This review is reproduced from The Westminster Record, edited by G Campbell Morgan. It was authored by Albert W. Swift, Morgan's assistant. 

In this charming booklet we have Mr. Jowett at his best; for strength and clearness of thought, for felicity of illustration, for exquisiteness of phrasing, for beauty of diction, for aptness of quotation, for picturesqueness of style, and for a tremendous soul-force that grips the reader almost unconsciously, commend me to the eloquent minister of Carr's Lane! The epigrams sparkle on his every page, and his knowledge of the Bible equals that of the old Puritan fathers. His wealth of language is immense, and like a true word-artist, he adorns everything that he touches.

In Chapter I. he deals with the "disciples' theme" "the unsearchable riches of Christ." These riches may seem to some men like a tiny mountain lake; but to the genuine seer it is no lake at all but an arm of the ocean, which is without a shore! The thought of the “unsearchableness" of the Divine wealth dazzles by its splendour and defies expression or even thought. These riches are more than subjects of contemplation they are objects of appropriation. His wealth is usable glory, and usable for the enrichment of the race. Paul stands before sin and proclaims its possible destruction. He speaks not about the removal of a pimple; but of a purifying of the blood.

He revels in the Almighty power of redeeming grace and his confidence in it is truly sublime. But not only does he find in these riches the removal of sin, but also the transfiguration of sorrow. "Our consolations also abound through Christ." Sorrow is no longer a black cloud, but a light summer cloud with the glory shining through it. Besides all this, the Divine wealth enables us to stand amid the misunderstandings of men and proclaim their possible rectification in Christ. When the Apostle thought of himself, he shrank into one less than the least of all the saints, but when he thought of the grace that redeemed him he was filled with a splendid confidence. As Professor Elmslie said, “It is my vocation to tell everybody that God is Love, all Love."

In the second chapter the author speaks very powerfully of the "disciple's sacrifice." "I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." Of course, Gethsemane was not a blunder, and Calvary was not a failure; but a Gospel requires an evangelist. The King needs an ambassador. In his own sphere and degree, Paul must be a repetition of Christ, and the spirit of Calvary is to be re-incarnated in Ephesus, and Athens, and Rome, and London, and Birmingham. We are "to fill up that which is behind." A disciple who has never suffered is unfit for the holy service. As soon as we cease to bleed we cease to bless. Our agonised yearnings must perfect the sufferings of Christ's own intercession. The author's description of Paul returning to Lystra, where he had been stoned, is very graphic. His play upon the words, "Back to the stones," is wonderfully effective.

He refers to Chalmers and Tomkins of New Guinea as men who bravely went “back to the stones " for Christ's sake. They “filled up that which was behind of the sufferings of their Lord." To be in the sacrificial succession “our sympathy must be a passion, bur intercession must be a groaning, and our service must be a martyrdom." This is one of the most powerful chapters in the whole booklet.

In the third chapter we have the "disciple's tenderness" dealt with. He speaks very tenderly of the winning of the children to Christ. He suggests that the words, "There is a happy land, far, far away," should be altered into, "There is a happy land, not far away." We must not teach the young the "far-offness" of the Saviour. To win a child's love and admiration, and hope, you must speak of a Christ ever-near at hand. You must reveal him as the approachable Jesus, with groups of little ones clustering around His knees. Not only must they love Him as a Saviour, but they must admire Him as their Hero. When shall the wooing of the child begin? It is difficult to say, for at six months old it can answer smile with smile, and impatience with impatience!

In Chapter IV. we find the disciple watching for souls. "I will make you fishers of men." In this chapter we have Izaak Walton's "compleat angler" ably spiritualized. Fishers of men are not made by books, nor colleges, nor friends. "I will make you." What lessons has the angler to teach us?

In Chapter V. we have the disciple's companion, namely the Holy Ghost. What a pity that the spiritual pose of the modern Church is pre-Pentecostal. We are too fond of tarrying at Jerusalem, waiting for the promise of the Father.

We must not conceive of the Spirit as a force or an impersonal breath, but as a real person. We are dealing not with "it," but with "Him." We must not mistake a law for a companion, nor a force for a friend. Mr. Jowett has a good word for Keswick, and for the prominent place it gives to the personality of the Holy Ghost. Communion with the Holy Spirit will soften our asperities, and subdue them into a lovely tenderness.

McCheyne's severities were so terrific because so tender, and his tenderness was accounted for by the fact that he lived in the Holy Ghost. Said a Durham pitman of his old vicar, "You've only to shake that man's hand to feel that he is full of the Holy Ghost." We all need the great companion!

In Chapters VI. and VII. the disciple's rest and vision are handled in a masterly way. "I will give you rest. "The" rest is neither bought nor earned, but given as the dowry of grace. It is not "ease," but a "rest." "Ease" is an opiate, but "rest" is a stimulant say, rather, a nutriment. We all long for "the heart at rest when all without tumultuous seems." What we need in this restless age is the stimulating consciousness of a great and close companionship.

Samuel Rutherford and Jonathan Edwards, and David Hill, were everconscious of this gracious presence. In fact, they had fallen in love with Jesus! This little book is worth its weight in gold!