The unsearchable riches of Christ
Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8

My master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable. You may look and study and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Savior than you think him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on his head, you will only crown him with silver when he deserves gold.

My master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of his pipe when he is the shepherd and you are the sheep and you lie down at his feet. There is no love like his. Neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in him. Oh, this is life. This is joy This is marrow and fatness wine on the lees well refined

My master does not treat his servants churlishly. He gives to them as a king giveth to a king He gives them two heavens a heaven below in serving him here and a heaven above in delighting in him forever his unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity he will give you on the way to heaven all you need. Your place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure. But it is there, there, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved one.

the unsearchable riches of Christ. This is the tune for the minstrels of earth and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus and we will tell out the good news to others. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans chapter 8 verse 28.

Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows for instance that God sits in the stern sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller and that wherever providence may adrift and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That reassuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, It is I. Be not afraid. He knows, too, that God is always wise. And knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes, that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills. The worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet. The poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure. The sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results. And so believing that God rules all, that he governs wisely, that he brings good out of evil, the believer's heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, Send me what thou wilt, my God, as long as it comes from thee. Never came there an ill portion from thy table to any of thy children. Say not, my soul, from whence can God relieve my care? Remember that omnipotence has servants everywhere. His method is sublime, his heart profoundly kind. God never is before his time and never is behind.

The Lamb is the light thereof. Revelation chapter 21 verse 23.

Quietly contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in scripture is the emblem of joy. The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this. Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified us. We are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each one of these thoughts shall be to them like a cluster of the grapes of ashgol.

Light is also the cause of beauty. Naught of beauty is left when light is gone. Without light, no radiance flashes from the sapphire. No peaceful ray receded from the pearl. And thus, all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. As planets, they reflect the light of the sun of righteousness. They live as beams proceeding from the central orb. If he withdrew, they must die. If his glory were veiled, their glory must expire.

Light is also the emblem of knowledge. In heaven our knowledge will be perfect. But the Lord Jesus himself will be the fountain of it. Dark providences never understood before will then be clearly seen. And all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh what unfoldings there will be and what glorifying of the God of love

Light also means manifestation. Light manifests. In this world, it does not yet appear what we shall be. God's people are a hidden people. But when Christ receives his people into heaven, he will touch them with the wand of his own love and change them into the image of his manifested glory. They were poor and wretched. But what a transformation! They were stained with sin. But one touch of his finger and they are bright as the sun and clear as crystal. Oh, what a manifestation! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of effulgent splendor, Jesus shall be the center and soul of it all. Oh, to be present and to see him in his own light, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The people that do know their God shall be strong. Daniel chapter 11 verse 32

Every believer understands that to know God is the highest and best form of knowledge. And this spiritual knowledge is a source of strength to the Christian. It strengthens his faith. Believers are constantly spoken of in the scriptures as being persons who are enlightened and taught of the Lord. They are said to have an unction from the Holy One, and it is the Spirit's peculiar office to lead them into all truth. And all this for the increase and the fostering of their faith.

Knowledge strengthens love as well as faith. Knowledge opens the door, and then through that door, we see our Savior. Or to use another similitude, knowledge paints the portrait of Jesus. And when we see that portrait, then we love Him. We cannot love a Christ whom we do not know, at least in some degree. If we know but little of the excellencies of Jesus, what He has done for us, and what He's doing now, we cannot love Him much. But the more we know him, the more we shall love him.

Knowledge also strengthens hope. How can we hope for a thing if we do not know of its existence? Hope may be the telescope but till we receive instruction our ignorance stands in the front of the glass and we can see nothing whatever. Knowledge removes the interposing object and when we look through the bright optic glass we discern the glory to be revealed and anticipate it with joyous confidence.

