{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_43201/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_43201","id":"gutenberg_43201","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43201","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sermons, English -- Excerpts"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1907 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge\nedition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                           MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS\n                        _EIGHTEEN SHORT READINGS_\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                               BY THE LATE\n                             REV. CANON HOARE\n                  VICAR OF HOLY TRINITY, TUNBRIDGE WELLS\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n           PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  LONDON\n                SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE\n                       NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.\n                     43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.\n                       BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET\n                          NEW YORK: E. S. GORHAM\n                                   1907\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nTHESE short readings, now published for the first time, are extracts from\nthe written sermons of the late Rev. E. Hoare, Vicar of Holy Trinity,\nTunbridge Wells from 1853 to 1894, and Hon. Canon of Canterbury.  They\nare taken, word for word, from his original MSS., and have been selected\nwith a view to giving practical help in the Christian life.  Many of them\nwere written long ago, but the hindrances and difficulties that meet the\nChristian continue much the same, and it is hoped that the following\npages may be used of God to bring before the reader the Lord Jesus Christ\nas the Saviour, Guide, and Helper.\n\n                                                                  K. A. H.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n                                                       PAGE\nMULTIPLIED BLESSINGS                                      5\nTHE SAVIOUR SEEKING THE SINNER                           12\nA DIVINE SALVATION                                       17\nFEELINGS                                                 24\nA PEACEFUL DEATH-BED                                     28\nA PEACEFUL LIFE                                          33\nTHE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT                        38\nTHE WITNESS\u2014THE LEADER\u2014THE COMMANDER                     43\nFAITH AND EFFORT                                         49\nTHE JOY OF THE LORD                                      54\nTHE WORK OF THE LORD                                     58\nCHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF FAITH        62\nTHE COMING OF THE LORD                                   66\n\u201cWITH\u201d AND \u201cBY\u201d                                          71\nTHE STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT                               76\nA WILLING SERVICE                                        81\nFEAR NOT                                                 86\nTHE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE                               91\n\n\n\n\nMULTIPLIED BLESSINGS\n\n\n    \u201cThou art my hiding-place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou\n    shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.\n\n    \u201cI will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:\n    I will guide thee with mine eye.\u201d\u2014Ps. xxxii. 7, 8.\n\nWELL, indeed, may the Psalmist say, \u201cBlessed is he whose transgression is\nforgiven,\u201d for every blessing flows into the soul as the consequence of\ndivine forgiveness.  The word in the Hebrew rendered \u201cBlessed\u201d is in the\nplural number, to show that there is not one blessing only, but\nmultiplied blessings and multiplied mercies, all springing from this one\nsource, the forgiveness of sin.  When David wrote these words he felt the\ntruth of them.  He spoke of a gift which he had himself experienced.  He\nhad found mercy, so he proclaimed its richness.  We know how grievously\nhe fell in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah, and we remember Nathan\u2019s\nvisit.  It was after that visit that, according to the general belief,\nthis Psalm was written.  He had struggled with the agonies of unforgiven\nsin, till at length the message was delivered to him by the prophet, \u201cThe\nLord, also, hath put away thy sin.\u201d {5}  No wonder, then, that he poured\nout his heart in this hymn of thanksgiving, commencing with the words,\n\u201cBlessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.\u201d\n\nBut it is not merely a Psalm of thanksgiving, for according to the title\nit was a Maschil, a Psalm giving instruction.  When David was pleading\nfor mercy in Psalm li., he said that when he had found forgiveness\nhimself, he would make it known for the good of others, \u201cThen will I\nteach transgressors Thy ways.\u201d {6}  So now, having been forgiven, he\nwrote this Psalm of instruction for others.\n\n\u201cBlessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.\u201d\nThese were the words with which David commenced his Psalm, and in these\nwords he said that to which every forgiven soul will most heartily add,\n\u201cAmen.\u201d\n\nWhat was the peculiar character of that blessedness?  We learn from\nverses 3 and 4 the awful misery of sin unrepented and unforgiven.  We\nfind how David\u2019s tears were dried up by the burning heat of a guilty\nconscience, and how the dreadful burden weighed day and night upon his\nsoul.  Then in the next verse we are taught the secret of the great\ntransition from misery to peace.  We find how he made up his mind to make\nno further efforts to conceal his guilt.  He resolved to confess it\nbefore God, and no longer attempt to hide it from man.  The result was a\ncomplete, assured, and most merciful forgiveness.  \u201cThou forgavest,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cthe iniquity of my sin.\u201d  He was assured of the gift, but what was\nthe unspeakable blessedness to which, when forgiven, he was admitted?\n\nThis we learn from the words of our text in which we find the peaceful\nintercourse of the forgiven soul with God.  It is that peaceful\nintercourse which constitutes the real test of forgiveness, Christ died,\nthe just for the unjust, to bring us to God: so those who are made\npartakers of that atoning work are actually brought to God and made what\nthe Psalmist calls \u201ca people near unto Him.\u201d {7}  So it was in the case\nof David.  There was nothing to keep him any longer at a distance, and in\nthe full peace of complete reconciliation he enjoyed the unspeakable\nprivilege of communion with God.  The account of this communion is given\nus in the verses of our text, in the first of which we have the language\nof the forgiven sinner to God, in the second the reply from God Himself.\n\n\n\nI.  THE LANGUAGE OF THE FORGIVEN SOUL ADDRESSING GOD.\n\n\nHe that was afar off without any shelter from the rough storm of an\naccusing conscience, is now able to look up to the God who has forgiven\nhim and say, \u201cThou art my hiding-place.\u201d  He finds his shelter and his\nsafety in the presence of that very God whose law he had broken.  He does\nnot say, \u201cThou hast provided a hiding-place,\u201d but \u201cThou _art_ my\nhiding-place.\u201d  He who had been exposed without protection to the sore\nbuffetings of his own conscience, confirmed as it was by the just\nsentence of God\u2019s holy law, had been so completely restored that he had\nfound in God Himself a hiding-place.\n\nIn that sacred hiding-place he realized two results, safety and praise.\nWhen hidden there he was safe, just as our own life is safe when hidden\nwith Christ in God, and therefore he could say, \u201cThou shalt preserve me,\u201d\nand when hidden there he would live in the very atmosphere of\nthanksgiving, so he said, \u201cThou shalt compass me about (or surround me)\nwith songs of deliverance.\u201d  A song of deliverance is a song of praise\nfrom one that has been delivered.  The Song of Moses was a song of\ndeliverance when he stood on the shores of the Red Sea after he had seen\nthe hosts of Egypt overwhelmed in the flood. {8a}  David\u2019s was a song of\ndeliverance when God had brought him up out of the horrible pit and\nestablished his goings, and had put a new song in his mouth. {8b}  The\nsong of the great multitude before the throne is a song of deliverance,\nwhen, brought out of great tribulation, clothed with white robes and\npalms in their hands, they sing, \u201cSalvation to our God which sitteth upon\nthe throne, and unto the Lamb.\u201d  {8c}\n\nObserve the connection between this safety and these songs of\ndeliverance.  The songs are not merely the consequence of the safety, but\na part of it.  Hidden in the Lord, we are compassed, or surrounded, by\nthem.  Whichever way we look, whether forward in hope, or backward in\nmemory, or upwards in trust, there is in every direction something to\ncall forth the praise, and the spirit of thanksgiving is in itself a\nprotection against assault.\n\nThere is just the same connection between praise and safety in the\ndescription of the restored Zion: \u201cThou shalt call thy walls Salvation,\nand thy gates Praise.\u201d {8d}  Praise is there represented as part of the\ndefence.  The enemy cannot enter because the gateway is filled by praise.\nThe song of deliverance is so hearty and so loud that the voice of the\ntempter is not heard.  And thus it is that the forgiven man, hidden in\nChrist Jesus, praises God, because he has been saved, and confirms his\nsafety by the very act of praising Him.  Does not this teach us a lesson\nas to our own communion with God?  Whatever it is that weighs on the\nheart and disturbs the spirit, whatever the storm be that beats upon us,\nwhether it be care from without or conscience within, whether it be the\npain of trouble or the still greater pain of the sense of sin, the\nforgiven man may go straight to Him and say, \u201cI flee unto Thee to hide\nme.\u201d {9a}  And if hidden in Him, can anything really hurt us?  Is not His\nsalvation a sufficient wall?  Shall anything that can really hurt us\nenter in by those gates which He has closed with praise?  In holy peace,\nthen let the songs of deliverance rise before Him.  Let the unspeakable\nblessedness of the divine safety call forth the notes of thanksgiving.\nIf the sweet note of praise was heard by the prisoners from the inner\ndungeon at Philippi, {9b} shall it not be heard by the whole church of\nGod from those who have found a hiding-place in their Lord?\n\n\n\nII.  THE LORD\u2019S REPLY TO THE FORGIVEN MAN.\n\n\nSuch, then, was the language of the forgiven man to the God who had\nforgiven him.  What reply did he receive?  \u201cI will instruct thee and\nteach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine\neye.\u201d  You will observe that what is here promised is His own divine\nguidance and instruction, and you will see at once how appropriate such a\npromise was under the peculiar circumstances of the case.  David had\ngrievously fallen.  He had been walking, in former times, in God\u2019s way,\nbut had turned aside in a most awful manner.  We do not know what was the\npreparatory process in his mind.  Perhaps he had forgotten his weakness;\nperhaps he had grown self-confident and fell.  But we see what God\npromised now that he was restored.  He undertook in future to keep him\nHimself, by His own instruction and His own guidance.  The Lord Himself\nundertook to guide him, and so keep him safe from the danger of another\nfall.\n\nThere are two points in this promise.  It was _in_ the way, not _about_\nthe way, that God promised to guide him.  When he was walking in the\nnarrow way God under took to walk with him there, and to hold him fast in\nHis own right hand till the journey should be complete, and the rest\nreached at the end.  Let us all learn the lesson that God\u2019s teaching is\nonly found in the path of God\u2019s commandments.  If we choose to walk in\nsome way of our own choosing, we must not expect the guidance of the\nLord.\n\nObserve also what I may term the delicacy of the promise and the intimacy\nof the relationship.  God says, \u201cI will guide thee with Mine eye.\u201d\n\nWhen David was living in a state of impenitence, the strong hand of God\nwas upon him day and night.  But now a look is enough.  No force is\nneeded.  The heart is tender, the ear is open, the eye is fixed on the\nLord Jesus, and the least intimation of His will is sufficient.  The\npassage seems to describe the eye of the Lord watching over His children,\nand the eyes of His children fixed on the Lord.  When the Lord Jesus\nlooked on Peter, Peter must have been looking on Him, and one look melted\nhis heart.  And so when the Lord is guiding us, there is no need of\nstrong or violent discipline, of the wind, the storm, or the earthquake,\nfor the still small voice is enough.  What is needed is that we should be\nliving looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, seeking\nto know His will, drinking in His word, watching the guidance of His\nprovidence, applying the principles of Scripture to common life, and so\nnot waiting till conviction is forced upon us, but, with a tender heart\nand a ready mind, seeking hour by hour to do His will.  It is in such an\nattitude of mind that we can realize the sacred promise, \u201cI will guide\nthee with Mine eye.\u201d\n\nSuch, then, was the intercourse of this forgiven man with God.  How\nclose, how intimate, how sacred, how blessed, the communion!  And how\ncomplete must have been the forgiveness that prepared the way for it.  It\nseems almost impossible to believe that this was the same man on whom\nGod\u2019s hand had been heavy day and night, the same whose bones had waxed\nold through his roaring all the day long, now forgiven, now brought into\nhappy intercourse with God.  Does not the passage teach a wonderful\nlesson to every soul that has been mercifully forgiven in Christ Jesus?\nWhen we think of the precious blood of Christ, and how the Lord laid on\nHim the iniquity of us all, can we suppose for a moment that the\nforgiveness bestowed on us is less complete, or the restoration less\nperfect, than that of David?  Since, then, in his case, the insuperable\nbarrier of his guilt was so completely broken down that he was admitted\nto this sacred and intimate fellowship, why should any one of us remain\nat a distance?  Why should not we, even we, go before the same Father to\nfind in Him our hiding-place, and receive from Him the same blessed\nassurance, \u201cI will guide thee with Mine eye\u201d?  May He accompany us\nthrough life with that loving guidance and watch over every step we take\ntill, by His great grace, we are safe from danger.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SAVIOUR SEEKING THE SINNER\n\n\n    \u201cWhat man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them,\n    doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after\n    that which is lost, until he find it?\u201d\u2014ST. LUKE xv. 4.\n\nTHERE are many amongst us truly and conscientiously seeking the Lord\nwhose souls are ill at ease, and whose hearts are far from peace.  They\nare feeling after Him, if haply they may find Him; but they are like\nblind men groping for the wall, for they have not found Him, and they\nhave no firm resting-place for their faith.  They have been reading many\npassages about seeking the Lord, and have endeavoured to seek Him, but\nthey are sorely discouraged.\n\nLet us, therefore, change the subject, and instead of considering how\nthey are to seek the Lord, let us see how the Lord seeks them.  Let us\nlook at the Divine side of the transaction, and instead of being absorbed\nby the subject of the sinner seeking the Saviour, let us look at the\nboundless grace of God which is shown by the Saviour seeking the sinner.\n\nIt is the great subject of this chapter, which contains three\nillustrations of the one subject, and thus forms an illustrated comment\non His words, \u201cThe Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was\nlost.\u201d {13}  According to those words He came for the lost, and came not\nonly to save them when they should succeed in finding Him, but to seek\nthem in order that He may save.  He does not save without seeking, nor\ndoes He seek without saving.  Let us glean some lessons, from the\ncombination of the three illustrations, as to the loss of the sinner, and\nthe seeking of the Saviour.\n\n\n\nTHE LOSS.\n\n\nIn all three cases the recovered one is said to have been lost.  The\nsheep was lost.  The coin was lost.  The son was lost.\n\nIf we study the illustrations in detail we shall see that there are three\nways described in the chapter in which this loss is brought about.\n\nIt is brought about, in the case of the lost sheep, through simple\nignorance and the folly of pursuing each passing object of attraction.\nThe wandering sheep has no particular intention of going wrong.  It does\nnot set off with a deliberate wish to run away; it is simply led on step\nby step by any attraction that lies beside its path.  And is not this the\ncase with thousands of those who have wandered from the Shepherd\u2019s care?\n\nIn the second parable the loss is occasioned by the neglect of others.\nThe piece of money is lost through carelessness, without any fault of its\nown.  The person who had the charge of it took no heed to be sure that it\nwas safe.  How many are there in exactly that position?  They have been\nlost, humanly speaking, through want of care.\n\nBut the third character is quite distinct from both the others.  The\nProdigal Son was lost because he deliberately and determinately left his\nfather\u2019s home.  He was totally unlike the wandering sheep led on from\nstep to step without a plan, for he had a plan, and he deliberately\ncarried it out.  This, then, is far the worst of the three.  It\nrepresents one living in the midst of privileges, but deliberately\ncasting away his faith.  