Faith runs to the Savior. Fear runs from the foe. Why not do both at the same time? The beautiful 27th Psalm has many memorable lines, but on first reading we see the psalm divides in two, so dramatically that some commentators suggest this might be two psalms cobbled together. But there’s no need for […]
CHRIST the TRUE MELCHIZEDEK: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). This verse is quoted no less than seven times in the book of Hebrews. It is a biblical bombshell! God had separated “church and state” by selecting His kings from Judah and the priests from Levi. When He […]
“Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). At the end of the first day of the Civil War’s battle of Fredericksburg, hundreds of Union men lay wounded near the road ascending Marye’s Heights. For most of the next day, the area was swept by artillery from both lines; no one […]
Alexander Marshall, the great pioneer of the gospel in the northeastern U.S., told of an old man he knew from East Anglia, England who used to say: “It took me forty-two years to learn three things: 1) That I could do nothing to save myself; 2) that God did not ask me to do anything; […]
CHRIST the SUSTAINER: “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (hold together) (Col 1:17). By appointment of President Woodrow Wilson, Henry van Dyke became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. The following year, World War I threw Europe into disarray. In the thick of it, van Dyke, though […]
“…do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb 6:12). Graham Scroggie points out, using Mark 5 as illustrative, that sometimes our petition is answered but the desire denied; sometimes the desire is answered but the petition denied; and sometimes both petition and desire are answered, or denied. […]
Mrs. Nisbet, an upright woman living in Dumfernline, Scotland, met an evangelist who asked her if she had experienced the great change without which, the Lord declared, no one can see the kingdom of God (Jn 3:3). In the course of the conversation, Mrs. Nisbet exclaimed, “With all my religion, I have never been born […]
“OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10). Dr. Howard A. Kelly, one of four founders of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the father of modern gynecology, was a serious believer. He prayed before every operation. He read the Bible […]
“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887) was a controversial Congregationalist preacher who, from his pulpit, thundered against the liquor and gambling interests in his city, naming names. One evening, as he walked in the city […]