| |
| 1. | 2 Corinthians 12, Thoughts on |
| THIS chapter presents to us, in a remarkable manner, the way in which the power comes whereby a Christian can walk through this world. It is not merely now a path in which he can walk, but the way how he may have strength to walk in it, and what |
| 2. | 2 Corinthians 12, Thoughts on |
| THE man now is not standing as himself, a sinner responsible to God, because he has owned himself entirely lost in that state; and now, what he has learned is this, that God has sent His Son, and has condemned sin in the flesh. Therefore there is no condemnation. God |
| 3. | Acts 2 and 3 |
| Days and years are passing and making the moment still less—may a disengaged heart have a welcome for the last sand. |
| 4. | AGAPAO and PHILEO: To Love and to Be Attached To |
| 1. John 21:15-17 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17). G -y inquires what is the difference between αγαπάω and φιλέω? You will observe that Jesus says to Peter the first and second times άγαπαί με, and that Peter replies φιλῶσe. The third time Jesus says φιλεῖς με. It has been remarked that |
| 5. | Amos |
| Amos was the prophet who went before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. (Chap. 1:1,) We may say that he was the prophet of that event (8:8; 9:5.) |
| 6. | As Is the Heavenly |
| THERE are two great things that the Scriptures present to us as effectual for salvation. One is, the full vindicating of God's moral character in grace towards us, which the atonement does. There is righteousness in God against sin, and there is love to the sinner—for God's character is not |
| 7. | As Is the Heavenly |
| I could not be where He was, for He was there just that I might never be there, bearing the wrath of God and drinking that cup of suffering of which, if I had tasted the least drop, it would have been everlasting death. Well, I see the Lord coming |
| 8. | As Is the Heavenly |
| IF God is dealing with sin, looked at in my relationship to Him as a sinner, He must deal with it in death. • There is no forgiveness for the sinner, looked at as guilty before God, without the real work which deals with it according to God's nature; and |
| 9. | Bethany, The Home at |
| (* It is the same scene in John 12 though in one the head is said to be anointed and in the other the feet. Both, no doubt, were anointed, The idea is the person of Christ.) |
| 10. | Christ Our Passover |
| WE always find in the deliverances of God's people that God is also going to punish the world. He bears testimony against it—a universal testimony without excepting anybody. The law distinguishes men according to their acts, but the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sins, because they have not believed |
| 11. | Christ Our Prophet |
| In John 3 the Lord speaks of earthly and heavenly things (ver. 12). He puts the doctrine of the new birth among the earthly things, but quite owns that without it there is no entrance for any soul into God's kingdom at all, whether in its earthly or heavenly |
| 12. | Church of God, The |
| GOD has "a Church." God has not been ashamed to connect His name with one Church—the Church of the living God. (1 Tim. 3:15 15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15).) Oft He calls it " the Church of God." (See Acts 20:2828 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28) Cor. 15 |
| 13. | Clean Saints, Defiled Feet |
| All saints are clean; only they may defile their feet. The Spirit, through the intercession of Christ, applies the word and rebukes evil, shows the starting-point of it, and after a while restores the soul of communion. But God never deals with the conscience to falsify the relationship of the |
| 14. | Correspondence to the Editor of the Bible Treasury |
| Sir, If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Walking in the light, as God, &c., is not walking as perfectly as God is perfect, as must be manifest; but if the darkness is past, Judaism, |
| 15. | Death and Resurrection |
| THERE are two things which it is very important for every person to get clear hold of. First, that which the death and resurrection of Christ bring into in principle; and second, what they teach as a matter of practice. Both these things are brought out in the chapter before |
| 16. | Death of Christ |
| The death of Christ has annulled my existence before God in the flesh, by faith. Supposing there is a man who is a thief, and he is put into prison to be punished, and he dies in prison, what is to be done with him? The life that sinned is |
| 17. | Discipline: Abel and Enoch |
| I PROPOSE to consider the nature and effect of discipline as taught in the histories of the early witnesses. Not that I deem them connected, but my limits will not allow me to make longer comments than either one or two would afford. I take them separately. |
