_And there was a great cry of the people._ THE FRIEND OF THE POOR I. The complaint of the poor. It is sometimes alleged the poor have a morbid disposition to complain of their indigence and sufferings; and this may be true of certain classes of them. The ignorant and vicious, the idle and intempera... [ Continue Reading ]
_We have mortgaged our lands._ THE MISERIES OF DEBT I. Mental unrest. II. Social degradation. III. Family ruin. IV. A disregard of a Divine command: “Thou shalt not steal.” Application-- 1. Christians should set the world an example. 2. Watch the beginnings of extravagance. 3. In small thing... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then I consulted with myself._ PRECIPITATE ANGER AVOIDED But, though very angry, he nevertheless “consulted with himself.” Even righteous indignation is often too precipitate in its expression, and vents itself in a fuming and storming which does little or no good. But the fervid feeling of Nehem... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?_ JEALOUSY FOR THE HONOUR OF GOD There was much good sense and Christian wisdom in the reply which was once given to a dignitary of our Church by a simple rural pastor. The latter had said to the forme... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us leave off this usury._ WISE REBUKE He did not stand on a pedestal and look down on them with scorn and contempt; he rather placed himself alongside of the offenders, that he might lift them to a higher level. Let us learn from this beautiful example how best to rebuke and restore an erring... [ Continue Reading ]
_But so did not I, because of the fear of God._ A MOTTO FOR A MANLY LIFE I. The self-regulative power of a manly motive. “The fear of God”; “the love of Christ”; “religious principle”; “conscience”; “the sense of duty”; “the instinct of right,” are all variations of expressions of the same motive.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither bought we any land._ NEHEMIAH AN EXAMPLE OF UNWORLDLINESS OF MIND The people of God maintain a certain unearthly peculiarity throughout all their relationship to earth; they do not become assimilated to the crowd through which they hold the tenor of their way. Like that limpid stream of w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Think upon me, my God._ THE SAINT’S SUPPORT I. The person petitioned. 1. General title: “God.” 2. Special relation: “My.” II. The point prayed for. Lessons: 1. God the support of His saints. 2. Peculiar God to believer: “My.” 3. God hath remembrancers. 4. God is soonest drawn to His own.... [ Continue Reading ]