He has life and death brought before him, and he\nchooses death, or, at all events, he chooses that which leads to death.\nOh! how marvellous is the boundless grace and mercy of our God, that He\nshould go out of His way to seek and to save any one so unthankful and so\nguilty!\n\n\n\nTHE SEEKING OF THE SAVIOUR.\n\n\nHe seeks by coming Himself as the Son of Man.  The Shepherd leaving the\nfold and going forth into the wilderness to seek the wanderer, is a\npicture of the Son of God leaving the glory which He had with the Father\nbefore the world was, and visiting this fallen world as the Son of man,\nin order that He might seek, and, by His atoning blood, might save the\nsinner.  We shall never understand His grace in seeking us if we do not\nrealize that great act of His already complete.  This great finished work\nof His is the foundation of all that follows, and if we want to\nunderstand the mystery of His love in seeking us we must begin with the\ntwo great facts, Incarnation and Atonement.  Why did He become man?  Why\nwas He born at Bethlehem?  Was it not because He came on a divine mission\nto seek the sinner?  Why did He die?  Why did He utter that bitter cry\nupon the cross?  Was it not that He might remove the curse by bearing it,\nand having broken down every barrier, might have the joy of bringing the\nlost one to the Father\u2019s home?  You, then, who are anxious about your\nsouls, and whose earnest desire it is to be sought out and saved,\nremember what the Son of man has already done; fall back on the finished\nfact; and never forget that however doubtful you may be as to your own\nposition, there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that the Son of God\nhas come to seek the lost one and to save him by His blood.\n\n\n\nHE SEEKS THROUGH HUMAN AGENCY.\n\n\nI cannot think that the woman lighting a candle and sweeping the house\nrepresents the Saviour.  She is generally, and I think correctly, thought\nto represent the Church.  If this be the case it may serve to teach how\nthe whole Church of Christ ought to be entirely engaged in carrying out\nthe sacred mission of our Blessed Lord.  It is not the Spirit alone that\nis to say \u201cCome,\u201d {15} but the Bride and all that hear the message.  He\nhas become man and died for us, but we are to light the candle, sweep the\nhouse, and seek diligently till we find the lost ones.  We are to spare\nno effort for their recovery: we are to search them out; we are to let\nthem know that there is a Christian friend anxious for their safety, and\nthat there will not only be joy amongst the angels of God, but a hearty\nwelcome amongst His people on earth for any poor lost one brought in\nlowly repentance to the feet of the Blessed Saviour, there to find pardon\nand recovery.\n\nAnd what are we to say of the third parable, for we find no mention of\nthe seeking there.  But we find the divine act most remarkably\nrepresented, for there we may see how God Himself seeks the wanderer.  We\ndo not see the father doing it in the parable, but we do see how God\nHimself does it in fact.  We there see the work both of His providence\nand of His Spirit.  Of His providence, for the Father in heaven both\nsought and found him, just as He is doing with thousands now.  He took\nfrom him one thing after another till all hope was gone, and he envied\neven the swine their meal.  God was seeking him, so He broke him down and\ncrushed him on purpose that He might save.\n\nBut God did much more than bring him into trouble, for trouble very often\ndoes nothing but harden.  But in this case the Spirit of God was seeking\nhim, so that it was a trouble blessed by the Spirit, and he was led with\na broken heart to say, \u201cFather, I have sinned.\u201d\n\nSee how God Himself sought him and brought him to true repentance.  He\nwas far away from the hand of man.  He was lost to his father\u2019s home.\nBut he was never lost sight of by God.  There was a loving eye watching\nhim, and a loving care seeking him, so that though lost to man he was not\nlost to God, and his father with a full heart was able at length to say,\n\u201cThis my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA DIVINE SALVATION\n\n\n                   \u201cSalvation is of the Lord.\u201d\u2014JONAH ii. 9.\n\n    \u201cAccording as His divine power hath given unto us all things that\n    pertain onto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that\n    hath called us to glory and virtue.\u201d\u20142 ST. PETER i. 3.\n\nNO one can read his Bible without being convinced that it is full of\npractical exhortations as to human conduct and human effort.  Those who\nare seeking the Lord Jesus Christ are exhorted to repent, to believe, to\nbe converted, to seek, to come, and to follow on to know the Lord.  Hence\nit follows that as we are very apt to see only one side of anything at a\ntime, there is a great tendency to dwell exclusively on human action, and\nto exhort, and to persuade, as if everything was in our own hands, so\nthat we may do just what we please, and when we please, in the great\nmatter of our soul\u2019s salvation.  People are apt to write and speak about\ncoming to Jesus as if it all rested with the sinner himself.  But this,\nthough deduced from a truth, is not the whole truth of Scripture.  We\nfind there beyond all doubt the warning, the offer and the invitation;\nbut we find also the clear description of a divine salvation, the plan of\ndivine wisdom, and the gift of divine grace.  Accordingly in this passage\nwhen St. Peter {17} is addressing those who had obtained like precious\nfaith with himself, he makes it perfectly clear at the very outset of his\nletter that they had obtained it, not by the power of their own energy,\nor the determination of their own will, but through the power of God, the\ngift of God, and the call of God, \u201cwhereby were given unto them exceeding\ngreat and precious promises.\u201d {18a}\n\nLet us, therefore, turn our attention to the divine side of the great\ntransaction, and trace through four successive steps, the divine Saviour,\nthe divine salvation, the divine revelation, and the divine application.\n\n\n\nI.  A DIVINE SAVIOUR.\n\n\nIt is not my business now to make any attempt to prove the divinity of\nour Blessed Redeemer, for I take it for granted that we all admit the\ngreat truths of Christianity.  What I desire now to do is to point out\nthat, if saved at all, we are saved by a Person, and that that Person is\ndivine.  The Lord Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour, and as a personal\nSaviour, saves us from the death of sin.  It is as much a personal act as\nwhen a bold swimmer leaps into the ocean and saves a drowning man.\n\nNow it is plain that everything depends on the nature and power of the\nperson who saves us.  If He be only man, then we can hope for nothing\nmore than a man-made salvation.  The salvation will not rise above the\nSaviour; but if He is divine, then we may rest on His divine omnipotence,\nand look for the power of God unto salvation.  Thus the divinity of the\nLord Jesus Christ is a matter of life and death to us.  The question is\nwhether we are to save ourselves or be saved by our God.  And this is the\nissue which He Himself raised when He said, \u201cI give unto them eternal\nlife.\u201d {18b}  The statement of that passage is that He, as a Person,\nholds His people in His own hand, and holds them with omnipotent strength\nbecause He is divine, for He and the Father are one.  There, then, is\nboth the foundation and the keystone of our trust.  We may see all kinds\nof difficulties; there may be confusion, perplexity, and the cry of\ndistress in every direction, but according to His divine power God has\nprovided a divine Saviour, and in that Saviour we may rest, for He is the\nSon of God.\n\n\n\nII.  A DIVINE SALVATION.\n\n\nThe whole plan from first to last is divine.  The world is full of human\nplans, some of which are successful and some total failures.  One man\ncontrives one thing and one another, but God alone planned the great\nsalvation.  It was not in the power of ruined nature to restore itself,\nso in boundless mercy and in His own divine omnipotence He provided a\nplan of restoration.  Thus the purpose is divine, His own eternal purpose\nbefore the world was; the mode of reconciliation is divine, the release\nof the sinner through the imputation of sin to the sin-bearer.  The\npropitiation was divine, \u201cWhom God hath set forth to be a propitiation\nthrough faith in His blood.\u201d {20a}  The imputation of righteousness is\ndivine, \u201cFor God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we\nmight be made the righteousness of God in Him.\u201d {20b}\n\nThe work of sanctification is divine, \u201cOf Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who\nof God is made unto us . . . sanctification;\u201d {20c} and the final\ngathering of God\u2019s elect will be divine for \u201call that are in the graves\nshall hear His voice, and shall come forth.\u201d {20d}\n\nIt is most important to bear this well in mind, for it places the subject\nbeyond the sphere of human speculation.  If a man starts a new system of\nphilosophy, or if people advocate any particular system in politics, we\nare perfectly at liberty to criticise it.  What one man does, another man\nmay criticise.  But it is a very different thing with the salvation of\nGod.  Once admit that it is a divine plan, arranged in divine wisdom and\ncarried out in divine power, and it is then manifestly beyond the reach\nof human intellect.  There may be things in it which seem to us very\nmysterious; but what else can we expect when the infinite and divine\narrangements of God are subjected to the speculations of the finite mind\nof man?  If the whole salvation were of such a character as to present no\npoints of difficulty to the human inquirer, we might almost doubt its\ndivinity, and believe that as it is within the range of man\u2019s mind, so it\nhad its origin in man\u2019s ingenuity.  But when we see it beyond the reach\nof man, then we are taught by our own inability to fathom it, to regard\nit as a plan above ourselves, for the simple reason that it is divine.\n\n\n\nIII.  DIVINE REVELATION.\n\n\nBut when we have acknowledged that the Saviour and the salvation are\ndivine, there remains a further question of the utmost possible\nimportance.  It is this.  In what way is this divine salvation made known\nto mankind?  Is it known by human discovery or divine communication?  Do\nwe know it by thinking out the subject, or by receiving a revelation from\nGod?  Surely the answer to this question is obvious, that a divine\nsalvation can only be known by a divine communication.  The eternal\npurpose of God can only be known by divine communication from Himself.  A\nsupernatural salvation requires in the very nature of things a\nsupernatural communication from God.  Thus an Apostle describes {21} the\nfaith, not as having been _discovered by_ the saints, but as having been\n_delivered to_ the saints, delivered to them, that is, in God\u2019s own\ninspired Word.  As God has planned a complete salvation, so He has given\na complete revelation of that salvation.  He has not left us to grope for\nit as blind men feeling for the wall; but has revealed His plan in His\nown word, and taught us to rest in the scripture of truth as His own\nrevelation of His purpose of grace.\n\n\n\nIV.  THE DIVINE APPLICATION.\n\n\nTo many this is the most difficult of the four points mentioned at the\noutset.  They are perfectly satisfied as to the divine Saviour, the\ndivine salvation, and the divine revelation in the Word of God, but have\nfound no little difficulty in the application of it to themselves.  They\ncan see the chain with its three links hanging down from heaven over\ntheir heads, but it is just out of their own reach, and as a poor dying\nsailor once said to me, \u201cI see the rope, but I cannot get hold of it.\u201d\nSo they see the salvation, but cannot get hold of it as their own.  If\nthere are any anxious on the subject, and earnestly desiring \u201cto get\nhold\u201d on the great salvation, let them remember that what they really\nwant is for _the Saviour to lay hold on them_, and this is what He\npractically does by the power of the Holy Ghost.  It is the peculiar\noffice of the Holy Ghost to take of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ\nand apply them unto us, and without that act of His we may struggle in\nvain to reach the blessing.  It is not enough for us to be told that God\nhas provided a perfect Saviour, that that Saviour has made a perfect\npropitiation, and that by virtue of that propitiation the great salvation\nis offered to us as a gift.  We may be assured of all that and yet live\non without it, for we want in addition that which the human heart cannot\nfind in itself, the power to receive the gift and, receiving it, to live.\nIt is by this mighty power that those who sleep are awakened; those far\noff are brought nigh; the bondsmen are set free; the dead made alive, and\nthose who are strangers and outcasts are made heirs of God through the\nblood of Christ.\n\nThere is no case too hopeless for the Lord\u2019s salvation.  There are many\nwho have been so utterly unsuccessful in their efforts to rise that they\nbegin to think there is something peculiar in themselves which makes them\nan exception to the general offer of life and pardon.  And there are\nothers who are longing for the salvation of some stubborn, unbroken\nheart, but who have sought so long and so hopelessly that they almost\nbegin to despair.  Now whether your anxiety be for yourself or others,\nremember the divinity of the great salvation.  If the whole is divine,\nwhy should it not be sufficient?  You say you are dead, but cannot the\ndivine power raise the dead?  You say your sins are too great for pardon,\nbut is not the divine propitiation sufficient for them all?  You say you\ncannot produce even a good prayer, but does not the divine revelation\nassure you that the salvation is a free gift even for those who have\nnothing?\n\nGive up, then, all thought of working yourself up to salvation, for that\nis a mere human process, and is certain to fail, but throw yourself\n_before you are saved_ right away on the Saviour for His great gift of\nsalvation.  Remember that the whole thing from first to last is divine,\nand, because it is divine, as a little child trust it without the\nslightest qualification, trust the promise, accept the gift, and may God\ngrant that you may be able to use as your own the words of the text,\n\u201cAccording as His divine power hath given unto me all things that pertain\nunto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who hath called\n_me_ to glory and virtue.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFEELINGS\n\n\n                       \u201cLove, joy, peace.\u201d\u2014GAL. v. 22.\n\nFEELINGS clearly have their place in the things of God.  Our Christianity\nis based on principles, but still it calls forth the feelings.  Now there\nare two great extremes into which we are apt to fall with reference to\nChristian feeling.\n\nThere are some whose religion seems to consist in feeling only.  They\nlook for warm, bright emotions, they bring everything to the standard of\ntheir feelings, and if they feel as they wish to do they are satisfied.\nTheir hearts are warmed by the things of God, and many a cold, phlegmatic\ntheologian would be a different being if he could but catch something of\ntheir feeling.\n\nBut still we must put in a caution, for feelings, however bright, are not\nto be trusted unless they rise out of principle and end in practice.  If\nyou have feeling only\u2014a feeling not based on solid acquaintance with\nScriptural truth, it will rise like a bubble, and look as beautiful in\nits colours, but it will burst as easily as the bubble does, and even at\nits best estate can never bear the slightest pressure.  Here, then, is\none extreme\u2014the religion of feeling, of emotion, of impression, taking\nthe place of the religion of conviction, of principle, of faith.\n\nBut there is another extreme: I mean the religion without feeling.  Some\nseem to think all emotion, or warmth, or fervour is enthusiasm, and\nsettle down satisfied with a cold reception of Christian truth.  They may\nbe quite correct in their creed, and may really believe all the great\ntruths of the Gospel, but their system is to give no expression to\nChristian emotion, and this has a wonderful power of chilling all around\nthem.\n\nWe must not rest satisfied with an unfeeling consent to Christian truth.\nWe want to feel as well as to know, and to have the heart really warmed\nby the tender love of our gracious Saviour.  But here I suspect that I\nshall be met by a great difficulty on the part of many of you, for this\nfeeling is exactly that which many cannot find.  You can understand, but\nyou cannot feel.  Your great trouble is, that there is such a dreadful\napathy over your whole soul that nothing seems to rouse it.  If this is\nthe case consider\u2014\n\n\n\nI.  THE FEELINGS, HOWEVER WARM, CAN NEVER JUSTIFY, AND THE WANT OF\nFEELING DOES NOT PREVENT JUSTIFICATION.\n\n\nI have known persons who have long since given up all idea of being\njustified by _works_, who still have a secret clinging to some idea of\nbeing justified by _feelings_.  If they could but feel more\u2014more love,\nmore repentance, more warmth\u2014then they think they could trust Christ for\ntheir acceptance.  They have learned, they think, to trust Him if they\nhave the feelings, but they would not venture to do so without them.\n\nNow, before they can be happy in Christ they will have to go a step\ndeeper, and learn to trust Him when they have not the feelings as well as\nwhen they have.  They must remember that our justification is entirely\ndependent on His atonement and His righteousness, and so it is His free\ngift, freely given to those that are dead in sin.  Now a dead man has no\nfeelings.  If, therefore, we wait for our justification until we have the\nfeelings we must wait till we are alive.  But the language of Scripture\nis, \u201cGod, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,\neven when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.\u201d\n{26}  Your only hope, therefore, is to trust Him as you are, without\nwaiting till you are one atom warmer than you are at this present moment.