December 20th.

"O Key of David and Sceptre of the House of Israel! Who openest and no man shutteth; Who shuttest and no man openeth; come and bring forth from his prison-house the captive sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death."

(Isaias xxii. 22, Apoc. iii. 7, Gen. xlix. 10, Heb. i. 8).

1st. Prelude. The little King with the Key and the Sceptre.

2nd. Prelude. Grace to respond to the Key and the Sceptre.

"I will lay the Key of the House of David upon His shoulder" (Is. xxii. 22). "To the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia write: These things saith the Holy One and the True One, He that hath the Key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth, shutteth and no man openeth: I know thy works. Behold I have given before thee a door opened which no man can shut, because thou hast a little strength." (Apoc. iii. 7-8).

The Babe unborn has already had the Key laid upon His Shoulder. He already has authority. Soon, very soon now, He will come to use it. How will He use this Key and what is it? It is the Key of authority but it is also the Key of love. (1) He is coming to unlock the gates which hold the human race fast in ignorance and sin, to be its Redeemer, to give it "a door opened which no man can shut," to give it a chance if it will of walking out of its prison-house into the liberty wherewith Christ alone can make it free (Gal. iv. 31). (2) He is coming to put His golden Key of love into the hearts of men, to open those doors which are shut against Him and which none but He can open, for none but He can give grace. Each little child whose heart is filled with grace at its Baptism is only able to receive it because the little Child with the golden Key has opened its heart. "Thou hast opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers." Come, then, O Key of David, come and begin Thy blessed work on earth. Thou hast already put Thy magic Key into the heart of St. John the Baptist and doubtless of many another; come and tarry not, come and found Thy Church and pass on the wondrous power of the keys to those with whom Thou wilt leave Thy authority. (3) He is coming to open with His Key of love His own most Sacred Heart. None but He can open that vast treasure-house of love, and none but He can shut it. It will be there for a refuge for all His children in all time—a standing memorial of His love. What does He ask in return? Only that when we hear Him put His golden Key into our hearts, there may be a response: "My Beloved put His Hand through the key-hole and my heart was moved at His touch. I arose up to open to my Beloved" (Cant. v. 4-5). The rising up to let Him in is our part, He puts in His Key and unlocks, that is, He removes all obstacles by His grace, but we must respond to that grace for though He has unlocked the door He will not force an entrance. "Behold I stand at the door and knock," and then He waits, waits for our correspondence and for our love. "My son, give Me thy heart," He wants it, He has used His Key of love to obtain it, but He will not take it, it must be a free gift of love.

At the last great Advent the door of His mercy will be shut against all those who have refused Him an entrance into their hearts, and when He shuts, no man can open. "Lord, Lord, open to us," and the answer will come through the eternally locked door: "I never knew you, depart from Me."

Oh! come, Divine little One, come with Thy Key while yet there is time and unlock the many hearts which still find no place for Thee, no time to attend to Thee waiting so patiently, no desire to give Thee an invitation this Christmas; and give them grace to respond.

The little One Who is to come not only has a Key on His Shoulder, but a Sceptre in His Hand. The word used for Sceptre (shebet) in the Hebrew has four distinct meanings and we can apply them all to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is:

(1) a rod of command, a sign of royalty (Esther iv. 11, Ps. xliv. 7);

(2) a rod of iron, a rod of correction (Ps. ii. 9, Prov. xxii. 15);

(3) the shepherd's rod or wand (Lev. xxvii. 32);

(4) the flail which separates the grain from the chaff (Is. xxviii. 27).

(1) A sign of royalty. He is my King—how much that says to me! He has authority over me and a right to command me, a right to my service from every point of view; but He will not exact it from me. He stretches out His Sceptre of mercy in token of clemency. He wants my service, but He wants it to be the outcome of my love and so He uses His Sceptre to attract me. He brings Himself down to my level, He calls Himself my Brother, my Friend. He tells me that if I will throw in my lot with Him and do as He does, one day I shall share His Kingdom and reign with Him. Such is my King and such is the meaning of His Sceptre. "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Thou art as yet hidden, O my little King, but Thou wilt be born a king for "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom" (Heb. i. 8). What is my response going to be to that Sceptre stretched out once again? That of a loyal, whole-hearted, loving subject or that of one who is still hesitating between the service of self and the service of the King?

(2) A rod of correction. For His enemies it is a "rod of iron," but for His children a rod of love, for what son is there whom the father doth not correct? "Whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth; and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Persevere under discipline. God dealeth with you as with His sons." (Heb. xii. 6-7). We are not to "faint" nor "be weary" nor "neglect the discipline," not to be inclined to give all up and choose an easier path; no, but to regard the discipline as a "consolation," (verse 5) a proof of love, a sign that we are really the children with whom He does what He likes, instructing us according to His own pleasure (verse 10).

Oh! my little King, come with Thy rod of correction, come and make me a saint and do not spare me in the making. He that spareth the rod spoileth the child. I do not want to be a spoilt child, but a child on whom Thou canst count, that is, a child to whom Thou canst say what Thou wilt and whom Thou canst criticize as thou wilt, by the mouth of whom Thou wilt, a child whom Thou dost not consider because Thou art sure of its love, sure, that is, that it loves Thee and Thy ways better than self and its ways.

(3) A shepherd's staff or crook. As it had been prophesied of Him that He should be a king, so it had also been prophesied that He should be a shepherd: "I will save My flock ... and I will set up one Shepherd over them and He shall feed them and He shall be their Shepherd" (Ezech. xxxiv. 22, 23, and xxxvii. 24). "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather together the lambs with His arms, and shall take them up in His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young" (Is. xl. 11). "I am the Good Shepherd;" even now while He is yet in the womb of His Mother He is counting His sheep, calling them out, knowing each one by name, thinking of the great fold which He is going to make, of the one shepherd to whom He will entrust the great work of feeding His sheep, of the "other sheep" whom He "must bring" into the fold sooner or later. Even now He is planning to lay down His life for His sheep "that they may have life and have it more abundantly."

(4) The flail which separates the chaff from the good grain, the tribulum which causes "great tribulation" on earth's threshing floor, but which is used only for the good of the grain and ensures its being gathered into the heavenly garners. Oh! my little King, Who art coming to bring peace make me understand that I shall never have peace till I am fully persuaded that all my tribulation, all my troubles, trials and afflictions are directly caused by Thee, that it is Thou Thyself and no other Who dost use the threshing instruments to separate me from all that is not pleasing to Thee.

Come then, and with Thy Key of love unlock the prison-house and bring forth the captive sitting in darkness and then with Thy Sceptre rule him, correct him, guide him and afflict him.

Colloquy with Him Who has the Key and the Sceptre.

Resolution. To rise up and open to my Beloved.

Spiritual Bouquet. O Clavis David!