"On earth His dying love shall be His praise shall all our powers employ."-Kelly. OCTOBER XV. "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee "Within Thy circling power I stand ; I am surrounded still with God."-Watts. "Where'er I lift my soul in pray'r, OCTOBER XVI. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out."-REV. iii. 12. "It is said of the triumphant Christian, he shall go no more out.' In this world, change and decay are stamped upon every thing around us. Our choicest blessings are suspended on the slenderest threads. Even our spiritual joys partake in some measure of the same fluctuating character. How great are apt to be the ebb and flow of the religious affections! How soon is the ardour of devotion chilled ! How does the body seem to hang upon the soul, and to chain it to earth when it is soaring to heaven! But the Christian, exalted to be a pillar in the temple of his God shall go no more out.' The sun of his joys shall never go down. The well-spring of his comforts shall never fail. The joys of one moment shall be the joys of eternity. Inseparably united to God, he shall eternally participate in the pleasures which are at His right hand. He shall shine as a star in the firmament for ever and ever."-Rev. J. W. Cunningham. 66 Then let the wheels of nature roll Yet onward to decay: We long to hail the rising sun, That brings th' eternal day."-Doddridge. OCTOBER XVII. Charity suffereth long, and is kind :-Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."1 COR. xiii. 4, 7. "CHRISTIAN, ever cultivate a meek and quiet spirit; that magnanimity which is calm and considerate, and which tries to look at the day's grievances in to-morrow's light; that elastic and happy temper which, being the growth of grace, shall be independent of the weather, that serenity which, whether in fog, or sickness, or hunger, or in sunshine, and health, and bodily comfort, 'is not easily provoked.' And if this grace be in you,-if your spirit be so ruled that men find you the same yesterday and to-day,-your heart fixed amidst vexations, and amidst all its trials your temper tranquil, they will perceive that the religion from above is full of good. fruits, and will admire its peaceful fruits in you."-Hamilton. "May we the law of love fulfil, Lighten each other's burthens here, And walk in all Thy faith and fear."-Montgomery. all OCTOBER XVIII. "The LORD is my Shepherd."-PSALM XXiii. 1. "OH wonderful words! The Lord Jehovah is my Shepherd! I, a creature of yesterday, yet the eternal God is my Keeper! I, a frail and dying mortal, yet the Self-existent is my Preserver! I, a sinner that have often strayed like a lost sheep, yet Jehovah is my Shepherd! Oh how good, how great a Shepherd is the Lord my Shepherd! His hand has led me my life long unto this day! His long-suffering has borne with the perverseness of my heart! His gracious promises have spoken comfort to my soul! His everlasting arm has been around me for a defence! Oh for a heart to love my Shepherd as I ought! Marvellous has been His love towards me! Poor, then, and destitute as I am, my Shepherd is the possessor of all things! Unworthy and unstable as I am, my Shepherd is the gracious and immutable Jehovah! Feeble and defenceless as I am, my Shepherd is the Almighty God! His fulness shall supply me. His wisdom shall direct me. His power shall preserve me. And into His everlasting fold He shall receive me, for the Lord is my Shepherd.""Stevenson. "The Lord my Shepherd is, He knows my every need; His care my soul will feed." OCTOBER XIX. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.". 1 TIM. i. 15. “THERE are certain truths, of which one should never be at any moment unconscious. 1st, I am a creature—a mere worm. 2d, I am a sinner, whose guilt exceeds all that can be expressed or conceived. 3d, I am redeemed by the blood of God's only dear Son, and completely reconciled to my God and Father. Now, then, I wish ever to have a creature-like spirit; a sinner-like spirit; and a saint-like spirit; no one of these would I lose for a moment, nor would I suffer any one of them to swallow up the rest. I would have the whole of my experience one continued sense-1st, of my nothingness, and dependance on God: 2d, of my guiltiness, and desert before Him: 3d, of my obligations to redeeming love, as utterly overwhelming me with its incomprehensible extent and grandeur."-Rev. C. Simeon. "I heard the voice of Jesus say, Behold I freely give The living water,-thirsty one. stoop down, and drink, and live. I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream, My thirst was quenched, my soul reviv'd, and now I live in Him." -H. Bonar. OCTOBER XX. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” -I PET. V. 7. "LET the burden of your daily cares be cast upon the Lord, believing that His providence extends to all your affairs, to all events concerning you, and to all the circumstances of them, even the most minute; that your times are in His hand, and all your ways at His disposal. Believe His promise, that all things shall be made to work for good to those that love Him, and then refer it to Him in everything to do with you and yours as seemeth good in His eyes, and rest satisfied in having done so, and resolve to be easy. Bring your cares to God by prayer in the morning, spread them before Him, and then make it to appear all the day, by the composure and cheerfulness of your spirits, that you have left them with Him. Commit your way to the Lord, and then submit to His disposal of it, though it may cross your expectations, and bear up upon the assurances God has given you, that He will care for you as the tender father for the child."-Matthew Henry. "I'll spare all needless thinking, That Thou'rt my all, sufficeth me.” -Moravian. |