Sin exceeding sinful. Romans chapter 7 verse 13. Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion the conscience is so tender that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas, very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world. The sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in afterlife, too pliant, too easily yielding.

It is sadly true that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous that the sin which once startled him does not alarm him in the least. By degrees men get familiar with sin. The ear in which the cannon has been booming will not notice slight sounds. At first a little sin startles us, but soon we say, is it not a little one? Then there comes another, larger, and then another, until by degrees we begin to regard sin as but a little ill, and then follows an unholy presumption. We have not fallen into open sin. True, we tripped a little, But we stood upright in the main. We may have uttered one unholy word, but as for the most of our conversation, it has been consistent.

So we palliate sin. We throw a cloak over it. We call it by dainty names. Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed, lest thou fall by little and little. Sin A little thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones, sin a little thing? It girded the Redeemer's head with thorns and pierced his heart. It made him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity you would fly from it as from a serpent and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Savior and you will see it to be exceeding sinful.

Man is of few days and full of trouble. Job chapter 14 verse 1. It may be of great service to us before we fall asleep to remember this mournful fact, for it may lead us to set loose by earthly things. There's nothing very pleasant in the recollection that we are not above the shafts of adversity. But it may humble us and prevent our boasting, like the psalmist in our morning's portion. My mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. It may stay us from taking too deep root in this soil from which we are so soon to be transplanted into the heavenly garden. Let us recollect the frail tenure upon which we hold our temporal mercies. If we would remember that all the trees of earth are marked for the woodman's axe, we should not be so ready to build our nests in them. We should love, but we should love with the love which expects death and which reckons upon separations.

Our dear relations are but loaned to us, and the hour when we must return them to the lender's hand may be even at the door. The like is certainly true of our worldly goods. Do not riches take to themselves wings and fly away? Our health is equally precarious. Frail flowers of the field we must not reckon upon blooming forever. There is a time appointed for weakness and sickness when we shall have to glorify God by suffering and not by earnest activity. There is no single point in which we can hope to escape from the sharp arrows of affliction. Out of our few days, there is not one secure from sorrow. Man's life is a cask full of bitter wine. He who looks for joy in it had better seek for honey in an ocean of brine. Beloved reader, Set not your affections upon things of earth, but seek those things which are above. For here the moth devoureth and the thief breaketh through, but there all joys are perpetual and eternal.

The path of trouble is the way home. Lord, make this thought a pillow for many a weary head. In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved. Psalm 30 verse 6 Moab settled on his lease. He had not been emptied from vessel to vessel. Give a man wealth. Let his ships bring home continually rich freights. Let the winds and waves appear to be his servants to bear his vessels across the bosom of the mighty deep. Let his lands yield abundantly. Let the weather be propitious to his crops. Let uninterrupted success attend him. Let him stand among men as a successful merchant. Let him enjoy continued health. Allow him, with braced nerve and brilliant eye, to march through the world and live happily. give him the buoyant spirit let him have the song perpetually on his lips let his eye be ever sparkling with joy and the natural consequence of such an easy state to any man let him be the best Christian who ever breathed will be presumption even David said I shall never be moved and we are not better than David nor half so good Brother, beware of the smooth places of the way, if you are treading them. Or if the way be rough, thank God for it.

If God should always rock us in the cradle of prosperity if we were always dandled on the knees of fortune if we had not some stain on the alabaster pillar or if there were not a few clouds in the sky if we had not some bitter drops in the wine of this life we should become intoxicated with pleasure we should dream we stand and stand we should but it would be upon a pinnacle like the man asleep upon the mast each moment we should be in jeopardy we bless God then for our afflictions we thank him for our changes we extol his name for losses of property for we feel that had he not chastened us thus we might have become too secure. Continued worldly prosperity is a fiery trial. Afflictions, though they seem severe, in mercy oft are sent.

Abide in me. John chapter 15 verse 4 Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill, whether it be the wormwood of woe or the cloying surfeit of earthly delight. Close fellowship with the Lord Jesus will take the bitterness from the one and satiety from the other. Live near to Jesus, Christian, and it is a matter of secondary importance whether thou livest on the mountain of honor or in the valley of humiliation. Living near to Jesus, thou art covered with the wings of God, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms. Let nothing keep thee from that hallowed intercourse, which is the choice privilege of a soul wedded to the well-beloved. Be not content with an interview now and then, but seek always to retain his company, for only in his presence hast thou either comfort or safety. Jesus should not be unto us a friend who calls upon us now and then, but one with whom we walk evermore.

