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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Faithful Promiser, by John Ross Macduff
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Faithful Promiser
+
+Author: John Ross Macduff
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2008 [EBook #27344]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITHFUL PROMISER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heiko Evermann, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+          THE FAITHFUL PROMISER.
+
+
+             By the Author of
+
+           "THE WORDS OF JESUS,"
+      "THE MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,"
+                    ETC.
+
+
+"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great
+   and precious promises."--2 Pet. i. 4.
+
+
+                 NEW YORK:
+            STANFORD & DELISSER,
+             No. 508, BROADWAY.
+                   1858.
+
+
+
+
+The Faithful Promiser.
+
+
+It has often been felt a delightful exercise by the child of God, to
+take, night by night, an individual promise and plead it at the
+mercy-seat. Often are our prayers _pointless_, from not following, in
+this respect, the example of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the Royal
+Promise pleader, who delighted to direct his finger to some particular
+"word" of the Faithful Promiser, saying, "Remember Thy word unto Thy
+servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope!"
+
+The following are a few gleanings from the Promise Treasury,--a few
+crumbs from "the Master's Table," which may serve to help the thoughts
+in the hour of closet meditation, or the season of sorrow.
+
+  ST. M----,
+    _December_, 1849.
+
+
+
+
+1ST DAY OF MONTH.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins
+     be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
+     like crimson, they shall be as wool."--ISAIAH i. 18.
+
+Pardoning Grace.
+
+
+My soul! thy God summons thee to His audience chamber! Infinite purity
+seeks to reason with infinite vileness! Deity stoops to speak to dust!
+Dread not the meeting. It is the most gracious, as well as wondrous of
+all conferences. Jehovah himself breaks silence! He utters the best
+tidings a lost soul or a lost world can hear: "God is in Christ
+reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their
+trespasses." What! _Scarlet_ sins, and _crimson_ sins! and these all to
+be forgiven and forgotten! The just God "justifying" the unjust!--the
+mightiest of all beings, the kindest of all! Oh! what is there in thee
+to merit such love as this? Thou mightest have known thy God only as the
+"consuming fire," and had nothing before thee save "a fearful looking
+for of vengeance!" This gracious conference bids thee dispel thy fears!
+It tells thee it is no longer a "fearful," but a _blessed_ thing to fall
+into His hands? Hast thou closed with these His overtures? Until thou
+art at peace with Him, happiness must be a stranger to thy bosom. Though
+thou hast all else beside, bereft of God thou must be "bereft indeed."
+Lord! I come! As thy pardoning grace is freely tendered, so shall I
+freely accept it. May it be mine, even now, to listen to the gladdening
+accents, "Son! Daughter! be of good cheer! thy sins, which are many, are
+all forgiven thee."
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+2D DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."--DEUT. xxxiii. 25.
+
+Needful Grace.
+
+
+God does not give grace till the hour of trial comes. But when it
+_does_ come, the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace
+required is vouchsafed. My soul, do not dwell with painful apprehension
+on the future. Do not anticipate coming sorrows; perplexing thyself with
+the grace needed for future emergencies; to-morrow will bring its
+promised grace along with to-morrow's trials. God, wishing to keep His
+people humble, and dependent on himself, gives not a stock of grace; He
+metes it out for every day's exigencies, that they may be constantly
+"travelling between their own emptiness and Christ's fulness"--their own
+weakness and Christ's strength. But _when_ the exigency comes, thou
+mayest safely trust an Almighty arm to bear thee through! Is there now
+some "thorn in the flesh" sent to lacerate thee? Thou mayest have been
+entreating the Lord for its removal. Thy prayer has, doubtless, been
+heard and answered; but not in the way, perhaps, expected or desired by
+thee. The "thorn" may still be left to goad, the trial may still be left
+to buffet; but "more grace" has been given to endure them. Oh! how often
+have His people thus been led to glory in their infirmities and triumph
+in their afflictions, seeing the power of Christ rests more abundantly
+upon them! The strength which the hour of trial brings, often makes the
+Christian a wonder to himself!
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+3D DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always
+     having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
+     work."--2 COR. ix. 8.
+
+All-Sufficient Grace.
+
+
+"All-sufficiency in all things!" Believer! surely thou art "thoroughly
+furnished!" Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a
+glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never
+empty. A fountain, "full, flowing, _ever_ flowing, _over_flowing." Mark
+these three ALL's in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a
+golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace.
+"_All-grace!_"--"_all-sufficiency!_" in "_all things!_" and these to
+"abound." Oh! precious thought! My want cannot impoverish that
+inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and
+drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution: "Out of that fulness
+all we too may receive, and grace for grace!" My soul, dost not thou
+love to dwell on that all-abounding grace? Thine own insufficiency in
+every thing, met with an "all-sufficiency in all things!" Grace in all
+circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all
+the varied phases of the Christian's being. Grace in sunshine and
+storm--in health and in sickness--in life and in death. Grace for the
+old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak
+believer, and the tempted believer. Grace _for_ duty, and grace _in_
+duty,--grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand,--grace to drink
+the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit,--grace to have prosperity
+sanctified,--grace to say, through tears, "Thy will be done!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+4TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to
+     you."--JOHN xiv. 18.
+
+Comforting Grace.
