Key Verse: "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:"
- Luke 16:19 KJV
Who is more an object of ridicule than the rich miser—who goes supperless to bed, because he will not give one farthing out of his immense sums to purchase food; being afraid to live on what he is never able to spend, and anxious to heap up what he can never enjoy.
Key Verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
- Romans 8:28 KJV
Where is God at work in your life? Are you going through some deep hurt, pain or suffering? Could God perhaps be doing a special work through your present circumstances? One of the greatest promises in the Bible is found in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Key Verse: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:7 KJV
In a world filled with noise, uncertainty, and constant pressure, peace often feels fragile, here one moment and gone the next. Yet the peace God offers is not like the peace the world gives. It is deeper, steadier, and supernatural.
Key Verse: "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."
- John 16:14 KJV
One essential and important office of the Spirit is to
glorify Christ. And how does He most glorify Christ, but by exalting His
atoning work, giving to it the preeminence, the importance, and the glory it
demands; leading the sinner, whom He has first convinced of sin, to accept
of Jesus as a willing, an all-sufficient Savior; to cast away all trust in
self, all reliance upon a covenant of works, which is but a covenant of
death, and thus going entirely outside of himself, to take up his rest in
the blood and righteousness of Immanuel, the God-man Mediator. Oh, what
sweet, holy delight must it be to the Spirit of God when a poor sinner, in
all his conscious nothingness, is led to build upon Jesus, the "tried stone,
the precious corner-stone, the sure foundation!"
Key Verse: "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."
- Jonah 2:9 KJV
Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who
quickens the soul which is "dead in trespasses and sins," and it is He
also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha
and Omega." "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me
prayerful; if I have graces, they are God's gifts to me; if I hold on in a
consistent life, it is because He upholds me with His hand. I do nothing
whatever towards my own preservation, except what God Himself first does in
me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone.
Key Verse: "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
- 2 Timothy 2:3 KJV
We often get into states and frames of mind, where we
need something else besides consolation. A child would not grow, if it were
always fed upon sweets. It must have exercise, and be exposed to the
weather, and have the cold winds blow upon its face, and be hardened, so as
to enable it to bear the chill winter and the nipping frosts.
Key Verse: "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea."- Mark 5:13 KJV
The history of the poor demoniac affords a striking instance of the malice of devils, of the power of Christ, and of the wickedness of man. How great was the malice of the devils that assaulted this poor man! They led him to dwell in solitary places among the tombs; for in those days tombs were generally made in lonely spots, among barren hills and rocks. Cut off from the company of his fellows, he spent his miserable days in crying, and cutting his own flesh; and when his friends mercifully bound his hands in chains, and his feet in fetters, he burst through these restraints and again escaped to his desolate abode. Thus he became a terror to the neighborhood, and a torment to himself.
Key Verse: "He saith to him again
the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him,
Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my
sheep."
- John 21:16 KJV
We are striving to follow Christ—but we are weak. We intend to be loving—but we mar our days with unhappy tempers and selfish strivings. We intend to be strong in faith—but many times our trust fails us. We bow our heads to take the Master's blessing, "Peace be unto you;" but again and again—the peace is broken. We intend to show the world a pattern of Christlikeness, but the temptations about us are so sore, that every day we are conscious of having failed to be true. We set out in the morning brave and confident; but alas! how often does the evening find us defeated!
Key Verse: "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;" - Exodus 3:7 KJV
Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers in the soul, which the best and most tender human sympathy cannot touch. But the Prince of Sufferers, He who led the way in the path of sorrow, "knows our frame." When crushing bereavement lies like ice on the heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the peculiarities of our grief — Jesus can, Jesus does! He who once bore my sins — also carried my sorrows. That eye, now on the throne, was once dim with weeping! I can think in all my afflictions — "He was afflicted;" in all my tears — "Jesus wept."
Key Verse: "And Jesus said unto them,
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst."
