Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 19:2 — BE YE SEPARATE! ‘And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer … said to king Jeboshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?’ 2 Chronicles 19:2 I. The friendship of wicked men is one of the most dangerous social temptations to which Christians are subjected. II. Of this trial of Christian principle, it should be further said that the Christian religion requires no narrow or ascetic seclusion

Psalms 108:10 — OPENED CITY GATES ‘Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?’ Psalms 108:10 I. The strong city built on the rock, even man’s hardened heart, stronger and more stony than the tomb, He has conquered and overcome; and in Him and His might are His people to carry on His warfare, casting down all the strongholds of human pride

Psalms 114:7-8 — ‘THE GOD THAT DOETH WONDERS’ ‘God which turned the rock into a standing water.’ Psalms 114:7-8 I. I consider the promises and the victories of the Bible, and I see that they are occasional, called out often by what men might describe as accident, like those needs of ancient Israel, which appealed irresistibly to the mercy and the might

Psalms 64:1 — GOD THE DEFENCE OF THE PERSECUTED ‘Preserve my life.’ Psalms 64:1 I. This is the cry of distress, and yet not of despair.—The Psalmist is beset by wily enemies who plan and plot against him with malicious and persistent determination. In great detail he describes their method. It is that of secret counsel and studied

Proverbs 14:12 — THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM ‘There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.’ Proverbs 14:12 I. There are ways that lead to death.—Each of us has come into contact with beings whom excesses have led to a premature end; others still occupy a place in the world, but their ruined health, their weakened faculties, show that, to use the words

Proverbs 2:1-5 — son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; … then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.’ Proverbs 2:1-5 This is only one passage out of many in which wisdom is connected with religion, in which it is asserted that a religious fear of God is the first step in true wisdom, and that he who would know God aright must love wisdom, and humbly and vigorously

Proverbs 24:30-32 — slothful man to the possession of the field might be undisputed. It is not enough to possess; we must increase. IV. The scene shows that even the worst abuses may be turned to good account.—Keep your eyes open, and you will read moral lessons everywhere. (1) You will see that the finest possessions may be wasted: property, talent, inflence, opportunity. (2) You will see that wickedness always moves in the direction of destruction. Illustration ‘You see the progress of damage was very slow—a little bit

Isaiah 31:1 — HELP FROM A WRONG QUARTER ‘Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses … but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel.’ Isaiah 31:1 I. Here we see how foolish we are not to pray more for help in temporal need!—We go to our strong friends, and make enormous efforts, instead of looking to the Holy One of Israel. In a book entitled Twenty Years in Khama’s Country, the sixth chapter

Isaiah 51:6 — earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but My salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.’ Isaiah 51:6 I. Consider, first, the heavens above and the earth beneath, as temporal either in themselves or in regard to us who must ‘die in like manner.’—(1) Our text is the record of a great appointment extending to the whole surrounding universe, and sentencing

Jeremiah 1:17 — JEREMIAH CONTRA MUNDUM! ‘Be not dismayed.’ Jeremiah 1:17 I. A tender-hearted prophet.—Jeremiah stands before us, keenly sensitive to injustice and misconstruction, deeply moved by the ungodliness prevailing round him, well aware that the nation is hurrying to its ruin. I recognise in him a brother of

Matthew 25:1 — TO MEET THE BRIDEGROOM ‘Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.’ Matthew 25:1 Amongst our Blessed Lord’s words of warning, this parable holds a very conspicuous place. I. The virgins chosen.—They were chosen for the particular purpose, to swell the triumph of the bridal train. Is it not true that the choice has fallen upon

Mark 8:33 — mistakes. Let us learn humility from the facts here recorded. We see that it is but a little step from making a good confession to being a ‘Satan’ in Christ’s way. Let us pray daily: ‘Hold Thou me up; keep me, teach me, let me not err.’ Illustrations (1) ‘ “Hinder me not,” still to the last, The faithful heart will say; “I must be striving, pressing on, And work while it is day.” ’ (2) ‘The words of St. Peter were a snare and suggestion of Satan, tempting the devoted Saviour to avoid the

John 2:23-24 — IMPERFECT FAITH ‘When He was in Jerusalem … many believed in His name.… But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them.’ John 2:23-24 Early believers at Jerusalem. As to whom, notice— I. The object of their faith.—They ‘believed on His name’ ( John 1:12); i.e. recognised Jesus as the Messiah they expected; believing not on Him ( John 3:18), but on His name, as Christ (cf. Matthew 7:22). Contrast the difference in appealing to heathen. But note that the wise missionary takes advantage of any help

Romans 6:13 — A LIVING SACRIFICE ‘Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead.’ Romans 6:13 As it is the living ‘self,’ ‘which after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth’ ( Ephesians 4:24), not the old self forfeited through sin, and dead already to all things, that is to be presented, so it follows that the surrender

1 Corinthians 2:2 — PAUL’S RESOLUTION ‘For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.’ 1 Corinthians 2:2 With St. Paul everything else but ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ was a matter of secondary importance, and in this resolution of his we see a striking proof of the influence of the sufferings of Christ upon His first disciples. I.

Ephesians 4:1 — VOCATION ‘I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.’ Ephesians 4:1 The vocation or calling here referred to was the name, the status, the dignity, the privileges, flowing from admission to the Church of Christ. If we are true citizens of the Kingdom of Christ Jesus we have assuredly our work to do. I. We have

Colossians 1:17 — CHRIST THE CENTRE OF ALL ‘By Him all things consist.’ Colossians 1:17 A remarkable expression which contains a great truth. I. Christ is the centre of all. ( a) Of the visible world. Christ is the central point of everything, and the whole circle of the universe is united and ruled and bound together by Christ. (

Colossians 1:27 — CHRIST AND HIS PEOPLE ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ Colossians 1:27 The Apostle speaks of a mystery—what is it? In a single sentence, it is ‘Christ in you.’ Looking carefully at the passage, we see that he makes certain statements respecting this mysterious union betwixt Christ and His people. I. It is a secret.—‘To

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 — MYSTERY MET BY FAITH ‘The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ … that ye be not soon shaken in mind.’ 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 The Apostle is here evidently addressing men who had conceived a wrong opinion as to the nearness of the Day of Judgment. He beseeches them by the very event, and by the solemn interest which all Christian men have in it, that they would give up

2 Timothy 1:10 — LIFE AND INCORRUPTION ‘Life and Incorruption.’ 2 Timothy 1:10 (R.V.) The more we contrast the conceptions of the life after death in the two Testaments, the more certain does it become that the life and incorruption of which our text speaks is absolutely a New Testament conception, and that it was Christ,