A Goodly Heritage

"But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." Genesis 19:26 How wondrous is God's mercy to the children of His love! It is ever tender, and it never fails. By gentle constraint angels draw Lot beyond the walls of Sodom. They set him in the plain. They urge him forward--"Escape for your life--look not behind you." Genesis 19:17. Thus mercy impels him and gives counsel. "Look not behind you." He obeys, and safely enters into Zoar. He witnesses not the descent of wrath on the doomed plain. His feelings are not racked by contemplation of the overthrow. The writhing misery is behind him. But in Zoar he looks around. He sees not his wife. He tarries, but she comes not. He searches, and what meets his eye? A pillar stands where she had halted. Her figure is transformed to salt! Do we inquire the cause of this woe? The faithful monitor replies, "But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." Why did she hesita...

Prof. Graham. I remember a story connected with my native place. One of the most saintly of men lived there, Dr. Andrew Symington, a Cameronian minister, Professor of Theology to the Reformed Presbyterian body who represented the old Scottish Covenanters. He was one day walking down the streets of Paisley, and when he came to the Cross there was a knot of men lounging there, among whom was a sort of ruling spirit, a man who liked to scoff at spiritual matters, and at people who lived a spiritual life. Dr. Symington was passing through the group, with his grave, tender look, and as he passed by the crowd, with the scoffing man in their midst, an awe and silence came upon them. He went on; and the man who scoffed just looked after him and whispered, "Enoch walked with God!" What a sermon to preach! and yet the good man never knew it! (Prof. Graham.)

"Beloved of God, called to be saints." Romans 1:7 The very word "saint" has become, through man's perverseness and wickedness, a word of reproach and contempt. But God will honor it, let men dishonor it as they please. God has put a crown of glory upon it, let men despise it as they may. There is no privilege or blessing that God can confer so great and glorious as to crown you with the title of 'saint'. He might have given you titles without number; he might have showered riches upon your head in the greatest profusion; rank, fame, talent, beauty, health--all might have been poured at your feet; but what would all these be compared to making you a saint of God? But what is it to be a saint? It is to be sanctified by God the Father, set apart for himself, to show forth his praise. It is to be washed in the atoning blood and clothed in the justifying righteousness of the Son, and to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. It is to be introduced into a new wo...

When Christ was born, all Jerusalem was troubled: so when this new birth is, we must look that much commotion and much division of heart will be. The devil could not be cast out of the possessed person, but he would tear and torment him. We cannot expect that Christ should expel sat an from the dominion he hath over us, but he will be sure to put us to great fear and terror. Besides, not only the evil spirit, but God's Spirit is for a while a spirit of bondage. There are many pretenders to the grace of God in Christ, but they cannot abide to hear of any pains in this new birth. Oh, this is legal! But I pray thee tell me, dost thou, know any woman bring forth in her sleep, or in a dream, without feeling any pain? And how then should the heart of man be thus new changed and moulded without several pangs and troubles: In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; so it is, and must be in our spiritual birth; there is usually (I will not say always, to such or such a degree) many pangs an...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The language of man follows things and imitates them; the Word of God precedes and creates them. Man speaks because things are; but these are because God hath spoken. Let Him speak again, and things will revert together with man who speaks of them, to nothing. Let us be content to perceive in creation a character which belongs only to God, and which distinguishes His work from that of His creatures. The human mind works only with the materials with which God supplies it; it observes, imitates, combines, but does not create. The best painter in the world, composing the most beautiful picture that ever proceeded from the hand of man, creates nothing: neither the canvas, nor the colours, nor the brushes, nor his own hands, nor even the conception of his work, since that conception is the fruit of his genius, which he has not given unto himself. Trace to the origin of each of the several things which have combined to form this picture...

