Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t29400

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29401
 October 1                                                Morning

 \\"Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee,\\
 \\O my beloved."\\
                                           --Song of Solomon 7:13

    The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces.
 Our heart has "all manner of pleasant fruits," both "old and
 new," and they are laid up for our Beloved. At this rich
 autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We have
 \\new\\ fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new
 gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by
 new labours; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul
 is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some \\old\\
 fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and
 Jesus delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple
 faith by which, having nothing, we became possessors of all
 things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord: let us
 revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises. How
 faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he make our
 bed! In deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the
 flaming furnace, how graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits,
 indeed! We have many of them, for his mercies have been more
 than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we
 have had repentances which he has given us, by which we have
 wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood.
 We have fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the
 point--\\they are all laid up for Jesus\\. Truly, those are the
 best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary
 aim of the soul, and his glory, without any admixture whatever,
 the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only
 for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not
 hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key
 in our garden door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good
 fruit from the soil which thou hast watered with thy bloody
 sweat. Our all shall be thine, thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29501
 # Mt 1:1 - 4:25 * Daily Bible Reading
29402
 October 2                                                Morning

 \\"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven."\\
                                                 --Colossians 1:5

    Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the
 mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think
 often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there.
 Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of
 \\rest\\ where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the
 worker's brow, and fatigue shall be for ever banished. To those
 who are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We
 are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and
 so molested by foes without, that we have little or no peace;
 but in heaven we shall enjoy the \\victory\\, when the banner
 shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be
 sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, "Well done, good
 and faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after
 bereavement, but we are going to the land of the \\immortal\\
 where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to
 us, but there we shall be perfectly \\holy\\, for there shall by
 no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth.
 Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh!
 is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment for ever,
 that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but
 shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of
 us, that we are dreaming about the \\future\\ and forgetting the
 \\present\\, let the future sanctify the present to highest
 uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most
 potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of
 joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The
 man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigour,
 for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against
 temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world repels
 the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without present
 reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29502
 # Mt 5:1 - 6:34 * Daily Bible Reading
29403
 October 3                                                Morning

 \\"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister\\
 \\for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"\\
                                                   --Hebrews 1:14

    Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they
 bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a
 stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads them to take a deep interest
 in the children of his love; they rejoice over the return of the
 prodigal to his father's house below, and they welcome the
 advent of the believer to the King's palace above. In olden
 times the sons of God were favoured with their visible
 appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us, heaven is
 still opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon the
 Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim
 still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips
 of men greatly beloved. If our eyes could be opened, we should
 see horses of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of
 the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels,
 who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal. Spenser's
 line is no poetic fiction, where he sings--

           "How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
           The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant
           Against foul fiends to aid us militant!"

 To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant
 courtiers of heaven become their willing servitors! Into what
 communion are we raised since we have intercourse with spotless
 celestials! How well are we defended since all the twenty-
 thousand chariots of God are armed for our deliverance! To whom
 do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be for ever
 endeared to us, for through him we are made to sit in heavenly
 places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose camp
 is round about them that fear him; he is the true Michael whose
 foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of
 Jehovah's presence, to thee this family offers its morning vows.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29503
 # Mt 7:1 - 9:38 * Daily Bible Reading
29404
 October 4                                                Morning

 \\"At evening time it shall be light."\\
                                                 --Zechariah 14:7

    Oftentimes we look forward with forebodings to \\the time of\\
 \\old age\\, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light. To
 many saints, old age is the choicest season in their lives. A
 balmier air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shore of
 immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep,
 still and solemn. From the altar of age the flashes of the fire
 of youth are gone, but the more real flame of earnest feeling
 remains. The pilgrims have reached the land Beulah, that happy
 country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels
 visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow
 in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell
 here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before
 their departure, but it is an Eden on earth. We may well long
 for the time when we shall recline in its shady groves and be
 satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes. The
 setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a
 splendour of glory tinges all the clouds which surround his
 going down. Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of
 age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up with
 patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are
 gathered as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul
 prepares itself for rest.

    The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in \\the hour of\\
 \\death\\. Unbelief laments; the shadows fall, the night is
 coming, existence is ending. Ah no, crieth faith, the night is
 far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come, the light of
 immortality, the light of a Father's countenance. Gather up thy
 feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft
 thee away. Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest
 thine hand. Ah, now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the
 golden streets shine in the jasper light. We cover our eyes, but
 thou beholdest the unseen; adieu, brother, thou hast light at
 even-tide, such as we have not yet.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29504
 # Mt 10:1 - 11:30 * Daily Bible Reading
29405
 October 5                                                Morning

 \\"He arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of\\
 \\that meat forty days and forty nights."\\
                                                   --1 Kings 19:8

