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- 29701
- November 1 Evening
-
- \\"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so\\
- \\shall also the coming of the Son of man be."\\
- --Matthew 24:39
-
- Universal was the doom, neither rich nor poor escaped: the
- learned and the illiterate, the admired and the abhorred, the
- religious and the profane, the old and the young, all sank in
- one common ruin. Some had doubtless ridiculed the patriarch--
- where now their merry jests? Others had threatened him for his
- zeal which they counted madness--where now their boastings and
- hard speeches? The critic who judged the old man's work is
- drowned in the same sea which covers his sneering companions.
- Those who spoke patronizingly of the good man's fidelity to his
- convictions, but shared not in them, have sunk to rise no more,
- and the workers who for pay helped to build the wondrous ark,
- are all lost also. The flood swept them \\all\\ away, and made
- no single exception. Even so, out of Christ, final destruction
- is sure to every man of woman born; no rank, possession, or
- character, shall suffice to save a single soul who has not
- believed in the Lord Jesus. My soul, behold this wide-spread
- judgment and tremble at it.
-
- How marvellous the general apathy! they were all eating and
- drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till the awful
- morning dawned. There was not one wise man upon earth out of the
- ark. Folly duped the whole race, folly as to self-preservation--
- the most foolish of all follies. Folly in doubting the most true
- God--the most malignant of fooleries. Strange, my soul, is it
- not? All men are negligent of their souls till grace gives them
- reason, then they leave their madness and act like rational
- beings, but not till then.
-
- \\All\\, blessed be God, were safe in the ark, no ruin
- entered there. From the huge elephant down to the tiny mouse all
- were safe. The timid hare was equally secure with the courageous
- lion, the helpless cony as safe as the laborious ox. All are
- safe in Jesus. My soul, art thou in him?
-
- 29702
- November 2 Evening
-
- \\"Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that\\
- \\forsake thy law."\\
- --Psalm 119:53
-
- My soul, feelest thou this holy shuddering at the sins of
- others? for otherwise thou lackest inward holiness. David's
- cheeks were wet with rivers of waters because of prevailing
- unholiness; Jeremiah desired eyes like fountains that he might
- lament the iniquities of Israel, and Lot was vexed with the
- conversation of the men of Sodom. Those upon whom the mark was
- set in Ezekiel's vision, were those who sighed and cried for the
- abominations of Jerusalem. It cannot but grieve gracious souls
- to see what pains men take to go to hell. They know the evil of
- sin experimentally, and they are alarmed to see others flying
- like moths into its blaze. Sin makes the righteous shudder,
- because it violates a holy law, which it is to every man's
- highest interest to keep; it pulls down the pillars of the
- commonwealth. Sin in others horrifies a believer, because it
- puts him in mind of the baseness of his own heart: when he sees
- a transgressor he cries with the saint mentioned by Bernard, "He
- fell to-day, and I may fall to-morrow." Sin to a believer is
- horrible, because it crucified the Saviour; he sees in every
- iniquity the nails and spear. How can a saved soul behold that
- cursed kill-Christ sin without abhorrence? Say, my heart, dost
- thou sensibly join in all this? It is an awful thing to insult
- God to his face. The good God deserves better treatment, the
- great God claims it, the just God will have it, or repay his
- adversary to his face. An awakened heart trembles at the
- audacity of sin, and stands alarmed at the contemplation of its
- punishment. How monstrous a thing is rebellion! How direful a
- doom is prepared for the ungodly! My soul, never laugh at sin's
- fooleries, lest thou come to smile at sin itself. It is thine
- enemy, and thy Lord's enemy--view it with detestation, for so
- only canst thou evidence the possession of holiness, without
- which no man can see the Lord.
-
- 29703
- November 3 Evening
-
- \\"Their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto\\
- \\heaven."\\
- --2 Chronicles 30:27
-
- Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any
- case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may
- take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your
- bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need
- never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he
- trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer
- never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best.
- Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround
- you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long
- as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy's
- hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or
- storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by
- Jacob's ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities.
- Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its
- merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in
- the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of
- noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether
- of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt,
- your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from
- his holy place. Nor is prayer ever \\futile\\. True prayer is
- evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but
- you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does
- not answer his children according to the letter, he does so
- according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt
- thou be angered because he gives thee the finest flour? If thou
- seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof
- he makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies?
- Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? This
- evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request,
- for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.
-
- 29704
- November 4 Evening
-
- \\"In thy light shall we see light."\\
- --Psalm 36:9
-
- No lips can tell the love of Christ to the heart till Jesus
- himself shall speak within. Descriptions all fall flat and tame
- unless the Holy Ghost fills them with life and power; till our
- Immanuel reveals himself within, the soul sees him not. If you
- would see the sun, would you gather together the common means of
- illumination, and seek in that way to behold the orb of day? No,
- the wise man knoweth that the sun must reveal itself, and only
- by its own blaze can that mighty lamp be seen. It is so with
- Christ. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona:" said he to Peter,
- "for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee." Purify
- flesh and blood by any educational process you may select,
- elevate mental faculties to the highest degree of intellectual
- power, yet none of these can reveal Christ. The Spirit of God
- must come with power, and overshadow the man with his wings, and
- then in that mystic holy of holies the Lord Jesus must display
- himself to the sanctified eye, as he doth not unto the purblind
- sons of men. Christ must be his own mirror. The great mass of
- this blear-eyed world can see nothing of the ineffable glories
- of Immanuel. He stands before them without form or comeliness, a
- root out of a dry ground, rejected by the vain and despised by
- the proud. Only where the Spirit has touched the eye with
- eye-salve, quickened the heart with divine life, and educated
- the soul to a heavenly taste, only there is he understood. "To
- you that believe he is precious"; to you he is the chief
- corner-stone, the Rock of your salvation, your all in all; but
- to others he is "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence."
- Happy are those to whom our Lord manifests himself, for his
- promise to such is that he will \\make his abode with them\\. O
- Jesus, our Lord, our heart is open, come in, and go out no more
- for ever. Show thyself to us now! Favour us with a glimpse of
- thine all-conquering charms.
-
- 29705
- November 5 Evening
-
- \\"Be thankful unto him, and bless his name."\\
- --Psalm 100:4
-
- Our Lord would have all his people rich in high and happy
- thoughts concerning his blessed person. Jesus is not content
- that his brethren should think meanly of him; it is his pleasure
- that his espoused ones should be delighted with his beauty. We
- are not to regard him as a bare necessary, like to bread and
- water, but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing
- delight. To this end he has revealed himself as the "pearl of
- great price" in its peerless beauty, as the "bundle of myrrh" in
- its refreshing fragrance, as the "rose of Sharon" in its lasting
- perfume, as the "lily" in its spotless purity.
-
- As a help to high thoughts of Christ, remember the estimation
- that Christ is had in beyond the skies, where things are
- measured by the right standard. Think how God esteems the Only
- Begotten, his unspeakable gift to us. Consider what the angels
- think of him, as they count it their highest honour to veil
- their faces at his feet. Consider what the blood-washed think of
- him, as day without night they sing his well deserved praises.
- High thoughts of Christ will enable us to act consistently with
- our relations towards him. The more loftily we see Christ
- enthroned, and the more lowly we are when bowing before the foot
- of the throne, the more truly shall we be prepared to act our
- part towards him. Our Lord Jesus desires us to think well of
- him, that we may submit cheerfully to his authority. High
- thoughts of him increase our love. Love and esteem go together.
- Therefore, believer, think much of your Master's excellencies.
- Study him in his primeval glory, before he took upon himself
- your nature! Think of the mighty love which drew him from his
- throne to die upon the cross! Admire him as he conquers all the
- powers of hell! See him risen, crowned, glorified! Bow before
- him as the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, for only
- thus will your love to him be what it should.