| 18. | Discipline: Abraham |
| The discipline which is necessary and suited to the life of faith is what we shall find pre-eminently exemplified in Abraham's history. |
| 19. | Discipline, Assembly |
| Q. 1 Cor. 5 Is the assembly competent and responsible to judge known evil? Or is it the function of elders or other rulers only, which the body is sound to carry out? Does the ruler's verdict bind all? Or is it open to discussion or reconsideration? How does |
| 20. | Discipline: Isaac and Jacob |
| Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were distinctively the " fathers of Israel," the heads of a people called of God, to walk in the earth, as happily dependent on Him. Abraham leads the way; and while most exemplary for the faith which characterized him, he had also to contend with peculiarities |
| 21. | Discipline: Jacob |
| The history of Jacob is peculiarly interesting to us, for in it are developed the activities of the natural will, not so much in contravention of the expressed counsel of God, but rather in an attempt to secure, by its own instrumentality, what was pre-ordained of God. The more intelligent |
| 22. | Discipline: Joseph |
| The history of Joseph unfolds to us the trials and duties of a servant of God. The evils and failure of human nature, are not brought before us in his course, as in that of some we have already studied. Joseph is regarded, primarily, as a servant and instrument |
| 23. | Drawing Nigh to God |
| As regards drawing nigh to God, the position of the christian is entirely changed from that of the Jew. Then (Heb. 9) the way into the holiest was not made manifest, and no one, not even the priests, could go into the presence of God, within the veil; and |
| 24. | Faith in Christ |
| Faith in Christ as He was in His humiliation and resurrection, makes a man a Christian. Faith in Christ as He is, guides Christians in fellowship. And faith in Christ as He shall be, gives a hope that maketh not ashamed. |
| 25. | Feeding Upon Christ |
| Q. John 6:51 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51), and 2 Cor. 3:1818 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18). What is the difference between "feeding" upon Christ in "his humiliation," and the " being changed into the same image" by beholding His glory 2 T. T. |
| 26. | Fifth Seal: Editor's Reply to T.G.R. (Correction) |
| The Editor thanks Mr. T. G. R. (Chester) for His kind remark and wishes. What He Says on the fifth seal Is quite true, but consistent with the "Remarks." He has misconstrued the observations on the sixth seal, which the writer believes with him is no more anticipative than its |
| 27. | Fragment: The Authority of God's Word |
| People often confound the effect produced on man, the effect which makes him own the truth and the authority of the Word, with a judgment passed by man upon this Word, as upon a matter submitted to him. Never could the Word be thus presented as subject to human judgment; |
| 28. | Fragment: The Church, Christ's Epistle |
| It is the christian, or the church, which gives Christ his character before the world. They are His epistle to the world. We may know how to distinguish and understand the representation; but the world, the infidel, judges of what christianity is, by what christians are. |
| 29. | Fragments Gathered Up |
| Power, the power of Christ practically, depends not upon revelations, knowledge of the glory, &c., but upon our feeling our own nothingness (2 Cor. 12) Affection in unjudged flesh will not do—and we must look to that. Sentiment is worth nothing: you may have plenty of it with sincerity, |
| 30. | Fragments Gathered Up |
| There may be great confidence in devotedness, as with Peter, and yet a want of acquaintance with God's mind. Where affection is real, it is instinctively just. We have to see that our zeal for the Lord is not in the flesh. |
| 31. | God's Word |
| God's word has a hold on natural conscience from which it cannot escape. The light detects the "breaker up," though it may be hated. And so the word of God is adapted to man, though he be hostile to it- adapted in grace as well as in truth. This is |
| 32. | Heir of All Things, The |
| THERE is a great secret in Heb. 1 ii. " The Son" being appointed " Heir of all things," takes His appointed inheritance as a Redeemer. |
| 33. | Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ |
| Q. Heb. 10:5 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5). D. S. Invites remark on current lowerings of the Holy Person of our Lord, and the attempt of some unhappy men in our day, as in times gone by, to insinuate that because He was truly and perfectly a man, His body was a dying body |
| 34. | Inspiration of the Scriptures |
