, if not my chief, a very high end with me had been to bo happy in my husband and make him happy in me. But now I felt that the highest happi- ness of a rational mind ought to arise, from answering the purpose for which God made it ; and therefore that I ought to be happy in glorifying God, and not in enjoying myself." And it is to this result that every trial with which God visits His people is tending. It is to shut them up to His service as their chief end, and to Himself as their chiefest joy. It is not to hurt but to heal the tree that the husbandman handles the pruning-hook. In * Mrs. Susan Huntington. THE VINE. 59 deep dejection of spirit, ]Mr. Cecil was pacing to and fro in tlie Botanic Garden at Oxford, wlien lie observed a fine specimen of the pomegranate almost cut through the stem. On asking the gardener the reason, he got an an- swer which explained the wounds of his own bleeding spirit. " Sir, this tree used to shoot so strong, that it bore nothing but leaves. I Avas, therefore, obliged to cut it in this man- ner, and when it w^as almost cut through, then it began to bear plenty of fruit." Ye suffer- ing members of Christ, be thankful for every sorrow which weakens a lust or strengthens a grace. Though it should be a cut to the heart, be thankful for every sin and idol shorn away. Be thankful for whatever makes your con- science more tender, your thoughts more spiritual, and your character more consistent. Be thankful that it Avas the pruning-knife and not the weeding-hook which you felt : for if you suffer in Christ, you suffer with Him; and if with Him you suffer, with Him you shall also reign. 3. A third consequence of abiding in Jesus is prevalency in prayer. " If ye abide in me, and ray words abide in you, ye shall ask what 60 EMBLEMS FROM EDEX. ye will, and it shall be done unto you.*' One reason is that Christ's mind and the Father's agree, and Christ's mind is in the constant Cliristian. His will is merged in Christ's 'will ; and instead of the petulant and unrea- sonable requests which worldly or divided liearts are apt to urge, a holy solicitude for God's glory predominates in his prayers. The first petition which his jMaster taught him covers and qualifies all the rest ; and whatso- ever he may ask he will not revoke the pri- mary behest, " Our Father which art in Hea- ven, hallowed be Thy name." The believer who abides in Jesus obtains answers to his prayers, because his sanctified will is apt to desire things according to the will of God. But more than this, abiding in Jesus is near- ness to God. The man who knows not how to use the Mediator's name, may pray from a sense of duty, or under the urgency of present distress. But if mere duty compel him, there is no comfort nor enlargement in the formal exercise ; or if distress constrain him, coming as a stranger, there is no confidence in his approach, and he has no security that God has lieard liim. He stands in the empty vestibule, TIIK VINK. 61 and without obtaining a glance of the Sove- reign, at last leaves his petition, uncertain whether it shall ever reach its destination. The sinner who comes in the name of Jesus is ushered at once to the Throne of Grace, and obtains the propitious ear of an all- sufficient God. And the sinner who abides in Jesus, who habituallj comes in the Inter- cessor's name, finds in prayer not only en- trance to the palace of the King, but access to that Father whom Clirist has taught him to regard with the affectionate security and tender reverence of a child. Prayer is his daily visit to his Heavenly Fatlier's dwelling — the hallowed chamber whose door the name of Jesus opens — the sweet and endeared closet where day by day he has told his griefs and fears, and Avants and sins, and from which he has oft departed rich in daily grace and radiant in his Heavenly Father's smile. Reader, beloved and longed-for, have you understood these things? Do you not allow- that your own soul is naturally fruitless and lifeless ? Do you not confess that you have no more right to immortality, and no more power for holiness, than the severed sapling G 62 EMBLE^rS FROM EDEX. has power to blossom and bear fruit so long as it abides alone ? But do you equally per- ceive that Jesus is the true Vine ? Are you persuaded that there is so much life in Him, that if you could only share His life you would live also ? so much merit in Him, that if it could only be made your own you would be righteous also ? so much holy energy in Him, that could it only be imparted to you, you too would have a spiritual mind, and would delight in doing the will of God ? Do you perceive that Christ Jesus is the great Kepository of justifying Righteousness and sanctifying