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is when it has no life to love and serve God; like a dead body it can serve no one; is displeasing to God, as a dead body is offensive to us. Our Lord Jesus is called 'bread" because all our spiritual life must come from him. Bread, to do us good, must be eaten; and, by faith, we feed on Jesus Christ. Faith, then, is the mouth of the soul, or the way by which this spiritual nourishment is received into the soul. Jesus is called the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Bread" to those who believe or trust in him; he gives this spiritual life to serve God here, and this is but the beginning of a life which shall never end, for he who eats of this bread "shall live for ever."

The hungry know the value of bread, Prov. 27.7; gold is no use in a starving city, and all need bread, for hunger will eat through a stone wall.

Who are Buried with Christ ?-Roм. 6. 4.

The old man-i.e., our corrupt nature, derived from the first man, dies by the painful lingering death of spiritual crucifixion to the world; it becomes dead to sin but alive to righteousness, Rom. 6. II, and is buried with Christ, a great honour, not like Jehoiakim, said to have had the burial of an ass, Jer. 22. 19.

Satan in Everlasting Chains of Darkness.-Jude 6.

Chains signify the degradation of the devils; they are -(1) marks of bondage, as Paul wore them before Felix, Acts 26. 29; pride compassed the wicked as a chain, Ps. 73. 6, while love is to the good, the bond of perfectness, Col. 3. 14; (2) heavy, 1 Kings 12. 10; Peter was fastened with two chains to prevent his escape, Acts 12.6; (3) a subject of reproach, 2 Tim. 1. 6. The devils are banished from the presence of God, the light of heaven, and now in their dungeon, lead a severer captivity than the Jews endured in Egypt.

The City in Heaven.-HEB. 12. 22.

An earthly city differs from the heavenly in five points—

Earthly cities were often founded by blood and rapine, Mic. 3. 10, or like Babel to perpetuate a name, Gen. II. 4; built of stone or wood surrounded with walls, infested by dogs, often burnt or sown with salt, Judg. 9. 45; the city of the heavenly Jerusalem has God as its architect; nothing evil in it. A city, from its numerous inhabitants, is called a mother, 2 Sam. 20. 19; while Babylon was called a widow as desolate, Isa. 47. 9. The city in heaven is (1) well situated far above earth; (2) surrounded by walls of salvation, Job 1. 10, its walls of gold and streets of pearl; no enemy can approach it; the palace and court of the king; guarded by holy angels, Ps. 34. 7, Dan. 4. 23; (3) various nations in it, a great multitude of which no men can number, Rev. 7. 9; (4) enriched by the best of earth and creation; (5) its citizens are all first-born-i.e., the choicest, the first-born, thus had a double portion, and were superior in rank, Gen. 49. 3. The term first-born is applied also to inferior things, Job calls worms the first-born of death, 18. 13, as death is called by the Arabs the mother of vultures.

Content.-† TIм. 6. 8.

Arab.-Content lies in three things-satisfied with what is given-no reliance on what is in men's handsacquiescing in God's decrees.

Hebrew.-Who is rich?

has.

He who is content with what he

Tamul.-Though the river is full to overflowing, a dog laps -i.e., amid the greatest abundance one enjoys only what is required.

Takeram.—Trees are carried away by the flood, while rushes

remain.

Christ drank a Bitter Cup.-MAT. 26. 39.

The master of a feast appointed to each of his guests his particular cup, Jer. 25. 15. This cup denoted Christ's intense sufferings, Mat. 20. 22, he sweat blood; wine mixed with bitter ingredients was given to malefactors before being put to death, to render them insensible to the acute pain of hanging on a cross. Christ refused to drink the latter cup. Babylon is represented, Jer. 51. 7, as a golden cup in the hands of Jehovah—i.e., to give pain; the cup of salvation, Ps. 16. 13, denoted the joy from the river of God's pleasure, Ps. 36. 8; the cup of the wine of God's wrath, Rev. 14. 10, was the vengeance of God apportioned to each.