+
+
+Blessed Jesus! How thy presence sanctifies trial, takes loneliness from
+the chamber of sickness, and the sting from the chamber of death! Bright
+and Morning Star! precious at all times, thou art never _so_ precious as
+in "the dark and cloudy day!" The bitterness of sorrow is well worth
+enduring to have thy promised consolations. How well qualified, thou Man
+of Sorrows, to be my Comforter! How well fitted to dry my tears, Thou
+who didst shed so many thyself! What are _my_ tears--my sorrows--my
+crosses--my losses, compared with Thine, who didst shed first Thy tears,
+and then Thy blood for _me_! Mine are all deserved, and infinitely more
+than deserved. How different, O Spotless Lamb of God, those pangs which
+rent Thy guiltless bosom! How sweet those comforts Thou hast promised to
+the comfortless, when I think of them as flowing from an Almighty
+_Fellow-Sufferer_,--"A brother born for adversity,"--the "Friend that
+sticketh closer than any brother!"--one who can say, with all the
+refined sympathies of a holy exalted human nature, "I know your
+sorrows!" My soul! calm thy griefs! There is not a sorrow thou canst
+experience, but Jesus, in the treasury of grace, has an exact
+corresponding solace: "In the multitude of the _sorrows_ I have in my
+heart, Thy _comforts_ delight my soul!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+5TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as
+     wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
+     not."--LUKE xxii. 31, 32.
+
+Restraining Grace.
+
+
+What a scene does this unfold! Satan tempting--Jesus praying! Satan
+sifting--Jesus pleading! "The strong man assailing"--"the stronger than
+the strong" beating him back! Believer? here is the past history and
+present secret of thy safety in the midst of temptation. An interceding
+Saviour was at thy side, saying to every threatening wave, "Thus far
+shalt thou go, and no farther?" God often permits His people to be on
+the very verge of the precipice, to remind them of their own weakness;
+_but never farther than the verge!_ The restraining hand and grace of
+Omnipotence is ready to rescue them. "Although he fall, yet shall he not
+be cast down utterly; and why? for the Lord upholdeth him with His right
+hand!" The wolf may be prowling for his prey; but what can he do when
+the Shepherd is always there, tending with the watchful eye that
+"neither slumbers nor sleeps?" Who cannot subscribe to the testimony,
+"When my foot slipped, Thy mercy, O Lord! held me up?" Who can look back
+on his past pilgrimage, and fail to see it crowded with Ebenezers, with
+this inscription: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
+from tears, and my feet from falling?" My soul, where wouldst thou have
+been this day, hadst thou not been "_kept_" by the power of God?
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+6TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "I will heal their backsliding."--HOSEA xiv. 4.
+
+Restoring Grace.
+
+
+Wandering again! And has He not left me to perish? Stumbling and
+straying on the dark mountains, away from the Shepherd's eye and the
+Shepherd's fold, shall He not leave the erring wanderer to the fruit of
+his own ways, and his truant heart to go hopelessly onward in its career
+of guilty estrangement? "My thoughts," says God, "are not as your
+thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Man would say, "Go, perish!
+ungrateful apostate!" God says, "Return, ye backsliding children!" The
+Shepherd _will_ not, _cannot_ suffer the sheep to perish He has
+purchased with His own blood. How wondrous His forbearance towards
+it!--tracking its guilty steps, and ceasing not the pursuit till He lays
+the wanderer on His shoulders, and returns with it to His fold
+rejoicing! My soul! why increase by farther departures thine own
+distance from the fold?--why lengthen the dreary road thy gracious
+Shepherd has to traverse in bringing thee back? Delay not thy return!
+Provoke no longer His patience; venture no farther on forbidden ground.
+He waits with outstretched arms to welcome thee once more to His bosom.
+Be humble for the past, trust Him for the future. Think of thy former
+backslidings, and tremble; think of His forbearance, and be filled with
+holy gratitude; think of His promised grace, "and take courage."
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+7TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the
+     day of Jesus Christ."--PHIL. i. 6.
+
+Sanctifying Grace.
+
+
+Reader! is the good work begun in thee? Art thou holy? Is sin
+crucifying? Are thy heart's idols, one by one abolished? Is the world
+less to thee, and eternity more to thee? Is more of thy Saviour's image
+impressed on thy character, and thy Saviour's love more enthroned in thy
+heart? Is "Salvation" to thee more "the one thing needful?" Oh! take
+heed! there can be no middle ground, no standing still; or if it be so,
+thy position must be a false one. The Saviour's blood is not more
+necessary to give thee a title to Heaven, than His Spirit to give thee a
+meetness for it. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is _none
+of His_!" "Onwards!" should be thy motto. There is no standing still in
+the life of faith. "The man," says Augustine, "who says '_Enough_,' that
+man's soul is lost?" Let this be the superscription in all thy ways and
+doings, "Holiness to the Lord." Let the monitory word exercise over thee
+its habitual power, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
+Moreover, remember, that to be holy, is to be happy. The two are
+convertible terms. Holiness! It is the secret and spring of the joy of
+angels; and the more of holiness attained on earth--the nearer and
+closer my walk is with God--the more of a sweet earnest shall I have of
+the bliss that awaits me in a holy Heaven. Oh! my soul, let it be thy
+sacred ambition to "Be holy!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+8TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
+     shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
+     weary; they shall walk, and not faint."--ISAIAH xl. 31.
+
+Reviving Grace.
+
+
+"Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" My soul! art thou conscious of thy
+declining state? Is thy walk less with God, thy frame less heavenly?
