Chapter 2

"O, yes; there is. There is help for every trouble in life in the Lord's prayer, if we only know how to use it. I was trying a long time before I found out what the last part of this prayer really means. I'm no minister, or scholar, Ben, but I'll try and show you. You know that in this prayer we ask God for our daily bread; we ask him to keep us from evil; and to forgive us our sins; and then we say: 'for _thine_ is the _kingdom_, and _the power_, and the glory.' It's God's power that we rely on--not our own; and it often helps me, Ben, when I have something hard to do. I say, 'For _thine_ is the power--this is my duty, heavenly Father; but I can't do it myself; give me thy power to help me,' and he does it, Ben, he does it."

Ben sat silent. It seemed almost too familiar a prayer. And yet he remembered when he had to stay home from school because he had no clothes fit to go in, how he prayed to God about it, and the minister's wife brought him a suit the very next day. "But a boy's sums, mother! it seems like such a little thing to ask God about."

"Those sums are not a little thing to you, Ben. Your success at school depends on your knowing how to do them. _That_, is as much to you, as many a greater thing to some one else. Now I care a great deal about that, because I love you. And I know your Father in heaven loves you more than I do. I would gladly help you, if I could; but he _can_ help you. His 'is the power;' ask him to help you."

After doing an errand for his mother, Ben picked up his book and slate and went up to his little room. Kneeling down by the bed he repeated the Lord's prayer. When he came to--"thine is the kingdom," he stopped a moment, and then said, with all his heart--"'And thine is the power,' heavenly Father. I want power to know how to do these sums. There's no one else to help me. Lord, please give me power, for Jesus' sake, Amen."

Ben waited a moment, and then, still on his knees, he took his slate and tried again. Do you ask me if he succeeded? Remember what Saint James says, "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not: _and it shall be given him_." Jas. i: 5. That is God's promise, and heaven and earth must pass away before one of his promises shall fail. Ben had prayed to God to help him, and God answered his prayer. He tried once more to work out those sums. After thinking over them a little while, he saw the mistake he had made in neglecting one of the rules for working the sums. He corrected this mistake, and then he found they all worked out beautifully. The next day he was head of the class; for he was the only boy who could say that he had done the sum himself, without getting any one at home to help him.

"And yet I was helped, mother," said Ben, "for I am sure my Father in heaven helped me." But that was not what the teacher meant. After this, Ben never forgot the last part of the Lord's prayer. When he needed help he knew where the power was that could help him.

Here was where the apostles got the help they needed in doing the hard work they had to do. And how much help we might get in doing our work if we only make a right use of this "power which belongeth unto God;" and which he is always ready to use in helping us.

The help they received, is the third thing to remember when we think about the apostles and their work.

_The last thing to bear in mind when we think of Jesus choosing his twelve apostles, is_--THE LESSON--_it teaches us_.

There are many lessons we might learn from this subject; but there is one so much more important than all the rest that we may very well let them go, and think only of this one. When St. Luke tells us about Jesus choosing the twelve apostles, he mentions one very important thing, of which St. Matthew, in his account of it says nothing at all. And it is this thing from which we draw our lesson. In the twelfth verse of the sixth chapter of his gospel, St. Luke says--"And it came to pass in those days, that he (Jesus) went out into a mountain to pray, and _continued all night in prayer to God_." And after this, the first thing he did, in the morning, was to call his disciples to him, and out of them to choose the twelve, who were to be his apostles. And the lesson we learn from this part of the subject is:

"The Lesson of Prayer." Jesus spent the whole night in prayer to God, before he chose his apostles. How strange this seems to us! And yet it is easy enough to see at least two reasons why he did this. One was because _he loved to pray_. We know how pleasant it is for us to meet, and talk with a person whom we love very much. But prayer is--talking with God--telling him what we want, and asking his help. But Jesus loved his Father in heaven, with a love deeper and stronger than we can understand. This must have made it the most delightful of all things for him to be engaged in prayer, or in talking with his Father in heaven. And, if we really love Jesus, prayer will not be a hard duty to us, but a sweet privilege. We shall love to pray, because, in prayer we are talking to that blessed Saviour, "whom, not having seen, we love." And this was one reason why Jesus spent the whole night in prayer, before choosing his twelve apostles.