| (* Expressions in the introduction of Mr. Allord's New Testament are here and there alluded to in the following paper, but as it is the whole system, and not anything peculiar to him, which is animadverted upon, no farther particular notice is taken of it.) |
| 35. | Is It Right to Ask Forgiveness of Sins? |
| Q. Why may not a believer use the prayer, " Be not angry with us forever?" Is not God displeased, or angry with us, when we sin? Must we not, in this case, seek to be forgiven? And is not God displeased with us until we have sought |
| 36. | Israel, People and Land of: Deuteronomy 32:8 |
| We are expressly told in Deut. 32:8 8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8), that when the most high divided unto the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. God made Israel the center of his earthly |
| 37. | Jacob at Bethel |
| THIS is full of beauty and meaning. Pollution cannot be allowed by one that is in the sense and joy of abounding grace. Gods and earrings, idols and vanities, are together buried under an oak of Shechem and left behind. The patriarch rises up with all that was his, and |
| 38. | Jacob in Egypt |
| We find Jacob in his own person and ways, very much the same widowed solitary man in Egypt, as we saw him to have been for years in Canaan ere he came out. Only it was thus, under very strong temptation to be otherwise; for he maintained his stranger-ship, though |
| 39. | Jacob: Review |
| Jacob.—"By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the Sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff." (Heb. 11:21 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. (Hebrews 11:21).) (London: J. B. Bateman, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row. 1857.) |
| 40. | Law, The |
| That the will of God, where it is expressed in the word, ought to govern the Christian, every soul truly converted will own. But the word of God is wiser than man; never does it set the Christian under the law since the death of Jesus. It was a schoolmaster |
| 41. | Lectures on Revelation 19 |
| We are now approaching a brighter and happier portion of the book. The providential judgments of God, whether more secret like the seals, more loudly summoning men to repent like the trumpets, or more positive and distinct wrath like the vials, have had their full course. And now, when Babylon |
| 42. | Lectures on Revelation 2: Pergamos |
| Ver. 12-1 8. The Lord here announces Himself to the angel of the church in Pergamos as One who was armed with all-searching power by the word of God, the piercing word that judges. In the book of Revelation, the sharp sword is at the command of the Lord Jesus, |
| 43. | Life in the Son |
| THE main subject in the Gospel of John is life. " The Word was with God, and the Word was God In him was life, and the life was the light of men." The first Epistle of John gives just the same thing—" the word of life," and life given |
| 44. | Lord's Resurrection in Their Relative Order, The Facts of the |
| Each gospel has only a selection or summary connected with its own immediate subject. Thus, in Matthew, no interview of our Lord with His apostles is mentioned, but on the mountain in Galilee where a specific commission is given. Now, we know from the Acts that He was seen of |
| 45. | Love of Christ and the Experience That Flows From It, The |
| Eph. 5 |
| 46. | Love of Jesus, The |
| It is evident that Jesus here addresses the disciples who were then around Him; but what we see there of Jesus attracts the soul to Him. What draws out the sinner and gives him confidence is that which the Holy Ghost reveals of Jesus. |
| 47. | Luke 1, Notes on |
| THE Savior is presented to us in Luke in his character as Son of man, displaying the power of Jehovah in grace in the midst of men. At first, doubtless, we find Him in relationship with Israel, to whom He had been promised; but afterward moral principles are, brought out, |
| 48. | Luke 10:38 and Luke 11, Notes on |
| Ver. 23, 24, " He said to them privately." These things could only be enjoyed by faith. He would have them in consciousness of present blessing. |
| 49. | Luke 12, Notes on |
| UNDER the seventh trumpet the elders anticipated the effects of the throne's being actually established over the earth. But now the temple is again seen, so that we go back here, for we have God's purposes in connection with the Lord Jesus from the very beginning-the man-child who |
| 50. | Luke 12, Notes on |
| Chapter 11 |
| 51. | Luke 13-14, Notes on |
| Chap. 13 |
| 52. | Luke 13, Notes on |
| THERE are two great principles or subjects in connection with man on the earth—the Church of God as such, and the government of God in the world; and these are very distinct. In the Church the riches of His grace are manifested. In His governmental dealings, we see the display |
| 53. | Luke 15-16, Notes on |
