Fear of Being a Hypocrite

"Many have I met with—I may say that I meet with such people every week—who are afraid that they are hypocrites. When I encounter persons troubled with this fear, I cannot help smiling at them, for if they really were hypocrites, they would not be afraid of it and their fear of presumption argues very strongly that they are not living in it!"

CHRISTIAN MERCY EXPLAINED AND ENFORCED

CHRISTIAN MERCY EXPLAINED AND ENFORCED

A sermon preached  on Sunday evening,
May 21st, 1820, by John Angell James.

"The wisdom that descends from above is full of mercy and good fruits."

Matthew 5:7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

The beatitudes with which our Lord commences his incomparable Sermon on the Mount, were intended to correct the errors which the Jews entertained as to the nature of his kingdom; and to exhibit to the world the leading features of the religion which he came to promulgate. Mistaking the spirit of prophecy, and interpreting literally the imagery by which, in the glowing style of Oriental composition, the writers of the Old Testament had described the person, reign, and success of Messiah—the Jews expected a mighty general, who at the head of victorious armies, would break the Roman yoke from their necks, and raise their nation into the proud pre-eminence of universal dominion. If such expectations had been well-founded, it is evident that lofty ambition, militaristic courage, indignant contempt of others, unrelenting severity, and insatiable resentment would have been the prominent virtues of the disciple of Christ. The dispositions which I have just enumerated, formed, in fact, the popular characters of the age in which our Lord appeared, both among Jews and Gentiles. And indeed the 'hero' has been a far greater favorite than the 'saint' with the historian of every age and every country. The mild and passive virtues have few admirers—compared with those which appear invested with the dazzling splendor of state policy, restless ambition, and military prowess.

But 'the kingdom of Christ is not of this world'—a remark which will strictly apply to his subjects; and to delineate their character as well as to describe their blessedness—was the design of the beautiful discourse with which he opened his public ministry.

Instead of that proud consciousness of superiority which both the Jews and Gentiles entertained—the disciples of Christ would be characterized by a deep sense of their needs and imperfections, and the most unfeigned humility, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Instead of being mirthful, thoughtless and fickle, addicted to scenes of festivity and noisy mirth—they would be serious, thoughtful, and penitent, "Blessed are those who mourn."

Instead of entertaining that high sense of personal importance, which is quick to receive offence, and hasty to resent it—they would meekly bear injuries, and rather forgive than revenge them, "Blessed are the meek."

Instead of an insatiable thirst after conquest—they would ardently covet the victory over their own lusts and corruptions, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness."

Instead of delighting in the horrors of war, in order to gather the ensanguined laurel from the field of battle—they would be infinitely better pleased to sympathize with the sorrows of mankind, and relieve them, "Blessed are the merciful."

Instead of seeking their happiness in luxurious or sensual gratifications—they would find it in the growth of inward purity, "Blessed are the pure in heart."

Instead of fomenting and delighting in hostility, either domestic, social or national—they would sacrifice everything but principle, to restore harmony where it has been unfortunately lost, and to maintain it where it is possessed, "Blessed are the peacemakers."

Instead of coveting the gale of popular applause by sacrificing their convictions to the smiles of the world—they would endure its bitterest wrath rather than apostatize from the faith; and esteem themselves more happy in securing the crown of martyrdom than a high place in the verses of the poet, or the declamations of the orator, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake."

Such is Christianity—as its Author has described and blessed it. Such is the model after which every Christian character ought to be formed. How far short of this we fall, I blush to think. It is high time we should return to first principles, and begin, as for the first time, to enquire in what true practical religion really consists. From this assemblage of holy graces I select for our present consideration the most useful of them all. My subject this evening is, Christian Mercy—in the discussion of which, I shall explain its nature, direct to its objects, enumerate its properties, unfold its reward, and urge its practice.
 

I. The NATURE of Christian Mercy. Mercy may be defined to be that benevolent sorrow which we feel at perceiving the sufferings or approaching calamities of others, connected with a desire to relieve them. The object of mercy is simple 'misery'—not according to some ethical writers as the effect of guilt—but as misery, without considering the cause which has produced it.

1. Mercy is that benevolent sorrow which we feel at perceiving the sufferings or approaching calamities of others. Without such a compassionate disposition, a man cannot be merciful. He may be liberal in the distribution of his wealth, but this may arise from ostentation, or may be an operation of self-righteousness. To the possession of the amiable and useful virtue of which I am now treating, a tender sympathizing heart is indispensably necessary. There must be a cord in the bosom vibrating to every note of woe, and where this exists in connection with a desire to relieve, there is mercy—even though the means of relief are not possessed. One may be destitute of mercy, while lavishing thousands; another may possess mercy in high perfection, and yet not have a dollar to bestow. Mercy begins in sympathy, although it does not end there. It is in the heart that mercy erects her throne; it is thence she issues her commands, and dispenses her favors—the senses and the bodily members are her servants; the gold and the silver are her means. But mercy never leaves the heart—for when she has left that she has departed from the character.

2. Mercy is always connected with a desire to relieve misery, and that this desire will always prompt to vigorous exertion. Right dispositions wherever they prevail in the heart, will always appear by their appropriate effects in the conduct. Dr. Hartley concisely defines compassion "to be that uneasiness which a man feels at sight of the misery of another," and mercy, if not synonymous with compassion, is so near akin to it, as to admit of a very similar definition. If the misery of another renders us uneasy, a regard to our own peace will make us either anxious to relieve it, or to avoid the sight of it; the latter is the case with the man who merely feels the sorrows of others, but has no genuine compassion; the former is the conduct of the merciful. Mercy is a passion—but it leads to action. It is not mere sentimentalism, which sighs and weeps—yet does nothing more; like that of Sterne, which led him to shed tears on the sufferings of an expiring animal, but permitted him to leave his own mother in a state bordering on starvation. 'I feel for you' is a common reply to the tale of the sufferer; but unless that feeling be so far excited as to grant relief—it is not true compassion. James by an admirable association of ideas, has told us that the wisdom which comes from above is full of mercy and good fruits—evidently teaching us that this tender and beautiful grace of mercy, is never seen in its right character, but when in a state of fructification. And what are its fruits? Kind words? Sorrowful looks? Tears of pity? No! These are its blossoms, but substantial acts of kindness are the fruits which the 'hand of misery' is invited to pluck from this heavenly plant for its own relief.

We must renounce our claims to be a merciful person, unless there is a desire, and that desire be followed by vigorous exertion, to relieve the misery which has excited our sympathy. A person of mild and gracious manners, soft and compassionate language, who by this fair exterior awakens the hope of the wretched—but after all confines his bounty to mere words and looks—resembles the fig tree, which the Savior cursed, because it was covered with delusive foliage, yet was destitute of fruit to satisfy the hungry.
 

II. The PROPERTIES of Christian mercy.

1. Mercy is supported and directed by the principles of the New Testament, and not merely by the force of natural feeling. It will be remembered that I am now speaking of 'Christian mercy'—or, in other words, of that compassion which is represented in the Word of God, as the work of the Divine Spirit, which supposes the previous existence of the Christian character, and which is urged by considerations peculiar to the gospel. The renewed mind of a believer is represented, in the figurative language of the Scripture, as the garden of the Lord; and all the holy virtues of sanctification as the fruits and flowers which, by a heavenly agency, have been planted in it. Between these 'holy virtues'—and the 'natural virtues of the unrenewed heart' there is a considerable resemblance, as there is between the wild plants of nature—and plants of the same species when removed to the garden, and placed beneath care and skill. I admit there is much mercy, much amiable compassion, shedding their fragrance and yielding their fruits in the wilderness of corrupt nature; refreshing the weary by the former, and by the latter satisfying the needs of the hungry.

We have sometimes the melancholy spectacle to see a man whom a whole village or a town unites to bless, because he has been eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame, and a father to the poor, and has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and healed the sick, and caused the widow's heart to sing for joy; to see such a man—because he has not erected his mercy seat, like that in the temple, upon the Rock of God's choice—swept away with the refuse of the earth, and the wreck of nations who know not God. I pretend not to determine what effect 'natural loveliness of disposition' without saving religion may have in lessening the torments of hell, but if there be any truth in the Scripture—it will not elevate to the joys of heaven. A deist, or an atheist, may be of a merciful disposition, but will this save him? One feels a reluctance in applying the denunciatory parts of revealed truth to men, who, though they are apparently destitute of all real religion, possess everything else that can adorn humanity, and render them the blessing of mankind; and yet when so many are perpetually told, and so readily believe the assertion, that 'charity is a passport to the skies', it would be cruel if those who know the reality and consequences of the delusion, were to be silent, and not to declare that—the most amiable and diffusive benevolence, if unaccompanied by the essentials of true religion, will leave a man after all within the flood of divine vengeance, where he will be swallowed up by its approaching tide.

Paul expressly declares that though a man gives all his goods to feed the poor, and has not love—that is, love to God, leading to a proper regard of our fellow-creatures—he is nothing. Many have deluded themselves on this subject by the dreadful perversion of a passage of inspired truth, which utters a sentiment the most remote from that which it has been made to promulgate. "Charity," say these people, "shall cover the multitude of sins." Now, by charity, here, is meant love; and the sentiment contained in the expression is nothing more than that love will conceal with a friendly covering, instead of publishing to the world, a multitude of imperfections in those we regard. This is its true meaning. If it meant that God accepts those people who whose alms-deeds outweigh their crimes—it would justify all the vile and horrid hypocrisy of the darkest age of popery, when to build a church or found a monastery was declared by lying priests to the murderer or adulterer, to be a sufficient expiation for all the crimes of the most impure or bloody life; for if lesser acts of benevolence will cover lesser sins, there are no vices so flagrant which may not be covered on this principle, by an increase of munificence.

Let it not be said, that the motive of a merciful act is of no consequence, provided the compassion is felt, and the relief communicated. I admit that in relation to the object of our mercy, and the interests of society with regard to him, this remark is correct. In reference to these, it is no matter what was the motive which dictated the act; whether the doer of it had the glory of God in view, or whether he was an infidel. But our actions sustain other relations, which make it of infinite and eternal consequence under what motives, and upon what principles, they are performed. The question is, what influence our conduct will have, not upon the comfort of others, but upon our own eternal destiny; not what may be demanded by our fellow-creatures, whose most penetrating discrimination cannot reach the heart—but what may be and is required by that Omniscient Being, to whom the very soul, with all its most secret contents, is an open and legible page. In short, the question is not what constitutes worldly morality, but what is essential to pure evangelical religion.

We go on to observe, then, that true Christian mercy—that which will be accepted in the sight of God, and receive his smile; that which will ensure his gracious and unmerited reward, and which will have no slight connection with our celestial happiness, is exercised in designed obedience to God's command, in express imitation of his conduct, and with an earnest desire to promote his glory. This is the ground on which it is enjoined, "Be merciful, as your Father who is in heaven is merciful." This disposition is cherished by a devout contemplation of that mercy which shines from heaven upon the human race through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. With other men, mercy is merely a 'feeling'—with the Christian it is a 'principle'. By them, it is exercised in gratification of their inclination; by the believer, at the dictate of conscience. They think it is kind for one needy creature to compassionate another; in addition to the force of this sentiment, the Christian reasons—that if God has so far pitied him as to deliver his soul from eternal misery, the least spark of gratitude must lead him to relieve the needs of his fellow-creatures. They go no higher than to gratify their own propensities; the Christian desires to honor God. They expect, by deeds of mercy, to merit eternal life; but the Christian depends, amidst the most profuse benevolence, upon the righteousness of Christ.