- John 6:35 KJV
Jesus calling himself the “bread of life” in John 6 means that he is the one who truly sustains and satisfies the deepest hunger of the human heart. In the context of Israel’s history, God once provided manna in the wilderness to keep his people alive day by day. Jesus contrasts this with himself as the true bread from heaven, given for the life of the world, whose life does not perish and who offers eternal life to those who come to him in faith, to trust, believe, and remain in him. Whoever comes to Jesus, the bread of life, “shall not hunger” and “shall never thirst” in a spiritual sense.
Key Verse: "Now the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost."
- Romans 15:13 KJV
How are our joys heightened by hope. But sadly—sometimes
our hopes may be false! And how vainly are our expectations pointed at some
future worldly enjoyment, which, when it comes, shall perhaps disappoint
us—even in the enjoyment of it! Yet, for such things we long, though, in a
manner—we are actually hankering after our own misery.
Key Verse: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
- 1 John 5:11 KJV
Eternal Life is God’s kind of life. It is eternal because He is eternal. Nothing will ever separate the believer in Christ from the One who loves us. He gave us His free gift of eternal life the very moment we were born spiritually, and it can never be lost (John 3:15-16, 36; 6:47; 10:28). It is a life without end, and no one can ever take it from you. There are no final boundaries to eternal life.
Key Verse: "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
- Proverbs 3:6 KJV
The constant exercise of prayer makes every burden light,
and smooths every rugged step of a child of God: it is this only that keeps
down his trials; not that he is ever exempt from them- no, it is "through
much tribulation that he is to enter the kingdom;"- he is a disciple of the
cross, his religion is that of the cross, he is a follower of Him who died
upon the cross, and entire exemption from the cross he never expects until
he passes to the possession of the crown.
Key Verse: "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,
and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he
paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."
- Jonah 1:3 KJV
Instead of going to Nineveh to preach the Word, as
God bade him, Jonah disliked the work, and went down to Joppa to
escape from it. There are occasions when God's servants shrink from duty.
But what is the consequence? What did Jonah lose by his conduct?
Key Verse: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
- Hebrews 13:8 KJV
The eye of our faith must be ever fixed on Jesus, for the Person of Christ is the grand object of faith, and to lose sight of him is to lose sight of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Is he not the same Jesus now that he was on earth? He is exalted, it is true, to an inconceivable height of glory, so that when John saw him, even as if in some measure veiled, he fell at his feet as dead. But he is the same Jesus now as when he was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as he wears the same human body, so he has the same tender, compassionate heart.
Key Verse: "And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it."
- Mark 4:33 KJV
It was in this manner that the Lord Jesus ended a day of
great labor. His friends in the midst of it had desired him to desist, but
seeing multitudes assembled to hear the word, he continued to teach. In
order to be seen and heard more conveniently, he removed into a ship. The
parable of the sower, and many others, were spoken by Jesus while he sat in
a ship on the lake of Gennesaret. (See Mark 4:1.) Afterwards, he had a
private conversation in the house with his disciples, when he explained his
parables. In the evening he crossed the lake in a ship.
Key Verse: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
- Matthew 4:17 KJV
When Jesus stepped onto the scene, His first public message wasn’t about politics, morality, or self-improvement. It was about God's Kingdom. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
Key Verse: "Therefore that disciple
whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter
heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he
was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea."
- John 21:7 KJV
One compares the character of John, in its mellow ripeness, to an ancient, extinct volcano. Where once the crater yawned—there is now a verdurous, cup-like hollow on the mountain summit. Where once the fierce fires burned—lies a still, clear pool of water, looking up like an eye to the beautiful heavens above, its banks covered with sweet flowers. "It is an apt parable," he says, "of the apostle John.
