Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/74

 heaven and life eternal to the soul, and which, in the language of Scripture, are called the beautiful garments of Jerusalem.

We may gain a clear knowledge of what John the Baptist represented, by his own declaration:—"I am the voice of ONE crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" But how is this preparation to be made? By repentance! without this the Lord's way is not prepared, and we cannot enjoy his presence. Thus the voice of ONE crying in the wilderness, is John. Now what is this voice? The Word of inspired Truth and Revelation, as it appears to us in its outward clothing and literal sense, is this voice. It cries in the wilderness still—it is as powerful as ever, and as vigorous as ever! Its demands are still the same! evil is to be ceased from, and good to be learnt and done. The way of the Lord is to be prepared, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and we must repent. This sacred voice makes the most powerful appeals to the rational faculties of the human race! calls upon all to do the first work! and demands as the legitimate beginning of the heavenly life, the work of repentance. When the sacred voice finds its passage through the ear to the heart, and the man begins to feel a life-giving influence from within;— when the love of God—of purity and goodness, begins to glow in his bosom, and when the spiritual truth begins to enlighten his understanding, to open to him the realities of the kingdom, and to lift him up above the trifles of the world, then he begins most certainly to feel that the prediction is beginning to be accomplished in him. For the Divine Love which warms the heart, is signified by the name ; and