the
Cross is the principal part of the throne. "I, if I be lifted up, will
draw all men unto Me."

Yes, this sovereign sacrificial Lord is to receive universal homage and
worship. "_Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth_" is to pay
tribute at His feet. And this, not by a terrible coercion, but by a
gracious constraint. We are not to be driven, we are to be drawn; we are
to move by love--compulsion: the Lamb in God is to win the wills of men.

And I, too, may take my harp and make melodious praise before my King. And
I, too, may fill the "golden vials" with my grateful intercession, and
heaven shall be the sweeter for the odour of my prayers. And I, too, may
sound my loud "Amen," the note of gladsome resignation to the sovereign
will of God. Yes, even now I may be one of "the multitude whom no man can
number," who, in a new song, ascribe all worthiness to "the Lamb that was
slain."

APRIL The Thirteenth

_PURE GOLD_

"_Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold....
And there I will meet with thee._"
--EXODUS xxv. 10-22.

I must put my best into my preparations, and then the Lord will honour my
work. My part is to be of "pure gold" if my God is to dwell within it. I
must not satisfy myself with cheap flimsy and then assume that the Lord
will be satisfied with it. He demands my very best as a condition of His
enriching Presence.

My prayers must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. There must be
nothing vulgar about them, nothing shoddy, nothing hastily constructed,
nothing thrown up anyhow. They must be chaste and sincere, and overlaid
with pure gold.

My home must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. No unclean
passion must dwell there, no carnal appetite, no defiling conversation, no
immoderateness in eating and drinking. How can the Lord sit down at such a
table, or make One at such a fireside?

Let me present to Him pure gold. Let me offer Him nothing cheap. Let me
ever make the ark of my best, and the Lord will meet me there.

APRIL The Fourteenth

_RELIGION AS MERE MAGIC_

"_And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into
the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout._"
--1 SAMUEL iv. 1-11.

They were making more of the ark than of the Lord. Their religion was
degenerating into superstition. I become superstitious whenever the means
of worship are permitted to eclipse the Object of worship. I then possess
a magic instrument, and I forget the holy Lo