Key Verse: "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
- Malachi 3:6 KJV
The UNCHANGEABLENESS of God. What an anchor for a storm tossed sea! Change is our portion here on earth! Scenes are altering. Joys are fading. Some friends are removed by distance; others have gone to their 'long home.' Who, amid these checkered experiences, does not sigh for something permanent, stable, enduring? The vessel has again and again slipped its earthly moorings. We long for some secure and sheltered harbor.
Key Verse: "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." - James 5:11 KJV
To escape my present sorrow, and triumph in the midst of
my present grief, let me suppose eternity is at hand, which may very
soon, but must before long—be the case. May I not, then, with the
eye of all-triumphant faith, think I see myself walking in white with my
well-beloved, along the fields of glory, and my whole soul going out to him
in a manner it never could here below! While floods of glory from his
reconciled face overflow me, and the smile of his lovely countenance
entrances my soul forever! While I join the hosannas of the higher house,
the eternal hallelujahs, and begin the song which none can learn but the
chosen number—the sealed ones! With what transport do I mingle with the
heavenly multitudes, and, to my extreme comfort, realize that there is not
one sinner in the heavenly company, or anything expressed against the
majesty of the Most High! Where all the heavenly multitudes, transforming in
his beams, kindling in his flames, and drinking at his ecstatic rivers—are
happy beyond conception!
Key Verse: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
- Romans 6:23 KJV
“The wages of sin is death.” Those are startling words. The only wages sin pays results in death spiritually and eternally. The wages of sin is death spiritually. That means spiritual eyes that cannot see God, spiritual ears that cannot hear His voice. It means a spiritual heart that is hardened to God and cannot respond to the atoning sacrifice of His Son.
Key Verse: "Incline your ear, and come
unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
- Isaiah 55:3 KJV
God had promised David that he would sit upon the throne of his fathers that the kingdom of Israel, rent from Saul, should be transferred to his government. But the crown and the scepter thus promised loomed in the distance, almost enshrouded from view by dark intervening clouds. The promise seemed as a dead letter. The providence of God appeared to clash with and to contradict the promise of God. But, in the history of His Church, the providences of the divine government are not the exponents of the promises of the Divine Governor.
Key Verse: "But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O
generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?"
- Matthew 3:7 KJV
It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm
has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has
passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds
in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a
land where the storm has spent itself upon His Savior's head, and if
there are a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of
mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his
destruction.
Key Verse: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
- Matthew 22:40 KJV
When asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus did not hesitate. He did not choose a ceremonial law or a complex rule. He chose love. These two commandments are not suggestions. They are the foundation. Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets hang on them. Every command, every teaching, every moral instruction flows from loving God and loving others.
Key Verse: "Go, gather together all
the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither
eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast
likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to
the law: and if I perish, I perish."
- Esther 4:16 KJV
When we are in darkness, under distress of conscience, or
when guilt lies hard and heavy upon the soul, these things do, and must
until removed, keep us back from the Lord. But are we ever to give heed to
these enemies of our soul's peace? Are we never to press through the crowd?
How was it with the man who was paralyzed for so many years? He might
forever have lain helpless upon his bed, had he not been brought into the
presence of Jesus. How with the woman with the issue of blood? She might
forever have tarried on the skirts of the crowd, a poor, polluted,
self-condemned wretch. But she pressed through the crowd, and got to touch
the hem of Jesus' garment.
Key Verse: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:"
- Matthew 13:47 KJV
The parable of the net cast into the sea was calculated
particularly to interest the disciples, many of whom were fishermen. They
were accustomed, after the toils of the day, to sort the fish they had
taken. This employment affords a lively image of the distinctions that will
be made at the last day. The net represents the word of the Gospel, which is
preached to many, and which many profess to believe. The
disciples were shortly to begin the work of preaching it. Great success
would accompany their endeavors; but yet that success would be attended by
much disappointment. Many to whom they preached would prove hypocrites.
Some of these would be detected in their lifetime, but others not
until the judgment-day.
Key Verse: "Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the
Lord."
