4-4 UNIVERSAL RELIGION-HOLY COMMUNION 95 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you they are spirit, and they are life. John 6: 63. Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord to me, Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me, -Mary Anne Lathbury. € 'OD'S truth transforms the character of those who incorporate that truth into their life and soul. It is a blessed thing for Christians to live in the atmosphere or environment of divine truth. God has unexhausted and inexhaustible resources; He is not limited to any one instrumentality for the growth of His children in likeness to Himself. God never wastes power; He never needlessly multiplies miracles. There is evermore a close relation between the means He employs and our deepest needs which He intends to supply. His word must be incorporated into our natures, it must be assimilated to our spiritual bone, blood and marrow. In this way we receive the thoughts of God into our thoughts, the life of God into our life, and the very heart and soul of God, if one may so speak, into the center of our mental and moral natures. Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest Thy flock. Amen. Song of Solomon 1: 7. I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come forth a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel. Num. 24: 17. I' I know Him by the light He giveth, In Him the Sons of Sorrow shall find rest Yes, I know Him from afar, I shall see Him, but not now, -T. E. Hankinson. F with unclouded faces the Jews could look upon Christ, they would see Him as a mighty Prince, a glorious conqueror, and a peerless king, and yet the child of the manger, the man of sorrows, and the sacrifice on the cross. They would see that He fulfilled their prophecies of the Old Testament. All these prophecies become sublime and divine harmonies in Jesus of Nazareth. Light streams from His cross along the whole line of Old Testament history. The cross is the key to God's thought in prophecy and history, in light and in shadow, in time and eternity. The light from the cross brought love, liberty, light and life. Like the fresh breeze of morning it dispels the mists of doubt, difficulty, and sin. Judaism and Christianity are thus seen to be parts of one whole. Judaism disappears in the brighter light of Christianity, as the stars of the morning are obscured by the splendor of the rising sun. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion: when Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of His people, then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Amen. Ps. 14:7 4-6 JACOB'S STAR-MANY MANSIONS In My Father's house are many mansions. John 14:2. Lord, Thou wilt bring the joyful day— Beyond earth's weariness and pains Thou hast a mansion far away, Where for Thine own a rest remains. -Rev. Ray Palmer. 97 E have an inheritance reserved in heaven for us. In this blessed abode there are many mansions even as there will be innumerable inhabitants. Let us rejoice in this heavenly inheritance; it is reserved in heaven for us; we need it for the completion of our Christian experience and attainment. We are pressing toward the perfect character of our perfect Lord. Thank God, one day we shall awake in His likeness; we shall see Him as He is, and then and only then shall our souls be satisfied. Unlike earthly inheritances, this inheritance will never fade away. The stars may fall from heaven, the sun become a cold, dead world, the earth be removed from its place, but our heavenly inheritance, pure and bright and undefiled, abideth forever. Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in in the house of Jehovah forever. Amen. Ps. 23: 6. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. Gal. 5: 22, 23. Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed His tender, last farewell, A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed With us to dwell. He came, sweet influence to impart, A gracious, willing guest; When He can find one humble heart And every virtue we possess, And every victory won, And every thought of holiness Are His alone. -Harriet Auber. HE fruit of the Spirit as here described is a glorious list of Christian graces. It is always true that the right spirit among men is born of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit of God. The divine Spirit is the sacred fountain whence flow blessed and divine streams in human character and influence. We often speak of the fruits of the Spirit, but it is interesting to observe here that the apostle does not say fruits of the spirit, but fruit. He seems carefully to avoid the plural and to choose the singular form of the word. Strictly speaking, there is only one fruit of the Spirit, but that one fruit manifests itself in many different forms. God help us all to adorn the crown of our Christian character by these resplendent jewels, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and temperance. Thy Spirit is good; lead me in the land of uprightness. Amen. Ps. 143: 10. Dear Mr. Treat: 10th I enclose herewith a little contri bution for the gift book you are prepar ing for Dr. MacArthur. for Love, a great, strong, protecting, inextinguishable love. Love does not divide, it nites, it dra it is a bond of union than which there people together att Mrs Bone more fitinate, more sacred or of more enduring character. Pushfreligion does not have the effect to touch and quicken the heart with that deepest, purest and most expansive of passions, and to send us out in sympathy strong and great toward our fellow men of every shade and grade, of every name and creed, it is not the religion of Christ. |