Sermon 799. Jesus, the Example of Holy Praise

(No. 799)

Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, March 8, 1868, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

"I will declare Your name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise You. You that fear the Lord, praiseHim; all you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all you the seed of Israel." Psalm22:22,23.

WE greatly esteem the dying words of good men, but what must be the value of their departing thoughts! If we could pass beyondthe gate of speech and see the secret things which are transacted in the silent chambers of their souls at the moment of departure,we might greatly value the revelation, for there are thoughts which the tongue could not and must not utter, and there aredeep searchings of heart which are not to be expressed by syllables and sentences. If, by some means we could read the inmostdeath-thoughts of holy men, we might be privileged, indeed.

Now, in the Psalm before us, and in the words of our text, we have the last thoughts of our Lord and Master, and they beautifullyillustrate the fact that He was governed by one ruling passion-that ruling passion most strong in death was the glory of God.When but a Child, He said, "Know you not that I must be about My Father's business?" Throughout His work-life He could say,"The zeal of Your house has eaten Me up." "It is My meat and My drink to do the will of Him that sent Me." And now, at last,as He expires with His hands and His feet nailed, and His body and soul in extreme anguish, the one thought is that God maybe glorified!

In that last happy interval, before He actually gave up His soul into His Father's hands, His thoughts rushed forward andfound a blessed place of rest in the prospect that, as the result of His death, all the kindreds of the nations would worshipbefore the Lord, and that by a chosen Seed the Most High should be honored. O for the same concentration of all our powersupon one thing, and that one thing-the glory of God! Would God that we could say with one of old, "This one thing I do," andthat this one thing might be the chief end of our being-the glorifying of our Creator, our Redeemer, the liege Lord of ourhearts!

My object, this morning, is to excite in you the spirit of adoring gratitude. I thought that as last Sabbath we spoke of Christas the example of protracted prayer, it might seem seasonable at the end of a week of so much mercy to exhibit Him to youas the example of grateful praise and to ask you as a great congregation to follow Him as your Leader in the delightful exerciseof magnifying the name of Jehovah-

"Far away are gloom and sadness; Spirits with seraphic fire, Tongues with hymns, and hearts with gladness, Higher sound thechords and higher." I shall ask your attention, in considering these verses, first, to our Lord's example: "I will declareYour name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise You." And, secondly, I shall invite you to observeour Lord's exhortation: "You that fear the Lord, praise Him; all you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all youthe seed of Israel."

I. We begin with OUR LORD'S EXAMPLE. The praise which our Jesus as our Exemplar renders unto the Eternal Father is twofold.First, the praise of declaration, "I will declare Your name unto My brethren." Secondly, the more direct and immediate thanksgiving,"In the midst of the congregation will I praise You."

1. The first form of the praise which our blessed Mediator renders unto the eternal Father is that of declaring God's name.This, my dear Friends, you know He did in His teaching. Something of God had been revealed to men before. God had spoken toNoah and Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob and especially to His servant Moses-He had been pleased to reveal Himself in differenttypes and ceremonies and ordinances. He was known as Elohim, Shaddai and Jehovah, butnever until Christ came did men begin to say, "Our Father which are in Heaven." This was the loving word by which the Well-Beloveddeclared His Father's name unto His brethren.

The sterner attributes of God had been revealed amidst the thunders of Sinai, the waves of the Red Sea, the smoke of Sodomand the fury of the deluge. The sublimities of the Most High had been seen, and wondered at by the Prophets who spoke as theywere moved by the Holy Spirit. But the full radiance of a Father's love was never seen until it was beheld beaming throughthe Savior's face. "He that has seen Me," said Christ, "has seen the Father." But until they had seen Him they had not seenGod as the Father. "No man can come unto the Father," says Jesus, "Except by Me." And as no man can come affectionately inthe outgoings of his heart or fiducially in the motions of his faith, so neither can any man come to God in the enlightenmentof understanding except by Christ, the Son.

He who understands Christianity has a far better idea of God than he who only comprehends Judaism. Read the Old Testamentthrough and you shall value every sentence, and prize it above fine gold-but still you shall feel unrest and dissatisfaction-forthe vision is veiled and the light is dim. Turn, then, to the New Testament and you discern that in Jesus of Nazareth dwellsall the fullness of the Godhead bodily! Then the noontide of knowledge is around you. Then the vision is open and distinct.Jesus is the express image of His Father, and seeing Him you have seen God manifest in the flesh! This sight of God you willassuredly obtain if you are one of the Brethren to whom, through the Spirit, Jesus Christ in His teaching declares the nameof the Father.

