The kindness and love of God our Savior. Titus chapter 3 verse 4. How sweet it is to behold the Savior communing with his own beloved people. There can be nothing more delightful than by the divine spirit to be led into this fertile field of delight. Let the mind for an instant consider the history of the Redeemer's love, and a thousand enchanting acts of affection will suggest themselves, all of which have had for their design the weaving of the heart into Christ, and the intertwisting of the thoughts and emotions of the renewed soul with the mind of Jesus. When we meditate upon this amazing love, and behold the all-glorious kinsman of the Church, endowing her with all his ancient wealth, our souls may well faint for joy. Who is he that can endure such a weight of love? That partial sense of it, which the Holy Spirit is sometimes pleased to afford, is more than the soul can contain. how transporting must be a complete view of it. When the soul shall have understanding to discern all the Saviour's gifts, wisdom wherewith to estimate them, and time in which to meditate upon them, such as the world to come will afford us. We shall then commune with Jesus in a nearer manner than at present. But who can imagine the sweetness of such fellowship? It must be one of the things which have not entered into the heart of man but which God hath prepared for them that love him. Oh, to burst open the door of our Joseph's granaries and see the plenty which he hath stored up for us! This will overwhelm us with love. By faith we see, as in a glass, darkly, the reflected image of his unbounded treasures. but when we shall actually see the heavenly things themselves with our own eyes how deep will be the stream of fellowship in which our soul shall bathe itself till then our loudest sonnets shall be reserved for our loving benefactor Jesus Christ our Lord whose love to us is wonderful passing the love of women He will make her wilderness like Eden. Isaiah chapter 51 verse 3 Methinks I see in vision a howling wilderness, a great and terrible desert, like to the Sahara. I perceive nothing in it to relieve the eye. All around I am wearied with a vision of hot and arid sand, strewn with ten thousand bleaching skeletons of wretched men who have expired in anguish, having lost their way in the pitiless waste. What an appalling sight, how horrible, a sea of sand without a bound and without an oasis, a cheerless graveyard for a race forlorn. but behold and wonder. Upon a sudden upspringing from the scorching sand, I see a plant of renown. And as it grows, it buds. The bud expands. It is a rose. And at its side, a lily bows its modest head. And miracle of miracles, as the fragrance of those flowers is diffused, the wilderness is transformed into a fruitful field. and all around it blossoms exceedingly. The glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. Call it not Sahara, call it paradise. speak not of it any longer as the valley of death shade for where the skeletons lay bleaching in the sun behold a resurrection is proclaimed and up spring the dead a mighty army full of life immortal Jesus is that plant of renown and his presence makes all things new nor is the wonder less in each individual's salvation Yonder, I behold you, dear reader, cast out, an infant, unswathed, unwashed, defiled with your own blood, left to be food for beasts of prey. But lo, a jewel has been thrown into your bosom by a divine hand. and for its sake you have been pitied and tended by divine providence. You are washed and cleansed from your defilement. You are adopted into heaven's family. The fair seal of love is upon your forehead and the ring of faithfulness is on your hand. You are now a prince unto God, though once an orphan cast away. Oh, prize exceedingly the matchless power and grace which changes deserts into gardens and makes the barren heart to sing for joy. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. Galatians chapter 5 verse 17 In every believer's heart, there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. The old nature is very active and loses no opportunity of plying all the weapons of its deadly armory against newborn grace. While on the other hand, the new nature is ever on the watch to resist and destroy its enemy. The grace within us will employ prayer and faith and hope and love to cast out the evil. It takes unto it the whole armor of God and wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never cease to struggle so long as we are in this world. The battle of Christian with Apollyon lasted three hours but the battle of Christian with himself lasted all the way from the Wicked Gate to the River Jordan. The enemy is so securely entrenched within us that he can never be driven out while we are in this body. But although we are closely beset and often in sore conflict we have an almighty helper, even Jesus, the captain of our salvation who is ever with us and who assures us that we shall eventually come off more than conquerors through him. With such assistance, the newborn nature is more than a match for its foes. Are you fighting with the adversary today? Are Satan, the world, and the flesh all against you? Be not discouraged nor dismayed. Fight on, for God himself is with you. Jehovah-Nissi is your banner, and Jehovah-Rophi is the healer of your wounds. Fear not, you shall overcome, for who can defeat omnipotence? Fight on, looking unto Jesus. And though long and stern be the conflict, sweet will be the victory, and glorious the promised reward. From strength to strength, go on, wrestle and fight and pray, tread all the powers of darkness down, and win the well-fought day. These were potters and those that dwelt among plants and hedges there they dwelt with the king for his work 1st Chronicles chapter 4 verse 23 Potters were the very highest grade of workers. But the king needed potters, and therefore they were in royal service, although the material upon which they worked was nothing but clay. We too may be engaged in the most menial part of the Lord's work, but it is a great privilege to do anything for the king. And therefore we will abide in our calling, hoping that although we have lion among the pots, yet shall we be as the wings of a dove, covered with silver, and have feathers with yellow gold. The text tells us of those who dwelt among plants and hedges having rough, rustic hedging and ditching work to do. They may have desired to live in the city amid its life, society, and refinement but they kept their appointed places for they also were doing the king's work. The place of our habitation is fixed and we are not to remove from it out of whim and caprice but seek to serve the Lord in it by being a blessing to those among whom we reside. These potters and gardeners had royal company for they dwelt with the king and although among hedges and plants they dwelt with the king there No lawful place or gracious occupation, however mean, can debar us from communion with our divine Lord. In visiting hovels, swarming lodging houses, workhouses, or jails, we may go with the King. In all works of faith, we may count upon Jesus' fellowship. It is when we are in his work that we may reckon upon his smile. ye unknown workers who are occupied for your lord amid the dirt and wretchedness of the lowest of the low be of good cheer for jewels have been found upon dunghills ere now earthen pots have been filled with heavenly treasure and ill weeds have been transformed into precious flowers dwell ye with the king for his work and when he writes his chronicles your name shall be recorded. He humbled himself Philippians chapter 2 verse 8 Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need daily to learn of him. See the master taking a towel and washing his disciples' feet. Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See him as the servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud. Is not this sentence the compendium of his biography? He humbled himself. Was he not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honor and then another, till naked he was fastened to the cross? And there did he not empty out his inmost self, pouring out his lifeblood, giving up for all of us, till they laid him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed. see the thorn crown mark his scourged shoulders still gushing within crimson grills see hands and feet given up to the rough iron and his whole self to mockery and scorn see the bitterness and the pangs and the throes of inward grief showing themselves in his outward frame hear the thrilling shriek my god my god why hast thou forsaken me And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross you have never seen it. If you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus you do not know him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God's only begotten. Think of that. And as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at his feet. A sense of Christ's amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. may the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him pride cannot live beneath the cross let us sit there and learn our lesson and then rise and carry it into practice The Lord shut him in. Genesis chapter 7 verse 16. Noah was shut in away from all the world by the hand of divine love. The door of electing purpose interposes between us and the world which lieth in the wicked one. We are not of the world even as our Lord Jesus was not of the world. Into the sin, the gaiety, the pursuits of the multitude we cannot enter. We cannot play in the streets of a vanity fair with the children of darkness for our Heavenly Father has shut us in. Noah was shut in with his God. Come thou into the ark was the Lord's invitation by which he clearly showed that he himself intended to dwell in the ark with his servant and his family. Thus all the chosen dwell in God and God in them. Happy people to be enclosed in the same circle which contains God in the Trinity of his persons, Father, Son and Spirit. Let us never be inattentive to that gracious call. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee and hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed. Noah was so shut in that no evil could reach him. Floods did but lift him heavenward, and winds did but waft him on his way. Outside of the ark all was ruin, but inside all was rest and peace. Without Christ we perish, but in Christ there is perfect safety. Noah was so shut in that he could not even desire to come out and those who are in Christ Jesus are in him forever they shall go no more out forever for eternal faithfulness has shut them in and infernal malice cannot drag them out the prince of the house of David shutteth and no man openeth and when once in the last days as master of the house he shall rise up and shut the door it will be in vain for mere professors to knock and cry Lord Lord open unto us for that same door which shuts in the wise virgins will shut out the foolish forever Lord shut me in by thy grace Behold, I am vile. Job chapter 40 verse 4 One cheering word, poor lost sinner, for thee. You think you must not come to God because you are vile? Now there is not a saint living on earth, but has been made to feel that he is vile. If Job and Isaiah and Paul were all obliged to say, I am vile, O poor sinner, wilt thou be ashamed to join in the same confession? If divine grace does not eradicate all sin from the believer, how dost thou hope to do it thyself? And if God loves his people while they are yet vile, dost thou think thy vileness will prevent his loving thee? Believe on Jesus, thou outcast of the world's society. Jesus calls thee, and such as thou art. Not the righteous, not the righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. Even now say, thou hast died for sinners. I am a sinner, Lord Jesus. Sprinkle thy blood on me. if thou would confess thy sin thou shalt find pardon if now with all thy heart thou wilt say I am vile wash me thou shalt be washed now if the Holy Spirit shall enable thee from thy heart to cry just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee O Lamb of God I come thou shalt rise from reading this morning's portion with all thy sins pardoned and though thou didst wake this morning with every sin that man hath ever committed on thy head thou shalt rest tonight accepted in the beloved though once degraded with the rags of sin thou shalt be adorned with a robe of righteousness and appear white as the angels are for now market now is the accepted time if thou believest on him who justified the ungodly thou are saved Oh, may the Holy Spirit give thee saving faith in him who receives the vilest. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. Psalm 97 verse 10. Thou hast good reason to hate evil, for only consider what harm it has already wrought thee. Oh, what a world of mischief sin has brought into thy heart! Sin blinded thee, so that thou couldst not see the beauty of the Savior. It made thee deaf, so that thou couldst not hear the Redeemer's tender invitations. Sin turned thy feet into the way of death, and poured poison into the very fountain of thy being. It tainted thy heart, and made it deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Oh, what a creature thou wast, when evil had done its utmost with thee, before divine grace interposed. Thou wast an heir of wrath, even as others. Thou didst run with the multitude to do evil. Such were all of us, but Paul reminds us, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

