May 31

This was the joy set before him; and having fulfilled the awful condition on which it was suspended, he pleads for it. He therefore asks in his own name, and on his own behalf. And we ask on the same behalf, and in the same name; according to his own direction: "Whatsoever ye shall ask, believing, in my name, ye shall receive."

And this should encourage and embolden us. There can be no more uncertainty attending the success of our asking than of his, for herein we are identified with him. There is no unfaithfulness with God; and he hath said, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."

If our prayers are sincere, they must be influential, and we shall exert ourselves in the Redeemer's cause. Nor can we labor in vain. We are on the sure, the rising, the prevailing side. Merchants, heroes, politicians, may all weary themselves for very vanity. We are at a certainty. A King shall reign and prosper. "His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen."

"And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them." Luke 24:30.

This was not a sacramental meal, as when he took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and said, This is my body; neither was it a miraculous meal, as when he took the loaves, and blessed them, and multiplied them; but an ordinary meal; yet he blessed the food. And this he did always; and his example has the force of a law with all his followers. For, "he that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk even as he walked." Hence the command, "Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus;" that is, as his disciples, who are not only to believe in him, but to represent him.

From his observing this practice, we may be sure that it is wise and useful and necessary. Sin has brought a curse upon all our enjoyments, and the blessing of God alone can take it off.

"How sweet our daily comforts prove, When they are seasoned with His love!"

But how true,

"Tis all in vain till God has blessed."

"Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Can he also abuse the bounties of Providence who has implored the divine benediction upon the use of them? Can he indulge in excess? Will he not add to his faith temperance? It is lamentable, therefore, that such a duty should ever be omitted, or performed with haste and irreverence, as if the performer was ashamed of the performance.

Let the Saviour's conduct also teach us not to confine our religion to extraordinary and sacred occasions. In all our ways let us acknowledge God. Morning and evening worship is good, but let us be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. It is well to inquire in his temple, but let us abide with God in our calling. We must remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy; but the spirit of devotion is to actuate us during the week, and to induce us, "whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, to do all to the glory of God." Tell me not what a man is in a storm; in the calm what is he? Not how he behaves himself in sickness, but in health. A Balaam may pray, "Let me die the death of the righteous." A David prays, "Unite my heart to fear thy name." There is a goodness which depends upon impulse, not principle; upon outward excitement, not upon internal disposition.

There is a devotion that resembles the blaze of straw; but that which is spiritual is like the fire on the Jewish altar, kindled from above, and which never went out. It is a stream fed by a living fountain, not a sudden torrent, however wide or impetuous at the time, produced by the melting of the snow, or a summer's thunder-shower. "The water," says the Saviour, "that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."