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 I 
 
 
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 OUR DEVOTIONAL 
 EXAMPLE 
 
 ZUCK 
 
 
 »««i$mW*i«t«»m«»JW*»tt«»V.tm*'^;4r;?11^^^ 
 
£ibrar;p of Che trheolo^icd ^tmin<xry 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 •S^D* 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Rufus H. LeFevre 
 
Cljrtgt €>ur 
 2>e\)otional example 
 
Clje 2Det)ottonal ^tvits 
 
 The Christian's Power . . . F. P. Rosseloi 
 
 Bible Study and Devotion . H. A. Thompson 
 
 Prayer, a Means of Spiritual Growth . . 
 
 N. E. Cornetet 
 
 Selections from Devotional Writings of 
 
 Madame Guyon . . . . D. D. Loivery 
 
 Love As a Motive M. B. Spayd 
 
 Sorrow; Its Worth, Its Cure . J. A. Haivkini 
 
 Bible Doctrine of Devotion . E. S. Bonuman 
 
 Christ Our Devotional Example . W. J. Zuck 
 
 The Holy Spirit in the Devout Life . . 
 
 I. L. Ktphart 
 
 Conduct; Its Relation to the Devotional 
 
 Life J. T. Spangler 
 
 Each l6mo, Cloth Fifty Cents 
 
 anntttd Steti)ten publi^liins '^oMt 
 
 Vf. R. Funk, jtt*nt DAYTON. OHIO 
 
Cljrtst #ur 
 Bebottonal example 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM JOHNSTON ZUCK, A.M., D.D. 
 
 I 
 
 UNITED BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 
 W. R. Funk, Agtnt DAYTON, OHIO 
 
So ^p Wiitt 
 
 3fel 
 
jFoteUiotD 
 
 The devotional life is defined in 
 Scripture phrase as one in which the 
 mind is set "on the things that are 
 above, not on the things that are upon 
 the earth.'' It is a "life hid with Christ 
 in God.'' We are in the world, but we 
 are not to be of the world. 
 
 Many Christians have found to their 
 great delight that this high ideal is pos- 
 sible and worthy of attainment. Our 
 religion is not a creed, not a mere pro- 
 fession, not a garment that may be 
 taken off and put on at pleasure. It is 
 a life; life implies development; and 
 the higher the form of life, the greater 
 is the need of care and cultivation. We 
 shall never know the best of our relig- 
 ious experience until we have learned 
 to grow each day in sweet and tender 
 fellowship with Jesus Christ. 
 
 We are sometimes told that the 
 Christian life does not always appear 
 to be a happy one. The reason is 
 
 7 
 
ifotttootd 
 
 mainly this : We give so little time to 
 "the things that are above." The 
 measure of our joy and power is the 
 constancy and intensity of our devo- 
 tion. We must make real to ourselves 
 the truth that it is "in Him we live, 
 and move, and have our being," 
 
 The following pages are studies in 
 the devotional life of Christ. They are 
 by no means exhaustive. Much more 
 could have been written upon each, and 
 upon other phases of that matchless 
 life of service and devotion. May every 
 reader of this little book consciously 
 find growing within him the desire to 
 be more like Him who said, "I am the 
 way, and the truth, and the life." 
 
Contentjaf 
 
 Content0 
 
 Foreword 
 I The Words of God 
 II TiLii Aiiij Bk Fulfilled 
 
 III The Secret Place 
 
 IV With Nature 
 V It Is Written 
 
 VI Teach Us to Pray 
 VII In the Public Place 
 VIII The Religion of Obscurity 
 IX Be Not Anxious 
 X My Father's Business 
 XI Many Mansions 
 
KnttoDuctorg 
 
 Man shall not live hy hread alone, 
 hut hy every word that proceedeth out 
 of the mouth of God. 
 
Where shall we find a perfect life whereby 
 To shape our lives for all eternity? 
 
 This man is great and wise ; the world reveres him ; 
 
 Reveres, but cannot love his heart of stone ; 
 And so it dares not follow, though it fears him, 
 
 But bids him walk his mountain path alone. 
 
 That man is good and gentle ; all men love him, 
 Yet dare not ask his feeble arm for aid ; 
 
 The world's best work is ever far above him ; 
 He shrinks beneath the storm-capped mountain's 
 shade. 
 
 O loveless strength! O strengthless love! the 
 Master, 
 
 Whose life shall shape our lives, is not as thou ; 
 Sweet Friend in peace, strong Savior in disaster. 
 
 Our heart of hearts infolds Thine image now ! 
 
 Be Christ's the fair and perfect life, whereby 
 We shape our lives for all eternity. 
 
 — Charles F. Richardson. 
 
^^t Moth0 ot (BoH 
 
 Cl)e WiotW of (S^oD 
 
 Jesus taught that we have souls to 
 be fed, as well as bodies. Our life does 
 not depend on bread alone, but on the 
 sovereign will and good pleasure of 
 God. At the very threshold of His 
 career, Jesus acknowledged that trust 
 in God's words is the source of life and 
 power. To repel doubt and conquer 
 the enemy. He relied upon God's words, 
 and so must we. 
 
 If we wish to understand and appre- 
 ciate the devotional element in the life 
 of Jesus, the best and purest man that 
 ever lived, it will be necessary to study 
 briefly the history of His people, their 
 religious instincts and spirits, as vrell 
 as the conditions of His own time and 
 nature. This will naturally lead us 
 into the pages of the Old Testament, 
 Christ's one text-book of devotion. 
 
 13 
 
C5ti0t SDut i3DebottonaI (Ejeample 
 
 With it He was thoroughly familiar 
 and in perfect sympath}^, and it prob- 
 ably did more than we can ever tell 
 to mold His thought and shape His 
 plans. 
 
 Any history of the Hebrew people, 
 or of any great man of that people, 
 must lay much emphasis on the ele- 
 ment of devotion. The quiet, medita- 
 tive religious life finds its highest type 
 and product in the race chosen by God 
 from all the nations to be His own 
 choice possession. Other elements they 
 had in common with the most culti- 
 vated and aggressive races in ancient 
 times, but the religious element was 
 their distinctive inheritance and crown 
 of glory. It is, perhaps, true that these 
 people were, in many instances, more 
 religious than moral, as judged by mod- 
 ern standards; but we must remember 
 that their ideas and conduct were the 
 product not so much of training and 
 education as of impulse. Their liter- 
 ature is distinguished from all others 
 by its religious fervor and enthusiasm. 
 
 14 
 
^Se ^ortJ0 ot (Boo 
 
 In the patriarchal age, religious life 
 was characterized by depth and sim- 
 plicity. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
 were children in their knowledge and 
 practice of ethics ; but in their sense of 
 God and His presence with them, in 
 His concern in all the affairs of their 
 lives, molding and determining them, 
 these men were profound, and put us 
 moderns to shame. He walked with 
 them, spoke to them, and at all times 
 was their abiding Friend. The strength 
 and depth of their character grew out 
 of the fact that their lives were rooted 
 in God, and by meditation and face- 
 to-face converse with Him, their deep- 
 est yearnings and longings were fully 
 satisfied. 
 
 We have moved far away from the 
 simple trust and familiarity of the 
 patriarchs. To-day we talk about God 
 as "law" and "principle" and "idea" 
 and "doctrine," and very little of Him 
 as Friend and Counsellor. If we know 
 more of systems of ethics and morals, 
 we know less of religion in this deepest 
 
 15 
 
C(ti0t SDnt SDebotional (Csample 
 
 sense of His abiding presence in all the 
 shifting scenes of life. To see and 
 know God as a personal Friend is far 
 more than to know Him as First Cause 
 or Ultimate Reason. 
 
 This close and familiar intercourse 
 with God was followed by a period 
 quite different in its devotional ele- 
 ments. The simplicity and directness 
 of the patriarchal age gave way to the 
 complex and regal splendor of national 
 organization. The altar was now 
 merged in the tabernacle, and later 
 still the latter in the temple. God^s 
 presence was now manifested in thun- 
 dering Sinai, in fiery and cloudy pillar, 
 in bleeding victim, in burning incense. 
 For many long years the process of 
 religious training went on, sometimes 
 slowly and sometimes rapidly, but 
 never entirely lost from the conscious- 
 ness of the individual or of the nation. 
 Purity of heart and a clean life are 
 the deepest lessons of Leviticus, and 
 must have been the longing of earnest 
 devotion. It v/ould be impossible not 
 
 16 
 
%tt I121lorti0 ot (Eo( 
 
 to see the spiritual significance of tab- 
 ernacle and temple, with their elab- 
 orate service, and not be touched with 
 these object-lessons in which so much 
 was revealed of the character of God 
 and the destiny of man. 
 
 But the religious life of the Old Tes- 
 tament is richest in the Psalms, and the 
 so-called Wisdom Books, — Job, Prov- 
 erbs, and Ecclesiastes. All of these 
 are in poetic form, and to be appreci- 
 ated must be read as poetry. Some 
 attention, too, must be given to the 
 literary structure, for the most deeply 
 spiritual trains of thought are often 
 reflected in parallelism of clauses, or 
 in the literary effects of climax or sur- 
 prise. Students of literature know 
 that poetry is the language of the emo- 
 tions, and because religion lays hold of 
 the deepest emotions of the human 
 soul, and is made to vibrate under its 
 impulses as the pendulum swings to 
 and fro, it is not difficult to understand 
 why the truest and deepest devotion 
 expresses itself in song. The poetry of 
 
 2 17 
 
the Bible in this respect far surpasses 
 the noblest products of the most culti- 
 vated Indo-Germanic races, the Greek, 
 the Roman, and the Hindu. No one 
 will dispute the statement, "No poetry 
 has such power over the souls of men 
 as Hebrew poetry." The subjective ele- 
 ment, the vibrating chords of the poet^s 
 own emotions, the varied phases of his 
 own experience, are all given in such 
 fullness of utterance in the Psalter, 
 Proverbs, and Book of Job, that these 
 books will constitute the world's 
 library of devotion for all time. They 
 are world-wide in their sway, and ever- 
 lasting in their sweep. 
 
 These lyric poems express every 
 phase of religious feeling. They 
 abound in adoration and praise, hu- 
 miliation and confession. The poet 
 sings of joy and sorrow, faith and hope, 
 love and hate ; the conflicts of life, with 
 its agony and despair, and not less, 
 indeed, its ecstasy and exaltation, are 
 given as the common experience of 
 humanity. The Book of Proverbs gives 
 
 18 
 
%it motti$i ot (Soti 
 
 expression to the thought, which is 
 itself a result of meditation and reflec- 
 tion on the great problem of life, that 
 righteousness and prosperity in this 
 life go hand-in-hand; the good man is 
 favored by God, and the wicked man 
 suffers. The Book of Job presents an 
 apparent exception in the story of a 
 man who has always been good and 
 upright, so acknowledged in the coun- 
 cils of heaven, and yet is made to suffer 
 on an ash-heap the pangs of physical 
 pain and the scorn of friends. The 
 problem of suffering receives ample 
 treatment and solution, but of deeper 
 interest is the crisis of the soul in its 
 longing after God, and its final and 
 complete rest in Him. Ecclesiastes is 
 another apparent exception to the 
 truth of Proverbs, — a man prosperous 
 in all that the world calls success^ and 
 happiness, but what the wise man pro- 
 nounces "vanity of vanities." 
 
 Another phase of the devotional ele- 
 ment in the Old Testament is seen in 
 the life and work of the prophets. 
 
