THE LORD MY LIGHT

By Octavius Winslow, 1870

"The Lord is my portion, says my soul."

"The Lord is my light."--Psalm 27:1

Without approaching the Pantheistic idea that all nature is God, the Christian can trace God and Christ in all nature; and affirm that, the religion which glows in the sunbeam, sparkles in the dew drop, breathes from the floweret, is the religion of Christ; because, material though the object be, it yet shows forth the glory of God, images some feature of Christ's person, illustrates some truth of His word, and inculcates some lesson of His gospel. Nature, more true to God than man, ever rises above and beyond itself, elevating the renewed and reflective soul from matter to mind, and from mind to spirit, until, quickened with a life from God, the soul soars to God through Christ, to find its study, happiness, and repose in His infinite fullness as that fullness is embodied and revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

"Read nature; nature is a friend to truth;
Nature is Christian; preaches to mankind,
And bids dead matter aid us in our creed."--Young

But the natural man is spiritually dark; yes, in the abstract meaning of the term, he is darkness. "The way of the wicked is as darkness." "The light which is in them is darkness." Hence, departing out of this world still in the darkness of an unrenewed state, they go from the inner to the "outer darkness," where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. My unconverted reader, ponder, oh, seriously, prayerfully ponder this dreadful condition and these appalling words! Living in this world without Christ, you live in the darkness of spiritual death; and dying without Christ, you pass to a darkness infinitely and eternally remote from every ray of light and joy--a darkness that is 'OUTER' and 'FOREVER.'

But what is true conversion? The words of inspiration shall answer. It is a "calling out of darkness into God's marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9). Have you so been called--called by the especial and effectual grace of God? Oh, it is of more infinite moment that you should know that you areconverted, born again of the Spirit, that you have become a "new creature in Christ Jesus," that you are a 'child of the light,' and are safe for eternity, than to possess the diadem of the universe! For, "what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Solemn, urgent question!

But Christ is the Christian's Light. The believer is a 'child of the light and of the day,' having passed into God's marvelous light. 'Marvelous light' it is! 'Marvelous,' because it is divine, flowing from Him who is Essential Light, the Fountain of all Light. 'Marvelous,' because it is Incarnate Light, dwelling in Christ Jesus, who is our Light. 'Marvelous,' because it is communicated to us by the Holy Spirit, by whom alone the darkness of the soul is dissipated, and Christ, the true light shines. In a word, 'marvelous,' because of the surprising grace, the free and sovereign mercy by which we who were once darkness are now light in the Lord.

Yes, O my soul, Jesus is your light. He is the Light of your salvation, the Light of your comfort, the Light of your path, the Light of your hope of glory. "In Your light we shall see light." Guided by His light you shall walk through dreary nights and cloudy days, through tempestuous seas and stormy winds of adversity, temptation, and sorrow, until He leads you home to "the inheritance of the saints in light," where "the sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." Isaiah 60:19-20

http://www.gracegems.org/Winslows/daily_need_divinely_supplied.htm

Things That Differ

by T. Austin-Sparks


The Disaster Resulting from Confusing Divine Truth


"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet" (Acts 2:34-35).


"Jesus standing on the right hand of God..." "The Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55-56).


"If Christ is in you"; "...his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:10,11).


It is a matter that should be clearly understood by all Christians that to confuse the truths of God is very often to nullify their value in the life of a believer, and worse than that, to bring about a condition which is a positive contradiction of what is fundamental to true Christianity. With great seriousness then we seek to discriminate between the different essential aspects of the truth, and the above passages represent one of the instances of immense importance. Although there are three quotations given, there are only two really separate matters signified. The first two are but two sides of one thing, but while those two and the third constitute a full Christian life, and are essential to such spiritual fullness, they are two distinctly different things which must on no account be allowed to overlap.

Christ in Heaven: (a) 'Sitting'

In the first two Christ is represented as in heaven at God's right hand, but in two postures, 'sitting' and 'standing'. There is no contradiction here. We must remember that we are in the presence of language which is figurative. In His "sitting" - "made to sit" (Ephesians 1:20): "Sit thou" (Acts 2:34) - there is the Divine attestation that His work was complete and perfect, and that as Son of Man He had won and inherited the place of absolute honour and glory. "We see Jesus... crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:9). The right hand is first the place of honour. It is of great significance that the new dispensation commencing with Pentecost begins with Christ sitting at God's right hand. All begins with a work completed! The seventh day the day of rest - becomes the first day. The colours of the rainbow end where they began. It is the law of the octave, the eighth is as the first and marks a new beginning. Our Christian life begins at the point where the work is already completed in our Representative Son of Man. There is nothing to add to it, either in need or possibility. Immediately we try to contribute something to it we in effect, for ourselves, nullify it all, and God stands back. We shall come back to that again presently.

Christ in Heaven: (b) 'Standing'

With regard to the second posture of Christ as in heaven - "standing on the right hand of God" - this is seen when the Church is in the conflict, or when things are needing to be done for her, not in the sense of her justification, but for her defence and support in adversity. Thank God, there is One in the glory standing up for us, and He will see to it that the enemy overreaches himself, as in Stephen's case. Much could be said about that, but it is not our subject just now.


We pass straight to the third position of Christ:

"Christ in You"

Any mental difficulty as to two so widely separated locations of Christ at the same time is got over by the further words "By his Spirit that dwelleth in you". Christ and the Holy Spirit are one.


Here we cross over to another phase of things entirely, and the only link between the two is that the second is the outworking of the first.


"Christ in you" is unto our being "conformed to the image of his (God's) Son" (Romans 8:29). It is to work in us that which has been perfected by Him. It is the whole realm of our being made Christ-like; having all the faculties and features of Christ, which are resident in the new life received at new birth, brought to maturity. Every spiritual and Christly virtue has to be brought to full growth; love, meekness, goodness, gentleness, intelligence, etc.; so that we are not just theoretical and doctrinaire Christians, but real ones, spiritually responsible and accountable, with the root of the matter within. This, however, necessitates much discipline; what is called 'chastening'. This discipline, which employs many forms of adversity and trial, has the effect of bringing to light what we really are in ourselves, and it is an ugly picture. Our own features do not improve as we go on. We know ever more what poor, wretched, and deplorable men we are, and - but for the grace of God - hopeless. But something is being done deep down which will show itself in due time to the glory of God.

Confusion Leads to Paralysis

But here is the point of our peril. Let no child of God whose heart is toward the Lord, who has not deliberately and wilfully and knowingly resisted the Holy Ghost, ever for a single moment confuse 'chastening' and its accompaniments of self-discovery with judgment. You do this at the peril of the joy of your salvation. If a child of God who loves the Lord and wants nothing more than to be well-pleasing unto Him should think that he is under the judgment and condemnation of God because he is finding out how evil his own heart is, that thought carries with it the suggestion that Christ did not die for our sins; that the wrath of God was not exhausted on Him and by Him when He was made sin for us. It goes back behind a completed work and Christ's sitting at God's right hand, and contradicts and denies the very bed-rock of our salvation - justification by faith. Satan is again giventhe place of power so far as such an one is concerned by such a thought. No, a thousand times No! 


Although I may discover unimagined depths of iniquity in my own heart, if I have put faith in Jesus Christ as the bearer away of my sin and myself, His perfections are placed to my account and God sees me in Him. This will never, never become to me an occasion for living complacently on the ground of what I am in myself. Without working through all the reasons for and the nature of Christian growth, with all the values in service which issue from it, let me keep on this emphasis. There are so many dear children of God who have so confused the two things mentioned as to be in an altogether negative condition.


 They are paralysed by their sense of sinfulness. They have seen the need for a subjective application of the Cross of Christ, and have recognized that when Christ died, they died in Him; but the realization that the work is not yet completed in them has resulted in their living in a world of death, and knowing little or nothing of the fact which cannot really be separated from union in death with Christ, that is, union in resurrection and exaltation.


 If such an one should read this, may I say to you that if you are unhappy, worried, depressed, or negative, uncertain, lacking in absolute assurance, and therefore limited in your usefulness to the Lord, you have entirely misunderstood and misapprehended the truth of union with Christ. You are really a contradiction to what you claim to believe. It would be better that you put back your subjective truth until you have got fully and firmly established in the glorious facts of what Christ sitting at God's right hand really means for you. Nevertheless, it is possible to be moving triumphantly and strongly in the path of a deep inward work of the Spirit, while knowing utter dependence and weakness.


Let me appeal to you again that you do not let these two things become confused. If you come upon fresh realizations of your own worthlessness, say, Yes, that belongs to the realm of God's work in me, and He will deal with that, but it makes no difference whatever to my acceptance in the Beloved so long as I do not condone my wrong, excuse it, and accept it. Remember, dear friend, that God demands the first ground, the ground of our settled faith in the finished and perfected work of Christ, in order to make any beginning inside of us. It would be fatal for Him to touch the inside had He not got that objective faith. We must be careful that we do not upset God's order and bring ourselves on to false ground. This can only result in destroyed testimony and much gratification to Satan at the Lord's expense in us.


