OUR Father, who hast given us thine only begotten Son, the brightness of Thy glory, and the express image of Thy person, to take our nature upon Him, and to be born of a pure Virgin, grant that we, being regenerate, and made Thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Thy holy spirit; till Christ be perfectly formed in us, and we be made partakers of a Divine nature, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

HYMN, or Psalm v. 1-7.

LORD, as a family we meet,
Thy goodness to proclaim;
We wait before thy mercy-seat,
And plead the Saviour’s name.

Weary and faint, by cares oppressed,
We still are travelling on
To that bright land of peace and rest,
Where our Forerunner’s gone.

Grant us thy cheering grace, O Lord,
Thy mercy freely give;
Speak by thy Spirit and thy word,
That we may hear and live.


Pardoned, accepted, reconciled,
Through Christ’s atoning blood;
May each one feel himself a child
Of Thee, our Father, God.

EZEKIEL XXXVII. 1-14.

THE hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones, 2. And caused me to to pass by them round about: and, behold, there very many in the open valley and, lo, they were very dry. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5. Thus saith the Lord God unto these ones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves,and bring you into the land of Israel: 13. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14. And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live; and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

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Prayer.

ALMIGHTY Father! Hear us when we venture to approach Thee, through the mediation of Thy well-beloved Son. We bless Thee for Thy care over us during our past lives, and for that latest instance of it which this morning reveals. With more than a father’s wisdom, and with more than a mother’s tenderness, Thou has been “about our bed and about our path, and hast compassed all our ways.” Accept our gratitude for life, for health, for friends, for all things which Thou hast given us richly to enjoy. Yet more for spiritual privilege and provision; for the gift of Thy Son, for the gift of Thy Spirit, for the holy sabbath, for the unsealed word of Thy lips. “The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly heritage.”

We pray for grace, that our blessings may not condemn us. Thy Spirit has taught in our streets; may we never slight his warnings, nor neglect his great salvation. We are exalted as were the cities of old. O help us to avoid their pride and indifference, that we may escape their doom.

We desire the sabbath-spirit to-day, that we may enter into Thy courts with thanksgiving and into Thy gates with praise; that we may be thankful unto Thee, and speak good of Thy name. Enkindle, O Lord, our gratitude and our faith. Give us the docile heart and the humble spirit; for “to that man wilt Thou look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at Thy word.” Let us go to Thy house to meet with Thee, and do Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious, and beautify the meek with salvation. Let all the services of Thy house be filled with Thee, and lead to Thee. May we not rest in the means. May we press through all that is outward and human, and see Thy face, and hear Thy voice speaking to us words of counsel, and comfort, and love. Anoint Thy ministers afresh from on high. Renew their commission; make them faithful men, fearing God above many; and clothe their word with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. Turn about the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and let Thy word be as a hammer which breaketh the rock in pieces, so that the most stubborn hearts may this day be reached and saved.

Bless us as a family. Our needs are known to Thee. Thou knowest our inner souls, and art acquainted equally with the fears that harass us, and the temptations which beset our path. Make us strong to resist evil, and valiant for the truth upon the earth. Let Thy servants find grace in Thy sight, for we are poor and frail; and without Thee the good we would we do not, and evil that we would not, that we do. Look especially upon the young amongst us, and let the summer of their lives be Thine. Guard them from the world and from the evil one--from foes without and foes within.

Bless our land, our queen, and her illustrious house. From the throne to the cottage may peace and truth prevail, and may the nation’s God be the Lord. We ask Thee for daily grace in daily need and trial. Go before us this day, as in the pillar of cloud. In the temple and in the closet be Thou our surety and our strength. Forgive our sins, even those of our holy things; and may we at last enter into the rest which remaineth, even that of the heavenly sabbath, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

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THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE.

O ETERNAL God, who art faithful and true, and according to Thy gracious promises hast raised up a glorious Deliverer to us, who is the Lord our Righteousness; we beseech Thee to stir up the wills of Thy faithful people, that, bringing forth plenteously the fruit of good works, they may be a people prepared for the Lord. And we pray Thee, hasten His kingdom, when He shall reign, and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in all the earth. Grant this for Thine infinite mercies’ sake in Jesus Christ, to whom, with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be praise eternal. Amen.

HYMN, or Psalm lxxii. 7-12.

HAIL to the Lord’s Anointed!
Great David’s greater Son;
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!

He comes to break oppression;
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.

He comes with succour speedy,
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;

To give them songs for sighing;
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemn’d and dying
Were precious in his sight.

By such shall He be feared,
While sun and moon endure,
Belov’d, obey’d, revered:
For He shall judge the poor,

Through changing generations,
With justice, mercy, truth
While stars maintain their stations,
Or moons renew their youth.

ISAIAH XLIX. 1-12.

