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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9422c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52001 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52001) diff --git a/old/52001-0.txt b/old/52001-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3cdedd6..0000000 --- a/old/52001-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2097 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Little Child's Book of Divinity, by John Ross Macduff - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Little Child's Book of Divinity - or Grandmamma's Stories about Bible Doctines - -Author: John Ross Macduff - -Release Date: May 5, 2016 [EBook #52001] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE CHILD'S BOOK OF DIVINITY *** - - - - -Produced by Heiko Evermann, Lisa Anne Hatfield and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -Italic text enclosed with _underscores_. - -Small‐caps replaced by ALL CAPS. - -Tables require a monospace font in order to align properly. - -More notes appear at the end of the file. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -[Illustration: Emma and her Grandmamma.] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE LITTLE CHILD’S - - BOOK OF DIVINITY; - - OR, - - GRANDMAMMA’S STORIES ABOUT - BIBLE DOCTRINES. - - - BY THE AUTHOR OF - - “MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,” “FAITHFUL - PROMISER,” &c. &c. - -“From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to -make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ -Jesus.”―2 Tim. iii. 15. - -“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be -the peace of thy children.”―Isa. liv. 13. - - - SECOND EDITION. - - - LONDON: - JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. - MDCCCLV. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - EDINBURGH: - PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, - PAUL’S WORK. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION 3 - FIRST NIGHT 4 - SECOND NIGHT 12 - THIRD NIGHT 20 - FOURTH NIGHT 30 - FIFTH NIGHT 40 - SIXTH NIGHT 48 - SEVENTH NIGHT 57 - EIGHTH NIGHT 66 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE LITTLE CHILD’S - - BOOK OF DIVINITY. - - -LITTLE Emma was one Sabbath evening alone in the room with her -grandmamma. Good old Mrs Allan (for that was her grandmother’s name) was -seated in her arm‐chair, beside a blazing winter fire. A small table was -before her, with a Bible and a pair of spectacles lying upon it. - -Emma came jumping up upon her grandmamma’s knee, and kissed her, and -said— - -“Dear grandmamma, there is much in that large Bible I do not understand; -I should like so much to know all it tells about. When I was at church -this forenoon, I heard Mr R., our clergyman, speak to the people about -what he called ‘doctrines;’ and when he was telling about them, there -were many things the people liked to hear which were too difficult for -me. Do you think you could tell me about them in very simple words, and -make them plain to me? I will promise to be very attentive to all that -you say.” - -“I shall be truly happy,” said the other, looking with a kindly smile on -her little grandchild, “to do what you ask me. And if you will come to -me for a few minutes every Sabbath night, I will try to explain these -Bible doctrines to you as simply as I can.” - -So saying, she put aside her spectacles, and drawing her chair closer by -the fire, with her arm round little Emma’s neck, began as follows:— - - - FIRST NIGHT. - -[Sidenote: Of the Being of God.] “There was a time, my dear child, far, -far back in eternity, when no one lived but the Great God, when no angel -waved his wing, and no star glittered in the sky. - -“This ever‐living God did not need angels or worlds to make Him happy. -He was quite glorious without them. - -“This great Being was _one_ God; but there were three persons in the -Godhead—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Of these, -there was none higher or greater than the other; they were all equal in -power and in glory. - -[Sidenote: Of the Creation of all things.] “This Great God resolved on -making angels and worlds; and He just said, ‘I wish them to be,’ and -they were all made by the word of His power. And it was not a few that -He made, but a very great many. He made large armies of angels; and such -a number of stars and worlds, that they cannot be counted. - -[Sidenote: Of our World.] “Among these crowded worlds which you see in -the dark sky at night, there was a very little one—so little, as -scarcely to be seen or noticed amid those around it. - -“This little star was called ‘_the Earth_;’ and God loved it very much, -and the Three Persons in the Godhead resolved to do something very -wonderful with regard to it. God put a happy and holy creature into it, -called _Man_; and He made him after His own image, and placed him in a -beautiful garden. - -[Sidenote: Of the Covenant of Works.] “While there, God entered with man -into what is called a _Covenant of Works_.” - -“What does a _covenant_ mean?” inquired Emma. - -“I shall tell you, my child,” said her grandmamma. “It is an agreement, -or bargain, between two people. In the garden of Eden, the two parties -were God and Adam; their covenant or agreement was this;—God said to -Adam, ‘If you do what I ask you, you shall live and be happy. If you -disobey me, you must “surely die.”’ - -[Sidenote: Of the Fall.] “God told him not to eat of the fruit of one of -the trees in the garden; but though Adam had all the rest of the trees -in Eden to eat of, he forgot God’s command, and took of the forbidden -one; and he was driven out of his happy home, and became a lost and -ruined creature.” - -“How sad for poor Adam,” said Emma, “to be banished from his beautiful -garden!” - -“Yes,” said the other; “and sadder still to be banished from his God, -with nothing before him but certain death!” - -“But how was it, grandmamma,” inquired Emma, “that Adam did not die all -at once? How did he continue to live after God had said that, if he -disobeyed Him, he should ‘surely die’?” - -“I was just going to explain this to you, my dear,” said Mrs Allan. “Our -first parents could not have lived for one moment after their ‘Fall,’ if -it had not been for another and more glorious covenant the Bible tells -us of.” - -“And what was the name of that covenant?” inquired Emma, eagerly. - -“It was called _the Covenant of Grace_,” replied her grandmother. “I -shall try, my dear child,” continued she, patting her grandchild on the -head, “to make this very great and glorious subject as simple as I can -to you; and after you hear me, you will, perhaps, be able to explain it -to others.” - -Little Emma was again very attentive, and her grandmamma proceeded: - -[Sidenote: Of the Parties in the Covenant of Grace.] “I want to see, -before I begin, if my little scholar remembers what I have just been -telling her,—who the two parties were in the _Covenant of Works_?” - -“God and Adam,” replied Emma. - -“Yes, dear, you are right. And in this new covenant or agreement I am -going to speak about, there were two parties also. Do you think you -could tell me who they were?” - -“Was it God and Adam again?” inquired the little girl. - -“No, my child,” said the old lady. “Man, having broken the first -covenant, could no longer enter into terms with God. There was some one -who came in the place of guilty man. Can you tell me who this was?” - -“It was the Lord Jesus Christ,” said Emma. - -“Quite correct,” replied her grandmother. “God was angry with man, and -could no longer speak with him. But Jesus said, ‘_I_ will come in the -room of those lost sinners, and speak to God _for_ them.’ So God and -Jesus made a covenant together. It was as if Jesus said to God, ‘O my -Father, if Thou wilt pardon these poor sinners, I will leave my glorious -throne, and come down to the earth, and die for them, and wash their -guilty souls in my precious blood.’ And then God promised, and said, ‘I -_will_ pardon them! They deserve nothing but wrath; but, for the sake of -what Thou art to do and suffer, as their Redeemer, I will shew them -“_Grace_.”’ Hence this new covenant between God and Jesus was called -‘_the Covenant of Grace_.’” - -“I should like to hear more,” said Emma, “about this glorious Being who -loved man so much as to die for him. Why is He called by the name of -_Redeemer_?” - -[Sidenote: Of the Person of the Redeemer.] “Jesus is called ‘Redeemer,’ -because He ‘buys back’ the lost souls of men. No one but God, in our -nature, could do this. If the highest angel in heaven had tried to save -us, he _could_ not. Jesus Christ was both God and man. He had lived from -all eternity ‘_with_ God, and _was_ God.’ He took upon Him our nature, -and was born a little babe in the stable of Bethlehem. How sweet for -little children to think that Jesus was once himself _a little child_!” - -[Sidenote: Of the Humiliation of Christ.] “How wonderful!” said Emma, -“for the great God of heaven to come down to dwell with man on the -earth—to be called the ‘Man of Sorrows’—to be poor and hated, and have -‘nowhere to lay His head,’ till He laid it on the Cross, and there died -a cruel death!” - -“Wonderful indeed,” replied her grandmamma. “Can you tell me, my dear -child, what became of Jesus after He died?” - -[Sidenote: Of His Resurrection and Exaltation.] “Yes,” answered Emma; “I -think He was laid in a grave in the middle of a garden in Jerusalem. A -stone was put at the mouth of it, and soldiers were made to watch it. -But after lying dead three days, He rolled away the stone, and came -forth alive.” - -“You are right, my child,” said Mrs Allan. “By this, God the Father -shewed that He had accepted the work of His dear Son—that the wages of -sin were all paid, and that His holy law was satisfied and honoured. -After remaining forty days on the earth, Jesus went up among rejoicing -angels to heaven.” - -“And where is the Lord Jesus now?” inquired Emma. - -[Sidenote: Of the Intercession of Christ.] “He who once was ‘despised -and rejected of men,’” said her grandmother, “is seated on a very -glorious throne in the skies, where blessed spirits without number adore -Him. But He has not forgotten poor sinners on earth. He is engaged in -praying to God for them; and whatever He asks on their behalf, His -Father is ready to give; for Him He ‘heareth always.’” - -[Sidenote: Of the Second Coming of Christ.] “And is there not a day of -awful glory drawing near,” said Emma, “when Jesus shall appear in the -clouds of the sky, seated on a ‘great white throne’? How dreadful to be -found, on that great day, on the left hand of the Judge! Will there be -no chance of His being merciful to these miserable wicked, and of making -another ‘_covenant of grace_’ with them?” - -“No, no; impossible, my child!” replied her grandmother. “God’s -holiness, and righteousness, and justice, and truth, could not admit of -mercy _then_. Jesus is now seated on a throne of _Grace_, and entreats -sinners to come to Him and be saved. But when once seated on His throne -of _Judgment_, the time of grace is at an end. Those who there seek Him -for the first time will never find Him. God has said, ‘Then shall they -call on me, but I will not answer.’” - -“I should like you,” said Emma, “to tell me what you mean by ‘seeking -Jesus.’ I fear I may never yet have sought Him in earnest.” - -“I shall be happy, my dear child, to explain this and many other things -to you; but as it would take me too long to‐night, I shall wait till -next Sabbath, when, if God spare me, I will speak to you about some more -of these solemn truths. I am old, and must soon stand before that great -throne; but I have long sought and found Jesus the _Saviour_, and I am -not afraid to meet Jesus the _Judge_!” - -The little child knelt down on her grandmother’s lap, to offer up her -evening prayer. The aged Christian entreated earnestly that Jesus would -early give her an interest in His “covenant of grace,” that she might be -found at last on His right hand, at the great day, an heir of glory! - - - SECOND NIGHT. - -Sabbath evening again returned; and when the shutters were closed, and -fresh wood had been piled on the fire, little Emma climbed on her -grandmamma’s knee, and asked her to explain some more “Scripture -doctrines.” - -“I shall do so with pleasure, my child,” said Mrs Allan; “and I must ask -you to give me to‐night your close attention, as I am going to speak to -you about some very important and precious truths.” - -Emma thanked her for her great kindness, in being at so much pains to -instruct her; and her grandmamma thus began:— - -[Sidenote: Of Justification.] “You will remember, my dear, that the -Bible tells us we are all condemned by nature—in a lost and ruined -state. In order to make us understand what this state is, it -represents,— - -[Sidenote: The Judge.] “God as a great Judge, ‘of purer eyes than to -behold iniquity,’ and who cannot look upon sin. - -[Sidenote: The Prisoner.] “It represents the sinner as standing at His -bar, called to answer for his many thousand transgressions. - -[Sidenote: The Witnesses.] “And, as in a court of earthly justice -witnesses are brought in to condemn the prisoner, so Satan accuses the -sinner—his own heart accuses him—God’s Law, which he has broken, accuses -him.” - -“And what more?” said Emma. - -[Sidenote: The Sentence.] “These all,” said her grandmother, “pronounce -the sinner ‘_guilty_’—the Holy Judge passes upon him a sentence of -_condemnation_. Oh! how dreadful to think, that, if ‘out of Christ,’ we -are _at this moment_ in a _condemned state_! We have not to wait till a -day of judgment to have the sentence pronounced upon us. The Bible tells -us we are ‘condemned _already_,’ and that ‘the wrath of God _abideth_ -upon us.’ We are, as it were, shut up in a condemned cell; the kindness -and clemency of our Judge alone delaying the execution of the awful -sentence!” - -“But is there no hope,” said little Emma, “for the poor sinner? Must he -die in that state of condemnation and misery?” - -[Sidenote: God’s Method of Mercy.] “No, dear child,” replied her -grandmamma. “God is willing, for Christ’s sake, to ‘_justify_’ us.” - -“But what do you mean by that word?” said Emma. - -“Listen to me,” said the other, “and I will endeavour to explain. I have -already told you that the sinner, standing in the court‐room of justice, -with the chains of condemnation fastened round him, cannot answer a word -for himself; his ‘mouth is stopped,’ and he has become ‘guilty before -God.’ - -[Sidenote: The Advocate.] “But, in the midst of that court‐room, there -is one who stands up to ‘answer’ _for_ him!—it is the ‘Advocate with the -Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ - -“God the Judge asks, ‘Sinner! can you say anything to justify yourself?’ -The sinner says, ‘Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O God! for -in Thy sight no flesh living can be justified.’ - -[Sidenote: The Grounds of Pardon.] “God is about to execute the awful -sentence; but Jesus, his advocate, stands up, and says, ‘_I_ have -suffered, “the Just for the unjust;” I have obeyed the law the sinner -should have obeyed; I have been “made sin for him;” I have paid with my -own blood the price of his redemption!’ - -[Sidenote: The Acquittal.] “The Great Judge says, ‘It is enough! Take -the chains of condemnation off him. I pronounce him, for the sake of -what Jesus has done and suffered, “_not guilty_!” Let him go out of the -court‐room a “justified man;” for “there is no condemnation to them that -are in Christ Jesus.”’” - -“Do you mean to say, grandmamma,” said Emma, “that God thus graciously -pardons _all_ the iniquities of the sinner for the sake of Jesus?” - -[Sidenote: Two parts of Justification.] [Sidenote: 1. Forgiveness of -Sin.] “Yes, my child; it is an amazing thought. But, on account of what -the Lord Jesus Christ has done, in pouring out His precious blood, this -great and holy Judge looks upon the sinner _as if he had never sinned at -all_! He is, in the eye of law, ‘_justified_’—considered ‘_just_.’ Jesus -is said to be ‘wounded for his transgressions, and bruised for his -iniquities.’ Like the scape‐goat under the Jewish law, God ‘has laid -upon Christ the iniquities of us all.’ These He has carried away into a -land of forgetfulness, where they can never more be found!” - -“This is a wonderful doctrine indeed!” said little Emma, “and”―― - -“Stay, my child,” interrupted her grandmamma, “I have not yet told you -the most wondrous part of it:— - -[Sidenote: 2. Acceptance as Righteous in God’s sight.] “In justifying -sinners, God does more than merely _pardon_ them. He not only reckons -the sinner as ‘_not guilty_,’ but, for Jesus’ sake, He counts him as -positively _righteous_. All the righteousness of Christ—His obedience, -and patience, and love, and resignation, and forgiveness of injuries, -and all the holy things of His holy life,—are put down to the sinner’s -account; and a holy God actually counts as if they had all been done by -the sinner himself. This is what is called _Christ’s imputed -righteousness_.” - -“Surely,” said Emma, “this explains the meaning of that verse I was -reading to you this morning in Isaiah—‘He hath clothed me with the -garments of salvation; He hath covered me with a robe of -righteousness’?” - -“Yes; you are right, my dear. The holy life, and virtues, and obedience -of Jesus, are spoken of as a bright shining robe or garment, in which -the poor sinner clothes himself. By nature, in his condemned state, he -is black with sin; and his language is, ‘O Lord, look not on me, because -I am black;’ but when he puts this imputed garment on, he can say, ‘O -Lord, look upon me, for I am all bright and shining with a Saviour’s -righteousness!’” - -“How kind is God,” exclaimed Emma, “to do all this for vile sinners!” - -[Sidenote: Justification all of Grace.] “Yes, my child; well may -justification be called ‘an act of God’s _free grace_;’ for man has no -part in it. He deserves nothing at God’s hand but wrath, and vengeance, -and condemnation. He might have been sent away trembling from His bar, -crying out, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living -God!’ His justification proceeds from free sovereign mercy; and through -all eternity his confession will be, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I -am.’” - -“I fear I may be wearying you,” said Emma; “but I have just one other -question to ask you about this glorious doctrine—how can _I_ be -justified, and get the great God thus to pardon and accept ME?” - -[Sidenote: Received by Faith.] “That is a very proper question,” replied -her grandmamma, “and I am happy to think I can give you a simple and -easy answer. You are justified ‘_by faith_;’ by _believing_ that God is -able and willing to receive you—that Jesus has shed His precious blood -for you—that He died for you on earth, and now lives and pleads for you -in heaven. ‘He that _believeth_ on the Son of God hath life.’ ‘_Believe_ -in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ ‘Therefore being -justified _by faith_, we have peace with God.’ - -“This glorious subject of Justification,” continued she, “has occupied -us so long, that it will be better not to speak of any other doctrine -to‐night. If spared till another Sabbath evening, I shall do so. I would -have you, my child, think very much about this most precious Bible -truth—_How a sinner is justified before God_. - -[Sidenote: The Article of a Standing and Falling Church.] “Luther, the -great father of the Reformation, said, that a church could not stand for -a moment without this doctrine. Like a house without a foundation, it -would fall to pieces. And an older saint than Luther—the apostle -Paul—had his mind so full of it, that you cannot read his writings, and -understand them, without keeping this blessed doctrine constantly in -view.” - -“Oh how peaceful, and safe, and joyous,” exclaimed Emma, “must the -justified sinner be!” - -“Yes, truly,” replied her grandmother. “He has nothing to fear. On the -great day of judgment, however many his enemies and accusers may be, he -can look around him on all of them, and exclaim, with the great apostle, -‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is GOD THAT -JUSTIFIETH; who is he that condemneth?’ Here is a beautiful verse of a -hymn I should like you to learn by heart,” she added, repeating twice -over to little Emma the following lines:— - - “‘Jesus! Thy blood and righteousness - My beauty are, my glorious dress, - ’Mid flaming worlds, in these array’d, - With joy I shall lift up my head!’” - - - THIRD NIGHT. - -“Are you ready now?” said little Emma, coming skipping into her -grandmother’s room. “I have just finished learning my verses in Romans, -and I so weary to hear about some more Scripture doctrines.” - -“I am quite ready,” said her grandmamma; “but it would make me happy, -before I begin, to hear you repeat whatever verses you have been -committing to memory to‐night.” - -So saying, Emma stood by her grandmother’s chair, and, without a -mistake, repeated from the 10th to the 15th verse of the eighth chapter -of Romans. The last one was this, “Ye have not received the spirit of -bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, -whereby we cry, Abba, Father!” - -“I am happy, my dear child,” said old Mrs Allan, “that these have been -your verses to‐night, as they refer to the very subject I should like -now to speak to you about. - -“You remember what I explained to you last Sabbath?” - -“Yes, grandmamma,” said Emma. “It was about _Justification_. God the -Great Judge trying the sinner at His bar, and sending him away freely -forgiven for the sake of Christ.” - -[Sidenote: Of Adoption.] “You are right, my dear; and we are now going -to speak about _Adoption_. I wonder if you know what that is.” - -“Oh, no. I have often wondered what that word can mean, and I long to -hear from you.” - -[Sidenote: Difference between Justification and Adoption.] “Well, then, -my child, as in Justification God acts as a _Judge_, so in Adoption God -acts as a _Father_.” - -“How I should like to hear about this, grandmamma! There is something -terrible about the thought of a _Judge_; but there is nothing but love -and joy in the thought of a _Father_!” - -[Sidenote: Of our State by Nature.] “It is true, my dear,” said her -grandmother; “but by nature none of us are in the family of God; we are -called ‘children of wrath;’ ‘children of the devil;’ ‘enemies!’ God puts -a very solemn and striking question about us—‘How shall I set thee among -the children?’ He sees that we are such poor miserable sinners, that if -He had dealt with us as we have deserved for our sins, we should have -been for ever ‘children of wrath!’” - -“What, then, could have made God adopt us into His family?” said little -Emma. - -[Sidenote: Difference between Man’s Adoption and God’s.] “This, my -child,” replied the other, “is the thing in which _God’s_ Adoption -differs from _man’s_. When a man takes a little orphan child into his -house, and is kind to it, and brings it up as his own, it is because of -something attractive, and lovely, and engaging in the child. I knew an -old gentleman who saw a lovely little boy with golden locks, and he was -so struck with his beauty, he would never part with him, but brought him -up as his own son. But how different is it with us and God! The Bible -represents sinners as lying all filthy and vile in the open field; so -vile, that none would look at them, ‘all passed them by!’ But God came, -lifted them up, and said unto them, ‘Live!’ ‘_I_ will be a Father unto -you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.’ What, my dear Emma, would -you call this act of God in Adoption?” - -[Sidenote: Adoption all of Grace.] “Oh, I would say,” said her little -hearer, “that it is the same as with Justification. It is an ‘_act of -God’s free grace_’—that is to say, that there was nothing about us to -make God love us, or be kind to us, and that it was all of His own great -and wonderful kindness and mercy in Christ Jesus!” - -“You are right, my darling; and do you remember the name of an aged -disciple of Jesus who delighted more than all the rest to speak of God’s -love? And perhaps you remember, too, what he says about this adopting -love of God?” - -“Oh, yes,” said Emma; “I think that will be the text Mr R. was preaching -from last month:—‘Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed -upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!’ But, dear [Sidenote: -When Adoption takes place.] grandmamma,” continued she, “you told me -last Sabbath that Justification takes place _in this world_, whenever -the sinner believes in Jesus. It cannot surely be that this great honour -of being children of God, and adopted into His family, can begin on -earth?” - -“Yes, dear child, it does,” said her grandmother. “Justification and -Adoption are just different names for one great act. God, as I said, is -represented in the one as a _Judge_, in the other as a _Father_. I don’t -know if Mr R. [Sidenote: The Apostle John’s Testimony.] took the next -verse in that beautiful chapter along with his text. If he did so, it -will tell you _when_ the believer is adopted, and can call God his -Father.” - -Little Emma quickly turned up her Bible, and read as follows:—“Beloved, -now are we the sons of God!” - -“You see, my child,” continued the old lady, “_when_ this act of -fatherly love takes place; it is ‘_now_;’ and if my dear little Emma -loves the Lord Jesus, she can _now_ look up to the Great God, and say, -‘He is my _Father_;’ and to Jesus, and say, ‘He is my _Elder Brother_!’” - -“How kind in God,” said Emma, with the tear in her eye, “to love sinners -so much, and deal with them so tenderly! I think this, too, explains my -favourite story in the gospel—does it not, grandmamma?” - -[Sidenote: Our Lord’s Parable about Adoption.] “I remember now what your -favourite is,” said the other, after thinking a moment; “it is the -_Prodigal Son_; and you are very right; there is no portion of the Bible -which speaks more beautifully of God’s adopting love. You remember, at -the very same moment that God forgave the Prodigal, He ordered ‘the ring -to be put on his finger’ (the ring of _adoption_); and He calls him, -‘_This, my son!_’” - -“Oh! I shall love to read that parable more than ever,” said Emma. “I -don’t think any earthly father would have been so kind to an ungrateful -son. But you often tell me that ‘God’s ways are not as man’s ways;’ and -it is surely so in this. - -[Sidenote: Evidences of Adoption.] “But how can I know, dear grandmamma, -whether _I_ am a child of God? I would feel as if I was richer and -happier than the richest in the world, and greater than earthly kings or -queens, if I could be sure that the Great God was my Father, and that I -was His child.” - -“That is a very natural question, my dear, and I shall do what I can to -answer you. Let me ask you another question. What are your feelings -towards your earthly parents?” - -[Sidenote: Love of God.] “I love them,” said Emma, “very much; I try to -do what they bid me, and I am always unhappy when I do anything that -vexes or hurts them.” - -[Sidenote: Hatred of Sin.] “It is the very same, my dear,” said her -grandmother, “with the children of God. If you are really a child of -God, you will love Him, and try to do all His will, and be unhappy -whenever you sin against Him or displease Him.” - -“I will tell you another thing, grandmamma,” interrupted the little -girl; “I am never happy when I am far away from my father, or when my -father is far away from me. Sometimes he has to go away for many days to -a distance, and I so weary for his coming back. I think and speak of him -all the day long; and once I remember, when I was a week away at aunt -Fanny’s, I so longed to get back again to be with him.” - -[Sidenote: Filial Nearness.] “Well, dear child, you have just given -another mark by which you may know if you are a child of God. Do you -love your Heavenly Father’s presence? Do you love prayer, [Sidenote: -Prayer.] which brings you always near Him? and are you always unhappy -when you forget prayer, which drives you away from God; or commit sin, -which drives God away from you?” - -“Oh, yes, dear grandmamma, I think I can say I am; but then, I often -sin, and I fear”―― - -“Stop, my dear child,” said the old lady. “Remember, it is a great cause -of grief to the true child of God, that the power of sin is so strong in -his heart, and that the devil is so often tempting him.” - -“But,” exclaimed Emma, “does not the Bible say, ‘We _cannot_ sin, -because we are born of God’?” - -[Sidenote: How the Child of God “cannot sin.”] “Yes, my child, you are -correct; but I must tell you the real meaning of that verse, so that you -may not be cast down by supposing it asks what you cannot give. That -verse means, that God’s children cannot go on in a _course_ of sin. They -cannot love sin, and continue _in_ sin; but it does not mean that their -lives are so perfectly holy that they never can know what it is to have -a bad heart and wicked thought. Alas! this never can be, till the -adopted children of God get safe into their Father’s house in heaven!” - -“Oh! how I wish,” said Emma, “I could love this kind Heavenly Father -more than I have ever yet done; and hate sin more and more every day!――I -am afraid, dear grandmamma, I tire you with my questions; but I have -just one more to ask to‐night, and then I shall go to bed. You often -speak of it being our duty to ‘_fear_ God.’ Now, how should we _fear_ a -God that you have just been telling me to _love_?” - -[Sidenote: What it is to “fear” God in Adoption.] “I do not wonder, my -child, at your question. But there are two kinds of fear; the wicked -‘_fear_’ God as an awful Judge; they fear Him—that is, they are _afraid_ -of Him, and tremble to think of His hatred of sin, and His judgment day. -But the children of God ‘_fear_’ their Heavenly Father in another sense; -they ‘_fear_’ to _offend_ Him. It is because they _love_ Him so very -much, that they are _afraid_ of doing anything that would displease Him. -The wicked man’s fear is what the Bible calls ‘the fear that hath -torment.’ The other is the fear, and reverence, and godly awe of -‘perfect love.’ - -“Good‐night, then, my dear,” said the kind old lady, kissing her little -scholar. “I love you much as an earthly parent; but your Heavenly Father -loves you more. When you go down on your knees to pray to Him to‐night, -think of that sweet verse in Jer. iii. 4, ‘_My Father!_ thou art the -guide of my youth!’ - -“You will not know all the wonders of the subject I have been speaking -about to‐night till the gracious Heavenly Father who adopts you opens to -you the gates of His own palace in glory, and when, taking you by the -hand, and shewing you all the unsearchable riches which Jesus has -purchased for you, He will say, ‘My child! _thou art ever with me; and -all that I have_ IS THINE!’” - - - FOURTH NIGHT. - -“I fear I weary you, grandmamma,” said little Emma, as she opened the -room‐door on the following Sabbath, and resumed her accustomed seat by -the good old lady’s side—“I fear I weary you, coming so often to hear -your nice explanations of Bible doctrines; but you have already enabled -me to understand a great deal I never knew before, and have made my -Sabbath evenings so happy!” - -“I assure you, you have made me happy too, my dear child,” said Mrs -Allan, wiping the tear that was rolling down her withered cheek. “I can -truly say, I have no greater joy than to talk to you about these -glorious truths. I will soon be in that silent place,” continued she, -pointing, as she was closing her shutters for the night, to the -churchyard, on which the moon was then shining; “but it makes me happy -to think, that when you can hear my voice no more, you will remember, -with joy, the Sabbath evenings we have spent together. Happy, dear Emma, -will it be,” her face brightening as she spoke, “if we meet to speak of -these blessed truths in the better Sabbath in heaven!” - -Emma was about to reply, when her grandmother took her by the hand, and -said, with a kindly smile, “Well, dearest, and what would you have me -talk to you about to‐night?” - -“You are the proper judge,” replied her little scholar, “as to what will -best follow after the two beautiful doctrines you have last explained to -me, of _Justification_ and _Adoption_. The other day I came to a -difficult word in a book, which, [Sidenote: Of Regeneration.] if it -would not be out of place, I should like to know something about. The -word was _Regeneration_, and”―― - -“Stay, my dear,” interrupted her grandmother; “that is the very subject -I was thinking of. You could not have named a better; and if you will -give me all your attention, I shall try to open up this great doctrine -to you as simply as I can. - -“Do you remember what I told you about _Justification_?—What God does to -the sinner when He justifies and adopts him?” - -[Sidenote: Difference between Justification,] “He changes his _state_,” -replied Emma. “He brings him from a _state_ of _wrath_ to a _state_ of -_grace_,—from a _state_ of _condemnation_ to a _state_ of _pardon_.” - -“You have given me just the answer I wanted,” said her grandmother—“that -it is a change of _state_ or _condition_. In Justification, from being a -_rebel_, the sinner is pardoned by [Sidenote: Adoption,] his Sovereign. -In Adoption, from being a _prodigal_, he is received back into his -Father’s lost home. Now, dear,” continued she, “did I say that in these -there is produced also any change in _character_?” - -“I don’t think so,” replied Emma. - -“You are right; and you will instantly see how well it is that I should -speak to [Sidenote: And Regeneration.] you about Regeneration to‐night, -which is the very word which tells about this great change of -_character_ or _mind_, which is as necessary to salvation, as the great -change of _state_ and _condition_ of which I have already spoken. What -is your own idea, my dear child, as to the meaning of Regeneration?” - -“Indeed, grandmamma,” replied Emma, “it is such a long and difficult -word, that I am ashamed to tell, though I have often heard it mentioned -in Mr R――’s sermon, I never understood it aright.” - -“You should never be ashamed, my dear, to ask those older than yourself -to explain Bible difficulties to you. Many grow up to be big people, in -great ignorance, owing to this false shame.” - -“Is it the same, grandmamma,” said Emma, “as _Repentance_? I think I -understand _that_ word better.” - -[Sidenote: Bible Terms about Regeneration.] “Yes, my child, there are -many words in the Bible used to denote this same great change, and which -you must often hear ministers speaking about. ‘The _new birth_’—being -‘_born again_’—‘_Conversion_’—‘_Repentance_’—‘_Regeneration_;’ but the -meaning of them all may be summed up in this,—the necessity of a new -heart, produced by the Holy Spirit, who turns the old heart from the -service of sin to the service of God.” - -[Sidenote: Necessity of Regeneration.] “But must every one have this -entire change of heart before he can be saved?” - -“Yes, dearest, it is a doctrine many don’t like to believe, or to hear -about, because they think it makes the way to heaven too strait and -narrow; but do you remember anything Jesus said about it, when He was -speaking to inquiring Nicodemus?” - -[Sidenote: What Jesus says of it.] “Oh, yes,” said Emma, “you have put -me in mind of the verse now—‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see -the kingdom of God.’” - -“You are quite correct,” replied the old lady. “That same blessed -Saviour never spoke an unkind word, and He would never have uttered -this, unless it was a solemn truth, ‘Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye -_must_ be _born again_.’” - -“But if the sinner,” asked Emma, “is justified in the sight of God, and -God calls him ‘_not guilty_,’ and _pardons_ him, and says of him there -is _no condemnation_, what more does he require, in order to be saved?” - -[Sidenote: A Change of State and a Change of Heart must go together.] “A -great deal more,” replied her grandmother. “Let me ask you,” said she to -Emma, “two questions, which may help to explain the matter to you. If a -king pardoned a rebel, and if that rebel still hated his sovereign, and -sought to kill him, would it be safe for the king to receive the -ungrateful rebel into his palace?” - -“No!” replied Emma. - -“Or, if a father received back a prodigal son; but if that son -_continued_ prodigal as ever, breaking, with fresh sin, his poor old -father’s heart, and corrupting his other brothers, could that father -permit him to live in his house?” - -“No, _surely_,” still replied Emma. - -“Well, dearest, what would require to be done to make it safe for the -king to keep company with the rebel he had pardoned; and the father to -take the son to live with him in his own household?” - -“If they had changed and better hearts,” said Emma. - -“You have just given again the answer I wanted,” said her grandmother. -“I want you to see it is the same with the sinner. God the _King_ has -pardoned the _sinner‐rebel_. God the _Father_ has adopted the -_sinner‐prodigal_; but He never could receive him into His glorious -palace of heaven, unless what?” - -[Sidenote: Change of Heart in Regeneration needed for Heaven.] “Oh, -unless his heart is _changed_,” exclaimed Emma. “I understand it now. He -must have a _holy_ heart,—a heart to love God and hate sin. I see quite -well he could not get into heaven with an unchanged heart!” - -“Yes, my dear child,” said the other (happy that her little -grand‐daughter was now able to see the meaning of Regeneration); “and -even if the sinner could get into heaven with his sinful, unchanged, -unconverted heart, could he be happy?” - -[Sidenote: Heaven a place for holy Hearts.] “I don’t think,” said Emma, -“he could; he would be miserable in that holy place, amid holy angels -and a holy God. I see quite well now the truth of what Jesus says, -‘Except ye be converted, ye cannot enter in the kingdom of heaven.’ - -“But,” continued little Emma, getting more interested in the subject, “I -should like much to know _how_, and _when_, and _where_ we are -regenerated, and get this new mind.” - -[Sidenote: The Agent in Regeneration.] “Like every other thing in -salvation,” replied the old lady, “this great change of heart and life -is the work of God; and though all the glorious Trinity are engaged in -producing it, it is more especially brought about by the agency of the -third person in the blessed Godhead—the Holy Ghost.” - -“But how do you know when it takes place?” continued Emma. “Are we aware -of the time when the Holy Spirit works this great change?” - -[Sidenote: The Method of Regeneration.] “No,” replied her grandmother. -“You remember how simply and beautifully Jesus speaks of this to one who -was asking about it, and wondering about it, like _you_. That, just as -you cannot tell where the wind comes from—you hear it blowing, but -cannot tell _from where_—‘so is every one that is born of the Spirit.’ -That new birth, or change, is wrought silently in the soul. It is like -the little dew‐drops that sparkle in the morning sun, which gather -unseen and unnoticed during the night; or like the Temple of Jerusalem -of old, which was built without any noise of ‘hammer, or axe, or any -tool of iron;’—it rose without din or observation; and this is the case -with every renewed heart when it becomes a ‘temple of the Holy Ghost.’” - -“Then it takes a long time, grandmamma, before a sinner’s heart can be -changed?” - -[Sidenote: Various Modes of Operation.] “The Spirit of God, my child, -acts _how_, and _where_, and _when_ He pleases. He sometimes converts -and renews, _in a moment_, as He did the thief on the cross and the -jailer of Philippi, or the thousands at Pentecost. Sometimes He does it -_gradually_ (or by _degrees_), as in the case of Nicodemus; and -sometimes, as I trust, my dear Emma, is the case with you, He sanctifies -from infancy, changes the young heart, as He did in the case of Timothy, -and Samuel, and Jeremiah.” - -[Sidenote: Am I Regenerated?] “Oh! I am happy to hear you say so,” -replied Emma, “for I was beginning to fear that I had never felt the -Holy Spirit _changing my heart_, and that I must surely be yet -unregenerated and unsaved. Such a thought would be very awful to me.” - -“I trust, my dear child,” said her grandmother, “I have good reason to -believe that God, by His grace and Spirit, has ‘turned you from darkness -to light,’ and given you a heart to love Him and serve Him. I wish that -many little children would have such a [Sidenote: Awful Importance of -Regeneration.] _fear_ as you speak of. I wish many, too, would remember -that one little word MUST, and _who_ says it, ‘Ye _MUST_ be born -again!’” - -“Dear grandmamma,” said Emma, “I must pray more than I ever have done -for a _clean heart_. I fear, till you have been explaining this to me, I -have thought too much about my sins being washed in Jesus’ blood, and -too little about my heart being changed and made holy by Jesus’ Spirit. -I see that I need both, and will try and pray for both.” - -“It is a good resolution, my dearest,” said the other; “and the Great -God, for your encouragement in asking for a change of heart, gives you -in His own blessed Bible both a _prayer_ [Sidenote: A Prayer for it, and -its Answer.] and an _answer_. Give me your Bible,” continued she, “and, -as I feel unable to speak more to‐night, I will mark the two places to -which I refer, and you can take them with you to your own room, and read -them to yourself.” - -The good old lady kissed her little grandchild, putting two pieces of -paper at what she had so marked. Emma, saying “Good‐night,” ran -up‐stairs with her Bible in her hand, and, having shut her door, read to -herself, before she knelt down to her evening prayer, these two verses:— - -_The Prayer._—“Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit -within me” (Ps. li. 10). - -_The Answer._—“A new heart also will I give you, and a right spirit will -I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your -flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezek. xxxvi. 26). - - - FIFTH NIGHT. - -“I am now ready for you,” said old Mrs Allan, as little Emma was waiting -anxiously for the time when she might again seat herself by her -grandmother’s chair. “What am I to tell you about to‐night?” - -“I have been thinking,” replied Emma, “if you have no more to explain -about the great work in the soul of the believer, that I should like to -hear more of that glorious Being to whom the sinner owes all the -precious blessings you have been telling me of.” - -[Sidenote: Of the Person, Offices, and Work of Christ.] “I shall gladly -do so, my dear child. It is a delightful subject to converse upon the -Person, Offices, and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was -rich, yet for our sakes He became poor.” - -“I shall hear attentively,” said Emma, “what you have to say, as there -is much about the _Person_ of Jesus I do not rightly understand. He is -called [Sidenote: Christ the Son of God and Son of Man.] both ‘Son of -God’ and ‘Son of Man.’ I often wonder how this can be.” - -“This, my child,” replied her grandmother, “is the great mystery of -godliness, ‘God manifest in the flesh,’—but it is a glorious mystery; -and happy shall I be to speak to you upon it. - -[Sidenote: Son of God.] “The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of -God. He was ‘with God, and was God.’ Before this world, or any worlds -were made, He dwelt from everlasting with the Father. He is equal with -Him in power and in glory. If He had been an angel, or an archangel, He -could not have saved us, for the highest archangel is only a -_creature_—and one created being cannot atone for the sin of another. In -one word, if Jesus had not been _God_, He could not have been the -Saviour of man.” - -[Sidenote: Son of Man.] “But is he not spoken of,” said Emma, “also as -the Son of Man?” - -“Yes, my dear; and I must add, if He had not been man, He could not have -saved us. As our surety, it was necessary for Him to suffer and die in -the nature which had sinned—and besides, you know, that _as God_, He -could not have suffered, because the Divine nature is a spiritual one. -Therefore it is that He says, ‘A _body_ hast thou prepared Me.’” - -“I think, too,” said Emma, “it is a blessed thought that our great -Redeemer was a man. If He had been God only, He could not have felt for -us in the way He can do as the ‘Son of Man.’” - -“You are right, my dear child. This is one of the most delightful -thoughts about the person of Jesus, that He is our ‘elder brother,’ and -not ashamed to call us ‘brethren.’ He can say to all of us, ‘I know your -sorrows,’ for He was Himself ‘the Man of Sorrows,’ and felt them all.” - -[Sidenote: Titles of Jesus.] “Would you explain to me,” said the young -inquirer, “the meaning of some more of the names of the Lord Jesus -Christ?” - -[Sidenote: Immanuel.] “He is called,” said her grandmamma, “by that -beautiful word, which tells that He is both God and man, ‘_Immanuel_,’ -which means, ‘God with us.’ - -[Sidenote: Jesus.] “Then He is called ‘_Jesus_,’ because He ‘saves’ His -people—the word Jesus meaning ‘Saviour.’ - -[Sidenote: Messiah, Christ.] “Then He is called ‘_Messiah_,’ and -‘_Christ_,’ because He is the anointed of God—both words meaning -‘anointed.’ As kings, in ancient times, had anointing oil poured upon -their heads when they were set apart to their royal office, so our -blessed Saviour had the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit poured upon -Him, to qualify Him for His offices as mediator.” - -“The _Offices_ of Jesus; dear grandmamma, I have often heard these -spoken of. Will you kindly explain to me what they mean?” - -[Sidenote: The Offices of Christ.] “The Lord Jesus Christ, my dear -child, stands in different relations, and performs different acts with -regard to the Church He has redeemed with His precious blood. I shall -mention to you the three under which He is most frequently referred to. - -[Sidenote: Prophet.] “Jesus is the _Prophet_ of His Church. He is her -great Teacher. By means of His precious Word, and the influences of His -Spirit, He makes known to us His own will, and the will of God for our -salvation. - -[Sidenote: Priest.] “Jesus is the _Priest_ of His Church. A priest, you -know, in former times, offered sacrifices on the altar. Jesus is called -the ‘Great High Priest of our profession.’ He was Himself both the -Priest and the Victim, for ‘He gave Himself for us;’ and just as the -Jewish high priest of old went into the holy of holies and sprinkled on -the mercy‐seat the blood of the slain sacrifice, and prayed to God for -the people, so Jesus has carried the merits of His own blood into -heaven, and, as _our_ High Priest, is there pleading our cause at God’s -right hand. You remember, too, the high priest of old, after being -within the vail, came out to bless the waiting people. So Jesus, our -Great High Priest, will, at His second coming in glory, bless His -assembled Church, saying, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the -kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ - -[Sidenote: King.] “Jesus also is _King_ of His Church, the ruler _in_ -it, and ruler _over_ it. He protects it from its enemies; and though -often, like the bush which Moses saw in the wilderness, it burns with -fire, He will prevent it from ever being consumed. He will continue to -reign over it as King, until all enemies be put under His feet.” - -“What a wonderful and complete Saviour, grandmamma!” exclaimed Emma. -“Jesus is so great, and yet so compassionate! I feel as if I can adore -Him as God, and yet love Him as a brother.” - -“True, most true, my dear child; He is all you need—the very Saviour you -_do_ need. It is a wonderful thought, His Godhead and His Manhood! As -God, angels and seraphs worshipped Him. As Man, little children smiled -in His arms!” - -“I love to think of Him, too,” said Emma, “as my High Priest in heaven. -It does [Sidenote: Christ’s Intercessory Work.] not make me afraid to -approach the Great God, when I have so kind a Saviour to intercede for -me.” - -“You are right, my dear,” said the other; “there is no thought more -pleasing and delightful, than that we have in glory ‘a Prince’ that has -‘power with God,’ and must ‘prevail.’ The Apostle Paul rejoiced much in -this truth. It gave him ‘boldness,’ as he calls it, to approach the -throne of grace. And the Apostle John, in his vision on the Isle of -Patmos, beheld Jesus as the Angel of the Covenant, with a ‘censer’ in -His hand. His people on earth put all their prayers into this censer, -and a fragrant cloud ascends from it before the throne.” - -“What is the meaning of that?” asked Emma. - -“It tells us, my child,” said her grandmother, “that the believer’s -poor, imperfect prayers, when sprinkled and made fragrant with the -incense of Christ’s adorable merits, ascend with acceptance into the ear -of God Himself. God hears the poorest and unworthiest of His saints, for -the sake of the work and merits of Jesus.” - -“I can now well understand,” said Emma, “how the Apostle Paul could say -with such a grateful heart, ‘Thanks be to God for His unspeakable -gift!’” - -“Yes,” replied the other, “it _is_ unspeakable—and the more you know of -Jesus, the more wonders will you discover in His person, and the more -glories in His work. Oh! seek to love him more and more every day. Let -it be your constant wish, and desire, and prayer—how can I do enough for -this Saviour who has done so much, so very much for me? - -“But I can say no more to‐night. May this blessed Saviour, my dear -child, be yours—yours now, and yours for ever!” - - - SIXTH NIGHT. - -“It is a long time,” said Emma, running to her grandmother’s side, -“since you were last able to tell me those nice things about Bible -doctrines. I have been longing much for you to be able to speak to me -again about them.” - -“I feel better and stronger now,” said old Mrs Allan, who had been for -many weeks laid aside, “and I am as happy as my little Emma can be, to -find myself once more in my old oaken chair, with her at my knee.” - -“Thank you, grandmamma,” said she, clinging affectionately to her -withered hand; “and what are you going to speak to me about to‐night?” - -“Our last conversation, my child, if I remember well, was on the -intercessory work of the Lord Jesus. I think you would like to hear me -speak of the final great act of His mediatorial reign, when He will come -at the [Sidenote: The Resurrection and Judgment.] resurrection to judge -the world.” - -“Oh, yes!” said Emma; “I should like much to hear of that awfully -glorious day. I often tremble when I think about it.” - -“It has no terrors, my child, to God’s own people. It is to them a very -joyful day—the happiest of all their lives; for then they shall be -brought to the full enjoyment of God for ever.” - -[Sidenote: Souls of Believers at Death.] “But, dear grandmamma, I -thought, when believers die, they go to heaven at the very moment of -death; that the angels of God are waiting by their pillows to carry them -into Jesus’ bosom.” - -“True—most true, my child,” replied the aged lady; “the moment the saint -closes his eyes on this world, he opens them in heaven. The souls of -believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do -immediately pass into glory. You perhaps remember some of the things the -Apostle Paul said in the prospect of death?” - -“Yes,” said Emma; “‘Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, -which is far better;’ ‘Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to -be present with the Lord.’ I remember, too, of Stephen, when his wicked -murderers were stoning him, how he cried out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my -spirit.’” - -“Quite right, my dear; and that other saying of the Saviour to the poor -thief on the cross is more to the point still, when He said to him, -‘Verily I say unto thee, _To‐day_ shalt thou be with me in paradise.’” - -“But then, from all these verses,” said Emma, “is not heaven begun at -the hour of death?” - -“It is, my child,” replied her grandmother. “I have already told you -that, at the moment of death, the soul of the saint is made perfectly -holy, and happy too, beyond what we can now conceive; but its state of -final and complete glorification will not take place until the day of -judgment.” - -“What is it,” said the little inquirer, “which will then add to its -state of glory and blessedness?” - -[Sidenote: The Bodies of Believers.] “You know, my dear,” was the reply, -“that the _body_ of the believer is not taken to heaven at the hour of -death. It is laid in the tomb. You remember too well that sad day when -your little brother was laid in his grave in the churchyard. His happy -spirit, I believe, is now in heaven, joyful in the presence and love of -God; but his full state of glory and blessedness will not be complete -until his body is raised again on the resurrection morning. Perhaps I -should tell [Sidenote: Purchased by Christ.] you that the body, as well -as the soul, is part of the purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every -particle of the saints’ dust is redeemed by His blood. The Apostle -speaks of ‘our _bodies_ and our spirits’ as ‘not our own,’ but ‘bought -with a price.’” - -“But how can this be?” inquired Emma; “do you mean that the bodies of -those who have been buried for ages will come all to life again, and the -soul be once more united to these?” - -[Sidenote: Raised from the Grave.] “Yes, my dear, it is indeed a -wonderful thought. But what cannot the power of God do? He has _said_ -that He will raise us up at the last day. Do you remember any of the -words of Jesus about this?” - -Emma thought a little, and at last turned up her Bible to the verses, -and read them: “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which -all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; -they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that -have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” “But how,” -continued she, when she had finished, and once more repeating her -question of surprise—“how, grandmamma, can this be?—does not the dead -body crumble into dust? How can the particles that have for hundreds and -thousands of years been mixed with the earth come together again?” - -“God can do anything, I answer once more,” was the reply of the other. -“We should always remember that what is impossible with man, is possible -with God. We are not without examples, my child, in the natural world, -of the wondrous changes which the power of God can produce in smaller -[Sidenote: The Doctrine of the Resurrection probable from Analogy.] -things; and this shews us (from what is called _analogy_) that we have -no right to question the doctrine I am now speaking about, however -strange and apparently impossible it may seem to be.” - -“What instances, grandmamma,” said Emma, “may I ask, do you refer to in -the outer world? I should like to understand better what you mean.” - -“I like to hear you asking for more information, dear Emma, and I shall -try to give it to you. Well, then, I know you have often seen the bright -and beautiful butterfly with its golden wings and rings of silver. Can -you believe that that lovely insect was once a little grub or -caterpillar? I see you are astonished, my dear, at what I now say; but -it is the case. During winter, these little worms lie in what is called -a _chrysalis_ state. During this time there is nothing in the least -beautiful about them—I would say rather the reverse; but all at once, -when the summer sun shines out, the little insect bursts its coating, -and is changed into a lovely butterfly or moth, with expanded wings, -flying up into the blue sky, or ranging at large amid the garden -flowers.” - -“Oh how wonderful is this!” exclaimed Emma; “and I see now, grandmamma, -what you mean. This little creature teaches me to understand how the -same mighty power of God, that changes the caterpillar into a butterfly, -can bring about the still more wonderful change in raising our vile -bodies from the grave.” - -“You are right, my child,” said her grandmother. “I am glad you have -understood me; and if I had time, I might give you other instances of a -similar kind. You have seen, for example, the farmer put the little -grains of seed into the ground; could you ever have expected that the -small pickles thrown into the earth would spring up into the rich fields -of yellow corn you have seen waving at harvest time?” - -“Oh no,” replied Emma; “I have often thought how curious this is, and -also that the little annual seed I sow in my own garden‐plot should -spring up such lovely flowers. The seed looks so small and withered -like, and the flowers are so beautiful in colour, and have such a sweet -smell.” - -“Well, my dear, does not God give us proofs in these smaller things of -what He can do in greater things. The body laid in the grave is like the -seed laid in the ground, ‘it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in -glory.’ I should like you,” continued the old lady, “to take your Bible -and read all that striking and beautiful passage of the Apostle Paul on -[Sidenote: Testimony of St Paul.] this subject.” Emma immediately opened -to the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, 42d verse, and read aloud as -follows:—“It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is -sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is -raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual -body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.... Behold, -I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be -changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump (for -the trumpet shall sound); and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, -and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, -and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall -have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, -then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is -swallowed up in victory.” - -“What a wonderful scene that will be!” said Emma, as she closed her -Bible. “Dear grandmamma, can you tell me _when_ it will take place?” - -[Sidenote: When the Resurrection will be.] “No, my child,” replied she; -“the Bible tells us that ‘Of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not -even the angels that are in heaven.’ God seems purposely to keep us in -the dark about the time of the coming of Jesus, that we may be always -ready for it. It matters little how long or how short it may be, -provided we are now living as we would wish we had done when we hear the -trumpet sounding.” - -“And what sort of bodies,” said Emma, “will they be that will then rise -from the graves?” - -“All that I can tell you,” replied her grandmother, “is, that they will -be glorious [Sidenote: Glory of the Resurrection Body.] bodies, -fashioned like unto Christ’s glorified body. They will be no more -subject to decay, and weakness, and disease, and death. It is said of -them, ‘They shall be like Him’ (like Jesus), and also, ‘Neither shall -they die any more.’ And surely no blessedness can be greater than -this—to be _like Jesus_, and _never_ to _die_.” - -“Oh, grandmamma!” exclaimed Emma, “I feel as if I would not be afraid to -go to the grave, after all that you have been now telling me.” - -“True, my child, the lowliest grave in yonder churchyard, if it be the -grave of a true believer, is holy ground. Perhaps angels are watching -over it, and Jesus himself counts its dust _precious_. The grave of the -wicked is a prison house, where they are detained in captivity until the -day of awful vengeance; but the grave of the saint is a casket holding a -precious jewel. It is a bed of rest, where he gently and peacefully -‘sleeps’ till awakened on the happy morning of immortality. - -“But I must here, my dear, pause for to‐night. We have been speaking so -much about this wondrous doctrine of the body’s resurrection as to -render it necessary that I should wait till another Sabbath to speak as -I promised about the day of judgment.” - - - SEVENTH NIGHT. - -“You promised, grandmamma,” said little Emma, as she found herself once -more seated by the old oaken chair, “to tell me to‐night [Sidenote: The -Last Judgment.] about the Day of Judgment. I long to hear you speak -about so solemn a subject. There is much about it I do not understand.” - -“It _is_, my child,” replied the other, “a solemn subject. It will be a -dreadful day to the wicked; but it will be a happy day to all God’s dear -children—the happiest day in their lives.” - -“Tell me, then, dear grandmamma, all that the Bible tells us about it. I -shall promise to listen with great attention.” - -[Sidenote: What it is.] “The Judgment,” answered the other, “is that -great transaction which is to take place at the end of the world, when -every man, and woman, and child, that ever lived, will be brought to -trial before God’s ‘great white throne.’ A trumpet will sound over their -graves. As I told you last Sabbath, the mouldering dust will come to -life again, and the dead, small and great, will stand before God.” - -“What a wonderful and awful thought!” exclaimed Emma; “but do you mean -to say that _all_ will be there, without any exception?” - -“All!—all!” replied the aged lady, “from Adam to the last inhabitant of -the world. There will be those who lived _before_ the flood, and _since_ -the flood. Patriarchs, and Prophets, and Apostles—Jews and -Gentiles—Pagans and Christians—rich and poor—young and old—learned and -unlearned—kings and beggars—not one will be wanting; and more still, -_you_ and _I_ will be there. _Our_ eyes will look on that vast crowd.” - -“And tell me,” continued Emma, deeply impressed with the thought, “who -is the [Sidenote: The Judge.] Judge that will be seated on the throne -you speak of? and what will He do?” - -“If you refer, my child,” said her grandmother, “to the seventeenth -chapter of Acts, thirty‐first verse, you will there read who is set -apart as Judge of the world.” Emma turned up the passage in her Bible, -and read as follows:— - -“For He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in -righteousness by _that Man_ whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given -assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” - -“Oh, I see now!” she exclaimed, as she closed her Bible; “it is the Lord -Jesus Christ who is to be Judge. It makes me glad to think of this; for -if I love and serve Him now, I will not be afraid to meet Him then. -[Sidenote: The Throne.] But why is it said that He is to be seated on a -_white_ throne?—will it really be so?” - -“I cannot tell,” replied the other, “what the _outward_ marks of majesty -will be in which He will appear, although, doubtless, these will be very -great; for it is said that He will come ‘in His glory,’ and that He is -to have ‘all His holy angels with Him.’ But He is spoken of as seated on -a great _white_ throne, to denote His awful purity and holiness; that He -will give on that day every one his due. His mercy will not interfere -with the exercise of justice and holiness, and sinners will not escape -unpunished.” - -“I think I now remember, dear grandmamma,” said Emma, “of reading in -that same chapter in Revelation which speaks of the throne of the Judge, -that He is to have [Sidenote: The Books.] some books lying open before -Him.” - -“Yes, my child, you are right; ‘the books,’ we are told, are to be -‘opened.’ What these books may be we cannot tell; but perhaps they may -be the books of the Law and the Gospel—the books of Conscience, and -Memory, and Privilege; and especially the _Great Book of Remembrance_, -in which all [Sidenote: The Book of Remembrance.] our words, and deeds, -and actions, are preserved. All that every individual has ever done will -be found recorded in it. Many will wonder when they come to see how -faithful the pen of God has been in writing down _all_;—heart sins, and -tongue sins, and life sins. I fear not a few suppose that there are many -trifling faults (or, as they call them, ‘little sins’) which they -imagine God does not think it worth while to take notice of. They will -find every one of them recorded. _They_ may have forgotten them long -ago; but they will all be brought to light again on that Great Day.” - -“If this,” exclaimed Emma, “be indeed the case, who is there but must -tremble at the thought of that day?” - -“The wicked, my child,” continued her grandmother, “will and must be -afraid to think of it. All who have not known the salvation of Jesus, -and fled to His precious blood, must be covered then with confusion and -shame. They will then be led to see, what they never saw before, what an -evil thing sin is, and what a holy being God is. But His own people will -have nothing to fear. They can say now, in the words of the beautiful -hymn— - - ‘Bold shall I stand on that great day; - For who aught to my charge can lay, - While by Thy blood absolved I am - From sin’s tremendous guilt and shame?’ - -Yes, dear Emma, they will be able to look up with joy in the face of -their Judge, and say, ‘_It is God that justifieth, who is he that -condemneth?_’” - -“But what! Do you mean, grandmamma, that God does not take account of -the sins of the righteous?” - -“No, no, my child; every one of their sins is written down as well as -those of the wicked—dreadful pages of guilt, too, that might well -overwhelm them with wrath and condemnation.” - -“How, then,” continued Emma, “can it be different with them from the -others? How can God pass over their many sins?” - -“He _does_ not—He _could_ not, my child,” replied the aged lady, “pass -any sins over. But you may have heard of _another_ book which [Sidenote: -The Book of Life.] God will have before Him on that day. It is the _Book -of Life_. There the names of all the redeemed are written. None who are -written therein can be lost! It is as if the great Judge took His pen -and drew it through every page of recorded sins, marking them all out -with the blood of the Lamb of God.” - -“But,” asked Emma, “will it not make the believer very sad and sorrowful -on that day to see such an awful record of sins? It will be enough, -surely, to bring floods of tears to his eyes.” - -“I do not wonder at your saying so, my dear; but I think the thought of -his sins will be lost in a still more wondrous and amazing one—I mean in -thinking of the work of Jesus, that could take _so many sins_ away, -making them all forgiven and forgotten, and blotted out for ever.” - -“Oh that _my_ name, dear grandmamma, were safely written there! I feel -as if I never could be for another hour happy or joyful until I felt -sure that my name was in the _Book of Life_!” - -“You have, my dear child, all the assurance necessary, if you are now -believing in the Lord Jesus—trusting in His merits—seeking to love -Him—to do what He commands—and avoid what displeases Him. Of such He -says (Rev. iii. 5), ‘I will not blot out his name out of the _Book of -Life_; but I will confess his name before my Father and before His -angels.’” - -“But tell me further,” said Emma, “how will the work of judgment -proceed?” - -“Jesus, my child, after the books have been opened, and the vast -multitude have been brought before Him, will go on to pronounce sentence -upon each. It will be a solemn scene. We read that ‘He will [Sidenote: -The Awards.] separate the righteous from the wicked as a shepherd -divideth the sheep from the goats.’ In this world the good and the bad, -the ‘tares and the wheat,’ are mixed up together. _We_ cannot tell the -holy from the unholy; but Jesus knows them all; and on that day He will -parcel all mankind into these two great classes. In one or other every -human being must be placed.” - -“On whom will He pronounce sentence first?” inquired Emma. - -“He will address the righteous first,” said her grandmother. “It will -not, indeed, be with _them_ a day of wrath. Believers, at the time of -their justification (as I explained to you on a former evening), were -dismissed with the sentence of ‘not guilty’ pronounced upon them. They -are brought before God’s throne, that there they may be ‘openly -acknowledged’—receive a public acquittal before men and angels—and -listen to that happy, happy sentence, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, -inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” - -“I can well imagine their joy,” said Emma; “but what next?” - -“It will be a sadly different scene, my child. Let the words of Jesus -himself tell you of it—you will find them in the 25th chapter of -Matthew, 41st verse.” - -Emma again turned to the passage, and read, “Then shall He say also to -them on the left hand, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, -prepared for the devil and his angels.” - -“After this,” continued the aged lady, “we read no more about the doings -of that great day. The court is dissolved—the trial over. We see the -golden gates of heaven open to receive happy saints and angels; and the -miserable wicked sink down to the regions of despair! This solemn day -terminates the kingdom of grace on earth. The kingdom of glory is then -completed. The elect are gathered into it from the four quarters of -heaven. They ‘enter into the joy of their Lord.’ But this I must reserve -speaking to you about, if God spare me, till another Sabbath.” - - - EIGHTH NIGHT. - -Spring once more returned with its green fields and bright sky. The -little birds were beginning to raise their earliest notes, as if telling -one another how happy they were that winter, with its snow and its -storms, was again over, and that the fresh buds were beginning again to -appear. The small, old‐fashioned lamp, too, which was filled every -Saturday, so as to be ready for the Sabbath evening, was, from the long -twilight, no longer required. As the last rays of the setting sun were -falling through the latticed window, Emma was found once more at her -grandmother’s side. - -“I think, my dear,” said the latter, laying aside her spectacles, and -drawing her grandchild nearer her—“I think I left off speaking last -Sabbath when we were just beginning to talk of the most wondrous and -glorious of all Bible subjects.” - -“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “you had told me about the doings of the great -Day of Judgment, and you were commencing to [Sidenote: Of Heaven.] speak -about the glories of heaven, when you thought it would be better to wait -till now.” - -“Truly, my child,” said her grandmother, “I would require rather to wait -till that heaven itself begins, in order to give you any idea of its -happiness. We are told that ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither -have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared -for them that love Him.’” - -“I was reading a little ago, when sitting at the window,” said Emma, -“the description of this glorious heaven given us in the last chapters -of the Bible, where it is said to be a [Sidenote: How described in -Revelation.] great city, with streets of gold like transparent glass, -walls of jasper, and foundations of precious stones. And here, too, is -another beautiful verse, grandmamma,” continued she, as her eyes glanced -over the 21st chapter of Revelation: “‘And the city had no need of the -sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did -lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.’ And here yet another -lovely description,” she added, “I love so to read it: ‘And he shewed me -a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the -throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on -either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve -manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of -the tree were for the healing of the nations.’” - -“I have not interrupted you, my dear child, in reading these beautiful -verses,” said the aged lady; “they give us a bright and glowing picture -of happiness and glory, which our minds can in no other way conceive.” - -[Sidenote: To be understood figuratively.] “But will there _indeed_ be -golden streets, and crystal walls, and all these precious stones that -are here spoken of?” inquired Emma. - -“There will be far greater magnificence, and far purer happiness,” -replied her grandmother, “than all the gold and gems this world could -give. These are just figures or emblems employed by God in His Word to -convey to us some idea of the vast glory of heaven. No earthly words, or -thoughts, or language, could describe this; and therefore, as men -consider gold and precious stones the most costly and valuable things in -the world, they are used as pictures to give us some feeble -representation of heavenly blessedness.” - -“What, then, dear grandmamma, will heaven really be? What kind of a -place is it? and how are the righteous employed when they get there?” - -[Sidenote: The Scenery of Heaven.] “I cannot tell,” replied the other, -“what character of scenery there will be in heaven, nor in what -particular spot in the universe this happy place is prepared. The Bible -does not gratify our curiosity about this. For anything that is known to -the contrary, there may be much there that we love and admire in this -world. There may be beautiful skies, and clear rivers, and gushing -fountains, and lovely flowers, and sweet music. But still, as I have -said already, regarding all these the Bible says nothing.” - -“What, then, _will_ heaven consist in, grandmamma?” inquired Emma. - -[Sidenote: Negative and Positive Blessedness.] “I was just going to say, -my child, that there are many things we know will _not_ be there, and -many things we know _will_ be there. Does little Emma think she could -tell me any of the things we have in this world that we shall _not_ have -in heaven?” - -“Oh yes,” replied the little girl, “I think I know. We shall have no -_sin_ there, and no _sorrow_ there, and no _death_ there.” - -[Sidenote: Negative.] “Quite right, my child,” said her grandmother. -“This is a world of sin, and therefore it has become a world of pain, -and sickness, and sorrow, and death; but in heaven all these will be -unknown. I thought I saw you, my dear, but yesterday seated in the -churchyard on little Robert’s tomb; and when you came home, I observed -by your eyes that you had been weeping for the loss of your little -brother. In that happy heaven I am speaking of there will be no graves -and no tears, for there will be no sin and no death to cause them.” - -“But then, dear grandmamma, will there be no other joys in heaven?” - -[Sidenote: Positive.] “Yes, yes, my child,” replied the aged lady; “I -have only spoken to you of what is _not_ in heaven. I have yet to tell -you what _is_ there. Can little Emma answer this question too, as well -as the last?” - -“I shall meet all my dear friends there,” said Emma—“my father and -mother, who were both taken from me when I was so young, and little -Robert, and you too, grandmamma, who have so kindly led me on in the way -to that happy place, and told me often how I am to get there.” - -“My dear child,” said her grandmother, “all that you have said about -meeting departed friends there is true. All who are the friends of Jesus -will meet in that happy home. I _believe_ it to be true,” she repeated, -the tear filling her eye as she spoke. “Parents will know their -children, and children their parents; and brothers and sisters will meet -never to part any more. But this is but a very small portion of the joy -of heaven. Can you not think of a far greater joy in that bright world -than even the meeting of the dearest earthly friends?” - -“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “we shall meet God!—we shall see Jesus face to -face! [Sidenote: Vision of God.] This will be the greatest, surely, of -all the glories of heaven—to dwell for ever with God, and discover more -of His grace and love!” - -“Yes, truly, my child,” said the other; “this is to heaven what the sun -is to the universe. All the other glories we can speak of are only, by -comparison, like the light of the stars to that sun, or like little -streams to the great ocean. We shall ‘see God;’ and what, perhaps, is -more wondrous still, we shall be _like_ God. Along with the holy angels, -we shall have no higher delight than doing His will. We shall feel that -in His presence ‘there is fulness of joy.’” - -“But shall we indeed _see God_?” inquired Emma; “the thought seems so -wondrous. How can this be?” - -[Sidenote: How God will be Manifested.] “Here again, dear child,” -replied her grandmother, “we must not try to be wise beyond what the -Bible has told us; for it is there said, that ‘He dwells in light that -is inaccessible and full of glory, whom no eye hath seen, neither can -see.’ That there will be some bright and glorious manifestation of His -presence I cannot doubt; but what the [Sidenote: The Presence of Jesus -in the midst of the Redeemed.] nature of this will be I cannot tell. -This we know, however, with certainty, that Jesus, our blessed Redeemer, -in His glorified human nature, will be seen and adored by the countless -multitudes of His ransomed people.” - -“I saw,” said Emma, “a verse immediately following the words I a little -ago read, which speaks of this. Here it is: ‘And _they shall see His -face_, and His name shall be in their foreheads.’” - -“Yes, my child; and you may perhaps remember some other passages which -tell the same blessed truth. Do you remember what made John so happy in -the prospect of heaven?” - -“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “I recollect now. He says with such joy, ‘We -know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall _see -Him as He is_.’” - -“Quite right, dearest,” said her grandmother; “I shall just remind you -of one more. It is the Saviour’s own last prayer for His people—‘Father, -I will that they also whom Thou hast given me be _with me where I am_, -_that they may behold my glory_.’ Do you remember the name by which -Jesus is spoken of again and again in the book of Revelation, describing -to us how He now appears in glory?” - -“Yes,” replied Emma; “I have often been struck with the title there -given to Him. He is called ‘the _Lamb that was slain_.’ I often wonder -why He should be called so, now that He is in heaven, seated on His -throne, with all His sufferings at an end.” - -“It is, my dear child,” answered the aged lady, “a very precious name. -It tells that He continues, and will continue, to wear His glorified -_human_ nature there, and that, too, through all eternity. It tells us -also that the redeemed will never cease to remember that it was to the -shedding of His precious blood that they owe every gem of their crowns.” - -“And doubtless,” said Emma, “the happy company of the saints will for -ever delight to think more and more of the love of Jesus?” - -[Sidenote: Their Contemplation of Christ’s Love.] “You are right,” said -the other. “It will assuredly be one of the greatest joys in heaven to -comprehend with all saints what is the height and depth, and length and -breadth, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. They -will ever be trying to know more and more of this love; but they will -never be able to understand all its meaning.” - -“I daresay, too, much that we cannot now understand will be cleared up?” -said Emma. - -“Yes, my dear,” replied her grandmother; “God’s wisdom and faithfulness -will then be as fully revealed as His love. There is much that takes -place on earth which is perplexing [Sidenote: Providences Explained in -Heaven.] to us—what we call ‘dark dealings,’—as, for example, when good -and useful lives are taken away, and evil and worthless lives are -spared; but Jesus, you remember, said, ‘What thou knowest not _now_, -thou shalt know hereafter.’ I believe we shall then not only ‘_know_,’ -but _see_, that ‘all things have been working together for good to them -that love God.’ Sore trials and afflictions will then call forth loud -songs of praise; and it will be made manifest that the Judge of all the -earth had done right.” - -“And will all these blessed saints,” inquired Emma, “be equally holy and -happy?” - -“They will all, my dear, be _holy_,” said the old lady, “for ‘without -holiness no one could see God,’ far less enjoy Him; and they will all, -too, be _happy_—not one tear will be in their bright faces. But I -believe, too, that some [Sidenote: Degrees of Bliss in Heaven.] will be -happier than others. _All_ will be like vessels full to the brim with -glory and happiness; but some vessels will be larger than others, and -able, therefore, to contain more happiness. We read that they shall -differ ‘as one star in the firmament differs from another star in -glory.’ Some stars are of a larger size than others; some are nearer the -sun than others: so those who have lived nearer Jesus on earth, and -loved Him with larger hearts, will be nearer Him in heaven. While _all_, -therefore, who are believers will be happy, those will be happiest who -are walking closest with God now. If you will turn to the twelfth -chapter of Daniel, you will find there a striking verse, telling of -different degrees of coming happiness. Here it is,” continued the old -lady, pointing her little grandchild to the third verse: “‘They that be -wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn -many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’” - -“Oh! what a glorious, happy prospect, dear grandmamma! Would that I -could feel sure of being one even of these feeblest stars!” - -[Sidenote: How Heaven is Obtained.] “There is but one way, my child,” -replied the other, “of joining that bright company of which we have been -speaking. It is the blood of Jesus alone that can open these glorious -gates. But that blood _has_ opened them, and keeps them open still, to -the chief of sinners. That blessed Redeemer seems still to stand at the -gate of heaven, and say, ‘I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he -shall be saved.’ - -“But I feel, my dear Emma, that my strength is failing, and I am unable -to speak more to you this evening. Give me your Bible, and I shall -double down the leaf at my favourite description of the joys of heaven.” -She accordingly took her little grandchild’s Bible, and putting a mark -with her aged finger at the seventh chapter of Revelation, thirteenth -verse, returned it to her again, saying, “Should you, my child, be with -me at my dying hour, when my tongue is too feeble to speak, remember to -read to me that sweet passage. I have often wished that I might have -some one to read to me these words when I pass through the Dark Valley.” - -[Sidenote: Conclusion.] Little did Emma suppose that the words which now -fell upon her ear would so soon come true. A few weeks only passed by, -when her grandmother was laid upon a bed of sickness and pain, which -soon proved a bed of death. The aged saint bore up under her sufferings -with calmness and fortitude. She was kept in perfect peace, for her mind -was stayed on God. Her dear little grandchild was her faithful companion -during her last hours. The night before her death, when she was fast -sinking, and her lips getting paler and paler, Emma remembered -faithfully the request made to her. The tear started to her eye as she -opened her Bible, and saw the leaf still folded down. She read it with a -trembling voice. The poor old sufferer was able to do no more than clasp -her withered hands as the happy sentences fell on her ears. When she had -fallen asleep in Jesus, and was laid in the churchyard which she had so -often looked to from her window, Emma delighted to go with her Bible in -her hand, and, sitting on the green turf which covered her grave, to -read the well‐known passage: “And one of the elders answered, saying -unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence -came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, -These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed -their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are -they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His -temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They -shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun -light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the -throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of -waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -A Table of Contents has been added for convenience. - -In the caption for the frontispiece, “Grandmama” has been changed to -“Grandmamma” to make it consistent with the rest of the project. - -On page 46, “in” has been corrected to “on” at “vision on the Isle of -Patmos.” - -Obvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Child's Book of Divinity, by -John Ross Macduff - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE CHILD'S BOOK OF DIVINITY *** - -***** This file should be named 52001-0.txt or 52001-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/0/52001/ - -Produced by Heiko Evermann, Lisa Anne Hatfield and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Little Child's Book of Divinity - or Grandmamma's Stories about Bible Doctines - -Author: John Ross Macduff - -Release Date: May 5, 2016 [EBook #52001] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE CHILD'S BOOK OF DIVINITY *** - - - - -Produced by Heiko Evermann, Lisa Anne Hatfield and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div id='coverpage' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='Cover' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001' title='The Little Child’s Book of Divinity'></h1> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_001.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic002'> -<p><span class='small'>Emma and her <a id='tn001'></a>Grandmamma.</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='c004'>THE LITTLE CHILD’S</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c005'>BOOK OF DIVINITY;</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>OR,</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='c006'>GRANDMAMMA’S STORIES ABOUT</span></div> - <div><span class='c006'>BIBLE DOCTRINES.</span></div> - <div class='c007'><span class='small'>BY THE AUTHOR OF</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c008'>“MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,” “FAITHFUL</span></div> - <div><span class='c008'>PROMISER,” &c. &c.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'><span class='small'>“From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to -make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”―<cite><abbr title='Second Timothy'>2 Tim.</abbr> -<abbr title='3'>iii.</abbr> 15.</cite></span></p> - -<p class='c010'><span class='small'>“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the -peace of thy children.”―<cite><abbr title='Isaiah'>Isa.</abbr> <abbr title='54'>liv.</abbr> 13.</cite></span></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c007'> - <div><span class='c008'>SECOND EDITION.</span></div> - <div class='c007'><span class='c006'>LONDON:</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c011'>JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='c008'>MDCCCLV.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='small'>EDINBURGH:</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'>PAUL’S WORK.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c012'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> - <tr> - <th class='c013'></th> - <th class='c014'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#intro'>INTRODUCTION</a></td> - <td class='c014'>3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#first'>FIRST NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>4</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#second'>SECOND NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>12</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#third'>THIRD NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>20</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#fourth'>FOURTH NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>30</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#fifth'>FIFTH NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>40</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#sixth'>SIXTH NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#seventh'>SEVENTH NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>57</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a href='#eighth'>EIGHTH NIGHT</a></td> - <td class='c014'>66</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 id='intro' class='c012'><span class='c015'>THE LITTLE CHILD’S</span> <br /> <br /> <span class='c005'>BOOK OF DIVINITY.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><span class='sc'>Little</span> Emma was one Sabbath evening -alone in the room with her grandmamma. -Good old Mrs Allan (for that was her grandmother’s -name) was seated in her arm‐chair, -beside a blazing winter fire. A small table -was before her, with a Bible and a pair of -spectacles lying upon it.</p> - -<p class='c017'>Emma came jumping up upon her grandmamma’s -knee, and kissed her, and said—</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Dear grandmamma, there is much in that -large Bible I do not understand; I should -like so much to know all it tells about. When -I was at church this forenoon, I heard Mr R., -our clergyman, speak to the people about what -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>he called ‘doctrines;’ and when he was telling -about them, there were many things the -people liked to hear which were too difficult -for me. Do you think you could tell me -about them in very simple words, and make -them plain to me? I will promise to be very -attentive to all that you say.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I shall be truly happy,” said the other, -looking with a kindly smile on her little grandchild, -“to do what you ask me. And if you -will come to me for a few minutes every Sabbath -night, I will try to explain these Bible -doctrines to you as simply as I can.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>So saying, she put aside her spectacles, -and drawing her chair closer by the fire, with -her arm round little Emma’s neck, began as -follows:—</p> - -<h3 id='first' class='c018'>FIRST NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Being of God.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “There was a time, my -dear child, far, far back in -eternity, when no one lived -but the Great God, when no angel waved his -wing, and no star glittered in the sky.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“This ever‐living God did not need angels -or worlds to make Him happy. He was -quite glorious without them.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>“This great Being was <em>one</em> God; but there -were three persons in the Godhead—God the -Father, God the Son, and God the Holy -Ghost. Of these, there was none higher or -greater than the other; they were all equal -in power and in glory.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Creation of all things.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “This Great God resolved -on making angels and -worlds; and He just said, -‘I wish them to be,’ and they were all made -by the word of His power. And it was not a -few that He made, but a very great many. -He made large armies of angels; and such a -number of stars and worlds, that they cannot -be counted.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of our World.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Among these crowded -worlds which you see in -the dark sky at night, there was a very little -one—so little, as scarcely to be seen or -noticed amid those around it.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“This little star was called ‘<em>the Earth</em>;’ -and God loved it very much, and the Three -Persons in the Godhead resolved to do something -very wonderful with regard to it. God -put a happy and holy creature into it, called -<em>Man</em>; and He made him after His own -image, and placed him in a beautiful garden.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Covenant of Works.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “While there, God entered -with man into what -is called a <em>Covenant of -Works</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What does a <em>covenant</em> mean?” inquired -Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I shall tell you, my child,” said her grandmamma. -“It is an agreement, or bargain, -between two people. In the garden of Eden, -the two parties were God and Adam; their -covenant or agreement was this;—God said -to Adam, ‘If you do what I ask you, you -shall live and be happy. If you disobey me, -you must “surely die.”’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Fall.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “God told him not to eat -of the fruit of one of the trees -in the garden; but though Adam had all the -rest of the trees in Eden to eat of, he forgot -God’s command, and took of the forbidden -one; and he was driven out of his happy -home, and became a lost and ruined creature.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“How sad for poor Adam,” said Emma, -“to be banished from his beautiful garden!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes,” said the other; “and sadder still to -be banished from his God, with nothing before -him but certain death!”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>“But how was it, grandmamma,” inquired -Emma, “that Adam did not die all at once? -How did he continue to live after God had -said that, if he disobeyed Him, he should -‘surely die’?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I was just going to explain this to you, -my dear,” said Mrs Allan. “Our first parents -could not have lived for one moment after their -‘Fall,’ if it had not been for another and more -glorious covenant the Bible tells us of.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And what was the name of that covenant?” -inquired Emma, eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It was called <em>the Covenant of Grace</em>,” -replied her grandmother. “I shall try, my -dear child,” continued she, patting her grandchild -on the head, “to make this very great -and glorious subject as simple as I can to -you; and after you hear me, you will, perhaps, -be able to explain it to others.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Little Emma was again very attentive, -and her grandmamma proceeded:</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Parties in the Covenant of Grace.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I want to see, before I -begin, if my little scholar -remembers what I have -just been telling her,—who the two parties -were in the <em>Covenant of Works</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“God and Adam,” replied Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>“Yes, dear, you are right. And in this -new covenant or agreement I am going to -speak about, there were two parties also. Do -you think you could tell me who they were?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Was it God and Adam again?” inquired -the little girl.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“No, my child,” said the old lady. “Man, -having broken the first covenant, could no -longer enter into terms with God. There -was some one who came in the place of guilty -man. Can you tell me who this was?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It was the Lord Jesus Christ,” said -Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Quite correct,” replied her grandmother. -“God was angry with man, and could no -longer speak with him. But Jesus said, ‘<em>I</em> -will come in the room of those lost sinners, -and speak to God <em>for</em> them.’ So God and -Jesus made a covenant together. It was as -if Jesus said to God, ‘O my Father, if Thou -wilt pardon these poor sinners, I will leave -my glorious throne, and come down to the -earth, and die for them, and wash their guilty -souls in my precious blood.’ And then God -promised, and said, ‘I <em>will</em> pardon them! -They deserve nothing but wrath; but, for the -sake of what Thou art to do and suffer, as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>their Redeemer, I will shew them “<em>Grace</em>.”’ -Hence this new covenant between God and -Jesus was called ‘<em>the Covenant of Grace</em>.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I should like to hear more,” said Emma, -“about this glorious Being who loved man -so much as to die for him. Why is He called -by the name of <em>Redeemer</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Person of the Redeemer.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Jesus is called ‘Redeemer,’ -because He ‘buys -back’ the lost souls of men. -No one but God, in our nature, could do this. -If the highest angel in heaven had tried -to save us, he <em>could</em> not. Jesus Christ was -both God and man. He had lived from all -eternity ‘<em>with</em> God, and <em>was</em> God.’ He took -upon Him our nature, and was born a little -babe in the stable of Bethlehem. How sweet -for little children to think that Jesus was -once himself <em>a little child</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Humiliation of Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “How wonderful!” said -Emma, “for the great God -of heaven to come down to -dwell with man on the earth—to be called the -‘Man of Sorrows’—to be poor and hated, and -have ‘nowhere to lay His head,’ till He laid -it on the Cross, and there died a cruel death!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Wonderful indeed,” replied her grandmamma. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>“Can you tell me, my dear child, -what became of Jesus after He died?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of His Resurrection and Exaltation.