and there followed him a great company of people and of women which also bewailed and lamented him Luke chapter 23 verse 27 amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to his doom there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations fit music to accompany that march of woe

When my soul can, in imagination, see the Savior bearing his cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them. For indeed, there is true cause for grief, cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought. They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die. But my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn. My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows. my sins cried crucify him crucify him and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders his being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity but my having been his murderer is more infinitely more grief than one poor fountain of tears can express

Why those women loved and wept, it were not hard to guess. But they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored, but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter's wife's mother was cured of the fever, but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast, but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favored with visits, but he dwells with me. His mother bear his body, but he is formed in me the hope of glory.

In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind him in gratitude or sorrow. Love and grief my heart dividing, with my tears his feet I'll lave, constant still in heart abiding. Weep for him who died to save.

Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp Hebrews chapter 13 verse 13 Jesus bearing his cross went forth to suffer without the gate The Christian's reason for leaving the camp of the world's sin and religion is not because he loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so, and the disciple must follow his master. Christ was not of the world. His life and his testimony were a constant protest against conformity with the world. Never was such overflowing affection for men as you find in him, but still he was separate from sinners. In like manner, Christ's people must go forth unto him. They must take their position without the camp as witness bearers for the truth. They must be prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold, unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, and his truth next, and Christ and his truth beyond all the world.

Jesus would have his people go forth without the camp for their own sanctification. You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety. And though the separated life may cost you many pangs and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ. Jesus reveals himself so graciously and gives such sweet refreshment that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest. The highway of holiness is the highway of communion. It is thus we shall hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow Christ without the camp. The crown of glory will follow the cross of separation. A moment's shame will be well recompensed by eternal honor. A little while of witness-bearing will seem nothing when we are forever with the Lord.

Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord Isaiah chapter 2 verse 3

It is exceeding beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful, desponding, perhaps proud and carnal. It is well for us to cut down these thorns and briars, for heavenly seed sown among them is not likely to yield a harvest.

And where shall we find a better sickle with which to cut them down than communion with God and the things of the kingdom? In the valleys of Switzerland many of the inhabitants are deformed and all wear a sickly appearance, for the atmosphere is charged with miasma and is close and stagnant. But up yonder on the mountain you find a hardy race who breathe the clear fresh air as it blows from the virgin snows of the alpine summits. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists and inhale the bracing element upon the hills.

It is to such an exploit of climbing that I invite you this evening May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. may God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below and assist us to mount. We sit too often like chained eagles fastened to the rock only that unlike the eagle we begin to love our chain and would perhaps if it came really to the test be loath to have it snap. may God now grant us grace if we cannot escape from the chain as to our flesh yet to do so as to our spirits and leaving the body like a servant at the foot of the hill may our soul like Abraham attain the top of the mountain there to indulge in communion with the Most High

They took Jesus and led him away. John chapter 19 verse 16

He had been all night in agony. He had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas. He had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate. He had therefore but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted him. They were eager for his blood, and therefore led him out to die loaded with the cross. Oh, Dolores' procession! Well may Salem's daughters weep, my soul, do thou weep also.

What learn we here as we see our blessed Lord led forth? Do we not perceive that truth which was set forth in shadow by the scapegoat? Did not the high priest bring the scapegoat and put both his hands upon its head confessing the sins of the people? That thus those sins might be laid upon the goat and cease from the people. Then the goat was led away by a fit man into the wilderness and it carried away the sins of the people so that if they were sought for they could not be found.

Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers who pronounce him guilty. God himself imputes our sins to him. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was made sin for us. And as the substitute for our guilt bearing our sin upon his shoulders, represented by the cross. We see the great scapegoat, led away by the appointed officers of justice.

Beloved, can you feel assured that he carried your sin? As you look at the cross upon his shoulders, does it represent your sin? There is one way by which you can tell whether he carried your sin or not. Have you laid your hand upon his head, confessed your sin, and trusted in him? Then your sin lies not on you. It has all been transferred by blessed imputation to Christ. And he bears it on his shoulder as a load heavier than the cross. Let not the picture vanish till you have rejoiced in your own deliverance and adored the loving Redeemer upon whom your iniquities were laid.

