BY THE LATE REV. DR. JOHN KENNEDY, DINGWALL.
IX.
“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage; and the door was shut.”—
MATT. xxv. 10.
I. The coming of the bridegroom.
II. They who were ready. They had a right to enter, a sufficient supply of oil, and a trimmed and burning lamp.
III. They went in with Him. O! what good company!
IV. The door was shut.
I. The coming of the bridegroom. It is Christ that is here meant, for He and He alone stands in this relation to His Church. Of Him it is said, “And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” The coming of the Bridegroom here spoken of takes place at death: (1) Because then it is that the marriage between Christ and the Church is consummated. They were betrothed before; but He marries her when He comes to claim her as His bride in order to
bring her home. (2) Because it is then the Church’s blessedness is made perfect. It is then the feast is to be enjoyed which shall be spread in the palace of the king. How great shall be the joy of the Bridegroom! Think of this as the end of His eternal love, as the result of His great work in the fulness of time, and as the close and climax of the work of grace. Think of all from which He separates her then. Think of all to which He brings her then. What must be the joy of His infinite love in coming to bring to His loved one to be for ever with Himself, and what must be the joy of her for whom He comes?
We stand here between two great facts, the coming of Christ to earth, His work and death, the great fact of the past which is matter of history, and Christ’s second coming, when He shall come again the second time without sin unto salvation, the great fact of the future which is matter of faith and hope and prophecy. It is plain that the date of Christ’s coming here spoken of is at death. It is then, as we have said, that the marriage of the Church is consummated. Then must He acknowledge His bride, not before His enemies, not before the assembled world, but in the court of heaven, in the presence of the Father, and in full view of all the angels. He brings home His bride to the palace of the king, and surely with gladness great shall she be brought into it, and there shall she abide. This bringing home is to be by death.
We are to expect that the beginning of Christ’s work for His Church shall be followed up with what shall be in consistency with that glorious antecedent. And is death a fitting climax to such a work. Yes. How? Because Christ shall do nothing inconsistent. What He does to-day shall be quite consistent with what He did yesterday. He loved His Church, and the great commendation of that love He gave in His coming and taking the place of kinsman, and doing the work of surety. He endured death for His people, and took the sting out of it. He triumphed over it, proving Himself the Prince of Peace, when He rose victorious from the grave. When I think of death, I shrink from it. Why must I pass through that dark, gloomy way? Think of all that the soul passes through in the wilderness; often it finds a place where there is no water, and sometimes no food at hand; it passes through a vale of tears, and fiery serpents have to be met with, and foes more deadly than they, and this dark river at the end. It is not like the Jordan over which Israel passed. Jordan was severed, and through it they passed. But it is I who must be severed when I come to this river. My spirit and body must part; my body returns to dust, and my spirit naked passes into the presence of God. To find relief from this feeling of shrinking from death, I like just to go to Calvary. And what do I see there? I see Jesus Christ die. He died for sin under the curse, under the full expression of the wrath of God. In holy human nature He had to undergo
the parting of soul and body. His body went down to the grave. But He triumphed over death for his people, and they have to meet death without the sting, and with the blessing of God. He as the forerunner has gone in through death. Why should I shrink from following Him? There I feel ashamed of my dread of death. Death is a fitting close and climax to a life of faith. From first to last His people’s life is a life of faith. That life of faith is glorifying to God and good for them. If it were not so, it would not have been. When first He came to bring me to Himself, He betrothed me. He came when I wished not for Him. I have to thank God as much for the prayers His love refused as for the prayers He answered. The prayers of my days of ignorance, if they had been answered, where would I have been now? He came and touched me, and His touch seemed rough at first. I felt as if He grasped me only to shake me over the fire, a foretaste of the hell awaiting me. Once I feared it might be so. But He quickened me, and brought me into the household of God, and God became my father. He put His Spirit in me, and I became a member of His body, and that Spirit dwelt in me, preparing and sanctifying for the Father’s house. It is fitting that death be the close and climax of a life of faith. This death stealing over my body till I can move none of its members, the chill of insensibility coming over my spirit, oh, if in the midst of all this, I catch one glimpse of the Lamb of God in the midst of the throne, His presence shall sustain me even then, and I can say in the face of death, “I will trust in Him.” I have tried to say, “If it is Thy will thus to bring me home, and if it is to Thy honour, let it be so. If Thou wextent through death, let me follow.” The Bridegroom went through death and He has left a stingless death for His bride to go through, and it is the passage to glory. Whatever I may have said here, when I get to the other side of death, I shall never say, “Why didst thou not bring me some other way?” An infant one moment in heaven is more enlightened than anyone can be here. Death is a final thing. It is the end of hoping and believing. Then the soul goes in where the enjoyment and feasting begin that shall have no end, and where vision takes the place of faith. Then shall they go in with the Lamb, His presence shall go with them, and they shall be escorted by angels to their place in the Father’s house.