We have good reason indeed for hating evil when we look back and trace its deadly workings. Such mischief did evil do to us that our souls would have been lost had not omnipotent love interfered to redeem us. Even now it is an active enemy, ever watching to do us hurt and to drag us to perdition.

Therefore, hate evil, O Christians, unless you desire trouble. If you would strew your path with thorns and plant nettles in your death pillow, then neglect to hate evil. But if you would live a happy life and die a peaceful death, then walk in all the ways of holiness, hating evil, even unto the end. If you truly love your Savior and would honor Him, then hate evil.

We know of no cure for the love of evil in a Christian like abundant intercourse with the Lord Jesus. Dwell much with him, and it is impossible for you to be at peace with sin. Order my footsteps by thy word, and make my heart sincere. Let sin have no dominion, Lord, but keep my conscience clear.

Be zealous, Revelation chapter 3 verse 19. If you would see souls converted, if you would hear the cry that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, if you would place crowns upon the head of the Savior and his throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For under God, the way of the world's conversion must be by the zeal of the church. Every grace shall do exploits, but this shall be first. Prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will follow in their places, but zeal must lead the van.

It is not the extent of your knowledge, though that is useful. It is not the extent of your talent, though that is not to be despised. It is your zeal that shall do great exploits. This zeal is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It draws its vital force from the continued operations of the Holy Ghost in the soul. If our inner life dwindles, if our heart beats slowly before God, we shall not know zeal. But if all be strong and vigorous within then we cannot but feel a loving anxiety to see the kingdom of Christ come and his will done on earth even as it is in heaven.

A deep sense of gratitude will nourish Christian zeal. Looking to the hole of the pit whence we were digged, we find abundant reason why we should spend and be spent for God. And zeal is also stimulated by the thought of the eternal future. It looks with tearful eyes down to the flames of hell, and it cannot slumber. It looks up with anxious gaze to the glories of heaven, and it cannot but bestir itself. It feels that time is short compared with the work to be done, and therefore it devotes all that it has to the cause of its Lord.

And it is ever strengthened by the remembrance of Christ's example. He was clothed with zeal as with a cloak. how swift the chariot wheels of duty went with him he knew no loitering by the way let us prove that we are his disciples by manifesting the same spirit of zeal

The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Psalm 126 verse 3. Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything and to dwell more upon what they've gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state will come forward joyously and say, I will speak not about myself, but to the honor of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad.

Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Savior who overcomes these corruptions and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the slough of despond and have crept along the valley of humiliation. But it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably. We have not remained in them thanks to our almighty helper and leader who has brought us out into a wealthy place

The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God who has led us through all and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise. We reckon them to be the base part of our life's song. He has done great things for us, whereof we are glad. We live unto the Lord Romans chapter 14 verse 8

If God had willed it each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion it was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should tarry here It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven and to be found meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light though he has but just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process and we shall not be perfected till we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil. but nevertheless had the Lord so willed it he might have changed us from imperfection to perfection and have taken us to heaven at once.

Why then are we here? Would God keep his children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battlefield when one charge might give them the victory? Why are his children still wandering hither and thither through a maze when a solitary word from his lips would bring them into the center of their hopes in heaven? The answer is they are here that they may live unto the Lord and may bring others to know his love.

We remain on earth as sowers to scatter good seed, as plowmen to break up the fallow ground, as heralds publishing salvation. We are here as the salt of the earth to be a blessing to the world. We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for him and as workers together with him. let us see that our life answereth its end let us live earnest useful holy lives to the praise of the glory of his grace meanwhile

We long to be with him and daily sing. My heart is with him on his throne and ill can brook delay. Each moment listening for the voice rise up and come away. We love him because he first loved us. 1 John chapter 4 verse 19

There is no light in the planet but that which proceedeth from the sun. And there is no true love to Jesus in the heart but that which cometh from the Lord Jesus himself. From this overflowing fountain of the infinite love of God all our love to God must spring. This must ever be a great and certain truth that we love him for no other reason than because he first loved us. Our love to him is the fair offspring of his love to us.

Cold admiration when studying the works of God anyone may have. But the warmth of love can only be kindled in the heart by God's spirit. How great the wonder that such as we should ever have been brought to love Jesus at all. How marvelous that when we had rebelled against him he should by a display of such amazing love seek to draw us back. No, never should we have had a grain of love towards God unless it had been sown in us by the sweet seed of his love to us.

Love then has for its parent the love of God shed abroad in the heart. But after it is thus divinely born it must be divinely nourished. Love is an exotic. It is not a plant which will flourish naturally in human soil. It must be watered from above. Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature and if it received no nourishment but that which could be drawn from the rock of our hearts it would soon wither. As love comes from heaven so it must feed on heavenly bread. It cannot exist in the wilderness unless it be fed by manna from on high.

Love must feed on love. the very soul and life of our love to God is his love to us I love thee Lord but with no love of mine for I have none to give I love thee, Lord, but all the love is thine, for by thy love I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee.

Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling? 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 9.

The Apostle uses the perfect tense and says, Who hath saved us? Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They're not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now.

The Christian is perfectly saved in God's purpose. God has ordained him unto salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the price which has been paid for him. It is finished was the cry of the Savior ere he died. The believer is also perfectly saved in his covenant head. For as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ.

This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Savior saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness. They leave their sins. They endeavor to be like Christ. They choose holiness not out of any compulsion but from the stress of a new nature which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as a foretime they delighted in sin.

God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy. But he called them that they might be holy. And holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them. The excellencies which we see in a believer are as much the work of God as the atonement itself. Thus is brought out very sweetly the fullness of the grace of God.

Salvation must be of grace because the Lord is the author of it. And what motive but grace could move him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is forever excluded. Such is the believer's privilege. A present salvation. Such is the evidence that he is called to it. A holy life.

Oh my God, be not far from me. Psalm 38 verse 21

Here we have two great lessons. What to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity. He finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot.

I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him. For she said, I fear that this is the only world in which he will be happy. And therefore, I've made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.

Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit. But how deeply do they fall who look down? Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful and his God is far from him.

Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ. But he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness and communion with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God becomes spiritually starved and endeavors to feed on vanities that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his master's service but the battle is generally short. he who slips as he goes down into the valley of humiliation every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him oh for grace to walk humbly with our God

Delight thyself also in the Lord. Psalm 37 verse 4

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness. But to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God. And we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing. To them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men that no two words in their language stand further apart than holiness and delight.