For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21

Mourning Christian Why weepest thou? Art thou mourning over thine own corruptions? Look to thy perfect Lord, and remember thou art complete in him. Thou art in God's sight as perfect as if thou hadst never sinned. Nay, more than that, the Lord our righteousness hath put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than the righteousness of man, thou hast the righteousness of God. O thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember, none of thy sins can condemn thee. Thou hast learned to hate sin, but thou hast learned also to know that sin is not thine, it was laid upon Christ's head. Thy standing is not in thyself, it is in Christ. Thine acceptance is not in thyself, but in thy Lord. Thou art as much accepted of God today with all thy sinfulness as thou wilt be when thou standest before his throne free from all corruption. Oh, I beseech thee, lay hold on this precious thought. Perfection in Christ. For thou art complete in him. With thy Saviour's garment on, thou art as holy as the Holy One.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Christian, let thine heart rejoice, for thou art accepted in the Beloved. What hast thou to fear? let thy face ever wear a smile live near thy master live in the suburbs of the celestial city for soon when thy time has come thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits and reign at his right hand and all this because the divine Lord was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him deliver me from blood guiltiness Oh God thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness

Psalm 51 verse 14 In this solemn confession, it is pleasing to observe that David plainly names his sin. He does not call it manslaughter, nor speak of it as an imprudence by which an unfortunate accident occurred to a worthy man. But he calls it by its true name, blood guiltiness. He did not actually kill the husband of Bathsheba, but still it was planned in David's heart that Uriah should be slain. And he was, before the Lord, his murderer. Learn in confession to be honest with God. Do not give fair names to foul sins. Call them what you will. They will smell no sweeter. What God sees them to be, that do you labor to feel them to be. And with all openness of heart, acknowledge their real character.

Observe that David was evidently oppressed with the heinousness of his sin. It is easy to use words but it is difficult to feel their meaning. The 51st Psalm is the photograph of a contrite spirit. Let us seek after the like brokenness of heart for however excellent our words may be if our heart is not conscious of the hell deservingness of sin we cannot expect to find forgiveness. Our text has in it an earnest prayer. It is addressed to the God of salvation. It is his prerogative to forgive. It is his very name and office to save those who seek his face. Better still, the text calls him the God of thy salvation. Yes, blessed be his name. While I am yet going to him through Jesus's blood, I can rejoice in the God of my salvation.

The psalmist ends with a commendable vow. If God will deliver him, he will sing, nay more, he will sing aloud. Who can sing in any other style of such a mercy as this? But note the subject of the song. Thy righteousness. We must sing of the finished work of a precious Savior. And he who knows most of forgiving love will sing the loudest.

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Psalm 23 verse 4 Behold how independent of outward circumstances the Holy Ghost can make the Christian. What a bright light may shine within us when it is all dark without. How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we may be when the world shakes to and fro and the pillars of the earth are removed. Even death itself, with all its terrible influences, has no power to suspend the music of a Christian's heart. but rather makes that music become more sweet, more clear, more heavenly. Till the last kind act which death can do is to let the earthly strain melt into the heavenly chorus, the temporal joy into the eternal bliss.

Let us have confidence, then, in the Blessed Spirit's power to comfort us. Dear reader, are you looking forward to poverty? Fear not. The Divine Spirit can give you in your want a greater plenty than the rich have in their abundance. You know not what joys may be stored up for you in the cottage around which grace will plant the roses of content.

Are you conscious of a growing failure of your bodily powers? Do you expect to suffer long nights of languishing and days of pain? Oh, be not sad. That bed may become a throne to you. You little know how every pang that shoots through your body may be a refining fire to consume your dross, a beam of glory to light up the secret parts of your soul. Are your eyes growing dim? Jesus will be your light. Do the ears fail you? Jesus' name will be your soul's best music and his person your dear delight.

Socrates used to say philosophers can be happy without music and Christians can be happier than philosophers when all outward causes of rejoicing are withdrawn. In thee, my God, my heart shall triumph, come what may of ills without. By thy power, O blessed spirit, my heart shall be exceeding glad, though all things should fail me here below.