LISTEN, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3. And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. 5. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. 6. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. 8. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages: 9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves: they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12. Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

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SERMON XXVI.

“BEHOLD MY SERVANT, WHOM I UPHOLD; MINE ELECT, IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTETH,” &c.
--Isaiah xlii. 1-4.

WE find it easier, in human affairs, to discover a fault than to suggest a remedy. We complain without an effort; it is too natural to us to blame or to repine; it requires thought, time, sacrifice, to redeem or to amend. It is not so with the Scripture, which is the word of God. There, each word of rebuke is a means to an end. There is no exposure of evil to exhibit the censor’s superiority. There is no delight in the merciless anatomy of sin. There is no mockery of distress by the presentation of sorrow that is hopeless, or leprosy beyond cure. Equal to the need, and surpassing it, present as soon as the need is felt and acknowledged--there is the redemption. To illustrate this thought you have only to look at the verses immediately before the text. They give us God’s view of the world’s need -- the absence of wisdom and manliness inevitably resulting from idolatry, the folly of character, the failure of plan, the chaos of thought, the utter and hopeless abandonment of a world without God. “For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion” (Isaiah xli. 28, 29). Now, so soon as we have realized this necessity, while the heart is yet pining under the sadness which the thought of it has created, the bright light is in the clouds, and in the midst the vision of the Redeemer. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” It does not need that we should enter into argument as to the reference of this passage to Christ and his great work in the world. We feel instinctively that the words could refer to no other, and it strikes upon us, as a matter of course, that they should be quoted by St. Matthew in the twelfth chapter of his Gospel, and expressly applied to Jesus. Without misgiving or controversy we may enter upon our meditation, suffering our thoughts to flow around this central figure, and seeking to discern its beauty, while we consider --

I. The need of the world.
II. The designation of its Deliverer.
III. The manner and issue of his work.

I. The need of the world is affirmed in this passage to be the bringing forth or establishment of God’s “judgment.” The word has many senses in the Scripture, but there are three to which we may especially refer you. In Psalm cxlvii. 19, 20, it is thus written: -- “He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them.” Here the term is used of the precepts of God’s law, that direct and unquestionable revelation which he has given of his word and will. In Isaiah i. 17 we find it: -- “Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” And similarly in Luke xi. 42:--”Woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and love of God.” Here it evidently stands for righteousness, essential rightness, that which is just and true, alike towards man and God, the high moral excellence which is the ideal of character, and which the weary world has almost broken its heart in fruitless endeavours to attain. Then, in Psalm cxix. 20: -- “My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times;” and in the quotation of the text in Matthew’s Gospel, it would seem to have reference to the dispensation of grace -- the “power of God unto salvation,” the provision of might and mastery for human feebleness and struggle. Now if we think of these meanings for a moment, we will discover, couched in them, the world’s strongest necessities to-day. Take the first thought. It is needful surely that there should be a bringing forth of “judgment” as a revelation of God’s word and will. Who that looks abroad upon the world but must mourn over the bewilderment and confusion of its inhabitants in relation to the things of God. Where there is no revelation there is obscure or distorted vision, and the people perish. If it were possible to conceive of a world without a Bible, and consequently without a standard of authority; in the spectacle of wayward and active mind, with no restraint upon its folly or frenzy, there would need no darker conception of hell. Who that looks into his own heart, and frets himself with the many problems of existence which the human hath no skill to solve, can forbear the longing for a higher wisdom, for a voice which can make itself heard, and which, when heard, can silence the babble of strange tongues, and in imperial tones proclaim to us the true? In matters of lower moment, we would often flee from the restlessness of licence to the tyranny of some strong thinker’s power. The mind longs for rest, when chafed by its endless doubts as the wave upon the rough strand, and from its tumult and passion the earning has been often breathed -- “Oh for the light of the Divine!” This yearning is answered when the judgments of the Lord -- “true and righteous altogether” -- are revealed unto men. The nature need no longer pine, nor wander aimlessly among the speculations of the ages. The feebleness is assured by the nearness of a directing hand, and the pride is humbled by the authority of an unchallengeable law. God hath spoken, and every cavil must be silenced, and every question may be answered in his words. Once convinced that the voice is God’s voice, we have no choice but to obey. When He speaks, it is not an opinion, it is a fact. He does not reason. He pronounces, enacts, declares; and the hushed world should listen and be still. The want of the intellect, bowed beneath the sense of its own ignorance, and yet keenly avaricious of knowledge, is met in the Divine law. That law shows man in his dependence, in his fall, in his mysterious possession of a life from which he cannot rid himself, and in the destiny which fills the future of his being. That law shows God in his character, in the magnificence of his enthronement, in the bend and stoop of his mercy towards those who have offended Him, in the precept which enjoins obedience, and in the promise which gives the strength to render it. That law brings these revelations of man and God together, discloses, in simultaneous discovery, the need and the remedy, and makes it possible for every man to flee from his trouble to his Redeemer, and to find the rest and happiness of being in the knowledge of the “only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent.”

