January 23:

And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. — 2 COR. iii. 17.

TH

`HE sweetest word in the language, next to love, is liberty. God and His angels alone respect the perfect freedom of man. It is the continual effort of the Lord to deliver us from ourselves, our enemies, and our friends; and to bring us into a simple, frank, and voluntary relation to Himself alone. This is the glorious liberty wherewith Christ maketh free. To shake off the yoke of sin, to put our own evil passions and falsities under foot; to receive from others and to give to them nothing but the reflected love and wisdom of the Lord; to identify cordially our own wills and lives with His will and life and with no others, - this is to know and love the true God "whose service is perfect freedom.”

LIBERTY.

WHEN linnet-like confinèd, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my King;

When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

RICHARD LOVELACE, 1618

January 24.

And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. I JOHN ii. 25.

LIFE eternal! How shall I express my thought of it?

It is not mere existence, however prolonged and free from annoyances. It is not the pleasure of the senses, however vivid. It is not peace. It is not happiness. It is not joy. But it is all these combined into one condition of spiritual perfection, one emotion of indescribable rapture, the peace after the storm has gone by, the soft repose after the grief is over, the joy of victory when the conflict is ended.

HILL.

THE JERUSALEM THAT IS ABOVE.

BRIEF life is here our portion;
Brief sorrow, short-lived care;

The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life, is there.

Oh, happy retribution,

Short toil, eternal rest;

For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the blest.

And now we fight the battle,
But then shall wear the crown

Of full, and everlasting,

And passionless renown.

And now we watch and struggle,
And now we live in hope;

And Sion in her anguish

With Babylon must cope;

But He, whom now we trust in
Shall there be seen and known;
And they that know and see Him
Shall have Him for their own.

The morning shall awaken,
The shadows flee away,
And each true-hearted servant
Shall shine as doth the day.

There God, our king and patron
In fulness of His grace,

Shall we behold forever,

And worship face to face.

Bernard of Cluny.

January 25.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. REV. xxi. 23.

NOW just as the gates were opened to let in the men,

like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold; and in them walked many men with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps, to sing praises withal. There were also of them that had wings, and they answered one another without intermission, saying, “ Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord!" And after that they shut up the gates; which when I had seen I wished myself among them.

PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.

FOR thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;

For very love beholding

Thy happy name, they weep.

The mention of thy glory

Is unction to the breast,

And medicine in sickness,

And love and light and rest.

O one, O only mansion!
O Paradise of joy!

Where tears are ever banished
And smiles have no alloy;

The Lamb is all thy splendor,
The Crucified thy praise
His land and benediction

Thy ransomed people praise.

With jasper glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz

Unite in thee their rays.

Thine ageless walls are bounded
With amethyst unpriced;
The saints build up the fabric,
And the corner-stone is Christ.

Thou hast no shore, fair ocean
Thou hast no time, bright day!
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!

Upon the Rock of Ages

They raise thy holy tower;
Thine are the victor's laurels,

And thine the golden dower.

Bernard of Cluny.

January 26.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city. — HEB. xi. 16.

HE soul that lives, ascends frequently, and runs familiarly through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem, visiting the patriarchs and prophets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the army of martyrs. So do thou lead on thy heart, and bring it to the palace of the Great King.

RICHARD BAXTER.