Whenthe Israelites went forth out of the land of Egypt, they took with them the whole of their possessions, according to the word of the Lord—"Not a hoof shall be left behind." What does this teach us? Why, not only that all God'speopleshall be saved, but that all which God's peopleever hadshall be restored. All which Jacob ever took down to Egypt shall be brought out again. Have I lost a perfect righteousness in Adam? I shall have a perfect righteousness in Christ. Have I lost happiness on earth in Adam? God will give me much happiness here below in Christ. Have I lost heaven in Adam? I shall haveheaven in Christ; for Christ came not only to seek and to save the people who were lost, butthat whichwas lost; that is, all the inheritance, as well as the people; all their property. Not the sheep merely, but the good pasture which the sheep had lost; not only the prodigal son, but all the prodigal son's estates. Everything was brought out of Egypt; not even Joseph's bones were left behind. The Egyptians could not say that they had a scrap of the Israelites' property—not even one of their kneading troughs, nor one of their old garments. And when Christ shall have conquered all things to Himself, the Christian shall not have lost one atom by the toils of Egypt, but shall be able to say, "Odeath, where is thy sting? Ograve, where is thy victory?" Ohell, where is thy triumph? Thou hast not a flag nor a pennon to show of thy victory; there is not a casque or a helmet left upon the battle-field; there is not a single trophy which thou mayst raise up in hell in scorn ofChrist. He hath not only delivered His people, but they have gone out with flying colors. Stand and admire and love the Lord, who thus delivers all His people. "Great are Thy works, O Lord, and marvellous are Thy doings; and that my soul knoweth right well."
Itwould be inconsistent with the character of Him "by whom are all things," if He had sent an incomplete Saviour; that is, if He had left us to do part ourselves, and for Christ to do the rest. Look at the sun. God wills for the sun to light the earth: doth he ask the earth's darkness to contribute to the light? Doth He question the night, and ask whether it has not in its sombre shades something which it may contribute to the brightness of noon? No; up rises the sun in the morning, like a giant to run his race,and the earth is made bright. And shall God turn to the dark sinner, and ask him whether there is anything in him which may contribute to eternal light? No; Jesus rises as the Sun of Righteousness, with healing beneath His wings, and darkness is, at His coming, light. He alone is "the light of the world;" His own arm brought salvation; He asks no help from man, but giveth all and doeth all of His own rich grace, and is a complete and perfect Saviour.
Whenwe realize that all our daily mercies come to us as the gifts of our Father in heaven, it makes them doubly precious to us. There is nothing which tastes as sweet to the school-boy as that which comes from home. So with the Christian. All his mercies are sweeter because they are home-mercies—they come "from above;" the land in which he lives is not like the land of Egypt, fed by a river; but it "drinketh water of the rain or heaven." Happy the lot of that man who thus receives everything as coming from God, and thanks his Father for it all! It makes anything sweet, when he knows it comes from heaven. This thought, also, has a tendency to keep us from an overweening love of the world. The spies went to Eshcol, and fetched thence an immense cluster of the grapes which grew there; but you do not find that the people said, "The fruits we have received from the land of promise, make us contented to stay in the wilderness." No; they saw that the grapes came from Canaan, and thereupon they said, "Let us go on and possess the land." And so, when we get rich mercies, if we think they come from the natural soil of this earth alone, we might well feel a wish to stay here. But if weknow that they come from a foreign clime, we are naturally anxious to go
"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,And all the clusters grow."
"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,And all the clusters grow."
"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,And all the clusters grow."
"Where our dear Lord His vineyard keeps,
And all the clusters grow."
Christian, rejoice then in the thought that all thou hast cometh from above; thy daily bread cometh not so much from thine industry as from thy heavenly Father's care; thou seest stamped upon every mercy heaven's own inscription, and every blessing comes down to thee perfumed with the ointment, and the spikenard, and the myrrh of the ivory palaces, whence God dispenses His bounties.
