Contemplations
The Gravity of God’s Name
“And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of...
The Everlasting Embrace of Christ
“And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40) The assurance of salvation, anchored in Scripture and secured in the...
Knowing Nothing But Christ Crucified
“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2) The church at Corinth serves as both an encouragement and a warning. Encouragement, because it was rich in gifts, knowledge, and outward ability. Warning,...
Seeing God in the Rhythms of Nature
“Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17) Nature’s rhythms—spring’s renewal, summer’s warmth, autumn’s harvest, and winter’s...
The Folly of Clinging to Sin
“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:43-44) In this passage in...
Eternal Judgment and Present Grace
“And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:42) The doctrine of eternal punishment is one of the most dreadful truths revealed in Scripture. Christ Himself speaks often concerning the final judgment of the...
Mercy That Still Calls the Hardened Heart
“Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and...
Saints Who Warn a Perishing World
“He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Psalm 50:4) The coming judgment of God is one of the most sobering realities in Scripture. We are told that heaven and earth themselves will be summoned as witnesses before the...
The Glory of the Gospel
“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The gospel of Jesus Christ is the appointed means through which God...
The Frailty of My Heart
“When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.” (Habakkuk 3:16) The holiness...
Grace That Draws
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) The grace of God is... and must of necessity be... the hub of salvation because fallen man possesses neither the inclination nor the wherewithal to save himself from sin....
God Who Makes the Impossible Possible
“But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.”...
Christ Exalted
“But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:13-14) God the Father assigned the...
Strength for the Soul
“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand...
Trusting God’s Ways
“The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” (Psalm 37:13) The prosperity of the wicked has long troubled the hearts of God’s people. When we see those who oppose Him appear secure, successful, and unshaken, it can seem as though righteousness...
The God in Whom All Life Exists
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:28) The dependence of all creation upon the Creator is constant, absolute, and universal. Every breath and every movement of every...
Fleeing Idolatry
“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14) In his first letter to the believers at Corinth, Paul urges them to flee idolatry because it is a direct affront to the living God, as it transfers the honor due Him alone to something created....
Glory and Peace
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14) The birth of Christ was first announced to a group of shepherds by a multitude of...
The Sin of Unbelief
“And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) God’s people witnessed with their own eyes the hand of judgment on Egypt with every...
Confessing Our Unbelief
“But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:18) When God brought His people out of Egypt, He did not lead them by way of the most direct route to...
God’s Counsel Stands
“There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” (Proverbs 19:21) Man is continually planning. He considers what he will do, how he can secure his future, how he will avoid trouble, how he can achieve success, how he...
Joyful Deliverance
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) This beautiful promise in Isaiah was first given to the people of...
A Distinction with a Difference
“God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4) God created a multitude of celestial beings, known as angels or “messengers” in Scripture, to serve His...
God’s Unsearchable Greatness
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5) Psalm 147:5 reminds us of the vastness of God’s nature—His strength, wisdom, and presence extend beyond anything we can grasp. When we pause to consider who He is, we come to...
The Promise of Belonging
“And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” (Romans 9:26) Romans 9:26 is a beautiful demonstration of God’s mercy, love, and grace in action, “And it shall...
The Mountain of Myrrh and Hill of Frankincense
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” (Micah 4:1) What a treasure of hope is found in this...
The Lord’s Certain Coming
“And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” (Romans 9:26) Romans 9:26 is a beautiful demonstration of God’s mercy, love, and grace in action, “And it shall...
Receiving God’s Word as Written to Me
“And as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16) Scripture is not a...
How to Tell the Difference
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) The third chapter of this first letter of John to the church is characterized by antitheses: the sinfulness of the Christian versus the sinlessness of Christ...
God’s Promises at Work for Our Good
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The promise of Romans 8:28 is a comforting and powerful reality, assuring us that no matter what we face, God is...
Born Again by God and Believing by Faith
“Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3) Jesus answers the curiosity of Nicodemus with words that hold the key to eternal life: “Except a man be born again, he...
Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind
“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Ephesians 4:23) Christians are often thought of as those who believe certain truths, participate in religious ordinances, and maintain an active connection to a local church. And while doctrine and worship are essential,...
Through Christ Alone
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Though the world wants to promote the notion that all religions lead to the same destination and that sincerity...
The Threefold Witness of Christ
“This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 John 5:6) The apostle John presents one of the most comforting and glorious testimonies...
Christ – King Over All Nations
"When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, 'Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.'" (Acts 11:18) Acts 11:18 marks a major turning point in the life of the early church—the realization that Christ died...
Truth that Takes Hold of the Heart
“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” (2 Corinthians 13:8) One of the most remarkable evidences of God's saving work in the soul is the change He produces in a person's relationship to truth and sin. Before conversion, our heart may be...
The Conquered Dragon
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9) Scripture continually reminds us that the Christian life is a spiritual battle. Behind the visible affairs of nations, controversies,...
The God Who Cannot Deny Himself
"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2 Timothy 2:13) The faithfulness of God rests entirely in His own unchanging nature. He is faithful because faithfulness is His very being. He cannot cease to be what He eternally is. Therefore,...
Chosen and Secure in the Father’s Love
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” (1 Peter 1:2) In the first chapter of his first epistle Peter shares...
The Patience of Christ
"Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." (1 Peter 2:23) The patience of Christ in the wake of the onslaught of His accusers is one of the clearest displays of His perfect...
Delivering Grace
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, ‘O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” (Matthew 3:7) John the Baptist's question recorded here in Matthew 3:7, addressed to those...
The Sovereign Government of God
“For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched...
Strengthened for Holy Perseverance
“I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:106) While salvation is wholly of grace, God’s children are called to diligently follow Christ, obey His Word, and pursue holiness. David's words in this psalm express such a...
Gratitude for a Perfect Saviour
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” (James 2:10-11)...
False Peace and True Fellowship
“If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” (1 John 1:6) The human heart possesses a remarkable ability to persuade itself that all is well when all is not well. In fact, one of the most dangerous conditions we read...
Neglecting the Means of Grace
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) Those early believers referenced in this second chapter of Acts realized that the ordinances of Christ were essential means through which...
The Greater One Within
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) The world tends to portray the Christian life as burdensome and restrictive, as though obedience to Christ robs a person of joy...
The Work of God Alone
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (1 Peter 1:23) Just as a newborn infant cannot effect its physical birth, believers cannot effect their “new birth.” Scripture makes it clear that...
The Danger of an Unconverted Heart
“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit...
Christ Our Unshakable Rock
“He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” (Psalm 62:2) Throughout Scripture, God is repeatedly referred to as the Rock of His people. He is the refuge to which sinners flee and the sure foundation on which faith rests. Just...
Learning From the Lord’s Rebukes
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut...
The Weight of Sin and Need for Satisfaction
"I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?" (Job 7:20) Job’s anguished cry pierces through the centuries and speaks directly to the human condition. When sin is...
The Word That Instructs and Guides
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The sufficiency of...
The Sins God Hates
“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies,...