A CLASS OF SINNERS EXCLUDED FROM MERCY.
"It is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favor"
Isaiah 27:11
My hearers, there is no error or mistake into which the wayward mind of man can fall, against ... read more
A DISSUASIVE FROM AMBITION.
"Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey."
Jeremiah 45:5.
a preceding chapter, we are informed, that God directed Jeremiah to w ... read more
A FESTIVAL KEPT TO THE LORD.
"When ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord"
Leviticus 23:39
we review attentively the religious ordinances which God has appointed, we can scarcely fail to perceive, that he has usually passed by all the in ... read more
ALL THINGS CREATED FOR CHRIST.
By whom were all these worlds and beings made? is probably the first question, which a view of the created universe would excite in a seriously inquisitive mind. For what purpose and with what view were they created? would no less probably be the second. ... read more
ALL THINGS CREATED FOR CHRIST.
By whom were all these worlds and beings made? is probably the first question, which a view of the created universe would excite in a seriously inquisitive mind. For what purpose and with what view were they created? would no less probably be the second. ... read more
AMIABLE INSTINCTS NOT HOLINESS.
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"
1 Thessalonians 5:23
prayer of the apostle for the universal sanctification of the T ... read more
AN ASSEMBLY CONVOKED AGAINST SINNERS.
"And I set a great assembly against them"
Nehemiah 5:7
Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, with a commission from the Persian monarch, appointing him governor of Judea, after the return of the Jews from captivity, he found that many evils and abuses had cr ... read more
AN EARLY INTEREST IN GODS MERCY ESSENTIAL TO A HAPPY LIFE.
"O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."
Psalm 90:14
hearers, should all the youth in this assembly express sincerely their secret wishes and inclinations, it can scarcely be doubted, that many of them would ... read more
AN UNJUST IMPUTATION REPELLED BY JEHOVAH.
"Have I been a wilderness to Israel? A land of darkness?"
Jeremiah 2:31
an ingenuous mind God never appears so irresistible, so overpowering, as when he addresses his creatures in the language of tender expostulation. He may speak in the loftiest a ... read more
ANGUISH OF PARENTS AT THE PERVERSENESS OF CHILDREN
"And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and Wept; and as lie went, thus he said, O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"
2 Samuel 18:33
the character of Abs ... read more
CHARACTER AFFECTED BY INTERCOURSE.
"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
Proverbs 13:20
have often reminded you that the terms wisdom and folly, wise and foolish, have a very different signification in the writings of Solomon, fr ... read more
CHARACTER OF DANIEL.
"O Daniel, a man greatly beloved."
(Daniel 10:11).
of the great excellences of Scripture is, that it points out to us the path of duty, not only by precept, but by example. Not to mention the perfect pattern of a holy life, which it sets before us ... read more
CHILDREN TO BE EDUCATED FOR GOD.
"Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."
Exodus 2:9
words were addressed by Pharaohs daughter to the mother of Moses. Of the circumstances which occasioned them, it can scarcely be necessary to inform you. You need no ... read more
CHRIST A KING.
"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power; for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet"
1 Corinthians 15: 24, 25
can ... read more
CHRIST A MAN OF SORROWS.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken ... read more
CHRIST AND HIS HARBINGER COMPARED AND DISTINGUISHED.
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I; whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire; whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor ... read more
CHRIST REJECTS NONE WHO COME UNTO HIM.
"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out"
John 6:37
need not tell you, my friends, that these are the words of Christ for who but he would or could utter such words? Who but the compassionate Friend of sinners, the Shepherd, who came to ... read more
CHRIST, GODS BEST GIFT TO MAN.
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift"
2 Corinthians 9:15
there is nothing which would more powerfully tend to convince us how little we resemble the primitive Christians, than a comparison of our views and feelings respecting the gospel of ... read more
CHRIST, THE SAVIOUR OF THE LOST.
"The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost"
Luke 19:10
cannot, my friends, be a more striking and satisfactory proof of our stupid insensibility to religious truth, than the indifference with which we naturally view the gospel ... read more
CHRIST'S ASCENSION.
"And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said: Ye men ... read more
CHRIST'S JOY IN THE CHURCH BEFORE HIS INCARNATION.
"Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men"
Proverbs 8:31
chapter contains an authoritative and affectionate address to mankind, uttered by a speaker who is called Wisdom. It is evident from the langua ... read more
CHRIST'S LOVE FOR THE CHURCH.
"Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be ho ... read more
CHRIST'S MISSION AND RETURN.
"I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."
John 16:28.
words, uttered by our Saviour during his residence on earth, appear to have given his disciples greater satisfaction than these. ... read more
CHRIST'S PRIESTLY OFFICE.
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum; We have such au High Priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. F ... read more
CHRIST'S SPECIAL TENDERNESS TOWARDS PENITENT DISCIPLES.
"Go your way, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you"
Mark 16:7
words were spoken by an extraordinary messenger, in a most interesting place, on a memorable occasion. They w ... read more
CHRIST'S VICTORY OVER SATAN.
