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Alone With God
Over and over, deeper and deeper, do we have to learn the meaning of God’s words, until the faint perceptions we first had of them seem as dewdrops compared with the fathomless ocean we find in them at the last. “And he was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the break of day.” All elect souls pass many times this station of aloneness with God, and they find that the wrestling always lasts till the breaking of the day. We have to be alone with God in finding personal salvation. Others may be used as instruments … Read More >
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Safe To Land
“Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”—John 6:21 Our Lord’s miracles were signs as well as wonders, wonders of power and signs of spiritual truth and blessing. The feeding of the five thousand which precedes our text was a great object lesson of the world’s hunger and the Lord’s provision through the Living Bread. The story that follows, of the storm on the Galilean Sea is equally fraught with lessons for the future of the Church and the experiences of our Christian life. 1. The Disciples In The … Read More >
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The Storms Of Life
We are surprised that Dr. Luke devotes an entire chapter to a description of a storm and a shipwreck. This is perhaps the most dramatic chapter in the entire Book of Acts, but it is more than exciting history: it carries some valuable lessons for us as Christians. We often picture life as a journey or a voyage. Bunyan did this in Pilgrim’s Progress; life is a pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the City of God. Homer followed the same idea in The Odyssey, using the image of a voyage. Melville did it in Moby Dick. … Read More >
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You Can Overcome Depression
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?” This question was asked by a believer, not an unbeliever; in fact, it is found in the book of Psalms. In Psalms 42 and 43, you will find the writer asking three times, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?” You see, he was going through that terrible experience of depression. His world had fallen apart, and he was wondering where God was. He was wondering if he would ever get out of the dark pit of … Read More >
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The Potter And The Clay
A Sermon Preached by Dr. Herbert Lockyer at The Moody Church in 1939 In the book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 18, we have the incomparable record of the potter and the clay. “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another … Read More >
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God, Why Me?
Suffering Is Universal: What will your response be? I think it’s fair to say that millions of people have turned against God, retreating into atheism, because of events such as the Holocaust. And despite its horrors, other atrocities, equally as evil, have occurred since then, though perhaps on a smaller scale. The historian Toynbee is reportedly quoted as saying, “Blessed is the nation that has no history, for history is the record of war.” The evils have been terrifying, heart-wrenching, and persistent. Let us also consider so-called natural evils such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and famines. Watching neglected children starving to … Read More >
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Suffering For Our Faith In Christ
Faith At The Breaking Point: Following Christ is costly, but rewarding...are you ready? How would you react if you were threatened by persecution—especially if you knew friends who were martyred because of their faith in Christ? It’s likely none of us will face that kind of persecution...but we might be banned or blocked on social media; we might lose our jobs because we refuse to celebrate the LGBTQ lifestyle; or we might be shunned by coworkers because we refuse to accept our company’s radical diversity policies. I recently spoke with an attorney who’s defending the rights of two women who … Read More >
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Hallelujah Anyway!
“I want you to know brethren, that what I have gone through has resulted in the furtherance of the gospel.”—Philippians 1:12 (Weymouth translation) “What I have gone through.” What tremendously suggestive words these are, and how personal they are to everybody, but in so many different ways. Has there been for you a crushing bereavement which has broken your heart, or has it been a fiery trial of temptation that has threatened to make shipwreck of your testimony? Has it been a broken friendship, shattered hope, an unexpected and unwanted change in circumstances of life? Or some physical suffering, such … Read More >
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The Price And Privilege Of Discipleship
Notes of a message given on Sunday morning, by Pastor Alan Redpath on September 11, 1955. We have seen in the Beatitudes, the genuine Christian—the true citizen of the Kingdom—growing into maturity. We have seen him as he is in his own consciousness, in his own longings, and what he can become by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. We have also seen the resultant impact such a life will have upon the world. Some say our text is the 8th Beatitude completing the Octave. Others see it in a different light. Up to this point it has been … Read More >
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Renewed Vision
“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” —Matthew 5:41 “Go with him twain.” I call your earnest attention to these words. I find in them a characteristic mark of a very unique people. The Word of God says that He desires a peculiar people, zealous of good works. The characteristic mark then, of this peculiar people, is this, if a man compels them to go a mile, they will go with him twain. That is, they do not only what they are expected to do, but, because of grace given, they do the unexpected. … Read More >