| WE have seen the Lord showing out his own rejection, in grace, followed by an entirely new order of things. The Church, brought in subsequently, is not an age, properly so called, but a heavenly episode between the ages. There are three ages spoken of in Scripture: the age before |
| 54. | Luke 17, Notes on |
| WE have seen the great principle of divine grace in contrast with self-righteousness, and the Jewish economy, which refused its Messiah, the Son of God, set aside to make way for bringing to light life and incorruption through the gospel. " Then said he unto the disciples, it is impossible |
| 55. | Luke 18-19, Notes on |
| WE saw, from verse 20 to the end of the last chapter (17.), that the kingdom of God was presented, first, in the person of Jesus, as a question of faith, not of outward show, nor of a lo, here! or lo, there! and, secondly, in the way of judgment, |
| 56. | Luke 18-19, Notes on |
| Chap. 18:35; 19:1-27. |
| 57. | Luke 19:28 and 20:1-44, Notes on |
| Chap. 14:28. Jesus enters Jerusalem as Messiah. His rights as Lord of all were to be asserted and acted on (verses 29-36). He presents Himself for the last time to Israel, in the lowliness of grace, which was of far greater importance than the kingdom. This gives rise to the |
| 58. | Luke 2, Notes on |
| When God is pleased to occupy Himself with the world, and to take a part in what passes therein, it is marvelous to see how He acts and the instruction He gives. There is no agreement, but a total opposition, between His ways and those of men. The emperor and |
| 59. | Luke 21:31-38 and Luke 22, Notes on |
| Vers. 31, 32 are interesting in this point of view here, because they furnish remarkable evidence, first, that the kingdom of God does not mean the gospel of His grace; and, secondly, that this generation cannot refer to the space of time from the prophecy to the destruction of |
| 60. | Luke 23, Notes on |
| Verses 1-25. Religious iniquity had now only to lead on the world to finish the wickedness in which itself had taken the lead. The civil power must give in to the willful evil of the apostate people of God. This is the history of the world, and, of the two, |
| 61. | Luke 24, Notes on |
| What now occupies our evangelist is the Risen Man again with His disciples and the testimony to the world founded on the resurrection—this new truth and power above all the principles of natural life. The door of the cross is shut on all that man in the flesh is, |
| 62. | Luke 3, Notes on |
| THE two preceding chapters have given the general character: they have shown the going out of the thoughts of God to man. Accordingly we find that the gospel, as a whole, is particularly occupied with what is not Jewish. Still the Jewish part is given at first with considerable |
| 63. | Luke 4, Notes on |
| WE saw the Lord taking His place of servant with the excellent in Israel, and thereon the heavens opened, and Himself owned by the Father as His beloved Son. His delights were with the sons of men, and He is traced up, not to Abraham only, the root and depositary |
| 64. | Luke 5, Notes on |
| IT is interesting to know the progressive power of the word of God. The Lord was preaching, as related at the close of chap. 4., and in so doing, as well as in the miracles He wrought, He was manifesting the power of goodness. Thus, in performing miracles, two |
| 65. | Luke 6, Notes on |
| HERE we have a most weighty thing spoken of—the Sabbath. It is a question that often agitates the minds of men, and was then specially important as closing Jewish relations. And this, it will be borne in mind, was just where the Lord had morally arrived at the close of |
| 66. | Luke 7, Notes on |
| WE have seen the Lord, rejected by Israel, gradually, in virtue of His person and rights, breaking out beyond the ancient limits, and gathering the remnant round Himself, the new and only just object of God, the source of a mission in grace, and the full development and exemplification of |
| 67. | Luke 8, Notes on |
| We have seen, in what has preceded, the Lord presenting Himself, by His words, and His work, as a new center, to which and round which His people were gathered. Before this, Jehovah had been the center, when Israel was the gathering point-for Jehovah was among the Jews, and |
| 68. | Luke 9:1-36, Notes on |
| AFTER the Lord had given a picture, as it were, of all that was going on in chap. 8., He raises the question in chap. 9. as to who He was, and He tells His disciples some should see His glory-for the mount of transfiguration shows what the glory of |
| 69. | Luke 9:37-50, Notes on |
| WHEN the Lord's Messiah-ship was given up, we have seen He takes the place of translation from earth to heaven. He, being rejected, was no longer to be looked upon as the Head of Israel down here, but as the heavenly Christ; for He takes His place on high, when |
