A Goodly Heritage

When God chooseth any one to eternal life, he will, in pursuit of that purpose of his, communicate saving grace unto him. And although all believers have gifts also sufficient to enable them unto the discharge of their duty in their station or condition in the church, yet they do not depend on the decree of election. And where God calleth any, or chooseth any, unto an office, charge, or work in the church, he always furnisheth him with gifts suited unto the end of them. He doth not so, indeed, unto all that will take any office unto themselves; but he doth so unto all whom he calls thereunto. Yea, his call is no otherwise known but by the gifts which he communicates for the discharge of the work or office whereunto any are called. In common use, I confess, all things run contrary hereunto. Most men greatly insist on the necessity of an outward call unto the office of the ministry; and so far, no doubt, they do well, for "God is the God of order," -- that is, of his own: but w...

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.-- Guidance in the right path There is a well-known similitude which represents human nature as a chariot driven by two horses, one of them high-spirited and aspiring, the other, heavy, tame, and grovelling; and the charioteer unable to exercise over either of them absolute control, yields first to the one and then to the other, so that the chariot is not carried along a straight, continuous path, with uniform progress towards its goal, but frequently, turns aside and stands still. The image is in itself so striking, and so true to experience, that it needs no explanation. There is in all men a higher and lower nature, which are utterly at variance, one drawing us toward good, the other drawing us toward evil; one having its source in the spirit, the other in the flesh. And hence there is within us a more or less perpetual conflict; and even when we have been awakened to the realities of the spiritual world, and have felt ...

1 Peter 4: 17Let us not be so foolish as to promise ourselves impunity on account of our relation to God as his church in covenant with him. If once we thought so, surely our experience hath undeceived us. And let not what we have suffered harden us, as if the worst were past. We may rather fear it is but a pledge and beginning of sharper judgment. Why do we not consider our unhumbled and unpurified condition, and tremble before the Lord? Would we save him a labour, he would take it well. Let us purify our souls, that we may not be put to further purifying by new judgments. Were we busy reading our present condition, we should see very legible foresigns of further judgments; as for instance: 1. The Lord taking away his eminent and worthy servants, who are as the very pillars of the public peace and welfare, and taking away counsel, and courage, and union, from the rest; forsaking us in our meetings, and leaving us in the dark to grope and rush one upon another. 2. The dissensions and ...

Make a good use of your talent. Be wise, diligent, faithful, holy, and humble in the employment of it, and Christ shall come with comfort and will entertain you with a sweet and comforting declaration of approval: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:23). And let us be excited and stirred up to work our hearts to this longing for Christ’s coming, considering first the gratification of our estate in heaven. There is a tree bearing twelve sorts of fruit (Rev. 22:2), youth without old age, health without sickness, fullness without loathing, liberty without bondage, beauty without deformity, feelings without grief, abundance without want, peace without trouble, security without fear, knowledge without ignorance, glory without disgrace, and joy without sorrow (Rev. 21:4). Secondly, considering the security of that estate, no enemy can reach us. It is a city ne...

The world does not know Christ (John 1:10). As the blind man does not know the sun though it shine upon him, no more does the carnal and worldly man know Christ though He shine upon him in the gospel, for “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). Such is man’s ignorance that as the light shining in Goshen did not pierce the darkness where the Egyptians sat (Exodus 10), no more does the light of the gospel penetrate their souls, but they sit in darkness and the shadow of death. At the noonday (Isa. 59:10) of the gospel they are in the midnight of ignorance. Our Savior said to such, “Ye neither know me, nor my Father” (John 8:19). They know not the beauties of Christ. They see no comeliness in Him for which they should desire Him (Isa. 53:2). He is no more to them than another beloved. They do not know the power of Christ in softening their hearts, as the ground knows the power of the dew in supplying it; in quickening their souls, as Lazarus knew ...

Such was the image of God in which man was made, and on which God looked with complacency after his formation, as a mother does on the lineaments of a father in the countenance of a child, and as a father traces a mother's sweetness in its temper and dispositions. Let us think how his image has been defaced, how wise men are now to do evil, while to do good they have no knowledge, how we are all as an unclean thing, how our righteousness es are as filthy rags, and how the creatures groan under the folly and the oppression of man. Man has become the stain of creation which he once adorned, and the curse of nature which was blessed for him. Gloomy as the contemplation is, it is humbling ; and blessed be God it is not hopeless. There is a great Moral Restorer who can put on us the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. May God enable us to place ourselves under his renovating hand, and may Christ be formed in us, even that mind and those dispositions w...

2. A minister must speak holily, with that high esteem and reverence of the Great Majesty whose message he carries, that becomes the divinity of the message itself, those deep mysteries that no created spirits are able to fathom. Oh! this would make us tremble in the dispensing of these oracles, considering our impurities, and weaknesses, and un speakable disproportion to so high a task. He had reason who said, “I am seized with amazement and horror as often as I begin to speak of God.’ And with this humble reverence is to be joined, ardent love to our Lord, to his truth, to his glory, and his people’s souls. These holy affections stand opposite to our blind boldness in rushing on this sublime exercise as a common work, and our dead coldness in speaking of things which our hearts are not warmed with; and so no wonder that what we say seldom reaches further than the ear, or, at furthest, than the understanding and memory of our hearers. There is a correspondence; it is the heart speaks ...