_Know ye not that as many as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into His death?_ CHRISTIAN BAPTISM I. What it is-- 1. A sign of grace. 2. A mystery of faith. 3. A seal of the covenant. II. What it requires. The death of the old man. III. What it is intended to secure. spiritual an... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death._ PLANTED TOGETHER WITH CHRIST The idea is not of two or three plants all put into the same ground, though that would to a certain extent express blessedness--to be near Him is blessed, to have walked the same earth is blessed, to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now if we be dead with Christ … we shall also live with Him._ DEATH AND LIFE WITH CHRIST To be dead with Christ is to hate and turn from sin; and to live with Him is to have our hearts and minds turned towards God and heaven. To be dead with sin is to feel a disgust at it. We know what is meant by... [ Continue Reading ]
_Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus._ DEATH A DUTY The Bible speaks of three kinds of deaths. 1. That which is a necessary event--the death of the body. 2. That which is a moral crime--death in trespasses and sins. 3. That which is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body._ THE REIGN OF SIN “Let not sin reign” because it is-- I. A tyrannic reign. 1. Sin has usurped its sway over the heart. It forms no part in the original plan of our world. 2. It gains the ruling power gradually. If the criminal knew from his firs... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither yield ye yourselves as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God._ YIELDING Yielding is an image carried over from the world of matter into the world of mind. In every case of yielding you have pressure meeting with resistance and overcoming it. Note then-- I... [ Continue Reading ]
_For sin shall not have dominion over you._ DOMINEERING SIN (a Lenten sermon):--There are different states of “sin.” There is sin latent, and fully manifest; there is sin you are striving to subdue, and sin dominant. It is concerning this last state that we have this promise--“Sin shall not lord i... [ Continue Reading ]
_What then?_ Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE DO NOT LEAD TO SIN 1. Grace is the soul of the gospel: without it the gospel is dead. Grace is the music of the gospel; without it the gospel is silent as to all comfort. From the “A” to the “Z” i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey._ THE SERVICE OF SIN AND THE SERVICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS I. The criterion of both--obedience. A disobedient servant is a contradiction in terms. Disobedience vitiates service and ensures formal dismissal from it. By obedience to the behes... [ Continue Reading ]
_I speak after the manner of men._ APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION I. Its method. “After the manner of men,” _i.e., _(Gr_._) humanly--as men ordinarily speak, borrowing any illustrations from common life. Spiritual subjects are made plainer by familiar comparisons, and so preachers should use simple languag... [ Continue Reading ]
_What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?_ THE CHARACTERS OF SIN Sin is here arraigned in all the periods of time. I. For the past as unfruitful. “What fruit had ye?” Sin ought to produce something: for it costs much. Now, for a man to labour and give up all the advantage... [ Continue Reading ]
_But now being made free from sin._ THE FREEDOM AND DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN I. We are “free from sin.” 1. We are free from-- (1) Its guilt and pollution. Sin is represented as an evil of enormous magnitude. It is said to be a plague and a leprosy, foul, odious, detestable. But now there is a fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life._ THE WAGES OF SIN AND THE GIFT OF GOD I. The wages of sin is death. “Wages” here means “the rations” supplied as pay to a soldier. If sin is your commander, you will have “death” to eat as your pay. “Sin” is treated as a person,... [ Continue Reading ]