Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t29250

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29251
 September 16                                             Morning

 \\"Partakers of the divine nature."\\
                                                    --2 Peter 1:4

    To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to
 become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be
 participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the
 Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence;
 but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we,
 by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense
 made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the
 divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. "God is love";
 we become love--"He that loveth is born of God." God is truth;
 we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and
 he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure in
 heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the
 divine nature in even a higher sense than this--in fact, in as
 lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely
 divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine
 person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head
 flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ
 quickens his people, for "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with
 Christ in God." Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married
 unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness
 and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one
 spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall
 understand it? One with Jesus--so one with him that the branch
 is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord,
 our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us
 remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature
 will manifest their high and holy relationship in their
 intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk
 and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is
 in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29351
 # Da 5:1 - 6:28 * Daily Bible Reading
29252
 September 17                                             Morning

 \\"Bring him unto me."\\
                                                      --Mark 9:19

    Despairingly the poor disappointed father turned away from
 the disciples to their Master. His son was in the worst possible
 condition, and all means had failed, but the miserable child was
 soon delivered from the evil one when the parent in faith obeyed
 the Lord Jesus' word, "Bring him unto me." Children are a
 precious gift from God, but much anxiety comes with them. They
 may be a great joy or a great bitterness to their parents; they
 may be filled with the Spirit of God, or possessed with the
 spirit of evil. In all cases, the Word of God gives us one
 receipt for the curing of all their ills, "Bring him unto me." O
 for more agonizing prayer on their behalf while they are yet
 babes! Sin is there, let our prayers begin to attack it. Our
 cries for our offspring should precede those cries which betoken
 their actual advent into a world of sin. In the days of their
 youth we shall see sad tokens of that dumb and deaf spirit which
 will neither pray aright, nor hear the voice of God in the soul,
 but Jesus still commands, "Bring them unto me." When they are
 grown up they may wallow in sin and foam with enmity against
 God; then when our hearts are breaking we should remember the
 great Physician's words, "Bring them unto me." Never must we
 cease to pray until they cease to breathe. No case is hopeless
 while Jesus lives.

    The Lord sometimes suffers his people to be driven into a
 corner that they may experimentally know how necessary he is to
 them. Ungodly children, when they show us our own powerlessness
 against the depravity of their hearts, drive us to flee to the
 strong for strength, and this is a great blessing to us.
 Whatever our morning's need may be, let it like a strong current
 bear us to the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our
 sorrow, he delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to him while he
 waits to meet us.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29352
 # Da 7:1 - 9:27 * Daily Bible Reading
29253
 September 18                                             Morning

 \\"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."\\
                                                 --Galatians 5:25

    The two most important things in our holy religion are the
 \\life of faith\\ and the \\walk of faith\\. He who shall
 rightly understand these is not far from being a master in
 experimental theology, for they are vital points to a Christian.
 You will never find true faith unattended by true godliness; on
 the other hand, you will never discover a truly holy life which
 has not for its root a living faith upon the righteousness of
 Christ.  Woe unto those who seek after the one without the
 other! There are some who cultivate faith and forget holiness;
 these may be very high in orthodoxy, but they shall be very deep
 in condemnation, for they hold the truth in unrighteousness; and
 there are others who have strained after holiness of life, but
 have denied the faith, like the Pharisees of old, of whom the
 Master said, they were "whitewashed sepulchres." We must have
 faith, for this is the foundation; we must have holiness of
 life, for this is the superstructure. Of what service is the
 mere foundation of a building to a man in the day of tempest?
 Can he hide himself therein? He wants a house to cover him, as
 well as a foundation for that house. Even so we need the
 superstructure of spiritual life if we would have comfort in the
 day of doubt. But seek not a holy life without faith, for that
 would be to erect a house which can afford no permanent shelter,
 because it has no foundation on a rock. Let faith and life be
 put together, and, like the two abutments of an arch, they will
 make our piety enduring. Like light and heat streaming from the
 same sun, they are alike full of blessing. Like the two pillars
 of the temple, they are for glory and for beauty. They are two
 streams from the fountain of grace; two lamps lit with holy
 fire; two olive trees watered by heavenly care. O Lord, give us
 this day life within, and it will reveal itself without to thy
 glory.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29353
 # Da 10:1 - 12:13 * Daily Bible Reading
29254
 September 19                                             Morning

 \\"The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."\\
                                                  --Galatians 5:1

