Put forth thy hand to touch the hfe to be, And thou shalt find the joys of long ago No more the things behind.
There is a death of memory that is brought Not by oblivion, but by coming light, —
It fades as childhood fades in manhood's thought; It dies as starlight dies at morning's sight, Not needing things behind.
May this forgetfulness, my heart, be thine;
Not the great deadness of an outgrown sorrow. But the deep trust that ceases to repine,
Since yesterday shall come again to-morrow Bearing the things behind.
Fields of the past to thee shall be no more
The burial-ground of friendships once in bloom,
But seed-plots of a harvest on before.
And prophecies of life with larger room Por things that are behind.
Live thou in God, and thy dead past shall be
Alive for ever with eternal day; And planted on His bosom thou shalt see
The flowers revived that withered on the way Amid the things behind.^
II.
St. Paul with his Eye on the Goal.
' \] 1. Here is a man who starts right away with an object in life ^jA — something to strive fgjL something to achieve, something worth achieving. He hasrf^go^_to which his whole existence tends. Axui-4hat„.,goal js fi^^esus ChriBt^llHis ruling passion is to get nearer to Jesus Christ, to "be' more' like Jesus Christ, to grow up into Jesus Christ, to do the work of Jesus Christ. That is his dominant purpose. He aims. He gives his life a centre. He
^ George Matheson, Sacred Songs, 125.
PHILIPPIANS III. 13, 14 367
strives to bring everything — all his faculties and powers, all his experiences and activities — into relation with that centre.
" Toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The goal and the prize are not the same thing. The_goal — that was to be like Christ ; the prize — that was to be for ever happy with Christ. We all desire the prize; we all hope when this world fades from us, to enter into eternal joy ; we all^ hop'e^'tu be in heaven at last, with crowns on our heads, and palms in our^hands, and the song of the Eedeemed on our lips. And we are^^ pressing forward, eachone on his own way, one on the way of Pride, another on the way of Ambition, another on the wa.j of^ Pleasure, angther on the way of Covetousness. all on the Wc.y of Selfishness. But there is /dHfy'oner^^ by which we can attain to it, the road of likeness to "CRfisIr Like Christ ?~ What word wiir sum up that likeness? The answer is itnseljlshneps. Jesus Christ was the one absolutely unselfish Being ;'~"ami~if 'we would be like Him, we must learn to put off self, to crucify self, to annihilate self, to lose self in Him.
Now Paul had " seen the Lord " ; and henceforth for him " to live was Christ," and to die "gain." Christ was to him both the end and the way — that is to say, his heart's desire was that he might have Christ's mind, Christ's affections, Christ's joy, for his own. If even the sight of ^a good man, in any field of work to w^ich_we_are invited, can humble us to lift us up, how much more a true sight of Jesus Christ, in whom was no sin, in whom was all goodness. If our standard of what we should attempt, and what we would become, can be altered by our view of our neighbour's character and course, how greatly can our standard \\ be altered and raised by our view of One who is " above all," to be blessed for ever by all ? ( To Paj^l, Jesus Christ presented both that_gloi-ious^moral Image to^wEich he' would be likened, and that potent ^ moral Help by which he could attain to it. The Apostle had seen in Him the beauty and the power of God.
Have you missed in your aim ? "Well, the mark is still shining ; Did you faint in the race? Well, take breath for the next; Did the clouds drive you back ? But see yonder their linino- ; Were you tempted and fell? Let it serve for a text.
368 PRESSING ON
As each year hurries by, let it join that procession
Of skeleton shapes that march down to the past, "While you take your place in the line of progression.
With your eyes on the heavens, your face to the blast. I tell you the future can hold no terrors
For any sad soul while the stars revolve, If he will but stand firm on the grave of his errors,
And instead of regretting, resolve, resolve! It is never too late to begin rebuilding,
Though all into ruins your life seems hurled. Eor look ! how the light of a new day is gilding
The worn, wan face of the bruised old world. ^
2. The Apostle's gaze was nQ.^nl;^nward but also upward^ What attracted him was the prize of t^" upward "calling of God in Christ Jesus. He saw the crown, the crown of life that fadeth not away, hanging bright before his eyes. What, said he, shall tempt me from that path of which yon crown is the end ? Let the golden apples be thrown in my way ; I cannot even look at them or stay to spurn them with my feet. Let the sirens sing on either side, and seek to charm me with their evil beauty, to leave the holy road; but I must not, and I will not. The end is glorious ; what if the running be laborious ? When there is such a prize to be had, who will grudge a struggle ?