A Goodly Heritage

Prayer is an exercise far beyond our natural power, and demands the exercise of graces which can only be imparted by the Spirit of God; and this reflection, again, should direct us to look to the Spirit of all grace, and to implore his aid, as often as we come to the throne. We learn from it that God has made the most ample provision for our being restored to his communion and fellowship: for not only is he revealed as the hearer and the answerer of prayer, sitting on the throne of grace, and waiting to be gracious; and not only is Christ revealed as our advocate and intercessor, standing beside the throne, and ready to present our requests, perfumed with the incense of his own merits; but lest, when all outward impediments were removed, there might still remain some hindrance in our own hearts, the Holy Spirit is also revealed as ‘the Spirit of grace and supplication,' ‘who intercedeth for the saints according to the will of God'; and as this precious truth should encourag

"What is it to bring sin to Christ's cross, and to crucify it there?" I answer, it contains the following things: -- 1. To behold the sinfulness of sin in the death of Christ. You may see much of the evil of it by looking into the holy law, and observing its polluting effect upon your own hearts: but such sights of sin, by themselves, will not subdue it. Look upon the cross of Christ; behold him suffering, bleeding, dying, and under his Father's withdrawment for sin imputed to him: there you may look and wonder, look and mourn, look and raise your indignation against sin in the strongest manner. This will be a most effectual means of making you to be truly ashamed of it, and to mourn for it with a godly, an evangelical sorrow. 2. To account every indulged sin in you as crucifying the Son of God afresh. By giving way to iniquity, by harboring it in your bosoms, or by casting a pleasing glance upon the abominable thing, you are guilty, not only of breaking the

The  life  of Christianity consists very much in our  love  to Christ. Without love to Christ, we are as much without spiritual life—as a carcass when the soul is fled from it is without natural life. Faith without love to Christ is a dead faith, and a professor without love to Christ is a dead professor, dead in sins and trespasses. Without love to Christ we may have the  name  of Christians—but we are wholly without the  nature  of Christians. We may have the  form  of godliness—but are wholly without the  power  of godliness. "Give me your heart!" is the language of God to all people, Proverbs 23:26; and "Give me your love!" is the language of Christ to all His disciples. Christ knows the command and influence which love to Him, in the truth and strength of it, has; how it will engage all the other affections of His disciples for Him; that if He has their love, their  desires  will be chiefly after Him. Their  delights  will be chiefly in Him; their  hopes  a

 The soul is not now capable of the fullest and clearest manifestation of Christ. This is a happiness reserved for heaven. 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." John 17:24, "Father, I will that they also whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory which You have given Me." It is  hereafter  that Christ's disciples shall be perfectly like Christ, and shall have a perfect manifestation of Christ, that they shall see Him as He is. It is  hereafter  that they shall behold His glory. The luster and brightness of Christ's glory is so great that, should He now let forth the beams thereof upon them—it would dazzle and astound them; it would strike them blind. Yes, it would strike them dead. There is need, because of their weakness, that Christ should keep a  veil  on His face when

 It was the intent of God you should walk in a nobler manner than the rest of the world. Did God infuse into Adam a soul of a higher nature than that of beasts, to enable him to live only the life of beasts? God intended by the infusion of this new principle, that you should live above the sphere of humanity and the rate of man. How does the apostle chide the Christians because they did not advance above the life of mere man; and therefore gives them a title chiefly belonging to the unregenerate world: 1 Cor. iii. 3, 'Are you not carnal. and walk as men?' Our Saviour expects a more worthy carriage from his children than what barely nature can teach them. He would have them as God, and imitators of him, Mat. v. 44-47,

Justification is a relative change, whereby a man is brought from a state of guilt to a state of righteousness; from a state of slavery to a state of liberty; from the obligation of the covenant of works to the privilege of the covenant of grace; from being a child of wrath to be an heir of promise. Regeneration is a physical change, and real, as when a dead man is raised from death to life; it is a filling the soul with another nature, Eph. ii. 1, 'And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' The translators have inserted those words, 'has he quickened,' because those words are put in the 5th verse; but methinks the words refer better to the 23rd verse of the first chapter, speaking of Christ, 'who fills all in all,' and fills you too with a spiritual life; or he passes from the power of God in raising Christ, to his power in raising us. It is a change of nature, and of that nature whereby we are children of wrath, not only by the first sin

