A Goodly Heritage

It is a Divine and supernatural act . It does not originate with sinners themselves , nor can it be ascribed to a mere human agency . It originates with God . He it is who directs the motions of the clouds , and gives to doves their instinct ; and He it is who draws sinners to the Saviour , who inclines and enables them to come to him . They never do so of their own accord . No doubt , when they do come , they always come willingly ; but it in the way of their being made willing . Of themselves they have neither inclination nor ability to come to Jesus , nor can ministers , or any human friend , induce them to do so .  Nay , though all the angels in heaven were to employ their powers of persuasion for this purpose , they could not effect the conversion of a single soul . This work none but God can accomplish , and accordingly it is invariably ascribed , both in the Old and New Testaments , to the direct agency of the Spirit . "Thy people shall be willing in a day of thy power .&qu

"Father save me from this hour ." "O my Father , if it be possible , let this cup pass from me ." These expressions are to be viewed as the dictates of his human feelings , and as merely indicating his aversion to suffering ; thereby showing that he was really and truly man , since he had all the natural sensibilities and feelings of a man .  But while shrinking with an instinctive dread from the bitter cup put into his hands , he expressed at the same time his readiness to drink it , if such was his Father's will . "O my Father , if this cup may not pass from me , except I drink it , thy will be done ."The object of his prayer was not deliverance from death otherwise than in the way of his actually enduring it . What he desired was , to be enabled to endure it , and thereafter and by that means to be delivered from it . . He had no ability in himself as man , to bear the curse of the law , and would have sunk under it if his humanity had not been d

(Lev. 9 : 23:24)      There are two fires to which the soul is subject - the fire of sin , and the fire of God . There is a fire which men call the fire of hell , and there is a fire which they ought to call the fire of heaven ; the one consumes the soul , and the other consumes everything that impedes the soul . The fire of sin comes because God is absent , but the fire of God comes only when He Himself is near . So was it with this congregation at the door of the tabernacle . They beheld a consuming fire , but they beheld it not because God was far away , but because He was at the door . It was only when the glory of God had appeared that the consuming fire appeared . Ther was no sacrifice to them , no sense of pain to them , no life surrender to them , until their eyes had rested on the vision of the divine glory . But when the vision of God's glory came the consuming fire came also ; the sacrifice and the pain followed the sight of God . " There came a fire out from before

No man knows how the heart of God stands towards him by his hand . His hand of mercy may be toward a man when his heart be against that man , as you see in the case of Saul and others . And the hand of God may be set against a man when the heart of God is dearly set upon him . as you may see in Job and Ephraim . No man knows either love or hatred by outward mercy or misery ; for all things come alike to all , to the righteous and the unrighteous , to the good and to the bad , to the clean and the unclean . The sun of prosperity shines as well on the brambles of the wilderness , as the fruit trees of the orchard ; the snow and hail of adversity light upon the best garden , as well as upon the stinking dunghill or the wild waste . Ahab's and Josiah's concur in the very circumstances . Saul and Jonathan , though different in their natures , deserts and deportments , yet in their deaths they were not divided . Health , wealth , honours ,crosses , sicknesses , losses , are cast upon

You who are indeed the Lord's people , redeemed not with corruptible things , such as silver and gold , but with the precious blood of the Saviour's body and the travail of his tender soul . what , in equity and gratitude , do you owe him for his generous interest in your happiness ? If love could ever beget a corresponding kindness , can the devotion of your lives , your time , your talents , and your substance , be at all an adequate requital of his unparelled friendship ? Study to increase his satisfaction by seeking the daily renewal of your spirits , the daily crucifixion of your lusts and passions , and a daily growing conformityto his lovely image . Let him see the fruit of his pain in your devotedness to his service , and your continued advancement in grace and godliness . Let your communion with him be constant . And remember that , though now in glory , he is not an indifferent spectator of your conduct . His eye is upon you . He still suffers when any part of his chu

Love in the creature ever presupposes some good , trrue or apparent in the thing loved , by which the affection of union is drawn . But the love of God on the contrary , causes all good to be produced in the creature . He first loved us in the free purpose of His will , and thence works good for us and in us . And hence comes the unchangeableness of God's love towards us because it is founded in Himself , and in the stableness of the good pleasure of His own will . And as we may be comforted as we onserve our love to Him ; yet it is far greater comfort drawn from the consideration of His love to us ; as being not only the ground of the other , but in Him also infinite , and unchangeable . And , hereupon , it was that the sisters of Lazarus seeking help for their sick brother sent Christ word , not that he ,who loved Him but that "he whom He loved , was sick .

