_The Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled_ TEACHINGS FROM TRAGEDIES We shall miss the very point of Christ’s teaching if we suppose that he meant to lessen our sense of the inseparable connection between sin and punishment. What, then, did He mean? He meant this: That every personal visitatio... [ Continue Reading ]
_A certain man had a fig-tree_ THE BARREN FIG-TREE I. THE FAVOURABLE POSITION IN WHICH THIS TREE WAS PLACED. In a “vineyard”; not on some neglected waste-ground. Under culture and care. This is the condition of those favoured with the privileges and blessings of the gospel dispensation. This is es... [ Continue Reading ]
_A woman, which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen yearn--_ TWO PULPITS I. Observe one thing at the outset: HOW MANY ANONYMOUS BELIEVERS THERE ARE IN THE BIBLE RECORD WHO GIVE HELP ALL ALONG THE AGES. Put alongside of this story the account previously given of the man healed of leprosy, and the ot... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto what is the kingdom of God like?_ ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD The kingdom of God is an expression of various significations in the sacred volume. Sometimes is meant by it the universal dominion of the Deity; sometimes the final blessedness to which the saints are heirs; and in a more confined sens... [ Continue Reading ]
_It Is like leaven_ THE HIDDEN LEAVEN The kingdom of heaven, or the work of God in the soul, is like leaven. 1. It at once occurs to us that leaven is something foreign to and different from the meal in which it is hidden; that it does not spring from or arise out of any fermentation in the meal;... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lord, are there few that be saved?_ UNPRACTICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT RELIGION The man that asked this question has long been dead, but the character lives, and it is not among the rarest exhibitions that we see. We carry to the Bible, if not the very same question he put to the Saviour, yet questions a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Strive to enter in at the strait gate_ CHRIST’S WARNING AGAINST FORMALISM This has been called “a serious answer to an idle question. ” The answer is not only serious, but rendered with striking skill and power. The questioner was a single Pharisee. The answer is directed to the whole sect. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_When once the Master of the house hath risen up_ FALSE DEPENDENCE ON CHURCH PRIVILEGES In the eyes of Him who “seeth not as man seeth,” who readeth the heart and weigheth actions in the balances of the sanctuary, the worker of iniquity is not only the man who disregards religion and commits open... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go ye and tell that fox_ “THAT FOX” The attempt of the Pharisees to frighten Jesus Christ out of Perea drew from Him a prompt and sharp rejoinder. The answer was to the effect that no such threats could influence the purpose or in the least degree accelerate the movements of the Nazarene. His wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_I must_ RECONCILIATION WITH LIFE Sooner or later we all of us have to learn to say those words, “I must”; and our whole character, good or evil, saved or lost, will depend upon the way in which we learn to say, “I must. ” How we should learn to say, “I must,” is the subject of this morning’s ser... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Jerusalem, Jerusalem_ THE SAVIOUR’S SORROW OVER LOST MEN I. WORDS LIKE THESE, SPOKEN AT SUCH A MOMENT, LET US SEE, AS FAR AS WORDS CAN DO, INTO THE INNERMOST OF JESUS’ HEART. They are a wonderful expression of His deep-seated desire to save from ruin the worst of men, to save the unwilling, to... [ Continue Reading ]