II. They who were ready. What does readiness to go in to the marriage imply? (1) A right to go in. Everyone has not a right to go in. How can I obtain a right? Only in Christ. I must be so united to Him as to be one with Him. Then His righteousness is mine, and I am covered with His righteousness till I become righteousness in Him. One with Him, so that His Spirit dwells in me. How can I be united to Christ? By the working of the quickening Spirit. Born not of the will of the flesh, but of the will of God, born again. By faith I am united to Christ. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” In Christ there
is a right, a title to the inheritance. The title is kept. It may be said to the soul, “O you are only an heir.” “But,” the soul replies, “my title is good.” It is kept by God, it is in heaven where no thief can reach it, and no moth nor rust is in the atmosphere of heaven. The heir is also kept for the inheritance, kept by the power of God. No fear then but the inheritance and the heir shall meet. Then shall the song be, “Not unto me, but unto Thy name be praise.” “Grace, grace, unto it.” (2) Preparation for heaven. What is it? Conformity to Christ. Complete sanctification—soul, body, and spirit sanctified. They must have oil in their vessels, grace in their souls. Their lamps must be trimmed and burning. While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slept. When He came they looked at their lamps, and the wise found oil in their vessels. How can I know that I have grace in my soul? By a Spirit-sealed evidence to my soul. I look at my vessel, and oh, it is empty, I say. The vessel, however, is deep, so deep that no eye can see to the bottom of it but God’s. But he who has grace in his soul, if he sees no grace in it, goes crying for grace to the store where it can be found. He looks from his own emptiness to the fulness that is in Jesus Christ. His stock of grace is in the Head. (3) The lamp must be trimmed. The oil wont do in the vessel; it must be put into the lamp or no light will be there to show the way, and no light to see the Bridegroom when He comes. And the lamp must be burning. Grace must be in exercise. As poor sinners we must be coming to the fulness of grace. We must be trusting Christ, trusting Him for carrying us through, trusting our souls, our all to Him, believing that He is able to save us to the uttermost. We must trust Him in life and at death.
III. “And they went in with him to the marriage.” I must come out before I go in. O yes, this spirit must leave the tabernacle of flesh where it has always been. I have been here always, says the soul in reference to the body, but I must come out a naked spirit. In thinking of that I had almost forgot the words that come after, “with Him.” I must die, but what is this death, this parting of soul and body? This spirit must put off this body that has covered it, but it puts also off the body that burdens and pollutes it. This death separates the soul from sin for ever. With Him I go in. He has promised to be with me till then. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” And oh, then, when parting from sin, I will surely not part with Thee. Thou wilt go with me on the journey from death to the Father’s house. Thou wilt bring me into the presence of the king. O then, I may trust Thee to cover me in the strangeness of my first experience of heaven with the embrace of Thy love, and Thou wilt introduce me. If Thou art with me till then I may be content to go with Thee, there to be for ever with Thee. In to the marriage, in with the King, as a king’s daughter, and the king’s spouse, the bridegroom, Christ, shall introduce His spouse to the
Father. I might feel abashed to enter that glory, but going in with Him as a bride, His glory and His love will keep me from being abashed. They went in with Him to the marriage feast, a feast that shall never have an end. God tells me it will never end. To everlasting life Christ’s people go. They go to a feast of full enjoyment, eternal rest, unending glory and bliss.
