{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42657/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42657","id":"gutenberg_42657","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42657","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Devotional literature"],"text":"Transcriber's Notes:\n\nItalic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=.\n\nBlank pages have been eliminated.\n\nVariations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the\noriginal.\n\nA few typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n\n\n\n  SPURGEON'S BOOKS\n\n  ARE,\n\n  _SERMONS_,... _Eight Series_.\n\n  $1.50 each.\n\n  _MORNING BY MORNING._\n\n  1 vol. 12mo. Price $1.75.\n\n\n  IN PRESS:\n\n  _EVENING BY EVENING_,\n\n  By REV. C. H. SPURGEON.\n\n  1 volume. 12mo. Price $1.75.\n\n\n\n\n  GLEANINGS AMONG THE SHEAVES.\n\n  BY\n\n  REV. C. H. SPURGEON.\n\n\n  _SECOND EDITION._\n\n\n  New York:\n\n  SHELDON AND COMPANY,\n\n  498 & 500 BROADWAY.\n\n  1869.\n\n\n\n\n  TO\n\n  THE NUMEROUS HEARERS\n\n  AND TO\n\n  THE INNUMERABLE READERS\n\n  OF THE\n\n  _REV. C. H. SPURGEON'S SERMONS,_\n\n  This unpretentious little Volume\n\n  IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\n  _BY THE PUBLISHERS_.\n\n\n  THE STEMS GROW UP EVERY WEEK:\n\n  THE SHOCKS APPEAR ONCE A MONTH:\n\n  THE SHEAVES ARE BOUND TOGETHER ONCE A YEAR:\n\n  And it is thought that these samples, gleaned from the Sermons, will\n  be welcome to many, but chiefly to those who are most familiar with\n  the ample fields from which they are gathered.\n\n\n\n\nGLEANINGS AMONG THE SHEAVES.\n\n\n_The Preciousness of the Promises._\n\nThe promises of God are to the believer an inexhaustible mine of\nwealth. Happy is it for him if he knows how to search out their secret\nveins, and enrich himself with their hid treasures. They are an armory,\ncontaining all manner of offensive and defensive weapons. Blessed is he\nwho has learned to enter into the sacred arsenal, to put on the\nbreastplate and the helmet, and to lay his hand to the spear and to the\nsword. They are a surgery, in which the believer will find all manner of\nrestoratives and blessed elixirs; nor lacks there an ointment for every\nwound, a cordial for every faintness, a remedy for every disease.\nBlessed is he who is well skilled in heavenly pharmacy, and knoweth how\nto lay hold on the healing virtues of the promises of God. The promises\nare to the Christian a storehouse of food. They are as the granaries\nwhich Joseph built in Egypt, or as the golden pot wherein the manna was\npreserved. Blessed is he who can take the five barley loaves and fishes\nof promise, and break them till his five thousand necessities shall all\nbe supplied, and he is able to gather up baskets full of fragments. The\npromises are the Christian's Magna Charta of liberty; they are the title\ndeeds of his heavenly estate. Happy is he who knoweth how to read them\nwell, and call them all his own. Yea, they are the jewel room in which\nthe Christian's crown treasures are preserved. The regalia are his,\nsecretly to admire to-day, which he shall openly wear in Paradise\nhereafter. He is already privileged as a king with the silver key that\nunlocks the strong room; he may even now grasp the sceptre, wear the\ncrown, and put upon his shoulders the imperial mantle. O, how\nunutterably rich are the promises of our faithful, covenant-keeping God!\nIf we had the tongue of the mightiest of orators, and if that tongue\ncould be touched with a live coal from off the altar, yet still it could\nnot utter a tenth of the praises of the exceeding great and precious\npromises of God. Nay, they who have entered into rest, whose tongues are\nattuned to the lofty and rapturous eloquence of cherubim and seraphim,\neven they can never tell the height and depth, the length and breadth of\nthe unsearchable riches of Christ, which are stored up in the\ntreasure-house of God--the promises of the covenant of His grace.\n\n\n_Sorrow's Discipline._\n\nThe Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.\n\n\n_The Christian Warfare._\n\nIt is a tough battle which the Christian is called to fight; not one\nwhich carpet knights might win; no easy skirmish which he might gain,\nwho dashed to battle on some sunshiny day, looked at the host, then\nturned his courser's rein, and daintily dismounted at the door of his\nsilken tent. It is not a campaign which he shall win, who, but a raw\nrecruit to-day, foolishly imagines that one week of service will insure\na crown of glory. It is a life-long war; a contest which will require\nall our strength, if we are to be triumphant; a battle at which the\nstoutest heart might quail; a fight from which the bravest would shrink,\ndid he not remember that the Lord is on his side; therefore whom shall\nhe fear? God is the strength of his life: of whom shall he be afraid?\nThis fight is not one of main force, or physical might; if it were, we\nmight the sooner win it; but it is all the more dangerous from the fact\nthat it is a strife of mind, a contest of heart, a struggle of the\nspirit--ofttimes an agony of the soul.\n\nDo you wonder that the Christian is called to conflict? God never gives\nstrong faith without fiery trial; he will not build a strong ship,\nwithout subjecting it to very mighty storms; he will not make you a\nmighty warrior, if he does not intend to try your skill in battle. The\nsword of the Lord must be used; the blades of heaven must be smitten\nagainst the armor of the evil one, and yet they shall not break, for\nthey are of true Jerusalem metal, which shall never snap. We shall\nconquer, if we begin the battle in the right way. If we have sharpened\nour swords on the cross, we have nothing whatever to fear; for though we\nmay be sometimes cast down and discomforted, we shall assuredly at last\nput to flight all our adversaries, for we are the sons of God even now.\nWhy, then, should we fear? Who shall bid us \"stay,\" if God bid us\nadvance?\n\n\n_The Privileges of Trial._\n\nIt is said, that when the stars cannot be seen during the day from the\nordinary level of the earth, if one should go down into a dark well,\nthey would be visible at once. And certainly it is a fact, that the best\nof God's promises are usually seen by His Church when she is in her\ndarkest trials. As sure as ever God puts His children in the furnace, He\nwill be in the furnace with them. I do not read that Jacob saw the\nangel, until he came into a position where he had to wrestle, and then\nthe wrestling Jacob saw the wrestling angel. I do not know that Joshua\never saw the angel of God, till he was by Jericho; and then Joshua saw\nthe angelic warrior. I do not know that Abraham ever saw the Lord, till\nhe had become a stranger and a wanderer in the plains of Mamre, and then\nthe Lord appeared unto him as a wayfaring man. It is in our most\ndesperate sorrows that we have our happiest experiences. You must go to\nPatmos to see the revelation. It is only on the barren, storm-girt rock,\nshut out from all the world's light, that we can find a fitting\ndarkness, in which we can view the light of heaven undistracted by the\nshadows of earth.\n\n\n_The Joy of Victory._\n\nThe Christian's battle-field is here, but the triumphal procession is\nabove. This is the land of the sword and the spear: that is the land of\nthe wreath and the crown. This is the land of the garment rolled in\nblood and of the dust of the fight: that is the land of the trumpet's\njoyful sound, the place of the white robe and of the shout of conquest.\nO, what a thrill of joy shall be felt by all the blessed, when their\nconquests shall be complete in heaven; when death itself, the last of\nfoes, shall be slain; when Satan shall be dragged captive at the chariot\nwheels of Christ; when the great shout of universal victory shall rise\nfrom the hearts of all the redeemed! What a moment of pleasure shall\nthat be!\n\nSomething of the joy of victory we know even here. Have you ever\nstruggled against an evil heart, and at last overcome it? Have you ever\nwrestled hard with a strong temptation, and known what it was to sing\nwith thankfulness, \"When I said my feet slipped, Thy mercy, O Lord, held\nme up?\" Have you, like Bunyan's Christian, fought with Apollyon, and\nafter a fierce contest, put him to flight? Then you have had a foretaste\nof the heavenly triumph--just an imagining of what the ultimate victory\nwill be. God gives you these partial triumphs, that they may be earnests\nof the future. Go on and conquer, and let each conquest, though a harder\none, and more strenuously contested, be to you as a pledge of the\nvictory of heaven.\n\n\n_Light in the Cloud._\n\n\"The Lord turned the captivity of Job.\" So, then, our longest sorrows\nhave a close, and there is a bottom to the profoundest depths of our\nmisery. Our winters shall not frown forever: summer shall soon smile.\nThe tide shall not eternally ebb out: the floods must retrace their\nmarch. The night shall not hang its darkness forever over our souls: the\nsun shall yet arise with healing beneath his wings. \"The Lord turned the\ncaptivity of Job.\" Thus, too, our sorrows shall have an end when God has\ngotten His end in them. The ends in the case of Job were these, that\nSatan might be defeated, foiled with his own weapons, blasted in his\nhopes when he had everything his own way. God, at Satan's challenge, had\nstretched forth his hand and touched Job in his bone and in his flesh;\nand yet the tempter could not prevail against him, but received his\nrebuff in those conquering words, \"Though he slay me, yet will I trust\nin Him.\" When Satan is defeated, then shall the battle cease. The Lord\naimed also at the trial of Job's faith. Many weights were hung upon this\npalm-tree, but it still grew uprightly. The fire had been fierce, yet\nthe gold was undiminished; only the dross was consumed. Another purpose\nthe Lord had was His own glory. And truly He was glorified abundantly.\nGod hath gotten unto His great name and His wise counsels, eternal\nrenown, through that grace by which He supported His poor afflicted\nservant under the heaviest troubles which ever fell to the lot of man.\nGod had another end, and that also was served. Job had been sanctified\nby his afflictions. His spirit was mellowed, and any self-justification\nwhich lurked within was fairly driven out. And now that God's gracious\ndesigns are answered, He removes the rod; He takes the melted silver\nfrom the midst of the glowing coals. God doth not afflict willingly, nor\ngrieve the children of men for nought, and He shows this by the fact He\nnever afflicts them longer than there is a need for it. He never suffers\nthem to be one moment longer in the furnace than is absolutely requisite\nto serve the purposes of His wisdom and of His love. \"The Lord turned\nthe captivity of Job.\" Despair not, then, afflicted believer; he that\nturned the captivity of Job can turn thy captivity as the streams in the\nsouth. He shall make thy vineyard again to blossom, and thy field to\nyield her fruit. Thou shalt again come forth with those that make merry,\nand once more shall the song of gladness be on thy lip. Let not Despair\nrivet his cruel fetters about thy soul. Hope yet, for there is hope\nconcerning this matter. Trust thou still, for there is ground of\nconfidence. He shall bring thee up again, rejoicing, out of captivity,\nand thou shalt yet sing to his praise, \"Thou hast turned for me my\nmourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me\nwith gladness.\"\n\n\n_Good Works._\n\nWhen once the human heart is put under the microscope of Scripture, and\nwe see it with a spiritual eye, we perceive it to be so vile, that we\nare quite sure it would be just as impossible to expect to find good\nworks in an unrighteous, unconverted man, as to hope to see fire burning\nin the midst of the ocean. The two things would be incongruous. Our good\nworks, if we have any, spring from a real conversion; yet more, they\nspring also from a constant spiritual influence exercised upon us, from\nthe time of conversion even until the hour of death. Ah, Christian, thou\nwouldst have no good works if thou hadst no fresh grace day by day! Thou\nwouldst not find the grace given thee at the first hour sufficient to\nproduce fruit to-day. It is not like the planting of a tree in our\nhearts, which naturally of itself bringeth forth fruit; but the sap\ncometh up from the root Jesus Christ. We are not trees by ourselves, but\nwe are branches fixed on the Living Vine.\n\nOur good works spring from union with Christ. The more a man knows and\nfeels himself to be one with Jesus, the more holy will he be. Why is a\nChristian's character like Christ's character? Only for this reason,\nthat he is joined and united to the Lord Jesus. Why does the branch\nbring forth grapes? Simply because it has been engrafted into the vine,\nand therefore it partakes of the nature of the stem. So, Christian, the\nonly way whereby thou canst bring forth fruit to God is by being grafted\ninto Christ and united with him. If you think you can walk in holiness\nwithout keeping up perpetual fellowship with Christ, you have made a\ngreat mistake. If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus. Good\nworks spring only thence. Hence we draw the most powerful reasons\nagainst anything like trusting in works; for as works are only the gift\nof God, how utterly impossible it is for an unconverted man to produce\nany such good works in himself. And if they are God's gifts, how little\nof our merit can there be in them!\n\n\n_The Knowledge of Christ's Love._\n\nIt is the distinguishing mark of God's people that they know the love\nof Christ. Without exception, all those who have passed from death unto\nlife, whatever they may not know, have learned this. And without\nexception, all those who are not saved, whatever they may know besides,\nknow nothing of this. For to know the love of Christ, to taste its\nsweetness, to realize it personally, experimentally, and vitally, as\nshed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, is the privilege of the\nchild of God alone. This is the secure enclosure into which the stranger\ncannot enter. This is the garden of the Lord, so well protected by walls\nand hedges that no wild boar of the wood can enter. Only the redeemed of\nthe Lord shall walk here. They, and only they, may pluck the fruits, and\ncontent themselves with the delights thereof.\n\nHow important, then, becomes the question, Do I know the love of Christ?\nHave I felt it? Do I understand it? Is it shed abroad in my heart? Do I\nknow that Jesus loves me? Is my heart quickened, and animated, and\nwarmed, and attracted towards Him through the great truth that it\nrecognizes and rejoices in, that Christ has really loved me and chosen\nme, and set His heart upon me?\n\nBut while it is true that every child of God knows the love of Christ,\nit is equally true that all the children of God do not know this love to\nthe same extent.\n\nThere are in Christ's family, babes, young men, strong men, and\nfathers. And as they grow and progress in all other matters, so they\nmost certainly make advances here. Indeed, an increase of love, a more\nperfect apprehension of Christ's love, is one of the best and most\ninfallible gauges whereby we may test ourselves whether we have grown in\ngrace or not. If we have grown in grace, it is absolutely certain that\nwe shall have advanced in our knowledge and reciprocation of the love of\nChrist. Many have believed in Jesus, and know a little of His love; but,\nO! it is little indeed they know, in comparison with some others who\nhave been brought into the inner chamber, and made to drink of the\nspiced wine of Christ's pomegranate. Some have begun to climb the\nmountain, and the view which lies at their feet is lovely and passing\nfair, but the landscape is not such as would greet their eyes if they\ncould but stand where advanced saints are standing, and could look to\nthe east and to the west, to the north and to the south, and see all the\nlengths, and breadths, and depths, and heights of the love of Christ\nwhich passeth knowledge.\n\n\n_Clear Shining after Rain._\n\nThe sway of Christ as King, according to David's description, is like\n\"Clear shining after rain,\" whereby the tender grass is made to spring\nout of the earth. So have we often seen it. After a heavy shower of\nrain, or after a continued rainy season, when the sun shines, there is a\ndelightful clearness and freshness in the air that we seldom perceive at\nother times. Perhaps the brightest weather is just when the rain has\nceased, when the wind has drifted away the clouds, and the sun peers\nforth from his chambers to gladden the earth with his smiles. And thus\nis it with the Christian's exercised heart. Sorrow does not last\nforever. After the pelting rain of adversity cometh ever and anon the\nclear shining. Tried believer, consider this. After all thy afflictions\nthere remaineth a rest for the people of God. There is a clear shining\ncoming to thy soul when all this rain is past. When thy time of rebuke\nis over and gone, it shall be to thee as the earth when the tempest has\nsobbed itself to sleep, when the clouds have rent themselves to rags,\nand the sun peereth forth once more as a bridegroom in his glorious\narray. To this end, sorrow co\u0106\u00b6perates with the bliss that follows it,\nlike rain and sunshine, to bring forth the tender blade. The tribulation\nand the consolation work together for our good. \"As the sufferings of\nChrist abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.\" The\nclear shining after rain produces an atmosphere that refreshes herbs and\ncereals: and the joy of the Lord, after seasons of sorrow, makes the\nsoul fruitful. Thus we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ.\n\n\n_A Quiet Heart._\n\nUnless the heart be kept peaceable, the life will not be happy. If calm\ndoth not reign over that inner lake within the soul, which feeds the\nrivers of our life, the rivers themselves will always be in storm. Our\noutward acts will always tell that they were born in tempests, by being\ntempestuous themselves. We all desire to lead a joyous life; the bright\neye and the elastic foot are things which we each of us desire; to carry\nabout a contented mind is that to which most men are continually\naspiring. Let us remember, that the only way to keep our life peaceful\nand happy, is to keep the heart at rest; for come poverty, come wealth,\ncome honor, come shame, come plenty, or come scarcity, if the heart be\nquiet, there will be happiness anywhere. But whatever the sunshine and\nthe brightness, if the heart be troubled, the whole life must be\ntroubled too.\n\n\n_A Rich Life._\n\nWhen one of our kings came back from captivity, as old chroniclers\ntell, there were fountains in Cheapside which flowed with wine. So\nbounteous was the king, and so glad the people, that instead of water,\nthey made wine flow free to everybody. There is a way of making our life\nso rich, so full, so blessed to our fellow-men, that the metaphor may be\napplicable to us, and men may say, that our life flows with wine when\nother men's lives flow with water. Ye have known some such men. John\nHoward's life was not like our poor, common lives: he was so benevolent,\nhis sympathy with the race so self-denying, that the streams of his life\nwere like generous wine. You have known personally, it may be, some\neminent saint, one who lived very near to Jesus: when he talked, there\nwas an unction and a savor about his words, a solidity and a strength\nabout his utterances, which you could appreciate, though you could not\nattain unto it. You have sometimes said, \"I wish my words were as full,\nas sweet, as mellow, and as unctuous as the words of such a one. O, I\nwish my actions were just as rich, had as deep a color, and as pure a\ntaste, as the acts of some other to whom you point. All I can do seems\nbut little and empty when compared with his high attainments. O, that I\ncould do more! O, that I could send streams of pure gold into every\nhouse, instead of my poor dross!\" Well, Christian, this should stimulate\nthee to keep thine heart full of rich things. Never, never neglect the\nWord of God; that will make thy heart rich with precept, thy head rich\nwith understanding, and thy bowels rich with compassion; then, thy\nconversation, when it flows through thy mouth, will be from thy soul,\nand, like all that is within thee, rich, unctuous, and savory. Only let\nthy heart be full of sweet, generous love, and the stream that flows\nfrom thy lips will be sweet and generous. Above all, get Jesus to live\nin thine heart, and then out of thee shall flow rivers of living water,\nmore exhilarating, purer, and more satiating than the water of the well\nof Sychar, of which Jacob drank. Go forth, with Christian, to the great\nmine of unsearchable riches, and cry unto the Holy Spirit to make thy\nheart rich unto salvation. So shall thy life and conversation be a boon\nto thy fellows; and when they see thee, thy visage shall shine, and thy\nface shall be as the angel of God.\n\n\n_\"He hath Said.\"_\n\nThe apostles, like their Master, were always very ready at quotations.\nAs inspired men they could have always used fresh words, yet they\npreferred (and herein they are an example to us) to quote old words upon\nwhich the seal of divine authority has been set aforetime--\"He hath\nsaid.\" Let us do the same, for, though the words of ministers may be\nsweet, the words of God are sweeter; and though original thoughts may\nhave the charm of novelty, yet the ancient words of God have the ring,\nand the weight, and the value of old and precious coins, and they will\nnever be found wanting in the day when we require to use them. \"He hath\nsaid,\" not only chases away doubts and fears, but it also yields\nnourishment to all our graces. When the apostle would make us contented,\nhe says, \"Be content with such things as ye have: for _He hath said_;\"\nand when he would make us bold and courageous, he puts it thus forcibly,\n\"_He_ hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\" So that\n_we_ may boldly say, \"The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what\nman shall do unto me.\" When the apostle Paul would nourish faith, he\ndoes it by feeding us from Scripture with the examples of Abraham, of\nIsaac, of Jacob, of Moses, of Gideon, of Barak, and of Jephthah. When\nanother apostle would calm us with a lesson of patience, he says, \"Ye\nhave heard of the patience of Job;\" or if it be our prayerfulness that\nhe wants to stir up, he says, \"Elias was a man subject to like passions\nas we are, and he prayed and prevailed.\" \"_He hath said_,\" is refreshing\nfood for every grace, and a decisive death-blow for every sin. Here you\nhave nourishment for that which is good, and poison for that which is\nevil. Search, then, the Scriptures, for so shall you grow healthy,\nstrong, and vigorous in the divine life.\n\nBut besides searching them by reading, and treasuring them by memory,\nwe should test them by experience, and so often as a promise is proven\nto be true, we should make a mark against it, and note that we also can\nsay, as did one of old, \"This is my comfort in my affliction; for Thy\nword hath quickened me.\" \"Wait on the Lord,\" said Isaiah, and then he\nadded, \"Wait, _I say_, on the Lord,\" as if his own experience led him to\necho the voice of God to his hearers. Test the promise; take God's\nbank-note to the counter, and mark if it be cashed. Grasp the lever\nwhich he ordains to lift your trials, and try if it possesses real\npower. Cast this divine tree into the bitter waters of your Marah, and\nlearn how it will sweeten them. Take this salt, and throw it into the\nturbid waters, and witness if they be not made sweet, as were the waters\nof old by the prophet Elisha. \"Taste and see that the Lord is good ...\nfor there is no want to them that fear Him.\"\n\n\n_Safety in Conflict._\n\nThe way that God keeps His people in security is not by shutting out\ntheir enemies from attacking them, but by sustaining them while engaged\nin the conflict. It is not much to preserve ones' self behind a wall\nwhich cannot be scaled, but to stand where arrows are flying thick as\nhail, where lances are being pushed with fury, where the sword-cuts are\nfalling on every part, and in the midst of all to prove invulnerable,\ninvincible, immortal, this is to wear a divine life which cannot be\nconquered by human power. Such is the calling of the Christian. God will\nput us where we must be tried and tempted. If we are not tried, there is\nno honor to Him who preserves us; and if we are not tempted, there is no\ngratitude to His grace who delivers us out of temptations. The Lord does\nnot put his plants into a hot-house, as some gardeners do; no, He sets\nthem out in the open air, and if the frost is coming, He says, \"Ah! but\nno frost can kill them, and they will be all the sturdier in the summer\nfor the cold in the winter.