W Arrows

W Waiting is service. Have you not sometimes seen the telegraph boys standing or sitting still at the post-office, when there is no message to be delivered. They are as much doing their work by waiting, as when they are delivering a message. In waiting they serve; and in like manner they most truly serve the Lord who give up all idea of self-pleasing, and go or stay as best pleases him to whom they willingly offer themselves to be His servants.

Walk of faith.

It is nothing for a man to walk down here upon the ground, but to walk aloft upon yonder slendor thread, which the eye can scarcely see, is a feat of skill at which men gaze with admiration; and to walk on what the eye cannot see at all, or the foot feel, needs a yet higher art: such is the walk of faith.

Water-carriers for others need supplying.

I remember sitting one day in an inn at Cologne, looking out of a window upon a square. There was not much to see; what was to see I did see, as I occasionally looked up from my writing. I saw a man coming to a pump that stood in the middle of the square, and from that pump he filled a vessel. A little while after, I saw the same man again filling his buckets. All that morning I saw no one else, but only that one water loving individual, filling his buckets again and again. I thought to myself, what can he be? He is always drawing water. Then I perceived that he was a water carrier, a bearer of water to families in the adjoining streets. Well might he often come to the fountain himself since he was supplying others. You that are water-carriers for thirsty souls must needs come often to the well yourselves, and be thankful that your Master is always willing to meet you and give you rich supplies.

Way to heaven up hill.

I saw a good man taking it easy the other day; he was riding on a bicycle with both feet off the pedals, and with the brake in full force. I did not blame the cyclist; but one thing was quite clear—he was going down the hill. He would not have had his feet upon the rests in that fashion if he had been going upon the upgrade. Whenever you begin to put your legs up, and have no more work to do, you are going down hill, and there is no doubt about it. The way to heaven is up hill, and every inch of the way will need effort; for "the kingdom of heave a suffereth violence."

Wealth—Unknown.

We have heard of persons in Australia who walked habitually over nuggets of gold. We have heard of a bridge being built with what seemed common stone, but it contained masses of golden ore. Men did not know their wealth. Is it not a pity that you should be poor in comfort, and yet have all the gold of consolation at your feet? You have, lying within your Bible leaves, checks for millions, and yet you have scarcely a penny to spend.

Whole-heartedness.

I have seen boys bathing in a river, in the morning. One of them has just dipped his toes in the water, and he cries out as he shivers, "Oh, it's so cold!" Another has gone in up to his ankles, and he also declares it is awfully chilly. But see, another takes a header from the bank, and rises all in a glow; all his blood is circulating, and he cries "Delicious! What a fine morning; I am all in a glow. The water is splendid!" That is the boy for enjoying a bath. You, Christian people, who are paddling about in the shallow of religion, and just dipping your toes into it, you stand shivering in the cold air of the world which you are afraid to leave. Oh, that you would plunge into the river of life, how it would brace you; what tone it would give you! In for it, young man, in for it! Be a Christian out and out. Serve the Lord with your whole being. Give yourself wholly to Him who bought you with His blood. Plunge into the sacred blood by grace, and you will exclaim:—

"Oh, this is life: oh, this is joy, My God, to find Thee bo;

Thy face to see, Thy voice to hear, And all thy love to know."

"Why me?"

I once had a dear friend, a man of God who is now in heaven, a clergyman of the Church of England; his name was Curme, and he used, with a pleasant smile, to divide his name into two syllables, and say—<fix>Cur me, which in the Latin signifies, "Why me? "

"Why was I made to hear Thy voice, And enter while there's room; When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come?"

Willing surrender.

I think that it is with our gift of ourselves to Christ and his people, as it is with plucking a peach; if it is handled much, or pulled off the tree by a rough hand, the beautiful bloom is quickly gone from it. Christ loves to have our hearts with the bloom on them: He delights to see us willingly yielding ourselves.

Winning souls—desire for. Be on the lookout for new ways of serving the Master. As African travellers each now seem very eager to be the first to make a treaty with certain chieftains, that their territory may be annexed to this country or that, so seek to win new conquests for Christ, and attach people to His cause, before they are hopelessly lost to the devil.