    All the strength supplied to us by our gracious God is meant
 for service, not for wantonness or boasting. When the prophet
 Elijah found the cake baked on the coals, and the cruse of water
 placed at his head, as he lay under the juniper tree, he was no
 gentleman to be gratified with dainty fare that he might stretch
 himself at his ease; far otherwise, he was commissioned to go
 forty days and forty nights in the strength of it, journeying
 towards Horeb, the mount of God. When the Master invited the
 disciples to "Come and dine" with him, after the feast was
 concluded he said to Peter, "Feed my sheep"; further adding,
 "Follow me." Even thus it is with us; we eat the bread of
 heaven, that we may expend our strength in the Master's service.
 We come to the passover, and eat of the paschal lamb with loins
 girt, and staff in hand, so as to start off at once when we have
 satisfied our hunger. Some Christians are for living on Christ,
 but are not so anxious to live \\for\\ Christ. Earth should be a
 preparation for heaven; and heaven is the place where saints
 feast most and work most. They sit down at the table of our
 Lord, and they serve him day and night in his temple. They eat
 of heavenly food and render perfect service. Believer, in the
 strength you daily gain from Christ labour for him. Some of us
 have yet to learn much concerning the design of our Lord in
 giving us his grace. We are not to retain the precious grains of
 truth as the Egyptian mummy held the wheat for ages, without
 giving it an opportunity to grow: we must sow it and water it.
 Why does the Lord send down the rain upon the thirsty earth, and
 give the genial sunshine? Is it not that these may all help the
 fruits of the earth to yield food for man? Even so the Lord
 feeds and refreshes our souls that we may afterwards use our
 renewed strength in the promotion of his glory.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29505
 # Mt 12:1 - 12:50 * Daily Bible Reading
29406
 October 6                                                Morning

 \\"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\\
 \\never thirst."\\
                                                      --John 4:14

    He who is a believer in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to
 satisfy him now, and to content him for evermore. The believer
 is not the man whose days are weary for want of comfort, and
 whose nights are long from absence of heart-cheering thought,
 for he finds in religion such a spring of joy, such a fountain
 of consolation, that he is content and happy. Put him in a
 dungeon and he will find good company; place him in a barren
 wilderness, he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from
 friendship, he will meet the "friend that sticketh closer than a
 brother." Blast all his gourds, and he will find shadow beneath
 the Rock of Ages; sap the foundation of his earthly hopes, but
 his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord. The heart
 is as insatiable as the grave till Jesus enters it, and then it
 is a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fulness in Christ
 that he alone is the believer's all. The true saint is so
 completely satisfied with the all-sufficiency of Jesus that he
 thirsts no more--except it be for deeper draughts of the living
 fountain. In that sweet manner, believer, shalt thou thirst; it
 shall not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; thou wilt
 find it a sweet thing to be panting after a fuller enjoyment of
 Jesus' love. One in days of yore said, "I have been sinking my
 bucket down into the well full often, but now my thirst after
 Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well
 itself to my lips, and drink right on." Is this the feeling of
 thine heart now, believer? Dost thou feel that all thy desires
 are satisfied in Jesus, and that thou hast no want now, but to
 know more of him, and to have closer fellowship with him? Then
 come continually to the fountain, and take of the water of life
 freely. Jesus will never think you take too much, but will ever
 welcome you, saying, "Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29506
 # Mt 13:1 - 14:36 * Daily Bible Reading
29407
 October 7                                                Morning

 \\"Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?"\\
                                                  --Numbers 11:11

    Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles \\to try our\\
 \\faith\\. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the
 test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the \\paste\\
 gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel
 fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when
 friends are true, the body full of health, and the business
 profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord's
 faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when
 spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father's countenance
 is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble,
 "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," is heaven-born
 faith. The Lord afflicts his servants \\to glorify himself\\,
 for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which
 are his own handiwork. When "tribulation worketh patience; and
 patience, experience; and experience, hope," the Lord is
 honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the
 music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy
 the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress;
 nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not
 pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals
 were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great
 Workman are discovered by the trials through which his vessels
 of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions \\tend also\\
 \\to heighten future joy\\. There must be shades in the picture
 to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely
 blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the
 sorrow of earth? Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and
 rest more welcome after toil? Will not the recollection of past
 sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified? There are many
 other comfortable answers to the question with which we opened
 our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day long.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29507
 # Mt 15:1 - 17:27 * Daily Bible Reading
29408
 October 8                                                Morning

 \\"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a\\
 \\draught."\\
                                                       --Luke 5:4

