104 THE MAN IN THE MASK. of more than we reveal; but God seeth through all our disguises; "for his eyes are upon the ways man, and he seeth all his goings," Job xxxiv. 21. "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart," 1 Sam. xvi. 7. THE PICTURE FRAME. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."—Isa. ii. 11. I REMEMBER in the days of my youth showing to a friend a drawing of mine, of which I was not a little proud, thinking it to be very well done. It was inclosed in a very pretty frame, which I had chosen to set off my performance to the best advantage. My friend had scarcely glanced at my drawing, when he exclaimed, "Oh what a beautiful frame! where did you get it?" Blushing with mortification, I snatched away my drawing, and could have thrown the frame in the fire at that moment, though it had before given me so much pleasure. This was a fit of youthful jealousy. I had no objection to have the frame admired; but I could THE PICTURE FRAME. 105 not bear it to be admired instead of my drawing. Since then I have often been reminded of this fit of youthful jealousy and pride by what I have observed in the conduct of God's people. When any talk of prayer and praise, of holy feeling and godly meditations, the hearts of true believers respond to these things; but if they see that these are trusted in, as having in the slightest degree part or lot in the matter of justification before God, they cry, "Away with them! away with them." The gilt frame of a picture is very well as a frame, but it has nothing to do with the merit of the picture itself, nor should Christian gifts and graces ever be put in the place of the one full and free sacrifice offered up by the Redeemer on the cross, for the justification and redemption of his people. The Lord our God has declared himself a jealous God. He hath created all things in heaven and earth for his well-beloved Son, and he will have him exalted alone in the matter of our salvation. If prayers, tears, and pious feelings would in any way atone for sin, what need had God to give up his dear Son to die a shameful death? But does not God delight in prayer and praises? Yes: He does delight in them, but he is offended with those who look at them instead of looking to Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that bore our sins in his body on the tree. He has bought 106 THE PICTURE FRAME. us, and paid for us with his own precious blood, therefore unto his name be all the glory for ever and ever. Amen. THE TOOTH-ACHE. Good and bad thoughts are the seeds of good and bad words and deeds: they multiply, also, our joys and our sorrows. Every day has its shine and its shade, and the same remark may be made of all our joys and all our griefs. Our pleasures are not exempt from inconvenience, nor are our pains unaccompanied with advantage. This ought to be borne in mind more constantly than it is. No! no! It is not all shadow when we have the tooth-ache. Think of the luxurious feeling when the warm handkerchief, so wishfully regarded, as it hung airing at the fire, comes, at last, to be laid across your cheek, and tied in a becoming bow under your ear! Think of the liberty you enjoy, the cessation from all employment, the exemption from all complaints, but your own, and the kind attentions you receive! No one requires from you the smallest service: while one stirs the fire to make the room warm, another runs to fetch a pillow; a third toasts the bread for your gruel; and a fourth asks if any thing can be done to make you better? Then, how tenderly every one in the house speaks to you, and in what a subdued and soft tone of voice are you asked every ten minutes, "How are you now ?" Say what you will of the tooth-ache, but these concomitants, these gentle alleviations, are dear to us all. We soon find the difference in our position when we get well again, and we know this, and are not always in haste to proclaim our convalescence. No sooner is it known that our malady has subsided, than the handkerchief is withdrawn, and we must set to work again. No one assists us; no one speaks gently to us; and hardly any one takes notice of us. It is true that our tooth-ache is gone; but it is equally true that with it have disappeared a hundred sources of comfort and complacency. Let us apply this to our afflictions generally, looking less at our bodily ailments, and more at the spiritual advantages that attend them. God's mercy can make even his judgments a blessing; and by wounding the body, he can heal the soul. "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment," may lay a weight of gloom on our minds, but yet it may, by the blessing of our heavenly Father, "work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," 2 Cor. iv. 17. THE WHETSTONE. On the top of a hill which forms the boundary to the west of a narrow glen called the Kettles, about a mile to the west of Wooler, on the Scottish border, there are some remains of an encampment. The crag at the south end is called the King's Chair, because a king is said once to have sat there, while his army fought in the glen below. A little to the north of this, is a large stone, which might well be looked on as the parish whetstone, inasmuch as it is worn on every side, just as though a whole neighbourhood had there sharpened their edge tools. But what think you is reported as the real cause of the wearing away of the stone? Why this: that the soldiers of one of the contending armies retired there to sharpen their swords for renewed combat, after they had blunted them so much, in hewing down their enemies, as to have rendered them unserviceable. We see how soldiers will fight for a little praise, or a piece of money, blunting their weapons against the bodies of their fellow-men, and then sharpening them again to plunge once more amid the bloody strife. How great their toil and danger, and how little their reward! Now, if those who live in strife and contention take such trouble to fit them |