Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t28150

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28151
 March 16                                                 Evening

 \\"Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins."\\
                                                    --Psalm 19:13

    Such was the\\ prayer of the "man after God's own heart\\."
 Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a
 prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, "Keep me
 back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin." Our
 evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May
 the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it
 rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it
 were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in
 providence and in grace! The psalmist's prayer is directed
 against the worst form of sin--that which is done with
 deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be "kept
 back" from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to
 find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome
 sins. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
 fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
 concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What! do
 saints want warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do.
 The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine
 grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced
 Christian, boast not in your experience; you will trip yet if
 you look away from him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye
 whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are
 bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry, "Lead us
 not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of the
 best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell,
 unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have
 dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken, and
 committing uncleanness? Hazael said, "Is thy servant a dog, that
 he should do this thing?" and we are very apt to use the same
 self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the
 madness of self-confidence.
28152
 March 17                                                 Evening

 \\"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the\\
 \\children of God."\\
                                                    --Matthew 5:9

    This is the seventh of the beatitudes: and seven was the
 number of perfection among the Hebrews. It may be that the
 Saviour placed the peacemaker the seventh upon the list because
 he most nearly approaches the perfect man in Christ Jesus. He
 who would have perfect blessedness, so far as it can be enjoyed
 on earth, must attain to this seventh benediction, and become a
 peacemaker. There is a significance also in the position of the
 text. The verse which precedes it speaks of the blessedness of
 "the pure in heart: for they shall see God." It is well to
 understand that we are to be "first pure, then peaceable." Our
 peaceableness is never to be a compact with sin, or toleration
 of evil. We must set our faces like flints against everything
 which is contrary to God and his holiness: purity being in our
 souls a settled matter, we can go on to peaceableness. Not less
 does the verse that follows seem to have been put there on
 purpose. However peaceable we may be in this world, yet we shall
 be misrepresented and misunderstood: and no marvel, for even the
 Prince of Peace, by his very peacefulness, brought fire upon the
 earth. He himself, though he loved mankind, and did no ill, was
 "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
 with grief." Lest, therefore, the peaceable in heart should be
 surprised when they meet with enemies, it is added in the
 following verse, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for
 righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Thus,
 the peacemakers are not only pronounced to be blessed, but they
 are compassed about with blessings. Lord, give us grace to climb
 to this seventh beatitude! Purify our minds that we may be
 "first pure, then peaceable," and fortify our souls, that our
 peaceableness may not lead us into cowardice and despair, when
 for thy sake we are persecuted.

28153
 March 18                                                 Evening

 \\"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you."\\
                                                      --John 15:9

    As the Father loves the Son, in the same manner Jesus loves
 his people. What is that divine method? He loved him \\without\\
 \\beginning\\, and thus Jesus loves his members. "\\I have loved\\
 \\thee with an everlasting love\\." You can trace the beginning
 of human affection; you can easily find the beginning of your
 love to Christ, but his love to us is a stream whose source is
 hidden in eternity. God the Father loves Jesus \\without any\\
 \\change\\. Christian, take this for your comfort, that there is
 no change in Jesus Christ's love to those who rest in him.
 Yesterday you were on Tabor's top, and you said, "He loves me:"
 to-day you are in the valley of humiliation, but he loves you
 still the same. On the hill Mizar, and among the Hermons, you
 heard his voice, which spake so sweetly with the turtle-notes of
 love; and now on the sea, or even in the sea, when all his waves
 and billows go over you, his heart is faithful to his ancient
 choice. The Father loves the Son \\without any end\\, and thus
 does the Son love his people. Saint, thou needest not fear the
 loosing of the silver cord, for his love for thee will never
 cease. Rest confident that even down to the grave Christ will go
 with you, and that up again from it he will be your guide to the
 celestial hills. Moreover, the Father loves the Son \\without\\
 \\any measure\\, and the same immeasurable love the Son bestows
 upon his chosen ones. The whole heart of Christ is dedicated to
 his people. He "loved us and gave himself for us." His is a love
 which passeth knowledge. Ah! we have indeed an immutable
 Saviour, a precious Saviour, one who loves without measure,
 without change, without beginning, and without end, even as the
 Father loves him! There is much food here for those who know how
 to digest it. May the Holy Ghost lead us into its marrow and
 fatness!

