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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/43201-0.txt b/43201-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c397751 --- /dev/null +++ b/43201-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3278 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Multiplied Blessings, by Edward Hoare + + +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: Multiplied Blessings + Eighteen Short Readings + + +Author: Edward Hoare + + + +Release Date: July 12, 2013 [eBook #43201] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS*** + + +Transcribed from the 1907 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge +edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS + _EIGHTEEN SHORT READINGS_ + + + * * * * * + + BY THE LATE + REV. CANON HOARE + VICAR OF HOLY TRINITY, TUNBRIDGE WELLS + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + LONDON + SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE + NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. + 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. + BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET + NEW YORK: E. S. GORHAM + 1907 + + + + +PREFACE + + +THESE short readings, now published for the first time, are extracts from +the written sermons of the late Rev. E. Hoare, Vicar of Holy Trinity, +Tunbridge Wells from 1853 to 1894, and Hon. Canon of Canterbury. They +are taken, word for word, from his original MSS., and have been selected +with a view to giving practical help in the Christian life. Many of them +were written long ago, but the hindrances and difficulties that meet the +Christian continue much the same, and it is hoped that the following +pages may be used of God to bring before the reader the Lord Jesus Christ +as the Saviour, Guide, and Helper. + + K. A. H. + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS 5 +THE SAVIOUR SEEKING THE SINNER 12 +A DIVINE SALVATION 17 +FEELINGS 24 +A PEACEFUL DEATH-BED 28 +A PEACEFUL LIFE 33 +THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 38 +THE WITNESS—THE LEADER—THE COMMANDER 43 +FAITH AND EFFORT 49 +THE JOY OF THE LORD 54 +THE WORK OF THE LORD 58 +CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF FAITH 62 +THE COMING OF THE LORD 66 +“WITH” AND “BY” 71 +THE STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT 76 +A WILLING SERVICE 81 +FEAR NOT 86 +THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE 91 + + + + +MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS + + + “Thou art my hiding-place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou + shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. + + “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: + I will guide thee with mine eye.”—Ps. xxxii. 7, 8. + +WELL, indeed, may the Psalmist say, “Blessed is he whose transgression is +forgiven,” for every blessing flows into the soul as the consequence of +divine forgiveness. The word in the Hebrew rendered “Blessed” is in the +plural number, to show that there is not one blessing only, but +multiplied blessings and multiplied mercies, all springing from this one +source, the forgiveness of sin. When David wrote these words he felt the +truth of them. He spoke of a gift which he had himself experienced. He +had found mercy, so he proclaimed its richness. We know how grievously +he fell in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah, and we remember Nathan’s +visit. It was after that visit that, according to the general belief, +this Psalm was written. He had struggled with the agonies of unforgiven +sin, till at length the message was delivered to him by the prophet, “The +Lord, also, hath put away thy sin.” {5} No wonder, then, that he poured +out his heart in this hymn of thanksgiving, commencing with the words, +“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” + +But it is not merely a Psalm of thanksgiving, for according to the title +it was a Maschil, a Psalm giving instruction. When David was pleading +for mercy in Psalm li., he said that when he had found forgiveness +himself, he would make it known for the good of others, “Then will I +teach transgressors Thy ways.” {6} So now, having been forgiven, he +wrote this Psalm of instruction for others. + +“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” +These were the words with which David commenced his Psalm, and in these +words he said that to which every forgiven soul will most heartily add, +“Amen.” + +What was the peculiar character of that blessedness? We learn from +verses 3 and 4 the awful misery of sin unrepented and unforgiven. We +find how David’s tears were dried up by the burning heat of a guilty +conscience, and how the dreadful burden weighed day and night upon his +soul. Then in the next verse we are taught the secret of the great +transition from misery to peace. We find how he made up his mind to make +no further efforts to conceal his guilt. He resolved to confess it +before God, and no longer attempt to hide it from man. The result was a +complete, assured, and most merciful forgiveness. “Thou forgavest,” he +said, “the iniquity of my sin.” He was assured of the gift, but what was +the unspeakable blessedness to which, when forgiven, he was admitted? + +This we learn from the words of our text in which we find the peaceful +intercourse of the forgiven soul with God. It is that peaceful +intercourse which constitutes the real test of forgiveness, Christ died, +the just for the unjust, to bring us to God: so those who are made +partakers of that atoning work are actually brought to God and made what +the Psalmist calls “a people near unto Him.” {7} So it was in the case +of David. There was nothing to keep him any longer at a distance, and in +the full peace of complete reconciliation he enjoyed the unspeakable +privilege of communion with God. The account of this communion is given +us in the verses of our text, in the first of which we have the language +of the forgiven sinner to God, in the second the reply from God Himself. + + + +I. THE LANGUAGE OF THE FORGIVEN SOUL ADDRESSING GOD. + + +He that was afar off without any shelter from the rough storm of an +accusing conscience, is now able to look up to the God who has forgiven +him and say, “Thou art my hiding-place.” He finds his shelter and his +safety in the presence of that very God whose law he had broken. He does +not say, “Thou hast provided a hiding-place,” but “Thou _art_ my +hiding-place.” He who had been exposed without protection to the sore +buffetings of his own conscience, confirmed as it was by the just +sentence of God’s holy law, had been so completely restored that he had +found in God Himself a hiding-place. + +In that sacred hiding-place he realized two results, safety and praise. +When hidden there he was safe, just as our own life is safe when hidden +with Christ in God, and therefore he could say, “Thou shalt preserve me,” +and when hidden there he would live in the very atmosphere of +thanksgiving, so he said, “Thou shalt compass me about (or surround me) +with songs of deliverance.” A song of deliverance is a song of praise +from one that has been delivered. The Song of Moses was a song of +deliverance when he stood on the shores of the Red Sea after he had seen +the hosts of Egypt overwhelmed in the flood. {8a} David’s was a song of +deliverance when God had brought him up out of the horrible pit and +established his goings, and had put a new song in his mouth. {8b} The +song of the great multitude before the throne is a song of deliverance, +when, brought out of great tribulation, clothed with white robes and +palms in their hands, they sing, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon +the throne, and unto the Lamb.” {8c} + +Observe the connection between this safety and these songs of +deliverance. The songs are not merely the consequence of the safety, but +a part of it. Hidden in the Lord, we are compassed, or surrounded, by +them. Whichever way we look, whether forward in hope, or backward in +memory, or upwards in trust, there is in every direction something to +call forth the praise, and the spirit of thanksgiving is in itself a +protection against assault. + +There is just the same connection between praise and safety in the +description of the restored Zion: “Thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, +and thy gates Praise.” {8d} Praise is there represented as part of the +defence. The enemy cannot enter because the gateway is filled by praise. +The song of deliverance is so hearty and so loud that the voice of the +tempter is not heard. And thus it is that the forgiven man, hidden in +Christ Jesus, praises God, because he has been saved, and confirms his +safety by the very act of praising Him. Does not this teach us a lesson +as to our own communion with God? Whatever it is that weighs on the +heart and disturbs the spirit, whatever the storm be that beats upon us, +whether it be care from without or conscience within, whether it be the +pain of trouble or the still greater pain of the sense of sin, the +forgiven man may go straight to Him and say, “I flee unto Thee to hide +me.” {9a} And if hidden in Him, can anything really hurt us? Is not His +salvation a sufficient wall? Shall anything that can really hurt us +enter in by those gates which He has closed with praise? In holy peace, +then let the songs of deliverance rise before Him. Let the unspeakable +blessedness of the divine safety call forth the notes of thanksgiving. +If the sweet note of praise was heard by the prisoners from the inner +dungeon at Philippi, {9b} shall it not be heard by the whole church of +God from those who have found a hiding-place in their Lord? + + + +II. THE LORD’S REPLY TO THE FORGIVEN MAN. + + +Such, then, was the language of the forgiven man to the God who had +forgiven him. What reply did he receive? “I will instruct thee and +teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine +eye.” You will observe that what is here promised is His own divine +guidance and instruction, and you will see at once how appropriate such a +promise was under the peculiar circumstances of the case. David had +grievously fallen. He had been walking, in former times, in God’s way, +but had turned aside in a most awful manner. We do not know what was the +preparatory process in his mind. Perhaps he had forgotten his weakness; +perhaps he had grown self-confident and fell. But we see what God +promised now that he was restored. He undertook in future to keep him +Himself, by His own instruction and His own guidance. The Lord Himself +undertook to guide him, and so keep him safe from the danger of another +fall. + +There are two points in this promise. It was _in_ the way, not _about_ +the way, that God promised to guide him. When he was walking in the +narrow way God under took to walk with him there, and to hold him fast in +His own right hand till the journey should be complete, and the rest +reached at the end. Let us all learn the lesson that God’s teaching is +only found in the path of God’s commandments. If we choose to walk in +some way of our own choosing, we must not expect the guidance of the +Lord. + +Observe also what I may term the delicacy of the promise and the intimacy +of the relationship. God says, “I will guide thee with Mine eye.” + +When David was living in a state of impenitence, the strong hand of God +was upon him day and night. But now a look is enough. No force is +needed. The heart is tender, the ear is open, the eye is fixed on the +Lord Jesus, and the least intimation of His will is sufficient. The +passage seems to describe the eye of the Lord watching over His children, +and the eyes of His children fixed on the Lord. When the Lord Jesus +looked on Peter, Peter must have been looking on Him, and one look melted +his heart. And so when the Lord is guiding us, there is no need of +strong or violent discipline, of the wind, the storm, or the earthquake, +for the still small voice is enough. What is needed is that we should be +living looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, seeking +to know His will, drinking in His word, watching the guidance of His +providence, applying the principles of Scripture to common life, and so +not waiting till conviction is forced upon us, but, with a tender heart +and a ready mind, seeking hour by hour to do His will. It is in such an +attitude of mind that we can realize the sacred promise, “I will guide +thee with Mine eye.” + +Such, then, was the intercourse of this forgiven man with God. How +close, how intimate, how sacred, how blessed, the communion! And how +complete must have been the forgiveness that prepared the way for it. It +seems almost impossible to believe that this was the same man on whom +God’s hand had been heavy day and night, the same whose bones had waxed +old through his roaring all the day long, now forgiven, now brought into +happy intercourse with God. Does not the passage teach a wonderful +lesson to every soul that has been mercifully forgiven in Christ Jesus? +When we think of the precious blood of Christ, and how the Lord laid on +Him the iniquity of us all, can we suppose for a moment that the +forgiveness bestowed on us is less complete, or the restoration less +perfect, than that of David? Since, then, in his case, the insuperable +barrier of his guilt was so completely broken down that he was admitted +to this sacred and intimate fellowship, why should any one of us remain +at a distance? Why should not we, even we, go before the same Father to +find in Him our hiding-place, and receive from Him the same blessed +assurance, “I will guide thee with Mine eye”? May He accompany us +through life with that loving guidance and watch over every step we take +till, by His great grace, we are safe from danger. + + + + +THE SAVIOUR SEEKING THE SINNER + + + “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, + doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after + that which is lost, until he find it?”—ST. LUKE xv. 4. + +THERE are many amongst us truly and conscientiously seeking the Lord +whose souls are ill at ease, and whose hearts are far from peace. They +are feeling after Him, if haply they may find Him; but they are like +blind men groping for the wall, for they have not found Him, and they +have no firm resting-place for their faith. They have been reading many +passages about seeking the Lord, and have endeavoured to seek Him, but +they are sorely discouraged. + +Let us, therefore, change the subject, and instead of considering how +they are to seek the Lord, let us see how the Lord seeks them. Let us +look at the Divine side of the transaction, and instead of being absorbed +by the subject of the sinner seeking the Saviour, let us look at the +boundless grace of God which is shown by the Saviour seeking the sinner. + +It is the great subject of this chapter, which contains three +illustrations of the one subject, and thus forms an illustrated comment +on His words, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was +lost.” {13} According to those words He came for the lost, and came not +only to save them when they should succeed in finding Him, but to seek +them in order that He may save. He does not save without seeking, nor +does He seek without saving. Let us glean some lessons, from the +combination of the three illustrations, as to the loss of the sinner, and +the seeking of the Saviour. + + + +THE LOSS. + + +In all three cases the recovered one is said to have been lost. The +sheep was lost. The coin was lost. The son was lost. + +If we study the illustrations in detail we shall see that there are three +ways described in the chapter in which this loss is brought about. + +It is brought about, in the case of the lost sheep, through simple +ignorance and the folly of pursuing each passing object of attraction. +The wandering sheep has no particular intention of going wrong. It does +not set off with a deliberate wish to run away; it is simply led on step +by step by any attraction that lies beside its path. And is not this the +case with thousands of those who have wandered from the Shepherd’s care? + +In the second parable the loss is occasioned by the neglect of others. +The piece of money is lost through carelessness, without any fault of its +own. The person who had the charge of it took no heed to be sure that it +was safe. How many are there in exactly that position? They have been +lost, humanly speaking, through want of care. + +But the third character is quite distinct from both the others. The +Prodigal Son was lost because he deliberately and determinately left his +father’s home. He was totally unlike the wandering sheep led on from +step to step without a plan, for he had a plan, and he deliberately +carried it out. This, then, is far the worst of the three. It +represents one living in the midst of privileges, but deliberately +casting away his faith. He has life and death brought before him, and he +chooses death, or, at all events, he chooses that which leads to death. +Oh! how marvellous is the boundless grace and mercy of our God, that He +should go out of His way to seek and to save any one so unthankful and so +guilty! + + + +THE SEEKING OF THE SAVIOUR. + + +He seeks by coming Himself as the Son of Man. The Shepherd leaving the +fold and going forth into the wilderness to seek the wanderer, is a +picture of the Son of God leaving the glory which He had with the Father +before the world was, and visiting this fallen world as the Son of man, +in order that He might seek, and, by His atoning blood, might save the +sinner. We shall never understand His grace in seeking us if we do not +realize that great act of His already complete. This great finished work +of His is the foundation of all that follows, and if we want to +understand the mystery of His love in seeking us we must begin with the +two great facts, Incarnation and Atonement. Why did He become man? Why +was He born at Bethlehem? Was it not because He came on a divine mission +to seek the sinner? Why did He die? Why did He utter that bitter cry +upon the cross? Was it not that He might remove the curse by bearing it, +and having broken down every barrier, might have the joy of bringing the +lost one to the Father’s home? You, then, who are anxious about your +souls, and whose earnest desire it is to be sought out and saved, +remember what the Son of man has already done; fall back on the finished +fact; and never forget that however doubtful you may be as to your own +position, there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that the Son of God +has come to seek the lost one and to save him by His blood. + + + +HE SEEKS THROUGH HUMAN AGENCY. + + +I cannot think that the woman lighting a candle and sweeping the house +represents the Saviour. She is generally, and I think correctly, thought +to represent the Church. If this be the case it may serve to teach how +the whole Church of Christ ought to be entirely engaged in carrying out +the sacred mission of our Blessed Lord. It is not the Spirit alone that +is to say “Come,” {15} but the Bride and all that hear the message. He +has become man and died for us, but we are to light the candle, sweep the +house, and seek diligently till we find the lost ones. We are to spare +no effort for their recovery: we are to search them out; we are to let +them know that there is a Christian friend anxious for their safety, and +that there will not only be joy amongst the angels of God, but a hearty +welcome amongst His people on earth for any poor lost one brought in +lowly repentance to the feet of the Blessed Saviour, there to find pardon +and recovery. + +And what are we to say of the third parable, for we find no mention of +the seeking there. But we find the divine act most remarkably +represented, for there we may see how God Himself seeks the wanderer. We +do not see the father doing it in the parable, but we do see how God +Himself does it in fact. We there see the work both of His providence +and of His Spirit. Of His providence, for the Father in heaven both +sought and found him, just as He is doing with thousands now. He took +from him one thing after another till all hope was gone, and he envied +even the swine their meal. God was seeking him, so He broke him down and +crushed him on purpose that He might save. + +But God did much more than bring him into trouble, for trouble very often +does nothing but harden. But in this case the Spirit of God was seeking +him, so that it was a trouble blessed by the Spirit, and he was led with +a broken heart to say, “Father, I have sinned.” + +See how God Himself sought him and brought him to true repentance. He +was far away from the hand of man. He was lost to his father’s home. +But he was never lost sight of by God. There was a loving eye watching +him, and a loving care seeking him, so that though lost to man he was not +lost to God, and his father with a full heart was able at length to say, +“This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” + + + + +A DIVINE SALVATION + + + “Salvation is of the Lord.”—JONAH ii. 9. + + “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that + pertain onto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that + hath called us to glory and virtue.”—2 ST. PETER i. 3. + +NO one can read his Bible without being convinced that it is full of +practical exhortations as to human conduct and human effort. Those who +are seeking the Lord Jesus Christ are exhorted to repent, to believe, to +be converted, to seek, to come, and to follow on to know the Lord. Hence +it follows that as we are very apt to see only one side of anything at a +time, there is a great tendency to dwell exclusively on human action, and +to exhort, and to persuade, as if everything was in our own hands, so +that we may do just what we please, and when we please, in the great +matter of our soul’s salvation. People are apt to write and speak about +coming to Jesus as if it all rested with the sinner himself. But this, +though deduced from a truth, is not the whole truth of Scripture. We +find there beyond all doubt the warning, the offer and the invitation; +but we find also the clear description of a divine salvation, the plan of +divine wisdom, and the gift of divine grace. Accordingly in this passage +when St. Peter {17} is addressing those who had obtained like precious +faith with himself, he makes it perfectly clear at the very outset of his +letter that they had obtained it, not by the power of their own energy, +or the determination of their own will, but through the power of God, the +gift of God, and the call of God, “whereby were given unto them exceeding +great and precious promises.” {18a} + +Let us, therefore, turn our attention to the divine side of the great +transaction, and trace through four successive steps, the divine Saviour, +the divine salvation, the divine revelation, and the divine application. + + + +I. A DIVINE SAVIOUR. + + +It is not my business now to make any attempt to prove the divinity of +our Blessed Redeemer, for I take it for granted that we all admit the +great truths of Christianity. What I desire now to do is to point out +that, if saved at all, we are saved by a Person, and that that Person is +divine. The Lord Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour, and as a personal +Saviour, saves us from the death of sin. It is as much a personal act as +when a bold swimmer leaps into the ocean and saves a drowning man. + +Now it is plain that everything depends on the nature and power of the +person who saves us. If He be only man, then we can hope for nothing +more than a man-made salvation. The salvation will not rise above the +Saviour; but if He is divine, then we may rest on His divine omnipotence, +and look for the power of God unto salvation. Thus the divinity of the +Lord Jesus Christ is a matter of life and death to us. The question is +whether we are to save ourselves or be saved by our God. And this is the +issue which He Himself raised when He said, “I give unto them eternal +life.” {18b} The statement of that passage is that He, as a Person, +holds His people in His own hand, and holds them with omnipotent strength +because He is divine, for He and the Father are one. There, then, is +both the foundation and the keystone of our trust. We may see all kinds +of difficulties; there may be confusion, perplexity, and the cry of +distress in every direction, but according to His divine power God has +provided a divine Saviour, and in that Saviour we may rest, for He is the +Son of God. + + + +II. A DIVINE SALVATION. + + +The whole plan from first to last is divine. The world is full of human +plans, some of which are successful and some total failures. One man +contrives one thing and one another, but God alone planned the great +salvation. It was not in the power of ruined nature to restore itself, +so in boundless mercy and in His own divine omnipotence He provided a +plan of restoration. Thus the purpose is divine, His own eternal purpose +before the world was; the mode of reconciliation is divine, the release +of the sinner through the imputation of sin to the sin-bearer. The +propitiation was divine, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation +through faith in His blood.” {20a} The imputation of righteousness is +divine, “For God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we +might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” {20b} + +The work of sanctification is divine, “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who +of God is made unto us . . . sanctification;” {20c} and the final +gathering of God’s elect will be divine for “all that are in the graves +shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” {20d} + +It is most important to bear this well in mind, for it places the subject +beyond the sphere of human speculation. If a man starts a new system of +philosophy, or if people advocate any particular system in politics, we +are perfectly at liberty to criticise it. What one man does, another man +may criticise. But it is a very different thing with the salvation of +God. Once admit that it is a divine plan, arranged in divine wisdom and +carried out in divine power, and it is then manifestly beyond the reach +of human intellect. There may be things in it which seem to us very +mysterious; but what else can we expect when the infinite and divine +arrangements of God are subjected to the speculations of the finite mind +of man? If the whole salvation were of such a character as to present no +points of difficulty to the human inquirer, we might almost doubt its +divinity, and believe that as it is within the range of man’s mind, so it +had its origin in man’s ingenuity. But when we see it beyond the reach +of man, then we are taught by our own inability to fathom it, to regard +it as a plan above ourselves, for the simple reason that it is divine. + + + +III. DIVINE REVELATION. + + +But when we have acknowledged that the Saviour and the salvation are +divine, there remains a further question of the utmost possible +importance. It is this. In what way is this divine salvation made known +to mankind? Is it known by human discovery or divine communication? Do +we know it by thinking out the subject, or by receiving a revelation from +God? Surely the answer to this question is obvious, that a divine +salvation can only be known by a divine communication. The eternal +purpose of God can only be known by divine communication from Himself. A +supernatural salvation requires in the very nature of things a +supernatural communication from God. Thus an Apostle describes {21} the +faith, not as having been _discovered by_ the saints, but as having been +_delivered to_ the saints, delivered to them, that is, in God’s own +inspired Word. As God has planned a complete salvation, so He has given +a complete revelation of that salvation. He has not left us to grope for +it as blind men feeling for the wall; but has revealed His plan in His +own word, and taught us to rest in the scripture of truth as His own +revelation of His purpose of grace. + + + +IV. THE DIVINE APPLICATION. + + +To many this is the most difficult of the four points mentioned at the +outset. They are perfectly satisfied as to the divine Saviour, the +divine salvation, and the divine revelation in the Word of God, but have +found no little difficulty in the application of it to themselves. They +can see the chain with its three links hanging down from heaven over +their heads, but it is just out of their own reach, and as a poor dying +sailor once said to me, “I see the rope, but I cannot get hold of it.” +So they see the salvation, but cannot get hold of it as their own. If +there are any anxious on the subject, and earnestly desiring “to get +hold” on the great salvation, let them remember that what they really +want is for _the Saviour to lay hold on them_, and this is what He +practically does by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is the peculiar +office of the Holy Ghost to take of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ +and apply them unto us, and without that act of His we may struggle in +vain to reach the blessing. It is not enough for us to be told that God +has provided a perfect Saviour, that that Saviour has made a perfect +propitiation, and that by virtue of that propitiation the great salvation +is offered to us as a gift. We may be assured of all that and yet live +on without it, for we want in addition that which the human heart cannot +find in itself, the power to receive the gift and, receiving it, to live. +It is by this mighty power that those who sleep are awakened; those far +off are brought nigh; the bondsmen are set free; the dead made alive, and +those who are strangers and outcasts are made heirs of God through the +blood of Christ. + +There is no case too hopeless for the Lord’s salvation. There are many +who have been so utterly unsuccessful in their efforts to rise that they +begin to think there is something peculiar in themselves which makes them +an exception to the general offer of life and pardon. And there are +others who are longing for the salvation of some stubborn, unbroken +heart, but who have sought so long and so hopelessly that they almost +begin to despair. Now whether your anxiety be for yourself or others, +remember the divinity of the great salvation. If the whole is divine, +why should it not be sufficient? You say you are dead, but cannot the +divine power raise the dead? You say your sins are too great for pardon, +but is not the divine propitiation sufficient for them all? You say you +cannot produce even a good prayer, but does not the divine revelation +assure you that the salvation is a free gift even for those who have +nothing? + +Give up, then, all thought of working yourself up to salvation, for that +is a mere human process, and is certain to fail, but throw yourself +_before you are saved_ right away on the Saviour for His great gift of +salvation. Remember that the whole thing from first to last is divine, +and, because it is divine, as a little child trust it without the +slightest qualification, trust the promise, accept the gift, and may God +grant that you may be able to use as your own the words of the text, +“According as His divine power hath given unto me all things that pertain +unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who hath called +_me_ to glory and virtue.” + + + + +FEELINGS + + + “Love, joy, peace.”—GAL. v. 22. + +FEELINGS clearly have their place in the things of God. Our Christianity +is based on principles, but still it calls forth the feelings. Now there +are two great extremes into which we are apt to fall with reference to +Christian feeling. + +There are some whose religion seems to consist in feeling only. They +look for warm, bright emotions, they bring everything to the standard of +their feelings, and if they feel as they wish to do they are satisfied. +Their hearts are warmed by the things of God, and many a cold, phlegmatic +theologian would be a different being if he could but catch something of +their feeling. + +But still we must put in a caution, for feelings, however bright, are not +to be trusted unless they rise out of principle and end in practice. If +you have feeling only—a feeling not based on solid acquaintance with +Scriptural truth, it will rise like a bubble, and look as beautiful in +its colours, but it will burst as easily as the bubble does, and even at +its best estate can never bear the slightest pressure. Here, then, is +one extreme—the religion of feeling, of emotion, of impression, taking +the place of the religion of conviction, of principle, of faith. + +But there is another extreme: I mean the religion without feeling. Some +seem to think all emotion, or warmth, or fervour is enthusiasm, and +settle down satisfied with a cold reception of Christian truth. They may +be quite correct in their creed, and may really believe all the great +truths of the Gospel, but their system is to give no expression to +Christian emotion, and this has a wonderful power of chilling all around +them. + +We must not rest satisfied with an unfeeling consent to Christian truth. +We want to feel as well as to know, and to have the heart really warmed +by the tender love of our gracious Saviour. But here I suspect that I +shall be met by a great difficulty on the part of many of you, for this +feeling is exactly that which many cannot find. You can understand, but +you cannot feel. Your great trouble is, that there is such a dreadful +apathy over your whole soul that nothing seems to rouse it. If this is +the case consider— + + + +I. THE FEELINGS, HOWEVER WARM, CAN NEVER JUSTIFY, AND THE WANT OF +FEELING DOES NOT PREVENT JUSTIFICATION. + + +I have known persons who have long since given up all idea of being +justified by _works_, who still have a secret clinging to some idea of +being justified by _feelings_. If they could but feel more—more love, +more repentance, more warmth—then they think they could trust Christ for +their acceptance. They have learned, they think, to trust Him if they +have the feelings, but they would not venture to do so without them. + +Now, before they can be happy in Christ they will have to go a step +deeper, and learn to trust Him when they have not the feelings as well as +when they have. They must remember that our justification is entirely +dependent on His atonement and His righteousness, and so it is His free +gift, freely given to those that are dead in sin. Now a dead man has no +feelings. If, therefore, we wait for our justification until we have the +feelings we must wait till we are alive. But the language of Scripture +is, “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, +even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.” +{26} Your only hope, therefore, is to trust Him as you are, without +waiting till you are one atom warmer than you are at this present moment. +With your heart as cold as you now feel it to be, you must throw yourself +at once before His feet, and cry, “Lord, save me, I perish.” + +Closely connected with this suggestion is another, namely this— + + + +II. IF YOU WANT TO BE MADE TO FEEL, YOU MUST LOSE NO TIME IN GOING NEAR +TO A FATHER’S THRONE. + + +You will never feel warm while you stand shivering outside the city. You +must go inside, even while you are cold, and there have your heart warmed +by the Lord Himself. Remember that the great heart-warming subject is +the tender love of God as displayed in Christ Jesus. If the love of +Christ does not make you feel, nothing else will. Do not, therefore, +stand afar off gazing on your own coldness, but turn at once to the Cross +of Christ. Study Him in the garden bowed down under the heavy burden of +sin; study Him on the cross forsaken even of the Father, and remember +that all that was borne for you, even for you. Remember there was a +personal connection between Him and you in the whole of that great +transaction, and so abide, as it were, gazing on the Lord Jesus, on His +life, on His meekness, on His burden, on His cry. Pray God that you may +realize your part in the whole matter. Confess before Him your own cold, +dead, lifeless condition. Trust Him, as He died for you, to save you +from it; and so you may hope that, though you feel so cold as you +approach Him, you may experience something of His love when you gaze on +Him, and know something even of His joy when you go on your way justified +through His grace. + + + +III. REMEMBER WELL THAT FEELING IS THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THAT +YOU CANNOT WORK YOURSELF UP TO IT. + + +It is very clearly the work of the Holy Spirit to call forth feeling. He +does not act on the head only, but on the heart also. He opens the +understanding, but His great office is to make His people feel what they +already know. Thus of the nine fruits of the Spirit {27a} the first +three are all emotions. Their seat is neither in the head nor in the +practice, but they are all feelings of the heart, “Love, joy, peace.” +They all lead to practice, and all are founded on principle, but all +three are sacred emotions implanted there by the Holy Ghost Himself. + +If, therefore, your cold, unfeeling heart is a real sorrow to you; if the +trouble of your heart is that your sins trouble you so little, and that +you feel so coldly towards that Blessed Saviour who has felt for you so +deeply, rest not content, but throw yourself before God that the Spirit +of grace and of supplication may enable you to look upon Him whom you +have pierced, that He may take of the things of Jesus and show them unto +you; that He may call forth in your soul His own fruits of love, joy, and +peace, and that so He may answer you the Apostle’s prayer—“The God of +Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” {27b} + + + + +A PEACEFUL DEATH-BED + + + “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy + word: + + “For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.”