James Knowles

“ How rich the reward! How safe from all sin and sorrow! In yonder "land of pure delight where saints immortal reign." What a meeting! What a greeting takes place at the hour of dissolution! How pleasing the contemplation. How inspiring to think of our noble ancestors; our holy ministers and teachers; our fathers and mothers who led us by the hand to the house of God on the Sabbath, who early taught us to lisp the ever precious name of Jesus; who are to-day singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. ”

“ How is it possible for a soul to be ready for death, and judgment, and a coming eternity, without conversion?
"Verily, verily," said Jesus to Nicodemus, "I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." How is it possible for any to be ready to meet God in peace unless they are washed in Christ's blood, and clothed in His spotless and justifying righteousness. ”

“ If a man die, shall he live again? Ah, it is here, amid the ravages which death makes, that we hear Christ's blessed words, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me though he were dead, yet shall he live."
While it is true that this body must droop and die, and return to dust, yet death cannot touch the soul. It is immortal, it has been created in the image of God. He is a spirit, and a spirit is indestructible. ”

“ Ah, it cost something to be a Christian in those days, when from the high foaming crest of Solway to the smoothly polished breast of Loch Katrine, not a river nor a lake but has swelled with the life's tide of religious freedom. From the bonnie highland heather of her lofty summits to the modest gowan on the lea, not a flower but has blushed with the martyr's blood. But, beloved, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church. ”

“ Prayer is the divinely appointed means to the attainment of peace. It lifts the soul above the cares and vicissitudes of life. Its effect is nearness to God. Earth's sighs are numerous. The tears flow thick and fast. Tears of affright. The enemy comes in like a flood, but the Lord lifts up a standard against them all; and the blest remembrance of the promise, "Cast thy burden by prayer on the Lord, and He will sustain thee," imparts fresh courage amid the conflict. The man who forgets to pray in the hour of trial is like one who has lost his way on a dark, stormy night ”

“ But at death the Christian is admitted into endless glory. It is day without a night. It is to be admitted into the House of the Lord. "The house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." Through much tribulation they enter into the kingdom. Soon shall close their earthly mission; soon shall end their pilgrim days; hope shall change to glad fruition. God is continually guiding our feet to those mansions above, where flowers that never fade do deck the heavenly plains. Where our loved ones gone before shall meet us and greet us on the golden strand. ”

“ In her dying hour she could triumphantly exclaim, with Simeon in the temple, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." And, like Moses, her eye was not dimmed, nor her natural force abated. Oh! the gain, the bliss of thus dying.
Heaven as our home is worthy our deepest contemplation. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." It is a place of perfect rest. Oh, how comforting is this thought to the poor, way-worn, toiling pilgrim. ”

“ Are there no tumultuous fears allayed in the breast of those two blind men as they sit by the wayside to Jerusalem? They cry, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David." Is there not a stupendous wealth of kindness and potency portrayed in yon scene when Jesus stood still and called them, and uttered those strange kind words: "What will ye that I should do unto you?" How sad is the sight of a blind person! How intensely dark their surroundings! ”

“ There are just two thoughts that we want to try and develop this afternoon, namely, that conformity to the likeness of Christ in life brings glorious gain to the Christian at death. Or, in the words of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." From the sacred hour that the blessed Jesus met him on his way to Damascus, to the day of his martyrdom, his continual cry was, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me." ”

“ Amid all the busy scenes of life, is there no time for a cheerful word? When the Chief Priests and Pharisees sought to lay hands on Jesus, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. What rays of celestial sunshine sometimes stream into the soul of the disheartened one when the missionary whispers, "Put all your trust in Jesus, and he will care for you." ”

“ God's saints are like a green olive-tree, in the house of God, because they trust in His manifold mercy. They are like trees planted by the rivers of water, and whose leaf shall never fade. While death can lay his cold and icy hand upon the Christian's body, yet his soul he can never touch. ”

“ But ought we not to thank the Father of Light that the throne of grace has been erected, and we are kindly invited to come boldly into His immediate presence, through the rent veil of our Redeemer's flesh, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in every time of need?
Consider the change from comfort in the country to circumstances of cheerlessness in the city. Many make a sad mistake in leaving their country home to come to the city to be crowded in a tenement-house. Drawn thither, perhaps, by the glare and din and bustle, to mingle in the sin and sorrow. ”

