A Goodly Heritage

The soul's happiness consists not in anything , but in its union with God ; nor his miserylies not so much inanything , as its disunion with God.         T . Brooks

True meditation, thus proceeding from filial love and sympathy , brings the soul into intercourse and communion with its object . Devout and holy reflection upon God introduces man into the divine presence , in a true and solid sense of these words . Such a soul will know God as the natural man does not , and can not . " Judas said unto him , not Iscariot , Lord , how is that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us , and not unto the world ? Jesus answered and said unto him , if a man love me , he will keep my words : and my Father will love him , and  we will come unto him  and make our abode with him ."In the hour of spiritual and affectionate musing upon the character and  attributes of God - and especially upon their  manifestation in the Person and Work of Christ - their is a positive impression upon the heart , directly from God . In what other mode can we get near to the Invisible O ne . here on earth , than by some mental act or process? In what other way , than by prayer

True meditation , then , being practical , and thereby bringing the subject of it into communion with the object of it , is of necessity sanctifying. For the object is Infinite Holiness and Purity . It is He in whom is centered and gathered and crowded  all possible perfections . And can our minds muse upon such a being and not become purer and better? Can we actually and affectionately commune with the most perfect and high God in the heavens and not become sanctified ? The spirit of a man takes its character from the themes of its meditation . He who thinks much upon wealth becomes avaricious; he whose thoughts are upon earthly glory becomes ambitious ; and he whose thoughts are upon God becomes godlike

All merely speculative thinking is inquisitive , acute , and wholly destitute of affection for the object.  But all practical thinking is affectionate , sympathetic , and in harmony with the object . When I meditate upon God because I love Him, my reflection is practical. When I think upon God because I desire to explore Him , my thinking is speculative. None therefore but the devout and affectionate mind truly meditates upon God ; and all thought upon that Being which is put forth merely to gratify the curiosity and pride of the human understanding forms no part of the Christian habit and practice which we are recommending . Man in every age has endeavoured "by searching to find out God ." He has striven almost convulsively to fathom  the abyss of the Deity, and discover the deep things of the Creator. But because it is from the love of knowledge rather than from the love of God , his efforts have been both unprofitable and futile. He has not sounded the abyss , neither has

Vs 5 &6 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance........ Our blessed Jesus more than walked patiently in all His path below. There was joy set before Him which gladdened His every step. In Christ  God is our God forever. Can we desire more? How rich is this portion ! How reviving the cup !How can we bless His grace enough who has called us to this enobling state ?  Angels are ours to guard. Providences are ours to secure our bliss . The God-mans blood is ours to wash out every sin. A righteousness is prepared to robe us for the courts above . Heaven is promised as our endless home . We have a goodly heritage. Henry Law

On what footing does the preacher take men up in reference to the Judge of all the earth , and what is the specific that he brings home to them as adequate to meet their case ? When an uncertain sound is given on RUIN , REDEMPTION,  and REGENERATION , the sinner fails to see himself in the mirror held up to him . There is nothing to bring him into the divine presence , or to bring home the pointed address, "Thou art the man." Nothing can be named as more important than the precision with which the line is drawn between law and gospel , which was the distinctive feature of the Pauline theology , and the restoration of which was the great achievement of the reformation, which, after the long torpor of ages , brought back preaching to the place it occupied in apostolic times. Without that distinction preaching loses its edge. The law is enforced on the impenitent , and the gospel commended to the contrite . The Reformation made this distinction familiar to all men as a household

We have no right to expect anything but the pure Gospel of Christ , unmixed and unadulterated , - the same Gospel that was taught by the Apostles,- to do good to the souls of men. I believe that to maintain this pure truth in the Church men should be ready to make any sacrifice , to hazard peace , to risk dissension , and run the chance of division. They should no more tolerate false doctrine than they would tolerate sin. They should withstand any adding to ,or taking away from the message of the Gospel of Christ. ................................there are not a few parishes in England (and Scotland) where the religious teaching is little better than morality. The distinctive doctrines of Christianity are never clearly proclaimed. Plato, or Seneca , or Confucius, or Socinus , could have taught almost as much.  Ought the laity in such parishes to sit still, be content , and take it quietly ? They ought not . And why ?Because like St. Paul , they ought to prefer truth to peace.    J.C. Ry

Women who have beauty above average should be extremely watchful on that side , lest they sin and suffer there. You have a jewel of gold ; don't put it in a swine's snout. The misapplication will prostitute the gift. The incongruity will be repulsive to all whose tastes are true. It will attract the vain , and repel the solid . There are diversities of operation under the ministry of the same S pirit . For discipline to human souls in time , deformity is given to one , and beauty to another. The chief consideration for each is how she may best bear the trial, so as to get it enlisted among the workers for good, and instruments of saving. If both are saved,it will be a pleasant burden to compare notes, of their several paths , and several burdens, when they meet in equal loveliness, without spot or wrinkle , in the pres ence of the Lord.  If it were our part to judge , most of us would think it probable that beauty is the greater trial, and that under it a greater proportion s

They speak of evidences of religion , and much has been done in our day to multiply and confirm them; but after all , Christians are the best evidences of Christianity . Alas ,we have been for two thousand years been printing books to prove Christianity true , and living  so as to make people think that we do not believe it  . Living witnesses , if they are true, have far more power than the dead letters of a book, however accurate they may be .The last words of Jesus on earth were spoken to leave this charge upon his members, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me , both in Jerusalem , and in all Judea , and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth; and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld , and was taken up , and a cloud received him out of their sight."ACTS 1. 8.9. His last command is , in the place where you happen to be , and in all the neighbourhood as far as your influence  reaches , and when opportunity occurs to all mankind, be ye witnesses unto me