‘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,…

          ‘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…

          ‘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…

          ‘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…

    ‘Esau despised his birthright’–GENESIS xxv. 34.Broad lessons unmistakable, but points strange and difficult to throwoneself back to so different a set of ideas. SoI. Deal with the narrative.Not to tell it over again, but bring out the following points:–(_a_) Birthright.–What?None of them any notion of sacred, spiritual aspect of it.To all, merely material advantages: headship…

    ‘And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the    Red Sea, to compare the land of Edom: and the soul of    the people was much discouraged because of the way.    5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses,    Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in    the wilderness? for there is no…

          ‘If there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if          any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the          Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2.          Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be of the same mind,          having the same love, being of one accord, of one          mind; 3. Doing nothing through faction or through          vainglory, but in lowliness of mind…

    ‘And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live    before Thee!    GENESIS xvii. 18.These words sound very devout, and they have often been used byChristian parents yearning for the best interests of their children,and sometimes of their wayward and prodigal children. But consecratedas they are by that usage, I am afraid that their meaning, as they…

          ‘I charge you, by the Lord, that this epistle be          read unto all the holy brethren,’–1 THESS. v. 27.If the books of the New Testament were arranged according to the datesof their composition, this epistle would stand first. It was writtensomewhere about twenty years after the Crucifixion, and long before anyof the existing Gospels. It is,…

          ‘But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy          shortly unto you, that I also may be of good          comfort, when I know your state. 20. For I have no          man like-minded, who will care truly for your          state. 21. For they all seek their own, not the          things of Jesus Christ. 22. But ye know the proof          of him,…