Proverbs 12:1, 15 W. Clarkson Whether we are daily ascending or descending depends very much on whether we are ready or are refusing to learn The man of open mind is he who moves up, but the man whose soul is shut against the light is he who is going down. I. THE DOWNWARD PATH. We strike one point in this path when we come to: 1. The forming of a false estimate of ourself. When "our way is right in our own eyes" (ver. 15), and that way is the wrong one, we are certainly in the road that dips downward. The wise who love us truly are grieved when they see us imagining ourselves to be humble when we are proud of heart, generous when we are selfish, spiritual when we are worldly minded, sons of God when we are children of darkness; they know well and sorrow much that we are in a bad way, in the downward road. 2. The consequent refusal to receive instruction. The man who thinks himself right is one who will oppose himself to all those who, and to all things which, approach him ...

Let me now ask any of those poor souls who ever have been wandering and tossed with the fear of the wrath to come, whether ever they found a resting-place until they came to this:-- God spared not his only Son, but gave him up to death for us all; that he made him to be sin for us; that he put all the sins of all the elect into that cup which he was to drink of; that the wrath and flood which they feared did fall upon Jesus Christ (though now, as the ark, he be above it, so that if they could get into him they should be safe). The storm hath been his, and the safety shall be theirs. As all the waters which would have fallen upon them that were in the ark fell upon the ark, they being dry and safe, so all the wrath that should have fallen upon them fell on Christ; which alone causeth their souls to dwell in safety? Hath not, I say, this been your bottom, your foundation, your resting-place? If not (for the substance of it), I fear you have but rotten bottoms. Now, what would you say if ...

The first thing which the gospel enjoineth sinners, and which it persuades and commands them to believe, is, that salvation is not to be had in themselves, inasmuch as all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; nor by the works of the law, by which no flesh living can be justified. Here is a saving gospel truth for sinners to believe, which the apostle dwells upon wholly, Rom. i., ii., iii., to prepare a way for justification by Christ. Now, what numberless numbers are they to whom the gospel is preached who never come so far as to believe so much as this! amongst whom you may reckon almost the whole nation of the Jews, as is apparent, Rom. ix., x. 3, 4. Now, not to go one step farther with any proposal, a contempt of this object of faith is the sin of infidelity. Secondly, The gospel requires faith to this, that there is salvation to be had in the promised seed, -- in Him who was before ordained to be a captain of salvation to them that do believe. And here also at this trial...

They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany or flow from them. IT is a common but very false opinion, that whatever may be the happy result of conversion in a future world, few are the advantages which flow from it in this; and that, so far from benefiting man as to the present, it calls him to all the privations and sacrifices of the most rigid austerity. Such is the picture drawn of it by those who know it not, or who wilfully misrepresent it to defend their hostility to it. Godliness, we are assured on the testimony of God, and of all who have chosen its ways, is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Those who are effectually called partake here of justification; for “to him shall men come, and in the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” They are adopted, for God is faithf...

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. (16) In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. A new subject is here opened. The sacred writer, having celebrated the praises of JEHOVAH in what had gone before, now speaks of the happiness of his people. Moses had long before observed, that there was no people like Israel; none who had privileges so great and distinguished as they had, in a covenant GOD to look up to, and to be happy in forever: and here the Psalmist points out in what that happiness consists. Observe: He doth not say, Blessed is the people that hear only, but they that know the joyful sound. Probably he alluded to the calling of the people up to the assemblies of divine worship, the new moon feasts, and especially the jubilee trumpet on the great day of release. And although this trumpet of the jubilee was never sounded but once in every fiftieth year, and conse...

for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. Happy and gracious conclusion of every truly regenerate soul, convinced of an interest in CHRIST, and a personal union with him. The beloved of the LORD shall dwell safely. Isaiah 32:18. REFLECTIONS READER! let you and I never lose sight of the LORD JESUS while reading this Psalm. He is the LORD our righteousness. And, therefore, in all our approaches to the mercy-seat, let us go there in a language corresponding to this, which calls JESUS the GOD of our righteousness. And while men of the world from the world are seeking their chief good, let us desire his favor which infinitely transcends corn and wine, and all the good things which perish in using. Yes! LORD, thy favor is better than life itself. Thou causest them that love thee to inherit substance, and fittest all their treasure, yea thou thyself art their treasure. And oh! thou gracious GOD and FATHER, hast thou in such a wonderful manner set apart one in our nature for thyself? ...

