A Goodly Heritage

Every one knows that it would be far better to lose our feet than our head . Adam had feet to stand with , but we have lost them by his disobedience  ; yet glory to God , we have found a Head  , in whom we abide eternally secure , a Head which we will never lose.  Spurgeon

"A gentleman in our civil wars ,"says Cowley, "when his quarters were beaten up by the enemy , was taken prisoner , and lost his life afterwards by staying to put on a band , and adjust his wig ; he would escape like a person of quality , or not at all, and died the noble martyr of ceremony and gentility." Poor fool, and yet he is just as bad who waits till he is dressed in the rags of his own fancied fitness before he will come to Jesus.  He will die a martyr to pride and self - righteousness.

It is said of Goethe , the great German , that in of those dark unsatisfied hours in which his mighty intellect and soul groped after the true rest , he thus recorded his undefined longings for that for which he had failed to attain :-            "Fairest among Heavens daughters ,             Thou who stillest pain and  woe,            Pourest Thy refreshing waters             On the thirsty here below ;              Whither tends this restless striving !              Faint and tired I long for rest.              Heaven -born Peace,              Come and dwell within my breast."  These words were found on a scrap of paper lying on his writing table . A devoted friend of kindred intellectual pursuits , but who tasted of a better fountain  and therefore knew what alone could quench these unsated aspirations , wrote on the other side , "Peace I leave with you , my peace I give unto you . Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid."

"The shepherds have become brutish, and have not inquired of the Lord " Jeremiah 10: 21.       This a very solemn indictment , but the pity of it is that it is true of many shepherds of flocks in our own land . We must avoid generalising  too widely : but on the whole , it is incontestable that a dwindling flock and a waning cause , point to prayerlessness on the part of the members, but almost certainly on the part of the shepherd himself. And it becomes us to search our hearts to see how far our prayerlessness may not be hindering the work of God in our own church.

A frigid orthodoxy can no more save you than a fierce heresy . The greatest heresy of all , as one has said , is the want of love ; love to Christ , to His cross , His crown , and the  souls He died to save . It is only as the Spirit dwells within you , and teaches you , and fills your heart with the sweet experience of the power and grace of your redeeming God , that you can resist the assaults of error . Taught by this Spirit , and bearing in a holy life , the seal of the living God on your foreheads , you may defy all its artifices . Hence, says the apostle when speaking of the antichrists that were then abroad , ."But ye have an unction from the Holy One , and know all things ."  "The annointing that ye have received of Him abideth in you ; and ye need not that any man teach you , but as the same annointing teacheth you of all things , and is truth , and is no lie , even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in Him."   "Many false prophets have gone out in

Old age without God ? -the best wine is in this case taken first :youth and manhood drain the cup . When these are ended , it is exhausted ; waning years must be content with "that which is worse ,"or mocked with the empty vessel . Old age with God ? - the best wine is kept for the last .  Old age without God ?- it is graphically described as the overthrow of all worldly pride and glory-" Bel boweth down , Nebo stoopeth " (Isaiah 46 1-4.) it is the spoliation of the earthly temple , the pillage of everything that ministered to earth's ephemeral happiness. Old age with God - it can stand with the prophet , even in the midst of catastrophe and ruin and death , claiming as its own the sustaining words , "Even to your old age I am He ; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you ; I have made and I will bear; even I will carry , and deliver you ." "O joys, that sweetest in decay Fall not like like withered leaves away; But with the silent breath Of v

"O Israel trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield " What especial encouragement is here to the faithful minister of Christ ! What a tower of all prevailing strength to the humble labourers in the Gospel field ! They seem tow in weakness the seed of a few weak words . But it takes root . A gracious plant springs up . It sheds forth fragrance like Eden , and bears fruit for the garner of the King of Kings . It thus flourishes , though checked by ungenial climate - scorched by fiery suns - battered by rain and hail . The boar out of the wood cannot waste it ; nor the wild beast of the field devour it . How is this ? "Upon all the glory is a defence ." No weapon that is formed against it ,can prosper ; For the word of the Lord is truth , "I am thy shield." Therefore ,ye servants of the living God , bless His Holy name . He always causes you to triumph in Christ . Go on in the corslet of faith , and under the covering of your Lord . Soon wil