    This "liberty" makes us free to heaven's charter--\\the\\
 \\Bible\\. Here is a choice passage, believer, "When thou
 passest through the rivers, I will be with thee." You are free
 to that.  Here is another: "The mountains shall depart, and the
 hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee";
 you are free to that. You are a welcome guest at the table of
 the promises. Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with
 boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may
 draw from it as much as you please, without let or hindrance.
 Come in faith and you are welcome to all \\covenant blessings\\.
 There is not a promise in the Word which shall be withheld. In
 the depths of tribulations let this freedom comfort you; amidst
 waves of distress let it cheer you; when sorrows surround thee
 let it be thy solace. This is thy Father's love-token; thou art
 free to it at all times. Thou art also \\free to the throne of\\
 \\grace\\. It is the believer's privilege to have access at all
 times to his heavenly Father. Whatever our desires, our
 difficulties, our wants, we are at liberty to spread all before
 him. It matters not how much we may have sinned, we may ask and
 expect pardon. It signifies nothing how poor we are, we may
 plead his promise that he will provide all things needful. We
 have permission to approach his throne at all times--in
 midnight's darkest hour, or in noontide's most burning heat.
 Exercise thy right, O believer, and live up to thy privilege.
 Thou art free to all that is treasured up \\in Christ\\--wisdom,
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It matters not
 what thy need is, for there is fulness of supply in Christ, and
 it is there \\for thee\\. O what a "freedom" is thine! freedom
 from condemnation, freedom to the promises, freedom to the
 throne of grace, and at last freedom to enter heaven!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29354
 # Ho 1:1 - 6:11 * Daily Bible Reading
29255
 September 20                                             Morning

 \\"The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon."\\
                                                    --Judges 7:20

    Gideon ordered his men to do two things: covering up a torch
 in an earthen pitcher, he bade them, at an appointed signal,
 break the pitcher and let the light shine, and then sound with
 the trumpet, crying, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! the
 sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" This is precisely what all
 Christians must do. First, \\you must shine\\; break the pitcher
 which conceals your light; throw aside the bushel which has been
 hiding your candle, and shine. Let your light shine before men;
 let your good works be such, that when men look upon you, they
 shall know that you have been with Jesus. Then \\there must be\\
 \\the sound\\, the blowing of the trumpet. There must be active
 exertions for the ingathering of sinners by proclaiming Christ
 crucified. Take the gospel to them; carry it to their door; put
 it in their way; do not suffer them to escape it; blow the
 trumpet right against their ears. Remember that the true war-cry
 of the Church is Gideon's watchword, "\\The sword of the Lord\\,
 and of Gideon!" God must do it, it is his own work. But we are
 not to be idle; instrumentality is to be used--"The sword of the
 Lord, \\and of Gideon\\!" If we only cry, "The sword of the
 Lord!" we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we
 shout, "The sword of Gideon!" alone, we shall manifest
 idolatrous reliance on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in
 practical harmony, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!" We
 can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do everything by the
 help of our God; let us, therefore, in his name determine to go
 out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example,
 and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony,
 and God shall be with us, and Midian shall be put to confusion,
 and the Lord of hosts shall reign for ever and ever.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29355
 # Ho 7:1 - 14:9 * Daily Bible Reading
29256
 September 21                                             Morning

 \\"I will rejoice over them to do them good."\\
                                                 --Jeremiah 32:41

    How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God
 has in his saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the
 Lord should take pleasure in us; we cannot take delight in
 ourselves, for we often have to groan, being burdened; conscious
 of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness; and we fear
 that God's people cannot take much delight in us, for they must
 perceive so much of our imperfections and our follies, that they
 may rather lament our infirmities than admire our graces. But we
 love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious
 mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so
 does the Lord rejoice over us. We do not read anywhere that God
 delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains, or the sparkling
 stars, but we do read that he delighteth in the habitable parts
 of the earth, and that his delights are with the sons of men. We
 do not find it written that even angels give his soul delight;
 nor doth he say, concerning cherubim and seraphim, "Thou shalt
 be called Hephzibah, for the Lord delighteth in thee"; but he
 does say all that to poor fallen creatures like ourselves,
 debased and depraved by sin, but saved, exalted, and glorified
 by his grace. In what strong language he expresses his delight
 in his people! Who could have conceived of the eternal One as
 bursting forth into a song? Yet it is written, "He will rejoice
 over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over
 thee with singing." As he looked upon the world he had made, he
 said, "It is very good"; but when he beheld those who are the
 purchase of Jesus' blood, his own chosen ones, it seemed as if
 the great heart of the Infinite could restrain itself no longer,
 but overflowed in divine exclamations of joy. Should not we
 utter our grateful response to such a marvellous declaration of
 his love, and sing, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in
 the God of my salvation?"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29356
 # Joe 1:1 - 3:21 * Daily Bible Reading
29257
 September 22                                             Morning

