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WANDERINGS 
 
 or 
 
 A PILGRIM- 
 
 BY D. A. HARSIIA, 
 
 AUTHOR OF. "IMMANUEL's LAND," ETC., ETC. 
 
 PniLADELPniA: 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
 
 NO. 265 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
STEREOTYPED BY 
 
 JESPER HARDING, 
 
 No. 57. South Third St., Philadelphia. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 This world a wilderness, and the Christian a 
 pilgrim, 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Commencement of the Christian's journey — 
 Difficulties in the way, 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Encouragements — Provision by the way, 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Christian pilgrim in the valley of Baca,.... 58 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Christian on Pisgah's mount 68 
 
 (iii) 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The posture of the Christian pilgrim in coming 
 u^J from the wilderness of this world, 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Passage over the Jordan of Death, 95 
 
' PREFACE. 
 
 The design of this manual is to con- 
 template the Christian pilgrim's journey 
 through the wilderness of this world to 
 that better laud, even the Heavenly Ca- 
 naan — to point out briefly the way by 
 which the Captain of our salvation leads 
 his followers to glory. 
 
 It has been the grand object of the 
 author to make the reader feel that he is a 
 stranger and a pilgrim on earth ; to make 
 him realize the solemn truth, that man is 
 like to vanity ; that his days are as a shad- 
 
 (V) 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ow whicli passetli away; that mutability 
 and dissolution are the characteristics of 
 all sublunary objects; that 
 
 <'A11, all on earth, is shadow; all beyond 
 Is substance." 
 
 "When we look at the brevity and vanity 
 of human life, we may well exclaim in the 
 beautiful and touching reflection of Edmund 
 Burke, " What shadoios ice are, and what 
 shadoivs we pursue!'' — and in the similar 
 impressive language of Patrick Henry, "/ 
 am hut a poor worm of the dust, as jleeting 
 and unsubstantial as the shadow of the cloud 
 that /lies over the fields, and is rememhered 
 710 QnoreT'^ Or we may rather open the 
 
 * This little treatise was composed during the 
 preparation of a large work entitled " The most 
 
PREFACE. VU 
 
 pages of Holy Writ, and say with the 
 wisest of men, " Vanity of vanities ; all is 
 vanity;" and with other inspired penmen, 
 " As for man, his days are as grass; as a 
 flower of the field so he flourisheth : for 
 the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, 
 and the place thereof shall know it no 
 more." ^' For what is your life ? It is 
 even a vapour, that appeareth for a little 
 time, and then vanisheth away." 
 
 Amid the excitement and bustle of a 
 busy world, it is to be feared that the 
 Christian too often forgets his true char- 
 Eminent Orators and Statesmen of the World j'' and 
 in writing the memoirs of Burke and Henry, the au- 
 thor was so deeply impressed with the touching 
 thoughts which occur in their lives, that he cannot 
 help repeating them here. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 acter as a pilgrim, joumejing to mansions 
 of glory in the skies. Too apt is he to 
 place his affections iipon those terrestrial 
 objects by which he is surrounded in his 
 pilgrimage. How often is this the case 
 with the young Christian, over whom the 
 world, with its delusive pleasures, exercises 
 such a fascinating power ! 
 
 The author would earnestly and affec- 
 tionately entreat the young reader to pause 
 with this solemn reflection, / am hut a 
 traveller here. Remember that you are 
 passing rapidly through a scene of shadows 
 and death to a state of eternal realities. 
 0, then, we beseech you to live, as Grod's 
 dear children, above the world, with your 
 eye directed to that blessed home in your 
 Heavenly Father's house, where the wicked 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 cease from troubling, and where the weary 
 arc at rest. 
 
 Should the few plain words written here 
 be the means of inducing any to pass the 
 time of their sojourning here in the fear 
 of God — of persuading them to live and 
 walk by faith in Christ — to rely, entirely, 
 on his atoning blood for salvation — the 
 author will desire no other reward than the 
 happiness of knowing that he has been an 
 humble instrument, in the hand of God, 
 foi* doing good. 
 
 This little volume is now cast as a mite 
 into the great treasury of biblical litera- 
 ture ; and in commending it to the blessing 
 of Heaven, the author would adopt the 
 beautiful lines of Southey, and say : 
 
: PREF AC E. 
 
 " Go, little book — from this my solitude 
 
 I cast thee on the waters ; go thy way— 
 
 And if as I believe thy vein be good, 
 
 The world will find thee after many days. 
 
 Be it with thee according to thy worth ; 
 
 Go, little book — in faith I send thee forth." 
 
 D. A. H. 
 
 SoiitJi ArgyJe, N. T.,\ 
 July 4, 1854. I 
 
WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THIS "WORLD A WILDERXBSS ; AND THE CHRISTIAN 
 A PILGRIM. 
 
 " For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, 
 as were all our fathers : our days on the earth are 
 as a shadow, and there is none abiding." — 1 Chrox. 
 xxix. 15. 
 
 Beyond this darksome vale of tears and 
 death there lies a bright and joyous region 
 of immortality, where weary pilgrims meet 
 to stray no more. In that happy land their 
 wanderings will have for ever terminated, 
 and they shall sit down in everlasting re- 
 pose under the delightful shadow of the 
 tree of life, in the midst of the Paradise 
 of God, and enjoy, through the blissful ages 
 of glory, the presence and smiles of that 
 Friend and Saviour who, in the tenderest 
 
 (11) 
 
12 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 love for them, once poured out his own 
 most precious blood on Calvary, that he 
 might present them faultless before the 
 throne of Heaven. 0, how transcendently 
 glorious must be the future, eternal home 
 of the Christian pilgrim ! On those golden 
 plains beyond the river of death, rays of 
 divine glory are beaming in full effulgence. 
 There, the Sun of Righteousness is shining 
 in all his meridian splendour, making eter- 
 nity one constant noontide of untold and 
 indescribable glory and blessedness — a day 
 without clouds. There, our Immanuel shall 
 be as the '' lio-ht of the moruino- when the 
 sun riseth, even a morning without clouds." 
 Eternal day will dawn without a cloud. 
 No gloom or darkness will ever overspread 
 those blissful realms beyond the shores of 
 time. The celestial world will always be 
 irradiated by the glory of God and the 
 Lamb; and the redeemed shall ever bask 
 
APILGRIM. 13 
 
 in the gladsome sunshine of infinite love. 
 In that bright home of pilgrims, the Sa- 
 viour will conduct his ransomed ones to 
 living fountains of waters, — streams of im- 
 mortal joys, and God shall wipe away all 
 tears. In the presence of Jesus there is 
 fulness of joy; at his right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore. Eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, nor has the human heart 
 ever conceived those thino;s which God has 
 prepared for them that love him. An ex- 
 ceeding and eternal weight of glory will 
 crown every pilgrim who has found the 
 happy shores of Immanuel's land. In the 
 palace of the Kiag of kings, all will be 
 perfectly blessed, and from that " building 
 of God, that house not made with hands,^^ 
 there shall be no more going out ; but we 
 shall ever be with the Lord, beholding his 
 glory and enjoying the soul-ravishing man- 
 ifestations of his endearing love. 0, happy 
 
14 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 abode of Ziou's pilgrims ! 0, sweet and 
 pleasant clime, where the balmy zephyrs 
 of Heaven refresh the weary soul ; where 
 there floweth not a tear ; where there en- 
 tereth not a pain ; where death itself shall 
 be swallowed up in victory ! This is the 
 heritage of them that fear the Lord. 
 
 But before our feet stand on the blissful 
 shores of the heavenly Canaan, we have 
 to pass through a wilderness scene. This 
 world is that wilderness, where Zion's pil- 
 grims wander till they are taken home to 
 glory. It is a thorny pathway that leads 
 to the realms of eternal day- but, by the 
 grace of God, the Christian is enabled to 
 hold on the good way with joy, till he 
 passes through the wilderness, and over 
 Jordan, more than a conqueror through 
 Jesus, and takes up his seraphic song of 
 triumph amid the undying splendours of 
 immortality. 
 
A PILGRIM. 15 
 
 In this little volume it is our desiirn, as 
 has been stated, to contemplate the Chris- 
 tian in his pilgrimage to the promised 
 laud — the happy home of all the true fol- 
 lowers of Jesus. 
 
 In this chapter there are two prominent 
 ideas which recur in our mind, and which 
 deserve our serious consideration. 
 
 1st. This world is a wilderness. 
 
 2d. The Christian is a pilgrim here. 
 
 1. To every child of God this icorld, 
 with all its conceived pleasures^ is nothing 
 hut a wilderness, — -far from his Fatliers 
 house; far from that goodlt/ land ichich 
 he so ardently longs to see and to 2^osscss. 
 This is the view which every saint takes 
 of earth ; and it is a just one. What the 
 wilderness was to the children of Israel in 
 tneir journey to the promised land, this 
 decaying scene is to the believer in his 
 progress heavenward. It is not his rest; 
 
16 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 it is not his home. On the contrary, it is 
 a wilderness world of trouble, from which 
 he is coming up to the mansions above. 
 The dark, rugged pathway lies through 
 imminent dangers and difficulties which 
 sometimes rise like mountains before the 
 Christian pilgrim, and threaten to retard 
 his march to the land * of immortality. 
 But it is a blessed consolation to know 
 that Jesus guards the way to Mount Zion ; 
 that he will suffer no evil to befall us; 
 that even here, in this vale of tears, all 
 things shall work together for our good. 
 
 The sorrows and bereavements of life 
 render this earth a trying wilderness world 
 to the child of God. Here, the winds of 
 adversity and floods of sorrow sweep along 
 our path, making us long to reach the bliss- 
 ful hill of Zion, where '' no chilling blasts 
 annoy," — where all is blooming with im- 
 mortal love and peace. Here, we are al- 
 
APILGRIM. 17 
 
 most constantly distressed with difficulties, 
 cares, pains, and griefs, which render this 
 a weary land — " a land of deserts and of 
 pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow 
 of death." 
 
 It is sin* that makes this world a wil- 
 derness to the saint. On account of the 
 sin in his heart, he often faints, and is 
 ready to die ; he feels that this is indeed 
 a valley of weeping, and longs to arrive at 
 the borders of the wilderness that he may 
 cross into Canaan. 
 
 •Besides all this, he has to encounter, iu 
 his journey, violent opposition from an 
 ungodly, persecuting world. This makes 
 him cry out, with the Psalmist, "Wo is 
 
 * For an interesting, comprehensive and practical 
 view of the subject of sin — its consequences, and 
 remission, the reader is referred to a small volume 
 entitled, *' The Nature, Effects, and Pardon of Sin," 
 by the Rev- J. W- Harshaj Professor in "Westminster 
 College, Pa. 
 2 
 
18 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell 
 in the tents of Kedar ! My soul hath long 
 dwelt with him that hateth peace/' In 
 the world, there are fightings without, 
 and fears within: How unlike this dark 
 abode of sin and misery are those radiant 
 mansions far beyond the starry sky. There 
 the wicked cease from troubling ; and there 
 the weary are at rest. 
 
 2. The Christian is a pilgrim here. — 
 He has only a temporary residence in this 
 vale of tears ; his abiding home is in that 
 world ^' where momentary ages are no 
 more.'' Now he is on his journey to 
 those tearless, blissful regions where he 
 is to spend the ceaseless, revolving ages 
 of eternity. 
 
 When the children of Israel were in the 
 wilderness, they had no permanent resi- 
 dence, but were continually roving about 
 from place to place; journeying to that 
 
A PILQUIM. 19 
 
 goodly land which flowed with milk and 
 honey, and which was then the glory of 
 all lands; '^ a. land of brooks of water, of 
 fountains and depths that spring out of 
 valleys and hills ; a land of wheat, and 
 barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pome- 
 granates; a land of oil-olive and honey." 
 So the believer is a pilgrim on earth, with 
 no continuing city, nor certain place of 
 abode, travelling through a dreary wilder- 
 ness to that city which shines in the highest 
 noon of glory ; to that land of blessedness 
 and immortality, where perennial streams 
 of bliss issue from the eternal fountain of 
 life to refresh the weary soul, and where 
 we may freely eat of the fruit of the tree 
 of life, in the midst of the Paradise of 
 God. 
 
