Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t28400

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28400
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28401
 May 1                                                    Morning

 \\"His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers."\\
                                           --Song of Solomon 5:13

    Lo, the flowery month is come! March winds and April showers
 have done their work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty.
 Come my soul, put on thine holiday attire and go forth to gather
 garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou knowest whither to betake
 thyself, for to thee "the beds of spices" are well known, and
 thou hast so often smelt the perfume of "the sweet flowers,"
 that thou wilt go at once to thy well-beloved and find all
 loveliness, all joy in him. That cheek once so rudely smitten
 with a rod, oft bedewed with tears of sympathy and then defiled
 with spittle--that cheek as it smiles with mercy is as fragrant
 aromatic to my heart. Thou didst not hide thy face from shame
 and spitting, O Lord Jesus, and therefore I will find my dearest
 delight in praising thee. Those cheeks were furrowed by the
 plough of grief, and crimsoned with red lines of blood from thy
 thorn-crowned temples; such marks of love unbounded cannot but
 charm my soul far more than "pillars of perfume." If I may not
 see the whole of his face I would behold his cheeks, for the
 least glimpse of him is exceedingly refreshing to my spiritual
 sense and yields a variety of delights. In Jesus I find not only
 fragrance, but a bed of spices; not one flower, but all manner
 of sweet flowers. He is to me my rose and my lily, my heart's-
 ease and my cluster of camphire. When he is with me it is May
 all the year round, and my soul goes forth to wash her happy
 face in the morning-dew of his grace, and to solace herself with
 the singing of the birds of his promises. Precious Lord Jesus,
 let me in very deed know the blessedness which dwells in
 abiding, unbroken fellowship with thee. I am a poor worthless
 one, whose cheek thou hast deigned to kiss! O let me kiss thee
 in return with the kisses of my lips.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28501
 # 2Ki 1:1 - 3:27 * Daily Bible Reading
28402
 May 2                                                    Morning

 \\"I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world."\\
                                                     --John 17:15

    It is a sweet and blessed event which will occur to all
 believers in God's own time--the going home to be with Jesus.
 In a few more years the Lord's soldiers, who are now fighting
 "the good fight of faith" will have done with conflict, and have
 entered into the joy of their Lord. But although Christ prays
 that his people may eventually be with him where he is, he does
 not ask that they may be taken at once away from this world to
 heaven. He wishes them to stay here. Yet how frequently does the
 wearied pilgrim put up the prayer, "O that I had wings like a
 dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest;" but Christ does
 not pray like that, he leaves us in his Father's hands, until,
 like shocks of corn fully ripe, we shall each be gathered into
 our Master's garner. Jesus does not plead for our instant
 removal by death, for to abide in the flesh is needful for
 others if not profitable for ourselves. He asks that we may be
 kept from evil, but he never asks for us to be admitted to the
 inheritance in glory till we are of full age. Christians often
 want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they
 tell you, "Because we would be with the Lord." We fear it is not
 so much because they are longing to be with the Lord, as because
 they desire to get rid of their troubles; else they would feel
 the same wish to die at other times when not under the pressure
 of trial. They want to go home, not so much for the Saviour's
 company, as to be at rest. Now it is quite right to desire to
 depart if we can do it in the same spirit that Paul did, because
 to be with Christ is far better, but the wish to escape from
 trouble is a selfish one. Rather let your care and wish be to
 glorify God by your life here as long as he pleases, even though
 it be in the midst of toil, and conflict, and suffering, and
 leave him to say when "it is enough."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28502
 # 2Ki 4:1 - 5:27 * Daily Bible Reading
28403
 May 3                                                    Morning

 \\"In the world ye shall have tribulation."\\
                                                     --John 16:33

