THE INNER LIFE OF CHRIST, AS REVEALED IN THE GOSPEL BY JOSEPH PARKER, D.D., Minister of the City Temple, Holborn Viaduct, London. 66 ECCE DEUS," "THE PARACLETE," THE INNER Life of christ," ETC. VOLUME II. "SERVANT OF ALL." TENTH THOUSAND. LONDON: RICHARD CLARKE, 9, PLUMTREE COURT, FARRINGDON ST. NEW YORK: FUNK & WAGNALLS, 10 AND 12, DEY STREET. BODLEIAN 5 MAR87 OXFOR SEQUEL TO THE INNER LIFE OF CHRIST. APOSTOLIC LIFE, As revealed in the Acts of the Apostles. Vols. I. and II. now out. Vol. III. in preparation. PRICE EIGHT SHILLINGS. SAME PUBLISHER. SERVANT OF ALL. state. XXIX. PRAYER. ALMIGHTY GOD, we bless thee that thou hast sent thy Son to our brokenheartedness, our mourning, our unutterable distress and fear. Thou didst not send him to our greatness and power, but to our littleness and weakness and utter insufficiency. The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost-we bless thee for this, for in that word "lost" we find our own true All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, there is no man to stand up before thee and challenge thy righteous. ness-each of us puts his hand upon his mouth and his mouth in the dust, and says, "Unc ean, unprofitable, unworthy." We see Jesus Christ, the Man we need, the Angel of the covenant, the Minister of light and hope, the Priest who offers his blood. Thou dost no longer require at the hands of man the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop-there is a fountain opened in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness, and to that fountain we now repair. Lord, meet us every one, and give us cleansing of heart, sanctification of thought and will and purpose and hope, and make us without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, complete in thine own holiness, beautiful with thine own light. Thou hast been with us in the days that are gone, thou hast given us indeed to see the grave, but the tomb has been in a garden: we would look at the garden rather than at the grave, for all that sleep in Christ are roots that shall blossom and come to great fruitfulness in thine own heavenly harvest. O thou, who dost sow the earth with the dead, thou wilt surely put in thy sickle and reap, and the harvest shall live for ever. Thou hast smitten us sorely, and thou hast mingled some of our cups so bitterly that we shrink from tasting them, for surely they are full of what men call death-but thou hast strengthened us to drink those cups even to the dregs, and in the drinking of them there has been health. Thou hast led the blind by a way that they knew not; thou hast holden our eyes sometimes that we might not know thee, that we might accost thee as a stranger, and tell thee our complaint, in the bitter tone of despair. Thou hast dealt wondrously with us, our hearts have been ungrateful, our eyes have been quick to see the disadvantages of life, but our vision has been slow to discern the beauty of the divine presence, and the certainty of the divine way. We will fill our mouth with mourning because our heart is full of accusation, and each of us will say, "God be VOL. II. I |