    We learn from this narrative, \\the necessity of human\\
 \\agency\\. The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither
 the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored;
 but all were used to take the fishes. So in the saving of souls,
 God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace
 shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching
 to save them that believe. When God worketh without instruments,
 doubtless he is glorified; but he hath himself selected the plan
 of instrumentality as being that by which he is most magnified
 in the earth. \\Means of themselves are utterly unavailing\\.
 "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing."
 What was the reason of this? Were they not fishermen plying
 their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they
 understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskilfully?
 No. Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they
 lacked perseverance? No, they had \\toiled all the night\\. Was
 there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as
 soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals. What,
 then, is the reason? Is it because there is no power in the
 means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without
 him we can do nothing." But with Christ we can do all things.
 \\Christ's presence confers success\\. Jesus sat in Peter's
 boat, and his will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to
 the net. When Jesus is lifted up in his Church, his presence is
 the Church's power--the shout of a king is in the midst of her.
 "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Let us go out
 this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith,
 and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes,
 and we shall not labour in vain, for he who bids us let down the
 net, will fill it with fishes.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29508
 # Mt 18:1 - 20:34 * Daily Bible Reading
29409
 October 9                                                Morning

 \\"Able to keep you from falling."\\
                                                        --Jude 24

    In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other
 respects there is \\no road so dangerous\\. It is beset with
 difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if
 grace be absent), and down we go. What a slippery path is that
 which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to
 exclaim with the Psalmist, "My feet were almost gone, my steps
 had well nigh slipped." If we were strong, sure-footed
 mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves,
 \\how weak we are\\! In the best roads \\we soon falter\\, in
 the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of
 ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may
 throw us, and a pebble can wound us; we are mere children
 tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our
 heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down.
 Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient
 power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are
 to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to
 cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing
 more sweetly than we have ever done, "Glory be to him, who is
 able to keep us from falling." \\We have many foes\\ who try to
 push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition
 to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least
 expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the
 nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from
 these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is
 engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and
 he is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of
 our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect
 safety, and say, with joyful confidence,

               "Against me earth and hell combine,
               But on my side is power divine;
               Jesus is all, and he is mine!"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29509
 # Mt 21:1 - 22:46 * Daily Bible Reading
29410
 October 10                                               Morning

 \\"Faultless before the presence of his glory."\\
                                                        --Jude 24

    Revolve in your mind that wondrous word, \\faultless\\!" We
 are far off from it now; but as our Lord never stops short of
 perfection in his work of love, we shall reach it one day. The
 Saviour who will keep his people to the end, will also present
 them at last to himself, as "a glorious church, not having spot,
 or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish."
 All the jewels in the Saviour's crown are of the first water and
 without a single flaw. All the maids of honour who attend the
 Lamb's wife are pure virgins without spot or stain. But how will
 Jesus make us faultless? He will wash us from our sins in his
 own blood until we are white and fair as God's purest angel; and
 we shall be clothed in his righteousness, that righteousness
 which makes the saint who wears it positively faultless; yea,
 perfect in the sight of God. We shall be unblameable and
 unreproveable even in his eyes. His law will not only have no
 charge against us, but it will be magnified in us. Moreover, the
 work of the Holy Spirit within us will be altogether complete.
 He will make us so perfectly holy, that we shall have no
 lingering tendency to sin. Judgment, memory, will--every power
 and passion shall be emancipated from the thraldom of evil. We
 shall be holy even as God is holy, and in his presence we shall
 dwell for ever. Saints will not be out of place in heaven, their
 beauty will be as great as that of the place prepared for them.
 Oh the rapture of that hour when the everlasting doors shall be
 lifted up, and we, being made meet for the inheritance, shall
 dwell with the saints in light. Sin gone, Satan shut out,
 temptation past for ever, and ourselves "faultless" before God,
 this will be heaven indeed! Let us be joyful now as we rehearse
 the song of eternal praise so soon to roll forth in full chorus
 from all the blood-washed host; let us copy David's exultings
 before the ark as a prelude to our ecstasies before the throne.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29510
 # Mt 23:1 - 24:51 * Daily Bible Reading
29411
 October 11                                               Morning

 \\"Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the\\
 \\heavens."\\
                                              --Lamentations 3:41

    The act of prayer \\teaches us our unworthiness\\, which is a
 very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God
 gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we
 should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an
 inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of
 hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it
 is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a
 Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending
 upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich
 in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do
 great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it
 adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very
 dust. Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it
 brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains
 strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race
 of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer.
 Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets, that they may
 learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God's
 warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews
 braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader cometh out of
 his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of the
 east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is
 that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than
 the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of
 the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds
 human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into
 heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God.
 We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for
 the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness.
 Help us to use it aright throughout this day!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29511
 # Mt 25:1 - 26:75 * Daily Bible Reading
29412
 October 12                                               Morning

 \\"I will meditate in thy precepts."\\
                                                   --Psalm 119:15