-
- 29706
- November 6 Evening
-
- \\"Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath\\
- \\enjoined unto you."\\
- --Hebrews 9:20
-
- There is a strange power about the very name of blood, and
- the sight of it is always affecting. A kind heart cannot bear to
- see a sparrow bleed, and unless familiarized by use, turns away
- with horror at the slaughter of a beast. As to the blood of men,
- it is a consecrated thing: it is murder to shed it in wrath, it
- is a dreadful crime to squander it in war. Is this solemnity
- occasioned by the fact that the blood is the life, and the
- pouring of it forth the token of death? We think so. When we
- rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God, our awe is yet
- more increased, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of sin,
- and the terrible penalty which the Sin-bearer endured. Blood,
- always precious, is priceless when it streams from Immanuel's
- side. The blood of Jesus seals the \\covenant\\ of grace, and
- makes it for ever sure. Covenants of old were made by sacrifice,
- and the everlasting covenant was ratified in the same manner.
- Oh, the delight of being saved upon the sure foundation of
- divine engagements which cannot be dishonoured! Salvation by the
- works of the law is a frail and broken vessel whose shipwreck is
- sure; but the covenant vessel fears no storms, for the blood
- ensures the whole. The blood of Jesus made his \\testament\\
- valid. Wills are of no power unless the testators die. In this
- light the soldier's spear is a blessed aid to faith, since it
- proved our Lord to be really dead. Doubts upon that matter there
- can be none, and we may boldly appropriate the legacies which he
- has left for his people. Happy they who see their title to
- heavenly blessings assured to them by a dying Saviour. But has
- this blood no voice to us? Does it not bid us sanctify ourselves
- unto him by whom we have been redeemed? Does it not call us to
- newness of life, and incite us to entire consecration to the
- Lord? O that the power of the blood might be known, and felt in
- us this night!
-
- 29707
- November 7 Evening
-
- \\"And ye shall be witnesses unto me."\\
- --Acts 1:8
-
- In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for
- Christ, look at his example. He is always witnessing: by the
- well of Samaria, or in the Temple of Jerusalem: by the lake of
- Gennesaret, or on the mountain's brow. He is witnessing night
- and day; his mighty prayers are as vocal to God as his daily
- services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and
- Pharisees cannot shut his mouth; even before Pilate he witnesses
- a good confession. He witnesses so clearly, and distinctly that
- there is no mistake in him. Christian, make your life a clear
- testimony. Be you as the brook wherein you may see every stone
- at the bottom--not as the muddy creek, of which you only see the
- surface--but clear and transparent, so that your heart's love to
- God and man may be visible to all. You need not say, "I am
- true:" be true. Boast not of integrity, but be upright. So shall
- your testimony be such that men cannot help seeing it. Never,
- for fear of feeble man, restrain your witness. Your lips have
- been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as
- like heaven-touched lips should do. "In the morning sow thy
- seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand." Watch not the
- clouds, consult not the wind--in season and out of season
- witness for the Saviour, and if it shall come to pass that for
- Christ's sake and the gospel's you shall endure suffering in any
- shape, shrink not, but rejoice in the honour thus conferred upon
- you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord; and
- joy also in this--that your sufferings, your losses, and
- persecutions shall make you a platform, from which the more
- vigorously and with greater power you shall witness for Christ
- Jesus. Study your great Exemplar, and be filled with his Spirit.
- Remember that you need much teaching, much upholding, much
- grace, and much humility, if your witnessing is to be to your
- Master's glory.
