material from the ,google ,print project47 ,transcriber's ,note ,minor punctuation errors and inconsistencies have been silently corrected4 ,the following minor typographic corrections have also been made3 p#h3 al changed to all p#ac3 sorrrow changed to sorrow p#ha3 trom changed to from p#aab3 ,mat4 changed to ,matt4 for consistency p#abb3 striken changed to stricken ,,the ,,words ,,of ,,jesus4 by the author of ,,the ,,morning ,,and ,,night ,,watches1 ,,the ,,faithful ,,promiser1 ,,etc4 ,taken from the last ,london ,edition4 ,new ,york3 ,,stanford ,,delisser1 ,no4 #ejh1 ,,broadway4 #aheh4 ,the ,words of ,jesus4 ,a word spoken in season1 says the wise man1 how good it is6 ,if this be true regarding the utterances of uninspired lips1 with what devout and paramount interest must we invest the sayings of ,incarnate ,truth--the ,,words ,,of ,,jesus6 ,we have1 in the motto-verses which head the succeeding pages a few comforting responses from the ,oracle of heavenly ,wisdom--a few grapes plucked from the true ,vine--living streams welling fresh from the ,living ,fountain4 ,every portion of ,scripture is designed for nutriment to the soul--the bread of life2 but surely we may well regard the recorded ,words of ,jesus as the finest of the wheat4 ,these are the ,honey out of the true ,rock1 with which ,he will satisfy us4 ,the ,,words that ,i speak unto you1 they are spirit and they are life4 ,the following are selected more especially as ,words for the ,weary--healing leaves for the wounded spirit falling from the ,tree of ,life4 ,jesus was divinely qualified for this special office of speaking many and comfortable words4 ,the ,lord ,god hath given me the tongue of the learned1 that ,i might know how to speak a ,word in ,season to him that is weary4 ,let us1 like the disciple of ,patmos1 turn to hear the voice that speaks to us1 saying1 ,i wait for the ,lord1 my soul doth wait1 and in ,his ,word do ,i hope4 ,eighteen hundred years have elapsed since these words were uttered4 ,with tones of unaltered and unchanged affection1 they are still echoed from the inner sanctuary--they come this day fresh as they were spoken1 from the lips of ,him whose memorial to all time is this3 that same ,jesus4 ,reader1 seek to realise1 in meditating on them1 the simple but solemn truth--,christ speaks to me6 ,surely nothing can be more soothing with which to close your eyes on your nightly pillow1 or to carry with you in the morning out to the duties 7or1 it may be1 the trials and sorrows7 of the day1 than--,a ,,word ,,of ,,jesus4 #a,,st ,,day ,,of ,,month4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4--,matt4 xi4 #bh4 ,the ,gracious ,invitation4 ,gracious word of a gracious ,saviour1 on which the soul may confidingly repose1 and be at peace for ever8 ,it is a present rest--the rest of grace as well as the rest of glory4 ,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 footsteps2 but we have the shadow of this great ,rock in a present weary land4 ,before the ,throne alone is there the sea of glass1 without one rippling wave2 but there is a haven even on earth for the tempest-tossed--,we which have believed ,,do enter into rest4 ,reader1 hast thou found this blessed repose in the blood and work of ,immanuel8 ,long going about seeking rest and finding none1 does this word sound like music in thine ears--,come unto ,me8 ,all other peace is counterfeit1 shadowy1 unreal4 ,the eagle spurns the gilded cage as a poor equivalent for his free-born soarings4 ,the soul's immortal aspirations can be satisfied with nothing short of the possession of ,god's favour and love in ,jesus4 ,how unqualified is the invitation6 ,if there had been one condition in entering this covenant ,ark1 we must have been through eternity at the mercy of the storm4 ,but all are alike warranted and welcome1 and none more warranted than welcome4 ,for the weak1 the weary1 the sin-burdened and sorrow-burdened1 there is an open door of grace4 ,return1 then unto thy rest1 ,o my soul6 ,let the sweet cadence of this word of ,jesus steal on thee amid the disquietudes of earth4 ,sheltered in ,him1 thou art safe for time1 safe for eternity6 ,there may be1 and will be1 temporary tossings1 fears1 and misgivings1--manifestations of inward corruption2 but these will only be like the surface-heavings of the ocean1 while underneath there is a deep settled calm4 ,thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 7lit4 peace1 peace7 whose mind is stayed on ,thee4 ,in the world it is care on care1 trouble on trouble1 sin on sin2 but every wave that breaks on the believer's soul seems sweetly to murmur1 ,peace1 peace6 ,and if the foretaste of this rest be precious1 what must be the glorious consummation8 ,awaking in the morning of immortality1 with the unquiet dream of earth over--faith lost in sight1 and hope in fruition2--no more any bias to sin--no more latent principles of evil--nothing to disturb the spirit's deep1 everlasting tranquillity--the trembling magnet of the heart reposing1 where alone it can confidingly and permanently rest1 in the enjoyment of the ,infinite ,god4 ,,these ,,things ,,have ,i ,,spoken ,,unto ,,you1 ,,that ,,in ,,me ,,ye ,,might ,,have ,,peace4 #b;,d ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,your heavenly ,father knoweth that ye have need of all these things4--,matt4 vi4 #bb4 ,the ,comforting ,assurance4 ,though spoken originally by ,jesus regarding temporal things1 this may be taken as a motto for the child of ,god amid all the changing vicissitudes of his changing history4 ,how it should lull all misgivings2 silence all murmurings2 lead to lowly1 unquestioning submissiveness--,my ,heavenly ,father knoweth that ,i have need of all these things4 ,where can a child be safer or better than in a father's hand8 ,where can the believer be better than in the hands of his ,god8 ,we are poor judges of what is best4 ,we are under safe guidance with infallible wisdom4 ,if we are tempted in a moment of rash presumption to say1 ,all these things are against me1 let this word rebuke the hasty and unworthy surmise4 ,unerring wisdom and ,fatherly love have pronounced all to be needful4 ,my soul1 is there aught that is disturbing thy peace8 ,are providences dark1 or crosses heavy8 ,are spiritual props removed1 creature comforts curtailed1 gourds smitten and withered like grass8--write on each1 ,your ,father knoweth that ye have need of all these things4 ,it was ,he who increased thy burden4 ,why8 ,it was needed4 ,it was ,he who smote down thy clay idol4 ,why8 ,it was needed4 ,it was supplanting ,himself3 ,he had to remove it6 ,it was ,he who crossed thy worldly schemes1 marred thy cherished hopes4 ,why8 ,it was needed4 ,there was a lurking thorn in the coveted path4 ,there was some higher spiritual blessing in reversion4 ,he 'prevented' thee with the blessings of ,his goodness4 ,seek to cherish a spirit of more childlike confidence in thy ,heavenly ,father's will4 ,thou art not left unbefriended and alone to buffet the storms of the wilderness4 ,thy ,marahs as well as thy ,elims are appointed by ,him4 ,a gracious pillar-cloud is before thee4 ,follow it through sunshine and storm4 ,he may lead thee about1 but ,he will not lead thee wrong4 ,unutterable tenderness is the characteristic of all ,his dealings4 ,blessed be ,his name1 says a tried believer1 ,he maketh my feet like hinds' feet 7literally1 equaleth them71 he equaleth them for every precipice1 every ascent1 every leap4 ,and who is it that speaks this quieting word8 ,it is ,he who ,himself felt the preciousness of the assurance during ,his own awful sufferings1 that all were needed1 and all appointed2 that from ,bethlehem's cradle to ,calvary's ,cross there was not the redundant thorn in the chaplet of sorrow which ,he1 the ,man of ,sorrows1 bore4 ,every drop in ,his bitter cup was mingled by ,his ,father3 ,this cup which ,thou givest me to drink1 shall ,i not drink it6 ,oh1 if ,he could extract comfort in this hour of inconceivable agony1 in the thought that a ,father's hand lighted the fearful furnace-fires1 what strong consolation is there in the same truth to all ,his suffering people6 ,what6 one superfluous drop6 one redundant pang6 one unneeded cross6 ,hush the secret atheism6 ,he gave ,his ,son for thee6 ,he calls ,himself thy ,father6 ,whatever be the trial under which thou art now smarting1 let the word of a gracious ,saviour be like oil thrown on the fretful sea2 let it dry every rebellious tear-drop4 ,he1 thine unerring ,parent1 knoweth that thou hast need of this as well as all these things4 ,,thy ,,word ,,is ,,very ,,sure1 ,,therefore ,,thy ,,servant ,,loveth ,,it4 #c;,d ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,whatsoever ye shall ask in my name1 that will ,i do1 that the ,father may be glorified in the ,son4--,john xiv4 #ac4 ,the ,power of ,prayer4 ,blessed ,jesus6 it is ,thou who hast unlocked to ,thy people the gates of prayer4 ,without ,thee they must have been shut forever4 ,it was ,thy atoning merit on earth that first opened them2 it is ,thy intercessory work in heaven that keeps them open still4 ,how unlimited the promise--,whatsoever ye shall ask6 ,it is the pledge of all that the needy sinner requires--all that an ,omnipotent ,saviour can bestow6 ,as the great ,steward of the mysteries of grace1 ,he seems to say to ,his faithful servants1 ,take thy bill1 and under this1 my superscription1 write what you please4 ,and then1 when the blank is filled up1 he further endorses each petition with the words1 ,i ,,will do it6 ,he farther encourages us to ask in ,his name4 ,in the case of an earthly petitioner there are some pleas more influential in obtaining a boon than others4 ,jesus speaks of this as forming the key to the heart of ,god4 ,as ,david loved the helpless cripple of ,saul's house for ,jonathan's sake1 so will the ,father1 by virtue of our covenant relationship to the true ,,jonathan 7lit41 the gift of ,god71 delight in giving us even exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think4 ,reader1 do you know the blessedness of confiding your every want and every care--your every sorrow and every cross--into the ear of the ,saviour8 ,he is the ,wonderful ,counsellor4 ,with an exquisitely tender sympathy ,he can enter into the innermost depths of your need4 ,that need may be great1 but the everlasting arms are underneath it all4 ,think of ,him now1 at this moment--the great ,angel of the ,covenant1 with the censer full of much incense1 in which are placed your feeblest aspirations1 your most burdened sighs--the odour-breathing cloud ascending with acceptance before the ,father's throne4 ,the answer may tarry2--these your supplications may seem to be kept long on the wing1 hovering around the mercy-seat4 ,a gracious ,god sometimes sees it meet thus to test the faith and patience of ,his people4 ,he delights to hear the music of their importunate pleadings--to see them undeterred by difficulties--unrepelled by apparent forgetfulness and neglect4 ,but ,he will come at last2 the pent-up fountain of love and mercy will at length burst out2--the soothing accents will in ,his own good time be heard1 ,be it unto thee according to thy word6 ,soldier of ,christ6 with all thine other panoply1 forget not the ,all-prayer4 ,it is that which keeps bright and shining the whole armour of ,god4 ,while yet out in the night of a dark world--whilst still bivouacking in an enemy's country--kindle thy watch-fires at the altar of incense4 ,thou must be ,moses1 pleading on the ,mount1 if thou wouldst be ,joshua1 victorious in the world's daily battle4 ,confide thy cause to this waiting ,redeemer4 ,thou canst not weary ,him with thine importunity4 ,he delights in hearing4 ,his ,father is glorified in giving4 ,the memorable ,bethany-utterance remains unaltered and unrepealed--,i knew that ,thou hearest me always4 ,he is still the ,prince that has power with ,god and prevails--still ,he promises and pleads--still ,he lives and loves6 ,i ,,wait ,,for ,,the ,,lord1 ,,my ,,soul ,,doth ,,wait2 ,,and ,,in ,,his ,,word ,,do ,i ,,hope4 #d,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,what ,i do thou knowest not now2 but thou shalt know hereafter4--,john xiii4 #g4 ,the ,unveiled ,dealings4 ,o blessed day1 when the long sealed book of mystery shall be unfolded1 when the fountains of the great deep shall be broken up1 the channels of the waters seen1 and all discovered to be one vast revelation of unerring wisdom and ineffable love6 ,here we are often baffled at the ,lord's dispensations2 we cannot fathom ,his ways3--like the well of ,sychar1 they are deep1 and we have nothing to draw with4 ,but soon the mystery of ,god will be finished2 the enigmatical seals1 with all their inner meanings1 opened4 ,when that morning without clouds shall break1 each soul will be like the angel standing in the sun--there will be no shadow2 all