The great pilot and his lessons

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Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her. — Luke 10 : 42.

THE

I.

The Mary here spoken of was the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus had another sister besides Mary, and her name was Martha. It seems that these two sisters and their brother were living together by themselves, having lost their parents. The place of their residence was the little town of Bethany, a short distance from Jerusalem. We are told that " Jesus loved Mary, and her sister, and Lazarus." He was very fond of going to their house, and stopping there, when he was in that part of the country. The last three nights of his life, before his crucifixion, he spent with this happy family at Bethany.

Those good sisters both loved Jesus very much, but they took a different way of showing their love. One time, when Jesus was making a visit at their house, Martha thought she would show Jesus how much she loved him, by getting up a nice supper for him, and preparing a great many good things for him to eat. But Mary thought that Jesus didn't care so much about eating and drinking, and she chose to show her love to him, by sitting down at his feet, and listening attentively to what he was saying. By and by, Martha got worried about something or other, and when she saw Mary sitting quietly down by the side of Jesus, she felt vexed. Presently she came to Jesus, in rather an ill-humor, and said, " Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? Bid her, therefore, that she help me." I suppose she thought that Jesus would feel just as she did about it. She, no doubt, expected that he would turn to Mary, and say, " Mary, why do you sit idling here ? Do go, and help your sister in her work." But, instead of this, Jesus turned to Martha, and said, in the way of gentle reproof, " Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful ; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

The good part which Mary had chosen was to love and, serve Jesus. Our sermon to-day is about Metros choice ; or, the good portion.

Suppose that God should send an angel to you with an offer of two things ; one of these is a fortune of a hundred thousand dollars; the other is the grace which will make you a Christian, and help you to love and serve Jesus here in this life, and then be happy with him in heaven at last. Well, the angel comes to you and asks you to make your choice. You have to make up your mind to take one or the other. If you take the money, then that is your choice, your part, your portion. If you take the grace of God, which will jpaho you a Christian, then that is your choice. Like

Mary, you have chosen the good portion. Now, why is that choice, which Mary made, called a good part, or a good portion ? This is the question for us to consider. I wish to speak of four reasons why it may be thus called. Remember that Mary's choice was loving and serving Jesus.

The first reason why this is a good choice, or portion, is that it is what god wants us to

CHOOSE.

God knows what is good for us a great deal better than we do. If we only let him choose for us, and follow his choice, we shall be sure to be satisfied and happy. For instance, when God first made the angels, he wanted them to live forever with him in heaven, and be happy. He gave them all the joys and pleasures of heaven to make them happy. Surely they ought to have been satisfied with this. For a while they were all satisfied, and perfectly happy. But after a time some of them began to feel dissatisfied with their position. They thought they could choose better for themselves. They wanted to alter their portioii. They did alter it. And what was the result ? Instead of being holy angels, living in the light and joy and happiness of heaven, they became fallen angels, foul fiends, wicked devils, and were cast, in chains of darkness, down to the bottomless pit. But those angels who were satisfied with God's choice are in heaven yet. They are holy, happy angels still.

And then, you know, in the first chapters of the Bible we read about Adam and Eve. G-od made them pure and good. He put them in the garden of Eden. It was a beautiful place. There were soft, velvet lawns, and cool, shady groves ; trees bending with rich, ripe fruit, and flowers of every kind and description filling the air with their delightful fragrance. There were fountains playing, and beautiful streams gliding softly along, and birds singing in the trees, and beasts, not wild, but tame and harmless as the gentle lamb, all playing pleasantly around. Oh, what a charming place that must have been ! There was every possible thing that was necessary to make them happy.

That was the choice God had made for them, and the " good part" or portion which he had prepared for them. If they had only been satisfied with God's choice, they might have remained there to this day perfectly happy. They were satisfied and happy for a little while. But, by and by, Satan managed to get into that happy place. He began slyly to talk to them. He tried to make them feel dissatisfied with their condition. He told them that they could make a wiser choice than had been made for them, and secure a better part or portion for themselves. They listened to his voice. They chose for themselves another part or portion. And what was the result ? They were turned out from that happy home, — that beautiful garden, — to live in this dark world of sorrow, sin, and death !