Hard may be your lot here below, you suffering saints of the most High, as regards external matters; painful may be the exercises through which you almost daily pass, through the rebellion and desperate wickedness of your carnal mind; grievous temptations may be your continual portion; many a pricking thorn and sharp brier may lie in your path; and so rough and rugged may be the road, that at times you may feel yourself of all men to be the most miserable; and so indeed you would be but for the grace of God in your heart now, and the glory prepared for you beyond the grave. Yet with it all, were your afflictions and sorrows a thousand times heavier, well may it be said of you--"Happy, thrice happy, are you, O Israel!" Whom upon earth need you envy if you have the grace of God in your heart? With whom would you change, if ever the love of God has visited your soul? Look around you; fix your eyes upon the man or woman who seems surrounded with the greatest amount of earthly hap...

The same kind Father who in his infinite goodness hath given the Sabbath that it may lead us to become recipients of his boundless grace, hath also warned us that the wicked shall be turned into hell and all that forget God. [Ps 9:17] You may profane the holy day now; you may slight all its blessed opportunities; you may rob God of the one day in seven which he has reserved to himself; you may use it for your own purposes, spend its sacred time in your own ways and for your own pleasure, and as you do this, the current of life may seem to flow smoothly on, and yet even if no other enemy appear to mar the even tenor of your way, sooner or later, the fearful chasm of death must confront your path; then as you are taking your leave of this earthly tenement of your soul or as you are making your way through the dark valley of the shadow of death, [Ps 23:4] how will you regard the lost opportunities of these earthly Sabbaths; or when you stand before the Judge of the quick and the dead [2 T...

A. Maclaren, D. D. Taken in its original sense, the words of our text apply only to that strange phenomenon which we call religious depression. But I venture to take them in a wider sense than that. It is not only Christian men who are east down, whoso souls "thirst for God." It is not only men upon earth whose souls thirst for God. All men, everywhere, may take this text for theirs. I. There is in every man AN UNCONSCIOUS AND UNSATISFIED LONGING AFTER GOD, AND THAT IS THE STATE OF NATURE. Experience is the test of that principle. And the most superficial examination of the facts of daily life, as well as the questioning of our own souls, will tell us that this is the leading feature of them — a state of unrest. II. There is A CONSCIOUS LONGING, IMPERFECT, BUT ANSWERED; AND THAT IS THE STATE OF GRACE — the beginning of religion in a man's soul. If it be true that there are, as part of the universal human experience, however overlaid and stifled, these necessities, the v...

The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus — John Ross Macduff When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal, -- 'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will look up to HIM who hath felt it before me, And cleave all the closer to JESUS MY ROCK! Companions may smile, and the world may deride me, And with the cold finger of ridicule mock; But no trial, nor coldness, nor death shall divide me, From the Shelter of Ages! -- from JESUS MY ROCK! O Thou! who on earth, in the days of thy sorrow, Didst fold to thy bosom the Lambs of thy Flock, Prevent me (though young) puttin...

GOD'S REJECTION OF ALL MATERIAL TEMPLES. There was a time when it could be said that there was a house of God on earth. That was a time of symbols, when as yet the Church of God was in her childhood. She was being taught her A B C, reading her picture-book, for she could not as yet read the Word of God, as it were in letters. She had need to have pictures put before her, patterns of the heavenly things. Even then, the enlightened amongst the Jews knew well that God did not dwell between curtains, and that it was not possible that He could be encompassed in the most holy place within the veil It was only a symbol of His presence. But the time of symbols is now passed altogether. In that moment when the Saviour bowed His head, and said "It is finished! " the veil of the temple was rent in twain, so that the mysteries were laid open. So, one reason why God saith He dwelleth not in temples made with hands, is, because He would have us know that the symbolical worship is ended...