\" He does not shelter them either from the\nheat of the sun, or from the chills of the night. In this world we must\nhave tribulation, and we must have much of it too, for it is through\nmuch tribulation we inherit the kingdom. What God does for His people is\nthis: He keeps them _in_ tribulation, preserves them in temptation, and\nbrings them joyfully out of all their trials. So, Christian, you may\nrejoice in your security; but you must not think that you are not to be\nattacked; you are like a stream from Lebanon, to be dashed down many a\ncascade, to be broken over many a rough rock, to be stopped up with many\na huge stone, to be impeded by many a fallen tree; but you are to dash\nforward with the irresistible force of God, sweeping everything away,\ntill you find at last the place of your perfect rest.\n\n\n_To-morrow._\n\nIf to-morrows are not to be boasted of, are they good for nothing? No,\nblessed be God. There are a great many things we may do with to-morrows.\nI will tell you what we may do with them if we are the children of God.\nWe may always look forward to them with _patience and confidence_, that\nthey will work together for our good. We may say of the to-morrows, \"I\ndo not boast of them, but I am not frightened at them; I would not glory\nin them, but I will not tremble about them.\" Yes, we may be very easy\nand very comfortable about to-morrow; we may remember that all our times\nare in His hands, that all events are at His command; and though we know\nnot all the windings of the path of providence, yet _He_ knows them all;\nthey are all settled in His book, and our times are all ordered by His\nwisdom. And, therefore, we may look upon the to-morrows as we see them\nin the rough bullion of time, about to be minted into every-day's\nexpenditure, and we may say of them all, \"They shall all be gold; they\nshall all be stamped with the King's impress, and therefore, let them\ncome; they will not make me worse--they will work together for my good.\"\n\nYea, more, a Christian may rightly look forward to his to-morrows, not\nsimply with resignation, but also with _joy_. To-morrow to a Christian\nis a happy thing; it is one stage nearer glory. It is one step nearer\nheaven to a believer; it is just one knot more sailed across the\ndangerous sea of life, and he is so much the nearer to his eternal port.\n\nTo-morrow! the Christian may rejoice at it; he may say of to-day, \"O\nday, thou mayst be dark, but I shall bid thee good by, for lo, I see the\nmorrow coming, and I shall mount upon its wings, and shall flee away and\nleave thee and thy sorrows far behind me.\"\n\n\n_A Full Heart._\n\nYou have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in\nwhich water for the supply of thousands of houses is kept. Now, the\nheart is the reservoir of man, from which the streams of his life flow.\n\nThat life may flow through different pipes--the mouth, the hand, the\neye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip, derive their\nsource from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and\nhence there is no difficulty in showing the great necessity that exists\nfor keeping this reservoir in a proper state and condition, since\notherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and\ncorrupt. Not only must the heart be kept pure, but it must also be kept\n_full_. However pure the water may be in the central reservoir, it will\nnot be possible for us to have an abundant supply, unless the reservoir\nitself be full. An empty fountain will most assuredly beget empty pipes;\nlet the machinery be never so accurate, let everything else be well\nordered, yet if that reservoir be dry, we may wait in vain for water.\nSee, then, the necessity of keeping the heart full; and let the\nnecessity make you ask this question: \"But how can I keep my heart full?\nHow can my emotions be strong? How can I keep my desires burning and my\nzeal inflamed?\" Christian! there is one text which will explain all\nthis: \"All my springs are in Thee,\" said David. If thou hast all thy\nsprings in God, thy heart will be full enough. If thou goest to the foot\nof Calvary, there will thy heart be bathed in love and gratitude. If\nthou art often in the vale of retirement, talking with thy God, thy\nheart shall be full of calm resolve. If you goest with thy Master to the\nhill of Olivet, with Him to weep over Jerusalem, then will thy heart be\nfull of love for never-dying souls. If thou art continually drawing\nthine impulse, thy life, the whole of thy being from the Holy Spirit,\nwithout whom thou canst do nothing, and if thou art living in close\ncommunion with Christ, there will be no fear of thy having a dry heart.\nHe who lives without prayer--he who lives with little prayer--he who\nseldom reads the Word--he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh\ninfluence from on high--he will be the man whose heart will become dry\nand barren; but he who calls in secret on his God--who spends much time\nin holy retirement--who delights to meditate on the words of the Most\nHigh--whose soul is given up to Christ--who delights in His fulness,\nrejoices in his all-sufficiency, prays for his second coming, and\ndelights in the thought of his glorious advent--such a man must have an\noverflowing heart; and as his heart is, such will his life be. It will\nbe a full life; it will be a life that will speak from the sepulchre,\nand wake the echoes of the future. \"Keep thine heart with all\ndiligence,\" and entreat the Holy Spirit to keep it full; for otherwise,\nthe issues of thy life will be feeble, shallow, and superficial; and\nthou mayest as well not have lived at all.\n\nO for a heart thus full, and deep, and broad! Find the man that hath\nsuch a heart, and he is the man from whom living waters shall flow, to\nmake the world glad with their refreshing streams.\n\n\n_Persevering Prayer._\n\nDo not give up those prayers which God's Spirit has put in your\nhearts--for remember, the things you have asked for are worth waiting\nfor. Besides, you are a beggar when you are in prayer; therefore you\nmust not be a chooser as to the time when God shall hear you. If you had\nright ideas of yourself, you would say, \"It is a wonder that He ever\nlistens to me at all, so unworthy as I am. Does the Infinite indeed bow\nHis ear to me? May I hope He will at last listen to me? Then I may well\ncontinue my prayers.\"\n\nAnd recollect it is your only hope: there is no other Saviour. This or\nnone--Christ's blood or else eternal wrath. And to whom shall you go, if\nyou turn away from Him? None ever yet perished pleading for mercy;\ntherefore keep on.\n\nBesides, better men than you have had to wait. Kings, and patriarchs,\nand prophets have waited; therefore surely you can be content to sit in\nthe King's antechamber a little while. It is an honor to sit as Mordecai\ndid at the gate. Pray on--wait on!\n\n\"Ah!\" says one, \"that is just what I have been doing a long time.\" Yes,\nyes, there are different kinds of waiting. A man says, \"I have been\nwaiting:\" but he has folded his arms and gone to sleep. You may _wait_\nin that way till you are lost. The waiting I mean is \"getting all things\nready\"--the waiting of the poor sufferer for the physician, who cries\nout in pain, \"Is the doctor coming?\" I will be surety for my Master when\nI say that none such will be sent empty away. He will never break his\npromise. _Try Him_--TRY HIM!\n\n\n_Humility._\n\nWhat is humility of mind? Humility is to make a right estimate of\none's self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he\nought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that. Some persons, when\nthey know they can do a thing, tell you they cannot: but you surely\nwould not call that humility? A man is asked to take part in some good\nwork: \"No,\" he says, \"I have no ability;\" yet, if you were to say so of\nhim, he would be offended at you. It is not humility for a man to stand\nup and depreciate himself, and say he cannot do this, that, or the\nother, when he knows that it is untrue. If God gives a man a talent, do\nyou think the man does not know it? If a man has ten talents, he has no\nright to be dishonest to his Maker, and to say, \"Lord, thou hast only\ngiven me five.\" It is not humility to underrate your endowments:\nhumility is to think of yourself, if you can, as God thinks of you. It\nis to feel that if we have talents, God has given them to us, and let it\nbe seen that, like freight in a vessel, they tend to sink us low. The\nmore we have, the lower we ought to lie. Humility is not to say, \"I have\nnot this gift;\" but it is to say, \"I have the gift, and I must use it\nfor my Master's glory. I must never seek any honor for myself; for what\nhave I that I have not received?\" Humility is to feel that we have no\npower of ourselves, but that it all cometh from God. Humility is to lean\non our Beloved, saying, \"I can do all things through Christ, who\nstrengtheneth me.\" It is, in fact, to annihilate self, and to exalt the\nLord Jesus Christ as All in All.\n\n\n_Look Upwards._\n\nChristian! in all thy troubles, look unto God, and be saved. In all thy\ntrials and afflictions, look unto Christ, and find deliverance. In all\nthine agony, in all thy repentance for thy guilt, look unto Christ, and\nfind pardon. Remember to put thine eyes heavenward, and thine heart\nheavenward too. Bind round thyself a golden chain, and put one link of\nit in the staple in heaven. Look unto Christ; fear not. There is no\nstumbling when a man walks with his eyes up to Jesus. He that looks at\nChrist walks safely.\n\n\n_The Use of Trial._\n\nTrials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what\nwe are made of; they just turn up some of the ill weeds on to the\nsurface.\n\n\n_Faith Necessary._\n\n\"Whatsoever things are lovely, and pure, and of good report,\" try and\ngain them; but remember that all these things put together, without\nfaith, do not please God. Virtues, _without faith_, are whitewashed\nsins. Unbelief nullifies everything. It is the fly in the ointment; it\nis the poison in the pot. Without faith--with all the virtues of purity,\nwith all the benevolence of philanthropy, with all the kindness of\ndisinterested sympathy, with all the talents of genius, with all the\nbravery of patriotism, and with all the decision of principle--you have\nno title to divine acceptance, for \"without faith it is impossible to\nplease God.\"\n\nFaith fosters every virtue; unbelief withers every virtue in the bud.\nThousands of prayers have been stopped by unbelief; many songs of\npraise, that would have swelled the chorus of the skies, have been\nstifled by unbelieving murmurs; many a noble enterprise conceived in the\nheart has been blighted ere it could come forth by unbelief. Faith is\nthe Samsonian lock of the Christian: cut it off, and he can do nothing.\nPeter, while he had faith, walked on the waves of the sea. But presently\nthere came a billow behind him, and he said, \"That will sweep me away;\"\nand then another before, and he cried out, \"That will overwhelm me;\" and\nhe thought, \"How could I be so presumptuous as to walk on the top of\nthese waves?\" And as soon as he doubted, he began to sink. Faith was\nPeter's life-buoy--it kept him up; but unbelief sent him down. The\nChristian's life may be said to be always \"walking on the water,\" and\nevery wave would swallow him up; but faith enables him to stand. The\nmoment you cease to believe, that moment distress and failure follow. O,\nwherefore dost thou doubt, then?\n\n\n_Christ \"Altogether Lovely.\"_\n\nIn calling the Lord Jesus \"altogether lovely,\" the Church asserts that\nshe sees nothing in Him which she does not admire. The world may rail at\nHis cross and call it shameful; to her it is the very centre and soul of\nglory. A proud and scornful nation might reject their King because of\nHis manger-cradle and peasant-garb, but to her eye the Prince is\nglorious in this poor apparel. He is never without beauty to her; never\nis His visage marred, or his glory stained. She presses His pierced feet\nto her bosom, and looks upon their wounds as jewels. Fools stand by His\ncross and find full many a theme for jest and scorn: she discovers\nnothing but solemn reason for reverent adoration and unbounded love.\nViewing Him in every office, position, and relationship, she cannot\ndiscover a flaw; in fact, the thought of imperfection is banished far\naway. She knows too well His perfect Godhead and His spotless manhood,\nto offer a moment's shelter to the thought of a blemish in His\nimmaculate person; she abominates every teaching that debases Him; she\nspurns the most gorgeous drapery that would obscure His beauteous\nfeatures; yea, so jealous is she of His honor, that she will hear no\nspirit which doth not witness to His praise. A hint against His\nundefiled conception or His unsullied purity would stir her soul to holy\nwrath, and speedy would be her execration, and relentless her execution\nof the heresy. Nothing has ever aroused the ire of the Church so fully\nas a word against her Head. To all true believers this is high treason,\nand an offence which cannot be treated lightly. Jesus is without a\nsingle blot or blemish, \"altogether lovely.\"\n\nYet this negative praise, this bold denial of fault, is far from\nrepresenting the fulness of the loving admiration of the Church. Jesus\nis positively _lovely_ in her eyes. Not barely comely, nor merely fair,\nHis beauties are attracting beauties, and His glories are such as charm\nthe heart. Love looks forth from those \"dove's eyes, washed with milk,\nand fitly set;\" it flows from those \"lips like lilies dropping\nsweet-smelling myrrh,\" and it sparkles on those hands which are \"full of\ngold rings, set with chrysolite.\"\n\nBut although this utterance of the Church is the very climax of the\nlanguage of praise, and was doubtless intended as the acme of all\ndescription, yet it is not possible that this one sentence, even when\nexpanded by the most careful meditation, should be able to express more\nthan a mere particle of the admiration felt. Like a son of Anak, the\nsentence towers above all others; but its stature fails to reach the\ntowering height of Heaven-born love. It is but a faint symbol of\nunutterable affection; a choice pearl washed on shore from the deep sea\nof love.\n\n\n_The Remedy for Doubts._\n\nThe best way to get your faith strengthened is to have communion with\nChrist. If you commune with Christ you cannot be unbelieving. When his\nleft hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me, I cannot\ndoubt. When my Beloved sits at his table, and He brings me into His\nbanqueting-house, and His banner over me is Love, then, indeed, I do\nbelieve. When I feast with Him, my unbelief is abashed, and hides its\nhead. Speak, ye that have been led in the green pastures, and have been\nmade to lie down by the still waters; ye who have seen His rod and His\nstaff, and hope to see them even when you walk through the valley of the\nshadow of death; speak, ye that have sat at His feet with Mary, or laid\nyour head upon his bosom with the well-beloved John; have you not found\nwhen you have been near to Christ your faith has grown strong, and when\nyou have been far away from Him, your faith has become weak? It is\nimpossible to look Christ in the face and then doubt Him. When you\ncannot see Him, then you doubt Him; but you must believe when your\nBeloved speaks unto you, and says, \"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and\ncome away.\" There is no hesitation then; you must arise from the\nlowlands of your doubt up to the hills of assurance.\n\n\n_All Things working for Good._\n\nChrist is the arbiter of all events; in everything His sway is supreme;\nand He exercises His power for the good of His Church. He spins the\nthread of events, and acts from the distaff of destiny, and does not\nsuffer those threads to be woven otherwise than according to the pattern\nof His loving wisdom. He will not allow the mysterious wheel to revolve\nin any way which shall not bring good unto His chosen. He makes their\nworst things blessings to them, and their best things he sanctifies. In\ntimes of plenty, He blesses their increase; in times of famine, He\nsupplies all their needs. As all things are working for His glory, so\nall things are working for their good.\n\n\n_The Triumph of Grace._\n\nIt is one of the greatest of wonders that all men do not love Christ.\nNothing manifests more clearly the utter corruption of our race than the\nfact that \"He was despised and rejected of men.\" Those, however, who\nhave seen the fountains of the great deep of human depravity broken up,\nare not at a loss to account for the treatment of the Messiah. It was\nnot possible that darkness should have fellowship with light, or Christ\nwith Belial. Fallen man could not walk with Jesus, for the two were not\nagreed. It was but the necessary result of the contact of two such\nopposites that the guilty creature should hate the Perfect One. \"Crucify\nHim, crucify Him,\" is the natural cry of fallen man. Our first wonder is\ndisplaced, and another wonder fills the sphere of thought. Did we marvel\nthat all men do not love?--it is a greater marvel still that any man\ndoes love Jesus. In the first case we saw the terrible blindness which\nfailed to discover the brightness of the sun--with a shudder we saw it,\nand were greatly amazed; but in this second instance we behold Jesus of\nNazareth opening the fast-closed eye, and scattering the Egyptian\ndarkness with the Divine radiance of His marvellous light. Is this less\na wonder? If it was a strange thing to witness the fearful ravings of\nthe demoniac among the tombs, it is surely far more a prodigy to see\nthat same man sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right\nmind. It is indeed a triumph of grace when man's heart is brought to\ngive its affection to Jesus, for it proves that the work of Satan is all\nundone, and that man is restored from his fallen state.\n\n\n_Religion a Personal Matter._\n\nSome men say that they will test the holiness of Christ's religion by\nthe holiness of Christ's people. You have no right, I reply, to put the\nquestion to any such test as that. The proper test that you ought to use\nis to try it yourselves--to \"taste and see that the Lord is good.\" By\ntasting and seeing you will prove His goodness, and by the same process\nyou must prove the holiness of His Gospel. Your business is to seek\nChrist crucified for yourselves, not to take the representation of\nanother man concerning the power of grace to subdue corruption and to\nsanctify the heart. Inasmuch as God has given you a Bible, He intended\nyou to read it, and not to be content with reading _men_. You are not to\nbe content with feelings that rise through the conversation of others;\nyour only power to know true religion is, by having His Holy Spirit\noperating upon your own heart, that you may yourself experience what is\nthe power of religion. You have no right to judge religion from anything\nextra or external from itself. And if you despise it before you have\ntried it yourself, you must stand confessed in this world as a fool, and\nin the next world as a criminal. And yet this is so with most men. If\nyou hear a man rail at the Bible, you may usually conclude that he never\nreads it. And you may be quite certain if you hear a man speak against\nreligion, that he never knew what religion was. True religion, when once\nit takes possession of the heart, never allows a man to quarrel with it.\nThat man will call Christ his best friend who knows Christ at all. We\nhave found many who have despised the enjoyments of this world, but we\nnever found one who turned from religion with disgust or with satiety,\nafter having once enjoyed it. No! no! you chose your own delusions, and\nyou chose them at your own risk; you foster them at your own peril. For\nif you take your religion from other people, and are led by the example\nof professors to discard religion, you are nevertheless guilty of your\nown blood. God has not left you to the uncertain chart of men's\ncharacters: He has given you His own Word; the more sure word of\ntestimony, whereunto you do well that ye take heed.\n\n\n_Strength Through Weakness._\n\nThe way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God\npoureth no power into man's heart till man's power is all poured out.\nThe Christian's life is one of daily dependence on the grace and\nstrength of God.\n\n\n_Begin Well._\n\nI have known men run the race of religion with all their might, and\nyet they have lost it because they did not start right. You say, \"Well,\nhow is that?\" Why, there are some people who on a sudden leap into\nreligion. They get it quickly, and they keep it for a time, and at last\nthey lose it because they did not get their religion the right way. They\nhave heard that before a man can be saved, it is necessary that, by the\nteaching of the Holy Spirit, he should feel the weight of sin, that he\nshould make a confession of it, that he should renounce all hope in his\nown works, and should look to Jesus Christ alone. They look upon all\nthese things as unpleasant preliminaries, and, therefore, before they\nhave attended to repentance, before the Holy Spirit has wrought a good\nwork in them, before they have been brought to give up everything and\ntrust to Christ, they make a profession of religion. This is just\nsetting up in business without a stock in trade, and there must be a\nfailure. If a man has no capital to begin with, he may make a fine show\nfor a little time, but it shall be as the crackling of thorns under a\npot,--a great deal of noise and much light for a little while, but it\nshall die out in darkness. How many there are who never think it\nnecessary that there should be heart work within! Let us remember,\nhowever, that there never was a man who had a changed heart without his\nfirst having a miserable heart. We must pass through that black tunnel\nof conviction before we can come out upon the high embankment of holy\njoy; we must first go through the Slough of Despond before we can run\nalong the Walls of Salvation. There must be ploughing before there is\nsowing; there must be many a frost, and many a sharp shower, before\nthere is any reaping. But we often act like little children who pluck\nflowers from the shrubs, and plant them in their gardens without roots;\nthen they say how fair and how pretty their little garden is; but wait a\nwhile, and all their flowers are withered, because they have no roots.\nThis is all the effect of not having a right start, not having the \"root\nof the matter.\" What is the good of outward religion, the flower and the\nleaf of it, unless we have the \"root of the matter\" in us--unless we\nhave been ploughed with the plough of the Spirit, and then have been\nsown with the sacred seed of the Gospel, in the hope of bringing forth\nan abundant harvest? There must be a good start in running the Christian\nrace, for there is no hope of winning unless the start be right.\n\n\n_The Robe of Righteousness._\n\nOur court-dress in heaven, and our garment of sanctification for daily\nwear, are the condescending gifts of Christ's love.\n\n\n_Cross-Bearers._\n\nWhat an honorable position was that of Simon the Cyrenian, to be\ncross-bearer to Jesus Christ! We could almost weep that we were not\nthere, that we might have had the honor of carrying Christ's cross for\nHim. But we need not weep, for we shall have His cross to carry if we\nare His people. There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not\ncross-bearers here below. There shall be none among the throng of the\nglorified who had not their cross on earth. Hast thou a cross, believer?\nShoulder it manfully! Up with it! Go along thy journey with unshrinking\nfootsteps and a rejoicing heart, knowing that since it is _Christ's_\ncross it must be an honor to carry it; and that while you are bearing it\nyou are in blessed company, for you are _following Him_.\n\n\n_The Happiness of Religion._\n\nLet a man truly know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be\na happy man; and the deeper he drinks into the Spirit of Christ, the\nhappier will he become. That religion which teaches misery to be a duty\nis false upon the very face of it, for God, when He made the world,\nstudied the happiness of His creatures. You cannot help thinking, as you\nsee everything around you, that God has sedulously, with the most strict\nattention, sought ways of pleasing man. He has not merely given us\nabsolute necessaries, He has given us more; not simply the useful, but\neven the ornamental. The flowers in the hedgerow, the stars in the sky,\nthe beauties of nature, the hill and the valley--all these things were\nintended not merely because we needed them, but because God would show\nhow He loved us, and how anxious he was that we should be happy. Now, it\nis not likely that the God who made a happy world would send a miserable\nsalvation. He who is a happy Creator will be a happy Redeemer; and those\nwho have tasted that the Lord is gracious, can bear witness that the\nways of religion \"are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are\npeace.