Is glorious with the spirit-march "The gentle moon, the kindling sun, As shrines to burn earth's incense on, The altar-fires of heaven." Even the simple blade of grass at your door, now bathed with the morning dew, now sparkling in the clear sunshine, and now reflecting a darker hue, as the passing cloud or the o'erhanging bough shields it from the noonday sun, speaks in ever-living tones of the love and care of Him who listens to the faintest whisper of the child's heart. The wild-flowers of field and forest, the soft, green moss, the mountain lichen, the barky trunk, the fresh, moist ground of spring, the delicate tendrils of the simple vine as it climbs around your very door, are not all instinct with the spirit of a Power, Beauty, and Love ever around and ever near you? And in the light of the Saviour's teachings, in the light reflected from his broken sepulchre, in the holy remembrances of that "first day of the week," do not the most common scenes of nature become transfigured with a new and wonderful glory? The very heavens become radiant with a deeper beauty, as we remember how they were parted over the Jordan, and the baptism of the Holy One was sealed by those Divine words, "This is my beloved Son"; and a holier light is reflected from each placid stream and sparkling wave, as they speak to the soul of those waters of which he who drinketh shall never thirst, as they become symbolical of that river, "the streams whereof make glad the city of our God." Even the gathering mists and the dark and lowering clouds become transfused with a brighter glow, as we listen to the voice that spake amid the storm, and hushed the raging waters, saying, "Peace, be still." And when, in some favored hour, we gaze on the wide amphitheatre of forests, hills, and mountains, a sublimer beauty and a holier majesty crown their summits, as they remind us of those everlasting hills, "from whence cometh our help," that, "as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about them that fear him," as we remember those once with us, now beholding the glories of the New Jerusalem, the city "that hath no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Consecrated by such a spirit, will you not find in the works of nature a new and inexhaustible fountain of spiritual truth and power, a medium through which you can ever hold communion with your Father and your Saviour? A portion of your Sabbath, if its hours are in any measure under your own control, should also be set apart for the direct instruction of others, the young or the ignorant, either in your own home or in the Sabbath school. As you have received, so are you sacredly bound to impart of your own spiritual advantages and blessings; and in no way can you more truly deepen and quicken your inward being, than by seeking to aid others in walking in the narrow path of life. Give, freely and fully, even though it be at the cost of some sacrifice of ease and indulgence. Deem it a privilege, if in any form or way you can labor in your Master's vineyard, if you can follow him in his walks of benevolence and labors of love. Be faithful to your high calling as a Christian disciple, and the Sabbath will never be a weariness, but a period blessed above other seasons for its privileges and opportunities, its hours for direct spiritual communion, for secret meditation and social worship,-its hours both for receiving and imparting the truths revealed through the mission and mediation of a crucified and risen Saviour. Let it be a day of cheerfulness and of quiet joy, — a day when the ordinary pursuits of life are laid aside, and its hours especially consecrated to the worship of God, to the cultivation of the religious nature, and to the use of such means as shall fit the soul the better to meet the trials and discipline of the daily life, and prepare it more truly for that direct, spiritual communion and intercourse in the Master's society promised to the faithful servant. A Sabbath thus passed will bring with it its own special blessings; and in a deeper religious faith, in larger powers of usefulness, in more spiritual endeavors and aims, and a more faithful walk among men, you will reap the blessed effects of its hours of holy consecration and prayer. May you so improve these hours, that they will indeed be to you a foretaste of your heavenly home, of an eternal Sabbath of progress and of joy. "Then shall a new, a spirit childhood come, A fresher sense of life in thee have room! A life that knows no pain, no death, no tomb! There sight shall know what faith hath first believed; LETTER XIV. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. It has been with deep interest, my dear friend, that I have watched your progress in the spiritual life, and your earnest endeavors to be a true disciple of your Saviour and Redeemer. But while you are striving to govern your inward being, and to regulate your daily life by his teachings and example, let me ask if one thing is not still wanting as an aid to your own spiritual progress and consecration, and needful to give to your example and influence its due and rightful efficacy. While you have consecrated yourself in the secrecy of your own heart to your Master's service, and are seeking to become more and more conformed to his spirit and to look to him as your only Saviour, is there not an obligation laid upon you by the very name you wish to bear of a Christian disciple, to observe the simple ordinances of his appointment, and in outward rite to confirm the resolve and the dedication made before God in your own soul? Re |