IV. “And the door was shut.” When the foolish went to buy, they knew where to go. They went to them that sold. They called unto me, says Christ. They went to the right quarter, but not at the right time. Too late. When death comes, it shuts the door. It may come to us this night. We had no warrant to say it will not. Some of you may say, “It is not likely to come soon to us.” It is most likely to come just when you are saying so. Hear the word, “At such a time as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” When the wicked says, “Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh.” When the door is shut, it shuts in all who were ready. It shuts them in to an eternity of glory, an exceeding weight of glory. It shuts out all who are not ready to an eternity of woe. O that (if I may so speak) the noise of the shutting of the door rang loud in the ears of the young! “And the door was shut.” O my dear fellow-sinners, may God apply this truth to your souls. Amen.
X.
“But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”—LUKE x. 42.
I. We have here a concise statement of an important truth.
II. We have the description of one who was made wise to choose the “good part.”
I. “One thing is needful.” This is not a thing that becomes alone by being separated from other things, but is a thing that has been always alone. It was, and must remain distinct and solitary. How many there are who have taken one out of a multitude of things, which they have placed in a position of isolation, and made it their “one thing.” They have done so, not because its greatness makes their chosen thing solitary, but because it is the trifle with which they elect to be engrossed.* I have seen a child building a toy castle with bricks; and the castle is almost built; just one little brick is needed to finish the building. If the brick is not found, the child cries and makes all about him uncomfortable. To him it is the one thing needful at the time. But do the parents think so? No; because they are wiser. I have seen one ill with fever calling loud for something that it would be death for him to get. To him it appears the one thing needful. Those around him know what he needs is health, and the means to
* This and the two preceding sentences are taken out of the published sermon on this text in order to fill a blank.—Ed.
restore health. A drunkard comes up to one, begging for money, and tries all his ingenuity to move your heart so as to move your hand to give him money. And what does he wish the money for? To buy drink that will ruin him body and soul. Sinner, still careless and Christless, you lead no better life. You have no more respectable aim in life than the poor drunkard. You are leading a fool’s life, and if unchecked, will have a fool’s end.
The sphere of the thing spoken of in the text is the sphere of the needful. We shall never enter that sphere unless taught by the Spirit of God. When the law comes, when we find ourselves lost sinners with hell yawning right before us, then we shall feel there is but “one thing” needful for us, and that “one thing” is salvation. “What shall we do to be saved?” shall be our cry.
