Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t29200

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29201
 September 1                                              Morning

 \\"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive\\
 \\me to glory."\\
                                                    --Psalm 73:24

    The Psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just
 been discovering the foolishness of his own heart, and lest he
 should be constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God's
 counsel should henceforth guide him. A sense of our own folly is
 a great step towards being wise, when it leads us to rely on the
 wisdom of the Lord. The blind man leans on his friend's arm and
 reaches home in safety, and so would we give ourselves up
 implicitly to divine guidance, nothing doubting; assured that
 though we cannot see, it is always safe to trust the all-seeing
 God. "\\Thou shalt\\," is a blessed expression of confidence. He
 was sure that the Lord would not decline the condescending task.
 There is a word for thee, O believer; rest thou in it. Be
 assured that thy God will be thy counsellor and friend; he shall
 guide thee; he will direct all thy ways. In his written Word
 thou hast this assurance in part fulfilled, for holy Scripture
 is his counsel to thee. Happy are we to have God's Word always
 to guide us! What were the mariner without his compass? And what
 were the Christian without the Bible? This is the unerring
 chart, the map in which every shoal is described, and all the
 channels from the quicksands of destruction to the haven of
 salvation mapped and marked by one who knows all the way.
 Blessed be thou, O God, that we may trust thee to guide us now,
 and guide us even to the end! After this guidance through life,
 the Psalmist anticipates a divine reception at last--"\\and\\
 \\afterward receive me to glory\\." What a thought for thee,
 believer! God himself will receive \\thee\\ to glory--\\thee\\!
 Wandering, erring, straying, yet he will bring thee safe at last
 to glory! This is thy portion; live on it this day, and if
 perplexities should surround thee, go in the strength of this
 text straight to the throne.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29301
 # Eze 1:1 - 4:17 * Daily Bible Reading
29202
 September 2                                              Morning

 \\"But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they\\
 \\tell him of her."\\
                                                      --Mark 1:30

    Very interesting is this little peep into the house of the
 Apostolic Fisherman. We see at once that household joys and
 cares are no hindrance to the full exercise of ministry, nay,
 that since they furnish an opportunity for personally witnessing
 the Lord's gracious work upon one's own flesh and blood, they
 may even instruct the teacher better than any other earthly
 discipline. Papists and other sectaries may decry marriage, but
 true Christianity and household life agree well together.
 Peter's house was probably a poor fisherman's hut, but the Lord
 of Glory entered it, lodged in it, and wrought a miracle in it.
 Should our little book be read this morning in some very humble
 cottage, let this fact encourage the inmates to seek the company
 of King Jesus. God is oftener in little huts than in rich
 palaces. Jesus is looking round your room now, and is waiting to
 be gracious to you. Into Simon's house sickness had entered,
 fever in a deadly form had prostrated his mother-in-law, and as
 soon as Jesus came they told him of the sad affliction, and he
 hastened to the patient's bed. Have you any sickness in the
 house this morning? You will find Jesus by far the best
 physician, go to him at once and tell him all about the matter.
 Immediately lay the case before him. It concerns one of his
 people, and therefore will not be trivial to him. Observe, that
 at once the Saviour restored the sick woman; none can heal as he
 does. We may not make sure that the Lord will at once remove
 all disease from those we love, but we may know that believing
 prayer for the sick is far more likely to be followed by
 restoration than anything else in the world; and where this
 avails not, we must meekly bow to his will by whom life and
 death are determined. The tender heart of Jesus waits to hear
 our griefs, let us pour them into his patient ear.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29302
 # Eze 5:1 - 9:11 * Daily Bible Reading
29203
 September 3                                              Morning

 \\"Thou whom my soul loveth."\\
                                            --Song of Solomon 1:7