And it is just the same now. Those who take what God has chosen for them, — the part or portion he has prepared for them, — and are satisfied with it, are happy. Those who are not satisfied with that, but try to choose something different for themselves, are always wretched and miserable.

Suppose we go into the woods and look at the little birds. We hear them sing their merry songs as they flit, in the sunlight, from tree to tree. We see that they are just as happy as they can be. And why ? Because they are satisfied with the portion God has chosen for them.

And now, suppose we go out to sea. Our vessel is far away from land. We hear one of the sailors cry out, " A school of porpoises ! " We go to the bows of the vessel, and lean over and look at them. There we see hundreds upon hundreds of them. They are darting up and down, and playing about, like boys or girls just let out of school. Some are gliding gently along, while others are darting quickly about, as if they were playing tag, or hide and seek, in the water. You almost feel as if you would like to be a porpoise for about ten minutes, just to take a plunge into the water, and join in their fun. They are just as happy as fishes can be. And the reason of it is that they are satisfied with the part or portion that God has chosen for them.

But suppose that the birds of the air should dive into the sea, and try to share in the enjoyment of the fishes, — could they be happy there ? Of course not. Or suppose that one of those porpoises should take a notion to try living on dry land awhile. Suppose he should try to climb up a tree, and balance himself on one of the branches, where the birds feel at home, and enjoy themselves so much in singing, — do you think the porpoise would find any pleasure in it ? Oh, no. It would be perfect misery to him. He would die in the attempt, unless he could get back to the salt water pretty quick. But the little bird is happy up there among the trees ; then why can't the fish be happy there, too ? Because it is not the part or portion which God has chosen for him. God has chosen life in the air as the portion for the bird ; and this is a good part for the bird, because it is God's choice for him. And God has chosen life in the water as the portion for the fish ; and this is a good part for him, for the same reason. And the part which Mary chose, loving and serving Jesus, is a good part or portion for us,

because it is that which Grod wants us to choose.

The second reason why this is a good part or portion for us, is because there is enough in

IT TO SATISFY OUR SOULS.

The great reason why so many people are unhappy in the world is that they love things, and choose them as their portion, that are too little to fill their souls and satisfy them. The things that we love, and think about most, — that we take as our portion, — are to our souls just what the things we eat and drink are to our bodies. They are the food of our souls. And if we don't love the right things, and thus get the right kind of food for our souls, we can't be happy, any more than we can be comfortable if we don't get the right kind of food for our bodies, and enough of it. Suppose you have a glass globe in your dining-room with a little gold-fish in it. In the morning you drop a crumb of bread, or the leg of a fly, or the tiniest little mite of meat into the water. The fish will snap it up in a minute. It makes a good breakfast of it, and flaps its little tail in thankfulness, and feels completely happy. But suppose, when you take your seat at the table, you find just one little crumb of bread for your breakfast, like that you just gave the fish. And suppose that was all you could get. Would you feel very comfortable ? No. You would feel very imcomf or table. You would be weak and faint, and hunger would be gnawing at your stomach all the time. That crumb of bread was not enough to fill your stomach and satisfy your hunger.

There is the little humming-bird. Its body is hardly larger than your little finger. It has a long, slender bill, like a piece of wire. It thrusts this bill into the cup of a flower, two or three times, and sips up the honey which it finds there, and this gives it a hearty meal, that satisfies the humming-bird and makes it completely happy. But suppose, now, you set that morsel of honey before the huge eagle, when he comes swooping down from his home on the top of the mountain. Could he make a meal of it ? No ; it is not the kind of food he wants, and, if it were, there is not enough of it.

Suppose you stick a fine needle in the end of your finger, and squeeze out a drop of blood. If a mosquito should light on your finger, that drop of blood would make a meal that would satisfy him. But let a hungry lion come stalking by, lashing his sides with his tail, and with fire flashing from his eyes, — would he be satisfied with a drop of blood ? No. Nothing less than a sheep or a goat or a deer would make a meal for him. Well, here we see that small bodies are satisfied with a small portion of food, while large bodies require a large portion of food to satisfy them.

