^WMi ^^5^J^?^4^^.^S^' '"' ♦ (0 «, 1 in :3 -O 1 a\ lA C i 00 CD (d 1 tH •d i 00 m rH O u CO 0) rH rH CQ (0 r-- 73 •■-• CO . ^ ^ r-i p:: O o i ^ ^ ^ fi a i 00 x: -o tH o C rH 1 S »D CO :3 * M-l V TJ x: 1 CN m C -P 1 CO m •H -H CO :3 S (0 Tf TJ ri4 o 0) > (0 ^ ^ PQ S EH im^mWMW'i W^ mfa fe^yw w»^* '; w^v^ ,; .^ PV THE MIND AND WOKDS OF ,JESTJS; AUD THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. BY THB REV. J. R. MACDUFF, D. D., AurnoR OK "the morning and night watches," '*bow IN THE CLOUD,'" " FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL," BTC. NEW YORK : ROBERT CARTER «fc BROTHERS No. 580 BEOA.DWAY. 18V1. €jie 3Hin^ nf ^mm. The Mint) of Jesus I Wliat a study is this ! To attaiu a dim reflection of it, is the ambition of angels — higher they cannot soar. " To be conformed to the image of His Son !" it is the end of God in the predestination of His Church from all eternity. " We shall be like Him I" — it is the Bible picture of heaven I But how lofty such a standard ? How all creature perfec- tion shrinks abashed and confounded before a D "me por- traiture like this I He is the true '* Angel standing in the sun," who alone projects no shadow ; so bathed m the glories of Deity that likeness to Him becomes like the light in which He is shrouded, — " no man can approach unto it." May we not, however, seek at least to approximate, though we cannot adequately resemble? It is impossible on earth to associate with a fellow-being without getting in some degree assimilated to him. So, the more we study "the Mind of Christ," the more we are in His company — holding converse with Him as our best and dearest friend — catching ap His holy looks and holy deeds— the more shall we be " transformed into the same image." "Consider," says the Great Apostle, (literally 'gaze on') " Christ Jesus" (Heb. iii. 1). Study feature by feature, linea- jnent by lineament, of that Peerless Examplar. " Gaze" oa the Son of Righteousness, till, like gazing long en the natural 4 THE MIND OF JESUS. sun, you carry away with you on your spiritual vision, dazzling images of His brightness and glory. Though He be the Archetype of all goodness, remember He is no shadowy model, — though the Infinite Jehovah, He was " the Man Christ Jesus." We must never, indeed, forget that it is not the mind, but iha work of Immanuel which lies at the foundation of a sinner's hope. He must be known as a Saviour, before He is studied as an Example. His doing and dying is the centre jewel, of which all the virtues of His holy life are merely the setting. But neither must we overlook the Scripture obligation to walk in His footsteps and imbibe His Spirit, for " if any man have not the Spirit of Chnst, he is none of His I" Oh, that each individual Christian were more Saviour-like ; that, in the manifestation of a holy character and heavenly demeanor, it might be said in some feeble measure of the faint and imperfect reflection — " Such was Jesus!" How far short we are of such a criterion, mournful expe- rience can testify. But it is at least comforting to know that there is a day coming, when, in the full vision and fruition of the Glorious Original, .he exhortation of our motto-verso will bo needed no more ; when we shall be able to say, io the words of an inspired apostle, '* We have the mind of Chkssi !" THE MIND OF JESUS. 1st Morning of Month. " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " I have compassioa on the multitude." — IIark vm. 2. ^ . What a pattern to His passion of Jesus ! He found the world He came to save a moral Bethesda. The wail of suffering humanity was every- where borne to His ear. It was His delight to walk its porches, to pity, relieve, comfort, save ! The faintest cry of misery arrested His footsteps — stirred a ripple in this fountain of In- finite Lo^e. Was it a leper, — that dreaded name which entailed a life-long exile from friendly looks and kindly words ? There was One, at least, wlio had tones and deeds of tenderness for the outcast. '' Jesus, being moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched him." Was it some blind beg- gars on the Jericho highway, grop- 6 THE MIND OF JESUS. ing iu darkness, pleading for help? Jesm stood still, and had compassion on them, and touched their eyes ! " Wag it the speechless pleadings of a widow's tears at the gate of Nain, when she fol- lowed her earthly pride and prop to the grave ? " When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said, Weep not ! " Even when He rebukes, the bow of compassion is seen in the cloud, or rather, that cloud, as it passes, dis- solves in a rain-shower of mercy. He pronounces Jerusalem " desolate, ^^ but the doom is uttered amid a flood of anguished sorrow ! Reader ! do the compassionate words and deeds of a tender Saviour find any feeble echo and transcript in yours ? As you traverse in thought the wastes of human wretchedness, does the spec- tacle give rise, not to the mere emo- tional feeling which weeps itself away in sentimental tears, but to an earnest de- sire to do something to mitigate the suf* THE MIND OF JESUS. 7 ferings of woe-worn humanity? How vast and world-wide the claims on your compassion I — now near, now at a dis- tance— the unmet and unanswered cry of perishing millions abroad — the heathendom which lies unsuccoured at your own door — the public charity lan- guishing—the mission staff dwarfed and crippled from lack of needful funds — a suffering district — a starving family — a poor neighbour — a helpless orphan — it may be, some crowded hovel, where misery and vice run riot — or some lonely sick-chamber, where the dim lamp has been wasting for dreary nights — or some desolate home which death has entered, where " Joseph is not, and Simeon is not," and where some sobbing heart, under the tattered garb of poverty, mourns, unsolaced and unpitied, its "loved and lost/' Are there none such within your reach, to whom a trifling pittance would be as an angel of mercy? How it would hallow and en- 8 THE MIND OF JESUS. hance all you possess, were you to seet lo live as almoner of Jehovah's boun- ties ! If He has given you of this world's substance, remember it is bestowed, not to be greedily hoarded or lavishly squandered. Property and wealth are talents to be traded on and laid out for the good of others — sacred trusts, not selfishly to be e7ijo7jed, but generously to be employed. " The poor are the representatives of Jesus, their wants He considers as His own," and He will recompense accord- ingly. The feeblest expression of Christian pity and love, though it be but the widow's mite, or the cup of cold water, or the tindly look and word when tliere is neither mito nor cup to give, yet, if done in His name, it is entered in the " book of life " as a " loan to the Lord ; " and in that day when " the books are opened," the loan will be paid back with usury. "ARM TOCRSELVES LIKEAVISE WITH TITE SAM¥ MINI)." THE MIND OF JESUS. 2d MOKNINCL ** Let this mind hs in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." , " Not my will, but Thine be done I " — Luke xxn. 42. jrt ♦ ,♦ Where was there ever re- -^,^^^Pf|^^sigiiation like tliis? The III 'mm, life of Jesus was one long martyrdom. From Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's cross, there was scarce one break in the clouds ; these gathered more darkly and ominously around Him till they burst over His devoted head as He uttered His expiriag cry. Yet throughout this pilgrimage of sorrow no murmuring accent escaped His lips. The most suffering of all suffering lives was one of uncomplaining submission. " Not m?/ will, but Thi/ will," was the motto of this wondrous Being ! When He came into the world He thus an- nounced His advent, " Lo, I come, I delight to do Thy will, 0 my God ! " When He left it, we listen to the same 10 THE MIND OF JESUS. prayer of blended agony and acquies- cence, " 0 my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me ! Nevertheless not as I ivill, but as Tliou tviltJ^ _ Reader ! is this mind also in you ? fAh, what are your trials compared to Mis ! What the ripples in your tide of woe, compared to the wares and billows which swept over Him! If He, the spotless Lamb of God, " murmured not," how can you murmur ? His were the sufferings of a bosom never once darkened with the passing shadow of guilt or sin. Your severest sufferings are deserved, yea, infinitely less than de- served ! Are you tempted to indulge in hard suspicions, as to God's faithfulness and love, in appointing some peculiar trial ? Ask yourself, Would Jesus have done this? Should / seek to pry into " the deep things of God," when He, in the spirit of a weaned child, was satis- fied with the solution, ^^Hven so, Father, for so it seems good in Thy sight " ? THE MIND OF JESUS. 11 "Eveu SO, Father f^^ Afflicted ouel " tossed with tempest, and not com- forted," take that ivord on which thy Lord pillowed His suffering head, and make it, as He did, the secret of thy resignation. The sick child will take the bitterest draught from a father^s hand. " This cup which Thou, 0 God, givest me to drink, shall I not drink it ? " Be it mine to lie passive in the arms of Thy chastening love, exulting in the assur- ance that all Thy appointments, though sovereign, are never arbitrary, but that there is a gracious " need be " in them all. " My Fafher ! " my Covenant God ! the God who spared not Jesus / It may well hush every repining word. Drinking deep of His sweet spirit of submission, you will be able thus to meet, yea, even to welcome, your sorest cross, saying, " Yes, Lord, all is well, just because it is Thy blessed will. Take me, use me, chasten me, as seemeth 12 THE MIND OF JESUS. good in Thy sight. My will is resolved into Thine. This trial is dark ; I can- not see the ' why and the wherefore ' of it — but 'not my will, but Thy will ! ' The gourd is withered ; I cannot see the reason of so speedy a dissolution of tlje loved earthly shelter ; sense and sight ask in vain why these leaves of earthly refreshment have been doomed so soon to droop in sadness and sorrow. But it is enough. " The Lord prepared the worm ; " " not my will, but Thy will ! " ( Oh, how does the stricken soul honour God by thus being dumb in the midst of dark and perplexing dealings, recog- nising in these, part of the needed dis- cipline and training for a sorrowless, sinless, deathless world; regarding every trial as a link in the chain which draws it to heaven, where the whitest robes will be found to be those here baptized with suffering, and bathed in tears ! "ABM YOURSELVES UKEWTSB WITH THE SAME UnND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 13 t' IIORNLVO "Let this mind he in you, which wa also in Christ Jesus." " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" — LUK£ u. 49. -, , V " My meat and m j drink «f^WM are to do the will of Him * ' * that sent me, and to finish His work." That me object bi ought Jesus from heaven — that one object He pursued with unflinching, undeviating constancy, until He coidd say, "It is finished." However short man comes of his chief end, "Glory to God in the highest" was the motive, the rule, and exponent of every act of that wondrous life. With us, the magnet of the soul, even when truest, is ever subject to partial oscillations and depressions, trembling at times away from its great attraction- point. His never knew one tremulous wavering form its all-glorious centre. With him there were no ebbs and 14 THE MIND OF JESUS. flows, no fits and starts. He could say, in the words of that ])rophetic psalm whicli speaks so pre-eminently of Him- self, " I have set the Lord always before me!" Reader! do you feel that in some feeble measure this lofty life-motto of the sinless Son of God is written on your home and heart, regulating your actions, chastening your joys, quicken- ing your hopes, giving energy and direction to your whole being, subordi- nating all the affections of your nature to their high destiny ? With pure and unalloyed motives, with a single eye, and a single aim, can you say, somewhat in the spirit of His brightest follower, " This one thing I do ?" Are you ready to regard all you have — rank, name, talents, riches, influence, distinctions — valuable, only so far as they contri- bute to promote the glory of Him who is " first and last, and all in all ?" Seek to feel that your heavenly Father's THE MIND OF JESUS. 15 is not only a business, but the business of life. " Whose T am, and whom I serve," — let tliis be the superscription written on your thoughts and deeds, your employments and enjoyments, your sleeping and waking. Be not, as the fixed stars, cold and distant ; but be ever bathing in the sunshine of con- scious nearness to Him who is the sun and centre of all happiness and joy. Each has some appointed work to perform, some little niche in the spiritual temple to occupy. Yours may be no splendid services, no flaming or brilliant actions to blaze and dazzle in the eye of man. It may be the quiet unobtrusive inner work, the secret prayer, the mor- tified sin, the forgiven injury, the tri- fling act of self-sacrifice for God's glory and the good of others, of which no q^q but the Eye which seeth in secret is cognizant. It matters not how small. Remember, with Him, motive dignifies action. It is not what we do, but how 16 THE MIND OF JESUS. we do it. He can be glorified in Utile things as well as great things, and bv nothing more than the daily walk, the daily life. Beware of anything that would in- terfere with a surrender of heart and soul to His service, — wordly entangle- ments, indulged sin, an uneven walk, a divided heart, nestling in creature com- forts, shrinking from the cross. How many hazard, if they do not make ship- wreck, of their eternal hopes, by be- coming idlers in the vineyard ; lin- gerers, like Lot ; world-lovers, like De- mas; "do-uothing Christians," like the inhabitants of Meroz! The command is, " Go work !" Words tell what you should be ; deeds tell what you are. Let those around you see there is a reality in walking with God, and work.- ing for God ! '* ARM TOtTESEXTKS UKEWKB WITH THE SAME MIND " THE MIND OF JESUS. 17 4rH MoRxma •* let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," 'Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them ; for they know not what thoy do." — Luke xxiii. 34. Mmmm nf f ^7 ^ death-struggle ^uiuvuiui,^>j ui j^g^g ^gg^ made to save a M\nxm' friend. A dying Saviour gathers up His expiring breath to plead for His foes ! At the climax of His own woe, and of human ingratitude — man- forsaken, and God-deserted — His falter- ing voice mingles with the shout of His murderers, — " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do I " Had the faithless Peter been there, could he Lave wondered at the reply to a former question, — " Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, — till seven times ? " Jesus said unto him, " I say not unto thee. Until seven times ; but. Until seventy times seven " (Matt, xviii. 21). Superiority to insult and ignominy, 2 18 THE MIND OF JESUS. with c3ome, proceeds from a callous and indifferent temperament, — a cold, phleg- matic, stoical insensibility, alike to kind- ness or unkindness. It was not so with Jesus. (The tender sensibilities of His holy nature rendered Him keenly sensi- tive to ingratitude and injury, whether this was manifested in the malice of un- disguised enmity, or the treachery of trusted friendship.'N Perhaps to a noble nature the latter of these is the more deeply wounding. Many are inclined to forgive an open and unmasked antago- nist, who are not so willing to forget or forgive heartless faithlessness, or unre- quited love. (But see, too, in this re- spect, the conduct of the blessed Re- deemer ! Mark how He deals with His own disciples who had basely forsaken Him and fled, and that, too, in the hour He most needed their sympathy ! No sooner does He rise from the dead than He hastens to disarm their fears and to assure them of an unaltered and mi- THE MIND OP JESUS. 19 alterable affection. " Go tell mij breth- ren" is the first message He sends ; " Feace he unto you," is the salutation at the first meeting ; " GMldren ! " is the word with which He first greets them on the shores of Tiberias?) Even Joseph, (the Old Testament tyj/e and pattern of generous forgiveness,) when he makes himself known to his brethren, recalls the bitter thought, " Whom ye sold into Egypt." ^he true Joseph, when He reveals Himself to His disciples, buries in oblivion the memory of bygone faith- lessness. He meets them with a bene- diction. He leaves them at His ascen- sion with the same — "He lifted uj3_His„ hanila, and blessed themj)^ Reader! follow in all this the spirit of your Lord and Master. In rising from the study of His holy example, seek to feel that with you there should be no such name, no such word, as enemy/ Harbour no resentful thought, indulge in no bitter recrimination. Surrender 20 THE MIND OF JESUS. yourself to no sullen fretfulness. Let " the law of kindness " be in your heart. Put the best construction on the failings of others. Make no injurious comments on their frailties ; no uncharitable in- sinuations. " Consider thyself, lest thoii algo be tempted." When disposed at any time to cherish an unforgiving spirit to- wards a brother, think, if thy God had retained His anger for ever, where wouldst thou have been ? If He, the In- finite One, who might have spurned thee for ever from His presence, hath had pa- tience with thee, and forgiven thee a?Z, wilt tliou, on account of some petty grievance which thy calmer moments would pronounce unworthy of a thought, indulge in the look of cold estrange- ment, the unrelenting word, or unfor- giving deed ? " If any man have a quarrel against any, oven as Christ for- gave you, so also do ye." " ABM YOURSELVES IJKFWISE -WTTH IHE SAME MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 21 Sth Moknino ** Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " I am moek and lowly in heart." — Matt. xi. 29. ^j . There is often a beautiful ;IxZBraIIt.01 blending of majesty and hu- mility, magnanimity and lowliness, in great minds. The mightiest and holiest of all Beings that ever trod our world was the meekest of all. The Ancient of Days was as the " infant of days." He who had listened to nothing but angel- melodies from all eternity, found, while on earth, melody in the lispings of an infant's voice, or in an outcast's tears ! No wonder an innocent lamb was His emblem, or that the anointing Spirit came down upon Him in the form of the gentle dove. He had the wealth of worlds at His feet. The hosts of heaven had only to be summoned as His retinue. But all the pageantry of the worl.i^ all 22 THE M^D OF JESUS. its dreams of carnal glory, had for Hira no fascination. The Tempter, from a mountain-summit, shewed Him a wide scene of " splendid misery ;" but He spurned alike the thought and the ad- versary away ! John and James would call down fire from heaven on a Samar- itan village ; He rebukes the vengeful suggestion ! Peter, on the night of the betrayal, cuts off the ear of an assassin ; the intended Victim, again, only chal- lenges His disciple, and heals Hia enemy ! Arraigned before Pilate's judgment- seat, how meekly He bears nameless wrongs and indignities ! Suspended on the cross— the execrations of the mul- titude are rising around, but He hears as though He heard them not ; they ex- tract no angry look, no bitter word — " Behold the Lamh of God !" Need we wonder that " meekness" and " poverty of spirit" should stand foremost in His own cluster of beatitudes ; that He THE MIXD OF JESUS. 23 should select this among all His other qualities for the peculiar study and imi- tation of His disciples, " Learn of Me, for I am meehf^ or that an apostle should exhort "by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" ? How different the world's maxims, and His! The ^tw/cZ's—" Resent the affront, vindicate honour !" His—'' Over come evil with good !' The world's — " Only let it be when for jour faults ye are buffeted that ye take it patiently." jJis — "When ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently ; this is acceptable with God" (1 Pet. ii. 20). Reader ! strive to obtain, like your adorable Lord, this " ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great price." Be " clothed" with gentleness and humility. Follow not the world's fleeting shadows that mock you as you grasp them. If always aspiring — ever soaring on the wing — you are likely to become discon- 24 THE MIND OF JESUS. tented, prond, selfish, time-serving. In whatever position of life God has placed you, be satisfied. What ! ambitious to be on a pinnacle of the temple — a higher place in the Church, or in the world ? — Satan might hurl you down ! "Be not high-minded, but fear." And with re- spect to others, honour their gifts, con- template tlieir excellencies only to imi- tate them. Speak kindly, act gently, " condescend to men of low estate." Be assured, no happiness is equal to that enjoyed by the " meeh Ghrisiiany He has within him a perpetual inner sunshine, a perennial well-spring of peace. Never ruffled and fretted by real or imagined injuries, he puts the best construction on motives and ac- tions, and by a gentle answer to un- merited reproach often disarms wrath. " ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 25 Gth JIoRMNa "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." «I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth."— AUtt. XI. 25. ^, , J. , A THANKFUL Spirit per- f IjanktulntSS. ^^^^^ ti,e entire life of Jesus, and surrounded with a heavenly halo His otherwise darkened path. In moments we least expect to find it, this beauteous ray breaks through the gloom. In instituting the memorial of His death, He " gave thanks /" Even in crossing the Kedron to Gethsemanc, " He sang an hymn !" We know in seasons of deep sorrow and trial that everything wears a gloomy aspect. Dumb Nature herself to the burdened spirit seems as if she partook in the hues of sadness. The life of Je- sus was one continuous experience of privation and woe — a " Valley of Baca," from first to last ; yet, amid accents of plaintive sorrow, there are ever heard 26 THE MIND OF JESUS. subdued undertones of tJianJcfulness and joy J Ah, if He, tlie suffering " Man of Sor- rows," could, during a life of unparal- leled woe, lift up His heart in grateful acknowledgment to His Father in heav- en, how ought the lives of those to be one perpetual " hymn of thankfulness," who are from day to day and hour to hour (for all they have, both tempo- rally and spiritually) pensioners on God's bounty and love ! Reader ! cultivate this thankful spirit ; it will be to thee a perpetual feast. There is, or ought to be, with us no such thing as small mercies; all are great, because the least are undeserved. In- deed, a really thankful heart will ex- tract motive for gratitude from every- thing, making the most even of scanty blessings. St. Paul, when in his dungeon at Eome, a prisoner in chains, is heard to say, "I have all, and abound I" THE MIND OF JESUS. 27 Guard, on tlie other hand, against that spirit of continual fretting and moping over fancied ills ; that tempta- tion to exaggerate the real or supposed disadvantages of our condition, magni fying the trifling inconveniences of every-day life into enormous evils. Think rather how much we have to be thankful for. The world in which we live, in spite of all the scars of sin and suffering upon it, is a happy world. It is not, as many would morbidly paint it, flooded with tears and strewn with wrecks, plaintive with a perpetual dirge of sorrow. True, the " Everlasting Hills" are in glory, but there are num- berless eminences of grace, and love, and mercy below ; many green spots in the lower valley, many more than we deserve I God will reward a thankful spirit. Just as on earth, when a man receives with gratitude what is given, we are more disposed to give again, so also, 28 THE MIXD OF JESUS. " the Lord loYetli" a cheerful " receiver," as well as a cheerful "giver." Let ours, moreover, be a Gosjoel thankfulness. Let the incense of a grateful spirit rise not only to the Great Giver of all good, but to our Covenant God in Christ. Let it be the spirit of the child exulting in the bounty and beneficence of his Father^s house and home ! " Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ !" While the sweet melody of gratitude vibrates through every successive mo- ment of our daily being, let love to our adorable Redeemer show for lohom and for ivhat it is we reserve our notes of loftiest and most fervent praise. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift I " ABH VOtmSELVBS LIKEWISE WITH TIIB SAiJB MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 29 7 ra MoRNiNQ. " Let this mind be in you, which "was also in Christ Jesus." ' For even Christ pleased not Himself." — Rom. xv. 3. elnsdiisl) Too leoribly are the char- '^'-^^ acters written on the fallen heart and a fallen world — " All seek their own ! " Selfishness is the great law of our degenerated nature. When the love of God was dethroned from the soul, self vaulted into the vacant seat, and there, in some one of its Proteus shapes, continues to reign. Jesus stands out for our imitation a grand solitary exception in the midst of a world of selfishness. His entire life was one abnegation of self ; a beau- tiful living embodiment of that charity which " seeketh not her own." He who for others turned water into wine, and provided a miraculous supply for the fainting thousands in the wilderness, exerted no such miraculous power for 30 THE MIND OF JESUS His own necessities. During His forty days' temptation, no table did He spread for Himself, no booth did he rear for His unpillowed head. Twice do we read of Him shedding tears — on neither occasion were they for Himself. The approach of His cross and passion, in- stead of absorbing Him in His own ap- proaching sufferings, seemed only to elicit new and more gracious promises to His people. When His enemies came to apprehend Him, His only stipulation was for His disciples' release — "Let these go their way." In the very act of departure, with all the boundless glories of eternity in sight, they were still all His care. Ah, how different is the spirit of the world ! With how many is day after day only a new oblation to that idol which never darkened with its shadow His holy heart ; pampering their own wishes ; " envying and grieving at the good of a neiglibour ; " unable to brook THE MIND OF JESUS. 31 the praise of a rival ; establisliing tlieir own reputation on the ruins of another ; thus engendering jealousy, discontent, peevishness, and every kin- dred unholy passion. " But ye have not so learned Christ ! " Reader! have you been sitting at the feet of Him who " pleased not Him- self? " Are you " dying daily f — dying to self as well as to sin ? Are you ani- mated with this as the high end and aim of existence, — to lay out 3"our time, and talents, and opportunities, for God's glory, and the good of your fellow-men ; not seeking your own interests, but rather ceding these, if, by doing so, another will be made happier, and your Saviour honoured ? You may not have it in your power to manifest this " mind of Jesus " on a great scale, by enduring great sacrifices ; nor is this required. His denial of self had about it no repul- sive austerity ; but you can evince its holy influence and sway, bv innumer- 32 THE MIND OF JESUS. able little offices of kindness and good- will ; taking a generous interest in the welfare and pursuits of others, or en- gaging and co-operating in schemes for the mitigation of human misery. Avoid ostentation, — another repulsive form of self. Be willing to be in the shade ; sound no trumpet before you. The evangelist Matthew made a great feast, which was graced by the presence of Jesus ; in his Gospel he says not one word about it ! Seek to live more constantly and ha- bitually under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus. Selfishness withers and dies beneath Calvary. Ah, believer ! if Christ had " pleased Himself," where wouldst thou have been this day ? **A]IU rOTTBSSLTBS LIIlKWISK WITH THE SAIIfl KIHD." THE MIND OP JESUS. 33 8th Mornino "Let this mind be in you, whicli was also in Christ Jesus. " Jesus said unto him, It is written." — Matt. iv. 7. ^ , . , , We cannot fail to be InkutMinn tn ^^^.^^^ j^ ^,^3 ^^^^^^ teaching, with his constant appeal to the Word of God. While, at times. He utters, in His own name, the authorita- tive behest, " Yerily, verily, / say unto you," He as often thus introduces some mighty work, or gives intimation of some impending event in His own momentous life. "These things must come to pass, that tJie Scriptures he fulfilled, ivliich saith" He commands His people to " search the Scriptures ;*' but he sets the example by searching and submitting to them Himself. Wheth- er He drives the money-changers from their sacrilegious traffic in the temple, or foils his great adversary on the mount 34 THE KIND OF JESUfl. of teDiptation, lie does so witli the same weapon, ^^ It is written^ When He rises from the grave, the theme of His first discourse is one impressive tribute to the value and authority of tho same sacred oracles. The disciples on the road to Emmaus listen to nothing but a Bible lesson. "He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." How momentous the instruction here- in conveyed! The necessity of the absolute subjection of the mind to God's writtenWord — making churches, creeds, ministers, books, religious opinion, all subordinate and subservient to this — " How readest thou?" rebuking the phi- losophy, falsely so called, that would distort the plain statements of Revela- tion, and bring them to the bar of proud Reason. If an infallible Redeeraer, '•' a law to Himself," was submissive in all respects to the " ivriiten law," shall fallible man THE MIND OF JESUS. 35 refuse to sit with the teachableness of a little child, and listen to the Divine message ? There may be, there is, in the Bible, what Reason staggers at : "we have nothing to draw witli, and the well is deep." But ^^TJnis saith the Lord "is enough. Faith does not first ask what the bread is made of, but eats it. It does not analyse the components of the living stream, but with joy draws the water from the " wells of salvation." Reader! take that Word as "the lamp to thy feet, and the light to thy path." In days when false lights are hung out, there is the more need of keeping the eye steadily fixed on the unerring beacon. Make the Bible tho arbiter in all difficulties^the ultimate court of appeal. Like Mary, " sit at the feet of Jesus," willing only to learn of Him. How many perplexities it would save you ! how many fatal steps in life it would prevent — how many tears! " It is a great matter," says the noblest 36 THE MIND OP JESUS. of modern Christian philosophers, " when the mind dwells on any passage of Scripture, just to think lioio true it isJ^ (Chalmer's Life.) In every dubious question, when the foot is trembling on debatable ground, knowing not whether to advance or recede, make this the final criterion, "What saith the Scripture?" The world may remonstrate — erring friends may disapprove — Satan may tempt — in- genious arguments may explain away ; but, with our finger on the revealed page, let the words of our Great Example be ever a divine formula for our guidance : " This commandment have I received of my Father !" 'akm yourselves likevise with the same juhd." THE mND OF JESUS. 37 9tii Mor>txo. ** Let tWs mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. «' He continued all niglit in prayer to God."— Luke vi. 12. ^ , We speak of this Cliris- ^ratimnlntSS. ^^^^ ^^^ ti,,t Christian as a •' man of prayer." Jesus was emphat- ically so. The Spirit was "poured upon Him without measure," yet — He prayed ! He was incarnate wisdom, " needing not that any should teach Him." He was infinite in His power, and boundless in His resources, yet — He 'prayed ! How deeply sacred the prayer- "ful memories that hover around the soli- tudes of Olivet and the shores of Tibe- rias ! He seemed often to turn night in- to day to redeem moments for prayer, rather than lose the blessed privilege. We are rarely, indeed, admitted into the solemnities of His inner life. The veil of night is generally between us and the Great High Priest, wl en He entered 38 THE MIND OF JESUS. " the holiest of all f but we have enough to reveal the depth and fervour, the ten- derness and confidingness of this blissful intercommunion with His heavenly Fa- ther. No morning dawns without His fetching fresh manna from the mercy- seat. " He wakeneth morning by morn- ing ; he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." (Isa. 1. 4.) Beautiful descrip- tion ! — a praying Redeemer, wakening, as if at early dawn, the ear of His Father, to get fresh supplies for the duties and the trials of the day ! All His public acts were consecrated by prayer, — His baptism, His transfiguration, His mira- cles, His agony. His death. He breathed away His spirit in prayer. " His last breatli," says Philip Henry, "was pray- ing breath." How sweet to think, in holding com- munion with God — Jesus drank of this very brook ! He consecrated the bend- ed knee and the silent chamber. He rcfreslied His fainting spirit at the samo THE MliVD OF JESUS. 39 great Fountain-head from which it is life for us to draw, and death to forsake. Eeader! do you complain of your languid spirit, your drooping faith, your fitful affections, your lukewarm love? May you not trace much of what you deplore to an unfrequented chamber? The treasures are locked up from you, because you have suffered the key to rust ; the hands hang down, because they have ceased to be uplifted in prayer. Without prayer! — It is the pilgrim without a staff — the seaman without a compass — the soldier going unarmed and unharnessed to battle. Beware of encouraging what indis- poses to prayer — going to the audience chamber with soiled garments, the din of the world following you, its distract- ing thoughts hovering unforbidden over your spirit. Can you wonder tliat the living water refuses to flow through ob- structed channels, or the heavenly light to pierce murky vapours ? 40 THE MIND OF JESUS. On earth, fellowship with a lofty order of minds, imparts a certain nobility to the character ; so, in a far higher sense, by communion with God you will be transformed into His image, and get as- similated to His likeness. Make every event in life a reason for fresh going to Him. If difficulted in duty, bring it to the test of prayer. If bowed down with anticipated trial, — " fearing to enter the cloud," — remember Christ's preparation, " Sit ye here while I go and jpray yon- der." Let prayer consecrate everything — your time, talents, pursuits, engage- ments, joys, sorrows, crosses, losses. By it, rough paths will be made smooth, trials disarmed of their bitterness, en- joyments hallowed and refined, the bread of the world turned into angels' food. " It is in the closet," says Payson, " the battle is lost or won ! " " AB.SrI rOUBSElVES rJKlCWISE WTVH THE SAME MINI)." THE MIND OF JESUS. 41 10th Mor.vinq. *' let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Je3us." " And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us." — Eph. v. 2. jv i rj "Jesus," says a writer, Mmjm. .(-i^g ^-j^gg Qf 2ove." It was the element in which He moved and walked. He sought to baptize tlie world afresh with it. When we find Him teaching us by love to vanquish an ene- 7ny, we need not wonder at the tender- ness of His appeals to the brethren to " love one another." Like a fond fa- ther impressing his children, how the Divine Teacher lins^ers over the lesson, " This is 3Iy commandment ! " If selfishness had guided His actions, we might liave expected Him to de- mand all His people's love for Himself. But He claims no such monopoly. He not only encourages mutual affection, Int He makes it the badge of disciple- 4:2 THE MIND OF JESUS. Bliip ! He gives them at once its meas- ure and motive. " Love one another, as I have loved you!" What a love was that ! — it reached to the lowliest and humblest, — " Inasmuch as ye did it to the least of these, ye did it unto ilfe." Ah ! if such was the Elder Brother's love to His younger brethren, what should the love of these younger broth- ers be for one another! How hum- bling that there should be so much that is sadly and strangely unlike the spirit which our blessed Master sought to incul- cate alike by precept and example ! In- dividual Christians, why these bitter estrangements, these censorious words, these harsh judgments, this want of kind consideration of the feelings and failings of those who may differ from you? Why are your friendships so often like the summer brook, soon dried ? You hope, ere long, to meet in glory. Doubtless, when you enter on that " sab- bath of love," many a greeting will be THE MIND OF JESUS. 43 this, " Alas ! my brother, that on earth I did not love thee more !" Do 3''ou see the image of God in a professing believer ? It is your duty to love him for the sake of that image. No church, no outward livery, no denomi- national creed, should prevent your own- ing and claiming him as a fellow-pilgrim and fellow-heir. It has been said of a portrait, however poor the painting, how- ever unfinished the style, however faulty the touches, however coarse and unseem- ly the frame, yet if the likeness be faithful, we overlook many subordinate defects. So it is with the Christian : however plain the exterior, however rough the setting, or even manifold the blemishes still found cleaving to a partially sancti- fied natui^, yet if the Redeemer's lil^e- ness be feebly and faintly traced there, we should love the copy for the sake of the Divine Original. There may be other bonds of association and inter- course linking spirit wHh spirit ; — family 44 THE MIND OF JESUS. cies, mental congenialities, intellectual tastes, philanthropic pursuits ; but that which ought to take the precedence of all, is the love of God's image in the brethren. What will heaven be but this love perfected — loving Christ, and be- loved by those who love Him ? Keader ! seek to love Him more, and you will love His people more. John had more love than the other disciples. Why ? He drank deepest of the love within that Bosom on which he delighted to lean, every beat of which was love. "Walk," then, "in love!" Let it be the very foot-road you tread ; let your way to heaven be paved with it. Soon shall we come to look within the portal. Then shall every jarring and dissonant note be merged into the sublime har- monies of " the new heavens and the new earth," and we shall all " see eye to eye !" "ABM YOrRSEIATS LIKEWISE WITH THE SABIE MINB." THE MIND OF JESUS. 41- IItii Mobninc "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. " Jesus wept. — Johx xi. 35. o ,, It is an affecting thing to ^I|ni|IETpil. ggg ^ G-reat man in tears I *^ Jesus loept! " It was ever His delight to tread in the footsteps of sorrow — to heal the broken-hearted — turning aside from His own path of suffering to " weep with those that weep." Bethany ! That scene, that loord^ is a condensed volume of consolation for yearning and desolate hearts. What a majesty in those tears ! He had just before been discoursing on Himself as the Resurrection and the Life — the next moment He is a Weeping Man by a human - grave, melted in anguished sorrow at a bereaved one's side ! Think of the funeral at the gate of Nain, read- ing its lesson to dejected myriads — " Let thy widows trust in me !" Think of the 46 THE MIND OP JESUS. farewell discourse to His disciples, when, muffling all His own foreseen and an* ticipated sorrows, He thought only of soothing and mitigating theirs ! Think of the aifecting pause in that silent pro- cession to Calvary, when He turns round and stills the sobs of those who are tracking His steps with their weeping I Think of that wondrous epitome of human tenderness, just ere His eyes closed in their sleep of agony— in the mightiest crisis of all time — when filial love looked down on an anguished moth- er, and provided her a son and a home ! Ah, was there ever sympathy like this ! Son ! Brother ! Kinsman ! Saviour ! all in one ! The majesty of Godhead almost lost in the teuderness of the Friend. But so it was, and so it is. The heart of the now enthroned King beats re- sponsive to the humblest of His sorrow- stricken people. " I am poor and needy, yet the Lord carries me on Hia heart r (margin). THE MIND OF JESUS. 47 Let us " go and do likewise." Let us be ready, like our Lord, to follow the beck of misery, — " to deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper." Sym- pathy costs but little. Its recompense and return are great, in the priceless consolation it imparts. Few there are who undervalue it. Look at Paul — the weary, jaded prisoner, — chained to a soldier, — recently wrecked, about to stand before Caesar. He reaches Appii Forum and the Three Taverns, dejected and depressed. Brethren come from Rome, a distance of sixty miles, to offer their sympathy. The aged man is cheered ! His spirit, like Jacob's, " re- vived !" " He thanked God, and took courage ! "- Reader ! let " this mind," this holy, Christ-like habit be in you, which was also in your adorable Master. Delight, when opportunity occurs, to frequent the house of mourning, — to bind up the 48 THE MIND OF JESUS. widow's heart, and to dry the orphan'^- tears. If you can do nothing else, you can whisper into the ear of disconsolate sorrow those majestic solaces, which, rising first in the graveyard of Bethany, have sent their undying echoes through the world, and stirred the depths of ten thousand hearts. " Exercise your souls," says Butler, "in a loving sympathy with sorrow in every form. Soothe it, min- ister to it, succour it, revere it. It is the relic of Christ in the world, an image of the Great Sufferer, a shadow of the cross. It is a holy and venerable thing." Jesus Himself " looked for some to take 'pity, but there was none ; and for comforters, but He found none ! " It shows how even He valued sympathy, and that, too, in its commonest form of ^^pity,^^ though an ungrateful World de- nied it. "arm YOURSELVEa LIKEWISK WITn ITIE SAIIB MIOT)." THE MIND OF JESUS. 49 12™ MORNINO. '* Let this mind be in you, whicli was also in Christ Jesus." '*Tho Lord tiiraed and looked upon Peter." — Luke xxii. 6L ^,K ... Jesus never spake one un- . *\^^ I ^H necessarily harsh or severe in mmit ^^^^^^ jje had a divine sympathy for the frailties and infirmities of a tried, and suffering, and tempted nature in others. He was forbearing to the ignorant, encouraging to the weak, tender to the penitent, loving to all, — yet how faithful was He as " the Reprover of sin ! " Silent under His own wrongs, with what burning invective did He lay bare the Pharisees' masked corruption and hypocrisy ! When His Father's name and temple were pro- faned, liow did He sweep, with an aveng- ing hand, the mammon-crowd away, re- placing the super scriptioiT, " Holiness to the Lord," over the defiled altars 1 4 50 THE MIND OF JESUS. Nor was it different Avitli His own disciples. With what fidelity, when rebuke was needed, did He administer it : the withering reprimand conveyed, sometimes by an impressive loord (Matt. XV i. 23) ; som^etimes by a silent look (Lnke xxii. 61). " Faithful always were the wounds of this Friend." Reader ! art thou equally faithful with thy Lord in rebuking evil ; not with " the wrath of man, which worketh not the righteousness of God," but with a holy jealousy of His glory, feeling, with the sensitive honour of " the good soldier of Jesus Christ," that an affront offered to Him is offered to thyself ? The giving of a wise reproof requires much Christian prudence and delicate discre- tion. It is not by a rash and incon- siderate exposure of failings that we must attempt to reclaim an erring bro- tlier. But neither, for the sake of a false peace, must we compromise fidelity; even friendship is too dearly purchased THE MIND OF JESUS. 51 by winking at sin. Perhaps, when Peter was led to call the Apostle who Iionestly reproved him. " Our beloved brother Paul," in nothing did he love his rebuker more, than for the honest bold- ness of his Christian reproof. If Paul had, in that crisis of the Church, with a timidity unworthy of him, evaded the ungracious task, what, humanly speak- ing, might have been the result ? How often does a seasonable repri- mand, a faithful caution, save a lifetime of sin and sorrow ! How many a death- bed has made the disclosure, " That kind warning of my friend put an arrest on my career of guilt ; it altered my whole being ; it brought me to the cross, touched my heart, and, by God's grace saved my soul ! " On the other hand, how many have felt, when death has put his impressive seal on some close earthly intimacy, " This friend, or that Mend, — I might have spoken a solemn word to him ; but now he is no more ; 52 THE MIND OF JESUS. the opportunity is lost, never to be re- called ! " Reader! see that you act not the spiritual coward. When tempted to sit silent when the name of God is slighted or dishonoured, think, would Jesus have done so ? — would He have allowed the oath to go unrebuked — the lie to be uttered unchallenged — the Sabbath with impunity to be profaned ? Where there is a natural diffidence which makes you shrink from a more bold and opcL reproof, remember much may be done to discountenance sin, by the silent holi- ness of demeanour, which refuses to smile at the unholy allusion or ribald jest. " A word spoken in due season, how good is it ! " " Speak gently," yet speak faithfully : " be pitiful— be cour- teous : " yet " quit you like men, bo strong ! " " ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE -Wrra THE SAME MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 63 ISth Morninq *' Let this mind b3 in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " — Joh\ xxi. 15. ^ M No word here of the erring ^d^entlmBS ^lisciple's past faithlessness ; lu ^vrulllvr. — i^jg guilty cowardice — un- mentioned ; — his base denial — his oaths and curses, and treacherous desertion — all unmentioned ! The memory of a threefold denial is suggested, and no more, by the threefold question of un- utterable tenderness, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " When Jesus finds His disciples sleeping at the gate of Gethsemane, He rebukes them ; but how is the rebuke disarmed of its poignancy by the merciful apology which is added — " The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak ! '^ How different from their unkind insinuation regarding Him, when, in the vessel on Tiberias, " He was asleep "' — *• Master, 54 THE MIND OF JESUS. carest thou not that we perish ! " The woman of Samaria is full of earthliness, carnality, sectarianism, guilt. Yet how gently the Saviour speaks to her — how forbearingly, yet faithfully, He directs the arrow of conviction to that seared and hardened conscience, till He lays it bleeding at His feet ! Truly, " He will not break the bruised reed — He will not quench the smoking flax." By "the goodness of God," He would lead to re- pentance. When others are speaking of merciless violence, He can dismiss the most guilty of profligates with the words, " Neither do I condemn thee ; go, and sin no more." Plow many have an unholy pleasure in finding a brother in the wrong, — blaz- ing abroad his failings ; administeiing rebuke, not in gentle forbearance and kindly expostulation, but with harsh and impatient severity ! How beautifully did Jesus unite intense sensibility to sin, along with tenderest compassion for the THE MIx^D OF JESUS. 55 sinner, shewing in this that " He know- eth our frame ! " Many a scholar needs gentleness in chastisement. The reverse would crush a sensitive spirit, or drive it to despair. Jesus tenderly " con- siders " the case of those He disciplines, " tempering the wind to the shorn lamb." In the picture of the good shepherd bearing home the wandering sheep, He illustrated by parable what He had often and again taught by His own example. No word of needless harshness or up- braiding uttered to the erring wanderer I Ingratitude is too deeply felt to need rebuke ! In silent love, " He lays it on His shoulders rejoicing." Eeader ! seek to mingle gentleness in all your rebukes ; bear with the infir- mities of others ; make allowance for constitutional frailties ; never say harsh things, if kind things will do as well ; do not unnecessarily lacerate with re- calling former delinquencies. In re- proving another, let us rather feel how 56 THE MIND OF JESUS. much we need reproof ourselves. " Con- eider thyself/' is a searching Scripture motto for dealing with an erring brother. Remember thy Lord's method of silenc- ing fierce accusation — " Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." More- over, anger and severity are not tho successful means of reclaiming the back- slider, or of melting the obdurate. Like the smooth, stones with which David smote Goliath, gentle rebukes are gene- rally the most powerful. The old fable of the traveller and his cloak has a moral here as in other things. The genial sunshine will effect its removal sooner than the rough tempest. It was said of Leigh ton, that " he rebuked faults so mildly, that they were never repeated, not because the admonished were afraid, but ashamed to do so." "•'ARM Y0UKSELVK3 UKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 57 14th MoRSDfa "let this mind be in you, whicli was also in Christ Jesus." " Wh> endured such concradiction of siiiners against Himself." — Heb. xii. 3. ^ V What endurance was perfect love in the midst of ingratitude and coldness ; perfect rectitude in the midst of perjury, violence, fraud ; per- fect constancy in the midst of contumely and desertion ; perfect innocence, con- fronting every debased form of depravity and guilt ; perfect patience, encounter- ing every species of gross provocation — " oppressed and afflicted, He opened not His mouth ! " " For my love " (in return for my love), " they are mine adversaries ; buf^ (see His endurance ! — the only spe- cies of revenge of which His sinless na- ture was capable) " / give myself unto prayer ! '' (Ps. cix. 4.) Reader ! '* let this mind be in you, 58 THE MIND OF JESUS. which was also in Christ Jesus ! " The greatest test of an earthly soldier's courage is patient endurance! The noblest trait of the spiritual soldier is the same. " Having done all to stand,^' " He endured, as seeing Him who is invisible ! " Beware of the angry re- crimination, the hasty ebullition of temper. Amid unkind insinuations — when motives are misrepresented, and reputation assailed ; when good deeds are ridiculed, kind intentions coldly thwarted and repulsed, chilling reserve manifested where you expected nothing but friendship — what a triumph over natural impulse to manifest a spirit of meek endurance ! — like a rainbow, ra- diant with the hues of heaven, resting peacefully amid the storms of derision a,nd " the floods of ungodly men." What an opportunity of magnifying the " sus- taining grace of God ! '^ " It is a small thing for me to be judged of you, or of man's judgment ; He that judgeth me THE MIND OF JESUS. 59 is the Lord." "The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man can do unto me." "Blessed is the man that mdyreth.^' " He that endicreth to the end, the same shall be saved." If faithful to our God, we must ex- pect to encounter contradiction in the same form which Jesus did — " the con- tradiction of sinners J^ It has been well said, " There is no cross of nails and wood erected now for the Christian, but there is one of words and looks which is never taken down." If believers are set as lights in the earth, lamps in the " city of destruction," we know that "he that doeth evil liatdh the light." " Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you !" Weary and faint ones, exposed to the shafts of calumny and scorn because of your fidelity to your God ; — encoun- tering, it may be, the coldness and estrangement of those dear to you, who cannot, perhaps, sympathise in the holi- 60 THE MIND OF JESUS. ness of your walk and the loftiness of your aims, " consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be weary and faint in your minds !" What is your " contra- diction" to His? Soon your cross, whatever it be, will have an end. " The seat of the scorner" has no place in yonder glorious heaven, where all will be peace — no jarring note to disturb its blissful harmonies ! Look forward to the great coronation-day of the Church triumphant, — the day of your divine Lord's appearing, when motives and aims, now misunderstood, will be vindicated, wrongs redressed, calumnies and aspersions wiped away. Meanwhile; " rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." "arm Y0CBSELVB3 UKEWISE Vmn THE SAMB MIND.' THE MIND OF JESUS. 61 1^1 15tk Morning. ** Let this mind be in you, whicli was also in Christ Jesus." " I do always those things that please Him." — JouN \in. 29. ^ V What a glorious motto God /" It is religion's truest definition. It is the essence of angelic bliss — the motive principle of angelic action ; "Ye ministers of His that do His pleasure." The Lord of angels knew no higher, no other motive. It was, during His incarnation, the regulator and directory of His daily being. It supported Him amid the depressing sorrows of His woe- worn path. It upheld him in their awful termination in the garden and on the cross. For a moment, sinking human nature faltered under the load his God- head sustained ; but the thought of "pleasing God" nerved ani rcAqved Him. "Not my will, but Thine be done." 62 THE MIND OF JESUS. It is only when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, that this ani- mating desire to " please Him " can exist. In the lioly bosom of Jesus, that love reigned paramount, admitting no ri\^al — no competing afiection. Though infi- nitely inferior in degree, it is the same impelling principle which leads His people still to link enjoyment with His service, and which makes consecration to Him of heart and life, its own best recompense and reward. " There is a gravitation," says one whose life was the holy echo of his words, " in the moral as in the physical world. When love to God is habitually in the ascendant, or occupying the place of will, it gathers round it all the other desires of the soul as satellites, and whirls them along with it in its orbit round the centre of hUyhlC' iionJ^ ( Reivitson^s Life.) Till the heart, then, be changed, the believer cannot have " this testimony that he pleases God" The world, self, sin — these be THE MIND OF JESUS. 03 the gods of the unregenerate soul. And even when changed, alas that there should be so many ebbings and flo wings in our tide of devotedness ! Jesus could say, " I do always those things that please the Father." Glory to God burned within His bosom like a living fire. "Many waters could not quench it.'^ His were no fitful and inconstant frames and feelings, but the persistent habit of a holy life, which had the one end in view, from which it never diverged or deviated. Let it be so, in some lowly measure, with us. Let God's services not be the mere livery of high days, — of set times and seasons ; but, like the alabaster box of ointment, let us be ever giving forth the fragrant perfume of holiness. Even when the shadows of trial are falling around us, let us " pass through the cloud" with the sustaining motive — "All my wish, 0 God, is to please and glorify Thee ! By giving or taking — by smit- 64 THE MIND OF JESUS. ing or healing — by the sweet cup or the bitter — ' Father, glorify thy name !' " "I don't want to be weary of God's dealings with me," said Bickersteth, on his death-bed ; " I want to glorify Jesus in them, and to find Him more precious." Do I shrink from trials — duties — crosses — because involving hardships and self- denial, or because frowned on by the world ? Let the thought of God's approv- ing countenance be enough. Let me dread no censure, if conscious of acting in accordance with His will. Let the Apostle's monitory word determine many a perplexing path.—" If I please men, I am not the servant of Christ." «*AIEM TOCBSKLVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAKE raND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 65 16th MokmxN'G. ** Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " EJeing grieved for the hanlness of their hearts." Mark in. 5. ^ . P , On this one occasion only is UPriBl HI ^YiQ expression used with refer- ^ ^^^* ence to Jesus — (what intensity of emotion does it denote, spoken of a sinless nature !) — " He looked round on them luitJi anger P^ Never did He grieve for Himself. His intensest sor- rows were reserved for those who were tampering with their own souls, and dis- honouring His God. The continual spectacle of moral evil, thrust on the gaze of spotless purity, made His earthly history one consecutive history of grief, one perpetual " cross and passion." In the tears shed at the grave of Bethany, sympathy, doubtless, for the world's myriad mourners, had its own share (the bereaved could not part with 5 66 THE MIND OP JESUS. SO precious a tribute in their hours of saclne&s,) but a far more impressive cause was one undiscerned by the weepins: sis- ters and sorrowing crowd ; — Hisknovsr. ledge of the deep and obdurate impeni- tence of those who were about to gaze on the mightiest of miracles, only to *' despise, and wonder, and perish.'' ^^ Jesus ivept r — but His profoundest anguish was over resisted grace, abused privileges, scorned mercy. It was the Divine Artificer mourning over His shattered handiwork ; — the Almighty Creator weeping over His ruined world; — God, the God-man, " grieving" over the Temple of the soul, a humiliating wreck of vv^hat once was made " after His own image I " Can we sympathize in any respect with such exalted tears ? Do we mourn for sin, our oiun sin — the deep insult which it inflicts on God — the ruinous consequences it entails on ourselves? Do we grieve at sin in others? Do wo THE MIND OF JESUS. 