First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Jul-Aug 1965, Vol 43-4

http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/001440.html

What To Concentrate On

By Oswald Chambers

      'I came not to send peace, but a sword.'

      Matthew 10:34

      Never be sympathetic with the soul whose case makes you come to the conclusion that God is hard. God is more tender than we can conceive, and every now and again He gives us the chance of being the rugged one that He may be the tender One. If a man cannot get through to God it is because there is a secret thing he does not intend to give up - I will admit I have done wrong, but I no more intend to give up that thing than fly. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with a case like that: we have to get right deep down to the root until there is antagonism and resentment against the message. People want the blessing of God, but they will not stand the thing that goes straight to the quick.

      If God has had His way with you, your message as His servant is merciless insistence on the one line, cut down to the very root, otherwise there will be no healing. Drive home the message until there is no possible refuge from its application. Begin to get at people where they are until you get them to realize what they lack, and then erect the standard of Jesus Christ for their lives - "We never can be that." Then drive it home - "Jesus Christ says you must." "But how can we be?" "You cannot, unless you have a new Spirit." (Luke 11:13.)

      There must be a sense of need before your message is of any use. Thousands of people are happy without God in this world. If I was happy and moral till Jesus came, why did He come? Because that kind of happiness and peace is on a wrong level; Jesus Christ came to send a sword through every peace that is not based on a personal relationship to Himself.

He Was Blind, But Now He Sees

Before his conversion, Chang Shen had been known as a gambler, womanizer, and thief. When he was stricken blind in midlife, neighbors said it was the judgment of the gods for his evildoings.

    In 1886, Chang traveled hundreds of miles to a missionary hospital where people were receiving sight. His eyesight was partially restored, and he also heard about Christ for the first time. “Never had we a patient who received the gospel with such joy,” reported the doctor.

READ HERE:

Morning and Evening: July 25 — Evening by Charles Spurgeon

July 25 — Evening

"In their affliction—they will seek Me early." Hosea 5:15

Losses and adversities are frequently the means which the great Shepherd uses to fetch home His wandering sheep! Like fierce dogs, afflictions chase the wanderers back to the fold! Often have we seen the Christian rendered obedient to the Lord's will—by straitness of bread and hard labor. When rich and increased in goods—many professors carry their heads much too loftily, and speak exceeding boastfully. Like David, they flatter themselves, "My mountain stands fast—I shall never be moved!"

When the Christian grows wealthy, has good health, and a happy family—he too often admits Mr. Carnal Security to feast at his table; and then if he is a true child of God—there is a rod being prepared for him. Wait awhile, and it may be you will see his substance melt away as a dream. There goes a portion of his estate—how soon the acres change hands. That debt, that dishonored bill—how fast his losses roll in, where will they end? It is a blessed sign of divine life if when these losses occur one after another—he begins to be distressed about his backslidings, and betakes himself to his God. Blessed are the fierce waves—which wash the mariner upon the rock of salvation!

Losses in business are often sanctified to our soul's enriching. If the chosen soul will not come to the Lord full-handed, it shall come empty-handed. If God, in His grace, finds no other means of making us honor Him among men—He will cast us into deep afflictions. If we fail to honor Him on the pinnacle of riches, He will bring us into the valley of poverty. Yet faint not, heir of sorrow, when you are thus rebuked; rather recognize the loving hand which chastens, and say, "I will arise—and go unto my Father!"

http://gracegems.org/B/morning_and_evening07.htm

RECEIVING SINNERS

By John MacDuff, 1870. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." "This man receives sinners."—Luke 15:2. The ironical taunt of proud and censorious Pharisees formed the glory of Him who came, "not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Publicans and outcasts; those covered with a deeper than any bodily leprosy—laid bare their wounds to the "Great Physician;" and as conscious guilt and timid penitence crept abashed and imploring to His feet, they found nothing but a forgiving and a gracious welcome! "His ways" were not as "man's ways!" The "watchman," in the Canticles, "smote" the disconsolate one seeking her lost Lord; they tore off her veil, mocking with chilling unkindness her anguished tears. Not so "the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls." "This man receives sinners!" See in Nicodemus, stealing under the shadows of night to elude observation—a type of the thousand thousand who in every age have gone trembling in their night of sin and sorrow to this Heavenly Friend! Does Jesus punish his timidity by shutting His door against him, spurning him from His presence?—"He will not break the bruised reed, He will not quench the smoking flax!" And He is still the same! He who arrested a persecutor in his blasphemies, and turned the lips of an expiring felon with faith and love, is at this hour standing with all the garnered treasures of Redemption in His hand, proclaiming, "Him that comes unto Me, I will in no wise cast out!" Are we from this to think lightly of sin? or by example and conduct to palliate and overlook its enormity? Not so; sin, as sin, can never be sufficiently stamped with the brand of reprobation. But we must seek carefully to distinguish between the offence and the offender. Nothing should be done on our part by word or deed to mock the penitential sighings of a guilty spirit, or send the trembling outcast away, with the despairing feeling of "No hope." "This man receives sinners," and shall not we? Does He allow the veriest dregs of human depravity to crouch unbidden at His feet, and to gaze on His forgiving countenance with the uplifted eye of hope, and shall we dare to deal out harsh, and severe and crushing verdicts on an offending (it may be a deeply offending) brother? Shall we pronounce "crimson" and "scarlet" sins and sinners beyond the pale of mercy, when Jesus does not? No, rather, when wretchedness, and depravity, and backsliding cross our path, let it not be with the bitter taunt or the ironical retort that we bid them away. Let us bear—endure—remonstrate—deal tenderly; Jesus did so, Jesus does so! Ah! if we had within us His unconquerable love of souls; His yearning desire for the everlasting happiness of sinners, we would be more frequently in earnest admonition and affectionate appeal with those who have hitherto got no other than harsh thoughts and repulsive words. If this "mind" really was in us, "which was also in Him," we would more frequently ask ourselves, "Have I done all I might have done to pluck this brand from the burning? Have I remembered what grace has wrought, what grace can do?" "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins!" "Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."  http://www.gracegems.org/MacDuff/mj25.htm

