‘Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same    year an hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. And the    man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he    became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and    possession of herds, and great store of servants: and    the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his    father’s…

    ‘And the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy    labours, which them hast sown In thy field: and the    feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year,    when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.’    –EXODUS xxiii. 16.The Israelites seem to have had a double beginning of the year–one inspring, one at the…

          ‘Now unto our God and Father be the glory for ever          and ever, Amen. Salute every saint in Christ          Jesus. The brethren which are with me salute you.          All the saints salute you, especially they that          are of Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord          Jesus Christ be with your spirit.’–PHIL. iv.          20-23 (R.V.).These closing words fall into three unconnected parts,…

    ‘And it came to pass after these things, that God did    tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said,    Behold, here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine    only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the    land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering    upon one of the mountains…

          ‘Your work of faith, and labour of love, and          patience of hope.’–1 THESS. i. 3.This Epistle, as I suppose we all know, is Paul’s first letter. He hadbeen hunted out of Thessalonica by the mob, made the best of his way toAthens, stayed there for a very short time, then betook himself toCorinth, and at some…

    ‘And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him    for righteousness.’    GENESIS XV. 6.It is remarkable to find this anticipation of New Testament teaching sofar back. It is like finding one full-blown flower in a garden whereall else is but swelling into bud. No wonder that Paul fastened on itto prove that justification by…

    ‘Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy    country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s    house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will    make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and    make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And    I will bless them…

          ‘Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey          the truth, before whose eye Jesus Christ hath been          evidently set forth, crucified among you?’–GAL.          iii. 1.The Revised Version gives a shorter, and probably correct, form of thisvehement question. It omits the two clauses ‘that ye should not obey thetruth’ and ‘among you.’ The omission increases the sharpness of…

          ‘Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even          our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us          everlasting consolation, and good hope through          grace. 17. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you          in every good word and work.’–2 THESS. ii. 16,          17.This is the second of the four brief prayers which, as I pointed out inmy last sermon, break…

          ‘Now, the end of the commandment is love, out of a          pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith          unfeigned.’–1 TIM. 1. 6.The Apostle has just said that he left Timothy in Ephesus, in order tocheck some tendencies there which were giving anxiety. Certain teachershad appeared, the effect of whose activity was to create parties,…