67 know anytliing of " vexing our souls," like righteous Lot, " from day to day,'' with the world's " unlawful deeds," — the Btupid hardness and obduracy of the depraved heart, which resists alike the appliances of wrath and love, judgment and mercy ? Ah ! it is easy, in general terms, to condemn vice, and to utter harsh, severe, and cutting denunciations on the guilty : it is easy to pass unchari- table comments on the inconsistencies or follies of others ; but to '"grieve" as our Lord did, is a different thing ; — to mourn over the hardness of heart, and yet to have the burning desire to teach it bet- ter things ; — to hate, as He did, the sin, but, like Him also, to love the sinner! Reader ! look specially to your own spirit. In one respect, the example of Jesus falls short of your case. He had no sin of His own to mourn over. He could only commiserate others. Your intensest grief must begin with yourself. Like the watchful Levite of old, be a 68 THE MIND OF JESUS. guardian at the temple -gates of your own soul. Whatever be your besetting iniquity, jour constitutional bias to sin, seek to guard it with wakeful yigilanco. Grieve at the thought of incurring one passing shadow of displeasure from so kind and compassionate a Saviour. Let this be a holy preservative in your every hour of temptation, " How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Grieve for a perishing world — a groaning creation fettered and chained in unwilling '^ subjection to vanity." Do what you can, by effort, by prayer, to hasten on the hour of jubilee, when its ashy robes of sin and sorrow shall be laid aside, and, attired in the '' beauties of holiness," it shall exult in " the glo- rious liberty of the sons of God ! " *' ABM TO-TRS^LVES UKEWTSE WITH THE SAMS MIKD." THE MIND OF JESUS. 69 ITth Mormxq. "Lot this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. •Ileriseth from supper, and laid aside His garmcuts ; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet."— John xm. 4, 6. 4i5ttm;iUK What a matchless picture of mmim^, humility! At the very mo- ment when His throne was in view ; — angel-anthems floating in His ear ; — the hour come " when He was to depart out of this world ;" possessing a lofty con- sciousness of His peerless dignity, that "He came from God and went to God ;'* THEN "Jesus took a towel, and girded Himself, and began to wash the disciples' feet !" All heaven was ready at that moment to cast their combined crowns at His feet. But the High and the Lofty One inhabiting eternity is on earth " as one that serveth ! " " That infinite stoop ! it sinks all creature hu- miliation to nothing, and renders it im- 70 THE MIND OF JESUS. possible for a creature to TiumUe him- self."— {Evans.) Humility follows Him from His un- honoured birthplace to His borrowed grave. It throws a subdued spleudour over all He did. " The poor in spirit," — the " mourner," — the " meek," — claim His first beatitudes. He was severe on- ly to one class — those who looked down upon others. However He is employed ; whether performing His works of mirac- ulous power, or receiving angel-visitants, or taking little children in His arms, He stands forth " clotlied with humility." Nay, this humility becomes more con- spicuous as He draws nearer glory. Before His death. He calls His disci- ples ^^ Friends ; ^^ subsequently, it is ''Brethren,'' ''ChUdren." How "sad the contrast between the Master and His disciples ! Two hours had not elapsed after He washed their feet, when "there was a strife among them which should be the greatest I" THE MIND OF JESUS. 71 Let the mental image of that lowly Redeemer be ever bending over us. His example may well speak in silent irapressiveness, bringing us down from our pedestal of pride. There surely can be no labour of love too humiliating when He stooped so low. Let us be content to take the humblest place ; — not envious of the success or exaltation of another ; not, " like Diotrephes, lov- ing pre-eminence ;" but willing to be thought little of ; saying with the Bap- tist, with our eye on our Lord, " He must increase, but I must decrease !" How much we have cause to be hum- ble for ! — the constant cleaving of de- filement to our souls; and even what is partially good in us, how mixed with imperfection, self-seeking, arrogance, vain-glory ! A proud Christian is a contradiction in terms. The Seraphim of old (type of the Christian Church, and of believers) had six wings — two were for errands of love, but " w\\h.fouT 72 THE MIND OF JESUS. he covered himself!" It has been bean- tifully said, " You lie nearest the River of Life when you bend to it ; you cannot drink, but as you stoop J'' The corn of the field, as it ripens, bows its head ; so the Christian, as he ripens in the divine life, bends in this lowly grace. Christ speaks of His people as " lilies " — they are " li]ies of the Valley ^^^ they can only grow in the shade ! " Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.'' " Go" with what Ruth- erford calls "a low sail." It is the liv- ery of your blessed Master ; the family badge — the family likeness. "With this man will I dwell, even with him that is humble.^' Yes! the humble, sanctified heart is God's second Heaven I "ARM YOCHSKLT ES liSirWlSE TTITH THB SAME lOMD.*' THE MIND OF JESUS. 73 18th SIornisg " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter." — ISA. Lni. 7. ^. , How great was the 'patience ^c mtiill, of Jesus ! E veu among His OAm disciples, how forbearingly He endured their blindness, their misconceptions and hardness of heart ! Philip had been for three years with Him, yet he had " not known Him ! " — all that time he had re- mained in strange and culpable ignorance of his Lord's dignity and glory. See how tenderly Jesus bears with liim ; — giving him nothing in reply for his confession of ignorance but unparalleled promises of grace ! — Peter, the honoured and trusted, becomes a renegade and a coward. Justly might his dishonoured Lord, stung with such unrequited love, have cut the unworthy cumberer down. But He spares him, bears with him, gently rebukes him, and loves him more thau 74 THE MIND OF JESUS. ever ! — See tlie Divine Sufferer in the terminating scenes of His own ignominy and woe. How patient! — "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." In these awful moments, outraged Omnipotence might have summoned twelve legions of angels and put into the hand of each a vial of wrath. But He submits in meek, ma- jestic silence. Verily, in Him " patience had lier perfect work." Think of this same patience with His Church and people since He ascended to glory. The years upon years He has borne with their perverse resistance of His grace, their treacherous ingrati- tude, their wayward wanderings, their hardness of heart and contempt of His holy word. Yet, behold the forbearing love of this Saviour God ! His hand of mercy is " stretched out still ! " Child of God ! art thou now undergo- ing some bitter trial ? Tlie way of thy G od, it may be, all mystery ; no footprints of THE MIND OF JESUS. 75 love traceable in the chequered path ; no light in the clouds above ; no ray in the dark future. Be patient ! " The Lord is good to them that icait for Him." " They that ivait on the Lord shall re- new their strength ! " — Or hast thou been long tossed on some bed of sickness — days of pain and nights of weariness a}> pointed thee? Be patient ! "I trust this groaning/' said a suffering saint, " is not murmuring." God, by this very affliction, is nurturing within thee this beauteous grace which shone so con- spicuously in the character of thy dear Lord. With Him it was a lovely habit of the soul. With thee, the " tribula- tion " which worketh " patience " is need- ful discipline. " It is good for a man that he should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Glod." — Art thou suffering some unmerited wrong or unkindness, exposed to harsh and wound- ing accusations, hard for flesh and blood to bear ? Be patient! Beware of hasti- 76 THE MIND OF JESUS. ness of speech or temper ; remember ho"^ much evil may be done by a few incon- siderate words, " spoken unadvisedly with the lip." Think of Jesus standing before a human tribunal, in the silent SLibmissiveness of conscious innocence and integrity. Leave thy cause with God. Let this be the only form of thy complaint, " 0 God, I am oppressed ; undertake Thou for me ! " " In patience," then " possess ye your souls." Let it not be a grace for pecu- liar seasons, called forth on peculiar exi- gencies ; but an habitual frame mani- fested in the calm serenity of a daily walk ; — placidity amid tlie little fretting annoyances of every-day life — a fixed purpose of the heart to wait upon God, and cast its every burden upon Him. "arm TOUKSEIVES IIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIKQ," THE MIND OF JESUS. 77 19th MoRxixa " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." ' As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." JOHX XIV. '61. o I » ,. Jesus as God-man had onir ^UUjmiQU. nipotencc slumbering in His arm. He had the hoarded treasures of eternity in his grasp. He had only to " speak, and it was done." But as an example to His people, His whole life on earth was one impressive act of sub- ordination and dependence. At Naza- reth He was " subject to His parents." There He remained in studied obscu- rity occupying for thirty years a lowly hut, willing to continue in a state of seclu- sion, till the Father's summons called Him to His appointed work. At His baptism, sinless Himself, He gives this reason for receiving a sinner^s rite at a sinner's hands — " Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh Me to fulfil all righteousness." The same 78 THE MIND OF JESUS. beaiftiful spirit of filial suhjection shines conspicaoiis amid His acts of stupendous power. '' Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me ; and I know that Thou hearest Me always ; but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Even among His own disciples His language is, " I am among you as He that serveth." With an act of sub- mission He closed His pilgrimage and work of love. " Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." What an example to us, in all this, is our beloved Lord! Surely, if He, " God only wise" — the Self-existent One, to whom " all power was committed ;" — the Sinless One, never liable to err, on whom " the Spirit was poured without measure" — if He manifested such habit- ual dependence on His heavenly Father, how eajnestly ought ive, weak, erring, fallible creatures, to seek to live every THE MIND OF JESUS. 79 hour — every moment — as pensioners on God's grace and love, following in all things His directing hand ! As the ser- vant has his eyes on his master, or the child on its parent, " so should our eyes be on the Lord our God.'' Howsoever He speaks, be it ours with all docility to follow the voice, endorsing every utterance of providence, and every pre- cept of Scripture, with our Lord's own words, " This is tJie Father'' s loill ! '' Beware of self-dependence. The first step in spiritual declension is this : — " Let him that thiriketh he standeth ! " The secret of real strength is this : — " Kept by the poiver of God I " How it sweetens all our blessings, and alleviates all our sorrows, to regard both as emanations from a loving Father*s liand. Even if we should be like the dis- ciples of old, " constrained'''' to go into the ship ; if all should be darkness and tempest, — frowning providences, — " tJie wind contrary ;" how blessed to feel that 80 THE MIND OF JESUS. in embarking on the unquiet element^ '' the Lord has bidden us !" Paul could not speak even of taking an earthly journey, without the parenthesis, (" if the Lord will.") How many trials, and sorrows, and sins, would it save us, if the same were tlie liabitual regulator of our daily life ! It would lead to calm con- tentment with our lot, hushing every dis- quieting suggestion with the thought that that lot, with all that is apparently adverse in it, was ordained for us. It would teach us not to be aspiring after great things, but humbly to wait the will and purposes of a wise Provider ; not to go before our Heavenly Guide, but io follow Him, saying, in meek sub- jection, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I exer- cise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me my soul is even as a weaned child !" ♦*ARU YOrRSEL-VES UKKWTSE WITH THE SAME MIIVD." THE MIND OF OESUB. 81 20-12 MoRNINO. ** Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again. — 1 Peter ii. 23. ^ , What a common dictate irt ^1 r 1; of ^^6 fallen and unregen- iirialiaiing. ^^^^^ 1^^^^^,^ ^^ resent and recriminate ! How alien to natural feel- ing to answer cutting taunts, and meet unmerited wrong, with the Divine meth- od the Gospel prescribes — " Overcome evil with good ! " It was in the closing scenes of the Saviour's humiliation, when, silent and unresenting. He stood " dumb before His shearers," that this beautiful feature in His character was most won- drously manifested ; but it beams forth also for our imitation in the ordinary and less prominent incidents of His pil- grimage. When He met Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, He found him clinging to an un- reasonable prejudice — " Can any good 6 82 THE MIND OF JESUS. thing come out of Nazareth ? " The se- vere remark is allowed to pass imnoticed. Overlooking the mikind insinuation, the Saviour fixes on the favourable feature of his character, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! " — After His resurrection, he appears to His dis- ciples. They were cowering in shame, half afraid to confront the glance of injured goodness. He breathes on them, and says, " Peace be unto you ! " — Peter was the one of all the rest who had most reason to dread estranged looks and upbraiding words ; but a special message is sent, to reassure that trem- bling spirit that there was no aliena- tion in the unresentful Heart he had so deeply wounded ; — " Go and tell the dis- ciples . . . and Peter I '' — Even when Judas first revealed himself to his Tjord as the betrayer, we believe it was not in bitter irony or rebuke, but in the ful- ness of pitying tenderness, that Jesus addressed him, " Friend, wherefore art THE m^D OP JESUS. 83 thou come ? " — Tears and prayers were His only revenge on the city and scene of His murder. " Beginning at Jerusa- lem," was the closing illustration of a spirit " not of this world " — a significant parting testimony that in the bosom that uttered it, retaliation had no place. More than one of the disciples seem to have imbibed much of this "mind " of their Lord. " We owe St. Paul," says Augustine, " to the death of Stephen ; '* — " they stoned Stephen .... and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord ! lay not this sin to their charge." Take another example : The great Apostle of the Gentiles felt himself under a painful necessity faithfully to rebuke Peter in presence of the whole Church. He had recorded that rebuke, too, in one of his epistles. It was thus to be handed down to every age as a permanent and bumiliating evidence of the wavering in- consto^ncy of his fellow-labourer. Peter, 84 THE MIND OF JESUS. doubtless, must have felt acutely tlie geverity of the chastisement. Doet? he resent it ? He, too, puts on record, long after, in one of his own epistles, a sen- tence regarding his Rebuker, but it is tliis — " Our beloved hrother Paul ! " Reader ! when tempted to utter the harsh word, or give the cutting or hasty answer, seek to check yourself with the question, " Is this the reply my Saviour would have given ? " If your fellow-men should prove unkind, inconsiderate, un- grateful, be it yours to refer the cause to God. Speak of the faults of others only in prayer ; manifesting more sor- row for the sin of the censorious and unkind, than for the evil inflicted on yourselves. — Retaliate ! No such word should have a place in the Christian's vocabulary. Eetaliate! If I cherish such a spirit towards my brother, how can I meet that brother in heaven ?— " But ye have not so learned Christ." " ARM TOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND," THE MIND OF JESUS. 85 21ST MoajHNO. ** Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " And He bearing His cross." — John xix. 17. ^ ♦ When did Jesus bear the iiBnring ^^^^gg^ ^^^ ^l^^^ moment ter tree was placed on His shoulders, on the way to Golgotha. Its vision may be said to have risen before Him in His infant dreams in Bethlehem's cradle ; there, rather, its reality began ; and He ceased not to carry it, till His work was finished, and the victory won I A cloud of old, hovered over the mercy- seat in the tabernacle and temple. So it was with the Great Antitype — the liv- ing Mercy-Seat, — He had ever a cloud of woe hanging over Him. " He car- ried our sorrows." Reader ! dwell much and often under the shadow of your Lord's cross, and it will lead you to think lightly of your 86 THE MIND OF JESUS. own ! Ii He gave utterance 1o not one murmuring word, canst thou complain ? " If we were deeper students of His bit- ter anguish, we should think less of the ripplingo of our waves, amidst His hoi*- rible tempest." — {Eva-^.s) The saint's cross assumes many and diverse shapes. Sometimes it is the bitter trial, tlie crushing pang of bereavement, — desolate households, and aching hearts. Some- times it is the crucifixion of sin, the de- termined battling with " lusts which war against the soul." Sometimes it is the resistance of the evil maxims and prac- tices of a lying world ; — vindicating the honour of Christ, in the midst, it may be, of taunt, and obloquy, and shame. And as there are different crosses, so there are different ways of bearing them. To some, God says, " Put your shoulder to the burden ; lift it up, and bear it on ; work, and toil, and labour ! " To others, He says, " Be still, bear it, and suffer I " THE MIND OF JESUS. 87 Believer ! thy cross may be hard to endure ; it may involve deep struggles — tears by day, watchings by night ; bear it meekly, patiently, justifying God's wisdom in laying it on. Rejoice in the assurance that He gives not one atom more of earthly trial than He sees to be really needful ; not one redundant thorn pierces your feet. In the very bearing of the cross for Hi? sake, there are mighty compensations. What new views of your Saviour's love ! His truth, His promises, His sustaining grace, His sufferings, His glory ! What new filial nearness ; increased delight in prayer ; an inner sunshine when it is darkest without! The waves cover 5'ou, but underneath them all are " the everlast- ing arms ! " Do not look out for a situation with- out crosses. Be not over anxious about "smooth paths;" — leaving your God, as Orpah did Naomi, just when thf cross requires to be carried. Immoderate 88 THE MINU OF JESUS. earthly enjoyments, — unbroken earthly prosperity, — write upon these " Be- ware! " You may live to see them be- come your greatest trials ! Remember the old saying, " No cross no crown." The sun of the saint's life generally struggles through "weeping clouds." One of the loveliest passages of Scripture is that in which the portals of heaven being opened, we overhear this dialogue between two ransomed ones — " And one of the elders answered, say- ing unto me. What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? And I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great trihulcdion ! ^^ "aem roxmsEivES xjkbwise wtth the same nun)." THE MIND OF JESUS. 89 22ii MoKNisck ** Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." *' The zeal of Tliinc House hath eaten me up." — Jonx II. 17. J,. J ^ I " Zeal is a principle ; en- mitl 4Ul thusiasm is a feeling. The one is the spark of a sanguine tempera- ment and overheated imagination. The other, a sacred flame, kindled at God's altar, and burning in God's shrine." — ( Vauglian.) Such was the holy, heavenly- zeal of our Great Exemplar! His were no transient outbursts of ardour, which time cooled, and difficulties im- peded. His life was one indignant pro- test against sin ; one ceaseless current of undying love for souls, which all the malignity of foes, and unkindness of friends, could not for one moment divert from its course. Even when He rises from the dead, and we imagine His work at an end, His zeal only meditates fresh deeds of love. " Still His heart 90 THE MIND OF JESUS. and His care," says Goodwin, '' is upon doing more." Having now dispatclied that great work on earth, He sends His disciples word that He is hastening to heaven as fast as He can, to do another. (John xx. 11.) Eeader ! do you know anything of this zeal, which " many waters could not quench ?" See that, like your Lord's, it be steady, sober, consistent, undeviating. How many are, like the children of Eph- raim, "carrying bows," — all zealous when zeal demands no sacrifice, but " turning their backs in the day of battle !" Others " running well" for a time, but gradually "hindered" through the benumbing in- fluences of worldliness, selfishness and sin. — Two disciples, apparently equally devoted and zealous, send through Paul, in one of his epistles, a conjoint Chris- tian salutation — " Luke and Demas greet you." A few years afterwards, thus he writes from his Roman dungeon — " Only Liike is with me," " Demas hath THE MIXD (IF JESUS. 91 forsaken me, having loved tins present world !" While zeal is commendaLle, remember the Apostle's qualification, " It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing." There is in these days much base coin current, called. " zeal," which bears not the image and superscription of Jesus. There is zeal for church- membership and party ; zeal for creeds and dogmas ; zeal for figments and non- essentials. " From such turn aside.'' Yowv Lord stamped with His example and approval no such counterfeits. His zeal was ever brought to bear on two objects, and two objects alone — tlie glory of God and the good of man. Be it so with you. Enter, first of all, (as He did the earthly temple,) the sanctuary of your oivn heart, with " the scourge of small cords." Drive out every unhal- lowed intruder there. Do not suffer yourself to be deceived. Others may call such jealous searchings of spirit 92 THE MIND OF JESUS. "sanctimonioasness'' and "enthusiasm.'^ But remember, to be almost saved is to be altogether lost I — to be zealous about everything but " the one thing needful," is an insult to God and your everlasting interests ! Have a zeal for others. Dying myriads are around you. As a member of the Christian priesthood, it becomes you to rush in with your censer and in- cense between the living and the dead, " that the plague may be stayed !" Be it yours to say, " Blessed Jesus ! I am Thine! — Thine only! — Thine wholly ! — Thine for ever ! I am willing to follow Thee, and (if need be) to suffer for Thee. I am ready at Thy bidding to leave the homestead in the valley, and to face the cutting blasts of the mountain. Take me — use me for Thy glory. 'Lord! T^hat wilt Thou have me to do ?' " " ARM TOtTRSKLVES LIKEWISE WITF TITE SAME MISD." THE MIND OF JESUS. 93 23d MOKNDia. **Lei this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." *' ViTio went about doing good." — Acts x. 38. , " Christ's great end," says S^rntUDlrnrt ^i^i.^^^ Baxter, " was to save men from their sins ; but He de- lighted to save them from their sorro^vs." His heart bled for human misery. Benev- olence brought Him from heaven ; be- nevolence followed His steps wherever He went on earth. The journeys of the Divine Philanthropist were marked by tears of thankfulness, and breathings of grateful love. The helpless, the blind, the lame, the desolate, rejoiced at the sound of His footfall. Truly might it be said of Him, " When the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me " (Job xxix. 11). All suffering hearts were a magnet to Jesus. It was not more His prerog- ative than His happiness to turn tears 94 THE MIND OF JESUS. into smiles. One of the few pleasm-es which on earth j^lacldened the spirit of the " Man of sorrows " was the pleasure of doing ^oocZ— soothing grief, and alle- viating misery. Next to the joy of the widow of Nain when her son was restor- ed, was the joy in the bosom of the Di- vine Restorer ! He often went out of His way to be kind. A journey was not grudged, even if one aching spirit were to be soothed (Mark v. 1 ; John iv. 4, 5). Nor were His kindnesses dispensed through the intervention of others. They were all personal acts. His own hand healed. His own voice spake. His own footsteps lingered on the threshold of bereavement, or at the precincts of the tomb. Ah ! had the princes of this world known the loving tenderness and nnself- islmcss of that heart, " tliey would not have crucified the Lord of Glory ! '' Eeader ! do you know anything of such active benevolence ? Have you never felt the luxury of doing good? THE MIND OF JESUS. 95 Have you never felt, that in making others liappy, you make yourself so ? that, by a great law of your being, enunciated by the Divine Patron and Pattern of Benevolence, " It is more blessed to give than to receive ? " Has God enriched you with this world's goods ? Seek to view yourself as a consecrated medium for dispensing them to others. Beware alike of penurious hoarding and selfish extravagance. How sad the case of those whose lot God has made thus to abound with temporal mer- cies, who have gone to the grave uncon- scious of diminishing one drop of human misery, or making one of the world's myriad aching hearts happier ! — How the example of Jesus rebukes the cold and calculating kindnesses — the mit«- like offerings of many even of His own people ! " whose libation is not like His, from the brim of an overflowing cup, but: from the bottom — from the dregs f^^ Yon may have little to give. Your ye THE MIND OF JESUS. sphere and means may be alike limited. But remember God can be as much glorified by the trifle saved from the earnings of poverty, as by the splendid benefaction from the lap of plenty. " The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." The nobler part of Christian benev- olence is not vast largesses, munificent pecuniary sacrifices. '^He ivent about doing good." The merciful visit, — the friendly word, — the look of sympathy, — the cup of cold water, — the little un- ostentatious service, — the giving without tliought or hope of recompense, — the kindly " considering of the poor " — an- ticipating their wants — studying their comforts ; — these are what God values and loves. They are " loans " to Him- self—tributary streams to " the rivei' of His pleasure ;" — they will be acknowl- edged at last as such — " Ye did it unto MeP "aKM TOURSEUTS LIKEWISK WITH THE SAKT. MVND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 97 24th MoRNiwa. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." *< Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence, Satan.' — MArr. IV 10. 4X. . There is an awful iuten- fimnm in ^-^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^ .^ ,^^ '(LnnplaUnE. ^^^.^^^ ^g applied to Jesus, " He suffered, being tempted ! " Though incapable of sin, there was, in the refined sensibilities of His holy nature, that which made temptation unspeakably fearful. What must it have been to confront the Arch-traitor? — to stand face to face with the foe of His throne, and His universe ? But the " prince of this world " came, and found " nothing in Him." Billow after billow of Sa- tanic violence spent its fury, in vain, on the Living Rock ! Reader ! you have still the same ma- lignant enemy to contend with; assail- ing you in a thousand insidious forms ; marvellously adapting his aspaiilt? to 7 98 THE MIND OF JESUS. your circumstances, your temperament, your mental bias, your master passion ! There is no place, where " Satan's seat " is not ; " the whole world lieth in the Wicked one."— (1 ^o\m v. 19.) He has his whispers for the ear of childhood j hoary age is not inaccessible to his wiles. ^^AU this will I give //iee"---is still his bribe to deny Jesus and to " mind earthly things." He will meet you in the crowd ; he will follow you to the solitude ; his is a sleepless vigi- lance ! Are you bold in repelling him as your Master was ? Are you ready with the retort to every foul suggestion, " Get thee hence, Satan "? Cultivate a tender sensitiveness about sin. The finest ba- rometers are the most sensitive. What- ever be your besetting frailty — what- ever bitter or baleful passion you are conscious aspires to the mastery — watch it, crucify it, " nail it to your Lord's cross." You may despise " tlie day of THE MIND OP JESUS. 99 small things" — the Great Adversary does not. He knows the power of littles; — that little by little consumes and eats out the vigour of the soul. And once the retrograde movement in the spiritual life loegins, who can predict where it may end? — the going on " from weakness to weakness," instead of "from strength to strength." Make no compromises ; never join in the ungodly amusement, or venture on the questionable path, with the plea, " It does me no harm." The Israelites, on entering Canaan, instead of obeying the Divine injunction of ex- tirpating their enemies, made a hollow truce with them. What was the result ? Years upon years of tedious warfare. " They were scourges in their sides and thorns in their eyes ! " It is quaintly, but truthfully said by an old writer, " Tlie candle will never burn clear, while there is a thief in it. Sin indulged, in the conscience, is like Jonah in the ship, which causeth such a tempest, that tho 100 THE MIND OF JESUS. conscience is like a troubled sea, whose waters cannot rest." — {Thomas Brooks.) " Keep," then, " thy heart with all diligence," or, (as it is in the forcible original Hebrew,) " keep thy heart ohove all kceping,^^ " for out of it are the issues of life " (Prov, iv. 23). Let this ever be our preservative against temptation, " How would Jesus have acted here ? would He not have recoiled, like the sensitive plant, from the remotest con- tact with sin ? Can I think of dishon- ouring Him by tampering with His enemy ; — incurring from his own lips the bitter reflection of iiijured love, 'I am wounded in the house of my friends' ?" He tells us the secret of our preserva- tion and safety, " Simon ! Simon I Satan hath desired to have thee, that he might sift thee as wheat ; hut I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not ! " •' ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE BAME MIND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 101 25th Morning. " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " This man receiveth slnnors." — Luke xv. 2. ^ . . The ironical taunt of proud flUrnning ^^^ censorious Pharisees mmm, fopmed the glory of him who came "not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Publicans and outcasts ; those covered with a deeper than any bodily leprosy — laid bare their wounds to the " Great Physician ; " and as conscious guilt and timid penitence crept abashed and imploring to His feet, they found nothing but a forgiving and a gracious welcome ! " His ways " were not as " man's ways ! " The " watchmen," in the Can- ticles, " smote " the disconsolate one seeking her lost Lord ; they tore off her veil, mocking with chilling unkindness her anguished tears. Not so "the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls." " This 102 THE MIND OF JESUS. man recelvefJi sinners ! " See at Nico- demus, stealing under the shadows of night to elude observation — type of the thousand thousand who in every age have gone trembling in their night of sin and sorrow to this Heavenly Friend ! Does Jesus punish his timidity by shut- ting His door against him, spurning him from his presence ? — " He will not break the bruised reed, He will not quench the smoking flax ! " And He is still the same ! He who arrested a persecutor in his blasphemies, and tuned the lips of an expiring felon with faith and love, is at this hour standing with all the garnered treas- ures of Redemption in His hand, pro- claiming, " Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out ! " Are we from this to think lightly of sin ? or by example and conduct to pal- liate and overlook its enormity ? Not so : sin, as sin can never be sufficiently stamped with the l^rand of reprobation. THE MIND OF JESUS. 103 But we must seek carefully to distin- guisli between the offence and the offen- der. Nothing should be done on our part by word or deed to mock the pen- itential sighings of a guilty spirit, or send the trembling outcast away, with the despairing feeling of " No hope" *' This man receiveth sinners," and shall not we f Does He suffer the veriest dregs of human depravity to crouch un- bidden at His feet, and to gaze on His forgiving countenance with the uplifted eye of hope, and shall ive dare to deal out harsh, and severe, and crushing ver- dicts on an offending (it may be a deeply offending) brother ? Shall we pronounce " crimson " and " scarlet " sins and sin- ners beyond the pale of mercy, when Jesus does not? Nay, rather, when wretchedness, and depravity, and back- sliding cross our path, let it not be with the bitter taunt or the ironical retort that we bid them away. Let us bear, — endure, — remonstrate, — deal tenderly, 104 THE MIND OF JESUS. Jesus did so, Jesus does so ! Ali ! if we had within us His unconquerable love of souls ; His yearning desire for the everlasting happiness of sinners, we should be more frequently in earnest expostulation and affectionate appeal with those who have hitherto got no other than harsh thoughts and repulsive words. If this " mind " really were in us, " which was also in Him," we should more frequently ask ourselves, " Have I done all I might have done to pluck this brand from the burning ? Have I remembered what grace has wrought, what grace can do ? " " Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him ; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitufie of sins ! " "arm rOUR=^JBLVE3 UKEWISE WITH THE SAME JONB.'' THE MIND OF JESUS. 105 26iB Morning " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." •* Neither was guile found ia His mouth." — 1 Pet. n. 22. ^ *, , How rare, and all tho miklmnmn. ^^^^ beautiful because of its rarity, is a purely guileless spirit ! A crystalline medium through which the transparent light of heaven comes and goes ; open, candid, just, honourable, sincere, scorning every unfair dealing, every hollow pretension, every narrow prejudice. Wherever such characters exist, they are like " apples of gold, in pictures of silver." Such, in all the loveliness of sinless perfection, was the Son of God ! His guilelessness shining the more conspicu- ously amid the artful and malignant subtlety alike of men and devils. Pass- ing by manifold instances in the course of His ministry, look at its manifesta- tion, as thehour of His death approached. 106 THE MIND OF JESUS. When, on the night of his apprehen* sion, He confronts the assassin band, in meek majesty He puts the question, "Whom seek ye?" They say to him, " Jesus of Nazareth." In guileless inno- cence, he replies, " I am He !" " Art Thou the King of the Jews?" asks Pilate, a few hours after. An evasive answer might again have purchased immunity from suffering and indignity, but once more the lips which scorned the semblance of evasion reply, " Thou sayest !" How He loved the same spirit in His people ! " Behold," said He of Nathan- ael, " an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile r That upright man had, we may suppose, been day after day kneeling in prayer under his fig-tree, with an open and candid spirit — " Musing on the law he taught, And waiting for the Lord he loved." See how the Saviour honoured him ; set- ting His own divine seal on the loveli- THE MIND OP JESUS. 107 ncfcs of this same spirit ! — Take one other example : when the startling, — sadden- ing announcement is made to the disci- ples, " One of you shall betray me ;" they do not. accuse one another ; they attempt to throw no suspicion on Judas ; each in trembling apprehension suspects only his own treacherous heart, " Lord, is it I r How much of a different " mind " is there abroad ! In the school of the world (this "painted world,") how much is there of what is called " policy," double-dealing ! — accomplishing its ends by tortuous means; outward artificial polish, often only a cloak for baseness and selfishness ! — in the daily inter- change of business, one seeking to overreach the other by wily arts ; — sacrificing principle for temporal ad- vantage. There is nothing so deroga- tory to religion as aught allied to such a spirit among Christ's people — any Buch blots on the "living epistles." "Ye 108 THE MIND OF JESUS. are the light of the world." That world is a quick observer. It is sharp to detect inconsistencies, — slow to forget them. The true Christian has been likened to an anagram — you ought to be able to read him up and down, every way ! Be all reality, no counterfeit. Do not pass for current coin what is base alloy. Let transparent honour and sin- cerity regulate all your dealings; despise all meanness ; avoid the sinister motive, the underhand dealing ; aim at that unswerving love of truth that would scorn to stoop to base compliances and unworthy equivocations ; live more un- der the power of the purifying and ennobling influences of the gospel. Take its golden rule as the matchless direc- tory for the daily transactions of life — "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." "arm TOXTRSELVES LIKB'VnSE WITH THK SAME mND." THE MIND OF JESUS. 109 27th Morning. ^* Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " I must work tbo works of Him that seut me, while it is day ; the night cometh, when no man can work." — John IX. 4. n n *i ♦ mi How constant and un- artinitii III Bntti. ^^^.^^^^ ^^^ j,^„^ in the service of His Heavenly Father I '' He rose a great while before day ;" — and whenHis secret communion was over, His public work began. It mattered not to Him where He was : whether on the bosom of the deep, or a mountain slope, — in the desert, or at a well side, — the " gra- cious words" ever "proceeded out of His mouth." We find, on one touching oc- casion, exhausted nature sinking, after a day of unremitting duty ; — in crossing in a vessel the Lake of Tiberias, — "^e fell asleep .^" (Matt, viii.) He redeemed every precious moment ; His words to the Pharisee seem at, formula for all, "Si- mon, I have somewhat to say unto thee/*^ 110 THE MIND OP JESUS. Oh, how our most unceasing activities pale into nothing before such an exam- ple as this ! Would that we could re- member that each of us has some great mission to perform for God ; — that re- ligion is not a thing of dreamy sentimen- talism, but of energetic practical action ; moreover, that no trade, no profession, no position, however high or however hum- ble in the scale of society, can disqualify for this life of Christian activity and use- fulness ! Who were the Writers in the Bible ? We have among them a King — a Lawgiver — a Herdsman — a Publican — a Physician ! Nor is it to high spheres, or to great services only, that God looks. The widow's mite and Mary's " alabaster box of ointment" are recorded as exam- ples for imitation by the Holy Ghost, while many more munificent deeds are passed by unrecorded. We believe that God says, regarding the attempt of many a humble Christian to serve Him by ac- tive duty, " T saw that effort, tliat feMe THE MIND OF JjdSUS. IH effort, to serve and glorify Me ; it was the YGr J feehleriess of it I loved !" Did it never strike you, notwithstand- ing the dignity of Christ, and the activi- ty of Christ, how little success compara- tively He met with in His public work ? We read of no numerous conversions ; no Pentecostal revivals in the course of His ministry. May not this well encourage in the absence of great outward results ? He sets up no higher standard than this — " She hath done what she could." An artist may be great in painting a peasant as well as a king — it is the way lie does it. Yes, and if laid aside from the activities of the Christian life, we can equally glorify God by passive endur- ance. " Who am I," said Luther, when he witnessed the patience of a great sufferer, " who am I ? a wordy preacher in comparison with this great doer.'' Reader ! forget not the motive of our motto verse, " The night cometh ! " Soon our tale shall be told ; our little day is 112 THE MIND OF JESUS. flitting fast, the shadows of night are falling. " Our span length of time," as Rutherford says, "will come to an inch." What if the eleventh hour should strike after having been " all the day idy^? A long lifetime of opportunities suffered to pass unemployed and unimproved, and ab- solutely nothing done for God ! A judg- ment-day come — our golden moments squandered — our talents untraded on — our work undone — met at the bar of Heaven with the withering repulse, " In- asmuch as ye did it not.^^ " The time we have lost," says Richard Baxter, " can- not be recalled ; should we not then re- deem and improve the little that re- mains? If a traveller sleep or trifle most of the day, he must travel so much the faster in the evening, or fall short of his journey's end." " ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME ICIIB." THE MIND OF JESUS. 113 28th Mormxo. let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." " But committed himself to Him thcit judgetb righteously. "_l Peter n. 28. Cnminitting nnr ^™ ^^^t perfect and inairtn« ^^^^ir^ ^onfidmgness did ' Jesus commit Himself to His Heavenly Father's guidance! He loved to call Him, " My Father ! " There was music in that name, which enabled Him to face the most trying hour, and to drink the most bitter cup. The scoffing taunt arose at tlie scene of crucifixion, "He trusted in God that He would deliver Him, let Him deliver Him !'' It failed to shake, for one mo- ment. His unswerving confidence, even when the sensible tokens of the Divine presence were withdrawn ; the realized consciousness of God's abiding love sus- tained Him still ;— " My God ! my God !" How many a perplexity should we save ourselves, by thus implicitly "com- S 114 THE MIND OF JESUS. mitting ourselves," as He did, to G-od I In seasons of darkness and trouble- when our way is shut up with thorns, to lift the confiding eye of faith to Him, and say, " I am oppressed, undertake for me ! " How blessed to feel that He directs all that befalls us ; that no con- tingencies can frustrate His plans ; that the way He leads us is not only a " right way," — ^but,with all its briers and thorns, — its tears and trials, — it is the right way! The result of such an habitual stayiug ourselves on the Lord, will be a deep, abiding feace ; — any ripple will only be on the surface — no more. It is the hosom of the ocean alone, which the storm ruffles ] all beneath is a serene, settled calm. So " Thou wilt keep him, 0 God, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee ! " " The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." I shall be content alike with what He appoints or withholds. I can- THE MIND OF JESUS. 115 not wrong that love with one shadow of suspicion! I have His ov/n plighted promise of unchanging faithfulness, that " all things work together for good to them that love Him ! " Often there arc earthly sorrows hard to bear ; — the un- kind accusation, when it was least merited or expected ; — the estrangement of tried and trusted friends, the failure of cherished hopes, favourite schemes broken up, plans of usefulness demol- ished, the gourd breeding its own worm and withering. " Commit thy cause and thy way to God !" We little know what tenderness there is in the blast of the rough wind ; what " needs be" are folded under the wings of the storm! "All is well," because all is from Him. " Events are God's," says Rutherford ; " let Him sit at His own helm, that moderateth all." Christian ! look back on your chequer- ed path. How wondrously has He threaded you through the mazy way — 116 THE MIND OF JESUS. disappointing your fears, realizing your hopes ! Are evils looming through the mists of the future ? Do not anticipate the trials of to-morrow, to aggravate those of to-day. Leave the morrow with Him, who has promised, by " casting all your care on Him, to care for you." No af&iction will be sent greater than you can bear. His voice will be heard steal- ing from the bosom of the threatening cloud, " Be still, and know that I am God ! " ''My Father r' With such a word, you can stretch out your neck for any yoke ; as with Israel of old, He will make those very waves that may now be so threatening, a fenced wall on every side ! " Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." " Li all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths ! " " ABM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME BCDTO." THE MIND OF JESUS. Ill 29th Morntnq "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. " Tliat they all may be one."— Jonx xvii. 21. i^JUrniuniiq, .^g for which Chris- tian churches have such cause to hang their harps on the willows, as the extent to which the Shibboleth of party is heard in the camp of the faithful— secta- rianism rearing its " untempered walls " within the Temple gates ! How different " the mind of Jesus ! " Sent " to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," He was never found disowning " other sheep not of that fold." " Them also will I bring," was an assertion con- tinually illustrated by His deeds. Take one example ; The woman of Samaria revealed what, alas ! is too common in the world — a total absence of all real religion, along with an ardent zeal for her sect. She wag living in open sin ; 118 THE MIND OF JESUS. yet she was all alive to the nice distinc- tion between a Jew and a Samaritan — between Mount Geriziin and Blount Zion ; — " How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a wo- man of Samaria ? " Did Jesus sanction or reciprocate her sectarianism ? — did He leave her bigotry unrebuked ? Hear His reply — " If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldst have asked of Him^ and He would have given thee ! " He would have allowed no such narrow-minded exclusiveness to have in- terfered with the interchange of kindly civilities with a stranger. Nay, He would have given thee better than all, the " living water " which " springeth up to everlasting life ! " How sad, that when the enemy is " coming in like a flood " — the ranks of Popery and infidelity linked in fatal and formidable confederacy — that the sol- diers of Christ are forced to meet the THE MIND OF JESUS. 119 assault with standards soiled and muti- lated by internal feuds ! " Uniformity " there may not be, but "unity," in the true sense of the word, there ought to be. We may be clad in different livery, but let us stand side by side, and rank by rank, fighting the battles of our Lord. We may be different branches of the seven golden candlesticks, varying and diversified in outward form and work- manship ; but let us combine in " shew- ing forth the praises of Him " who re- cognizes as the one true " churchman- ship — fidelity in shining for His glory " as lights in the world." How can we read the 13th chapter of 1st Corinth- ians, and then think of our divisions ? " How miserable," says Edward Bicker- steth, " would an hospital be, if each patient were to be so offended with his neighbour's disease, as to differ with him on account of it, instead of trying to alleviate it ! " xVh ! if we had more real communion 120 THE MIND OF JESUS. witli our Saviour, should we not "have more real communion with one another ? If Christians would dip their arrows more in " the balm of Gilead," would there not be fewer wounds in the body of Christ ? " How that word ' tolera- tion ' is used amongst us ! " said one who drank deeper than most, of his Master's spirit — " how we tolerate one another — Dissenters tolerate Churchmen, and Churchmen tolerate Dissenters ! Oh ! hateful word ! Tolerate one for whom Jesus died ! Tolerate one whom He bears upon His heart ! Tolerate a tem- ple of the living God ! Oh ! there ought to be that in the word which should make us feel ashamed before God ! " **AEM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE -WXrH THE SAKE MDID." THE MIND OF JESUS. 121 80th Morniko. ^'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. " " I am not of the world." — Jonx xvn. 14. ^^ , r,[ In one sense it was tzo^ so. ^il I>r Jesus did not seek to main- * tain His holiness intact and unspotted by avoiding contact with the world. He mingled familiarly in its busy crowds. He frowned on none of its innocent enjoyments ; He fostered, by His example, no love of seclusion ; He gave no warrant or encouragement to mortified pride, or disappointed hopes, to rush from its duties ; — yet, with all this, what a halo of heavenliness en- circled His pathway through it ! "I am from above," was breathed in His every look, and word, and action, from the time when He lay in the slumbers of guileless infancy in His Bethlehem cradle, until He said, " I leave the world, and go to uiy Father ! " He had moved 122 THE MTND OF JESUS. ancontaminated through its varied scenes, like the sunbeam, which, what- ever it touches, remains as unsullied as when it issues from its great fountain. But though Himself in His sinless na- ture " unconquerable " by temptation, — immutably secure from the world's ma- lignant influences, it is all worthy of note, as an example to us, that He never unnecessarily braved these. He knew the seducing spell that same world would exercise on His people, of whom, with touching sympathy, He says, " These are in the world ! " He knew the many who would be involved and ensnared in its subtle worship, who, " minding earthly things," would seek to slake their thirst at polluted streams ! Reader ! the great problem you have to solve, Jesus has solved for you — to be " in the world, and yet not o/" it." To abandon it, would be a dereliction of duty. It would be servants deserting their work ; — soldiers flying from the THE MIND OF JESUS. 123 battle-field. Live in it, that while you live, the world may feel the better for you. Die, that lulien you die, the world, — the Church, — may feel your loss, and cherish your example ! On its cares and duties, its trusts and respon- sibilities, its employments and enjoy- ments, inscribe the motto, " The world passeth away ! " Beware of everything in it that would tend to deaden spirit- uality of heart ; — unfitting the mind for serious thought, lowering the standard of Christian duty, and inducing a peril- ous conformity to its false manners, habits, tastes, and principles. As the best antidote to the love of the world, let the inner vacuum of the heart be filled with the love of God. Seek to feel the nobility of your regenerated na- ture ; — that you have a nobler heritage to care for than the transitory glories which encircle " an indivisible point, a fugitive atom." How can I mix with the potsherds of the earth? Once, "I 124 THE MIND OP JESUS. lav among the pots ;" now, I am " liko a dove, whose wings are covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold ! " " Stranger ; — pilgrim ; — so- journer ;" — " my citizenship is in lieav- en ! " Why covet tinsel honours and glories ? Why be solicitous about the smiles of that which knew not (nay, which frowned on) its Lord ? " Paul calls it," says an old writer, " saiema (a mathematical figure), which is a more notion, and nothing in substance.'' — (Thomas Brooks.) Live above its corroding cares and anxieties ; remembering the description Jesus gives of His own true people, " They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world ! " " ABM TOURSBCTES UKEWISK WTTH THE SAME MOID," THE MIND OF JESUS. 125 31 bT MORNINQ. " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." « Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." — Luke xxm. 46. J, 1 ♦ In the death of Jesus there CnlinnM in ^.^^ ^j^^^^^s of fearful- ness, which the believer can know nothing of. It was with Him the execution of a penal sentence. The sins of an elect world were bearing Him down ! The very voice of His God was heard giving the tremendous summons, " Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd I " Yet his was a death of peace, nay, of triumph I Ere He closed His eyes, li^ht broke through the cur- tains of tliick darkness. In the calm composure of filial confidence He breatii- ed away His soul, — " Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit ! " What was the secret of such tranquillity? This is His own key to it — " I have 126 THE MIND OF JESUS. glorilied Thee on the earth, I have finish- ed the work which thou gavest me to do." Reader ! will it be so with you at a dying hour? will your "work" be done? Have you already fled to Jesus ? Are you reposing in him as your only Sav- iour, and following him as your only pattern? Then — let death overtake you when it may — you will have nothing to do hut to die! The grave will be irradi- ated with His presence and smile. He will be standing there as He did by His own tomb of old, pointing to yours, ten- anted with angel forms, nay, Himself as the " Precursor," shewing you " the path of life I ^^ There can be no true peace till the fear of death be conquered by the sense of sin forgiven, through " the blood of the Cross." " Not till then," as one hath it, " will you be able to be a quiet spectator of the open grave at the bottom of the hill which you are soon to descend." " The sting of death is sin, bat thanks be to God THE MIND OF JESUS. 127 who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ! " Seek now to live in the enjoyment of greater filial nearness to your covenant God ; and thus, when the hour of de- parture does come, you will be able, without irreverence, to take the very words of your dying Lord, and make them your own — "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.'' Father ! It is going home! — The heart of the child leaping at the thought of the pa- ternal roof, and the paternal welcome " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine ! " It is said of Archbishop Leighton, that he " was always happiest when, from the shaking of the prison doors, he was led to hope that some of those brisk blasts would throw them open, and give him the release he coveted ! Christian I can you dread that which your Saviour has already vanquished! Death! It is as the angel to Peter, breaking the dun- 128 THE MIND OF JESUS. geon doors, and leading to open day ; — it is going to tlie world of your birth- right, and leaving the one of your exile ; — " it is the soldier at nightfall lying down in his tent in peace, waiting the morning to receive his laurels." Oh ! to be ever living in a state of holy prep- aration!— the mental eye gazing on the vista-view of an opening Heaven ! — feeling that every moment is bringing us nearer and nearer that happy Home I — soon to be within reach of the Heavenly threshold, in sight of the Throne ! — soon to be bending in adoring rapture with the Church triumphant— bathing in floods of inSnite glory — " LIKE HIM," — " seeing Him as he is,^^ and that for Ever and Ever ! " And every max that hath this hope i\ him PURmjrrn HIMSELF, EA'EX AS He IS PURE ! " "Leaving us an Example, that ye should foixow Hl9 ."—1 Pet. n. 21. THE WOEDS OF JESUS t Wuh of '^mB. •< A woRi) spoken in season," saj'S tHe wise man, «< how good it is : " If this be true regarding the utterances uf uninspired lips, with what devout and paramount interest must we invest the sayings of Incarnate Truth — " the words J? Jescs I " AVe have, in the motto-verses which head the succeeding pages, a few comforting responses from the Oracle of heav- enly Wisdom — a few grapes plucked from the True Vine — living streams welling fresh from the Living Fountain. Every portion of Sci'ipture is designed for nutriment to the soul — " the bread of Life ; " but surely we tnay well regard the recorded ^* Words of Jesus" as " the finest of the wheat." These are the " Honey " out of the true " Rock," with which Ha will " satisfy " us. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. The foiiowmg are selecte i more especially as " Words for the Weary" — healing loaves for the wounded spirit, falling from the Tree of Life Jesus was divinely qualified for the special office of speaking " many and comfortable words." " The TiOrd God hatli given me the tongue of the learned, that I might know how to speak a Word in Season to him that is weary." Let us, like the disciple of Patmos, turn to hear the voice that speaks to us, saying, " I wait for the Lord, my soul doth v/ait, and in His Word do I hope." Eighteen hundred years have elapsed since these "words" were uttered. With tones of unaltered and unchanged affection, they are still echoed from the inner sanctuary — they come this day fr(!sli as they were spoken, from the lips of Him whoso memorial to all time is this : " Ikat same Jesus." Reader I seek to realise, in mo.litatiug on them the simple but solemn truth — " Christ speaks to me!" surely nothing can be more soothing with which to close your eyes on your nightly pillow, than— "A WORD OF JESUS." (2) THE WORDS OF JESUS. 1st Evening of Month. " Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Matt. xi. 28. ^1 ^ . Gracious "word" of Ci ^ T- a gracious Saviour, on .limitallQIl. ^j^.^jj j.|^g g^^j ^^^ ^^^^_ fidingly repose and be at peace for ever ! It is a present rest — the rest of grace as well as the rest of glory. Not only are there signals of peace hung out from the walls of heaven — the lights of Home glimmering in the distance to cheer our footsteps ; but we have the " shadow " of this " great Rock " in a present " weary land." Before the Throne alone is there "the sea of glass," without one rippling wave ; but thei'e is a haven even on earth for the tempest-tossed — " We which have be- lieved DO enter into rest." Reader ! hast thou found this blessed 4 THE WORDS OF JESUS. repose in the blood and work of Im- maiiuel ? Long going about " seeking rest and finding none," does this "word " sound like music in thine ears — " Come untoMe'^? All other peace is counter- feit, shadowy, unreal. The eagle spurns the gilded cage as a poor equivalent for his free-born soarings. The soul's im- mortal aspirations can be satisfied with nothing short of the possession of God's favour and love in Jesus. How unqualified is the invitation! If there had been one condition on en- tering this covenant Ark, we must have been through eternity at the mercy of the storm. But all are alike warranted and welcome, and none more warranted tlian welcome. For the weak, the weary, the sin-burdened and sorrow- burdened, there is an open door of grace. Return, then, unto thy rest, 0 my soul! Let the sweet cadence of this " word of Jesus " steal on thee amid the THE WORDS OF JESUS. 