ART. VI.-THE DIAL AND THE BIBLE. THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR. ON the opening of the New Year, we desire, dear reader, to have some serious and earnest converse with you, on the two great subjects of TIME and TRUTH. In doing this, we must, though the season be cold and wintry, lead you for a moment to the bright sunny scene where the following thoughts first arose in the mind, and which may now, perhaps, be found seasonable. May the Father of Mercies make them sanctifying and solacing! A bright summer morning had been followed by a short thunder-storm. Copious showers had fallen on the thirsty ground: the sky was again beautifully clear, the air fresh and balmy, while the plants and flowers looked up smilingly towards the glorious and beneficent heavens. Taking my Bible, I walked into a pleasant garden, and tried to meditate on God's perfect Word amidst His own lovely works. After reading awhile, I ascended to a spot from whence I obtained a bold view of the sea, and, without considering where I was placing it, laid the Bible upon the face of a sun-dial which was fixed on the commanding height. Almost immediately the thought flashed on the mind, "What an association is this! Time and Truth have met: what can I learn from their conjunction?" How simple the appearance of both! A little wood and brass compose the one, a little paper and leather the material part of the other. Yet, in the first, I trace much human ingenuity; and, in the second, the aboundings of Divine wisdom. That dial is, doubtless, the product of many minds. Slowly, and perhaps through a succession of ages, it has come to wear its present form; and that Bible, too, how long a period was taken to complete it! How many minds were employed about it, but all under the direction of one infinite mind, who instructed, controlled, and guided all the rest; so that the thoughts and words which it contains, however diverse in some respects, are all the very thoughts and words of God. Let us think highly of that book! How silent they both are! To a thoughtful and devout mind that silence is solemn and awful, yet most eloquent. That noiseless, moving shadow on the dial's face, how it talks to dying mortals of their course and end! That silent, stable volume, how it pleads with sinful, responsible immortals. One has beautifully said-" Speech is silvern, silence is golden. The greatest objects in the universe are the stillest. The ocean hath a voice, but the sun is silent. The forests murmur; the constellations speak not. The seraphim sing; the shekinah is dumb. Aaron spoke; the face of Moses but shone. Sweetly might the High Priest discourse; but the Urim and Thummin the silent stones on his breast flashed forth a meaning deeper and Diviner far." Yes; both the dial and the Bible are silent, but each of them have many to speak on their behalf. When the quiet shadow tells that another hour is finished, thousands of iron tongues speak for it, and in various other ways the fact which it indicates is repeated far and wide. So the Bible has many to repeat its great truths. The preacher in the pulpit, in the open air, or the cottage-the teacher in the school-the missionary in the poor man's room, or at the sick man's bedside and the mother with her little children round her are all tongues to utter the abundance of that grace and truth with which the great heart of the Bible is filled. And, above all, let each one who reads it, and to whose eye the glorious letters speak, aim, by the eloquence of a holy life, to witness for the Bible. And is not the commencement of another year a fitting time for each one to inquire whether he is testifying for the truth in the sphere where God has placed him; to mourn over past failures, and afresh to gird up the loins of the mind, seeking grace honestly to say, "One thing I do," and that is dearer to me than life; even "to testify the gospel of the grace of God?" In thus acting we shall be conformed to the objects we are contemplating. The dial just deposes to one great fact. It only answers one single question, "What is the time?" The Bible does the same. One thing it does, and that perfectly. Its great mission is to tell "what is truth. The true time is important, but infallible truth is much more so. Men might and do manage to live in this world without any means of measuring time, save the motions of the sun and stars; but neither from the heaven above, nor from the earth beneath, could man learn the truth which he most requires to know. The truth concerning himself and God; the truth about judgment and mercy, heaven and hell; how to be saved, and how to serve ;all this the Bible tells. It reveals a thousand wondrous things; but the one great truth which it most dwells upon, and presents in a vast variety of forms, is, that " GOD IS LOVE," and its one great urgent counsel to all is, "Know the Lord;"" Acquaint thyself now with God." The dial requires light in order to be of any real use. Yea, sun-light is requisite. Under the pall of night, or when the sun is quite hidden from view, it tells nothing concerning the time of day. And God's Word, likewise, must be shone upon by that Divine Spirit who first wrote it. This is His office as much as it was to produce the Book. But there is this advantage as regards the Bible. God has promised light on His Word at any time to those who earnestly ask Him. He will cause His own presence and power to rest upon His Word, and thus point out to the praying soul the very parts most suitable to his own case, even as the shadow on the dial is cast on the right figure. A sun-dial may, indeed, be injured by accident or design, and so not point quite truly; but God's Word is safe from all harm; it is not only true, but truth, and shall for ever remain so. "It liveth and abideth for ever;" the same amidst all changes. It is alike adapted to all, and that, however varied their circumstances or intricate their perplexities. There should be no dispute what is the correct time when we are standing in the sunshine by the side of a good sun-dial. It would be very foolish of any one to prefer the time indicated by his own watch to that marked on the dial-plate. When standing in the presence of the Bible, let reason and sense be dumb. To this test let us bring all principles and practices, and endeavour to set the watches of our heads, hearts, and hands, by this" sure word." There is nothing equivocal, uncertain, or