 \\"Let Israel rejoice in him."\\
                                                    --Psalm 149:2

    Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness
 has its spring \\in the Lord\\. Thou hast much cause for
 gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David, "God, my
 exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is
 King!  Rejoice that he sits upon the throne, and ruleth all
 things!  Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the
 sunlight of our gladness. That he is wise should make us glad,
 knowing as we do our own foolishness. That he is \\mighty\\,
 should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our weakness. That he
 is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know
 that we wither as the grass. That he is \\unchanging\\, should
 perpetually yield us a song, since \\we\\ change every hour.
 That he is full of grace, that he is overflowing with it, and
 that this grace in covenant he has given to us; that it is ours
 to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to
 perfect us, ours to bring us to glory--all this should tend to
 make us glad in him. This gladness in God is as a deep river; we
 have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its
 clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater,
 and the current more impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels
 that he may delight himself not only in what God is, but also in
 all that God \\has done\\ in the past. The Psalms show us that
 God's people in olden times were wont to think much of God's
 actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let
 God's people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell
 of his mighty acts, and "sing unto the Lord, for he hath
 triumphed gloriously." Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as
 new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their gladness in
 the Lord's loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in
 continued thanksgiving.  Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice
 in the Lord your God.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29357
 # Am 1:1 - 5:27 * Daily Bible Reading
29258
 September 23                                             Morning

 \\"Accepted in the beloved."\\
                                                  --Ephesians 1:6

    What a state of privilege! It includes our \\justification\\
 before God, but the term acceptance" in the Greek means more
 than that. It signifies that we are the objects of \\divine\\
 \\complacence\\, nay, even of \\divine delight\\. How marvellous
 that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of
 divine love! But it is only "\\in the beloved\\." Some
 Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at
 least, that is their apprehension. When their spirit is lively,
 and their hopes bright, they think God accepts them, for they
 feel so high, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth! But
 when their souls cleave to the dust, they are the victims of the
 fear that they are no longer accepted. If they could but see
 that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low
 despondencies do not really depress them in their Father's
 sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in
 One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always
 without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier
 they would be, and how much more they would honour the Saviour!
 Rejoice then, believer, in this: thou art accepted "in the
 beloved." Thou lookest within, and thou sayest, "There is
 nothing acceptable \\here\\!" But look at Christ, and see if
 there is not everything acceptable \\there\\. Thy sins trouble
 thee; but God has cast thy sins behind his back, and thou art
 accepted in the Righteous One. Thou hast to fight with
 corruption, and to wrestle with temptation, but thou art already
 accepted in him who has overcome the powers of evil. The devil
 tempts thee; be of good cheer, he cannot destroy thee, for thou
 art accepted in him who has broken Satan's head. Know by full
 assurance thy glorious standing. Even glorified souls are not
 more accepted than thou art. They are only accepted in heaven
 "in the beloved," and thou art even now accepted in Christ after
 the same manner.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29358
 # Am 6:1 - Ob 1:21 * Daily Bible Reading
29259
 September 24                                             Morning

 \\"For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers\\
 \\and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because\\
 \\we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is\\
 \\upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his\\
 \\wrath is against all them that forsake him."\\
                                                      --Ezra 8:22

    A convoy on many accounts would have been desirable for the
 pilgrim band, but a holy shame-facedness would not allow Ezra to
 seek one. He feared lest the heathen king should think his
 professions of faith in God to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine
 that the God of Israel was not able to preserve his own
 worshippers. He could not bring his mind to lean on an arm of
 flesh in a matter so evidently of the Lord, and therefore the
 caravan set out with no visible protection, guarded by him who
 is the sword and shield of his people. It is to be feared that
 few believers feel this holy jealousy for God; even those who in
 a measure walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their
 life by craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have
 no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock of
 Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers seek state
 endowments for their Church, if they remembered that the Lord is
 dishonoured by their asking Caesar's aid? as if the Lord could
 not supply the needs of his own cause! Should we run so hastily
 to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that
 the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon his solitary
 arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God. "But," says one, "are not
 means to be used?" Assuredly they are; but our fault seldom lies
 in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of
 foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God. Few run
 too far in neglecting the creature's arm; but very many sin
 greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to glorify
 the Lord by leaving means untried, if by using them thou wouldst
 dishonour the name of the Lord.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29359
 # Jon 1:1 - 4:11 * Daily Bible Reading
29260
 September 25                                             Morning

