June 26

PART II. - Ezekiel 34:29.

HOWEVER men might undervalue and despise the Saviour, and however he might humble and abase himself before them, yet it had been predicted that he should attain to distinguished celebrity, and that he should be a plant of renown. Keeping the metaphor before us, let us see for what this Plant is justly renowned. This Plant is medicinal, and is renowned for its unrivalled virtues. From this is extracted the true balm of Gilead,—it contains a specific for every spiritual ill and woe of life—it is fallen nature's grand catholicon—the soul's restorative, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. There is no malady of the sin-sick heart, however deep-seated, malignant, or fatal in its tendency, that is proof against its healing power. It is renowned also for unbounded fruitfulness. Some plants are merely valued on account of their beauteous form and texture, or the fragrant odoriferous scent they yield, but this plant yields fruit of the most precious kind, and in the greatest possible abundance. All the events of Christ's life, all his offices, all he did and taught, yield to the believing mind, food of which the world knows nothing: pardon, peace, adoption, holiness, comforting grace, and eternal life, are the produce of this renowned plant. It is renowned for its perpetual verdure and cooling shade—it is an evergreen, its leaves never fade, and its virtues never fail, and under the cooling shade of this plant, the contemplative soul sits with great delight. Finally this plant is renowned for its vast extent and its eternal perpetuity. This is emphatically the bread-fruit tree for a starving world. Its branches are only bounded by the circumference of the globe itself. It is designed for the benefit of all the nations that dwell on the earth; and after myriads of human beings have enjoyed its virtues on earth, it shall yield paradisical delights to the glorified spirits before the throne of God for ever and ever.