 How impressive is the language of 
 Moses to Ilobab, in the wilderness : '^ We 
 are journeying unto the place of which the 
 
20 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 Lord said, I will give it you/' The hosts 
 of Israel, instead of making their abode 
 in the waste, howling wilderness, were 
 marching forward to obtain possession of 
 that land which the Lord " sware unto their 
 fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give 
 unto them and to their seed after them." 
 Like those ancient pilgrims, we have a 
 promised land in view, and Onward I is our 
 motto. Instead of seeking our home and 
 our happiness in a perishing world, we are 
 pressing on to that glorious kingdom which 
 Jesus, in his boundless love, has gone to 
 prepare for our reception, and which he 
 has promised to bestow on all them that 
 love him 3 for he says: ^'I appoint nnto 
 you a kingdom, as my Father hath ap- 
 pointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink 
 at my table, in my kingdom, and sit on 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
 And again : " Fear not; little flock ; for it 
 
APILGRIM. 21 
 
 is your Father's good pleasure to give you 
 the kingdom." So the Christian pilgrim, 
 auiiimted by such precious promises, has 
 good hope, through grace, of gaining the 
 happy shores of Canaan ; of possessing the 
 heavenly inheritance — of making his eter- 
 nal abode in the courts of Paradise ; and 
 of sitting down with Abraham, Isaac and 
 Jacob at the banquet of redeeming love, 
 in the kingdom of God. With such glori- 
 ous prospects in view, no wonder that he 
 should look upon earth as a barren, home- 
 less world ; that he should feel like a stran- 
 ger and sojourner in it. No wonder that 
 he should speed his earthly flight to reach 
 the blissful skies. 
 
 "VVe are entreated by a compassionate 
 Saviour to seek the better country. In the 
 wilderness, the divine injunction to the 
 children of Israel was to march forward to 
 the land of promise : " And the Lord said 
 
22 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 unto Moses, Depart and go up hence, thou 
 and the people which thou hast brought 
 up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land 
 which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and 
 to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give 
 it." The same solemn command, reminding 
 us of our short pilgrimage on earth, ia 
 soundino; in our ears. It is the entreatinsr 
 voice of the Saviour, calling upon us to for- 
 sake this present evil world, and seek our 
 portion in the fair realms of eternal day. It 
 is a voice of compassion and love that says 
 to us, " Arise ye, and depart ; for this is 
 not your rest. Seek ye first the kingdom 
 of God, and his righteousness." The Chris- 
 tian pilgrim obeys the divine injunction; 
 sets forward on his journey; leaves the 
 world, looks beyond this dying scene, gazes 
 on the celestial Canaan, till its glories beam 
 upon his enraptured soul, till he breathes 
 the pure atmosphere of the upper world, 
 
A PILGRIM. 23 
 
 till his ear hears the glorious melody of 
 heaven and his eye catches a glimpse of 
 the king in his beauty, and of the land that 
 is afar off. 0, says the weary pilgrim, as 
 onward he journeys with his eye directed 
 towards the heavenly Canaan : In yonder 
 glorious world is my rest and abiding home. 
 Yes: 
 
 *' There is is my house and portion fair ; 
 My treasure and my heart are there^ 
 
 And my abiding home ; 
 For me my elder brethren stay, 
 And angels beckon me away, 
 And Jesus bids me come !" 
 
 The Christian confesses that he is a pil- 
 grim here. 
 
 All the children of Zion — all who have 
 ever travelled to the Canaan on high, have 
 acknowledged that they were strangers and 
 pilgrims in this wilderness world. Of 
 those ancient worthies who died in faith, — 
 in the bright hope of a blessed immortality 
 
24 WANDERINGSOP 
 
 beyond the darksome grave, and who are 
 held up in the precious volume of inspira- 
 tion, for our imitation in the Christian 
 life — it is said, they " confessed that they 
 were strangers and pilgrims on the earth/^ 
 To this land of shadows and of death, their 
 views were not confined. No. They looked 
 higher than earth. ' They desired 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.'' Of 
 Abraham, it is said that he "sojourned in 
 the land of promise, as in a strange country, 
 dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and 
 Jacob, the heirs with him of the same pro- 
 juise ; for he looked for a city which hath 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is 
 God/' The earthly Canaan was but a type 
 of the heavenly ; and therefore the patri- 
 archs, overlooking the passing scenes of 
 a sublunary world, elevated their views 
 
APILGRIM. 25 
 
 to the true land of promise beyond the 
 skies. 
 
 In contemplating his present state, each 
 child of God is ready to exclaim with the 
 Psalmist, when addressing his heavenly 
 Father in earnest prayer, ^' I am a stranger 
 with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fa- 
 thers were." His feelings with regard to 
 earthly objects are beautifully expressed in 
 the glowing language of the Christian poet : 
 
 " Nothing on earth I call my own ; 
 A stranger to the world, unknown) 
 
 I all their goods despise : 
 I trample on their whole delight, 
 And seek a city out of sight, 
 
 A city in the skies. 
 No foot of land do I possess ; 
 No cottage in this wilderness j 
 
 A poor, way faring man ; 
 I lodge awhile in tents below, 
 Or gladly wander to and fro, 
 
 Till I my Canaan gain." 
 
 Thus the Christian pursues his journey, 
 
26 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 and pitclies his tent nearer and nearer 
 Canaan, till he reaches the banks of Jor- 
 dan, where some appointed herald of glory 
 is ready to conduct his happy spirit to the 
 bosom of Abraham — to the mansions of 
 rest — to the Paradise of God. 
 
 The believer's life is a progressive one. 
 All the true followers of Jesus are daily 
 advancing in their journey towards the 
 realms of peace. They go on, from strength 
 to strength, through this wilderness scene, 
 until every one of them appeareth before 
 God in the celestial Zion. Their earnest 
 and continued endeavours are to get nearer 
 Heaven, to become ripe for glory ; hence, 
 forgetting the things which are behind, 
 and reaching forth unto those which are 
 before, they press toward the mark for the 
 prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus. They are not satisfied with their 
 present life in the wilderness. It has but 
 
A PILGRIM. 27 
 
 little attractions- for them. They are not 
 conformed to the world. They do not 
 think of making their abode in this valley 
 of weeping ; but onward they travel towards 
 the land of Canaan — that pleasant region 
 which lies beyond the Jordan of death. 
 Their course is upward. " All Christians/' 
 says the pious McCheyne, " are coming up 
 out of the wilderness. Sabbath days are 
 like mile-stones — marking our way ; or, 
 rather, they are like the wells we used to 
 come to at evening.* Every real Christian 
 is making progress. If the sheep are on 
 the shoulder of the shepherd, they are 
 always getting nearer the fold. With some, 
 the shepherd takes long steps. Dear 
 Christians, you should be advancing, get- 
 ting higher, nearer to Canaan, riper for 
 glory. In the south of Russia, the coun- 
 
 * This refers to his journey to Palestine in 1839, 
 
28 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 try is of vast plains, rising by steps. Dear 
 friends, you should get on to a higher 
 place, up another step every Sabbath day. 
 In travelling, you never think of making a 
 house in the wilderness. So, dear friends, 
 do not take up your rest here ; we are 
 journeying. Let all your endeavours be 
 to get on in your journey." 
 
 We would earnestly invite you, gentle 
 reader, to accompany us in our pilgrimage 
 to the heavenly country. We would beseech 
 you, with the utmost compassion for your 
 immortal soul, to forsake the path of death, 
 and follow the way of life — the way to 
 undying glory and felicity. In a word, we 
 would most affectionately say to you as 
 Moses did to Hobab, '^ We are journeying 
 unto the place of which the Lord said, I 
 will give it you : come thou with us, and 
 we will do thee good : for the Lord hath 
 spoken good concerning Israel." 
 
A PILGRIM. 29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 COMMENCEM^T OF THE CHRISTIAN'S JOURNEY- 
 DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY. 
 
 " We must through much tribulation enter into 
 the kingdom of God." — Acts xiv. 22. 
 
 Let us adore the grace that seeks 
 To draw our hearts above ! 
 Attend, 'tis God the Saviour speaks, 
 And every word is love. 
 
 No man begins the journey to the hea- 
 venly home, until by the gracious influence 
 of the Holy Spirit, his soul is attracted 
 to Christ, the living way, the truth, and 
 the life. At that happy hour when the 
 heart is opened, and the understanding 
 enlightened to discern spiritual things, the 
 Saviour's love is the first to beam in mild, 
 Bweet; constraining influence upon the soul 
 
30 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 of the renewed man. He wonders that he 
 was not able before to discern the beauty, 
 the excellence and glory of Immanuel. 
 Now, Jesus appears to him the chiefest 
 among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. 
 Now, he is ready to exclaim, ^' ]\Iy beloved 
 is mine, and I am his. Whom have I in 
 heaven but thee ? and there is none upon 
 earth that I desire besides thee.'' 
 
 Thus enlightened by divine grace, the 
 pilgrim turns from the City of Destruction 
 to the Heavenly Mansions. He leaves 
 the crowded road which leadeth to eternal 
 darkness and woe, and enters on the narrow 
 pathway that conducts the weary traveller 
 to realms of light and bliss. The star of 
 Bethlehem is his guide, — the promises of 
 God's word, his rod and staff; and heaven, 
 his everlasting, happy home. His views 
 are now elevated above the decaying objects 
 around him. His affections are placed upon 
 
A PILGRIM. 31 
 
 things above. He contemplates witli rap- 
 turous delight the bleeding glories of Im- 
 manuel, and the shining abode of Zion's 
 pilgrims in the celestial kingdom. He is 
 risen with Jesus. He has become a spirit- 
 ually minded man. He lives and walks 
 by faith in the Son of God. Though in 
 the world, he is no longer of it ; but belongs 
 to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. As an 
 heir of glory, as a traveller to the skies, as 
 an expectant of eternal bliss, he looks above 
 and beyond the troublesome scenes of a 
 fleeting pilgrimage. He enjoys the charm- 
 ing and sublime prospect beyond the pre- 
 cincts of time ! He beholds in that bris-hter 
 world, an ocean of glory, without a shore, 
 and without a storm ! 
 
 As the Christian pursues his journey, 
 with his eye fixed on the solemn realities 
 of eternity, earth and sublunary grandeur 
 appear to him as transitory as the morning 
 
32 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 cloud and early dew, compared with those 
 immeasurable ages of bliss, wbicli roll be- 
 fore his transported vision. 
 
 A traveller on his journey loves to cherish 
 the endearing thoughts of home and do- 
 mestic happiness. Nothing is so dear to 
 him in all his wanderings as the fireside 
 of his fathers — the land of his birth. In 
 like manner, he who has been constrained 
 by the Saviour's love to begin the blessed 
 journey from the wilderness of this world 
 to the heavenly Canaan, will delight to 
 meditate on the riches and glory of his 
 Father's house, in the pure, unclouded 
 realms of eternal day. The Jerusalem 
 above will be dearer to him than any 
 earthly object. His language will be : 
 ^' If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my 
 right hand forget her cunning. If I do 
 not remember thee, let my tongue cleave 
 to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not 
 
A PILGRIM. 83 
 
 Jerusalem above mj chief joj." In every 
 stage of his pilgrimage, the Christian loves 
 to think of that better laud, his true, 
 abiding home, where he shall sing tri- 
 umphant songs of praise to his Kedeemer, 
 and his God. 
 