+Hast thou less conscious nearness to the mercy-seat,--diminished
+communion with thy Saviour? Is prayer less a privilege than it has
+been?--the pulsations of spiritual life more languid, and fitful, and
+spasmodic?--the bread of life less relished?--the seen, and the
+temporal, and the tangible, displacing the unseen and eternal? Art thou
+sinking down into this state of drowsy self-contentment, this
+conformity-life with the world, forfeiting all the happiness of true
+religion, and risking and endangering the better life to come? Arise!
+call upon thy God! "Wilt thou not revive us, O Lord?" He might have
+returned nothing but the withering repulse, "How often would I have
+gathered thee; but thou wouldst not!" "Ephraim is joined to his idols;
+let him alone!" But "in wrath He remembers mercy." "They _shall_ revive
+as the corn." "The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." How and where is
+reviving grace to be found? He gives thee, in this precious promise, the
+key. It is on thy bended _knees_--by a return to thy deserted and
+unfrequented chamber! "_They that wait upon the Lord!_" "Wait on the
+Lord; be of good cheer, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I
+say, on the Lord!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+9TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "The righteous shall hold on his way."--JOB xvii. 9.
+
+Persevering Grace.
+
+
+Reader! how comforting to thee amid the ebbings and flowings of thy
+changing history, to know that the change is all with thee, and not with
+thy God! Thy spiritual bark may be tossed on waves of temptation, in
+many a dark midnight. Thou mayest think thy pilot hath left thee, and be
+ready continually to say, "Where is my God?" But fear not! The bark
+which bears thy spiritual destinies is in better hands than thine; a
+golden chain of covenant love links it to the eternal throne! That chain
+can never snap asunder. He who holds it in His hand gives thee _this_ as
+the pledge of thy safety,--"Because I live, ye shall live also." "Why
+art thou then cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within
+me? _hope thou in God!_" Thou wilt assuredly ride out these stormy
+surges, and reach the desired haven. But be faithful with thyself: see
+that there be nothing to hinder or impede thy growth in grace. Think how
+little may retard thy progress. One sin indulged--one temptation
+tampered with--one bosom traitor, may cost thee many a bitter hour and
+bitter tear, by separating between thee and thy God. Make it thy daily
+prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my
+thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
+way everlasting."
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+10TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "I have the keys of hell and of death."--REV. i. 18.
+
+Dying Grace.
+
+
+And from whom could dying grace come so welcome, as from Thee, O
+blessed Jesus? Not only is Thy name, "The Abolisher of Death;" but Thou
+didst thyself _die_! Thou hast sanctified the grave by Thine own
+presence, and divested it of all its terrors. My soul! art thou at times
+afraid of this, thy last enemy? If the rest of thy pilgrimage-way be
+peaceful and unclouded, rests there a dark and portentous shadow over
+the terminating portals? Fear not! When that dismal entrance is reached,
+He who has "the keys of the grave and of death" suspended at His golden
+girdle, will impart grace to bear thee through. It is the messenger of
+peace. Thy Saviour calls thee! The promptings of nature, when, at first,
+thou seest the darkening waves, may be that of the affrighted disciples,
+when they said, "It is a spirit, and cried out for fear!" But a gentle
+voice will be heard high above the storm, "It is I! Be not afraid!"
+Death, indeed, as the wages of sin, must, even by the believer, be
+regarded as an enemy. But, oh! blessed thought, it is thy _last_
+enemy--the cause of thy last tear. In a few brief moments after that
+tear is shed, thy God will be wiping every vestige of it away? "O Death!
+where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God,
+who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" Welcome,
+vanquished foe!--Birthday of heaven!--"to die is gain!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+11TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "The Lord will give grace and glory."--PSALM lxxxiv. 11.
+
+After Grace, Glory.
+
+
+Oh! happy day, when this toilsome warfare will all be ended, Jordan
+crossed, Canaan entered, the legion-enemies of the wilderness no longer
+dreaded; sorrow, sighing, death, and, worst of all, _sin_, no more
+either to be felt or feared! Here is the terminating link in the golden
+chain of the everlasting covenant. It began with _predestination_; it
+ends with _glorification_. It began with sovereign grace in a by-past
+eternity, and no link will be awanting till the ransomed spirit be
+presented faultless before the throne! Grace and glory! If the earnest
+be sweet, what must be the reality? If the wilderness table contain such
+rich provision, what must be the glories of the eternal banqueting
+house? Oh! my soul, make sure of thine interest in the one, as the
+blessed prelude to the other. "Having access by faith into this _grace_,
+thou canst rejoice in hope of the _glory_ of God;" for "whom He
+_justifies_, them He also _glorifies_!" Has grace begun in thee? Canst
+thou mark--though it should be but the drops of the incipient rill which
+is to terminate in such an ocean--the tiny grains which are to
+accumulate and issue in such "an exceeding weight of glory!" Delay not
+the momentous question! The day of offered grace is on the wing; its
+hours are fast numbering; and, "No grace, no glory!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+12TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
+     that He may abide with you for ever."--JOHN xiv. 16.
+
+Another Comforter.
+
+
+Blessed Spirit of all grace! how oft have I grieved Thee! resisted Thy
+dealings, quenched Thy strivings; and yet art thou still pleading with
+me! Oh! let me realize more than I do the need of Thy gracious
+influences. Ordinances, sermons, communions, providential dispensations,
+are nothing without Thy life-giving power. "It is the Spirit that
+quickeneth." "No man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
+Church of the living God! is not this one cause of thy deadness? My
+soul! is not this the secret of thy languishing frames, repeated
+declensions, uneven walk, and sudden falls, that the influences of the
+Holy Ghost are undervalued and unsought? Pray for the outpouring of this
+blessed Agent for the world's renovation, and thine own. "I will pour
+out my Spirit on all flesh," is the precursor of millennial bliss.
