A Goodly Heritage

The Last Sabbath in Strathnaver Before the Burnings. Twas not the beacon light of war , nor yet the "slogan" cry That chilled each heart and blanched each cheek in the country of Mackay, And made them march with weary feet , as men condemned to die. Ah! had it been their country's foe that they were called to brave How loudly would the piobrachd sound , how proud their "bratach" wave; How joyfully each man would march , tho' marching to the grave. No! twas a cruel ,sad behest , an alien chief's command Depriving them of house and home , their country and their land ; Dealing a death blow at their hearts , binding the "strong right hand." Slowly and sadly down the glen they took their weary way , The sun was shining overhead upon that sweet spring day. And earth was throbbing with the life of the great glad month of May. The deer were browsing on the hills , and looked with wondering eye ;                                       

Self, bewitched with self, and self performances, fondles the conceit, that man's meritoriousness, decked with Christ's merits , is the key of heaven . What is this , but to build an altar of human rubbish, with human tools and then add Christ thereto? This is the delusion , which , with christ on its front , stalks through the earth, and murders thjousands!This is the poison tree, beneath the shade of which,many lie down and dream that they make Christ their only hope , while the main weight of trust is hung on self!This is the fiend , which mocks the lost , by showing them too late that Christ extolled in name , is not Christ reigning in the heart. This is the foe , which often makes the faithful ministry a fruitless field.      Law

The richness and value of the 'crown of life' is so great , that God , the most wise and just esteemer of things , gave the precious blood of his Son to purchase it for us .It is a felicity so transcendent in its quality , and stable in its duration , that the blessed God cannot give us a greater, for what greater good is conceivable than himself ? And what more stale enjoyment of it than in eternity?The hope of this makes the Christian blessed in the midst of the greatest miseries ."Our light afflictions which are for but a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."2 Corinthians 4.   

As inward acts have a more immediate influence on the soul,to mould it into a right temper and frame, so ought we to be most frequent and sedulous in the exercise of them . Let us often be lifting up our hearts to God , and if we do not say that we love Him above all things, let us at least acknowledge , that it is our duty, and would be our happiness, so to do ;let us lament the dishonour done to him by foolish and sinful men , and applaud the praises and adorations that are given Him by that blessed and glorious company above ; let us resign and yield ourselves up unto Him a thousand times, to be governed by His laws and disposed of at his pleasure.

Christ is preached in our land , in our day . Pardon through his blood is published free to all . His name has become a common sound on earth , even as it is in heaven . But privilege neglected does not save . It is mercy accepted that lifts a sinner up to heaven; mercy offered becomes a make weight in the doom of the lost .It is not Christ in the Bible , Christ in the creed , Christ in the sermon ; but" Christ in you the hope of glory ." It is not Blessed are they who have bread , like manna from heaven , lying round their dwellings or trampled under their feet ; but Blessed are they that hunger . The rich provision of the covenant is set forth in vain to guests who are already satiated with a genial and more congenial aliment.

The Lord is righteous ,for I have rebelled against his commandment. Lamentation 1:18 In these plaintive elegaics, Jerusalem , by the mouth of the prophet , laments her fate . But the story of her desolation is mingled with confessions of her sin . She asks boldly if any sorrow could be compared to her sorrow ,and then confesses that not one pang or stroke has been in excess of her sin . This is what sorrow does for us all . Sorrow has been fitly called the mother of all joy . She alone creates the darkness, in which we can distinguish the real meaning of God's dealings , and understand the true nature of our wild wanderings . Her neutral tints subdues the soul's pride , and turn it away from the glare of human ambition . Beneath her teaching we learn to view aright the evanescence of all things human , and to see that the eternal is alone real amid a world of illusions .     "Sweet sorrow , who the earth has ever trod ,      Dreaded and shunned , till, by its burning k

Nothing but the truth of the Gospel can be instrumental to the conversion of souls . Any willful suppression - or any compromising statement of truth , dishonours the Holy Spirit in his own special office , and therefore restrains his quickening influence . Many earnest , affectionate , and diligent ministers , are mourning over the palpable unfruitfulness of their work ; without at all suspecting , that the root of the evil lies within themselves . Sincerity , earnestness, conscientiousness , and self denial , when connected with a wrong or defective standard or practice , are means utterly disproportioned to produce this moral miracle of a radical change . Bishop Horsley  remarked 'it too often happens that ministers lose sight of that which is their proper office , to publish the word of reconciliation .'And ,indeed without this ministry of reconciliation , it is of no avail to appear before our people . We might beseech them with tears - ' be ye reconciled unto God 

"Do we make void the law through faith?God forbid  Yea we establish the law " Romans 3 31 The faith or doctrine of the Gospel establishes the law in its covenant form , exhibiting a Divine Suretyship of obedience to the law , as the price for sanctification ; and in its directive form ,- inculcating practical obligations upon a stronger foundation , and fulfilling them by the power of an heavenly life , and the impulse of evangelical motives . Thus the offices of Christ delightfully combine . As our Surety , He delivers us from the curse of the law . As our King , He brings us under its rule . This Scriptural faith saves us from its condemnation , and enables us for its requirements . Take away this principle , and we are under the full penalty of the broken law ; nor is there is any root , on which to engraft a corrupt tree , that it might bring forth good fruit .               Thus also , the grace of the Gospel "establishes the law" in its twofold character . W

