Sermons and Biblical Studies

Suppose there were an elixir of life that could cure any disease anyone could have, and it was sold down at the corner, and you could buy it for a nickel a bottle. It was the magic elixir of life that would make anybody healthy. Then suppose that I found an old fellow sitting on … Continue reading “CURRENT
CONDITIONS: APATHY; CONFESSION”

That is the difference between Christianity and all the Oriental cults and religions. All cult religions try to wake up what you already have, and Christianity says, “What you have is not enough—you will need the enduement which is sent from above!” That is the difference. The others say, “Stir up the thing that is … Continue reading “CULTS;
HUMAN POTENTIAL; HOLY SPIRIT: NEED FOR”

We wonder how it is that a person who has been brought up in the Word of truth suddenly can turn away from it into some false religion. You may say, “He or she became confused.” No. False doctrine can have no power upon a good conscience. But when a conscience has been seared, when … Continue reading “CULTS;
CONSCIENCE; SIN: SEARED CONSCIENCE”

The radical message of the cross transformed Saul of Tarsus and changed him from a persecutor of Christians to a tender believer and an apostle of the faith. Its power changed bad men into good ones. It shook off the long bondage of paganism and altered completely the whole moral and mental outlook of the … Continue reading “CROSS:
POWER OF; CROSS: CURRENT VIEW OF”

… God will crucify without pity those whom He desires to raise without measure!… God wants to crucify us from head to foot—making our own powers ridiculous and useless—in the desire to raise us without measure for His glory and for our eternal good. Romans 8:10–11; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:5–11 I Talk Back to the … Continue reading “CROSS:
PERSONAL; TRIALS: NECESSITY OF”

The cross would not be a cross to us if it destroyed in us only the unreal and the artificial. It is when it goes on to slay the best in us that its cruel sharpness is felt. If it slew only our sins it might be bearable, even kind, as the knife of the … Continue reading “CROSS:
PERSONAL; PERSECUTION; TRIALS: DIFFICULTY OF”

When we are willing to consider the active will of God for our lives, we come immediately to a personal knowledge of the cross, because the will of God is the place of blessed, painful, fruitful trouble! The Apostle Paul knew about that. He called it “the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.” It is my conviction … Continue reading “CROSS:
PERSONAL; JESUS CHRIST: INTIMACY WITH; TRIALS: NECESSITY OF”

The believer’s own cross is one he has assumed voluntarily. Therein lies the difference between his cross and the cross on which Roman convicts died. They went to the cross against their will; he, because he chooses to do so. No Roman officer ever pointed to a cross and said, “If any man will, let … Continue reading “CROSS:
PERSONAL; DISCIPLESHIP”

In our modern gospel churches, Christians have decided where to put the cross. They have made the cross objective instead of subjective. They have made the cross external instead of internal. They have made it institutional instead of experiential. Now, the terrible thing is that they are so wrong because they are half right. They … Continue reading “CROSS:
PERSONAL”

At the heart of the Christian system lies the cross of Christ with its divine paradox. The power of Christianity appears in its antipathy toward, never in its agreement with, the ways of fallen men. The truth of the cross is revealed in its contradictions. The witness of the church is most effective when she … Continue reading “CROSS:
FOOLISHNESS OF”