2. Christian mercy displays tenderness of MANNER, in her acts of liberality. It is akin to that charity which is kind, and resembles that goodness of our heavenly Father, which "gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not." There are many ways of communicating relief to the wretched, but this lovely virtue will choose that which will least oppress the feelings of its object. It will act the part of the tender surgeon, who, in healing the wounds of his patient, will inflict no unnecessary pain. A rough and churlish man, whatever may be his skill, is unfit for the chamber of pain and sickness. Mercy needs a quick, discerning eye, a gentle hand, a tender heart; many of its objects must be dealt with delicately. It is a feminine virtue, and should partake of the softness and mildness of femininity. There should be nothing in our manner unnecessarily to wound the feelings of those whose miseries we wish to relieve; no upbraiding should accompany our beneficence; what we communicate should not appear to be extorted from a reluctant hand; it should not be like the spark smitten from a flint; nor like water squeezed from a sponge; but mercy should drop like balm upon the wounded spirit of the sufferer.

The smallest act of mercy will in every case be doubly sweet when administered with kindness; while the most substantial benevolence, tossed in petulance to the miserable, may aggravate the suffering which it is intended to mitigate. Like Him, who has left us an example, that we should follow his steps, we should be careful not "to break the bruised reed."

3. Christian mercy adds the greatest COURAGE IN ACTION—to the greatest tenderness of feeling. There are some who would be thought to possess too much compassion to endure the sight of human woe. They flee the scenes of wretchedness, and never venture down into the dark and gloomy abodes where misery dwells in all its loathsome and repulsive forms. At such sights, their senses are offended, their feelings are shocked, their comforts are interrupted, and they resolve to expose themselves no more to the scene of misery. But this 'sickly sensibility' deserves no higher character than selfishness in disguise, or cowardice—varnished with the tears of mock compassion. What would the miserable do if there were no other pity than this in the world, and no other benefactors than these to be found? Many of the forms of human wretchedness are of the most disgusting nature, and others of the most shocking nature—and every person of feeling would, on every ground but the hope of communicating relief, preserve the greatest distance from them.

But mercy, like the physician, consults not her pleasure, but the calls of duty; and bracing up her nerves, and fortifying herself with motives, and kindling all her courage—flies to the scene of need and suffering. Would you see this virtue in all its sublimity and grandeur, go, not to the study of the sentimentalist, where, weeping over the tale of unreal sorrows, in fancied tenderness of his heart, he hides himself from all the sights and sounds of actual woe, and whence he occasionally sends abroad his alms, without daring to trust himself amidst the living forms of grief; but follow the philanthropist from his home, the resort of plenty, luxury, and elegance—and trace him along the dirty and narrow alley, where the poorest of the poor herd together, amid poverty, and wretchedness, and vice; where there is everything to offend every sense, and some new shape of misery or 'specter of deprivation' crosses his path at every step; where sounds which seem the wailings and blasphemies of the damned, at every step, come across his ear; see this herald of mercy, trembling, yet pressing onward, through all these horrors, to reach a hovel in the center of this earthly hell, where, amidst filth, and poverty, and disease, lies gasping a human being, to whom he is anxious to convey the comforts of one world, and the hopes of another. This is mercy!

Behold the man, whose memory will never perish until the milk of kindness in the bosom of our species be transvenomed into the poison of asps, and whose name will be heard with transports on the banks of every river in Europe, until those rivers shall forget to flow—the immortal Howard, pacing backward and forward over our quarter of the globe in search of misery, diving into the depths of dungeons, plunging into the infection of hospitals, surveying every building in which society inflicts or hides away sorrow and pain. This is mercy. Behold that heroine of our own days, who, urged by the mighty impulses of her own brave heart, in opposition to kind advice, and as it seemed at first with neglect of prudence, but as we see now, under the protection of God, whose messenger she was, ventured within the walls of Newgate prison, where, in addition to all that could offend the eye, the ear, the touch, the smell—there was everything to shock the moral sense. See this astonishing woman, descending from splendor to place herself amidst scenes of living, crawling filth, and leaving for a season the pure and quiet endearments of her home—to collect around her a band of furies, maddened at once by disease and vice; and all this for the simple purpose of reforming creatures considered by society beyond any hope, and below every effort for their improvement. This is mercy. Go, you soft and sentimental benefactors of the human race, who can weep for wretchedness, but cannot bear to see it; go, look at these sublime and beautiful characters—and learn what mercy is.

4. To judicious discrimination between true and false misery, Christian mercy unites a propensity to relieve ALL misery, on its own account. We certainly ought not to allow ourselves to be easily imposed upon by "that cunning craftiness which lies in wait to deceive." An indiscriminate liberality supplies a stimulus to vice, is a rewarder to fraud, and afterwards, when deception has been frequently detected, by a powerful reaction it overturns the very throne of mercy itself—for no one is more likely to have his heart steeled against all appeals to his compassion than he who, after a long course of benevolence, discovers that his pity has been often wasted upon pretended distress. But while this discrimination must be exercised, there should be a disposition to relieve to the extent of our ability—all real misery.

We can easily conceive, for it is a case of frequent occurrence, that misery may in some instances be attended by circumstances that give it a deep interest, and invest it with a charm of peculiar and resistless fascination. Even the churl, the miser, and the cruel oppressor—have bowed at the feet of afflicted beauty, and allowed themselves for once to be led captive in the fetters of mercy. There is a romantic kind of pity in the world, which silly tales, falling in with mawkish sensibility, have helped to produce and cherish—I mean that disposition which is ever seeking after what it considers interesting objects of compassion. Misery, exhibited naked and alone, as it may be found in every street and every day, has no power to set in motion this spurious passion. The cries of hunger, the groans of sickness, the plaint of woe—return unheeded in sad echoes upon the sufferer's heart, unless the child of romance can discover some moving incentives to give, and which might serve as the basis of some striking and pathetic tale. I call this the mercy, not of the heart, but of the imagination; the compassion of the novelist, of the poet, of the painter, but not of the Christian. It should be recollected that there may be the most deep and entire wretchedness, without either youth, or beauty, or rapid vicissitude, or complicated plot, in the case. It is but seldom that we shall meet with instances of woe so varied and interesting in their details as to form a picture for the pages of a story. If we wait for such scenes to awaken our compassion, the world will die around us, and we shall die in the midst of it—before we have hushed a groan, or wiped away a tear.

5. Christian mercy should be characterized by DILIGENCE. It is said of our Lord, that "he ever went about doing good;" and the history of his life proves the truth of the assertion. Whether in the crowded city, or the retired village; whether in the domestic circle, or the courts of the temple; whether he led the multitude into the wilderness, or met them amidst the social haunts of men—he was ever engaged in acts of compassion, both to the souls and bodies of mankind. His errand to our world was a commission of mercy, and all his actions here an uninterrupted display of pity. We are to find our model in Him who never slept in the cause of human happiness. Diligence characterizes the efforts of the enemies of the human race, and it should surely not be lacking in its friends. The powers of darkness, with an energy of which we can form no adequate conception, are perpetually scattering the seeds of human misery, and causing the thorn, the bramble, and the nettle, to grow with noxious lushness in the path of life. We must oppose energy to energy, and diligence to diligence.

The objects of our pity are every hour passing in crowds, above the need of our efforts, or below the reach of our efforts; rising to heaven, where misery never enters, or sinking to hell, where mercy is never seen. Sin and disease, accidents and injustice, misfortune and death, are every moment busily employed, in extending the range and the reign of misery; and surely mercy should not be tardy or lukewarm. Our compassion should not be fretful or capricious—today all ardor, tomorrow all languor—but steadfast, immoveable, always abounding. Whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with our might.

6. Christian mercy should be attended with SELF-DENIAL. We are not to offer on her altar the halt, the blind, and the lame, the mere surplus of our comforts, which we deem below our notice. Nor are we to be content with yielding up the surplus of our possessions, which we do not want, and cannot use. We must stand prepared to make sacrifices, and endure hardships. It is shocking to think how little some people will do to relieve the miseries of others. If they can supply the wants of the needy, and alleviate the woes of the afflicted, without going a step out of their way, abridging themselves of a single comfort, or giving up a moment's ease—they feel no objection to do a generous act. But if they must endure the least fatigue, or sacrifice what is in any degree valuable to themselves, tears may flow in torrents, and groans may rise in dismal concert, before they can be excited to deeds of mercy. They will not abridge one of all their luxurious gratifications, although the 'prunings' of almost any of them would be enough to guard the cottage of a poor neighbor from the worst terrors of poverty.

Did the Son of God exhibit a species of compassion which cost him nothing? Did he, without effort and without humiliation, give us the mere surplus of his riches, the redundance of his glory? Did he only speak from the throne of his majesty, or despatch a company of angels from the countless multitudes ministering around his feet, to bring us tidings of mercy, expressions of his good will? Altogether the opposite! "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through his poverty, might become rich." The measure of his self-denial was the difference between his throne of glory—and his cross. Can that man, who will not make the smallest sacrifice in mercy's cause, persuade himself that he is a disciple of this merciful, self-denying Redeemer?

7. Christian mercy is not discouraged by the ingratitude or the opposition which may be manifested by those whom it relieves. That man has calculated too highly upon human virtue who believes that benevolence will always be rewarded by the gratitude of those whose needs are supplied, and whose sorrows are mitigated, by its exertions. It is too common a fault of mankind—first to mistake, and then to forget, their benefactors. Mercy is not always received with the promptitude with which it is offered. Some are too proud to be dependent, and turn with scorn from the hand that would lift them into comfort; others sullenly receive the assistance as their due, and stoop not to thank the generosity to which they are indebted.

It is not thus with all. Tears of gratitude often repay the philanthropist with a reward, compared with which the gems of India are but as dust. If, however, we would do good, we must do it looking only to the smile of conscience, and of God, for our remuneration. It is delightful to behold poverty and need, and disease and sorrow, disappearing before us in the path of mercy, although we may see ingratitude filling their place. We have still the comfort of reflecting, that notwithstanding we have done our duty—and the 'sum of human wretchedness' is less. In this respect, also, we may be instructed by the history of our divine Savior. He flew to our world on the wings of mercy, he was himself incarnate love, truth dwelt on his lips, compassion reigned in his heart; wherever he directed his course the miseries of multitudes vanished before the miracles of his grace—and salvation followed his footsteps. He was the teacher who instructed their minds, the benefactor who satisfied their hunger, the physician who healed their disorders, the deliverer who would have saved their souls; yet, for all this, he was maligned, calumniated, hated, persecuted, murdered! And shall we expect to find the path of benevolence like one of the walks of paradise, where the serpent was harmless beneath the flowers? If we do, we shall soon discover our mistake.
 

III. I go on to consider the OBJECTS of Christian Mercy. And I am sure no one will accuse me of degrading the subject, if, for a few moments, I urge the claims of that large portion of the animate creation to which Providence has denied the power of pleading its own cause. Oh! there is a depth of cowardice, cruelty, and injustice in inflicting misery upon an irrational brute, deprived of all means of resistance and all power of complaint, except by its quivering flesh and screaming cries, for which language is too feeble to furnish execrations sufficiently emphatic. Let me never fall into the hands, or be at the mercy of that man, who, whatever may be his pretensions or his character, would wantonly inflict a pang on the least and lowest insect in the scale of life. Man is, or ought to be, the guardian of the rights of the irrational creation; but, lest he should be unfaithful to his trust, the great God has interposed his authority, and raised a causeless injury of any of his creatures into a crime against their Almighty Creator. Remember, then, that "a merciful man is merciful to his animal."

But the chief object of mercy—is MAN.