But there was another reason why Jesus spent so much time in prayer before performing this important work, and that was to _set us an example_. It was to teach us the very lesson of which we are now speaking--the lesson of prayer. Remember how much power and wisdom Jesus had in himself; and what mighty things he was able to do. And yet, if _He_ felt that it was right to pray before engaging in any important work, how much more necessary it is for us to do so!

Let us learn this lesson well. Let it be the rule and habit of our lives to connect prayer with everything we do. This will make us happy in our own souls, and useful to those about us.

How full the Bible is of the wonders that have been wrought by prayer! Just think for a moment of some of them.

Abraham prays, and Lot is delivered from the fiery flood that overwhelmed Sodom and Gomorrah. Gen. xix: 29. Jacob prays, and he wrestles with the angel, and obtains the blessing; his brother Esau's mind is wonderfully turned away from the wrath he had cherished for twenty years. Moses prays and Amalek is discomfited. Joshua prays and Achan is discovered. Hannah prays and Samuel is born. David prays and Ahithophel hangs himself. Elijah prays and a famine of three years comes upon Israel. He prays again, and the rain descends, and the famine ends. Elisha prays, and Jordan is divided. He prays again, and the dead child's soul is brought back from the invisible world. Isaiah and Hezekiah pray, and a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers are slain in one night by the unseen sword of the angel. These are Bible illustrations of the help God gives to his people in answer to prayer. And the Bible rule for prayer, as given by our Saviour, is, "that men ought _always_ to pray," Luke xviii: 1. St. Paul's way of stating it is--"Praying always, with all prayer," Ephes. vi: 18. In another place he says--"Pray without ceasing," I. Thess. v: 17. And even the heathen teach the same rule about prayer. Among the rules of Nineveh, an inscription on a tablet has been found, which, on being translated, proved to contain directions about prayer. It may be entitled:

"An Assyrian Call to Prayer." These are the words of the call:

"Pray thou! pray thou! Before the couch, pray! Before the throne, pray! Before the canopy, pray! Before the building of the lofty head, pray! Before the rising of the dawn, pray! Before the fire, pray! By the tablets and papyri, pray! By the side of the river, pray! By the side of a ship, or riding in a ship, or leaving the ship, pray! At the rising of the sun, or the setting of the sun, pray! On coming out of the city, on entering the city, pray! On coming out of the great gate, on entering the great gate, pray! On coming out of the house, pray! on entering the house, pray! In the place of judgment, pray! In the temple, pray!"

This is like the Bible rule of--"praying always."

"Praying for a Dinner." "Grandma, aren't we going to church this morning?" asked a little girl.

"My child, we have had no breakfast, and have no dinner to eat when we come back," said her grandma.

"But the Lord Jesus can give it to us if we ask him," said the little girl. "Let's ask him." So they kneeled down, and asked that God, "who feedeth the young ravens when they cry," to remember them, and help them.

Then they went to church. They found it very much crowded. An old gentleman took the little girl upon his knee. He was pleased with her quiet behaviour. On parting with her at the close of the service, he slipped a half crown into her hand. "See, Grandma," she said, as soon as they were out of church, "Jesus has sent us our dinner."

But when we ask God to help us, we must always try to help ourselves.

"Working as well as Praying." Two little girls went to the same school; one of them, named Mary, always said her lessons well, the other, named Jane, always failed. One day Jane said, "Mary, how does it happen that you always say your lessons so well?" Mary said she prayed over her lessons, and _that_ was the secret of her success.

