Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/topics27/t29450

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29451
 October 16                                               Morning

 \\"Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine."\\
                                                     --John 21:12

    In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to
 Jesus. "Come and dine," implies the same table, the same meat;
 aye, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our
 head upon the Saviour's bosom. It is being brought into the
 banqueting-house, where waves the banner of redeeming love.
 "Come and dine," gives us a vision of \\union with Jesus\\,
 because the only food that we can feast upon when we dine with
 Jesus is \\himself\\. Oh, what union is this! It is a depth
 which reason cannot fathom, that we thus feed upon Jesus. "He
 that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and
 I in him." It is also an invitation to enjoy \\fellowship with\\
 \\the saints\\. Christians may differ on a variety of points,
 but they have all one spiritual appetite; and if we cannot all
 \\feel\\ alike, we can all \\feed\\ alike on the bread of life
 sent down from heaven. At the table of fellowship with Jesus we
 are one bread and one cup. As the loving cup goes round we
 pledge one another heartily therein. Get nearer to Jesus, and
 you will find yourself linked more and more in spirit to all who
 are like yourself, supported by the same heavenly manna. If we
 were more near to Jesus we should be more near to one another.
 We likewise see in these words the \\source of strength\\ for
 every Christian. To look at Christ is to live, but for strength
 to serve him you must "come and dine." We labour under much
 unnecessary weakness on account of neglecting this percept of
 the Master. We none of us need to put ourselves on low diet; on
 the contrary, we should fatten on the marrow and fatness of the
 gospel that we may accumulate strength therein, and urge every
 power to its full tension in the Master's service. Thus, then,
 if you would realize \\nearness\\ to Jesus, \\union\\ with
 Jesus, \\love\\ to his people and \\strength from Jesus\\, "come
 and dine" with him by faith.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29551
 # Mr 8:1 - 9:50 * Daily Bible Reading
29452
 October 17                                               Morning

 \\"And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by\\
 \\the hand of Saul."\\
                                                  --1 Samuel 27:1

    The thought of David's heart at this time was a \\false\\
 thought, because he certainly had no ground for thinking that
 God's anointing him by Samuel was intended to be left as an
 empty unmeaning act. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted
 his servant; he had been placed in perilous positions very
 often, but not one instance had occurred in which divine
 interposition had not delivered him. The trials to which he had
 been exposed had been varied; they had not assumed one form
 only, but many--yet in every case he who sent the trial had also
 graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his
 finger upon any entry in his diary, and say of it, "Here is
 evidence that the Lord will forsake me," for the entire tenor of
 his past life proved the very reverse. He should have argued
 from what God \\had\\ done for him, that God would be his
 defender still. But is it not just in the same way that \\we\\
 doubt God's help? Is it not \\mistrust without a cause\\? Have
 we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's
 goodness? Have not his lovingkindnesses been marvellous? Has he
 \\once\\ failed to justify our trust? Ah, no! our God has not
 left us at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of
 love has shone forth amid the blackness; we have been in stern
 conflicts, but over our head he has held aloft the shield of our
 defence. We have gone through many trials, but never to our
 detriment, always to our advantage; and the conclusion from our
 past experience is, that he who has been with us in six
 troubles, will not forsake us in the seventh. What we have known
 of our faithful God, proves that he will keep us to the end. Let
 us not, then, reason contrary to evidence. How can we ever be so
 ungenerous as to \\doubt\\ our God? Lord, throw down the Jezebel
 of our unbelief, and let the dogs devour it.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29552
 # Mr 10:1 - 11:33 * Daily Bible Reading
29453
 October 18                                               Morning

 \\"Thy paths drop fatness."\\
                                                    --Psalm 65:11