Knowledge supplies us reasons for patience. How should we have patience unless we know something of the sympathy of Christ and understand the good which is to come out of the correction which our Heavenly Father sends us? Nor is there one single grace of the Christian which under God will not be fostered and brought to perfection by holy knowledge. How important then is it that we should grow, not only in grace, but in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The upright love Thee. Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 4. Believers love Jesus with a deeper affection than they dare to give to any other being. They would sooner lose father and mother than part with Christ. They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they carry Him fast locked in their bosoms. They voluntarily deny themselves for His sake, but they're not to be driven to deny Him. It is scant love which the fire of persecution can dry up. The true believer's love is a deeper stream than this.

Men have labored to divide the faithful from their master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. Neither crowns of honor nor frowns of anger have untied this more than Gordian knot. This is no everyday attachment which the world's power may at length dissolve. Neither man nor devil have found a key which opens this lock. Never has the craft of Satan been more at fault than when he has exercised it in seeking to rend in sunder this union of two divinely welded hearts. It is written, and nothing can blot out the sentence, The upright love thee.

The intensity of the love of the upright, however, is not so much to be judged by what it appears as by what the upright long for. It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. Would that our hearts were capable of holding more and reaching further. Like Samuel Rutherford, we sigh and cry, Oh, for as much love as would go round about the earth and over heaven, yea, the heaven of heavens and ten thousand worlds, that I may let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ. Alas, our longest reach is but a span of love, and our affection is but as a drop of a bucket compared with his deserts. measure our love by our intentions, and it is high indeed. Tis thus we trust, our Lord doth judge of it. Oh, that we could give all the love in all hearts in one great mass, a gathering together of all loves, to him who is altogether lovely.

The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it. Revelation chapter 21 verse 23.

Yonder in the better world the inhabitants are independent of all creature comforts. They have no need of raiment, their white robes never wear out. Neither shall they ever be defiled. They need no medicine to heal diseases, for the inhabitant shall not say I am sick. They need no sleep to recruit their frames. They rest not day nor night but unwarily praise him in his temple. They need no social relationship to minister comfort and whatever happiness they may derive from association with their fellows is not essential to their bliss. For their Lord's society is enough for their largest desires.

They need no teachers there. They doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God but they do not require this by way of instruction. They shall all be taught of the Lord. Ours are the arms of the king's gate, but they feast at the table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon their beloved and upon him alone. Here we must have the help of our companions, but there they find all they want in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the meat which perisheth and to the raiment which decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the bucket to fetch us water from the well, but there they drink from the fountainhead and put their lips down to the living water.

here the angels bring us blessings but we shall want no messengers from heaven then they shall need no Gabriels there to bring their love notes from God for there they shall see him face to face oh what a blessed time shall that be when we shall have mounted above every second course and shall rest upon the bare arm of God what a glorious hour when God and not his creatures the Lord and not his works shall be our daily joy our souls shall then have attained the perfection of bliss

Christ who is our life Colossians chapter 3 verse 4

Paul's marvelously rich expression indicates that Christ is the source of our life. You at the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by his life that we live. He is in us, the hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus' flesh and blood? This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. Oh wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits except he find it in him Christ is the source of our life

All our true joys come from Him, and in times of trouble His presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but Him, and His loving kindness is better than life. Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes the believer towards the haven of his Saviour's bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain and is crowned in his captain's victory So the believer contends for Christ and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his master. For him to live is Christ.

