“And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.” Mark 2:4Faith is full of inventions. The house was full, a crowd blocked up the door, but faith found a way of ge
“If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” Galatians 5:18We who looks at his own character and position from a legal point of view, will not only despair when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he be a wise man he will despair at the beginning; for if we are to be judged on th
“In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” Philippians 2:15We use lights to make manifest. A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel. His conversation should be such that all
“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?” Job 38:16Some things in nature must remain a mystery to the most intelligent and enterprising investigators. Human knowledge has bounds beyond which it cannot pass. Universal knowledge is for God alone. If this be so in the things which are seen and t
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.” Psalm 120:5As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what he did not pray for, you
“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have.” Leviticus 19:36Weights, and scales, and measures were to be all according to the standard of justice. Surely no Christian man will need to be reminded of this in his business, for if righteousness were banished from all the
“I will; be thou clean.” Mark 1:41Primeval darkness heard the Almighty fiat, “light be,” and straightway light was, and the word of the Lord Jesus is equal in majesty to that ancient word of power. Redemption like Creation has its word of might. Jesus speaks and it is done. Leprosy yielded to no hum
“The Lord trieth the righteous.” Psalm 11:5All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God’s ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, an
“Thou whom my soul loveth.” Song of Solomon 1:7It is well to be able, without any “if” or “but,” to say of the Lord Jesus-”Thou whom my soul loveth.” Many can only say of Jesus that they hope they love him; they trust they love him; but only a poor and shallow experience will be content to stay here
“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” John 4:48A craving after marvels was a symptom of the sickly state of men’s minds in our Lord’s day; they refused solid nourishment, and pined after mere wonder. The gospel which they so greatly needed they would not have; the miracles which Je
“But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.” Mark 1:30Very interesting is this little peep into the house of the Apostolic Fisherman. We see at once that household joys and cares are no hindrance to the full exercise of ministry, nay, that since they furnish an opp
“Trust in him at all times.” Psalm 62:8Faith is as much the rule of temporal as of spiritual life; we ought to have faith in God for our earthly affairs as well as for our heavenly business. It is only as we learn to trust in God for the supply of all our daily need that we shall live above the worl
“Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” Psalm 73:24The Psalmist felt his need of divine guidance. He had just been discovering the foolishness of his own heart, and lest he should be constantly led astray by it, he resolved that God’s counsel should henceforth guid
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light.” John 1:7As he is in the light! Can we ever attain to this? Shall we ever be able to walk as clearly in the light as he is whom we call “Our Father,” of whom it is written, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all?” Certainly, this is the model
“On mine arm shall they trust.” Isaiah 51:5In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust hims