Winning souls—wisdom needed. A gentleman who joined this church some time ago had been an atheist for years, and in conversing with him I found that he had been educated at one of our great public schools, and to that fact he traced his infidelity. He said that the boys were stowed away on Sunday in a lofty gallery at the far end of a church, where they could scarcely hear a word that the clergyman said, but simply sat imprisoned in a place where it was dreadfully hot in summer and cold in winter. On Sundays there were prayers, and prayers, and prayers, but nothing that ever touched his heart; until he was so sick of prayers that he vowed if he once got out of the school he would haved one with religion. This is a sad result, but a frequent one. You Sunday school teachers can make your classes so tiresome to the children that they will hate Sunday. You can fritter away the time in school without bringing the lads and lasses to Christ, and so you may do more hurt than good.

Wishes made prayers.

It will be our wisdom to turn our kindly wishes into prayers. Wishes are lame, but prayer has legs—aye, wings with which it runs and even flies towards God. Wishes are baskets, but prayer fills them with bread. Wishes are clouds, but prayer is the rain.

Word—Power of the.

It was a pleasure to me in years past to enjoy the friendship of Mr. Brownlow North. Before conversion he was a thorough man of the world, and, I suppose, about as frivolous and dissipated as men of his station and character often are. After his conversion he began to preach the gospel with great fervor, and certain of his old companions were full of spite against him, probably considering him to be a hypocrite. One day when he was about to address a large congregation, a stranger passed him a letter, saying, "Read that before you preach." This letter contained a statement of certain irregularities of conduct committed by Brownlow North, and it ended with words to this effect, "How dare you, being conscious of the truth of all the above, pray and speak to the people this evening, when you are such a vile sinner?" The preacher put the letter into his pocket, entered the pulpit, and after prayer and praise, commenced his address to a very crowded congregation; but before speaking on his text, he produced the letter, and informed the people of its contents, and then added, "All that is here said is true, and it is a correct picture of the degraded sinner that I once was; and oh! how wonderful must the grace be that could quicken and raise me up from such a death in trespasses and sins, and make me what I appear before you tonight, a vessel of mercy, one who knows that all his past sins have been cleansed away through the atoning blood of the Lamb of God! It is of his redeeming love that I have now to tell you, and to entreat any here who are not yet reconciled to God, to come this night in faith to Jesus, that He may take their sins away and heal them." Thus instead of closing the preacher's mouth by this letter, the enemy's attempt only opened the hearts of the people, and the Word was with power.

Work, man's, so inferior to God's.

Bring me a needle. This is a highly polished needle. What an instance of human skill to make so small an implement so bright and smooth. Bring me that microscope. I have just now put the wing of a butterfly under it. That is God's work, and as I enlarge it, I discover no imperfection but more and more of marvellous beauty. That butterfly's wing under the microscope becomes wonderful, and I worship God as I gaze upon His handiwork. Take the butterfly away now and put your needle in its place. Why this is a rough bar of iron, which has never been smoothed or polished. This is wretched workmanship. It does not seem fitted for delicate work. Such is man's manufacture, the best of it. When God puts your prayers and my sermons under His microscopic eye they are not at all what we thought they were, but quite the reverse.

Workmen—joyful.

Get a man at work at a statue—an artist whose whole soul is in his chisel, who knows that there is a bright spirit within that block of marble, and who means to chip off all that hides the lovely image from his sight. See how he works! No man does a thing well who does it sorrowfully. The best work that can be done, is done by the happy, joyful workman; and so it is with Christ. He does not save souls of necessity, as though He would rather do something else if He might, but His very heart is in it, He rejoices to do it, and therefore He does it thoroughly, and He communicates His joy to us in the doing of it.

Worldlings—their ambitions.