Thou hast a difficult road before thee. See, O traveller to heaven, that thou go not without thy guide. Thou hast to pass through the fiery furnace. Enter it not, unless, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, thou hast the Son of God to be thy companion. Thou hast to storm the Jericho of thine own corruptions. Attempt not the warfare until, like Joshua, thou hast seen the captain of the Lord's host with his sword drawn in his hand. Thou art to meet the Esau of thy many temptations. Meet him not until at Jabbok's brook thou hast laid hold upon the angel and prevailed. In every case, in every condition, thou wilt need Jesus but most of all when the iron gates of death shall open to thee. Keep thou close to thy soul's husband. Lean thy head upon his bosom. Ask to be refreshed with the spiced wine of his pomegranate and thou shalt be found of him at the last without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. seeing thou hast lived with him and lived in him here thou shalt abide with him forever

She called his name Benoni, son of sorrow. But his father called him Benjamin, son of my right hand. Genesis chapter 35 verse 18 To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side. Rachel was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and death. Jacob, though weeping the mother's loss, could see the mercy of the child's birth. It is well for us if, while the flesh mourns over trials, our faith triumphs in divine faithfulness. Samson's lion yielded honey, and so will our adversities, if rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds multitudes with its fishes. The wild wood blooms with beauteous flowerets. The stormy wind sweeps away the pestilence, and the biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distill bright drops, and black earth grows gay flowers. A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil.

Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial. If there were only one slough in the world, they would soon be up to their necks in it, and if there were only one lion in the desert, they would hear it roar. About us all there is a tinge of this wretched folly. And we are apt at times, like Jacob, to cry, all these things are against me. Faith's way of walking is to cast all care upon the Lord and then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like Gideon's men, she does not fret over the broken picture but rejoices that the lamp blazes forth the more. Out of the rough oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts the rare pearl of honor. And from the deep ocean caves of distress she uplifts the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity ebbs, she finds treasures hid in the sands. And when her sun of delight goes down, she turns her telescope of hope to the starry promises of heaven. When death itself appears faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave. Thus making our dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin. We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts chapter 14 verse 22. God's people have their trials. It was never designed by God when he chose his people that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction. They were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them. But when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges he included chastisements amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot. They were predestinated for us in God's solemn decrees and bequeathed us in Christ's last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands and their orbits fixed by him, so surely are our trials allotted to us. He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. good men must never expect to escape troubles if they do they will be disappointed for none of their predecessors have been without them mark the patience of Job remember Abraham for he had his trials and by his faith under them he became the father of the faithful

Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy as the royal mark whereby the king's vessels of honor are distinguished.

But although tribulation is thus the path of God's children they have the comfort of knowing that their master has traversed it before them. They have his presence and sympathy to cheer them his grace to support them and his example to teach them how to endure. And when they reach the kingdom it will more than make amends for the much tribulation through which they passed to enter it.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118 verse 8

Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things which are seen instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to man for help and counsel and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon their God.

Does this evening's portion meet the eye of a child of God anxious about temporals? Then would we reason with him a while. You trust in Jesus and only in Jesus for your salvation. Then why are you troubled?

because of my great care. Is it not written, cast thy burden upon the Lord? Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make known your wants unto God.

Cannot you trust God for temporals? Ah, I wish I could. If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust him for spirituals? Can you trust him for your soul's redemption and not rely upon him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for thy need? Or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing? Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God. But if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon?

Christian, mix not only thy wine with water. Do not alloy thy gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait thou only upon God, and let thine expectation be from him. Covet not Jonah's good, but rest in Jonah's God. Let the sandy foundations of terrestrial trust be the choice of fools. But do thou, like one who foresees the storm build for thyself an abiding place upon the rock of ages. Have faith in God.