complex about the sun-dial, it points directly and correctly; and so, in everything that relates to God's glory, and our own spiritual good, God's word speaks with plainness and authority. "The way-faring man, though a fool, shall not err," if he listens reverently to infallible truth. While thus musing over these two objects, the two words already mentioned stood out before my mind's eye, in imposing, yea, awful grandeur. I stood and mused on TIME, and TRUTH. Of these two words the two objects before me were the visible representatives. On the sun-dial there seemed to be written, 64 66 MORTAL, THINK ON TIME!" and on the Bible, SINNER, TRUST THE TRUTH!" Thus other trains of thought were suggested. I thought on the flight of time, and the fixedness of truth. The dial, itself so stationary, shews time passing on. This ingenious human contrivance, makes the sun chronicle his own progress hour after hour. The shadow slowly but surely passes round the plate, glides over each figure and mark thereon; and thus days, years, centuries pass away, one moment at a time. If the sun-dial of Ahaz that once went backwards (Isa. xxxviii. 8), was now in existence, how solemn it would be to stand by it and think of the thousands of years which have flitted by, the many generations which have passed away, and the mighty changes which have taken place, since Isaiah prophesied and Hezekiah wept and rejoiced! And now another year has begun its course, and will soon pass away into eternity. What then is my life? "it is even a vapour, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." On what can I lay hold that will not pass away with me? Where is an anchorage that will save me from drifting. I look on that Bible, and listen to its solemn tones, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." I cling to that book, I feel identified with the Saviour it reveals; I hear him say, "Because I live ye shall live also;" then all fears die, all hopes revive, I am "begotten by the word of truth," begotten to hope, through a risen Saviour, for "an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." Let time roll; truth moves not; it is stable as the throne of God, and on it I rest. "Let thine hand help me, for I have chosen thy precepts." I next thought of the gradual development of truth in connexion with the course of time. When time was young, revealed truth was small in stature, though of perfect proportion and most attractive beauty. These proportions have gradually expanded. Prophecies have been turned into facts, and promises into blessings. We first view truth cradled in the arms of mercy, and wrapped in the swaddling bands of the great primeval promise (Gen. iii. 15). Age after age it has been unfolded, and these progressive developments form the most wonderful of all time's records. The deeds of heroes, the rise and fall of empires, the progress of discovery, and triumphs of science, are as nothing to as nothing to a new "Thus saith the Lord," by the mouth of a prophet, or to what follows upon "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying." One feature of truth I here particularly noticed, namely, how it has precisely marked beforehand the leading events of time. Thus, all time becomes vocal with truth; God's eternal thoughts are written on the face of time. The word of prophecy, that witness of Divine foreknowledge, has never yet failed, nor can it ever fail. The chronicles of nations, and sketches of individuals, and more especially the great and glorious history of Messiah, His sorrows and His triumphs, have all evidenced the wisdom, love, and faithfulness of God. And thus shall it be to the end of time. There are wondrous words yet to be accomplished, the years yet to come shall be made bright with the footsteps of God's Anointed, fulfilling what is written of Him. He will travel in the greatness of His strength," till 66 His foes are subdued and cast out, and His truth has triumphed. "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law" (Isa. xlii. 4). The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. "He will send Jesus, whom the heavens must receive till the times of restitution of all things." How sweet, on this new year's morning, while looking back on the gloomy past, laden with sin and sorrow, to anticipate the in-coming of "the eternal year of love's triumphant reign." He who sitteth on the throne will say, "Behold, I make all things new." God hath said it in His book; Jesus will speak it from His throne. He who said "IT IS FINISHED," will say, "IT IS DONE." I look at that patient Bible; there it lies, biding its time, and its time is at hand. Not one of its words can fail. A thousand schemes may yet be tried by man, and innumerable abortions disappoint his fondest hopes, but God's great idea must come forth in its completeness, and the earth be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Time must all pass away, but truth will remain for ever. How many more years may elapse before the end of time we know not. How long it will be before the Lord himself shall come in glory, what the exact order of things which will follow His coming, or what varied cycles there may be even in eternity, we cannot say; but this we know, that a period must come when the poet's words shall be fulfilled, and the dwellers in eternity shall look back upon "The world at dawn, at mid-day, and decline, Time gone! the righteous saved, the wicked damned, But even then truth will remain. We shall not have printed Bibles in eternity as we have now, but we shall have the contents of that wondrous book for ever and ever. Its facts will be always remembered. Its doctrines will be ever studied. Its promises will be fully inherited. Its holiness will be perfectly realised. Its prophecies will be all accomplished. How sweet will it be to the glorified to look back upon the connexion they had with the Bible, while passing through time; and to sing how it guided, cheered, comforted, and preserved them. But how dreadful, on the other hand, to look back from eternity on a "neglected Bible." Alas! how many who had Bibles in their houses, and its truths in their heads, will first learn its real importance and value in a desolate eternity. How solemn is that declaration of the God of mercy, I have stretched out my hand all the day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people." That day, as regards the Jews, was 1500 years long, 66 |