_The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond._ THE DEEP SEATED CHARACTER OF SIN I. What is sin? If you ask the Pharisee of old what sin was--“Well,” he said, “it is eating without washing your hands; it is drinking wine without having first of all strained out th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cursed be the man that trusteth in man._ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUSTING IN THE CREATURE AND THE CREATOR I. The folly and evil of trusting in man. To “trust in man,” in the sense of our text, is to expect that from creatures which can only come from the Creator: to confide in them, not as mere in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green._ VERDURE IN THE MIDST OF DESOLATION I. The fact itself. Meets us everywhere in the natural world. So also in the kingdom of grace. Spiritual health depends not only or mainly on our circumstances, but on the temper and state of our soul... [ Continue Reading ]
_The heart is deceitful above all things._ THE DECEITFULNESS OF THE HUMAN HEART I. We are to consider what is implied in sinners knowing their own hearts. They know that they have hearts, which are distinct from perception, reason, conscience, and all their intellectual powers and faculties. But t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I the Lord search the heart._ GOD, THE INSPECTOR OF THE HEART I. The description given of the human heart. 1. “The heart is deceitful above all things.” There is scarcely a truth, for instance, revealed in the Bible, which it has not, at one time or other, led some men to call in question. But t... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days._ RICHES GOTTEN NOT BY RIGHT The illustration is taken from natural history. Some think it refers to an ancient practice still maintained amongst the Arab... [ Continue Reading ]
_A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary._ OUR SANCTUARY This book of Jeremiah is a very thorny one--it might be called, like his smaller work, “The Book of Lamentations.” Our text is as a lily among thorns, as a rose in the wilderness; the solitary place shall be g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved._ THE LORD’S HEALING I. The prophet’s cry. Sin is the sickness of the soul. It has seized upon all its powers. Not one single faculty has escaped; all are polluted, all diseased. Its very vitals are affected by sin. The understa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil._ DIVINE WRATH AN OBJECT OF FEAR I. The petition. 1. God’s majesty is in itself an object of fear and dread (Hebrews 12:21; Isaiah 6:5; Habakkuk 3:16; Hosea 3:5). 2. Divine chastisements are to be feared (Jeremiah 10:24; Psalms 6:1; J... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereby the kings of Judah come in._ COURAGE AND FEARLESSNESS BEFORE KINGS When King Don Pedro was unexpectedly brought into the hall in Chicago in which Moody was speaking on “Accepting Christ,” the obsequious usher, after showing the king to a seat on the platform, whispered to Moody, “King Don... [ Continue Reading ]
_But hallow ye the Sabbath day._ CHEATING GOD OUT OF SUNDAY An old Christian, living at Salem, was much annoyed by the conduct of some of his neighbours who persisted in working on the Sabbath. One Sabbath, as he was going to Church, his Sabbath breaking neighbours called out to him sneeringly fro... [ Continue Reading ]