hating God on their behalf-He who bears with their manners in the wilderness-He who bears with them in all their anxieties, perplexities, and cares, will bear them until the last sigh has escaped from their heaving bosoms, and their spirits stand in the presence of their God, glorious in His perfections, and arrayed in His beauty.

"He bears my fainting spirit up

Through all the dreary paths I tread;
And when I sip life's bitter cup,

His left hand holds my drooping head."

"His legs." We are directed by these words to consider His ways. Here it is our blessed privilege to see Him in His goings forth in covenant. Our old friend Micah loved to speak of Him thus, "Whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting. And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God: and they shall abide for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth" (Micah v. 4). I love to see Him in His covenant paths going forth for the preservation, salvation, and glorification of an elect people in Himself. Blessed with the sight of this, and in the consciousness of my own weakness, I sometimes cry, "Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not" (Psalm xvii. 5); and as He graciously gives me to experience His sustaining goodness, my adoring spirit cries, "My foot standeth in an even place; in the congregations will I bless the LORD " (Psa. xxvi. 12). When I feel my feet to be slipping, I cry, "Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe" (Psa. cxix. 117). It is then He comes and sweetly whispers, "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble" (Prov. iv. 11, 12). Why have we this certainty? Because the ways of a precious Christ in covenant, and those He took here upon earth for His people, are straight for them to walk, or to be guided in. See how these ways are described in the written Word and opened up in the experience of the saints. Moses says in Deut. xxxii. 4, "All His ways are judgment." David declares, "The LORD is righteous in all His ways" (Psa. cxlv. 17). Hosea affirms, "The ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein " (Hos. xiv. 9). In the ways of the Lord transgressors shall be trodden and bruised under the feet of the poor and the needy (Isa. xxvi. 6; Rom. xvi. 20). Look at that glorious testimony in Rev. xv. 3: "Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty." Here we see His hands. and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." There we see His legs. It is our joy and rejoicing to know that the foot-prints which our blessed Lord left upon the sands of the desert are for His discerning followers to tread in. His ways are right, and none but righteous persons walk in them. When He was upon

"Just

earth, His Father saw His ways and was well pleased. His people saw them and were delighted, knowing that the righteousness thereof was theirs. Devils saw them and witnessed their overthrow. Enemies saw them and hated and reviled Him. Christ alone could say, "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me" (John xiv. 30).

"His legs." These denote the ways of Christ for His people collectively, ministerially, and individually. You have noticed that precious testimony in Rev. ii. 1: "Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.' In the midst of His Church a precious Jesus walks attending to the varied wants and necessities of His members.

"He bears the names of all His saints

Deep on His heart engrav'd;

Attentive to the state and wants

Of all His love has sav'd."

As in covenant, help was laid upon Him, the Mighty One (Psalm lxxxix. 19), so now, when in the manifestation of God's righteous judgments, the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved, He says, "I bear up the pillars of it" (Psalm lxxv. 3). The elect are the pillars or preservers of the earth, and are held upon the legs of Christ. No weakness can be found in the legs of Christ. They are not like those of the lame, or a parable in the mouth of fools, unequal. Perfection, purity, and preciousness shine in the ways and works of Jesus. Yes, perfection is seen in the purposes of His heart, in the promises of His mouth, and in the performances of His hands. "His legs are as pillars of marble." Pure, permanent, powerful, precious, and perfect. "Set upon sockets of fine gold." The place of His feet is glorious indeed (Isaiah lx. 13). There, permanency is the lot of all those whom He brings into sweet association with Himself. It matters not what may be the earthly lot of those upheld by Him, pain or pleasure, poverty or riches, need or supply, sinful or saved, be He to them feelingly present or absent, all must and shall be well with them. His feet, like His head, are of fine gold. He is altogether precious. God and Man. One Christ.

"Salvation to God who sits on the throne!
Let all cry aloud and honour the Son;
So strong to deliver, so good to redeem
The weakest believer that hangs upon Him."

May He add His blessing for His own name's sake. Amen.

CHRIST'S COUNTENANCE.

g Sermon

PREACHED IN GROVE CHAPEL, CAMBERWELL, ON SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 1879, BY

THOMAS BRADBURY.

"His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars."-Song of Solomon v. 15.

То

10 meditate upon the beauties of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to talk of His preciousness and power, is the delight of all those who are blessed with an experimental acquaintance and spiritual oneness with Him. Whilst thus privileged, the mind of the Spirit-taught is free from the cares, anxieties, and perplexities which attend it during the greater part of the journey through this wilderness world to that rest which the weary pilgrim greatly desires, that home of bliss and blessedness for which he ofttimes sighs. "Christ is all" is the theme of every true believer's song. Christ everything and the sinner nothing at all is the confession of every sinner saved by rich and sovereign grace. Christ first, Christ last, and Christ All in all is the burden of every spiritual worshipper in Zion's temple. Christ in everything is the desire of the soul brought into the knowledge and apprehension of its everlasting and unchangeable oneness with a covenant God in His adorable person. Christ All and in all is the burden of the preaching in this place. He is here exalted above all blessing and praise, and preferred before all other persons. We look at the doctrines of the written Word, but we desire to know Him as our Doctor, or Teacher. Is practical godliness our theme? We love to behold it in the walk and conversation of the God-Man, the Father's Righteous Servant here upon earth for His own. It is no desire of my heart to waste your time in describing the experience of the Christian; but I do strive to set before you the experience of the Man of sorrows and those in union with Him, for there is much in what is called the experience of a Christian which has nothing to do with experimental oneness with Him. There is much which