will be perfect day6 ,believer1 be still6 ,the dealings of thy ,heavenly ,father may seem dark to thee2 there may seem now to be no golden fringe1 no bright light in the clouds2 but a day of disclosures is at hand4 ,take it on trust a little while4 ,an earthly child takes on trust what his father tells him3 when he reaches maturity1 much that was baffling to his infant comprehension is explained4 ,thou art in this world in the nonage of thy being--,eternity is the soul's immortal manhood4 ,there1 every dealing will be vindicated4 ,it will lose all its darkness when bathed in the floods of the excellent glory6 ,ah6 instead of thus being as weaned children1 how apt are we to exercise ourselves in matters too high for us8 not content with knowing that our ,father wills it1 but presumptuously seeking to know how it is1 and why it is4 ,if it be unfair to pronounce on the unfinished and incompleted works of man2 if the painter1 or sculptor1 or artificer1 would shrink from having his labours judged of when in a rough1 unpolished1 immatured state2 how much more so with the works of ,god8 ,how we should honour ,him by a simple1 confiding1 unreserved submission to ,his will1--contented patiently to wait the fulfilment of this hereafter promise1 when all the lights and shadows in the now half-finished picture will be blended and melted into one harmonious whole1--when all the now disjointed stones in the temple will be seen to fit into their appointed place1 giving unity1 and compactness1 and symmetry1 to all the building4 ,and who is it that speaks these living words1 ,what ,i do8 ,it is ,he who died for us8 who now lives for us6 ,blessed ,jesus6 ,thou mayest do much that our blind hearts would like undone1--terrible things in righteousness which we looked not for4 ,the heaviest 7what we may be tempted to call the severest7 cross ,thou canst lay upon us we shall regard as only the apparent severity of unutterable and unalterable love4 ,eternity will unfold how all1 all was needed2 that nothing else1 nothing less1 could have done6 ,if not now1 at least then1 the deliberate verdict on a calm retrospect of life will be this1-- ,,the ,,word ,,of ,,the ,,lord ,,is ,,right1 ,,and ,,all ,,his ,,works ,,are ,,done ,,in ,,truth4 #e,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,herein is my ,father glorified1 that ye bear much fruit4--,john xv4 #h4 ,the ,father ,glorified4 ,when surveying the boundless ocean of covenant mercy--every wave chiming1 ,god is ,love6--does the thought ever present itself1 ,what can ,i do for this great ,being who hath done so much for me8 ,recompence ,i cannot6 ,no more can my purest services add one iota to ,his underived glory1 than the tiny taper can add to the blaze of the sun at noonday1 or a drop of water to the boundless ocean4 ,yet1 wondrous thought6 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 despise4 ,herein is my ,father glorified1 that ye bear much fruit4 ,reader6 are you a fruit-bearer in your ,lord's vineyard8 ,are you seeking to make life one grand act of consecration to ,his glory--one thank-offering for ,his unmerited love4 ,you may be unable to exhibit much fruit in the eye of the world4 ,your circumstances and position in life may forbid you to point to any splendid services1 or laborious and imposing efforts in the cause of ,god4 ,it matters not4 ,it is often those fruits that are unseen and unknown to man1 ripening in seclusion1 that ,he values most2--the quiet1 lowly walk--patience and submission--gentleness and humility--putting yourself unreservedly in ,his hands--willing to be led by ,him even in darkness--saying1 ,not my will1 but ,thy will3--the unselfish spirit1 the meek bearing of an injury1 the unostentatious kindness1--these are some of the fruits which your ,heavenly ,father loves1 and by which ,he is glorified4 ,perchance it may be with you the season of trial1 the chamber of protracted sickness1 the time of desolating bereavement1 some furnace seven times heated4 ,herein1 too1 you may sweetly glorify your ,god4 ,never is your ,heavenly ,father more glorified by ,his children on earth1 than when1 in the midst of these furnace-fires1 ,he listens to nothing but the gentle breathings of confiding faith and love1--,let ,him do what seemeth good unto ,him4 ,yes1 you can there glorify ,him in a way which angels cannot do in a world where no trial is4 ,they can glorify ,god only with the crown2 you can glorify ,him with the cross and the prospect of the crown together6 ,ah1 if ,he be dealing severely with you--if ,he1 as the great ,husbandman1 be pruning ,his vines1 lopping their boughs1 stripping off their luxuriant branches and beautiful rods6 remember the end6--,he purgeth it1 that it may bring forth more fruit1 and ,herein is my ,father glorified6 ,be it yours to lie passive in ,his hands1 saying in unmurmuring resignation1 ,father1 glorify ,thy name6 ,glorify ,thyself1 whether by giving or taking1 filling my cup or emptying me from vessel to vessel6 ,let me know no will but ,thine4 ,angels possess no higher honour and privilege than glorifying the ,god before whom they cast their crowns4 ,how blessed to be able thus to claim brotherhood with the spirits in the upper sanctuary6 nay1 more1 to be associated with the ,saviour ,himself in the theme of ,his own exalted joy1 when he said1 ,i have glorified ,thee on earth6 ,,these ,,things ,,have ,i ,,spoken ,,unto ,,you1 ,,that ,,my ,,joy ,,might ,,remain ,,in ,,you1 ,,and ,,that ,,your ,,joy ,,might ,,be ,,full4 #f,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,the very hairs of your head are all numbered4--,matt4 x4 #cj4 ,the ,tender ,solicitude4 ,what a word is this6 ,all that befals you1 to the very numbering of your hairs1 is known to ,god6 ,nothing can happen by accident or chance4 ,nothing can elude ,his inspection4 ,the fall of the forest leaf--the fluttering of the insect--the waving of the angel's wing--the annihilation of a world1--all are equally noted by ,him4 ,man speaks of great things and small things--,god knows no such distinction4 ,how especially comforting to think of this tender solicitude with reference to his own covenant people--that ,he metes out their joys and their sorrows6 ,every sweet1 every bitter is ordained by ,him4 ,even wearisome nights are appointed4 ,not a pang ,i feel1 not a tear ,i shed but is known to ,him4 ,what are called dark dealings are the ordinations of undeviating faithfulness4 ,man may err--his ways are often crooked2 but as for ,god1 ,his way is perfect6 ,he puts my tears into ,his bottle4 ,every moment the everlasting arms are underneath and around me4 ,he keeps me as the apple of ,his eye4 ,he bears me as a man beareth his own son6 ,do ,i look to the future8 ,is there much of uncertainty and mystery hanging over it8 ,it may be1 much premonitory of evil4 ,trust ,him4 ,all is marked out for me4 ,dangers will be averted2 bewildering mazes will show themselves to be interlaced and interweaved with mercy4 ,he keepeth the feet of ,his saints4 ,a hair of their head will not be touched4 ,he leads sometimes darkly1 sometimes sorrowfully2 most frequently by cross and circuitous ways we ourselves would not have chosen2 but always wisely1 always tenderly4 ,with all its mazy windings and turnings1 its roughness and ruggedness1 the believer's is not only a right way1 but ,,the right way--the best which covenant love and wisdom could select4 ,nothing1 says ,jeremy ,taylor1 does so establish the mind amidst the rollings and turbulence of present things1 as both a look above them and a look beyond them2 above them1 to the steady and good hand by which they are ruled2 and beyond them1 to the sweet and beautiful end to which1 by that hand1 they will be brought4 ,the ,great ,counsellor1 says ,thomas ,brooks1 puts clouds and darkness round about ,him1 bidding us follow at ,his beck through the cloud1 promising an eternal and uninterrupted sunshine on the other side4 ,on that other side we shall see how every apparent rough blast has been hastening our barks nearer the desired haven4 ,well may ,i commit the keeping of my soul to ,jesus in well-doing1 as unto a faithful ,creator4 ,he gave ,himself for me4 ,this transcendent pledge of love is the guarantee for the bestowment of every other needed blessing4 ,oh1 blessed thought6 my sorrows numbered by the ,man of ,sorrows2 my tears counted by ,him who shed first ,his tears and then ,his blood for me4 ,he will impose no needless burden1 and exact no unnecessary sacrifice4 ,there was no redundant drop in the cup of ,his own sufferings2 neither will there be in that of ,his people4 ,though ,he slay me1 yet will ,i trust in ,him4 ,,wherefore ,,comfort ,,one ,,another ,,with ,,these ,,words4 #g,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,i am the good shepherd1 and know my sheep1 and am known of mine4--,john x4 #ad4 ,the ,good ,shepherd4 ,the ,good ,shepherd--well can the sheep who know ,his voice attest the truthfulness and faithfulness of this endearing name and word4 ,where would they have been through eternity1 had ,he not left ,his throne of light and glory1 travelling down to this dark valley of the curse1 and giving ,his life a ransom for many8 ,think of ,his love to each separate member of the flock--wandering over pathless wilds with unwearied patience and unquenchable ardour1 ceasing not the pursuit until ,he finds it4 ,think of ,his love now--,i ,,am the ,good ,shepherd4 ,still that tender eye of watchfulness following the guilty wanderers--the glories of heaven and the songs of angels unable to dim or alter ,his affection2--the music of the words1 at this moment coming as sweetly from ,his lips as when first ,he uttered them--,i know my sheep4 ,every individual believer--the weakest1 the weariest1 the faintest--claims ,his attention4 ,his loving eye follows me day by day out to the wilderness--marks out my pasture1 studies my wants1 and trials1 and sorrows1 and perplexities--every steep ascent1 every brook1 every winding path1 every thorny thicket4 ,he goeth before them4 ,it is not rough driving1 but gentle guiding4 ,he does not take them over an unknown road2 ,he himself has trodden it before4 ,he hath drunk of every brook by the way2 ,he himself hath suffered being tempted2 ,he is able to succour them that are tempted4 ,he seems to say1 ,fear not2 ,i cannot lead you wrong2 follow me in the bleak waste1 the blackened wilderness1 as well as by the green pastures and the still waters4 ,do you ask why ,i have left the sunny side of the valley--carpeted with flowers1 and bathed in sunshine--leading you to some high mountain apart1 some cheerless spot of sorrow8 ,trust me1 ,i will lead you by paths you have not known1 but they are all known to me1 and selected by me--',follow thou me4' ,and am known of mine6 ,reader6 canst thou subscribe to these closing words of this gracious utterance8 ,dost thou know ,him in all the glories of ,his person1 in all the completeness of ,his finished work1 in all the tenderness and unutterable love of ,his every dealing towards thee8 ,it has been remarked by ,palestine travellers1 that not only do the sheep there follow the guiding shepherd1 but even while cropping the herbage as they go along1 they look wistfully up to see that they are near him4 ,is this thine attitude--looking unto ,jesus8 ,in all thy ways acknowledge ,him1 and he will direct thy paths4 ,leave the future to ,his providing4 ,the ,lord is my ,shepherd2 ,i shall not want4 ,i shall not want6--it has been beautifully called the bleating of ,messiah's sheep4 ,take it as thy watchword during thy wilderness wanderings1 till grace be perfected in glory4 ,let this be the record of thy simple faith and unwavering trust1 ,these are they who follow1 whithersoever ,he sees meet to guide them4 ,,the ,,sheep ,,follow ,,him1 ,,for ,,they ,,know ,,his ,,voice4 #h,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,and ,i will pray the ,father1 and ,he shall give you another ,comforter1 that he may abide with you for ever4--,john xiv4 #af4 ,the ,abiding ,comforter4 ,when one beloved earthly friend is taken away1 how the heart is drawn out towards those that remain6 ,jesus was now about to leave ,his sorrowing disciples4 ,he directs them to one whose presence would fill up the vast blank ,his own absence was to make4 ,his name was1 ,the ,comforter2 ,his mission was1 to abide with them for ever4 ,accordingly1 no sooner had the gates of heaven closed on their ascended ,lord1 than1 in fulfilment of ,his own gracious promise1 the bereaved and orphaned ,church was baptized with ,pentecostal fire4 ,when ,i depart1 ,i will send ,him unto you4 ,reader1 do you realize your privilege--living under the dispensation of the ,spirit8 ,is it your daily prayer that ,he may come down in all the plenitude of ,his heavenly graces on your soul1 even as rain upon the mown grass1 and showers that water the