A Goodly Heritage

I.   There is first to be noted, the aspect in which the great Lawgiver here presents Himself to His people: “I am Jehovah, thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Jehovah, the unchangeable and eternal, the great I am; this alone, had it been all, was a lofty idea for men who had been so long enveloped in the murky atmosphere of idolatry; and if deeply impressed upon their hearts, and made a pervading element in their religion and polity, would have nobly elevated the seed of Israel above all the nations then existing on the earth. But there is more a great deal than this in the personal announcement which introduces the ten fundamental precepts; it is His faithful love and sufficiency for all future time, to protect them from evil or bring them salvation. II.  Yet it did not the less on that account assume--being a revelation of law in form as well as substance, it could not but assume--a predominantly stringent and imp...

Jesus said unto them,  I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger  ... This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. (John 6:35-50) It is obvious that this miraculous supply of food for the desert was in itself a provision for the bodily, and not for the spiritual nature of the Israelites. Hence it is called by our Lord, ‘not the true bread that cometh down from heaven,’ because the life it was given to support was the fleshly one, which terminates in death: ‘Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.’ And even in this point of view the things connected with it have a use for us, apart altogether from any higher, typical, or prospective reference they might also bear to Gospel things. Lessons may be drawn from the giving and receiving of manna in regard to the interests and transactions of our present temporal life,—properly and justly drawn; only we must not confound these, as is too commonl...

Jesus said unto them,  I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger  ... This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. (John 6:35-50) It is obvious that this miraculous supply of food for the desert was in itself a provision for the bodily, and not for the spiritual nature of the Israelites. Hence it is called by our Lord, ‘not the true bread that cometh down from heaven,’ because the life it was given to support was the fleshly one, which terminates in death: ‘Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.’ And even in this point of view the things connected with it have a use for us, apart altogether from any higher, typical, or prospective reference they might also bear to Gospel things. Lessons may be drawn from the giving and receiving of manna in regard to the interests and transactions of our present temporal life,—properly and justly drawn; only we must not confound these, as is too commonl...

Under the old covenant , when the church was still in its childhood , it was necessary to employ to a large extent the outward and material ; carnal elements had a prominent place in the immediate service of God ,and they could not fail to be much resorted to in the administration of the kingdom , so long as it had a political existence in the world . His people had then often to defend themselves with a carnal sword , and often in the successful exercise of this did God's power and goodness appear to his people . But the revelation of God in the person and work of Christ introduced an entire change in this respect . The spiritual element in the Divine character came thereby into fuller manifestation , and , as a necessary consequence , everything carnal fell into the background . Not that the Lord's people must therefore cease to operate upon the outward and material things around them , but that in doing so they  must bring more into exercise the higher elements of power . Th...