A Goodly Heritage

An example of trust in God—and kindness to needy widows. The prophet Elijah, after having been miraculously fed during a long famine, by ravens at the brook Cherith, found it necessary to leave his retreat in consequence of the drying-up of the stream which had hitherto supplied him with water. There is a mysterious sovereignty running through all the ways of God, extending also to his miraculous operations. He works no such miracles, nor gives such wondrous signs, than the exigency of the case needs. He who sent meat by a bird of prey, could have caused the brook still to resist the exhausting power of the drought, or have brought water out of the stones which lay in its dry bed—but he did not see fit to do so. When the brook fails, however, God has a Zarephath for his servant; and a widow, instead of ravens, shall now feed him. For all creatures are equally God's servants, and he is never at a loss for instruments either of 'power to destroy his enemies'—or of ...

In all Divine operations, whether in the world of nature or of grace, God employs a chain of dependent means for the working out of his purposes and plans—but though dependent, they are appropriate. In acknowledging, as we must do, the adaptation of these means to the production of the intended result, we do homage to God's wisdom; while in confessing their dependence for efficiency upon his blessing, we do no less homage to his power and grace. There is no analogy which I can borrow from the world of nature that can satisfactorily illustrate the operation of Divine grace on the human mind. I know very well that second causes in the material universe depend for their efficiency upon Divine influence—but it is an influence of a totally different kind, and exerted altogether in a different matter from that of which I now write; and we are very little aided in our perceptions of the nature of the Spirit's operation upon the human mind, by anything we observe in the world of v...

I now pass from matter of preaching, to  manner  of preaching—and when I say manner, I wish to be understood as including in that term, not simply the method of communicating truth by voice and gesture—but the cast of thought and the style of composition in reference to the truth enunciated. What is needed for the pulpit is a vivacious, in opposition to a stiff, formal, and dull, method. Style must of course, to a considerable extent, vary with the subject matter, and be regulated by it. In exegetical preaching, or in that part of a sermon which is merely expository, all that is required is calm perspicuity and a flow of clear, simple, quiet thought—which shall instruct the understanding, and gently draw after it the heart, without being intended or expected in any great degree to move the passions. We have some beautiful specimens of this in the elegant discourses of Dr. Wardlaw. Well would it be if, after his manner, we could be clear without being pedantic; exegetical ...

"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty! " (Job 5:17) "Before I was afflicted I went astray—but now I keep Your word. It is good for me that I was afflicted—that I might learn Your statutes. I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous—and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me ." (Psalm 119:67, 71, 75) "And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly, or faint when you are reproved by Him; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves , and punishes every son whom He receives. Endure it as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn't...