from the root whence all its power to bear apples was derived. It is thenceforth good for nothing. Now man resembles this broken bough. When first created he received spiritual life in a direct stream from God, just as a branch receives virtue from the root. But being broken off from God by the fall he is become dead and withered. No more heavenly influence from God flows into the soul, and therefore no more holy fruit is brought forth. What is to be done to make him bear fruit? Must the broken bough be set upright in the ground, and be pruned and watered as though it were alive? Some try this plan but it does not answer. It will never bear until united again to God. The Holy Spirit must take the poor soul, the dry withered branch, and "graft it in again," uniting it to the Source of Life. This done, Christ becomes his LIFE, and by faith receiving nourishment from Him he brings forth fruit. All is vain without this. No one will follow Christ as his EXAMPLE who has not this LIFE within him. And sometimes God puts this LIFE into the tender hearts of the young. I will give you a wonderful instance.-A little negro slave, only ten years old, who loved Jesus Christ, was cruelly beaten by the command of his wicked master for going to hear the gospel. While he was writhing under the strokes of the whip the heartless man said, "What can Jesus Christ do for "He helps me to bear it with patience," said the "Give him five-and-twenty more." It was done. "And what can Jesus Christ do for you now? ?" you now poor child. "He helps me to look for a reward in heaven," said the little sufferer. "Give him five-and-twenty more," cried the master in a rage. And as he listened to the dying groans of the child he asked fiercely, "What can Jesus Christ do for you now?" The noble little fellow with his last breath feebly said, "He helps me to pray for you, massa." And then his spirit fled to the bosom of Christ Who wiped away all his tears; but whether He answered the little boy's prayer for his murderer is not so certain. But this is plain; the dear child must have had Jesus Christ within him as his LIFE, or he would never have been so sweetly conformed to His Example Who, you know, prayed with His dying breath for His murderers. And this SPIRITUAL LIFE is ETERNAL LIFE. The soul once reunited to God can never be broken off again. Satan tries hard to pluck the branch away-the winds of temptation blow them rudely: about-afflictions like sharp knives threaten to cut them off; but nothing can separate the real believer from Christ, for it is written, "He that believeth HATH everlasting LIFE, and shall not come into condemnation." Thus then, whenever Christ stands for an ENSIGN to the people, He is not only exalted as EQUAL WITH GOD,-the EVERLASTING FATHER, and His ELECT Servant; He is also revealed as the END OF THE LAW for Righteousness to every one that believeth,-the beautiful EXAMPLE to which we must be conformed,-and ETERNAL EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD. 139 LIFE within us. The prophet adds, "To it (this ENSIGN) shall the Gentiles seek," and not in vain, for "His rest shall be glorious." Glorious indeed! since to every one that believes He says, "I am thy Shield and thy EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD." EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD. Gen. xv. 1. He does not here say I will give you a great Reward; but "I am thy REWARD.” Then we are rich indeed! If the EVERLASTING FATHER gives us Himself, surely all things are ours; this world and all worlds, the sun and the stars, earth and heaven, time and eternity. Yet are all these things nothing when compared with Himself. That is the grandest inventory in the world which we have in 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23: "For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours." But God is greater than His works and more glorious than His gifts. Infinitely so. And all heaven-taught souls are of his mind who said, "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss. . . . that I MAY WIN CHRIST." "Thy only love do I require ; I nothing else on earth desire, Let heaven and earth and all things go, Give me Thine only love to know, Give me Thine only love." Let us conclude with four lessons. 1. You should prize the preaching of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation, and faith cometh by hearing. the 2. You should come boldly to the throne of grace. What prevents prayers of sinners from being heard? The offended law of God. But when you point to Jesus Christ as the END OF THE LAW for Righteousness, the law makes no more opposition. Come then with full confidence, and cease not in your prayers to 3. Seek Spiritual Life from Jesus Christ by whom alone you can bring forth fruit. He came "that you might have life;" ask Him for it, and leave Him not to complain "Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life." 4. Keep in view the EXAMPLE of Christ. If you hope to be saved by His righteousness you will love to follow His EXAMPLE. The gospel is not to make the law void but to establish it. "He that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." Jesus says to you, "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." Do you admire this lovely disposition? Have you tried to learn this lesson of Him? And are you striving to practise it every day? Again, the Father says to Him "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity." Are you conformed to this beautiful pattern? Remember, "Without holiness no man can see the Lord." Eighteenth Sunday. FRIEND. FIRST-BORN. FIRST-BEGOTTEN. FIRST-FRUITS. FAITHFUL WITNESS. FORERUNNER. FAIRER THAN THE CHILDREN OF MEN. FORMER OF ALL THINGS. FIRST AND LAST. FRUIT OF THE EARTH. FAITHFUL AND TRUE. FAITHFUL CREATOR. THERE lived some time ago two intimate friends. Sisters they were -beautiful, pious, and amiable. They loved each other most fondly, and could scarcely bear to be separated. The eldest became dangerously ill. The youngest watched her with the utmost anxiety; and suspecting that the sufferer was afraid to die, she said to her, "My dear sister, I fear you are about to die,-I cannot comfortably part with you only to go to Christ, I hope therefore your interest in Him is clear." The elder turned to her and said, "What! sister, do they think I am in such danger? I must confess to you that if I thought death were near, my distress would be great, for I have not that full assurance for which I have often prayed." No sooner had she spoken thus than the other fell on her knees beside the bed and exclaimed, "O Lord, if one of us must die shortly, let it be me! for through Thy grace I have a sure hope of my interest in Christ. Wherefore I will willingly die, if it may but please Thee to spare my sister a little longer to make her calling and election sure." So saying, she kissed her sister and left the room. And so it came to pass,-the elder began to amend and shortly recovered; while the younger, the ardent, the devoted, filled with the assurance of faith, was seized with illness and died! How sweet was the fellowship of these two! How beautiful the devotion of the younger! Death was not too great a price at which to secure the life of her beloved sister. Human love could go no further. But Divine love rises higher still. "Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die; but God commendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Then "there is a FRIEND who sticketh closer than a brother." FRIEND. Prov. xviii. 