Bible Commentaries

Mark 1:43-45 — RESERVE IN RELIGION ‘And He straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.… But he went out, and began to publish it much.’ Mark 1:43-45 Our Lord, having healed the leper, charged him to be silent about the cure. He was not to make it known, except to the priest; and even if any of his comrades saw the wondrous change that had come over his once withered limbs, he was not to reveal

Mark 4:5 — the veil. On what depends the strength, the beauty, and the fruit of the tree? On its hidden roots. So with the Christian. What he is outwardly will depend on his hidden life before God. This is what we want now. —Rev. F. Whitfield. Illustrations (1) ‘See that noble ship riding on the waves. Her yards are right, her canvas is spread, and there is a favourable breeze. Why sails she not out of the harbour? Why heaves she so restlessly on the waters? Down deep in the water, and concealed from every

Luke 11:1 — A HEARTY DESIRE TO PRAY ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ Luke 11:1 Have we this ‘hearty desire’ to pray of which the Collect for the Third Sunday after Trinity speaks to us? I. Whence does it come?—It comes from God; it is His gift. Let us never forget this. We cannot too often call to mind that of ourselves we

Luke 11:24-25 — THE HUMAN HOUSE ‘I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.’ Luke 11:24-25 The human heart cannot remain empty. It must have an inhabitant, either good or evil. It must from its very nature have desires and longings of some kind, either pious and holy, or evil and degrading. And these will result in actions either

Luke 23:56 — labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ And He says, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in their midst.’ Do you go to God’s house to seek rest? ‘Seek and ye shall find.’ Rev. Canon M’Cormick. Illustrations (1) ‘A gentleman was inspecting a house in Newcastle with a view to occupying it as a residence. The landlord took him to the principal window and expatiated on the beautiful prospect. “You can see Durham Cathedral from this window on Sunday,” he said.

Luke 7:4-9 — do this.’ The four Roman centurions mentioned in the New Testament are a great contrast to the Roman governors. The centurion in charge of the Crucifixion when he had seen it all said, ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God.’ Cornelius, mentioned in Acts 10, was a ‘just man, and one that feareth God.’ Julius (Acts 27) ‘courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty.’ The centurion in our text was one of the most lovable men in the New Testament. A citizen of the great Roman Empire, an officer in the

Luke 9:29 — the fleshly life bring a heavy stupor on the finer powers of our spiritual body, and for the most part the inner man in most men and women is often asleep, as good as dead, just as good as dead. But this can be in a moment reversed. Illustrations (1) ‘As the glory of the sun makes a new earth, so the glory of Christ makes a new man. And nothing is more freely given than Christ’s glory to every repenting and deserving soul. From the operating of His glory on the soul’s nature comes that mysterious

John 1:45-46 — EXPERIENCE THE TEST OF TRUTH ‘Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth,’ etc. John 1:45-46 Philip, believing in Christ himself, immediately endeavours to make a believer of Nathanael. I. The man who has lighted on heavenly treasure has found that, the direct tendency of which is to the overcoming selfishness; the man who has discovered

John 12:7 — A GOOD WORK ‘Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept this.’ John 12:7 Note the time: it enhanced the gift. It was the insight of love. The Saviour was but a few hours from Calvary. Death was near. I. ‘She did it for My Burial.’—Mary saw something was troubling Him. She had seen His Face in all its moods, and she

John 15:15 — FRIENDS OF JESUS ‘Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.’ John 15:15 He calls us not ‘servants,’ but ‘friends.’ Now, upon this many things must follow. We would name but three. I. It involves a prayerful study of the Word of God.—‘All things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you’ is a definition

Acts 27:23 — relation to the Lord Jesus. The words which follow present the other side of St. Paul’s relation to Christ: ‘Whom I serve.’ This word ‘serve’ seems to be always used of the service of God, and it seems to indicate joyful, willing service. Illustrations (1) ‘Bishop Moule, in his little book on Christian Sanctity, says many beautiful things on this subject. Christ is my despotic Master, he thinks the words mean; He has a right to order me about: let Him do it. Every moment I will remember that I am at

1 Corinthians 10:13 — A WAY TO ESCAPE ‘God … will with the temptation also make a way to escape.’ 1 Corinthians 10:13 The promise is not that we shall be not tempted, nor that our natural strength shall be the measure of the temptation permitted. We have no power of ourselves to help ourselves. I. What God promises is the adaptation of the tempting

1 Corinthians 12:7 — THE RIGHT USE OF GOD’S GIFTS ‘The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.’ 1 Corinthians 12:7 Do you not see how the lesson which St. Paul was teaching applies to all our Christian life among one another? Whatever any of us has, or is, he only has, or is, just what God has chosen him to have or to be. I. We often wonder at

1 Corinthians 5:7 — CHRIST AND THE PASSOVER ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.’ 1 Corinthians 5:7 The Passover is perhaps the most interesting ceremony in the world on the sole ground of its continuous celebration by the Jews; but let us not forget that it has a further history in the Christian Church. I. Our Saviour adopted the

1 Corinthians 9:14 — THE SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY ‘Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.’ 1 Corinthians 9:14 St. Paul’s apostleship had here been called in question, and it was objected that he had never seen and known the Lord, and another objection was that he was a common workman. St. Paul has been answering the objections raised by these

Galatians 1:16 — THE KEYNOTE OF TESTIMONY ‘Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.’ Galatians 1:16 These words are the keynote of the Apostle’s testimony. They describe in one terse sentence his attitude as an apostle of Christ and a teacher of the Gospel. As we carefully ponder his utterances, three points emerge to which attention may be directed.

Galatians 4:19 — FAITH AND CHARACTER ‘Until Christ be formed in you.’ Galatians 4:19 Why not Christianity without Christ? Ah, we are here face to face with a notable distinction. Of no other system, religious or moral, or both combined, can it be said that the Founder was the Faith. Christ preached no system. If you try and get a

Philippians 1:10 — THE HIGHER LIFE ‘That ye may approve things that are excellent.’ Php_1:10 This is the second time that St. Paul has made use of this expression—to the Christians of Rome, and now to his spiritual children at Philippi. Let us see what the Apostle means by it. I. It does not mean that they are merely to distinguish between

1 Timothy 3:15 — ‘THE CHURCH TO TEACH, THE BIBLE TO PROVE’ ‘The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.’ 1 Timothy 3:15 The Bible is not one book; it is a library of books, written by different men, of different ages, climes, and periods of history To understand the Bible we need a guide. I. The Church is the divinely constituted guide.—Her twofold mission

2 Timothy 1:14 — THE CHURCH AND ITS FAITH ‘That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost Which dwelleth in us.’ 2 Timothy 1:14 There is no Church throughout the world that has a nobler or more sublime faith than the Church of England. What are we doing to preserve the sublimity of this faith? Are we trying to preserve its noble simplicity? Are we trying to do honour to