grace ? Do you distinctly realise these two things — that you yourself are empty, and that in the Lord Jesus all fulness dwells ? But how is the empty scion to profit by the teeming Vine ? How is a connexion to be created betwixt the Mediator's fulness and your own vacuity? How is it that Christ and you shall become so truly one that His beauty shall be on you and His spirit within you ? We have already said that it is by be- lieving Him, loving Him, copying from Him, and depending on Him. A shorter answer is His own. It is by letting Christ's word enter THE VINE. 63 and abide. The disciples were made genuine, " clean," — they got the real Vine-nature from the moment when they admitted Christ's words into willing hearts. And you too will be clean, the graft will strike, from the mo- ment when you credit the word of Jesus. Should you credit that saying of Jesus, " God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlast- ing life ; " or should you comply with that other saying of Jesus, " Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ;" should you abandon yourself to all the blessedness of believing what the True Witness says ; should you suffer your weary soul this day to sink into the arms of that Saviour who rejoices to pardon and is mighty to save — the first entrance of such a word, and the first response of such a faith, would be the date of your better life and the commencement of your union to Christ. — The graft has taken. At first the junc- ture may be very slight, a single thread or fibre ; and it is not till you try to part them that you find that they are knit together — 64 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. that tlieir life is one — and tliat the force which plucks away the graft must also wound the Vine. And your faith may yet be no more than a single filament. It may be only one point of attachment by which you have got joined to the Lord Jesus. It may be only one solitary sentence — one isolated invi- tation or promise of which you have got un- doubting hold. But hold it fast. If it be the word of Jesus cling to it. There is life in it, and, held fast, it will be life to you. One promise of Jesus credited, one invitation of Jesus accepted, is enough to make such union betwixt Himself and you, that the vio- lence which sunders, if death to you, would be a bleeding heart to Him. Hold fast the faithful saying then, and as you cling to it you will draw closer and closer to the living Vine. The surface of quick contact will en- large, and as thread by thread, and vein by vein it widens, as word by word and line by line the sayings of Jesus get hidden in your heart, the tokens of vitality will become to yourself and others joyfully distinct. And though you may fear to-day that you have no interest in Christ — think no more of that 5 THE VINE. 65 think of what He says. Believe Him sted- fastly ; and as sure as He came into the world to save sinners, He will save you. Cleave to His assurances in all their breadth, and though you may feel yourself little better than a re- probate at present, you will be a trophy of redeeming grace in the ages to come. And though you see no fruits of the Spirit yet, let Christ's word abide in you, and you will see them anon. And though you dread lest the faint hold you have got may end in a falling away, hold on till the feeble contact of this moment grow into a complete coalescence, and in joyful assurance of oneness with a sin- pardoning and sanctifying Saviour, you will be able to exclaim, " I am persuaded that nei- ther death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." o2 THE CEDAR. The rigliteous shall grow like the cedar." Lebanon has sometimes been regarded as a typo of Jesus Christ. Among surrounding mountains the loftiest and fairest, it may suggest to a devout and willing mind that iMighty One, who is fairer than all His fel- lows.* Its roots of everlasting rock, on the one side struck deep in Palestine, and on the other side reaching far into the Pagan lands, are like that righteousness, "great as the mountains," which the Con of God wrought out for Jews and Gentilcs,f and like the Rock of Ages Himself, amidst His supremacy of power and wisdom, still partaker with His brethren. The streams of water trickling down its slopes, and gushing through its fra- grant glens, may give a hint of heavenly iuflu- * Vs. xlv. 2, t Ps. xxxvi. 6; Rom. i. 17. THE CEDAK. 