Thy gentleness hath made me great. Psalm 18 verse 35 The words are capable of being translated Thy goodness hath made me great. David gratefully ascribed all his greatness not to his own goodness but to the goodness of God. Thy providence is another reading, and providence is nothing more than goodness in action. Goodness is the bud of which providence is the flower, or goodness is the seed of which providence is the harvest. Some render it thy help, which is but another word for providence. Providence being the firm ally of the Saints, aiding them in the service of their Lord. Or again, Thy humility hath made me great. Thy condescension may perhaps serve as a comprehensive reading, combining the ideas mentioned, including that of humility. It is God's making himself little, which is the cause of our being made great. We are so little that if God should manifest his greatness without condescension we should be trampled under his feet. But God who must stoop to view the skies and bow to see what angels do turns his eye yet lower and looks to the lowly and contrite and makes them great. There are yet other readings, as for instance the Septuagint which reads, Thy discipline, thy fatherly correction hath made me great. While the Chaldean paraphrase reads, Thy word hath increased me. Still, the idea is the same. David ascribes all his own greatness to the condescending goodness of his Father in heaven. May this sentiment be echoed in our hearts this evening while we cast our crowns at Jesus' feet and cry, Thy gentleness hath made me great. How marvelous has been our experience of God's gentleness! How gentle have been his corrections! How gentle his forbearance! How gentle his teachings! How gentle his drawings! Meditate upon this theme, O believer. Let gratitude be awakened. Let humility be deepened. Let love be quickened, ere thou fallest asleep tonight. the place which is called Calvary Luke chapter 23 verse 33 The hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary. The house of consolation is built with the wood of the cross. The temple of heavenly blessing is founded upon the riven rock, riven by the spear which pierced his side. No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like Calvary's tragedy. Is it not strange? The darkest hour that ever dawned on sinful earth should touch the heart with softer power for comfort than an angel's mirth. That to the cross the mourner's eye should turn sooner than where the stars of Bethlehem burn. Light springs from the midday midnight of Golgotha. And every herb of the field blooms sweetly beneath the shadow of the once accursed tree. In that place of thirst, grace hath dug a fountain which ever gusheth with waters pure as crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes of mankind. You, who have had your seasons of conflict, will confess that it was not at Olivet that you ever found comfort. Not on the hill of Sinai nor on Tabor, but Gethsemane, Gabbatha and Golgotha have been a means to comfort you. The bitter herbs of Gethsemane have often taken away the bitters of your life. The scourge of Gabbatha has often scourged away your cares, and the groans of Calvary have put all other groans to flight. Thus, Calvary yields us comfort rare and rich. We never should have known Christ's love in all its heights and depths if he had not died. Nor could we guess the father's deep affection if he had not given his son to die. the common mercies we enjoy all sing of love just as the seashell when we put it to our ears whispers of the deep sea whence it came but if we desire to hear the ocean itself We must not look at everyday blessings, but at the transactions of the crucifixion. He who would know love, let him retire to Calvary and see the man of sorrows die. My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels Psalm 22 verse 14 Our blessed Lord experienced a terrible sinking and melting of soul The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear? Deep depression of spirit is the most grievous of all trials all besides is as nothing Well might the suffering Savior cry to his God be not far from me for above all other seasons a man needs his God when his heart is melted within him because of heaviness. Believer come near the cross this morning and humbly adore the King of glory as having once been brought far lower in mental distress and inward anguish than anyone among us. and mark his fitness to become a faithful high priest who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. Especially that those of us whose sadness springs directly from the withdrawal of a present sense of our Father's love enter into near and intimate communion with Jesus.

Let us not give way to despair since through this dark room the master has passed before us. Our souls may sometimes long and faint and thirst even to anguish to behold the lights of the Lord's countenance. At such times, let us stay ourselves with the sweet fact of the sympathy of our great High Priest. Our drops of sorrow may well be forgotten in the ocean of his griefs.

But how high ought our love to rise! Come in, O strong and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at the flood in springtides. Cover all my powers, drown all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earthbound soul and float it right up. to my Lord's feet and there let me lie a poor broken shell washed up by his love having no virtue or value and only venturing to whisper to him that if he will put his ear to me He will hear within my heart faint echoes of the vast waves of his own love which have brought me where it is my delight to lie even at his feet forever.

The King's Garden, Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 15. Mention of the King's Garden by Nehemiah brings to mind the paradise which the king of kings prepared for Adam. Sin has utterly ruined that fair abode of all delights and driven forth the children of men to till the ground which yields thorns and briars unto them. My soul, remember the fall, for it was thy fall. Weep much, because the Lord of love was so shamefully ill-treated by the head of the human race, of which thou art a member, as undeserving as any.