 We have thus hinted at the pleasing 
 view which opens to him from whose eyes 
 the scales of unbelief have fallen, — who is 
 enabled to look at eternal things in the light 
 of God's word ; and who has set out upon 
 the Christian's journey, to the celestial 
 city. We shall now notice a few of the 
 difficulties which lie in the way to glory; 
 for no sooner does the pilgrim enter on the 
 path of the just than he meets with obsta- 
 cles. We mention three sources from which 
 the Christian may expect to meet with 
 great opposition in fighting the good fight 
 of faith. 
 
 1. Tlie World. — The world with its sin- 
 3 
 
34 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 ful pleasures and enjoyments is calculated 
 to captivate the affections, enchain thfe 
 heart and impede the pilgrim's progress to 
 the heavenly rest. A thousand fascina- 
 ting charms are thrown around his path- 
 way through this bewildering world. In 
 city and in country ; on land and on sea — 
 everyicherey the soldier of the cross is sur- 
 rounded by spiritual dangers and difficul- 
 ties. 
 
 Love of the world is one great means of 
 retarding our journey to the skies. O, 
 how many have turned aside from following 
 the blessed Jesus, by placing all their af- 
 fections upon this present, fleeting scene, 
 which in a very few years at most will 
 profit them nothing ! " Demas hath forsa- 
 ken me having loved this present world." 
 See to it. Christian, that you love not the 
 world. By faith behold the cross of Christ, 
 and the bleeding glories of Calvary, and 
 
APILGRIM. 35 
 
 this world with all its riches and honours 
 
 will become a dim and dj'ing object in your 
 
 view. 
 
 " Then pilgrim, let thy joys and fears 
 On time no longer le.in ; 
 But henceforth all thy hopes and fears 
 From earth's affections wean." 
 
 Obey the warning voice of mercy if you 
 would reach the blissful shore : " Love not 
 the world, neither the things that are in 
 the world. If any man love the world, the 
 love of the Father is not in him.'' 
 
 Notwithstanding the Christian's endea- 
 vours to live above the world, and near to 
 God, how often is he compelled to cry out 
 with the Psalmist : ^' My soul cleaveth unto 
 the dust : quicken thou me according to 
 thy word." 
 
 *' From earth, and all its empty joys, 
 Blest Jesus, set me free ; 
 How vain the worldling's gilded toys, 
 Compared with heaven and thee I 
 
36 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 Thou art my hope, my way, my bliss, 
 
 My glory, and my crown ; 
 Descend, thou blessed Prince of Peace, 
 
 And make my heart thy throne." 
 
 We must also expect to meet with oppo- 
 sition from an unbelieving world. Those 
 who have their part and portion here do 
 not love them who have chosen a better 
 inheritance above. The world hates a true 
 follower of the Lamb. Jesus was himself 
 the object of their hatred. No wonder 
 then that his followers should meet with 
 the same reception from unbelievers. The 
 Saviour says to his disciples, " If the 
 world hate you, ye know that it hated me 
 before it hated you. If ye were of the 
 world, the world would love his own ; but 
 because ye are not of the world, but I have 
 chosen you out of the world, therefore the 
 world hateth you." It has been truly 
 said that if we are faithful, we must indeed 
 
A PILGRIM. 37 
 
 expect reproach ; if we boldly confess 
 Christ before men, and steadily maintain 
 that marked distinction which forms the 
 line of separation between the church and 
 the world, we must submit to have our 
 names cast out as evil. 
 
 2. The Devil. — The Christian pilgrim 
 will meet with opposition from Satan. '' For 
 we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
 against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
 against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
 The inspired writers give us directions 
 how we are to meet and vanquish this arch 
 enemy of souls. ''Be sober, be vigilant; 
 because your adversary, the devil, as a 
 roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom 
 he may devour ; whom resist steadfast in the 
 faith.'' 1 Peter, v. 8, 9. "Resist the devil, 
 and he will flee from you.'' James, iv. 7 
 " Put on the whole armour of God, that ye 
 
38 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 may be able to stand against tlie wiles of 
 the devil. Stand therefore, having your 
 loins girt about with truth, and having on 
 the breast-plate of righteousness ; and your 
 feet shod with the preparation of the gospel 
 of peace ; above all, taking the shield of 
 faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
 all the fiery darts of the wicked. And 
 take the helmet of salvation, and the sword 
 of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 
 praying always with all prayer and sup- 
 plication in the Spirit, and watching there- 
 unto with all perseverance and supplica- 
 tion for all saints." Eph. vi. 11, 18 Let 
 us follow this advice, and we shall win a 
 glorious victory, and receive an immortal 
 crown. The God of peace shall bruise 
 Satan under our feet shortly. In the arms 
 of Jesus we shall be safe, eternally safe 
 from the attacks of our subtle adversary. 
 Satan will never be able to pluck a single 
 
APILGRIM. 39 
 
 believino; soul from the hands of an Al- 
 mighty Saviour. Animated by such a 
 consideration, let us press forward in our 
 pilgrimage, armed with the panoply of 
 Heaven ; and in a little while the Satanic 
 conflict will be over ; then we shall take 
 up sweet, unending songs of triumph in 
 that happy place, where the wicked cease 
 from troubling, and where the weary are at 
 rest. 
 
 3. The Flesh. — Another enemy, with 
 which the Christian will have to contend 
 until this mortal shall have put on im- 
 mortality, is the flesh. As the believer is 
 never perfectly sanctified in this life, the 
 remains of corruption in his heart must 
 be a source of continual annoyance to him, 
 in coming up from the wilderness to the 
 land of perfection and bliss. Here, the 
 flesh lusteth againat the spirit, and the 
 spirit against the flesh. The Canaanites 
 
40 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 are still in the land ; and the soldier of 
 the cross must be always on his guard, 
 lest they surprise and overcome him. 
 " The remainders of corruption require 
 continual watchfulness and circumspection, 
 lest they increase and regain their former 
 possession of the heart. Sin still dwelling 
 in the believer, causes that warfare which 
 must never cease till this body is laid in 
 the grave, never more to harass the dis- 
 embodied spirit, encircled with heavenly 
 glory.'' How often has the remaining de- 
 pravity of the human heart made the good 
 man weep and bend, as under an insup- 
 portable load, and long to be freed from 
 the bitter thraldom of sinful flesh ! This 
 made Paul cry out in the bitterness of his 
 soul, " wretched man that I am ! who 
 shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death V But almost with the same breath 
 he exclaims, as ho sees the great Deliverer, 
 
A PILGRIM. 41 
 
 " I thank God, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord/' Here, then, is our streni:th and 
 deliverance. Jesus is the salvation of 
 Israel. In him we shall obtain complete 
 dominion over the corruptions of our nature. 
 How reanimating to hear that sweet pro- 
 mise whispered in our ears, while we are 
 still in an enemy's land, " My grace is 
 sufficient for thee : for my sirength is 
 made perfect in weakness." 
 
 Then, if we would overcome all the 
 difficulties which lie in our pathway to 
 immortal bliss — if we would reach the 
 happy shores of Immanuel's laud — let 
 us follow the advice of the apostle. " Let 
 us cast off the works of darkness ; let us 
 put on the armour of light; let us walk 
 honestly, as in the day; not in rioting 
 and drunkenness ; not in chambering and 
 wantonness; not in strife and envying. 
 But; above all, let us put on the Lord 
 
42 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 Jesus Christ, and make not provision for 
 the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." 
 
 What a glorious reward is held forth to 
 him who is true to the cause of Christ 
 throughout his pilgrimage on earth ! " Be 
 thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
 thee a crown of life." what unutterable 
 bliss awaits the faithful followers of Jesus 
 in that eternal, glorious world toward which 
 they are daily advancing ! And how much 
 is there in the Holy Scriptures to animate 
 us in struggling amid the sorrows and con- 
 flicts of the Christian course ! They tell us 
 that all the riches and glories of the heaven- 
 ly Canaan are to be enjoyed through the 
 ceaseless ages of eternity, by those who 
 have overcome by the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 The cheering language of the Saviour is, 
 " To him that overcometh will I give to eat 
 of the tree of life, which is in the midst of 
 the Paradise of God." And again ; ^' Him 
 
A PILGRIM. 43 
 
 that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the 
 temple of my God, and he shall go no more 
 out. He that overcometh shall inherit all 
 things : and I will be his God, and he shall 
 be my son.'' 
 
44 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS — PROVISION BY THE WAY. 
 
 "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be 
 sure." — Is. xxxiii. 16. 
 
 " I thirst ! — God, great Source of love ! 
 Infinite Life, streams from above. 
 
 give one drop and let me live ! 
 The barren world has nought to give : 
 No solace have its streams for me ; 
 
 1 thirst alone for heaven and thee." 
 
 When tlie Israelites were marcliing 
 tlirough the burning wilderness of Arabia 
 to the promised land, God nourished them 
 with bread from heaven, and with water 
 from a smitten rock. Then he opened the 
 doors of heaven, and rained down manna 
 upon them to eat, and gave them of the 
 
A P I L G R I M . 45 
 
 corn of heaven. " Man did eat angels' 
 food ; He sent them moat to the full. He 
 clave the rock in the wilderness, and gave 
 them drink as out of the great depths. He 
 brought streams also out of the rock, and 
 caused waters to run down like rivers.^' 
 Psalm Ixxviii. The same is true, in a 
 spiritual sense, of Zion's pilgrims, who are 
 journeying through this barren, wilderness 
 world to the happy Canaan above. They 
 are encircled in the same everlasting arms. 
 Their wants are supplied by the same al- 
 mighty hand. They eat of the hidden 
 manna, and drink of the water of life. 
 How beautifully is this comparison illus- 
 trated by the Christian poet ! 
 
 *' When Israel by divine command 
 The pathless desert trod, 
 They found, though 'twas a barren land, 
 A sure resource in God. 
 A cloudy pillar marked their road, 
 And screened them from the heat ; 
 
46 WANDERINGSOP 
 
 From the hard rocks the water. flowed, 
 And manna was their meat. 
 
 Like them we have a rest in view, 
 
 Secure from adverse powers : 
 Like them we pass a desert, too ; 
 
 But Israel's God is ours. 
 
 Yes, in this barren wilderness, 
 
 He is to us the same, 
 By his appointed means of grace, 
 
 As once he was to them." 
 
 A gracious Grod, in the inJBnitude of his 
 love, has provided ample provision for the 
 refreshment and support of weary pilgrims, 
 in passing through this dark vale to the 
 joyous realms of everlasting light. Here, 
 he has instituted the precious ordinances 
 of divine grace and salvation for our joy 
 and happiness, till we come to worship him 
 in his temple above. As our kind Hea- 
 venly Father, he has given us the bread 
 of life. Jesus Christ is the true bread from 
 heaven, with which the souls of believers 
 
A P I L G R I M . 47 
 
 are nourished in their lonely pilgrimage. 
 Says the Saviour, " I am the bread of life : 
 he that cometh to me, shall never hunger ; 
 and he that believeth on me, shall never 
 thirst. I am the living bread which came 
 down from heaven : if any man eat of this 
 bread, he shall live for ever : and the bread 
 that I will give is my flesh, which I will 
 give for the life of the world." The Is- 
 raelites, in their wanderings in the wilder- 
 ness, were fed with manna ; but we, in our 
 journey to a better land, partake of the 
 fulness of Jesus, whose flesh is meat indeed, 
 and whose blood is drink indeed. Here, 
 in this wilderness, 
 
 " Jesus, the bread of life, is given 
 To be our daily food ; 
 We drink a wondrous stream from heaven, 
 
 'Tis water, wine, and blood. " 
 Lord, 'tis enough, I ask no more* 
 
 These blessings are divine ; 
 I envy not the worlding's store, 
 If Christ and heaven are mine." 
 
48 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 Here, we drink of tlie living waters of 
 salvation — those streams of immortal joy, 
 which issue from the pierced side of a 
 blessed Redeemerj for the refreshment of 
 thirsty pilgrims, wandering through the 
 deserts of life. The perennial fountain 
 of that river, whose streams make glad the 
 city of our God, is to be found in a suffer- 
 ing Saviour -, and at this precious fountain 
 we may quench our thirst for ever. 
 
