home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- 27650
- next 27651
- 27651
- January 16 Morning
-
- \\"I will help thee, saith the Lord."\\
- --Isaiah 41:14
-
- This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of
- us: "I will \\help\\ thee." "It is but a small thing for me, thy
- God, to \\help\\ thee. Consider what I have done already. What!
- not help thee? Why, I bought thee with my blood. What! not help
- thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will
- I not do the less? \\Help\\ thee! It is the least thing I will
- ever do for thee; I \\have\\ done more, and will do more. Before
- the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I
- laid aside my glory and became a man for thee; I gave up my life
- for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In
- helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee
- already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I
- would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I
- am ready to give. 'Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing
- for me to bestow. '\\Help\\ thee?' Fear not! If there were an
- ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not
- ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art
- nothing but a tiny insect at the door of my all-sufficiency. 'I
- will help thee.'"
-
- O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength
- than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more
- wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself
- in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of
- the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well
- will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them
- here--thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river
- of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go
- forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine
- helper!
-
- "Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay'd!
- I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid."
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27751
- # Ge 46:1 - 48:22 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27652
- January 17 Morning
-
- \\"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion."\\
- --Revelation 14:1
-
- The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of
- heaven, and in describing what he saw, he begins by saying, "I
- looked, and, lo, a Lamb!" This teaches us that the chief object
- of contemplation in the heavenly state is "the Lamb of God,
- which taketh away the sins of the world." Nothing else attracted
- the apostle's attention so much as the person of that Divine
- Being, who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the
- songs of all glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here
- is joy for thee; thou hast looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb.
- Through thy tears thine eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking
- away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when thine eyes
- shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb
- \\exalted on his throne\\. It is the joy of thy heart to hold
- daily fellowship with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a
- higher degree in heaven; thou shalt enjoy the constant vision of
- his presence; thou shalt dwell with him for ever. "I looked,
- and, lo, a Lamb!" Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as good
- Rutherford says, "Heaven and Christ are the same thing;" to be
- with Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be
- with Christ. That prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in
- one of his glowing letters--"O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could
- be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be
- in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for
- thou art all the heaven I want." It is true, is it not,
- Christian? Does not thy soul say so?
-
- "Not all the harps above
- Can make a heavenly place,
- If God his residence remove,
- Or but conceal his face."
-
- All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is "to
- be with Christ."
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27752
- # Ge 49:1 - Ex 1:22 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27653
- January 18 Morning
-
- \\"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."\\
- --Hebrews 4:9
-
- How different will be the state of the believer in heaven
- from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer
- weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never
- known. Anxious to serve his Master, he finds his strength
- unequal to his zeal: his constant cry is, "Help me to serve
- thee, O my God." If he be thoroughly active, he will have much
- labour; not too much for his will, but more than enough for his
- power, so that he will cry out, "I am not wearied \\of\\ the
- labour, but I am wearied \\in it\\." Ah! Christian, the hot day
- of weariness lasts not for ever; the sun is nearing the horizon;
- it shall rise again with a brighter day than thou hast ever seen
- upon a land where they serve God day and night, and yet rest
- from their labours. \\Here\\, rest is but partial, \\there\\, it
- is \\perfect\\. \\Here\\, the Christian is always unsettled; he
- feels that he has not yet attained. \\There\\, all are at rest;
- they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have
- ascended to the bosom of their God. Higher they cannot go. Ah,
- toil-worn labourer, only think when thou shalt rest for ever!
- Canst thou conceive it? It is a rest \\eternal\\; a rest that
- "remaineth." Here, my best joys bear "mortal" on their brow; my
- fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my
- sweetest birds fall before Death's arrows; my most pleasant days
- are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of my bliss
- subside into ebbs of sorrow; but \\there\\, everything is
- immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the
- eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and
- the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. Happy
- day! happy! when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and
- the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27753
- # Ex 2:1 - 4:31 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27654
- January 19 Morning
-
- \\"I sought him, but I found him not."\\
- --Song of Solomon 3:1
-
- Tell me where you lost the company of a Christ, and I will
- tell you the most likely place to find him. Have you lost
- Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there
- you must seek and find him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You
- will find Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the
- sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in
- which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting
- the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is
- a true proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is
- there." So look for Christ where you lost him, for he has not
- gone away. But it is hard work to go back for Christ. Bunyan
- tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the
- Arbour of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever
- travelled. Twenty miles onward is easier than to go one mile
- back for the lost evidence.