It is a country scene, and it passed under my own eye but a few hours ago. I sat by the rivulet, at a point where abundant springs poured forth new streams. It was a brook, wide but shallow, and the pure water glided along refreshingly under the overhanging boughs. Little children were there wading into the stream and enjoying its cool waters. One of them was a true representative of your wealthy merchants. He went a fishing with a bright green glass bottle, and his ventures were successful. Again and again I heard his voice ring out most joyously and impressively, "Look! Look! Here! Here! Such a big'un I have caught such a big 'un!" It was by no means a whale which he had taken, but a fish which might be half an inch long. How he exulted! "Such a big 'un!" To him the affairs of nations were as nothing compared with the great spoil which he had taken. That is the gentleman upon the exchange, who has made that successful speculation. For the next few days he will astonish everybody as they hear that it was "such a big 'un!" Earth, and heaven, and hell, time and eternity, may all accept the go by now that the glass bottle contains its prey. I confess I was not carried away with admiration for the child's fortune, neither did I envy him the fulness of his satisfaction. His brother, not far off, varied my picture for me: he was less richly endowed, and yet he had a very serviceable tin can, with which he fished most diligently. Soon I heard his voice pitched in another key: "Nasty little things! They won't come here! I can't catch 'em! They are good for nothing! I won't try any more." Then the impetuous genius threw his tin can with a splash into the water, and his enterprise was ended. That is the gentleman whose company has been wound up, or whose goods will not command the market. Things will not come his way. He cannot get on. He has made a failure of it, and is in the Gazette. All society is out of order, or he would have been sure to succeed. He is sick of it all for the present. You smile at my boys! O worldlings, these are yourselves! You are those children, and your ambitions are stickle backs. "O happy man that lives on high, While men lie grovelling here."

Without God you are paddling in the brooklet of life, fishing for minnows.

Worldly pleasure distasteful.

If I had to sit in some people's company and hear what they talk about, it would be hell to me. One night, having to preach up in the North of England, this unfortunate circumstance occurred to me. When I got down to the railway, I was put into a firsts class carriage with five sporting men, who were going to the Doncaster races. Happily they did not know me, but, from the beginning to the end of their journey, their conversation was garnished with expressions that tortured me and at last they fell on a subject that was unutterably loathsome. I pray God that I may not be condemned to live with such people forever, for it would be hell to me. Ladies and gentlemen, you need not think that I rob myself of any pleasures when I do not go to racecourses or associate with the licentious. It is my pleasure to keep far from the pleasures of those men whom I was forced to accompany. The pleasures of this world are so full of dust, dirt and grit, that he who has once washed his mouth clean of them declines another meal of such stuff. You will lose no pleasure if you come to Christ.

World's attraction.

Ye have heard of him who one day was discoursing eloquently of philosophy to a crowd, who greatly applauded him. He thought he had made many disciples, but suddenly the market bell rang, and not a single person remained. Gain was to be made, and in their opinion no philosophy could be compared to personal profit. They were hearers till the market bell rang, and then, as they had been hearers only, they quitted the hearing also. I fear it is so with our preachings—if the devil rings the bell for sin, for pleasure, for worldly amusement, or evil gain, our admirers quit us right speedily. The voice of the world drowns the voice of the Word.

Weak faith is a great fabricator of terrors.

We could do with less paint if we had more power.

We need faith in every step of a holy life. We need less varnish and more verity.

We need workshop faith, as well as prayer meeting faith.

We play the man to-day, and the mouse tomorrow.

We shall not be muzzled like dogs, either to please the world or its master. When the devil is not troubled by us, he does not trouble us. When the Lord's black horses call at our door they bring us double loads of blessing.

Whenyou are out for a holiday, be holy. Who wants to paddle about in a duck pond all his life? Launch out into the deep.

Wilful ignorance will bring terrible damnation.

Wolves leap into the fold however carefully you watch the door. Would you yoke an emmet with a seraph? If you did, they would be a far more equal pair than Christ and self.

You cannot get a gross of conversions like you can a gross of steel pens.

You have the milk of faith, but God wills that you should have the cream of assurance.

You lose the leverage of power if you fail in holiness.

You may wash sin in eau de Cologne, but it smells none the sweeter. Your father's kisses will make you forget your brother's frowns.