displeasure.--Psalm vi. 1.
Blessed is the man whom thou _chastenest_, O Lord, and teachest him out
of thy law.--Psalm xciv. 12.
Whom the Lord loveth he _chasteneth_, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth.--Hebrews, xii. 6.
O keep up life and peace within,
If I must feel thy _chastening_ rod!
Yet kill not me, but kill my sin;
And let me know Thou art my God.
O give my soul some sweet foretaste
Of that which I shall shortly see!
Let faith and love cry to the last,
“Come, Lord, I trust myself with Thee!”
_Baxter._
When urged by strong temptation to the brink
Of guilt and ruin, stands the virtuous mind
With scarce a step between; all-pitying Heaven,
Severe in mercy, _chastening_ in its love,
Ofttimes in dark and awful visitation,
Doth interpose, and call the wanderer back
To the straight path, to be for ever after
A firm, undaunted, onward-bearing traveller,
Strong in humility, who swerves no more.
_Joanna Baillie._
So, Christian! though gloomy and sad be thy days,
And the tempest of sorrow encompass thee black;
Though no sunshine of promise or hope sheds its rays
To illumine and cheer thy life’s desolate track:
Though thy soul writhes in anguish, and bitter tears flow
O’er the wreck of fond joys from thy bleeding heart riven,
Check thy murmuring sorrows, thou lorn one, and know
That the _chastened_ on earth are the purest for Heaven;
And remember, though gloomy thy present may be,
That “the Master is coming,” and coming to thee.
_S. D. Patterson._
CHERUB--SERAPH.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;
thou that dwellest between the _cherubims_, shine forth.--Psalm lxxx. 1.
I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.... Above
it stood the _seraphims_.... And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his
glory.--Isaiah, vi. 1, 2, 3.
And the sound of the _cherubims’_ wings was heard even to the outer
court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.--Ezekiel, x.
5.
Thou shepherd that doth Israel keep,
Give ear in time of need,
Who leadeth like a flock of sheep
Thy loved of Joseph’s seed;
That sitt’st between the _cherubs_ bright--
Between their wings outspread,
Shine forth, and from Thy cloud give light,
And on Thy foes Thy dread.
_Milton._
The Lord descended from above,
And bowed the heavens most high;
And underneath His feet He cast
The darkness of the sky.
On _cherub_ and on _cherubim_
Full royally He rode;
And on the wings of mighty winds
Came flying all abroad.
_Sternhold._
High on a throne of burnish’d gold,
With rays of Godhead crown’d,
Jehovah sat; His thunders roll’d,
And glory sparkled round.
His flowing train, of glittering white,
The spacious temple fill’d;
The angels, dazzled at the sight,
With wings their faces veil’d.
Around the throne, in burning row,
The six-winged _seraphs_ stood;
While millions, flying to and fro,
Tun’d all their harps to God.
Thrice holy, holy, Lord, they cry,
The God of Sabaoth’s Thou;
Thy glory fills the worlds on high,
And fills the world below.
_Cowper._
CHILDHOOD--INFANCY.
Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little
_children_, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.--Matthew,
xviii. 3.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto
you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father
which is in Heaven.--Matthew, xviii. 10.
Have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast
perfected praise?--Matthew, xxi. 16.
And they brought unto him also _infants_, that he would touch them: but
when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little _children_
to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of
God.--Luke, xviii. 15, 16.
When little tripping _children_ follow God,
And leave old doting sinners to his rod,
’Tis like those days wherein the young ones cried,
Hosanna! while the old ones did deride.
_Bunyan._
At his first aptness the maternal love
Those rudiments of wisdom did improve;
The tender age was pliant to command;
Like wax it yielded to the forming hand:
True to the artificer, the laboured mind
With ease was pious, generous, just, and kind;
Soft for impression, from the first prepared,
Till virtue, with long exercise, grew hard;
With every act confirmed and made at last,
So durable as not to be effaced,
It turned to habit; and from vices free,
Goodness resolved into necessity.
_Dryden._
The _child_ between her parents knelt,
Who prayed the more to God above,
Because so close to them they felt
The dearest gift of Heavenly love.
* * * * *
To her new beauty largely given
From deeper fountains, looked and smiled,
And, like a morning dream from heaven,
The woman gleamed within the _child_.
_John Sterling._
O! how I love the prattling of that _child_,
Frisking so blithely in its nurse’s hand!
Fair as her face who first in Eden smiled,
Ere blissful innocence had left the land!
Thy dimpled cheeks remind me of a time,
When first I ventured on life’s thorny way!
