Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t28800

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28801
 July 1                                                   Morning

 \\"In summer and in winter shall it be."\\
                                                 --Zechariah 14:8

    The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not
 dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than
 they were frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter.
 Rejoice, O my soul, that thou art spared to testify of the
 faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and thou changest,
 but thy Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of his
 love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever. The heats of
 business cares and scorching trials make me need the cooling
 influences of the river of his grace; I may go at once and drink
 to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and
 in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never
 scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs
 cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith to dry up, but Jehovah
 was still the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were
 like deceitful brooks, but he found his God an overflowing river
 of consolation. The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt, but
 its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same. By
 turning the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of
 Babylon, but no power, human or infernal, can divert the current
 of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have been found
 all dry and desolate, but the streams which take their rise on
 the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever
 be full to the brim. Generations melt away, but the course of
 grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth
 than the brook in the poem---

                "Men may come, and men may go,
                But I go on for ever."

 How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still waters!
 never wander to other streams, lest thou hear the Lord's rebuke,
 "What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy
 river?"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28901
 # Ps 36:1 - 39:13 * Daily Bible Reading
28802
 July 2                                                   Morning

 \\"Our heart shall rejoice in him."\\
                                                    --Psalm 33:21

    Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the
 deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still
 sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. The
 waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the
 surface and see the light of God's countenance; they have a
 buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the
 water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, "God is with me
 still." To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus--it is
 all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation
 with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in
 the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick
 and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him.
 He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering
 about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts his arms around him,
 and cries, "Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the
 waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not
 bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne
 of God." As the departing saint wades through the stream, and
 the billows gather around him, and heart and flesh fail him, the
 same voice sounds in his ears, "Fear not; I am with thee; be not
 dismayed; I am thy God." As he nears the borders of the infinite
 unknown, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades,
 Jesus says, "Fear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give
 you the kingdom." Thus strengthened and consoled, the believer
 is not afraid to die; nay, he is even willing to depart, for
 since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to gaze
 upon him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of
 Jesus is all the heaven we desire. He is at once

                "The glory of our brightest days;
                The comfort of our nights."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28902
 # Ps 40:1 - 45:17 * Daily Bible Reading
28803
 July 3                                                   Morning

 \\"The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven\\
 \\wellfavoured and fat kine."\\
                                                   --Genesis 41:4

    Pharaoh's dream has too often been my waking experience. My
 days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved
 in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen
 all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm;
 and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances
 in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean
 praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat
 up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for
 never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I
 had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old
 corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in
 my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms
 of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my
 heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my
 former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing
 whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days,
 no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal
 of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me
 still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of
 the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in
 which all my days can be as the "fat kine," is to feed them in
 the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in his service,
 in his company, in his fear, and in his way. Why should not
 every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and
 joy?--I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more
 experience of my Lord, and should be more like him. O Lord, keep
 far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to
 cry, "My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!" but may I be
 well-fed and nourished in thy house, that I may praise thy name.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28903
 # Ps 46:1 - 51:19 * Daily Bible Reading
28804
 July 4                                                   Morning

 \\"Sanctify them through thy truth."\\
                                                     --John 17:17

    Sanctification begins in regeneration. The Spirit of God
 infuses into man that new living principle by which he becomes
 "a new creature" in Christ Jesus. This work, which begins in the
 new birth, is carried on in two ways--mortification, whereby the
 lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and vivification,
 by which the life which God has put within us is made to be a
 well of water springing up unto everlasting life. This is
 carried on every day in what is called "perseverance," by which
 the Christian is preserved and continued in a gracious state,
 and is made to abound in good works unto the praise and glory of
 God; and it culminates or comes to perfection, in "glory," when
 the soul, being thoroughly purged, is caught up to dwell with
 holy beings at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But while
 the Spirit of God is thus the author of sanctification, yet
 there is a visible agency employed which must not be forgotten.
 "Sanctify them," said Jesus, "through thy \\truth\\: thy word is
 truth." The passages of Scripture which prove that the
 instrument of our sanctification is the Word of God are very
 many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds the precepts and
 doctrines of truth, and applies them with power. These are heard
 in the ear, and being received in the heart, they work in us to
 will and to do of God's good pleasure. The truth is the
 sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall
 not grow in sanctification. We only progress in sound living as
 we progress in sound understanding. "Thy word is a lamp unto my
 feet and a light unto my path." Do not say of any error, "It is
 a mere matter of opinion." No man indulges an error of judgment,
 without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold
 fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be
 sanctified by the Spirit of God.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28904
 # Ps 52:1 - 59:17 * Daily Bible Reading
28805
 July 5                                                   Morning

