For those who have but a little strength, the Lord sets open a wide door. You may not be able to open the door, but you can enter it in his Name. Once he opens the door, all the opposition you may be called upon to encounter will not avail to shut it; and if he shuts the door against your adversaries, all their craft and strength will beat against its exterior in vain. Get Christ to shut the door against the tempting

“thoughts that would allure you from your allegiance. His beloved may be sorely beset, but he will keep them in the hour of trial. They shall not miss their crown, but shall become permanent and important constitutents in

the eternal Temple. We have often stood to notice the strength and stability of a pillar in an old church. It has looked unmoved on generations that have grown from youth to age at its base, and so shall Christ’s saints endure.

It is marvelous how much Christ can make of our poor lives, if only we yield to him. It was said of a great statesman recently deceased, “He was a resounding example of what a great thing a great man may make of a life.’ But how much greater can Christ make a life, once a mere block of stone, but now inscribed with his own mystic handwriting and engraving!

Revelation 3:14-22. It is better to be cold than lukewarm, for in the latter case all that God’s love can do for the soul has only produced a moderate result, while if we are cold, our soul has yet to be tried. The Gospel has a better chance with the openly profane and godless than with those who have been brought up under its influence and are so far unaffected. The mischief with men generally is that they do not know themselves, and do not want to know; and they are equally ignorant of the rich stores of blessedness that Christ waits to bestow. We think that we abound in gift and grace, when in Christ’s eyes we are most pitiable. Yet, at this moment, he is standing at the door, laden with the gifts of heaven. Admit him, or at least lift the latch of the will, so that he may push the door back and enter. Do not attempt to deal with the squalor within; he will see to that, and cleanse, keep, and enrich. Do not try to place supper; he will bring thee his own flesh and blood.

Ponder that last beatitude, which promises to all believers that if they share with him his age-long conflict against the evil of the world, they shall share his rule and power, which they shall use with him for the uplift and blessing of mankind. Complete and continually re-

nowed self-surrender to Christ will admit into our hearts the royalty and power of Christ.

Revelation £:1-11. The vision of the ascended Lord introduced the seven letters to the churches, so the visions of this and the next chapters introduce the seven seals. They resemble the frontispiece or illuminated capitals of the old missals. There is no form for the Divine Being. God is Spirit, and his glory can only be hinted at by appropriate imagery. His being should excite emotions in our spirit similar to those which these objects excite in our mind. The jasper with its transparent brilliance, the sardine or cornetian with its fiery red, the emerald with its refreshing beauty, are laid under contribution to describe what cannot be described. The throne bespeaks majestic authority and power. The worship of the elders reflects that of Israel and the Church, Rev. 21:12, 14; the thunder, God’s awful holiness; the seven lamps, the searching, cleansing purity of his Spirit; the glassy sea, the mystery of his ways; the four living creatures, the homage of creation.

Here is the song of creation, v. 11. Originally all things did the will of God, and if creation is now subject to vanity, some day it will be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, and God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Notice that the will of God brought all things into existence, and that that will guarantees their ultimate redemption.