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes,” answered Emma; -“I think He was laid in a -grave in the middle of a -garden in Jerusalem. A stone was put at -the mouth of it, and soldiers were made to -watch it. But after lying dead three days, -He rolled away the stone, and came forth -alive.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right, my child,” said Mrs Allan. -“By this, God the Father shewed that He had -accepted the work of His dear Son—that the -wages of sin were all paid, and that His holy -law was satisfied and honoured. After remaining -forty days on the earth, Jesus went up -among rejoicing angels to heaven.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And where is the Lord Jesus now?” -inquired Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Intercession of Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “He who once was ‘despised -and rejected of men,’” -said her grandmother, “is -seated on a very glorious throne in the skies, -where blessed spirits without number adore -Him. But He has not forgotten poor sinners -on earth. He is engaged in praying to God -for them; and whatever He asks on their behalf, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>His Father is ready to give; for Him -He ‘heareth always.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Second Coming of Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “And is there not a day -of awful glory drawing -near,” said Emma, “when -Jesus shall appear in the clouds of the sky, -seated on a ‘great white throne’? How dreadful -to be found, on that great day, on the left -hand of the Judge! Will there be no chance -of His being merciful to these miserable -wicked, and of making another ‘<em>covenant of -grace</em>’ with them?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“No, no; impossible, my child!” replied -her grandmother. “God’s holiness, and -righteousness, and justice, and truth, could -not admit of mercy <em>then</em>. Jesus is now -seated on a throne of <em>Grace</em>, and entreats sinners -to come to Him and be saved. But -when once seated on His throne of <em>Judgment</em>, -the time of grace is at an end. Those who -there seek Him for the first time will never -find Him. God has said, ‘Then shall they -call on me, but I will not answer.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I should like you,” said Emma, “to tell -me what you mean by ‘seeking Jesus.’ I -fear I may never yet have sought Him in -earnest.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>“I shall be happy, my dear child, to explain -this and many other things to you; but -as it would take me too long to‐night, I shall -wait till next Sabbath, when, if God spare me, -I will speak to you about some more of these -solemn truths. I am old, and must soon -stand before that great throne; but I have -long sought and found Jesus the <em>Saviour</em>, -and I am not afraid to meet Jesus the <em>Judge</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>The little child knelt down on her grandmother’s -lap, to offer up her evening prayer. -The aged Christian entreated earnestly that -Jesus would early give her an interest in His -“covenant of grace,” that she might be found -at last on His right hand, at the great day, -an heir of glory!</p> - -<h3 id='second' class='c018'>SECOND NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>Sabbath evening again returned; and when -the shutters were closed, and fresh wood had -been piled on the fire, little Emma climbed on -her grandmamma’s knee, and asked her to -explain some more “Scripture doctrines.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I shall do so with pleasure, my child,” -said Mrs Allan; “and I must ask you to -give me to‐night your close attention, as I am -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>going to speak to you about some very important -and precious truths.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Emma thanked her for her great kindness, -in being at so much pains to instruct her; -and her grandmamma thus began:—</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of Justification.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “You will remember, my -dear, that the Bible tells -us we are all condemned by nature—in a lost -and ruined state. In order to make us understand -what this state is, it represents,—</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Judge.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “God as a great Judge, -‘of purer eyes than to behold -iniquity,’ and who cannot look upon sin.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Prisoner.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “It represents the sinner -as standing at His bar, -called to answer for his many thousand transgressions.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Witnesses.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “And, as in a court of -earthly justice witnesses -are brought in to condemn the prisoner, so -Satan accuses the sinner—his own heart -accuses him—God’s Law, which he has -broken, accuses him.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And what more?” said Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Sentence.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “These all,” said her -grandmother, “pronounce -the sinner ‘<em>guilty</em>’—the Holy Judge passes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>upon him a sentence of <em>condemnation</em>. Oh! -how dreadful to think, that, if ‘out of Christ,’ -we are <em>at this moment</em> in a <em>condemned state</em>! -We have not to wait till a day of judgment -to have the sentence pronounced upon us. -The Bible tells us we are ‘condemned <em>already</em>,’ -and that ‘the wrath of God <em>abideth</em> upon us.’ -We are, as it were, shut up in a condemned -cell; the kindness and clemency of our Judge -alone delaying the execution of the awful -sentence!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But is there no hope,” said little Emma, -“for the poor sinner? Must he die in that -state of condemnation and misery?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>God’s Method of Mercy.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “No, dear child,” replied -her grandmamma. “God -is willing, for Christ’s sake, -to ‘<em>justify</em>’ us.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But what do you mean by that word?” -said Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Listen to me,” said the other, “and I -will endeavour to explain. I have already -told you that the sinner, standing in the -court‐room of justice, with the chains of condemnation -fastened round him, cannot answer -a word for himself; his ‘mouth is stopped,’ -and he has become ‘guilty before God.’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Advocate.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But, in the midst of -that court‐room, there is -one who stands up to ‘answer’ <em>for</em> him!—it -is the ‘Advocate with the Father, Jesus -Christ the righteous.’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“God the Judge asks, ‘Sinner! can you -say anything to justify yourself?’ The sinner -says, ‘Enter not into judgment with thy -servant, O God! for in Thy sight no flesh -living can be justified.’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Grounds of Pardon.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “God is about to execute -the awful sentence; but -Jesus, his advocate, stands -up, and says, ‘<em>I</em> have suffered, “the Just for -the unjust;” I have obeyed the law the sinner -should have obeyed; I have been “made -sin for him;” I have paid with my own blood -the price of his redemption!’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Acquittal.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “The Great Judge says, -‘It is enough! Take the -chains of condemnation off him. I pronounce -him, for the sake of what Jesus has done and -suffered, “<em>not guilty</em>!” Let him go out of the -court‐room a “justified man;” for “there is -no condemnation to them that are in Christ -Jesus.”’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Do you mean to say, grandmamma,” said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>Emma, “that God thus graciously pardons -<em>all</em> the iniquities of the sinner for the sake of -Jesus?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Two parts of Justification.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>1. Forgiveness of -Sin.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, my child; it is an -amazing thought. But, -on account of what the -Lord Jesus Christ has done, -in pouring out His precious -blood, this great and holy Judge looks upon -the sinner <em>as if he had never sinned at all</em>! -He is, in the eye of law, ‘<em>justified</em>’—considered -‘<em>just</em>.’ Jesus is said to be ‘wounded for his -transgressions, and bruised for his iniquities.’ -Like the scape‐goat under the Jewish law, God -‘has laid upon Christ the iniquities of us all.’ -These He has carried away into a land of forgetfulness, -where they can never more be -found!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“This is a wonderful doctrine indeed!” -said little Emma, “and”――</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Stay, my child,” interrupted her grandmamma, -“I have not yet told you the most -wondrous part of it:—</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>2. Acceptance as -Righteous in God’s -sight.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “In justifying sinners, -God does more than merely -<em>pardon</em> them. He not only -reckons the sinner as ‘<em>not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>guilty</em>,’ but, for Jesus’ sake, He counts him as -positively <em>righteous</em>. All the righteousness of -Christ—His obedience, and patience, and -love, and resignation, and forgiveness of -injuries, and all the holy things of His holy -life,—are put down to the sinner’s account; -and a holy God actually counts as if they -had all been done by the sinner himself. -This is what is called <em>Christ’s imputed righteousness</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Surely,” said Emma, “this explains the -meaning of that verse I was reading to you -this morning in Isaiah—‘He hath clothed me -with the garments of salvation; He hath -covered me with a robe of righteousness’?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes; you are right, my dear. The holy -life, and virtues, and obedience of Jesus, are -spoken of as a bright shining robe or garment, -in which the poor sinner clothes himself. By -nature, in his condemned state, he is black -with sin; and his language is, ‘O Lord, look -not on me, because I am black;’ but when -he puts this imputed garment on, he can say, -‘O Lord, look upon me, for I am all bright -and shining with a Saviour’s righteousness!’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“How kind is God,” exclaimed Emma, -“to do all this for vile sinners!”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Justification all of Grace.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, my child; well -may justification be called -‘an act of God’s <em>free grace</em>;’ -for man has no part in it. He deserves -nothing at God’s hand but wrath, and vengeance, -and condemnation. He might have -been sent away trembling from His bar, crying -out, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the -hands of the living God!’ His justification -proceeds from free sovereign mercy; and -through all eternity his confession will be, -‘By the grace of God, I am what I am.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I fear I may be wearying you,” said -Emma; “but I have just one other question -to ask you about this glorious doctrine—how -can <em>I</em> be justified, and get the great God thus -to pardon and accept <span class='fss'>ME</span>?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Received by Faith.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “That is a very proper -question,” replied her grandmamma, -“and I am happy to think I can -give you a simple and easy answer. You -are justified ‘<em>by faith</em>;’ by <em>believing</em> that God -is able and willing to receive you—that Jesus -has shed His precious blood for you—that He -died for you on earth, and now lives and -pleads for you in heaven. ‘He that <em>believeth</em> -on the Son of God hath life.’ ‘<em>Believe</em> in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’ -‘Therefore being justified <em>by faith</em>, we have -peace with God.’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“This glorious subject of Justification,” -continued she, “has occupied us so long, that -it will be better not to speak of any other -doctrine to‐night. If spared till another -Sabbath evening, I shall do so. I would -have you, my child, think very much about -this most precious Bible truth—<em>How a sinner -is justified before God</em>.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Article of a -Standing and Falling -Church.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Luther, the great father -of the Reformation, said, -that a church could not -stand for a moment without -this doctrine. Like a house without a -foundation, it would fall to pieces. And an -older saint than Luther—the apostle Paul—had -his mind so full of it, that you cannot -read his writings, and understand them, without -keeping this blessed doctrine constantly -in view.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh how peaceful, and safe, and joyous,” -exclaimed Emma, “must the justified sinner -be!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, truly,” replied her grandmother. -“He has nothing to fear. On the great day -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>of judgment, however many his enemies and -accusers may be, he can look around him on -all of them, and exclaim, with the great -apostle, ‘Who shall lay anything to the -charge of God’s elect? It is <span class='sc'>God that -justifieth</span>; who is he that condemneth?’ -Here is a beautiful verse of a hymn I should -like you to learn by heart,” she added, repeating -twice over to little Emma the following -lines:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c020'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Jesus! Thy blood and righteousness</div> - <div class='line'>My beauty are, my glorious dress,</div> - <div class='line'>’Mid flaming worlds, in these array’d,</div> - <div class='line'>With joy I shall lift up my head!’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<h3 id='third' class='c018'>THIRD NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>“Are you ready now?” said little Emma, -coming skipping into her grandmother’s -room. “I have just finished learning my -verses in Romans, and I so weary to hear -about some more Scripture doctrines.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I am quite ready,” said her grandmamma; -“but it would make me happy, -before I begin, to hear you repeat whatever -verses you have been committing to memory -to‐night.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>So saying, Emma stood by her grandmother’s -chair, and, without a mistake, repeated -from the 10th to the 15th verse -of the eighth chapter of Romans. The last -one was this, “Ye have not received the -spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have -received the spirit of adoption, whereby we -cry, Abba, Father!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I am happy, my dear child,” said old -Mrs Allan, “that these have been your -verses to‐night, as they refer to the very -subject I should like now to speak to you -about.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You remember what I explained to you -last Sabbath?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, grandmamma,” said Emma. “It -was about <em>Justification</em>. God the Great Judge -trying the sinner at His bar, and sending -him away freely forgiven for the sake of -Christ.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of Adoption.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “You are right, my -dear; and we are now -going to speak about <em>Adoption</em>. I wonder -if you know what that is.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, no. I have often wondered what -that word can mean, and I long to hear from -you.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Difference between -Justification and -Adoption.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Well, then, my child, -as in Justification God acts -as a <em>Judge</em>, so in Adoption -God acts as a <em>Father</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“How I should like to hear about this, -grandmamma! There is something terrible -about the thought of a <em>Judge</em>; but there is -nothing but love and joy in the thought of a -<em>Father</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of our State by Nature.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “It is true, my dear,” -said her grandmother; “but -by nature none of us are in -the family of God; we are called ‘children of -wrath;’ ‘children of the devil;’ ‘enemies!’ -God puts a very solemn and striking question -about us—‘How shall I set thee among the -children?’ He sees that we are such poor -miserable sinners, that if He had dealt with -us as we have deserved for our sins, we should -have been for ever ‘children of wrath!’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What, then, could have made God adopt -us into His family?” said little Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Difference between -Man’s Adoption -and God’s.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “This, my child,” replied -the other, “is the thing in -which <em>God’s</em> Adoption differs -from <em>man’s</em>. When a -man takes a little orphan child into his house, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>and is kind to it, and brings it up as his own, -it is because of something attractive, and -lovely, and engaging in the child. I knew an -old gentleman who saw a lovely little boy with -golden locks, and he was so struck with his -beauty, he would never part with him, but -brought him up as his own son. But how -different is it with us and God! The -Bible represents sinners as lying all filthy and -vile in the open field; so vile, that none would -look at them, ‘all passed them by!’ But -God came, lifted them up, and said unto them, -‘Live!’ ‘<em>I</em> will be a Father unto you, and ye -shall be my sons and daughters.’ What, my -dear Emma, would you call this act of God in -Adoption?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Adoption all of Grace.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Oh, I would say,” said -her little hearer, “that it -is the same as with Justification. -It is an ‘<em>act of God’s free grace</em>’—that -is to say, that there was nothing about -us to make God love us, or be kind to us, and -that it was all of His own great and wonderful -kindness and mercy in Christ Jesus!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right, my darling; and do you -remember the name of an aged disciple of -Jesus who delighted more than all the rest to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>speak of God’s love? And perhaps you remember, -too, what he says about this adopting -love of God?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, yes,” said Emma; “I think that -will be the text Mr R. was preaching from -last month:—‘Behold what manner of love -the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we -should be called the sons of God!’ But, dear -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>When Adoption takes place.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> grandmamma,” continued -she, “you told me last -Sabbath that Justification -takes place <em>in this world</em>, whenever the sinner -believes in Jesus. It cannot surely be that -this great honour of being children of God, -and adopted into His family, can begin on -earth?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, dear child, it does,” said her grandmother. -“Justification and Adoption are just -different names for one great act. God, as I -said, is represented in the one as a <em>Judge</em>, in -the other as a <em>Father</em>. I don’t know if Mr R. -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Apostle John’s Testimony.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> took the next verse in that -beautiful chapter along with -his text. If he did so, it -will tell you <em>when</em> the believer is adopted, and -can call God his Father.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Little Emma quickly turned up her Bible, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>and read as follows:—“Beloved, now are we -the sons of God!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You see, my child,” continued the old -lady, “<em>when</em> this act of fatherly love takes -place; it is ‘<em>now</em>;’ and if my dear little -Emma loves the Lord Jesus, she can <em>now</em> -look up to the Great God, and say, ‘He is my -<em>Father</em>;’ and to Jesus, and say, ‘He is my -<em>Elder Brother</em>!’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“How kind in God,” said Emma, with the -tear in her eye, “to love sinners so much, -and deal with them so tenderly! I think -this, too, explains my favourite story in the -gospel—does it not, grandmamma?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Our Lord’s Parable about Adoption.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I remember now what -your favourite is,” said the -other, after thinking a -moment; “it is the <em>Prodigal Son</em>; and you -are very right; there is no portion of the -Bible which speaks more beautifully of God’s -adopting love. You remember, at the very -same moment that God forgave the Prodigal, -He ordered ‘the ring to be put on his finger’ -(the ring of <em>adoption</em>); and He calls him, -‘<em>This, my son!</em>’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh! I shall love to read that parable -more than ever,” said Emma. “I don’t think -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>any earthly father would have been so kind -to an ungrateful son. But you often tell me -that ‘God’s ways are not as man’s ways;’ -and it is surely so in this.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Evidences of Adoption.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But how can I know, -dear grandmamma, whether -<em>I</em> am a child of God? I -would feel as if I was richer and happier -than the richest in the world, and greater -than earthly kings or queens, if I could be -sure that the Great God was my Father, and -that I was His child.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“That is a very natural question, my dear, -and I shall do what I can to answer you. -Let me ask you another question. What are -your feelings towards your earthly parents?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Love of God.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I love them,” said -Emma, “very much; I try -to do what they bid me, and I am always -unhappy when I do anything that vexes or -hurts them.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Hatred of Sin.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “It is the very same, my -dear,” said her grandmother, -“with the children of God. If you -are really a child of God, you will love Him, -and try to do all His will, and be unhappy whenever -you sin against Him or displease Him.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>“I will tell you another thing, grandmamma,” -interrupted the little girl; “I am -never happy when I am far away from -my father, or when my father is far away -from me. Sometimes he has to go away for -many days to a distance, and I so weary for -his coming back. I think and speak of him -all the day long; and once I remember, when -I was a week away at aunt Fanny’s, I so -longed to get back again to be with -him.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Filial Nearness.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Well, dear child, you -have just given another -mark by which you may know if you are a -child of God. Do you love your Heavenly -Father’s presence? Do you love prayer, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Prayer.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> which brings you always -near Him? and are you -always unhappy when you forget prayer, -which drives you away from God; or commit -sin, which drives God away from you?