Some beloved idol? (J. C. Philpot 1841) “A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.” Jeremiah 50:38Have we not all in our various ways,set up some beloved idol . . . something which engaged our affections, something which occupied our thoughts, something to which we devoted all […]
That hideous idol SELF in his little shrine (J. C. Philpot, “Israel’s Departure and Return” 1849) Never again will we say any more to the workof our hands—”You are our gods!” Hosea 14:3 The besetting sin of Israel was the worship of idols. Perhaps, if you have walked into the British Museum,and seen the idols that […]
Were it no bigger than a child’s doll “From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” Ezekiel 36:25 Idolatry takes a wide range. There are ‘respectable’ idols and ‘vulgar’ idols—just as there are marble statues, and other objects of worship made up of shells and feathers. And yet each will still be an […]
February 23, 1849My dear friend, Thomas Godwin—It is a mercy amid all one’s coldness, deadness, and hardness sometimes to feel a little revival, and to be blessed in speaking of the Lord’s people. It encourages us to go on in spite of all opposition within and without. I think more of the value and blessedness of […]
Mere notional knowledge By J. C. Philpot The distinction that we are drawing between a gracious knowledge of the truth—and a mere notional knowledge is plain enough to every discerning child of God. He carries daily in his own bosom a test which discovers to him the difference between the knowledge which puffs up—and the knowledge of the only […]
“Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:4,5 There is one feature in true religion perhaps not much insisted upon, but not the less real and genuine; which is this, that […]
Struggling against the power of sin? How many poor souls are struggling against thepower of sin, and yet never get any victory over it! How many are daily led captive by . . . the lusts of the flesh, the love of the world, and the pride of life,and never get any victory over them! How many fight […]
If I wash myself with snow By nature, man knows nothing of the purity and perfection of God—or the deep sinfulness and corruption of the creature. There is a veil over man’s heart—a veil of ignorance—of delusion—of unbelief—of self-deception as regards the nature of sin. No man is vitally and experimentally acquainted with—its hideous nature—its awful depths—its […]
He cannot see, nor know, nor feel If we take the Scriptures as our authority, in what a fearful state is mankind at large! O, how awfully fallen—O, how deeply sunk, man is! And yet one feature of man’s ruined state is his complete ignorance of the depths of the fall. Though the sinful child of a […]
“The just shall live by faith.” –Romans 1:17 A life of faith in Christ is as necessary to our present and experimental salvation, as his death upon the cross was to our past and actual salvation. If you are alive to what you are as a poor fallen sinner, you see yourself surrounded by enemies, […]