_Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness._ I. The nature of the fault. Overtaken in it, not overtaking it. II. The duty of the friend. The allusion is to the surgeons who set bones out of joint, although they put their patie... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ._ BURDEN-BEARING These two principles are:-- I. The brotherhood of souls--“Bear ye one another’s burdens.” II. The responsibility of the individual soul--“Every man shall bear his own burden.” Now these two principles are not really... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if a man think himself to be something, when he Is nothing, he deceiveth himself._ CAUTION AGAINST OVER SELF-ESTIMATION These words admit of two different interpretations, according as you connect the middle with the first or with the last clause. 1. If we connect the middle clause with the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_But let every man prove his own work._ FAITHFUL SELF-EXAMINATION Let us be careful to get the true balance to weigh ourselves. There are the scales in which the world weighs men and things, and decides their amount of good or evil. But these, or the like balance, are so appended to the beam as to... [ Continue Reading ]
_For every man shall bear his own burden._ HERE ARE SOME OF THE BURDENS WHICH EACH MAN MUST BEAR FOR HIMSELF ALONE 1. The burden of personality. Each individual is open to manifold influence--may be impressed, drawn, turned, melted, inflamed, according to the powers that play upon him; but he is h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things._ THE DUTY OF MINISTERIAL SUPPORT It is one of the tricks of Satan to defraud godly ministers of support, that the Church may be deprived of their services. Paul’s recommendation arose from a desire to preser... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap._ THE PRESENT SEED-SOWING, DECISIVE OF THE FUTURE HARVEST And I suppose, that nature is full of spiritual instruction, in all its subdivisions and departments, if we had but an eye to see it. And for anything... [ Continue Reading ]
_And let us not be weary in well doing._ PERSERVERANCE IN RELIGIOUS DUTIES The path of duty is often found to be the path of difficulty and discouragement. Efforts to do good are often misunderstood and ill-requited; benevolent plans are ridiculed, motives misrepresented, kindness of heart abused,... [ Continue Reading ]
_As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men._ OPPORTUNITY, MAN’S TREASURE If_ time _be as “the grass,” fading and fleeting, _opportunity _is as “the flower of the grass,” more fading, as it is more beautiful and valuable. In the ordinary transactions and affairs of life, as well... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand._ THE PERSONAL ELEMENT IN CHRISTIAN POWER It has been supposed that some disorder of the eyes made it painful for the apostle to write. Earlier in this Epistle, where he tries to gain these childish Galatians by a recital of his... [ Continue Reading ]
_As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ._ THE HISTORY AND ODIUM OF CHRIST’S CROSS The Cross of Christ demands notice, calls for Christian feeling, sets before us a glorious object of... [ Continue Reading ]
_But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world._ THE GLORY OF THE CROSS The Cross of Christ is the key to St. Paul’s life; and that life is itself the best human exponent of the Cross of Christ. He saw n... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature._ A NEW CREATURE I. What the apostle here means by the new creature. It is not a mere reformation, but a creation--not a partial, but a complete, entire, and radical change. This new creation is of... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God._ THE CHRISTIAN’S WALK AND RULE 1. Christianity is a walk; a free and voluntary motion, an uniform and even motion, a progressive motion, a constant motion. 2. This walk is a walk by rule. A Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
_From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus._ FREEDOM FROM HUMAN CRITICISM A man who is growing old claims for himself in these words the freedom and responsibility of his own life. He asks that he may work out his own career uninterfered with by the cr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit._ Amen. THE APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION By this last word he seals all that precedes it. He says not merely “with you” as elsewhere; but, “with your spirit,” thus withdrawing them from carnal things, and displaying throughout the benefice... [ Continue Reading ]