Therehas never been a period in this world's history when it was wholly given up to sin. God has always had His servants on earth; at times they may havebeen hidden by fifties in the caves, but they have never been utterly cut off. Grace may be low; the stream might be very shallow, but it has never been wholly dry. The clouds have never been so universal as to hide the day. But the time is fast approaching when grace shall extend all over our world, and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." "Grace dothmuch moreabound;" and whatever possessions the world has lost by sin, it has gainedfar moreby grace. It is true we have been expelled from a garden of delights, where peace, love, and happiness found a glorious habitation, but we have through Jesus a fairer inheritance. The plains of heaven exceed the fields of paradise in the ever-new delights which they afford, while the tree of life, and the river from the throne, render the inhabitants of the celestial regions more than imparadised. It is true that we have become subject todeath by sin, yet has not grace revealed an immortality for the sake of which we are glad to die? Life lost in Adam is more than restored in Christ. Our original robes were rent asunder by Adam, but Jesus has clothed us with a divine righteousness, far exceeding in value even the spotless robes of created innocence. We mourn our low and miserable condition through sin, but we rejoice at the thought, that we are now more secure than before we fell, we are brought into closer alliance with Jesus than our creature standing could ever boast. O Jesus! Thou hast won us an inheritance more wide than Adam ever lost; Thou hast filled our coffer with greater riches than our sin has ever lavished; Thou hast loaded us with honors, and endowed us with privileges far more excellent than our natural birthright could have procured us. Truly, truly, "grace doth much more abound."
Whenwe look at our prayers, we have much reason to deplore theunsubmissive spiritwhich too often pervades them. How often have we in our prayers not simply wrestled with God for a blessing—for that was allowable—but we have imperiously demanded it! We have not said, "Deny this to me, O my God, if so thou pleasest;" we have not been ready to say, as the Redeemer did, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt;" but we have asked after the blind inclination of our ignorance, as if we could brook no denial from the omniscient counsel of His will. Forgetful of a humble deference to our Lord's superior wisdom and grace, we have asked and declared that we would not be content unless we had that particular desire upon which our hearts were set. Now,whenever we come to God, and ask for anything which we consider a real good, we have a right to plead earnestly; but we err when we go beyond the bounds of earnestness, and come todemand. It is ours to ask for a blessing, but not to define what the blessing shall be. It is ours to place our head beneath the mighty hands of divine benediction, but it is not ours to uplift the hands, as Joseph did those of Jacob, and say, "Not so, my father." We must be content if He gives the blessing cross-handed; quite as content that He should put His left hand on our head as the right. We must not intrude into God's almonry, "It is the Lord, let Him do as seemeth Him good." Prayer was never meant to be a fetter upon the sovereignty of God. We must always subjoin at the bottom of the prayer this heavenly postscript, "Father, deny this if it be most for Thy glory." Christ will have nothing to do with dictatorial prayers.
TheChristian is to be a conqueror at last. Do you think that we are forever to be the drudges and the slaves of sin, sighing for freedom, and yet never able to escape from its bondage? No! Soon the chains which confine me shall be broken, the doors of my prison shall be opened, and I shall mount to the glorious city, the abode of holiness, where I shall be entirely freed from sin. We who love the Lord are not to sojourn in Mesech for aye. The dust may defile our robes now, but the day is coming when we shall rise and shake ourselves from the dust, and put on our beautiful garments. It is true we are now like Israel in Canaan. Canaan is full of enemies; but the Canaanites shall and must be driven out, and the whole land from Dan to Beersheba shall be the Lord's. Christians, rejoice! You are soon to be perfect, soon to be free from sin, without one wrong inclination, one evil desire. You are soon to be as pure as the angels in light; nay, more, with your Master's garments on, you are to be "holy as the holy One." Can you think of that? Is it not the very sum of heaven, the rapture of bliss, the sonnet of the hill-tops of glory—that you are to be perfect? No temptation can reach you, nor if the temptation could reach you would you be hurt by it; for there will be nothing in you which could in any way foster sin. It would be as when a spark falls upon an ocean; your holiness would quench it in a moment. Yes, washed in the blood of Jesus, you are soon to walk the golden streets, white-robed and white-hearted too. O, rejoice in the immediate prospect, and let it nerve you for the present conflict.