-
- 29708
- November 8 Evening
-
- \\"The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall\\
- \\eat the passover with my disciples?"\\
- --Mark 14:14
-
- Jerusalem at the time of the passover was one great inn; each
- householder had invited his own friends, but no one had invited
- the Saviour, and he had no dwelling of his own. It was by his
- own supernatural power that he found himself an upper room in
- which to keep the feast. It is so even to this day--Jesus is not
- received among the sons of men save only where by his
- supernatural power and grace he makes the heart anew. All doors
- are open enough to the prince of darkness, but Jesus must clear
- a way for himself or lodge in the streets. It was through the
- mysterious power exerted by our Lord that the householder raised
- no question, but at once cheerfully and joyfully opened his
- guestchamber. Who he was, and what he was, we do not know, but
- he readily accepted the honour which the Redeemer proposed to
- confer upon him. In like manner it is still discovered who are
- the Lord's chosen, and who are not; for when the gospel comes to
- some, they fight against it, and will not have it, but where men
- receive it, welcoming it, this is a sure indication that there
- is a secret work going on in the soul, and that God has chosen
- them unto eternal life. Are you willing, dear reader, to receive
- Christ? then there is no difficulty in the way; Christ will be
- your guest; his own power is working with you, making you
- willing. What an honour to entertain the Son of God! The heaven
- of heavens cannot contain him, and yet he condescends to find a
- house within our hearts! We are not worthy that he should come
- under our roof, but what an unutterable privilege when he
- condescends to enter! for then he makes a feast, and causes us
- to feast with him upon royal dainties, we sit at a banquet where
- the viands are immortal, and give immortality to those who feed
- thereon. Blessed among the sons of Adam is he who entertains the
- angels' Lord.
-
- 29709
- November 9 Evening
-
- \\"His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread\\
- \\shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."\\
- --Isaiah 33:16
-
- Do you doubt, O Christian, do you doubt as to whether God will
- fulfil his promise? Shall the munitions of rock be carried by
- storm? Shall the storehouses of heaven fail? Do you think that
- your heavenly Father, though he knoweth that you have need of
- food and raiment, will yet forget you? When not a sparrow falls
- to the ground without your Father, and the very hairs of your
- head are all numbered, will you mistrust and doubt him? Perhaps
- your affliction will continue upon you till you dare to trust
- your God, and then it shall end. Full many there be who have
- been tried and sore vexed till at last they have been driven in
- sheer desperation to exercise faith in God, and the moment of
- their faith has been the instant of their deliverance; they have
- seen whether God would keep his promise or not. Oh, I pray you,
- doubt him no longer! Please not Satan, and vex not yourself by
- indulging any more those hard thoughts of God. Think it not a
- light matter to doubt Jehovah. Remember, it is a \\sin\\; and
- not a little sin either, but in the highest degree criminal.
- The angels never doubted him, nor the devils either: we alone,
- out of all the beings that God has fashioned, dishonour him by
- unbelief, and tarnish his honour by mistrust. Shame upon us for
- this! Our God does not deserve to be so basely suspected; in our
- past life we have proved him to be true and faithful to his
- word, and with so many instances of his love and of his kindness
- as we have received, and are daily receiving, at his hands, it
- is base and inexcusable that we suffer a doubt to sojourn within
- our heart. May we henceforth wage constant war against doubts of
- our God--enemies to our peace and to his honour; and with an
- unstaggering faith believe that what he has promised he will
- also perform. "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief."
- 29710
- November 10 Evening
-
- \\"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master."\\
- --Matthew 10:25
-
- No one will dispute this statement, for it would be unseemly
- for the servant to be exalted above his Master. When our Lord
- was on earth, what was the treatment he received? Were his
- claims acknowledged, his instructions followed, his perfections
- worshipped, by those whom he came to bless? No; "He was despised
- and rejected of men." Outside the camp was his place:
- cross-bearing was his occupation. Did the world yield him solace
- and rest? "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
- nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." This
- inhospitable country afforded him no shelter: it cast him out
- and crucified him. Such--if you are a follower of Jesus, and
- maintain a consistent, Christ-like walk and conversation--you
- must expect to be the lot of that part of your spiritual life
- which, in its outward development, comes under the observation
- of men. They will treat it as they treated the Saviour--they
- will despise it. Dream not that worldlings will admire you, or
- that the more holy and the more Christ-like you are, the more
- peaceably people will act towards you. They prized not the
- polished gem, how should they value the jewel in the rough? "If
- they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much
- more shall they call them of his household?" If we were more
- like Christ, we should be more hated by his enemies. It were a
- sad dishonour to a child of God to be the world's favourite. It
- is a very ill omen to hear a wicked world clap its hands and
- shout "Well done" to the Christian man. He may begin to look to
- his character, and wonder whether he has not been doing wrong,
- when the unrighteous give him their approbation. Let us be true
- to our Master, and have no friendship with a blind and base
- world which scorns and rejects him. Far be it from us to seek a
- crown of honour where our Lord found a coronet of thorn.