\" And if this life were all, if death were the burial of all our\nlife, and if the shroud were the winding-sheet of eternity, still to be\na Christian would be a bright and happy thing, for it lights up this\nvalley of tears, and fills the wells in the valley of Baca to the brim\nwith streams of love and joy.\n\n\n_Unchangeable._\n\nThere is one place where change cannot put its finger; there is one\nname on which mutability can never be written; there is one heart which\ncan never alter--that place is the Most Holy--that heart is God's--that\nname is Love.\n\n\n_Increase of Faith._\n\nThe way in which most men get their faith increased is by great\ntrouble. We do not grow strong in faith in sunshiny days. It is in\nstormy weather that faith grows stronger. Faith is not an attainment\nthat droppeth like the gentle dew from heaven; it generally comes in the\nwhirlwind and the storm. Look at the old oaks; how is it that they have\nbecome so deeply-rooted in the earth? Ask the March winds, and they will\ntell you. It was not the April shower that did it, or the sweet May\nsunshine, but the rough wind shaking the tree to and fro, causing its\nroots to strike deeper and to take a firmer hold. And so must it be with\nus. We cannot make great soldiers in the barracks at home; they must be\nmade amidst flying shot and thundering cannon. We cannot expect to make\ngood sailors on the Serpentine; they must be trained far away on the\ndeep sea, where the wild winds howl, and the thunders roll like drums in\nthe march of the God of armies. Storms and tempests are the things that\nmake men tough and hardy mariners. They see the works of the Lord, and\nHis wonders in the deep. It is thus with Christians. Great-faith must\nhave great trials. Mr. Great-heart would never have been Mr. Great-heart\nif he had not once been Mr. Great-trouble. Valiant-for-truth would never\nhave put to flight those foes, and have been so valiant, if the foes had\nnot first attacked him. We must expect great troubles before we shall\nattain to much faith.\n\n\n_Communion with Christ._\n\nOne hour with Christ is worth an eternity of all earth's joys; and\ncommunion with Him is the best, the surest, and the most ecstatic\nforetaste of the bliss of heaven.\n\n\n_The Soul Satisfied in Christ._\n\nHe who delights in the possession of the Lord Jesus hath all that heart\ncan wish. As for created things, they are like shallow and deceitful\nbrooks; they fail to supply our wants, much less our wishes. \"The bed\"\nof earthly enjoyment \"is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on\nit, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it;\" but\nin Jesus there is room for imagination's utmost stretch and widest\nrange. When Jesus is enjoyed, He puts a fulness into all other mercies;\nHis house is full when He is there; His throne of grace is full when He\nsits on it; and His guest-chamber is full when He is master of the\nfeast. \"The creature without Christ is an empty thing, a lamp without\noil, a bone without marrow;\" but when Christ is present our cup runneth\nover, and we eat bread to the full. A dinner of herbs, when we have\ncommunion with Him, is as rich a feast as a stalled ox; and our narrow\ncot is as noble a mansion as the great house of the wealthy. Go not\nabroad, ye hungry wishes of my soul--stay ye at home, and feast on\nJesus; for abroad ye must starve, since all other beloveds are empty and\nundesirable. Stay with Christ, and eat ye that which is good, and\ndelight yourself in fatness.\n\n\n_The Lord's Jewels._\n\nGoldsmiths make exquisite forms from precious material: they fashion\nthe bracelet and the ring from gold. God maketh His precious things out\nof base material; and from the black pebbles of the defiling brooks He\nhath taken up stones, which He hath set in the golden ring of His\nimmutable love, to make them gems to sparkle on His finger forever.\n\n\n_Memorials of Jesus._\n\nThe love of the Church extends beyond the person of the Bridegroom, and\nreaches to everything connected with Him. \"All _thy garments_ smell of\nmyrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they\nhave made thee glad.\" His very vestments are precious in her esteem. She\nrejoices to sing of Him in His priestly garments.\n\n    \"The mitred crown, the embroidered vest,\n      With graceful dignity He wears;\n    And in full splendor on His breast\n      The sacred oracle appears.\"\n\nArrayed in His royal robes, He is not less glorious in her eyes: she\nloves to see His crown, and own her King. There is not a word which His\nlip hath uttered, nor a place whereon His foot hath trodden, nor a\nvessel which His hands have handled, which is not wholly consecrated in\nher esteem. We are no worshippers of the ragged relics so fondly hoarded\nby Rome; but we have other and far better memorials--holy things that\nare of inestimable worth. His written Word, over which, we even now see\nthat loving hand moving as it did when, many a year ago, it wrote each\ncharacter; the echo of his departed voice not yet buried in silence; his\nwine-cup not yet empty; his blood still flowing, and his benediction\nstill breathing peace upon us: all these still remain, and are valued\nabove all price. We esteem His ordinances, and we triumph in His\nteaching, however the world-wise may contemn it. His service is our\ndelight; to stand at His gates is honor, and to run before His chariot\nis bliss. As for His people, we greet them as saints, we call them our\nbrethren, and they are most near and dear to us for _His_ sake. The\nmeanest beggar in His Church is of more account to us than the proudest\nmonarch out of it. \"Because he belongs to Christ,\" is always a\nsufficient reason for the outflow of our affection; for all that is His\nis dear to us.\n\n\n\"_Freely Give._\"\n\nO Christian, whenever thou art inclined to an avaricious withholding\nfrom the Church of God, think of thy Saviour giving up all that He had\nto serve thee! And canst thou then--when thou beholdest self-denial so\nnoble--canst thou then be selfish, and regard thy dainties of more\naccount than their necessities, when the claims of the poor of the flock\nare pressed upon thee? Remember Jesus; think thou seest Him looking upon\nthee, and saying, \"I gave Myself for thee, and dost thou withhold\nthyself from me? For if thou dost, thou knowest not my love in all its\nheights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths.\"\n\n\n_Religion--a Present Enjoyment._\n\nReligion has its present enjoyments. Speak, ye that know them, for ye\ncan tell; yet ye cannot recount them all. O, would ye give up your\nreligion for all the joys that earth calls good or great? Say, if your\nimmortal life could be extinguished, would you give it up, even for all\nthe kingdoms of this world? O, ye sons of poverty, has not this been a\ncandle to you in the darkness? Has not this lightened you through the\nheavy shades of your tribulation? O, ye sons of toil, has not this been\nyour rest, your sweet repose? Have not the testimonies of God been your\nsong in the house of your pilgrimage? O, ye children of sorrow, racked\nwith pain, has not religion been to you a sweet _quietus_ in your\nsufferings? Is not religion worth having in the sick chamber? And ye men\nof business, speak for yourselves. You have hard struggles to pass\nthrough life. Sometimes you have been driven to a great extremity, and\nwhether you would succeed or not seemed to hang upon a thread. Has not\nyour religion been a joy to you in your difficulties? Has it not calmed\nyour minds? When you have been fretted and troubled about worldly\nthings, have you not found it pleasant to enter your closet, and shut to\nthe door, and tell your Father in secret all your cares? And, O, ye that\nare rich, cannot you bear the same testimony, if you have loved the\nMaster? What had all your riches been to you without a Saviour? Can you\nnot say that your religion did gild your gold, and make your silver\nshine more brightly? For all things that you have are sweetened by this\nthought, that you have all these and Christ too. Was there ever a child\nof God who could deny this? We have heard of many infidels who grieved\nover their infidelity when they came to die: did you ever hear of any\none on his death-bed looking back on a life of holiness with sorrow?\nNever, never did we know a Christian who repented of his Christianity.\nWe have seen Christians so suffering, that we wondered that they lived;\nso poor, that we wondered at their misery; we have seen them so full of\ndoubts, that we pitied their unbelief; but we never heard them say, even\nthen, \"I regret that I gave myself to Christ.\" No; with the dying clasp,\nwhen heart and flesh were failing, we have seen them hug this treasure\nto their breast, and press it to their heart, still feeling that this\nwas their life, their joy, their all. O! if ye would be happy, if ye\nwould be saved, if ye would strew your path with sunshine, and dig out\nthe nettles and blunt the thorns, \"Seek first the kingdom of God, and\nHis righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.\" Seek\nnot happiness first; seek Christ first; and happiness shall come after.\nSeek ye first the Lord, and then He will provide for you in this life,\nand He will crown it with everything that is glorious in the life to\ncome.\n\n\n\"_Our Lord Jesus._\"\n\nWhatever blissful consequences flow from the perfect obedience, the\nfinished atonement, the resurrection, ascension, or intercession of the\nLord Jesus, all are ours by His own gift. Upon His breastplate He is now\nwearing our names; and in His authoritative pleadings at the throne He\nremembers us and pleads our cause. The advantages of His high position,\nHis dominion over principalities and powers, and His absolute majesty in\nheaven, He employs for the benefit of them that trust in Him. His high\nestate is as much at our service as was His condition of abasement. He\nwho gave Himself for us in the depths of woe and death, doth not\nwithdraw the grant now that He is enthroned in the highest heavens.\nChrist hath no dignity which He will not employ for our exaltation, and\nno prerogative which He will not exercise for our defence. Christ\neverywhere and in every way is our portion, forever and ever most richly\nto enjoy.\n\n\n_Providence._\n\nThe boundless stores of Providence are engaged for the support of the\nbeliever. Christ is our Joseph, who has granaries full of wheat; but He\ndoes not treat us as Joseph did the Egyptians, for He opens the door of\nhis storehouse, and bids us call all the good thereof our own. He has\nentailed upon His estate of Providence a perpetual charge of a daily\nportion for us; and He has promised that one day we shall clearly\nperceive that the estate itself has been well-farmed on our behalf, and\nhas been always ours. The axle of the wheels of the chariot of\nProvidence is Infinite Love, and Gracious Wisdom is the perpetual\ncharioteer.\n\n\n_The Intercession of Christ._\n\nThe Lord Jesus has led captivity captive, and now sits at the right\nhand of God, forever making intercession for us. Can your faith picture\nHim? Like a Levitical high priest of old He stands with outstretched\narms: there is majesty in His mien, and with authority He pleads. On His\nhead is the bright shining mitre of His priesthood, and on His breast\nare glittering the precious stones whereon the names of His people are\neverlastingly engraven. Hear Him as he pleads--hear you not what it is?\nIs that your prayer which He is mentioning before the throne? The prayer\nthat this morning you offered, Christ is now offering before His\nFather's throne. The vow which just now you uttered, He is now uttering\nthere. He is the Altar and Priest, and with His own sacrifice He\nperfumes our prayers. And yet, mayhap, you have been praying long, and\nhad no answer. Poor, weeping suppliant! thou hast sought the Lord and He\nhath not seemed to hear thee, or at least not answered thee to thy\nsoul's delight, and thou art full of darkness and heaviness on account\nof this. \"Look to Him, and be lightened.\" If thou dost not succeed, He\nwill; if thy intercession be unnoticed, His cannot be passed away; if\nthy prayers can be like water spilt on the ground, which cannot be\ngathered up, yet His prayers are not like that; He is God's Son--He\npleads and must prevail. God cannot refuse His own Son what He now\nasks--He who once bought mercies with His blood. O, be of good cheer,\ncontinue still thy supplication, for Jesus \"ever liveth to make\nintercession\" for thee.\n\n\n_Holiness._\n\nHoliness is the architectural plan upon which God buildeth up His\nliving temple.\n\n\n_The New Heart._\n\nGod does not promise that He will improve our nature, or that He will\nmend our broken hearts. No; the promise is, that He will give us new\nhearts and right spirits. Human nature is too far gone ever to be\nmended. It is not a house which is a little out of repair, with here and\nthere a slate blown from the roof, and here and there a piece of plaster\nbroken down from the ceiling. No; it is rotten throughout; the very\nfoundations have been sapped; there is not a single timber in it which\nis sound; it is all rottenness from its uppermost roof to its lowest\nfoundation, and ready to fall. God doth not attempt to mend; He does not\nshore up the walls, and re-paint the door; He does not garnish and\nbeautify, but He determines that the old house shall be entirely swept\naway, and that He will build a new one. It is too far gone to be mended.\nIf it were only a little out of repair, it might be restored. If only a\nwheel or two of that great thing called \"Manhood\" were out of repair,\nthen He who made man might put the whole to rights; He might put a new\ncog where it had been broken off, and another wheel where it had gone to\nruin, and the machine might work anew. But no; the whole of it is out of\nrepair; there is not one lever which is not broken; not one axle which\nis not disturbed. \"The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.\nFrom the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, it is wounds, and\nbruises, and putrefying sores.\" The Lord, therefore, does not attempt\nthe repairing of this thing, but He says, \"A new heart also will I give\nyou, and a new spirit will I put within you.\"\n\n\n_The Christian's Daily Cross._\n\nBeliever, Christ Jesus presents thee with thy crosses, and they are no\nmean gifts.\n\n\n_Joy Over the Repenting._\n\nThe angels know what the joys of heaven are, and therefore they rejoice\nover one sinner that repenteth. We talk about pearly gates, and golden\nstreets, and white robes, and harps of gold, and crowns of amaranth; but\nif an angel could speak to us of heaven, he would smile and say, \"All\nthese fine things are but child's talk, and ye are little children, and\nye cannot understand the greatness of eternal bliss; and therefore God\nhas given you a child's horn-book, and an alphabet, in which you may\nlearn the first rough letters of what heaven is, but _what it is_ thou\ndost not know. O mortal, thine eye hath never yet beheld its splendors;\nthine ear hath never yet been ravished with its melodies; thy heart has\nnever been transported with its peerless joys.\" Yes, we may talk, and\nthink, and guess, and dream, but we can never measure the infinite\nheaven which God has provided for His children. But the angels know its\nglory; hence a reason that they rejoice over the repenting sinner who\nhas thus become heir to such an inheritance.\n\n\n_God's Tender Care._\n\nHow careful God is of His people; how anxious He is concerning them,\nnot only for their life, but for their comfort. Does He say, \"Strengthen\nye, strengthen ye my people?\" Does He say to the angel, \"Protect my\npeople?\" Does He not say to the heavens, \"Drop down manna to feed my\npeople?\" all that, and more also. His tender regard secures to them. But\nto show us that He is not only regardful of our interests, but also of\nour superfluities, He says, \"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.\" He would\nhave us not only His living people, and His preserved people, but He\nwould have us His happy people too. He likes His people to be fed; but\nwhat is more, He likes to give them \"Wines on the lees well refined,\" to\nmake glad their hearts. He will not only give them \"bread,\" but He will\ngive them \"honey\" too; He will not simply give them \"milk,\" but He will\ngive them \"wine and milk.\" \"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people:\" it is the\nFather's yearning heart, careful even for the little things of His\npeople. \"Comfort ye\" that one with a tearful eye; \"Comfort ye\" yon child\nof mine with an aching heart; \"Comfort ye\" that poor bemoaning one;\n\"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.\"\n\n\n_The Christian's Crown._\n\nHave Christians a crown? O, yes; but they do not wear it every day.\nThey have a crown, but their coronation-day is not yet arrived; they\nhave been anointed monarchs; they have some of the authority and dignity\nof monarchs, only they are not crowned monarchs yet. But the crown is\nmade. God will not have to order heaven's goldsmiths to fashion it in\nafter-time: it is made already, hanging up in glory. God hath \"laid up\nfor me a crown of righteousness.\"\n\n\n_Obedience to God's Will._\n\nTo the Christian there is no argument so potent as God's will. God's\nwill is the believer's law. He doth not ask what shall it profit\nhim--what shall be the good effect of it upon others, but he simply\nsays, \"Doth my Father command it?\" And his prayer is, \"O Holy Spirit,\nhelp me to obey, not because I see how it shall be good for me, but\nsimply because thou commandest.\" It is the Christian's privilege to do\nGod's commandments, \"Hearkening to the voice of His Word.\"\n\n\n_The Gospel._\n\nThere is everything in the gospel that you want. Do you want something\nto bear you up in trouble? It is in the gospel: \"As thy days, so shall\nthy strength be.\" Do you need something to nerve you for duty? There is\ngrace all-sufficient for everything which God calls you to undergo or to\naccomplish. Do you need something to light up the eye of your hope? O!\nthere are joy-flashes in the gospel which make your eye flash back again\nthe immortal fires of bliss. Do you want something to make you stand\nsteadfast in the midst of temptation? In the gospel there is that which\ncan make you immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. There\nis no passion, no affection, no thought, no wish, no power which the\ngospel has not filled to the very brim. The gospel was evidently meant\nfor manhood: it is adapted to it in its every part. There is knowledge\nfor the head; there is love for the heart; there is guidance for the\nfoot.\n\n\n_Believing Prayer._\n\nPrayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith.\nLittle faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater.\nIt was the custom in old times, for all the poor in the parish to call\nat every house with bowls for provisions; and whatever size the bowl\nwas, every generous person would fill it. Faith is our bowl: if we have\ngot only \"little faith,\" we shall get that filled; but if we have got\n\"great faith,\" we shall have that filled also. Little faith getteth\nmuch; but great faith is a noble and princely merchant, and doth a great\ntrade--it obtaineth millions where little faith only gaineth hundreds.\nGreat faith getteth hold of God's treasure.\n\n\n_Warfare for Sin._\n\nO Christian, never take hold of sin, except with a gauntlet on thy\nhand; never go to it with the kid-glove of friendship; never talk\ndelicately of it; but always hate it in every shape. If it comes to thee\nas a little fox, take heed of it, for it will spoil the grapes. Whether\nit bounds towards thee as a roaring lion, seeking whom it may devour, or\nmakes advances in an attractive form, with graceful mien, seeking by a\npretended affection to entice thee into sin--beware; for its hug is\ndeath, and its clasp destruction. Sin of every kind thou art to war\nwith--of lip, of hand, of heart. However gilded with profit; however\nvarnished with the seemliness of morality; however complimented by the\ngreat, or however popular with the multitude, thou art to hate sin\neverywhere, in all its disguises, at every time, and in every place. Not\none sin is to be spared, but against the whole is to be proclaimed an\nutter and entire war of extermination.\n\n\n_How to Read the Bible._\n\nYou may read the Bible continuously, and yet never learn anything by\nit, unless it is illuminated by the Spirit; and then the words shine\nforth like stars. The book seems made of gold leaf; every single letter\nglitters like a diamond. O! it is a blessed thing to read an illuminated\nBible lit up by the radiance of the Holy Ghost. Hast thou read the\nBible, and yet have thine eyes been unenlightened? Go and say, \"O Lord,\nilluminate it; shine upon it; for I cannot read it to profit, unless\nThou enlightenest me.\" Blind men may read the Bible with their fingers,\nbut blind souls cannot. We want a light to read the Bible by; there is\nno reading it in the dark.\n\n\n_A View of Christ._\n\nA view of Christ is always beneficial to a Christian--too much of Christ\nwe cannot have--there can be no tautology where His name is mentioned.\nGive us Christ always, Christ ever. The monotony of Christ is sweet\nvariety; and even the unity of Christ hath in it all the elements of\nharmony. Christ on His cross and on His throne, in the manger and in the\ntomb--Christ everywhere is sweet to us. We love His name, we adore His\nperson, we delight to hear of His works--the theme is ever new.\n\nThere are some who complain that their love to the Saviour is faint and\ncold. But this would not be if they were more with Jesus. The closer you\nlive to Christ, and the more you know Him, the better you will love Him.\nDo not try to produce in yourself a certain degree of love to Christ by\nsome extraordinary means; but go into His presence, meditate upon Him\ncontinually, picture to yourself His sufferings for you, and then you\nwill love Him--it will become easy to you, for _He_ will draw your poor\nheart closer to himself, as you thus think about Him; and your love to\nHim will grow just in proportion as you realize His love to you.\n\n\n_The Author and Finisher of Faith._\n\nO Lord! of what small account are the best of men apart from Thee! How\nhigh they rise when Thou liftest them up! How low they fall if Thou\nwithdraw Thy hand! It is our joy, amidst distress, when Thou enablest us\nto say, \"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him;\" but if Thou take\naway Thy Spirit, we cannot even trust Thee in the brightest day. When\nstorms gather round us we can smile at them, if Thou be with us; but in\nthe fairest morn which ever shone on human heart, we doubt and we\nmiscarry if Thou be not with us still, to preserve and strengthen the\nfaith which Thou hast Thyself bestowed.\n\n\n_The Glad Command._\n\n\"Delight thyself in the Lord.\" This law of one command is no stony law\nto be written upon tablets of granite, but it contains a precept, for\nsparkling brightness worthy to be written on amethysts and pearls.\n\"Delight thyself in the Lord.\" When delight becomes a duty, duty must\ncertainly be a delight. When it becomes my duty to be happy, and I have\nan express command to be glad, I must indeed be foolish if I refuse my\nown joys, and turn aside from my own bliss. O, what a God we have, who\nhas made it our duty to be happy! What a gracious God, who accounts no\nobedience to be so worthy of his acceptance as a gladsome obedience\nrendered by a joyous heart. \"Delight thyself in the Lord.\"\n\n\n_Untiring Delight._\n\nWho ever called the sea monotonous? Even to the mariner, travelling\nover it as he does, sometimes by the year together, there is always a\nfreshness in the undulation of the waves, the whiteness of the foam of\nthe breaker, the curl of the crested billow, and the frolicsome pursuit\nof every wave by its long train of brothers. Which of us has ever\ncomplained that the sun gave us but little variety? What though at morn\nhe yoke the same steeds, and flash from his car the same golden glory,\nclimb with dull uniformity the summit of the skies, then drive his\nchariot downward, and bid his flaming coursers steep their burning\nfetlocks in the western deep? Or who among us would complain loathingly\nof the bread which we eat, that it palls upon the sense of taste? We eat\nit to-day, to-morrow, the next day; we have eaten it for years which are\npassed; still the one unvarying food is served upon the table, and bread\nremains the staff of life. Translate these earthly experiences into\nheavenly mysteries. If Christ is your food and your spiritual bread; if\nChrist is your sun, your heavenly light; if Christ is the sea of love in\nwhich your passions swim, and all your joys are found, it is not\npossible that you as Christian men, should complain of monotony in Him.