Our Lord, however, declared the Father more, perhaps, by His acts than by His words, for the life of Christ is a discoveryof all the attributes of God in action. If you want to know the gentleness of God, you perceive Jesus receiving sinners andeating with them. If you would know His condescension, behold the loving Redeemer taking little children into His arms andblessing them. If you would know whether God is just, hear the words of a Savior as He denounces sin-and observe His own life-forHe is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Would you know the mercy of God as well as His justice? Then seeit manifested in the ten thousand miracles of the Savior's hands, and in the constant sympathy of the Redeemer's heart.

I cannot stay to bring out all the incidents in the Redeemer's life, nor even to give you a brief sketch of it, but sufficeit to say that the life of Christ is a perpetual unrolling of the great mystery of the Divine attributes, and you may restassured that what Jesus is, that the Father is. You need not start back from the Father, as though He were something strangeand unrevealed, for you have seen the Father if you have seen Christ. And if you have studied well and drunk deep into thespirit of the history of the Man of Sorrows, you understand, as well as you need to, the Character of God over all, blessedforever.

Our Lord made the grandest declaration of the Godhead in His death-"Here His whole name appears complete, Nor wit can guess, nor reason trace, Which of the letters best is writ- The power,the wisdom, or the Grace." There at Calvary, where He suffered, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God, we see the Godheadresplendent in noonday majesty, albeit that to the natural eye it seems to be eclipsed in midnight gloom. Would you see sternjustice such as the Judge of all the earth perpetually exhibits (for shall not He do right)? Would you see the justice thatwill not spare the guilty, which smites at sin with determined enmity and will not endure it? Then behold the hands and feet,and side of the Redeemer welling up with crimson blood! Behold His heart broken as with an iron rod, dashed to shivers asthough it were a potter's vessel! Hearken to His cries. Mark the lines of grief that mar His face. Behold the turmoil, theconfusion, the whirlwinds of anguish which seethe like a boiling caldron within the soul of the Redeemer! Here is the vengeanceof God revealed to men so that they may see it and not die-may behold it and weep-but not with the tears of despair!

At the same time, if you would see the Grace of God, where shall you discover it as you will in the death of Jesus? God'sbounty gleams in the light, flashes in the rain and sparkles in the dew. It blossoms in the flowers that paint the meadows,and it ripens in the golden sheaves of autumn. All God's works are full of goodness and truth! Even on the sea itself arethe steps of the beneficent Creator-but all this does not meet the case of guilty, condemned man. Therefore, to the eye ofhim who has learned to weep for sin, Nature does not reveal the goodness of God in any such a light as thatwhich gleams from the Cross. Best of all is God seen as He that spared not His own Son, but freely delivered Him up for usall.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us." "For God commends His love toward us, in that while we wereyet sinners, Christ died for us." Your thoughtful minds will readily discover every one of the great qualities of Deity inour dying Lord. You have only to linger long enough amidst the wondrous scenes of Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha toobserve how power and wisdom, Grace and vengeance, strangely join-"Piercing His Son with sharpest smart, To make the purchased blessing mine." Beloved, in the midst of the Brethren a dyingSavior declares the name of the Lord and thus magnifies the Lord as no other can. None of the harps of angels, nor the fiery,flaming sonnets of cherubs can glorify God as did the wounds and pangs of the great Substitute when He died to make His Father'sGrace and justice known.

Our Lord continued to declare God's name among His Brethren when He rose from the dead. He did so literally. Among the veryfirst words He said were, "Go to My Brethren," and His message was, "I ascend unto My Father, and your Father, and to My God,and your God." His life on earth after His resurrection was brief, but it was very rich and instructive, and in itself a showingforth of Divine faithfulness. He further revealed the faithfulness and glory of God when He ascended on high, leading captivitycaptive. It must have been an august day when the Son of God actually passed the pearly gates to remain within the walls ofHeaven enthroned until His second advent! How must the spirits ofjust men made perfect have risen from their seats of blissto gaze on Him!

