keys of the grave and of death" suspended at His golden
girdle, will impart grace to bear thee through. It is the messenger of
peace. Thy Saviour calls thee! The promptings of nature, when, at first,
thou seest the darkening waves, may be that of the affrighted disciples,
when they said, "It is a spirit, and cried out for fear!" But a gentle
voice will be heard high above the storm, "It is I! Be not afraid!"
Death, indeed, as the wages of sin, must, even by the believer, be
regarded as an enemy. But, oh! blessed thought, it is thy _last_
enemy--the cause of thy last tear. In a few brief moments after that
tear is shed, thy God will be wiping every vestige of it away? "O Death!
where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God,
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" Welcome,
vanquished foe!--Birthday of heaven!--"to die is gain!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"

11TH DAY.

"He is Faithful that Promised."

"The Lord will give grace and glory."--PSALM lxxxiv. 11.

After Grace, Glory.

Oh! happy day, when this toilsome warfare will all be ended, Jordan
crossed, Canaan entered, the legion-enemies of the wilderness no longer
dreaded; sorrow, sighing, death, and, worst of all, _sin_, no more
either to be felt or feared! Here is the terminating link in the golden
chain of the everlasting covenant. It began with _predestination_; it
ends with _glorification_. It began with sovereign grace in a by-past
eternity, and no link will be awanting till the ransomed spirit be
presented faultless before the throne! Grace and glory! If the earnest
be sweet, what must be the reality? If the wilderness table contain such
rich provision, what must be the glories of the eternal banqueting
house? Oh! my soul, make sure of thine interest in the one, as the
blessed prelude to the other. "Having access by faith into this _grace_,
thou canst rejoice in hope of the _glory_ of God;" for "whom He
_justifies_, them He also _glorifies_!" Has grace begun in thee? Canst
thou mark--though it should be but the drops of the incipient rill which
is to terminate in such an ocean--the tiny grains which are to
accumulate and issue in such "an exceeding weight of glory!" Delay not
the momentous question! The day of offered grace is on the wing; its
hours are fast numbering; and, "No grace, no glory!"

"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SER