Jane concluded to try praying. But the next day she failed worse than ever. In tears, she reproached Mary for deceiving her. "But, did you study hard, as well as pray over your lesson?" asked Mary.

"No; I thought if I only prayed, that was all I had to do," replied Jane. "Not at all. God only helps those who try to help themselves. You must study hard as well as pray, if you wish to get your lessons well," was Mary's wise answer. The next day Jane studied, as well as prayed, and she had her lesson perfectly.

The greatest work we can ever do, is to bring a soul to Jesus, or to convert a sinner from the error of his way. Here is an illustration of the way in which this may be done by prayer and effort combined:

"The Coachman and His Prayer." "I was riding once, on the top of a stage-coach," said a Christian gentleman, "when the driver by my side began to swear in a dreadful manner. I lifted up my heart for God's blessing on what I said; and presently, in a quiet way, I asked him this question: 'Driver, do you ever pray?' He seemed displeased at first; but after awhile he replied, 'I sometimes go to church on Sunday; and then I suppose I pray, don't I?' 'I am afraid you never pray at all; for no man can swear as you do, and yet be in the habit of praying to God.'

"As we rode along he seemed thoughtful. 'Coachman, I wish you would pray now,' I said. '"Why, what a time to pray, Sir, when a man is driving a coach!"' 'Yet, my friend, God will hear you,' '"What shall I pray?"' he asked, in a low voice. 'Pray these words: '"O Lord, grant me thy Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake. Amen."' He hesitated, but in a moment he repeated them; and then, at my request, he said them over a second, and a third time. The end of the journey was reached, and I left him.

"Some months passed away, and we met once more. 'Ah, Sir,' said he, with a smile, 'the prayer you taught me on that coach-box was answered. I saw myself a lost, and ruined sinner; but now, I humbly hope, that through the blood which cleanseth from all sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I am a converted man.'"

And so, when we think of the twelve apostles, appointed by Jesus to preach his gospel, these are the four things for us to remember in connection with them, viz.:--_the men_ whom he chose; _the work_ they had to do; _the help_ given them in doing that work; and _the lesson_ we are taught by this subject--the lesson of prayer.

Whatever we have to do, let us do it with all our hearts, and do it as for God, and then we shall be his apostles--his sent ones. Let me put the application of this subject in the form of some earnest, practical lines that I lately met with. The lines only speak of boys, but they apply just as well to girls. They are headed:

DRIVE THE NAIL.

"Drive the nail aright, boys, Hit it on the head, Strike with all your might, boys, While the iron's red.

"Lessons you've to learn, boys, Study with a will; They who reach the top, boys, First must climb the hill.

"Standing at the foot, boys, Gazing at the sky, How can you get up, boys, If you never try?

"Though you stumble oft, boys, Never be downcast; Try and try again, boys, You'll succeed at last.

"Ever persevere, boys, Tho' your task be hard; Toil and happy cheer, boys, Bring their own reward.

"Never give it up, boys, Always say you'll try; Joy will fill your cup, boys, Flowing by and by."

