The deep things of G.o.d cannot be discovered by unaided reason. "_Eye hath not seen:_" they are not to be apprehended by the artistic vision. "_Ear hath not heard:_" they are not unveiled amid the discussion of the philosophic schools. "_Neither hath entered into the heart of man:_" even poetic insight cannot discern them. All the common lights fail in this realm. We need another illumination, even that provided by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit is offered unto us "that we might know the things that are freely given to us of G.o.d."

And here we have the reason why so many uncultured people are spiritually wiser than many who are learned. They lack talent, but they have grace.

They lack accomplishments, but they have the Holy Ghost. They lack the telescope, but they have the sunlight. They are not scholars, but they are saints. They may not be theologians, but they have true religion. And so they have "the open vision." They "walk with G.o.d," and "the deep things of G.o.d" are made known to their souls.

We must put first things first. We may be busy polishing our lenses when our primary and fundamental need is light. It is not a gift that we require, but a Friend.

MAY The Thirty-first

_CONNECTION AND CONCORD_

"_By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body._"

--1 CORINTHIANS xii. 12-19.

It is only in the spirit that real union is born. Every other kind of union is artificial, and mechanical, and dead. We can dovetail many pieces of wood together and make the unity of an article of furniture, but we cannot dovetail items together and make a tree. And it is the union of a tree that we require, a union born of indwelling life. We may join many people together in a fellowship by the bonds of a formal creed, but the result is only a piece of social furniture, it is not a vital communion.

There is a vast difference between a connection and a concord.

Many members of a family may bear the same name, may share the same blood, may sit and eat at the same table, and yet may have no more vital union than a handful of marbles in a boy's pocket. But let the spirit of a common love dwell in all their hearts and there is a family bound together in glorious union.

And so it is in the spirit, and there alone, that vital union is to be found. And here is the secret of such spiritual union. "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." The Spirit of G.o.d, dwelling in all our spirits, attunes them into glorious harmony. Our lives blend with one another in the very music of the spheres.

JUNE The First

_THE BEAUTY OF VARIETY_

1 CORINTHIANS xii. 20-31.

G.o.d's glory is expressed through the harmony of variety. We do not need sameness in order to gain union. I am now looking upon a scene of surpa.s.sing loveliness. There are mountains, and sea, and gra.s.sland, and trees, and a wide-stretching sky, and white pebbles at my feet. And a white bird has just flown across a little bank of dark cloud. What variety! And when I look closer the variety is infinitely multiplied.

Everything blends into everything else. Nothing is out of place.

Everything contributes to finished power and loveliness. And so it is in the grander sphere of human life. The glory of humanity is born of the glory of individuals, each one making his own distinctive contribution.

And thus we have need of one another. Every note in the organ is needed for the full expression of n.o.ble harmony. Every instrument in the orchestra is required unless the music is to be lame and broken. G.o.d has endowed no two souls alike, and every soul is needed to make the music of "the realm of the blest."

JUNE The Second

_OUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE_

"_When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth._"

--JOHN xvi. 7-14.

How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an inseparable Friend.

And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to distinguish "things that differ," and that so we may know the difference between "the holy and the profane." Our moral judgment is often dull and imperceptive. And our spiritual judgment is often lacking in vigour and penetration. And so our great Spirit-guide puts our spirits to school, and more deeply sanctifies them, that in holiness we may have discernment.

And He will also give us foresight. He will enable us to interpret circ.u.mstances, to apprehend their drift and destiny. We shall see harvests while we are looking at seeds, whether the seeds be seeds of good or evil.

All of which means that the Holy Spirit will deliver our lives from the governance of mere whim and caprice, and that He will make us wise with the wisdom of G.o.d.

JUNE The Third

_THE SAFETY OF THE OCCUPIED HEART_

GALATIANS v. 16-25.

Two friends were cycling through Worcestershire and Warwickshire to Birmingham. When they arrived in Birmingham I asked them, among other things, if they had seen Warwick Gaol along the road. "No," they said, "we hadn't a glimpse of it." "But it is only a field's length from the road!"

"Well, we never saw it." Ah, but these two friends were lovers. They were so absorbed in each other that they had no spare attention for Warwick Gaol. Their glorious fellowship made them unresponsive to its calls. They were otherwise engaged.

"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the l.u.s.ts of the flesh." That great Companionship will make us negligent of carnal allurements. "The world, and the flesh, and the devil" may stand by the wayside, and hold their glittering wares before us, but we shall scarcely be aware of their presence. We are otherwise engaged. We are absorbed in the "Lover of our souls."

This is the only real and effective way to meet temptation. We must meet it with an occupied heart. We must have no loose and trailing affections.

We must have no vagrant, wayward thoughts. Temptation must find us engaged with our Lover. We must "offer no occasion to the flesh." Walking with the Holy One, our elevation is our safety.

JUNE The Fourth

_LIFE'S REAL VALUES_

PROVERBS viii. 10-19.

Here is a man who knows the relative values of things. "_Instruction is better than silver_"; "_knowledge rather than choice gold_"; "_wisdom is better than rubies._" He weighs the inherent worth of things, and puts his choice upon the best.

Let me remember that "all is not gold that glitters." The leaden casket is often the shrine of the priceless scroll. The glaring and the theatrical have often a ragged and seamy interior, and won't bear "looking into." A man may have much display and be very lonely; he may have piles of wealth and be dest.i.tute of joy. His libraries may cover an acre, and yet he may have no light. And a man may have only "a candle, and a table, and a bed,"

and he may be the companion of the eternal G.o.d.

I would seek these priceless things. And I would "_seek them early_." I have so often been late in the search. I have given the early moments to seeking the world's silver and gold, and the later weary moments have been idly devoted to G.o.d. "They that seek Me early shall find Me." Let me put "first things first." "Seek ye first the kingdom of G.o.d and His righteousness."

JUNE The Fifth

_THE SPEECH OF EVENTS_