A Goodly Heritage

The same kind Father who in his infinite goodness hath given the Sabbath that it may lead us to become recipients of his boundless grace, hath also warned us that the wicked shall be turned into hell and all that forget God. [Ps 9:17] You may profane the holy day now; you may slight all its blessed opportunities; you may rob God of the one day in seven which he has reserved to himself; you may use it for your own purposes, spend its sacred time in your own ways and for your own pleasure, and as you do this, the current of life may seem to flow smoothly on, and yet even if no other enemy appear to mar the even tenor of your way, sooner or later, the fearful chasm of death must confront your path; then as you are taking your leave of this earthly tenement of your soul or as you are making your way through the dark valley of the shadow of death, [Ps 23:4] how will you regard the lost opportunities of these earthly Sabbaths; or when you stand before the Judge of the quick and the dead [2 T

A. Maclaren, D. D. Taken in its original sense, the words of our text apply only to that strange phenomenon which we call religious depression. But I venture to take them in a wider sense than that. It is not only Christian men who are east down, whoso souls "thirst for God." It is not only men upon earth whose souls thirst for God. All men, everywhere, may take this text for theirs. I. There is in every man AN UNCONSCIOUS AND UNSATISFIED LONGING AFTER GOD, AND THAT IS THE STATE OF NATURE. Experience is the test of that principle. And the most superficial examination of the facts of daily life, as well as the questioning of our own souls, will tell us that this is the leading feature of them — a state of unrest. II. There is A CONSCIOUS LONGING, IMPERFECT, BUT ANSWERED; AND THAT IS THE STATE OF GRACE — the beginning of religion in a man's soul. If it be true that there are, as part of the universal human experience, however overlaid and stifled, these necessities, the v

The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus — John Ross Macduff When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal, -- 'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will look up to HIM who hath felt it before me, And cleave all the closer to JESUS MY ROCK! Companions may smile, and the world may deride me, And with the cold finger of ridicule mock; But no trial, nor coldness, nor death shall divide me, From the Shelter of Ages! -- from JESUS MY ROCK! O Thou! who on earth, in the days of thy sorrow, Didst fold to thy bosom the Lambs of thy Flock, Prevent me (though young) puttin

GOD'S REJECTION OF ALL MATERIAL TEMPLES. There was a time when it could be said that there was a house of God on earth. That was a time of symbols, when as yet the Church of God was in her childhood. She was being taught her A B C, reading her picture-book, for she could not as yet read the Word of God, as it were in letters. She had need to have pictures put before her, patterns of the heavenly things. Even then, the enlightened amongst the Jews knew well that God did not dwell between curtains, and that it was not possible that He could be encompassed in the most holy place within the veil It was only a symbol of His presence. But the time of symbols is now passed altogether. In that moment when the Saviour bowed His head, and said "It is finished! " the veil of the temple was rent in twain, so that the mysteries were laid open. So, one reason why God saith He dwelleth not in temples made with hands, is, because He would have us know that the symbolical worship is ended

THERE ARE SPECIAL WAYS IN WHICH GOD GIVES US KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF. We cannot see him directly, but we can see him, so to speak, by reflection. He has given us two mirrors in which the spiritual lineaments of his Divine character become visible to us. 1. There is the mirror of nature. It is allowed us "to look through nature up to nature's God." "There's nothing bright above, below, From flowers that bloom to stars that glow, But in its light my soul can see Some feature of the Deity." It is said that on one occasion Napoleon Bonaparte was on the deck of a ship on a calm summer night, when his officers around him were magnifying nature, and disputing the existence of God. The great commander listened, and then pointed to the hosts of heaven, saying, "All very well, gentlemen, but who created these?" 2. There is the mirror of our own spiritual mature. The psalmist looked into this mirror, and saw therein the reflection of the Lord, the Ruler, the

, Jonah i. 5, 6. What meanest thou, 0 sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. A sad case! A Heathen ship master challenging a godly prophet for his neglect of seeking God! He calls him by a shameful, but well-deserved name, 0 sleeper. The storm cams on for Jonah's sake, as he told them, vet. 12.: yet he is the securest person in the ship. He only knew God, yet he is last in calling on him. An honest Pagan may outdo a distempered prophet, in some things, at some times. This sense was expressed greatly by the king, nobles, and inhabitants of Nineveh, Jonah iii. 5,—10. And they again go far beyond Jonah. They believed God on Jonah's preaching, repented, prayed, and fasted; and the Lord repented of the evil. But Jonah was not grieved at all, chap. iv. 1, 2. If it were not for his excellent prayer, chap. ii. and that he was a prophet of the Lord, and the penman of the Holy Ghost, to record his own sin and shame, for the benefit o