A Goodly Heritage

The earthquake was a sign through which God caused the earth to pay royal homage to Jesus , when Jesus died . He" created all things by Jesus Christ ". The Son of God " by whom God made the worlds ,"having passed through the mystery of " the holy incarnation" and the greater mystery of death - at the dread moment when all was over , earth was made to display these signs in honour of her King . Let us have no more abuse of earth , such as it has been thought Christian to indulge in . "O ,call not the earth a barren spot !" Give up confounding the earth with the world of society living in it . We may say , to borrow , with some changes the words of another ; "Our earth owned not Satan but Christ . It felt the pressure of His foot ; its waters sustained His form ; its midnight sky rang with the song of His nativity ; its air bore Him up as He rose  to His Father ; In a golden cloud it provided the Conqueror with a chariot ; its waves and winds

1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite , and said 2.Dominion and fear are with him , he maketh peace in his high places . 3. Is there any number of his armies ? and upon whom doth not his light arise ? 4.How then can man be justified with God ?or how can he be clean that is born of a woman ? 5.Behold even to the moon , and it shineth not ; yea the stars are not pure in his sight . 6.How much less man , that is a worm ? and the son of man that is a worm?

In the black fog of one night in London , when with a crash the train came to a standstill near Blackfriars Bridge , "Jump!"said some voice out of the darkness to the guard ; and he answered in his panic , "Which way ?" In the freezing stillness of the last dead-stop , when you must let go from the body , you Christians will not have to say , "Which way?" There will be" hands " held out to catch ; hands that are familiar ; hands that no unassisted light of reason could ever find ; hands that the mighty sceptered souls of antiquity knew nothing of . Even Aristotle , one of the mightiest of them all , was only like a blind man feeling about in the darkness to find these hands , and saying pathetically , "Shamefully did I enter into the world , in anxiety have I lived , in perturbation I die ."    " Voices from Calvary "

The soul needs hourly food . And it is here , that it must seek refreshment . Rich indeed is the repast to which the Gospel calls ! The word , the promises  , the ordinances  , the sacraments ,  are spread as an abundant feast . But it is Christ who constitutes the essence of the nourishment . Apart from Him means of grace are but a choking husk .

The Father chooses the church in Christ , and blesses her with all spiritual blessings in Him . The Son accepts her as his Bride and inheritance , and when fallen , redeems her by his precious blood .The Holy Ghost quickens the souls thus chosen , and makes meet for the inheritance , and seals them for the present enjoyment of it in grace , and the futurt enjoyment of it in glory . And to what does all this redound ,but "to the praise of God's glory?"praise to the Father , praise to the Son , and praise to the Holy Ghost ; Praise to the Father who loved the church and chose her ; praise to the Son who loved the church and gave himself for her ; and praise to the Holy Ghost who loved the church , and seals her unto the glorious day when the purposes of God's grace will all be fulfilled , and the church reign with her covenant Head in glory for ever and ever.

They who have the Spirit of Christ filling them and continuously animating them with new supplies of knowledge , courage , and decision , such as can be traced in the first disciples , succeed in bringing men into living contact with God . The disciples were first visited with a new unction before the blessing spread to the impenitent ; and to look for a great awakening among masses of men before the labourers or preachers of the truth are themselves recipients of the baptism of the Spirit , is to expect the end without the means . It was so at Pentecost . Nothing is so calculated to strike the heart of a callous age as the the arresting spectacle of men filled with the Spirit  -  the awe inspiring spectacle of of men whose hearts the Lord has won , openly separating themselves from the world , that they may invite and persuade men to accept the great salvation . Unless this fresh baptism is maintained in its intensity , or repeatedly renewed , declension will certainly ensue ; for to

How futile all the opposition of earth and of hell to the church of Christ !And how constantly this truth thrusts itself in the sacred pages upon our attention and our faith ! It is one of the golden threads of heavenly truth that runs through and shines in all this book. Like the maddened Jews when they crucified Jesus , men and devils can only do with their wicked hands that which His hand and counsel determined beforehand to be done . How deep must be the guilt , and how fearful the ruin of all who refuse to bow to this Saviour ! How obstinate and wicked the unbelief that with holds from Him the heart's trust , and the life's obedience . Jesus Christ is king . He will rule . Every enemy shall be put down . Having offered Himself as the slain Lamb to redeem the world . "God hath highly exalted Him , and given Him a name that is above every name , that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow , and every tongue confess that He is Lord , to the glory of God the Father. &

