It is the purpose of this volume to set before the believer some of the gracious promises of God's Word, and to suggest some thoughts which may prove consolatory and encouraging to the Christian pilgrim, as he journeys onward to his heavenly home. May the Divine blessing attend an earnest and humble effort to minister comfort to the downcast, strength to the weak, and courage to those who have set their faces Heavenward Reader let this be your prayer--"O God, the Strength of the needy, the Helper of all those who flee to You for support, give to be my Guide in life. Pour upon me the riches of Your Grace, and so sanctify and bless me, that I may serve You henceforth in body and soul, and live in Your holy love and fear unto my life's end."

A Book of Private Prayers is a thirty-one day devotional by John MacDuff, one of the finest devotional writers of all time. Each day includes a morning and evening reading designed to inspire and rejuvenate the reader. The verses of Scripture at the head of each prayer, are made suggestive of thought for the morning and evening prayers which follow. This, it is hoped, will secure greater variety in the subject matter of devotion. To all who have God as their Father, these aids to devotion are inscribed.

Known as one of the finest devotional writers of all time in Communion Memories, John MacDuff presents us with two groups of messages concerning communion: Sermons in preparation for communion and Meditations and addresses with other aids for communion. From messages on Great Resolve to Christ and His Disciples at the Last Supper and Prayer after Communion MacDuff is unparalleled in his insight and inspiration concerning communion. "The Lamb is worthy-the Lamb who was killed. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing " Revelation 5:11-12 What an anthem is this We have, today, been assembled at Christ's Sacramental Table, contemplating the memorials of His dying ever-living love. The sublime passage just read contains also a superb description of a Communion. But the place of convocation is not a Temple on earth, but Heaven-the fellow-guests, not a few perishable mortals, but a glorified multitude which no man can number. It may form no unbefitting theme, surely, for this evening's service, to connect our sacrament below with the Supper of the Lamb above-The eternal festal Sabbath; no mock kiss of pretended friendship to mar-no anticipated hour and power of darkness to ruffle the deep rapture of its joy. How profoundly interesting the thought that we have here depicted what is now transacting in the Upper Sanctuary.

The writer has endeavored in the following pages, to comply with frequent requests made to him to prepare a small volume of Evening Prayers, suitable as a companion to the "Morning Watches." May all that is amiss in thought and word, be lost in the fragrant incense-cloud which ascends from the Golden Altar before the Eternal Throne "You are to make an altar for the burning of incense. You are to place the altar in front of the veil by the ark of the testimony - in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony - where I will meet with you. And when Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations " -Exodus 30:1, 6, 8

The following exercises, intended for the daily use of the believer, have immediate reference to the Lord Jesus. The things concerning Him, in his person and work, his character and offices, his perfect obedience and vicarious death, and especially his glorious exaltation - are the subjects set forth in this small volume. May the reader's meditation of Him, as thus exhibited, be sweet and profitable May the Eternal Spirit, the glorifier of Jesus, take of these things, and reveal them in their intrinsic beauty, and apply them in their saving efficacy, to his mind And may both writer and reader, even should they happen to differ on some matters, be one in saying - "Jesus first Jesus last Jesus without end "

It is our incumbent duty to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, and give earnest heed to the truths which proceeded from His gracious lips. "Never any man spoke like this man " was the testimony of the officers who were sent to apprehend him-a testimony altogether spontaneous and unbribed on the one hand - and most faithful and true on the other. The whole of His instructions have the highest claims upon our devout regards. In every doctrine He taught, every invitation He uttered, every promise He gave - we should "listen to Him " And while we ought to listen to His voice as He speaks to us in words of encouragement and consolation, we are also to be equally attentive when, in a more practical strain, He enforces the various duties we have to discharge as His followers

How striking is the title, "the glorious gospel of the blessed God " 1 Timothy 1:11. And it is as appropriate as it is striking; the most cursory view of its contents will show that it well deserves such a designation. That it is a glorious gospel appears from . . . the truths it reveals, the blessings it imparts, the effects it produces, the consolations it inspires, and especially the prospects it discloses. What would death be, without this divine and glorious gospel? Nothing but a leap in the dark. The passage from life would then be a gloomy one indeed; and the regions beyond the grave would be enveloped in impenetrable clouds and shadows

The Morning Watches is designed as a companion to The Night Watches. It is hoped, by the Divine blessing, they may together form a humble auxiliary in promoting what is pronounced in the best of all manuals of devotion to be "a good thing" - the showing forth of God's "loving-kindness in the morning," and His "faithfulness every night" (Psalm 92:2.) Though more strictly designed for private devotion, and therefore expressed in the first person, it is hoped, by the substitution of the plural pronoun, that the following pages may be appropriate for the family altar.