+Jesus! draw near, in thy mercy, to this torpid heart, as thou didst of
+old to thy mourning disciples, and breathe upon it, and say, "Receive ye
+the Holy Ghost." It is the mightiest of all boons; but, like the sun in
+the heavens, it is the freest of all: "For if ye, being evil, know how
+to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father
+in heaven give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+13TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them
+     who are the called according to His purpose."--ROM. viii. 28.
+
+Providential Overruling.
+
+
+My soul! be still! thou art in the hands of thy Covenant God. Were
+these strange vicissitudes in thy history the result of accident, or
+chance, thou mightest well be overwhelmed; but "_all things_," and
+_this_ thing (be what it may) which may be now disquieting thee, is
+_one_ of these "_all things_" that are _so_ working mysteriously for thy
+good. Trust thy God! He will not deceive thee,--thy interests are with
+Him in safe custody. When sight says, "All these things are against me,"
+let faith rebuke the hasty conclusion, and say, "Shall not the Judge of
+all the earth do right?" How often does God hedge up our way with
+thorns, to elicit simple trust! How seldom can we _see_ all things so
+working for our good! But it is better discipline to _believe_ it. Oh!
+for faith amid frowning providences, to say, "I _know_ that thy
+judgments are good;" and, relying in the dark, to exclaim, "Though He
+slay me, yet will I trust Him!" Blessed Jesus! to thee are committed the
+reins of this universal empire. The same hand that was once nailed to
+the cross, is now wielding the sceptre on the throne,--"all power given
+unto thee in heaven and in earth." How can I doubt the wisdom, and
+faithfulness, and love, of the most mysterious earthly dealing, when I
+know that the Roll of Providence is thus in the hands of Him who has
+given the mightiest pledge Omnipotence _could_ give of His tender
+interest in my soul's well-being, by giving _Himself_ for me?
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+14TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "All the Paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep
+     His covenant and His testimonies."--PSALM xxv. 10.
+
+Safe Walking.
+
+
+The paths of the Lord? My soul! never follow thine own paths. If thou
+dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than
+faith,--choosing the evil, and refusing the good. But "commit thy way
+unto the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass." Let this be thy prayer,
+"Show me _Thy_ ways, O Lord; teach me _Thy_ paths." Oh! for Caleb's
+spirit, "_wholly_ to follow the Lord my God,"--to follow Him when self
+must be sacrificed, and hardship must be borne, and trials await me. To
+"walk with God,"--to ask in simple faith, "What wouldst thou have me to
+do?"--to have no will of my own, save this, that God's will is to be
+_my_ will. Here is safety,--here is happiness. Fearlessly follow the
+Guiding Pillar. He will lead you by a _right_ way, though it may be by a
+way of hardship, and crosses, and losses, and privations, to the city of
+habitation. Oh! the blessedness of thus lying passive in the hands of
+God; saying, "Undertake thou for me!"--dwelling with holy gratitude on
+past mercies and interpositions--taking these as pledges of future
+faithfulness and love--hearing His voice behind us, amid life's manifold
+perplexities, exclaiming, "This is the way, walk ye in it!" "Happy,"
+surely, "are every people who are in such a case!" Happy, Reader! will
+it be for thee, if thou canst form the resolve in a strength greater
+than thine own: "This God shall be _my_ God for ever and ever; He shall
+be my _Guide_ even unto death!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+15TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."--REV. iii. 19.
+
+Love in Chastisement.
+
+
+Sorrowing Believer! what couldst thou wish more than this? Thy furnace
+is severe; but look at this assurance of Him who lighted it. Love is the
+fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! Kindled by a
+Father's hand, and designed as a special pledge of a Father's love. How
+many of his dear children has He so rebuked and chastened; and all,
+_all_ for one reason, "_I love them!_" The myriads in glory have passed
+through these furnace-fires,--_there_ they were chosen,--_there_ they
+were purified, sanctified, and made "vessels meet for the Master's use;"
+the dross and the alloy purged, that the pure metal might remain. And
+art thou to claim exemption from the same discipline? Art thou to think
+it strange concerning these same fiery trials that may be trying thee?
+Rather exult in them as thine adoption-privilege. Envy not those who are
+strangers to the refining flames,--who are "_without chastisement_;"
+rather, surely, the severest discipline _with_ a _Father's love_, than
+the fullest earthly cup without that Father's smile. Oh! for grace to
+say, when the furnace is hottest, and the rod sorest, "Even so,
+_Father_!" And what, after all, is the severest of thy chastisements in
+comparison with what thy sins have deserved? Dost thou murmur under a
+Father's correcting love? What would it have been to have stood the
+wrath of an unpropitiated Judge, and that, too, _for ever_? Surely, in
+the light of eternity, the heaviest pang of earth is indeed "a light
+affliction!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+16TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "If need be."--1 PETER i. 6.
+
+A Condition in Chastisement.
