JUNE THE TWENTY-SECOND.

"Bear ye one another's burdens."-GAL. vi. 2. "We then that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak."-ROM. XV. 1. "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you."-EPH. iv. 32.

HAT burdens we have laid upon our Saviour!

WH

SURELY HE HATH BORN OUR GRIEFSTHE LORD HATH LAID UPON HIM THE INIQUITIES OF US ALL—and how gently and silently the Lamb walked under our burden, without opening His mouth! He says well: Thou hast wearied me with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities; but not in order to lament or bewail Himself, or make reproaches against us; for He adds immediately: I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Is. xliii. 24, 25. He desires only, therefore, to show us how we should silently bear the labour, the trouble, and the burden, which others lay upon us by their transgressions, without remembering them, and how we should forget and forgive all offences. Or, would we accept forgiveness of Him, and yet remember the sins of our brethren? Would He not do to us, as was done to the servant in the Gospel? Matth. xviii. 33, 34. Let him that finds the burden laid upon him by others too heavy for him, look to the back of the Lamb of God, and ask: Who hath laid upon thee this heavy burden! Who hath thus smitten, wounded, and slain thee? and wherefore art thou so silent, and sufferest so patiently? The answer will then come of itself.

JUNE THE TWENTY-THIRD.

"I remembered God, and was troubled."-Ps. lxxvii. 3. "The Lord will not cast off for ever; but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies."-LAM. iii. 31, 32. "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord."-Ps. cxxx. 1.

E that will ascend to the height, must first

He descend unto the depth; he that will ascend

to heaven, must first go through a hell. Without heavy sorrow, no one shall surely come off in this world. Had not Paul, had not all the Elect of the old and new Covenants to go through much tribulation into the kingdom of God? Had not

Christ to go into all the depths and abysses of human life? had not His soul to be sorrowful, even unto death? Though this indeed may have happened chiefly in order to make atonement for our sins, because God cast all our transgressions upon Him; yet it took place no less for our consolation, and all the more for our consolation, the more we believe that, by His sorrow, He hath averted eternal sorrow from us, and that we can, and dare now turn to Him with confidence, in all our griefs. When, therefore, thou art sorrowful, and lying in the depth with David, join thyself to thy Saviour on the Mount of Olives; He can comfort thee; He knows what a sorrowful heart is. But He makes thee sorrowful, that thou mayest know what He hath suffered for thee, and how much He hath loved thee. He will not let thee die in thy sorrow; He will take compassion on thee again. Seek only Him, and thou shalt find the end of thy sorrow.

JUNE THE TWENTY-FOURTH.

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee !"-Ps. lxxi. 19. "Who gave himself for our sins ?"-GAL. i. 4. "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order to thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."-Ps. xl. 6.

Α

LL the works of God are high, great, and in

Acomprehensible; but His greatest work and

wonder, which He has performed for us, the children of men, is, and ever will be, that the Creator of all things Himself became so humble,-became a surety and ransom for His sinful creatures. To create all the worlds cost Him nothing, hardly a word: Let it be! and it stood accomplished; but to renew and recreate His corrupt creatures cost Him the deepest humiliation to the dust and to sinful flesh, the greatest abasement, the bitterest pain, and the most ignominious death. Wherefore, a soul that contemplates the love of its Saviour on the cross, and contemplates Him in His abasement and death pangs, cannot often enough with amazement exclaim: Great are thy wonders and thoughts to us-ward! One can neither number them, nor be silent about them; one cannot praise them worthily; and yet, who should praise aught else but these great deeds of God, before which all that is called great sinks to nothing, and all that is considered glorious vanishes as a dream?

JUNE THE TWENTY-FIFTH.

"Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." -1 COR. xi. 24-26.

THE

HE Saviour was thus desirous of rendering His memory ineffaceable among us, and of writing Himself in our hearts and minds, in order that we might never more let Him slip from our recollections and hearts. Therefore He gave us as a remembrance what no one before ever gave, and no one ever will give, namely, His flesh and blood, His body and life-Himself. Who gives Himself as a memorial to His friend in proof of love? Therefore we must not merely think of Him; His Supper must not be to us merely a supper of remembrance, or a solemn memorial of His death, though it is this also, but it must besides be a means of nourishment, an inward communion, union, and reproduction of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in us. that can vividly imagine and confidently believe: This body which was given for thee, and this blood which was shed for thee, are likewise a pledge of the life of Jesus in thee, a pledge of eternal life with Him in His kingdom; they are food, nourishment, and provision for the way on our earthly pilgrimage; this supper is to thee a living visible witness of thy reconciliation with God, of the forgiveness of thy sins, of thy union with Christ and the Father, of the combination of all

He

the chosen members of the body of Jesus-for since we who are many all eat one bread, we are all one body; this manna that truly comes down from heaven, gives thee, and preserves in thee, eternal life; this bread of life preserves thee from eternal death, and will also one day re-awake thy body. All this and more-for it is impossible to utter all that is contained in this sacramentvividly imagined, and believed, and eaten, and enjoyed, and changed into sap and strength, will make thy soul-how rich! how blessed! how strong!

JUNE THE TWENTY-SIXTH,

'My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him; (and) hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."—JOHN vi. 54-56.

HE supper is, therefore, essentially a partaking,

THE

a real enjoying of the fruits of the death of Jesus, or of Jesus Christ Himself. He that eats in faith, eats Jesus, and he that eats Jesus, has the life of Jesus-Jesus living in him—and lives through and in Him. He Himself says so, verse 58. Many, indeed, partake of the supper, but without being nourished and strengthened by Christ, because they eat not with a living faith. That which lives, hungers for food, and must eat or die. So also it is with a living faith; Jesus is the food for which it hungers, and by the partaking of which it lives and exists, and without