    Art thou asking the reason of this, believer? Look upward to
 thy heavenly Father, and behold him pure and holy. Dost thou
 know that thou art one day to be like him? Wilt thou easily be
 conformed to his image? Wilt thou not require much refining in
 the furnace of affliction to purify thee? Will it be an easy
 thing to get rid of thy corruptions, and make thee perfect even
 as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect? Next, Christian,
 turn thine eye \\downward\\. Dost thou know what foes thou hast
 beneath thy feet? Thou wast once a servant of Satan, and no king
 will willingly lose his subjects. Dost thou think that Satan
 will let thee alone? No, he will be always at thee, for he
 "goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
 Expect trouble, therefore, Christian, when thou lookest beneath
 thee. Then look \\around thee\\. Where art thou? Thou art in an
 enemy's country, a stranger and a sojourner. The world is not
 thy friend. If it be, then thou art not God's friend, for he who
 is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Be assured that
 thou shalt find foe-men everywhere. When thou sleepest, think
 that thou art resting on the battlefield; when thou walkest,
 suspect an ambush in every hedge. As mosquitoes are said to bite
 strangers more than natives, so will the trials of earth be
 sharpest to you. Lastly, look \\within thee\\, into thine own
 heart and observe what is there. \\Sin\\ and \\self\\ are still
 within. Ah! if thou hadst no devil to tempt thee, no enemies to
 fight thee, and no world to ensnare thee, thou wouldst still
 find in thyself evil enough to be a sore trouble to thee, for
 "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
 wicked." Expect trouble then, but despond not on account of it,
 for God is with thee to help and to strengthen thee. He hath
 said, "I will be with thee in trouble; I will deliver thee and
 honour thee."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28503
 # 2Ki 6:1 - 8:29 * Daily Bible Reading
28404
 May 4                                                    Morning

 \\"Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods."\\
                                                 --Jeremiah 16:20

    One great besetting sin of ancient Israel was idolatry, and
 the spiritual Israel are vexed with a tendency to the same
 folly. Remphan's star shines no longer, and the women weep no
 more for Tammuz, but Mammon still intrudes his golden calf, and
 the shrines of pride are not forsaken. Self in various forms
 struggles to subdue the chosen ones under its dominion, and the
 flesh sets up its altars wherever it can find space for them.
 Favourite children are often the cause of much sin in believers;
 the Lord is grieved when he sees us doting upon them above
 measure; they will live to be as great a curse to us as Absalom
 was to David, or they will be taken from us to leave our homes
 desolate. If Christians desire to grow thorns to stuff their
 sleepless pillows, let them dote on their dear ones.

    It is truly said that "they are no gods," for the objects of
 our foolish love are very doubtful blessings, the solace which
 they yield us now is dangerous, and the help which they can give
 us in the hour of trouble is little indeed. Why, then, are we so
 bewitched with vanities? We pity the poor heathen who adore a
 god of stone, and yet worship a god of gold. Where is the vast
 superiority between a god of flesh and one of wood? The
 principle, the sin, the folly is the same in either case, only
 that in ours the crime is more aggravated because we have more
 light, and sin in the face of it. The heathen bows to a false
 deity, but the true God he has never known; we commit two evils,
 inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols. May
 the Lord purge us all from this grievous iniquity!

               "The dearest idol I have known,
               Whate'er that idol be;
               Help me to tear it from thy throne,
               And worship only thee."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28504
 # 2Ki 9:1 - 10:36 * Daily Bible Reading
28405
 May 5                                                    Morning

 \\"I will be their God, and they shall be my people."\\
                                             --2 Corinthians 6:16

    What a sweet title: "My people!" What a cheering revelation:
 "Their God!" How much of meaning is couched in those two words,
 "My people!" Here is \\speciality\\. The whole world is God's;
 the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, and he
 reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom he hath
 chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he
 saith not of others--"My people." In this word there is the idea
 of \\proprietorship\\. In a special manner the "Lord's portion
 is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." All the
 nations upon earth are his; the whole world is in his power; yet
 are his people, his chosen, more especially his possession; for
 he has done more for them than others; he has bought them with
 his blood; he has brought them nigh to himself; he has set his
 great heart upon them; he has loved them with an everlasting
 love, a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the
 revolutions of time shall never suffice in the least degree to
 diminish. Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in
 that number? Can you look up to heaven and say, "My Lord and my
 God: mine by that sweet \\relationship\\ which entitles me to
 call thee Father; mine by that hallowed \\fellowship\\ which I
 delight to hold with thee when thou art pleased to manifest
 thyself unto me as thou dost not unto the world?" Canst thou
 read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the indentures of
 thy salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious
 blood? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of Jesus' garments,
 and say, "My Christ"? If thou canst, then God saith of thee,
 and of others like thee, "My people;" for, if God be your God,
 and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour
 to you; you are the object of his choice, accepted in his
 beloved Son.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28505
 # 2Ki 11:1 - 13:25 * Daily Bible Reading
28406
 May 6                                                    Morning