Eminentas David was for his piety, he was equally eminent for the joyfulness and gladness of his heart. It is often thought by worldly people, that the contemplation of divine things has a tendency to depress the spirits. Now, there is no greater mistake. No man is so happy, but he would be happier still if he had religion. The man who has a fulness of earthly pleasure, would not lose any part of his happiness, had he the grace of God in his heart; rather that joy would add sweetness to all his prosperity; it would strain off many of the bitter dregs from his cup, and show him how to extract more honey from the honeycomb. Godliness can make the most melancholy joyful, while it can make the joyous ones more joyful still, lighting up the face with a heavenly gladness, making the eyes sparkle withtenfold more brilliance; and happy as the worldly man may be, he shall find that there is sweeter nectar than he has ever drunk before, if he comes to the fountain of atoning mercy; if he knows that his name is registered in the book of everlasting life. Temporal mercies will then have the charm of redemption to enhance them. They will be no longer to him as shadowy phantoms which dance for a transient hour in the sunbeam. He will account them more precious because they are given to him, as it were, in some codicils of the divine testament, which hath promise of the life which now is, as well as of that which is to come. While goodness and mercy follow him all the days of his life, he will be able to stretch forth his grateful anticipations to the future when he shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and to say with the Psalmist, "Thou hast made me most blessed forever: Thou hast made me exceeding glad with Thy countenance."
Whenthe Saviour appeared among men, it was not as one lifted up from the ranks to procure station for Himself, but as one who descended from the heavens to convey blessings to the people. The ignorant and the illiterate find in Him their best friend. He is no stern law-giver, who, wrapped up in His own integrity, looks upon the transgressor with the eye of justice; neither is He simply the bold enunciator of penalty and punishment, nor the pitiless denouncer of crime and iniquity. He is the gentle lover of our souls; the good Shepherd coming forth, not so much to slay the wolf, as to save the sheep. As the nurse tenderly watches over her child, so He watches for the souls of men; and like as a father pitieth his children, so does Jesus pity poor sinners. It is not so much drawing sinners up to Him, ascoming down to them; not standing on the mountain-top and bidding them ascend, but coming down from the mountain, and mingling in social intercourse with them; coming down from the high pastures after His sheep in the glens, and in the ravines, that He may lay hold of them, lift them on His mighty shoulders, and bear them up to the place where He shall fold them in purity, bless them with all grace, and preserve them unto future glory.
God'speople, after they are called by grace, are preserved in Christ Jesus; they are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;" they are not suffered to sin away their eternal inheritance, but as temptations arise, they have strength given with which to encounter them; and as sin defiles them, they are washedafresh, and again cleansed. But mark, the reason why God keeps His people, is the same as that which made them His people—His own free, sovereign grace. If you have been delivered in the hour of temptation, pause and remember that you were not delivered for your own sake. There was nothing in you which deserved the deliverance. If you have been fed and supplied in your hour of need, it is not because you have been a faithful servant of God, or because you have been a prayerful Christian; it is simply and only because of God's mercy. He is not moved to anything He does for you by anything which you do for Him; His motive for blessing you lies wholly and entirely in the depths of His own bosom. Blessed be God, His people shall be kept.
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er removeHis favorites from His breast;In the dear bosom of His loveThey must forever rest."
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er removeHis favorites from His breast;In the dear bosom of His loveThey must forever rest."
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er removeHis favorites from His breast;In the dear bosom of His loveThey must forever rest."
"Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove
His favorites from His breast;
In the dear bosom of His love
They must forever rest."
But why? Because they are holy? Because they are sanctified? Because they serve God with good works? No, but because He, in His sovereign grace, has loved them, does love them, and will love them to the end. Thus, salvation from first to last is all of grace. Then howhumblea Christian ought to be! We have nothing whatever to do with our salvation; God has done it all. It is mercy undeserved which we have received. It is His boundless, fathomless love which has led Him to save us; and it is the same love and mercy which upholds us now. To Him be glory!