Christ is the exemplar of our life. where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without. And if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we shall grow like him. We shall set him before us as our divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in his footsteps until he shall become the crown of our life in glory. oh how safe how honored how happy is the Christian since Christ is our life O that I were as in months past Job chapter 29 verse 2 Numbers of Christians can view the past with pleasure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction. They look back upon the days which they have passed in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known. But as to the present, it is clad in a sable garb of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near to Jesus, but now they feel that they've wandered from him, and they say, Oh, that I were as in months past. They complain that they've lost their evidences, or that they've not present peace of mind, or that they have no enjoyment in the means of grace, or that conscience is not so tender, or that they have not so much zeal for God's glory. The causes of this mournful state of things are manifold. It may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied with something else more than with God. The affections have been set on the things of earth instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart. He must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of his presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted, instead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you are not now as you were in months past, do not rest satisfied with wishing for a return of former happiness, but go at once to seek your Master. and tell him your sad state ask his grace and strength to help you to walk more closely with him humble yourself before him and he will lift you up and give you yet again to enjoy the light of his countenance do not sit down to sigh and lament while the beloved physician lives there is hope nay there is a certainty of recovery for the worst cases everlasting consolation 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 16 consolation there is music in the word like David's harp it charms away the evil spirit of melancholy it was a distinguished honor to Barnabas to be called the son of consolation nay it is one of the illustrious names of a greater than Barnabas for the Lord Jesus is the consolation of Israel everlasting consolation. Here is the cream of all, for the eternity of comfort is the crown and glory of it. What is this everlasting consolation? It includes a sense of pardoned sin. A Christian man has received in his heart the witness of the spirit that his iniquities are put away like a cloud and his transgressions like a thick cloud. If sin be pardoned, is not that an everlasting consolation? Next, the Lord gives his people an abiding sense of acceptance in Christ. The Christian knows that God looks upon him as standing in union with Jesus. Union to the risen Lord is a consolation of the most abiding order. It is, in fact, everlasting. Let sickness prostrate us. Have we not seen hundreds of believers as happy in the weakness of disease as they would have been in the strength of hail and blooming health? Let death's arrows pierce us to the heart. Our comfort dies not. For have not our ears full often heard the songs of saints as they have rejoiced because the living love of God was shed abroad in their hearts in dying moments? Yes, a sense of acceptance in the beloved is an everlasting consolation. Moreover, the Christian has a conviction of his security. God has promised to save those who trust in Christ. The Christian does trust in Christ and he believes that God will be as good as his word and will save him. He feels that he is safe by virtue of his being bound up with the person and work of Jesus. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Psalm 97 verse 1. Causes for disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence is true. On earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as the rage of the sea. His love as easily refreshes the poor with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire amid the tempest's horrors and the glory of the Lord is seen in its grandeur in the fall of empires and the crash of thrones. In all our conflicts and tribulations we may behold the hand of the divine King. God is God. He sees and hears all our troubles, all our tears. Soul, forget not midnight pains. God, or all, forever reigns. In hell, evil spirits own with misery his undoubted supremacy. When permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel. The bit is in the mouth of Behemoth, and the hook in the jaws of Leviathan. Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the judge of all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the kennel fear the hunter's whip. Fear not death nor Satan's thrusts. God defends who in him trusts. Soul, remember in thy pains, God, or all, forever reigns. In heaven, none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal. But all fall on their faces to do him homage. Angels are as courteous, the redeemed his favorites, And all delight to serve him day and night. May we soon reach the city of the great king! For this life's long night of sadness, He will give us peace and gladness. Soul, remember in thy pains, God, or all, forever reigns. The bow shall be seen in the cloud. Genesis chapter 9 verse 14. The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah is typical of our Lord Jesus who is the Lord's witness to the people. When may we expect to see the token of the covenant? The rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud. When the sinner's conscience is dark with clouds when he remembers his past sin and mourneth and lamenteth before God Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant rainbow displaying all the glorious hues of the divine character and betokening peace. To the believer, when his trials and temptations surround him it is sweet to behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ to see him bleeding, living, rising, and pleading for us. God's rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrows, and our woes to prophesy deliverance. Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow. There must be the crystal drops to reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only threaten, but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us, if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud. Punishment must fall in terrible drops upon the surety. Until there is a real anguish in the sinner's conscience, there is no Christ for him. Until the chastisement which he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus. but there must also be a sun for clouds and drops of rain make not rainbows unless the sun shineth beloved our God who is as the sun to us always shines but we do not always see him clouds hide his face but no matter what drops may be falling or what clouds may be threatening if he does but shine there will be a rainbow at once It is said that when we see the rainbow, the shower is over. Certain it is that when Christ comes, our troubles remove. When we behold Jesus, our sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the waters of the sea, how profound the calm. I know their sorrows, Exodus chapter 3 verse 7. The child is cheered as he sings, This my father knows. And shall not we be comforted as we discern that our dear friend and tender soul husband knows all about us? One, he is the physician, and if he knows all, there is no need that the patient should know. Hush, thou silly, fluttering heart, prying, peeping, and suspecting. What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter. And meanwhile, Jesus, the beloved physician, knows thy soul in adversities. Why need the patient analyze all the medicine or estimate all the symptoms? This is the physician's work, not mine. It is my business to trust, and his to prescribe. If he shall write his prescription in uncouth characters which I cannot read, I will not be uneasy on that account, but rely upon his unfailing skill. to make all plain in the result, however mysterious in the working. 2. He is the master, and his knowledge is to serve us instead of our own. We are to obey, not to judge. The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. Shall the architect explain his plans to every hodman on the works? If he knows his own intent, is it not enough? The vessel on the wheel cannot guess to what pattern it shall be conformed. But if the potter understands his art, what matters the ignorance of the clay? My Lord must not be cross-questioned anymore by one so ignorant as I am. 3. He is the head. All understanding centers there. What judgment has the arm? What comprehension has the foot? All power to know lies in the head. Why should the member have a brain of its own when the head fulfills for it every intellectual office? Here, then, must the believer rest his comfort in sickness. Not that he himself can see the end, but that Jesus knows all. Sweet Lord, be thou forever eye and soul and head for us. and let us be content to know only what thou choosest to reveal Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide Genesis chapter 24 verse 63 very admirable was his occupation if those who spend so many hours in idle company light reading and useless pastimes could learn wisdom they would find more profitable society and more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms for them we should all know more live nearer to God and grow in grace if we were more alone

Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed. Isaac found Rebecca while engaged in private musings. Many others have found their best beloved there.

Very admirable was the choice of place. In the field we have a study hung around with texts for thought, from the cedar to the hyssop, from the soaring eagle down to the chirping grasshopper, from the blue expanse of heaven to a drop of dew, All things are full of teaching. And when the eye is divinely opened, that teaching flashes upon the mind far more vividly than from written books. Our little rooms are neither so healthy, so suggestive, so agreeable, or so inspiring as the fields. Let us count nothing common or unclean, but feel that all created things point to their maker. And the field will at once be hallowed.

Very admirable was the season. The season of sunset, as it draws a veil over the day, befits that repose of the soul when earth-born cares yield to the joys of heavenly communion. The glory of the setting sun excites our wonder, and the solemnity of approaching night awakens our awe. If the business of this day will permit it, it will be well, dear reader, if you can spare an hour to walk in the field at eventide. But if not, the Lord is in the town too and will meet thee in thy chamber or in the crowded street. Let thy heart go forth to meet him.

The Mercy of God Psalm 52 verse 8

Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With gentle loving touch he healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God. His mercy is unlike himself. It is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners after great lengths of time and then gives great favors and great privileges and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.

It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High. Had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire, he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them. But this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits, a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds, a heavenly bandage to your broken bones, a royal chariot for your weary feet, a bosom of love for your trembling heart.

It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, all the flowers in God's garden are double. There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted, it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding, with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking, with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance, and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.

This sickness is not unto death, John chapter 11 verse 4.

From our Lord's words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here is an unto within which its ultimate end is restrained and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death but death was not to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness the Lord saith to the waves of pain, Hitherto shall he go, but no further. His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of his people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth and regulates the heat.

1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of Providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition and effects of all our sicknesses. Each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result. eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head. 2. This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction comes not at haphazard. The weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and meeting out the heavens commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients which compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late. Three, the limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

A mother's heart cries, spare my child. But no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of consolation that he who has fixed the bounds of our habitation has also fixed the bounds of our tribulation.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of love. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 8. Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus. He is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease, except they are in a state of nearness to Christ. For when they are away from Him, they lose their peace. The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven. The nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life and vigor and joy. For these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus.