II. The portion or part spoken of. It is a good, and enduring portion. What is it? It is salvation. It is a provision, God’s provision for sinners, and that embodied in Jesus Christ. We are not to think of this provision only as deep in the heart of God, or as a provision of love hidden in the resources of God, but also as revealed in the glorious gospel, and brought nigh in Christ as He is there revealed. Of this portion it is said that it is good. It is so because it is the gift of God. We know that it is of God, and therefore it must be good. There is none good but God, and every good and perfect gift is from God. It is good because it meets our whole case as sinners. What we need is salvation, salvation from all sin, and His gift is salvation from all sin. There was a time in my life’s history, and I daresay in the life’s history of some of you present, when, in looking over the past of our lives, we were saying “This and this cannot be forgiven,” and the only word that could describe us was “Lost, lost.” But if the light of Sinai were cast over the whole extent of our being, piercing into the darkest depths within us and reaching to the outskirts of our sin, still in this provision, in this portion, there is sufficient to meet our whole case. This portion is an enduring portion, once you have it, it can never be taken from you. Your own sin cannot put it from you, and no enemy can take it from you. God saves me from my own folly. My portion is in heaven. God is too wise to give it into my hands, He retains it in His own hand. My life is hid with Christ in God. It is in heaven where no thief can steal, no moth corrupt. The world cannot get its theftuous hand upon it; sin cannot enter to pollute it; the great enemy cannot take it away. The enemy can mar your enjoyment of it here, but what of that? The world can persecute the children of God, but in doing so, they only make the children depend more for their joy on communion and fellowship with God. They may slay the children, but what will the upshot of that be? Only to separate them from all that prevents their full enjoyment of the provision in the Father’s house. Death will not deprive them of their portion. Death is not to them a punishment of sin; it is a messenger from the Father’s house. I like to think of
death as Christ’s coming again. “I will come again and receive you to myself.” Death is Christ’s coming to bring His people home to be for ever with Himself. The great enemy cannot take away the portion, but he will avenge himself on them by being to them the tempter. But his temptation will result in keeping them more dependent on God for grace all through to the end, and then they will go where no temptations shall ever assail them.
This portion, good and enduring, was chosen by Mary. The Lord made her wise to choose this portion. At one time she was true to the meaning of her name—”rebellious,” but in a day of power she was made willing, and now she is in her own place at the feet of Jesus listening to His words. Where else would she be? For there at the feet of Jesus hearing His word her soul grows in grace and in the knowledge of God. Some Christians are chiefly taken up with outside work, forgetting closet work. Others more retiring are content to carry messages to a throne of grace. They are pleaders seeking blessings for the workers in the vineyard. It would be well for the Church to have the workers and the pleaders. It would be well for the soul to have the spirit of a pleader, and the will to work.
I have three questions to ask, and then without waiting to press them, I have done. (1) Are you here to-day who do not believe the statement here made by Christ that “one thing is needful?” There is no doubt about it in heaven. The minds of all in hell must assent to that statement, though their hearts rebel against the truth. There are no sceptics on this subject but on earth. How awful it is to see a sinner standing on the brink of hell with Christ as God’s provision standing near him, and the sinner despising the provision of God’s grace and dishonouring God’s great name! (2) (This question forgotten by the writer.) (3) Are there some here to-day who can say without a lie before God, “Give me thy provision in Christ, and do with me as thou pleasest; I am content with thy salvation?” Amidst the stoppages of banks and the crashings of mercantile houses, it is well to know that there is a sure portion. They are a blessed people who have the good enduring portion of God’s provision in Christ.
Notes from Dr. John Owen.
DR. OWEN, comparing the sufferings of faith narrated in Heb. xi. 35-38 with the triumphs of faith in the immediately preceding verses, says: There is as much glory unto a spiritual eye in the catalogue of the effects of faith that follows as in that which went before. The church is no less beautiful and glorious, when encompassed and seemingly overwhelmed with all the evils and dreadful miseries here recounted, than when it is in the greatest peace and prosperity. To look, indeed, only on the outside of them gives a terrible undesirable prospect. But to see faith and
love to God working effectually under them all, to see comforts retained, yea consolations abounding, holiness promoted, God glorified, the world condemned, the souls of men profited, and at length triumphant over all, this is beautiful and glorious.
To do the greatest things and to suffer the hardest is all one to faith. It is equally ready for both, as God shall call, and equally effectual in both. These things unto the flesh differ next to heaven and hell: they are both alike to faith when duty calls.
