CHAPTER XVII.
It was Sunday afternoon. Most of the _Dolphin's_ passengers were in theirown state-rooms enjoying the Sabbath rest, after the fatigue of thesight-seeing of the past week, but Captain Raymond sat on the deck withNeddie on his knee and the three girls grouped about him. The father anddaughters had each a Bible, for even little Elsie could read fluently andhad been given one of her own, which she valued highly.
"Papa," she said, "you know you bade each of us to have a verse to reciteto you to-day. May I say mine now?"
"Yes; we will begin with the youngest to-day," he replied.
"But that's I, papa; your Neddie boy!" exclaimed the little fellow on hisknee.
"Why, yes, to be sure! But I hardly expected him to have one," the captainreturned, with a fatherly smile down into the dear little face upturned tohis. "Let me hear it, son?"
"It's only a very little one, papa: 'The Son of man hath power on earth toforgive sins.'"
"A very sweet verse. Does my little son know who said these words?"
"Grandma said they were Jesus' words. She taught me the verse."
"Yes, it was Jesus our Saviour who said it; and do you know whom he meantby the Son of man?"
"Grandma said it was himself, and that he can forgive all our sins andtake away the love of sinning and make us truly good, really holy."
"That is true, a blessed truth; and to him alone, to Jesus who was God andman both, we must go to get our sins forgiven, and be taught to loveholiness; that holiness without which no man can see the Lord."
"Now mine, papa," said Elsie: "'He that believeth on the Son hatheverlasting life.' Doesn't that mean that to believe on Jesus will take usto heaven at last--when we die?"
"Yes; and as soon as we really and truly believe on him--trust and lovehim, giving ourselves to him and taking him for our Saviour--he gives us alife that will last forever, so that we will always be his in this worldand in the next, and dying will be but going home to our Father's house onhigh, to be forever there with the Lord, and free from sin and sufferingand death."
"Never any more naughtiness, and never any more pain or sickness," saidElsie thoughtfully. "Oh, how delightful that will be!"
"Yes, and to be with Jesus and like him," said Grace softly. "This is myverse: 'We love him because he first loved us.'"
"Oh, what love it was!" exclaimed her father. "'Beloved, let us love oneanother: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God. Hethat loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.'"
"I have the next three verses, papa," said Lucilla: "'In this wasmanifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his onlybegotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein islove, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to bethe propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought alsoto love one another.'"
"Yes," said her father; "if we would be followers of Christ, he must beour example; he who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who,when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatenednot; but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously: who his ownself bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead tosins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
"What does that mean?" asked little Ned.
"That the dear Lord Jesus suffered in our stead; taking the punishment dueto us for our sins, the punishment we deserved, and letting us have thelife bought with his righteousness and his blood."
"What is righteousness, papa?" asked the little fellow.
"Holiness, goodness. Jesus was perfectly holy, and those who truly lovehim will be ever trying to be like him; will go from strength to strengthtill everyone of them in Zion appears before God. That is, till they getto heaven; and there they will be so like Jesus that they will never sinany more."
"And what does that other part, 'by whose stripes ye are healed,' mean,papa?" asked Elsie.
"That Jesus suffered for the sins of his people (there was no sin of hisown for him to suffer for), and that because he bore the punishment intheir stead they will not have to bear it, and will be delivered from thelove of it; that is the healing--the being made well of that disease--thelove of sinning, the vile nature that we are all born with, because ourfirst parents disobeyed God there in the garden of Eden."
"God teaches his people to hate sin and try bard--asking help of him--toforsake it and be always good, doing just what is right; doesn't he,papa? That's what grandma says."
"Yes, dear child, it is what God teaches us in his Word--the Holy Bible."
"And he will send his Holy Spirit to help us--if we ask him to?"
"Yes."
"But how can we know it, papa? we can't see him."
"No, daughter, but we may know it by the help he gives us, and others willrecognize the fact by the fruit of the Spirit seen in our lives. Lucilla,can you tell me what is the fruit of the Spirit?"
"Yes, sir; the Bible says 'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."
"Yes; and 'against such there is no law.' Jesus has kept the law perfectlyin their stead, and his righteousness being imputed to them, they aretreated as if they had never broken the law--never sinned--but had beenalways holy and obedient to all the commands of God, as he was."