Mark chapter 11 verse 22

Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly but faith is the foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things. Without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor little faith could not have fought Apollyon. It needed Christian to do that. Poor little faith could not have slain giant despair. It required great heart's arm to knock that monster down. Little Faith will go to heaven most certainly but it often has to hide itself in a nutshell and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little Faith says it's a rough road beset with sharp thorns and full of dangers I'm afraid to go. But Great Faith remembers the promise. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, as thy days, so shall thy strength be. And so she boldly ventures. Little Faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood. But Great Faith sings. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. And she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then have faith in God. if you love darkness and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery then be content with little faith but if you love the sunshine and would sing songs of rejoicing covet earnestly this best gift great faith Before destruction the heart of man is haughty. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 12 It is an old and common saying that coming events cast their shadows before them. The wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather glass is the sign of rain, and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David's aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man's glory when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Samuel chapter 24 verse 10 see Nebuchadnezzar the mighty builder of Babylon creeping on the earth devouring grass like oxen until his nails had grown like birds claws and his hair like eagles feathers Daniel chapter 4 verse 33 pride made the boaster a beast as once before it made an angel a devil God hates high looks and never fails to bring them down. All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts. Oh Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the Christian's heart as well as into the sinner's. It can delude him into dreaming that he is rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing. Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the roots. Thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat, and thy self-sufficiency shall become a straw for the dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us smart under his rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer. The destruction of thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction, of thy soul wherefore he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord salvation is of the Lord Jonah chapter 2 verse 9 Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul dead in trespasses and sins. And it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both Alpha and Omega. Salvation is of the Lord. If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful. If I have graces, they are God's gifts to me. If I hold on in a consistent life, it is because he upholds me with his hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own. But when I act rightly, that is of God, holy and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's strength nerved my arm. Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself. God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements, sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I want, but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. He only is my rock and my salvation. Do I feed on the word? That word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ himself incarnate whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually receiving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help cometh from heaven's hills. Without Jesus I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit except it abide in the vine no more can I except I abide in him. What Jonah learned in the great deep let me learn this morning in my closet. Salvation is of the Lord. Take up the cross and follow me. Mark chapter 10 verse 21 You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making. Neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master. But your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it. You are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance or trample on it in vain glory or fall under it in despair or run away from it in fear. But take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross bearer he leads the way in the path of sorrow surely you could not desire a better guide and if he carried a cross what nobler burden would you desire The Via Crucis is the way of safety. Fear not to tread its thorny paths. Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers or lined with velvet. It is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders. But it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colors. It is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it. For the man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it that like Moses you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly. Remember that it will soon be followed by the crown and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere you fall asleep this night that waking with tomorrow's sun you may go forth to the day's cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the crucified. I will cause the shower to come down in his season there shall be showers of blessing Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 26 Here is sovereign mercy. I will give them the shower in its season. Is it not sovereign, divine mercy? For who can say, I will give them showers, except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds and bid them beget the rain. Who sendeth down the rain upon the earth? Who scattereth the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord, So grace is the gift of God and is not to be created by man. It is also needed grace. What would the ground do without showers? You may break the clods, you may sow your seeds, but what can you do without the rain? As absolutely needful is the divine blessing. In vain you labor until God the plenteous shower bestows and sends salvation down. Then it is plenteous grace. I will send them showers he does not say I will send them drops but showers so it is with grace if God gives a blessing he usually gives it in such a measure that there is not room enough to receive it plenteous grace ah we want Plenteous grace to keep us humble, to make us prayerful, to make us holy. Plenteous grace to make us zealous, to preserve us through this life, and at last to land us in heaven. We cannot do without saturating showers of grace. Again, it is seasonable grace. I will cause the shower to come down in his season. What is thy season this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. As thy days, so shall thy strength be. And here is a varied blessing. I will give thee showers of blessing. The word is in the plural all kinds of blessings God will send all God's blessings go together like links in a golden chain if he gives converting grace he will also give comforting grace he will send showers of blessing look up today Oh parched plant and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy upon Jerusalem? And the Lord answered the angel with good words and comfortable words. Zechariah chapter 1 verses 12 and 13. What a sweet answer to an anxious inquiry. This night, let us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for thee. Thy time of travail shall soon be over. Thy children shall be brought forth. Thy captivity shall end. Bear patiently the rod for a season, and under the darkness still trust in God, for his love burneth towards thee. God loves the church with a love too deep for human imagination. He loves her with all his infinite heart. Therefore, let her sons be of good courage. She cannot be far from prosperity to whom God speaketh good words and comfortable words. What these comfortable words are, the prophet goes on to tell us. I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. The Lord loves his church so much that he cannot bear that she should go astray to others. And when she has done so, he cannot bear that she should suffer too much or too heavily. He will not have his enemies afflict her. He is displeased with them because they increase her misery. When God seems most to leave his church his heart is warm towards her. History shows that whenever God uses a rod to chasten his servants he always breaks it afterwards as if he loathed the rod which gave his children pain. He feels the smart far more than his people. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. God hath not forgotten us because he smites. His blows are no evidences of want of love. If this is true of his church collectively, it is of necessity true also of each individual member. You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so. He who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting his own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made or the only saint he ever loved. Approach him and be at peace. The wrath to come. Matthew chapter 3 verse 7. It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself, to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon his Saviour's head. And if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of mercy. And Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible it is to witness the approach of a tempest, to note the four warnings of the storm, to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings, to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror, to discern the face of the sky as it groweth black, and look to the sun which shineth not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning. How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane such as occurs sometimes in the tropics. To wait in terrible apprehension till the wind shall rush forth in fury tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling places of man. And yet, sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have as yet fallen, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around you, but God's tempest is gathering its dread artillery. As yet, the water floods are dammed up by mercy, but the floodgates shall soon be opened. The thunderbolts of God are yet in his storehouse, but lo! the tempest hastens, and how awful shall that moment be when God, robed in vengeance, shall march forth in fury. Where, where, where, O sinner, wilt thou hide thy head, or whither wilt thou flee? Oh, that the hand of mercy may now lead you to Christ. He is freely set before you in the gospel. His riven side is the rock of shelter. Thou knowest thy need of him. Believe in him. Cast thyself upon him. And then the fury shall be overpassed forever. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa. Jonah chapter 1 verse 3 Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the word as God bade him Jonah disliked the work and went down to Joppa to escape from it. There are occasions when God's servants shrink from duty. But what is the consequence? What did Jonah lose by his conduct? He lost the presence and comfortable enjoyment of God's love. When we serve our Lord Jesus, as believers should do, our God is with us. And although we have the whole world against us, if we have God with us, what does it matter? But the moment we start back and seek our own inventions, we are at sea without a pilot. Then may we bitterly lament and groan, Oh my God, where hast thou gone? How could I have been so foolish as to shun thy service, and in this way to lose all the bright shinings of thy face? This is a price too high. Let me return to my allegiance, that I may rejoice in thy presence. In the next place, Jonah lost all peace of mind. Sin soon destroys a believer's comfort. It is the poisonous eupus tree from whose leaves distill deadly drops which destroy the life of joy and peace. Jonah lost everything upon which he might have drawn for comfort in any other case. He could not plead the promise of divine protection for he was not in God's ways. He could not say, Lord, I meet with these difficulties in the discharge of my duty. Therefore, help me through them. He was reaping his own deeds. He was filled with his own ways. Christian, do not play for Jonah unless you wish to have all the waves and billows rolling over your head. You will find in the long run that it is far harder to shun the work and will of God than to at once yield yourself to it. Jonah lost his time for he had to go to Nineveh after all. It is hard to contend with God. Let us yield ourselves at once. With loving kindness have I drawn thee Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 3 The thunders of the law and the terrors of judgment are all used to bring us to Christ. But the final victory is affected by loving kindness. The prodigal set out to his father's house from a sense of need, but his father saw him a great way off and ran to meet him. so that the last steps he took towards his father's house were with the kiss still warm upon his cheek and the welcome still musical in his ears. Lore and terrors do but harden all the while they work alone but a sense of blood-bought pardon will dissolve a heart of stone. The master came one night to the door and knocked with the iron hand of the law. The door shook and trembled upon its hinges, but the man piled every piece of furniture which he could find against the door, for he said, I will not admit the man. The master turned away but by and by he came back and with his own soft hand using most that part where the nail had penetrated he knocked again oh so softly and tenderly. This time the door did not shake but strange to say it opened and there upon his knees the once unwilling host was found rejoicing to receive his guest. Come in, come in, thou hast so knocked that my bowels are moved for thee. I could not think of thy pierced hand leaving its blood mark on my door, and of thy going away houseless, thy head filled with dew, and thy locks with the drops of the night. I yield, I yield, thy love has won my heart. So in every case, loving kindness wins the day. What Moses with the tablets of stone could never do, Christ does with his pierced hand. Such is the doctrine of effectual calling. Do I understand it experimentally? Can I say, he drew me and I followed on, glad to confess the voice divine? if so may he continue to draw me till at last i shall sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 8. The Apostle Paul felt it a great privilege to be allowed to preach the gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a drudgery, but he entered upon it with intense delight. Yet while Paul was thus thankful for his office, his success in it greatly humbled him. The fuller a vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond conceit of their abilities because they are untried, but the earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility try hard work. If you would know your nothingness attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ and you will know as you never knew before what a weak unworthy thing you are.