They had not seen a risen one before. Two had passed into Heaven without death, but none had entered into Glory as risen fromthe dead. He was the first instance of immortal resurrection, "the First Fruits of them that slept." How angels adored Him!How holy beings wondered at Him while-"The God shone gracious through the Man, And shed sweet glories on them all!" Celestial spirits saw the Lord that day as theyhad never seen before! They had worshipped God, but the excessive splendor of absolute Deity had forbidden the sacred familiaritywith which they hailed the Lord in flesh arrayed. They were never so near Jehovah before, for in Christ the Godhead veiledits thrilling splendors, and wore the aspect of a fatherhood and brotherhood most near and dear. Enough was seen of Glory,as much as finite beings could bear, but still the whole was so sweetly shrouded in humanity that God was declared in a newand more delightful manner-such as made Heaven ring with newborn joy!

What if I say that I think a part of the occupation of Christ in Heaven is to declare to perfect spirits what He suffered,how God sustained Him? To reveal to them the Covenant and all its solemn bonds-how the Lord ordained it, how He made it firmby Suretyship, and based it upon eternal settlements-so that everlasting mercy might flow from it? What if it is not truethat there is no preaching in Heaven? What if Christ is the Preacher there, speaking as never man spoke and forever instructingHis saints that they may make known unto principalities and powers yet more fully the manifold wisdom of God as revealed bothin Him and in them-in them the members, and in Him the Head? I think, if it is so, it is a sweet fulfillment of this dyingvow of our blessed Master, "I will declare Your name unto My brethren."

But, Brothers and Sisters, it is certain that at this hour our Lord Jesus Christ continues to fulfill the vow by the spreadingof His Gospel on earth. Do not tell me that the Gospel declares God, but that Jesus does not! I would remind you that theGospel does not declare God apart from the Presence of Jesus Christ with the Gospel. "Lo, I am with you always, even to theend of the world," is the Gospel's true life and power. Take Christ's Presence away and all the doctrines, and the precepts,and the invitations of the Gospel would not declare God to this blind-eyed generation-this hard-hearted multitude! But whereJesus is by His Spirit, there is the Word the Father declares.

And, my Brethren, this great process will go on. All through the present dispensation Christ will declare God to the sonsof men-especially to the elect sons of men, to His own Brothers and Sisters. Then shall come the latter days of which we knowso little, but of which we hope so much. Then, in that august period there will be a declaration, no doubt, of God in noondaylight, for it shall be said, "The tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell among them." Of that age of light Jesusshall be the sun! The great Revealer of Deity shall still be the Son of Mary, the Man of Nazareth, the Wonderful, the Counselor,the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!

We shall, each one of us, tell abroad the savor of His name till He shall come. And then we shall have no need to say oneto another, "Know the Lord," for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest-and know the Lord for thisreason, because they know Christ, and have seen Jehovah in the Person of Jesus Christ His Son. I cannot leave this passagewithout bidding you treasure up that precious word of our Master, "I will declare Your name unto My brethren"-

"Our next of kin, our Brother now,

Is He to whom the angels bow.

They join with us topraise His name,

But we the nearest interest claim."

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same."

"For both He that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call thembrethren."

The Savior's Brethren are to know God in Christ. You who are one with Jesus-you who have been adopted into the same family-havebeen regenerated and quickened with His life. You who are joined together by an indissoluble union, you are to see the Lord.I said an indissoluble union, for a wife may be divorced, but there is no divorce of Brethren. I never heard of any law, humanor Divine, that could ever "unbrother" a man! That cannot be done-if a man is my brother, he is and shall be my brother whenHeaven and earth shall pass away. Am I Jesus' brother? Then I am joint heir with Him. I share in all He has and all that Godbestows upon Him. His Father is My Father. His God is My God. Feast, my Brethren, on this dainty meat, and go your way inthe strength of it to bear the trials of earth with more than patience!

The example of our Lord, under this first head, I must hint at and leave. It is this-if the Lord Jesus Christ declares God,especially to His own Brethren, be it your business and mine, in order to praise Jehovah, to tell what we know of the excellenceand surpassing glories of our God! And especially let us do it to our kinsfolk, our household, our neighbors, and, since allmen are in a sense our brethren, let us speak of Jesus wherever our lot is cast. My Brothers and Sisters, I wish we talkedmore of our God-

"But ah! how faint our praises rise!

Sure 'tis the wonder of the skies,

That we, who share His richest love,

So cold and unconcerned should prove."

How many times this week have you praised the dear Redeemer to your friends? Have you done it once? I do it often officially-butI wish I did it more often spontaneously and personally-to those with whom I may commune by the way.