\n\"He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever;\" and yet He has the \"dew\nof His youth.\" He is like the manna in the golden pot, which was always\nthe same; but he is also like the manna which came down from heaven,\nevery morning new. He is as the rod of Moses, which was dry, and changed\nnot its shape; but he is also to us as the rod of Aaron, which buds, and\nblossoms, and brings forth almonds.\n\n\n_Divine Teaching._\n\nIn the depth of troubles we learn the sufficiency of grace. Well may\nthey \"glory in tribulations also,\" who have learnt in them the most\nprofitable lessons of grace--proved in them how ample is the provision\nof grace, and realized in them the certainty of the triumph of grace. I\nknow not whether all soldiers love the thought of war--some do; there\nare many who pant for a campaign. How often an officer of low rank has\nrepeated the murmur, \"There is no promotion; no hope of rising; no\nhonors; no prize-money, as if we had to fight. Could we rush to the\ncannon's mouth, there would be some prospect before us of gaining\npromotion in the ranks.\" Men get few medals to hang upon their breasts\nwho never know the smell of gunpowder. The brave days, as men call them,\nof Nelson and Trafalgar have gone by; and we thank God for it. Still we\ndo not expect to see such brave old veterans, the offspring of this age,\nas those who are still to be found lingering in our hospitals, the\nrelics of our old campaigns. No, brethren, we must have trials if we are\nto get on. Young men do not become midshipmen altogether through going\nto the school at Greenwich, and climbing the mast on dry land; they must\ngo out to sea. We must do business in great waters; we must be really on\nthe deck in a storm, if we would see the works of the Lord and his\nwonders in the deep. We must have stood side by side with King David; we\nmust have gone down into the pit to slay the lion, or have lifted up the\nspear against the eight hundred, if we would know the saving strength of\nGod's right hand. Conflicts bring experience, and experience brings that\ngrowth in grace which is not to be attained by any other means.\n\n\n_Seeking Christ._\n\nConsider, O waiting soul, that the mercy is worth tarrying for. Is it\nnot salvation--thy soul's deliverance from hell? A long tarrying at the\ngate of mercy will be well repaid, if the King, at last, will give thee\nthis jewel of exceeding price.\n\nBethink thee, also, how utterly unworthy thou art of the mercy;\ntherefore be not loath to humble thyself, or patiently to abide the\nsovereign will of Jehovah. Proud men must be noticed at once, or they\nwill depart; but thou hast nothing to boast of, and shouldst feel that\nif He disregarded thee for a long season, thine unworthiness could\ndemand no apology for his delay. Moreover, remember that He _will_ hear\nat last. His promise would be violated, if one praying soul could\nperish; for He has said, \"Seek, and ye _shall_ find\"--\"Whosoever calleth\non the name of the Lord _shall_ be saved.\" The delay may be for thy\ngood, to lay thee lower in the dust of self-abasement, or to make thee\nmore earnest for the blessing. Possibly the Lord intends to try thy\nfaith, that, like the woman of Syrophenicia, thou mayst reflect honor on\nHim by thy confidence in Him. Pray on, for \"the Lord is good unto them\nthat wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.\"\n\n\n\"_Christ in You._\"\n\nWhat is it to have \"Christ in you?\" The Romanist hangs the cross on his\nbosom; the true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross\ninside the heart is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back.\nIf you have a cross in your heart--Christ crucified in you, the hope of\nglory--the cross of this world's troubles will seem to you light enough,\nand you will easily be able to sustain it. Christ in the heart, means\nChrist believed in, Christ beloved, Christ trusted, Christ espoused,\nChrist communed with, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the\ntemple and palace wherein Jesus Christ daily walks. Ah! there are many\nwho are total strangers to the meaning of this phrase. They do not know\nwhat it is to have Jesus Christ in them. Though they know a little about\nChrist on Calvary, they know nothing about Christ in the heart. Now,\nremember, that Christ on Calvary will save no man, unless Christ be in\nthe heart. The Son of Mary, born in the manger, will not save you,\nunless He be also born in your heart, and live there--your joy, your\nstrength, and your consolation.\n\n\n_Consolation._\n\nConsolation is the dropping of a gentle dew from heaven on desert\nhearts beneath; it is one of the choicest gifts of divine mercy.\n\n\n_Self-Examination._\n\n\"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.\" \"_If_\"--then there\nis a possibility that some may _not_ have tasted that the Lord is\ngracious, and it is needful to inquire whether we are amongst the number\nwho know the grace of God by heart-experience. There is no spiritual\nrevelation which may not be a matter of heart-searching. At the very\nsummit of holy delight we meet the challenge of sentinel \"If\"--\"If ye\nthen be risen with Christ;\" and at the very bottom of the hill, even at\nRepentance-gate itself, He meets us with a warrant of arrest, until He\nsees whether our sorrow is the godly sorrow which needeth not to be\nrepented of. \"If thou be the Son of God,\" is not always a temptation of\nthe devil, but often a very healthy inquiry, most fittingly suggested by\nholy anxiety to men who would build securely upon the Rock of Ages. At\nthe Lord's Table itself it is proper for us to pray, \"Lord, is it I?\"\nwhen there is a Judas in the company; and after the most intimate\nfellowship, Christ exclaimed, \"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?\" Let\nno enjoyment of ordinances, let no high and rapt fellowship which we may\nhave known, exempt us from the great duty of proving ourselves whether\nwe be in the faith. Examine yourselves then in this matter, and rest not\nsatisfied until you can say, \"There is no 'if' about it; I _have tasted_\nthat the Lord is gracious.\"\n\n\n_Heaven an Inheritance._\n\n\"The _inheritance of the saints_.\" So then, heaven, with all its\nglories, is an _inheritance_. Now, an inheritance is not a thing which\nis bought with money, earned by labor, or won by conquest. If any man\nhath an inheritance, in the proper sense of that term, it came to him by\nbirth. And thus it is with heaven. The man who shall receive this\nglorious heritage, will not obtain it by the works of the law, nor by\nthe efforts of the flesh; it will be given to him as a matter of most\ngracious right, because he has been \"begotten again unto a lively hope,\nby the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;\" and has thus become\nan heir of heaven by blood and birth. They who come unto glory are sons;\nfor is it not written, \"The Captain of our salvation bringeth many sons\nunto glory?\" They come not there as servants; no servant has any right\nto the inheritance of his master. Be he never so faithful, yet is he not\nhis master's heir. But because ye are sons--sons by the Spirit's\nregeneration--sons by the Father's adoption--because by supernatural\nenergy ye have been born again, ye become inheritors of eternal life,\nand ye enter into the many mansions of our Father's house above. Let us\nalways understand, then, when we think of heaven, that it is a place\nwhich is to be ours, and a state which we are to enjoy as the result of\n_birth_--not as the result of work. \"Except a man be born again, he\ncannot see the kingdom of God.\" That kingdom being an \"inheritance,\"\nuntil ye have the new birth ye can have no claim to enter it.\n\n\n_The Sleep of Death._\n\n\"The sleep of death\"--what is this sleep? We know that the surface\nidea connected with sleep is that of _resting_. The eyes of the sleeper\nache no more with the glare of light or with the rush of tears; his ears\nare teased no more with the noise of strife or the murmur of suffering;\nhis hand is no more weakened by long protracted effort and painful\nweariness; his feet are no more blistered with journeyings to and fro\nalong a rugged road; there is ease for aching heads, and overtaxed\nnerves, and heavy hearts, in the sweet repose of sleep. On yonder couch,\nhowever hard, the laborer shakes off his toil, the merchant his care,\nthe thinker his difficulties, and the sufferer his pains. Sleep makes\neach night a Sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts to the door of the soul,\nand bids all intruders tarry for a while. So is it with the body while\nit sleeps in the tomb. The weary are at rest: the servant is as much at\nease as his lord. No more the worker leans on his spade, no more the\nthinker props his pensive head. The wheel stands still; the shuttle is\nnot in motion; the hand which turned the one and the fingers which threw\nthe other are quiet also. The grave shuts out all disturbance, labor, or\neffort. The toilworn believer quietly sleeps, as does the child weary\nwith its play, when it shuts its eyes and slumbers on its mother's\nbreast. O! happy they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors,\nand their works do follow them. We would not shun toil, for though it be\nin itself a curse, it is, when sanctified, a blessing; yet toil for\ntoil's sake we would not choose: and when _God's_ work is done, we are\ntoo glad to think that _our_ work is done too. The mighty Husbandman,\nwhen we have fulfilled our day, shall bid His servants rest upon the\nbest of beds, for the clods of the valley shall be sweet to them. Their\nrepose shall never be broken until He shall rouse them up to give them\ntheir full reward. Guarded by angel-watchers, curtained by eternal\nmysteries, resting on the lap of mother earth, ye shall sleep on, ye\nheritors of glory, till the fulness of time shall bring you the fulness\nof redemption.\n\n\n_Foretastes of Heaven._\n\nIs it possible for us to know anything whatever of our heavenly home?\nIs there power in human intellect to fly into the land of the hereafter,\nwhere God's people rest eternally? Our inquiry is met at the outset by\nwhat seems a positive denial: \"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither\nhave entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared\nfor them that love Him.\" If we paused here, we might give up all idea of\nbeholding from hence that \"goodly land and Lebanon;\" but we do not\npause, for, like the apostle, we go on with the text, and we add, \"But\nGod hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.\" It _is_ possible to look\nwithin the veil; God's Spirit _can_ turn it aside for a moment, and bid\nus take a glimpse, though it be a distant one, at that unutterable\nglory. There are \"Pisgahs\" even now on the earth, from the top of which\nthe celestial Canaan can be beheld; there are hallowed hours in which\nthe mists and clouds are swept away, and the sun shineth in his\nstrength, and our eye, being freed from its natural dimness, beholds\nsomething of that land which is very far off, and sees a little of the\njoy and blessedness which is reserved for the people of God hereafter.\nBy the Holy Spirit there is given to them, even now, in seasons of\nblissful communion, such experiences, joys, and feelings, as seem to\nbring heaven down to them, and make them able to realize, in some faint\nmeasure, what heaven itself must be.\n\n\n_The Work of the Spirit._\n\nLet us ever remember that Christ on the cross is of no value to us\napart from the Holy Spirit in us. In vain that blood is flowing, unless\nthe finger of the Spirit applies the blood to our conscience; in vain is\nthat garment of righteousness wrought out, unless the Holy Spirit wraps\nit around us, and arrays us in its costly folds. The river of the water\nof life cannot quench our thirst, till the Spirit presents the goblet\nand lifts it to our lips. All the things which are in the paradise of\nGod could never be blissful to us, so long as we are dead souls--and\ndead we are, until that heavenly wind comes and breathes upon us, that\nwe may live. We do not hesitate to say, that we owe as much to God the\nHoly Ghost, as we do to God the Son. Indeed, it were a high sin and\nmisdemeanor to attempt to put one person of the divine Trinity before\nanother. Thou, O Father, art the source of all grace, all love and mercy\ntowards us. Thou, O Son, art the channel of Thy Father's mercy, and\nwithout Thee Thy Father's love could never flow to us. And Thou, O\nSpirit, art He who enables us to receive that divine virtue which flows\nfrom the fountain-head, the Father, through Christ the channel, and\nwhich, by Thy means, enters into our heart, and there abides, and brings\nforth its glorious fruit. Magnify, then, the Spirit. There never yet was\na heavenly thought, a hallowed deed, or a consecrated act, acceptable to\nGod by Jesus Christ, which was not worked in us by the Holy Spirit.\n\n\n_Peace._\n\nThe believer enjoys, in favored seasons, such an intimacy with the Lord\nJesus, as fills his heart with an overflowing peace. O! there are sweet\nwords which Jesus whispers in the ears of His people, and there are\nlove-visits which He pays to them, which a man would not believe, even\nthough it should be told unto him. He who would comprehend it, must\nexperience in his own heart what it is to have fellowship with the\nFather, and with His Son Jesus Christ. There is such a thing as Christ\nmanifesting Himself to us as He does not unto the world. All doubting\nthoughts are banished then, and we can say, \"I am my Beloved's, and my\nBeloved is mine.\" This is the one all-absorbing feeling. And what wonder\nis it that the believer has such deep peace, when Christ thus dwells in\nthe heart, and reigns there without a rival? It were a miracle of\nmiracles, if we did _not_ have peace. But how is it that our peace is\nnot more continuous? The only explanation of our frequent loss of peace\nis, that our communion is broken, and our fellowship is marred; else\nwould our peace be like a river, and our righteousness like the waves of\nthe sea. Live near the cross, and your peace shall be continual.\n\n\n_Earth's Seasons._\n\nThe things which are seen are types of the things which are not seen.\nThe works of creation are pictures to the children of God of the secret\nmysteries of grace. God's truths are the apples of gold, and the visible\ncreatures are the baskets of silver. The very seasons of the year find\ntheir parallel in the little world of man within. We have our\nwinter--dreary, howling winter--when the north wind of the law rusheth\nforth against us; when every hope is nipped; when all the seeds of joy\nlie buried beneath the dark clods of despair; when our soul is fast\nfettered like a river bound with ice, without waves of joy, or flowings\nof thanksgiving. Thanks be unto God, the soft south wind breathes upon\nour soul, and at once the waters of desire are set free, the spring of\nlove cometh on, flowers of hope appear in our hearts, the trees of faith\nput forth their young shoots, the time of the singing-birds cometh in\nour hearts, and we have joy and peace in believing through the Lord\nJesus Christ. That happy springtide is followed in the believer by a\nrich summer, when his graces, like fragrant flowers, are in full bloom,\nloading the air with perfume; and fruits of the Spirit, like citrons and\npomegranates, swell into their full proportion in the genial warmth of\nthe Sun of Righteousness. Then cometh the believer's autumn, when his\nfruits grow ripe, and his fields are ready for the harvest; the time has\ncome when his Lord shall gather together his \"pleasant fruits,\" and\nstore them in heaven; the feast of ingathering is at hand--the time when\nthe year shall begin anew, an unchanging year, like the years of the\nright hand of the Most High.\n\n\n_Love Undeserved._\n\nThere is nothing which makes one love Christ, so much as a sense of His\nlove balanced with a sense of our unworthiness of it. It is sweet to\nthink that Christ loves us; but, O, to remember that we are black as the\n\"tents of Kedar,\" and yet he loves us! This is a thought which may well\nwean us from everything else beside.\n\n\n_The Infallible Commentary._\n\nThose who would best know God's Word, must study it in its own light.\n\n\n_A Place of Trust._\n\n_Take care that thou puttest all thy dear ones into God's hand_. Thou\nhast put thine own soul there, put their souls and bodies likewise into\nHis custody. Thou canst trust Him for temporals for thyself, trust thy\njewels with Him. Feel that they are not thine own, but that they are\nGod's loans to thee--loans which may be recalled at any moment--precious\ndenizens of heaven, not entailed upon thee, but of which thou art only a\ntenant at will. Your possessions are never so safe as when you are\nwilling to resign them, and you are never so rich as when you put all\nyou have into the hand of the Lord. You shall find it greatly mitigate\nthe sorrow of bereavements, if before bereavement you shall have learned\nto surrender every day all the things which are dearest to you, into the\nkeeping of your gracious God.\n\n\n\"_Consider Him._\"\n\nO believer, who art weary and disheartened because of the roughness of\nthe way, look at the Master's footsteps, and see how _He_ suffered. You\nare tried and troubled, and you ask for consolation. What better can be\nafforded you than what is presented to you in the fact that Jesus Christ\nis one with you in your nature--that He has suffered all that you are\nnow suffering--that your pathway has been aforetime trodden by His\nsacred foot--that the cup of which you drink is a cup which He has\ndrained to the very bottom--that the river through which you pass is one\nthrough which He swam, and every wave and billow which rolls over your\nhead did in old time roll over Him. Come! are you ashamed and unwilling\nto suffer what your Master suffered? Shall the disciple be above his\nMaster, and the servant above his Lord? Shall he die upon a cross, and\nwill not you bear the cross? Must He be crowned with thorns, and shall\nyou be crowned with laurel? Is He to be pierced in hands and feet, and\nare His followers to feel no pain? O, cast away the fond delusion. Look\nto Him who \"endured the cross, despising the shame,\" and be ready to\nendure and to suffer even as He did. You have His example to guide you,\nand His sympathy to cheer you.\n\n\n_The Joy of Pardon._\n\nO what a joyous thing it is to have a ray of heavenly sunlight in the\nsoul, and to hear the very voice of God as He walks in the garden of our\nsouls in the cool of the day, saying to us, \"Son, thy sins which are\nmany, are all forgiven thee.\" The whisper of that heavenly voice may\nraise our heart to bliss almost divine. It confers a joy not to be\nequalled by all the pleasures, the riches, and the enjoyments of this\nworld can afford. To have the divine kiss of acceptance, to be robed in\nthe best robe, to wear the ring on the hand and the shoes on the feet,\nto hear the heavenly music and dancing with which returning prodigals\nare welcomed to their Father's house--this, indeed, is bliss and\nblessedness worth worlds to realize.\n\n\n_Inexhaustible Promises._\n\nGod's promises are not exhausted when they are fulfilled, for when once\nperformed, they stand just as good as they did before, and we may wait a\nsecond accomplishment of them. Man's promises, even at the best, are\nlike a cistern which holds but a temporary supply; but God's promises\nare as a fountain, never emptied, ever overflowing, so you may draw from\nthem the whole measure of that which they apparently contain, and they\nshall be still as full as ever.\n\n\n_The Fulness of Christ._\n\nAt our very best we are strangers to much of the incomparable sweetness\nof Christ. We shall never exhaust His goodness by our praise, for He is\never so fresh, and has so much of the dew of His youth, that every day\nhe has a new song to sing. We shall find Him a new Christ every day of\nour lives, and yet He is ever the same; His surpassing excellence and\nunexhausted fulness thus constantly renew our love. O Jesus! none can\nguess how great is the least of Thine attributes, or how rich the\npoorest of Thy gifts.\n\n\n_True Blessing._\n\nChrist, when He blesses, blesses not in word only, but in deed. The\nlips of truth cannot promise more than the hands of love will surely\ngive.\n\n\n_Faith and Feeling._\n\nWe are saved by faith, and not by feeling; yet there is a relation\nbetween holy faith and hallowed feeling like that between the root and\nthe flower. Faith is permanent as the root which is ever embedded in the\nsoil; feeling is casual, and has its seasons--the bulb does not always\nshoot up the green stem, far less is it always crowned with its many\nflowers. Faith is the tree, the essential tree: our feelings are like\nthe appearance of that tree during the different seasons of the year.\nSometimes our soul is full of bloom and blossom, and the bees hum\npleasantly, and gather honey within our hearts. It is then that our\nfeelings bear witness to the life of our faith, just as the buds of\nspring bear witness to the life of the tree. Anon, our feelings gather\nstill greater vigor, and after we come to the summer of our delights,\nagain perhaps, we begin to wither into the sear and yellow leaf of\nautumn; nay, sometimes the winter of our despondency and despair will\nstrip away every leaf from the tree, and our poor faith stands like a\nblasted stem without a sign of verdure. And yet, so long as the tree of\nfaith is there, we are saved. Whether faith blossom or not, whether it\nbring forth joyous fruit in our experience or not, so long as it be\nthere in all its permanence, we are saved. Yet should we have the\ngravest reason to distrust the life of our faith, if it did not\nsometimes blossom with joy, and often bring forth fruit unto holiness.\n\n\n_Near Home._\n\nThe best moment of a Christian's life is his last one, because it is\nthe one which is nearest heaven; and then it is that he begins to strike\nthe key-note of the song which he shall sing to all eternity. O! what a\nsong will that be!\n\n\n_Beauty in Christ._\n\nThere is a thing called _beauty_, which wins upon the hearts of men.\nMighty men, not a few, have bowed before it, and paid it homage; but if\nyou want true beauty, look into the face of Jesus, for there you have\nthe concentration of all loveliness. There is no beauty anywhere but in\nChrist. O sun, thou art not fair, when once compared with Him. O, fair\nworld, and grand creation of a glorious God, thou art but a dim and\ndusky blot compared with the splendors of His face. When we shall see\nChrist, we shall be compelled to say that we never knew what loveliness\nwas before. When the clouds are swept away, when the curtains which hide\nHim from our view are drawn aside, we shall find that not anything we\nhave seen or heard of, grand or graceful, in the wide universe, will\nbear a moment's comparison with Him, who was once seen as a root out of\na dry ground, but shall presently fill heaven and earth with lustre, and\ngladden all hearts with His glory.\n\n\n_The Savior's Legacy._\n\n\"Peace I leave with you.\" Our Savior here means peace _with God_, and\npeace _with our own conscience_. Peace with God--for He \"hath reconciled\nus to himself by Jesus Christ,\" and now there is \"peace on earth,\" and\n\"good will towards men.\" Christ has put our sins away, and therefore\nthere is a virtual substantial peace established between God and our\nsouls. This, however, might exist without our clearly understanding and\nrejoicing in it. Christ has, therefore, given this further\nwitness--peace in the conscience. Peace with God is the treaty: peace\nwith conscience is the publication of it. Peace with God is the\nfountain, and peace with conscience is the crystal stream which issues\nfrom it. There is a peace decreed in the court of divine justice in\nheaven; and then there follows as a necessary consequence, as soon as\nthe news is known, a peace in the minor court of human judgment, wherein\nconscience sits upon the throne to judge us according to our works. The\nlegacy, then, of Christ is a twofold peace; a _peace_ of friendship, of\nagreement, of love, of everlasting union between the elect and God; and\na _peace_ of sweet enjoyment, of quiet rest to the understanding and the\nconscience. When there are no winds above, there will be no tempests\nbelow: when heaven is serene, earth is quiet. Conscience reflects the\ncomplacency of God. \"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace\nwith God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\n\n\n_Needless Poverty._\n\nMany a believer lives in the cottage of doubt when he might live in the\nmansion of faith.