67 ences, and the Holy Spirit, through the Saviour's wounded side, flowing down to redeemed souls and onward to a widening Church. Its coronet of snow, glancing in the sunny sky, is like that snowy hair* — the halo of enshrined Divinity— which marks the Son of Man in heaven ; whilst its verdant ladder, linking heaven to earth, brings to remembrance the incarnation and Iramanuel, " God with us." The corn which gilds its ample skirts, the vines which empurple its royal robe, and the starry blossoms which spangle it all over, may shadow the various joys which have sprung up the memorial of Messiah's advent. But it is not the corn nor the vine nor the lily which is the glory of Lebanon. It is Lebanon growing and waving and scattering fragrance in the cedar, — it is the vegetating rock — the arborescent mount- ain, — it is this which is Lebanon's glory. And it is not European civilisation and the march of liberty and the diffusion of refine- ment and learning; nor are they the inci- dental benefits resulting from His advent which bring the brightest lustre to the name * Rev. i. 14. 68 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. of Jesus. But it is His Spirit embodied — His hidden life again appearing in some be- neficent, resolute, lofty believer, — it is the Christ-like Christian who is the glorj of Christ. The first thing that strikes us in the cedar is the firmness of its root. It is not content to drop a few slack fibres into the yielding loam ; but it thrusts its sturdy wedge into the cloven rock, and pushes far below the brushwood in search of stronger moorings; and so when the tempest comes down, it springs elastic to the hurricane on its but- tress of subterraneous boughs, and amid all the veerings of the blast finds gallant pur- chase in its network of cables. The cedar has a root. The Christian has faith. He knows whom to believe, and he knows that he believes Him. He is well persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners. He is fully assured that Christ's blood cleanseth from all sin, and has efficacy enough to cancel his own. He knows that Christ ofiers to be a Saviour to himself, and he thankfully consents that He shall. And as his mind is made up on the sin-atoning THE OEDAK. 69 efficacy and God- glorifying tendency of the decease accomplished at Jerusalem, he is equally persuaded of the surpassing loveliness and peerless claims of Immanuel Himself. He has discovered so much of grace and truth, so much of Divine glory and trans- forming goodness in the Beloved of the Fa- ther, and is so affected by finding that this Saviour is willing to be his guide through life and his portion in eternity, that his choice is fixed and his heart is won. For him to live will be Christ. And so the beginning of all blessedness is to possess clear views and a conclusive faith. Some depre- cate distinct ideas. They prefer music with- out words — the goodly sound of the Gospel without its significance. And if they have fiiith, it is faith in confusion — faith without solid foundation. If they be cedars, they are cedars planted in mud — cedars in the sand. The cedars of Lebanon are rooted in the wiry sod, and rivetted in the mountain rock. Know what to believe, and why. Read and hear and think and pray till your realisations be vivid and your convictions sure and stead- fast. Never rest till you know beyond all con- 70 EMliLEMS FROM EDEN. troversy, if you do not know it already, that the Bible is God's book — nor till you exactly understand and can easily state the one way of salvation. Never rest till you be able to intrust your everlasting interests to Jesus Christ, nor till you have some clear evidence that you are born again, and so made meet for the kingdom of heaven. Never rest till you know that your Redeemer liveth, nor till you feel that because He liv^eth you shall live also. " Your case will be very trying if ever called to part with all for Christ, and not sure of him either." And your departure from time will be dismal, if it be only the force of sickness that drives you away and not the face of Jesus that draws you — if you see plainly the grisly hand and the levelled shaft of the destroyer to fly from, but not the ojDen arms and smiling embrace of the Saviour to leap into. The cedar is a thirsty tree. It is distin- guished from many of its kindred by its avarice of water. We once saw two of them at Chelsea, which were said to have grown rapidly for a hundred years, till two ponds in the garden were filled with rubbish — after THE CEDATl. ^ 71 which they grew no more. And we remem- bered the words of Ezekiel, "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and a shadowing shroud. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high. His boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of the multitude of waters. All the fowls of hea- ven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt great nations. Thus fair was his grandeur, for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, the fir-trees were not like him, all the trees of Eden envied him."