 19 
 
These men were seers, religious ideal- 
 ists, and whether they spoke to the 
 individual or to the nation, it was 
 always with a "thus saith the Lord." 
 The prophets were the teachers and 
 preachers of their times, and they dis- 
 tinctly claim that it is the word of God 
 which they speak. There were many 
 ways in which He spoke to them and 
 revealed His will. In the purest stage 
 of prophecy, the best idea of the proph- 
 ets' relation to God is seen in their 
 earnest devotion and rapt spiritual 
 communion with Him. They inter- 
 ceded with God, and many times the 
 communication of a revelation to them 
 is called an "answer," — the same ex- 
 pression that is used in regard to 
 prayer. Their fellowship with Him 
 was intimate; His Spirit was upon 
 them, giving them discernment, coun- 
 sel, and authority. They were power- 
 ful, because personal piety, such as 
 belonged to them, was a great creative 
 force; the sense of their near relation 
 to God made them strong and influ- 
 
 20 
 
Tlfit mxotr^^ ot (Bod 
 
 ential in matters political as well as 
 religious. 
 
 The devotional spirit has thus found 
 its outward expression in these many 
 ways, marked, of course, by differences 
 depending on the great religious move- 
 ments of the age, and yet alike in all 
 essential respects, because man's need 
 of God has never changed. The world 
 has been longing for God, and God has 
 been pleased to reveal Himself in many 
 ways. He has always spoken to man, 
 and there have always been many 
 devout hearts to hear His words. Gra- 
 ciously have they fallen upon our ears 
 and comforted our hearts. But the 
 best word, the most glorious message 
 He has ever sent to this poor world, is 
 that expressed in Jesus Christ. To 
 Him we are to look for the truest ex- 
 ample of the devotional life, and in 
 Him, as we shall study His life and 
 words, we shall hope to find our high- 
 est and purest ideal of the religious 
 spirit. 
 
 21 
 
I am not come to destroy, "but to fulfilL 
 
Children of yesterday, 
 
 Heirs of to-morrow, 
 What are you weaving. 
 
 Labor and sorrow? 
 Look to your looms again! 
 
 Faster and faster 
 Fly the great shuttles 
 
 Prepared by the Master; 
 Life's in the loom; 
 Room for it — ^room. 
 
 — Unknown, 
 
tEill mi U JfuIfilUtt 
 
 II 
 Ctll ail be JFuUilleD 
 
 It is easy to exaggerate the differ- 
 ence between the Old Testament and 
 the New. Indeed, it would be better 
 not to speak of their difference, except 
 that which is always implied in any 
 process of evolution. Jesus puts them 
 in their proper relation, and gives to 
 each its proper setting. He accepted 
 the Old without any reservation : "Ver- 
 ily I say unto you, Till heaven and 
 earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall 
 in no wise pass from the law, till all be 
 fulfilled." The difference, therefore, is 
 not the result of a revolutionary move- 
 ment. The Old was to pass away, not 
 by destruction, but by fulfillment; the 
 bud is fulfilled in the rose. 
 
 It was true with Christ, as it is true 
 with us, that He was the product of the 
 past. The far-off gaze of patriarch and 
 
 25 
 
€W^t SDnt SDebotional (Csample 
 
 prophet was the earnest of satisfied 
 longings and fulfilled desires that 
 already linked their present with the 
 future. "Your father Abraham re- 
 joiced to see mj day : and he saw it, and 
 was glad''; and good old Simeon felt 
 the same thrill of gladness, when he 
 said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy 
 servant depart in peace, according to 
 thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy 
 salvation." What a disappointment it 
 would have been, had Jesus announced 
 at the inauguration of His kingdom an 
 entirely new constitution and program. 
 But that is never the divine principle 
 of action. God has always recognized 
 some good in the existing order of 
 things, and His method has been that 
 of education or evolution. In this 
 sense, Jesus was the fulfillment of the 
 past. 
 
 Christ did not, then, break faith with 
 the past, simply because it was the past. 
 He had not only respect for it, but even 
 veneration, and insists that His follow- 
 ers shall have the same. For those who 
 
 26 
 
'Eill m fie mtilltn 
 
 kept insisting that righteousness must 
 conform even to the minutest details of 
 law, including its traditions, He had 
 words of censure. He would have "the 
 whole body full of light," not simply 
 "the tips of the fingers." It was said, 
 indeed, that He was setting aside the 
 old customs and beliefs, and was thus 
 destroying their force; but in reality 
 He accepted the old covenant more 
 cordially and thoroughly than did those 
 whom He censured. The kingdom of 
 God as introduced by Christ was built 
 upon foundations that had long been 
 laid. 
 
 Humanly speaking, Jesus could not 
 have done without the long and event- 
 ful history of His people. That history, 
 with its varying scenes of spiritual 
 advance and decline, its great prob- 
 lems and its great men, was not only 
 familiar to Him, but was a part of Him. 
 He lived upon its prophecies, was 
 inspired by its hopes, and used to 
 the fullest extent its materials. It 
 prompted much of His thinking, ap- 
 
 27 
 
€W^t SDnt S>tbotional C^^ample 
 
 pealed to His imagination, and dom- 
 inated His meditations. With the trials 
 and temptations that came to Him as 
 "He went on His way/' the Old Testa- 
 ment furnished the discipline that 
 made Him perfect. He could not and 
 did not break with the old. 
 
 More, indeed, than we think, does the 
 past have to do with our spiritual long- 
 ings. No man can escape it, and he 
 should have no desire to do so. It may 
 be a help or a hindrance, as one pleases 
 to make it. What we are, we owe 
 to it and to those who have lived and 
 wrought so well. The man who thinks 
 little of the past, and who fails to 
 appreciate its worth to him, is little 
 more than a savage. Our lives are 
 enriched by the labor and sacrifice, by 
 the hopes and fears, by the joys and 
 sorrows of the men and women who 
 have lived and died. "They rest from 
 their labors, but their works do follow 
 them." 
 
 Much of our peace and happiness 
 will depend on right adjustments with 
 
 28 
 
%m mi bt mtiiitn 
 
 the past and present. One of the most 
 beautiful things in life is to grow old 
 and keep sweet, — sweet with the ever- 
 changing world, sweet with the new 
 and untried notions of many, many 
 minds. How hard it is for some to be 
 reconciled to the new order of things! 
 The good old days seem to many to be 
 passing away, and with them, to some 
 at least, the most blessed experiences 
 of life. But why should we thus rob 
 ourselves of the joy of fulfilled desires? 
 God does not wish our present to be 
 marred by gloomy and distrustful views 
 of the past. He would rather have us 
 remember that 
 
 "through the ages one increasing pur- 
 pose runs. 
 
 And the thoughts of men are widened with the 
 process of the suns." 
 
 Jesus came not to destroy, but to 
 fulfill, and we must take Him at His 
 word. His life and work were thus a 
 part of a whole, one feature of a great 
 plan, reaching backward as well as 
 forward. And God's plan for this 
 
 29 
 
€W^t SDut SDetiotional C^xampU 
 
 world includes your life and mine. 
 There is some place in which He wishes 
 us to work, some task for the doing of 
 which we shall be held responsible. 
 We are appointed, it may be, to com- 
 plete another's work, to fulfill the 
 earlier prophecy of some one unknown 
 to any but God Himself. But, like 
 Christ, our work in the world, in its 
 relation to the past, will be rather con- 
 structive than destructive. Is it too 
 much to say that, in the quiet hours of 
 His meditation, the great problems of 
 His life, as it looked toward the past 
 and the future, pressed in upon Him? 
 Was His attitude toward the future 
 more perplexing than that towards the 
 past? Certainly not, if we may judge 
 from the importance he attached to 
 the laying of foundations. He was 
 the Master-Builder, because the super- 
 structure must have no foundations of 
 hay and stubble; and the foundation 
 upon which He built was the eternal 
 purpose of God as revealed in the suc- 
 cession of the ages. 
 
 30 
 
'Jtill m be iultilleti 
 
 There is precious comfort in the 
 thought that after while all shall be 
 fulfilled. ^Tor now we see in a mirror, 
 darkly; but then face to face: now I 
 know in part; but then shall I know 
 fully, even as also I was fully known." 
 The time is coming when there will be 
 no past, no present, no future, to en- 
 gage our thought and serious concern ; 
 in the presence of Him who is "the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and forever," 
 and with whom "one day is as a thou- 
 sand years, and a thousand years as 
 one day," we shall be beyond the reach 
 of change, and in possession of com- 
 plete and perfect knowledge. Let us 
 patiently await His time who said, 
 "Till all be fulfilled." 
 
 31 
 
Enter into thine inner chamhery and having shut 
 thy door, pray. 
 
Have you and I to-day 
 Stood silent as with Christ, apart from joy, or fray 
 Of life, to see His face; 
 To look, if but a moment, in its grace, 
 And grow, by brief companionship, more true 
 More nerved to lead, to dare, to do 
 For Him at any cost? Have we to-day 
 Found time, in thought, our hand to lay 
 In His, and thus compare 
 His will with ours, and wear 
 The impress of His wish? Be sure 
 Such contact will endure 
 Throughout the day; will help us walk erect 
 Through storm and flood ; detect 
 Within the hidden life sin's dross, its stain; 
 Revive a thought of love for Him again ; 
 Steady the steps which waver ; help us see 
 The footpath meant for you, and me. 
 
 — Unknown. 
 
%it &ttttt ^Utt 
 
 III 
 
 C6e Secret Place 
 
 Christ emphasized in His teaching 
 and by His example the private life of 
 devotion much more than the public 
 life of worship. Both are of great 
 value to spiritual growth and enjoy- 
 ment, and will need cultivation for the 
 highest results. 
 
 The inner chamber is but one form 
 of private devotion, and the Savior 
 must have found it helpful in His 
 own experience, or he would not have 
 commended it so urgently upon His 
 disciples. No rule of conduct and no 
 principle of the deepest spirituality 
 was urged by Him upon others which 
 He had not first tried. His need was 
 as great as ours, and with more ear- 
 nestness and sincerity than we can ever 
 command He searched for the best 
 and surest paths of progress. When 
 
 35 
 
€W^t SDnt SDebottonal example 
 
 He tells us, therefore, to close all the 
 doors that open to the world around 
 us, and to sit down in a face-to-face 
 interview with the Father, we shall 
 expect it to be in some way a source of 
 delight and strength. 
 
 One thing is very sure to happen 
 when we have closed the door and are 
 alone with God — we shall at least be 
 honest with ourselves. It is not easy 
 to be strictly honest in the presence of 
 the great crowd; we are not our real 
 and truest selves when we know that 
 the world is watching us, and drawing 
 its conclusions from the premises of 
 our actions and words. Indeed there 
 are not many of us who are willing to 
 reveal our real selves to our nearest 
 and dearest friends. There is within 
 each one of us a holy of holies, into 
 which we allow no one to enter but the 
 high priest of our own personality. 
 Much as we love our dearest earthly 
 friends, we are loth to tell them all our 
 thoughts and temptations and aspira- 
 tions; and yet to the extent that we 
 
 36 
 
%it &ttm ^latt 
 
 have learned to do this with our dearest 
 friend, whom we can take with us be- 
 hind the closed door, and to whom we 
 are willing to disclose our most secret 
 selves, have we found the highest com- 
 munion possible, except that with the 
 Father himself. With Him there is 
 nothing to be gained by our withhold- 
 ing anything, for He knows it already ; 
 and when we recognize this great truth, 
 and know that He is our sympathizing 
 and truest Friend, the door of the 
 secret chamber will close many times, 
 and shut the world outside. The rev- 
 elation of ourselves to ourselves in the 
 presence of Him who knows us al- 
 together, will be neither distracting 
 nor disheartening. 
 