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV
Jesus walks no more among men, doing his deeds of love—but he sends his followers forth to do the works in his name. We ought to abound in all loving ministry just as he did. It is not enough to be good, gentle, sweet, amiable, kindly, patient. It is beautiful to live such a life; and its influence is far-reaching, like the fragrance of Mary's ointment. But we must also be full of good works. We must be winners of souls. We must live to do good to men, to comfort sorrow, to feed hunger, to relieve distress, to cheer the disheartened, to break chains and liberate sin's captives, to stand up for the truth, to do battle for the right. We are to be like Christ, and we begin to be like Christ—only when we begin to be useful.
Key Verse: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." - Hebrews 12:6 KJV
What! God loves me — when He is discharging His quiver upon me — when He is emptying me from vessel to vessel — when He is causing the sun of my earthly joys to set in clouds? Yes! O afflicted, tempest-tossed one, He chastens you — because He loves you! This trial comes from His own tender, loving hand — from His own tender, unchanging heart!
Key Verse: "And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:"
- Mark 12:10 KJV
Why does the world reject the Savior of the world? Why do they abhor him who is altogether lovely—and hate him who is the best Friend of mankind? Had I the tongue of a cherub, which has heard the language of glory, and mingled in the discourse of the multitudes before the throne for these five thousand years; or could I talk in every tongue, extend my voice to every nation, and speak so loud and long, that the assembled universe should hear—what should be my theme, my darling, favorite theme? Surely the Son of God, the Savior of the world. How would I dwell on his divine nature, and enlarge on his enrapturing relationship to his people—until all the needy nations fell prostrate adorers before the throne of their kinsman-Redeemer, and their God!
Key Verse: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
- Romans 5:8 KJV
The Scriptures are very clear that the wrath of God is visited upon sinners or else that the Son of God dies for them. Either sinners are punished for their sins or else there takes place a substitution. Either the sinner dies or the substitute dies.
Key Verse: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24 KJV
Every morning we awaken to a gift, a day God Himself has made. It may unfold with joy or challenge, sunlight or storm, but no matter what it holds, one thing remains true: the day belongs to the Lord. Because of that truth, we can choose to rejoice.
Key Verse: "And immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
- Matthew 14:31 KJV
Doubting faith is not doubtful faith. If the believer has
not the faith of assurance, he may have the faith of reliance, and that will
take him to heaven. All the doubts and fears that ever harassed a child of
God cannot erase his name from the Lamb's book of life, nor take him out of
the heart of God, nor shut him out of glory. "Unbelief," says Rutherford,
"may perhaps tear the copies of the covenant which Christ has given you; but
He still keeps the original in heaven with Himself. Your doubts and fears
are no parts of the covenant; neither can they change Christ."
Key Verse: "And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words."
- Zechariah
1:13 KJV
What a sweet answer to an anxious enquiry! This night let
us rejoice in it. O Zion, there are good things in store for you; your time
of travail shall soon be over; your children shall be brought forth; your
captivity shall end. Bear patiently the rod for a season, and under the
darkness—still trust in God, for His love burns towards you. God loves the
church with a love too deep for human imagination. He loves her with all His
infinite heart. Therefore let her sons be of good courage; she cannot be far
from prosperity to whom God speaks "good words and comfortable words."
Key Verse: "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
- 2 Corinthians 6:10 KJV
How do we possess all things? In possessing Christ who is
heir of all things. If we possess Christ, what have we not in him? We have
wisdom to teach us, righteousness to justify us, sanctification to make us
holy, and redemption to deliver us from sin, death, and hell. If we have
him, we have the favor and love of God; we have the pardon of our sins, the
reconciliation of our persons, the casting behind God's back of all our
backslidings, and a title to a heavenly crown. If we have him, we have
everything in him, for Christ is ours, and Christ is God's. Therefore in him
we possess all things. We shall have in providence things sufficient to
carry us to the grave. He will give us everything that is for our good, and
keep back nothing that is for our benefit. If we possess him, what have we
not in him?
