Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t28450

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28451
 May 16                                                   Morning

 \\"Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."\\
                                                 --1 Timothy 6:17

    Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary
 instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace
 not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a
 sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he
 is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from
 his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the
 river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his
 love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never die, so
 his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily
 his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy.
 There are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the
 days, so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever
 returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his
 table unsatisfied, or from his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies
 are new every morning and fresh every evening. Who can know the
 number of his benefits, or recount the list of his bounties?
 Every sand which drops from the glass of time is but the tardy
 follower of a myriad of mercies. The wings of our hours are
 covered with the silver of his kindness, and with the yellow
 gold of his affection. The river of time bears from the
 mountains of eternity the golden sands of his favour. The
 countless stars are but as the standard bearers of a more
 innumerable host of blessings. Who can count the dust of the
 benefits which he bestows on Jacob, or tell the number of the
 fourth part of his mercies towards Israel? How shall my soul
 extol him who daily loadeth us with benefits, and who crowneth
 us with loving-kindness? O that my praise could be as ceaseless
 as his bounty! O miserable tongue, how canst thou be silent?
 Wake up, I pray thee, lest I call thee no more my glory, but my
 shame. "Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake right
 early."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28551
 # 1Ch 14:1 - 16:43 * Daily Bible Reading
28452
 May 17                                                   Morning

 \\"So to walk even as he walked."\\
                                                     --1 John 2:6

    Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it \\for\\
 \\their own sakes\\. If they desire to be in a healthy state of
 soul--if they would escape the sickness of sin, and enjoy the
 vigour of growing grace, let Jesus be their model. For their own
 happiness' sake, if they would drink wine on the lees, well
 refined; if they would enjoy holy and happy communion with
 Jesus; if they would be lifted up above the cares and troubles
 of this world, let them walk even as he walked. There is nothing
 which can so assist you to walk towards heaven with good speed,
 as wearing the image of Jesus on your heart to rule all its
 motions. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are
 enabled to walk with Jesus in his very footsteps, that you are
 most happy, and most known to be the sons of God. Peter afar
 off is both unsafe and uneasy. Next, for \\religion's sake\\,
 strive to be like Jesus. Ah! poor religion, thou hast been
 sorely shot at by cruel foes, but thou hast not been wounded
 one-half so dangerously by thy foes as by thy friends. Who made
 those wounds in the fair hand of Godliness? The professor who
 used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who with pretences,
 enters the fold, being nought but a wolf in sheep's clothing,
 worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no weapon
 half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professors injure
 the gospel more than the sneering critic or the infidel. But,
 especially for \\Christ's own sake\\, imitate his example.
 Christian, lovest thou thy Saviour? Is his name precious to
 thee? Is his cause dear to thee? Wouldst thou see the kingdoms
 of the world become his? Is it thy desire that he should be
 glorified? Art thou longing that souls should be won to him? If
 so, \\imitate\\ Jesus; be an "epistle of Christ, known and read of
 all men."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28552
 # 1Ch 17:1 - 20:8 * Daily Bible Reading
28453
 May 18                                                   Morning

 \\"In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye\\
 \\are complete in him."\\
                                             --Colossians 2:9, 10