\nWith your heart as cold as you now feel it to be, you must throw yourself\nat once before His feet, and cry, \u201cLord, save me, I perish.\u201d\n\nClosely connected with this suggestion is another, namely this\u2014\n\n\n\nII.  IF YOU WANT TO BE MADE TO FEEL, YOU MUST LOSE NO TIME IN GOING NEAR\nTO A FATHER\u2019S THRONE.\n\n\nYou will never feel warm while you stand shivering outside the city.  You\nmust go inside, even while you are cold, and there have your heart warmed\nby the Lord Himself.  Remember that the great heart-warming subject is\nthe tender love of God as displayed in Christ Jesus.  If the love of\nChrist does not make you feel, nothing else will.  Do not, therefore,\nstand afar off gazing on your own coldness, but turn at once to the Cross\nof Christ.  Study Him in the garden bowed down under the heavy burden of\nsin; study Him on the cross forsaken even of the Father, and remember\nthat all that was borne for you, even for you.  Remember there was a\npersonal connection between Him and you in the whole of that great\ntransaction, and so abide, as it were, gazing on the Lord Jesus, on His\nlife, on His meekness, on His burden, on His cry.  Pray God that you may\nrealize your part in the whole matter.  Confess before Him your own cold,\ndead, lifeless condition.  Trust Him, as He died for you, to save you\nfrom it; and so you may hope that, though you feel so cold as you\napproach Him, you may experience something of His love when you gaze on\nHim, and know something even of His joy when you go on your way justified\nthrough His grace.\n\n\n\nIII.  REMEMBER WELL THAT FEELING IS THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THAT\nYOU CANNOT WORK YOURSELF UP TO IT.\n\n\nIt is very clearly the work of the Holy Spirit to call forth feeling.  He\ndoes not act on the head only, but on the heart also.  He opens the\nunderstanding, but His great office is to make His people feel what they\nalready know.  Thus of the nine fruits of the Spirit {27a} the first\nthree are all emotions.  Their seat is neither in the head nor in the\npractice, but they are all feelings of the heart, \u201cLove, joy, peace.\u201d\nThey all lead to practice, and all are founded on principle, but all\nthree are sacred emotions implanted there by the Holy Ghost Himself.\n\nIf, therefore, your cold, unfeeling heart is a real sorrow to you; if the\ntrouble of your heart is that your sins trouble you so little, and that\nyou feel so coldly towards that Blessed Saviour who has felt for you so\ndeeply, rest not content, but throw yourself before God that the Spirit\nof grace and of supplication may enable you to look upon Him whom you\nhave pierced, that He may take of the things of Jesus and show them unto\nyou; that He may call forth in your soul His own fruits of love, joy, and\npeace, and that so He may answer you the Apostle\u2019s prayer\u2014\u201cThe God of\nHope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.\u201d {27b}\n\n\n\n\nA PEACEFUL DEATH-BED\n\n\n    \u201cLord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy\n    word:\n\n    \u201cFor mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.\u201d\u2014ST. LUKE ii. 29, 30.\n\nOUR thoughts are often directed to the blessed prospect of our Lord\u2019s\nreturn, and there cannot be a doubt that His personal coming is the\ncrowning hope of the Church of God.  At the same time, it is most\nimportant for us to be, if I may so express it, familiar with the thought\nof the present heaven.  The youngest amongst us may be cut down at any\nmoment, and the old amongst us must be convinced that our time is short,\nand that our places must soon be filled by others.  We ought, therefore,\nto know where we are going, and what it is that awaits us when \u201cthe\nearthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved.\u201d {28a}\n\nThe words of our text, so often chanted in our churches, express a\nsentiment to which, I fear, many who chant them are entire strangers, for\nthey express the peaceful readiness with which Simeon was looking forward\nto his death.  It had been \u201crevealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he\nshould not see death, before he had seen the Lord\u2019s Christ.\u201d {28b}  He\nhad, therefore, spent his latter days waiting and watching for the\npromised Christ, and at length, when the Child was presented in the\nTemple, he saw in that Child the Messiah for whom he had been waiting,\nand then it was that, his hope being fulfilled, he could bless God and\nsay, \u201cLord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.\u201d\n\nThere are three subjects suggested by his words.\n\n\n\nI.  THE VIEW WHICH IS HERE GIVEN OF DEATH.\n\n\nHe does not speak of it as annihilation, destruction, or stupefaction,\nbut as a departure or removal from one place to another.  If a person\nwere to depart from this place and go elsewhere, he would simply change\nhis home.  Until he departs his home is here, but when he departs his\nhome is elsewhere.\n\nIs it not exactly the same when the spirit departs from its present home\nand removes to the building of God, the house not made with hands,\neternal in the heavens?  In this case, as in an earthly removal,\ndeparture implies the continuance of life.  Thus I rejoice in the many\npassages in which death is spoken of as a departure.  It was clearly the\nidea in the mind of St. Paul, as when he said, \u201chaving a desire to\ndepart,\u201d {29a} and again, \u201cThe time of my departure is at hand.\u201d {29b}\nWhen those we love are in far distant lands we see them not, but they are\nthere; our eyes cannot behold them, nor our ears hear their pleasant\nvoices, for they are far away, but that does not lead us to doubt either\ntheir life, their intelligence, or their affection.  Just so it is with\nthose that are gone.  We no longer hear the voice, or look on the loved\ncountenance, but we are fully persuaded that, as spirits, they are living\nelsewhere, that separation is not destruction, and that removal does not\ninvolve the diminution of the intelligent powers of the living mind.\n\nBut if death is thus a departure, where is the place to which the spirit\ngoes?  Over this point there is a veil thrown in Scripture.  If we were\nto know all about it there would be nothing in the knowledge to affect\nour practical conduct, so there is no knowledge given.  Nor do we require\nit, for one thing is told us, and that one thing is enough.  If assured\nof that one thing we want no more.  What, then, is that one thing so\nclearly revealed to us in God\u2019s holy Word?  Where shall we find an\naccount of it?  Let us turn to the language of the Apostle Paul: \u201cI am in\na strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.\u201d\n{30a}  He knew, therefore, that in his departure he should depart to be\nwith Christ, in the conscious enjoyment of His perceptible and\nnever-ceasing love.\n\n\n\nII.  THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE BELIEVER MAY DIE.\n\n\nThis is described in the words of Simeon, \u201cLet thy servant depart in\npeace.\u201d  Simeon could look forward to his dying hour in a tranquil spirit\nof calm, resting peace.  How often is there care on the heart of the\ndying believer.  A father may be leaving his wife and family, who have\nbeen dependent on him for support; or a mother her children, with the\nstrong conviction that there is no substitute for a mother\u2019s love.  Let\nno one suppose that there is no trial of faith in such a separation, and\nthat it is not, in many cases, very hard to trust.  But in Christ Jesus\nthere may be peace even in such a parting, and the dying mother, if she\nknows her Saviour, may trust her all into His loving hands, and say, \u201cI\nknow whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that\nwhich I have committed unto Him.\u201d {30b}  She has committed her children\ninto His care.  They are her deposit with God, and she may be at perfect\npeace in the assurance that, though _she_ is departing, _He_ is\nremaining, and will remain a faithful Saviour till every one of those\ndear children is presented safe before His throne.\n\nLet no one suppose that it is not a very solemn thing to die, to be\nsuddenly cut off from everything of which we have ever had any\nexperience, and to launch out alone into an invisible world.  It cannot,\ntherefore, be an easy thing to die in peace.  But, thanks be to God, we\nbelieve that the departing spirit passes at once into the loving presence\nof our Redeemer, and why should there not be peace?  I believe it is the\nforgetfulness of this personal entrance into the personal presence of a\npersonal Saviour that sometimes seems to darken the dying hour.  People\nforget those few words, \u201cThou art with me,\u201d {31a} and then they are\nafraid.  But when we rest on those words, and combine them with our\nassured hope, knowing that He is now with us invisibly, and that we are\ngoing to be with Him visibly, then we shall be able to say, as Simeon\ndid, \u201cLord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.\u201d\n\n\n\nIII.  THE GREAT FOUNDATION OF SIMEON\u2019S PEACEFUL TRUST.\n\n\nHis eyes had seen the salvation of God.  What he had really seen was the\npromised Messiah, that is, the Lord\u2019s Christ.  The little child was the\npromised Saviour, and to him the Saviour was salvation.  The Person and\nthe Gift were so bound together that they were as one.  He could not know\nthe Person without the Gift, or enjoy the Gift except through the Person.\nThus our Lord, more than thirty years afterwards, spoke of Himself as\n\u201cthe Salvation,\u201d {31b} when He said, as He entered into the house of\nZacch\u00e6us, \u201cThis day is salvation come to this house.\u201d  Simeon had what we\ncannot have, something material that he could handle and look upon.  His\nhand could handle and his eye could see the little child; and there\ncannot be a doubt that there is in the human mind a craving after\nsomething visible, tangible, and material.  But we have nothing of the\nkind; we cannot hold our salvation in our hands.  Neither do we want it\nthere.  It is safer in the hands of our Lord Himself.  But though we\ncannot say, \u201cMine _eyes_ have seen,\u201d we can say, thanks be to God, \u201cMine\n_heart_ hath seen,\u201d and we can understand the words, \u201cWhom having not\nseen, ye love.\u201d {32a}  There is exactly the same union in that passage\nbetween the Saviour and the salvation.  Receiving Him we receive\nsalvation, and beholding Him with the eye of faith we behold, as it were,\nour names written in the Book of Life.\n\nTo behold the Saviour is a very personal matter.  It is not merely to\nbehold Him like a monument on a distant hill, which we can admire, but\nnever enter; or as a harbour of refuge which we cannot reach.  It must\nnot be with us as it was with Balaam when he said, \u201cI shall behold Him,\nbut not nigh,\u201d {32b} for the invitation to us is to draw near, and our\nprivilege is in our inmost soul to pour out our heart before Him, as\nbefore One who knows all its secrets, and through His own most precious\nblood has blotted out all its guilt.  This has thrown a gleam of sacred\nlight into many a death-chamber.  May God grant that it may be the same\nwith each of us.  Let none of us rest until we can say, \u201cMine eyes have\nseen Thy salvation,\u201d till we not merely know that there is a Saviour, but\ncan rest assured that He has saved us, and has made us\u2014even us\u2014heirs of\nGod and joint-heirs with Himself in His kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nA PEACEFUL LIFE\n\n\n    \u201cTo me to live is Christ.\u201d\u2014PHIL. i. 21.\n\nWE have studied the subject of a peaceful death-bed and I hope we learned\nhow to die.  Let us now turn our thoughts to a peaceful life and\nendeavour to learn how to live.  The two things are bound fast together.\n\nLet us study what St. Paul meant when he said, \u201cTo me to live is Christ.\u201d\nWhen there is any one object, for which, and in which, a person lives, it\nis not an uncommon thing to say it is his life.  To a certain extent this\nexplains the expression, \u201cTo me to live is Christ,\u201d for the Lord Jesus\nChrist was the one absorbing object of St. Paul\u2019s whole life.  He thought\nof Him; he leaned on Him; he trusted in Him; he loved Him, and he lived\nfor Him.  He could not do without Him.  If we look at the subject more in\ndetail we find three things very clearly taught us in Scripture.  Our\nlife is hidden _with_ Him, dependent _on_ Him, and devoted _to_ Him.\n\n\n\nHIDDEN WITH HIM\n\n\nIn this stormy world we perpetually need a hiding-place, a shelter from\nthe storm, and a covert from the blast.  And so in the great prophecy of\nour Lord and Saviour revealed in Isaiah, we read of Him, \u201cA man shall be\nas an hiding-place from the wind.\u201d {34a}  But three centuries before\nIsaiah uttered that prophecy David had learnt to hide under His care, and\nsaid of Him, \u201cThou art my hiding-place.\u201d {34b}  The trouble from which he\nwas hiding was deep conviction of sin.  In consequence of his sin the\nhand of God had been heavy upon him day and night.  But at length the\nguilt of his great sin had been blotted out, and as a forgiven man he\ncould find shelter in the very God against whom he had transgressed.  He\ncould hide himself in the love of Him against whom he had sinned, and\ninstead of finding the Lord\u2019s hand heavy upon him, he could rejoice in\nthe thought that there was a wall of praise around him.  Now just in the\nsame way our life is said to be hidden with Christ.  \u201cYour life is hid\nwith Christ in God.\u201d {34c}  It is not exposed to the rude shocks of the\nouter world, but is hidden with Him.  As _He_ is unseen, so _it_ is\nunseen; but as _He_ is safe at the right hand of the Father, so is _it_\nsafe, being laid up in perfect safety as a sure deposit in the\neverlasting fidelity of God.  It is on the safety of this deposit that\nour whole life depends.  If there were the slightest doubt about it we\nshould be like ships drifting on the wide ocean without either chart,\ncompass, or anchorage.  But now we are safe because indissolubly bound up\nwith the Saviour, and so completely is our life identified with Him that\nin the next verse He is described as \u201cChrist our life.\u201d  He holds our\nlife in His right hand.  He is the source, the fountain, and the main\nspring of it all, so that we can well understand the words of St. John,\n\u201cHe that hath the Son hath life.\u201d {34d}\n\n\n\nDEPENDENT ON HIM\n\n\nThere is a struggle in the human heart for independence.  The tendency of\nthe day is to throw off all dependence, and, with it, all submission.\n\u201c_I_ will,\u201d \u201c_I_ choose,\u201d \u201c_I_ think,\u201d \u201c_I_ determine,\u201d \u201c_I_ am\nresolved,\u201d is the self-sufficient language of these latter days.  Now\nsuch an one can never say, \u201cTo me to live is Christ.\u201d  If he say anything\nit should be, \u201cTo me to live is self!\u201d  But see what a contrast there is\nin the life of the believer.  Turn only to one passage in Galatians.\nThere you find the \u201cI\u201d crucified; \u201cI am crucified with Christ.\u201d {35}  But\nthough the \u201cI\u201d is crucified, there is a life that remains for\n\u201cNevertheless I live.\u201d  And now what is the character of this abiding\nlife?  The latter part of the verse describes it, \u201cYet not I, but Christ\nliveth in me.\u201d  These words tell of a life of habitual dependence.  It\nall depends on the in-dwelling Saviour.  His in-dwelling, that is life,\nthat is the secret of everything.  But how is this indwelling realized?\nHow is it appropriated or experienced?  It is clear that it cannot be\nknown by the senses.  We cannot see, hear, or handle Him.  We must not\nlook for anything material.  Nor is it connected here with anything\nSacramental; but it is described as the unspeakable blessing of an\nabiding faith, \u201cThe life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the\nfaith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.\u201d\n\nWe must not leave the passage without remarking two facts respecting that\nlove.\n\n(1)  It was shown in propitiation.  St. Paul did not merely say, \u201cWho\nloved me,\u201d but adds, \u201cWho gave Himself for me.\u201d  There are many proofs of\nHis love, but the crowning act of all is propitiation.  It is the ransom\npaid in full that is the one hope for the captive, and the supreme\nevidence of the Redeemer\u2019s love.\n\n(2)  The love was not merely for all, but according to that passage, \u201cfor\n_me_.\u201d  One individual is a mere unit in a crowd, no more than a grain of\nsand in an Egyptian desert; so that it seems a very easy thing for any\none person to be lost in the multitude.  But it is the office of God the\nHoly Ghost to apply the work wrought out for _all_ to the special need of\n_each one_.\n\n\n\nDEVOTED TO HIM\n\n\nSt. Paul could say, \u201cTo me to live is Christ,\u201d for he could also say\nwithout hesitation that the one thought of his life was his Saviour\u2019s\nglory.  He lived for one object, and that one object is described as his\nlife.  Now we hear a great deal of consecration in these days, and we\ncannot hear too much, if only it is kept in its right place, for there is\nfar too little consecration to God amongst us.  Consecration is the\nsurrender of the whole life to the Lord.  It is the setting the Lord\nalways before us in all that He calls us to do.  We have been loved by\nHim, redeemed by Him, called by Him, and saved by Him; so now we are His.\nWe belong to Him altogether.  Our powers are no longer our own, but our\nLord\u2019s; our lives should be no longer occupied for ourselves, but for our\nLord; so that in us may be carried out the purpose of redeeming love as\ndescribed by St. Paul.  \u201cHe died for all, that they which live should not\nhenceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and\nrose again.\u201d {37}\n\nShall we live for ourselves or for His glory?  For the gratification of\nself, or for the happy, holy, sacred service of Him to whom we owe all\nthat we have, and all that we hope for, our Blessed Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ?\n\n\n\n\nTHE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\n\n    \u201cYe know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.