"In Him is the 'Yes' to all God's promises." 2 Cor. 1, 20. by the Rev. A. N. Rowland in allowances for wind and weather and the interruptions of life, if you attribute accidents to my fickleness and mistakes to my wilfulness, never mind me but consider Jesus Christ. He never fails in his appointments. He never limits the grace of God by any fault. He never disappoints you. Bind up your hurts and slights in His presence. Feed your minds for a change on your reasons for gratitude, confidence and joy.
Ah! Paul, are you not making a grave mistake? These magnifiers of the minute, how will they judge you after thinking upon the perfection of Christ and his complete faithfulness? Will they not look upon an apostle's delinquencies with the more indignation? No, Paul's knowledge of the human heart did not fail him here. He knew that if once they came into the presence of the Light of the World they would lose the fog of their pettiness in which little things look large and all things are disfigured, and they would look upon Him once more as a man and a brother.
Shall we try that plan when we are more than usually conscious of the enormity of other people's shortcomings. Shall we turn to the Lord, consider what he did and how He did it, consider His massive character and His magnanimous Spirit? We shall he sure to get a new, a nobler standard of judgement.
"In Him 'Yes' to all is the God's promises.
Winat are Tuesr Promises?
We speak of a man keeping his word. It is often the best he can do. And business out here would be very different to-day if men would only stand by their contracts and keep their promises. But_a word may mean little or much. On one tragic occasion Herod kept his word, though he was ashamed of it himself. On the other hand Peter before the Sanhedrim pledged the authority of Christ. And in the same sense Jesus so identified himself with the mind and will of God that for him to-keep faith with himself was to fulfil the promises of God. These divine promises are liberally strewn throughout the scriptures, but I would rather turn j to the new book that Jesus opened. It was in our own nature that he: found them inscribed. And by fulfilling human nature he actually fulfilled the promises of God-
FriiowsHip wita Gop.
(a) The first promise that written in the constitution of our being is that we may have fellowship with God. The religions of the world are a. testimony to the existence of this universal promise. They have devised various means of fulfilling it—by magic, by sacrifice, by theosophy. But through Christ the promise is faithfully and fully kept, kept in a manner worthy of God. He is one who speaks with the weight of God on the subject of sin,—the sunderer, who knows it as the sinner knows it, not as his neighbour does, knows it' in the inwardness of its egotism, knows it though it trices to hide itself behind respectable appearances, and philanthropic labours and even religious professions, knows it as the sinner can never know it. This is he who knew if in the stigma of the cross, knew in his own person and body its devastation of humanity. And yet, when in the presence of such a one, equipped with plenary powers, we faintly urge the promise of fellowship with God which is written in our hearts what is his magnificent response? He does not point out the way, he does not show any path of creed or deed, but says "Behold T stand at the door and knock. Tf anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me." That is one promise of God to which Christ has said Yes and Amen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.