You have doubtless murmured this week, or spoken against your neighbors, or spread abroad some small amount of scandal, or,it may be, you have talked frothily and with levity. It is even possible that impurity has been in your speech-even a Christian'slanguage is not always so pure as it should be. Oh, if we saved our breath to praise God with, how much wiser! If our mouthswere filled with the Lord's praise and with His honor all the day, how much holier! If we would but speak of what Jesus hasdone for us, what good we might accomplish! Why, every man speaks of what he loves! Men can hardly hold their tongues abouttheir inventions and their delights. Speak well, O you faithful, of the Lord's name! I pray you, be not dumb concerning Onewho deserves so well of you! Make this the resolve of this Sabbath morning, "I will declare Your name unto my Brethren."

2. Our Master's second form of praise in the text is of a more direct kind-"In the midst of the congregation will I praiseYou." Is it a piece of imagination, or does the text really mean this, that the Lord Jesus Christ, as Man, adores and worshipsthe eternal God in Heaven, and is, in fact, the great Leader of the devotions of the skies? Shall I err if I say that theyall bow when He as Priest adores the Lord, and all lift up the voice at the lifting up of His sacred psalmody? Is He the chiefMusician of the sky, the Master of the sacred choir? Does He beat time for all the hallelujahs of the universe? I think so.I think He means just that in these words: "In the midst of the congregation will I praise You."

As God, He is praised forever-far above all worshipping-He is Himself forever worshipped! But as Man, the Head of redeemedhumanity, the ever-living Priest of the Most High God, I believe that He praises Jehovah in Heaven. Surely it is the officeof the Head to speak and to represent the holy joys and devout aspirations of the whole body which He represents. In the midstof the congregations of earth, too, is not Jesus Christ the sweetest of all singers? I like to think that when we pray onearth our prayers are not alone, but our great High Priest is there to offer our petitions with His own.

When we sing on earth it is the same. Is not Jesus Christ in the midst of the congregation-gathering up all the notes whichcome from sincere lips-to put them into the golden censer, and to make them rise as precious incense before the Throne ofthe infinite majesty? So then, He is the great singer rather than we! He is the chief player on our stringed instruments,the great master of true music! The worship of earth comes up to God through Him, and He, He is the accepted channel of allthe praise of all the redeemed universe! I am anticipating the day-I hope we are all longing for it-when the dead shall riseand the sea and land shall give up the treasured bodies of the saints. Then glorified spirits shall descend to enliven theirrenovated frames, and we who are alive and remain shall be changed and made immortal, and the King Himself shall be revealed!

Then shall be trod under our feet all the ashes of our enemies! Satan, bound, shall be held beneath the foot of Michael, thegreat archangel, and victory shall be on the side of truth and righteousness. What a "Hallelujah" that will be which shallpeal from land and sea and from islands of the far-off main-"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"Who will lead that song? Who shall be the first to praise God in that day of triumph? Who first shall wave the palm of victory?Who but He who was first in the fight and first in the victory? Who but He who trod the winepress alone and stained His garmentswith the blood of His enemies? Who but He that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?

Surely He it is who in the midst of the exulting host, once militant and then triumphant, shall magnify and adore Jehovah'sname forever and forever! Has He not Himself said it, "My praise shall be of You in the great congregation"? What does thatexpression mean which is so hard to be understood, "Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,even the Father"? What does that dark saying mean, "And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son of Godalso Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be All in All"?

Whatever they may mean, they seem to teach us the mediatorial crown and government are temporary and intended only to lastuntil all rule, authority and power are put down by Jesus-and the rule of God shall be universally acknowledged. Jesus cannotrenounce His Godhead. But His mediatorial sovereignty will be yielded up to Him from whom it came-and that last solemn actin which He shall hand back to His Father the all-subduing scepter will be a praising of God to a most wonderful extent beyondhuman conception! We wait and watch for it, and we shall behold it in the time appointed.

Beloved Friends, we also have in this second part an example-let us endeavor to praise our God in a direct manner. We oughtto spend at least a little time every day in adoring contemplation. Our private devotions are scarcely complete if they consistaltogether of prayer. Should there not be praise? If possible, during each day, sing a hymn. Perhaps you are not in a positionto sing it aloud-or very loud, at any rate-but I would hum it if I were you. Many of you working men find time enough to singa silly song-why cannot you find space for the praise of God? Every day let us praise Him when the eyelids of the morningfirst are opened, and when the curtains of the night are drawn. Yes, and at midnight-if we wake at that solemn hour-let theheart put fire to the sacred incense and present it unto the Lord that lives forever and ever.

