Morning “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” Psalm 45:2

 The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and his life is all along but one

impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in his several

parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair

colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon

another; he is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the

“things of good repute” are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each

other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense

of others; but he is perfectly and altogether lovely.

 Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy

majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as

neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy

sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one

gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou

art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all

the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and

earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all

things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were

 bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection.

Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God

hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy

perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the

apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

 “Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection

Of many perfects, to make one perfection!

 Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet

 In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!”

 

Evening “The foundation of God standeth sure.” 2 Timothy 2:19

 The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that “God was in Christ

reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

The great fact on which genuine faith relies is, that “the Word was made flesh

and dwelt among us,” and that “Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for

the unjust, that he might bring us to God”; “Who himself bare our sins in his

own body on the tree”; “For the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by

his stripes we are healed.” In one word, the great pillar of the Christian’s

hope is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ

being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in

 him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary

sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave him, who

are known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by their

trusting in Jesus–this is the cardinal fact of the gospel. If this foundation

were removed, what could we do? But it standeth firm as the throne of God. We

know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to

meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and moved

by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation. In these days a

direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear

 substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing

the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth,

will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and unceasingly. We will

neither dilute it nor change it, nor fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It

shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering

in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up, for it is our life, and

despite every controversy we feel that “Nevertheless the foundation of God

standeth sure.”