 \\"Called to be saints."\\
                                                     --Romans 1:7

    We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they
 were "saints" in a more especial manner than the other children
 of God. All are "saints" whom God has called by his grace, and
 sanctified by his Spirit; but we are apt to look upon the
 \\apostles\\ as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the
 same weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we
 are forgetful of this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God
 the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart; and
 the more his Master honours him in his service, the more also
 doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The
 fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought
 him remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had
 talked with him, we should have said, "We find that his
 experience and ours are much the same. He is more faithful, more
 holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has the
 selfsame trials to endure. Nay, in some respects he is more
 sorely tried than ourselves." Do not, then, look upon the
 ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or sins;
 and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will
 almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by
 us. We are "called to be saints" by that same voice which
 constrained them to their high vocation. It is a Christian's
 duty to force his way into the inner circle of saintship; and if
 these saints were superior to us in their attainments, as they
 certainly were, let us follow them; let us emulate their ardour
 and holiness. We have the same light that they had, the same
 grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest satisfied
 until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived
 \\with\\ Jesus, they lived \\for\\ Jesus, therefore they grew
 \\like\\ Jesus. Let us live by the same Spirit as they did,
 "looking unto Jesus," and our saintship will soon be apparent.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28905
 # Ps 60:1 - 66:20 * Daily Bible Reading
28806
 July 6                                                   Morning

 \\"Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be\\
 \\quiet from fear of evil."\\
                                                  --Proverbs 1:33

    Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the
 midst of judgments. Fair is that lone star which smiles through
 the rifts of the thunder clouds; bright is the oasis which
 blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so bright is love
 in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most
 High by their continued idolatry, he punished them by
 withholding both dew and rain, so that their land was visited by
 a sore famine; but while he did this, he took care that his own
 chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet
 shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God
 shall still preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not
 only so, the Lord had not simply one "Elijah," but he had a
 remnant according to the election of grace, who were hidden by
 fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was subject to
 famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from
 Ahab's table too by his faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah.
 Let us from this draw the inference, that come what may, God's
 people are safe. Let convulsions shake the solid earth, let the
 skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck of worlds
 the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest.
 If God cannot save his people \\under\\ heaven, he will save
 them \\in\\ heaven. If the world becomes too hot to hold them,
 then heaven shall be the place of their reception and their
 safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and rumours
 of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear
 of evil. Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the
 broad wings of Jehovah, shall be secure. Stay yourself upon his
 promise; rest in his faithfulness, and bid defiance to the
 blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you.
 Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the
 blessedness of hearkening to the voice of wisdom.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28906
 # Ps 67:1 - 71:24 * Daily Bible Reading
28807
 July 7                                                   Morning

 \\"Brethren, pray for us."\\
                                           --1 Thessalonians 5:25

    This one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the
 reader's memory upon the subject of prayer for ministers, and we
 do most earnestly implore every Christian household to grant the
 fervent request of the text first uttered by an apostle and now
 repeated by us. Brethren, our work is solemnly momentous,
 involving weal or woe to thousands; we treat with souls for God
 on eternal business, and our word is either a savour of life
 unto life, or of death unto death. A very heavy responsibility
 rests upon us, and it will be no small mercy if at the last we
 be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in Christ's
 army, we are the especial mark of the enmity of men and devils;
 they watch for our halting, and labour to take us by the heels.
 Our sacred calling involves us in temptations from which you are
 exempt, above all it too often draws us away from our personal
 enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and official consideration
 of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our wits are at a non
 plus; we observe very sad backslidings, and our hearts are
 wounded; we see millions perishing, and our spirits sink. We
 wish to profit you by our preaching; we desire to be blest to
 your children; we long to be useful both to saints and sinners;
 therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God.
 Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but
 happy are we if we live in your supplications. You do not look
 to us but to our Master for spiritual blessings, and yet how
 many times has he given those blessings through his ministers;
 ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen vessels
 into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. We, the
 whole company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and
 students, do in the name of Jesus beseech you