 '^ Whosoever drinketh of the water 
 that I shall give him,^' says Jesus, '* shall 
 never thirst; but the water that I shall 
 give him, shall be in him a well of water 
 springing up into everlasting life." Here 
 is the well of endless life. thirsty soul, 
 come to a bleeding Saviour, and drink, 
 and live for ever. You are earnestly invited 
 to come to the fountain of life. These 
 living waters are freely offered to you, to 
 me, to one, to all. This is the language 
 
APILGRIM. 49 
 
 of redeeming love : " IIo, every one that 
 thirsteth, come ye to the waters : and he 
 that hath no money, come ye, buy, and 
 eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
 money and without price.'' Isa. Iv. 1. 
 '' The Spirit and the bride say. Come. 
 And let him that is athirst, come. And 
 whosoever will, let him take the water of 
 life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. '^ I will give 
 unto him that is athirst, of the fountain 
 of the water of life freely." Rev. xxi. 6. 
 
 When the children of Israel left the land 
 of Egypt, the Lord guided them through 
 the pathless desert by a pillar of cloud and 
 fire, until they were brought to the borders 
 of Canaan. Thus the great Leader of his 
 spiritual Israel has kindled a light in this 
 dark and dreary land to guide his chosen 
 people to that glorious realm on high, where, 
 it is said, '' The Lord shall be unto thee 
 an everlasting light^and thy God thy glory." 
 4 
 
50 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 The blessed word of God affords the Chris- 
 tian traveller light, comfort, joj, and pro- 
 vision by the way. Says the Psalmist : 
 ^' Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and 
 a light unto my path. This is my com- 
 fort in my affliction ; for thy word hath 
 quickened me. Thy statutes have been my 
 songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Thy 
 testimonies have I taken as a heritage for 
 ever; for they are the rejoicing of my 
 heart. How sweet are thy words unto 
 my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to my 
 mouth.'' 
 
 In the Bible there is every thing pro- 
 vided for the needy traveller to Zion. " It 
 embodies all," says an eloquent living di- 
 vine,* " that a Christian in this pilgrimage 
 
 * Rev. J. B. Waterbury, D. D., a distinguished 
 clergyman of Boston, — author of *' Advice to a 
 Young Christian/' "Who are the Happy ?" « Con- 
 siderations for Young Men," &c., &c. These beau- 
 
A PILGRIM. 51 
 
 can need. It is his only chart through this 
 tempestuous life. In trouble, it is his con- 
 solation ; in prosperity, his monitor ; in 
 difficulty, his guide. Amid the darkness 
 of death, and while descending into the 
 shadowy valley, it is the day star that il- 
 luminates his path, makes his dying eye 
 bright with hope, and cheers his soul with 
 the prospects of immortal glory.'' 
 
 Ample provision is set before the pil- 
 grim of Zion in a preached gospel. Here 
 it is that his soul is refreshed with the 
 richest streams of divine grace. Here, he 
 draws living water out of the wells of salva- 
 tion with joy. No wonder, then, that the 
 child of God loves, above all other places in 
 
 tiful and excellent practical treatises vre would 
 earnestly commend to the attention of every young 
 disciple of the Saviour. They are the produetiona 
 of an able and pious divine. 
 
52 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 this world, the habitation of God's house. 
 No wonder that his language is 
 
 *' I joyed when to the house of Godj 
 Go up, they said to ine; 
 Jerusalem, within thy gates 
 Our feet shall standing be." 
 
 ^' How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 Lord of hosts ! A day in thy courts is better 
 than a thousand. I had rather be a door- 
 keeper in the house of my God, than to 
 dwell in the tents of wickedness.'^ 
 
 But the most abundant provision is pro- 
 cured for needy pilgrims in the Lord's sup- 
 per. This is a most precious, a most soul- 
 ravishing ordinance of grace. Surely, if 
 there is a time when the Christian is per- 
 mitted to lie down in green pastures by the 
 still waters, in this bleak and barren world, 
 it is during communion seasons, when he 
 draws around that holy table, and meditates 
 on the wonders of Calvary. Then it is 
 
A PILGRIM. 53 
 
 Then it is that his weary soul is refreshed 
 with the abundance of God's grace, and 
 with the goodness of his house. Then it 
 is that he reposes with the greatest delight 
 under the shadow of Jesus who protects 
 all his people from the burning wrath of 
 an offended God. " I sat down under his 
 shadow with great delight, and his fruit 
 was sweet to my taste.'' 
 
 If there is a moment this side of heaven, 
 when the Christian traveller seems to 
 breathe a purer atmosphere than that of 
 earth, it is when seated at the table of the 
 Lord, he takes into his hands the emblems 
 of Immanuel's broken body and shed blood, 
 and, with the eye of faith turned towards 
 Calvary, views that immaculate Saviour 
 nailed to the accursed tree, bleeding from 
 every pore — in his unparalleled love, dying 
 for rebel man, and by his vicarious death, 
 opening the way to God and to glory. 
 
54 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 When the believing communicant ap- 
 propriates Christ and his righteousness, as 
 freely offered- in this ordinance, he feels as 
 if his happy spirit were fanned by the 
 breezes of Paradise. It is this appro- 
 priating act — this feasting on Christ cru- 
 cified that refreshes the weary pilgrim in- 
 finitely more than all the enjoyments of a 
 dying world. This rich provision satisfies 
 the soul as with marrow and fatness : it 
 fills it with joy, unutterable, indescribable, 
 and full of glory. Our poor pen cannot 
 describe the joy and peace which a famish- 
 ing soul experiences when it eats of the 
 hidden manna and drinks of the living 
 
 o 
 
 water. It is impossible to tell how soul- 
 reviving it is thus to receive a crucified 
 Saviour as ours — to have his goodness im- 
 parted to our souls. 
 
 "How sweet the sacred joy that dwells 
 In souls renewed by power divine j 
 
APILGRIM. 55 
 
 Where Jesus all his goodness tells : 
 Oh ! may this joy be ever mine." 
 
 Come, then, weary pilgrim, and repose 
 in these green pastures, and bathe in the 
 still waters. You will then be invigorated 
 for treading the pathway through the 
 shades of earth to that bright, happy region 
 where you shall for ever cat of the fruit of 
 the tree of life in the midst of the Para- 
 dise of God ; and where you shall drink 
 of that perennial fountain which, issues 
 from the throne of the Eternal. 
 
 How happy is the condition of Zion's 
 pilgrims even in this land of sorrow ! 
 Their wants are all supplied out of Jesus, 
 in whom it hath pleased the Father that 
 all fulness should dwell. Their provision 
 is prepared by the God of all grace, and it 
 is sufficient. '^ They shall feed in the 
 ways, and their pastures shall be in all 
 high places. They shall not hunger nor 
 
56 WANDERINGSOP 
 
 thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite 
 them : for he that hath mercy on them 
 shall lead them, even by the springs of 
 water shall he guide them.'^ Isa. xlix. 9, 10. 
 Go then, Christian traveller, on your 
 way to the peaceful shore of glory, singing 
 with a cheerful heart, the pilgrim's song : 
 
 " The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want ; 
 He makes me down to lie 
 In pastures green : he leadeth me 
 The quiet waters by. 
 
 My soul he doth restore again ; 
 
 And me to walk doth make 
 Within the paths of righteousness, 
 
 Even for his own name's sake. 
 
 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale, 
 
 Yet will I fear none ill : 
 For thou art with me ; and thy rod 
 
 And staff me comfort still. 
 
 My table thou hast furnished 
 In presence of my foes j 
 
A P I L G R I M . 57 
 
 My head thou dost with oil anoint, 
 And my cup overflows. 
 
 Goodness and mercy all my life 
 
 Shall surely follow me ; 
 And in God's house for evermore 
 
 My dwelling place shall be." 
 
58 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM IN THE VALLEY OF BACA. 
 
 " Who passing through the valley of Baca." — Ps. 
 IxxxiV'. 6. 
 
 *' God, in Israel sows the seed 
 Of affliction, pain, and toil ; 
 These spring up and choke the weeds 
 Which would else o'erspread the soil : 
 
 Trials make the promise sweet, 
 Trials give new life to prayer; 
 
 Trials bring me to his feet, 
 Lay me low, and keep me there." 
 
 Our pilgrimage to the Heavenly Canaan 
 lies through a valley of weeping. This 
 earth is a vale of tears : and it is a path 
 which all of Zion's pilgrims must tread 
 until they come to that place where the 
 voice of weeping shall no more be heard. 
 
A PILGRIM. 69 
 
 We must throuc^h much tribulation enter 
 into the kingdom of God. Acts xiv. 22. Of 
 God's own chosen people, it is said, *' Thou 
 feedest them with the bread of tears ; and 
 givcst them tears to drink in great mea- 
 sure." The followers of Jesus must not, 
 therefore, expect to find a smooth road to 
 glory. " Thou, God, hast proved us : thou 
 hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou 
 broughtest us into the net; thou laidest 
 affliction upon our loins ; thou hast caused 
 men to ride over oar heads ; we went through 
 fire and water ; but thou broughtest us out 
 into a wealthy place." Ps. Ixvi. 10, 12. 
 
 "- Our path is strewed with piercing thorns ; 
 Each step is gained by arduous fight, 
 Yet wait, till hope's bright morning dawns, 
 Till darkness changes into light." 
 
 Some of the trials which render this 
 world a vale of tears, and which the Chris- 
 tian pilgrim is called to suffer, are, bodily 
 
60 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 sicknesSj mental anguish, adversity, and 
 bereavement. Who has not experienced 
 some of these afflictions ? 
 
 1. Our limits will permit us to notice 
 only the last mentioned — that of bereave- 
 ment And whose cheeks have not been 
 moistened by the tears shed for the loss of 
 some dear companion ? Who has not, in 
 this land of death, been called to take the 
 last look of some loved associate in his toil- 
 some pilgrimage ? — to see, perhaps, his 
 dearest friends lowered in the cold, dark 
 grave ? 0, how trying to flesh and blood 
 is bereavement ! '' This is the bitterest 
 of all earthly sorrows. It is the sharpest 
 arrow in the quiver of God. To love ten- 
 derly and deeply, and then to part ; to 
 meet together for the last time on earth j 
 to bid farewell for time ; to have all past 
 remembrances of home and kindred broken 
 up ; this is the reality of sorrow ] — to look 
 
A PTLORIM. 61 
 
 upon that face that shall smile on us no 
 more ; to close those eyes that shall see us 
 no more ; to press those lips that shall 
 speak to us no more ; to stand by the cold 
 side of father, mother, brother, sister, 
 frieiul, yet hear no sound and receive no 
 greetinp:; to carry to the tomb the beloved 
 of our hearts, and then to return to a des- 
 olate home with a blank in one region of 
 our souls, which shall never again be filled 
 till Jesus comes with all his saints — this is 
 the bitterness of grief; this is the worm- 
 wood and the gall." This is what the saints 
 of God, as well as the men of the world, 
 are daily called to endure ; and this is what 
 renders earth such a vale of tears. 
 
 2. But we icould also notice the design 
 which God has in ajffl'icting the righteous. 
 It is to prepare them for that better land, 
 where there is fulness of joy. It is to draw 
 their aflfections from earth to Heaven — 
 
62 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 from the wilderness to Canaan. It is to 
 make us mindful of our inheritance above 
 — to make us feel that we are strans-ers and 
 
 O 
 
 pilgrims on the earth — to make us cleave 
 to Jesus by faith — to make us meditate 
 ou the wonders of his redeeming love — 
 to qualify us for a participation of the 
 joys of the redeemed before the throne. 
 Our light momentary affliction worketh 
 for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory. " x\ffliction/' says one, 
 '^ not only profits us much just now, but 
 it will serve us much in eternity. Then 
 we shall discover how much we owe to it. 
 All that it is doing for us, we know not 
 now, but we shall know hereafter. It is 
 preparing for us a ^ more abundant en- 
 trance,' a weightier crown, a whiter robe, 
 a sweeter rest, a home made doubly pre- 
 cious by a long exile and many sufferings 
 here below.'' 
 