5 disquietudes of earth. Sheltered in Him, thou art safe for time, safe for eternity 1 There may be, and will be temporary tossings, fears, and misgivings, — mani- festations of inward corruption ; but these will only be like the surface heav- iugs of the ocean, while underneath there is a deep, settled calm. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace" (R peace, peace) " whose uiind is stayed on Thee." In the world it is care on care, trouble on trouble, sin on sin ; but ev- ery wave that breaks on the believer's soul seems sweetly to murmur " Peace, peace ! " And if the foretaste of this rest be precious, what must be the glorious consummation? Awaking in the morn- ing of immortality, with the unquiet dream of earth over — faith lost in sight and hope in fruition ; — no more any bias to sin — no more latent principles of evil — nothing to disturb the spirit's deep everlasting tranquillity — the trembling 6 THE WORDS OF JESUS. magnet of the heart, reposing where alone it can confidingly and permanent- ly rest in the enjoyment of the Infinite God. THBSB THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU, THAT fW JDGHT HAVB PEACE. ' THE WORDS OP JESUS. 2d Evenlxq. "Kemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Your hcavenl.r Father knoweth that ye have ueed of all these things. "—Matt. ^^. 32. ^7>L fr r !♦ Though spoken orio^- '(Kk (Cnrnforting ^^.^y by Jesus regard- ilBSUraiia. ^^^ temporal things, this may be taken as a motto for the child of God amid all the changing vicissitudes of his changing history. How it should lull all misgivings ; si- lence all murmurings ; lead to lowly, unquestioning submissiveness — " My Heavenly Father knoweth that I have need of all these things." Where can a child be safer or better than in a father's hand ? Where can the believer be better than in the hands of his God ? We are poor judges of what is best. We are under safe guid- ance with infallible wisdom. If we are tempted in a moment of rash presump- tion to say, 'All these things are against 8 THE WORDS OF JESUS. me,'' let this " word " rebuke tlie hasty and unworthy surmise. Unerring wis- dom and Fatherly love have pronounced all to be " needful." My soul, is there aught that is dis- turbing thy peace ? Are providences dark, or crosses heavy ? Are spiritual props removed, creature comforts cur- tailed, gourds smitten and withered like grass? — write on each, ^^Your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things^ It was He who increased thy burden. Why? ^' It luas neededy It was He who smote down thy clay idol. Why? ''It luas needed:' It was supplanting Himself; He had to remove it! It was He who crossed thy woildly schemes, marred thy cher- ished hopes. Why ? " It teas needed^ There was a lurking thorn in the cov- eted path. There was some hi^-her spiritual blessing in reversion. " He prevented' thee witl the blessings of His goodness." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 9 Seek to clierisli a spirit of more child-like coniidence in thy Heavenly Father's will. Thoa art not left unbe- fri ended and alone to buffet the storms of the wilderness. Thy Marahs as well as thy Elims are appointed by Him. A ,£cracious pillar-cloud is before thee. Follow it through sunshine and storm. He may " lead thee about," but He will not lead thee wrong. Unutterable ten- derness is the characteristic of all His dealings. " Blessed be His name," says a tried believer, " He maketh my feet like hinds' feet" (?te'a%, " equalleth " them), " he equalleth them for every precipice, every ascent, every leap." And who is it that speaks this quiet- ing word ? It is He who Himself felt the preciousness of the assurance dur- ing His own awful sufferings, that all were needed, and all appointed ; that from Bethlehem's cradle to Calvary's Cross there was not the redundant thorn in the chaplet of sorrow which He, 10 THE WORDS OF JESUS. tlie Man of Sorrows, bore. E^ery drop in His bitter cup was mingled by His Father : " This cup which Thou givest me to drink, shall I not drink it ? " Oh, if He could extract comfort in this hour of inconceivable agony, in the thought that a Father's hand lighted the fearful furnace-fires, what strong consolation is there in the same truth to all His suffering people ! What! one superfluous drop! one redundant pang ! one unneeded cross ! Hush the secret atheism! He gave His Son for thee! He calls Himself " thy Father ! " Whatever be the trial under which thou art now smarting, let the word of a gracious Saviour be " like oil thrown on the fretful sea ; '' let it dry every rebellious tear-drop. *' He, thine unerring Parent, knoweth Ihat thou hast need of this as well aa oil these things." THT WORD IS VERT SURE, THEREFORE THY SERVANT LO'S'ETH IT." THE WORDS OF JESUS. I I 3d EyE« , i ** Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."— John xiv. 13. tfU -ii^^r.. «-P Blessed Jesus! it is '^ Jlrr! Thou who hast unlocked V^W^' to Thy people the gates of prayer. Without Thee they must have been shut forever. It was Thr atoning merit on earth that first opened them ; it is Thy intercessory work in heaven that keeps them open still. How unlimited the promise — " What- soever ye shall ash P^ It is the pledge of all that the needy sinner requires — all that an Omnipotent Saviour can bestow ! As the great Steward of the mysteries of grace, He seems to say to His faithful servants, "Take thy bill, and under this my superscription, write what you please." And then, when the blank is filled up, he further endorses 12 THE WORDS OP JESUS. each petition with the words, " 1 will do it ! " He farther encourages us to ask " in His namey In the case of an earthly petitioner there are some pleas more in- fluential in obtaining a boon tlian oth- ers. Jesus spake of this as forming the key to the heart of God. As David loved the helpless cripple of Saul's house "/or Jonathan's saTie,'' so will the Fa- ther, by virtue of our covenant relation- ship to the true Jonathan {J.it., " the gift of God"), delight in giving us even "exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think." Reader ! do you know the blessedness of confiding your every want and every care — your every sorrow and every cross — into the ear of the Saviour ? He is the " Wonderful Counsellor." With an exquisitely tender sympathy He can enter into the innermost depths of your need. That need may be great, but the everlasting arms are underneath it all. THE WORDS OF JESUS. 13 Think of Him now, at this moment — the groat Angel of the Covenant, with the censer full of much incense, in which are placed your feeblest aspira- tions, your most burdened sighs — the odour-breathing cloud ascending with acceptance before the Father's throne. The answer may tarry ; these your supplications may seem to be kept long on the wing, hovering around the mer- cy-seat. A gracious God sometimes sees it meet thus to test the faith and patience of His people. He delights to hear the music of their importunate pleadings — to see them undeterred by difficulties — unrepelled by apparent for- getfulness and neglect. But He luill come at last ; — the pent-up fountain of love and mercy will at length burst out ; — the soothing accents will in His own good time be heard, '"Be it unto thee according to thy word !" Soldier of Christ ! with all thine oth- er panoplj, forget not the ^^ All-prayer.^' 14 THE WORDS OF JESUS. It is that which keeps bright and shin- ing " the whole armour of God." While yet oat in the night of a dark world — whilst still bivouacking in an enemy's coujitry — kindle thy watch-fires at the altar of incense. Thou must be Moses, pleading on the mount, if thou wouldst be Joshua, victorious in the world's daily battle. Confide thy cause to this waiting Redeemer. Thou canst not weary Ilim with thine importunity. He delights in hearing. His Father is glo- rified in giving. The memorable Beth- any-utterance remains unaltered and unrepealed — " I knew that Thou hear- est me always." He is still the " Prince that has power with God and prevails" — still He promises and pleads — still He lives and loves ! " I WAIT FOR THE LORD, MY SOUL DOTH WAIT, AKD IN HIS WORD DO I HOPE." THE WOllDS OF JESUS. 15 4tu E\-k\ing "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"- "What I do tliou knowest not now ; but thou slialt know hereafter." — John xiii. 7. mump, tery sliall be unfolded, when the " fountains of the great deep shall be broken up," " tlie channels of the water seen," and all discovered to be one vast revelation of unerring wisdom and ineffable love ! Here we are often baffled at the Lord's dispensations ; we cannot fathom his ways : — like the well of Sychar, they are deep, and we have nothing to draw with. But soon the " mystery of God will be finished ;" the enigmatical " seals," with all their inner meanings, opened. When that " morning without clouds " shall break, each soul will be like the angel stand- ing in the sun — there will be no shadow ; all will be perfect day ! It) THE WORDS OF JESUS. Believer, be still I Tlie dealings of thy Heavenly Father may seem dark to thee ; there may seem now to be no golden fringe, no " bright light in the clouds ;" but a day of disclosures is at hand. " Take it on trust a little while. " An earthly child takes on trust what his father tells him : when he reaches maturity, much that was baffling to his infant Cvomprehension is explained. Thou art in this world in the nonage of thy being — Eternity is the soul's immortal manhood. There every dealing will be vindicated. It will lose all its " darkness " when bathed in the floods " of the excellent glory !" Ah ! instead of thus being as weaned children, how apt are we to exercise our- selves in matters too high for us 1 not content with knowing that our father wills it, but presumptuously seeking to know how it is, and why it is. If it be unfair to pronounce on the unfinislied THE WORDS OF JESUS. 17 and incompleted works of man ; if the painter, or sculptor, or artificer, would shrink from having his labours judged of when in a rough, unpolished, imma- tured state ; how much more so with the works of God! How we should lionour Him by a simple, confiding, un- reserved submission to His will, — con- tented patiently to wait the fulfilment of this "/iereo/ifer" promise, when all the lights and shadows in the now half- finished picture will be blended and melted into one harmonious whole, — when all the now disjointed stones in the temple will be seen to fit into their appointed place, giving unity, and com- pactness, and symmetry, to all the building. And who is it that speaks these living "words," "What /do?" It it He who died for us ! who now lives for us ! Blessed Jesus ! Thou mayest do much that our blind hearts would like un- done, — " terrible things in righteousness 18 THE WORDS OF JESUS. which we looked not for." The heaviest (what we may be tempted to call the se- verest) cross Thou canst lay upon us we shall regard as only the apparerd severity of unutterable and unalterable love. Eternity will unfold how all^ all was needed ; that nothing else, nothing less^ could have done ! If not now, at least then, the deliberate verdict on a calm retrospect of life will be this, — ♦ THE WORD OF THE LORD IS RIGHT, AND ALL HIS WOBEB AHB DONE IN XBUTII-" THE WORDS OF JESUS. 19 6th Evkotno. "Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear mmh fruiV* — John XV. 8. rffr 4f ifr r ^^^^ survejiag the bound- l[ rfl l^ss oc®^^ ^^ covenant mercy apinriUBU. — ^^^^^^^^^ chiming, " God is Love !" does the thought never pre- sent itself, "What can I do for this great Being who hath done so much for me ?" Recompense, I cannot ! No more can my purest services add one iota to His underived glory, than the tiny taper can add to the blaze of the sun at noon- day, or a drop of water to the bound- less ocean. Yet, wondrous thought! from this worthless soul of mine there may roll in a revenue of glory which He who loves the broken and contrite spirit will " not despise." " Herein is my Father glorified, that ye hear miich fruit." 20 THE WORDS OF JESUS. Reader ! are you a fruit-bearer in your Lord's vineyard ? Are you seek- ing to make life one grand net of con- secration to His glory — one thank- offer- ing for His unmerited love ? You may be unable to exhibit much fruit in the eye of the world. Your circumstances and position in life may forbid you to point to any splendid services, or labo- rious and imposing efforts in the cause of God. It matters not. It is often those fruits that are unseen and un- known to man, ripening in seclusion, that He values most ; — the quiet, lowly walk — patience and submission — gen- tleness and humility — putting yourself nnreservedly in His hands — willing to he led by Him even in darkness — say- ing. Not my will, but Thy will : — the unseliish spirit, the meek bearing of an injury, the unostentatious kindness,— these are some of the " fruits" which your Heavenly Father loves, and by which He is glorified. THE WORDS OF JESUS. 21 Percliance it may be with you the season of trial, the chamber of pro- tracted sickness, the time of desolating bereavement, some furnace seven times heated. Herein, too, you may sweetly glorify your God. Never is your Heavenly Father more glorified by His children on earth, than when, in the midst of these furnace-fires, He listens to nothing but the gentle breathings of confiding faith and love — *' Let Him do what seemeth good unto Him." Yes, you can there glorify Him in a way which angels cannot do in a world where no trial is. They can glorify God only with the crown; you can glorify Him with the cross and the pros- pect of the crown together! Ah, if He be dealing severely with you — if He, as tlie Great Husbandman, be pruning His vines, lopping their boughs, strip- ping off their luxuriant branches and "beautiful rods!" — remember the end! — " He purgeth it, that it may bring 22 THE WORDS OF JESUS. forth more fruit," and ^^ Herein is my Father glorified !" Be it yours to lie passi\e in His hands, saying in unmurmuring resig- nation. Father, glorify Thy name ! Glo- rify Thyself, whether by gi^^ing or tak- ing, filling my cup or " emptying me from vessel to vessel !" Let me know no will but Thine. Angels possess no higher honour and privilege than glo- rifying the God before whom they cast their crowns. How blessed to be able thus to claim brotherhood with the spirits in the upper sanctuary! nay more, to be associated with the Saviour Himself in the theme of His own ex- alted joy, when he said, " I have glorv' Red Thee on earth I" "TnHSB THINGS HAVB I SPOKEN TTNTO TOTT, THAT MT JOY MIGHT EKMAIN IN TOTT, AND THAT rOITB JOT MIGHT BE TULL.'* THE WORDS OF JEStJS. 23 6th Eveninq. *'Eeinember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"- *' The vory hairs of your head are all numbered." — Matt. X. 30. >:. V V What a "word" is this 1 mmim, ^^^^ numbering of your hairs, is known to God ! Nothing can happen by accident or chance. Noth- ing can elude His inspection. The fall of the forest leaf — the fluttering of the insect — the waving of the angel's wing — the annihilation of a world, — all are equally noted by Him. Man Bpeaks of great things and small things — God knows no such distinction. How especially comforting to think of this tender solicitude with reference to His own covenant people — that He metes out their joys and their sorrows I Every sweet, every bitter, is ordained by Him. Even " wearisome nights'' are ^^ appointed,^' Not a pang I feel, 24 THE WORDS OF JESUS. not a tear I shed, but is known to Him. What are called "dark dealings "are the ordinations of undeviating faithful- ness. Man may err — his ways are often crooked ; " but as for God, His way is perfect ! " He puts my tears into His bottle. Every moment the everlasting arms are underneath and around me. He keeps me " as the apple of His eye." He " bears " me " as a man beareth his own son! " Do I look to the future? Is there much of uncertainty and mystery hang- ing over it? It may be, much pre- monitory of evil. Trust Him. All is marked out for me. Dangers will be averted ; bewildering mazes will shew themselves to be interlaced and inter- weaved with mercy. " He keepeth the feet of His saints." A hair of their head will not be touched. He leads sometimes darkly, sometimes sorrow- fully ; most frequently by cross and circuitous ways we ourselves would not THE WORDS OF JESUS. 25 have cliosen ; but alivays wisely, always tenderly. With all its mazy windings and turnings, its rouglniess and rugged- ness, the believer's is not only a right way, but the right way — the best which covenant love and wisdom could select. " Nothing," says Jeremy Taylor, " does so establish the mind amidst the rollings and turbulence of present things, as both a look above them and a look be- yond them ; above them, to the steady and good hand by which they are ruled ; and beyond them, to the sweet and beautiful end to which, by that hand, they will be brought." " The great Counsellor," says Thomas Brooks, " puts clouds and darkness round about Him, bidding us follow at His beck through the cloud, promising an eternal and uninterrupted sunshine on the otlier side." On that "other side" we shall see how every apparent rough blast has been hastening our barks nearer the de« sired haven I 26 THE WOBDS OP JEStJS. Well may 1 commit the keeping of m}' soul to Jesus in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. He gave Himself for me. This transcendent pledge of love is the guarantee for the bestow- ment of every other needed blessing. Oh, blessed thought ! my sorrows num- bered by the Man of Sorrows ; my tears counted by Ilim who shed first His tears and then His blood for me. He will impose no needless burden, and exact no unnecessary sacrifice. There was no redundant drop in the cup of His own sufferings ; neither will there be in that of His people. " Though He slay mo, yet will I trust in Him." " WHEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER imn THESE WORDS." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 27 7th Evexing, 'liemember the words of the lord Sesns, how He said"— I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." — John x. 14. €k§m^ '^^"^^ ^''''^ Shepherd"— ^L L V well can the sheep who truthfulness and faithfulness of this en- dearing name and word. Where would they have been through eternity, had He not left his throne of light and glory, travelling down to this dark val- ley of the curse, and giving his life a ransom for many ? Think of His love to each separate member of the flock^ wandering over pathless wilds with unwearied patience and unquenchable ardour, ceasing not the pursuit until He finds it. Think of His love noiv—'' I AM the Good Shepherd." Still that ten- der eye of watchfulness following the guilty wanderers— the glories of heaven 28 THE WORDS OF JESUS. and the songs of angels unable to dim or alter his affection ; — the music of the words, at this moment coming as sweetly from His lips as when first He uttered them — "I know my sheep." Every individual believer — the weakest, the weariest, the faintest — claims His attention. His loving eye follows me day by day out to the wilderness — marks out my pasture, studies my wants, and trials, and sorrows, and perplexities — every steep ascent, every brook, every winding path, every thorny thicket, " He goeth before them." It is not rough driving, but gentle guiding. He does not take them over an unknown road ; He himself has trodden it before. He hath drunk of every " brook by the way ;" He himself hath " suffered being tempted ;" He is " able to succour them that are tempted." He seems to say, " Fear not ; I cannot lead you wrong ; follow me in the bleak waste, the blackened wilderness, as well as by THE WORDS OF JESUS. 29 ..ne green pastures and the still waters. Do 3^011 ask why I have left the sunny side of the valley — carpeted with flow- ers, and bathed in sunshine — leading you to some high mountain apart, some cheerless spot of sorrow ? Trust me, 1 will lead you by paths you have not known, but they are all known to me, and selected by me — ' follow thou me.'" " And am known of mine ! " Reader ! canst thou subscribe to these closing words of this gracious utterance ? Dost thou " know" Him in all the glories of His person, in all the completeness of His finished work, in all the tenderness and unutterable love of His every deal- ing towards thee? It has been remarked by Palestine travellers, that not only do the sheep there follow the guiding shepherd, but even while cropping the herbage as they go along, they look wistfully up to see that they are near him. Is this thine attitude — lookinj unto Jesus " ? 30 THE VfORDS OF JESUS. " In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths." Leave the future to His providing. " The Lord is my Shepherd ; I shall not want.'' I shall not want! — it has been beauti- fully called " the bleating of Messiah's sheep." Take it as thy watchword during thy wilderness wanderings, till grace be perfected in glory. Let this be the record of thy simple faith and unwavering trust, " These are they who foUoio, whithersoever He sees meet to guide them." *' TUB SHEEP FOLLO-W HIM, FOK THEY KNOW HIS V0IC30.'* THE WORDS OP JESUS. 8th Ex'enino. "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with 5^ou for ever." — John XIV. 16. vL ni '\* When one beloved eartUy m Ihjmg friend is taken away, how tfnmfnrttr. the heart is drawn out to- wards those that remain! Jesus was now about to leave His sorrowing disci- ples. He directs them to one whose presence would fill up the vast blank His own absence was to make. His name was, The Comforter; His mission was, " to abide with them for ever." Accordingly, no sooner had the gates of heaven closed on their ascended Lord, than, in fulfilment of His own gracious promise, the bereaved and or- phaned Church was baptized with Pen- tecostal fire. " When I depart, I will send Him unto you." Reader! do you realize your privilege 32 THE WORDS OF JESUS. — living under the dispensation of the Spirit? Is it your daily prayer that JIq may come down in all the plenitude of His heavenly graces on your soul, even " as rain upon the mown grass and showers that water the earth ?" You cannot live without Him : there can lie not one heavenly aspiration, not one breathing of love, not one upward glance of faith, without His gracious influences. Apart from Him, there is no preciousness in the Word, no. bless- ing in ordinances, no permanent sancti- fying results in affliction. As the angel directed Hagar to the hidden spring, this blessed agent, true to His name and office, directs His people to the waters of comfort, giving new glory to the promises, investing the Saviour's charac- ter and work with new loveliness and beauty. How prer ious is the title which this "Word of Jesus" gives Him — The Comforter ! What a word for a sor* THE WORDS OF JESUS. 33 rowing world! The Church militant has its tent pitched in a "valley of tearsJ' The name of the divine visi- tant who comes to her and ministers to her wants, is — Comforter. Wide is the family of the afflicted, but He has a healing balm for all— the weak, the tempted, the sick, the sorrowing, the bereaved, the dying! How different from other " sons of consolation !" Hu- man friends — a look may alienate ; adversity may estrange; death must separate ! The " Word of Jesus" speaks of One whose attribute and preroga- tive is to '• abide with for ever ;" su- perior to all vicissitudes — surviving death itself! And surely if anything else can endear His mission of love to His Church, it is that He comes direct from God, as the fruit and gift of Jesus^ intercession — "J will pray the Father." This holy dove of peace and comfort is let out by the hand of Jesus from the ark of covenant 3 34 THE WORDS OF JESUS. mercy witliin the veil ! Nor is the gift more glorious than it is free. Does the word — the look, of a suffering child get the eye and the heart of an eartlily father ? " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chil- dren, how much more shall your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him?'' It is He who makes these " words of Jesus " " winged words." HE SHALL BRING ALL THINGS TO YOUR REMBM- DOANCB, WHATSOB\'ER I HAYIC SAID UKTO YOU." TT?E WORDS OP JESUS. 35 9th EvENLsa * Jlemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— • Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no more." — John viii. 11. p, . How much more tender I ^l^[^D^^ is Jesus than the tender- 33rruin. ggt Qf earthly friends I The apostles, in a moment of irritation, would have called down fire from heaven on obstinate sinners. Their Master rebuked the unkind suggestion. Peter, the trusted but treacherous dis- ciple, expected nothing but harsh and merited reproof for faithlessness. He who knew well how that heart would be bowed with penitential sorrow, sends first the kindest of messages, and then the gentlest of rebukes, " Lovest thou me ? " The watchmen in the Canticles smote the bride, tore off her veil, and loaded her with reproaches. When she found her lost Lord, there was not one 36 THE WORDS OF JEStJS. word of upbraiding ! "So slow is He to anger," says an illustrious believer, " so ready to forgive, that when His prophets lost all patience with the peo- ple so as to make intercession against them, yet even then could He not be got to cast off this people whom He foreknew, for His great name's sake." The guilty sinner to whom He speaks this comforting "word," was frowned upon by her accusers. But, if others spurned her from their presence, '^Neither do I condemn ihee.^^ Well it is to fall into the hands of this blessed Saviour- God, for great are His mercies. Are we to infer from this that He winks at sin ? Far from it. His blood, His work — Bethlehem, and Calvary, re- fute the thought! Ere the guilt even of one solitary soul could be washed out, He had to descend from His ever- lasting throne to agonise on the accurs- ed tree. But this " word of Jesus " is a word of tender encouragement to every THE WORDS OF JESUS. 37 sincere, broken-hearted penitent, that crimson sins, and scarlet sins, are no barriers to a free, full, everlasting for- giveness. The Israelite of old, gasping in his agony in the sands of the wilder- ness, had but to '^ look and Ziye;''and still does He say, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Upreared by the side of His own cross there was a monumental column for all Time, only second to itself in wonder. Over the head of the dying felon is the superscription written for despairing guilt and trembling penitence, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." " He never yet," says Charnock, " put out a dim candle that was lighted at the Sun of Righteousness." " Whatever our guil- tiness be," says Rutherford, " yet when it falleth into the sea of God's mercy it is but like a drop of blood fallen into the great ocean." 38 THE WORDS OF JESUS. Reader ! you may be tlie chief of sin- ners, or it may be the chief of back- sliders ; your soul may have started aside like a broken bow. As the bank- rupt is afraid to look into his books, you may be afraid to look into your own heart. You are hovering on the verge of despair. Conscience, and the memory of unnumbered sins, is uttering the desponding verdict, " I condemn thee." Jesus has a kinder word — a more cheering declaration — " / con- demn thee not: go and sin no more ! " " Airo AU WONDEllED AT THE ORACTOUS WORDS THAT orr OF h:3 mouth." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 39 10th EvfiKiKa. "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and my sister, and moth- er."—Mark iii. 35. vL AVY V As if no solitary earth- «bf?«™iy type ^ere enough to Jesus, He assembles into one verse a group of the tenderest earthly relation- ships. Human affection has to focus its loveliest hues, but all is too little to afford an exponent of the depth and intensity of His. " As one whom his mother comforteth ;" " my sister, my spouse.^^ He is " /S'ow," *' BrotJier,^^ '• Friend " — all in one ; " cleaving closer than any brother.'' And can we wonder at such lan- guage ? Is it merely figurative, expres- sive of more than the reality? — He gave Himself for us ; after that pledge of His affeotion we must cease to mar- 4:0 THE WORDS OF JESUS. vel at any expression of the inteiest He feels in us. Anything He can say or do is infinitely less than what He lias done. Believer ! art thou solitary and deso- late ? Has bereavement severed earth- ly ties? Has the grave made forced estrangements, — sundered the closest links of earthly affection? In Jesus thou hast filial and fraternal love com- bined ; He is the Friend of friends, whose presence and fellowship compen- sates for all losses, and supplies all blanks ; " He setteth the solitary in families." If thou art orphaned, friend- less, comfortless here, remember there is in the Elder Brother on the Throne a love deep as \!hQ unfathomed ocean, boundless as Eternity ! And who are those who can claim the blessedness spoken of under this wondrous imagery ? On whom does He lavish this unutterable affection ? No outward profession will purchase it. No church, no priest, no ordinances, no THE WORDS OF JESUS. 41 denominational distinctions. It is on those who are possessed of holy cJiarac- ters. " He that doeth the will of my leather which is in heaven !" He who reflects the mind of Jesus ; imbibes His Spirit ; takes His Word as the regula- tor of his daily walk, and makes His glory the great end of his being ; he who lives to God, and luitli God, and for God ; the humble, lowly. Christ- like, Heaven-seeking Christian ; — he it is who can claim as his own this won- drous heritage of love ! If it be a wor- thy object of ambition to be loved by the good and the great on earth, what must it be to have an eye of love ever beaming upon us from the Throne, in comparison of which the attachment here of brother, sister, kinsman, friend — all combined — pales like the stars before the rising sun ! Though we are often ashamed to call Him " Brother," " He is not ashamed to call us brethren.'^ He looks down en poor worms, and says, 42 THE WORDS OF JESUS. " The same is my motlier, and sister, and brotlier !" " I will write upon them," He says in another place, "my new name." Just as we write our name on a book to tell that it belongs to us ; so Jesus would write His own name on us^ tlie wondrous volumes of His grace, that they may be read and pondered by prin- cipalities and powers. Have we " known and believed this love of God " ? Ah, how poor has been the requital ! Who cannot subscribe to the words of one, whose name was in all the churches, — " Thy love has been as a shower ; the return but a dew-drop., and that dew-drop stained with sin." "IP A MAU LOVB ire, HE WILL KKCP MY WOEDS; and my father will love him aitd WB WILT. COME UNTO UIM, AND MAKE OTTS AI50DF. WITH HIM." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 43 llxH EvE?imo. **Bemember the ;Krords of the Lord Jesus, how He said"- ** I will uot leave you comfortless : I will como to you." — John xiv. 18. ^L c^ f ♦ V V Does the Christian's €!lB forfriBntoi p,th lie all the way (DrppanB. through Beulah? Nay, he is forewarned it is to be one of " much tribulation." He has his Marahs as well as his Elims — his valleys of Baca as well as his grapes of Eshcol. Often is he left unbefriended to bear the brunt of the storm — his gourds fading when most needed — his sun going down while it is yet day — his happy home and happy heart darkened in a moment with sorrows with which a stranger (with which often a brother) cannot intermeddle. There is One Brother "born for adversity" who can. How often has that voice broken with its silvery accents the muffed stillness of 44 THE WORDS OF JESUS. the sick-chamber or death-chamber ! " '/ will not leave you comfortless ;' the world may, friends may, the desolations of bereavement and death may ; but 1 ivlll not ; you will be alone, yet not alone, for I your Saviour and your God will be with you !" Jesus seems to have an especial love and affection for His orphaned and comfortless people. A father loves his sick and sorrowing child most ; of all his household, he occupies most of his thoughts. Christ seems to delight to lavish His deepest sympathy on " him that hath no helper." It is in the hour of sorrow His people have found Him most precious ; it is in " the wilderness " He speaks most " comfortably unto them ;" He gives them " their vineyards from thence :" in the places they least expected, wells of heavenly consolation break forth at their feet. As Jonathan of old, when faint and weary, had his strength revived by the honey he found THE WORDS OF JESUS. 45 dropping in the tangled thicket ; so the faint and woe-worn children of God find " honey in the wood " — everlasting consolation dropping from the tree of life, in the midst of the thorniest tliickets of affliction. Comfortless ones, be comforted ! Jesus often makes you ^portionless here, to drive you to Himself, the everlasting portion. He often dries every rill and fountain of earthly bliss, that He may lead you to say, "All my springs are in thee." " He seems intent," says one who could speak from experience, " to fill up every gap love has been forced to make ; one of his errands from heaven was to bind up the broken- hearted." How beautifully in one amazing verse does He conjoin the depth and tenderness of His comfort with the certainty of it, — "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort yoti, and ye shall be comforted ! " Ah, how many would not have their 46 THE WORDS OF JESUS. wilderuess-state altered, with all its trials, and gloom, and sorrow, just that they might enjoy the unutterable sym- pathy and love of this Comforter of the comfortless, one ray of whose approving smile can dispel the deepest earthly gloom! As the clustering constella- tions shine with intensest lustre in the midnight sky, so these " words of Jesus " come out like ministering an- gels in the deep dark night of earthly sorrow. We may see no beauty in them when the world is sunny and bright ; but He has laid them up in store for us for the dark and cloudy day. THmCS UAVE I TOLD YOU, THAT WHEN TIIB TIMB OOUSTH, TB MAT REME]!tIBER THAT I TOLD TOU OF THEM." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 47 12rH EvENiNa "Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world."— John xvi. 33. ^']| (tt> IWnrlW -^-^^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^® Sih^Siid of a mi Wmn ^^^1^ already conquered? £m^ml The Almight/yictor, with- in view of His crown, turns round to His faint and weary soldiers, and bids them take courage. They are not fight- ing their way through untried enemies. The God-Man Mediator ''hnoivs their sorrows." "He was in all points tempted.'^ "Both He(z. e., Christ) who sanctifieth, and they (His people) who are sanctified, are all of one (nature.)" As the great Precursor, he heads the pilgrim band, saying, " I will shew you the path of life." The way to heaven is consecrated by His footprints. Every thorn that wounds them^ has wounded Him before. Every cross they can 48 THE WORDS OF JESUS. bear, He has borne before. Every tear they shed, He has shed before. There is one respect, indeed, in which the identity fails, — He was " yet with- out sin ;" but this recoil of His holy nature from moral evil, gives him a deeper and intenser sensibility to- wards those who have still corruption within responding to temptation with- out. Header ! Are you ready to faint un- der your tribulations ? Is it a seducing world — a wandering, wayward heart? " Consider Him that endured !" Listen to your adorable Eedeemer, stooping from His throne, and saying, " I have overcome the world." He came forth unscathed from its snares. With the same heavenly weapon He bids you wield, three times did He repel the Tempter, saying, " It is written." — Is it some crushing trial or overwhelming grief? He is ^^ acquainted with grief. ''^ He, the mighty Vine, knows the miDutest THE WORDS OF JESUS. 49 fibres of sorrow in the branches ; when the pruning-knife touches tliem it touches Him. " lie has gone," says a tried suf- ferer, " through every class in our wil- derness-school." He loves to bring His people into untried and perplexing pla- ces, that they may seek out the guiding pillar, and prize its radiance. He puts them on the darkening waves, that they may follow the guiding light hung out astern from the only bark of pure and unsullied Humanity that was ever proof against the storm. Be assured there is disguised love in all He does. He who knows us infinitely better than we know ourselves, often puts a thorn in our nest to drive us to the wing, that we may not be grovel- lers for ever. " It is," says Evans, " upon tlie smooth ice we slip ; the rough path is safest for the feet.'' The tearless and undimmed eye is not to be coveted here ; thai is reserved for heaven I 4 50 THE WORDS OF JESUS. Who can tell what miijffled and dis- guised " needs be" there may lurk un- der these world- tribulations ? His true spiritual seed are often planted deep in tlie soil ; they have to make their way through a load of sorrow before they reach the surface ; but their roots are thereby the firmer and deeper struck. Had it not been for these lowly and needed " depths," they might have rushed up as feeble saplings, and suc- cumbed to the first blast. He often leads His people still, as He led them of old, to "a high mountain apart ;" but it is to a high mountain — above the luorld; and, better still. He who Himself hath overcome the world, leadeth them there, and speaketh comfortably unto them. «< T HOPE IN THY WORD." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 51 ISth Evenlno. " Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."— Luke xii. 32. ^|v.M I The music of the Shepherd's Pl^ I voice again! Another com- '^™^- forting "word," and how tender ! His flock, a little flock, di feeble flock, d, fearful flock, but a beloved flock, loved of the Father, enjoying His " good pleasure," and soon to be a glorified flock, safe in the fold, secure within the kingdom ! How does He quiet their fears and misgivings ? As they stand panting on the bleak mountain side. He points His crook upwards to the bright and shining gates of glory, and says, " It is your Father's good pleasure to give you these ! " What gentle words ! what a blessed consummation ! Gracious Saviour, Thy gentleness hath made mo great I 52 THE WORDS OP JESUS. That kingdom is the believer's by ir- reversible and inalienable charter-right — "I appoint unto you" (by covenant), Bays Jesus in another place, " a king- dom, as my Father hath appointed unto me." It is as sure as everlasting love and almighty power can make it. Sa- tan, the great foe of the kingdom, may be injecting foul misgivings, and doubts, and fears as to your security ; but he cannot denude you of your purchased immunities. He must first pluck the crown from the Brow upon the Throne, before he can weaken or impair this sure word of promise. If " it pleased the Lord" to hruise the Shepherd, it will surely please Him to make happy the pur- chased flock. If He " smote" His " Fel- low" when the sheep were scattered, surely it will rejoice Him, for the Shep- herd's sake, " to turn His hand upon the little ones." Believers, think of this ! " It is your Father's good pleasure." The Good THE WORDS OF JESUS. 53 Shepherd, in leading you across the in- tervening mountains, shews you signals and memorials of paternal grace stud- ding all the way. He may " lead you about" in your way thither. He led the children of Israel of old out of Egypt to their promised kingdom, — how ? By forty years' wilderness-discipline and privations. But trust Him ; dishonour Him not with guilty doubts and fears. Look not back on your dark, stumbling paths, nor within on your fitful and vacillating heart ; but forwards to the land that is far off. How earnestly God desires your salvation ! What a heaping together of similar tender " words " with that which is here ad- dressed to us ! The Gospel seems like a palace full of opened windows, from each of which He issues an invitation, declaring that He has no pleasure in our death — but rather that we would turn and live ! Let the melody of tlie Shepherd's 54 THE WORDS OF JESUS. reed fall gently on your ear, — " It is your Father's good pleasure." T havo given you, He seems to say, the best proof that it is mme. In order to pur- chase that kingdom, I died for you I But it is also His : " As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so," says God, "will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Fear not, then, little flock ! thougli yours for a while should be the bleak mountain and sterile waste, seeking your way Zion- ward, it may be " with torn fleeces and bleeding feet ; " for, " n* :b not the will of your father which is in heaven, tiut ONE of these Lrma ones should perish. " THE WORDS OP JESUS. 55 14th Evbnino. "Remember the words of tlie Lord Jesus, how He said"— '•If any niao thirst, lot him come unto me, and drink." — John vii. 37. VI -t !♦ -i V OxE of the most gracious ^^"^' ceeded out of the mouth of God !" The time it was uttered was an impressive one ; it was on " the last, the great day" of the Feast of Tabernacles, when a denser multitude than on any of the seven preceding ones were assem- bled together. The golden bowl, ac- cording to custom, had probably just been filled with the waters of Siloam, and was being carried up to the Temple amid the acclamations of the crowd, when the Saviour of the world seized the opportunity of speaking to them some truths of momentous import. Many, doubtless, were the " words of Jesus "' uttered on the previous days, but 66 THE WORDS OP JESUS. the most important is reserved for the last. What, then, is the great closing theme on which He rivets the attention of this vast auditory, and which He would have them carry away to their distant homes? It is, The freeness of His own great Salvation — " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink " Reader ! do you discredit the reality of this gracious offer ? Are your legion sins standing as a barrier between you and a Saviour's proffered mercy ? Do you feel as if you cannot come "just as you are ;" that some partial cleansing, some preparatory reformation must take place before you can venture to the liv- ing fountain? Nay, "J/ any man^ What is freer than water ? — The poor- est beggar may drink " without money" the wayside pool. That is your Lord's own picture of His own glorious salva- tion ; you are invited to come, " without one plea," in all your poverty and want, 5^our weakness and un worthiness. Re- THE WORDS OP JESUS. 57 member the Redeeiner's saying to the woman of Samaria. She was the fliicf of sinners — profligate — hardened — de- graded ; but He made no condition, no qualification ; simjole believing was all that was required, — "If thou knewest the gift of God," thou wouldst have asked, and He would have given thee " living water." But is til ere not, after all, o)ie condi- tion mentioned in this "word of Jesus?" — "i/" any man thirst J' You may have the depressing consciousness that you experience no such ardent longings after holiness, — no feeling of your affecting need of the Saviour. But is not this very conviction of your want an indication of a feeble longing after Christ? If you are saying, "I have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep," He who makes offer of the salvation-stream will Himself fill your empty vessel, — " He satisfieth the longing soul with goodness." 68 THE WOKDS OF JESUS. " Jesus stood and criedJ^ It is the solitary instance recorded of Him of whom it is said, " He shall not strive nor cry," lifting up " His voice in the streets." But it was truth of surpass- ins: interest and ma2:nitude He had to proclaim. It was a declaration, more- over, specially dear to Him. As it formed the theme of this ever-memor- ahle sermon during His public ministry, so when He was sealing up the inspired record —the last utterances of His voice on earth, till that voice shall be heard again on the throne, contained the same life-giving invitation, — "Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.*' Oh ! as the echoes of that gracious say- ing—this blast of the silver trumpet — are still sounding to the ends of the world, may this be the recorded result, ^'Afi HE SPAKE THESE WORDS want eeliuved ON HIM," THE WORDS OF JESUS. 59 15th Eve.vinq. Eemembsr tho words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." — Matt. is. 30. ^.i q r I Can the same be said of (Ljie JQIjtlli g^t^j^^ Qj. g-^ ^ ^j^i^ ^^ §rrnttllk. gard to them, how faith- fully true rather is the converse — " My yoke is heavy, and my burden is griev' ous /" Christ's service is a happy ser- vice, the only happy one ; and even when there is a cross to carry, or a yoke to bear, it is His own appoint- ment. " My yoke." It is sent by no untried friend. Nay, He who puts it on His people, bore this very yoke Himself. " He carried our sorrows." How blessed this feeling of holy servi- tude to so kind a Master ! not like " dumb, driven cattle," goaded on, but led, and led often most tenderly when the yoke and the burden are upon us. The great apostle rarely speaks of him- 60 THE WORDS OF JESUS. self under any other title but one. Tliat one he seems to make his boast. He had much whereof he might glory ; — he had been the instrument in saving thousands — he had spoken before kings — he liad been in CiBsar's palace and Caesar's presence — he had been caught up into tlie third heavens, —but in all his letters this is his joyful prefix and superscrip- tion, " The Servant (literally, the slave) of Jesus Christ !" Reader ! dost thou know this blessed servitude? Canst thou say with a joy- ful heart, " 0 Lord, truly I am Thy servant" ? He is no hard taskmaster. Would Satan try to teach thee so ? Let this be the refutation, " He loved me, and gave Himself for me^ True, the yoke is the appointed discipline he employs in training His children for immortality. But be comforted ! " It is His tender hand th^it puts it on, and Jceeps it on." He will suit the yoke to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. THE WORDS OP JESUS. 61 He will suit His grace to your trials. Nay, He will bring you even to be in love with these, when they bring along with them such gracious unfoldings of His own faithfulness and mercy. How Uis people need thus to be in heaviness through manifold temptations, to keep them meek and submissive ! " Jeshurun (like a bullock unaccustomed to the har- ness, fed and pampered in the stall) waxed fat, and kicked." Never is there more gracious lov^e than when God takes His own means to curb and subjugate, to humble us, and to prove us- -bring- ing us out from ourselves, our likings, our confidences, our prosperity, and putting us under the needed yoke. And who has ever repented of that joyful servitude ? Among all the ten thousand regrets that mingle with a dying hour, and oft bedew with bitter tears a dying pillow, who ever told of regrets and repentance here ? Tried believer ! has He ever failed 62 THE WORDS OF JESUS. thee ? Has His yoke been too griev- ous ? Have thy tears been unalleviated ■ — thy sorrows unsolaced — thy tempta- tions above that thou wert able to bear ? Ah ! rather canst thou not testify, " The word of the Lord is tried ;" I cast my burden upon Him, and He " sustained me"? How have seeming difficul'ties melted away ! How has the yoke lost its heaviness, and the cross its bitterness, in the thought of who thou wert bear- ing it for ! There is a promised rest in the very carrying of the yoke ; and a better rest remains for the weary and toil-worn when the appointed work is finished ; for thus saith " that same Jesus/' — TAKE MT YOKE UPOX YOU, AND LEAUN OF ME, SHAIX FIND REST UNTO YOUB SOUL6." THE \YORDS OF JESUS. 63 I Cm EvExisa. "Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you."— John XV. 9. VL -fU ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^* ^^^' €p BBHSntB drous verse in the Bible. BI ilnUB. Who can sound the un- imagined depths of that love which dwelt in the bosom of the Father from all eternity towards His Son ? — and yet here is the Saviour's own exponent of His love towards His people ! There is no subject more profoundly mysterious than those mystic intercom- munings between the first and second persons in the adorable Trinity before the world was. Scripture gives us only some dim and shadovvy revelations re- garding them — distant gleams of light, and no more. Let one suffice. " Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, re- joicing always before Him." 64 THE WORDS OF JESUS. We know that earthly affection 19 deepened and intensified by increased familiarity with its object. The friend- ship of yesterday is not the sacred, hal- lowed tiling, which years of growing intercourse have matured. If we may with reverence apply this test to the highest type of holy affection, what must have been that interchange of love which the measureless lapse of Eternity had fostered — a love, more- over, not fitful, transient, vacillating, subject to altered tones and estranged looks — but pure, constant, untainted, without one shadow of turning ! And yet listen to the " words of Jesus," As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved yoit ! It would have been in- finitely more than we had reason to expect, if He had said, "As my Father hath loved angels, so have I loved you." But the love borne to no finite beings is an appropriate symbol. Long before the birth of time or of worlds, THE WORDS OP JESUS. 05 that love existed. It was coeval with Eternity itself. Hear how the two themes of the Saviour's eternal rejoic- ing— the love of His Father, and Hi3 love for sinners — are grouped together ; — "Rejoicing always before Hbi, and in the habitable part of His earth !" To complete the picture, we must take in a counterpart description of the Faiherh love to us ; — " Therefore doth my Father love me," says Jesus in an- other place, " because I lay down my life !" God had an all-sufficiency in His own love — He needed not the taper-love of creatures to add to His glory or hap- piness ; but He seems to say, that so intense is His love for us, that He loves even His beloved Son more (if infinite love be capable of increase), because He laid down His life for the guilty I It is regarding the Redeemed it is said, " He shall rest in His love — He shall rejoice over ther)i with singing." In the assertion, " God is love," we 6 66 THE WORDS OF JESUS. are left truly with no mere unproved averment regarding tlie existence of some abstract quality in the divine nature, " Herein," says an apostle, " perceive we the love," — (it is added in our authorized version, " of God," but, as it has been remarked, " Our translators need not have added whose love, for there is but one such specimen^') ^-''because He laid down His life for us." No expression of love can be wondered at after this. Ah, how miser- able are our best affections compared with His ! " Our love is but the reflec- tion— cold as the moon ; His is as tlie Sun." Shall we refuse to love Him more in return, who hath first loved, and 80 loved us? M HXnm MAN SPAKE USE THIS MAK " THE WORDS OP JESUS. 67 " Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Only believe."— Mark v. 36. ^, n^ • f The briefest of the "words ^F -^'^y^^ of Jesus," but one of the UpnSpEU most comforting. They con- tain the essence and epitome of all sav- ing truth. Reader I is Satan assailing thee with tormenting fears ? Is the thought of thy sins — the guilty past — coming up in terrible memorial before thee, al- most tempting thee to give way to hopeless despondency ? Fear not ! A gentle voice whispers in thine ear,— " Only helieveJ^ " Thy sins are great, but My grace and merits are greater. 'Only believe' that I died for thee— til at I am living for thee and pleading for thee, and that ' the faithful saying' is as ' faithful' as ever, and as ' worthy of all acceptation' as ever." — Art thou 68 THE WORDS OF JESUS. a hacksliderf Didst thou once run well ? Has thine own guilty apostacy alienated and estranged thee from that face which was once all love, and that service which was once all delight? Art thou breathing in broken-hearted sorrow over the holy memories of a close walk with God — " Oh that it were with me as in months past, when the candle of the Lord did shine"? ^^ Only he- Ueve,^' Take this thy mournful solil- oquy, and convert it into a prayer. '' Only believe" the word of Him whose ways are not as man's ways — " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding." — Art thou beaten down with some heavy trials have thy fondest schemes been blown upon — thy fairest blossoms been withered in the bud ? has wave after wave been rolling in upon thee ? hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious ? Hear the " word of Jesus" resounding amid the thickest midnight of gloom — penetrating even THE WORDS OF JESUS. 69 through the vaults of the dead — " Be- lieve, only helievey There is an in- finite reajon for the trial — a lurking thorn that required removal, a gracious^ lesson that required teaching. The dreadful severing blow was dealt in love. God will be glorified in it, and your own soul made the better for it. Patiently wait till the light of immor- tality be reflected on a receding world. Here you must take His dealings on trust. The word of Jesus to you now is, " Only believe." The word of Jesus in eternity (every inner meaning and undeveloped purpose being unfolded), " Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst but BELIEVE, thou shouldst SEE the glory of God ?" — Are you fear- ful and agitated in tJie prospect of death ? Through fear of the last enemy, have you been all your lifetime subject to bondage ? — " Only believe." " As thy day is, r>o shall thy strength be." Dying grace will be given when a dying hour 70 THE WORDS OP JESUS. comes. In the dark river a sustainiug arm will be underneath you, deeper than the deepest and darkest wave. Ere you know it, the darkness will be past, the true light shining, — the whisper of faith in the nether valley, " Believe ! believe !" exchanged for angel-voices exclaiming, as you enter the portals of glory, " No longer through a glass darkly, but now face to face !" Yes I " Jesus Himself had no higher remedy for sin, for sorrow, and for suf- fering, than those two words convey. At the utmost extremity of His own distress, and of His disciples' wretched- ness. He could only say, ' Let not j^our heart be troubled : ye believe in God, believe also in me.' * Believe, only be- lieve.' " *'LOBI», I BELTCVB, HELP THOU MINE UNHBUEF." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 71 18th Etejunq **Bemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— ^< Be of good cheer : it is I ; be not afraid."— Mark vi. 50. ^L (Kr \ " ^^ ^^ ^ " ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^' PL I ^^^^ sion has it, more in accord- ^^^^' ance with the original), "I A.M ! be not afraid ! " Jesus lives ! His people may dispel their misgivings — Omnipotence treads the waves ! To sense, it may seem at times to be other- wise ; — wayward accident and chance may appear to regulate human allot- ments ; but not so : " The Lord's voice is upon the waters," — He sits at the helm guiding the tempest-tossed bark, and guiding it well. How often does He come to us as He did to the disciples in that midnight hour when all seems lost — " in the fourth watch of the night," — when we least looked for Him ; or when, like the ship- wrecked apostle, " for days together 72 THE WORDS OF JESUS. neither sun nor stars appeared, and no small tempest lay on us ; when all hope that we should be saved seemed to be taken away," — how often, just at that moment, is the "word of Jesus" heard floating over the billows ! Believer ! art thou in trouble ? listen to the voice in the storm, " Fear not, / AM." That voice, like Joseph's of old to his brethren, may seem rough, but there are gracious undertones of love. " It is I," he seems to say ; It ivas I, that roused the storm ; It is I, who, when it has done its work, will calm it, and say, "Peace, be still." Every wave rolls at My bidding — every trial is My appointment — al] have some gracious end ; they are not sent to dash you against the sunken rocks, but to waft you nearer heaven. Is it sickness? 1 am He who bare your sicknesses ; the weary wasted frame, and the nights of languishing were sent by Me. Is it bereavement f I am " the Brother " born THE WORDS OF JESUS. 73 for adversity — the loved and lost were plucked away by Me. Is it death f I AM the " Abolisher of death," seated by your side to calm the waves of ebbing life ; it is /, about to fetch My pilgrims home, — It is my voice that speaks, " The Master is come, and calleth for thee." Reader ! thou wilt have reason yet to praise thy God for every one such storm ! This is the history of every heavenly voyager : " So He bringeth them to their desired haven." " So ! " That word, in all its unknown and di- versified meaning, is in His hand. lie suits His dealings to every case. " So /" With some it is through quiet seas un- fretted by one buffetting wave. " So ! " With others it is " mounting up to heav- en, and going down again to the deep.'' But whatever be the leading and the discipline, here is the grand consumma- tion, " /Sb He bringeth them unto their desired haven." It might have been with thee the meanings of an eternal 74 THE WORDS OF JESUS. night-blast — no lull or pause in tlio storm ; but soon the darkness will be past, and the hues of morn tipping the shores of glory ! And what, then, should your attitude be ? " Looking unto Jesus " (literally, looking /rom, unto) ; looking away from self, and sin, and human props and refuges and confidences, and fixing the eye of unwavering and unflinching faith on a reigning Saviour. Ah, how a real quickening sight of Christ dispels all guilty fears ! The Roman keepers of old were affrighted, and became as dead men. The lowly Jewish women feared not ; why ? " / hnoiu that ye seek Jesus ! " Reader ! let thy weary spirit fold itself to rest under the composing " word " of a gracious Saviour, saying— •WAIT FOR THE tORD, MY SOUL DOTH WAIT, AND XS HIS WORD DO I HOPE." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 75 19th EnsNiNG. *' Eemsmber the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you."— John xiv. 27. ., -. . How we treasure the last m JUing sayings of a dying parent ! ^^W^' How specially cherished and memorable are his last looks and last words ! Here are the last words — the parting legacy — of a dying Saviour. It is a legacy of peace. What peace is this ? It is His own purchase — a peace arising out of free forgiveness through His precious blood. It is sung in concert with " Glory to God in the highest" — a peace made as sure to us as eternal power and infinite love can make it ! It is peace the soul wants. Existence is one long-drawn sigh after repose. That is nowhere else to be found, but through tlie blood of His cross ! '' Being justified by faith, 76 THE WORDS OF JESUS. we have peace with God." " He giveth his beloved rest ! " How different from the false and counterfeit peace in which so many are content to live, and content to die I The world's peace is all well, so long as prosperity lasts — so long as the stream runs smooth, and the sky is clear ; but when the cataract is at hand, or the storm is gathering, where is it ? It is gone! There is no calculating on its permanency. Often when the cup is fullest, there is the trembling apprehen- sion that in one brief moment it may be dashed to the ground. The soul may be saying to itself, " Peace, peace ;" but, like the writing on the sand, it may be obliterated by the first wave of adver- sity. But, " Not as the world giveth !" The peace of the believer is deep — calm — lasting — eiTerlasting. The world, with all its blandishments, cannot give it. The world, with all its vicissitudes and fluctuations, cannot take it away ! THE WORDS OF JESUS. 77 It is brightest in the hour of trial ; it liglits up the final valley-gloom. " Mark the perfect man, and behold ihe upright, for the end of that man is peace." Yes ! how often is the believ- er's death-bed like the deep calm repose of a summer-evening's sky, when all nature is hushed to rest ; the departing soul, like the vanishing sun, peacefully disappearing only to shine in another and brighter hemisphere ! " I seem," said Simeon on his death-bed, " to have nothing to do but to wait : there is now nothing but^eace, the siveetest peace." Believer! do you know this peace which passeth understanding? Is it "keeping (literally, ^garrisoning as in a citadel') your heart"? Have you learnt the blessedness of waking up, morning after morning, and feeling, " I am at peace with my God ;" of behold- ing by faith the true Aaron — the great High Priest — coming forth from " the holiest of all" to "bless His people 78 THE WORDS OF JEStJS. with peace " ? Waves of trouble may be murmuring around you, but they cannot touch you ; you are in the rock-creyice athwart which the fiercest tornado sweeps by. Oh ! leave not the making up of your peace with God to a dying hour ! It will be a hard thing to smooth the death pillow, if peace be left unsought till then. Make sure of it now. He, the true Melchisedec, is will- ing noio to come forth to meet you with bread and wine — emblems of peaceful gospel blessings. All the " words of Jesus" are so many rills contributing to make your peace flow as a river ; — " These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace/' " I WILL HEAR WHAT GOD THE LORD WILL SFBAK, F0« BB Wni, SPEAK PEACE UNTO HIS PEOPLE ^ND TO HM SAINTS." THE WOUDS OP JESUS. 79 20th Eveninq. "Bemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.— Matt, xxviii. 18. „, -J What an empire is this I «tlB|ElirmB Heaven and eartli-the JnnmUUrt church militant — the Church triumphant — angels and arch- angels— saints and seraphs. At His mandate the billows were hushed — de- mons crouched in terror — the grave yielded its prey ! " Upon His head are many crowns." He is made "head over all tilings to His Church." Yes ! over aU things, from the minutest to the mightiest. He holds the stars in His right hand : — He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, feeding every candlestick with the oil of his grace, and preserving every star in its spiritual orbit. The Prince of Dark- ness has "a power," but. Cod be praised. 80 THE WORDS OF JESUS. it is not an " all power ;" potent, bntnot omnipotent. Christ holds him in a chain. He hath set bounds that he may not pass over. " Satan," we read in the book of Job, " went out {Chaldee para- phrase, * with a licence') from the pres- ence of the Lord." He was not al- lowed even to enter the herd of swine till Christ permitted him. He only " desired " to have Peter that he might " sift him ;" there was a mightier coun- tervailing agency at hand : '^ / have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Believer ! how often is there nothing but this grace of Jesus between thee and everlasting destruction I Satan's key fitting the lock in thy wayward heart ; but a stronger than the strong man barring him out ; — the power of the adversary fanning the flame ; the Omnipotence of Jesus quenching it. Art thou even now feeling the strength of thy corruptions, the weakness of thy graces, the presence of some outward or THE WORDS OF JESUS. 81 inward temptation? Look up to ITira wiio has promised to make his grace sufficient for thee ; " all power" is His prerogative ; " all-sufficiency in all things" is His promise. It is power, too, in conjunction with tenderness. He who sways the sceptre of universal em- pire " gently leads" His weak, and wea- ry, and burdened ones ; — He who counts the number of the stars, loves to count the number of their sorrows ; nothing too great, nothing too insignificant for Him. He puts every tear into His bot- tle ! He paves His people's pathway with love ! Blessed Jesus ! my everlasting inter- ests cannot be in better or in safer keep- ing than in Thine. I can exultingly rely on the " all-poiver^- of thy Godhead. I can sweetly rejoice in the all-sympathy of Thy Manhood. I can confidently repose in the sure wisdom of Thy deal- ings. "Sometimes," says one, "we ex- pect the blessing in om- way ; He 6 82 THE WORDS OF JESUS. ctooses to bestow it in His.''^ But His way and His will must be the best. In- finite love, infinite power, infinite wis- dom, are surely infallible guarantees. His purposes nothing can alter. His promises never fail. His word never falls to the ground. HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY, BOTf MY WORDS SHALL NOT PASS AWAI." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 83 21sr Evening. "Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Ho shall glorify rae : for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it uuto you." — John xvi. 14. ., _. . The Holy Spirit glorifying MeiUinmt j^g^g ^^ ^^le unfolding of CPinriUBr. ^is person, and character, and work, to His people! The great ministering agent between the Church on earth and its glorified Head in heav- en,— carrying up to the Intercessor on the throne, the ever-recurring wants and trials, the perplexities and sins, of be- lievers ; and receiving out of His inex- haustible treasury of love,^ — comfort for their sorrows — strength for their weak- ness— sympathy for their tears — fulness for their emptiness, — and this the one sublime end and object of His gracious agency, — "//^ shall glorify Me^ " He shall not speak of Himself, but whatso- ever He shall hear, that shall He speak." 84 THE WORDS OF JFSUS. My words of sympathy — My omnipo- tent pleadings — the tender messages sent from an unchanged Human Heart, — all these shall He speak. " He shall tell you," says an old divine, comment- ing on this passage, " He shall tell you nothing but stories of my love." ( Good- win.) He will have an ineffable de- light in magnifying Me in the affections of My Church and people, and endear- ing Me to their hearts ; and He is all worthy of credence, for He is "the Spirit of truth." How faithful has He been in every age to this His great ofi&ce as " the glorifier of Jesus!" See the first manifestation of His power in the Christian Church at the day of Pentecost. What was the grand truth which forms the focus- point of interest in that unparalleled scene, and which brings three thousand stricken penitents to their knees? li is the Spirit^ s unfolding of Jesus — glori- fying Him in eyes that before saw in THE WORDS OF JESUS. 85 Him no beauty ! Hear the key-note of that wondrous sermon, preached "in demonstration of the Spirit, and with power," — " Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repent- ance to His people, and forgiveness of sins." Ah ! it is still the same peerless truth which the Spirit delights to unfold to the stricken sinner, and, in unfolding it, to make it mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. All these glori- ous inner beauties of Christ's work and character are undiscerned and undis- cernible by the natural eye. " It is the Spirit that quickeneth." " No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." He is the great Forerunner — a mightier than the Baptist — proclaiming, " Behold the Lamb of God !" Reader I any bright and realizing view you have had of the Saviour's glory and excellency, is of the Spirit's imparting. When in some hour of sor- 8Q THE WORDS OF JESUS. row you have been led to cleave with pre-eminent consolation to the thought of the Redeemer's exalted sympathy— His dying, ever-living love ; — or in the liour of death, when you feel the sus- taining power of His exceeding great and precious promises ; what is this, but the Holy Spirit, in fulfilment of His all-gracious office, taking of the things of Christ, and shewing them unto you; thus enabling you to magnify Him in your body, whether it be by life or death ? As your motto should ever be, "None BUT Christ,^^ and your ever- increasing aspiration, '^More of Christ" seek to bear in mind who it is that is alone qualified to impart the "excel- lency of this knowledge." "the SITRIT OF TRUTH WHICH PROCEEDETH FROX THH FATHER, HE SHAU, TESTIFY OF ME," THE WORDS OP JESUS. 87 22d EvEXiNa " Bemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said "— " your sorrow shall be turned into joy." — John xvl. 20. >-L c r I Christ's people aro (EjieSatlfel ^ sorrowing people! (KrailsfnnnatinE. chastisement is their badge — " great tribulation " is their ap- pointed discipline. When they enter the gates of glory, He is represented as wiping away tears from their eyes. But, weeping ones, be comforted I Your Lord's special mission to earth — the great errand He came from heaven to fulfil, was " to bind up the broken- hearted." Your trials are meted out by a, tender hand. He knows you too well — He loves you too well — to make this world tearless and sorrowless! " There must be rain, and hail, and storm," says Rutherford, " in the saint's cloud." Were your earthly course 88 THE WORDS OF JESUS. strewed with flowers, and notliing but sunbeams played around your dwelling, it would lead you to forget your nomadic life, — that you are but a sojourner here. The tent must at times be struck, pin by pin of the moveable tabernacle taken down, to enable you to say and to feel in the spirit of a pilgrim, " I desire a better country." Meantime, while sorrow is your portion, think of Him who says, " I know your sorrows." Angels cannot say so — they cannot sympathise with you, for trial is a strange word to them. But there is a mightier than they who can. All He sends you and appoints you is in love. There is a provision and condition wrapt up in the bosom of every affliction, " if need he ;" coming from His hand, sorrows and riches are to His people convertible terms. If tempted to mur- mur at their trials, they are often mur- muring at disguised mercies. " Why do you ask me," said Simeon, on his death- THE WORDS OP JESUS. 89 bed, " what I like ? I am the Lord's pa- tient— I cannot but like everything J^ And then — "your sorrow shall be turned into joy." " The morning com- eth'' — that bright morning when the dew-drops collected during earth's night of weeping shall sparkle in its beams ; when in one blessed moment a life- long experience of trial will be effaced and forgotten, or remembered only by contrast, to enhance the fulness of the joys of immortality. What a revela- tion of gladness! The map of time disclosed, and every little rill of sorrow, every river will be seen to have been flowing heavenwards, — every rough blast to have been sending the bark nearer the haven! In that joy, God Himself will participate. In the last " words of Jesus " to His people when they are standing by the triumphal archway of Glory, ready to enter on their thrones and crowns, He speaks 90 THE WORDS OF JESUS. of their joy as if it were all His own. " Enter je into the joy of your Lord^ Reader ! may this joy be yours ! Sit loose to the world's joys. Have a feel- ing of chastened gratitude and thank- fulness when you have them ; but be- ware of resting in them, or investing them with a permanency they cannot have. Jesus had his eye on heaven when he added " i'OCE J07 KO MAH TAKETH mOM YOU." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 91 23n Ev-E.viN'Q "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"- *» Father, I will that they also whom Tlaou hast given me, te with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory." —John xvii. 34. ;.-L A ♦ 1 i This is not the peti- W ^^IHUipntBUt tion of a suppliant, but queror. There was only one request He ever made, or ever can make, that was refused ; it was the prayer wrung forth by the presence and power of superhuman anguish : " Father, if it he possible, let this cup pass from me "I Had that prayer been answered, never could one consolatory " word of Jesus " have been ours. 'If it be possible;^' — hut for that gracious parenthesis, we must have been lost for ever ! In unmurmuring submission, the bitter cup teas drained ; all the dread penal- ties of the law were borne, the atone- ment completed, an all-perfect right- eousness wrought out ; and now, as the 92 THE WORDS OF JESUS. Btipulated reward of His obedience and sufferings, the Victor claims His tro- phies. What are they? Those that were given Hira of the Father — the countless multitudes redeemed by His blood. These He ''wills" to be with Him " where He is " — the spectators of His glory, and partakers of His crown. Wondrous word and will of a dying testator ! His last prayer on earth is an importunate pleading for their glori- fication ; His parting wish is to meet them in heaven : as if these earthly jewels were needed to make His crown complete, — their happiness and joy the needful complement of His own ! Reader ! learn from this, the grand element in the bliss of your future con- dition— it is the presence of Christ; " with Me where I am." It matters comparatively little as to the locality of heaven. " We shall see FTim as He is," is " the blessed hope" of the Christian- Heaven would be no heaven without THE WORDS OF JESUS. 93 Jesus ; the withdrawal of His presence would be like the blotting out of the sun from the firmament ; it would un- crovYu every seraph, and unstring every liarp. But, blessed thought ! it is His own stipulation in His testamentary prayer, that Eternity is to be spent in union and communion with Himself, gazing on the unfathomed mysteries of His love, becoming more assimilated to His glorious image, and drinking deep- er from the ocean of His own joy. If anything can enhance the magni- tude of this promised bliss, it is the concluding words of the verse, in which He grounds His plea for its bestow- ment : ^^ I tuill — that they behold my glory ; " — why ? " For Thou lovest (not them, but) Me before the founda- tion of the world ! " It is equivalent to saying, "If Thou wouldst give Me a continued proof of Thine everlasting love and favour to Myself, it is by lov- ing and exalting My redeemed people. 94 THE WORDS OF JESUS. In loving them and glorifying them, Thou art loving and glorifying Me : so endearingly are their interests and my own bound up together ! " Believer ! think of that all-prevailing voice, at this moment pleading for thee within the veil ! — that omnipotent " Fa- ther^ I ivill,^^ securing every needed boon ! There is given, so to speak, a blank cJieque by which He and His people may draw indefinite supplies out of the exhaustless treasury of the Fa- ther's grace and love. God Himself endorses it with the words, " Son, Thou art «ver with me, and all that I have is Thine." How it would reconcile us to Earth's bitterest sorrows, and hallow Earth's holiest joys, if we saw them thus hanging on the " will " of an all- wise Intercessor, who ever pleads in love, and never pleads in vain I " BH IT UNTO MT! ACCORDING TO THY WORD." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 95 24th EvBxiNO. " Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Because I live, ye shall live also." — John xiv. 19. -^1 G; ill GrOi^ sometimes selects ®P |innititnliU y^, ^.^^ ,^^^3 ^^^ ^^. ^cltUgL during objects in the material world to illustrate His un- changing faithfulness and love to His Church. " As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so doth the Lord com- pass His people." But here, the Re- deemer fetches an argument from His oivn everlasting nature. He stakes, so to speak. His own existence on that of His saints. ^^ Because I live, ye shall live also." Believer 1 read in this " word of Jesus" thy glorious title-deed. Thy Saviour lives — and His life is the guar- antee of thine own. Our true Joseph is alive. " He is our Brother. He talks kindlv to us !" That life of His, is all 96 THE WORDS OF JESUS. that is between us and everlasting ruin. But with Christ for our life, how invio- lable our security ! The great Foun- tain of being must first be dried up, Tjefore the streamlet can. The great Sun must first be quenched, ere one glimmering satellite which He lights up with His splendour can. Satan must first pluck the crown from that glorified Head, before he can touch one jewel in the crown of His people. They cannot shake one pillar without shaking first the throne. " If we per- ish," says Luther, " Christ perisheth with us." Eeader ! is thy life now " hid with Christ in God " ? Dost thou know the blessedness of a vital and living union with a living live-giving Saviour ? Canst thou say with humble and joy- ous confidence, amid the fitfulness of thine own ever-changing frames and feelings, " Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me " ? " Jesus THE WORDS OF JESUS. 97 liveihr — They are the happiest words a lost soul and a lost world can hear ! Job, four thousand years ago, rejoiced in them. " I know," says he, *' that I have a living Kinsman J' John, in his Pat- mos exile, rejoiced in them. " I am He that liveth" (or the Living One), was the simple but sublime utterance with which he was addressed by that same "Kins- man," when He appeared arrayed in the lustres of His glorified humanity. *' This is the record " (as if there was a whole gospel comprised in the state- ment), " that God hath given to us eter- nal life, and this life is in His Son." St. Paul, in the 8th chapter to the Ro- mans— that finest portraiture of Chris- tian character and privilege ever drawn, begins with "no condemnation," and ends with " no separation." Why " no separation"? Because the life of the believer is incorporated with tliat of his adorable Head and Surety. The colos- sal Heart of redeemed humanity beaty 7 98 THE WORDS OF JESUS. upon tlie throne, sending its mighty pulsations through every member of His body ; so that, before the believer's spiritual life can be destroyed, Omnipo- tence must become feebleness, and Im- mutability become mutable ! But, blessed Jesus, "Thy word is very sure, therefore Thy servant loveth if' "I GIVB CXTO THEM ETERNAL UFB AND THEY SHALL NETQB PERISH, jramiEB SHALL ANT MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAllD." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 99 25th Eveninq, 'Semember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said "- " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto tlie end of the world." — Matt, xxviii. 20. Such were " tlie words of Jesus " when he was just about to ascend to Heav- en. The mediatorial throne was in view — the harps of glory were sounding in His ears ; but all His thoughts are on the pilgrim Church He is to leave be- hind. His last words and benedictions are for them. "I go,*' he seems to say, " to Heaven, to my purchased crown — to the fellowship of angels — to the pre- sence of my Father ; hiU, nevertheless, ' Lo ! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' " How faithfully did the apostles, to whom this promise was first addressed, experience its reality I Hear the testi- mony of the beloved disciple who had 100 THE WORDS OF JESUS. once leant on his Divine Master's bosom, — who "had heard, and seen, and looked upon Him." That glorified bosom was now hid from his sight ; but does he speak of an absent Lord, and of His fellowship onl}^ as among the holy mem- ories of the past ? No ! with rejoicing emphasis he can exclaim — " Truly our fellowship IS with .... Jesus Christy Amid so much that is fugitive here^ how the heart clings to this assurance of the abiding presence of the Saviour ! Our best earthly friends — a few weeks may estrange them ; — centuries have rolled on — Christ is still the sanie. How blessed to think, that if I am in- deed a child of God, there is not the lonely instant I am without His guard- ianship ! When the beams of the morn- ing visit my chamber, the brighter beams of a brighter Sun are shining upon me. When the shadows of even- ing are gathering around, "it is not night, if He, the unsetting ' Sun of my THE WORDS OF JESUS. 101 Bi)ul,' is near." He is no fitful compan- ionship— present in prosperity, gone in adversity. He never changes. He is always the same, — in sickness and soli- tude, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death. Not more faithfully did the pillar-cloud and column of fire of old precede Israel, till the last murmuring ripple of Jordan fell on their ears on the shores of Canaan, then does the presence and love of Jesus abide with his people. Has His word of promise ever proved false ? Let the great cloud of witnesses now in glory testify. " Not one thing hath failed of all that the Lord our God hath spoken." This " word of the Lord is tried" — " having loved his own, which were in the world, He loved them unto the endy Believer ! art thou troubled and tempted? Do dark providences and severe afflictions seem to belie the truth and reality of this gracious assurance ? "If the Lord be indeed with us, why 102 THE WORDS OF JESUS. has all this befallen us ?" Be assured He has some faithful end in view. By the removal of prized and cherished earthly props and refuges, He would unfold more of His own tenderness. Amid the wreck and ruin of earthly joys, which, it may be, the grave has hidden from your sight, One nearer dearer, tenderer still, would have you say of Himself, " The Lord liveth; and blessed be my Rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted." " Thanks be to God, who ahvays maketh us to tri- umph in Christ." Yes ! and never more so than when, stripped of all competing objects of creature affection, we are left, like the disciples on the Mount, witli " Jesus only I " " THESE THnfGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU THIT IS MB YE MIGHT HATE FBAOB." THE WORDS OF JESUS. 103 26th Eveninck "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— <' I am the resurr(;ction and the life : he that believeth In me, though he were dead, yet shall he hve." — Matt, xi, 25. VI ^A ,. What a voice is this '(TllB hmnnim ^^.^^^^ over a world ann im. ^i^^^^i for six thousand years has been a dormitory of sin and death! For four thousand of these years, heathendom could descry no light through the bars of the grave ; her ora- cles were dumb on the great doctrine of a future state, and more especially re- garding the body's resurrection. Even the Jewish Church, under the Old Testa- ment dispensation, seemed to enjoy little more than fitful and uncertain glimmer- ings, like men groping in the dark. It required death's great Abolisher to shew, to a benighted world, the luminous " path of life." With Him rested the " bringing in of a better hope" — the 104 THE WORDS OF JESUS. unfolding of " the mystery wliicli liad been hid from ages and generations." Marvellous disclosure ! that this mortal frame, decomposed and resolved into its original dust, shall yet start from its ashes, remodelled and reconstructed — "a glorified body!" Not like "the earthly tabernacle" (a mere shifting and moveable tent^ as the word denotes), but incorruptible — immortal ! The beaute- ous transformation of the insect from its chrysalis state — the buried seed springing up from its tiny grave to the full-eared corn or gorgeous flower — these are nature's mute utterances as to the possibility of tliis great truth, which required the unfoldings of "a more sure word of prophecy." But the Gospel has fully revealed what Reason, in her lof- tiest imaginings, could not have dreamt of. Jesus " hath brought life and im- mortality to light." He, the Bright and Morning Star, hath " turned the sliadow of death into the morning.'' He gives. THE WORDS OP JESUS. 105 in His own resurrection, the earnest of that of His people ; — He is the first- fruits of the immortal harvest 3^et to be gathered into the garner of Heaven. Precious truth ! This " word of Jesus" spans like a celestial rainbow the en- trance to the dark valley. Death is robbed of its sting. In the case of every child of God, the grave holds in custody precious, because redeemed, dust. Talk of it not, as being committed to a dishonoured tomb! — it is locked up, rather, in the casket of God until tlie day " when He maketh up His jewels," when it will be fashioned in deathless beauty like unto the glorified body of the Redeemer. Angels, meanwhile, are commissioned to keep watch over it, till the trump of the archangel shall pro- claim the great " Easter of creation.'" They are the " reapers," waiting for the world's great " Harvest Home," when Jesus Himself shall come again — not as He once did, humiliated and in sor- 106 THE WORDS OF JESUS. row, but rejoicing in the thought of bringing back all His sheaves with him. Afflicted and bereaved Christian ! — thou who mayest be mourning in bitter- ness those who are not — rejoice through thy tears in these hopes " full of immor- tality." The silver cord is only " loosed," not broken. Perchance, as thou stand- cst in the chamber of death, or by the brink of the grave, — in the depths of that awful solitude and silence which reigns around, — this may be thy plain- tive and mournful soliloquy — " Shall the dust praise Thee ?" Yes, it shall I This very dust that hears now unheedev2 thy footsteps, and unmoved thy tear&, shall through eternity praise its redeen*- ing God — it shall proclaim His truth ! "lokd, to whom shall we go but ttnto thbe, thou HAST niK WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 2Ttu Eveninq. "Eemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " A littb while, and ye shall not see me : and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." — John xvi. 16. ., „.,,. Long seem tlie moments L^ri ^^^^ ^^ ^^® separated it'lJIlB, from the friend we love. An absent brother — how his return is looked and longed for ! The " Elder Brother" — the "Living Kinsman" — sends a message to His waiting Church and people — a word of solace, telling that soon ("a little while"), and He will oe back again, never again to leave them. There are indeed blessed moments of communion which the believer enjoys with His beloved Lord noiv ; but how fitful and transient ! To-day, life is a brief Emmaus journey — the soul happy in the presence and love of an unseen Saviour. To-morrow, He is gme ; and 108 THE WORDS OF JESUS. the bereft spirit is led to interrogate it- self in plaintive sorrow, " Where is now thy God ?" Even when there is no such experience of darkness and depression, how much there is in the world around to fill the believer with sadness ! His Lord rejected and disowned — His love set at naught — His providences slighted — His name blasphemed — His creation groaning and travailing in pain — dis- union, too, among His people — His lov- ing heart wounded in the house of His friends ! But " yet a little while," and all this mystery of iniquity will be finished. The absent Brother's footfall will soon be heard, — no longer " as a wayfaring man who turneth aside to tarry for a night," but to receive His people into the permanent "mansions" His love has been preparing, and from which they shall go no more out. Oh, blessed day ! when creation will put on her Easter robes— wli en her Lord, so long dishon- THE WOKDS OF JESUS. 109 oured, will be enthroned amid tlie ho- sannahs of a rejoicing universe — angels lauding Him— saints crowning Him — sin, the dark plague-spot on His universe, extinguished forever — death swallowed up in eternal victory! And it is but " a little while !" " Yet a little while," w^e elsewhere read, " and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (literally, " a little while as may be"). " He will stay not a moment longer," says Goodwin, " than He hath despatched all our business in Heaven for us." With what joy will He send His mission-Angel with the announce- ment, " the little while is at an end ;" and to issue the invitation to the great festival of glory, " Come ! for all things are ready !" Child of sorrow ! think often of this " little ivhile." " The days of thy mourn- ing will soon be ended." There is a limit set to thy suffering time, — " After that ye have suffered a while." Every 110 THE WORDS OF JESUS. wave is numbered between you and the haven ; and then, when that haven is reached, oh, what an apocalypse of glory ! — the " little while " of time merged into the great and unending " while" of eternity ! — to he forever ivith the Lord — the same unchanged and un- changing Saviour ! " A little while, and ye shall see me !" Would that the eye of faith might be kept more intently fixed on " that glo- rious appearing !" How the world, with its guilty fascinations, tries to dim and obscure this blessed hope! How the heart is prone to throw out its fibres here, and get them rooted in some perishable object ! Reader ! seek to dwell more ha- bitually on this the grand consummation of all thy dearest wishes. " Stand on the edge of your nest, pluming your wings for flight." Like the mother of Sisera, be looking for the expected chariot. "be 18 FAITHFUL THAT PR0MI8KD." THE WORDS OP JESUS. HI 28th Evemno. ** Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."— Matt. V. 8. ./If u Qr>n«+;fi. Here is Heaven ! This &\ftfm\lk «^,,^ of Jesus "repre- ^^^^^^^* sents the future state of the glorified to consist not in locality, but in character ; the essence of its bliss is the full vision and fruition of God. Our attention is called from all vague and indefinite theories about the cir- cumstantials of future happiness. The one grand object of contemplation — the •' glory which excelleth," is tJie sight of God Himself/ The one grand practi- cal lesson enforced on His people, is the cultivation of that purity of heart with- out which none could sec, or (even could we suppose it possible to be ad- mitted to see Him) none could eiijoy God ! '• The kingdom of Heaven com- 112 THE WORDS OF JESUS. eth not witli observation . . . tlie king- dom of God is luithin you." Reader ! hast thou attained any of this heart-purity and heart-prepara- tion? It has been beautifully said tliat " the openings of the streets of heaven are on earth." Even here we may enjoy, in the possession of holiness, some foretaste of coming bliss. Who has not felt that the happiest moments of tiieir lives were those of close walk- ing with God — nearness to the mercy- seat — when self was surrendered, and the eye was directed to the glory of Jesus, with most single, unwavering, undivided aim ? What will Heaven be, but the entire surrender of the soul to Him, without any bias to evil, witliout the fear of corruption within echoing to temptation without ; every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ ; no contrariety to His mind : all in blessed unison with His will ; the whole heing impregnated with holi- THE WORDS OP JESUS. 113 ness — the intellect purified and enno- bled, consecrating all its powers to His service — memory, a holy repository of pure and hallowed recollections — the aifections, without one competing rival, purged from all the dross of earthliness — the love of God, the one supreme animating passion — the glory of God, the motive principle interfused through every thought, and feeling, and action of the life immortal ; — in one word, the heart a pellucid fountain ; no sediment to dim its purity, no " angel of sorrow '' to come and trouble the pool ! The long night of life over, and this the glory of the eternal morrow which succeeds it ! " I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Yes, this is Heaven, subjectively and objectively— 2>z«% of heart, and " God all in all!''' Much, doubtless, there may and will be of a subordinate kind, to intensify the bliss of the Redeemed ; communion with saints and angels ; 8 114 THE WORDS OF JESUS. re-admission into the society of death* divided friends : but all these will fade before the great central glory, " God Himself shall be with them, and be their God; they shall see His face I ^^ Believers have been aptly called helio' tropes — turning their faces as the sun- flower towards the Sun of Righteous- ness, and hanging their leaves in sad- ness and sorrow when that Sun is away. It will be in Heaven the em- blem is complete. Tliere^ every flower in the heavenly garden will be turned Godwards, bathing its tints of loveli- ness in the glory that excelleth I Reader, may it be yours, when o'er- canopied by that cloudless sky, to know all the marvels contained in these few glowing words, " We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 'AND EVBRT MAN THAT HATH TfflS HOPE IN mfl PCKIFIBni HIMSELF EVEN AS BE 19 FURK ' THE WORDS OF JESUS. 115 29th EVKNINa "Kemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said "— "In my Father's house are many mansions." — John xiv. 2. rlt iiii What a home aspect there Mmmm, ^^ comforts His Church by telling them that soon their wilder- ness-wanderings will be finished, — the tented tabernacle suited to their present probation-state exchanged for the en- during mansion I " Nor will it be any- strange dwelling : a FatJier^s home — a Father's welcome awaits them. There will be accommodation for all. Thou- sands have already entered its shin- ing gates, — patriarch's prophets, saints, martyrs, young and old, and still there is room I The pilgrim's motto on earth is, " Here we have no continuing city." Even "Sabbath ients" must be struck. Holy seasons of communion must ter- 116 THE WORDS OF JESUS. minate. " Arise, let us go hence ! " is a summons which disturbs tlie sweetest moments of tranquillity in the Church below ; — but in Heaven^ every believer becomes a pillar in the temple of God, and " he shall go no more outj^ Here it is but the lodging of a wayfarer turning aside to tarry for the brief night of earth. Here we are but "tenants at will ;" our possessions are but move- ables— ours to-day, gone to-morrow. But these "many mansions" are an inheritance incorruptible and unfading. Nothing can touch the heavenly patri- mony. Once within the Father's house, and we are in the house forever ! Think, too, of Jesus, gone to prepare these mansions, — " I go to prepare a place for you." What a wondrous thought — Jesus now busied in Heaven in His Church's behalf! He can find no abode in all His wide dominions, befitting as a permanent dwelling for His ransomed ones. He says, " I 'v\'ill THE WORDS OP JESUS. 117 make a new heaven and a new earth. I will found a special kingdom — I will rear eternal mansions expressly for those I have redeemed with My blood ! " Reader ! let the prospect of a dwelling in this " house of the Lord for ever/' reconcile thee to any of the roughness or difficulties in thy present path — to thy pilgrim provision and pilgrim fare. Let the distant beacon-light, that so cheeringly speaks of a Home brighter and better far than the happiest of earthly ones, lead thee to forget the intervening billows, or to think of them only as wafting thee nearer and nearer to thy desired haven ! " Would," says a saint, who has now entered on his rest, " that one could read, and write, and pray, and eat and drink, and com- pose one's self to sleep, as with the thought, — soon to be in heaven, and that for ever and ever ! " "My Fatlier's house!" How many a departing spirit has been cheered and 118 THE WORDS OF JESUS. consoled by the sight of these glorious Mansions loeming through the mists of the dark valley, — the tears of weeping friends rebuked by the gentle chiding — " If ye loved me, ye would rejoice bo- cause I said, I go unto my Father! Death truly is but the entrance to this our Father's house. We speak of the " shadow of death " — it is only the shadow which falls on the portico as we stand for a moment knocking at the longed-for gate — the next! a Father's voice of welcome is heard — " SON t THOC ART EVER WITH ME, AND AIX IBiX I BATE IS TSINB." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 119 30th EVEKINCk "Eetnember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— " I will coins again, and receive you unto myself ; that where I am there ye may be also." — John xiv. 3. ^, ^. .V Another " word of '(KIlB^MnilSrt promise" concerning hmtn, ^^Q ChurcVs "Blessed hope." Orphaned pilgrims, dry your tears ! Soon the Morning Hour will strike, and the sighs of a groaning and burdened creation be heard no more. Earth's six thousand years of toil and sorrow are waning ; the Millennial Sab- bath is at hand. Jesus will soon be heard to repeat concerning all his sleep ing saints, what He said of old regard- ing one of them : " I go to awake them out of sleep ! " Your beloved Lord's first coming was in humiliation and woe ; His name was- -the " Man of Sor- rows ; " He liad to travel on, amid dark- ness and desertion, His blood-stained 120 THE WORDS OF JESUS. path ; a chaplet of tliorns was the only crown He bore. But soon He will como " the second time without a sin-offering unto salvation," never again to leave His Church, but to receive those who followed Him in His cross, to be ever- lasting partakers with Him in His crown. He may seem to tarry. Exter- nal nature, in her unvarying and un devi- ating sequences, gives no indication of His approach. Centuries have elapsed since He uttered the promise, and still He lingers ; the everlasting hills wear no streak of approaching dawn ; we seem to listen in vain for the noise of His chariot wheels. "But the Lord is not slack concerning His promise ; " He gives you "this word" in addition to many others as a heepsahe — a pledge and guarantee for the certainty cf His return, — " / luill come again.^' Who can conceive all the surpassing blessedness connected with that advent ? The Elder Brother arrived to fetch the THE WORDS OF JESUS. 121 younger brethren home ! — the true Joseph revealing Himself in unuttera- ble tenderness to the brethren who were once estranged from Him — "ro- ceiving them unto Himself" — not satis- fied with apportioning a kingdom for them, but, as if all His own joy and bliss were intermingled with theirs, " Where / rt??i," says He, " there you must be also." " Him that overcometh," says He again, " will I grant to sit with Me on My Throne." Believer ! can you now say with some of the holy transport of the apostle, " Whom having not seen, we love " ? What must it be when you come to see Him " face to face," and that for ever and ever ! If you can tell of precious hours of communion in a sin- stricken, woe-worn world, with a treacherous heart, and an imperfect or divided love, what must it be when you come, in a sinless, sorrowless state, with purified and renewed affections, to see the King 122 THE WORDS OP JESUS. in His beauty ! The letter of an absent brother, cheering and consolatory as it is, is a poor compensation for the joys of personal and visible communion. The absent Elder Brother on the Throne speaks to you now only by His Word and Spirit, — soon you shall be admitted to His immediate fellowship, seeing Him " as He is " — He Himself unfolding the wondrous chart of His providence and grace — leading you about from fountain to fountain among the living waters, and with His own gentle hand wiping the last lingering tear-drop from your eye. Heaven an everlasting home with Jesus ! " Where I am, there ye may be also.'' — He has appended a cheering postscript to this word, on which Ho has " caused us to hope : " — HB WHICH TESITFIETH THESE THINGS SATTH, SUKKLT I coirs QUICKLY." THE WORDS OP JESUS. 123 31S1 EVSNINQ. "Bemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said"— •* Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when Ho cometh shall find watching." — Luke xii. 32. ^, ^1 . Child of God I is this W (Rinsing ^j^j^3 ^t^it^^^^ ^g t^3 g^. iorEraittinn. pectant of thy Lord's ap- pearing ? Are thy loins girded, and thy lights burning ? If the cry were to break upon thine ears this day, " Be- hold, the Bridegroom cometh," couldst thou joyfully respond — " Lo, this is my God, I have waited for Him" ? When He may come, we cannot tell ; — ages may elapse before tJien. It may be centuries before our graves are gilded with the beams of a Millennial sun ; but while He may or may not come sooii^ He must come at some time — ay, and the day of our death is virtually to all of us the day of His coming. Reader ! put not off the solemn pre- 124 THE WORDS OF JESUS. paration. Be not deceiyed or deluded with the mocker's presumptuous chal- enge, " Where is the promise of His coming ?" See to it that the calls of an engrossing world without, do not foster this procrastinating spirit within. It may be now or never with thee. Put not off thy sowing time till harvest time. Leave nothing for a dying hour, hut to die, and calmly to resign thy spirit into the hands of Jesus. Of all times, that is the least suitable to have the vessel plenished — to attend to the great business of life when life is ebbing — to trim the lamp when the oil is done and it is flickering in its socket — to begin to watch, when the summons is heard to leave the watch-tower to meet our God! Were you never struck how often, amid the many gentle words of Jesus, the summons '' to watch," is over and over repeated, like a succession of alarum- bells breaking ever and anon, amid THE WORDS OF JESUS. 125 chimes of heavenly music, to rouse a sleeping Church and a slumbering world ? Let this last " Word" of thy Lord's send thee to thy knees with the ques- tion,— "Am I indeed a servant of Christ ?" Have I fled to Him, and am I reposing in Him, as my only Saviour ? — or am I still lingering, like Lot, when I should be escaping — sleeping, when I should be waking — neglecting and trifling, when " a long eternity is lying at my door" ? He is my last and only refuge ; neglect Him — all is lost ! Believer ! thou who art standing on thy watch-tower, be more faithful than ever at thy post. Remember what is implied in watching. It is no dreamy state of inactive torpor : it is a holy jealousy over the heart — waking vigi- lance regarding sin — every avenue and loophole of the soul carefully guarded. Holy living is the best, the only, pre- parative for lioly dying. " Persuade 126 THE WOKDS OF JESUS. yourself," says Rutherford, " the King is coming. Read His letter sent be- fore Him. ' Behold, I come quickly ;' wait with the wearied night-watch for the breaking of the Eastern sky." Let these " Words of Jesus" we have now been meditating upon in this little volume, be as the Golden Bells of old, hung on the vestments of the officiating High priest, emitting sweet sounds to His spiritual Israel — telling that the true Higli Priest is still living and pleading in " the Holiest of all ;" and that soon He will come forth to pour His blessing on His waiting Church. We have been pleasingly employed in ga- thering up a few " crumbs" falling from "the Master's table." Soon we shall have, not the " Words," but the 'presence of Jesus — not the crumbs falling from His table, but everlasting fellowship with the Master Himself. *' Amen, even so, come lord jestjh." " M\txiiatt Comfort #iie Unotjer toitfe %3ii3(& mtB%§3: 1 rsnm. tv. 18, THE FAITHFUL PEOMISEE It has often been felt a delightful exercise by the child of Grod, to take, night by night, an individual promise, and plead it at the mercy - £eat. Often are your iprajers pointless, from not following in this respect the example of the fiweet psalmist of Israel, the royal promise- pleader, who dehghted to direct his finger to Bome particular " word " of the faithfal Promise, Baying, " Remember thy word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caased me to hope." The following are a few gleanings from the promise-treasury, a few crumbs from the Mas- ter's table, which may serve to help the thoughts in the hour of closet meditation or the season of sorrow. (2) THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. "He is Faithful that Promised." " Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though your sins be as scarlet, they sliall be as white as Bnow, though they be red Uke crimson, they shall be as wool." — Isaiah i. 18. w. V . My soul, thy God siimmona f nriinillllg ^i^^^ ^^ |^jg audience-cham- (i^ruiB. -j^gj,^ Infinite purity seeks to reason with infinite vileness. Deity stoops to speak to dust. Dread not the meeting. It is the most gracious, as well as wondrous of all conferences. Jehovah himself breaks silence. He utters the best tidings a lost soul or a lost world can hear : " God is in Christ reconciling the world unto him- self, not imputing unto men their tres- passes." What! scarlet sins and crim- son sins ; and these all to be for- given and forgotten ? The just God "justifying" the unjust — the mightiest of all beings, the kindest of all. 0, what is there in thee to merit such love 4 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. as this ? Thou mightest have known thy God only as the " consuming fire," and had nothing before thee, save " a fearful looking for of vengeance." This gracious conference bids thee dispel tliy fears. It tells thee, it is no longer a '• fearful," but a blessed thing to be in His hands. Hast thou closed with these his overtures ? Until thou art at peace with Him, happiness must be a stranger to thy bosom. Though thou hast all else besides, bereft of God thou must be " bereft indeed." Lord, I come. As thy pardoning grace is freely tendered, so shall I freely accept it. May it be mine, even now, to listen to the gladdening accents, Son, Daughter, be of good cheer ; thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee ! "BSMEMBHK THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH TBOK VLSSt CAUSED ItK TO HOITJ.' THE FAITHFUL PROMTSER. 5 2d DAT "He ia Faithful that Promised." " As tb7 days, so shall thy strength be."— Deut. xxxii. 25 /!^ vi^ I /!> GrOD does not ffive srrace MnM (frm tni the hou. of trial comes. But when it does come, the amount of grace and the special grace required is vouchsafed. My soul, do not dwell with painful apprehensions on the future. Do not anticipate com- ing sorrows ; perplexing thyself about the grace needed for future emergencies : to-morrow will bring its promised grace along with to-morrow's trials. God, wishing to keep his people humble and and dependent on himself, gives not a stock of grace ; He metes it out for every day^s exigencies, that they may be constantly travelling between their own emptiness and Christ's fulness — their own weakness and Christ's strength. But whev tlio exigency comes, thou may- 6 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. est safely trust an almiglity arm to bear thee through. Is there now some '' thorn in the flesh"' sent to lacerate thee? Thou may est have been entreating the Lord for its removal. Thy prayer has doubt- less been heard and answered ; but not in the way perhaps expected or desired by thee. The thorn may still be left to goad, the trial may still be left to buffet, but " more grace" has been given to endure them. 0, how often have his people thus been lead to glory in their infirmities and triumph in their afflic- tions, seeing the power of Christ rests more abundantly upon them. The strength which the hour of trial brings, often makes the Christian a wonder to himself. «* EBMESIBER THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WTOCB TBOV UAST CAUSKD ME TO HOPE." THE Faithful promiser. T 3d Day. "He is FaitMul that Promised." <' God is able U» make all grace abound toward you ; that je always having all-suflaciency in all things, may abound to every good work." — 2 Cor ix. 8. "all ^ fli * , "All-sufficiency in all ill-|limnBat things!" Believer, surely ^^^^^- thou art " thoroughly fur- nished." Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, " full flowing, ever flowing, over flowing." Mark these three alls in this precious promise. It is a threefold link in a golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace. " All grace^^ — " all-sufficiency'^ in " all things P'' and these to "abound." 0, precious thought! My wants cannot im- poverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace. Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution. Out of that fulness all d THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. we too may receive, and grace for grace. My soul, dost not thou love to dwell on that all-abounding grace ? Thine own insufficiency in everything, met with an " all-sufficiency in all things." Grace in all circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all the varied phases of the Christian's being. Grace in sunshine and storm, in health and in sickness, in life and in death. Grace for the old believer, and the young believer, the tried believer and the weak believer and the tempted be- liever. Grace for duty, and grace in duty ; grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand ; grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit ; grace to have prosperity sanctified , grace to say, through tears, " Thy will be done." BEMBMBKR THIS WORD tTKTO THY SEBTAWT, VTOV WmOH THOa HA-ST CAUSED MB TO HOPB." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 9 4Tn Dai, "He is Faithful that Promised." '■ I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come to you."— John siv. 18. gr r .♦ Blessed Jesus, how tliypres- (LnmiOriing ^^^^ sanctifies trial, takes Cprnrr. loneliness from the chamber of sickness, and gloom from the chamber of death I Bright and Morning Star, precious at all times, thou art never so precious as in " the dark and cloudy day." The bitterness of sorrow is well worth enduring, to have thy promised consolations. How well qualified, thou Man of sorrows, to be my Comforter ! How well fitted to dry my tears, thou who didst shed so many thyself! What are my tears, my sorrows, my crosses, my losses, compared with thine, who didst shed first thy tears, and then thy blood for me ? Mine are all deserved, and are infinitely less than have been merited. How difi'erent, 0, spotless 10 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE, Lamb of God, those pangs wliicli rent tliy guiltless bosom ! How sweet those comforts thou hast promised to the comfortless, when I think of them as flowing from an al- mighty Felloiv-sufferer — " a brother bom for adversity" — the " Friend that stick- eth closer than a brother!" one who can say, with all the refined sympathies of a holy, exalted human nature, " I know your sorrows." My soul, calm thy griefs. There is not a sorrow thou canst experience, but Jesus in the treasury of grace, has an exact corresponding solace. In the mul- titude of the sorrows I have in my heart, " thy comforts delight my soul." "nKMEMBER THIS WOED TTNTO THY 6E11VVNT, UrON WmOK TUOU HAST CAUSED ME TO flJPR." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 11 "He is Faithful that Promised." " Satan hatb desired to have you, that he may sift you aa wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." —Luke xxii. 31,32. ^ , . . What a scene does this ixrstrnniing ^^^^j^ , g^^^^ tempting, CPiuiP. Jesus praying ; Satan sift- ing, Jesus pleading ; the strong man assailing, the stronger than the strong beating him back. Believer ! here is the past history and present secret of thy safety in the midst of temptation. An interceding Saviour was at thy side, saying to every threat- ening wave, " Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther." God often permits his people to be on the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness ; but never further than the verge. The restraining hand and grace of Omnipotence is ready to rescue them. *• Though he fall, he shall not be utterly 12 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. cast down ; " and wliy not ? " for the Lord uplioldeth him with his hand." The wolf may be prowling for his prey ; but what can he do when the Shepherd is always there, tending with the watcii- ful eye that " neither slumbers nor sleeps ? " What believer cannot subscribe to the testimony, " When my foot slipped, thy mercy, 0 Lord, helped me up ? " Who can look back on his past pilgrimage, and fail to see it crowded with Eben- ezers with this inscription, " Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from fall- ing ? " My soul, where wouldst thou have been this day, hadst thou not been " kept " by the power of God ? " RSMEMFEU THIS WORD INTO THY SFRVANT, tJPOJf WHICH THOC HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE " THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 13 "He is faithful that Promised." " I will heal their backsliding. "—Hosea xiv. 4. y . . Wandering again! And hag Fxmnring ^^ ^^^ ^^f^ me to perish ? UPrnr?. stumbling and straying on the dark mountains, away from the Shepherd's eye and the Shepherd's fold, shall He not leave the erring wanderer to the fruit of his own ways, and his truant lieart to go hopelessly onward in its career of guilty estrangement ? " My thoughts," says God, " are not as your thoughts, neither are your ways as my ways." Man would say, " Go, perish, ungrateful apostate." God says, " Re- turn, ye backsliding children." The Shepherd ivill not, cannot suffer the sheep to perish he has purchased with his own blood. How wondrous his forbearance towards it ; tracking its guilty steps, and ceasing not the pursuit till he lays the wanderer on his shoiil- 14 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEB. ders, aud returns with it to his fold re- joicing. My soul, why increase by further de- partures thine own distance from the fold ? Why lengthen the dreary road thy gracious Shepherd has to traverse in bringing thee back ? Delay not thy return. Provoke no longer his pa- tience ; venture no further on forbidden ground. He waits with outstretched arras to welcome thee once more to his bosom. Be humble for the past ; trust him for the future. Think of thy former backslidings, and tremble ; think of his forbearance and be filled with holy gra- titude ; think of his promised grace, and take courage. THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH ' WiSl CAUSED ME TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PEOMISER. 15 "He is faithful that promised." '' He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it nntil the day of Jesus Christ." — Pliil. i. 6. ^ ,.j. ♦ Reader ! is tlie G;ood work i'lrnrmijing ^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^^ ^^ ^^,^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^' becoming holy? Is sin more and more crucified? Are thy heart's idols one by one abolished ? Is the world less to thee, and eternity more to thee ? Is more of thy Saviour's im- age impressed on thy character, and thy Saviour's love more enthroned in thy heart ? Is salvation to thee more the one thing needful? Oh! take heed! there can be no middle ground, no stand- ing still : or if it be so with thee, thy position must be a false one. The Sa- viour's blood is not more necessary to give thee a title to heaven, than his spirit to give thee a meetness for it. " If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 7ione of his J^ 16 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. « " Onwards," sliould be thy motto. There is no standing still in the life of faith. " The man," says Augustine, " who says, ^ Enough,^ that man's soul is lost." Let tliis be the superscription in all thy ways and doings, " Holiness to the Lord." Let the monitory word ex- ercise over thee its habitual power, " Without holinens no man shall see the Lord." Moreover, remember that to be holy is to be happy. The two are converti- ble terms. Holiness ! It is the secret and spring of the joy of angels ; and the more of holiness attained on earth — the nearer and closer my walk is with God, the more of a sweet earnest shall I have of the bliss that awaits me in a holy heaven. 0 my soul ! let it be thy Bacred ambition to " be holy." " BKUEMBKR THIS •WORO UNTO THY SERVANT, TTPOH WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 17 8th DAT. " He is faithfal that promised." " Tboy that wait upon the Lord shall renew tneir strength; tliey shall mount up with wings, as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint." —Isaiah xl. 31. ^ . . " Wilt thou not revive us, O u^iuir. conscious of thy declining state ? Is thy walk less with God — thy frame less heavenly? Hast thou less conscious nearness to the mercy seat — diminished communion with the Sa- viour ? Is prayer less a privilege than it has been ; the pulsations of spiritual life more languid and fitful and spas- modic ; the bread of life less relished ; the seen and the temporal and the tan- gible displacing the unseen and the eternal ? Art thou sinking down into this state of drowsy self-contentment, this conformity-life with the world, for- feiting all the happiness of true relig- 2 18 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. ion, and risking and endangering tlie better life to come ? Arise, call upon tliy God. "Wilt tliou not revive us, 0 Lord ?" He might have returned nothing but the wither- ing repulse, "How often would I have gathered thee, but thou wouldst not !'' " Ephraim is joined to his idols ; let him alone." But " In wrath He remem- bers mercy." " They shall revive as as the corn." " The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." How and where is reviving grace to be found ? He gives thee in His prec- ious promise the key. It is on thy hiees — by a return to thy deserted and un- frequented chamber, '^Tliey that wait upon the Lord." " Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart ; wait, I say, on the Lord." " RKMEMBRR THIS -VTORD mTO THT SERVANT, ITPOS WUIOQ THOU HAST OAU^^D UE tO HOPS." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 19 9th Day. "He is Faithful that Promised." " Tlie righteous also shall hold oo his way." — Job xvii. 9, ^, ♦ Reader, how comfortinor ^^ and Sowings of thy chang- ing history, to know that the change is all with thee, and not with thy God. Thy spiritual bark may be tossed on the waves of temptation, in many a dark midnight. Thou mayest think thy pilot hath left thee, and be ready continually to say, " Where is my God ?" But fear not. The bark which bears thy spiritual destinies is in better hands than thine ; a golden chain of covenant love links it to the throne. That chain can never snap asunder. He who holds it in his hand gives thee this as the pledge of your safety : " Because I live, ye shall live also." " Why art thou then cast down, 0 my Boul ; and why art thou disquieted within 20 THE FAITHFUL PEOMISER. me ? liope thcu in God^ Thou wilt as- suredly ride out of these stormy surges, and reach the desired haven. But be faithful with thyself. See that there be nothing to hinder or impede thy growth in grace. Think how little may retard thy progress. One sin in- dulged, one temptation tampered with, one bosom traitor, may cost thee many a bitter hour and bitter tear, by separat- ing between thee and thy God. Make it thy daily prayer, " Search me, 0 God, and know my heart ; try me and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." < EKICKMBKR THIS WORD UNTO THT SKRVANT, DPON WHIOH IHOTl HJkST GAUeiED MB TO nOF& THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 21 IOtu Dat. "He is Faithful that Promised." «' I have the keys of hell and of death."— Rev. 1, 18. Tn ♦ ^ And from whom could ftimg fratf. dying grace come so wel- come, as from thee, 0 blessed Jesus? Not only is thy name " The Abolishei of Death," but thou didst thyself die. Thou hast sanctified the grave by thine own presence, and divested it of all its terrors. My soul, art thou at times afraid of this, thy last enemy ? If the rest of thy pilgrimage be peaceful and unclouded, rests there a dark and portentous shadow over the terminating portals? Fear not. When that dismal entrance is reached, He who has the keys of the grave and of death suspended at his golden girdle, will impart grace to bear thee through. It is the messenger of peace. Thy Saviour calls thee. The promptings of nature when at first thou 22 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEB. seest tlie darkening wave, may be like lliose of the affrighted disciples when they said, " It is a spirit !" and cried out for fear. But a gentle voice will be heard high above the storm, " It is I ; be not afraid." Death, indeed, as the wages of sin, must even by the believer be regarded as an enemy. But 0, blessed thought, it is thy last enemy — the cause of thy last tear. In a few brief moments after that tear is shed, thy God will be wiping every vestije of it away. "0 Death, where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where is thy victory ? Thanks be unto God, v/ho giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Welcome, vanquished foe ! Birthday of heaven. " To die is gain." "EnacMBER THIS word unto tht servant, upon which thott HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE, 23 11th DAT. "He is Faithful that Promised." "The Ix)rd will give grace aud glory." — Psa. Ixxxiv. 11. iliur (it^rnR; toilsome warfare will all (j)m]\, be ended, Jordan crossed, Canaan entered, the legion enemies of the wilderness no longer dreaded ; sor- row, sighing, death, and, worst of all, S171 no more either to be felt or feared. Here is the terminating link in the golden chain of the everlasting covenant. It began with grace; it ends with glory. It began with sovereign grace in a by- past eternity, and no link will be want- ing till the ransomed spirit be presented faultless before the throne. Grace and glory ! If the earnest be sweet, what must be the reality ? If the wilderness table contain such rich pro- vision, what must be the glories of the eternal banqueting hou,^e ? 0, my soul, make sure of thine interest in the one, 24 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. as the blessed prelude to the other. Having access by faith into this grace^ thou canst " rejoice in hope of the glory of God ; for whom he justifies, them ho also glorifies. Has grace begun in thee ? Canst thou mark — though it should bo but the drops of the incipient rill which is to terminate in such an ocean — the tiny grains which are to accumulate and issue in such an "exceeding weight of glory?" Delay not the momentous question. The day of offered grace is on the wing, its hours are fast number- ing ; and " no grace, no glory." THIS WORD UNTO THT SERVANT, CPOK TBOIT fUkST CAUSED MS TO HOriL" THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 25 12Tn DAY, "He is Faithful that Promised." " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever."— John xiv. 16 (^m\hn Blessed Spirit of all ^nmSA; g^^c^' ^0^ oft have I Cnmfnrter. gHevedthee-resistedthy dealings, quenched thy strivings ; and yet art thou still pleading with me. 0, let me realize more than I do, my need of thy gracious influences. Ordi- nances, sermons, communions, providen- tial dispensations, are nothing without thy life-giving power. " It is the Spirit that quickeneth." " No man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Church of the living God, is not this one cause of thy deadness ? My soul, is not this the secret of thy languishing frames, repeated declensions, uneven walk, and sudden falls, that the influ- ences of the Holy Ghost are undervalued 26 THE FAITHFUL PRuMISER. and unsouglit ? Pray for the outpouring of this blessed Agent for the world's renovation, and thine own. "I will pour out my Spirit on all jQiesh," is the precursor of millennial bliss. Jesus, draw near in thy mercy to this torpid heart, as thou didst of old to thy mourning disciples, and breathe upon it, and say, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It is the mightiest of all boons ; but, like the sun in the heavens, it is the freest of all. " For if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask him ? " REMEMBER THIS WOIID UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON TflOU HAST OAUSED MK TO HOFB." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 27 " He is Faithful that Promised." '■■ All things work together for g^ood to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose."— Rom. viii. 28. w. .v , ♦ , My soul, be still ; thou art |r<'l"^t'}W in the hands of % cove- strange vicissitudes in tliy history the result of accident or chance, thou might- est well be overwhelmed ; but " all things" and this thing, be it what it may, which may be now disquieting thee, is one of these " all things " that are working mysteriously for thy good. Trust thy God. He will not deceive thee ; thy interests are with him in safe custody. When sight says, " All these things are against me," let faith rebuke the hasty conclusion, and say, " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" How often does God hedge up our way with thorns, to elicit simple trust. How seldom can we .see all things so woiking 28 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. for our good. But it is better discipline to believe it. 0, for faith amid frowning providences to say, '' I know that thy judgments are good ;" and, relying in the dark, to exclaim, " though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Blessed Jesus, to thee are committed the reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to the cross, is now wielding the sceptre on the throne — ■ "all power" given unto thee in heaven and in earth. How can I doubt the wisdom, and faithfulness, and love of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I know that the roll of providence is thus in the hands of Him who has given the mightiest pledge omnipotence could give of his tender interest in my soul's well-being, by giving himself for me? t THIS WORD U.VTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOD HAST CAUSED MX TO HOPS." THE FlITHFUL PROMISEE. 29 14th Dat. ** He is Faithful that Promised." "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep hia covenant and his testimonies." — Psalm xxv. 10. ^ r rtVY |{ ♦ The paths of the Lord I mt itiniRing, ^^^ g^^i^ j^g^ej. follow thine own paths. If thou dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than faith — choosing the evil, and refusing the good. But " com- mit thy way unto the Lord, and he shall bring it to pass." Let this be thy prayer, " Show me thy ways, 0 Lord ; teach me thy paths." 0, for CaleVs spirit, " ivholly to follow the Lord my God " — to follow him when self must be sacrificed, and hardships must be borne, and trials await me — to " walk with God," to ask in simple faith, '' What wouldst thou have me to do ?" to have no will of my own, save this, that God's will is to be my will. Here is safety, here is happiness. Fearlessly 80 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. follow the guiding Pillar. He will lead you by a right way, though it may be a way of hardship, and crosses, and losses, and privations, to the city of habita- tion. 0, the blessedness of thus lying passive in the hands of God ; saying, " Undertake thou for me ;" dwelling with holy gratitude on past mercies and interpositions ; taking these as pledges of future faithfulness and love ; hearing his voice behind us, amid life's manifold perplexities, exclaiming, "This is the way ; walk ye in it." Happy, surely, are every people who are in such a case. Happy, reader, will it be for thee if thou canst form the resolve in a strength greater than thine own, " This God shall be my God forever and ever ; he shall be my guide even unto death." " BEMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, XJPON WHICH IHOC HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." TUE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 31 15th DAt " He is Faithfnl that Premised." <« As many as Hove I rebuke and chasten."— Re t. iii. 19. Im in Clins- ^'^^TT ^"^''-f' '''"' i: - f couldst thou wish more limnm, ^-^^^ ^j^.^ ^ r^j^^ furnace is severe ; but look at this assurance of him who lighted it. Love is the fuel that feeds its flames. Its every spark is love ; kindled by a Father's hand, and de- signed as a special pledge of a Father's love. How many of his dear children has he so rebuked and chastened ; and all, all for one reason, Hove them. The myriads in glory have passed through these furnace-fires ; tliere they were cho- sen—f/^ere they were purified, sanctified, and made " vessels meet for the Master's use ; " the dross and the alloy purged, that the pure metal might remain. And art thou to claim exemption from the same discipline ? Art thou to think it strange, concerning these same fiery tri- 32 THE FAITHFUL PROMTSER. als that may be trying tliee ? Rather ex- ult in them as thine adoption-privilege. Envy not those who are strangers to the refining flames, who are " without chas- tisement ; " rather surely the severest discipline, with a Father^ s love, than the fullest earthly cup, without that Father's smile. 0, for grace to say, when the furnace is hottest and the rod sorest, "Even so. Father J' And what, after all, is the severest of thy chastisements, in comparison with what thy sins have deserved ? Dost thou murmur under a Father's correcting love ? What would it have been to have stood the wrath of an unpropitiated Judge, and that too forever ? Surely, in the light of eter- nity, the heaviest pang of earth is in- deed a "light affliction." REUEMBER THIS WORD ITNTO THT SERVANT, UPON WHICH IHOC DAST CAU'^ED MK TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 83 16th DAT. "He is Faithful that Promised." " If need be."— 1 Peter, i. 6. n gr VI' * Three gracious words. ClinHtonirai sM for naught. Not one stroke of the rod unneeded, or that might have been spared. Thy heavenly Father loves thee too much and too ten- derly, to bestow harsher correction than thy case requires. Is it loss of health or loss of wealth, or loss of beloved fi'iends ? Be still — there was a need he. We are no judges of what that " need be " is ; often through aching hearts we are forced to exclaim, " Thy judgments are a great deep." But God here pledg- es himself, that there will not be one re- dundant thorn in the believer's chaplet of suffering. No burden too heavy will be laid on him, and no sacrifice too great exacted /ro//i him. He will " tem- per the wind to the shorn lamb." When- 3 34 THE FAITHFUL PKOMISER. ever the "need be" has accomplished its end, then the rod is removed, the chastisement suspended, the furnace quenched. " If need be ! " 0, what a pillow on which to rest thy aching head — that there is not a drop in all thy bitter cup but what a God of love saw to be abso- lutely necessary. Wilt thou not trust him, even though thou canst not trace the mystery of his dealings ? Not too curiously prying into the " why it is," or " how it is," but satisfied that " so it is," and therefore that all must be well. " Although thou sayest thou canst not see him, yet judgment is before him ; therefore trust thou in him." THIS WORD UNTO THT SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOO BSSt CAUSED MB TO HOPB." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 35 "He is Faithful tliat Promised." " A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench." — Matt. xii. 20. -»i iL i ^ILL Jesus accept sucli a \h^W 1 ^^^^* ^^ mine— this erring, Ip IDralt. treacherous, traitor heart ? The past : how many forgotten vows, broken covenants, prayerless days ! How often have I made new resolu- tions ; and as often as the reed suc- cumbed to the first blast of temptation, and the burning flax been well-nigh quenched by guilty omissions, and guil- tier commissions. 0, my soul, thou art low indeed ; the things that remain seem " ready to die." But thy Saviour God will not give thee over unto death. The reed is bruised ; but He will not pluck it up by the roots. The flax is reduced to a smoking ember ; but He will fan the decaying flame. Why wound thy loving Saviour's heart by 36 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. these repeated declensions? He will not, cannot give thee up. Go, mourn thy weakness and unbelief. Cry unto tlie strong for strength. Weary and faint one, thou hast an omnipotent arm to lean on. " He fainteth not, neither is weary." Listen to his own gracious assurance, " Fear not ; for I am with thee. Be not dismayed ; for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Leaving all thy false props and refuges, be this thy resolve, " In the Lord put I my trust ; why say ye to my soul. Flee as a bird to your mountain ? " » KEMKMBER THIS WORD UNTO THT SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOD ttiSr OACSSD ME TO nOFfl. " THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 37 18th day ** He is Faithful that Promised." " Him that comelh to me, I will in nowiso cast out."— John vi. 37. ^ ., "Cast out!" My tljttepDuhng. ty^ t^^3 ^^3„ °^y history ? Thou hast cast off thy God ; might he not oft have " cast out " thee ? Yes, cast thee out as fuel for the fire of Lis wrath — a sapless, fruitless cum- berer. And yet, notwithstanding all thy ungrateful requital for his unmerited forbearance, he is still declaring, " As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." Thy sins may be legion-like ; the sand of the sea may be their befitting type ; the thought of their turpitude and aggrava- tion may be ready to overwhelm thee ; but be still ; thy patient God waits to be gracious. 0, be deeply humbled and softened. 38 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. because of tliy guilt ; resolve to dedi- cate thyself anew to his seryice ; and so coming, he will hy no means cast thee out. Despond not by reason of former shortcomings : thy sins are great, but thy Saviour's merits are greater. He is willing to forget all the past and sink it in oblivion, if there be present love and the promise of future obedience. •' Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou mt f " Ah, how different is God's verdict from man's. After such sins as thine, man's sentence would have been, "/ will in no- wise receive." But " it is better to fall into the hands of God, than into tlie hands of man ; " for he says, " I will in nowise cast out." THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH TilCr HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPK." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 39 19th Dat. "He is Faithful that Promised." '* Peace 1 leave with you ; my peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth." — John xiv. 27. jjc t ut ^g^^ peace whose mind is fc)rlirnmg. stayed on thee." "Perfect peace ;" what a blessed attainment. My soul, is it thine? Sure I am it is not, if thou art seeking it in a perishable world, or in the perishable creature, or in thy perishable self. Although thou hast all that the world would call enviable and happy, unless thou hast peace in God and loitli God, all else is unworthy of the name ; a spurious thing, which the first breath of adversity will shatter, and the hour of death utterly annihilate. Perfect peace ; what is it ? It is the peace of forgiveness. It is tlie peace arising out of a sense of God recon- ciled through the blood of the everlast- ing covenant, resting sweetly on tlie bosom and the work of Jesus, to him 40 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. committing thine eternal all. My soul, stay thyself on God, that so this blessed peace may be thine. Thou hast tried the world. It has deceived thee. Prop after prop of earthly scaffolding has yielded and tottered and fallen. Has thy God ever done so ? Ah, this false and counterfeit world-peace may do well for the world's work, and the world's day of prosperity. But test it in the hour of sorrow ; and what can it do for thee when most it is needed ? On the other hand, what though thou hast no other blessing on earth to call thine own ? Thou art rich indeed, if thou canst look upwards to heaven, and say, with " unpresumptuous smile," "I am at peace with God." " RKMBMBF.B TniS WOEI> TJNTO THY SKRVANT, UPOK wnion THOU ha,st caused mk to hope." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 41 20Tn Day "He is Faithful that Promised." '« Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." — Rev. xiv. 13. ^|. . My soul, is this blessedness J^II5j IE ^i^jjjg .^^ prospect? Art thou ^^VH' ready, if called this night to lie down on thy death-pillow, sweetly to fall asleep in Jesus ! What is the sting of death? It is sin. Is death, then, to thee, robbed of its sting, through your haying listened to the gracious ac- cents of pardoning love ? Be of good cheer ; thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee. If thou hast made up thy peace with God, resting on the work and atoning blood of his dear Son, then is the " last enemy" divested of all hia terror, and thou canst say, in sweet composure, of thy dying couch and dying hour, " I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, because thou, liOrd, only makest me dwell in safety." Reader ! ponder that solemn question. 42 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. " Am I ready to die ? Am I liviug as I should wish I had done when that last hour arrives?" And when shall it arrive? To-morrow is not thine. Verily, there may be but a step between theo and death. 0, solve the question speedi- ly ; risk no doubts and no peradventure. Every day is proclaiming anew the les- son, " The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." Seek to live so that that hour cannot come upon thee too soon or too unexpectedly. Live a dying life. How blessed to live, how blessed to die, with the consciousness that there may be but a step between thee and glory. '*EEMEMBEB THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, ITPON WHICH TU01T HAST CAUSED ME TO UOPB.'' THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 43 """""""""" 21si l)Ar "He is Faitliful that Promised." ' In due season we shall reap, if we faiut not." — Gal. vi. 9. ^ « Believer, all the glory of A .t III |.^y salvation belongs to ivPnpiIIg. Jesus — none to thyself; every jewel in thine eternal crown is his, purchased by his blood, and polish- ed by his Spirit. The confession of time will be the ascription of all eter- nity, " By the grace of God, I am what I am." But though all be of grace, thy God calls thee to personal stren- uousness in the work of thy high call- ing ; to " labor," to " fight," to " wrestle," to " agonize ; " and the heavenly reaping will be in proportion to the earthly sowing. "He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. What an incentive to holy living and increased spiritual attain- ments. My soul, wouldst thou b^ a 44 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. star shining high and bright in the fir- mament of glory — wouldst thou receive the ten-talent recompense ? Then, be not weary. Gird on thine armor for fresh conquests. Be gaining daily some new victory over sin. Deny thyself. Be a willing cross-bearer for thy Lord's sake. Do good to all men as thou hast opportunity ; be patient under provo- cation, slow to wrath, resigned in trial. Let the world take knowledge of thee, that thou art wearing Christ's livery, and bearing Christ's Spirit, and sharing Christ's cross. And when the reaping- time comes. He who has promised that the cup of cold water shall not go un- recompensed, will not suffer tliee to lose thy reward. " BEMEMBER TH13 WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UTON WHIOH XHOU HAST CAirSKD ME TO HOPE.' THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 45 Wd Day. • He is faithful that Promised." Tlio days ot thy mouruing shall be ended."— Isaiah ix. 20. ^rT(FTTirnf ^™ST's people are a Wmk! ^''P^°^ ^^^^' *^^^"^'^ lovely world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin, their own sin and the unblushing sins of a world in which their God is dis- honored, need we wonder at their tears — that they should be called " mourn- ers," and their pilgrimage-home a " valley of tears " ? Bereavement, and sickness, and poverty, and death, follow- ing the track of sin, add to their mourn- ing experience ; and with many of God^s best beloved, one tear is scarce dried, when another is ready to flow. Mourn- ers rejoice. When the reaping time comes, the weeping time ends. When the white robe and the golden harp are bestowed, every remnaut of the sack- 46 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. cloth attire is removed. The moment the pilgrim whose forehead is here fur- rowed with woe, bathes it in the crystal river of life, that moment the pangs of a lifetime of sorrow are eternally for- gotten. Reader ! if thou art one of these care- worn ones, the days of thy mourning are numbered. A few more throbbings of this achiog heart, and then the angel who proclaims " time to be no longer." shall proclaim also sorrow, and sighing, and mourning to be ended. Seek now to mourn thy sins more than thy sor- rows ; reserve thy bitterest tears for forgetfulness of thy dear Lord. The saddest and sorest of all bereavements is when the sins which have separated thee from Him evoke the anguish-cry, "Where is my God?'' ♦* BEMEUBEK THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICB THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROMI&ER. 47 % §T^jttV{ 23d Dai "He is Faithful that Promised." « Behold, I come quickly."— Rev. iii. IL Even so ; come, Lord Je- .. - oiis." Why tarry the wheels Cammg, ^^ ^i^^ chariot? Six thou- sand years this world has rolled on, getting hoary with age and wrinkled with sins and sorrows. A waiting church sees the long-drawn shadows of twilight announcing, " The Lord is at hand." Prepare, my soul, to meet him. Oh ! happy days, when thine adorable Redeemer, so long dishonored and des- pised, shall be publicly enthroned in presence of an assembled universe, crowned Lord of all, glorified in his saints, satisfied in the fruits of his soul's travail, destroying his enemies with the brightness of his coming — the lightning- glance of his wrath ; causing the hearts of his exulting people to " rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 48 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. Prepare, my soul, to meet him. Let it be a joyous thought to thee, thy " bless- ed hope," this meeting with thine elder Brother. Stand oftentimes on the watch-tower, to catch the first streak of that coming brightness, the first mur- mur of these chariot wheels. The world is now in preparation. It is rocking on its worn-out axle. There are voice:? on every side proclaiming, " He cometh, he cometh to judge the earth." Reader ! art thou among the number of those who " love his appearing" ? Hemember the attitude of his expectant saints. "Blessed are those servants whom their Lord, when he cometh, shall find watch- " BSHK&tBBR THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON TTHIOH TROT OAST CAUSED MB TO HOPE," THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 49 24tu Dat. "He is Faitliful that Promised." « Wliat I do, thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter." — John xviii. 7 ^ . As tlie natural sun some- l^pnnrnm ^.^^g g-^j^g ^^ clouds, so Slltimtliatinn. occasionally the Chris- tian who has a bright rising, and a brighter meridian, sets in gloom. It is not ahuays " light " at his evening-time ; but this we know, that when the day of immortality breaks, the last vestige of earth's shadows will forever flee away. To the closing hour of time, providence may be to him a baffling enigma ; but ere the first hour has struck on heaven's chronometer, all will be clear. My soul, in God's light thou shalt see light The book of his decrees is a sealed book now ; "A great deep," is all the explan- ation thou canst often give of his judg- ments ; the tvhy and the wherefore he seems to keep from us, to test our faith, 4 50 THE FAITHFUL PROMfSER. to discipline us in trustful submission, and lead us to say, " Thy will be done." But rejoice in that hereafter-light which awaits thee. Now we see through a glass darkly ; but then, face to face. In the great mirror of eternity all the events of this checkered scene will be reflected ; the darkest of them will then be seen to be bright with mercy — the severest dispensations, " only the severer aspects of his love." Pry not, then, too curiously ; pronounce not too censori- ously on God's dealings with thee. Wait with patience till the grand day of disclosures ; one confession shall then burst from every tongue, "Righteous art thou, 0 Lord." •'BSMEMBEB this word TTNTO thy 3BE7ANT, ppoa WHICH THOTT HAST OAXJSBD MB TO HOPS." THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 51 25m DAT "He is Faithful that Promised." " [ will come again, and receive j'ou unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." — John xiv. 3. . . If the meeting of a long 1 ^(!0lDrintt3 j^^3ggj^^ fj,|g^^ or brother txruntOIl, 0^ g^j.^l^ l3(3 a joyous event, what, my soul, must be the joy of thy union with this Brother of broth- ers, this Friend of friends? "I will come again." Oh ! what an errand of love, what a promised honor and dig- nity is this ! His saints are to share, not his heaven only, but his immediate presence. " Where / am, there ye shall be also." " Father, I loill " — it was his dying wish, a wondrous codicil in tliat testamentary prayer — "that those whom thou hast given me, be with me where I amy Happy reunion! Blessed Sa- viour, if thy presence be so sweet on a sin-stricken earth, and when known only by the invisible eye of faith, what must 52 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. be that presence in a sinless heaven, un- folded in aU its unutterable loveliness and glory ? Happy reunion ! It will bo a meeting of the whole ransomed family : the Head, with all its members ; the Vine, with all its branches ; the Shepherd, with all his flock ; the elder Brother, with all his kinsmen. Oh I the joy, too, of mutual recognition among the death-divided ; ties snapt asunder on earth indissolubly renewed ; severed friendships reunited ; the triumph of love complete ; love binding brother with brother, and friend with friend, and all to the Elder Brother. My soul, what thinkest thou of this heaven? Remember who it is that Jesus says shall sit with him upon his throne— " Him that overcometh." " ftEUEMBEa THLt -word unto thy servant, upon wmcn tdoo OAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER, 53 "He is faithful that Promised." " And I will betroth thee unto me forever." — Hosea ii. 19. ^ , ,. How wondrous and va- enrrlnstrng ^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^.j^.^^^ (fcSpnilSniS. jgg^^g employs to express the tenderness of his covenant love. My soul, thy Saviour God hath " mar- ried thee." Wouldst thou know the hour of thy betrothment ? Go back into the depths of a past eternity, before the world was ; then and there thine espousals were contracted : " I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Soon shall the bridal hour arrive, when thine absent Lord shall come to wel- come his betrothed bride into his royal palace. " The bridegroom tarrieth ;" but see that thou dost not slumber and sleep. Surely there is much all around demanding the girded loins and the burning lamps. At •' midnight," the hour when he is least expected, the cry may 54 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. be, it shall be heard, " Behold, the bride- groom Cometh !" My soul, has this mys- tic union been formed between thee and tliy Lord? Canst thou say, in humble assurance of thine affiance with Him, " my Beloved is mine, and I am his '' ? If so, great, unspeakably great are the glories which await thee. Thy dowry as the bride of Christ is all that omnip- otence can bestow, and all that a feeble creature can receive. In the prospect of those glorious nuptials, thou needst dread no pang of widowhood. What God hath joined together, no created power can take asunder ; He betroths thee, and it is " forever." BRMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPOIf "WniOH TUOU HAST CAUSED MK TO HOrE." THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 55 27th I>at. "He is Faithful that Promised." "This corruptible must put on iacorruptioD." — 1 Cor. xv. 53 _ ^ ri MARVELof marvels! the % jnral sleeping ashes of the sep- fxmmilmu. .Icher starting at the tones of the arcliangel's trumpet ; the dishonored dust rising a glorified body, like its risen Lord's. At death, the soul's bliss is perfect in kind ; but that bliss is not complete in degree, until re- united to the tabernacle it has left be- hind to mingle with the sods of the val- ley. But tread lightly on that grave ; it contains precious because ransomed dust. My body as well as my spirit was included in the redemption-price of Calvary, and " them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Oh I blessed jubilee-day of creation, when Christ's " dead men shall arise;" when, together with his dead body, they shall come, and the summons shall sound 56 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. fortli, " Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust !" All the joys of that resur- rection morn we cannot tell, but its chief glory we do know : " When he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." Like him ! My soul, art thou waiting for this man- ifestation of the sons of God ? Like him ! Hast thou caught up any faint resemblance to that all-glorious image ? Having this hope in thee, art thou puri- fying thyself even as he is pure? Be much with Jesus now, that thou mayest exult in meeting him hereafter. Thus taking him as thy guide and portion in life, thou mayest lay thee down in thy dark and noisome cell, and look for- ward with triumphant hope to the dawn of a resurrection morn, saying, When ] awake, I am still with thee. '* KBUBMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH TBOV HAST CAUSKD HE TO HOPE." THE FAITHFUL PROPOSER. 67 28th Day. " He is Faithful that Promised." ''• There shall be no night there."— Rev. xxi. 25. a>5^. I ,, My soul, is it nifflit with -fs!j«^53 thee he;e? Art thou mmiU, wearied with these mid- night tossings on life's tumultuous sea ? Be still ; the day is breaking ; soon shall thy Lord appear. " His going forth is prepared as the morning." That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. " Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself ; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light." Everlasting light ! Wondrous secret of a nightless world ; the glories of a present God ; the everlasting light of the Three in One, quenching the radiance of all created orbs, superseding all material luminaries. " My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning." 58 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. The haven is Hearing ; star after staria quencl'.ed in more glorious effulgence ; every bound over these dark waves is bringing thee nearer the eternal shore. Wilt thou not, then, humbly and patient- ly endure weeping for the night, in the prospect of the joy that cometh in the morning ? Strange realities : a world without night, a firmament without a sun ; and, greater wonder still, thyself in this world, a joyful denizen of this nightless, sinless, sorrowless, tearless heaven, basking underneath the Foun- tain of uncreated light ! No exhaustion of glorified body and spirit to require repose ; no lassitude or weariness to suspend the ever-deepening song, " They rest %oty •' aKUKinSER Tins WORD UNTO THY SERVANT CPON VflMM THOU HAST CAUSED MK TO HOPK " THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. 59 29th Bay. " He is Faithful that Promised." " Wlien (he chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crowu of glory thatfadeth uotaway." — 1 Peter v. 4. ^ ^ r What, is the beggar to ^1 ifp. Til - • -^^ lull, set among princes, and made to inherit a throne of glory ? Is dust and ashes, a puny rebel, a guilty traitor, to be pitied, pardoned, loved, exalted from the depths of despair, raised to the heights of heaven, gifted with kingly honor, royally fed, royally clothed, royally attended, and at last royally crowned? 0, my soul, look forward with joyous emotion to that day of wonders, when He whose head shall be crowned with many crowns shall be the dispenser of royal diadems to his people ; and when they shall be- gin the joyful ascription of all eternity, '• Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood," and 60 THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. has " made us kings" — " to him be glory aiid dominion forever and ever. Amen." "Wilt thou be among the number ? Shall the princes and monarchs of the earth wade through seas of blood for a cor- ruptible crown ; and wilt thou permit thyself to lose the incorruptible, or barter it for some perishable nothings of earth ? 0, that thou wouldst awake to thy high destiny, and live up to thy transcendent privileges as the citizen of a kingly commonwealth, a member of the blood-royal of heaven. What wouldst thou not sacrifice, what effort wouldst thou grudge, if thou wert in- cluded at last in the gracious benedic- tion, " Come, ye blessed of my Father ; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ?" lEMBEK THIS WOPwD UNTO THY SERTANT, UPON WniOlI TUOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE." TUE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 61 SOth Dat. " He is Faithful that Promised." " God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither Bhall there be any more pain ; for the former things are passc-dawa^." — Rev. xxi. 3, 4. ^., ..^. . V Glorious consumma. Mtmnlm. glories of heaven are but emanations from this giory that ex- celleth. Here is the focus and centre in which every ray of light converges. God is " all in all." Heaven tvithoiit God I it would send a thrill of dismay through the burning ranks of angels and archangels ; it would dim every eye, and hush every harp, and change the whitest robe into sackcloth. And shall T then indeed " see God'' ? What, shall I gaze on these inscrutable glories, and live ? Yes, God himself shall be with them, and be their God ; they shall see hi^face. And not only tlie vision but 62 THE FAITHFUL PROMISER. the fruition. 0, how does sin in my holiest moments damp the enjoyment of Him. It is the " pure in heart" alone who can " see," far more, who can en- joy God. Even if he did reveal him- self noiv, these eyes could never endure his intolerable brightness. But then, with a heart pui^ified from corruption, a world where the taint of sin and the power of temptation never enters — the soul again a bright mirror, reflecting the lost image of the Godhead ; all the affections devoted to their original high destiny ; the love of God the motive principle, the ruling passion ; the glory of God the undivided object and aim ; the will no opposing or antagonist bias — man will, for the first time, know all the blessedness of his chief end, " to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." '< REMEHBER THIS "WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICU XnOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE " ALL S^§c Iromists of (iot) |n |im m %m, AND THE MORNING WATCHES NIGHT WATCHES. BY THE REV. J. R. MACDUFF, D. D., &DTUOR OF "THB MIND AND WORDS OF JKSTTS," "FAITHFUI PEOM18B8," "• FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAtTL," " BOW IN THE CLOUD," "family PRAYBK8," KTC. NEW YORK : ROBERT GARTER & BROTHERS, No. 530 BROADWAY. 1871. €^t 3linrntng H)tttrI]M. 'in IS little volume is designed to Ibrm, by the Divinn bhssing, an humble auxiliary in promoting, what is pTonounced in the best of all manuals of devotion to be " a good thing," — the shewing forth of God's "loving-kindness in the moming,^^ and His '"faith- fulness even/ niylit.''^ (Ps, xcii. 2.) It may not be out of place to remark, regarding the verse which forms the key-note to each petition — " 0. Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee" — that the word "direct," in the original Hebrew, may literally be rendered, " set in order." It refers to the setting in order of the wood for the burnt-sacrifices in the temple of old. While the heart of the believer, according to this beautiful allusion, is represented as a spiritual altar, on which, morning after morning, he offers the oblation of prayer, this motto-verse may also serve as a magnet to keep the eye fixed, in each successive petition, on the great Antitypicai Sacrifice, through whom alone it is that "the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts" are "acceptable " in the sight of God. Though more strictly designed for private devo- tion, and therefore expressed in the first person, it is hoped, by the substitution of the plural pronoun, that the fohowing pages may not be inappropriate for the family altar. December 25, 1851. (8) THE MORNING WATCHES. 1st Morning. "0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " For Thy name's sake, 0 Lord, pardon mine iniquity ; for it is great." — Ps. xxv. 11. 1 • 0 God, I come to Thee W (iuniatnn IE ^^g morning, rejoicing- %nmmmi -^ ^he simple but sub- lime assurance that " the Lord reign- eth." Thy judgments are often "a great deep." May it be mine ever to own Thy sovereignty, and to rest satisfied with the assurance, " He hath done all things well." It is indeed my comfort to know tha.t " my times" are not in my own hands, but in Thine. When in vain I seek to explain the mystery of Thy inscrutable doings, may I be enabled implicitly to trust Thine unswerving rectitude and faitlifulness. (The kindest and best of earthly parents may err^-they may be betrayed into unnecessary harshness and 26 THE MORNlNa WATCHES. severity-— but Thou, O^unerriiig Pa^eat wilt not, and canst not, inflict one un- needed stroke. (l can own Thy wisdom where I cannot discern it^ I can trust the footsteps of love where I cannot trace them. I look back with adoring wonder on all Thy marvellous dealings towards me in the past. ^When my foot slipped, Thy mercy, 0 Lord, held me up." How many tear-drops have been dried by Thee! How many sorrows have been soothed by thee ! How many dangers have been averted by Thee ! Instead of wondering at my trials, I have rather reason to marvel at Thy forbearance.^ What are my heaviest afflictions in com- parison with the deserts of sin ? Lord, if they had been in proportion to my guilt, I could not have had one hour of joy. j^ive me grace not only to bear all, and to endure all, but to glory i^ aU which Thy chastening love s'^s meet to appoint. Affliction is Thine own ap- THE MORNING WATCHES. 27 pointed training-school for immortality If I need such training, Lord, withhold it not. Rather subject me to the sever- est ordeal of fatherly discipline, than leave me to vex Thee more with my guilty departures and backsliding. 1 will confide in the tenderness of Thy dealings — that Thou wilt conduct me by no rougher path than is really need- ful. Thou hast given Thy Son for me I After sucJi a pledge of Thy love, may it never be mine to breathe one murmur- ing word. C^OT all in sorrow, Lord, I pray that ttey may take their sorrows to the " Man of sorrows." May they be will- ing to forget their own light afflictions as they behold His bleeding wounds) Blessed God, what asourceof joy to the whole family of the afflicted, that the ex- alted Head and elder Brother has Him- self tasted sorrow's bitterest cup ! Lord Jesus, Thou who hast suffered so much for me, grant that by patience and un- 28 THE MOENING WATCHES. repining submission I may be enabled to " rfori& thee in the fires." All my beloved friends I commit to Thy care. May the Lord be their ever- lasting portion. Forbid that I shonld have to monrn in them what would be bitterer than the pang of all earthly bereavement — that they are bereft of Thy favour. Make, them Thijie, and in the midst of life's vicissitudes and changes, may we all look forward to that better time^ and that betliSr worLJ^ where sorrow and sighing shall for ever flee away. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CJIUSB KE TO HEAR THY L0V1N'G-KINDNES!S IN THE MOMriBO, TOE nr THBB PO TRTJSfS, " THE MORNING WATCHES. 29 7th JIORXIJfQ " 0 Lord, in tlie morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the Jarkness."— Ps. cxii. 4. .p ^- I i Eternal, everlasting Grod, presence. What am I — a guilty, un- worthy sinner, deserving only of con- demnation— that I should be permitted, with holy boldness, to approach the footstool of Thy throne, and call Thee " my Father in heaven !" (I rejoice to know, when "my heart is^'overwhelmed, and in "perplexity," that I can ever look unto Thee as a "Rock that is higher than I" — that, amid all the ebbings and flo wings in the tide of my own fitful frames and feel- ings, Thou, great Rock of ages, remainest fixed and immovable. Thou hast never failed me in the past. When " deep has 30 THE MORNING WATCHES. been calling to deep," and many " wavea and billows have gone over me," " the Lord has commanded His loving-kind- ness in the day-time, and in the night His song has been with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." And I will trust Thee in the future. In the midst of baffling and mysterious provi- dences I will be still — hushing every murmur, and breathing in lowly resig- nation the prayer, " divinely taught," "Thy will be done." It is my comfort to know that the darkest cloud is fringed with covenant love. I can repose in the blessed as- surance that present discipline is needed discipline, and that all which is mystery now will be cleared up hereafter. May it be mine cheerfully to follow ihe foot- steps of the guiding Shepherd through the darkest, loneliest road, and amidst thickening sorrows may I have grace to say, "Though He slay me, yet will 1 trust in Him." THE MORNING WATCHES. 31 (Lord, increase my faith — let it rise above all difficulties and all trials. Let these drive me closer to Him who has promised to make me " more than con- queror." Let them quicken my longings for the true home of my soul above. May it be my grand ambition here to be a " pilgrim " in everything — to be pitching my tent day by day nearer heaven, imbibing every day more of the pilgrim character, and longing more for the pilgrim's rest. May I be ena- bled to say, with an increasingly chas- tened spirit, of a passing world, " Here I have no continuing city." May this assurance dry all tears, and reconcile to all sorrows — " I am journeying unto the place of which the Lord hath said, I will give it you." Blessed Jesus, hasten Thy coming and Thy kingdom. Scatter the dai/cness which is now covering heathen nations. Stand by Thy missionary servants. May they exercise a simple faith on Thine 32 THE MORNING WATCHES. own sure word of promise. " Strong- in the Lord and in the power of Hi? might," may every mountain of diJGficulty be made a plain, and " the glory of the Lord be revealed." God of Bethel, I commend to Thee all my beloved friends, j Shield them by Thy protecting providence. Give them every needed blessing in the pres- ent life, and in the world to come life everlasting. And all I ask is for Jesus sake. Amen. OAl^SE ME TO DEAR THY L0^^NG-KINDNlirf8 IN THE MOENIWO, rOH IN TUKE DO I TKU8T." THE MORNINO WATCHES. 38 8th MoBirtNO. " Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee/' " Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, and why art thoit .ilaqniuted within me? Hope thou in God."— Ps. xhii. 5. ^ rjr>; . 0 God, in Thine infinite /nr Inpnn Thou hast again DlBtniirngtintllt 3^,,,,^ ^^ ^o approach Thy blessed presence. May each morn- ing find me better prepared for the glo- rious waking-time of immortality, when " tlie day shall break," and earth's shad- ows shall for ever •' flee away." May I seek to rise this day in newness of life, breathing more of the atmosphere of holineas, and partaking more of the character of heaven. Thou art ever, by the salutary dispen- sations of Thy providence, reminding me that " earth is not ray rest." It is well. Lord, that it should be so ; that, by Thine own gracious and needed dis- . cipline, the world be disarmed of its in- A^uiuating power and I be weaned from V V, . ^ 34 THE MORNING WATCHES. what is precarious at the best, and which ultimately Tmist perish. 0 my God, I feel heavily burdened by reason of sin. I mourn my guilty proneness to temptation. How cny- thing and everything seems often enough to drive me from thee, and to lead me to seek my happiness in created good, rather than in Thyself, the infinite foun- tain of all excellence ! How sad have been my backslidings ! — how have solemn vows been broken! — ^how have aban- doned and forsworn sins threatened again to have dominion over me ! How little tenderness of conscience has there been ! — ^liow little dread of an uneven walk ! How often, on the heart which I have consecrated to Thee as an altar for the perpetual sacrifice of praise, and gratitude, and love, has there been burn- ing incense to strange gods 1 Lord, when I look to my inner self, I have good cause indeed for misgivings and despondency. Conscience repeats, THE MORNING WATCHES. 35 over and over again, a sentence of con- demnation, and I have nought to ex- tenuate my guilt or palliate my sin. Whither can I flee ? Where can I look but to Thee, 0 Lamb of God, thou sin- bearing and sin -forgiving Saviour ! Enable me to be living more from moment to moment on Thy grace — to rely on Thy guiding arm with more childlike confidence — to look with a more simple faith to Thy finished work, disowning all trust in my own doings, and casting myself, as a poor needy pen- sioner, on the bounty of Him who hath done all, and suffered all, and endured all, for me. Thus relying on the unseen arm of a covenant-God, when the hour of darkness and discouragement over- takes me — when trials multiply, and comforts fail, and streams of earthly blessings are dried up — may I have what compensates for the loss of all, " Thy favour, which is life, and Thy loving- kindness, which is better than life." " I 30 THE MORNING WATCHES. will go in the strength of the Lord God." " Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Be the God of all near and dear to me. May all my relatives be able to claim a spiritual relationship with Thee, that so those earthly bonds of attach- ment, which sooner or later must snap asunder here, may be renewed and per- petuated before the throne. Compassionate all who are in sorrow. Comfort the feeble-minded. May " the joy of the Lord be their strength." May valuable lives be prolonged. May those appointed unto death be prepared for their great change. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. •* CAUSE ME TO HEAE THY LOVING- KIN DKBSS IK TUB MOBNINQ, FOB IN THKB DO TBOBT." THE MORNING WATCHES. 37 9th Morning " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Oausa me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto Thee." — Ps. cxliii. 8. ^ ,^v^' V ♦ 0 ETERNAL LORD, wllOSO I am again invited into Thy presence. What am I, that I should be permitted to speak to the infinite God ! I might have been left through eternity a monu- ment of Thy righteous vengeance. I might have known Thee only as " the consuming fire." But " Thy ways are not as man's ways ;" mercy is remem- bered when wrath might have come upon me to the uttermost. I desire to begin this day, blessing and praising Thee for " Thine unspeak- able gift," Jesus the Son of Thy love. Adored be Thy name, that the guilt of my sin, which the holiness of Thy law 38 THE MORNING WATCHES. could not suffer otherwise to be can* celled, has to Him been transferred — that, as the scape-goat of His people, He has borne the mighty load into the land of oblivion, never more to be re- membered. May I be enabled to shew forth my lively gratitude to Thee for this wondrous token of Thy love, not only by lip homage, but by heart and life devotion. Sanctify and seal me in body, soul, and spirit ; and present me at last " faultless before the presence of Thy glory with exceeding joy." 0 my God, I rejoice to know that my interests for time and eternity are con- tided to Thy keeping. Though often " wonderful in council," Thou art ever " excellent in working." Thou art " God cnly wise" — " righteous in all Thy ways, and holy in all Thy works." I commit my way and my doings unto Thee. " Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe." May I trust Thy wisdom and faithful- ness, es^en amid crosses and losses, and THE MORNING WATCHES. 39 frowning providences. Make them all work together for my good. If my path be in any way now hedged up with thorns, "undertake Thou for me." " Guide me with Thy coimsel." Let me take no step, and engage in no plan, unsanctioned by Thine approval. Let it be my grand aim and ambition, in all the changes of a changing life, to hear Thy directing voice, saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it ;" and then shall all life's trials be sweetened, and life's burden lightened, by knowing that they are the appointment of infinite wisdom and unchanging love, and that, though man may err, God never can. May the Holy Spirit lead me this day into all the truth. May all its duties be pervaded by the leavening power of vital godliness. While in the world, may I seek to feel and to exhibit that I am not of it. May I give evi- dence, in my walk and conversation, of a renewed nature, and of a nobler destiny. 4u THE MORNING WATCHES. Hasten, blessed Jesus, Thy coming and Thy kingdom. "How long shall the wicked triumph?" "Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance ; feed them also, and lift them up for ever. " Let the voice of salvation be heard in the households of all I love. May theirs be the dwellings of the righteous. May this be their name, " The Lord is there." May they know Him who hath said, " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.'' And " now, Lord, what wait I for ? my hope is in thee." Hear and answer these unworthy supplications, for Jesus' sake. Amen. *'^^The Lord is my Rock, and my for- tress, and my deliverer ; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust?) Say unto me, in the midst of my weakness, " Fear not, thou worm Jacob.'' With the pillar of Thy presence ever be- fore me, "I will go from strength to strength." Keep me this day from sin. May no evil thoughts, or vain imaginings, or deceitful lusts, obtrude on my walk with God. May an affecting sense of how frail I am, keep me near the atoning sacrifice. May the " horns of 44 THE MORNING WATCHES. the altar" ever be in sight. Blessed Jesus, my helpless soul would hang every moment upon Thee. Look down in Thy kindness on all connected with me by ties of earthly kindred. May the blessing of the God of Bethel rest on every heart and house- hold I love. May we all be journeying Zionwards, and be so weaned from earth as to feel that Zionwards is homewards. If pursuing different paths, and sepa- rated, it may be, far from one another, may the journey have one blessed and happy termination. • May we meet in glory, and meet with Thee. And all I ask is for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. CAUSK ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOKNING, FOR IN THKB DO I THUOT." THE MORNING WATCHES. 45 11th ]\[0RMNG. *'0 lord, in the morning xnll I direct my prayer unto Thee." \miRt shall I render unto the Lord for all His beneCls towards me?"-^Ps. cxvi. 12. iCn^ .rit.rri;+«\n ^ ^tOD, I aclorG Thee as lui :)%AUii., every good and every per- fect gift. Thou art daily loading me with thy benefits. Every returning morning brings with it fresh causes for gratitude — new material for praise. I bless Thee for Thy temporal bounties — " how great has been the sum of them !" While others have been pining in pov- erty, or wasted by sickness, or racked in pain, or left friendless and portion- less. Thou hast been making showers of blessing to fall around my dwelling. I laid me down last night and slept— I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I might never have seen the morning light. Mine might have been the mid- night summons to meet a God in whose 46 THE MORNING WATCHES. righteous presence I was all unmeet and unprepared to stand. And yet I am again spared a iiionument of Thy good- ness. Oh, do Thou enkindle a flame of undying gratitude to Thee, on the clay- cold altar of my heart. I mourn and lament tliat I am so little and so feebly affected by the magnitude of Thy mer- cies, and especially by the riches of Thy grace and love manifested in Jesus ; — that my affections are so little alive to the incalculable obligation under which I am laid to Him who hath " loved me with an everlasting love." I am doubly Thine. Creation and redemption com- bine in claiming all I am, and all I have, for Thee and Thy service. Good Lord, preserve me from the sin of insensibil- ity to Thine unwearied kindness — of taking Thy mercies as matters of course, and thus living in a state of independ- ence of Thee. May my whole existence become a sacrifice of praise and thanks- giving— may all my doings testify the THE MORNING WATCHES. 47 sincerity and devotion of a heart feel- ingly alive to every gift of the great Giver ; and, especially, may I be so brought under the constraining inllu- CDce of redeeming love, as to consecrate every power of my body and every faculty of my soul to Him who so wil- lingly consecrated and shed His very life's blood for me. Lord, this day shine upon me with the light of Thy countenance ; may every mercy I experience in the course of it be hallowed and sweetened by the thought that it comes from God. And while ever mindful and thankful in the midst of present mercies, teach me to keep in view the crowning mercy of all — the hope of at last sliaring Thy pres- ence and full fruition, and of joining in the eternal ascription with the ransomed multitude above, who cease not day nor night to celebrate Thy praises. Bless all near and dear to me. De- fend tJiem by thy mighty power. Give 48 THH MORNING WATCHES. tliem^ too, gratitude for mercies past, and the sure and well-grounded hope of a glorious inheritar.ee in that better world, where mercy is unmixed with judgment, and joy undarkened by sor- row. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Araen. CAUSE MB TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IV Mossrurc, fob in thee do i tbuet." THE MORNING WATCHES. 49 12th MoRjaxG " 0 Lord, in tlie morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." » I die daily."— 1 Cor. xv. 31. . ♦£ Heavenly Father, who ^nr UmnX- ^^^^ permitted me, in Thy inn Dt i^in. g^eat mercy, to see the light of another day, enable me to be- gin and to end it with Thee. Let all my thoughts and purposes and actions have the superscription written on them — "Holiness to the Lord." Give me to know the blessedness of reconciliation — what it is, as a sinner, and the chief of sinners, to come "just as I am, without one plea," to that blood "which cleanseth from all sin." I desire to take hold of the sublime assurance, that Jesus is "able to save unto the uttermost" — that He has left nothing for me as a suppliant at Thy throne — a pensioner on Thy bounty — but to acccj)l 4 50 THE MORNIN(} WATCHES. all as the gift and purchase of free, un- merited grace. While I look to Him as my Saviour from the penalty, may 1 know Him also fis my Deliverer from the poiver of sin. I have to lament that so often I have yielded to its solicitations — that my heart, a temple of the Holy Ghost, hag been so often profaned and dishonoured by the " accursed thing," marring my spiritual joy, and sorely interrupting communion with the Lord I love. Give me grace to exercise a godly jealousy over my traitor affections — to live nearer Thee— to have the magnet of my heart more centred on Thyself — to keep the eye of faith more steadily on Jesus — to live more habitually under "tlie powers of the world to come." Thou knowest my hesHting sin — the plague of my heart, which so often leads to a guilly estrangement. Lord, cut down this root of bitterness. Let me nail it to Thy cross. Let me be ever on the watch- THE MORNING WATCHES. 