Behold how dragons and demons dwell on this fair earth, which once was a garden of delights. See yonder another king's garden, which the king waters with his bloody sweat, Gethsemane, whose bitter herbs are sweeter far to renewed souls than even Eden's luscious fruits. There the mischief of the serpent in the first garden was undone. There the curse was lifted from the earth and borne by the woman's promised seed. My soul, bethink thee much of the agony and the passion. Retort to the garden of the olive press and view thy great Redeemer rescuing thee from thy lost estate. This is the garden of gardens indeed. wherein the soul may see the guilt of sin and the power of love, two sights which surpass all others.

Is there no other king's garden? Yes, my heart, thou art, or shouldst be such. How do the flowers flourish? Do any choice fruits appear? Does the king walk within and rest in the bowers of my spirit? Let me see that the plants are trimmed and watered, and the mischievous foxes hunted out. Come, Lord, and let the heavenly wind blow at thy coming, that the spices of thy garden may flow abroad.

Nor must I forget the king's garden of the church. O Lord, send prosperity unto it. rebuild her walls, nourish her plants, ripen her fruits, and from the huge wilderness reclaim the barren waste, and make thereof a king's garden. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 13 Myrrh may well be chosen as the type of Jesus on account of its preciousness, its perfume, its pleasantness, its healing, preserving, disinfecting qualities, and its connection with sacrifice. But why is he compared to a bundle of myrrh? First, for plenty. He is not a drop of it. He is a casket full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but a whole bundle. There is enough in Christ for all my necessities. Let me not be slow to avail myself of him. Our well-beloved is compared to a bundle again for variety. For there is in Christ not only the one thing needful, but in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Everything needful is in him. Take Jesus in his different characters and you will see a marvelous variety. Prophet, priest, king, husband, friend, shepherd. Consider him in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent. View him in his virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love, faithfulness, truth, righteousness. Everywhere he is a bundle of preciousness. He is a bundle of myrrh for preservation, not loose myrrh to be dropped on the floor or trodden on, but myrrh tied up, myrrh to be stored in a casket. We must value him as our best treasure, we must prize his words and his ordinances, and we must keep our thoughts of him and knowledge of him as under lock and key, lest the devil should steal anything from us. Moreover, Jesus is a bundle of myrrh for speciality. The emblem suggests the idea of distinguishing, discriminating grace. From before the foundation of the world, he was set apart for his people. And he gives forth his perfume only to those who understand how to enter into communion with him, to have close dealings with him. Oh blessed people whom the Lord hath admitted into his secrets and for whom he sets himself apart. Oh choice and happy who are thus made to say a bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. Lift them up forever. Psalm 28 verse 9. God's people need lifting up. They are very heavy by nature. They have no wings or if they have they are like the dove of old which lay among the pots and they need divine grace to make them mount on wings covered with silver and with feathers of yellow gold. By nature, sparks fly upward, but the sinful souls of men fall downward. O Lord, lift them up forever. David himself said, Unto thee, O God, do I lift up my soul. And he here feels the necessity that other men's souls should be lifted up as well as his own. When you ask this blessing for yourself, forget not to seek it for others also. There are three ways in which God's people require to be lifted up. They require to be elevated in character. Lift them up, O Lord. Do not suffer thy people to be like the world's people. The world lieth in the wicked one. Lift them out of it. The world's people are looking after silver and gold, seeking their own pleasures and the gratification of their lusts. But Lord, lift thy people up above all this. Keep them from being muckrakers, as John Bunyan calls the man who was always scraping after gold. Set thou their hearts upon their risen Lord and the heavenly heritage. Moreover, believers need to be prospered in conflict. In the battle, if they seem to fall, O Lord, be pleased to give them the victory. If the foot of the foe be upon their necks for a moment, help them to grasp the sword of the spirit and eventually to win the battle. Lord lift up thy children's spirits in the day of conflict let them not sit in the dust mourning forever suffer not the adversary to vex them sore and make them fret but if they have been like Hannah persecuted let them sing of the mercy of a delivering God we may also ask our Lord to lift them up at the last lift them up by taking them home lift their bodies from the tomb and raise their souls to thine eternal kingdom in glory The precious blood of Christ. First Peter chapter 1 verse 19. Standing at the foot of the cross, we see hands and feet and side all distilling crimson streams of precious blood. It is precious because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy. By it the sins of Christ's people are atoned for. They are redeemed from under the law. They are reconciled to God, made one with Him. Christ's blood is also precious in its cleansing power. It cleanseth from all sin. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Through Jesus' blood, there is not a spot left upon any believer, no wrinkle nor any such thing remains. O precious blood, which makes us clean, removing the stains of abundant iniquity, and permitting us to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many ways in which we have rebelled against our God. The blood of Christ is likewise precious in its preserving power. We are safe from the destroying angel under the sprinkled blood. Remember, it is God's seeing the blood which is the true reason for our being spared. Here is comfort for us when the eye of faith is dim. For God's eye is still the same. The blood of Christ is precious also in its sanctifying influence. The same blood which justifies by taking away sin does in its after action quicken the new nature and lead it onward to subdue sin and to follow out the commands of God. There is no motive for holiness so great as that which streams from the veins of Jesus. And precious, unspeakably precious is this blood because it has an overcoming power. It is written they overcame through the blood of the Lamb. How could they do otherwise? He who fights with the precious blood of Jesus fights with a weapon which cannot know defeat. The blood of Jesus. Sin dies at his presence. Death ceases to be death. Heaven's gates are opened. The blood of Jesus. We shall march on conquering and to conquer so long as we can trust its power. We would see Jesus. John chapter 12 verse 21. Evermore the worldling's cry is, who will show us any good? He seeks satisfaction in earthly comforts, enjoyments, and riches. But the quickened sinner knows of only one good. Oh, that I knew where I might find him. When he is truly awakened to feel his guilt, if you could pour the gold of India at his feet, he would say, take it away, I want to find him. It is a blessed thing for a man when he has brought his desires into a focus, so that they all center on one object. When he has 50 different desires, his heart resembles a mire of stagnant water spread out into a marsh breeding miasma and pestilence. But when all his desires are brought into one channel, his heart becomes like a river of pure water running swiftly to fertilize the fields. Happy is he who hath one desire, if that one desire be set on Christ, though it may not yet have been realized. If Jesus be a soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. He will say, I want Christ. I must have him. Mere ordinances are of no use to me. I want himself. Do not offer me these. You offer me the empty pitcher while I'm dying of thirst. Give me water or I die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus. Is this thy condition, my reader, at this moment? Hast thou but one desire, and is that after Christ? Then thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven. Hast thou but one wish in thy heart, and that one wish that thou mayest be washed from all thy sin in Jesus' blood? Canst thou really say, I would give all I have to be a Christian? I would give up everything I have and hope for, if I might but feel that I have an interest in Christ. Then, despite all thy fears, be of good cheer, the Lord loveth thee. And thou shalt come out into daylight soon, and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free. and thou saidst I will surely do thee good Genesis chapter 32 verse 12 when Jacob was on the other side of the brook Jabbok and Esau was coming with armed men he earnestly sought God's protection and as a master reason he pleaded and thou saidst I will surely do thee good oh the force of that plea He was holding God to his word. Thou saidst. The attribute of God's faithfulness is a splendid horn of the altar to lay hold upon. But the promise which has in it the attribute and something more is a yet mightier hold fast. Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good. And has he said and shall he not do it? Let God be true and every man a liar. Shall not he be true? Shall he not keep his word? Shall not every word that cometh out of his lips stand fast and be fulfilled? Solomon at the opening of the temple used the same mighty plea. He pleaded with God to remember the word which he had spoken to his father David and to bless that place. When a man gives a promissory note his honor is engaged. He signs his hand and he must discharge it when the due time comes or else he loses credit. It shall never be said that God dishonors his bills. The credit of the Most High never was impeached, and never shall be. He is punctual to the moment. He never is before his time, but he never is behind it. Search God's word through, and compare it with the experience of God's people. And you shall find the two tally from the first to the last. Many a hoary patriarch has said with Joshua, Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you. All are come to pass. If you have a divine promise You need not plead it with an if. You may urge it with certainty. The Lord meant to fulfill the promise or he would not have given it. God does not give his words merely to quiet us and to keep us hopeful for a while with the intention of putting us off at last. But when he speaks it is because he means to do as he has said. that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 O child of God, death hath lost its sting, because the devil's power over it is destroyed. Then cease to fear dying. Ask grace from God, the Holy Ghost, that by an intimate knowledge and a firm belief of thy Redeemer's death, thou mayest be strengthened for that dread hour. Living near the cross of Calvary, thou mayest think of death with pleasure and welcome it when it comes with intense delight. It is sweet to die in the Lord. It is a covenant blessing to sleep in Jesus. Death is no longer banishment, it is a return from exile, a going home to the many mansions where the loved ones already dwell. The distance between glorified spirits in heaven and militant saints on earth seems great, but it is not so. We are not far from home. A moment will bring us there. The sail is spread. The soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its voyage? How many wearying winds must beat upon the sail ere it shall be reefed in the port of peace? How long shall that soul be tossed upon the waters before it comes to that sea which knows no storm?