"But now they desire a better couuntry , that is , an heavenly." Now this is what sought in desiring a heavenly country . They wanted something heavenly , something that tasted of God , savoured of God , smelt of God , and was given of God , a heavenly religion , a spiritual faith , a gracious hope , and a love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost ; something which came from heaven and led to heaven ; which gave heavenly feelings , heavenly sensations , heavenly delights , and heavenly joys , whereby the heart was purified from the love of sin , carnality and worldliness , by having something sweeter to taste , better to love , and more holy to enjoy . It is these heavenly visitations , droppings in of the favour , goodness , and mercy of God , which keep the soul alive in its many deaths , sweeten it amidst its many bitters , hold it up amidst its many sinkings , and keep it from being drowned while conflicting with many waters . A carnal mind has no taste for heavenl

And God blessed the seventh day , and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made (Genesis 2 . 1-3. ) The rest of God is not physical repose after weariness or fatigue , nor is it absolute inactivity . During the period of his rest ,from that first day of rest downwards until now , he worketh still (John 5:17) ; and he must continually work for the continual  preservation of his creatures 9Psalm 104 . 28 :29 ). But he pauses from his work of creation ,- from the creation of new kinds and orders of beings ; though he still carries on his works of providence . He rests from all his works which he has made . He rests and is "refreshed " (Exodus 31: 17). And his original day of rest is blessed and sanctified .Into the rest of God , with all its blessedness and sanctity, man at first might enter ; and hence the seventh day , as the day which was the beginning of the rest of God , became the "Sabbath made for man"To the p

How admirable is the wisdom of God , how great his goodness , in ordering the constitution even of a fallen world !How manifold are his provisions of his care and kindness for alleviating the ills which sin has caused ! Far from leaving us to spend at random the season of his forbearance , as instinct or passion might blindly prompt  - God establishes a rule or system , whose salutary operation , even those who continue to set at naught its gracious design , are compelled practically to feel . It is that system - based on the principles of holy marriage , of lawful magistracy , and of laborious mastery over the soil that is to be cultivated , and the animals that may be slain , for food , - which alone hinders this globe from becoming a scene such as devils , and none but devils , could delight to witness . It is true that no mere external arrangements can of themselves secure the present or final welfare of any of Noah's children; all such arrangements are liable to perversion and

A saving apprehension or laying hold of Christ is not the simple thing so many suppose . Man must be humbled into the dust before he will , as a beggar , betake himself to the Redeemer . The Divine law is the appointed schoolmaster to drive sinners to Christ , but so many people play truant - run away from school . Not a few attempt to build upon Christ , but there has been no proper foundation work , and so in the day of testing the floods of opposition and persecution come in between their hearts and Christ , and temptations part them to the overthrow of their profession . By nature  our hearts are so filled with self-love and self-pity that there is no room for Christ . Many are willing to receive him for his benefits who have no love for his personand no resolution to bow to his Lordship , which is like a woman marrying a man solely for his money . Observe Paul's order : "For whom I have suffered the loss of all things , and do count them but dung , that I may win Christ ,

God delighteth in mercy. It is not drawn from Him unwillingly ; nor is it forced out of him by importunity ; it is not dragged out of his heart by the cries of his family ; but he delights in it as being his darling attribute , the very pleasure of God being in showing mercy to the miserable . How hard is for us to believe this untill mercy visits the soul and a sweet sense of it is felt in the conscience .  How we represent  to ourselves God in his anger , in his justice , in his terrible displeasure against sin and sinners ; how unable to believe that that there is mercy for us , and that he delights in manifesting mercy to poor , miserable . penitent sinners .  Who would ever have thought of mercy unless it had been first in the bosom of God ?Who could have ventured to entertain or suggest such a thought that " There is forgiveness with God " so he can "pardon iniquity ,and transgression , and sin ;" that he can cast all our sins behind his back , and blot them o

It will forever be esteemed a miracle of God's providence , that he should make the captivity or wicked sale of Joseph , by means of so many windings , perplexed mazes , and strange occurences , issue at last in his own exaltation , and the preservation of his brethren , who impiously sold him . But if any one , though endowed woith the tongue of angels and men , should attempt to describe the mystery of divine wisdom , whereby it is evident theat God exalts his own name , and not only recovers his former honour , but even raises it , manifests his justice , preserves inviolable his right and dominion in pardoning sin , wherewith he is highly pleased and incredibly delighted ( and unless this heavenly discovery , a truly God - like invention , had intyervened , he could not have pardoned even the least sin ), he must feel his language not only deficient , but the eye of the mind , overpowered with light , will fill him with awe and amazement . That which is the grearest , yea , the

God himself has laid the foundation on which the church of Christ is built . His own words are , " Behold , I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone , a tried stone , a precious corner - stone , a sure foundation . " This foundation is his dear Son .No other foundation was sufficiently strong or stable to bear the weight of the church . According to the eternal purposes of infinite grace , wisdom and truth , a glorious building was to be erected , in which God himself should dwell ; a holy temple , which should shine through all ages , illuminated with the glory of God . The apostle , therefore , addressing himself to the saints of God at Ephesus , says : "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners , but fellow citizens with the saints , and of the household of God ; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets , Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple of

