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You have seen the
arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colors, and
rare its hues. It is beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo,
it is not. The fair colors give way to the fleecy clouds, and the
sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven.
It is not established. How can it be? A glorious show made up of
transitory sun-beams and passing rain-drops, how can it abide?
The graces of the Christian character must not resemble the
rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be
established, settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good
thing you have may be an abiding thing.
May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an
inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no "baseless
fabric of a vision," but may it be build of material able to
endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and
stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love.
May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires
earnest.
May your whole life be so settled and established, that all the
blasts of hell, and all the storms of earth shall never be able to
remove you. But notice how this blessing of being
"established in the faith" is gained. The apostle's
words point us to suffering as the means employed-"After that
ye have suffered awhile."
It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough
winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak
tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the
many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators
of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the
Christian is made strong, and firmly rooted by all the trials and
storms of life.
Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take
comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is
fulfilling this benediction to you.
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