 The inner chamber will also be a 
 means of strength. Every soul has its 
 own struggles, and, in a sense, must 
 fight them alone; not alone, indeed, if 
 he has found this secret place of spirit- 
 ual power and grace. We are not 
 stronger in the front of battle than is 
 our strength in the quiet and still 
 
 37 
 
CStfet SDm SDebotfonal (Example 
 
 hours of meditation. It has been said 
 that every life that would be mighty 
 must know what it is to muse. This 
 is the necessary preparation for active 
 service. Silence and solitude will 
 dispel our vanity of spirit, and show us 
 the weak places in our spiritual armor, 
 better than the fiery darts of the enemy 
 in life's actual conflicts. He has not 
 learned to fight well in the open who 
 has not first been trained in secret in 
 all the habiliments and maneuvers of 
 war. "In thy chamber thou shalt find 
 what abroad thou shalt too often lose." 
 If Jesus so often avoided the multi- 
 tude, and taught His disciples so to do, 
 shall we not likewise accustom our- 
 selves in our deepest longings to be 
 alone? Life has many calls and makes 
 many demands, but none is more im- 
 perative than some time every day to 
 shut the door. The busiest man or 
 woman will find more time, rather than 
 less, of advantage and enjoyment. The 
 greatest wrong Christians are bringing 
 upon themselves to-day is that they 
 
 38 
 
%it Secret Place 
 
 never shut the door upon the world. 
 We have no time for anything but our 
 business; the gross things of life 
 consume our energies and leave only 
 the blackened ruins of unsatisfied spir- 
 itual cravings. Better, far better, less 
 of the world, and more of God. Yes, 
 we must see Him alone and tell Him of 
 our failures, our desires, our successes ; 
 and when, from behind the door which 
 has shut out the tumults of the world 
 and its incessant and disheartening 
 strife, we hear His voice in tones of 
 command, correction, or approval, the 
 path outside will be the easier and the 
 smoother. Another has said, "Stay 
 with Him in thy closet; for thou shalt 
 not find so great peace anywhere else." 
 As I write these lines, it comes to me 
 with a power I have never felt before 
 how easy it is for us to sit behind the 
 shut door with an absent friend. The 
 one I love best is many miles away, and 
 yet she has been constantly in my 
 thought, early and late, in the busiest 
 hours of the day and in the silent 
 
 39 
 
€W0t SDnt SDebatfonal C^EampIe 
 
 watches of the night. Scarcely a task 
 has been commenced or finished that 
 she has not known all about, if thought 
 can bridge the rivers and climb the 
 mountains. I have seen her go about 
 her daily work, have heard her voice in 
 song, have pictured the family group 
 in the distant home ; and these thoughts 
 of her have been my joy and strength. 
 
 Something like this is what Jesus 
 means when He asks us to shut the 
 door and talk with Him. Is it not just 
 as easy to think of Him, and to recall 
 His words and deeds of love among 
 men? May we not have as clear a 
 picture of our Christ hanging on the 
 walls of our memory as we have of our 
 dearest earthly friend? Yes, we have 
 seen Him, and talked with Him. The 
 inner chamber, the closed door, are 
 blessed realities. 
 
 40 
 
Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, 
 and rest a while. 
 
Out of the earthly good which Thou hast given, 
 The beauty and the blessedness which be, 
 
 How shall I gather up and take to heaven 
 Thine own, with usury? 
 
 How shall I give Thee back the morning splendor. 
 Purple of folding mists, and sunset glow? 
 
 What answer at Thy judgment shall I render 
 For Thy white Gelds of snow? 
 
 What reckoning wilt Thou ask me for the roses, 
 The lilies of the field, and goldenrod? 
 
 The treasure of Thy woods when spring uncloses 
 How shall I give Thee, God? 
 
 Set Thou Thy hand upon my spirit, sealing 
 Thy parables of sun and flower and frost, 
 
 That in Thy day of reckoning and revealing 
 Not one of them be lost. 
 
 Wrought in my heart by holy transmutation, 
 Bloomed in my soul for other souls to see, 
 
 Let me give back the beauty of creation — 
 Thine own, with usury. 
 
 — Mabel Earlc. 
 
mit^ il3atute 
 
 IV 
 mitt iQatute 
 
 Weary and worn with labor, and sad 
 in heart because of the word that His 
 disciples had brought Him concerning 
 the cruel blow that had fallen upon 
 John, Christ crossed the sea to be in a 
 desert place apart. The death of the 
 forerunner was a crisis in the life of 
 our Lord, for its meaning was felt 
 much more bj Him than by any or all 
 of the disciples. The great preacher of 
 righteousness had met a most tragic 
 end, and the Christ was now left alone 
 to carry on the work which John had so 
 auspiciously begun. 
 
 But why does Jesus go to the desert? 
 It was not a desolate, barren waste 
 where He sought refuge. The "wilder- 
 ness" of the temptation, and the "desert 
 place apart" were lonely, uninhabited 
 regions, remote from the dwellings of 
 
 43 
 
C|)ti0t SDnt SDebotional (E^eample 
 
 men and the highways of commerce. 
 We know this to be true, for in this 
 desert place He commanded the hungry 
 multitudes that followed Him from the 
 towns and cities to sit down on the 
 grass before He fed them. In the 
 shadow of His great bereavement, and 
 in the still deeper shadow of His own 
 death throwing itself across His path- 
 way, He must be alone with nature and 
 with nature's God ; and yet not entirely 
 alone, for the little boat carried with 
 Him across the sea to the quiet retreat 
 the little band of returned mission- 
 aries. 
 
 In all of this we see another form or 
 phase of Christ's religious life. His 
 sympathy with nature was keen and 
 abundant. Think of the many illus- 
 trations drawn from nature and used 
 so freely in all His talks with the 
 people. The heavens, the earth, the 
 sea, and even their depths, did not 
 escape His thoughtful and reverent 
 study. The birds, the flowers, the grass, 
 the fish, the rocks, the mountains, all 
 
 44 
 
Wiiti Batnte 
 
 appeal to that love which draws us in 
 tenderness to the great heart of nature. 
 His spiritual life responded in no little 
 measure to the beauty and power of the 
 natural world. 
 
 And it should be so with us. Our too 
 strenuous and grasping life makes us 
 forget our mother earth. Wordsworth 
 has sweetly said : 
 
 "The world is too much with us ; late and soon, 
 Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers ; 
 Little we see in nature that is ours ; 
 We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 
 This sea that bares her bosom to the moon ; 
 The winds that will be howling at all hours, 
 And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, 
 For this, for everything, we are out of tune, 
 It moves us not." 
 
 Long ago, the Hebrew poet sang : 
 
 "The heavens declare the glory of God; 
 And the firmament showeth his handiwork." 
 
 In beautiful phrase of poetic prose, 
 the old prophet Isaiah declares : 
 
 "The mountains and the hills shall break forth 
 before you into singing, and all the trees of the 
 field shall clap their hands." 
 
 45 
 
€iti^t SDnt SDebotional €%amplt 
 
 And so we do not wonder that Jesus 
 Himself, who was the greatest of all 
 poets and seers, found refreshment in 
 the thought that God fed the birds and 
 clothed the grass of the field with 
 beauty. 
 
 Oh, how much of quiet but deep and 
 abiding joy we lose when we have lost 
 our love for nature. There is no mem- 
 ory of childhood days that clings more 
 tenaciously to our advancing years 
 than the walks and rambles along the 
 streams and in the woods. But we 
 may, if we will, carry with us into 
 middle life and old age these precious 
 communings with nature. We wrong 
 ourselves if we do not read God's mes- 
 sage in the physical world about us. 
 Surely He does not mean that we 
 should think of it only as the gross 
 material upon which we are to concen- 
 trate our activities for base and ignoble 
 ends. There is something in common 
 between nature and man, and what can 
 it be except that they are made each for 
 the other by one common hand? 
 
 46 
 
mitb Bsitntt 
 
 There are some who would have us 
 believe that God has abandoned the 
 world, as a man would forsake a worn- 
 out machine. It cannot be. He is not 
 far away from a world so beautiful as 
 ours. In the morning of its creation, 
 He said it was very good, and it has 
 lost none of the features it then had. 
 Nature is still the expression of His 
 will and character, and to the medi- 
 tative soul it has a tender voice. Even 
 in its rougher moods, in the howling of 
 the tempest and the flashing of the 
 lightnings, there is food for hungry 
 souls. 
 
 What may we not find in the devout 
 contemplation of nature! How many 
 lessons we may learn to guide the paths 
 we make through life! For nature is 
 a great teacher, and we do well to stop 
 our mad rush for gain and glory to 
 put ourselves under so wise tuition. 
 Nowhere can we better learn that 
 God's ways are better than our ways, 
 and His thoughts than our thoughts. 
 To chasten and soften the spirit that is 
 
 47 
 
CJrfet flDur 2Debotional (Ciample 
 
 made hard by contact with the unsym- 
 pathetic world of mankind, to purify 
 and ennoble the emotions and affec- 
 tions which become dull, if not indeed 
 quite dead, by the routine of life's 
 cares, there is no book more easily 
 accessible and powerful than that 
 which is spread out before us in land- 
 scape and sky. 
 
 He, indeed, is happy who can follow 
 his Master into the desert place apart. 
 When Christ was about to have some 
 new and strange experience, it was His 
 custom, as one has said, "to step back 
 a pace or two, like some runner about 
 to take a leap." So it was with Moses, 
 Elijah, and John the Baptist. So it 
 has been with the heroes of our religion 
 in all ages. If we would be like Him, 
 we shall find strength and comfort in 
 the fields and woods, by the streams 
 and lakes, among the trees and fiowers. 
 
 "On that day went Jesus out of the 
 house, and sat by the seaside.'' Can 
 we not see Him there, pondering deeply 
 the future of His work? Bead what 
 
 48 
 
mm iRatutt 
 
 follows that first verse of the thirteenth 
 chapter of Matthew^s Gospel. After 
 the crowd had broken into the Savior's 
 quiet retreat, from a little boat on the 
 placid and glimmering sea He spoke 
 that marvelous series of parables which 
 set forth, not only the nature of the ob- 
 stacles to the kingdom He had come on 
 earth to establish, but also its certain 
 growth and final consummation. 
 
 Blessed sea was that to have so much 
 of the Master's presence! He must 
 have found along its shores that which 
 calmed His spirit and made Him hope- 
 ful. 
 
 "And when I read the thrilling love 
 Of Him who walked upon the sea, 
 I long, oh, how I long once more 
 To follow Him in Galilee. 
 
 "O Galilee, sweet Galilee, 
 Where Jesus loved so much to be; 
 O Galilee, blue Galilee, 
 Come sing thy song again to me." 
 
 49 
 
Ye search the scriptures, hecause ye think that 
 in them ye have eternal life; and these are they 
 which 'bear witness of me. 
 
There *s One whose life I love to read, 
 Such truth was His, such gracious deed ! 
 It met the common people 's need ; 
 Where'er He was, a crowd would be, 
 On Jordan's banks, beside the sea, 
 Or in the ways of Galilee. 
 The words He spake, the works He did. 
 Were light, and '*He could not be hid." 
 
 Sometimes I fancy I 'm among 
 That eager Galilean throng 
 Who followed Jesus all day long ; 
 
 They followed Him His gifts to share?; 
 
 The sinful, sick, and poor were there. 
 
