Faith

The early disciples of the blessed Jesus derived no worldy advantage from the profession of their faith in him ; but on the contrary , they were exposed to manifold inconviences and hardships . The cross of Christ was the ensign , not of honour but of ignominy and reproach . " They had trial of of cruel mockings and scourgings ; yea , moreover of bonds and imprisonment ."Ye t among all the dangers and discouragements of their situation , these holy and devoted men - men of faith and men of prayer - experienced abundant and unfailing support , for their life was hid with Christ in God . The time was in our land , when those who loved the saviour and honoured his  name , met with the same harsh treatment as the Hebrew brethren to whom the Apostle refers . They were hunted like wild beasts on the mountains , even to the caves and fastnesses of nature's solitude , where they sought an assylum , they were followed by fiends of persecution . Often they had no covering but a canopy of leaves , and no couch save the barren heath . At times , in their religious convocations in the open air , they were exposed to the war of the elements of nature , not so terrible to them as the wilder passions of infuriated bigots , who acknoledged no restraint , and were subject to no law . What supported those martyrs under all their trials ? What enabled  them to  sustain the rage of their persecutors , and rise superior to the fear of torture and death ? It was faith in their Master - it was confidence in his promises - it was the felt experience of his gracious presence by which they lived and conquered . And in one word , what in every age has supported the people of God under the pressure of calamity , or the prospect of a dying hour ? Not certainly the remembrance of the good that they had done , or the glory they had acheived - not the contemplation of their own merits , or their moral or intellectual attainments , but simply the inwrought principle of a living faith - the faith which is the substance of things hoped for , the evidence of things not seen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muckle Kate Not a very ordinary name! But then, Muckle Kate, or Big Kate, or Kate-Mhor, or Kate of Lochcarron was not a very ordinary woman! The actual day of her salvation is difficult to trace to its sunrising, but being such a glorious day as it was, we simply wish to relate something of what shone forth in the redeemed life of that "ill-looking woman without any beauty in the sight of God or man." Muckle Kate was born and lived in Lochcarron in the county of Ross-shire. By the time she had lived her life to its eighty-fifth year she had well-earned the reputation of having committed every known sin against the Law of God with the exception murder. Speaking after the manner of men, if it took "Grace Abounding" to save a hardened sinner like John Bunyan, it was going to take "Grace Much More Abounding" to save Muckle Kate. However, Grace is Sovereign and cannot be thwarted when God sends it on the errand of salvation, and even the method used in bri
Read more
  Severance from Christ is death   to the Church. A Christless Church is a headless trunk. We may retain the doctrine and ethic of the New Testament, but, nevertheless, amputation of the Head means death. Even a partial severance of connection involves paraylsis - loss of spiritual power and loss of spiritual feeling. II.  INTERNALLY, THE CHURCH IS THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST. It is filled with Christ. He is not only the Head above it; he is the life within it. He does not only teach, bless, command, and lead from without; he inspires his people and lives in his Church. Christ fills " all  in all;"  i.e.  the Spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth is in the whole universe, inspiring all creation and all providence with wisdom and goodness, purity and grace. The same Spirit is in the Church. As yet, unhappily, the Church is not filled with Christ. Though Christ is received into the heart of Christians, every door within is not yet flung open to the gracious Guest. But in the perfect
Read more

Church discipline

Once from the pulpit, at an ordination of elders, the late Rev. M. M'Cheyne made the following declaration. "When I first entered upon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of the vast importance of church discipline. I thought that my great, and almost only, work was to pray and preach. I saw your souls to be so precious, and the time so short, that I devoted all my time and care and strength to labour in word and doctrine. When cases of discipline were brought before me and the elders, I regarded them with something like abhorrence. It was a duty I shrank from; and I may truly say it nearly drove me from the work of the ministry among you altogether. But it pleased God, who teaches His servants in another way than man teaches, to bless some of the cases of discipline to the manifest and undeniable conversion of the souls of those under our care; and from that hour a new light broke in upon my mind, and I saw that if preaching be an ordinance of Chri
Read more