| 70. | Luke 9:51 and 10:1-37, Notes on |
| Chaps. 9:51, &c.; 10:1-37 |
| 71. | Luke, Notes on |
| Chap. 12 |
| 72. | Mediation |
| If a man had never any just conviction of sin, he does not feel the need of mediation. No one who has for himself felt what sin and grace are, can hesitate a moment as to the value of it. Let the reader consult Job 9 and he |
| 73. | Mediation Consists |
| First, of God in the Suffering Christ Bringing Us to God by Faith; And, |
| 74. | Mind of Christ, The |
| The mind of Christ is what belongs to the saint as a new man. The spirit of God first quickened, and now he has the mind of Christ, to mind the things above, as quickened out of the system of this world. He has the intelligence of Christ, through the |
| 75. | Our Relationships to Christ |
| Have taken these two passages which precede and come after all the prophetic part of the book, as giving us the relationships in which the saints stand to Christ, to whom the book is confided. |
| 76. | Parable of the Cedar and the Two Eagles, The |
| DISCIPLINE preserves us for future blessing, but it does not exalt us in this present world. |
| 77. | Prayer |
| Q. What is the difference in these two verses as to the answer to prayer'? |
| 78. | Presence of the Spirit in John 14 Compared With Chapters 15 and 16 |
| There are three things quite distinct from each other,—conscience, life, and power. |
| 79. | Priestly Sympathy |
| Priestly Sympathy—There is an analogy between Jesus and the Jewish priests as to the sympathy, but not as to the ground (Heb. 5). One who is perfectly free from sin, if there is love in the heart, is at full liberty to sympathize with the sorrows of others. On |
| 80. | Psalm 22:21-31 |
| IN the first Adam all men failed, and came under condemnation. We have failed; I have failed; not only as belonging to a world of sin, but I am a sinner. If I am honest, as to my state, I shall own I |
| 81. | Question and Answer: The Prayer of Faith |
| Q. Is there any connection as to the promise in these verses "whatsoever," be., with the prayer of faith? (Mark 11:24 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mark 11:24).) T. T. |
| 82. | Rapture, The Approaching |
| The editor quite agrees with H. B. that, without looking for signs of the approaching rapture of the saints to meet the Lord in the air, the earthly ground is being rapidly taken for the closing conflicts. Even the newspapers ring with men's projects, which, we know, will end in |
| 83. | Red Heifer, The |
| IN Num. 19 we learn the excessive jealousy of the Lord about sin, not in the sense of guilt but defilement. This He measures by His sanctuary. We have to do with it, and nothing unclean can be allowed. We are clean every whit, but the feet washing is |
| 84. | Redemption of the Purchased Possession |
| Era. 1:14. |
| 85. | Revelation 1, Lectures on |
| EVERY Christian of spiritual intelligence must have felt more or less fully the peculiar character of the book on the study of which we now enter. " The revelation of Jesus Christ which. God gave unto him." It is evident that the Lord Jesus is viewed here, not in His |
| 86. | Revelation 1, Lectures on |
| We have supreme authority in the Lord, which is universal. in its range, as the stars are His administrative lights in the churches, which He maintains by His power. He judges by His word those who have it or refuse it. |
| 87. | Revelation 10, Lectures on |
| SOME will remember a resemblance already pointed out between the two orders of seals and trumpets. When we come to the sixth in each series, there is an interruption of a most interesting kind. We saw that after the sixth seal there was such an episode, not of judgment but |
| 88. | Revelation 11:1-18, Lectures on |
| FROM the moment that God begins to deal with the earth in an open manner, Israel naturally comes forward and also the Gentiles as connected with them (Dent. xxxii. 8, 9). We have had the twelve tribes scattered abroad and a measured number sealed; but the land of Judea and |
| 89. | Revelation 13:1-10, Lectures on |
| We have seen that chapter 12. goes back as well as forward and connects the purpose of God which is to be brought out in the latter day with the Messiah and even with His birth. Thus, while the Lord Jesus Christ is, to my mind, clearly referred to as |
| 90. | Revelation 13:11-18 and Revelation 14, Lectures on |
| It is Satan, of course, who is behind the scenes; but his slave, the second Beast, " deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the Beast: saying to them that dwell on the earth,* that |
| 91. | Revelation 15-16, Lectures on |
| WE are now come to a new division of the book. The last three chapters (12-14) formed a most important portion to themselves; they gave the whole history of the closing dealings of God, and of the last plans of Satan, as far as the present dispensation is concerned. And |