May no false joys consume thy early prime,
No friend mislead thee, and no friend betray;
Thy bark, like mine, is on a rocky sea;
For life’s a voyage far from shore to shore,
No resting-place, unless thine anchor be
The hope of glory when the course is o’er;
Blest hope for thee, just entering into bloom,
Thrice blessed hope for me just hast’ning to the tomb.
_J. Mayne._
“Suffer these little ones to come to me,”
Was the command of Him who, on the cross,
Bowed His anointed head, and with His blood
Purchased redemption for our fallen race--
And blessed they, who to that holy task
Devote the energies of their young years,
Teaching, with pious care, the dawning light
Of _infant_ intellect to know the Lord.
_C. Huntingdon._
The life that makes the heart to beat,
The light that from the heavens doth shine,
My daily strength,--the bread I eat,--
All, all, great Lord of Life, are thine.
Then let me seek Thee daily, Lord,
At morn, at noontide, and at even;
And do Thy will, and know Thy word,
That I may be Thy _child_ in heaven!
_W. Martin._
I remember, I remember,
The fir-trees dark and high,
I used to think their tiny tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a _childish_ ignorance,
But now ’tis little joy,
To know I’m farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy!
_T. Hood._
Blessed Jesus ever loved to trace
The innocent brightness of an _infant’s_ face;
He raised them in His holy arms;
He blessed them from the world and all its harms:
Heirs though they were of sin and shame,
He blessed them in His own, and in His Father’s Name.
_Keble._
Christian! thy dream is now--it was not then:
O, it were strange if _childhood_ were a dream.
Strife, and the world, are dreams: to wakeful men
_Childhood_ and home as jealous angels seem:
Like shapes and hues that play in clouds at even,
They have but shifted from Thee into Heaven!
_F. W. Faber._
Something divine about an _Infant_ seems
To them, who watch it in that holy light
Of meaning, caught from these celestial words
Of Christ--“Forbid them not, but let them come.”
Fresh buds of being! beautiful as frail.
Types of that kingdom which our souls profess
To enter! Symbols of that docile love
And meek compliancy of creed and mind,
Which Heaven hath canonized, and for its own
Acknowledged,--well may thoughtful hearts perceive
A mystery, beyond mere nature’s law,
Around them girdled like a moral zone.
_R. Montgomery._
Death found strange beauty on that polished brow,
And dashed it out. There was a tint of rose
On cheek and lip. He touched the veins with ice,
And the rose faded. Forth from those blue eyes
There spake a wishful tenderness--a doubt
Whether to grieve or sleep--which innocence
Alone may wear. With ruthless hand he bound
The silken fringes of those curtaining lids
For ever. There had been a murmuring sound
With which the babe would claim its mother’s ear,
Charming her even to tears. The spoiler set
The seal of silence. But there beamed a smile
So fixed, so holy, from that cherub brow,
Death gazed, and left it there. He dared not steal
The signet-ring of heaven.
_L. H. Sigourney._
_Child_, there is One, the High above all Height,
Who doth not scorn thee--
Ever, from Him, may beams of Heavenly light
Comfort--but warn thee--
That from youth’s innocence each proud removal
Is a departure from His best approval.
_H. H. Weld._
The Lord of Heaven, who, from his throne above,
Governs the universe, yet deigns to hear
The praise which from the mouths of sucklings flows,
And from the lisping babe ordaineth strength.
_C. P. Layard._
There are smiles and tears in the mother’s eyes,
For her new-born _infant_ beside her lies.
O, hour of bliss! when the heart o’erflows
With rapture a mother only knows.
Let it gush forth in words of fervent prayer;
Let it swell up to heaven for her precious care.
_Henry Ware, Jun._
How soft and fresh he breathes!
Look, he is dreaming! Visions sure of joy
Are gladdening his rest; and ah, who knows
But waiting angels do converse in sleep
With babes like this!
_Arthur C. Coxe._
Little _children_, not alone
On the wide earth are ye thrown,
’Mid its labour and its cares;
’Mid its sufferings and its snares,
Free from sorrow, free from strife,
In the world of love and life,
Where no sinful thing has trod
In the presence of our God!
Spotless, blameless, glorified,
Little _children_, ye abide!
_Mary Howitt._
How oft, heart-sick and sore,
I’ve wished I were, once more,
A little _child_!
_Mrs. Southey._
CHRIST--CHRISTMAS.
We have heard out of the law that _Christ_ abideth for ever.--John,
xii. 34.
We preach _Christ_ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto
the Greeks foolishness;
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, _Christ_ the
power of God, and the wisdom of God.--I. Corinthians, i. 23, 24.