"Thisman receiveth sinners." Poor sinsick sinner, what a sweet word this is for thee! Respond, respond to it, and say, "Surely, then, He will not reject me." Let me encourage thee to come to my Master, thatthou mightest receive His great atonement, and be clothed with all His righteousness. Mark: those whom I address, are thebona fide, real, actual sinners; not those who onlysaythey are sinners with a general confession, but those whofeeltheir lost, ruined, hopeless condition. All these are frankly and freely invited to come to Jesus Christ, and to be saved by Him. Come, poor sinner, come. Come, because He has said He will receive you. I know thy fears; I know thou sayest in thy heart, "He will reject me. If I present my prayer, He will not hear me; if I cry unto Him, yet per-adventure, the heavens will be as brass; I have been so great a sinner, that He will never take me into His house to dwell with Him." Poor sinner! say not so;Hehath published the decree. Is not this enough? He has said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Dost thou not venture on that promise? Wilt thou not go to sea in a ship as stanch as this.He hath saidit? It has been often the only comfort of the saints; on this they have lived, on this they have died.He hath said it.What! dost thou think Christ would tell thee He will receive thee, and yet not do so? Would He say, "Come ye to the supper," and yet shut the door upon you? No; if He has said He will cast out none that come to Him, rest assured He cannot, He will not cast you out. Come, then, try His love on this ground, that He has said it. Come, and fear not, because remember, if thou feelest thyself to be a sinner, that feeling is God's gift; and therefore thou mayst very safely come to One who has already done so much to draw thee. If thou feelest thy need of a Saviour, Christ made thee feel it; if thou hast a wish to come after Christ, Christ gave thee that wish; if thou hast any desire after God, God gave thee that desire; if thou canst sigh after Christ, Christ made thee sigh; if thou canst weep after Christ, Christ made thee weep. Ay, if thou canst only wishfor Him with the strong wish of one who fears he never can find, yet hopes he may—if thou canst but hope for Him, He has given thee that hope. And O, wilt not thou come to Him? Thou hast some of the King's bounties about thee now; come and plead what He hath done; there is no suit which can ever fail with God, when thou pleadest this. Come to Him, and thou wilt find it is true which is written, that "this man receiveth sinners."
"Whereinye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness." And can a Christian "greatly rejoice" while he is "in heaviness?" Yes, most assuredly he can. Mariners tell us that there are some parts of the sea where there is a strong current upon the surface going one way, while, down in thedepths there is a strong current running the other way. Two seas also do not meet and interfere with one another, but one stream of water on the surface is running in one direction, and another below in an opposite direction. Now, the Christian is like that. On the surface there is a stream of heaviness rolling in dark waves, but down in the depths there is a strong under-current of great rejoicing which is always flowing there. Do you ask what is the cause of this great rejoicing? The apostle tells us, "Whereinye greatly rejoice." What does he mean? Refer to his epistle, and you will see. He is writing "to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, etc." And the first thing which He says to them is, that they are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God." This is an assurance "wherein ye greatly rejoice." Ah! even when the Christian is most "in heaviness through manifold temptations," what a mercy it is that he can know that he is still elect of God!Any man who is assured that God "has chosen him from before the foundation of the world," may well say, "Wherein I greatly rejoice." Let us reflect on this. Before God made the heavens and the earth, or laid the pillars of the firmament in their golden sockets, He set His love upon me; upon the breast of the great High Priest He wrote my name; and in His everlasting book it stands, never to be erased—"elect according to the foreknowledge of God." Why, this may make a man's soul leap within him, and all the heaviness which the infirmities of the flesh may lay upon him shall be but as nothing; for this tremendous current of His overflowing joy shall sweep away the mill-dam of his grief. Bursting and overleaping every obstacle, it shall overflood all his sorrows till they are drowned and covered up, and shall not be mentioned any more forever. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice." Come, Christian! thou art depressed and cast down. Think for a moment: thou art chosen of Godand precious. Let the bell of election ring in thine ear—that ancient Sabbath-bell of the covenant; and let thy name be heard in its notes, and say, I beseech thee, say, doth not this make thee "greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, thou art in heaviness through manifold temptations?"
Again, you will see another reason. The apostle says that we are "elect through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ"—"wherein we greatly rejoice." Is the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ girt about my loins, to be my beauty and my glorious dress? and is the blood of Jesus sprinkled upon me, to take away all my guilt and all my sin? and shall I not in this greatly rejoice? What shall there be in all the depressions of spirit which can possibly come upon me which shall make me break my harp, even though I should for a moment hang it upon the willows? Do I not expect that yet again my songs shallmount to heaven; and even now, through the thick darkness, do not the sparks of my joy appear, when I remember that I have still upon me the blood of Jesus, and still about me the glorious righteousness of the Messiah?