A PILGRIM. 63 
 
 '' I wonder/' says that godly man of 
 other days, Rev. Samuel llutherford, " I 
 wonder many times that ever a child of 
 God should have a sad heart, considering 
 what the Lord is preparing for them/' 
 " When we shall come home, and enter 
 into the possession of our brother's fair 
 kingdom, and when our heads *shall feel 
 the weight of the eternal crown of glory, 
 and when we shall look back to pain and 
 suflferings, then shall we see life and sorrow 
 to be less than one step or stride from a 
 prison to glory, and that our little inch 
 of time-suffering is not worthy of our first 
 night's welcome home to Heaven." " How- 
 ever matters go, the worst shall be a tired 
 traveller, and a joyful and sweet welcome 
 home."* 
 
 * Says that excellent divine, Rev. Horatius 
 Bonar, of Kelso, Scotland, "Beloved, *it is well/ 
 It is good to be afflicted. Our dajs of sufTeriog here 
 
64 WANDERINGS or 
 
 8. But amid all our affliction here we 
 are not loitliout strong consolation. — The 
 most precious promises are extended to the 
 mourning pilgrims of Zion. There is one 
 that speaks to them in the tenderest love 
 and compassion. '' Grod hath comforted his 
 people, and will have mercy upon his af- 
 flicted." I§. xlix. 13. " 1, even I, am he that 
 couiforteth you /'Is. li. 12. There is an eye 
 that watches over suffering pilgrims. There 
 is a hand that smooths the rugged passage 
 to the realms of day. There is a friend in 
 Heaven, who feels for his sorrowful disci- 
 ples in this vale of tears. Jesus is that 
 friend who sticketh closer than a brother; 
 
 we call days of darkness ; hereafter they will seem 
 our brightest and fairest. In eternity we shall praise 
 Jehovah, most of all for our sorrows and tears. So 
 blessed shall they then seem to us, that we shall 
 wonder how we could ever weep and sigh." — Night 
 of Weeping, p. 174. 
 
APILGRIM. 65 
 
 and his encouraging language to his af- 
 liicted followers is, " Let not your heart be 
 troubled : ye believe in God, believe also 
 in me. lu my Father's house are many 
 mansions." " He that goeth forth and 
 weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubt- 
 less come again with rejoicing, bringing 
 his sheaves with him.'' 
 
 There is a joyful harvest-home for weep- 
 ing pilgrims in the New Jerusalem. In 
 that happy home, no tears shall ever flow, 
 through the glorious ages of vast eternity. 
 
 " There purity with love appears, 
 And bli?s without alloy; 
 There they that oft had sown in tears 
 Shall reap agair^n joy." 
 
 Of those who are niarchino; throu^-h this 
 vale of tears to Immanuel's land, our o;ra- 
 cious Heavenly Father has said : " They 
 shall come and sing in the heights of Zion ; 
 and they shall not sorrow any more at all : 
 5 
 
66 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 for I will turn their mourning into joy, and 
 will comfort them, and make them rejoice 
 from their sorrow." Then shall every tear 
 be wiped away from the faces of all the re- 
 deemed before the throne of God. 
 
 4. A consideration of the hrevitjj of their 
 earthly trials ought to afford relief to loeary 
 pilgrims who are looking to Jesus for eternal 
 life. — They will not be long in the valley 
 of Baca. They will soon have reached the 
 heights of Mount Zion. Our light afflic- 
 tion is but for a moment. '' Weeping may 
 endure for a night, but joy cometh in the 
 morning.'' Ps. xxx. 5. 
 
 How pleasing is the thought that our re- 
 demption is every morfient drawing nearer. 
 We may well lift up our heads with joy, 
 for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
 Our journey to the skies is but a short one. 
 We are rapidly advancing to the tearless 
 region. '^ Every hour that strikes, — every 
 
APILaRIM. 67 
 
 morning that dawns, and every evening that 
 darkens around us, brings us nearer to the 
 end of our pilgrimage.'^ A few more tears 
 of sorrow ', a few more days of darkness, 
 and nights of weeping, and we shall ever 
 be with the Lord in that better country, 
 where we shall find fulness of joy in the 
 presence of Ilim who hath loved us with 
 an everlasting love — who hath washed us 
 from our sins in his own most precious 
 blood, and who will wipe away all tears 
 from our eyes. Then the Lord will be 
 our everlasting light, and the days of our 
 mourning be ended. Even so, come, Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
68 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN ON PISGAh'S MOUNT. 
 
 " Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty : they 
 shall beholfl the land that is very far off." — Isa. 
 xxxiii. 17. 
 
 " I was a groveling creature once, 
 And basely cleaved to earth; 
 I wanted spirit to renounce 
 The clod that gave me birth. 
 
 But God has breathed upon a worm, 
 
 And sent me from above 
 Wings such as clothe an angel's form — 
 
 The wings of joy and love. 
 
 With these to Pigsah's top I fly, 
 
 And there delighted stand : 
 To v^iew beneath a shining sky, 
 
 The spacious promised land." 
 
 Before the children of Israel gained 
 
A PILGRIM. 69 
 
 possession of the land of Canaan, tliey were 
 refreshed with a taste of its delicious fruits. 
 In like manner, the Christian, before he 
 reaches the better country, has many sweet 
 foretastes of celestial joys. 
 
 Blessed be God ! the believer is not 
 always in the valley of weeping. There are 
 times when he seems to live above the 
 world, and to have nothing but the glories 
 of heaven in his eye. At such delightful 
 seasons, he can adopt the soul-stirring 
 language of Dr. Payson : " The celestial 
 city is full in my view. Its glories beam 
 upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are 
 wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my 
 ears, and its spirit is breathed into my 
 heart." 
 
 The views of the pilgrim, when by faith 
 he surveys the better land, are similar to 
 those of Christian when showed the Delect- 
 table Mountains. How beautifully and 
 
70 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 strikingly is this described by the immortal 
 Bunyan : " Then I saw in my dream, that 
 on the morrow he got up to go forward, but 
 they desired him to stay till the next day 
 also ; and then, said they, we will, if the 
 day be clear, show you the Delectable 
 Mountains ; which, they said, would yet 
 farther add to his comfort, because they 
 were nearer the desired haven than the 
 place where at present he was; so he con- 
 sented and stayed. When the morning was 
 up, they had him to the top of the house, 
 and bid him look south. So he did, and 
 behold, at a great distance, he saw a most 
 pleasant mountainous country, beautified 
 with woods, vineyards, fruits of all sorts, 
 flowers also, with springs and fountains, 
 very delectable to behold. Isa. xxxiii. 16, 
 17. Then he asked the name of the coun- 
 try. They said it was Immanuel's land ; 
 and it is as common^ said they, as this hill 
 
APILGRIM. 71 
 
 is, to and for all the pilgrims. And when 
 thou comest there, from thence thoumayst 
 see to the gate of the celestial city, as the 
 shepherds that live there will make appear." 
 
 We would notice, in a word or two, hoio 
 and lohere the Christian obtains the most 
 glorious views of that Promised Land which 
 lies beyond the Jordan of death. 
 
 1. As Moses ohtained a vieio of the earth' 
 lij Canaan from the top of Pisgah, so we 
 get a glimpse of heavenly glory from the 
 mount of meditation — our spiratual Pis- 
 gnh. — " By meditation,'^ says a pious old 
 divine, " I can converse with God — solace 
 myself in the bosom of my beloved ; bathe 
 myself in rivers of pleasures ; tread the 
 paths of my rest, and view the mansions 
 of my eternity. What gainest thou, then, 
 my soul, in this valley of tears ? Up upoa 
 the mount, and view the Land of Promise. 
 What canst thou look for in this wilderness 
 
72 WA.NDERINGS OF 
 
 of trouble ? Up upon the wing, and take 
 thy flight to Heaven : let thy thoughts be 
 where thy happiness is, and let thy heart 
 be where thy thoughts are ; though thy 
 habitation may be on earth, yet thy con- 
 versation shall be in Heaven/' 
 
 2. It is lohile waiting upon God in the 
 courts of his house — ivhile seated at the 
 table of the Lord, that the Christian pilgrim 
 sometimes obtains the brightest vieics of 
 Heaven. — It is in the earthly temple of the 
 Lord that we oftentimes obtain a glimpse 
 of the heavenly mansion. Here it is, that 
 a sweet promise has been repeatedly verified 
 to the children of God : " Thine eyes shall 
 see the king in his beauty ; they shall be- 
 hold the land that is very far off/' 
 
 how delightful is it thus to glance from 
 earth to Heaven — from a dying world to 
 one of immortal bloom — from the turbulent 
 scene of our toil and suffering to the peace- 
 
A P I L O R I M . 73 
 
 ful mansions of our rest and felicity ! There 
 is nothinj^ that transports the soul of a 
 weary pilj^jrim like a faith's views of his 
 eternal rest beyond the swelling floods of 
 Jordan. 
 
 '' IIow rich the prospect glows 
 Beyond this vale of tears ; 
 Where crystal water flows, 
 And verdure crowns the year." 
 
 Come then, fellow pilgrim, and survey 
 your everlasting, happy home. Ascend 
 the IMount of Pisgah, and behold the glo- 
 rious land before you. View the celestial 
 city, with its twelve gates of pearls, and 
 its streets of gold, enlightened by the glory 
 of God and the Lamb. See the river of 
 pleasure, with its crystal streams, flowing 
 from the eternal throne; and the tree of 
 life, with its twelve manner of fruits, stand- 
 ing in the midst of the Paradise. Behold 
 the countless throng of the redeemed be- 
 fore the throne. Hear their sweet melo- 
 
74 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 dious strains, which shall ever gladden the 
 realms above: "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." 
 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
 receive power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and honour, and glory, and 
 blessing.'^ 
 
 " There shall the ransomed throng 
 A Saviour's love record ; 
 And shout in everlasting song, 
 Salvation to the Lord." 
 
 Above all, contemplate your blessed Re- 
 deemer, seated on his great white throne, 
 encircled with heavenly glory. Look at 
 the king in his beauty. It is the sight of 
 a glorified Saviour that will make the hea- 
 ven of the believer. Endeavour now, by 
 the eye of faith, to behold the Lord Jesus 
 
APILGRIM. 75 
 
 in all his matchless beauty and excellence. 
 Contemplate his glorious character 3 his in- 
 finite mercy; his unparalled condescen- 
 sion, and his boundless love. There is 
 enough in Jesus to employ the soul in rap- 
 turous meditation through a vast eternity. 
 His excellence, his goodness, and his love 
 can never be fathomed. 0, then, keep 
 your eye fixed on this adorable Saviour, 
 while you sojourn in this vale of tears; 
 and in a little while you shall see him as 
 he is, — face to face, and ascribe to him 
 unceasing praise. 
 
 How reviving to the weary Christian 
 traveller, from the top of Pisgah, is a view 
 of his distant, happy home in the heavenly 
 Canaan ! His feelings on this delightful 
 spot are well expressed in the following 
 beautiful lines of Newton : 
 
 "As when the weary traveller gains, 
 The height of some o'er looking hill, 
 
76 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 His heart revives, if cross the plains 
 He eyes his home, tho' distant still. 
 
 "While he surveys the much loved spot, 
 He slights the space that lies between ; 
 
 His past fatigues are now forgot- 
 Because his journey's end is seen. 
 