Law & Gospel :-Though distinct they are not opposite . As coming from the same source , they must ultimately meet in the same plan, and subserve the same end . Like the seemingly opposite perfections of their glorious Author , they harmonize in mutual subserviency in the Christian system . The provisions of the Gospel are fully commensurate with the demands of the law . Its righteousness fulfills the law as a covenant ; its grace obeys it as a rule . Both have a commanding and a condemning power. Both combine to" bring the to Christ"- "the law indirectly - as a schoolmaster ," showing his need of him : the Gospel directly , exhibiting him in all points suitable to his need . In this centre of everlasting love , the "mercy" of the Gospel  "and the truth " of the law " meet together ." The "righteousness" of the law and the "peace "of the Gospel here "embrace each each other."Both unite to endear the way

Men whose calling and work is to study the Scripture, or the things revealed therein , and to preach them to others , cannot but have many thoughts about spiritual things , and yet may be ,and oftentimes are , most remote from being spiritually minded . They may be forced by their work and calling to think of them early and late , evening and morning , yet their minds be no way rendered or proved spiritual thereby .....And the reasons of it are manifest . It requires as much if not more watchfulness, more care , more humility , for a minister to be spiritually minded in the discharge of his calling , than for any other sort of men in theirs .....because the commonness of the exercise of such thoughts , with their design upon others in their expression , will take off their power and efficacy. And he will have little benefit by his own ministry who endeavours not in the first place an experience in his own heart of the power of the truths which he teaches to others . John Owen

No man ought to flatter and deceive himself in deferring his conversion by alleging the example of the penitent thief , saved even at the last hour upon the cross, and carried to Paradise that same day with Christ , for this act was a special miracle , reserved for the manifestation of Christ's power and glory at that hour upon the cross; and besides , this act was upon a most rare confession made by the thief at that instant when almost all the world forsook Christ   Daniel Cawdrey Though true repentance is never too late , yet late repentance is seldom true .  Thomas Brooks 

It is to be feared that there are many that give themselves to lusts , and carnal pleasures , that they may put a foggy mist between their conscience and themselves . Others dig into the world , labouring to becoming senseless , that so there may be an eclipse of this light by the interposition of the earth. Others run to damnable heresies , denying Scriptures , God , heaven , hell .    What are these but refuges of guilty consciences? We must distinguish between our carnal concupiscence , and conscience ; between deluded imaginations and conscience ; between an erroneous  and scrupulous conscience , and a well grounded and truly informed conscience ; and when we have done so , we must follow conscience as far as that follows the Word .     Anthony Burgess

" I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , whom thou hast defied ." This , and no other , is the spirit in which we must struggle with all the temptations of the world , the devil , and the flesh. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves , but our sufficiency is of God ." With this sufficiency we can do all that is required of us . "I can "  says Paul " do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me ." So can we . But we must remember , that from the moment we renounce his strength and rely on our own , we are no longer to be compared with the commissioned servant of God , executing his purposes on the evil and inpious , but are rather like the simple unguarded youth that David would have been , had he acted on no other confidence but his own .                           Although the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, yet we must use such weapons as we have - such as we best

We too , have need to go up to Bethel . As a nation we have had our own Bethel experiences in the past . Many a time the Lord has appeared to us in the riches of His mercy and saving power , and we have responded to these manifestations of His grace by entering  into covenant with Him , and pledgeing ourselves to loyalty to His name . Especially may we say that this is the case with those tumultuous years of war . The Lord revealed Himself on our behalf in the day of our distress , and enabled us to prevail over our enemies . In those days there were many fair promises of reformation and new obedience . The experience of suffering had brought to light many things in our national life that called for repentance , and there were resolutions of amendment , and visions of a regenerated social order when the day of trial should have passed away . Multitudes of men and women raised an altar to the living God , and vowed that they would live a new life in the time to come . Now the war is ov

" I will behold Thy face in righteousness," says the psalmist . He is expressing the conviction that he will be able to look on the brightness of God's glory without being put to confusion , and his confidence manifestly rests on the assurance that in that day his soul will be conformed to the likeness on which his eyes will gaze . For our own comfort let us again fill the words with their New Testament meaning . The hope of the believer is that in that day of awaking , he will be "found in Christ ,"clothed in His perfect righteousness , and thus able to stand before God , "holy and unblameable and unreproveable ." It is an awakening which will mean fulness of joy and blessedness . "I shall be satisfied ," says the Psalmist , with "Thy likeness." There is no earthly hope but brings disappointment at last . A distinguished man of letters once received an honour which raised him to the highest pinacle of earthly fame , an honour whic

" His smell shall be as Lebanon ." That is the fragrance of a whole forest . It is said that the smell of Lebanon can be perceived a long way off . The trees and shrubs , and flowers with which it abounds mingle their pleasant odours in the breeze . The renewed life is a life of fragrance . The graces of a Christian character are marked by a sweetness that cannot be  mistaken . In the loving heart , the compassionate spirit , the saintly life , there is a fragrance which makes an impression on all who come within its range In other words , true religion has a winsome and attractive quality .           All this , let us remember , is possible for all those who have fallen by their iniquities , and have grieved the heart of God , and hurt their own souls . For all who are in that condition the words are full of encouragement . The healing dew of the Spirit can do for them what it has done many a time for others in a like case .                    "Can it be true the gr

" His branches shall spread and His beauty shall be as the olive tree , and his smell as Lebanon ,"   The strength of the Cedar . " He shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon ," The lily is a fragile thing . It may be ,as the poet says , " the lily of a day ." In the morning it grows up and flourishes , but the wind passes over it , and in the evening it is laid low . It is not so with the spiritual beauty of the children of God . In their case beauty is wedded to strength , and so has in it the crowning glory of permanence . To set forth this quality a new figure is employed , the figure of the cedar of Lebanon . The roots of the cedar are a symbol of strength . They strike deep and reach far , and so the tree presents an unyielding front to the storm , and lives on throughout the years . The roots of the renewed life are hid with with Christ in God . They enter in within the vail , and unite the soul to the almightiness of the Eternal . The root of faith

