“Abide in me, and I in you.” John 15:4 The Lord did not use these words as though there were any power in the creature to abide in him. But he was pleased to use them, that they might be blessed to his people when the Holy Spirit applied them to the heart; for he … Read more
“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:18 O what a mercy that he who was dead lives at God’s right hand! that he lives as a risen head; that he is not a dead Saviour; … Read more
“The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 It is through the word of God in the hands of the Spirit, that this kingdom is set up in the soul. All God’s people are agreed on this point, that they have no more religion than they have inward power. … Read more
“For we are strangers before thee and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” 1 Chronicles 29:15 If you possess the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and, Jacob, you, like them, confess that you are a stranger; and your confession springs out of … Read more
“Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:17, 18 The Lord is here addressing himself to a soul labouring under temptation, and passing through peculiar exercises; and this is the exhortation that he gives it: … Read more
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 “The Son of man is come.” What a blessed coming! The Lord Jesus seems to have taken to himself, with the tenderest condescension to our wants, that gracious title, “the Son of man.” He was the Son … Read more
“That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:17 What perfection does the Holy Ghost speak of here? Certainly not perfection in the flesh; that is but a wild dream of free-will and Arminianism. But perfection here and elsewhere means a being well-established and grounded in the … Read more
“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” Psalm 25:14 “The secret of the Lord” (that is, present possession) “is with them that fear him; and he will shew them” (that is, something future) “his covenant.” This shews, that while all the people of God, … Read more
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” Ephesians 2:14 “He is our peace.” This necessarily springs from being reconciled and brought nigh by the blood of Christ. Sin has not only made us enemies to God, but made God an enemy … Read more
“Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” Proverbs 19:20 What lessons we need day by day to teach us anything aright, and how it is for the most part “line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” O what slow learners, what dull, … Read more