A Goodly Heritage

THE JOY OF THE LORD, AND ITS FULNESS. "These things write we unto you, that your joy maybefull." - l John. 4. THE apostle could not write these words without having full in his memory, and in his heart, the Lord's own thrice-repeated intimation of a similar sentiment in his farewell discourses and farewell prayer ; - " These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John xv. 11) ; - "Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (xvi. 24) ; - " These things I speak in the world, that those whom thou has given me" - " might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (xvii. 13). It is surely very wonderful that the occasion on which Jesus manifests so intense an anxiety about his disciples having enough of joy - and of his own joy - . should be the eve of his last agony. Is it really with him a time of joy? Are the bloody sweat and the cry as of one forsaken by hi...

"Rejoice in the Lord; and again I say unto you rejoice." For this joy is not anything like that sort of mysterious incomprehensible rapture into which the spirits may be occasionally thrown under some sudden and irresistible impulse from without or from within. It is not mere excitement. It is not what is called enthusiasm, proper to high festivals. It is a calm and sober frame of mind, suited for everyday wear and everyday work. Neither is its nature recondite, abstruse, and mystical; nor does it come and go in flashes, like the winged fire of heaven. It can be explained and accounted for; analysed and described. Its elements and causes can be specified. Its rise and progress can be traced. It is not, therefore, an attainment with which we can dispense; it is "our strength." Nor is it a grace for which we may idly wait until it drop upon us unawares from above. We have it in us, the germ of it, the essence of it, if we have Christ in us; if we have the Spirit of C...

And God blessed the seventh day , and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made (Genesis 2 . 1-3. ) The rest of God is not physical repose after weariness or fatigue , nor is it absolute inactivity . During the period of his rest ,from that first day of rest downwards until now , he worketh still (John 5:17) ; and he must continually work for the continual  preservation of his creatures 9Psalm 104 . 28 :29 ). But he pauses from his work of creation ,- from the creation of new kinds and orders of beings ; though he still carries on his works of providence . He rests from all his works which he has made . He rests and is "refreshed " (Exodus 31: 17). And his original day of rest is blessed and sanctified .Into the rest of God , with all its blessedness and sanctity, man at first might enter ; and hence the seventh day , as the day which was the beginning of the rest of God , became the "Sabbath made for man"To the p...

How admirable is the wisdom of God , how great his goodness , in ordering the constitution even of a fallen world !How manifold are his provisions of his care and kindness for alleviating the ills which sin has caused ! Far from leaving us to spend at random the season of his forbearance , as instinct or passion might blindly prompt  - God establishes a rule or system , whose salutary operation , even those who continue to set at naught its gracious design , are compelled practically to feel . It is that system - based on the principles of holy marriage , of lawful magistracy , and of laborious mastery over the soil that is to be cultivated , and the animals that may be slain , for food , - which alone hinders this globe from becoming a scene such as devils , and none but devils , could delight to witness . It is true that no mere external arrangements can of themselves secure the present or final welfare of any of Noah's children; all such arrangements are liable to perversion and...

The Spirit's work of sanctification is the continuance and development of regeneration ; and is related to it as preservation is to creation in the natural world . But just as preservation differs from creation in this , that in it God works by means , and with the co-operation of the creatures ; so is the Spirit's work  of sanctification there is co-operation of the human will , such as cannot be admitted in regeneration . In implanting the new life at first , the Holy Spirit has to deal with a soul , that is indeed essentially active , but in regard to spiritual religion insensible or opposed to the call of God . Hence the work is entirely due to the divine power ; we are His workmanship , created in Christ Jesus unto good works . But in the preservation and development of the new life , the Spirit has to deal with a soul that is now spiritually alive , that is able and inclined to work in the same direction as His work . Hence in the process of sanctification we are called ...

The call of the gospel derives its power , even as an external invitation , from it being the call of God Himself , and not merely of our fellow men . It comes to us indeed from our fellow men , and it is accompanied with their earnest advice and entreaty to comply with it ; but if it is to warrant and encourage us to come to God as penitent sinners , trusting His mercy , we must have the assurance that it really expresses the mind and will of God Himself . Now , that which gives this assurance in connection call , is that work of the Holy Spirit which ic commonly called inspiration , the effect of which is , that we can regard the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the word of God written , and our infallible rule of faith and life .