" He shall grow as the Lily , and cast forth His roots as Lebanon . His branches shall spread and His beauty shall be as the olive tree , and his smell as Lebanon ."   This is the effect of the dew . It brings about a transformation so rich that it needs various figures to set forth its many -sided completeness .  We have first the beauty of the lily . "He shall grow as the lily ." Various features of the growth of the lily might , no doubt , be mentioned by way of the comparison . The lily grows quickly ; it often flourishes in the lowly valley ; and sometimes it springs up in the midst of thorns . But the outstanding point of resemblance is the fact that the lily grows in the beauty of a stainless purity -     " White , radiant , spotless , exquisitely pure ." And the Lord will so heal His backsliding child that the whiteness of his soul will rival that lustrous beauty . "Wash me ," said David , " and I shall be whiter than the snow .&

The glory of the cross of Christ produces powerful effects whereever it shines . . They who behold this glory are transformed into the same image (2 Cor,  3:18) It melts cold and frozen hearts , it breaks stony hearts , it pierces adamants , it penetrates through thich darkness . How justly it is called marvellous light . It gives to the blind to look to itself , and not only to the blind but to the dead . It is the light of life , a powerful light ; its energy is beyond the force of thunder , and is more tender than the dew on the tender grass . But it is impossible fully to describe all its effects , unless we could fully reckon up all the spiritual and eternal evils it prevents , all the riches of grace and glory it purchases , and all the divine perfections it displays . It has this peculiar to it , that as it is full of glory itself , it communicates glory to all that behold it aright . It gives them a glorious robe of righteousness ; their God is their glory ; it calls them to g

Let us be instructed where to look for the cure and rectification of all the evils which afflict the church in our day ! - to the love of the Spirit . By our misimprovement and abuse of our privileges , by our unchristian temper and carriage , by our worldly spirit and untender conversation , we have provoked the Spirit to withdraw from us , and the consequence has been that the glory has departed from our Israel , and ordinances have become in a great measure inefficacious and unsuccessful . " Who hath believed our report , and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ?" Who is convinced of sin ? Who cries out , "What must I do to be saved ?"Who receives the word gladly ?  Who brings forth fruit to perfection ?  Where are the fruits of the gospel , even where it is purely preached ? " Woe is me ! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits , as the grape gleanings of the vintage ; there is no cluster to eat ; my soul desired the first ripe fru

The Psalms are often said to be deficient as a vehicle of evangelical truth and Christian feeling . Scarcely any charge could be more unfounded . The Psalms are full of Christ . When He himself first tasted the joy of His incarnation , and set His face upon the steep but pleasant path of obedience which ended in Joseph's tomb , He found the words which best described the willingness of His heart in the Book of Psalms . When He gave expression again to those awful sufferings which culminated in the agony of His dereliction , it was in the same portion of the sacred volume that He sought the fitting medium of utterance . And , on the other hand , when an inspired apostle seeks , in the Epistle to the Hebrews , to declare the glory and honour which the risen Saviour received from the hand of His Father as the reward of His redemptive service , it is to the Book of Psalms that He turns for the terms that most appropriately unfold the splendour of the Mediatorial Throne . Again , when

These words contain a promise of strength that will be continued to the end of life . It is strength according to our "days "- the use of the plural is significant . The word embraces the number of our days as well as their quality . In other words the Lord gives the assurance that He will sustain His people to the end . This is the crowning assurance of the Gospel , for it puts the seal of permenance on all other blessings of salvation . As the years pass away , the beleiver becomes conscious of failing powers . His eye becomes dim , and his natural force is abated . But although the outward man yields to the withering touch of time , the inward man is renewed day by day . The heart is sustained in hopeful;ness and courage , and the spirit triumphs over the infirmities of the flesh . The Lord will never forsake His peoplle , He will abide with them all their days , and at last , when the pilgrimage of life is ended , He will bring them safe home to be with Himself forever .

Let us contend against that unbelief whereby the glory of God is darkened , and his fulness , as it were annihilated. If we reflect on the inward workings of our minds , - if we apply ourselves to look into our minds , - we will find great darkness in them ; so that , when we attempt to meditate upon God , we have no right apprehensions of him ; and we do not realise , in Divine things , a weight sufficient to outweigh all the joys and fears of this world , and to cause them to vanish away . The reason of this is , that we do not enter into just views of the glory of God ; and while we continue under this darkness , we are in danger of being deceived by the misrepresentations of unbelief concerning him ;- and are ready to believe , that there is nothing more in him that what we see. This is the case with all those that are in an unconverted state . After they have applied themselves to such thoughts for some time , and cannot attain to any satisfaction ; they are ready just to let the

Those who are sincere in their profession of religion , are distinguished from hypocrites in this respect , that they entertain a particular solicitude and concern to have matters made sure between God and their souls ; whereas hypocrites , although they do not wish to appear to themselves or others under the character of the enemies of God , still they do not want to come near to him , or into close dealing with him . . They want to preserve a kind of half - religion , which will quiet their consciences and keep them at ease ; they do not truly desire to be brought under the bond of the covenant . For , although everything in the covenant of grace is highly sweetened and seasoned with the love of God ; yet this love is of so pure and exalted a nature , that the heart of the hypocrite cannot bear the splendour of its beams . It is a very important part of that dignity to which the children of God are exalted , and a part of their conformity to Jesus Christ , that they are permitted to