—ST. LUKE ii. 29, 30. + +OUR thoughts are often directed to the blessed prospect of our Lord’s +return, and there cannot be a doubt that His personal coming is the +crowning hope of the Church of God. At the same time, it is most +important for us to be, if I may so express it, familiar with the thought +of the present heaven. The youngest amongst us may be cut down at any +moment, and the old amongst us must be convinced that our time is short, +and that our places must soon be filled by others. We ought, therefore, +to know where we are going, and what it is that awaits us when “the +earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved.” {28a} + +The words of our text, so often chanted in our churches, express a +sentiment to which, I fear, many who chant them are entire strangers, for +they express the peaceful readiness with which Simeon was looking forward +to his death. It had been “revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he +should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” {28b} He +had, therefore, spent his latter days waiting and watching for the +promised Christ, and at length, when the Child was presented in the +Temple, he saw in that Child the Messiah for whom he had been waiting, +and then it was that, his hope being fulfilled, he could bless God and +say, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.” + +There are three subjects suggested by his words. + + + +I. THE VIEW WHICH IS HERE GIVEN OF DEATH. + + +He does not speak of it as annihilation, destruction, or stupefaction, +but as a departure or removal from one place to another. If a person +were to depart from this place and go elsewhere, he would simply change +his home. Until he departs his home is here, but when he departs his +home is elsewhere. + +Is it not exactly the same when the spirit departs from its present home +and removes to the building of God, the house not made with hands, +eternal in the heavens? In this case, as in an earthly removal, +departure implies the continuance of life. Thus I rejoice in the many +passages in which death is spoken of as a departure. It was clearly the +idea in the mind of St. Paul, as when he said, “having a desire to +depart,” {29a} and again, “The time of my departure is at hand.” {29b} +When those we love are in far distant lands we see them not, but they are +there; our eyes cannot behold them, nor our ears hear their pleasant +voices, for they are far away, but that does not lead us to doubt either +their life, their intelligence, or their affection. Just so it is with +those that are gone. We no longer hear the voice, or look on the loved +countenance, but we are fully persuaded that, as spirits, they are living +elsewhere, that separation is not destruction, and that removal does not +involve the diminution of the intelligent powers of the living mind. + +But if death is thus a departure, where is the place to which the spirit +goes? Over this point there is a veil thrown in Scripture. If we were +to know all about it there would be nothing in the knowledge to affect +our practical conduct, so there is no knowledge given. Nor do we require +it, for one thing is told us, and that one thing is enough. If assured +of that one thing we want no more. What, then, is that one thing so +clearly revealed to us in God’s holy Word? Where shall we find an +account of it? Let us turn to the language of the Apostle Paul: “I am in +a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.” +{30a} He knew, therefore, that in his departure he should depart to be +with Christ, in the conscious enjoyment of His perceptible and +never-ceasing love. + + + +II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THE BELIEVER MAY DIE. + + +This is described in the words of Simeon, “Let thy servant depart in +peace.” Simeon could look forward to his dying hour in a tranquil spirit +of calm, resting peace. How often is there care on the heart of the +dying believer. A father may be leaving his wife and family, who have +been dependent on him for support; or a mother her children, with the +strong conviction that there is no substitute for a mother’s love. Let +no one suppose that there is no trial of faith in such a separation, and +that it is not, in many cases, very hard to trust. But in Christ Jesus +there may be peace even in such a parting, and the dying mother, if she +knows her Saviour, may trust her all into His loving hands, and say, “I +know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that +which I have committed unto Him.” {30b} She has committed her children +into His care. They are her deposit with God, and she may be at perfect +peace in the assurance that, though _she_ is departing, _He_ is +remaining, and will remain a faithful Saviour till every one of those +dear children is presented safe before His throne. + +Let no one suppose that it is not a very solemn thing to die, to be +suddenly cut off from everything of which we have ever had any +experience, and to launch out alone into an invisible world. It cannot, +therefore, be an easy thing to die in peace. But, thanks be to God, we +believe that the departing spirit passes at once into the loving presence +of our Redeemer, and why should there not be peace? I believe it is the +forgetfulness of this personal entrance into the personal presence of a +personal Saviour that sometimes seems to darken the dying hour. People +forget those few words, “Thou art with me,” {31a} and then they are +afraid. But when we rest on those words, and combine them with our +assured hope, knowing that He is now with us invisibly, and that we are +going to be with Him visibly, then we shall be able to say, as Simeon +did, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.” + + + +III. THE GREAT FOUNDATION OF SIMEON’S PEACEFUL TRUST. + + +His eyes had seen the salvation of God. What he had really seen was the +promised Messiah, that is, the Lord’s Christ. The little child was the +promised Saviour, and to him the Saviour was salvation. The Person and +the Gift were so bound together that they were as one. He could not know +the Person without the Gift, or enjoy the Gift except through the Person. +Thus our Lord, more than thirty years afterwards, spoke of Himself as +“the Salvation,” {31b} when He said, as He entered into the house of +Zacchæus, “This day is salvation come to this house.” Simeon had what we +cannot have, something material that he could handle and look upon. His +hand could handle and his eye could see the little child; and there +cannot be a doubt that there is in the human mind a craving after +something visible, tangible, and material. But we have nothing of the +kind; we cannot hold our salvation in our hands. Neither do we want it +there. It is safer in the hands of our Lord Himself. But though we +cannot say, “Mine _eyes_ have seen,” we can say, thanks be to God, “Mine +_heart_ hath seen,” and we can understand the words, “Whom having not +seen, ye love.” {32a} There is exactly the same union in that passage +between the Saviour and the salvation. Receiving Him we receive +salvation, and beholding Him with the eye of faith we behold, as it were, +our names written in the Book of Life. + +To behold the Saviour is a very personal matter. It is not merely to +behold Him like a monument on a distant hill, which we can admire, but +never enter; or as a harbour of refuge which we cannot reach. It must +not be with us as it was with Balaam when he said, “I shall behold Him, +but not nigh,” {32b} for the invitation to us is to draw near, and our +privilege is in our inmost soul to pour out our heart before Him, as +before One who knows all its secrets, and through His own most precious +blood has blotted out all its guilt. This has thrown a gleam of sacred +light into many a death-chamber. May God grant that it may be the same +with each of us. Let none of us rest until we can say, “Mine eyes have +seen Thy salvation,” till we not merely know that there is a Saviour, but +can rest assured that He has saved us, and has made us—even us—heirs of +God and joint-heirs with Himself in His kingdom. + + + + +A PEACEFUL LIFE + + + “To me to live is Christ.”—PHIL. i. 21. + +WE have studied the subject of a peaceful death-bed and I hope we learned +how to die. Let us now turn our thoughts to a peaceful life and +endeavour to learn how to live. The two things are bound fast together. + +Let us study what St. Paul meant when he said, “To me to live is Christ.” +When there is any one object, for which, and in which, a person lives, it +is not an uncommon thing to say it is his life. To a certain extent this +explains the expression, “To me to live is Christ,” for the Lord Jesus +Christ was the one absorbing object of St. Paul’s whole life. He thought +of Him; he leaned on Him; he trusted in Him; he loved Him, and he lived +for Him. He could not do without Him. If we look at the subject more in +detail we find three things very clearly taught us in Scripture. Our +life is hidden _with_ Him, dependent _on_ Him, and devoted _to_ Him. + + + +HIDDEN WITH HIM + + +In this stormy world we perpetually need a hiding-place, a shelter from +the storm, and a covert from the blast. And so in the great prophecy of +our Lord and Saviour revealed in Isaiah, we read of Him, “A man shall be +as an hiding-place from the wind.” {34a} But three centuries before +Isaiah uttered that prophecy David had learnt to hide under His care, and +said of Him, “Thou art my hiding-place.” {34b} The trouble from which he +was hiding was deep conviction of sin. In consequence of his sin the +hand of God had been heavy upon him day and night. But at length the +guilt of his great sin had been blotted out, and as a forgiven man he +could find shelter in the very God against whom he had transgressed. He +could hide himself in the love of Him against whom he had sinned, and +instead of finding the Lord’s hand heavy upon him, he could rejoice in +the thought that there was a wall of praise around him. Now just in the +same way our life is said to be hidden with Christ. “Your life is hid +with Christ in God.” {34c} It is not exposed to the rude shocks of the +outer world, but is hidden with Him. As _He_ is unseen, so _it_ is +unseen; but as _He_ is safe at the right hand of the Father, so is _it_ +safe, being laid up in perfect safety as a sure deposit in the +everlasting fidelity of God. It is on the safety of this deposit that +our whole life depends. If there were the slightest doubt about it we +should be like ships drifting on the wide ocean without either chart, +compass, or anchorage. But now we are safe because indissolubly bound up +with the Saviour, and so completely is our life identified with Him that +in the next verse He is described as “Christ our life.” He holds our +life in His right hand. He is the source, the fountain, and the main +spring of it all, so that we can well understand the words of St. John, +“He that hath the Son hath life.” {34d} + + + +DEPENDENT ON HIM + + +There is a struggle in the human heart for independence. The tendency of +the day is to throw off all dependence, and, with it, all submission. +“_I_ will,” “_I_ choose,” “_I_ think,” “_I_ determine,” “_I_ am +resolved,” is the self-sufficient language of these latter days. Now +such an one can never say, “To me to live is Christ.” If he say anything +it should be, “To me to live is self!” But see what a contrast there is +in the life of the believer. Turn only to one passage in Galatians. +There you find the “I” crucified; “I am crucified with Christ.” {35} But +though the “I” is crucified, there is a life that remains for +“Nevertheless I live.” And now what is the character of this abiding +life? The latter part of the verse describes it, “Yet not I, but Christ +liveth in me.” These words tell of a life of habitual dependence. It +all depends on the in-dwelling Saviour. His in-dwelling, that is life, +that is the secret of everything. But how is this indwelling realized? +How is it appropriated or experienced? It is clear that it cannot be +known by the senses. We cannot see, hear, or handle Him. We must not +look for anything material. Nor is it connected here with anything +Sacramental; but it is described as the unspeakable blessing of an +abiding faith, “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the +faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” + +We must not leave the passage without remarking two facts respecting that +love. + +(1) It was shown in propitiation. St. Paul did not merely say, “Who +loved me,” but adds, “Who gave Himself for me.” There are many proofs of +His love, but the crowning act of all is propitiation. It is the ransom +paid in full that is the one hope for the captive, and the supreme +evidence of the Redeemer’s love. + +(2) The love was not merely for all, but according to that passage, “for +_me_.” One individual is a mere unit in a crowd, no more than a grain of +sand in an Egyptian desert; so that it seems a very easy thing for any +one person to be lost in the multitude. But it is the office of God the +Holy Ghost to apply the work wrought out for _all_ to the special need of +_each one_. + + + +DEVOTED TO HIM + + +St. Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ,” for he could also say +without hesitation that the one thought of his life was his Saviour’s +glory. He lived for one object, and that one object is described as his +life. Now we hear a great deal of consecration in these days, and we +cannot hear too much, if only it is kept in its right place, for there is +far too little consecration to God amongst us. Consecration is the +surrender of the whole life to the Lord. It is the setting the Lord +always before us in all that He calls us to do. We have been loved by +Him, redeemed by Him, called by Him, and saved by Him; so now we are His. +We belong to Him altogether. Our powers are no longer our own, but our +Lord’s; our lives should be no longer occupied for ourselves, but for our +Lord; so that in us may be carried out the purpose of redeeming love as +described by St. Paul. “He died for all, that they which live should not +henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and +rose again.” {37} + +Shall we live for ourselves or for His glory? For the gratification of +self, or for the happy, holy, sacred service of Him to whom we owe all +that we have, and all that we hope for, our Blessed Lord and Saviour +Jesus Christ? + + + + +THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT + + + “Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”—ST. + JOHN xiv. 17. + +IN this verse our Blessed Lord spoke of the knowledge enjoyed by His +people. He spoke of the present, and the future; of that which they had +then at the time that He was with them, and of that which they were about +to enjoy after the Day of Pentecost, when He would be taken away from +them. With reference to the present He says “He dwelleth” (or, is +dwelling) with you, or amongst you; with reference to the future He says +“He shall be in you.” There are clearly, therefore, two great subjects +to be considered, the knowledge enjoyed by the disciples when the Lord +Jesus was still upon earth, and the knowledge enjoyed by all His people +ever since the Day of Pentecost. + + + +I. WHEN HE WAS ON EARTH. + + + “Ye know Him for He dwelleth with you.” + +The expression does not describe an internal union within the soul, but +an external companionship. The meaning is the same as when St. John +said, “There standeth one among you, whom ye know not.” {38} There they +were, a little company of disciples, and amongst them in the midst of +their society, in the room where they were assembled, was abiding, or +dwelling, the Spirit of Truth. + +Now what was the meaning of this declaration? Was it not this? That the +Holy Spirit was at that time dwelling amongst them as embodied and +manifested in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him it was said by +John the Baptist “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” {39a} +So it was said by St. Paul, “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the +Godhead bodily.” {39b} And by St. Peter we are taught that He was +anointed with the Holy Ghost, and God was with Him. {39c} + +Consider, then, the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, as +the human manifestation of the mind and power of the Holy Ghost, and you +will see in a moment that while He was on earth the Spirit of Truth was +dwelling amongst the disciples. Where the Lord Jesus was, there was the +Spirit; where He dwelt, there the Spirit dwelt; and when He and those +twelve disciples sat together at the Last Supper, He could say of the +Spirit of Truth, “Ye know Him for He dwelleth with, or among, you.” + + + +II. THE KNOWLEDGE ENJOYED BY ALL HIS PEOPLE AFTER HIS DEPARTURE. + + +It was to be very different afterwards. There is an immense change when +our Lord speaks of what should take place after His departure. It is no +longer “with,” but “in.” He would be not merely present in their +company, but abiding in their souls. + +In this promise, there are three things requiring our careful notice. + +(1) The promise applies not to a company, to a society, to a Church, or +to any body of men, but _to each individual_. The Holy Spirit will not +be merely in the midst of a congregation, but a sacred guest in each +soul. You see this very clearly in the history of the Day of Pentecost. +{40} The Holy Spirit came on the company, on the Church, for He filled +all the house where they were sitting. But besides that there was a +separate personal gift to each person present, for “it sat upon each of +them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” + +(2) The sacred gift is no longer localized or specially enjoyed in one +place. So long as the Lord Jesus was amongst them where He was, there +was the Gift. But now, wherever the believer is, there is the Gift. See +the unspeakable blessedness of this sacred promise. The gift of the +Spirit is not confined to this place or that. It is the inestimable +privilege of each individual believer wherever he is, and in whatever +position it may please God to cast his lot. You may be cut off from the +means of grace in which you have delighted, but wherever you are, you are +not cut off from the Spirit of Truth, from the indwelling of the Holy +Ghost, for He is not limited to time, or place, or circumstance, and +wherever you go at the Lord’s command, there you will carry His presence +with you. + +(3) He dwells _within_ the soul. + +There is this great difference between His presence and that of the most +faithful and loving of friends. The friend can only judge by the +outside; the anxious look, the tear in the eye, or the words of sorrow. +But the Spirit of Truth is within, and He takes note of the inner secrets +of the soul. He does not wait for any external evidence of what is +passing. The hidden springs of thought are all open to His eye: the +secret pain that is never breathed to any one; the hidden hope that +smoulders in the heart; the subtle temptation that is beginning to grow +up unperceived, and the yearning of soul after a higher life,—all these +things are open to Him, and He, dwelling within and knowing all that is +passing within, can check, can guide, can heal, can help, can supply any +possible need “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” {41a} + +There is no telling, then, the unspeakable blessing of the Pentecostal +gift, and we can perfectly understand why it was that our Lord said “It +is expedient for you that I go away.” + +But do we all desire it? “Of course we do,” say some. But it is not at +all a matter of course. There was no room for Christ in the inn at +Bethlehem, and there is no room for the Spirit of Truth in many hearts. +If He dwells within your soul He will humble you and make you to “abhor +yourself and repent in dust and ashes.” {41b} Do you desire that? If He +dwells within you, He will wean you from the world and teach you to live +as one looking for the Kingdom. Do you desire that? If He dwells within +you He will teach you to give up your own will. Do you desire that? Do +you desire really to be led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit to become +a humble, gentle, and submissive child of God? I fear there are many +who, when the whole subject is considered, are not prepared to give Him +an unreserved welcome, and would be tempted to close the door of their +hearts against His entrance. If the door is opened by them at all, it is +only set ajar, and not thrown wide open that the King of Glory may enter +in, in the fulness of His power, and turn out everything that is at +variance with His will. + +But I believe there are many who would hold nothing back and who long +above all things that the Spirit of Truth may take full possession of +their souls. Their difficulty is not that they do not wish it, but that +they can scarcely believe it possible that He should ever dwell in such a +heart as theirs. They find so much sin there that they can scarcely +imagine it possible that the Holy Comforter should not be driven from +them by all that He sees within. No doubt there is quite sufficient to +drive Him grieved and displeased from His resting-place, and if it were +not for the everlasting covenant of God, and the precious blood of +Christ, I can perfectly understand the impossibility of His making such a +heart His dwelling-place. But the atoning blood alters the whole case. +The blood of Christ breaks down every barrier. It is a new and living +way {42} by which not only may you enter boldly into the presence of God, +but through which the Spirit of God may enter your heart and take full +possession of it as His own abiding-place. + +If you are longing to be filled with the Spirit, you must look straight +to that cross of Christ. You must remember the fulness of the pardon. +You must trust to that Atonement as breaking down even the barrier raised +by your own dark corruption, and, pleading that precious blood, must open +every avenue of your soul to the Spirit of Truth, that He may enter in +and there reign supreme. + + + + +THE WITNESS—THE LEADER—THE COMMANDER + + + “Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and + commander to the people.”—ISA. lv. 4. + +IT is often said that a living head is essential to the well-being of a +living Church. Nothing can be clearer than the teaching of Scripture +that our Living Head is in heaven now, seated at the right hand of God. + +It is as a Living Head that our Blessed Saviour is here predicted. Three +rich promises are made by God to every hungering and thirsting +heart—Life, a Covenant, and a living Head. Life, for He says, “Hear, and +your soul shall live.” A covenant, for He says, “I will make an +everlasting covenant with you;” and a Head, for He adds, in the words of +our text, “Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader +and commander to the people.” + +The question may arise, “Who is it that is thus given for a witness? Who +is the person that the people are to recognize as their leader and +commander?” The prophecy says David. But David, we know, was a typical +character. He was not merely a king, but a type; a type of Him who was +to be both his son and his Lord. Accordingly we are taught that the name +David was applied to the Lord Jesus, for we find the words applied by St. +Paul to Christ and His resurrection. {44a} We are there taught that when +God raised up Christ from the dead, He gave us the sure mercies of David. +The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Witness, He is the Leader, and +He the Commander of His people. In other words the risen Redeemer is our +Living Head. + +The text, therefore, directs us to His present action, not to His death +or even to His life before His death, but to His present Headship at the +right hand of God. He is + + + +A WITNESS + + +One who bears a true and faithful testimony. This He did in His life on +earth, as we learn from His own words when He stood before Pilate. “To +this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I +should bear witness into the truth.” {44b} And this same character He +maintains in heaven, for at the opening of the Book of Revelation we are +taught to look for grace and peace “from Jesus Christ the faithful +witness, the first-begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of +the earth.” {44c} It is clear that as the “first-begotten,” that is, as +the risen Saviour, He now acts as a witness. + +This is done in two ways. He is a witness to the world, bearing witness +to God’s great plan of salvation. But more than that He witnesses to the +heart of each of His own children, assuring them of His faithfulness, +confirming them in His truth, and doing what David prayed Him to do, “Say +unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” {44d} There is an outer and an inner +witness; an outer witness in the power of His Spirit accompanying His +word, and an inner witness within the souls of His own people; hidden +from the world and known only to those who enjoy it, that witness of +which St. John spoke when he said, “He that believeth on the Son of God +hath the witness in himself.” {45a} And this may teach us an important +lesson respecting the true nature of faith. It is faith when we receive +the testimony of the Lord Jesus as an undoubted truth, and, without +questioning, simply believe Him. There are difficult truths taught in +His word, and some strangely at variance with human opinion; but true +faith gives up all and trusts. It makes a complete surrender to Jesus +Christ, the faithful witness. + + + +HE IS A LEADER + + +And when we speak of Him as a Leader, we must not connect His office +merely with the idea of war, for it is the office of peace also. When +our Lord compares Himself to the Shepherd He says He “leadeth them out.” +{45b} Nor is His office of a leader given up even in the peaceful rest +of Heaven. There is a leading Hand even there, for when St. John was +permitted to look in and to see the great multitude before the Throne, +the Angel referred him to words from the blessed promise in Isaiah. {45c} +In heaven, therefore, the promise is both fulfilled and known. It is +fulfilled, for there the saints of God are refreshed by the living +waters; and it is known, for the Angel himself, while describing the joys +of heaven, calls attention to the ancient prophecy, and shows how in the +peaceful scene around him it was receiving its complete fulfilment. + +Now what is implied when we are taught that the Lord Jesus is a Leader +for His people? It implies much more than teaching, and therefore the +office of the leader is far beyond that of witness. It would be of but +little use to explain to a blind man the windings of some narrow path. +But it would be an act of great kindness to take him by the hand and lead +him. And this is what our Leader does for us, for He says, “I will bring +the blind by a way they knew not.” {46a} + +Our proud hearts may dislike the dependent position of either the feeble +or the blind; but, whether we like it or no, we are both blind and +feeble, unable to trace our path amidst the perplexities of life, and +equally unable to move safely alone even when the path may be discovered. +It is, therefore, in mercy and in tender love that God has given Him to +be a Leader, and our part is to accept the gift and trust Him. When we +are brought into perplexity, into one of those positions of life where +two ways seem to meet, we may fall down before Him as our great Leader, +and say, “For thy name’s sake, lead me and guide me.” {46b} When we find +ourselves in slippery places and scarcely know how to stand, we may come +into His presence and cry, “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.” {46c} +When perplexing doctrine is presented to us, and false teaching abounds +around us, we may spread out His word which contains His testimony, and +say, “Shew me Thy ways, O Lord.” {46d} And when we come to the valley of +the shadow of death, when no human hand can help us, and no human +sympathy reach our necessities, even then we may be perfectly sure that +our great Leader will never leave us; but as we part from all friends +here on earth, and as all earthly helps fade away, we may lean more +simply and more heavily than ever on Him and say, “Though I walk through +the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with +me.” {47a} + +So again for the Church of Christ. Our lot is cast in very perplexing +times, and those who really care for the Church of God must often have +their hearts filled with deep anxiety. It is a happy thing to know that +God has given him to be a Leader of the people, and “Head over all things +to the Church.” {47b} We may trust Him, therefore, to take care of His +own truth, and rest assured that amidst all the perplexities of these +latter days He will guide His own people safe to the end, until every one +of them appeareth before God. + + + +HE IS A COMMANDER + + +We cannot say of this office, as we did of the last, that it belongs to +peace, for it is one peculiar to war. The commander is for the +battle-field, and still more for the well-arranged campaign. Thus our +Lord is presented to us as a Commander in the book of Revelation. {47c} +He then appears in His royal character, and at the same time heading His +army. He encounters all the powers of the world, but he is surrounded by +a little company of faithful followers, and He leads them on to victory. + +The Church of God must be prepared for conflict. Till the Lord comes sin +will give the Church no peace. Till Satan is trampled down under His +feet, he will never rest in his deadly warfare against the Lord Jesus and +His little flock. The soldier of Christ must be a man of war. + +The great Commander will have His own chosen and faithful followers—“they +that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” {48a} They are +marked from the world by a clear line of separation. They bear His name; +they wear His uniform; they rally round His banner; they are not ashamed +of His reproach; and wheresoever He goeth there it is their joy to follow +Him. There is no service like His, no commander so perfect, no struggle +so noble, no victory so certain and so glorious. + +If we really be amongst the chosen band of faithful followers, our one +standard in life must be the will of our great Commander. We must be +watching each signal from Him, and owning no authority but His. From +first to last our spirit must be that of Saul of Tarsus, “Lord, what wilt +Thou have me to do?” {48b} This may sometimes imply a painful surrender, +a surrender of ease, and inclination, and, hardest of all, of pride. But +the soldier in the earthly army yields at once to his commanding officer, +and how much more should we, when He has chosen us to be His people, +blotted out our sins by His blood, called us into His own fellowship, +sealed us with His seal, and made us heirs of His Kingdom? + + + + +FAITH AND EFFORT + + + “Our God shall fight for us.”—NEH. iv. 20. + +I CAN imagine nothing better calculated to make a people calm, peaceful, +and courageous, than to be able to say in faith, “Our God shall fight for +us.” If we can say this, we may think on our country and rest assured +that, whatever happens, all is safe. If we can say this, we may look +upon God’s people struggling for His truth, sometimes sorely pressed and +sometimes quite disheartened; but when we look on Him whom God has given +to be a Leader and Commander of the people, we may take courage that all +will be well, for He is our God, and He will fight for us. Or, we may +look at our own personal difficulties, at the temptation without by which +we are surrounded, and the proneness to yield within, which renders us +perpetually liable to its power; and sometimes we may be ready to ask the +question, Can such as we are ever gain the victory? But, if we can but +say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us,” then, weak as we are, we may +look forward to a triumph, and say even beforehand, “Thanks be to God +which giveth us the victory.” + +But there are few cases in which this language of faith was more +appropriate than when originally spoken by Nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of +the most beautiful characters to be met with in all history. I know of +no one in whom there was a greater combination of practical, +business-like habits, with true, simple-minded, childlike faith. When +acting as cup-bearer to the King of Babylon, he heard of the desolation +of Jerusalem, and obtained permission to return thither in order to +rebuild the walls and restore the city. The Jews at the time were so +exceedingly feeble, that the onlookers laughed them to scorn. But, when +once the work was begun, contempt was exchanged for indignation, and +Sanballat with others “conspired all of them together to come and to +fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” Then it was that Nehemiah +used these words for the great encouragement of all who were working with +him, and said, “Our God shall fight for us.” + +But while he thus spoke with the full assurance of confiding faith, he +was not led by that faith to negligence. True faith never leads to +negligence. It always stimulates exertion and rouses men to hopeful +energy. So it did in the case of Nehemiah, for the same verse which +contains the assurance contains also the spirit of active preparation. +We will study the conduct of Nehemiah as furnishing an illustration of +the union of faith and effort, examining first his effort, then his +faith. + + + +I. THE EFFORT MADE. + + +It was made under very discouraging circumstances. The city was in +ruins, the walls were in heaps, and there were only a few restored +captives to labour for their restoration. Now, in what spirit did these +feeble Jews rise to their work? + +(1) They all worked together. + +There was just such an united and harmonious action as we long to witness +in the Church of God. It is an old proverb that “union is strength.” In +this case the whole wall was portioned out and all classes united. First +came the High Priest and his brethren, next the men of Jericho, soon +followed by the carpenters, the goldsmiths, and the apothecaries. Then +came the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, followed by Shallum and his +daughters; further on we read of Baruch, who set an example to the whole +company, for he _earnestly_ repaired the portion entrusted to his care, +till at length the circuit was complete. + +(2) They worked with a will. + +There is such a thing as work without a will. There is the dull, lazy +work of the idle man, and the mechanical work of those who take no +interest in what they are about. Just as in religion, there is the +languid performance of a routine as different as possible to the real +wrestling with God in faith. There is no soul in it, and who can wonder +if there is no result? In this case there was rapid result, and they +built the wall, and the reason is given, “for the people had a mind to +work.” {51} An important lesson this for every Christian effort. + +(3) They made real sacrifices for their work. It must have been a sore +inconvenience to these men to leave their own occupations and to labour +on the wall; but they laboured night and day till the wall rose from its +ruins. Oh, that we had more of this spirit in the Church of God! Would +that we knew better how to give to Him so as to pinch ourselves; to give +our time, our money, our painstaking, our real self-denying work, in +order to glorify God, and show that we live not unto ourselves, but unto +Him that died for us and rose again. + + + +II. THEIR FAITH. + + +This showed itself in three ways. + +(1) In prayer. + +Nehemiah was a man of prayer. When any trouble arose, his heart turned +as if by an holy instinct to God, and so, when Tobiah mocked their +efforts, Nehemiah gave no rough answer, but he turned his heart upwards +and said, “Hear, O our God, for we are despised.” {52a} How much bitter +strife would be avoided in the world if men acted like Nehemiah, and, +instead of retorting, spread out their provocations before God. + +But the conduct of the opponents soon turned from mockery to war, and +there was a plan to attack the rising walls. But the attack was met just +in the same way as the insult. In both cases he gave himself to prayer. +I cannot imagine a better illustration of the praying believer than the +words in verse 9, “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set +a watch against them day and night.” They heard of the conspiracy, and +at once spread the intelligence before God; but, having done so, they did +not consider that prayer superseded effort, but day and night they set +their watch on the walls. Had they watched without praying, they would +have been trusting to their own forethought; and had they prayed without +watching, they would have tempted God to leave them. But they watched +and they prayed, and they prayed and they watched, and so they acted in +the spirit of the words in aftertimes spoken to us, “Watch and Pray.” +{52b} + +(2) Their faith showed itself also in the recognition of what God had +done for them. Faith not only asks God’s help, but acknowledges it. It +gives Him thanks for His action as well as asks Him to act; so when the +danger was past we find Nehemiah ascribing it all to the good hand of God +on his efforts. He did not say, “When we had defeated their plans,” but +“When God had brought their counsel to nought.” {53} + +(3) Faith looks forward to the future. When the workmen were all at +their posts; when the builders laboured, every one having his sword +girded by his side; when the trumpeter stood by the chief, ready at any +moment to sound the alarm; when the voice of prayer had been heard day +and night all along the line of the rising walls; when all had been done +that man could do—then the heart rose high above all that man had done, +and in calm, confident trust, Nehemiah assures the people, saying, “Our +God shall fight for us.” He had made preparation, but he trusted to God +for victory. He was at the head of a feeble people, but he was the +servant of the Most High God. He knew that the battle was not to the +strong, nor the race to the swift; so he rested his hope on the strong +hand of his God, and in simple faith he trusted Him to give the victory. + + + + +THE JOY OF THE LORD + + + “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we + stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but + we glory in tribulations also.”—ROM. v. 2, 3. + +THE joy of the Lord is a subject that goes to the heart of many. Some +are rejoicing in the Lord, while others are longing to be partakers of +it; it is a gift after which their heart is yearning. + +Let us consider the real foundation of true, solid, well-founded joy. In +these two verses there is a description of the joy and its power. There +is the joy, for “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” and there is +the power of that joy, for it rises above the troubles of life, and we +rejoice “even in tribulation.” There is, therefore, such a bright hope +of the coming glory, that we may go on our way with a thankful heart, +rejoicing in the Lord; and there is such a manifestation of the love of +Christ in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the distress of +tribulation is overpowered, and even in the midst of sorrow there may be +an abiding joyfulness in Christ Jesus the Lord. + +Observe the foundation of this joy, and see how it is the consequence of +our sure standing in Christ Jesus. When we rejoice in hope of the glory +of God, and rejoice even in tribulation, this joy is the consequence of a +previous transaction, and the result of our occupying a new position. We +have had access, or admission, and are now standing in His grace. It is +the standing in that grace that is the foundation of the joy of hope. +This leads us to the question, “What is the grace?” + +The word “grace” has different meanings in Scripture. Sometimes it means +the inward work of God the Holy Ghost in the soul, as when it says, “Grow +in grace.” {55a} But this cannot be our standing-ground, for the simple +reason that it is imperfect and variable. But this is not the only +meaning of the word, or nearly so, for it is used for any great gift of +love and mercy bestowed in God’s free favour on His people. We have to +consider what is the free gift or favour into which we have had access, +and which is now our standing-ground. This question the context must +decide; and it seems to me impossible to study that context, without +coming to the conclusion that the grace here referred to is that which +must ever be the real resting place for those who are convinced of sin, a +righteousness imputed in the free grace of God. {55b} + +This, then, is the grace in which we stand, the grace of imputation, the +gracious gift of a righteousness reckoned, counted, or imputed to us when +we do not deserve it; the marvellous mercy through which we are accounted +righteous, accepted as righteous, beloved as righteous, and finally saved +as righteous, although we are not really so in fact, and although we are +conscious in our own hearts of matter for the most profound humiliation +before God. Who can wonder that we rejoice in hope when we are placed in +mercy on such a standing-ground as that? + +This, you observe, is a work _for_ us, and not _in_ us, and therefore +never varies. The work _in_ us is perpetually changing. It is a +progressive work, and its progress is sometimes much more rapid than at +others. But the work _for_ us does not go up and down with the work _in_ +us; it is unchangeable, like God Himself. The righteousness imputed is +the righteousness of God, and therefore perfect and unchangeable. It +changeth not for the simple reason that He changeth not, and therefore +always, in cloud as well as sunshine, in dark days as well as bright, in +the hour of tribulation as well as in the season of unmixed prosperity, +in the times of deepest humiliation as well as in those of emotion and +encouragement, the justified believer may rejoice in Him, and triumph in +the God of his salvation. It is this that gives its security to hope, +this that makes us sure of its never failing. If we were relying on all +the varied changes of our own feelings, there might be joy one day and +despair the next; but while we stand in the grace of imputed +righteousness, our hope has a foundation that can never give way, and +therefore we may accept the joy without a fear, and rejoice in hope of +the glory of God. + +What is the great principle within the soul which constitutes our +standing in this grace? + +To this question we shall find an answer in the words of St. Paul, “Thou +standest by faith.” {56} And this is exactly what is taught us in this +passage. In verse 1, we are taught that it is by faith that we are +justified; and then, in verse 2, we learn that it is by faith that we +have access into this grace wherein we stand. From first to last, +therefore, it is a matter of faith. The whole secret of our standing, +and of the joy that follows from it, is found in that one word “trust.” +Trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your finished Sacrifice and your living +Lord, and you stand on the rock. Let your trust rest on anything else, +on your feelings, your thoughts, your experience, your intentions, or +your religious efforts, and you will be no better than men endeavouring +to walk steadily on the waves of the sea. But trust Christ _as_ you are, +_where_ you are, and that without putting even your own trust between you +and Him, and you may go on your way rejoicing in Him, and need never +cease to give thanks for a foundation so solid and a grace so free. + + + + +THE WORK OF THE LORD + + + “Be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the + Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the + Lord.”