If we take the next meaning of the word “judgment” -- essential rightness -- none will deny that in this also a great want of the nature is supplied. The nobility of the Eden-inheritance, by which the powers of the soul were in accord with each other, with the external world, and with God, how sadly has it been tarnished by the fall! The original derangement, how thoroughly has it infused itself into every part of the universe, and into every faculty of the man! To a thoughtful individual there is nothing more melancholy than the alternate alienation and longing of the mind towards the holy and pure. It has been well said, “Man can neither renounce his sins nor his God.” He flees from the Deity he worships. He is a slave to the sins that he condemns. There are contradictions in his nature which he cannot reconcile -- a war in his soul deadlier than of the tented field. He has longings after purity, but they are stifled by his habits of evil, and have seldom vent, as a jewel might flash for a moment from some foul refuse-heap of a city, only to excite the stranger’s covetousness, or his wonder how it had got there. Hence it is that man’s religious history is so eccentric and unsatisfactory. He cannot acquiesce in evil, but he is fitful and languid in his endeavours to be good; and until Divine grace has wrought mightily upon his heart, he is by turns attracted and repelled from godliness, rapid as the comet in the heavens in his aversion and approach to the sun. His master-want is holiness; but how to reach it he finds not. His heart, convulsed with tumultuous passions; the nations, groaning under the cupidity of the selfish and the insolence of the tyrant’s wrong; the world, prostrate in a moral decrepitude, and forced by its religions into still fouler impurity -- all long for the establishment of the right “They look to the earth and behold trouble and darkness, and dimness of anguish.” There is no light, no hope. Through the long darkness the eyes strain toward for the glimpse of the day; the people linger trembling until the tables are given; “the isles wait for the law;” the universal conscience cries out for its coming, and for lack of it “the whole creation travaileth together until now.”

Consequent upon these two wants of the nature, “judgment” as a revelation of the law, and “judgment” as a habit of righteousness, there is created the third, “judgment” as a dispensation of power, because ignorance and impurity are helpless and “without strength” until “in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” By unaided effort ignorance cannot acquire knowledge, nor pollution be cleansed from its stain. There must be a power by which the scales are shed from the eyes and the warp from the mind; by which the law becomes a life, and the soul is filled with its ecstacy, and enabled to discharge its obligation; by which the nature is rescued from its inherited feebleness, and made “valiant for the truth upon the earth.” Without the revelation of this power, all other would be an aggravation of the torture, as the sunlight on the shroud seems but a gay mockery of the death it robes. The bringing forth of judgment which is declared to be “to open the blind eyes,” is declared also “to bring out the prisoners from the prison;” and the effect of the Saviour’s mediatorial work is described as the “judgment” of this world, and the casting out of its prince from his usurped dominion. As the special anointing for the great work of deliverance, God says of Christ -- “I have put my Spirit upon Him” That Spirit is a spirit of power. Where He works there can be blindness and feebleness no longer; the lame shall leap as an hart, and the darkened eye revel in a new sense of beauty; the leper shall be as a child in comeliness, and the sepulchred shall be alive from the dead.

Here, then, are the wants of the man and of the world met by the bringing forth of judgment from the Lord. Longing soul, who art panting for heavenly knowledge, poor chained one, in the fetters of thy sin, paralyzed at the pool-side, hopeless upon the very brink of the Bethesda, here are healing and comfort for thee. No conflict of opinion -- here is rest for thy mind in the standard of unerring truth. No conflict of passion -- here is rest for thy soul in the purity and justice of the throne. No conflict of fear, and foreboding, and despair -- here is rest for thy heart in the tenderness of “strength and peace.” Truth purity, happiness for all, from the bringing in of the judgment of the Lord.