1. With regard to his TEMPORAL wants and woes. Innumerable are "the ills which flesh is heir to" in this valley of tears. Poverty, sickness, hunger, nakedness, toil—all, like roots of bitterness, spring up along the road which conducts us to the grave. And all, the merciful man, to the utmost of his power, will endeavor to repress or eradicate. He will not hide himself from such sorrows. His own comforts will remind him of the necessities of others. A sense of the woes by which he is surrounded, will reach him at the center of that wide circle of plenty within which he dwells, and will not allow him to enjoy what Providence has given him, until, with no scanty hand, he has administered to their relief. He will remember that others are men of like passions with himself, and that if with so many comforts to sweeten the cup of life, he so often tastes the wormwood and the gall—their portion must be wretched indeed, to whom, but for the aid of mercy, the draught must be unmingled bitterness.

It has been adopted as a maxim by some good, but mistaken people, that as "the children of the world" devote all their charity to the temporal wants of mankind, "the children of light "should exclusively employ theirs for the spiritual interests of the human race. This appears to me a most erroneous sentiment, and highly derogatory to the honor of religion. We are "to let our light so shine before men, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify God, our heavenly Father." One way of exhibiting the splendor of this holy light, is by excelling in those virtues, the excellences of which are perceived, and the obligations of which are felt, by the people of the world. Zeal for the diffusion of the gospel is, by many, considered only as fanaticism. But mercy to temporal needs, is acknowledged by all to be a necessary Christian virtue. Besides, our motives will be mistaken if we abandon the temporal miseries of mankind; for men will be at a loss to conceive how they can have mercy for the soul—who appear to have none for the body; and how they can feel compassion for strangers whom they have not seen—who are destitute of it towards their neighbors whom they have seen. In the absence of mercy for the temporal miseries of mankind—all our solicitude for their spiritual interests will be resolved into disgusting hypocrisy, which, under pretense of compassion, is carrying on the purposes of mere sectarianism. The advocate of Missionary and Bible Societies should be foremost in the work of clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. The conduct of our Redeemer is an admirable model in this respect. His identifying character is the Savior of souls; but how diligent he was in relieving temporal needs, let the history of his life declare.

2. Christian Mercy extends its regard to the SPIRITUAL miseries of mankind. The man who believes the Gospel realizes that the whole human race in a state of sin and ruin; suffering all the consequences of sin in this world—and exposed to the bitter pains of eternal death in the world to come. He is convinced that without a fitness for the pure and spiritual joys of heaven, not one individual of all the millions who are continually passing into eternity, can ascend to the realms of glory and felicity. They appear, in his eyes, to be actually perishing, and hence he is filled with the tenderest concern, and affected with the deepest sorrow. In his estimation, the most agonizing diseases, the most pinching poverty, the greatest deprivation, and the heaviest cares—are as nothing, compared with those miseries which sin has brought upon the deathless soul. With all the compassion which he feels for the body, he cannot forget, that if it were not relieved, the grave would soon terminate its woes; but that the soul, if not saved, would become immortal in its suffering and wretchedness.

This makes him not only willing, but anxious to support every scheme, which has for its object to extend the light of divine truth to those who sit in darkness and the region of the shadow of death. Often he surveys, from his own happy elevation on the hill of Zion, the countless millions that crowd the realms of Paganism and Islamism, until his heart yearning with compassion, dictates to his tongue the prayer of the Psalmist, "God be merciful unto us and bless us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving health among all nations." Nor is he content with expressing his mercy by prayers. He cannot withhold his property, while every breeze and every wave that touches upon our shore wafts to it from the dark places of the earth that heart-rending petition, "Come over and help us!"

Yes, 'mercy to the soul' is the 'soul of mercy'. This is its sublimest, its mightiest effort. It supplies needs, and alleviates woes, which would otherwise be eternal. A missionary society, or a Bible society, is the highest exhibition of benevolence that can be witnessed below the skies. Its provisions and outcomes will be everlasting, and the grandeur of its results be seen infinite ages after the hospital, the dispensary, and the alms-house shall have sent forth their last stream of healing. Mercy to the soul raises its subject into the nearest resemblance of Jehovah. It is, in fact, "to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." The human spirit seems to occupy the center of the divine government, around which the plans and purposes of Deity are perpetually revolving; and the chief end of all their mighty movements is to glorify God in the salvation of man. Who, then, would exclude the soul from the sphere of his compassion? Let us not forget to do good in relieving the temporal needs of our fellow-creatures, but in the exercise of a still holier and loftier ambition, let us aim at the honor of saving the soul. An infinitely richer and more lasting renown will follow such an achievement than the civic crown awarded by the Roman Senate to him who saved the life of a citizen on the field of battle.
 

IV. Let us now dwell upon the BLESSINGS with which mercy stands connected. "Blessed are the merciful—for they shall obtain mercy." If we considered this language as meaning no more than that the compassionate should, in their necessities, be the objects of pity to their fellow-creatures, we would assert no more than experience proves to be true. Who is so likely to receive the kind and merciful attentions of others, as he who in the days of his prosperity was a fountain of comfort to them? The public will hasten to such a man in the time of his distress, and attempt to discharge the obligations which he had conferred by his liberality. The tide of mercy which had flowed from his heart will return to him again, convincing him that "in such measure as we give to others, it shall be given back to us." When we consider the vicissitudes of this changing world, and think how speedily we may be reduced to the circumstances of those who now depend for relief upon our benevolence, we surely ought to find in such a reflection no feeble inducement to the exercise of mercy. Never can the denial of pity affect the sufferer's heart with such exquisitely painful emotions—as when it seems to come in the way of severe, but righteous retribution, and reminds him of the hour when he closed his own ear to the tale of another's woe.

But the text has a higher meaning, and expresses a far richer and more comprehensive beatitude than this. They who show mercy to others upon Christian principles, shall themselves obtain mercy from God. Here it will be necessary for me to state a distinction which is something more than merely a difference in words; I mean the distinction between the 'meritorious cause' of a blessing, and an indispensable prerequisite to its possession. Anyone who has favors to distribute, may require as absolutely essential from everyone who would enjoy them, the performance of a condition which could in no sense be considered as a meritorious cause of the desired favor, because not at all equivalent to it. In this sense, a merciful disposition to our fellow-creatures is the stipulated condition of our obtaining mercy from God—a prerequisite, but not the cause. It is not that for the sake of which we obtain mercy, but without which, God's mercy will be denied us. It bears the same relation to eternal happiness as holiness does (of which it is, indeed, a part); "without which no man shall see the Lord." The very mode of expression here employed utterly precludes the idea of pity to our fellow-creatures being the meritorious cause of the divine favor. It is said they shall obtain mercy, which would be a most inappropriate term in the case of merit. (The author feels great pleasure in quoting the sentiments of Mr. Hall on this subject, as most clearly expressing his own. "When the term 'conditions of salvation', or words of similar import, are employed, he wishes it once for all to be understood that he utterly disclaims the notion of meritorious conditions, and that he intends by that term only what is necessary in the established order of means—an absolute prerequisite, that without which another thing cannot take place. When thus defined, to deny there are conditions of salvation, is not to approach to antinomianism merely, it is to fall into the gulf. It is nothing less than a repeal of all the sanctions of revelation, of all the principles of moral government. Let the idea of 'conditions of salvation', in the sense already explained, be steadily rejected along with the term, and the patrons of the worst of heresies will have nothing further to demand. That repentance, faith, and their fruits in a holy life, supposing life to be continued, are essential prerequisites to eternal happiness, is a doctrine inscribed as with a sunbeam in every page of revelation.")

That mercy which God exercises towards man, essentially includes the idea of guilt on the part of the latter. It is the compassion, not merely of the benefactor towards simple misery, but of a ruler towards that wretchedness which is the consequence of crime. Hence, when it is said, we shall obtain mercy—the possibility of merit is excluded. Merit appeals not to mercy, but to justice. If it is admitted that we have all deserved death by our sins, it is confessed that none of us can become entitled to life by any part of our conduct, since it is impossible for the same being to merit both punishment and pardon; indeed, the very idea of our 'meriting pardon' is an absurdity. No! If any sinner is saved, it must be by grace through faith. The most diffusive compassion, united with the most exemplary charity, forms no ground on which a transgressor can rest his hope of pardoning mercy.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved" is the language of the gospel. This faith, however, produces suitable fruits, and one of its inseparable effects is a merciful disposition. Without this there can be no genuine belief of the gospel; where this exists, and compassion is exercised in obedience to the divine Word, in conformity to the divine example, and with a view to the divine glory, there shall the promise of the text be fulfilled—God will blot out the transgressions of such a man, restore him to his favor, pity him in all his distresses, and finally cause his miseries to end in that state where "he will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."

Without 'mercy to others' we have no more reason to expect it from God, than we have to hope for an entrance into heaven without that holiness which is its only preparative. While, on the other hand, in proportion as this disposition of 'mercy to others' prevails in the heart, we have at least one evidence of having obtained God's saving mercy. But by the aid of what rhetoric, sophistry, or delusion which the deceitfulness of the human heart may supply, can that man persuade himself that he has received grace from God, who knows, if he knows anything of himself, that 'pity' and 'mercy' is a stranger to his character? A lack of Christian mercy is a no less damning mark upon the soul than a lack of purity or honesty. Let such an unfeeling creature tremble, for he is hastening to take his station before a throne where he shall find judgment, but no mercy!
 

V. In conclusion, I urge the CULTIVATION and the PRACTICE of this most amiable and useful disposition of Christian mercy.

1. Let us consider how much need there is of mercy, from the amount of misery which exists in the world. By a figure of speech, which is by no means too strong, our present state of existence is said to be a "valley of tears," in which "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." From the hour when our first parents ate the forbidden fruit, they and their offspring have sadly possessed the knowledge of evil. The deep groan with which the great bard represents nature to have marked the perpetration of that awful deed, has been so protracted and so echoed, that it may be justly said, "the whole creation groans, and travails in pain together until now." The world is full of misery of one kind and another. Poverty, sickness, disease, toil, disappointment, and innumerable other causes of distress, are perpetually at work in destroying the comforts of mankind, and embittering the cup of human life. Could we from some upper region in the air, with powers of vision strengthened for the task, look down upon every scene of suffering but in one populous town; could we penetrate into every chamber of sickness, every hovel of poverty, every scene of dreadful foreboding, heart-withering care, and deep despondency; could we see at one glance every widow, every orphan, every fatherless babe, and all the tears they shed at the remembrance of their loss; could we behold all the ignorance and vice to be found within this town, and the souls there perishing in sin; could all the sounds of woe which, from only such a small portion of our race are perpetually rising, to expire unheeded by man on the gales of the wind, enter at once into our ear, surely, surely we should descend from our elevation determined "to sell all our goods and give to the poor."

But though we see it not, a 'mass of misery' does exist in that town—of which we can form no adequate idea. We look upon the 'external show of human life' as the attendants at a theater do upon a comedy—where the brilliant lights, the picturesque scenes, the seeming gaiety of the performers—exclude all ideas of sadness. To form an accurate idea of the real condition of the actors, we would have follow them to the miserable garrets where they are hourly struggling with poverty and care, where, throwing aside the 'pretend characters' assumed for the hour, and losing the smiles put on for the occasion, we would find them most forlorn and miserable.

So if we go behind the scenes of this life's drama, we shall find an internal world of distress—which meets not the eye in public. And can we remain cold and unfeeling, inactive and illiberal—amidst universal misery? Shall we give ourselves up to luxurious enjoyment, while the groans of creation are heard all around us? Shall the lament of human woe be but as the serenade of our selfish gratification? Shall the tear fall perpetually with less power of impression on our spirits, than the dropping of water upon a rock? Shall human cries move us less than the sighing of the wind does the mountain oak? Let us all become philanthropists upon a scale proportioned to our circumstances! Let us all be actuated by a noble, merciful ambition to leave the world holier and happier than we found it! There is much for us all to do; and after we have all done our uttermost, much will remain undone.