God the Great Teacher and Leader of His People

By J.C. Philpot       Preached at Providence Chapel, Oakham, Tuesday April 18th, 1864       "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day" Psa.25:4, 5       There is one feature in true religion perhaps not much insisted upon, but not the less real and genuine; which is this, that all true religion brings the soul into vital and immediate contact with God. False religion on the other hand only sets the soul at a distance from him. We see this peculiar feature of vital godliness very much developed in the Psalms, and in other parts of Holy Scripture, where the saints of God breathe forth their desires after the Lord. The desire of their souls to get near to God, to have special dealings with the Majesty on high, to receive mercy from his gracious hands, to be blessed with manifestations of his favour, watered with the dew of his grace, and nourished as with marrow and fatness by the smiles of his countenance, shines forth very conspicuously in the Word of truth. How all these breathings after God, which you see so clearly traced out in the Psalms and other devotional parts of God's Word, establish the truth of what I was just saying, that true religion, vital godliness, bring the soul into close and personal contact with God! In opposition to this, there is no mark stamped upon false religion more evidently and plainly than this, that it sets up a false god, an idol god; not perhaps a wood or stone representation, but a god adapted to the carnal mind, and suitable to the natural heart, in a word, such a god as we see in all ages blind, fallen man has worshipped. Thus were you to analyse and examine all false religion, whatever its name or nature, you would find this feature of death stamped upon it, that it sets up a false god for the true God, a false faith for true faith, and a false righteousness for true righteousness; and thus worships an imaginary, an idol god, instead of the true and living God, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we may be well assured, that nothing short of the work and teaching of God in the heart can ever pull down this false god and set up in its place "the only true God, and Jesus Christ" whom he hath sent (John 17:3).       See in the words before us how the Psalmist breathes forth his soul unto God; how he draws near to the throne of the Majesty on high, and finding some access of soul to the ear of him who bows down and listens to the cry of the destitute, cries out in the simplicity of his heart, as though he could not live unless he received an answer to his petition, "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day." In looking at these words I shall, with God's blessing, endeavour,       I. First, to trace out the breathings of the longing soul vented forth in the words, "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me."       II. Secondly, the source of these heart breathings, inward desires and spiritual longings. "For thou art the God of my salvation."       III. And, thirdly, how David was found in a posture, wherein these blessings were to be communicated to his soul.       I. The very circumstance of the Psalmist breathing out these words from the bottom of his heart, shews that he was well convinced in his own mind of the utter inability of man, except by divine teaching, to find out the ways of God, or to receive them with that approbation and acquiescence, whereby alone we can enter into their beauty and blessedness. For certainly had there been any innate power or wisdom whereby he could have brought this knowledge into his own soul, it would have been at best but hypocrisy to ask God to do it for him. But he was well convinced, from deep and painful experience, that the ways of God, as the Scripture speaks, are out of sight. "Thy way," he says elsewhere, "is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known" (Psa.77:19). Well did he know and feel that there was a veil of ignorance and blindness spread over his eyes by nature, which concealed the heavenly ways from his view. He felt therefore, that it was only as God was pleased to shew him those ways, that he had any power to see or receive them as the ways of God, any inward approbation of their blessedness, or any bowing down and resignation unto them, when they crossed his own natural thoughts and inclinations. 1. The ways of God then are, first, ways of infinite wisdom. Indeed, they can be no other. How do we judge of the wisdom of man? By the words he speaks, but more especially by the actions he performs. The ways of God, therefore, must be ways of infinite wisdom, because he is the infinitely wise God. But his wisdom is diametrically opposite to our own. We read therefore, that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," (1 Cor.3:19) and we read also that the wisdom of God is foolishness with the world. But though upon these ways the marks of infinite wisdom are stamped, yet the wisdom is such that they are out of the sight of man, until they are brought down into the scope of his spiritual vision, and the wisdom stamped upon and running through them is made known to his soul by divine teaching. In order to understand the wisdom of God's ways, we must ourselves be made a partaker of divine wisdom; as the apostle speaks, "But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor.2:16) Only, therefore, as we have the mind of Christ, and possess a measure of the wisdom from above, can we enter into the wisdom of the ways of God.       Now look at the wisdom of the way of salvation. What a wise way it is! How stamped with the marks of infinite wisdom it is, that not a single attribute of God's justice should be tarnished, and yet that sinful man be saved; that justice should not suffer nor be diminished, and yet mercy have her full sway. But in order to enter into the wisdom of God in the way of salvation, we must have a measure of heavenly wisdom let down into our soul, so that we may see this wisdom of God in a mystery as it were with the eyes of God.       2. But God's ways also are ways of infinite mercy. Of course, when I speak of the ways of God, I mean the ways of God towards his people. But this mercy, as stamped upon all the ways of God, is not for the most part evident in them until we come to see these ways laid open to our view, as full of mercy to us.       The way in which the Lord is now leading you may be a way most trying and painful to your mind, so that at times you may see in this way neither wisdom nor mercy. It may be so hidden out of your sight, or so contradictory to your own judgment and feelings, and to the desires of your own heart, that in the darkness of your mind you may do nothing but rebel against it. But the Lord's ways, nevertheless, are those of infinite wisdom. When you are led to see the ways of God in his past dealings with you, can you not look back and see that those very ways, which at the time seemed anything but those of wisdom and mercy, were still really full of both? The very ways which seemed at the time so confused, that it appeared impossible for the hand of God to be in them, we can now see bear the clearest and plainest marks of the broad fingers of deity. Thus may we not hope for the future, that as the ways of God as regards the past were stamped with wisdom and mercy, so the present and the future will also be clearly stamped with marks of the same?       3. But again, the ways of God are ways of faithfulness. He is a God that cannot lie; he is faithful to his Word; faithful to his covenant; and faithful to his promise. This covenant faithfulness is a most blessed attribute of the Lord. Oh, what a strong refuge for the soul, amidst all the fluctuations of time, all the changeability of daily circumstances, and all the wanderings of an unstable heart, to feel that God is unchanging and unchangeable, and that with him there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.       4. But again, these ways, though they bear these blessed marks upon them, yet are for the most part out of sight. They are so elevated above the reach of human understanding, and are so peculiarly the ways of God himself, that, except to the believing eye, they are lost as it were in the heights of heaven. Now it was this circumstance above all others which made the Psalmist breathe forth that sincere and simple desire, "Shew me thy ways, O LORD," as though he should say, "Lord, make these ways that have been so trying, so painful, and so perplexing, plain and clear to my soul. Let me have some bright and decisive evidence that these ways are indeed ways of wisdom, mercy, and faithfulness. Oh! let me feel that though these ways may be so painful for my feet to walk in, so contradictory to my reasoning mind, and so completely out of the sight of my speculating eye, yet let me so see them by the eye of faith, that I may feel a solemn acquiescence in, and holy approbation of them." To have these desires in the soul is certainly beyond all the power of the creature; it is a religion completely out of the sight of the carnal mind, and out of the grasp of anyone but those in whose heart the Spirit of God is at work.       ii. "Teach me thy paths." The path is in some measure different from the way, narrower, more intricate apparently more confined. Compare for instance the highway with a path across the fields; the one is broad, and the other narrow. Thus the Psalmist would seemingly make a distinction between the ways of the Lord and the paths of the Lord; the ways of the Lord being the ways of God's dealings with us, those, so to speak, broader ways in which he himself walks; but the paths being those narrower and more intricate channels in which he leads his people. If this view be not fanciful, the ways would be those of wisdom, mercy, and faithfulness in which God moves; and paths, the paths of personal Christian experience, in which the children of God walk. God's movements are ways because they are expansive and extensive; worthy of the broad movements of an infinite Being; but the paths wherein a child of God walks are narrow, because he himself is a creature with a narrow foot to walk in them.       But you will perhaps catch my meaning better if I open the subject more fully. Thus we read, "There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen;" (Job 28:7) and again, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Prov.4:18) This path then is a path in which none walk but those who are taught, specially taught of God.       1. We may safely lay down, that to walk in faith, as Enoch walked with God, is a path in which God leads the soul to walk. So again, we may say, that to walk in a sweet and blessed hope of interest in Christ gladdening and cheering the soul onward, is a path in which a godly soul walks. And again, where there is love felt in the soul towards the Lord Jesus Christ, we may say that to walk in love is a path of life in which the redeemed walk. Here then, we see at once that the path of faith, hope, and love, is the path in which the redeemed walk.       2. Again, it is a path of self-denial, for if a man do not take up his cross and deny himself, he cannot be, according to the Lord's own declaration, a disciple of Jesus Christ. He must walk, therefore, in a path of self-denial, in order to be made and manifested a true and accepted follower of the Lamb.       3. Again, it is a path of tribulation; for we read that it is through much tribulation we are to enter the kingdom. If we have no tribulation, we certainly lack one scriptural evidence of those who enter the kingdom of God.       4. It is a path also of temptation; for the Lord's people for the most part are a tempted, exercised and plagued people.       5. It is also a path of much opposition, for the world hates vital godliness; and what is worse, our carnal mind hates it too. We could do with the enmity of the world without, if we had not the enmity of the carnal mind within. A few words from without do not much hurt us; words from within cut deeply. One traitor in the garrison can do more harm than a host of foes.       6. Again, it is a path of prayer, for the Lord leads his people into those supplications and desires after himself which specially mark the out-pouring of the Spirit.       7. It is also a path of watchfulness, for unless we watch continually, we shall soon be entangled in some snare of Satan.       8. It is a path also of meditation; for we have to meditate on God's dealings with the soul, both in providence and, in grace, as well as on his blessed Word of Truth.       9. And it is a path of communion with God, for in this lies the main secret of vital godliness, the true mark of heart-felt religion.       Now, though really the path is but one, yet speaking, according to our feelings, the varied tenor of our minds, our diversified experience, and the dealings of God with, us, they become paths.       