Although the Apostle thus knew and confessed his weakness, he was never perplexed as to the subject of his ministry. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached Christ and nothing but Christ. He lifted up the cross and extolled the Son of God who bled thereon. Follow his example in all your personal efforts to spread the glad tidings of salvation. And let Christ and him crucified be your ever-recurring theme.

The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers which, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups as if saying, fill us with thy beams. But when the sun is hidden behind a cloud They close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus. Jesus must be his son, and he must be the flower which yields itself to the son of righteousness.

Oh, to speak of Christ alone! This is the subject which is both seed for the sower and bread for the eater. This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker and the master key to the heart of the hearer.

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah chapter 48 verse 10.

Comfort thyself, tried believer, with this thought. God saith, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Does not the word come like a soft shower assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an abestos armor against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come. God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door, but God is in the house already, and he has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude, but I have a balsam ready. God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this veil of tears, I know that he has chosen me.

If, believer, thou requires still greater comfort, remember that you have the Son of Man with you in the furnace. In that silent chamber of yours, there sitteth by your side one whom thou hast not seen, but whom thou lovest. And oft times, when thou knowest it not, he makes all thy bed in thy affliction, and smooths thy pillow for thee. Thou art in poverty. But in that lovely house of thine, the Lord of life and glory is a frequent visitor. He loves to come into these desolate places that he may visit thee. Thy friend sticks closely to thee. Thou canst not see him, but thou mayest feel the pressure of his hands. does thou not hear his voice even in the valley of the shadow of death he says fear not I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God remember that noble speech of Caesar fear not thou carriest Caesar and all his fortune Fear not, Christian, Jesus is with thee.

In all thy fiery trials, his presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom he has chosen for his own. Fear not, for I am with thee, is his sure word of promise to his chosen ones in the furnace of affliction. Wilt thou not then take fast hold of Christ and say through floods and flames if Jesus lead I'll follow where he goes?

He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. Matthew chapter 3 verse 16

As the Spirit of God descended upon the Lord Jesus, the head, so he also, in measure, descends upon the members of the mystical body. His descent is to us after the same fashion as that in which it fell upon our Lord. There is often a singular rapidity about it. Wherever we are aware, we are impelled onward and heavenward beyond all expectation. Yet is there none of the hurry of earthly haste, for the wings of the dove are as soft as they are swift.

Quietness seems essential to many spiritual operations. The Lord is in the still small voice, and like the dew, his grace is distilled in silence. The dove has ever been the chosen type of purity, and the Holy Spirit is holiness itself. Where he cometh, everything that is pure and lovely and of good report is made to abound, and sin and uncleanness depart.

Peace reigns also where the holy dove comes with power. He bears the olive branch which shows that the waters of divine wrath are assuaged. Gentleness is a sure result of the sacred dove's transforming power. Hearts touched by his benign influence are meek and lowly henceforth and forever. Harmlessness follows as a matter of course. Eagles and ravens may hunt their prey. The turtle dove can endure wrong but cannot inflict it. We must be harmless as doves.

The dove is an apt picture of love. The voice of the turtle is full of affection. And so the soul visited by the blessed spirit abounds in love to God in love to the brethren and in love to sinners. and above all, in love to Jesus. The brooding of the Spirit of God upon the face of the deep first produced order and life, and in our hearts He causes and fosters new life and light. Blessed Spirit, as Thou didst rest upon our dear Redeemer, Even so rest upon us from this time forward and forever.

My grace is sufficient for thee. 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9

If none of God's saints were poor and tried we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When we find the wanderer who has nowhere to lay his head who yet can say, still will I trust in the Lord. When we see the pauper starving on bread and water who still glories in Jesus. When we see the bereaved widow overwhelmed in affliction and yet having faith in Christ Oh, what honor it reflects on the gospel! God's grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers.

Saints bear up under every discouragement believing that all things work together for their good and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily or most assuredly support them in the trouble as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.

there is a lighthouse out at sea it is a calm night I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm the tempest must rage about it and then I shall know whether it will stand so with the spirits work If it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters we should not know that it was true and strong. If the winds did not blow upon it we would not know how firm and secure it was. The master works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties. Steadfast, unmovable, calm amid the bewildering cry, confident of victory.

