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sins of the people, and laid them on the head of the victim, and the victim bore the sin. There was no sin in Him, but there was sin on Him. "The Lord made

to meet on him the iniquity of us all;" and so "God hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we (sinners) might be made (oh, glorious exchange!) the righteousness of God in Him."

Dear people, never till the sinner comes thus to see his own sins meeting on the head of God's victim, can he delight himself in God, or in Christ, or in eternity, or in immortality, or in anything heavenly or eternal. How, with his sins still on himself, with their guilt and doom still on his own conscience, can he be happy? Ah, no, no; misery, and misery only, will be on the soul of one who is alarmed, awakened, but not enlightened, not taught of God, not at rest at His cross, not at peace through the blood-which is inside the vail.

delight—the

And now the way is open for ampler delight the circle for this divine emotion enlarges there is not an attribute of the Lord you who have believed cannot now delight in. No wonder that we admiringly say,

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Holy, holy, holy!" No marvel that we now delight in His very holiness! No marvel that we can now delight in His very justice! The cloud, so to speak, is beautiful now, for the bolt is gone! The throne of holiness is pleasant now, for its sword is laid up in ordinary! And love, that did it all, sits above the scene, enthroned and reigning in fullest joy. And thus now may we delight in the Lord. Ah, yes, delight, indeed, when "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." What manner of love! Mercy and truth met together in Jesus, righteousness and peace embracing one another; and the sentiment we feel in the midst of all this divine harmonising of God's attributes in the salvation of the

sinner, is one of joy-joy indulging itself in God. We delight ourselves IN THE LORD.

The circle widens yet again. For how multiform the sources of our joy in the Lord-in Jehovah JesusHis love, His person, His work, His design in preparing for us mansions in His Father's house, especially His promise of coming again! When the Lord comes He will come in a four-fold character, in each of which we may find a true delight. He will come as the Son of Abraham; and great glory will be given to Him as such. He will come as the Son of David. Sings Montgomery

"Kings shall fall down before Him,

And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing."

The

He will come as the Son of Man, the last Adam. first Adam lost everything-was changeable, mutable; Jesus, the last Adam, is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." More blessedness than our first father lost will encircle the last Adam. And He will come as the Son of God. The delight we have in Him intensifies here; for we shall stand amid the unutterable glories of the Son. Said Christ, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world;""and the glory thou gavest me I have given them." Oh! dear saints, what scope for your delight is here. "Delight thyself also in the Lord." Delight in His glorious future, and thine with Him. Delight in Him as the "Son of Abraham;" "for all Israel shall be saved." Delight in Him as the "Son of David; " for "the Kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall bring presents " unto Him—

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"The whole earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Delight in Him as the "Son of Man"-soon to be here in His glory as such with the countenance of a man, but now no longer marred; with the hands, not of a labouring, but of a glorified man. His feet are the feet of a man, and will stand with ours amidst the streets and avenues of heaven, and on Mount Zion with "the hundred and forty and four thousand redeemed from the earth.”

Delight in Him as the "Son of God;" for on the ground of the divine in Him you come to have a righteousness which is divine, "the righteousness of God." And, in virtue of that, as we have lately seen, you have the love of the Father-an ineffable love, not the love of God merely as your Father, but the love of the Father as Father in relation to His Son. What love is this! And not love only, but heirship and inheritance the kingdom and the glory. And it is here, in Christ, for ever glorified in Himself, and glorifying to His Father, that God Himself finds His delight! and His rest-a rest never to be broken. As one has beautifully said, "God had a rest in Paradise, but Adam broke it; He had a rest in Canaan, but Israel broke it." The Eden-rest and Canaan-rest were both lost; but where is His rest now ?--where but in Jesus, and in us, in Him. As another has said, "He labours among all worlds, and among all beings, but He rests, keeps His Sabbath in His Son; and of His saints, in Him, He says, ' Here will I dwell.'"

But I must not linger here. Let me pass to the promise. "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

You must understand that the Psalmist cannot mean the desires of the heart at enmity-the corrupt heart; but he means that the Lord will give you all the desires and prayers of that heart which, in the believer, is of His own creation.

We are the subjects of two wills, and, so to speak, of two hearts; a will and a heart still prone to unbelief, and a will and a heart towards God. In such sense, we have "a new heart, and a right spirit," and, instead of being regulated by our old bad will and heart, we are regulated, or should be, by these. If you look at this, it will explain to you many a perplexity in your Christian life. The two natures are like opposing laws, which war each one for mastery. "He shall give thee the desires of the renewed and gracious heart." Is not this wonderful latitude for blessings? Well has it been said, believers are the only persons who never can live up to their property. Oh, then, let us throw the reins on the neck of all gracious desires! The promise is absolute. "He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." But now for something very experimental here. I often think of John Newton's words—

"I ask'd the Lord, that I might grow

In faith, and love, and every grace."

You remember the sequel. He says, "The Lord, indeed, did answer me-did give me so to grow

"But it was in such a way,

As almost drove me to despair."

Ah, yes; let me, too, testify a little here; for I have asked for growth, and He cut down a gourd; I asked for holiness, and He took down an idol; I asked for yet more, and in the result I have had, amidst broken cisterns and fallen idols, to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." And is this the answer? How else could He purge us, or wean us, or bring out our hearts in love, or faith in His promises, or reveal in us the graces of His Spirit? Our graces, like evergreens, grow most in the low vale of affliction, even as stars are most luminous and lovely when nearest the horizon.

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Many a time the Lord has answered our desires, but it has been in such a way as we had never expected. Let me witness again. I remember, in my early ministry, how I longed after truth. God has givenoh, that it were more prized!-this, the desire of my heart. I remember, seventeen years ago, writing a tractate, in which I longed to see an awakening in religion. And how the Lord has given us to see it in 1857, in the transatlantic world, and in '59 and '60 and '61, in our own loved land! I have often said that should the Lord give me to see what we have now for years seen, I would say, "Now, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." But whilst we thus speak, do we boast? If our souls do boast, we make our boast in the Lord. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, for He does give the desires of our hearts. I can say it, and many of you can say it. Let us bless Him. God is a glorious worker. The river of God has been full of water. Blessed for ever be the name of the Lord.

Dear needy ones! the promise is an unqualified promise-one which can cover the desires of your whole life. There is nothing good that you might not have. Beloved, can any of you, after such a promise, say, “I am poor, having nothing and getting nothing." Look at it again. "He (the Lord Himself) shall give thee the desires of thine heart." He will give holiness, and grace, and happiness, and heaven; and, beyond and above all, He will give Himself. I have said, if we delight in Him, we shall have our desires, and accordingly may know whether we do delight in Him. If barren of spiritual blessing, of rest, and peace; without joy in the Divine life-then, beloved, look at it-draw your own conclusion. God is true, and "He cannot deny Himself." If you "delight in the Lord, He will give the desires of your heart." I turn again to the

* "The Irish Harp on the Willows."

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