What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveler in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us. And therefore, if we are not consciously one with Him, Little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the song, I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love.

This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it. Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, and therefore supremely blessed are they who thirst after the righteous one. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God. If I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining, in emptiness and eagerness, till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord.

But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones shall be filled with what they are desiring. if Christ thus causes us to long after himself he will certainly satisfy those longings and when he does come to us as come he will oh how sweet it will be

The voice of weeping shall be no more heard. Isaiah chapter 65 verse 19. The glorified weep no more, for all outward causes of grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, no blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander are unknown there. No pain distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. They weep no more, for they are perfectly sanctified. No evil heart of unbelief prompts them to depart from the living God. They are without fault before his throne and are fully conformed to his image. Well may they cease to mourn who have ceased to sin. They weep no more because all fear of change is past. They know that they are eternally secure. Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed. They bask in a sun which shall never set. They drink of a river which shall never dry. They pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither. Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity shall not be exhausted, and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall coexist with it. They are forever with the Lord. They weep no more because every desire is fulfilled. They cannot wish for anything which they have not in possession. Eye and ear, heart and hand, judgment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties are completely satisfied. and imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Yet we know enough by the revelation of the Spirit that the saints above are supremely blessed. The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fullness of delight, is in them. They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm branch of victory, and sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Oil for the light. Exodus chapter 25 verse 6. My soul, how much thou needest this! For thy lamp will not long continue to burn without it. Thy snuff will smoke and become an offence, if light be gone, and gone it will be, if oil be absent. Thou hast no oil well springing up in thy human nature, and therefore thou must go to them that sell and buy for thyself. Or, like the foolish virgins, thou wilt have to cry, My lamp is gone out. Even the consecrated lamps could not give light without oil. Though they shone in the tabernacle, they needed to be fed. Though no rough winds blew upon them, they required to be trimmed. And thy need is equally as great. Under the most happy circumstances, thou canst not give light for another hour, unless fresh oil of grace be given thee. Under the most happy circumstances, thou canst not give light for another hour, unless fresh oil of grace be given thee. It was not every oil that might be used in the Lord's service. Neither the petroleum, which exudes so plentifully from the earth, nor the produce of fishes, nor that extracted from nuts would be accepted. One oil only was selected, and that the best olive oil. oil. Pretended grace from natural goodness, fancied grace from priestly hands, or imaginary grace from outward ceremonies will never serve the true saint of God. He knows that the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of such oil. He goes to the olive press of Gethsemane and draws his supplies from him who was crushed therein. The oil of gospel grace is pure and free from lees and dregs, and hence the light which is fed thereon is clear and bright. Our churches are the Saviour's golden candelabra, and if they are to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy oil. Let us pray for ourselves, our ministers, and our churches that they may never lack oil for the light. Truth, holiness, joy, knowledge, love. These are all beams of the sacred light. But we cannot give them forth unless in private we receive oil from God the Holy Ghost. Have mercy upon me, O God. Psalm 51 verse 1. When Dr. Carey was suffering from a dangerous illness, the inquiry was made. If this sickness should prove fatal, what passage would you select as the text for your funeral sermon? He replied, Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him. But if a funeral sermon must be preached, let it be from the words, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions.

In the same spirit of humility, he directed in his will that the following inscription and nothing more should be cut on his gravestone. William Carey, born August 17, 1761, died a wretched, poor, and helpless worm. On thy kind arms I fall.

only on the footing of free grace can the most experienced and most honored of the saints approach their God. The best of men are conscious above all others that they are men at the best. Empty boats float high, but heavily laden vessels are low in the water. Mere professors can boast, but true children of God cry for mercy upon their unprofitableness.

