sanctifying of the Holy Spirit; and that our feet are kept washed. So that while we are striving to help another, we are not ourselves showing the defilement of inconsistencies. May God help us to obey His will, as He uttered it in the guest-chamber. "Jesus.. Fifteenth Day. SIN MADE KNOWN. . was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me." "Ye are clean, but not all. betray Him; therefore said He, For He knew who should Ye are not all clean." Ah, the guest-chamber is not only the place for sweet words! We do not only hear in this "upper room" that we are beloved by our gracious Host, but we find sin reproved here. It is when we get very near to Him that He shows us our sinful things-the words that are not absolutely true, the actions that in their petty duplicities are betrayals of Himself, and weakness of His cause; the thoughts that wander into forbidden regions, and seek ungiven boons, dissatisfied, murmuring, complaining. He knows it all. He knew it all before; but we did not know it, because He did not tell us until we were alone with Him. Then He lifted the curtain of distance, and showed us how we had grieved His Spirit, and hidden sword-shafts of future misery in our own breasts. Unconfessed sins and broken vows, vanities, selfishnesses, unholy ambitions, and morbid hankerings after that which is not, or may not be. All these things come to light, and humble us sadly. But as we own them, and yield them one by one as sacrifices at His feet, the Holy Fire from His Presence descends upon our altar, and sanctifies anew our life. poor blackened lips become purified again. They are cleansed and forgiven. The "coal of fire" touches them, and they are ready once more to be filled for Jesus. With the sight of our Judases we are given that soul-restoring sight, of Christ as our Saviour. He delivers us from them. Oh, what a true friend we have in Jesus! He hides nothing from His people. He confides in them as His beloved These ones; and tells them to "draw nigh," that He also may "draw nigh." Then the blood cleanses, and the love heals; and we can thank God that the sin is put away, and He hath "restored unto us the joy of our salvation." We are so apt to shrink from this judicial dealing. We think that it is so depressing to be brought face to face with our sins. But if there are hidden things, that are marring our victories and spoiling our Captain's glory, like the treasures in Achan's tent, is it not well to have them brought into the light? If they are discovered at the feet of Jesus, can they not be removed by Him? And if the removal should give us pain, can He not heal the wound He has given ? "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of My people recovered ?" Shall we not then pray, in the words He has taught us: "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."-Cant ii. 15. When the Lord spoke to Judas his own convincing words, we find that he-the accused man- went out quickly, and it was night." That is a dark hour indeed, when our sins drive us out from the presence of the Lord, and banish from us the light of His countenance. We read of the young lawyer, that "he went away grieved, for he had many possessions." He clung to that which was not Christ, and it proved a means of separation. The "separating" hour was one of misery, and what must its after results have been? If we choose our sins, and leave Jesus, though we gain as Judas did "thirty pieces of silver" thereby, we bring upon ourselves the very darkness of night. Our souls suffer sorely. The light of the Sun of Righteousness becomes eclipsed, and it is very night with us. But if in the guest-chamber of His Presence we listen to His words, leaning on His breast, choosing Christ for our portion, even though the "olive should fail, and the vine should wither away," our hearts shall be filled with the whispers of His love, and our souls gladdened with the brightness of His own smile of favour; and His smile is brighter than all other smiles. There is no sunshine like it-spiritual or earthly. Sixteenth Day. YE SHALL KNOW. "Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." JOHN xiii. 7. In the first place these words referred to the lesson Jesus Christ was teachdifficult to understand. taught and the example set. ing, and His teaching was The lesson seemed a simple one, and yet it brought forth the question from Simon Peter, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" The disciples seemed to be always learning and unlearning. No sooner had they grasped a truth, or did they think they had grasped it, than some puzzle arose, and they were obliged to acknowledge that they were ignorant still. This is surely one of our own difficulties in discipleship, even in this day when the light of the Holy Spirit is shining upon us in Pentecostal light. One teaching from the Lord seems to contradict another; but it is not so. It is only a farther step into the same truth-a deeper teaching, not a contradictory |