-
- Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to
- him. But how is it you have lost him? One would have thought you
- would never have parted with such a precious friend, whose
- presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and whose
- company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch him
- every moment for fear of losing sight of him? Yet, since you
- have let him go, what a mercy that you are seeking him, even
- though you mournfully groan, "O that I knew where I might find
- him!" Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord.
- Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a
- tree without water at its roots; like a sere leaf in the
- tempest--not bound to the tree of life. With thine whole heart
- seek him, and he will be found of thee: only give thyself
- thoroughly up to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover
- him to thy joy and gladness.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27754
- # Ex 5:1 - 7:25 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27655
- January 20 Morning
-
- \\"Abel was a keeper of sheep."\\
- --Genesis 4:2
-
- As a shepherd Abel \\sanctified his work to the glory of God,\\
- \\and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar, and the Lord\\
- \\had respect unto Abel and his offering\\. This early type of our
- Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct. Like the first streak of
- light which tinges the east at sunrise, it does not reveal
- everything, but it clearly manifests the great fact that the sun
- is coming. As we see Abel, a shepherd and yet a priest, offering
- a sacrifice of sweet smell unto God, we discern our Lord, who
- brings before his Father a sacrifice to which Jehovah ever hath
- respect. Abel was hated by his brother--hated without a cause;
- and even so was the Saviour: the natural and carnal man hated
- the accepted man in whom the Spirit of grace was found, and
- rested not until his blood had been shed. Abel fell, and
- sprinkled his altar and sacrifice with his own blood, and
- therein sets forth the Lord Jesus slain by the enmity of man
- while serving as a priest before the Lord. "The good Shepherd
- layeth down his life for the sheep." Let us weep over him as we
- view him slain by the hatred of mankind, staining the horns of
- his altar with his own blood. \\Abel's blood speaketh\\. "The
- Lord said unto Cain, 'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth
- unto me from the ground.'" The blood of Jesus hath a mighty
- tongue, and the import of its prevailing cry is not vengeance
- but mercy. It is precious beyond all preciousness to stand at
- the altar of our good Shepherd! to see him bleeding there as the
- slaughtered priest, and then to hear his blood speaking peace to
- all his flock, peace in our conscience, peace between Jew and
- Gentile, peace between man and his offended Maker, peace all
- down the ages of eternity for blood-washed men. Abel is the
- first shepherd in order of time, but our hearts shall ever place
- Jesus first in order of excellence. Thou great Keeper of the
- sheep, we the people of thy pasture bless thee with our whole
- hearts when we see thee slain for us.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27755
- # Ex 8:1 - 10:29 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27656
- January 21 Morning
-
- \\"And so all Israel shall be saved."\\
- --Romans 11:26
-
- Then Moses sang at the Red Sea, it was his joy to know that
- all Israel were safe. Not a drop of spray fell from that solid
- wall until the last of God's Israel had safely planted his foot
- on the other side the flood. That done, immediately the floods
- dissolved into their proper place again, but not till then. Part
- of that song was, "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people
- which thou hast redeemed." In the last time, when the elect
- shall sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the
- Lamb, it shall be the boast of Jesus, "Of all whom thou hast
- given me, I have lost none." In heaven there shall not be a
- vacant throne.
-
- "For all the chosen race
- Shall meet around the throne,
- Shall bless the conduct of his grace,
- And make his glories known."
-
- As many as God hath chosen, as many as Christ hath redeemed, as
- many as the Spirit hath called, as many as believe in Jesus,
- shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not all safely
- landed yet:
-
- "Part of the host have crossed the flood,
- And part are crossing now."
-
- The vanguard of the army has already reached the shore. We are
- marching through the depths; we are at this day following hard
- after our Leader into the heart of the sea. Let us be of good
- cheer: the rear-guard shall soon be where the vanguard already
- is; the last of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea,
- and then shall be heard the song of triumph, when all are
- secure. But oh! if one were absent--oh! if one of his chosen
- family should be cast away--it would make an everlasting discord
- in the song of the redeemed, and cut the strings of the harps of
- paradise, so that music could never be extorted from them.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27756
- # Ex 11:1 - 13:22 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27657
- January 22 Morning
-
- \\"Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than\\
- \\a branch which is among the trees of the forest?"\\
- --Ezekiel 15:2
-
- These words are for the humbling of God's people; they are
- called God's vine, but what are they by nature more than others?
