Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 9:4 — A MOMENTOUS ‘IF’! ‘If thou wilt walk before Me.’ 1 Kings 9:4 I. Special privileges and blessings conferred upon us make our responsibility greater.—Twice God appeared to Solomon in a vision, granting him honours and favours. He accepted the king’s

Nehemiah 2:4 — EJACULATORY PRAYER ‘So I prayed to the God of heaven.’ Nehemiah 2:4 Our thoughts are now upon that moment of ejaculatory prayer, and its lesson for our own faith and our own prayers. What has Nehemiah to say to us? I. He bids us cherish and cultivate

Matthew 6:24 — THE TWO MASTERS ‘No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.’ Matthew 6:24 This is one of those passages which are very

Matthew 8:8-10 — THE ONLY TRUE FAITH ‘The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy.… When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said … I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.’ Matthew 8:8-10 In Christ Jesus life is one, and there ought to be no

Luke 10:21 — THE JOY OF THE LORD ‘In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit.’ Luke 10:21 What were the grounds of our Lord’s joy? I. That the Father had passed by the worldly-wise and prudent, and had revealed the glorious things of the Gospel to those whom the

Luke 14:28 — TOWER BUILDING ‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost.… This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ Luke 14:28; Luke 14:30 In the parable set before us is one who without counting

Luke 14:30 — TOWER BUILDING ‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost.… This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ Luke 14:28; Luke 14:30 In the parable set before us is one who without counting

Luke 19:44 — TIMES OF VISITATION ‘Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.’ Luke 19:44 There is indeed nothing so saddening to the mind as the thought of great opportunities unrecognised and unused. Whether it is in the case of a nation, of a Church, or

Luke 2:14 — PLEAS FOR PEACE ‘On earth peace’. Luke 2:14 No one would dream of disturbing words consecrated by long usage, yet in all probability the text does not represent what Luke actually wrote. His real meaning seems to have been ‘Glory to God in the

Luke 8:13 — ROOTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ‘These have no root.’ Luke 8:13 The question is, What are ‘roots’? I should define the ‘root’ to be that which, lying secret, far down, gives strength and steadiness to that which is exposed, and at the same time supplies

Luke 9:34 — THE OVERSHADOWING CLOUD ‘There came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.’ Luke 9:34 How like were the disciples then to some of us who are Christ’s disciples now! That overshadowing cloud warns us, as

John 12:21 — A GREAT ASPIRATION ‘Sir, we would see Jesus.’ John 12:21 I want to ask you why it is that we should desire to see Jesus. I. He wishes us to see Him.—In the first place, because the whole tenor of Scripture makes it plain that He wishes us to do

Acts 8:8 — THE CHRISTIAN CITY ‘And there was great joy in that city.’ Acts 8:8 The city was Samaria, and the great joy was the fruit of the first preaching of the Gospel there. The disciples had been scattered by persecution from Jerusalem, and one of them

2 Corinthians 12:14 — A PERSONAL WORK ‘I seek not your’s, but you.’ 2 Corinthians 12:14 As if St. Paul would say, I do not want your silver, I do not want your gold, or even your praise, I want you; I want you for Christ. I. He knew the worth of souls.—See what he

Galatians 4:4-5 — CHRIST’S MISSION ‘But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.’ Galatians 4:4-5 I. The fact of Christ’s

Ephesians 3:17 — LOVE BASED ON KNOWLEDGE ‘Rooted and grounded in love.’ Ephesians 3:17 Sentimental love is seldom the genuine article, since those who feel most say the least. And the idea that religion should be grounded on sentiment, and reserved for those who

1 John 3:3 — THE HOPE OF THE ADVENT ‘And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.’ 1 John 3:3 ‘The Epistles of John,’ it has been said, ‘with their ideal teaching, find the future in the present.’ In them, as in the fourth

Revelation 3:1 — A FALSE REPUTATION ‘I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.’ Revelation 3:1 In God’s sight the Church of Sardis was like the corpse of the ancient Scythian—men reverenced her, spoke of her, treated her as a Church

2 Samuel 12:23 — FOUR DOCTRINES IN FIVE WORDS ‘I shall go to him.’ 2 Samuel 12:23 Few, but big with meaning, are these words of the inspired prophet. No less than four scriptural and heart-cheering doctrines are contained in and taught by them. I. Infant salvation.—‘I

2 Samuel 19:31-40 — A GRAND OLD MAN ‘And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim.’ 2 Samuel 19:31-40 I. We have here a man who knows that he is old, but who is not distressed by the thought of it.—There are old men who do not know that they are old, or who