who giveth us richly all things to enjoy 1st Timothy chapter 6 verse 17

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand as long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim the oil shall not be stayed he is a sun ever shining he is manna always falling around the camp he is a rock in the desert ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side and the rain of his grace is always dropping the river of his bounty is ever flowing and the wellspring of his love is constantly overflowing

As the king can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There are seven feast days in his weeks and as many as are the days so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied or from his bosom unimparadised?

His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. Who can know the number of his benefits or recount the list of his bounties? Every sand which drops from the glass of time is but the tardy follower of a myriad of mercies. The wings of our hours are covered with the silver of his kindness and with the yellow gold of his affection. The river of time bears from the mountains of eternity the golden sands of his favor. The countless stars are but as the standard bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings.

Who can count the dust of the benefits which he bestows on Jacob or tell the number of the fourth part of his mercies towards Israel? how shall my soul extol him who daily loadeth us with benefits and who crowneth us with loving kindness oh that my praise should be as ceaseless as his bounty O miserable tongue, how canst thou be silent? Wake up, I pray thee, lest I call thee no more my glory, but my shame. Awake, sultry and harp, I myself will awake right early.

And he said, Thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 2 Kings chapter 3 verses 16 and 17

The armies of the three kings were famishing for want of water. God was about to send it. And in these words the prophet announced the coming blessing. Here was a case of human helplessness. Not a drop of water could all the valiant men procure from the skies or find in the wells of earth. Thus often the people of the Lord are at their wits end. They see the vanity of the creature and learn experimentally where their help is to be found.

Still, the people were to make a believing preparation for the divine blessing. They were to dig the trenches in which the precious liquid would be held. The church must, by her varied agencies, efforts, and prayers, make herself ready to be blessed. She must make the pools, and the Lord will fill them. This must be done in faith, in the full assurance that the blessing is about to descend.

by and by there was a singular bestowal of the needed boon not as in Elijah's case did the shower pour from the clouds but in a silent and mysterious manner the pools were filled the Lord has his own sovereign modes of action he is not tied to manner and time as we are but doeth as he pleases among the sons of men it is ours thankfully to receive from him and not to dictate to him