- They, by God's goodness, have become fruitful, having been
- planted in a good soil; the Lord hath trained them upon the
- walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to his glory;
- but what are they without their God? What are they without the
- continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in
- them? O believer, learn to reject pride, seeing that thou hast
- no ground for it. Whatever thou art, thou hast nothing to make
- thee proud. The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to
- God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a
- debtor. Consider thine origin; look back to what thou wast.
- Consider what thou wouldst have been but for divine grace. Look
- upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not thy conscience reproach
- thee? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand before thee, and tell
- thee that thou art unworthy to be called his son? And if he hath
- made thee anything, art thou not taught thereby that it is grace
- which hath made thee to differ? Great believer, thou wouldst
- have been a great sinner if God had not made thee to differ. O
- thou who art valiant for truth, thou wouldst have been as
- valiant for error if grace had not laid hold upon thee.
- Therefore, be not proud, though thou hast a large estate--a wide
- domain of grace, thou hadst not once a single thing to call
- thine own except thy sin and misery. Oh! strange infatuation,
- that thou, who hast borrowed everything, shouldst think of
- exalting thyself; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of
- thy Saviour, one who hath a life which dies without fresh
- streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud! Fie on thee, O silly
- heart!
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27757
- # Ex 14:1 - 16:36 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27658
- January 23 Morning
-
- \\"I have exalted one chosen out of the people."\\
- --Psalm 89:19
-
- Why was Christ chosen out of the people? Speak, my heart,
- for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not that he might be able
- to be our brother, in the blest tie of kindred blood? Oh, what
- relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The
- believer can say, "I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor,
- but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will he
- suffer me to want while he is on his throne? Oh, no! He loves
- me; he is my Brother." Believer, wear this blessed thought, like
- a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memory; put it,
- as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, and use it as
- the King's own seal, stamping the petitions of thy faith with
- confidence of success. He is a brother born for adversity, treat
- him as such.
-
- Christ was also chosen out of the people that he might know
- our wants and sympathize with us. "He was tempted in all points
- like as we are, yet without sin." In all our sorrows we have his
- sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness,
- poverty--he knows them all, for he has felt all. Remember this,
- Christian, and let it comfort thee. However difficult and
- painful thy road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour;
- and even when thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of
- death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt
- find his footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, he
- has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once
- been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.
-
- "His way was much rougher and darker than mine
- Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?"
-
- Take courage! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon the
- road, and consecrated the thorny path for ever.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27758
- # Ex 17:1 - 19:25 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27659
- January 24 Morning
-
- \\"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler."\\
- --Psalm 91:3
-
- God delivers his people from the snare of the fowler in two
- senses. \\From\\, and \\out of\\. First, he delivers them
- \\from\\ the snare--does not let them enter it; and secondly, if
- they should be caught therein, he delivers them \\out of\\ it.
- The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is
- the best to others.
-
- "He shall deliver thee \\from\\ the snare." How? Trouble is
- often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our
- backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and he in mercy
- sends the rod. We say, "Lord, why is this?" not knowing that our
- trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater
- evil. Many have been thus saved from ruin by their sorrows and
- their crosses; these have frightened the birds from the net. At
- other times, God keeps his people \\from\\ the snare of the
- fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when
- they are tempted to do evil they say, "How can I do this great
- wickedness, and sin against God?" But what a blessed thing it is
- that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net,
- yet God will bring him out of it! O backslider, be cast down,
- but do not despair. Wanderer though thou hast been, hear what
- thy Redeemer saith--"Return, O backsliding children; I will have
- mercy upon you." But you say you cannot return, for you are a
- captive. Then listen to the promise--"Surely he shall deliver
- thee out of the snare of the fowler." Thou shalt yet be brought
- out of all evil into which thou hast fallen, and though thou
- shalt never cease to repent of thy ways, yet he that hath loved
- thee will not cast thee away; he will receive thee, and give
- thee joy and gladness, that the bones which he has broken may
- rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the fowler's net.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27759
- # Ex 20:1 - 22:31 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27660
- January 25 Morning
-
- \\"I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the\\
- \\praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath\\
- \\bestowed on us."\\
- --Isaiah 63:7
-
- And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou
- \\hast experienced\\? What though thou art gloomy now, canst
- thou forget that blessed hour when Jesus met thee, and said,
- "Come unto me"? Canst thou not remember that rapturous moment
- when he snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and
- said, "I came to break thy bonds and set thee free"? Or if the
- love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some
- precious milestone along the road of life not quite grown over
- with moss, on which thou canst read a happy memorial of his
- mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a sickness like
- that which thou art suffering now, and did he not restore thee?