No. 145.-PRICE ONE PENNY.

we are apt to linger over, and hug to ourselves with tenacity, as evidences of our union to our Lord Jesus Christ, which, in themselves, are no evidences at all. And here I would saynot by way of railing, but as a word of caution and counsel to those of you who have been blessed with fellowship with Christ in His sufferings-that, much which is preached in reference to the spiritual exercises of God's children is not spiritual, but merely the narration of afflictions and trials common to mankind. I remember upon one occasion sitting for nearly an hour listening to remarks on this precious portion, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivereth him out of them all " (Psa. xxxiv. 19). Fifty minutes were taken up with the afflictions, but I could not detect the afflictions of Christ, nor find any fellowship with my gracious Lord and Master in them. The afflictions described by the preacher were those which any reprobate may experience. As I look into God's blessed Word and read of the afflictions of the righteous, I long to know in deed and in truth that I am in possession of them. I desire to know their true nature and character, the source from whence they spring, and the Person by whom they are wrought in me. See! Loss of property, health, friends, or all combined form no real evidence of union to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have known many who have suffered all these but have given no evidence of the life of God within. What are the afflictions of the righteous? The application of God's righteous law revealing sin in its true character, the revelation of sin in the light of the Redeemer's perfections, to carry about with me a load of sin which my old nature hugs, but my new nature rejects; to be bowed down with a body of death and corruption which would drag me into sin and drown me in despair; to be troubled with an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God when I would be embraced in the arms of His everlasting love and mercy; to inhabit the parched places of the wilderness when I would be refreshed with the streams of grace in the sanctuary; to be barren when I would be fruitful in the ways of the Lord; to desire to sing His praises with a melting heart when I might as well try to create a world. These, I believe, are some of the afflictions of the righteous. To long for the joys of His presence and to bask in the sunshine of the favour of my God, while, all the while, I am left in darkness and desertion, is an affliction well known to the righteous. Read for yourselves 2 Cor. i. 5: "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." But what are the sufferings of Christ abounding in us? We, as the members of that body of which He is the Head, experience in measure the sufferings which He experienced in all their fulness while here upon earth. These sufferings are physical, mental, and spiritual; but in them the heart is exercised as to its acceptance with a covenant God in Christ. As these sufferings abound in us, so our consolation

will and must abound by Him. Now, it is our delight, however painful and perplexing the privilege may be, to be led into the spiritual understanding and apprehension of these spiritual mysteries, against which our carnal minds kick, rebel, and manifest their enmity. Our wretched flesh will start and shrink from spiritual suffering, while our redeemed spirits, in union with the Lord Jesus Christ, will pant after brighter and clearer revelations of His adorable person therein.

It has been our lot for some time past to contemplate the varied beauties of our adorable Head and Husband as revealed in the preceding part of this very precious portion of God's written Word. We have looked at the general view given of Him by the bride at the commencement of her heart-glowing description of the One Object of her love. "My Beloved is white and ruddy; the Chiefest among ten thousand." He is the only One in whose company she is truly at home, in peace, and sweet enjoyment. She particularises and rejoices to know that

"His head" is her glory,

"His locks" are her delight,

"His eyes

are her guides,

"His cheeks" are her safety,
"His lips" are her comfort,
"His hands" are her security,
"His heart" is her joy,

"His legs" are her stability.

It is ours now to look at the precious metaphors in the text,"His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.' "His countenance." The bride having surveyed with admiration the particular beauties and graces of her Beloved, now surveys with delight His general appearance, His graceful form, and commanding stature. That this is the meaning of the word "countenance," you will see by turning to 2 Sam. xxiii. 20, 21, where Benaiah is spoken of as, "a goodly man," or, as you read in the margin, "a man of countenance or sight:" called, "a man of stature" (1 Chron. xi. 23). Before we enter into an elucidation of the text we will notice a few Scriptures which describe the Lord Jesus Christ in what He is to His people under that expression, "His countenance." Sometimes we hear the word "countenance" used to express help or encouragement. To give a person countenance is to inspire him with hope, or encourage him with assistance. All of this is blessedly experienced by those who are brought by the Holy Ghost into blessed and hallowed communion with the Head and Husband of His Church and people. When they approach Him as beggars and bankrupts, He encourages them with His promises, and enriches them with His perfections. He bestows upon them all the bounties, blessings, and benefits given into His hand by the Father for them, and which are theirs in virtue of their election