But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that his ways are ways of pleasantness and all his paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessedness do the saints discover in their Lord that so far from serving him from custom they would follow him though all the world cast out his name as evil.

We fear not God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no fetter. Our profession is no bondage. We are not dragged to holiness nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure. Our hope is our happiness. Our duty is our delight. Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower. As indivisible as truth and certainty. They are in fact two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

"'Tis when we taste thy love, our joys divinely grow, unspeakable like those above, and heaven begins below."

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, because we have sinned against thee. Daniel chapter 9 verse 8

A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas, that it should be so. Favored as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful. Privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past? As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten. But since then, though we have not sinned before, yet we have sinned against light and against love. Light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced.

Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's own elect ones who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus' bosom. Look at David. Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you, look at his repentance and hear his broken bones as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession. Mark his tears as they fall upon the ground and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp. We have erred. Let us therefore seek the spirit of penitence.

Look again at Peter. We speak much of Peter's denying his master. Remember it is written, he wept bitterly. Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas, these sins of ours before and after conversion would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire, if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning.

My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee, the mercy which spares thee, the love which pardons thee. He openeth and no man shutteth. Revelation chapter 3 verse 7

Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise. And before every believing soul he setteth an open door which no man or devil shall be able to close against it. What joy it will be to find that faith in him is the golden key to the everlasting doors. My soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom? Or art thou trusting to some deceitful picklock which will fail thee at last?

Hear this parable of the preacher and remember it. The great king has made a banquet and he has proclaimed to all the world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the fairest flower that blooms. The spirits of men advance to the gate by thousands and they bring each one the flower which he esteems the queen of the garden. But in crowds they are driven from the royal presence and enter not into the festive halls. Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition, or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self-righteousness, but these are not dear to the king. The bearers are shut out of the pearly gates. My soul, hast thou gathered the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of heaven, thou wilt know its value. For thou hast only to show this choicest of flowers, and the porter will open. Not for a moment will he deny thee admission, for to that rose the porter openeth.

ever thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy hand up to the throne of God himself for heaven itself possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty And of all the flowers that bloom in paradise, there is none that can rival the lily of the valley. My soul, get Calvary's blood-red rose into thy hand by faith. By love, wear it. By communion, preserve it. By daily watchfulness, make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be blessed beyond all bliss. happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine forever, my God, my heaven, my all.

The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27 verse 1

The Lord is my light and my salvation. Here is personal interest, my light, my salvation. The soul is assured of it and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation. Where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus there is no evidence of salvation. After conversion, our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light. He is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us.

Note It is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but that he is light. Nor that he gives salvation, but that he is salvation. He then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his possession. This being made sure as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in the form of a question. Whom shall I fear? A question which is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord our light destroys them. And the damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our salvation.

This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath. For it rests not upon the conceited vigor of an arm of flesh, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. The Lord is the strength of my life. Here is a third glowing epithet to show that the writer's hope was fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace. Our life derives all its strength from God. And if he deigns to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary. Of whom shall I be afraid? The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. If God be for us, who can be against us, either now or in time to come?

Help, Lord. Psalm 12 verse 1. The prayer itself is remarkable, for it is short but seasonable, sententious and suggestive. David mourned the fewness of faithful men, and therefore lifted up his heart in supplication. When the creature failed, he flew to the Creator. He evidently felt his own weakness, or he would not have cried for help. But at the same time, he intended honestly to exert himself for the cause of truth. For the word help is inapplicable where we ourselves do nothing.

There is much of directness, clearness of perception and distinctness of utterance in the petition of two words. Much more indeed than in the long rambling outpourings of certain professors. The psalmist runs straight forward to his God with a well-considered prayer. He knows what he is seeking and where to seek it. Lord, teach us to pray in the same blessed manner.

The occasions for the use of this prayer are frequent. In providential afflictions, how suitable it is for tried believers who find all helpers failing them. Students in doctrinal difficulties may often obtain aid by lifting up this cry of, Help, Lord, to the Holy Spirit, the Great Teacher. Spiritual warriors in inward conflicts may send to the throne for reinforcements and this will be a model for their request. Workers in heavenly labor may thus obtain grace in time of need. seeking sinners, in doubts and alarms, may offer up the same weighty supplication. In fact, in all these cases, times, and places, this will serve the turn of needy souls. Help, Lord, will suit us living and dying, suffering or laboring, rejoicing or sorrowing. In Him, our help is found. Let us not be slack to cry to him.