    There are times when solitude is better than society, and
 silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if
 we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through
 meditation on his Word spiritual strength for labour in his
 service. We ought to \\muse upon the things of God, because we\\
 \\thus get the real nutriment out of them\\. Truth is something
 like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we
 must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The
 bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else
 the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or
 else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by
 meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the
 wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by
 merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really
 supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone,
 is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward
 food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not
 nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that,
 and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading,
 marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to
 complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth
 lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that
 some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow
 advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets,
 and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the
 wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but
 they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit
 hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows
 at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such
 folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning,
 \\"I will meditate in thy precepts."\\

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29512
 # Mt 27:1 - 28:20 * Daily Bible Reading
29413
 October 13                                               Morning

 \\"Godly sorrow worketh repentance."\\
                                             --2 Corinthians 7:10

    Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is \\the work of the\\
 \\Spirit of God\\. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in
 nature's garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence
 never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in
 them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must
 have given it thee, for human nature's thorns never produced a
 single fig. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."

    True repentance \\has a distinct reference to the Saviour\\.
 When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another
 upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our
 eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light
 of his love.

    True sorrow for sin is \\eminently practical\\. No man may
 say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the
 evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally--as a
 burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a
 man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the
 thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it--shun it in
 everything--not in great things only, but in little things, as
 men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning
 for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it
 should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our
 daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we
 shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and
 each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God
 would hold us up that we may not sin against him.

    Sincere repentance is \\continual\\. Believers repent until
 their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every
 other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our
 growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are
 permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal
 rest.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29513
 # Mr 1:1 - 3:35 * Daily Bible Reading
29414
 October 14                                               Morning

 \\"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the\\
 \\knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."\\
                                                --Philippians 3:8

    Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a \\personal\\
 knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person's
 acquaintance with him. No, I must know him \\myself\\; I must
 know him on my own account. It will be an \\intelligent\\
 knowledge--I must know \\him\\, not as the visionary dreams of
 him, but as the Word reveals him. I must know his natures,
 divine and human. I must know his offices--his attributes--his
 works--his shame--his glory. I must meditate upon him until I
 "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
 depth, and height; and know the love of Christ, which passeth
 knowledge." It will be an \\affectionate\\ knowledge of him;
 indeed, if I know him at all, I must love him. An ounce of heart
 knowledge is worth a ton of head learning. Our knowledge of him
 will be a \\satisfying\\ knowledge. When I know my Saviour, my
 mind will be full to the brim--I shall feel that I have that
 which my spirit panted after. "This is that bread whereof if a
 man eat he shall never hunger." At the same time it will be an
 \\exciting\\ knowledge; the more I know of my Beloved, the more
 I shall want to know. The higher I climb the loftier will be
 the summits which invite my eager footsteps. I shall want the
 more as I get the more. Like the miser's treasure, my gold will
 make me covet more. To conclude; this knowledge of Christ Jesus
 will be a most \\happy\\ one; in fact, so elevating, that
 sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, and
 doubts, and sorrows; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me
 something more than "Man that is born of woman, who is of few
 days, and full of trouble"; for it will fling about me the
 immortality of the ever living Saviour, and gird me with the
 golden girdle of his eternal joy. Come, my soul, sit at Jesus's
 feet and learn of him all this day.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29514
 # Mr 4:1 - 5:43 * Daily Bible Reading
29415
 October 15                                               Morning

 \\"But who may abide the day of his coming?"\\
                                                    --Malachi 3:2

    His first coming was without external pomp or show of power,
 and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing
 might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news
 of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves to be
 waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by
 rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing
 fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession, and few
 enough could abide the process. But what will his second advent
 be? What sinner can endure to think of it? "He shall smite the
 earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
 shall he slay the wicked." When in his humiliation he did but
 say to the soldiers, "I am he," they fell backward; what will be
 the terror of his enemies when he shall more fully reveal
 himself as the "\\I am\\?" His death shook earth and darkened
 heaven, what shall be the dreadful splendour of that day in
 which as the living Saviour, he shall summon the quick and dead
 before him? O that the terrors of the Lord would persuade men
 to forsake their sins and kiss the Son lest he be angry! Though
 a lamb, he is yet the lion of the tribe of Judah, rending the
 prey in pieces; and though he breaks not the bruised reed, yet
 will he break his enemies with a rod of iron, and dash them in
 pieces like a potter's vessel. None of his foes shall bear up
 before the tempest of his wrath, or hide themselves from the
 sweeping hail of his indignation; but his beloved blood washed
 people look for his appearing with joy, and hope to abide it
 without fear: to them he sits as a refiner even now, and when he
 has tried them they shall come forth as gold. Let us search
 ourselves this morning and make our calling and election sure,
 so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in
 our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be
 found of him sincere and without rebuke in the day of his
 appearing.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29515
 # Mr 6:1 - 7:37 * Daily Bible Reading
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