we must also notice the remarkable abundance of the supply there was enough for the need of all and so it is in the gospel blessing all the wants of the congregation and of the entire church shall be met by the divine power in answer to prayer and above all this victory shall be speedily given to the armies of the Lord What am I doing for Jesus? What trenches am I digging? O Lord, make me ready to receive the blessing which thou art so willing to bestow. Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee. Isaiah chapter 41 verse 9 If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful servants. We certainly are unprofitable ones. But yet, blessed be his name, we are his servants, wearing his livery, feeding at his table, and obeying his commands. we were once the servants of sin but he who made us free has now taken us into his family and taught us obedience to his will we do not serve our master perfectly but we would if we could As we hear God's voice saying unto us, Thou art my servant, we can answer with David, I am thy servant, thou hast loosed my bonds. But the Lord calls us not only his servants, but his chosen ones. I have chosen thee. We have not chosen him first, but he hath chosen us. If we be God's servants, we were not always so. To sovereign grace, the change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. long a time began or space was created God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people had predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of his son and ordained them heirs of all the fullness of his love his grace and his glory what comfort is here Has the Lord loved us so long and will he yet cast us away? He knew how stiff-necked we should be. He understood that our hearts were evil and yet he made the choice. Ah! Our Savior is no fickle lover. He does not feel enchanted for a while with some gleams of beauty from his church's eye and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, he married her in old eternity, and it is written of Jehovah, he hateth putting away. The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude, and upon his faithfulness, which neither can disown. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. Colossians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 All the attributes of Christ as God and man are at our disposal. All the fullness of the Godhead, whatever that marvelous term may comprehend, is ours to make us complete. He cannot endow us with the attributes of deity, but he has done all that can be done for he has made even his divine power and Godhead subservient to our salvation. His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and infallibility are all combined for our defense. Arise, believer, and behold the Lord Jesus yoking the whole of His divine Godhead to the chariot of salvation. How vast His grace! How firm His faithfulness! How unswerving His immutability! How infinite His power! How limitless His knowledge! all these are by the Lord Jesus made the pillars of the temple of salvation and all without diminution of the infinity are covenanted to us as our perpetual inheritance the fathomless love of the Savior's heart is every drop of it ours every sinew in the arm of might every jewel in the crown of majesty the immensity of divine knowledge and the sternness of divine justice all are ours and shall be employed for us the whole of Christ in his adorable character as the Son of God, is by himself made over to us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, his knowledge our instruction, his power our protection, his justice our surety, his love our comfort, his mercy our solace, and his immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the recesses of the mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for the hidden treasures. All, all, all are yours, saith he. Be ye satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord. Oh, how sweet thus to behold Jesus and to call upon him with the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of his love or power we are but asking for that which he has already faithfully promised. Afterward Hebrews chapter 12 verse 11. How happy are tried Christians afterwards. No calm more deep than that which succeeds a storm. Who has not rejoiced in clear shinings after rain? Victorious banquets are for well-exercised soldiers. After killing the lion, we eat the honey. After climbing the hill, difficulty, we sit down in the arbor to rest. After traversing the valley of humiliation, after fighting with Apollyon, the Shining One appears, and with the healing branch from the Tree of Life, Our sorrows, like the passing keels of the vessels upon the sea, leave a silver line of holy light behind them afterwards. It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil which once reigned in our tormented guilty souls. See then the happy estate of a Christian. He has his best things last and he therefore in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are afterward good things. harsh plowings yielding joyful harvests even now he grows rich by his losses he rises by his falls he lives by dying and becomes full by being emptied if then his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life What shall be the full vintage of joy afterwards in heaven? If his dark nights are as bright as the world's days, what shall his days be? If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven? If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol him before the eternal throne? If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then? Oh, blessed afterward! Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown which cometh afterwards? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for today, nor the triumph for the present, but afterward. Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work. I have seen servants upon horses and princes walking as servants upon the earth. Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 7 upstarts frequently usurp the highest places, while the truly great pine in obscurity. This is a riddle in providence whose solution will one day gladden the hearts of the upright. But it is so common a fact that none of us should murmur if it should fall to our own lot. When our Lord was upon the earth, although he is the prince of the kings of the earth yet he walked the footpath of weariness and service as the servant of servants. What wonder is it if his followers, who are princes of the blood should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible persons. The world is upside down, and therefore the first are last and the last first. See how the servile sons of Satan lord it in the earth. What a high horse they ride! How they lift up their horn on high! Haman is in the court, while Mordecai sits in the gate. David wanders on the mountains, while Saul reigns in state. Elijah is complaining in the cave, while Jezebel is boasting in the palace. Yet, who would wish to take the places of the proud rebels? And who, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints? When the wheel turns, those who are lowest rise and the highest sink. Patience, then, believer. Eternity will right the wrongs of time.

Let us not fall into the error of letting our passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph while our nobler powers walk in the dust. Grace must reign as a prince and make the members of the body instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order and he therefore sets our powers and faculties in due rank and place giving the highest room to those spiritual faculties which link us with the great King. let us not disturb the divine arrangement but ask for grace that we may keep under our body and bring it into subjection we were not new created to allow our passions to rule over us but that we as kings may reign in Christ Jesus over the triple kingdom of spirit soul and body to the glory of God the Father

And he requested for himself that he might die 1st Kings chapter 19 verse 4 It was a remarkable thing that the man who was never to die for whom God had ordained an infinitely better lot the man who should be carried to heaven in a chariot of fire and be translated that he should not see death should thus pray let me die I am no better than my father's.

We have here a memorable proof that God does not always answer prayer in kind though he always does in effect. He gave Elias something better than that which he asked for and thus really heard and answered him. Strange was it that the lion-hearted Elijah should be so depressed by Jezebel's threat as to ask to die. And blessedly kind was it on the part of our Heavenly Father that he did not take his desponding servant at his word.

There is a limit to the doctrine of the prayer of faith. We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for. We know that we sometimes ask and do not receive because we ask and miss. If we ask for that which is not promised if we run counter to the spirit which the Lord would have us cultivate if we ask contrary to his will or to the decrees of his providence if we ask merely for the gratification of our own ease and without an eye to his glory we must not expect that we shall receive. Yet when we ask in faith, nothing doubting, if we receive not the precise thing asked for, we shall receive an equivalent, and more than equivalent, for it. As one remarks, if the Lord does not pay in silver, he will in gold, and if he does not pay in gold, he will in diamonds. If he does not give you precisely what you ask for, he will give you that which is tantamount to it, and that which you will greatly rejoice to receive in lieu thereof.

Be then, dear reader, much in prayer, and make this evening a season of earnest intercession. But take heed what you ask.