28154
 March 19                                                 Evening

 \\"And she did eat, and was sufficed, and left."\\
                                                      --Ruth 2:14

    Whenever we are privileged to eat of the bread which Jesus
 gives, we are, like Ruth, satisfied with the full and sweet
 repast. When Jesus is the host no guest goes empty from the
 table. Our \\head\\ is satisfied with the precious truth which
 Christ reveals; our \\heart\\ is content with Jesus, as the
 altogether lovely object of affection; our \\hope\\ is
 satisfied, for whom have we in heaven but Jesus? and our desire
 is satiated, for what can we wish for more than "to know Christ
 and to be found in him?" Jesus fills our \\conscience\\ till it
 is at perfect peace; our \\judgment\\ with persuasion of the
 certainty of his teachings; our \\memory\\ with recollections of
 what he has done, and our \\imagination\\ with the prospects of
 what he is yet to do. As Ruth was "sufficed, \\and left\\," so
 is it with us. We have had deep draughts; we have thought that
 we could take in all of Christ; but when we have done our best
 we have had to leave a vast remainder. We have sat at the table
 of the Lord's love, and said, "Nothing but the infinite can ever
 satisfy me; I am such a great sinner that I must have infinite
 merit to wash my sin away;" but we have had our sin removed, and
 found that there was merit to spare; we have had our hunger
 relieved at the feast of sacred love, and found that there was a
 redundance of spiritual meat remaining. There are certain sweet
 things in the Word of God which we have not enjoyed yet, and
 which we are obliged to leave for awhile; for we are like the
 disciples to whom Jesus said, "I have yet many things to say
 unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Yes, there are graces to
 which we have not attained; places of fellowship nearer to
 Christ which we have not reached; and heights of communion which
 our feet have not climbed. At every banquet of love there are
 many baskets of fragments left. Let us magnify the liberality of
 our glorious Boaz.
28155
 March 20                                                 Evening

 \\"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the\\
 \\church."\\
                                                 --Ephesians 5:25

    What a golden example Christ gives to his disciples! Few
 masters could venture to say, "If you would practise my
 teaching, imitate my life;" but as the life of Jesus is the
 exact transcript of perfect virtue, he can point to himself as
 the paragon of holiness, as well as the teacher of it. The
 Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model.
 Under no circumstances ought we to be content unless we reflect
 the grace which was in him. As a husband, the Christian is to
 look upon the portrait of Christ Jesus, and he is to paint
 according to that copy. The true Christian is to be such a
 husband as Christ was to his church. The love of a husband is
 \\special\\. The Lord Jesus cherishes for the church a peculiar
 affection, which is set upon her above the rest of mankind: "I
 pray for them, I pray not for the world." The elect church is
 the favourite of heaven, the treasure of Christ, the crown of
 his head, the bracelet of his arm, the breastplate of his heart,
 the very centre and core of his love. A husband should love his
 wife with a \\constant\\ love, for thus Jesus loves his church.
 He does not vary in his affection. He may change in his display
 of affection, but the affection itself is still the same. A
 husband should love his wife with an \\enduring\\ love, for
 nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." A true husband loves his
 wife with a \\hearty\\ love, fervent and intense. It is not mere
 lip-service. Ah! beloved, what more could Christ have done in
 proof of his love than he has done? Jesus has a \\delighted\\
 \\love\\ towards his spouse: He prizes her affection, and
 delights in her with sweet complacence. Believer, you wonder at
 Jesus' love; you admire it--\\are you imitating it\\? In your
 domestic relationships is the rule and measure of your
 love--"\\even as Christ loved the church\\?"
28156
 March 21                                                 Evening

 \\"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose\\
 \\the bands of Orion?"\\
                                                      --Job 38:31

    If inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature
 may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of
 all the twinkling stars, or quench so much as one of the beams
 of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to
 scorn. When the Pleiades shine forth in spring with vernal joy
 we cannot restrain their influences, and when Orion reigns
 aloft, and the year is bound in winter's fetters, we cannot
 relax the icy bands. The seasons revolve according to the divine
 appointment, neither can the whole race of men effect a change
 therein. Lord, what is man?