THERE ARE SPECIAL WAYS IN WHICH GOD GIVES US KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF. We cannot see him directly, but we can see him, so to speak, by reflection. He has given us two mirrors in which the spiritual lineaments of his Divine character become visible to us. 1. There is the mirror of nature. It is allowed us "to look through nature up to nature's God." "There's nothing bright above, below, From flowers that bloom to stars that glow, But in its light my soul can see Some feature of the Deity." It is said that on one occasion Napoleon Bonaparte was on the deck of a ship on a calm summer night, when his officers around him were magnifying nature, and disputing the existence of God. The great commander listened, and then pointed to the hosts of heaven, saying, "All very well, gentlemen, but who created these?" 2. There is the mirror of our own spiritual mature. The psalmist looked into this mirror, and saw therein the reflection of the Lord, the Ruler, the ...

, Jonah i. 5, 6. What meanest thou, 0 sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. A sad case! A Heathen ship master challenging a godly prophet for his neglect of seeking God! He calls him by a shameful, but well-deserved name, 0 sleeper. The storm cams on for Jonah's sake, as he told them, vet. 12.: yet he is the securest person in the ship. He only knew God, yet he is last in calling on him. An honest Pagan may outdo a distempered prophet, in some things, at some times. This sense was expressed greatly by the king, nobles, and inhabitants of Nineveh, Jonah iii. 5,—10. And they again go far beyond Jonah. They believed God on Jonah's preaching, repented, prayed, and fasted; and the Lord repented of the evil. But Jonah was not grieved at all, chap. iv. 1, 2. If it were not for his excellent prayer, chap. ii. and that he was a prophet of the Lord, and the penman of the Holy Ghost, to record his own sin and shame, for the benefit o...

"They drank of that spiritual rock which followed them; and that rock was Christ," 1 Cor. x. 4. Was not this rock a sign of that Rock of Ages on which the church is built? Matt. xvi. 18. Did not Moses' smiting hold out his being smitten with the rod of God? Isa. liii. 4, 5. Was not the pouring out of these plentiful streams as the pouring out of his precious blood, in a sea of mercy, abundantly sufficient to refresh the whole fainting church in the wilderness? "Latet Christus in petra;" -- "Here is Christ in this rock." John Owen

John 16:32 B. Thomas Notice - I. CHRIST ALONE. "Shall leave me alone." Through the great tragedy which followed, of which Gethsemane was but a short prelude, and of which the visible was but a small part, Christ, as far as this world was concerned, was alone. 1. He was socially alone. He could really say, "And of the people there was none with me." The world was against him, and even the existing Church was against him, its chief magnates being the ringleaders in his crucifixion. And, more than all, he was alone as to the adherence of his most faithful followers, which he might naturally expect and would so much appreciate. At this very time one of them was in the city betraying him to his most inveterate foes; another was about to deny him in the most determined manner; all were about to leave him in terror. So that from Gethsemane to the cross he was socially alone - alone amidst such a vast throng of men. 2. He was mentally alone. He was ever so. Even when his...

Prof. Leroy J. Halsey. ? — In the pulpit of our times we have two different gospels, each calling itself Christian and each asserting its superior excellence. The one is satisfied to rest on the testimony of God, to stand by the old landmarks, to receive the traditions of Scripture as delivered by prophets and apostles, and with these to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The other, or new gospel, sets out from the principle that Christianity, like any other system of human knowledge, is an evolution and development. There is no absolute standard of truth back in the past; the only standard is in man himself — the highly educated man of the present, the advanced and incomparable man of the future. Some things are all the better for being new. But religion is not one of them. In a world of doubt and uncertainty, it is no small proof of the truth and excellence of the gospel that it is so old, that it has been so long tried and so fully tested — tried and test...

