A Goodly Heritage

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." "And He bearing His cross."—John 19:17. When did Jesus bear the cross? Not that moment alone, surely, when the bitter tree was placed on His shoulders, on the way to Golgotha. Its vision may be said to have risen before Him in His infant dreams in Bethlehem's cradle; there, rather, its reality began; and He ceased not to carry it, until his work was finished, and the victory won! A cloud of old, hovered over the mercy seat in the tabernacle and temple. So it was with the Great Antitype—the living Mercy-seat—He had ever a cloud of woe hanging over Him. "He carried our sorrows." Reader! dwell much and often under the shadow of your Lord's cross, and it will lead you to think lightly of your own! If He gave utterance to not one murmuring word, can you complain? "If we were deeper students of His bitter anguish, we would think less of the ripplings of our waves, amid His horrible tempes...

Strong indictment of Christian countries Who has not felt as Jeremiah? "This is a Christian country." Why? Because the majority are as bent on self-pleasing, as careless of God, as heartlessly and systematically forgetful of the rights and claims of others, as they would have been had Christ never been heard of? 1. A Christian country? Behold its meaningless shibboleths, its two hundred forms or fashions of Christian belief! How this disunion dishonours Christ. 2. A Christian country? Behold the worship of mammon, the rage of avarice. Look at the wonderful baits which the company monger throws out day by day to human weakness and cupidity! The lying advertisements, the countless quacks, raising hopes never to be fulfilled. 3. A Christian country, and God denied on the platform and in the press! Where atheism is mistaken for intelligence, and agnosticism for logic and reason! Where flagrant lust walks the streets, and gambling reigns! 4. A Christian country: where the ri...

—Revelation 2:4 In the verses preceding Revelation 2:4, eight signs are mentioned that show the zeal and activity of the church at Ephesus. But there was one bad sign, and the Lord said, “I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (v. 5). And what was this sign? “Thou hast left thy first love.” We find the same lack in the church of the present day. There is zeal for the truth, there is continuous and persevering labor, but what the Lord values most is still missing: the tender, fervent love for Himself. This is a thought of great significance. A church, or even an individual Christian, may be an example in every good work, and yet the tender love for the Lord Jesus in the inner chamber is missing. There is no personal, daily fellowship with Christ, and all the manifold activities with which people satisfy themselves are nothing in the eyes of the Master Himself. Dear brother or sister in Christ, this book speaks of the fellowsh...

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, - All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18) WHAT an empire is this! Heaven and earth – the Church militant – the Church triumphant – angels and archangels – saints and seraphs. At His mandate the billows were hushed – demons crouched in terror – the grave yielded its prey! “Upon His head are many crowns.” He is made “head over all things to His Church.” Yes! Over all things, from the minutest to the mightiest. He holds the stars in His right hand: – He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, feeding every candlestick with the oil of His grace, and preserving every star in its spiritual orbit. The Prince of Darkness has “a power,” but, God be praised, it is not an “all power;” potent, but not omnipotent. Christ holds him in a chain. He hath set bounds that he may not pass over. “Satan,” we read in the book of Job, “went out (Chaldee paraphrase, ‘with a license’) from the presence of the Lord.” He wa...

There are several thoughts in mens hearts about Christ's dying. 1. Some think of Christ's death as brought about by the wicked hands of sinners. This is a poor thought, if there be no more. This thought is natural to any that read the history of his death. Carnal men may hate Judas that betrayed him, Pilate that condemned him, the priests that cried Crucify Him, and the people that did it. If this be all, I may say, the devils have a higher thought of Christ's death, and that which comes nearer to the truth, than this sorry one. 2. Some go further, and think of Christ's death as it was a fulfilling of the purpose and word of God concerning him. This Christ teacher us in Luke xxi y. 26, 44, 46.; and the apostles frequently in their preaching of Christ. 3. There is a higher thought of Christ's death; and that is, That Christ died, by the stroke of God's law and justice, for his people. Justice roused itself against our Lord: Czech. xiii. 7. Awake, O sword, against...

J.R. Thomson In the verses from the tenth to the sixteenth, the bride sets forth in detail the excellences and the attractiveness of her spouse. In similitudes according with Oriental imagination she describes the charm of his person, and accounts for the fascination he exercises. And she sums up the characterization by the assertion that he is "altogether lovely" - "totus est desiderabilis, totus est amor." Augustine, in language dictated by the fervour of his heart, expresses the spiritual truths enshrined in this exclamation: "My soul is a sigh of God; the heart conceives and the mouth forms the sigh. Bear, then, my soul, the likeness of the heart and of the mouth of God. Sigh thou for him who made thee!" I. CHRIST IS ALTOGETHER TO BE LOVED AND DESIRED FOR WHAT HE IS IN HIMSELF. In his Person and character Christ is a Being who commands and attracts the love of all who are susceptible to the charms of spiritual excellence. There is beauty beyond that w...

There is a story told of a good old preacher in Wales, in those early days when preachers used to go about Wales from one end of the country to the other. The custom among Christians who realized their privileges and responsibilities was, when a man had preached the Gospel on one side of a mountain, and had to preach it the following night on the other side, that some kind friend accompanied him a large part of the way, if not the whole way, and thus showed him the path to take. But there were some who begrudged this kindly service. The preacher of whom I speak came on one occasion into contact with one of these. He was a wealthy farmer in the district. The preacher stayed the night at this man’s house. On the following morning, when the preacher was about to start, the farmer took out a bit of a slate and traced on it the way over the mountain to the other side, and said, “Now follow this. Here the road divides, and there a path turns to the right,” etc. etc. The good old man tried t...