Sermons and Biblical Studies

Many a congregation has been renewed and blessed when believers have been willing to reopen the Bible wells of reconciliation and confession. When Christians are harboring hard feelings against each other, they need to be reconciled. They need to confess and ask forgiveness. I refer here to actual sins and faults. There are people in … Continue reading “RECONCILIATION;
CHURCH: UNITY”

Now, if you have done any serious reading you have no doubt discovered the charge made by some critics that reason says one thing and religion says something else. I dare say that whoever says that is still wet behind his intellectual ears, for religion is on the side of reason, always. Whatever is irreligious … Continue reading “REASON;
APOLOGETICS”

Some shallow thinkers dismiss the Christian as an unrealistic person who lives in a make-believe world.… If realism is the recognition of things as they actually are, the Christian is of all persons the most realistic. He of all intelligent thinkers is the one most concerned with reality. He insists that his beliefs correspond with … Continue reading “REALISM;
UNSAVED”

I must charge it back upon the worldling, the unsaved man, that he is really the unrealistic person because he must spend his whole life pretending. If I were to invent a title to cover the genus homo, the human being, unsaved and out of Christ, I would have to call him “the great pretender.” … Continue reading “REALISM;
DEATH: CERTAINTY OF; UNSAVED”

Lastly reading. To think without a proper amount of good reading is to limit our thinking to our own tiny plot of ground. The crop cannot be large. To observe only and neglect reading is to deny ourselves the immense value of other people’s observations; and since the better books are written by trained observers … Continue reading “READING:
WIDELY; MEDITATION”

When a very young minister, I asked the famous holiness preacher, Joseph H. Smith, whether he would recommend that I read widely in the secular field. He replied, “Young man, a bee can find nectar in the weed as well as in the flower.” I took his advice (or, to be frank, I sought confirmation … Continue reading “READING:
SECULAR”

It hardly need be said that most of us are not selective enough in our reading. I have often wondered how many square yards of newsprint passes in front of the eyes of the average civilized man in the course of a year. Surely it must run into several acres; and I am afraid our … Continue reading “READING:
NEWSPAPER”

When the noted scholar Dr. Samuel Johnson visited the king, the two sat for a while before the fire in silence. Then the king said, “I suppose, Dr. Johnson, that you read a great deal.” “Yes, Sire,” replied Johnson, “but I think a great deal more.” Joshua 1:7–8; Psalm 1:1–3; Psalm 119:14–16; Proverbs 4:5–9 The Size … Continue reading “READING:
LIMITATIONS OF; THINKING: NEED FOR; MEDITATION”

Since what we read in a real sense enters the soul, it is vitally important that we read the best and nothing but the best. I cannot but feel that Christians were better off before there was so much reading matter to choose from. Today we must practice sharp discipline in our reading habits. Every … Continue reading “READING:
HYMNAL; BIBLE: READING OF”

So powerful is the effect of the printed page on human character that the reading of good books is not only a privilege but an obligation, and the habitual reading of poor ones a positive tragedy.… Why does the gospel Christian of today find the reading of great books almost beyond him?… The major cause … Continue reading “READING:
CLASSICS; CURRENT CONDITIONS: SHALLOWNESS”