^ It was Jenny Lind's intense conviction that her art was a gift of God, to be dedicated to His service. This belief was continually on her lips. " I have always put God first," she said, during her last days. It was this which you could feel in her pose, as she stood high-strung and prophetic, to deliver a great theme, such as " I know that my Eedeemer liveth." It was this which was the key to her superb generosity to the sick and the suffering ; she was fulfilling her consecrated office towards them. It was this which sent her voice thrilling along the wards of the Brompton Hospital, where she loved to sing to those for whom she had herself built a whole wing. It was this which kindled all her enthusiasm for Mile. Janotha, in whom she found a kindred
1 W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, 303,
2 PETER III. i8 209
mind — Janotha who had said to her (she told me), " What is this ' world ' of which people speak ? I do not know what ' the world ' is. I play for Jesus Christ." ^
4. Finally, all groioth has its periods of rest. — Trees and plants grow downward first, then horizontally for awhile, and then laterally; then the horizontal and lateral periods succeed each other regularly until the fulness is reached. So Christian growth needs silence, obscurity, and regular periods of rest, periods for broadening, for strengthening, for ripening, for shadowing the growths that have already been made. All living things here need sleep, and even our spirits have their periods of rest. This rest is the outcome of trust in God. The active energetic follower of Christ is in danger of becoming irritated and irritating. The remedy is trust.
^A letter to S. S., 1861, touches artistic ways and means: "As I was going to bed I thought of the straitness of my income, and the wants of the family, and the possibilities of the future ; and, for a time, felt faithless and unbelieving. But my mind turned to God, and I thought of the unchangeable love which has led me, and fed me, and delivered me from all evil, and forgiven me, and made me happy ; so that in spite of a fearful heart, and an uncertain tenure, and a host of evils within and without, life is really a joyful thing. And what God has done for me, who began life with nothing, not even godliness. He can do for my children. And so I lay down quite light-hearted and free from all anxious care; and with a breeze of thankfulness and praise blowing through the avenues of my soul." ^
IV.
The Direction of Growth.
1. The direction of Christian growth is upward. It is towards Jesus Christ. " Unto each one of us was the grace given that we may grow up in all things into him, which is the head, even Christ." Where life from God, through full obedience, is received by a soul, that soul is day by day, hour by hour, yea, moment by moment, growing into the likeness of the Son of God. When, by God's grace, we reach the perfection of consummation, when we
' H. Scott Holland, Personal Siitdies, 21. ^ James Smeiham, 122.
JAS.-JUDE — 14
2IO GROWTH
have done with the bud of promise and tlie blossom of hope, and have come to the fruitage of realization, what will that final glory be ? The psalmist had a fore-glimpse of it when he said, " I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." The Apostle John saw it even more clearly, " Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him even as he is." The consummation of Christian character is perfect approximation to the character of Jesus Christ. We shall have reached the fruitage of Christian life when we see Him, and when we are like Him. Growth into His likeness, then, is the line of Christian development.
And so all growth that is not toward God Is growing to decay. All increase gained Is but an ugly, earthy, fungous growth. 'Tis aspiration as that wick aspires, Towering above the light it overcomes, But ever sinking with the dying flame.^
2. There is a growth downward, that is, growth in the know- ledge of our own hearts. " Study thyself ; " for if you would educate the soul, you cannot wisely or efficiently do so unless you not only look but dwell within, and so come to learn what you truly are, and what you may yet become. Says Coleridge : " It is the advice of the wise man, dwell at home, or with yourself, though there are very few that do this ; yet it is surprising that the greatest part of mankind cannot be prevailed upon at least to visit themselves sometimes."
^ A man once bought a barometer under a mistaken idea of its purpose, and then complained that he could not see that it had made any improvement in the weather. The spiritual barometer of self-examination may not directly improve the weather, but may show what the spiritual weather is. It helps one to obey the old Delphic oracle, " Know thyself." ^