In the midst of the congregation, also, whenever we come up to God's House, let us take care that our praise is not merelylip language, but that of the heart! Let us all sing, and so sing that God Himself shall hear. We want more than the sweetsounds which die upon mortal ears-we want the deep melodies which spring from the heart-and which enter into the ears of theimmortal God. Imitate Jesus, then, in this twofold praise, the declaring of God, and the giving of direct praise to Him.

II. My time almost fails me, and I have need of much of it, for now I come to the second head, OUR LORD'S EXHORTATION. Followme earnestly, my dear Brothers and Sisters, and then follow me practically, also. The exhortations of the second verse aregiven to those who fear God, who have respect to Him, who tremble to offend Him, who carry with them the consciousness ofHis Presence into their daily lives and who act towards Him as obedient children towards a father. The exhortation is furtheraddressed to the seed of Jacob, to those in covenant with God, to those who have despised the pottage and chosen the birthright,to those who, if they have had to sleep with a stone for their pillow, have, nevertheless, seen Heaven opened and enjoyeda revelation of God. It is addressed to those who knowwhat prevalence in prayer means, to those who, in all their trouble, have yet found that all these things are not againstthem, but work their everlasting good, for Jesus is yet alive and they shall see Him before they die.

It is, moreover, directed to the seed of Israel-to those who once were in Egypt in spiritual bondage, who have been broughtout of slavery, who are being guided through the wilderness, fed with Heaven's manna and made to drink of the living Rock.It is directed to those who worship the one God and Him only, and put away their idols and desire to be found always obedientto the Master's will. Now, to them it is said, first, "Praise Him." Praise Him vocally. I wish that in every congregationevery child of God would take pains to praise God with his mouth as well as with his heart. Do you know, I have noticed onething-I have jotted this down in the diary of my recollection-that you always sing best when you are most spiritual!

Last Monday night the singing was very much better than it was on Sabbath evening. You kept better time and better tune, notbecause the tune was any easier, but because you had come up to worship God with more solemnity than usual-and therefore therewas no slovenly singing such as pains my ear and heart sometimes. Why, some of you care so little to give the Lord your bestmusic, that you fall half a note behind the rest! Others of you are singing quite a false note, and a few make no sound ofany kind! I hate to enter a place of worship where half-a-dozen sing to the praise and glory of themselves, and the rest standand listen. I like that good old plan of everybody singing-singing their best- singing carefully and heartily.

If you cannot sing artistically, never mind, you will be right enough if you sing from the heart and pay attention to it-anddo not drawl out like a musical machine that has been set and runs on mechanically. With a little care the heart brings theart, and the heart desiring to praise will, by-and-by, train the voice to time and tune. I would have our service of songto be of the best. I care not for the fineries of music and the prettiness of chants and anthems. As for instrumental music,I fear that it often destroys the singing of the congregation and detracts from the spirituality and simplicity of worship.

If I could crowd a house 20 times as big as this by the fine music which some Churches delight in, God forbid I should touchit! Let us have the best and most orderly harmony we can make-let Believers come with their hearts in the best humor and theirvoices in the best tune-and let them take care that there be no slovenliness and discord in the public worship of the MostHigh. Take care to praise God also mentally. The grandest praise that floats up to the Throne of God is that which rises fromsilent contemplation and reverent thought. Sit down and think of the greatness of God- His love, His power, His faithfulness,His sovereignty-and as your mind bows prostrate before His majesty you will have praised Him, though not a sound shall havecome from you!

Praise God, also, by your actions. Your sacrifice to Him of your property-your offering to Him, week by week, of your substance.This is true praise and far less likely to be hypocritical than the mere thanksgiving of words. "You that fear the Lord, praiseHim." The text adds, "Glorify Him, you seed of Jacob"-another form of the same thing. Glorify God-that is, let others knowof His glory. Let them know of it from what you say, but specially let them know of it from what you are. Glorify God in yourbusiness, in your recreations, in your shops and in your households. In whatever you eat and drink, glorify the Lord!

In the most common actions of life wear the vestments of your sacred calling and act as a royal priesthood serving the MostHigh. Glorify your Creator and Redeemer! Glorify Him by endeavoring to spread abroad the Gospel which glorifies Him. MagnifyChrist by explaining to men how by believing they shall find peace in Him. Glorify God by yourself-boldly relying on His Wordin the teeth of afflicting Providence and over the head of all suspicions and mistrust. Nothing can glorify God more thanan Abrahamic faith which staggers not at the promise through unbelief. O you wrestling seed of Jacob, see to it that you fallnot off in the matter of glorifying your God!