—1 COR. xv. 58. + +WE have lately studied “the joy of the Lord,” and now I am anxious that +our thoughts should be turned to another subject, which is much more +intimately connected with it than many seem to suppose, that is, the work +of the Lord. The joy of the Lord imparts strength for service, and the +service of the Lord increases joy. There is action and reaction between +the two. + + + +WHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORK OF THE LORD? + + +It is _work_—work with all the self-denial that accompanies steady work. + +It is work _for_ the Lord. When we say that a father works for his +family, or a servant for his master, it does not mean that such an one +simply goes about his own business, but it does mean that he has a +particular person in view, and that he is working for him. We are such +poor, frail creatures that there is a constant tendency to admit bye +motives in our work. I know how hard it is to preserve a single eye to +the glory of God. One’s own reputation and the great pleasure of one’s +own success have a constant tendency to introduce false motives. What we +want is to lose sight of self altogether, and to remember that if we are +doing the work _of_ the Lord, we are doing it _for_ the Lord. + +It is work _from_ the Lord. It is the work to which the Lord has +appointed each of us. When God called Barnabus and Paul, He said, +“Separate them for the work whereunto I have called them.” {59a} Now we +are not called to the Apostleship, but I believe there is not an +individual amongst us who is not called by God to a certain work in His +service. The Church of God is said to be “compacted by that which every +joint supplieth.” {59b} There is not, therefore, a joint in the whole +body that is not to supply something. All who are in Christ Jesus are +the children of God, and all are called to work in His service, the +strong man in the fulness of his strength, or the suffering invalid laid +low with broken health. + +This, then, being the character of the work of the Lord, let us turn to +the encouragement which God has given, and the root from which it +springs. + + + +THE ENCOURAGEMENT. + + +There are some things in our Christian life which we think, some which we +hope, and some which we know. We know some, for they are assured to us +in God’s word, and we are fully persuaded that His word is true. Now +here is one of the things we know, know as a matter of certainty without +the possibility of doubt. We know that our labour is not in vain in the +Lord. It may often appear to us exceedingly feeble and defective: we may +be ashamed and humbled at its multiplied shortcomings: we may look back +upon it honeycombed, as it were, by mistakes: we may be conscious that we +have left undone those things that we ought to have done, and we may be +painfully aware that nothing has been done as it ought to have been done +for God, but still we are assured that it will not be in vain. When +Samuel was but a child, “the Lord was with him, and did let none of his +words fall to the ground,” {60a} and we may be sure that He will not let +one word spoken in His name fall to the ground now. If the Lord is with +you, no one thing that you ever do for Him will be in vain. You may not +see the fruit of it, or if you do it may be after years of waiting, but +the Lord knows all about it. He sees exactly what you are doing, or +saying, or giving, or praying, and the book of remembrance is written +before Him. You yourself may be one of God’s hidden ones, and in the day +when He makes up His jewels, {60b} you may meet then with others, hidden +like yourself, to whom your labour, however feeble, has been blessed in +His mercy. Cleave, then, to the work of the Lord without wavering. Let +no discouragements dishearten you, hold steadily on your way, faint yet +pursuing, being perfectly assured that what God has promised He is able +also to perform, and that even your poor service will not be in vain in +the Lord. + + + +THE ROOT FROM WHICH ALL SUCH WORK MUST SPRING. + + +It is not all kinds of labour to which the promise is attached, for there +is a great deal of labour that is altogether in vain. “Except the Lord +build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” {60c} And the +distinction is very clearly taught us here, for the work here spoken of +is a labour “in the Lord.” It teaches how work is the consequence of +union; that we do not do the work of the Lord in order that by doing it +we may attain to union, but that the union comes first and the work of +the Lord follows as its result. There will be no fruit on the branch if +there is not first a union with the vine. There is no hope, therefore, +of any man winning to himself a union with Christ by any amount of +painstaking in work. If your heart is yearning for that union, you must +accept it as a free gift because Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has +redeemed you by His own most precious blood, and you must do so just as +you are, without waiting for even one more effort in His service. You +must be “in the Lord” before you can “labour in the Lord,” and that union +must be the free gift of His unmerited grace. You must be created in Him +unto good works before you will do anything for His glory. {61} + + + + +CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF FAITH + + + “Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings + will I rejoice.”—PSA. lxiii. 7. + +I WISH to speak on the important use of Christian experience in the +confirmation of faith. I say in the confirmation of faith, for there is +the widest possible difference between confirmation and commencement. +Experience may confirm the faith when it already exists, but the faith +must obviously be there before there can be any experience of its result. + +At the outset of our Christian course we have nothing to do but throw +ourselves absolutely in naked trust on the sure promises of the covenant +of God, and rest exclusively on what He has done and promised. We have +nothing then to do with our own history, our own feelings, or our own +progress, it is Christ and Christ alone on whom the soul must rest for +life. And so, if we look to the real foundation of faith, it must be to +the last day of our pilgrimage. It is a fatal-moment for us if we are +led to look away for a single moment from Him. But at the same time we +must remember that we are not always at the beginning of our Christian +life. One who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and walked with Him for +many years is not in the same position as one who is to-day seeking Him +for the first time. He has had the experience of the loving-kindness of +the Lord. He has never found Him to fail in any of the anxieties of his +life, and if he could trust many years ago when he had nothing but the +bare promise, how much more may he trust the Saviour now when the truth +of His word has been tried and tested in all the varied experiences of +life? + +The Lord Jesus Christ is described as “a sure foundation;” {63a} sure, +because He is the foundation laid by God; sure, because of His own +eternal Godhead; sure, therefore, as an object of simple trust before a +person has had any experience of His grace. To the trembling sinner who +has hitherto been a total stranger to Him, and has never known anything +of His love, even to him He is a sure foundation, and though knowing Him +only through the word, that trembling sinner may come to Him and trust. +But according to that same verse He is also a tried foundation. He has +been tried by the whole church of God for eighteen centuries and has +never once been found to fail any one that has come to Him in faith. He +has been tried by us who have known Him for the greater part of our +lives, and we are not to ignore all He has done for us, but say, as St. +John did, not merely that we have believed, but that “we have known and +believed the love that God hath towards us.” {63b} + +Now this is the principle of the text. The Psalm was written when David +was in great trouble, having taken flight from Saul in the wilderness of +Judah. He was there hidden in such caves as Adullam, and cut off from +the sanctuary of God. But it is a very cheerful and thankful Psalm. He +was not downhearted because of his troubles, but he had such an assurance +of the loving-kindness of the Lord that his heart was full of praise. He +could praise Him, and that with joyful lips, even in the wilderness. The +reason was that he could trust Him, and though he was only a young man +his trust had been confirmed by experience. He had been in difficulty +almost the whole time since his call, but he had found a strong arm with +him all the way, and therefore he said, “Because thou has been my help, +therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” In this verse +there are two things to be observed— + + + +I. THE THANKFUL RECOGNITION OF HELP ALREADY GIVEN. + + +The Lord had helped him through many difficulties and he thankfully +recognized the help. We do not know to what particular act of help he +referred. It may have been to his victory over Goliath, or to the escape +from the javelin of Saul. Or it may be to the daily, hourly help given +to his own soul in all the difficulties of his situation; to that help +which finds no place in history, but which is the unceasing source of +life and strength to the child of God. But whatever was the peculiar +character of the help, it is perfectly clear that it was accepted and +recognized. He asked for help, he found it, he acknowledged it, and he +was thankful for it. + +Let us learn the lesson that we should not be always praying for help, +and fearing to acknowledge it when given. It is our privilege to ask for +the gift, but it is also both our privilege and duty to acknowledge it. + + + +II. THE JOYFUL ASSURANCE FOR THE FUTURE. + + +He knew that he believed in a God that changeth not, just as we believe +that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” +{64} and the result was the assurance that He who had helped him thus far +would help him to the end. He knew that his God would not change, and +therefore he was happy and confident though he was in “a dry and thirsty +land.” {65a} His joy did not depend on circumstances, but on God, and +being confident in His unchanging grace he could be happy anywhere. He +used to delight in the Sanctuary, and we read in verse 2 how he had there +seen in his own soul God’s power and glory. But the same Lord who had +helped him in the Sanctuary would help him also in the cave, and +therefore he was not an unhappy man even in the wilderness, but he said, +“Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise +Thee.” + +And this was no new principle in his mind, for we find him acting on it +when he was quite a youth. It was the principle that carried him into +the conflict with Goliath, for when Saul dissuaded him from the attempt, +he said, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out +of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this +Philistine.” {65b} Thus the recognition of past help ought to lead to +confident trust. If we have found help actually given, if we have reason +to believe that God is helping now, we may boldly look forward into the +future, and be perfectly confident that He will help to the end. + + + + +THE COMING OF THE LORD + + + THE PRACTICAL EFFECT OF THIS BLESSED HOPE ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER + + “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord + draweth nigh.”—ST. JAMES v. 8. + +THE hope of the near approach of the Lord’s coming should lead us to sit +light to the world and the things of it. There is no greater temptation +besetting our path than that of becoming entangled in the things of the +world. We are for ever spinning cobwebs for our own bondage, and being +then caught in our own web. Hence the importance of the weaning power of +the blessed hope of the near coming of our Lord and Saviour. This +applies in sorrow. + +There were sorrows in the days of St. Paul, just as there are now, and he +never taught us not to weep. What he did teach was that we “should not +sorrow as those that have no hope.” The character of the sorrow may be +changed. And what was the power that should thus change the character of +grief? The next verse supplies the answer. “For if we believe that +Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will +God bring with Him.” {66} We may look forward, therefore, to His speedy +return, when the graves of those who are in Christ shall open, and when +all sorrow will be lost for eternity in the blessed privilege of being +“ever with the lord.” {67a} Is not such a hope enough to change the +character of grief? + +This blessed hope changes also the character of our joy. + +Just as it gives a tone to sorrow, so also it does to joy. It makes it +sober and solid. It gives it a quiet, peaceful, abiding character. Turn +to the words of St. Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, +Rejoice.” {67b} And observe the verse that follows: “Let your moderation +be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Let your joy be the sober +joy of men who believe that the coming of the Lord is at hand; the calm, +well-assured, abiding joy of those who, being in the Lord, are persuaded +that they will be with the Lord for ever. + +And the same effect will follow with reference to all our possessions. + +Let no one suppose we are not to prize those precious gifts which God has +given us. Ought we to think lightly of money, time, influence, power? +By no means; but if we believe that the coming of the Lord is near we +must sit light to it all, for it will all soon give place to the glories +of His kingdom. Remember St. Paul’s thrilling words: “The time is +short,” {67c} and the exhortation that follows to “use this world, as not +abusing it.” + +If we believe that the Lord’s coming is near we must wake up and trim our +lamps. + +We must never forget that real, true believers may grow cold, and dull, +and sleepy. Thus even the wise virgins were asleep when the Bridegroom +came. But they were thoroughly prepared, so they were up in a moment +when they heard the cry, and, having trimmed their lamps, were ready. +Now, the thought of His appearing should have this effect on ourselves. +Who is there amongst us that does not want to be quickened; to be aroused +to fresh energy for God; to have the soul filled with a holy fervour, and +the whole heart glowing with the love of Christ? Who is there that +should not desire to respond with every faculty he possesses to the +stirring appeal of St. Paul: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is +high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than +when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” {68a} +Shall we sleep on as if the old world were going on for ever? Do we +really believe that “the Bridegroom cometh,” {68b} and shall we not trim +our lamps without one moment’s delay in order that when He comes He may +find them burning brightly to His glory? + +If we are looking for the speedy coming of the Lord, it should lead to a +calm, happy, peaceful hope in the midst of the turmoils of the latter +days. + +There is nothing to lead us to expect a calm termination to the present +state of things. Our Lord when He comes will come riding, as it were, on +the whirlwind and the storm. It is a very common thing to find a bar +with heavy breakers on it at the mouth of the finest harbours, and so we +must be prepared for a stormy sea as we enter the haven of rest. Our +Lord taught this very clearly when He said, “There shall be signs in the +sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of +nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.” {68c} And now +observe the effect of these events on different characters. Through the +world at large they produce what may be called a panic—“Men’s hearts +failing them for fear.” {69a} But how is it to be with the people of +God? Are their hearts to fail them for fear? No, for we read, “When +these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your +heads.” {69b} They are not to be bowed down, but to hold their head +erect, and with a confident spirit to look up full of hope. And why? +What is it that is to make so vast a difference between the two +characters? How can we explain the contrast? It is all explained in the +latter part of that verse—“For your redemption draweth nigh.” It is +perfectly clear that by redemption is here meant the final deliverance, +for in the previous verse {69c} we read of the final coming of the +Deliverer. That calm peace, therefore, is the blessed result of a +blessed hope. God’s people will know that the Deliverer is at hand, and +therefore will not be afraid. They will believe God’s Holy Word, and +therefore what alarms others will cheer them. The same storm which sinks +the great ironclads outside will bring their little bark into harbour. +They will know what it all means, and, with God’s Word in their hand, +they will know who is reigning, and will see in all that is frightening +others the predicted signs of His near approach. + + + +ONE WORD IN CONCLUSION. + + +The word “redemption” has a double sense in common use. It is sometimes +used for atonement or propitiation simply, and sometimes for the great +deliverance which is the consequence of the great propitiation. It is +clear that in this passage it is used for deliverance. But another thing +is equally clear, namely, this—that we shall never be able to rest in the +hope of the deliverance unless we are first taught to rest for +forgiveness on the completed propitiation. Redemption by power is the +consequence of redemption by blood. It is the redemption by power of +which the Lord said “He draweth nigh;” but we shall never be able to lift +up our heads, and look up in joy to the prospect, unless we first know in +our own souls the unspeakable blessing of that redemption by blood which +has long since been completed for ever. It is only when we know Jesus +Christ and Him crucified that we can look up in calm, peaceful confidence +to Jesus Christ and Him glorified. + + + + +“WITH” AND “BY” + + + “And when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they + rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the + door of faith onto the Gentiles.”—ACTS xiv. 27. + +THERE are few institutions of greater antiquity than the missionary +meeting. It is truly apostolic in its origin. The first such meeting of +which we read was held at Antioch after the return of St. Paul from his +first missionary journey. It was from Antioch he set off, having been +commended by the brethren to the grace of God; and it was at Antioch, +after his return, that he gathered together the Church and rehearsed to +them all that God had done with them in his journey. This is the great +subject of his address, and will suggest three subjects of inquiry for +ourselves. + + + +I. WHAT HAD BEEN DONE? + + +In the first place, the door of faith had been opened to the Gentiles. +Surely by “the door of faith” we must understand that “new and living +way” of which we read in Hebrews. {71} And what is that way? Is not +this explained by the previous verse, “Having, therefore, boldness to +enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” It is the free access to +the throne of Grace through the finished, final propitiation, there +described as “the blood of Jesus.” When He died, the veil of the temple +was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the mercy-seat was laid +open to the sinner drawing near in faith, and the invitation was +proclaimed to all. The throne of righteousness became the throne of +mercy, and the throne of judgment became approachable even to the sinner, +for it was transformed into a throne of grace. + +This is the door of faith that had been opened to the Gentiles, and it is +very difficult for us to realize all that was involved in such a fact. +There was a middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile which kept +them as wide asunder as if there had been no common Saviour. But now St. +Paul reported that the middle wall had been broken down. {72a} Every +stone of it had been swept away, and, according to the covenant of God, +all were invited as one flock around one Shepherd. + +But this was not all that had been done. The great work of that +missionary journey was the turning of the hearts of both Jews and +Gentiles to enter in by that open door. It is one thing to set a door +open before a person, but often a much more difficult thing to induce him +to enter in. Now the great result of this journey was that many precious +souls were brought in through the open door, and in Christ Jesus were +saved. This was the work of which St. Paul gave an account on his return +to Antioch. If he mentioned individuals he doubtless told them of +Sergius Paulus, the Roman pro-consul at Paphos, that “prudent man,” {72b} +one of the first converts given to the Apostle. Then, again, he +doubtless told them of the great multitude both of the Jews and also of +the Greeks in Iconium who believed. {72c} And if he were asked as to the +reality of the work in their souls, he doubtless told them of the +beautiful character of the Christians in the other Antioch, Antioch of +Pisidia, of whom it is said, “the disciples were filled with joy, and +with the Holy Ghost.” {73} + +They had, indeed, entered in by the open door. They had tasted the joy +of the living way, they had been brought under the shadow of the +mercy-seat. They had sat down under His shadow with great delight, and +had found the fruit sweet to their taste. So marvellous had been the +change that the very men who before this memorable journey had been +living, some in Jewish hostility, and some in heathen abomination, were +now happy, holy, thankful believers, and were actually filled with the +Holy Ghost. We see, then, what had been done. The next question is— + + + +II. WHO WAS THE DOER? + + +St. Paul and St. Barnabas were the principal agents, and of these St. +Paul was the chief speaker, but it was not he who changed the hearts or +filled the disciples with joy and with the Holy Ghost. So he did not +tell what _he_ had done, but what God had done. The drawing of the +sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, into the new or living way was a Divine +act. To open the heart required a Divine power as much as to open the +door. It is important for us clearly to bear in mind this principle, +that the power to enter in is of itself the gift of God—that we must +trust Him not only to save us when we have entered in, but to enable us +to enter in; not only to show mercy on us when we have come near to Him, +but to draw us near by His own Spirit. + + + +III. IN WHAT WAY DID THE LORD MAKE USE OF HUMAN AGENCY? + + +There are two expressions employed which throw great light on the +subject. In this verse we read of the things which God had done _with_ +them, and the same expression occurs in Acts xv. 4. But if we pass on to +Acts xv., we find it stated that “God had wrought upon the Gentiles _by_ +them.” {74a} The one expression implies companionship, the other +instrumentality. Consider them separately. + +(1) “With.” + +The idea is that throughout the journey our Lord was literally fulfilling +His promise. “I am with you alway.” {74b} They went out to preach in +His name and He went with them, as their constant, never-failing, though +invisible, companion and friend. Thus, while they were acting, He was +acting also. The two were acting together, and so fulfilling the one +purpose of God. The action of the Lord was giving effect to the action +of the preacher, though in some cases it was quite independent of it. +Take the case of Lydia as an illustration. {74c} St. Paul preached to +that little company assembled at the place of prayer by the riverside at +Phillipi. There was the action of the preacher. But now look at the +action of the Lord working with him. By His fore-seeing providence He +had brought Lydia from her home at Thyatira, and by His guiding Spirit +had brought St. Paul from his work in Asia Minor. It was He that brought +them both to the same spot on that Sabbath morning. Then, again, while +St. Paul was preaching the Lord was acting, for He was acting with His +servant, first by the preparatory leading of His providence, and +afterwards by the heart-opening movement of the Holy Ghost + +(2) And this leads me to the other expression, “_by_.” This expresses +something different to companionship, for it teaches that in thus drawing +sinners to Himself He makes use of men as instruments. In the case of +Lydia the Lord opened her heart, but the things which were spoken by St. +Paul were the instrument which God employed to lead her to the faith. It +was not without instrumentality, but by it, that God acted. It is +important to bear this in mind—that human instrumentality is not in +antagonism to faith. We must remember the “by” as well as the “with,” +and that when God has given means, we do not honour Him by neglecting or +ignoring them. St. Paul was most anxious to urge on the Corinthians that +it was God alone who gave the increase, but while he did so he was not +deterred from adding that he had planted and Apollos watered. {75} We +know that God is a Sovereign, and that He, if He pleased, could gather in +the whole company of His elect without the use of any one man to work for +Him; but we know also that “by us” the preaching is to be fully known, +and we are fully persuaded that if we are to look for a harvest we must +both plant and water. + + + + +THE STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT + + + “And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of + Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of + Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the + people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of Hosts, + their God.”—HAG. i. 14. + +LET US consider this stirring of the will, and then the great need of it +even amongst the faithful people of God. + +I. We read a great deal in Scripture of a movement in the will, as we +know in practical life, how we ourselves are moved, or aroused on many +occasions. We know what it is to be like Peter, who was asleep in the +prison till the Angel of the Lord “smote him on the side, and raised him +up, saying, Arise up quickly.” {76a} We are often aroused to make an +_effort_ which we never thought of before, and our whole soul is on fire +to be working with a holy enthusiasm for God. + +Now this stirring of the spirit is the act of God Himself. I am quite +aware that there are passages in which man is described as stirring +himself, as for example, “There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that +stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.” {76b} But such an expression +is the description of the outward effect, and not of the inward movement +of the soul, as is proved by that very text, which gives us the reason +for the absence of any such stirring, “Thou hast hid Thy face from us.” +It was because He had hidden His face that no one was stirred to lay hold +on His grace. Thus St. Paul teaches us that it is God Himself who +worketh on the will. He urges the little flock at Philippi to be more +diligent in his absence than they were in his presence, {77a} and in the +next verse he gives us the reason that “It is God who worketh in you both +to will and to do of His good pleasure.” So in this passage, when +Zerubbabel was aroused to a new action it was the Lord who stirred his +spirit, and who produced such a strong, deep feeling in his soul that he +could not rest without making a fresh effort for the Lord. This stirring +was the blessed result of the Holy Spirit’s action. Oh, that we had more +of it amongst ourselves! + +But while it is the work of the Holy Spirit, we shall find that, as a +general rule, He makes use of means. Of course, if He pleases, He may +Himself speak to the soul in the way of direct personal communication, +and so arouse the heart and conscience without the aid of any human +instrumentality. But in most cases He makes use of means. + +Sometimes men are stirred by the sight of evil, as St. Paul was stirred +in spirit by the sight of the idolatry at Athens. {77b} And it does seem +strange that God’s faithful people can sit so still as they do, and look +on so quietly on the sin that abounds around them. How is it that the +whole soul does not burn within us with a longing desire to be at work +for God? + +Sometimes it is through the power of the ministry. It was so with +Zerubbabel, of whom it is said that the Lord stirred his spirit. The +means employed in his case was the preaching of the two prophets Haggai +and Zechariah. Sometimes God raises up great preachers whose office it +seems to be to awaken nations. Such were Whitfield and the Wesleys. +Such was Luther at the time of the Reformation, and such were Haggai and +Zechariah after the return of the captives from Babylon. It was through +them that the fire was lighted in the soul of Zerubbabel. Their burning +words stirred his spirit, and he threw himself with a holy zeal into the +service of the Lord. + +Sometimes it is by the example and influence of others, as “iron +sharpeneth iron.” {78a} There is nothing more infectious than character. +There is a certain atmosphere surrounding each of us, and it has its +influence on all who come near us. The idle man makes others idle, the +corrupt man makes others corrupt; so the holy man wins others to +holiness, and the man of Christian enthusiasm will warm up those who come +in contact with him. + +Sometimes He does it by stirring our nest. This is what He did for +Israel in Egypt. They had begun to settle down content with their +captivity. They had their flesh-pots, their melons, and their cucumbers, +and they did not care to be unsettled; so God stirred them up by +oppression. This is the process described in Moses’ song, “As an eagle +stirreth up her nest.” {78b} The young eagles, being comfortable in +their nest, have no desire to launch forth into the untried experiment of +flight. So the parent bird stirs up the nest, and by means of that +stirring compels them to a move. Is it not often just the same with us? +We are so fond of our nests, so apt to settle down quietly, forgetful of +that which is to come. So God in mercy stirs the nest. The heart is +saddened, but the very stirring may be God’s appointed instrument for +waking up a new hope, a new longing for the second advent, and a +dependence never known before on His own grace, and love, and perfect +sufficiency. + +By whatever means the Lord does it, we must never forget that it is His +own divine act of mercy and grace. No sight of evil, no preaching, no +example, no chastening can produce the result. It is God the Holy Ghost +that stirs the spirit. + +II. Consider the need of this stirring amongst the faithful people of +God. + +It might be supposed that the true and faithful people of God would not +require it, and that they would be irresistibly drawn on by the +constraining power of the love of Christ. But this is not the teaching +of Scripture, and I am sure it is not the conclusion from experience. We +must never forget that the wise virgins went to sleep. Nor must we even +lose sight of those thrilling words addressed by St. Paul to those in +Rome whom he describes as “beloved of God, and called to be saints,” +{79a} when in the prospect of the second Advent he said to them, “Now it +is high time to awake out of sleep.” {79b} Had they not, you may say, +been already aroused from sleep? Had they not been awakened from the +sleep of death, and brought into a new life in Christ Jesus? How, then, +should it be high time for them to awake out of sleep? Were they not +already the “beloved of God”? + +Now, this brings us exactly to the point; to the great need of Divine +stirring, even for those who have already been awakened into a new life +in Christ Jesus. Turn to the Song of Solomon, and you will find the +whole thing explained. In ch. v. the Bridegroom is described as +returning home at night, and, knocking at the door of his home, calls to +the Bride within, and says, “Open to me.” {80} Now what is her state of +mind when she hears His knock and listens to His voice? “I sleep, but my +heart waketh.” Have we not there the exact description of very common +Christian life? How many are there still sleeping, though they hear the +knock and their heart waketh? They are neither fully asleep nor fully +awake. They are awake enough to hear the voice, but too sleepy to act on +it. But we cannot be satisfied with this half and half condition. The +Bride in the Song of Solomon was so long in arousing herself, that when +at length she did so, it was too late. In ver. 6 she tells her sad, sad +story. “I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and +was gone.” Should not such a description arouse us all? Most truly may +it be said that He is standing at our own doors both knocking and +calling. Sin is raging, error is spreading, misery is abounding, hell is +filling; but, thanks be to God, Christ Jesus is saving, and shall His own +chosen people be sleeping quietly, seeking their own ease, and sitting +down content if only they can entertain a well-grounded hope that the +heavy burden of their own sin has been blotted out through His most +precious blood. “Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy +faithful people.” + + + + +A WILLING SERVICE + + + “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the + Lord?”