dy fell
helpless here, the head there, and the spirit was free, with the
freedom of the sons of God, in a world where such as he stand among
their peers. Forerunner of the Bridegroom here, he was his forerunner
there also; and the Bridegroom's friend passed homeward to await the
Bridegroom's coming, where he ever hears the voice he loves.

"And the soldier brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the
damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother." There would not be so
much talking while the tragedy was being consummated. The king and
courtiers must have been troubled under the spell of that horror, as
Belshazzar when the hand wrote in characters of mystery over against
the sacred candlestick. And when the soldier entered, carrying in the
charger that ghastly burden, they beheld a sight which was to haunt
some of them to their dying day. Often Herod would see it in his
dreams, and amid the light of setting suns. It would haunt him, and
fill his days and nights with anguish that all the witchery of Herodias
could not dispel.

Months afterwards, when he heard of Jesus, the conscience-stricken
monarch said: "It is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded; he is risen
from the dead." And still afterwards, when Jesus Himself stood before
him, and refused to speak one word, he must have associated that
silence and his deed together, as having a fatal and necessary
connection.

So the will, which had long paltered with the temptress, at last took
the fatal step, and perpetrated the crime which could never be undone.
There is always a space given, during which a tempted soul is allowed
time to withdraw from the meshes of the net of temptation. Sudden
falls have always been preceded by long dallying with Delilah. The
crashing of the tree to the earth has been prepared for by the ravages
of the borer-worm, which has eaten out its heart.

If you have taken the fatal step, and marred your life by some sad and
disastrous sin, dare to believe that there is forgiveness for you with
God. Men may not forgive, but God will. As far as the east is from
the west, so far will He remove our transgressions from us. Perhaps we
can never again take up public Christian work; but we may walk humbly
and prayerfully with God, sure that we are accepted of Him, and
forgiven, though we can hardly forgive ourselves.

But if we have not yet come to this, let us devoutly thank God, and be
on the watch against any influences that may drift u