A Goodly Heritage

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 .&