—1 CHRON. xxix. 5. + +THE occasion was a very solemn one. It was the last act of David’s +reign. He had long desired to build a temple for the glory of God, but +he was not allowed to carry out his wish. So he collected the necessary +materials, and at length, when he had decided to abdicate in favour of +Solomon, he called an assembly and declared Solomon, who was still young +and tender, to be his successor, then handed over to him the plans which +he had prepared for the Temple, and concluded with a solemn charge. {81} + +Having thus ended what may be termed the official business of his life, +the aged king proceeded to address the congregation. Let us study four +things in that address; his question, his thanksgiving, his prayer, and +his final appeal. + + + +HIS QUESTION + + +He told them how he was passing away, and how the work was great, so he +asked them a question which may be well put to every congregation in +every age, “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto +the Lord?” + +Now, we hear a great deal in these days of consecration. The idea of +consecration is not a new thing in the Church of God, and I am sure that +we want more of the true spirit of it in our own hearts. There is such a +thing as consecration of heart, and consecration of service. The +consecration of heart is the surrender of the whole man with the +affections, the powers, and the strong will to the Lord. The +consecration of service is the dedication of all our active powers to his +work. When David said, “I am thine,” {82a} it was the consecration of +heart, and when Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me,” {82b} it was the +consecration of service. Now, it was the consecration of service for +which David appealed, and it is this practical consecration of service on +which we are dependent for the work in a parish. Who is willing to +consecrate his service? I cannot see into the secrets of the hearts, but +I know who ought to be willing—all those who believe in the words of our +Blessed Saviour, “For their sakes I consecrate Myself.” {82c} Did He, +the spotless Son of God, consecrate Himself to be the atoning sacrifice +for us? And if we believe that, can we doubt for one moment who it is +that should be willing to consecrate his service to Him? Redeemed +sinner, is it not you? Pardoned believer, is it not you? Are you ready +to fall at His feet and say, “Here am I; let me be Thine. Here is my +skill: use it. Here is my intellect: use it. Here is my power of +speech: use it. Here is my money: use it. Here is all, all I have and +all I am: let it all be Thine own, and help me to employ it for Thy +glory”? + + + +HIS PRAISE + + +David’s question fell on willing hearts, and there was a wonderful +response to his appeal. Gold, silver, and precious stones were poured +into the treasury, and the willing heart with which all was done was +beautiful. It was not done grudgingly or of necessity, but with a happy, +joyous, thankful spirit, so that the old man’s heart was gladdened, and +“David the King rejoiced with great joy.” {83a} It was this joyous +spirit that called forth his praise. When he saw the blessed result of +his appeal he did not lay it down to his personal influence, or to his +own persuasive power, but he stood up and blessed the Lord. He was too +old for government, but he was not too old for praise. His last words +from the throne were those of praise and prayer. His joy ran straight +into thanksgiving, and in this thanksgiving two principles were +conspicuous, he gave all the glory to God, and he acknowledged himself +and his people to be utterly unworthy of the sacred privilege of this +happy service. This is the true view of service and of gifts. When God +calls us to work for Him, or to give for Him, we should not regard it as +a burden laid upon us, but as an honour to which we are invited, an +honour that angels themselves might covet. This was the spirit of David +when he said “What am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to +offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of +Thine own have we given Thee.” {83b} And this should be our own spirit +in all service and all gifts for such a Lord. We do not want to regard +it as a yoke, a necessity, a heavy task imposed on us by God; but as an +honour, a privilege, a happy, loving service of the King of kings, for +which the best amongst us is utterly unworthy. + + + +HIS PRAYER + + +After a time his praise ran into prayer. This is just as it ought to be, +for praise should encourage prayer, as prayer should always lead to +praise. Thus the loving heart should pass backwards and forwards from +one to the other, and the two should be so blended that when we are +engaged by the one the other should never be out of sight. + +Observe the prayer in ver. 18, and remember the circumstances. It was a +moment of wonderful national enthusiasm at the commencement of a great +national work. Their hearts were filled with joy and they were ready for +anything. Now, what was the danger? What would be the danger to +ourselves in our own day? Would it not be decay, a gradual dying off of +our first zeal, a chill in the first love as there was at Ephesus? {84} +What David prayed for, therefore, was continuance, or perseverance. In +short he prayed against declension from their first love, for look at his +words in ver. 18. For “prepare” the marginal reading is “stablish.” And +now you see the point of the prayer, “Keep this _for ever_ in the +imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and _establish_ +their heart unto Thee.” What an insight it gives both as to our danger +and our hope. How it shows us our need of being kept alive in our first +love, and teaches us that we must not be trusting to the privileges of +past experience, or the fact of past consecration, but that we need the +perpetual action of the Holy Spirit in keeping His grace for ever in the +imagination of the thoughts of the heart. + +And where are we to look for this preservation? Do we not learn that our +hearts are like leaky vessels, and the brightest, holiest and most joyous +of believers requires the daily power of the Holy Spirit, not merely to +stop the leak, but to fill the vessel? + + + +THE FINAL APPEAL + + +The old man finished his prayer. In it he spoke alone. He was, as it +were, the mouthpiece of his people. But that was not enough. It was not +sufficient that he should speak on their behalf, but they must praise God +for themselves. So having been into the very presence chamber of God in +prayer, he came out, as it were to the assembled multitude, and said to +the vast throng, “Now bless the Lord your God.” Praise was the climax of +the transaction, and praise the last act of David’s reign. + +Now may there be the spirit of that remarkable day amongst ourselves. +Trace it all the way through, remember the consecration, the liberality, +the joy, the praise, the prayer, and the final outburst of congregational +worship. May God breathe on us the same spirit. May there be the same +consecration of service, the same willing offerings, the same joyous +praise, and the same thankful prayer for a holy perseverance unto the +end. And, in conclusion, may I not say to you what David said to the +congregation, “Now bless the Lord your God.” + + + + +FEAR NOT + + + “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy + God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will + uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”—ISA. xli. 10. + +WHEN we observe how frequently God says to us “Fear not,” we may be quite +sure that there is a great deal in common life to occasion fear. The +frequent recurrence of the exhortation in all parts of Scripture teaches +us, that through the whole range of Scriptural history there had been +that all around God’s people which, without the Lord’s help, must have +been sure to make the heart afraid. + +You will observe in our text that He does not bid us fear not because He +undertakes to remove all danger. What He says is, that when things arise +that may justly alarm us, we need not fear. “Fear not, _for_ I am with +thee,” (observe the “_for_”). If fear is to be really overcome, it must +be by the eye being kept fixed on God and His promises. + +This verse contains two assurances and three promises; assurances of what +He is to us now, and promises of what He undertakes to do for us. + + + +THE ASSURANCES + + +“I am with thee.” “I am thy God.” It is interesting to observe how the +different portions of Scripture correspond with one another. They are +all inspired by one Spirit, and all speak one truth. So when I turn to +the concluding description of the blessedness of the Heavenly +inheritance, I find just the same assurance, “God Himself shall be with +them and be their God.” {87} He does not promise to be nearer to His +people, even in the heavenly rest, than He declares Himself to be now, +when we are in the midst of our struggle upon earth. He promises _then_ +to be with us and to be our God, and He assures us in the text that He is +just the same _now_. + +The words of the assurance, “I am with thee,” imply both reconciliation +and companionship. Reconciliation, for He is not against us, but with +us. Not separated by the barrier of unforgiven sin, but so completely +reconciled, the law being satisfied that every barrier is broken down for +ever, and He is altogether on our side. + +Companionship, for as a reconciled and loving Father He never for a +moment leaves His child, by night or by day, in joy or in sorrow; in +active work, or in quiet submission; in the ministry at home or in the +distant work of missions. Wherever His people are, and in whatever +circumstances, there is He with them as their Father, their Friend, their +Companion, their Helper, their God. + +For He also says, “I am thy God.” He is not merely with us, but with us +in all the omnipotence of Godhead. An earthly friend may fail in helping +us; but when He is with us as our God He will never fail. When He says, +“I am thy God,” He clearly means that He has chosen us to be His people, +a peculiar people unto Himself; and that, having done so, He acts as God, +on our behalf, governing, guiding, preserving, saving, and finally +gathering to His own presence in His kingdom. + + + +THE PROMISES + + +(1) “I will strengthen thee.” + +Into whatever position He places us, for that He undertakes to give us +the needful strength. If He calls us to be still and suffer, He will +give strength for suffering; if to go forth in His name and labour in His +service, He will give strength for activity; and in the holy warfare +which we are all called to wage with indwelling sin, strength to +overcome. And you must notice that, when He promises to strengthen, He +describes an imparted power. He does not speak of Himself as acting for +you externally, as when He accounts you righteous; but within you, +imparting power, and so enabling you to act for Him. The promise of God +in Scripture is that He will strengthen us, or, in other words, that He +will impart a power of action in His service. + +(2) “I will help thee.” + +The same lesson respecting man’s activity is taught when He promises to +help. There is a great difference between strengthening and helping. To +strengthen is an inward work, the gift of an inward power. To help is an +external work. I may help a lame man to walk, though I cannot strengthen +his limb. But help implies activity on the part of those who receive it. +God does not help us to do nothing. He helps us to be patient, loving, +gentle, sweet-tempered. He helps us to be diligent and active in His +service; but He does not help us to sit still and be passive. Help +implies exertion. If He strengthens us by the Holy Ghost in the inner +man, and if He undertakes to help us in every struggle against sin, it is +our privilege to accept His promise, and press on, assured of victory. + +(3) “I will uphold thee.” + +These words appear to convey the idea of danger. We are walking in +slippery places, and with fearful falls on every hand, so that we require +not merely a clear eye to guide us, but a strong hand to hold us. In +every step of our way we require to be upheld. In every moment of our +lives we require to be held up by one who sees all our danger, who knows +the path perfectly well, who can hold us with so strong a grasp that +nothing can pluck us out of His hand, and who, according to the language +of St. Jude, is “able to keep us from falling.” {89a} + +It is this perpetual and final preservation that is secured to us in the +third promise; and I would have you most particularly observe that it is +not with the right hand of His mercy, or the right hand of His love, or +of His compassion, or even of His power, but the right hand of His +righteousness. And why is this? Because this grace is the result of the +covenant. By that covenant His people are given to the Lord Jesus that +they may be saved. In fulfilling that covenant He has shed His own most +precious blood for us, to make atonement for our sin. And the result is, +that as, according to St. John, “He is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins,” {89b} so, also, is He faithful and just to uphold us against a +fall. + +But here, I know, a question will arise. This is God’s promise, but is +it ever realized? It is very beautiful in Scripture, but do we meet with +it in practical life? Are these gifts of God really given? Is this +presence of God really displayed? this upholding power really +experienced? Let us consider these five points and see. + +“I am with thee.” Has this been practically experienced? Look at the +words of David in the prospect of his dying hour, “Thou art with me,” +{90a} and, again, “O God, Thou art my God.” {90b} + +“I will strengthen thee.” Remember how Daniel realized its fulfilment +when he said, “Let my Lord speak; for Thou hast strengthened me.” {90c} + +“I will help thee.” Remember David’s words, “My heart trusted in Him, +and I am helped.” {90d} + +“I will uphold thee.” But will He really uphold us through trials and +temptations? Will He really keep us fast in the right hand of His +righteousness, and that when our faith is weak? Turn to Asaph’s +experience. He says of himself, “As for me, my feet were almost gone; my +steps had well-nigh slipped.” {90e} But now look at the upholding arm. +“Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right +hand.” {90f} So, then, this promise has been practically fulfilled. God +has been true to His word, and men have found Him so. His truth has +never failed, and will He fail us? Will he fail the weakest amongst us? +Will He cease to uphold His people? Let us trust Him. We are not worthy +to do so. If He had treated us as we have deserved, He would long since +have cast us off. But He has not treated us as we have deserved. He has +loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, so we may trust +Him, and leave all in His care; and of this we may rest perfectly +assured, that the strong arm will never give way. + + + + +THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE + + + “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: + Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. + + “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: + and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”—PSA. xxiii. 5, + 6. + +IT is a very delightful thing to be able to say “Surely” when we look +forward. Now, this sureness for the future depends on our present +relationship to God, and the confidence expressed in verse 6 is the +blessed result of the unspeakably precious gifts described in the earlier +verses of the Psalm. It depends on the connection between the present +and the future, a connection resulting from the unchangeableness in the +character of God. In order, therefore, to understand the last verse +which relates to the future, let us study the one preceding it, which +describes the present. We may thus combine the present and the future, +and I think the result will be what our Church describes as a “sure and +certain hope.” + + + +THE PRESENT + + +As I have just said, our confidence for the future depends on our present +relationship to God; and, accordingly, the Psalm opens with the words, +“The Lord is my Shepherd.” The holy relationship between the Shepherd +and the flock is described as being already established, and by both +parties recognized, and all that follows is the result of that +relationship. We have not time to study the whole Psalm; but look at the +three results taught us in verse 5. + + +I. ALL WANTS ARE SUPPLIED. + + +Even if there are enemies, they cannot interfere with the full and sure +supply which God has provided for His servant. When he reaches the end +of his journey, he will find that the Lord has prepared a place for his +rest; and now that he is in the midst of it, he may rejoice in that the +same most blessed Saviour has prepared a table for his daily supply. + +This refers, doubtless, to our daily wants, and it describes His +fulfilment of our supplication in the Lord’s Prayer. We pray day by day, +“Give us this day our daily bread;” and when we really enter into the +spirit of this Psalm, we as much as say that the prayer is answered, the +bread provided, and the table spread. + +And may we not apply it still more to the bread of life? Is it not our +sacred privilege, when the soul is hungered, to feed even on Him; when +the soul is athirst, to drink of the pure river of the water of life? +And are there not many amongst us who know, by their own experience, the +truth of the promise, “They shall be abundantly satisfied?” {92} + + +II. THE SPIRIT IS REFRESHED. + + +This is taught in the words, “Thou anointest my head with oil.” The +words refer to the custom of anointing the weary man with ointment or +oil. It was poured sometimes on the feet and sometimes on the head. The +object in both cases was the same, namely, refreshment; and surely we +must thankfully acknowledge that our Heavenly Father does not merely give +us the bare necessities of existence, but softens, refreshes, and cheers +the spirit. He prepares not the table only, but the joy. “He giveth us +richly all things to enjoy.” {93a} + + +III. THE CUP OVERFLOWS. + + +The mercies are so rich, the grace so abundant, the loving-kindness so +bountiful, the living fountain so free, that the little cup of human +capacity cannot hold it all, and it runneth over. God describes His +people as not merely satisfied, but abundantly satisfied; and speaks of +the Holy Spirit as not merely bestowed, but as “shed on us abundantly.” +{93b} Why, then, are we content with a little water hardly perceptible +at the bottom of our little cup? Stephen was “full of faith and of the +Holy Ghost,” {93c} and we are told to be “filled with the Spirit;” {93d} +why, then, rest content with only a few drops in our own soul while there +is the deep, broad river of the water of life able to fill, to +overflowing, every vessel that can be found to receive the free supply? +Why do we not realize more the truth of the promise, “Open thy mouth +wide, and I will fill it”? {93e} + +So much, then, for the present. A table prepared, a head anointed, a cup +running over. These are present gifts—the present and indescribable +privileges of those whose joy it is to be able to say, “The Lord is my +Shepherd.” + + + +THE FUTURE + + +Let us pass on to the future as taught in verse 6. We may observe two +things— + + +I. THE ASSURANCE. + + +“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The +idea seems to be that, in the poetry of this beautiful Psalm, Goodness +and Mercy are represented as two persons, just as we find first Mercy and +Truth as two persons meeting each other in Christ Jesus, and then +Righteousness and Peace, two other persons, kissing each other in Him. +{94a} So here we have the two persons: Goodness, the bearer of every +gift that can possibly be required, and Mercy dealing most graciously +even with sin; the two following the servant of the Lord, and never +leaving him all the way through. And you may observe they _follow_ him, +so that he does not always see them, and may not even know they are +there. He may sometimes imagine that he is forsaken and alone, but he is +strangely mistaken, for Goodness and Mercy are close behind, the one to +supply his need, and the other to deal graciously even with his sin. + +If we are in Christ Jesus, we may be as sure of the future as of the +past. We may be perfectly certain of the truth of the words of the Good +Shepherd, “They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out +of my hand.” {94b} That promise is so sure that it can never fail, that +hand so strong that all the powers of hell cannot pluck the weakest +little one from its grasp, that heart so true that we may be perfectly +certain He will never abandon one whom He has called by the Holy Ghost +into fellowship with Himself. + + +II. THE DETERMINATION. + + +“I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” David delighted in the +house of God; and clearly we must explain these words as referring to the +holy worship of the sanctuary. But in order to enter into the full +spirit of the passage, we must rise from the Church on earth to the +sanctuary in heaven; to the heavenly home and the presence chamber of +God. There, indeed, is the table spread, there is the anointing oil, +there the cup runneth over; and now, through the rest of our pilgrimage, +though the journey may possibly be through the Vale of Baca, {95a} though +sometimes the soul may be bowed down, and that even when the heart is +fixed, yet in the midst of it all, and through it all, we may live in a +close intimacy with Him. We may quietly rest in His love, we may dwell +in Him and He in us; and while He gives the gracious promise, “Him that +cometh to Me I will in no wise _cast_ out,” {95b} we may resolve, God +helping us, that we will never _go_ out, and that, to the last day of our +lives, we will hold fast by Him, till at length the veil shall be +withdrawn, and the heavenly home open before us, and we realize what it +is, in the highest possible sense, “to dwell in the house of the Lord for +ever.” + + * * * * * + + THE END + + * * * * * + + * * * * * + + PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, + LONDON AND BECCLES. + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +{5} 2 Sam. xii. 13. + +{6} Psa. li. 13. + +{7} Psa. cxlviii. 14. + +{8a} Exod. xv. 1. + +{8b} Psa. xl. 2, 3. + +{8c} Rev. vii. 10, 14. + +{8d} Isa. lx. 18. + +{9a} Psa. cxliii. 9. + +{9b} Acts xvi. 25, R.V. + +{13} St. Luke xix. 10. + +{15} Rev. xxii. 17. + +{17} 2 Peter i. 3. + +{18a} 2 Peter i. 3. + +{18b} St. John x. 28. + +{20a} Rom. iii. 25. + +{20b} 2 Cor. v. 21. + +{20c} 1 Cor. i. 30. + +{20d} St. John v. 28. + +{21} St. Jude 3. + +{26} Eph. ii. 4, 5. + +{27a} Gal. v. 22. + +{27b} Rom. xv. 13. + +{28a} 2 Cor. v. 1. + +{28b} St. Luke ii. 26. + +{29a} Phil. i. 23. + +{29b} 2 Tim. iv. 6. + +{30a} Phil. i. 23. + +{30b} 2 Tim. i. 12. + +{31a} Psa. xxiii. 4. + +{31b} St. Luke xix. 9. + +{32a} 1 Peter i. 8. + +{32b} Num. xxiv. 17. + +{34a} Isa. xxxii. 2. + +{34b} Psa. xxxii. 7. + +{34c} Col. iii. 3. + +{34d} 1 John v. 12. + +{35} Gal. ii. 20. + +{37} 2 Cor. v. 15. + +{38} St. John i. 26. + +{39a} St. John iii. 34. + +{39b} Col. ii. 9. + +{39c} Acts x. 38. + +{40} Acts ii, 3, 4. + +{41a} Phil. iv. 19. + +{41b} Job. xlii. 6. + +{42} Heb. x. 20. + +{44a} Acts xiii. 34. + +{44b} St. John xviii. 37. + +{44c} Rev. i. 5. + +{44d} Psa. xxxv. 3. + +{45a} 1 John v. 10. + +{45b} St. John x. 3. + +{45c} Isa. xliv. 10. + +{46a} Isa. xlii. 16. + +{46b} Psa. xxxi. 3. + +{46c} Psa. cxix. 117. + +{46d} Psa. xxv. 4. + +{47a} Psa. xxiii 4. + +{47b} Eph. i. 22. + +{47c} Rev. xvii. 14. + +{48a} Rev. xvii. 14. + +{48b} Acts ix. 6. + +{51} Neh. iv. 6. + +{52a} Neh. iv. 4. + +{52b} St. Matt. xxvi. 41. + +{53} Neh. iv. 15. + +{55a} 2 Pet. iii. 18. + +{55b} Rom. iv. 24, 25. + +{56} Rom. xi. 20. + +{59a} Acts xiii. 2. + +{59b} Eph. iv. 16. + +{60a} 1 Sam. iii. 19. + +{60b} Mal. iii. 17. + +{60c} Ps. cxxvii. 1. + +{61} Eph. ii. 10. + +{63a} Isa. xxviii. 16. + +{63b} 1 John iv. 16. + +{64} Heb. xiii. 8. + +{65a} Psa. lxiii. 1. + +{65b} Sam. xvii. 37. + +{66} 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14. + +{67a} 1 Thess. iv. 17. + +{67b} Phil. iv. 4, 5. + +{67c} 1 Cor. vii. 29. + +{68a} Rom. xiii. 11. + +{68b} St. Matt. xxv. 6. + +{68c} St. Luke xxi. 25. + +{69a} St. Luke xxi. 26. + +{69b} St. Luke xxi. 28. + +{69c} St. Luke xxi. 27. + +{71} Heb. x. 20. + +{72a} Eph. ii. 14. + +{72b} Acts xiii. 7. + +{72c} Acts xiv. 1. + +{73} Acts xiii. 52. + +{74a} Acts xv. 4–12. + +{74b} St. Matt. xxviii. 20. + +{74c} Acts xvi. 14. + +{75} 1 Cor. iii. 6. + +{76a} Acts xii. 7. + +{76b} Isa. lxiv. 7. + +{77a} Phil. ii. 12. + +{77b} Acts xvii. 16. + +{78a} Prov. xxvii. 17. + +{78b} Deut. xxxii. 11. + +{79a} Rom. i. 7. + +{79b} Rom. xiii. 11. + +{80} Cant v. 2. + +{81} 1 Chron. xxviii. 20. + +{82a} Psa. cxix. 94. + +{82b} Isa vi. 8. + +{82c} St. John xvii. 19, R.V. Margin. + +{83a} 1 Chron. xxix. 9. + +{83b} 1 Chron. xxix. 14. + +{84} Rev. ii. 4. + +{87} Rev. xxi. 3. + +{89a} St. Jude 24. + +{89b} 1 John i. 9. + +{90a} Psa. xxiii. 4. + +{90b} Psa. lxiii. 1. + +{90c} Dan. x. 19. + +{90d} Psa. xxviii. 7. + +{90e} Psa. lxxiii. 2. + +{90f} Psa. lxxiii. 23. + +{92} Psa. xxxvi. 8. + +{93a} 1 Tim. vi. 17. + +{93b} Titus iii. 6. + +{93c} Acts vi. 5. + +{93d} Eph. v. 18. + +{93e} Psa. lxxxi. 10. + +{94a} Psa. lxxxv. 10. + +{94b} St. John x. 28. + +{95a} Psa. lxxxiv. 6, Cp. 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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: Multiplied Blessings + Eighteen Short Readings + + +Author: Edward Hoare + + + +Release Date: July 12, 2013 [eBook #43201] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1907 Society for Promoting Christian +Knowledge edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS<br /> +<span class="GutSmall"><i>EIGHTEEN SHORT READINGS</i></span></h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY THE +LATE</span><br /> +REV. CANON HOARE<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">VICAR OF HOLY TRINITY, TUNBRIDGE +WELLS</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">published under +the direction of the tract committee</span></p> + +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="smcap">LONDON</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN +KNOWLEDGE</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.</span><br +/> +<span class="smcap">BRIGHTON</span>: <span class="GutSmall">129, +NORTH STREET</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">New York</span>: E. S. GORHAM<br /> +1907</p> +<h2><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +3</span>PREFACE</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">These</span> short readings, now published +for the first time, are extracts from the written sermons of the +late Rev. E. Hoare, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Tunbridge Wells from +1853 to 1894, and Hon. Canon of Canterbury. They are taken, +word for word, from his original MSS., and have been selected +with a view to giving practical help in the Christian life. +Many of them were written long ago, but the hindrances and +difficulties that meet the Christian continue much the same, and +it is hoped that the following pages may be used of God to bring +before the reader the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour, Guide, +and Helper.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">K. A. H.</p> +<h2><a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +4</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Multiplied Blessings</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page5">5</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Saviour seeking the +Sinner</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page12">12</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Divine Salvation</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page17">17</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Feelings</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page24">24</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Peaceful Death-bed</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Peaceful Life</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page33">33</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Indwelling of the Holy +Spirit</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page38">38</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Witness</span>—<span +class="smcap">The Leader</span>—<span class="smcap">The +Commander</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page43">43</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Faith and Effort</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page49">49</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Joy of the Lord</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page54">54</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Work of the Lord</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page58">58</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Christian Experience in the +Confirmation of Faith</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page62">62</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Coming of the Lord</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page66">66</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">“With” and +“By”</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page71">71</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Stirring of the Spirit</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Willing Service</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page81">81</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Fear Not</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page86">86</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Present and the Future</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page91">91</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +5</span>MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Thou art my hiding-place; Thou shalt +preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs +of deliverance.</p> +<p>“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which +thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”—Ps. +xxxii. 7, 8.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Well</span>, indeed, may the Psalmist say, +“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,” for +every blessing flows into the soul as the consequence of divine +forgiveness. The word in the Hebrew rendered +“Blessed” is in the plural number, to show that there +is not one blessing only, but multiplied blessings and multiplied +mercies, all springing from this one source, the forgiveness of +sin. When David wrote these words he felt the truth of +them. He spoke of a gift which he had himself +experienced. He had found mercy, so he proclaimed its +richness. We know how grievously he fell in the matter of +Bathsheba and Uriah, and we remember Nathan’s visit. +It was after that visit that, according to the general belief, +this Psalm was written. He had struggled with the agonies +of unforgiven sin, till at length the message was delivered to +him by the prophet, “The Lord, also, hath put away thy +sin.” <a name="citation5"></a><a href="#footnote5" +class="citation">[5]</a> No wonder, then, that he poured +out his heart in this hymn of thanksgiving, commencing with the +words, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, +whose sin is covered.”</p> +<p><a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>But it is +not merely a Psalm of thanksgiving, for according to the title it +was a Maschil, a Psalm giving instruction. When David was +pleading for mercy in Psalm li., he said that when he had found +forgiveness himself, he would make it known for the good of +others, “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.” +<a name="citation6"></a><a href="#footnote6" +class="citation">[6]</a> So now, having been forgiven, he +wrote this Psalm of instruction for others.</p> +<p>“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose +sin is covered.” These were the words with which +David commenced his Psalm, and in these words he said that to +which every forgiven soul will most heartily add, +“Amen.”</p> +<p>What was the peculiar character of that blessedness? We +learn from verses 3 and 4 the awful misery of sin unrepented and +unforgiven. We find how David’s tears were dried up +by the burning heat of a guilty conscience, and how the dreadful +burden weighed day and night upon his soul. Then in the +next verse we are taught the secret of the great transition from +misery to peace. We find how he made up his mind to make no +further efforts to conceal his guilt. He resolved to +confess it before God, and no longer attempt to hide it from +man. The result was a complete, assured, and most merciful +forgiveness. “Thou forgavest,” he said, +“the iniquity of my sin.” He was assured of the +gift, but what was the unspeakable blessedness to which, when +forgiven, he was admitted?</p> +<p>This we learn from the words of our text in which we find the +peaceful intercourse of the forgiven soul with God. It is +that peaceful intercourse which constitutes the real test of +forgiveness, Christ died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to +God: so those <a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +7</span>who are made partakers of that atoning work are actually +brought to God and made what the Psalmist calls “a people +near unto Him.” <a name="citation7"></a><a +href="#footnote7" class="citation">[7]</a> So it was in the +case of David. There was nothing to keep him any longer at +a distance, and in the full peace of complete reconciliation he +enjoyed the unspeakable privilege of communion with God. +The account of this communion is given us in the verses of our +text, in the first of which we have the language of the forgiven +sinner to God, in the second the reply from God Himself.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">The Language of the Forgiven +Soul addressing God</span>.</h3> +<p>He that was afar off without any shelter from the rough storm +of an accusing conscience, is now able to look up to the God who +has forgiven him and say, “Thou art my +hiding-place.” He finds his shelter and his safety in +the presence of that very God whose law he had broken. He +does not say, “Thou hast provided a hiding-place,” +but “Thou <i>art</i> my hiding-place.” He who +had been exposed without protection to the sore buffetings of his +own conscience, confirmed as it was by the just sentence of +God’s holy law, had been so completely restored that he had +found in God Himself a hiding-place.</p> +<p>In that sacred hiding-place he realized two results, safety +and praise. When hidden there he was safe, just as our own +life is safe when hidden with Christ in God, and therefore he +could say, “Thou shalt preserve me,” and when hidden +there he would live in the very atmosphere of thanksgiving, so he +said, “Thou shalt compass me about (or surround me) with +songs of deliverance.” A song of deliverance is a +song of praise from one that has been delivered. <a +name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>The Song of +Moses was a song of deliverance when he stood on the shores of +the Red Sea after he had seen the hosts of Egypt overwhelmed in +the flood. <a name="citation8a"></a><a href="#footnote8a" +class="citation">[8a]</a> David’s was a song of +deliverance when God had brought him up out of the horrible pit +and established his goings, and had put a new song in his mouth. +<a name="citation8b"></a><a href="#footnote8b" +class="citation">[8b]</a> The song of the great multitude +before the throne is a song of deliverance, when, brought out of +great tribulation, clothed with white robes and palms in their +hands, they sing, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon +the throne, and unto the Lamb.” <a +name="citation8c"></a><a href="#footnote8c" +class="citation">[8c]</a></p> +<p>Observe the connection between this safety and these songs of +deliverance. The songs are not merely the consequence of +the safety, but a part of it. Hidden in the Lord, we are +compassed, or surrounded, by them. Whichever way we look, +whether forward in hope, or backward in memory, or upwards in +trust, there is in every direction something to call forth the +praise, and the spirit of thanksgiving is in itself a protection +against assault.</p> +<p>There is just the same connection between praise and safety in +the description of the restored Zion: “Thou shalt call thy +walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” <a +name="citation8d"></a><a href="#footnote8d" +class="citation">[8d]</a> Praise is there represented as +part of the defence. The enemy cannot enter because the +gateway is filled by praise. The song of deliverance is so +hearty and so loud that the voice of the tempter is not +heard. And thus it is that the forgiven man, hidden in +Christ Jesus, praises God, because he has been saved, and +confirms his safety by the very act of praising Him. Does +not this teach us a lesson as to our own communion with +God? Whatever it is that weighs on the heart and disturbs +the spirit, whatever <a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +9</span>the storm be that beats upon us, whether it be care from +without or conscience within, whether it be the pain of trouble +or the still greater pain of the sense of sin, the forgiven man +may go straight to Him and say, “I flee unto Thee to hide +me.” <a name="citation9a"></a><a href="#footnote9a" +class="citation">[9a]</a> And if hidden in Him, can +anything really hurt us? Is not His salvation a sufficient +wall? Shall anything that can really hurt us enter in by +those gates which He has closed with praise? In holy peace, +then let the songs of deliverance rise before Him. Let the +unspeakable blessedness of the divine safety call forth the notes +of thanksgiving. If the sweet note of praise was heard by +the prisoners from the inner dungeon at Philippi, <a +name="citation9b"></a><a href="#footnote9b" +class="citation">[9b]</a> shall it not be heard by the whole +church of God from those who have found a hiding-place in their +Lord?</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">The Lord’s Reply to the +Forgiven Man</span>.</h3> +<p>Such, then, was the language of the forgiven man to the God +who had forgiven him. What reply did he receive? +“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou +shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye.” You will +observe that what is here promised is His own divine guidance and +instruction, and you will see at once how appropriate such a +promise was under the peculiar circumstances of the case. +David had grievously fallen. He had been walking, in former +times, in God’s way, but had turned aside in a most awful +manner. We do not know what was the preparatory process in +his mind. Perhaps he had forgotten his weakness; perhaps he +had grown self-confident and fell. But we see what God +promised now that he was restored. He undertook in future +to keep him Himself, by His own instruction and His own +guidance. The Lord Himself undertook to guide him, <a +name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>and so keep +him safe from the danger of another fall.</p> +<p>There are two points in this promise. It was <i>in</i> +the way, not <i>about</i> the way, that God promised to guide +him. When he was walking in the narrow way God under took +to walk with him there, and to hold him fast in His own right +hand till the journey should be complete, and the rest reached at +the end. Let us all learn the lesson that God’s +teaching is only found in the path of God’s +commandments. If we choose to walk in some way of our own +choosing, we must not expect the guidance of the Lord.</p> +<p>Observe also what I may term the delicacy of the promise and +the intimacy of the relationship. God says, “I will +guide thee with Mine eye.”</p> +<p>When David was living in a state of impenitence, the strong +hand of God was upon him day and night. But now a look is +enough. No force is needed. The heart is tender, the +ear is open, the eye is fixed on the Lord Jesus, and the least +intimation of His will is sufficient. The passage seems to +describe the eye of the Lord watching over His children, and the +eyes of His children fixed on the Lord. When the Lord Jesus +looked on Peter, Peter must have been looking on Him, and one +look melted his heart. And so when the Lord is guiding us, +there is no need of strong or violent discipline, of the wind, +the storm, or the earthquake, for the still small voice is +enough. What is needed is that we should be living looking +unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, seeking to know +His will, drinking in His word, watching the guidance of His +providence, applying the principles of Scripture to common life, +and so not waiting till conviction is forced upon us, but, with a +tender heart and a ready mind, seeking hour by hour <a +name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>to do His +will. It is in such an attitude of mind that we can realize +the sacred promise, “I will guide thee with Mine +eye.”</p> +<p>Such, then, was the intercourse of this forgiven man with +God. How close, how intimate, how sacred, how blessed, the +communion! And how complete must have been the forgiveness +that prepared the way for it. It seems almost impossible to +believe that this was the same man on whom God’s hand had +been heavy day and night, the same whose bones had waxed old +through his roaring all the day long, now forgiven, now brought +into happy intercourse with God. Does not the passage teach +a wonderful lesson to every soul that has been mercifully +forgiven in Christ Jesus? When we think of the precious +blood of Christ, and how the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us +all, can we suppose for a moment that the forgiveness bestowed on +us is less complete, or the restoration less perfect, than that +of David? Since, then, in his case, the insuperable barrier +of his guilt was so completely broken down that he was admitted +to this sacred and intimate fellowship, why should any one of us +remain at a distance? Why should not we, even we, go before +the same Father to find in Him our hiding-place, and receive from +Him the same blessed assurance, “I will guide thee with +Mine eye”? May He accompany us through life with that +loving guidance and watch over every step we take till, by His +great grace, we are safe from danger.</p> +<h2><a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>THE +SAVIOUR SEEKING THE SINNER</h2> +<blockquote><p>“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, +if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the +wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find +it?”—<span class="smcap">St. Luke</span> xv. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are many amongst us truly and +conscientiously seeking the Lord whose souls are ill at ease, and +whose hearts are far from peace. They are feeling after +Him, if haply they may find Him; but they are like blind men +groping for the wall, for they have not found Him, and they have +no firm resting-place for their faith. They have been +reading many passages about seeking the Lord, and have +endeavoured to seek Him, but they are sorely discouraged.