The title of a King is no better than an insult to him whose authority we will not submit to , and whose laws we will not obey . Do we profess allegiance to the great almighty Sovereign , and pray for the prosperity and enlargement of his government , "thy kingdom come ?". But can we add with sincerity , "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ?"The former portion without the latter would be hypocritical ; and we cannot honestly join in the latter , unless we desire , at least ,to profess an entire subjection of heart to all the dispensations and commands of God . Is this the real state of our minds ? It is our most ardent wish and supplication , that , relinguishing all our opposition , we may be satisfied with the Lord's disposal , and yield unto him the most cheerful and unreserved obedience ; or in other words , " that we may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God ". Robinson

"How cans't thou call me poor ? All things are mine , Whate'er I ask , my God replies , tis thine , The world , life ,death , things present , things to come ; Such is my store in Christ , a countless sum . The world may think me poor , as I think them ; Their treasures I , my riches they , condemn .  They have their good things now , for mine I wait , How worthless theirs at best ; the least of mine how great . " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ , that , though he was rich , yet for your sakes he became poor , that ye through his poverty might be rich ,  2 Corinthians 8v9.

If you cannot preach the Gospel to others , preach it to yourself . . Successful work there will yield a large return to the Lord . If that field becomes ripe , seed from it will be carried away on the wings of the wind to make the desert fruitful .  The multitude of thoughts within you , when they are made subject to Christ , will go out in legions to serve their new master

By these words , Christ shows that , in sending the apostles , he does not entirely resign his office , as if he ceased to be the Teacher of his Church . For he sends away the apostles with this reservation , that they shall not bring forward their own inventions , but shall purely and faithfully deliver from hand to hand  ( as we say)  what he has entrusted to them . Would to God that the Pope would subject to this rule the power which he claims for himself ; for we could easily permit him to be the successor of Peter or of Paul , provided he did not usurp a tyrannical dominion over our souls . But he has set aside the authority of Christ , and infects the Church with his childish  fooleries , this shows plainly enough how widely he has departed from the apostolic office . In short , let us hold that by these words teachers are appointed over the Church , not to put forward what they think proper , but that they , as well as others , may depend on the mouth of the Master alone , so as

Quietness amid the accusations of Satan . The great accuser points to the stains of our past lives , by which we have defiled our robes , and those of others ; he says we shall fail again and again ; he imputes evil motives to our holiest actions , and detects flaws in our most sacred services ; he raises so great a hub-bub that we can hardly hear another voice within our souls . Then the great Intercessor arises and says , " The Lord rebuke thee , O Satan; the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee ; I have loved thee with an everlasting love , I have paid the ransom."  So "He giveth quietness "   Quietness amid the dash of the storm .   We sail the Lake with Him still , and as we reach its middle waters , far from land , under midnight skies , suddenly a great storm sweeps down . Earth and hell seem arrayed against us , and each billow threatens to overwhelm .  Then He arises from His sleep , and rebukes the wind and the waves ; his hand waves benediction an

Mark well the difference between the mere fact and the guilt of your sin ; and more especially the difference between the admission of the fact and the admission of your guilt . Jehovah comes into the garden in the cool of the day , and brings the criminals from their hiding place of shame into his presence . The question is : Adam, hast thou eaten ? Eve, hast thou eaten ?Not to ascertain the fact ;-for of that , apart from the Omniscience of the Judge ,their every look , every move , every attitude is a sad , and sore , and sufficient demonstration ; but to induce a confession of sin , of guilt , of inexcusable offence , of righteous liability to anger and punishment . What are their replies ? "The woman whom thou gavest me to be with me , she gave me and I did eat ." The fact is admitted . But is the guilt ?  Nay ; if it were , why this preface to the fact ; this dwelling so fully on fact , and fact alone ; this brief history of the fact ; brief , yet clung to so firmly - e