    All the attributes of Christ, as God and man, are at our
 disposal. All the fulness of the Godhead, whatever that
 marvellous term may comprehend, is ours to make us complete. He
 cannot endow us with the attributes of Deity; but he has done
 all that can be done, for he has made even his divine power and
 Godhead subservient to our salvation. His omnipotence,
 omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and infallibility, are
 all combined for our defence. Arise, believer, and behold the
 Lord Jesus yoking the whole of his divine Godhead to the chariot
 of salvation! How vast his grace, how firm his faithfulness, how
 unswerving his immutability, how infinite his power, how
 limitless his knowledge! All these are by the Lord Jesus made
 the pillars of the temple of salvation; and all, without
 diminution of their infinity, are covenanted to us as our
 perpetual inheritance. The fathomless love of the Saviour's
 heart is every drop of it ours; every sinew in the arm of might,
 every jewel in the crown of majesty, the immensity of divine
 knowledge, and the sternness of divine justice, all are ours,
 and shall be employed for us. The whole of Christ, in his
 adorable character as the Son of God, is by himself made over to
 us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, his
 knowledge our instruction, his power our protection, his justice
 our surety, his love our comfort, his mercy our solace, and his
 immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the
 recesses of the Mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for
 the hidden treasures. "All, all, all are yours," saith he, "be
 ye satisfied with favour and full of the goodness of the Lord."
 Oh! how sweet thus to behold Jesus, and to call upon him with
 the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of his
 love or power, we are but asking for that which he has already
 faithfully promised.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28553
 # 1Ch 21:1 - 23:32 * Daily Bible Reading
28454
 May 19                                                   Morning

 \\"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as\\
 \\servants upon the earth."\\
                                              --Ecclesiastes 10:7

    Upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly
 great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose
 solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright; but it
 is so common a fact, that none of us should murmur if it should
 fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon earth, although he
 is the Prince of the kings of the earth, yet he walked the
 footpath of weariness and service as the Servant of servants:
 what wonder is it if his followers, who are princes of the
 blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and
 contemptible persons? The world is upside down, and therefore,
 the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons
 of Satan lord it in the earth! What a high horse they ride! How
 they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while
 Mordecai sits in the gate; David wanders on the mountains, while
 Saul reigns in state; Elijah is complaining in the cave while
 Jezebel is boasting in the palace; yet who would wish to take
 the places of the proud rebels? and who, on the other hand,
 might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those
 who are lowest rise, and the highest sink. Patience, then,
 believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time.

    Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and
 carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our nobler powers walk
 in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince, and make the members
 of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves
 order, and he therefore sets our powers and faculties in due
 rank and place, giving the highest room to those spiritual
 faculties which link us with the great King; let us not disturb
 the divine arrangement, but ask for grace that we may keep under
 our body and bring it into subjection. We were not new created
 to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings,
 may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit,
 soul, and body, to the glory of God the Father.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28554
 # 1Ch 24:1 - 26:32 * Daily Bible Reading
28455
 May 20                                                   Morning

 \\"Marvellous lovingkindness."\\
                                                     --Psalm 17:7

    When we give our hearts with our alms, we give well, but we
 must often plead to a failure in this respect. Not so our Master
 and our Lord. His favours are always performed with the love of
 his heart. He does not send to us the cold meat and the broken
 pieces from the table of his luxury, but he dips our morsel in
 his own dish, and seasons our provisions with the spices of his
 fragrant affections. When he puts the golden tokens of his grace
 into our palms, he accompanies the gift with such a warm
 pressure of our hand, that the manner of his giving is as
 precious as the boon itself. He will come into our houses upon
 his errands of kindness, and he will not act as some austere
 visitors do in the poor man's cottage, but he sits by our side,
 not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weakness. Beloved,
 with what smiles does he speak! What golden sentences drop from
 his gracious lips! What embraces of affection does he bestow
 upon us! If he had but given us farthings, the way of his giving
 would have gilded them; but as it is, the costly alms are set in
 a golden basket by his pleasant carriage. It is impossible to
 doubt the sincerity of his charity, for there is a bleeding
 heart stamped upon the face of all his benefactions. He giveth
 liberally and upbraideth not. Not one hint that we are
 burdensome to him; not one cold look for his poor pensioners;
 but he rejoices in his mercy, and presses us to his bosom while
 he is pouring out his life for us. There is a fragrance in his
 spikenard which nothing but his heart could produce; there is a
 sweetness in his honey-comb which could not be in it unless the
 very essence of his soul's affection had been mingled with it.
 Oh! the rare communion which such singular heartiness effecteth!
 May we continually taste and know the blessedness of it!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28555
 # 1Ch 27:1 - 29:30 * Daily Bible Reading
28456
 May 21                                                   Morning

 \\"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."\\
                                                    --1 Peter 2:3

    If:--then, this is not a matter to be taken for granted
 concerning every one of the human race. "If:"--then there is a
 possibility and a probability that some may not have tasted that
 the Lord is gracious. "If:"--then this is not a general but a
 special mercy; and it is needful to enquire whether we know the
 grace of God by inward experience. There is no spiritual favour
 which may not be a matter for heart-searching.