If I ask you how much food will be enough to satisfy an animal, you will want first to know how large the animal is.

And so, if you are asked to tell what will make a good portion for a soul, — that is, what will be enough to satisfy it and make it happy, — you can't tell till you know how large the soul is. But how can you tell how large the soul is ? We can tell in a minute how large our bodies are. We can take the measure of the body, from head to foot, and round the waist, and tell exactly what its size is. But no one ever saw a soul. Is there any way, then, of finding out how large the soul is ? Yes; we can tell how large it is by finding out what will satisfy it or make it happy. I do not mean what will satisfy it for an hour or a day, or a month or a year, but what will satisfy it and make it happy while we live, when we die, after death, forever. Now tell me, do you think one hundred thousand dollars would do this ? Would five hundred thousand ? Would a million ? Would all the money in the world ? Would the whole world and everything in it ? No. Then, does not this show that our souls are very large ? Yes ; they are so large that nothing less than God can satisfy them. If we love and serve Jesus, this will satisfy our souls and make them happy forever.

" James, come with me," said a gentleman to his little boy, one Sunday afternoon ; " I'm going to take a walk."

They started. After walking a while, they came to a poor, miserable-looking little house. There were only two rooms in it, one above the other. They clambered up a sort of ladder to the second story. When they entered that room, James thought that it was the poorest and most wretched-looking place he had ever seen. There was no carpet on the floor. Two or three rickety chairs, an old broken table, and an old bedstead, to match it, in one corner, were all that the room contained. On that bed lay a poor old woman. James's father went up to the side of the bed, and began to talk with the old woman. The little fellow was surprised to hear her speak cheerfully and seem to be quite happy. After a while, James said, —

" Please, ma'am, will you tell me what it is that makes you seem so happy ? You have to stay here all by yourself;' you are sick and have very little to eat. What is it can make you happy ? "

" My dear child," said she, " I am left alone in the world. I am old and poor and sick. I often have nothing but dry bread to eat, and cold water to drink. Yet I am happy. The reason of it is that I love the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know he loves me, I feel that he is here with me ; and this makes me happy. I was just thinking, when you came in, of that passage in the Bible, in which Jesus says, ' I will be a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless ; ' and I can't tell you how much comfort it gave me."

This old woman had followed Mary's example. She was loving and serving Jesus. She had chosen this as her part, or portion, and she found it a good part, or portion, because there ivas enough in it to satisfy her soul.

The third reason why this is a good portion is that it is so sure.

When a man becomes very rich, in this world, we say he has made his fortune. He has got a large amount of money, or property. That is called his portion. But how very uncertain worldly riches are ! The Bible says, they " take to themselves wings and fly away." Our hold upon them is not stronger than it would be if it was made of that fine, delicate thread which the spider weaves.

I know a clergyman, in our church, who was a physician when he was a young man. He had married a wife who was very beautiful and very rich. He had, through her, a large fortune, or portion of worldly property. He had a lovely little babe, too. He had everything the world could give to make him happy ; but, he was not loving and serving Jesus. Now, that young man's part, or portion, seemed like a good one ; but, ah ! how uncertain it was ! One day a friend was visiting him. He showed him his elegant house ; he pointed to his lovely wife, and sweet little babe, and said to his friend, " I am just as happy as I can be." But in one short week from that time, that beautiful wife and that lovely babe were in their graves. Wife — child — property — all gone in a week ! What a sad change for that poor young physician ! The worldly portion that he had chosen seemed to be a good one ; but it was not sure. And this is the case with all earthly portions. We may have them to-day, but no one can tell who may have them to-morrow. But if we choose Mary's part, if we love and serve Jesus, we choose a portion that is good because it is so sure. Jesus said of the good part which Mary chose, that "it should not be taken away from her." And if we make this choice, he will say the same of us. If we love and serve Jesus, and commit our souls to him, he will take care of us, and not let us be lost. Satan may try to entice us away from him, but Jesus wont let him succeed. If we forget him and fall into sin, Jesus will punish us and bring us back to him, just as a father does his child when he does wrong, but he wont forsake us or suffer us to be lost. He wont let the good part be taken away from us, after it has once been truly chosen.

