THE CHRISTIAN WITHOUT A CROSS. 307

a vain show.1 What is their pleasure? Vanity. What their skill? Deception. What their honor? Folly.

My God! the beautiful firmament — the work of Thy fingers shall be my show-dish, and the crucified Jesus my picture. In the former, I contemplate what Thy hand has prepared for our felicity; in the latter, the means by which that felicity may be attained. Away with all that is vain; my only wish

is for a blessed eternity.

CC.

The Christian without a Cross.

NE day a lady of rank and great piety complained that, whereas in Scripture the cross is everywhere spoken of as useful and necessary for the children of God, yet she, for her part, must acknowledge, that hitherto the Lord had never deemed her worthy of one, and that this often raised within her melancholy thoughts and doubts whether she was one of His children or not. Gotthold said to her: I confess that complaints like yours are not common, inasmuch as few Christians have any ground to lament

1 Psalm xxxix. 6.

308 THE CHRISTIAN WITHOUT A CROSS.

a lack of the cross, while others, whose share of it is. exceedingly small, nevertheless imagine that it is quite as large as they are able to bear; and in particular, those who are yet unaccustomed to it, are prone to fancy that their cross is too great and heavy for them. As for your case, however, it seems to me that you are actually bearing a cross without being conscious of it. You are vexed with gloomy thoughts because you have no cross. These gloomy thoughts, however, appear to me to be themselves a considerable cross, and also a very salutary one; for they not only evince, but nourish and augment your desire to resemble the Lord Jesus, and to take up your cross and follow Him. Besides, the words of our Saviour, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple," relate not merely to the common hardships of human life, but are also and especially to be understood of the crucifixion of the old man, of his sinful lusts and desires, of self-denial, and the subjugation of the will. For the rest, we cannot and ought not to make crosses for ourselves, for this would end in hypocrisy. The Lord holds the cup of affliction in His own hand, and pours out of it when and as much as He will. That He has spared you hitherto, acknowledge with humble gratitude; He is the searcher of our hearts, and perhaps knew that, with the cross, your heart would not have felt towards Him as it has done without it. Recollect, however, that the drama of your life has not yet

THE CHRISTIAN WITHOUT A CROSS. 309

been played to the end, and that, for aught you know, your gracious God may still have some little cross in reserve for you, to be imposed in due time. The fiercest tempests often come in the evening of the finest summer days, and it is after the pure wine has been run off, that the lees are wont to follow. It ought to be another ground for gratitude to God, that He has given you time to prepare for all emergencies, and provide yourself with the armor necessary for your defence.

Finally, you live in the midst of Christians who are distressed with poverty and affliction, and groaning under crosses of all kinds; and, being a member of the body of the Lord Jesus, you will sympathize with them, your fellow-members, and take their sufferings and privations to heart. When you see any mourner, mourn with him and cheer him. To him who falls and is ready to sink beneath the weight of his cross, stretch out a friendly hand, and help him to rise. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, let your superfluities be the source from which the wants of pious Christian brethren are supplied. In this manner make yourself a partaker of the afflictions of others, and render to them the service which Simeon of Cyrene did to our Lord Jesus, by helping them to bear their cross. By enlisting into their company, you will be sure to pass as one of the genuine cross-bearers.

Lord Jesus! give me the mind of Thine apostle, who knew both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound

310

GOOD WEATHER.

and suffer want.' If Thou spare me, I will thank and fervently love Thee; and if Thou layest a cross upon me,

I will still thank and love Thee no less.

What know I

what is good for me? But Thou knowest it, for Thou knowest all things.

CCI.

Good Weather.

HE weather had been warm and pleasant for several successive weeks, when some one exclaimed Alas! what will come of these sultry

:

days? What must be the consequences of so

long a tract of sunshine, without a drop of rain? Gotthold replied: What say you? Are you displeased that Heaven is kind, and that the fair sun has been, as it were, smiling upon us for so long a time? Yes, rejoined the other; but we must look before us; for, as the crops in the field and the fruit in the garden are in the meanwhile drying up and withering, these kind smiles of the heavens may probably cause bitter weeping upon earth. Well, said Gotthold, if that be the case, let this weather remind us that temporal prosperity, which is usually compared to pleasant

1 Phil. iv. 12.

GOOD WEATHER.

311

sunshine, frequently proves as little beneficial to us, as continued good weather to the crops. The dense and gloomy clouds which, with their discharges of thunder and lightning, shake and terrify the earth, and water it with drenching rain, are not pleasant; but they make the herb of the field rejoice, and man and beast along with it. Light comes out of the darkness, and blessing accompanies the rain. Similar are the effects of trouble and adversity upon the mind. They cause pain and sorrow, but are succeeded by spiritual and divine satisfaction and joy. On the contrary, a long continuance of temporal prosperity is wont to be the harbinger of some great misfortune, or even of eternal perdition, as we see in the case of the rich man in the gospel, and a thousand others. For there can be no doubt that you will search longer for one individual whom misfortune and adversity have driven to despair and ruin, than for a thousand whom success and prosperity have undone. Let us, therefore, at all times be suspicious of our good fortune; and just as, on sultry days like this, we are assiduous in watering our gardens, that the crops may not wither, so in the time of our prosperity let us be diligent in prayer, that God may not deny us His grace, nor take away from us His Holy Spirit, and that so by His governance we may walk prudently and humbly, and never pervert our temporal prosperity into the means of our eternal wretchedness.