    But while this should be a matter of earnest and prayerful
 inquiry, no one ought to be content whilst there is any such
 thing as an "if" about his having tasted that the Lord is
 gracious. A jealous and holy distrust of self may give rise to
 the question even in the believer's heart, but the
 \\continuance\\ of such a doubt would be an evil indeed. We must
 not rest without a desperate struggle to clasp the Saviour in
 the arms of faith, and say, "I know whom I have believed, and I
 am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
 unto him." Do not rest, O believer, till thou hast a full
 assurance of thine interest in Jesus. Let nothing satisfy thee
 till, by the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit bearing
 witness with thy spirit, thou art certified that thou art a
 child of God. Oh, trifle not here; let no "perhaps" and
 "peradventure" and "if" and "maybe" satisfy thy soul. Build on
 eternal verities, and verily build upon them. Get the sure
 mercies of David, and surely get them. Let thine anchor be cast
 into that which is within the veil, and see to it that thy soul
 be linked to the anchor by a cable that will not break. Advance
 beyond these dreary "ifs;" abide no more in the wilderness of
 doubts and fears; cross the Jordan of distrust, and enter the
 Canaan of peace, where the Canaanite still lingers, but where
 the land ceaseth not to flow with milk and honey.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28556
 # 2Ch 1:1 - 3:17 * Daily Bible Reading
28457
 May 22                                                   Morning

 \\"He led them forth by the right way."\\
                                                    --Psalm 107:7

    Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to
 enquire "Why is it thus with me?" I looked for light, but lo,
 darkness came; for peace, but behold trouble. I said in my
 heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord,
 thou dost hide thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday
 that I could read my title clear; to-day my evidences are
 bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I could climb to
 Pisgah's top, and view the landscape o'er, and rejoice with
 confidence in my future inheritance; to-day, my spirit has no
 hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part
 of God's plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would
 bring me to heaven? Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your
 faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all
 these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe
 for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These
 trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith--they
 are waves that wash you further upon the rock--they are winds
 which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven.
 According to David's words, so it might be said of you, "so he
 bringeth them to their desired haven." By honour and dishonour,
 by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by
 joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these
 things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of
 these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that
 your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of
 it. "We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom."
 Learn, then, even to "count it all joy when ye fall into divers
 temptations."

              "O let my trembling soul be still,
              And wait thy wise, thy holy will!
              I cannot, Lord, thy purpose see,
              Yet all is well since ruled by thee."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28557
 # 2Ch 4:1 - 6:42 * Daily Bible Reading
28458
 May 23                                                   Morning

 \\"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."\\
                                                    --Psalm 138:8

   Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here
 expressed was a \\divine confidence\\. He did not say, "\\I\\
 have grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me--my faith
 is so steady that it will not stagger--my love is so warm that
 it will never grow cold--my resolution is so firm that nothing
 can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we
 indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of
 ages, our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon
 us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion.
 All that Nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal
 confusion of all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise,
 he rested upon nothing short of the \\Lord's\\ work. It is the
 Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is he who has
 carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be
 complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our
 righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are
 lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will
 perfect. He \\has\\ done it all, \\must\\ do it all, and
 \\will\\ do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have
 done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what
 \\the Lord\\ will do. Unbelief insinuates-- "You will never be
 able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never
 conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of
 the world that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them
 and led astray." Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our
 own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over
 so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair;
 but, thanks be to God, he will perfect that which concerneth us,
 and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident
 when we confide in him alone, and never too much concerned to
 \\have such\\ a trust.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28558
 # 2Ch 7:1 - 9:31 * Daily Bible Reading
28459
 May 24                                                   Morning