But the great and cheering comfort of the apostle is, that we are elect unto "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us," even as we are reserved for it. Well may this indeed make him greatly rejoice. He is drawing near the gates of death, and his spirit is in heaviness, for he has to leave behind him all that life holds dear. Besides, sickness brings upon him naturally a depression of spirits. But you sit by him in his chamber, and you begin to talk to him of the
"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,Arrayed in living green."
"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,Arrayed in living green."
"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,Arrayed in living green."
"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,
Arrayed in living green."
You tell him of Canaan on the other side the Jordan—of the land which flowethwith milk and honey—of the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and of all the glories which God hath prepared for them who love Him; and you see his dull eye light up with seraphic brightness, "his heaviness" is all gone, and the language of his heart is—
"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,And cast a wishful eyeTo Canaan's fair and happy land,Where my possessions lie."
"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,And cast a wishful eyeTo Canaan's fair and happy land,Where my possessions lie."
"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,And cast a wishful eyeTo Canaan's fair and happy land,Where my possessions lie."
"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie."
The anticipation of the coming glory and happiness fills him with "joy unspeakable."
Howvaried is the experience of the believer in his spiritual life! What changes there are in the weather of his soul! What bright sunlight days! What dark, cloudy nights! What calms, as though his life were a sea of glass! What terrible trials, as though his life were a tempestuous ocean! One time we find him crying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," and anon he sings, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." One hour we hear him sigh forth, "I sink in deep mire where there is no standing," and then we find him exulting, "The Lord is my light, and my salvation, whom shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid." How wondrously he rises to heaven, and how awfully he dives into the deeps! Surely we who have known anything of the spiritual and inner life do not marvel at this, for we have felt these changes. Alas! what a contrast between the sin which doth so easily beset us, and the grace which gives us to reign in heavenly places. How different the sorrow of an abject distrust which breaketh us in pieces as with a strong east wind, and the joy of a holy confidence which bears us on to heavenas a propitious gale! What changes between walking with God to-day, and falling into the mire to-morrow, triumphing over sin, death, and hell yesterday, and to-day led captive by the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. Verily, we cannot understand ourselves, and a description which would suit us at one time, would be ill-adapted at another time. Changeable, indeed, is our experience; but oh, what a mercy thatChristdoes not change! Varied as our experience may be, His grace is varied to meet it, for He has grace to help us in every time of need, and with infinite and unfailing good-will supplies us in the strength proportioned to our day.
Jesus!what infinite sweets in His name! Our impressions on surveying Him may be compared to some of those lenses you have seen, which you may take up and holdone way, and you see one light, and another way, and you see another light, and whichever way you turn them you will always see some precious sparkling of light, and some new colors starting up to your view. Ah! take Jesus for your theme; consider Him; think of His relation to your own soul, and you will never get through that one subject. Think of His eternal relationship to you; and also of your known and manifest relationship to Him since you have been called by His grace. Think how He has become your brother; how His heart has beaten in sympathy with yours; how He has kissed you with the kisses of His love, and His love has been sweeter to you than wine. Look back upon some happy, sunny spots in your history, where Jesus has whispered, "I am yours," and you have said "My beloved is mine." Think of some choice moments, when an angel has stooped from heaven, and taken you up on his wings,and carried you aloft, to sit in heavenly places where Jesus sits, that you might commune with Him. Or think of some moments, when you have had what Paul sets so much store by—fellowship with Christ in His sufferings—when you have felt that you could dieforChrist, even as you have in the rich experience of your baptism, diedwithHim, and risenwithHim. Think of your relationship to Christ which is to be developed in heaven. Imagine the hour to have come when you shall "greet the blood-besprinkled hand on the eternal shore," and when the Lord Jesus shall salute you as "more than a conqueror," and put a crown upon your head more glittering than the stars. Oh! takeJesusfor your constant theme, and you will every day find fresh thoughts arise out of His grace, His beauty, His glory. In Him you have an unfailing subject of delight, object of attraction, and centre of love.
