Sermons and Biblical Studies

As Christians we look at everything differently.… People of the world, for instance, hope for life, health, financial prosperity, international peace and a set of favorable circumstances. These are their resources—upon them they rest. They look to them as a child looks to its nursing mother. Christians do not despise these temporal blessings, and if … Continue reading “CIRCUMSTANCES;
BLESSINGS: SPIRITUAL”

Then I don’t mean the oneness of passivity and compromise. In order to stay one, some churches have the oneness of passivity. Nobody cares much anyway and so they just compromise. That is the beautiful unity of the dead. I suppose there isn’t anything more united than a cemetery. Everybody there, whether they were Democrats, … Continue reading “CHURCH:
UNITY; TOLERANCE/INTOLERANCE; PASTORAL MINISTRY: CONVICTIONS”

It is amazing that many people regard the Christian church as just another institution and the observance of Communion as just one of its periodic rituals. Any genuine, New Testament church actually is communion. It is not an institution. The Bible makes that plain.… Blessed is the congregation that has found the spiritual maturity and … Continue reading “CHURCH:
UNITY; CHURCH: PRESENCE OF CHRIST”

Now for the very reason that the church is one body anything that tends to introduce division is an evil, however harmless, or even useful, it may appear to be. Yet the average evangelical church is divided into fragments which live and work separate from, and sometimes in opposition to, each other. In some churches … Continue reading “CHURCH:
UNITY; CHURCH: AGE DIVISIONS”

Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the “us” of the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish “I.” Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by … Continue reading “CHURCH:
UNITY”

Knox Church, Hamilton, was one of the finer churches of Canada, very well-to-do and respectable, with more than twenty years of colorful history behind it, having a large congregation, and equipment the best that money could buy. It had a reputation among the churches, and when for any reason its pulpit became vacant the greatest … Continue reading “CHURCH:
SUCCESS; PASTORAL MINISTRY: PRIDE”

In our time we have all kinds of status symbols in the Christian church—membership, attendance, pastoral staff, missionary offerings. But there is only one status symbol that should make a Christian congregation genuinely glad. That is to know that our Lord is present, walking in our midst!… No matter the size of the assembly or … Continue reading “CHURCH:
SUCCESS; CHURCH: PRESENCE OF CHRIST; STATUS SYMBOLS”

Much that passes for Christianity today is the brief bright effort of the severed branch to bring forth its fruit in its season. But the deep laws of life are against it. Preoccupation with appearances and a corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight root of the true spiritual life are prophetic signs which go unheeded. Immediate … Continue reading “CHURCH:
SUCCESS; CHURCH: CURRENT CONDITION; PRAGMATISM”

The absence of spiritual devotion today is an omen and a portent. The modern church is all but contemptuous of the sober virtues—meekness, modesty, humility, quietness, obedience, self-effacement, patience. To be accepted now, religion must be in the popular mood. Consequently, much religious activity reeks with pride, display, self-assertion, self-promotion, love of gain and devotion … Continue reading “CHURCH:
SPIRITUAL CONDITION; SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES; ACTIVITY: RELIGIOUS”

That Bible religion in our times is suffering rapid decline is so evident as to need no proof; but just what has brought about this decline is not so easy to discover. I can only say that I have observed one significant lack among evangelical Christians which might turn out to be the real cause … Continue reading “CHURCH:
SPIRITUAL CONDITION; SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT; WORLDLINESS”