\n\n\n_The Sin of Unbelief._\n\nTo doubt the lovingkindness of God, is thought by some to be a very\nsmall sin; in fact, some have even exalted the doubts and fears of God's\npeople into fruits and graces, and evidences of great advancement in\nexperience. But to doubt the kindness, the faithfulness, and the love of\nGod, is a very heinous offence. That can be no light sin which makes God\na liar; and yet unbelief does in effect cast foul and slanderous\nsuspicion upon the veracity of the Holy One of Israel. That can be no\nsmall offence which charges the Creator of heaven and earth with\nperjury; and yet, if I mistrust His oath, and will not believe His\npromise, sealed with the blood of His own Son, I count the oath of God\nto be unworthy of my trust; and so I do, in very deed, accuse the King\nof Heaven as false to His covenant and oath. Besides, unbelief of God is\nthe fountain of innumerable sins. As the black cloud is the source of\nmany rain-drops, so dark unbelief is the parent of many crimes. It is a\nsin which should be condemned by every believer, should be struggled\nagainst, should if possible be subdued, and certainly should be the\nobject of our deep repentance and abhorrence.\n\n\n_The One Family._\n\nThe universe of God is one: heaven and earth are not so separate as\nunbelief has dreamed. As the Lord hath but one family, written in one\nregister, redeemed with one blood, quickened by one Spirit, so this\nwhole household abides in one habitation evermore. We who are in the\nbody abide in the lower room, which is sometimes dark and cold, but\nbears sufficient marks that it is a room in God's house; for to the eye\nof our faith, it is often lit up with heavenly lustre, and we, even we,\nwhile we are yet here, are by blessed earnests made partakers of the\ninheritance of the saints in light. It is the same house, I say, but\nours is the lower room, while our glorified brethren are up there in the\nupper story, where the sunlight streams in everlastingly, where no\nchilling winds or poisonous breath can ever reach. And, to a great\nextent, there is a likeness between the lower room and the upper room.\nAs on earth we prepare for heaven, so the state of the saints on earth\nis heaven foreshadowed. In many respects the condition of the child of\nGod on earth is a type of his condition in heaven; and what the\ncharacter of the saints is above, that should be the character of the\nsaints below. We may very safely take for our example those glorified\nspirits. We need not be afraid that we shall be led astray by imitating\nthem, by learning their occupations, or by attempting to share their\njoys. Surely the things in heaven are patterns of the things on earth,\nand as _they_ are before the throne so ought we to be. Nay; so we shall\nbe in proportion as we live up to our privileges, and receive the\nlikeness and image of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\n_The Spirit of Praise._\n\n\"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy\nname.\" Wake up my _memory_, and find matter for the song. Tell what God\nhas done for me in days gone by. Fly back, ye thoughts, to my childhood,\nsing of cradle-mercies. Review my youth and its early favors. Sing of\nlong-suffering grace which followed my wanderings, and bore with my\nrebellions. Review before my eyes that gladsome hour when first I knew\nthe Lord, and tell over again the matchless story of His mercy. Awake up\nmy _judgment_, and give measure to the music. Come forth my\n_understanding_, and weigh His lovingkindness in the balance. See if\nthou canst count the small dust of His mercies. See if thou canst\nestimate the unsearchable riches which God hath given thee in His\nunspeakable gift of Christ Jesus. Recount His eternal love to thee.\nReckon up the treasures of that everlasting covenant which He made on\nthy behalf, and which was \"ordered in all things and sure.\" Sing aloud\nof that divine wisdom which contrived, of that love which planned, and\nof that grace which carried out the scheme of thy redemption. \"Bless the\nLord, O my soul!\" For doth not all nature around me praise Him? If _I_\nwere silent I should be an exception to the universe. Doth not the\nthunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of\nArmies? Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their\nsummits wave in adoration? Does not the lightning write His name in\nletters of fire upon the midnight darkness? Hath not the whole earth a\nvoice, and shall I, can I, be silent? \"Bless the Lord, O my soul.\"\n\n\n_Love to Christ._\n\nHave you a friend at court--at heaven's court? Is the Lord Jesus your\nfriend? Can you say that you love Him, and has He ever revealed himself\nin the way of love to you? Oh! to be able to say, \"Christ is my friend,\"\nis one of the sweetest things in the world. The love of Christ casts not\nout the love of relatives, but it sanctifies our creature love, and\nmakes it sweeter far. Earthly love is sweet, but it must pass away; and\nwhat will you do if you have no wealth but the wealth which fadeth, and\nno love but the love which dies, when death shall come? Oh, to have the\nlove of Christ! You can take that across the river of death with you;\nyou can wear it as your jewel in heaven, and set it as a seal upon your\nhand; for His love is \"strong as death, and mightier than the grave.\"\n\n\n_The First Lesson._\n\nThe doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own\nignorance. He cannot learn aright who has not first been taught that he\nknows nothing. It is a good thing for a man to feel that he is only\nbeginning to learn, and to be willing to submit his heart to the\nteachings of God's Spirit, that he may be guided in everything by Him.\nThe prayer of the quickened soul is, \"Teach thou me.\" We become as\nlittle children when God begins to deal with us.\n\n\n_Danger of Prosperity._\n\nHigh places, and God's praise, do seldom agree: a full cup is not\neasily carried without spilling: he that stands on a pinnacle needs a\nclear head and much grace.\n\n\n_Idleness._\n\nSome temptations come to the industrious, but _all_ temptations attack\nthe idle. Idle Christians are not tempted of the devil so much as they\ndo tempt the devil to tempt them. Idleness sets the door of the heart\najar, and asks Satan to come in; but if we are occupied from morning\ntill night, should Satan get in, he must break through the door. Under\nsovereign grace, and next to faith, there is no better shield against\ntemptation than obedience to the precept, that ye be \"Not slothful in\nbusiness; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.\"\n\n\n_Grace._\n\nGrace is always grace, but it never seems so gracious as when we see it\nbrought to our unworthy selves.\n\n\n_Obtaining Promises._\n\nGod sometimes gives His people fresh promises \"by faith,\" just before\na trial is about to come upon them. It was so with Elijah. God said to\nhim, \"Go to the brook Cherith; behold, I have commanded the ravens to\nfeed thee there.\" This was at the beginning of the famine. There he\nabode, and God fulfilled the promise, for by faith Elijah had obtained\nit. Acting upon faith, still dependent upon God, he abides at Cherith,\nand as the result of this faith, God gives him a fresh promise, \"Arise,\nget thee to Zarephath--I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain\nthee.\" The faith which received the first promise, obtained the honor of\na second. So with us. If we have had a little promise, and up till now\nhave realized it; if we have lived upon it and made it the stay and\nsupport of our souls, surely God will give us another and a greater one.\nAnd so, from promise to promise speeding our way, we shall find the\npromises to be rounds of the ladder which Jacob saw, the top whereof\nshall reach to heaven. Doubt and be distrustful about the promise which\nyou have, and you cannot expect God to increase His revelation to your\nsoul. Be afraid and unbelieving about that promise which was laid to\nyour heart yesterday, and you shall not have a new one to-morrow. But\nact in simple faith upon what God has already given you, and you shall\ngo from strength to strength, receiving grace upon grace, and promise\nupon promise. The Spirit of God shall whisper into your soul some\npromise which shall come home with as much power as though an angel from\nheaven had spoken it to you, and you shall \"through faith\" obtain\npromises which before were beyond your reach.\n\n\n_Sympathy._\n\nSympathy is especially a _Christian's_ duty. Consider what the\nChristian is, and you will say that if every other man were selfish,\n_he_ should be disinterested; if there were nowhere else a heart which\nhad sympathy for the needy, there should be one found in every Christian\nbreast. The Christian is a \"king:\" it becometh not a king to be meanly\ncaring for himself. Was Alexander ever more royal than when, while his\ntroops were suffering from thirst, he put aside a bowl full of the\nprecious liquid, which a soldier offered him, and said it was not\nfitting for a king to drink while his subjects were thirsty; he had\nrather share their sorrow with them? O ye, whom God has made kings and\nprinces, reign royally over your own selfishness, and act with the\nhonorable liberality which becomes the seed royal of the universe. You\nare sent into the world to be saviours of others; but how shall you be\nso if you care only for yourselves? It is yours to be lights; and doth\nnot a light consume itself while it scatters its rays into the thick\ndarkness? Is it not your office and privilege to have it said of you, as\nof your Master--\"He saved others, himself he cannot save?\"\n\n\n\"_Endure Hardness._\"\n\nSoldier of Christ, thou wilt have to do hard battle. There is no bed of\ndown for thee; there is no riding to heaven in a chariot: the rough way\nmust be trodden; mountains must be climbed; rivers must be forded;\ndragons must be fought; giants must be slain; difficulties must be\novercome; and great trials must be borne. It is not a smooth road to\nheaven; those who have gone but a very few paces therein, have found it\nto be rough and rugged. Yet it is pleasant; it is the most delightful\njourney in all the world; not because it is easy in itself, it is only\npleasant because of the company; because of the sweet promises on which\nwe lean; because of our Beloved who walks with us through all the rough\nand thorny brakes of this vast wilderness. Christian soldiers, expect\nconflict: \"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to\ntry you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.\" As truly as\nthou art a child of God, thy Saviour hath left thee for His legacy--\"In\nthe world ye shall have tribulation.\" Yet remember that this\n\"tribulation\" is the way to \"_enter the kingdom_;\" therefore \"endure\nhardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\n_Usefulness._\n\nChrist, my Master, _goes about doing good_, and if you would walk with\nHim, you must go about upon the same mission.\n\n\n_The Church and the World._\n\nChristian men ought so to live that it were idle to speak of a\ncomparison between them and the men of the world. It should not be a\ncomparison, but a contrast. No scale of degrees should be possible: the\nbeliever should be a direct and manifest contradiction to the\nunregenerate. The life of a saint should be altogether above and out of\nthe same list as the life of a sinner. We should compel our critics not\nto confess that moralists are good, and Christians a little better; but\nwhile the world is darkness, we should manifestly be light; and while\nthe world lieth in the Wicked One, we should most evidently be of God,\nand overcome the temptations of that Wicked One. Wide as the poles\nasunder, are life and death, light and darkness, purity and sin. There\nshould be as much difference between the worldling and the Christian, as\nbetween hell and heaven, between destruction and eternal life. As we\nhope at last that there shall be a great gulf separating us from the\ndoom of the impenitent, there should be here a deep and wide gulf\nbetween us and the ungodly. The purity of our character should be such,\nthat men must take knowledge of us that we are of another and superior\nrace. If we were what we profess to be, there would be no difficulty in\ndetecting the Christian from the worldling. But, alas! the Church is so\nmuch adulterated, that we have to abate our glorying, and cannot exalt\nour character as we would. O, for the time when \"our conversation shall\nbe in heaven,\" and the ignoble life of the worldly man shall be rebuked\nby our Christ-like character! God grant us more and more to be clearly a\nchosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people;\nthat we may show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of\ndarkness into his marvellous light.\n\n\n_The Fight of Faith._\n\nLike the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his\ndestiny to be assaulted; it is his duty to attack. Part of his life will\nbe occupied with defensive warfare. He will have to defend earnestly the\nfaith once delivered to the saints; he will have to resist the devil; he\nwill have to stand against all his wiles; and having done all, still to\nstand. He will, however, be but a sorry Christian if he acteth only on\nthe defensive; he must be one who goes against his foes. He must be able\nto say with David, \"I come against thee in the name of the Lord of\nhosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied.\" He must\nwrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.\nHe must have weapons for his warfare--not carnal--but \"mighty through\nGod to the pulling down of strongholds.\" He must not be content to live\nin the stronghold well-guarded, but he must go forth to attack the\ncastles of the enemy, and to drive the Canaanite out of the land. But\nthere are many ways in which the Christian may, to a great degree,\nforget his martial character. And, alas! there are not a few who, if\nthey be Christians at all, certainly know but very little of that daily\nwarfare to which the Captain of our salvation calleth His disciples.\nThey have a soft religion; a religion which shuns opposition; a\nreed-like religion, which bows before every blast, unlike that cedar of\ngodliness which standeth aloft in the midst of the storm, and claps its\nboughs in the hurricane for very joy of triumph, though the earth be all\nin arms abroad. Such men lack the faith which shares the glory. Though\nsaved, yet their names shall not be found written among the mighty men\nwho, for our Great Commander's sake, are willing to suffer the loss of\nall things, and to go forth without the camp bearing His reproach. O,\nlet us never be contented with such inglorious ease, but earnestly and\nmanfully fight the Lord's battles. Is it a little thing for a follower\nof Christ to be losing the immortal honor of serving the Lord? What will\nnot men do to win fame? and shall we, when it lies at our doors, turn\nidly aside and cast our glory to the ground? Let us be up and doing, for\nit is no light thing to be losing the honor of a faithful servant of\nChrist.\n\n\n_Life's Great Object._\n\nAs Christians, we ought ever to be distinguished from the world _in\nthe great object of our life_. As for worldly men, some of them are\nseeking wealth, others of them fame; some seek after comfort, others\nafter pleasure. Subordinately you may seek after any of these, but your\nmain and principal motive as a Christian should always be to live for\nChrist. To live for glory? Yes, but for His glory. To live for comfort?\nYes, but be all your consolation in Him. To live for pleasure? Yes, but\nwhen you are merry, sing psalms, and make melody in your hearts to the\nLord. To live for wealth? Yes, but to be rich in faith. You may lay up\ntreasure, but lay it up in heaven, \"where neither moth nor rust doth\ncorrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.\" You can make\nthe most common calling become really sacred by dedicating your daily\nlife wholly to the service of Jesus, taking as your motto, \"_For me to\nlive is Christ_.\" There is such a thing as living thus a consecrated\nlife; and if any deny its possibility let them stand self-convicted,\nbecause they obey not that precept: \"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,\nor whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.\"\n\n\n_Love's Circumference._\n\nThe Christian's sympathy should ever be of the widest character,\nbecause he serves a God of infinite love. When the precious stone of\nlove is thrown by grace into the crystal pool of a renewed heart, it\nstirs the transparent life-floods into ever-widening circles of\nsympathy: the first ring has no very wide circumference--we love our\nhousehold; for he who careth not for his own household is worse than a\nheathen man. But mark the next concentric ring--we love the household of\nfaith: \"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we\nlove the brethren.\" Look once more, for the ever-widening ring has\nreached the very limit of the lake, and included all in its area, for\n\"supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks are to be\nmade for all men.\" A follower of Jesus means a friend of man. A\nChristian is a philanthropist by profession, and generous by force of\ngrace; wide as the reign of sorrow is the stretch of his love, and where\nhe cannot help he pities still.\n\n\n_The Way to Heaven._\n\nThere is no way to heaven, whatever thy hopes may be, but through\nChrist: there is no way to the gates of pearl but through the bleeding\nside of Jesus. These are the gates of paradise--these bleeding wounds.\nIf thou wouldst find thy way to God's bright throne, find first thy way\nto Jesus' cross; if thou wouldst know the way to happiness, tread in\nthat path of misery which Jesus trod. What! attempt another way? Art\nthou mad enough to think that thou canst rend the posts, and bars, and\ngates of heaven, from their perpetual places, and force thy way by thy\ncreated strength? Or dost thou think to purchase with thy riches and thy\ngold a foothold in paradise? Fool! what is thy gold, where streets are\nmade of it, and where the gates are solid pearl?--where the foundations\nare of jasper, and the walls whereof are precious gems? And dost thou\nthink to get there by thy merits? Ah! by pride fell the angels, and by\nthy pride thou fallest. Heaven is not for such as thou art. But dost\nthou say, \"I will leave my wealth, after I have gone, to charities; I\nwill build a hospital, or feed the poor?\" Then let _men_ pay thee: thou\nhast wrought for them, let them pay the debt; let them rear the stony\npillar, and set thine effigy upon the top thereof. If thou hast wrought\nfor thy country, let thy country pay thee what they owe thee. But\n_God_--what does He owe to thee? Thou hast forgotten Him; thou hast\ndespised His Son; thou hast rejected His gospel. Be thou warrior,\nstatesman, patriot--let men pay thee; God owes thee nothing; and all\nthou canst do, if thou comest not in the _right way through Jesus\nChrist_, who lived and died, and is alive forevermore, and hath the keys\nof heaven at his girdle, will not bribe Him to admit thee to His palace.\n\n\n_Religion Exemplified._\n\nI would not give much for your religion unless it can be _seen_. Lamps\ndo not talk, but they do shine: a lighthouse sounds no drum, it beats no\ngong; and yet, far over the waters its friendly spark is visible to the\nmariner. So let your actions shine out your religion. Let the main\nsermon of your life be illustrated by all your conduct, and it shall not\nfail to be illustrious.\n\n\n_The Right Estimate._\n\nThe higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.\n\n\n\"_Vessels of Mercy._\"\n\nGod's chosen ones are spoken of as \"vessels of mercy.\" Now we know that\na vessel is _nothing but a receiver_. A \"vessel\" is not a fountain, but\nonly a container and holder of that which is poured out into it. Such\nare the redeemed of God; they are not fountains by nature, out of whom\nthere springeth up anything which is good; they are simply receivers. At\none time they are full of themselves, but grace empties them, and then\nas empty vessels they are set in the way of God's goodness; God fills\nthem to the brim with His lovingkindness, and so they are proved to be\nthe vessels of His mercy. They may as \"vessels\" afterwards give out to\nothers, but they can only give out what God has put in them; they may\nwork out their own salvation with fear and trembling, but they cannot\nwork it out unless God worketh in them both to will and to do of His\ngood pleasure. They may run over with gratitude, but it is only because\nGod has filled them with grace; they may stream forth with holiness, but\nit is only because the Lord keeps the supply overflowing. They are\nreceivers, and receivers only.\n\n\n_Christian Diligence._\n\nWe find in the Scripture that most of the great appearances which were\nmade to eminent saints were made when they were busy. Moses kept his\nfather's flock when he saw the burning bush; Joshua is going round about\nthe city of Jericho when he meets the angel of the Lord; Jacob is in\nprayer, and the angel of God appears to him; Gideon is threshing, and\nElisha is ploughing, when the Lord calls them; Matthew is at the receipt\nof custom, when he is bidden to follow Jesus; and James and John are\nfishing. The Almighty Lover of the souls of men is not wont to manifest\nHimself to idle persons. He who is slothful and inactive, cannot expect\nto have the sweet company of his Saviour.\n\n\n\"_Comfort ye My People._\"\n\nGod never gives His children a duty to do without giving them _the\nmeans to do it_; and when He tells us to \"comfort\" His people, we may be\ncertain that there are means whereby they may be comforted. Child of\nGod! art thou at a loss for a topic to comfort the aching heart? Tell of\nthe ancient things of former days; whisper in the mourner's ear electing\ngrace, and redeeming mercy, and Divine love. When thou findest a\ntroubled one, tell him of the covenant, in all things ordered well; tell\nhim what the Lord hath done in former days, how He cut Rahab, and\nwounded the dragon; tell him the wondrous story of God's dealings with\nHis people; tell him that God, who divided the Red Sea, can make a\nhighway for His people through the deep waters of affliction--that He\nwho appeared in the burning bush, which was not consumed, will support\nhim in the furnace of tribulation; tell him of the marvellous things\nwhich God has wrought for His chosen people: surely there is enough\nthere to comfort him; tell him that God watcheth the furnace as the\ngoldsmith the refining-pot. If that does not suffice, tell him of his\npresent mercies; tell him that he has much left, though much is gone;\ntell him there is \"now no condemnation to them which are in Christ\nJesus;\" tell him that now he is accepted in the Beloved; tell him that\nhe is now adopted, and that his standing is safe; tell him that Jesus is\nabove, pleading his cause; tell him that though earth's pillars shake,\nGod is a refuge for us; tell the mourner that the everlasting God\nfaileth not, neither is weary. But if this is not enough, tell him of\nthe future; whisper to him that there is a heaven with pearly gates, and\ngolden streets; tell him that\n\n    \"A few more rolling suns at most,\n    Will land him on fair Canaan's coast,\"\n\nand therefore he may well bear his sorrows; tell him that Christ is\ncoming, and that His sign is in the heavens, His advent is near, He will\nsoon appear to judge the earth with equity, and His people in\nrighteousness. And if that suffice not, tell him all about that Saviour\nwho lived and died; take him to Calvary; picture to him the bleeding\nhands, and side, and feet; tell him of the thorn-crowned King of grief;\ntell him of the mighty Monarch of woe and blood, who wore the scarlet of\nmockery which was yet the purple of the empire of grief; tell him that\nHe Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Thus, by God's\nblessing, thou shalt accomplish thy mission, and \"comfort\" one of His\npeople. \"Comfort ye My people, saith your God.\"\n\n\n_Self._\n\nFaith will never be weak if _self_ be weak, but when self is strong,\nfaith cannot be strong; for \"self\" is very much like what the gardener\ncalls the \"sucker,\" at the bottom of the tree, which never bears fruit,\nbut only draws away the nourishment from the tree itself. Now, self is\nthat sucker which diverts the nourishment from faith, and you must cut\nit up, or else your faith will always be \"little faith,\" and you will\nhave difficulty in maintaining any comfort in your soul.\n\n\n_Strength through Joy._\n\nIt is when the mind is happy that it can be laborious. \"The joy of the\nLord is your strength.