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, yes, dear grandmamma, I think I -can say I am; but then, I often sin, and I -fear”――</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Stop, my dear child,” said the old lady. -“Remember, it is a great cause of grief to -the true child of God, that the power of sin -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>is so strong in his heart, and that the devil is -so often tempting him.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But,” exclaimed Emma, “does not the -Bible say, ‘We <em>cannot</em> sin, because we are -born of God’?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>How the Child of God “cannot sin.”<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, my child, you are -correct; but I must tell -you the real meaning of -that verse, so that you may not be cast down -by supposing it asks what you cannot give. -That verse means, that God’s children cannot -go on in a <em>course</em> of sin. They cannot love -sin, and continue <em>in</em> sin; but it does not mean -that their lives are so perfectly holy that -they never can know what it is to have a -bad heart and wicked thought. Alas! this -never can be, till the adopted children of God -get safe into their Father’s house in -heaven!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh! how I wish,” said Emma, “I could -love this kind Heavenly Father more than I -have ever yet done; and hate sin more and -more every day!――I am afraid, dear grandmamma, -I tire you with my questions; but -I have just one more to ask to‐night, and -then I shall go to bed. You often speak of -it being our duty to ‘<em>fear</em> God.’ Now, how -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>should we <em>fear</em> a God that you have just been -telling me to <em>love</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>What it is to “fear” God in Adoption.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I do not wonder, my -child, at your question. -But there are two kinds of -fear; the wicked ‘<em>fear</em>’ God as an awful -Judge; they fear Him—that is, they are -<em>afraid</em> of Him, and tremble to think of His -hatred of sin, and His judgment day. But -the children of God ‘<em>fear</em>’ their Heavenly -Father in another sense; they ‘<em>fear</em>’ to <em>offend</em> -Him. It is because they <em>love</em> Him so very -much, that they are <em>afraid</em> of doing anything -that would displease Him. The wicked -man’s fear is what the Bible calls ‘the fear -that hath torment.’ The other is the fear, -and reverence, and godly awe of ‘perfect -love.’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Good‐night, then, my dear,” said the -kind old lady, kissing her little scholar. “I -love you much as an earthly parent; but -your Heavenly Father loves you more. -When you go down on your knees to pray -to Him to‐night, think of that sweet verse -in <abbr title='Jeremiah'>Jer.</abbr> <abbr title='3'>iii.</abbr> 4, ‘<em>My Father!</em> thou art the guide -of my youth!’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You will not know all the wonders of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>subject I have been speaking about to‐night -till the gracious Heavenly Father who adopts -you opens to you the gates of His own -palace in glory, and when, taking you by the -hand, and shewing you all the unsearchable -riches which Jesus has purchased for you, -He will say, ‘My child! <em>thou art ever with -me; and all that I have</em> IS THINE!’”</p> - -<h3 id='fourth' class='c018'>FOURTH NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>“I fear I weary you, grandmamma,” said -little Emma, as she opened the room‐door on -the following Sabbath, and resumed her accustomed -seat by the good old lady’s side—“I -fear I weary you, coming so often to hear -your nice explanations of Bible doctrines; but -you have already enabled me to understand a -great deal I never knew before, and have -made my Sabbath evenings so happy!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I assure you, you have made me happy -too, my dear child,” said Mrs Allan, wiping -the tear that was rolling down her withered -cheek. “I can truly say, I have no greater -joy than to talk to you about these glorious -truths. I will soon be in that silent place,” -continued she, pointing, as she was closing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>her shutters for the night, to the churchyard, -on which the moon was then shining; “but -it makes me happy to think, that when you -can hear my voice no more, you will remember, -with joy, the Sabbath evenings we have -spent together. Happy, dear Emma, will it -be,” her face brightening as she spoke, “if we -meet to speak of these blessed truths in the -better Sabbath in heaven!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Emma was about to reply, when her grandmother -took her by the hand, and said, with -a kindly smile, “Well, dearest, and what -would you have me talk to you about to‐night?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are the proper judge,” replied her -little scholar, “as to what will best follow -after the two beautiful doctrines you have -last explained to me, of <em>Justification</em> and -<em>Adoption</em>. The other day I came to a difficult -word in a book, which, -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> if it would not be out of -place, I should like to know something about. -The word was <em>Regeneration</em>, and”――</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Stay, my dear,” interrupted her grandmother; -“that is the very subject I was -thinking of. You could not have named a -better; and if you will give me all your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>attention, I shall try to open up this great -doctrine to you as simply as I can.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Do you remember what I told you about -<em>Justification</em>?—What God does to the sinner -when He justifies and adopts him?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Difference between Justification,<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “He changes his <em>state</em>,” -replied Emma. “He brings -him from a <em>state</em> of <em>wrath</em> to -a <em>state</em> of <em>grace</em>,—from a <em>state</em> of <em>condemnation</em> -to a <em>state</em> of <em>pardon</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You have given me just the answer I -wanted,” said her grandmother—“that it is a -change of <em>state</em> or <em>condition</em>. In Justification, -from being a <em>rebel</em>, the sinner is pardoned by -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Adoption,<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> his Sovereign. In Adoption, -from being a <em>prodigal</em>, -he is received back into his Father’s lost -home. Now, dear,” continued she, “did I -say that in these there is produced also any -change in <em>character</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I don’t think so,” replied Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right; and you will instantly -see how well it is that I should speak to -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>And Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> you about Regeneration to‐night, -which is the very -word which tells about this great change of -<em>character</em> or <em>mind</em>, which is as necessary to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>salvation, as the great change of <em>state</em> and -<em>condition</em> of which I have already spoken. -What is your own idea, my dear child, as to -the meaning of Regeneration?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Indeed, grandmamma,” replied Emma, -“it is such a long and difficult word, that I -am ashamed to tell, though I have often -heard it mentioned in Mr R――’s sermon, I -never understood it aright.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You should never be ashamed, my dear, -to ask those older than yourself to explain -Bible difficulties to you. Many grow up to -be big people, in great ignorance, owing to -this false shame.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Is it the same, grandmamma,” said -Emma, “as <em>Repentance</em>? I think I understand -<em>that</em> word better.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Bible Terms about Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, my child, there are many words in -the Bible used to denote this same great -change, and which you -must often hear ministers -speaking about. ‘The <em>new -birth</em>’—being ‘<em>born again</em>’—‘<em>Conversion</em>’—‘<em>Repentance</em>’—‘<em>Regeneration</em>;’ -but the meaning -of them all may be summed up in -this,—the necessity of a new heart, produced -by the Holy Spirit, who turns the old heart -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>from the service of sin to the service of -God.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Necessity of Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But must every one -have this entire change of -heart before he can be -saved?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, dearest, it is a doctrine many don’t -like to believe, or to hear about, because they -think it makes the way to heaven too strait -and narrow; but do you remember anything -Jesus said about it, when He was speaking -to inquiring Nicodemus?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>What Jesus says of it.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Oh, yes,” said Emma, -“you have put me in mind -of the verse now—‘Except -a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom -of God.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are quite correct,” replied the old -lady. “That same blessed Saviour never -spoke an unkind word, and He would never -have uttered this, unless it was a solemn -truth, ‘Marvel not that I said unto you, -Ye <em>must</em> be <em>born again</em>.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But if the sinner,” asked Emma, “is -justified in the sight of God, and God calls -him ‘<em>not guilty</em>,’ and <em>pardons</em> him, and -says of him there is <em>no condemnation</em>, what -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>more does he require, in order to be -saved?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>A Change of State -and a Change of -Heart must go -together.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “A great deal more,” -replied her grandmother. -“Let me ask you,” said -she to Emma, “two questions, -which may help to explain the matter -to you. If a king pardoned a rebel, and if -that rebel still hated his sovereign, and sought -to kill him, would it be safe for the king to -receive the ungrateful rebel into his palace?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“No!” replied Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Or, if a father received back a prodigal -son; but if that son <em>continued</em> prodigal as -ever, breaking, with fresh sin, his poor old -father’s heart, and corrupting his other brothers, -could that father permit him to live in his -house?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“No, <em>surely</em>,” still replied Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Well, dearest, what would require to be -done to make it safe for the king to keep -company with the rebel he had pardoned; -and the father to take the son to live with -him in his own household?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“If they had changed and better hearts,” -said Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You have just given again the answer I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>wanted,” said her grandmother. “I want -you to see it is the same with the sinner. -God the <em>King</em> has pardoned the <em>sinner‐rebel</em>. -God the <em>Father</em> has adopted the <em>sinner‐prodigal</em>; -but He never could receive him into His -glorious palace of heaven, unless what?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Change of Heart in -Regeneration needed -for Heaven.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Oh, unless his heart is -<em>changed</em>,” exclaimed Emma. -“I understand it now. He -must have a <em>holy</em> heart,—a -heart to love God and hate sin. I see quite -well he could not get into heaven with an unchanged -heart!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, my dear child,” said the other -(happy that her little grand‐daughter was now -able to see the meaning of Regeneration); -“and even if the sinner could get into heaven -with his sinful, unchanged, unconverted heart, -could he be happy?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Heaven a place for holy Hearts.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I don’t think,” said -Emma, “he could; he -would be miserable in that -holy place, amid holy angels and a holy God. -I see quite well now the truth of what Jesus -says, ‘Except ye be converted, ye cannot -enter in the kingdom of heaven.’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But,” continued little Emma, getting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>more interested in the subject, “I should like -much to know <em>how</em>, and <em>when</em>, and <em>where</em> we -are regenerated, and get this new mind.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Agent in Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Like every other thing -in salvation,” replied the -old lady, “this great change -of heart and life is the work of God; and -though all the glorious Trinity are engaged -in producing it, it is more especially brought -about by the agency of the third person in -the blessed Godhead—the Holy Ghost.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But how do you know when it takes -place?” continued Emma. “Are we aware -of the time when the Holy Spirit works this -great change?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Method of Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “No,” replied her grandmother. “You -remember how simply and beautifully Jesus -speaks of this to one who was asking about -it, and wondering about it, like <em>you</em>. That, -just as you cannot tell -where the wind comes from—you -hear it blowing, but -cannot tell <em>from where</em>—‘so is every one that -is born of the Spirit.’ That new birth, or -change, is wrought silently in the soul. It is -like the little dew‐drops that sparkle in the -morning sun, which gather unseen and unnoticed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>during the night; or like the Temple -of Jerusalem of old, which was built without -any noise of ‘hammer, or axe, or any tool of -iron;’—it rose without din or observation; -and this is the case with every renewed heart -when it becomes a ‘temple of the Holy -Ghost.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Then it takes a long time, grandmamma, -before a sinner’s heart can be changed?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Various Modes of Operation.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “The Spirit of God, my -child, acts <em>how</em>, and <em>where</em>, -and <em>when</em> He pleases. He -sometimes converts and renews, <em>in a moment</em>, -as He did the thief on the cross and the -jailer of Philippi, or the thousands at -Pentecost. Sometimes He does it <em>gradually</em> -(or by <em>degrees</em>), as in the case of Nicodemus; -and sometimes, as I trust, my dear Emma, is -the case with you, He sanctifies from infancy, -changes the young heart, as He did in the -case of Timothy, and Samuel, and Jeremiah.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Am I Regenerated?<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Oh! I am happy to hear you say so,” -replied Emma, “for I was beginning to fear -that I had never felt the Holy Spirit <em>changing -my heart</em>, and that I must -surely be yet unregenerated -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>and unsaved. Such a thought would be very -awful to me.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I trust, my dear child,” said her grandmother, -“I have good reason to believe that -God, by His grace and Spirit, has ‘turned -you from darkness to light,’ and given you a -heart to love Him and serve Him. I wish -that many little children would have such a -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Awful Importance of Regeneration.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> <em>fear</em> as you speak of. I -wish many, too, would remember -that one little word -MUST, and <em>who</em> says it, ‘Ye <em>MUST</em> be born -again!’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Dear grandmamma,” said Emma, “I -must pray more than I ever have done for a -<em>clean heart</em>. I fear, till you have been explaining -this to me, I have thought too much -about my sins being washed in Jesus’ blood, -and too little about my heart being changed -and made holy by Jesus’ Spirit. I see that -I need both, and will try and pray for both.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It is a good resolution, my dearest,” said -the other; “and the Great God, for your encouragement -in asking for a change of heart, -gives you in His own -blessed Bible both a <em>prayer</em> -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>A Prayer for it, and its Answer.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -and an <em>answer</em>. Give me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>your Bible,” continued she, “and, as I feel -unable to speak more to‐night, I will mark -the two places to which I refer, and you can -take them with you to your own room, and -read them to yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>The good old lady kissed her little grandchild, -putting two pieces of paper at what -she had so marked. Emma, saying “Good‐night,” -ran up‐stairs with her Bible in her -hand, and, having shut her door, read to herself, -before she knelt down to her evening -prayer, these two verses:—</p> - -<p class='c017'><em>The Prayer.</em>—“Create in me a clean heart, -O God; renew a right spirit within me” (<abbr title='Psalms'>Ps.</abbr> -<abbr title='51'>li.</abbr> 10).</p> - -<p class='c017'><em>The Answer.</em>—“A new heart also will I -give you, and a right spirit will I put within -you; and I will take away the stony heart out -of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of -flesh” (<abbr title='Ezekiel'>Ezek.</abbr> <abbr title='36'>xxxvi.</abbr> 26).</p> - -<h3 id='fifth' class='c018'>FIFTH NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>“I am now ready for you,” said old Mrs -Allan, as little Emma was waiting anxiously -for the time when she might again seat herself -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>by her grandmother’s chair. “What am -I to tell you about to‐night?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I have been thinking,” replied Emma, -“if you have no more to explain about the -great work in the soul of the believer, that I -should like to hear more of that glorious -Being to whom the sinner owes all the precious -blessings you have been telling me of.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of the Person, -Offices, and Work -of Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I shall gladly do so, -my dear child. It is a delightful -subject to converse -upon the Person, Offices, -and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, -though He was rich, yet for our sakes He -became poor.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I shall hear attentively,” said Emma, -“what you have to say, as there is much -about the <em>Person</em> of Jesus I do not rightly -understand. He is called -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Christ the Son of -God and Son of -Man.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> both ‘Son of God’ and -‘Son of Man.’ I often -wonder how this can be.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“This, my child,” replied her grandmother, -“is the great mystery of godliness, ‘God -manifest in the flesh,’—but it is a glorious -mystery; and happy shall I be to speak to -you upon it.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Son of God.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “The Lord Jesus Christ -is the eternal Son of God. -He was ‘with God, and was God.’ Before -this world, or any worlds were made, He -dwelt from everlasting with the Father. He -is equal with Him in power and in glory. If -He had been an angel, or an archangel, He -could not have saved us, for the highest -archangel is only a <em>creature</em>—and one created -being cannot atone for the sin of another. -In one word, if Jesus had not been <em>God</em>, He -could not have been the Saviour of man.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Son of Man.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But is he not spoken -of,” said Emma, “also as -the Son of Man?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, my dear; and I must add, if He had -not been man, He could not have saved us. -As our surety, it was necessary for Him to -suffer and die in the nature which had sinned—and -besides, you know, that <em>as God</em>, He -could not have suffered, because the Divine -nature is a spiritual one. Therefore it is -that He says, ‘A <em>body</em> hast thou prepared -Me.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I think, too,” said Emma, “it is a blessed -thought that our great Redeemer was a man. -If He had been God only, He could not have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>felt for us in the way He can do as the ‘Son -of Man.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right, my dear child. This is -one of the most delightful thoughts about the -person of Jesus, that He is our ‘elder brother,’ -and not ashamed to call us ‘brethren.’ He -can say to all of us, ‘I know your sorrows,’ -for He was Himself ‘the Man of Sorrows,’ -and felt them all.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Titles of Jesus.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Would you explain to -me,” said the young inquirer, -“the meaning of some more of the -names of the Lord Jesus Christ?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Immanuel.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “He is called,” said her grandmamma, “by -that beautiful word, which -tells that He is both God -and man, ‘<em>Immanuel</em>,’ which means, ‘God -with us.’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Jesus.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Then He is called -‘<em>Jesus</em>,’ because He ‘saves’ -His people—the word Jesus meaning ‘Saviour.’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Messiah, Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Then He is called -‘<em>Messiah</em>,’ and ‘<em>Christ</em>,’ because -He is the anointed of God—both -words meaning ‘anointed.’ As kings, in -ancient times, had anointing oil poured upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>their heads when they were set apart to their -royal office, so our blessed Saviour had the -anointing oil of the Holy Spirit poured upon -Him, to qualify Him for His offices as mediator.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“The <em>Offices</em> of Jesus; dear grandmamma, -I have often heard these spoken of. Will -you kindly explain to me what they mean?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Offices of Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “The Lord Jesus Christ, -my dear child, stands in -different relations, and performs -different acts with regard to the Church -He has redeemed with His precious blood. I -shall mention to you the three under which -He is most frequently referred to.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Prophet.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Jesus is the <em>Prophet</em> of -His Church. He is her -great Teacher. By means of His precious -Word, and the influences of His Spirit, He -makes known to us His own will, and the -will of God for our salvation.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Priest.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Jesus is the <em>Priest</em> of -His Church. A priest, -you know, in former times, offered sacrifices -on the altar. Jesus is called the ‘Great -High Priest of our profession.’ He was Himself -both the Priest and the Victim, for ‘He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>gave Himself for us;’ and just as the Jewish -high priest of old went into the holy of holies -and sprinkled on the mercy‐seat the blood of -the slain sacrifice, and prayed to God for the -people, so Jesus has carried the merits of His -own blood into heaven, and, as <em>our</em> High -Priest, is there pleading our cause at God’s -right hand. You remember, too, the high -priest of old, after being within the vail, -came out to bless the waiting people. So -Jesus, our Great High Priest, will, at His -second coming in glory, bless His assembled -Church, saying, ‘Come, ye blessed of my -Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you -from the foundation of the world.’</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>King.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Jesus also is <em>King</em> of -His Church, the ruler <em>in</em> it, -and ruler <em>over</em> it. He protects it from its -enemies; and though often, like the bush -which Moses saw in the wilderness, it burns -with fire, He will prevent it from ever being -consumed. He will continue to reign over it -as King, until all enemies be put under His -feet.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What a wonderful and complete Saviour, -grandmamma!” exclaimed Emma. “Jesus -is so great, and yet so compassionate! I feel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>as if I can adore Him as God, and yet love -Him as a brother.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“True, most true, my dear child; He is all -you need—the very Saviour you <em>do</em> need. It -is a wonderful thought, His Godhead and -His Manhood! As God, angels and seraphs -worshipped Him. As Man, little children -smiled in His arms!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I love to think of Him, too,” said Emma, -“as my High Priest in heaven. It does -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Christ’s Intercessory Work.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> not make me afraid to -approach the Great God, -when I have so kind a -Saviour to intercede for me.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right, my dear,” said the other; -“there is no thought more pleasing and -delightful, than that we have in glory ‘a -Prince’ that has ‘power with God,’ and must -‘prevail.’ The Apostle Paul rejoiced much -in this truth. It gave him ‘boldness,’ as he -calls it, to approach the throne of grace. -And the Apostle John, in his vision <a id='tn047'></a>on the -Isle of Patmos, beheld Jesus as the Angel of -the Covenant, with a ‘censer’ in His hand. -His people on earth put all their prayers into -this censer, and a fragrant cloud ascends from -it before the throne.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>“What is the meaning of that?” asked -Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It tells us, my child,” said her grandmother, -“that the believer’s poor, imperfect -prayers, when sprinkled and made fragrant -with the incense of Christ’s adorable merits, -ascend with acceptance into the ear of God -Himself. God hears the poorest and unworthiest -of His saints, for the sake of the -work and merits of Jesus.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I can now well understand,” said Emma, -“how the Apostle Paul could say with such -a grateful heart, ‘Thanks be to God for His -unspeakable gift!’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes,” replied the other, “it <em>is</em> unspeakable—and -the more you know of Jesus, the -more wonders will you discover in His -person, and the more glories in His work. -Oh! seek to love him more and more every -day. Let it be your constant wish, and -desire, and prayer—how can I do enough -for this Saviour who has done so much, so -very much for me?</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But I can say no more to‐night. May -this blessed Saviour, my dear child, be yours—yours -now, and yours for ever!”</p> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span> - <h3 id='sixth' class='c018'>SIXTH NIGHT.</h3> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>“It is a long time,” said Emma, running to -her grandmother’s side, “since you were last -able to tell me those nice things about Bible -doctrines. I have been longing much for -you to be able to speak to me again about -them.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I feel better and stronger now,” said old -Mrs Allan, who had been for many weeks -laid aside, “and I am as happy as my little -Emma can be, to find myself once more in -my old oaken chair, with her at my knee.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Thank you, grandmamma,” said she, -clinging affectionately to her withered hand; -“and what are you going to speak to me -about to‐night?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Our last conversation, my child, if I remember -well, was on the intercessory work of -the Lord Jesus. I think you would like to -hear me speak of the final great act of His -mediatorial reign, when He will come at the -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Resurrection -and Judgment.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> resurrection to judge the -world.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, yes!” said Emma; -“I should like much to hear of that awfully -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>glorious day. I often tremble when I think -about it.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It has no terrors, my child, to God’s own -people. It is to them a very joyful day—the -happiest of all their lives; for then they shall be -brought to the full enjoyment of God for ever.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Souls of Believers at Death.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But, dear grandmamma, -I thought, when believers -die, they go to heaven -at the very moment of death; that the -angels of God are waiting by their pillows to -carry them into Jesus’ bosom.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“True—most true, my child,” replied -the aged lady; “the moment the saint -closes his eyes on this world, he opens them in -heaven. The souls of believers are at their -death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately -pass into glory. You perhaps remember -some of the things the Apostle Paul -said in the prospect of death?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes,” said Emma; “‘Having a desire to -depart, and to be with Christ, which is far -better;’ ‘Willing rather to be absent from the -body, and to be present with the Lord.’ I remember, -too, of Stephen, when his wicked murderers -were stoning him, how he cried out, -‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>“Quite right, my dear; and that other -saying of the Saviour to the poor thief on the -cross is more to the point still, when He said -to him, ‘Verily I say unto thee, <em>To‐day</em> shalt -thou be with me in paradise.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But then, from all these verses,” said -Emma, “is not heaven begun at the hour of -death?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It is, my child,” replied her grandmother. -“I have already told you that, at the moment -of death, the soul of the saint is made perfectly -holy, and happy too, beyond what we -can now conceive; but its state of final and -complete glorification will not take place until -the day of judgment.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What is it,” said the little inquirer, -“which will then add to its state of glory and -blessedness?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Bodies of Believers.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “You know, my dear,” -was the reply, “that the -<em>body</em> of the believer is not -taken to heaven at the hour of death. It is -laid in the tomb. You remember too well -that sad day when your little brother was -laid in his grave in the churchyard. His -happy spirit, I believe, is now in heaven, joyful -in the presence and love of God; but his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>full state of glory and blessedness will not be -complete until his body is raised again on the -resurrection morning. Perhaps I should tell -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Purchased by -Christ.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> you that the body, as well -as the soul, is part of the -purchase of the Lord Jesus -Christ. Every particle of the saints’ dust is -redeemed by His blood. The Apostle speaks -of ‘our <em>bodies</em> and our spirits’ as ‘not our -own,’ but ‘bought with a price.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But how can this be?” inquired Emma; -“do you mean that the bodies of those who -have been buried for ages will come all to life -again, and the soul be once more united to -these?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Raised from the Grave.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, my dear, it is indeed -a wonderful thought. -But what cannot the power -of God do? He has <em>said</em> that He will raise -us up at the last day. Do you remember -any of the words of Jesus about this?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Emma thought a little, and at last turned -up her Bible to the verses, and read them: -“Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming -in the which all that are in the graves -shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; -they that have done good, unto the resurrection -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>of life; and they that have done evil, -unto the resurrection of damnation.” “But -how,” continued she, when she had finished, -and once more repeating her question of surprise—“how, -grandmamma, can this be?—does -not the dead body crumble into dust? -How can the particles that have for hundreds -and thousands of years been mixed with the -earth come together again?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“God can do anything, I answer once -more,” was the reply of the other. “We -should always remember that what is impossible -with man, is possible with God. We -are not without examples, my child, in the -natural world, of the wondrous changes which -the power of God can produce in smaller -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Doctrine of -the Resurrection -probable from -Analogy.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> things; and this shews us -(from what is called <em>analogy</em>) -that we have no -right to question the doctrine -I am now speaking about, however -strange and apparently impossible it may -seem to be.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What instances, grandmamma,” said -Emma, “may I ask, do you refer to in the -outer world? I should like to understand -better what you mean.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>“I like to hear you asking for more information, -dear Emma, and I shall try to give it to -you. Well, then, I know you have often seen -the bright and beautiful butterfly with its -golden wings and rings of silver. Can you -believe that that lovely insect was once a -little grub or caterpillar? I see you are -astonished, my dear, at what I now say; but -it is the case. During winter, these little -worms lie in what is called a <em>chrysalis</em> state. -During this time there is nothing in the least -beautiful about them—I would say rather -the reverse; but all at once, when the -summer sun shines out, the little insect -bursts its coating, and is changed into a -lovely butterfly or moth, with expanded -wings, flying up into the blue sky, or -ranging at large amid the garden flowers.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh how wonderful is this!” exclaimed -Emma; “and I see now, grandmamma, what -you mean. This little creature teaches me to -understand how the same mighty power of -God, that changes the caterpillar into a butterfly, -can bring about the still more wonderful -change in raising our vile bodies from the -grave.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You are right, my child,” said her grandmother. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>“I am glad you have understood -me; and if I had time, I might give you other -instances of a similar kind. You have seen, -for example, the farmer put the little grains of -seed into the ground; could you ever have -expected that the small pickles thrown into -the earth would spring up into the rich fields -of yellow corn you have seen waving at -harvest time?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh no,” replied Emma; “I have often -thought how curious this is, and also that the -little annual seed I sow in my own garden‐plot -should spring up such lovely flowers. The -seed looks so small and withered like, and -the flowers are so beautiful in colour, and -have such a sweet smell.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Well, my dear, does not God give us -proofs in these smaller things of what He can -do in greater things. The body laid in the -grave is like the seed laid in the ground, ‘it -is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory.’ I -should like you,” continued the old lady, “to -take your Bible and read all that striking -and beautiful passage of the Apostle Paul on -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Testimony of -St Paul.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> this subject.” Emma immediately -opened to the -15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>42d verse, and read aloud as follows:—“It -is sown in corruption, it is raised in -incorruption: it is sown in dishonour, it is -raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is -raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it -is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural -body, and there is a spiritual body.... Behold, -I shew you a mystery; we shall not all -sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a -moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the -last trump (for the trumpet shall sound); and -the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we -shall be changed. For this corruptible must -put on incorruption, and this mortal must put -on immortality. So when this corruptible -shall have put on incorruption, and this -mortal shall have put on immortality, then -shall be brought to pass the saying that is -written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What a wonderful scene that will be!” -said Emma, as she closed her Bible. “Dear -grandmamma, can you tell me <em>when</em> it will -take place?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>When the Resurrection will be.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “No, my child,” replied -she; “the Bible tells us -that ‘Of that day and hour knoweth no -man; no, not even the angels that are in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>heaven.’ God seems purposely to keep us in -the dark about the time of the coming of -Jesus, that we may be always ready for it. -It matters little how long or how short it may -be, provided we are now living as we would -wish we had done when we hear the trumpet -sounding.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And what sort of bodies,” said Emma, -“will they be that will then rise from the -graves?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“All that I can tell you,” replied her -grandmother, “is, that they will be glorious -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Glory of the Resurrection -Body.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> bodies, fashioned like -unto Christ’s glorified body. -They will be no more subject -to decay, and weakness, and disease, and -death. It is said of them, ‘They shall be -like Him’ (like Jesus), and also, ‘Neither -shall they die any more.’ And surely no -blessedness can be greater than this—to be -<em>like Jesus</em>, and <em>never</em> to <em>die</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, grandmamma!” exclaimed Emma, “I -feel as if I would not be afraid to go to the -grave, after all that you have been now telling -me.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“True, my child, the lowliest grave in -yonder churchyard, if it be the grave of a true -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>believer, is holy ground. Perhaps angels are -watching over it, and Jesus himself counts its -dust <em>precious</em>. The grave of the wicked is a -prison house, where they are detained in captivity -until the day of awful vengeance; but -the grave of the saint is a casket holding a -precious jewel. It is a bed of rest, where he -gently and peacefully ‘sleeps’ till awakened -on the happy morning of immortality.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But I must here, my dear, pause for to‐night. -We have been speaking so much -about this wondrous doctrine of the body’s -resurrection as to render it necessary that I -should wait till another Sabbath to speak as -I promised about the day of judgment.”</p> - -<h3 id='seventh' class='c018'>SEVENTH NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>“You promised, grandmamma,” said little -Emma, as she found herself once more seated -by the old oaken chair, “to tell me to‐night -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Last Judgment.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -about the Day of Judgment. -I long to hear you -speak about so solemn a -subject. There is much about it I do not -understand.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It <em>is</em>, my child,” replied the other, “a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>solemn subject. It will be a dreadful day to -the wicked; but it will be a happy day to all -God’s dear children—the happiest day in -their lives.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Tell me, then, dear grandmamma, all that -the Bible tells us about it. I shall promise -to listen with great attention.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>What it is.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “The Judgment,” answered -the other, “is that -great transaction which is to take place at -the end of the world, when every man, and -woman, and child, that ever lived, will be -brought to trial before God’s ‘great white -throne.’ A trumpet will sound over their -graves. As I told you last Sabbath, the -mouldering dust will come to life again, and -the dead, small and great, will stand before -God.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What a wonderful and awful thought!” -exclaimed Emma; “but do you mean to say -that <em>all</em> will be there, without any exception?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“All!—all!” replied the aged lady, “from -Adam to the last inhabitant of the world. -There will be those who lived <em>before</em> the flood, -and <em>since</em> the flood. Patriarchs, and Prophets, -and Apostles—Jews and Gentiles—Pagans -and Christians—rich and poor—young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>and old—learned and unlearned—kings -and beggars—not one will be wanting; -and more still, <em>you</em> and <em>I</em> will be there. <em>Our</em> -eyes will look on that vast crowd.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And tell me,” continued Emma, deeply -impressed with the thought, “who is the -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Judge.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -Judge that will be seated -on the throne you speak -of? and what will He do?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“If you refer, my child,” said her grandmother, -“to the seventeenth chapter of Acts, -thirty‐first verse, you will there read who is -set apart as Judge of the world.” Emma -turned up the passage in her Bible, and read -as follows:—</p> - -<p class='c017'>“For He hath appointed a day in the -which He will judge the world in righteousness -by <em>that Man</em> whom He hath ordained; -whereof He hath given assurance unto all -men, in that He hath raised Him from the -dead.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh, I see now!” she exclaimed, as she -closed her Bible; “it is the Lord Jesus Christ -who is to be Judge. It makes me glad to -think of this; for if I love and serve Him -now, I will not be afraid to meet Him then. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Throne.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> But why is it said that He -is to be seated on a <em>white</em> -throne?—will it really be so?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I cannot tell,” replied the other, “what -the <em>outward</em> marks of majesty will be in -which He will appear, although, doubtless, -these will be very great; for it is said that -He will come ‘in His glory,’ and that He is -to have ‘all His holy angels with Him.’ But -He is spoken of as seated on a great <em>white</em> -throne, to denote His awful purity and holiness; -that He will give on that day every -one his due. His mercy will not interfere -with the exercise of justice and holiness, and -sinners will not escape unpunished.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I think I now remember, dear grandmamma,” -said Emma, “of reading in that -same chapter in Revelation which speaks of -the throne of the Judge, that He is to have -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Books.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -some books lying open before -Him.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, my child, you are right; ‘the -books,’ we are told, are to be ‘opened.’ -What these books may be we cannot tell; -but perhaps they may be the books of the -Law and the Gospel—the books of Conscience, -and Memory, and Privilege; and especially -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>the <em>Great Book of Remembrance</em>, in which all -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Book of Remembrance.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -our words, and deeds, and -actions, are preserved. All -that every individual has -ever done will be found recorded in it. Many -will wonder when they come to see how -faithful the pen of God has been in writing -down <em>all</em>;—heart sins, and tongue sins, and -life sins. I fear not a few suppose that there -are many trifling faults (or, as they call -them, ‘little sins’) which they imagine God -does not think it worth while to take notice -of. They will find every one of them recorded. -<em>They</em> may have forgotten them long -ago; but they will all be brought to light -again on that Great Day.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“If this,” exclaimed Emma, “be indeed -the case, who is there but must tremble at -the thought of that day?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“The wicked, my child,” continued her -grandmother, “will and must be afraid to -think of it. All who have not known the -salvation of Jesus, and fled to His precious -blood, must be covered then with confusion -and shame. They will then be led to see, -what they never saw before, what an evil -thing sin is, and what a holy being God is. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>But His own people will have nothing to fear. -They can say now, in the words of the beautiful -hymn—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c020'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Bold shall I stand on that great day;</div> - <div class='line'>For who aught to my charge can lay,</div> - <div class='line'>While by Thy blood absolved I am</div> - <div class='line'>From sin’s tremendous guilt and shame?’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c021'>Yes, dear Emma, they will be able to look up -with joy in the face of their Judge, and say, ‘<em>It -is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?</em>’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But what! Do you mean, grandmamma, -that God does not take account of the sins of -the righteous?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“No, no, my child; every one of their sins -is written down as well as those of the -wicked—dreadful pages of guilt, too, that -might well overwhelm them with wrath and -condemnation.