Some years ago there was a good minister in England whose name was John Newton. He had a dream once, which illustrates very nicely this part of our subject. In his dream Mr. N. thought he was on board a ship, which was lying at anchor, in the Bay of Naples. He was leaning over the side of the vessel, looking at the city, which lay off in the distance, with Mount Vesuvius behind it, when a beautiful angel came to him and gave him a gold ring. He told him to take great care of that ring, and never to part with it on any account. He said that if he kept it safe, he would always be happy, and when he died, it would take him to heaven. Mr. N. promised the angel that he never would part with the ring as long as he lived. Then the angel left him.

Soon after he was gone, another person came up to him, looking very different from the angel. He entered into conversation with Mr. N. By and by he saw the ring which the angel had given him upon his finger. Then he asked some questions about it. Mr. N. told him how the ring was given to him, and how his happiness and salvation depended on his keeping it safely. The stranger laughed at him. Then he told him what a foolish thing it was to think that keeping that ring would make him happy in this world, or take him to heaven at last. He went on talking in this way, and said so much about it, that at last Mr. N. began to feel ashamed of himself. And finally, at the stranger's suggestion, he actually took the ring from his finger, and dropped it into the sea.

He had no sooner done so than his tempter turned and reproached him for his folly. He told him, that in throwing away that ring, he had thrown away his happiness, and lost his soul. Poor Mr. N. was in great distress. Then he dreamed that his angel friend came back. He plunged into the water, just where the ring had been dropped in. Presently he came up with the ring in his hand. Mr. N. shouted for joy when he saw the ring, and eagerly reached out his hand to take it again. But the angel said, " No, I can't trust it to you any more. If I should, you might lose it again. I will keep it for you, and then it will be safe."

When Mr. N. awoke he saw that this angel represented Jesus. The tempter represented Satan, and the ring represented the good portion which he had chosen in becoming a Christian. This portion is a good one because it is sure. Jesus is the keeper of it, and that which he keeps is perfectly safe. The third reason why this is a good portion is that it is so sure.

The fourth and last reason why it is a good portion is that it is so lasting.

Earthly portions never can be made lasting. They pass away just like the things that we see when we are dreaming.

There was once a great king. On the day on which he was to be crowned, he made a grand holiday. The soldiers marched in procession round the palace. All the noblemen of his kingdom were there, dressed in their splendid robes. Bands of music were playing, and colors were streaming in the wind, and everything looked bright and beautiful. As the king looked upon this grand sight, he was delighted ; and, turning to one of his attendants, he said, " Isn't it perfectly glorious ? "

" Please your Majesty," said the gentleman, " one thing is wanting, to make it perfect."

" What is that ? " asked the king.

" Continuance" was the answer.

It wasn't lasting. It wouldn't continue. The day would soon pass away. The soldiers would go home. The music would stop playing. The colors would be furled. The nobles and princes would go away, and lay aside their glittering robes. Dark night would spread its gloomy pall over the scene, and all that dazzling glory would vanish away. The next day it would only be remembered like a dream. And it is just so with all earthly portions. They are not lasting. There are a great many beautiful things in this world, but they do not last. How beautiful the rainbow is, when we see it stretching its great arch across the dark clouds, after a storm ! How beautiful the flowers are when they come out with all their varying colors, and fill the air with fragrance ! How beautiful the western sky is when the sun is setting, and his beams gild all the clouds with glory like that of heaven ! You get up, on one of these cold, winter mornings, and go to the window of your chamber. The frost has been at work there. You look at it with delight. There you seem to see gardens and forests and houses and temples and palaces all glittering and sparkling as though they were made of diamonds. But will any of these things last ? No. While you are looking at the rainbow it fades away. In a very short time the beautiful flowers all wither. As soon as the sun is set, the glory he had spread over the clouds grows dim, and disappears. Just breathe upon that frosted window, and all the beautiful work upon it melts away.

