2. The lamp is to be God's ivitness in the world. — God says to each of us : " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." The Christian, wlierever he goes, is to show forth certain clear- shining qualities which will commend his Christianity, and so lead men, whether consciously or unconsciously, to Christ. Lives are the best preachers ; and many an obscure Christian man or woman, filled with the constraining love of Christ, practising day by day the dear simplicities of the gospel, preaches a sermon which
» J. T. Whitley.
PROVERBS XX. 27 305
he who runs may read, or listen to, and whose closing notes are not heard on this earth at all. Lives are the best preachers ; it is the}' alone that " adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."
^ You remember those lovely lines which Shakespeare places in Portia's mouth when she returns from Venice to her home in Belmont :
That light we see is burning in my hall. How far that little candle throws his beams ! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
And we are candles — our spirits the candles of the Lord ; lights whose clear shining may haply show to some perplexed soul the absolute worth of right-doing, the glory of steadfastness, the reward of trust, the joy of self-giving, self-forgetting love, the infinite affection of God — the way home to Him who is ready to receive the soul that longs for Him.^
^ When I was a boy and lived on a farm in the North-Western frontier, we used to go to church in an old log schoolhouse in the woods. Evening meetings in those days were always announced to begin " at early candle-light." There were not even oil-lamps in the old schoolhouse. There was an unwritten rule in the neighbourhood that each family attending the service should bring at least one candle. The first man who arrived lighted his candle and put it up in one of the wooden candlesticks, or set it on the window-sill, fastened at the base in a little tallow- drip, dripping the tallow hot and then steadying the candle in it before it cooled. So every man who came in lighted his candle, and as the congregation grew the light grew. If there was a small congregation, there was what might be called " a dim religious light," and if there was a large congregation, the place was illuminated by the light of many candles. Now it should be like that in the spiritual illumination which we give in the world. Every one of us should add our own light to the combined illumination of all other faithful souls.^
^ In Athens, long ago, games used to be held in honour of the Grecian gods and heroes. One of these was a torch-race — that is, a race of torch-bearers — which was run at night in honour of Prometheus. The starting-point was a mile and a half out of the city, in the olive grove where Plato had his " Academy," this spot being chosen because Prometheus had a sanctuary there. The winning-post was within the city ; and the runner who reached it
^ J. Warschauer, The Way of Understanding, 177. 2 L. A. Banks, The Problems of Youth, 298. PS. CXIX.-SONG OF SOL. — 20
3o6 THE LAMP OF THE LORD
first with his torch still burning gained the prize. In like manner our Christian life here on earth is " the race that is set before us." We shall have run that race well, if, when we come at last into God's presence, our lights are still burning. " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." ^
3. This lamp needs contimial tending. — Man is selfish and dis- obedient, and will not let his life burn at all. Man is wilful and passionate, and kindles his life with ungodly fire. Man is narrow and bigoted, and makes the light of God shine with his own special colour. In certain lands, for certain holy ceremonies, they prepare the candles with most anxious care. The very bees which distil the wax are sacred. They range in gardens planted with sweet flowers for their use alone. The wax is gathered by conse- crated hands ; and then the shaping of the candles is a holy task, performed in holy places, to the sound of hymns, and in the atmosphere of prayers. All this is done because the candles are to burn in the most lofty ceremonies on most sacred days. With what care must the man be made whose spirit is to be the candle of the Lord ! It is his spirit which God is to kindle with Himself. Therefore the spirit must be the precious part of him. The body must be valued only for the protection and the education which the soul may gain by it. And the power by which his spirit shall become a candle is obedience. Therefore obedience must be the struggle and desire of his life ; obedience not hard and forced, but ready, loving, and spontaneous ; the obedience of the child to the father, of the candle to the flame ; the doing of duty not merely that duty may be done, but that the soul in doing it may become capable of receiving and uttering God ; the bearing of pain not merely because the pain must be borne, but in order that the bearing of it may make the soul able to burn with the Divine fire which found it in the furnace ; the repentance of sin and accept- ance of forgiveness, not merely that the soul may be saved from the fire of hell, but that it may be touched with the fire of heaven, and shine with the love of God, as the stars, for ever.