</p> +<p>Let us, therefore, change the subject, and instead of +considering how they are to seek the Lord, let us see how the +Lord seeks them. Let us look at the Divine side of the +transaction, and instead of being absorbed by the subject of the +sinner seeking the Saviour, let us look at the boundless grace of +God which is shown by the Saviour seeking the sinner.</p> +<p>It is the great subject of this chapter, which contains three +illustrations of the one subject, and thus forms an illustrated +comment on His words, “The Son of man is come to seek and +to save that which <a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +13</span>was lost.” <a name="citation13"></a><a +href="#footnote13" class="citation">[13]</a> According to +those words He came for the lost, and came not only to save them +when they should succeed in finding Him, but to seek them in +order that He may save. He does not save without seeking, +nor does He seek without saving. Let us glean some lessons, +from the combination of the three illustrations, as to the loss +of the sinner, and the seeking of the Saviour.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Loss</span>.</h3> +<p>In all three cases the recovered one is said to have been +lost. The sheep was lost. The coin was lost. +The son was lost.</p> +<p>If we study the illustrations in detail we shall see that +there are three ways described in the chapter in which this loss +is brought about.</p> +<p>It is brought about, in the case of the lost sheep, through +simple ignorance and the folly of pursuing each passing object of +attraction. The wandering sheep has no particular intention +of going wrong. It does not set off with a deliberate wish +to run away; it is simply led on step by step by any attraction +that lies beside its path. And is not this the case with +thousands of those who have wandered from the Shepherd’s +care?</p> +<p>In the second parable the loss is occasioned by the neglect of +others. The piece of money is lost through carelessness, +without any fault of its own. The person who had the charge +of it took no heed to be sure that it was safe. How many +are there in exactly that position? They have been lost, +humanly speaking, through want of care.</p> +<p>But the third character is quite distinct from both the +others. The Prodigal Son was lost because he deliberately +and determinately left his father’s home. <a +name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>He was +totally unlike the wandering sheep led on from step to step +without a plan, for he had a plan, and he deliberately carried it +out. This, then, is far the worst of the three. It +represents one living in the midst of privileges, but +deliberately casting away his faith. He has life and death +brought before him, and he chooses death, or, at all events, he +chooses that which leads to death. Oh! how marvellous is +the boundless grace and mercy of our God, that He should go out +of His way to seek and to save any one so unthankful and so +guilty!</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Seeking of the Saviour</span>.</h3> +<p>He seeks by coming Himself as the Son of Man. The +Shepherd leaving the fold and going forth into the wilderness to +seek the wanderer, is a picture of the Son of God leaving the +glory which He had with the Father before the world was, and +visiting this fallen world as the Son of man, in order that He +might seek, and, by His atoning blood, might save the +sinner. We shall never understand His grace in seeking us +if we do not realize that great act of His already +complete. This great finished work of His is the foundation +of all that follows, and if we want to understand the mystery of +His love in seeking us we must begin with the two great facts, +Incarnation and Atonement. Why did He become man? Why +was He born at Bethlehem? Was it not because He came on a +divine mission to seek the sinner? Why did He die? +Why did He utter that bitter cry upon the cross? Was it not +that He might remove the curse by bearing it, and having broken +down every barrier, might have the joy of bringing the lost one +to the Father’s home? You, then, who are anxious +about your souls, and whose earnest desire it is to be sought out +and saved, remember what the Son of man <a +name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>has already +done; fall back on the finished fact; and never forget that +however doubtful you may be as to your own position, there is no +doubt whatever as to the fact that the Son of God has come to +seek the lost one and to save him by His blood.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">He seeks through Human +Agency</span>.</h3> +<p>I cannot think that the woman lighting a candle and sweeping +the house represents the Saviour. She is generally, and I +think correctly, thought to represent the Church. If this +be the case it may serve to teach how the whole Church of Christ +ought to be entirely engaged in carrying out the sacred mission +of our Blessed Lord. It is not the Spirit alone that is to +say “Come,” <a name="citation15"></a><a +href="#footnote15" class="citation">[15]</a> but the Bride and +all that hear the message. He has become man and died for +us, but we are to light the candle, sweep the house, and seek +diligently till we find the lost ones. We are to spare no +effort for their recovery: we are to search them out; we are to +let them know that there is a Christian friend anxious for their +safety, and that there will not only be joy amongst the angels of +God, but a hearty welcome amongst His people on earth for any +poor lost one brought in lowly repentance to the feet of the +Blessed Saviour, there to find pardon and recovery.</p> +<p>And what are we to say of the third parable, for we find no +mention of the seeking there. But we find the divine act +most remarkably represented, for there we may see how God Himself +seeks the wanderer. We do not see the father doing it in +the parable, but we do see how God Himself does it in fact. +We there see the work both of His providence and of His +Spirit. Of His providence, for the Father in heaven both +sought and found him, just as He is doing with thousands +now. He took from him one thing after <a +name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>another till +all hope was gone, and he envied even the swine their meal. +God was seeking him, so He broke him down and crushed him on +purpose that He might save.</p> +<p>But God did much more than bring him into trouble, for trouble +very often does nothing but harden. But in this case the +Spirit of God was seeking him, so that it was a trouble blessed +by the Spirit, and he was led with a broken heart to say, +“Father, I have sinned.”</p> +<p>See how God Himself sought him and brought him to true +repentance. He was far away from the hand of man. He +was lost to his father’s home. But he was never lost +sight of by God. There was a loving eye watching him, and a +loving care seeking him, so that though lost to man he was not +lost to God, and his father with a full heart was able at length +to say, “This my son was dead and is alive again; he was +lost and is found.”</p> +<h2><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>A +DIVINE SALVATION</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“Salvation is of +the Lord.”—<span class="smcap">Jonah</span> ii. +9.</p> +<p>“According as His divine power hath given unto us all +things that pertain onto life and godliness, through the +knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and +virtue.”—2 <span class="smcap">St. Peter</span> i. +3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">No</span> one can read his Bible without +being convinced that it is full of practical exhortations as to +human conduct and human effort. Those who are seeking the +Lord Jesus Christ are exhorted to repent, to believe, to be +converted, to seek, to come, and to follow on to know the +Lord. Hence it follows that as we are very apt to see only +one side of anything at a time, there is a great tendency to +dwell exclusively on human action, and to exhort, and to +persuade, as if everything was in our own hands, so that we may +do just what we please, and when we please, in the great matter +of our soul’s salvation. People are apt to write and +speak about coming to Jesus as if it all rested with the sinner +himself. But this, though deduced from a truth, is not the +whole truth of Scripture. We find there beyond all doubt +the warning, the offer and the invitation; but we find also the +clear description of a divine salvation, the plan of divine +wisdom, and the gift of divine grace. Accordingly in this +passage when St. Peter <a name="citation17"></a><a +href="#footnote17" class="citation">[17]</a> is addressing <a +name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>those who had +obtained like precious faith with himself, he makes it perfectly +clear at the very outset of his letter that they had obtained it, +not by the power of their own energy, or the determination of +their own will, but through the power of God, the gift of God, +and the call of God, “whereby were given unto them +exceeding great and precious promises.” <a +name="citation18a"></a><a href="#footnote18a" +class="citation">[18a]</a></p> +<p>Let us, therefore, turn our attention to the divine side of +the great transaction, and trace through four successive steps, +the divine Saviour, the divine salvation, the divine revelation, +and the divine application.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">A Divine Saviour</span>.</h3> +<p>It is not my business now to make any attempt to prove the +divinity of our Blessed Redeemer, for I take it for granted that +we all admit the great truths of Christianity. What I +desire now to do is to point out that, if saved at all, we are +saved by a Person, and that that Person is divine. The Lord +Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour, and as a personal Saviour, +saves us from the death of sin. It is as much a personal +act as when a bold swimmer leaps into the ocean and saves a +drowning man.</p> +<p>Now it is plain that everything depends on the nature and +power of the person who saves us. If He be only man, then +we can hope for nothing more than a man-made salvation. The +salvation will not rise above the Saviour; but if He is divine, +then we may rest on His divine omnipotence, and look for the +power of God unto salvation. Thus the divinity of the Lord +Jesus Christ is a matter of life and death to us. The +question is whether we are to save ourselves or be saved by our +God. And this is the issue which He Himself raised when He +said, “I give unto them eternal life.” <a +name="citation18b"></a><a href="#footnote18b" +class="citation">[18b]</a> The statement of that passage <a +name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>is that He, +as a Person, holds His people in His own hand, and holds them +with omnipotent strength because He is divine, for He and the +Father are one. There, then, is both the foundation and the +keystone of our trust. We may see all kinds of +difficulties; there may be confusion, perplexity, and the cry of +distress in every direction, but according to His divine power +God has provided a divine Saviour, and in that Saviour we may +rest, for He is the Son of God.</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">A Divine Salvation</span>.</h3> +<p>The whole plan from first to last is divine. The world +is full of human plans, some of which are successful and some +total failures. One man contrives one thing and one +another, but God alone planned the great salvation. It was +not in the power of ruined nature to restore itself, so in +boundless mercy and in His own divine omnipotence He provided a +plan of restoration. Thus the purpose is divine, His own +eternal purpose before the world was; the mode of reconciliation +is divine, the release of the sinner through the imputation of +sin to the sin-bearer. The propitiation was divine, +“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith +in His blood.” <a name="citation20a"></a><a +href="#footnote20a" class="citation">[20a]</a> The +imputation of righteousness is divine, “For God hath made +Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the +righteousness of God in Him.” <a name="citation20b"></a><a +href="#footnote20b" class="citation">[20b]</a></p> +<p>The work of sanctification is divine, “Of Him are ye in +Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us . . . +sanctification;” <a name="citation20c"></a><a +href="#footnote20c" class="citation">[20c]</a> and the final +gathering of God’s elect will be divine for “all that +are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come +forth.” <a name="citation20d"></a><a href="#footnote20d" +class="citation">[20d]</a></p> +<p>It is most important to bear this well in mind, for it <a +name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>places the +subject beyond the sphere of human speculation. If a man +starts a new system of philosophy, or if people advocate any +particular system in politics, we are perfectly at liberty to +criticise it. What one man does, another man may +criticise. But it is a very different thing with the +salvation of God. Once admit that it is a divine plan, +arranged in divine wisdom and carried out in divine power, and it +is then manifestly beyond the reach of human intellect. +There may be things in it which seem to us very mysterious; but +what else can we expect when the infinite and divine arrangements +of God are subjected to the speculations of the finite mind of +man? If the whole salvation were of such a character as to +present no points of difficulty to the human inquirer, we might +almost doubt its divinity, and believe that as it is within the +range of man’s mind, so it had its origin in man’s +ingenuity. But when we see it beyond the reach of man, then +we are taught by our own inability to fathom it, to regard it as +a plan above ourselves, for the simple reason that it is +divine.</p> +<h3>III. <span class="smcap">Divine Revelation</span>.</h3> +<p>But when we have acknowledged that the Saviour and the +salvation are divine, there remains a further question of the +utmost possible importance. It is this. In what way +is this divine salvation made known to mankind? Is it known +by human discovery or divine communication? Do we know it +by thinking out the subject, or by receiving a revelation from +God? Surely the answer to this question is obvious, that a +divine salvation can only be known by a divine +communication. The eternal purpose of God can only be known +by divine communication from Himself. A supernatural +salvation requires in the very nature of things a supernatural +communication from <a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +21</span>God. Thus an Apostle describes <a +name="citation21"></a><a href="#footnote21" +class="citation">[21]</a> the faith, not as having been +<i>discovered by</i> the saints, but as having been <i>delivered +to</i> the saints, delivered to them, that is, in God’s own +inspired Word. As God has planned a complete salvation, so +He has given a complete revelation of that salvation. He +has not left us to grope for it as blind men feeling for the +wall; but has revealed His plan in His own word, and taught us to +rest in the scripture of truth as His own revelation of His +purpose of grace.</p> +<h3>IV. <span class="smcap">The Divine +Application</span>.</h3> +<p>To many this is the most difficult of the four points +mentioned at the outset. They are perfectly satisfied as to +the divine Saviour, the divine salvation, and the divine +revelation in the Word of God, but have found no little +difficulty in the application of it to themselves. They can +see the chain with its three links hanging down from heaven over +their heads, but it is just out of their own reach, and as a poor +dying sailor once said to me, “I see the rope, but I cannot +get hold of it.” So they see the salvation, but +cannot get hold of it as their own. If there are any +anxious on the subject, and earnestly desiring “to get +hold” on the great salvation, let them remember that what +they really want is for <i>the Saviour to lay hold on them</i>, +and this is what He practically does by the power of the Holy +Ghost. It is the peculiar office of the Holy Ghost to take +of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and apply them unto us, +and without that act of His we may struggle in vain to reach the +blessing. It is not enough for us to be told that God has +provided a perfect Saviour, that that Saviour has made a perfect +propitiation, and that by virtue of that propitiation the great +salvation is offered to us as a gift. We may be <a +name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>assured of +all that and yet live on without it, for we want in addition that +which the human heart cannot find in itself, the power to receive +the gift and, receiving it, to live. It is by this mighty +power that those who sleep are awakened; those far off are +brought nigh; the bondsmen are set free; the dead made alive, and +those who are strangers and outcasts are made heirs of God +through the blood of Christ.</p> +<p>There is no case too hopeless for the Lord’s +salvation. There are many who have been so utterly +unsuccessful in their efforts to rise that they begin to think +there is something peculiar in themselves which makes them an +exception to the general offer of life and pardon. And +there are others who are longing for the salvation of some +stubborn, unbroken heart, but who have sought so long and so +hopelessly that they almost begin to despair. Now whether +your anxiety be for yourself or others, remember the divinity of +the great salvation. If the whole is divine, why should it +not be sufficient? You say you are dead, but cannot the +divine power raise the dead? You say your sins are too +great for pardon, but is not the divine propitiation sufficient +for them all? You say you cannot produce even a good +prayer, but does not the divine revelation assure you that the +salvation is a free gift even for those who have nothing?</p> +<p>Give up, then, all thought of working yourself up to +salvation, for that is a mere human process, and is certain to +fail, but throw yourself <i>before you are saved</i> right away +on the Saviour for His great gift of salvation. Remember +that the whole thing from first to last is divine, and, because +it is divine, as a little child trust it without the slightest +qualification, trust the promise, accept the gift, and may God +grant that you <a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +23</span>may be able to use as your own the words of the text, +“According as His divine power hath given unto me all +things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the +knowledge of Him who hath called <i>me</i> to glory and +virtue.”</p> +<h2><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +24</span>FEELINGS</h2> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“Love, joy, +peace.”—<span class="smcap">Gal</span>. v. 22.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Feelings</span> clearly have their place +in the things of God. Our Christianity is based on +principles, but still it calls forth the feelings. Now +there are two great extremes into which we are apt to fall with +reference to Christian feeling.</p> +<p>There are some whose religion seems to consist in feeling +only. They look for warm, bright emotions, they bring +everything to the standard of their feelings, and if they feel as +they wish to do they are satisfied. Their hearts are warmed +by the things of God, and many a cold, phlegmatic theologian +would be a different being if he could but catch something of +their feeling.</p> +<p>But still we must put in a caution, for feelings, however +bright, are not to be trusted unless they rise out of principle +and end in practice. If you have feeling only—a +feeling not based on solid acquaintance with Scriptural truth, it +will rise like a bubble, and look as beautiful in its colours, +but it will burst as easily as the bubble does, and even at its +best estate can never bear the slightest pressure. Here, +then, is one extreme—the religion of feeling, of emotion, +of impression, taking the place of the religion of conviction, of +principle, of faith.</p> +<p>But there is another extreme: I mean the religion <a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>without +feeling. Some seem to think all emotion, or warmth, or +fervour is enthusiasm, and settle down satisfied with a cold +reception of Christian truth. They may be quite correct in +their creed, and may really believe all the great truths of the +Gospel, but their system is to give no expression to Christian +emotion, and this has a wonderful power of chilling all around +them.</p> +<p>We must not rest satisfied with an unfeeling consent to +Christian truth. We want to feel as well as to know, and to +have the heart really warmed by the tender love of our gracious +Saviour. But here I suspect that I shall be met by a great +difficulty on the part of many of you, for this feeling is +exactly that which many cannot find. You can understand, +but you cannot feel. Your great trouble is, that there is +such a dreadful apathy over your whole soul that nothing seems to +rouse it. If this is the case consider—</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">The Feelings, however Warm, can +never justify, and the Want of Feeling does not prevent +Justification</span>.</h3> +<p>I have known persons who have long since given up all idea of +being justified by <i>works</i>, who still have a secret clinging +to some idea of being justified by <i>feelings</i>. If they +could but feel more—more love, more repentance, more +warmth—then they think they could trust Christ for their +acceptance. They have learned, they think, to trust Him if +they have the feelings, but they would not venture to do so +without them.</p> +<p>Now, before they can be happy in Christ they will have to go a +step deeper, and learn to trust Him when they have not the +feelings as well as when they have. They must remember that +our justification is entirely dependent on His atonement and His +righteousness, <a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>and so it is His free gift, freely given to those that +are dead in sin. Now a dead man has no feelings. If, +therefore, we wait for our justification until we have the +feelings we must wait till we are alive. But the language +of Scripture is, “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great +love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath +quickened us together with Christ.” <a +name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26" +class="citation">[26]</a> Your only hope, therefore, is to +trust Him as you are, without waiting till you are one atom +warmer than you are at this present moment. With your heart +as cold as you now feel it to be, you must throw yourself at once +before His feet, and cry, “Lord, save me, I +perish.”</p> +<p>Closely connected with this suggestion is another, namely +this—</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">If you want to be made to feel, +you must lose no Time in going Near to a Father’s +Throne</span>.</h3> +<p>You will never feel warm while you stand shivering outside the +city. You must go inside, even while you are cold, and +there have your heart warmed by the Lord Himself. Remember +that the great heart-warming subject is the tender love of God as +displayed in Christ Jesus. If the love of Christ does not +make you feel, nothing else will. Do not, therefore, stand +afar off gazing on your own coldness, but turn at once to the +Cross of Christ. Study Him in the garden bowed down under +the heavy burden of sin; study Him on the cross forsaken even of +the Father, and remember that all that was borne for you, even +for you. Remember there was a personal connection between +Him and you in the whole of that great transaction, and so abide, +as it were, gazing on the Lord Jesus, on His life, on His +meekness, on His burden, on His cry. <a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>Pray God that +you may realize your part in the whole matter. Confess +before Him your own cold, dead, lifeless condition. Trust +Him, as He died for you, to save you from it; and so you may hope +that, though you feel so cold as you approach Him, you may +experience something of His love when you gaze on Him, and know +something even of His joy when you go on your way justified +through His grace.</p> +<h3>III. <span class="smcap">Remember well that Feeling is +the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and that you cannot work yourself up +to it</span>.</h3> +<p>It is very clearly the work of the Holy Spirit to call forth +feeling. He does not act on the head only, but on the heart +also. He opens the understanding, but His great office is +to make His people feel what they already know. Thus of the +nine fruits of the Spirit <a name="citation27a"></a><a +href="#footnote27a" class="citation">[27a]</a> the first three +are all emotions. Their seat is neither in the head nor in +the practice, but they are all feelings of the heart, +“Love, joy, peace.” They all lead to practice, +and all are founded on principle, but all three are sacred +emotions implanted there by the Holy Ghost Himself.</p> +<p>If, therefore, your cold, unfeeling heart is a real sorrow to +you; if the trouble of your heart is that your sins trouble you +so little, and that you feel so coldly towards that Blessed +Saviour who has felt for you so deeply, rest not content, but +throw yourself before God that the Spirit of grace and of +supplication may enable you to look upon Him whom you have +pierced, that He may take of the things of Jesus and show them +unto you; that He may call forth in your soul His own fruits of +love, joy, and peace, and that so He may answer you the +Apostle’s prayer—“The God of Hope fill you with +all joy and peace in believing.” <a +name="citation27b"></a><a href="#footnote27b" +class="citation">[27b]</a></p> +<h2><a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>A +PEACEFUL DEATH-BED</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart +in peace, according to Thy word:</p> +<p>“For mine eyes have seen Thy +salvation.”—<span class="smcap">St. Luke</span> ii. +29, 30.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> thoughts are often directed to +the blessed prospect of our Lord’s return, and there cannot +be a doubt that His personal coming is the crowning hope of the +Church of God. At the same time, it is most important for +us to be, if I may so express it, familiar with the thought of +the present heaven. The youngest amongst us may be cut down +at any moment, and the old amongst us must be convinced that our +time is short, and that our places must soon be filled by +others. We ought, therefore, to know where we are going, +and what it is that awaits us when “the earthly house of +this tabernacle shall be dissolved.” <a +name="citation28a"></a><a href="#footnote28a" +class="citation">[28a]</a></p> +<p>The words of our text, so often chanted in our churches, +express a sentiment to which, I fear, many who chant them are +entire strangers, for they express the peaceful readiness with +which Simeon was looking forward to his death. It had been +“revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not +see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” <a +name="citation28b"></a><a href="#footnote28b" +class="citation">[28b]</a> He had, therefore, spent his +latter days waiting and watching <a name="page29"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 29</span>for the promised Christ, and at +length, when the Child was presented in the Temple, he saw in +that Child the Messiah for whom he had been waiting, and then it +was that, his hope being fulfilled, he could bless God and say, +“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in +peace.”</p> +<p>There are three subjects suggested by his words.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">The View which is here given of +Death</span>.</h3> +<p>He does not speak of it as annihilation, destruction, or +stupefaction, but as a departure or removal from one place to +another. If a person were to depart from this place and go +elsewhere, he would simply change his home. Until he +departs his home is here, but when he departs his home is +elsewhere.</p> +<p>Is it not exactly the same when the spirit departs from its +present home and removes to the building of God, the house not +made with hands, eternal in the heavens? In this case, as +in an earthly removal, departure implies the continuance of +life. Thus I rejoice in the many passages in which death is +spoken of as a departure. It was clearly the idea in the +mind of St. Paul, as when he said, “having a desire to +depart,” <a name="citation29a"></a><a href="#footnote29a" +class="citation">[29a]</a> and again, “The time of my +departure is at hand.” <a name="citation29b"></a><a +href="#footnote29b" class="citation">[29b]</a> When those +we love are in far distant lands we see them not, but they are +there; our eyes cannot behold them, nor our ears hear their +pleasant voices, for they are far away, but that does not lead us +to doubt either their life, their intelligence, or their +affection. Just so it is with those that are gone. We +no longer hear the voice, or look on the loved countenance, but +we are fully persuaded that, as spirits, they are living +elsewhere, that separation is not destruction, and that removal +does not involve the diminution of the intelligent powers of the +living mind.</p> +<p><a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>But if +death is thus a departure, where is the place to which the spirit +goes? Over this point there is a veil thrown in +Scripture. If we were to know all about it there would be +nothing in the knowledge to affect our practical conduct, so +there is no knowledge given. Nor do we require it, for one +thing is told us, and that one thing is enough. If assured +of that one thing we want no more. What, then, is that one +thing so clearly revealed to us in God’s holy Word? +Where shall we find an account of it? Let us turn to the +language of the Apostle Paul: “I am in a strait betwixt +two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.” <a +name="citation30a"></a><a href="#footnote30a" +class="citation">[30a]</a> He knew, therefore, that in his +departure he should depart to be with Christ, in the conscious +enjoyment of His perceptible and never-ceasing love.</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">The Spirit in which the +Believer may die</span>.</h3> +<p>This is described in the words of Simeon, “Let thy +servant depart in peace.” Simeon could look forward +to his dying hour in a tranquil spirit of calm, resting +peace. How often is there care on the heart of the dying +believer. A father may be leaving his wife and family, who +have been dependent on him for support; or a mother her children, +with the strong conviction that there is no substitute for a +mother’s love. Let no one suppose that there is no +trial of faith in such a separation, and that it is not, in many +cases, very hard to trust. But in Christ Jesus there may be +peace even in such a parting, and the dying mother, if she knows +her Saviour, may trust her all into His loving hands, and say, +“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is +able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” <a +name="citation30b"></a><a href="#footnote30b" +class="citation">[30b]</a> She has committed her children +into His care. They are her deposit with God, and she may +be at perfect peace in the <a name="page31"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 31</span>assurance that, though <i>she</i> is +departing, <i>He</i> is remaining, and will remain a faithful +Saviour till every one of those dear children is presented safe +before His throne.</p> +<p>Let no one suppose that it is not a very solemn thing to die, +to be suddenly cut off from everything of which we have ever had +any experience, and to launch out alone into an invisible +world. It cannot, therefore, be an easy thing to die in +peace. But, thanks be to God, we believe that the departing +spirit passes at once into the loving presence of our Redeemer, +and why should there not be peace? I believe it is the +forgetfulness of this personal entrance into the personal +presence of a personal Saviour that sometimes seems to darken the +dying hour. People forget those few words, “Thou art +with me,” <a name="citation31a"></a><a href="#footnote31a" +class="citation">[31a]</a> and then they are afraid. But +when we rest on those words, and combine them with our assured +hope, knowing that He is now with us invisibly, and that we are +going to be with Him visibly, then we shall be able to say, as +Simeon did, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in +peace.”</p> +<h3>III. <span class="smcap">The Great Foundation of +Simeon’s Peaceful Trust</span>.</h3> +<p>His eyes had seen the salvation of God. What he had +really seen was the promised Messiah, that is, the Lord’s +Christ. The little child was the promised Saviour, and to +him the Saviour was salvation. The Person and the Gift were +so bound together that they were as one. He could not know +the Person without the Gift, or enjoy the Gift except through the +Person. Thus our Lord, more than thirty years afterwards, +spoke of Himself as “the Salvation,” <a +name="citation31b"></a><a href="#footnote31b" +class="citation">[31b]</a> when He said, as He entered into the +house of Zacchæus, “This day is salvation come to +this house.” Simeon had what <a +name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>we cannot +have, something material that he could handle and look +upon. His hand could handle and his eye could see the +little child; and there cannot be a doubt that there is in the +human mind a craving after something visible, tangible, and +material. But we have nothing of the kind; we cannot hold +our salvation in our hands. Neither do we want it +there. It is safer in the hands of our Lord Himself. +But though we cannot say, “Mine <i>eyes</i> have +seen,” we can say, thanks be to God, “Mine +<i>heart</i> hath seen,” and we can understand the words, +“Whom having not seen, ye love.” <a +name="citation32a"></a><a href="#footnote32a" +class="citation">[32a]</a> There is exactly the same union +in that passage between the Saviour and the salvation. +Receiving Him we receive salvation, and beholding Him with the +eye of faith we behold, as it were, our names written in the Book +of Life.</p> +<p>To behold the Saviour is a very personal matter. It is +not merely to behold Him like a monument on a distant hill, which +we can admire, but never enter; or as a harbour of refuge which +we cannot reach. It must not be with us as it was with +Balaam when he said, “I shall behold Him, but not +nigh,” <a name="citation32b"></a><a href="#footnote32b" +class="citation">[32b]</a> for the invitation to us is to draw +near, and our privilege is in our inmost soul to pour out our +heart before Him, as before One who knows all its secrets, and +through His own most precious blood has blotted out all its +guilt. This has thrown a gleam of sacred light into many a +death-chamber. May God grant that it may be the same with +each of us. Let none of us rest until we can say, +“Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,” till we not +merely know that there is a Saviour, but can rest assured that He +has saved us, and has made us—even us—heirs of God +and joint-heirs with Himself in His kingdom.</p> +<h2><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>A +PEACEFUL LIFE</h2> +<blockquote><p>“To me to live is Christ.”—<span +class="smcap">Phil</span>. i. 21.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have studied the subject of a +peaceful death-bed and I hope we learned how to die. Let us +now turn our thoughts to a peaceful life and endeavour to learn +how to live. The two things are bound fast together.</p> +<p>Let us study what St. Paul meant when he said, “To me to +live is Christ.” When there is any one object, for +which, and in which, a person lives, it is not an uncommon thing +to say it is his life. To a certain extent this explains +the expression, “To me to live is Christ,” for the +Lord Jesus Christ was the one absorbing object of St. +Paul’s whole life. He thought of Him; he leaned on +Him; he trusted in Him; he loved Him, and he lived for Him. +He could not do without Him. If we look at the subject more +in detail we find three things very clearly taught us in +Scripture. Our life is hidden <i>with</i> Him, dependent +<i>on</i> Him, and devoted <i>to</i> Him.</p> +<h3>HIDDEN WITH HIM</h3> +<p>In this stormy world we perpetually need a hiding-place, a +shelter from the storm, and a covert from the blast. And so +in the great prophecy of our Lord and Saviour revealed in Isaiah, +we read of Him, “A man <a name="page34"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 34</span>shall be as an hiding-place from the +wind.” <a name="citation34a"></a><a href="#footnote34a" +class="citation">[34a]</a> But three centuries before +Isaiah uttered that prophecy David had learnt to hide under His +care, and said of Him, “Thou art my hiding-place.” <a +name="citation34b"></a><a href="#footnote34b" +class="citation">[34b]</a> The trouble from which he was +hiding was deep conviction of sin. In consequence of his +sin the hand of God had been heavy upon him day and night. +But at length the guilt of his great sin had been blotted out, +and as a forgiven man he could find shelter in the very God +against whom he had transgressed. He could hide himself in +the love of Him against whom he had sinned, and instead of +finding the Lord’s hand heavy upon him, he could rejoice in +the thought that there was a wall of praise around him. Now +just in the same way our life is said to be hidden with +Christ. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” +<a name="citation34c"></a><a href="#footnote34c" +class="citation">[34c]</a> It is not exposed to the rude +shocks of the outer world, but is hidden with Him. As +<i>He</i> is unseen, so <i>it</i> is unseen; but as <i>He</i> is +safe at the right hand of the Father, so is <i>it</i> safe, being +laid up in perfect safety as a sure deposit in the everlasting +fidelity of God. It is on the safety of this deposit that +our whole life depends. If there were the slightest doubt +about it we should be like ships drifting on the wide ocean +without either chart, compass, or anchorage. But now we are +safe because indissolubly bound up with the Saviour, and so +completely is our life identified with Him that in the next verse +He is described as “Christ our life.” He holds +our life in His right hand. He is the source, the fountain, +and the main spring of it all, so that we can well understand the +words of St. John, “He that hath the Son hath life.” +<a name="citation34d"></a><a href="#footnote34d" +class="citation">[34d]</a></p> +<h3><a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +35</span>DEPENDENT ON HIM</h3> +<p>There is a struggle in the human heart for independence. +The tendency of the day is to throw off all dependence, and, with +it, all submission. “<i>I</i> will,” +“<i>I</i> choose,” “<i>I</i> think,” +“<i>I</i> determine,” “<i>I</i> am +resolved,” is the self-sufficient language of these latter +days. Now such an one can never say, “To me to live +is Christ.” If he say anything it should be, +“To me to live is self!” But see what a +contrast there is in the life of the believer. Turn only to +one passage in Galatians. There you find the +“I” crucified; “I am crucified with +Christ.” <a name="citation35"></a><a href="#footnote35" +class="citation">[35]</a> But though the “I” is +crucified, there is a life that remains for “Nevertheless I +live.” And now what is the character of this abiding +life? The latter part of the verse describes it, “Yet +not I, but Christ liveth in me.” These words tell of +a life of habitual dependence. It all depends on the +in-dwelling Saviour. His in-dwelling, that is life, that is +the secret of everything. But how is this indwelling +realized? How is it appropriated or experienced? It +is clear that it cannot be known by the senses. We cannot +see, hear, or handle Him. We must not look for anything +material. Nor is it connected here with anything +Sacramental; but it is described as the unspeakable blessing of +an abiding faith, “The life which I now live in the flesh, +I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave +Himself for me.”