Year: 1877

The symbol Of strong life is the


shut door. ''When thou hast shut thu
door, pray to thy Father which is in


secret" says the Master. There are


a good many things which that closed


door ought to shut out. There are


some things it ought to shut in. That


closed door ought to shut out the out


ward. We are each of US single souls


moving on toward God. The life we


live in God is separate, personal
life. 1t must grow from its own root,


and not another's. We must have
our daily soul-work between our own
souls and God. We must read our
own Bibles. We must do our own
praying. We must enter into our
own believing. We must grow our
selves, each one Of us, singly, into the
grace and knowledge Of God. Each
separate Christian life must strike its


root back into separate and singular


communion with God. BY the closed
closet door shut out, then, for u little
time, the outward. The outward of
daily toll. You have no right to be
so busy that you cannot pray. The
outward of even Christian work. You
may not let what you do for Christ
take the place Of secret and inner
most communion with Him. The out
ward of public worship. You may
not quiet your conscience about your
neglect Of secret prayer by multi
tudinous running to public prayer.
The outward of family worship. There
are some who make the reading Of a
chapter and general prayer with the
family foil by which they ward off
from themselves the duty Of intimate
and self-scrutinizing intercourse with
God. Robert Cecil used to say, 81
feel that all l know and all / teach
will do nothing for my soul, if l spend
my time as some people do, in busi-
ness or company. My soul starves
to death in the best company; and
God is often lost in prayers and ordi-
nances. Enter into thy closet, said
Christ, and shut thy door. Shut thy
door means much. 1t means shut out
not only nonsense but business; not
only the company abroad but the COM
pany at home. 1t means, let thy
poor soul have little rest and refresh
ment, and let God have opportunity
to speak to thee in still small voice
or he will speak to thee in thunder. y
Shut out the outward. Be alone with
! God. That closed door is to shut out
conscious SHINING. What is real
prayer? 1t is the deliberate choice OF
God and of the things of God. But,
now, if man come into Gods pres
ence cherishing known sin, holding tC
it, refusing to yield it, he chooses sin
instead of God. His prayer, then, is
invalidated. He may have used the
form of prayer, but he has not pray
ed. His heart prefers other than that
the lips declare. If he would really
pray, he must shut conscious, wilful
SHINING outside the closet door. A
Spanish artist was engaged to paint
the Last Supper. 1t was his aim tc
throw all the sublimity of his art into
fhe figure and face of Christ. But he
painted, on the table, just in the fore
ground, some silver cups, exquisitely
chased. When his friends came to
see the picture in the easel, every one
said, "What beautiful cupsp But il
was Christ the artist chiefly meant to
paint, not silver cups. He seized his
brush and dashed them from the can
vas. Would you know what sin you
must leave outside your shut closet
door? Anything, everything, how
ever beautiful, however pleasurable,
which comes between your soul and
Christ; everything which clouds the
vision of that face. Whatever sepa-