 \\"We dwell in him."\\
                                                    --1 John 4:13

    Do you want a house for your soul? Do you ask, "What is the
 purchase?" It is something less than proud human nature will
 like to give. It is without money and without price. Ah! you
 would like to pay a respectable rent! You would love to do
 something to win Christ? Then you cannot have the house, for it
 is "without price." Will you take my Master's house on a lease
 for all eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the
 ground-rent of loving and serving him for ever? Will you take
 Jesus and "dwell in him?" See, this house is furnished with all
 you want, it is filled with riches more than you will spend as
 long as you live. Here you can have intimate communion with
 Christ and feast on his love; here are tables well-stored with
 food for you to live on for ever; in it, when weary, you can
 find rest with Jesus; and from it you can look out and see
 heaven itself. Will you have the house? Ah! if you are
 houseless, you will say, "I should like to have the house; but
 may I have it?" Yes; there is the key--the key is, "Come to
 Jesus." "But," you say, "I am too shabby for such a house."
 Never mind; there are garments inside. If you feel guilty and
 condemned, come; and though the house is too good for you,
 Christ will make you good enough for the house by-and-by. He
 will wash you and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to sing,
 "We dwell in him." Believer: thrice happy art thou to have such
 a dwelling-place! Greatly privileged thou art, for thou hast a
 "strong habitation" in which thou art ever safe. And "dwelling
 in him," thou hast not only a perfect and secure house, but an
 \\everlasting\\ one. When this world shall have melted like a
 dream, our house shall live, and stand more imperishable than
 marble, more solid than granite, self-existent as God, for it is
 God himself--"We dwell in him."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28506
 # 2Ki 14:1 - 15:38 * Daily Bible Reading
28407
 May 7                                                    Morning

 \\"Great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all."\\
                                                  --Matthew 12:15

    What a mass of hideous sickness must have thrust itself under
 the eye of Jesus! Yet we read not that he was disgusted, but
 patiently waited on every case. What a singular variety of evils
 must have met at his feet! What sickening ulcers and putrefying
 sores! Yet he was ready for every new shape of the monster evil,
 and was victor over it in every form. Let the arrow fly from
 what quarter it might, he quenched its fiery power. The heat of
 fever, or the cold of dropsy; the lethargy of palsy, or the rage
 of madness; the filth of leprosy, or the darkness of
 ophthalmia--all knew the power of his word, and fled at his
 command. In every corner of the field he was triumphant over
 evil, and received the homage of delivered captives. He came, he
 saw, he conquered everywhere. It is even so this morning.
 Whatever my own case may be, the beloved Physician can heal me;
 and whatever may be the state of others whom I may remember at
 this moment in prayer, I may have hope in Jesus that he will be
 able to heal them of their sins. My child, my friend, my dearest
 one, I can have hope for each, for all, when I remember the
 healing power of my Lord; and on my own account, however severe
 my struggle with sins and infirmities, I may yet be of good
 cheer. He who on earth walked the hospitals, still dispenses his
 grace, and works wonders among the sons of men: let me go to him
 at once in right earnest.

    Let me praise him, this morning, as I remember how he wrought
 his spiritual cures, which bring him most renown. It was by
 taking upon himself our sicknesses. "By his stripes we are
 healed." The Church on earth is full of souls healed by our
 beloved Physician; and the inhabitants of heaven itself confess
 that "He healed them all." Come, then, my soul, publish abroad
 the virtue of his grace, and let it be "to the Lord for a name,
 for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28507
 # 2Ki 16:1 - 17:41 * Daily Bible Reading
28408
 May 8                                                    Morning

 \\"He that was healed wist not who it was."\\
                                                    --1 John 5:13