“OTHERS WERE TORTURED.”—And this is the height of what the old murderer could rise and attain to. He began with a sudden death by violence and blood. But when he had got advantages he was not contented therewith. He would have the servants of the living God to die by all sorts of tortures. This was his hell, the hell of his making. But he could never put the displeasure of God into it, nor make of it any continuance. Divine wrath, and perpetuity under it, are his own portion. But that which is most marvellous herein is that he should get amongst men such as should execute his infernal rage and malice. There was never any greater instance of the degeneracy of human nature to the image and likeness of the devil than this, that so many of them have been found, and that in high places of power—emperors, kings, judges, and priests—who were not satisfied to take away the lives of the true worshippers of God by the sword, or by other ways in which they slew the worst of malefactors, but invented all kinds of hellish tortures whereby to destroy them. For although the crafts of Satan were open and evident herein, who designed by them ways to get time and advantage for his temptations to draw them off from the profession of the faith which he could not have had in a speedy execution; yet it is astonishing that the nature of man should be capable of so much villany and inhumanity. But this also God hath seen good to permit in that patience whereby he endures with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath that are fitted for destruction. And He doth it for many blessed ends of his own glory and the eternal salvation of His church, not here to be insisted upon.
“They were tortured.”—This is the utmost that the devil and the world can reach to, all the hell he hath to threaten his enemies withal. But when he hath done his utmost, it falls only on the body, it cannot reach the soul; it is but of a short continuance, and gives assurance of an entrance into a blessed eternity. It can shut out no divine consolation from the minds of them that suffer; a little precious faith will carry believers victoriously through the worst of all.
THE things which are commanded or forbidden of God are not to be esteemed by the matter of them, or what they are in themselves, but by the authority of Him that commands or forbids them. And this is the same in the least as well as the
greatest things in religion. The authority of God may be despised in small things as well as in great. And, therefore, God doth ordinarily choose out arbitrary institutions to be the trial and touchstone of the faith of the church. So the martyrs here in England died on the account of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. And if we begin at any time to suppose that to save our lives we may comply with some lesser things—such as bowing in the house of Rimmon—that God hath forbidden, both faith and profession are lost. We know not what command, what ordinance, what institution, what prohibition God will single out to be the means and subject of our trial, as unto sufferings. If we are not equally ready to suffer for everyone, we shall suffer for none at all. (See James ii. 10).
The late George Müller.
IT is now nearly six months since Mr. George Müller, Bristol, the eminent philanthropist, passed away, but it may not be too late to give here a brief account of his life and labours. He was born in the town of Kroppenstedt, Prussia, on 27th September, 1805. In early youth he exemplified in a marked degree the truth that all are born in sin, and up to the age of twenty lived a very loose and careless life. His profligacy brought as its reward on one occasion over three weeks in gaol. Strange to say that during this period of life he was pursuing his studies with the view to becoming a clergyman, but so utterly ignorant was he of the requirements of that important position that among his 200 books he possessed no Bible. The turning point, however, in his career came in November, 1825. A student friend took him one Saturday evening to a little prayer meeting in a private house, and what he saw and heard there proved the beginning of a new life to George Müller. He now began to read the Scriptures, pray often, and to stand on the side of Christ. The public means of grace to which he had access at this time were very few, and sometimes he walked ten or fifteen miles to hear the truth preached. He came to London on 29th March, 1829, and for a short time studied as a missionary probationer in connection with the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. He began now to evince his love for that principle of absolute dependence on the Lord for temporal supplies, which he acted upon through life. He offered “to serve the Society without salary, if they would allow him to labour in regard to time and place as the Lord might direct him,” but the Society were unable to accede to his offer, and so his connection with them came to an end. At this juncture he entered upon ministerial work at Ebenezer Chapel, Teignmouth, and here he spent two and a half years. He came to Bristol in 1832. In 1834 he inaugurated a Scriptural Knowledge Institution for home and abroad. In
regard to this we give the following interesting quotation:—”The objects were: (1) To establish Day, Sabbath, and Adult Schools in which instruction was given in Scriptural principles: (2) To circulate the Holy Scriptures, especially among the poorest of the poor: (3) To aid missionary operations in all lands: (4) To circulate religious books, pamphlets, and tracts. It was resolved never to seek “the patronage of the world,” to look for support from God alone by prayer and faith, and not to run into debt. Two days after the institution was founded, one at least of the founders was almost penniless, for he was compelled to write—”To-day we have only one shilling left!”