                     "BRETHREN, PRAY FOR US."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28907
 # Ps 72:1 - 77:20 * Daily Bible Reading
28808
 July 8                                                   Morning

 \\"Tell me I pray thee wherein thy great strength lieth."\\
                                                    --Judges 16:6

    Where lies the secret strength of faith? It lies in the food
 it feeds on; for faith studies what the promise is--an emanation
 of divine grace, an overflowing of the great heart of God; and
 faith says, "My God could not have given this promise, except
 from love and grace; therefore it is quite certain his word will
 be fulfilled." Then faith thinketh, "\\Who gave\\ this promise?"
 It considereth not so much its greatness, as, "Who is the author
 of it?" She remembers that it is God who cannot lie--God
 omnipotent, God immutable; and therefore concludeth that the
 promise must be fulfilled; and forward she advances in this firm
 conviction. She remembereth,\\ why the promise was given\\,--
 namely, for God's glory, and she feels perfectly sure that God's
 glory is safe, that he will never stain his own reputation, nor
 mar the lustre of his own crown; and therefore the promise must
 and will stand. Then faith also considereth the amazing \\work\\
 \\of Christ\\ as being a clear proof of the Father's intention
 to fulfil his word. "He that spared not his own Son, but freely
 delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
 freely give us all things?" Moreover faith looks back upon \\the\\
 \\past\\, for her battles have strengthened her, and her
 victories have given her courage. She remembers that God never
 has failed her; nay, that he never did once fail any of his
 children. She recollecteth times of great peril, when
 deliverance came; hours of awful need, when as her day her
 strength was found, and she cries, "No, I never will be led to
 think that he can change and leave his servant now. Hitherto the
 Lord hath helped me, and he will help me still." Thus faith
 views each promise in its connection with the promise-giver,
 and, because she does so, can with assurance say, "Surely
 goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28908
 # Ps 78:1 - 80:19 * Daily Bible Reading
28809
 July 9                                                   Morning

 \\"Forget not all his benefits."\\
                                                    --Psalm 103:2

    It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand
 of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe his
 goodness in delivering them, his mercy in pardoning them, and
 his faithfulness in keeping his covenant with them. But would it
 not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the
 hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own
 history as being at least as full of God, as full of his
 goodness and of his truth, as much a proof of his faithfulness
 and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone
 before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that he
 wrought all his mighty acts, and showed himself strong for those
 in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare his
 arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our
 own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents,
 refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had
 no \\deliverances\\? Have you passed through no rivers,
 supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no
 fires unharmed? Have you had no \\manifestations\\? Have you had
 no \\choice favours\\? The God who gave Solomon the desire of
 his heart, hath he never listened to you and answered your
 requests? That God of lavish bounty of whom David sang, "Who
 satisfieth thy mouth with good things," hath he never satiated
 \\you\\ with fatness? Have you never been made to lie down in
 green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters?
 Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the
 saints of old. Let us, then, weave his mercies into a song. Let
 us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise
 and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our
 souls give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from
 David's harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endureth for
 ever.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28909
 # Ps 81:1 - 87:7 * Daily Bible Reading
28810
 July 10                                                  Morning

 \\"Fellow citizens with the saints."\\
                                                 --Ephesians 2:19

