_If there arise among you a prophet._ ON THE CRITERION OF A FALSE MIRACLE I. The evidence drawn from miracles, in favour of any Divine revelation, rests in general on the testimony of those who saw the miracles performed. But in addition to this, it is important to inquire, whether some considerat... [ Continue Reading ]
_Destroy all the places._ DESTRUCTION OF EVIL The first thing Israel had to do appears to be a work of violence. All idols were to be destroyed. Israel could understand no other language. This is not the language of today; but the thing inculcated upon Israel is the lesson for the present time: wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto His habitation shall ye seek._ THE GOSPEL OF THE HOLY PLACES I. God was pleased to choose out certain places to stand in a special relation of holiness unto himself under the Old Testament. This holiness of places was two-fold, either transient and merely for the present time, or else more p... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day._ RESTRAINT THE CHRISTIAN’S BLESSING The blessing, of which it is now proposed to speak more particularly, is that of being more under control--of having our lives and ways more exactly ordered--than as if we were not Christians. We are... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance._ NOT AS YET That is the beginning--the refrain--the very soul of a hymn. “Not as yet”--it is a blossom-like word--an unfulfilled prophecy. “Not as yet”--why, then, it may be some day. The meaning is that we are on the road: How far have we... [ Continue Reading ]
_That it may go well with thee._ BLESSINGS FOR THE OBEDIENT Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following after them._ DANGER OF A CONQUERED FOE It is a remarkable fact, and is proved by Dr. Bell (in his _History of British Insects_), that the poison of the rattlesnake is even secreted after death. Dr. Bell, in his dissections of the rattlesna... [ Continue Reading ]