Sermon Illustrations on Spiritual Discipline — page 2

Thought, Grinding

The heart is like a mill where good thoughts must be guarded against the enemy's interference.

Anselm says, "Our heart is like a mill, ever grinding, which a certain lord gave in charge to his servant, enjoining that he should only grind in it his master's grain, whether wheat, barley, or oats, and telling him that he must subsist on the produce. But that servant has an enemy, who is always playing tricks on the mill. If, any moment, he finds it unwatched, he throws in gravel to keep the stones from acting, or pitch to clog them, or dirt and chaff to mix with the meal. If the servant is careful in tending his mill, there flows forth a beautiful flour, which is at once a service to his master, and a subsistence to himself; but if he plays truant, and allows his enemy to tamper with the machinery, the bad outcome tells the tale; his lord is angry; and he himself is starved." This mill, ever grinding, is the heart; thoughts are the grain; the Devil is the watchful enemy: he throws in bad thoughts, which can only be prevented by watchfulness and prayer.

Thoughts, Vain

Habitual vain thoughts block truth and prevent spiritual fruitfulness in the heart.

One of the beseting evils of the present day is the indulgence in trifling, useless, vain, and volatile thoughts. These must be distinguished from thoughts that are positively vicious, polluted, and impious. They are, nevertheless, very injurious, and, when habitually indulged in, exert a baleful influence on the character. Books of travel inform us, that, in hotter climates, the locusts swarm so thickly in the air as sometimes to hide from the traveller the light of the sun, and cast a dark and cold shadow on his pathway. So it is in the world of mind. Swarms of vain thoughts are ever floating over some minds, intercepting the beams of truth from falling on the heart, and thus keeping that heart barren of all virtue and goodness. Or, like a set of evil birds falling on the newly-sown field, these winged wanderers of thought fall on the heart, and pick up many a precious seed sown by the hand of the great Husbandman, which, otherwise, would have brought forth much fruit. If we would avoid the evil, we must, like the farmer, set up something to scare these flitting spirits away. Nothing can do this so effectually as the presence of nobler and better thoughts. R. Roberts.

Tongue, Government of the

Psalms 39:1

Learning to control the tongue is a lifelong spiritual discipline.

Socrates, the ecclesiastical historiographer, reports a story of one Pambo, a plain, ignorant man, who came to a learned man, and desired him to teach him some psalm or other. He began to read unto him the Thirty-ninth Psalm, "I said, I will take head to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue." Having passed this first verse, Pambo shut the book, and took his leave, saying that he would go learn that point first. When he had absented himself for the space of some months, he was demanded by his reader when he would go forward? He answered, that he had not yet learned his old lesson; and he gave the very same answer to one that asked the like question, forty-nine years after. Spencer.

Tribulation, Defined

Tribulation separates the true spiritual character from the superficial in believers.

We all know, in a general way, that this word means affliction, sorrow, anguish; but it is worth our while to know how it means this. It is derived from the Latin tribulum, which was the threshing instrument or roller whereby the Roman husbandman separated the corn from the husks; and tribulatio, in its primary significance, was the act of this separation. But some Latin writer of the Christian Church appropriated the word and image for the setting-forth of a higher truth; and sorrow, distress, and adversity being the appointed means for separating, in men, of their chaff from their wheat, of whatever in them was light and trivial and poor from the solid and the true, therefore he called their sorrows and their griefs tribulatio, —threshings, that is, of the inner, spiritual man, without which there could be no fitting him for the heavenly garner. Trench.

Will, Authority of

The will governs our actions like a gardener tending a garden of choices.

Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce; set hyssop, and weed up thyme; supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry, — why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills. Shakespeare.

Youth, Pre-occupation of

Pre-occupying youth's minds can prevent evil by redirecting their focus.

You remember the coachman who said to the gentleman on the box, "Do you see that off leader there, sir?"—"Yes: what of him?"—"He always shies, sir, when he comes near that 'ere gate. I must give him something to think on." No sooner said, than up went the whirling thong, and came down, full of its sting, on the skittish leader's haunches. He had "something else to think on" (no time for panic or affected panic), and flew past the gate like lightning. If we can but give youth, in time, "something else to think on," we may keep out of their minds, by pre-occupation, more evil than we can ever directly expel. H. Rogers.

Youth, Protection of

Young lives need strong protection early to prevent spiritual damage.

Proprietors wear strong fences round young trees, while they leave aged forests to take their chance. Permit not the immortal to be twisted at the very starting of its growth, for the want of such protection as it is in your power to afford. Arnot.

Zeal, Cautious

Christian discretion must restrain zeal to keep it on the right course.

As Minerva is said to have put a golden bridle upon Pegasus, that he should not fly too fast; so our Christian discretion must put a golden bridle upon our Pegasus, that is, our zeal, lest, if it be unbridled, it make us run out of course. Cawdray.

Ancient Christians

Early Christians treasured and memorized Scripture despite scarcity and difficulty.

We learn, from Chrysostom, that in the primitive church, women and children had frequently the Gospels, or parts of the New Testament, hung round their neck, and carried them constantly about with them. The rich had splendid copies of the sacred writings on vellum, in their libraries and book-cases; but as the art of printing was not known till many ages after, complete copies of the Scriptures were, of course, exceedingly scarce. Children were particularly encouraged in the efforts which they made to commit to memory the invaluable truths of the divine volume. Though in those times the Bible was to be multiplied by no other means than the pen, and every letter was to be traced out with the finger, so repeatedly were the Scriptures copied that many of the early Christians had them in their possession; and they were so copied into their writings, that a celebrated scholar engaged, that if the New Testament, by any accidental circumstances, should be lost, he would undertake to restore it, with the exception of a few verses of one of the Epistles; and he pledged himself to find these in a short time.