WhenJesus sent forth His seventy disciples, endowed with miraculous powers, they performed great wonders, and naturally enough were somewhat elated. In their words, "Behold, even devils were subject to us," Jesus marked their tendency to pride and self-congratulation. And what was the sacred lesson He taught to prevent their being exalted above measure? "Nevertheless," said He, "rejoice not in this, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." The assurance of our interest in Christ will tend to keep us humble in the day of our prosperity; it will act as a secret ballast to us to know that we have something better than these earthly blessings, therefore we must not set our affections upon the things of earth, but let our hearts be where our greatest treasure is. Better than any lancet tospill the superfluous blood of our boasting—better than any bitter medicine to chase the burning fever of our pride, is this most precious and hallowed wine of the covenant—a remembrance of our safety in Christ. This, opened up to us by the Spirit, will suffice to keep us in that happy lowliness which is our true position. But when at any time we are cast down with multiplied troubles, the very same fact which kept us humble in prosperity will preserve us from despair in adversity. For the apostle Paul was surrounded by a great fight of affliction; and yet he could say, "Nevertheless I am not ashamed." But what is it which preserves him from sinking? It is the same truth which kept the ancient disciples from overweening pride. It is the sweet persuasion of his interest in Christ. "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Then let us seek earnestly to obtain this full assurance of faith, for itwill help us in all states of experience. Let us not rest content till we can say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed."
Ifthou wouldst have the promises fulfilled to thee, look to it that thou dost comply withthe precept annexed to the promise. Follow the example of Moses. Moses knew that there was a promise given to the people of Israel, that they should be the world's blessing; but in order to obtain it, it was necessary that he should practise self-denial, therefore he "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." If the promise commands thee to deny thyself, thou canst not obtain it without. Do it, and thou shalt have its fulfilment. Or suppose that the promise requires courage—use courage. Or does the promise require obedience—be obedient. Remember how Rahab hung out from her window the scarlet line, because that was the test of her faith. So do thou. Whatsoever Christ hath said unto thee, do it. Neglect no command, however trivial it may seem. Do what thy Master tells thee, asking no questions, for he is an ill servant who questions his Lord's command. Doubtless thou too, like the Ethiopian eunuch, shalt go on thy way rejoicing when thou hast been obedient. Or is the promise made to those who bear "a good report" of the land? Remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only two who obtained the promise, because they alone honored God. So do thou honor God. Let a scoffing world hear thine unvarying testimony that thy God is good and true. Let not thy groanings and thy murmurings make men suspect that thou hast a hard master, and that His servants have no joys, no comforts, no delights. Let it be known that Hewhom thou servest is no Egyptian task-master; His yoke is easy; His service pleasure, His reward unspeakable. "Them that honor Me, I will honor." Be thou careful to obey the precepts, and God will fulfil to thee the promises.
Doyou not feel, in looking back upon seasons of affliction, that they have been times when, notwithstanding the trials, you have had unusual peace and happiness in your heart? There is a sweet joy which comes to us through sorrow. The bitter wine of sorrow acts with a tonic influence upon the whole system. The sweet cup of prosperity often leaves a bitterness in the taste; but the bitter cup of affliction, when sanctified, always leaves a sweet flavor in the mouth. There is joy in sorrow. There is music in this harp with its strings all unstrung andbroken. There are a few notes we hear from this mournful lute which we never get from the loud-sounding trumpet. We obtain a softness and melody from the wail of sorrow, which we never get from the song of joy. Must we not account for this by the fact, that in our troubles we live nearer to God? Our joy is like the wave as it dashes upon the shore—it throws us on the earth. But our sorrows are like that receding wave which sucks us back again into the great depth of Godhead. We should have been stranded and left high and dry upon the shore, if it had not been for that receding wave, that ebbing of our prosperity, which carried us back to our Father and to our God again. Blessed affliction! it has brought us to the mercy-seat; given life to prayer; enkindled love; strengthened faith; brought Christ into the furnace with us, and then brought us out of the furnace to live with Christ more joyously than before.
