A Goodly Heritage

Blaidhna mhath uir dhuibh uile. Happy New Year To You All

While you do not look to the law in the least for justification , you nevertheless magnify and honour the law by your obedience to its requirements. You do not obey the law in order to obtain the forgiveness of your sins . They are already forgiven for Christ's sake . That part of your salvation is secure. But you obey the law because you are forgiven ; because you love to obey . You obey it because your faith in Christ's blood is living , and not dead ; is working faith, and not inoperative faith- the genuine principle which Paul praises and defends, and not the counterfeit which James condemns and attacks.

"I will send a famine in the land ...........of hearing the words of the Lord."Amos 8: 11. Israel will not listen to God' s prophets , and their voices will be silenced . This was a just retribution . As they were not willing to have the word of God , so there should be a famine of that word . The word of God was precious in the days of Samuel , because there was no open vision ; so should it be again . And perhaps this privation will be one day meted to our own beloved country . There is a much larger proportion of our population outside than inside our churches ; and men proudly eschew God's Word . It may be that the message of the Gospel will almost cease from among them , and be replaced - as in many instances is now the case  - by the dry husks of morality and ceremonialism . Then they shall run to and fro to seek the word of of the Lord , and shall not find it .................. It is worth notice , that if men have not God , they will find some substitute . Th

The sacrament of the Supper exhibits Christ not merely as a Lamb to be slain for a sin - offering , but as a Paschal Lamb to be eaten for spiritual nourishment . "Take eat this is My Body ."By this injunction Jesus taught the twelve , and through them all Christians , to regard His crucified humanity as the bread of God for the life of their souls . We must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man spiritually by faith , as we eat the bread and drink the wine literally with the mouth .  In regarding Christ as the Bread of Life , we are not to restrict ourselves to the one benefit mentioned by Him in instituting the feast , the remission of sins , but to have in view all His benefits tending to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace . Christ is the Bread of Life in all His offices  . As a Prophet , He supplies the bread  of divine truth to feed our minds ; as a Priest , He furnishes the bread of righteousness to satisfy our troubled consciences ; as a King , H

The office of the Spirit promised to us , is not to form new and un-heard of revelations , or to coin a new form of doctrine , by which we may be led away from the received doctrine of the Gospel , but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the Gospel recommends . ........Any spirit which passes by the doctrine of God's word , and suggests any other doctrine , is deservedly suspected of vanity and falsehood ........The Author of the Scriptures cannot vary , and change His likeness . Such as He there appeared at first , such he will perpetually remain .............. The word is the instrument by which the illumination of the Spirit is dispensed .   Calvins Institutes .

Not even the most fervid Scot could claim today that his countrymen were all theologians , as they were alleged to have been in a former age . For in Scotland , as elsewhere , theology has fallen on evil days . De throned from her queenly position among the sciences , she has become , to a painful extent , the plaything of the witty and the scornful . Theology is no longer the imposing authority behind the preacher which it used to be . The popular sermon scarcely even hints at doctrine , except sometimes to deride it . And there are many who see in this want of theology the tragedy of the Church today . Vigorous religious life never fails to give expression to a correspondingly vigorous theology , and the absence of the one accounts for the lack of the other . But still no preacher can express his thoughts or carry conviction to his hearers without speaking theology , either nebulous or clear . But with belief in an infallible Bible widely denied, the ancient seat of authority is gone

" I found him whom my soul loveth ; and I held him and would not let him go "Song of Solomon. 3:4. There are two very diverse senses in which men will no let the Saviour go , carrying with them very different meanings , and very different issues . And how marvellous , how startling the extremes which they reveal -- extremes of deadliest sin and deepest piety . Caiaphas ! Thou Priest of the Most High God , thou hypocrite ! Thou wilt not let Christ go . Thou wilt not let him go until thou crucify him . Nor wilt thou , O worldling until thou crucify him afresh . (Hebrew .6:6)    Jacob ! thou prevailing prince with God ! Thou wilt not let him go . Thou wilt not let him go until he bless thee . . Nor thou , O Israelite indeed , until he bless thee too.    In which of these two senses would you have the Christ declare that you will not let him go .? Hugh Martin

Preparation for heaven does not consist in rising to any imaginary standard of piety, in being as holy as we may consider some illustrious saints , in rising to certain frames of which we have heard  and which we have desired ; but in being filled as full of the Holy Spirit as our capacities can bear . Do you ask , how can I attain eminent holiness ? Seek wit undeviating and self - sacrificing purpose , eminent measures of the Holy Ghost .