 Regeneration is a spiritual change, conversion is a spiritual motion. In regeneration there is a power conferred; conversion is the exercise of this power. In regeneration there is given us a principle to turn; conversion is our actual turning; that is the principle whereby we are brought out of a state of nature into a state of grace; and conversion the actual fixing on God, as the  terminus ad quem . One gives  posse agere , the other  actu agere . [1.] Conversion is related to regeneration, as the effect to the cause. Life precedes motion, and is the cause of motion. In the covenant, the new heart, the new spirit, and God's putting his Spirit into them, is distinguished from their walking in his statutes, Ezek. xxxvi. 27, from the first step we take in the way of God, and is set down as the cause of our motion: 'I will cause you to walk in my statutes.' In renewing us, God gives us a power; in converting us, he excites that power. Men are naturally dead, and have a st

"It may be a use of a great deal of encouragement to all the ministers of God to preach to people. It may be that sometimes even they are discouraged, and think to themselves, "Lord, how hard are the hearts of men, and how difficult it is to work upon the hearts of men! I have labored with all my might. I have studied and sought to invent all the arguments I possibly could, the most moving arguments that I could possibly imagine. When I have been in my study, I have thought to myself, 'Surely if the Lord is pleased to bless these truths that I am to deliver, they will work upon the hearts of people.'" And when it comes to the preaching of that sermon, perhaps the minister finds that they are not at all stirred one whit. "Why, Lord, what shall I do then? I cannot think ever to speak things that are more powerful than those that I have spoken, and those have done no good. Therefore I am afraid I shall never do good." "Oh, no, do not say so and d

It may be thought strange that two elements so diverse as  legality  and  lawlessness  should meet in the same person, for while it is true that the one  predominates  much more than the other in different men—yet the roots of both are found in everyone, and the Christian needs to watch against each alike. The explanation of this anomaly we believe is this: Truth is twofold, and as the heart of man is radically opposed by nature to the Truth—his antagonism thereto breaks forth in two distinct directions. This was exemplified by our Lord when He said, "To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other: We played the flute for you, but you did not dance; we sang a lament, but you did not weep!" (Luke 7:31, 32). Neither the one nor the other suited them; they despised both alike. The twofoldness of Divine Truth is broadly illustrated by the dividing of God'

It is, then, both awakening and alarming to reflect how far a person may go in outward profession, and yet be a hypocrite with God; an almost Christian; "a castaway." If the new creature in Christ Jesus can be so counterfeited, as to deceive for a time the children of God, whose judgment is always guided by that charity which hopes all things; how ought I to examine into the principles, motives, and springs of my own actions, lest, after having made a profession before men, I should be rejected as "reprobate silver" in that day, when "the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is!" Ohwhat need there is for sifting ourselves! "Blessed Lord, make me an humble, sincere disciple. Let me not covet after gifts, so much as graces; and after divine gifts, only that I may be useful to others, and glorify you. I may live in the bustle of religious institutions, while devoid of religious affections. I may be able to advocate thecause of Christ, wh

There are two fatal errors, which, it is to be feared, abound among professing Christians. The one, which considers divine grace as disrobed of its glory, by insisting upon the necessity of human endeavors in the great work of salvation. The other, which declares as injurious to morality, the emphasis that is laid upon the absolute necessity of divine grace to the production of every thing that is spiritually good in any man.  The truth embraces both these propositions: that is, the absolute need of divine grace, without which "nothing is holy;" and the absolute necessity of human endeavors, since God works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Though salvation be all of grace, yet God is pleased to work by means. A Paul must plant, an Apollos water, while God gives the increase. The husbandman deposits his seed in the ground, yet God alone can crown his labors with an abundant harvest. To depend upon the divine blessing, without using the means which Infinite W

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and the perfection of glory in the world to come will only intensify its exercise. “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18) but it is the fear of torment, not that of reverence and adoration. “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, O King of the nations: who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been made manifest” (Revelation 15:3,4). God’s dread majesty can never be dissolved and neither can the sense of it in those who serve him. The deeper the apprehension of God’s glory the more enhanced will be our wonderment. It will not be the wonderment of perplexity or horror but of reverential and exultant adoration. The fear of God could be nothing less than the soul of rectitude. It is the apprehension of God’s glory that constrains the fear of his name. It is that same glory that c

How awful is the declaration of the royal Psalmist! "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." Sin is a dreadful evil, under whatever guise it may appear; whether in the loose attire of wickedness, in the brazen armor of profaneness, in the fringed garment of pharisaical pride, or in the rough clothing of sanctimonious austerity. Sin is an infinite evil, whose extent cannot be measured; its malignant nature may be ascertained by the poisonous fruits which it daily produces in the world; and by those tremendous denunciations of wrath, which are revealed against it in the word of God.  But if we would learn what an evil and bitter thing sin really is, we must go to Mount Calvary, and there contemplate the amazing price which Jesus, the eternal Son of God, paid to infinite Justice for our redemption, when he himself became the High Priest—the Victim—and the Altar.  "Oh blessed Savior! give me faith to behold this great sight with a broken,