The soul then, feeling its ignorance and inability to understand and realise these paths as suitable and blessed, puts up, if not the words, at least the substance of them, "Teach me thy paths." To lie with a broken heart and contrite spirit at the footstool of mercy, beseeching God to teach us, is indeed a blessed spot to be in. It is the evidence of such a childlike spirit; and shows such simplicity, reality and genuineness, that it bears stamped upon it the indubitable marks of true discipleship. Whenever we see such a coming out of self, such a renunciation of our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness, such a putting aside of all creature religion, and such a real spirit of humility before God, we must receive it as something beyond and above nature. Nothing but the power of God seems able to bring a soul so completely out of the shell and crust of self-righteousness, and so to lay open its spiritual nakedness before him. Naturally there is something very sweet in seeing a docile, teachable disposition. And on the other hand, few things are more offensive than the pride of ignorance; the abominable conceit of people who think they know everything, when really they know nothing, but are too proud to be taught. The only road to knowledge is to possess a docile, teachable, inquiring spirit, a willingness to learn, springing out of consciousness of ignorance. This spirit is what is we see sometimes in children, nor is there a more pleasant sight for parent or instructor than to see a child docile, earnestly seeking information, and glad to receive instruction. If anything can open the mouth to teach, it is from seeing such a heart to learn. But to see a man shut up in ignorance, proudly stalking in pride and self-conceit as though he were a philosopher of the highest grade; there is a something so repulsive in such a miserable being, that it shuts up all disposition to have any communication with such a lump of pride and arrogance. So in grace, where there is a humble, quiet, docile spirit, it seems to draw forth out of the Lord's heart and mouth these secrets of heavenly wisdom which he hides from others; as he spake in the days of his flesh, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." (Matt.11:25) The babes are those who are docile, teachable and childlike, and to whom as such God reveals the treasures of his heavenly wisdom.       Now, till you are brought to this spot, you are still a stranger to heavenly wisdom, you know not that secret of the Lord which is with them that fear him, but are foolishly puffed up with your own attainments. Though perhaps you may not see it, it is a most certain truth that the pride of self-knowledge only sets you far from God, for we read that, "he beholdeth the proud afar off." (Psa.138:6) And what pride is greater than the pride of knowledge? For, as the Apostle speaks, "Knowledge puffeth up." (1 Cor.8:1)       How contrary to this is the breathing of the Psalmist, "Teach me thy paths." What confessions of ignorance are lodged in that prayer! How it says, "Lord, I am unable to see the path; show it me; when I see it I am unable to walk in it; I know if I trust to my own wisdom I am a fool. What I want then is for thee to teach me thy paths, I shall then see them, know them and walk in them with holy freedom and divine comfort."       iii. But there is another petition breathed forth in the same spirit, "Lead me in thy truth." There is something not only very precious in God's truth, but something very ennobling in it. It is indeed that revelation which bears stamped upon it the highest marks of divine wisdom. Yet how few there are, speaking comparatively, who seem to have any taste of God's truth, or even the faintest desire after it. What lies, errors, and delusions can people gladly take up with in the solemn matters of eternity, deceiving and being deceived. Nay, I believe there is no error or heresy which the devil could invent which he will not find hundreds ready to believe and greedily propagate. The human mind, which seems barred to truth, lies open like an unwalled city to the incursions of every error.       But when God by his blessed Spirit anoints the eyes of his people with his divine eyesalve, and opens them to see his truth, what light and life accompany the revelation of that truth to the soul. One of the first marks of grace, one of the first evidences of the work of God in the soul is, in my judgment, a taste for truth, a yearning and bending forward of the soul after the pure Word of God. A man may be in much darkness of mind as regards doctrine, may sit under legal ministers and be in great confusion of soul as regards his own state and standing, and yet with all that may have a true spiritual yearning after truth, and a great dissatisfaction with error. When, then, he is brought under the sound of truth, and feels a measure of its power, he immediately lays hold of it as something suitable to his state. It is food for which he has a spiritual appetite, and the voice of God so speaks in it that it seems to communicate to his heart sensations before unknown. The Lord sometimes works very strongly in this way. A person may have been in the habit of hearing error for years. Again and again has he quarrelled with it from an inward distaste of it, and yet almost dreaded to leave it lest by so doing he should take a wrong step. But let this man be brought in the providence of God under the sound of truth, or placed in a situation where he has to associate with those who love the truth, and at once he embraces it. In this way, or sometimes by reading books written by men of truth, a light is cast into his soul by which he sees the truth; and the error, which before he could not see, becomes distasteful to his soul. He has been all along under a measure of divine teaching without knowing it, but now he embraces the truth as not only suitable to his wants, and what his heart really desires to feed upon, but as something glorifying to God. I know this from experience, because when the Lord was pleased to lay eternal things with weight and power on my conscience, there was almost from the very first a bending towards God's truth, and a desire to know it and enjoy it. A soul may be for months and years entangled in a great deal of error and confusion, and yet there may be at the bottom a bending and yearning after the truth of God. It is something like a plant growing in a dark cellar. If there be but a narrow slit in the wall you will find the plant will bend towards the light, or like a tree on the top of a wall, which (at least so I have read) will drop a root all down the wall till it reaches the ground and fastens itself in the fertile soil. Yet the plant is still in the dark, damp cellar, and the tree on the top of the dry wall.        So, wherever God has planted life in the soul, there will be a bending towards the light, though that light come in but through a chink. This in due time will lead to greater discoveries of truth, which will bring the soul into the King's palace. It will then not be a stranger walking about outside the grounds and peeping through the park palings, but like a child at home sporting in the garden and walking in and out of the rooms at pleasure.       But what makes us desire for God to lead us into his truth? Because we feel so unable to get into it of ourselves. We may see it and believe it, but we want to get into it so as to feel the blessed realisation of it in our own soul. And this God alone can do for us. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom.8:14) The Spirit of God is promised to guide the church of God into all truth, and as they are thus guided and led into it they enter into its beauty and blessedness.       iv. "And teach me." In the same spirit of childlike simplicity the Psalmist wanted God to be his teacher, for indeed "none teacheth like him," (cf. Job 32:22) and his teachings are "to profit." (Isa.48:17) All other teaching leaves us where it found us. I dare say from hearing me so often you have gained some instruction, some knowledge of doctrine or experience whereby your judgment has been informed.       But all this you may have gained and yet not have been taught of God. You may have gathered information or instruction from my lips, and become established in a sound creed, and yet not have been led into the truth of God by the Holy Spirit, nor been taught by him who is the only wise Teacher. All teaching of man, severed from the teaching of God, is profitless and valueless. It gives no faith or repentance, does not make sin hateful or Christ precious. It leaves us just where it found us, carnal, worldly, proud, covetous, self-righteous, in all our sin, filth, and guilt, being destitute of that operation of God in the soul whereby we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. But God's teachings are, as the prophet speaks, "to profit." (Isa.48:17) They humble, soften, melt, comfort, bless and save. To sum up all in one word, they do the soul eternal and immortal good.       II. But I pass on to consider our second point, the source of these heart-breathings and spiritual longings. "For thou art the God of my salvation." David felt that all his salvation was in God, from God, and out of God. And as the Lord had taken care of his salvation, which was the grand point, he would with this salvation, give him everything which was for his good and God's glory. As the apostle divinely argues, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Rom.8:32). He that hath given the greater, will he deny the less? If he has given salvation, will he not also give those things which accompany salvation? This living faith emboldened the Psalmist to ask the Lord to bestow upon him those favours which are comprehended in and flow out of salvation. Having already given him salvation, would he not supply him with further blessings by showing him his ways, leading him into his paths, and communicating special teachings from his own most blessed mouth?       Now, there is nothing which so emboldens a soul to plead with God as an assurance of his favour and mercy. It is so naturally. If we have no proof that a person has any regard for us, or any good feeling towards us, our mouth is closed to ask of him any favour. But if we have reason to believe that he is favourably disposed towards us it emboldens us to make our wishes known to him. So in divine things. As long as we are in unbelief, or doubt and fear whether the Lord has any purposes of mercy towards us, it shuts the mouth, there is no liberty to be free with his gracious Majesty, no power to ask him to communicate any blessing. But on the other hand, if he be pleased to raise up in the soul any testimony of interest in his salvation, it emboldens it to ask of him other blessings, and in a godly sense to make free with his divine Majesty. Nay, the more he gives the more it emboldens the soul to ask for more still. Does not he himself say, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it?" (Psa.81:10) Thus, the more evidence of interest the soul has in God's great salvation, the more can it ask of the Lord for blessing after blessing, as feeling a holy freedom in asking him to make them known. This to some may seem presumptuous, but the Lord is not angry when holy freedom is made use of in a child-like spirit. He is not offended, but is rather pleased at seeing his child coming unto him and pleading with him for those favours which he is so ready to bestow. You who are parents do not like to see your little ones putting their pinafores over their faces that you may not see them, or creeping away and trying to get out of sight when you come indoors. It would show there was something wrong in you or them. But to see them come forward with their faces full of joy and their eyes beaming with affection, does it not show at once that the parent loves the children, and the children the parent? Many a labouring man, when he comes home tired, feels the first beam of pleasure through the day when his little ones creep on his knee, or his wife greets him with a fond smile. It is thus that affection is mutually manifested. So in grace; if we feel a love to the Lord we can go to him and tell him our wants, get, so to speak, upon his knee and lean the head upon his bosom. When the soul is so privileged, there is an opening up of the heart whereby it can say, "Thou art the God of my salvation," which brings us to our third and last point.       III. The waiting posture of the soul. "On thee do I wait all the day." These are great words to use. In what a spiritual state must David have been so as to be able to say that all day long he could and did wait upon God. Yet with a certain limitation there is in every child of God something of this spirit. It is true that he may not be always waiting on God in prayer, supplication, and meditation, in fact, it would be impossible. How are the things of time and sense to be attended to, all the daily vocations of life to be performed if a man is to be on his knees or reading the Bible all the day long? Yet without God the Great Teacher and Leader of His People this there may still be a waiting on God, a watching his hand, a sense of his absence, a wishing for his presence, a looking up unto him, and the movements of divine fear towards him; all which may be going on in the soul, independent of falling on our knees, reading the Scriptures, or express acts of devotion. In this limited sense, the more spiritually-minded a man is the more will he wait on the Lord all the day. Without a measure of this watching the Lord's hand, and seeking his face, spiritual blessings are not usually obtained.       But most probably David's soul at this time was passing through peculiar trials and temptations, which placed him and kept him on his watch-tower, and being pressed down with these troubles he was continually looking out for the Lord's appearing. This, in fact, is the main benefit of trials, that they make the soul wait upon the Lord, quickening its diligence, stirring up its desires, and making it more earnest after divine manifestations.       Such then was the experience of David, and it will be our mercy if we find a measure of it in our heart. http://articles.ochristian.com/article2865.shtml

