"THY SALVATION."

"I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD” (Gen. xlix. 18).

THESE are the words of the dying patriarch Jacob, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD." They are apparently incoherent-not in keeping with the subject occupying his mind when addressing his son Dan. It appears as though a sudden inspiration diverted him to the contemplation of the theme dearest to his heart-God's salvation. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth spoke these precious words, which have proved a healing balm to the weary spirit of many a tried pilgrim in the steep and thorny pathway to the saints' perfection above. There is something exceedingly interesting and instructive to the spiritual mind in the remembrance of the last words of those near and dear to us, and near and dear to our covenant God and Father in Christ. We notice this in the words of Jacob now before us, and in the last words of David, king of Israel. He was filled with disappointment and sorrow in reflecting upon the unenviable state of his surroundings, while his heart beat with joyful hope in the contemplation of God's well-ordered, sure, and everlasting covenant, and his tongue

exclaimed," Although my house be not so with God, yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow" (2 Sam. xxiii. 5).

We will now come to the New Testament and notice the last utterances of two who were precious to the Master. There is true sublimity and guileless simplicity in the spirit of Stephen as he cries in the midst of a murderous shower of stones, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts vii. 54-60). A wonderful statement! Stephen's body battered with stones, yet his spirit was sweetly reposing in the arms of Incarnate Love. We pass on to notice a little of the latest language of the very person at whose feet the clothes of the witnesses were laid when Stephen was stoned. Toward the close of his earthly pilgrimage he thus counsels his son Timothy -"Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing"

(2 Tim. iv. 5-8). This last sentence is very encouraging to those who write bitter things against themselves because of their fancied want of grace, and judging themselves lacking consistency and circumspection in the ways of the Lord. The sentence in itself appears sufficient to cheer the gracious heart drooping with despondency under a sense of distance from the One Object of its spiritual love.

For many months past my mind has been deeply interested in the conduct of the Master, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in respect to the characters of those whom He brought into close communication and blessed communion with Himself. How different was His way from that of the world! His requirements were so different from those of the Christian systems of the present day. He was the very opposite to those pastors who demand that the experience of their people must correspond exactly with their own. O Jesus, what forbearing love is Thine! Did He draw His eleven disciples around Him because they had a deep experience of the things He taught? No! for their experience of Divine grace was very shallow. Was it because they had a right apprehension of their Father's mind and will? No! for they did not comprehend the nature of their Master's missionthey understood not the worth of His sacrifice-the fulness of His salvation-the need of His righteousness, nor the spiritual character of His kingdom. They were full of mistakes, and were subject to frequent failures and falls. They were sinners. Why, then, did He draw them around Him? It was because of the love which He Himself had begotten in their hearts to His Adorable Person that caused Him to draw them around Him at His table and dispense to them the bread and wine. He gave them real bread and real wine. Bread to eat—wine

to drink. Flesh and blood were not there. Yet the flesh and blood of Jesus were spiritually there, but, mark you, spiritually fed upon in the heart by faith. Not masticated with the teeth-not digested in the stomach. The body and blood of Christ form spiritual nourishment for spiritual faculties, and for these alone.

But notice the characters of those who first received the bread and wine as emblems of our Lord's sufferings and death, and tokens of His love. They could say little as to their consistency and circumspection. Look at three of them shortly after in Gethsemane, who, instead of watching and praying, were fast asleep. And look again at the three introduced to us in that sweet Fourteenth of John-Thomas, Philip, and Judas-not Iscariot. They displayed great ignorance of their Master's mission, yet they were filled with love to His adorable Person. For these He prayed, as we read in that precious Seventeenth of John; but there He mentioned not their sins, their failures, nor their falls. He kept their imperfections out of sight, and brought His mediatorial perfections for them into the unclouded view of His Father. For them He prayed-He demanded-He commanded-with covenant authority He said-" 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" (John xvii. 24).

But, for a little while, we have to do with dying Jacob. He called his twelve sons around him, and as they gathered themselves together, the dying patriarch blessed them according to their dispositions and doings. You will notice a marked difference between the blessings of Moses as recorded in Deuteronomy xxxiii. and those of Jacob in the

chapter before us. Jacob intersperses his blessings with curses. Moses' blessings confirm the truth of God, that there is no curse to the Israel of God for whom the God of Israel was made a Curse upon Calvary. The book of Deuteronomy may well be styled the Gospel according to Moses. Concerning Israel's God and God's Israel, Moses cried in holy rapture: There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also His heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the Shield of thy help, and Who is the Sword of thy excellency! and thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places" (Deut. xxxiii. 27-29).

But here we find Jacob addressing each of his sons by name, and strong expressions, no doubt, startle the ears of first one and then another. Reuben is reminded of his honourable birth, instability, and filthy folly. Simeon and Levi are not left unmindful of their treachery and cruelty in slaughtering the Shechemites. Dan hears ominous words relative to his naturai dispositions and future destiny. He would lie in the dust and in the dirt to gain a cruel advantage over an opponent-he would bite like a serpent and sting like an adder, to the destruction of both horse and rider. Jacob having thus far addressed his sons, appeared to lose sight of them and of their fleshly failings, and of everything that embittered his last moments upon earth, and raising his failing eyes to heaven, ejaculated, "I have