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October 16.

LOVE REFUSING.

HEN the man out of whom the devils were cast prayed that he might be with him, Jesus suffered him not. At first such a refusal takes us by surprise, for in the circumstances the request was a most natural one. As the woman loved much because much had been forgiven her, so this man loved much because he had just been the recipient of so great a deliverance, and in the warmth of his gratitude he would fain have companied with Jesus wherever he went.

But besides being natural in the man, the request could scarcely fail to be agreeable to Christ, not merely from the pure unselfish love that prompted it, which is always to him like the odour of a sweet smell, but from the fact that what was the man's desire was in a manner his Lord's also. He, too, longs for abiding fellowship with his people : witness his prayer-" Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory."

In spite of all this, however, the request was denied. "He suffered him not." And why? Not because it was wrong in itself, but simply because it was premature and wrongly timed. The granting of it would have involved a double loss - -a loss to the man himself of needful training and healthful discipline, and a serious loss to Gadara, for the one and only witness for the truth in it would have been taken away. In mercy, therefore, to the man's kindred and friends, to whom he might prove a light and a blessing, the Lord suffered him not to go with

him. It was thus love that refused, not anger; and doubtless he himself saw this afterwards, and praised the Lord for it.

"O Lord, my best desire fulfil,

And help me to resign

Life, health, and comfort to thy will,

And make thy pleasure mine."

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.-JOHN xiii. 7.

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.-2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.

"THEY,"

October 17.

CONTINUANCE IN THE FAITH.

HEY," says Matthew Henry, "who are continually surrounded by temptations to apostasy, have need to be continually attended by exhortations to perseverance." It was on this account that Paul earnestly exhorted the disciples in Lystra and Iconium "to continue in the faith."

This was an advice which was not easy for them to follow, for their circumstances were peculiar. They had heathenism all round them, dark, bigoted, and persecuting, and therefore, in continuing to be Christians, they did not only risk their property, position, and dearest friendships, but hazarded their very lives. The stones were yet lying on the ground that had nearly killed Paul, and might next be gathered up by murderous hands to cast at any one of themselves.

There is no open persecution meanwhile, but even in these quiet times it is neither an easy thing to come to

the faith, nor an easy thing to continue in it in holy simplicity and firmness.

Owing to the inherent corruption in us, we are all to a greater or less extent wrongly biased, and all our natural sympathies draw us to sin rather than to righteousness, and to error rather than to truth; and unless we take this deep under-current of our nature into account, we may insensibly get upon the rocks and make utter shipwreck of our faith.

But besides this general danger common to all, there is a peculiar one forcibly presented in these words of inspiration: "The time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth." In our own time these words seem getting not a little of startling fulfilment. There is with many a growing intolerance of the revealed and supernatural in every form; nay, as if in fulfilment of John's words, "He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son," not a few now speak as if the very acme of scientific progress would be to prove that there is neither Creator nor Redeemer, but that man himself is all in all.

Were it to come to this, not merely with the few but with the many, the measure of iniquity and unbelief would be well-nigh filled to the brim, and transgressors be as ripe for their doom as the men before the Flood, or the guilty Cities of the Plain. Jude tells us that when the Lord cometh to execute judgment upon all, he will decisively mark not only ungodly deeds, but "all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." To be safe, therefore, we must resolutely continue in the faith; and this we can best do by receiving the truth in the love of it, and practically carrying it out in daily life.

He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.—MATT. xxiv. 13.

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.—COL. ii. 7.

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered.JOHN XV. 6.

October 18.

CONFLICT HAS NO CESSATION HERE.

HEN, after the great overthrow of the Midianites, fifteen thousand escaped, and were in full flight, there would, from very weariness, be a natural tendency to let the fugitives alone. They are now, it would be said, not only so few in number, but so weakened and full of fear, that they will never again be able to trouble us. But Gideon did not so reason. He was thankful, indeed, for what had been done, and gladly praised the Lord; yet no victory short of one thorough and complete in every sense could satisfy him. On this account, what he had begun, through the help of his God, he determined to finish; for he knew well that, unless crushingly pursued, a fleeing Midianite might soon again become a fighting

one.

Now, a like spirit should ever animate all believers; for they, too, have a conflict, and the enemies they have to contend with are no ordinary ones. They must beware of whispering to themselves, True, there are still sins unsubdued and corruptions unmortified; but they are so few in number, and you are so weary, that they may be safely let alone. In thus speaking, they forget that, though they tire and slumber, their great adversary never does; and they forget, moreover, that sin, from its very nature,

unless persistently resisted and watched, will ever be taking deeper root and gaining increased power.

Every sin so tolerated now will not only mar the peace of believers, but lessen their ultimate reward. There must therefore be no truce with our spiritual enemies, and no cessation of the conflict. When urging on to perfected holiness, Robert M'Cheyne once said: "Oh, it is sweet to give up oneself to God, to be filled with his Spirit, to be ruled by his Word, and to be a little vessel full of him, to bear his name!"

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.-1 TIM. vi. 12.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.-PHIL. iii. 14.

October 19.

THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD IS RARELY WELCOMED, HOWEVER NEEDED.

THOSE who are so regardless that they neither mark

the wrong in their children nor care to correct it, not only do them grievous injury, but plant many a thorn in their own pillow. With our great Father in heaven how different is it! In the training of his children, authority and love, instruction and discipline, are invariably combined. Not one of them, therefore, escapes chastening, just because in one or other of its manifold forms it is an absolutely needed and gracious privilege. There may be unchastened sons in the families of men, but there are none in the family of God. To be otherwise dealt with would be markedly ominous of coming evil; for when God refuses to correct, it is because he intends to destroy.