When the Lord laid hold of Zacchseus, He did not destroy his shrewdness and despoil him of his foresight and enterprise. The redeemed Zacchseus was just as shrewd as the unredeemed Zacchseus, but the shrewdness had been transformed. It was no longer a poisoned sword ; it had become a ploughshare used in the general welfare of the race. When the Lord laid hold of Hugh Latimer did He draw away the power of his wit ? Nay, the redeemed Hugh Latimer was just as witty, just as humorous as Hugh Latimer unredeemed, only the wit had been transformed. It was no longer a sword, but a ploughshare ; no longer turning with destructive energy upon his own soul, but used in the ministry of purity, and as the happy servant of righteousness and truth.
IT One of the Greek philosophers wrote : " And this is the greatest stroke of art, to turn an evil into a good." Such is the grand mission of the faith of Jesus Christ. It is the work of the devil to debase good things to vile uses ; it is the task of the Spirit of grace to make of evil things vessels unto honour, fit for the Master's use. The other day we heard of a shell found on the battlefields of South Africa being converted into the bell of a church, as the brazen serpent was lifted up to save those who were dying of the bite of venomous serpents ; and in many ways things, institutions, and methods which for ages have tormented and destroyed society are being transformed into instruments of blessing.^
1 W. L. Watkinson.
The Makln'o of a Missionaky
Literature.
Jordan (W. Q.), Prophetic Ideas a^id Ideals, 67.
Smith (G. A.), The Booh of Isaiah, i. 58.
Davidson (A. B.), The Called of God, 187.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions (Isaiah i.-xlviii.).
Henson (H. H.), The Liberty of Prophesying, 244.
Albertson (C. C), Gollege Sermons, 75.
Gunsaulua (F. W.), Paths to the City of God, 248.
Coyle (R. F.), The Church and the Times, 149.
Holden (J. Stuart), Redeeming Vision, 1.
Driver (S. R.), Sermons on the Old Testament, 28,
Maurice (F. D.), Prophets and Kings, 219.
Forsyth (P. T.), Missions in State and Church, 221.
Jerdan (C), Messages to the Children, 61.
Nicholson (M.), Communion with Heaven, 67.
Meyer (F. B.), The Soul's Ascent, 49.
Westcott (B. F.), Peterborough Sermons, 267.
Adams (J.), Sermons in Syntax, 203.
Trench (R. C), Sermons New and Old, 98.
Ingram (A. F. W.), in Oxford University Sermons, 287.
Elmslie (W. G.), Memoirs and Sermons, 220.
Hunter (J.), De Profundis Clamavi, 232.
Ewing (J. W.), The Undying Christ, 45.
Maver (J. S.), The Children's Pace, 138.
Davis (J. D.), in Princeton Sermons, 338.
Parker (J.), People's Bible, xiv. 281.
Christian World Pulpit, xx. 244 (Lance) ; xxix. 24 (Tipple) ; xxxvii. 81
(Jowett) ; xliii. 387 (Stalker). Clergyman's Magazine, i. 96 (Neil). Dictionary of the Bible, v. 672 (Kautzsch). Encyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics, i. 49 (Strong). The Examiner, March 15, 1906 (Jowett). The Expositor, 1st Ser., xi. 123 (Thomson) ; 2nd Ser., ii. 18 (Cox)j 4th Ser.,
vii. 246 (Davidson). Homiletic Review, xvi. 248 (Robinson). Preacher's Magazine [1896], 165 (Pearse); 506 (Brooks). Single-Volume Dictionary of the Bible, 551 (Lanchester).
The Making of a Missionary.
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting: upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar : And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us ? Then I said, Here am I send me. — vi. i-8.
This chapter is one of the most important in the history of
revelation. Like a picture of wonderful beauty and subtle
suggestion, it will repay repeated and careful study. The great
words of the chapter are heard and spoken in vision, but they
cannot be called visionary in any shallow sense ; they are
intensely practical, they contain the prophet's call, they give
the keynote of his life, and sum up in a few striking sentences
the spirit and purpose of his ministry. The vision shows us
how Isaiah became a prophet, and gives the secret of his strong,
consistent career in the words, " Mine eyes have seen the King." -
The passage is particularly rich in material for the expositor