| 92. | Revelation 16, Lectures on |
| Now I must say a little on the details of God's judgments in chap. xvi. It is a painful subject and humbling, when we think that this is the declared end of man's vaunted progress. I will endeavor, then, briefly to glance at these seven plagues. "And I heard a |
| 93. | Revelation 17-18, Lectures on |
| THE Spirit of God has shown us the destruction of Babylon under the last vial. We are now to learn in the chapter before us what was her special evil, what there was so hateful to God in Babylon; not only what her own conduct was, but what there was |
| 94. | Revelation 18-19, Lectures on |
| His righteous soul was vexed with their unlawful deeds, he himself was the object of their taunts. " This one fellow," said they, "came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge." They saw the incongruity of his position, as worldly men generally are quick to perceive the |
| 95. | Revelation 18, Lectures on |
| I THINK that the case of Babylon illustrates strikingly how a judgment which is said to be God's may, at the same time, be executed by men. In chap. 17 we saw that God will make use of the ten horns or kings, into whose dominions the Roman earth, at |
| 96. | Revelation 20, Lectures on |
| The first three verses of this chapter are closely connected with the one that goes before. For there we see the judgment of the beast and the false prophet, and of their adherents. Here we have what God saw fit to inflict for the present upon the real unseen leader |
| 97. | Revelation 20, Lectures on |
| "But the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. "The rest of the dead:"-who were they The beginning of verse 4 includes, as I conceive, not only the church, but the Old Testament saints; that is, all the heavenly saints |
| 98. | Revelation 20:1-6, Lectures on |
| For why should not God bring back the creatures that He has made, and about which He takes a far greater interest than men suppose, to a state at least as good as that in which they were created? Why should not God root out all the evil consequence that |
| 99. | Revelation 2:1-17, Lectures on |
| We will now look at the first of the seven churches more particularly (ver. 1-7). First, let us observe that John is told to write to the angel of the church there. The address is no longer to " the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful |
| 100. | Revelation 2:1-17, Lectures on |
| Ver. 8-11. In Ephesus we have seen departure from first standing. The next state is a different one. We have the church at Smyrna in trouble; the saints of God are suffering. They may have thought the fiery trial some strange thing that had happened to them. But, on the |
| 101. | Revelation 21-22, Lectures on |
| Certain things were yet reserved in Old Testament times. Look at Deuteronomy (chap. xxix 29). "The secret things," says Moses there, "belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children forever, that we may do all the works of this |
| 102. | Revelation 21, Lectures on |
| It would have been a happier division of these chapters, if chapter 21:1-8 had made a part of the same series of events which was given in chap. 20., following it in unbroken succession. There is a very decided termination of the chain, at the close of the 8th verse |
| 103. | Revelation 2:18-3:16, Lectures on: Thyatira |
| Ver. 1 8-28. There is an important change that occurs in this chapter, beginning with the epistle to Thyatira. In the first three churches the warning word (" He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ") conies before the promise; but all |
| 104. | Revelation 22, Lectures on |
| It is one of the interesting features of this book, that it can only be properly understood when taken in connection with all the rest of the word of God. And, singular to say too, God has linked together, in a very remarkable manner, the last book of the Scripture |
| 105. | Revelation 22, Lectures on |
| There were two descents of the city in chap. 21.—one at the beginning of the millennium, and the other at the commencement of the eternal state. The second verse of that chapter gives us its descent when the eternal state is come, and the tenth verse its descent for the |
| 106. | Revelation 3:1-6, Lectures on: Sardis |
| Ver. 1-6. I think that any discerning reader must perceive that we are entering upon an entirely new order of things in this chapter, or, at least, a sort of fresh start. What was described in the vision of Christ walking in the midst of the candlesticks is not here |
| 107. | Revelation 3:7-22, Lectures on: Philadelphia |
| The tone of the epistle to Philadelphia must, I think, confirm the idea presented as to Sardis, that in this portion (Rev. 3) we have not so much the early church, or that of the middle ages, but what is found, or is developed, in modern times. Sardis is |