\u201d\u2014ST.\n    JOHN xiv. 17.\n\nIN this verse our Blessed Lord spoke of the knowledge enjoyed by His\npeople.  He spoke of the present, and the future; of that which they had\nthen at the time that He was with them, and of that which they were about\nto enjoy after the Day of Pentecost, when He would be taken away from\nthem.  With reference to the present He says \u201cHe dwelleth\u201d (or, is\ndwelling) with you, or amongst you; with reference to the future He says\n\u201cHe shall be in you.\u201d  There are clearly, therefore, two great subjects\nto be considered, the knowledge enjoyed by the disciples when the Lord\nJesus was still upon earth, and the knowledge enjoyed by all His people\never since the Day of Pentecost.\n\n\n\nI.  WHEN HE WAS ON EARTH.\n\n\n    \u201cYe know Him for He dwelleth with you.\u201d\n\nThe expression does not describe an internal union within the soul, but\nan external companionship.  The meaning is the same as when St. John\nsaid, \u201cThere standeth one among you, whom ye know not.\u201d {38}  There they\nwere, a little company of disciples, and amongst them in the midst of\ntheir society, in the room where they were assembled, was abiding, or\ndwelling, the Spirit of Truth.\n\nNow what was the meaning of this declaration?  Was it not this?  That the\nHoly Spirit was at that time dwelling amongst them as embodied and\nmanifested in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Of Him it was said by\nJohn the Baptist \u201cGod giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.\u201d {39a}\nSo it was said by St. Paul, \u201cIn Him dwelleth all the fulness of the\nGodhead bodily.\u201d {39b}  And by St. Peter we are taught that He was\nanointed with the Holy Ghost, and God was with Him. {39c}\n\nConsider, then, the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, as\nthe human manifestation of the mind and power of the Holy Ghost, and you\nwill see in a moment that while He was on earth the Spirit of Truth was\ndwelling amongst the disciples.  Where the Lord Jesus was, there was the\nSpirit; where He dwelt, there the Spirit dwelt; and when He and those\ntwelve disciples sat together at the Last Supper, He could say of the\nSpirit of Truth, \u201cYe know Him for He dwelleth with, or among, you.\u201d\n\n\n\nII.  THE KNOWLEDGE ENJOYED BY ALL HIS PEOPLE AFTER HIS DEPARTURE.\n\n\nIt was to be very different afterwards.  There is an immense change when\nour Lord speaks of what should take place after His departure.  It is no\nlonger \u201cwith,\u201d but \u201cin.\u201d  He would be not merely present in their\ncompany, but abiding in their souls.\n\nIn this promise, there are three things requiring our careful notice.\n\n(1)  The promise applies not to a company, to a society, to a Church, or\nto any body of men, but _to each individual_.  The Holy Spirit will not\nbe merely in the midst of a congregation, but a sacred guest in each\nsoul.  You see this very clearly in the history of the Day of Pentecost.\n{40}  The Holy Spirit came on the company, on the Church, for He filled\nall the house where they were sitting.  But besides that there was a\nseparate personal gift to each person present, for \u201cit sat upon each of\nthem and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.\u201d\n\n(2)  The sacred gift is no longer localized or specially enjoyed in one\nplace.  So long as the Lord Jesus was amongst them where He was, there\nwas the Gift.  But now, wherever the believer is, there is the Gift.  See\nthe unspeakable blessedness of this sacred promise.  The gift of the\nSpirit is not confined to this place or that.  It is the inestimable\nprivilege of each individual believer wherever he is, and in whatever\nposition it may please God to cast his lot.  You may be cut off from the\nmeans of grace in which you have delighted, but wherever you are, you are\nnot cut off from the Spirit of Truth, from the indwelling of the Holy\nGhost, for He is not limited to time, or place, or circumstance, and\nwherever you go at the Lord\u2019s command, there you will carry His presence\nwith you.\n\n(3)  He dwells _within_ the soul.\n\nThere is this great difference between His presence and that of the most\nfaithful and loving of friends.  The friend can only judge by the\noutside; the anxious look, the tear in the eye, or the words of sorrow.\nBut the Spirit of Truth is within, and He takes note of the inner secrets\nof the soul.  He does not wait for any external evidence of what is\npassing.  The hidden springs of thought are all open to His eye: the\nsecret pain that is never breathed to any one; the hidden hope that\nsmoulders in the heart; the subtle temptation that is beginning to grow\nup unperceived, and the yearning of soul after a higher life,\u2014all these\nthings are open to Him, and He, dwelling within and knowing all that is\npassing within, can check, can guide, can heal, can help, can supply any\npossible need \u201caccording to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.\u201d {41a}\n\nThere is no telling, then, the unspeakable blessing of the Pentecostal\ngift, and we can perfectly understand why it was that our Lord said \u201cIt\nis expedient for you that I go away.\u201d\n\nBut do we all desire it?  \u201cOf course we do,\u201d say some.  But it is not at\nall a matter of course.  There was no room for Christ in the inn at\nBethlehem, and there is no room for the Spirit of Truth in many hearts.\nIf He dwells within your soul He will humble you and make you to \u201cabhor\nyourself and repent in dust and ashes.\u201d {41b}  Do you desire that?  If He\ndwells within you, He will wean you from the world and teach you to live\nas one looking for the Kingdom.  Do you desire that?  If He dwells within\nyou He will teach you to give up your own will.  Do you desire that?  Do\nyou desire really to be led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit to become\na humble, gentle, and submissive child of God?  I fear there are many\nwho, when the whole subject is considered, are not prepared to give Him\nan unreserved welcome, and would be tempted to close the door of their\nhearts against His entrance.  If the door is opened by them at all, it is\nonly set ajar, and not thrown wide open that the King of Glory may enter\nin, in the fulness of His power, and turn out everything that is at\nvariance with His will.\n\nBut I believe there are many who would hold nothing back and who long\nabove all things that the Spirit of Truth may take full possession of\ntheir souls.  Their difficulty is not that they do not wish it, but that\nthey can scarcely believe it possible that He should ever dwell in such a\nheart as theirs.  They find so much sin there that they can scarcely\nimagine it possible that the Holy Comforter should not be driven from\nthem by all that He sees within.  No doubt there is quite sufficient to\ndrive Him grieved and displeased from His resting-place, and if it were\nnot for the everlasting covenant of God, and the precious blood of\nChrist, I can perfectly understand the impossibility of His making such a\nheart His dwelling-place.  But the atoning blood alters the whole case.\nThe blood of Christ breaks down every barrier.  It is a new and living\nway {42} by which not only may you enter boldly into the presence of God,\nbut through which the Spirit of God may enter your heart and take full\npossession of it as His own abiding-place.\n\nIf you are longing to be filled with the Spirit, you must look straight\nto that cross of Christ.  You must remember the fulness of the pardon.\nYou must trust to that Atonement as breaking down even the barrier raised\nby your own dark corruption, and, pleading that precious blood, must open\nevery avenue of your soul to the Spirit of Truth, that He may enter in\nand there reign supreme.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WITNESS\u2014THE LEADER\u2014THE COMMANDER\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and\n    commander to the people.\u201d\u2014ISA. lv. 4.\n\nIT is often said that a living head is essential to the well-being of a\nliving Church.  Nothing can be clearer than the teaching of Scripture\nthat our Living Head is in heaven now, seated at the right hand of God.\n\nIt is as a Living Head that our Blessed Saviour is here predicted.  Three\nrich promises are made by God to every hungering and thirsting\nheart\u2014Life, a Covenant, and a living Head.  Life, for He says, \u201cHear, and\nyour soul shall live.\u201d  A covenant, for He says, \u201cI will make an\neverlasting covenant with you;\u201d and a Head, for He adds, in the words of\nour text, \u201cBehold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader\nand commander to the people.\u201d\n\nThe question may arise, \u201cWho is it that is thus given for a witness?  Who\nis the person that the people are to recognize as their leader and\ncommander?\u201d  The prophecy says David.  But David, we know, was a typical\ncharacter.  He was not merely a king, but a type; a type of Him who was\nto be both his son and his Lord.  Accordingly we are taught that the name\nDavid was applied to the Lord Jesus, for we find the words applied by St.\nPaul to Christ and His resurrection. {44a}  We are there taught that when\nGod raised up Christ from the dead, He gave us the sure mercies of David.\nThe Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Witness, He is the Leader, and\nHe the Commander of His people.  In other words the risen Redeemer is our\nLiving Head.\n\nThe text, therefore, directs us to His present action, not to His death\nor even to His life before His death, but to His present Headship at the\nright hand of God.  He is\n\n\n\nA WITNESS\n\n\nOne who bears a true and faithful testimony.  This He did in His life on\nearth, as we learn from His own words when He stood before Pilate.  \u201cTo\nthis end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I\nshould bear witness into the truth.\u201d {44b}  And this same character He\nmaintains in heaven, for at the opening of the Book of Revelation we are\ntaught to look for grace and peace \u201cfrom Jesus Christ the faithful\nwitness, the first-begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of\nthe earth.\u201d {44c}  It is clear that as the \u201cfirst-begotten,\u201d that is, as\nthe risen Saviour, He now acts as a witness.\n\nThis is done in two ways.  He is a witness to the world, bearing witness\nto God\u2019s great plan of salvation.  But more than that He witnesses to the\nheart of each of His own children, assuring them of His faithfulness,\nconfirming them in His truth, and doing what David prayed Him to do, \u201cSay\nunto my soul, I am thy salvation.\u201d {44d}  There is an outer and an inner\nwitness; an outer witness in the power of His Spirit accompanying His\nword, and an inner witness within the souls of His own people; hidden\nfrom the world and known only to those who enjoy it, that witness of\nwhich St. John spoke when he said, \u201cHe that believeth on the Son of God\nhath the witness in himself.\u201d {45a}  And this may teach us an important\nlesson respecting the true nature of faith.  It is faith when we receive\nthe testimony of the Lord Jesus as an undoubted truth, and, without\nquestioning, simply believe Him.  There are difficult truths taught in\nHis word, and some strangely at variance with human opinion; but true\nfaith gives up all and trusts.  It makes a complete surrender to Jesus\nChrist, the faithful witness.\n\n\n\nHE IS A LEADER\n\n\nAnd when we speak of Him as a Leader, we must not connect His office\nmerely with the idea of war, for it is the office of peace also.  When\nour Lord compares Himself to the Shepherd He says He \u201cleadeth them out.\u201d\n{45b}  Nor is His office of a leader given up even in the peaceful rest\nof Heaven.  There is a leading Hand even there, for when St. John was\npermitted to look in and to see the great multitude before the Throne,\nthe Angel referred him to words from the blessed promise in Isaiah. {45c}\nIn heaven, therefore, the promise is both fulfilled and known.  It is\nfulfilled, for there the saints of God are refreshed by the living\nwaters; and it is known, for the Angel himself, while describing the joys\nof heaven, calls attention to the ancient prophecy, and shows how in the\npeaceful scene around him it was receiving its complete fulfilment.\n\nNow what is implied when we are taught that the Lord Jesus is a Leader\nfor His people?  It implies much more than teaching, and therefore the\noffice of the leader is far beyond that of witness.  It would be of but\nlittle use to explain to a blind man the windings of some narrow path.\nBut it would be an act of great kindness to take him by the hand and lead\nhim.  And this is what our Leader does for us, for He says, \u201cI will bring\nthe blind by a way they knew not.\u201d {46a}\n\nOur proud hearts may dislike the dependent position of either the feeble\nor the blind; but, whether we like it or no, we are both blind and\nfeeble, unable to trace our path amidst the perplexities of life, and\nequally unable to move safely alone even when the path may be discovered.\nIt is, therefore, in mercy and in tender love that God has given Him to\nbe a Leader, and our part is to accept the gift and trust Him.  When we\nare brought into perplexity, into one of those positions of life where\ntwo ways seem to meet, we may fall down before Him as our great Leader,\nand say, \u201cFor thy name\u2019s sake, lead me and guide me.\u201d {46b}  When we find\nourselves in slippery places and scarcely know how to stand, we may come\ninto His presence and cry, \u201cHold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.\u201d {46c}\nWhen perplexing doctrine is presented to us, and false teaching abounds\naround us, we may spread out His word which contains His testimony, and\nsay, \u201cShew me Thy ways, O Lord.\u201d {46d}  And when we come to the valley of\nthe shadow of death, when no human hand can help us, and no human\nsympathy reach our necessities, even then we may be perfectly sure that\nour great Leader will never leave us; but as we part from all friends\nhere on earth, and as all earthly helps fade away, we may lean more\nsimply and more heavily than ever on Him and say, \u201cThough I walk through\nthe valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with\nme.\u201d {47a}\n\nSo again for the Church of Christ.  Our lot is cast in very perplexing\ntimes, and those who really care for the Church of God must often have\ntheir hearts filled with deep anxiety.  It is a happy thing to know that\nGod has given him to be a Leader of the people, and \u201cHead over all things\nto the Church.\u201d {47b}  We may trust Him, therefore, to take care of His\nown truth, and rest assured that amidst all the perplexities of these\nlatter days He will guide His own people safe to the end, until every one\nof them appeareth before God.\n\n\n\nHE IS A COMMANDER\n\n\nWe cannot say of this office, as we did of the last, that it belongs to\npeace, for it is one peculiar to war.  The commander is for the\nbattle-field, and still more for the well-arranged campaign.  Thus our\nLord is presented to us as a Commander in the book of Revelation. {47c}\nHe then appears in His royal character, and at the same time heading His\narmy.  He encounters all the powers of the world, but he is surrounded by\na little company of faithful followers, and He leads them on to victory.\n\nThe Church of God must be prepared for conflict.  Till the Lord comes sin\nwill give the Church no peace.  Till Satan is trampled down under His\nfeet, he will never rest in his deadly warfare against the Lord Jesus and\nHis little flock.  The soldier of Christ must be a man of war.\n\nThe great Commander will have His own chosen and faithful followers\u2014\u201cthey\nthat are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.\u201d {48a}  They are\nmarked from the world by a clear line of separation.  They bear His name;\nthey wear His uniform; they rally round His banner; they are not ashamed\nof His reproach; and wheresoever He goeth there it is their joy to follow\nHim.  There is no service like His, no commander so perfect, no struggle\nso noble, no victory so certain and so glorious.\n\nIf we really be amongst the chosen band of faithful followers, our one\nstandard in life must be the will of our great Commander.  We must be\nwatching each signal from Him, and owning no authority but His.  From\nfirst to last our spirit must be that of Saul of Tarsus, \u201cLord, what wilt\nThou have me to do?\u201d {48b}  This may sometimes imply a painful surrender,\na surrender of ease, and inclination, and, hardest of all, of pride.  But\nthe soldier in the earthly army yields at once to his commanding officer,\nand how much more should we, when He has chosen us to be His people,\nblotted out our sins by His blood, called us into His own fellowship,\nsealed us with His seal, and made us heirs of His Kingdom?\n\n\n\n\nFAITH AND EFFORT\n\n\n    \u201cOur God shall fight for us.\u201d\u2014NEH. iv. 20.\n\nI CAN imagine nothing better calculated to make a people calm, peaceful,\nand courageous, than to be able to say in faith, \u201cOur God shall fight for\nus.\u201d  If we can say this, we may think on our country and rest assured\nthat, whatever happens, all is safe.  If we can say this, we may look\nupon God\u2019s people struggling for His truth, sometimes sorely pressed and\nsometimes quite disheartened; but when we look on Him whom God has given\nto be a Leader and Commander of the people, we may take courage that all\nwill be well, for He is our God, and He will fight for us.  Or, we may\nlook at our own personal difficulties, at the temptation without by which\nwe are surrounded, and the proneness to yield within, which renders us\nperpetually liable to its power; and sometimes we may be ready to ask the\nquestion, Can such as we are ever gain the victory?  But, if we can but\nsay in faith, \u201cOur God shall fight for us,\u201d then, weak as we are, we may\nlook forward to a triumph, and say even beforehand, \u201cThanks be to God\nwhich giveth us the victory.\u201d\n\nBut there are few cases in which this language of faith was more\nappropriate than when originally spoken by Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was one of\nthe most beautiful characters to be met with in all history.  