The Church The Pillar and Ground of Truth
The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15
This is a text. It is not a statement. It makes no definite declaration. It is, nevertheless, full of light and suggestiveness. The words constitute an arresting figure of speech, setting forth inclusively the function of the Christian Church in the world. Paul was ...read
Sermon
The Church's Debt to the World
I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Romans 1:14
It is almost certain that Paul had never been to Rome when he wrote these words. A question naturally arises therefore as to the reason why he wrote this letter and sent it to the Christians there. Other of his epistles were directed to churches that h ...read
Sermon
The Cities of Men and the City of God
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising sha ...read
Sermon
The Coming of the Word: Rejected or Received?
He came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:11, 13
Perhaps one of the outstanding characteristics o ...read
Sermon
The Conditions of Coming to God
He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him. Hebrews 11:6
The text is part of a verse which breaks in on the continuity of the chapter from which it is taken. That chapter constitutes the roll of honor of the heroes and heroines of faith. The second name on the list is Enoch, of whom it is ...read
Sermon
The Conditions of Renewal
Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:21
We at once recognize that this is not a sentence, as a matter of fact, the text consists of two phrases, incidentally employed in the course of apostolic discourse. Paul halted at Miletus in order that he might meet the elders of the church at Ephesus and speak to them, as ...read
Sermon
The Crippling That Crowns
And He send, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:28
Taken in all its simplicity, it will readily be granted that this old and very familiar story is, nevertheless, most remarkable. To summarize with almost brutal bluntness, it is the story of God cripplin ...read
Sermon
The Cross 1: Pardon by the Cross
Everything a sinning man needs he finds at the Cross. Apart from the fact of human sin, the Cross is indeed foolishness, a veritable stumbling-block. To the Greek, seeking for the culture of uncultured man, "foolishness," something without meaning, a story that can have no moral effect. To the Hebrew, that is the degraded Hebrew, whose ideals are m ...read
The Cross 2: Purity by the Cross
How much more shall the blood of Christ ... cleanse your conscience from dead works? --Hebrews 9:14
IN OUR PREVIOUS STUDY WE CONSIDERED THE FIRST BLESSING that comes to men by the way of the Cross-first, I mean in the line of human experience-the blessing of pardon. We attempted to listen reverently to this note of the great evangel the glad d ...read
The Cross 3: Peace by the Cross
Peace in human experience is the issue of pardon and purity. There can be no peace so long as sin is unforgiven; there can be no perfect peace so long as impurity remains in the life, dominant and influential. Peace is a necessary sequence in experience; if indeed my trespasses are forgiven, if indeed my consciousness is purged, then issues peace. ...read
The Cross 4: Power by the Cross
The aspect of the Cross of Christ which is now to occupy our attention is one that has application only to a certain number of people, whom the Apostle refers to in the words, "to us which are being saved." We have spoken in this series of meditations first of pardon, and then of purity, and lastly of peace by way of the Cross.
We are now to spe ...read
The Cross 5: Promise at the Cross
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?--Romans 8:12.
W e now come to the last of these studies around the Cross of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, a series in which we have attempted to deal with some of the rich and gracious provisions of the Cross; here we s ...read
Sermon
The Darkness of Golgotha
From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. Matthew 27:45
There's always a danger that we might read this verse too quickly. We treat it too often as though it were merely the record of something incidental.
As a matter of fact, it is the central verse in the story of the cross. Indeed, the cross itself is ...read
Sermon
The Deity of Jesus
In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily . Colossians 2:9
In the midst of multiplied service it is good that we should ever and anon remind our hearts of the central creeds which are the perpetual inspiration of service. No one, in thoughtful moments, can possibly undervalue a creed, a belief, a conviction, a certainty of the mind. I ...read
Sermon
The Disciples' Problem--The Master's Answer
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the ni ...read
Sermon
The Divine Worker
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. Zechariah 4:6
The earlier part of the prophetic ministry of Zechariah was contemporary and co-operative with that of Hazzai. Its burden was that of inspiring the people in the rebuilding of the temple of God. In the book bearing his name there are five great messages, three o ...read
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The Ethic and Evangel of Jesus
Ye, therefore, shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48
The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10
Here we have two superlative utterances of Jesus, which, at first glance to the thoughtful man, seem contradictory, yet, as a matter of fact are most closely related. They condense into the ...read
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The Evangel of Grace
The gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24
The text is not a complete sentence; it is only a phrase, but what a phrase it is! The mere reading of it lifts the soul to the highest levels of thought; the horizons are set further back, and the sense of the spirit is that of space, beauty, and strength.
The three outstanding words suggest the supre ...read
Sermon
The Exalted Christ
Wherefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name "which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
He raised Him from t ...read
Sermon
The Faith That Cancels Fear
The eternal God is thy dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27
There are two realms of mystery which persistently assault the soul of man and produce in it a sense of fear. They are the unknown future, and the unfathomable present. It is a little difficult to know which of these is more provocative of fear. We ...read
G. Campbell Morgan