 \\"Just, and the justifier of him which believeth."\\
                                                    --Romans 3:26

    Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Conscience
 accuses no longer. Judgment now decides for the sinner instead
 of against him. Memory looks back upon past sins, with deep
 sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any penalty to
 come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot
 and tittle, and received the divine receipt; and unless God can
 be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul
 for whom Jesus died as a substitute can ever be cast into hell.
 It seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened
 nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so,
 and this gives us our terror at first; but is it not marvellous
 that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards
 the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God be just, I, a
 sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but
 Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God
 be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished.
 God must change his nature before one soul, for whom Jesus was a
 substitute, can ever by any possibility suffer the lash of the
 law. Therefore, Jesus having taken the place of the believer--
 having rendered a full equivalent to divine wrath for all that
 his people ought to have suffered as the result of sin, the
 believer can shout with glorious triumph, "Who shall lay
 anything to the charge of God's elect?" Not God, for he hath
 justified; not Christ, for he hath died, "yea rather hath risen
 again." My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because
 I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am
 holy, but that being unholy, \\he\\ is my righteousness. My
 faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know,
 but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is
 now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope
 rides like a queen.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29360
 # Mic 1:1 - 7:20 * Daily Bible Reading
29261
 September 26                                             Morning

 \\"The myrtle trees that were in the bottom."\\
                                                  --Zechariah 1:8

    The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel
 in Zechariah's day; but being interpreted in its aspect towards
 us, it describes the Church of God as we find it now in the
 world. The Church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a
 valley. It is \\hidden\\, unobserved, secreted; courting no
 honour and attracting no observation from the careless gazer.
 The Church, like her head, has a glory, but it is concealed from
 carnal eyes, for the time of her breaking forth in all her
 splendour is not yet come. The idea of \\tranquil security\\ is
 also suggested to us: for the myrtle grove in the valley is
 still and calm, while the storm sweeps over the mountain
 summits. Tempests spend their force upon the craggy peaks of the
 Alps, but down yonder where flows the stream which maketh glad
 the city of our God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters,
 all unshaken by the impetuous wind. How great is the inward
 tranquility of God's Church! Even when opposed and persecuted,
 she has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore,
 it cannot take away: the peace of God which passeth all
 understanding keeps the hearts and minds of God's people. Does
 not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, \\perpetual\\
 \\growth\\ of the saints? The myrtle sheds not her leaves, she
 is always green; and the Church in her worst time still hath a
 blessed verdure of grace about her; nay, she has sometimes
 exhibited \\most\\ verdure when her winter has been sharpest.
 She has prospered most when her adversities have been most
 severe.  Hence the text \\hints at victory\\. The myrtle is the
 emblem of peace, and a significant token of \\triumph\\. The
 brows of conquerors were bound with myrtle and with laurel; and
 is not the Church ever victorious? Is not every Christian more
 than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace, do
 not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory?

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29361
 # Na 1:1 - Hab 3:19 * Daily Bible Reading
29262
 September 27                                             Morning

 \\"Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people\\
 \\saved by the Lord!"\\
                                              --Deuteronomy 33:29

    He who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable, is
 himself an utter stranger to it. It were strange indeed, if it
 made us wretched, for see \\to what a position it exalts us\\!
 It makes us sons of God. Suppose you that God will give all the
 happiness to his enemies, and reserve all the mourning for his
 own family? Shall his foes have mirth and joy, and shall his
 home-born children inherit sorrow and wretchedness? Shall the
 sinner, who has no part in Christ, call himself rich in
 happiness, and shall we go mourning as if we were penniless
 beggars? No, we will rejoice in the Lord always, and glory in
 our inheritance, for we "have not received the spirit of bondage
 again to fear; but we have received the spirit of adoption,
 whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The rod of chastisement must rest
 upon us in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable
 fruits of righteousness; and therefore by the aid of the divine
 Comforter, we, the "people saved of the Lord," will joy in the
 God of our salvation. We are married unto Christ; and shall our
 great Bridegroom permit his spouse to linger in constant grief?
 Our hearts are knit unto him: we are his members, and though for
 awhile we may suffer as our Head once suffered, yet we are even
 now blessed with heavenly blessings in him. We have the earnest
 of our inheritance in the comforts of the Spirit, which are
 neither few nor small. Inheritors of joy for ever, we have
 foretastes of our portion. There are streaks of the light of joy
 to herald our eternal sunrising. Our riches are beyond the sea;
 our city with firm foundations lies on the other side the river;
 gleams of glory from the spirit-world cheer our hearts, and urge
 us onward. Truly is it said of us, "Happy art thou, O Israel;
 who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord?"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29362
 # Zep 1:1 - Hag 2:23 * Daily Bible Reading
29263
 September 28                                             Morning

