It is very hard to bring down my Lord Will-be-will to be a contented servant of the King of kings. The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel and to Joshua.
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; consider your ways
If any of you Christian people are tempted to put off some service for God which lies upon your heart, I pray you to remember your Lord’s words, and to imitate his prompt action, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”. There seems to be time enough for you to enjoy the luxuries of life, but not time for you to rebuild the temple of the Lord;-time enough for you to get rich, but not time for you to serve God;-time enough for you to spend your labor upon anything for yourself, but not upon the house of your God!” What a rebuke was this to those who professed to be the Lord’s people.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little;
Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste.
Ye eat, but ye have not enough;
Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink;
Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wagesearneth wages to put into a bag with holes.
Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put into a bag with holes
Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the
LORD their God, and the word of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their and had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S messageunto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD
Sometimes it happens that people get angry, and hate the preacher who too plainly rebukes them for their sins; but when the Spirit of God works within them, they take heed to what is said, and receive the preacher’s message as from God himself.
In the eleventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts
The released captives had not much of it with which to build the second temple, but God had all that was needed, and he was willing to supply them with enough for all the needs of the great work which they had undertaken in his name. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saiththe LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of
In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Of course, he could keep us from falling into certain sins by shutting us up in a prison, or by depriving us in some other way of the power to commit those sins. It must rest with Christ alone, and our wisdom is to commit ourselves to him who is able to meet all the necessities of our case, and to conduct us safely to our journey’s end; but since, from the first to the last, salvation is of the Lord,.
LOOKING FOR ONE THING AND FINDING ANOTHER
- And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for
- And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God and he is an honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now
- Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to
- Then said Saul to his servant, Well said; come, let us go
- Then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah;
- And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hand
- And shalt be turned into another man
Another case arrives before us most vividly, it is that of the jailor at Philippi. Here we have the pedigree of the great king of Israel, Saul, the son of Kish.
THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF HEART TROUBLE
ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 12TH, 1874
Then, beside this, all the troubles of the children of God will work out to God’s glory. It is a very mischievous thing for a child of God to be constantly troubled and afraid.
DEATH, A SLEEP
In the first place, because sleep is a suspension of the faculties, but not a destruction of the body. Our faith (which is warranted by the Word of God,) discerns in the corruption of death a suspension of the powers of the body rather than an annihilation of the matter itself. There seems to me a great deal of heaven’s sweetness in the little verse (to quote another of the children’s hymns),.
Still, there ought to be some difference between the sorrow of the righteous and the sorrow of the wicked.
GOD-GUIDED MEN
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, MARCH 15TH, 1874
- In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you
- And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
- That where I am, there ye may be also
- And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know
- Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
- If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from, henceforth ye know him, and have seen him
- And greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father
- Even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;-
- Because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I
In our text Paul says, “I conferred not with flesh and blood.” He did not even consult with good men as to what he ought to do. They did not consult with flesh and blood, but obeyed the command of their God. Further, to consult with flesh and blood is diametrically opposed to the character of Christ.
I have generally found that, when men do consult with flesh and blood, the consultation usually leads to the neglect of duty, and the forsaking of the Lord.
A SEARCHING QUESTION
Because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his
And David Said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.
And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that theycould not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook.
And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook
I thought, as I read that “David recovered all,” how truly it can be said that the greater Son of David has recovered all. It was foretold that “He shall divide the spoil with the strong.” Let your hearts and mine, and all we are, and all we have, be yielded up to him, and let us say of it all, “This is Jesu’s spoil, and to him be glory evermore!”.
TWO ANCIENT PROVERBS
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, MARCH 29TH, 1874
Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth
- Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips
- A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both
- Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
- Open rebuke is better than secret love
- Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful
- The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet
- Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not;
- Neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off
- My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me
- A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike
- Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself
- Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend
- Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him
- Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds
Unless there shall be many of the flowers of rhetoric in the discourse, he will not listen to sound doctrine. The consistency of our conduct should be the best answer to the accusations of the infidel. The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
THE GRACIOUS LIPS OF JESUS
It is important to remark that Jesus Christ has what none of the sons of men ever had, he has inherent grace. First, let us regard our Savior as the eternal Surety of the covenant, and we shall see that grace was poured into his lips. One of the joys I anticipate in heaven is to hear Christ speak to his people.
Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast kept the faith, receive the crown laid up for thee from the foundation of the world.” You will then say, “Oh, what grace was poured into his lips.
HERE AM I.”
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, APRIL 19TH, 1874
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD
When those who should be the friends and servants of God act like his enemies, it is indeed terrible. And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters.
Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress.
If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they
The same sad prophecy that the Lord communicated to old Eli was also revealed in a very special manner to young Samuel. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
COMFORT FOR THOSE WHOSE PRAYERS ARE FEEBLE
- Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer
- He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone,
- It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not
- They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness
- The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;
- Therefore will I hope in him
- The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him
- It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation, of the LORD
I desire that this truth may come home to any one of you who says, “I cannot pray.” It is not true. But there is a fountain, and it is open; why then wash ye not in it. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because hiscompassions fail not.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for thesalvation, of the LORD.
PAUL’S PARENTHESIS
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, APRIL 26TH, 1874
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,-
- And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring
- And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus
- And suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven
- And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
- And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
- And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do
- And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless,-
- And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight
- And when he had received meat, he was strengthened
- Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus
- And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God
- And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was
He had already felt in his own heart some of the sorrows that follow from a wrong course of life, yet he resolved to persevere in it, so the Lord said to him, “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks;” and if any of you resist the thrusts of conscience and the strivings of God’s Spirit, you will be like a man, with naked feet, kicking against iron spikes, and hurting himself, but riot injuring that against which he kicks. Some years ago, a brother told me that he had had it revealed to him that I was to let him preach for me in the Tabernacle. They knew why he had come to Damascus, but, behold, he was preaching the very faith that he had gone there to destroy.
But Barnabus took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.
AN EXCITING ENQUIRY
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The old attractions of the cross have not departed. You see, it is a reigning Christ who moves the city, Christ riding in the heart in a glorious procession of gladsome acclamation,-it is this that will be the great thing to stir even London’s stolid masses. May he be pleased to write upon the tablets of your heart the story of your Master, so that, when any shall say, “Who is this?” you may not need to pause for a single moment, or to ask any divine to assist you in the answer,.
That is the core of the gospel; the sinner in Christ’s place, and Christ in the sinner’s place; our debts to God paid by Christ; the chastisement of our peace laid upon him, that we may have the peace through his chastisement.
