On Eternity

"From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Ps 90:2 1. I would fain speak of that awful subject, — eternity. But how can we grasp it in our thought? It is so vast, that the narrow mind of man is utterly unable to comprehend it. But does it not bear some affinity to another incomprehensible [...]

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Who will rise up with me against the wicked?

"Who will rise up with me against the wicked?" Ps 94:16. 1. In all ages, men who neither feared God nor regarded man have combined together, and formed confederacies, to carry on the works of darkness. And herein they have shown themselves wise in their generation; for by this means they more effectually promoted the [...]

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The Good Steward

"Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward." Luke 16:2. 1. The relation which man bears to God, the creature to his Creator, is exhibited to us in the oracles of God under various representations. Considered as a sinner, a fallen creature, he is there represented as a debtor to [...]

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The Use Of Money

"I say unto you, Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations." Luke 16:9. 1. Our Lord, having finished the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, which he had particularly addressed to those who murmured at his receiving publicans and sinners, adds [...]

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The Cure of Evil-Speaking

"If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. [...]

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Self-Denial

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23 1. It has been frequently imagined, that the direction here given related chiefly, if not wholly, to the Apostles; at least, to the Christians of the first [...]

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Heaviness through Manifold Temptations

"Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations." 1 Peter 1:6. 1. In the preceding discourse I have particularly spoken of that darkness of mind into which those are often observed to fall who once walked in the light of God’s countenance. Nearly related to this is the heaviness [...]

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The Wilderness State

"Ye now have sorrow: But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:22. 1. After God had wrought a great deliverance for Israel, by bringing them out of the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter into the land which he had [...]

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The New Birth

"Ye must be born again." John 3:7. 1. If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, — the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth: The former relating to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins; the [...]

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Original Sin

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen 6:5. 1. How widely different is this from the fair pictures of human nature which men have drawn in all ages! The writings of many of the [...]

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The Scripture Way Of Salvation

"Ye are saved through faith." — Eph 2:8. 1. Nothing can be more intricate, complex, and hard to be understood, than religion, as it has been often described. And this is not only true concerning the religion of the Heathens, even many of the wisest of them, but concerning the religion of those also who [...]

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Satan’s Devices

"We are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor 2:11. 1. The devices whereby the subtle god of this world labours to destroy the children of God — or at least to torment whom he cannot destroy, to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set before them — are numberless as [...]

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Wandering Thoughts

"Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor 5:5. 1. But will God so "bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," that no wandering thought will find a place in the mind, even while we remain in the body? So some have vehemently maintained; yea, have affirmed that [...]

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Christian Perfection

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." Phil 3:12. 1. There is scarce any expression in Holy Writ which has given more offence than this. The word perfect is what many cannot bear. The very sound of it is an abomination to them. And whosoever preaches perfection (as the phrase is,) [...]

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