51 tower, ready to resist the first assault of the enemy. Let it be to me at once a precept and a promise — "Sin shall not liiive dominion over you." 0 shew me tliat my strength to reppl temptation is in Jesus alone. Put me in the cleft of the rock when the hurricane is passing by. May I be as willing to surrender all for my Saviour — my heart sins and life sins — as He willingly surrendered His all for me. May I be enabled to say, " Lord, I am Thine." Every idol I utterly abolish. Save me, blessed Saviour, from a deceitful heart and a seductive world. Let me see more and more the beauties of holi- ness. Let me ever be basking in the rays of Thy love — approaching nearer and nearer Thee, thou "Sun of my soul." May Thy loveliness and glory eclipse all cieated beams, and may I look forward with bounding heart to that time when all that helps to lighten up earth's pathway shall be obscured io 62 THE MORNING WATCHES. the shadow of dcatli, and I shall be ushered into tlie glories of that better and brigliter scene, whore " the sun shall no more go down, neither shall the moon withdraw itself, but where the Lord my God shall be my everlasting light." And what I ask for myself, I desire in behalf of those near and dear to me. Do thou " sanctify them wholly." May they, too, crucify sin, and " die daily." May this be the happy history of all of us — " Being made free from sin, and having become the servants of God, we have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Amen. " CAUSE HE TO HEAR THY LOVIXG-KINDNBSS IN TIM MOKNING, FOB IN TQEE DO I TBUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 53 13th MOBNINO. "0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Grow in grace." — 2 Pet. iii. 18. ' ,0 God, draw near to mc .^Ur (UjrOiniiJ ^^ r^^^^ ^^.^^^ mercy. An- tn flJnlllirSH, other peaceful morning has dawned upon me. May it be mine to know the happiness of those who walk all the day in the light of Thy counte- nance. 0 thou best and kindest of beings, teach me to know, amid the smiles and the frowns, the joys and the sorrows, of an ever-changing world, what it is to have an unchanging refuge and por- tion in Thee. I can mourn no blank, 1 can feel no solitude, when I have Thy presence and love. If I have nought beside — stripped and denuded of every other blessing— I have the richest of all, if I be at peace with God. 54 THE MORNING WATCHES. I desire to dwell with devout contem- plation on the infinite loveliness of Thy moral nature, Lord, I long to have this guilty, erring soul, moulded and fashioned in increasing conformity to Thy blessed mind and will. Let my great concern henceforth be, to love and serve and please Thee more and more. May all Thy dealings with me, of what- ever kind they be, contribute in promot- ing this growth in holiness. May pros- perity draw forth a perpetual thank- offering of praise for unmerited mercies. May adversity purify away the dross of worldliness and sin. May every day be finding the power of sin weaker and weaker, and the dominion of grace stronger and stronger. Living under the powers of a world to come, may J look forward with joyful expectation to the time when sin shall no longer impede my spiritual growth — when Sa- tan shall be disarmed of his power, and mvown heart of its deceitfulness — when THE MORNING WATCHES, 56 every faculty of a glorified and exalted nature shall be enlisted in Thy service in a world of eternal joy. 0 thou blessed Advocate within the veil — Thou who art even now interced- ing for Thy tried and tempted saints, "that their faith fail not"-— do Thou impart unto me a constant supply of Thy promised grace. Not only sprinkle my heart with Thy blood, but conquer it by Thy love. Fill me with deep con trition for an erring past — inspire me with purposes of new obedience for the future. May I know, in my sweet ex- perience, that " Thy yoke is easy and Thy burden light" — that, growing in holiness, I am growing in happiness too. Give me an increasing tenderness of conscience about sin — lead me, with more filial devotedness, to cultivate a holy fear of offending so gracious a Father. Habitually realizing my new covenant relationship to Thee, may J ever be ready to exclaim, with joyful 56 THE MORNING WATCHES. sincerity, " 0 Lord, truly I am Tliy servant !'' Revive, blessed God, Thine own work everywhere. " Take unto Thee Thy great power, and reign." Remove all hardness and blindness of heart — all contempt of Thy Word. May it have free course and be glorified. Bless my dear friends. However far separated from one another, we can ever meet at the same throne of the heavenly grace, pleading the same " ex- ceeding great and precious promises." May we all be following the same path of grace now, and meet amid the endless joys of glory hereafter. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. "OAUaB SIE TO HEAE THY LOVING KINDNESfl CN THE MORNING, FOB IN TUIIK DO I T11TJ8T." THFi MORNING WATCHES. 57 14th MOR.VINO " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct mj' prayer unto Thee." ' Whatsoever is bora of God overcometh the world." — 1 John V. 4. ^ . , 0 ETERNAL, everlasting .m ^rajn (.^^-^ ^j^^^^ ^^^^ glorious nDrrttieainrlfe. ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^,^.^^^ .^ praises, col tinually doing wonders. Hea- ven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory. Thou, the almighty keeper of Israel, never slumberest. There is not the moment I am away from Thy wakeful vigilance. In the defenceless hours of sleep, as well as amid life's activities and toils. Thou art ever the same — *' compassing my path and my lying down, and intimately ac- quainted with all my ways." I rejoice to think that I have the as- surance of such unwearying watchful- ness and care, in a world "lying in wickedness." Blessed Jesus, in the world Thou hast forewarned me to ex- 58 THE MORNING WATCHES. pcct tribulation, but nevertheless, I will " be of good cheer, for Thou hast over- come the world." Thou hast traversed its wilderness-depths — Thou hast passed through the shadow of its darkest val- ley. I cannot dread what Thou hast ti'odden and conquered. But, alas ! I have to mourn that the world which crucified Thee should be so much loved by me — that its pleasures should be so fascinating — its pursuits so engrossing. Wean me from it. Break its alluring spell. Strip it of its counterfeit charms. Discover to me its hollowness — the treachery of its promises — the precariousness of its best blessings — the fleeting nature of its most enduring friendships. I take comfort in the thought, "The Lord God is a sun and shield." The world has deceived me, but Thou never hast. G-uide me by Thy counsel. Saviour-God, let me come up from the wilderness leaning on Thine arm, exulting, amid its legion-foes, that THE MORNING WATCHES. 59 greater is He that is with me than all they that can be against me. 0 Thou who, in Thy last prayer on cartli, didst so tonchingiy say of Thy pilgrim people, " These are in tlie world," do Thou still bend Thy pity- ing eye upon me, as I travel, burdened with sin and sorrow, through the valley of tears. Do Thou so " sanctify me through Thy truth," that, though in the world, I may not be of it — not con- formed to its sinful practices and lying vanities. Bring me to say, with regard to all in it that was once so fascinating, " My soul is even as a weaned child." With my face Zionwards, may I declare plainly that I seek " a better country.'' Grant that this day, in all my worldly intercourse, I may have the realizing sense of Thy presence and nearness. May I set a watch on my heart, and keep the door of my lips. May cher- ished feelings of love and devotedness to Thee be iutermingled with all life's 60 THE MORNING WATCHES. duties and engagements. May I know that a simple faith in Jesus is the great secret of victory over the world. Oh, may the trembling magnet of my vac- illating affections be ever pointing to Him, and then I shall be made " more than conqueror." Through His all-prevailing merits and advocacy, hear my prayer. In His most precious blood, forgive all my sins. By His indwelling grace, sanctify my nature, that my whole body, soul, and spirit, may be preserved blameless until His coming. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVIXG-KIXDNESS IN IHB MOHNING, von IN THKK DO I TllV:ft." THE MORNING WATCHES. 61 15th MORMNtt " 0 Lord, in the morniug will I direct my prayer unto Thee." << Search me, 0 God, and know my heart." — Ps. cxxxix. 23. ..5-, 0 ETERNAL, GTerlastiiig mimn ^.^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ mtm^ nf ^rlf. ^^^^^ enlightened my eyes, and suffered me not to sleep the sleep of death, bestow upon me this day the riches of Thy grace and love. Morning after morning is dawning upon me, with new tokens of Thy mercy. Oh, may these be bringing me nearer the glorious day which is to know no night — that eternal noon-tide, when all shadows and darkness are for ever to flee away ! Lord, I am unworthy to come into Thy presence, and yet I have to mourn that I do not feel this deep unworthiness as I ought. I am unwilling to see into tiie unknown depths of my sin. I do 62 THE MORNING WATCHES. not know myself. I have no depres- sing consciousness of the desperate wickedness of my own evil heart. I liave buried many bypast transgressions in oblivion. I have deluded myself with the thought, that many were too trivial and unimportant lo incur Thy disapproval. Even any imperfect good which Thy grace has enabled me to per- form I have been too prone to take the merit to myself, instead of ascribing all the praise to Thee. There has been pride in my humility. There have been mingled motives in my best services. My best resolutions have been fitful and transient. My purest and most disin- terested actions could not stand the scrutiny of thine eye. The holiest day I ever spent, were I to be judged by it, would condemn me. 0 Thou who " searchest Jerusalem with lighted candles," do Thou " search my heart." Bring me to the publican's place of peni tent i 0,1 sorrow, exclaimingt THE MORNING WATCHES. 63 in sell'-renoimcing Immility, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" I would seek to make a more entire and undivided surrender of all I am and bare to Thee. Give me such an awful and affecting sense of my vileness, that I may never feel safe but when close by the atoning Fountain, drawing out of it hourly supplies. May mine be a daily heart and self and sin crucifixion — an eternal severance from those bosom trai- tors which have so long separated be- tween me and my God. Make me more zealous for Thy honour and glory — " Cleanse Thou the thoughts of my heart, by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit " — " Let no iniquity obtain dominion over me." But may it be my daily am- bition to become more like to Thee, re- flecting more of the image, and imbibing more of the spirit, of my Divine Re- deemer, that thus the atmosphere of holiness and of heaven may be diffused all around me. May my own soul be 64 TRE MORNING WATCHES. pervaded with lofty and purified aspira- tions. May I be enabled to exhibit to the world the felt happiness of close walking with God. And do Thou, gracious Father, " send forth Thy light and Thy truth" to a darkened world. May Thine own an- cient people be speedily gathered in with the fulness of the Gentile nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of God. Bless all my dear friends, near or dis- tant. May they have the heritage of those that fear Thy name. Defend them now by Thy mighty power, and at last number them with Thy saints in glory everlasting. Amen, " CAUSE MK TO HEAR THY LOVING KINDNESS IN THE MOKNINO, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST," THE MORNING WATCHES. 65 16ra MoR-NTwa. " 0 Lord, in the morning will I diiect my prayer unto The3." " Tliat I may know Him. "—Phil. ili. 10. ^ ^^ . I , Blessed Jesus ! — Suu fnti6ngblfr of my soul "-Light of ■6\m\d 3rSttS. ^y •Hfe!_do Thou shine upon me this morning with the " brightness of Thy rising." May I en- joy this day union and communion with Thee. May a sense of Thy favour per- vade all its duties, sanctify its blessings, and lighten its trials. May it be to me the sweetest and holiest of all thoughts, that Thou art ever with me — tluit, though unseen to the eye of senjie, the eye of faith can discern Tliy gracious presence and the manifestations of Thy nearness and Love. May the realised assurance, that Thou art thus at my side, dispel every misgiving, and dry every tear. May I hear Thee, even now, say- ing unto me, "Lo, I am with vou " — I 5 66 THE MORNING WATCHES. am with you now — I shall be with yon " alway " — and when the world is ended " I will " that you " be with me where T am, that you may behold my glory ! " 0 adorable Saviour, liow sadly is Thy beauty obscured from my view, by rea- son of my own sin ! How feebly do I apprehend the mystery of Thy love — the glories of Thy person — the perfec- tion of Thine atonement ! Hide me in the clefts of the rock, and while there, " I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory." May every fresh glimpse of " the great love wherewith thou hast loved me " re- buke the lukewarmness of my own. May I covet a closer walk with Thee. May my existence be one continued Emmaus journey — its hours passing joyously by because happy in the presence and con- verse of a risen Redeemer. Blessed Jesus, " abide with me," for the day is " far spent." Let me walk with Thee in newness of life. May I breathe Thy spirit of holy submission — of cheerful THE MORNING WATCHES. 67 obedience — of patience under injuries. May I not repine at bearing the cross, so meekly borne for me ; nor murmnr at my trials, when I think of Thine. May [ be enabled to make every lineament of Thy spotless character my daily study, so as gradually to be transformed into the same image from glory to glory — looking forward to that blessed time when I shall see Thee without one stain of remaining sin to dim the contempla- tion, and when I shall be permitted to bathe in the ocean of Thine eternal love. I thank Thee for the mercies of the bypast night. Give me to reckon every new day a fresh gift of Thy dying grace — to regard all its hours as redeemed hours — every moment as " bought with a price." May these days, and hours, and moments, thus stamped with the cross, be consecrated more than ever to Thy praise. A.gain I beseech Thee, " abide with me." " Where Thou goest I will go ; 68 THE MORNING WATCHES. and where Tliou dwellest I will dwell." Abide Avith me from morning to even in 2;, and from evening to morning again " Without Thee I cannot live"—" with out Thee I dare not die." Living or dying, Lord, I would seek to be Thine Forgive all my many sins, and when the feeble glimpses of a feeble love on earth are at an end, bring me at last to enjoy brighter views of Thee in glory everlasting. Amen. " OAUBH MB TO HBAR THY LOVING- KIN DN1I88 IN TES mohmino, fob m thee do i trust." THE MORNING WATCHES. 69 17th Morning ** 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " They shall behold the land that is very far off." — Isaiah xxxiii. 17. ^ ^ 0 God, in the multi- /nrJtnttr tude of Thy mercies MimS nf Irnntn. i am again permitted to see the light of a new day. With another rising morn do Thou scatter all the clouds of sin and unbelief from ray soul. Unfold to my view bright glimpses of Thyself — sweet foretastes of those joys which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard." Here, Lord, I have " no continuing city" — change is my portion in this the house of my pilgrimage — " I would not live always." I am " willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." Wean me from this uncertain world. Bring me to live under the powers of a world to come. T rejoice to think of the happy myriads 70 THE MORNING WATCHES. already in glory — " clothed in white robes, with palms in their hands" — safe in the presence of the Master they love, with every tear-drop wiped away. 1 rryjoice to know that the blood and grace to which they owe tlieir crowns are still free as ever. Oh, may I be en- abled, with some good measure of tri- umphant assurance, to say, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the right- eous Judge, shall give me at that day." May the thought of that endless, sinless, sorrowless immortality reconcile me to all earth's severest discipline. Let me not murmur under the heaviest cross in the prospect of such a crown. Let me not refuse to pass cheerfully through the hottest furnace which is to refine and purify me for this " exceeding weight of glory ;" but bear with calm equanimity whatever Thou seest meet to lay upon me. " Weeping may endure for a night, but joy Cometh in the morning." THE MORNING 'VATCHES. 71 Lord, grant tliat the approach of eter- nity may urge me to greater diligence in Thy service. May I have my loins girded and my lamp burning. May I spend each day, and this day, as if it were to be my last. When the shadows of evening gather around me, may I feel that I have spent a day for God. Near- er a dying hour— may it find me nearer heaven. What I ask for myself I would seek in behalf of all my beloved friends. Sprinkle each heart with* the blood of the covenant. May every eye be directed to Jesus, and every footstep be pointing heavenward. Though severed from one another now, may we not be found gathered in different bundles on the great reaping-day of judgment. Lord, unite Thine own people more and more. Why should we be guilty of such sad estrangements, crossing andre^ crossing one another on life's highway with alien and jealous looks, when pro- 72 THE MORNING WATCHES. fessing to be sprinkled with the same blood, to bear the same name, and be heirs of the same inheritance ? Let me live near to Jesus, and then I shall livo near all His people, looking forward to that blessed time when we shall see eje to eye and heart to heart — no jarring or discordant note to mar the everlast- ing ascription of " blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto tho Lamb, for ever and ever." Ameu. " 0ATJ8E MB TO inCAB THY LOVINO-KIKDNIBS IN TID! J40KNU«a, Fee IN THEa DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 73 IS'IU MOK.VIXG. *'0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." '"Tliere is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." — Ps. Ixxiii. 25. ,^ ^.^ V 0 Lord, thou blessed hx WranrhllM fo„,,tain of all happi. frDin \^t £nntnrr. nessandjoy,doThon draw near to me this morning in Thy great mercy. All creature-comforts are emanations from Thee. Thy favour is life — Thy displeasure is worse than death. In losing Thee we lose our all — in having Thee, we can want noth- ing. 1 have to acknowledge, with shame and confusion of face, that I have not thus been seeking my true enjoyment iu Thee. I have been in pursuit of fleet- ing shadows, which one by one have eluded my grasp. I have been worsliip- ping and serving the creature more than the Creator, who is " God over all, blessed for evermore." Lord, brin? me 74 THE MORNING WATCHES. to see tliat nothing short of Thyself can satisfy the longings and desires of ray immortal nature. Wean me from what is perishable. . Let me reverentially ac- quiesce in whatever means Thou mayest employ to bring my wandering heart back to Thee, 0 thou alone-satisfying portion of my soul. Rather, Lord, would I submit to the hardest discipline than listen to the withering words, " Ephraim is joined to idols : let him alone." Let me feel that Thy presence and love can compensate for the loss of all earthly joys. As prop after prop which has gladdened my pilgrimage totters and falls, may I know what it is to " dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty." As Tliou art ever proclaiming over creaturo-conh- dence, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," may I know what it is to cleave to One who is better and surer than the nearest oiid dearest ou THE MORNING WATCHES. 75 earth— the Friend that never fails, and never wearies, and never dies — " Jesu3 Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Blessed Saviour, I devolve my every care on Thee. Thou art noting now on the throne the pangs and sorrows of every burdened heart. All other love is imperfect. All other sympathy is selfish but Thine. May my affections be con- secrated to Thee. May it be my joy to serve Thee — my privilege to follow Thee, and, if need be, to suffer with Thee. May every cross lose its bitter- ness by having Thee at my side. May I feel that nothing but absence from Thee can create a real blank in my heart. Thy presence takes the sting from all afflictions, and imparts security in the midst of all troubles. Living or dying, may T be Thine. Sprinkle me this new morning with the blood of the covenant. May I feel all throughout the day the joy of 76 THE MOENING WATCHES. being reconciled to God. May my heart be made a little sanctuary of praise. May I breathe the atmosphere of heaven. May God himself be so enthroned in my affections, that I may be enabled to say, in comparison with Him, of all that the world can give, " There is none upon the earth that I desire besides Thee." Heavenly Father, I leave all that be- longs to me to Thee — " Undertake Thou for them." Bless them and make them blessings. " Hide them under the shadow of Thy wings " until earth's " calamities be overpast." Hear this my morning supplication ; and when thou hearest, forgive. And all 1 ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. CATTSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING KINDNESS IN ' MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 77 19tu Mjekuto. '*0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." *' He givetli grace unto the humble." — 1 Put. v. 5. ^ .^ ,. 0 God, Thou art " tlio /nt Crnte 1^.,.^^ and the lofty One nt itIllIU. ^j^Q inhabiteth eternity." There is no being truly great but Thee. All other excellence and glory is derived — Thine is under ived. All else is finite —Thine is infinite. The burning ser- aph nearest Thy throne is the humblest of all Thy creatures, because he gets the nearest view of the majesty of Thy glory. Lord, fill my soul this morning with suitable views of Thy greatness, and a humbling estimate of my own nothing- ness. I would lie low at Thy feet — in wonder and amazement that dust and ashes should be permitted to approach that Being whom angels worship with folded wings, and in whose sight the 78 THE MORNING WATCHES. very " heavens are not clean." Repress every proud, self-glorying imagination. Let me feel I cannot abase myself enough in Thy presence. " Lord, I am vile ; what can I answer Thee ?" My ])est thoughts, how polluted ! — my best services, how imperfect ! — my best affec- tions, how lukewarm ! — my best prayers, how cold ! — my best hours, were I judged by them, how would I be condemned ! I desire to take refuge at the cross of a crucified Saviour. Here, Lord, give me that grace Thou hast promised to the lowly. Self-renouncing and sin-re- nouncing, I would seek to be exalted only in Jesus, crying out, " God be mer- ciful to me a sinner !" In broken-heart- edness of soul, I mourn the past. Dis- trustful of the future, I look only to Thee. Full of my own unworthiness, I turn to the infinitely worthy One. I seek to be washed in His blood — sanctified by His Spirit — guided by His counsel — • depending on Him for every supply of THE MOIiNlNG WATCHES. 79 grace — and feeling that without Him 1 must perish. May I take the humility and gentlo ness of Jesus as my pattern. Like HiDi, may I be meek and lowly in heart. Give me grace to avoid ostentation and pride, haughtiness and vanity, envy and uncharitableness. "In lowliness of mind may I esteem others better than my- self." Let me realize every moment that I am a pensioner on Divine bounty — that I am alike " for temporals and spirituals" dependent on Thee — and that it well becomes me to be " clothed with humility." Oh, let me meekly and sub- missively lose my own will in Thine, in childlike teachableness, saying — "What wilt Tliou have me to do?" May no murmur escape my lips at Thy dealings. May this lowliness of spirit lead me rather to wonder at Thy sparing mercy, that the great and holy Being I have provoked so long by my rebellion lias not "cut me down." 80 THE MORNING WATCHES. Bless all connected to me by endear- ing bonds. May nature's ties be made doubly strong by those of covenant grace. Bless Thy cause and kingdom in the world. May Thy Spirit descend " like rain upon the mown grass, and showers that water the earth." I commit myself unto Thee, and to the word of Thy grace. Guide me this day by Thy counsel. May I spend it as if it were to be my last. And when my last day does arrive, may it be to me the eve of a happy eternity. And all I af. <;t««i;.;+,, ^ eternal, ever-blessed ^"fflf.5*l Jehovah-Fountain of DI .^aiip. ^ij light-Source of all happiness — " God of all grace" — look down upon me this morning with that love which " Thou bearest to Thine own," as I venture anew into Thy sacred presence. Let me enjoy a sweet season of fellowship with Thee. Let the world be shut out, and may I feel alone with God. "Under the shadow of Thy wings would I rejoice." I come in the nothingness of the creature, standing alone in the fulness of Jesus. I come, " just as I am, with- out one plea" — as a sinner, and as the "chief of sinners" — to Thee, thou al- mighty Saviour. I seek to disown all creature confidence, and, with all the 6 82 THE MORNING WATCHES. burden of my guilt, to cast myself, for time and for eternity, at Thy feet. " Lord, save me, else I perish." I can- not stand in myself. I can stand only in Him who has stood so willing a Sure- ty for me — who is still at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, pre- senting my name, and my prayers, and my plea, before the throne. I hove no other confidence, and I need no other. Jesus, I am complete in Thee. Let me not look inwardly on mypelf, where there is everything to sink me in despondency and dismay ; but let me look with the undivided and unwavering eye of faith to Thy bleeding sacrifice. I rejoice to think of the many robes in the Church triumphant Thy blood has already made white. I rejoice to know tliat the sauie blood is free as ever — the same invita- tion is addressed as ever — the promise and the Promisor remain "faithful" as ever — " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." THE MORNING WATCHES. 83 Lord, I come — I plead Thy word. 1 come, irrespective of all I am, and ail I have been. Magnify Thy grace in me. Show mo my utter beggary and wretch- edness by nature — that every step to glory is a step of grace ; and while, with childlike faith, I rest on the finished work of Jesus, may I have the same sim- ple trust and confidence in all His deal- ings towards me. May I feel that the Shepherd of Israel cannot lead me wrong — that His own way must be the safest and the best. Lord, " undertake Thou for me''—" I will follow Thee to prison and to death." Take me — lead me — use me, as Thou seest good. If I need chastisement, give me chastisement. If I need rebuke, let me not repine un- der the rod. Let me trust a Father's word — a Father's love — a Father's dis- cipline. " Though Thou slay me, yet will I trust in Thee." And as lor myself, so for all dear to me. I pray that it may please Thee, of 84 THE MORNING WATCHES. Thine infinite mercy, to visit them with Thy salvation — to guide them by Thy counsel — to overrule all life's changes and vicissitudes and trials for their well- l)eing, and at last to bring them safe to Tliine eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ — to whom, with Thee, 0 Father, and Thee, 0 eternal Spirit, three in one in covenant for our redemption, be as- cribed all blessing, and honour, and glory, and praise, world without end. Amen. OiCSE MB TO HKAR THT LOVING-KINDNEBS IN IHB KOBNIKa, rOK IN TDEK DO I TEUST." TEE MORNING WATCHES. S5 21 ST MORSINU. " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Walk v\x>rthy of the Lord unto all pleasing."— Col. i. 10. itr,v rn«.«v+^t..« ^ Lord, Tliou art the M ^ ra tmil heart-searching and the "^ *^^""'^- rein-trying God. To Tliee all hearts are open — from Thee no secrets are hid. Cleanse Thou the thoughts of my heart this day, by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit. I would seek to beg-in its hours with Thee. May all its business and employments be per- fumed with the fragrance of " the morn- ing sacrifice." 0 Thou great origin and end of all things, be Thou to me the Alpha and the Omega of my daily being. May I feel existence to be a blank without Thee. May I feel that I can only be truly happy when a sense of Thy favour, and friendship, and love is s\veetly intermingled with life's duties — 86 THE MORNING WATCHES. thus lessening every Ijiirden — hallowing every trial — diminishing every cross ! T come to Thee once more, an un- worthy sinner, to cast myself at my Saviour's feet. What am I, that Tliou shouldst have borne with me so long I The axe " laid at the root of the trees" might long ago have cut me down ; but I, a guilty cumberer, am still spared. The restrospect of existence, while a retrospect of patience and for- bearance on Thy part, is one of mourn- ful rebellion and ingratitude on mine. I have had a " name to live," but how much spiritual death in my best frames ! T have had a form of godliness ; how little have I lived out and acted out its power! More careful have I been to appear to be a Christian than really to he a Christian. How much unevenness in my walk — how much proclaimed and professed by the lip has been undone and denied in the life ! I come this morning to ask anew for THE MORNING WATCHES. 87 mercy to pardon, and grace to help me. Especially do Thou give me the grace of a holy consistency, doing all for Thy glory, having boldness to speak for Thee in the world. May my walk and conversation be the living evidence and expression of the sincerity and reality of the inner life. For this end may I live more on Jesus. May my life be "hid with Christ in God." May I grow more and more out of myself and into my living Head. Self-humbled and self-emptied, may I ever be resorting to the all-ful- ness of an all-sufficient Saviour. May this be my habitual feeling — " Without Him I can do nothing." May this be my constant prayer — " Help me, Sav- iour, or I die." May I be enabled this day, in His strength, to do something for God. However lowly my lot, however humble my abilities, may I feel. Lord, that Thou hast work for me in Thy vineyard. Let 88 THE MORNING WATCHES. me aot bury my talent in the earth ; may I '' occupy it till Thou come," that "Thou mayest receive thine own with usury/' Ha^e mercy on Thy whole Church. Pour out on all its members and office- bearers the spirit of meekness and zeal, of power and love, and of a sound mind. May " Holiness to the Lord" be written on its portals. Hasten the blessed period when, the love of Jesus being enthroned in every heart and every Church, " we all shall be one." And all I ask is for the Ko- deemer^s sake. Amen. «« OArSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING -KINDNESS IN DID MORXJNO, FOB IN THEB DO I IHUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 89 22d Morning. * 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " This one thing I do."— Phil. iii. 13. jCm,. 4;,..rinttn.v My Father wlio ai't 111 nf iPnr> heaven, teach me, m ^^^^i^- childlike faitli and con- fidonce, to draw near this morning to Thy throne of grace. Vouchsafe me the blessed influences of Thy Holy Spirit, that I may wait on Thee undisturbed by worldly distractions, and enter on the duties of another day with my mind " stayed on God." Blessed Jesus! — Thou who didst so freely give Thyself a ransom for many — save me, else I perish ! I have no peace but in Thy pardoning, reconciling love. May Thy blood and righteous- ness be to me " a glorious dress," ar- rayed in which I may now and ever stand fearless and undismayed. I bless Thee, 0 God, if I have in any degree felt the preciousness of the Saviour, and 90 THE MORNING WATCHES. Ilis adaptation to all the wants and woaltnesses of my sinful, and sorrowful, and tempted nature. I tliank Thee if Thou hast already hidden me in the clefts of the smitten Rock. My i)rayer is, that Thou may est keep me there — that I may lean upon Jesus more than ever, and seek my happiness more exclu- sively in His service. May I every morning be drawn more closely by the cords of His love, and be led to fight more faithfully under His banner. Oh for greater singleness of aim ! — more self-emptying and self-abasing — that He may be all in all ! Lord, I am conscious often of mingled motives, that would not stand the test of Thy pure eye and Thy holy Word ! How often do I forfeit the joys of assurance by ad- milting rival claimants to the throne of my affections! How often are the sur- passing interests and glories of eternity dimmed and obscured by the engrossing things of time and of sense ! How mixed THE MORNING WATCHES. 91 with imperfection and eartliliuess and self-seeking are my best attempts to serve Tiiee! If weighed in tlie bahance, how would my holiest servic^es be found wanting ! Give me more of this unity and sim- plicity of purpose. Give me to make salvation more the one thing needful. Let all other love be subordinated to Thine. Do Thou be my " chiefest joy." May Thy service be my delight. May my heart become a little sanctuary, whence the incense of praise and love and thanksgiving is ascending continu- ally. May it glow with holy zeal to promote Thy cause, and testify of Thy grace. Remembering all that Thou hast done for me, may I be animated to make a more entire consecration and surrender of all I am and have to Thy glory. Let me feel that whatever my rank or station or circumstances are, I have bome mission to perform for Thee. How 92 THE MORNING WATCHES. often dost Thou clioose " the foolish things of the world to confound the tilings that are mighty ! " Let me not think my talent too trifling to trade upon. May I " occupy it till my Lord comes." Let me not squander fleeting moments, or forego fleeting opportuni- ties. " The night cometh, wherein none of us can work." Enable me now, bow- ing at Thy mercy-seat, to replenish anew my empty vessel with the oil of Thy grace, that the lamp of faith may be kept burning brightly all the day. All that I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY L0VIX(1!-KINDNES3 IN MOBSDia, FOE IN THEK DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 93 23d MoRNixa. " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Abba, Father."— Rod I. viiL 15. ^ p.|. I Most blessed God, I ro- iirnnitSS ^^ Thee, the mightiest of all beings, and call Thee by that name, which may well dispel all misgivings, and hush all disquietudes—" My Father who axt in heaven." Father, I have sinned against heaven and in Thy sight. The kindest of earthly parents could not so long have borne with ingratitude and waywardness like mine. Long ere now Thou mightest righteously have driven me an exile and a castaway from Thy presence. But the voice of parental mercy is not silenced. The hand of parental patience and love is " stretched out still." In the midst of deserved wrath, this is Thine own gra- cious declaration, *' T will be a Father unto you I" 94 TJfE MORNING WATCHES. I mourn my grievous departures — my repeated declensions — my heinous ingratitude. Oh, let me no longer live in this state of guilty estrangement — forfeiting all the joys of a Father's ten- derness, the sunshine of a Father's smile. May I know what it is for the soul, or- phaned, and portionless, and friendless by nature, to repose in the security of Thy covenant-love. May T be enabled to enjoy more and more, every day, holy filial nearness to the mercy-seat — there unburdening into Thine eai all my wants and trials — my sorrows and perplexities — my backslidings and sins. Grive me grace to bow with childlike submission to a Father's will — to bear without a murmur a Father's rod — to hear in every dealing, joyous or sorrow- ful, a Father's voice — and when death comes, to have every fear dispelled by listening to a Father's summons — " To- day shaft thou be with me in paradise." Jesus, Thou blessed Elder Brother 1 THE MORNING W.VTCflES. 95 " in whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,'* may 1 be enabled to imitate Thine example of holy resig- nation to Thy Father's will. May the cup of bitterest earthly sorrow be taken into my hands with Thine own ])reath- ing of devout submission — " This cup which Thou givest me to drink, shall 1 not drink it ? Even so, Father, for so it seems good in Thy sight." It is my comfort, blessed Lord, to know, that while the best of earthly parents may err, Thou, the unerring God, never canst. In thy most mysterious dealings there is wisdom. In thy roughest voice there is mercy. Adorable Redeemer, all these filial blessings and adoption-privileges I owe to Thee. It is Thy precious blood- sliedding which has "set me among the children " — it is that which still keep? me there, xinew this day would I repair to Thy cross — anew would I supplicate that the Holy Spirit, the Divine Com- 96 THE MORNING WATCHES. forter, would be sent forth into my heart, enabling me to cry, " Abba, Father."" May the thought of this blessed affiance in Thee, support me amid life's fitful changes, and transient friendships, and may I be enabled to dwell with holy de- light on that glorious time, when, no longer an exiled pilgrim in a strange land, I shall be received at the gates of glory with a Father's welcome — " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." I commend myself and all near and dear to me, this day, to Thy fatherly care and keeping. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. CAUSE MK TO HEAR THY LO\TNG -KINDNESS IN MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TROBT." THE MORNING WATCHES. 97 24Tn JIoRjfixu, ** 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer untoThes." " Restore uuto me the joy of Thy salvation." — Ps. li. 12. ^ ^. , ,. 0 God, another morn- /nrlxrBtoratlimi^^g has dawned upon tatanor. ^^^ "Thou better Sun of rij^hteousness " — with the brightness of Thy rising may all the shadows of guilt and sin be dispersed. I come, weak and weary, guilty and heavy- laden, to Thee, beseeching Thee to bend TJiy pitying eye upon me — to deal not with me as I have deserved, nor reward me according to mine iniquity. Blessed Jesus, look upon me. In Thee may I be pitied, pardoned, and forgiven ! I have erred and strayed from Thy way as a lost sheep. I have wandered from the home of my God. I have been seeking my happiness in what is shadowy and unreal. The world and its delusive hopes have been preferred to Thee. 98 THE MORNING Wi\TCHES. My heart, which ought ever to be a little altar and sanctuary of praise, has burned with false incense. Thy love and glory have not maintained tlieir paramount place in my affections. 1 have righteously forfeited " the joys of Thy salvation." My only marvel is, that, as a wandering star, Thou hast not left me to drift onwards to the blackness of darkness for ever. 0 leave me not to perish ! I mourn my wander- ings. In leaving Thee, I feel I have left my Best Friend. I have caused an aching void in this heart, which tho world, with all its joys and riches and pleasures, can never fill. I cannot have one hour of happiness, if mingled with the thought that I am estranged from Thee, my God. Blissful hours of Thy fai our I once enjoyed, come sorrowfully to my remembrance ; and, though the cup of earthly happiness be full to the brim, I have still to breathe the prayer — " Oh that it were with me as in months THE MORNING WATCHES. 99 past, when the candle of the Lord did shine !" "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation. Leave me not in this state of distance and alienation. " 0 Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul." Snap these chains of earthliness that are still binding me to the dust, that, on the wings of faith, I may soar upwards, and find rest and quietude where alone it can be found — in Thy renewed love and favour. May past backslidings drive me more to Thy grace. Nothing in myself, may I find and feel that my all in all is in Thee. Discover to me my own emptiness, and the overflowing fulness of Jesus. May I every day see more of His matchless excellencies — His in- comparable loveliness — the sweets of His service — that I may never feel tempted to wander from His fold, and carefully avoid all that would risk the forfeiture of that favour which indeed is " life." 100 THE MORNING WATCHES. Lord, let me know this day some- thing of this happiness. Let me not be content with the name to live. Let religion be with me a real thing — let it be everything ; life-influencing, sin- subduing, self-renouncing. Let me dif • fuse all around me the happy glow of a spirit that feels at peace with God. And now, Lord, what wait I for? " My hope " for myself, my friends, and all for whom I ought to pray, " is in Thee." Listen to these my supplications; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen, 'OAtrSB MB TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDUESS IN TUB MOBNINO, FOE VS THEE DO I TBUeT." THE MORNING WATCHES. 101 25th MoRMNa. "0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." 'And confessed that they were strangers arrd pilgrims on the earth." — Heb. xi. 13. ^ YUI ^ ^^^' again, in the multi- glim ^]Jiril. ^^^ permitting me to ap- proach the footstool of Thy throne. I am another day nearer death — oh ! may I be a day nearer Thee ! With a new morning's dawn may I hear the pilgrim summons — " Arise, for this is not your rest." Ere I mingle with the world, give me to feel I am not of it, but born from above, and for above ; and, cher- ishing more and more of a pilgrim spirit, may my prayer and watchword be—" I desire a better country." Lord, I bless Thee for the rich pro- vision Thou hast made for the wilder- ness journey — for all Thy mercies, tem- poral, providential, and spiritual. For- 102 THE MORNING WATCHES. bid that the manifold gifts of Thy love should draw me away from Thyself, the bountiful Giver, or obliterate the solemn impression — " I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." May I " use the world without abusing it." By the varied discipline of Thy providence, may I be led to feel that all my well-springs are in Thee. May the world's fascinations be becom- ing more powerless — sin more hated — holiness more loved — heaven more real- ized— God more " the exceeding joy" of my soul. Driven from all creature stays and earthly refuges, may Jesus be the prop and staff of my pilgrimage. When the world is bright, may I rest upon Him, and seek that He sanctify my prosperity. When the wilderness is dreary, and the way dark, may He hal- low adversity. When friends are re- moved, may I feel that I have One left more faithful than the best of all earthly friends : and when death comes, and the THE MORNING WATCHES. 103 pilgrim warfare ceases, leaning confid- ingly on that same arm. ma^^ I enter the pilgrim's rest. 0 adorable Saviour ! — Thou who wast once Thyself a pilgrim — the lonely, wea- ry, homeless, afflicted One — who hadst often no arm to lean upon, and no voice to cheer Thee — an outcast wanderer and sojourner in Thine own creation — I rejoice to think that Thou hast trod- den all this wilderness-world before me — that Thou knowest its dreariest paths. I take comfort in the assurance that there is at the right hand of the Majes- ty on high, a Fellow-Sufferer, who has drunk of every " brook in the way" — shed every tear of earthly sorrow- heaved every sigh of earthly suffering — and who, being Himself the " tried and tempted One," is able and willing to succour every pilgrim who is tried and tempted too. 1 beseech Thee this day to look down in great kindness on all my beloved 104 THE MORNING WATCHES. friends. Seal to them a saving interest in Thy great salvation. Wash them all in Thy blood — sanctify them all by Thy Spirit. May not one be wanting on " the day when Thou makest up Thy jewels." Compassionate a fallen world. Thy Church is slumbering — the enemy is all vigilant — souls are perishing. Arise, Lord, and plead Thine own cause. Pro- mote greater unity and love and con- cord among Thine own people. Let us be nearer Jesus, and then we shall be nearer one another. Give us all more of the single eye to Thy glory. Make us more self-sacrificing — more heavenly- minded — more Saviour-like. And all 1 ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. •' CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KIJTDNESS IN ' MORNING, FOR IN THEK DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 105 23tb Mormnq. *'0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Prepare tc meet thy God."— Amos iv. 12. .r -^-i r 0 ETERNAL, ever] astins: ^^^'^^^P^Y-^*^"^ God-Author of my tax iUraip, being— my continual, unwearied Benefactor — I desire to come anew this morning into Thy presence, thanking 'iliee for Thy sparing mercies. Instead of making my last night's pil- low a pillow of death, I am again among the living to praise Thee. Oh that I were enabled to live every day, and to rise every morning, as if it were to be my last, as if my next waking were to be in the morning of immortality ! Lord, how little am I influenced and impressed by the solemn records of death all around me ! Friend after friend is departing — the circle of acquaintance is narrowed. The proclamation is ever sounding \^ith fresh emphasis in my 106 THE MORNIXG WATCHES. ears, " Be ye also ready ;" and yet how prone to disregard the solemn monitions ! how apt to peril my prepa- ration on the peradventures of a dying hour ! Blessed God, my prayer is, that I may Lave my loins girded and my lamp burning. Let me not wait to have my vessel replenished till the voice of the Bridegroom be heard and I am sum- moned to meet Him. May I now so repose my every coniidence in Jesus, that death may be disarmed of its sting, — that the hour which to the unwary and unwatcliful is one of darkness and terror, may be to me the eve of the blessed Sabbath of eternity — the thresh- old and the portal of a world of endless joy- Lord, give me to feel that " the sting of death is sin" — that, not till I get the blessed sense of all my sins cancelled and forgiven in the blood of the Surety, can I be ready for my departure. " To me to live may it be Christ," that so THE MORNING WATCHES. 107 " to die" may be great and eternal " gain." Let me be enabled, by faith in death's great Conqueror, to cultivate that holy familiarity with a dying hour, that I may be enabled, when it conies, to fall sweetly " asleep in Jesus," and to hear His voice of love saying, " It is I, be not afraid." Look in mercy on the multitudes who are content to live on, unmeet and unpre- pared for their great change. Awaken them to a sense of their guilt and peril. Shew them their affecting need of Jesus — that time is wasting and eternity is hastening — that, " as the tree falleth, so must it lie." I pray for the heathen who are per- ishing for lack of knowledge. Coun- tenance and bless all the efforts of Thy Church to disseminate among them the gospel of the grace of God. May Thy missionary servants, who have gone with their lives in their hands to the dark places of the earth, experience a 108 THE MORNING WATCHES. peace which the world knows not of. May they have many souls as their glory and joy and crown at the day of Christ's appearing. 0 give us all grace, in our varied sta- tions and relations in life, to do some- thing for Thee. Let us not bury or hide our talents ; but, as members of a ransomed priesthood, may we lay our time, our opportunities, our substance, on Thine altar, and seek to " shew forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light." And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IS THK MORNING, FOR IV TTTKE T>0 I TRURr," THE MORNING WATCHES. 109 27th Mor.ntxg- " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer mnto Thee." ^ Awike and sing, ye tliat dwell in dust."~Is. xxvi. 19. .fat n 3niifiil ^^•^'^'°^' "^^^^ ^ho" hast ■aur„.,„.t„ ^S^^^ dispersed the dark- !tlMrtfrtian.„ess of another natural night. Every rising earthly gnn is bringing me nearer the ghiddening clay- break of immortality. 0 grant that, when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised, I may be ready to listen undismayed to the summons, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him. My prayer is, that I may now be made partaker of the blessedness of the first resurrection from a death of sin. As one " alive from the dead," may I rise and walk with a living Saviour " in newness of life," that thus I may at last share also in the more glorious resurrection of His ransomed sainte, 110 THE MORNING WATCHBS. when his " dead men shall live," and to- getlier with His body " they shall arise/* obeying the joyous mandate of their risen Head, " Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust." Blessed Jesus, I do rejoice to think of Thine own triumphant rising from the tomb. I rejoice to be able to visit in thought Thy vacant sepulchre, and to hear the glad tidings, " He is not here, He is risen !" " The Lord has risen !"— it is the blessed pledge and earnest of my own redemption from the power of the grave — that "because Christ lives, I shall live also." 0 may " my life be now hid with Christ in God, so that when Christ, who is my life, shall appear, I may also appear with him in glory." Keep me ever in the frame I should wish to be found in when my Lord cometh. May the lamp of faith and love be ever brightly burning. May it never be mine to be awoke, by the midnight cry, to the awful consciousness, "my lamp has gone THE MORNING WATCHES. Ill out." May I rather be among the number of " waiting servants," who, when their Lord " cometh and knock- eth," are ready to " open unto Him im- i]\ediately." Do Thou impart to all near and dear to me this day the same spiritual and eternal blessings I ask for myself. May they, too, be united to Jesus — " planted in the likeness of his death," that they may be found also " in the likeness of His resurrection." May we all seek to bear an increasingly holy resem- blance in love one to another, and to our great living Head, in whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named ; and if for a little while separated by death, may we on the great day of His appearing, be reunited in bonds tliat shall know no dissolution. Hasten that blessed time when our world, so long groaning and travailing in pain, shall put on her resurrection attire, and exult in the glorious liberty 112 THE MORNING WATCHES. of Thy Children. " Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly." " Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot?" Lord, I commend myself to Thee. Prepare me for living, prepare me for dying. Let me live near Thee in grace now, that I may live with Thee in glory everlasting. Let me be reconciled sub- missively to endure all that Thy sover- eign wisdom and love seem meet to appoint — looking forward, through the tears and sorrows of a weeping world, to that better day-spring, when "I shall behold Thy face in righteousness," and be " satisfied, when I awake in Thy likeness." And all I ask is for the Ro deemer's sake. Amen. CAtJSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVTN'G- KINDNESS IS THE MORNING , FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 113 28th MoRNiN-a "0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." «< The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortlv'.'"— Rom xvi. 20. J cL^ir^ ' loi^ the returnmo; mer- "f^nf""- cies of a new daP. "I laid me down and slept ; I awaked : for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands that have set themselves against me." Vouchsafe me, I beseech Thee, Thy fatherly protection and blessing, that all my thoughts may be ordered by Thee, and all my plans and purposes overruled by Thee, and all my joys hallowed by Thee, and all my sorrows sanctified by Thee. Keep me near Thyself. While I seek to realise, every hour of this day, the power and subtilty of my spiritual adversaries, may I rejoice in the assurance that greater is He that is with me than all they that can be against me — that " though an 8 114 THE MORNING WATCHES. host should encamp against me," with God on my side, " I need fear no evil.'' I mourn the prevalence of sin, both in the world and in my own heart. Thy creation still groans and travails under its power. " The Prince of the power of the air still works in the children of disobedience." " The whole world lieth in the Wicked One." Often is Satan still " desiring to liave me, that he might sift me as wheat " — " standing at my right hand to resist me" — to oppose my plea and damage my cause, — sending some " thorn in the flesh to buffet me " — marring my peace, disturbing my joy, and hindering and impeding my spiritu- al growth and advancement. But, Lord, it is my comfort to know that there is in heaven a " stronger than the strong man " — that no time can impair or di- minish the comfort of the assurance, " 1 have prnyed for thee^ that thy faith fail not." When Satan assaults, blessed Jesus. I will think of Thy continual in* THE MORNING WATCHES. 115 tercession. " Thy hand is never short- ened, that it cannot save." May I ever have grace given me to *' resist the devil that he may fleo from me '' — to keep watchfully guarded every loophole of the heart. May I abstain from all appearance of evil, avoiding every place and every company where his unholy influences are likely to pre- vail. " Lead me not into temptation," and, if tempted. Lord, make a way of escape, that I may be able to bear it. 0 Thou adorable Intercessor within the veil, it is my comfort to know that, in Thy season of humiliation on earth, Thou wert "not ignorant of his devices." Thou didst also, of him, " suffer, being tempted," and Thou art therefore tlie more able " to succour them that are tempted." I rejoice to think that, exalt- ed on Thy mediatorial throne. Thou shalt reign until Satan and every other enemy be put under Thy feet, and until the kingdoms of this world (so long usurped 116 THE MOENING WATCHES. by him) shall become the " one kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." Hea\^enly Father, take this day all my beloved friends under Thy guardian care. May they dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and abide under tlie shadow of the Almighty. May they too, be able to take up the triumphant challenge — " God is for us, who can be against us ? " and when their earthly work and warfare is accomplished, may we all meet in that sinless world where Satan's seat no more can be found, and Satan's temptations shall no longer be felt or feared. And all that I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen. OADSB ME TO HBAK THY LOVINO KINPNB89 IN TUB UOENING, FOB IN THEB DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 117 29tq Morning '•' 0 Lord, in the morning' will I direct my prayer unto Thee." •' I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." — Joel ii. 28. ^ ., ^ , . 0 God, I desire this /ni tb cDatpntirillg .corning to approach 01 U)t ^^plllu with lowly reverence the footstool of Thy throne, adoring and praising Thee for the rest of the past niglit, and the comforts and bless- ings of a new day. 0 holy, blessed, eternal Trinity, three persons, one God, have mercy upon me, and grant me Thy benediction and love. Most blessed Spirit of all grace, more especially would I at this time invoke Thy presence and nearness. I acknowl- edge, with shame and confusion of face, how often I have grieved Thee by re- sisting Thy gracious influences. TIow often hast Thou pleaded with me by the voice of Providence, and vet I have 118 THE MORNING WATCHES. turned a deaf ear to Thj repeated warnings and remonstrances ! Thou hast spoken to me in prosperity, when the full cup demanded in return a heart full of gratitude. Thou hast spoken to me in adversity, when by the emptied cup and the broken cistern, Thou wouldst have driven me from all earthly things, to the everlasting God Himself, as my only satisfying Portion. Thou hast spoken to me by the terrors of the law and by the tender accents of gospel love, and yet I have continued to " spend my money for that which is not bread, and my labor for that which satisfieth not." Long ere now I might have exhausted Thy patience. " It is of the Lord's mercies I am not consumed." But " take not, 0 gracious God, Thy Holy Spirit from me." Come, Thou blessed Enlightener, Quick en er, Sanc- ti filer, and inspire this dull cold heart. Touched as with a live coal, may the flame of a holy love to Thee be rekin- THE MORNING WATCHES. 119 died on its altar. " Return, 0 Holy Dove, thou Messenger of rest," from the ti'ue ark of God. Grive me grace to hate the sins which drove Thee away from tliis guilty breast. Breathe upon me. and say, " Peace be unto you ; re- ceive ye the Holy Ghost." Do Thou invigorate my languishing affections. May I realise my dependence on Thee for every pulsation of spiritual life. Without Thee I perish. While I pray for this blessed Agent in behalf of my own soul, Lord, it is my earnest prayer that He may be pour- ed out upon all flesh — that that time may soon come, when the rain of His gracious influences shall descend on a barren church and parched world. Hasten the Pentecost of the " latter day." Earth is at present but as the prophet's " valley of dry bones." Come Thou blessed Spirit of all grace, "breathe upon these dry bones, that they may live." 120 THE MORNING WATCHES. And may the same blessed and benign influences be shed on every lieart that is dear to me. The Spirit of the Lord is not straitened. 