- Wert thou never poor before, and did he not supply thy wants?
- Wast thou never in straits before, and did he not deliver thee?
- Arise, go to the river of thine experience, and pull up a few
- bulrushes, and plait them into an ark, wherein thine infant-
- faith may float safely on the stream. Forget not what thy God
- has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and
- consider the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill
- Mizar? Did the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou
- never climbed the Delectable Mountains? Hast thou never been
- helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, then, a
- little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all
- may be dark \\now\\, light up the lamps of the past, they shall
- glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord
- till the day break and the shadows flee away. "Remember, O Lord,
- thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been
- ever of old."
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27760
- # Ex 23:1 - 25:40 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27661
- January 26 Morning
-
- \\"Your heavenly Father."\\
- --Matthew 6:26
-
- God's people are doubly his children, they are his offspring
- by creation, and they are his sons by adoption in Christ. Hence
- they are privileged to call him, "Our Father which art in
- heaven." Father! Oh, what precious word is that. Here is
- \\authority\\: "If I be a Father, where is mine honour?" If ye
- be sons, where is your obedience? Here is \\affection\\ mingled
- with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion;
- an obedience demanded which is most cheerfully rendered--which
- would not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which
- God's children yield to him must be \\loving\\ obedience. Do not
- go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmaster's
- toil, but run in the way of his commands because it is your
- \\Father's\\ way. Yield your bodies as instruments of
- righteousness, because righteousness is your Father's will, and
- \\his\\ will should be the will of his child. \\Father\\!--Here
- is a kingly attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the King's
- crown is forgotten in the King's face, and his sceptre becomes,
- not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy--the sceptre
- indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of him who
- wields it. Father!--Here is honour and love. How great is a
- Father's love to his children! That which friendship cannot do,
- and mere benevolence will not attempt, a father's heart and hand
- must do for his sons. They are his offspring, he must bless
- them; they are his children, he must show himself strong in
- their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children
- with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly
- Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better
- music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in
- the depth of that word--Father! There is all I can ask; all my
- necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in
- all to all eternity when I can say, "Father."
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27761
- # Ex 26:1 - 28:43 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27662
- January 27 Morning
-
- \\"And of his fulness have all we received."\\
- --John 1:16
-
- These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There
- is a fulness of essential Deity, for "in him dwelleth all the
- fulness of the Godhead." There is a fulness of perfect manhood,
- for in him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a
- fulness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for "the blood of
- Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." There is a
- fulness of justifying righteousness in his life, for "there is
- therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
- There is a fulness of divine prevalence in his plea, for "He is
- able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him;
- seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." There is a
- fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed
- him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a
- fulness of efficacy in his resurrection from the dead, for by it
- "we are begotten again unto a lively hope." There is a fulness
- of triumph in his ascension, for "when he ascended up on high,
- he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." There is
- a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of
- grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify,
- of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a
- fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a
- fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine
- attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were
- impossible to survey, much less to explore. "It pleased the
- Father that in him should \\all\\ fulness dwell." Oh, what a
- fulness must this be of which \\all\\ receive! Fulness, indeed,
- must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the
- well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come,
- believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou
- shalt receive largely, for this "fulness" is inexhaustible, and
- is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus,
- Immanuel--God with us.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27762
- # Ex 29:1 - 31:18 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27663
- January 28 Morning
-
- \\"Perfect in Christ Jesus."\\
- --Colossians 1:28
-
- Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in
- you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear which
- trickles from your eye, weeps "imperfection"; every harsh word
- which proceeds from your lip, mutters "imperfection." You have
- too frequently had a view of your own heart to dream for a
- moment of any perfection \\in yourself\\. But amidst this sad
- consciousness of imperfection, here is comfort for you--you are
- "perfect in \\Christ Jesus\\." In God's sight, you are "complete
- in him;" \\even now\\ you are "accepted in the Beloved." But
- there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure
- to all the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the
- time when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer,
- and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without
- spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? The Church of Christ then
- will be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a
- spot or blemish in her; so holy and so glorious, that Hart did
- not go beyond the truth when he said--
-
- "With my Saviour's garments on,
- Holy as the Holy One."