Joseph's cup was that out of which he drank, and which was taken from Benjamin's sack, Gen. 44. 12; and the cup which our Lord gave to his disciples at the Last Supper was one out of which they drank the wine. "The cup of salvation," is an expression taken from the custom of the Jews of making a feast after presenting their thank-offerings, when the priests and offerers ate and drank together. Among other rites, the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and solemnly blessed God for it, and for the mercy which was at that time acknowledged, and then gave it to all the guests, of which every one drank in his turn. Christ, suffering on behalf of sinners, in the hour of his agony, prayed, "O! my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," Mat. 26. 39. When afflictions are the result of God's vindictive justice, then "cup" has a more awful sense, and the wicked are often threatened with the dregs, which is the most unpleasant part of the liquor, Isa. 51. 17.

Japan.-A good medicine tastes bitter.

Telugu. Are there sweet diseases and delicious medicines ?

Hell is the Blackness of Darkness.-MAT. 22. 13.

Heaven is compared to a banquet in which, amid blazing lights, chosen guests sit down; no night there; but hell is the cellar outside all in darkness; this implies terror as in Egypt, Ex. 10. 21; separation from good people, they stumble and wander; evil deeds in secret are called chambers of imagery, Ez. 8. 12.

Some fires have light but are dark. Hell is the blackness of darkness, Jude 13; in earth there is some light; in hell none natural, artificial, or spiritual; in earth some comfort, in hell none. The Egyptian darkness might be felt, Ex. 2.-22, but was only for a time.

Death-bed Repentance, or making Swords when the War comes.-LUKE 12. 20.

Persian.-Barley at the foot of a steep ascent is useless

―i.e., You have starved your horse, so that he has become thin and weak, it will be to no purpose to feed him when you come to a steep ascent-i.e., Preparation for an enterprise should be made beforehand.

Russian.-When he was drowning he promised an axe; when he was rescued he gave only the handle. Oriental. The wise know how to quit the world before the world quits them.

Turk. He who at eighty begins to learn music can hear himself at the judgment day.

Arab. While the antidote is coming the snake-bitten man

dies.

Kurd. When the hen dies her eyes are fixed on the dung

hill.

Gujerati.-When thirsty to dig for water.

Telugu. Three causes of transient repentance-viz., the pains of travel, the effects of preaching, and the sight of death.

China. It is too late to pull the rein when the horse is on the edge of the precipice. It is too late to stop

the leak when the vessel is in the midst of the river.

Turk.-We die as we live.

Sin as a Debt Blotted out.-ACTS 3. 19.

Chanak writes, "to extinguish fire, remove disease, and pay debts are of use as they increase if they remain." Sinners are debtors, the money duty to God, Gal. 5. 3; Rom. 8. 12, 15, 27.

The wicked are bad debtors in six points :

I. Unconcerned about the debt, so Cain who slew his brother, Gen. 4. 7; Mat. 18. 24; Luke 16. 1.

2. Wasteful about saving up; so the prodigal son.

3. Love not to see the creditor or settle accounts; who is God, say the wicked.

4. Afraid of the bailiff, so Cain afraid of every one he met, Gen. 4. 13, 14; Adam hid himself, Gen. 3. 8; SO Felix, Acts 24. 25.

5. Dilatory, so the debtor who asks a suspense, Mat. 18. 29; so excuses for the supper, Luke 14. 18. 6. Unable to pay, Rom. 3. 19; hence punishment, 2 Kings 4. I. Death will arrest, Eccl. 8. 8.

God forgives the Debt, now by

1. Staying the process, Job 33. 19, 21, 24.

2. Cancelling the bond, Col. 2. 14; the handwriting against us, he abolishes the old covenant, Heb. 8. 13. sins cast into the depths of the sea, Mic. 7. 19.

3. Acquittance written on the conscience, Rom. 8. 6.

The Dew of God's Providence.-Hos. 14. 5.

The dew arising from the moisture evaporated by the sun in the day, and falling by night, refreshes the parched

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