Elsie was looking very thoughtful. "I think I understand it now, papa,"she said. "Jesus has kept God's law in our stead, and borne the punishmentfor our breaking it, and gives his goodness to us, so that we are treatedjust as if we had been really good when we haven't at all, and that iswhat it means where it says, 'by whose stripes ye were healed.'"
"Yes, dear child, that is just it; and oh, how can we help loving him, whodied and suffered so much for us! Oh, how we ought to love him!"
"I do love him, papa. I ask him every day to help me to love him more andserve him better. I ask earnestly for a new heart; for he is the hearerand answerer of prayer. The Bible tells us so."
"And it is so sweet to know it," said Grace, speaking low and softly, "forhe is always near and able to help us, no matter what our trouble may be."
"Yes," said her father. "'Call upon me in the day of trouble; I willdeliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.' 'Then shall ye call upon me, andye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shallseek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.'God looks at the heart, my children, and will not hear and answer us if weapproach him with lip service only, not really wanting what we are askingfor."
"Yes, papa," said Elsie; "but I do really want the new heart I ask himfor. So he will give it to me; won't he?"
"Yes, daughter, for he has said so, and his promises never fail."
"I want to go to mamma now," said Neddie, getting down from his father'sknee.
"Yes, run along," said the captain. "Our lesson has been long enough forto-day, I think, daughters, and you are all at liberty to go. You, Grace,are looking weary, and it would be well for both you and Elsie to take anap: Lucilla also, if she wishes," he added, with a kindly glance at her.
"Thank you, papa, but I do not care to," she answered, as the othershastened away; "the breeze makes it very pleasant here on deck."
"Yes, and you can rest nicely in one of these steamer chairs." Then,taking a keener look into her face, "But something seems to be troublingyou, dear child. Tell your father what it is, that he may help and comfortyou," he added, in very tender tones, taking her hands and drawing her toa seat close at his side.
"Oh, papa, it is that I am--I am afraid I have been deceiving myself andam not really a Christian," she said, with a half sob and hiding her faceon his shoulders. "There is so little, if any, of the fruit of the Spiritin me--no gentleness, goodness, meekness--though I do love Jesus and longto be like him."
"In that case, dear child, I am sure you are one of his," he answered lowand tenderly. "Love is put first in the list and I have seen, to my greatjoy, a steady growth in you
of longsuffering, gentleness, and meekness.Jesus said, 'By their fruits ye shall know them,' and I think that, thoughfar from perfect, yet my dear eldest daughter does show by her life thatshe is earnestly striving to bring forth in it the fruit of the Spirit.'The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and moreunto the perfect day.' We are not made perfect in a moment, but are togrow in grace, becoming more and more like the Master, and when the workof grace is completed--so that we are made perfect in holiness--we doimmediately pass into glory, to be forever with the Lord."
"Yes, papa; and oh, I want you to pray for me that I may grow in graceevery day and hour of my life."
"I will, I do, daughter; and you must pray for your father too, for he isby no means perfect yet."
"Papa, you do seem perfect to me," she said, with a look of reverent loveup into his face. "I never forget you in my prayers; never forget to thankGod for giving me such a dear, kind father. Papa, are you never troubledwith fears that you might be mistaken in thinking yourself a Christian?Oh, no! I am sure not; for how could you be when you are such a goodChristian that no one who sees you every day, and knows you as yourdaughter does, could have the least doubt about it?"
"My daughter looks at me with the partial eyes of filial love," hereplied, tenderly smoothing her hair, "but I too, in view of my sins andshortcomings, am sometimes sorely troubled by doubts and fears. But then Ifind peace and happiness in just giving myself anew to Jesus, and askinghim to take me for his very own and deliver me from all my sins and fears;then, knowing that he is a hearer and answerer of prayers, I can go on myway rejoicing. Can you not do the same?"
"Oh, yes, papa, I will. I remember now that you told me once to do so--tocome then to Him and he would receive me, and I need not trouble about thequestion whether I had really come before. And I did and found, oh, suchrest and peace!"
"Yes; 'the peace of God which passeth all understanding! May it ever keepyour heart and mind through Christ Jesus.'"
Elsie at the World's Fair Page 17