The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.—PHI. 3:14.

Thou shalt have treasure in heaven: . . . come and follow me.—I am . . . thy exceeding great reward.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.—They shall reign for ever and ever.

Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.—The crown of life.—A crown of righteousness.—An incorruptible crown.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me.—So shall we ever be with the Lord.

I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Matt. 19:21. -Gen. 15:1.Matt. 25:21. -Rev. 22:5.I Pet. 5:4. -Jas. 1:12. -II Tim. 4:8. -I Cor. 9:25.John 17:24. -I Thes. 4:17.Rom. 8:18.

Matthew 3:16

As the Spirit of God descended upon the Lord Jesus, the head, so he also, in measure, descends upon the members of the mystical body. His descent is to us after the same fashion as that in which it fell upon our Lord. There is often a singular rapidity about it; or ever we are aware, we are impelled onward and heavenward beyond all expectation. Yet is there none of the hurry of earthly haste, for the wings of the dove are as soft as they are swift. Quietness seems essential to many spiritual operations; the Lord is in the still small voice, and like the dew, his grace is distilled in silence. The dove has ever been the chosen type of purity, and the Holy Spirit is holiness itself. Where he cometh, everything that is pure and lovely, and of good report, is made to abound, and sin and uncleanness depart. Peace reigns also where the Holy Dove comes with power; he bears the olive branch which shows that the waters of divine wrath are assuaged. Gentleness is a sure result of the Sacred Dove’s transforming power: hearts touched by his benign influence are meek and lowly henceforth and forever. Harmlessness follows, as a matter of course; eagles and ravens may hunt their prey—the turtledove can endure wrong, but cannot inflict it. We must be harmless as doves. The dove is an apt picture of love, the voice of the turtle is full of affection; and so, the soul visited by the blessed Spirit, abounds in love to God, in love to the brethren, and in love to sinners; and above all, in love to Jesus. The brooding of the Spirit of God upon the face of the deep, first produced order and life, and in our hearts, he causes and fosters new life and light. Blessed Spirit, as thou didst rest upon our dear Redeemer, even so rest upon us from this time forward and forever.

¹“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech¹¹Or Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. ²And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. ³Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. ⁴You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. ⁵You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ⁶I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

⁷“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

⁹“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs²²Or javelins and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, ¹⁰so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

¹¹“On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.³³Hamon-gog means the multitude of Gog ¹²For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. ¹³All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God. ¹⁴They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At⁴⁴Or Until the end of seven months they will make their search. ¹⁵And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. ¹⁶(Hamonah⁵⁵Hamonah means multitude is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.

¹⁷“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. ¹⁹And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. ²⁰And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.

²¹“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. ²²The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. ²³And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. ²⁴I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

The Lord Will Restore Israel

²⁵“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. ²⁶They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, ²⁷when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. ²⁸Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. ²⁹And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.

³Our God comes; he does not keep silence;¹¹Or May our God come, and not keep silence
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
⁴He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
⁶The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah

⁷“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
⁸Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,²²Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God
and perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
²¹These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I³³Or that the I am was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

²²“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
²³The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”