earth8 ,you cannot live without ,him2 there can be not one heavenly aspiration1 not one breathing of love1 not one upward glance of faith1 without ,his gracious influences4 ,apart from him1 there is no preciousness in the word1 no blessing in ordinances1 no permanent sanctifying results in affliction4 ,as the angel directed ,hagar to the hidden spring1 this blessed agent1 true to ,his name and office1 directs ,his people to the waters of comfort1 giving new glory to the promises1 investing the ,saviour's character and work with new loveliness and beauty4 ,how precious is the title which this ,word of ,jesus gives ,him--,,the ,,comforter6 ,what a word for a sorrowing world6 ,the ,church militant has its tent pitched in a valley of tears4 ,the name of the divine visitant who comes to her and ministers to her wants1 is ,comforter4 ,wide is the family of the afflicted1 but ,he has a healing balm for all--the weak1 the tempted1 the sick1 the sorrowing1 the bereaved1 the dying6 ,how different from other sons of consolation8 ,human friends--a look may alienate2 adversity may estrange2 death must separate6 ,the ,word of ,jesus speaks of ,one whose attribute and prerogative is to abide with us for ever2 superior to all vicissitudes--surviving death itself6 ,and surely if anything else can endear ,his mission of love to ,his ,church1 it is that ,he comes direct from ,god1 as the fruit and gift of ,jesus' intercession--,i will pray the ,father4 ,this holy dove of peace and comfort is let out by the hand of ,jesus from the ark of covenant mercy within the veil6 ,nor is the gift more glorious than it is free4 ,does the word1 the look1 of a suffering child get the eye and the heart of an earthly father8 ,if ye then1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children1 how much more shall your ,father in heaven give the ,holy ,spirit unto them that ask ,him8 ,it is ,he who makes these words of ,jesus winged words4 ,,he ,,shall ,,bring ,,all ,,things ,,to ,,your ,,remembrance1 ,,whatsoever ,i ,,have ,,said ,,unto ,,you4 #i,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,neither do ,i condemn thee2 go and sin no more4--,john viii4 #aa4 ,the ,gracious ,verdict4 ,how much more tender is ,jesus than the tenderest of earthly friends8 ,the ,apostles1 in a moment of irritation would have called down fire from heaven on obstinate sinners4 ,their ,master rebuked the unkind suggestion4 ,peter1 the trusted but treacherous disciple1 expected nothing but harsh and merited reproof for faithlessness4 ,he who knew well how that heart would be bowed with penitential sorrow1 sends first the kindest of messages1 and then the gentlest of rebukes1 ,lovest thou me8 ,the watchmen in the ,canticles smote the bride1 tore off her veil1 and loaded her with reproaches4 ,when she found her lost ,lord1 there was not one word of upbraiding6 ,so slow is ,he to anger1 says an illustrious believer1 so ready to forgive1 that when ,his prophets lost all patience with the people so as to make intercession against them1 yet even then could ,he not be got to cast off this people whom ,he foreknew1 for his great name's sake4 ,the guilty sinner to whom ,he speaks this comforting word1 was frowned upon by her accusers4 ,but1 if others spurned her from their presence1 ,neither do ,i condemn thee4 ,well it is to fall into the hands of this blessed ,saviour-,god1 for great are ,his mercies4 ,are we to infer from this1 that ,he winks at sin8 ,far from it4 ,his blood1 ,his work--,bethlehem1 and ,calvary1 refute the thought6 ,ere the guilt even of one solitary soul could be washed out1 ,he had to descend from ,his everlasting throne to agonise on the accursed tree4 ,but this word of ,jesus is a word of tender encouragement to every sincere1 broken-hearted penitent1 that crimson sins1 and scarlet sins1 are no barriers to a free1 full1 everlasting forgiveness4 ,the ,israelite of old1 gasping in his agony in the sands of the wilderness1 had but to look and live2 and still does ,he say1 ,look unto me1 and be ye saved1 all the ends of the earth4 ,up-reared by the side of his own cross there was a monumental column for all ,time1 only second to itself in wonder4 ,over the head of the dying felon is the superscription written for despairing guilt and trembling penitence1 ,this is a faithful saying1 and worthy of all acceptation1 that ,jesus ,christ came into the world to save sinners4 ,he never yet1 says ,charnock1 put out a dim candle that was lighted at the ,sun of ,righteousness4 ,whatever our guiltiness be1 says ,rutherford1 yet when it falleth into the sea of ,god's mercy1 it is but like a drop of blood fallen into the great ocean4 ,reader1 you may be the chief of sinners1 or it may be the chief of backsliders2 your soul may have started aside like a broken bow4 ,as the bankrupt is afraid to look into his books1 you may be afraid to look into your own heart4 ,you are hovering on the verge of despair4 ,conscience1 and the memory of unnumbered sins1 is uttering the desponding verdict1 ,i condemn thee4 ,jesus has a kinder word--a more cheering declaration--,i condemn thee not3 go1 and sin no more6 ,,and ,,all ,,wondered ,,at ,,the ,,gracious ,,words ,,that ,,proceeded ,,out ,,of ,,his ,,mouth4 #aj,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,whosoever shall do the will of my ,father which is in heaven1 the same is my brother1 and my sister1 and mother4--,matt4 xii4 #ej4 ,the ,wondrous ,relationship4 ,as if no solitary earthly type were enough to image forth the love of ,jesus1 ,he assembles into one verse a group of the tenderest earthly relationships4 ,human affection has to focus its loveliest hues1 but all is too little to afford an exponent of the depth and intensity of ,his4 ,as one whom his mother comforteth2 my sister1 my spouse4 ,he is ,son1 ,brother ,friend--all in one2 cleaving closer than any brother4 ,and can we wonder at such language8 ,is it merely figurative1 expressive of more than the reality8--,he gave ,himself for us2 after that pledge of ,his affection we must cease to marvel at any expression of the interest ,he feels in us4 ,anything ,he can say or do is infinitely less than what ,he has done4 ,believer6 art thou solitary and desolate8 ,has bereavement severed earthly ties8 ,has the grave made forced estrangements1--sundered the closest links of earthly affection8 ,in ,jesus thou hast filial and fraternal love combined2 ,he is the ,friend of friends1 whose presence and fellowship compensates for all losses1 and supplies all blanks2 ,he setteth the solitary in families4 ,if thou art orphaned1 friendless1 comfortless here1 remember there is in the ,elder ,brother on the ,throne a love deep as the unfathomed ocean1 boundless as ,eternity8 ,and who are those who can claim the blessedness spoken of under this wondrous imagery8 ,on whom does ,he lavish this unutterable affection8 ,no outward profession will purchase it4 ,no church1 no priest1 no ordinances1 no denominational distinctions4 ,it is on those who are possessed of holy characters4 ,he that doeth the will of my ,father which is in heaven6 ,he who reflects the mind of ,jesus2 imbibes ,his ,spirit2 takes ,his ,word as the regulator of his daily walk1 and makes ,his glory the great end of his being2 he who lives to ,god and with ,god1 and for ,god2 the humble1 lowly1 ,christ-like1 ,heaven-seeking ,christian2--he it is who can claim as his own this wondrous heritage of love6 ,if it be a worthy object of ambition to be loved by the good and the great on earth1 what must it be to have an eye of love ever beaming upon us from the ,throne1 in comparison of which the attachment here of brother1 sister1 kinsman1 friend--all combined--pales like the stars before the rising sun6 ,though we are often ashamed to call ,him ,brother1 ,he is not ashamed to call us brethren4 ,he looks down on poor worms1 and says1 ,the same is my mother1 and sister1 and brother6 ,i will write upon them1 ,he says in another place1 my new name4 ,just as we write our name on a book to tell that it belongs to us2 so ,jesus would write ,his own name on us1 the wondrous volumes of ,his grace1 that they may be read and pondered by principalities and powers4 ,have we known and believed this love of ,god8 ,ah1 how poor has been the requital6 ,who cannot subscribe to the words of one1 whose name was in all the churches1--,thy love has been as a shower2 the return but a dew-drop1 and that dew-drop stained with sin4 ,,if ,a ,,man ,,love ,,me1 ,,he ,,will ,,keep ,,my ,,words2 ,,and ,,my ,,father ,,will ,,love ,,him1 ,,and ,,we ,,will ,,come ,,unto ,,him1 ,,and ,,make ,,our ,,abode ,,with ,,him4 #aa,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,i will not leave you comfortless3 ,i will come to you4--,john xiv4 #ah4 ,the ,befriended ,orphans4 ,does the ,christian's path lie all the way through ,beulah8 ,nay1 he is forewarned it is to be one of much tribulation4 ,he has his ,marahs as well as his ,elims--his valleys of ,baca as well as his grapes of ,eschol4 ,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 7with which often a brother7 cannot intermeddle4 ,there is ,one ,brother born for adversity1 who can4 ,how often has that voice broken with its silvery accents the muffled stillness of the sick-chamber or death-chamber6 ',i will not leave you comfortless3' the world may1 friends may1 the desolations of bereavement and death may2 but ,i will not2 you will be alone1 yet not alone1 for ,i your ,saviour and your ,god will be with you6 ,jesus seems to have an especial love and affection for ,his orphaned and comfortless people4 ,a father loves his sick and sorrowing child most2 of all his household1 he occupies most of his thoughts4 ,christ seems to delight to lavish ,his deepest sympathy on him that hath no helper4 ,it is in the hour of sorrow ,his people have found ,him most precious2 it is in the wilderness ,he speaks most comfortably unto them2 ,he gives them their vineyards from thence3 in the places they least expected1 wells of heavenly consolation break forth at their feet4 ,as ,jonathan of old1 when faint and weary1 had his strength revived by the honey he found dropping in the tangled thicket3 so the faint and woe-worn children of ,god find honey in the wood--everlasting consolation dropping from the tree of life1 in the midst of the thorniest thickets of affliction4 ,comfortless ones1 be comforted6 ,jesus often makes you portionless here1 to drive you to ,himself1 the everlasting portion4 ,he often dries every rill and fountain of earthly bliss1 that ,he may lead you to say1 ,all my springs are in ,thee4 ,he seems intent1 says one who could speak from experience1 to fill up every gap love has been forced to make2 one of his errands from heaven was to bind up the broken-hearted4 ,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 comforteth1 so will ,i comfort you1 and ye ,,shall be comforted6 ,ah1 how many would not have their wilderness-state altered1 with all its trials1 and gloom1 and sorrow1 just that they might enjoy the unutterable sympathy and love of this ,comforter of the comfortless1 one ray of whose approving smile can dispel the deepest earthly gloom8 ,as the clustering constellations shine with intensest lustre in the midnight sky1 so these words of ,jesus come out like ministering angels in the deep dark night of earthly sorrow4 ,we may see no beauty in them when the world is sunny and bright2 but ,he has laid them up in store for us for the dark and cloudy day4 ,,these ,,things ,,have ,i ,,told ,,you1 ,,that ,,when ,,the ,,time ,,cometh1 ,,ye ,,may ,,remember ,,that ,i ,,told ,,you ,,of ,,them4 #ab,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,in the world ye shall have tribulation3 but be of good cheer2 ,i have overcome the world4--,john xvi4 #cc4 ,the ,world ,conquered4 ,and shall ,i be afraid of a world already conquered8 ,the ,almighty ,victor1 within view of ,his ,crown1 turns round to ,his faint and weary soldiers1 and bids them take courage4 ,they are not fighting their way through untried enemies4 ,the ,god-,man ,mediator knows their sorrows4 ,he was in all points tempted4 ,both ,he 7i4 e41 ,christ7 who sanctifieth1 and they 7,his people7 who are sanctified1 are all of one 7nature74 ,as the great ,precursor1 he heads the pilgrim band1 saying ,i will show you the path of life4 ,the way to heaven is consecrated by ,his footprints4 ,every thorn that wounds them1 has wounded ,him before4 ,every cross they can bear1 he has borne before4 ,every tear they shed1 ,he has shed before4 ,there is one respect1 indeed1 in which the identity fails1--,he was yet without sin2 but this recoil of ,his ,holy nature from moral evil gives ,him a deeper and intenser sensibility towards those who have still corruption within responding to temptation without4 ,reader6 are you ready to faint under your tribulations8 ,is it a seducing world--a