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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Faithful Promiser,
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<pre>
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: ISO-8859-1
*** 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.)
</pre>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
<div class="bordered titlepage">
<h1><span id="tpthe">THE</span><br /><br />
FAITHFUL PROMISER.</h1>
<p id="tp1"><span class="smaller">BY THE AUTHOR OF</span><br />
<br />
“THE WORDS OF JESUS,”
“THE MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,”
ETC.</p>
<hr class="micro" />
<p>“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises.”—2 <span class="smcap">Pet</span>. i. 4.</p>
<hr class="micro" />
<p id="tp2">NEW YORK:<br />
STANFORD & DELISSER,<br />
<span class="smaller">No. 508, BROADWAY.</span><br />
1858.</p>
</div>
<p><span class="hidden pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
<div class="figcenter">
<img src="images/title.png"
alt="The Faithful Promiser." title="The Faithful Promiser." />
<p class="hidden caption">The Faithful Promiser.</p>
</div>
<p>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 <i>pointless</i>, 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!”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>
<span class="indent1 smcap">St. M——,</span><br />
<span class="indent2"><i>December</i>, 1849.</span></p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
<h2>1st Day of Month.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“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.”—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> i. 18.</p></div>
<h3>Pardoning Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t01.png" alt="Pardoning Grace." title="Pardoning Grace." />
</div>
<p>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! <i>Scarlet</i> sins, and <i>crimson</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
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 <i>blessed</i> 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.”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p>
<h2>2d Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“As thy days, so shall thy strength
be.”—<span class="smcap">Deut.</span> xxxiii. 25.</p></div>
<h3>Needful Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t02.png" alt="Needful Grace." title="Needful Grace." />
</div>
<p>God does not give grace till the hour of trial comes. But when it
<i>does</i> 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 <i>when</i> the exigency comes, thou
mayest safely trust an
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
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!</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
<h2>3d Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“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.”—<span class="smcap">2 Cor.</span> ix. 8.</p></div>
<h3>All-Sufficient Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t03.png" alt="All-Sufficient Grace." title="All-Sufficient Grace." />
</div>
<p>“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, <i>ever</i> flowing, <i>over</i>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.
“<i>All-grace!</i>”—“<i>all-sufficiency!</i>” in “<i>all things!</i>” and these to
“abound.” Oh! precious thought! My want cannot impoverish that
inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and drawing
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
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 <i>for</i> duty, and grace <i>in</i> 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
<h2>4th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to
you.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 18.</p></div>
<h3>Comforting Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t04.png" alt="Comforting Grace." title="Comforting Grace." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>so</i> 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 <i>my</i> tears—my sorrows—my
crosses—my losses, compared with Thine, who didst shed first Thy tears,
and then Thy blood for <i>me</i>! Mine are all deserved, and infinitely more than
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
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
<i>Fellow-Sufferer</i>,—“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 <i>sorrows</i> I have in my
heart, Thy <i>comforts</i> delight my soul!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
<h2>5th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.”—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxii. 31,
32.</p></div>
<h3>Restraining Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t05.png" alt="Restraining Grace." title="Restraining Grace." />
</div>
<p>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;
<i>but never farther than the verge!</i> The restraining hand and grace of
Omnipotence is ready to rescue them. “Although he fall, yet shall
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
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 “<i>kept</i>” by the power of God?</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
<h2>6th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“I will heal their
backsliding.”—<span class="smcap">Hosea</span> xiv. 4.</p></div>
<h3>Restoring Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t06.png" alt="Restoring Grace." title="Restoring Grace." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>will</i> not, <i>cannot</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
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.”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
<h2>7th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ.”—<span class="smcap">Phil.</span> i. 6.</p></div>
<h3>Sanctifying Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t07.png" alt="Sanctifying Grace." title="Sanctifying Grace." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>none
of His</i>!” “Onwards!” should be thy motto. There
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
is no standing still in the life of faith. “The man,” says Augustine,
“who says ‘<i>Enough</i>,’ 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
<h2>8th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“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.”—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xl. 31.</p></div>
<h3>Reviving Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t08.png" alt="Reviving Grace." title="Reviving Grace." />
</div>
<p>“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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
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 <i>shall</i> 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 <i>knees</i>—by
a return to thy deserted and unfrequented chamber! “<i>They that wait upon
the Lord!</i>” “Wait on the Lord; be of good cheer, and He shall strengthen
thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
<h2>9th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“The righteous shall hold on his
way.”—<span class="smcap">Job</span> xvii. 9.</p></div>
<h3>Persevering Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t09.png" alt="Persevering Grace." title="Persevering Grace." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>this</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
within me? <i>hope thou in God!</i>” 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.”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p>
<h2>10th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“I have the keys of hell and of
death.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> i. 18.</p></div>
<h3>Dying Grace.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t10.png" alt="Dying Grace." title="Dying Grace." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>die</i>! 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
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 <i>last</i> 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
<h2>11th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“The Lord will give grace and
glory.”—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxiv. 11.</p></div>
<h3>After Grace, Glory.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t11.png" alt="After Grace, Glory." title="After Grace, Glory." />
</div>
<p>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, <i>sin</i>, no more
either to be felt or feared! Here is the terminating link in the golden
chain of the everlasting covenant. It began with <i>predestination</i>; it
ends with <i>glorification</i>. 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
thine interest in the one, as the blessed prelude to the other. “Having
access by faith into this <i>grace</i>, thou canst rejoice in hope of the
<i>glory</i> of God;” for “whom He <i>justifies</i>, them He also <i>glorifies</i>!”