    It is well to be able, without any "if" or "but," to say of
 the Lord Jesus--"\\Thou whom my soul loveth\\." Many can only
 say of Jesus that they \\hope\\ they love him; they \\trust\\
 they love him; but only a poor and shallow experience will be
 content to stay here. No one ought to give any rest to his
 spirit till he feels quite sure about a matter of such vital
 importance. We ought not to be satisfied with a superficial
 \\hope\\ that Jesus loves us, and with a bare trust that we love
 him. The old saints did not generally speak with "buts," and
 "ifs," and "hopes," and "trusts," but they spoke positively and
 plainly. "I know whom I have believed," saith Paul. "I know that
 my Redeemer liveth," saith Job. Get positive knowledge of your
 love of Jesus, and be not satisfied till you can speak of your
 interest in him as a reality, which you have made sure by having
 received the witness of the Holy Spirit, and his seal upon your
 soul by faith.

    True love to Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit's work,
 and must be wrought in the heart by him. He is the \\efficient\\
 \\cause\\ of it; but the logical reason why we love Jesus lies
 in \\himself. Why\\ do we love Jesus? \\Because he first loved\\
 \\us. Why\\ do we love Jesus? Because he "\\gave himself for\\
 \\us\\." We have life through his death; we have peace through
 his blood. Though he was rich, yet \\for our sakes\\ he became
 poor. Why do we love Jesus? Because of the \\excellency of his\\
 \\person\\. We are filled with a sense of his beauty! an
 admiration of his charms! a consciousness of his infinite
 perfection! His greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one
 resplendent ray, combine to enchant the soul till it is so
 ravished that it exclaims, "Yea, he is altogether lovely."
 Blessed love this--a love which binds the heart with chains more
 soft than silk, and yet more firm than adamant!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29303
 # Eze 10:1 - 13:23 * Daily Bible Reading
29204
 September 4                                              Morning

 \\"I will; be thou clean."\\
                                                      --Mark 1:41

    Primeval darkness heard the Almighty fiat, "light be," and
 straightway light was, and the word of the Lord Jesus is equal
 in majesty to that ancient word of power. Redemption like
 Creation has its word of might. Jesus speaks and it is done.
 Leprosy yielded to no human remedies, but it fled at once at the
 Lord's "I will." The disease exhibited no hopeful signs or
 tokens of recovery, nature contributed nothing to its own
 healing, but the unaided word effected the entire work on the
 spot and for ever. The sinner is in a plight more miserable than
 the leper; let him imitate his example and go to Jesus,
 "beseeching him and kneeling down to him." Let him exercise what
 little faith he has, even though it should go no further than
 "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean"; and there need
 be no doubt as to the result of the application. Jesus heals all
 who come, and casts out none. In reading the narrative in which
 our morning's text occurs, it is worthy of devout notice that
 Jesus touched the leper. This unclean person had broken through
 the regulations of the ceremonial law and pressed into the
 house, but Jesus so far from chiding him broke through the law
 himself in order to meet him. He made an interchange with the
 leper, for while he cleansed him, he contracted by that touch a
 Levitical defilement. Even so Jesus Christ was made sin for us,
 although in himself he knew no sin, that we might be made the
 righteousness of God in him. O that poor sinners would go to
 Jesus, believing in the power of his blessed substitutionary
 work, and they would soon learn the power of his gracious touch.
 That hand which multiplied the loaves, which saved sinking
 Peter, which upholds afflicted saints, which crowns believers,
 that same hand will touch every seeking sinner, and in a moment
 make him clean. The love of Jesus is the source of salvation. He
 loves, he looks, he touches us, WE LIVE.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29304
 # Eze 14:1 - 16:63 * Daily Bible Reading
29205
 September 5                                              Morning

 \\"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the\\
 \\tents of Kedar."\\
                                                    --Psalm 120:5