Oneinconvenience of "little-faith" is, thatwhile it is always sure of heaven, it very seldom thinks so. Little-faith is quite as secure for heaven as Great-faith. When Jesus Christ counts up His jewels at the last day, He will take to Himself the little pearls as well as the great ones. If a diamond be never so small, yet it is precious because it is a diamond. So faith, be it never so little, if it be true faith, is "like precious" with that which apostles obtained. Christ will never lose even the smallest jewel of His crown. Little-faith is always secure of heaven, because the name of Little-faith is in the book of eternal life. Little-faith was chosen of God before the foundation of the world. Little-faith was bought with the blood of Christ; ay, and he cost as much as Great-faith. "For every man a shekel," was the priceof redemption. Every man, whether great or small, prince or peasant, had to redeem himself with a shekel. Christ has bought all, both little and great, with the same most precious blood. Little-faith is always secure of heaven, for God has begun the work in him, and He will carry it on. God loves him, and He will love him unto the end. God has provided a crown for him, and He will not allow the crown to hang there useless; He has erected for him a mansion in heaven, and He will not allow the mansion to stand untenanted forever. Little-faith is always safe, but he very seldom knows it. If you meet him he is sometimes afraid of hell; very often afraid that the wrath of God abideth on him. He will tell you that the country on the other side the flood can never belong to one so base as he. Sometimes it is because he feels himself so unworthy; another time it is because the things of God are too good to be true, he says; or he cannot think they can be true to such a oneas he. Sometimes he is afraid he is not elect; another time he fears that he has not been called aright, or that he has not come to Christ aright; anon, his fears are that he will not hold on to the end, that he shall not be able to persevere; and if you kill a thousand of his fears, he is sure to have another host by to-morrow; for unbelief is one of those things which you cannot destroy; you may kill it over and over again, but still it lives. It is one of those ill weeds which sleep in the soil even after it has been burned, and it only needs a little encouragement, or a little negligence, and it will sprout up again. Now, Great-faith is sure of heaven, and he knows it. He climbs Pisgah's top, and views the landscape o'er; he tastes of the sweetness of paradise even before he enters within the pearly gates; he sees the streets which are paved with gold; he beholds the walls of the city, the foundations whereof are of precious stones; he hears the mystic music of theglorified, and begins to smell on earth the perfumes of heaven. But poor Little-faith can scarcely look at the sun; he very seldom sees the light; he gropes in the valley, and while all is safe, he always thinks himself unsafe.
"Tobe with Christ." Who can comprehend this but the Christian? It is a heaven which worldlings care not for. They know not what a mass of glory is crowded into that one sentence: "To be with Christ." But to the believer the words are a concentration of bliss. Take only one of the many precious thoughts the words suggest—the sight of Christ. "Thine eye shall see the King in His beauty." We have heard of Him, and can say, "Whom having not seen we love." But then we "shall see Him." Yes, we shall actually gazeupon the exalted Redeemer. Realize the thought. Is there not a heaven within it? Thou shalt see the hands which were nailed to the cross for thee; thou shalt see the thorn-crowned head, and with all the blood-washed throng, shalt thou bow with lowly reverence before Him, who bowed in lowly abasement for thee. Faith is precious, but what must sight be? To view Jesus as the Lamb of God through the glass of faith, makes the soul rejoice with joy unspeakable; but oh! to see Him face to face, to look into those eyes, to hear that voice—rapture begins at the very mention of it! If even tothinkof it is so sweet, what must thevisionbe when we shall talk with Him, "even as a man talketh with his friend"—for the vision of Christ impliescommunion. All that which the spouse desired in Solomon's Song, we shall have, and ten thousand times more. Then will the prayer be fulfilled, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for Thy love isbetter than wine." Then we shall be able to say, "His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me." Then shall we experience the promise, "They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." And then we will pour out the song of gratitude, a song such as we have never sung on earth, tuneful, dulcet, pure, full of serenity and joy, no discord to mar its melody; a song rapt and seraphic. Happy day, when vision and communion shall be ours in fulness—when we shall know even as we are known!
Transcriber's Notes: Blank pages have been eliminated. Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original. A few typographical errors have been corrected.