    What is meant by our being citizens in heaven? It means that
 \\we are under heaven's government\\. Christ the king of heaven
 reigns in our hearts; our daily prayer is, "Thy will be done on
 earth as it is in heaven." The proclamations issued from the
 throne of glory are freely received by us: the decrees of the
 Great King we cheerfully obey. Then as citizens of the New
 Jerusalem, \\we share heaven's honours\\. The glory which
 belongs to beatified saints belongs to us, for we are already
 sons of God, already princes of the blood imperial; already we
 wear the spotless robe of Jesus' righteousness; already we have
 angels for our servitors, saints for our companions, Christ for
 our Brother, God for our Father, and a crown of immortality for
 our reward. We share the honours of citizenship, for we have
 come to the general assembly and Church of the first-born whose
 names are written in heaven. As citizens, we have \\common\\
 \\rights to all the property of heaven\\. Ours are its gates of
 pearl and walls of chrysolite; ours the azure light of the city
 that needs no candle nor light of the sun; ours the river of the
 water of life, and the twelve manner of fruits which grow on the
 trees planted on the banks thereof; there is nought in heaven
 that belongeth not to us. "Things present, or things to come,"
 all are ours. Also as citizens of heaven we \\enjoy its\\
 \\delights\\. Do they there rejoice over sinners that
 repent--prodigals that have returned? So do we. Do they chant
 the glories of triumphant grace? We do the same. Do they cast
 their crowns at Jesus' feet? Such honours as we have we cast
 there too. Are they charmed with his smile? It is not less sweet
 to us who dwell below. Do they look forward, waiting for his
 second advent? We also look and long for his appearing. If,
 then, we are thus \\citizens of heaven\\, let our walk and
 actions be consistent with our high dignity.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28910
 # Ps 88:1 - 91:16 * Daily Bible Reading
28811
 July 11                                                  Morning

 \\"After that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect,\\
 \\stablish, strengthen, settle you."\\
                                                   --1 Peter 5:10

    You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain:
 glorious are its colours, and rare its hues. It is beautiful,
 but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. The fair colours
 give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer
 brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not \\established\\.
 How can it be? A glorious show made up of transitory sun-beams
 and passing rain-drops, how can it abide? The graces of the
 Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its
 transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be stablished,
 settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you
 have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a
 writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May
 your faith be no "baseless fabric of a vision," but may it be
 builded of material able to endure that awful fire which shall
 consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be
 rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your
 love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so
 settled and established, that all the blasts of hell, and all
 the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you. But
 notice how this blessing of being "stablished in the faith" is
 gained. The apostle's words point us to \\suffering\\ as the
 means employed--"\\After that ye have suffered awhile\\." It is
 of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds
 pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree,
 and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the
 many storms that have swept over it, and they are also
 indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their
 way. So the Christian is made strong, and firmly rooted by all
 the trials and storms of life. Shrink not then from the
 tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by
 their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to
 you.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28911
 # Ps 92:1 - 100:5 * Daily Bible Reading
28812
 July 12                                                  Morning

 \\"Sanctified by God the Father."\\
                                                         --Jude 1
 \\"Sanctified in Christ Jesus."\\
                                              --1 Corinthians 1:2
 \\"Through sanctification of the Spirit."\\
                                                    --1 Peter 1:2

    Mark the union of the three Divine Persons in all their
 gracious acts. How unwisely do those believers talk who make
 preferences in the Persons of the Trinity; who think of Jesus as
 if he were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious,
 while the Father they regard as severely just, but destitute of
 kindness. Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the
 Father, and the atonement of the Son, so as to depreciate the
 work of the Spirit. In deeds of grace none of the Persons of the
 Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their
 deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen they
 are one, and in the actions which flow from that great central
 source they are still undivided. Specially notice this in the
 matter of sanctification. While we may without mistake speak of
 sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must take heed
 that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son had no part
 therein. It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of
 the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still doth Jehovah
 say, "Let \\us\\ make man in our own image after our likeness,"
 and thus we are "\\his\\ workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
 unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
 walk in them." See the value which God sets upon real holiness,
 since the three Persons in the Trinity are represented as
 co-working to produce a Church without "spot, or wrinkle, or any
 such thing." And you, believer, as the follower of Christ, must
 also set a high value on holiness--upon purity of life and
 godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the
 foundation of your hope, but never speak disparagingly of the
 work of the Spirit which is your meetness for the inheritance of
 the saints in light. This day let us so live as to manifest the
 work of the Triune God in us.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28912
 # Ps 101:1 - 105:45 * Daily Bible Reading
28813
 July 13                                                  Morning

