180 EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER. thought himself a righteous man, while he was a persecutor and blasphemer, and injurious. Till self-righteousness be renounced, there can be no sense of sin and danger, no acceptance of Christ, and no salvation. The only righteous man is the believer in Christ. Christ's righteousness received by faith makes him righteous. He feels, and he rejoices and says, "The Lord is my righteousness." He is also righteous in character. In all his dealings he is a just man, and imitates the example of Christ. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous." And his works of righteousness he considers not the ground, but the evidence of his justification. The righteous man's prayer.-He is a man of prayer. Prayer is the expression of his religion from his heart, and the atmosphere in which he lives and breathes. By means of prayer he daily extracts gold from the word and the promises of God. He prays in secret; he prays in his family; he breathes prayers at his daily employment; he is instant in prayer. He prays fervently, and from the heart. He remembers his great necessities: he remembers that God sees and hears him, and therefore he is greatly in earnest. His heart is on fire, and the fire bursts forth in earnest supplications. He is importunate and persevering, and hence his prayers are effectual. Like Jacob, he wrestles and prevails; like Elijah, he has power with God, and besieges heaven till he takes it by storm; like the woman of Canaan, he pleads and perseveres till he succeeds. The righteous man's success. His prayer avails much with God, for in this way God is inquired after, in this way God blesses, in this way mercies are obtained, and in this way temptations are overcome. God moves the world, and prayer moves God. It avails much in benefiting ourselves. What a relief to tell our trials and our wants to a Friend who feels for us, and is ready to help us! This is our comfort, our support, our happiness. It avails EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER. 181 much in benefiting others. How much did the prayers of Moses benefit the Israelites ! How much did the prayers of the primitive Christians aid in defending and extending the gospel? How often has prayer opened the gates of heaven to the expiring saint! Let me, like Jesus, live praying, and die praying. APRIL 20. The Triumph of Christ. "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them."-Psalm lxviii. 18. In this prediction we have Christ's ascension-Christ's victory-Christ's liberality—and the ultimate design. Christ's ascension." Thou hast ascended on high." It was his own act. Having given his final instructions to his disciples, and made arrangements for setting up his church, he charged Mary Magdalene to say to the disciples, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God." It was publicly witnessed by the disciples: "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." It was hailed by angels: "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." The glory of that scene was too great for mortal eyes; hence, a cloud covered it, and only two in white apparel spake with the disciples. Christ's victory.-"Thou hast led captivity captive." Men had been long held in captivity by sin, Satan, the world, and death; but Jesus virtually and truly triumphed over these parties, and by his death and resurrection spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them. openly, and triumphing over them in his cross. Satan had long held undisputed sway over the world, but is conquered 182 THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST. at last, and seen to fall like lightning from heaven. Oh, what a shout of triumph welcomed the ascending Saviour to his throne of glory! Christ's liberality.-"Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also." These gifts were the Holy Spirit and his graces. In a few days, while the disciples were assembled and praying, and waiting, they heard the rushing mighty wind; they saw the cloven tongues like as of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. "Unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ." These gifts were not for angels, not for Jews merely, but for men; and not for good men only, but for the rebellious; for men like the dying thief, for the murderers of Christ, for Peter, and for Paul. Who need despair when Jesus is the friend of publicans and sinners? The ultimate design.-"That the Lord God might dwell among them." He designed to form a church, composed of all believers, and separate from the world lying in the wicked one. He designed this church to be the special residence of Jehovah, and that all its members should know that great was the Holy One of Israel in the midst of them. And he designed that God should dwell among them, not now and then, but constantly; not for a short time, but permanently, and for ever. My reader, is thy heart a dwelling-place for Jehovah and is it no longer rebellious, but under the influence of love? APRIL 21. Tribulation Ended. "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."-Rev. vii. 14. THE redeemed in heaven were great sufferers while on earth. TRIBULATION ENDED. 183 Their religion, instead of rescuing them from suffering, often increased it tenfold. Our Lord forewarned all his disciples of this. "Ye must through much tribulation enter the kingdom." Think of the saints' tribulations-their strong consolation-and their final deliverance. These The saints' tribulations. "Great tribulations." arise from temptations. They have evil hearts which require to be kept with all diligence. They are often associated with wicked men. They are incessantly tempted by the allurements of the world. Their distresses have also been great from persecution. Many have had "trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." They have been tried by personal and relative afflictions, and have welcomed death, the once dreaded foe, as a smiling friend. When Jesus said, "Behold I come quickly," they replied, "Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Their strong consolation." They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The blood of the Lamb was their covering in the day of sorrow. It was the sure ground of their peace and their hope. It was the divinely appointed refuge from danger. It was the all-sufficient support in affliction. They washed their robes in this blood. They believed in that Saviour who shed it for their sins. They applied it Thus purified, as a sovereign balm to all their wounds. and holy, and like Christ, they were prepared for the land of purity. Mark, reader, it was on earth that they washed in the blood of the Lamb; and if ever thou shalt mingle among that great multitude, and sing that lofty song, 184 TRIBULATION ENDED. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," thou must wash in this blood, and make thyself clean from the stains of sin. Their final deliverance.-"These are they which came out." At death all their troubles were ended; sin, sorrow, and fear for ever fled away, and their happy pardoned spirits were admitted into heaven. They came out of a world of sin and death, into a land of pure delight, where there is no more death. They came out of a world of suffering, into a world where no tears are shed. They came out from among enemies, into the presence of happy friends. They came out from a home of poverty, into a home of never-failing plenty. And they came out of a world where all is mutable, uncertain, and of short duration, into one where all is stamped with immutability, certainty, and eternity. APRIL 22. Design of Christ's Appearance. "Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."-Heb. ix. 26. HERE we have the appearance of Christ-his sacrifice for sin-and the design of it. The appearance of Christ.- "Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared." He appeared in human nature. "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." He must be a man because man had sinned; he must be a man, otherwise he could not suffer and die; and he must be a man that every one might claim him as a kinsman Redeemer. He appeared only once. His blood was so efficacious that, like the sacrifices under the law, it did not require to be repeated. All sacrifices pointed to him, and were fulfilled in him. He appeared in the end of the world. The patriarchal and Jewish dispensations |