+
+
+Three gracious words! Not one of all my tears shed for nought! Not one
+stroke of the rod unheeded, or that might have been spared? Thy heavenly
+Father loves thee too much, and too tenderly, to bestow harsher
+correction than thy case requires? Is it loss of health, or loss of
+wealth, or loss of beloved friends? Be still! there was a _need be_. We
+are no judges of what that "need be" is; often through aching hearts we
+are forced to exclaim, "Thy judgments are a great deep!" But God here
+pledges himself, that there will not be one redundant thorn in the
+believer's chaplet of suffering. No burden too heavy will be laid on
+him; and no sacrifice too great exacted _from_ him. He will "temper the
+wind to the shorn lamb." Whenever the "need be" has accomplished its
+end, then the rod is removed--the chastisement suspended--the furnace
+quenched. "If need be!" Oh! what a pillow on which to rest thy aching
+head,--that there is not a drop in all thy bitter cup but what a God of
+love saw to be _absolutely_ necessary! Wilt thou not trust Him, even
+though thou canst not trace the mystery of His dealings? Not too
+curiously prying into the "_Why_ it is?" or "_How_ it is?" but satisfied
+that "So it is," and, therefore that all _must_ be well! "Although thou
+sayest, thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, _therefore_
+trust thou in Him!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+17TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not
+     quench."--MATT. xii. 20.
+
+Strength in the Weak.
+
+
+Will Jesus accept such a heart as mine?--this erring, treacherous,
+traitor heart? The past! how many forgotten vows--broken
+covenants--prayerless days! How often have I made new resolutions, and
+as often has the reed succumbed to the first blast of temptation, and
+the burning flax been well-nigh quenched by guilty omissions and
+guiltier commissions! Oh! my soul! thou art low indeed,--the things that
+remain seem "ready to die." But thy Saviour-God will not give thee "over
+unto death." The reed is bruised; but He will not pluck it up by the
+roots. The flax is reduced to a smoking ember; but He will fan the
+decaying flame. Why wound thy loving Saviour's heart by these repeated
+declensions? He will not--_cannot_ give thee up. Go, mourn thy weakness
+and unbelief. Cry unto the Strong for strength. Weary and faint one!
+thou hast an Omnipotent arm to lean on. "_He_ fainteth not, neither is
+weary!" Listen to His own gracious assurance: "Fear not, for I am with
+thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will _strengthen_ thee; yea,
+I will help thee with the right hand of my righteousness!" Leaving all
+thy false props and refuges, be this thy resolve: "In the Lord put I my
+trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+18TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
+     out."--JOHN vi. 37.
+
+Encouragement to the Desponding.
+
+
+"Cast out!" My soul! how oft might this have been thy history! Thou
+hast cast off thy God,--might He not oft have "cast out" thee? Yes! cast
+thee out as fuel for the fire of His wrath,--a sapless, fruitless
+cumberer. And yet, notwithstanding all thine ungrateful requital for His
+unmerited forbearance, He is still declaring, "As I live, saith the
+Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." Thy sins may
+be legion-like,--the sand of the sea may be their befitting type,--the
+thought of their turpitude and aggravation may be ready to overwhelm
+thee; but be still! thy patient God waits to be gracious! Oh! be deeply
+humbled and softened because of thy guilt, resolve to dedicate thyself
+anew to His service, and so coming, "He will _by no means_ cast thee
+out!" Despond not by reason of former shortcomings,--thy sins are great,
+but thy Saviour's merits are greater. He is willing to forget all the
+past, and sink it in oblivion, if there be present love, and the promise
+of future obedience. "Simon, son of Jonas, _lovest thou me_?" Ah! how
+different is God's verdict from man's! After such sins as thine, man's
+sentence would have been, "_I_ will in nowise receive!" But "it is
+better to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of man;" for
+He says, "I will in _nowise_ cast out!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+19TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world
+     giveth."--JOHN xiv. 27.
+
+Peace in Believing.
+
+
+"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."
+"Perfect peace!"--what a blessed attainment! My soul! is it thine? Sure
+I am it is _not_, if thou art seeking it in a perishable world, or in
+the perishable creature, or in thy perishable self. Although thou hast
+all that the world would call enviable and happy, unless thou hast peace
+_in_ God, and _with_ God, all else is unworthy of the name;--a spurious
+thing, which the first breath of adversity will shatter, and the hour of
+death utterly annihilate! Perfect peace! What is it? It is the peace of
+forgiveness. It is the peace arising out of a sense of God reconciled
+through the blood of the everlasting covenant,--resting sweetly on the
+bosom, and the work of Jesus,--to Him committing thine eternal all. My
+soul! stay thyself on God, that so this blessed peace may be thine. Thou
+hast tried the world. It has deceived thee. Prop after prop of earthly
+scaffolding has yielded, and tottered, and fallen. Has thy God ever done
+so? Ah! this false and counterfeit world-peace may do well for the
+world's work, and the world's day of prosperity. But test it in the hour
+of sorrow; and what can it do for thee when most it is needed? On the
+other hand, what though thou hast no other blessing on earth to call
+thine own? Thou art rich indeed, if thou canst look upwards to Heaven,
+and say with "unpresumptuous smile," "I am at peace with God."
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+20TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."--REV. xiv. 13.
+
+Bliss in Dying.
+
+
+My Soul! is this blessedness thine in prospect? Art thou ready, if
+called this night to lie down on thy death-pillow, sweetly to fall
+asleep in Jesus? What is the sting of death? It is sin. Is death, then,
+to thee, robbed of its sting, by having listened to the gracious accents
+of pardoning love, "Be of good cheer, thy sins, which are many, are all
+forgiven thee?" If thou hast made up thy peace with God, resting on the
+work and atoning blood of His dear Son, then is the Last Enemy divested
+of all his terror, and thou canst say, in sweet composure, of thy dying
+couch and dying hour,--"I will both lay me down in peace and sleep,
+because Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell in safety!" Reader! ponder that
+solemn question, "Am I ready to die? Am I living as I should wish I had
+done when that last hour arrives?" And when shall it arrive? To-morrow
+is not thine. "Verily, there may be but a step between thee and death."