This book is addressed to those in AFFLICTION. There is a touching tradition, to which he has elsewhere referred, regarding the Jewish Temple of old, that it had a gateway reserved exclusively for mourners. Such is the present volume. It opens up a pathway to God's sanctuary trodden by the footsteps of sorrow. It is sacred to dimmed eyes, and broken hearts, and tender memories. Moreover, though not exclusively, it is the wide family of the bereaved the writer has chiefly in view. A few words on the TITLE. Nothing is more impressive in the desert journeys of the Israelites, than the miraculous moving Pillar which preceded them. That Pillar, as they advanced by day, took the form of a column: when they halted, it spread itself over the tabernacle as a canopy of cloud. It was nothing else than the Shekinah-the visible symbol of the Divine Presence. It resolved itself into a flaming fire by night; an equally glorious emblem, under the star-lit vault of heaven, of Jehovah's guidance.

In fulfilling the various covenant engagements into which the Redeemer entered when he undertook the arduous and responsible work of redemption - he has laid us under unbounded obligations; and, for the wonders he has wrought - to be lost in silence and never called to mind, would betray the basest ingratitude towards him for all he has done for us men, and for our salvation. The following exercises are intended to furnish some feeble aid to those who are anxious that "thoughts of Christ and things divine" may have a prominent place in their meditations, and a beneficial influence upon their hearts and lives. To such they are humbly commended by the writer, who will esteem himself honored in being permitted to contribute in any measure to so necessary and desirable an end.

At that interesting hour we have been contemplating on Mount Olivet, may we not think of this new dispensation being, so to speak, inaugurated. It was a solemn crisis in the world's history. As God the Father had been revealed in the early dispensation--as God the Son had been revealed during His incarnation--so the Holy Spirit was now, in "the last days," (the closing era of the Church, ) to complete the full manifestation of a Triune deity. As the gate of heaven opened to receive the glorified Son, the Dove of peace, and joy, and consolation was ready to take his flight down to earth, and to hover with outstretched wings over the Church of God. The sacrifice made by a nobler than Elijah being completed, the answer was to be "by Fire"--"He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

Sermons of John MacDuff contains fifteen of his finest sermons in one volume. Knows as one of the finest devotional writers of all time MacDuff's sermons contain powerful and inspiring words: Loving counsels, The necessity of afflictions, The bruised reed and the flickering candle, The doomed city, The incurable cured, The storm on the lake, The heart wounded, The night rescue, The flock passing through the valley of the shadow of death, The final gathering of the flock, Old age comforted, Unforgetting love , The first bereavement, John the baptist,

Thoughts for the Quiet Hour is a "a treasury of godly wisdom, suitable for personal or family devotions." John MacDuff pens his helpful and refreshing thoughts on scripture. --- As each part does its work - "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephes. 4:16 In a gigantic piece of machinery the small wheels have their place and purpose as well as the large ones. God gives His weak ones work to do, for which even His strong ones are unequal.

The Bible contains many impressive descriptions of our state of alienation from God. The star wandering from its central sun-"wandering stars." The prisoner bound in fetters of iron pining in his dungeon. The vessel driven from its moorings plunging in the tempestuous sea. The prodigal, self-exiled from the joys and amenities of home, feeding on the garbage of the distant wilderness. But we question if any figure more simply yet more graphically delineates the natural estrangement of the heart than that of the stray sheep. What a graphic two-fold picture of apostasy is here "We all like sheep have gone astray." ALL have strayed from the Shepherd (that is the universal characteristic), and then it is added, "We have turned everyone to his own way." Each has some bye-way or separate track of sin, down which, or along which, he rushes, widening his distance from the Shepherd-love of God.

