God often draws men to These persons were wise men. Himself by means of their calling :-David from the sheepfolds; Simon and His fellows by draughts of fish; the centurion (Matt. viii. 9) by notions of military discipline, and these astronomers by a star. They were truly wise. False wisdom leads from Christ ; true wisdom to Him. The wisest thing which these wise men ever undertook was this journey to Jerusalem. Think not that the stars or the stones of science will lead the wise any whither but to Him who is the Wisdom and the Word. All the beams of the firmament are rays of this original luminary; all the lessons of nature, obscurer parts of the one grand harmony. They were wise men, and therefore they sought wisdom. "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given." The fool will not seek it, for he knows it not; but the wise will-he has tasted, and desires more. These wise men came from the East, in search of Christ, with the purpose of worshipping Him. See their inducement. We have seen His star. To see a star was a thing of nature; to know that it was His was a gift of God. Their faith; faith in His birth and in His Kingship. Where is He that is born King of the Jews? Their obedience. We are come to worship Him. They are truly wise who are willing to obey, though obedience involve a journey; to encounter inconvenience, toil and danger, for the sake of reaching the Saviour and worshipping the Lord of the soul. Their perseverance. First, they apply at Jerusalem, as the` most likely place. The authorities there, though they could help them by information, could not lead them to the King. Then, undiscouraged at this opening failure, they proceed to Bethlehem. Their success. The sign which at first prompted their journey, now becomes their guide. This fills them with joy; but when they see the Child, we may well suppose their joy rises to its height. Their devotion. They fell down and worshipped Him. To lead us to the worship of Christ, the stars shine in heaven, and the Bible on earth. All nature tends thither. Revelation tends thither. It is the end of all things. It was the end of their journey. → Their devotion was discerning; they were wise men. They were not offended at the King's meanness. Chrysostom (on Matt.) says: "His mother was not crowned with a diadem, nor lying on a golden couch; but had hardly a single garment, and that not for ornament but for covering; such as was possible for a country carpenter's wife. If they had come seeking an earthly king, they would have been confounded rather than rejoiced; since they would have undergone their laborious journey in vain. But now, since they sought a heavenly King, though they saw nothing royal about Him, yet content with the witness of the star alone, their eyes rejoiced at the sight of an insignificant boy, since the Spirit in their hearts showed Him to be venerable ; therefore they fall down and worship-they see humanity, and they acknowledge God." Their worship was twofold. (1) Spiritual, for their whole behaviour and speech testify their sincerity. (2) Bodily, they fell down. Man's body and spirit were both made by the Lord, and both must worship Him. Tell us not that you love your friend if you give no outward sign of pleasure at his presence, if you withhold the warm grasp of the hand, the best greeting of eye and tongue. If you are worshipping Christ, imitate these wise men, and fall on your knees. Their worship, moreover, was costly. They opened their treasures. Words cost nothing; to bend the knee is easy; but to give up valuable property is a proof of sincerity. Giving, from the days of Abel to the last offertory, has been regarded as an indispensable part of Divine worship. Open then your treasures. It was symbolical, for their gifts were gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Wise men have ever delighted in symbolism. The gold signified His royalty, the frankincense His Deity, the myrrh His mortal humanity. So in our worship there is symbolism of express Divine institution, and symbolical worship is most provocative of devotion. It is sad that the zeal of some should ever terrify others, and then lead them to hypocrisy, and at last to cruelty. So it was with Herod. At first he was troubled; then he betook himself to cunning: Bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. Finally, he devised and executed the slaughter of Bethlehem. Let us imitate, not Herod in his alarm, cunning and madness, but the wise men. Let us learn Christ from nature and revelation. We have all had sufficient signs of His existence and His majesty to awaken our attention, and to render seeking and worshipping Him a binding duty. Let us copy their faith, obedience, perseverance and discerning devotion. We are spared long, toilsome and dangerous journies. Christ is at hand. The search is easier, and success is as certain. We need hardly ask, " Where is He?" The place is evident. Let us come and worship-with our hearts, our persons, our property. Then shall we share the reward of the wise men. For our 66 coming" we shall be welcomed; for our "falling down" we shall be exalted; and for our "gifts" we shall be endowed with endless joy and immortality. The Preacher's Finger-Post. INFLUENTIAL MEDITATIONS. "When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches."-Ps. lxiii. 6. Or all the operations of man, none is more important than that of meditation. By thought, man subordinates the world to his use, brings the Infinite near to his soul, moulds his own character, and decides his own destiny. The text directs attention to meditation in its most influential aspect. I. IT IS DIRECTED TO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SUBJECT. What is the subject? Not a thing, or a vast system of things, not a creature-being, or a universe of creaturebeing-but God Himself, the primal source, the animating spirit, the directing Lord of all. "I meditate on thee." Meditation on Him serves several important purposes. First: It serves to rouse the intellectual faculties to their highest effort. The mind turned to Him in thought, feels the stirring of a new life through all its powers. The faculties of inquiry leap into the most ear nest action, the whole soul labors after the Infinite. It serves Secondly: To prostrate the soul in humility. Fellowship with inferior objects is the garden of pride. Communion with the great makes us feel our native littleness. In the presence of God the soul loses its egotism, and feels its nothingness. Like Job, men have only to see Him in order to abhor themselves in dust and in ashes. It servesThirdly To spiritualize all the sympathies of our nature. Living in the world, mingling ever with the objects of sense, girded and canopied by materialism, our sympathies get sensual and secular. But when, by thought, we bring the Infinite into our sphere, the universe of material objects dwindles away, and our souls go forth to Him, feeling that Spirit is the all in all. It serves-Fourthly: To assimilate the character to the perfect One. By a law of mind, those upon whom we most dwell in thought we become most like. The constant object of thought transfigures us into its own image. Thus dwelling in thought upon God, we shall become like Him, "Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord," &c. II. IT IS EMPLOYED IN A MOST INFLUENTIAL SEASON. "In the night watches." Night is pre-eminently the season for solemn thought. First: It gives the mind an inward direction. In the night, the world and all its attractions are buried from man, as into a sepulchre of darkness. As all outside of him is thus entombed in silence and sable, his soul becomes solemnly conscious of itself and its responsibility. Shut in within itself, it concentrates its thoughts upon the great ideas of God, and moral obligation and immortality, which are recorded there in characters plain and imperishable. Secondly: It gives the mind a solemnity of mood. Night is the emblem and minister of seriousness. Man, alone, in "the night watches," is in the best position to become serious. Hence, thoughts in the dark night have a greater power over us. A thought which heaves the whole nature with solemn emotions in the night, has often but little influence over us in the day. "Oft in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, The words of love then spoken, The cheerful hearts now broken! The friends, so linked together, Whose lights are fled, whose garland's dead And all, but he, departed! Thus in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Aye, and the "stilly night," too, is the season for making thought upon God most powerful. us only as specimens of those powers with which Heaven has endowed our nature. They are the chief organs of the soul's communication with the external world. Through them, mainly, the outward comes into us. These, the text tells us, are God's works. He "planted" the ear, and "formed" the eye. This is true of all the powers we have, both of body and of soul. What we have, He imparted to us; all our faculties are His gifts. First: This fact should check all tendency to pride in the man of superior endowments. Ye men of towering genius and giant intellect, pride not yourself on your brilliant endowments. No thanks to you that you have them; they are the sovereign gifts of the Creator. Be thankful for them, and use them for His service. Secondly: This fact should check all tendency to envy in the man of inferior ability. The man you envy on account of his superior endowments, cannot help his greatness; and if you are inferior in power, your obligations are also less. With your smaller gifts you may be happy and even illustrious. The radiance of the glowworm in its sphere, glittering on the green leaf, is as beautiful and Divine as the beams of Jupiter on the blue ethereal. A holy child is as much |