Old Robert'S Girdle

An illiterate man used a leather girdle to memorize and recall Scripture effectively.

A singular instance of attachment to the word of God was shown by a poor and illiterate, but pious and excellent man, the servant of John Bruen, Esq. of Stapleford, in Cheshire. He was most commonly called Old Robert; and though he could neither write nor read, he became mighty in the Scriptures, by means of a curious invention, by which he assisted his memory. He framed a girdle of leather, long and large, which went twice round him. This he divided into several parts, allotting every book in the Bible, in their order, to one of these divisions; then, for the chapters, he affixed points or chongs of leather to the several divisions, and made knots by fives or tens thereupon, to distinguish the chapters of that book; and by other points he divided the chapters into their particular contents, or verses, as occasion required. This he used instead of pen and ink, in hearing sermons, and made so good a use of it, that, coming home, he was able by it to repeat the sermon, and quote the texts of Scripture, &c. to his own great comfort, and to the benefit of others. This girdle Mr. Bruen kept after Old Robert's death, hung it up in his study, and used pleasantly to call it, "the girdle of verity."

Purlind Man'S Device

A visually impaired man adapted Scripture to continue enjoying the gospel's consolation.

Mr. Harris, a London tradesman, whose sight had decayed, procured the whole New Testament, except the book of Revelation, and also the book of Psalms, to be written with white ink on black paper, in letters an inclong, that he might enjoy the consolations of the gospel of Christ.

The Woman And The Shepherd Boy

A widow hires a reluctant shepherd boy to read Scripture to her, showing hunger for God's word.

The late celebrated Robinson, of Cambridge, once said, "We had in our congregation a poor aged widow, who could neither read the Scriptures nor live without hearing them read, so much instruction and pleasure did she derive from the oracles of God. She lived in a long place, and the family where she lodged could not read; but there was one more cottage near, and in it a little boy, a shepherd's son, who could read; but he, full of play, was not fond of reading the Bible. Necessity is the mother of invention. The good old widow determined to rise one hour sooner in the morning in order to spin one halfpenny more, to be expended in hiring the shepherd's boy to read to her every evening a chapter, to which he readily agreed. This little advantage made her content in her cottage, and even say, 'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.'

Bible Read With The Lips

A blind woman diligently studies the gospel despite severe physical limitations and discouragement.

At an anniversary of the French and Foreign Bible Society, held in Paris, the secretary related the following interesting fact:

That interesting person, who now lives in a village not far from my house, writes a Christian friend, had lost in her early age the little sight which the bad conformation of her eyes had left her after birth. Her parents, however, had succeeded, while she was yet a child, to make her discern her letters by the use of very large characters; but for a long time past she had not been able even to distinguish the largest letters on the show-bills. She can hardly now make the distinction between light and darkness. Gifted with intelligence and skill, she rejoiced when she learned that God had put it into the hearts of some pious men to offer his word to the blind; and as soon as I was enabled to procure for her the gospel according to Mark, issued from your presses, she began to study it alone with great earnestness. After a few days she could, to my astonishment, read about a page; but she was greatly discouraged, on account of the slowness of her progress.

Her means are very limited, and she is obliged to work for her living. Alone in a small chamber, which she rents, she attends herself to all the necessaries of her life, and cultivates even a little piece of ground, out of which she contrives to raise some vegetables. All this obliterates her sense of touch, which, therefore, is far less delicate than that of other blind, who are less skillful or in easier circumstances, and hence are not obliged to have recourse to this manual labor. One day the idea crosses the mind of this poor girl, that the sensibility of her fingers would be excited were the skin taken off; and immediately (such is her desire to read, and chiefly to read the word of God, which he has taught her to love,) she takes a penknife and begins to skin off the ends of her fingers. But, alas! sensibility excites pain; her touch is not improved; and soon the sores which succeed to the thick skin which she has tried to scrape off, become, for our poor sister, an insurmountable obstacle to the pursuit of her study.

She tries yet, however, but in vain; she must now give it up. In a moment of despair, she takes up the book, and pressing it against her lips, wetting it with her tears, thus addressed it: "Farewell, farewell, sweet word of my heavenly Father, food of my soul! I must part with thee!" But what is her surprise! her lips, more delicate than her fingers, have discerned the form of the letters! she reflects, she tries, at last she cannot doubt any more; she has certainly read, "Gospel according to Mark!" Her soul overflowing with gratitude, pours out her thanks before the throne of her Father in heaven. She lies down to rest. All night she perused the holy book, and every where she discovers, in a few moments, not only the form of the letters, but also the sense of the phrases.

# 68. "Searching the Scriptures."

George Iii. And His Bible

King George III consistently studies the Bible daily, demonstrating reverence for Scripture.

It has been stated, by those who had opportunities of acquiring correct information, that of the few books which the king read, the Bible was constantly on the table in his closet, and the commentary which he selected for his private reading, was Matthew Henry's Exposition. A pious female servant, whose office it was to arrange the library room, has been often heard to say, "I love to follow my master in his reading of the Scriptures, and to observe the passages he turns down. I wish every body made the Bible as much their daily study as my good master does."

Cluster Of Examples

Various historical figures devoted themselves to daily, disciplined Bible reading and meditation.

The emperor Theodosius wrote out the whole New Testament with his own hand, and read some part of them every day. Theodosius, the second, dedicated a great part of the night to the study of the Scriptures. George, prince of Transylvania, read over the Bible twenty-seven times. Alphonsus, king of Arragon, read the Scriptures over, together with a large commentary, fourteen times.