The Deer and the Water-Brooks, A practical exposition of Psalms 42, is John MacDuff's work inspiring us to be as the deer pants after the water-brooks. Our thirst for God must be all encompassing, our primary focus. As we drink His word our thirst is quenched yet grows in the desire to know more and become closer to Him. John MacDuff is known as one of the finest devotional writers and The Deer and the Water-Brooks will have readers thirsting for Him more with every word. John Ross MacDuff was a Scottish divine and prolific author. MacDuff was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and was ordained as minister of Kettins, a parish in Forfarshire. He left to take charge of Sandyford, a new church in Glasgow where he preached there for fifteen years. His best known books were: The Prophet of Fire; Memories of Bethany: Memories or Gennesaret; The Shepherd and His Flock: Sunset on the Hebrew Mountains.

If, through the blessing of the Eternal Spirit, this volume shall convey to any child of affliction, one gleam of soothing and hope, it will impart additional sweetness to the dealings of our Heavenly Father, to whom all glory shall be ascribed, even to Him "who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." May grace be imparted to us to improve the various dealings of our Heavenly Father - that our hearts may be purified, our affections raised to the things which are above, and our earthly will brought into conformity with the will of God. May we be kept by faith ever looking up to Christ - dwelling in Him and He in us, so that "beholding, with open face, as in a glass the glory of the Lord - we are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Speculative discussion, attractive illustration, or the systematic treatment of a great theme - will not be found in these pages. They consist mainly of simple meditations on the glories of the Eternal World They are fragmentary thoughts and reflections, written with special reference to the chamber of sickness, the couch of suffering, and the home of bereavement. Nothing surely can so cheer the fainting believer, bowed down with sin and sorrow - as the prospect of Heavenly bliss. It is the thought of the joy in the morning of immortality, which dries earth's bitterest tears. The heart of the child leaps at the sight of his Father's house. The lights in the distant windows cannot fail to revive his spirit and quicken his footsteps.

"After leaving Marah, they came to Elim ('Valleys'), where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the springs." Exodus 15:27 (Elim was an oasis in the desert.) This volume, Palms of Elim, is intended for the comfort and refreshment for God's own children of sorrow-for those in the varied 'valleys' of earthly tribulation. The "palm trees of Elim" afford their grateful shade not in Canaan, but in the wilderness. Pilgrims of eternity weary and travel-worn, fainting under the burden and fear of the day-may you find here in these pages, with their figurative 'palm trees', restful, consolatory thoughts. "This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose" Isaiah 28:12

THE MIND OF JESUS What a study is this To attain a dim reflection of it, is the ambition of angel - higher they cannot soar. "To be conformed to the image of His Son " - this is the design of God in the predestination of His people from all eternity. "We shall be like Him " - this is the Bible picture of heaven "Consider," says the Great Apostle (literally 'gaze on') "Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1.) Study feature by feature, lineament by lineament - of that Peerless Exemplar. "Gaze" on the Sun of Righteousness, until, like gazing long on the natural sun, you carry away with you, on your spiritual vision, dazzling images of His brightness and glory Though He is the Archetype of all goodness - remember He is no shadowy model - though the Infinite Jehovah - He was "the Man Christ Jesus."

Those who are anxious to progress in the divine life, will not neglect the more private exercises of piety, without which those of the sanctuary will be in a great measure ineffectual. Prayer is the believer's vital breath; the Scriptures are his spiritual food; and it is only as the study of their sacred truths is combined with fervent supplication for every promised grace - that his course will correspond with the beautiful representation, in which the path of the just is compared to the shining light - which shines more and more unto the perfect day. To aid the Christian in his secret devotions, is the object of this small volume. The writer humbly trusts that it will especially be of some service to him while engaged in the pleasing and important duty of meditating upon the divine testimonies. It is his sincere prayer that the perusal of these daily portions may be accompanied with a blessing from on high, so that, like the whole of the inspired volume from which they are taken, they might prove "profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness - so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."