The Holy Spirit and Redemptive Preaching - Oswald Chambers

Psalm 106

By Henry Law

      Praise opens and concludes this instructive Psalm. The context is dark in frightful displays of the rebellion and ingratitude of God's people. Bright manifestations of sparing and forgiving grace finally appear.


      1-2. "Praise the Lord. O give thanks to the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can show forth all His praise?"


      By precept and by example we should strive to awaken songs of thanksgiving. A glorious theme animates our minds. Goodness and mercy invite attention. This goodness is unsearchable. This mercy swells as an ocean without shore. Vain, then, are our utmost efforts to lift up adequate strains. If we possessed all the powers of all the angelic hosts, and all the tongues of all who ever breathed, and if they were expanded in one perpetual utterance, they could not measure the due expanse. But the more we strive the more we shall succeed.


      3. "Blessed are those who keep judgment, and he who does righteousness at all times."


      There is no blessedness apart from walking in the fear of God. Let our feet ever traverse this righteous path.


      4-5. "Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that You bear to Your people; O visit me with Your salvation; that I may see the good of Your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance."


      This aspiration is offspring of heaven. Let us ever look to God to raise us to this height of blessedness. The terms exhort us to fix our delighted gaze on the happiness of God's chosen. Salvation is their property. They realize the pledged enjoyment. But still the blessedness and glory of this inheritance exceed all thought. God, who gave the heirs of salvation to His dear Son, and who gave His Son for them, will with Him also freely give them all things. They are the true inheritors of earth. They soon shall be the inhabitants of celestial homes, and eternity will not exhaust their bliss.


      6-7. "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not Your wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of Your mercies; but provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea."


      This salvation springs from grace. No merit wins it. We are poor sinners, even as our fathers were. Look back to the deliverance from Egypt. All the tokens of love and tender compassion destroyed not the seeds of iniquity in the favored nation. Marvelously brought through the Red Sea, they showed proofs that evil still rankled in their hearts.


      8-11. "Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies; there was not one of them left."


      Patience still endured. Mercy held back the arm of vengeance. Support and deliverance still magnified His glorious name. They were led safely through the depths of the sea. They were rescued from the cruelty of their enemies, while the returning waters overwhelmed the foes. Every child of Israel was saved; every child of Egypt died.


      12-15. "Then believed they His words; they sang His praise. They soon forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."


      Such lovingkindness for a moment melted them; hymns of praise resounded. But their goodness was like the morning cloud, as the early dew it passed away. In the wilderness they murmured, because their lust for food was not indulged. They impiously tempted God. He granted their desire, but the food in their mouths was impoverishment in their hearts.



16-18. "They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked."


      They treated their appointed leaders with contempt, and scoffed at their authority. Terrible punishment ensued. The gaping earth swallowed up the rebels. Devouring flames consumed their substance.


      19-22. "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea."


      At Horeb they dethroned Jehovah, and exalted as their god the image of a calf. Their hearts relapsed into the idolatry of Egypt. The mighty wonders which marked their deliverance from that tyrannic sway were as a forgotten tale. Let us chide our souls to treasure up the memory of all His benefits.


      23. "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them."


      God's patience had been tried to the extremest point. Just vengeance reared its head. But Moses interposed. He sought the Lord. He humbled himself in dust and ashes, and prayed that mercy might still be glorified. The prayer of faith is heard, and longer space is given to the rebellious host. Let us learn in faith to cry for others. Such sympathy is welcomed in the courts above. God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.


      24-27. "Yes, they despised the pleasant land; they believed not His word; but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. Therefore He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness; to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands."


      Reports were brought of the luxuriant beauty of their future home. But incredulity derided, and haughty scoffs sneered. The promise which secured this great inheritance was treated as an empty word. We see an dreadful picture of the terrible evil which by nature depraves man's heart.


      28-31. "They joined themselves also to Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their inventions; and the plague broke in upon them. Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment; and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted to him for righteousness unto all generations forevermore."


      The filthy pleasures of idolatry enticed them. They reveled in guilty scenes of impurity, and feasted on the idol-offerings. Unblushing iniquity shunned not the light. Phinehas in holy zeal rushed to vindicate God's honor. He hastened to deal extraordinary punishment. Thus he gave evidence that faith was the inhabitant of his heart. By this righteous act he obtained acknowledgment that he was a Spirit-taught believer. Let us be diligent to give evidence that faith is our living principle.


      32-33. "They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes; because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips."


      When water failed again their provocation so exceeded that even the meek spirit of Moses was ruffled. He spoke in petulance, and for a moment yielded to temptation. Sin in God's most faithful servants is sin still, and calls for tokens of displeasure. Moses suffered keenly. The decree went forth that his feet should never tread the longed-for Canaan.


      34-39. "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them; but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols; which were a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions."


      Surely when they rested in all the comforts of their desired abode their walk would be undeviating obedience. Surely happiness and love would be the inhabitants of their dwellings. Alas! what is man? They spared the idolaters whom they were commanded to destroy. They intermingled with their services, and adopted their abominable vices. They devoted their own children to accursed devils. The blood of impious sacrifices stained their hands. No sin appalled them.


      40-46. "Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, insomuch that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the heathen; and those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times He delivered them; but they provoked Him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless He regarded their affliction when He heard their cry; and He remembered for them His covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives."


      Extraordinary judgments followed. Invaders subjugated their land. Oppressed, they cried again, and were delivered only to sin more.


      47-48. "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks to Your holy name, and to triumph in Your praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord."

      The result should stimulate us to be more diligent in prayer and praise. Let all within us cry, Save us, good Lord, and we will bless Your name. Dangers are always near. Sacred records warn us. Our experience confirms the truth. It is madness to hope for safety from our own vigilance or strength. They fall who trust in such unstable ground. Let our eyes be ever on the Lord, so shall we triumph in His praise.


http://articles.ochristian.com/article3229.shtml

Charles H. Spurgeon ~ Sound Theologians!

UNVEILED MYSTERIES

by John MacDuff

"You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." John 13:7
Much is baffling and perplexing to us in God's present dealings. "What!" we are often ready to exclaim, "could not the cup have been less bitter; the trial less severe; the road less dreary?" "Hush your misgivings," says a gracious God; "arraign not the rectitude of My dispensations. You shall yet see all revealed and made bright in the mirror of eternity!"

 "What I am doing" -it is all my doing, my appointment. You have partial view of these dealings; they are seen by the eye of sense through a dim and distorted medium. You can see nothing but plans crossed, and gourds laid low, and "beautiful rods" broken. But I see the end from the beginning. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

 "Later you will understand!" Wait for the "later" revelation! An earthly father puzzles not the ear of infancy with hard sayings and involved problems. He waits for the manhood of being and then unfolds all. So it is with God! We are now in our infancy; children lisping in earthly infancy a knowledge of His ways. We shall learn the "deep things of God." in the manhood of eternity! Christ now often shows himself only "behind the lattice," a glimpse and He is gone! But the day is coming when we shall "see Him as He is!" when every dark hieroglyphic in the Roll of Providence will be interpreted and expounded! It is unfair to criticize the half finished picture; to censure or condemn the half developed plan. God's plans are here in embryo. "We see," says Rutherford, "the broken links in the chain of His providence. Let the Molder work his own clay in whatever frame He pleases." But a flood of light will break upon us from the sapphire throne; "In your light, O God! we shall see light." The "need be," muffled as a secret now, will be confided to us then, and become luminous with love.

 Perhaps we may not have to wait until eternity for the realization of this promise. We may experience its fulfillment here. We not infrequently find, even in this present world, mysterious dispensations issuing in unlooked for blessings. Jacob would never have seen Joseph had he not parted with Benjamin. Often would the believer never would have seen the true Joseph had he not been called on to part with his best beloved! His language at the time is that of the patriarch "I am indeed bereaved!" "All these things are against me!" But the things he imagined to be so adverse, have proved the means of leading him to see the heavenly king "in His beauty" before he dies. Much is sent to "humble us and to prove us." It may not do us good now, but it is promised to do so "at our latter end."