Sir Henry Wotten, after his customary public devotions, used to retire to his study, and there spend some hours in reading the Bible. Sir. John Hartop in like manner, amidst his other vocations, made the book of God so much his study, that it lay before him night and day. James Bonnel, Esq., made the Holy Scriptures his constant and daily study, he read them, he meditated upon them, he prayed over them. M. De Renty, a French nobleman, used to read daily three chapters of the Bible, with his head uncovered, and on his bended knees.

Lady Frances Hobart read the Psalms over twelve times a year, the New Testament thrice, and the other parts of the Old Testament, once. Susannah, countess of Suffolk, for the last seven years of her life, read the whole Bible over twice annually.

Dr. Gouge used to read fifteen chapters every day; five in the morning, five after dinner, and five in the evening, before going to bed. Mr. Jeremiah Whittaker usually read all the Epistles in the Greek Testament twice every fortnight.

Joshua Barnes is said to have read a small pocket Bible, which he usually carried about with him, a hundred and twenty times over. Mr. Roger Cotton read the whole Bible through twelve times a year.

The Rev. Wm. Romaine studied nothing but the Bible for the last thirty or forty years of his life.

A poor prisoner, being confined in a dark dungeon, had no light, except for a few moments when his food was brought him; he used to take his Bible and read a chapter, saying, he could find his mouth in the dark, when he could not read.

Henry Willis, farmer, aged 81, devoted almost every hour that could be spared from his labor, during the course of so long a life, to the devout and serious perusal of the Holy Scriptures. He had read with the most minute attention, all the books of the Old and New Testament, eight times over, and had proceeded as far as the book of Job in his ninth reading, when his meditations were terminated by death.

Example Of President Adams

John Quincy Adams read the Bible every morning for over fifty years, showing deep commitment.

Among men of education and talents, those who have been known as enemies of the Bible have, for the most part, unhesitatingly acknowledged their ignorance of its contents, or at least that they were not familiar with its pages; while the invariable testimony of all who have candidly studied it, has been in favor of its claims to divine authority, and to the sublimity, purity and wisdom of its precepts. The testimony following will be very generally respected.

The venerable John Quincy Adams a short time before his death stated to a friend, that ever since he was thirty years old, he had been accustomed, among the first things, to read the Bible every morning. With few interruptions, he followed the practice over half a century.

# 69. Familiarity with the Bible.

Blind Alick

Blind Alick memorized many Scripture passages by hearing them read repeatedly at school.

There was living in 1832, at Stirling, in Scotland, a blind old beggar, known to all the country round by the name of Blind Alick, who possessed a memory of almost incredible strength. Alick was blind from his childhood. He was the son of poor parents, who could do little for him; though, indeed, at that time, wealth could not have done much for the education of one laboring under his privations. Alick was sent by his parents to a common school, to keep him out of mischief, and in order that he might learn something by hearing the lessons of the other children. The only volume then used in such establishments, as a class or reading book, was the Bible; and it was customary for the scholars, as they read in rotation, to repeat not only the number of each chapter, but the number of each verse as it was read. By constantly hearing these readings, young Alick soon began to retain many of the passages of Scripture, and with them the number of the chapter and verse where they occurred. It is probable, that being incapacitated by his sad privation from any useful employment, he may have remained an unusual length of time at this school; and that his father, as was generally the case with the Scottish peasantry, was a great reader of the Bible at home. A constant attendance at church would also contribute to the result. However this may have been, it was observed with astonishment that when Blind Alick was a man, and obliged, by the death of his parents, to gain a livelihood by begging through the streets of his native town of Stirling, he knew the whole of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, by heart! Many persons of education have examined Alick, and have invariably been astonished at the extent of his memory. You may repeat any passage in Scripture, and he will tell you the chapter and verse; or you may tell him the chapter and verse of any part of Scripture, and he will repeat to you the passage, word for word. Not long since, a gentleman, to puzzle him, read with a slight verbal alteration, a verse of the Bible. Alick hesitated a moment, and then told where it was to be found, but said it had not been correctly delivered; he then gave it as it stood in the book, correcting the slight error that had been purposely introduced. The gentleman then asked him for the ninetieth verse of the seventh chapter of Numbers. Alick was again puzzled for a moment, but then said hastily, "You are fooling me, sirs! there is no such verse—that chapter has but eighty-nine verses." Several other experiments of the sort were tried upon him with the same success. He has often been questioned the day after any particular sermon or speech; and his examiners have invariably found, that had their patience allowed, Blind Alick would have given them the sermon or speech over again.

Elliot'S Advice

Using the Bible's presence drives out bad company and spiritual evil from the home.

The Rev. John Elliot, styled The Apostle of the Indians, was once asked by a pious woman, who was vexed with a wicked husband, and bad company frequently infesting her house on his account, what she should do? "Take," said he, "the Holy Bible into your hand when bad company comes in, and that will soon drive them out of the house."

A Good Expedient

Mentally focusing on Christ protects from harm at ungodly social gatherings.

A pious officer of the army, travelling through the Mahratta country, was asked by Judge D—, a religious gentleman, to accompany him to a public dinner, at which the commanding officer of the district, with all his staff, and various other public characters, were expected to meet.

"I expressed a wish to be excused," says the officer, "as I had then no relish for such entertainments, and did not think that much either of pleasure or profit was to be derived from them." His reply was—"While I feel it my duty to attend on such an occasion, I certainly have as little pleasure in it as you have. But there is one way in which I find I can be present at such meetings, and yet receive no injury from them. I endeavor to conceive to

## 88. CONFEREN

The Spiritual Monk

A monk who refused to work was isolated and hungry, showing the folly of spiritual idleness.