2. Remember how much you have it in your power to alleviate human misery. Most men underrate their means of doing good. Few are aware of the full extent of their ability to bless others. It may be safely affirmed that there is not one rational being so sunk in poverty, or so circumscribed in influence, as to be deprived of all opportunity of diminishing the sum of human wretchedness. It is to be apprehended that a mistake on this subject prevents many from exerting themselves as they should do in the cause of humanity. They suppose that philanthropy requires, in every case, a large capital of wealth, influence, and talent. Nothing is more erroneous! It is true, that the larger the stock of those things which a man possesses, the more good he can do. But to imagine that we must be either rich, or great, or learned, in order to be a blessing to others, is a mistake which robs us of much pleasure, and society of much assistance. Let there be only the assiduous cultivation of a merciful disposition, coupled with a determination to exercise it to the uttermost, and it is astonishing to find how many channels will open through which to pour the streams of benevolence. If we have not property of our own, we may be able to exert our influence over those who have it; and we may become the almoners of those who have no leisure or inclination to distribute their own benefactions.

Each of us should enquire in what particular way he can be most useful to the interests and comforts of mankind. Our situation and circumstances vary so much, that the same schemes of usefulness do not adapt themselves with equal facility to all. We should study our temper, fortune, talents, and neighborhood, with a view to ascertain whether there is in either of these any peculiarity which seems to mark us out more for one sphere of action than another; and it should never be forgotten by those who have large means of usefulness, that exertion is binding on them in exact proportion to the extent of their ability.

The responsibility attaching to wealth seems to be but imperfectly understood after all that has been said or written on the subject. It should ever be borne in mind that the exercise of mercy and charity is represented by our Lord in his description of the judgment day, as one of the principal topics of scrutiny in that season of final retribution. What a spectacle of horror and amazement will the rich man then present, who lavished in selfish extravagance that princely fortune which was entrusted to him for the benefit of society. Let such men read the parable of Dives and Lazarus; its salutary and impressive warnings were delivered expressly for them. Wealth considered as a means of sensual gratification, ranks but one step above the acorns of the swine; while as a means of relieving misery, it opens sources of felicity, lofty and sublime as the joy of angels. It is a transporting picture which the fancy presents to the soul, by portraying what the world would be if every rich man were a benefactor; if all our wealthy tradesmen, gentry, and nobility, were to employ a suitable proportion of their property in lessening human misery, and increasing human happiness. But long, we fear, it will be before such a picture will be realized.

3. Let us consider the HAPPINESS attending upon a merciful spirit. Duty and personal interest are in every case inseparably connected, but never more obviously than in this. Of mercy may be strictly said, what is affirmed of piety in general, "her commands are not grievous, but joyous, and in keeping of them there is great reward." It is true that a sympathizing spirit, in some measure, makes the sorrows of others its own, but its tears, like a shower in summer, produce a refreshing atmosphere, and are far more pleasant than that cold stiffness and frosty hardness which prevail in the bosom of the unmerciful man. Think with what emotions Howard must have reposed on his pillow, after a day spent in carrying the cup of mercy into dungeons, as in his dreams he still beheld the captives quaffing the delicious draught. Think what must have been the sublime bliss of the liberator of Africa, on that solemnly delightful evening, when, after smiting for twenty years on the fetters of slavery, he saw them yield at last to his toilsome and patient exertions; and to the vision which had so often in imploring attitude exclaimed, "Come over and help us," he could at length reply, "Your chains are broken; Africa be free." And even in lesser instances of mercy, there is a luxury which holy generous minds alone can know, and with which all the gratifications of vanity, and the pleasures of sense, cannot be brought into comparison. God is the happiest of beings, because he is the most benevolent. It is expressly said, that "he delights in mercy." We can form no idea of the manner in which the Deity is susceptible of pleasure; it is enough for us to know, that in whatever manner this delight is experienced, it arises from the exercise of mercy; and surely if it administers pleasure to him who sits on the eternal throne, it might be expected to afford some of the purest bliss that mortals know on earth.

Let any man be able to appropriate to himself the language of Job, already alluded to in a former part of this discourse, and his bosom will be conscious of a bliss which a seraph must almost feel inclined to envy, "When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me. For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger. (Job 29:11-16)

4. Remember your own dependence on Divine mercy, both for all the comforts of this life, and all the blessings of the life which is to come. It is, indeed, an impressive consideration, eminently calculated on the one hand to encourage our hopes, but certainly on the other to awaken our alarm—that we are all most entirely at the mercy of God. Having sinned against his law we have forfeited our souls to his justice, and depend for happiness on that grace which he is under no other obligation to exercise, than that which he has imposed upon himself, by his own promise. If we are ever saved at all, it must be by an act of goodness still more unmerited than that which we should perform, were we to bestow a favor upon the man who had done his uttermost to injure us. God could utterly destroy us, and from the very ruins of our eternal state, raise a monument to the praise of his justice. The smoke of our torment ascending up forever and ever, would cast no reflection upon the equity of his proceeding, or throw any shadow upon the perfection of his administration.

"God be merciful to me a sinner," is the humble petition which best suits our character in every approach to his throne. Upon that mercy we are every hour living. It is this mercy which keeps us from dropping into the pit, whence there is no redemption; this which gives us every comfort we enjoy on earth; this which opens to us the prospect of eternal glory. And shall we, who owe everything we possess, everything we hope for, to the unmerited grace of God, deny the exercise of mercy to our fellow-creatures? Shall we, who must perish eternally, unless God be full of compassion towards us—be lacking in pity towards those who are in any measure dependent for their comfort on us? Where is the heart that can resist the force of these considerations? Let us yield ourselves up to their influence, and convince the world that the wisdom which descends from above, is indeed what the Scriptures declare it to be, "full of mercy and good fruits."

Be merciful, therefore, in every other case of human misery, to the extent of your ability. Many will bless you for your benevolence. And even if gratitude had left the earth, your witness is in heaven, and your reward is on high. A day is approaching when, not a cup of cold water administered to the parched lips of wretchedness, in obedience to the authority, and in imitation of the mercy, of God, shall be either forgotten, or overlooked, by him who has the destiny of man at his disposal. To the solemnities and decisions of that day I refer you!

The choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian

The choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian!

(Thomas Brooks)

Remember that it is not hasty reading--but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, which makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.

It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee which gathers honey--but her abiding for a time on the flower which draws out the sweet.

It is not he who reads most, but he who meditates most--who will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian!

The infernal dungeon of Hell!

Grace Gems for OCTOBER 2013

Grace Gems for OCTOBER 2013

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He always gives sufficient grace

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves! About three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water!" Matthew 14:24-25

God adapts His grace to the peculiarities of each of His children's necessity. For rough, flinty paths — He provides shoes of iron. He never sends anyone to climb steep, sharp, rugged mountainsides — wearing silken slippers. He always gives sufficient grace.

As the burdens grow heavier — His strength increases.
As the difficulties thicken — He draws closer.
As the trials become sorer — the trusting heart grows calmer.

Jesus always sees His disciples when they are toiling in the waves, and at the right moment comes to deliver them. The sharper the temptations — the more of Divine grace is granted. There is, therefore, no environment of trial or difficulty or hardship — in which we cannot live beautiful lives of Christian fidelity and holy conduct.

"My grace is sufficient for you!" 2 Corinthians 12:9

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Death to the Christian!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"They are without fault before the throne of God!" Revelation 14:5

Death to the Christian, only . . .
  washes out all his sins and stains,
  shatters the crust of his mortality,
  sweeps away all his moral spots, blots, infirmities, weaknesses, follies, limitations and blemishes —
and then life expands into perfect freedom, fullness, joy, and power.

The translation of a Christian from earth to Heaven, is but like the removal of a tender plant from a frigid northern garden, where it is stunted and dying — into a tropical field, where it puts out most luxurious growth and covers itself with splendor!

"In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore!" Psalm 16:11

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Broken, trampled, torn!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

Life may seem a failure here, crushed like a lily under the heel of wrong or sin — broken, trampled, torn! But it may yet become a glorious success. Many of the truest and best of God's children, know only defeat in this world. They are ever beaten back and thrust down. The burdens are too heavy for them. They are overmastered by sorrows. The world's enmity treads them in the dust. They are not worldly wise, and, while others march by to great earthly success — they live obscurely oppressed, cheated, wronged, and lie buried away in the darkness of failure.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!" 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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How can I avoid the annoyances which continually harass me?

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

The true victory is not found in escaping or evading trials — but in rightly meeting and enduring them.

The questions should not be, "How can I get out of these trials? How can I get into a place where there shall be no irritations, nothing to try my temper, or put my patience to the test? How can I avoid the annoyances which continually harass me?"

There is nothing noble in such living. The soldier who flees when he smells the battle is no hero; he is a coward.

The questions should rather be: "How can I pass through these trying experiences — and not fail as a Christian? How can I endure these struggles — and not suffer defeat? How can I live amid these provocations, these reproaches and testings of my temper — and yet live sweetly, not speaking harshly, bearing injuries meekly, returning gentle answers to insulting words?"

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

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The devil has two places he dwells in

(Thomas Watson, "Doctrine of Repentance")

"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and humble in spirit" Isaiah 57:15

As God has two places He dwells in — Heaven and a humble heart;
so the devil has two places he dwells in — Hell and a hard heart!

A hard heart is a dwelling for Satan!

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The sweeping away of our earthly hopes!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!" Deuteronomy 33:27

"You are my refuge — my portion in the land of the living!" Psalm 142:5

Often we do not learn the depth and riches of God's love, and the sweetness of His presence — until our earthly joys vanish out of our hands, and other beloved presences fade away out of sight.

The loss of temporal things seems often to be necessary to empty our hearts — that they may receive unseen and eternal realities. The heart's door is never fully opened to Him — until the soul's worldly joys are removed; then, while it stands open, He enters bearing into it immortal joys!

How often is it true, that the sweeping away of our earthly hopes reveals the glory of our heart's refuge in God! Someone has beautifully said, "Our refuges are like the nests of birds: in summer they are hidden among the green leaves — but in winter they are seen among the bare branches." Worldly losses but strip off the foliage, and disclose to us our heart's warm nest in the bosom of God!

"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble!" Psalm 9:9

"God is our refuge and strength — a very present help in trouble!" Psalm 46:1

"You are my strong refuge!" Psalm 71:7

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Silently entwining their invisible threads into a cable!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:22

We do many things which to our own eyes appear innocent and harmless — but which have in them a hidden evil we cannot see.

We indulge ourselves in many things which to us do not appear overtly sinful — but which leave on our soul a touch of blight, a soiling of purity, of which we do not dream.

We permit ourselves many little habits in which we see no danger — but which are silently entwining their invisible threads into a cable which some day shall bind us hand and foot!

We spare ourselves self-denials and sacrifices, thinking there is no reason why we should make them — unaware that we are lowering our standard of holy living and permitting the subtle beginnings of self-indulgence to creep into our hearts.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!" 1 Corinthians 10:31

[Editor's note: Christians today are in great danger of allowing the world's sinful media and entertainments into our minds and hearts!]

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He will sustain us so that we may carry it!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"Cast your burden on the LORD — and He shall sustain you" Psalm 55:22

The promise is not that the Lord will remove the load we cast upon Him, nor that He will carry it for us — but that He will sustain us so that we may carry it!

He does not free us from duty — but He strengthens us for it.