    As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly
 world, and it is of little use for you to cry "Woe is me." Jesus
 did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and
 what he did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the
 Lord's strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify him in it.
 The enemy is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your
 conduct; be therefore very \\holy\\. Remember that the eyes of
 all are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from
 other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your
 goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like
 Daniel, compel them to say of you, "We shall not find any
 occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him
 concerning the law of his God." Seek to be \\useful\\ as well as
 consistent. Perhaps you think, "If I were in a more favourable
 position I might serve the Lord's cause, but I cannot do any
 good where I am"; but the worse the people are among whom you
 live, the more need have they of your exertions; if they be
 crooked, the more necessity that you should set them straight;
 and if they be perverse, the more need have you to turn their
 proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be but
 where there are many sick? Where is honour to be won by the
 soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle? And when weary of
 the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider that
 all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not
 carried on beds of down to heaven, and you must not expect to
 travel more easily than they. They had to hazard their lives
 unto the death in the high places of the field, and you will not
 be crowned till you also have endured hardness as a good soldier
 of Jesus Christ. Therefore, "stand fast in the faith, quit you
 like men, be strong."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29305
 # Eze 17:1 - 19:14 * Daily Bible Reading
29206
 September 6                                              Morning

 \\"In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye\\
 \\shine as lights in the world."\\
                                               --Philippians 2:15

    We use lights to \\make manifest\\. A Christian man should so
 shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week
 without knowing the gospel. His conversation should be such that
 all who are about him should clearly perceive whose he is, and
 whom he serves; and should see the image of Jesus reflected in
 his daily actions. Lights are intended for \\guidance\\. We are
 to help those around us who are in the dark. We are to hold
 forth to them the Word of life. We are to point sinners to the
 Saviour, and the weary to a divine resting-place. Men sometimes
 read their Bibles, and fail to understand them; we should be
 ready, like Philip, to instruct the inquirer in the meaning of
 God's Word, the way of salvation, and the life of godliness.
 Lights are also used for \\warning\\. On our rocks and shoals a
 light-house is sure to be erected. Christian men should know
 that there are many false lights shown everywhere in the world,
 and therefore the right light is needed. The wreckers of Satan
 are always abroad, tempting the ungodly to sin under the name of
 pleasure; they hoist the wrong light, be it ours to put up the
 true light upon every dangerous rock, to point out every sin,
 and tell what it leads to, that so we may be clear of the blood
 of all men, shining as lights in the world. Lights also have a
 very \\cheering\\ influence, and so have Christians. A Christian
 ought to be a comforter, with kind words on his lips, and
 sympathy in his heart; he should carry sunshine wherever he
 goes, and diffuse happiness around him.

               Gracious Spirit dwell with me;
               I myself would gracious be,
               And with words that help and heal
               Would thy life in mine reveal,
               And with actions bold and meek
               Would for Christ my Saviour speak.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29306
 # Eze 20:1 - 21:32 * Daily Bible Reading
29207
 September 7                                              Morning

 \\"And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press,\\
 \\they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken\\
 \\it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy\\
 \\lay."\\
                                                       --Mark 2:4

    \\Faith is full of inventions\\. The house was full, a crowd
 blocked up the door, but faith found a way of getting at the
 Lord and placing the palsied man before him. If we cannot get
 sinners where Jesus is by ordinary methods we must use
 extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke 5:19, that a
 tiling had to be removed, which would make dust and cause a
 measure of danger to those below, but where the case is very
 urgent we must not mind running some risks and shocking some
 proprieties. Jesus was there to heal, and therefore fall what
 might, faith ventured all so that her poor paralysed charge
 might have his sins forgiven. O that we had more daring faith
 among us! Cannot we, dear reader, seek it this morning for
 ourselves and for our fellow-workers, and will we not try to-day
 to perform some gallant act for the love of souls and the glory
 of the Lord.