And not only are the wants of the individual, but of the world, comprised in this purpose of mercy. He who brings in the judgment is the Harmonizer, for whom the nations have waited; the Royal Prince, to whom is committed the arbitration of all things; the source and spring of the earth’s unutterable peace. The world needs nothing “save Jesus only.” all it wants meet in the person of its Surety. Let Him work to the completion of his purpose, and Aceldama must bloom into Paradise. All social wrongs will vanish; the monopoly and the oppression, the sources of poverty and the sources of quarrel, will disappear from the earth which they have cursed so long. All religious evils will be ended. Scepticism will not shake the faith, nor blasphemy curdle the blood. Fanaticism will no longer be grafted upon the reasonable service of the gospel; men will rejoice in the white light of truth, and blush that they have been accustomed to obscure or to distemper its rays; charity will be no longer a fugitive, housed by stealth in hearts warmer than their fellows, but her rejoicing shall be in the habitable part of the earth, and her spirit the inspiration of the kingdom “which cannot be moved;” for He shall reign whose right it is, and Christ shall be all in all. And the world craves this day; men have strong faith that it will come; they know that there is that in themselves which can be made willing to receive it when it comes; and all the moaning which now swells out, like the thunder of the waves upon the shore, into a prayer hoarse with the burden of wrong and sorrow, will be turned into a psalm as He appears; for yet, as by the olden city of Nain, a word from his lips can turn a dirge into the anthem of a bridal.
II. There are certain particulars upon which it may be well briefly to dwell as to the terms which are here applied to Jesus, the world’s Deliverer, and which abundantly show the harmony of counsel in the godhead touching the great work of man’s rescue from ruin. We find, in the first place, that Christ is called “the servant” of the Father. In at least three other places in this prophecy is this term used. In Isaiah lii. 13: “My servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.” In Isaiah liii. 11: “by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” Again, in Isaiah xlix. 6: “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.” It is evident from these passages that our Lord is called the servant of the Father in reference only to his mediatorial work. He is not essentially a servant. He “took upon him the form of a servant,” and, with glad heart and willing feet, went forth to do a servant’s work. There was confided to Him a task which no other could accomplish; and to rebuild the dismantled temple of Jehovah, and to secure for Him a higher revenue of honour, and to make possible for Him his grandest attribute of forgiveness, and at the same to to uplift and save a world which had “destroyed itself” by sin, He laid his glory by. Christ is called, again, the “elect,” or chosen of God, in whom his soul delighteth; or, as Matthew renders it, almost in the very words in which the Father attested the Son from heaven, “My beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” If proof were wanting of his essential equality with the Father, and that He was “Emmanuel, God with us,” we might surely find it here. Though in the form of a servant, He had the heart and love of a son. He was chosen to this work because none other was trustworthy. The world would have remained in hopeless ignorance of God, unless “the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,” had himself “declared Him.” He only could “perfect for ever, by one offering, them that are sanctified.” He only could be the world’s “peace, making both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition between them.” He was not only chosen to this work; but oh, deeper mystery of tenderness! beloved on account of this work. Deep and everlasting as had been the love of the Father to the Son, it was intensified on account of this. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life for the sheep;” as if the redemption of sinners had struck a deeper chord, and evoked a more exquisite affection, than had arisen from the complacencies of a past eternity, or from the wisest and most skilful administration of the worlds.

To complete this harmony, we have to remind you that the Divine Servant, thus chosen and beloved, was the subject of especial anointing from the Spirit. To this the text refers: “I have put my Spirit upon him.” Again, in Isaiah xi. 1, 2: “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Again, on that remarkable occasion in the synagogue of Nazareth, the Saviour quotes the words of Isaiah lxi. 1, 3: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor,” and then startles his listeners by their decisive application to Himself -- “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” We gather from these passages that in unmeasured fullness the influences of the Spirit were upon Christ, to hallow and to counsel, to sustain and to make mighty, every act of his incarnate life. Although He knew no sin, and therefore needed no renewal, yet even his sinless human nature needed the anointing of the Spirit to enrich it with all suitable qualifications, and to make it strong for service or for suffering; for even in its highest embodied possibility human nature cannot do without God.

Now taking these three thoughts, we have a sight that may well enkindle our most rapt and reverent wonder; the sight of the whole Deity at work for man. We see the Father, not stern and implacable, as some gloomy theories present Him, but graciously willing the recovery of the lost, arranging the whole scheme of redemption “according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself;” and, in unexampled tenderness, offering, in the costliest sacrifice, his only-begotten Son. We see the co-equal Spirit, content mediatorially to proceed from the Father and the Son, delighting in the gentler manifestations of his energy, shedding his bright baptisms upon Jesus without measure or grudging, stooping from his throne to woo the stubborn sinner to Himself, descending like the dew of the morning into the heart of childhood, and of the blasphemer, the beggar, the felon; lifting up those who should be peers for angels, and of the household of God. We see the Divine Son choosing to be humiliated, and despised, and smitten, entering into that mystery of sorrow which human intellect shudders even to conceive, refusing no labour nor sacrifice, but obedient alike in his loving ministry and in his atoning death; “delighting” in agony as men delight in home; knowing no pleasure so sweet as that of snatching brands from the burning; loving the humanity which he had wedded so well that he took it with him into heaven, in order that all other humanity might not feel strange and lonely in the sky; and watching in tireless solicitude, and pleading in ceaseless advocacy, for the earth He has ransomed still. Oh! Nowhere in the universe is there to be seen a sight like this. All of the energies of heaven engaged to save a sinner! Let us look on it, that our rebellion may be hushed, our unbelief and indifference scattered at its presence. We may crouch and tremble before heathen gods, which only smite their worshippers; we may shrink like the guilty things we are, when the Lord’s pure presence surprises us in our forbidden delights; we may be awed when Sinai shakes “beneath the dark pavilion spread, of legislative God;” we may be bewildered into fear as we dwell upon each grandeur and marvel of creative power; we may sink into our own nothingness before that insufferable purity to which the heavens are not clean: but the vision which is here presented to our view should awaken other feelings than these. God asks and claims our love. He is not satisfied with distant reverence, and cold obedience, and faultless service, He wants regard, and trust, and clinging. He cares not for the courtier’s knee; he longs for the child’s heart; and He has revealed Himself in the mysterious unity of the Trinity thus tenderly that --