    Many are "the paths of the Lord" which "drop fatness," but an
 especial one is the \\path of prayer\\. No believer, who is much
 in the closet, will have need to cry, "My leanness, my leanness;
 woe unto me." Starving souls live at a distance from the mercy-
 seat, and become like the parched fields in times of drought.
 Prevalence with God in wrestling prayer is sure to make the
 believer strong--if not happy. The nearest place to the gate of
 heaven is the throne of the heavenly grace. Much alone, and you
 will have much assurance; little alone with Jesus, your religion
 will be shallow, polluted with many doubts and fears, and not
 sparkling with the joy of the Lord. Since the soul-enriching
 path of prayer is open to the very weakest saint; since no high
 attainments are required; since you are not bidden to come
 because you are an advanced saint, but freely invited if you be
 a saint at all; see to it, dear reader, that you are often in
 the way of private devotion. Be much on your knees, for so
 Elijah drew the rain upon famished Israel's fields.

    There is another especial path dropping with fatness to those
 who walk therein, it is the secret walk of communion. Oh! the
 delights of fellowship with Jesus! Earth hath no words which can
 set forth the holy calm of a soul leaning on Jesus' bosom. Few
 Christians understand it, they live in the lowlands and seldom
 climb to the top of Nebo: they live in the outer court, they
 enter not the holy place, they take not up the privilege of
 priesthood. At a distance they see the sacrifice, but they sit
 not down with the priest to eat thereof, and to enjoy the fat of
 the burnt offering. But, reader, sit thou ever under the shadow
 of Jesus; come up to that palm tree, and take hold of the
 branches thereof; let thy beloved be unto thee as the apple-tree
 among the trees of the wood, and thou shalt be satisfied as with
 marrow and fatness. O Jesus, visit us with thy salvation!

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29553
 # Mr 12:1 - 13:37 * Daily Bible Reading
29454
 October 19                                               Morning

 \\"Babes in Christ."\\
                                              --1 Corinthians 3:1

    Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the
 divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so
 feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember
 \\that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most\\
 \\full-grown Christian\\. You are as much bought with blood as
 he is. You are as much an adopted child of God as any other
 believer. An infant is as truly a child of its parents as is the
 full-grown man. You are as completely justified, for your
 justification is not a thing of degrees: your little faith has
 made you clean every whit. You have as much right to the
 precious things of the covenant as the most advanced believers,
 for your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but
 in the covenant itself; and your faith in Jesus is not the
 measure, but the token of your inheritance in him. You are as
 rich as the richest, if not in enjoyment, yet in real
 possession. The smallest star that gleams is set in heaven; the
 faintest ray of light has affinity with the great orb of day. In
 the family register of glory the small and the great are written
 with the same pen. You are as dear to your Father's heart as the
 greatest in the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are
 like the smoking flax; a rougher spirit would say, "put out that
 smoking flax, it fills the room with an offensive odour!" but
 the smoking flax \\he\\ will not quench. You are like a bruised
 reed; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Musician
 would tread upon you or throw you away, but he will never break
 the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast by reason of what
 you are, you should triumph in Christ. Am I but little in
 Israel? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in heavenly places. Am I
 poor in faith? Still in Jesus I am heir of all things. Though
 "less than nothing I can boast, and vanity confess." yet, if the
 root of the matter be in me I will rejoice in the Lord, and
 glory in the God of my salvation.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29554
 # Mr 14:1 - 16:20 * Daily Bible Reading
29455
 October 20                                               Morning

 \\"Grow up into him in all things."\\
                                                 --Ephesians 4:15