The pieces of which this book consists are in their leading character devotional summaries , expressing the pious thoughts and feelings which the consideration of God's ways and the knowledge of His revelations were fitted to raise in reflecting and spiritual bosoms . But the singular thing is , that they are this for the New as well as the Old Testament worshipper . They are still incomparably the most perfect expression of the religious sentiment , and the best directory to the soul in its meditations and communings about divine things , which is anywhere to be found . There is not a feature in the divine character , nor an aspect of any moment in the life of faith , to which expression , more or less distinct , is not there given . How could such a book have come into existence , centuries before the Christian era , but for the fact that the Old and the New dispensations - however they may have differed in outward form , or in the ostensible nature of the transactions belonging

"Lord , all my desire is before Thee ; and my groaning is not hid from Thee ." Out of these fearful depths there is a ready access to the throne of grace . The afflicted soul looks upward and appeals to God . No direct application is expressed , but attention is humbly craved to the desires which have a language in the ears of God . "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered; and He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit."

Greatness confers no exemption from the cares and sorrows of life . Its share of them frequently bears a melancholy proportion to its exultation . This the Israelitish Monarch experienced . He sought in piety that peace which he could not find in empire and alleviated the disquietutes of state with the exercises of devotion . His invaluable Psalms convey those comforts to others , which they afforded to himself . Composed upon particular occasions , yet designed for general use . Delivered out as services for Israelites under the law , yet no less adapted to the circumstances of Christians under the Gospel , they present religion to us in the most engaging dress ; communicating truths which philosophy  could never investigate , in a style which poetry can never equal ; while history is made the vehicle of prophesy , and creation lends all its charms to paint the glories of redemption . Calculated alike to profit and to please , they inform the understanding , elevate the affections ,

The Psalms traverses every condition of man . It roams with the shepherd in the meadows . It sits with the mighty monarch on the throne . It flees with the fugitive on the hills , and hides with him in the caves . It leads the conquering host to victory . It walks with the busy in the crowded haunts, and leaves not the lonely in their solitide . It is a prop for the staggering steps  -  a guide for the wanderer  -  a counsellor when perplexities bewilder  -  a pillow for the weary head , a sympathising hand to wipe the weeping eye , a voice to whisper comfort to the disconsolate . No words more cheer the dying saint . The soul in extremest agony for sin finds here a ready outlet for the bitterest streams of sorrow . Words are here supplied to crave deliverance from wrath . When interest in Christ is realised , and joy is in the height of rapture , here are the wings to bear aloft to heaven

The main glory of the book of Psalms is its identity with Christ . He brightly shines throughout its varied hymns . He is constantly the speaker , and in these breathings of his Spirit we receive convincing evidence that , without ceasing to be God , He was a perfect man , and pre-eminently a Man of Sorrows . We here are supplied with a vivid portrait of His character , His work , His love , His sufferings , His glory. It would be no difficult task to construct a Gospel from its prophetic language . It may be regarded as His manual during His career on earth . When , as the expiating God - man , He was uplifted on the accursed tree, and the iron entered into His soul , His misery goes forth in the moanings of a Psalm , " My God , My God , why hast thou forsaken me ?"  He gives up the ghost uttering its confiding terms , "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit ."  He ascends amid the shouts , "Lift up your heads , O ye gates !"  He receives the welcome , "

"The Psalms are an epitome of the Bible , adapted to the purposes of devotion . They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world ; the dispensations of Providence , and the economy of grace ; the transactions of the patriarchs  ; the exodus of the children of Israel  ; their journey through the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan  ; their law, priesthood and ritual ; the exploits  of their great men , wrought through faith ; their sins and captivities ; their repentance and restoration ; the sufferings and victories of David  ; the peaceful and happy reign of Solomon ; the advent of Messiah , with its effects and consequences; his incarnation , birth , life  , passion , death , resurrection , ascension , kingdom and priesthood ; the effusion of the Spirit ; the conversion of the nations ; the rejection of the Jews ; the establishment , increase ,and perpetuity of the Christian church ; the end of the world ; the general judgement ; the condemnation of the wicked