* And so there are Christians planted by the rivers, — believers of stately growth and lux- uriant shadow, — so tall that, even in the garden of God, and among the cedars, they cannot be hid. For clcar-cyed, time-pene- trating faith, such an overtopping saint was Abraham, who athwart the expanse of nine- teen centuries could see Christ's day, and exult with a disciple's joy. For prompt gra- * Ez. xxxi. 3-9. 72 EMBLKMS FROM EDEN. titude and ecstatic adoration, such an exalted saint -was David, whose "glorying" slept so lightly that the softest touch awoke it,* and whose palpitating psaltery was so accustomed to Ilallelujdis, that sorrow struck them out as readily as joy, and oft as he changed the cords the loyal harp would only sing the praises of Jehovah. For high-hearted de- votion to his God, sue! I an elevated saint was Daniel, whose lofty statesmanship, and spot- less career, and lovely bearing to his bre- thren, were but the various expressions of the self-same; thing to which he owed his mi- raculous escapes and his frequent revelations, — " O man greatly beloved, thy prayer is heard." And for burning love to Jesus Christ, self-forgetful, self-consuming, such a pre-eminent saint was Paul, to whom the beloved image of his Master shone in every type and shadow of the old economy ; who could trace the myrrh-dropping fingers on the tongs and snuffers of the tabernacle; who could hear the voice of Jesus through the roar of the Adriatic, and lean upon His arm before Nero's judgment-scat; to whom the * Psalm Ivii. 8. THE CEDAR. 73 aflliction in Avhicli Christ came was more welcome than an angel visitor, and as the summons to Christ's presence, death itself the object of desire. Such noble and com- manding characters have there been, that none could hide them, and none were like them, and under the awe or the attraction of their goodness, good men wished to resemble them. " The trees of Eden envied them." It is not only Secretary Cecil w^lio could have changed the palace for the preacher's cot- tage, rightly declaring, " There dwells as much happiness as can be known on earth ;" but men of God have been provoked to press forward by the higher attainments of their brethren. " In one I have been animated by ardent activity for the glory of Christ, and the salvation of souls. In another I was pleased and softened by conspicuous meekness and gentleness of spirit. In a third, I was excited to love and good works by the fer- vent charity and brotherly kindness I beheld; and in a fourth, I w^as led to abase myself, and confess the pride of my heart, from the humility and brokenness of spirit which struck me." But when you come to look H 74 emble:.is fko:^i edex. closely into the matter, and inquire to what secret cause these lofty cedars owe their growth ; whence is it that their influential and impressive characters have derived their admirable grace, you ahvays find that com- munion with God is the comprehensive source of their pre-eminent piety. They are abun- dant in religious exercises. They are mighty in the Scriptures. They are men of prayer. They are frequenters of the sanctuary. They are lovers of Christian fellowship. They are delighted observers of the Sabbath. But, after all, ordinances are to them but avenues or audience chambers. It is a Bible in which God speaks, a closet in which God hearkens, a sanctuary in which God's coun- tenance shines, w^hich they desire of the Lord, «,nd seek to attain. And finding these, they find the living God Himself. Their fel- lowship is with the Father and the Son. They grow into the knowledge of the Divine perfections. They grow in reverence and trust and love. They groAv in perceptions of their own infinite vileness, and conse- quently in appreciation of the blood which jmrdoji^j and the Spirit who cleanses. They Tin: CHDAH. 75 grow in self-distrust, and in dependence on God. They grow in self-condemnation, and in desire for that world where they will sin no more. And whilst they are solidly growing in these inward experiences, they have, unawares to themselves, expanded the long branches and shadowing shroud of a great cedar. They have become the ad- miration and resort of others. The aiFections of many nestle in their boughs, and under their shadow dwell those who seek to profit by their counsel and their company. And just as there is growth in the multitude of waters, so there is decrepitude and decay where the waters fail. Like the Chelsea cedars, you will meet with professors who, for many years together, have not grown an inch. The rubbish of secularity or idleness has filled up the two pools of Bible reading and secret prayer ; and a stunted top, and a bundle of scrubby branches, a form of god- liness, and a few Evangelical phrases, are all that remains to commemorate tlieir better days and prosperous beginning. Another thing notable in the cedar is the vigour of its goodly boughs. Some trees, eo E:«inM:.MS f::o.'