‘If thou doest not well, sin croucheth at the door: and    unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over    him.’–GENESIS iv. 7 (R. V.).These early narratives clothe great moral and spiritual truths inpicturesque forms, through which it is difficult for us to pierce. Inthe world’s childhood God spoke to men as to children, because…

    ‘And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and    cried; and the people wept that night. 2. And all the    children of Israel murmured against Moses and against    Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them, Would    God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God    we had died in this wilderness! 3. And wherefore hath    the…

    ‘Then came the children of Israel, even the whole    congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first    month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died    there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water    for the congregation: and they gathered themselves    together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the    people chode with Moses, and spake,…

          ‘The peace of God, which passeth all          understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds          through Christ Jesus.’–PHIL. iv. 7.The great Mosque of Constantinople was once a Christian church,dedicated to the Holy Wisdom. Over its western portal may still be read,graven on a brazen plate, the words, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labourand are heavy-laden, and I…

          ‘Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and          mark them which so walk even as ye have us for an          ensample. For many walk, of whom I told you often,          and now tell you even weeping, that they are the          enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is          perdition, whose God is the belly, and whose glory          is in their…

    ‘All that enter in to perform the service, to do the    work in the tabernacle.’    NUM. iv. 23.These words occur in the series of regulations as to the functions ofthe Levites in the Tabernacle worship. The words ‘to perform theservice’ are, as the margin tells us, literally, to ‘war the warfare.’Although it may be difficult to say…

          ‘Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the          lust of the flesh.’–GAL. v. 16.We are not to suppose that the Apostle here uses the familiar contrastof spirit and flesh to express simply different elements of humannature. Without entering here on questions for which a sermon isscarcely a suitable vehicle of discussion, it may be…

          ‘Walk worthy of God.’–1 THESS. ii. 12.Here we have the whole law of Christian conduct in a nutshell. There maybe many detailed commandments, but they can all be deduced from thisone. We are lifted up above the region of petty prescriptions, andbreathe a bracing mountain air. Instead of regulations, very many andvery dry, we have…

          ‘Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we          wake or sleep, we should live together with          Him.’–1 THESS. v. 10.In these words the Apostle concludes a section of this, his earliestletter, in which he has been dealing with the aspect of death inreference to the Christian. There are two very significant usages oflanguage in the context…

    ‘And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord    appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty    God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will    make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply    thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God    talked with him, saying, As for Me,…