He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord, unless his conflicts be many. If then yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it. Because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it. Hate the thought that God, who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. Psalm 36 verse 8

Sheba's queen was amazed at the sumptuousness of Solomon's table. She lost all heart when she saw the provision of a single day. And she marveled equally at the company of servants who were feasted at the royal board. But what is this to the hospitalities of the God of Grace? Ten thousand thousand of his people are daily fed, hungry and thirsty. They bring large appetites with them to the banquet. But not one of them returns unsatisfied. There is enough for each, enough for all, enough for evermore. Though the host that feed at Jehovah's table is countless as the stars of heaven, yet each one has his portion of meat.

Think how much grace one saint requires. So much that nothing but the infinite could supply him for one day. And yet the Lord spreads his table not for one, but for many saints. Not for one day, but for many years. Not for many years only, but for generation after generation. Observe the full feasting spoken of in the text. The guests at Mercy's banquet are satisfied, nay, more abundantly satisfied, and that not with ordinary fare, but with fatness, the peculiar fatness of God's own house. And such feasting is guaranteed by a faithful promise to all those children of men who put their trust under the shadow of Jehovah's wings.

I once thought if I might but get the broken meat at God's back door of grace I should be satisfied like the woman who said the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table. But no child of God is ever served with scraps and leavings. Like Mephibosheth, they all eat from the king's own table. In matters of grace, we all have Benjamin's mess. We all have ten times more than we could have expected. And though our necessities are great, yet are we often amazed at the marvelous plenty of grace which God gives us, experimentally, to enjoy.

let us not sleep as do others first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 6

There are many ways of promoting Christian wakefulness. Among the rest, let me strongly advise Christians to converse together concerning the ways of the Lord. Christian and Hopeful, as they journeyed towards the Celestial City, said to themselves, To prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse. Christian inquired, Brother, where shall we begin? And Hopeful answered, Where God began with us. Then Christian sang this song.

When saints do sleepy grow, let them come hither and hear how these two pilgrims talk together. Yea, let them learn of them in any wise, thus to keep open their drowsy, slumbering eyes. Saints' fellowship, if it be managed well, keeps them awake, and that in spite of hell.

Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone are very liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company and you will be kept wakeful by it and refreshed and encouraged to make quicker progress in the road to heaven. But, as you thus take sweet counsel with others in the ways of God, take care that the theme of your converse is the Lord Jesus. Let the eye of faith be constantly looking unto him. Let your heart be full of him. Let your lips speak of his worth. Friend, live near to the cross, and thou wilt not sleep. Labor to impress thyself with a deep sense of the value of the place to which thou art going. If thou rememberest that thou art going to heaven, thou wilt not sleep on the road. If thou thinkest that hell is behind thee, and the devil pursuing thee, thou wilt not loiter. Would the manslayer sleep with the avenger of blood behind him, and the city of refuge before him? Christian wilt thou sleep whilst the pearly gates are open the songs of angels waiting for thee to join them a crown of gold ready for thy brow ah no in holy fellowship continue to watch and pray that he enter not into temptation

thou shalt be called sought out Isaiah chapter 62 verse 12 the surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought but sought out men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house but in such a case there is only seeking not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and the search more persevering when a thing is sought out.

We were mingled with the mire. We were as when some precious piece of gold falls into the sewer, and men gather out and carefully inspect a mass of abominable filth, and continue to stir and rake and search among the heap. until the treasure is found. Or, to use another figure, we were lost in a labyrinth. We wandered hither and thither. And when mercy came after us with the gospel, it did not find us at the first coming. It had to search for us and seek us out. For we, as lost sheep were so desperately lost and had wandered into such a strange country that it did not seem possible that even the good shepherd should track our devious roamings.

Glory be to the unconquerable grace! We were sought out. No gloom could hide us. No filthiness could conceal us. We were found and brought home. Glory be to infinite love! God the Holy Spirit restored us.

The lives of some of God's people if they could be written would fill us with holy astonishment. Strange and marvelous are the ways which God used in their case to find his own. Blessed be his name, he never relinquishes the search until the chosen are sought out effectually. They are not a people sought today and cast away tomorrow. All mightiness and wisdom combined will make no failures.

They shall be called sought out. That any should be sought out is matchless grace, but that we should be sought out is grace beyond degree. We can find no reason for it, but God's own sovereign love and can only lift up our hearts in wonder and praise the Lord that this night we wear the name of sought out