is the fire that melts the ore.
That is the heat that makes flexible the hard, stiff material. That is
the motive which makes duty delight, which makes 'the rough places
plain' and 'the crooked things straight.' It does not abolish natural
tastes, it does not supersede natural disinclinations, but it does
smooth and soften unwelcome and hard tasks, and it invests service with
a halo of glory, and changes the coldness of duty into rosy light; as
when the sunrise strikes on the peaks of the frozen mountains. The one
motive which impels men, and can be trusted to secure in them whatsoever
things are noble, is to please Him.

So we have the secret of blessedness in these words. For self-submission
and suppression are blessedness. Our miseries come from our unbridled
wills, far more than from our sensitive organisations. It is because we
do not accept providences that providences hurt. It is because we do not
accept the commandments that the commandments are burdensome. Those who
have no will, except as it is vitalised by God's will, have found the
secret of blessedness, and have entered into rest. In the measure in
which we approximate to that condition, our wills will be strengthened
as well as our hearts set at ease.

And blessedness comes, too, because the approbation of the Master, which
is the aim of the servant, is reflected in the satisfaction of an
approving conscience, which points onwards to the time when the Master's
approval shall be revealed in the servant's glory.

I was reading the other day about a religious reformer who arose in
Eastern lands a few years since, and gathered many disciples. He and his
principal follower were seized and about to be martyred. They were
suspended by cords from a gibbet, to be fired at by a platoon of
soldiers. And as they hung there, the disciple turned to his teacher,
and as his last word on earth said, 'Master! are you satisfied with me?'
His answer was a silent smile; and the next minute a bullet was in his
heart. Dear brethren, do you turn to Jesus Christ with the same
question, 'Master! art Thou satisfied with me?' and you will get His
smile here; and hereafter, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'

UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS

'And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them.'--Eph. v. 11.

We have seen in a former sermon that 'the fruit,' or outcome, 'of the
Light' is a comprehensive perfection, consisti