    In the spiritual, as in the natural world, man's power is
 limited on all hands. When the Holy Spirit sheds abroad his
 delights in the soul, none can disturb; all the cunning and
 malice of men are ineffectual to stay the genial quickening
 power of the Comforter. When he deigns to visit a church and
 revive it, the most inveterate enemies cannot resist the good
 work; they may ridicule it, but they can no more restrain it
 than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades rule the
 hour. God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if
 the Lord in sovereignty, or in justice, bind up a man so that he
 is in soul bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can
 remove the winter of spiritual death from an individual or a
 people. He looses the bands of Orion, and none but he. What a
 blessing it is that he can do it. O that he would perform the
 wonder to-night. Lord, end my winter, and let my spring begin.
 I cannot with all my longings raise my soul out of her death and
 dulness, but all things are possible with thee. I need celestial
 influences, the clear shinings of thy love, the beams of thy
 grace, the light of thy countenance, these are the Pleiades to
 me. I suffer much from sin and temptation, these are my wintry
 signs, my terrible Orion. Lord, work wonders in me, and for me.
 Amen.

28157
 March 22                                                 Evening

 \\"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be\\
 \\with me where I am."\\
                                                     --John 17:24

    O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading
 branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the
 excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must
 use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou
 mightest be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly
 cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous.
 But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our
 friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy,
 the most devoted must die. And why? It is through Jesus'
 prevailing prayer--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou
 hast given me, be with me where I am." It is \\that\\ which
 bears them on eagle's wings to heaven. Every time a believer
 mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's
 prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and his
 people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in
 prayer and say `Father, I will that thy saints be with me where
 \\I\\ am'; Christ says, `Father, I will that they also, whom
 thou hast given me, be with me where\\ I\\ am.'" Thus the disciple
 is at cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both
 places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too.
 Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if
 the King should step from his throne, and say, "Here are two
 supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be
 answered?" Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start
 from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but thine be
 done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life,
 if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the
 opposite direction--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou
 hast given me, be with me where I am." Lord, thou shalt have
 them. By faith we let them go.
28158
 March 23                                                 Evening

 \\"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones\\
 \\would immediately cry out."\\
                                                     --Luke 19:40

    But could the stones cry out? Assuredly they could if he who
 opens the mouth of the dumb should bid them lift up their voice.
 Certainly if they were to speak, they would have much to testify
 in praise of him who created them by the word of his power; they
 could extol the wisdom and power of their \\Maker\\ who called
 them into being. Shall not \\we\\ speak well of him who made us
 anew, and out of stones raised up children unto Abraham? The old
 rocks could tell of chaos and order, and the handiwork of God in
 successive stages of creation's drama; and cannot \\we\\ talk of
 God's decrees, of God's great work in ancient times, in all that
 he did for his church in the days of old? If the stones were to
 speak, they could tell of their \\breaker\\, how he took them
 from the quarry, and made them fit for the temple, and cannot we
 tell of our glorious Breaker, who broke our hearts with the
 hammer of his word, that he might build us into his temple? If
 the stones should cry out they would magnify their \\builder\\,
 who polished them and fashioned them after the similitude of a
 palace; and shall not we talk of our Architect and Builder, who
 has put us in our place in the temple of the living God? If the
 stones could cry out, they might have a long, long story to tell
 by way of memorial, for many a time hath a great stone been
 rolled as a memorial before the Lord; and we too can testify of
 Ebenezers, stones of help, pillars of remembrance. The broken
 stones of the law cry out against us, but Christ himself, who
 has rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, speaks
 for us. Stones might well cry out, but we will not let them: we
 will hush their noise with ours; we will break forth into sacred
 song, and bless the majesty of the Most High, all our days
 glorifying him who is called by Jacob the Shepherd and Stone of
 Israel.