 I shall not dictate to my God what His way should be. The patient does not dictate to the physician. He does not reject and refuse the prescription because it is nauseous; he knows it is for his good, and takes it on trust. It is for faith to repose in whatever God appoints. Let me not wrong His love or dishonor His faithfulness by supposing that there is one needless or redundant drop in the cup which His loving wisdom has mingled. "Now we know in part, but THEN shall we know even as also we are known!"

gracegems

Joy and Gladness for Mourning Souls

By J.C. Philpot

      Preached at Providence Chapel, on April 2nd, 1854, by J. C. Philpot.

      "To appoint unto those who mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3


      In speaking this morning upon the testimony of Jesus Christ, of the way in which that testimony is received, and how those who received it set to their seal that God was true, I might have quoted, had they occurred to my mind, these striking words of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is from his lips that they proceed. This is evident not only from the general bearing of the chapter, but also from the express declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. You will remember that on one occasion, soon after he had entered upon his ministry, he came to Nazareth and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Elijah. And he opened the book at the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (Lk.4:18). Then follows the passage which I have just read. And then sitting down to expound the Scriptures, according to his custom, he added, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lk.4:21). Now, how could that Scripture be fulfilled in their ears, unless he was the Person whose office it was to comfort all who mourn, and do the whole of that blessed work which is here spoken of?

      In looking at these words, I shall, with God's blessing, attempt to show- 
      I. The character of the spiritual mourner, for it is who is here spoken of.
      II. The sweet and blessed promises which God has given to the spiritual mourner.
      III. The glory which redounds to God thereby.

      I. The character of the spiritual mourner, for it is who is here spoken of. Now, as if to guard us from viewing these words in too general a sense, the Lord has limited their meaning in the next verse--"To appoint unto those who mourn in Zion." The promise, therefore, is not to those who mourn generally, but to those who mourn specially; not to those who are in heaviness and sorrow from mere worldly trouble, but to those characters who, as under the teaching of God, are mourners in Zion. No one can be a mourner in Zion unless he is a partaker of grace, regenerated, and quickened into divine life by the operation of the blessed Spirit on the heart. Wherever, then, grace takes possession of a man's heart, raising up in him a life that never can die, it makes him a spiritual mourner. Until this work is wrought in the soul, it has no place in the promises, no situation marked out for it in the Word of God, nor is it in a suitable state to receive the consolations of the gospel.

      But I would not limit the mourners here spoken of to spiritual mourners only; for if I were to draw that very narrow line, how many trials, sufferings and sorrows, I should pass by, and thus almost say that such troubles needed no divine consolations. Therefore, though I limit the mourners to the mourners in Zion, I do not limit Zion's mourning to spiritual mourning, but I take in all those subjects of trial and grief which God alone by his Spirit and grace can comfort in, and support under.

      As, then, the Lord has promised that he will comfort all who mourn, every spiritual mourner who has a case of trouble and sorrow, has an interest in this promise. But apart from the varied sources of temporal distress that God's children often so keenly feel, more keenly and deeply than worldly people, as possessing more tender and exquisite feelings, they have troubles peculiar to themselves, which make them emphatic mourners in Zion. These have an inward grief, a heart sore, that makes them go burdened, and that sometimes heavily, all the day long. Wherever there are real convictions of sin, a true wound made in the conscience by the Spirit of God, there will, there must, be mourning.



SIN is a thing so vile in itself; an object that God so essentially and eternally hates; a matter that lay with such burdensome weight and power upon Jesus; and was such a source of intense grief and distress to the darling Son of God, when it bowed down his sacred body and soul in the garden of Gethsemane, and pressed him down well-near into hell upon the cross, that every saint of God who has it opened up in his conscience by a true spiritual conviction, must become a spiritual mourner.

      But apart from the weight of distressing convictions in the first work of grace on the soul when this mourning first begins, look at a child of God all through his course, to the day when he receives his immortal crown; take him all through the wilderness, from the moment that life divine enters his soul until the end of his days when the waves of Jordan are in sight, and he passes through its floods into the realms of bliss, he will be more or less a spiritual mourner on account of the evil that dwells in him. No, the more that he knows of his heart, the longer he walks in the divine life, and the more that sin is opened up to him as seen in the light of God's countenance, the more will he be a spiritual mourner. Sometimes he will mourn over the evils of his heart, that his lusts and corruptions are so strong, and he so weak against them; sometimes over the temptations that Satan has laid for his feet, in which he has been entangled, and by which he has been cast down; sometimes over the absence of God, and that he finds so little access to his blessed Majesty.

Sometimes he will mourn as feeling how little grace he has; at another time he will grieve over his shortcomings and inability to realize that vital godliness in his soul which is stamped by the approbation of God as coming from himself. Sometimes he will mourn over his backslidings; how he has been tangled in and given way to his lusts; how he has been overcome by his temper; how he has murmured and fretted against God's dealings with him, so as at times to have been almost ready to break forth into cursing, commit suicide, or do something desperate.

      As these and a thousand other evils are felt in a man's heart, they make him mourn, and as the text speaks, have ashes for his covering. He mourns also over his lack of fruitfulness--and that he cannot be, do, or say what he would. He has strong desires to adorn the doctrine of God in all things, to have spirituality of mind and a tender conscience; and to lead a life of faith, prayer, and watchfulness. But he is obliged to confess with the apostle, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." (Rom.7:19). For his mind is often, very often, doing the exact contrary. All these things, combined with Satan's powerful temptations, and his many misgivings on account of the hidings of God's face from him on account of his sins, with his thorough inability to cast off the burdens that press him down, sink him very low.

      And when he cannot realize any manifestations of God's love, and all is dark and desolate, he seems as if he never knew anything aright, and is ready to cut himself off as a hypocrite or a dead professor. In addition to all this, he may have also to experience persecution for the truth's sake from those, perhaps, near and dear to him; so that it is not one, but many sorrows, that he has to wade through, so as at times to make him, in his feelings, of all men most miserable.

      1. But the Lord, speaking of this mourner, has given certain definite MARKS by which he may be more clearly and distinctly known. He speaks, for instance, of "ashes" in connection with this spiritual mourner, for he has promised to give him "beauty for ashes." To understand this allusion, we must see what is the scriptural meaning of that emblem. In ancient times ashes were an outward token of mourning, much as black clothes are so with us. But they convey also a sense of deep humiliation. Job in his affliction sat down among the ashes. Sackcloth and ashes are often coupled in Scripture, as marks of mourning, as Job speaks, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). When Tamar suffered dishonor from her brother, she tore her clothes and put ashes on her head, as an outward mark of mourning for her degradation and humiliation.

      There is much significance in the emblem. Ashes are but the burnt remnant and dark residue of what was once bright and fair. Thus ashes, as spoken of in connection with the spiritual mourner, imply that what was once fair and beautiful in his eyes, when consumed in the furnace are but a dark, miserable remnant. The spreading of ashes over the crown of his head seems to imply that the spiritual mourner could not take a place too low, that he would hide his face in the dust, and spread over himself and all his once boasted glory, the present felt humiliation of his soul before God, that he is in his own sight a miserable wretch, a sinner indeed.

      2. Another mark which the Lord gives of the spiritual mourner in Zion, is that he is clothed with the spirit of HEAVINESS. There is something very expressive in this figure. Heaviness of heart is compared to a huge cloak or outer garment, which not only covers him all round, but rests upon him with a weight that depresses his spirit down to the dust. How many things there are to produce in a believing soul a spirit of heaviness! Some of God's people seem almost constitutionally disposed to dejection of mind, gloomy sensations and dismal apprehensions, both in providence and in grace. Dark, gloomy clouds continually pass over their mind, and Satan helping forward their distress, holds up before their eyes a thousand evils that may never come to pass, yet are as much dreaded as if they were real, and even more painfully felt. This mental depression clothes them as with a garment which closes in on every side, hampering every movement with its seemingly inextricable folds.

      These spiritual mourners, then, are the people for whom the Lord has a special regard. These are they whom the Lord Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit to comfort. This brings us to our second point, which is to show-

      II. The sweet and blessed PROMISES which God has given to the spiritual mourner. He is specially appointed for those who mourn in Zion, and he was anointed for the express purpose of giving unto them "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." All this, be it observed, is of divine appointment. We never can lay too much stress on God's appointments as the great Ruler, Director, and Controller of all things. We must not look on the varied events that are ever taking place in this world as a mere matter of chance, a confused medley, as though these multitudinous circumstances were all thrown like marbles into a bag, and thrown out without any order or arrangement.