“The mild glories of his grace
Your softer soul may move
Pity Divine in Jesu’s face
To see, adore and love.”

III. We direct attention briefly to the manner and issue of the Redeemer’s work. There are four thoughts suggested by the passage --

First, we are told that he works unostentatiously. “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” Is not this in keeping with all the characteristics of the Saviour? Pretenders vaunt insolently of their claims, and are elated by a momentary triumph. He is “meek and lowly in spirit.” His heart beats with even pulses, whether the palm branches are strewed in his path or the thorns are twisted for his crown. False christs are turbulent and haughty, “boasting themselves to be somebody.” He withdrew from the royalty which the people would fain have forced upon Him, and charged the healed demoniacs that they should not make Him known. Political demagogues raise tumults for selfish ends. He had no war with Caesar, forbade the sword to his disciples, steadily discountenanced the risings of their patriot pride, and impressed upon them that in the diviner monarchy, which was above trappings and legions, he reigned as King for ever. And so quietly has Chritianity spread its influences upon men. Not the whirlwind, the earthquake, the pestilence, but the dew, the seed, the leaven -- things which work quietly, mighty forces, resistless from the might of their silence -- these are its emblems. The kingdom of God commonly cometh not with observation. Physical convulsions may precede it. The whirlwind of passion and the earthquake which shaketh the nations, and the fire, consuming to all olden wrong and all encumbering circumstance, may be the couriers of the gospel; but it speaketh in the “still small voice,” that majestic whisper which always makes a silence for itself, however loud and rude the strife or crying makes its way into the conscience of the world.

We are told, again, that this work is done tenderly, with the utmost mercifulness and long-suffering. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.” What a beautiful representation of the perfection of gentleness is here drawn for us! Let the images live before us. The dying night-lamp, glimmering ghostly through the darkness in the sick-room, when all the world is still; the oil dried up, the last leap of the flame, the curling smoke the only and offensive trace of recent fire -- a kindled lamp for all purposes of utility gone out. Again, the banks of some solitary tarn, with a dreary moorland all around it, the shrill cry of the bittern the only sound that breaks upon the dumb, dead air; and there by the sluggish pool a reed, the sport of the fierce wind, bruised by many tempests, very frail, very lonely, about the most friendless and uncared-for object in the world. If man were in question, how would the bruised reed and smoking flax be treated? Would not the surly hand quench the one, and the rude foot of the wayfarer trample the other? But He, who is gentler and kinder than man, props the reed and fans the flax, until the one becomes strong in Jehovah’s strength, and the other a flame burning brightly and cheerily to his praise. Poor soul, ready to halt through all the days of thy pilgrimage over whom storms have swept pitilessly, and scared from thy side the help of human friends -- poor soul, who hast the memory of a brighter religious life, stifled by worldly care or evil passion, thy heart an altar where no fire has been kindled, there is comfort in the word for thee. The Saviour is great in gentleness, his mightiest energy is to redeem and save. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.” And so tenderly does He watch over the progress of the gospel in the world. He bears with infirm purpose, and does not always chide the rash or hasty deed. To Him the day of small things is but the promise of a glorious future. He is not impatient of growth nor of fruit. He gives time for the blossoming above, and for the clasping of the broad roots below He is not fretted by the heathen’s rage nor by the people’s vanity. In the most degenerate Israel He sees the seven thousand faithful, who have never bowed the knee to Baal, and He waits to be gracious to the proudest rebel, and does not spurn the humblest beggar, and has room in his heart for the affections of the simplest child.

