"He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous." Is there any reason why He should withdraw them? Well, judging after the manner of men, and according to our weak conceptions, as we take into consideration the sins, follies, failures, and falls of His people, there is every reason why He should not notice them at all. But He looks upon them, He sees them in their sorrows, He remembers His covenant, deals with them according to the multitude of His mercies, delivers them out of their distresses, brings them into a place of liberty, and blesses them with a sweet realisation of their interest in His covenant love and favour. They journey a little in the strength of this, and where are they? Hankering after the flesh-pots of Egypt, the garlicks, the onions, and the leeks. Seeking for pleasures and enjoyments anywhere and everywhere but in the place of God's providing. Even here He withdraweth not His eyes from them. He looks! He watches! In fury? Yes, with their sins. In indignation? Yes, with their follies. In wrath? Yes, with everything about them that springs from Satan. In spite of all their follies and infirmities, He looks upon them with the fondest and tenderest love. Do you wish for an illustration of this? Look at our old friend and brother Peter. He promised his loving Master that if all men should forsake Him, yet he would not. But when the moment of temptation and trial came, where was he? Where was his faith, and love, and attachment to his Master. He denied ever having any knowledge of, or communication with, Jesus. Have any of you business folk ever been there? Think for a moment or two. Peter went still further. He cursed and swore. "The Lord turned and looked upon Peter." In anger? No. But he had denied Him with oaths and curses. Well, the Lord did not look upon Him according to His deeds, or deal with him according to his iniquity. He looked upon him as an object of covenant love, in eternal union with Himself, and though sinning, yet free from all sin." He saw him oppressed in judgment, broken in heart, and contrite in spirit. Peter fell under that look of sovereign love and pity, and, unlike all hypocrites, he went out and wept bitterly. Oh, would to God that we could see more of this brokenness of spirit now-a-days! The loving eyes of a precious Christ are fixed upon all such, and can never be withdrawn from them. He brings His own through fire and through water into a wealthy place, there to delight in the apprehension of His grace, and in the revelation of His glory. We must now briefly consider

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III. THEIR DIGNITY-"But with kings are they on the throne." We may consider this in two lights. First. The eyes of JEHOVAH are with kings on the throne. For, "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of waters: He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Prov. xxi. 1). See! The kings, and great ones of the earth, rule, reign, act, and speak; ay, they think, and sleep, and awake, according to the sovereign

will of Him who sitteth upon the throne of the universe, who guides the flight of a fly, of a sparrow, or of an angel. It is said of Ahasuerus: "On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king" (Esther vi. 1). This was all by the over-ruling hand and sovereign will of Israel's covenant God for the deliverance of His people and the destruction of their enemies. We see the same truth in Pharaoh dealing with Joseph and his brethren, and the other Pharaoh whom God raised up for the display of His sovereign power (Exodus ix. 16). Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and others are marvellous instances of the reign and rule of JEHOVAH over all kings and potentates. The second light in which we look at these words of our text, is glorious indeed-" But with kings are they on the throne." What throne is this? Last Tuesday evening we had a blessed season of refreshing, as I was led to speak from Isaiah xxxii., which begins with these words, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.' There is King Jesus upon His mediatorial throne with all His redeemed brethren reigning and ruling in oneness with Him. Turn to Psalm xlv. 16: "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth." These are God's elect, redeemed and regenerate people whom He has ennobled with His own dignity, royalty, and majesty, and concerning whom the King of saints has said: "To him that I overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Here we see poor vile sinners brought from the deepest depths of sin, from the very jaws of Satan, from the very gates of hell, from the very pit of corruption, washed in precious blood, clothed in the righteousness of God, and a new song put into their mouth. Here you have it. Rev. i. 5, 6: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." These are the kings upon the throne from whom the eyes of a gracious and covenant God are not withdrawn.

IV. THEIR STABILITY- "Yea, He doth establish them for ever." The throne of Christ's glory is established for ever in the everlasting covenant of grace, and all the heirs of glory shall share in the stability thereof. The whole of Zion is established for ever in the eternal hills of covenant love, covenant faithfulness, and covenant power. But frequently the precious sons and daughters of Zion are tossed to and fro by the everchanging influences and circumstances of this sinful world. What with the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the bereavements and disappointments they experience-at one time lifted up to the third heaven, and then plunged into the

belly of hell-they feel anything and everything but established. Yet a gracious God has secured the means whereby they shall be established. They shall be established in the faith of the Gospel (Rom. i. 11); rooted and built up in Christ Jesus the Lord, and established in the faith (Col. ii. 7); their hearts shall be established with grace (Heb. xiii. 9); and they themselves in the present truth (2 Peter i. 12); while they confess with Paul: "Now He which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us is God" (2 Cor. i. 21). Oh, what a mercy to be established in the truths of the covenant! We now come to the glorious finale of the text,