wandering1 wayward heart8 ,consider ,him that endured6 ,listen to your adorable ,redeemer1 stooping from ,his ,throne1 and saying1 ,i have overcome the world4 ,he came forth unscathed from its snares4 ,with the same heavenly weapon ,he bids you wield1 three times did he repel the ,tempter1 saying1 ,it is written4--,is it some crushing trial1 or overwhelming grief8 ,he is acquainted with grief4 ,he1 the mighty ,vine1 knows the minutest fibres of sorrow in the branches2 when the pruning knife touches them1 it touches ,him4 ,he has gone1 says a tried sufferer1 through every class in our wilderness school4 ,he loves to bring ,his people into untried and perplexing places1 that they may seek out the guiding pillar1 and prize its radiance4 ,he puts them on the darkening waves1 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 storm4 ,be assured there is disguised love in all ,he does4 ,he who knows us infinitely better than we know ourselves1 often puts a thorn in our nest to drive us to the wing1 that we may not be grovellers forever4 ,it is1 says ,evans1 upon the smooth ice we slip1 the rough path is safest for the feet4 ,the tearless and undimmed eye is not to be coveted here2 that is reserved for heaven6 ,who can tell what muffled and disguised needs be there may lurk under these world-tribulations8 ,his true spiritual seed are often planted deep in the soil2 they have to make their way through a load of sorrow before they reach the surface2 but their roots are thereby the firmer and deeper struck4 ,had it not been for these lowly and needed depths1 they might have rushed up as feeble saplings1 and succumbed to the first blast4 ,he often leads ,his people still1 as he led them of old1 to a high mountain apart2 but it is to a high mountain--above the world2 and1 better still1 ,he who ,himself hath overcome the world1 leadeth them there1 and speaketh comfortably unto them4 ,i ,,hope ,,in ,,thy ,,word4 #ac,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,fear not1 little flock2 it is your ,father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom4--,luke xii4 #cb4 ,the ,little ,flock4 ,the music of the ,shepherd's voice again6 ,another comforting word1 and how tender6 his flock a little flock1 a feeble flock1 a fearful flock1 but a beloved flock1 loved of the ,father1 enjoying ,his good pleasure1 and soon to be a glorified flock1 safe in the fold1 secure within the kingdom6 ,how does ,he quiet their fears and misgivings8 ,as they stand panting on the bleak mountain side1 ,he points ,his crook upwards to the bright and shining gates of glory1 and says1 ,it is your ,father's good pleasure to give you these6 ,what gentle words6 ,what a blessed consummation6 ,gracious ,saviour1 ,thy gentleness hath made me great6 ,that kingdom is the believer's by irreversible and inalienable charter-right--,i appoint unto you 7by covenant71 says ,jesus in another place1 a kingdom1 as my ,father hath appointed unto me4 ,it is as sure as everlasting love and almighty power can make it4 ,satan1 the great foe of the kingdom1 may be injecting foul misgivings1 and doubts1 and fears as to your security2 but he cannot denude you of your purchased immunities4 ,he must first pluck the crown from the ,brow upon the ,throne1 before he can weaken or impair this sure word of promise4 ,if it pleased the ,lord to bruise the ,shepherd1 it will surely please ,him to make happy the purchased flock4 ,if ,he smote ,his ,fellow when the sheep were scattered1 surely it will rejoice ,him1 for the ,shepherd's sake1 to turn ,his hand upon the little ones4 ,believers1 think of this6 ,it is your ,father's good pleasure4 ,the ,good ,shepherd1 in leading you across the intervening mountains1 shows you signals and memorials of paternal grace studding all the way4 ,he may lead you about in your way thither4 ,he led the children of ,israel of old out of ,egypt to their promised kingdom1--how8 ,by forty years' wilderness-discipline and privations4 ,but trust ,him2 dishonour ,him not with guilty doubts and fears4 ,look not back on your dark1 stumbling paths1 nor within on your fitful and vacillating heart2 but forwards to the land that is far off4 ,how earnestly ,god desires your salvation6 ,what a heaping together of similar tender words with that which is here addressed to us8 ,the ,gospel seems like a palace full of opened windows1 from each of which ,he issues an invitation1 declaring that ,he has no pleasure in our death--but rather that we would turn and live6 ,let the melody of the ,shepherd's reed fall gently on your ear1--,it is your ,father's good pleasure4 ,i have given you1 ,he seems to say1 the best proof that it is mine4 ,in order to purchase that kingdom1 ,i died for you6 ,but it is also ,his3 ,as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered1 so1 says ,god1 will ,i seek out my sheep1 and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day4 ,fear not1 then1 little flock6 though yours for a while should be the bleak mountain and sterile waste1 seeking your way ,zionward1 it may be with torn fleeces and bleeding feet2 for1 ,,it ,,is ,,not ,,the ,,will ,,of ,,your ,,father ,,which ,,is ,,in ,,heaven1 ,,that ,,one ,,of ,,these ,,little ,,ones ,,should ,,perish4 #ad,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,if any man thirst1 let him come unto me1 and drink4--,john vii4 #cg4 ,the ,unlimited ,offer4 ,one of the most gracious words that ever proceeded out of the mouth of ,god6 ,the time it was uttered was an impressive one2 it was on the last1 the great day of the ,feast of ,tabernacles1 when a denser multitude than on any of the seven preceding ones were assembled together4 ,the golden bowl1 according to custom1 had probably just been filled with the waters of ,siloam1 and was being carried up to the ,temple amid the acclamations of the crowd1 when the ,saviour of the world seized the opportunity of speaking to them some truths of momentous import4 ,many1 doubtless1 were the words of ,jesus uttered on the previous days1 but the most important is reserved for the last4 ,what1 then1 is the great closing theme on which ,he rivets the attention of this vast auditory1 and which ,he would have them carry away to their distant homes8 ,it is1 ,the freeness of ,his own great salvation--,if any man thirst1 let him come unto me and drink4 ,reader1 do you discredit the reality of this gracious offer8 ,are your legion sins standing as a barrier between you and a ,saviour's proffered mercy8 ,do you feel as if you cannot come just as you are2 that some partial cleansing1 some preparatory reformation must take place before you can venture to the living fountain8 ,nay1 if any man4 ,what is freer than water8--,the poorest beggar may drink without money the wayside pool4 ,that is your ,lord's own picture of ,his own glorious salvation2 you are invited to come1 without one plea1 in all your poverty and want1 your weakness and unworthiness4 ,remember the ,redeemer's saying to the woman of ,samaria4 ,she was the chief of sinners--profligate--hardened--degraded2 but ,he made no condition1 no qualification2 simple believing was all that was required1--,if thou knewest the gift of ,god1 thou wouldst have asked1 and ,he would have given thee living water4 ,but is there not1 after all1 one condition mentioned in this word of ,jesus8--,if any man thirst4 ,you may have the depressing consciousness that you experience no such ardent longings after holiness1--no feeling of your affecting need of the ,saviour4 ,but is not this very conviction of your want an indication of a feeble longing after ,christ8 ,if you are saying1 ,i have nothing to draw with1 and the well is deep1 ,he who makes offer of the salvation-stream will ,himself fill your empty vessel1--,he satisfieth the longing soul with goodness4 ,jesus stood and cried4 ,it is the solitary instance recorded of ,him of whom it is said1 ,he shall not strive nor cry1 lifting up ,his voice in the streets4 ,but it was truth of surpassing interest and magnitude ,he had to proclaim4 ,it was a declaration1 moreover1 specially dear to him4 ,as it formed the theme of this ever-memorable sermon during ,his public ministry1 so when ,he was sealing up the inspired record--the last utterances of ,his voice on earth1 till that voice shall be heard again on the throne1 contained the same life-giving invitation1--,let him that is athirst come1 and whosoever will1 let him take of the water of life freely4 ,oh6 as the echoes of that gracious saying--this blast of the silver trumpet--are still sounding to the ends of the world1 may this be the recorded result1 ,,as ,,he ,,spake ,,these ,,words1 ,,many ,,believed ,,on ,,him4 #ae,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,my yoke is easy1 and my burden is light4--,matt4 xi4 #cj4 ,the ,joyful ,servitude4 ,can the same be said of ,satan1 or sin8 ,with regard to them1 how faithfully true rather is the converse--my yoke is heavy1 and my burden is grievous6 ,christ's service is a happy service1 the only happy one2 and even when there is a cross to carry1 or a yoke to bear1 it is ,his own appointment4 ,my yoke4 ,it is sent by no untried friend4 ,nay1 ,he who puts it on ,his people1 bore this very yoke ,himself4 ,he carried our sorrows4 ,how blessed this feeling of holy servitude to so kind a ,master6 not like dumb1 driven cattle1 goaded on1 but led1 and led often most tenderly when the yoke and the burden are upon us4 ,the great apostle rarely speaks of himself under any other title but one4 ,that one he seems to make his boast4 ,he had much whereof he might glory2--he had been the instrument in saving thousands--he had spoken before kings--he had been in ,csar's palace and ,csar's presence--he had been caught up into the third heaven1--but in all his letters this is his joyful prefix and superscription1 ,the ,servant 7literally1 the slave7 of ,jesus ,christ6 ,reader6 dost thou know this blessed servitude8 ,canst thou say with a joyful heart1 ,o ,lord1 truly ,i am ,thy servant8 ,he is no hard taskmaster4 ,would ,satan try to teach thee so8 ,let this be the refutation1 ,he loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4 ,true1 the yoke is the appointed discipline he employs in training his children for immortality4 ,but be comforted6 ,it is ,his tender hand that puts it on1 and keeps it on4 ,he will suit the yoke to the neck1 and the neck to the yoke4 ,he will suit ,his grace to your trials4 ,nay1 ,he will bring you even to be in love with these1 when they bring along with them such gracious unfoldings of ,his own faithfulness and mercy4 ,how ,his people need thus to be in heaviness through manifold temptations1 to keep them meek and submissive6 ,jeshurun 7like a bullock unaccustomed to the harness1 fed and pampered in the stall7 waxed fat1 and kicked4 ,never is there more gracious love than when ,god takes ,his own means to curb and subjugate1 to humble us1 and to prove us--bringing us out from ourselves1 our likings1 our confidences1 our prosperity1 and putting us under the needed ,,yoke4 ,and who has ever repented of that joyful servitude8 ,among all the ten thousand regrets that mingle with a dying hour1 and oft bedew with bitter tears a dying pillow1 who ever told of regrets and repentance here8 ,tried believer1 has ,he ever failed thee8 ,has ,his yoke been too grievous8 ,have thy tears been unalleviated--thy sorrows unsolaced--thy temptations above that thou wert able to bear8 ,ah6 rather canst thou not testify1 ,the word of the ,lord is tried2 ,i cast my burden upon ,him1 and ,he sustained me8 ,how have seeming difficulties melted away6 ,how has the yoke lost its heaviness1 and the cross its bitterness1 in the thought of whom thou wert bearing it for6 ,there is a promised rest in the very carrying of the yoke2 and a better rest remains for the weary and toil-worn when the appointed work is finished2 for thus saith that same ,jesus1 ,,take ,,my ,,yoke ,,upon ,,you1 ,,and ,,learn ,,of ,,me1 444 ,,and ,,ye ,,shall ,,find ,,rest ,,unto ,,your ,,souls4 #af,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,as the ,father hath loved me1 so have ,i loved you4--,john xv4 #i4 ,the ,measure of ,love4 ,this is the most wondrous verse in the ,bible4 ,who can sound the unimagined depths of that love which dwelt in the bosom of the ,father from all eternity towards ,his ,son8--and yet here is the ,saviour's own exponent of ,his love towards ,his people6 ,there is no subject more profoundly mysterious than those mystic intercommunings between the first and second persons in the adorable ,trinity before the world was4 ,scripture gives us only some dim and shadowy revelations regarding them--distant gleams of light1 and no more4 ,let one suffice4 ,then ,i was by ,him1 as one brought up with ,him1 and ,i was daily ,his delight1 rejoicing always before ,him4 ,we know that earthly affection is deepened and intensified by