Marvellous loving kindness. Psalm 17 verse 7. When we give our hearts with our arms we give well. But we must often plead to a failure in this respect. Not so our master and our Lord. His favors are always performed with the love of his heart. He does not send to us the cold meat and the broken pieces from the table of his luxury but he dips our morsel in his own dish and seasons our provisions with the spices of his fragrant affections. When he puts the golden tokens of his grace into our palms he accompanies the gift with such a warm pressure of our hand that the manner of his giving is as precious as the boon itself.

He will come into our houses upon his errands of kindness. And he will not act as some austere visitors do in the poor man's cottage. But he sits by our side, not despising our poverty, nor blaming our weakness. Beloved, with what smiles does he speak? What golden sentences drop from his gracious lips? What embraces of affection does he bestow upon us? If he had but given us farthings, the way of his giving would have gilded them. But as it is, the costly arms are set in a golden basket by his pleasant carriage. It is impossible to doubt the sincerity of his charity, for there is a bleeding heart stamped upon the face of all his benefactions. He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. Not one hint that we are burdensome to him, not one cold look for his poor pensioners. but he rejoices in his mercy and presses us to his bosom while he is pouring out his life for us there is a fragrance in his spikenard which nothing but his heart could produce there is a sweetness in his honeycomb which could not be in it unless the very essence of his soul's affection had been mingled with it.

Oh, the rare communion which such singular heartedness affecteth. May we continually taste and know the blessedness of it.

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love, Hosea chapter 11 verse 4. Our heavenly Father often draws us with the cords of love. But ah, how backward we are to run towards him. How slowly do we respond to his gentle impulses. He draws us to exercise a more simple faith in him. But we have not yet attained to Abraham's confidence. We do not leave our worldly cares with God. But like Martha, we cumber ourselves with much serving. Our meager faith brings leanness into our souls. We do not open our mouths wide though God has promised to fill them. Does he not this evening draw us to trust him? Can we not hear him say, Come, my child, and trust me? The veil is rent. Enter into my presence, and approach boldly to the throne of my grace. I am worthy of thy fullest confidence. Cast thy cares on me. Shake thyself from the dust of thy cares, and put on thy beautiful garments of joy.

but alas though called with tones of love to the blessed exercise of this comforting grace we will not come at another time he draws us to closer communion with himself we have been sitting on the doorstep of God's house and he bids us advance into the banqueting hall and sup with him but we decline the honor there are secret rooms not yet open to us Jesus invites us to enter them but we hold back shame on our cold hearts we are but poor lovers of our sweet Jesus not fit to be his servants much less to be his brides and yet he hath exalted us to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh married to him by a glorious marriage covenant Herein is love, but it is a love which takes no denial. If we obey not the gentle drawings of his love, he will send affliction to drive us into closer intimacy with himself. Have us nearer, he will. What foolish children we are to refuse those bands of love and so bring upon our backs that scourge of small cords which Jesus knows how to use.

He led them forth by the right way. Psalm 107 verse 7

This changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to inquire, why is it thus with me? I looked for light, but low darkness came, for peace, but behold, trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide thy face, and I am troubled.

It was but yesterday that I could read my title clear. Today my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah's top and view the landscape o'er and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance. Today my spirit has no hopes but many fears, no joys but much distress.

Is this part of God's plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter.

These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith. They are waves that wash you further from the rock. They are winds which waft your ship more swiftly toward the desired haven.

according to David's words so it might be said of you so he bringeth them to their desired haven by honor and dishonor by evil report and by good report by plenty and by poverty by joy and by distress by persecution and by peace by all these things is the life of your souls maintained and by each of these are you helped on your way

Oh think not believer that your sorrows are out of God's plan they are necessary parts of it. We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom. Learn then even to count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.

O let my trembling soul be still, and wait thy wise, thy holy will. I cannot, Lord, thy purpose see, yet all is well since ruled by thee.

Behold thou art fair my beloved. Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 16.

From every point our well-beloved is most fair. Our various experiences are meant by our Heavenly Father to furnish fresh standpoints from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus. How amiable are our trials when they carry us aloft where we may gain clearer views of Jesus than ordinary life could afford us.

We have seen him from the top of Amarna, from the top of Shania and Hermon and he has shone upon us as the sun in his strength. But we have seen him also from the lion's dens, from the mountains of the leopards, and he has lost none of his loveliness. From the languishing of a sickbed, from the borders of the grave, have we turned our eyes to our soul's spouse, and he has never been otherwise than all fair.

Many of his saints have looked upon him from the gloom of dungeons and from the red flames of the stake. Yet have they never uttered an ill word of him, but have died extolling his surpassing charms.