There are seasons when the soul is truly influenced and led by the Spirit of God . The deceitfulness of the heart is not to be understood of its actings under the influence of the Holy Ghost . The saints are taught in Scripture , to rest and depend upon those things which are truly wrought in them by the Spirit of God . So it is said , 1 John 2 :27 "  But the annointing , which 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 and even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in him ."Here the soundness and sufficiency of those things which the renewed soul has experienced , under the influence of the Holy Ghost , are clearly asserted . Still the deceit of the heart is apt to mingle itself with these actings , although they are under the influence of the Spirit of God ; but the farther the people of God press into these things - the more clearly and distinctly

The true people of God love those things in Jesus Christ ,which are offensive to the natural corruption of the human heart ; such as his sovereignty and justice . To hypocritical professors , the sovereignty and justice  of God , in permitting his creatures to fall into sin , appear hateful ; because of any love they may have to Christ is wholly of an interested kind . They do not love him for what he is in himself ; and so,when his interest and theirs come into collision , they cannot endure that their own interest should give way to his . They think it unreasonable and cruel that creatures should be allowed to fall , and punished forever ; and that his glory should be displayed in their punishment .But those who have truly seen the glory of Christ , have a desire for the manifestation of it , even although it should be at the cost of the creature's happiness ; and in some cases the true people  of God will feel this so strongly , as that they will desire that his glory should be

"I know that , as night and shadows are good for flowers , and moonlight and dews are better than a continual sun , so is Christ's absence of a special use , and it hath more nourishing virtue in it , and giveth sap to humility , and putteth an edge on hunger , and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself , and to exercise its fingers in gripping it seeth not what" . Samuel Rutherford

The makers and worshippers of images pretend to help us by pictures presented to the eye of the body . But it is not the eye of sense or force of imagination , but the eye of faith , that can give us true notions and right conceptions of this object (2 Cor .5:16 ) Men may paint Christ's outward sufferings , but not the inward excellency from whence their virtues flowed ,viz, his glory in himself , and his goodness to us . Men may paint one crucified ; but how can they distinguish the Saviour from the criminals ? On each side of him we may paint his hands and his feet fixed to the cross ; but who can paint how these hands used always to be stretched forth for relieving the afflicted and curing the diseased ; or hoe these feet always went about doing good , and how they cure more diseases and do more good now than ever ? We may paint the outward appearance of his sufferings , but not the inward bitterness or invisible causes of them . Men may paint the cursed tree , but not the curs

Strange Piety

The Christian and the carnal man are most wonderful to each other . The one wonders to see the other walk so strictly , and deny himself the carnal liberties that the most take .....And the Christian thinks it strange that man be so bewitched , and still remain children to the vanity of their turmoil , wearying and humouring themselves from morning till night , running after stories and fancies , and ever busy doing nothing ; wonders that the delights of earth and sin can so long entertain and please men , and persuade them to give Jesus Christ so many refusals  -  to turn from their life and happiness, and choose to be miserable , yea , and take much pains to make themselves miserable ..Robert Leighton

The precepts of the law are just and good . Now , what are the precepts of the divine law ? They are very numerous , for the law is "very broad ," and reaches to every part of man's nature  - regulating his opinions , his dispositions , his actions , in all the variety of relation and circumstances in which he can be placed . But numerous as are its requisitions , we have a complete summary of them in the following very comprehensive words ," Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and soul , and strength , and mind . This is the first and great commandment ; and the second is like unto it , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ."         Now , are not both these commandments right.? Would there not be an obvious violation of right if they were otherwise than they are ? Is it not right to love , to love supremely , Him who is supremely lovely , who is infinitely kind ; to fear supremely him who is supremely venerable , possessed as he is , of

We need to beware of a false peace , and of a religion that is easily attained ; a religion without a thorough conviction of the plagues of the heart ; without a conviction of the sovereignty of God , and of the freedom of grace ; and without a view of the Person and excellency of Jesus Christ . We may learn farther , the difference that there is between the common and saving convictions of the Spirit of God .Let us beware of resting in common convictions, or of mistaking them for such as are saving . The work of the Spirit is not all of a saving nature ; but there is a peculiar kind of conviction , which is a sure token of salvation , wherever it is wrought . The sinner is brought under the saving ,convincing work of the Spirit of God to the disposition where he is made to let go all his hopes through the law , and that , just when brought to the last step of preparation - just at the moment when Christ is about to break in upon his soul . fot his eternal salvation . John Love

Let an offender against the laws of the country be put to death ; the judge may be said to have occasioned his death , for he condemned him ; the jury , for they found him guilty ; the executioner , for he deprived him of his life ; and more properly , the man's own crimes , for he died the victim of his crimes . Now turn to the Lord Jesus Christ . Herod crucified him ; and who besides? The transgressions that He died for . And whose were they ? Not His own , for the judge who condemned Him found Him innocent . They were ours . " He was wounded for our transgressions ; He was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ;" and we therefore have slain Him

Genesis 15:1. " Fear not Abram : I am thy shield , and thy exceeding great reward."    God is at once both a rewarder , and a reward to those whose hearts are towards him . He is rewarded by communicating himself , and by not giving rewards alien and diverse from himself . And it is necessary that we be assured , that he both is , and that he is in this sense a rewarder , as being in himself the highest excellency or the supreme or best Good .