“ The Master has come (by this death) and calls for thee. He is standing to-day at the door of thy heart knocking and saying, "If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." No friend so forgiving, so gentle as he. Oh, wilt thou let Him depart? Patiently waiting, earnestly pleading, Jesus thy Saviour knocks at thine heart. Is there some idol that you are cherishing? Is there some secret, darling sin to which you are clinging? Oh, what wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan without an interest in the atoning work of Jesus? ”

“ It is to a life of toil, not of indolence, we are called. The fields are white already, unto harvest. Who will bear the sheaves away? Who among our young men in this congregation will take the place of Elder Knowles? Can you be engaged in a grander or nobler work? He that winneth souls is wise. Is there any purer pleasure in this world than the joy that is experienced in the heart when souls are converted to God? Oh, young men, deeply meditate on that precious passage. He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, doth save a soul from death, and doth hide a multitude of sins. ”

“ It is the free gift of grace that, through saving faith, that will hold us until this short life is past, and then when we come to the river of death, like our dear Elder, we will reach our home safely. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." ”

“ Peter's, Dundee, says: "I feel, brethren, that a minister alone is incapable of ruling the House of God well. If a minister is to thrive in his own soul, he must be half of his time on his knees; and therefore, if Christ's house is to be ruled well, there must not only be pastors, but there must be ruling elders."
"The first qualification is grace. Grace in the heart. If it be a qualification in a church member that he should have grace, then much more ought it to be a qualification in one who rules the Church of God. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV.
ANSWERED PRAYER.
I want to go home, to know it all—
The Saviour's love for the sinner's soul,
The mercy of God and the glory given
To saints when they're safely brought to heaven.
"Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Ours is a camp life. Moses, in his wonderful prayer, claims God as his guide and protector amid all the changing scenes of life. "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. ”

“ Yonder? Yes! Here? Yes! The salutary influence for good by the consistent life of our elder can never be lost or forgotten.
We lay our brother's body to-day in Cypress Hills Cemetery, but his spirit hovers o'er us.
This tenement of dust is empty, but Jesus says: "I am the resurrection and the life."
We have deep feelings to-day, for we realize that we have lost a friend. No more. "God bless you, my brother, in your work." No more shall we see you at the prayer-meeting. Farewell, dear elder and co-worker. We say farewell but not forever. "We shall meet beyond the river." ”

“ How they excite our pity! How many, alas! are blinded by sin, sickness, and sorrow. "They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him." Is there any wonder that the whole city was moved, saying, "Who is this? This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee." Now the Saviour said, "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you into the world." Kind Christian words contain the rich unction of encouragement and inspiration to the sorrowful, heavy-laden heart. ”

“ I feel more and more the blessedness of the privilege I enjoy, in being permitted to labor for Christ in the salvation of so many poor souls.—When we labor with an eye to the glory of God, and the exaltation of the name of Jesus in the salvation of lost sinners, it always imparts perpetual pleasure. It was for the joy that was set before Jesus that He endured the Cross. Pure pleasure springs from the motive of doing good. ”

“ To get at him he will shun no danger, he will shrink from no privation, he will spare himself no fatigue, he will brave every element of heaven, he will hazard the extremities of every clime, he will cross seas, and work his persevering way through the briars and thickets of the wilderness. In perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by the heathen, in weariness and painfulness, he seeks after him. The cast and the color are nothing to the comprehensive eye of the missionary. ”

“ Here we have to cry out, "Oh, wretched man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death;" yonder the Spirit's work has gloriously triumphed. The believer's holiness is effectually accomplished in Heaven. Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life and may enter in by the pearly gates into the city.
Heaven is called the land of light. What is light? "Hail, holy light, offspring of Heaven's first-born." Light is pure. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Darkness, in God's Word, is an emblem of sin. ”

“ Clouds and wind must not affright, for the gladsome welcome light of example interposes between us and disappointment and despair. "Ye are the light of the world," said Jesus. It is by beholding the lights that once shone on earth, that are now shining as the stars for ever and ever in heaven, that we, seeing their good works do glorify our Father in Heaven. ”