We preach not ourselves, but _Christ_ Jesus the Lord.--II. Corinthians,
iv. 5.
_Christ_ is all, and in all.--Colossians, iii. 11.
For even hereunto were ye called: because _Christ_ also suffered for
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps;
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered,
He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth
righteously--I. Peter, ii. 21, 22, 23.
With force of arms we nothing can,
Full soon were we down-ridden;
But for us fights the proper man,
Whom God himself hath bidden.
Ask ye, who is the same? _Christ_ Jesus is His name,
The Lord Zebaoth’s Son, He, and no other one,
Shall conquer in the battle.
_Martin Luther._
_Christ_ is a path,--if any be misled;
He is a robe,--if any naked be;
If any chance to hunger,--He is bread;
If any be a bondman,--He is free;
If any be but weak,--how strong is he!
To dead men life he is; to sick men health;
To blind men sight; and to the needy wealth;
A pleasure without loss, a pleasure without stealth.
_Giles Fletcher._
He that alone would wise and mighty be,
Commands that others love, as well as He.
Love as He loved! how can we soar so high?
He can add wings when He commands to fly.
Nor should we be with this command dismayed,
He that examples gives, will give His aid;
For He took flesh, that where His precepts fail,
His practice as a pattern might prevail.
_Waller._
In what torn ship soever I embark,
That ship shall be an emblem of Thy ark;
What sea soever swallow me, that flood
Shall be to me an emblem of Thy blood:
Though Thou with clouds of anger do disguise
Thy face, yet through that mask I know those eyes,
Which, though they turn away sometimes,
They never will despise.
I sacrifice this Island unto Thee,
And all whom I loved there, and who loved me;
When I have put our seas ’twixt them and me,
Put Thou Thy seas betwixt my sins and Thee:
As the tree’s sap doth seek the root below
In winter, in my winter now I go
Where none but Thee, th’ eternal root
Of true love, I may know.
_Dr. Donne._
Without _Christ_ all gain is loss,
All hope despair, that stands not on his cross;
Except the few his God may have impress’d,
A tenfold phrenzy seizes all the rest.
_Cowper._
Father! in _Christ_ we live, and _Christ_ in Thee!
Eternal Thou, and everlasting we.
The heir of heaven, henceforth I fear not death:
In _Christ_ I live! in _Christ_ I draw the breath
Of the true life! Let then earth, sea, and sky
Make war against me! on my front I show
Their mighty Master’s seal. In vain they try
To end my life, that can but end its woe.
Is that a death-bed where the _Christian_ lies?
Yes! but not his--’tis death itself there dies.
_S. T. Coleridge._
Heaven is within of magnitude immense;
No human thought can its dimensions grasp;
Yet heaven has but one door. _Christ_ is the way--
The only way--to God. Whoever seeks
By other ways to enter, must, ashamed,
Confused, and disappointed, see too late
The gates of hell expanded to his view!
No other name is published under heaven,
Wherein salvation can be found, but His.
_Anon._
Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then they say no spirit walks abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike;
No fairy tales; no witch has power to charm;
So hallowed and so gracious is the time!
_Shakspere._
Sweet rest ye, happie _Christians_,
’Tis earlie _Christmas_ daye,
When _Christ_ our Lord and Savioure
Became the sinner’s staye.
Arise, and for such benefits
His precepts all obeye.
Joyful tidings let us singe,
_Christ_ our refuge, _Christ_ our kinge,
To hallowe _Christmas_ daye.
In Judah’s lands, in Bethlehem,
The lovelie babe was born,
Upon a manger poorlie laid,
On _Christmas_ happie morn.
God speed ye, merrie gentlemen,
And _Christian_ grace adorn.
Joyful tidings let us singe,
_Christ_ our refuge, _Christ_ our kinge,
To hallowe _Christmas_ morn.
_Stuart Farquharson._
Hark! what mean those holy voices,
Sweetly sounding through the skies?
Lo! the angelic host rejoices;
Heavenly hallelujahs rise.
Listen to the wondrous story,
Which they chant in hymns of joy:--
“Glory in the highest, glory!
Glory be to God most high!
_Christ_ is born, the Great Anointed,
Heaven and earth His praises sing;
O receive whom God appointed,
For your Prophet, Priest, and King!”
_Cawood._
CHRISTIANITY.
And the disciples were called _Christians_ first in Antioch.--Acts, xi.
26.
Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free.--Galatians, v. 1.
Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.--Ephesians, iv. 1.
Yet if any man suffer as a _christian_, let him not be ashamed; but let
him glorify God on this behalf.--I. Peter, iv. 16.