A certain brother came to the convent at Mount Sinai, and finding all the monks at work, shook his head and said to the Abbot, "Labor not for the meat which perisheth," and, "Mary hath chosen that good part." "Very well," said the Abbot, and ordered the good brother to a cell and gave him a book to read. The monk retired, and sat hour after hour all day long alone; wondering much that nobody called him to dinner, or offered him any refreshment. Hungry and wearied out, the night at length arrived: he left his

### 207. IDOLATR

The Ten Commandments And Impulses

Living by God’s commandments, not impulses, leads to true faithfulness.

"Several of you," said Rev. R. Robison in a sermon, "know a good old man who departed this life twenty years ago, and who often exhorted you to live by the Ten Commandments, and not by impulses. He used to tell, you know, how he got free from that delusion fifty years before. Then he was pious and poor, and, being only a lad, thought all suggestions in Scripture style came from heaven. Walking in the fields in

# INFIDE

# CAUSES OF INFIDELITY.

# 212. Ignorance.

Need Of Watching

Dr. Johnson urged constant truthfulness, warning that carelessness leads to much falsehood.

Dr. Johnson, giving advice to an intimate friend, said: "Above all, accustom your children constantly to tell the truth, without varying in any circumstance." A lady present, emphatically exclaimed, "Nay, this is too much; for a little variation in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if one is not perpetually watching." "Well, madam," replied the doctor, "and you ought to be perpetually watching. It is more from carelessness about truth, than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world."

Cecil'S Love For Study

Cecil found joy and rest in study, viewing interruptions as acts of self-denial.

It is recorded of the late Rev. R. Cecil, that he never seemed weary of his studies. They were not only his business, but his enjoyment and recreation, and he used to call them his rest. He felt any interruptions of them required acts of self-denial, and always returned to his study with pleasure. Few more carefully aimed to redeem time, and to spend it only in what was worthy of a man and a Christian minister; often repeating—

For at back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near; And onward, all before I see Deserts of vast eternity.

Praying Over Tobacco

A sea captain struggled long to quit tobacco, showing the power of habit and prayer.

A pious sea captain had been in the habit of using tobacco, for upwards of twenty years, and had made many and strenuous efforts to abandon its use, but without success. He was a nervous man, and loved strong tea and coffee as well as tobacco, for the stimulus it afforded him. He loved tobacco, as the drunkard loves alcohol. The force of the habit may be seen in the following circumstance:—

He had given up its use, as he thought, without mental reservation, and congratulated himself on the victory he had obtained, after months of total abstinence. One day, being on charge in the city of N— (he was a ship mate at the time), and conversing with a brother shipmate, he found tobacco in his mouth without knowing how it came there. He expressed his surprise at the fact to his companion, who answered with a boisterous laugh, "I took out my tobacco box and handed it to you, and you deliberately helped yourself." He had acted under the influence of an old inveterate habit, and was not conscious of having done so, until he had tasted the tobacco. Such was the strength of the habit. Finding at length that it clung to him like a disease, and defied all his efforts, and being persuaded that the conflict of mind to which he was subject, by reason of its use, was actually impairing his usefulness as a man and a Christian, he decided upon making one more effort. He was persuaded that Divine assistance alone could make that effort successful, and acted accordingly. He took the tobacco from his pocket, placed it in a chair, knelt before it, and solemnly pledged himself to God, that he would use it no longer, even as a medicine, though prescribed by a physician. He then implored the Divine blessing upon the attempt, arose from his knees, threw the tobacco into the street, and went about his business. He has not, he states, had a particle of a desire for its use from that time to the time of this narration, a period of more than two years.

Meditative Engineer

Meditation and focused contemplation lead to wise, seemingly intuitive decisions.

Whoever has pondered long over a plan which he is anxious to accomplish, without distinctly seeing at first the way, knows what meditation is. It was in this way that one of the greatest of English engineers is said to have accomplished his most marvelous triumphs. He threw bridges over almost impracticable torrents. Sometimes a difficulty brought all the work to a pause, then he would shut himself up in his room, speak to no one, abandon himself intensely to the contemplation of that on which his heart was set, and at the end of two or three days would come forth serene, walk to the spot and give orders which seemed the result of superhuman intuition.

Ephesians 6:4; 1 Peter 5:8; Proverbs 22:6

Neglecting to guide children spiritually allows the devil to influence them instead.

The story is told that a man once said he would not talk to his son about religion; the boy should make his own choice when he grew up, unprejudiced by him.

The boy broke his arm, and when the doctor was setting it, he cursed and swore the whole time. The father was quite grieved and shocked.

“Ah,” said the doctor, “you were afraid to prejudice the boy in the right way, but the devil had no such prejudice. He has led your son the other way.”

The idea that a father is to let his children run wild! Nature alone never brings forth anything but weeds.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Hebrews 12:1

To rise spiritually, we must cast off every weight and sin that hinders us.

When men go up in a balloon, they carry with them what they call ballast — that is, small bags of sand, and when they want to rise higher they just throw out some of the sand. So we, if we want to rise nearer heaven, must just throw out some of the sand, and cast aside every weight. We won’t rise higher till we do so.

CORRUPTIONS—Overcome Gradually

Persistent prayer and repentance gradually overcome inward corruptions by God's power.