24. He is One who doth as far excel the most perfect pattern of friendship the world can show as the heavens excel the earth. Whatever is valuable in the best Friend exists in Christ to an infinite extent, with many qualities which no other Friend can possess. Tender parents pity their children and FRIEND. 141 love to comfort them. But they are often at a distance when most wanted, and are sometimes doomed to see them perish before their eyes without the power to help them. Human Friends are liable to change, or the most devoted of them might not be able to help us― and so prove but broken reeds. Or we might number among our Friends the wise and learned, but if we are much inferior to them there could scarcely be a very cordial sympathy between us. But this FRIEND is powerful to help us in every time of need, and never changes in His feelings. And He is fully prepared to accommodate Himself to us however lowly we are; for He loves to be known as the FRIEND of the poor and humble. They were poor fishermen to whom He said, "I have not called you servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you FRIENDS for I have told you all My heart." And they were little children whom He welcomed to His arms, saying, "Let them come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” There dwelt at Bethany, in comparatively humble circumstances, two sisters and a brother; Jesus loved that little family and often rested Himself under their roof. What sweet hours those three spent in intimate conversation with the Man of Sorrows! What a privilege they felt it to sit in the same room with the Messiah and hear His wisdom! Oh! you think, if I had lived in Bethany then how I would have welcomed Him to my home! Would you indeed? Well, if you are sincere I can tell you of a greater thing than that! He loves much more to be entertained in our hearts. He asks for this. He invites Himself, "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any one open, I will come in and sup with him, and he with Me." Will you be so rude and ill-mannered as to say, "I pray Thee have me excused"? What! decline the honour you thought just now you would be so proud of-the privilege of entertaining the Lord of Glory? Think of the intimacy to which He invites you. Have you secret sorrows which you cannot reveal? Have you temptations which you do not feel at liberty to explain to any? You may unfold them all to Christ. Have you some fond wish which you shrink from imparting to any human being? Go speak of it to Jesus. It is to this intimate converse He calls you. This is what He wants,-your entire confidence. This is what He means in Rev. iii. 20. "I will sup with him and he with Me." Keep nothing from Him and He will withhold no good thing from you. Make your secrets known to Him and "the secret of the Lord shall be with you." I say againThere should be unrestrained intercourse; there is not a thing about which you ought not to converse with Jesus Christ. Cast all your burdens upon Him, "Oh let your weary heart Lean upon His! and it shall faint no more, Ah! (say you) all this seems very sweet. We like the thought of such a FRIEND. But how can Jesus Christ be thus intimate with thousands at once? Because He is God! Behold He fills heaven and earth! Therefore He can deal with each one as particularly as if that one were alone in the world. Well, but stay! there is another difficulty still. We should like this friendship very much, and we can well imagine this kind of intimacy between equals; but will He Who, you say, is "Higher than the Highest" stoop to such worms as we? We can scarcely believe it. And then a bosom FRIEND ought to be able to enter into our feelings. To do this he must have been in similar troubles with ourselves. Exactly so! and Jesus Christ took part of your flesh and blood on purpose that He might be able to feel your infirmities and perfectly sympathize with you. Make no more objections then. But (first) observe that There is in this Friend the closest Relationship. He is "bone of your bone," and a Member of your family, the "FIRST-BORN." 66 "He FIRST-BORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN. Rom. viii. 29. took on Him the seed of Abraham." God's FELLOW" was not ashamed to be man's Brother! The rich are often ashamed of their poor relations, and find it hard to stoop to their level. But oh, the matchless grace of our glorious FRIEND! He was rich, yet so bent on owning us that He dwelt among us who were not only beneath such an honour, but sinful and altogether unfit for it. Admire this Holy One becoming the "FRIEND of publicans and sinners." He mingled with us but was not contaminated. He endured the stigma of our evil reputation and was numbered with transgressors, that He might gather around Him a great family and be the FIRST-BORN among many brethren. These Titles, FIRST-BORN and FIRST-BEGOTTEN, (Heb. i. 6,) point out His pre-eminence in all things. He is the Head of the family; the Eldest, the Heir; as well as the Leader to whom all the younger members of the family are to look up.-But do we not read also that "it behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren "? Heb. ii. 7. Observe, then (secondly), that In this Friend there is not only Relationship but Likeness. He is "the FIRST-BEGOTTEN OF THE DEAD." FIRST-BEGOTTEN OF THE DEAD. Rev. i. 5. He was Partaker of our flesh and blood that He might hunger and thirst; that He might weep and suffer and be made like His brethren, and so be able to feel for them. Yea, and He died and was buried like His brethren. He poured out His soul unto death, that through death He might deliver them from the power of death. But having died, He saw no corruption. Being buried, the grave could not hold Him. Three days He lay in prison, and then by His own power shook off the bands of death and became the "FIRST-FRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT." FIRST-FRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT. 1 Cor. xv. 20. |