- 29711
- November 11 Evening
-
- \\"He shall choose our inheritance for us."\\
- --Psalm 47:4
-
- Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be
- satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured
- that it is the fittest \\for you\\. Unerring wisdom ordained
- your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A
- ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one
- part of the stream there is a sandbank; should some one ask,
- "Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel
- and deviate so much from a straight line?" His answer would be,
- "Because I should not get my vessel into harbour at all if I did
- not keep to the deep channel." So, it may be, you would run
- aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not
- steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble
- follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they
- have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you
- get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman,
- because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto
- perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better
- for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have
- put you there. You are placed by God in the most suitable
- circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you
- would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my
- self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content
- with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all
- things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the
- burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most
- effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the
- glory of God. Down busy self, and proud impatience, it is not
- for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love!
-
- "Trials must and will befall--
- But with humble faith to see
- Love inscribed upon them all;
- This is happiness to me."
-
- 29712
- November 12 Evening
-
- \\"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a\\
- \\mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."\\
- --Luke 6:12
-
- If ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it
- was our spotless, perfect a Lord, and yet none was ever so much
- in supplication as he! Such was his love to his Father, that he
- loved much to be in communion with him: such his love for his
- people, that he desired to be much in intercession for them.
- \\The fact\\ of this eminent prayerfulness of Jesus is a lesson
- for us--he hath given us an example that we may follow in his
- steps. \\The time\\ he chose was admirable, it was the hour of
- silence, when the crowd would not disturb him; the time of
- inaction, when all but himself had ceased to labour; and the
- season when slumber made men forget their woes, and cease their
- applications to him for relief. While others found rest in
- sleep, he refreshed himself with prayer. \\The place\\ was also
- well selected. He was alone where none would intrude, where none
- could observe: thus was he free from Pharisaic ostentation and
- vulgar interruption. Those dark and silent hills were a fit
- oratory for the Son of God. Heaven and earth in midnight
- stillness heard the groans and sighs of the mysterious Being in
- whom both worlds were blended. \\The continuance\\ of his
- pleadings is remarkable; the long watches were not too long; the
- cold wind did not chill his devotions; the grim darkness did not
- darken his faith, or loneliness check his importunity. We
- cannot watch with him one hour, but he watched for us whole
- nights. \\The occasion\\ for this prayer is notable; it was after
- his enemies had been enraged--prayer was his refuge and solace;
- it was before he sent forth the twelve apostles--prayer was the
- gate of his enterprise, the herald of his new work. Should we
- not learn from Jesus to resort to special prayer when we are
- under peculiar trial, or contemplate fresh endeavours for the
- Master's glory? Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.
-
- 29713
- November 13 Evening
-
- \\"Men ought always to pray."\\
- --Luke 18:1
-
- If \\men\\ ought always to pray and not to faint, much more
- Christian men. Jesus has sent his church into the world on the
- same errand upon which he himself came, and this mission
- includes intercession. What if I say that the church is the
- world's priest? Creation is dumb, but the church is to find a
- mouth for it. It is the church's high privilege to pray with
- acceptance. The door of grace is always open for her petitions,
- and they never return empty-handed. The veil was rent \\for\\
- \\her\\, the blood was sprinkled upon the altar \\for her\\, God
- constantly invites her to ask what she wills. Will she refuse
- the privilege which angels might envy her? Is she not the bride
- of Christ? May she not go in unto her King at every hour? Shall
- she allow the precious privilege to be unused? The church always
- has need for prayer. There are always some in her midst who are
- declining, or falling into open sin. There are lambs to be
- prayed for, that they may be carried in Christ's bosom? the
- strong, lest they grow presumptuous; and the weak, lest they
- become despairing. If we kept up prayer-meetings four-and-twenty
- hours in the day, all the days in the year, we might never be
- without a special subject for supplication. Are we ever without
- the sick and the poor, the afflicted and the wavering? Are we
- ever without those who seek the conversion of relatives, the
- reclaiming of back-sliders, or the salvation of the depraved?
