shall put on incorruption, and death be swal- lowed up in victory. Shall privation move us? Faith tells us of a day when the poverty of our exile shall be forgotten in the abundance of our peaceful, plenteous home, where we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. Shall the disquieting bustle of this restless life annoy us ? Faith tells us of the rest that re- maineth for the people of God — the sea of glass like unto crystal on which the ransomed saints shall stand — no .tempest, no tumult, no ship- wreck there. Shall the want of this world's honors move us ? Faith tells us of the ex- ceeding and eternal weight of glory in reserve. Have we no place to lay our head? Faith tells us that we have a home, though not in Caesar's house, a dwelling, though not in any city of earth. Are we fearful as we look around upon the disorder and wretchedness • of this misgoverned earth? Faith tells us that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Do thoughts of death alarm us ! Faith tells us that " to die is gain," and whispers to us, — " what, are you afraid of becoming immortal, afraid of passing from this state of death, which men call life, to that which alone truly deserves the name !"
3*
30 THE FAMILY LIFE.
Such is the family life — a life of faith. We live upon things unseen. Our life is hid with Christ in God, that when he who is our life shall appear, we may appear with him in glory. This mode of life is not that of the world at all, but the very opposite. Nevertheless it has been that of the saints from the beginning. This is the way in which they have walked, going up through the wilderness leaning on their be- loved. And such is to be the walk of the saints till the Lord come. Oh ! how much is there in these thoughts concerning it, not only to reconcile us to it, but to make us rejoice in it, and to say, I reckon that the sufferings of this present life, are not worthy to be compar- ed with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For all things are ours, whether life or death, things present or things to come, all are ours ; for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's. Yea, we are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."*
We know not a better type or specimen of the family life than Abraham or Israel in vheir desert wanderings. Look at Abraham. * Is. liv. 17.
THE FAMILY LIFE. 31
He quits all at the comir and of the God of glory. This begins his life of faith. Then he journeys onward not knowing whither. Then he sojourns as a stranger in the land which God had given him. Then he offers up Isaac. Then he buys for himself a tomb, where he may lay his dust till the day of resurrection. All is faith. He lives and acts as a stranger. He has no home. He has his altar and his tent, but that is all. The one he builds, wherever he goes, in the peaceful consciousness of sin forgiven and. acceptance found ; the other he pitches from day to day. in token of his being a pilgrim and a stranger upon earth. And what more does any mem- ber of the family need below, but his altar and his tent, — a Saviour for a sinful soul, and a shelter for a frail body, until journeying days are done ?
Or look at Israel. They quit Egypt. There the life of faith begins. Then they cross the Red Sea. Then they take up their abode in the desert. They have no city to dwell in now. They have no flesh-pots now, — nothing but the daily manna for food. They have no river of Egypt now, — nothing but a rock to yield them water. All is waste arounl
32 THE FAMILY LIFE.
All is to be of faith, not of sight. They are alone with God, and the whole world is afar off. They rear their altar, they pitch their tents, as did Abraham, with this only differ- ence, that above their heads there floats a wondrous cloud, which, like a heavenly cano- py, stretches itself out over their dwellings when they rest, or like an angel-guide takes wing before them when God summons them to strike their tents, that it may lead them in the way. Nay, and as if to mark more viv- idly the pilgrim condition of the family, God himself when coming down into the midst of them chooses a tent to dwell in. It is called " the tabernacle of the Lord," or more literally " Jehovah's tent." Jehovah pitches his tent side by side with Israel's tents, as if he were a stranger too, a wanderer like themselves !
This is our life. We are to be strangers with God as all our fathers were. It is the life of the desert, not of the city. But what of that? All is well. Jehovah is our God, and we shall soon be in his " many man- sions." Meanwhile we have the tent, the altar, and the cloud. We need no more be- low. The rest is secured for us in heaven, " ready to be revealed in the last time."
CHAPTER III.
THE FAMILY BADGE.
THE family of which we speak is gathered out of every nation and kindred, and people, and tongue. It is " a great multitude that no man can number."