Fear is a most powerful passion in the human breast. Its natural effect is painful; hence we instinctively fly from every thing which excites its agitating influence. Our minds are easily wrought upon by sensible objects, or imaginary evils; while those which are remote or unapprehended give us little concern.  If we receive the alarm of some approaching danger, how readily do we magnify the dreaded calamity beyond its real extent. Some people, indeed, are so bold and daring, that they seem to rise above the influence of every fear, and to face danger and even death in all its forms, with a coolness and intrepidity which are truly astonishing. Yet, in general, this natural passion operates in almost every case of serious apprehension but one, which of all others should awaken its sensibility.  We can fear almost any thing more than the wrath of God; and any event more than approaching death and judgment. Strange infatuation and obduracy! An unregenerate man will sit unmoved and unawed

1. The world could not make itself; for that would imply a horrible contradiction, namely, that the world was before it was; for the cause must always be before its effect. That which is not in being, can have no production; for nothing can act before it exists. As nothing has no existence, so it have no operation. There must therefore be something which has existence in itself, to give a being to those things that are; and every second cause must be an effect of some other before it be a cause. To be and not to be at the same time, is a manifest contradiction, which would infallibly take place if any thing made itself. That which makes is always before that which is made, as is obvious to the most illiterate peasant. If the world were a creator, it must be before itself as a created thing. 2. The production of the world could not be by chance. It was indeed the extravagant fancy of some ancient philosophers, that the original of the world was from a fortuitous concourse of atoms,

What most clearly foretold the ascension of Christ to heaven is in Psalm 68:18, which is quoted by the apostle Paul and applied to the ascension of Christ (Ephesians 4:8-10), and all the parts of it agree with him.  Jesus  is the Lord that was among the angels in Sinai, who spoke to Moses there; and from whom he received the oracles of God to give to Israel. He is the God of salvation, the author of it to his people. And of him it may be truly said, that he "ascended on high," far above all heavens, the visible heavens, the starry heavens, and into the third heaven, the more glorious seat of the divine Majesty. Jesus has led "captivity captive" - either those who had been prisoners in the grave, but freed by him, and who went with him to heaven, or the enemies of his people who have led them captive. The allusion is to leading captives in triumph for victories obtained. Christ "received," upon his ascension, "gifts for men," and, as the apo

As our great example in prayer, our Lord puts love as a primary condition—a love that has purified the heart from all the elements of hate, revenge, and ill will. Love is the supreme condition of prayer, a life inspired by love. The 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians is the law of prayer as well as the law of love. The law of love is the law of prayer, and to master this chapter from the epistle of St. Paul  is to learn the first and fullest condition of prayer. Christ taught us also to approach the Father in His name. That is our passport. It is in His name that we are to make our petitions known. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater  works  than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask Me anything in My name, that will I do.” How wide and comprehensive is that “whatsoever.” There is no li

At the ninth verse of this chapter,( Song of Solomon 5)you have a question put forth by the daughters of Jerusalem, "What is your beloved more than another beloved?" The spouse answers, "He is the chief among ten thousand." She then recounts many of the things she finds so excellent in her beloved and then concludes with these words that I have read: "Yes, he is altogether lovely." The words set forth the transcendent loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and naturally resolve themselves into three parts: 1. Who he is. 2. What he is. 3. What he is like. First,  Who he is : the Lord Jesus Christ, after whom she had been seeking, for whom she was overcome by love; concerning whom these daughters of Jerusalem had enquired: whom she had struggled to describe in his particular excellencies. He is the great and excellent subject of whom she here speaks. Secondly,  What he is , or what she claims of him: That he is a lovely one. The Hebrew word, wh

One  of the peculiar features of prayer as we study the Old Testament on this subject is the faith of unrighteous and backslidden men in prayer, and the great confidence they had in the prayers of praying men of that day. They knew certain men as men of prayer, who believed in God, who were favored of God and who prayed unto God. They recognized these men as having influence with God in averting wrath and in giving deliverance from evil. Frequently when in trouble, when God’s wrath was threatened and even when there were visitations of evil upon them for their iniquities, they showed their faith in prayer by appealing to the men who prayed, to beg God to avert His displeasure and turn aside His wrath against them. Recognizing the value of prayer as a divine agency to save men, they made application to the men who prayed, to intercede with God for them. It is one of the strange paradoxes of those early days that while people departed from God, and went into grievous sin, they