A Goodly Heritage

The conversion of sinners is a matter in which the gracious God takes the deepest interest. Sinners are not concerned about conversion ordinarily. Sinners are lost, but it does not much matter to them that they are lost. They don't fully know it. They are not altogether ignorant of it--conscience speaks in every man more or less, but they are not fully aware of it, and they are not willing to be so. The voice of conscience is very feeble in fallen man, and the voice of depravity very loud and imperious, and it silences it. But while sinners are not objects of compassion to themselves, they are objects of compassion to God. Fools, hating wisdom--Christ, the wisdom of God--love death. Not designedly, but really they love death. They love that with which death is indissolubly connected, and so they love death. Looking at death, they don't love it, but looking at that of which death is the wages--sin--they do love sin; and they love sin so much, that they will take it with death r...

. . . Two things make us stinted in prayer -- either little feeling of need, or little hope of supply. Two things make us very enlarged in prayer -- deep feeling of need, and enlarged and strong hope of supply. Under the pressure of felt need, many are still much straitened. They feel indeed that they want much, but they have no expectation, or no settled and high expectation of getting much. They are shut up. They do pray; they cannot help it; a feeling of need makes them that they do ask. And they ask of God earnestly, but not amply: earnestly, because they feel need; but not amply, for they think He is a niggard. They have not correspondent faith to their feeling of want. They do not rightly believe in God as "giving to all liberally, and upbraiding not." They are indeed humbled, and are content to be glad to pick up the crumbs that fall from the Master's table, but they are doubtful if they shall even get a dog's right to them. How much more is any measure of de...

O for such a look of Christ as will scatter sin . O for such a discovery of His glory as will draw forth love to Him ! O for such a sight of Him as will never let the eye off from Him again  -  such a sight as would make us follow Him through good report and through bad report , through life and through death -  such a sight of Him as would as would lead us to seek to be with Him where He is , that we may behold His glory ! O for such a sight of the Lamb of God as would make it the soul's perpetual exercise ever to look ! O to have our sins washed away in His precious blood , our crimson stains that we may be whiter than the snow ! He took away sin  -  He died once for the expiation , but Oh ! the accomplishment is going on through ages of time , rolling on , the accomplishment of what He did , the application of it , the communication of pardon and purity and peace . Once for all He took away sins by expiation , but He is for ever taking away sins by the applic...