But thou, thyself, for aye the same, "Reality, reality, Lord Jesus Christ, is crowned in thee! In thee is every type fulfilled, In thee is every yearning stilled For perfect beauty, truth and love; For thou art always far above "Reality, reality Of grace and glory dwells in thee! How real thy blessing when thou dost bless! Dost not the loving and glowing heart "Reality, reality! Such let our adoration be! Father, we bless thee with heart and voice, In the far-off land of death and doubt, That drew us to Christ by the Spirit's might, That opened our eyes to see the light, That arose in strange reality, From the darkness falling on Calvary. "Reality, reality Lord Jesus Christ, thou art to me! The reality of Jesus Christ'— Will I not praise thee when I see RELIGION A SATISFYING AND BLESSED PORTION. For the Christian religion men have sought out many substitutes, and millions content themselves as best they can in the embrace of one or more of them, but all together they furnish no peace of mind, no joyousness of spirit, like that which comes from the knowledge of sins forgiven, acceptance with God, and meetness for heaven. The pure soul is the only satisfied soul. "I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." The devoted heart is the only heart that has found its true shrine. The spirit thrilled with the sublime experiences of communion with God is the only perfectly happy spirit. The mind uplifted with God-like motives is the only truly exalted mind. The life saved from open sin and secret impurity is the only life upon which God sets the seal of his approval. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments." (Ps. cxix. 1, 2, 3, 6.) Sin is a disturbing element. It is not a part of man's original nature. It is an after intrusion, a subsequent blot, a poison introduced by Satan in the Eden home. It is the cause of the world's misery. It is the source of human woe. Moral turpitude is the basis of mortal despair. Rebellion of the heart keeps dread of the future alive, and is the feeder of spiritual unrest. God has ordained an eternal connection betwixt sin and misery and betwixt holiness and happiness. His law is that perfect innocence is perfect felicity. This is heaven's order; it cannot be subverted. A really holy heart cannot be permanently miserable, any more than a sinful, rebellious heart can be permanently happy. That the hearts of the wicked are not perfectly happy is evident from their restlessness and love of excitement. They crave novelty; are unsatisfied amid the quietude of God's Sabbaths and the serenity of religious worship. It is this spirit of unrest which fills the theatre, keeps up the dance, and perpetuates the haunts of evil. "Strangers at home, Like Noah's dove we roam, And find no rest.' "So much we live in outward things, So much in noise and show; “The shadows from the world of sense, And outward pleasure, pain, suspense, "Meanwhile, the soul, forgot, unknown, "It sighs in sorrow and in pain, And pleads for light and breath; But still it sighs and pleads in vain, The body demands food; the mind craves knowledge; and the soul rises in desire for spiritual sustenance. Men fail to recognize the arrangements of the divine economy. They seek to satisfy the soul with what at best can only serve as food for thought. They strive to quench the thirstings of their immortal spirit at material fountains. They amass property, court applause and power, and have their highest pleasure in the possession of worldly chattels. As well may a man strive by mental exercises to satisfy the craving of his stomach for food, as to endeavor to quiet the uprisings of conscience, the demands of his higher nature, with the material instead of the spiritual, the temporal instead of the eternal. "What a perversion of truth it is," observes Rev. Dr. T. W. Hooper, "for a man to have his mind engrossed, and all the energies of his nature absorbed in the pursuit of those things which can never satisfy, and which must perish with the using! What a fatal mistake that man is making who allows these mere matters of time and sense to shut out all those eternal realities that have a right to demand the most careful attention, and the most undivided attention, of our souls! There is a part of man which cannot live on bread, and which must live forever, and which must draw its sustenance from the risen and exalted Son of God-an immortal soul, worth more than ten thousand worlds like this; a soul whose eternal destiny is to be fixed while here in the body, and in a life-time, short at best, and wearing away every day that it lives in the flesh; a soul that gives vitality to the body, and value to all that is of any value in all this world and all that 'heaven' means, to a ransomed sinner saved by grace."" There must be adaptation. "The fishes do not live on the elms, neither do the cattle browse in the midst of the sea." A being made in the image of God must look for its appropriate sphere of labor and reward in the things of God; it must breathe the atmosphere of heaven-a heaven begun below; it must have the mind that was in Christ, ready for sacrifice, toil, benevolence, sympathy for human woe, and constant activity. While in the world, it must not be of the world. While using the world, it must not abuse it. While enjoying the world's beauty of song, and sight and sound, it must not set the affections upon it, but on things above, for the fashion of this world changeth and passeth away, but heaven, and glory, and God, like the soul itself, abide for ever. This is where so many make the fatal blunder. They seek for satisfaction in that which has no satisfaction in it. They toil, and sweat, and strive, and agonize for that as an ultimatum, which at most is designed to be only a means in the hands of those to whom it is given of accomplishing the will of God. Gold is good as a servant, but bad as a master. Power is useful when rightly directed and controlled, but once the bands are broken, ruin ensues. Christ understood the proper order of life when he said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added." It is man's first and highest duty to serve God. That is what he is on earth for. Life is not worth living when shorn of the "religion which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." The young, looking ahead, may think otherwise; but the old who have lived their day and come to taste death-no prospect beyond, the future a night of darkness, starless, rayless, hopeless, are constrained to say of all their years and yearnings: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." "Oh, shall we ever, ever roam, As if we feared to stay, "No, let us harken to the groans "Pity thy soul, thy captive soul, "Where chafes, in chains and pains and tears, "Bow to thy soul a listening ear, Of wrath and terror thou shalt hear, "You hear the plaint and hear it all, "For shouldst thou from this realm of death There might flow forth to meet thy faith A healing, cleansing tide." But we are sometimes asked to tell why some who have chosen that good part also apparently lack complete satisfaction. It is right that the question should be answered, and perhaps it will not |