+Oh! solve the question speedily,--risk no doubts and no peradventure.
+Every day is proclaiming anew the lesson, "The race is not to the swift,
+nor the battle to the strong." Seek to live, so that that hour cannot
+come upon thee too soon, or too unexpectedly. Live a dying life! How
+blessed to live,--how blessed to die, with the consciousness, that there
+may be but a step between thee and glory!
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+21ST DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."--GAL. vi. 9.
+
+A Due Reaping.
+
+
+Believer! all the glory of thy salvation belongs to Jesus,--none to
+thyself; every jewel in thine eternal crown is His,--purchased by His
+blood, and polished by His Spirit. The confession of time will be the
+ascription of all eternity: "By the grace of God I am what I am!" But
+though "all be of grace," thy God calls thee to personal strenuousness
+in the work of thy high calling;--to "labour," to "fight," to "wrestle,"
+to "_agonize_;" and the heavenly reaping will be in proportion to the
+earthly sowing: "He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly;
+and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully!" What an
+incentive to holy living, and increased spiritual attainments! My soul!
+wouldst thou be a star shining high and bright in the firmament of
+glory?--wouldst thou receive the ten-talent recompense? Then be not
+weary. Gird on thine armour for fresh conquests. Be gaining daily some
+new victory over sin. Deny thyself. Be a willing cross-bearer for thy
+Lord's sake. Do good to all men as thou hast opportunity; be patient
+under provocation, "slow to wrath," resigned in trial. Let the world
+take knowledge of thee that thou art wearing Christ's livery, and
+bearing Christ's spirit, and sharing Christ's cross. And when the
+reaping time comes, He who has promised that the cup of cold water
+cannot go unrecompensed, will not suffer thee to lose thy reward!
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+22D DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "The days of thy mourning shall be ended."--ISAIAH lx. 20.
+
+An End of Weeping.
+
+
+Christ's people are a weeping band, though there be much in this lovely
+world to make them joyous and happy. Yet when they think of sin--their
+own sin, and the unblushing sins of a world in which their God is
+dishonoured--need we wonder at their tears?--that they should be called
+"Mourners," and their pilgrimage-home a "Valley of Tears?" Bereavement,
+and sickness, and poverty, and death, following the track of sin, add to
+their mourning experience; and with many of God's best beloved, one tear
+is scarce dried when another is ready to flow! Mourners! rejoice! When
+the reaping time comes, the weeping time ends! When the white robe and
+the golden harp are bestowed, every remnant of the sackcloth attire is
+removed. The moment the pilgrim, whose forehead is here furrowed with
+woe, bathes it in the crystal river of life,--that moment the pangs of a
+lifetime of sorrow are eternally forgotten! Reader! if thou art one of
+these careworn ones, the days of thy mourning are numbered! A few more
+throbbings of this aching heart, and then the angel who proclaims
+"time," shall proclaim also, sorrow, and sighing, and mourning, to "be
+no longer!" Seek now to mourn thy sins more than thy sorrows; reserve
+thy bitterest tears for forgetfulness of thy dear Lord. The saddest and
+sorest of all bereavements, is when the sins which have separated thee
+from Him, evoke the anguish-cry, "Where is my God?"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+23D DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "Behold, I come quickly."--REV. iii. 11.
+
+A Speedy Coming.
+
+
+"Even so! come, Lord Jesus!" "Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot?" Six
+thousand years this world has rolled on, getting hoary with age, and
+wrinkled with sins and sorrows. A waiting Church sees the long-drawn
+shadows of twilight announcing, "The Lord is at hand." Prepare, my soul,
+to meet Him. Oh! happy days, when thine adorable Redeemer, so long
+dishonoured and despised, shall be publicly enthroned, in presence of an
+assembled universe, crowned Lord of All, glorified in His saints,
+satisfied in the fruits of His soul's travail, destroying His enemies
+with the brightness of His coming--the lightning-glance of
+wrath,--causing the hearts of His exulting people to "rejoice with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory." Prepare, my soul, to meet Him! Let it be
+a joyous thought to thee,--thy "blessed hope,"--the meeting of thine
+Elder Brother. Stand oftentimes on the watchtower to catch the first
+streak of that coming brightness, the first murmur of these chariot
+wheels. The world is now in preparation! It is rocking on its worn-out
+axle. There are voices on every side proclaiming, "He cometh! He cometh!
+to judge the earth." Reader! art thou among the number of those who
+"love His appearing?" Remember the attitude of His expectant saints:
+"Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, will find
+WATCHING!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+24TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "At evening-time it shall be light."--ZECH. xiv. 7.
+
+Eventide Light.
+
+
+How inspiring the thought of coming glory! How would we rise above our
+sins, and sorrows, and sufferings, if we could live under the power of
+"a world to come!" Were faith to take at all times its giant leap beyond
+a soul-trammelling earth, and remember its brighter destiny. If it could
+stand on its Pisgah Mount, and look above and beyond the mists and
+vapours of this land of shadows, and rest on the "better country." But,
+alas! in spite of ourselves, the wings ofttimes refuse to soar--the
+spirit droops--guilty fears depress--sin dims and darkens--God's
+providences seem to frown--God's ways are misinterpreted--the Christian
+belies his name and his destiny. But, "At eventide it shall be
+light."--The material sun, which wades through clouds and a troubled
+sky, sets often in a couch of lustrous gold? So, when the sun of life is
+setting, many a ray of light will shoot athwart memory's darkened sky,
+and many mysterious dealings of the wilderness will then elicit an "All
+is well!" How frequently is the presence and upholding grace of Jesus
+especially felt and acknowledged at that hour, and griefs and misgivings
+hushed with His own gentle accents, "Fear not! it is I; be not afraid."