Oh, noble and pleasant employment to be forever gazing at our sweet Lord Jesus.

is it not unspeakably delightful to view the Savior in all his offices and to perceive him matchless in each to shift the kaleidoscope as it were and to find fresh combinations of peerless graces in the manger and in eternity on the cross and on his throne in the garden and in his kingdom among thieves or in the midst of cherubim

He is everywhere altogether lovely. Examine carefully every little act of his life and every trait of his character and he is as lovely in the minute as in the majestic. Judge him as you will, you cannot censure. Weigh him as you please and he will not be found wanting. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our beloved, but rather, as ages revolve, his hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendor, and his unutterable loveliness shall more and more ravish all celestial minds.

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Psalm 138 verse 8. Most manifestly, the confidence which the psalmist here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, I have grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me. My faith is so steady that it will not stagger. My love is so warm that it will never grow cold. My resolution is so firm that nothing can move it. No, his dependence was on the Lord alone.

If we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the rock of ages our confidence is worse than a dream. It will fall upon us and cover us with its ruins to our sorrow and confusion. All that nature spins time will unravel to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed therein. The psalmist was wise. He rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us. It is he who has carried it on. And if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost.

But this is our confidence. The Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done nor in what we have resolved to do but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates you will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart. You can never conquer sin. Remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you. You will be certainly allured by them and led astray. Ah yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair. But thanks be to God, he will perfect that which concerneth us and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in him alone and never too much concerned to have such a trust.

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 The word conversation does not merely mean our talk and converse with one another but the whole course of our life and behavior in the world. The Greek word signifies the actions and the privileges of citizenship and thus we are commanded to let our actions as citizens of the New Jerusalem be such as becometh the gospel of Christ.

What sort of conversation is this? In the first place, the gospel is very simple. So Christians should be simple and plain in their habits. There should be about our manner, our speech, our dress, our whole behavior, that simplicity which is the very soul of beauty. The gospel is pre-eminently true. It is gold without dross. And the Christian's life will be lusterless and valueless without the jewel of truth. The gospel is a very fearless gospel. It boldly proclaims the truth whether men like it or not. We must be equally faithful and unflinching. But the gospel is also very gentle. Mark this spirit in its founder. A bruised reed he will not break. Some professors are sharper than a thorn hedge. Such men are not like Jesus. Let us seek to win others by the gentleness of our words and acts.

The gospel is very loving. It is the message of the God of love to a lost and fallen race. Christ's last command to his disciples was love one another. Oh for more real hearty union and love to all the saints for more tender compassion towards the souls of the worst and vilest of men.

we must not forget that the gospel of Christ is holy. It never excuses sin, it pardons it, but only through an atonement. If our life is to resemble the gospel, we must shun not merely the gross of vices, but everything that would hinder our perfect conformity to Christ. for his sake for our own sakes and for the sakes of others we must strive day by day to let our conversation be more in accordance with his gospel

Forsake me not, O Lord. Psalm 38 verse 21

Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation. But we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. There is no moment of our life, however holy, in which we can do without his constant upholding. Whether in light, or in darkness, in communion, or in temptation, we alike need the prayer, forsake me not, O Lord.

Hold down the up and I shall be safe. A little child while learning to walk always needs the nurse's aid. The ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without continued aid from above. Let it then be your prayer today.

Forsake me not, Father. Forsake not thy child, lest he fall by the hand of the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety of the fold. Great husbandman, forsake not thy plant, lest it wither and die. Forsake me not, O Lord, now, and forsake me not at any moment of my life.

forsake me not in my joys lest they absorb my heart forsake me not in my sorrows lest I murmur against thee forsake me not in the day of my repentance lest I lose the hope of pardon and fall into despair and forsake me not in the day of my strongest faith lest faith degenerate into presumption forsake me not for without thee I am weak but with thee I am strong forsake me not for my path is dangerous and full of snares and i cannot do without thy guidance the hen forsakes not her brood do thou then evermore cover me with thy feathers and permit me under thy wings to find my refuge be not far from me oh lord for trouble is near for there is none to help leave me not neither forsake me oh god of my salvation oh ever in our cleansed breast with thine eternal spirit rest and make our secret soul to be a temple pure and worthy of thee

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Psalm 55 verse 22.

Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Savior again and again. It is reiterated by the apostles and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression.

For the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God and the thrusting of ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget. We labor to take upon ourselves our weary burden as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful.

Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counselor and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the broken system instead of to the fountain. A sin which was laid against Israel of all. Anxiety makes us doubt God's loving kindness and thus our love to him grows cold. We feel mistrust and thus grieve the Spirit of God so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus, want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him.

But if through simple faith in his promise we cast each burden as it comes upon him and are careful for nothing because he undertakes the care for us it will keep us close to him and strengthen us against much temptation.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. Continue in the faith. Acts chapter 14 verse 22.

Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon. He said conquest has made me what I am and conquest must maintain me. So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be Excelsior. He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continueth till war's trumpet is blown no more.

Perseverance is therefore the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage and settle down to buy and sell with her in vanity fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you and to prevent your pressing on to glory. It is weary work being a pilgrim. Come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare.

Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance. It will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service. He will insinuate that you're doing no good and that you want to rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering. He will whisper, curse God and die. Or he will attack your steadfastness. What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest. Sleep as do the others. Let your lamp go out as the other virgins do. Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments. Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal. They're removing the old landmarks. Fall in with the times.

Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by his Spirit you may endure to the end.

so Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem for he did eat continually at the king's table and was lame on both his feet 2nd Samuel chapter 9 verse 13

Mephibosheth was no great ornament to a royal table yet he had a continual place at David's board because the king could see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan Like Mephibosheth, we may cry unto the king of glory what is thy servant that thou should look upon such a dead dog as I am? But still the Lord indulges us with most familiar intercourse with himself because he sees in our countenances the remembrance of his dearly beloved Jesus.

The Lord's people are dear for another's sake. Such is the love which the father bears to his only begotten that for his sake he raises his lowly brethren from poverty and banishment to courtly companionship, noble rank and royal provision. Their deformity shall not rob them of their privileges. Lameness is no bar to sonship. The cripple is as much the heir as if he could run like Asahel. Our right does not limp, though our might may. A king's table is a noble hiding place for laying legs. And at the gospel feast we may learn to glory in infirmities because the power of Christ resteth upon us.

Yet grievous disability may mar the persons of the best-loved saints. Here is one feasted by David and yet so lame in both his feet that he could not go up with the king when he fled from the city and was therefore maligned and injured by his servant Ziba. Saints whose faith is weak and whose knowledge is slender are great losers. They are exposed to many enemies and cannot follow the king whithersoever he goeth. This disease frequently arises from falls. Bad nursing in their spiritual infancy often causes converts to fall into a despondency from which they never recover. And sin, in other cases, brings broken bones. Lord, help the lame to leap like a heart and satisfy all thy people with the bread of thy table.

What is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? 2 Samuel chapter 9 verse 8 If Mephibosheth was thus humbled by David's kindness what shall we be in the presence of our gracious Lord? The more grace we have the less we shall think of ourselves for grace like light reveals our impurity Eminent saints have scarcely known to what to compare themselves. Their sense of unworthiness has been so clear and keen. I am, says Holy Rutherford, a dry and withered branch, a piece of dead carcass, dry bones, and not able to step over a straw. In another place he writes, except as to open outbreakings, I want nothing of what Judas and Cain had. The meanest objects in nature appear to the humbled mind to have a preference above itself, because they have never contracted sin. A dog may be greedy, fierce, or filthy, but it has no conscience to violate, no Holy Spirit to resist. A dog may be a worthless animal and yet by a little kindness it is soon one to love its master and is faithful unto death.

But we forget the goodness of the Lord and follow not at his call. The term dead dog is the most expressive of all terms of contempt, but it is none too strong to express the self-abhorrence of instructed believers. They do not affect mock modesty, they mean what they say. They have weighed themselves in the balances of the sanctuary and found out the vanity of their nature. At best we are but clay, animated dust, mere walking hillocks. But viewed as sinners, we are monsters indeed. Let it be published in heaven as a wonder that the Lord Jesus should set his heart's love upon such as we are. dust and ashes though we be, we must and will magnify the exceeding greatness of his grace. Could not his heart find rest in heaven? Must he needs come to these tents of Cedar for a spouse and choose a bride upon whom the son had looked? Oh, heavens and earth, break forth into a song and give all glory to our sweet Lord Jesus.

Whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans chapter 8 verse 30 Here is a precious truth for the believer. Thou mayest be poor or in suffering or unknown but for thine encouragement take a review of thy calling and the consequences that flow from it and especially that blessed result he has spoken of. As surely as thou art God's child today, so surely shall all thy trials soon be at an end, and thou shalt be rich to all the intents of bliss.

