Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/248

 III. Christ brought  peace,  as  we  read  in  the  Gospel  of to-day,  when  "the  doors  were  shu%M  and  when  the  disciples were  assembled  together  in  prayer.  Shut,  therefore, carefully  the  gates  of  your  senses,  and  retire  to  the closet  of  your  heart,  and  the  Lord  will  say  to  you,  "  I will  give  peace  in  your  coasts,  you  shall  sleep,  and  there ihall be  none  to  make  you  afraid."  (Levit.  xxvi.  6.) Above  all  things,  however,  divest  yourself  of  everything like  sin;  for  "there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked,  saith  the Lord."   (Is.  xlviii.  22.)

I. "  Behold,  two  of  them  went  that  same  day  to  a town  named  Emmaus." (Luke xxiv.  13.)  They  went, therefore, on  the  very  day  of  the  resurrection,  to  a  neighboring town,  and  while  they  were  discoursing  together on the  Lord's  passion,  and  the  reports  of  His  resurrection, Christ  Himself  joined  them  on  the  way. Learn from this  fact  how  He  is  delighted  with  the  pious  discourses of  His  followers,  particularly  when  His  passion is their  subject. The disciples  did  not  know  Christ, because their  faith  was  as  yet  unsteady. Hence, if  you wish to  understand  divine  things,  you  must  possess  firm faith, "for  if  you  will  not  believe,  you  shall  not  continue." (Is. vii.  9.)  God  is  frequently  near  us  when we take  no  notice  of  Him.

II. How amiably  Christ  insinuated  Himself  into  the company of  His  disciples! "What are  these  discourses," he asks,  "  that  ye  hold  one  with  another  as  ye  walk,  and are  sad?" Like a  good  physician,  He  searches  for  the wound, in  order  to  apply  a  cure. They answered, "Concerning Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  a  prophet,