We are told again that this work is done perseveringly and successfully: “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” It is a plain and unmistakable prediction. Judgment shall be set in the earth, and “the isles shall wait for his law.” This is a settled matter, which risen Saviour sits expecting to realize, and which the faith of believers may anticipate on the warrant of his word. The years may come and go with but little apparent progress; the armies of the enemy may be as gaily caparisoned and as boastful of victory; the fortresses may seem to be without a breach; the scorners may be loud in their ribaldry; the standard-bearers may be stricken, and the banner itself soiled with dust and stained with blood; but there is not the interval of a moment in the Saviour’s march to triumph. Calm as the sun in the heavens, He bringeth forth judgment unto victory. Noiseless but constant as the flight of time, He presses to his assured purpose, and waits for the expected end. He is not discouraged by sinister omens or unwonted opposition, by faithless traitors or by wearied friends. None of the ordinary causes of failure operate in Him. Men fail because they underrate difficulties and make no careful counting of the cost, or because they work without a heart and consequently without a will, or because there is a misgiving that the work is unworthy, or because death touches them suddenly in the midst of their toil. He saw the end from the beginning, calculated every danger, measured the stature and strength of every enemy. He loved the work so well that, for its sake, he delighted in the baptism of the fire. He feels the work to be the noblest, the highest destiny for man, the most magnificent revelation of God. He ever liveth, and only hath immortality. “He shall not fail nor be discouraged.” Against embattled earth and gathered forces of the pit he shall bring forth judgment unto victory, until He rests from his labour, until He gathers his children, until He wears his crown. -- W. MORLEY PUNSHON, M.A.

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THE CHILDREN’S SERVICE.

HOW THE PROPHET, RISEN FROM THE SEA, PREACHED AT NINEVEH, AND WHAT FOLLOWED.

Painting of The Fall of Nineveh by John Martin, engraved by William Greatbach.

WHEN Jonah was thrown out into the sea, it is not wonderful that he should have thought God had cast him out of his sight. He tells us himself that this was his first thought. And I think he does not mean merely that this might be death, if he means that at all, but that he feared God was throwing him away for his great sin. But when he found that he was strangely preserved in the waters, and thought back on all that had happened, he began to hope, and look up again to God in prayer. It was a strange place of prayer he had, but the cry of an earnest heart will reach God’s ear from any place; and God heard Jonah from “the deep,” “from the midst of the seas.” If you read the prophet’s prayer, you will find that it speaks first in the tone of distress and affliction, but it closes with words of praise. Jonah now expected to be delivered. So, on the third day, when the fish carried him to the shore, and placed him safe on the dry land, he felt that he had new and great reasons for trusting that God who had pardoned him, and kept him, and hearkened to his cry. When you read the prayer, it is proper to notice this -- that it is written in the form of telling us afterwards what the prophet had prayed, not in direct words of prayer used at the time.

Now that Jonah has been corrected for his sin, and restored to his place, will he obey God next time he told to go and preach? You expect that he will; and you are glad to think that he does go at once, when told, to the very city he would not go to before. A second time God said to him, Go to Nineveh, and preach what I shall bid thee; and Jonah got up and set out on his journey. By and by he reached the place, and found that it would take him three days to go quite through the city, and preach so that all might here, it was so very large. But he began his work and for a whole day, passing along the streets, he cried, In forty days Nineveh shall be destroyed. It was a bold thing to do, but God was with his prophet, and no one set on him to hurt him. More than that, the people began to listen eagerly; one told another about the terrible message brought by a stranger, and the whole city was filled with fear. The very king was told about what was happening, and instead of sending to have Jonah taken and scourged, or imprisoned, or, killed, he was made to feel that the warning cry must be true, and he said to all about him, We must call on God for mercy. He himself put off his royal robes, and put on rough sackcloth, and sat down on the ground on ashes. He made all his nobles do the like, and then set out a decree from himself and them, that neither man nor beast was to taste food or drink, but all were to fast and pray to God to pity and spare them. What a sight it must have been to see! a whole city, as it were, lying before God, and beseeching his mercy. It is not said that Jonah preached more than one day. I suppose he saw it was not needful, and soon God told him that he had taken pity on the people, and seeing that they were turning from their sins, he would not destroy the city.

You are, perhaps, wondering how the king of Nineveh and his nobles, and his people came so readily to believe Jonah’s preaching. What did they know about him, that they should suppose his word to be true? I cannot answer the question so as to make you sure about the way it happened, but some things may be stated as very likely. Of course, God’s hand was in the matter; and when he is pleased to do it, hearts will be moved with fear, or raised to faith. Then the consciences of the wicked Ninevites was on the side of Jonah’s preaching. They felt that they deserved to be destroyed, and that made them fear that the awful warning, which told them how in six weeks the city would perish, might be true. There was even more than this; in some way or other, they came to know that Jonah was a prophet of the Lord. Christ tells us that he was a sign to the people of Nineveh -- something in the same was that he himself was to be a sign to the Jews, by being buried and rising again. This makes me think that the men of Nineveh had come to know that Jonah had been cast out into a raging sea, and must have come up again from the deep or from the dead. Perhaps the seamen that threw him overboard had gone to Nineveh after they themselves landed, and had told the strange story of the storm, and how it was laid. If they were still in the city when Jonah came to preach, they would tell the people that he was the very man they had thrown into the sea with their own hands; and after that all who heard him would feel that that they were listening to one who had come to them as if he had risen from the grave. In whatever way it was brought about we knew they believed God, repented of their deeds, and were spared. But it was only for a time. The people went back to their sins, and at last their city was taken, and laid in ruins. By and by where the great Nineveh had stood, there were only waste and desolation, and green mounds covering the heaps that were scattered all over the plain. Out of these of late years strange remains of the old grandeur have been dug, and Nineveh has been speaking to us, as Jonah spoke to her, like one risen from the dead.