    The world is constantly inventing; genius serves all the
 purposes of human desire: cannot faith invent too, and reach by
 some new means the outcasts who lie perishing around us? It was
 the presence of Jesus which excited victorious courage in the
 four bearers of the palsied man: is not the Lord among us now?
 Have we seen his face for ourselves this morning? Have we felt
 his healing power in our own souls? If so, then through door,
 through window, or through roof, let us, breaking through all
 impediments, labour to bring poor souls to Jesus. All means are
 good and decorous when faith and love are truly set on winning
 souls. If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely
 hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts. O Lord,
 make us quick to suggest methods of reaching thy poor sin-sick
 ones, and bold to carry them out at all hazards.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29307
 # Eze 22:1 - 24:27 * Daily Bible Reading
29208
 September 8                                              Morning

 \\"From me is thy fruit found."\\
                                                     --Hosea 14:8

    Our fruit is found from our God as to \\union\\. The fruit of
 the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the
 connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue
 of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of
 grapes have been first in the root, it has passed through the
 stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself
 externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also
 every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth
 in us. O Christian, prize this precious union to Christ; for it
 must be the source of all the fruitfulness which thou canst hope
 to know. If thou wert not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst
 be a barren bough indeed.

    Our fruit comes from God as to \\spiritual providence\\. When
 the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from
 on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the
 bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon
 may whisper to the tree and say, "From me is thy fruit found."
 The fruit owes much to the root--that is essential to
 fruitfulness--but it owes very much also to external influences.
 How much we owe to God's grace-providence! in which he provides
 us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength,
 or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness
 or virtue.

    Our fruit comes from God as to \\wise husbandry\\. The
 gardener's sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the
 tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous
 shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord
 gives to thee. "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me
 that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that
 beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
 fruit." Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let
 us give to him all the glory of our salvation.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29308
 # Eze 25:1 - 28:26 * Daily Bible Reading
29209
 September 9                                              Morning

 \\"I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things\\
 \\which thou knowest not."\\
                                                  --Jeremiah 33:3

    There are different translations of these words. One version
 renders it, "I will shew thee great and fortified things."
 Another, "Great and reserved things." Now, there are reserved
 and special things in Christian experience: all the developments
 of spiritual life are not alike easy of attainment. There are
 the common frames and feelings of repentance, and faith, and
 joy, and hope, which are enjoyed by the entire family; but there
 is an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and conscious union
 with Christ, which is far from being the common dwelling-place
 of believers. We have not all the high privilege of John, to
 lean upon Jesus' bosom; nor of Paul, to be caught up into the
 third heaven. There are heights in experimental knowledge of the
 things of God which the eagle's eye of acumen and philosophic
 thought hath never seen: God alone can bear us there; but the
 chariot in which he takes us up, and the fiery steeds with which
 that chariot is dragged, are prevailing prayers. Prevailing
 prayer is victorious over the God of mercy, "By his strength he
 had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and
 prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him
 in Beth-el, and there he spake with us." Prevailing prayer takes
 the Christian to Carmel, and enables him to cover heaven with
 clouds of blessing, and earth with floods of mercy. Prevailing
 prayer bears the Christian aloft to Pisgah, and shows him the
 inheritance reserved; it elevates us to Tabor and transfigures
 us, till in the likeness of his Lord, as he is, so are we also
 in this world. If you would reach to something higher than
 ordinary grovelling experience, look to the Rock that is higher
 than you, and gaze with the eye of faith through the window of
 importunate prayer. When you open the window on your side, it
 will not be bolted on the other.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29309
 # Eze 29:1 - 32:32 * Daily Bible Reading
29210
 September 10                                             Morning

 \\"And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he\\
 \\would: and they came unto him."\\
                                                      --Mark 3:13