.i ed:;x. especially trees of the forest, growing in groups, liave frnizile bouc^lis, and cannot abide in bleak and v/indy place?. But tlie cedar is not more remarkable for the depth of its roots than for the strength of its branches. Not grafFed on nor jointed in, but the brawny limbs deep-rooted in the massy bole, presenting a broad surface to the sun, and a thin edge to the tempest, too elastic to snap, and too sturdily set in their socket to flutter in the breeze, these boughs are the very emblem of graceful strength and vi- gorous majesty. The Christian is a man ol* faith, and therefore a man of principle. His creed is principle. His practice i§ the same. Roots and branches make one tree ; and faith and practice make one Christian. And those are the noblest and most serviceable Christians v/hose convictions are so firm, and whose characters are so strong, that nothing can affright them from their faith, and nothing deter them from their duty. In this respect, that fjither of the Church was a goodly cedar, Avho, when nearly the whole of Christendom had yielded to the God-denying lieresy, lifted up in banishment his solitary THE CEDAR. 77 vDice, proclaiming the Saviour's Deity, ^^Atha- nasius contra mundum.'^ And they were goodly cedars those Waldensian worthies, who, amid the rocks and snows of Piedmont, through five-and-thirty persecutions, held fast the faith of Jesus, and though gashed by the Savoyard spear, and scor( hcd by the Romish fagot, carried down from earliest time to the present hour Christ's pure Gospel. And he was a goodly cedar that Knox, who never feared the face of man. The fire of sur- rounding martyrdoms but warmed his roots, and gave a rush of quicker zeal to his fervent spirit ; and whilst the axe of tyrants threat- ened, he firmly stood his ground till the idols fell, and the evangel flourished, and Scotland was free. And so was that Saxon Luther, whom the Emperor and his legions tried to terrify, but in the strength of God he came on them so mighty, that men and devils were dismayed; — that Luther whom the Pope's emissary tried to bribe, but was obliged to write back to his master, " This German beast has no regard for gold." And so were those goodly cedars, Huss and Jerome and Ridley and Patrick Hamilton, and many II 2 / 8 E.AIBLEMS FROM EDEN. more, who counted their lives not dear that they might keep the testimony of Jesus ; and amidst flames and torture finished their joyful course, — goodly cedars, which burning were not consumed. And not to multiply instances of confessor courage and martyr heroism, it is the self -same holy energy and decision of Christian character, which have developed in self-denying services and costly sacrifices. Franckc devoting all his time and all his fortune to his Orphan Hospital; — Yander- kemp, labouring as a brickmakcr tliat he might be better fitted for his mission to the Hottentots; — the "Apostle of the Indians," wringing the rain-water from his clothes, and lying all night in the forest with nothing but a tree to shelter him; — Richard Baxter, refusing a bishopric ; — John Wesley, pre- ferring active labour to the preparation of a pamphlet in his own defence, " Brother, when I devoted to God my ease, my time, my life, did I except my reputation?" — those in v^hom Christian principle has been so strong, that at its bidding they have abandoned lucrative situations and tempting prospects, that they miglit keep holy the THE CEDAK. 79 Sabbath, tliat tliey might preserve inviohitc honesty, truthfulness, and integrity, that they might maintain a conscience void of offence ; all these have put forth in their day the strength of the goodly cedar. The cedar " grows " from year to year. The solid timber of its trunk grows denser and more compact, and new layers are added to its girth, so that when it is eventually felled, you can almost say, by counting the concentric rings, how many summers it has seen. A living Christian grows. His cha- racter confirms. Duties, which when first performed w^ere a crucifixion of the flesh and a triumph of faith, become easy and familiar habits. Promises, the fulfilment of which he at first credited on the mere authority of God, have now received the yea and amen of a long experience. In the homely words of Robert Bruce, " When I w^as young the Lord compelled me to live by faith, but now He feeds His old servant with great