| 108. | Revelation 4, Lectures on |
| WE are now come to the strictly prophetic part of the book of Revelation. The seven churches formed together what the Holy Ghost calls "the things which are." And the Son of man was seen judging the house of God on earth, represented by the Asiatic churches. They existed in |
| 109. | Revelation 5, Lectures on |
| We have had, in the preceding chapter, a sight of the greatest significance and interest: God unfolding the interior, so to speak, of heaven-its thoughts and its employment, before the fall of a single blow of judgment upon the earth conies before us. But the picture would have been incomplete, |
| 110. | Revelation 6, Lectures on |
| In the last days, when the things of Israel become the subject of divine notice again, we know that two objects will present themselves-the nation in a state of apostasy, and the remnant in the midst of them. It will be like the two at one mill, or in one |
| 111. | Revelation 6, Lectures on |
| From the two preceding chapters the lessons are apparent, and I do not doubt, should be learned: 1st, God sits on the throne, whence proceed lightnings, voices, and thunders; 2nd, all things are given into the hands of the Lamb, who unfolds all; 3rd, the perfect security and the blessed |
| 112. | Revelation 7, Lectures on |
| The careful reader of the Revelation will have noticed that this chapter does not perform any part, properly speaking, of the course of events. That is to say, it is neither one of the seals, nor of the trumpets, nor of the vials. We have not finished the seals yet. |
| 113. | Revelation 9, Lectures on |
| A PREFATORY remark I may be permitted to make is, that our chapter furnishes an incidental proof that the trumpets are not coincident with the seals. For the sealing was given in the large parenthesis (Rev. 7) which followed the sixth seal, whereas it is referred to, not after |
| 114. | Revelation, Lectures on: Chapter 14 |
| Tills chapter is the concluding one of the episode that separates the trumpets from the vials. We heard the events under the last trumpet announced; but the details and the means of their actual accomplishment were not revealed to us. There were songs in heaven celebrating its results; but the |
| 115. | Revelation, Lectures on: Laodicea |
| Ver. 14-22. We have seen the strong contrast between the state of Sardis and the previous order of things. Gross corruption, open evil, persecution, hatred of the holiness and truth of God, false prophets had reigned in Thyatira, though there was a remnant found there, and a faithful remnant. If |
| 116. | Righteousness of God, The |
| BEFORE entering on the solemn and interesting question of our righteousness, the righteousness of God, I will shortly notice what is objected, and dispose of it, so as to be able then to treat the subject unhinderedly for edification, and not controversy. The principle, however, in question it is well |
| 117. | Righteousness of God, The |
| This last is the way the point is looked at in the Epistle to the Romans. In the Ephesians it is simply a new creation when we are dead. To make this a little more clear,-there are two ways in which I can deal with the point of the relationship |
| 118. | Righteousness of God, The |
| (Continued). |
| 119. | Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth |
| The Second Epistle to Timothy is not only specially important to us in this day of corrupted Christianity, but it has its own peculiar force and attraction in the general moral character of it. It shows the apostle Paul to us in a very affecting light-holding on in service, though |
| 120. | Romans 10, Thoughts on |
| Chap. 9. has brought before us the sovereign counsels of God towards Israel; chap. 10. occupies us with His ways in respect of the people during the present period. |
| 121. | Romans 11, Thoughts on |
| The subject of the chapter is this—God has not rejected His people. The apostle gives three proofs that Israel is not finally rejected of God. 1. There is, as in the time of Elijah, a remnant. The rejection which affects Israel does not strike in an absolute way the totality |
| 122. | Romans 12-13, Thoughts on |
| Chap. 12. 1. The Apostle now comes to the moral consequences of his doctrine. The compassions of God, manifested in the acts of His grace toward us, and developed in the doctrine of this epistle, are the motive given to the Christian to urge him to obedience and personal devotedness |
| 123. | Romans 14-15, Thoughts on |
| This chapter, 14., teaches in what spirit we ought to behave towards the scrupulous or "the weak," i.e., towards such as are still under the influence of Jewish elements. The same subject continues to the 7th verse of chap. 15.—the obligation, the grounds, the sphere, and the end of |