      God is a God of order. In the natural world, the world of creation, all is in order. In the spiritual world, the world of grace, all is in order; and in the providential world, the world of providence, all is order also. To our mind, indeed, all often seems disorder. But this arises from our ignorance, and not seeing the whole as one definitely arranged plan. This God holds in his hands. If you were to see a weaver working at a loom, and saw nothing but the threads and needles jumping up in continual motion, you would see nothing but confusion, nor could you form the slightest conception of the pattern which was being worked. But when the whole was completed, and the silk taken off the roller, then you would see a pattern arranged in beautiful order, every thread concurring to form one harmonious design. But all this was known beforehand by the artist who designed the pattern, and every arrangement was made in strict subservience to it.

      But if this is the case as to Gods appointments in providence, how much more is it true of his glorious designs in grace. Every trial and temptation, affliction and sorrow, are but the result of a definite plan in the eternal mind. Yet to us how often all seems confusion! This confusion is not so much in the things themselves, as in our mind. Job surrounded by trouble cried out, "I am full of confusion" (Job 10:15). Yet we can see in reading his history that all his trials were working toward an appointed end. So every trial, exercise, temptation or affliction, which has ever lain, or ever will lie, in your path, if you are a child of God, has been marked out by infinite, unerring wisdom.

      Is not the commonest road laid out according to a definite plan, and does not the surveyor when he lays it out put every mile-stone in its proper place? So, does not the Lord lay out beforehand the road in which his people should walk? And does he not put a trial here and a sorrow there, an affliction at this turning and a cross at that corner, but each definitely laid in infinite wisdom, to bring the traveler safe home to Zion?

      But as the Lord has appointed the mourning, and heaviness, and ashes, so has he appointed the Lord Jesus Christ, that he may administer consolation to the spiritual mourners. And do you not think that when God in his infinite wisdom chose his own dear Son, he selected one who was fit for the work? Who else was fit for it? For the mourners in Zion have temptations and sorrows which need a support and consolation which the Son of God alone can give; no man, no minister, no, not even an angel from heaven without special commission for that purpose, could comfort them, because they need an Almighty deliverer; and their troubles being chiefly spiritual, they need spiritual relief to reach the root of the case, so as to make the remedy adequate to the malady.

      When God, then, in his infinite wisdom appointed his dear Son to comfort all who mourn, he appointed one able to do the work; not only one whose heart and affections were engaged in it, not only one willing, but strong to do it, having in his glorious Person the infinite strength and power of Godhead. Therefore the Lord said, "I have laid help upon one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people" (Psalm.89:19). He came, then in God's appointed time, and the Holy Spirit rested on him without measure, and anointed him to preach these good tidings; "to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound" (verse 1).

      Both his appointment to the office, and the fulfillment of it, are alike of grace. The creature has no standing here, nor do I read a single word about their merit or their good works. They mourn, it is true; but God sees no merit in tears, no merit in mourning, no merit in suffering, no merit in sorrow. Were their eyes a fountain of tears, it could not wash one sin away. If, then, the Lord looks with pity on these mourners, it is all of his grace.

      His eyes are fixed on their trials, and his heart sympathizes with their temptations; for he himself in the days of his flesh was similarly tempted, and he has a fellow-feeling with them in all their afflictions, for he too was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa.53:3). But not only does he pity. Pity without help is but cold work. He therefore helps as well as pities.

      1. Thus he gives them "beauty for ashes." We have seen them sitting in ashes, mourning over their sins and sorrows, writing bitter things against themselves as seeing within and without little else but misery and death. He comes, then, and by his blessed Spirit speaks a word of pardon or peace home to their heart and conscience. When that word comes with a divine power into their souls, it takes away the ashes; that is, it removes the sense which they have of their ruin and misery, takes away their lamentation and sorrow, and makes their face to shine.

      This is giving them beauty. But whose beauty? Not their own, but his. But how can he give them his beauty--is that communicable? Yes, by giving them a view of himself, according to his promise, "Your eyes shall see the King in his beauty" (Isa.33:17). When, then, their eyes see the King in his beauty, as they catch a glimpse of his beautiful countenance, that beauty is reflected from his face to theirs. So it was with Moses. He went up the steeps of Sinai burdened and dejected with the sins of the people over whom God had made him head. But when he got there, he communed with God; and seeing his uncreated beauty and glory, it was so reflected upon him, and his face so shone with the glory of God, that the people were not able to look upon him. Therefore we read, Moses took a veil and put it over his face. There was such a contrast between the beauty and glory of his face and the darkness and carnality of their minds, that they could not bear the sight.

      Next to the beauty of the Lord, nothing is so beautiful as grace. It is beautiful as being glory begun, glory in the bud. Indeed, until we can see and feel what a beautiful thing grace is in this time state, we have as yet no conception of what glory will be in an eternal state. To admire beauty is natural to us. We naturally admire human beauty, a beautiful countenance, a graceful figure. In fact, the whole creation of God is full of beauty, from the sun which blazes in the sky to the insect which crawls on the ground. A man can have no eyes who does not see beauty in every formation of God's hand. In fact, in this world there is nothing really mis-shaped, deformed or ugly, but sin, and what has been produced by sin. But all created beauty falls short of uncreated beauty. I mean thereby, the beauty of grace, the image of Christ in the soul. This is real beauty, what the Scripture calls "the beauty of holiness."

      "Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning" (Psalm 110:3). The people of God are here represented as coming forth from the womb of the morning, bespangled, as it were, with the dew, reflecting in every drop the beauties of holiness from the Sun of Righteousness. But there is this peculiar feature in spiritual beauty--a person who has it never sees it in himself; no, he that has most grace sees himself most black, and therefore cannot see the beauty which grace puts upon him. This beauty dwells not outwardly in face or form, but in the inner man of the heart, and consists in the reflection of Christ's suffering image.

      Of this beauty, humility is the most striking feature, so that the more the Lord comes into a man's soul in the manifestations of his love and grace, and the more of God's loveliness and holiness he sees, the more he abhors himself in dust and ashes, and loathes himself in his own sight because of his abominations. But every grace of the Spirit combines to one beautiful whole; and yet how imperfect a reflection is it of the consummate beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as the bride says, is "white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand" (Song of Sol.5:10). This, then, is the beauty which he gives for the ashes of humiliation in which the child of God sits; these black ashes, fit emblem of the burning up of creature righteousness. The Lord takes these away, and puts upon him instead his own uncreated beauty, that glorious garment of imputed righteousness, which he has wrought out, and with which he clothes the believing soul; and to this he adds his own image, that new man of grace, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

      Now, is not this a glorious exchange--to put off ashes and to put on beauty--to put off self and put on Christ--to put off misery and put on mercy--to put off sackcloth and be girded with gladness?

      2. The second thing which the Lord gives is "the oil of joy." There is something very noteworthy in this expression. The Lord not only gives his mourning child joy, but the oil of joy. Joy, mere joy, is not enough when not attended with the oil of joy; it seems too light for a mourning soul. There is something in a believer's heart, a holy wisdom and caution, which rejects lightness, a sacred tenderness of godly feeling, which sees through and rejects whatever wears the appearance of natural excitement. Flashes of natural joy are too shallow, too empty, too superficial for him. He rejects them therefore as flattering and delusive, as rather setting the carnal mind on fire and buoying up the natural spirits, than watering and bedewing the soul.

      A believer may well be suspicious, as knowing the value of the article. A tradesman who understands his business is not taken with a glossy surface put upon the goods, but he examines how the whole article has been put together, of what original materials it consists, and how they have been worked up. It is only the ignoramus who is deceived by a smooth surface and a glittering outside. So a child of God, who has been long weighted down by trials and temptations, and has had to prove his religion over and over again from first to last, is not taken with the outside appearance of things; but what he looks at is reality, something solid and abiding, something heavenly, divine, and spiritual, commended to his conscience as the true gift of God.

      The joy, therefore, which the Lord gives is "the oil of joy," because it drops with unctuous power into the soul, spreading and communicating its supplying, softening effects to every part, and penetrating down into the very depths of the guilty, burdened conscience. Do not be deceived with a false joy. Recollect, there is the joy of the hypocrite; and we read of those, "who received the word with joy" (Lk.8:13). Were those right characters? No! For in time of temptation they fell away; they had joy, but not the oil of joy; the husks, but not the kernel of joy. There was no unction, no power, no depths, no reality, no blessedness in their joy; it was a mere flash in the pan, which came and went in a moment. Not such joy as this oil of joy, but that carnal excitement which the ranters often produce among their people by lively tunes, thundering preaching, and exciting their hearers to burst forth into loud exclamations about grace and glory, deluding them into the belief that they have received the pardon of their sins. A carnal preacher may in this way scatter joy by handfuls among a congregation, and people may be so deluded as to think this is "joy and peace in believing" (Rom.15:13).