Newman Hall, LL.B. 1. From vain endeavours to relieve a burdened conscience, return unto thy rest, O my soul, in the perfected redemption and pardoning grace of Jesus. 2. From the distress and disquiet of inconsistent conduct, return unto thy rest, O my soul, in unreserved obedience to Christ. Cease that opposition; forsake that evil path: cast from thee the accursed thing; cease to do evil; and thus return unto thy rest. 3. From the fretting anxieties and Iisappointments of pride, return unto thy rest, O my soul, in the humility of Christ. 4. Disappointed in thy search for happiness elsewhere, return unto thy rest, O my soul, in the love of Jesus, and the peace the world cannot give. As the dove flew to and fro, finding no rest for the sole of her foot till she returned to the ark, so the believer cannot repose away from Christ, our true and only refuge. 5. From vain speculations and sceptical doubts, return unto thy rest, O my soul, by childlike faith in Christ. 6. From the sorr...

How eagerly are ancient manuscripts prized, and with what care are they examined but no book is so ancient as the book of life, in which are registered the names - * Eh. i. 3, 4. of all those who are written in heaven. This choice was the result of his mere good pleasure. It was not founded on Christ's efforts, nor the fruit of his solicitation, but arose from the sovereignty of God's grace. Still our Lord has the closest connection with election; the book which records it is called the book of the Lamb; his people were chosen in him as their Head, to the enjoyment of that salvation which he was destined to purchase, and to share those honours which were appointed to reward his success. To this choice God was not influenced by any foresight of the good works of the elect. We cannot suppose that he was influenced by the foresight of their intellectual endowments, for he has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the things that are wise; nor of their faith and holine...

Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20) SUCH were “the words of Jesus” when He was just about to ascend to Heaven. The mediatorial throne was in view – the harps of glory were sounding in His ears; but all His thoughts are on the pilgrim Church He is to leave behind. His last words and benedictions are for them. “I go,” He seems to say, “to Heaven, to my purchased crown – to the fellowship of angels – to the presence of my Father; but nevertheless, ‘Lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’” How faithfully did the apostles, to whom this promise was first addressed, experience its reality! Hear the testimony of the beloved disciple who had once leaned on his Divine Master’s bosom – who “had heard, and seen, and looked upon Him.” That glorified bosom was now hid from his sight but does he speak of an absent Lord, and of His fellowship only as among the holy memories of the past? No! With rejoicing emphasis he can exclaim – “Truly o...

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—Psalm 91:1. The beauty of the language of this poem fitly corresponds to the grandeur of the thoughts which it conveys. The Psalmist here sings “to one clear harp in divers tones”; and the central thought which he exhibits in its different aspects is that of God’s response to man. For every advance on man’s part there is an immediate and corresponding advance on God’s part. When man goes out to seek God, God meets him more than half-way. When he calls upon God, God will answer him. Loving faith on man’s part will be met by faithful love on the part of God. This is in the first verse, of which the whole psalm is an expansion. If man dwells “in the secret place of the Most High,” he shall abide “under the shadow of the Almighty.” We have here the condition and promise. In his later years, Calvin’s colleague at Geneva was Theodore de Beza (1519–1605), the writer of the metrical version o...

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

How many are the calamities of old age, and that if we should live to be old, our days will be such as we shall have no pleasure in, which is a good reason why we should return to God, and make our peace with him, in the days of our youth, and not put it off till we come to be old; for it will be no thanks to us to leave the pleasures of sin when they have left us, nor to return to God when need forces us. It is the greatest absurdity and ingratitude imaginable to give the cream and flower of our days to the devil, and reserve the bran, and refuse, and dregs of them for God; this is offering the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice; and, besides, old age being thus clogged with infirmities, it is the greatest folly imaginable to put off that needful work till then, which requires the best of our strength, when our faculties are in their prime, and especially to make the work more difficult by a longer continuance in sin, and, laying up treasures of guilt in the conscience, to...