+A triumphant death-bed! It is no unmeaning word; the eye is lighted with
+holy lustre, the tongue with holy rapture, as if the harps of heaven
+were stealing on it. My soul! may such a life's evening-tide be thine!
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+25TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know
+     hereafter."--JOHN xiii. 7.
+
+Heavenly Illumination.
+
+
+As the natural sun sometimes sinks in clouds, so, occasionally, the
+Christian who has a bright rising, and a brighter meridian, sets in
+gloom. It is not _always_ "light" at his evening-time; but this we know,
+that when the day of immortality breaks, the last vestige of earth's
+shadows will for ever flee away. To the closing hour of time, Providence
+may be to him a baffling enigma: but ere the first hour has struck on
+heaven's chronometer, all will be clear. My soul! "in God's light thou
+shalt see light;" the Book of His decrees is a sealed book now,--"A
+great deep" is all the explanation thou canst often give to His
+judgments; the _why_ and the _wherefore_ He seems to keep from us, to
+test our faith, to discipline us in trustful submission, and lead us to
+say, "Thy will be done!" But rejoice in that hereafter-light which
+awaits thee! Now we see through a glass darkly; but _then_, face to
+face. In the great mirror of eternity all the events of this chequered
+scene will be reflected; the darkest of them will be seen to be bright
+with mercy,--the severest dispensations, "only the severer aspects of
+His love!" Pry not, then, too curiously; pronounce not too censoriously
+on God's dealings with thee. Wait with patience till the grand day of
+disclosures; one confession shall then burst from every tongue,
+"Righteous art thou, O Lord!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+26TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am,
+     there ye may be also."--JOHN xiv. 3.
+
+A Glorious Reunion.
+
+
+If the meeting of a long absent friend, or brother, on earth, be a
+joyous event, what, my soul, must be the joy of thy union with this
+Brother of brothers, this Friend of friends! "I will come again!" Oh!
+what an errand of love, what a promised honour and dignity is this!--His
+saints to share, not His Heaven only, but His immediate presence. "Where
+_I am, there ye_ shall be also!" "Father, I _will_ (it was His dying
+wish,--a wondrous codicil in that testamentary prayer) that those whom
+Thou hast given me be with me where _I am_." Happy reunion! Blessed
+Saviour, if Thy presence be so sweet on a sin-stricken earth, and when
+known only by the invisible eye of faith, what must be that presence in
+a sinless Heaven, unfolded in all its unutterable loveliness and glory!
+Happy reunion! it will be a meeting of the whole ransomed family--the
+Head with all its members--the Vine with all its branches--the Shepherd
+with all His flock--the Elder Brother with all His kinsmen. Oh, the joy,
+too, of mutual recognition among the death-divided--ties snapt asunder
+on earth, indissolubly renewed--severed friendships reunited--the
+triumph of love complete--love binding brother with brother, and friend
+with friend, and _all_ to the Elder Brother! My soul! what thinkest thou
+of this Heaven? Remember who it is that Jesus says shall sit with Him
+upon His throne,--"Him that overcometh."
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+27TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever."--HOSEA ii. 19.
+
+Everlasting Espousals.
+
+
+How wondrous and varied are the figures which Jesus employs to express
+the tenderness of His covenant love! My soul! thy Saviour-God hath
+"married thee!" Wouldst thou know the hour of thy betrothment? Go back
+into the depths of a by-past eternity, before the world was; then and
+there, thine espousals were contracted: "I have loved thee with an
+everlasting love." Soon shall the bridal-hour arrive, when thine absent
+Lord shall come to welcome His betrothed bride into His royal palace.
+"The Bridegroom tarrieth;" but see that thou dost not slumber and sleep!
+Surely there is much all around demanding the girded loins and the
+burning lamps. At "midnight!" (the hour when He is least expected) the
+cry _may_ be--_shall_ be heard,--"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" My
+soul! has this mystic union been formed between thee and thy Lord? Canst
+thou say, in humble assurance of thine affiance in Him, "My beloved is
+mine, and I am His!" If so, great, unspeakably great, are the glories
+which await thee! Thy dowry, as the bride of Christ, is all that
+Omnipotence can bestow, and all that a feeble creature can receive. In
+the prospect of those glorious nuptials, thou needest dread no pang of
+widowhood. What God has joined together, no created power can take
+asunder; He betroths thee, and it is "for ever!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+28TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "This corruptible must put on incorruption."--1 COR. xv. 53.
+
+A Joyful Resurrection.