      But all this wildfire is a very different thing from the oil of joy. That comes with softness and stillness into the soul as from the lips of Jesus; those lips into which God has poured his grace, for he has anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows (Psalm.45:17). Thus we read of the precious ointment which was upon his head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. This was the anointing which was given to Christ by the Holy Spirit when he anointed him to preach good tidings unto the meek, and it is the same anointing, called in the text the "oil of joy," which flows out of Christ into the soul of a believer.

      Examine, therefore, your joys. If a person gives you change for a sovereign, you look over the shillings to see if there are any bad ones or not. Do the same in your spiritual traffic. If, then, you get anything in hearing the Word, in reading the Scriptures, or in secret prayer that looks like joy, examine it well, whether Satan may not try to put upon you some false coin out of his mint, and see whether it bears the King's image and superscription stamped upon it by heaven's own mint. What is real will always bear examination.

      But when really favored and blessed, Satan may still work upon your mind to disbelieve its power and reality, and you may be persuaded at times to call all in question. But when the Lord comes again with a few drops of the same divine unction, you can look back and see from the sweet effects it produces that it was the oil of joy, and not the husks of joy which you enjoyed before. In fact, spiritual mourners can do with nothing less than the oil of joy; and that they may learn to distinguish and value this, is the reason why the Lord puts them into so hot a furnace. If they were not spiritual mourners, with ashes on their heads, they might be deceived by anything and everything--but they are too keen sighted to be deceived now.

      If a man is lying under a hundred pound weight, it is not the finger of a little child that can take it off. The child may play with it, but it cannot lift off the weight. Thus if a soul be really weighted down and burdened by sin and sorrow, temptation and fears, it is not a child playing with it, that can lift off the heavy load; but it is Christ himself coming with a divine power, who takes the burden off a sinner's conscience, and when he does it he gives him "the oil of joy for mourning."
      3. The third blessing Christ is anointed to give is "the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." When we consider how many things there are to burden the conscience and distress the mind, we see how often a believer is pressed down with the spirit of heaviness. This surrounds him as with a cloak; but when the Lord comes and takes it from him, he clothes him with a change of clothing; and this, making him praise and bless his holy name, is called "the garment of praise." But time will not admit of our dwelling further upon his point; I pass on therefore to show-

      III. The GLORY which redounds to God from this work of the blessed Savior. Believers thus highly favored are to be called "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." God has here compared his people to trees, but trees of a peculiar kind, trees of righteousness. What is there in the figure of a tree that seems to bear upon the experience of a child of God? Is there anything which seems to carry more life in it than a tree? Look at a tree in spring. How it seems to be springing into life! How the sap is swelling every bud, and pushing forth every leaf into verdure and beauty! What an emblem of the life of God in the soul received out of Christ's fullness! Thus a child of God resembles a tree in possessing a flow of divine life in his soul.

      But again, a tree grows from a small beginning, such as an acorn, a cone, or a kernel. But it expands until it grows up into the monarch of the wood. So in a child of God there is a growth in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A child of God does not grow like Jonah's gourd, nor start up and become a giant in a day. An oak requires a century to bring it to maturity. Many storms has that oak endured, many piercing east winds have howled through its boughs, many a thick weight of snow has rested upon its branches, many a hail-drop has smitten its leaves, and many rays, too, of the sun have shone upon it. But they have all contributed to its growth, and brought it to its present maturity. So a child of God has many storms and tempests to endure, as well as to enjoy the warm south wind and genial sun; but all combine to strengthen him, and make him grow up into the knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

      Yet how gradual is the growth of a tree! We do not see it grow when always upon the spot, yet if we come back after a few years have run their round, almost our first exclamation is, "How the trees are grown!" So in grace. We cannot usually see whether we grow or not. No, in our own feelings we often seem at a standstill; or even, shall I say, we often seem as if we went backwards instead of forwards, were drooping and decaying instead of advancing and flourishing. Yet there is a growth, if we feel more of our deep and desperate sinfulness, and if we see more of the suitability of the Lord Jesus to our every need. If we feel salvation to be wholly of grace, and cast our soul more believingly and unreservedly upon it, there is a growth; and though we may not see it ourselves, others may see it for us and in us.

      But a tree has buds, leaves, blossoms, and fruit. So has a Christian. When the sap received out of Christ's fullness flows into his soul, he pushes forth the buds of hope. As these swell and spread, he puts forth the green leaves of a consistent profession. In due time the blossoms of love hang thick upon the branches; and these are followed by the fruits of a consistent, godly life.

      But a believer is called in the text, "a tree of righteousness." In three senses is a believer a tree of righteousness. First, by the imputation of the righteousness of Lord Jesus Christ, which is unto him and upon him. Secondly, by the impartation of a holy nature, whereby he is inwardly righteous. And thirdly, by the production of those works of righteousness, which through Christ Jesus are to the glory of God.

      But he is also said to be, "the planting of the Lord, that God may be glorified." Man has no hand in the work of God; all he can do is to mar it. You might see, perhaps, a clever and skillful gardener planting a tree. Now, suppose some stupid fellow, thoroughly ignorant of gardening, were to come forward and say, "Let me help you, master; I think I can do it better than you," crudely taking hold of the stem. Would not his fingers be more likely to move the tree from the situation in which the skillful gardener had put it, and altogether spoil the work, than do any real good? A fellow not fit to handle a spade would be very presumptuous were he so to interfere.

      So in grace. The tree of righteousness is the planting of the Lord. Don't you think the Lord knows how to plant his trees? Does not he know the right soil to put them into, the depth in which to plant them, what sort of fence to put round them to keep off the cattle or other injurious animals? Does not the Lord know how many showers of rain they need, and how many days of bright sunshine, to draw them up to beauty and fruitfulness? Is it not, then, an insult to God to consider the help of man necessary, as if God were not sufficient for his own work? Such interference certainly seems to cast contempt upon the God of all grace.

      But why all this? Is it not "that God might be glorified?" Yes! The whole is for his own declarative glory. Why was the world called into existence? For the glory of God. Why was Adam created? For the glory of God. Why were you born? For the glory of God. But you say, "Perhaps I may be damned." Even that would be for the glory of God. For though it is an alarming thought, yet it is perfectly true, that God's justice is glorified in the damnation of sinners. What were his words to Pharaoh? "Even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth" (Rom.9:17). If it were not so, God's glory would not be seen in all things.

      Therefore, even in those who perish in their sins the glory of God's justice is made manifest. Were it otherwise, how could the righteous acquiesce in the ruin of those near and dear to them? The wife in hell, the husband in heaven! or the reverse. The father in the realms of bliss, the child in the abode of misery! Those once united in the tenderest ties torn asunder, never to meet again. An eternity of joy for one, an eternity of despair for the other. Now, how could the righteous acquiesce in this, unless they saw in it the manifestive glory of God? It would mar the anthems of bliss if they could look down from the battlements of heaven into the weltering abyss of hell, and there see mother, wife, or child damned, and themselves saved, unless they felt a holy acquiescence in the will of God.

      These are tremendous depths, I admit, and the soul pauses at the brink with solemn feeling; but human nature is silent when the glory of God is seen. Aaron felt this when his sons were struck dead at the altar, and he held his peace; and David, when Absalom was taken from him in the midst of his rebellion. Job felt the same when he lost his children all at one stroke. His words were, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Until we come here, we are rebellious against God under such afflicting dispensations. It is indeed hard for flesh and blood; it seems to cut the soul to the very center, and make the flesh quiver as under the sharp knife. Still the soul must submit to all, knowing that God must be glorified.

      But the glory of God shines forth especially in the trees of righteousness. This point, certainly, you will admit, if you cannot go with me into the depths I have been speaking of, and are ready to say, "I never can think God can be glorified in the misery of the damned." I do not ask you to think so now. But the time will certainly come, if you are a child of God, when you will be brought to acknowledge it.

      But this you will certainly admit- that God will be glorified in the salvation of the elect. All their sorrows, temptations and afflictions, that they pass through in providence and grace, with all their consolations, hopes, and enjoyments, are for this end, that God may be glorified. Now, is not this everything the soul can desire? In what do you think consists the bliss of angels? That God may be glorified. When God despatches an angel from his presence to cut off a king, afflict a city with pestilence, send war and sword into the corners of the earth, drown mighty armaments, or perform any of those offices which are the work of angels, does he stop and say, "I cannot do it?" He would cease to be an angel directly, if he paused to execute the will of God. That pause would change him into a fiend of hell, and destroy his nature as an angelic being.

      Some of our old divines would not allow a man could have a deliverance until brought to glorify God in his own damnation. So convinced were they, that until brought to this point, a man did not thoroughly feel his lost condition. Here, then, we close our subject, ascribing with the suffering saints on earth, and the glorified spirits in heaven, praise, honor, and glory to God and the Lamb!




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