The prevalence of error and heresy among professors of the Gospel . The holy Scriptures reveal to us an all-perfect and infallible rule of faith , worship and obedience , containing all the truths we need to know , and believe , profess and practice in religion . It has been the duty of the Church in every age to proclaim these truths from her pulpits , to set them forth in her public Confession and Testimony , and practically to carry them out in her administration and discipline . Special care should be taken by her when they are denied and opposed , to assert and maintain , and when misrepresented and corrupted , to explain and vindicate them . When this duty is neglected , or not faithfully and seasonably performed by the church , the leaven of false doctrine and of unsound opinions  and practices , is suffered to spread , without any effectual means being employed to counteract it , not only is much dishonour done to Christ , but the consequences must be deeply injurious to his p

But sin goeth in disguise , and thence is welcome ; like Judas it kisses and kills ; like Joab , it salutes and slays . George Swinnock . The arts that sin uses to disguise itself .  If sin were not an ugly thing , would it wear a mask? And if did not have evil designs , would it walk in disguise and change its name ? Truth is not ashamed of its name or nakedness ; it can walk openly and boldly . Sin , on the contrary , is a cheat , a lie , and therefore lurks privily and puts on false names and colours ; for if it were to appear as itself - as it sooner or later do to all , either for conversion or confusion - it would frighten men into dying fits , as it did the Apostle , and when they come to themselves they would abhor and hate it , as Paul and the Prodigal did . Men would never be so hardy in sinning but that sin hardens them by deceiving them ; so the Apostle says , " Take heed lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin " [Hebrews 3: 13]     Ralph Venning

Romans 3 : 31.  That is by the doctrine of justification by faith; by this scheme of treating men as righteous , the moral law is confirmed , it obligation is enforced , obedience to it is secured . This is done in the following manner [1] God showed respect to it , in being unwilling to to pardon sinners without an atonement . He showed that it could not be violated without impunity ; that he was resolved to fulfill its threatenings . [2] Jesus Christ came to magnify it , and make it honourable . He showed respect to it in his life ; and he died to show that God was determined to inflict its penalty . [3] The plan of justification by faith leads to an observance of the law . The sinner sees the evil of transgression . He sees the respect which God has shown to  the law . He gives his heart to God , and yields himself to obey his  law . All the sentiments that arise from the conviction of sin ; that flow from gratitude for mercies ; that spring from love to God ; all his views of the s

There is a 'time to dance' , not with carnal revelry , not with those amusements that the devil has invented in order to drown souls in eternal perdition ; but to dance as David danced before the ark . Not as the daughter of Herodias danced , but as Miriam on the shore of the Red Sea . Not the dancing of the children of Israel round the golden calf , but of " the virgin of Israel who go fotrth in the dances of them that make merry ." [Jer. 31. 4.]The dancing of which the Psalmist speaks ,"Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing ";that is , to dance with inward joy , to leap in one's soul at the presence of the Lord , as the infant John leaped in his mother's womb , to dance before the Lord with solemnity of spirit , and yet feeling such powerful emotions within , as though the heart would dance in ones bosom .    Have you never felt , when the Lord dropped a sweet word of consolation into your conscience , what emotions filled your bosom beyond ut

The first creation in its order was a curious and glorious fabric . But everything depending immediately on God , by virtue of the principles of its own nature and the law of its obedience , all was brought to a loss by the sin of angels and men . But now everything that belongs to this new creation , even every believer in the world , as well as angels in heaven , being gathered togather in this one Head , the whole and all , and every part and member of it ,even every particular believer , are secured from ruin such as befell all things before . In this new Head they have an indissoluble consistency         For who can declare the glory of Christ ? Who can speak of these things as he ought ? I am so far from designing to set forth the whole of it , that I am deeply sensible how little a portion of it I can comprehend of the least part of it . Nor can I attain to any satisfaction in these meditations but what issues in a humble admiration . John Owen

Amos 6:7. A picture is given in the following chapters of the luxury and self indulgence of the people . Stretched on couches inlaid with ivory , choosing the rarest dainties , accompanying their voices on the lute , ,and drinking wine from flowing bowls , they were indifferent to the wounds from which the national life- blood was pouring . "They were not agrieved for the affliction of Joseph "  The same behaviour is only too common amongst ourselves . Indeed , this temptation besets us all . If only we are well supplied with the comforts and luxuries of life , we are apt to become thoughtless of the miseries of poverty and misfortune . If our own heaven is secure , we are apt to enwrap ourselves with an atmosphere of satisfaction and composure , without taking sufficiently to heart the needs of the great world of sin and sorrow around .    "The affliction of Joseph "reminds us of the scene at the pits mouth ; how Joseph's brethren sat down to eat bread , while