A Goodly Heritage

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7). Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God's majesty, that has had a vision of God's awful greatness, His ineffable holiness, His perfect righteousness, His irresistible power, His sovereign grace. Does someone say, "But it is only the unsaved, those outside of Christ, who need to fear God"? Then the sufficient answer is that the saved, those who are in Christ, are admonished to work out their own salvation with "fear and trembling." Time was when it was the general custom to speak of a believer as a "God-fearing man." That such an appellation has become nearly extinct only serves to show whither we have drifted. Nevertheless, it still stands written, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" (Psalm 103:13). When we speak of godly fear, of course we do not mean a servile fear, such as prevails among t...

2  Though Adam had been made in the image of God, taken into communion with Him, fitted to rejoice in all the manifestations of His wisdom and goodness which surrounded him in Eden, nevertheless he was capable of falling. Since it is a point which has sorely puzzled many of the Lord’s people, how it was possible for a holy person, devoid of any corruption, to sin, we will endeavour to explain. First, Adam’s liability to fall lay in the fact that he was but a creature. As such he was entirely dependent upon Him “which holdeth our soul in life” (Psa. 66:9). As our natural life continues only so long as God sustains it, so it was with Adam’s spiritual life: he stood only so long as he was Divinely upheld. Moreover, as a creature, he was but finite, and therefore possessed of no invincible power with which to repel opposition. Nor was he endowed with omniscience, so that he had been incapable of being deceived or mistaking an evil for an apparent good. Thus, though man’s origina...

" Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou are rebuked of him "( Hebrews 12:5 ). It is of first importance that we learn to draw a sharp distinction between Divine punishment and Divine chastisement - important for maintaining the honour and glory of God, and for the peace of mind of the Christian. The distinction is very simple, yet is it often lost sight of. God's people can never by any possibility be  punished  for their sins, for God has already punished them at the Cross. The Lord Jesus, our Blessed Substitute, suffered the full penalty of all our guilt, hence it is written "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Neither the justice nor the love of God will permit Him to again exact payment of what Christ discharged to the full. The difference between  punishment  and  chastisement  lies not in the nature of the sufferings of the afflicted: it is most important to bear this in mind. There is a threef...

Suppose a  man is born blind ; he has a natural incapacity of sight . No arguements , biddings , threatenings , or promises can make him see .But let the miracle be wrought ; let the Lord touch his eyes with his Divine hand ; he sees at once . Though he cannot explain how or why , he can say to all objectors "One thing I know , that whereas I was blind , now I see" (John 9:25)And thus it is in the Spirits work of sanctification , begun at regeneration , when a new life is given , a new capacity imparted , a new desire awakened .It is carried forward in His daily renewing (2Cor. 4:16) and is completed at glorification . What we would specially emphasize is that whether the Spirit be convicting us , working repentance in us , breathing upon us the spirit of prayer , or taking of the things of Christ and showing them unto our joyful hearts , He is discharging His covenant offices . May we render unto Him the praise and worship which He is due.