 Charmed by His wisdom, love, and care. 
 
 The words He spake, the works He did. 
 
 Were light, and "He could not be hid." 
 
 He taught what all men want to know 
 While they are pilgrims here below. 
 Exposed to sickness, sin, and woe ; 
 How foul disease may find a cure. 
 How sinful hearts may be made pure, 
 And life, eternal life, made sure. 
 The words He spake, the works He did. 
 Were light, and "He could not be hid." 
 
 That Life of Light has gone away. 
 
 But He has left His church to stay. 
 
 To shine until the final day ; 
 
 For this dark world a beaming light. 
 Becoming every year more bright, 
 To banish wholly pagan night. 
 
 The church which does as Jesus did 
 
 Is light, and it cannot be hid. 
 
 — William T. Sleeper. 
 
Jt i0 Written 
 
 V 
 
 3t f0 mtitten 
 
 It is not strange at all that Jesus 
 was familiar with the Old-Testament 
 Scriptures, the Bible of His day. We 
 need not ask by what means, or at what 
 age He learned to read it ; the fact that 
 He knew the history of His people, that 
 He quoted so frequently from these 
 sacred books, that much of His style 
 and vocabulary is drawn from Old-Tes- 
 tament writers, is evidence sufficient 
 that it had become a large part of His 
 thought and meditation. The reader 
 of the Gospels in the Revised Version 
 will see at a glance the frequent use 
 Christ made of these old writings. 
 
 This is not the place to discuss the 
 relation of the New Testament to the 
 Old, and yet it is worth while, perhaps, 
 to say that Christ's use of the Old has 
 helped vastly to show their unity. Es- 
 
 53 
 
€W^i flDut SDetJotional (Eiampk 
 
 peciallj is this true of the value He 
 placed upon the Scriptures as a means 
 of spiritual culture. He was very clear 
 in His statement that they bore witness 
 of Him, but searching the Scriptures 
 did not always result in finding Him. 
 It seems to be true that even in His 
 day there was some Bible study that 
 was not always profitable, for it missed 
 the mark of revealing Jesus Christ to 
 the hearts of men, and subsequently 
 the result was their refusing to accept 
 Him as their Lord. Plainly did He say 
 to the generation of that time, "For if 
 ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; 
 for he wrote of me. But if ye believe 
 not his writings, how shall ye believe 
 my words?" 
 
 But how did Christ become familiar 
 with the contents and the spiritual in- 
 terpretation of the Old Testament? 
 Let us grant that He had a spiritual 
 insight it is not possible for sinful be- 
 ings to have. It may be that having 
 no sin, not because it was impossible 
 for Him to sin, but because He refused 
 
 54 
 
Jt fe mmun 
 
 to yield to sin, Christ found the road to 
 the Father easier than it will be for any 
 of us. We shall not take away from 
 Christ the intellectual supremacy that 
 belongs to Him. But if His endow- 
 ments were greater, it would not be 
 surprising if His needs and tempta- 
 tions were greater also. Highly organ- 
 ized beings are a hundredfold more 
 sensitive to external and internal influ- 
 ences than the lower and more simple. 
 Even Christ was made perfect through 
 suffering, so that His load was not 
 easy. His burden was not light; He 
 needed strength and comfort as we 
 need them in working out the problems 
 of our life and destiny. 
 
 If Jesus was thus human as well as 
 divine, He would follow every road 
 that would fortify and satisfy His na- 
 ture. This alone explains His wonder- 
 ful familiarity with and reliance upon 
 Scripture. He hurled against Satan 
 the words that God had written; He 
 confounded the Pharisees again and 
 again by quoting in confirmation of 
 
 55 
 
€W&t SDnt SDebotfonal CS^ampIe 
 
 His work their own trusted documents. 
 Sometimes He thus strengthened the 
 wavering faith of His disciples, and re- 
 buked the murmurings of His enemies. 
 In the crisis of physical and mental 
 suffering on the cross, there springs 
 to His lips the cry of the psalmist in 
 the dark and lonely hour of anguish. 
 And after His resurrection, the little 
 band that took with Him that after- 
 noon walk to Emmaus did not soon 
 forget the way in which He had opened 
 to them the Scriptures, just as the as- 
 sembled multitude at Nazareth a few 
 months before wondered at the gra- 
 cious words that proceeded out of His 
 mouth. No one there that day knew 
 so well the meaning of that marvelous 
 prophecy of Isaiah concerning Him- 
 self. 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that the de- 
 voutest Christians are diligent stu- 
 dents of the Word. No faith can be so 
 strong that it will not need some sup- 
 port, and, indeed, the stronger the 
 faith, the more intrenched it is in the 
 
 56 
 
It (0 mtitun 
 
 great truths of the Scriptures. Com- 
 munion with God through His Word 
 is not only a duty, a means of grace, 
 but it is a great delight. The words of 
 Jesus are meat and drink to those 
 whose souls hunger and thirst for Him. 
 "The words that I speak unto you, they 
 are Spirit, and they are life.'' 
 
 When we come to measure our relig- 
 ious experience, we shall find nothing 
 to occupy so large a place as our knowl- 
 edge of and appropriation of the Bible. 
 As an interpreter of life, it furnishes a 
 standard for conduct, and constantly 
 reminds us, what we are too prone to 
 forget, that Christ has come into the 
 world to give us not only life, but the 
 abundant life. In the crises and emer- 
 gencies of life, there is no other source 
 of comfort that brings us peace. Be- 
 fore the light which comes from the 
 Bible, the darkest clouds that can 
 gather above and around us disappear. 
 The Bible finds us in every condition, 
 and finds us in the deepest longings 
 and yearnings of our spiritual needs. 
 
 57 
 
€W0t SDixt JD^botional (Example 
 
 Have we not found it, indeed, to be the 
 guide of our life in youth, in manhood, 
 in old age? 
 
 What we get out of the Bible will 
 depend altogether on the purpose and 
 method of our study. So many Chris- 
 tians have said that it does not interest 
 them; they cannot find its beauties, 
 and even while they read it, their minds 
 are elsewhere. They admit that others 
 can discover glorious truths and help- 
 ful lessons, but they cannot. It is true 
 that none of us will find all its beauties 
 and blessings, but it need not be a 
 sealed book to any one who is really; 
 anxious to find its hidden treasures. 
 We value and appreciate a book the 
 author of which we know, and in the 
 subject of which we have an interest. 
 May this not suggest the reason why 
 Bible study has not found favor with 
 many? If we do not really know 
 Christ, if we have not made Him the 
 companion of our daily toil and the 
 sharer of all our joys and sorrows, we 
 are not likely to put a very high esti- 
 
 58 
 
Jt 10 mtitttn 
 
 mate upon His words ; but to those who 
 have been joined personally to Jesus 
 Christ has come a joy from the reading 
 and study of His Word that they would 
 not exchange for all this world. 
 
 The study of the Bible as a means of 
 grace is the highest achievement of all. 
 We must come to it with attention, 
 with prayer, with appreciation, with 
 discriminating judgment, with appro- 
 priating faith. Of all these, the most 
 essential, perhaps, is the spirit of 
 prayer, for prayer will bring us 
 through the words of Scripture into 
 the presence of God. Difficulties will 
 then vanish, and doubt will lose its 
 power; the printed page will then be 
 radiant with light, and the heart will 
 find what it most needs. The listening 
 ear will hear the voice of God. 
 
 Shall we not as a means of grace, as 
 a source of comfort, as a real delight, 
 meditate more and more upon the 
 blessed truths of the Word of God and 
 incarnate them in our lives! Then 
 shall we become living epistles, little 
 
 59 
 
Cfitfet SDnt SDebotfonal (Eiamplt 
 
 Bibles, known and read of our fellow- 
 men. This very day, this very night, 
 may we open the Book with new pur- 
 pose of heart to find God. 
 
 "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! 
 Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!'* 
 
 60 
 
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. 
 
Be not afraid to pray, — to pray is right. 
 
 Pray, if thou canst, with hope ; but ever pray, 
 
 Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay; 
 
 Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. 
 
 Far is the time remote from human sight 
 
 When war and discord on the earth shall cease; 
 
 Yet every prayer for universal peace 
 
 Avails the blessed time to expedite. 
 
 Whate'er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven, 
 
 Though it be what thou canst not hope to see ; 
 
 Pray to be perfect, though material leaven 
 
 Forbid the spirit so on earth to be ; 
 
 But if for any wish thou darest not pray, 
 
 Then pray to God to cast that wish away. 
 
 — Hartley Coleridge. 
 
'JteacS Wi0 to Ptas 
 
 VI 
 
 Ceacf) Us to Ptap 
 
 The reader of the Gospels has often 
 noticed the emphasis placed upon 
 prayer by Christ in His teaching, and 
 not less the fact that Christ himself 
 was much given to prayer. It seems 
 all the more surprising when we re- 
 member that He was sinless, and that 
 at no time did He ever repent for any 
 word or deed. There are many evi- 
 dences that He felt all the limitations 
 of humanity, and, therefore, the sense 
 of dependence was as keen in Him as 
 it is in us. It was in His prayer-life 
 that this dependence was most mani- 
 fest, and if Jesus felt the need of prayer 
 to calm and strengthen His spirit, how 
 much more do we need it in the storm 
 and stress of our wayward life ! 
 
 We find many more references to 
 prayer in private than to prayer in 
 
 63 
 
CJtfet SDnt S>tbotioml (E^Eample 
 
 public. Some are willing to contend 
 that He never prayed with others, but 
 always before others, or for others, or 
 alone. The occasions of His prayers 
 are full of interest. At His baptism 
 (Luke 3:21, 22), before choosing His 
 apostles (Luke 6:12), at and after 
 the feeding of the five thousand ( Mark 
 6: 3946), at the transfiguration (Luke 
 9:28, 29), at the tomb of Lazarus 
 (John 11:35-44), for Peter (Luke 22: 
 32), in Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42), 
 on the cross (Mark 15:33-35), — these 
 all indicate a variety of circumstance 
 and need, and show conclusively that 
 prayer was a fixed habit of our Lord. 
 
 If we could here study the prayers of 
 Jesus, we would be surprised at their 
 number and the wide range of supplica- 
 tion contained in them. There can be 
 no doubt that they have come down to 
 us much abridged, and yet, somehow, 
 their brevity and conciseness argue 
 their completeness. Repetitions and 
 circumlocutions are not to be found; 
 they are the utterance of a heart that 
 
 64 
 
'UTeacfi Wi^ to Ptap 
 
 feels its own need, and that of others. 
 How much we might learn in this first 
 characteristic of our Lord's recorded 
 prayers! He has also said that we 
 should not use vain repetitions as the 
 heathen do, who think thej shall be 
 heard for their much speaking. The 
 sentence-prayer has its place and power 
 in the busy life of the Nazarene. In- 
 deed, so constant and habitual was His 
 communion with the Father that He 
 kept it up in the midst of the multi- 
 tude, and converted the crowded street 
 into a religious retreat. He found time 
 to talk with God even when most 
 pressed by friend and foe. And so must 
 we, if we would appropriate the most 
 blessed gift and at the same time the 
 most powerful weapon God has given 
 to us. 
 
 When we remember that prayer is 
 mighty, almost omnipotent, and that 
 we are commanded to use it, we wonder 
 that it has entered so little into our 
 daily lives. We have not learned the 
 sweetest lesson in the school of our 
 
 5 65 
 
€iti0t SDnt 2DelJotional dample 
 
 religious training, until we find place 
 and time for deep and quiet com- 
 munion with God. 
 