V. THEIR EXALTATION- "And they are exalted." Elihu tells us, "Behold, God exalteth by His power, who teacheth like Him?" (Job xxxvi. 22). Turn to Psalm lxxxix. 16: "In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted." This is wholly of God, with no creature effort, power, or wisdom. It is not a temporary exaltation like that of Joseph when he was brought out of prison to fill an exalted position, the next to Pharaoh in all the land of Egypt, nor like that of Moses when he was raised to the heirship of the throne of Egypt as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. Oh, no! but an exaltation in, by, with, and through Christ from sin to holiness, from self to God, from corruption to glory. Of this exaltation, Hannah sings so sweetly in 1 Sam. ii. 6-9: "The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh nch: He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and He hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of His saints." JEHOVAH exalts His own with a risen Jesus in grace down here, and soon they shall behold Him upon the throne of His glory, and hear Him say, Come up higher. Then, on the wings of sovereign love and never-failing grace, their ransomed souls shall fly in eager haste to Him whom they truly love, to bask in His smile through a never-ending eternity, to

May it be yours and mine sweetly to experience the grace and glory conveyed to elect souls from this precious portion of God's book, and enjoy His smile for ever and ever.

Amen.

"HIS FULNESS."

A Sermon

PREACHED IN GROVE CHAPEL, CAMBERWELL, ON SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 17TH, 1878, BY

THOMAS BRADBURY.

"And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”—John i. 16.

T has been a disputed point as to who the person was who

I moke the words I have read to you as my text. Some

have contended that it was John the Evangelist, while others declare it was John the Baptist. Both, in their ministry, were wonderfully blessed and owned of God. In Matt. iii., we see the Baptist with his bold, unflinching, uncompromising spirit, denouncing the hypocrisy of his day, and telling the Pharisees to their face his estimate of them. We trace out his character and experience in his confession in the verse preceding my text: "He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me." He was content to lie very low at the feet of the ever-blessed and adorable Jesus. Look also at his testimony which you will find in John iii. 27-30, and as I read it I am forced to the conclusion that the words of the text are those of the Baptist declaring the glory, excellency, and pre-eminence of our Lord Jesus Christ. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." You see how the testimony of John accords with that of Jesus, and how the testimony from this pulpit accords with both in respect to human inability. "Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice: this, my joy, therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." Christ must ascend, but John must descend. Christ must be everything, while John was content to be nothing. You see then how these words perfectly

No. 103.-PRICE ONE PENNY.

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agree with those of my text, where John is evidently the speaker,

"And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."

It is ours now, in pure and humble dependence upon the guidance of the blessed Spirit, to look at this vast subject in the following order :

I. THE FULNESS OF CHRIST " His fulness."

II.—THE FULNESS RECEIVED-" And of His fulness have all we received."

III. THE EFFECT OF THIS RECEPTION—“ And grace for grace.

I. THE FULNESS OF CHRIST "His fulness." This is blessedly touched upon in that precious hymn of Fawcett's which we have just been singing,—

"All fulness resides in Jesus our Head."

Not according to many hymn books which say,

but

"A fulness;"

"ALL fulness resides in Jesus our Head,

And ever abides to answer our need;

The Father's good pleasure has laid up in store
A plentiful treasure to give to the poor."

What are we to understand by this word "fulness?" It signifies abundance and perfection; having all it can contain; having no empty space; abundantly supplied or furnished; completeness. It may have reference to a vessel filled to the brim; or to a measure filled with goodly seed such as wheat or any other grain. This is fulness in abundance, but falling very far short of that set before us in these precious words. This is not merely an abundant but a redundant fulness, aptly described in the third verse of this precious hymn,—

"The fountain o'erflows: our woes to redress, Still more He bestows, and grace upon grace." You see here that grace received is the earnest of greater grace descending upon it, and the forerunner of richer and more copious supplies.

"His gifts in abundance we daily receive;

He has a redundance for all that believe."

But I like to come a little lower down than that, and I love to rise a great deal higher. Mark you this! "He has a redundance for those of His own who do not believe. That is what I like, for I do not like to limit God's grace to the poor weak stretch of my faith, or even to the longest and strongest faith that was ever manifested under the sun. It is the delight of my heart to look at these things and enjoy them according to God's own testimony in 2 Tim. ii. 13: "If we believe not, yet He