    Years are short to the happy and healthy; but thirty-eight
 years of disease must have dragged a very weary length along the
 life of the poor impotent man. When Jesus, therefore, healed him
 by a word, while he lay at the pool of Bethesda, he was
 delightfully \\sensible of a change\\. Even so the sinner who
 has for weeks and months been paralysed with despair, and has
 wearily sighed for salvation, is very conscious of the change
 when the Lord Jesus speaks the word of power, and gives joy and
 peace in believing. The evil removed is too great to be removed
 without our discerning it; the life imparted is too remarkable
 to be possessed and remain inoperative; and the change wrought
 is too marvellous not to be perceived. Yet the poor man was
 \\ignorant of the author\\ of his cure; he knew not the
 sacredness of his person, the offices which he sustained, or the
 errand which brought him among men. Much ignorance of Jesus may
 remain in hearts which yet feel the power of his blood. We must
 not hastily condemn men for lack of knowledge; but where we can
 see the faith which saves the soul, we must believe that
 salvation has been bestowed. The Holy Spirit makes men penitents
 long before he makes them divines; and he who believes what he
 knows, shall soon know more clearly what he believes. Ignorance
 is, however, an evil; for this poor man was much \\tantalized by\\
 \\the Pharisees\\, and was quite unable to cope with them. It is
 good to be able to answer gainsayers; but we cannot do so if we
 know not the Lord Jesus clearly and with understanding. The cure
 of his ignorance, however, soon followed the cure of his
 infirmity, for he was \\visited by the Lord in the temple\\; and
 after that gracious manifestation, he was \\found testifying\\
 that "it was Jesus who had made him whole." Lord, if thou hast
 saved me, show me thyself, that I may declare thee to the sons
 of men.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28508
 # 2Ki 18:1 - 20:21 * Daily Bible Reading
28409
 May 9                                                    Morning

 \\"Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings."\\
                                                  --Ephesians 1:3

    All the goodness of the past, the present, and the future,
 Christ bestows upon his people. In the mysterious ages of the
 past the Lord Jesus was his Father's first elect, and in his
 \\election\\ he gave us an interest, for we were chosen in him
 from before the foundation of the world. He had from all
 eternity the prerogatives of \\Sonship\\, as his Father's
 only-begotten and well-beloved Son, and he has, in the riches of
 his grace, by adoption and regeneration, elevated us to sonship
 also, so that to us he has given "power to become the sons of
 God." The \\eternal covenant\\, based upon suretiship and
 confirmed by oath, is ours, for our strong consolation and
 security. In the \\everlasting settlements of predestinating\\
 \\wisdom\\ and omnipotent decree, the eye of the Lord Jesus was
 ever fixed on us; and we may rest assured that in the whole roll
 of destiny there is not a line which militates against the
 interests of his redeemed. The \\great betrothal\\ of the Prince
 of Glory is ours, for it is to us that he is affianced, as the
 sacred nuptials shall ere long declare to an assembled universe.
 The \\marvellous incarnation\\ of the God of heaven, with all
 the amazing condescension and humiliation which attended it, is
 ours. The bloody sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours for
 ever. Whatever blissful consequences flow from \\perfect\\
 \\obedience, finished atonement, resurrection, ascension, or\\
 \\intercession\\, all are ours by his own gift. Upon his
 breastplate he is now bearing our names; and in his
 authoritative pleadings at the throne he remembers our persons
 and pleads our cause. his \\dominion\\ over principalities and
 powers, and his absolute majesty in heaven, he employs for the
 benefit of them who trust in him. His high estate is as much at
 our service as was his condition of abasement. He who gave
 himself for us in the depths of woe and death, doth not withdraw
 the grant now that he is enthroned in the highest heavens.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28509
 # 2Ki 21:1 - 23:20 * Daily Bible Reading
28410
 May 10                                                   Morning

 \\"But now is Christ risen from the dead."\\
                                            --1 Corinthians 15:20

    The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that
 "Christ is risen from the dead;" for, "If Christ be not risen,
 then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are
 yet in your sins." The \\divinity\\ of Christ finds its surest
 proof in his resurrection, since he was "Declared to be the Son
 of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the
 resurrection from the dead." It would not be unreasonable to
 doubt his Deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ's
 \\sovereignty\\ depends upon his resurrection, "For to this end
 Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord
 both of the dead and living." Again, our \\justification\\, that
 choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ's
 triumphant victory over death and the grave; for "He was
 delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our
 justification." Nay, more, our very \\regeneration\\ is
 connected with his resurrection, for we are "Begotten again unto
 a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
 dead." And most certainly our \\ultimate resurrection\\ rests
 here, for, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the
 dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
 also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
 you." If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he
 be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished,
 but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the
 silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer's
 blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory,
 and binds them together. How important then will this glorious
 fact be in his estimation, and how will he rejoice that beyond a
 doubt it is established, that "now is Christ risen from the
 dead."