But the work went on, and in 1897, in the last annual statement he was privileged to give, Mr. Müller could report that he had received since the work was commenced the noble sum of £1,424,646! With this, 121,683 persons had been taught in the schools supplied by the institution; 281,652 Bibles, 1,448,662 New Testaments, 21,343 copies of the Book of Psalms, and 222,196 other portions of the Word of God, in many different languages, had been circulated; a considerable number of missionary and mission schools had been assisted, £259,776 having been spent in this direction; 111,489,067 Scripture Books, Tracts, &c., had been circulated; and 9,844 orphans had been fed, clothed, and educated.
But the last item anticipates. Not long after the establishment of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution Mr. Müller was seized with an intense longing to extend the work by doing something for destitute orphans. He was naturally well acquainted with the large orphan house at Halle, built in dependence upon God by A. H. Franke. At this time the alternative in England for poor children bereaved of their parents lay for the most part between the poorhouse and the gaol, and the desire became rooted in Mr. Müller’s kindly heart that he might, while caring for the bodies of these helpless ones, present to the world an object lesson showing “even in the nineteenth century what can be accomplished by prayer and faith.” It was a noble aspiration! “I judge myself bound,” he says, “to be the servant of the Church of Christ in the particular point in which I obtained mercy, namely, in being able to take God by His Word and to rely upon it. This seemed to me best done by the establishing and carrying on of an orphan house. It needed to be something which could be seen even by the natural eye. Now, if I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith obtained, without asking any individual, the means of establishing and carrying on an orphan house, there would be something which, with the Lord’s blessing, might be instrumental in strengthening the faith of the children of God, besides being a testimony to the consciences of the unconverted of the reality of the things of God. This, then, was the primary reason for establishing the orphan houses. I certainly did from my heart desire to be used by God to benefit the bodies of poor children
bereaved of both parents, and seek, in other respects, with the help of God, to do them good for this life. I also particularly longed to be used by God in getting the dear orphans trained up in the fear of God; but still the first and primary object of the institution was, and still is, that God might be magnified by the fact that the orphans under my care were, and are provided with all they need only by prayer and faith, without anyone being asked by me or my fellow-labourers, whereby it might be seen that God is faithful still and hears prayer still.“
Bills were issued announcing a public meeting to be held on 9th December, 1835. At this important little gathering, the only speaker was Mr. Müller, and no collection or appeal was made. Four days previous to the meeting, Mr. Müller had been much struck, in reading his Bible, by these words, “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.”—(Ps. lxxxi. 10.) He at once took the promise literally, knelt down and asked the Lord for premises, for the sum of £1,000, and for suitable persons to take care of the children, all of which requests were at length granted. The first donation towards the proposed orphan house was the sum of one shilling from a poor missionary. The second contribution was also a shilling, and the first legacy, 6s. 6½d., came from a little boy!
On 17th December the sum of £100 was given by a poor seamstress, weak in bodily health, who had come into possession of the money through the death of a relative. As her average earnings did not exceed 3s. 6d. per week, Mr. Müller hesitated to accept the gift, but the poor woman insisted with this noble reply, “The Lord Jesus has given His last drop of blood for me, and shall I not give Him this £100?” What answer could Mr. Müller make to this? He could only thank God for using this poor woman, in so considerable a measure, for helping at its very commencement the work he had set about solely in dependence upon Him.”
