“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
“Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” Psalm 107:10 God’s people are here represented not as sitting in death; were they sitting there, they would be dead altogether; but they are sitting in the shadow of death. Observe, death has lost its reality to them; it now can only cast a … Read more
“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5 The Holy Ghost never comes into any poor sinner’s soul, except through the medium of the gospel of the grace of God. Have you ever considered that point? You … Read more
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Proverbs 22:3 Noah, warned of God, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Lot, admonished by the angels, fled out of Sodom. So there is a fleeing from the wrath to come. How careless, how secure, … Read more
“I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” Isaiah 44:3 In pouring out his Spirit upon Zion’s seed, God pours out therewith every spiritual blessing that there is in his heart or hands to bestow. Whatever earthly good you may enjoy, without the blessing of God it will but … Read more
“And floods upon the dry ground.” Isaiah 44:3 How often does the soul, born and taught of God, feel that it is this “dry ground!” It would fain be fruitful in every good word and work; it would be adorned with every grace of the Spirit within, and with every good and godly fruit without. … Read more
“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.” Isaiah 44:3 Thirst, as a feeling of the soul, in a spiritual sense, is certainly indicative of divine life. It is as impossible, spiritually viewed, for a man dead in sin to thirst after a living God, as for a corpse in the graveyard to … Read more