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils"
Luke 11: 21, 22
this purpose, says St. John, was the ... read more
DEMONSTRATION OF CHRIST'S LOVE.
"Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"
John 11:36
exclamation was uttered at the tomb of Lazarus. It was occasioned by the tears which our Savior there shed. The unbelieving Jews, who, in consequence of the pointed manner in which he warned ... read more
DUTY OF THE PRESENT TO THE COMING GENERATION.
"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."
Psalm 145:4
bringing into existence angels and men, the only orders of intelligent creatures with which we are acquainted, the all-wise Creator saw fit to adopt ... read more
EQUALITY OF MEN WITH ANGELS.
"For they are equal unto the angels"
Luke 20:36
, says an apostle, hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things, which God hath prepared for them that love him. With this assertion the language of many other ... read more
Eternity of God
Try for a moment, to conceive of a Being without a beginning; a Being who does not become older as ages roll away. Fly back, in imagination, millions of millions of millions of years, till reason is confounded, and fancy wearied in the flight. God then e ... read more
FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER AND WITH THE SON.
"Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
1 John 1:3
, my friends, as is the difference, between the church militant on earth, and that of the Church triumphant in heaven, the employments and enjoyments of their resp ... read more
FRAUD EXPOSED AND CONDEMNED.
"It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth"
Proverbs 20:14
is impossible to peruse the scriptures attentively, without finding in almost every page, the most convincing proofs, that since the fall hu ... read more
God
How much this title implies, no tongue, human or angelic, can ever express; no mind conceive. It is a volume of an infinite number of leaves, and every leaf full of meaning. It will be read by saints and angels, through the ages of eternity, but they will ... read more
GOD HEARD IN THE STILL SMALL VOICE.
"And behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earth ... read more
GOD'S PRAISES SUNG; HIS WORKS FORGOTTEN.
"They sang his praise; they soon forgot his works."
Psalm 106:12,13.
was said of that generation of the Israelites, which came out of Egypt. The chapter which contains the portion of their history here alluded to, begins with rapturous expressions o ... read more
GOD'S SPECIAL PRESENCE DISTINGUISHES HIS OWN PEOPLE.
"If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that ar ... read more
GODS WAYS ABOVE MENS.
In the preceding verses God commands and invites sinners to repent and embrace his offers of mercy. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and wit ... read more
HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
"In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lords house shall he like the howls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of Hosts; and all they t ... read more
HOW LITTLE CHILDREN ARE PREVENTED FROM COMING TO CHRIST.
"But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God."
Matthew 10:14
the passage of which these words are a part, we have a beautiful in ... read more
HOW TO PROLONG THE GRACIOUS VISITS OF CHRIST.
"And when it was day he departed, and went into a desert place; and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them"
Luke 4:42
blessed Saviour, while on earth, met with a very different reception in dif ... read more
Human Depravity
Mankind seem to consider God as a sort of outlaw, who has no rights; or, at least, as one whose rights may be disregarded and trampled on at pleasure. They allow that promises made to each other ought to be fulfilled; but they violate, without scruple, th ... read more
JEHOVAH, A KING.
"I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts"
Malachi 1:14
God would inform his creatures what he is, he must employ language suited to their capacities; language, which they can understand. What he is himself indeed, or what constitutes his essence ... read more
JOY IN HEAVEN OVER REPENTING SINNERS.
"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner that repenteth."
Luke 15:10
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet, for our enc ... read more
KNOWLEDGE OF ONE'S SINS, A DIFFICULT ACQUISITION.
"Who can understand his errors?"
Psalm 19:12
From the preceding part of this psalm it appears that, when David uttered this exclamation, he had been meditating on the purity and perfection of the divine law. From this subject he passed by a very nat ... read more
Living to God
We were created and redeemed for the sole purpose of praising and glorifying our Creator; and if we refuse or neglect to do this, we transgress the great law of creation, frustrate the end of existence, leave unperformed the work for which we were made, a ... read more
Love of God
In the words, "God is love," we have a perfect portrait of the eternal and incomprehensible Jehovah, drawn by his own unerring hand. The mode of expression here adopted, differs materially from that usually employed by the inspired writers, in speaking ... read more
LOVE TO CHRIST INDISPENSABLE.
"Jesus with to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my lambs."
John 21:15.
have in this chapter a particular account of an interview bet ... read more
LOVERS OF PLEASURE DESCRIBED AND WARNED.
"Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God"
2 Timothy 3:4
words describe a character which is, alas! but too frequently found in this sinful world; a character too, which most men are apt to regard with a partial and favorable eye, especially whe ... read more
MAN IN HIS ORIGINAL AND IN HIS LAPSED STATE.
"Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions"
Ecclesiastes 7:29
need not inform those of you who are acquainted with the contents of scripture, that in this book Solomon has recorded the resu ... read more
MANS TREATMENT OF CHRIST.
"Having yet therefore one Son, his well-beloved, he sent him also, last, unto them, saying, They will reverence my Son"
Mark 12:6
words compose part of the following parable, addressed by our Saviour to the Jews: A certain man planted a vineyard, a ... read more
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