I know of\nno one in whom there was a greater combination of practical,\nbusiness-like habits, with true, simple-minded, childlike faith.  When\nacting as cup-bearer to the King of Babylon, he heard of the desolation\nof Jerusalem, and obtained permission to return thither in order to\nrebuild the walls and restore the city.  The Jews at the time were so\nexceedingly feeble, that the onlookers laughed them to scorn.  But, when\nonce the work was begun, contempt was exchanged for indignation, and\nSanballat with others \u201cconspired all of them together to come and to\nfight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.\u201d  Then it was that Nehemiah\nused these words for the great encouragement of all who were working with\nhim, and said, \u201cOur God shall fight for us.\u201d\n\nBut while he thus spoke with the full assurance of confiding faith, he\nwas not led by that faith to negligence.  True faith never leads to\nnegligence.  It always stimulates exertion and rouses men to hopeful\nenergy.  So it did in the case of Nehemiah, for the same verse which\ncontains the assurance contains also the spirit of active preparation.\nWe will study the conduct of Nehemiah as furnishing an illustration of\nthe union of faith and effort, examining first his effort, then his\nfaith.\n\n\n\nI.  THE EFFORT MADE.\n\n\nIt was made under very discouraging circumstances.  The city was in\nruins, the walls were in heaps, and there were only a few restored\ncaptives to labour for their restoration.  Now, in what spirit did these\nfeeble Jews rise to their work?\n\n(1)  They all worked together.\n\nThere was just such an united and harmonious action as we long to witness\nin the Church of God.  It is an old proverb that \u201cunion is strength.\u201d  In\nthis case the whole wall was portioned out and all classes united.  First\ncame the High Priest and his brethren, next the men of Jericho, soon\nfollowed by the carpenters, the goldsmiths, and the apothecaries.  Then\ncame the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, followed by Shallum and his\ndaughters; further on we read of Baruch, who set an example to the whole\ncompany, for he _earnestly_ repaired the portion entrusted to his care,\ntill at length the circuit was complete.\n\n(2)  They worked with a will.\n\nThere is such a thing as work without a will.  There is the dull, lazy\nwork of the idle man, and the mechanical work of those who take no\ninterest in what they are about.  Just as in religion, there is the\nlanguid performance of a routine as different as possible to the real\nwrestling with God in faith.  There is no soul in it, and who can wonder\nif there is no result?  In this case there was rapid result, and they\nbuilt the wall, and the reason is given, \u201cfor the people had a mind to\nwork.\u201d {51}  An important lesson this for every Christian effort.\n\n(3)  They made real sacrifices for their work.  It must have been a sore\ninconvenience to these men to leave their own occupations and to labour\non the wall; but they laboured night and day till the wall rose from its\nruins.  Oh, that we had more of this spirit in the Church of God!  Would\nthat we knew better how to give to Him so as to pinch ourselves; to give\nour time, our money, our painstaking, our real self-denying work, in\norder to glorify God, and show that we live not unto ourselves, but unto\nHim that died for us and rose again.\n\n\n\nII.  THEIR FAITH.\n\n\nThis showed itself in three ways.\n\n(1)  In prayer.\n\nNehemiah was a man of prayer.  When any trouble arose, his heart turned\nas if by an holy instinct to God, and so, when Tobiah mocked their\nefforts, Nehemiah gave no rough answer, but he turned his heart upwards\nand said, \u201cHear, O our God, for we are despised.\u201d {52a}  How much bitter\nstrife would be avoided in the world if men acted like Nehemiah, and,\ninstead of retorting, spread out their provocations before God.\n\nBut the conduct of the opponents soon turned from mockery to war, and\nthere was a plan to attack the rising walls.  But the attack was met just\nin the same way as the insult.  In both cases he gave himself to prayer.\nI cannot imagine a better illustration of the praying believer than the\nwords in verse 9, \u201cNevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set\na watch against them day and night.\u201d  They heard of the conspiracy, and\nat once spread the intelligence before God; but, having done so, they did\nnot consider that prayer superseded effort, but day and night they set\ntheir watch on the walls.  Had they watched without praying, they would\nhave been trusting to their own forethought; and had they prayed without\nwatching, they would have tempted God to leave them.  But they watched\nand they prayed, and they prayed and they watched, and so they acted in\nthe spirit of the words in aftertimes spoken to us, \u201cWatch and Pray.\u201d\n{52b}\n\n(2)  Their faith showed itself also in the recognition of what God had\ndone for them.  Faith not only asks God\u2019s help, but acknowledges it.  It\ngives Him thanks for His action as well as asks Him to act; so when the\ndanger was past we find Nehemiah ascribing it all to the good hand of God\non his efforts.  He did not say, \u201cWhen we had defeated their plans,\u201d but\n\u201cWhen God had brought their counsel to nought.\u201d {53}\n\n(3) Faith looks forward to the future.  When the workmen were all at\ntheir posts; when the builders laboured, every one having his sword\ngirded by his side; when the trumpeter stood by the chief, ready at any\nmoment to sound the alarm; when the voice of prayer had been heard day\nand night all along the line of the rising walls; when all had been done\nthat man could do\u2014then the heart rose high above all that man had done,\nand in calm, confident trust, Nehemiah assures the people, saying, \u201cOur\nGod shall fight for us.\u201d  He had made preparation, but he trusted to God\nfor victory.  He was at the head of a feeble people, but he was the\nservant of the Most High God.  He knew that the battle was not to the\nstrong, nor the race to the swift; so he rested his hope on the strong\nhand of his God, and in simple faith he trusted Him to give the victory.\n\n\n\n\nTHE JOY OF THE LORD\n\n\n    \u201cBy whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we\n    stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but\n    we glory in tribulations also.\u201d\u2014ROM. v. 2, 3.\n\nTHE joy of the Lord is a subject that goes to the heart of many.  Some\nare rejoicing in the Lord, while others are longing to be partakers of\nit; it is a gift after which their heart is yearning.\n\nLet us consider the real foundation of true, solid, well-founded joy.  In\nthese two verses there is a description of the joy and its power.  There\nis the joy, for \u201cwe rejoice in hope of the glory of God,\u201d and there is\nthe power of that joy, for it rises above the troubles of life, and we\nrejoice \u201ceven in tribulation.\u201d  There is, therefore, such a bright hope\nof the coming glory, that we may go on our way with a thankful heart,\nrejoicing in the Lord; and there is such a manifestation of the love of\nChrist in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the distress of\ntribulation is overpowered, and even in the midst of sorrow there may be\nan abiding joyfulness in Christ Jesus the Lord.\n\nObserve the foundation of this joy, and see how it is the consequence of\nour sure standing in Christ Jesus.  When we rejoice in hope of the glory\nof God, and rejoice even in tribulation, this joy is the consequence of a\nprevious transaction, and the result of our occupying a new position.  We\nhave had access, or admission, and are now standing in His grace.  It is\nthe standing in that grace that is the foundation of the joy of hope.\nThis leads us to the question, \u201cWhat is the grace?\u201d\n\nThe word \u201cgrace\u201d has different meanings in Scripture.  Sometimes it means\nthe inward work of God the Holy Ghost in the soul, as when it says, \u201cGrow\nin grace.\u201d {55a}  But this cannot be our standing-ground, for the simple\nreason that it is imperfect and variable.  But this is not the only\nmeaning of the word, or nearly so, for it is used for any great gift of\nlove and mercy bestowed in God\u2019s free favour on His people.  We have to\nconsider what is the free gift or favour into which we have had access,\nand which is now our standing-ground.  This question the context must\ndecide; and it seems to me impossible to study that context, without\ncoming to the conclusion that the grace here referred to is that which\nmust ever be the real resting place for those who are convinced of sin, a\nrighteousness imputed in the free grace of God. {55b}\n\nThis, then, is the grace in which we stand, the grace of imputation, the\ngracious gift of a righteousness reckoned, counted, or imputed to us when\nwe do not deserve it; the marvellous mercy through which we are accounted\nrighteous, accepted as righteous, beloved as righteous, and finally saved\nas righteous, although we are not really so in fact, and although we are\nconscious in our own hearts of matter for the most profound humiliation\nbefore God.  Who can wonder that we rejoice in hope when we are placed in\nmercy on such a standing-ground as that?\n\nThis, you observe, is a work _for_ us, and not _in_ us, and therefore\nnever varies.  The work _in_ us is perpetually changing.  It is a\nprogressive work, and its progress is sometimes much more rapid than at\nothers.  But the work _for_ us does not go up and down with the work _in_\nus; it is unchangeable, like God Himself.  The righteousness imputed is\nthe righteousness of God, and therefore perfect and unchangeable.  It\nchangeth not for the simple reason that He changeth not, and therefore\nalways, in cloud as well as sunshine, in dark days as well as bright, in\nthe hour of tribulation as well as in the season of unmixed prosperity,\nin the times of deepest humiliation as well as in those of emotion and\nencouragement, the justified believer may rejoice in Him, and triumph in\nthe God of his salvation.  It is this that gives its security to hope,\nthis that makes us sure of its never failing.  If we were relying on all\nthe varied changes of our own feelings, there might be joy one day and\ndespair the next; but while we stand in the grace of imputed\nrighteousness, our hope has a foundation that can never give way, and\ntherefore we may accept the joy without a fear, and rejoice in hope of\nthe glory of God.\n\nWhat is the great principle within the soul which constitutes our\nstanding in this grace?\n\nTo this question we shall find an answer in the words of St. Paul, \u201cThou\nstandest by faith.\u201d {56}  And this is exactly what is taught us in this\npassage.  In verse 1, we are taught that it is by faith that we are\njustified; and then, in verse 2, we learn that it is by faith that we\nhave access into this grace wherein we stand.  From first to last,\ntherefore, it is a matter of faith.  The whole secret of our standing,\nand of the joy that follows from it, is found in that one word \u201ctrust.\u201d\nTrust the Lord Jesus Christ as your finished Sacrifice and your living\nLord, and you stand on the rock.  Let your trust rest on anything else,\non your feelings, your thoughts, your experience, your intentions, or\nyour religious efforts, and you will be no better than men endeavouring\nto walk steadily on the waves of the sea.  But trust Christ _as_ you are,\n_where_ you are, and that without putting even your own trust between you\nand Him, and you may go on your way rejoicing in Him, and need never\ncease to give thanks for a foundation so solid and a grace so free.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORK OF THE LORD\n\n\n    \u201cBe ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the\n    Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the\n    Lord.\u201d\u20141 COR. xv. 58.\n\nWE have lately studied \u201cthe joy of the Lord,\u201d and now I am anxious that\nour thoughts should be turned to another subject, which is much more\nintimately connected with it than many seem to suppose, that is, the work\nof the Lord.  The joy of the Lord imparts strength for service, and the\nservice of the Lord increases joy.  There is action and reaction between\nthe two.\n\n\n\nWHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORK OF THE LORD?\n\n\nIt is _work_\u2014work with all the self-denial that accompanies steady work.\n\nIt is work _for_ the Lord.  When we say that a father works for his\nfamily, or a servant for his master, it does not mean that such an one\nsimply goes about his own business, but it does mean that he has a\nparticular person in view, and that he is working for him.  We are such\npoor, frail creatures that there is a constant tendency to admit bye\nmotives in our work.  I know how hard it is to preserve a single eye to\nthe glory of God.  One\u2019s own reputation and the great pleasure of one\u2019s\nown success have a constant tendency to introduce false motives.  What we\nwant is to lose sight of self altogether, and to remember that if we are\ndoing the work _of_ the Lord, we are doing it _for_ the Lord.\n\nIt is work _from_ the Lord.  It is the work to which the Lord has\nappointed each of us.  When God called Barnabus and Paul, He said,\n\u201cSeparate them for the work whereunto I have called them.\u201d {59a}  Now we\nare not called to the Apostleship, but I believe there is not an\nindividual amongst us who is not called by God to a certain work in His\nservice.  The Church of God is said to be \u201ccompacted by that which every\njoint supplieth.\u201d {59b}  There is not, therefore, a joint in the whole\nbody that is not to supply something.  All who are in Christ Jesus are\nthe children of God, and all are called to work in His service, the\nstrong man in the fulness of his strength, or the suffering invalid laid\nlow with broken health.\n\nThis, then, being the character of the work of the Lord, let us turn to\nthe encouragement which God has given, and the root from which it\nsprings.\n\n\n\nTHE ENCOURAGEMENT.\n\n\nThere are some things in our Christian life which we think, some which we\nhope, and some which we know.  We know some, for they are assured to us\nin God\u2019s word, and we are fully persuaded that His word is true.  Now\nhere is one of the things we know, know as a matter of certainty without\nthe possibility of doubt.  We know that our labour is not in vain in the\nLord.  It may often appear to us exceedingly feeble and defective: we may\nbe ashamed and humbled at its multiplied shortcomings: we may look back\nupon it honeycombed, as it were, by mistakes: we may be conscious that we\nhave left undone those things that we ought to have done, and we may be\npainfully aware that nothing has been done as it ought to have been done\nfor God, but still we are assured that it will not be in vain.  When\nSamuel was but a child, \u201cthe Lord was with him, and did let none of his\nwords fall to the ground,\u201d {60a} and we may be sure that He will not let\none word spoken in His name fall to the ground now.  If the Lord is with\nyou, no one thing that you ever do for Him will be in vain.  You may not\nsee the fruit of it, or if you do it may be after years of waiting, but\nthe Lord knows all about it.  He sees exactly what you are doing, or\nsaying, or giving, or praying, and the book of remembrance is written\nbefore Him.  You yourself may be one of God\u2019s hidden ones, and in the day\nwhen He makes up His jewels, {60b} you may meet then with others, hidden\nlike yourself, to whom your labour, however feeble, has been blessed in\nHis mercy.  Cleave, then, to the work of the Lord without wavering.  Let\nno discouragements dishearten you, hold steadily on your way, faint yet\npursuing, being perfectly assured that what God has promised He is able\nalso to perform, and that even your poor service will not be in vain in\nthe Lord.\n\n\n\nTHE ROOT FROM WHICH ALL SUCH WORK MUST SPRING.\n\n\nIt is not all kinds of labour to which the promise is attached, for there\nis a great deal of labour that is altogether in vain.  \u201cExcept the Lord\nbuild the house, they labour in vain that build it.\u201d {60c}  And the\ndistinction is very clearly taught us here, for the work here spoken of\nis a labour \u201cin the Lord.\u201d  It teaches how work is the consequence of\nunion; that we do not do the work of the Lord in order that by doing it\nwe may attain to union, but that the union comes first and the work of\nthe Lord follows as its result.  There will be no fruit on the branch if\nthere is not first a union with the vine.  There is no hope, therefore,\nof any man winning to himself a union with Christ by any amount of\npainstaking in work.  If your heart is yearning for that union, you must\naccept it as a free gift because Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has\nredeemed you by His own most precious blood, and you must do so just as\nyou are, without waiting for even one more effort in His service.  You\nmust be \u201cin the Lord\u201d before you can \u201clabour in the Lord,\u201d and that union\nmust be the free gift of His unmerited grace.  You must be created in Him\nunto good works before you will do anything for His glory. {61}\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF FAITH\n\n\n    \u201cBecause Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings\n    will I rejoice.\u201d\u2014PSA. lxiii. 7.\n\nI WISH to speak on the important use of Christian experience in the\nconfirmation of faith.  I say in the confirmation of faith, for there is\nthe widest possible difference between confirmation and commencement.\nExperience may confirm the faith when it already exists, but the faith\nmust obviously be there before there can be any experience of its result.\n\nAt the outset of our Christian course we have nothing to do but throw\nourselves absolutely in naked trust on the sure promises of the covenant\nof God, and rest exclusively on what He has done and promised.  We have\nnothing then to do with our own history, our own feelings, or our own\nprogress, it is Christ and Christ alone on whom the soul must rest for\nlife.  