_The elder unto the elect lady._ TRUTH THE BOND OF LOVE How much is implied very often by the phrase or style with which a letter is begun or ended! How different is the formal “Sir” from “My dear Sir”; and, again, how much does this differ from the intimacy which addresses by a Christian name! Tho... [ Continue Reading ]
_Grace be with you, mercy, peace._ GRACE, MERCY, AND PEACE Grace in Scripture comprehends all the senses that it bears, separately and apart, in our common dialects. When you say of a royal person, “How gracious he is”; when you say of a beautiful woman, “What grace there is in her”; when you speak... [ Continue Reading ]
_I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth._ THE OLD APOSTLE’S CHIEF JOY The affairs of the soul are not so entirely hidden as we may sometimes imagine. I do not see the roots of my plants; but if they grow, and are fragrant, and bear fruit, I know better than if I could loo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Not as though I wrote a new commandment._ THE FEMININE DANGER No one was more likely than a woman to think that the precept of loving was something altogether different in kind from the precepts of the old law; no one was more likely to say, “Love has nothing to do with precepts; it springs up unb... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is love, that we walk after His commandments._ LOVE, THE PRINCIPLE OF OBEDIENCE I. Love as the principle of obedience. 1. The excellency of this principle. It renders obedience. (1) Divinely acceptable. (2) Delightful to ourselves. “What are the most pleasing actions you ever performed? “... [ Continue Reading ]
_For many deceivers are entered into the world._ THE PREVALENCE AND DANGER OF NEGATIVE ERROR IN MATTERS OF FAITH I. The nature of the error denounced. It did not consist so much in openly impugning the principles of the gospel as in “not confessing them.” It was insinuated rather than avowed. II.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Look to yourselves._ SELF-INSPECTION I. look to your creed, whether it be scriptural. We know too well there may be a scriptural creed without real piety; but it does not appear how there can be the latter where faith in the gospel is entirely wanting. Every one that impartially reads the Scriptu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ._ THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST The words “doctrine of Christ” may signify either that doctrine which Christ taught when He was here on earth, or that doctrine of which Christ is the subject--the doctrine which sets forth the truth concer... [ Continue Reading ]
_Receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed._ LOYALTY TO CHRIST The man who comes to undermine men’s faith in Christ is on an evil errand. His work is an “evil work.” Let no false motives of courtesy or toleration lead you to give any assistance or encouragement to such. Let not you... [ Continue Reading ]
_Having many things to write unto you._ CHRISTIAN INTERCOURSE I. The fulness of John’s heart. His heart, doubtless, was full of what concerned the fruits of his ministry in the Church of Christ; of what he had seen and heard, of the results of his long-continued and laborious exertions for the sal... [ Continue Reading ]