The glory of the cross of Christ , which we are chiefly to esteem , is the glory of God's infinite perfections displayed in the workof redemption , as the apostle expresses it , the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2Cor 4:6). Even of Christ crucified(1 Cor 2:2)It is this which makes any other object glorious ,according as it manifests more or less of the of the perfections of God . This is what makes the works of creation so glorious ; the heavens declare God's glory , and the firmament his handiwork .And we are inexcusable for not making more pains to contemplate God's perfections in them , his almighty power and incomprehensible wisdom , and particularly his infinite goodness . But the effects of Divine goodness , in the works of creation, are only temporal favours ; the favours purchased to us by the cross of Christ are eternal . . Besides , although the works of creation plainly show that God is in himself good , yet they show also that God is just , and that

That which we do know and believe , makes an impression on us only as it is improved by our thoughts , as it is considered , or not considered . A great many things lie asleep in our souls , and signify nothing to us , for want of actual thought . At certain times and seasons , therefore we should say to ourselves , " Well , I now go on purpose , and sit down and meditate upon God . This shall be the business of the present hour . " For nothing can with higher rights lay claim to our entire thoughts than the Author of all. John Howe

It is too plain and sad truth that men have unhappily learned to diminish God to themselves , and make everything of Him seem little . But when he represents his love himself ( for who but God can represent the love of God ? He only can tell the story of his own love) that evil is provided against . He shall manifest it so as it shall be understood ; and set it off to the best advantage . He will make it known how great a thing it is to be beloved of  him . And when he gives that blessed salutation " Hail , thou that art highly favoured ! O thou that art greatly beloved !" he will withal bespeak and procure a suitable knowledge of it .................John Howe

It is a matter full of danger , and upon tremendous consequences depend , to go on in any practice , or in any neglect , against a conviction of judgement and conscience . For your own heart and conscience must condemn you if you consider , and it betrays you if you consider not . How fearful for a man it is to carry his own doom in his own bosom ! to go up and down the world with a self-condemning heart , if it be awake , and which , if it be not , yet cannot sleep always , and must awake with a greater terror at length . And in so plain a case it is most certainly God's deputy, and speaks his mind ; " If our hearts condemn us , God is greater than our hearts,"&c. 1 John 3:20.

There is certainly one thing in which adversity yields gain to godly men , since it calls away their affections from the earth and from earthly things , or even wrests them off while pertinaciously adhering to them . " It is expedient , doubtless , that they should experience hardships here , lest they should like this poor lodging as if it were their own home ." They should as if they are 'strangers and pilgrims upon earth ' , that they may more frequently and with more ardent longing , sigh for their fatherland , and very often repeat it , Home ! Dear Home ! Best Home ! For the sons and heirs of the kingdom must be weaned by this wormwood , lest , allured by the blandishments of the flesh , and the poisoned sweetness of the world , they barter away those true and pure joys of their blessed hope for these false , and foul and fatal joys ; and lest the heavenly soul , being subjugated should give way to pleasures and be overmastered by the flesh , the pernicious root

Love in the creature ever presupposeth some good , true or apparent in the thing loved , by which that affection of union is drawn . But the love of God on the contrary , causeth all good to be produced in the creature . He first loveth us in the free purpose of His Will , and thence worketh good for us and in us . And hence come 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 although we may be comforted as we observe 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 "  John Robinson

The Psalmist's advice is , Commune with your own heart , speak to yourselves , which few certainly do , for you will the most of men in no place so rarely as in company with themselves . But it is my desire that you should be on terms of closest intimacy with your own selves , and , as becomes students , stay at home , dwell with and speak often with yourselves . Seriously consider , To what purpose do I live ? Whither am I going ? Ask thyself " Hast thou any end or purpose thou pursuest , and in what direction the bow is aimed ?"These things which I have embraced for the Christian faith , and so often heard , about a future world , about eternal life and death , whether they are true or false ? If they be true , as we all undoubtedly profess to believe they are , then certainly , the greatest affairs of this world are vain , and lighter even than vanity itself ; our pleasures bitter , and our honour vile and dishonourable . O, how ignorant men covetous of glory are , as

Most mens faith is but opionative , and many men's never reaches  so high as to a rational opinion ; that proceeds upon having balanced considerations on both sides , and inclines to that part on which there seems to be the most weighty ; whereas the faith ( as they call it ) of too many is no other thing than a merely blind and sequacious humour , grounded on nothing but a willingness to be in fashion ; or the apprehension of disgrace , with other inconveniences , if where that is the common profession one should profess to be anything but a Christian ; or a lazy indifferency easily determinable to that part which is next at hand to be chosen ; or it may be , they never having heard of any other profession - which precludes any choice at all .   John Howe.(1630-1705)

Into how profound an abyss is a man cast at the thought of it ! How doth it overwhelm and swallow up his mind and his whole soul ! With what satisfaction and delight must he see himself comprehended of what he finds he can never comprehend ! For contemplating the self - existing Being , he finds it eternally , necessarily , never not existing !  He can have no thought of the self existing Being , as such , but as always existing , as having existed always , as always certain to exist . Inquiring into the spring and source of this Being's existence , Whence is it that it doth exist ? His own notion of a self existing Being , which is not arbitrarily taken up , but which the reason of things hath imposed upon him , gives him his answer , and it can be no other , in that it is a self existing Being ; it hath it of itself , that it doth exist . It is an eternal , everlasting , Spring and Fountain of perpetually existent being to itself. What a glorious excellency of being is this ! Wh

Your faith has many a victory to gain . Faith is a battle - a mighty warfare . It is a fight against all that is natural to you , against everything around you , that you may live on Christ alone . Faith is a trampling upon all , a despising and hating of all that comes between you and a fully revealed Christ , a suffering the loss of all things to win Christ , and to be found in Him . Be not surprised to find obstructions in the walk of faith . You will find them every hour . It is no slight grasp that must be taken of the kingdom of heaven in order to make a man safe amid the ruin and wreck of a perishing world . Believe me , it is not with folded hands and drowsy consciences , and hearts full of the cares of this life , but by denying ourselves , taking up the cross , bearing the reproach , and by following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth , that we shall enter the kingdom.

