Grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.—EPH. 4:15.

First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.—Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

They measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

The body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Mark 4:28. -Eph 4:13.II Cor. 10:12,17,18.Col. 2:17-19.II Pet. 3:18.

Psalm 84:11

Bounteous is Jehovah in his nature; to give is his delight. His gifts are beyond measure precious, and are as freely given as the light of the sun. He gives grace to his elect because he wills it, to his redeemed because of his covenant, to the called because of his promise, to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly; doubly enhancing the value of the boon by the manner of its bestowal. Grace in all its forms he freely renders to his people: comforting, preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting grace, he generously pours into their souls without ceasing, and he always will do so, whatever may occur. Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded; death must come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it is as years roll round, and the leaves begin again to fall, to enjoy such an unfading promise as this, “The Lord will give grace.”

The little conjunction “and” in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together. God has married them, and none can divorce them. The Lord will never deny a soul glory to whom he has freely given to live upon his grace; indeed, glory is nothing more than grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full bloom, grace like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected. How soon we may have glory none can tell! It may be before this month of October has run out we shall see the Holy City; but be the interval longer or shorter, we shall be glorified ere long. Glory, the glory of heaven, the glory of eternity, the glory of Jesus, the glory of the Father, the Lord will surely give to his chosen. Oh, rare promise of a faithful God!

The Nazirite Vow

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,¹¹Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated to separate himself to the Lord, ³he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. ⁴All the days of his separation²²Or Naziriteship he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

⁵“All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

⁶“All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. ⁷Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. ⁸All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

⁹“And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. ¹⁰On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹¹and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day ¹²and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

¹³“And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹⁴and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, ¹⁵and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. ¹⁶And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, ¹⁷and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. ¹⁹And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, ²⁰and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹“This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”

Aaron's Blessing

²²The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

²⁴The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
²⁶the Lord lift up his countenance³³Or face upon you and give you peace.

²⁷“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

¹I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
²In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
³When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

⁴You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
⁶I said,¹¹Hebrew lacks I said “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
⁸Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
⁹Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

¹⁰Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”²²Or This is my grief: that the right hand of the Most High has changed

¹¹I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
¹²I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
¹³Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
¹⁴You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
¹⁸The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.³³Hebrew unknown
²⁰You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.