THE GREAT TEACHER

Teaching was the great business of the life of Christ during the days of his public ministry. He was _sent_ to teach and to preach. The speaker in the book of Job was thinking of this Great Teacher when he asked--"_Who teacheth like him_?" Job xxxvi: 22. And it was he who was in the Psalmist's mind when he spoke of the "good, and upright Lord" who would teach sinners, if they were meek, how to walk in his ways. Ps. xxv: 8-9. And he is the Redeemer, of whom the prophet Isaiah was telling when he said--He would "_teach us to profit_, and _would lead us by the way that we should go_." And thus we know how true was what Nicodemus said of him, that "he was a _teacher sent from God_." John iii: 2. Thus what was said of Jesus, before he came into our world, would naturally lead us to expect to find him occupied in teaching. And so he _was_ occupied, all through the days of his public ministry. St. Matthew tells us that--"Jesus went about all Galilee, _teaching_ in their synagogues." Ch. iv: 23. Further on in his gospel he tells us again that "Jesus went about all the cities, and villages, teaching in their synagogues." Ch. ix: 35. When on his trial before Pilate, his enemies brought it as a charge against him that he had been--"_teaching_ throughout all Jewry." Luke xxiii: 5. We read in one place that--"the elders of the people came unto him _as he was teaching_." Matt. xxi: 23. Jesus himself gave this account of his life work to his enemies--"I sat _daily_ with you _teaching_ in the temple." Matt. xxvi: 55. And so we come now to look at the life of Christ from this point of view--as a Teacher. There never was such a Teacher. We do not wonder at the effect of his teaching of which we read in St. John vii: 46, when the chief priests sent some of their officers to take him prisoner, and bring him unto them; the officers went, and joined the crowd that was listening to his preaching. His words had such a strange effect on them that they could not think of touching him. So they went back to their masters without doing what they had been sent to do. "And when the chief priests and Pharisees said unto them--Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, _Never man spake like this man_." Jesus was indeed--_The Great Teacher_. In this light we are now to look at him. And as we do this we shall find that there were _five_ great things about his teaching which made him different from any other teacher the world has ever known.

_In the first place Jesus may well be called the Great Teacher, because of the_--GREAT BLESSINGS--_of which he came to tell_.

We find some of these spoken of at the opening of his first great sermon to his disciples, called "The Sermon on the Mount." This is the most wonderful sermon that ever was preached. Jesus began it by telling about some of the great blessings he had brought down from heaven for poor sinful creatures such as we are. The sermon begins in the fifth chapter of St. Matthew, and the first twelve verses of the chapter are occupied in speaking of these blessings. As soon as he opened his mouth and began to speak a stream of blessings flowed out.

It was a beautiful thought, on this subject, which a boy in Sunday-school once had. The teacher had been talking to his class about the beginning of this sermon on the mount. He had spoken of the sweetness of the words of Jesus, when "He opened his mouth and taught" his disciples. "How pleasant it must have been, my dear boys," said he, "to have seen the blessed Saviour, and to have heard him speak!"

A serious-minded little fellow in the class said, "Teacher, don't you think that when Jesus opened his mouth, and began to speak to his disciples, it must have been like taking the stopper out of a scent bottle?" I cannot tell whether this boy had ever read the words of Solomon or not; but he had just the same idea that was in his mind when he said of this "Great Teacher," "thy name is _as ointment poured forth_." Cant, i: 3. We perceive the fragrance of this ointment as soon as Jesus opens his mouth and begins to speak. If we had been listening to Jesus when he began this sermon, saying:--" Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are the meek; blessed are the pure in heart; blessed are the peace-makers"--and so on till he had spoken of _nine_ different kinds of blessing, we might have thought that he had nothing but blessings of which to tell. It would have seemed as if his mind, and heart, and lips, and hands were all so filled with blessings that he could do nothing else till he had told about these. And the blessings spoken of here are not all the blessings that Jesus brought. They are only specimens of them. The blessings he has obtained for us are innumerable. David says of them, "If I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbered." Ps. xl: 5. And these blessings are not only very numerous, but very _great_. Look at one or two of these blessings that Jesus, the Great Teacher, brings to us. He says, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Jesus came to bring comfort to the mourners. Hundreds of years before Christ came the prophet Isaiah had said of him that he would come to "_comfort all that mourn_." Is. lxi: 2. And to show how complete this blessing would be which he was to bring, Jesus said himself--"_As one whom his mother comforteth_ --_so will I comfort you_." Is. lxvi: 13. A young girl was dying. A friend who came in to see her said:

"I trust you have a good hope."

"No," she answered, distinctly; "I am not hoping--I am certain. My salvation was finished on the cross. My soul is saved. Heaven is mine. I am going to Jesus."

What a great blessing it is to have comfort like that!