The answer to the prayer is certain if it be sincerely offered through Jesus. The Lord's character assures us that he will not leave his people. His relationship as father and husband guarantee us his aid. His gift of Jesus is a pledge of every good thing. and his sure promise stands fear not I will help thee I am coming to my garden my sister my spouse Song of Solomon chapter 5 verse 1

The heart of the believer is Christ's garden. He bought it with his precious blood, and he enters it and claims it as his own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open common. It is not a wilderness. It is walled around or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. it makes one sad to hear Christians saying well there's no harm in this there's no harm in that thus getting as near to the world as possible Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in worldly conformity.

A garden is a place of beauty. It far surpasses the wild, uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in this life than the best moralist because Christ's garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ's deservings. Let us not put him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own.

The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid, where Jesus is the husbandman and the Holy Spirit the dew from above.

A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself as he doth not unto the world. Oh that Christians were more retired that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ. we often worry and trouble ourselves like Martha with much serving so that we've not the room for Christ that Mary had and do not sit at his feet as we should

the Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day my beloved is mine and I am his he feedeth among them lilies until the daybreak and the shadows flee away turn my beloved and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains of bither song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 16 and 17

Surely if there be a happy verse in the Bible, it is this, my beloved is mine, and I am his. So peaceful, so full of assurance, so overrunning with happiness and contentment is it that it might well have been written by the same hand which penned the 23rd Psalm.

Yet, though the prospect is exceeding fair and lovely, earth cannot show its superior. It is not entirely a sunlit landscape. There is a cloud in the sky which casts a shadow over the scene. Listen until the daybreak and the shadows flee away. There is a word, too, about the mountains of Bitha, or the mountains of division. And to our love, anything like division is bitterness.

Beloved, this may be your present state of mind. You do not doubt your salvation. You know that Christ is yours, but you're not feasting with him. You understand your vital interest in him so that you have no shadow of a doubt of your being his and of his being yours. But still, his left hand is not under your head, nor doth his right hand embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord.

So even while exclaiming, I am his, you are forced to take to your knees and to pray, until the daybreak and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved. Where is he? asks the soul. And the answer comes, he feedeth among the lilies. If we would find Christ, we must get into communion with his people. We must come to the ordinances with his saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of him. Oh, to sup with him tonight.

Thou art fairer than the children of men. Psalm 45 verse 2 The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem and his life is all along but one impression of the seal. He is altogether complete not only in his several parts but as a gracious all-glorious whole His character is not a mass of fair colors mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon another. He is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the things of good repute are in their proper places and assist in adorning each other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense of others. But he is perfectly and altogether lovely.

O Jesus, thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality are all woven in one gorgeous tapestry without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord. Thou art many and yet not divided. Thou art all things and yet not diverse. As all the colors blend into one resplendent rainbow, So all the glories of heaven and earth meet in thee and unite so wondrously that there is none like thee in all things.

Nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they would not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection. Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God hath reserved for thee alone. And as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the apothecary. Each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

O sacred symmetry, O rare connection
Of many perfects to make one perfection,
O heavenly music, where all parts
Do meet in one sweet strain,
To make one perfect sweet. He shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory. Zechariah chapter 6 verse 13 Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple and he has built it on the mountains of his unchangeable affection his omnipotent grace and his infallible truthfulness.

But as it was in Solomon's temple, so in this. The materials need making ready. There are the cedars of Lebanon, but they're not framed for the building. They're not cut down and shaped and made into those planks of cedar whose odiferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord's house in paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry. They must be hewn dense and squared.

All this is Christ's own work. Each individual believer is being prepared and polished and made ready for his place in the temple. But Christ's own hand performs the preparation work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.

As in the building of Solomon's temple there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy. So it is with the temple which Jesus builds the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meat here, all that Christ will do beforehand.

And when he has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord. Beneath his eye and care the edifice shall rise, Majestic, strong, and fair, and shine above the skies.