Her Last Words. This martyr, though both young in years and of the weak sex, was so singularly assisted of the Lord in his cause, and had such discoveries of his special love to her soul, that she was nothing terrified by her adversaries. When she was brought from the tollbooth to the council-house, to be carried to her execution,—as she came out of the tollbooth door, several friends attending her,—she was observed to say with a surprising cheerfulness and air of heavenly ravishment, "Behold, I hear my beloved saying unto me, Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." And being brought to the council, bishop Paterson being resolved,—seeing he could not destroy her soul,—yet to grieve and vex it, said,—"Marion, you said,you would never hear a curate, now you shall be forced to hear one;" upon which, he ordered one of his suffragans, whom he had prepared for the purpose, to pray.* So soon as he began, she said to her fellow prisoner Isabel Alison; "Come Isabel...

"O dear friends, I would, as one going to eternity, ob test you, that you make good earnest in religion, and be restless until you get a clearness of an interest in Christ; for it is a dangerous time to live in the dark. I would have you consider what a weighty business it is, to deny the Lord of glory before men. There has strange things of this nature fallen out, in this our day. O I look to yourselves, I would entreat you, to be for God, and he will be for you; confess him, and he will confess you. As good soldiers, endure hardness; wax valiant in suffering. Resist unto blood, for it is the cause of God, that is at stake. O! there are none of you lamenting after God; ah! is there none of you that hath love to the Lord, and will take part with him, against all his enemies? O I but it be sad to see you with such whole hearts, and so little grief among you, for the robbery that the Lord of glory is getting. I declare, my suffering is nothing; but, when I see you who are professors...

WALTER MILL. [The death of this martyr is said to have contributed most effectually to the downfall of popery, in Scotland. He was born about the year 1476, and, having taken orders in the church, became priest of Luna n, in Angus-shire. But having imbibed the reformed opinions, and left off the saying of mass, he was so early as the year 1538, arrested and condemned. He escaped, however, for his life into Germany, where he remained about twenty years. He then returned home, and having attempted to render himself useful, by instructing his neighbours in the protestant faith, he was again taken and condemned as a heretic. His conduct whilst on trial, powerfully evinced the sincerity of his faith, and made a deep impression on all who witnessed it. The following is a short account of what took place at his death :] All things being prepared, he was led forth with a guard of armed men to execution. Being come to the place, some cried out to him to recant, to whom he answered, "I marv...

Think not strange of the Lord’s method with his church, in bringing her to so low and desperate a posture many times. Can she be in a condition more seemingly desperate than was her Head,—not only in ignominious sufferings, but dead and laid in the grave, and the stone rolled to it, and sealed, and all made sure? And yet, he arose and ascended, and now sits in glory, and shall sit “till all his enemies become his footstool.” Do not fear for him, that they shall overtop, yea, or be able to reach him who is exalted higher than the heavens; neither be afraid for his church, which is his body, and, if her Head be safe and alive, cannot but partake of safety and life with him. Though she were, to sight, dead and laid in the grave, yet shall she arise thence, and be more glorious than before, Isa. xxvi. 19. and still, the deeper her distress, shall rise the higher in the day of deliverance. Robert Leighton

At Kurnalpi I took my lamp and went to the place of meeting. A gentleman had offered me his auctioneer’s box as a pulpit. I fixed my lamp beside me in the box so that I could read by its light. When I mounted the pulpit, there was not a soul about me that I could see in the darkness, so first lifting my heart for a moment to my Master, I next lifted my voice and shouted “Gentlemen, the sale is about to commence!” You should have seen the response. They came running out from everywhere, like ants from an ant-hill, and rushed to get a good place near the auctioneer. There was a billiard saloon not far away, and though it was crowded a little ago, it was emptied quicker than it takes me to tell about it. Soon I had between two hundred and three hundred men around me. In my travel during the day I had learnt something of the open, unblushing sin prevailing here, and as I reasoned of righteousness and judgment, the Power of God fell on those men. This was my pioneer gospel service. I had ri...