</p> +<p>We must not leave the passage without remarking two facts +respecting that love.</p> +<p>(1) It was shown in propitiation. St. Paul did not +merely say, “Who loved me,” but adds, “Who gave +<a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>Himself +for me.” There are many proofs of His love, but the +crowning act of all is propitiation. It is the ransom paid +in full that is the one hope for the captive, and the supreme +evidence of the Redeemer’s love.</p> +<p>(2) The love was not merely for all, but according to +that passage, “for <i>me</i>.” One individual +is a mere unit in a crowd, no more than a grain of sand in an +Egyptian desert; so that it seems a very easy thing for any one +person to be lost in the multitude. But it is the office of +God the Holy Ghost to apply the work wrought out for <i>all</i> +to the special need of <i>each one</i>.</p> +<h3>DEVOTED TO HIM</h3> +<p>St. Paul could say, “To me to live is Christ,” for +he could also say without hesitation that the one thought of his +life was his Saviour’s glory. He lived for one +object, and that one object is described as his life. Now +we hear a great deal of consecration in these days, and we cannot +hear too much, if only it is kept in its right place, for there +is far too little consecration to God amongst us. +Consecration is the surrender of the whole life to the +Lord. It is the setting the Lord always before us in all +that He calls us to do. We have been loved by Him, redeemed +by Him, called by Him, and saved by Him; so now we are His. +We belong to Him altogether. Our powers are no longer our +own, but our Lord’s; our lives should be no longer occupied +for ourselves, but for our Lord; so that in us may be carried out +the purpose of redeeming love as described by St. Paul. +“He died for all, that they which live should not <a +name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>henceforth +live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose +again.” <a name="citation37"></a><a href="#footnote37" +class="citation">[37]</a></p> +<p>Shall we live for ourselves or for His glory? For the +gratification of self, or for the happy, holy, sacred service of +Him to whom we owe all that we have, and all that we hope for, +our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?</p> +<h2><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 38</span>THE +INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and +shall be in you.”—<span class="smcap">St. John</span> +xiv. 17.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> this verse our Blessed Lord +spoke of the knowledge enjoyed by His people. He spoke of +the present, and the future; of that which they had then at the +time that He was with them, and of that which they were about to +enjoy after the Day of Pentecost, when He would be taken away +from them. With reference to the present He says “He +dwelleth” (or, is dwelling) with you, or amongst you; with +reference to the future He says “He shall be in +you.” There are clearly, therefore, two great +subjects to be considered, the knowledge enjoyed by the disciples +when the Lord Jesus was still upon earth, and the knowledge +enjoyed by all His people ever since the Day of Pentecost.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">When He was on +Earth</span>.</h3> +<blockquote><p>“Ye know Him for He dwelleth with +you.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The expression does not describe an internal union within the +soul, but an external companionship. The meaning is the +same as when St. John said, “There standeth one among you, +whom ye know not.” <a name="citation38"></a><a +href="#footnote38" class="citation">[38]</a> There they +were, a little company of disciples, and amongst them in the +midst of their society, in the <a name="page39"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 39</span>room where they were assembled, was +abiding, or dwelling, the Spirit of Truth.</p> +<p>Now what was the meaning of this declaration? Was it not +this? That the Holy Spirit was at that time dwelling +amongst them as embodied and manifested in the Person of the Lord +Jesus Christ. Of Him it was said by John the Baptist +“God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” <a +name="citation39a"></a><a href="#footnote39a" +class="citation">[39a]</a> So it was said by St. Paul, +“In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead +bodily.” <a name="citation39b"></a><a href="#footnote39b" +class="citation">[39b]</a> And by St. Peter we are taught +that He was anointed with the Holy Ghost, and God was with Him. +<a name="citation39c"></a><a href="#footnote39c" +class="citation">[39c]</a></p> +<p>Consider, then, the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest in the +flesh, as the human manifestation of the mind and power of the +Holy Ghost, and you will see in a moment that while He was on +earth the Spirit of Truth was dwelling amongst the +disciples. Where the Lord Jesus was, there was the Spirit; +where He dwelt, there the Spirit dwelt; and when He and those +twelve disciples sat together at the Last Supper, He could say of +the Spirit of Truth, “Ye know Him for He dwelleth with, or +among, you.”</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">The Knowledge enjoyed by all +His People after His Departure</span>.</h3> +<p>It was to be very different afterwards. There is an +immense change when our Lord speaks of what should take place +after His departure. It is no longer “with,” +but “in.” He would be not merely present in +their company, but abiding in their souls.</p> +<p>In this promise, there are three things requiring our careful +notice.</p> +<p>(1) The promise applies not to a company, to a society, +to a Church, or to any body of men, but <i>to each +individual</i>. The Holy Spirit will not be merely <a +name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>in the midst +of a congregation, but a sacred guest in each soul. You see +this very clearly in the history of the Day of Pentecost. <a +name="citation40"></a><a href="#footnote40" +class="citation">[40]</a> The Holy Spirit came on the +company, on the Church, for He filled all the house where they +were sitting. But besides that there was a separate +personal gift to each person present, for “it sat upon each +of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”</p> +<p>(2) The sacred gift is no longer localized or specially +enjoyed in one place. So long as the Lord Jesus was amongst +them where He was, there was the Gift. But now, wherever +the believer is, there is the Gift. See the unspeakable +blessedness of this sacred promise. The gift of the Spirit +is not confined to this place or that. It is the +inestimable privilege of each individual believer wherever he is, +and in whatever position it may please God to cast his lot. +You may be cut off from the means of grace in which you have +delighted, but wherever you are, you are not cut off from the +Spirit of Truth, from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, for He is +not limited to time, or place, or circumstance, and wherever you +go at the Lord’s command, there you will carry His presence +with you.</p> +<p>(3) He dwells <i>within</i> the soul.</p> +<p>There is this great difference between His presence and that +of the most faithful and loving of friends. The friend can +only judge by the outside; the anxious look, the tear in the eye, +or the words of sorrow. But the Spirit of Truth is within, +and He takes note of the inner secrets of the soul. He does +not wait for any external evidence of what is passing. The +hidden springs of thought are all open to His eye: the secret +pain that is never breathed to any <a name="page41"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 41</span>one; the hidden hope that smoulders +in the heart; the subtle temptation that is beginning to grow up +unperceived, and the yearning of soul after a higher +life,—all these things are open to Him, and He, dwelling +within and knowing all that is passing within, can check, can +guide, can heal, can help, can supply any possible need +“according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” +<a name="citation41a"></a><a href="#footnote41a" +class="citation">[41a]</a></p> +<p>There is no telling, then, the unspeakable blessing of the +Pentecostal gift, and we can perfectly understand why it was that +our Lord said “It is expedient for you that I go +away.”</p> +<p>But do we all desire it? “Of course we do,” +say some. But it is not at all a matter of course. +There was no room for Christ in the inn at Bethlehem, and there +is no room for the Spirit of Truth in many hearts. If He +dwells within your soul He will humble you and make you to +“abhor yourself and repent in dust and ashes.” <a +name="citation41b"></a><a href="#footnote41b" +class="citation">[41b]</a> Do you desire that? If He +dwells within you, He will wean you from the world and teach you +to live as one looking for the Kingdom. Do you desire +that? If He dwells within you He will teach you to give up +your own will. Do you desire that? Do you desire +really to be led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit to become a +humble, gentle, and submissive child of God? I fear there +are many who, when the whole subject is considered, are not +prepared to give Him an unreserved welcome, and would be tempted +to close the door of their hearts against His entrance. If +the door is opened by them at all, it is only set ajar, and not +thrown wide open that the King of Glory may enter in, in the +fulness of His power, and turn out everything that is at variance +with His will.</p> +<p><a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>But I +believe there are many who would hold nothing back and who long +above all things that the Spirit of Truth may take full +possession of their souls. Their difficulty is not that +they do not wish it, but that they can scarcely believe it +possible that He should ever dwell in such a heart as +theirs. They find so much sin there that they can scarcely +imagine it possible that the Holy Comforter should not be driven +from them by all that He sees within. No doubt there is +quite sufficient to drive Him grieved and displeased from His +resting-place, and if it were not for the everlasting covenant of +God, and the precious blood of Christ, I can perfectly understand +the impossibility of His making such a heart His +dwelling-place. But the atoning blood alters the whole +case. The blood of Christ breaks down every barrier. +It is a new and living way <a name="citation42"></a><a +href="#footnote42" class="citation">[42]</a> by which not only +may you enter boldly into the presence of God, but through which +the Spirit of God may enter your heart and take full possession +of it as His own abiding-place.</p> +<p>If you are longing to be filled with the Spirit, you must look +straight to that cross of Christ. You must remember the +fulness of the pardon. You must trust to that Atonement as +breaking down even the barrier raised by your own dark +corruption, and, pleading that precious blood, must open every +avenue of your soul to the Spirit of Truth, that He may enter in +and there reign supreme.</p> +<h2><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>THE +WITNESS—THE LEADER—THE COMMANDER</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Behold, I have given Him for a witness to +the people, a leader and commander to the +people.”—<span class="smcap">Isa</span>. lv. 4.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is often said that a living head +is essential to the well-being of a living Church. Nothing +can be clearer than the teaching of Scripture that our Living +Head is in heaven now, seated at the right hand of God.</p> +<p>It is as a Living Head that our Blessed Saviour is here +predicted. Three rich promises are made by God to every +hungering and thirsting heart—Life, a Covenant, and a +living Head. Life, for He says, “Hear, and your soul +shall live.” A covenant, for He says, “I will +make an everlasting covenant with you;” and a Head, for He +adds, in the words of our text, “Behold I have given Him +for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the +people.”</p> +<p>The question may arise, “Who is it that is thus given +for a witness? Who is the person that the people are to +recognize as their leader and commander?” The +prophecy says David. But David, we know, was a typical +character. He was not merely a king, but a type; a type of +Him who was to be both his son and his Lord. Accordingly we +are taught that the name David was applied to the Lord Jesus, for +we find the words applied by St. Paul to <a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>Christ and +His resurrection. <a name="citation44a"></a><a +href="#footnote44a" class="citation">[44a]</a> We are there +taught that when God raised up Christ from the dead, He gave us +the sure mercies of David. The Lord Jesus Christ, +therefore, is the Witness, He is the Leader, and He the Commander +of His people. In other words the risen Redeemer is our +Living Head.</p> +<p>The text, therefore, directs us to His present action, not to +His death or even to His life before His death, but to His +present Headship at the right hand of God. He is</p> +<h3>A WITNESS</h3> +<p>One who bears a true and faithful testimony. This He did +in His life on earth, as we learn from His own words when He +stood before Pilate. “To this end was I born, and for +this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness into +the truth.” <a name="citation44b"></a><a +href="#footnote44b" class="citation">[44b]</a> And this +same character He maintains in heaven, for at the opening of the +Book of Revelation we are taught to look for grace and peace +“from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-begotten +from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.” +<a name="citation44c"></a><a href="#footnote44c" +class="citation">[44c]</a> It is clear that as the +“first-begotten,” that is, as the risen Saviour, He +now acts as a witness.</p> +<p>This is done in two ways. He is a witness to the world, +bearing witness to God’s great plan of salvation. But +more than that He witnesses to the heart of each of His own +children, assuring them of His faithfulness, confirming them in +His truth, and doing what David prayed Him to do, “Say unto +my soul, I am thy salvation.” <a name="citation44d"></a><a +href="#footnote44d" class="citation">[44d]</a> There is an +outer and an inner <a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +45</span>witness; an outer witness in the power of His Spirit +accompanying His word, and an inner witness within the souls of +His own people; hidden from the world and known only to those who +enjoy it, that witness of which St. John spoke when he said, +“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in +himself.” <a name="citation45a"></a><a href="#footnote45a" +class="citation">[45a]</a> And this may teach us an +important lesson respecting the true nature of faith. It is +faith when we receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus as an +undoubted truth, and, without questioning, simply believe +Him. There are difficult truths taught in His word, and +some strangely at variance with human opinion; but true faith +gives up all and trusts. It makes a complete surrender to +Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.</p> +<h3>HE IS A LEADER</h3> +<p>And when we speak of Him as a Leader, we must not connect His +office merely with the idea of war, for it is the office of peace +also. When our Lord compares Himself to the Shepherd He +says He “leadeth them out.” <a +name="citation45b"></a><a href="#footnote45b" +class="citation">[45b]</a> Nor is His office of a leader +given up even in the peaceful rest of Heaven. There is a +leading Hand even there, for when St. John was permitted to look +in and to see the great multitude before the Throne, the Angel +referred him to words from the blessed promise in Isaiah. <a +name="citation45c"></a><a href="#footnote45c" +class="citation">[45c]</a> In heaven, therefore, the +promise is both fulfilled and known. It is fulfilled, for +there the saints of God are refreshed by the living waters; and +it is known, for the Angel himself, while describing the joys of +heaven, calls attention to the ancient prophecy, and shows how <a +name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 46</span>in the +peaceful scene around him it was receiving its complete +fulfilment.</p> +<p>Now what is implied when we are taught that the Lord Jesus is +a Leader for His people? It implies much more than +teaching, and therefore the office of the leader is far beyond +that of witness. It would be of but little use to explain +to a blind man the windings of some narrow path. But it +would be an act of great kindness to take him by the hand and +lead him. And this is what our Leader does for us, for He +says, “I will bring the blind by a way they knew +not.” <a name="citation46a"></a><a href="#footnote46a" +class="citation">[46a]</a></p> +<p>Our proud hearts may dislike the dependent position of either +the feeble or the blind; but, whether we like it or no, we are +both blind and feeble, unable to trace our path amidst the +perplexities of life, and equally unable to move safely alone +even when the path may be discovered. It is, therefore, in +mercy and in tender love that God has given Him to be a Leader, +and our part is to accept the gift and trust Him. When we +are brought into perplexity, into one of those positions of life +where two ways seem to meet, we may fall down before Him as our +great Leader, and say, “For thy name’s sake, lead me +and guide me.” <a name="citation46b"></a><a +href="#footnote46b" class="citation">[46b]</a> When we find +ourselves in slippery places and scarcely know how to stand, we +may come into His presence and cry, “Hold Thou me up, and I +shall be safe.” <a name="citation46c"></a><a +href="#footnote46c" class="citation">[46c]</a> When +perplexing doctrine is presented to us, and false teaching +abounds around us, we may spread out His word which contains His +testimony, and say, “Shew me Thy ways, O Lord.” <a +name="citation46d"></a><a href="#footnote46d" +class="citation">[46d]</a> And when we come to the valley +of the shadow of death, when no human hand can help us, and no +human sympathy reach our necessities, even then we <a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>may be +perfectly sure that our great Leader will never leave us; but as +we part from all friends here on earth, and as all earthly helps +fade away, we may lean more simply and more heavily than ever on +Him and say, “Though I walk through the valley of the +shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with +me.” <a name="citation47a"></a><a href="#footnote47a" +class="citation">[47a]</a></p> +<p>So again for the Church of Christ. Our lot is cast in +very perplexing times, and those who really care for the Church +of God must often have their hearts filled with deep +anxiety. It is a happy thing to know that God has given him +to be a Leader of the people, and “Head over all things to +the Church.” <a name="citation47b"></a><a +href="#footnote47b" class="citation">[47b]</a> We may trust +Him, therefore, to take care of His own truth, and rest assured +that amidst all the perplexities of these latter days He will +guide His own people safe to the end, until every one of them +appeareth before God.</p> +<h3>HE IS A COMMANDER</h3> +<p>We cannot say of this office, as we did of the last, that it +belongs to peace, for it is one peculiar to war. The +commander is for the battle-field, and still more for the +well-arranged campaign. Thus our Lord is presented to us as +a Commander in the book of Revelation. <a +name="citation47c"></a><a href="#footnote47c" +class="citation">[47c]</a> He then appears in His royal +character, and at the same time heading His army. He +encounters all the powers of the world, but he is surrounded by a +little company of faithful followers, and He leads them on to +victory.</p> +<p>The Church of God must be prepared for conflict. Till +the Lord comes sin will give the Church no peace. Till +Satan is trampled down under His feet, <a name="page48"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 48</span>he will never rest in his deadly +warfare against the Lord Jesus and His little flock. The +soldier of Christ must be a man of war.</p> +<p>The great Commander will have His own chosen and faithful +followers—“they that are with Him are called, and +chosen, and faithful.” <a name="citation48a"></a><a +href="#footnote48a" class="citation">[48a]</a> They are +marked from the world by a clear line of separation. They +bear His name; they wear His uniform; they rally round His +banner; they are not ashamed of His reproach; and wheresoever He +goeth there it is their joy to follow Him. There is no +service like His, no commander so perfect, no struggle so noble, +no victory so certain and so glorious.</p> +<p>If we really be amongst the chosen band of faithful followers, +our one standard in life must be the will of our great +Commander. We must be watching each signal from Him, and +owning no authority but His. From first to last our spirit +must be that of Saul of Tarsus, “Lord, what wilt Thou have +me to do?” <a name="citation48b"></a><a href="#footnote48b" +class="citation">[48b]</a> This may sometimes imply a +painful surrender, a surrender of ease, and inclination, and, +hardest of all, of pride. But the soldier in the earthly +army yields at once to his commanding officer, and how much more +should we, when He has chosen us to be His people, blotted out +our sins by His blood, called us into His own fellowship, sealed +us with His seal, and made us heirs of His Kingdom?</p> +<h2><a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>FAITH +AND EFFORT</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Our God shall fight for +us.”—<span class="smcap">Neh</span>. iv. 20.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">can</span> imagine nothing better +calculated to make a people calm, peaceful, and courageous, than +to be able to say in faith, “Our God shall fight for +us.” If we can say this, we may think on our country +and rest assured that, whatever happens, all is safe. If we +can say this, we may look upon God’s people struggling for +His truth, sometimes sorely pressed and sometimes quite +disheartened; but when we look on Him whom God has given to be a +Leader and Commander of the people, we may take courage that all +will be well, for He is our God, and He will fight for us. +Or, we may look at our own personal difficulties, at the +temptation without by which we are surrounded, and the proneness +to yield within, which renders us perpetually liable to its +power; and sometimes we may be ready to ask the question, Can +such as we are ever gain the victory? But, if we can but +say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us,” then, +weak as we are, we may look forward to a triumph, and say even +beforehand, “Thanks be to God which giveth us the +victory.”</p> +<p>But there are few cases in which this language of faith was +more appropriate than when originally spoken by Nehemiah. +Nehemiah was one of the <a name="page50"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 50</span>most beautiful characters to be met +with in all history. I know of no one in whom there was a +greater combination of practical, business-like habits, with +true, simple-minded, childlike faith. When acting as +cup-bearer to the King of Babylon, he heard of the desolation of +Jerusalem, and obtained permission to return thither in order to +rebuild the walls and restore the city. The Jews at the +time were so exceedingly feeble, that the onlookers laughed them +to scorn. But, when once the work was begun, contempt was +exchanged for indignation, and Sanballat with others +“conspired all of them together to come and to fight +against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” Then it was +that Nehemiah used these words for the great encouragement of all +who were working with him, and said, “Our God shall fight +for us.”</p> +<p>But while he thus spoke with the full assurance of confiding +faith, he was not led by that faith to negligence. True +faith never leads to negligence. It always stimulates +exertion and rouses men to hopeful energy. So it did in the +case of Nehemiah, for the same verse which contains the assurance +contains also the spirit of active preparation. We will +study the conduct of Nehemiah as furnishing an illustration of +the union of faith and effort, examining first his effort, then +his faith.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">The Effort made</span>.</h3> +<p>It was made under very discouraging circumstances. The +city was in ruins, the walls were in heaps, and there were only a +few restored captives to labour for their restoration. Now, +in what spirit did these feeble Jews rise to their work?</p> +<p>(1) They all worked together.</p> +<p>There was just such an united and harmonious <a +name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>action as we +long to witness in the Church of God. It is an old proverb +that “union is strength.” In this case the +whole wall was portioned out and all classes united. First +came the High Priest and his brethren, next the men of Jericho, +soon followed by the carpenters, the goldsmiths, and the +apothecaries. Then came the ruler of the half part of +Jerusalem, followed by Shallum and his daughters; further on we +read of Baruch, who set an example to the whole company, for he +<i>earnestly</i> repaired the portion entrusted to his care, till +at length the circuit was complete.</p> +<p>(2) They worked with a will.</p> +<p>There is such a thing as work without a will. There is +the dull, lazy work of the idle man, and the mechanical work of +those who take no interest in what they are about. Just as +in religion, there is the languid performance of a routine as +different as possible to the real wrestling with God in +faith. There is no soul in it, and who can wonder if there +is no result? In this case there was rapid result, and they +built the wall, and the reason is given, “for the people +had a mind to work.” <a name="citation51"></a><a +href="#footnote51" class="citation">[51]</a> An important +lesson this for every Christian effort.</p> +<p>(3) They made real sacrifices for their work. It +must have been a sore inconvenience to these men to leave their +own occupations and to labour on the wall; but they laboured +night and day till the wall rose from its ruins. Oh, that +we had more of this spirit in the Church of God! Would that +we knew better how to give to Him so as to pinch ourselves; to +give our time, our money, our painstaking, our real self-denying +work, in order to glorify God, and show that we live not unto +ourselves, but unto Him that died for us and rose again.</p> +<h3><a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +52</span>II. <span class="smcap">Their Faith</span>.</h3> +<p>This showed itself in three ways.</p> +<p>(1) In prayer.</p> +<p>Nehemiah was a man of prayer. When any trouble arose, +his heart turned as if by an holy instinct to God, and so, when +Tobiah mocked their efforts, Nehemiah gave no rough answer, but +he turned his heart upwards and said, “Hear, O our God, for +we are despised.” <a name="citation52a"></a><a +href="#footnote52a" class="citation">[52a]</a> How much +bitter strife would be avoided in the world if men acted like +Nehemiah, and, instead of retorting, spread out their +provocations before God.</p> +<p>But the conduct of the opponents soon turned from mockery to +war, and there was a plan to attack the rising walls. But +the attack was met just in the same way as the insult. In +both cases he gave himself to prayer. I cannot imagine a +better illustration of the praying believer than the words in +verse 9, “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and +set a watch against them day and night.” They heard +of the conspiracy, and at once spread the intelligence before +God; but, having done so, they did not consider that prayer +superseded effort, but day and night they set their watch on the +walls. Had they watched without praying, they would have +been trusting to their own forethought; and had they prayed +without watching, they would have tempted God to leave +them. But they watched and they prayed, and they prayed and +they watched, and so they acted in the spirit of the words in +aftertimes spoken to us, “Watch and Pray.” <a +name="citation52b"></a><a href="#footnote52b" +class="citation">[52b]</a></p> +<p>(2) Their faith showed itself also in the recognition of +what God had done for them. Faith not only asks God’s +help, but acknowledges it. It gives Him thanks <a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>for His +action as well as asks Him to act; so when the danger was past we +find Nehemiah ascribing it all to the good hand of God on his +efforts. He did not say, “When we had defeated their +plans,” but “When God had brought their counsel to +nought.” <a name="citation53"></a><a href="#footnote53" +class="citation">[53]</a></p> +<p>(3) Faith looks forward to the future. When the workmen +were all at their posts; when the builders laboured, every one +having his sword girded by his side; when the trumpeter stood by +the chief, ready at any moment to sound the alarm; when the voice +of prayer had been heard day and night all along the line of the +rising walls; when all had been done that man could do—then +the heart rose high above all that man had done, and in calm, +confident trust, Nehemiah assures the people, saying, “Our +God shall fight for us.” He had made preparation, but +he trusted to God for victory. He was at the head of a +feeble people, but he was the servant of the Most High God. +He knew that the battle was not to the strong, nor the race to +the swift; so he rested his hope on the strong hand of his God, +and in simple faith he trusted Him to give the victory.</p> +<h2><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>THE +JOY OF THE LORD</h2> +<blockquote><p>“By whom also we have access by faith into +this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of +God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations +also.”—<span class="smcap">Rom</span>. v. 2, 3.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> joy of the Lord is a subject +that goes to the heart of many. Some are rejoicing in the +Lord, while others are longing to be partakers of it; it is a +gift after which their heart is yearning.</p> +<p>Let us consider the real foundation of true, solid, +well-founded joy. In these two verses there is a +description of the joy and its power. There is the joy, for +“we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” and there +is the power of that joy, for it rises above the troubles of +life, and we rejoice “even in tribulation.” +There is, therefore, such a bright hope of the coming glory, that +we may go on our way with a thankful heart, rejoicing in the +Lord; and there is such a manifestation of the love of Christ in +the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the distress of +tribulation is overpowered, and even in the midst of sorrow there +may be an abiding joyfulness in Christ Jesus the Lord.</p> +<p>Observe the foundation of this joy, and see how it is the +consequence of our sure standing in Christ Jesus. When we +rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and rejoice even in +tribulation, this joy is the consequence of a previous +transaction, and the result of <a name="page55"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 55</span>our occupying a new position. +We have had access, or admission, and are now standing in His +grace. It is the standing in that grace that is the +foundation of the joy of hope. This leads us to the +question, “What is the grace?”</p> +<p>The word “grace” has different meanings in +Scripture. Sometimes it means the inward work of God the +Holy Ghost in the soul, as when it says, “Grow in +grace.” <a name="citation55a"></a><a href="#footnote55a" +class="citation">[55a]</a> But this cannot be our +standing-ground, for the simple reason that it is imperfect and +variable. But this is not the only meaning of the word, or +nearly so, for it is used for any great gift of love and mercy +bestowed in God’s free favour on His people. We have +to consider what is the free gift or favour into which we have +had access, and which is now our standing-ground. This +question the context must decide; and it seems to me impossible +to study that context, without coming to the conclusion that the +grace here referred to is that which must ever be the real +resting place for those who are convinced of sin, a righteousness +imputed in the free grace of God. <a name="citation55b"></a><a +href="#footnote55b" class="citation">[55b]</a></p> +<p>This, then, is the grace in which we stand, the grace of +imputation, the gracious gift of a righteousness reckoned, +counted, or imputed to us when we do not deserve it; the +marvellous mercy through which we are accounted righteous, +accepted as righteous, beloved as righteous, and finally saved as +righteous, although we are not really so in fact, and although we +are conscious in our own hearts of matter for the most profound +humiliation before God. Who can wonder that we rejoice in +hope when we are placed in mercy on such a standing-ground as +that?</p> +<p>This, you observe, is a work <i>for</i> us, and not <i>in</i> +us, and therefore never varies. The work <i>in</i> us is <a +name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>perpetually +changing. It is a progressive work, and its progress is +sometimes much more rapid than at others. But the work +<i>for</i> us does not go up and down with the work <i>in</i> us; +it is unchangeable, like God Himself. The righteousness +imputed is the righteousness of God, and therefore perfect and +unchangeable. It changeth not for the simple reason that He +changeth not, and therefore always, in cloud as well as sunshine, +in dark days as well as bright, in the hour of tribulation as +well as in the season of unmixed prosperity, in the times of +deepest humiliation as well as in those of emotion and +encouragement, the justified believer may rejoice in Him, and +triumph in the God of his salvation. It is this that gives +its security to hope, this that makes us sure of its never +failing. If we were relying on all the varied changes of +our own feelings, there might be joy one day and despair the +next; but while we stand in the grace of imputed righteousness, +our hope has a foundation that can never give way, and therefore +we may accept the joy without a fear, and rejoice in hope of the +glory of God.</p> +<p>What is the great principle within the soul which constitutes +our standing in this grace?</p> +<p>To this question we shall find an answer in the words of St. +Paul, “Thou standest by faith.” <a +name="citation56"></a><a href="#footnote56" +class="citation">[56]</a> And this is exactly what is +taught us in this passage. In verse 1, we are taught that +it is by faith that we are justified; and then, in verse 2, we +learn that it is by faith that we have access into this grace +wherein we stand. From first to last, therefore, it is a +matter of faith. The whole secret of our standing, and of +the joy that follows from it, is found in that one word +“trust.” Trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your +finished <a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span>Sacrifice and your living Lord, and you stand on the +rock. Let your trust rest on anything else, on your +feelings, your thoughts, your experience, your intentions, or +your religious efforts, and you will be no better than men +endeavouring to walk steadily on the waves of the sea. But +trust Christ <i>as</i> you are, <i>where</i> you are, and that +without putting even your own trust between you and Him, and you +may go on your way rejoicing in Him, and need never cease to give +thanks for a foundation so solid and a grace so free.</p> +<h2><a name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>THE +WORK OF THE LORD</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Be ye steadfast, immovable, always +abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your +labour is not in vain in the Lord.”—1 <span +class="smcap">Cor</span>. xv. 58.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have lately studied “the +joy of the Lord,” and now I am anxious that our thoughts +should be turned to another subject, which is much more +intimately connected with it than many seem to suppose, that is, +the work of the Lord. The joy of the Lord imparts strength +for service, and the service of the Lord increases joy. +There is action and reaction between the two.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">What is meant by the Work of the +Lord</span>?</h3> +<p>It is <i>work</i>—work with all the self-denial that +accompanies steady work.</p> +<p>It is work <i>for</i> the Lord. When we say that a +father works for his family, or a servant for his master, it does +not mean that such an one simply goes about his own business, but +it does mean that he has a particular person in view, and that he +is working for him. We are such poor, frail creatures that +there is a constant tendency to admit bye motives in our +work. I know how hard it is to preserve a single eye to the +glory of God. One’s own reputation and the great +pleasure of one’s own success have a constant tendency to +introduce false motives. What we want is to lose sight of +self altogether, and to remember that if we <a +name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>are doing the +work <i>of</i> the Lord, we are doing it <i>for</i> the Lord.</p> +<p>It is work <i>from</i> the Lord. It is the work to which +the Lord has appointed each of us. When God called Barnabus +and Paul, He said, “Separate them for the work whereunto I +have called them.” <a name="citation59a"></a><a +href="#footnote59a" class="citation">[59a]</a> Now we are +not called to the Apostleship, but I believe there is not an +individual amongst us who is not called by God to a certain work +in His service. The Church of God is said to be +“compacted by that which every joint supplieth.” <a +name="citation59b"></a><a href="#footnote59b" +class="citation">[59b]</a> There is not, therefore, a joint +in the whole body that is not to supply something. All who +are in Christ Jesus are the children of God, and all are called +to work in His service, the strong man in the fulness of his +strength, or the suffering invalid laid low with broken +health.