“Zacchæus, come down. I am going home with you.” All regretted to see such choice of company. Zacchæus had mounted the sycamore tree out of mere curiosity. He wanted to see how this stranger looked--the color of his eyes, the length of his hair, the contour of his features, the height of his stature. I see Christ entering the front door of the house of Zacchæus. The King of Heaven and Earth sits down; and as He looks around on the place and the family, He pronounces the benediction: “This day is salvation come to this house.” NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE. Nearer, my God, to Thee-- Nearer to Thee! E’en though a cross it be That raiseth me, Still all my song shall be: Nearer, my God, to Thee-- Nearer to Thee! Though, like a wanderer, The sun gone down, Darkness be over me, My rest a stone, Yet in my dreams I’d be Nearer, my God, to Thee Nearer to Thee! There let the way appear Steps unto Heaven; All that Thou sendest me In mercy given! Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee-- Nearer to Thee! Then, with my waking thoughts Bright with Thy praise, Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise; So, by my woes, to be Nearer, my God, to Thee-- Nearer to Thee! Or if, on joyful wing Cleaving the sky-- Sun, Moon and stars forgot-- Upward I fly, Still all my song shall be: Nearer, my God, to Thee-- Nearer to Thee! BIBLE CHARACTERS DISCUSSED AND ANALYZED BY THE SCHOLARLY DIVINE, JOSEPH PARKER, D. D. ABIJAH. We forget Abijah’s character in his eloquence. He carries a spell with him. Judging from his speech, one would suppose him faultless--entirely noble in every aspiration and impulse and sublimely religious and unselfish. The whole Abijah is not here. This is but the ideal Abijah. Who ever shows himself wholly upon any one occasion? Who does not sometimes go forth in his best clothing? We must read the account of Abijah which is given in the Book of Kings before we can correctly estimate the Abijah who talks in the Book of Chronicles. It is, perhaps, encouraging that while men are upon the Earth they should not be so dazzlingly good as to blind their fellow men. Yet it is pitiful to observe how men can be religious for the occasion. Nearly all men are religious at a funeral; but few men are religious at a wedding.