    Many Christians remain stunted and dwarfed in spiritual
 things, so as to present the same appearance year after year. No
 up-springing of advanced and refined feeling is manifest in
 them. They exist but do not "\\grow up into him in all\\
 \\things\\." But should we rest content with being in the "green
 blade," when we might advance to "the ear," and eventually ripen
 into the "full corn in the ear?" Should we be satisfied to
 believe in Christ, and to say, "I am safe," without wishing to
 know in our own experience more of the fulness which is to be
 found in him. It should not be so; we should, as good traders
 in heaven's market, covet to be enriched in the knowledge of
 Jesus. It is all very well to keep other men's vineyards, but we
 must not neglect our own spiritual growth and ripening. Why
 should it always be winter time in our hearts? We must have our
 seed time, it is true, but O for a spring time--yea, a summer
 season, which shall give promise of an early harvest. If we
 would ripen in grace, we must live near to Jesus--in his
 presence--ripened by the sunshine of his smiles. We must hold
 sweet communion with him. We must leave the distant view of his
 face and come near, as John did, and pillow our head on his
 breast; then shall we find ourselves advancing in holiness, in
 love, in faith, in hope--yea, in every precious gift. As the sun
 rises first on mountain-tops and gilds them with his light, and
 presents one of the most charming sights to the eye of the
 traveller; so is it one of the most delightful contemplations in
 the world to mark the glow of the Spirit's light on the head of
 some saint, who has risen up in spiritual stature, like Saul,
 above his fellows, till, like a mighty Alp, snow-capped, he
 reflects first among the chosen, the beams of the Sun of
 Righteousness, and bears the sheen of his effulgence high aloft
 for all to see, and seeing it, to glorify his Father which is in
 heaven.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29555
 # Lu 1:1 - 1:80 * Daily Bible Reading
29456
 October 21                                               Morning

 \\"The love of Christ constraineth us."\\
                                             --2 Corinthians 5:14

    How much owest thou unto my Lord? Has he ever done anything
 for thee? Has he forgiven thy sins? Has he covered thee with a
 robe of righteousness? Has he set thy feet upon a rock? Has he
 established thy goings? Has he prepared heaven for thee? Has he
 prepared thee for heaven? Has he written thy name in his book of
 life? Has he given thee countless blessings? Has he laid up for
 thee a store of mercies, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard?
 Then do something for Jesus worthy of his love. Give not a mere
 wordy offering to a dying Redeemer. How will you feel when your
 Master comes, if you have to confess that you \\did\\ nothing
 for him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool,
 neither flowing forth to his poor or to his work. Out on such
 love as that! What do men think of a love which never shows
 itself in action? Why, they say, "Open rebuke is better than
 secret love." Who will accept a love so weak that it does not
 actuate you to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of
 heroism, or zeal! Think how \\he\\ has loved you, and given
 himself for you! Do you know the power of that love? Then let it
 be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the
 clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin.
 "For Christ's sake" be this the tongue of fire that shall sit
 upon you: "for Christ's sake" be this the divine rapture, the
 heavenly afflatus to bear you aloft from earth, the divine
 spirit that shall make you bold as lions and swift as eagles in
 your Lord's service. Love should give wings to the feet of
 service, and strength to the arms of labour. Fixed on God with a
 constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honour him with
 a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing on
 with an ardour never to be wearied, let us manifest the
 constraints of love to Jesus. May the divine loadstone draw us
 heavenward towards itself.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29556
 # Lu 2:1 - 3:38 * Daily Bible Reading
29457
 October 22                                               Morning

 \\"I will love them freely."\\
                                                     --Hosea 14:4

    This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who
 understands its meaning is a theologian, and he who can dive
 into its fulness is a true master in Israel. It is a
 condensation of the glorious message of salvation which was
 delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer. The sense hinges
 upon the word "freely." This is the glorious, the suitable, the
 divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth, a
 spontaneous love flowing forth to those who neither deserved it,
 purchased it, nor sought after it. It is, indeed, the only way
 in which God can love such as we are. The text is a death-blow
 to all sorts of fitness: "I will love them \\freely\\." Now, if
 there were any fitness necessary in us, then he would not love
 us freely, at least, this would be a mitigation and a drawback
 to the freeness of it. But it stands, "I will love you
 freely."We complain, "Lord, my heart is so hard." "I will love
 you \\freely\\." "But I do not feel my need of Christ as I could
 wish." "I will not love you because you feel your need; I will
 love you freely." "But I do not feel that softening of spirit
 which I could desire." Remember, the softening of spirit is not
 a condition, for there are no conditions; the covenant of grace
 has no conditionality whatever; so that we without any fitness
 may venture upon the promise of God which was made to us in
 Christ Jesus, when he said, "He that believeth on him is not
 condemned." It is blessed to know that the grace of God is free
 to us at all times, without preparation, without fitness,
 without money, and without price! "I will love them freely."
 These words \\invite backsliders to return\\: indeed, the text
 was specially written for such--"I will heal their backsliding;
 I will love them freely." Backslider! surely the generosity of
 the promise will at once break your heart, and you will return,
 and seek your injured Father's face.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29557
 # Lu 4:1 - 5:39 * Daily Bible Reading
29458
 October 23                                               Morning