 We have said that Christ was sinless, 
 and, therefore, confession of sin has no 
 place in His prayers. Not so, however, 
 with thanksgiving and petition, as 
 parts or elements of true prayer. The 
 Father's grace and mercy He grate- 
 fully acknowledged, sometimes indi- 
 rectly, but easily felt in the words 
 themselves. He freely asked for the 
 things His heart craved, and when the 
 shadows fell across His path, the open- 
 ness of His spirit was the best evidence 
 that God was near to sustain and bless. 
 When the doors of our hearts are open, 
 and we sit within with a sense of de- 
 pendence and expectancy, God is not 
 afar off, nor will He need to be awaked. 
 Even before we call. He enters, a wel- 
 comed guest to sit and sup with us. 
 
 Sometimes the answer to prayer is 
 the answer of denial, and even Jesus 
 had to take at times such an answer. 
 But let us never forget that, for the 
 
%tatli Wi0 to ptai^ 
 
 best reasons, denial is after all a true 
 answer to prayer. If the cup for the 
 passing of which Jesus prayed had not 
 been pressed to His lips, there would 
 have been no atonement for the world's 
 sin. But His prayer subordinated His 
 will to that of the Father's and so was 
 answered, even though the thipg 
 prayed for was denied. His supreme 
 joy was the doing of the Father's will, 
 not His own, and in this quiet resigna- 
 tion He has set for us the supreme 
 example of conduct in what many. of 
 us have called our unanswered prayers. 
 The Christian's prayer-life is . the 
 truest expression of his deepest yearn- 
 ings. It is the secret of his power, the 
 measure of his usefulness, the key-note 
 of his joy. The church of the Lord 
 Jesus needs nothing so much as it 
 needs a revival of prayer, — incessant, 
 faithful, hopeful intercession at the 
 throne. In the last analysis the source 
 of the power of the individual Chris- 
 tian and of any spiritual movement is 
 God, and the energies of God are re- 
 
 67 
 
Cbti0t SDut 9Detiotional (£tamplt 
 
 leased in answer to prayer. Whatever 
 is needed in your life and mine to make 
 them stronger, purer, and more fruit- 
 ful in the salvation of others, is within 
 our reach, if we use, as Jesus Christ 
 used, so simply, so constantly, so pre- 
 vailingly, the opportunity of unlocking 
 by prayer the energies of our God. 
 
 O Christian, have you prayed to-day? 
 Have you seen the Father's counte- 
 nance filled with blessed light turned 
 full upon your soul? Have you heard 
 His voice in sweetest accent saying 
 unto you. Be still, my child, I am thy 
 God? 
 
 A comparatively young man, who 
 has gone around the world several 
 times in the interests of the Student 
 Volunteer Movement, writes in these 
 words of a part of his journey : "When 
 I went through Palestine I was deeply 
 moved with the reflection, that if the 
 little hill back of Nazareth could dis- 
 close its secret; if the Galilean lake 
 could tell what has transpired there ; if 
 the desert places round about Jerusa- 
 
 68 
 
^tati WL0 to Pta^ 
 
 lem could unfold their story; if the 
 olive-trees could reveal what they have 
 witnessed, they would fill in the silent 
 places of the Gospels and would tell us 
 chiefly about the prayer-life of our 
 Lord. They would tell us of the range 
 of his prayer-life, of its unselfishness, 
 of its intensity, of its unceasingness, of 
 its fervor, and of its irresistible power 
 because of the godly fear behind it." 
 
 Are we not ready now to resolve in 
 the quiet of this meditation to possess 
 a stronger ambition than ever to be 
 men and women of prayer? Let us fol- 
 low in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, 
 our great exemplar. Lord, teach us to 
 pray. 
 
 ed 
 
/ have spoken openly to the world; I ever taught 
 in synagogues, and in the temple. 
 
I WAS glad when they said unto me. 
 Let us go unto the house of Jehovah. 
 Our feet are standing 
 Within thy gates, O Jerusalem, 
 Jerusalem, that art builded 
 As a city that is compact together; 
 Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of Jeho- 
 vah, 
 For an ordinance for Israel, 
 To give thanks unto the name of Jehovah. 
 For there are set thrones for judgment, 
 The thrones of the house of David. 
 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; 
 They shall prosper that love thee. 
 Peace be within thy walls, 
 And prosperity within thy palaces. 
 For my brethren and companions' sakes, 
 I will now say, Peace be within thee. 
 For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God 
 I will seek thy good. 
 
 —Psalm 122, 
 
In tit Public Place 
 
 VII 
 
 m tl)e public place 
 
 It has been said elsewhere that Jesus 
 had much more to say about private 
 than about public devotion. It would 
 be wrong, however, to conclude that He 
 avoided public worship, or that His 
 teaching of its place and usefulness in 
 the Christian life is scanty or obscure. 
 There are very many references in the 
 Gospels to His presence in the syn- 
 agogues and temple, and though these 
 definitely mention his part of the serv- 
 ice in these meeting-places of the 
 people to be that of teaching, no one 
 will for an instant suppose that He 
 took no other part. 
 
 We have often wished that we might 
 know more of His life before His public 
 career began. Not many of us can im- 
 itate Him in the occupations of His 
 ministry, nor can we reproduce in oui* 
 
 73 
 
€iti0t flDuc SDebotional (Ejcample 
 
 own experience, fully at least, the cir- 
 cumstances that surrounded Him dur- 
 ing those three eventful years. Most 
 of us, however, are placed for a shorter 
 or longer period early in life in condi- 
 tions very similar to those among 
 which He grew for almost thirty years. 
 Another has well said, "It was during 
 these years that His life is for us the 
 main example of how we ought to live. 
 This Master who was to teach all vir- 
 tues, and to point out the way of life, 
 began, from His youth up, by sanctify- 
 ing in His own person the practices of 
 the virtuous life He came to teach." 
 
 It has seemed to me that those thirty 
 years are the necessary background to 
 that beautiful picture given us in the 
 fourth chapter of Luke. Into that lit- 
 tle synagogue at Nazareth he went, "as 
 w^as his custom on the Sabbath day," 
 to worship. He had doubtless been a 
 worshiper in that place Sabbath after 
 Sabbath from childhood, and as now 
 His eyes fell upon the people assem- 
 bled, He would recognize friends and 
 
 74 
 
Jn t6e Public place 
 
 neighbors, companions of His youth 
 and young manhood. There was the 
 ark of painted wood that contained the 
 sacred Scriptures; there was the 
 elevated seat for the reader or the 
 preacher. The leading men of the syn- 
 agogue were in their places; the con- 
 gregation was seated, the men on the 
 one side, and the women, with their 
 long veils, on the other side, behind a 
 lattice. The place was familiar in all 
 its appointments and persons, and the 
 joy of being once more in the old home 
 church, which must have had much to 
 do in molding His life, cannot be over- 
 estimated. 
 
 Is it not ever so ? Who can ever for- 
 get the days of childhood in the old 
 meeting-house, when, sitting side by 
 side with father and mother, we joined 
 in the sacred song, listened in simple 
 awe to the lesson from God's Word, 
 and to the prayer and sermon of the 
 preacher? We shall never know how 
 much of our deeper religious experi- 
 ence we owe to that formative period 
 
CSrfet flPttt aPtbotfonal (gjEam pU 
 
 of our lives. We, too, can recall the 
 place and the people, the teacher and 
 the preacher with whom we took our 
 first lessons in the public worship of 
 God. That is one picture we all hang 
 on the walls of our memory that time 
 will not fade. What a delight it has 
 been, after long years of separation, to 
 go back and look in once more upon the 
 scene! Of course it had changed. 
 Many of the old worshipers were gone, 
 some to other places, some to worship 
 in the house not made with hands ; but 
 the same Spirit and Abiding Presence 
 was there, and we have silently said, 
 though the world changeth, "Jesus 
 Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, 
 and forever." 
 
 On this particular Sabbath day of 
 worship at Nazareth, the Savior was in 
 the midst of His great work. He had 
 been teaching in the synagogues of 
 Galilee for some weeks, and had met 
 with general admiration and accept- 
 ance. How different it was to be in 
 Nazareth, His old home ! The services 
 
 76 
 
In t^t ^nhlit place 
 
 had already commenced when He en- 
 tered, the lesson from the Law had 
 been read, and the clerk, recognizing 
 our Lord^s right and, perhaps, His ex- 
 pressed desire to perform the office of 
 reader in the second part of the service, 
 during which a passage was read from 
 one of the prophets, handed Him the 
 roll of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus as- 
 cended the little platform, unrolled the 
 volume, and found the passage record- 
 ed in the sixty-first chapter. Strangely 
 enough, it was the prophecy concerning 
 Himself, and with wonderful tender- 
 ness and grace, and with no less au- 
 thority and power, He spoke to His old 
 townsmen and friends. At first, they 
 were amazed and delighted with his 
 gracious words, but when the full 
 meaning of His divine claims dawned 
 upon them, they rose up in wrath and 
 forced Him from the city, and would 
 have destroyed Him. A strange and 
 sad ending, indeed, to a day of worship 
 in the old home town of Nazareth ! 
 But the story is, nevertheless, one of 
 
 77 
 
CJtisft SDnt SDebotional dE^eampk 
 
 the fullest accounts we have of our 
 Lord's public worship. It helps us to 
 fill in the scanty narrative of His pres- 
 ence in synagogue and temple. It tells 
 us that He was an active participant in 
 the public religious devotion of His 
 people. Worship thus has its social as 
 well as its personal or individual side. 
 It is not enough that the worshiper 
 shall enter the secret place to commune 
 with Him who seeth in secret. Clearly 
 does Jesus tell us by His own practice 
 that there must be the solemn coming 
 together of believers, both for a testi- 
 mony to the world, and for the enrich- 
 ment of the lives of His followers. 
 And, once more, does this picture of 
 Jesus reading in the synagogue the 
 sacred roll, exalt the Scripture to its 
 supreme place in the public worship. 
 God speaks here not so much of the 
 little things of our daily life as of the 
 larger things. We take Him with us 
 into the closet and tell Him there all 
 about ourselves. In the public assem- 
 bly, God takes us, so to speak, into His 
 
 78 
 
In tfie ^nblit piact 
 
 confidence concerning His own char- 
 acter and larger purposes. Our own 
 experience has taught us that in public 
 worship have come some of the greatest 
 and most inspiring visions of life and 
 duty. How often have we been carried 
 away from our own little narrow con- 
 ception of God's infinite love and pur- 
 pose by the brighter vision and tender 
 voice of the preacher, or lifted as upon 
 wings by his prayer of faith and hope ! 
 That service will be a poor one, indeed, 
 that fails to draw the soul heavenward 
 in its longings and affections. The joy 
 of fellowship is no place keener or 
 more delightful than in the sanc- 
 tuary. 
 
 "I was glad when they said unto me, 
 Let us go unto the house of Jehovah." 
 
 Have you ever observed the fact that 
 one of the greatest hardships that come 
 with advancing age is the inability to 
 attend regularly the public services of 
 the church? This is often the deepest 
 regret expressed by aged and infirm 
 
 79 
 
€iti0t iDnt SDttotional CsampU 
 
 people. They miss these occasions of 
 sweet fellowship in song and praise, 
 and there is nothing else that will ex- 
 actly take their place. There is an in- 
 spiration that comes with numbers. 
 The song of a thousand voices and 
 hearts all blended in one harmony al- 
 most divine will not soon be forgotten, 
 and it makes us feel that we have a 
 common Father and a common destiny. 
 Says a great theological teacher, "It is 
 through the ^unending song' of a wor- 
 shiping church that the faith of Christ 
 has been conserved upon the earth, 
 rather than through the involved con- 
 fessional creations that lie dormant in 
 theological literature. Worship has 
 been the great conservative of faith." 
 