Mr. Müller was enabled to build from time to time five orphan houses, the last being opened on 6th January, 1870. “The five houses had cost £115,000, and were capable of accommodating 2,050 children, together with the necessarily large staff of helpers. Not a penny had been asked from any man—not a single letter, circular, or advertisement had been issued appealing for help.” “An afternoon at the orphan houses is esteemed a privilege and pleasure by many visitors at Bristol. Each house has its visiting day, and no alterations or exceptions can be made in its arrangements. No. 1 (fitted up for the accommodation of 140 girls and 80 boys above eight years of age, and 80 boys under eight) is open to visitors on Wednesday afternoons. No. 2 (200 infant girls and 200 older girls) on Tuesday afternoons. No. 3 (450 older girls) on Thursday afternoons. No. 4 (210 boys of eight years of age and upwards, 203 infant boys, and 37 older girls to do household work) on Friday afternoons. And No. 5 (210 infant
and 240 older girls) on Saturday afternoons.” “The conditions of entry to the homes are of the broadest. The loss of both parents by death, and genuine need, are the only qualifications necessary. No recommendation is required, and the question of sect is never raised. Sometimes orphans are received when only a few months old, and remain in the institution for 15, 16, or even 17 years. The average term of residence, however, is about 10 years. The girls are trained for service, though not a few of them rise to higher positions by reason of the good education they are given, and the boys are generally apprenticed to a useful trade of their own choice.”
These quotations, as well as the other facts here narrated, are taken from a booklet of 15 large pages (price one penny) written by Mr. Frederick G. Warne. The writer also gives many instances of remarkable answers to prayer which Mr. Müller received. Oftentimes he was at his last penny when help arrived. “He was a great lover of the Bible, which he read through four times every year. He systematically read from the first chapter of Genesis to the last of Revelation, and had done so between one and two hundred times.” The whole narrative of Mr. Müller’s life is of an instructive and stimulating character, and should prove a spiritual incentive to all who read it. He was a remarkable witness to the truth—”Ask and it shall be given you.” He died on 10th March, 1898, at the advanced age of upwards of 92 years. His end was sudden. His attendant entered the bedroom in the morning and found him lying on the floor, dead. The above writer says—”The summons to the Master’s presence had come! It was a beautiful end to a beautiful life. No lingering hours of pain, but a sudden call to the glory of the Master’s presence.” At a meeting not long before he died, he declared that his only hope for eternity was that of a hell-deserving sinner resting upon the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. With all his good works, he was little in his own eyes, and based not his salvation upon any works of righteousness he had done. He was willing to be a debtor to free and sovereign grace for time and eternity. His funeral at Bristol elicited the profoundest and most widespread interest, and was the most remarkable in the city within present memory. “He being dead, yet speaketh.” We cannot refrain from noticing here the value of Mr. Müller’s personal property, as stated in his will. It amounted to the humble sum of £160 9s. 4d., of which £60 3s. 4d. was money. He was the personal recipient yearly of thousands of pounds, yet he surrendered well-nigh all on behalf of the great work in which he was engaged. A life of faith, prayer, and self-denial such as his is a testimony to the truth and power of Christianity that might well convince the blindest infidel in the world. We have only given but a few facts of his life. Our readers can procure the booklet (post free) from which the most of the above information is taken by sending 1½d. to W. F. Mack & Co., 52 Park Row, Bristol, or The Book Society, 28 Paternoster Row, London.
Clu an Fhirean.
BY REV. D. MACDONALD, SHIELDAIG.
MATT. vii. 16.
M O ghràdh-s’ an comunn uasal ud
Nach aicheadh mo luaidh-sa,
Ach a leanas e tre chruaidhchasan,
‘Toirt buaidh ‘n an gluasad còmhnaid.
Coimhididh iad aith’ntean-san,
Le h-urram diadhaidh, sgàthachail,
‘S bidh eagal Dia ‘n am pàilliunan
Gach là le cràbhadh sònruicht’.
Thug spiorad naomh nan gràsan ud
Tuigs’ a’s eòlas slàinteil dhoibh
Air òirdhearcas an t-Slanuighir
A ghin an gràdh gun ghòannt’.
