A Goodly Heritage

The Last Sabbath in Strathnaver Before the Burnings. Twas not the beacon light of war , nor yet the "slogan" cry That chilled each heart and blanched each cheek in the country of Mackay, And made them march with weary feet , as men condemned to die. Ah! had it been their country's foe that they were called to brave How loudly would the piobrachd sound , how proud their "bratach" wave; How joyfully each man would march , tho' marching to the grave. No! twas a cruel ,sad behest , an alien chief's command Depriving them of house and home , their country and their land ; Dealing a death blow at their hearts , binding the "strong right hand." Slowly and sadly down the glen they took their weary way , The sun was shining overhead upon that sweet spring day. And earth was throbbing with the life of the great glad month of May. The deer were browsing on the hills , and looked with wondering eye ;             ...

Self, bewitched with self, and self performances, fondles the conceit, that man's meritoriousness, decked with Christ's merits , is the key of heaven . What is this , but to build an altar of human rubbish, with human tools and then add Christ thereto? This is the delusion , which , with christ on its front , stalks through the earth, and murders thjousands!This is the poison tree, beneath the shade of which,many lie down and dream that they make Christ their only hope , while the main weight of trust is hung on self!This is the fiend , which mocks the lost , by showing them too late that Christ extolled in name , is not Christ reigning in the heart. This is the foe , which often makes the faithful ministry a fruitless field.      Law

The richness and value of the 'crown of life' is so great , that God , the most wise and just esteemer of things , gave the precious blood of his Son to purchase it for us .It is a felicity so transcendent in its quality , and stable in its duration , that the blessed God cannot give us a greater, for what greater good is conceivable than himself ? And what more stale enjoyment of it than in eternity?The hope of this makes the Christian blessed in the midst of the greatest miseries ."Our light afflictions which are for but a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."2 Corinthians 4.   

As inward acts have a more immediate influence on the soul,to mould it into a right temper and frame, so ought we to be most frequent and sedulous in the exercise of them . Let us often be lifting up our hearts to God , and if we do not say that we love Him above all things, let us at least acknowledge , that it is our duty, and would be our happiness, so to do ;let us lament the dishonour done to him by foolish and sinful men , and applaud the praises and adorations that are given Him by that blessed and glorious company above ; let us resign and yield ourselves up unto Him a thousand times, to be governed by His laws and disposed of at his pleasure.

Christ is preached in our land , in our day . Pardon through his blood is published free to all . His name has become a common sound on earth , even as it is in heaven . But privilege neglected does not save . It is mercy accepted that lifts a sinner up to heaven; mercy offered becomes a make weight in the doom of the lost .It is not Christ in the Bible , Christ in the creed , Christ in the sermon ; but" Christ in you the hope of glory ." It is not Blessed are they who have bread , like manna from heaven , lying round their dwellings or trampled under their feet ; but Blessed are they that hunger . The rich provision of the covenant is set forth in vain to guests who are already satiated with a genial and more congenial aliment.

The Lord is righteous ,for I have rebelled against his commandment. Lamentation 1:18 In these plaintive elegaics, Jerusalem , by the mouth of the prophet , laments her fate . But the story of her desolation is mingled with confessions of her sin . She asks boldly if any sorrow could be compared to her sorrow ,and then confesses that not one pang or stroke has been in excess of her sin . This is what sorrow does for us all . Sorrow has been fitly called the mother of all joy . She alone creates the darkness, in which we can distinguish the real meaning of God's dealings , and understand the true nature of our wild wanderings . Her neutral tints subdues the soul's pride , and turn it away from the glare of human ambition . Beneath her teaching we learn to view aright the evanescence of all things human , and to see that the eternal is alone real amid a world of illusions .     "Sweet sorrow , who the earth has ever trod ,      Dreaded and shunned , till, by it...

Nothing but the truth of the Gospel can be instrumental to the conversion of souls . Any willful suppression - or any compromising statement of truth , dishonours the Holy Spirit in his own special office , and therefore restrains his quickening influence . Many earnest , affectionate , and diligent ministers , are mourning over the palpable unfruitfulness of their work ; without at all suspecting , that the root of the evil lies within themselves . Sincerity , earnestness, conscientiousness , and self denial , when connected with a wrong or defective standard or practice , are means utterly disproportioned to produce this moral miracle of a radical change . Bishop Horsley  remarked 'it too often happens that ministers lose sight of that which is their proper office , to publish the word of reconciliation .'And ,indeed without this ministry of reconciliation , it is of no avail to appear before our people . We might beseech them with tears - ' be ye reconciled unto God ...