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It is a great thing to be a Christian. It is a great thing in view of the personal change wrought in him who sustains this character. He was once lost, he now is found. It is a great thing, too, in view of the change which it brings over a man's relations to others, as well as that which it produces in his personal character. Once he lived for time, now he lives for eternity. Once he served Satan, now he serves God. Once, if his earthly possessions had been wrested from him he would have exclaimed, "Ye have taken away my gods, and what is there more?" — now, with St. Paul, he can endure the loss of all things, and account it a gain, that he may win Christ and be found in Him. Once the grave bounded all his prospects, and death was dreaded as the extinguisher of all his hopes; now he can look death calmly in the face, and go down to the grave with a hope full of immortality.

I. THE ACTION, OF WHICH ALL THE CHRISTIAN'S EXPERIENCE OF HIS PRIVILEGE IS RAISED. "He brought me." The agent referred to is God our Saviour. Salvation, in all its effectual influences, be longs to Him. Each truly converted soul, when telling how it was led to Christ, will feel constrained to look up to God with adoring gratitude and say, "He brought me." "He brought me, by Divine foreknowledge and sovereign choice, before the foundations of the world were laid. "He brought me" through His Spirit, working with me in due season, to make His own call effectual. "He brought me" by ordering and controlling all the outward circumstances of my condition so as to favour this blessed result of His purpose. "He brought me" by His preventing grace so working in my soul, that I should have a desire to know and love Him, and then, co-operating with that desire, in such a way as to bring it to good effect. "He brought me" by sweetly subduing my stubborn will, — taking away all the natural enmity of my heart to Him, and sending the sprat of adoption into my soul whereby I cry Abba Father.

II. THE POSITION IN WHICH THIS EXPERIENCE IS REALIZED. "He brought me into the banqueting house." There are two ideas which we seem naturally to associate with the thought of a monarch's banqueting house.

1. It is a place where choice delicacies may be expected. It is not common fare, which the ,guests admitted to such a place look for. The richest and the rarest things that wealth can purchase, or skill prepare, are provided for such a banqueting hall. The products of every clime, the luxuries of every land are put in requisition there. And these are but faint figures of those spiritual good things with which Jesus regales the souls of His people in the banquet house of salvation.

2. It is a place where special favours are dispensed, and confidential communications made; and, on this account too, the language of the text applies to the believer's condition of privilege in Christ. The treasury of heaven is put at the disposal of the believer in Jesus. He is fully assured that "God will supply all his need from the riches of His grace in Christ."

III. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BELIEVER IN OCCUPYING THIS POSITION. "His banner over me was love."

1. When a prince, a governor, or monarch unfurls his banner over a fortress or citadel, he means thereby to declare his determination to protect that place. As that flag waves in the breeze, it proclaims significantly, that all the power and resources of him whom it represents are pledged for the defence and safeguard of that fortress. And this is what Jesus means when He unfurls His banner of love over the believing soul. All the resources of omnipotence — all the perfections of an infinite God are enlisted for the safety of that soul.

2. The material of a banner, and the mottoes, or emblems upon it, are expressive of the thoughts and intentions of Him whom the banner represents. A white banner bespeaks a desire for peace. A red flag shows a determination to shed blood; a black flag is the signal that no quarter is to be expected. And then the military nations of the earth, whose lust has been for war and conquest, have generally adopted emblems expressive of their character. Thus the eagle was the emblem Imperial Rome bore on her conquering standards. But the Captain of our salvation has a banner woven out of the precious fabric of love, and the dove is the symbol which that banner bears. His thoughts towards His people are thoughts of peace; and love, unspeakable, everlasting, and past finding out, runs through all His purposes concerning them.

3. The banner of his country is to the true patriot an object of honourable regard, and of intense affection. And so, while the wise man glories in his wisdom, the rich man in his riches, and the mighty man in his might, the language of the Christian is: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

(R. Newton, D. D.)

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KJV: He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

WEB: He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.