But for that contention and brave strife
The _Christian_ hath to enjoy, the future life,
He were the wretchedest of the race of men;
But as he soars at that, he bruiseth then
The serpent’s head; gets above death and sin,
And, sure of Heaven, rides triumphing in.
_Ben Jonson._
All faiths beside, or did by arms ascend;
Or sense indulged has made mankind their friend:
This only doctrine does our lusts oppose;
Unfed by nature’s soil in which it grows;
Cross to our interests, curbing sense and sin;
Oppressed without and undermined within,
It thrives through pain, its own tormentors tires;
And with a stubborn patience still aspires.
To what can reason such effects assign,
Transcending nature, but to laws divine,
Which in that sacred volume are contained,
Sufficient, clear, and for that use ordained?
_Dryden._
Well hast thou fought
The better fight, who, singly, hast maintained
Against revolted multitudes the cause
Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms;
And for the testimony of truth hast borne
Universal reproach, far worse to bear
Than violence.
_Milton._
A _Christian_ is the highest style of man;
And is there who the blessed cross wipes of
As a foul blot from his dishonour’d brow?--
If angels tremble, ’tis at such a sight.
_Young._
O Antioch, thou teacher of the world!--
From out thy portals passed the feet of those,
Who, banished and despised, have made thy name
The next in rank to proud Jerusalem.
Within thy gates the persecuted few,
Who dared to rally round the Holy Cross,
And worship Him whose sacred form it bore,
Were first called _Christians_. In thy sad conceit,
Thou mad’st a stigma of reproach and shame,
This noblest title of the sons of earth:
While, save for this, thy name were scarcely known,
Except among the mouldering vestiges
Of dim antiquity. So doth our God
Make all men’s folly ever praise His name.
_J. L. Chester._
To be an humble follower of Him,
Who left the bliss of Heaven, to be for us
A man on earth in spotless virtue living
As man ne’er lived; such words of comfort speaking,
To raise, and elevate, and cheer the heart,
As man ne’er spake; and suffering poverty,
Contempt, and wrong, and pain, and death itself,
As man ne’er suffered.
_Joanna Baillie._
The _Christian’s_ faith had many mysteries too.
The uncreated Holy Three in One;
Divine Incarnate, Human in Divine;
The inward call; the Sanctifying Dew;
Coming unseen, unseen departing thence;
Anew creating all, and yet not heard;
Compelling, yet not felt:--mysterious these;
Not that Jehovah to conceal them wished;
Not that Religion wished. The _Christian_ faith,
Unlike the timorous creeds of Pagan priest,
Was frank, stood forth to view, invited all
To prove, examine, search, investigate,
And gave herself a light to see her by.
Mysterious these--because too large for eye
Of man, too long for human arm to mete.
_Pollok._
CHURCH.
Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
Heaven.--Matthew, xvi. 19.
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.--Matthew,
xxviii. 20.
So were the _churches_ established in the faith, and increased in
number daily.--Acts, xvi. 5.
And God hath set some in the _church_, first, apostles, secondarily,
prophets, thirdly, teachers.--I. Corinthians, xii. 28.
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head
over all things to the _church_,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in
all.--Ephesians, i. 22, 23.
Christ also loved the _church_, and gave himself for it.--Ephesians, v.
25.
That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house
of God, which is the _church_ of the living God, the pillar and ground
of the truth.--I. Timothy, iii. 15.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of
some is.--Hebrews, x. 25.
The solemn scene
The sun, through storied panes, surveys with awe,
And bashfully withholds each bolder beam.
_Smart._
Think, when the bells do chime,
’Tis angels’ music; therefore come not late.
God then deals blessings: if a king did so,
Who would not haste, nay give, to see the show?
When once thy foot enters the _church_, be bare.
God is more there than thou: for thou art there
Only by His permission. Then beware;
And make thyself all reverence and fear.
Kneeling ne’er spoil’d silk stocking. Quit thy state.
All equal are within the _church’s_ gate.
Resort to sermons, but to prayers most:
Praying’s the end of preaching. O be drest;
Stay not for the other pin: why thou hast lost
A joy for it worth worlds. Thus hell doth jest
Away thy blessings, and extremely flout thee,
Thy clothes being fast, but thy soul loose about thee.
In time of service seal up both thine eyes,
And send them to thy heart; that spying sin,
They may weep out the stains by them did rise:
Those doors being shut, all by the ear comes in.
Who marks in _church_-time others’ symmetry,
Makes all their beauty his deformity.
Let vain or busy thoughts have there no part;
Bring not thy plots, thy plough, thy pleasure thither.