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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
<h2>12th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you for ever.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 16.</p></div>
<h3>Another Comforter.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t12.png" alt="Another Comforter." title="Another Comforter." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
<h2>13th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose.”—<span class="smcap">Rom.</span> viii. 28.</p></div>
<h3>Providential Overruling.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t13.png" alt="Providential Overruling." title="Providential Overruling." />
</div>
<p>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 “<i>all things</i>,” and
<i>this</i> thing (be what it may) which may be now disquieting thee, is
<i>one</i> of these “<i>all things</i>” that are <i>so</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
seldom can we <i>see</i> all things so working for our good! But it is better
discipline to <i>believe</i> it. Oh! for faith amid frowning providences, to
say, “I <i>know</i> 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
<i>could</i> give of His tender interest in my soul’s well-being, by giving
<i>Himself</i> for me?</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p>
<h2>14th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“All the Paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep
His covenant and His testimonies.”—<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxv. 10.</p></div>
<h3>Safe Walking.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t14.png" alt="Safe Walking." title="Safe Walking." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>Thy</i> ways, O Lord; teach me <i>Thy</i> paths.” Oh! for Caleb’s
spirit, “<i>wholly</i> 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
<i>my</i> will. Here is safety,—here is happiness.
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
Fearlessly follow the Guiding Pillar. He will lead you by a <i>right</i> 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 <i>my</i> God for ever and ever; He shall
be my <i>Guide</i> even unto death!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
<h2>15th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> iii. 19.</p></div>
<h3>Love in Chastisement.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t15.png" alt="Love in Chastisement." title="Love in Chastisement." />
</div>
<p>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,
<i>all</i> for one reason, “<i>I love them!</i>” The myriads in glory have passed
through these furnace-fires,—<i>there</i> they were chosen,—<i>there</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
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 “<i>without
chastisement</i>;” rather, surely, the severest discipline <i>with</i> a
<i>Father’s love</i>, 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, <i>Father</i>!” 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, <i>for ever</i>?
Surely, in the light of eternity, the heaviest pang of earth is indeed
“a light affliction!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
<h2>16th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“If need be.”—<span class="smcap">1 Peter</span> i. 6.</p></div>
<h3>A Condition in Chastisement.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t16.png" alt="A Condition in Chastisement." title="A Condition in Chastisement." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>need be</i>. 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 <i>from</i> him. He will “temper the wind to
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
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 <i>absolutely</i> necessary! Wilt thou not trust Him,
even though thou canst not trace the mystery of His dealings? Not too
curiously prying into the “<i>Why</i> it is?” or “<i>How</i> it is?” but satisfied
that “So it is,” and, therefore that all <i>must</i> be well! “Although thou
sayest, thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before Him, <i>therefore</i>
trust thou in Him!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
<h2>17th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not
quench.”—<span class="smcap">Matt.</span> xii. 20.</p></div>
<h3>Strength in the Weak.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t17.png" alt="Strength in the Weak." title="Strength in the Weak." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
heart by these repeated declensions? He will not—<i>cannot</i> 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.