28159
 March 24                                                 Evening

 \\"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit."\\
                                                     --Luke 10:21

    The Saviour was "a man of sorrows," but every thoughtful mind
 has discovered the fact that down deep in his innermost soul he
 carried an inexhaustible treasury of refined and heavenly joy.
 Of all the human race, there was never a man who had a deeper,
 purer, or more abiding peace than our Lord Jesus Christ. "He was
 anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows." His vast
 benevolence must, from the very nature of things, have afforded
 him the deepest possible delight, for benevolence is joy. There
 were a few remarkable seasons when this joy manifested itself.
 "At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee,
 O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." Christ had his songs,
 though it was night with him; though his face was marred, and
 his countenance had lost the lustre of earthly happiness, yet
 sometimes it was lit up with a matchless splendour of
 unparalleled satisfaction, as he thought upon the recompense of
 the reward, and in the midst of the congregation sang his praise
 unto God. In this, the Lord Jesus is a blessed picture of his
 church on earth. At this hour the church expects to walk in
 sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much
 tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown. To bear the
 cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by
 her mother's children is her lot; and yet the church has a deep
 well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children. There
 are stores of wine, and oil, and corn, hidden in the midst of
 our Jerusalem, upon which the saints of God are evermore
 sustained and nurtured; and sometimes, as in our Saviour's case,
 we have our seasons of intense delight, for "There is a river,
 the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God." Exiles
 though we be, we rejoice in our King; yea, in him we exceedingly
 rejoice, while in his name we set up our banners.

28160
 March 25                                                 Evening

 \\"The Son of man."\\
                                                      --John 3:13

    How constantly our Master used the title, the "Son of man!"
 If he had chosen, he might always have spoken of himself as the
 Son of God, the Everlasting Father, the Wonderful, the
 Counsellor, the Prince of Peace; but behold the lowliness of
 Jesus! He prefers to call himself the Son of man. Let us learn a
 lesson of humility from our Saviour; let us never court great
 titles nor proud degrees. There is here, however, a far sweeter
 thought. Jesus loved manhood so much, that he delighted to
 honour it; and since it is a high honour, and indeed, the
 greatest dignity of manhood, that Jesus is the Son of man, he is
 wont to display this name, that he may as it were hang royal
 stars upon the breast of manhood, and show forth the love of God
 to Abraham's seed. \\Son of man\\--whenever he said that word,
 he shed a halo round the head of Adam's children. Yet there is
 perhaps a more precious thought still. Jesus Christ called
 himself the Son of man to express his oneness and sympathy with
 his people. He thus reminds us that he is the one whom we may
 approach without fear. As a man, we may take to him all our
 griefs and troubles, for he knows them by experience; in that he
 himself hath suffered as the "Son of man," he is able to succour
 and comfort us. All hail, thou blessed Jesus! inasmuch as thou
 art evermore using the sweet name which acknowledges that thou
 art a brother and a near kinsman, it is to us a dear token of
 thy grace, thy humility, thy love.

                "Oh see how Jesus trusts himself
                Unto our childish love,
                As though by his free ways with us
                Our earnestness to prove!

                His sacred name a common word
                On earth he loves to hear;
                There is no majesty in him
                Which love may not come near."

28161
 March 26                                                 Evening

 \\"When he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy\\
 \\angels."\\
                                                      --Mark 8:38

    If we have been partakers with Jesus in his shame, we shall
 be sharers with him in the lustre which shall surround him when
 he appears again in glory. Art thou, beloved one, with Christ
 Jesus? Does a vital union knit thee to him? Then thou art to-day
 with him in his shame; thou hast taken up his cross, and gone
 with him without the camp bearing his reproach; thou shalt
 doubtless be with him when the cross is exchanged for the crown.
 But judge thyself this evening; for if thou art not with him in
 the regeneration, neither shalt thou be with him when he shall
 come in his glory. If thou start back from the black side of
 communion, thou shalt not understand its bright, its happy
 period, when the King shall come, and \\all his holy angels with\\
 \\him\\. What! are \\angels with him\\? And yet he took not up
 angels--he took up the seed of Abraham. Are the holy angels
 \\with him\\? Come, my soul, if thou art indeed his own beloved,
 thou canst not be far from him. If his friends and his
 neighbours are called together to see his glory, what thinkest
 thou if thou art married to him? Shalt thou be distant? Though
 it be a day of judgment, yet thou canst not be far from that
 heart which, having admitted angels into intimacy, has admitted
 thee into union. Has he not said to thee, O my soul, "I will
 betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in
 lovingkindness?" Have not his own lips said it, "I am married
 unto thee, and my delight is in thee?" If the angels, who are
 but friends and neighbours, shall be with him, it is abundantly
 certain that his own beloved Hephzibah, in whom is all his
 delight, shall be near to him, and sit at his right hand. Here
 is a morning star of hope for thee, of such exceeding
 brilliance, that it may well light up the darkest and most
 desolate experience.
28162
 March 27                                                 Evening