How did it fare with Jonah when God told him he was going to spare the city? Surely he would be very glad, and give God thanks that his preaching had been blessed to alarm the people, and to bring them to repentance. I am sorry to say this was far from being the case. The prophet was very angry. God’s goodness gave him very great displeasure. I suppose he thought his own honour as a prophet was at stake; and that people would say, his big words have not come to pass after all. That comes of thinking about ourselves, rather than God; and about our own things, rather than those of others. One cannot help asking, Would Jonah have liked to see Nineveh consumed like Sodom? It would almost seem so: for after he had complained to God about his pity, which he now hints was the reason why he had fled at first, he went and sat on a hill to the east of the city to watch and see what would become of it. It was a very sad and strange thing for Jonah to plead God’s mercy as a reason why he did not like to carry a warning message of wrath; but in his passion he did this. See how blind rage makes a man, and how madly bold too! God bore with his foolish servant wonderfully, and taught him a lesson which, let us hope, brought him to a better state of mind. Jonah had made a little booth for himself to sit in, and God made a gourd to grow up and cover it with the shadow of its fresh green leaves, and the prophet was very glad of the cool shelter. But God made a worm to smite it so that it withered, and then he sent a hot fierce wind, and it beat burningly on Jonah’s head, and he fainted and said, I wish I were dead. God spoke to him, and asked, Are you right to be so angry for the gourd? And when the passionate man said, Yes, I am quite right, quite right! God answered him, and rebuked him by saying, You pity the gourd, though it was not yours; it cost you no labour, it grew of itself: you pity the gourd, though it be but a short-lived plant: should not I pity Nineveh, with its hundreds of thousands of men and women and children, all my creatures, beside the multitudes of cattle? Let us hope he was brought to say, Yes, Lord, it was right that thou shouldst pity them and spare them. Pity and pardon me, Lord!

QUESTIONS ON THE BIBLE STORY.

1. Do you know the name of a king who prayed to God from the cell of a foreign prison, and was heard?
2. Can you find a text in which a prophet speaks of praying from a deep prison?
3. What other prophet than Jonah did God bring back when he had fled from his post, and bid him do his work again?
4. What people was it that were often miraculously delivered, and as often sinned again?
5. What prophet was it that carried a message against an idolatrous place and spoke it boldly in the presence of a king?
6. Where do we read about a king, who, on rending his outer garment, was seen to be wearing sackcloth underneath?
7. What king was it that lay fasting for a week upon the ground?
8. Can you find a passage in which Christ tells the people of his day that they were worse than the Ninevites?
9. Where does Jesus tell us that Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites?
10. Can you find a text in the New Testament which bids us to look on the things of others, not on our own?
11. Do you know a beautiful promise in which Christ is represented as sheltering from the heat?
12. Where are rich men compared with grass and flower under the sun and a burning wind?

ANSWERS to the foregoing question may be found by consulting 2 Chron. xxxiii.; Lament. iii.; 1 Kings xix.; Ps. lxxviii; 1 Kings xiii.; 2 Kings vi.; 2 Sam. xii.; Matt. xii.; Luke xi.; Phil. ii.; Isa. xxxii.; James i.

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Prayer.

O LORD God, we rejoice that Thou art merciful and gracious, and art willing that even the worst of men should turn from their sins, and be forgiven and live. We pray that we never be left to feel sorry when thy threatened judgments are turned away by men repenting. We beseech Thee to keep us from indulging angry passions, and answering hastily and hotly when our feelings are moved. We praise Thee for Thy great forbearance towards us, and that Thou hast not dealt with us as we have sinned. Keep us from abusing Thy long-suffering. May we with all our hearts bless Thee for the sign of the risen Saviour, rejoicing that the message he brings to a sinful world is a message of mercy and love --glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men. O that all men may soon hear it and believe it. This we ask for the Redeemer’s sake. Amen.

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EVENING WORSHIP.

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given Thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life, give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that His most inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour to follow the blessed steps of His most holy life, that dying unto sin, and living unto righteousness, we may at last obtain eternal life, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HYMN, or Psalm lxi. 1-5.