\"\n\n\n_The Refiner's Fire._\n\nThere is not an ingot of silver in heaven's treasury, which has not been\nin the furnace on earth, and been purified seven times; there is not a\ngem which the Divine Jeweller has not exposed to every sort of test;\nthere is not an atom of gold in the Redeemer's crown which has not been\nmolten among the hottest coals, so as to rid it of its alloy. It is\nuniversal to every child of God. If you are a servant of the Lord, you\nmust be tried \"as gold is tried.\"\n\n\n_Heart-Learning._\n\nWe can learn nothing of the gospel except by feeling its truths. There\nare some sciences that may be learned by the head, but the science of\nChrist crucified can only be learned by the heart.\n\n\n_The Hope of Heaven._\n\nBelievers are not only to be with Christ, and to behold His glory, but\nthey are to be like Christ, and to be glorified with Him. Is He\nglorious? So shall they be. Is He enthroned? So shall they be. Does He\nwear a crown? So shall they. Is He a priest? So shall they be kings to\nshare His dominion, and priests to offer acceptable sacrifices forever.\nMark, that in all Christ has, believers participate. They are to reign\nwith Christ, and have a portion of His joy; to be honored with Him, to\nbe accepted in Him. This is heaven indeed! If you have this hope, I\nbeseech you hold it fast, live on it, rejoice in it.\n\n    \"A hope so much divine,\n      May trials well endure;\n    May purge your soul from sense and sin,\n      As Christ the Lord is pure.\"\n\nLive near your Master now, so shall your evidences be bright; and when\nyou come to cross the flood, you shall see Him face to face, and what\n_that is_ only they can tell who enjoy it every hour. But if you have\n_not_ this bright hope, how is it that you can live content? You are\ngoing through a dark world to a darker eternity. I beseech you stop and\npause. Consider for a moment whether it is worth while to lose heaven\nfor this poor earth. What! pawn eternal glories for the pitiful pence of\na few moments of the world's enjoyments? No, stop, I beseech you; weigh\nthe bargain ere you accept it. What shall it profit you to gain the\nwhole world and lose your soul? What wailing and gnashing of teeth shall\nthere be over the carelessness or misadventure by which men lose _such a\nheaven as this_?\n\n\n_Rejoice Always._\n\nWhenever a Christian man yields to a mournful, desponding spirit, under\nhis trials; when he does not seek grace from God to battle manfully and\ncheerfully with trouble; when he does not ask his heavenly Father to\ngive him strength and consolation whereby he may be enabled to rejoice\nin the Lord at _all_ times, he does dishonor to the high, and mighty,\nand noble principles of Christianity, which are fitted to bear a man up,\nand make him happy even in times of the deepest affliction. It is the\nboast of the gospel that it lifts the heart above trouble; it is one of\nthe glories of our religion that it makes us say, \"Although the fig-tree\nshall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine, the labor of the\nolive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, _yet will I rejoice\nin the Lord_, I will joy in the God of my salvation.\"\n\n\n_Religion a Present Concern._\n\nReligion must be a thing of the present, because the _present has such\nintimate connections with the future_. We are told in Scripture that\nthis life is a seed-time, and the future is the harvest, \"he that soweth\nto the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; he that soweth to the\nspirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.\" As the seed\ngenerates the plant, even so doth this present life generate the eternal\nfuture. Heaven and hell are, after all, but the developments of our\npresent character, for is it not written, \"he that is holy, let him be\nholy still; he that is unjust, let him be unjust still?\" Do we not know\nthat in the heart of every sin condemnation slumbers? Is it not a\nfearful truth that the germ of everlasting torment sleeps in every vile\nwish, every unholy thought, every unclean act, so that hell is but a\ngreat breaking out of slumbering lava, which had been so quiet, that\nwhile the mountain was covered with fair verdure, even to its summit,\ndeath comes and bids that lava rise; and down the steeps of manhood's\neternal existence, the fiery lava of eternal misery doth pour itself?\nYet it was there before, for sin is hell, and rebellion against God is\nthe prelude of misery. So is it with heaven; I know that heaven is a\nreward, not of debt but of grace; but still the Christian has that\nwithin him which forestalls for him a heaven. What did Christ say? \"I\n_give_ unto my sheep eternal life.\" He did not say, \"_I will give_,\" but\n\"_I do give_.\" As soon as they believe in Me, I give them eternal life.\n\"He that believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall\nnot come into condemnation.\" The Christian hath within him the seed-beds\nof a paradise; in due time the light which is sown for the righteous,\nand the gladness which is sown for the upright in heart, shall spring\nup, and they shall reap the harvest. Is it not plain, then, that\nreligion is a thing which we must have here? Is it not prominently\nrevealed that religion is important for the present? For if this life be\nthe seed-time of the future, how can I expect to reap in another world\nother harvests than I have been sowing here? How can I trust that I\nshall be saved then, unless I am saved now? How can I have hope that\nheaven shall be my eternal inheritance, unless the earnest be begun in\nmy own soul on earth?\n\n\n_Trouble Lightened_.\n\nI am persuaded that if we looked more to Jesus, our troubles would not\nappear either so great or so grievous. In the darkest night of trial,\nlooking to Christ will clear the ebon sky. When the darkness seems\nthick, like that of Egypt, \"darkness that might be felt,\" even then,\nlike a bright lightning flash, as vivid, but not so transient, will a\nlook to Jesus prove. One glimpse of Him may well suffice for all our\ntoils while on the road. Looking to Him will illuminate the most dreary\nway. Cheered by His voice, nerved by His strength, we are prepared to do\nand to suffer, even as he did, unto the end. O, weary and troubled\nChristians, \"look unto Him, and be lightened!\"\n\n\n_The Gospel Requirement_.\n\nThe gospel is not a scheme of giving _to_ God, but of receiving _from_\nGod. It is taking of His fulness, drinking out of His \"wells of\nsalvation,\" receiving from His storehouse. Sinner! remember all that God\nasks of thee, in order to thy salvation, is, that thou wouldst be a\n_receiver_, and this He gives thee, even the power to receive. He asks\nthee not to do anything, but to hold out thine empty hand, and take all\nthou wantest. He does not bid thee store thy granaries and become rich,\nbut he bids thee simply confess thy poverty, and open the doors of thine\nempty chambers, that He may pour thee out a blessing such as thou shalt\nscarcely find room to contain. Hast thou learnt this truth? Hast thou\ncome to live as a receiver at the hand of God? Hast thou stood at\nMercy's gate, humbly seeking salvation? For, if thou hast not--if thou\nhast never yet been willing to take the riches of grace from God instead\nof giving to Him of thine own worthless doings--if thou art not willing\nto be a recipient of His gratuitous goodness, thou art a total stranger\nto everything like the gospel of Christ.\n\n\n\"_Ye are Not Your Own._\"\n\nIf you are a child of God, you belong wholly and entirely to Christ.\nYet are there not many who seem to imagine that if they save a corner in\ntheir souls for their religion, all will be well? Satan may stalk across\nthe broad acres of their judgment and their understanding, and he may\nreign over their thoughts and their imaginations; but if in some quiet\nnook there be preserved the appearance of religion, all will be right.\nOh! be not deceived in this; Christ never went halves in a man yet. He\nwill have the whole of you, or He will have none of you. He will be Lord\nparamount, Master supreme, absolute Monarch, or else He will have\nnothing to do with you. You may serve Satan, if you will, but when you\nserve Him, you shall not serve Christ too. If you are not wholly given\nup to God--if, in the intent and purpose of your souls, every thought,\nand wish, and power, and talent, and possession be not devoted and\nconsecrated to Christ, you have no reason to believe that you have been\nredeemed by His precious blood. In His people, whom He has purchased for\nHis own, He _will_ reign without a rival. Christ will not be\npart-proprietor of any man.\n\n\n\"_Continue in Prayer._\"\n\nBe much in prayer. God's plants grow faster in the warm atmosphere of\nthe closet--it is a forcing-place for spiritual vegetation. He who would\ngrow strong must often kneel at the throne of grace. Of all training\npractice for spiritual battles, _knee practice_ is the most healthful\nand strengthening.\n\n\n_The Holy Saviour._\n\nThere is an expression used by the apostle Paul respecting the Lord\nJesus, which is very beautiful and significant--\"who _knew_ no sin.\" It\ndoes not merely say _did_ none, but _knew_ none. Sin was no acquaintance\nof His; He was acquainted with grief, but no acquaintance of sin. He had\nto walk in the midst of its most frequented haunts, but did not know it.\nNot that He was ignorant of its nature, or unaware of its penalty, but\nHe did not _know_ it; He was a stranger to it; He never by word, by nod,\nor by smile, gave it the faintest recognition. Of course He knew what\nsin was, for He was very God, but with sin He had no communion, no\nfellowship, no brotherhood. He was a perfect stranger in the presence of\nsin; He was a foreigner; He was not an inhabitant of that land where sin\nis acknowledged. He passed through the wilderness of suffering, but into\nthe wilderness of sin He could never go. \"He _knew_ no sin:\" mark that\nexpression and treasure it up; and when you are thinking of your\nSubstitute, and behold Him bleeding upon the cross, think that you see\nwritten in those lines of blood, \"He knew no sin.\" Mingled with the\nredness of His blood--that Rose of Sharon--behold the purity of His\nnature--the Lily of the Valley--\"He knew no sin.\"\n\n\n_Christ our Example_.\n\n_Remember the blessed example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ_.\nThis surely will teach you not to live to yourself! \"For ye know the\ngrace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for our\nsakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich.\" His\nheart is made of tenderness, His bowels melt with love. In all our\nafflictions He is afflicted. Since the day when He became flesh of our\nflesh, He hath never hidden Himself from our sufferings. Our glorious\nHead is moved with all the sorrows which distress the members. Crowned\nthough He now is, He forgets not the thorns which once He wore; amid the\nsplendors of His regal state in Paradise, He is not unmindful of His\nchildren here below. Still is He persecuted when Saul persecutes the\nsaints; still are His brethren as the apple of His eye, and very near\nHis heart. If ye can find in Christ a grain of selfishness, consecrate\nyourselves unto your lusts, and let Mammon be your God. If ye can find\nin Christ a solitary atom of hardness of heart and callousness of\nspirit, then justify yourselves, ye whose hearts are as stone to the\nwailing of the desolate. But if ye profess to be followers of the Man of\nNazareth, be ye full of compassion; He feedeth the hungry lest they be\nfaint by the way; He bindeth up the broken in heart and healeth all\ntheir wounds; He heareth the cry of the needy and ariseth to their help.\nIf ye are His disciples, go and do likewise.\n\n\n_God's Government._\n\nThere are still people to be found foolish enough to believe that\nevents occur at hap-hazard, without divine predestination, and different\ncalamities transpire without the overruling hand, or the direct agency\nof God. Alas! for us, if chance had aught to do with events of our life.\nWe should be like poor mariners, put out to sea in an unsafe vessel,\nwithout a chart and without a helm; we should know nothing of the port\nto which we might ultimately come; we should only feel that we were now\nthe sport of the winds, the captives of the tempest, and might soon be\nthe victims of the all-devouring deep. Alas! poor orphans were we all,\nif we were indebted for food and clothing, for present comfort and\nfuture prospects, to nothing but chance. No father's care to watch over\nus, but left to the fickleness and fallibility of mortal things! What\nwere all that we see about us, but a great sand-storm in the midst of a\ndesert, blinding our eyes, preventing us from ever hoping to see the end\nthrough the darkness of the beginning? We should be pilgrims in a\npathless waste, where there were no roads to direct us--travellers who\nmight be overturned and overwhelmed at any moment, and our bleached\nbones left the victims of the tempest, unknown, or forgotten of all.\nThank God, it is not so with us. We believe that everything which\nhappens to us is ordered by the wise and tender will of Him who is our\nFather and our Friend; we see order in the midst of confusion; we see\npurposes accomplished where others discern nothing but void and vacancy.\nWe believe that \"He hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and\nthe clouds are the dust of His feet.\"\n\n\n_The Secret of Strength._\n\nArt thou proud, believer, because thou hast been profitable to the\nChurch, and done some little service to thy times? Who maketh thee to\ndiffer, and what hast thou which thou hast not received? Hast thou shed\na little light upon the darkness? Ah! who lit thy candle--and who is it\nwho keeps thee still shining, and prevents thee from being extinguished?\nHast thou overcome temptation? Hang not up thy banner; do not decorate\nthine own bosom with the glory; for who made thee strong in the battle?\nWho made thy sword sharp, and nerved thine arm to strike the foe?\nRemember, thou hast done nothing whatever of thyself. If thou be this\nday a vessel unto honor, decorated and gilded--if now thou art a\nprecious vase, filled with the sweetest perfume, yet thou didst not make\nthyself so. Thou art the clay, but _who_ is the potter? If thou be a\nvessel unto honor, yet not a vessel unto thine own honor, but a vessel\nunto the honor of Him who made thee. If thou standest among thy\nfellow-men as the angels stand above the fallen spirits--a chosen one,\ndistinguished from them--yet remember, it was not any goodness in\nthyself which made thee to be chosen; nor has it been any of thine own\nefforts, or thine own power, which lifted thee out of the miry clay, set\nthy feet on the rock, and established thy goings. Off with the crown\nfrom thy proud head, and lay down thine honors at the feet of Him who\ngave them to thee. With cherubim and seraphim veil thy face, and cry,\n\"Not unto us, not unto us, but unto His name be all the glory forever\nand ever.\"\n\nAnd when thou art thus bowed down with humility, be thou prepared to\nlearn this other lesson--_never depend on thyself again_. If thou hast\naught to do, go not forth to do it leaning on an arm of flesh. First bow\nthy knee, and ask power of Him who makes thee strong, and then thou\nshalt come back from thy labor rejoicing. But if thou goest in thine own\nstrength, thou shalt break thy ploughshare on the rock; thou shalt sow\nthy seed by the side of the salt sea upon the barren sand, and thou\nshalt look upon the naked acres in years to come, and they shall not\nyield thee so much as a single blade to make glad thine heart. \"Trust ye\nin the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.\"\nThat strength is not available to you so long as you repose in any\nstrength of your own. He will help you if you confess your weakness; but\nif you are strong in yourself, He will take way his own power from you,\nand you will stumble and fall. Learn, then, the grace of depending daily\nupon God, so shalt thou be clothed with becoming humility.\n\n\n_Nature and Grace._\n\nYou will never perceive God in nature, until you have learned to see\nGod in grace. We have heard a great deal about going up from nature to\nnature's God. Impossible! A man might as well attempt to go from the top\nof the Alps to heaven. There is still a great gulf between nature and\nGod to the natural mind. You must first of all perceive God incarnate in\nthe person of Christ, before you will perceive God omnipotent in the\ncreation which He has made. You have heard a great deal about men\ndelighting to worship in the forest glades, who disdain to frequent the\nsanctuary of the saints. Ay; but there was little truth in it. There is\noften great sound where there is much emptiness; and you will frequently\nfind that those men who talk most of this natural worship, are those who\ndo not worship God at all. God's works are too gross a medium to allow\nthe light. Rugged is the path and dark the atmosphere, if we go by way\nof the creatures to find out the Creator to perfection. But when I see\nChrist, I see God's new and living way between my soul and my God, most\nclear and pleasant. I come to my God at once, and finding Him in Christ,\nI find Him everywhere else besides.\n\n\n_Look to Christ._\n\nWould you be free from doubts? Would you rejoice in the Lord with faith\nunmoved, and confidence unshaken? Then _look to Jesus_! Certain I am\nthat if we lived more _with_ Jesus, were more _like_ Jesus, and trusted\nmore _to_ Jesus, doubts and fears would be very scarce and rare things.\n\n\n_Love in Chastening._\n\nGod's people are often chastened, and the Lord's hand lieth heavy upon\nthem; yet there is paternal goodness in their chastenings, and infinite\nlovingkindness in their tribulations. Did you ever hear this parable?\nThere was a certain shepherd who had a sheep which he desired to lead\ninto another and better field; he called it, and it would not come; he\nled it, and it would not follow; he drove it, but it would only follow\nits own devices. At last he thought within himself, \"I will do this.\"\nThe sheep had a little lamb by its side, and the shepherd took the lamb\nup in his arms, and carried it away, and then the ewe came too. And so\nwith you; God has been calling to _you_, and you did not come; Christ\nsaid, \"Come,\" and you would not; He sent affliction, and you would not\ncome; at length He took your child away, and you came forthwith; you\nfollowed the Saviour then. You see it was loving work on the shepherd's\npart. He did but take the lamb to save the sheep, and the Saviour but\ntook your child to heaven that He might bring _you_ there also. Oh,\nblessed afflictions, blessed losses, blessed deaths, which end in\nspiritual life! You know that if a man desires to gather a harvest from\nhis field, he first ploughs it up. The field might complain, and say,\n\"Why these scars across my face? Why this rough upturning?\" Because\nthere can be no sowing till there has been ploughing; sharp ploughshares\nmake furrows for good seed. Or take yet another picture from nature: a\nman desireth to make of a rusty piece of iron, a bright sword which\nshall be serviceable to a great warrior. What doth he do? He putteth it\ninto the fire, and melteth it; he taketh away all its dross, and\nremoveth all its tin; then he fashioneth it with his hammer; he beateth\nit full sore upon the anvil; he anneals it in one fire after another,\ntill at last it comes out a good blade which will not snap in the day of\nwarfare. This is what God doeth with you--I pray you do not misread the\nbook of God's providence; for if you read it aright it runs thus--\"I\nwill have mercy on this man, and therefore have I smitten him and\nwounded him. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten.\" Come, therefore,\nlet us return unto the Lord, for He hath wounded and He will heal; He\nhath smitten and He will bind us up.\n\n\n_Enduring the Cross._\n\n\"For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross.\" What was\nthe joy? Oh, 'tis a thought must melt a rock, and make a heart of iron\nmove, that the joy which was set before Jesus, was principally the joy\nof saving us. I know it was the joy of fulfilling His Father's will--of\nsitting down on His Father's throne--of being made perfect through\nsuffering; but still I know that this is the grand, great motive of the\nSaviour enduring the cross--the joy of saving us. Do you know what the\njoy is of doing good to others? If you do not, I pity you, for of all\njoys which God has left in this poor wilderness, this is one of the\nsweetest. Do you know it? Have you never felt that joy divine, when your\ngold has been given to the poor, and your silver has been dedicated to\nthe Lord, when you bestowed it upon the hungry--and you have gone aside,\nand said, \"I feel it is a joy worth living for to feed the hungry, and\nclothe the naked, and to do good to my poor suffering fellow-creatures?\"\nNow, this is the joy which Christ felt; it was the joy of feeding us\nwith the bread of heaven; the joy of clothing poor, naked sinners in His\nown righteousness; the joy of finding a home for homeless souls, of\ndelivering us from the prison of hell, and giving us the eternal\nenjoyments of heaven. See the greatness of His love which thus led Him\nto endure the cross and despise the shame, that He might save sinners.\nTruly Christ's love \"passeth knowledge!\" Christians! if Christ endured\nall this for the joy of saving you, will _you_ be ashamed of bearing or\nsuffering anything for Christ? Surely love to Him who hath so loved us\nshould make us willing to endure all things for His sake. Do you feel\nthat in following Christ you must lose by it--lose honor, position,\nwealth? Do you feel that in being a Christian you incur ridicule and\nreproach? and will you turn aside because of these little things, when\nHe would not turn aside, but endured the cross and despised the shame?\nNo, by the grace of God let every Christian say,--\n\n    \"Now for the love I bear His name,\n      What was my gain I count my loss;\n    My former pride I call my shame,\n      And nail my glory to His cross.\"\n\n\"For me to live is Christ; to die is gain.\" Living, I will be His;\ndying, I will be His. I will live to His honor, and serve Him wholly. I\nwill take up my cross, and follow Him, rejoicing if I am counted worthy\nto suffer for His name's sake.\n\n\n_Christian Gravity._\n\nWhen we make a profession of our faith in Christ, we are not to drape\nour faces in gloom, but rather to light our hearts with a purer joy than\nwe ever knew before; and yet we must put away all unseemly levity. \"I\nsaid of laughter, it is mad.\" I said it, too, in the day of the gladness\nof my heart. The madman's frolics, the drunkard's boisterous\nmirth--these compare not with the serene pleasure of our princely\nexpectations. Walk as those who are looking for the coming of the Son of\nMan, hearing this voice in your ears, \"What manner or person ought ye to\nbe in all holy conversation and godliness?\"\n\n\n_Short-Sightedness._\n\nWhat short-sighted creatures we often are! We think we see the end when\nwe are only viewing the beginning. We get our telescope out sometimes to\nlook to the future, and we breathe on the glass with the hot breath of\nour anxiety, and then we think we see clouds and darkness before us. If\nwe are in trouble, we see\n\n    \"Every day new straits attend,\n    And wonder where the scene will end.\"\n\nNay; we conclude that it must end in our destruction. We imagine \"God\nhath forgotten to be gracious.\" We think \"He hath in anger shut up the\nbowels of compassion.\" Oh, this short-sightedness! When you and I ought\nto believe in God; when we ought to look at the heaven which awaiteth\nus, and the glory for which these light afflictions are preparing us;\nwhen we ought to be looking through the cloud to the eternal sun which\nnever knows an eclipse; when we should be resting on the invisible arm\nof the immortal God, and triumphing in His love, we are mourning and\ndistrusting. God forgive us for this, and enable _us_ henceforth to look\nnot _at_ our troubles, but _above_ them, even to Him who, with infinite\nwisdom and love, is guiding us, and has promised to bring us safely\nthrough.\n\n\n_Steadfastness._\n\nIf you had more faith, you would be as happy in the furnace as on the\nmountain of enjoyment; you would be as glad in famine as in plenty; you\nwould rejoice in the Lord when the olive yielded no oil, as well as when\nthe vat was bursting and overflowing its brim. If you had more\nconfidence in God, you would have far less of tossings up and down; and\nif you had greater nearness to Christ, you would have less vacillation.