516 THE CALL OF CHRIST. gathered you, but ye would not come." come unto me that ye may have life." unto me I will in no wise cast out." "Ye will not "Him that cometh This call is authori tative. He is the Master, and "this is his commandment, that we should believe." "Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Lost and ruined by the fall: Sinners, Jesus came to call." NOVEMBER 12. The Benefit of Affliction. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”—Job, xxiii. 10. THE Christian does not always live in the sunshine of prosperity. He must expect seasons of trial and difficulty. "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil? Let me think of the Christian's trials-and the Christian's profit. The Christian's trials." When he hath tried me." Trials are divinely appointed. "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" I am tried, to teach me that I must depend on God alone for all-needed blessings. I am tried, that my affections may be raised above earthly objects, and fixed on things above. I am tried, that I may learn to look for my reward, not on earth, but in heaven. Trials are numerous. They generally come not singly, but in heaps; and they often come when least expected. There is personal affliction, relative distress, the loss of friends, the loss of property, the misconduct of those dear to us. All these are fires, painful and distressing, not designed to destroy, but only to purify. THE BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION. 517 There is support in trials. The tried have the sympathy of Christ: "In all thy afflictions, I am afflicted." He was afflicted with poverty, and had not where to lay his head; in the garden, his sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the ground; when he was athirst, he got nothing but gall and vinegar to drink; and during his last overwhelming sufferings, he had no kind friends to sympathize with him. Shall he bear all this for me, and shall I not bear willingly whatever affliction he is pleased to lay upon me? The afflicted have also the comfort of the divine promises-promises of grace, of strength, of help, and of deliverance and they have the hope of speedy release from all their anxieties and sorrows. Blessed hope, thou art the anchor of my soul, and fixed within the veil ! The Christian's profit." I shall come forth as gold.” Gold is valuable. It is fifteen times more valuable than silver, and multitudes make gold their hope, and their chief good; but what good would a wedge of gold do in the bosom of a dying man? The tried Christian is more valuable than gold. He is bought with a price, which gold and silver, yea, all the gold and silver in the world, could not equal. He is an adopted child of heaven, for whom an inheritance, far superior to gold, is prepared. "The Lord's portion is his people." Gold is pure. The fire removes its dross, and if seven times purified, will be perfectly pure; so afflictions, bereavements, adversities, and persecutions purify the Christian, and prepare him for heaven. "The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire." Gold is lustrous. When it is polished, or when other metals are burnished with gold, it reflects the face of man. So the Christian is kept in the furnace till he reflects the image of Christ, and be fitted to shine as a light in our dark world. After affliction, the Christian should be more lustrous than before. Gold is useful. As a medium of 518 THE BENEFIT OF AFFLICTION. exchange, it enables all nations to transact business with each other, and thus it helps to civilize barbarous men. "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich." Gold is durable. It does not corrode and waste in the earth like the baser metals; so the Christian shall live for ever. The unsearchable riches he possesses shall survive the wreck of the world. NOVEMBER 13. Christ like unto Moses. "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you."-Acts, iii. 22. HERE we have Christ as a Prophet-his resemblance to Moses-and his claims on our obedience. Christ as a Prophet.-" A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you." Moses uttered this prediction nigh fifteen hundred years before Jesus appeared; and when he appeared, he was truly a prophet. He foretold future events. His own sufferings, death, and resurrection, were often plainly and minutely described; he gave graphic accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; and he unfolded the rapid and extensive propagation of the gospel. He revealed the will of God to men. He gave us all the information we need about his person, character, and work; about justification by faith, the influence of the Holy Spirit, the joys of the Christian life, and the coming glories of a better world. His gospel is for all men, and all ages of the world. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." He still reveals to men the way of salvation. By his word, and the preaching of the gospel, he still fulfils the prophetic office; and by his Holy Spirit he reveals CHRIST LIKE UNTO MOSES. 519 himself to the hearts of men as the only and almighty Saviour. His resemblance to Moses.-"Like unto me." Both were divinely commissioned to make known the will of God. God raised them up, called them to office, favoured them with direct communications, while he spake to others in dreams and visions. Both were of the stock of Abraham, brethren of the Israelites, and destined to exercise a great influence over that strange people. Both wrought miracles, in proof of the divinity of their mission. Their miracles were numerous, striking, well fitted to convince, and ought to have been irresistible. Friends as well as foes ought to have been satisfied. Both were mediators. Moses often saved the Israelites from merited and impending ruin; and Christ is the one Mediator between God and men, and has saved our world from destruction. "He was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." His claims on our obedience.-" Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." The things to be heard are the sayings of Christ about sin, our disease; about himself, our remedy; and about justification by faith, our cure. Whatever he says, must be heard without limitation or exception; for none of his words can fall to the ground. It is our duty to hear with deep and earnest attention, for it is the great Prophet who knows the thoughts of our hearts that speaks to us; it is our duty to hear with faith, for the word cannot profit us without it; and it is our duty to hear, with resolution to obey, and determination to practise. Our obedience must be rendered not merely to the requirements that please us, but to all that he says. We must obey all without partiality, and not by fits and starts, but at all times. Surely the path of 520 CHRIST LIKE UNTO MOSES. duty is the only path of safety; and who would wish to die while neglecting his duty? NOVEMBER 14. The Doom of the Disobedient. "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people."-Acts, iii. 23. HERE we are informed that some will not hear their doom will be dreadful-and this doom will be certain. Some will not hear.-"Every soul which will not hear that Prophet.” If ever there was a prophet worthy of being heard, that prophet is Christ. Alas, that there should be so many who do not hear him! Some oppose Christ. Infidels tell us that reason is their guide, while they will not say whether it is their own reason, or the reason of some other man. How changeable is reason as a guide, and how barren and ruinous is infidelity! Some treat Christ and his word with indifference. They have no concern for the soul or a future state, and they banish thoughts of a day of reckoning. How strange that the words of the Sun of Righteousness, whose every word is a beam of light and of love, should be treated as idle tales! Some procrastinate attention till a convenient season. While Jesus says "Now," many think it is time enough yet; but it will be more difficult to hear to-morrow than to-day. To-morrow we may be dead, to-morrow our hearts will be harder, to-morrow our day of grace may be ended: let us not leave till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Some profess to hear, and yet do not practise. If they are thought religious by others, and gain the praise of men, they care not for the approbation of God. Their doom will be dreadful.-"They shall be destroyed from among the people." This doom is destruction, not |