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“How, then,” continued Emma, “can it be -different with them from the others? How -can God pass over their many sins?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“He <em>does</em> not—He <em>could</em> not, my child,” -replied the aged lady, “pass any sins over. -But you may have heard of <em>another</em> book which -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Book of Life.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -God will have before Him -on that day. It is the -<em>Book of Life</em>. There the names of all the -redeemed are written. None who are written -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>therein can be lost! It is as if the great -Judge took His pen and drew it through -every page of recorded sins, marking them -all out with the blood of the Lamb of God.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But,” asked Emma, “will it not make -the believer very sad and sorrowful on that -day to see such an awful record of sins? It -will be enough, surely, to bring floods of tears -to his eyes.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I do not wonder at your saying so, my -dear; but I think the thought of his sins will -be lost in a still more wondrous and amazing -one—I mean in thinking of the work of Jesus, -that could take <em>so many sins</em> away, making -them all forgiven and forgotten, and blotted -out for ever.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh that <em>my</em> name, dear grandmamma, -were safely written there! I feel as if I never -could be for another hour happy or joyful -until I felt sure that my name was in the -<em>Book of Life</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“You have, my dear child, all the assurance -necessary, if you are now believing in the -Lord Jesus—trusting in His merits—seeking -to love Him—to do what He commands—and -avoid what displeases Him. Of such He -says (<abbr title='Revelation'>Rev.</abbr> <abbr title='3'>iii.</abbr> 5), ‘I will not blot out his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>name out of the <em>Book of Life</em>; but I will confess -his name before my Father and before -His angels.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But tell me further,” said Emma, “how -will the work of judgment proceed?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Jesus, my child, after the books have -been opened, and the vast multitude have -been brought before Him, will go on to pronounce -sentence upon each. It will be a -solemn scene. We read that ‘He will -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Awards.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -separate the righteous from -the wicked as a shepherd -divideth the sheep from the goats.’ In this -world the good and the bad, the ‘tares and -the wheat,’ are mixed up together. <em>We</em> cannot -tell the holy from the unholy; but Jesus -knows them all; and on that day He will -parcel all mankind into these two great -classes. In one or other every human being -must be placed.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“On whom will He pronounce sentence -first?” inquired Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“He will address the righteous first,” said -her grandmother. “It will not, indeed, be -with <em>them</em> a day of wrath. Believers, at the -time of their justification (as I explained to -you on a former evening), were dismissed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>with the sentence of ‘not guilty’ pronounced -upon them. They are brought before God’s -throne, that there they may be ‘openly -acknowledged’—receive a public acquittal -before men and angels—and listen to that -happy, happy sentence, ‘Come, ye blessed of -my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for -you from the foundation of the world.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I can well imagine their joy,” said Emma; -“but what next?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It will be a sadly different scene, my -child. Let the words of Jesus himself tell -you of it—you will find them in the 25th -chapter of Matthew, 41st verse.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>Emma again turned to the passage, and -read, “Then shall He say also to them on the -left hand, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting -fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“After this,” continued the aged lady, “we -read no more about the doings of that great -day. The court is dissolved—the trial over. -We see the golden gates of heaven open -to receive happy saints and angels; and the -miserable wicked sink down to the regions of -despair! This solemn day terminates the -kingdom of grace on earth. The kingdom of -glory is then completed. The elect are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>gathered into it from the four quarters of -heaven. They ‘enter into the joy of their -Lord.’ But this I must reserve speaking to -you about, if God spare me, till another -Sabbath.”</p> - -<h3 id='eighth' class='c018'>EIGHTH NIGHT.</h3> - -<p class='c019'>Spring once more returned with its green -fields and bright sky. The little birds were -beginning to raise their earliest notes, as if -telling one another how happy they were that -winter, with its snow and its storms, was -again over, and that the fresh buds were beginning -again to appear. The small, old‐fashioned -lamp, too, which was filled every -Saturday, so as to be ready for the Sabbath -evening, was, from the long twilight, no -longer required. As the last rays of the -setting sun were falling through the latticed -window, Emma was found once more at her -grandmother’s side.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I think, my dear,” said the latter, laying -aside her spectacles, and drawing her grandchild -nearer her—“I think I left off speaking -last Sabbath when we were just beginning to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>talk of the most wondrous and glorious of -all Bible subjects.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “you had told -me about the doings of the great Day of -Judgment, and you were commencing to -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Of Heaven.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -speak about the glories of -heaven, when you thought -it would be better to wait till now.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Truly, my child,” said her grandmother, -“I would require rather to wait till that -heaven itself begins, in order to give you -any idea of its happiness. We are told that -‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither -have entered into the heart of man, the -things which God hath prepared for them -that love Him.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I was reading a little ago, when sitting -at the window,” said Emma, “the description -of this glorious heaven given us in the last -chapters of the Bible, where it is said to be a -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>How described in -Revelation.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> great city, with streets of -gold like transparent glass, -walls of jasper, and foundations -of precious stones. And here, too, is -another beautiful verse, grandmamma,” continued -she, as her eyes glanced over the 21st -chapter of Revelation: “‘And the city had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to -shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten -it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.’ And -here yet another lovely description,” she -added, “I love so to read it: ‘And he shewed -me a pure river of water of life, clear as -crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God -and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street -of it, and on either side of the river, was -there the tree of life, which bare twelve -manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every -month: and the leaves of the tree were for -the healing of the nations.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I have not interrupted you, my dear -child, in reading these beautiful verses,” said -the aged lady; “they give us a bright and -glowing picture of happiness and glory, which -our minds can in no other way conceive.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>To be understood figuratively.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “But will there <em>indeed</em> -be golden streets, and -crystal walls, and all these -precious stones that are here spoken of?” inquired -Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“There will be far greater magnificence, -and far purer happiness,” replied her grandmother, -“than all the gold and gems this -world could give. These are just figures or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>emblems employed by God in His Word to -convey to us some idea of the vast glory of -heaven. No earthly words, or thoughts, or -language, could describe this; and therefore, -as men consider gold and precious stones the -most costly and valuable things in the world, -they are used as pictures to give us some -feeble representation of heavenly blessedness.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“What, then, dear grandmamma, will -heaven really be? What kind of a place is -it? and how are the righteous employed when -they get there?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Scenery of Heaven.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I cannot tell,” replied the other, “what -character of scenery there will be in heaven, -nor in what particular spot -in the universe this happy -place is prepared. The -Bible does not gratify our curiosity about -this. For anything that is known to the -contrary, there may be much there that we -love and admire in this world. There may -be beautiful skies, and clear rivers, and gushing -fountains, and lovely flowers, and sweet -music. But still, as I have said already, -regarding all these the Bible says nothing.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>“What, then, <em>will</em> heaven consist in, -grandmamma?” inquired Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Negative and Positive Blessedness.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “I was just going to say, my child, that -there are many things we know will <em>not</em> be -there, and many things we -know <em>will</em> be there. Does -little Emma think she -could tell me any of the things we have in -this world that we shall <em>not</em> have in heaven?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh yes,” replied the little girl, “I -think I know. We shall have no <em>sin</em> there, -and no <em>sorrow</em> there, and no <em>death</em> there.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Negative.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Quite right, my child,” said her grandmother. -“This is a world of sin, and therefore -it has become a world -of pain, and sickness, and -sorrow, and death; but in heaven all these -will be unknown. I thought I saw you, my -dear, but yesterday seated in the churchyard -on little Robert’s tomb; and when you came -home, I observed by your eyes that you had -been weeping for the loss of your little brother. -In that happy heaven I am speaking of there -will be no graves and no tears, for there will -be no sin and no death to cause them.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But then, dear grandmamma, will there -be no other joys in heaven?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Positive.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Yes, yes, my child,” replied the aged -lady; “I have only spoken to you of what is -<em>not</em> in heaven. I have yet to tell you what -<em>is</em> there. Can little Emma -answer this question too, as -well as the last?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I shall meet all my dear friends there,” -said Emma—“my father and mother, who -were both taken from me when I was so -young, and little Robert, and you too, grandmamma, -who have so kindly led me on in the -way to that happy place, and told me often -how I am to get there.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“My dear child,” said her grandmother, -“all that you have said about meeting departed -friends there is true. All who are -the friends of Jesus will meet in that happy -home. I <em>believe</em> it to be true,” she repeated, -the tear filling her eye as she spoke. “Parents -will know their children, and children their -parents; and brothers and sisters will meet -never to part any more. But this is but a very -small portion of the joy of heaven. Can you -not think of a far greater joy in that bright -world than even the meeting of the dearest -earthly friends?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “we shall meet -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>God!—we shall see Jesus face to face! -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Vision of God.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> -This will be the greatest, -surely, of all the glories of -heaven—to dwell for ever with God, and discover -more of His grace and love!”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, truly, my child,” said the other; -“this is to heaven what the sun is to the -universe. All the other glories we can speak -of are only, by comparison, like the light of -the stars to that sun, or like little streams to -the great ocean. We shall ‘see God;’ and -what, perhaps, is more wondrous still, we shall -be <em>like</em> God. Along with the holy angels, we -shall have no higher delight than doing His -will. We shall feel that in His presence -‘there is fulness of joy.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But shall we indeed <em>see God</em>?” inquired -Emma; “the thought seems so wondrous. -How can this be?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>How God will be Manifested.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “Here again, dear child,” replied her grandmother, -“we must not try to be wise beyond -what the Bible has told us; for it is there -said, that ‘He dwells in -light that is inaccessible and -full of glory, whom no eye -hath seen, neither can see.’ That there will -be some bright and glorious manifestation of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>His presence I cannot doubt; but what the -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>The Presence of -Jesus in the midst -of the Redeemed.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> nature of this will be I -cannot tell. This we know, -however, with certainty, -that Jesus, our blessed Redeemer, -in His glorified human nature, will -be seen and adored by the countless multitudes -of His ransomed people.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I saw,” said Emma, “a verse immediately -following the words I a little ago -read, which speaks of this. Here it is: ‘And -<em>they shall see His face</em>, and His name shall be -in their foreheads.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, my child; and you may perhaps -remember some other passages which tell the -same blessed truth. Do you remember what -made John so happy in the prospect of -heaven?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Oh yes,” replied Emma, “I recollect -now. He says with such joy, ‘We know -that, when He shall appear, we shall be like -Him; for we shall <em>see Him as He is</em>.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Quite right, dearest,” said her grandmother; -“I shall just remind you of one more. -It is the Saviour’s own last prayer for His -people—‘Father, I will that they also whom -Thou hast given me be <em>with me where I am</em>, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span><em>that they may behold my glory</em>.’ Do you remember -the name by which Jesus is spoken -of again and again in the book of Revelation, -describing to us how He now appears in -glory?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes,” replied Emma; “I have often been -struck with the title there given to Him. He -is called ‘the <em>Lamb that was slain</em>.’ I often -wonder why He should be called so, now that -He is in heaven, seated on His throne, with -all His sufferings at an end.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“It is, my dear child,” answered the aged -lady, “a very precious name. It tells that -He continues, and will continue, to wear His -glorified <em>human</em> nature there, and that, too, -through all eternity. It tells us also that -the redeemed will never cease to remember -that it was to the shedding of His precious -blood that they owe every gem of their crowns.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And doubtless,” said Emma, “the happy -company of the saints will for ever delight to -think more and more of the love of Jesus?”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Their Contemplation of Christ’s Love.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “You are right,” said -the other. “It will assuredly -be one of the greatest -joys in heaven to comprehend with all -saints what is the height and depth, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>length and breadth, and to know the love of -Christ, which passeth knowledge. They will -ever be trying to know more and more of this -love; but they will never be able to understand -all its meaning.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“I daresay, too, much that we cannot now -understand will be cleared up?” said Emma.</p> - -<p class='c017'>“Yes, my dear,” replied her grandmother; -“God’s wisdom and faithfulness will then be -as fully revealed as His love. There is much -that takes place on earth which is perplexing -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Providences Explained -in Heaven.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> to us—what we call ‘dark -dealings,’—as, for example, -when good and useful lives -are taken away, and evil and worthless lives -are spared; but Jesus, you remember, said, -‘What thou knowest not <em>now</em>, thou shalt -know hereafter.’ I believe we shall then not -only ‘<em>know</em>,’ but <em>see</em>, that ‘all things have been -working together for good to them that love -God.’ Sore trials and afflictions will then call -forth loud songs of praise; and it will be -made manifest that the Judge of all the earth -had done right.”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“And will all these blessed saints,” inquired -Emma, “be equally holy and happy?”</p> - -<p class='c017'>“They will all, my dear, be <em>holy</em>,” said the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>old lady, “for ‘without holiness no one could -see God,’ far less enjoy Him; and they will -all, too, be <em>happy</em>—not one tear will be in their -bright faces. But I believe, too, that some -<span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Degrees of Bliss -in Heaven.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> will be happier than others. -<em>All</em> will be like vessels full -to the brim with glory and -happiness; but some vessels will be larger -than others, and able, therefore, to contain -more happiness. We read that they shall -differ ‘as one star in the firmament differs -from another star in glory.’ Some stars are -of a larger size than others; some are nearer -the sun than others: so those who have lived -nearer Jesus on earth, and loved Him with -larger hearts, will be nearer Him in heaven. -While <em>all</em>, therefore, who are believers will be -happy, those will be happiest who are walking -closest with God now. If you will turn -to the twelfth chapter of Daniel, you will find -there a striking verse, telling of different -degrees of coming happiness. Here it is,” -continued the old lady, pointing her little -grandchild to the third verse: “‘They that -be wise shall shine as the brightness of the -firmament; and they that turn many to -righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>“Oh! what a glorious, happy prospect, -dear grandmamma! Would that I could feel -sure of being one even of these feeblest -stars!”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>How Heaven is Obtained.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> “There is but one way, my child,” replied -the other, “of joining that bright company of -which we have been speaking. It is the -blood of Jesus alone that -can open these glorious -gates. But that blood <em>has</em> -opened them, and keeps them open still, to -the chief of sinners. That blessed Redeemer -seems still to stand at the gate of heaven, -and say, ‘I am the door: by me if any man -enter in, he shall be saved.’</p> - -<p class='c017'>“But I feel, my dear Emma, that my -strength is failing, and I am unable to speak -more to you this evening. Give me your -Bible, and I shall double down the leaf at my -favourite description of the joys of heaven.” -She accordingly took her little grandchild’s -Bible, and putting a mark with her aged -finger at the seventh chapter of Revelation, -thirteenth verse, returned it to her again, saying, -“Should you, my child, be with me at -my dying hour, when my tongue is too feeble -to speak, remember to read to me that sweet -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>passage. I have often wished that I might -have some one to read to me these words -when I pass through the Dark Valley.”</p> - -<p class='c017'><span class='sni'><span class='hidev'>|</span>Conclusion.<span class='hidev'>|</span></span> Little did Emma suppose that the words -which now fell upon her -ear would so soon come -true. A few weeks only passed by, when her -grandmother was laid upon a bed of sickness -and pain, which soon proved a bed of death. -The aged saint bore up under her sufferings -with calmness and fortitude. She was kept -in perfect peace, for her mind was stayed on -God. Her dear little grandchild was her -faithful companion during her last hours. -The night before her death, when she was -fast sinking, and her lips getting paler and -paler, Emma remembered faithfully the request -made to her. The tear started to her -eye as she opened her Bible, and saw the -leaf still folded down. She read it with a -trembling voice. The poor old sufferer was -able to do no more than clasp her withered -hands as the happy sentences fell on her ears. -When she had fallen asleep in Jesus, and -was laid in the churchyard which she had so -often looked to from her window, Emma delighted -to go with her Bible in her hand, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>and, sitting on the green turf which covered -her grave, to read the well‐known passage: -“And one of the elders answered, saying unto -me, What are these which are arrayed in -white robes? and whence came they? And -I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he -said to me, These are they which came out of -great tribulation, and have washed their -robes, and made them white in the blood of -the Lamb. Therefore are they before the -throne of God, and serve Him day and night -in His temple: and He that sitteth on the -throne shall dwell among them. They shall -hunger no more, neither thirst any more; -neither shall the sun light on them, nor any -heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst -of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead -them unto living fountains of waters; and -God shall wipe away all tears from their -eyes.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/back.jpg' alt='Back Cover' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c012'>Transcriber’s Notes</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c022'>A Table of Contents has been added for convenience.</p> - -<p class='c010'>In the caption for the <a href='#tn001'>frontispiece</a>, “Grandmama” has been changed to “Grandmamma” to -make it consistent with the rest of the project.</p> - -<p class='c010'>On page <a href='#tn047'>46</a>, “in” has been corrected to “on” at “vision on the Isle of Patmos.”</p> - -<p class='c010'>Obvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Child's Book of Divinity, by -John Ross Macduff - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LITTLE CHILD'S BOOK OF DIVINITY *** - -***** This file should be named 52001-h.htm or 52001-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/0/52001/ - -Produced by Heiko Evermann, Lisa Anne Hatfield and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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