morsels of sense." Religion has become his better and more beauteous nature. He is past the danger of being ashamed of Christ. The awkwardness and fear of man, which made 80 EMBLEMS FROM EDEN. him once so fond of obscurity, and so afraid of the Jews, have passed away, and he is no longer averse to be ranked among the pecu- liar people, and regarded as a disciple of Jesus. There are apologies which he has ceased to make, and difficulties which he has ceased to feel. The lions of his youth have disappeared from the street, and the grass- hopper, which was a burden to his early faith, is no disturbance to his maturer piety. There are sins which no longer beset him, and fears which no longer distress him. He has outgrown the spirit of speculation and controversy, and in meek docility sits down at the Master's feet, listening to — Thus saith the Lord. He has lost the desire for theo- logical novelties and religious curiosities, and is only anxious for such new things as come out of the old Bible Treasury. He has outlived the dogmatism and harsh judg- ing of his sanguine prime, and no longer calls for fire from heaven on the Samaritans. He has left behind him the vanity which gave an air of flippnacy and self-conceit to his earlier efforts, and raised a prejudice against himself, if not a distaste at religion. TITE CEDAK. 81 Anil, perhaps, he lias outlived the fear of dying. At one time there Avas something ghastly in the look of the last enemy : but now, looking unto Jesus, he has learned to look beyond it. " There is something in the heart of Christ, and something in my own, which will not be at rest till I be set down upon Mount Zion. My eyes are turning gladly toAvards death, as the only sure period of His absence, and of these agonies of sepa- ration."* Reader, would you knoAv whether you are gro-wing in grace ? improving and advancing in personal Christianity ? Then tell us. Is your faith more firm? Have the truths to which you once consented strengthened into settled convictions ? Have they become first principles, and do they instinctively prompt you to corresponding action ? Is your piety more pervasive ? Does it decide your con- duct, and give the casting vote in doubtful conjunctures of your history? "Does it regulate your daily demeanour as a husband, wife, parent, child, master, servant? Does it come abroad with you, out of your closets * Letters of Dr. John Love. 82 EMBLEMS FROM EDKX. into your houses, your shops, your fields ? Does it journey with you, and buy and sell for you ?" Does it stand at your elbow, and keep watch at the door of your lips? Is your heart larger? Instead of looking merely on your own things, have you learned to look on the things of others ? Do you love the brotherhood ? And however much you may prize your own denomination, do you rejoice to hear that godliness revives and religion spreads in other communions ? Have you a public spirit ? — a missionary spirit ? — a spirit of zeal ? In the efforts made to pro- tect the Sabbath, to educate the ignorant, to reclaim the vicious, and ameliorate the condition of the working classes, do your whole souls accord ? Have the present ob- jects of philanthropy and patriotism your suffrage, your sympathy, your prayers ? But, above all, does your love to the Lord Jesus grow ? Whether it be in this world or an- other that you first expect to see Him as He is, do you desire the sight? Do you dis- tinctly feel that the same Saviour who was such a disappointment to the Pharisees, and who, after He had been so long time with THE CEDAR. 83 them, was so little known by Philip and Thomas and the rest, — are you sure that He is just the Saviour whom you desire, the very one whose presence will make, in any place, your heaven ? Have you beheld His glory, full of grace and truth ; and has that glory so inflamed your spirit that, like the ship to its haven, like the needle to its magnet, like the dove to its window, your soul will only reach its final rest when it comes home to Himself to depart no more ? The Maronites ascribe a singular faculty to the cedar. They say that on the approach of snowy weather it bends its branches up- wards, so as to receive the falling flakes on the sides of a slender pyramid.* Prepared for the tempest, it only looks more graceful under it, and the storm which could not rend * A French traveller of last century relates this, and apparently believes it. The cedar does not retain its self-protecting instinct in this country. There was a noble specimen in the Royal Gardens at Kew, on which a few winters ago the snow lay so heavy, that one windy ni^ht its great branches fractured, with a report so loud that the villagers mistook it for the firin