We shall be judged “by the Law of liberty.” Why does James (1:25) use this title for God’s Law? When we obey God’s Law, it frees us from sin and enables us to walk in liberty (Psalm 119:45). Liberty does not mean license. License (doing whatever I want to do)...
If God sends a “fiery trial” to His own children, and they are saved “with difficulty,” what will happen to lost sinners when God’s fiery judgment fails? When a believer suffers, he experiences glory and knows that there will be greater glory in the future. But a sinner who causes...
One of the funniest cartoons I ever saw showed a pompous lawyer reading a client’s last will and testament to a group of greedy relatives. The caption read: “I, John Jones, being of sound mind and body, spent it all!” When Jesus Christ wrote His last will and testament for...
A congregation was singing the familiar song “For You I Am Praying,” as the closing hymn. The preacher turned to a man on the platform and asked quietly, “For whom are you praying?” The man was stunned. “Why, I guess I’m not praying for anybody. Why do you ask?” “Well,...
When Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a young preacher, his father, the Rev. John Spurgeon, suggested that Charles go to college to gain prominence. It was arranged for him to meet Dr. Joseph Angus, the principal of Stepney College, London. They were to meet at Mr. Macmillan’s home in Cambridge, and...
There are two Living sacrifices” in the Bible, and they help us understand what a “living sacrifice” really is. The first is Isaac (Genesis 22); the second is our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac willingly put himself on the altar and would have died in obedience to God’s will, but the...
Food and “covering” (clothing and shelter) are basic needs; if we lose them, we lose the ability to obtain other things. A miser without food would starve to death counting his money. I am reminded of the simple-living Quaker who was watching his new neighbor move in, with all the...
Jesus said that worry is sinful. We may dignify worry by calling it by some other name— concern, burden, a cross to bear—but the results are still the same. Instead of helping us live longer, anxiety only makes life shorter. “Take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25). The Greek...
The religious experts in Christ’s day judged Him by their human standards—and rejected Him. He came from the wrong city, Nazareth of Galilee. He was not a graduate of their accepted schools. He did not have the official approval of the people in power. He had no wealth. His followers...
Thoreau once described a city as a place where many people are “lonely together.” Residents of a high-rise apartment can be suffering greatly while the people in the next apartment know nothing about it. Our world can promote spiritual and emotional isolation and insulation, even to the point that we...