October 16

"Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious."—1 Peter 2:7.

How just and striking is the figure which compares the Saviour to a foundation-stone! Every thing else is sliding sand and yielding air, a bubble on the wave, an empty show. He is a tried stone, tried in his humiliation by all the vehemence of temptation, and by all the weight of affliction; a corner-stone, that which unites and sustains the edifice, precious to God and to the saints. Let us contemplate in this passage

THE GLORIOUS PERSON. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. To attempt an adequate description of his glories and excellences, with the embellishments of human learning, would be to paint the rose, increase the whiteness of the lily, give coloring to the rainbow, or gild the glorious rays of the setting sun. All the beauties of nature, however lovely and varied, are overpowered when contrasted with the charms of Him who is the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. He is the sacrifice and the priest; he is the way and the intercessor; he is all and in all.

THE GRACIOUS CHARACTERS. What a treasure is that faith which discovers so much glory in Christ, while to sense he is only the object of refusal and contempt! True faith believes in the evil of sin, the purity of the law, the fulness of the Gospel, the all-sufficiency of Christ, and the adaptation of the blessings of his salvation.

THE INTERESTING FACT. To those who believe, Christ is precious. He is so in all he is, all he has, all he has done, and all he requires. Observe the reasons of it. They are convinced of their need of him; they see his excellences: feeling their ignorance, they go to him for instruction; mourning over their guilt, they look to him for pardon; seeing their weakness, they apply to him for strength. They are persuaded of their interest in him, in all his works and perfections, offices and administrations, influences and graces. The evidences of it. How do they show that he is precious to them? They are fond of his presence, impatient of his absence, and anxiously inquire and seek after him; having once sweetly rested in his smile, they can find the sunbeam no where else. Is he precious to me?