\nAt times you can bid defiance to the rage of Satan, boldly meet every\nattack, and resist every temptation; but too often you are fearful and\nirresolute, and ready to run away from the fight instead of making\nvaliant resistance. But if you always remember Him who endured such\ncontradiction of sinners against Himself, you might always be firm and\nsteadfast. Live near your Master, and you shall not be thus changeful\nand uncertain. Beware of being like a weathercock. Seek of God, that His\nlaw may be written on your heart as if it were written in stone, and not\nas if it were written in sand. Seek that His grace may come to you like\na river, and not like a brook which fails. Seek that you may keep your\nconversation always holy; that your course may be like the shining light\nwhich tarries not, but burns brighter and brighter until the fulness of\nthe day. Seek that the \"God of all grace may establish, strengthen,\nsettle you.\"\n\n\n\"_Be not High-minded, but Fear._\"\n\nWhile we most earnestly seek after the full assurance of faith, knowing\nit is our strength and our joy, let us at the same time remember that\nthere is a _temptation_ connected with it. When thou hast gained this\nfull assurance, believer, then be on thy watch-tower, for the next\ntemptation will be, \"Soul, take thine ease; the work is done; thou\n_hast_ attained; now fold thine arms; sit thou still; all will end well;\nwhy needest thou too much to vex thyself?\" Take heed in those seasons\nwhen you have no doubts. \"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into\ntemptation.\" \"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.\"\n\"I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Thy favor Thou hast made my\nmountain to stand strong.\" And what next? \"Thou didst hide Thy face, and\nI was troubled.\" Bless God for full assurance; but, remember, nothing\nbut careful walking can preserve it. Full assurance is a priceless\npearl; but when a man has a precious jewel, and he walks the streets, he\nought to be much afraid of pickpockets. So, when the Christian has full\nassurance, let him be sure that Satan will try to rob him of it. Let him\nbe more circumspect in his walk, and more diligent in his watch than he\nwas before.\n\n\n_Evidence of the New Life._\n\n\"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious,\" it is _certain\nevidence of a divine change_; for men by nature find no delight in\nJesus. I do not inquire what your experience may have been, or may not\nhave been; if Christ be precious to you, there has been a work of grace\nin your heart; if you love Him, if His presence be your joy, if His\nblood be your hope, if His glory be your object and aim, and if His\nperson be the constant love of your soul, you could not have had this\ntaste by nature, for you were dead; you could not have acquired this\ntaste by learning, for this is a miracle which none but the God who is\nsupreme over nature could have wrought in you. Let every tried and\ntroubled Christian, who, nevertheless, does taste that the Lord is good,\ntake consolation from this. \"The upright love thee.\"\n\n\n\"_A few Names even in Sardis._\"\n\n\"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their\ngarments.\" Here we have special preservation. Mark it carefully. \"Thou\nhast a few names.\" Only a few; not so few as some think, but not so many\nas others imagine. A few compared with the mass of professors: a few\ncompared even with the true children of God, for many of _them_ have\ndefiled their garments. There were but a few, and those few were even in\n_Sardis_. There is not a Church on earth which is so corrupt but has \"a\nfew.\"\n\nTake heart, Christians; there are a few in Sardis. Do not be quite cast\ndown. _Some_ heroes have not turned their backs in the day of battle;\n_some_ mighty men still fight for the truth. But be careful, for,\nperhaps, you are not one of the \"few.\" Since there are but \"a few,\"\nthere ought to be great searchings of heart. Let us look to _our_\ngarments, and see whether they be defiled. And since there are but\n\"few,\" _be active_. The fewer the workmen to do the work, the greater\nreason is there that you should be active. \"Be instant in season, out of\nseason.\" Oh! if we had hundreds behind us, we might say, \"Let _them_ do\nthe work;\" but if we stand with only \"a few,\" how should each of those\nfew exert themselves!\n\nStir yourselves up, then, to the greatest activity, for verily there\nare but a few in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. Above all,\n_be prayerful_. Put up your earnest cries to God that He would multiply\nthe faithful, that He would increase the number of chosen ones who stand\nfast, and that He would purify the Church. Cry unto God that the day may\ncome when the much fine gold shall be no longer dim; when the glory\nshall again return to Zion. Beg of God to remove the cloud, to take away\n\"the darkness that may be felt.\" Be doubly prayerful, for there are but\nfew in Sardis who have not defiled their garments.\n\n\n_Increase of Strength._\n\nThe troubles with which the plants of God's right-hand planting are\nassailed when they are saplings are very inconsiderable compared with\nthose which blow about them when they become, like cedars, strongly\nrooted. When we grow strong, so sure as our strength increases, our\nsufferings, our trials, our labors, or our temptations, will be\nmultiplied. God's power is never communicated to any man to be laid up\nin store. The food which is given to strengthen us, like the manna which\nwas gathered by the Israelites in the wilderness, is intended for\nimmediate use. When the Lord puts upon our feet the shoes of iron which\nHe has promised us in the covenant, it is that we may walk in them--not\nthat we may put them into our museum, and gaze upon them as curiosities.\nIf He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a strong foe to\nfight with. If He shall give us a great meal, as He did Elijah of old,\nit is that we may go for a forty-day's journey in the strength of that\nmeal.\n\n\n_The Triumphant Deliverance._\n\nWhen the Israelites went forth out of the land of Egypt, they took\nwith them the whole of their possessions, according to the word of the\nLord--\"Not a hoof shall be left behind.\" What does this teach us? Why,\nnot only that all God's _people_ shall be saved, but that all which\nGod's people _ever had_ shall be restored. All which Jacob ever took\ndown to Egypt shall be brought out again. Have I lost a perfect\nrighteousness in Adam? I shall have a perfect righteousness in Christ.\nHave I lost happiness on earth in Adam? God will give me much happiness\nhere below in Christ. Have I lost heaven in Adam? I shall have heaven in\nChrist; for Christ came not only to seek and to save the people who were\nlost, but _that which_ was lost; that is, all the inheritance, as well\nas the people; all their property. Not the sheep merely, but the good\npasture which the sheep had lost; not only the prodigal son, but all the\nprodigal son's estates. Everything was brought out of Egypt; not even\nJoseph's bones were left behind. The Egyptians could not say that they\nhad a scrap of the Israelites' property--not even one of their kneading\ntroughs, nor one of their old garments. And when Christ shall have\nconquered all things to Himself, the Christian shall not have lost one\natom by the toils of Egypt, but shall be able to say, \"O _death_, where\nis thy sting? O _grave_, where is thy victory?\" O _hell_, where is thy\ntriumph? Thou hast not a flag nor a pennon to show of thy victory; there\nis not a casque or a helmet left upon the battle-field; there is not a\nsingle trophy which thou mayst raise up in hell in scorn of Christ. He\nhath not only delivered His people, but they have gone out with flying\ncolors. Stand and admire and love the Lord, who thus delivers all His\npeople. \"Great are Thy works, O Lord, and marvellous are Thy doings; and\nthat my soul knoweth right well.\"\n\n\n_A Complete Saviour._\n\nIt would be inconsistent with the character of Him \"by whom are all\nthings,\" if He had sent an incomplete Saviour; that is, if He had left\nus to do part ourselves, and for Christ to do the rest. Look at the sun.\nGod wills for the sun to light the earth: doth he ask the earth's\ndarkness to contribute to the light? Doth He question the night, and ask\nwhether it has not in its sombre shades something which it may\ncontribute to the brightness of noon? No; up rises the sun in the\nmorning, like a giant to run his race, and the earth is made bright. And\nshall God turn to the dark sinner, and ask him whether there is anything\nin him which may contribute to eternal light? No; Jesus rises as the Sun\nof Righteousness, with healing beneath His wings, and darkness is, at\nHis coming, light. He alone is \"the light of the world;\" His own arm\nbrought salvation; He asks no help from man, but giveth all and doeth\nall of His own rich grace, and is a complete and perfect Saviour.\n\n\n_Home-Mercies._\n\nWhen we realize that all our daily mercies come to us as the gifts of\nour Father in heaven, it makes them doubly precious to us. There is\nnothing which tastes as sweet to the school-boy as that which comes from\nhome. So with the Christian. All his mercies are sweeter because they\nare home-mercies--they come \"from above;\" the land in which he lives is\nnot like the land of Egypt, fed by a river; but it \"drinketh water of\nthe rain or heaven.\" Happy the lot of that man who thus receives\neverything as coming from God, and thanks his Father for it all! It\nmakes anything sweet, when he knows it comes from heaven. This thought,\nalso, has a tendency to keep us from an overweening love of the world.\nThe spies went to Eshcol, and fetched thence an immense cluster of the\ngrapes which grew there; but you do not find that the people said, \"The\nfruits we have received from the land of promise, make us contented to\nstay in the wilderness.\" No; they saw that the grapes came from Canaan,\nand thereupon they said, \"Let us go on and possess the land.\" And so,\nwhen we get rich mercies, if we think they come from the natural soil of\nthis earth alone, we might well feel a wish to stay here. But if we know\nthat they come from a foreign clime, we are naturally anxious to go\n\n    \"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,\n      And all the clusters grow.\"\n\nChristian, rejoice then in the thought that all thou hast cometh from\nabove; thy daily bread cometh not so much from thine industry as from\nthy heavenly Father's care; thou seest stamped upon every mercy heaven's\nown inscription, and every blessing comes down to thee perfumed with the\nointment, and the spikenard, and the myrrh of the ivory palaces, whence\nGod dispenses His bounties.\n\n\n\"_Grace Doth Much More Abound._\"\n\nThere has never been a period in this world's history when it was\nwholly given up to sin. God has always had His servants on earth; at\ntimes they may have been hidden by fifties in the caves, but they have\nnever been utterly cut off. Grace may be low; the stream might be very\nshallow, but it has never been wholly dry. The clouds have never been so\nuniversal as to hide the day. But the time is fast approaching when\ngrace shall extend all over our world, and \"the earth shall be full of\nthe knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.\" \"Grace doth\n_much more_ abound;\" and whatever possessions the world has lost by sin,\nit has gained _far more_ by grace. It is true we have been expelled from\na garden of delights, where peace, love, and happiness found a glorious\nhabitation, but we have through Jesus a fairer inheritance. The plains\nof heaven exceed the fields of paradise in the ever-new delights which\nthey afford, while the tree of life, and the river from the throne,\nrender the inhabitants of the celestial regions more than imparadised.\nIt is true that we have become subject to death by sin, yet has not\ngrace revealed an immortality for the sake of which we are glad to die?\nLife lost in Adam is more than restored in Christ. Our original robes\nwere rent asunder by Adam, but Jesus has clothed us with a divine\nrighteousness, far exceeding in value even the spotless robes of created\ninnocence. We mourn our low and miserable condition through sin, but we\nrejoice at the thought, that we are now more secure than before we fell,\nwe are brought into closer alliance with Jesus than our creature\nstanding could ever boast. O Jesus! Thou hast won us an inheritance more\nwide than Adam ever lost; Thou hast filled our coffer with greater\nriches than our sin has ever lavished; Thou hast loaded us with honors,\nand endowed us with privileges far more excellent than our natural\nbirthright could have procured us. Truly, truly, \"grace doth much more\nabound.\"\n\n\n_Unsubmissive Prayers._\n\nWhen we look at our prayers, we have much reason to deplore the\n_unsubmissive spirit_ which too often pervades them. How often have we\nin our prayers not simply wrestled with God for a blessing--for that was\nallowable--but we have imperiously demanded it! We have not said, \"Deny\nthis to me, O my God, if so thou pleasest;\" we have not been ready to\nsay, as the Redeemer did, \"Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou\nwilt;\" but we have asked after the blind inclination of our ignorance,\nas if we could brook no denial from the omniscient counsel of His will.\nForgetful of a humble deference to our Lord's superior wisdom and grace,\nwe have asked and declared that we would not be content unless we had\nthat particular desire upon which our hearts were set. Now, whenever we\ncome to God, and ask for anything which we consider a real good, we have\na right to plead earnestly; but we err when we go beyond the bounds of\nearnestness, and come to _demand_. It is ours to ask for a blessing, but\nnot to define what the blessing shall be. It is ours to place our head\nbeneath the mighty hands of divine benediction, but it is not ours to\nuplift the hands, as Joseph did those of Jacob, and say, \"Not so, my\nfather.\" We must be content if He gives the blessing cross-handed; quite\nas content that He should put His left hand on our head as the right. We\nmust not intrude into God's almonry, \"It is the Lord, let Him do as\nseemeth Him good.\" Prayer was never meant to be a fetter upon the\nsovereignty of God. We must always subjoin at the bottom of the prayer\nthis heavenly postscript, \"Father, deny this if it be most for Thy\nglory.\" Christ will have nothing to do with dictatorial prayers.\n\n\n\"_More than Conquerors._\"\n\nThe Christian is to be a conqueror at last. Do you think that we are\nforever to be the drudges and the slaves of sin, sighing for freedom,\nand yet never able to escape from its bondage? No! Soon the chains which\nconfine me shall be broken, the doors of my prison shall be opened, and\nI shall mount to the glorious city, the abode of holiness, where I shall\nbe entirely freed from sin. We who love the Lord are not to sojourn in\nMesech for aye. The dust may defile our robes now, but the day is coming\nwhen we shall rise and shake ourselves from the dust, and put on our\nbeautiful garments. It is true we are now like Israel in Canaan. Canaan\nis full of enemies; but the Canaanites shall and must be driven out, and\nthe whole land from Dan to Beersheba shall be the Lord's. Christians,\nrejoice! You are soon to be perfect, soon to be free from sin, without\none wrong inclination, one evil desire. You are soon to be as pure as\nthe angels in light; nay, more, with your Master's garments on, you are\nto be \"holy as the holy One.\" Can you think of that? Is it not the very\nsum of heaven, the rapture of bliss, the sonnet of the hill-tops of\nglory--that you are to be perfect? No temptation can reach you, nor if\nthe temptation could reach you would you be hurt by it; for there will\nbe nothing in you which could in any way foster sin. It would be as when\na spark falls upon an ocean; your holiness would quench it in a moment.\nYes, washed in the blood of Jesus, you are soon to walk the golden\nstreets, white-robed and white-hearted too. O, rejoice in the immediate\nprospect, and let it nerve you for the present conflict.\n\n\n_Christian Gladness._\n\nEminent as David was for his piety, he was equally eminent for the\njoyfulness and gladness of his heart. It is often thought by worldly\npeople, that the contemplation of divine things has a tendency to\ndepress the spirits. Now, there is no greater mistake. No man is so\nhappy, but he would be happier still if he had religion. The man who has\na fulness of earthly pleasure, would not lose any part of his happiness,\nhad he the grace of God in his heart; rather that joy would add\nsweetness to all his prosperity; it would strain off many of the bitter\ndregs from his cup, and show him how to extract more honey from the\nhoneycomb. Godliness can make the most melancholy joyful, while it can\nmake the joyous ones more joyful still, lighting up the face with a\nheavenly gladness, making the eyes sparkle with tenfold more brilliance;\nand happy as the worldly man may be, he shall find that there is sweeter\nnectar than he has ever drunk before, if he comes to the fountain of\natoning mercy; if he knows that his name is registered in the book of\neverlasting life. Temporal mercies will then have the charm of\nredemption to enhance them. They will be no longer to him as shadowy\nphantoms which dance for a transient hour in the sunbeam. He will\naccount them more precious because they are given to him, as it were, in\nsome codicils of the divine testament, which hath promise of the life\nwhich now is, as well as of that which is to come. While goodness and\nmercy follow him all the days of his life, he will be able to stretch\nforth his grateful anticipations to the future when he shall dwell in\nthe house of the Lord forever, and to say with the Psalmist, \"Thou hast\nmade me most blessed forever: Thou hast made me exceeding glad with Thy\ncountenance.\"\n\n\n_The Condescension of Christ._\n\nWhen the Saviour appeared among men, it was not as one lifted up from\nthe ranks to procure station for Himself, but as one who descended from\nthe heavens to convey blessings to the people. The ignorant and the\nilliterate find in Him their best friend. He is no stern law-giver, who,\nwrapped up in His own integrity, looks upon the transgressor with the\neye of justice; neither is He simply the bold enunciator of penalty and\npunishment, nor the pitiless denouncer of crime and iniquity. He is the\ngentle lover of our souls; the good Shepherd coming forth, not so much\nto slay the wolf, as to save the sheep. As the nurse tenderly watches\nover her child, so He watches for the souls of men; and like as a father\npitieth his children, so does Jesus pity poor sinners. It is not so much\ndrawing sinners up to Him, as coming down to them; not standing on the\nmountain-top and bidding them ascend, but coming down from the mountain,\nand mingling in social intercourse with them; coming down from the high\npastures after His sheep in the glens, and in the ravines, that He may\nlay hold of them, lift them on His mighty shoulders, and bear them up to\nthe place where He shall fold them in purity, bless them with all grace,\nand preserve them unto future glory.\n\n\n_All of Grace._\n\nGod's people, after they are called by grace, are preserved in Christ\nJesus; they are \"kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;\"\nthey are not suffered to sin away their eternal inheritance, but as\ntemptations arise, they have strength given with which to encounter\nthem; and as sin defiles them, they are washed afresh, and again\ncleansed. But mark, the reason why God keeps His people, is the same as\nthat which made them His people--His own free, sovereign grace. If you\nhave been delivered in the hour of temptation, pause and remember that\nyou were not delivered for your own sake. There was nothing in you which\ndeserved the deliverance. If you have been fed and supplied in your hour\nof need, it is not because you have been a faithful servant of God, or\nbecause you have been a prayerful Christian; it is simply and only\nbecause of God's mercy. He is not moved to anything He does for you by\nanything which you do for Him; His motive for blessing you lies wholly\nand entirely in the depths of His own bosom. Blessed be God, His people\nshall be kept.\n\n    \"Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove\n      His favorites from His breast;\n    In the dear bosom of His love\n      They must forever rest.\"\n\nBut why? Because they are holy? Because they are sanctified? Because\nthey serve God with good works? No, but because He, in His sovereign\ngrace, has loved them, does love them, and will love them to the end.\nThus, salvation from first to last is all of grace. Then how _humble_ a\nChristian ought to be! We have nothing whatever to do with our\nsalvation; God has done it all. It is mercy undeserved which we have\nreceived. It is His boundless, fathomless love which has led Him to save\nus; and it is the same love and mercy which upholds us now. To Him be\nglory!\n\n\n\"_This Man Receiveth Sinners._\"\n\n\"This man receiveth sinners.\" Poor sinsick sinner, what a sweet word\nthis is for thee! Respond, respond to it, and say, \"Surely, then, He\nwill not reject me.\" Let me encourage thee to come to my Master, that\nthou mightest receive His great atonement, and be clothed with all His\nrighteousness. Mark: those whom I address, are the _bona fide_, real,\nactual sinners; not those who only _say_ they are sinners with a general\nconfession, but those who _feel_ their lost, ruined, hopeless condition.\nAll these are frankly and freely invited to come to Jesus Christ, and to\nbe saved by Him. Come, poor sinner, come. Come, because He has said He\nwill receive you. I know thy fears; I know thou sayest in thy heart, \"He\nwill reject me. If I present my prayer, He will not hear me; if I cry\nunto Him, yet per-adventure, the heavens will be as brass; I have been\nso great a sinner, that He will never take me into His house to dwell\nwith Him.\" Poor sinner! say not so; _He_ hath published the decree. Is\nnot this enough? He has said, \"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise\ncast out.\" Dost thou not venture on that promise? Wilt thou not go to\nsea in a ship as stanch as this. _He hath said it_? It has been often\nthe only comfort of the saints; on this they have lived, on this they\nhave died. _He hath said it._ What! dost thou think Christ would tell\nthee He will receive thee, and yet not do so? Would He say, \"Come ye to\nthe supper,\" and yet shut the door upon you? No; if He has said He will\ncast out none that come to Him, rest assured He cannot, He will not cast\nyou out. Come, then, try His love on this ground, that He has said it.\nCome, and fear not, because remember, if thou feelest thyself to be a\nsinner, that feeling is God's gift; and therefore thou mayst very safely\ncome to One who has already done so much to draw thee. If thou feelest\nthy need of a Saviour, Christ made thee feel it; if thou hast a wish to\ncome after Christ, Christ gave thee that wish; if thou hast any desire\nafter God, God gave thee that desire; if thou canst sigh after Christ,\nChrist made thee sigh; if thou canst weep after Christ, Christ made thee\nweep. Ay, if thou canst only wish for Him with the strong wish of one\nwho fears he never can find, yet hopes he may--if thou canst but hope\nfor Him, He has given thee that hope. And O, wilt not thou come to Him?\nThou hast some of the King's bounties about thee now; come and plead\nwhat He hath done; there is no suit which can ever fail with God, when\nthou pleadest this. Come to Him, and thou wilt find it is true which is\nwritten, that \"this man receiveth sinners.\"\n\n\n\"_Wherein Ye Greatly Rejoice._\"\n\n\"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye\nare in heaviness.\" And can a Christian \"greatly rejoice\" while he is \"in\nheaviness?\" Yes, most assuredly he can. Mariners tell us that there are\nsome parts of the sea where there is a strong current upon the surface\ngoing one way, while, down in the depths there is a strong current\nrunning the other way. Two seas also do not meet and interfere with one\nanother, but one stream of water on the surface is running in one\ndirection, and another below in an opposite direction. Now, the\nChristian is like that. On the surface there is a stream of heaviness\nrolling in dark waves, but down in the depths there is a strong\nunder-current of great rejoicing which is always flowing there. Do you\nask what is the cause of this great rejoicing? The apostle tells us,\n\"_Wherein_ ye greatly rejoice.\" What does he mean? Refer to his epistle,\nand you will see. He is writing \"to the strangers scattered throughout\nPontus, etc.\" And the first thing which He says to them is, that they\nare \"elect according to the foreknowledge of God.\" This is an assurance\n\"wherein ye greatly rejoice.