BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibstudy/morneven.exe/ME10.AM

Text File | 1993-09-05 | 64KB | 1,163 lines

* 10/01/AM

"Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O
my beloved."
                                          --Song of Solomon 7:13

   The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces.
Our heart has "all manner of pleasant fruits," both "old and
new," and they are laid up for our Beloved. At this rich
autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We have
_new_ fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new
gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by
new labours; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul
is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some _old_
fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and
Jesus delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple
faith by which, having nothing, we became possessors of all
things. There is our joy when first we knew the Lord: let us
revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises. How
faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did He make our
bed! In deep waters, how placidly did He buoy us up! In the
flaming furnace, how graciously did He deliver us. Old fruits,
indeed! We have many of them, for His mercies have been more
than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we
have had repentances which He has given us, by which we have
wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of His blood.
We have fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the
point--_they are all laid up for Jesus_. Truly, those are the
best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the solitary
aim of the soul, and His glory, without any admixture whatever,
the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up only
for our Beloved; let us display them when He is with us, and not
hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key
in our garden door, and none shall enter to rob Thee of one good
fruit from the soil which Thou hast watered with Thy bloody
sweat. Our all shall be Thine, Thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!

* 10/02/AM

"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven."
                                                --Colossians 1:5

   Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the
mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think
often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there.
Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of _rest_
where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker's brow,
and fatigue shall be for ever banished. To those who are weary
and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in
the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested
by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven
we shall enjoy the _victory_, when the banner shall be waved
aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall
hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We
have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to
the land of the _immortal_ where graves are unknown things. Here
sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly
_holy_, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom
anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows
of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be
in banishment for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in
this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let
it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the _future_
and forgetting the _present_, let the future sanctify the
present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of
heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is
a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful
holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work
with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights
against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world
repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without
present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.

* 10/03/AM

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
                                                  --Hebrews 1:14

   Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they
bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a
stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads them to take a deep interest
in the children of His love; they rejoice over the return of the
prodigal to his father's house below, and they welcome the
advent of the believer to the King's palace above. In olden
times the sons of God were favoured with their visible
appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us, heaven is
still opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon the
Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim
still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips
of men greatly beloved. If our eyes could be opened, we should
see horses of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of
the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels,
who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal. Spenser's
line is no poetic fiction, where he sings--

          "How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
          The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant
          Against foul fiends to aid us militant!"

To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant
courtiers of heaven become their willing servitors! Into what
communion are we raised since we have intercourse with spotless
celestials! How well are we defended since all the twenty-
thousand chariots of God are armed for our deliverance! To whom
do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be for ever
endeared to us, for through Him we are made to sit in heavenly
places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose camp
is round about them that fear Him; He is the true Michael whose
foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of
Jehovah's presence, to Thee this family offers its morning vows.

* 10/04/AM

"At evening time it shall be light."
                                                --Zechariah 14:7

   Oftentimes we look forward with forebodings to _the time of
old age_, forgetful that at eventide it shall be light. To many
saints, old age is the choicest season in their lives. A balmier
air fans the mariner's cheek as he nears the shore of
immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep,
still and solemn. From the altar of age the flashes of the fire
of youth are gone, but the more real flame of earnest feeling
remains. The pilgrims have reached the land Beulah, that happy
country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon earth. Angels
visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow
in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell
here for years, and others come to it but a few hours before
their departure, but it is an Eden on earth. We may well long
for the time when we shall recline in its shady groves and be
satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes. The
setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a
splendour of glory tinges all the clouds which surround his
going down. Pain breaks not the calm of the sweet twilight of
age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up with
patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are
gathered as the rare repast of life's evening, and the soul
prepares itself for rest.

   The Lord's people shall also enjoy light in _the hour of
death_. Unbelief laments; the shadows fall, the night is coming,
existence is ending. Ah no, crieth faith, the night is far
spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come, the light of
immortality, the light of a Father's countenance. Gather up thy
feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft
thee away. Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest
thine hand. Ah, now it is light. The pearly gates are open, the
golden streets shine in the jasper light. We cover our eyes,
but thou beho