ear." "Behold the
Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him"--but take the path by which
He is sure to travel. Be in the upper room, with the rest of the
disciples, so that you may not, like Thomas, miss Him when He comes.

_His footsteps are noiseless._--It is said of old, "Thy footsteps are
not known," therefore we need not be surprised if He steal in upon us
as a thief in the night, or as spring over the wolds. There is no
blare of trumpet or voice of herald; we cannot say, Lo here, or Lo
there; when the King comes there is no outward show; "He does not
strive, nor cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the
street."

"He entered not by the eyes," says St. Bernard, "for His presence was
not marked by color; nor by the ears, for there was no sound; nor by
the touch, for He was impalpable. How then did I know that He was
present? Because He was a quickening power. As soon as He entered He
awoke my slumbering soul. He moved and pierced my heart, which before
was stony, hard, and sick. He began also to pluck up and destroy, to
build and plant, to freshen the inner drought, to enlighten the
darkness, to open the prison-house, to make the crooked straight and
the rough smooth; so that my heart could bless the Lord with all that
was within me."

Oh, lonely, desolate soul, open thy door to Him; wait not on the alert
to detect His entrance, only believe that He is there; and presently,
and before ever thou art aware, thou wilt find a new fragrance
distilling through the heart-chamber, a new power throbbing in thy
pulse.

II. WE MAY ENJOY THE PERPETUAL RECOGNITION OF THE PRESENCE OF
CHRIST.--"The world beholdeth Me no more, but ye behold Me." Nothing
makes men so humble and yet so strong as the vision of Christ.

_It induces humility._--When Isaiah beheld His glory more resplendent
than the sheen of the sapphire throne, he cried that he was undone;
when Peter caught the first flash of His miraculous power gleaming
across the waves of Galilee, just when the fish were struggling in the
full net, he besought Him to depart, because he felt himself a sinful
man; and when John saw Him on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet
as dead, though, surely, if any of the apostles could have faced Him
unabashed, it had been he.

This is specially noticeable in the Book of Job. Few books are so
misunderstood. It is supposed to contain the description of the
victory of Job's patience; in reality it delineates