                 "The promise is fulfill'd,
                 Redemption's work is done,
                 Justice with mercy's reconciled,
                 For God has raised his Son."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28510
 # 2Ki 23:21 - 25:30 * Daily Bible Reading
28411
 May 11                                                   Morning

 \\"I am with you alway."\\
                                                  --Matthew 28:20

    It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever
 with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows
 of the sea of life. O my soul, set not thine affections upon
 rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart
 upon him who abides for ever faithful to thee. Build not thine
 house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found
 thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and
 roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. My soul, I charge
 thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy
 jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in
 Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in
 his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy
 in his presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy
 destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world's garden
 fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but
 the black, cold earth. Death's black extinguisher must soon put
 out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle
 is gone! The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all
 thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave
 thee; trust thyself with him who will go with thee through the
 black and surging current of death's stream, and who will land
 thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with him
 in heavenly places for ever. Go, sorrowing son of affliction,
 tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a
 brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken
 from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let
 thee leave him, even "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and
 to-day, and for ever." "Lo, I am with you alway," is enough for
 my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28511
 # 1Ch 1:1 - 2:55 * Daily Bible Reading
28412
 May 12                                                   Morning

 \\"And will manifest myself to him."\\
                                                     --John 14:21

    The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his
 people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, there are many
 of the children of God who could testify the truth of it from
 their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord
 and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar manner, such as no mere
 reading or hearing could afford. In the biographies of eminent
 saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has
 been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their souls,
 and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their
 souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought
 themselves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though
 they were well nigh on the threshold of it--for when Jesus
 manifests himself to his people, it is heaven on earth; it is
 paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun. Especial manifestations
 of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's heart. One
 effect will be \\humility\\. If a man says, "I have had
 such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man," he
 has never had any communion with Jesus at all; for "God hath
 respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth\\ afar off\\." He
 does not need to come near them to know them, and will never
 give them any visits of love. Another effect will be
 \\happiness\\; for in God's presence there are pleasures for
 evermore. \\Holiness\\ will be sure to follow. A man who has no
 holiness has never had this manifestation. Some men profess a
 great deal; but we must not believe any one unless we see that
 his deeds answer to what he says. "Be not deceived; God is not
 mocked." He will not bestow his favours upon the wicked: for
 while he will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he
 respect an evil doer. Thus there will be three effects of
 nearness to Jesus--humility, happiness, and holiness. May God
 give them to thee, Christian!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28512
 # 1Ch 3:1 - 5:26 * Daily Bible Reading
28413
 May 13                                                   Morning

 \\"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the\\
 \\morning."\\
                                                     --Psalm 30:5

    Christian! If thou art in a night of trial, think of the
 morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of the coming of thy
 Lord. Be patient, for

             "Lo! He comes with clouds descending."

 Be patient! The Husbandman waits until he reaps his harvest. Be
 patient; for you know who has said, "Behold, I come quickly; and
 my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work
 shall be." If you are never so wretched now, remember

              "A few more rolling suns, at most,
              Will land thee on fair Canaan's coast."

 Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it shall
 wear a starry crown ere long; thy hand may be filled with
 cares--it shall sweep the strings of the harp of heaven soon.
 Thy garments may be soiled with dust now; they shall be white
 by-and-by. Wait a little longer. Ah! how despicable our troubles
 and trials will seem when we look back upon them! Looking at
 them here in the prospect, they seem immense; but when we get to
 heaven we shall then

                  "With transporting joys recount,
                  The labours of our feet."

