leading on to effects and causes beyond itself. Prayer, too, is only a
foreseen action of man which, together with its results, is embraced in
the eternal Predestination of God. To us this or that blessing may be
strictly contingent on our praying for it; but our prayer is
nevertheless so far from necessarily introducing change into the purpose
of the Unchangeable, that it has been all along taken, so to speak, into
account by Him. If, then, with 'the Father of Lights' there is in this
sense 'no variableness, neither shadow of turning,' it is not therefore
irrational to pray for specific blessings, as we do in the Litany,
because God works out His plans not merely in us but by us; and we may
dare to say that that which is to us a free self-determination, may be
not other than a foreseen element of His work."

_For suggested Meditations during the week see Appendix._

VIII

=Discipline through Self-sacrifice=

GOOD FRIDAY

1 Tim. ii. 6

"Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all."

To-day we reach the solemn climax which embraces in itself the whole
idea of discipline under each of those aspects upon which we have
touched. Will, body, soul, spirit, obedience, suffering, death, all
summed up in the tremendous self-sacrifice declared by the Cross of
Christ.

The principle of sacrifice is one of those deep mysteries which seem,
as it were, to be rooted in the very nature of our being. It begins
in the initial fact by which man's existence is maintained upon
earth--motherhood, a vast vicarious sacrifice. Yet borne with gratitude,
readiness, ay, even with joy because of the dignity, the love, the
delights it brings with it. One of the surest signs of the decadence
of a nation is when its women, through desire of merely living for
themselves, begin to rebel against the high privilege of motherhood, or
to neglect the duties it should entail. This attitude of mind poisons
life at its fountain-head.

Time would fail us, nor indeed would it be profitable, to enter upon a
discussion as to the exact theological bearing of the death of Christ
upon the forgiveness of sins. This is a matter which may rightly occupy
the attention of theologians and scholars who endeavour, so far as
infinite verities can be expressed in finite language, to give a reason
for the hope that is in them. Such books as Liddon's Bampton Lectures,
Dale on the Atonement, or Illingworth on Personality, will be foun