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then shall there come to us the light and life and love which are in Him.

We bring from men who have gained this divine life that which will be life to us. We learn of those who have learned of God. We touch those who have touched Him, and the grace of God, not lessened by coming in their lives, is made our own. Strength and comfort are given to us from the hands of men. Let us keep with men in whom we find the grace of the touch, but with them let us reach out our hand to Him who in himself has the life divine, lifting up our nighted eyes till they shall touch his fingers, turning our brow to Him till He shall breathe upon it the Holy Spirit, opening our inmost life till He shall fill it with his glory. Then shall we know, and those who live with us shall know, what that simple word of the gospel means, "As many as touched Him were made whole."

VII

THE WHEELS AND THE SPIRIT

EZEKIEL i. 21

THE WHEELS AND THE SPIRIT

THIS is a mechanical age which we are living in. There is no imagery which presents it better than that which was used by the Hebrew prophet, one of the captives by the river of Chebar, who saw in his vision what he could only describe as wheels, with living creatures among them. The figure is very bold, but somewhat confusing. It is plain that the wheels stand for the forces of the divine rule in the earth, in government, in providence, and in all the control exercised by God. The living creatures are God's messengers and ministers by whose action the course of things is directed in the world. They have various names, cherubim, angels, men. The comparison is not peculiar to the prophet, for St. James speaks, long afterward, of "the wheel of nature;" and in many places Holy Scripture presents to us the spirit which is moving in the affairs of men.

I am not concerned now with the special thought of the Hebrew exile, yet the illustration has its meaning here. I do not know that I can better

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