Listen to the answer. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Yon ship has just departed, but it is already at its haven. It did but spread its sail, and it was there. Like that ship of old upon the lake of Galilee, a storm had tossed it. But Jesus said, Peace, be still, and immediately it came to land. Think not that a long period intervenes between the instant of death and the eternity of glory. When the eyes close on earth, they open in heaven. The horses of fire are not an instant on the road.

Then, O child of God, what is there for thee to fear in death, seeing that through the death of thy Lord its curse and sting are destroyed? And now it is but a Jacob's ladder whose foot is in the dark grave, but its top reaches to glory everlasting.

Him hath God exalted. Acts chapter 5 verse 31. Jesus our Lord, once crucified, dead, and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is his by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father's right hand, and though as Jehovah he has eminent glories in which finite creatures cannot share, yet as the mediator, the honors which Jesus wears in heaven are the heritage of all the saints.

It is delightful to reflect how close is Christ's union with his people. We are actually one with him. We are members of his body and his exaltation is our exaltation. He will give us to sit upon his throne even as he has overcome and is set down with his father on his throne. he has a crown and he gives us crowns too he has a throne but he's not content with having a throne to himself on his right hand there must be his queen arrayed in gold of Ophir he cannot be glorified without his bride

Look up, believer, to Jesus now. Let the eye of your faith behold him with many crowns upon his head. And remember that you will one day be like him when you shall see him as he is. You shall not be so great as he is. You shall not be so divine. But still you shall in a measure share the same honors and enjoy the same happiness and the same dignity which he possesses.

Be content to live unknown for a little while and to walk your weary way through the fields of poverty. or up the hills of affliction for by and by you shall reign with Christ for he has made us kings and priests unto God and we shall reign forever and ever oh wonderful thought for the children of God we have Christ for our glorious representative in heaven's court now and soon he will come and receive us to himself to be with him there to behold his glory and to share his joy

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night Psalm 91 verse 5 What is this terror? It may be the cry of fire, or the noise of thieves, or fancied appearances, or the shriek of sudden sickness or death. We live in the world of death and sorrow. We may therefore look for ills as well in the night watches as beneath the glare of the broiling sun.

Nor should this alarm us. For be the terror what it may, the promise is that the believer shall not be afraid. Why should he? Let us put it more closely. Why should we? God our Father is here. and will be here all through the lonely hours. He is an almighty watcher, a sleepless guardian, a faithful friend. Nothing can happen without his direction for even hell itself is under his control. Darkness is not dark to him. He has promised to be a wall of fire around his people and who can break through such a barrier?

Worldlings may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them. But we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy. If we give way to foolish fear, we shall dishonor our profession and lead others to doubt the reality of godliness. We ought to be afraid of being afraid, lest we should vex the Holy Spirit by foolish distrust.

Down then, ye dismal forebodings and groundless apprehensions, God has not forgotten to be gracious, nor shut up his tender mercies. It may be night in the soul, but there need be no terror, for the God of love changes not. children of light may walk in darkness but they are not therefore cast away nay they are now enabled to prove their adoption by trusting in their heavenly father as hypocrites cannot do though the night be dark and dreary darkness cannot hide from thee thou art he who never weary watchest where thy people be

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans chapter 8 verse 37 We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there. We are crucified with him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration, you want to overcome an angry temper. How do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted him to save me. I must kill my angry temper in the same way. It is the only way in which I can ever kill it. I must go to the cross with it and say to Jesus, Lord, I trust thee to deliver me from it. This is the only way to give it a death blow.

Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell him, Lord, I have trusted thee, and thy name is Jesus, for thou dost save thy people from their sins. Lord, this is one of my sins. Save me from it.

Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortification. Your prayers and your repentances and your tears the whole of them put together are worth nothing apart from him. None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among his olives in Gethsemane.

Low in the midst of the throne stood a lamb as it had been slain. Romans chapter 5 verse 6 Why should our exalted Lord appear in his wounds in glory? The wounds of Jesus are his glories, his jewels, his sacred ornaments. To the eye of the believer Jesus is passing fair because he is white and ruddy white with innocence and ruddy with his own blood. We see him as the lily of matchless purity and as the rose crimson with his own gore. Christ is lovely upon Olivet and Tabor and by the sea, but oh, there never was such a matchless Christ as he that did hang upon the cross. There we beheld all his beauties in perfection, all his attributes developed, all his love drawn out, all his character expressed.

Beloved, the wounds of Jesus are far more fair in our eyes than all the splendor and pomp of a king's. The thorny crown is more than an imperial diadem. It is true that he bears not now the scepter of reed but there was a glory in it that never flashed from scepter of gold. Jesus wears the appearance of a slain lamb as his court dress in which he wooed our souls and redeemed them by his complete atonement.

Nor are these only the ornaments of Christ, they are the trophies of his love and of his victory. He has divided the spoil with the strong. He has redeemed for himself a great multitude whom no man can number. And these scars are the memorials of the fight. Ah, if Christ thus loves to retain the thought of his sufferings for his people. How precious should his wounds be to us. Behold, how every wound of his a precious balm distills, which heals the scars that sin had made, and cures all mortal ills. Those wounds are mouths that preaches grace, the ensigns of his love, the seals of our expected bliss in paradise above.

The flowers appear on the earth the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 12 Sweet is the season of spring the long and dreary winter helps us to appreciate its genial warmth and its promise of summer enhances its present delights After periods of depression of spirit it is delightful to behold again the light of the sun of righteousness. Then our slumbering graces rise from their lethargy like the crocus and the daffodil from their beds of earth. Then is our heart made merry with delicious notes of gratitude, far more melodious than the warbling of birds and the comforting assurance of peace, infinitely more delightful than the turtle's note is heard within the soul.

Now is the time for the soul to seek communion with her beloved. Now must she rise from her native sordidness and come away from her old associations. If we do not hoist the sail when the breeze is favorable, we shall be blameworthy. Times of refreshing ought not to pass over us unimproved. When Jesus himself visits us in tenderness and entreats us to arise, can we be so base as to refuse his request? He has himself risen that he may draw us after him. He now by his Holy Spirit has revived us that we may in newness of life ascend into the heavenlies and hold communion with himself.

let our wintry state suffices for coldness and indifference when the Lord creates a spring within let our sap flow with vigor and our branch blossom with high resolve oh Lord if it be not springtime in my chilly heart I pray thee make it so for I'm heartily weary of living at a distance from thee Oh, the long and dreary winter, when will thou bring it to an end? Come, Holy Spirit, and renew my soul. Quicken thou me, restore me, and have mercy on me. This very night, I would earnestly implore the Lord to take pity upon his servant and send me a happy revival of spiritual life.

Blessed is he that watcheth. Revelation chapter 16 verse 15. We die daily, said the Apostle. This was the life of the early Christians. They went everywhere with their lives in their hands.

We are not in this day called to pass through the same fearful persecutions. If we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test. But the tests of Christian life at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible, are yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age.

We have to bear the sneer of the world. That is little. Its banishments, its soft words, its oily speeches, its fawning, its hypocrisy are far worse. Our danger is lest we grow rich and become proud, lest we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world and lose our faith.

Or, if wealth be not the trial, worldly care is quite as mischievous. If we cannot be torn in pieces by the roaring lion, if we may be hugged to death by the bear, the devil little cares which it is, so long as he destroys our love to Christ and our confidence in him.

I fear me that the Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those rougher times. We must be awake now for we traverse the enchanted ground and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing unless our faith in Jesus be a reality and our love to Jesus a vehement flame.

Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove tares and not wheat. Hypocrites with fair masks on their faces but not the true-born children of the living God.

Christian, do not think that these are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or with holy ardor. You need these things more than ever. And may God the eternal spirit display his omnipotence in you. That you may be able to say in all these softer things as well as in the rougher. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.