+
+
+Marvel of marvels? The sleeping ashes of the sepulchre starting at the
+tones of the archangel's trumpet!--the dishonoured dust, rising a
+glorified body, like its risen Lord's? At death, the soul's bliss is
+perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until
+reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of
+the valley. But tread lightly on that grave, it contains precious,
+because ransomed dust! My body, as well as my spirit, was included in
+the redemption price of Calvary; and "them also which sleep in Jesus
+will God bring with Him." Oh! blessed Jubilee-day of creation, when
+Christ's "dead men shall arise;"--when, together with His dead body,
+they shall come; and the summons shall sound forth, "Awake, and sing, ye
+that dwell in the dust!" All the joys of that resurrection morn we
+cannot tell; but its chief glory we _do_ know,--"When He shall appear,
+we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." Like Him!--My
+soul, art thou waiting this manifestation of the sons of God? Like
+Him!--Hast thou caught up any faint resemblance to that all-glorious
+image? Having this hope in thee, art thou purifying thyself, even as He
+is pure? Be much with Jesus now, that thou mayst exult in meeting Him
+hereafter. Thus taking Him as thy Guide and Portion in life, thou mayst
+lay thee down in thy dark and noisome cell, and look forward with
+triumphant hope to the dawn of a resurrection morn, saying, "What time I
+awake, I am still with Thee!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+29TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "There shall be no night there."--REV. xxi. 25.
+
+A Nightless Heaven.
+
+
+My soul! is it night with thee here? Art thou wearied with these
+midnight tossings on life's tumultuous sea? Be still! the day is
+breaking! soon shall thy Lord appear. "His going forth is prepared as
+the morning." That glorious appearing shall disperse every cloud, and
+usher in an eternal noontide which knows no twilight. "Thy sun shall no
+more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall
+be thine everlasting light." Everlasting light! Wondrous secret of a
+nightless world!--the glories of a present God!--the everlasting light
+of the Three in One, quenching the radiance of all created
+orbs--superseding all material luminaries. "My soul waiteth for the Lord
+more than they that watch for the morning!" The haven is nearing--star
+after star is quenched in more glorious effulgence--every bound over
+these dark waves is bringing thee nearer the eternal shore. Wilt thou
+not, then, humbly and patiently endure "weeping for the night," in the
+prospect of the "joy that cometh in the morning?" Strange realities! a
+world without night--a firmament without a sun; and, greater wonder
+still, _thyself_ in this world,--a joyful denizen of this nightless,
+sinless, sorrowless, tearless Heaven!--basking underneath the Fountain
+of uncreated light! No exhaustion of glorified body and spirit to
+require repose; no lassitude or weariness to suspend the ever-deepening
+song: "They _rest not_!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+30TH DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
+     glory that fadeth not away."--1 PETER v. 4.
+
+A Crown of Life.
+
+
+What! is the beggar to be "raised from the dunghill, set among princes,
+and made to inherit a throne of glory?" is dust and ashes, a puny rebel,
+a guilty traitor, to be pitied, pardoned, loved, exalted from the depths
+of despair, raised to the heights of Heaven--gifted with kingly
+honour--royally fed--royally clothed--royally attended--and, at last,
+royally crowned? O my soul, look forward with joyous emotion to that day
+of wonders, when He whose head shall be crowned with many crowns, shall
+be the dispenser of royal diadems to His people; and when they shall
+begin the joyful ascription of all eternity, "Unto Him that loved us and
+washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us KINGS----; to
+Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Wilt thou not be
+among the number? Shall the princes and monarchs of the earth wade
+through seas of blood for a corruptible crown; and wilt thou permit
+thyself to lose the incorruptible, or barter it for some perishable
+nothings of earth? Oh! that thou wouldst awake to thy high destiny, and
+live up to thy transcendant privileges as the citizen of a Kingly
+Commonwealth, a member of the blood-royal of Heaven. What wouldst thou
+not sacrifice,--what effort wouldst thou grudge, if thou wert included
+at last in the gracious benediction, "Come, ye blessed of My Father,
+inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world?"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+
+31ST DAY.
+
+"He is Faithful that Promised."
+
+     "God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall
+     wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
+     death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
+     pain: for the former things are passed away."--REV. xxi. 3, 4.
+
+The Vision and Fruition of God.
+
+
+Glorious consummation! All the other glories of Heaven are but
+emanations from this glory that excelleth. Here is the focus and centre
+to which every ray of light converges. God is "all in all." Heaven
+_without God_!--it would send a thrill of dismay through the burning
+ranks of angels and archangels; it would dim every eye, and hush every
+harp, and change the whitest robe into sackcloth. And shall I then,
+indeed, "_see God_?" What! shall I gaze on these inscrutable glories,
+and live? Yes, God himself shall be with them, and be their God: they
+shall "_see his face_!" And not only the vision, but the _fruition_. Oh!
+how does sin in my holiest moments damp the enjoyment of Him! It is the
+"pure in heart" alone who can "see," far more, who can enjoy "God." Even
+if he did reveal himself _now_, these eyes could never endure His
+intolerable brightness. But _then_, with a heart purified from
+corruption--a world where the taint of sin and the power of temptation
+never enters--the soul again a bright mirror, reflecting the lost image
+of the Godhead--all the affections devoted to their original high
+destiny--the love of God the motive principle, the ruling passion--the
+glory of God the undivided object and aim--the will no opposing or
+antagonist bias,--man will, for the first time, know all the blessedness
+of his chief end,--"to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever!"
+
+     "REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
+         WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"
+
+
+
+            All
+
+    The Promises of God
+
+          In Him
+
+    Are Yea and in Him
+
+           Amen.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected.
+
+11th Day: For consistency, "bypast" has been changed to "by-past".
+
+16th Day: For consistency, "1 PETER 1." has been changed to "1 PETER i."
+
+30th Day: The spelling of "transcendant" has been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Faithful Promiser, by John Ross Macduff
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAITHFUL PROMISER ***
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