He does not deliver us from conflict — but He enables us to overcome.

He does not withhold or withdraw trial from us — but He helps us in trial to be submissive and victorious, and makes it a blessing to us.

He does not mitigate the hardness or severity of our circumstances, taking away the difficult elements, removing the thorns, making life easy for us — but He puts Divine grace into our hearts, so that we can live sweetly in all the hard, adverse circumstances!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness!" 2 Corinthians 12:9

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This lesson makes life easy and simple!

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

"As your days — so shall your strength be!" Deuteronomy 33:25

Each day is, in a certain sense, a complete life by itself. It has . . .
  its own duties,
  its own trials,
  its own burdens,
  and its own needs.
It has enough to fill heart and hands for the one full day. The very best we can do for any day, for the perfecting of our life as a whole, is to live the one day well. We should put all our thought and energy and skill into the duties of each day, wasting no strength, either in grieving over yesterday's failures — or in anxiety about tomorrow's responsibilities.

We have nothing to do with life in the aggregate — that great bulk of duties, responsibilities, struggles, and trials which belong to a course of years. We really have nothing to do even with the nearest of the days before us — tomorrow.

Our sole business is with the one little day, now passing. Its burdens will not crush us — we can easily carry them until the sun goes down. We can always get along for one short day — it is the projection of life into the long future that dismays and appalls us. This lesson makes life easy and simple!

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

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It is better to be deaf!

(J.R. Miller)

"Whoever spreads slander is a fool!" Proverbs 10:18

In the case of slander, the listener is almost as bad as the speaker. The only proper response, is to shut your ears the moment you begin to hear an evil report of another from anyone. The person has no right to tell it to you — and you have no right to listen to it! If you refuse to listen — he will not be able to go on with his story. Ears are made to hear with, but on occasion it is better to be deaf. We all aim at courtesy, and courtesy requires that we be patient listeners, even to dull speakers; but even courtesy does not require us to listen to evil reports about a neighbor. Ears should be trained to shut instinctively when the breath of slander touches it, just as our eyes shut at the slightest approach of harm.

"He who speaks a slander, carries the devil on his tongue — and he who listens to it, carries the devil in his ear!" Thomas Watson

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Abounding grace!

(Albert Simpson, 1843-1919)

"Where sin abounded — grace abounded much more!" Romans 5:20

God loves to take the worst of men — and make them into the most magnificent monuments of His redeeming love and grace! He loves to take the victims of Satan's hate and the most fearful examples of his power to destroy — and use them to illustrate His divine mercy.

He loves to take the things in our own lives that have been the worst and the most vile — and to transform them so that we shall be the opposites of our former selves.
The sweetest spirits — are made from the most stormy and self-willed;
the mightiest faith — is created out of the wilderness of doubts and fears;
the divinest love — is transformed out of stony hearts of hate and selfishness!

The grace of God is equal to the most uncongenial temperaments and to the most unfavorable circumstances. Its glory is to transform a vile sinner into a holy saint, and show to men and angels of ages yet to come, that where sin abounded — grace abounded much more!

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There will be no night there!

(Rufus Wheelwright Clark, "Heaven and its Scriptural Emblems" 1853)

"There will be no night there!" Revelation 21:25

Is it not a blessed announcement that there is a world in which "there will be no night!"
No night of crime, deceit, treachery or temptation!
No night of sorrow or affliction!
No night of pain, sickness or death!

Oh, tell it to the weary believer, who is struggling against the evil habits and depraved inclinations of a wicked heart; who, on life's fierce battlefield, is striving to win an immortal crown!

Oh, tell it to the dying Christian, who, restless upon his bed, through long, wearisome nights, is trying to learn the lessons of submission, and faith, and moral discipline, which his sufferings are teaching — who longs for light to break through the dark clouds that are gathering about him.

Oh, hasten with the tidings to the bereaved family, and assure them that there is a world where these griefs shall be lifted from their oppressed spirits, and their present afflictions, if rightly improved, shall work out of them "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!"

For where God is — there can be no night.
Where bright, holy angels throng — there can be no sorrow.
Where celestial music rolls through the galleries and arches of temples filled with the effulgence of the Deity — there can be no sighing.
Where Jesus reigns in His majesty and glory, "all tears shall be wiped away!"

No night in Heaven! Then . . .
  no sad partings are experienced there,
  no funeral processions move,
  no death-knell is heard,
  no graves are opened,
  no mysterious providences will there perplex us,
  no dark calamities will shake our faith.
But we shall walk the golden streets of the eternal city, surrounded with perpetual brightness, breathing an atmosphere of heavenly purity and love, and free to enter the palaces of our Savior-King, or climb to heights over which no shadow ever passes!

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What sorrow, what sweetness, what glory!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

What sorrow, what sweetness, what glory — encircle the head of the Lamb of God!

1. He is the Lamb of Sacrifice. "His blood so red — for me was shed!" Priest as well as Victim, Shepherd as well as Lamb — He offered Himself in my place, without spot and blemish. He assumed my misery, and reaped the harvest I had sown — a mournful harvest of guilt and woe! His unsullied and stainless life, He gave freely, cheerfully — for my forfeited and outcast and ruined life! Oh, how He loves me!

2. He is the Lamb of Deliverance. I remember that ancient type of my Redeemer and Lord — the Lamb of the Passover. It was slain, and its life-blood was sprinkled on the door-post — and the family within was safe. The dark-winged angel of death with the sharp sword in his hand, had no condemnation for them. In the same way, behind the merit and the grace, the atonement and the intercession and the human-divine Person of Jesus — I take my stand, and I am free from condemnation!

3. He is the Lamb of whitest Purity. There is no spot in Him; He is altogether lovely. And, as I abide with Him, as I meditate on Him, as I love and trust in Him . . .
  old things pass away with me;
  I grow in grace;
  the meekness and the patience and the beauty of God's Lamb begin to be seen in my life;
  and upward and heavenward and Christward I mount!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy!

(Alexander Smellie, "In the Hour of Silence")

"Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me!" Mark 8:34

The cross which my Lord bids me take up and carry, may assume different shapes.

There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy. None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord. But never is Jesus so near me as when I lift my cross, and lay it submissively on my shoulder, and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit. He draws close . . .
  to ripen my wisdom,
  to deepen my peace,
  to increase my courage,
  to augment my graces,
through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing.

And then, I grow closer to Jesus under the load.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Though we have been robbers, traitors and murderers!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas!" John 18:40

Barabbas was a murderer, a felon, and a traitor. This fact is very significant. There is more teaching in it than at first sight we might imagine. Have we not here in this act of the deliverance of the sinner, and the binding of the innocent — a sort of type of that great work which is accomplished by the death of our Savior?

You and I may fairly take our stand by the side of Barabbas. We have robbed God of His glory; we have been seditious traitors against the government of Heaven; and if he who hates his brother is a murderer — then we also have been guilty of that sin. Here we stand before the judgment seat; the Prince of life is bound for us — and we are allowed to go free! The Lord delivers us and acquits us — while the Savior, without spot or blemish, or shadow of a fault, is led forth to crucifixion!

Two birds were taken in the rite of the cleansing of the leper. The one bird was killed, and its blood was poured into a basin. The other bird was dipped in this blood, and then, with its wings all crimson, it was set free to fly into the open field.

The bird slain well pictures the Savior, and every soul that has by faith been dipped in His blood, flies upward towards Heaven singing sweetly in joyous liberty, owing its life and its liberty entirely to Him who was slain!

It comes down to this: Barabbas must die — or Christ must die. You the sinner must perish — or Christ Immanuel, the Immaculate, must die. He dies — that we may be delivered!

Though we have been robbers, traitors and murderers — yet we can rejoice that Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

I see a Cross on the Hill of Reproach!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"God is Love!" 1 John 4:8

It is a little flower which I pluck from the garden of John's letter — this fragrant definition of God. Yet it suggests mysteries and miracles for which my intellect has no solution.

For it carries me away into the dateless years of eternity. Always Love has been God's name; always Love has summarized and crowned God's nature. Deep in His heart it lay through these far-off years. But, even then, it cared for me, and foresaw my sin and bitterness and death and damnation. Long before my world was made, God, who is Love, was busy devising my salvation!

I look again at John's rose-blossom, and I see a Cross on the Hill of Reproach. Love could not remain pent up in the bosom of God. It broke the confining barriers. "The God of love," Plato said with unconscious prophecy, "would be found one day lying on the city streets, shoeless, penniless, homeless." It is true of my God. He gave Himself for me! He became, in this apostle's phrase, the atoning sacrifice for my sins!

Again I lift John's flower, and it awakens in me a glowing hope for myself. There is none so wondrous and powerful as this God of love. I welcome Him and . . .
  my heart is transfigured,
  my life is sublimed,
  I am changed into His image,
  I dwell myself in love,
  love becomes my atmosphere and my universe.

God is Love . . .
  Love indwelling me,
  Love sacrificing and suffering for me,
  Love melting and conquering me, and making all things new.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

LOST!

(Arthur Pink, 1951)

"But if our gospel is hid — it is hid to those who are LOST! The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers!" 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

What multitudes of people there are who have no concern over, in fact, no consciousness of, their woeful condition! While they do not regard themselves as perfect, yet they are not aware that there is anything seriously wrong with them. They are respectable people, law-abiding citizens, and nothing particular ever troubles their conscience. They consider that they are certainly no worse than their religious neighbors, and though they scarcely ever read the Bible or enter a church, they fully expect to go to Heaven when they die.

Some of them will indeed admit that they are sinners, but imagine that their good works far outnumber their bad ones. Some of them were sprinkled as infants, attended a Sunday school class as children, said their prayers each night, and later joined the church. Nevertheless, to this moment, they have never realized that they are the enemies of God, an abomination in the eyes of His holiness, and that Hell is their just deserts! They see no beauty or glory in the Gospel, no suitableness in it unto their case, and therefore do they despise and reject it.

Though Satan rules in their hearts and lives (Ephesians 2:2), yet it is by their own free consent. They voluntarily obey him and submit to his will. His dominion over them is maintained by . . .
  keeping their minds in darkness,
  deceiving and deluding them,
  blinding them by pride, prejudice, and the workings of their own corruptions.

Nowhere but in the Scriptures, can we learn what is the real condition of the natural man. There his case is diagnosed with unerring precision by the divine Physician. Many are the terms used therein by the Holy Spirit to describe the solemn and direful state to which the fall has reduced every descendant of Adam; and among them probably none is more pointed and awesome than is the term LOST! How dismal is its sound! How much is summed up in that single word! It signifies . . .
  that the natural man is in a sinful, wretched, and perilous state,
  that he is far astray from God,
  that he has willfully and wantonly forsaken the path of duty.

Lost! A traveler from time to eternity, treading the road that leads to certain and everlasting destruction!

Lost! A creature who has forfeited the approbation and favor of his Maker, and is now an outcast from Him!

Lost! One who has squandered his substance in riotous living, and is now a spiritual bankrupt and pauper. He is out of the way of peace and blessing, and utterly incapable of finding his way back to it!

Fearful beyond words, is the condition of fallen man. His case is as hopeless as that of a dying person whose disease is incurable. A lost child is a pitiful object — but what mind can estimate or pen depict the tragedy of a lost soul? Lost now, lost forever — unless a sovereign God intervenes and performs a miracle of mercy for its recovery!

Man is lost positively, in that he is not what he should be. He is . . .
  a defiled creature,
  a guilty criminal,
  a child of disobedience!

Lost judicially, under the curse of God's broken Law, sentenced to death, "condemned already" (John 3:18), the wrath of God abiding on him! (John 3:36)

Lost meritoriously, for his transgressions deserve eternal death, which is the wages of sin — and fully has he earned them.