When Sir Christopher Wren was engaged in demolishing the ruins of old St. Paul's in order to make room for his new cathedral, he used a 'battering-ram with which thirty men continued to beat upon a part of the wall for a whole day. The workmen, not discerning any immediate effect, thought this a waste of time; but Wren, who knew that the internal motion thus communicated must be operating, encouraged them to persevere. On the second day, the wall began to tremble at the top, and fell in a few hours. If our prayers and repentances do not appear to overcome our corruptions, we must continue still to use these gracious battering-rams, for in due time by faith in Jesus Christ the power of evil shall be overthrown. Lord, enable me to give hearty blows by the power of thy Holy Spirit until the gates of hell in my soul shall be made to totter and fall.

Meditation needful

Meditate deeply on Scripture rather than rushing through it.

A man who wants to see a country, must not hurry through it by express train, but he must stop in the towns and villages, and see what is to be seen. He will know more about the land and its people if he walks the highways, climbs the mountains, stays in the homes, and visits the workshops; than if he does so many miles in the day, and hurries through picture galleries as if death were pursuing him. Don't hurry through Scripture, but" pause for the Lord to speak to you. Oh, for more meditation!

Moments—Use of odd

Using brief odd moments filled with the Spirit yields great spiritual fruitfulness.

As goldsmiths sweep up the very dust of their shops, that no filings of the precious metal may be lost, so does the Christian man, when filled with the Spirit, use his brief intervals. It is wonderful what may be done in odd minutes. Little spaces of time may be made to yield a great harvest of usefulness, and a rich revenue of glory to God! May we be filled with the Spirit in that respect!

Atonement Compelled

Disuse causes spiritual atrophy, requiring intentional effort to regain growth and strength.

See SIN WITHOUT ATONEMENT.

ATROPHY

Professor Dawson, in his book “The Child and His Religion,” says:

I once saw a little girl of three years who was unable to walk, or even stand alone. She would make no attempt to do either, and seemed to have absolutely no interest in getting up on her feet or walking. The child seemed perfectly well, and her parents had become very anxious about her. Inquiry revealed the fact that when she was nine months old the little girl had been injured by a fall, and had been kept very closely confined for six months; at first in her crib, and later in a high chair, never being allowed to stand on her feet. When she was at last put upon the floor, she began her creeping just as she had been in the habit of doing six months before. Nor did she show any disposition to do otherwise than creep, even after her strength had been fully recovered. It required several months of careful attention on the part of the parents, in exercising her in standing and walking, to awaken any interest whatsoever in these activities. This law of atrophy through disuse undoubtedly operates throughout the entire range of human interests, not only in those interests more closely related to organic life, but also in the intellectual, moral, and religious interests. It is manifestly of great concern to parents and others who have the care of children that all normal interests be given a chance to function at the right time and in the right way. (Text.)

Conquest By Man

Spiritual growth requires patient labor and skill to master life's challenges.

These vehement elements, of air and water, demand to be wrestled with and patiently mastered, by the vigorous soul, in order that they may administer to our happiness. There is the wax. In the soul is the seal, designed to impress it. There are the materials, upon which and with which the spirit is to operate. But no implements, even, are given it for its use. It must forge them, as it wants them. They are not found ready fashioned to the hand, as ornamental stones are, in the caverns and rock-rifts. They must be conceived by our skill, and completed by our labor. But the moment we begin, all is ready for our progress.

— RICHARD S. STORRS

Day-By-Day Virtues

Daily perseverance in gentleness and love fulfills a faithful Christian life.

The prayer contained in these verses, by Ethelwyn Wetherald, is a good one for everybody to offer:

For strength we ask For the ten thousand times repeated task, The endless smallnesses of every day.

No, not to lay My life down in the cause I cherish most, That were too easy. But whate’er it cost,

To fail no more In gentleness toward the ungentle, nor In love toward the unlovely, and to give

Each day I live, To every hour with outstretched hand its meed Of not-to-be-regretted thought or deed.

Diversion By Small Things

Small distractions can derail significant spiritual opportunities and impact.

The story of the way in which John Wesley partly failed in an attempt to gain back certain seceders from his following is told by the Rev. W. H. Fitchett, as follows:

According to the Moravians themselves, the dramatic effect of Wesley’s departure from the building was spoiled by a petty but ingenious trick. As the persons present came into the room they placed their hats all together on the ground in one corner; but Wesley’s hat had been--by design--carried off. When he had finished his paper and called upon all who agreed with him to follow him, he walked across the room, but could not discover his hat! The pause, the search which followed, quite effaced the impressiveness of his departure, and, as Southey puts it, “The wily Molther and his followers had time to arrest many who would have been carried away in his wake.”--“Wesley and His Century.”

Fly, The Common House

Christians must refocus their spiritual eyes from earthly things to God and eternity.

See PEST, CONTAGIOUS.

FOCUSING THE EYE

I can look one moment at a book six inches from my sight, at the next I can with ease look on a tree 200 yards away, and the next I can raise my eyes and view the sun millions of miles away in the upper heavens. As easily should Christians, compelled to look at the things close at hand, lift their thoughts and prayers to God. But it is hard to refocus the eye of the soul on the divine and eternal if the affections are too much set on things on the earth. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Text.)

Food And Exercise

Spiritual nourishment without activity leads to weakness; exercise is essential for growth.

The instruction of the pulpit and Sunday-school may well be likened to the food provided at the family table. It is, very likely, abundant in quantity, and nutritious in quality, but food without exercise makes the sickly, dyspeptic child. Food without exercise in the church is apt to produce no better results.

