self surely meets and makes Himself known to the "two or three;" the silence of the saint's heart, which is indeed a temple of God, built in silence, brooded over ever by the silence of heaven, all earthly sounds hushed by its jealous walls, none ever admitted there but One. CHAPTER XV. THE SOUL IN FEAR. "With God is terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice. Men do therefore fear Him."-JOB xxxvii. 22-24. "Let us incessantly bear in mind that the only thing we have really to be afraid of is fearing anything more than God."-Anon. "The heart dies down-O mightiest, then, Come ever true, come ever near, And wake their slumbering love again, Christian Year. "Will the storm hear the sailor's piteous cry, Taught to mistrust, too late, the tempting wave, A God in anger, a self-chosen grave? "Then is there hope for such as die unblest, That angel wings may waft them to the shore ; THE spirit of the age in which we live tends to make us forgetful of the judgment of God upon sinners. There is generally a leniency in punishment; from the punishment of children, to the punishment of the most terrible crime, we are getting more and more afraid of severity, more and more inclined to the opposite extreme. We lift our hands in horror as we read of the punishments of other days; we invent milder forms, or seize upon excuses, and give criminals the benefit of all uncertainty. * What wonder, then, that all this reacts upon religion and affects men's thoughts of God and His judgments? The existence of Satan and his host is denied; the doctrine of hell is explained away; the pleasing side of the Gospel is exclusively dwelt upon; smooth things are demanded from preachers, and supplied by them; sin is extenuated and sinners flattered; and God Himself is insulted by mawkish sentimentalisms, as if smiles and unctuous words would appease His just indignation and arrest His righteous and tremendous judgments. "Some fancy a God made up altogether of mercy—a childish mercy; as if mercy had nothing else to do but to wrong all His other perfections, to make Him belie His truth, extinguish His justice, discard His wisdom, and enslave His power." And yet the matter stands plainly enough in the Bible, Old Testament and New. Take, for example, our Lord's parables; take that of the Great Supper. The master says, "None of those that were bidden shall taste of my supper." What, will he not wait * "To hope to preserve Christianity by meeting assailants halfway, and throwing overboard one doctrine after another, is suicidal folly."-H. N. Oxenham. for them to change their minds? will he not send to them again, and yet again, and beg and pray them to come? Is it possible to provoke him too far and be for ever shut out, while others occupy their places? Ay, so it is, however much modern softness may try and persuade to the contrary. Nor is this all. This parable was spoken by our Lord at the beginning of His mission; there is a similar one which He delivered near its end, the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son. In that also he represents the invited guests refusing the accepted invitation at the time of the feast. But notice the altered circumstances; the king's messengers are insulted, injured, murdered, for now the Jews had made up their minds to reject and slay our Lord. But mark what the king does. He invites other guests, indeed, as the master did in the former parable, and gives the first asked no second chance: but he does more than that; "he sends forth his armies and destroys those murderers, and burns up their city." He punishes; he avenges his outraged honour; he inflicts the extreme punishment of death: not curative punishment to lead to repentance, but retributive punishment. Go on to another parable, also at the end of our Lord's life and ministry, that of the Ten Virgins. It is quite evident here, as elsewhere, that our Lord is speaking of Himself and His own final judgment; and here again the foolish virgins have no second chance. They beg the wise to give them oil, and they are refused; they even knock at the door and petition the Bridegroom Himself in the auspicious hour of His bridal feast: but He will not listen; the door is inexorably shut against them, plead and weep as they may. "No light had we: for that we do repent; And learning this, the bridegroom will relent. "No light: so late! and dark and chill the night! Too late, too late! Ye cannot enter now. "Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet? O let us in, though late, to kiss his feet! No, no, too late! Ye cannot enter now." Or take example; these parables had their first fulfilment in the Jews. Think of their doom and punishment; read the account that Josephus gives of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, page after page of horrors. Look out upon their history since. that time, how they seem to be like the Burning Bush, that is all on fire, but is never consumed, and lives on ever to testify to the world that God will not be trifled with, that His judgments are terrible, that there is a limit to His endurance of sinners, and that when that is past, "they shall call, but He will not answer; they shall seek Him early, but they shall not find Him; yea, that He will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh." Remember the quick judgment of Ananias and Sapphira. One fault, conviction, sentence, death! Think of Judas; his remorse, his despair, his destruction. Remember the tears of Esau, and that |