Lost experientially in point of ability or power to recover himself, he is "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can he be" (Romans 8:7). The moral impotency of man is such that he is utterly incapable of performing a single spiritual act: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil! (Jeremiah 13:23)

None will know how utterly man is lost, until they experience God's wrath in Hell, and can then measure the fearful distance they have departed from Him!

Thus man is lost in every way, and in every sense!
Federally, by the imputation to him of the guilt of his representative's offence.
Effectually, by the transmission of a corrupt nature from his parents.
Actually, by his own evil conduct, "you have destroyed yourself" (Hosea 13:9).
Practically, by the forming of evil habits, so that now he is "held with the cords of his sins" (Proverbs 5:22).

Lost to God, for He has no love, no service, no glory from the unregenerate, so that they deprive Him of the honor of their creation.

Man is lost to himself . . .
  to all reason and rational inducements,
  to right conceptions and perceptions,
  to every consideration of God's claims upon him.

Lost to all sense of shame for his horrible condition in the eyes of the Holy One.

So lost as to have "delight in wickedness" (2 Thessalonians 2:12).

Lost to piety and true happiness.

Out of the way of holiness, peace, and security.

Lost in sin, in ignorance, and error.

Lost irretrievably, like a sheep that wanders farther and farther astray, until it perishes. Man is utterly unable to find his way back to God, for he is in total darkness — a wanderer in a pathless desert, perishing in a howling wilderness. What makes man's case yet worse, is that he has no desire to be recovered! He has perversely set himself up to be his own master, and stubbornly determines to please himself and carve out his own career.
 

Rather than return unto God, the unregenerate would take any road which leads farther away from Him. They resent His expostulations and resist the strivings of His Spirit. If not with their lips, with their hearts, they say unto God: "Depart from us — for we have no desire to know Your ways!" (Job 21:14). Yes, they would much prefer to be annihilated than yet meet God face to face, and have to give an account of themselves to Him (Romans 14:12). They hate His holiness and dread His justice, while despising His goodness and abusing His mercies!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

This is too hard for me!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place: Jehovah-Jireh — the Lord will provide!" Genesis 22:13-14

And what does He provide?

The Lord will provide BREAD when I am hungry. It seems natural to begin there. He has a care for my body as well as for my soul. He is certainly not desirous that I should have wealth or distinction or the means of indulgence and display. But, if I trust Him, I shall get enough for comfort — if not enough for plenty; enough to rid me from unworthy worry — if not enough to free me from wholesome dependence and continuous faith. Every modest and present need, He is sure to satisfy.

The Lord will provide HELP when I am helpless. Is it the discipline of my own inner life? Is it to escape this enticing world? I am sufficient for none of these things.
Sometimes my road is rough,
sometimes it is steep,
sometimes it is dark,
sometimes it is slippery.
My heart whispers discouragement, and says, "This is too hard for me!" But, when I come to the place, I find that God Himself has solved my difficulties, and puts to flight my fears!

Best of all, my Lord will provide SALVATION when I am burdened with sin. It was a lamb for sacrifice which Jehovah-Jireh prepared on the bare summit of Moriah. And in fullness of time, on the green hill of Calvary, close beside mount Moriah — a better Lamb died by divine appointment and made reconciliation for my iniquity! In the presence of such a sacrifice, how full my joy should be! Jesus, the precious Lamb of God . . .
  breaks every fetter,
  unbars every door,
  forgives every debt!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Heaven has become a trifle to you, Hell is almost a jest, eternity an empty notion, and death but a bugbear!

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able!" Luke 13:24

I do not wonder that so many are deceived, when I see the careless way in which they deal with their souls. When men have to do with their estates, they are very careful; they pay a lawyer to go back over the title-deeds perhaps for two or three hundred years. In trade they will hurry hither and thither to attend to their commercial engagements; they would not launch into speculations, nor would they run great risks.

But the soul, the poor soul — how men play with it as a toy, and despise it as if it were worthless! Two or three minutes in the morning when they first roll out of bed, two or three odd minutes in the evening, when they are nearly asleep — the fag-ends of the day given to their souls, and all the best part given to the body!

And then, with what indifference do you lend your ears too often to the preaching of the Word! It is an old song; you have heard it so many times; Heaven has become a trifle to you, Hell is almost a jest, eternity an empty notion, and death but a bugbear!

Alas! it is a marvel that there are not more deceived. The wonder is that any find the gate, that any discover eternal life, when we are so, so mad, so foolish, so insane — as to trifle where we ought to be solemnly in earnest; and to play and toy — where the whole heart should be given to a work of such everlasting importance. God help us, since it is so easy to be deceived — to search, and watch, and look, and test, and try, that we be not found castaways at the last!

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it!" Matthew 7:13-14

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:5

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Ah, life is too solemn, too momentous, too earnest!

(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 3:13-14

1. Mine be the Pauline oblivion of the past. It is well to forget the things which are behind. If I remember too vividly former failures — the recollection will depress my soul and hamper my movements. If I remember too often former attainments — I shall grow contented and make no further progress. There is a tyranny of success — as hurtful as the tyranny of defeat. And if I remember too constantly the modes of my religion hitherto, I shall look simply for a repetition of old experiences, instead of desiring greater achievements. Yes, let me forget.

2. And mine be the Pauline aspiration towards the future. Like the runner in the chariot race, I should stretch forward to the things which are before me. In front of me lie . . .
  a fuller holiness,
  a larger likeness to Christ,
  a deeper humility,
  a more wide-reaching usefulness,
  victory over sin and death,
  abundant entrance into Heaven,
  and eternal glory yet to be revealed.
These things I must seek with the intensity which . . .
  the man of the world carries into his business,
  the scholar into his studies,
  the explorer into his journeys and toils.

3. And mine be the Pauline endeavor in the present. Always let me be pressing toward the mark for the prize. Some sin I ought to put off every day; some Christian grace or virtue I ought daily to put on. I must open my soul more absolutely to the Holy Spirit. Each hour must bring . . .
  its work and its battle,
  its duty to be done,
  its prize to be gained.

Ah, life is too solemn, too momentous, too earnest!

By forgetfulness, by expectation, by effort . . .
  I grow in Christlikeness,
  I make progress in the pilgrim march,
  I climb nearer and nearer the summits of God's snow-white Alps of purity and holiness.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

There is no such thing as "chance," "luck," or "accident"

(Don Fortner)

"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered! Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:7

With these words, our Lord Jesus Christ assures us that none of God's elect shall ever be in any real danger or suffer any real harm, for we are under the special care and protection of God Himself. I see six things in this sentence, which are a constant source of peace and encouragement to my soul.

1. The Blessed Fact of Divine Predestination
The text might be better translated "the very hairs of your head have all been numbered." Before the world began, our heavenly Father counted up and ordained the number of hairs that were to be upon your head at this very moment! This is meticulous predestination. What does it tell us? God's sovereign purpose of grace in predestination, includes all that we do and all that we experience.

2. A Comforting Assurance of Divine Providence
The primary intent of the text is to show us our Father's constant rule of all things. The sparrow cannot fall to the ground, and a hair cannot fall from your head without your Father's eternal decree in predestination, and His direction in providence.

3. Our Heavenly Father's Perfect Knowledge of All Things Concerning Us
Our God, who predestined all things and rules all things — knows all things! We are so well known by God, that He has even numbered the hairs of our heads. "Your Father knows." We need no other comfort. The Lord's knowledge of us is constant and entire. His knowledge of us is the knowledge of a tender, sympathetic Father.

4. Our Father's Constant Care
He who takes the trouble to number the hairs of our heads, must surely care for us. We are the apple of His eye. Cast all your care upon Him. "He cares for you!"

5. The Honor and High Esteem our God has for His Elect
God has numbered our hairs because He values them. He holds us in honor and high esteem above all the people of the world, because of His gracious purpose toward us in Christ, because He has made us one with His darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 43:3-5; 1 John 4:9-11).

6. The Promise of Divine Protection
The hairs of our head are all numbered, because our God intends that "Not a hair of your head shall perish!" Trials are certain. Temptations are sure. Tribulations are constant in this world. But there is no cause for fear. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered!"

Nothing whatever, whether great or small, can happen to one of God's elect — without God's decree and direction. The providential government of our great God over everything in this world, is a truth which is clearly revealed and constantly taught in the Word of God. Just as the telescope and microscope show us that there is order and design in all the works of God's hand, from the greatest planet down to the least insect — so the Book of God teaches us that there is an infinite wisdom, Divine order, and gracious design in all the events of our daily lives. There is no such thing as "chance," "luck," or "accident" in God's creation, or in our journey through this world. All is arranged and appointed by God, our heavenly Father. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28

Let us seek to have an abiding sense of God's hand in all our affairs. Our Father's hand measures out our daily portion. All our steps are ordered by Him who loves us with an everlasting love. Confidence in God's wise and good providence, is a mighty antidote against murmuring and discontent. In the day of trial and disappointment, as in the day of joy and happiness — all is right and all is well done. When we are laid on the bed of sickness, there is a "needs be" for it. Else, it would not come to pass. Because it comes to pass, the very fact that it comes to pass should assure us that it is for our souls' advantage. Let us bow and be still, and bear all things patiently. Ours is "an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure" (2 Samuel 23:5). That which pleases our God, ought to please us. Truly, "He has done all things well!" And He will yet do all things well.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Your present trial

(James Smith, "Comfort for Christians!")

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose!" Romans 8:28

All things? Yes! Everything that happens to the Christian is directed and overruled by God's special Providence for his good! The experience may be very bitter — it may lay him very low and try him to the core; it may keep him in the dust for a long time. But it will do him good — not only in the end, but while it lasts.

Believer, your present trial is for your good. Nothing could be better for you! You may not see it now; you may even feel as if you never could think so — but the time is coming when you will bless God for it.

You love God — and God loves you with an infinite and eternal love. You came to the cross as a poor sinner — and you looked to the Lord Jesus to be your perfect Savior. This proves that you have been called according to God's purpose. You are one of God's beloved ones, and as such — you may have the assurance that all things . . .
  light and darkness,
  health and sickness,
  hatred and love,
  prosperity and adversity,
  life and death —
will work together for your good!

Dark clouds bring rich blessings — and sharp winters introduce fruitful springs. Even so, sore troubles often precede the sweetest consolations. Your present affliction — whether it is . . .
  sickness of body,
  trouble of mind,
  bereavements,
  losses,
  crosses, or
  whatever else
 — is working for your good. It will work for good in the future, and it is working for good now. While your heart is bleeding, and you are tempted to think that all is against you — all is working together for your good!

Dear Lord, I do not see how my affliction can be good for me. But help me, Lord, to accept it as such by faith — so that I may receive what You have for me through it.

"We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope!" Romans 5:3-4

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The rules for domestic happiness

(William S. Plumer, "Sinners Saved by Unmerited Kindness")

Domestic happiness requires the following elements . . .
  from superiors: truth, justice, consistency, humility, gentleness and kindness;
  from inferiors: respect, love, obedience, honor;
  from equals: truth, justice, tenderness and brotherly kindness.

A profession of religion, when not accompanied by a cheerful and habitual performance of family duties — is worth nothing.

The rules for domestic happiness are few and simple. He who runs, may read. They are mighty. We can but admire the effects produced in a Christian household by such maxims and precepts as these!