Nothing that is good can exist which God did not will to be , and nothing that is evil can exist which God did not will to allow . The will of God goes before all other wills ; it does not depend on them , but they depend on it .  Its movements regulate them . The " I will " of Jehovah is the spring and origen of of all that is done throughout the universe , great and small , among things animate and inaminate . It was this " I will " that brought angels into being and still sustains them . It was this "I will " that was the origin of salvation to a lost world . It was this " I will " that provided a redeemer and accomplished redemption . It was this "I will " that begins ,carries on and ends salvation in each soul that is redeemed . It is this "I will " that opens the blind eye and unstops the deaf ear .  It was this "I will that awakens the slumberer and raises the dead . I do not mean that , merely generally speaking

Sinners from ignorance of the supreme majesty of the government of God , have such high views of their own importance , as to imagine , that God will not inflict the punishment which he has threatened in His holy Word ; but that they shall meet with indulgence , and that He will show some respect to them .  In this way they think that God is altogether like themselves , not considering that He is a great King , and that the greatest of creatures are as nothing before Him , for he made them all for his own glory ; and his glory he will not lose

Perhaps God designs to deepen your humility . Thankfulness to God rises highest in the happy days of spiritual joy ; but humility is often strengthened most in the dark hours of spiritual distress . Then when the Christian sees utter unworthiness clinging to all he is , and all he does ; then when he discerns such a world of iniquity in his heart , that the sight surprises and alarms his soul ; thenit is , that he sinks into the depths of self - abasement , and feels that salvation is all of grace . Perhaps you need to sink there , to strip you of spiritual pride , or to wean you from all self dependence , and to make you feel your utter helplessness , wretchedness and ruin . Something of this the Christian learns when he is convinced of sin , and enters the way of religion by receiving the Saviour ; but the important lesson is often taught him more impressively in the dark day of spiritual sorrow , than in the hours of his early penitence .

(4) Faith

It is far more needful for us to have our spirits humbled under the cross , than to have the cross removed . The removal of the cross is needful only for the ease of the flesh , the humbling for the profit of our souls , to purify them , and bring them into a state of health and cure .The humbling of the spirit will have a mighty good effect on a crossed lot , but the removal of the cross will have none on an unhumbled spirit . The humbling will lighten the cross mightily for a time , and in due time carry it cleanly off. But the removal of the cross is not a means to humble the unhumbled ; though it may prevent irritation , yet the disease still remains . Think how dangerous and hopeless a case it is to have the cross removed before the spirit is humbled ; that is , to have means of cure pulled away and blocked up from us , while the power of the disease is yet unbroken ; to be taken off trials before we have given any good proof of ourselves , and so to be given over to our Physici

Humility is a part of the image of God . Pride is the master-piece of the image of the devil . Let us view him who was the express image of the Father's person , and we shall behold Him meek and lowly in heart , Matthew 11 29. None more afflicted , yet His spirit perfectly brought down to His lot . Isaiah 53 :7 "He was oppressed , and He was afflicted , yet He opened not His mouth ." That is a shining part of the Divine image ; for although God cannot be low in respect of His state and condition , yet He is of infinite condescension , Isaiah 57 :15 . None bears as He , nor suffers patiently so much contradiction to His will ; which is proposed to us for our encouragement in affliction  , as it shone in Christ . " For consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself , lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds ."Hebrew 12: 3 .      Pride on the other hand is the very image of the devil , 1 Timothy3:6 . Shall we value ourselves on the heigh

There is but one answer to that question . No one can . The very angels veil their faces before the insufferable glory of his face . "The first born sons of light Desire in vain his depths to see ; They cannot reach the mystery , The length , the breadth , the height." Do not be surprized then , if there should be matters in the Bible , in your own life , and in the Providential government of the world , which baffle your thought . Remember , you are only a little child in an infant class, and it is not likely that you can comprehend the whole system of your instructor . God would cease to be God for us , if by searching we could find Him out . But though we cannot find out God by the searching of the intellect , we may know him by love . " He that loveth , knoweth God , for God is Love ."There is a way of knowing God ,which is hidden from the wise and prudent , and revealed to babes . Seek to strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man . Let Christ

Our life must be to a large extent be a mystery , our peace pass understanding , and our motives be hidden . The sources of our supply , the ground of our confidence , the reasons for our actions , must evade the most searching scrutiny of those who stand outside the charmed circle of the face of God ; as it is written , "Eye hath not seen , nor ear heard ......what God hath prepared ."  We all ought to have secrets which the world cannot penetrate . Doubt your religion if it all lies on the surface , and if men are able to calculate to a nicety the considerations by which you are actuated. We must be prepared to be misunderstood and criticised , because our behaviour is determined by facts which the princes of the world know not . We do not look up to the hills , because we look beyond them to God ; we do not trust in silver or gold , or human resource , because God is our confidence . We cannot but seem eccentric to the world , because we have found another centre , and ar

"Brethren , if any man be overtaken in a fault , ye who are spiritual , restore such a one in the spirit of meekness , considering thyself , lest thou also be tempted ."   Although the world at once rejoices when it sees one single stain upon a Christian , a single speck of rust upon the highly polished steel , - seek rather to be guided by a charitable spirit , which " rejoiceth not in iniquity , but rejoiceth in the truth ,which beareth all things , believeth all things , hopeth all things , endureth all things .". And even if your love be as imperfect as the faith and piety of Moses , still , my fellow Christians , raise your heads aloft and view the heavenly Canaan , whose gates will not be shut against you for your daily stumbling , but if you confess your falls each day , before the Lord , in all sincerity of heart . Within God's heavenly city , stumbling is a thing unknown ; and sin has been forever banished from the living waters that flow out from the