-
- Then shall we know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this
- vast but short sentence, "Complete in Christ." Not till then
- shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the
- salvation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy at the
- thought of it? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one day;
- filthy as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a marvellous
- salvation this! Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an
- angel; Christ takes a black and deformed thing and makes it
- clean and matchless in his glory, peerless in his beauty, and
- fit to be the companion of seraphs. O my soul, stand and admire
- this blessed truth of perfection in Christ.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27763
- # Ex 32:1 - 34:35 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27664
- January 29 Morning
-
- \\"The things which are not seen."\\
- --2 Corinthians 4:18
-
- In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part,
- to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is
- the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or
- for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be
- the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future
- we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the
- soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance
- of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer's
- enlightened eye can see death's river passed, the gloomy stream
- forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the
- celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates,
- hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ,
- embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with him, and made to
- sit together with him on his throne, even as he has overcome
- and has sat down with the Father on his throne. The thought of
- this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the
- gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate
- for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a
- narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how
- short--eternity, how long! Death, how brief--immortality, how
- endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol's clusters, and sip
- of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short!
- I shall soon be there.
-
- "When the world my heart is rending
- With its heaviest storm of care,
- My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,
- Find a refuge from despair.
- Faith's bright vision shall sustain me
- Till life's pilgrimage is past;
- Fears may vex and troubles pain me,
- I shall reach my home at last."
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27764
- # Ex 35:1 - 37:29 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27665
- January 30 Morning
-
- \\"When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the\\
- \\mulberry trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself."\\
- --2 Samuel 5:24
-
- The members of Christ's Church should be very prayerful,
- always seeking the unction of the Holy One to rest upon their
- hearts, that the kingdom of Christ may come, and that his "will
- be done on earth, even as it is in heaven;" but there are times
- when God seems especially to favour Zion, such seasons ought to
- be to them like "the sound of a going in the tops of the
- mulberry trees." We ought then to be doubly prayerful, doubly
- earnest, wrestling more at the throne than we have been wont to
- do. Action should then be prompt and vigorous. The tide is
- flowing--now let us pull manfully for the shore. O for
- Pentecostal outpourings and Pentecostal labours. Christian, in
- yourself there are times "when thou hearest the sound of a
- going in the tops of the mulberry trees." You have a peculiar
- power in prayer; the Spirit of God gives you joy and gladness;
- the Scripture is open to you; the promises are applied; you
- walk in the light of God's countenance; you have peculiar
- freedom and liberty in devotion, and more closeness of
- communion with Christ than was your wont. Now, at such joyous
- periods when you hear the "sound of a going in the tops of the
- mulberry trees," is the time to bestir yourself; now is the
- time to get rid of any evil habit, while God the Spirit helpeth
- your infirmities. Spread your sail; but remember what you
- sometimes sing--
-
- "I can only spread the sail;
- Thou! Thou! must breathe the auspicious gale."
-
- Only be sure you have the sail up. Do not miss the gale for
- want of preparation for it. Seek help of God, that you may be
- more earnest in duty when made more strong in faith; that you
- may be more constant in prayer when you have more liberty at
- the throne; that you may be more holy in your conversation
- whilst you live more closely with Christ.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27765
- # Ex 38:1 - 39:43 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27666
- January 31 Morning
-
- \\"The Lord our Righteousness."\\
- --Jeremiah 23:6
-
- It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet,
- ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness of
- Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do
- not think they ought to be. I do not think they would if they
- could always see their perfection in Christ. There are some who
- are always talking about corruption, and the depravity of the
- heart, and the innate evil of the soul. This is quite true, but
- why not go a little further, and remember that we are "perfect
- in Christ Jesus." It is no wonder that those who are dwelling
- upon their own corruption should wear such downcast looks; but
- surely if we call to mind that "Christ is made unto us
- righteousness," we shall be of good cheer. What though
- distresses afflict me, though Satan assault me, though there may
- be many things to be experienced before I get to heaven, those
- are done for me in the covenant of divine grace; there is
- nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ hath done it all. On the
- cross he said, "It is finished!" and if it be finished, then am
- I complete in him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
- of glory, "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
- law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
- righteousness which is of God by faith." You will not find on
- this side heaven a holier people than those who receive into
- their hearts the doctrine of Christ's righteousness. When the
- believer says, "I live on Christ alone; I rest on him solely for
- salvation; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am still
- saved in Jesus;" then there rises up as a motive of gratitude
- this thought--"Shall I not live to Christ? Shall I not love him
- and serve him, seeing that I am saved by his merits?" "The love
- of Christ constraineth us," "that they which live should not
- henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for
- them." If saved by imputed righteousness, we shall greatly value
- imparted righteousness.
-
- Evening Reading .......................................... 27766
- # Ex 40:1 - 40:38 * Daily Bible Reading
- 27667
- next 27701
-