increased familiarity with its object4 ,the friendship of yesterday is not the sacred1 hallowed thing1 which years of growing intercourse have matured4 ,if we may with reverence apply this test to the highest type of holy affection1 what must have been that interchange of love which the measureless lapse of ,eternity had fostered--a love1 moreover1 not fitful1 transient1 vacillating1 subject to altered tones and estranged looks--but pure1 constant1 untainted1 without one shadow of turning6 ,and yet1 listen to the words of ,jesus1 ,as the ,father hath loved me1 so have ,i loved you6 ,it would have been infinitely more than we had reason to expect1 if ,he had said1 ,as my ,father hath loved ,,angels1 so have ,i loved you4 ,but the love borne to no finite beings is an appropriate symbol4 ,long before the birth of time or of worlds1 that love existed4 ,it was coeval with ,eternity itself4 ,hear how the two themes of the ,saviour's eternal rejoicing--the love of ,his ,father1 and ,his love for sinners--are grouped together2--,rejoicing always before ,,him1 and in the habitable part of ,his earth6 ,to complete the picture1 we must take in a counterpart description of the ,father's love to us2--,therefore doth my ,father love me1 says ,jesus in another place1 because ,i lay down my life6 ,god had an all-sufficiency in ,his love--,he needed not the taper-love of creatures to add to ,his glory or happiness2 but ,he seems to say1 that so intense is ,his love for us1 that ,he loves even ,his beloved ,son more 7if infinite love be capable of increase71 because ,he laid down ,his life for the guilty6 ,it is regarding the ,redeemed it is said1 ,he shall rest in ,his love--,he shall rejoice over them with singing4 ,in the assertion1 ,god is love1 we are left truly with no mere unproved averment regarding the existence of some abstract quality in the divine nature4 ,herein1 says an apostle1 perceive we ,,the ,,love1--7it is added in our authorised version1 of ,god1 but1 as it has been remarked1 ,our translators need not have added whose love1 for there is but one such specimen7--because ,he laid down ,his life for us4 ,no expression of love can be wondered at after this4 ,ah1 how miserable are our best affections compared with ,his6 ,our love is but the reflection--cold as the moon2 ,his is as the ,sun4 ,shall we refuse to love ,him more in return1 who hath first loved1 and so loved us8 ,,never ,,man ,,spake ,,like ,,this ,,man4 #ag,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,only believe4--,mark v4 #cf4 ,the ,brief ,gospel4 ,the briefest of the words of ,jesus1 but one of the most comforting4 ,they contain the essence and epitome of all saving truth4 ,reader1 is ,satan assailing thee with tormenting fears8 ,is the thought of thy sins--the guilty past--coming up in terrible memorial before thee1 almost tempting thee to give way to hopeless despondency8 ,fear not6 ,a gentle voice whispers in thine ear1--,only believe4 ,thy sins are great1 but my grace and merits are greater4 ',only believe' that ,i died for thee--that ,i am living for thee and pleading for thee1 and that 'the faithful saying' is as 'faithful' as ever1 and as 'worthy of all acceptation' as ever4--,art thou a backslider8 ,didst thou once run well8 ,has thine own guilty apostacy alienated and estranged thee from that face which was once all love1 and that service which was once all delight8 ,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 past1 when the candle of the ,lord did shine8 ,only believe4 ,take this thy mournful soliloquy1 and convert it into a prayer4 ,only believe the word of ,him whose ways are not as man's ways--,return1 ye backsliding children1 and ,i will heal your backsliding4--,art thou beaten down with some heavy trial8 have thy fondest schemes been blown upon--thy fairest blossoms been withered in the bud8 has wave after wave been rolling in upon thee8 hath the ,lord forgotten to be gracious8 ,hear the word of ,jesus resounding amid the thickest midnight of gloom--penetrating even through the vaults of the dead--,believe1 only believe4 ,there is an infinite reason for the trial--a lurking thorn that required removal1 a gracious lesson that required teaching4 ,the dreadful severing blow was dealt in love4 ,god will be glorified in it1 and your own soul made the better for it4 ,patiently wait till the light of immortality be reflected on a receding world4 ,here you must take ,his dealings on trust4 ,the word of ,jesus to you now is1 ,only believe4 ,the word of ,jesus in eternity 7every inner meaning and undeveloped purpose being unfolded71 ,said ,i not unto thee that if thou wouldest but ,,believe1 thou shouldst ,,see the glory of ,god8--,are you fearful and agitated in the prospect of death8 ,through fear of the last enemy1 have you been all your lifetime subject to bondage8--,only believe4 ,as thy day is1 so shall thy strength be4 ,dying grace will be given when a dying hour comes4 ,in the dark river a sustaining arm will be underneath you1 deeper than the deepest and darkest wave4 ,ere you know it1 the darkness will be past1 the true ,light shining1--the whisper of faith in the nether valley1 ,believe6 believe6 exchanged for angel-voices exclaiming1 as you enter the portals of glory1 ,no longer through a glass darkly1 but now face to face6 ,yes6 ,jesus ,himself had no higher remedy for sin1 for sorrow1 and for suffering1 than those two words convey4 ,at the utmost extremity of ,his own distress1 and of ,his disciples' wretchedness1 ,he could only say1 ',let not your heart be troubled3 ye believe in ,god1 believe also in me4' ',believe1 only believe4' ,,lord1 ,i ,,believe1 ,,help ,,thou ,,mine ,,unbelief4 #ah,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,be of good cheer3 ,it is ,i2 be not afraid4--,mark vi4 #ej4 ,the ,great ,calm4 ,it is ,i1 7or as our old version has it1 more in accordance with the original71 ,i ,,am6 be not afraid6 ,jesus lives6 ,his people may dispel their misgivings--,omnipotence treads the waves6 ,to sense it may seem at times to be otherwise2 wayward accident and chance may appear to regulate human allotments2 but not so3 ,the ,lord's voice is upon the waters1--,he sits at the helm guiding the tempest-tossed bark1 and guiding it well4 ,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 night1--when we least looked for ,him2 or when1 like the shipwrecked apostle1 for days together neither sun nor stars appeared1 and no small tempest lay on us2 when all hope that we should be saved seemed to be taken away1--how often just at that moment1 is the word of ,jesus heard floating over the billows6 ,believer1 art thou in trouble8 listen to the voice in the storm1 ,fear not1 ,i ,,am4 ,that voice1 like ,joseph's of old to his brethren1 may seem rough1 but there are gracious undertones of love4 ,it is ,i1 he seems to say2 ,it was ,i1 that roused the storm2 ,it is ,i1 who when it has done its work1 will calm it1 and say1 ,peace1 be still4 ,every wave rolls at ,my bidding--every trial is ,my appointment--all have some gracious end2 they are not sent to dash you against the sunken rocks1 but to waft you nearer heaven4 ,is it sickness8 ,i am ,he who bare your sickness2 the weary wasted frame1 and the nights of languishing1 were sent by ,me4 ,is it bereavement8 ,i am the ,brother born for adversity--the loved and lost were plucked away by ,me4 ,is it death8 ,i ,,am the ,abolisher of death1 seated by your side to calm the waves of ebbing life2 it is ,i1 about to fetch ,my pilgrims home--,it is ,my voice that speaks1 ,the ,master is come1 and calleth for thee4 ,reader1 thou wilt have reason yet to praise thy ,god for every one such storm6 ,this is the history of every heavenly voyager3 ,so ,he bringeth them to their desired haven4 ,so6 ,that word1 in all its unknown and diversified meaning1 is in ,his hand4 ,he suits ,his dealings to every case4 ,so6 ,with some it is through quiet seas unfretted by one buffeting wave4 ,so6 ,with others it is mounting up to heaven1 and going down again to the deep4 ,but whatever be the leading and the discipline1 here is the grand consummation1 ,so ,he bringeth them unto their desired haven4 ,it might have been with thee the moanings of an eternal night-blast--no lull or pause in the storm2 but soon the darkness will be past1 and the hues of morn tipping the shores of glory6 ,and what1 then1 should your attitude be8 ,looking unto ,jesus 7literally1 looking from unto72 looking away from self1 and sin1 and human props and refuges and confidences1 and fixing the eye of unwavering and unflinching faith on a reigning ,saviour4 ,ah1 how a real quickening sight of ,christ dispels all guilty fears6 ,the ,roman keepers of old were affrighted1 and became as dead men4 ,the lowly ,jewish women feared not2 why8 ,i know that ye seek ,jesus6 ,reader1 let thy weary spirit fold itself to rest under the composing word of a gracious ,saviour1 saying---- ,i ,,wait ,,for ,,the ,,lord1 ,,my ,,soul ,,doth ,,wait1 ,,and ,,in ,,his ,,word ,,do ,i ,,hope4 #ai,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,peace ,i leave with you1 my peace ,i give unto you3 not as the world giveth1 give ,i unto you4--,john xiv4 #bg4 ,the ,dying ,legacy4 ,how we treasure the last sayings of a dying parent6 ,how specially cherished and memorable are his last looks and last words6 ,here are the last words--the parting legacy--of a dying ,saviour4 ,it is a legacy of peace4 ,what peace is this8 ,it is ,his own purchase--a peace arising out of free forgiveness through ,his precious blood4 ,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 it6 ,it is peace the soul wants4 ,existence is one long-drawn sigh after repose4 ,that is nowhere else to be found1 but through the blood of ,his cross6 ,being justified by faith1 we have peace with ,god4 ,,he giveth his beloved rest6 ,how different from the false and counterfeit peace in which so many are content to live1 and content to die6 ,the world's peace is all well1 so long as prosperity lasts--so long as the stream runs smooth1 and the sky is clear2 but when the cataract is at hand1 or the storm is gathering1 where is it8 ,it is gone6 ,there is no calculating on its permanency4 ,often when the cup is fullest1 there is the trembling apprehension that in one brief moment it may be dashed to the ground4 ,the soul may be saying to itself1 ,peace1 peace2 but1 like the writing on the sand1 it may be obliterated by the first wave of adversity4 ,,but1 ,not as the world giveth6 ,the peace of the believer is deep--calm--lasting--everlasting4 ,the world1 with all its blandishments1 cannot give it4 ,the world1 with all its vicissitudes and fluctuations1 cannot take it away6 ,it is brightest in the hour of trial2 it lights up the final valley-gloom4 ,mark the perfect man1 and behold the upright1 for the end of that man is peace4 ,yes6 how often is the believer's deathbed like the deep calm repose of a summer-evening's sky1 when all nature is hushed to rest2 the departing soul1 like the vanishing sun1 peacefully disappearing only to shine in another and brighter hemisphere6 ,i seem1 said ,simeon on his deathbed1 to have nothing to do but to wait3 there is now nothing but peace1 the sweetest peace4 ,believer6 do you know this peace which passeth understanding8 ,is it keeping 7literally1 'garrisoning as in a citadel'7 your heart8 ,have you learnt the blessedness of waking up1 morning after morning1 and feeling1 ,i am at peace with my ,god2 of beholding by faith the true ,aaron--the great ,high ,priest--coming forth from the holiest of all to bless ,his people with peace8 ,waves of trouble may be murmuring around you1 but they cannot touch you2 you are in the rock-crevice athwart which the fiercest tornado sweeps by4 ,oh6 leave not the making up of your peace with ,god to a dying hour6 ,it will be a hard thing to smooth the death-pillow1 if peace be left unsought till then4 ,make sure of it now4 ,he1 the true ,melchisedec1 is willing now to come forth to meet you with bread and wine--emblems of peaceful gospel blessings4 ,all the words of ,jesus are so many rills contributing to make your peace flow as a river2--,these things have ,i spoken unto you1 that in ,me ye might have peace4 ,i ,,will ,,hear ,,what ,,god ,,the ,,lord ,,will ,,speak1 ,,for ,,he ,,will ,,speak ,,peace ,,unto ,,his ,,people ,,and ,,to ,,his ,,saints4 #bj,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth4--,matt4 xxviii4 #ah4 ,the ,supreme ,investiture4 ,what an empire is this6 ,heaven and earth--the ,church militant--the ,church triumphant--angels and archangels--saints and seraphs4 ,at ,his mandate the billows were hushed--demons crouched in terror--the grave yielded its prey6 ,upon his head are many crowns4 ,he is made head over all things to ,his ,church4 ,yes6 over all things1 from the minutest to the mightiest4 ,he holds the stars in ,his right hand--,he walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks1 feeding every candlestick with the oil of ,his grace1 and preserving every star in its spiritual orbit4 ,the prince of ,darkness has a power1 but1 ,god be praised1 it is not an all power2 potent1 but not omnipotent4 ,christ holds him in a chain4 ,he hath set bounds that he may not pass over4 ,satan1 we read in the book of ,job1 went out 7,chaldee paraphrase1 'with a licence'7 from the presence of the ,lord4 ,he was not allowed even to enter the herd of swine till ,christ permitted him4 ,he only desired to have ,peter that he might sift him2 there was a mightier countervailing agency at hand3 ,i have prayed for thee1 that thy faith fail not4 ,believer1 how often is there nothing but this grace of ,jesus between thee and everlasting destruction6 ,satan's key fitting the lock in thy wayward heart2 but a stronger than the strong man barring him out2--the power of the adversary fanning the flame2 the ,omnipotence of ,jesus quenching it4 ,art thou even now feeling the strength of thy corruptions1 the weakness of thy graces1 the presence of some outward or inward temptation8 ,look up to ,him who has promised to make ,his grace sufficient for thee2 all power is ,his prerogative2 all-sufficiency in all things is ,his promise4 ,it is power1 too1 in conjunction with tenderness4 ,he who sways the sceptre of universal empire gently leads ,his weak1 and weary1 and burdened ones3--,he who counts the number of the stars1 loves to count the number of their sorrows2 nothing too great1 nothing too insignificant for ,him4 ,he puts every tear into his bottle4 ,he paves ,his people's pathway with love6 ,blessed ,jesus6 my everlasting interests cannot be in better or in safer keeping than in ,thine4 ,i can exultingly rely on the all-power of ,thy ,godhead4 ,i can sweetly rejoice in the all-sympathy of ,thy ,manhood4 ,i can confidently repose in the sure wisdom of ,thy dealings4 ,sometimes1 says one1 we expect the blessing in our way2 ,he chooses to bestow it in ,his4 ,but ,his way and ,his will must be the best4 ,infinite love1 infinite power1 infinite wisdom1 are surely infallible guarantees4 ,his purposes nothing can alter4 ,his promises never fail4 ,his word never falls to the ground4 ,,heaven ,,and ,,earth ,,shall ,,pass ,,away1 ,,but ,,my ,,words ,,shall ,,not ,,pass ,,away4 #ba,,st ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,he shall glorify me3 for ,he shall receive of mine1 and shall show it unto you4--,john xvi4 #ad4 ,the ,divine ,glorifier4 ,the ,holy ,spirit glorifying ,jesus in the unfoldings of ,his person1 and character1 and work1 to ,his people6 ,the great ministering agent between the ,church on earth and its glorified ,head in ,heaven1--carrying up to the ,intercessor on the throne1 the ever-recurring wants and trials1 the perplexities and sins1 of believers2 and receiving out of ,his inexhaustible treasury of love1--comfort for their sorrows--strength for their weakness--sympathy for their tears--fulness for their emptiness1--and this the one sublime end and object of ,his gracious agency1--,he shall glorify ,me4 ,he shall not speak of ,himself1 but whatsoever ,he shall hear1 that shall ,he speak4 ,my words of sympathy--,my omnipotent pleadings--the tender messages sent from an unchanged ,human ,heart1--all these shall ,he speak4 ,he shall tell you1 says an old divine1 commenting on this passage1 ,he shall tell you nothing but stories of ,my love 7,goodwin74 ,he will have an ineffable delight in magnifying ,me in the affections of ,my ,church and people1 and endearing ,me to their hearts2 and ,he is all worthy of credence1 for ,he is the ,spirit of truth4 ,how faithful has ,he been in every age to this ,his great office as the glorifier of ,jesus6 ,see the first manifestation of ,his power in the ,christian ,church at the day of ,pentecost4 ,what was the grand truth which forms the focus-point of interest in that unparalleled scene1 and which brings three thousand stricken penitents to their knees8 ,it is the ,spirit's unfolding of ,jesus--glorifying ,him in eyes that before saw in ,him no beauty8 ,hear the key-note of that wondrous sermon1 preached in demonstration of the ,spirit1 and with power1--,,him hath ,god exalted to be a ,prince and a ,saviour1 to give repentance to ,his people1 and forgiveness of sins4 ,ah8 it is still the same peerless truth which the ,spirit delights to unfold to the stricken sinner1 and1 in unfolding it1 to make it mighty to the pulling down of strongholds4 ,all these glorious inner beauties of ,christ's work and character are undiscerned and undiscernible by the natural eye4 ,it is the ,spirit that quickeneth4 ,no man can call ,jesus ,lord1 but by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,he is the great ,forerunner--a mightier than the ,baptist--proclaiming1 ,behold the ,lamb of ,god6 ,reader6 any bright and realising view you have had of the ,saviour's glory and excellency1 is of the ,spirit's imparting4 ,when in some hour of sorrow you have been led to cleave with pre-eminent consolation to the thought of the ,redeemer's exalted sympathy--,his dying1 ever-living love2 or in the hour of death1 when you feel the sustaining power of ,his exceeding great and precious promises2--what is this1 but the ,holy ,spirit1 in fulfilment of ,his all-gracious office1 taking of all things of ,christ1 and showing them unto you2 thus enabling you to magnify ,him in your body1 whether it be by life or death8 ,as your motto should ever be1 ,none ,,but ,christ1 and your ever-increasing aspiration1 ,more ,,of ,christ1 seek to bear in mind who it is that is alone qualified to impart the excellency of this knowledge4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,truth ,,which ,,proceedeth ,,from ,,the ,,father1 ,,he ,,shall ,,testify ,,of ,,me4 #bb;,d ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,your sorrow shall be turned into joy4--,john xvi4 #bj4 ,the ,joyful ,transformation4 ,christ's people are a sorrowing people6 ,chastisement is their badge--great tribulation is their appointed discipline4 ,when they enter the gates of glory1 ,he is represented as wiping away tears from their eyes4 ,but1 weeping ones1 be comforted6 ,your ,lord's special mission to earth--the great errand ,he came from heaven to fulfil1 was to bind up the broken-hearted4 ,your trials are meted out by a tender hand4 ,he knows you too well--,he loves you too well--to make this world tearless and sorrowless6 ,there must be rain1 and hail1 and storm1 says ,rutherford1 in the saint's cloud4 ,were your earthy course strewed with flowers1 and nothing but sunbeams played around your dwelling1 it would lead you to forget your nomadic life1--that you are but a sojourner here4 ,the tent must at times be struck1 pin by pin of the moveable tabernacle taken down1 to enable you to say and to feel in the spirit of a pilgrim1 ,i desire a better country4 ,meantime1 while sorrow is your portion1 think of ,him who says1 ,i know your sorrows4 ,angels cannot say so--they cannot sympathise with you1 for trial is a strange word to them4 ,but there is a mightier than they who can4 ,all ,he sends you and appoints you is in love4 ,there is a provision and condition wrapt up in the bosom of every affliction1 if need be2 coming from ,his hand1 sorrows and riches are to ,his people convertible terms4 ,if tempted to murmur at their trials1 they are often murmuring at disguised mercies4 ,why do you ask me1 said ,simeon1 on his deathbed1 what ,i like8 ,i am the ,lord's patient--,i cannot but like everything4 ,and then--your sorrow shall be turned into joy4 ,the morning cometh--that bright morning when the dew-drops collected during earth's night of weeping shall sparkle in its beams2 when in one blessed moment a life-long experience of trial will be effaced and forgotten1 or remembered only by contrast1 to enhance the fulness of the joys of immortality4 ,what a revelation of gladness6 ,the map of time disclosed1 and every little rill of sorrow1 every river will be seen to have been flowing heavenwards1--every rough blast to have been sending the bark nearer the haven6 ,in that joy1 ,god ,himself will participate4 ,in the last words of ,jesus to ,his people when they are standing by the triumphal archway of ,glory1 ready to enter on their thrones and crowns1 ,he speaks of their joy as if it were all ,his own4 ,enter ye into the joy of your ,lord4 ,reader1 may this joy be yours6 ,sit loose to the world's joys4 ,have a feeling of chastened gratitude and thankfulness when you have them2 but beware of resting in them1 or investing them with a permanency they cannot have4 ,jesus had his eye on heaven when he added-- ,,your ,,joy ,,no ,,man ,,taketh ,,from ,,you4 #bc;,d ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,father1 ,i will that they also whom thou hast given me1 be with me where ,i am2 that they may behold my glory4--,john xvii4 #bd4 ,the ,omnipotent ,prayer4 ,this is not the petition of a suppliant1 but the claim of a conqueror4 ,there was only one request ,he ever made1 or ever can make1 that was refused2 it was the prayer wrung forth by the presence and power of superhuman anguish3 ,father1 if it be possible1 let this cup pass from me6 ,had that prayer been answered1 never could one consolatory word of ,jesus have been ours4 ,if it be possible2--but for that gracious parenthesis1 we must have been lost for ever6 ,in unmurmuring submission1 the bitter cup was drained2 all the dread penalties of the law were borne1 the atonement completed1 an all-perfect righteousness wrought out2 and now1 as the stipulated reward of ,his obedience and sufferings1 the ,victor claims ,his trophies4 ,what are they8 ,those that were given ,him of the ,father--the countless multitudes redeemed by ,his blood4 ,these ,he wills to be with ,him where ,he is--the spectators of ,his glory1 and partakers of ,his crown4 ,wondrous word and will of a dying testator6 ,his last prayer on earth is an importunate pleading for their glorification2 ,his parting wish is to meet them in heaven3 as if these earthly jewels were needed to make ,his crown complete1--their happiness and joy the needful complement of ,his own6 ,reader6 learn from this1 the grand element in the bliss of your future condition--it is the presence of ,christ2 with ,me where ,i am4 ,it matters comparatively little as to the locality of heaven4 ,we shall see ,him as ,he is1 is the blessed hope of the ,christian4 ,heaven would be no heaven without ,jesus2 the withdrawal of ,his presence would be like the blotting out of the sun from the firmament2 it would uncrown every seraph1 and unstring every harp4 ,but1 blessed thought6 it is ,his own stipulation in ,his testamentary prayer1 that ,eternity is to be spent in union and communion with ,himself1 gazing on the unfathomed mysteries of ,his love1 becoming more assimilated to ,his glorious image1 and drinking deeper from the ocean of ,his own joy4 ,if anything can enhance the magnitude of this promised bliss1 it is the concluding words of the verse1 in which ,he grounds ,his plea for its bestowment3 ,i will--that they behold my glory2--why8 ,for ,thou lovedst 7not them1 but7 ,,me before the foundation of the world6 ,it is equivalent to saying1 ,if ,thou wouldst give ,me a continued proof of ,thine everlasting love and favour to ,myself1 it is by loving and exalting ,my redeemed people4 ,in loving them and glorifying them1 ,thou art loving and glorifying ,me3 so endearingly are their interests and ,my own bound up together6 ,believer1 think of that all-prevailing voice1 at this moment pleading for thee within the veil6--that omnipotent ,father1 ,i will1 securing every needed boon6 ,there is given1 so to speak1 a blank cheque by which ,he and ,his people may draw indefinite supplies out of the exhaustless treasury of the ,father's grace and love4 ,god ,himself endorses it with the words1 ,son1 ,thou art ever with me1 and all that ,i have is ,thine4 ,how it would reconcile us to ,earth's bitterest sorrows1 and hallow ,earth's holiest joys1 if we saw them thus hanging on the will of an all-wise ,intercessor1 who ever pleads in love1 and never pleads in vain6 ,,be ,,it ,,unto ,,me ,,according ,,to ,,thy ,,word4 #bd,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4--,john xiv4 #ai4 ,the ,immutable ,pledge4 ,god sometimes selects the most stable and enduring objects in the material world to illustrate ,his unchanging faithfulness and love to ,his ,church4 ,as the mountains are round about ,jerusalem1 so doth the ,lord compass his people4 ,but here1 the ,redeemer fetches an argument from ,his own everlasting nature4 ,he stakes1 so to speak1 ,his own existence on that of ,his saints4 ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,believer6 read in this word of ,jesus thy glorious title-deed4 ,thy ,saviour lives--and ,his life is