BREAD UPON THE WATERS. A SCOTCH lady of social distinction, whose name for obvious reasons need not be mentioned, and whose husband had left her a competence, had two profligate sons, who wasted her substance with riotous living. When she saw that her property was being squandered, she determined to make an offering to the Lord. She took twenty pounds and gave it to the London Missionary Society. Her sons were very angry at this, and told her that she might just as well cast her money into the sea. “I will cast it into the sea,” she replied, “and it will be my bread upon the waters.” The sons, having spent all they could get, enlisted in a regiment, and were sent to India. Their positions were far apart, but God so ordered, in his providence, that both were stationed near good missionaries. The elder one was led to repent of his sins and embrace Christ. He shortly afterward died. Meanwhile the widowed mother was praying for her boys. One evening, as she was taking down her family bible...

Among the many deep truths which the early chapters of the Book of Genesis enforce, there is none which strikes the thoughtful inquirer more forcibly than does THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE DISORDER OCCASIONED BY MAN'S SIN AND THE REMEDY ORDAINED BY THE WISDOM AND THE MERCY OF GOD. This connection may be traced in a very remarkable manner in the appointment of the rainbow as sign and pledge of the covenant. Rainbow equally dependent for its existence upon storm and upon sunshine. Marvellously adapted, therefore, to serve as type of mercy following upon judgment — as sign of connection between man's sin and God's free and unmerited grace. Connected gloomy recollections of past with bright expectations of future. Taught by anticipation the great lesson which it was reserved for Christ's Gospel fully to reveal, that as sin had abounded, so grace should "much more abound." II. Further, not only is the rainbow, as offspring equally of storm and sunshine, a fitting emb...

In one of Edna Lyall’s novels, We Two, we have the story of Erica Raeburn. Erica is the daughter of Luke Raeburn, the sceptic; and she has been taught from infancy to despise all holy things. But as life, with its stress and struggle, goes on, she finds that she cannot satisfy her soul with denials and negations, * At last,’ Edna Lyall says, ‘ Erica’s hopelessness, her sheer desperation, drove her to cry to the Possibly Existent.’ She stood at the open window of her little room, looking out into the summer night. Before she knew what had happened, she was praying ! ‘O God,’ she cried, ‘I have no reason to think that Thou art, except that there is such fearful need of Thee. I can see no single proof in all the world that Thou art here. But af Thou art, O Father, 7f Thou art, help me to know Thee! Show me what is true!’ A few days later the answer came. Erica was at the British Museum, making some extracts, in the ordinary course of her business, from the Lrfe of Livingstone. All at...

Matthew Henry. This may be understood, either figuratively, of the repose of the soul, in the assurance of God's grace, or literally, of the repose of the body, under the protection of His providence. The Psalmist having given the preference to God's favour above any good, having chosen that, and portioned himself in that, here expresses his great complacency in the choice he had made. Those who have the assurances of God's favour toward them, may enjoy, and should labour after, a holy serenity and security of mind. It is the privilege of good people that they may be thus easy and satisfied; and it is their duty to use the means appointed for the obtaining it. The Psalmist, after an anxious day, now retires to his chamber with the words, "I will lay me down in peace, and sleep." Here we have David's pious thoughts when he was going to bed. Observe his confidence in God, his composedness in himself Doctrine: As we must begin the day with God, and wait upon Him...

Of the honor of marriage in regard of the first institution thereof. Great reason there is why marriage should with such honor be solemnized. For it is a most honorable thing. Honorable in the institution, ends, privileges, and mystery thereof. No ordinance was more honorable in the first institution thereof, as is evident by the Author thereof, the Place where it was instituted, the Time when it was instituted, the Persons who were first married, and the Manner of joining them together. 1. The Author and first Institutor of marriage was the Lord God (Gen 2:18,21,22). Could there have been a greater, or any way a more excellent Author? 2. The Place was Paradise; the most fair, glorious, pleasant, honorable, commodious, and every way most excellent place that ever was in this world. Place, though it be but a circumstance, adds much to the honor of a thing. Solemn ordinances are made in honorable places. Thus with us marriages are solemnized in Churches, not in private houses. 3. The Tim...