- Nay, with congregations constantly gathering, with ministers
- always preaching, with millions of sinners lying dead in
- trespasses and sins; in a country over which the darkness of
- Romanism is certainly descending; in a world full of idols,
- cruelties, devilries, if the church doth not pray, how shall she
- excuse her base neglect of the commission of her loving Lord?
- Let the church be constant in supplication, let every private
- believer cast his mite of prayer into the treasury.
-
- 29714
- November 14 Evening
-
- \\"And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to\\
- \\give the younger before the firstborn."\\
- --Genesis 29:26
-
- We do not excuse Laban for his dishonesty, but we scruple not
- to learn from the custom which he quoted as his excuse. There
- are some things which must be taken in order, and if we would
- win the second we must secure the first. The second may be the
- more lovely in our eyes, but the rule of the heavenly country
- must stand, and the elder must be married first. For instance,
- many men desire the beautiful and well-favoured Rachel of joy
- and peace in believing, but they must first be wedded to the
- tender-eyed Leah of repentance. Every one falls in love with
- happiness, and many would cheerfully serve twice seven years to
- enjoy it, but according to the rule of the Lord's kingdom, the
- Leah of real holiness must be beloved of our soul before the
- Rachel of true happiness can be attained. Heaven stands not
- first but second, and only by persevering to the end can we win
- a portion in it. The cross must be carried before the crown can
- be worn. We must follow our Lord in his humiliation, or we shall
- never rest with him in glory.
-
- My soul, what sayest thou, art thou so vain as to hope to
- break through the heavenly rule? Dost thou hope for reward
- without labour, or honour without toil? Dismiss the idle
- expectation, and be content to take the ill-favoured things for
- the sake of the sweet love of Jesus, which will recompense thee
- for all. In such a spirit, labouring and suffering, thou wilt
- find bitters grow sweet, and hard things easy. Like Jacob, thy
- years of service will seem unto thee but a few days for the love
- thou hast to Jesus; and when the dear hour of the wedding feast
- shall come, all thy toils shall be as though they had never
- been--an hour with Jesus will make up for ages of pain and
- labour.
-
- Jesus, to win thyself so fair,
- Thy cross I will with gladness bear:
- Since so the rules of heaven ordain,
- The first I'll wed the next to gain.
-
- 29715
- November 15 Evening
-
- \\"Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us."\\
- --Psalm 68:28
-
- It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God
- continually to strengthen that which he has wrought in us. It is
- because of their neglect in this, that many Christians may blame
- themselves for those trials and afflictions of spirit which
- arise from unbelief. It is true that Satan seeks to flood the
- fair garden of the heart and make it a scene of desolation, but
- it is also true that many Christians leave open the sluice-gates
- themselves, and let in the dreadful deluge through carelessness
- and want of prayer to their strong Helper. We often forget that
- the Author of our faith must be the Preserver of it also. The
- lamp which was burning in the temple was never allowed to go
- out, but it had to be daily replenished with fresh oil; in like
- manner, our faith can only live by being sustained with the oil
- of grace, and we can only obtain this from God himself. Foolish
- virgins we shall prove, if we do not secure the needed
- sustenance for our lamps. He who built the world upholds it, or
- it would fall in one tremendous crash; he who made us Christians
- must maintain us by his Spirit, or our ruin will be speedy and
- final. Let us, then, evening by evening, go to our Lord for the
- grace and strength we need. We have a strong argument to plead,
- for it is \\his own work of grace\\ which we ask him to
- strengthen--"\\that which thou hast wrought for us\\." Think you
- he will fail to protect and sustain that? Only let your faith
- take hold of his strength, and all the powers of darkness, led
- on by the master fiend of hell, cannot cast a cloud or shadow
- over your joy and peace. Why faint when you may be strong? Why
- suffer defeat when you may conquer? Oh! take your wavering
- faith and drooping graces to him who can revive and replenish
- them, and earnestly pray, "Strengthen, O God, that which thou
- hast wrought for us."
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