George Goodman writes: An appeal should only be made when the Spirit has evidently been convicting the hearers, and then in such sober and wise terms as will leave no doubt as to the step to be taken. We are not without precedent in Scripture. Perhaps the appeal par excellence is, “Now then, we are […]
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jas 5:16). An apology may express my regrets at the way I handled a situation, but seeking forgiveness means my relationship is too precious to lose, and I want it fully restored. […]
CHRIST the BEGINNING: In John 1:1, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as “In the beginning.” This chapter declares Him as the Eternal God, for before any created thing—all of which He made (v 3)—He existed. In 1 John 1:1, He is “from the beginning.” Go back as far as the mind can conceive. Beyond […]
“I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isa 46:4). Henry Moorhouse is called the man who taught D.L. Moody how to preach the love of God. Moody said, “I have never forgotten those nights hearing Henry Moorhouse. I have preached a different gospel since….” Moorhouse and his […]
H.A. Ironside tells of addressing a “Mission to Israel” in San Francisco in 1898. At the end, an elderly Jew said: “This is Passover week among you, my Jewish brethren; and I was thinking how you will be observing it. You will attend the synagogue services, and carry out the directions of the Talmud; but […]
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” (Prov 29:25). What would you do differently if others’ opinion of you didn’t matter? We wouldn’t worry so much about what people thought of us if we realized how little they did. […]
“Whoever drinks of the water that I [Christ] shall give him will never thirst” (Jn 4:14). Psalm 42 has an obvious pattern. There are two stanzas with a repeated chorus. This pattern follows in Psalm 43 with the same chorus, the reason many think the two psalms were originally one. But we’ll leave them as they are. As […]
CHRIST, DEATH’S CONQUEROR: “Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him” (Rom 6:9). Circus hand Alfred Mace was a most unlikely young man to be listening to William Carter preach that night in a Brixton theater. “But just about midnight,” he writes, “I joined […]
“Men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (or “faint,” KJV) (Lk 18:1). H.G. Bosch quotes a missionary commenting on this verse: “My concordance shows the root meaning of the word ‘faint’ is ‘to cave in.’ What causes a ‘cave-in’? It is weakness on one hand and pressure on the other. What causes a […]