Category: EXPOSITIONS

          ‘Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To          write the same things to you, to me indeed is not          irksome, but for you it is safe. 2. Beware of the          dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the          concision: 3. For we are the circumcision, who          worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ          Jesus, and have no…

    Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord, upon his    two shoulders, for a memorial…. And Aaron shall bear    the names of the Children of Israel in the breastplate    of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the    Holy Place.’–EXODUS xxviii. 12,29.Every part of the elaborately prescribed dress of the high priest wassignificant. But the significance of…

          ‘Now I would have you know, brethren, that the          things which happened unto me have fallen out          rather unto the progress of the gospel; 13. So          that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout          the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest;          14. And that most of the brethren in the Lord,          being confident through my bonds, are more          abundantly bold…

          ‘I seek not yours, but you.’–2 COR. xii. 14.Men are usually quick to suspect others of the vices to which theythemselves are prone. It is very hard for one who never does anythingbut with an eye to what he can make out of it, to believe that there areother people actuated by higher motives. So…

          ‘This one thing I do, forgetting those things          which are behind, and reaching forth unto those          things which are before, I press toward the mark          for the prize.’–PHIL. iii. 13, 14.This buoyant energy and onward looking are marvellous in ‘Paul the aged,and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.’ Forgetfulness of the past andeager anticipation for the future…

    ‘Ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because    of the new.’    LEV. xxvi. 10.This is one of the blessings promised to obedience. No doubt it, likethe other elements of that ‘prosperity’ which ‘is the blessing of theOld Testament,’ presupposes a supernatural order of things, in whichmaterial well-being was connected with moral good far more…

    ‘Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul.’    –EXODUS xxx. 12.This remarkable provision had a religious intention. Connect it withthe tax-money which Peter found in the fish’s mouth.I. Its meaning. Try to realise an Israelite’s thoughts at the census.‘I am enrolled among the people and army of God: am I worthy? What amI,…

    ‘And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up,    and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they    brought the Lord’s offering to the work….’    –EXODUS xxxv. 21.This is the beginning of the catalogue of contributions towards theerection of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. It emphasises the purelyspontaneous and voluntary character of the gifts. There was…

    ‘The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not    give less than half a shekel….’–EXODUS xxx. 15.This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very smallamount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in itssignificance. Notice–I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God.Contrast the…

          ‘Thou . . . hast professed a good profession before          many witnesses. 13. I give thee charge in the          sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and          before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate          witnessed a good confession, 14. That thou keep          this commandment. . . .’–1 TIM. vi. 12-14.You will observe that ‘a good confession,’ or rather ‘the goodconfession,’…