Christ purged His temple--so must thou thy heart.
All worldly thoughts are but thieves met together
To cozen thee. Look to thy actions well,
For _churches_ either are our heaven or hell.
_George Herbert._
Dear is the ancient village _church_, which rears
By the lone yew, or lime, or elm-girt mound,
Its modest fabric: clear, and pleasant sound
Of bells, the grey embattled tower that wears
Of changeful hue the marks of bye-gone years,
Buttress, and porch, and arch with mazy round
Of curious feet or shapes fantastic crown’d;
Tall pinnacles and mingled window tiers,
Norman, or misnamed Gothic. Fairer spot
Thou givest not, England, to the tasteful eye,
Nor to the heart more soothing. Blest their lot!
Know they their bliss, who own their dwelling nigh
Such resting-place; there by the world forgot,
In life to worship, and when dead to lie!
_Bishop Mant._
Some there are
Who hold it meet to linger now at home,
And some o’er fields and the wide hills to roam,
And worship in the temple of the air!
For me, not heedless of the lone address,
Nor slack to meet my Maker on the height,
By wood, or living stream; yet not the less
Seek I His presence in each social rite
Of His own temple: that He deigns to bless,
There still He dwells, and that is His delight.
_Bishop Mant._
I love to hear the sound of holy bell,
And peaceful men, their praises lift to Heaven.
_Joanna Baillie._
Clad in a robe of pure and spotless white,
The youthful bride, with timid steps, comes forth
To greet the hand to which she plights her troth,
Her soft eyes radiant with a strange delight.
The snowy veil which circles her around,
Shades the sweet face from every gazer’s eye,
And thus enwrapt, she passes calmly by--
Nor casts a look, but on the unconscious ground.
So should the _Church_, the bride elect of Heaven,--
Remembering whom she goeth forth to meet,
And with a truth that cannot brook deceit,
Holding the faith which unto her is given--
Pass through this world, which claims her for a while,
Nor cast about her longing look nor smile.
_Mrs. Neal._
Thy best type, Desire
Of the sad heart,--the Heaven-ascending spire!
_Sir E. B. Lytton._
To Thee the _churches_ here rejoice,
The solemn organs aid the voice;
To sacred roofs the sound we raise,
The sacred roofs re-sound Thy praise;
And while our notes in one agree,
Oh! bless the _church_ that sings to Thee!
_Parnell._
The _Church_ of Christ, the school of grace,
The Spirit teaching by the Word;
In these our Saviour’s steps we trace,
By this His living voice is heard.
_J. Montgomery._
So shall her holy bounds increase,
With walls of praise and gates of peace;
So shall the Vine which martyr tears
And blood sustained, in other years,
With fresher life be clothed upon;
And to the world in beauty show
Like the rose-plant of Jericho,
And glorious as Lebanon.
_J. G. Whittier._
O, prayer is good when many pour
Their voices in one solemn tone;
Conning their sacred lessons o’er,
Or yielding thanks for mercies shown.
’Tis good to see the quiet train
Forget their worldly joy and care,
While loud response, and choral strain,
Re-echo in the House of Prayer.
_Eliza Cook._
There is a Presence spiritually vast
Around Thy _Church_, arisen Saviour! cast;
A holy effluence, an unspoken awe,
A sanctity which carnal eye ne’er saw,--
A pure, impalpable, almighty sense
Of peace, by reconciled Omnipotence,--
That hallows, haunts, and makes a Christian mind
Rich in all grace, celestially refined:
Mere Nature’s worshippers can never feel
The fulness of that high seraphic zeal
Which veileth all things with religious light,
And works unwearied in Jehovah’s sight;
Thought, dream, and action, ev’ry pulse of soul
The awe of Christ will solemnly control:
Girt by the Spirit, wheresoe’er they rove,
True faith is feeding on His breath of love.
_R. Montgomery._
How sweetly wide this Sabbath morn
The chime of village bells is sent
O’er the hamlets, o’er the fields,
With Sabbath sunshine blent.
The noble hears and quits his hall--
The peasant quits his cottage-home;
All cheerfully, all pleasantly,
To _church_ the people come.
They come from far-off heathy moors,
From lonely farms, from quiet dells,
Led strongly, irresistibly,
By the sweet chime of Sabbath bells.
Across the fields, across the green,
From shades emerge they to the light;
And seen in groups, or singly seen,
It is a charming sight.
_Richard Howitt._
CITY.
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, the
_city_ of the great King.--Psalm xlviii. 2.
Except the Lord keep the _city_, the watchman waketh but in
vain.--Psalm cxxvii. 1.