And so, if we look to the real foundation of faith, it must be to\nthe last day of our pilgrimage.  It is a fatal-moment for us if we are\nled to look away for a single moment from Him.  But at the same time we\nmust remember that we are not always at the beginning of our Christian\nlife.  One who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and walked with Him for\nmany years is not in the same position as one who is to-day seeking Him\nfor the first time.  He has had the experience of the loving-kindness of\nthe Lord.  He has never found Him to fail in any of the anxieties of his\nlife, and if he could trust many years ago when he had nothing but the\nbare promise, how much more may he trust the Saviour now when the truth\nof His word has been tried and tested in all the varied experiences of\nlife?\n\nThe Lord Jesus Christ is described as \u201ca sure foundation;\u201d {63a} sure,\nbecause He is the foundation laid by God; sure, because of His own\neternal Godhead; sure, therefore, as an object of simple trust before a\nperson has had any experience of His grace.  To the trembling sinner who\nhas hitherto been a total stranger to Him, and has never known anything\nof His love, even to him He is a sure foundation, and though knowing Him\nonly through the word, that trembling sinner may come to Him and trust.\nBut according to that same verse He is also a tried foundation.  He has\nbeen tried by the whole church of God for eighteen centuries and has\nnever once been found to fail any one that has come to Him in faith.  He\nhas been tried by us who have known Him for the greater part of our\nlives, and we are not to ignore all He has done for us, but say, as St.\nJohn did, not merely that we have believed, but that \u201cwe have known and\nbelieved the love that God hath towards us.\u201d {63b}\n\nNow this is the principle of the text.  The Psalm was written when David\nwas in great trouble, having taken flight from Saul in the wilderness of\nJudah.  He was there hidden in such caves as Adullam, and cut off from\nthe sanctuary of God.  But it is a very cheerful and thankful Psalm.  He\nwas not downhearted because of his troubles, but he had such an assurance\nof the loving-kindness of the Lord that his heart was full of praise.  He\ncould praise Him, and that with joyful lips, even in the wilderness.  The\nreason was that he could trust Him, and though he was only a young man\nhis trust had been confirmed by experience.  He had been in difficulty\nalmost the whole time since his call, but he had found a strong arm with\nhim all the way, and therefore he said, \u201cBecause thou has been my help,\ntherefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.\u201d  In this verse\nthere are two things to be observed\u2014\n\n\n\nI.  THE THANKFUL RECOGNITION OF HELP ALREADY GIVEN.\n\n\nThe Lord had helped him through many difficulties and he thankfully\nrecognized the help.  We do not know to what particular act of help he\nreferred.  It may have been to his victory over Goliath, or to the escape\nfrom the javelin of Saul.  Or it may be to the daily, hourly help given\nto his own soul in all the difficulties of his situation; to that help\nwhich finds no place in history, but which is the unceasing source of\nlife and strength to the child of God.  But whatever was the peculiar\ncharacter of the help, it is perfectly clear that it was accepted and\nrecognized.  He asked for help, he found it, he acknowledged it, and he\nwas thankful for it.\n\nLet us learn the lesson that we should not be always praying for help,\nand fearing to acknowledge it when given.  It is our privilege to ask for\nthe gift, but it is also both our privilege and duty to acknowledge it.\n\n\n\nII.  THE JOYFUL ASSURANCE FOR THE FUTURE.\n\n\nHe knew that he believed in a God that changeth not, just as we believe\nthat the Lord Jesus Christ is \u201cthe same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,\u201d\n{64} and the result was the assurance that He who had helped him thus far\nwould help him to the end.  He knew that his God would not change, and\ntherefore he was happy and confident though he was in \u201ca dry and thirsty\nland.\u201d {65a}  His joy did not depend on circumstances, but on God, and\nbeing confident in His unchanging grace he could be happy anywhere.  He\nused to delight in the Sanctuary, and we read in verse 2 how he had there\nseen in his own soul God\u2019s power and glory.  But the same Lord who had\nhelped him in the Sanctuary would help him also in the cave, and\ntherefore he was not an unhappy man even in the wilderness, but he said,\n\u201cBecause Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise\nThee.\u201d\n\nAnd this was no new principle in his mind, for we find him acting on it\nwhen he was quite a youth.  It was the principle that carried him into\nthe conflict with Goliath, for when Saul dissuaded him from the attempt,\nhe said, \u201cThe Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out\nof the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this\nPhilistine.\u201d {65b}  Thus the recognition of past help ought to lead to\nconfident trust.  If we have found help actually given, if we have reason\nto believe that God is helping now, we may boldly look forward into the\nfuture, and be perfectly confident that He will help to the end.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COMING OF THE LORD\n\n\n   THE PRACTICAL EFFECT OF THIS BLESSED HOPE ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER\n\n    \u201cBe ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord\n    draweth nigh.\u201d\u2014ST. JAMES v. 8.\n\nTHE hope of the near approach of the Lord\u2019s coming should lead us to sit\nlight to the world and the things of it.  There is no greater temptation\nbesetting our path than that of becoming entangled in the things of the\nworld.  We are for ever spinning cobwebs for our own bondage, and being\nthen caught in our own web.  Hence the importance of the weaning power of\nthe blessed hope of the near coming of our Lord and Saviour.  This\napplies in sorrow.\n\nThere were sorrows in the days of St. Paul, just as there are now, and he\nnever taught us not to weep.  What he did teach was that we \u201cshould not\nsorrow as those that have no hope.\u201d  The character of the sorrow may be\nchanged.  And what was the power that should thus change the character of\ngrief?  The next verse supplies the answer.  \u201cFor if we believe that\nJesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will\nGod bring with Him.\u201d {66}  We may look forward, therefore, to His speedy\nreturn, when the graves of those who are in Christ shall open, and when\nall sorrow will be lost for eternity in the blessed privilege of being\n\u201cever with the lord.\u201d {67a}  Is not such a hope enough to change the\ncharacter of grief?\n\nThis blessed hope changes also the character of our joy.\n\nJust as it gives a tone to sorrow, so also it does to joy.  It makes it\nsober and solid.  It gives it a quiet, peaceful, abiding character.  Turn\nto the words of St. Paul.  \u201cRejoice in the Lord always, and again I say,\nRejoice.\u201d {67b}  And observe the verse that follows: \u201cLet your moderation\nbe known unto all men.  The Lord is at hand.\u201d  Let your joy be the sober\njoy of men who believe that the coming of the Lord is at hand; the calm,\nwell-assured, abiding joy of those who, being in the Lord, are persuaded\nthat they will be with the Lord for ever.\n\nAnd the same effect will follow with reference to all our possessions.\n\nLet no one suppose we are not to prize those precious gifts which God has\ngiven us.  Ought we to think lightly of money, time, influence, power?\nBy no means; but if we believe that the coming of the Lord is near we\nmust sit light to it all, for it will all soon give place to the glories\nof His kingdom.  Remember St. Paul\u2019s thrilling words: \u201cThe time is\nshort,\u201d {67c} and the exhortation that follows to \u201cuse this world, as not\nabusing it.\u201d\n\nIf we believe that the Lord\u2019s coming is near we must wake up and trim our\nlamps.\n\nWe must never forget that real, true believers may grow cold, and dull,\nand sleepy.  Thus even the wise virgins were asleep when the Bridegroom\ncame.  But they were thoroughly prepared, so they were up in a moment\nwhen they heard the cry, and, having trimmed their lamps, were ready.\nNow, the thought of His appearing should have this effect on ourselves.\nWho is there amongst us that does not want to be quickened; to be aroused\nto fresh energy for God; to have the soul filled with a holy fervour, and\nthe whole heart glowing with the love of Christ?  Who is there that\nshould not desire to respond with every faculty he possesses to the\nstirring appeal of St. Paul: \u201cAnd that, knowing the time, that now it is\nhigh time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than\nwhen we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand.\u201d {68a}\nShall we sleep on as if the old world were going on for ever?  Do we\nreally believe that \u201cthe Bridegroom cometh,\u201d {68b} and shall we not trim\nour lamps without one moment\u2019s delay in order that when He comes He may\nfind them burning brightly to His glory?\n\nIf we are looking for the speedy coming of the Lord, it should lead to a\ncalm, happy, peaceful hope in the midst of the turmoils of the latter\ndays.\n\nThere is nothing to lead us to expect a calm termination to the present\nstate of things.  Our Lord when He comes will come riding, as it were, on\nthe whirlwind and the storm.  It is a very common thing to find a bar\nwith heavy breakers on it at the mouth of the finest harbours, and so we\nmust be prepared for a stormy sea as we enter the haven of rest.  Our\nLord taught this very clearly when He said, \u201cThere shall be signs in the\nsun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of\nnations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.\u201d {68c}  And now\nobserve the effect of these events on different characters.  Through the\nworld at large they produce what may be called a panic\u2014\u201cMen\u2019s hearts\nfailing them for fear.\u201d {69a}  But how is it to be with the people of\nGod?  Are their hearts to fail them for fear?  No, for we read, \u201cWhen\nthese things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your\nheads.\u201d {69b}  They are not to be bowed down, but to hold their head\nerect, and with a confident spirit to look up full of hope.  And why?\nWhat is it that is to make so vast a difference between the two\ncharacters?  How can we explain the contrast?  It is all explained in the\nlatter part of that verse\u2014\u201cFor your redemption draweth nigh.\u201d  It is\nperfectly clear that by redemption is here meant the final deliverance,\nfor in the previous verse {69c} we read of the final coming of the\nDeliverer.  That calm peace, therefore, is the blessed result of a\nblessed hope.  God\u2019s people will know that the Deliverer is at hand, and\ntherefore will not be afraid.  They will believe God\u2019s Holy Word, and\ntherefore what alarms others will cheer them.  The same storm which sinks\nthe great ironclads outside will bring their little bark into harbour.\nThey will know what it all means, and, with God\u2019s Word in their hand,\nthey will know who is reigning, and will see in all that is frightening\nothers the predicted signs of His near approach.\n\n\n\nONE WORD IN CONCLUSION.\n\n\nThe word \u201credemption\u201d has a double sense in common use.  It is sometimes\nused for atonement or propitiation simply, and sometimes for the great\ndeliverance which is the consequence of the great propitiation.  It is\nclear that in this passage it is used for deliverance.  But another thing\nis equally clear, namely, this\u2014that we shall never be able to rest in the\nhope of the deliverance unless we are first taught to rest for\nforgiveness on the completed propitiation.  Redemption by power is the\nconsequence of redemption by blood.  It is the redemption by power of\nwhich the Lord said \u201cHe draweth nigh;\u201d but we shall never be able to lift\nup our heads, and look up in joy to the prospect, unless we first know in\nour own souls the unspeakable blessing of that redemption by blood which\nhas long since been completed for ever.  It is only when we know Jesus\nChrist and Him crucified that we can look up in calm, peaceful confidence\nto Jesus Christ and Him glorified.\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWITH\u201d AND \u201cBY\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they\n    rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the\n    door of faith onto the Gentiles.\u201d\u2014ACTS xiv. 27.\n\nTHERE are few institutions of greater antiquity than the missionary\nmeeting.  It is truly apostolic in its origin.  The first such meeting of\nwhich we read was held at Antioch after the return of St. Paul from his\nfirst missionary journey.  It was from Antioch he set off, having been\ncommended by the brethren to the grace of God; and it was at Antioch,\nafter his return, that he gathered together the Church and rehearsed to\nthem all that God had done with them in his journey.  This is the great\nsubject of his address, and will suggest three subjects of inquiry for\nourselves.\n\n\n\nI.  WHAT HAD BEEN DONE?\n\n\nIn the first place, the door of faith had been opened to the Gentiles.\nSurely by \u201cthe door of faith\u201d we must understand that \u201cnew and living\nway\u201d of which we read in Hebrews. {71}  And what is that way?  Is not\nthis explained by the previous verse, \u201cHaving, therefore, boldness to\nenter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.\u201d  It is the free access to\nthe throne of Grace through the finished, final propitiation, there\ndescribed as \u201cthe blood of Jesus.\u201d  When He died, the veil of the temple\nwas rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the mercy-seat was laid\nopen to the sinner drawing near in faith, and the invitation was\nproclaimed to all.  The throne of righteousness became the throne of\nmercy, and the throne of judgment became approachable even to the sinner,\nfor it was transformed into a throne of grace.\n\nThis is the door of faith that had been opened to the Gentiles, and it is\nvery difficult for us to realize all that was involved in such a fact.\nThere was a middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile which kept\nthem as wide asunder as if there had been no common Saviour.  But now St.\nPaul reported that the middle wall had been broken down. {72a}  Every\nstone of it had been swept away, and, according to the covenant of God,\nall were invited as one flock around one Shepherd.\n\nBut this was not all that had been done.  The great work of that\nmissionary journey was the turning of the hearts of both Jews and\nGentiles to enter in by that open door.  It is one thing to set a door\nopen before a person, but often a much more difficult thing to induce him\nto enter in.  Now the great result of this journey was that many precious\nsouls were brought in through the open door, and in Christ Jesus were\nsaved.  This was the work of which St. Paul gave an account on his return\nto Antioch.  If he mentioned individuals he doubtless told them of\nSergius Paulus, the Roman pro-consul at Paphos, that \u201cprudent man,\u201d {72b}\none of the first converts given to the Apostle.  Then, again, he\ndoubtless told them of the great multitude both of the Jews and also of\nthe Greeks in Iconium who believed. {72c}  And if he were asked as to the\nreality of the work in their souls, he doubtless told them of the\nbeautiful character of the Christians in the other Antioch, Antioch of\nPisidia, of whom it is said, \u201cthe disciples were filled with joy, and\nwith the Holy Ghost.\u201d {73}\n\nThey had, indeed, entered in by the open door.  They had tasted the joy\nof the living way, they had been brought under the shadow of the\nmercy-seat.  They had sat down under His shadow with great delight, and\nhad found the fruit sweet to their taste.  So marvellous had been the\nchange that the very men who before this memorable journey had been\nliving, some in Jewish hostility, and some in heathen abomination, were\nnow happy, holy, thankful believers, and were actually filled with the\nHoly Ghost.  We see, then, what had been done.  The next question is\u2014\n\n\n\nII.  WHO WAS THE DOER?\n\n\nSt. Paul and St. Barnabas were the principal agents, and of these St.\nPaul was the chief speaker, but it was not he who changed the hearts or\nfilled the disciples with joy and with the Holy Ghost.  So he did not\ntell what _he_ had done, but what God had done.  The drawing of the\nsinner, whether Jew or Gentile, into the new or living way was a Divine\nact.  To open the heart required a Divine power as much as to open the\ndoor.  It is important for us clearly to bear in mind this principle,\nthat the power to enter in is of itself the gift of God\u2014that we must\ntrust Him not only to save us when we have entered in, but to enable us\nto enter in; not only to show mercy on us when we have come near to Him,\nbut to draw us near by His own Spirit.\n\n\n\nIII.  IN WHAT WAY DID THE LORD MAKE USE OF HUMAN AGENCY?\n\n\nThere are two expressions employed which throw great light on the\nsubject.  In this verse we read of the things which God had done _with_\nthem, and the same expression occurs in Acts xv. 4.  But if we pass on to\nActs xv., we find it stated that \u201cGod had wrought upon the Gentiles _by_\nthem.\u201d {74a}  The one expression implies companionship, the other\ninstrumentality.  Consider them separately.\n\n(1)  \u201cWith.\u201d\n\nThe idea is that throughout the journey our Lord was literally fulfilling\nHis promise.  \u201cI am with you alway.\u201d {74b}  They went out to preach in\nHis name and He went with them, as their constant, never-failing, though\ninvisible, companion and friend.  Thus, while they were acting, He was\nacting also.  The two were acting together, and so fulfilling the one\npurpose of God.  The action of the Lord was giving effect to the action\nof the preacher, though in some cases it was quite independent of it.\nTake the case of Lydia as an illustration. {74c}  St. Paul preached to\nthat little company assembled at the place of prayer by the riverside at\nPhillipi.  