 Thus when the Christian pilgrim views 
 
 By faith, his mansion in the skies, 
 The sight his fainting strength renews, 
 
 And wings his speed to reach the prize. 
 The thought of home his spirit cheers, 
 
 No more he grieves for troubles past; 
 Nor any future trial fears, 
 
 So he may safe arrive at last. 
 'Tis there, he says, I am to dwell 
 
 With Jesus, in the realms of day; 
 Then I shall bid my cares farewell, 
 
 And he will wipe my tears away." 
 
A PILGRIM. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE POSTURE OP THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM IN COMING 
 UP FROM THE WILDERNESS OF THIS WOULD. 
 
 " Who is this that cometh up from the 'wilderness 
 leaning upon her Beloved ?" — Cant. viii. 5. 
 
 " But firm as on a rock, 
 
 The saint on Christ relies ; 
 He smiles in death's dissolving shock, 
 And mounts into the skies !" 
 
 The Jewish church came up from the 
 ■wildernesSj leaning on the eternal God for 
 her support. He was the guide, the rock, 
 the salvation of his chosen Israel. '' He found 
 him in a desert land, and in the waste 
 howling wilderness ; he led him about, he 
 instructed him, he kept him as the apple of 
 his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, 
 fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad 
 
78 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 her wings, taketh tliem, bearetli them on 
 her wings ; so the Lord alone did lead him, 
 and there was no strange god with him." 
 Deut. xxxii. 10 — 12. In like manner, the 
 Christian church in passing through the 
 deserts of life has Israel's God for her 
 leader. The same gracious eye that 
 watched over the wandering tribes of Israel 
 in their long journey through the Arabian 
 wilderness, is now watching with the 
 tenderest care and love over that chosen 
 band, who have forsaken all for Christ, and 
 who are marching through a changing, 
 terrestrial scene to a higher, brighter, nobler 
 world on high. ^' The eye of the Lord is 
 upon them that fear him : upon them that 
 hope in his mercy." Psa. xxxiii. 18. "He 
 that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of 
 his eye." Zech, ii. 8. The same kind hand 
 that led Israel of old to the promised land, 
 guides the humble followers of Jesus to 
 
APILGRIM. 79 
 
 mansions of glory in the skies. ^' The Lord 
 of hosts is with us." Psa. xlvi. 7. The 
 eternal God is our refuge ; and underneath 
 and around us are the everlasting arms. 
 
 In the 8th chapter of the Song of Solo- 
 mon we have the posture of the pilgrim, 
 advancing to the celestial city, beautifully 
 presented to us : " Who is this that com- 
 eth up from the wilderness, leaning upon 
 her beloved ?" Here we see the blessed 
 object on which the Christian reposes, while 
 passing through this scene of fluctuating 
 and perishing mortality. He relies entirely 
 upon Jesus Christ, the beloved of his soul. 
 He looks to no other source for protection 
 and support. He hopes in no other refuge. 
 His language is, " Lord, to whom shall we 
 go? thou hast the words of eternal life." 
 
 We would advert to a few ways in which 
 a believing soul, in coming up from the 
 wilderness, rests on Jesus, the sinner's 
 friend. 
 
80 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 1. He rests on him for strength. — Tlie 
 poor pilgrim has no might in himself; but 
 relying on Christ, he can say with holy 
 Paul, " When am I weak, then I am strong/' 
 What a happy thing it is to feel our own 
 weakness and nothingness in the sight of 
 Heaven; and then to cast ourselves into 
 the strong arms of Jesus — those arms of 
 infinite love which encircle and sustain all 
 the righteous. " The name of the Lord is a 
 strong tower ; the righteous runneth into 
 it, and is safe." Prov. xviii. 10. It is by 
 leaning upon the beloved of our souls that 
 we are made strong. 
 
 Helpless pilgrim, would you obtain 
 strength for gaining the joyful heights of 
 Ziou ? Then look to Jesus. Rest in him 
 now ; and in a little while, when you cross 
 into Canaan, you will rest with him in that 
 happy land, where weariness and sorrow 
 are unknown. Do not trust to your own 
 
A PILGRIM. 81 
 
 strength ; but wait upon the Lord, and 
 you will be upheld with divine grace and 
 power. Then you will be enabled to press 
 onward with the greatest speed and alacrity 
 to the heavenly mansions. '^ The Lord is 
 the hope of his people, and the strength 
 of the children of Israel." Joel iii. 16. He 
 giveth power to the faint ; and to them 
 that have no might he increaseth strength. 
 '' Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 
 and the young men shall utterly fall ; but 
 they that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
 their strength ; they shall mount up with 
 wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not 
 be weary ; and they shall walk, and not 
 fa-int." Is. xl. 29—31. 
 
 '' Blest Jesus, to my soul 
 
 Thy grace and strength impart ; 
 Till, clothed in perfect righteousness, 
 
 I see thee as thou art. 
 As I wander through the desert, 
 
 Be my constant help and stay : 
 
 6 
 
82 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 Shine upon my path, and lead me 
 To the realms of endless day." 
 
 Happy is he who in the morning of life 
 casts all his care upon Jesus ; who takes 
 the Saviour as his all and in all — as the 
 strength of his heart and his portion for 
 ever. He may sweetly sing as he is tossed 
 upon the surging billows of life's ocean, 
 "■ Lord, I will praise thee : though thou 
 wast angry with me, thine anger is turned 
 away, and thou comfortdest me. Behold, 
 God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not 
 be afraid : for the Lord Jehovah is my 
 strength and my song; he also is become 
 my salvation.'' 
 
 '' But Jesus is my living way, 
 
 My only trust, my hope, my stay ; 
 From him, I all my strength receive, 
 And daily on his fulness live." 
 
 2. The Christian cleaves to Jesus hy 
 faith — He knows that his Redeemer liveth; 
 
APILGIRIM. 83 
 
 and he rests his whole weight upon him. 
 He lives upon an unseen Saviour. Our 
 life in the wilderness is a life of faith. 
 Here, we live by fiuth and walk by faith. 
 This will be the manner of our life until 
 we come to behold our Redeemer face to 
 face in the heavenly Jerusalem, and enjoy 
 all the blessedness of that better conntry 
 above. But such a life is one of comfort 
 and joy to the Christian pilgrim in this 
 wilderness land. " ! the blessedness and 
 joy of faith ! How does it bring near, and 
 realize a view of Christ in glory ! Do we 
 indeed see Christ by the eye of faith ? Is 
 he the one chief object of our souls ? Is 
 he precious to us ? Yerily, then, we shall 
 count our days on earth toilsome ones, and 
 long for the full fruition of him in glory. It 
 will be our great joy to see him, whose 
 blessed head was crowned with thorns, and 
 whose lovely face was spit upon, for us ; 
 
84 WANDERINGSOF 
 
 till then, let us live by faith in him, con- 
 stantly crying, ^ Come, Lord Jesus, come 
 quickly/ " 
 
 Though the believer may be walking in 
 darkness, yet he must still, by faith, lean 
 upon the beloved of his soul. " Who is 
 among you that feareth the Lord, that 
 obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walk- 
 eth in darkness, and hath no light? let 
 him trust in the name of the Lord, and 
 stay upon his God." Is. 1. 10. The path- 
 way to the celestial mansions is often ob- 
 scured by darkness. Here, at best, we see 
 but through a glass, darkly.* 
 
 *' Darkness overspreads us here, 
 But the night wears fast away : 
 Jacob's star will soon appear, 
 Leading on eternal day !" 
 
 * We are but as wayfaring men, wandering in 
 the lonely night, who see dimly upon the distant 
 mountain-peak the reflection of a sun that never rises 
 here, but which shall never set in the *new heavens* 
 hereafter." — Bonar 
 
APILGRIM. 85 
 
 The commission of sia is the great cause 
 of the Christian being often left to wander 
 in darkness. *' Your iniquities/' says the 
 propliet, '* have separated between you and 
 your God, and your sins have hid his face 
 from you, that he will not hear." IIow 
 sad is such a condition ! When, for a sea- 
 son, the light of God's countenance is with- 
 drawn from the believer, he is led to cry 
 with pious Job, '' Oh, that I were as in 
 months past, as in the days when God pre- 
 served me ; when his candle shiued upon 
 my head, and when by his light I walked 
 through darkness.'' ''Behold, I go forward, 
 but he is not there ; and backward, but I 
 dan not perceive him : on the left hand, 
 where he doth work, but I can not behold 
 him : he hideth himself on the right hand, 
 that I can not see him;" and with the 
 Psalmist, " My soul thirsteth for God, for 
 the living; God : when shall I come and 
 
86 WANDERIN GS OF 
 
 appear before God?" And lie can also say 
 with the pious Cowper, who trod a gloomy 
 path to the realms of day, 
 
 " for a closer walk with God ! 
 A calm and heavenly frame ! 
 A light to shine upon the road 
 That leads me to the Lamb I" 
 
 The duty of the Christian, walking in 
 darkness, is to trust in the name of the 
 Lord, and stay upon his God. Let him 
 always be found relying upon his beloved ; 
 and, though his days on earth may be 
 darksome ones, yet at the " evening time" 
 of his pilgrimage " it shall be light." How 
 sweet will be the light of Heaven to such 
 a soul ! In order to obtain the greatest 
 light and comfort now, let the follower of 
 the Lamb be found diligently improving 
 the means of grace and salvation, which 
 God has afforded him. " Let the word of 
 Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom j 
 
A P I L G R I M . 87 
 
 teaching and admonishing one another in 
 psahus, and h^^uins, and spiritual songs, 
 singing with grace in your hearts to the 
 Lord." Col. iii. 10. How often has a beam 
 from Heaven darted upon the pilgrim while 
 engaged in the sweet employment of prais- 
 ing God ! 
 
 " Sometimes a light surprises 
 
 The Christian while he sings ; 
 It is the Lord who rises 
 
 With healing in his wings ; 
 When comforts are declining, 
 
 He grants the soul agaia 
 A season of clear shining, 
 
 To cheer it after rain." 
 
 3. The heliever rests on Jesus for rvjliU 
 e'ousness and pardon. — The language of a 
 renewed soul is, " In the Lord have I 
 righteousness and strength. In the Lord 
 shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and 
 shall glory." Isa. xlv. 25. Man had no 
 righteousness of his own to justify him in 
 
88 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 sight of heaven. Not a single soul could 
 have gained the celestial Paradise if the 
 Son of God had not assumed humanity, 
 and by a life of obedience and suffering, 
 fulfilled the violated law, and brought in 
 an everlasting righteousness. Blessed be 
 God ! the Sun of Righteousness has arisen 
 upon our benighted world; and Zion's 
 pilgrims walk in his light. ^' Christ is the 
 end of the law for righteousness to every 
 one that believeth.'' Eom. x. 4. In the 
 23d chapter of Jeremiah, he is called, 
 ^^ The Lord our Righteousness. '' Every 
 believer in Christ is arrayed in that linen, 
 clean and white, which is the righteousness 
 of saints. His robes are washed and made 
 white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 How happy is the condition of the saint I 
 His sins are all cancelled by the atoning 
 righteousness of our Lord and Saviour, 
 whose language is, '^ I, even I, am he that 
 
A PILGRIM. 89 
 
 blotteth out thy transgressions for mine 
 own sake, and will not remember thy sins." 
 As the Christian pilgrim journeys towards 
 the realms of peace, leaning upon Jesus 
 for righteousness and pardon, he can raise 
 his voice in triumphant songs of praise to 
 his Redeemer. This is one of his sweetest 
 songs in the house of his pilgrimage : " I 
 will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul 
 shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath 
 clothed me with the garments of salvation, 
 he hath covered me with the robe of right- 
 eousness.'^ 
 
 He can also look forward to the dark 
 waters of Jordan, and say, with the poet, 
 
 " When death shall loose the silver cord, 
 Obedient to thy mandate, Lord, 
 My soul shall joy and peace possess, 
 If Jesus be my righteousness." 
 