| 124. | Romans 15-16, Thoughts on |
| From verse 8 of chapter 15. to the end of the chapter, Paul resumes the great principles of the epistle and his personal circumstances; then in the concluding chapter, affectionate salutations to the Christians at Rome, whom he knew. It is a sort of peroration. Ver. 8, 9 present to |
| 125. | Romans 9, Thoughts on |
| WE now approach another subject. In Rom. 9-11 Paul is reconciling the special promises given to Abraham with the leveling which the gospel makes of Jew and Gentile, by placing them on equal conditions, whether before judgment or before grace. |
| 126. | Sealed With the Holy Spirit of Promise?, In What Way Is the Believer Now |
| Q. Eph. 1:13 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13). In what way is the believer now sealed with the holy spirit of promise? There was a manifested presence of the Holy Ghost in the early Christians. "received ye the spirit by the works of the law?" to what extent may we apply such confident assertions |
| 127. | Son of Man Is Come to Seek and to Save That Which Was Lost, The |
| May not these words, these last words, the only hope of any poor soul to whom God discovers its true condition, and assuredly the joy, and song, and rejoicing of all who forever so great a length of time have known this blessed One,-may not these last words be regarded |
| 128. | Sufferings and the Praises of Christ, The |
| (Psa. 22) |
| 129. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| Dear Mr. Editor, |
| 130. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| The sufferings of our blessed Lord are too solemn, too holy a subject to dispose one who feels he owes his all to them, to make them a subject of dispute or controversy. It is my desire to avoid this-yet not so as to let disastrous and fatal error overcome |
| 131. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| There is a double character of suffering besides atoning work, which Christ has entered into and which others can feel. The sufferings arising from active love in the world, and the sorrow arising from the sense of chastenings in respect of sin, and these mixed with the pressure of Satan's |
| 132. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| IT was not now, in these last scenes of Christ's life, the manifestation of the Lord in grace to Israel, the revelation of the Father's name to the few given to Jesus out of the world, but the endurance of Israel's own case under the government of Jehovah, when guilty |
| 133. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| Notice of earlier opinions on the subject, I said I would take notice of the quotations from ancient writers on the point of Christ's vicarious life and living sufferings. What I have already said will have proved that views of His sufferings, in which, what I avow is to me |
| 134. | Sufferings of Christ, The |
| To the Editor of the Bible Treasury. 1. |
| 135. | Sufferings of Christ, The: Supplement |
| DEAR BROTHER, Mere attacks on my statements I should not notice, as I see no Christian profit in it. I leave them, where the will of man is at work in them, to Him whose will is above all human wills. I have always found it a happy course, and |
| 136. | Sufferings of Christ, The: Supplement |
| (Continued) |
| 137. | Sympathies of Christ, The: The Spirit of Christ in the Remnant |
| OR, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE REMNANT. MY DEAR BROTHER, Since reading the valuable paper on the Sufferings of Christ, which has appeared in your pages, and especially the explanations given by the writer of those papers in your last, it has occurred to me that the following extract |
| 138. | To Adelphos on Our Being Risen With Christ |
| The editor cannot agree with " adelphos," that our being risen with Christ accounts for the omission of the church's resurrection, or for the phrase, "the first resurrection," in rev. 20 first, it is clear to him that the church is included in those whom John saw seated on |
| 139. | Vials, The Last |
| To the Editor of the Bible Treasury |
| 140. | We Have This Treasure |
| 2 Cor. 4:5 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5). |
| 141. | Wedding Garment and Who Is the Friend?, What Is the |
| Q. Matt. 22 F R asks, what is " the wedding-garment," and who the " friend" is, who is consigned to outer darkness? |
| 142. | Word of God and the Priesthood of Christ, The |
| THERE are two things that God employs in carrying us through the desert, as spoken of here. One is the word of God, and the other is the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. |
| 143. | Word of God and the Priesthood of Christ, The |
| Heb. 4-5. Continued. |
| 144. | Writer of the Article on the Sufferings of Christ 2, The |
| Dear Brother, |