 I had a dear, good friend. I think 
 he is still my friend, though I cannot 
 see him now with these natural eyes. 
 One day he put his hand on my shoul- 
 der and drawing me to one side, with a 
 tenderness in his voice and words, said, 
 "We have chosen you to take up this 
 responsibility and to keep these affairs 
 
 80 
 
Jn tit Public Place 
 
 in order and under your control." His 
 confidence inspired me, though it filled 
 my eyes with tears. During the years 
 that followed, I learned to know him 
 well, in his home, in business relations, 
 in his hopes and fears concerning the 
 church in general, and in particular 
 concerning one of its important inter- 
 ests. Very many good things were said 
 of him by those who took part at his fu- 
 neral services, but that which most 
 deeply impressed me was the statement 
 made by one who had known him all 
 his life. I cannot recall his exact lan- 
 guage, but in substance it was this: 
 Our friend was so strongly attached to 
 his local church and public worship 
 that the door of this church was never 
 opened that he did not consider it an 
 invitation to him to enter and take part 
 in the service, of whatever character. 
 He was a sweet-spirited and devout 
 man, and no doubt would tell us that 
 he owed much to the worship of God in 
 His own house. 
 
 81 
 
€W^t SDnt SDebotlonal (£tampU 
 
 'How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 
 O Jehovah of hosts ! 
 
 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts 
 
 of Jehovah ; 
 My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living 
 
 God." 
 
 82 
 
Take heed that ye do not your riffhteousness 
 before men, to 6e seen of them. 
 
Feom all vain pomps and shows, 
 
 From the pride that overflows, 
 
 And the false conceits of men ; 
 
 From all the narrow rules 
 
 And subt'leties of schools, 
 
 And the craft of tongue and pen; 
 
 Bewildered in its search, 
 
 Bewildered with the cry: 
 
 Lo, here ! lo, there, the church ! 
 
 Poor, sad humanity, 
 
 Through all the dust and heat 
 
 Turns back with bleeding feet, 
 
 By the weary road it came. 
 
 Unto the simple thought 
 
 By the great Master taught, 
 
 And that remaineth still: 
 
 Not he that repeateth the name, 
 
 But he that doeth the will ! 
 
 — Henry W. Longfclloiv. 
 
%it IBUUgiott ot SDh0tntitjg 
 
 VIII 
 Cfie Keligfon of fl)6«cutftp 
 
 Jesus was very emphatic in His 
 teaching against all forms of religious 
 display. Righteousness is so much a 
 personal matter, so entirely a relation 
 between the soul and God, that there is 
 danger in its publicity. It is true that 
 He says we are to let our light shine 
 before men, but the motive must be that 
 they may see our good works, and glo- 
 rify our Father who is in heaven. That 
 is very different from letting our light 
 shine in order that we may glorify our- 
 selves. We need encouragement to do 
 the former; we need as much the can- 
 tion not to do the latter. 
 
 This may be called Christ's law of 
 unostentation. In our religious life 
 we are constantly in the gaze of others, 
 and no temptation will be greater than 
 to seem to be what we are not. A sort 
 
 85 
 
€Wfit SDut SDebotional dE^ampIt 
 
 of stage-life is that of many Christians, 
 — mere acting, or parading before oth- 
 ers their good qualities and deeds. By 
 many it is done so easily and uncon- 
 sciously, that the warning is all the 
 more needful. The very fact that we 
 are watched by others, is the invitation 
 to substitute outward behavior for in- 
 ward goodness. Jesus says, "Take 
 heed.^' 
 
 : This law against religious display 
 has a threefold application, all found 
 in ; the sixth chapter of St. Matthew. 
 The first is to almsgiving: "When 
 therefore thou doest alms, sound not a 
 trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites 
 do in the synagogues and in the streets, 
 that they may have glory of men." The 
 act of giving alms is assumed as one of 
 the true Christian graces. Nothing in 
 life is more beautiful than the blossom- 
 ing, of the heart in cheerful and gener- 
 ous giving. "It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." And just because it is 
 a jewel of so rare value, because it is a 
 quality of life that wins applause, the 
 
 86 
 
%it WitUqion ot SDh^tutitj^ 
 
 danger is that we may make our char- 
 ity and kindness a mere display. Pub- 
 lic giving is often necessary as an in- 
 centive to others, and, sometimes, as a 
 protection to ourselves. It is not the 
 mere fact of publicity that is con- 
 demned, but the motive of publicity, 
 the spirit that would display before the 
 world this form of our religious devo- 
 tion. 
 
 How much in these days of seeking 
 applause we need this caution against 
 a form of self-righteousness ! Some are 
 charitable only because others are, — 
 they must keep up at least the appear- 
 ance of giving, even though they have 
 no heart in it. Some measure their 
 giving by that of others, and will not 
 give until they know what others have 
 given. Some give grudgingly, or only 
 as their whims and fancies may deter- 
 mine. Still others do their alms where 
 they know their names will be pub- 
 lished broadcast. All of these in some 
 way display their righteousness, love 
 man's praise rather than God% and 
 
 87 
 
C{|ti0t SDixt 2DebottonaI (Jttamplt 
 
 they have already received their re- 
 ward. 
 
 This display is just what Jesus con- 
 demns. As God is to be the rewarder, 
 and will recompense what is done in se- 
 cret, we need not hesitate to follow the 
 direction of not letting the left hand 
 know what the right hand doeth. Op- 
 portunities for such almsgiving abound 
 on every hand. This is an age of a new 
 philanthropy. Never has the church 
 poured out its wealth to make men bet- 
 ter and to improve the conditions of 
 the poor, the crippled, the blind, the 
 unfortunate of all classes, more than it 
 is doing to-day. The movement has 
 taken hold of the masses of the people, 
 and by public enactment and private 
 enterprise alike the gospel of giving is 
 preached and practiced as never before. 
 And yet it is true that many of God's 
 treasuries are locked and sealed 
 against the crying needs of the world. 
 If our religious life means anything at 
 all, it means that we are to serve Christ 
 
 88 
 
by serving others in prompt, cheerful, 
 generous, untrumpeted giving. 
 
 The second application of the law 
 against religious display is to prayer. 
 It will not be necessary here to dwell 
 upon prayer as a means of devotion 
 further than to say that it must not 
 yield to a desire for show. Just as 
 almsgiving is the souPs natural out- 
 going toward man, prayer is its nat- 
 ural outgoing toward God. The relig- 
 ion of the ancient Jew had a great deal 
 of rite and ceremony, a worship that 
 appealed strongly to the eye, and it 
 was, therefore, easy to slip into formal- 
 ism and ostentation. It would soon 
 come to be insincere, and men would 
 parade their piety and devotion in pub- 
 lic places, as in the synagogues and in 
 the streets. Prayer would be almost 
 the first element of devotion to yield to 
 this desire for show. 
 
 With us the danger is not so great, 
 and yet is not the caution needed? 
 How often is prayer a mere parading 
 before an audience of our own most se- 
 
 89 
 
CStfet SDnt S>t\>0tional (Example 
 
 cret and personal experiences! There 
 is a place for such plain speaking to 
 God, but it is behind the closed door. 
 The holj tones and endearing names 
 used by some in addressing God are 
 either the result of careless habit or an 
 assumed reverence. At the best they 
 are not in good taste, and should be 
 carefully avoided. Every insincere 
 word, every vain repetition, every sub- 
 stitute of quantity for quality, is of the 
 nature of parade in prayer, to be seen 
 or heard of men. Study the prayer 
 which Jesus has given us, and you will 
 see how simple, direct, and comprehen- 
 sive it is. "After this manner there- 
 fore pray ye." 
 
 The third application of the law is 
 to fasting. The Savior thinks of fast- 
 ing in connection with almsgiving and 
 prayer, for they are introduced consec- 
 utively and by the same formula, 
 "When thou doest alms," "When ye 
 pray," "When ye fast." The first two 
 we recognize as valuable in their influ- 
 ence on devotional life to-day ; the last 
 
 90 
 
%^t Keligion ot SDhfitutit^ 
 
 we hesitate to think as necessary, even 
 in the face of the fact that Christ fre- 
 quently fasted and commended its 
 practice. He assumes, at least, that it 
 is a form of devotion, and that there is 
 a right and a wrong method of using it. 
 We need not here discuss the ques- 
 tion to what extent or how abstinence 
 from food becomes a means of spiritual 
 culture. It is perfectly clear, however, 
 that in respect to food, the Christian 
 must be under the guidance of law. 
 The principle of fasting is expressed 
 by Paul : "I keep under my body, and 
 bring it into subjection." He was not 
 a slave to fleshly lusts, and if there was 
 any conflict between the higher and the 
 lower, Paul was determined that the 
 spiritual should be kept on top. To ac- 
 complish this would require at times 
 vigorous treatment and even denial of 
 appetite and sensual indulgence. Sins 
 against the body will not help the soul 
 in its upward flight. Moderation and 
 even abstinence may be necessary to 
 clear the brain and prepare the mind 
 
 91 
 
CSrfet SDnt aPtbottonal (ggamp te 
 
 for thinking about God. All of this is 
 assumed in this reference to fasting, 
 but the principle emphasized is that it 
 must be done without display. Jesus 
 has no place for the sad countenance 
 and the disfigured face as the result of 
 spiritual devotion. These are not to 
 appear to men as the evidence of such 
 spiritual activity. Even our fasting is 
 not to appear unto men, but unto the 
 Father who is in secret. 
 
 What we need to do many times in 
 our Christian lives is to examine close- 
 ly the underlying motive. Is it not 
 true that we are to a large extent under 
 the control of custom, and that for this 
 reason our devotion becomes insincere 
 and mechanical? Tested by this law 
 against religious display, how much of 
 our conduct is little more than acting 
 to be seen of men! It is against this 
 that the Savior warns us, and by His 
 gracious and tender "Take heed," He 
 urges us to close self-examination. 
 May we not remember that the religion 
 of obscurity is the religion of the heart, 
 
 92 
 
%it Keliffion of SDb^tutitj^ 
 
 and that we are not to make a show of 
 it to the world. It is only the unseen 
 devotion that the Father has promised 
 to recompense. 
 
 03 
 
Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
 of all these things. 
 
Since thy Father's arm sustains thee, 
 
 Peaceful be; 
 When a chastening hand restrains thee, 
 
 It is He. 
 Know His love in full completeness 
 Fills the measure of thy weakness ; 
 If He wound thy spirit sore, 
 
 Trust Him more. 
 
 Without murmur, uncomplaining, 
 
 In His hand 
 Leave whatever things thou canst not 
 
 Understand. 
 Though the world thy folly spurneth, 
 From thy faith in pity turneth. 
 Peace thy inmost soul shall fill, 
 
 Lying still. 
 
 To His own thy Father giveth 
 
 Daily strength ; 
 To each troubled soul that liveth, 
 
 Peace at length. 
 Weakest lambs have largest share 
 Of this tender Shepherd's care ; 
 Ask Him not, then, "When?" or. "How?" 
 
 Only bow. 
 
 — Charles R. Hagenhach. 
 
