Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 3.pdf/227

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celestial life are found to operate; for these are the principles of goodness and of truth which, in their effect upon the life, mould the man into the image of heaven. Thus "the remnant of the house of Judah shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward." (Isa. xxxvii. 31.) Here, by Judah is meant the church in its state of celestial obedience to the Lord; all the heavenly affections and desires, thoughts and perceptions, being rooted in the inmost principles of love to the Lord, and manifested by a holy, useful, and religious life.

"There shall be an highway for the remnant of the Lord's people." In those in whom are the remains of celestial life, the principles of holy love and charity, the truth of the Word shall form a light to their path, shall bring them into the high road of righteousness, and safely conduct them, through all the vicissitudes and trials of life, until they shall arrive at the kingdom where trial shall terminate in rest and peace. It must then be, indeed, a state of blessedness to be among the remnant of the house of Israel. None of the remnant can be lost. For the Word assures us that "the remnant of the house of Israel shall be thoroughly gleaned as a vine." (Jer. vi. 9.) Not one of the remnant can possibly be lost, for the promise of the Lord is, "I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and multiply, and I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord." (Jer. xxiii. 3, 4.) The remnant of the Lord's people, therefore, are such, wherever they