\" Ah! even when the Christian is most \"in\nheaviness through manifold temptations,\" what a mercy it is that he can\nknow that he is still elect of God! Any man who is assured that God \"has\nchosen him from before the foundation of the world,\" may well say,\n\"Wherein I greatly rejoice.\" Let us reflect on this. Before God made the\nheavens and the earth, or laid the pillars of the firmament in their\ngolden sockets, He set His love upon me; upon the breast of the great\nHigh Priest He wrote my name; and in His everlasting book it stands,\nnever to be erased--\"elect according to the foreknowledge of God.\" Why,\nthis may make a man's soul leap within him, and all the heaviness which\nthe infirmities of the flesh may lay upon him shall be but as nothing;\nfor this tremendous current of His overflowing joy shall sweep away the\nmill-dam of his grief. Bursting and overleaping every obstacle, it shall\noverflood all his sorrows till they are drowned and covered up, and\nshall not be mentioned any more forever. \"Wherein ye greatly rejoice.\"\nCome, Christian! thou art depressed and cast down. Think for a moment:\nthou art chosen of God and precious. Let the bell of election ring in\nthine ear--that ancient Sabbath-bell of the covenant; and let thy name\nbe heard in its notes, and say, I beseech thee, say, doth not this make\nthee \"greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, thou art in\nheaviness through manifold temptations?\"\n\nAgain, you will see another reason. The apostle says that we are \"elect\nthrough sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of\nthe blood of Jesus Christ\"--\"wherein we greatly rejoice.\" Is the\nobedience of the Lord Jesus Christ girt about my loins, to be my beauty\nand my glorious dress? and is the blood of Jesus sprinkled upon me, to\ntake away all my guilt and all my sin? and shall I not in this greatly\nrejoice? What shall there be in all the depressions of spirit which can\npossibly come upon me which shall make me break my harp, even though I\nshould for a moment hang it upon the willows? Do I not expect that yet\nagain my songs shall mount to heaven; and even now, through the thick\ndarkness, do not the sparks of my joy appear, when I remember that I\nhave still upon me the blood of Jesus, and still about me the glorious\nrighteousness of the Messiah?\n\nBut the great and cheering comfort of the apostle is, that we are elect\nunto \"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not\naway, reserved in heaven for us,\" even as we are reserved for it. Well\nmay this indeed make him greatly rejoice. He is drawing near the gates\nof death, and his spirit is in heaviness, for he has to leave behind him\nall that life holds dear. Besides, sickness brings upon him naturally a\ndepression of spirits. But you sit by him in his chamber, and you begin\nto talk to him of the\n\n    \"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,\n    Arrayed in living green.\"\n\nYou tell him of Canaan on the other side the Jordan--of the land which\nfloweth with milk and honey--of the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and\nof all the glories which God hath prepared for them who love Him; and\nyou see his dull eye light up with seraphic brightness, \"his heaviness\"\nis all gone, and the language of his heart is--\n\n    \"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,\n      And cast a wishful eye\n    To Canaan's fair and happy land,\n      Where my possessions lie.\"\n\nThe anticipation of the coming glory and happiness fills him with \"joy\nunspeakable.\"\n\n\n_Changefulness._\n\nHow varied is the experience of the believer in his spiritual life!\nWhat changes there are in the weather of his soul! What bright sunlight\ndays! What dark, cloudy nights! What calms, as though his life were a\nsea of glass! What terrible trials, as though his life were a\ntempestuous ocean! One time we find him crying, \"My God, my God, why\nhast thou forsaken me,\" and anon he sings, \"Bless the Lord, O my soul,\nand all that is within me bless His holy name.\" One hour we hear him\nsigh forth, \"I sink in deep mire where there is no standing,\" and then\nwe find him exulting, \"The Lord is my light, and my salvation, whom\nshall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be\nafraid.\" How wondrously he rises to heaven, and how awfully he dives\ninto the deeps! Surely we who have known anything of the spiritual and\ninner life do not marvel at this, for we have felt these changes. Alas!\nwhat a contrast between the sin which doth so easily beset us, and the\ngrace which gives us to reign in heavenly places. How different the\nsorrow of an abject distrust which breaketh us in pieces as with a\nstrong east wind, and the joy of a holy confidence which bears us on to\nheaven as a propitious gale! What changes between walking with God\nto-day, and falling into the mire to-morrow, triumphing over sin, death,\nand hell yesterday, and to-day led captive by the lusts of the flesh and\nof the mind. Verily, we cannot understand ourselves, and a description\nwhich would suit us at one time, would be ill-adapted at another time.\nChangeable, indeed, is our experience; but oh, what a mercy that\n_Christ_ does not change! Varied as our experience may be, His grace is\nvaried to meet it, for He has grace to help us in every time of need,\nand with infinite and unfailing good-will supplies us in the strength\nproportioned to our day.\n\n\n_Thoughts of Christ._\n\nJesus! what infinite sweets in His name! Our impressions on surveying\nHim may be compared to some of those lenses you have seen, which you may\ntake up and hold one way, and you see one light, and another way, and\nyou see another light, and whichever way you turn them you will always\nsee some precious sparkling of light, and some new colors starting up to\nyour view. Ah! take Jesus for your theme; consider Him; think of His\nrelation to your own soul, and you will never get through that one\nsubject. Think of His eternal relationship to you; and also of your\nknown and manifest relationship to Him since you have been called by His\ngrace. Think how He has become your brother; how His heart has beaten in\nsympathy with yours; how He has kissed you with the kisses of His love,\nand His love has been sweeter to you than wine. Look back upon some\nhappy, sunny spots in your history, where Jesus has whispered, \"I am\nyours,\" and you have said \"My beloved is mine.\" Think of some choice\nmoments, when an angel has stooped from heaven, and taken you up on his\nwings, and carried you aloft, to sit in heavenly places where Jesus\nsits, that you might commune with Him. Or think of some moments, when\nyou have had what Paul sets so much store by--fellowship with Christ in\nHis sufferings--when you have felt that you could die _for_ Christ, even\nas you have in the rich experience of your baptism, died _with_ Him, and\nrisen _with_ Him. Think of your relationship to Christ which is to be\ndeveloped in heaven. Imagine the hour to have come when you shall \"greet\nthe blood-besprinkled hand on the eternal shore,\" and when the Lord\nJesus shall salute you as \"more than a conqueror,\" and put a crown upon\nyour head more glittering than the stars. Oh! take _Jesus_ for your\nconstant theme, and you will every day find fresh thoughts arise out of\nHis grace, His beauty, His glory. In Him you have an unfailing subject\nof delight, object of attraction, and centre of love.\n\n\n_A Lesson of Humility._\n\nWhen Jesus sent forth His seventy disciples, endowed with miraculous\npowers, they performed great wonders, and naturally enough were somewhat\nelated. In their words, \"Behold, even devils were subject to us,\" Jesus\nmarked their tendency to pride and self-congratulation. And what was the\nsacred lesson He taught to prevent their being exalted above measure?\n\"Nevertheless,\" said He, \"rejoice not in this, but rather rejoice\nbecause your names are written in heaven.\" The assurance of our interest\nin Christ will tend to keep us humble in the day of our prosperity; it\nwill act as a secret ballast to us to know that we have something better\nthan these earthly blessings, therefore we must not set our affections\nupon the things of earth, but let our hearts be where our greatest\ntreasure is. Better than any lancet to spill the superfluous blood of\nour boasting--better than any bitter medicine to chase the burning fever\nof our pride, is this most precious and hallowed wine of the covenant--a\nremembrance of our safety in Christ. This, opened up to us by the\nSpirit, will suffice to keep us in that happy lowliness which is our\ntrue position. But when at any time we are cast down with multiplied\ntroubles, the very same fact which kept us humble in prosperity will\npreserve us from despair in adversity. For the apostle Paul was\nsurrounded by a great fight of affliction; and yet he could say,\n\"Nevertheless I am not ashamed.\" But what is it which preserves him from\nsinking? It is the same truth which kept the ancient disciples from\noverweening pride. It is the sweet persuasion of his interest in Christ.\n\"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to\nkeep that which I have committed unto him against that day.\" Then let us\nseek earnestly to obtain this full assurance of faith, for it will help\nus in all states of experience. Let us not rest content till we can say\nwith Paul, \"I know whom I have believed.\"\n\n\n_Promises and Precepts._\n\nIf thou wouldst have the promises fulfilled to thee, look to it that\nthou dost comply with _the precept annexed to the promise_. Follow the\nexample of Moses. Moses knew that there was a promise given to the\npeople of Israel, that they should be the world's blessing; but in order\nto obtain it, it was necessary that he should practise self-denial,\ntherefore he \"refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;\nchoosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to\nenjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.\" If the promise commands thee\nto deny thyself, thou canst not obtain it without. Do it, and thou shalt\nhave its fulfilment. Or suppose that the promise requires courage--_use\ncourage_. Or does the promise require obedience--_be obedient_. Remember\nhow Rahab hung out from her window the scarlet line, because that was\nthe test of her faith. So do thou. Whatsoever Christ hath said unto\nthee, do it. Neglect no command, however trivial it may seem. Do what\nthy Master tells thee, asking no questions, for he is an ill servant who\nquestions his Lord's command. Doubtless thou too, like the Ethiopian\neunuch, shalt go on thy way rejoicing when thou hast been obedient. Or\nis the promise made to those who bear \"a good report\" of the land?\nRemember, Caleb and Joshua were the only two who obtained the promise,\nbecause they alone honored God. So do thou honor God. Let a scoffing\nworld hear thine unvarying testimony that thy God is good and true. Let\nnot thy groanings and thy murmurings make men suspect that thou hast a\nhard master, and that His servants have no joys, no comforts, no\ndelights. Let it be known that He whom thou servest is no Egyptian\ntask-master; His yoke is easy; His service pleasure, His reward\nunspeakable. \"Them that honor Me, I will honor.\" Be thou careful to obey\nthe precepts, and God will fulfil to thee the promises.\n\n\n_Sweetness in Sorrow._\n\nDo you not feel, in looking back upon seasons of affliction, that they\nhave been times when, notwithstanding the trials, you have had unusual\npeace and happiness in your heart? There is a sweet joy which comes to\nus through sorrow. The bitter wine of sorrow acts with a tonic influence\nupon the whole system. The sweet cup of prosperity often leaves a\nbitterness in the taste; but the bitter cup of affliction, when\nsanctified, always leaves a sweet flavor in the mouth. There is joy in\nsorrow. There is music in this harp with its strings all unstrung and\nbroken. There are a few notes we hear from this mournful lute which we\nnever get from the loud-sounding trumpet. We obtain a softness and\nmelody from the wail of sorrow, which we never get from the song of joy.\nMust we not account for this by the fact, that in our troubles we live\nnearer to God? Our joy is like the wave as it dashes upon the shore--it\nthrows us on the earth. But our sorrows are like that receding wave\nwhich sucks us back again into the great depth of Godhead. We should\nhave been stranded and left high and dry upon the shore, if it had not\nbeen for that receding wave, that ebbing of our prosperity, which\ncarried us back to our Father and to our God again. Blessed affliction!\nit has brought us to the mercy-seat; given life to prayer; enkindled\nlove; strengthened faith; brought Christ into the furnace with us, and\nthen brought us out of the furnace to live with Christ more joyously\nthan before.\n\n\n_Little-faith._\n\nOne inconvenience of \"little-faith\" is, that _while it is always sure\nof heaven, it very seldom thinks so_. Little-faith is quite as secure\nfor heaven as Great-faith. When Jesus Christ counts up His jewels at the\nlast day, He will take to Himself the little pearls as well as the great\nones. If a diamond be never so small, yet it is precious because it is a\ndiamond. So faith, be it never so little, if it be true faith, is \"like\nprecious\" with that which apostles obtained. Christ will never lose even\nthe smallest jewel of His crown. Little-faith is always secure of\nheaven, because the name of Little-faith is in the book of eternal life.\nLittle-faith was chosen of God before the foundation of the world.\nLittle-faith was bought with the blood of Christ; ay, and he cost as\nmuch as Great-faith. \"For every man a shekel,\" was the price of\nredemption. Every man, whether great or small, prince or peasant, had to\nredeem himself with a shekel. Christ has bought all, both little and\ngreat, with the same most precious blood. Little-faith is always secure\nof heaven, for God has begun the work in him, and He will carry it on.\nGod loves him, and He will love him unto the end. God has provided a\ncrown for him, and He will not allow the crown to hang there useless; He\nhas erected for him a mansion in heaven, and He will not allow the\nmansion to stand untenanted forever. Little-faith is always safe, but he\nvery seldom knows it. If you meet him he is sometimes afraid of hell;\nvery often afraid that the wrath of God abideth on him. He will tell you\nthat the country on the other side the flood can never belong to one so\nbase as he. Sometimes it is because he feels himself so unworthy;\nanother time it is because the things of God are too good to be true, he\nsays; or he cannot think they can be true to such a one as he. Sometimes\nhe is afraid he is not elect; another time he fears that he has not been\ncalled aright, or that he has not come to Christ aright; anon, his fears\nare that he will not hold on to the end, that he shall not be able to\npersevere; and if you kill a thousand of his fears, he is sure to have\nanother host by to-morrow; for unbelief is one of those things which you\ncannot destroy; you may kill it over and over again, but still it lives.\nIt is one of those ill weeds which sleep in the soil even after it has\nbeen burned, and it only needs a little encouragement, or a little\nnegligence, and it will sprout up again. Now, Great-faith is sure of\nheaven, and he knows it. He climbs Pisgah's top, and views the landscape\no'er; he tastes of the sweetness of paradise even before he enters\nwithin the pearly gates; he sees the streets which are paved with gold;\nhe beholds the walls of the city, the foundations whereof are of\nprecious stones; he hears the mystic music of the glorified, and begins\nto smell on earth the perfumes of heaven. But poor Little-faith can\nscarcely look at the sun; he very seldom sees the light; he gropes in\nthe valley, and while all is safe, he always thinks himself unsafe.\n\n\n\"_To be with Christ._\"\n\n\"_To be with Christ_.\" Who can comprehend this but the Christian? It\nis a heaven which worldlings care not for. They know not what a mass of\nglory is crowded into that one sentence: \"To be with Christ.\" But to the\nbeliever the words are a concentration of bliss. Take only one of the\nmany precious thoughts the words suggest--_the sight of Christ_. \"Thine\neye shall see the King in His beauty.\" We have heard of Him, and can\nsay, \"Whom having not seen we love.\" But then we \"_shall see Him_.\" Yes,\nwe shall actually gaze upon the exalted Redeemer. Realize the thought.\nIs there not a heaven within it? Thou shalt see the hands which were\nnailed to the cross for thee; thou shalt see the thorn-crowned head, and\nwith all the blood-washed throng, shalt thou bow with lowly reverence\nbefore Him, who bowed in lowly abasement for thee. Faith is precious,\nbut what must sight be? To view Jesus as the Lamb of God through the\nglass of faith, makes the soul rejoice with joy unspeakable; but oh! to\nsee Him face to face, to look into those eyes, to hear that\nvoice--rapture begins at the very mention of it! If even to _think_ of\nit is so sweet, what must the _vision_ be when we shall talk with Him,\n\"even as a man talketh with his friend\"--for the vision of Christ\nimplies _communion_. All that which the spouse desired in Solomon's\nSong, we shall have, and ten thousand times more. Then will the prayer\nbe fulfilled, \"Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for Thy\nlove is better than wine.\" Then we shall be able to say, \"His left hand\nis under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me.\" Then shall we\nexperience the promise, \"They shall walk with me in white, for they are\nworthy.\" And then we will pour out the song of gratitude, a song such as\nwe have never sung on earth, tuneful, dulcet, pure, full of serenity and\njoy, no discord to mar its melody; a song rapt and seraphic. Happy day,\nwhen vision and communion shall be ours in fulness--when we shall know\neven as we are known!\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n                                         PAGE\n  The Preciousness of the Promises.         5\n  Sorrow's Discipline.                      7\n  The Christian Warfare.                    8\n  The Privileges of Trial.                 10\n  The Joy of Victory.                      11\n  Light in the Cloud.                      13\n  Good Works.                              16\n  The Knowledge of Christ's Love.          18\n  Clear Shining after Rain.                21\n  A Quiet Heart.                           23\n  A Rich Life.                             24\n  \"He hath Said.\"                          27\n  Safety in Conflict.                      30\n  To-morrow.                               32\n  A Full Heart.                            34\n  Persevering Prayer.                      37\n  Humility.                                39\n  Look Upwards.                            41\n  The Use of Trial.                        41\n  Faith Necessary.                         42\n  Christ \"Altogether Lovely.\"              44\n  The Remedy for Doubts.                   47\n  All Things Working for Good.             48\n  The Triumph of Grace.                    49\n  Religion a Personal Matter.              51\n  Strength through Weakness.               53\n  Begin Well.                              54\n  The Robe of Righteousness.               56\n  Cross-Bearers.                           57\n  The Happiness of Religion.               58\n  Unchangeable.                            59\n  Increase of Faith.                       60\n  Communion with Christ.                   61\n  The Soul satisfied in Christ.            62\n  The Lord's Jewels.                       63\n  Memorials of Jesus.                      64\n  \"Freely give.\"                           66\n  Religion--a Present Enjoyment.           67\n  \"Our Lord Jesus.\"                        70\n  Providence.                              71\n  The Intercession of Christ.              72\n  Holiness.                                73\n  The New Heart.                           74\n  The Christian's Daily Cross.             75\n  Joy over the Repenting.                  76\n  God's Tender Care.                       77\n  The Christian's Crown.                   78\n  Obedience to God's Will.                 79\n  The Gospel.                              80\n  Believing Prayer.                        81\n  Warfare for Sin.                         82\n  How to read the Bible.                   83\n  A View of Christ.                        84\n  The Author and Finisher of Faith.        85\n  The Glad Command.                        86\n  Untiring Delight.                        87\n  Divine Teaching.                         89\n  Seeking Christ.                          91\n  \"Christ in You.\"                         92\n  Consolation.                             93\n  Self-Examination.                        94\n  Heaven an Inheritance.                   95\n  The Sleep of Death.                      97\n  Foretastes of Heaven.                    99\n  The Work of the Spirit.                 101\n  Peace.                                  103\n  Earth's Seasons.                        104\n  Love Undeserved.                        106\n  The Infallible Commentary.              106\n  A Place of Trust.                       107\n  \"Consider Him.\"                         108\n  The Joy Of Pardon.                      109\n  Inexhaustible Promises.                 110\n  The Fulness of Christ.                  111\n  True Blessing.                          111\n  Faith and Feeling.                      112\n  Near Home.                              113\n  Beauty in Christ.                       114\n  The Savior's Legacy.                    115\n  Needless Poverty.                       116\n  The Sin of Unbelief.                    117\n  The One Family.                         118\n  The Spirit of Praise.                   120\n  Love to Christ.                         122\n  The First Lesson.                       123\n  Danger of Prosperity.                   123\n  Idleness.                               124\n  Grace.                                  124\n  Obtaining Promises.                     125\n  Sympathy.                               127\n  \"Endure Hardness.\"                      128\n  Usefulness.                             129\n  The Church and the World.               130\n  The Fight of Faith.                     132\n  Life's Great Object.                    134\n  Love's Circumference.                   136\n  The Way to Heaven.                      137\n  Religion Exemplified.                   139\n  The Right Estimate.                     139\n  \"Vessels of Mercy.\"                     140\n  Christian Diligence.                    141\n  \"Comfort ye my People.\"                 142\n  Self.                                   145\n  Strength through Joy.                   145\n  The Refiner's Fire.                     146\n  Heart-Learning.                         146\n  The Hope of Heaven.                     147\n  Rejoice Always.                         149\n  Religion a Present Concern.             150\n  Trouble Lightened.                      152\n  The Gospel Requirement.                 153\n  \"Ye are not your own.\"                  155\n  \"Continue in Prayer.\"                   156\n  The Holy Savior.                        157\n  Christ our Example.                     158\n  God's Government.                       160\n  The Secret of Strength.                 162\n  Nature and Grace.                       165\n  Look to Christ.                         166\n  Love in Chastening.                     167\n  Enduring the Cross.                     169\n  Christian Gravity.                      172\n  Short-Sightedness.                      173\n  Steadfastness.                          174\n  \"Be not high-minded, but fear.\"         176\n  Evidence of the New Life.               177\n  \"A few Names even in Sardis.\"           178\n  Increase of Strength.                   181\n  The Triumphant Deliverance.             182\n  A Complete Savior.                      184\n  Home-Mercies.                           185\n  \"Grace doth much more abound.\"          187\n  Unsubmissive Prayers.                   190\n  \"More than Conquerors.\"                 192\n  Christian Gladness.                     194\n  The Condescension of Christ.            196\n  All of Grace.                           197\n  \"This man receiveth sinners.\"           199\n  \"Wherein ye greatly rejoice.\"           202\n  Changefulness.                          207\n  Thoughts of Christ.                     209\n  A Lesson of Humility.                   212\n  Promises and Precepts.                  214\n  Sweetness in Sorrow.                    216\n  Little-Faith.                           218\n  \"To be with Christ.\"                    221","title":"Gleanings among the Sheaves","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":35571}