 \\"God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?"\\
                                                      --Jonah 4:9

    Anger is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has such a
 tendency to run wild that whenever it displays itself, we should
 be quick to question its character, with this enquiry, "Doest
 thou well to be angry?" It may be that we can answer, "YES."
 Very frequently anger is the madman's firebrand, but sometimes
 it is Elijah's fire from heaven. We do well when we are angry
 with sin, because of the wrong which it commits against our good
 and gracious God; or with ourselves because we remain so foolish
 after so much divine instruction; or with others when the sole
 cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at
 transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and
 hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God
 himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in
 his Word, "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Far more
 frequently it is to be feared that our anger is not commendable
 or even justifiable, and then we must answer, "NO." Why should
 we be fretful with children, passionate with servants, and
 wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable to our
 Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old
 evil heart seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it
 with all the might of our newborn nature? Many professors give
 way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resistance;
 but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror in
 every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control
 our tempers, what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay
 that grace was often grafted on a crab-stump. "Yes," said he,
 "but the fruit will not be crabs." We must not make natural
 infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must fly to the cross and
 pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness
 and meekness after his own image.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28913
 # Ps 106:1 - 107:43 * Daily Bible Reading
28814
 July 14                                                  Morning

 \\"If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."\\
                                                   --Exodus 20:25

    God's altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace
 of human skill or labour might be seen upon it. Human wisdom
 delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a
 system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved
 tastes of fallen nature; instead, however, of improving the
 gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another
 gospel, and not the truth of God at all. All alterations and
 amendments of the Lord's own Word are defilements and
 pollutions. The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a
 hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations
 for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted
 in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted,
 and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon
 the divine altar. It were well if sinners would remember that so
 far from perfecting the Saviour's work, their carnal confidences
 only pollute and dishonour it. The Lord alone must be exalted in
 the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man's chisel or
 hammer will be endured. There is an inherent blasphemy in
 seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in his dying moments
 declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord
 Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. Trembling sinner, away with
 thy tools, and fall upon thy knees in humble supplication; and
 accept the Lord Jesus to be the altar of thine atonement, and
 rest in him alone.

    Many professors may take warning from this morning's text as
 to the doctrines which they believe. There is among Christians
 far too much inclination to square and reconcile the truths of
 revelation; this is a form of irreverence and unbelief, let us
 strive against it, and receive truth as we find it; rejoicing
 that the doctrines of the Word are unhewn stones, and so are all
 the more fit to build an altar for the Lord.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28914
 # Ps 108:1 - 118:29 * Daily Bible Reading
28815
 July 15                                                  Morning

 \\"The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never\\
 \\go out."\\
                                                 --Leviticus 6:13

    Keep the altar of \\private prayer\\ burning. This is the
 very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow
 their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret
 devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital
 and experimental religion.

    Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons
 be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual
 prayer availeth much. Have you nothing to pray for? Let us
 suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children,
 your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of
 God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on
 this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private
 devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts?
 Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at
 this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the
 Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special
 seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be
 smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim
 the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in
 the Church and in the world.

    The text will also apply to \\the altar of the heart\\. This
 is a golden altar indeed. God loves to see the hearts of his
 people glowing towards himself. Let us give to God our hearts,
 all blazing with love, and seek his grace, that the fire may
 never be quenched; for it will not burn if the Lord does not
 keep it burning. Many foes will attempt to extinguish it; but if
 the unseen hand behind the wall pour thereon the sacred oil, it
 will blaze higher and higher. Let us use texts of Scripture as
 fuel for our heart's fire, they are live coals; let us attend
 sermons, but above all, let us be much alone with Jesus.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 28915
 # Ps 119:1 - 119:176 * Daily Bible Reading
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