 \\"Will ye also go away?"\\
                                                      --John 6:67

    Many have forsaken Christ, and have walked no more with him;
 but what reason have YOU \\to make a change\\? Has there been
 any reason for it in the \\past\\? Has not Jesus proved himself
 all-sufficient? He appeals to you this morning--"Have I been a
 wilderness unto you?" When your soul has simply trusted Jesus,
 have you ever been confounded? Have you not up till now found
 your Lord to be a compassionate and generous friend to you, and
 has not simple faith in him given you all the peace your spirit
 could desire? Can you so much as dream of a better friend than
 he has been to you? Then change not the old and tried for new
 and false. As for \\the present\\, can that compel you to leave
 Christ? When we are hard beset with this world, or with the
 severer trials within the Church, we find it a most blessed
 thing to pillow our head upon the bosom of our Saviour. This is
 the joy we have to-day that we are saved in him; and if this joy
 be satisfying, wherefore should we think of changing? Who
 barters gold for dross? We will not forswear the sun till we
 find a better light, nor leave our Lord until a brighter lover
 shall appear; and, since this can never be, we will hold him
 with a grasp immortal, and bind his name as a seal upon our arm.
 As for \\the future\\, can you suggest anything which can arise
 that shall render it necessary for you to mutiny, or desert the
 old flag to serve under another captain? We think not. If life
 be long--he changes not. If we are poor, what better than to
 have Christ who can make us rich? When we are sick, what more do
 we want than Jesus to make our bed in our sickness? When we die,
 is it not written that "neither death, nor life, nor things
 present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from
 the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" We say with
 Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29558
 # Lu 6:1 - 7:50 * Daily Bible Reading
29459
 October 24                                               Morning

 \\"The trees of the Lord are full of sap."\\
                                                   --Psalm 104:16

    Without sap the tree cannot flourish or even exist.
 \\Vitality\\ is essential to a Christian. There must be \\life\\
 --a vital principle infused into us by God the Holy Ghost, or we
 cannot be trees of the Lord. The mere name of being a Christian
 is but a dead thing, we must be filled with the spirit of divine
 life. This life is \\mysterious\\. We do not understand the
 circulation of the sap, by what force it rises, and by what
 power it descends again. So the life within us is a sacred
 mystery. Regeneration is wrought by the Holy Ghost entering into
 man and becoming man's life; and this divine life in a believer
 afterwards feeds upon the flesh and blood of Christ and is thus
 sustained by divine food, but whence it cometh and whither it
 goeth who shall explain to us? What a \\secret\\ thing the sap
 is! The roots go searching through the soil with their little
 spongioles, but we cannot see them suck out the various gases,
 or transmute the mineral into the vegetable; this work is done
 down in the dark. Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hid
 in him; this is the secret of the Lord. The radix of the
 Christian life is as secret as the life itself. How
 \\permanently active\\ is the sap in the cedar! In the Christian
 the divine life is always full of energy--not always in fruit-
 bearing, but in inward operations. The believer's \\graces\\,
 are not every one of them in constant motion? but his life never
 ceases to palpitate within. He is not always working for God,
 but his heart is always living upon him. As the sap \\manifests\\
 \\itself in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree\\, so
 with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is externally
 manifested in his walk and conversation. If you talk with him,
 he cannot help speaking about Jesus. If you notice his actions
 you will see that he has been with Jesus. He has so much sap
 within, that it must fill his conduct and conversation with
 life.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29559
 # Lu 8:1 - 9:62 * Daily Bible Reading
29460
 October 25                                               Morning

