_Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said._ THE ADDRESS OF THE ALMIGHTY This sublime discourse is represented as made from the midst of the tempest or whirlwind which Elihu describes as gathering. In this address the principal object of God is to assert His own greatness and majest... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?_ IGNORANCE OF THE WORLD’S ORIGIN God would impress on Job his utter ignorance of the world in which he lived, and his incompetency to interpret His moral administration. The moral is this--Be concerned, Job, for a moral trust in My charact... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?_ THE LAYING OF THE EARTH’S FOUNDATION STONE Our text brings before us a period long antecedent to the creation of man, when the first step was taken towards building up and furnishing this planet for the abode of its future inhabitants. The text brin... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?_ THE SONG ETERNAL The mere creation of matter would be wonderful; but, to think that God put in that matter all that might be necessary for all that intelligent beings could desire, or think about, or need, for millions... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further._ DRAWING THE LINE Everybody draws the line somewhere or other. 1. The Lord Chancellor, speaking on the Burials Bill, remarked that we English people must draw the line as to the requirements of the religious ceremony in the churchyards of our country, by... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?_ or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? HIGH TIDES What a fascination there is about a high tide! Passing through Manchester, I noticed that the railway company were running cheap trips to Blackpool, so that the people might witness the prev... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?_ THE GATES OF DEATH The allusion here is to the state which in the Hebrew is called Sheol, and in the Greek, Hades; which means the dark abode of the dead. I. The mental darkness that enshrouds us. All the phenomena of the heavens, the earth, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?_ THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW I. The beauty of these “treasures.” The manifold pleasing forms shaped by the different objects on which it falls; the broad white coverlet of the expansive plain; the undulating hills; the mountain peaks, whose white ve... [ Continue Reading ]
_Against the day of battle and war._ WAR FROM HEAVEN In some parts of Scripture Jehovah is represented descending in clouds and tempests, and fixing for Himself in the air a tent or pavilion, where the elementary forces attend and receive commissions and arms for the service in which each meteor,... [ Continue Reading ]
_To cause it to rain on the earth._ RAIN AND GRACE-A COMPARISON We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain. I. God alone giveth rain and the same is true of grace. We say of rain and of grace,--God is the sole author of it. He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hath the rain a father?_ THE WEATHER PROVIDER Two ships meet mid-Atlantic. The one is going to Southampton and the other is coming to New York. Provide weather that, while it is abaft for one ship, it is not a head wind for the other. There is a farm that is dried up for the lack of rain, and her... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?_ LIGHT UNRESTRAINABLE Who can “bind” or “restrain” the light? The subject before us is the self-revealing power of the Gospel. Men may love darkness, but they cannot hide the advent of light, and can never be, in consc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?_ THE FOURTH “CANST” To perceive what we can do, on the one hand, and what we cannot do, on the other, is to hold the key of success. Canst thou? The oft-repeated question is introspective. Inward to the thoughts, backward to the source. It is well to add th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Canst thou send lightnings?_ SPIRITUAL TELEGRAPHY Lightning is not a thing of yesterday. Whether Job knew the philosophy of lightning, or the facts of science, as taught in modern times; or whether, when he spoke of “sending lightning,” he only uttered an unconscious prophecy of what was to be act... [ Continue Reading ]