 \\"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs\\
 \\which fall from their master's table."\\
                                                  --Matthew 15:27

    This woman gained comfort in her misery by thinking GREAT
 THOUGHTS OF CHRIST. The Master had talked about the children's
 bread: "Now," argued she, "since thou art the Master of the
 table of grace, I know that thou art a generous housekeeper, and
 there is sure to be abundance of bread on thy table; there will
 be such an abundance for the children that there will be crumbs
 to throw on the floor for the dogs, and the children will fare
 none the worse because the dogs are fed." She thought him one
 who kept so good a table that all that she needed would only be
 a crumb in comparison; yet remember, what she wanted was to have
 the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to
 her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said,
 "It is nothing to him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give."
 This is the royal road to comfort. Great thoughts of your sin
 alone will drive you to despair; but great thoughts of Christ
 will pilot you into the haven of peace. "My sins are many, but
 oh! it is nothing to Jesus to take them all away. The weight of
 my guilt presses me down as a giant's foot would crush a worm,
 but it is no more than a grain of dust to him, because he has
 already borne its curse in his own body on the tree. It will be
 but a small thing for him to give me full remission, although it
 will be an infinite blessing for me to receive it." The woman
 opens her soul's mouth very wide, expecting great things of
 Jesus, and he fills it with his love. Dear reader, do the same.
 She confessed what Christ laid at her door, but she laid fast
 hold upon him, and drew arguments even out of his hard words;
 she believed great things of him, and she thus overcame him.
 SHE WON THE VICTORY BY BELIEVING IN HIM. Her case is an instance
 of prevailing faith; and if we would conquer like her, we must
 imitate her tactics.

28163
 March 28                                                 Evening

 \\"I will accept you with your sweet savour."\\
                                                  --Ezekiel 20:41

    The merits of our great Redeemer are as sweet savour to the
 Most High. Whether we speak of the active or passive
 righteousness of Christ, there is an equal fragrance. There was
 a sweet savour in his active life by which he honoured the law
 of God, and made every precept to glitter like a precious jewel
 in the pure setting of his own person. Such, too, was his
 passive obedience, when he endured with unmurmuring submission,
 hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, and at length sweat great
 drops of blood in Gethsemane, gave his back to the smiters, and
 his cheeks to them that plucked out the hair, and was fastened
 to the cruel wood, that he might suffer the wrath of God in our
 behalf. These two things are sweet before the Most High; and for
 the sake of his doing and his dying, his substitutionary
 sufferings and his vicarious obedience, the Lord our God accepts
 us. What a preciousness must there be in him to overcome our
 want of preciousness! What a sweet savour to put away our ill
 savour! What a cleansing power in his blood to take away sin
 such as ours! and what glory in his righteousness to make such
 unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved! Mark,
 believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since
 it is \\in him\\! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance
 in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you
 have received his merit, you cannot be unaccepted.
 Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah's
 gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though he sees sin
 in you, in yourself, yet when he looks at you through Christ, he
 sees no sin. You are always accepted in Christ, are always
 blessed and dear to the Father's heart. Therefore lift up a
 song, and as you see the smoking incense of the merit of the
 Saviour coming up, this evening, before the sapphire throne, let
 the incense of your praise go up also.

28164
 March 29                                                 Evening

 \\"I called him, but he gave me no answer."\\
                                            --Song of Solomon 5:6