 \\"For the truths sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with\\
 \\us for ever."\\
                                                       --2 John 2

    Once let the truth of God obtain an entrance into the human
 heart and subdue the whole man unto itself, no power human or
 infernal can dislodge it. We entertain it not as a guest but as
 the master of the house--this is a \\Christian necessity\\, he
 is no Christian who doth not thus believe. Those who feel the
 vital power of the gospel, and know the might of the Holy Ghost
 as he opens, applies, and seals the Lord's Word, would sooner be
 torn to pieces than be rent away from the gospel of their
 salvation. What a thousand mercies are wrapped up in the
 assurance that the truth will be with us for ever; will be our
 living support, our dying comfort, our rising song, our eternal
 glory; this is \\Christian privilege\\, without it our faith
 were little worth. Some truths we outgrow and leave behind, for
 they are but rudiments and lessons for beginners, but we cannot
 thus deal with Divine truth, for though it is sweet food for
 babes, it is in the highest sense strong meat for men. The truth
 that we are sinners is painfully with us to humble and make us
 watchful; the more blessed truth that whosoever believeth on the
 Lord Jesus shall be saved, abides with us as our hope and joy.
 Experience, so far from loosening our hold of the doctrines of
 grace, has knit us to them more and more firmly; our grounds and
 motives for believing are now more strong, more numerous than
 ever, and we have reason to expect that it will be so till in
 death we clasp the Saviour in our arms.

    Wherever this abiding love of truth can be discovered, we are
 bound to exercise our love. No narrow circle can contain our
 gracious sympathies, wide as the election of grace must be our
 communion of heart. Much of error may be mingled with truth
 received, let us war with the error but still love the brother
 for the measure of truth which we see in him; above all let us
 love and spread the truth ourselves.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29560
 # Lu 10:1 - 11:54 * Daily Bible Reading
29461
 October 26                                               Morning

 \\"Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye\\
 \\brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of\\
 \\hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every\\
 \\man unto his own house."\\
                                                     --Haggai 1:9

    Churlish souls stint their contributions to the ministry and
 missionary operations, and call such saving good economy; little
 do they dream that they are thus impoverishing themselves. Their
 excuse is that they must care for their own families, and they
 forget that to neglect the house of God is the sure way to bring
 ruin upon their own houses. Our God has a method in providence
 by which he can succeed our endeavours beyond our expectation,
 or can defeat our plans to our confusion and dismay; by a turn
 of his hand he can steer our vessel in a profitable channel, or
 run it aground in poverty and bankruptcy. It is the teaching of
 Scripture that the Lord enriches the liberal and leaves the
 miserly to find out that withholding tendeth to poverty. In a
 very wide sphere of observation, I have noticed that the most
 generous Christians of my acquaintance have been always the most
 happy, and almost invariably the most prosperous. I have seen
 the liberal giver rise to wealth of which he never dreamed; and
 I have as often seen the mean, ungenerous churl descend to
 poverty by the very parsimony by which he thought to rise. Men
 trust good stewards with larger and larger sums, and so it
 frequently is with the Lord; he gives by cartloads to those who
 give by bushels. Where wealth is not bestowed the Lord makes the
 little much by the contentment which the sanctified heart feels
 in a portion of which the tithe has been dedicated to the Lord.
 Selfishness looks first at home, but godliness seeks first the
 kingdom of God and his righteousness, yet in the long run
 selfishness is loss, and godliness is great gain. It needs faith
 to act towards our God with an open hand, but surely he deserves
 it of us; and all that we can do is a very poor acknowledgment
 of our amazing indebtedness to his goodness.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29561
 # Lu 12:1 - 13:35 * Daily Bible Reading
29462
 October 27                                               Morning

 \\"It is a faithful saying."\\
                                                 --2 Timothy 2:11

