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12 THE PRESBYTERIAN
Prayer Meeting
GLORIFYING THE LORD JESUS.
Week Beginning October 10. 2 Thes. 1: 11-12.
The inspired author had just written of a blessed consummation
that was to be realized as the crown of our Master's
rpdf?mntivp wnrk woll HQ tho hnnnr nnH Holiuht nf hlo ra.
deemed people; a time for which all other times are made,
"when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be
admired in all them that believe." It would nevertheless be
a period of supreme and final testing and was therefore to
be anticipated with heart-searching and was to be the culmi
nation of a trustful, persistent and effective advance in
spiritual experience.
A consummation so happy and, indeed, so august, was a
worthy object of earnest and constant prayer; "wherefore"
says the apostle, "we pray always for you, that God would
count you worthy of this calling and fulfil all the good pleasure
of his goodness and the work of faith with power."
What a comprehensive prayer this is and how high the
standard which it would have attained in the life of believers!
Can any pardoned sinner, the object of divine mercy,
be counted worthy of this calling. He can through Christ,
and through him alone. Infinite merit can avail that the
saved sinner may be counted worthy of this calling; worthy
for the sake of the Mediator, and worthy in that the gracious
plan of pardon has been accepted. There is no lowering of
standards, and no abandonment of required perfect fulfilment.
The Omniscient God is to be the judge. The prayer
is "that our God will count you worthy."
On the human side the solemn exactions embraced in this
remarkable prayer, increase rather than diminish. In the
Revised Version we read ''And fulfill every desire of goodness
and*every work of faith, with power." What heights
of perfection are here anticipated, and expressed! Can any
soul ever attain to such excellence? We must say that no
uiuii uui gici icatueu lucob supreme neignis. it IS yet
true that every honest redeemed soul is sincerely aspiring
to them, and that for their ultimate attainment he can pray
sincerely and expectantly. Our active life here is a training
and drilling for the ideal life which God has promised, and
though our earthly life will be marred by defects and deformities
throughout, its goal is perfection, and toward that
goal we are pressing, and to it we will most surely attain.
No lower standard can be set for our aim and with none
other can we be satisfied as the ideal of our longing expressed
in prayer. Paul and his associates here are but
giving expression to the conscious yearning of every renewed
and enlightened heart when they pray for the perfection
of experience and conduct.
The ultimate end and supreme fruition of all Christian life
and every spiritual excellence, is the glory of Christ. We
accordingly find the spirit of inspiration adding these words:
"That the name of our Lord-Jesus may be glorified in you
and ye in taiui." The true conception of the whole plan and
process of redemption is that its transcendent design is the
glory of the Redeemer. It may be said with perfect assurance
that whatever is for his glory is best, and to that end
all else must be made subordinate. At this point sound
doctrine very often parts company with religious sentiment.
To the natural mind the punishment of the wicked for the
glory of divine Justice, is not acceptable. We shall never be
prepared to know the truth until we fully believe that the
glory of our Redeemer is the supreme end.
Very happily, however, the glory of our Ix>rd is not only
in harmony with, but involves the' glory of his saints;
iui iue luBjjireu pennon i8 uiai me name or our liOrd Jesus
may be glorified In you, and ye in him." That which declares
and exalts our God's abounding grace toward sinners,
at the same time proclaims the majesty of his blessed name;
and whatever magnifies his name brings blessedness and
honor to all who are saved through that name. The bride
shares the glory of the Bridegroom. All the members of the
OF THE SOUTH. October 6, 1909.
spiritual body are honored by virtue of their union with him
who is "Head over all thngs to the Church which is his body,
the fulness of him that fllleth all in all."
Young People's Societies
DOUBTING CASTLE.
Topic for Sunday, October 17: Pilgrim's Progress Series X.
Doubting Castle. Psalm 43: 1-5; 73: 13-20; 1 Kings 19: 1-18.
DAILY READINGS.
Monday: Job in Doubting Castle. Job. 30: 19-31.
Tuesday: A prophet in perplexity. Habakkuk 1: 1-17.
Wednesday: Elijah's despair. 1 Kings 19: 4, 13, 14.
Thursday: Peter sinking. Matthew 14: 22. 23.
Friday: The key of promise. 2 Peter 1:1-4.
Saturday: The way out. Isaiah 39: 14-33; 40: 27-30.
By-paths instead of the straight road to the Celestial City
lead the Pilgrims into the dungeons of Doubting Castle, the
prisoner of the Giant Despair.
Bunyan's Pilgrim thought he saw an easier way than that
which was set before him. Taking it, he fell in with Vainconfidence.
Soon he fell into the pit set for unwary travelers.
The believer never nrnsnerc nr ? ?- -? *
, r-?M ^ ugi^oocs wucu UUl OI Llie
one way set before him. "This is the way, walk ye in It."
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me."
Finding the inutility of the other ways, and conscious of
having left the one right way, the next natural step is to
fall into despair. The dungeon of Doubting Castle is well
said to be very like the Slough of Despond.
The greatest dangers which beset the believer are not
those from without, but those which come from within himself.
Over-confidence in his own wisdom, and the effort to
make an easier way for himself are among the chief of these.
Elijah furnishes us with a remarkable proof of the source
of despondency. He looked within and not without. He
cried, "I, even I only," and his own self, loomed so lareo that
he could see naught else, and then he was ready tj> die.
The story of Elijah, in that part of his life when he fled
from Jezebel and her wrath to Beersheba and Horeb, fills us
with wonder, unless we remember that with all his greatness
he was still but a man. From Carmel's summit to the
shelter of the juniper tree, was a remove that nothing else
will account for.
But the stay of Christian and Hopeful in Doubting Castle
and under the power of the Giant Despair was needlessly
long. They might have come out at once. Christian had in
his bosom a master key {hat would unlock any door in the
cr\onf'o noolln u" * *
u bmus. i.-vib?utu 01 his possession, ne nad allowed
himself and his to be all this time in the bonds of Despair.
It was prayer that brought about the discovery of this
forgotten Key. Communion with Qod, combined with humble
confession of our .sins to him, praising him for his grace,
and seeking his help in time of need, will reveal to us
means of relief unsuspected before.
The master key is Promise. God's Word has given us his
agreement to be our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble, our strength in weakness, our sufficiency
unto all things. That agreement has always been found practical
and useful when it has been tried. He has never yet
fs'led those who have relied upon him.
To And that key we must know his Word, tell him our
need In prayer, keep In his way as much as we can, trust to
him as our Guide into ail truth, and be read^ to do his holy
will.
"Out of the way we went and then we found,
What 'twas to tread upon forbidden ground;
And let them that come after have a care.
Lest heedlessness makes them, as we, to fare,
Lest tuey for trespassing his prisoners are
Whose Castle's Doubting, and whose name's Despair."