"Yes, mamma."
"Then what are you to do in order to overcome the one, and to obtain the other?"
"I must ask the Lord Jesus to give me the Holy Spirit."
"Yes, my child, to him must you come for all help, and he will not send you empty away. Here is a subject on which you must indeed open your mouth wide, in earnest prayer, and wait on the Lord for his gracious answer. "Ask, and ye shall receive," he says, and after showing how an _earthly_ father will act towards his child that asks for bread, how does he conclude?"
"He says, "How much _more_ will your _heavenly_ Father give the _Holy Spirit_ to them that ask Him!""
"Will you then, my dear Frances, profit by this gracious instruction, and will _you_ ask for the Holy Spirit?"
"Yes, mamma, I will try."
"Do you believe the Lord will give you the Holy Spirit when you ask?"
"He _says_ He _will_, mamma."
"That is enough, my child; what the Lord says is yea and amen. It is written, "Hath he said, and will he not do it?""
"Yes, mamma, I know G.o.d is _Truth_, He cannot lie."
"But you know also, my dear Frances, when the Holy Spirit is given, he takes up his abode in the heart, and he _acts_ in the soul, and will not dwell there without producing his holy fruit; and tell me now what is the fruit you particularly want to overcome this sinful desire of appet.i.te which prevails in your heart."
"Is it not _temperance_, mamma?"
"Yes, and if He comes into your heart, he will give it you, and moreover teach you to _repent_ of your sins; for consider, my Frances, sin is an offence against him, and needs to be repented of.
Do you repent?"
"I am very sorry, mamma."
"But repentance is more than sorrow; it will make you ashamed before G.o.d, and make you feel yourself vile; and it will also make you carefully watchful against the temptation; it will make you anxious to quit the sin, and clear your soul from its power; it will make you indignant against it, and urge you to seek that strength from the Spirit, which will resist the sin, and overcome it. When, therefore, you ask for the Holy Spirit, be _willing_ that the Lord should _fill_ you. Be ready to _exercise_ the mighty gift for _all_ his offices, to convict you of sin, to lead you to true expectations, and to strengthen you to overcome your sin, giving you that grace which is specially opposed to the leading sin of your heart."
"I wish I had this gift; for my sin makes me very unhappy: I know it is wrong."
"Do not stop in _wishes_, dear child, go and _pray_; "_Ask_, and ye shall receive." "Open your mouth wide" in the full utterance of all your distress, and of all you desire; pray for what you _want, name_ it; pray for _repentance_, and for _temperance_. Pray that the _l.u.s.t of your appet.i.te_ may be _crucified_, and pray that the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of G.o.d who taketh away sin, may be sprinkled upon your guilty soul, and cleanse it from all sin. He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. He is angry only when we neglect his promises and his gifts.
"It is not long since, dear Mary, that you and I conversed on this text, "My people would not hearken to my voice, Israel would none of me: _so I gave them up to their own heart"s l.u.s.ts_," Psa. lx.x.xi.
A dreadful judgment! what would become of _you_, dear Frances, if you were given up to the dominion of your appet.i.te?"
"But, my dear mamma," Mary said, "do you not remember the end of that psalm, what a sweet verse there is?"
"Repeat it, dear girl, and let little Frances hear it!"
""_Had_ they hearkened and obeyed, then should he have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied them.""
"O my children," said their mamma, "here is spiritual food for the spiritual appet.i.te! You know who is the Bread of Life, and who is the Rock of our salvation. Turn unto him your whole heart, and though you feel the burden of the body of this death, you shall soon be able to thank G.o.d, who, through Jesus Christ our Lord, will deliver you."
"Poor Esau repented too late, That once he his birth-right despis"d, And sold for a morsel of meat, What could not too highly be priz"d.
How great was his anguish when told, The blessing he sought to obtain Was gone with the birth-right he sold, And none could recall it again!
He stands as a warning to all, Wherever the gospel shall come!
O hasten and yield to the call, While yet for repentance there"s room!
Your season will quickly be past; Then hear and obey it to-day, Lest when you seek mercy at last, The Saviour should frown you away.
What is it the world can propose?
A morsel of meat at the best!
For this are you willing to lose A share in the joys of the blest?
Its pleasures will speedily end, Its favor and praise are but breath; And what can its profits befriend Your soul in the moments of death?
If Jesus, for these, you despise, And sin to the Saviour prefer, In vain your entreaties and cries, When summon"d to stand at his bar: How will you his presence abide?
What anguish will torture your heart, The saints all enthron"d by his side, And you be compelled to depart.
Too often, dear Saviour, have I Preferr"d some poor trifle to thee; How is it thou dost not deny The blessing and birth-right to me?
No better than Esau I am, Though pardon and heaven be mine To me belongs nothing but shame, The praise and the glory be thine."
I.
The Little Pavior.
"Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right,"--PROVERBS, xx. 11.
Happy the child who is active, intelligent and obliging, and who takes pleasure in serving those that are about him! Happy above all is the child, who, fearing and loving the Lord, shows himself thus zealous and obliging, from a feeling of piety, and a desire to please G.o.d.
Such was Francis, and this we shall soon see, from the following narrative:
Francis, who was about eight years old, was spending the month of June with his Grandpapa in the country.
His Grandpapa lived in a pretty house, roofed with slates, and surrounded with a verandah, in which were seats, and between each seat, some flower-pots. Jessamine and roses entwined themselves around the verandah, and adorned it with elegant festoons of flowers.
Behind the house was a yard, where chickens, turkeys, and guinea- fowls, were kept; and in the front, looking towards the west, was laid out a fine garden, well provided with evergreens, such as holly, yew, and pine-trees, and amongst these, also, many birch and ash- trees flourished.
At the bottom of the garden, which sloped a little, flowed a pure, but shallow stream, which was crossed by means of a wooden bridge, surrounded with elders and large hazels.
This was a delightful dwelling-place, but those who inhabited it, were still more delightful than the beautiful garden or the smiling groves. For it was the beauty of piety which was found in them, united with that gentleness and amiability of character, that humble spirit of cordiality, which our Saviour enjoins upon all his true disciples.
These inhabitants, so good and so amiable, were the Grandpapa and Grandmamma of Francis, and their domestics, who, with them served the Lord, and lived in that peace, which His Spirit gives to such as delight in His Word.
This dear Grandpapa then, since he was pious, was charitable, and took particular pleasure in visiting his aged neighbors, especially the poor peasants, to whom he always carried comfort and encouragement from that gracious G.o.d, with whom he himself daily endeavored more and more to live. He used generally to pay these charitable visits in the middle of the day; after having read the Holy Bible for the second time, in a retired summer-house in the garden, near which a little gate opened upon a footpath, which, pa.s.sing through the orchard, led to the village.
Francis, who was already acquainted with his Grandpapa"s habits, never came to disturb him while he was in the summer-house, and whenever he saw his Grandpapa going out of the little gate he took good care not to follow him.
But in about an hour or two, he would go to meet him, sometimes towards the road, at others, as far as the bridge over the stream;-- his Grandmamma was never uneasy, because she knew that Francis was a prudent boy, and that G.o.d watched over him, as one of the lambs of the good shepherd.
Grandpapa then, had just finished reading; he had put on his hat and taken his cane, and had gone out through the gate.