_Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth._ THE CREATOR REMEMBERED How shall we understand this? Is it an allegory describing the weakening of the body? Is it a description of the Jews in captivity? Is it a dirge from some old book of hymns? The best explanation seems this: first, the Pre... [ Continue Reading ]
_The clouds return after the rain._ SORROW UNSPEAKABLE Coming home from the burial of his little Agnes, the late Nehemiah Adams, D.D., of Boston, drew out of his pocket the ribbon-tied key of her casket. “I thought for a few minutes that I should lose my reason,” he writes. “The clouds returned aft... [ Continue Reading ]
_Those that look out of the windows be darkened._ WINDOWS In the description of the infirmities of old age, the window doubtless stands for the eyes, with lashes like lattice-work of an Oriental house, and the fringe of the iris regulating the light as a curtain. Observe that it is said, not that t... [ Continue Reading ]
_The doors shall be shut in the streets._ DOORS Literally_,_ “double deers.” This occurs in the description of the decrepitude of an old man: “The keepers of the house (the arms) shall tremble, and the strong men (the legs) shall bow themselves, and the grinders (the teeth) cease because they are f... [ Continue Reading ]
_The almond-tree shall flourish._ THE ALMOND-TREE IN BLOSSOM In January, Palestine is adorned with the blossoming of the almond-tree. It breathes its life into that winter month as a promise of God sometimes lightens up and sweetens the coldness and desolation of a sorrowing spirit. When the almond... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it._ THE DEATH OF THE BODY, AND SEPARATE STATE OF SOULS I. Death reduces our bodies to their primitive dust. 1. How doth this stain the pride of all flesh, and bring their glory into contempt 1. Wha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity._ TWO REVIEWS OF LIFE (with 2 Timothy 4:7): These two preachers were both distinguished men, aged men, men of wide experiences. Thus far they resembled each other; but the results of their experience are a perfect and a startling contrast. You... [ Continue Reading ]
_The words of the wise are as goads._ A WISE PREACHER AIMS TO MOVE HIS HEARERS I. A wise preacher will aim to impress the minds of his hearers. 1. Every wise preacher knows that unless he impresses the minds of his hearers, he can do them no good by his preaching. Hearers must feel what they hear... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of making many books there is no end._ BOOKS If true so many years before Christ, how much more true so many years a.d.! We so often see books, we have no appreciation of what a book is. It took all civilizations, all martyr fires, all battles, all victories, all defeats, all glooms, all brightnes... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments._ THE PURPOSE OF LIFE I. Life has a purpose. The architect intends the building he designs and erects to answer a specific end; so is it with the engineer, the ship-builder, the mechanic, the artist, the creator a... [ Continue Reading ]
_For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil _ THE GREAT DAY OF JUDGMENT I. Prove the absolute certainty of a day of general judgment. 1. By the Bible (Jude 1:14; Job 19:25; Psalms 9:7; Psalms 50:3; Daniel 7:9; Matthew 25:31; Acts... [ Continue Reading ]