Sermons and Biblical Studies

That is why I believe we ought to memorize Scripture. That is why we ought to get to know the Word, why we ought to fill our minds with the great hymns and songs of the church. They will mean little to us until the Holy Spirit comes. But when He comes He will have … Continue reading “BIBLE:
MEMORIZATION OF; BIBLE: STUDY OF; HOLY SPIRIT: POWER OF GOD”

Whoever will listen will hear the speaking Heaven. This is definitely not the hour when men take kindly to an exhortation to listen, for listening is not today a part of popular religion. We are at the opposite end of the pole from there. Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity and … Continue reading “BIBLE:
MEDITATION; LISTENING TO GOD”

Every problem that touches us is answered in the Book—stay by the Word! I want to preach the Word, love the Word and make the Word the most important element in my Christian life. Read it much, read it often, brood over it, think over it, meditate over it—meditate on the Word of God day … Continue reading “BIBLE:
MEDITATION; KNOWLEDGE OF GOD: IN THE BIBLE”

Let’s practice the art of Bible meditation. But please don’t grab that phrase and go out and form a club—we are organized to death already. Just meditate. Let us just be plain, thoughtful Christians. Let us open our Bibles, spread them out on a chair and meditate on the Word of God. It will open … Continue reading “BIBLE:
MEDITATION”

Scores of books have been written by people who have taken opposite sides on some of these difficult passages of Scripture. I have read and studied many of these books. In this context, I recall a friend’s story. He told me that he had discovered a woodworking shop where all varieties of wooden products, like … Continue reading “BIBLE:
DIFFICULT PASSAGES; FALSE TEACHING”

If I do not know what a difficult passage means, I can at least know what it does not mean.… Let us take a homemade illustration. I am trying to identify a piece of fruit I have just pulled from a tree. It is purple in color, egg-shaped, contains one large pit at its center, … Continue reading “BIBLE:
DIFFICULT PASSAGES; CULTS; FALSE TEACHING”

Let a man question the inspiration of the Scriptures and a curious, even monstrous, inversion takes place: thereafter he judges the Word instead of letting the Word judge him; he determines what the Word should teach instead of permitting it to determine what he should believe; he edits, amends, strikes out, adds at his pleasure; … Continue reading “BIBLE:
AUTHORITY OF; SKEPTICS; BIBLE: INSPIRATION OF”

The scholar has a vitally important task to perform within a carefully prescribed precinct. His task is to guarantee the purity of the text, to get as close as possible to the Word as originally given. He may compare Scripture with Scripture until he has discovered the true meaning of the text. But right there … Continue reading “BIBLE:
AUTHORITY OF”

The beginner in Christ will not have read long in the Scriptures till he comes upon passages that appear to contradict each other.… Far better than the attempt to understand is the humility that admits its ignorance and waits quietly on God for His own light to appear in His own time. We will be … Continue reading “BIBLE:
APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS; MYSTERY: ACCEPTANCE OF”

A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished to one unacquainted with it by taking the Beatitudes, turning them wrong side out and saying, “Here is your human race.” For the exact opposite of the virtues in the Beatitudes are the very qualities which distinguish human life and conduct. In the world … Continue reading “BEATITUDES;
SERMON ON THE MOUNT; MAN: SINFULNESS OF”