JESUS, Lover of my soul!
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the raging billows fly,
While the tempest still is high!

Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, oh! Leave me not alone;
Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on Thee is stay’d;
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of thy wing.

ACTS IV. 23-25.

AND, being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them is; 25. Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things. 26. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27. For of a truth, against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak they word, 30. By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold. 35. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

ACTS V. 12-16.

AND by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people: (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. 13. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;) 15. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might over-shadow some of them. 16. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

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Prayer.

O LORD our God! we come again into Thy presence as the day declines. We prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried, for we hoped in Thy word; and again at even-tide will we cry unto Thee, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake. As the eyes of servants unto their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon Thee, until that Thou have mercy upon us. Let us again realize Thy presence. Bless us with mercy to pardon. Bless us with grace to help in this our time of need. We thank Thee for the audience which Thou hast given us in Thy house. Thy word has been sweet to our taste. We have sat under Thy shadow with delight. Thou hast come near to us while we have come near unto Thee. Lord, forgive whatever has been unworthy in the motive, or imperfect in the service we have endeavoured to render. We are not consciously insincere, but who knoweth his errors? Cleanse Thou us, O God from secret faults. The thought of Thy presence awes and humbles us. O, make us that we shall not be banished from Thy fellowship, nor afraid to look upon God.

Grant that the words which we have heard to-day may linger in our memories and influence our lives. Help us to walk consistently before the world. Save us, O Lord, for we are weak, and the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and our ancient enemy lieth in wait to betray. Hold Thou us up, and we shall be safe; strengthen us by the might of Thy Spirit in our inner man. Out amongst men, acting with the world’s citizens, reasoning with its reasoners, taking our part in the duty of every day, may we be strong with an inner strength; may we walk in the light, as children of the light and of the day. May our conduct approve our confession, that the world may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.

Let all who are dear to us be dear to Thee. Gather our friends into Thy fold. Teach us to be faithful to those who are yet out of the way, that by our persuasion and example we may win them for Christ. Deliver us from blood-guiltiness, O Lord, Thou God of our salvation.

Where Thy truth has been proclaimed this day let a blessing from on high follow it. Let the message of reconciliation reach and soften many a prodigal heart, bring back the wanderers home, and let those who have been thoughtless hitherto be led to seriousness and prayer.

We commend ourselves to Thy fatherly keeping this night. The darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. Watchman of Israel, screen us from harm and from sin. Underneath and round us place Thy everlasting arms. Let us lie down in peace, and sleep, because Thou only makest us to dwell in safety. Renew our strength for life’s toil and duty. Give us a manly piety and a generous faith. We are frail and erring, but Christ hath died. We rest on His atonement. We plead his ceaseless and fragrant intercession. Have respect unto Thine anointed, and for His sake grant us light, and peace, and life, and to Thy name we will render praise. Amen.

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MORNING AND EVENING MEDITATIONS.

MONDAY.

Morning.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh;
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Gal. iii. 24. Gal. iv. 4, 5, 6. Rom. viii. 3, 4.

Evening.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Ps. xci. 1, 5. Ps. cxxi. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.

TUESDAY.

Morning.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Eccles. vii. 8, 9. Rom. xii. 12, 14. Ps. xxxvii. 8. Prov. xvi. 32.

Evening.

In your patience possess ye your souls.

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

Luke ii. 1, 19. Heb. x. 36. Heb. xii. 1, 3. Lam. iii. 26, 31.

WEDNESDAY.

Morning.

Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

O love the Lord, all ye his saints; for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mne eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies: make thy way straight before my face.

Job x. 12. Ps. xxxi. 23. Ps. cxvi. 7, 8, 9. Ps. v. 8.

Evening.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy, and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price.

Matt. v. 6. John iv. 13, 14. Rev. vii. 16. Isa. lv. 1.

THURSDAY.

Morning.

Tribulation worketh patience.

We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Rom. v. 3. John xvi. 33. Acts xiv. 22. Rev. vii. 14. Heb. xii. 6.

Evening.

The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him.

My meditation of him shall be sweet.

Ps. civ. 31. Ps. ciii. 22. Acts xv. 18. Col. i. 16. Ps. civ. 34.

FRIDAY.

Morning.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.

Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding.

God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Exod. xv. 11. 1 Chron. xvi. 26. Ps. xxx. 4. Ps. xlvii. 7,8. Ps. xlvi. 10.

Evening.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby;

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it.

Ps. viii. 2. 1 Pet. ii. 2,3. 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2.

SATURDAY.

Morning.

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of person:

But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

A sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Eccles. ix. 7. Eph. i. 6. Acts xxxiv. 35. Phil. iv. 18. 1 Cor. x. 31.

Evening.

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Col. iii. 3. Rom. vi. 7, 8. Gal. ii. 19, 20.