Lastly, the text says, "Fear Him," as if this were one of the highest methods of praise. Walk in His sight. Constantly keepthe Lord before you. Let Him be at your right hand. Sin not, for in so doing you dishonor Him. Suffer rather than sin. Choosethe burning fiery furnace rather than bow down before the golden image. Be willing to be despised sooner than God should bedespised. Be content to bear the cross, rather than Jesus should be crucified afresh. Be sooner put to shame, than Jesus shouldbe put to shame. Thus you will truly praise and magnify the name of the Most High.

I must close by a few remarks which are meant to assist you to carry out the spirit and teaching of this sermon. Beloved Brothersand Sisters, this morning I felt, before I came to this place, very much in the spirit of adoring gratitude.

I cannot communicate that to you, but the Spirit of God can. And the thoughts that helped me to praise God were somethinglike these-let me give them to you as applied to yourselves-glorify and praise God for He has saved you- has saved you fromHell-saved you for Heaven. Oh, how much is comprehended in the fact that you are saved! Think of the election which ordainedyou to salvation! Think of the Covenant which secured salvation to you! Think of the Incarnation by which God came to you,and the precious blood by which you now have been made near to God!

Hurry not over those thoughts though I must shorten my words. Linger at each one of these sacred fountains and drink-and whenyou have seen what salvation involves in the past-think of what it means in the future. You shall be preserved to the end!You shall be educated in the school of Divine Grace! You shall be admitted into the home of the blessed in the land of thehereafter. You shall have a resurrection most glorious, and an immortality most illustrious! When days and years are passed,a crown shall adorn your brow, a harp of joy shall fill your hand. All this is yours, Believer-and will you not praise Him?

Make any one of them stand right out, as real to you personally, and I think you will say, "Should I refuse to sing, surelythe very stones would speak." Your God has done more than this for you. You are not barely saved, like a drowning man justdragged to the bank-you have had more given you than you ever lost! You have been a gainer by Adam's fall! You might almostsay, as one of the fathers did, O beata culpa, "O happy fault," which put me into the position to be so richly endowed asnow I am! Had you stood in Adam, you had never been able to call Jesus, "Brother," for there had been no need for Him to becomeIncarnate! You had never been washed in the precious blood, for then it had no need to be shed!

Jesus has restored that to you which He took not away. He has not merely lifted you from the dunghill to set you among men,but to set you among princes, even the princes of His people. Think of the bright roll of promises, of the rich treasure ofCovenant provision, of all that you have already had and all that Christ has guaranteed to you of honor, and glory, and immortality-andwill you not in the midst of the congregation praise the Lord? Brothers and Sisters, some of us have had special cause forpraising God in the fact that we have seen many saved during the last three weeks, and among them those dear to us. Mothers,can you hear the fact without joy? Your children saved! Brothers, your sisters saved! Fathers, your sons and daughters saved!How many has God brought in during the last few weeks?

And you Sunday school teachers who have been the instruments of this-you conductors of our classes who have been honored ofGod to be spiritual parents! You elders and deacons who have helped us so nobly, and who have now to share the joy of thepastor's heart in these conversions-will you not bless God? "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Your name be praise." Butoh, we cannot be silent! Not one tongue shall be silent! We will all magnify and bless the Most High! Brothers and Sisters,if these do not suffice to make us praise Him, I would say think of God's own glorious Self! Think of Father, Son, and Spirit-andwhat the triune Jehovah is in His own Person and attributes-and if you do not praise Him, oh, how far must you have backslidden!

Remember the host who now adore Him! When we bless Him, we stand not alone-angels and archangels are at our right hand-cherubimand seraphim are in the same choir! The notes of redeemed men go not up alone-they are united to, and swollen by the unceasingflood of praise which flows from the hierarchy of angels! Think, Beloved, of how you will soon praise Him! How, before manydays and weeks are passed, many of us will be with the glorious throng! This last week three of our number have been translatedto the skies-more links to Heaven-fewer bonds to earth. They have gone before us. We had almost said, "Would God it were ourlot instead of theirs!" They have seen, now, what eye has not seen, and heard what ear has never heard-and their spirits havedrunk in what they could not otherwise have conceived! We shall soon be there! Meanwhile, let each one of us sing-

"I would begin the music here,

And so my soul should rise:

Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear

My passions to the skies!

There you that love my Savior sit,

There I would gladly have a place

Among your thrones, or at your feet,

So I might see His face."