 4. The Christian Pilgrim relies on Jesus 
 for guidance through this vale of tears to 
 the peaceful shore of a blessed eterniti/. — 
 
90 WA.NDERINGSOP 
 
 "Thoushalt guide me witli thy counsel, and 
 afterward receive me to glory.'' Psa. Ixxiii. 
 24. 
 
 " Jesus, on thee our hope depends, 
 To lead us on to thine abode : 
 Assured our home will make amends 
 For all our toil while on the road." 
 
 Amid all the vicissitudes of a sublunary 
 scene — in prosperity and adversity, in 
 health and sickness, in life and death, the 
 weary pilgrim reclines on the Almighty 
 Arm of Jesus, and all is well. He knows 
 that what the Saviour has promised, he 
 will perform ; and he reads, with unspeak- 
 able delight, these precious promises : ^' I 
 will instruct thee, and teach thee in the 
 way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee 
 with mine eye.'' Psa. xxxii. 8. '' And the 
 Lord shall guide thee continually, and satis- 
 fy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy 
 bones ; and thou shalt be like a watered 
 
APILGRIM. 91 
 
 garden, and like a spring of water, wliose 
 waters fiiil not." Isa. Iviii. 11. 
 
 5. The believer trusts in Christ for eter- 
 nal life. — Of that little flock who have 
 chosen the better land for their inheritance, 
 Jesus says, " I will give unto them eternal 
 life ; and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any pluck them out of my hand '/' 
 and again : " I am the resurrection and the 
 life : he that believeth in me, though he 
 were dead, yet shall he live : and whoso- 
 ever liveth, and believeth in me, shall 
 never die." This is the most precious 
 promised blessing of the covenant of grace. 
 No created mind can comprehend the full 
 import of these words — eternal life ! 
 They include in them the highest bliss of 
 heaven. Such a life will the Saviour 
 eventually bestow upon those who now re- 
 pose in him. There is a blissful hour fast 
 approaching, when the weather-beaten pil- 
 
92 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 grim shall be raised above tbe storms of 
 life by the Saviour's hand. Beyond the 
 swellino;s of the Jordan of death there is a 
 peaceful shore, a happy land, where the 
 pilgrims of Zion shall be invested with the 
 robes of immortality, and reign with Christ 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 Fellow pilgrim, we would earnestly invite 
 you to come and put your trust in Him 
 who will sustain you amid the heart-rending 
 trials of this vale of tears, and who will 
 bring you to a better land — who will bestow 
 upon you an immortal existence, an un- 
 fading wreath of glory in that world beyond 
 the stars. In all your wanderings through 
 this world, cleave closely to Jesus. Live 
 to Him who died for you. 0, may the 
 redeeming love of the blessed Saviour 
 constrain you to be wholly his. Live with 
 an eye fixed upon his cross. Turn to that 
 sacred mount, and behold a Saviour ex- 
 
APILGRIM. 93 
 
 pirinp: for your salvation ; hear him ex- 
 claiming, '' It is finished." 
 
 ** the sweet wonders of that cross, 
 
 Where Christ, my Saviour, loved and died; 
 Her noblest life my spirit draws 
 
 From his dear wounds and bleeding side." 
 
 Go, then, and live upon Christ. Live 
 iu the daily contemplation of his glorious 
 atonement, and in the sincere belief of 
 his all-sufl&ciency to save your soul May 
 your language ever be that of an enraptured 
 Apostle ; " God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by whom the world is crucified unto me, 
 and I unto the world." 
 
 . If you thus live by faith in Christ, and 
 in the blessed hope of a glorious immor- 
 tality, you need not fear, at the close of 
 life, to tread along death's dark vale — to 
 cross Jordan's swelling stream ', for in that 
 Bolemn hour, Jesus will sustain and comfort 
 
94 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 you by his presence ; and God will redeem 
 your soul from the power of the grave ; for 
 he shall receive you. 
 
 " 0, could I find, from day to day, 
 A nearness to my God, 
 Then would my hours glide sweet away, 
 While leaning on his word. 
 
 Lord, I desire with thee to live 
 
 Anew from day to day, 
 In joys the world can never give. 
 
 Nor ever take away. 
 
 Blest Jesus, come, and rule my heart, 
 
 And make me wholly thine, 
 That I may never more depart, 
 
 Nor grieve thy love divine. 
 
 Thus, till my last, expiring breath, 
 
 Thy goodness I'll adore j 
 And when my frame dissolves in death. 
 
 My soul shall love thee more." 
 
APILGRIM. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PASSAGE OVER THE JORDAN OF DEATH. 
 
 "When thou passest through the waters, I will 
 be with thee": and through the rivers, they shall 
 not overflow thee." — Is. xliii. 2. 
 
 "How sweet the hour of closing day, 
 
 When all is peaceful and serene. 
 And when the sun, with cloudless ray. 
 
 Sheds mellow lustre o'er the scene ! 
 Such is the Christian's parting hour. 
 
 So peacefully he sinks to rest; 
 When faith, endowed from Heaven with power, 
 . Sustains and cheers his languid breast." 
 
 As the Christian pilgrim is about to 
 leave the wilderness of this world for ever, 
 he has to cross a dark stream. The Jordan 
 of death rolls between this world and the 
 celestial Canaan. Before they obtained 
 
96 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 full possession of tlie promised land the 
 Israelites had to pass over Jordan ; so every 
 traveller to the Canaan above must cross 
 over the river of death, before he is admit- 
 ted into the courts of Paradise, and obtains 
 possession of the heavenly inheritance. 
 
 In the 3d chapter of Joshua we have an 
 interesting account of the Israelites' passage 
 over Jordan. We there read as follows : 
 " And it came to pass, when the people 
 removed from their tents to pass over Jor- 
 dan, and the priests bearing the ark of the 
 covenant before the people, that, as they 
 that bare the ark were come into Jordan, 
 and the feet of the priests were dipped in the 
 brim of the water, that the waters which 
 came down from above stood and rose up 
 upon a heap ; and the priests that bare the ark 
 of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on 
 dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all 
 the Israelites passed over on drj^ ground." 
 
APILGRIM. 97 
 
 Now, all this is typical of the believer's 
 triumphant passage over the Jordau of 
 death. "When the fainting Christian pil- 
 grim conies to the brink of this last swell- 
 ing stream, over which all must pass, Jesus 
 Christ, our Great High Priest, who bears 
 the everlasting covenant on his shoulders, 
 goes before and rolls back the surging 
 waves that the ransomed soul may pass 
 safely over into glory. In the prospect 
 of dissolution, the saint may say, with a 
 Christian poet — 
 
 *'A swelling Jordan rolls between, 
 
 A timid pilgrim I; 
 But gnice shall order all the scene, 
 
 And Christ himself be nigh. 
 He shall roll back the foaming wave. 
 
 Command the channel dry ; 
 No sting hath death, no victory grave. 
 
 With Jesus in my eye." 
 
 "What we design in the few following 
 pages, is, to comfort the timid Christian 
 7 
 
98 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 in the prospect of death; to show that 
 Jesus is with believers in the dark valley ; 
 to cite some of the last words of eminent 
 saints, who, sustained and cheered by the 
 Saviour, have passed over Jordan with 
 songs of triumph ; and to contemplate the 
 happy termination of the Christian pil- 
 grim's journey, and his joyful entrance 
 upon the rest above. 
 
 1. The precious religion of Jesus affords 
 tJie strongest consolation to the Christian 
 pilgrim in the view of death. — There is 
 no reason why he should dread its approach. 
 Its terrors are subdued; its sting is ex- 
 tracted; it is a disarmed enemy. Death 
 can not harm the child of God ; but for 
 him to die is gain. To such it is the be- 
 ginning of everlasting, celestial joys — the 
 daybreak of a glorious eternity. It is only 
 a peaceful slumber in Jesus — an entering 
 into the joy of the Lord. It is but to de- 
 
APILGRIM. 99 
 
 part from a land of sorrow and bereave- 
 ment, and be with Christ in those happy 
 reiiions where God shall wipe away all 
 tears from the eye. To the Christian, 
 "death has chano;ed its nature and its 
 name. Call it no more death; it is the 
 sweet sleep of the body, deposited in its 
 earthly bed, under the eye of the Redeemer, 
 till the morning of the resurrection." 
 
 Many pious Christians are held in bond- 
 age by the fear of crossing the river of 
 death. Their feelings with regard to this 
 subject are not what they should be. They 
 ought to rise above the fear of dissolution ; 
 for Christ has delivered us from this bond- 
 age. He has achieved this victory by the 
 assumption of humanity — by destroying 
 the works of the devil, and by passing 
 throuprh the swelling Jordan in our nature. 
 '* Forasmuch then as the children are parta- 
 kers of flesh and blood, he also himself 
 
100 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 likewise took part of the same ; tliat tlirougli 
 death he might destroy him that had the 
 power of death, that is, the devil ; and de- 
 liver them, who through fear of death were 
 all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. 
 ii. 14, 15. The Saviour has warmed the 
 cold grave for his disciples. He has made 
 an easy way through the swellings of Jor- 
 dan for his faithful followers. Why, then, 
 fellow pilgrim, are you afraid to cross this 
 stream when the channel is dry ; when you 
 see the footprints of your Redeemer in the 
 bottom ; when death is but a sure step into 
 glory ? Surely, there is no ground for 
 dismay to the believer in that solemn hour 
 which terminates his earthly pilgrimage ; 
 but every reason for joyfulness. '' For we 
 know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- 
 iug of God, a house not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. i. 
 
A PILGRIM. 101 
 
 There is no condemnation to the be- 
 liever; for, being justified by faith, he has 
 peace with God, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. He has peace during his pilgrim- 
 age ; he has peace in the hour of death. 
 In Christ, he obtains a complete victory 
 over death and the gloomy grave. Washed 
 in the atoning blood of the Saviour, and 
 clad in the snowy robe of his righteousness, 
 he can shout forth joyfully, upon a dying 
 bed, " death, where is thy sting ? 
 grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of 
 death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the 
 law. But thanks be to God, who giveth 
 us the victory, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 It is Jesus, the sinner's Friend, who dis- 
 arms death of its terrors — who makes a 
 dying bed so easy to the believer ; hence 
 many a once timid pilgrim has been able 
 to say in his last moments, " Is this dying ? 
 
102 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 Is this the enemy that dismayed me so 
 long, now appearing so harmless, and even 
 pleasant ?" 0, how reviving to think that 
 
 "Jesus can make a dying bed 
 
 Feel soft as downy pillows are, 
 While on his breast I lean my head, 
 And breathe my life out sweetly there." 
 
 2. But Christ is with Ms chosen people 
 in the midst of Jordan. — His precious pro- 
 mise is : " When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." 
 In their passage through death, the Lord 
 upholds and cheers the souls of his ran- 
 somed ones by the endearing manifestations 
 of his gracious presence and wonderful love. 
 
 ** How happy is the dying saint 
 
 Whose sins are all forgiven ; 
 With joy he passes Jordan's flood, 
 
 Upheld by hopes of heaven. 
 The Saviour, whom he truly loved» 
 
 Now cheers him by his grace; 
 
A PILGRIM. 103 
 
 A glory gilds his dying bed, 
 And beams upon his face." 
 
 Hence, thousands of God's children have 
 been enabled to exclaim, while descending 
 into the shadowy vale, *'Yea though I 
 walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 death, I will fear no evil : for thou art 
 with me : thy rod and thy staff they com- 
 fort me." It was the soul-ravishing man- 
 ifestation of the Saviour's presence and love 
 that made the martyrs so joyful at the stake ; 
 and it is this, that has made many a de- 
 parting saint burst forth with rapturous joy 
 iu such language as this : " Oh ! why is 
 liis chariot so long in coming ? Why tarry 
 the wheels of his chariot ? Come, Lord 
 Jesus ; come quickly I" 
 
 0, what amazing mercy does Jesus often 
 bestow upon his faithful follower in the 
 darksome valley, and in the deep, deep 
 Jordan, when the cold hand of death is 
 
104 WANDERINGS OF 
 
 *' Jesus, the vision of thy face 
 Hath overpowering charms ; 
 Scarce shall I feel death's cold embrace, 
 If Christ be in my arms." 
 