“<i>He</i> 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 <i>strengthen</i> 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?”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
<h2>18th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 37.</p></div>
<h3>Encouragement to the Desponding.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t18.png" alt="Encouragement to the Desponding." title="Encouragement to the Desponding." />
</div>
<p>“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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
and softened because of thy guilt, resolve to dedicate thyself anew to
His service, and so coming, “He will <i>by no means</i> 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, <i>lovest thou me</i>?” Ah! how
different is God’s verdict from man’s! After such sins as thine, man’s
sentence would have been, “<i>I</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 <i>nowise</i> cast out!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
<h2>19th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 27.</p></div>
<h3>Peace in Believing.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t19.png" alt="Peace in Believing." title="Peace in Believing." />
</div>
<p>“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 <i>not</i>, 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
<i>in</i> God, and <i>with</i> 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
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.”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
<h2>20th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“Blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> xiv. 13.</p></div>
<h3>Bliss in Dying.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t20.png" alt="Bliss in Dying." title="Bliss in Dying." />
</div>
<p>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,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
“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!</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
<h2>21st Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“In due season we shall reap, if we faint
not.”—<span class="smcap">Gal.</span> vi. 9.</p></div>
<h3>A Due Reaping.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t21.png" alt="A Due Reaping." title="A Due Reaping." />
</div>
<p>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 “<i>agonize</i>;” 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
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!</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
<h2>22d Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“The days of thy mourning shall be
ended.”—<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lx. 20.</p></div>
<h3>An End of Weeping.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t22.png" alt="An End of Weeping." title="An End of Weeping." />
</div>
<p>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,
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
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?”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
<h2>23d Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“Behold, I come quickly.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> iii. 11.</p></div>
<h3>A Speedy Coming.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t23.png" alt="A Speedy Coming." title="A Speedy Coming." />
</div>
<p>“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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
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
<span class="smcap">Watching</span>!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
<h2>24th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“At evening-time it shall be
light.”—<span class="smcap">Zech.</span> xiv. 7.</p></div>
<h3>Eventide Light.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t24.png" alt="Eventide Light." title="Eventide Light." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
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!</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p>
<h2>25th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know
hereafter.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> xiii. 7.</p></div>
<h3>Heavenly Illumination.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t25.png" alt="Heavenly Illumination." title="Heavenly Illumination." />
</div>
<p>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 <i>always</i> “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 <i>why</i> and the <i>wherefore</i> He seems to
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
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 <i>then</i>, 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
<h2>26th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there ye may be also.”—<span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 3.</p></div>
<h3>A Glorious Reunion.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t26.png" alt="A Glorious Reunion." title="A Glorious Reunion." />
</div>
<p>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>I am, there ye</i> shall be also!” “Father, I <i>will</i> (it was His dying
wish,—a wondrous codicil in that testamentary prayer) that those whom
Thou hast given me be with me where <i>I am</i>.” 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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
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 <i>all</i> 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.”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
<h2>27th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“And I will betroth thee unto Me for
ever.”—<span class="smcap">Hosea</span> ii. 19.</p></div>
<h3>Everlasting Espousals.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t27.png" alt="Everlasting Espousals." title="Everlasting Espousals." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
least expected) the cry <i>may</i> be—<i>shall</i> 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
<h2>28th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“This corruptible must put on
incorruption.”—<span class="smcap">1 Cor.</span> xv. 53.</p></div>
<h3>A Joyful Resurrection.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t28.png" alt="A Joyful Resurrection." title="A Joyful Resurrection." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
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 <i>do</i> 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
<h2>29th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“There shall be no night
there.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> xxi. 25.</p></div>
<h3>A Nightless Heaven.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t29.png" alt="A Nightless Heaven." title="A Nightless Heaven." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
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, <i>thyself</i> 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 <i>rest not</i>!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
<h2>30th Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away.”—<span class="smcap">1 Peter</span> v. 4.</p></div>
<h3>A Crown of Life.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t30.png" alt="A Crown of Life." title="A Crown of Life." />
</div>
<p>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
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
<span class="smcap">Kings</span>——; 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?”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
<h2>31st Day.</h2>
<p class="faithful">“He is Faithful that Promised.”</p>
<div class="blockquot"><p>“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.”—<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> xxi. 3, 4.</p></div>
<h3>The Vision and Fruition of God.</h3>
<div class="figleft">
<img src="images/t31.png" alt="The Vision and Fruition of God." title="The Vision and Fruition of God." />
</div>
<p>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
<i>without God</i>!—it would send a thrill of dismay through the burning
ranks of angels and archangels; it would dim every eye, and hush every
harp, and change the whitest robe into sackcloth. And shall I then,
indeed, “<i>see God</i>?” What! shall I gaze on these inscrutable glories,
and live? Yes, God himself shall be with them, and be their God: they
shall “<i>see his face</i>!” And not only the
<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
vision, but the <i>fruition</i>. 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 <i>now</i>, these
eyes could never endure His intolerable brightness. But <i>then</i>, 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!”</p>
<p class="remember">“<span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> <i>THIS</i>
<span class="smaller">WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED
ME TO HOPE</span>!”</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
<div class="figcenter">
<img class="bordered" src="images/promise.png"
alt="All the Promises of God in Him are Yea and in Him Amen."
title="All the Promises of God in Him are Yea and in Him Amen." />
<p class="hidden caption">All the Promises of God in Him are Yea and in Him Amen.</p>
</div>
<div class="tnotes">
<p><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></p>
<p>Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected.</p>
<p>11th Day: For consistency, “bypast” has been changed to “by-past”.</p>
<p>16th Day: For consistency, “<span class="smcap">1 Peter</span> 1. 6.”
has been changed to “<span class="smcap">1 Peter</span> i. 6.”</p>
<p>30th Day: The spelling of “transcendant” has been retained.</p>
</div>
<pre>
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