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diff --git a/27344.txt b/27344.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6eca20 --- /dev/null +++ b/27344.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1607 @@ +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 *** + +***** This file should be named 27344.txt or 27344.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/3/4/27344/ + +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.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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