 3. We now proceed to cite the dying say- 
 ings of a few eminent^ pious Christians^ 
 who have been wonderfully sustained by di- 
 vine grace during their passage over the 
 Jordan of death. 
 
 We mention tlie following glorious ex- 
 amples : 
 
 David Cargill : ^' This is the most joyful 
 day that ever I saw in my pilgrimage on 
 earth. My joy is now begun, which I see 
 shall never be interrupted." 
 
 Luther : '' Into thy hands I commit my 
 spirit ; God of truth, thou hast redeemed 
 me." 
 
 Thomas Holland : " Come, come. 
 Lord Jesus, thou bright Morning Star ! 
 Come, Lord Jesus, I desire to be dissolved 
 and to be with thee." 
 
A PILGRIM. 105 
 
 John Flavel : '' I kuow that it will be 
 well with me." 
 
 Alexander Henderson : " I am near the 
 end of my race, hasting home, and there 
 was never a schoolboy more desirous to 
 have the play, than I am to have leave of 
 this world." 
 
 Rev. Thomas Cartwright : " I have 
 found unutterable comfort and happiness, 
 and God has given me a glimpse of heaven." 
 
 John Locke : " the depth of the riches 
 of the goodness and knowledge of God." 
 
 Kev. James II. Evans : '' In Jesus I 
 stand." 
 
 Rev. Augustus M. Toplady : " I believe 
 God never gave such manifestations of 
 his love to any creature, and suffered him 
 to live." 
 
 John Tennent: '' Welcome, God and 
 Father — welcome, sweet Lord Jesus ! wel- 
 come, death — welcome^ eternity. Amen. 
 ComC; Lord Jesus." 
 
106 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 Rev. Samuel Finley : " I see the eternal 
 love and goodness of Grod. I see the love 
 of Jesus. Oil to be dissolved, and to be 
 with him ! I long to be elothed with the 
 complete righteousness of Christ." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Waddeli : ^' Lord Jesus, re- 
 ceive my spirit.'^ 
 
 Ralph Erskine : " Victory, victory, vic- 
 tory !" 
 
 John Wesley : " The best of all is, God 
 is with us." 
 
 Felix Neff : ^' Adieu, adieu. I am de- 
 parting to our Father in perfect peace. 
 Victory, victory, victory ! by Jesus Christ V 
 
 Dr. Bogue : '' I am looking to that com- 
 passionate Saviour, whose blood cleanseth 
 from all sin." 
 
 Dr. Nevins : " Death — Death ! Now 
 come. Lord Jesus — Bear Saviour.' ' 
 
 To Dr. Waugh one said, '' You are now 
 in the deep Jordan ; have you any doubt 
 
A PILGRIM. 107 
 
 I 
 
 that Christ will be with you ?" He replied, 
 '' Certainly not ! Who else ? Who else ?" 
 
 llev. J). 11. Gillette : " that I had 
 strength to shout ! I feel so happy ; I 
 hope soon to be able." " 0, the precious 
 Saviour ; what is the world to me, with all 
 its vanity ? Give me Jesus. Do not 
 weep for me, I am going home.'' 
 
 llev. Dr. Alexander Proudfit :* " Wlien 
 will this liu2;erin"; conflict end ! Oh for a 
 speedy and easy transition ! Oh for de- 
 liverance from this corruptible body — 
 this body of sin and death ! Come, blessed 
 Jesus, dear Saviour, come ! come ! I long 
 to depart." 
 
 * See an interesting memoir of this man of God, 
 by John Forsyth, D. D. 
 
 Dr. Proudfit was long a pastor of the Associate 
 Reformed Church of Salem, N. Y. ; and he was one 
 of the most pious and faithful ambassadors of the 
 cross that has shone in the church. 
 
108 WA NDERINGS OP 
 
 Rev. Dr. John H. Rice : " Mercy is 
 triumphant." 
 
 Dr. Nettleton : It is meet to trust in the 
 Lord." 
 
 Rev. Robt. Anderson : " Peace I peace ! 
 How sfracious Grod is in so makino- it all 
 peace V 
 
 Elisha Macurdj : '^ The Saviour is all 
 my comfort." 
 
 Thomas Cranfield : " A few more sighs, 
 and then" — 
 
 Wilberforce Richmond : " The rest 
 which Christ gives is sweet." 
 
 Mrs. Hannah More : " Jesus is all in 
 all. God of grace, God of light, God of 
 love : whom have I in heaven but thee ? 
 It is a glorious thing to die." Her last 
 word was, " Joy." 
 
 Mrs. Isabella Graham : " I ha/e no 
 more doubt of going to my Saviour, than 
 if I were already in his arms." 
 
A PILGRIM. 109 
 
 Mrs. Louisa Munday : " The prospect is 
 to me anything but gloomy." 
 
 Mrs. Harriet Wiuslow : " How good is 
 the Lord !" 
 
 Maria Fox : " I am thoroughly comfort- 
 able.''" " I know my Saviour loves me, and 
 I am reposing in his love." 
 
 H. W. Fox : " I am very weak, can 
 scarcely speak, but oh ! happy ! happy !!" 
 " Jesus, Jesus must be first iu the heart. 
 He is first in mine, yes, he is." 
 
 Rev. Thomas Thomason : '^ This is a 
 dark valley, but there is light at the end." 
 '' Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable 
 gift." " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 
 '' Lord, give me patience." '' I hope the 
 Lord is coming quickly." 
 
 Thus we have presented a few dying 
 sajdngs of several pious Christians who 
 passed the river of death, upheld by divine 
 grace. Innumerable other similar cases 
 
110 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 might be cited; but these are sufficient 
 to show with what great mercy and loving 
 kindness the Lord generally deals with his 
 people in the hour and article of death.* 
 Although many of God's children have 
 not enjoyed such bright, sensible manifes- 
 tations of his gracious presence in their 
 dying moments — although they may have 
 gone to heaven under a cloud, yet their 
 passage over the Jordan of death was as 
 safe as that of the most joyful believer. 
 
 * The reader who is desirous of pursuing this 
 subject more fully, is respectfully referred to our 
 Treatise on the love of Christ, where he will find 
 thirty-one dying testimonies of other saints, none 
 of which are included in the above ; and to that ex- 
 cellent work entitled " The Grace of Christ," by the 
 Ptev.Dr. Plumer — one of the most pious and faith- 
 ful ministers of Jesus Christ. We would earnestly 
 commend this volume to all who have felt the sweet, 
 constrianing influence of the grace of Christ upon 
 their souls. 
 
A PILGRIM. Ill 
 
 In the matchless dream of Bunyan, we 
 have an admirable description of the tri- 
 umphant passage of the pilgrims over Jor- 
 dan. There we find the most timid got 
 over as safely as the most fearless. The 
 last words of Ready-to-halt were, '' Wel- 
 come, life." Thelast words of Feeble-mind 
 were, " Hold out, faith and patience." The 
 last words of Despondency were, '' Farewell, 
 night I welcome, day I" Even his daugh- 
 ter. Much-afraid, '' went through the river 
 singing ; but no one could understand what 
 she said." 
 
 But how transporting were the last words 
 of Mr. Standfast ! ^' This river," said he, 
 *' has been a terror to many; yea, the 
 thoughts of it also have often frightened 
 me ; but now methinks I stand easy, my 
 foot is fixed upon that on which the feet of 
 the priests that bare the ark of the cove- 
 nant stood, while Israel went over Jordan. 
 
112 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 Joshua iii. 17. The waters indeed are to 
 the palate bitter, and to the stomach cold; 
 yet the thoughts of what I am going to, 
 and of the convoy that waits for me on the 
 other side, do lie as a glowing coal at my 
 heart. I see myself now at the end of my 
 journey; my toilsome days are ended. I 
 am o'oino; to see that head which was 
 crowned with thorns, and that face which 
 was spit upon for me. I have formerly 
 lived by hearsay and faith ; but now I go 
 where I shall live by sight, and shall be 
 with him in whose company I shall delight 
 myself. I have loved to hear my Lord 
 spoken of; and wherever I have seen the 
 print of his shoe in the earth, there I have 
 coveted to set my foot too. His name has 
 been to me as a civet-box ; yea, sweeter 
 than all perfumes. His voice to me has 
 been most sweet, and his countenance I 
 have more desired than they that have most 
 
A PI LQRIM. 113 
 
 desired the light of the sun. His words I 
 did use to gather for my food, and for an- 
 tidotes against my faiutiugs. lie hath held 
 me, and hath kept me from mine iniqui- 
 ties ; yea, my steps hath he strengthened 
 in his way.'* 
 
 4. Here we see the liappi/ termination of 
 the Christian's p)iii)^^^^^9^ ^^ earth. — His 
 sorrowful days are ended. He has fought 
 the good fight ; he has finished his course ; 
 he has kept the faith ; he has obtained the 
 victory ] he has crossed the swellings of 
 Jordan, and gone to receive an immortal 
 crown. 
 
 But who can describe the glories which 
 encircle the saint, safely landed on the 
 happy shores of Immanuel's land ? 
 
 ** In vain my fancy strives to paint 
 The moment after death ; 
 The glories that surround the saints* 
 When yielding up their breath. 
 8 
 
114 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 One gentle sigh their fetters breaks : 
 We scarce can say ' They're gone/ 
 Before the willing spirit takes 
 Her mansion near the throne." 
 
 Now the Cliristian traveller has reached 
 his everlasting home — that house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now 
 the trying scenes of earth are past, and the 
 wanderer, raised above the storms of life, 
 steps upon another shore ; he enters a land, 
 blooming with immortality, and illuminated 
 by the effulgent beams of the Sun of right- 
 eousness. Now he is ever with the Lord. 
 Now he is seated with Immanuel on his 
 heavenly throne. Now he is arrayed in 
 the shining robes of glory, and drinks of 
 the rivers of pleasures at God's right hand. 
 When we contemplate the past suffering 
 condition, and the present felicitous state 
 of such a one, we may truly say : This is 
 he who has come out of great tribulation, 
 
A PILGRIM. 115 
 
 and has washed his robe and made it white 
 in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore is 
 he before the throne of God, and serves him 
 day and night in his temple. He shall 
 hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 
 neither shall the sun light on him, nor any 
 heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst 
 of the throne shall feed him, and lead him 
 unto living fountains of waters j and God 
 shall wipe away all tears from his eyes 
 Rev. vii. 14—17. 
 
 happy termination of the pilgrim's 
 journey on earth ! blessed beginning 
 of his felicity in heaven ! 
 
 " Tis past — the voyage of life is o'er, 
 
 The wanderer hails another clime ; 
 On perils borne to yonder shore, 
 
 He views afar the waves of time. 
 The storm that muttered o'er his head, 
 
 The flame that quivered round his path, 
 Are sweetly hushed ; the cloud hath fled, 
 
 And gone the angry lightning's scath. 
 
116 WANDERINGS OP 
 
 *Tis past; and grief is changed to songs, 
 
 That angel-cordons love to hear ; 
 The harp that to delight belongs, 
 
 In softest murmur soothes his ear. 
 For secret sighs that rent his breast 
 
 There's peace to seraphs only known, — 
 The tear that told the heart oppressed, 
 
 Is gemmed upon the eternal throne. 
 
 Blessed voyager ! how happy thou, 
 
 Safe moored within the port of peace; 
 Once heir of death — immortal now, 
 
 Of pain — thy toils for ever cease. 
 0, may I, too, thus sweetly rise, 
 
 Thus tread yon bright empyrean freej 
 "With joy regain those native skies, 
 
 Secure at last in love like thee." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 
 
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