    Paul has four of these "\\faithful sayings\\." The first
 occurs in 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy
 of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
 save sinners." The next is in 1 Timothy 4:6, "Godliness is
 profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that
 now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying,
 and worthy of all acceptation." The third is in 2 Timothy 2:12,
 "It is a faithful saying--If we suffer with him we shall also
 reign with him"; and the fourth is in Titus 3:3, "This is a
 faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be
 careful to maintain good works." We may trace a connection
 between these faithful sayings. The first one lays the
 foundation of our eternal salvation in the free grace of God, as
 shown to us in the mission of the great Redeemer. The next
 affirms the double blessedness which we obtain through this
 salvation--the blessings of the upper and nether springs--of
 time and of eternity. The third shows one of the duties to which
 the chosen people are called; we are ordained to suffer for
 Christ with the promise that "if we suffer, we shall also reign
 with him." The last sets forth the active form of Christian
 service, bidding us diligently to maintain good works. Thus we
 have the root of salvation in free grace; next, the privileges
 of that salvation in the life which now is, and in that which is
 to come; and we have also the two great branches of suffering
 with Christ and serving with Christ, loaded with the fruits of
 the Spirit. Treasure up these faithful sayings. Let them be the
 guides of our life, our comfort, and our instruction. The
 apostle of the Gentiles proved them to be faithful, they are
 faithful still, not one word shall fall to the ground; they are
 worthy of all acceptation, let us accept them now, and prove
 their faithfulness. Let these four faithful sayings be written
 on the four corners of my house.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29562
 # Lu 14:1 - 16:31 * Daily Bible Reading
29463
 October 28                                               Morning

 \\"I have chosen you out of the world."\\
                                                     --John 15:19

    Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; for
 some are made the special objects of divine affection. Do not be
 afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When your
 mind is most heavy and depressed, you will find it to be a
 bottle of richest cordial. Those who doubt the doctrines of
 grace, or who cast them into the shade, miss the richest
 clusters of Eshcol; they lose the wines on the lees well
 refined, the fat things full of marrow. There is no balm in
 Gilead comparable to it. If the honey in Jonathan's wood when
 but touched enlightened \\the eyes\\, this is honey which will
 enlighten \\your heart\\ to love and learn the mysteries of the
 kingdom of God. Eat, and fear not a surfeit; live upon this
 choice dainty, and fear not that it will be too delicate a diet.
 Meat from the King's table will hurt none of his courtiers.
 Desire to have your mind enlarged, that you may comprehend more
 and more the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God.
 When you have mounted as high as election, tarry on its sister
 mount, the covenant of grace. Covenant engagements are the
 munitions of stupendous rock behind which we lie entrenched;
 covenant engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, are the
 quiet resting-places of trembling spirits.

              "His oath, his covenant, his blood,
              Support me in the raging flood;
              When every earthly prop gives way,
              This still is all my strength and stay."

 If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father
 promised that he would give me to the Son to be a part of the
 infinite reward of the travail of his soul; then, my soul, till
 God himself shall be unfaithful, till Jesus shall cease to be
 the truth, thou art safe. When David danced before the ark, he
 told Michal that election made him do so. Come, my soul, exult
 before the God of grace and leap for joy of heart.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29563
 # Lu 17:1 - 18:43 * Daily Bible Reading
29464
 October 29                                               Morning

 \\"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in\\
 \\heaven, etc."\\
                                                    --Matthew 6:9

    This prayer begins where all true prayer must commence, with
 the spirit of \\adoption\\, "Our Father." There is no acceptable
 prayer until we can say, "I will arise, and go unto my Father."
 This child-like spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father
 "in heaven," and ascends to \\devout adoration\\, "Hallowed be
 thy name." The child lisping, "Abba, Father," grows into the
 cherub crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." There is but a step from
 rapturous worship to the \\glowing missionary spirit\\, which is
 a sure outgrowth of filial love and reverent adoration--"Thy
 kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
 Next follows the heartfelt \\expression of dependence\\ upon
 God--"Give us this day our daily bread." Being further
 illuminated by the Spirit, he discovers that he is not only
 dependent, but sinful, hence he \\entreats for mercy\\, "Forgive
 us our debts as we forgive our debtors:" and being pardoned,
 having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his
 acceptance with God, he humbly \\supplicates for holy\\
 \\perseverance\\, "Lead us not into temptation." The man who is
 really forgiven, is anxious not to offend again; the possession
 of justification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification.
 "Forgive us our debts," that is justification; "Lead us not into
 temptation, but deliver us from evil," that is sanctification in
 its negative and positive forms. As the result of all this,
 there follows a \\triumphant ascription of praise\\, "Thine is
 the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen."
 We rejoice that \\our\\ King reigns in providence and shall
 reign in grace, from the river even to the ends of the earth,
 and of his dominion there shall be no end. Thus from a sense of
 adoption, up to fellowship with our reigning Lord, this short
 model of prayer conducts the soul. Lord, teach us thus to pray.

