Εικόνες σελίδας
PDF
Ηλεκτρ. έκδοση

that feeling? You remember, it was love. A man who really loved all his fellow-men would never do them any injury, and would always do them all the good he could. And further, if they really loved the Master and Lord who gave them these laws, they would keep them for His sake.

The great mark then which showed the difference between the true servants and the disobedient was this, the faithful servants loved their Master, and loved one another. The disobedient hated Him and each other, and in their hearts served the enemy, who only sought to ruin them both in body and soul.

SCRIPTURES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE FOREGOING.

5th Commandment-Exodus xx. 12.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Ephes. vi. 1—3.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

14. Matt. v. 27.
2 Sam. xii. 9, 10.
Ephes. iv. 28.
James iv. 11.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

15.

9th

16.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Matt. vii. 12. Luke vi. 31. Lev. xix. 18. Matt. xxii. 40. Rom. xiii. 8, 9. Gal. v. 14. 1 Tim. i. 5.

Gal. vi. 2.

James ii. 8.
L. S. R.

[In sending these very simple explanations of the Catechism, the object of the writer is, not that any teacher should actually read this story and this only, but to show the manner in which the subjects may be treated, so as to become intelligible to the youngest and most ignorant child. It is simply as a help to the teacher, and as an illustration of the mode in which the great lessons of religion may be brought home to the minds of children, without wearying them by long explanations which they cannot follow. The attention and interest excited by telling a story are well known to all who have

the care of children. My object is, to show how that interest can be directed to the most important subjects. The stories of the Bible, if told in an interesting manner, cannot fail to engage the attention, and will lend them ideas, when old enough, to search out those narratives themselves, and to derive profit therefrom.]

WISE SAYINGS PLAINLY APPLIED.

"A wise son maketh a glad father:

But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother."-PROV. x. 1.

CONSIDER what is meant by wise, and what by foolish. -To be wise, according to the wisdom meant by the Spirit of God, is not to have "the wisdom of this world;" for God has made that wisdom foolish. (1 Cor. i. 19, 20.) But when God tells us this, He directly adds, that Christ is made unto us wisdom (1 Cor. i. 30); and the wisdom which is of Christ is described in James iii. 17, to include all the Christian character. To be wise with this wisdom is to have found out, through the teaching of the Spirit of Christ, how much better it is to enter into the joy of the Lord in heaven hereafter, than to have all that this world can give here. (Matt. xvi. 26.) Not to have found this out is to be foolish. To look after the things of this world in the first place is to be foolish; therefore the man who laid by much goods for many years, and was not rich towards God, is called a fool. (Luke xii. 20.)

A father loves his child: when the child grows up, if the father finds that he shows by his conduct that he has the true wisdom, how glad, how happy is that father's heart. In this life his son's good conduct cheers and comforts him; his good character gladdens his aged hours; and when, in the life to come, he shall hear him called into the presence of Eternal Wisdom, to abide there for ever, what joy, what gladness!—surely a wise son makes a glad father.

A mother loves her child: while he is still young, the pleasure of giving him pleasure is so great, that she indulges herself, as well as the child; she never looks forward: it troubles the child to learn-therefore she

I will not let him be made to learn. The child likes to have his own way, and it seems but a trifle-she lets him have it; he grows up without the wisdom that is from above, and being foolish in this respect, indulges himself, and seeks after this world's pleasures, and gets into danger. What heaviness for the mother's heart! He is ungrateful for her kindness; what pain! He goes with the wicked; what grief to a mother! He meets some sad punishment in this world; heavy, heavy news for a mother! But in the world to come, when she finds him cast out of the presence of God for ever; what a pang must be her's! what misery! Surely a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Fathers and mothers! be wise while your children are young. Take the trouble to see that they are taught true wisdom in Christ, in their earliest years. Be selfdenying enough not to let them have their own way. "Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul."-Prov. xxix. 17.

Rev. A. D.

SHORT REFLECTIONS ON DIFFERENT PASSAGES OF
SCRIPTURE.

2 PETER iii. 18.

"Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

If we would be holy and happy Christians, we must be growing in grace. We should inquire, then, what is the manner, and what are the evidences of growth in grace? They are, growth in the measure and exercises of grace; habitual progress in the ways of God, victories over our besetting sins, and more spiritual perception of the path of duty. We are variously hindered in this work, both by self-indulgence, and neglect of religious advantages. But we should always strive against these evil habits and tempers,-"resist the devil and he will flee from you." The means of our growth in grace are, principally, abiding in Christ, and walking in the fear of God, which produce fruit in believing, and the assurance of our hope of glory; "for so an entrance shall be ministered unto

you abundantly into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ."-The knowledge of Christ is the principle of eternal life in the soul, and the supreme desire of the child of God. It invariably accompanies growth in grace. We should endeavour to obtain this by perseverance in the ways of God, the serious hearing and study of the word, attendance on public worship, and, above all, diligence in prayer. For prayer is the means of obtaining (if we ask aright) what we desire from God. It is the very life and element of a Christian; and without it, his communion with God would be for ever stopped. Has not our blessed Saviour promised, "Ask, and it shall be given you?" And again, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." X. Y. Z.

SHORT PRAYERS.

O HOLY JESUS, Lamb of God, Thou that art the light and life of all holy souls, help me to a true and living faith in Thee. O do Thou Thyself come and dwell within me, with all thy holy nature, spirit, tempers, and inclinations, that I may be born again of Thee, and be in Thee a new creature, quickened and revived, led and governed by thy Holy Spirit.

O LORD, take not thy Holy Spirit from us. Withdraw not from this thy living temple within; abandon it not to the defilement of our low desires, but pour into it, we earnestly beseech Thee, pour into it thy gracious influence, and teach us by timely repentance "to seek that pardon to-day through the merits of Jesus Christ, which to-morrow it may be too late to ask for," that so when the hour comes which must come, when every other stay sinks beneath us, the same Spirit which supported us in life, may uphold us in death, and lead us unto the inheritance of the saints in light, unto the brightness and the glory of thine everlasting kingdom in the heavens.

T. V.

[graphic][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »