December 13

Here, within this grave, now sleeps The best, the only Friend;

Here the lips of truth are sealed, And mercy's journeys end.

Here the light, the life of men Is early quenched and dead—

How deserved as now appear All other tears I've shed.

Ah, how low his sacred head Reposes here for me!

And how deep, though once so rich, Is now his poverty!

Naught of earth, in life or death, His own he ever knew:

Borrowed was his place of birth, His grave was borrowed too.

But what terrors seize my frame! A trembling shakes the ground;

And the door, though thrice secured, Is now wide open found:

On the stone the angel sits, And frowns the guards to flight;

Yet his looks and words to me Speak safety and delight.

"He thou seekest is not here; Come, view his lonely bed; And with haste go tell his friends, He's risen from the dead."

As I go, himself I meet: "All hail," he greeting cries:

"I have crushed sin, death, and hell, And opened paradise.

"I'm alive for evermore; And all that mourn with thee, Like myself their Head, shall live For evermore with me."

'Tis enough—in every state This truth my hope revives;

And should every comfort die, I know my Saviour lives.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment." Philippians 1:9.

According to this prayer, there is nothing in which we should abound more than love. It is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the gospel commandment, the bond of perfectness. Without it, whatever be our attainments, professions, or sacrifices, we are NOTHING.

Yet we are to abound in it wisely. This is not found in all religious characters. In one we perceive zeal; in another, discretion. One is clear, but cold: another is warm, but inconsiderate. If we could meet with an individual who, in his experience and practice, blended these qualities—who had the heart as well as the head, and the head as well as the heart of the Christian, he would be the prayer of the apostle fulfilled: "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment."

Our love does not thus abound when we do not distinguish between what is supreme and what is subordinate. There are things in religion which are essential, and things which are only circumstantial. Am I to lay as much stress upon the latter as upon the former? Is the form of the railing of a bridge to be compared with the foundation of the buttresses, or the keystones of the arch? Is the finger, though useful, of the same importance to the continuance of life as the heart and the lungs? What is an article about church government, or the mode of administering an ordinance, compared with the doctrine of justification by faith, or redemption by the blood of Christ? I venerate a man who is all diligence to convert sinners from the error of their way, and save souls from death; but I cannot feel the same towards the zealot of bigotry, whose aim is to make proselytes to his own peculiarities, and who regards his community not as a part, but as a party.

Persons may not be judicious in their devotional exercises. By the frequency of public attendances, they may exclude or abridge the duties of the family or the closet. They may so lengthen out the worship at the domestic altar as to produce, in children and servants, weariness and aversion. Persons may hazard their health by going forth under bodily indisposition, forgetting that God requires mercy, and not sacrifice; and when He deprives us of the ability, he accepts the ready mind.

Nor does our love abound in knowledge and in all judgment when it carries us out of our own places and stations to be useful. Grace always gives us the desire to do good, but Providence must furnish the opportunities. We are not to be unruly, or break the ranks, as the word is, but to march orderly, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. The Lord puts us where we ought to be, and enjoins us to abide in our calling. There are, indeed, occasional deviations from this rule, but they are exceptions, and must be justified by their own circumstances. When Saul's courtiers reflected upon the shepherd of Bethlehem as a restless, ambitious young man, who wished to struggle out of obscurity into public life, he was conscious that he followed only the providence of God, and could make this appeal: "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." But there is danger not only of impatience, but pride, in all changes attended with the hope of elevation; and surely it becomes a man to consult some one besides himself concerning such cases. A man, by acting unlawfully, may do good; but the result does not justify the means. Whatever excitements persons may have to act irregularly, they are, upon the whole, far more useful by consistency. Their example, in the latter, must do good; but in the former, it may lead astray. I have known men who have been stunned for life by striking their head against a pulpit. I have known preachers who have neglected their families, and left their children to rove wild in the streets or the field, while they were teaching in the villages. I have known females who have disregarded their husbands and household affairs, to run unseasonably after favorite ministers. "The wisdom of the prudent," says Solomon, "is to understand his way;" that is, what becomes him to do, whether as a master or a servant, as a father or a child, as rich or as poor, in every relation and condition of life. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Many err much in the discharge of the duties they owe to others. Reproof may be more than thrown away, owing to the manner in which it is applied. It is done in anger; but it should flow from the spirit of meekness. It is done in public; but we should tell our neighbor his fault alone. We should distinguish also between one disposition and another, and become all things to all men, if by any means we may gain some. He that winneth souls is wise. We must therefore walk in wisdom towards them that are without. Wisdom must regulate our discourse. We must know when to speak, what to speak, how to speak. "A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." We shall not talk discouragingly before those that are weak in the faith, nor perplex them with doubtful disputations. We may give strong meat to strong men, but babes require milk.

We may also err in cases of charity. Since we cannot relieve all the necessitous, we must endeavor to ascertain the most proper objects. Alms may become immoral by encouraging vice or idleness. Religious societies are to be encouraged and supported, but God abhors robbery for a burnt-offering. And many an annual printed subscription robs not only the tradesman, but the poor. Nothing is to incapacitate us to succor the domestic and personal distress which providence itself brings immediately before us, and by which some sublimely pass to attend public meetings. "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

These are not all the instances in which our love is to abound in knowledge and in all judgment. But these are sufficient to show us that wisdom is profitable to direct. Wherefore let us not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Let us cultivate our minds. Let us faithfully review our own conduct, and see where we have been mistaken. Let us keep observation alive and awake. Let us walk with wise men. Let us be familiar with the holy Scriptures, which can furnish us thoroughly unto all good works. Let us often read and study the proverbs of Solomon. Let us constantly keep in view the life of Jesus, who dealt prudently, and so was exalted and extolled, and was very high. Above all, let us seek the Spirit of truth. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Mons. Exer