0 my Father in lioaven, hast thon not promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee ? I pray that all my beloved friends may become members of that mystical body of which Jesus is the living Head, so that the oil of anointing grace, poured upon Him by the Spirit, and flowing down to the skirts of His garments, may be shared by His humblest and un- worthiest members. 0 that each and all of our hearts may become living temples, in which the Holy Ghost dwells ! May nothing that is unholy lind admission there, but, " sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance," may we be daily and habitually living in the expectation of eternal glory. Through Jesus Christ. Amen. "0AU8B ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN THE MOENING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." THE MORNING WATCHES. 121 SOthMorxlvg. " 0 Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " That they all may bo one."--Joha xvii. 21. ^^ ,, >, . J. 0 God, Thou eternal .ifnt !iB dmmi nf F^„„t^i^ of all ex- W\ Vm^^- cellence and glory!- through the oae " new and living way " 1 desire tliis morning to approach Thee. Powerless in my own pleadings, I look up to the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, to that " Prince who has power with God," and at all times " prevails." Guilty, I come to this guiltless Redeemer. Diseased, I come to this great Physician. Out- cast, I come to Him who has promised that He will by no means "cast out." May His presence always be with me. May I know Him, and believe in Him. and rejoice in Him. May I feel that I need no other Saviour — that He is all 122 THE MORNING J7ATCHES. I require for life or for death — for time or for eternity. I rejoice to think of the glorious mnl- titude around Thy throne — the trophies of Thy grace — already wearing the white robe and the immortal palm. I rejoice to think of the blessed unity which pervades their glorified ranks : no note of discord disturbing their lofty harmonies — all seeing eye to eye, and heart to heart. I lament the sad and mournful es- trangement of Christian from Christian in Thy Church below — that so many, treading the same heavenly journey, with the same glorious portals in view, should be following separate and diverse footpaths — that so many brethren in the Lord, whose interchanges ouglit to be all love, should be looking coldly and censoriously on one another. How much ungodly jealousy, and lieart-burn- ing, and mutual recrimination, among T)iy professing people! How little of THE MORNING WATCHES. 12B tlie Spirit which of old provokotl tin; testimony even of heathen gainsayers — " See liow these Christians love one another ! " 0 tliou blessed "Author of peace and lover of concord," do Thou, in Thy mercy, pour out on Thy Church on earth, a greater spirit of unity, and brotherly-kindness, and charity. Do Thou, in Thy mercy, heal the bleeding wounds of Thy mystical body — casting over them the mantle of love. Bring us all, blessed Jesus, as individuals and as churches, nearer Thyself, and then shall we be nearer one another. It is be- cause of our distance from Thee, the great Sun of Righteousness, the Source of light and life and peace, that we, as wandering stars, are revolving in such devious and distant orbits. Give us to feel tliat we are all members of one miglity family, of which Thou art the glorious Head — that, tliougli following diverse tracks, we are sheep of the same pasture, own- ing the same " Chief Shepherd '' — that, 124 THE MORNING WATCHES. thougli enrolled in different ranks, wo are allies in the same great army, fight- ing under the banner of the same great Captain of salvation. 0 forbid that, in tliese "latter days" — in these times of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy, when "the enemy is coming in like a flood" — we should waste our strength on petty and puny dissensions ! May we be led to merge the few points in which we differ, in the many in which we can unite. Preserve me, good Lord, this day, from all uncharitableness. May I "judge not, that I be not judged." May I have Thy favour resting upon me in all the day's duties, and Thy love soften- ing and sanctifying all its trials. Ma all my beloved friends be one with me in Jesus — one now, and one in glory everlasting. Amen. " CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS TN TUB MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO J TRUST." V THE MOIiNING WATCHES. 125 31ST MORNTJJa " 0 Lord, in tha morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee." " Tlij kingdom come." — Luke xi. 2. ^ iL fr ' r 0 ETERNAL, ev( /nrtlitCnmiiignf^^ God, ^ho. 0 ETERNAL, ever-bless- ►se mer- is new to me every morniug — give me through- out this day that peace which the world cannot give. As the beams of the ma- terial sun are lighting up anew my earthly chamber, may the inner chamber of my soul be illumined by a better and brighter radiance. Jesus! thou blessed Fountain of light, and life, and glory, do Thou disperse all the darkness of unbelief and sin. May Thy presence and love hallow all my joys, and mitigate and sanctify all my sorrows. Ere I enter on the day's dutie«; do Thou anew sprinkle the lintels and door-posts of my heart with Thine own most precious blood ; may my inmost 126 THE MORNINCx WATCHES. thoughts and purposes, and desires, and aiFections be consecrated to that God whose property they are. May I have an increasing experience of the sweets of Thy favour, and friendship, and love. With Thee, blessed Lord, I am rich, wliatever else I want ; without Thee, I am poor, though I have the wealth of worlds beside. Take what Thou wilt away— but take not Thyself. Nothing can fill and satisfy the longings of my immortal nature but Thee — all worldly happiness and creature joys are poor substitutes for the inexhaustible source of all joy. Let me know what it is, amid the wreck of earthly refuges and hopes, to exult in the persuasion, "The Lord liveth ; and blessed be my Rock ; and let the God of my salvation be ex- alted." While I pray that Thy kingdom may come in my own heart, I would espe- cially pray for its extension throughout the world. Arise. 0 God, and let Thine TAB MORNING WATCHES. 127 enemies be scattered. May the li-lessed day soon arrive when a rejoicino' and emancipated world shall own no longer liabit-ations of darkness and horrid cru- elty— when Jew and Gentile shall wel- come the Prince of Peace to the Throne of Universal Empire — and " all ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.'^ " Come, Lord Jesus ; come quickly." Let the cry soon break over Thy now burdened Church, " Let us be glad and rejoice, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." Grant, Lord, that / may be in readiness to meet Thee. May my loins now be girded, and my lamp brightly burning, that, at the Bride- groom's summons, I may be able joy- fully to respond, " Lo, this is my God ! I have waited for Him." Grant this day to all near and dear to me, as well as to myself, the special tokens of Thy blessing and love. Fold my beloved friends in the arms of Thy 128 THE MORNING WATCHES. mercy. Teacliiiig them to do Thy holy will, do Thou say of them and to them, " The same is my mother, and sister, and brother." Guide us all by Thy counsel here. May we feel that the way in which Thou art leading us is the kindest and the best that covenant love can devise ; and when our appointed time on earth is finished, do Thou re- ceive us into everlasting habitations through Jesus Christ our Lord. And now, to Grod the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, be as- cribed, as is most due, all blessing, and honour, and glory, and praise, world without end. Amen. ■ CAUSE ME TO HEAR THY LOVING-KINDNESS IN MORNING, FOR IN THEE DO I TRUST." ' MY SO\JL -WAITETH FOR THE LORD MORE THAN THEY THAI WATCSl FOR THE MORNINa." — VS. CSM. 6. THE NIGHT WATCHES ■ Sun of my soul 1 thou Saviour dear, It is not Night if thou be near ; Oh I may no earth-born cloud arise, To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes !" €^t Migjjt Wak^is. While the title of this second part indicatca ita design as a series of evoiiing meditations, that title may bo more peculiarly suggestive of those experi- ences of earthly sorrow, during which this has ever proved the most blessed solace — "I have remem- bered THY NAME, 0 Lord, in the nights May every reader be able to make the assurance of the Psalmist his own — "The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night His song shall be with me." (Ps. xlii. 8.') " WTieu the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently sleep, Be my last thought, how sweet to rest For ever on my Saviour's breast I " Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live : Abide with me when night is nigh. For without Thee I dare not die I'' THE NIGHT WATCHES. 1st Night OK Month " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." '* From everlasting to everlasting thou an Gorl." — Ps. xc. 2. -' -1' ^ . ., My Soul! Seek to fill thyself ™. 'W\ with thoughts of the Almighty! CpIuII|. Yjosq thyself in the impenetra- ble tracts of His glory ! " Canst thou by searching find out God ?" Can the animalcule fathom the ocean, or the worm scale the skies ? Can the finite grasp the Infinite — the mortal Immor- tality? We can do no more than stand on the brink of the shoreless sea, and cry, "0 the depth!" ''From everlasting ! " — shrouded in the great and awful mystery of eternity I Before one star revolved in its sphere — before one angel moved his wing — God ivas ! — the shadow of His own infinite presence filling all space. All time to Him is but as the heaving of a breath — the beat of a pulse — the twinkle of an eye. The Eternitv of bliss, which is the noblest 4 THE NIGHT WATCHES. heritage of the creature, is in its nature progressive. It admits of advance in degrees of happiness and glory. Not so with the Eternity of the Glreat Creator ; lie was as perfect before the birth of time as He will be when " time shall be no longer " — as infinitely glorious when He inhabited alone the solitudes of im- mensity, as He is now with the songs of angel and archangel sounding in His ears! But "who can shew forth all His praise ?" We can at best but lisp the alphabet of His glory. Moses, who * saw more of God than most, makes it still his prayer, " I beseech thee, shew me Thy glory." Paul, who knew more of God than other men, prays still, " that I may know him." " Our safest eloquence," says Hooker, " concerning Him, is our silence, when we confess without confession, that His glory is inexplicable." And is this the Being to whom I can look up with sweetest confidence, and THE NIGHT WATCHES. 5 call ''Ml Father''? Is it this Infinite One, whom " the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain," I can call " My God " ? My soul ! contemplate the medium through which it is thou canst see the glory of God, and yet live ! " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only- begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." He, who dwells in light inaccessible, comes forth from the pavilion of His glory in the person of" Immanuel, God with us." In Christ, " the Image of the invisible God, " the creature — ay, sinners — can gaze unconsumed on the lustres of Deity ! Reader ! be it thine to glorify him. Seek thus to fulfil the great design of thy being. Let all thy words and ways, tnine actions and pur- poses, thy crosses and losses, redound to His praise. The highest seraph can have no higher or nobler end than this — the glory of the God before whom he casts his crown. But he has a claim on 6 THE NIGHT WATCHES. thee, which He has not on the unre- deemed angel. "He gave Himself for thee ! " This mightiest of all boons which Omnipotence could give, is the guarantee for the bestowment of all lesser necessary blessings, and for the withholding of all M?inecessar;s^ trials. Whilst thou art called to behold " His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father," remember its charac- teristic ; it is not a glory to appal thee by its splendours, but to win and cap- tivate thee by its beauties — it is " full of grace and full of truth." He is thy God in covenant. ^Underneath and around thee are the everlasting arms." Thou mayest compose thyself on thy nightly pillow, with the sweet pledge of security, and say — " 1 WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PHAGE AND SIJIEP ;, FOR THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWELL IN S> JETT I " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 2d Night. ■•'I meditate on This in the Night Watches." " Thou art the same."— Ps. cii. 27. . >*lt t What a fountain of com* Jlinnutfinilltq. inimutability of God ! Not one ripple can disturb the calm of His unchanging nature. Were it so, He would no longer be a perfect Being — He would undeify Himself — He would cease to be God I " Change is our portion here !'• " They shall perish," is the brief chron- icle regarding everything on this side heaven. The firmament above us, the earth beneath us, the elements around us — " all these things shall be dissolv- ed." Scenes of hallowed endearment — they are fled ! Friends who sweetened our pilgrimage with their presence — they are gone ! But here is a sure and safe anchorage amid the world's heav- ing ocean of vicissitude — " Tlioii art the same." All is changing but the Un- 8 THE NICxHT WATCHES. changing One ! The earthly scaffolding may give way, but the living Temple remains. The reed may bend to the blast, but the living Rock spurns and outlives the storm ! How blessed, especially, to contem- plate the unchangeableness of our Great High Priest ! — " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever !" True, He is in one sense " changed." No longer the " man of sorrows" — the homeless wanderer — He is enthroned amid the glories of heaven. Seraphs praise Him — Saints adore Him ; but His Heart knows no change ! His ascension glories have not obliterated His tender human sympathies. We can think of Him receiving an outcast sinner, or still- ing the Tiberias storm, or standing at the gate of Nain, or weeping tears of pity over a lost city, or tears of sympa- thy over a buried friend, and write over all these, " Thou art the same P^ The name which He bequeathed by angels to THE NIGHT WATCHES. 9 His Church until he comes again is— ''tliat same Jesus P^ His own Patmos title is His memorial for all lime—" I G?/iHe thatliveth!" Believer! has He ever seemed to change towards thee? Art thou even now mourning over the withdrawal of that countenance whose smile is heaven ? Art thou saying in the bitterness of thy spirit, " Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious ?''— the change is with thyself, not with thy God. Behind the clouds of thine own departure, the Sun of His loYC shines brightly as ever. ''He fainteth not, neither is weary." Or, it may be, thou art labouring un- der other trials. The hand of thy God may be heavy upon thee. The secret thought may be harboured that some tear might have been spared— that thy chastisement might have been less se- vere—that thy bereavement, with its dark accompaniments, might have been mitigated or averted. Look upwards I 10 THE NIGHT WATCHES. and take the Psalmist's antidote as thine own, " / tvill remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." Think that the same hand which was for thee nailed to the cross, is now pleading for thee on the throi e, ordering and control- ling every trial, and over every dark providence writing the unanswerable challenge, " He who spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with Him also freely give as all things ?'' Oh I thus pillow- ing thy head on the Immutability of Jesus, amid the rude buffetings of a changing world, thou wilt be able, night after night, to say, till the dawn of a morning breaks on thee, which knows neither night nor vicissitude — "l WILL BOTH LAY MB POWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP; FOB THOtr, LOBD, ONLT MAKK8T ME DWBLL IK baf-btyI" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 11 "" '" 3t Night " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." "The Lord God omnipotent reigueth." — Rev, xix. 16. ^ vL Believer ! what can bet- UU L/ljl( ^gj. g^ppQj-t a^(] sustain 'i^"""?"*"'"- thee amid the trials of thy pilgrimage than the thought that thou hast an Omnipotent arm to lean upon ? The God with whom thou hast to do is boundless in His resources. There is no crossing His designs — no thwarting His purposes — no questioning His counsels. His mandate is law — " He speaks, and it is done! " Thy need is great. From the humblest crumb of providential good- ness, up to the richest blessing of Divine grace, thou art hanging from moment to moment a pensioner on Jehovah's bounty ; but, fear not ! " I am the Almighty God ! " Finite necessities can never exhaust infinite fulness — " My God shall supply all thy need ! " To Tliee, 0 blessed Jesus ! " all power has been committed in heaven and in 12 THE NIGHT WATCHES. earth.'' " All poioer ! " He has in His hands the reins of universal empire. To " the Lion of the tribe of Juclah " has been intrusted the seven-sealed roll of Providence. Whatever be the boon which the poorest, weakest, loneliest, most afflicted of His saints require, if it be really for their good, the " Won- derful Counsellor" secures it. " As a Prince, He has power with God," and must "prevail." He combines in His adorable Person all a sinner requires. A heart tender enough to love — a hand strong enough to save. The Elder Bro- ther I— the " Mighty God ! " How He delights in the exercise of that omnipo- tence in behalf of His own people ! in ruling over their interests and overruling their trials for their interests ! When He prays for himself, it is " Not my wiliy When He prays for them, it is, ''Father, Iivill!'' May I not well take the motto which He still bears on His breastplate before THE NIGHT WATCHES. 13 the throne, as the ground of support and encouragement "in all time of tribulation " — " able to save even unto the uttermost " ? " The golden censer in His hand, He offers hearts from every land, Tied to His own by gentlest baud Of silent love. About Him wiiigei blessings stand, In act to move." My enemies are many — their name is Legion. Satan, the great adversary — the world, and " the world's trinity " — the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life ; — heart trai- tors— bosom sins. But " He that i^for me is greater far than all that can be against me." He is " stronger " than the " strong man " — Christ the Power qf God / " "I that speak in righteousness, ■mighty to save! " Believer ! art thou in trial, beaten down with a great fight of afflictions — like the disciples, out in a midniglit of 14 THE NIGHT WATCHES. storm, buffeting a sea of trouble ? Fear not ! When the tempest has done its work — when the trial has fulfilled its embassy, the voice which hushed the wa- ters of old has only to give forth the omnipotent mandate, "Peace, be still ! " and immediately there will be " a great calm." The " all power " of Jesus ! — what a pillow on which to rest my aching head! disarming all my fears, and inducing thoughts of sweetest com- fort, consolation, and joy. •*! WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND FOB THOU, LORD, ONLY ILiKEST US DWEU. IN fiAffKTY ' " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 15 4th Night. "I meditate on Tnee in the Night Watches. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence ?"— Ps. cxxxix. 7. (Dn €tfi( The Ubiquity of God ! ^ . How bafflina; to any finite '^""'iP«3f"^f-conprehension! to think that above us, and around us, and with- in us, there is nothing but Deity — the invisible footprints of an Omniscient, Omnipresent One ! " His eyes are on every place ! " on rolling planets and tiny atoms, on the bright seraph and the lowly worm ; — roaming in searching scrutiny through the tracks of immensi- ty, and reading the occult and hidden page of my heart ! "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." " God, I feel Th}' presence uigh, Everywhere o'er nature's face Wheresoe'er I turu my ej^e, I Th y living footsteps trace 1 Nought can sever me from Thee — Everywhere Thou art with me I " 16 THE NIGHT WATCHES. 0 God ! shall this Thy Omnipresence appall me? Nay, in my seasons of sad- ness and sorrow and loneliness — when other comforts and comforters have failed — when, it may be, in the darkness and silence of some midnight hour, in vain I have sought repose — how sweet to think, " My God is here !" I am not alone. The Omniscient One, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, is hovering over my sleepless pil- low ! " He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps !'^ 0 Thou eternal Sun! it cannot be darkness or loneliness or sadness where •J^hou art. There can be no night to the soul which has been cheered with Thy glorious radiance ! " Lo, / am with you alway !" How precious, blessed Jesus I is this Thy leg- acy of parting love ! In the midst of Thy Church till the end of time — ever present, ommpresent ! The true " Pillar of Cloud" by day and " fire by night," THE NIGHT WATCHES. 17 preceding and encamping by us in every step of our wilderness-journey. My soul I think of Him at this moment in the mys- teriousness of His Godhead nature — and yet, with all the exquisitely tender sym- pathies of a gloriiied humanity, as pres- ent with every member of the family He has redeemed with His blood ! ay, and as much present with every individual soul as if He had none other to care for, but as if that one engrossed all His affec- tion and love ! The Great Builder, sur- veying every stone and pillar of His spiritual temple — the Great Shepherd, with His eye on every sheep of His fold —the Great High Priest and Elder Brother, marking every tear-drop- -not- ing every sorrow — listening to every prayer — knowing the peculiarities of every case — no number perplexing Him — no variety bewildering Him — able to attend ro all, and overtake all, and an- swer all ; myriad wants drawing hourly on His Treasury, and yet no diminution : 18 THE NIGHT WATCHES. that Treasury, ever emptying, and yet ever filling, and always full ! Jesus ! Thy perpetual and all-pervad- ing presence turns darkness into day. I am not left unbefriended to weather the storms of life, if Thy hand be from hour to hour piloting my frail bark. Gracious antidote to every earthly sor- row, "J have set the Lord always before me /" Even now, as night is drawing its curtains around me, be this my clos- ing prayer — "Blessed Saviour! abide with me, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent !" Under the over* shadowing wings of Thy presence and love, **! whl both lay mb down in peace and sleep; vob thou, lobd, only uakest mb dweli. in safety i " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 1% 5th Xight, " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." ** His understandiug is infinite." — Ps. cxlvii. 5. ^ ^, How baffling often are God's m Cbpt( dispensations ! The more we ttUBUOni. attempt to fathom their mys- tery, the more are we driven to rest in the best earthly solution — " Thy judg- ments are a great deep !" But where sense says, "All these things are against me," faith has a dif- ferent verdict — " All things are working together for my good." This is the province of faith, confidingly to lean on the arm of God, and to say, " The Lord is righteous in all His ways." We speak of God " foreseeing !" There is no such thing. The past, present, and future are with Him all alike. He sees the end from the beginning. We can discern but a short way, and that short way through a false and distorted me- dium. In a piece of earthly mechanism 20 THE NIGHT WATCHES. we seldom can discover beauty in the incompleted structure. The mightiest works of science, while in progress, are often a chaos of confusion : it is only when finished we can admire the relation and adjustment of every part to the whole. So with the mechanism of God's moral administration. At present, how much mystery ! But, when in the light of eternity we come to contemplate the completion of the mighty plan, how shall we be brought to own and exclaim, "The works of the Lord are right!" " But patience ! there may come a time, When these dull ears shall scan aright Strains that outring earth's drowsy chime, As Heaven outshines the taper's light 1" Believer ! are the dealings of thy God at present wearing a mysterious aspect to thee ? Art thou about to enter some dark cloud, and exclaiming, "Yerily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself?" Dost thou " fear to enter the cloud ?" Take courage ! It will be with thee as THE NIGHT WATCHES. 21 with the disciples ; unexpected glimpses of heavenly glory, — unlooked-for tokens of the Saviour's presence and love await thee ! If thy Lord lead thee into the cloud, follow Him. If He " constrain thee to get into the ship," obey Him. The cloud will burst in blessing ; the ship will conduct thee (may it be over a stormy sea) to a quiet haven at last ! It is only the surface of the ocean that is rough. All beneath is a deep calm, and in every threatening wave there is a " need-be !" Oh 1 trust Him, who is emphatically "The Wisdom of God." He is thy Counsellor — combining the prescience of God with the experience and sympathy of man. He thus, pre-eminently, " knows His client's case." He is pledged to use the discipline most wisely suited for each. " 0 Thou whose wisdom guides my way, Though now it seem severe, Forbid my unbelief to say, 'There is no wisdom here.' 22 THE NIGHT WATCHE8. Lord ! if Thou bend my spirit low, Love only I shall see ; The very hand that strikes the blow Was wounded once for me." Under the blessed persuasion, that a day of disclosures is at hand, when, " in His light, I shall see light," I will trust the wisdom I cannot trace, and repeat, each night, as the shadows of evening gather around me, until the nights of earth's ignorance vanish before the breaking of an eternal day — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND BLEEP ; rOR TH01T, LORD, ONLY MAKEBT Kit DWBLL IN aAFBTV." THE NIGHT WATCHES. 23 6tu Night. ' I meditate on Thee iu the Night Watches." " Thou only art holy." — Rev. xv. 4. (Uu cjrii What an awful perfection is ^ |. c - this! It denotes the burning J0nUEB55,p^^i^y of Jehovah. It would eeem to form the loftiest theme for the adorations of saints and angels. They cease not day nor night to cry, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty !" It evokes from the Church on earth her loudest strains — " Let them praise His great and terrible name, /or it is holy P^ " Holy, Holy, Holy Three I One Jehovah evermore I Father I Son ! and Spirit I we, Dust and ashes, would adore. Lightly by the world esteem'd, From that world by Thee redeem'd, Sing we here with glad accord, Holy 1 Holy I Holy Lord 1" My soul ! seek, in some feeble mea- sure, to apprehend the nature of God's unbending hatred at sin ! It is the deep, deliberate, innate opposition of His 24 THE NIGHT WATCHES. nature to moral evil, which requires Him to hate it, and visit it with condign pun- ishment. It is not so much a matter of icill as of necessity. But what pleasure can there be in the contemplation of so awful a theme? The contemplation of a God " of purer eyes than to behold iniquity" — " in whose sight the heavens are not clean !" — Jesus ! thy adorable atonement is the mirror in which wc can gaze unappalled on this august attribute ! Thy cross is to the wide univei'se a perpetual monu- ment and memorial of the Holiness of God. It proclaims, as nothing else could, " Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness !" Through that cross the Holiest of all beings becomes the most gracious of all. " Now, we can love Him," says a saint who has entered on his rest, " not only although He is holy, but because He is holy." Gaze, and gaze again on that monu- mental column till it teaches the lesson. THE NIGHT WATCHES. 25 how vain elsewhere to look for pardon J — how delusive that dream, on which multitudes peril their eternal safety, that " God will be at last too merciful to punish !" Surely, if any less awful vin- dication could have sufficed, — or had it beeji compatible with the Divine attri- butes to dispense pardon in any other way, Gethsemane and Calvary, with all their awful exponents of agony, would have been spared ! The Almighty vic- tim would not have voluntary submitted to a life of ignominy and a death of woe, if, by any simpler method, He could have " cleared the guilty." But this was impossible. If He was to " save others, Himself he could not save !" Believer ! let the attribute of Holi- ness be the superscription written on your heart and life. Abounding grace can give no sanction or encouragement to abound in sin. "His mercy," says Bisho]) Reynolds, "is a holy mercy which knows how to pardon sin, not to 26 THE NIGHT WATCHES. protect it : it is a sanctuary for the pen- itent, not for the presumptuous." My soul ! art thou tempted to murmur under the dealings of thy God ? What are the sorest of thy trials in compari- son with what they might have been, had this Holy God left thee to know, in all the sternness of its meaning, how " Glo- rious He is in Holiness" ? Rather mar- vel, considering thy sins, that thy trial has been so small — thy cross so light ! Blessed Jesus ! into this sanctuary of " holy mercy" which thou hast opened for me, I will flee. I can now " give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness !" Deriving, even from this august attribute, one of the " songs in the night"— I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PKACE AND SLEEP ; FOK TDOXr, LOBD, ONLY MAKK8T ME TO HWELI. IN 8AFTi 1" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 27 7tu Night " I meditate on Thee m the Night Watches." •Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy Throne.'" — Ps. Ixxxis. 14. ^ y. The Justice of God is "His ^ p^ Holiness in exercise." Let us JUHltCL repair to the spot marked out as the scene of its most awful manifesta- tion. In the depths of a by-past eter- nity, the summons was heard, " Awake, 0 sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man who is my Fellow !" That mysterious commission has been fulfilled ! The Shepherd has been smit- ten! Myriads of condemned spirits could not have borne to God's inexorable rectitude so awful a testimony, as when, on the cross of Calvary, one lone voice sent up the wailing cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" My soul, rejoice ! Justice, which erewhile demanded the execution of a 28 THE NIGHT WATCHES. righteous doom upon millions lost^ can now unite with Mercy in sheathing the avenging sword and exulting over my- riads redeemed. The law which brouglit in a whole world " guilty before God," can exult with Mercy in seeing its every requirement obeyed, its every demand fulfilled ; the Lawgiver Himself " the Just and yet the Justifier ;" unloosing every chain of condemnation, and pro- nouncing " Not guilty ! " "0 Law ! " says Luther, " I drown my conscience in the wounds, blood, death, resurrec- tion, and victory of Christ." Wondrous thought! — Justice, the very attribute which excluded the sinner, the first to throw open a door of welcome, proclaiming the infinite merit has can- celled infinite demerit — infinite holiness has covered infinite sin ! While " jus- tice and judgment are the habitation of His throne," provision has been made whereby, in perfect consistency with every principle of His moral govern- THE NIGHT WATCHES. 29 raent, " mercy and truth may go con- tinually before His face." Reader, it is well for thee often and devoutly thus to dwell on tlie inflexible justice of thy God. It will magnify to thee the riches of His grace, the glories of redemption, thepreciousness of Jesus ! If the sinner is to be saved, "judgment must be laid to the line, and righteous- ness to the plummet !" " The Sinless One must be condemned," says Lefevre, " if he that is guilty is to go free. The Blessing must bear the curse, if the cursed are to be brought into blessing. The Life must die, if the dead are to live !" "In prayer in the evening," says Henry Martyn, " I had such near and terrific views of God's judgment upon sinners in hell, that my flesh trembled for fear of them. I flew trembling to Jesus Christ, as if the flames were taking hold of me. Oh! Christ will indeed save me, or else I perish !" My soul ! take hold of that touchingly 30 THE NIGHT WATCHES. simple assurance to which Justice has appended its seal, " Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish !" " Not perish !" and Justice and a God of justice proclaiming so great salvation - -safety from the terrors of a violated law — rest from the accusations of a guilty conscience — calmness in the pro- spect of death — Grace here — Glory hereafter ! Oh ! what more can that sin- ner need, or the sinner's God bestow 1 **! WILI. BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PBAOB AND SUOBF ; VOB THOU, LORD, ONLY M AKEST MB DWSLI. tW SAFBTY 1 " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 31 8th Niunr. "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " God is Love." — 1 John iv. 16. ^ ^, " The only real mystery of mm ^YiQ Bible," says an old writer, ^^^^- " is a mystery of Love." " God so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son !'' What ! that for a lost and ruined world, the Prince of Life should leave the bosom on which He had been pillowed from all eternity! and expire by an ignominious death on the bitter tree ! Love unutterable ! un- speakable ! The reflection of the scep- tic of a bygone age may have formed at times the musing of better minds. " It is far too great — it is far too good to be true ! " Infinite majesty compas- sionating infinite weakness ! The great Sun of heaven, the Fountain of uncreat- ed light, undergoing an eclipse of dark- ness and blood for the sake of a taper that glimmered in nothingness in His beams. " God so loved the world." 32 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Man never can get farther in the solu- tion of the wondrous problem. Eternit}' itself will form a ladder— the saints climbing step by step in its ascending glories — but, as the prospect widens, each new altitude will elicit the same confession, " the Love of Christ, ivhich passetli hiovjledgey My soul ! seek to enter into the secrets of this love of thine adorable Redeemer. Before all time that love began. We have glimpses of it burst- ing out from the recesses of a bypast eternity — " Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing alway before Him ! " And " when the fulness of the time was come," though foreseen were all His untold sufferings, nothing would deter Him from pursuing His anguished path — " He set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem ] — nay, as if longing for the hour of victory. He exclaimed, " T have a baptism to be baptized with, THE NIGHT WATCHES. 83 and how am I straitened until it be ac- complished ! " Think of that love now ! — the Uto coals in the censer of old — a feeble type of the burning ardor of affection still manifested by our Great High PrieiU within the veil, in behalf of His own people. There He bears the name of each indelibly engraven on His breast- plate ; " loving them at the beginning. He will love them even unto the end ! " Earthly love may grow cold and change- able, or it may die. Not so the love of this " Friend of friends.'' It is strong as death — surviving death — nay, death- less as eternity. Listen to His own exponent of its intensity : " As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you I " " You see in Him," says a pious writer, " an ocean of love without bottom, without bounds, overflowing the banks of heaven, streaming down upon this po0r world to wash away the vile- ness of man ! " 8 34 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Blessed Jesus ! how cold, and fitful, and transient has been my love to Thee in comparison of Thy love to me I Bring me more under its constraining influence ! May this be the superscrip- tion on all my thoughts and my actions — ^my occupations and my time : " I am not my own — Lord, I am Thine!" How can I love Thee enough, who hast so loved me ! My life shall henceforth be one thank-offering of praise for Thy redeeming mercies. Standing this night on the shores of this illimitable ocean — surveying its length and breadth — every wave mur- muring " Peace on earth and good-will to men " — "l WILL BOTH I.AY MB DOWN IN PEAOB AND BLEEP FOK THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKE8T MB D-VTBLL IN SAFETY I " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 35 9th Nig hi. I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches " " The God of all grace."— 1 Peter, v. 10. (Dn tljt[ " By the Grace of God I am (ISrnr'p what I am !" This is the be- liever's eternal confession. Grace found him a rebel — it leaves him a son. Grace found him wandering at the gates of hell — it leaves him at the gates of heaven. Grace devised the scheme of Redemption. Justice never would. Reason never could. And it is Grace which carries out that scheme. No sinner would ever have sought his God but " by grace." The thickets of Eden would have proved Adam's grave had not grace called him out. Saul would have lived and died the haughty self-righteous persecutor had not grace laid him low. The thief would have con- tinued breathing out his blasphemies had not grace arrested his tongue and tuned it for glory. " Out of the knottiest 36 THE NIGHT WATCHES. timber," says Rutherford, " He can make vessels of mercy for service in the high palace of glory." " I came, I saw, I conquered," says Toplady, " may be inscribed by the Sa- viour on every monument of grace. I came to the sinner ; I looked upon him ; and with a look of omnipotent love, I conquer edy My soul ! thou wouldst have been this day a wandering star, to whom is re- served the blackness of darkness — Christless — hopeless — portionless — had not grace invited thee, and grace con- strained thee ! And it is grace which at this moment, keeps thee. Thou hast often been a Peter — forsaking thy Lord, but brought back to Him again. Why not a Demas or a Judas ? "J liave frayed for thee that thy faith fail not J^ Is not this thine own comment and re- flection on life's retrospect ? — " Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with mol" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 37 Seek to realise thy continual depend- ence on this grace every moment. " More grace ! more grace !" would need to be thy continual cry. But the infinite sup- ply is commensurate with the infinite need. The treasury of grace, though always emptying, is always full : the key of prayer which opens it is always at hand ; and the Almighty almoner of the blessings of grace is always " wait- ing to he gracious /" The recorded pro- mise never can be cancelled or reversed — " My grace is sufiicient for thee !" Eeader ! seek to dwell much on this inexhaustible theme : The grace of God is the source of minor temporal as well as of higher spiritual blessings. It ac- counts for the crumb of daily bread as well as for the crown of eternal glory. But even in regard to earthly mercies, never forget the cJiaimel of grace — '^through Christ Jesus!" It is aweet thus to connect every (even the smallest and humblest) token of providential 38 THE NIGHT WATCHES. bounty with Calvary's cross — to liave the common blessings of life stamped with " the print of the nails !" It makes them doubly precious to think, "This flows from Jesus I" " When with dear friends sweet talk I hold, And all the flowers of life unfold ; — Let not my heart within me burn, Except in all I Thee discern !" Let others be contented with the un- covenanted mercies of God. Be it mine to say, as the child of grace and heir of glory — " Our Father which art in hea- ven, give us this day our daily bread !" Nay, reposing in the " all-sufficiency in all things" promised by " the God of all grace," " I WILl BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PKAOB AND BLBBP ; FOR TH0T7, LOBD, ONLY MAKK8T MB DWELL IN SATETY I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 39 IOtu Nigbx " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." « He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them ia His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." — ^Isa, xi. 11. ., How soothing, in the hour (Dn 1^III| Qf sorrow, or bereavement, ®BnftBrUCS9. ^j. ^eath, to have the counte- nance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend I My soul ! these words tell thee of one nearer, dearer, tenderer still — the Friend that never fails— a tender God ! By how many endearing epithets does Jesus exhibit the tenderness of His affection to His people 1 Does a sliepherd watch tenderly over his flov^i^ ? " The Lord is my Shepherd !" Does a father exercise fondest solicitude tow- ards his children? "I will be a Father unto you !" Does a mother's love exceed all other earthly types of affectionate tenderness ? " As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you I" la 40 THE NIGHT WATCHES. the applo of the eye the most suscepti* ble part of the most delicate bodily organ ? " He keeps them as the apple of riis eye !" " He will not break the bruised reed I" When the " Shepherd and Bisliop of Souls" finds the sinner like a lost slieep, stumbling on the dark mountains, how tenderly he deals with him ! Tliere is no look of wrath — no word of upbraid- ing— in silent love " He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing !" When Peter falls, He does not unne- cessarily wound him. He might have repeated often and again the piercing look which brought the flood of peni- tential sorrow. But He gave that look only once ; and if He reminds him again of his threefold denial, it is by thrico repeating the gentlest of questions, " Lovest thou me ?" My soul ! art thou mourning over the weakness of thy faith — the coldness of thy love— thy manifold spiritual declen- THE NIGHT WATCHES. 41 sions? Fear not! He knows thy frame • — He will give feeble faith tender deal- ing— He will " carry" in His arms those that are unable to walk, and will con- duct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others. When " the Lion" or " the Bear" comes, thou mayest trust the true David, the tenderest of shepherds ! Art thou suf- fering from outward trial ? Confide in the tenderness of thy God's dealings with thee. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes — the needed discipline of a fatlier yearning over his children the very moment He is chastising them ! The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times — it may be, need- lessly harsh. But not so GOD. " He may seem, like Jo.-ieph to his brethren, to speak roughly ; but all the while there is love in His heart !" The prun- ing-hook will not be used unnecessarily. It will never cut too deeply. The fur- nace will not burn more fiercely than is 42 THE NIGHT WATCHES. absolutely required. A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames. And what, believer, is the secret of all this tenderness ? " There is a man upon the Throne P'' Jesus — the God- Man Mediator : combining, with all the might of Godhead, all the tenderness of spotless humanity. Is thy heart crushed with sorrow? — so was His! Are thine eyes dimmed with tears? — so were His ! " Jesus wept !" Bethany's " Chief Mourner" still wears the Bro- ther's heart in glory. Others may be unable to enter into the depths of thy trial. He can — He does ! With such a " tender God" caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding 'my couch 1)} night — I WILL BOTH LAY MK DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEBP ; FOH TIIOIT, LORD, ONLY MAKK8T ME DWELL IN SAFETY I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 43 11th NlQHt "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." « The God of Patience." — ^Rom. xv. 5. ^, There is no more wondrous .f^,/^P^ subject than this— '^ The Pa- ^MmnrL tigj^^^e of God!" Think of the lapse of ages during which that pa- tience has lasted— 6000 years ! Think of the multitudes who have been the subjects of it— Millions on millions, in successive climes and centuries I Think of the sins which have all that time been trying and wearying that patience — their number— their heinousness — their aggravation ! The world's history is a consecutive history of iniquity, a length- ened provocation of the Almighty's forbearance ! The Church, like a feeble ark, tossed on a mighty ocean of un- belief; and yet the world, with its cumberers, still spared I The cry of its sinful millions at this moment enter " the ears of the God of Sabaoth," and 44 THE NIGHT WATCHES. yet, " for all tliis, His liand of mercy is siretclied out still !" And who is this God of patience ? It is the Almighty Being who c©uld strike these millions down in a moment!— who could, by a breatli, annihilate the world! — nay, who would require no positive or visil^le forth-putting of His omnipotence to effect this, but simply to withdraio His sustaining arm ! Surely, of all the examples of the Almighty's power there is none more wondrous or amazing than " God's power over Himself." He is " slow to anger." " Judgment is His strange work." He " visits iniquity unto the third and fourth generation." He "shews mercy unto thousands of gene- rations!'' God bears for 1500 years, from Moses to Jesus, with Israel's un- belief ; and yet, as a pious writer re- marks, " He speaks of it as but a day :^^ " All day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying THE NIGHT WATCHES. 45 people." What is the history of all this tenderness ? " My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord !" My soul ! how great has been God's patience towards thee! In thine un- converted state, when a wanderer from His fold, with what unwearied love He went after thee ; notwithstanding all thy waywardness, never ceasing the pursuit " mita He found thee !" Think of thy fainting and weariness since — thine ever- changing frames and feelings ; the ebb- ings and the Sowings in the tide of thy love, and yet, instead of surrendering thee to thine own perverse will, Hia language concerning thee is, " How can I give thee up ?" For a lifetime, thy Saviour-God has been standing knock- ing at thy door ; and his attitude is ttill the same—" Behold, I stand!" " But fainter than the pole-star's ray Before the noontide blaze of day, Is all of love that man can know — All that in angels' breasts can glow — 46 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Of mpared, 0 Lord of hosts I with thine, Unwearied I fathomless ! Divine I" How should the patience of Jesus lead rae to be submissive under trial! When He has so long borne with me, shall not I " bear" with Him ? When I think of His patience under a far heavier cross, can / murmur when He mur- mured not ? Nay, I will check every repining thought, and looking up, in confiding affection, to " the God of all patience," I •WILL BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP rOB THOU, LORD, ONLY UXKESI MB DWBLL m EiAFrrr 1" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 47 12th Night. '• 1 meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." ~'Tliy faithfulness reacheth unto the cUiuds."— Ps. xxxvi. 5. ^ ^, It has been well said, that ^ ..,}'', P^ " the universe around us /nitlifiiliitss. i, ^ p^^.^^1^ ^f g^,^^^_„ " As the mountains are round about Je- rusalem, so doth the Lord compass His people !" But firmer than even these types of immutability in the kingdom of nature is the word of a covenant-keeping God in the kingdom of grace. These mountains (nature's best emblems of steadfastness) may depart, and the hills be removed, " hut^'^ says their almighty Maker, " my kindness shall not be taken from thee !" We can look upwards to the stars of night, and see the " faithfulness" of God " established" in the material heavens — '* This day they stand as Thou ordain- estl" But these are feeble types ajid symbols of brighter constellations in i8 THE NIGHT WATCHES. the spiritual firmament — the declara- tions of an unchanging God — " Thy word is forever settled in heaven !" What a gracious assurance amid our own unfaithfulness, " The Lord is faith- ful !" — that the unfaithfulness of the be- liever never alters, and can never alter, the faithfulness of God ! My soul ! anchor thyself on this rock of the Divine veracity. Take hold of that blessed parenthesis which has been to many a tossed soul as a polar star in its nights of darkness — " Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them even unto the end." He loves them in life — loves them in death — loves them through death — loves them i7ito glory ! Art thou not at this hour a monument of God's faithfulness? Where wouldst tliou have been had not the magnet of His grace kept thee, and drawn thy fu- gitive affections towards Himself? From how many temptations has He rescued THE NIGHT WATCHES. 49 thee — laying hold of thee on the preci' pice, when about to plunge headlong down — employing sometimes constrain- ing, at others restraining grace — mak- ing this thy brief history, ''Kejjt by the power of God," and overruling all — all for His own glory, and thine own good? I love to think of Thy faithfulness, 0 thou ''Tried stone," '''laid in Zion ! " Thou wert tried by the Law — by Jus- tice— by Men — by Devils, and yet Thou wert faithful ! Thou hast been tried by Prophets and Apostles ; by Martj^rs and Saints ; by youthful sinners, and aged sinners, and dying sinners, — and Thou hast been found faithful hy all and to all ; and Thou art faithful still ! My soul ! never suppose, amid the faithlessness of earth's trusted friends, that thou art doomed to thread thy way in loneliness and solitude ; there is more than one Emmaus journey ! The "Abid- ing" Friend is left ! He is always t}ie neitlier is 4 50 THE NIGHT WATCHES. weary !" His faithfulness is a tried faithfulness ! His word is a tried word ! His friendship is a tried friendship! He is always " better than His word !" He pays with usury ! ♦' Oh 1 who could bear life's stormy doom, Did not Thy word of love Come brightly bearing through the gloom A peace-branch from above ? Then Sorrow, touch 'd by Thee, grows bright, With more than rapture's ray, As darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by d.ay I" When I think that at this very mo- ment the eye of that faithful Saviour- Grod is upon me — " I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; POB THOn, LORD, ONLT MAKK3I KE DWELL IN aATOTT I *' THE NIGHT WATCHES. 51 13th Night. **I meditate on Thae in the Night Watches." •' He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." — Dan iv. 35. ^ vL How blessed that el&- . ^^" m mentary truth — " The InflErngntll. ^ord reigneth ! " To know that there is no chance or acci- dent with God — that He decrees the fall of a sparrow — the destruction of an atom — the annihilation of a world ! The Almighty is not like Baal, " asleep." " He that keepetli Israel " can never for a moment " slumber." '* Man j9roposes — God cZ^^^poses." " Thou didst it I " is the history of every event, past, present, and to come. His pur- poses none can change — His counsels none can resist I My soul ! how cheering to know that all that befalls thee and thine is thus or- dered in the eternal purpose of a Cove- nant God ! Every minute circumstance of thy lot. — appointing the bounds of thy 52 THE NIGHT WATCHES. habitation — meting out every drop in the cup of life — arranging what by tliee IS called its " vicissitudes '' — decreeing all its trials, and at last, as the great Proprietor of life, revoking the lease of existence when its allotted term has expired ! How it would keep the mind from its guilty proneness to brood and fret over second causes, were this grand but simple truth ever realised — that all that befalls us are integral parts in a stupendous plan of wisdom — that there is no cross- ing or thwarting the designs and deal- ings of God ; none can say, " What do- est thou ? " — all ought to say, " He doeth all things well." We dare not venture, with presump- tuous gaze, to penetrate into " those se- cret things which belong unto the Lord our God." In all that is fitted in the consideration of this august theme of the Divine Decrees to impart encour- agement and consolation, let us rejoice ; THE NIGHT WATCHES. 53 in all that is mysterious and incompre- hensible, let us with childlike reverence exclaim, " 0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judg- ments, and His ways past finding out ! " The contemplation of the Sovereignty of God formed subject-matter of rejoic- ing to the SaA'iour Himself in His humi- liation : " Even so. Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight ! " And what supplied material for comfort and joy to an Almighty Sufferer, may well dry the tears and soothe the pangs of His suffer- ing people. 0 how sinners may magnify their God by a calm submission to His will, seeing no hand but One in their trials — in giving or taking : " The Lord gave — the Lord taketh away ! " "Who knoweth not in all these thiugs the hand of the Lord hath done this ? " " Till Death the weary spirit free, My God hath said, 'Tis good for tbee 54 THE NIGHT WATCHES. To walk in faith, and not by sight. Take it on trust a little while, Soon Shalt thou read the mystery right In the full sunshine of His smile I " Will it not further help to the breath- ing of the prayer, " Thy will be done/ when I think, in connection with tho Sov^ereignty of God, of the grand end of His immutable decrees — '* It is His own glory!" "0/" Him and through Him, and to Him, are all things ! " What more can I desire ? — " all things." God's glory and my own good ! — " I WILL UOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PT3ACK AND SUIBP ; FOB THOU, LOUD, ONLT MAKEST MB DWSU. IJJ SAFSTT I " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 56 14th Night. "I meditate on Thee in the Night "Watches." " His kingdom ruleth over all." — Ps. ciii. 19. ^, My Soul! try to see m «tt Q^(j ij^ everything, and f XnmflPnre. everything in God ! Lose thine own will in His. Enter on no pursuit, engage in no plan, without Paul's prayer and condition, " If so the will of the Lord be." How it would hallow prosperity and sweeten adversity, thus, in all things, to follow like Israel the Guiding Pillar— at ffis bidding to pitch our tents — at Eis bidding to strike for march. Each providence has a voice, if we would only hear it. It is a finger- post in the journey, pointing us to " the right way, that .we may go to the city of habitation !" Often what a mystic volume Provi- dence is ! — its every page full of dark hieroglyphics, to which earth can fur- aish no key. But faith falls back on the assurance that "the Judge of all 56 THE NIGHT WATCHES. the earth must do right " — the Father of all His people cannot do wrong. To the common observer, the stars in the nightly hearens are all confused masses pursuing devious and erratic courses. But to the astronomer each has its allotted and prescribed pathway, and all are preserving inviolate one universal law of harmony and order. It is faith's loftiest prerogative, patiently to wait till that day of disclosures, when page by page of the mystic book will be unrav- elled, and when the believer himself will endorse every page with, " It is well ! '' Providences may even seem to be getting darker, merging like declining day into the shadows of twilight. But, contrary to nature, and to the Chris- tian's expectations, " At evening time it shall be light ! " The gathering cloud will then be seen to be fraught only with blessings which will burst on the Believer's head. THE NIGHT WATCHES. 57 My soul ! " be still, and know that He is God ! " " Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." Tlie mysteri- ous " wherefore " thou hast so long been waiting for will soon be revealed. The long night-watch will soon terminate — in the long looked-for, longed-for morn- ing! " My God ! My Father ! while I stray Far from ray home on life's rough way. 0 teach me from my h -art to say — Thy will be doue ! Then when on eartli I l)rL'alhs no m )re The prayer oft mixed with tears before^ I'll sing, when on a happier shore — Thy will be doue ! " Blessed Lord ! my pilgrimage path is studded thick with Ebenezers testifying to Thy faithfulness and mercy. I love to think of Thy manifold gracious inter- positions in the past! — God sustaining me in trial — God supporting me in perplexity— God rescuing me when in temptation — God helping me when "vain was the help of man ! " " When my 58 THE NIGHT WATCHES. foot slipped, Thy mercy, 0 Lord, held me up ! " And shall I not take all Thy goodness manifested hitherto as a pledge of faithfulness in the future? In full confidence of my God being a " rich Provider," I shall take no thought for the morrow but repose in this covenant assurance of a covenant-keeping God ! — " I will never fail thee nor forsake thee ! " " Thou hast been my help, tlierefort in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice ! " J WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEA CE AND rOB TUOF, LORD, ONLY MAKEST MB DWHU. DTBAyiPrY !" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 59 lo.-u NrGHT " I mediiate on Thee in the Night Watches." "Thy word is a lain;) to aiy feet." — Ps. cxix. 105. ., Man's word disappoints — God's M\ word, never! "The Word of ^^^^' the Lord is tried." It has been tried by the sinner ; he neglected it and perished! It has been tried by the saint ; he has believed it and been saved! What a precious legacy of G-od to our world ! The volume of nature, much as it teaches, is dumb on the question of a sinner's acceptance. The Scriptures alone can solve the enigma, "How is G^d to deal with the guilty ?" That question unanswered — in peace we could not live, in peace we dared not die ! But glad tidings, oh ! precious messenger from God, hast thou brought to a doomed earth— " God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting 60 THE NIGHT WATCHES. life !" Were there no more in this DiviDe communication than that one brief entry, the Bible would still be better to us than " thousands of gold and silver." But it is a vast magazine and empo- rium of heavenly wisdom — free to all — suited for all — intended for all — offered to all ; — an inexhaustible mine — the deeper you dig, the richer the ore. Il has a word in season for rich and poor, young and old — for the wandering — the doubting — the sorrowing — the believing — the dying — the perishing ! Reader ! sit at the feet of Jesus in His Word, and with the docility of a little child, say, " Speak, Lord !" Approach it ever as if it met you with the living salutation, " I have a message from God for theeT There are differences in every heart-chamber, but this key fits every door. Make it a faithful mirror, in which you see a reflection of yourself. The more faithfully it is held up, the THE NIGHT WATCHES. 