Even the horses in our stables can not long live without exercise. Fill their cribs ever so full of the best feed, they must yet do something to keep healthy. This is a natural law, which is imperative in the spiritual world. There are a great many dyspeptic Christians in all our churches. They are bilious and disappointed and hopeless and useless, except as they become by their continual growling and fault-finding a means of grace to the pastor and other workers. In fact, they have all the symptoms of spiritual dyspepsia. Now, the only remedy for this disease is spiritual activity. “Go to work,” said the famous English doctor to his rich, dyspeptic patient; “go to work. Live on sixpence a day, and earn it.”--FRANCIS E. CLARK, “Proceedings of the Religious Education Association,” 1903.

Husbandry, Spiritual

God cultivates believers like a husbandman tending a garden, removing sin and nurturing virtues.

The orange men in California sent an expert all over Europe to find an enemy of the scale that was destroying the fruit-trees of California. One day, in Spain, he found a tiny creature which he named the lady-bird. It has a sharp lancet that it thrusts into each insect. It goes over the tree with inconceivable rapidity. When it finds the scale under the bark it thrusts the sword down, and now the lady-bird is working together with the husbandman, amid the prune- and orange-trees of California. Cockleburs are foes of corn, but a hoe has a sharp edge. Ye are God’s harvest field. Hate is a weed, envy and jealousy are sharp thorns. Selfishness is a poison vine. Surliness is a fungus growth; lurking evil is the deadly night-shade. But love is a rose, joy is like a tiger-lily; peace is the modest arbutus. Contentment is a sweet vine that grows over the door of the house of man’s soul. Honesty and industry are the goodly shocks and sheaves; these homely virtues are food to the hungry. God is a husbandman.

— N. D. HILLIS

Memory

God’s precepts should be deeply impressed on the memory like vivid imagery.

God’s precepts should be as thoroughly stamped on the memory as the landscape mentioned below was on the artist’s mind:

A publisher ordered from Gustave Doré a picture, sending him a photograph of some Alpine scenery to be copied. The artist went away without his model, and the publisher was much provoked; but he was astonished when Doré appeared next day with the desired picture, having made it from memory. A few seconds’ examination of the photograph had sufficed to impress on his memory the slightest details and to enable him to reproduce them with not a rock or a tree lacking. (Text.)--L. MENARD, _Cosmos_.

Memory

Memory loss illustrates human frailty and the need for spiritual reliance.

See ABSENT-MINDEDNESS.

MEMORY AND DISEASE

Many strange defects of memory are known to exist, and of these an interesting example may be given.

A business man of keen mind and good general memory, who was not paralyzed in any way, and was perfectly able to comprehend and engage in conversation, suddenly lost a part of his power of reading and of mathematical calculation.

The letters d, g, q, x, and y, tho seen perfectly, were in this case no longer recognized, and conveyed no more idea to him than Chinese characters would to most of us. He had difficulty in reading--was obliged to spell out all words, and could read no words containing three letters.

He could write the letters which he could read, but could not write the five letters mentioned. He could read and write certain numbers, but 6, 7, and 8, had been lost to him; and when asked to write them his only result, after many attempts, was to begin to write the words six, seven, and eight, not being able to finish these, as the first and last contained letters (x and g) which he did not know.

He could not add 7 and 5, or any two numbers whereof 6, 7, or 8 formed a part, for he could not call them to mind. Other numbers he knew well. He could no longer tell time by the watch.

For a week after the beginning of this curious condition he did not recognize his surroundings. On going out for the first time the streets of the city no longer seemed familiar; on coming back he did not know his own house. After a few weeks, however, all his memories had returned excepting those of the letters and figures named; but as the loss of these put a stop to his reading, and to all his business life, the small defect of memory was to him a serious thing.

Experience has shown that such a defect is due to a small area of disease in one part of the brain.--_Harper’s Weekly._

Occupation Of The Mind

Keeping the mind occupied positively influences behavior and spiritual growth.

A certain boy who was distinctly bad in the Sunday-school class was observed to be one of the best in the industrial class held on Saturday. “How is it,” said the teacher, “that you cut up so in Sunday-school and behave so well here?” “Well,” said the boy, “here I have something to occupy my mind; in Sunday-school I don’t.”--WALTER L. HARVEY, “Journal of the Religious Education Association,” 1903.

Quietness

Spiritual health requires quiet retreats from the noisy world for better communion with God.

Scientific authorities are generally agreed that the night air contains less dust and fewer germs than the atmosphere during the day time. This is, of course, due to the fact that greater quietness prevails at night, and the traffic of the street is practically at a standstill. The still night air is more wholesome to breathe and is in a purer state than the air obtained in the daytime.

For the enjoyment of the best spiritual conditions we need frequently to seek intervals of retreat from the restless distracting world. (Text.)

Seasons, Value Of

Just as hunting has seasons, we need times of restraint to protect spiritual growth.

All our States have laws which prohibit the hunting of game at certain times specified and by given methods. The greater part of the year is close time for shooting most kinds of animals and birds. The wild beasts which are to be followed for sport need opportunity to increase and grow, and if left to the whim of individuals would be exterminated. As there are prohibitions to prevent the extinction of the young animals, so there needs to be a close time on character, when we do not allow ourselves to indulge in things which excite our nerves and draw our strength from our bodies and minds. We check our reading, and are careful of sleep and food and exercise.--“Monday Club, Sermons on the International Sunday-school Lessons for 1904.”

Silent Processes

Quiet, unseen spiritual growth produces lasting fruit without noisy display.

When I was a boy the new shoe (it was a boot then) was a mortification wherever I went. It announced my coming like a brass band. It was unescapable. To a modest man it was an agony. Even an assertive man found it inconvenient at times.