1.  Be humble. "Pride only breeds quarrels."
2.  "Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit."
3.  Find your own happiness in trying to make others happy.
4.  Mind your own business. Do not be meddlesome.
5.  Beware of a fretful, suspicious, or censorious temper.
6.  "Overcome evil with good." "Bless and curse not."
7.  "Love one another deeply, from the heart."
8.  Do not magnify the trials or afflictions of life.
9.  Beware of sloth. There is no greater enemy of peace and happiness.
10. Make it your business to serve God.
11. Keep out of debt. "Owe no man anything." Loans breed bad tempers and harsh dispositions.
12. Keep the ultimate purpose of life in view — to glorify God. This will repress many vain wishes and chasten immoderate desires.
13. Let your prayers be frequent and fervent.
14. Never listen to scandal nor backbiting.
15. Do not grieve or worry over things which cannot be helped.
16. Set the Lord always before you. Seek His glory. Do and suffer His will with readiness. Let Christ be all and in all. Trust in the Lord forever.

There is something peculiarly pleasing in the manifestations of the grace of Christ in a truly pious family, however humble their condition in life.

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Keep your heart!

(Arthur Pink)

"Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23

The 'heart' is here put for our whole inner being. It is that which controls and gives character to all that we do.

To 'keep' — garrison or guard — the heart is the great work which God has assigned us. The enablement is His — but the duty is ours. We are to keep . . .
  the imagination from vanity,
  the understanding from error,
  the will from perverseness,
  the conscience clear of guilt,
  the affections from being set on inordinate or evil objects,
  the mind from being employed on worthless or vile subjects.
This, this is the work to which God has called us!

"The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition, is the great business of a Christian's life!" John Flavel

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

The making of a beautiful and happy home!

(J.R. Miller)

A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world's perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which, at close of day — the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place . . .
  where love learns its lessons,
  where life is schooled into discipline and strength,
  where character is molded.

Few things we can do in this world are so well worth doing — as the making of a beautiful and happy home! He who does this — builds a sanctuary for God, and opens a fountain of blessing for men.

Far more than we know — do the strength and beauty of our lives, depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home — into the world's strife, temptation, struggle, and duty — is strongly inspired for noble and victorious living.

The children who are brought up in a true home — go out trained and equipped for life's battles and tasks — carrying a secret of strength in their hearts, which will make them brave and loyal to God, and will keep them pure in the world's severest temptations!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

We shall lose nothing but our dross!

(James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit")

"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering!" Isaiah 48:10

"He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross!" Malachi 3:3

"When He has tried me — I will emerge as pure gold!" Job 23:10

Job was in the furnace! It was heated seven times hotter, but he was conscious of his integrity. He knew that though he was imperfect — he was sincere. He knew that he had a living Redeemer — that his God knew his heart, his motives, his desires, and his course. Therefore he felt confident that he would not be consumed — but only refined.

This is the design of all our trials. They are . . .
  to make us fit for the Master's use;
  to make us reflect the Savior's image;
  to fit us for eternal glory!

However fierce the fire — we shall lose nothing but our dross! God sits by the furnace as the Refiner; He superintends the whole process of purification, and He removes us from the fire, the moment His design is accomplished.

Tried Christian, your God is refining you!
His design is most loving!
He will take care of you!

Say with Job, "He knows the way that I take. When He has tried me — I will emerge as pure gold!"

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

None are too sinful, too base, too vile, or too far gone!

(Don Fortner)

"A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.
 Jesus said to him: Today salvation has come to this house!" Luke 19:2, 9

It is always profitable for our souls to read about the conversion of a sinner by God's omnipotent grace. It is especially profitable to read and study the stories of God's converting grace given to us in the pages of Holy Scripture. We should read them often and study them with care, asking God the Holy Spirit to teach us the wonders of His grace. When we read about these conversions, we find our hearts saying, "That is what the Lord has done for me!"

We see here the story of Zacchaeus' conversion by the Lord Jesus. He was saved by omnipotent grace. What He did for Zacchaeus, He still does for sinners today. Never cease to adore and give thanks to God our Savior for His sovereign, distinguishing grace! He who has mercy on whom He will have mercy, has not left us to ourselves!

Grace Omnipotent
Zacchaeus' conversion tells us that the grace of God that brings salvation is omnipotent and irresistible. None are too sinful, too base, too vile, or too far gone for Christ to save! His arm is not shortened that He cannot save. Oh, no! His mighty arm is omnipotent in the operations of His grace! None are beyond the reach of His omnipotent mercy!

Here is a notorious publican transformed into a saint.
Here is a rich man made to pass through the needle's eye into the kingdom of God.
Here is a covetous man transformed instantaneously into a self-sacrificing philanthropist!

Our all-glorious, ever-gracious Christ is able to save to the uttermost! Here is a Physician before whom none are incurable! Yes, Jesus Christ still makes the lame to walk again and causes the blind to see!

Sovereign Election
Salvation comes to chosen sinners because the purpose of God according to election is sure. Like you and me, Zacchaeus was . . .
  a sinner by birth,
  a sinner by nature,
  a sinner by choice, and
  a sinner by practice.
But he was distinguished from all others in the crowd that day by God's distinguishing grace, and effectually called because God had from the beginning chosen him to salvation.

O my soul, roll these things over in your heart day by day. Never lose sight of them. The Son of God had His eye upon you from eternity, just as He had his eye upon Zacchaeus.
You were chosen by Him in everlasting love! (Ephesians 1:3-4)
Your name was written in the Book of Life before the worlds were made! (Revelation 13:8; Luke 10:20)
You were one of those sheep given to the Good Shepherd by the Father from old eternity! (John 10:27-29).

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Christlikeness at home

(J.R. Miller)

Keep the lamp of love shining day after day . . .
   amid the many home cares and duties,
   amid the criticisms, sarcasms, and thoughtlessness of others,
   amid the thousand little irritations and arguments of home life
 — which tend to break peace and disrupt a sweet temper.

Let your love at home be of the kind that never fails. Wherever else, far away or near, you pour the bright beams of your Christian love — be sure that you brighten your own home. No goodness and gentleness outside the home, will atone for lack of love at home.

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." 1 Peter 3:8

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Continue earnestly in prayer

(James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit")

"Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2

Prayer is always necessary, and it is always profitable. In prayer . . .
  we do homage to the perfections of God,
  we exercise faith on His omnipresence,
  we express our dependence on Him for our supplies,
  we evince the sincerity of our profession,
  we acknowledge our poverty and weakness,
  we unburden the mind of our secret trials,
  we give vent to our feelings of joy and sorrow, of gratitude and grief,
  we give utterance to our desires, and spread our case before the Lord,
  we . . .
    confess our sins,
    acknowledge our backslidings,
    and obtain pardon and restoring grace.

Prayer is the medium of communication between God and our souls:
   We communicate our thoughts, feelings, fears, and desires.
   He communicates light, strength, comfort, and grace to us.

Prayer is a very important duty; it is a great privilege.

Prayer should be . . .
  constant,
  fervent,
  believing,
  hopeful, and
  incessant.

God loves it,
Satan hates it, and
every true Christian values it.

We should be always in a praying frame — though we cannot be always in a praying posture.

True prayer is always . . .
  necessary,
  profitable and
  acceptable to God.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need!" Hebrews 4:16

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

WHO made us to differ?

(James Smith, "The Pastor's Evening Visit")

"But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles" Galatians 1:15-16

Paul is speaking . . .
  of being set apart from his mother's womb,
  of being called by grace to be saved,
  of Christ being revealed in him, and
  of his being made a preacher and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ
 — and he traces up the whole to the good pleasure of God!

It pleased God to convert, consecrate, and crown the apostle with such eminent success. There was nothing in him to deserve it — nothing in him to move God to do it. God blessed Paul, just because He would — because it pleased Him to do it.

Just so in our case.
Do we differ from others?
Do we differ from our former selves?
Have we spiritual life?
Have we Christian graces?
Why were they conferred upon us — and not upon others?

WHO made us to differ? "Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

We can trace it to no cause — but the sovereign good pleasure of God!

He has mercy — on whom He will have mercy.

He has compassion — on whom He will have compassion.

"'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'" Romans 9:13-15

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
 

Precious Promises for Aged Saints

(N.B. The following is a selection of eight choice gems — so it is longer than usual. Please forward this on to every aged saint you know!)

"Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days — so shall your strength be!" Deuteronomy 33:25

"Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone!" Psalm 71:9

"Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God." Psalm 71:17-18

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green!" Psalm 92:12-14

"Hearken unto Me! I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:3-4

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day! For our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!" 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

THE AGED BELIEVER'S CORDIAL

(James Smith, 1802 — 1862)

"Hearken unto Me! I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:3-4

This passage of Scripture is the aged believer's cordial. Let us look at the beautiful images employed.

God is our heavenly parent — a kind and tender-hearted parent. He is peculiarly attached to His people — they are dear to Him, precious in His sight. They are His portion. He prizes them above all creation. He is strong to sustain, to defend, and support them. His strong arm, tender heart, and watchful eye — are all employed for them — and especially so in old age.

The aged believer is as a child. He is weak. He feels exposed and defenseless. He is timid and fearful. But the Lord, as a tender parent, engages to take him up in the arms of His power — and carry him in the bosom of His love! Like a tender lamb in the shepherd's bosom, on a cold and frosty night, borne across a bleak and snow-covered wasteland — so the believer, in the winter of old age, shall be carried in the bosom of his God, across the bleak and cheerless desert of time.

God will carry him tenderly — hushing the weak one's fears. He will bear him carefully — so that nothing shall harm or hurt him. He will soothe him with gentle words, and encourage him with kind acts — until He safely introduces him at Home!

Dear aged Christian, you have nothing to fear! Your God says, "I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age! I am your Father — your Friend — your solace — and your confidence! Look unto Me — even to old age, I will carry you. I will bear you up under all that you feel and fear. I will carry you through all that discourages or distresses you. I will deliver you from foes, fears, dangers, and death itself! Nothing shall by any means hurt you! My arm is strong enough — trust in it. My bosom is your resting-place — lean on it, lean hard! Do not be afraid . . .
eternal love dwells there,
divine pity rules there,
your name is engraved there!
Trust Me, I will never leave you nor forsake you!

"Hearken unto Me!" Believer, your God bids you to "hearken." His words are true and faithful. He speaks to banish your fears. He speaks to strengthen your faith. He speaks to comfort your poor drooping heart. He speaks to clothe your care-worn brow, with the light of hope, with the cheerfulness which confidence imparts.

Hearken to Him — not to unbelief!
Hearken to Him — not to carnal reason!
Hearken to Him — not to Satan!
Hearken to Him — not to erroneous men!

Hearken, it is your Savior who speaks;
it is the Guide of your youth who addresses you;
it is your tender Parent who seeks to cheer your heart.

"As a mother comforts her child — so will I comfort you." Isaiah 66:13
He is near you — near you every moment;
He will carry you — carry you every step;
He will deliver you — deliver you from every danger, trouble, and foe!

 

COMFORT FOR THE AGED

(James Smith, 1802 — 1862)

"Now that I am old and gray — do not abandon me, O God!" Psalm 71:18

Old age and its infirmities will creep in on us; and with old age come weakness, pains, and fears. But an aged Christian should be a happy person; for he has proved the Lord to be faithful so many years, he has had answers to prayer so many times, and the God of his youth stands pledged never to leave nor forsake him. Will the Lord forsake an old servant? Never! Will the Father of mercies forsake one of His children when compassed with the infirmities of old age! Impossible! No, no! The Lord, who has borne with us so long — will bear with us to the end. The Lord, who has glorified Himself in our life — will get glory to Himself in our death.

As the God of all comfort, He will comfort us on the bed of languishing, and will make all our bed in our sickness; and when heart and flesh are failing — He will be the strength of our heart, and our portion forever!