    Prayer sometimes tarrieth, like a petitioner at the gate,
 until the King cometh forth to fill her bosom with the blessings
 which she seeketh. The Lord, when he hath given great faith, has
 been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered his
 servants' voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky.
 They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained
 immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like
 Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered thyself with a
 cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Thus have true
 saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not
 because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were
 unaccepted, but because it so pleased him who is a Sovereign,
 and who gives according to his own pleasure. If it pleases him
 to bid our patience exercise itself, shall he not do as he wills
 with his own! Beggars must not be choosers either as to time,
 place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in
 prayer for denials: God's long-dated bills will be punctually
 honoured; we must not suffer Satan to shake our confidence in
 the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers.
 Unanswered petitions are not unheard. God keeps a file for our
 prayers--they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured
 in the King's archives. This is a registry in the court of
 heaven wherein every prayer is recorded. Tried believer, thy
 Lord hath a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of sacred
 grief are put away, and a book in which thy holy groanings are
 numbered. By-and-by, thy suit shall prevail. Canst thou not be
 content to wait a little? Will not thy Lord's time be better
 than thy time? By-and-by he will comfortably appear, to thy
 soul's joy, and make thee put away the sackcloth and ashes of
 long waiting, and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full
 fruition.

28165
 March 30                                                 Evening

 \\"Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the\\
 \\Lord."\\
                                              --Lamentations 3:40

    The spouse who fondly loves her absent husband longs for his
 return; a long protracted separation from her lord is a
 semi-death to her spirit: and so with souls who love the Saviour
 much, they\\ must\\ see his face, they cannot bear that he should be
 away upon the mountains of Bether, and no more hold communion
 with them. A reproaching glance, an uplifted finger will be
 grievous to loving children, who fear to offend their tender
 father, and are only happy in his smile. Beloved, it was so once
 with you. A text of Scripture, a threatening, a touch of the rod
 of affliction, and you went to your Father's feet, crying, "Show
 me wherefore thou contendest with me?" Is it so now? Are you
 content to follow Jesus afar off? Can you contemplate suspended
 communion with Christ without alarm? Can you bear to have your
 Beloved walking contrary to you, because you walk contrary to
 him? Have your sins separated between you and your God, and is
 your heart at rest? O let me affectionately warn you, for it is
 a grievous thing when we can live contentedly without the
 present enjoyment of the Saviour's face. \\Let us labour to feel\\
 \\what an evil thing this is\\--little love to our own dying
 Saviour, little joy in our precious Jesus, little fellowship
 with the Beloved! Hold a true Lent in your souls, while you
 sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow!
 Remember where you first received salvation. \\Go at once to the\\
 \\cross\\. There, and there only, can you get your spirit
 quickened. No matter how hard, how insensible, how dead we may
 have become, let us go again in all the rags and poverty, and
 defilement of our natural condition. Let us clasp that cross,
 let us look into those languid eyes, let us bathe in that
 fountain filled with blood--this will bring back to us our first
 love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and the
 tenderness of our heart.

28166
 March 31                                                 Evening

 \\"And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it\\
 \\for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until\\
 \\water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither\\
 \\the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of\\
 \\the field by night."\\
                                                 --2 Samuel 21:10

    If the love of a woman to her slain sons could make her
 prolong her mournful vigil for so long a period, shall we weary
 of considering the sufferings of our blessed Lord? She drove
 away the birds of prey, and shall not we chase from our
 meditations those worldly and sinful thoughts which defile both
 our minds and the sacred themes upon which we are occupied?
 Away, ye birds of evil wing! Leave ye the sacrifice alone! She
 bore the heats of summer, the night dews and the rains,
 unsheltered and alone. Sleep was chased from her weeping eyes:
 her heart was too full for slumber. Behold how she loved her
 children! Shall Rizpah thus endure, and shall we start at the
 first little inconvenience or trial? Are we such cowards that we
 cannot bear to suffer with our Lord? She chased away even the
 wild beasts, with courage unusual in her sex, and will not we be
 ready to encounter every foe for Jesus' sake? These her
 children were slain by other hands than hers, and yet she wept
 and watched: what ought we to do who have by our sins crucified
 our Lord? Our obligations are boundless, our love should be
 fervent and our repentance thorough. To watch with Jesus should
 be our business, to protect his honour our occupation, to abide
 by his cross our solace. Those ghastly corpses might well have
 affrighted Rizpah, especially by night, but in our Lord, at
 whose cross-foot we are sitting, there is nothing revolting, but
 everything attractive. Never was living beauty so enchanting as
 a dying Saviour. Jesus, we will watch with thee yet awhile, and
 do thou graciously unveil thyself to us; then shall we not sit
 beneath sackcloth, but in a royal pavilion.

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