There was the action of the preacher.  But now look at the\naction of the Lord working with him.  By His fore-seeing providence He\nhad brought Lydia from her home at Thyatira, and by His guiding Spirit\nhad brought St. Paul from his work in Asia Minor.  It was He that brought\nthem both to the same spot on that Sabbath morning.  Then, again, while\nSt. Paul was preaching the Lord was acting, for He was acting with His\nservant, first by the preparatory leading of His providence, and\nafterwards by the heart-opening movement of the Holy Ghost\n\n(2)  And this leads me to the other expression, \u201c_by_.\u201d  This expresses\nsomething different to companionship, for it teaches that in thus drawing\nsinners to Himself He makes use of men as instruments.  In the case of\nLydia the Lord opened her heart, but the things which were spoken by St.\nPaul were the instrument which God employed to lead her to the faith.  It\nwas not without instrumentality, but by it, that God acted.  It is\nimportant to bear this in mind\u2014that human instrumentality is not in\nantagonism to faith.  We must remember the \u201cby\u201d as well as the \u201cwith,\u201d\nand that when God has given means, we do not honour Him by neglecting or\nignoring them.  St. Paul was most anxious to urge on the Corinthians that\nit was God alone who gave the increase, but while he did so he was not\ndeterred from adding that he had planted and Apollos watered. {75}  We\nknow that God is a Sovereign, and that He, if He pleased, could gather in\nthe whole company of His elect without the use of any one man to work for\nHim; but we know also that \u201cby us\u201d the preaching is to be fully known,\nand we are fully persuaded that if we are to look for a harvest we must\nboth plant and water.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of\n    Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of\n    Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the\n    people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of Hosts,\n    their God.\u201d\u2014HAG. i. 14.\n\nLET US consider this stirring of the will, and then the great need of it\neven amongst the faithful people of God.\n\nI.  We read a great deal in Scripture of a movement in the will, as we\nknow in practical life, how we ourselves are moved, or aroused on many\noccasions.  We know what it is to be like Peter, who was asleep in the\nprison till the Angel of the Lord \u201csmote him on the side, and raised him\nup, saying, Arise up quickly.\u201d {76a}  We are often aroused to make an\n_effort_ which we never thought of before, and our whole soul is on fire\nto be working with a holy enthusiasm for God.\n\nNow this stirring of the spirit is the act of God Himself.  I am quite\naware that there are passages in which man is described as stirring\nhimself, as for example, \u201cThere is none that calleth upon Thy name, that\nstirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.\u201d {76b}  But such an expression\nis the description of the outward effect, and not of the inward movement\nof the soul, as is proved by that very text, which gives us the reason\nfor the absence of any such stirring, \u201cThou hast hid Thy face from us.\u201d\nIt was because He had hidden His face that no one was stirred to lay hold\non His grace.  Thus St. Paul teaches us that it is God Himself who\nworketh on the will.  He urges the little flock at Philippi to be more\ndiligent in his absence than they were in his presence, {77a} and in the\nnext verse he gives us the reason that \u201cIt is God who worketh in you both\nto will and to do of His good pleasure.\u201d  So in this passage, when\nZerubbabel was aroused to a new action it was the Lord who stirred his\nspirit, and who produced such a strong, deep feeling in his soul that he\ncould not rest without making a fresh effort for the Lord.  This stirring\nwas the blessed result of the Holy Spirit\u2019s action.  Oh, that we had more\nof it amongst ourselves!\n\nBut while it is the work of the Holy Spirit, we shall find that, as a\ngeneral rule, He makes use of means.  Of course, if He pleases, He may\nHimself speak to the soul in the way of direct personal communication,\nand so arouse the heart and conscience without the aid of any human\ninstrumentality.  But in most cases He makes use of means.\n\nSometimes men are stirred by the sight of evil, as St. Paul was stirred\nin spirit by the sight of the idolatry at Athens. {77b}  And it does seem\nstrange that God\u2019s faithful people can sit so still as they do, and look\non so quietly on the sin that abounds around them.  How is it that the\nwhole soul does not burn within us with a longing desire to be at work\nfor God?\n\nSometimes it is through the power of the ministry.  It was so with\nZerubbabel, of whom it is said that the Lord stirred his spirit.  The\nmeans employed in his case was the preaching of the two prophets Haggai\nand Zechariah.  Sometimes God raises up great preachers whose office it\nseems to be to awaken nations.  Such were Whitfield and the Wesleys.\nSuch was Luther at the time of the Reformation, and such were Haggai and\nZechariah after the return of the captives from Babylon.  It was through\nthem that the fire was lighted in the soul of Zerubbabel.  Their burning\nwords stirred his spirit, and he threw himself with a holy zeal into the\nservice of the Lord.\n\nSometimes it is by the example and influence of others, as \u201ciron\nsharpeneth iron.\u201d {78a}  There is nothing more infectious than character.\nThere is a certain atmosphere surrounding each of us, and it has its\ninfluence on all who come near us.  The idle man makes others idle, the\ncorrupt man makes others corrupt; so the holy man wins others to\nholiness, and the man of Christian enthusiasm will warm up those who come\nin contact with him.\n\nSometimes He does it by stirring our nest.  This is what He did for\nIsrael in Egypt.  They had begun to settle down content with their\ncaptivity.  They had their flesh-pots, their melons, and their cucumbers,\nand they did not care to be unsettled; so God stirred them up by\noppression.  This is the process described in Moses\u2019 song, \u201cAs an eagle\nstirreth up her nest.\u201d {78b}  The young eagles, being comfortable in\ntheir nest, have no desire to launch forth into the untried experiment of\nflight.  So the parent bird stirs up the nest, and by means of that\nstirring compels them to a move.  Is it not often just the same with us?\nWe are so fond of our nests, so apt to settle down quietly, forgetful of\nthat which is to come.  So God in mercy stirs the nest.  The heart is\nsaddened, but the very stirring may be God\u2019s appointed instrument for\nwaking up a new hope, a new longing for the second advent, and a\ndependence never known before on His own grace, and love, and perfect\nsufficiency.\n\nBy whatever means the Lord does it, we must never forget that it is His\nown divine act of mercy and grace.  No sight of evil, no preaching, no\nexample, no chastening can produce the result.  It is God the Holy Ghost\nthat stirs the spirit.\n\nII.  Consider the need of this stirring amongst the faithful people of\nGod.\n\nIt might be supposed that the true and faithful people of God would not\nrequire it, and that they would be irresistibly drawn on by the\nconstraining power of the love of Christ.  But this is not the teaching\nof Scripture, and I am sure it is not the conclusion from experience.  We\nmust never forget that the wise virgins went to sleep.  Nor must we even\nlose sight of those thrilling words addressed by St. Paul to those in\nRome whom he describes as \u201cbeloved of God, and called to be saints,\u201d\n{79a} when in the prospect of the second Advent he said to them, \u201cNow it\nis high time to awake out of sleep.\u201d {79b}  Had they not, you may say,\nbeen already aroused from sleep?  Had they not been awakened from the\nsleep of death, and brought into a new life in Christ Jesus?  How, then,\nshould it be high time for them to awake out of sleep?  Were they not\nalready the \u201cbeloved of God\u201d?\n\nNow, this brings us exactly to the point; to the great need of Divine\nstirring, even for those who have already been awakened into a new life\nin Christ Jesus.  Turn to the Song of Solomon, and you will find the\nwhole thing explained.  In ch. v. the Bridegroom is described as\nreturning home at night, and, knocking at the door of his home, calls to\nthe Bride within, and says, \u201cOpen to me.\u201d {80}  Now what is her state of\nmind when she hears His knock and listens to His voice? \u201cI sleep, but my\nheart waketh.\u201d  Have we not there the exact description of very common\nChristian life?  How many are there still sleeping, though they hear the\nknock and their heart waketh?  They are neither fully asleep nor fully\nawake.  They are awake enough to hear the voice, but too sleepy to act on\nit.  But we cannot be satisfied with this half and half condition.  The\nBride in the Song of Solomon was so long in arousing herself, that when\nat length she did so, it was too late.  In ver. 6 she tells her sad, sad\nstory.  \u201cI opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and\nwas gone.\u201d  Should not such a description arouse us all?  Most truly may\nit be said that He is standing at our own doors both knocking and\ncalling.  Sin is raging, error is spreading, misery is abounding, hell is\nfilling; but, thanks be to God, Christ Jesus is saving, and shall His own\nchosen people be sleeping quietly, seeking their own ease, and sitting\ndown content if only they can entertain a well-grounded hope that the\nheavy burden of their own sin has been blotted out through His most\nprecious blood.  \u201cStir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy\nfaithful people.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA WILLING SERVICE\n\n\n    \u201cWho then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the\n    Lord?\u201d\u20141 CHRON. xxix. 5.\n\nTHE occasion was a very solemn one.  It was the last act of David\u2019s\nreign.  He had long desired to build a temple for the glory of God, but\nhe was not allowed to carry out his wish.  So he collected the necessary\nmaterials, and at length, when he had decided to abdicate in favour of\nSolomon, he called an assembly and declared Solomon, who was still young\nand tender, to be his successor, then handed over to him the plans which\nhe had prepared for the Temple, and concluded with a solemn charge. {81}\n\nHaving thus ended what may be termed the official business of his life,\nthe aged king proceeded to address the congregation.  Let us study four\nthings in that address; his question, his thanksgiving, his prayer, and\nhis final appeal.\n\n\n\nHIS QUESTION\n\n\nHe told them how he was passing away, and how the work was great, so he\nasked them a question which may be well put to every congregation in\nevery age, \u201cWho then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto\nthe Lord?\u201d\n\nNow, we hear a great deal in these days of consecration.  The idea of\nconsecration is not a new thing in the Church of God, and I am sure that\nwe want more of the true spirit of it in our own hearts.  There is such a\nthing as consecration of heart, and consecration of service.  The\nconsecration of heart is the surrender of the whole man with the\naffections, the powers, and the strong will to the Lord.  The\nconsecration of service is the dedication of all our active powers to his\nwork.  When David said, \u201cI am thine,\u201d {82a} it was the consecration of\nheart, and when Isaiah said, \u201cHere am I, send me,\u201d {82b} it was the\nconsecration of service.  Now, it was the consecration of service for\nwhich David appealed, and it is this practical consecration of service on\nwhich we are dependent for the work in a parish.  Who is willing to\nconsecrate his service?  I cannot see into the secrets of the hearts, but\nI know who ought to be willing\u2014all those who believe in the words of our\nBlessed Saviour, \u201cFor their sakes I consecrate Myself.\u201d {82c}  Did He,\nthe spotless Son of God, consecrate Himself to be the atoning sacrifice\nfor us?  And if we believe that, can we doubt for one moment who it is\nthat should be willing to consecrate his service to Him?  Redeemed\nsinner, is it not you?  Pardoned believer, is it not you?  Are you ready\nto fall at His feet and say, \u201cHere am I; let me be Thine.  Here is my\nskill: use it.  Here is my intellect: use it.  Here is my power of\nspeech: use it.  Here is my money: use it.  Here is all, all I have and\nall I am: let it all be Thine own, and help me to employ it for Thy\nglory\u201d?\n\n\n\nHIS PRAISE\n\n\nDavid\u2019s question fell on willing hearts, and there was a wonderful\nresponse to his appeal.  Gold, silver, and precious stones were poured\ninto the treasury, and the willing heart with which all was done was\nbeautiful.  It was not done grudgingly or of necessity, but with a happy,\njoyous, thankful spirit, so that the old man\u2019s heart was gladdened, and\n\u201cDavid the King rejoiced with great joy.\u201d {83a}  It was this joyous\nspirit that called forth his praise.  When he saw the blessed result of\nhis appeal he did not lay it down to his personal influence, or to his\nown persuasive power, but he stood up and blessed the Lord.  He was too\nold for government, but he was not too old for praise.  His last words\nfrom the throne were those of praise and prayer.  His joy ran straight\ninto thanksgiving, and in this thanksgiving two principles were\nconspicuous, he gave all the glory to God, and he acknowledged himself\nand his people to be utterly unworthy of the sacred privilege of this\nhappy service.  This is the true view of service and of gifts.  When God\ncalls us to work for Him, or to give for Him, we should not regard it as\na burden laid upon us, but as an honour to which we are invited, an\nhonour that angels themselves might covet.  This was the spirit of David\nwhen he said \u201cWhat am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to\noffer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of\nThine own have we given Thee.\u201d {83b}  And this should be our own spirit\nin all service and all gifts for such a Lord.  We do not want to regard\nit as a yoke, a necessity, a heavy task imposed on us by God; but as an\nhonour, a privilege, a happy, loving service of the King of kings, for\nwhich the best amongst us is utterly unworthy.\n\n\n\nHIS PRAYER\n\n\nAfter a time his praise ran into prayer.  This is just as it ought to be,\nfor praise should encourage prayer, as prayer should always lead to\npraise.  Thus the loving heart should pass backwards and forwards from\none to the other, and the two should be so blended that when we are\nengaged by the one the other should never be out of sight.\n\nObserve the prayer in ver. 18, and remember the circumstances.  It was a\nmoment of wonderful national enthusiasm at the commencement of a great\nnational work.  Their hearts were filled with joy and they were ready for\nanything.  Now, what was the danger?  What would be the danger to\nourselves in our own day?  Would it not be decay, a gradual dying off of\nour first zeal, a chill in the first love as there was at Ephesus? {84}\nWhat David prayed for, therefore, was continuance, or perseverance.  In\nshort he prayed against declension from their first love, for look at his\nwords in ver. 18.  For \u201cprepare\u201d the marginal reading is \u201cstablish.\u201d  And\nnow you see the point of the prayer, \u201cKeep this _for ever_ in the\nimagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and _establish_\ntheir heart unto Thee.\u201d  What an insight it gives both as to our danger\nand our hope.  How it shows us our need of being kept alive in our first\nlove, and teaches us that we must not be trusting to the privileges of\npast experience, or the fact of past consecration, but that we need the\nperpetual action of the Holy Spirit in keeping His grace for ever in the\nimagination of the thoughts of the heart.\n\nAnd where are we to look for this preservation?  Do we not learn that our\nhearts are like leaky vessels, and the brightest, holiest and most joyous\nof believers requires the daily power of the Holy Spirit, not merely to\nstop the leak, but to fill the vessel?\n\n\n\nTHE FINAL APPEAL\n\n\nThe old man finished his prayer.  In it he spoke alone.  He was, as it\nwere, the mouthpiece of his people.  But that was not enough.  It was not\nsufficient that he should speak on their behalf, but they must praise God\nfor themselves.  So having been into the very presence chamber of God in\nprayer, he came out, as it were to the assembled multitude, and said to\nthe vast throng, \u201cNow bless the Lord your God.\u201d  Praise was the climax of\nthe transaction, and praise the last act of David\u2019s reign.\n\nNow may there be the spirit of that remarkable day amongst ourselves.\nTrace it all the way through, remember the consecration, the liberality,\nthe joy, the praise, the prayer, and the final outburst of congregational\nworship.  May God breathe on us the same spirit.  May there be the same\nconsecration of service, the same willing offerings, the same joyous\npraise, and the same thankful prayer for a holy perseverance unto the\nend.  And, in conclusion, may I not say to you what David said to the\ncongregation, \u201cNow bless the Lord your God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nFEAR NOT\n\n\n    \u201cFear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy\n    God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will\n    uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.\u201d\u2014ISA. xli. 10.\n\nWHEN we observe how frequently God says to us \u201cFear not,\u201d we may be quite\nsure that there is a great deal in common life to occasion fear.  The\nfrequent recurrence of the exhortation in all parts of Scripture teaches\nus, that through the whole range of Scriptural history there had been\nthat all around God\u2019s people which, without the Lord\u2019s help, must have\nbeen sure to make the heart afraid.\n\nYou will observe in our text that He does not bid us fear not because He\nundertakes to remove all danger.  What He says is, that when things arise\nthat may justly alarm us, we need not fear.  \u201cFear not, _for_ I am with\nthee,\u201d (observe the \u201c_for_\u201d).  If fear is to be really overcome, it must\nbe by the eye being kept fixed on God and His promises.\n\nThis verse contains two assurances and three promises; assurances of what\nHe is to us now, and promises of what He undertakes to do for us.\n\n\n\nTHE ASSURANCES\n\n\n\u201cI am with thee.\u201d  \u201cI am thy God.\u201d  It is interesting to observe how the\ndifferent portions of Scripture correspond with one another.  They are\nall inspired by one Spirit, and all speak one truth.  So when I turn to\nthe concluding description of the blessedness of the Heavenly\ninheritance, I find just the same assurance, \u201cGod Himself shall be with\nthem and be their God.\u201d  {87}  He does not promise to be nearer to His\npeople, even in the heavenly rest, than He declares Himself to be now,\nwhen we are in the midst of our struggle upon earth.  He promises _then_\nto be with us and to be our God, and He assures us in the text that He is\njust the same _now_.\n\nThe words of the assurance, \u201cI am with thee,\u201d imply both reconciliation\nand companionship.  Reconciliation, for He is not against us, but with\nus.  Not separated by the barrier of unforgiven sin, but so completely\nreconciled, the law being satisfied that every barrier is broken down for\never, and He is altogether on our side.\n\nCompanionship, for as a reconciled and loving Father He never for a\nmoment leaves His child, by night or by day, in joy or in sorrow; in\nactive work, or in quiet submission; in the ministry at home or in the\ndistant work of missions.  Wherever His people are, and in whatever\ncircumstances, there is He with them as their Father, their Friend, their\nCompanion, their Helper, their God.\n\nFor He also says, \u201cI am thy God.\u201d  He is not merely with us, but with us\nin all the omnipotence of Godhead.  An earthly friend may fail in helping\nus; but when He is with us as our God He will never fail.  When He says,\n\u201cI am thy God,\u201d He clearly means that He has chosen us to be His people,\na peculiar people unto Himself; and that, having done so, He acts as God,\non our behalf, governing, guiding, preserving, saving, and finally\ngathering to His own presence in His kingdom.\n\n\n\nTHE PROMISES\n\n\n(1)  \u201cI will strengthen thee.\u201d\n\nInto whatever position He places us, for that He undertakes to give us\nthe needful strength.  If He calls us to be still and suffer, He will\ngive strength for suffering; if to go forth in His name and labour in His\nservice, He will give strength for activity; and in the holy warfare\nwhich we are all called to wage with indwelling sin, strength to\novercome.  And you must notice that, when He promises to strengthen, He\ndescribes an imparted power.  He does not speak of Himself as acting for\nyou externally, as when He accounts you righteous; but within you,\nimparting power, and so enabling you to act for Him.  The promise of God\nin Scripture is that He will strengthen us, or, in other words, that He\nwill impart a power of action in His service.\n\n(2)  \u201cI will help thee.\u201d\n\nThe same lesson respecting man\u2019s activity is taught when He promises to\nhelp.  There is a great difference between strengthening and helping.  To\nstrengthen is an inward work, the gift of an inward power.  To help is an\nexternal work.  I may help a lame man to walk, though I cannot strengthen\nhis limb.  But help implies activity on the part of those who receive it.\nGod does not help us to do nothing.  He helps us to be patient, loving,\ngentle, sweet-tempered.  He helps us to be diligent and active in His\nservice; but He does not help us to sit still and be passive.  Help\nimplies exertion.  If He strengthens us by the Holy Ghost in the inner\nman, and if He undertakes to help us in every struggle against sin, it is\nour privilege to accept His promise, and press on, assured of victory.\n\n(3)  \u201cI will uphold thee.\u201d\n\nThese words appear to convey the idea of danger.  We are walking in\nslippery places, and with fearful falls on every hand, so that we require\nnot merely a clear eye to guide us, but a strong hand to hold us.  In\nevery step of our way we require to be upheld.  In every moment of our\nlives we require to be held up by one who sees all our danger, who knows\nthe path perfectly well, who can hold us with so strong a grasp that\nnothing can pluck us out of His hand, and who, according to the language\nof St. Jude, is \u201cable to keep us from falling.\u201d {89a}\n\nIt is this perpetual and final preservation that is secured to us in the\nthird promise; and I would have you most particularly observe that it is\nnot with the right hand of His mercy, or the right hand of His love, or\nof His compassion, or even of His power, but the right hand of His\nrighteousness.  And why is this?  Because this grace is the result of the\ncovenant.  By that covenant His people are given to the Lord Jesus that\nthey may be saved.  In fulfilling that covenant He has shed His own most\nprecious blood for us, to make atonement for our sin.  And the result is,\nthat as, according to St. John, \u201cHe is faithful and just to forgive us\nour sins,\u201d {89b} so, also, is He faithful and just to uphold us against a\nfall.\n\nBut here, I know, a question will arise.  This is God\u2019s promise, but is\nit ever realized?  It is very beautiful in Scripture, but do we meet with\nit in practical life?  Are these gifts of God really given?  Is this\npresence of God really displayed? this upholding power really\nexperienced?  Let us consider these five points and see.\n\n\u201cI am with thee.\u201d  Has this been practically experienced?  Look at the\nwords of David in the prospect of his dying hour, \u201cThou art with me,\u201d\n{90a} and, again, \u201cO God, Thou art my God.\u201d {90b}\n\n\u201cI will strengthen thee.\u201d  Remember how Daniel realized its fulfilment\nwhen he said, \u201cLet my Lord speak; for Thou hast strengthened me.\u201d {90c}\n\n\u201cI will help thee.\u201d  Remember David\u2019s words, \u201cMy heart trusted in Him,\nand I am helped.\u201d {90d}\n\n\u201cI will uphold thee.\u201d  But will He really uphold us through trials and\ntemptations?  Will He really keep us fast in the right hand of His\nrighteousness, and that when our faith is weak?  Turn to Asaph\u2019s\nexperience.  He says of himself, \u201cAs for me, my feet were almost gone; my\nsteps had well-nigh slipped.\u201d {90e}  But now look at the upholding arm.\n\u201cNevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right\nhand.\u201d {90f}  So, then, this promise has been practically fulfilled.  God\nhas been true to His word, and men have found Him so.  His truth has\nnever failed, and will He fail us?  Will he fail the weakest amongst us?\nWill He cease to uphold His people?  Let us trust Him.  We are not worthy\nto do so.  If He had treated us as we have deserved, He would long since\nhave cast us off.  But He has not treated us as we have deserved.  He has\nloved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, so we may trust\nHim, and leave all in His care; and of this we may rest perfectly\nassured, that the strong arm will never give way.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE\n\n\n    \u201cThou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:\n    Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.\n\n    \u201cSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:\n    and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.\u201d\u2014PSA. xxiii. 5,\n    6.\n\nIT is a very delightful thing to be able to say \u201cSurely\u201d when we look\nforward.  Now, this sureness for the future depends on our present\nrelationship to God, and the confidence expressed in verse 6 is the\nblessed result of the unspeakably precious gifts described in the earlier\nverses of the Psalm.  It depends on the connection between the present\nand the future, a connection resulting from the unchangeableness in the\ncharacter of God.  In order, therefore, to understand the last verse\nwhich relates to the future, let us study the one preceding it, which\ndescribes the present.  We may thus combine the present and the future,\nand I think the result will be what our Church describes as a \u201csure and\ncertain hope.\u201d\n\n\n\nTHE PRESENT\n\n\nAs I have just said, our confidence for the future depends on our present\nrelationship to God; and, accordingly, the Psalm opens with the words,\n\u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd.\u201d  The holy relationship between the Shepherd\nand the flock is described as being already established, and by both\nparties recognized, and all that follows is the result of that\nrelationship.  We have not time to study the whole Psalm; but look at the\nthree results taught us in verse 5.\n\n\nI.  ALL WANTS ARE SUPPLIED.\n\n\nEven if there are enemies, they cannot interfere with the full and sure\nsupply which God has provided for His servant.  When he reaches the end\nof his journey, he will find that the Lord has prepared a place for his\nrest; and now that he is in the midst of it, he may rejoice in that the\nsame most blessed Saviour has prepared a table for his daily supply.\n\nThis refers, doubtless, to our daily wants, and it describes His\nfulfilment of our supplication in the Lord\u2019s Prayer.  We pray day by day,\n\u201cGive us this day our daily bread;\u201d and when we really enter into the\nspirit of this Psalm, we as much as say that the prayer is answered, the\nbread provided, and the table spread.\n\nAnd may we not apply it still more to the bread of life?  Is it not our\nsacred privilege, when the soul is hungered, to feed even on Him; when\nthe soul is athirst, to drink of the pure river of the water of life?\nAnd are there not many amongst us who know, by their own experience, the\ntruth of the promise, \u201cThey shall be abundantly satisfied?\u201d {92}\n\n\nII.  THE SPIRIT IS REFRESHED.\n\n\nThis is taught in the words, \u201cThou anointest my head with oil.\u201d  The\nwords refer to the custom of anointing the weary man with ointment or\noil.  It was poured sometimes on the feet and sometimes on the head.  The\nobject in both cases was the same, namely, refreshment; and surely we\nmust thankfully acknowledge that our Heavenly Father does not merely give\nus the bare necessities of existence, but softens, refreshes, and cheers\nthe spirit.  He prepares not the table only, but the joy.  \u201cHe giveth us\nrichly all things to enjoy.\u201d {93a}\n\n\nIII.  THE CUP OVERFLOWS.\n\n\nThe mercies are so rich, the grace so abundant, the loving-kindness so\nbountiful, the living fountain so free, that the little cup of human\ncapacity cannot hold it all, and it runneth over.  God describes His\npeople as not merely satisfied, but abundantly satisfied; and speaks of\nthe Holy Spirit as not merely bestowed, but as \u201cshed on us abundantly.\u201d\n{93b}  Why, then, are we content with a little water hardly perceptible\nat the bottom of our little cup?  Stephen was \u201cfull of faith and of the\nHoly Ghost,\u201d {93c} and we are told to be \u201cfilled with the Spirit;\u201d {93d}\nwhy, then, rest content with only a few drops in our own soul while there\nis the deep, broad river of the water of life able to fill, to\noverflowing, every vessel that can be found to receive the free supply?\nWhy do we not realize more the truth of the promise, \u201cOpen thy mouth\nwide, and I will fill it\u201d? {93e}\n\nSo much, then, for the present.  A table prepared, a head anointed, a cup\nrunning over.  These are present gifts\u2014the present and indescribable\nprivileges of those whose joy it is to be able to say, \u201cThe Lord is my\nShepherd.\u201d\n\n\n\nTHE FUTURE\n\n\nLet us pass on to the future as taught in verse 6.  We may observe two\nthings\u2014\n\n\nI.  THE ASSURANCE.\n\n\n\u201cSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.\u201d  The\nidea seems to be that, in the poetry of this beautiful Psalm, Goodness\nand Mercy are represented as two persons, just as we find first Mercy and\nTruth as two persons meeting each other in Christ Jesus, and then\nRighteousness and Peace, two other persons, kissing each other in Him.\n{94a}  So here we have the two persons: Goodness, the bearer of every\ngift that can possibly be required, and Mercy dealing most graciously\neven with sin; the two following the servant of the Lord, and never\nleaving him all the way through.  And you may observe they _follow_ him,\nso that he does not always see them, and may not even know they are\nthere.  He may sometimes imagine that he is forsaken and alone, but he is\nstrangely mistaken, for Goodness and Mercy are close behind, the one to\nsupply his need, and the other to deal graciously even with his sin.\n\nIf we are in Christ Jesus, we may be as sure of the future as of the\npast.  We may be perfectly certain of the truth of the words of the Good\nShepherd, \u201cThey shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out\nof my hand.\u201d {94b}  That promise is so sure that it can never fail, that\nhand so strong that all the powers of hell cannot pluck the weakest\nlittle one from its grasp, that heart so true that we may be perfectly\ncertain He will never abandon one whom He has called by the Holy Ghost\ninto fellowship with Himself.\n\n\nII.  THE DETERMINATION.\n\n\n\u201cI will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.\u201d  David delighted in the\nhouse of God; and clearly we must explain these words as referring to the\nholy worship of the sanctuary.  But in order to enter into the full\nspirit of the passage, we must rise from the Church on earth to the\nsanctuary in heaven; to the heavenly home and the presence chamber of\nGod.  There, indeed, is the table spread, there is the anointing oil,\nthere the cup runneth over; and now, through the rest of our pilgrimage,\nthough the journey may possibly be through the Vale of Baca, {95a} though\nsometimes the soul may be bowed down, and that even when the heart is\nfixed, yet in the midst of it all, and through it all, we may live in a\nclose intimacy with Him.  We may quietly rest in His love, we may dwell\nin Him and He in us; and while He gives the gracious promise, \u201cHim that\ncometh to Me I will in no wise _cast_ out,\u201d {95b} we may resolve, God\nhelping us, that we will never _go_ out, and that, to the last day of our\nlives, we will hold fast by Him, till at length the veil shall be\nwithdrawn, and the heavenly home open before us, and we realize what it\nis, in the highest possible sense, \u201cto dwell in the house of the Lord for\never.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 THE END\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n               PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,\n                           LONDON AND BECCLES.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n{5}  2 Sam. xii. 13.\n\n{6}  Psa. li. 13.\n\n{7}  Psa. cxlviii. 14.\n\n{8a}  Exod. xv. 1.\n\n{8b}  Psa. xl. 2, 3.\n\n{8c}  Rev. vii. 10, 14.\n\n{8d}  Isa. lx. 18.\n\n{9a}  Psa. cxliii. 9.\n\n{9b}  Acts xvi. 25, R.V.\n\n{13}  St. Luke xix. 10.\n\n{15}  Rev. xxii. 17.\n\n{17}  2 Peter i. 3.\n\n{18a}  2 Peter i. 3.\n\n{18b}  St. John x. 28.\n\n{20a}  Rom. iii. 25.\n\n{20b}  2 Cor. v. 21.\n\n{20c}  1 Cor. i. 30.\n\n{20d}  St. John v. 28.\n\n{21}  St. Jude 3.\n\n{26}  Eph. ii. 4, 5.\n\n{27a}  Gal. v. 22.\n\n{27b}  Rom. xv. 13.\n\n{28a}  2 Cor. v. 1.\n\n{28b}  St. Luke ii. 26.\n\n{29a}  Phil. i. 23.\n\n{29b}  2 Tim. iv. 6.\n\n{30a}  Phil. i. 23.\n\n{30b}  2 Tim. i. 12.\n\n{31a}  Psa. xxiii. 4.\n\n{31b}  St. Luke xix. 9.\n\n{32a}  1 Peter i. 8.\n\n{32b}  Num. xxiv. 17.\n\n{34a}  Isa. xxxii. 2.\n\n{34b}  Psa. xxxii. 7.\n\n{34c}  Col. iii. 3.\n\n{34d}  1 John v. 12.\n\n{35}  Gal. ii. 20.\n\n{37}  2 Cor. v. 15.\n\n{38}  St. John i. 26.\n\n{39a}  St. John iii. 34.\n\n{39b}  Col. ii. 9.\n\n{39c}  Acts x. 38.\n\n{40}  Acts ii, 3, 4.\n\n{41a}  Phil. iv. 19.\n\n{41b}  Job. xlii. 6.\n\n{42}  Heb. x. 20.\n\n{44a}  Acts xiii. 34.\n\n{44b}  St. John xviii. 37.\n\n{44c}  Rev. i. 5.\n\n{44d}  Psa. xxxv. 3.\n\n{45a}  1 John v. 10.\n\n{45b}  St. John x. 3.\n\n{45c}  Isa. xliv. 10.\n\n{46a}  Isa. xlii. 16.\n\n{46b}  Psa. xxxi. 3.\n\n{46c}  Psa. cxix. 117.\n\n{46d}  Psa. xxv. 4.\n\n{47a}  Psa. xxiii 4.\n\n{47b}  Eph. i. 22.\n\n{47c}  Rev. xvii. 14.\n\n{48a}  Rev. xvii. 14.\n\n{48b}  Acts ix. 6.\n\n{51}  Neh. iv. 6.\n\n{52a}  Neh. iv. 4.\n\n{52b}  St. Matt. xxvi. 41.\n\n{53}  Neh. iv. 15.\n\n{55a}  2 Pet. iii. 18.\n\n{55b}  Rom. iv. 24, 25.\n\n{56}  Rom. xi. 20.\n\n{59a}  Acts xiii. 2.\n\n{59b}  Eph. iv. 16.\n\n{60a}  1 Sam. iii. 19.\n\n{60b}  Mal. iii. 17.\n\n{60c}  Ps. cxxvii. 1.\n\n{61}  Eph. ii. 10.\n\n{63a}  Isa. xxviii. 16.\n\n{63b}  1 John iv. 16.\n\n{64}  Heb. xiii. 8.\n\n{65a}  Psa. lxiii. 1.\n\n{65b}  Sam. xvii. 37.\n\n{66}  1 Thess. iv. 13, 14.\n\n{67a}  1 Thess. iv. 17.\n\n{67b}  Phil. iv. 4, 5.\n\n{67c}  1 Cor. vii. 29.\n\n{68a}  Rom. xiii. 11.\n\n{68b}  St. Matt. xxv. 6.\n\n{68c}  St. Luke xxi. 25.\n\n{69a}  St. Luke xxi. 26.\n\n{69b}  St. Luke xxi. 28.\n\n{69c}  St. Luke xxi. 27.\n\n{71}  Heb. x. 20.\n\n{72a}  Eph. ii. 14.\n\n{72b}  Acts xiii. 7.\n\n{72c}  Acts xiv. 1.\n\n{73}  Acts xiii. 52.\n\n{74a}  Acts xv. 4\u201312.\n\n{74b}  St. Matt. xxviii. 20.\n\n{74c}  Acts xvi. 14.\n\n{75}  1 Cor. iii. 6.\n\n{76a}  Acts xii. 7.\n\n{76b}  Isa. lxiv. 7.\n\n{77a}  Phil. ii. 12.\n\n{77b}  Acts xvii. 16.\n\n{78a}  Prov. xxvii. 17.\n\n{78b}  Deut. xxxii. 11.\n\n{79a}  Rom. i. 7.\n\n{79b}  Rom. xiii. 11.\n\n{80}  Cant v. 2.\n\n{81}  1 Chron. xxviii. 20.\n\n{82a}  Psa. cxix. 94.\n\n{82b}  Isa vi. 8.\n\n{82c}  St. John xvii. 19, R.V.  Margin.\n\n{83a}  1 Chron. xxix. 9.\n\n{83b}  1 Chron. xxix. 14.\n\n{84}  Rev. ii. 4.\n\n{87}  Rev. xxi. 3.\n\n{89a}  St. Jude 24.\n\n{89b}  1 John i. 9.\n\n{90a}  Psa. xxiii. 4.\n\n{90b}  Psa. lxiii. 1.\n\n{90c}  Dan. x. 19.\n\n{90d}  Psa. xxviii. 7.\n\n{90e}  Psa. lxxiii. 2.\n\n{90f}  Psa. lxxiii. 23.\n\n{92}  Psa. xxxvi. 8.\n\n{93a}  1 Tim. vi. 17.\n\n{93b}  Titus iii. 6.\n\n{93c}  Acts vi. 5.\n\n{93d}  Eph. v. 18.\n\n{93e}  Psa. lxxxi. 10.\n\n{94a}  Psa. lxxxv. 10.\n\n{94b}  St. John x. 28.\n\n{95a}  Psa. lxxxiv. 6, Cp. R.V.\n\n{95b}  St. John vi. 37.","title":"Multiplied Blessings: Eighteen Short Readings","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":25982}