Part 69 (1/2)

'Do ye ken, grannie, what's at the hert o' my houps i' the meesery an'

degradation that I see frae mornin' to nicht, and aftener yet frae nicht to mornin' i' the back closes and wynds o' the great city?'

'I trust it's the glory o' G.o.d, laddie.'

'I houp that's no a'thegither wantin', grannie. For I love G.o.d wi' a' my hert. But I doobt it's aftener the savin' o' my earthly father nor the glory o' my heavenly ane that I'm thinkin' o'.'

Mrs. Falconer heaved a deep sigh.

'G.o.d grant ye success, Robert,' she said. 'But that canna be richt.'

'What canna be richt?'

'No to put the glory o' G.o.d first and foremost.'

'Weel, grannie; but a body canna rise to the heicht o' grace a' at ance, nor yet in ten, or twenty year. Maybe gin I do richt, I may be able to come to that or a' be dune. An' efter a', I'm sure I love G.o.d mair nor my father. But I canna help thinkin' this, that gin G.o.d heardna ae sang o' glory frae this ill-doin' earth o' his, he wadna be nane the waur; but--'

'Hoo ken ye that?' interrupted his grandmother.

'Because he wad be as gude and great and grand as ever.'

'Ow ay.'

'But what wad come o' my father wantin' his salvation? He can waur want that, remainin' the slave o' iniquity, than G.o.d can want his glory.

Forby, ye ken there's nae glory to G.o.d like the repentin' o' a sinner, justifeein' G.o.d, an' sayin' till him--”Father, ye're a' richt, an' I'm a' wrang.” What greater glory can G.o.d hae nor that?'

'It's a' true 'at ye say. But still gin G.o.d cares for that same glory, ye oucht to think o' that first, afore even the salvation o' yer father.'

'Maybe ye're richt, grannie. An' gin it be as ye say--he's promised to lead us into a' trowth, an' he'll lead me into that trowth. But I'm thinkin' it's mair for oor sakes than his ain 'at he cares aboot his glory. I dinna believe 'at he thinks aboot his glory excep' for the sake o' the trowth an' men's herts deein' for want o' 't.'

Mrs. Falconer thought for a moment.

'It may be 'at ye're richt, laddie; but ye hae a way o' sayin' things 'at 's some fearsome.'

'G.o.d's nae like a prood man to tak offence, grannie. There's naething pleases him like the trowth, an' there's naething displeases him like leein', particularly whan it's by way o' uphaudin' him. He wants nae sic uphaudin'. Noo, ye say things aboot him whiles 'at soun's to me fearsome.'

'What kin' o' things are they, laddie?' asked the old lady, with offence glooming in the background.

'Sic like as whan ye speyk aboot him as gin he was a puir prood bailey-like body, fu' o' his ain importance, an' ready to be doon upo'

onybody 'at didna ca' him by the name o' 's office--ay think-thinkin'

aboot 's ain glory; in place o' the quaiet, michty, gran', self-forgettin', a'-creatin', a'-uphaudin', eternal bein', wha took the form o' man in Christ Jesus, jist that he micht hae 't in 's pooer to beir and be humblet for oor sakes. Eh, grannie! think o' the face o'

that man o' sorrows, that never said a hard word till a sinfu' wuman, or a despised publican: was he thinkin' aboot 's ain glory, think ye? An'

we hae no richt to say we ken G.o.d save in the face o' Christ Jesus.

Whatever 's no like Christ is no like G.o.d.'

'But, laddie, he cam to saitisfee G.o.d's justice by sufferin' the punishment due to oor sins; to turn aside his wrath an' curse; to reconcile him to us. Sae he cudna be a'thegither like G.o.d.'

'He did naething o' the kin', grannie. It's a' a lee that. He cam to saitisfee G.o.d's justice by giein' him back his bairns; by garrin' them see that G.o.d was just; by sendin' them greetin' hame to fa' at his feet, an' grip his knees an' say, ”Father, ye're i' the richt.” He cam to lift the weicht o' the sins that G.o.d had curst aff o' the shoothers o' them 'at did them, by makin' them turn agen them, an' be for G.o.d an' no for sin. And there isna a word o' reconceelin' G.o.d till 's in a' the Testament, for there was no need o' that: it was us that he needed to be reconcilet to him. An' sae he bore oor sins and carried oor sorrows; for those sins comin' oot in the mult.i.tudes--ay and in his ain disciples as weel, caused him no en' o' grief o' mind an' pain o' body, as a'body kens. It wasna his ain sins, for he had nane, but oors, that caused him sufferin'; and he took them awa'--they're vainis.h.i.+n' even noo frae the earth, though it doesna luik like it in Rag-fair or Petticoat-lane.

An' for oor sorrows--they jist garred him greit. His richteousness jist annihilates oor guilt, for it's a great gulf that swallows up and destroys 't. And sae he gae his life a ransom for us: and he is the life o' the world. He took oor sins upo' him, for he cam into the middle o'