 \\"Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer."\\
                                                    --Psalm 66:20

    In looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do
 it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that God has ever
 answered them. There may be some who think their prayers
 worthy of acceptance--as the Pharisee did; but the true
 Christian, in a more enlightened retrospect, weeps over his
 prayers, and if he could retrace his steps he would desire to
 pray more earnestly. Remember, Christian, how \\cold\\ thy
 prayers have been. When in thy closet thou shouldst have
 wrestled as Jacob did; but instead thereof, thy petitions have
 been faint and few--far removed from that humble, believing,
 persevering faith, which cries, "I will not let thee go except
 thou bless me." Yet, wonderful to say, God has heard these cold
 prayers of thine, and not only heard, but answered them.
 Reflect also, how \\infrequent\\ have been thy prayers, unless
 thou hast been in trouble, and\\ then\\ thou hast gone often to the
 mercy-seat: but when deliverance has come, where has been thy
 constant supplication? Yet, notwithstanding thou hast ceased to
 pray as once thou didst, God has not ceased to bless. When thou
 hast neglected the mercy-seat, God has not deserted it, but the
 bright light of the Shekinah has always been visible between the
 wings of the cherubim. Oh! it is marvellous that the Lord should
 regard those intermittent spasms of importunity which come and
 go with our necessities. What a God is he thus to hear the
 prayers of those who come to him when they have pressing wants,
 but neglect him when they have received a mercy; who approach
 him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to
 address him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few. Let
 his gracious kindness in hearing such prayers touch our hearts,
 so that we may henceforth be found "Praying always with all
 prayer and supplication in the Spirit."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28559
 # 2Ch 10:1 - 13:22 * Daily Bible Reading
28460
 May 25                                                   Morning

 \\"Forsake me not, O Lord."\\
                                                    --Psalm 38:21

    Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour
 of trial and temptation, but we too much forget that we have
 need to use this prayer at \\all times\\. There is no moment of
 our life, however holy, in which we can do without his constant
 upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in
 temptation, we alike need the prayer, "Forsake me not, O Lord."
 "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." A little child, while
 learning to walk, always needs the nurse's aid. The ship left by
 the pilot drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without
 continued aid from above; let it then be your prayer to-day,
 "Forsake me not. Father, forsake not thy child, lest he fall by
 the hand of the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he
 wander from the safety of the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake
 not thy plant, lest it wither and die. `Forsake me not, O Lord,'
 now; and forsake me not at any moment of my life. Forsake me not
 in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in my
 sorrows, lest I murmur against thee. Forsake me not in the day
 of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into
 despair; and forsake me not in the day of my strongest faith,
 lest faith degenerate into presumption. Forsake me not, for
 without thee I am weak, but with thee I am strong. Forsake me
 not, for my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot
 do without thy guidance. The hen forsakes not her brood, do thou
 then evermore cover me with thy feathers, and permit me under
 thy wings to find my refuge. `Be not far from me, O Lord, for
 trouble is near, for there is none to help.' `Leave me not,
 neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!'"

               "O ever in our cleansed breast,
               Bid thine Eternal Spirit rest;
               And make our secret soul to be
               A temple pure and worthy thee."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28560
 # 2Ch 14:1 - 17:19 * Daily Bible Reading
28461
 May 26                                                   Morning

 \\"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee."\\
                                                    --Psalm 55:22

    Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if
 carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to
 avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again
 and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which
 cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the
 very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser
 than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for
 him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to
 think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take
 upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or
 unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain
 precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in
 intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this,
 anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly
 leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden,
 is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself.
 This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and
 resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the "broken
 cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which was laid
 against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's
 lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel
 mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers
 become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one
 of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to
 wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise,
 we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are "careful for
 nothing" because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us
 close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. "Thou
 wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee,
 because he trusteth in thee."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28561
 # 2Ch 18:1 - 20:37 * Daily Bible Reading
28462
 May 27                                                   Morning

 \\"So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat\\
 \\continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his\\
 \\feet."\\
                                                  --2 Samuel 9:13

    Mephibosheth was no great ornament to a royal table, yet he
 had a continual place at David's board, because the king could
 see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan. Like
 Mephibosheth, we may cry unto the King of Glory, "What is thy
 servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?"
 but still the Lord indulges us with most familiar intercourse
 with himself, because he sees in our countenances the
 remembrance of his dearly-beloved Jesus. The Lord's people are
 \\dear for another's sake\\. Such is the love which the Father
 bears to his only begotten, that for his sake he raises his
 lowly brethren from poverty and banishment, to courtly
 companionship, noble rank, and royal provision. Their
 \\deformity shall not rob them of their privileges\\. Lameness
 is no bar to sonship; the cripple is as much the heir as if he
 could run like Asahel. Our right does not limp, though our might
 may. A king's table is a noble hiding-place for lame legs, and
 at the gospel feast we learn to glory in infirmities, because
 the power of Christ resteth upon us. Yet grievous \\disability\\
 \\may mar the persons of the best-loved saints\\. Here is one
 feasted by David, and yet so lame in both his feet that he could
 not go up with the king when he fled from the city, and was
 therefore maligned and injured by his servant Ziba. Saints whose
 faith is weak, and whose knowledge is slender, are great losers;
 they are exposed to many enemies, and cannot follow the king
 whithersoever he goeth. This \\disease frequently arises from\\
 \\falls\\. Bad nursing in their spiritual infancy often causes
 converts to fall into a despondency from which they never
 recover, and sin in other cases brings broken bones. Lord, help
 the lame to leap like an hart, and satisfy all thy people with
 the bread of thy table!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28562
 # 2Ch 21:1 - 24:27 * Daily Bible Reading
28463
 May 28                                                   Morning

 \\"Whom he justified, them he also glorified."\\
                                                   --Romans 8:30

    Here is a precious truth for thee, believer. Thou mayest be
 poor, or in suffering, or unknown, but for thine encouragement
 take a review of thy "calling" and the consequences that flow
 from it, and especially that blessed result here spoken of. As
 surely as thou art God's child today, so surely shall all thy
 trials soon be at an end, and thou shalt be rich to all the
 intents of bliss. Wait awhile, and that weary head shall wear
 the crown of glory, and that hand of labour shall grasp the
 palm-branch of victory. Lament not thy troubles, but rather
 rejoice that ere long thou wilt be where "there shall be neither
 sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." The
 chariots of fire are at thy door, and a moment will suffice to
 bear thee to the glorified. The everlasting song is almost on
 thy lip. The portals of heaven stand open for thee. Think not
 that thou canst fail of entering into rest. If he hath called
 thee, nothing can divide thee from his love. Distress cannot
 sever the bond; the fire of persecution cannot burn the link;
 the hammer of hell cannot break the chain. Thou art secure; that
 voice which called thee at first, shall call thee yet again from
 earth to heaven, from death's dark gloom to immortality's
 unuttered splendours. Rest assured, the heart of him who has
 justified thee beats with infinite love towards thee. Thou shalt
 soon be with the glorified, where thy portion is; thou art only
 waiting here to be made meet for the inheritance, and that done,
 the wings of angels shall waft thee far away, to the mount of
 peace, and joy, and blessedness, where,

               "Far from a world of grief and sin,
               With God eternally shut in,"

 thou shalt rest for ever and ever.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28563
 # 2Ch 25:1 - 27:9 * Daily Bible Reading
28464
 May 29                                                   Morning

