a steady coal fire. You have seen the grate full of coals all burning red, and the whole mass of coal has seemed to be one great glowing ruby; and everybody who has come into the rocm out of the cold has delighted to warm his hands, for it gives out a steady heat and warms the body even to its marrow. Such are our joys. I would sooner possess the joy of Christ five minutes than I would revel in the mirth of fools for half a century. There is more bliss in the tear of repentance than in the laughter of gayety; our holy sorrows are sweeter than the worldling's joys. But oh, when our joys grow full, divinely full, then are they unspeakably like those above, and Heaven begins below. Did you never cry for joy? You say, perhaps: "Not since I was a child." Nor have I; but I have always remained a child, so far as divine joy is concerned. I could often cry for joy when I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him.-SPUR GEON. Joy Is Glory. Joy is the glory of God. It is a thought we do not link enough to Him.-STOPFORD A. BROOKE. JUSTICE. "The Just for the Unjust.' Christianity is not a clever contrivance for outwitting justice. In Christ we do not outrun justice. Justice itself, by a mystery we can neither understand nor explain, has been satisfied by Christ. The mystery of the Cross lies within that thought. Now and then we seem to see somewhat of its meaning. God is just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly; Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree; He suffered, the just for the unjust; He was wounded for our transgression; He was bruised for our iniquities. When we are weariest, saddest and most severe with ourselves, we hear these words, and they are full of rest, hope and music. We see the light, and call it Heaven. The refuge in Christ is based upon confession, repentance and restitution. It is not set up for righteous men, but for men unrighteous and lost.-JOSEPH Parker. Absurd Justice. There was once a robber in Cairo who, climbing into a window, fell and broke his leg. He complained to the Cadi, and asked for justice from the owner because the window casement was defective. The Cadi sent for the owner, who laid the blame on the carpenter. The Cadi sent for the carpenter, who laid the blame on the mason. The mason blamed a pretty girl, who in passing attracted his eye by the pretty gown she wore. The girl blamed the dyer who dyed the gown. The dyer had no excuse to offer, and the Cadi sentenced him to be hanged in his own doorway. Every one was satisfied, but presently the executioner came back and said he could not hang the dyer because the door was too low. "Then," said the Cadi, "go, get a short dyer and hang him. We must have justice, though the heavens fall."-CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. The Justice of God. There are men who say they believe there is a God, but God is too merciful to punish sin. He is too full of compassion and love, and He could not punish sin. The drunkard, the harlot, the gambler, the murderer, the thief and the libertine would all share alike at the end. Suppose the Governor of your State was so tenderhearted that he could not bear to have a man suffer, that he could not bear to see a man put in jail, and he should set all the prisoners free. How long would he be Governor? You would have him out of office before the sun set. These very men who talk about God's mercy would be the first to raise a cry against a Governor who would not have a man put in prison when he had done wrong. --MOODY. A Revival of Justice. A man said to me the other night, when I was talking on this subject: "Your old Gospel will not put bread into the mouths of the people." My friends, don't you believe it. That is just what will. You want to remove |