But now the shoes, even the newest of shoes, shoes worn for the first time, do not squeak one little squeak. They would not disturb the typical but mythical pin-fall silence.

Where has the squeak gone? It has been taken up by a layer of some sort of cloth or soft fiber between the two layers of leather. It is a very simple device, and the wonder, as with so many other simple devices, is that it was not thought of before.

What I want to do is to apply the non-squeak method to my life. I want to put something between the rubbing surfaces of my thoughts and words and actions that will make them noiseless. I want the operation of my brain and the energy of my life to be silent. I shall be glad when the world sees results, but I do not care to have it see processes.

I want my shoes to “get there,” but I don’t want them to squeak on the way.--ARROW, _Christian Endeavor World_.

Solitude, Training In

Darkness and focus enable learning a true melody, symbolizing spiritual growth in discipline.

A writer tells of a little bird which would not learn to sing the song its master would have it sing while its cage was full of light. It listened and learned a snatch of this, a trill of that, a polyglot of all the songs of the grove, but never a separate and entire melody of its own. Then the master covered its cage and made it dark; and then it listened and listened to the one song it was to sing, and tried, and tried, and tried again, until at last its heart was full of it. Then, when it had caught the melody, the cage was uncovered, and it sang the song sweetly ever after in the light. (Text.)

Watching The Kettle

Constant watchfulness is needed to keep spiritual life active and avoid lukewarmness.

There is a bit of proverbial philosophy afloat to the effect that “a watched kettle never boils.” False philosophy this, whether taken literally or figuratively. In the one case it is an idiotic superstition; in the other, a stupid mistake; in either, a humbug and a cheat. Cease to watch your business kettle, and what comes of leaving it to take care of itself? It either becomes stone-cold or blows up. You don’t want your enterprise over-done, and you don’t want it under-done. Your object is to strike the golden mean between lukewarmness and the explosive point, represented, we will say, by 212 of Fahrenheit. How are you to stimulate the contents of your kettle up to the right mark--to make them ebullient without turning them into a dangerous element--unless you regulate the upward tendency judiciously? It is only the neglected business kettle that never boils to a good purpose. Suppose Lord Worcester, Marquis of Somerset, had not watched his kettle, and so had not observed the phenomenon of the flapping lid, forced into motion by the pressure of the escaping steam? If the marquis had not received that hint from his watched kettle as to the latent force of steam, who can tell what deprivation of motive power mankind would have undergone? Your moral kettle must be looked after, too, or it is more likely to freeze than boil. Morality without the warmth of feeling necessary to make it active, is not of much use. In fact, all the figurative kettles, individual and social, included within the range of human hopes and duties, require to be closely watched. The world is paved, as one may say, with the wrecks of kettles which would have been of incalculable utility if they had been properly managed--reformatory kettles, for example, which only require the fire of zeal to keep them going, and the guardianship of practical common sense to regulate them, in order to become valuable utensils in the kitchen of progress. To watch your kettle till it boils, and all the time that it is boiling, is the only sure way to provide against accidents.--New York _Ledger_.

Getting In Shape

Sermon in 1 Corinthians series.

Comparison of the Christian life with a race.

1. Popularity of athletics.

2. Sports as a false religion.

a. "Christian" over-emphasis.

b. Sports as an image of Christianity.

3. Sports as discipline.

a. Goal needed.

b. Application to Christian life.

Bible reading, prayer, personal holiness.

4. The prize of salvation.

a. Danger of disqualification.

Spiritual Disciplines: Duty Or Delight?

Matthew 6

The secret to finding joy in spiritual disciplines is focusing not on what we do, but on the ONE for whom we do it. Duty or Delight? In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches that the disciplines are about joy, though He never mentions the word.

1. Grace, Grace, Grace.

2. Pins and Pizzas.

3. Awards and Rewards.

4. Basketball Its Own Reward.

5. Stargazing.

6. Beholding Wonder.

7. Addicted to the Disciplines.

#3875

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Practice Makes Perfect

Arthur Rubinstein, the world-famous pianist, wrote years ago about the importance of practicing every day: "If I don't practice one day, nobody knows. If I don't practice two days, then I know. But if I don't practice three days, the whole world can tell."

An Army of One?

1 Corinthians 12

Paul praised Timothy as a "good soldier of Christ Jesus," and through the centuries, Christians have drawn on the military image of subservient, sacrificial duty to help explain the disciple’s calling. But now the image seems to be shifting. Consider the new Army ad-campaign slogan, "An Army of one."

From a military standpoint, I’m not sure it’s going to thrill junior officers and NCO’s. After all, they’ll have to lead these little individual armies.

Sure, every soldier should see himself as a broadly-competent, count-on-me guy. Cooks need to be marksmen. Isolated riflemen need to be able to scrounge for food in survival, escape, and evasion. All personnel need to serve as though big things depended upon them. And we certainly prize initiative.

But, imagine the poor lieutenant faced with picking guys for some stay-behind detail while the rest of the platoon heads out for some cool exercise with helicopters and all. "But Sir, you don’t understand. I’m more than a rifle range custodian. I’m an Army of one." And what of the truck driver who pulls out of convoy and passes the others so he can get his stuff there first? "What did you think you were doing, Hampton?!" "Sir. Army of one, Sir."

In the face of some disappointing recruiting numbers, the Army has turned to a new ad agency, Leo Burnett of Chicago, who brought us the Marlboro Man. Burnett and outgoing Army Secretary Louis Caldera reason that today’s young are so individualistic and wary of being lost in the crowd that you need to make your pitch beyond their desire for personal maturity ("Be all that you can be") to their "me-now" orientation.