We have need that the Lord should have mercy upon our good works, our prayers, our preachings our almsgivings, and our holiest things. The blood was not only sprinkled upon the doorposts of Israel's dwelling houses but upon the sanctuary, the mercy seat, and the altar. Because as sin intrudes into our holiest things the blood of Jesus is needed to purify them from defilement.

If mercy be needed to be exercised towards our duties, what shall be said of our sins? How sweet the remembrance that inexhaustible mercy is waiting to be gracious to us, to restore our backslidings and make our broken bones rejoice.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Psalm 73 verse 24

The psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just been discovering the foolishness of his own heart. And lest he should be constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God's counsel should henceforth guide him. A sense of our own folly is a great step towards being wise when it leads us to rely on the wisdom of the Lord.

The blind man leans on his friend's arm and reaches home in safety. And so would we give ourselves up implicitly to divine guidance nothing doubting assured that though we cannot see it is always safe to trust the all-seeing God.

Thou shalt is a blessed expression of confidence. He was sure that the Lord would not decline the condescending task. There is a word for thee, O believer. Rest thou in it. Be assured that thy God will be thy counselor and friend. He shall guide thee. He will direct all thy ways.

In his written word thou hast this assurance in part fulfilled. For holy scripture is his counsel to thee. Happy are we to have God's word always to guide us. What were the Mariner without his compass? And what were the Christian without the Bible? This is the unerring chart, the map in which every shoal is described, and all the channels from the quicksands of destruction to the haven of salvation, mapped and marked by one who knows all the way.

Blessed be thou, O God, that we may trust thee to guide us now and guide us even to the end.

After this guidance through life, the psalmist anticipates, a divine reception at last, and afterward, receive me to glory. What a thought for thee, believer! God himself will receive thee to glory. Thee, wandering, erring, straying, yet he will bring thee safe at last to glory. This is thy portion. Live on it this day. And if perplexities should surround thee, go in the strength of this text straight to the throne.

Thou whom my soul loveth. Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 7. It is well to be able without any if or but to say of the Lord Jesus, Thou whom my soul loveth. Many can only say of Jesus that they hope they love him, they trust they love him. But only a poor and shallow experience will be content to stay here. No one ought to give any rest to his spirit till he feels quite sure about a matter of such vital importance. We ought not to be satisfied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves us and with a bare trust that we love him. The old saints did not generally speak with buts and ifs and hopes and trusts, but they spoke positively and plainly. I know whom I have believed, saith Paul. I know that my Redeemer liveth, saith Job. Get positive knowledge of your love of Jesus and be not satisfied till you can speak of your interest in him as a reality, which you have made sure by having received the witness of the Holy Spirit and his seal upon your soul by faith. True love to Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit's work and must be wrought in the heart by him. He is the efficient cause of it. But the logical reason why we love Jesus lies in himself. Why do we love Jesus? Because he first loved us. Why do we love Jesus? Because he gave himself for us. We have life through his death. We have peace through his blood. Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. Why do we love Jesus? Because of the excellency of his person. We are filled with a sense of his beauty, an admiration of his charms, a consciousness of his infinite perfection. His greatness, goodness, and loveliness in one resplendent ray combine to enchant the soul till it is so ravished that it exclaims, yea, he is altogether lovely. Blessed love this, a love which binds the heart with chains more soft than silk, and yet more firm than adamant. The Lord trieth the righteous Psalm 11 verse 5 All events are under the control of Providence. Consequently, all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the Great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God's ordinance, the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armor and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies like roses have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high and our valleys are not too low for temptations. Trials lurk on all roads. Everywhere, above and beneath, we are beset and surrounded with dangers. Yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud. Every drop has its order ere it hastens to the earth. The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces. And so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace. To test the genuineness of our virtues and to add to their energy. Our Lord in his infinite wisdom and super abundant love sets so high a value upon his people's faith that he will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace. worldly ease is a great foe to faith. It loosens the joints of holy valor and snaps the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut. Affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk, it is useless to man. It must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.