THE AUTUMN

 

OCTOBER 21

THE AUTUMN

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; 
they shall be fat and flourishing;  
To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, 
and there is no unrighteousness in him.
                                        Psalm 92:14,15

Look at the aged disciple, the devout, 
  the sincere, the humble follower of Jesus;
  he has entered life's autumn, and,
  like the aged palm tree in the east,
  with its coronet of rich ripe fruit,
  he stands a witness of God's faithfulness,
  a proof of the power of grace, and
  an evidence of the excellency of real religion.

The Spirit of God has long dwelt in his heart,
  the Word has wrought effectually in him, and
  now the ripe fruits of the Spirit appear.

There is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 

  gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance."

But the Christian, 

  when in an advanced state of grace, 

  never admires his own fruit;
  he sees his defects and mourns over them, and 

  like the full ears of ripe corn, 

  his head is bowed down in humility and 

   self-renunciation before God.

The young professor may rejoice,
  in what he is,
  in what he has, or
  in what he has done;

not so the aged saint;

  though laden with fruit, 

   he rejoices in Christ Jesus;
  if he boasts, it is only in the Lord. 

In his life he has been useful to others, 

  he has fruit in souls converted to God 

  through his instrumentality, 

  perhaps in children educated in the truth of God, 

  in saints comforted, and backsliders restored.

He has not lived in vain. 

He has left traces of usefulness behind him.

But all is renounced when he looks into eternity!

He says, "I am a sinner saved by grace!

I owe everything to divine mercy;
  I ascribe everything to Jesus.

This is my rejoicing, that my God is my Savior, 

  and my Savior is my God!

Christ in his person,
  Christ in his work,
  Christ in his glory,
  is the object of my faith,
  the subject of my meditation,
  and the theme of my song.

In the mellow autumn of grace,
Christ is all in all, and 

  the creature is nothing at all!
 
Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, 

which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory 

 and praise of God.        Philippians 1:11
 
JAMES SMITH 1869