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29564
 # Lu 19:1 - 20:47 * Daily Bible Reading
29465
 October 30                                               Morning

 \\"I will praise thee, O Lord."\\
                                                      --Psalm 9:1

    Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of
 earth's gratitude rises when the sun of heaven's love warms the
 ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his
 ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise him as long as
 thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from
 which it drew its life. Deny not a song to him who hath answered
 thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart. To be silent
 over God's mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it is
 to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been
 cured of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the
 healing Lord. To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit
 ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of
 promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove
 our burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a
 healthful and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of
 the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his
 Master's service. To bless God for mercies received is also the
 way to benefit our fellow-men; "the humble shall hear thereof
 and be glad." Others who have been in like circumstances shall
 take comfort if we can say, "Oh! magnify the Lord with me, and
 let us exalt his name together; this poor man cried, and the
 Lord heard him." Weak hearts will be strengthened, and drooping
 saints will be revived as they listen to our "songs of
 deliverance." Their doubts and fears will be rebuked, as we
 teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
 songs. They too shall "sing in the ways of the Lord," when they
 hear us magnify his holy name. Praise is the most heavenly of
 Christian duties. The angels pray not, but they cease not to
 praise both day and night; and the redeemed, clothed in white
 robes, with palm-branches in their hands, are never weary of
 singing the new song, "Worthy is the Lamb."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29565
 # Lu 21:1 - 22:71 * Daily Bible Reading
29466
 October 31                                               Morning

 \\"Renew a right spirit within me."\\
                                                    --Psalm 51:10

    A backslider, if there be a spark of life left in him will
 groan after restoration. In this renewal the same exercise of
 grace is required as at our conversion. We needed repentance
 then; we certainly need it now. We wanted faith that we might
 come to Christ at first; only the like grace can bring us to
 Jesus now. We wanted a word from the Most High, a word from the
 lip of the loving One, to end our fears then; we shall soon
 discover, when under a sense of present sin, that we need it
 now. No man can be renewed without as real and true a
 manifestation of the Holy Spirit's energy as he felt at first,
 because the work is as great, and flesh and blood are as much in
 the way now as ever they were. Let thy personal weakness, O
 Christian, be an argument to make thee pray earnestly to thy God
 for help. Remember, David when he felt himself to be powerless,
 did not fold his arms or close his lips, but he hastened to the
 mercy-seat with "renew a right spirit within me." Let not the
 doctrine that you, unaided, can do nothing, make you sleep; but
 let it be a goad in your side to drive you with an awful
 earnestness to Israel's strong Helper. O that you may have grace
 to plead with God, as though you pleaded for your very life--
 "Lord, renew a right spirit within me." He who \\sincerely\\
 prays to God to do this, will prove his honesty by using the
 means through which God works. Be much in prayer; live much upon
 the Word of God; kill the lusts which have driven your Lord from
 you; be careful to watch over the future uprisings of sin. The
 Lord has his own appointed ways; sit by the wayside and you will
 be ready when he passes by. Continue in all those blessed
 ordinances which will foster and nourish your dying graces; and,
 knowing that all the power must proceed from him, cease not to
 cry, "Renew a right spirit within me."

 Evening Reading .......................................... 29566
 # Lu 23:1 - 24:53 * Daily Bible Reading
29467
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