Isaiah 45 9 .  We hear much of what man does and can do and ought to do . But we by no means hear so much of what God is doing and has purposed to do . Man's agency stands very prominently out to view . God's arm and power are hidden . It seems almost as if man would thrust God aside , and take the reins of government out of His hands and be to himself a god . Man gets great credit for doing and saying great things . God gets little glory . The position of the sinner , as the receiver of salvation ( and every blessing connected with it in this life and the life to come , ) is denied . And man is exalted to be a co-operator with God in the matter of salvation . He begins the work by becoming willing , and God ends it . He does what he can , and God does the rest . He is represented as helping God to save him . Or rather, we should say that God is represented as helping man to save himself !  In the old creation God did it all . But in the new creation , as it is a far more stup

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Man was not created for himself , and to be his own end ; he therefore that does chiefly at his own satisfaction in anything , is not a new creature ; he has his old deformed end into which he sunk by the fall . But grace carries a man higher , and reduces all to God , and to his well pleasing . Col 1. 9 10, the apostle desires they may be " filled with the knowledge of the will " of God that they may "worthy of the Lord , unto all well pleasing ." The very first motion of this new principle is towards God ; as the first appearance of a living seed in the ground is towards heaven ; there it casts its look , from whence its life came . What the new creature receives is from God ; 1 Thes, 2.13 , "They received it as the wqord of God ,"and therefore what he does is for God .      Stephen Charnock

A boat rows against the stream ; the current punishes it . So is a nation violating a law of God ; it is subject to a judgement . The boat turns and goes with the stream ; the stream assists it . So is a nation which has repented and put itself into harmony with God's law ; it is subject to a blessing . But the current is the same ; it has not changed , only the boat has changed its relationship to the current . Neither does God change - we change ; and the same law which executed itself in punishment now expresses itself in reward . Thomas Brooks

I would here suggest the remarkable contrast between the testimony set up in Eden , and which is set up now .Then , when all around was life , God spoke of death ; now , on the contrary when all around is death , God speaks of life ; then the word "in the day thou eatest thou shalt die ;"    "now the word is believe and live ;" And as in Eden , the enemy sought to make void God's testimony , as to the result of eaating the fruit , so now , he seeks to mahe God's testimony as to the result of believing the Gospel . God had said " In the day that thou eatest thereof , thou shalt surely die . But the serpent said , Ye shall not surely die ."And now , when God's word plainly declares that " he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ",The same serpent seeks to persuade people that they have not everlasting life , nor should they presume to think of such a thing , until they have , first , done felt , and experienced all manner of

If the Lord will have Zion ploughed as a field, and her goodly stones laid in the dust ; if it be his pleasure that Antichrist shall rage yet longer , and wear out the saints of the most High; if it be his will that a day of trouble , and of treading down , and of perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts shall be upon the valley of vision , that the wicked shall devour the man that is more righteous than he , what are we that we should contest with God ? Fit it is that we should be resigned up to that will whence we proceeded , and that he that made us should dispose of us as he pleaseth; he might do what seemeth him good without our consent ; doth poor man stand upon equal ground , that he should capitulate with his creator, or that God should render him an account of any of his matters ? It is every way as reasonable we be content , however God dispose of us , that we be obedient to whatever he commands us . Stephen Charnock

As men advance in the divine life , zeal becomes purer ; it has less of natural emotion in it , and more of God's grace .And , whenever a Christian begins to languish and fall away , the first flower that the wind of temptation nips , is zeal . Pray then , for us , and for yourselves that we may endure , shall I say , for a little longer , a few years , or many years  ? No ; it is to the end that we must endure . This is not the language of our own hearts , the flesh is always crying out , "Stop now , stop now !"Yes , it a very comfortable sound in mens ears , when he is worn out and weary ; and a man might begin to think about obeying it , if another voice did not contradict the lie , if God did not say " He that shall endure to the end , the same shall be saved ," Alas , we know too well what decays of zeal are ; and now that in the gracious providence of God to labour in the ingathering of souls , may it be to act boldly , and to enter in , by the door of Em

Grace is more than mercy and love , it superadds to them . It denotes , not simply love , but the love of a sovereign , transendently superior , one that may do what he will , that may wholly choose whether he will love or no . There may be love between equals , and an inferior may love a superior , but love in a superior , and so superior that he may do what he will , in such a one  love is called grace ; and therefore grace is attributed to princes ; they are said to be gracious to their subjects , whereas subjects cannot be gracious to to princes . Now God , who is an infinite Sovereign , who might have chosen whether He would ever love us or no , for Him to love us , that is grace . Thomas Goodwin

What is prosperity? Is it the threads of life woven into a bright tissue ? a full cup - ample riches - worldly applause - an unbroken circle ? Nay,,  these are often a snare - received without gratitude - dimming the soul to nobler destinies . Often , spiritually , it rather means God taking us by the hand into the Valley of Humiliation ; leading us as He did his servant Job of old , out of his sheep , oxen , camels , health , wealth , children , in order that we may be brought to lie before Him in the dust and say , "Blessed be His name ."

