The Missionary's Master
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
John 13:13
To have a master and to be mastered is not the same thing. To have a master means that there is one who knows me better than I know myself, one who is closer than a friend, ... read more
The Most Delicate Mission On Earth
The friend of the Bridegroom.
John 3:29
Goodness and purity ought never to attract attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing towards Him, it is not holiness of the right o ... read more
The Mystery Of Believing
And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?
Acts 9:6
By the miracle of Redemption Saul of Tarsus was turned in one second from a strong-willed, intense Pharisee into a humble, devoted slave of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous about the t ... read more
The Never-Failing God
For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 8:5
What line does my thought take? Does it turn to what God says or to what I fear? Am I learning to say not what God says, but to say something after I have heard what He ... read more
The Next Best Thing To Do
For every one that asketh receiveth.
Luke 11:10
There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you eve ... read more
The Next Best Thing To Do
Seek, and ye shall find.
Luke 11:9
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." If you ask for things from life instead of from God, you ask amiss, i.e., you ask from a desire for self-realization. The more you realize yourself the les ... read more
The Notion Of Divine Control
How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?
Matthew 7:11
Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds ... read more
The Offence Of The Natural
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:2
The natural life is not sinful; we must be apostatized from sin, have nothing to do with sin in any shape or form. Sin belongs to hell and the ... read more
The Offering Of The Natural
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Galatians 4:22
Paul is not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural must be turned into the spiri ... read more
The Overmastering Direction
I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.
Acts 26:16
The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was no passing emotion, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him, and he says, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly ... read more
The Overmastering Direction
I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.
Acts 26:16
The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was no passing emotion, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him, and he says, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly ... read more
The Overmastering Majesty Of Personal Power
For the love of Christ constraineth us.
2 Corinthians 5:14
Paul says he is overruled, overmastered, held as in a vice, by the love of Christ. Very few of us know what it means to be held in a grip by the love of God; we are held by the const ... read more
The Overshadowing Personal Deliverance
I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally - "Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey." That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will gu ... read more
The Passion Of Patience
Though it tarry, wait for it.
Habakkuk 2:3
Patience is not indifference; patience conveys the idea of an immensely strong rock withstanding all onslaughts. The vision of God is the source of patience, because it imparts a moral inspiration. ... read more
The Patience Of Faith
Because thou hast kept the word of My patience.
Revelation 3:10
Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He s ... read more
The Point Of Spiritual Honour
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians.
Romans 1:14
Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent himself to express it. The great inspiration in Paul's life was his view of Jesus Chris ... read more
The Price of Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. (Isaiah 6:1)
Our soul's history with God is frequently the history of the "passing of the hero." Over and over again God has to remove our friends in order to bring Himself in their place, and ... read more
The Price Of Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord.
Isaiah 6:1
Our soul's history with God is frequently the history of the "passing of the hero." Over and over again God has to remove our friends in order to bring Himself in their pl ... read more
The Realm Of The Real
In your patience possess ye your souls.
Luke 21:19
When a man is born again, there is not the same robustness in his thinking or reasoning for a time as formerly. We have to make an expression of the new life, to form the mind of Christ. "A ... read more
The Recognized Ban Of Relationship
We are made as the filth of the world.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13
These words are not an exaggeration. The reason they are not true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot the exact truth in using them, but that we ... read more
The Relapse Of Concentration
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa was incomplete in his external obedience, he was right in the main but not entirely right. Beware of the th ... read more
The Relinquished Life
I am crucified with Christ.
Galatians 2:20
No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go b ... read more
The Right Lines Of Work
I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.
John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is a farce, there was no need for it. ... read more
The Sacrament Of Sacrifice
He that believeth in Me . . out of him shall flow
.
John 7:38
Jesus did not say - "he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fulness of God," but - "he that believeth in Me out of him shall escape everything he receives. ... read more
The Sacrament Of The Saint
Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing.
1 Peter 4:19
To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God's Will even if it means suffering is a very diffe ... read more
The Secret Of Spiritual Coherence
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Galatians 6:14
When a man is first born again, he becomes incoherent, there is an amount of unrelated emotion about him, unrelated phases of external things. I ... read more
The Secret Of The Lord
The secret (friendship R.V.) of the Lord is with them that fear Him.
Psalms 25:14
What is the sign of a friend? That he tells you secret Sorrows? No, that he tells you secret joys. Many will confide to you their secret sorrows, but the last ... read more
The Sphere Of Exaltation
Jesus leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves.
Mark 9:2
We have all had times on the mount, when we have seen things from God's standpoint and have wanted to stay there; but God will never allow us to stay there. The test o ... read more
The Sphere Of Humiliation
If Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mark 9:22
After every time of exaltation we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they are where it is neither beautiful nor poetic nor thrilling. The height of the ... read more
The Sphere Of Ministration
This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 9:29
"Why could not we cast him out?" The answer lies in a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. This kind can come forth by nothing but by concentration and redoubled c ... read more
The Spiritual Index
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespe ... read more
The Spiritual Saint
That I may know Him. (Philippians 3:10)
The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he see ... read more
The Spiritual Saint
That I may know Him.
Philippians 3:10
The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacre ... read more
The Spiritual Sluggard
Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is ... read more
The Spiritual Sluggard
Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
Hebrews 10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life ... read more
The Spiritual Society
Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemptio ... read more
The Spiritual Society
Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:13
Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in ... read more
The Spontaneity Of Love
Love suffereth long, and is kind
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of mathematical certainty in Paul's category of love. We cannot say - "Now I am ... read more
The Staggering Question
Son of man, can these bones live?
Ezekiel 37:3
Can that sinner be turned into a saint? Can that twisted life be put right? There is only one answer: "0 Lord, Thou knowest, I don't." Never trample in with religious common sense and say - ... read more
The Supreme Climb
Take now thy son . . and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Genesis 22:2
Character determines how a man interprets God's will (cf. Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God's command to ... read more
The Supreme Climb
Take now thy son .
Genesis 22:2
God's command is - Take now, not presently. It is extraordinary how we debate! We know a thing is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it at once. To climb to the height God shows can never be done ... read more
The Temple Of The Holy Ghost
Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Genesis 41:40
I have to account to God for the way in which I rule my body under His domination. Paul said he did not "frustrate the grace of God" - make it of no effect. The grace of God is ... read more
The Test Of Loyalty
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
Romans 8:28
It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberty with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, ... read more
The Test Of Self-Interest
"If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up be ... read more
The Test Of Self-Interest
If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open ... read more
The Theology Of Rest
Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Matthew 8:26
When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects H ... read more
The Time Of Relapse
Will ye also go away?
John 6:67
A penetrating question. Our Lord's words come home most when He talks in the most simple way. We know Who Jesus is, but in spite of that He says - "Will ye also go away?" We have to maintain a venturing att ... read more
The Transfigured Life
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
What idea have you of the salvation of your soul? The experience of salvation means that in your actual life thi ... read more
The Unblameable Attitude
If . . thou rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee
.
Matthew 5:23
If when you come to the altar, there you remember that your brother has anything against you, not - If you rake up something by a morbid sensitiveness, but - " ... read more
The Uncritical Temper
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Matthew 7:1
Jesus says regarding judging - Don't. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing ... read more
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