Key Verse: "Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath
found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth that field."
- Matthew 13:44 KJV
We should be much astonished if a man were to show such
eagerness to possess a common field, that he was willing to give any
price for it. But if we afterwards found that he had discovered in it a mine
of precious ore, we should not be surprised at his anxiety to obtain the
field, even at a very high price.
Key Verse: "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."
- Romans 7:15 KJV
Think of the brokenness, the incompleteness, the littleness, of these lives of ours! We get glimpses of beauty in character, which we are not able to attain! We have longings which seem to us too great ever to come true. We dream of things we want to do; but when we try to work them out, our clumsy hands cannot put them into realizations! We have glimmerings of a love that is very rich and tender, without a trace of selfishness, without envy or jealousy, without resentment—a love that seeks not its own, is not provoked, and bears all things. We get the vision from the life of Christ Himself. We say, "I will learn that lesson of love; I will be like that!" But we fail.
Key Verse: "And a man shall be as an
hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
- Isaiah 32:2 KJV
"A man!" This first word forms the key to the precious
verse, it is "The man Christ Jesus!" And when and where is He thus revealed
to His people as their hiding place and shelter? It is, as with Elijah of
old, in the whirlwind and the storm! Amid the world's bright
sunshine, in the tranquil skies, uninterrupted prosperity — they seek Him
not! But when the clouds begin to gather, and the sun is swept from
the skies; when they have learned the insecurity of all earthly refuges —
then the prayer ascends, "My heart is overwhelmed — lead me to the Rock that
is higher than I." The Earthquake, the Tempest, the Fire
— and then "the still small voice!"
Key Verse: "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
- Matthew 12:36 KJV
Words often seem small and fleeting. We speak them quickly and forget them just as fast. Yet Jesus teaches that no word is insignificant. An “idle word” is not merely a careless phrase, it is speech that is empty of purpose, truth, or grace. Heaven listens even when we are not paying attention.
Key Verse: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
- 1 John 2:15 KJV
Why have I mistaken this thorny wilderness—for a garden
of flowers? Why have I mistaken this place of danger—for a palace of
delight? Why have I mistaken this howling desert—for an enchanting grove?
If the world has joys, it has none for me—they are carnal or unlawful. My
joys must be pure and spiritual. If the creature affords pleasures, they
cannot suit my soul—its honey is mixed with gall, its sweet with wormwood,
its wine with water, its gold with dross—and all are mixed with poison. The
pleasures I should seek are such as my soul may feed on without danger,
feast on without excess, and rejoice in without sin.
Key Verse: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
- John
6:44 KJV
Have you responded to the effectual call of God to salvation? In his effort to encourage suffering Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).
Key Verse: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy."
- Matthew 5:43 KJV
"Love your neighbor." Perhaps he rolls in riches—and you
are poor, and living in your little cottage side-by-side with his lordly
mansion. Every day you see his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous
banquets. God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no
hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with your own lot, if you cannot
better it—but do not look upon your neighbor, and wish that he were as
yourself. Love him—and then you will not envy him.
Key Verse: "And I will make them and
the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower
to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."
- Ezekiel 34:26 KJV
Here is sovereign grace, "I will send down showers." Is it not sovereign, divine mercy—for who can say, "I will send down showers," except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds, and bid them beget the rain, "Who sends down the rain upon the earth? Who scatters the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord?" Grace is the gift of God—and is not to be created by man.
Key Verse: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV
Christ risen is the firstfruits of that mighty crop of
buried dead whose remains still sleep in the silent dust, and who will be
joined by successive ranks of those who die in him, until all are together
wakened up in the resurrection morn. The figure is that of the sheaf of the
firstfruits which was waved before the Lord before the harvest was allowed
to be reaped (Lev. 23:10, 11). This offering of the wave sheaf was the
consecration and dedication of the whole crop in the field to the Lord, as
well as the manifest pledge that the harvest was fully ripe for the reaper's
sickle.