Wait a while, and that weary head shall soon wear the crown of glory, and that hand of labor shall grasp the palm branch of victory. Lament not thy troubles. but rather rejoice that ere long thou wilt be where there shall be neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain the chariots of fire are at thy door and a moment will suffice to bear thee to the glorified the everlasting song is almost on thy lip the portals of heaven stand open for thee think not that thou canst fail of entering into rest If he hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from his love.

Distress cannot sever the bond. The fire of persecution cannot burn the link. The hammer of hell cannot break the chain. Thou art secure. That voice which called thee at first, shall call thee again from earth to heaven, from death's dark gloom to immortality's unuttered splendors. Rest assured, the heart of him who has justified thee beats with infinite love towards thee. thou shalt soon be with the glorified where thy portion is thou art only waiting here to be made meat for the inheritance and that done the wings of angels shall waft thee far away to the mount of peace and joy and blessedness where far from a world of grief and sin With God eternally shut in, thou shalt rest forever and ever.

Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. Joshua chapter 6 verse 26

Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho much more the man who labors to restore popery among us. In our father's days the gigantic walls of popery fell by the power of their faith the perseverance of their efforts and the blast of their gospel trumpets. And now there are some who would rebuild that accursed system upon its old foundation. O Lord, be pleased to thwart their unrighteous endeavors and pull down every stone which they build.

It should be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may have a tendency to foster the spirit of potpourri. and when we've made a clean sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad in the church and in the world this last can be done in secret by fervent prayer and in public by decided testimony We must warn with judicious boldness those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome. We must instruct the young in gospel truth and tell them of the black doings of potpourri in olden times. We must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land for priests like owls hate daylight.

Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of the priestcraft. What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the Pope's bane and poison? Are we casting abroad good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said the devil hates goose quills and doubtless he has good reason for ready writers by the Holy Spirit's blessing have done his kingdom much damage. if the thousands who will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the rebuilding of this accursed Jericho the Lord's glory shall speed among the sons of men reader what can you do? what will you do? Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines. Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 15

A little thorn may cause much suffering, a little cloud may hide the sun, little foxes spoil the vines, and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us.

A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, if he keep my commandments, he shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.

Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Savior's presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy father's face? What, thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without his company? Surely thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate when he has left her.

Ask then the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops. The rocks are made of grains. And the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins. And the rock which is well nigh erect thy bark may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. if thou would live with Christ and walk with Christ and see Christ and have fellowship with Christ take heed of the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes Jesus invites you to go with him and take them he will surely like Samson take the foxes at once and easily go with him to the hunting

That henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans chapter 6 verse 6

Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What, when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? O, be not so mad, so foolish!

Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler. Be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again.

It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness. Therefore, run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord.

Another thought should restrain thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply. They pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul. Therefore, be not the serf and bondman of sin.

There is yet a higher argument. each time you serve sin you have crucified the Lord afresh and put him to an open shame can you bear that thought? oh if you have fallen into any special sin during this day it may be my master has sent this admonition this evening to bring you back before you have backslidden very far Turn thee to Jesus anew. He has not forgotten his love to thee. His grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come thou to his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received into his heart. Thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be established.

who healeth all thy diseases Psalm 103 verse 3 humbling as is the statement yet the fact is certain that we are all more or less suffering under the disease of sin what a comfort to know that we have a great physician who is both able and willing to heal us let us think of him a while tonight

his cures are very speedy there's life in a look at him His cures are radical. He strikes at the center of the disease, and hence his cures are sure and certain. He never fails, and the disease never returns. There is no relapse where Christ heals, no fear that his patients would be merely patched up for a season. He makes new men of them. A new heart also does he give them, and a right spirit does he put within them.

He is well skilled in all diseases. Physicians generally have some speciality. Although they may know a little about almost all our pains and ills, there is usually one disease which they have studied above all others. But Jesus Christ is thoroughly acquainted with the whole of human nature. He is as much at home with one sinner as with another. and never yet did he meet with an out-of-the-way case that was difficult to him. He has had extraordinary complications of strange diseases to deal with but he has known exactly with one glance of his eye how to treat the patient.

He is the only universal doctor and the medicine he gives is the only true catholican healing in every instance. Whatever our spiritual malady may be, we should apply at once to this divine physician. There is no brokenness of heart which Jesus cannot bind up. His blood cleanseth us from all sin. We have but to think of the myriads who've been delivered from all sorts of diseases through the power and virtue of his touch and we shall joyfully put ourselves in his hands.

We trust him and sin dies. we love him and grace lives we wait for him and grace is strengthened we see him as he is and grace is perfected forever