. The spirit of brotherhood like dew David I. Brotherly love is SILENT, NOT DEMONSTRATIVE. Nothing in nature is more silent than the dew. The rain rattles, the wind howls, and the ocean booms, but the dew descends serenely and unheard. Genuine love is never noisy. The deepest emotions are always the most silent; the shallowest the most tumultuous. II. Brotherly love is VITAL, NOT MECHANICAL How refreshing is the dew! It gives new life and verdure to all it touches. Brotherly love is independent of organizations, it is independent of all social mechanisms. III. Brotherly love is DIVINE RATHER THAN HUMAN. Whence comes the dewy It descends from above. All true love comes from God, as all light from the sun. (David Thomas, D. D.)

The mercy of preservation, both from sin and danger: so in the text; "Keep, through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me", which is explained, ver. 15. "I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil." We, in ours, and the saints that are gone, in their respective generations, have reaped the fruit of this prayer. How else comes it to pass, that our souls are preserved amidst such a world of temptations, and these assisted and advantaged by our own corruptions? How is it else, that our persons are not ruined and destroyed amidst such multitudes of potent and malicious enemies, that are set on fire of hell? Surely, the preservation of the burning bush, of the three children amidst the flames; of Daniel in the den of lions; are not greater wonders, than these our eyes do daily behold. As the fire would have certainly consumed, and the lions, without doubt, have rent and devoured, had not God, by the in...

1. So far as we are capable of judging, it was a thing in itself indifferent, having nothing in it of an intrinsically moral character. Now, in this view of it, it was peculiarly appropriate. It was a test of subjection to the Divine will; a test, simply considered, of obedience to God. 2. It has been remarked that the circumstances in which Adam was, at his creation, were such as to remove him from all temptations to, and, in some instances, from all possibility of, committing those sins which now most frequently abound amongst his posterity; "which is one thought of considerable importance to vindicate the Divine wisdom in that constitution under which he was placed." 3. We further observe that it was specially appropriate in this, that, from the comparatively little and trivial character of the action prohibited, it taught the important lesson that the real guilt of sin lay in its principle, the principle of rebellion against God's will; not in the extent of the misc...

7 HERE are six things in the life of Noah 1 The warning 2 The fear 3 The ark 4 The sal vation 5 The condemnation 6 The righteous ness I The warning The word is the same as is used regarding Joseph and the young child in a dream Matt ii 12 22 regarding Simeon Luke ii 26 regarding Cornelius by an angel Acts x 22 The warning was a divine one how given we know not whether by voice or vision or dream or angel As the sons of God still worshipped in front of Paradise where the shekinah rested it might be from the glory that the God of glory spoke to Noah as afterwards to Abraham The warning was explicit and unconditional regarding coming danger and destruction God announced that He meant to bring a flood upon the earth for total destruction whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished There has been a warning sounding through the ages Behold the Lord cometh It is the warning of a more terrible deluge than that of Noah a fiery deluge in the day of the vengeance of our ...

The effect of the fall was shame, the never-failing companion of sin. "They knew that they were naked." The image of God was gone. Their native robe of innocence was gone. Their peace and purity were gone. Awful condition! They were indeed naked and exposed to all the terrors ofincensed justice, without a covering from its wrath. Another effect of the fall was the darkness of the mind. "They hid themselves from the presence of Lord God among the trees of the garden." Amazing blindness! to hide themselves from that Being, who eyes are brighter than ten thousand suns; who fill heaven and earth with his presence, and from whom no secrets are hid. Slavish fear was another fruit of the fall. When God asked Adam why he hid himself, he replied, "I was afraid." Ah! what inward torment did sin produce in the soul of our first parents! How changed their condition! They are now afraid to look upon Him whose presence was their heaven and their joy. Impiety and impenit...