61 more will the sense of deficiency and defilement drive you to the atoning blood ! In all your difficulties, make it *' the man of your counsel ;" in all your per- plexities, make it your interpreter and guide ; in all your sorrows, make it your fountain of consolation ; in all your temptations, make it your ultimate court of appeal. When venturing on debata- ble ground, let this deter thee — " What saith the Scripture?" When assailed, let this protect and defend thee — " It is written !" • Precious at all times, it is especially precious in " the dark and cloudy day.'' We may do without our beacon by day ; but where are we without it in the mid- uiglit tempestuous sea ? " I should have perished," says a sinking cast-away, " in mine affliction, but Thy Word hath quickened mc." " Oft as I lay mc down to rest 0 ma> the reconciliug Word 62 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Sweetly compose my weary breast ; While on the bosom of my Lord I sink in blissful dreams away, And visions of eternal day !" Be it mine to look forward to tliat Ijlessed time, when the intei-vention of that Word, and all other means of grace, will terminate, for in heaven " they need no candle !" Meanwhile, pillow- ing my head on the Word of the eternal God, and with these glorious prospects in view — I WILL BOTU LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND gLBKP ; FOB THOr, LOED, ONLY MAKE8T MS DWVIJL IN SArBTTl" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 63 16th N'lGHT. " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." ' With joy shall yc draw water out of the wells of salva- tion."— Isa. xii. 3. . ^t My Soul! thou art here Minmm. ^ ^iMemess is thy phice of sojourn ; but Immanuel has provided wells in this Baca — this vale of weeping — for the refreshment of His pilgrims ! In merciful adaptation to their weakness and wants, He has furnished means and instrumentality to keep alive the flame that would otherwise languish and decay. These are the golden pipes which convey the living water to the soul, fed by Christ himself from the great cistern of His own grace. Reader ! dost thou love the ordinances of God's appointment? Is the Sabbath to thee a holy and welcome season? Dost thou gladly respond to the sum- mons, " Go ye up into the house of the Lord " ? Hast thou felt that it is there 64 THE NIGHT WATCHES. that '' He commands the blessing, even life for evermore " ? Or, holier ground still, — do you rejoice, as the solemn sea- son comes round, to covenant afresh with your adorable Redeemer at His own table — to record anew your unalterable attachment to Him as your Lord and Master, and commemorate His dying, ever-living love ? See that it be not the reverse of all this. Do the hours of the Sabbath, once a delight — " day of all the week the best " — hang heavily upon you ? Is prayer less a privilege than it was ? Is the closet less habitually frequented? Is the fire burning with a sicklier glow on the domestic altar ? Have the ser- vices of the sanctuary become more matter for the head than for the heart ? Be assured these are lamentable symp- toms of declension — tokens of a back- ward and downward state. "Ye did run well — who did hinder you ?" Re- turn forthwith to the deserted closet — THE NIGHT WATCHES. 65 crucify forthwith the deadening sin. Hast thou not abjured it, over and over, at a communion table ? Why suffer it again to have dominion over thee — robbing thee of all thy joy— extracting all relish from ordinances— impeding grace — grieving the Spirit? Lose no time in seeking restoration of lost filial nearness. " Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." The lost Bride, in the Canticles, found her Lord beside the " Shepherds' tents ;" and " of Zion, it shall be said. The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man Avas born there T Thou mayest sometimes have long to wait at the Gos- pel Bethesdas without any visible bless- ing ; but, be assured, the Angel of the Covenant will in due time come down, and shew that He " is good to them that wait for Him— to the soul that seeketh Him !" " Wait, then, on the Lord ; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart !" 66 THE NIGHT WATCHES. My soul ! value ordinances, but do not overvalue them. Put not ordinances in the place of the God of ordinances. They are at best but the pole to hold up the brazen serpent upon — the scaffolding by which to get up beside the Chief cor- ner-stone. " Hold Thou me up, and 1 shall be safe !" It is not the altar of God," but " God Himself;' who is " the exceeding joy " of His people ; and thus, even if wasting health and pining sick- ness should deprive me of outward ordinances, I may look upwards to that God who, though He " loves the gates of Zion," does not forget " the dwell- ings of Jacob," and say — 1 WILL BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PKACB AND SLSBP ; FOB THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEST MB DWXU. THE NIGHT WATCHES. 67 17.-H Night **I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " Take uot Thy Holy Spirit from me."— Ps. li. ]1. ^, " It is expedient for you," |l^P^ said Jesus, " That I go away : |>)lhli- fQj, if I ^Q not away, the Com- forter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." How momentous must be the agency of the Holy Spirit, when the adorable Redeem- er represented the blank of His own de- parture as being more than indemnified to His Church by the presence of this Divine Paraclete ! "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." It is He who is the agent in the new birth : " Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is He who enables the sinner by faith to lay hold on Jesus, and embrace His salvation : " No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." It is He who carries on the progressive work of holiness ; — 68 THE NIGHT WATCHES. we are saved " through sanctifica tion of the Spirit." It is He who creates anew the lost image of the Godhead, impresses on the soul the lineaments of the Sa- viour's character — " We are transform- ed into the same image from glory to glory by the Lord the Spirit" (marg.) It is He who illumines the page of the Divine Record — acting like a telescope to the moral vision — disclosing in the firmament of inspiration " wondrous things" contained in the law, which the natural eye cannot see. It is He who unfolds the glories of the Kedeemer's work — the beauties of His person — the completeness of -His sacrifice — the riches of His grace ; — " He shall glorify Me ; for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Nay, the soul of the believer becomes itself a temple of the Holy Ghost ! Oh ! with what holy jealousy would the child of God guard every avenue to temptation, if this amazing truth exercised its habitual THE NIGHT WATCHES. 69 and solemnizing power over him — " The Spirit of God dwelleth within me !" How would he avoid anything and every- thing by Avhicli he would be likely to "grieve" this blessed Agent, " whereby he is sealed until the day of redemp- tion !" " Behold !" He seems to say, " I make all things new." The initial operation is His — He broods over the face of the spiritual chaos, saying, "Let there be light." The closing and consummating grace is His, — He conducts the spirit through the swellings of Jordan, till it joins with the ransomed multitude be- fore the throne, in ascribing to Father, Bon, and Holy Ghost, the glories of a completed salvation. " Take not, then, 0 God ! thy Holy Spirit from me." In vain are the word, ordinances, sacraments, sermons, pray- ers, without Him. All are in thomselveg passive instruments ; His is the omnipo- tent arm which wields and vanquishes. 70 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Our adorable Redeemer — the great High Priest — was Himself anointed with the Holy Spirit. That anointing oil, poured upon the Church's living Head, "runs down to the skirts of His gar- ment," anointing, as it flows, all His members, and those that are lowest and humblest — (nearest the skirts)— receive the most ! My soul ! if this be thy position — at the feet of Jesus — the blessed influences of the Holy Spirit, streaming down upon thee in copious effusion, sanctifying thee more and more, and making thee more meet for glory — then thou mayest well say, night after night, until the day spring of that glory burst upon thee — " I -WILL BOTH LAY ME DOVrN IN PEACE AWD SLBBP; FOB THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKE8T MB DWILL m SAFETY 1 " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 71 18th Night. " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." "All the promises of God in Him are Yea, and in Him Amen."— 2 Cor. i. 20. God has made a Will, or Testament, in behalf of His |)rmniSB5. people! It is signed and sealed. It cannot be altered— nothing can denude us of our patrimony. The bequest is His own " exceeding great and precious promises." What a heri- tage ! — All that the sinner requires — all that the sinner's God can give. In this testamentary deed there are no contin- gencies, no peradventures. The testator commences it with the sure guarantee for its every jot and tittle being fulfilled, *' Verily, verily, / say unto you !" He endorses every promise and every page, with a " Yea, and Amen." " God, wil- ling more abundantly to shew to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath !" But whr provided such a rich Promise 72 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Treasury ? What is the source, where the fountain-head, from which these streams of mercy flow to the Church ? " In Him." Believer ! from Jesus every promise is derived — in Jesus every promise centres ! Pardon, peace, adop- tion, consolation, eternal life — all " in Him." In Him you are " chosen," "called," "justified," "sanctified," "glo- rified." You have in possession all the blessings of present grace ; you have in reversion all the happiness of coming glory : and " He is faithful that prom- ised !" Your friend may deceive thee — the world has deceived you — He never will ! Myriads in glory are there to tell how " not one thing hath failed of all that the Lord their God hath spoken." Rely on this faithfulness — lie gave His Son for you. After the greater blessing, surely for subordinate ones you may trust Him. And where do these promises beam most brightly ? Like the stars, it is in THE NIGHT WATCHES. 73 the night ! In the midnight of trial— when the sun of earthly prosperity has set— when deep is calling to deep, and wave to wave ; when tempted, bereaved, beaten down with " a great fight of afflictions " — the spiritual firmament, with its galaxy of Promises, will be brightest and clearest ! " Oh ! who conkl bear life's stormy doom, Did not Thy Word of Love Come brightly bearing through the gloom A palm-branch from above? Then sorrow touch'd by Thee grows bright, With more than rapture's ray ; As darkness shews us worlds of light We never saw by day !" But be not deceived ; the night of sorrow cannot in itself give you the comfort of the Divine Promises. It may be night, and yet the stars invisible. It is only " in Fliin " these promises can be discerned in their lustre. My soul ! if " out of Christ," these stars of Gos- pel promise shine in vain to thee ; they have to the unspi ritual eye no beauty 74 THE NIGHT WATCHES. or brightness. In the midnight battle of Barak, " the stars in their course fought against Sisera." They shone on Israel, but denied their light to the enemies of God. The guiding pillar, so lustrous to the chosen people, was a column of portentous gloom to Pharaoh's host. But "m Him;' as "heirs of God," ye are inheritors of " all the promises." All the promises! Oh! with such a pillow whereon to rest your aching head, you may well resume your nightly song — 'l WrLL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND 8LBKP ; FOB THOTT, LORD, ONLY MAKE8T ME DWELL DJ 8AFBTT I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 75 19th Night. "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " And that will by no means clear the guilty." — Exodus xxxiv. 7. ., " He is faithful that prom- !t»armng0 ciently in mind another equal fidelity— " He is faithful" tliat threatened f My soul ! ponder that solemn word, " who will hy no means clear !" Remember ivhen that word was spoken : it was in connexion with a sub- lime apocalypse of God's majesty. It was as " the ' glovi/ of the Lord" was passing before Moses ! Was not this intended to show that there is an awful and inseparable connexion between the Divine glory and the impossibility of God's clearing the guilty ? It was at a time, moreover, when the benignity of God was intended to be more specially manifested. It was when He was de- clared to be " the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abun- "76 THE NIGHT WATCHES. dant in goodness." Then it was, we listen to the awful note of warning, that "clear llie guilty" He ivill not, and cannot! His law requires — the honour of His throne requires — demands that the guilty be " owt cleared." Reader ! art thou still clinging to the dream of final mercy? Dost thou be- lieve in the first part of the Divine proc- lamation at Sinai, and persist in pre- sumptuous and fatal scepticism with regard to the last ? — that, boundless in His resources, and infinite in His love, God will by some means " clear the guilty " ? Be not deceived ! See tliat ye do not incur the woe of him who " striveth with liis Maker !" The Lord, who " is not slack concerning His promises," can bo as little slack concerning His threaten- ings. Time blunts the wrath of man, and chastens and subdues the turbulence of his passions ; but there is no blind impulse — no vacillation in Him with THE NIGHT WATCHES. 77 wliom "a thousand 3^ears are as one day/' " God's threatenings," says a writer, " are God's doings !" The law has not one breathing of mercy for you. There is not one cleft in all Mount Sinui where you can escape the vengeance of the storm ! Unless you flee without de- lay to Him who has " cleared the guilty'* by Himself — the Guiltless — becoming the guilt-bearer, be assured that through eternity " you will hy no jneans be cleared." My soul ! art thou yet in this state of perilous estrangement? still launched on the cheerless ocean of uncertainty, leav- ing everything to a dying hour, the time to which nothing should be left, but to die ! Ponder these living words of un- changing truth — " Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not escape un- punished." The golden chain of grace stretches from heaven to earth, but it can go no further — " Seek ye the Lord while He mav be found." " While/' 78 THE NIGHT WATCHES. There is solemn warning in tliat one word! It tells thee there is a day coming when the Lord will be sought, but will not be "found.'^ " Time's sun is fast sotting — its twilight is nigh- Its evening is falling in cloud o'er the sky ; Its shadows are stretching in ominous gloom ; Its midnight approaches — the midnight of doom I Then haste, sinner, haste, there is mercy for thee, And wrath is preparing — flee, lingerer, flee I" Reader ! cast thyself this night at His footstool ; implore His mercy. Rise not from thy bended knees, until, with His propitiated smile gladdening thee, and the hope of His heaven cheering thee, thou may est (it may be for the first time in thy life) lie down with a quiet con- science and a pardoned soul on thy nightly couch, exclaiming — ' I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOB THOU, lORD, ONLY MAKEST ME DWETi DISAyKTY I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 79 20th Night. "I meditate oa Thae in the Niglit Watches." " For whom the Lord loveth Ho chasu-neth." — Heb. xii. 6. . y. Chastisement ! — The (DK (liptt family badge— the family Clin^tlSmrntS. piedge_the family ^W^- liege ! — " To you it is given to suffer ^ " Troubles," says a good man, " are in God's catalogue of mercies." Afflic- tions," says another, " are God's hired labourers to break the clods and plough tb<3 land." Believer ! is the hand of thy God heavy upon thee ? Has He been break- ing thy cisterns, withering thy gourds, poisoning thy sweetest fountains of earthly bliss ? Are the world's bright spots outnumbered by the dreary ? Has one tear been following another in quick succession ? Thou may est have to tell, perhaps, of a varied experience of trials. Every tender point touched— sickness, bereavement, poverty — all ! Be still I 80 THE NIGHT WATCHES. If thou art a child of God, there is no exemption from the " househokl dis- cipline." Tlie rod is a father's ; the voice that speaks may be rough, but the hand that smites is gentle. The furnace may be seven times heated, but the Refiner is seated by. His object is not to consume, but to purify. Do uot misinterpret His dealings ; there is mercy on the wings of " the rough wind." Our choicest fountains are fed from dark lowering clouds. All, be assured, will yet bear the stamp of love. Sense cannot discern yet " the bright light in the clouds." Aged Jacob ex- claimed at first, " All these things are against me ;" but at last he had a calmer and a juster verdict, " His spirit re- vived!" "At evening time it was light." The saint on earth can say, regarding his trials, in faith and in trust, "I hnow^ 0 Lord, that Thy judgments are light." The saint in glory can go a step farther, " I see, 0 Lord, that they are so ! " His THE NIGHT WATCHES. 81 losses wil] then be shewn to be his riches. Believer ! on a calm retrospect of thy heaviest afflictions — say, were they un- uoeded ? Was this (what Augustine calls) " the severe mercy of God's dis- cipline"— was it too severe ? Less would not have done. Like Jonah, thou never wouldst have awoke but for the storm ! lie may have led thee to a Zarephath (" a place of furnaces "), but it is to shew thee there " one like unto the Son of God ! " When was God ever so near to thee, or thou to thy God, as in the furnace-fires ? When was the pres- ence and love and sympathy of Jesus so precious ? When " the Beloved " comes down from " the Mountain of Myrrh"— the "Hill of Frankincense" — to His " Garden on Earth," He can get no fragrance from some plants but by bruising them. The spices in the Temple of old were bruised. The gold of its candlestick was beaidn gold ! It WQS when the Mar ah-foun tain of thy 6 82 THE NIGHT WATCHES. heart was bitter with sin, that he cast in some cross — some trial — and '' the waters were made sweet ! " My soul, be still ! Thou hast in afflic- tion one means of glorifying God, whicli even angels have not in a sorrowless world : — Patience under the rod — Sub- mission to thy Heavenly Father's will ! Pray not to have thine affliction re- moved, but for grace to bear up under it, so that thou mayest glorify God even " in the fires ;" and, remembering that though " weeping endureth for a night, joy Cometh in the morning," close thy tearful eyes, saying — " I WILL BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; I'OB THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKBST MB DWELL W SAFETY I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 83 21ST Nium; "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." ♦♦ Him that cometb to me I will in no wise cast oat." — John vi. 37. . ^1 In no wise! How broad ^(Dll ^^ptt .g ^YiG door of welcome! :3nnrtatiQns, u q^^^„ g^^g ^ j^^j^ ^^iter, " is like one ou his knees, with tears in his eyes, and extreme fervour in his soul, beseeching the sinner to be saved !" He met the prodigal son half-way. Ere the ungrateful wanderer could stammer forth through penitential tears the con- fession of his sins, the arms of mercy were around him. The prodigal thought of no more than the meniaFs place : the Father had in readiness the best robe and the fatted calf! " There is no such argument," says Bishop Reynolds, " for our -turning to God, as His turning to us." He has the first word in the over- tures of mercy. He refuses none — He welcomes all ! — The poor — the wretched — the blind — the naked — the burdened 84 THE NIGHT WATCHES. — the heavy-iaden ; — the hardened sin- ner— the aged sinner — the daring sinner — the dying sinner — all are invited to the conference : " Come now, and let us reason together !" The most parched tongue that laps the streams from the smitten rock has everlasting life I " When ive forgive, it costs us an effort ; when God forgives, it is His delight." From th« Imt dements of heaven He is calling after us : " Turn ye ! turn ye 1 Why will ye die ?" He seems to won- der if sinners have pleasure in their own death. He declares, " / have none /" Reader ! have you yet closed with the Gospel's free invitations? Have you gone just as you are — with all the rag- gcdness of Nature's garments — standing in your own nothingness — feeling tliat you are insolvent — that you have •'no- thing to pay" — already a bankrupt, and the debt always increasing ? Have you taken hold of that blessed assurance, " He is able to save unto the uttermost" ? THE NIGHT WATCHES. 85 Are you resting 3^our eternal all on Hira who has done all and suffered all Tor you ; leaving you, " without money and without price," a free, full, uncondi- tional offer of a great salvation ? Say not your sins are too many — the crimson dye too deep. It is because you are a great sinner, and have great sins, that you need a great Saviour. " Of whom T am the chief, ^^ is a golden posti'-cnpt to the " faithful saying." Do not dishonour God by casting doubts on His ability or willingness. If your sins are heinous, you will be all the greater monument of grace. You may be the weakest and unworthiest of ves- sels ; but, remember, there was a niche in the temple for great and for small — • for " vessels of cups" as well as for '' ves- sels of flagons :" — ay, and the smallest vessel glorifies Christ ! Arise ! then, call upon thy God ! We cannot say, with the king of Nineveh, " Who can tell if God will turn ?" He 86 THE NIGHT WATCHES. is " turning" now — importunately plead- ing and averring, on His own immutable word, that He will "r/z no wise cast out !" " Though ye have lien among the pots, ye shall be as doves, whose wings are covered with silver, and their feathers with yellow gold !" Close with- out delay with these precious invitations, that, so looking up to a reconciled God and Father in heaven, you may even this uight say — " I AVILL BOTH LAV ME DOWN IN PEACE AND 8LSEP ; FOB THOU, LOBD, ONLY MAKE8T MK DWBLL Ul aAFKTT I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 87 22d Night " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." ''Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God ■"— Isa. xl. 1. ^ v| God's people are often (Jll Uijlj ^^ ^Q l^g ''discouraged (CflnffllBtiuns. ,,^^^„,g „f th3 ^^y „ ^i„ the bitterness of their spirits, they are often apt to say, with desponding Zion, " The Lord hath forsaken me :" or with the faithless prophet, " It is better for me to die than to live." But the Christian has his consolations too, and they are " strong consolations." The " still small voice" mingles with the hurricane and the storm. The bush burns with fire, but the Great God is in the bush, and therefore it is indestruc- tible ! " The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock ; and let the God of my salvation be exalted!'' Earthly consola- tions may help to dry one tear, but another is ready to flow : God dries all. 88 THE NIGHT WATCHES. There is no want in the aching voids of the sinner's heart but He can supply. Is it mercy to pardon ? I can look up to the throne of the most high God, and see Holiness and Righteousness, and Justice and Truth, all bending in exult- ing harmouy over my ruined soul, ex- claiming, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners !" Is it grace to help ? I can look up to that same throne, and behold seated thereon a Great High Priest ; nay, a mighty "Prince, having power with God, and prevailing" — " prayer without ceasing" ascending from His lips in behalf of His people. When Satau seeks " to sift" them on earth, His up- holding power protects them in heaven ! When temptation assails them in their earthly conflicts, the true Moses on the Mount, with hands that never " grow heavy," makes them " more than con- THE NIGHT WATCHES. 89 qiierors." When trial threatens to \)rostrato thorn. He identifies Himself witli the sufferers — He points to His own sorrows, to show them how light the heaviest of earth's sorrows are! Even over the o-loomy portals of the grave He can write, " Blessed are the dead!" He alone felt Death's substance — His people only " see the shadow." He makes it a " Valley of Achor," through which " tlie two spies, Faith and Hope," fetch back Eslicol-pledges of the True Land of Promise ! My soul ! art thou now weary, or desponding ? Is some cross heavy on thee — some trial oppressing thee — some thorn in the flesh sorely lacerating thee? Be still! He will make His " grace sufficient for thee." If He has allured thee into the wilderness, it is tliat He may speak comfortably unto fhee. He has an antidote for every bosom — a balm for every heart — a com- fort for every pang — a solace foi* every 90 THE NIGHT WATCHES. tear. " In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul !" " 'Tis my happiness below Not to live without the cross, But the Saviour's power to know, Sanctifying every loss. ** Trials must and will befall ; But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all — This is happiness to me I "Trials make the promise sweet, Trials give new life to prayer, Trials bring me to His feet, Lay me low, and keep me there !" 'i VVLL BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PE.VOE AND SL»BP| FOE THOU, iOBD, ONLY MA.KE3T MB DWSUL IN SAFBTY." THE NIGHT WATCHES. 91 — — ^~~^~" 2on Night. "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." «' All lUe paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His co/ciia:it and His testimonies."— Ps. xxv. 10. "All THE Pa-ehs ! " It is no ®K ^9^ small effort of faith to say so ^^fltpS. _^iieii blessings are blown upon and schemes crossed, and fellow- pilgrims (it may be beloved helpmeets in our spiritual joys) mysteriously re- moved—to say, " All— ALL is mercy !— ,ill_ALL is well ! " But they are " the paths of the Lord " —His choosing ; and be assured He will " lead His people by a right way." It may not be the way of their own select- ing. It may be the very last they would have chosen. But when He leadeth His Bheep, ''He goeth before them!'' The Shepherd stakes off our pasture-ground. He guides "the footsteps of the flock." He will lead them by no rougher way than He sees needful. Does a father give his child his own way ? If ho did, 92 THE NIGHT WATCHES. it would be his ruin. Will God sur- render us to our own truant wills, which are Ijent on nothing so much as wander- ing farthest from the Shepherd? He knows us better — He loves us better ! My soul ! it is the loftiest triumph and l)rerogative of faith to have no way — no path of thine own — but with childlike simplicity and reliance to say, " Teach me Thy paths ! " " Undertake Thou for me ! " Lead me ho jo soever and whereso- ever Thou pleasest. Let it be through the darkest, loneliest, thorniest way — only let it bring me nearer Thyself. " 0 tell me, thou life and dolight of my soul, Where the flock of Thy pasture arc feeding; I seek Thy protection, I need thy control ; I would go where my Shepherd is leading. 0 tell me the place where thy flocks are at rest, Where the noontide will find them reposing I The tempest now rages, my soul is distrest, And the pathway of peace I am losing 1 " 0 that we could keep our eye not so much on the path, as on the bright wicket-gate which terminates it ! When THE NIGHT WATCHES. 93 8tanding at tliat luminous portal, we shall trace, with adoring wonder, the way in wliich our God has led us, dis- cerning the " need-be " of every tear- drop ; — and to the question, " Is it well ? " to which often on earth we gave an evasive answer, ready with an unhesi- tating, " It is well ! " What a light will then be flashed on these three oft mys- terious words, " God is love ! '"' Then, at least, shall we be able to add the joy- ful comment — *' We have known and believed the love which God hath to us ! " Meanwhile, my soul I if thou art treading a path of sorrow, consider, as an encouragement, that thy Lord and Master trod the same before thee. Be- hold ! as He toils on his blood-stained journey, how submission to the Divine will forms the secret of His support. "Even so. Father!" "Not my will, but Thine be done ! " The True David was strengthened with what sustained His typical ancestor in a dark and try- 94 THE NICxHT WATCHES. ing hour : " 0 Lord, thou art My God! " Believer ! if it be thy God in covenant who is leading thee, what more canst tliou require ? ■' His ways are verity and judgment :'^ " He will guide thee, while thou livest, by His counsel, and afterward receive thee into His glory ! " My God ! if such be the design of thy dealiiDgs and discipline, — ' I MHU, BOTH r,AY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND 9LKEP ; nj* THO J, LOKD, ONLY JIAKBST MB DITBLJ. !2r fiiSlKT ! " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 95 •24:TH ^IGHT. " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " Th« secret of the Lorfi is with tliein that fear Him, and He will show ihcm his covcuaut." — Fs. xxv. 14. (fill Cljit My Soul ! thy God has some ^ ,' uiighty Secret to confide to ^^^^^^- thee ! "^ What is this, which (a mystery to the world) is to be conveyed in whispers into the ears of His people ? " He loill sliew them His Covenant ! " Listen this night to this blessed " se- cret." Thou hast pondered it oft be- fore. But its wonders never diminish by repetition. The Author of it is God — the Eter- nal Father. He framed its articles before the foundation of the world. It is an inverted order of truth that would represent the atonement as tlie cause of God's love : that love was rather the originating cause of the atonement — '' God so loved the world ! " How runs the Covenant-Charter ? — " All things are yours ! Ye are Christ's ! '' " Christ 96 THE NIGHT WATCHES. is God's !^' The initiative — the firsi o^'ertiire of covenant-mercy — was with tlim. It was the insulted Sovereign who first dreamt of clemency towards the rebels — the injured Father who first thought of His ungrateful children! Wondrous secret! — that from all eter- nity the Heart of God was to us all Love ! Think of the Surety of the Covenant ! It was the adorable Son of the Father ! He voluntarily closed with the Covenant stipulations : " Lo, I come ! I delight to do Thy will, 0 my God ! " He ceased not until, all the terms being fulfilled, He could claim His stipulated reward : " I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest 3Ie to do ! " And still He lives, and reigns, and intercedes under the blessed title of " Mediator of the Ever- lasting Covenant ! " Think of the Almighty Dispenser of the blessings of the Covenant. — It is THE NIGHT WATCHES. 97 the Spirit of all Grace — the third person in the ever-blessed, co-equal Trinity! Think of the Heirs of the Covenant. Thoy are all who, by simple faith, are willing to appropriate its inestimable blessings ! Think of the Security of the Covenant. There is nothing but con- tingency in other things — all is certainty here : " I will be unto you a God, and ye shall be to me a people ! " Sure ! it has the rock of Christ's Deity to rest upon, and a Triune God pledged to make good all its provisions — " My covenant will I not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my mouth ! " Think of the Feiyetuity of the Cove- nant : " I will betroth thee unto me for ever I ^^ Think of the rich Inheritance of the Covenant. Oh! here is the mighty secret of unfathomable love : "If children, then Heirs — Heirs of GocV " Heirs of God ! "—all within the compass of Omnipotence to bestow ! " God," says Bishop Beveridge, " thus 7 98 THE NIGHT WATCHES. Speaks, I AM that I AM ! He puts Hig hand to a blank, that His people may write imder it what they please that ia for tlieir good : — He simply saying, in the general, 'I^J//'" My soul ! art thou an heir of God ? Canst thou look upwards to the throne of that Great '' I Am;' and say, ''My God " ? Happier words — a more glori- ous assurance — cannot thrill on an arch- angel's tongue ! With such a Portion, surely I am independent of all others. Let that amazing " secret " form the last thought of this day ; and, as the Almighty is even how whispering it in my ears, I may close my eyes, repeat- ing— WtLL BOTU LAY MK DOWN IN PB lOE AND 8I.EEP ; FOB THOU, LOED, ONLY MAKEBl PUJ DWEIJ. IN SAFETY I " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 9V 25th Ni«wi " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." "Tlie name of the Lord is a strong Tower ; the R'shteous runneth into it, and is safe." — Prov. xviii. 10. . ^.| Strong indeed! "Salvation ^'" ^^^ is for walls and for bul- Mm\t ^arks." Every attribute of Godhead is such a tower — every per- fection such a Bulwark — all combined to insure the Believer's everlasting se- curity. My soul ! " walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces !" Mark the strong Tower of Omnipotence/ It proclaims that Al- rnightiness is on thy side — that there is ONF ivith thee and for thee, boundless in His resources, greater far than all that can be against thee ! Mark the strong Tower of Tlnchange ableness ! All earthly fabrics are tot- tering and crumbling around theo — the 100 THE NIGHT WATCHES. dearest of all thine earthly refuges has written on it the doom of the dust. Biit^ sheltered here, thou canst gaze unawed on all the fitful changes of life, and ex- ult in an unchanging God! Mark the strong Tower of Wisdom I When dealings are dark, and chastise- ments mysterious, dost thou know what it is to retire within this fortress, and to be reminded that all, all that befalls thee is the planning, of unerring rectitude and faithfulness ? — to see inscribed on the chamber-walls, "The only Wise God"? Mark the strong Tower of Love! When the hurricane has been fierce — thy heart breaking with new trials— the past dark — the future a dreary waste — no lull in the storm — no light in the clouds — oh ! is it no comfort to thee to retire into this most hallowed of bulwarks, and read the living motto — emblazoned on its every turret — " God is love?" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 101 My soul ! art thou safe in this im- pregnable fortress ? Hast thou entered within the gate? Remember, it is not to be " near " the city, but in it. Not lo know about Christ, but to "win Him, and be found in Him !" One footstep witliout, and the Avenger of blood can cut thee down ! " Turn, then, to the stronghold " as a "prisoner of hope !" Once, these were colossal walls to exclude. Now, they are unassailable barriers to protect — a citadel where His saints are " kept " by the power of God. Every portal is open ; and the God of Mercy issues the gracious proclamation — " Come, my peo- ple, enter into thy chambers!" How safe— how happy here! "If tliere be tossing and doubting, it is the heaving of a ship at anchor — not the clashing on the rocks." — (Evans.) In God ! " There is, in this," says Presi- dent Edwards, speaking of the same blessed truth, " secured to me, as it were. 102 THE NIGHT WATCHES. a calm, sweet cast, or appearance, of glory in almost everything." We can hear, amid tlie surges of life, a voice high above the storm — the Name of the Lord —"It is //" "It is //" remailiS Bishop Hall, " were as much as a hun- dred names. It is I !— I ! your Lord and Master. I ! the Commander of winds and waters. I ! the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth. // the God of Spirits. Let Heaven be but as one Scroll, and let it be written all over with titles — they cannot express more than — It is I ! Oh ! sweet and season- able word of a gracious Saviour ! — able to calm all tempests — able to revive all hearts — say but so to my Soul, and T am safe!" WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PBACE AND SLEEP ; rOE THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKEST MB DWBLL UN SAFETY ;" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 103 "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " In Th}' favour is life."— Ps. xxx. 5. ^ ^., How anxious are we to stand «^" ^^ well with our fellow-men, and ^UUUl. ggg^j-e (j^g{y favour ! are we equally so to stand well witL. G-od ? The favour of man, what is it ? — A pass- ing breath, which a moment may alien- ate, a look forfeit, and which, at best, a few brief years will forever terminate. But the favour of God — how ennobling, constant, and enduring ! In possession of that favour, we are independent alike of what the world gives and withholds. With it, we are rich, whatever else we want. Without it, we are poor, though we have the wealth of worlds beside. Bereft of Him, we can truly say with aged Jacob, I am bereaved." Noth- ing can compensate for His loss, but He can compensate for the loss of every tiling ! 104 THE NIGHT WATCHES. " Thou art, 0 God, the life and light Of all this wondrous world we see ; Its glow by day, its smile by night. Are but reflections caught from Thee I Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine, And all things fair and bright are Thine." My soul ! art thou living a strangci* to this favour, under the cheerless sense of alienation from God ? Sin uncan- celled— peace unpurchased — all uncer- tainty about the question of thine eter- nity ? Who need ask, living thus, if thou art satisfied, or happy ? Satisfied I Impossible — nothing can satisfy thine infinite capacities but the infinite God. Nothing can fill up the aching voids of thine immortal being but Him "who only hath immortality." Happy I impossible, too. There can be no happiness with sin unforgiven — the conscience unap- peased — imperishable interests hanging overhead unsettled and unadjusted — death, and judgment, and eternity, all unprovided for ! Living at this " dying rate," peace must be a stranger to your bosom ! THE NIGHT WATCHES. 105 Seek to make up your peace witli God. Covet His life-giving favour. What a blessed fountain of unsullied joy has that 80 111 which can look up to Heaven and 8ay, " God is mine !" That word — that thought — wipes away every tear-drop, " My Father !" What though the per- ishable streams be dried, if thou art driven to learn the truth, " All my well- springs are in Thee " ? He may empty thy cistern, but the Fountainhead re- mains. Job was the sorest of sufferers, but he could bear patiently to be bereft of ail, save One — "Oh that I knew where I might find Him /" "Go," said Chry- sostum, exulting in this favour of the King of kings, when an earthly princess tried to shake his spirit — " Go, tell her that I fear nothing but sin." Blessed state of conscious security ! " If Thou art mine, Eternal God I Let fraud or malice, storii; 'V flood, Bear all besides away ; The soul's best treasure lies too deep For spoiler's arm, or fortune's sweep, Or time's more sure decay I 106 THE NIGHT WATCHES. ' \)cath,that all meaner bliss destroys, Robs not the spirit of its joys ; And if his stroke can sever The fleshly seal, 'tis but to bring The living waters from their spring, And bid them gush forever." The same mighty consohttion which supported Jesus in His season of humil- iation, forms the solace and rejoicing of His true people — " Because He is on my riglit hand, I shall not be moved." Blessed Jesus ! do Thou encompass me this night with Thy favour as with a shield, and tlien 1 WILL BOTU LAY MB DOWN IN PEAOB AND SLKSP '. POE THO'J LORD, ONLY MAKE3T MB DWELL IN SAJ'BTY ! I" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 107 2Tth Night "I meditata on Thee in the Night Watches." "They shall be iniiio, saith tho Lord of Hosts, iu that day wh*n I make up my Jewels." — Mai. iii. 17. ^ >,, " My Jewels ! " {marg. My m (Ll;i[ peculiar treasure.) Of what .Fiuria. favoured created beings doea Jeliovah thus speak ? Is it of seraphs ? — of angels ? Mathinks at such a title even they would take the dust of abase- ment, and, veiling their faces, cry, " Un- clean ! unclean !" But, marvel of mar- vels!— It is redeemed sinners of the earth — the fallen children of men, once rude, unshapely stones, lying in " the horrible pit and the miry clay," amid the rubbish of corruption, who are thus sought out by grace, purchased by love, destined through eternity to be set as jewels in the crow^n of the eternal God ! " The Lord's portion is His people !" There is a surpassing revelation of love here ! Great, unspeakably great, is the privilege of the Believer, to be able to 108 THE NIGHT WATCHES. look up to the everlasting Jehoyah, and say, " Tlion art my portion, 0 Lord !" But what is this in comparison with the response of Omnipotence to the child of dust, ''Thou art Miner My soul ! hast thou learnt to lisp thy part in this wondrous interchange of covenant love, " My beloved is mine, and I am His" ? What an array of wondrous titles belong to the saints of God, and given, too, by God himself in His own Word ! " He calls them Sons as often as sinners!" Brethren ! Princes ! Friends! Heirs! Jewels! Portion! "ilfme"/ And when is the time when they be- come thus dear to Him ? Sinner ! when thou didst weep at the cross of Jesus, and joined thyself in covenant with God, thou becamest His Jetvel ! Nay, '" He has loved thee with an everlasting love !" True, thou art not yet set in His crown ; thou art yet undergoing the process of polishing. AfQiction is preparing thee ; trial is needed to remove ail the rough- THE NIGHT WATCHES. 109 ness and inequalities of nature, and make thee meet for thy Master's use. But, blessed thought ! "He that hath ivr ought us [literally, chisselled or pol- isJted us] for the self same thing is God /" Yes, God himself, the possessor, who ])rized that earthly jewel so mucli as to give in exchange for it Heaven's " Pearl of great price !" He has the polishing in His own hand. He will not deal too rashly or roughly ! And where, meanwhile, is the casket in which these Jewels are kept till the coronation-day arrives, when the crown of His Church triumphant (every saint a gem) will be placed on the head of Je- sus ? It is He, their Purchaser, their Proprietor, who preserves them. They are " kept by the power of God.'' Our great Higli Priest, the true Aaron, has them set in His breastplate ; He bears them on His heart on His every approach to the throne. They are the precious stones set in gold upon the ephod, and 110 THE NIGHT WATCHES. tlioagii the sins of His people, and the designs of Satan, combine in doing what (hey can to erase and destroy them, He declares that none shall ever pluck theiw out of His hand or from His heart ! A jewel in Immanuel's crown ! — Not only raised from the dunghill to be set among princes, but to gem through eter- nity the forehead that for me was once wreathed with thorns ! Shall I — can 1 — murmur at any way my Saviour sees meet to polish and prepare me for such an honour as this ? Let me sink down on my nightly pil- low overpowered with the thought ; and as I hear my covenant God whispering in my ear the astounding accents, " Thon art Mine /" I may well reply, **\ WTLL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEA OB AND 8LEBP ; FOB TUOtr, LORB, ONLY MAKE8T ME nWBl.1. IN SAFETY 1" THE NIGHT WATCHES. Ill 23th NKtiaT, "1 meditate on Thee in the Night Watcnes." ' We must all appear before the Judgmuiit-seat of Christ !" —2 Cor. V. 10 . ^,, "All!" There is nu ^l ^W eluding that searching SuiglHBIltS. serntiny-" Every e/e shall see Him !" My soul ! if safe in the covenant, there is to thee no terror in that coming reckoning. The judicial dealing between thyself and thy God is already past. Thou art already ac- quitted. The moment thou didst cast thyself at the cross of thy dear Lord, the sentence of " Not Guilty" was pro- nounced upon thee; and " it is God that justifieth : who is he that con- demneth ?" But this sentence will bo ratified and openly proclaimed before an assembled world. On that great day of disclosures God will avenge His own elect. All the calumnies and asper- sions heaped on their character will be wiped away. And in presence of devils, 112 THE NIGHT WATCHES. and angels, and men, the approving sentence will go forth from the lips of the Omniscient One, " Enter ye into the joy of your Lord." And wlio is to be thy Judge ? Who is to be enthroned on that tribunal of unerring rectitude, before whom every knee is to bow and every heart is to be laid open ? " He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness hy that Man whom He hath ordained !" ''That 3fan r Oh ! it is no stranger ! It is He who died for thee ; who is now interceding for thee ; wlio will then stand on that latter day on the earth to espouse thy cause, vindicate thine integrity, and utter the challenge to every reclaiming adversa- ly? " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ?" My soul ! seek to know this God- Man Mediator on a throne of grace, ere you meet Him on a throne of judgment I Seek to have your name now enrolled THE NIGHT WATCHES. 113 ill this Book of Life, that you may hear it then confessed before His "Father and the holy angels." What an incentive to increased aspi- rations after holiness and higher spirit- ual attainments, to remember that the awards of that day and of eternity will be determined by tlie transactions of time! It is a grand Bible principle, that, though justified by faith, we shall be judged by works. Nay more, while from first to last, Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the meritorious cause of salvation, yet the works flowing from faith in Him, and love to Him will regulate the degree of future bliss, — whether we shall be among the " greatest" or " the least in the kingdom " — whether we shall occupy the outskirts of glory, or revolve in or- bits around the throne in the blaze of God's immediate presence! Reader ! were that trumpet-blast now to break on thine ear, wouldst thou bo prepared with the welcome response, 8 114 THE NIGHT WATCHES. " Even so, come " ? Seek to be living in this habitual state of holy prepared- ness, that even the midnight cry would not take thee by surprise ; that the summons which will prove so startling 10 a slumbering world, would be to thee the herald of glory — " He cometh. He Cometh to judge the earth ! " •' Never again your loins untie, Nor let your torches waste and die, Till, when the shadows thickest fall, Ye hear your Master's midnight call I " Oh the blessedness of being able, in sweet confidence in the Saviour's second coming, to compose myself to rest night after night, and say, " Even though the trumpet of judgment should break upon my ears, '1 WILL BOTH LAY MB DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEW FOB THOtI, LOBD, ONLY MAKE8T MK DWELL Df a.^FKTY 1' " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 115 29tu Night. "I meditate on Thee in the Night "Watches." " He brought me to the Banqueting-house." — Caut. ii. 4. ^ <^l% -allofgrfce! He The top-stone is brought forth, the Ban- queting-house is entered, with shoutings, saying, " Grace, grace unto it !" My soul! contemplate the journey ended, the course finished, the victory won ! Seated at the supper-table of the Lamb in glory, guest talking to guest with bounding hearts, recounting their Lord's dealings on earth — the watch-Avord cir- culating from tongue to tongue, "He hath done all things well !" Angels and archangels, too, will be participants in that banquet of glory, and bright eoraphs, who never knew what it was to have a heart of sin or to shed a tfv^r of sorrow. But, for this reason, ther*- -^ill be one element of joy peculiar t le 116 THE NIGHT WATCHES. redeemed, into wliicli the otlier imfallen guests cannot enter — the ^^joy of con- trastJ^ How will the present " great tribulation" augment the bliss of a world at once sinless and sorrowless! How will earth's woe-worn cheek, and sin-stricken spirit, and tear-dimmed eye, enhance the glories of that perfect state where there is not the type or sym- bol of sadness, not the solitary trace of one lingering tear-drop ! Then will be realized that sweet paradox, " They rest," " They rest not !" " The rest with- 02d a rest /" " They re.s-^ /" — the eternal pause and cessation from all the feverish disquietudes of this world's sins and sorrows, all that would disturb the rap- ture of a holy repose, and yet the rest- less activity of holiness — the Divine energy of beings whose grand clement of happiness is employment in the ser- vice and executing the will of God. In this " they cease not day nor night." It is sublimely said of the God before THE NIGHT WATCHES. 117 whom they hymn their anthems and cast their crowns, " He inhabiteth the praisea of eternity !" " My soul ! seek often to ponder, in the midst of thy days of sadness, the joys of that eternal Banqueting-honse. " Ye shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more !" One moment at that table — one crumb of the heavenly manna — one draught from the river of life, and all the bitter experiences of the valley of tears will be obliterated and forgot- ten ! Look upwards even now, and behold thy dear Lord preparing for thee this glorious " feast of fat things." " I go to prepare a place for you." " I will come again, and receive you unto myself!" He has Himself entered the Banqueting-house as the earnest and forerunner of the coming Guests. He, the first Sheaf of the mighty harvest, has been waved before God in the temple of the New Jerusalem, as a pledge of the immortal sheaves still to 118 THE NIGHT WATCHES. be gathered into the heavenly garner. The invitation is issued, " Come, for all things are ready ! the oxen and the fat- lings are killed !" — My soul I prepare for the meeting ; suitably attire thyself for such a glorious banquet. Put on thy beautiful garments — that righteous- ness of Jesus, without which thou canst not be accepted — that holiness of heart, without which thou canst not be an acceptable guest. Soon shall the little hour of life's unquiet dream be over ; and then, oh the glorious surprise of being ushered in to that banqueting table — to know /or ever the blessedness of those " who are called unto the mar- riage-supper of the Lamb !" With the prospect of sucJi joys await- ing me in the morning of immortality, with the dark night of death before me, and the grave my couch, I shall be able to say even of its lonely chamber — • I WILL BOTH LAY ME POWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ; FOiK THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKE81 ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1 " THE NIGHT WATCHES. 119 SOl'H NiOHT. " I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " In thy presence there is fulness of joy." — Ps. xvi. 12. ^ ^, Even in this world, where m d^irn ^Yiere is much of God, how sweet to the Chris- tian is the sense of His presence, and friendship, and love ! What will it be in that world, where it is all of God ? The foretaste is blessed — what must be the/ruition ! The rays of the Divine glory are gladdening — what must be the full blaze of that sun itself ! My soul ! dost thou often delight to pause in thy journey ? — does faith love to ascend its Pisgah-Mount and get a prospect of this Land of Promise? What is the grand feature and element which swallows up all the circumstantials m. thy future bliss ? Let Patriarchs, Proph- ets, and Apostles answer — It is " Thy Presence." " In my flesh, I shall see GodP- says one. " [ shall be satis- 120 THE NIGHT WATCHES. fied, says another, " "wlien I awake, with Thy likeness." "They shall see His face," says a third. Amid all the glow- ing visions of a coming Heaven vouch- safed to John in Patmos, there is One all-glorious object that has ever a peer- less and distinctive pre-eminence — Grod himself. There is no candle — Why ? "For the Lord God giveth them light!" There is no temple — Why? " For the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple thereof!" The Saints dwell in holy brotherhood ; but what is the mighty bond of their union — their " chiefest joy" ?— " He that sitteth on th'e Throne dwells among them !" They have no longer the intervention of ordi- nances and means — Why ? Because " the Lamb that is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters !" They no longer draw on the storehouse of the Promises — And wliy ? Because " God himself shall wipe away all tears from THE NIGHT WATCHES. 121 their eyes !" " No napkin," says a holy man, "but His own immediate hand, shall wipe my sinful face !" My soul ! here is the true " PenieV^ —where you will " see God face to face !" Here is the true " Malianaim'^ — where " the Angels of God meet you !" Here is the true Communion of Saints — " The glorious fellowship of the Prophets — the goodly fellowship of the Apostles — the noble army of Mar- tyrs!" Yet all these latter will be sub- servient and subordinate to the first — the vision and fruition of God ! Even the recognition of the death-divided (tliat sweet element in the Believer's prospect of bliss) will pale in comparison into a taper-light before this " Glory that excolleth !" Reader ! art thou among these ■' pure in heart," who are to " see God" ? Remember the Bible's solemn interdict — "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord!" Remember its 122 THE NIGHT WATCHES. solemn admonition — " And every man that hatli this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure !" To " see God !" Oh ! what preparation needed for Bo august a contemplation ! Infinite un- worthiness and nothingness to stand in the presence of Infinite Majesty, Purity, and Glory ! Can I wonder at the much discipline required ere I can be thus " presented faultless before the presence of His glorify ? How will these needed furnace fires be dimmed into nothing when viewed from the Sapphire throne! " Heart and flesh may be fainting and failing ;" but, remembering that that same God is now " the strength of my heart," who is to be my " portion for ever," I may joyfully say — 1 WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND SLEEP ! FV)K THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKKST ME DWELL IN SAFETY 1" THE NIGHT WATCHES. 12B Slsr NiGffi "I meditate on Thee in the Night Watches." " N'ow is the accepted time : behold ! now is the day of salvation." — 2 Cor. vi. 2. ^ ^[ Reader ! how stands it OT W\ with thee ? Is tue ques- (blasmg ef^llll tion of thy eternity final ly and for ever adjusted ? Art thou at peace with God ? Canst thou say with Paul, in the prospect of death, " I am now ready"? Hast thou been led to feel the infinite peril of postponement and procrastination, and responded to the appeal,— " Behold ! Now T Ah! how many have found, when the imag ined hour of deathbed preparation had come, that the tear of penitence was too late to be shed, and the prayer of mercy too late to be uttered ! Let there be plain dealing between thy conscience and thy God. Seek not to escape from the pressing urgency of the question. Thou mayest dismiss it 124 THE NIGHT WATCHES. now, but there is a day comiug when tliou durst not ! Let it not merge in vague generalities — let it be realized as matter of personal concernment — of in- finite moment to tliyself — " Ami saved, or am I not saved ? — am I prepared, or am T unprepared, to meet my God ?" Thou mayest have, perhaps, an honest purpose of giving it some future enter- tainment at another and " more con- venient season." Do we ever read of Felix's " more " convenient season ? It were better not to risk to the experiment of a dying hour the solution of the prob- lem— " Is it safe to delay ?" Take it on trust, that it is a hard matter — a con- ference about the soul on the brink of eternity ! Remember, " God's Spirit will not always strive !" All His other attributes are infinite, but His patience and forbearance have their "bounds and limits." The invitation which is thine to-day may be withdrawn to-morrow. The axe mav be even now laid at the THE NIGHT WATCHES. 125 root of the tree, and the sentence on the wing, "Cut it down!" How awful, if it really be that thou art yet living in this state of estrange- ment and guilt ! What a surrender of present peace! What a forfeiture of eternal joy ! Haste thee ! flee for thy life, lest thou be consumed! Thy immortality is no trifle! " The night is far spent!" Who can tell hoiu far ? It may be now or never with thee ! Thou art about once more to lie down on thy nightly pil- low. What if thy awaking to-morrow were to be "in outer darkness " ? But, take courage — That night is not too far spent! Close this last of the "Night Watches," by fleeing, without delay, to Jesus — the Sinner's Saviour and the Sinner's Friend. It was on the last watch of the night He came of old to His tempest-tossed disciples. Like them, receive Him now into thy Soul 1 and have all thy guilty fears calmed by 126 THE NIGHT WATCHES. His omnipotent " Peace, be still !" Are there not ominous signs all around as if the world's last and closing " night- watch" had set in? The billows are heaving high. We hear the footsteps on the waters ! Amid the fitful moan- ings of the blast — the watchword is heard — of joy to some, of terror to others — " Maran-atlia /" " Tlie Lord is coming !" Reader! art thou ready? Is the joyous response on thy tongue — " Come, Lord Jesus ; Come quickly" ? If this night were indeed tliy very last, and the thunders of judgment were to break upon thee ere daybreak — wouldst thou be able, in the assurance of an eternal dawn, to say — "I WILL BOTH LAY ME DOWN IN PMACE AKD SLEEP; FOE THOU, LORD, ONLY MAKKST MK DWKUL IN SAFETV " ? Has Mthtre (at t\t iat pg (owHlj in tljt Pa xxjx. 5. (121) Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 1 1012 01250.5832 ^c,MC^: y-j mM ■:ul.f/^fM. '.«ttv**>'-*;'^-f-i?^jr^i-'4^;- :-.■:'■■ \>i- mmf\