When Jesus was speaking to the woman of Samaria, as he sat by Jacob's well, he compared the blessing of his grace to the water of that well. Pointing to the well at his side, he said: "Whosoever drinketh of this water will thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be _in him, a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life_." John iv: 13, 14. This is one of the most beautiful illustrations of the blessing Jesus gives that ever was used. It is a great blessing to have a well of clear, cold water in our garden, or near our door. But, only think of having a well of water _in our hearts_. Then, wherever we go, we carry that well with us. We never have to go away from it. No one can separate between us and the water of this well. Other wells dry up and fail. But this is a well that never dries up, and never fails. This well is deep, and its water is all the time "springing up unto everlasting life." How happy they are in whose breasts Jesus opens this well of water!

Coleridge, the English poet, in writing to a young friend, just before his death, said:

"Health is a great blessing; wealth, gained by honest industry, is a great blessing; it is a great blessing to have kind, faithful, loving friends and relatives, _but, the greatest, and best of all blessings is to be a Christian_."

One of the most able and learned lawyers that England ever had was John Selden. He was so famous for his learning and knowledge that he is always spoken of as "the learned Selden." On his deathbed he said--"I have taken much pains to know everything that was worth knowing among men; but with all my reading and all my knowledge, nothing now remains with me to comfort me at the close of life but these precious words of St. Paul: 'This a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;' to this I cling. In this I rest. This gives me peace, and comfort, and enables me to die happy."

William Wilberforce was another of the great and good men who have been a blessing and an honor to England. When he was on his deathbed, he said to a dear friend:

"Come, let us talk of heaven. Do not weep for me. I am very happy. But I never knew what happiness was till I found Christ as my Saviour. Read the Bible. Let no other book take its place. Through all my trials and perplexities, it has been my comfort. And now it comforts me, and makes me happy."

Here we see "this well of water springing up unto everlasting life." And Jesus, who came to tell us of this water, and to open up this well in our breasts, may well be called, "the Great Teacher," because of the great blessings--of which he tells.

_In the second place Jesus may be called "the Great Teacher" because of the_--GREAT SIMPLICITY--_of his teachings_.

I do not mean to say that we can understand every thing that Jesus taught. This is not so. He had some things to speak about that are not simple. He said to his disciples, "_I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now_." John xvi: 12. This means that there are some things about God, and heaven, of which he wished to tell them, but they were too hard for them to understand, although they were full-grown men. And so he did not tell them of these things. But even among the things that Jesus did tell about, there are some which the wisest and most learned men in the world have never been able to understand or explain. Some one has compared the Bible to a river, in which there are some places deep enough for an elephant or a giant to swim in; and other places where the water is shallow enough for a child to wade in. And it is just so with the teachings of Jesus. Some of the most important lessons he taught are so plain and simple that very young people can understand them.

We have a good illustration of this in that sweet invitation which Jesus gave when he said,--"_Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest._" Matt. xi: 28. Very young people know what it is to feel tired and weary from walking, or working too much, or from carrying a heavy burden. And, when they are too tired to do anything else, they know what it is to go to their dear mother and throw themselves into her arms, and find rest there. And, in just the same way, Jesus invites us to come to him when we are tired, or troubled, that our souls may find rest in him. We come to Jesus, when we pray to him; when we tell him all about our troubles; when we ask him to help us; and when we trust in his promises.

"Was there ever gentlest shepherd Half so gentle, half so sweet, As the Saviour, who would have us Come and gather round his feet?

"There's a wideness in God's mercy, Like the wideness of the sea; There's a kindness in his justice Which is more than liberty.

"There is no place where earth's sorrows Are more felt than up in heaven; There is no place where earth's failings Have such kindly judgments given.

"There is plentiful redemption In the blood that has been shed; There is joy for all the members In the sorrows of the head.

"If our love were but more simple, We should take him at his word; And our lives would all be sunshine, In the sweetness of our Lord."