    Here was sovereignty. Impatient spirits may fret and fume,
 because they are not called to the highest places in the
 ministry; but reader be it thine to rejoice that Jesus calleth
 whom he wills. If he shall leave me to be a doorkeeper in his
 house, I will cheerfully bless him for his grace in permitting
 me to do anything in his service. The call of Christ's servants
 comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above
 the world in holiness, earnestness, love and power. Those whom
 he calls must go up the mountain to him, they must seek to rise
 to his level by living in constant communion with him. They may
 not be able to mount to classic honours, or attain scholastic
 eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the mount of God
 and have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will
 never be fitted to proclaim the gospel of peace. Jesus went
 apart to hold high fellowship with the Father, and we must enter
 into the same divine companionship if we would bless our
 fellowmen. No wonder that the apostles were clothed with power
 when they came down fresh from the mountain where Jesus was.
 This morning we must endeavour to ascend the mount of communion,
 that there we may be ordained to the lifework for which we are
 set apart. Let us not see the face of man to-day till we have
 seen Jesus. Time spent with him is laid out at blessed interest.
 We too shall cast out devils and work wonders if we go down into
 the world girded with that divine energy which Christ alone can
 give. It is of no use going to the Lord's battle till we are
 armed with heavenly weapons. We \\must\\ see Jesus, this is
 essential. At the mercy-seat we will linger till he shall
 manifest himself unto us as he doth not unto the world, and
 until we can truthfully say, "We were with him in the Holy
 Mount."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29310
 # Eze 33:1 - 36:38 * Daily Bible Reading
29211
 September 11                                             Morning

 \\"Be ye separate."\\
                                             --2 Corinthians 6:17

    The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world.
 He should be distinguished from it in \\the great object of his\\
 \\life\\. To him, "to live," should be "Christ." Whether he
 eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God's
 glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where
 neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not
 through nor steal. You may strive to be rich; but be it your
 ambition to be "rich in faith," and good works. You may have
 pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in
 your hearts to the Lord. In your \\spirit\\, as well as in your
 aim, you should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before
 God, always conscious of his presence, delighting in communion
 with him, and seeking to know his will, you will prove that you
 are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from the world
 in your \\actions\\. If a thing be right, though you lose by it,
 it must be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it,
 you must scorn the sin for your Master's sake. You must have no
 fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
 reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity.
 Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings.
 Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world. Soil not the
 fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these
 eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King
 in his beauty--let not those feet be defiled in miry places,
 which are soon to walk the golden streets--let not those hearts
 be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be
 filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.

              Then rise my soul! and soar away,
              Above the thoughtless crowd;
              Above the pleasures of the gay,
              And splendours of the proud;
              Up where eternal beauties bloom,
              And pleasures all divine;
              Where wealth, that never can consume,
              And endless glories shine.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29311
 # Eze 37:1 - 39:29 * Daily Bible Reading
29212
 September 12                                             Morning

 \\"God is jealous."\\
                                                      --Nahum 1:2

    \\Your Lord is very jealous of your love\\, O believer. Did
 he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another.
 Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you
 should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this
 world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in
 heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish,
 and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your
 heart's love and himself. \\He is very jealous of your trust\\.
 He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot
 bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the
 overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon
 him, he is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another,
 when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a
 friend--worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he
 is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to
 himself. \\He is also very jealous of our company\\. There
 should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To
 abide in him only, this is true love; but to commune with the
 world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to
 prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret
 intercourse with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He
 would fain have us abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship
 with himself; and many of the trials which he sends us are for
 the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing
 them more closely upon himself. Let this jealousy which would
 keep us near to Christ \\be also a comfort\\ to us, for if he
 loves us so much as to care thus about \\our\\ love we may be
 sure that he will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us
 from all our enemies. Oh that we may have grace this day to keep
 our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred
 jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29312
 # Eze 40:1 - 42:20 * Daily Bible Reading
29213
 September 13                                             Morning

 \\"Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well, the\\
 \\rain also filleth the pools."\\
                                                     --Psalm 84:6

    This teaches us that the \\comfort\\ obtained by a one may
 often prove serviceable to another; just as wells would be used
 by the company who came after. We read some book full of
 consolation, which is like Jonathan's rod, dropping with honey.
 Ah! we think our brother has been here before us, and digged
 this well for us as well as for himself. Many a "Night of
 Weeping," "Midnight Harmonies," an "Eternal Day," a " Crook in
 the Lot," a "Comfort for Mourners," has been a well digged by a
 pilgrim for himself, but has proved quite as useful to others.
 Specially we notice this in the Psalms, such as that beginning,
 "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" Travellers have been
 delighted to see the footprint of man on a barren shore, and we
 love to see the waymarks of pilgrims while passing through the
 vale of tears.

