What doctrine is more emptying, humbling, and therefore sanctifying, than predestination? It lays the axe at the root of all human boasting! In the light of this truth, the most holy believer sees that there is no difference between him and the vilest sinner that crawls the earth–but what the sovereign grace of God has […]
One everlasting memorial of anguish and suffering (John MacDuff, 1818—1895) Rev. 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Rev. 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, […]
If the possession of heaven could be obtained with only a single act of goodness, never to all eternity should I find it. “When I would do good, evil is present with me.” Oh! Then for grace to know Thee, to love Thee, to follow Thee, as my only good; my hope, my righteousness, my […]
What do you depend on? from Spurgeon’s, “THE CEDARS OF LEBANON” O Christian. You are to live expecting nothing from man, and you shall never be disappointed. You are to live looking upon the Lord alone, and there again disappointment shall never come. Understand that one of God’s objects with you is to knock away […]
The love of the truth (J. C. Philpot, “The Valley of Achor” 1861) “They perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thess. 2:10 There is a receiving of ‘the truth’, and a receiving of ‘the love of the truth’. These two things widely differ. To […]
What is it to preach the gospel? “Salvation is, in its entirety, the work of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. Election, redemption, justification, sanctification, and preservation are all works of grace alone, in no way conditioned upon the will, works, or worth of the sinner.” What Is it to Preach the Gospel? To […]
“We Will Be Glad And Rejoice In Thee” Song of Solomon 1:4 Another year is dawning. We who are the children of the living God will not open the gates of the new year in sorrow and mourning. We will sing unto our God. With joy in our hearts and gladness in our […]
“I am black, but lovely!” “I am black, but lovely!” Song of Solomon 1:5 The believer pictures her state. It is a seeming paradox. The extremes of lowliness and greatness are combined. She presents two aspects: deformity and loveliness compose the portrait. “I am black, but lovely!” Blackness is frightful and repulsive. No eye can […]
THE BELIEVER’S RULE OF LIFE I left the pulpit one night and a fellow asked me, “Do you believe ‘the law’ to be a believer’s rule of life?” He seemed surprised when I told him I did not. His very next question was, “How do you know how to live?” I told him immediately that […]
“Conversion is not the smooth, easygoing process some men seem to think it otherwise man’s heart would never have been compared to fallow ground and God’s Word to a plough.” -John Bunyan Truth! A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever authority, […]