</p> +<p>This, then, being the character of the work of the Lord, let +us turn to the encouragement which God has given, and the root +from which it springs.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Encouragement</span>.</h3> +<p>There are some things in our Christian life which we think, +some which we hope, and some which we know. We know some, +for they are assured to us in God’s word, and we are fully +persuaded that His word is true. Now here is one of the +things we know, know as a matter of certainty without the +possibility of doubt. We know that our labour is not in +vain in the Lord. It may often appear to us exceedingly +feeble and defective: we may be ashamed and humbled at its +multiplied shortcomings: we may look back upon it honeycombed, as +it were, by mistakes: we may be conscious that we have left +undone those things that we ought to have done, and we may be +painfully aware that nothing has been done as it ought <a +name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>to have been +done for God, but still we are assured that it will not be in +vain. When Samuel was but a child, “the Lord was with +him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground,” <a +name="citation60a"></a><a href="#footnote60a" +class="citation">[60a]</a> and we may be sure that He will not +let one word spoken in His name fall to the ground now. If +the Lord is with you, no one thing that you ever do for Him will +be in vain. You may not see the fruit of it, or if you do +it may be after years of waiting, but the Lord knows all about +it. He sees exactly what you are doing, or saying, or +giving, or praying, and the book of remembrance is written before +Him. You yourself may be one of God’s hidden ones, +and in the day when He makes up His jewels, <a +name="citation60b"></a><a href="#footnote60b" +class="citation">[60b]</a> you may meet then with others, hidden +like yourself, to whom your labour, however feeble, has been +blessed in His mercy. Cleave, then, to the work of the Lord +without wavering. Let no discouragements dishearten you, +hold steadily on your way, faint yet pursuing, being perfectly +assured that what God has promised He is able also to perform, +and that even your poor service will not be in vain in the +Lord.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">The Root from which all Such Work must +spring</span>.</h3> +<p>It is not all kinds of labour to which the promise is +attached, for there is a great deal of labour that is altogether +in vain. “Except the Lord build the house, they +labour in vain that build it.” <a name="citation60c"></a><a +href="#footnote60c" class="citation">[60c]</a> And the +distinction is very clearly taught us here, for the work here +spoken of is a labour “in the Lord.” It teaches +how work is the consequence of union; that we do not do the work +of the Lord in order that by doing it we may attain to union, but +that the union comes first and the work of the Lord follows as +its result. There <a name="page61"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 61</span>will be no fruit on the branch if +there is not first a union with the vine. There is no hope, +therefore, of any man winning to himself a union with Christ by +any amount of painstaking in work. If your heart is +yearning for that union, you must accept it as a free gift +because Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has redeemed you by His own +most precious blood, and you must do so just as you are, without +waiting for even one more effort in His service. You must +be “in the Lord” before you can “labour in the +Lord,” and that union must be the free gift of His +unmerited grace. You must be created in Him unto good works +before you will do anything for His glory. <a +name="citation61"></a><a href="#footnote61" +class="citation">[61]</a></p> +<h2><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +62</span>CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF FAITH</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Because Thou hast been my help, therefore +in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.”—<span +class="smcap">Psa</span>. lxiii. 7.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I <span class="smcap">wish</span> to speak on the important +use of Christian experience in the confirmation of faith. I +say in the confirmation of faith, for there is the widest +possible difference between confirmation and commencement. +Experience may confirm the faith when it already exists, but the +faith must obviously be there before there can be any experience +of its result.</p> +<p>At the outset of our Christian course we have nothing to do +but throw ourselves absolutely in naked trust on the sure +promises of the covenant of God, and rest exclusively on what He +has done and promised. We have nothing then to do with our +own history, our own feelings, or our own progress, it is Christ +and Christ alone on whom the soul must rest for life. And +so, if we look to the real foundation of faith, it must be to the +last day of our pilgrimage. It is a fatal-moment for us if +we are led to look away for a single moment from Him. But +at the same time we must remember that we are not always at the +beginning of our Christian life. One who has trusted the +Lord Jesus Christ and walked with Him for many years is not in +the same position as one who is to-day seeking Him for the first +time. He has had the experience of <a +name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 63</span>the +loving-kindness of the Lord. He has never found Him to fail +in any of the anxieties of his life, and if he could trust many +years ago when he had nothing but the bare promise, how much more +may he trust the Saviour now when the truth of His word has been +tried and tested in all the varied experiences of life?</p> +<p>The Lord Jesus Christ is described as “a sure +foundation;” <a name="citation63a"></a><a +href="#footnote63a" class="citation">[63a]</a> sure, because He +is the foundation laid by God; sure, because of His own eternal +Godhead; sure, therefore, as an object of simple trust before a +person has had any experience of His grace. To the +trembling sinner who has hitherto been a total stranger to Him, +and has never known anything of His love, even to him He is a +sure foundation, and though knowing Him only through the word, +that trembling sinner may come to Him and trust. But +according to that same verse He is also a tried foundation. +He has been tried by the whole church of God for eighteen +centuries and has never once been found to fail any one that has +come to Him in faith. He has been tried by us who have +known Him for the greater part of our lives, and we are not to +ignore all He has done for us, but say, as St. John did, not +merely that we have believed, but that “we have known and +believed the love that God hath towards us.” <a +name="citation63b"></a><a href="#footnote63b" +class="citation">[63b]</a></p> +<p>Now this is the principle of the text. The Psalm was +written when David was in great trouble, having taken flight from +Saul in the wilderness of Judah. He was there hidden in +such caves as Adullam, and cut off from the sanctuary of +God. But it is a very cheerful and thankful Psalm. He +was not downhearted because of his troubles, but he had such an +assurance of the loving-kindness of the Lord that his heart was +full of praise. He could praise Him, and <a +name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>that with +joyful lips, even in the wilderness. The reason was that he +could trust Him, and though he was only a young man his trust had +been confirmed by experience. He had been in difficulty +almost the whole time since his call, but he had found a strong +arm with him all the way, and therefore he said, “Because +thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will +I rejoice.” In this verse there are two things to be +observed—</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">The Thankful Recognition of Help +already given</span>.</h3> +<p>The Lord had helped him through many difficulties and he +thankfully recognized the help. We do not know to what +particular act of help he referred. It may have been to his +victory over Goliath, or to the escape from the javelin of +Saul. Or it may be to the daily, hourly help given to his +own soul in all the difficulties of his situation; to that help +which finds no place in history, but which is the unceasing +source of life and strength to the child of God. But +whatever was the peculiar character of the help, it is perfectly +clear that it was accepted and recognized. He asked for +help, he found it, he acknowledged it, and he was thankful for +it.</p> +<p>Let us learn the lesson that we should not be always praying +for help, and fearing to acknowledge it when given. It is +our privilege to ask for the gift, but it is also both our +privilege and duty to acknowledge it.</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">The Joyful Assurance for the +Future</span>.</h3> +<p>He knew that he believed in a God that changeth not, just as +we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” <a +name="citation64"></a><a href="#footnote64" +class="citation">[64]</a> and the result was the assurance that +He who had helped him <a name="page65"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 65</span>thus far would help him to the +end. He knew that his God would not change, and therefore +he was happy and confident though he was in “a dry and +thirsty land.” <a name="citation65a"></a><a +href="#footnote65a" class="citation">[65a]</a> His joy did +not depend on circumstances, but on God, and being confident in +His unchanging grace he could be happy anywhere. He used to +delight in the Sanctuary, and we read in verse 2 how he had there +seen in his own soul God’s power and glory. But the +same Lord who had helped him in the Sanctuary would help him also +in the cave, and therefore he was not an unhappy man even in the +wilderness, but he said, “Because Thy loving-kindness is +better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.”</p> +<p>And this was no new principle in his mind, for we find him +acting on it when he was quite a youth. It was the +principle that carried him into the conflict with Goliath, for +when Saul dissuaded him from the attempt, he said, “The +Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the +paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this +Philistine.” <a name="citation65b"></a><a +href="#footnote65b" class="citation">[65b]</a> Thus the +recognition of past help ought to lead to confident trust. +If we have found help actually given, if we have reason to +believe that God is helping now, we may boldly look forward into +the future, and be perfectly confident that He will help to the +end.</p> +<h2><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>THE +COMING OF THE LORD</h2> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">The Practical +Effect of this Blessed Hope on the Life and Character</span></p> +<blockquote><p>“Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: +for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”—<span +class="smcap">St. James</span> v. 8.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> hope of the near approach of +the Lord’s coming should lead us to sit light to the world +and the things of it. There is no greater temptation +besetting our path than that of becoming entangled in the things +of the world. We are for ever spinning cobwebs for our own +bondage, and being then caught in our own web. Hence the +importance of the weaning power of the blessed hope of the near +coming of our Lord and Saviour. This applies in sorrow.</p> +<p>There were sorrows in the days of St. Paul, just as there are +now, and he never taught us not to weep. What he did teach +was that we “should not sorrow as those that have no +hope.” The character of the sorrow may be +changed. And what was the power that should thus change the +character of grief? The next verse supplies the +answer. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose +again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with +Him.” <a name="citation66"></a><a href="#footnote66" +class="citation">[66]</a> We may look forward, therefore, +to His speedy return, when <a name="page67"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 67</span>the graves of those who are in Christ +shall open, and when all sorrow will be lost for eternity in the +blessed privilege of being “ever with the lord.” <a +name="citation67a"></a><a href="#footnote67a" +class="citation">[67a]</a> Is not such a hope enough to +change the character of grief?</p> +<p>This blessed hope changes also the character of our joy.</p> +<p>Just as it gives a tone to sorrow, so also it does to +joy. It makes it sober and solid. It gives it a +quiet, peaceful, abiding character. Turn to the words of +St. Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I +say, Rejoice.” <a name="citation67b"></a><a +href="#footnote67b" class="citation">[67b]</a> And observe +the verse that follows: “Let your moderation be known unto +all men. The Lord is at hand.” Let your joy be +the sober joy of men who believe that the coming of the Lord is +at hand; the calm, well-assured, abiding joy of those who, being +in the Lord, are persuaded that they will be with the Lord for +ever.</p> +<p>And the same effect will follow with reference to all our +possessions.</p> +<p>Let no one suppose we are not to prize those precious gifts +which God has given us. Ought we to think lightly of money, +time, influence, power? By no means; but if we believe that +the coming of the Lord is near we must sit light to it all, for +it will all soon give place to the glories of His kingdom. +Remember St. Paul’s thrilling words: “The time is +short,” <a name="citation67c"></a><a href="#footnote67c" +class="citation">[67c]</a> and the exhortation that follows to +“use this world, as not abusing it.”</p> +<p>If we believe that the Lord’s coming is near we must +wake up and trim our lamps.</p> +<p>We must never forget that real, true believers may grow cold, +and dull, and sleepy. Thus even the wise virgins were +asleep when the Bridegroom came. But <a +name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>they were +thoroughly prepared, so they were up in a moment when they heard +the cry, and, having trimmed their lamps, were ready. Now, +the thought of His appearing should have this effect on +ourselves. Who is there amongst us that does not want to be +quickened; to be aroused to fresh energy for God; to have the +soul filled with a holy fervour, and the whole heart glowing with +the love of Christ? Who is there that should not desire to +respond with every faculty he possesses to the stirring appeal of +St. Paul: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high +time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than +when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at +hand.” <a name="citation68a"></a><a href="#footnote68a" +class="citation">[68a]</a> Shall we sleep on as if the old +world were going on for ever? Do we really believe that +“the Bridegroom cometh,” <a name="citation68b"></a><a +href="#footnote68b" class="citation">[68b]</a> and shall we not +trim our lamps without one moment’s delay in order that +when He comes He may find them burning brightly to His glory?</p> +<p>If we are looking for the speedy coming of the Lord, it should +lead to a calm, happy, peaceful hope in the midst of the turmoils +of the latter days.</p> +<p>There is nothing to lead us to expect a calm termination to +the present state of things. Our Lord when He comes will +come riding, as it were, on the whirlwind and the storm. It +is a very common thing to find a bar with heavy breakers on it at +the mouth of the finest harbours, and so we must be prepared for +a stormy sea as we enter the haven of rest. Our Lord taught +this very clearly when He said, “There shall be signs in +the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth +distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves +roaring.” <a name="citation68c"></a><a href="#footnote68c" +class="citation">[68c]</a> And now observe <a +name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>the effect of +these events on different characters. Through the world at +large they produce what may be called a +panic—“Men’s hearts failing them for +fear.” <a name="citation69a"></a><a href="#footnote69a" +class="citation">[69a]</a> But how is it to be with the +people of God? Are their hearts to fail them for +fear? No, for we read, “When these things begin to +come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads.” <a +name="citation69b"></a><a href="#footnote69b" +class="citation">[69b]</a> They are not to be bowed down, +but to hold their head erect, and with a confident spirit to look +up full of hope. And why? What is it that is to make +so vast a difference between the two characters? How can we +explain the contrast? It is all explained in the latter +part of that verse—“For your redemption draweth +nigh.” It is perfectly clear that by redemption is +here meant the final deliverance, for in the previous verse <a +name="citation69c"></a><a href="#footnote69c" +class="citation">[69c]</a> we read of the final coming of the +Deliverer. That calm peace, therefore, is the blessed +result of a blessed hope. God’s people will know that +the Deliverer is at hand, and therefore will not be afraid. +They will believe God’s Holy Word, and therefore what +alarms others will cheer them. The same storm which sinks +the great ironclads outside will bring their little bark into +harbour. They will know what it all means, and, with +God’s Word in their hand, they will know who is reigning, +and will see in all that is frightening others the predicted +signs of His near approach.</p> +<h3><span class="smcap">One Word in Conclusion</span>.</h3> +<p>The word “redemption” has a double sense in common +use. It is sometimes used for atonement or propitiation +simply, and sometimes for the great deliverance which is the +consequence of the great propitiation. It is clear that in +this passage it is used for deliverance. But another thing +is equally clear, <a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +70</span>namely, this—that we shall never be able to rest +in the hope of the deliverance unless we are first taught to rest +for forgiveness on the completed propitiation. Redemption +by power is the consequence of redemption by blood. It is +the redemption by power of which the Lord said “He draweth +nigh;” but we shall never be able to lift up our heads, and +look up in joy to the prospect, unless we first know in our own +souls the unspeakable blessing of that redemption by blood which +has long since been completed for ever. It is only when we +know Jesus Christ and Him crucified that we can look up in calm, +peaceful confidence to Jesus Christ and Him glorified.</p> +<h2><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>“WITH” AND “BY”</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And when they were come, and had gathered +the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with +them, and how He had opened the door of faith onto the +Gentiles.”—<span class="smcap">Acts</span> xiv. +27.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are few institutions of +greater antiquity than the missionary meeting. It is truly +apostolic in its origin. The first such meeting of which we +read was held at Antioch after the return of St. Paul from his +first missionary journey. It was from Antioch he set off, +having been commended by the brethren to the grace of God; and it +was at Antioch, after his return, that he gathered together the +Church and rehearsed to them all that God had done with them in +his journey. This is the great subject of his address, and +will suggest three subjects of inquiry for ourselves.</p> +<h3>I. <span class="smcap">What had been done</span>?</h3> +<p>In the first place, the door of faith had been opened to the +Gentiles. Surely by “the door of faith” we must +understand that “new and living way” of which we read +in Hebrews. <a name="citation71"></a><a href="#footnote71" +class="citation">[71]</a> And what is that way? Is +not this explained by the previous verse, “Having, +therefore, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of +Jesus.” It is the free access to the throne of Grace +through the finished, final propitiation, there described as +“the blood of Jesus.” When He <a +name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>died, the +veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, +and the mercy-seat was laid open to the sinner drawing near in +faith, and the invitation was proclaimed to all. The throne +of righteousness became the throne of mercy, and the throne of +judgment became approachable even to the sinner, for it was +transformed into a throne of grace.</p> +<p>This is the door of faith that had been opened to the +Gentiles, and it is very difficult for us to realize all that was +involved in such a fact. There was a middle wall of +partition between Jew and Gentile which kept them as wide asunder +as if there had been no common Saviour. But now St. Paul +reported that the middle wall had been broken down. <a +name="citation72a"></a><a href="#footnote72a" +class="citation">[72a]</a> Every stone of it had been swept +away, and, according to the covenant of God, all were invited as +one flock around one Shepherd.</p> +<p>But this was not all that had been done. The great work +of that missionary journey was the turning of the hearts of both +Jews and Gentiles to enter in by that open door. It is one +thing to set a door open before a person, but often a much more +difficult thing to induce him to enter in. Now the great +result of this journey was that many precious souls were brought +in through the open door, and in Christ Jesus were saved. +This was the work of which St. Paul gave an account on his return +to Antioch. If he mentioned individuals he doubtless told +them of Sergius Paulus, the Roman pro-consul at Paphos, that +“prudent man,” <a name="citation72b"></a><a +href="#footnote72b" class="citation">[72b]</a> one of the first +converts given to the Apostle. Then, again, he doubtless +told them of the great multitude both of the Jews and also of the +Greeks in Iconium who believed. <a name="citation72c"></a><a +href="#footnote72c" class="citation">[72c]</a> And if he +were asked as to the reality of the work in their souls, he +doubtless told <a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +73</span>them of the beautiful character of the Christians in the +other Antioch, Antioch of Pisidia, of whom it is said, “the +disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.” +<a name="citation73"></a><a href="#footnote73" +class="citation">[73]</a></p> +<p>They had, indeed, entered in by the open door. They had +tasted the joy of the living way, they had been brought under the +shadow of the mercy-seat. They had sat down under His +shadow with great delight, and had found the fruit sweet to their +taste. So marvellous had been the change that the very men +who before this memorable journey had been living, some in Jewish +hostility, and some in heathen abomination, were now happy, holy, +thankful believers, and were actually filled with the Holy +Ghost. We see, then, what had been done. The next +question is—</p> +<h3>II. <span class="smcap">Who was the Doer</span>?</h3> +<p>St. Paul and St. Barnabas were the principal agents, and of +these St. Paul was the chief speaker, but it was not he who +changed the hearts or filled the disciples with joy and with the +Holy Ghost. So he did not tell what <i>he</i> had done, but +what God had done. The drawing of the sinner, whether Jew +or Gentile, into the new or living way was a Divine act. To +open the heart required a Divine power as much as to open the +door. It is important for us clearly to bear in mind this +principle, that the power to enter in is of itself the gift of +God—that we must trust Him not only to save us when we have +entered in, but to enable us to enter in; not only to show mercy +on us when we have come near to Him, but to draw us near by His +own Spirit.</p> +<h3>III. <span class="smcap">In what Way did the Lord make +use of Human Agency</span>?</h3> +<p>There are two expressions employed which throw great light on +the subject. In this verse we read of <a +name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 74</span>the things +which God had done <i>with</i> them, and the same expression +occurs in Acts xv. 4. But if we pass on to Acts xv., we +find it stated that “God had wrought upon the Gentiles +<i>by</i> them.” <a name="citation74a"></a><a +href="#footnote74a" class="citation">[74a]</a> The one +expression implies companionship, the other +instrumentality. Consider them separately.</p> +<p>(1) “With.”</p> +<p>The idea is that throughout the journey our Lord was literally +fulfilling His promise. “I am with you alway.” +<a name="citation74b"></a><a href="#footnote74b" +class="citation">[74b]</a> They went out to preach in His +name and He went with them, as their constant, never-failing, +though invisible, companion and friend. Thus, while they +were acting, He was acting also. The two were acting +together, and so fulfilling the one purpose of God. The +action of the Lord was giving effect to the action of the +preacher, though in some cases it was quite independent of +it. Take the case of Lydia as an illustration. <a +name="citation74c"></a><a href="#footnote74c" +class="citation">[74c]</a> St. Paul preached to that little +company assembled at the place of prayer by the riverside at +Phillipi. There was the action of the preacher. But +now look at the action of the Lord working with him. By His +fore-seeing providence He had brought Lydia from her home at +Thyatira, and by His guiding Spirit had brought St. Paul from his +work in Asia Minor. It was He that brought them both to the +same spot on that Sabbath morning. Then, again, while St. +Paul was preaching the Lord was acting, for He was acting with +His servant, first by the preparatory leading of His providence, +and afterwards by the heart-opening movement of the Holy +Ghost</p> +<p>(2) And this leads me to the other expression, +“<i>by</i>.” This expresses something different +to companionship, for it teaches that in thus drawing sinners to +Himself <a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>He +makes use of men as instruments. In the case of Lydia the +Lord opened her heart, but the things which were spoken by St. +Paul were the instrument which God employed to lead her to the +faith. It was not without instrumentality, but by it, that +God acted. It is important to bear this in mind—that +human instrumentality is not in antagonism to faith. We +must remember the “by” as well as the +“with,” and that when God has given means, we do not +honour Him by neglecting or ignoring them. St. Paul was +most anxious to urge on the Corinthians that it was God alone who +gave the increase, but while he did so he was not deterred from +adding that he had planted and Apollos watered. <a +name="citation75"></a><a href="#footnote75" +class="citation">[75]</a> We know that God is a Sovereign, +and that He, if He pleased, could gather in the whole company of +His elect without the use of any one man to work for Him; but we +know also that “by us” the preaching is to be fully +known, and we are fully persuaded that if we are to look for a +harvest we must both plant and water.</p> +<h2><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>THE +STIRRING OF THE SPIRIT</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And the Lord stirred up the spirit of +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the +spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the +spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did +work in the house of the Lord of Hosts, their +God.”—<span class="smcap">Hag</span>. i. 14.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Let us</span> consider this stirring of +the will, and then the great need of it even amongst the faithful +people of God.</p> +<p>I. We read a great deal in Scripture of a movement in +the will, as we know in practical life, how we ourselves are +moved, or aroused on many occasions. We know what it is to +be like Peter, who was asleep in the prison till the Angel of the +Lord “smote him on the side, and raised him up, saying, +Arise up quickly.” <a name="citation76a"></a><a +href="#footnote76a" class="citation">[76a]</a> We are often +aroused to make an <i>effort</i> which we never thought of +before, and our whole soul is on fire to be working with a holy +enthusiasm for God.</p> +<p>Now this stirring of the spirit is the act of God +Himself. I am quite aware that there are passages in which +man is described as stirring himself, as for example, +“There is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up +himself to take hold of Thee.” <a name="citation76b"></a><a +href="#footnote76b" class="citation">[76b]</a> But such an +expression is the description of the outward effect, and not of +the inward movement of the soul, as is proved by that very text, +which gives us the reason <a name="page77"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 77</span>for the absence of any such stirring, +“Thou hast hid Thy face from us.” It was +because He had hidden His face that no one was stirred to lay +hold on His grace. Thus St. Paul teaches us that it is God +Himself who worketh on the will. He urges the little flock +at Philippi to be more diligent in his absence than they were in +his presence, <a name="citation77a"></a><a href="#footnote77a" +class="citation">[77a]</a> and in the next verse he gives us the +reason that “It is God who worketh in you both to will and +to do of His good pleasure.” So in this passage, when +Zerubbabel was aroused to a new action it was the Lord who +stirred his spirit, and who produced such a strong, deep feeling +in his soul that he could not rest without making a fresh effort +for the Lord. This stirring was the blessed result of the +Holy Spirit’s action. Oh, that we had more of it +amongst ourselves!</p> +<p>But while it is the work of the Holy Spirit, we shall find +that, as a general rule, He makes use of means. Of course, +if He pleases, He may Himself speak to the soul in the way of +direct personal communication, and so arouse the heart and +conscience without the aid of any human instrumentality. +But in most cases He makes use of means.</p> +<p>Sometimes men are stirred by the sight of evil, as St. Paul +was stirred in spirit by the sight of the idolatry at Athens. <a +name="citation77b"></a><a href="#footnote77b" +class="citation">[77b]</a> And it does seem strange that +God’s faithful people can sit so still as they do, and look +on so quietly on the sin that abounds around them. How is +it that the whole soul does not burn within us with a longing +desire to be at work for God?</p> +<p>Sometimes it is through the power of the ministry. It +was so with Zerubbabel, of whom it is said that the Lord stirred +his spirit. The means employed in his case was the +preaching of the two prophets Haggai <a name="page78"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 78</span>and Zechariah. Sometimes God +raises up great preachers whose office it seems to be to awaken +nations. Such were Whitfield and the Wesleys. Such +was Luther at the time of the Reformation, and such were Haggai +and Zechariah after the return of the captives from +Babylon. It was through them that the fire was lighted in +the soul of Zerubbabel. Their burning words stirred his +spirit, and he threw himself with a holy zeal into the service of +the Lord.</p> +<p>Sometimes it is by the example and influence of others, as +“iron sharpeneth iron.” <a name="citation78a"></a><a +href="#footnote78a" class="citation">[78a]</a> There is +nothing more infectious than character. There is a certain +atmosphere surrounding each of us, and it has its influence on +all who come near us. The idle man makes others idle, the +corrupt man makes others corrupt; so the holy man wins others to +holiness, and the man of Christian enthusiasm will warm up those +who come in contact with him.</p> +<p>Sometimes He does it by stirring our nest. This is what +He did for Israel in Egypt. They had begun to settle down +content with their captivity. They had their flesh-pots, +their melons, and their cucumbers, and they did not care to be +unsettled; so God stirred them up by oppression. This is +the process described in Moses’ song, “As an eagle +stirreth up her nest.” <a name="citation78b"></a><a +href="#footnote78b" class="citation">[78b]</a> The young +eagles, being comfortable in their nest, have no desire to launch +forth into the untried experiment of flight. So the parent +bird stirs up the nest, and by means of that stirring compels +them to a move. Is it not often just the same with +us? We are so fond of our nests, so apt to settle down +quietly, forgetful of that which is to come. So God in +mercy stirs the nest. The heart is saddened, but the very +stirring may be God’s appointed instrument for waking <a +name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 79</span>up a new +hope, a new longing for the second advent, and a dependence never +known before on His own grace, and love, and perfect +sufficiency.</p> +<p>By whatever means the Lord does it, we must never forget that +it is His own divine act of mercy and grace. No sight of +evil, no preaching, no example, no chastening can produce the +result. It is God the Holy Ghost that stirs the spirit.</p> +<p>II. Consider the need of this stirring amongst the +faithful people of God.</p> +<p>It might be supposed that the true and faithful people of God +would not require it, and that they would be irresistibly drawn +on by the constraining power of the love of Christ. But +this is not the teaching of Scripture, and I am sure it is not +the conclusion from experience. We must never forget that +the wise virgins went to sleep. Nor must we even lose sight +of those thrilling words addressed by St. Paul to those in Rome +whom he describes as “beloved of God, and called to be +saints,” <a name="citation79a"></a><a href="#footnote79a" +class="citation">[79a]</a> when in the prospect of the second +Advent he said to them, “Now it is high time to awake out +of sleep.” <a name="citation79b"></a><a href="#footnote79b" +class="citation">[79b]</a> Had they not, you may say, been +already aroused from sleep? Had they not been awakened from +the sleep of death, and brought into a new life in Christ +Jesus? How, then, should it be high time for them to awake +out of sleep? Were they not already the “beloved of +God”?</p> +<p>Now, this brings us exactly to the point; to the great need of +Divine stirring, even for those who have already been awakened +into a new life in Christ Jesus. Turn to the Song of +Solomon, and you will find the whole thing explained. In +ch. v. the Bridegroom is described as returning home at night, +and, knocking at the door of his home, calls to the Bride <a +name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 80</span>within, and +says, “Open to me.” <a name="citation80"></a><a +href="#footnote80" class="citation">[80]</a> Now what is +her state of mind when she hears His knock and listens to His +voice? “I sleep, but my heart waketh.” Have we +not there the exact description of very common Christian +life? How many are there still sleeping, though they hear +the knock and their heart waketh? They are neither fully +asleep nor fully awake. They are awake enough to hear the +voice, but too sleepy to act on it. But we cannot be +satisfied with this half and half condition. The Bride in +the Song of Solomon was so long in arousing herself, that when at +length she did so, it was too late. In ver. 6 she tells her +sad, sad story. “I opened to my Beloved, but my +Beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone.” Should +not such a description arouse us all? Most truly may it be +said that He is standing at our own doors both knocking and +calling. Sin is raging, error is spreading, misery is +abounding, hell is filling; but, thanks be to God, Christ Jesus +is saving, and shall His own chosen people be sleeping quietly, +seeking their own ease, and sitting down content if only they can +entertain a well-grounded hope that the heavy burden of their own +sin has been blotted out through His most precious blood. +“Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy +faithful people.”</p> +<h2><a name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>A +WILLING SERVICE</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Who then is willing to consecrate his +service this day unto the Lord?”—1 <span +class="smcap">Chron</span>. xxix. 5.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> occasion was a very solemn +one. It was the last act of David’s reign. He +had long desired to build a temple for the glory of God, but he +was not allowed to carry out his wish. So he collected the +necessary materials, and at length, when he had decided to +abdicate in favour of Solomon, he called an assembly and declared +Solomon, who was still young and tender, to be his successor, +then handed over to him the plans which he had prepared for the +Temple, and concluded with a solemn charge. <a +name="citation81"></a><a href="#footnote81" +class="citation">[81]</a></p> +<p>Having thus ended what may be termed the official business of +his life, the aged king proceeded to address the +congregation. Let us study four things in that address; his +question, his thanksgiving, his prayer, and his final appeal.</p> +<h3>HIS QUESTION</h3> +<p>He told them how he was passing away, and how the work was +great, so he asked them a question which may be well put to every +congregation in every age, “Who then is willing to +consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?”</p> +<p><a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>Now, we +hear a great deal in these days of consecration. The idea +of consecration is not a new thing in the Church of God, and I am +sure that we want more of the true spirit of it in our own +hearts. There is such a thing as consecration of heart, and +consecration of service. The consecration of heart is the +surrender of the whole man with the affections, the powers, and +the strong will to the Lord. The consecration of service is +the dedication of all our active powers to his work. When +David said, “I am thine,” <a +name="citation82a"></a><a href="#footnote82a" +class="citation">[82a]</a> it was the consecration of heart, and +when Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me,” <a +name="citation82b"></a><a href="#footnote82b" +class="citation">[82b]</a> it was the consecration of +service. Now, it was the consecration of service for which +David appealed, and it is this practical consecration of service +on which we are dependent for the work in a parish. Who is +willing to consecrate his service? I cannot see into the +secrets of the hearts, but I know who ought to be +willing—all those who believe in the words of our Blessed +Saviour, “For their sakes I consecrate Myself.” <a +name="citation82c"></a><a href="#footnote82c" +class="citation">[82c]</a> Did He, the spotless Son of God, +consecrate Himself to be the atoning sacrifice for us? And +if we believe that, can we doubt for one moment who it is that +should be willing to consecrate his service to Him? +Redeemed sinner, is it not you? Pardoned believer, is it +not you? Are you ready to fall at His feet and say, +“Here am I; let me be Thine. Here is my skill: use +it. Here is my intellect: use it. Here is my power of +speech: use it. Here is my money: use it. Here is +all, all I have and all I am: let it all be Thine own, and help +me to employ it for Thy glory”?