the guarantee of thine own4 ,our true ,joseph is alive4 ,he is our ,brother4 ,he talks kindly to us6 ,that life of ,his1 is all that is between us and everlasting ruin4 ,but with ,christ for our life1 how inviolable our security6 ,the great ,fountain of being must first be dried up1 before the streamlet can4 ,the great ,sun must first be quenched1 ere one glimmering satellite which ,he lights up with ,his splendour can4 ,satan must first pluck the crown from that glorified ,head1 before he can touch one jewel in the crown of ,his people4 ,they cannot shake one pillar without shaking first the throne4 ,if we perish1 says ,luther1 ,christ perisheth with us4 ,reader6 is thy life now hid with ,christ in ,god8 ,dost thou know the blessedness of a vital and living union with a living1 life-giving ,saviour8 ,canst thou say with humble and joyous confidence1 amid the fitfulness of thine own ever-changing frames and feelings1 ,nevertheless ,i live1 yet not ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me8 ,jesus liveth6--,they are the happiest words a lost soul and a lost world can hear6 ,job1 four thousand years ago1 rejoiced in them4 ,i know1 says he1 that ,i have a living ,kinsman4 ,john1 in his ,patmos exile1 rejoiced in them4 ,i am ,he that liveth 7or the ,living ,one71 was the simple but sublime utterance with which he was addressed by that same ,kinsman1 when ,he appeared arrayed in the lustres of ,his glorified humanity4 ,this is the record 7as if there was a whole gospel comprised in the statement71 that ,god hath given to us eternal life1 and this life is in ,his ,son4 ,st4 ,paul1 in the #hth chapter to the ,romans--that finest portraiture of ,christian character and privilege ever drawn1 begins with no condemnation1 and ends with no separation4 ,why no separation8 ,because the life of the believer is incorporated with that of his adorable ,head and ,surety4 ,the colossal ,heart of redeemed humanity beats upon the throne1 sending its mighty pulsations through every member of ,his body2 so that1 before the believer's spiritual life can be destroyed1 ,omnipotence must become feebleness1 and ,immutability become mutable6 ,but1 blessed ,jesus1 ,thy word is very sure1 therefore ,thy servant loveth it4 ,i ,,give ,,unto ,,them ,,eternal ,,life1 ,,and ,,they ,,shall ,,never ,,perish1 ,,neither ,,shall ,,any ,,man ,,pluck ,,them ,,out ,,of ,,my ,,hand4 #be,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even unto the end of the world4--,matt4 xxviii4 #bj4 ,the ,abiding ,presence4 ,such were the words of ,jesus when ,he was just about to ascend to ,heaven4 ,the mediatorial throne was in view--the harps of glory were sounding in ,his ears2 but all ,his thoughts are on the pilgrim ,church ,he is to leave behind4 ,his last words and benedictions are for them4 ,i go1 ,he seems to say1 to ,heaven1 to my purchased crown--to the fellowship of angels--to the presence of my ,father2 but1 nevertheless1 ',lo6 ,i am with you alway1 even unto the end of the world4' ,how faithfully did the ,apostles1 to whom this promise was first addressed1 experience its reality6 ,hear the testimony of the beloved disciple who had once leant on his ,divine ,master's bosom--who had heard1 and seen1 and looked upon ,him4 ,that glorified bosom was now hid from his sight2 but does he speak of an absent ,lord1 and of ,his fellowship only as among the holy memories of the past8 ,no6 with rejoicing emphasis he can exclaim--,truly our fellowship ,,is with 444 ,jesus ,christ4 ,amid so much that is fugitive here1 how the heart clings to this assurance of the abiding presence of the ,saviour6 ,our best earthly friends--a few weeks may estrange them2--centuries have rolled on--,christ is still the same4 ,how blessed to think1 that if ,i am indeed a child of ,god1 there is not the lonely instant ,i am without ,his guardianship6 ,when the beams of the morning visit my chamber1 the brighter beams of a brighter ,sun are shining upon me4 ,when the shadows of evening are gathering around1 it is not night1 if ,he1 the unsetting ',sun of my soul1' is near4 ,his is no fitful companionship--present in prosperity1 gone in adversity4 ,he never changes4 ,he is always the same1--in sickness and solitude1 in joy and in sorrow1 in life and in death4 ,not more faithfully did the pillar-cloud and column of fire of old precede ,israel1 till the last murmuring ripple of ,jordan fell on their ears on the shores of ,canaan1 than does the presence and love of ,jesus abide with ,his people4 ,has ,his word of promise ever proved false8 ,let the great cloud of witnesses now in glory testify4 ,not one thing hath failed of all that the ,lord our ,god hath spoken4 ,this word of the ,lord is tried--having loved ,his own1 which were in the world1 ,he loved them unto the end4 ,believer6 art thou troubled and tempted8 ,do dark providences and severe afflictions seem to belie the truth and reality of this gracious assurance8 ,art thou ready1 with ,gideon1 to say1 ,if the ,lord be indeed with us1 why has all this befallen us8 ,be assured ,he has some faithful end in view4 ,by the removal of prized and cherished earthly props and refuges1 ,he would unfold more of his own tenderness4 ,amid the wreck and ruin of earthly joys1 which1 it may be1 the grave has hidden from your sight1 ,one nearer1 dearer1 tenderer still1 would have you say of ,himself1 ,the ,lord liveth2 and blessed be my ,rock2 and let the ,god of my salvation be exalted4 ,thanks be to ,god1 who always maketh us to triumph in ,christ4 ,yes6 and never more so than when1 stripped of all competing objects of creature affection1 we are left1 like the disciples on the mount1 with ,jesus only6 ,,these ,,things ,,have ,i ,,spoken ,,unto ,,you1 ,,that ,,in ,,me ,,ye ,,might ,,have ,,peace4 #bf,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,i am the resurrection and the life3 he that believeth in me1 though he were dead1 yet he shall live4--,john4 xi4 #be4 ,the ,resurrection and ,life4 ,what a voice is this breaking over a world which for six thousand years has been a dormitory of sin and death6 ,for four thousand of these years1 heathendom could descry no light through the bars of the grave2 her oracles were dumb on the great doctrine of a future state1 and more especially regarding the body's resurrection4 ,even the ,jewish ,church1 under the ,old ,testament dispensation1 seemed to enjoy little more than fitful and uncertain glimmerings1 like men groping in the dark4 ,it required death's great ,abolisher to show1 to a benighted world1 the luminous path of life4 ,with ,him rested the bringing in of a better hope--the unfolding of the mystery which had been hid from ages and generations4 ,marvellous disclosure6 that this mortal frame1 decomposed and resolved into its original dust1 shall yet start from its ashes1 remodelled and reconstructed--a glorified body6 ,not like the earthly tabernacle 7a mere shifting and moveable tent1 as the word denotes71 but incorruptible--immortal6 ,the beauteous 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 this great truth1 which required the unfoldings of a more sure word of prophecy4 ,but the ,gospel has fully revealed what ,reason1 in her loftiest imaginings1 could not have dreamt of4 ,jesus hath brought life and immortality to light4 ,he1 the ,bright and ,morning ,star1 hath turned the shadow of death into the morning4 ,he gives1 in ,his own resurrection1 the earnest of that of ,his people2--,he is the first-fruits of the immortal harvest yet to be gathered into the garner of ,heaven4 ,precious truth6 ,this word of ,jesus spans like a celestial rainbow the entrance to the dark valley4 ,death is robbed of its sting4 ,in the case of every child of ,god1 the grave holds in custody precious1 because redeemed1 dust4 ,talk of it not1 as being committed to a dishonoured tomb6--it is locked up1 rather1 in the casket1 of ,god until the day when ,he maketh up ,his jewels1 when it will be fashioned in deathless beauty like unto the glorified body of the ,redeemer4 ,angels1 meanwhile1 are commissioned to keep watch over it1 till the trump of the archangel shall proclaim the great ,easter of creation4 ,they are the reapers1 waiting for the world's great ,harvest ,home1 when ,jesus ,himself shall come again--not as ,he once did1 humiliated and in sorrow1 but rejoicing in the thought of bringing back all ,his sheaves with him4 ,afflicted and bereaved ,christian6--thou who mayest be mourning in bitterness those who are not--rejoice through thy tears in these hopes full of immortality4 ,the silver cord is only loosed1 not broken4 ,perchance1 as thou standest in the chamber of death1 or by the brink of the grave1--in the depths of that awful solitude and silence which reigns around1 this may be thy plaintive and mournful soliloquy--,shall the dust praise ,thee8 ,yes1 it shall6 ,this very dust that hears now unheeded thy footsteps1 and unmoved thy tears1 shall through eternity praise its redeeming ,god--it shall proclaim ,his truth6 ,,lord1 ,,to ,,whom ,,shall ,,we ,,go ,,but ,,unto ,,thee1 ,,thou ,,hast ,,the ,,words ,,of ,,eternal ,,life4 #bg,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,a little while1 and ye shall not see me2 and again1 a little while1 and ye shall see me1 because ,i go to the ,father4--,john xvi4 #af4 ,the ,little ,while4 ,long seem the moments when we are separated from the friend we love4 ,an absent brother--how his return is looked and longed for6 ,the ,elder ,brother--the ,living ,kinsman--sends a message to ,his waiting ,church and people--a word of solace1 telling that soon 7a little while17 and ,he will be back again1 never again to leave them4 ,there are indeed blessed moments of communion which the believer enjoys with ,his beloved ,lord now2 but how fitful and transient6 ,to-day1 life is a brief ,emmaus journey--the soul happy in the presence and love of an unseen ,saviour4 ,to-morrow1 ,he is gone2 and the bereft spirit is led to interrogate itself in plaintive sorrow1--,where is now thy ,god8 ,even when there is no such experience of darkness and depression1 how much there is in the world around to fill the believer with sadness6 ,his ,lord rejected and disowned--,his love set at nought--,his providences slighted--,his name blasphemed--,his creation groaning and travailing in pain--disunion1 too1 among ,his people--,his loving heart wounded in the house of ,his friends6 ,but yet a little while1 and all this mystery of iniquity will be finished4 ,the absent ,brother's footfall will soon be heard1--no longer as a wayfaring man who turneth aside to tarry for a night1 but to receive ,his people into the permanent mansions ,his love has been preparing1 and from which they shall go no more out4 ,oh1 blessed day6 when creation will put on her ,easter robes--when her ,lord1 so long dishonoured1 will be enthroned amid the hosannahs of a rejoicing universe--angels lauding ,him--saints crowning ,him--sin1 the dark plague-spot on ,his universe1 extinguished for ever--death swallowed up in eternal victory6 ,and it is but a little while6 ,yet a little while1 we elsewhere read1 and ,he that shall come1 will come1 and will not tarry 7literally1 a little while as may be47 ,he will stay not a moment longer1 says ,goodwin1 than ,he hath despatched all our business in ,heaven for us4 ,with what joy will ,he send ,his mission-,angel with the announcement1 the little while is at an end2 and to issue the invitation to the great festival of glory1 ,come6 for all things are ready6 ,child of sorrow6 think often of this little while4 ,the days of thy mourning will soon be ended4 ,there is a limit set to thy suffering time1--,after that ye have suffered a ,,while4 ,every wave is numbered between you and the haven2 and then when that haven is reached1 oh1 what an apocalypse of glory6--the little while of time merged into the great and unending while of eternity6--to be for ever with the ,lord--the same unchanged and unchanging ,saviour6 ,a little while1 and ye shall see me6 ,would that the eye of faith might be kept more intently fixed on that glorious appearing6 ,how the world1 with its guilty fascinations1 tries to dim and obscure this blessed hope6 ,how the heart is prone to throw out its fibres here1 and get them rooted in some perishable object6 ,reader6 seek to dwell more habitually on this the grand consummation of all thy dearest wishes4 ,stand on the edge of your nest1 pluming your wings for flight4 ,like the mother of ,sisera1 be looking for the expected chariot4 ,,he ,,is ,,faithful ,,that ,,promised4 #bh,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,blessed are the pure in heart1 for they shall see ,god4--,matt4 v4 #h4 ,the ,beatific ,vision4 ,here ,is ,heaven6 ,this word of ,jesus represents the future state of the glorified to consist not in locality1 but in character2 the essence of its bliss is the full vision and fruition of ,god4 ,our attention is called from all vague and indefinite theories about the circumstantials of future happiness4 ,the one grand object of contemplation--the glory which excelleth1 is the sight of ,god ,himself6 ,the one grand practical lesson enforced on ,his people1 is the cultivation of that purity of heart without which none could see1 or 7even could we suppose it possible to be admitted to see ,him7 none could enjoy ,god6 ,the kingdom of ,heaven cometh not with observation 444 the kingdom of ,god is within you4 ,reader1 hast thou attained any of this heart-purity and heart-preparation8 ,it has been beautifully said that the openings of the streets of heaven are on earth4 ,even here we may enjoy1 in the possession of holiness1 some foretaste of coming bliss4 ,who has not felt that the happiest moments of their lives were those of close walking with ,god--nearness to the mercy-seat--when self was surrendered1 and the eye was directed to the glory of ,jesus1 with most single1 unwavering1 undivided aim8 ,what will ,heaven be1 but the entire surrender of the soul to ,him1 without any bias to evil1 without the fear of corruption within echoing to temptation without2 every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of ,christ2 no contrariety to ,his mind2 all in blessed unison with ,his will2 the whole being impregnated with holiness--the intellect purified and ennobled1 consecrating all its powers to ,his service--memory1 a holy repository of pure and hallowed recollections--the affections1 without one competing rival1 purged from all the dross of earthliness--the love of ,god1 the one supreme animating passion--the glory of ,god1 the motive principle interfused through every thought1 and feeling1 and action of the life immortal2 in one word1 the heart a pellucid fountain2 no sediment to dim its purity1 no angel of sorrow to come and trouble the pool6 ,the long night of life over1 and this the glory of the eternal morrow which succeeds it6 ,i shall be satisfied when ,i awake1 with ,thy likeness4 ,yes1 this is ,heaven1 subjectively and objectively--purity of heart and ,god all in all6 ,much1 doubtless1 there may and will be of a subordinate kind1 to intensify the bliss of the redeemed2 communion with saints and angels2 re-admission into the society of death-divided friends3 but all these will fade before the great central glory1 ,god ,himself shall be with them1 and be their ,god2 they shall see his face6 ,believers have been aptly called heliotropes--turning their faces as the sunflower towards the ,sun of ,righteousness1 and hanging their leaves in sadness and sorrow1 when that ,sun is away4 ,it will be in heaven the emblem is complete4 ,there1 every flower in the heavenly garden will be turned ,godwards1 bathing its tints of loveliness in the glory that excelleth6 ,reader1 may it be yours1 when o'er-canopied by that cloudless sky1 to know all the marvels contained in these few glowing words1 ,we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see him as ,he is4 ,,and ,,every ,,man ,,that ,,hath ,,this ,,hope ,,in ,,him ,,purifieth ,,himself ,,even ,,as ,,he ,,is ,,pure4 #bi,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,in my ,father's house are many mansions4--,john xiv4 #b4 ,the ,many ,mansions4 ,what a home aspect there is in this word of ,jesus6 ,he comforts ,his ,church by telling them that soon their wilderness-wanderings will be finished1--the tented tabernacle suited to their present probation-state exchanged for the enduring mansion6 ,nor will it be any strange dwelling3 a ,father's home--a ,father's welcome awaits them4 ,there will be accommodation for all4 ,thousands have already entered its shining gates1--patriarchs1 prophets1 saints1 martyrs1 young and old1 and still there is room6 ,the pilgrim's motto on earth is1 ,here we have no continuing city4 ,even ,sabbath tents must be struck4 ,holy seasons of communion must terminate4 ,arise1 let us go hence6 is a summons which disturbs the sweetest moments of tranquillity in the ,church below2 but in ,heaven1 every believer becomes a pillar in the temple of ,god1 and he shall go no more out4 ,here it is but the lodging of a wayfarer turning aside to tarry for the brief night of earth4 ,here we are but tenants at will2 our possessions are but moveables--ours to-day1 gone to-morrow4 ,but these many mansions are an inheritance incorruptible and unfading4 ,nothing can touch the heavenly patrimony4 ,once within the ,father's house1 and we are in the house for ever6 ,think1 too1 of ,jesus1 gone to prepare these mansions1--,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,what a wondrous thought--,jesus now busied in ,heaven in ,his ,church's behalf6 ,he can find no abode in all ,his wide dominions1 befitting as a permanent dwelling for ,his ransomed ones4 ,he says1 ,i will make new heavens and a new earth4 ,i will found a special kingdom--,i will rear eternal mansions expressly for those ,i have redeemed with my blood6 ,reader1 let the prospect of a dwelling in this house of the ,lord for ever1 reconcile thee to any of the roughnesses or difficulties in thy present path--to thy pilgrim provision and pilgrim fare4 ,let the distant beacon-light1 that so cheeringly speaks of a ,home brighter and better far than the happiest of earthly ones1 lead thee to forget the intervening billows1 or to think of them only as wafting thee nearer and nearer to thy desired haven6 ,would1 says a saint1 who has now entered on his rest1 that one could read1 and write1 and pray1 and eat and drink1 and compose one's self to sleep1 as with the thought1--soon to be in heaven1 and that for ever and ever6 ,my ,father's house6 ,how many a departing spirit has been cheered and consoled by the sight of these glorious ,mansions looming through the mists of the dark valley1--the tears of weeping friends rebuked by the gentle chiding--,if ye loved me1 ye would rejoice1 because ,i said1 ,i go unto my ,father6 ,death truly is but the entrance to this our ,father's house4 ,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 next6 a ,father's voice of welcome is heard-- ,,son6 ,,thou ,,art ,,ever ,,with ,,me1 ,,and ,,all ,,that ,i ,,have ,,is ,,thine4 #cj,,th ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,i will come again1 and receive you unto myself2 that where ,i am1 there ye may be also4--,john xiv4 #c4 ,the ,promised ,return4 ,another word of promise concerning the ,church's blessed hope4 ,orphaned pilgrims1 dry your tears6 ,soon the ,morning ,hour will strike1 and the sighs of a groaning and burdened creation be heard no more4 ,earth's six thousand years of toil and sorrow are waning2 the ,millennial ,sabbath is at hand4 ,jesus will soon be heard to repeat concerning all his sleeping saints1 what ,he said of old regarding one of them3 ,i go to awake them out of sleep6 ,your beloved ,lord's first coming was in humiliation and woe2 ,his name was--the ,man of ,sorrows2 ,he had to travel on1 amid darkness and desertion1 ,his blood-stained path2 a chaplet of thorns was the only crown ,he bore4 ,but soon ,he will come the second time without a sin-offering unto salvation1 never again to leave ,his ,church1 but to receive those who followed ,him in ,his cross1 to be everlasting partakers with ,him in ,his crown4 ,he may seem to tarry4 ,external nature1 in her unvarying and undeviating sequences1 gives no indication of ,his approach4 ,centuries have elapsed since ,he uttered the promise1 and still ,he lingers2 the everlasting hills wear no streak of approaching dawn2 we seem to listen in vain for the noise of ,his chariot wheels4 ,but the ,lord is not slack concerning ,his promise2 ,he gives you this word in addition to many others as a keepsake--a pledge and guarantee for the certainty of ,his return1--,i will come again4 ,who can conceive all the surpassing blessedness connected with that advent8 ,the ,elder ,brother arrived to fetch the younger brethren home6--the true ,joseph revealing ,himself in unutterable tenderness to the brethren who were once estranged from ,him--receiving them unto himself--not satisfied with apportioning a kingdom for them1 but1 as if all ,his own joy and bliss were intermingled with theirs1 ,where ,i am1 says ,he1 there you must be also4 ,him that overcometh1 says ,he again1 will ,i grant to sit with ,me on ,my ,throne4 ,believer1 can you now say with some of the holy transport of the apostle1 ,whom having not seen1 we love8 ,what must it be when you come to see ,him face to face1 and that for ever and ever6 ,if you can tell of precious hours of communion in a sin-stricken1 woe-worn world1 with a treacherous heart1 and an imperfect or divided love1 what must it be when you come1 in a sinless1 sorrowless state1 with purified and renewed affections1 to see the ,king in ,his beauty6 ,the letter of an absent brother1 cheering and consolatory as it is1 is a poor compensation for the joys of personal and visible communion4 ,the absent ,elder ,brother on the ,throne speaks to you now only by ,his ,word and ,spirit1--soon you shall be admitted to ,his immediate fellowship1 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 waters1 and with his own gentle hand wiping the last lingering tear-drop from your eye4 ,heaven an everlasting home with ,jesus6 ,where ,i am1 there ye may be also4--,he has appended a cheering postscript to this word1 on which ,he has caused us to hope3-- ,,he ,,which ,,testifieth ,,these ,,things ,,saith1 ,,surely ,i ,,come ,,quickly4 #ca,,st ,,day4 ,remember the words of the ,lord ,jesus1 how ,he said-- ,blessed are those servants whom the ,lord when ,he cometh shall find watching4--,luke xii4 #cg4 ,the ,closing ,benediction4 ,child of ,god6 is this thine attitude1 as the expectant of thy ,lord's appearing8 ,are thy loins girded1 and thy lights burning8 ,if the cry were to break upon thine ears this day1 ,behold the ,bridegroom cometh1 couldst thou joyfully respond--,lo1 this is my ,god1 ,i have waited for him8 ,,when ,he may come1 we cannot tell2--ages may elapse before then4 ,it may be centuries before our graves are gilded with the beams of a ,millennial sun2 but while ,he may or may not come soon1 ,he must come at some time--ay1 and the day of our death is virtually to all of us the day of ,his coming4 ,reader6 put not off the solemn preparation4 ,be not deceived or deluded with the mocker's presumptuous challenge1 ,where is the promise of ,his coming8 ,see to it that the calls of an engrossing world without1 do not foster this procrastinating spirit within4 ,it may be now or never with thee4 ,put not off thy sowing time till harvest time4 ,leave nothing for a dying hour1 but to die1 and calmly to resign thy spirit into the hands of ,jesus4 ,of all times1 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 watch1 when the summons is heard to leave the watch-tower to meet our ,god6 ,were you never struck how often1 amid the many gentle words of ,jesus1 the summons to watch1 is over and over repeated1 like a succession of alarum-bells breaking ever and anon1 amid chimes of heavenly music1 to rouse a sleeping ,church and a slumbering world8 ,let this last word of thy ,lord's send thee to thy knees with the question1--,am ,i indeed a servant of ,christ8 ,have ,i fled to ,him1 and am ,i reposing in ,him1 as my only ,saviour8--or am ,i still lingering1 like ,lot1 when ,i should be escaping--sleeping1 when ,i should be waking--neglecting and trifling1 when a long eternity is lying at my door8 ,he is my last and only refuge2 neglect ,him--all is lost6 ,believer6 thou who art standing on thy watch-tower1 be more faithful than ever at thy post4 ,remember what is implied in watching4 ,it is no dreamy state of inactive torpor3 it is a holy jealousy over the heart--wakeful vigilance regarding sin--every avenue and loophole of the soul carefully guarded4 ,holy living is the best1 the only1 preparative for holy dying4 ,persuade yourself1 says ,rutherford1 the ,king is coming4 ,read ,his letter sent before ,him1 ',behold ,i come quickly2' wait with the wearied night-watch for the breaking of the ,eastern sky4 ,let these ,words of ,jesus we have now been meditating upon in this little volume1 be as the ,golden ,bells of old1 hung on the vestments of the officiating ,high ,priest1 emitting sweet sounds to ,his spiritual ,israel--telling that the true ,high ,priest is still living and pleading in the ,holiest of all2 and that soon ,he will come forth to pour ,his blessing on ,his waiting ,church4 ,we have been pleasingly employed in gathering up a few crumbs falling from the ,master's table4 ,soon we shall have1 not the ,words but the presence of ,jesus--not the crumbs falling from ,his table1 but everlasting fellowship with the ,master ,himself4 ,,amen1 ,,even ,,so1 ,,come ,,lord ,,jesus4 ,wherefore ,comfort ,one ,another with ,,these ,,words4 #a ,,thess4 iv4 #ah4