3t Bot SimioM 
 
 IX 
 IBt lI3ot an^fouj 
 
 The Savior does not mean that we 
 are to have no interest in or concern for 
 the future. His own life would be a 
 complete answer to such an argument. 
 Moreover, He was constantly urging 
 His disciples to look into the future, 
 and so far as possible anticipate its 
 emergencies and necessities. The man 
 who proposes to build a tower must 
 first sit down and count its cost for fear 
 he may not be able to finish it, and thus 
 bring shame and disgrace upon himself 
 and friends. When the disciples were 
 about to go out to teach the multitude, 
 He graciously warned them what they 
 might expect — they would be as sheep 
 among ravening wolves, and would suf- 
 fer persecution, and at last lay down 
 their lives. Could any sadder picture 
 
 7 97 
 
€iti0t SDnt SDebotional (Btamplt 
 
 be drawn, and could any future be 
 more disheartening? 
 
 What Jesus did mean was to give us 
 a right attitude toward the future, and 
 that attitude entered into His own 
 deepest and religious life. In a word, 
 dark and gloomy as was the future to 
 Him, and it was known to Him as it 
 cannot be to us, He did not allow it to 
 destroy the peace and usefulness of His 
 life. It is easy for us to imagine how 
 the future could have pressed upon 
 Him with almost crushing weight, 
 when He thought of how hate and mal- 
 ice and death would at last lay Him 
 low. His steadiness and poise of con- 
 duct in the face of a most uninviting 
 future are to us a marvel of confidence 
 and inherent strength. 
 
 But what are we going to do with the 
 ills and cares of our poor lives? No 
 life is free from them, and to escape 
 their depressing influence seems almost 
 impossible. The threads become so 
 hopelessly entangled at times that un- 
 less we set ourselves diligently to the 
 
15t i!5ot SlmioM 
 
 task, even to the extent of giving 
 anxious thought, confusion will lead to 
 greater confusion and even despair. 
 Who will disengage them if we do not? 
 Who will take thought of our troubles 
 unless we do, whom they directly con- 
 cern? 
 
 Christ's example is happily for us 
 a complete answer. He went on His 
 way, not only from every great crisis, 
 but from the thousand petty annoy- 
 ances that must have consumed much 
 of His time and strength. And in this 
 we must follow him. No Christian has 
 any right to allow the cares and con- 
 flicts of life to fret or incapacitate him 
 for his work. It is true that they will 
 come, but it is not true that we must 
 surrender ourselves to their power. It 
 was Luther who said that we cannot 
 prevent the birds from flying over our 
 heads, but we do not need to allow 
 them to stop and build their nests in 
 our hair. To open the doors and win- 
 dows of the soul, and to let in the dis- 
 tracting thoughts and anxieties of the 
 
 99 
 
CStfet flDur SDebotional (£umpU 
 
 present and future until they have es- 
 tablished themselves in our mental and 
 spiritual natures is sinful because it is 
 unbelief. It is simply saying that we 
 doubt God^s ability and willingness to 
 help us, or indeed, whether His protec- 
 tion is over us at all. 
 
 "Delight thyself also in Jehovah; 
 And he will give thee the desires of thy heart. 
 
 "Commit thy way unto Jehovah ; 
 Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." 
 
 These are the formulae for care, the 
 argument against worry. Delight in 
 the Lord, and an absolute committing 
 of our way to Him will drive anxious 
 thought from every troubled life. As 
 literally as we take a broken chair to 
 the carpenter to be mended, as fully as 
 we trust our physical ailments to the 
 treatment of a skilled physician, so lit- 
 erally and fully are we to take our 
 cares to Him, casting all our anxiety 
 upon Him, because He careth for us. 
 ■And when we take them to Him, let us 
 not pick them up again, but leave them 
 
 100 
 
©e jRot SLmiou^ 
 
 there, and expect Him to use His own 
 way and time in setting them in order. 
 There is no place where so many of 
 us fail as just here. We tell God all 
 about our sorrows and disappoint- 
 ments, our shattered hopes and cher- 
 ished plans, our misgivings and fore- 
 bodings, and then as if He did not hear 
 or could not help, we load them up 
 again, if indeed we have ever entirely 
 cast them off, and go on in the same 
 fretful and distrustful way. The re- 
 sult is that we are completely in the 
 power of our sadder moods, unfitted for 
 the best service, and find no delight 
 in ourselves or others. Let us take 
 Jesus at His word when He says, 
 *^Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest.'' Much of our life seems like 
 mountain-climbing, but the purer air 
 and larger vision are compensations we 
 may all have. If we seem to make no 
 progress, but go round and round with 
 hindrances of all kinds in our way, 
 there must be some reason why it is so, 
 
 101 
 
€iti^t iSDat SDtbDtional (Example 
 
 and we should not worry about it. The 
 summit of our faith is reached when we 
 need not ask the reason why. 
 
 It is old but good advice to take short 
 views of life, hope for the best, and trust 
 in God. One of the happiest features 
 of our earthly pilgrimage is that we are 
 not to look far into the future. "Be 
 not therefore anxious for the morrow: 
 for the morrow will be anxious for it- 
 self." God never hurries. The conclu- 
 sions in His logic are often drawn from 
 premises of long standing. His plan 
 for your life and mine must not be 
 marred by our impatience and fretful- 
 ness. Earnest devotion to the unfold- 
 ing plans of God, as day by day they 
 are made known to us by His guidance, 
 w^ill keep us sweet in heart as well as 
 pure in heart. When we do our best, 
 we may leave the results with Him. 
 
 And this suggests the one most im- 
 portant thing in all this caretaking 
 and worry: we must do our duty as 
 God Himself indicates it to us. May 
 there be a conflict in the things w^e 
 
 102 
 
Tdt il3ot Simion0 
 
 ought to do? Yes, if we are making 
 our own lifers plan and are determined 
 to walk therein. No, if we are permit- 
 ting God to shape our lives, and we are 
 anxious to follow His directions. Do 
 the next thing, and that is duty. In 
 that sense a conflict can hardly be. We 
 must wait patiently for Him, but He 
 will open up the way, and when He 
 does, we must not hesitate in our re- 
 sponse. The parent is honored by a 
 trustful and obedient child, and God is 
 our Father, and we are his children. 
 He knows what is best, and He will 
 withhold no good thing that we need, 
 
 103 
 
We must work the works of Him that sent me, 
 while it is day. 
 
If some great angel spake to me to-night 
 
 In awful language of the unknown land. 
 Bidding me to choose from treasure infinite. 
 
 From goodly gifts and glories in his hand, 
 The thing I coveted, What would I take? 
 
 Fame's wreath of bays? the fickle world's es- 
 teem? 
 Nay; greenest bays may wave on brows that ache. 
 
 And world's applauding passeth as a dream. 
 Should I choose love to fill mine empty heart 
 
 With soft, strong sweetness as in days of old? 
 Nay; for love's rapture has an after-smart, 
 
 And on love's rose the thorns are manifold. 
 Should I choose life with long succeeding years? 
 Nay ; earth's long life is longer time for tears. 
 
 I would choose work, and never-failing power 
 
 To work without weak hindrance by the way, 
 Without recurrence of the weary hour 
 
 When tired, tyrant Nature hold its sway 
 Over the busy brain and toiling hand. 
 
 Ah ! if an angel came to me to-night. 
 Speaking in language of the unknown land. 
 
 So would I choose from treasure infinite. 
 But well I know the blessed gift I crave, 
 
 The tireless strength for never-ending task, 
 Is not for this life. But beyond the grave 
 
 It may be I shall find the thing I ask; 
 For I believe there is a better land, 
 W^here will and work and strength go hand in hand. 
 
 — JJnhnoicn. 
 
^V iFat5ec*0 3u&int^0 
 
 X 
 
 90? JTatfier's TBusfnegg 
 
 Luke gives us in his second chapter 
 the only picture we have of the boyhood 
 of Jesus. How eager we are to know 
 Something about the early years of a 
 great man, and it seems strange that so 
 little was recorded of the boy Jesus. 
 That one picture, however, is not only 
 beautiful in itself, but it speaks in 
 clearest terms of the glory of His pub- 
 lic career. In the midst of the Jewish 
 doctors, modest and unassuming, but 
 surprising them at His understanding 
 and answers, He declared with a cer- 
 tainty and authority far beyond His 
 years, ^^I must be about my Father's 
 business," or, as in the Greek, "in the 
 things of my Father." These words are 
 prophetic of a busy life, and help us to 
 get some little glimpse of that period 
 vre know so little about. 
 
 107 
 
€W0t SDnt fl)ebotfonal egampte 
 
 Those who study closely the life of 
 our Lord will be impressed at once with 
 His wonderful activity among men. 
 In the three short years of His public 
 ministry, He came into close and per- 
 sonal contact with all classes of people, 
 and in almost every imaginable rela- 
 tion. His life is in this respect in most 
 striking contrast with that of His em- 
 inent forerunner. Of John, the dwell- 
 ing-place and preaching-place was the 
 wilderness, and into it the people 
 thronged to hear the great preacher. 
 His food and dress were those of one 
 who had withdrawn from the familiar 
 haunts of men, and though this strong 
 but strange character was the prepar- 
 ing voice of the Messiah, he did his 
 work more as a recluse than as a busy 
 man among men. 
 
 The monastic conception of the relig- 
 ious life at one time largely prevailed, 
 and is not yet altogether a thing of the 
 past. There are some who still think 
 t'lat the best way and the only way to 
 rise into a high plane of religious ex- 
 
 108 
 
9?? JFat8tr'0 1Bu0iiu00 
 
 perience is to live behind stone walls in 
 monastic cells, or shut up in the huts 
 and caves of the desert. Asceticism 
 has not only drawn its thousands into 
 lonely places, but has caused its devo- 
 tees to punish and torture themselves 
 in ways most cruel and revolting, all 
 in the name of pure religious devotion. 
 The same tendency is seen in modern 
 life when persons betake themselves to 
 monastery or nunnery, and take the 
 strictest vows of poverty, chastity, and 
 seclusion. Not a few good Christian 
 people give expression to the same idea 
 when they invest religion with a 
 gloomy spirit, as if it were sinful to 
 enjoy the good and beautiful things we 
 find around us. 
 
 The popular impression is that 
 Christ was "a man of sorrows and ac- 
 quainted with grief." We have even 
 gone so far as to say that He never 
 smiled, and that on His face no ripple 
 of gladness ever played. But on the 
 other hand, we do not read anywhere 
 that a single misanthropic word ever 
 
 109 
 
€W^t SDnt SDebotional (Ejcample 
 
 fell from His lips, or that He carried 
 gloom and sadness wherever He went. 
 Children did not despise Him, and they 
 would have been among the first to de- 
 tect a frown. People sought Him 
 gladly, not because His presence took 
 from them the joy and peace of life. 
 The Christ of the Gospels is not a som- 
 ber Christ, and if we understand Him 
 aright, our religion will not be a som- 
 ber religion. If His life was hard and 
 full of grief, it did not destroy the glad- 
 ness of His heart ; and we do ourselves 
 and our religion great injustice when 
 our piety is so cold and joyless that w^e 
 see nothing of the innocent gladness 
 and pleasure of earth. 
 
 Neither was Christ ascetic in the 
 place or character of His work. He 
 was the busiest of men, and His work 
 was always done in the open, before the 
 eyes of all. The home witnessed many 
 of His miracles and was many times 
 graced by His presence. It was His cus- 
 tom to take part in the public worship 
 of the synagogue and temple, rather 
 
 110 
 
9?? Jfat^et'0 3Mimfi^ 
 
 than be the solitary worshiper of the 
 wilderness. He was the Christ of daily 
 toil, busy with His hands in the car- 
 penter's shop at Nazareth. He enjoyed 
 a feast among His friends, as we see in 
 that one made for Him by Matthew. 
 He attended a wedding and performed 
 a very important service. He was the 
 social guest of the Pharisees a number 
 of times, and, only a few days before 
 His crucifixion. He attended a feast in 
 the home of Mary and Martha at Beth- 
 any. These references are abundant 
 evidence that Jesus did not separate 
 Himself from the society and the fel- 
 lowship of the world. 
 
