ST. MATTHEW xvn. i, 2 357
furnishing of his home and all the habits of his life, become beautiful.
jf Astronomers tell us that dead, cold matter falls from all corners of the system into the sun, drawn by its magic magnetism from farthest space, and, plunging into that great reservoir of fire, the deadest and coldest matter glows with fervid heat and dazzling light. So you and I, dead, cold, dull, opaque, heavy frag- ments, drawn into mysterious oneness with Christ, the Sun of our Souls, shall be transformed into His own image, and like Him be light and heat which shall radiate through the universe.1
TJ Many old faces have hard lines, grim angles, cold and cruel aspects. They reflect what the man has become in soul. They are the faces of men who are self-centred, unloving, and unhelpful. They reveal to every eye the fact that the man lives without prayer. But when life is increasingly and more deeply prayer, when, in desire for things good and true and beautiful, in com- munion with the God of our life, in surrender after surrender, the soul is transfigured, then we see not only the shining face but the raiment white and glistering. Newman has told this story in three impressive verses —
I saw thee once, and nought discern'd
For stranger to admire ; A serious aspect, but it burn'd
With no unearthly fire.
Again I saw, and I confess'd
Thy speech was rare and high;
And yet it vex'd my burden'd breast, And scared, I knew not why.
I saw once more, and awe-struck gazed
On face, and form, and air; God's living glory round thee 1 dazed —
A Saint — a Saint was there ! 2
TJ No outline of his personality can be at all adequate without the attempt being made to describe an exceedingly elusive, but at the same time distinguishing, characteristic, which the word charm does not entirely cover ; it was this, that the Seer in him, or, if it must be called by the more modern name, the transcen- dental Self, was always visible. Intensely human as he was,
1 A. Maclaren, Paul's Prayers.
* W. M. Clow, The Secret 0/ the Lord, 188.
358 THE TRANSFIGURATION
understanding all in the lives of those about him — the most trilling difficulties and the most profound, entering gaily into the merriest mood or the manliest sport — the presence of this tran- scendental Self was always apparent. Everything about him seemed an expression of this, and if touched by some thought of specially wide reach from a friend or from a book, the contact with his imaginative Self sent a sort of transfigured look into his face, as if a flame had been lighted.1
1 M. S. Watts, George Frederic Watla, i. 115.
Eternal Life.
359
Literature.
Allen (G. W.), Wonderful Words and Works, 85.
Bain (J. A.), Questions Answered by Christ, 52.
Cockin (G. S.), Some Difficulties in the Life of our Lord, 114.
Cooper (E.), Fifty-Two Family Sermons, 116.
Davidson (A. B.), The Called of God, 299.
Eyton (R), The Ten Commandments, 147.
Goodwin (II.), Parish Sermons, iii. 198.
Lucas (B.), Conversations with Christ, 182.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : St. Matthew xviii.-xxviii., 47.
Morrow (H. W.), Questions Asked and Answered by our Lord, 210.
Prothero (G.), The Armour of Light, 253.
Salmon (G.), The Reign of Law, 194.
Shedd (W. G. T.), Sermons to the Spiritual Man, 34.
Christian World Pulpit, xxxviii. 152 (M. Dods).
Church Pulpit Year Book, 1906, p. 182.
Homiletic Review, New Ser., xxxvii. 424 (G. E. Faber).
Preacher's Magazine, xii. 7 (M. G. Pearse).
360
Eternal Life.
And behold, one came to him and said, Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life ? — Matt. xix. 16.
1. This young ruler, who appears and disappears again so suddenly in the gospel narrative, is one of the most interesting and tragic figures in the Bible. The interest is enhanced by the strong resemblance he seems to bear to the Apostle Paul in circum- stances and character. Both were in the prime of early man- hood when they came into contact with Jesus. Both were rulers, with all that such a position implied of theological education, social position, and ecclesiastical influence. Both were religious to the full extent of their light, striving to obey the Law and believing that they had succeeded. Both were lovable in dis- position. Both were rich. The one, we are told, had great possessions. The wealth of the Apostle of the Gentiles is inferred from various circumstances. It is inferred from the education that he received, from the fact that he was a ruler, from the ease and air of equality with which he addressed nobles, governors, and kings, from the position occupied by his relatives in Jerusalem, from the two years' imprisonment in which Felix detained him in the hope of obtaining a bribe, from the consideration shown to him on the voyage to Eome, from the unusual permission given him to take Luke with him. It is also suggestive that his favourite description of the gospel is " riches," a suitable word on the lips of one who had been forced to ask himself if he had received compensation for what he had sacrificed. The point of decision in both men was the same — the necessity to abandon a supposed righteousness ; and the touchstone of sincerity in both was the same — their readiness to abandon wealth for Christ. At that point the difference arose. The one went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The other counted all things but