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depth of her loss we find the depth of her love, and she loved much because she was forgiven much. So Mary stood in her sorrow beside the grave, thinking perhaps that Jesus was far away; and Jesus was never nearer to her than in that moment when she thought Him lost. She turned round; there was some one behind her. It was Jesus, but she thought it was the gardener. Some mysterious change had come on the Lord she loved, and it was dawn, and her eyes were dim with tears. Then Jesus said, 'Mary,' and she knew the voice. What a glorious joy must have taken her poor heart! 'Rabboni!' She would have clung to Him. have held Him in the old grasp of human tenderness. And Jesus has to say to her, 'Cling not to Me; hereafter, Mary, you shall walk by faith and not by sight.' Then Mary received Christ's message for the disciples; and with a new heart, and in a world that was all new, hastened to tell them that she had seen the Lord.

She cried,

She would

THIRTY-NINTH SUNDAY

Morning

THE TEMPLE COMPLETED

Passages to be read: Ezra iv. 1-6, 11-24; vi. 13-22.

WHE

HEN the building of the Temple had advanced a certain stage, there came a very unexpected offer of help. Deputies arrived from Samaria professing willingness to assist in the great work. Now the people of Samaria were very strangely mingled; they were largely composed of colonists from the East. Had they been allowed to share in the Temple-work, they would have brought with them many forbidden superstitions. Their offer of help was immediately refused. To have such co-workers would be disloyalty to God. And nothing better shows the insincerity of those who seemed so eager to co-operate than their action when their service was rejected. They began to plot for the hindrance of the building. They hired agents at the Persian Court, who should lose no opportunity of interfering. They bent every effort to frustrate the work that was slowly but surely proceeding at Jerusalem. We have mention of a letter they sent to Ahasuerus, though what reception it met with we do not know. But a second letter to Artaxerxes (which is given in full) had a more decisive and disastrous issue. The writers pretended to be in great alarm; Jerusalem was being fortified again. If the work was allowed to proceed uninterrupted, then farewell to Persian dominion in the West. It is hardly to be wondered at that Artaxerxes took fright, and ordered the

instant stopping of the building. So the work ceased, we read, until the second year of Darius, King of Persia.

IT was then that the encouragement of the prophets was so powerful. Haggai and Zechariah, men inspired of God, were raised up to cheer and rouse the people. The student should read the books of these two prophets if he would have the whole scene live before him. We learn from these books (what is not indicated here) that a general apathy had overspread the people. The first enthusiasm had passed away, and the forced cessation had bred a great discouragement. But every morning, in the streets of Jerusalem, some word from God was uttered by a prophet, until at last, though the Persian decree still stood, and though the building of the sacred walls was still forbidden, the princes and leaders could not be restrained from setting their hands to the great work again. Word was speedily brought to Babylon of what was happening; it seemed as if the work would have to cease again. But a counter-appeal was despatched to Darius by the builders, and God so ordered things that it was not in vain. A copy of the original decree of Cyrus was discovered, in which the Jews were charged to rebuild their Temple, and Darius learning, probably for the first time, that the work had the sanction of his great predecessor, sent word to Samaria that none must hinder, but, on the contrary, must forward it. So after long delay, and deep anxiety, the Temple was at last restored; and our theme closes with the sacrifice and holy-day that marked the dedication of God's House.

NOTE first how we are tested by refusals. No doubt,

if the Samaritans had been allowed to help, they would have revealed their true characters ere long. The dubious motives that had inspired them in their offer would have become patent as the work advanced. But if their acceptance would have tested them, their refusal

tested them more speedily and surely. It was not what was given them, it was what was denied them, that showed very clearly the kind of men they were. We are all tested and revealed in ways like that. The things we fail to get betray our character. It is not alone the

prayers that have been answered, it is the prayers that have met with no response, that give deeper insight into our state of heart. The glory of Jesus never shone so brightly as when, having prayed 'if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,' He went forward steadfastly, and never doubting, to drink that cup in all its bitterness.

NOTE next the interruptions in the work. I am sure

it seemed to many of the Israelites as if the work would never be completed. Harassed by enemies, hampered by Persian edicts, was there any hope of the copestone being set? It is little wonder that the people lost heart, and thought the scheme but a 'fond imagination.' But spite of difficulties, and forced cessations, and all that the powers of the world could do, the work went forward till it was completed—and ye are the temples of the living God. There are times for us all when the great task seems hopeless. There come hours when we The temple rises but a

despair of being Christ-like.
little way, and then all effort seems to be
such times it is well to read these chapters.

in vain. In

They are a

parable of the difficulties of the Christian. They give new hope that, spite of every obstacle, the building will yet rise to its completion.

LASTLY, mark how a word of encouragement may be

real service. Haggai and Zechariah were inspired of God, and the messages they delivered were from Him; but these messages were not merely predictions, they were strong and rousing words to heartless men, and we see very clearly, as we read this lesson, how powerful and helpful these encouragements were. The prophets may

have lent a hand at the building, as the prophets of our own Reformation sometimes unsheathed the sword; but their greatest service was not that, it lay in the ringing words that cheered the others. Do not forget the ministry of encouragement. There is great virtue sometimes in a word of praise. There are mothers and wives and many weary toilers who would be twice happy in a little commendation. Flattery is always to be abhorred; it hurts both giver and receiver; but timely praise to all dispirited builders is part of the 'sure word of prophecy,' and it is a part we all practise far too seldom.

THIRTY-NINTH SUNDAY

Evening

THE DOUBTING OF THOMAS

Passage to be read: John xx. 19-31.

O reader of the New Testament but has observed

N° the supreme importance given to Christ's re

surrection there. It underlies all arguments; it inspires all pleadings. It is the mould in which the apostles' thought is cast; it is the morning star that lights their feet. I do not know that we have kept the accent there. We are so fond of asking what would Jesus do, that we almost forget the most stupendous thing that Jesus did. It calls for a tingling sense that Christ has risen, to give us back again the apostolic music. In the Life of Dr. Dale of Birmingham there is no passage more arresting than the page where he tells how it flashed on him that Jesus lives. He had been ministering, preaching, praying, when suddenly, as in an inspiration, there broke on him the sense that Jesus was alive. We need to be touched like that. We need a

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