Key Verse: "Another parable put he
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of
mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:"
- Matthew 13:31-35 KJV
We will now consider several short parables that our
Savior related, but of which he gave no interpretation; still we may
endeavor from other parts of Scripture to discover their meaning. The seed
of the mustard-tree is smaller in proportion to the size of the tree
it produces, than any other seed. In eastern countries the mustard-tree has
immense spreading branches, which afford a fit shelter for the birds.
Key Verse: "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
- Ephesians 4:32 KJV
Forgiveness is one of the clearest marks of a heart transformed by grace. It does not come naturally to the flesh, which desires justice, vindication, and repayment. Yet Scripture teaches that forgiveness flows from remembering how much we ourselves have been forgiven by God.
Key Verse: "And have hope toward
God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."
- Acts 24:15 KJV
A hope of resurrection to a believer in Christ—ought to be a wonderful inspiration in the earthly life. The grave is not the end; we shall come again from it in new beauty, and shall live on forever. Not only did Christ teach that the dead shall rise again—but he himself went down into the grave and then came out again, after three days, alive! Thus he showed the reality of resurrection; one man died and rose again, and may not all? But his resurrection meant more than that. He was the head of his people, and as such—his victory was for them. He met and conquered death for them.
Key Verse: "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."
- Psalm 35:27 KJV
What is "prosperity?" Is it threads of life weaved into a bright outcome? a full cup? ample riches? worldly applause? an unbroken circle? No! these are often a snare; received without gratitude; dimming the soul to its nobler destinies. Often spiritually, it rather means God taking us by the hand into the lowly Valleys of Humiliation; leading us as He did His servant Job of old; out of his sheep, oxen, camels, health, wealth, children; in order that we may be brought before Him in the dust, and say, "Blessed be His holy name!"
Key Verse: "When I was a child, I
spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things."
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV
When I look back a few years, I recollect, that my thoughts about common things were much contracted to what they are now. "When I was a child, I thought as a child;" for though I heard surrounding sounds, and the speeches of all about me, yet they were too vast for me to comprehend; nor could I convey my ideas to them in articulate words. Yes, when I rose a little from this infantile state, I could not shake myself free of my ignorance, nor from any proper notion of the embelting oceans, opposite poles, and the earth hung upon nothing. Still I knew nothing of the heavenly bodies, of the glorious sun, splendid moon, or sparkling stars; of the beauteous rainbow, falling showers, and flashing thunders. These things, then too sublime for me to think on, are now, in some sense, both intelligible and familiar; and this arises, not from any addition of new powers—but from an increase of the faculties of my soul.
Key Verse: "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." - 1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV
Spiritual growth is making real in our daily experience what is already true for us in Christ. Our progressive sanctification is an ever putting off all that belongs to the old man, and putting on all that belongs to the new man in Christ.
Key Verse: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14 KJV
Will it add nothing to the glory of that event, and to
the happiness of that moment, when the Son of God descends, and, dissolving
the soft slumbers of the holy dead, will reanimate each with its former
occupant, that then we shall perfectly recognize those we once knew and
loved, and renew the sweet communion, before imperfect and limited, but now
complete and eternal? Dry, then, your tears, and cease to mourn, you saints
of God. They are "not lost, but gone before." Their spirits live with Jesus.
And when He comes, He will bring them with Him, and you shall see and know
them with a cloudless sight and a perfect knowledge. The very eyes which
once smiled upon you so kindly- the very tongue which spoke to you so
comfortingly- the very hands which administered to you so skillfully- the
very feet which traveled by your side so faithfully- the very bosom which
pillowed you so tenderly- you shall meet again. "The coming of the Lord
draws near," and those who "sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." Let us
"comfort one another with these words."
Bible Reading: Luke 16:19-26 KJV Key Verse: " There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fa...
