ance, and, like the sands of the desert, amidst the sunshine and the showers it brings forth no fruit; it is only fit for being rejected. 66 Let our first and most fervent prayer be, “O Lord, teach us to pray." Let our second be, "Holy Spirit, take possession of my heart, and give me the spirit of prayer.” Or, as it is expressed in a very sweet and a very beautiful hymn, "Return, O Holy Dove, return, I hate the sin that made thee mourn, 8* CHAPTER V. DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS. "Sail on, it says, sail on, ye stately ships, 66 Despise not prophesyings."-1 THESS. V. 20. "DESPISE not prophesyings;" that is, despise not the record in which you find all that you need to regulate your life in this world, and all that heart can desire to ripen and prepare it for the world that is to be. It will scarcely be necessary that I should here explain what is meant by prophecy. It does not mean the prediction of events that are future, but the proclamation of duty that is instant. Certainly it is used in Scripture occasionally in the sense of foretelling future events, but not exclusively so. The prophets in the Old Testament were not simply men predicting the future; but proclaiming the responsibilities and duties of the present. The two prophets in the camp of Israel were not engaged in predicting futurity, but in proclaiming present obligations. So the apostle, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, uses it; he says, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." This is spoken to Christian laymen. "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man understandeth him: howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied; for greater is he that prophesieth"—that is, preacheth-"than he that speaketh with tongues as at Pentecost"except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." Well then, the prophesyings that we are called upon here not to despise, are simply the declarations of God's truth, and the varied formulas in which that truth is conveyed, whether in Scripture or in sermons. If in the written word, that is one way, and the best way; if in the preaching of the gospel, that is another way; if in tracts and sermons, this is a third way. But in whatever shape God's good word is conveyed, the command is, "Despise it not." If man be asked, what is meant by the prohibitory language-"Despise not?" Like many a negative in the Bible, it means a very decided positive in the opposite direction. For instance, we read, "Forget not to entertain strangers: that really means, "Be sure to recollect to do so." Again we read, in another passage, “ Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord:" that means, "Highly value, deeply appreciate the chastening of the Lord." So here the command, "Despise not prophesying," means, highly value it, deeply appreciate it. Never say, or think, or do, what is fitted to disparage this book, or to degrade it, or in any way to dislodge it from that central supremacy that it ought to wield over every thought and affection of the inmost soul. The simple meaning of the prescription is, Receive the Bible; love it, read it, study it, reverence it, cherish it as a precious possession, entertain it as a life in the heart, and not as a mere direction outside. This idea has suggested here what may be practically useful, some of the reasons why many persons object to Christianity and the Bible, and religion altogether; and the reasons why others do not give it that directive supremacy which is its just and legitimate due. We are not speaking here so much of that sober and awful conclusion to which it is barely possible for a man to come, after having examined the various evidences of this book, when he concludes it to be a falsehood. If any one has arrived at that conclusion, and I can conceive a person coming sincerely to it, he is much to be pitied; he is deeply mistaken, I would almost add fatally mistaken; but still I can believe it to be his deliberate conviction. It is, however, such a terrible conclusion, so awful, so undesirable, that when one is constrained to confess it, it must be with tears, and grief, and deep distress. When I meet a sceptic parading his scepticism, glorying in it, anxious to make proselytes, I always suspect, and I hope it is not uncharitable to do so, that there is a conscience inside, and a life outside, not as either should be; and therefore there is this shuffling, this display of bravery, this obtrusive bravado, to conceal if possible from himself-for such is man's self-deception-the state in which he is living in the sight of God. But a really sober conviction that this book is a falsehood, must be to a right mind a very awful thing. Can any thing be more distressing than to quench the lamp that thousands are walking by, as they believe, to heaven? How painful must it be to a right-minded man, to strike down from its pedestal that book which, its worst enemy will admit, has given freedom to the slave, dignity to the poor, a sense of duty to the rich and the great! What result can be more awful and painful, than to have come to the dread conviction that man does not know of a God, a home, an eternity; and that he goes down into the deep shadow of the grave without a ray of hope to penetrate it, and reveal to him immortality and glory? It is so dreadful a conviction, that surely one must hesitate before accepting it; and if any one come to entertain it sincerely, surely it must be with pain and sorrow that he feels constrained to admit or pronounce it. But the sceptics that we have here to deal with, are rather those that love infidelity for its license, and prefer to give evasive reasons for not manfully rejecting the Bible as an imposture, and burning it. They prefer treating it with affected contempt, giving it an incidental compliment to-day, and a heavy blow-to-morrow, always and everywhere professing to despise it on the whole. Now what may be some of the reasons, as far as we can discover, why men act so wicked and yet inconsistent a part? One reason lies at the root of nearly all others, and explains much of that despising of the word of God which is here condemned. It is man's deep sense of his sinfulness, his alienation from, and, it may be added, his antagonism to, God. Man loves sin; he knows that God condemns it; but notwithstanding he will not renounce it. He can neither justify his conduct, nor will he give up his conduct. He prefers, therefore, to forget the Bible, to cease to think of the Bible, and to get rid from memory and conscience of its remonstrances the best and quickest way he can. But, in spite of all, he cannot help hearing chimes of bells on Sundays, meeting even preachers in the streets, stumbling on a Christian conversation, reading an incidental allusion to, or illustration of, the Bible. And some way or another this book has so struck itself into the very texture of all society, and the earliest recollections of mankind, that, run as man likes a refugee from its presence, he will incidentally hear it ringing in his ears, or the echoes of it lingering in his heart, reasoning of righteousness, and temperance, and judgment. He cannot answer it; he will not obey it; he dares not therefore manfully meet it. He flees from it, and attempts not, even to his own satisfaction, to treat with supercilious contempt the |