“Welcome Cross” from the Olney Hymns, written by William Cowper: ‘Tis my happiness below Not to live without the cross, But the Saviour’s power to know, Sanctifying every loss; Trials must and will befall; But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all, This is happiness to me. God in Israel sows the seeds Of affliction, pain, and toil; These spring up and choke the weeds Which would else o’erspread the soil: Trials make the promise sweet, Trials…
Garden of Gethsemane A solemn occasion, Passover at Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples twelve, Partaking of annual repast. No one knew except the Christ, What must befall the Son of Man, Filled with bravado, pomp and show, Simon Peter and the rest. Jesus Christ predicted His death, Peter’s denials He also revealed, But none would believe Him, No, not one. Man of Sorrows brought His friends, Simon Peter, James and John, To the Garden of Gethsemane, Praying for God’s will…
THE MEANS OF SAFETY “When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you…” Proverbs 2:10-11 CHRIST’S prayer for his disciples was not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be preserved from the evil that is in it. Life is a voyage on the deep: there are perils (dangers) which we must pass; how shall we pass them safely? The grand [remedy]…
4. “To walk in the ways of darkness.” There is a, strictly causal and reciprocal relation between unrighteous deeds and moral darkness. The doing of evil produces darkness, and darkness produces the evil-doing. Indulged lusts put out the eye-sight of the conscience[1]; and under the darkened conscience the lusts revel unchecked. “From him that has not, shall be taken away.” 5. “Who rejoice to do evil.” This is a more advanced step in guilt. At first the backslider is ashamed…
PERILS IN THE DEEP[1] “To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, And who are devious in their paths; To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words, Who forsakes the companion of her youth,…
Excerpt from What Is the Greatest of All Protestant “Heresies”? by Sinclair Ferguson: “This is why, as the author of Hebrews pauses for breath at the climax of his exposition of Christ’s work (Hebrews 10:18), he continues his argument with a Paul-like “therefore” (Hebrews 10:19). He then urges us to “draw near … in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22). We do not need to re-read the whole letter to see the logical power of his “therefore.” Christ is our…
This is the conclusion of the short excerpt from William Arnot’s “ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS: Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth”: 3. “Cry after knowledge.” The preceding verse expressed the bent heavenward of the heart within and the senses without: this verse represents the same process at a more advanced stage. The longing for God’s salvation already begotten in the heart, bursts forward now into an irrepressible cry. It is not any longer a Nicodemus inclined toward Jesus,…