October 26

The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. - Proverbs 14:10.

LET us consider this particularly with reference to Christians; and we observe, First, That religion has to do with the feelings; it is not confined to forms and ceremonies. The sacred writers knew these things; they considered the passions as original parts of human nature, and these are to be employed in the service of God. They all have their proper place and work; for how can we love God or fear him without feeling, according to the language of one of our hymns,-

“True religion’s more than notion:

Something must be known and felt”?

Let us observe, Secondly, The variety there is in the Christian’s experience. We here see he is the subject of both sorrow and gladness. Thus the Christian’s present condition is of a mixed character, and alternating between clouds and sunshine.

What is the emblem of the Christian’s state now? A bush burning with fire and not consumed; a vessel tossed with the winds and the waves. What is the motto of the Christian’s life. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; cast down, but not destroyed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

We see in the Christian now the company of two armies,-nature and grace, flesh and spirit. “The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other.” We see this exemplified in the representations of Scripture. The subjects of divine grace are spoken of as those who fear God, and who hope in his mercy; they are those who “return and come to Zion with singing, and with everlasting joy upon their heads.” And there are those who go forth with weeping, “bearing precious seed,” but who “shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.”