 \\"Thou hatest wickedness."\\
                                                    --Psalm 45:7

    "Be ye angry, and sin not." There can hardly be goodness in a
 man if he be not angry at sin; he who loves truth must hate
 every false way. How our Lord Jesus hated it when the temptation
 came! Thrice it assailed him in different forms, but ever he met
 it with, "Get thee behind me, Satan." He hated it in others;
 none the less fervently because he showed his hate oftener in
 tears of pity than in words of rebuke; yet what language could
 be more stern, more Elijah-like, than the words, "Woe unto you,
 scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,
 and for a pretence make long prayer." He hated wickedness, so
 much that he bled to wound it to the heart; he died that it
 might die; he was buried that he might bury it in his tomb; and
 he rose that he might for ever trample it beneath his feet.
 Christ is in the Gospel, and that Gospel is opposed to
 wickedness in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in fair
 garments, and imitates the language of holiness; but the
 precepts of Jesus, like his famous scourge of small cords, chase
 it out of the temple, and will not tolerate it in the Church.
 So, too, in the heart where Jesus reigns, what war there is
 between Christ and Belial! And when our Redeemer shall come to
 be our Judge, those thundering words, "Depart, ye cursed" which
 are, indeed, but a prolongation of his life-teaching concerning
 sin, shall manifest his abhorrence of iniquity. As warm as is
 his love to sinners, so hot is his hatred of sin; as perfect as
 is his righteousness, so complete shall be the destruction of
 every form of wickedness. O thou glorious champion of right, and
 destroyer of wrong, for this cause hath God, even thy God,
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28564
 # 2Ch 28:1 - 30:27 * Daily Bible Reading
28465
 May 30                                                   Morning

 \\"Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines."\\
                                          --Song of Solomon 2:15

    A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may
 hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do
 mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the
 soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ,
 that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with
 us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can
 make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with his people unless
 they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye keep my
 commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my
 Father's commandments and abide in his love." Some Christians
 very seldom enjoy their Saviour's presence. How is this? Surely
 it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from
 his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on
 without seeing thy Father's face? What! thou the spouse of
 Christ, and yet content without his company! Surely, thou hast
 fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns
 like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then,
 the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides his
 face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of
 \\little\\ pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is
 made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which
 divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy
 little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy
 barque, may have been made by the daily working of the coral
 insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ,
 and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with
 Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for
 our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go \\with\\
 \\him\\ and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the
 foxes at once and easily. Go with him to the hunting.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28565
 # 2Ch 31:1 - 33:25 * Daily Bible Reading
28466
 May 31                                                   Morning

 \\"The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron."\\
                                                --2 Samuel 15:23

    David passed that gloomy brook when fleeing with his mourning
 company from his traitor son. The man after God's own heart was
 not exempt from trouble, nay, his life was full of it. He was
 both the Lord's Anointed, and the Lord's Afflicted. Why then
 should we expect to escape? At sorrow's gates the noblest of our
 race have waited with ashes on their heads, wherefore then
 should we complain as though some strange thing had happened
 unto us?

    The KING of kings himself was not favoured with a more
 cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of
 Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. God had
 one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It
 is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all
 points like as we are. What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a
 faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a
 dark foreboding? The King has passed over all these. Is it
 bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over each of
 these Kidrons the King has gone before us. "In all our
 afflictions he was afflicted." The idea of strangeness in our
 trials must be banished at once and for ever, for he who is the
 Head of all saints, knows by experience the grief which we think
 so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the
 Honourable Company of Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is
 Head and Captain.

    Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in
 triumph to his city, and David's Lord arose victorious from the
 grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the
 day. We shall yet with joy draw water out of the wells of
 salvation, though now for a season we have to pass by the
 noxious streams of sin and sorrow. Courage, soldiers of the
 Cross, the King himself triumphed after going over Kidron, and
 so shall you.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28566
 # 2Ch 34:1 - 36:23 * Daily Bible Reading
28467
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