And so it is with the portions that people have in this world. They cannot last. But if we choose Mary's part, if we love and serve Jesus, we have a portion that will last forever. How long ? Forever. That is a little word. It is soon spoken. But who can tell how long forever is ? Suppose that the walls and ceiling of this church were all made of slate, and suppose we should take a pencil and make lines of figures, one above the other, till the whole surface was covered with these figures. What a multitude of them there would be ! And suppose that each one of those figures should stand for a thousand years ; would that make forever ? No.

When you have been at the seashore you have often taken up a handful of sand. Could you count how many grains of sand there are in a handful ? Could anybody tell how many grains of sand there are all round the ocean's shore ? But suppose each single grain of sand there stood for a thousand years, would that be equal to forever ? No, for if one grain of sand were taken away from the ocean's shore, every one thousand years, the time would come at last, when every grain would be gone. But that would only be the beginning of forever. And must not that be a good portion that will last as long as this ? Well, if we love and serve Jesus we shall have a portion of happiness that will last forever. This is a good portion because it is so lasting.

Thus, we have spoken of four reasons why this is a good portion. The first is, that it is what God wants us to choose. The second is, that there is enough in it to satisfy our souls. The third is, that it is so sure ; and the fourth is, that it is so lasting.

Now what did Jesus say that Mary did in reference to this portion ? He said she had chosen it. She thought about it. She prayed over it, and then she made up her mind to take it as her portion. This means that she determined to love and serve Jesus. Whatever others did, she resolved to be a Christian. And this is what each one of you should do, my dear children. You must make this choice for yourself. Nobody can make it for you. You are old enough to make it, as soon as you know that you are a sinner, and that Jesus died to save you. You may make the choice to-day, if you will. You can't make it of yourself, but if you pray to Jesus he will help you. There is a beautiful hymn which suits very well to finish this sermon with. How earnestly I pray that God may teach each of you to express your own desire and feeling in the language of this hymn, and say,—

" Beset with snares, on every hand, In life's -uncertain path I stand ; Saviour divine, send down thy light, And guide my doubtful footsteps right.

Engage this young and sinful heart To fix on Mary's better part : And scorn the trifles of a day, For joys that never fade away/'

" Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her."

II

Ye have done it unto me. — Matt. 25 : 40.

II.

Jesus spoke these words. Can you tell me where Jesus is now ? In heaven, sitting at the right hand of God. Is Jesus ever going to come back to this world ? Yes. What will he come for ? to judge the world . Yes. And when Jesus said, " Ye have done it unto me," he was telling his disciples what he would do when he came to judge the world. He said he would come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. All the holy angels will come with him. He will sit upon a glorious high throne. His people will all be gathered before him, and he will judge them. An account will be given before all the angels of heaven, of everything that they have done. Jesus will mention all the good things his people have done to show their love for him, as for instance when they fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and visited the sick, and comforted the sorrowing, and made their offerings to send the gospel to the heathen, and he will kindly say, of each of these things, " Ye have done it unto me." Oh, how happy it will make us feel when we come to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to have the glorious Saviour speak of the teachers and scholars who have given their time and labor and money in trying to do good, and hear him say, " Ye have done it unto me." Now this doesn't mean that giving our money to the poor, or any other good deeds that we may do, will take us to heaven. Nobody will ever go to heaven for any good works they can do. If they could, those works would be their Saviour. But Jesus is the only Saviour. If we get to heaven at last it will only be because of what Jesus has done for us, and not because of anything we do ourselves. Well, you may ask, what, then, is the use of trying to do good ? Let me tell you. In heaven there are some places nearer to Jesus than others ; there are some golden crowns more beautiful than others, more full of bright and sparkling jewels ; and those brightest crowns, those places nearest to Jesus, will be given to those of his people who have done the most to please him, and tried to serve him best. Oh, this is reason enough why we should try to do all the good we can. Nothing done from love to Jesus is ever lost. If we give " even a cup of cold water to one of the least of his followers we shall in no wise lose our reward." Our sermon to-day is about doing for Jesus. I wish to give you four reasons why we should be doing for him.