 \\"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of\\
 \\men."\\
                                                    --Psalm 33:13

 Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious
 light than when he is spoken of as stooping from his throne, and
 coming down from heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the
 woes of mankind. We love him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were
 full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until he had
 made a personal visitation of them. We cannot help pouring out
 our heart in affection for our Lord who inclines his ear from
 the highest glory, and puts it to the lip of the dying sinner,
 whose failing heart longs after reconciliation. How can we but
 love him when we know that he numbers the very hairs of our
 heads, marks our path, and orders our ways? Specially is this
 great truth brought near to our heart, when we recollect how
 attentive he is, not merely to the temporal interests of his
 creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. Though leagues of
 distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite
 Creator, yet there are links uniting both. When a tear is wept
 by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, "Like as a
 father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear
 him." Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper
 can incline his ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay his hand; thy
 faith can move his arm. Think not that God sits on high taking
 no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou
 art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord
 run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself
 strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.

           Oh! then repeat the truth that never tires;
           No God is like the God my soul desires;
           He at whose voice heaven trembles, even he,
           Great as he is, knows how to stoop to me.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29363
 # Zec 1:1 - 7:14 * Daily Bible Reading
29264
 September 29                                             Morning

 \\"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall\\
 \\pronounce him clean that hath the plague."\\
                                                --Leviticus 13:13

    Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom
 in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the
 constitution was sound. This morning it may be well for us to
 see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are
 lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to
 ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and
 ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no part
 free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his
 own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean through
 the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt,
 unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen
 and felt it has received its death blow, and the Lord looks with
 eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more
 deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition.
 We must confess that we are "nothing else but sin," for no
 confession short of this will be the whole truth, and if the
 Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will
 be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment--it will
 spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text
 afford to those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and
 confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a man out
 from the Lord Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto him, he will in no
 wise cast out. Though dishonest as the thief, though unchaste as
 the woman who was a sinner, though fierce as Saul of Tarsus,
 though cruel as Manasseh, though rebellious as the prodigal, the
 great heart of love will look upon the man who feels himself to
 have no soundness in him, and will pronounce him clean, when he
 trusts in Jesus crucified. Come to him, then, poor heavy-laden
 sinner,

        Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare;
        You can't come too filthy--come just as you are.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29364
 # Zec 8:1 - 14:21 * Daily Bible Reading
29265
 September 30                                             Morning

 \\"Sing forth the honour of his name, make his praise\\
 \\glorious."\\
                                                     --Psalm 66:2

    It is not left to our own option whether we shall praise God
 or not. Praise is God's most righteous due, and every Christian,
 as the recipient of his grace, is bound to praise God from day
 to day. It is true we have no authoritative rubric for daily
 praise; we have no commandment prescribing certain hours of song
 and thanksgiving: but the law written upon the heart teaches us
 that it is right to praise God; and the unwritten mandate comes
 to us with as much force as if it had been recorded on the
 tables of stone, or handed to us from the top of thundering
 Sinai. Yes, it is the Christian's \\duty\\ to praise God. It is
 not only a pleasurable exercise, but it is the absolute
 obligation of his life. Think not ye who are always mourning,
 that ye are guiltless in this respect, or imagine that ye can
 discharge your duty to your God without songs of praise. You
 are bound by the bonds of his love to bless his name so long as
 you live, and his praise should continually be in your mouth,
 for you are blessed, in order that you may bless him; "this
 people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my
 praise"; and if you do not praise God, you are not bringing
 forth the fruit which he, as the Divine Husbandman, has a right
 to expect at your hands. Let not your harp then hang upon the
 willows, but take it down, and strive, with a grateful heart, to
 bring forth its loudest music. Arise and chant his praise. With
 every morning's dawn, lift up your notes of thanksgiving, and
 let every setting sun be followed with your song. Girdle the
 earth with your praises; surround it with an atmosphere of
 melody, and God himself will hearken from heaven and accept your
 music.

               "E'en so I love thee, and will love,
               And in thy praise will sing,
               Because thou art my loving God,
               And my redeeming King."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29365
 # Mal 1:1 - 4:6 * Daily Bible Reading
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