The Christian should \regard himself as the channel through the manifold grace of Christ may flow out to a needy world ; and the more frequently he communicates , the more freely will he receive , "for there is that scattereth , and yet increaseth and there  is that witholdeth more than is meet , and it tendeth to poverty ."This places the believer in a place of sweetest privilege , and , at the same time , of the most solemn responsibility. He is called to be the constant witness and exhibitor of the grace of Him on whom he believes .     Nopw the more he enters into the privilege , the more he will answer the responsibility. If he is habitually feeding upon Christ , he cannot avoid exhibiting him. The more the Holy Spirit keeps the Christian's eyes fixed on  Jesus , the more will his heart be occupied with His adorable Person , and his life and character bear unequivocal testimony to His grace . Faith is , at once , the power of ministry , the power of testimony , and

When the soul has been made alive , what follows ? " I spread my skirt over thee , and covered thy nakedness; yea ,I sware unto thee , saith the Lord God , and thou becamest mine ." Ezekiel 16  : 8. The poor sinner needs such a covering ; for at the same time when God comes thus to give us a covering , your soul and mine are naked , having no kind of covering of our own by nature , but needing both to be washed and cleansed from iniquity by the Lord's own hand , and to be clothed from head to foot . Therefore when Jehovah thus gives life to a poor sinner , He leads him away to His dear Son's blood ; and once made white and clean there , He clothes the naked soul with the perfect righteousness of His Well- beloved . Nor does He stop there , He makes a full promise for time and for eternity , - "I sware unto thee , and entered into a covenant with thee , and thou becamest mine ." In the day in which God calls any sinner , He enters into a covenant with him ,

The 73rdPsalm , like the 7th chapter of Romans , is a specimen of spiritual autobiography . Cut out , at the crisis , a section of that self-history of a soul ; "So foolish was I and ignorant ; I was a beast before thee . Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand . Thou shalt guide me by the counsel , and afterwards receive me to glory ." Extremes meet here ; the l;owest and the highest touch each other . Within the compass of a few lines recording one man's experience , we find a humility which depresses him below the level of man ,and an honour which admits him into the presence of God . One moment the penitent feels himself to be brutish ; another, his glad forgiven spirit rises buoyant towards the throne like a flame of fire , or a ministering angel . These are the footsteps of the flock . It concerns us to know that we are on the same track ; for none other conducts us to safety . It is when a man is so purged of pride as to count

Looking at Adam and Eve as a type of Christ and the church, as scripture fully warrants us to do , we see how the death  of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact, before the church could be set up, though , in the purpose of God , she was looked at and chosen in Christ , before the foundation of the world . There is , however a vast difference between the secret purpose of God and the revelation and accomplishment thereof . Before the divine purpose could be actualised in reference to the constituent parts of the church, it was necessary that the Son should be rejected and crucified - that He should take his seat on high -that He should send down the Holy Ghost to baptise believers into one body.  It is not that souls were not quickened and saved previous to the death of Christ . They assuredly were . Adam was saved , and thousands of others , from age to age , in virtue of the sacrifice of Christ , though the sacrifice was not yet accomplished . But the salvation of individual sou

Should the Lord Jesus appear now to any of us in His majesty and glory , it would not be to our edification or consolation . For we are not meet nor able , by the power of any light or grace that we have received , or can receive , to bear the immediate appearance and representation of them . His beloved apostle John had leaned on His bosom probably many a time in his life , in the intimate familiarities of love , but when afterward He appeared to him in His glory , " he fell at His feet as dead. "  John Owen

As there was unsearchable wisdom in the words of Jesus Christ , so there was a depth of Divine wisdom in the whole nature of his actions . The works done by Christ , however plain and simple externally , were full of mystery ; and the glory of God appeared in the most ordinary actions performed by him . But the chief glory of his character was spiritual and internal ;- hid in his heart . It is only a little of this that can be searched into by men in this life , the light of eternity alone will unfold these hidden mysteries , which continually burned in secret , in the heart of Jesus Christ , before the eyes of God the Father . Men are slow of heart to understand spiritual things ; their minds are so carnal that they are not much affected , except by that which is material , and which can be percieved by bodily senses . To this state of things God has condescended to accommodate himself , in the revelation of his will ; and the wisdom and grace of Jesus Christ was manifested , in adap

Every converted soul,from the hour of its conversion, is commissioned to seek and to save that which was lost. Try, then ,to praise the Lord for this. Try to wonder at His goodness, that , instead of taking His dear children home , when first they come to Him , He leaves them in a world of enemies, that they may seek for sinners . He might transplant them at once to their eternal blessed home with Himself in glory, as soon as they had tasted of His love ; but He leaves them amidst sorrow and trial , in a vale of tears, that they may be examples , as Christ is to them ; nay more , He lays woe upon them if they preach not the Gospel. Ah! how much easier for them if , as soon as they could call Him Father , they were to reach their Father's house , and get the smile of his reconciled countenance  - if as soon as their souls were lighted at the Spirit's fire , they were allowed to burst forth into a flame of glory,with which redeemed souls shine in the kingdom above ,instead of ha

Some persons who have heard the Gospel , abandoned their vicious courses , and been enrolled as members of the church , and after a while openly returned to their former sins . The apostle betrays no faltering in dealing with the case ; he utters a certain sound . Although it was "knowledge of the Lord " that induced them at first to reform their lives , they had never been in true faith united to the Saviour . The fear of the Judge had driven them for a time from their indulgences , but the love of the Redeemer had not conclusively won them to hope and holiness . They dreaded Christ's judgement seat , but were not created again into His image . They fled in fear from the material food of their corrupt appetites , but carried their corrupt appetites away in alive in their breasts . When the terror passed the tastes revived , and , by a resistless instinct , devoured again the very abominations which they had cast out as evil .                      The sow was washed ; t