Aged believer — doubt not, fear not! God has given you His Word — trust it. He has confirmed His Word by the death of His Son — therefore exercise confidence in Him. He has been a Friend and a Father to you for many years; and He will be your Friend and Father to the very last!

Be much with Him in prayer. With all the simplicity of a little child — let your requests be made known unto Him. He has grace for old age — as He had for youth; and He has grace for a dying bed — as He had grace for all the conflicts of life. Believe His word, rest in His love, expect His blessing to the end — and you shall be more than a conqueror through Him who loved you. God never loved you more than He does now in your weakness, pains, and old age; and — sweet thought! — He will never love you less! His love is infinite, everlasting. Having loved you — He loves you to the end!

Father in Heaven, I thank You for the mercies of my life. Help me to trust You through to the end of my life — in spite of my weakness and human frailty.

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:4

AN ARM THAT CAN NEVER BE BROKEN!

(J.R. Miller, 1840 — 1912)

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!" Deuteronomy 33:27

The picture suggested is that of a little child, lying in the strong arms of a father who is able to withstand all storms and dangers.

At the two extremes of life, childhood and old age — this promise comes with special assurance.

"He shall gather the lambs in His arms, and carry them in His bosom" (Isaiah 40:11), is a word for the children.

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" (Isaiah 46:4), brings its blessed comfort to the aged.

The thought of God's embracing arms is very suggestive. What does an arm represent? What is the thought suggested by the arm of God enfolded around His child?

One suggestion, is protection. As a father puts his arm around his child when it is in danger — so God protects His children. Life is full of peril. There are temptations on every hand! Enemies lurk in every shadow — enemies strong and swift! Yet we are assured that nothing can separate us from the love of God. "Underneath are the everlasting arms!"

Another thought, is affection. The father's arm drawn around a child — is a token of love. The child is held in the father's bosom, near his heart. The shepherd carries the lambs in his bosom. John lay on Jesus' bosom. The mother holds the child in her bosom, because she loves it. This picture of God embracing His children in His arms, tells of His love for them — His love is tender, close, intimate.

Another thought suggested by an arm, is strength. The arm is a symbol of strength. His arm is omnipotence. "In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength!" (Isaiah 26:4). His is an arm that can never be broken! Out of this clasp — we can never be taken. "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish — ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!" (John 10:28)

Another suggestion is endurance. The arms of God are "everlasting." Human arms grow weary, even in love's embrace; they cannot forever press the child to the bosom. Soon they lie folded in death.

A husband stood by the coffin of his beloved wife after only one short year of wedded happiness. The clasp of that love was very sweet — but how brief a time it lasted, and how desolate was the life that had lost the precious companionship!

A little baby two weeks old — was left motherless. The mother clasped the child to her bosom and drew her feeble arms about it in one loving embrace; the little one will never more have a mother's arm around it.

So pathetic is human life with — its broken affections, its little moments of love, its embraces that are torn away in one hour. But these arms of God, are everlasting arms! They shall never unclasp!

There is another important suggestion in the word "underneath." Not only do the arms of God embrace His child — but they are underneath — always underneath! That means that we can never sink — for these arms will ever be beneath us!

Sometimes we say the waters of trouble are very deep; like great floods they roll over us. But still and forever, underneath the deepest floods, are these everlasting arms! We cannot sink below them — or out of their clasp!

And when death comes, and every earthly thing is gone from beneath us, and we sink away into what seems darkness — out of all human love, out of warmth and gladness and life — into the gloom and strange mystery of death — still it will only be — into the everlasting arms!

This view of God's divine care is full of inspiration and comfort. We are not saving ourselves. A strong One, the mighty God — holds us in His omnipotent clasp! We are not tossed like a leaf on life's wild sea — driven at the mercy of wind and wave. We are in divine keeping. Our security does not depend upon our own feeble, wavering faith — but upon the omnipotence, the love, and the faithfulness of the unchanging, the eternal God!

No power in the universe can snatch us out of His hands! Neither death nor life, nor things present, nor things to come — can separate us from His everlasting arms!

THE PALM TREE

(Author unknown)

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green!" Psalm 92:12-14

The palm tree, to which God's people are in this psalm compared, is remarkable for its lengthened and increasing fruitfulness. The best fruit are said to be gathered when it has reached a hundred years. How beautiful an emblem of the aged believer, growing in grace and maturing in holiness to the close of his earthly existence! Each day, each year, added to his life — adds to the loveliness and perfection of his Christian virtues. His character has a mellowness and sweetness, which it lacked in earlier seasons. He is ripening for Heaven. In knowledge, in wisdom, in love, in humility, in gentleness, in patience, in peace, in usefulness, in happiness — he is steadily and constantly advancing. He is filled with the Spirit, and therefore brings forth the fruits of the Spirit.

Is this portraiture of an aged Christian yours, reader? Alas, it does not belong to all who profess and call themselves by the Savior's name. Nay, it may be feared that there are some, really and manifestly His, to whom it bears but little resemblance. They have long been "planted" in the house of the Lord — but they do not appear to "flourish" in the courts of our God; and as years augment, they seem to imagine that the infirmities of old age are excuses for their little fruitfulness. But they certainly never gathered such an idea from God's Word, nor rightly studied and pleaded His promises to themselves.

Do not follow their example. Do not rest satisfied with past attainments. Strive to glorify God more than you have ever yet done. Let your last days be your best days; and your last fruit the richest.

Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing

(Letters of John Newton)

"Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone." Psalm 71:9

I am drawing nearer and nearer to the season which the Psalmist either expected or felt. Many reasons teach the aged believer the need of this prayer. As his graces are still imperfect, so his physical and mental powers are feelingly upon the decline. It was but little he could do at his best — and now less and less.

He feels other props and comforts dropping off apace. When he was young he had warm spirits and pleasing prospects; but now what a change of the friends in which he once delighted! In some he has found inconstancy — they have forsaken and forgotten him; and others have been successively taken away by death. They have fallen like the leaves in autumn — and now he stands almost a naked trunk. If any yet remain, he is expecting to lose them likewise — unless he is first taken from them.

Old age abates, and gradually destroys, the relish of such earthly comforts as might be otherwise enjoyed. Pains, infirmities, loss of sleep, the failure of sight and hearing, and all the senses — are harbingers, like Job's messengers, arriving in close succession to tell him that death is upon his progress, and not far distant!

If youth has no security against death — then old age has no possibility of escaping the grim monster. But though . . .
friends fail,
cisterns burst,
gourds wither,
strength declines, and
death advances —
if God does not forsake me — then all is well.

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:4

THE PROMISE

(James Smith, 1802 — 1862)

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:4

The friends of your youth are gone — death or distance has stripped you of them. But your God says, "I am He who formed you at first, as a creature; I am He who called you by my grace, into fellowship with my Son; I am He who gave you My Word, that I would never leave you nor forsake you; and I am in the same mind still. I am immutable — there is no change in Me. You have changed — I have not. You will change — but I shall not."

Your God will not only carry your burdens — but He will carry YOU. He laid you like a lamb in His bosom, when He called you by His grace; and He will carry you now that you are old; He will never turn away from doing you good — but will rejoice over you to do you good with His whole heart, and with His whole soul. He will bear with you — though you may sometimes feel fretful, peevish, and ungrateful. He will be with you amidst all your infirmities. He will carry you, not only to the Jordan — but over it! He has delivered you in six troubles — and in seven He will not forsake you!

You should look back to past deliverances, and then face your present difficulty, saying with David, "The Lord, who has delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, and out of the mouth of the bear — will yet deliver me also from this uncircumcised Philistine!" Or with Paul, "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril — and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us!" God's promise — is your property. Take it, trust it, plead it, and expect it to be made good. Faithful is He who promised, who also will do it. Even though you believe not — yet He abides faithful; for He cannot deny himself. "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak — and then not act? Does He promise — and not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19

THOSE EVERLASTING ARMS!

(James Smith, 1802 — 1862)

"Underneath are the everlasting arms!" Deuteronomy 33:27

That is, underneath every believer.

Those everlasting arms are there . . .
to bear him up,
to bear him on, and
to preserve from all real danger.

The arms of God are . . .
invisible — no one sees them;
spiritual — no one feels them;
careful — no one falls out of them;
omnipotent — no one overcomes them.

If the everlasting arms of my God are underneath me, then . . .
I may quietly yield myself unto Him;
I may confidently expect divine protection;
I may be certain that He will lift me above my foes;
I may feel assured that He will safely convey me home.

Aged saints may rejoice in this; for to them the Lord says, "I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:4

And weak believers may rejoice in this, for "He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart!" Isaiah 40:11

O to realize this sweet and encouraging truth: underneath me are the everlasting arms!

 

THE PALM TREE

James Hamilton

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green!" Psalm 92:12-14

The Palm tree brings forth its best fruit in old age. The best dates are said to be gathered when it has reached a hundred years. So it is with eminent Christians: the older — the better; the older — the more beautiful; nay, the older — the more useful; and, different from worldlings, the older — the happier. The best Christians are those who improve to the end, who grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to the very close of life.

They loved Him at first — but now they love Him more. At first they were selfish, and only sought to escape from wrath. Now they are jealous of the Savior's honor, and long to be saved from sin. At first they only thought of Jesus as the Priest to save them; now they perceive the Priest upon a throne, and love not only the Savior's cross — but the Savior's yoke and the Savior's laws.

And they grow in knowledge of themselves. The truth to which they once assented becomes a deep-wrought experience. "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing." And the discovery of this depravity, the knowledge how debased and worthless their nature has become, instead of making them morose and bitter towards their fellow-sharers in the fall — makes them lenient and considerate. They know themselves too well, to expect perfection in their friends, and love the brethren in the face of their obvious failings. They have something of the old Reformer's feeling when he saw the malefactor led to prison: "There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford!"

And they grow in wisdom. Long experience, and still more the secret of the Lord, dispassionate observation and Heavenly-mindedness — have given them sagacity; and sometimes in pithy adages, sometimes in direct and sober counsel, they deal forth that mellow wisdom.

And they grow in spirituality. We have seen those aged pilgrims to whom earthly things at last grew insipid; they had no curiosity for the news of the day, and little taste for fresh and entertaining books. They stuck to God's testimonies, and you never went in to see them but their Bible lay open on the table or the counter; and they could tell the portion which had been that morning's food, or the meditation of the previous night. The Word of God dwelt in them so richly, that you could see they were becoming fit to dwell with God; for when a mind has become thoroughly scriptural — it needs but another step to make it celestial. And the last harvest came, and the last gleanings of their precious words, and when we next went that way — their place knew them no longer. They were flourishing in the courts of God's house on high, and we would sit under their shadow and be regaled by their goodness no more.

But when we recollected how lovely their Christian profession was, how beneficent and serviceable they had ever been, and remembered that their last days were their brightest, and their last fruits their fairest, we said over to ourselves, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green!"

Dear Christian reader, when your own ear cannot hear it, may this be your eulogy — when your own eye cannot read it, may this be your epitaph. In the meanwhile, for the sake of that Savior who is dishonored by proud and selfish and unlovely disciples — strive and pray for consistency in holy living. And for your own soul's sake, which is dulled by defective views, and depressed by each besetting sin — seek a serene and lofty faith — covet earnestly a blameless life. Let . . .
your triumphs over self, and
your high-hearted zeal for the Savior,
the largeness of your Christian spirit,
your Heavenly elevation,
the exuberance of your goodness,
the multitude of your acts of kindness,
the fullness of your affections,
the abundance of your beneficence —
make Jesus manifest and unmistakable in your life. Let your happy piety be the far-eyed signal announcing an oasis in the desert, and pray that your church may become another Elim to weary pilgrims "where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water." Exodus 15:27