 And what a busy life His was! He 
 had a definite thing to do, "My Father's 
 business," and a time in which to do 
 it, "while it is day." The example of 
 His daily toil is the best proof that a 
 consecrated life is possible in the clos- 
 est association with men. This was a 
 new phase in the history of devotion 
 that the Master was teaching. Idleness 
 and indifference to responsibility had 
 111 
 
C!)tt0t SDnt S>tt>otional CEsampU 
 
 been too long the rule. Reliance upon 
 form and ceremony had begotten a 
 spiritless and seclusive type of relig- 
 ious life, and the world could never be 
 saved by such indifference to the needs 
 of the people. The best way to learn 
 what the world most needed was to 
 mingle freely with it, and this imposed 
 the hard task of sacrifice and self-for- 
 getfulness. His day of toil was not 
 long, but none has been more intense 
 or earnest. 
 
 We, too, must be about our Father^s 
 business. There should be no place in 
 our lives for idleness, "the night Com- 
 eth, when no man can work." Much of 
 the doubt among Christian people to- 
 day is caused by their inactivity, and 
 by magnifying their own cares. If the 
 example of Jesus teaches anything, it 
 is that we are to live in this world with 
 a definite purpose, and with the concep- 
 tion of our divinely appointed tasks. 
 The works of God should be made man- 
 ifest in us. I have been struck with 
 the pronoun "we" of the fourth verse 
 
 112 
 
^V JFatJiet'^ 75ix0im00 
 
 of the ninth chapter of John^s Gospel, 
 found in the American Revision. How 
 completely Jesus identified the work 
 and mission of His disciples with His 
 own ! We must work the works of Him 
 that sent me. Blessed toil is that 
 which is heaven-sent, and in which Je- 
 sus is our companion. 
 
 Is it possible to engage in worldly 
 affairs, and at the same time to culti- 
 vate the devotional life? Can the mer- 
 chant sell his goods, the physician at- 
 tend his patients, the farmer follow his 
 plow, the good housewife serve her fam- 
 ily, and at the same time "be about the 
 Father's business"? These very pur- 
 suits and occupations may be the things 
 the Father would have us do, and He 
 would have us do them so well that He 
 will be honored in the doing. He does 
 not want us all to forsake our occu- 
 pations in life and become ministers or 
 missionaries ; but He has given us tal- 
 ents that may be used for Him in the 
 places in which he has put us. We 
 have no right to hide them, or to refuse 
 
 8 113 
 
C6ri0t SDnt SD^botional dimmplt 
 
 to use them. Life's truest discipline, 
 its purest joy, its greatest reward, will 
 consist in our devotion to our Father's 
 business, which for many of us will be 
 our personal influence and power over 
 those with whom we daily mingle. 
 
 114 
 
In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
 I go to prepare a place for you. 
 
Where is home? 
 Is it where stately mansions rise 
 With dazzling splendor towards the skies, 
 The poor man's dream — the rich man's prize? 
 
 Where is home? 
 
 Where is home? 
 The humblest place beneath the skies, 
 When viewed with love's devoted eyes, 
 Becomes a perfect paradise! 
 
 This is home ! 
 
 Where is home? 
 *Tis where the heart's best treasure is. 
 For perfect love is perfect bliss, 
 Deny me wealth, but give me this : 
 
 Love is home! 
 
 Love is home! 
 And when our earthly loves are o'er, 
 And earthly mansions are no moro, 
 Forever, on the other shore, 
 
 Heaven is home! 
 
 — XJnhnown^ 
 
9^mv Sl?an0(on0 
 
 XI 
 Q^anp Mansions 
 
 The last night that Jesus spent with 
 the disciples gives to us one of the most 
 touching pictures of Gospel history. It 
 seems that there must have been some 
 disputing or quarreling among them, 
 probably concerning the places they 
 were to occupy at the supper. The 
 question, Who should be the greatest 
 among them? had been raised two or 
 three times before, and as many times 
 answered by word and illustration. It 
 was still not fully understood, and now 
 as if in demonstration of what He 
 meant. He girded himself with a towel 
 and washed the disciples' feet, wiping 
 them with the towel wherewith He was 
 girded. This act of Christ is in 
 strange but most beautiful contrast 
 with the tender announcement a little 
 later that He would be with them only 
 
 117 
 
€W&t SDnt SDttiotional (Example 
 
 a little while longer. The serving 
 Christ, teaching the lesson of humility 
 by His own act, is the fitting prelude to 
 that farewell discourse recorded in the 
 fourteenth chapter of John, in which is 
 so plainly stated the thought that He 
 would soon be at home in His Father's 
 house. 
 
 It is not irreverent to say that Jesus 
 would many times in His meditation 
 anticipate the end, when at last He 
 could say, "It is finished." His human- 
 ity would find its chiefest support in 
 the assurance that life's struggle would 
 soon be over. His divinity would look 
 forward with supreme delight to the 
 consummation of the world-age plan 
 for the salvation of the race, and His 
 return in triumph to the throne of the 
 Father. In a sense hard for us to ap- 
 preciate, Jesus Christ must have re- 
 membered His Father's house, and 
 looked forward with joy to the day of 
 His return. 
 
 With what perfect confidence in His 
 knowledge of the fact, and with what 
 
 118 
 
9?anp 9^an0ion^ 
 
 tenderness of thought concerning the 
 disciples' need, did He say, <'In my 
 Father's house are many mansions; if 
 it were not so, I would have told you." 
 That was not the first time the 
 thought had thrilled His consciousness 
 and stimulated His effort. Is it not 
 more likely to be true that it was an 
 ever-present possession, giving Him 
 support in every hour of trial, and in- 
 spiring Him with an unfaltering hope! 
 The age-struggle will soon have been 
 accomplished, and back through the 
 clouds upon an unseen chariot, the Son 
 of God will be carried to the throne 
 of glory with His Father. Inspiring 
 vision! Blessed hope! 
 
 How unselfishly He shared His su- 
 perior knowledge with the disciples! 
 He told them about the heavenly man- 
 sions, just as long before He had told 
 them about the bitter persecutions that 
 awaited them. It comes to us with pe- 
 culiar fitness that for this last night of 
 intimate fellowship with the faithful 
 eleven, He had reserved the sweetest 
 
 119 
 
€W0t SDnt SDebotional (Eiampk 
 
 revelation of all. Christ had said to 
 them before many good things, and had 
 in their presence done many wonderful 
 acts, but this last word, this last proph- 
 ecy of the future, was the best. If 
 "heavenly mansions" and a "prepared 
 place'' were to be the reward for service 
 even unto death, Jesus desired His 
 disciples of every age to find help 
 and power in the thought that we 
 would soon be at home in our Father's 
 house. 
 
 I cannot understand how we can be 
 followers of Jesus Christ and in our de- 
 votional life not think much of heaven. 
 The best things that will come to us in 
 our religious training are remembering 
 Christ and looking to the mansions be- 
 yond the skies. If these were more con- 
 stantly with us, by day and by night, 
 giving vigor and expression to our 
 thought and feeling and action, how 
 they would transform our lives. We 
 need such transforming agencies. 
 Life's routine will become hard and 
 almost unendurable, unless we have as 
 
 120 
 
9^an^ ^aMionfi 
 
 the light of our day the hope and joy 
 of heaven in remembering Jesus Christ. 
 
 There are those who say that it is a 
 selfish passion that leads to the 
 thought and love of heaven. If heaven 
 were merely a place of rest, or the end 
 of the conflicts and disappointments of 
 earth, earnestly to desire it might not 
 be altogether free from cowardice and 
 weakness. But take it as it is described 
 in the Scriptures, — in all its relations 
 to earthly toil and suffering and desire, 
 and as the place where our higher toils 
 and nobler enjoyments shall begin, and 
 the longing for heaven is the noblest 
 and purest passion we can cherish. 
 There is a city that doth abide, a house 
 not made with hands. 
 
 Jesus' departure was a going home, 
 and so it will be for us. The life be- 
 yond sometimes stretches out into a 
 vast and unknown world, and the trem- 
 bling soul shrinks back as it goes forth 
 to meet its destiny. The grave is dark 
 and lonely, and as we look into it with 
 our natural eyes, there comes no light 
 
 121 
 
Ciitfet SDut SDebotional (Example 
 
 to drive away its gloom. Death seems 
 a total loss, the end of all activities and 
 realizations ; but not so. "My Father's 
 house'' has removed the dread, and the 
 thought of the home-going, to meet the 
 Father's smile and to hear the Father's 
 words, comes with welcoming embrace 
 to tell us of His love. It is this vision 
 of a loving Presence, and of a home full 
 of light and beauty and living joy that 
 Jesus had, and wishes us to have, as we 
 come at last to life's outer gateway. 
 
 If it were wrong for us in our devo- 
 tional life to cultivate this desire and 
 love for heaven. He would not have told 
 us that He was going to prepare a place 
 for us, and then that He would come 
 again and receive us unto Himself. It 
 was His thought and purpose that we 
 might be with Him in a place prepared. 
 
 In a Christian home a few months 
 ago, the parents prepared a great sur- 
 prise for their little daughter. A room 
 was selected and without her knowl- 
 edge was fitted up with everything that 
 was needful, and with very much that 
 
 122 
 
9^anv 9^an0ion0 
 
 was beautiful. The little girPs taste 
 had been studied, and in all the fur- 
 nishings, including even the devotion 
 to her family of dolls, the father and 
 mother sought to provide the things 
 that would please her. On Christmas 
 morning, they led her to the open door 
 of this prepared place, and told her 
 that all of this was hers. The pure and 
 simple joy of childhood was the suf- 
 ficient reward of parental love. 
 
 So Jesus is preparing a place for as, 
 and He has told us beforehand all 
 about it. He does not mean to surprise 
 us, but desires that we shall know, and 
 that knowing, we shall rejoice. It is as 
 if He had thoughtfully left the door 
 ajar that we might have a glimpse of 
 the glory that awaits us. 
 
 123 
 
A NEW EDITION. 
 
 CETTINO AND GIVING 
 
 OR THE 
 
 Stewardship of Wealth. 
 By REV. W. M. WEEXLEY, D.D. 
 
 Second edition with an introduction by Rev. 
 J. F. Cowan, D.D., Associate Elditor of the 
 Christian EJideavor World. 
 
 WORDS OF APPRECIATION. 
 
 It is reasonable and scriptural, and it puts the 
 question upon Christian ground and keeps it 
 there. — Washington Gladden. 
 
 It is written in a clear, forcible style, and a 
 wide circulation of it will give light and quicken- 
 ing to many a conscience, and hasten the coming 
 of the kingdom of God. — JBUhop J. S. Mills. 
 
 Elegant red cloth, 136 pages, 12mo, 75 cents. 
 
 The same in paper, 15 cents, post-paid. 
 
 Per dozen, prepaid, $1.50. 
 
 This is the opportunity for the pastor and 
 presiding elder to distribute these books at small 
 cost. Send in your orders. 
 
 United Brethren Publishing House, 
 
 W. R. FUNK. Agent. DAYTON. OHIO. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
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