 Our trials will then seem light and momentary afflictions. Let
 us go on boldly; if the night be never so dark, the morning
 cometh, which is more than they can say who are shut up in the
 darkness of hell. Do you know what it is thus to live on the
 future--to live on expectation--to antedate heaven? Happy
 believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope. It may be all
 dark now, but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now,
 but it will soon be all happiness. What matters it though
 "weeping may endure for a night," when "joy cometh in the
 morning?"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28513
 # 1Ch 6:1 - 7:40 * Daily Bible Reading
28414
 May 14                                                   Morning

 \\"Joint heirs with Christ."\\
                                                    --Romans 8:17

    The boundless realms of his Father's universe are Christ's by
 prescriptive right. As "heir of all things," he is the sole
 proprietor of the vast creation of God, and he has admitted us
 to claim the whole as ours, by virtue of that deed of
 joint-heir-ship which the Lord hath ratified with his chosen
 people. The golden streets of paradise, the pearly gates, the
 river of life, the transcendent bliss, and the unutterable
 glory, are, by our blessed Lord, made over to us for our
 everlasting possession. All that he has he shares with his
 people. The crown royal he has placed upon the head of his
 Church, appointing her a kingdom, and calling her sons a royal
 priesthood, a generation of priests and kings. He uncrowned
 himself that we might have a coronation of glory; he would not
 sit upon his own throne until he had procured a place upon it
 for all who overcome by his blood. Crown the head and the whole
 body shares the honour. Behold here the reward of every
 Christian conqueror! Christ's throne, crown, sceptre, palace,
 treasure, robes, heritage, are yours. Far superior to the
 jealousy, selfishness, and greed, which admit of no
 participation of their advantages, Christ deems his happiness
 completed by his people sharing it. "The glory which thou gavest
 me have I given them." "These things have I spoken unto you,
 that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be
 full." The smiles of his Father are all the sweeter to him,
 because his people share them. The honours of his kingdom are
 more pleasing, because his people appear with him in glory. More
 valuable to him are his conquests, since they have taught his
 people to overcome. He delights in his throne, because on it
 there is a place for them. He rejoices in his royal robes, since
 over them his skirts are spread. He delights the more in his
 joy, because he calls them to enter into it.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28514
 # 1Ch 8:1 - 10:14 * Daily Bible Reading
28415
 May 15                                                   Morning

 \\"All that believe are justified."\\
                                                     --Acts 13:39

    The believer in Christ receives a\\ present\\ justification.
 Faith does not produce this fruit by-and-by, but \\now\\. So far
 as justification is the result of faith, it is given to the soul
 in the moment when it closes with Christ, and accepts him as its
 all in all. Are they who stand before the throne of God
 justified now?--so are we, as truly and as clearly justified as
 they who walk in white and sing melodious praises to celestial
 harps. The thief upon the cross was justified the moment that he
 turned the eye of faith to Jesus; and Paul, the aged, after
 years of service, was not more justified than was the thief with
 no service at all. We are \\to-day\\ accepted in the Beloved,
 \\to-day\\ absolved from sin, \\to-day\\ acquitted at the bar of
 God. Oh! soul-transporting thought! There are some clusters of
 Eshcol's vine which we shall not be able to gather till we enter
 heaven; but this is a bough which runneth over the wall. This is
 not as the corn of the land, which we can never eat till we
 cross the Jordan; but this is part of the manna in the
 wilderness, a portion of our daily nutriment with which God
 supplies us in our journeying to and fro. We are \\now\\--even
 \\now\\ pardoned; even\\ now\\ are our sins put away; even \\now\\
 we stand in the sight of God accepted, as though we had never
 been guilty. "There is therefore \\now\\ no condemnation to them
 which are in Christ Jesus." There is not a sin in the Book of
 God, even\\ now\\, against one of his people. Who dareth to lay
 anything to their charge? There is neither speck, nor spot, nor
 wrinkle, nor any such thing remaining upon any one believer in
 the matter of justification in the sight of the Judge of all the
 earth. Let present privilege awaken us to present duty, and now,
 while life lasts, let us spend and be spent for our sweet Lord
 Jesus.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28515
 # 1Ch 11:1 - 13:14 * Daily Bible Reading
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