You just hope you don’t get this from the new recruits: "Sorry, Sergeant, I’m not an autumn. That olive drab just doesn’t work with my colors. Anything in a charcoal? That would be best for my Army, namely for me, the Army of one."

The Marines are doing fine with recruitment, and yes, they focus on the quality of the individual; you will be a Marine. But Marines are not Lone Rangers. They’re a part of "The Few. The Proud. The Marines." They’re committed to "The Corps." And "Semper Fi" doesn’t mean, "Always Faithful to Me-Now."

In one of my Army courses, they taught us that each service had its paradigm - the Air Force fighter pilot; the Navy’s carrier captain. But for the Army, it was the citizen soldier, motivated by devotion to duty, honor, and country - John Q. Public joining ranks with millions of farm boys, street toughs, bookworms, and jocks, torn from their mothers’ arms to be sheared, rudely awakened, armed, and barked into formations of another’s choosing.

Somewhere along the line, they came to realize that the universe did not revolve around their self-esteem. But now we seem to be going in the other direction. Instead of "I’m in the Corps," we’re getting, "I’m the core."

Don’t misunderstand me. Army service generates a great deal of pride and self-assurance, but it’s essentially team pride - your squad scored best on the M-16; your platoon aced the compass course; your company led the battalion movement to contact; you wear the Screaming Eagle patch.

In the 1980’s, I reread the Army field manual on leadership. I was surprised to see how it had changed since my ROTC days in the late 1960’s. For one thing, it gave prominent play to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, with food at the bottom and self-actualization at the top. The book said that leaders needed to address needs at all levels.

Well, okay, but we need to be careful. How does this work when a commander has to ask a small unit to hold key terrain and essentially die in place to buy time so that the larger body can maneuver to safety or to tactical advantage elsewhere? "But Captain, what about my self-actualization?" Can Maslow trump service unto death?

It was 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., July 1968, and we’d just stumbled off the trucks in the company street of our tent city, Camp Eagle, Ft. Sill. We were exhausted from a night patrol exercise tacked onto a full day of training in the West Oklahoma wind and sun. Now for a little rack time.

Not so fast. A rifle was missing.

"So what? I have mine."

Our commander explained that nobody went to bed until the weapon was found, never mind that it wasn’t your weapon. You weren’t an island. You were responsible for checking on your buddy, making sure he was squared away.

Just as we were about to remount the trucks, they found the rifle under the seat in one of the cabs, so we were off the hook. But you can bet we lived at an entirely different level of teamship after that.

Secretary Caldera says that soldiers can learn all that stuff about selflessness once they enlist. I hope so. But I wish the Army would play against rather than to the cultural trend. Let me propose, "Tired of being an army of one? Join the real Army. Duty. Honor. Country."

And, pastors, let’s not even think of trying to "enlist" folks with the slogan, "A Church of One." (See 1 Corinthians 12)

(This piece first appeared in Baptist Press.)

Positive Pain

John 11:5

Our new grandson looks so tiny and fragile - and my grandfather's heart just hates to hear him cry, especially when he's really hurting, and the crying is long and intense. Like the other day when his parents took him to the doctor for some preventive inoculations. They've decided that's a step they wanted to take to protect their son from things like polio and measles and other harmful diseases. Of course, those loving reasons are a little hard to explain to a three-month-old: "You see, Blake, there are all these nasty germs, and this shot will help immunize you ... " Forget it! It just hurts, and he doesn't understand why.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Positive Pain."

Now if the relatively short-lived pain of an inoculation keeps our little guy from major illness later on, he'll be really grateful that his parents loved him enough to let him have that little pain someday. Of course, it isn't just babies who experience pain without an explanation. Sometimes it's us big people, too. In fact, you may be going through a hurtful time right now - and, just like my grandson, if your Heavenly Father tried to explain it to you, there's no way you could understand the good He's trying to accomplish.

But often God sends or allows something painful to come into our lives in order to accomplish a much greater good. It certainly happened that way for Mary and Martha in our word for today from the Word of God in John 11, beginning in verse 5. These two sisters sent urgent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus is very sick. They are desperate for Him to come and help. The account says, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." Now that was just enough time for Lazarus to die. And I'm not sure Mary and Martha felt very loved by Jesus at that point.

Well, eventually, Jesus goes to them, and Martha greets Him with these words: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Mary was too grief stricken to come to Jesus until she got this message, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." And John 11 says, "When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him ... When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled." Well, Jesus goes to Lazarus' tomb, has the stone rolled away from the entrance, and "called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' And the dead man came out ..."

Now Jesus had a much greater miracle in mind than just healing a sick man - He was going to resurrect a dead man! But Mary and Martha didn't know that. They had to go through a season of great pain to get to the greater good. Sort of like a certain grandbaby I know. Don't ever forget that your God is always the God of the greater good! And that's what He's working on in your situation right now. The greater good may be drawing someone you care about to Christ through your suffering ... equipping you for a whole new ministry to hurting people ... removing some junk from your life that's hindering you from having His best ... or maybe paving the way for a miracle that will blow you away and everyone around you.

In the meantime, He cares deeply about the pain you're going through on your way to the greater good. Notice how His heart was moved by the grief of those who had lost Lazarus - even though He knew the miracle was on the way. His heart is moved by your hurting every bit as much as mine is by the crying of a little hurting grandson. But while your Heavenly Father is holding you to comfort you, I believe I know what He might be thinking - "My child, someday you'll understand ... and when you see what the pain was for, you'll know it all happened because I love you."

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105 Sermon Illustrations on Spiritual Discipline