Shoillsich Spiorad beannuichte
Dhé o nèamh le ghathan iad,
A’ dearbhadhannt’ ni’s soilleire
Gu seul’ na naomhachd ghìormhor.
Dh’fhuadaich buaidh nam feartan ud
Gach dorchadas a’s aineolas,
A’s ghin e siol nam beannachd
‘N an anaman’-san mar phòraibh.
Dh’éirich grian na fireantachd
Le slàint’ orra gu firinneach,
Ga’n athnuadhachadh o iomhaidh.
Gu iomhaidh Dhé le boichead.
‘S na pòran cùbhraidh, torach ud
A dh’fhàs fo bhlàth tre fheartan-san,
Chionn gu’n robh freumh an anam
Air a’ charraig ud a chòmhnuidh.
‘S i fireantachd Emanuel
A chòmhdaich lomnochd ‘n anaman-san,
‘S thug saorsa phriseil dhachaidh thuc’
Tre chreideamh Dhé tha beòannt’.
An àit’ aoibhinn thuit an lion-san,
Ag òl á buadhan Dhia a mach,
Dheth na sòlasan ionmhiannaichte
Chuir am miann fo rian a sheòlaidh.
Tha naomhachd caithebeath’ aca
Co-shlnte ri an cleachdainean,
‘S tha stòldachd naomh’ a’s breithneachadh
Ri aithneachadh ‘n an còmhradh.
Dh’aithnich an luchd-ceusaidh orra
Gu’m bu Ghaleléich iad
Air son nach robb mi-ghnethealachd,
Na euceartan ‘g an treòrach’.
Cha’n ioghnadh leam ged d’aithnicheadh
An saoghal gnethan ceart annta,
‘S gur toradh siol neo mhearachdach
O fhlaitheas a thug beo iad.
O’n doimhne ‘s tric a’ gearan iad
Air cridhe truaillidh, ceannairceach,
A’ miannachadh dol dhachaidh
Far am faigh an anam sòlas.
‘S tric sna cuantan tuathach iad,
A’ snàmh nan tonnan luath-lunnach,
‘S muir bàite ‘s gàir nan uamhasan
‘G an slugadh suas gun tròcair.
‘S na cuantan mòra farsuing sin
Bidh creidimh beò ‘g an neartachadh
Gur h-e Dia bheir dhachaidh iad,
‘S a chaisgeas a’ muir mòr dhoibh.
Seann nàdur truaillidh, ceannairceach,
A bheir na cuantan dhachaidh orr’,
‘Sa shluigeas sios a dh’aindeoin iad
Mar neach gun neart fo dhòruinn.
Re oidh’chean gruamach, bagarrach,
Is tûrsach ‘feitheamh na fàireadh iad,
Is cùirte, brùite am faireachadh,
A’s ceartas ‘g agradh ‘chòrach.
Ged thig bàs a’s codal orra,
Dhùsgear iad gu faireachail
Le anail bhlàth o fhlaitheanas
A’ neartachadh an dòchais.
Leighscar an cùl sleamhnaichean,
A’s tearnar iad mar ‘s annsa leo—
Sgriosar gach namhaid cheannspreidheach
A bha gu teann an tòir orra.
Giullainidh iad smachdachadh
An Ti tha nis ‘na Athair dhoibh,
Le umhlachd striochdail, mhaicanta,
Mar dh’fhòghlum iad o’n òige.
Eiridh iad ‘s na h-iarmailtean
Mar iolair air a sgiathan,
Le làn neart o Chriosda
Os ceann am miannan feolmhor.
Kuithidh iad gu caithreamach
Tre shaors’ o ghnùis ‘g am beathachadh,
‘Toirt cruinneachd beo mar aran dhoibh,
‘G an neartachadh gu còmhrag.
Saigdearan eolach, sgairteil iad,
Fo bhrataich Righ nam flaithenais,
A’ cogadh ris na deamhainean,
Toirt gloir a mach mar oighreachd.