</p> +<h3><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 83</span>HIS +PRAISE</h3> +<p>David’s question fell on willing hearts, and there was a +wonderful response to his appeal. Gold, silver, and +precious stones were poured into the treasury, and the willing +heart with which all was done was beautiful. It was not +done grudgingly or of necessity, but with a happy, joyous, +thankful spirit, so that the old man’s heart was gladdened, +and “David the King rejoiced with great joy.” <a +name="citation83a"></a><a href="#footnote83a" +class="citation">[83a]</a> It was this joyous spirit that +called forth his praise. When he saw the blessed result of +his appeal he did not lay it down to his personal influence, or +to his own persuasive power, but he stood up and blessed the +Lord. He was too old for government, but he was not too old +for praise. His last words from the throne were those of +praise and prayer. His joy ran straight into thanksgiving, +and in this thanksgiving two principles were conspicuous, he gave +all the glory to God, and he acknowledged himself and his people +to be utterly unworthy of the sacred privilege of this happy +service. This is the true view of service and of +gifts. When God calls us to work for Him, or to give for +Him, we should not regard it as a burden laid upon us, but as an +honour to which we are invited, an honour that angels themselves +might covet. This was the spirit of David when he said +“What am I, and what is my people, that we should be able +to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of +Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.” <a +name="citation83b"></a><a href="#footnote83b" +class="citation">[83b]</a> And this should be our own +spirit in all service and all gifts for such a Lord. We do +not want to regard it as a yoke, a necessity, a heavy task +imposed on us by God; but <a name="page84"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 84</span>as an honour, a privilege, a happy, +loving service of the King of kings, for which the best amongst +us is utterly unworthy.</p> +<h3>HIS PRAYER</h3> +<p>After a time his praise ran into prayer. This is just as +it ought to be, for praise should encourage prayer, as prayer +should always lead to praise. Thus the loving heart should +pass backwards and forwards from one to the other, and the two +should be so blended that when we are engaged by the one the +other should never be out of sight.</p> +<p>Observe the prayer in ver. 18, and remember the +circumstances. It was a moment of wonderful national +enthusiasm at the commencement of a great national work. +Their hearts were filled with joy and they were ready for +anything. Now, what was the danger? What would be the +danger to ourselves in our own day? Would it not be decay, +a gradual dying off of our first zeal, a chill in the first love +as there was at Ephesus? <a name="citation84"></a><a +href="#footnote84" class="citation">[84]</a> What David +prayed for, therefore, was continuance, or perseverance. In +short he prayed against declension from their first love, for +look at his words in ver. 18. For “prepare” the +marginal reading is “stablish.” And now you see +the point of the prayer, “Keep this <i>for ever</i> in the +imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and +<i>establish</i> their heart unto Thee.” What an +insight it gives both as to our danger and our hope. How it +shows us our need of being kept alive in our first love, and +teaches us that we must not be trusting to the privileges of past +experience, or the fact of past consecration, but that we need +the perpetual action of the Holy Spirit <a +name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>in keeping +His grace for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the +heart.</p> +<p>And where are we to look for this preservation? Do we +not learn that our hearts are like leaky vessels, and the +brightest, holiest and most joyous of believers requires the +daily power of the Holy Spirit, not merely to stop the leak, but +to fill the vessel?</p> +<h3>THE FINAL APPEAL</h3> +<p>The old man finished his prayer. In it he spoke +alone. He was, as it were, the mouthpiece of his +people. But that was not enough. It was not +sufficient that he should speak on their behalf, but they must +praise God for themselves. So having been into the very +presence chamber of God in prayer, he came out, as it were to the +assembled multitude, and said to the vast throng, “Now +bless the Lord your God.” Praise was the climax of +the transaction, and praise the last act of David’s +reign.</p> +<p>Now may there be the spirit of that remarkable day amongst +ourselves. Trace it all the way through, remember the +consecration, the liberality, the joy, the praise, the prayer, +and the final outburst of congregational worship. May God +breathe on us the same spirit. May there be the same +consecration of service, the same willing offerings, the same +joyous praise, and the same thankful prayer for a holy +perseverance unto the end. And, in conclusion, may I not +say to you what David said to the congregation, “Now bless +the Lord your God.”</p> +<h2><a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>FEAR +NOT</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not +dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will +help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my +righteousness.”—<span class="smcap">Isa</span>. xli. +10.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> we observe how frequently God +says to us “Fear not,” we may be quite sure that +there is a great deal in common life to occasion fear. The +frequent recurrence of the exhortation in all parts of Scripture +teaches us, that through the whole range of Scriptural history +there had been that all around God’s people which, without +the Lord’s help, must have been sure to make the heart +afraid.</p> +<p>You will observe in our text that He does not bid us fear not +because He undertakes to remove all danger. What He says +is, that when things arise that may justly alarm us, we need not +fear. “Fear not, <i>for</i> I am with thee,” +(observe the “<i>for</i>”). If fear is to be +really overcome, it must be by the eye being kept fixed on God +and His promises.</p> +<p>This verse contains two assurances and three promises; +assurances of what He is to us now, and promises of what He +undertakes to do for us.</p> +<h3>THE ASSURANCES</h3> +<p>“I am with thee.” “I am thy +God.” It is interesting to observe how the different +portions of Scripture <a name="page87"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 87</span>correspond with one another. +They are all inspired by one Spirit, and all speak one +truth. So when I turn to the concluding description of the +blessedness of the Heavenly inheritance, I find just the same +assurance, “God Himself shall be with them and be their +God.” <a name="citation87"></a><a href="#footnote87" +class="citation">[87]</a> He does not promise to be nearer +to His people, even in the heavenly rest, than He declares +Himself to be now, when we are in the midst of our struggle upon +earth. He promises <i>then</i> to be with us and to be our +God, and He assures us in the text that He is just the same +<i>now</i>.</p> +<p>The words of the assurance, “I am with thee,” +imply both reconciliation and companionship. +Reconciliation, for He is not against us, but with us. Not +separated by the barrier of unforgiven sin, but so completely +reconciled, the law being satisfied that every barrier is broken +down for ever, and He is altogether on our side.</p> +<p>Companionship, for as a reconciled and loving Father He never +for a moment leaves His child, by night or by day, in joy or in +sorrow; in active work, or in quiet submission; in the ministry +at home or in the distant work of missions. Wherever His +people are, and in whatever circumstances, there is He with them +as their Father, their Friend, their Companion, their Helper, +their God.</p> +<p>For He also says, “I am thy God.” He is not +merely with us, but with us in all the omnipotence of +Godhead. An earthly friend may fail in helping us; but when +He is with us as our God He will never fail. When He says, +“I am thy God,” He clearly means that He has chosen +us to be His people, a peculiar people unto Himself; and that, +having done so, He acts as God, on our behalf, governing, +guiding, <a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +88</span>preserving, saving, and finally gathering to His own +presence in His kingdom.</p> +<h3>THE PROMISES</h3> +<p>(1) “I will strengthen thee.”</p> +<p>Into whatever position He places us, for that He undertakes to +give us the needful strength. If He calls us to be still +and suffer, He will give strength for suffering; if to go forth +in His name and labour in His service, He will give strength for +activity; and in the holy warfare which we are all called to wage +with indwelling sin, strength to overcome. And you must +notice that, when He promises to strengthen, He describes an +imparted power. He does not speak of Himself as acting for +you externally, as when He accounts you righteous; but within +you, imparting power, and so enabling you to act for Him. +The promise of God in Scripture is that He will strengthen us, +or, in other words, that He will impart a power of action in His +service.</p> +<p>(2) “I will help thee.”</p> +<p>The same lesson respecting man’s activity is taught when +He promises to help. There is a great difference between +strengthening and helping. To strengthen is an inward work, +the gift of an inward power. To help is an external +work. I may help a lame man to walk, though I cannot +strengthen his limb. But help implies activity on the part +of those who receive it. God does not help us to do +nothing. He helps us to be patient, loving, gentle, +sweet-tempered. He helps us to be diligent and active in +His service; but He does not help us to sit still and be +passive. Help implies exertion. If He strengthens us +by the Holy <a name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +89</span>Ghost in the inner man, and if He undertakes to help us +in every struggle against sin, it is our privilege to accept His +promise, and press on, assured of victory.</p> +<p>(3) “I will uphold thee.”</p> +<p>These words appear to convey the idea of danger. We are +walking in slippery places, and with fearful falls on every hand, +so that we require not merely a clear eye to guide us, but a +strong hand to hold us. In every step of our way we require +to be upheld. In every moment of our lives we require to be +held up by one who sees all our danger, who knows the path +perfectly well, who can hold us with so strong a grasp that +nothing can pluck us out of His hand, and who, according to the +language of St. Jude, is “able to keep us from +falling.” <a name="citation89a"></a><a href="#footnote89a" +class="citation">[89a]</a></p> +<p>It is this perpetual and final preservation that is secured to +us in the third promise; and I would have you most particularly +observe that it is not with the right hand of His mercy, or the +right hand of His love, or of His compassion, or even of His +power, but the right hand of His righteousness. And why is +this? Because this grace is the result of the +covenant. By that covenant His people are given to the Lord +Jesus that they may be saved. In fulfilling that covenant +He has shed His own most precious blood for us, to make atonement +for our sin. And the result is, that as, according to St. +John, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our +sins,” <a name="citation89b"></a><a href="#footnote89b" +class="citation">[89b]</a> so, also, is He faithful and just to +uphold us against a fall.</p> +<p>But here, I know, a question will arise. This is +God’s promise, but is it ever realized? It is very +beautiful in Scripture, but do we meet with it in practical +life? Are these gifts of God really given? Is this +presence of God really displayed? this <a name="page90"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 90</span>upholding power really +experienced? Let us consider these five points and see.</p> +<p>“I am with thee.” Has this been practically +experienced? Look at the words of David in the prospect of +his dying hour, “Thou art with me,” <a +name="citation90a"></a><a href="#footnote90a" +class="citation">[90a]</a> and, again, “O God, Thou art my +God.” <a name="citation90b"></a><a href="#footnote90b" +class="citation">[90b]</a></p> +<p>“I will strengthen thee.” Remember how +Daniel realized its fulfilment when he said, “Let my Lord +speak; for Thou hast strengthened me.” <a +name="citation90c"></a><a href="#footnote90c" +class="citation">[90c]</a></p> +<p>“I will help thee.” Remember David’s +words, “My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped.” <a +name="citation90d"></a><a href="#footnote90d" +class="citation">[90d]</a></p> +<p>“I will uphold thee.” But will He really +uphold us through trials and temptations? Will He really +keep us fast in the right hand of His righteousness, and that +when our faith is weak? Turn to Asaph’s +experience. He says of himself, “As for me, my feet +were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped.” <a +name="citation90e"></a><a href="#footnote90e" +class="citation">[90e]</a> But now look at the upholding +arm. “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou +hast holden me by my right hand.” <a +name="citation90f"></a><a href="#footnote90f" +class="citation">[90f]</a> So, then, this promise has been +practically fulfilled. God has been true to His word, and +men have found Him so. His truth has never failed, and will +He fail us? Will he fail the weakest amongst us? Will +He cease to uphold His people? Let us trust Him. We +are not worthy to do so. If He had treated us as we have +deserved, He would long since have cast us off. But He has +not treated us as we have deserved. He has loved us and +washed us from our sins in His own blood, so we may trust Him, +and leave all in His care; and of this we may rest perfectly +assured, that the strong arm will never give way.</p> +<h2><a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span>THE +PRESENT AND THE FUTURE</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Thou preparest a table before me in the +presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup +runneth over.</p> +<p>“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days +of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for +ever.”—<span class="smcap">Psa</span>. xxiii. 5, +6.</p> +</blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is a very delightful thing to be +able to say “Surely” when we look forward. Now, +this sureness for the future depends on our present relationship +to God, and the confidence expressed in verse 6 is the blessed +result of the unspeakably precious gifts described in the earlier +verses of the Psalm. It depends on the connection between +the present and the future, a connection resulting from the +unchangeableness in the character of God. In order, +therefore, to understand the last verse which relates to the +future, let us study the one preceding it, which describes the +present. We may thus combine the present and the future, +and I think the result will be what our Church describes as a +“sure and certain hope.”</p> +<h3>THE PRESENT</h3> +<p>As I have just said, our confidence for the future depends on +our present relationship to God; and, accordingly, the Psalm +opens with the words, “The <a name="page92"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 92</span>Lord is my Shepherd.” The +holy relationship between the Shepherd and the flock is described +as being already established, and by both parties recognized, and +all that follows is the result of that relationship. We +have not time to study the whole Psalm; but look at the three +results taught us in verse 5.</p> +<h4>I. <span class="smcap">All Wants are +Supplied</span>.</h4> +<p>Even if there are enemies, they cannot interfere with the full +and sure supply which God has provided for His servant. +When he reaches the end of his journey, he will find that the +Lord has prepared a place for his rest; and now that he is in the +midst of it, he may rejoice in that the same most blessed Saviour +has prepared a table for his daily supply.</p> +<p>This refers, doubtless, to our daily wants, and it describes +His fulfilment of our supplication in the Lord’s +Prayer. We pray day by day, “Give us this day our +daily bread;” and when we really enter into the spirit of +this Psalm, we as much as say that the prayer is answered, the +bread provided, and the table spread.</p> +<p>And may we not apply it still more to the bread of life? +Is it not our sacred privilege, when the soul is hungered, to +feed even on Him; when the soul is athirst, to drink of the pure +river of the water of life? And are there not many amongst +us who know, by their own experience, the truth of the promise, +“They shall be abundantly satisfied?” <a +name="citation92"></a><a href="#footnote92" +class="citation">[92]</a></p> +<h4>II. <span class="smcap">The Spirit is +Refreshed</span>.</h4> +<p>This is taught in the words, “Thou anointest my head +with oil.” The words refer to the custom of anointing +the weary man with ointment or oil. It was poured sometimes +on the feet and sometimes on the head. The object in both +cases was the same, <a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +93</span>namely, refreshment; and surely we must thankfully +acknowledge that our Heavenly Father does not merely give us the +bare necessities of existence, but softens, refreshes, and cheers +the spirit. He prepares not the table only, but the +joy. “He giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” +<a name="citation93a"></a><a href="#footnote93a" +class="citation">[93a]</a></p> +<h4>III. <span class="smcap">The Cup Overflows</span>.</h4> +<p>The mercies are so rich, the grace so abundant, the +loving-kindness so bountiful, the living fountain so free, that +the little cup of human capacity cannot hold it all, and it +runneth over. God describes His people as not merely +satisfied, but abundantly satisfied; and speaks of the Holy +Spirit as not merely bestowed, but as “shed on us +abundantly.” <a name="citation93b"></a><a +href="#footnote93b" class="citation">[93b]</a> Why, then, +are we content with a little water hardly perceptible at the +bottom of our little cup? Stephen was “full of faith +and of the Holy Ghost,” <a name="citation93c"></a><a +href="#footnote93c" class="citation">[93c]</a> and we are told to +be “filled with the Spirit;” <a +name="citation93d"></a><a href="#footnote93d" +class="citation">[93d]</a> why, then, rest content with only a +few drops in our own soul while there is the deep, broad river of +the water of life able to fill, to overflowing, every vessel that +can be found to receive the free supply? Why do we not +realize more the truth of the promise, “Open thy mouth +wide, and I will fill it”? <a name="citation93e"></a><a +href="#footnote93e" class="citation">[93e]</a></p> +<p>So much, then, for the present. A table prepared, a head +anointed, a cup running over. These are present +gifts—the present and indescribable privileges of those +whose joy it is to be able to say, “The Lord is my +Shepherd.”</p> +<h3><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 94</span>THE +FUTURE</h3> +<p>Let us pass on to the future as taught in verse 6. We +may observe two things—</p> +<h4>I. <span class="smcap">The Assurance</span>.</h4> +<p>“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days +of my life.” The idea seems to be that, in the poetry +of this beautiful Psalm, Goodness and Mercy are represented as +two persons, just as we find first Mercy and Truth as two persons +meeting each other in Christ Jesus, and then Righteousness and +Peace, two other persons, kissing each other in Him. <a +name="citation94a"></a><a href="#footnote94a" +class="citation">[94a]</a> So here we have the two persons: +Goodness, the bearer of every gift that can possibly be required, +and Mercy dealing most graciously even with sin; the two +following the servant of the Lord, and never leaving him all the +way through. And you may observe they <i>follow</i> him, so +that he does not always see them, and may not even know they are +there. He may sometimes imagine that he is forsaken and +alone, but he is strangely mistaken, for Goodness and Mercy are +close behind, the one to supply his need, and the other to deal +graciously even with his sin.</p> +<p>If we are in Christ Jesus, we may be as sure of the future as +of the past. We may be perfectly certain of the truth of +the words of the Good Shepherd, “They shall never perish, +neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” <a +name="citation94b"></a><a href="#footnote94b" +class="citation">[94b]</a> That promise is so sure that it +can never fail, that hand so strong that all the powers of hell +cannot pluck the weakest little one from its grasp, that heart so +true that we may be perfectly certain He will never abandon one +whom He has called by the Holy Ghost into fellowship with +Himself.</p> +<h4><a name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +95</span>II. <span class="smcap">The +Determination</span>.</h4> +<p>“I will dwell in the house of the Lord for +ever.” David delighted in the house of God; and +clearly we must explain these words as referring to the holy +worship of the sanctuary. But in order to enter into the +full spirit of the passage, we must rise from the Church on earth +to the sanctuary in heaven; to the heavenly home and the presence +chamber of God. There, indeed, is the table spread, there +is the anointing oil, there the cup runneth over; and now, +through the rest of our pilgrimage, though the journey may +possibly be through the Vale of Baca, <a +name="citation95a"></a><a href="#footnote95a" +class="citation">[95a]</a> though sometimes the soul may be bowed +down, and that even when the heart is fixed, yet in the midst of +it all, and through it all, we may live in a close intimacy with +Him. We may quietly rest in His love, we may dwell in Him +and He in us; and while He gives the gracious promise, “Him +that cometh to Me I will in no wise <i>cast</i> out,” <a +name="citation95b"></a><a href="#footnote95b" +class="citation">[95b]</a> we may resolve, God helping us, that +we will never <i>go</i> out, and that, to the last day of our +lives, we will hold fast by Him, till at length the veil shall be +withdrawn, and the heavenly home open before us, and we realize +what it is, in the highest possible sense, “to dwell in the +house of the Lord for ever.”</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">THE END</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> + +<div class="gapmediumline"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">PRINTED BY +WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">LONDON AND BECCLES.</span></p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> 2 Sam. xii. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6" +class="footnote">[6]</a> Psa. li. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7"></a><a href="#citation7" +class="footnote">[7]</a> Psa. cxlviii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8a"></a><a href="#citation8a" +class="footnote">[8a]</a> Exod. xv. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8b"></a><a href="#citation8b" +class="footnote">[8b]</a> Psa. xl. 2, 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8c"></a><a href="#citation8c" +class="footnote">[8c]</a> Rev. vii. 10, 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8d"></a><a href="#citation8d" +class="footnote">[8d]</a> Isa. lx. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9a"></a><a href="#citation9a" +class="footnote">[9a]</a> Psa. cxliii. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9b"></a><a href="#citation9b" +class="footnote">[9b]</a> Acts xvi. 25, R.V.</p> +<p><a name="footnote13"></a><a href="#citation13" +class="footnote">[13]</a> St. Luke xix. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote15"></a><a href="#citation15" +class="footnote">[15]</a> Rev. xxii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17"></a><a href="#citation17" +class="footnote">[17]</a> 2 Peter i. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18a"></a><a href="#citation18a" +class="footnote">[18a]</a> 2 Peter i. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18b"></a><a href="#citation18b" +class="footnote">[18b]</a> St. John x. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote20a"></a><a href="#citation20a" +class="footnote">[20a]</a> Rom. iii. 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote20b"></a><a href="#citation20b" +class="footnote">[20b]</a> 2 Cor. v. 21.</p> +<p><a name="footnote20c"></a><a href="#citation20c" +class="footnote">[20c]</a> 1 Cor. i. 30.</p> +<p><a name="footnote20d"></a><a href="#citation20d" +class="footnote">[20d]</a> St. John v. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote21"></a><a href="#citation21" +class="footnote">[21]</a> St. Jude 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> Eph. ii. 4, 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote27a"></a><a href="#citation27a" +class="footnote">[27a]</a> Gal. v. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote27b"></a><a href="#citation27b" +class="footnote">[27b]</a> Rom. xv. 13.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28a"></a><a href="#citation28a" +class="footnote">[28a]</a> 2 Cor. v. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28b"></a><a href="#citation28b" +class="footnote">[28b]</a> St. Luke ii. 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote29a"></a><a href="#citation29a" +class="footnote">[29a]</a> Phil. i. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote29b"></a><a href="#citation29b" +class="footnote">[29b]</a> 2 Tim. iv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote30a"></a><a href="#citation30a" +class="footnote">[30a]</a> Phil. i. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote30b"></a><a href="#citation30b" +class="footnote">[30b]</a> 2 Tim. i. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote31a"></a><a href="#citation31a" +class="footnote">[31a]</a> Psa. xxiii. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote31b"></a><a href="#citation31b" +class="footnote">[31b]</a> St. Luke xix. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32a"></a><a href="#citation32a" +class="footnote">[32a]</a> 1 Peter i. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote32b"></a><a href="#citation32b" +class="footnote">[32b]</a> Num. xxiv. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34a"></a><a href="#citation34a" +class="footnote">[34a]</a> Isa. xxxii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34b"></a><a href="#citation34b" +class="footnote">[34b]</a> Psa. xxxii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34c"></a><a href="#citation34c" +class="footnote">[34c]</a> Col. iii. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34d"></a><a href="#citation34d" +class="footnote">[34d]</a> 1 John v. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35"></a><a href="#citation35" +class="footnote">[35]</a> Gal. ii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37"></a><a href="#citation37" +class="footnote">[37]</a> 2 Cor. v. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38"></a><a href="#citation38" +class="footnote">[38]</a> St. John i. 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39a"></a><a href="#citation39a" +class="footnote">[39a]</a> St. John iii. 34.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39b"></a><a href="#citation39b" +class="footnote">[39b]</a> Col. ii. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39c"></a><a href="#citation39c" +class="footnote">[39c]</a> Acts x. 38.</p> +<p><a name="footnote40"></a><a href="#citation40" +class="footnote">[40]</a> Acts ii, 3, 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote41a"></a><a href="#citation41a" +class="footnote">[41a]</a> Phil. iv. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote41b"></a><a href="#citation41b" +class="footnote">[41b]</a> Job. xlii. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42"></a><a href="#citation42" +class="footnote">[42]</a> Heb. x. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote44a"></a><a href="#citation44a" +class="footnote">[44a]</a> Acts xiii. 34.</p> +<p><a name="footnote44b"></a><a href="#citation44b" +class="footnote">[44b]</a> St. John xviii. 37.</p> +<p><a name="footnote44c"></a><a href="#citation44c" +class="footnote">[44c]</a> Rev. i. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote44d"></a><a href="#citation44d" +class="footnote">[44d]</a> Psa. xxxv. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote45a"></a><a href="#citation45a" +class="footnote">[45a]</a> 1 John v. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote45b"></a><a href="#citation45b" +class="footnote">[45b]</a> St. John x. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote45c"></a><a href="#citation45c" +class="footnote">[45c]</a> Isa. xliv. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46a"></a><a href="#citation46a" +class="footnote">[46a]</a> Isa. xlii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46b"></a><a href="#citation46b" +class="footnote">[46b]</a> Psa. xxxi. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46c"></a><a href="#citation46c" +class="footnote">[46c]</a> Psa. cxix. 117.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46d"></a><a href="#citation46d" +class="footnote">[46d]</a> Psa. xxv. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47a"></a><a href="#citation47a" +class="footnote">[47a]</a> Psa. xxiii 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47b"></a><a href="#citation47b" +class="footnote">[47b]</a> Eph. i. 22.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47c"></a><a href="#citation47c" +class="footnote">[47c]</a> Rev. xvii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48a"></a><a href="#citation48a" +class="footnote">[48a]</a> Rev. xvii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48b"></a><a href="#citation48b" +class="footnote">[48b]</a> Acts ix. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote51"></a><a href="#citation51" +class="footnote">[51]</a> Neh. iv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52a"></a><a href="#citation52a" +class="footnote">[52a]</a> Neh. iv. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52b"></a><a href="#citation52b" +class="footnote">[52b]</a> St. Matt. xxvi. 41.</p> +<p><a name="footnote53"></a><a href="#citation53" +class="footnote">[53]</a> Neh. iv. 15.</p> +<p><a name="footnote55a"></a><a href="#citation55a" +class="footnote">[55a]</a> 2 Pet. iii. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote55b"></a><a href="#citation55b" +class="footnote">[55b]</a> Rom. iv. 24, 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote56"></a><a href="#citation56" +class="footnote">[56]</a> Rom. xi. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59a"></a><a href="#citation59a" +class="footnote">[59a]</a> Acts xiii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote59b"></a><a href="#citation59b" +class="footnote">[59b]</a> Eph. iv. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60a"></a><a href="#citation60a" +class="footnote">[60a]</a> 1 Sam. iii. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60b"></a><a href="#citation60b" +class="footnote">[60b]</a> Mal. iii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60c"></a><a href="#citation60c" +class="footnote">[60c]</a> Ps. cxxvii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote61"></a><a href="#citation61" +class="footnote">[61]</a> Eph. ii. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote63a"></a><a href="#citation63a" +class="footnote">[63a]</a> Isa. xxviii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote63b"></a><a href="#citation63b" +class="footnote">[63b]</a> 1 John iv. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote64"></a><a href="#citation64" +class="footnote">[64]</a> Heb. xiii. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote65a"></a><a href="#citation65a" +class="footnote">[65a]</a> Psa. lxiii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote65b"></a><a href="#citation65b" +class="footnote">[65b]</a> Sam. xvii. 37.</p> +<p><a name="footnote66"></a><a href="#citation66" +class="footnote">[66]</a> 1 Thess. iv. 13, 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67a"></a><a href="#citation67a" +class="footnote">[67a]</a> 1 Thess. iv. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67b"></a><a href="#citation67b" +class="footnote">[67b]</a> Phil. iv. 4, 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote67c"></a><a href="#citation67c" +class="footnote">[67c]</a> 1 Cor. vii. 29.</p> +<p><a name="footnote68a"></a><a href="#citation68a" +class="footnote">[68a]</a> Rom. xiii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote68b"></a><a href="#citation68b" +class="footnote">[68b]</a> St. Matt. xxv. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote68c"></a><a href="#citation68c" +class="footnote">[68c]</a> St. Luke xxi. 25.</p> +<p><a name="footnote69a"></a><a href="#citation69a" +class="footnote">[69a]</a> St. Luke xxi. 26.</p> +<p><a name="footnote69b"></a><a href="#citation69b" +class="footnote">[69b]</a> St. Luke xxi. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote69c"></a><a href="#citation69c" +class="footnote">[69c]</a> St. Luke xxi. 27.</p> +<p><a name="footnote71"></a><a href="#citation71" +class="footnote">[71]</a> Heb. x. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote72a"></a><a href="#citation72a" +class="footnote">[72a]</a> Eph. ii. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote72b"></a><a href="#citation72b" +class="footnote">[72b]</a> Acts xiii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote72c"></a><a href="#citation72c" +class="footnote">[72c]</a> Acts xiv. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote73"></a><a href="#citation73" +class="footnote">[73]</a> Acts xiii. 52.</p> +<p><a name="footnote74a"></a><a href="#citation74a" +class="footnote">[74a]</a> Acts xv. 4–12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote74b"></a><a href="#citation74b" +class="footnote">[74b]</a> St. Matt. xxviii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote74c"></a><a href="#citation74c" +class="footnote">[74c]</a> Acts xvi. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote75"></a><a href="#citation75" +class="footnote">[75]</a> 1 Cor. iii. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote76a"></a><a href="#citation76a" +class="footnote">[76a]</a> Acts xii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote76b"></a><a href="#citation76b" +class="footnote">[76b]</a> Isa. lxiv. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote77a"></a><a href="#citation77a" +class="footnote">[77a]</a> Phil. ii. 12.</p> +<p><a name="footnote77b"></a><a href="#citation77b" +class="footnote">[77b]</a> Acts xvii. 16.</p> +<p><a name="footnote78a"></a><a href="#citation78a" +class="footnote">[78a]</a> Prov. xxvii. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote78b"></a><a href="#citation78b" +class="footnote">[78b]</a> Deut. xxxii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote79a"></a><a href="#citation79a" +class="footnote">[79a]</a> Rom. i. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote79b"></a><a href="#citation79b" +class="footnote">[79b]</a> Rom. xiii. 11.</p> +<p><a name="footnote80"></a><a href="#citation80" +class="footnote">[80]</a> Cant v. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote81"></a><a href="#citation81" +class="footnote">[81]</a> 1 Chron. xxviii. 20.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82a"></a><a href="#citation82a" +class="footnote">[82a]</a> Psa. cxix. 94.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82b"></a><a href="#citation82b" +class="footnote">[82b]</a> Isa vi. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote82c"></a><a href="#citation82c" +class="footnote">[82c]</a> St. John xvii. 19, R.V. +Margin.</p> +<p><a name="footnote83a"></a><a href="#citation83a" +class="footnote">[83a]</a> 1 Chron. xxix. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote83b"></a><a href="#citation83b" +class="footnote">[83b]</a> 1 Chron. xxix. 14.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84"></a><a href="#citation84" +class="footnote">[84]</a> Rev. ii. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote87"></a><a href="#citation87" +class="footnote">[87]</a> Rev. xxi. 3.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89a"></a><a href="#citation89a" +class="footnote">[89a]</a> St. Jude 24.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89b"></a><a href="#citation89b" +class="footnote">[89b]</a> 1 John i. 9.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90a"></a><a href="#citation90a" +class="footnote">[90a]</a> Psa. xxiii. 4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90b"></a><a href="#citation90b" +class="footnote">[90b]</a> Psa. lxiii. 1.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90c"></a><a href="#citation90c" +class="footnote">[90c]</a> Dan. x. 19.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90d"></a><a href="#citation90d" +class="footnote">[90d]</a> Psa. xxviii. 7.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90e"></a><a href="#citation90e" +class="footnote">[90e]</a> Psa. lxxiii. 2.</p> +<p><a name="footnote90f"></a><a href="#citation90f" +class="footnote">[90f]</a> Psa. lxxiii. 23.</p> +<p><a name="footnote92"></a><a href="#citation92" +class="footnote">[92]</a> Psa. xxxvi. 8.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93a"></a><a href="#citation93a" +class="footnote">[93a]</a> 1 Tim. vi. 17.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93b"></a><a href="#citation93b" +class="footnote">[93b]</a> Titus iii. 6.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93c"></a><a href="#citation93c" +class="footnote">[93c]</a> Acts vi. 5.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93d"></a><a href="#citation93d" +class="footnote">[93d]</a> Eph. v. 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93e"></a><a href="#citation93e" +class="footnote">[93e]</a> Psa. lxxxi. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote94a"></a><a href="#citation94a" +class="footnote">[94a]</a> Psa. lxxxv. 10.</p> +<p><a name="footnote94b"></a><a href="#citation94b" +class="footnote">[94b]</a> St. John x. 28.</p> +<p><a name="footnote95a"></a><a href="#citation95a" +class="footnote">[95a]</a> Psa. lxxxiv. 6, Cp. R.V.</p> +<p><a name="footnote95b"></a><a href="#citation95b" +class="footnote">[95b]</a> St. John vi. 37.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MULTIPLIED BLESSINGS***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 43201-h.htm or 43201-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/3/2/0/43201 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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