    The pilgrims dig the well, but, strange enough, it fills from
 the top instead of the bottom. We use the means, but the
 blessing does not spring from the means. We dig a well, but
 heaven fills it with rain. The horse is prepared against the day
 of battle, but safety is of the Lord. The means are connected
 with the end, but they do not of themselves produce it. See here
 the rain fills the pools, so that the wells become useful as
 reservoirs for the water; labour is not lost, but yet it does
 not supersede divine help.

    Grace may well be compared to rain for its purity, for its
 refreshing and vivifying influence, for its coming alone from
 above, and for the sovereignty with which it is given or
 withheld. May our readers have showers of blessing, and may the
 wells they have digged be filled with water! Oh, what are means
 and ordinances without the smile of heaven! They are as clouds
 without rain, and pools without water. O God of love, open the
 windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29313
 # Eze 43:1 - 45:25 * Daily Bible Reading
29214
 September 14                                             Morning

 \\"There were also with him other little ships."\\
                                                      --Mark 4:36

    Jesus was the Lord High Admiral of the sea that night, and
 his presence preserved the whole convoy. It is well to sail with
 Jesus, even though it be in a little ship. When we sail in
 Christ's company, we may not make sure of fair weather, for
 great storms may toss the vessel which carries the Lord himself,
 and we must not expect to find the sea less boisterous around
 our little boat. If we go with Jesus we must be content to fare
 as he fares; and when the waves are rough to him, they will be
 rough to us. It is by tempest and tossing that we shall come to
 land, as he did before us.

    When the storm swept over Galilee's dark lake all faces gathered
 blackness, and all hearts dreaded shipwreck. When all creature help was
 useless, the slumbering Saviour arose, and with a word, transformed the
 riot of the tempest into the deep quiet of a calm; then were the little
 vessels at rest as well as that which carried the Lord. Jesus is the star
 of the sea; and though there be sorrow upon the sea, when Jesus is on
 it there is joy too. May our hearts make Jesus their anchor,
 their rudder, their lighthouse, their life-boat, and their
 harbour. His Church is the Admiral's flagship, let us attend her
 movements, and cheer her officers with our presence. He himself
 is the great attraction; let us follow ever in his wake, mark
 his signals, steer by his chart, and never fear while he is
 within hail. Not one ship in the convoy shall suffer wreck; the
 great Commodore will steer every barque in safety to the desired
 haven. By faith we will slip our cable for another day's cruise,
 and sail forth with Jesus into a sea of tribulation. Winds and
 waves will not spare us, but they all obey him; and, therefore,
 whatever squalls may occur without, faith shall feel a blessed
 calm within. He is ever in the centre of the weather-beaten
 company: let us rejoice in him. His vessel has reached the
 haven, and so shall ours.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29314
 # Eze 46:1 - 48:35 * Daily Bible Reading
29215
 September 15                                             Morning

 \\"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."\\
                                                    --Psalm 112:7

    Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil
 tidings; because if you are distressed by them, \\what do you\\
 \\more than other men\\? Other men have not your God to fly to;
 they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it
 is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with
 fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been
 begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in
 heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be
 distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which
 you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new
 nature which you claim to possess?

    Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are,
 \\you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others\\
 \\under trying circumstances\\. The ungodly, when they are
 overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and
 think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that
 same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

    Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order
 to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same
 if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord,
 and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses
 did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and see the salvation of God."
 For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you
 will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure
 which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you
 glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's
 high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and
 desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most
 High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the
 faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be
 troubled, neither let it be afraid."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29315
 # Da 1:1 - 4:37 * Daily Bible Reading
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