“But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.” – Exodus 34:20
Every firstborn creature must be the Lord’s, but since the ass was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice. What then? Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law? By no means. God admits of no…
“But who may abide the day of his coming?” – Malachi 3:2
His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those…
The key to the missionary message
And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2. The key to the missionary message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus. Take any phase…
“And be not conformed to this world.” – Romans 12:2
If a Christian can by possibility be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate it must be so as by fire. Such a bare salvation is almost as much to be dreaded as desired. Reader, would you…
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” – Philippians 3:8
Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person’s acquaintance with him. No, I must know him myself; I must know him on my own account. It will be an intelligent knowledge-I must…
The key to the missionary
All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. Matthew 28:18-20. The basis of missionary appeals is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the heathen. We are apt…
“Love is strong as death.” – Song of Solomon 8:6
Whose love can this be which is as mighty as the conqueror of monarchs, the destroyer of the human race? Would it not sound like satire if it were applied to my poor, weak, and scarcely living love to Jesus…
“Godly sorrow worketh repentance.” – 2 Corinthians 7:10
Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works…
Individual discouragement and personal enlargement
Moses went unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens. Exodus 2:11. Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he…
“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.” – John 14:26
This age is peculiarly the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, in which Jesus cheers us, not by his personal presence, as he shall do by-and-by, but by the indwelling and constant abiding of the Holy Ghost, who is evermore the…