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13 The Patience Of God
Nahum 1:3.—“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” The subject of this prophecy is God’s sentence against Nineveh, the head and metropolis of the Assyrian empire: a city famous for its strength, and thickness of its walls, and the multitude of its towers for defence against an enemy. The forces of this empire did God use as a scourge against the Israelites, and by their hands ruined Samaria, the chief city of the ten tribes, and transplanted them as captives into another country (2 Kings 17:5, 6), about six years after Hezekiah came…
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14 The Goodness Of God
Mark 10:18.—“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.” The words are part of a reply of our Saviour to the young man’s petition to him: a certain person came in haste, “running” as being eager for satisfaction, to entreat his directions, what he should do to inherit everlasting life; the person is described only in general (ver. 17), “There came one,” a certain man: but Luke describes him by his dignity (Luke 18:18), “A certain ruler;” one of authority among the Jews. He desires of him an answer to a legal question, “What he should do?” or, as Matthew hath it, “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life”…
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“Labourers Are Few”
The real want of more Pastors in our Strict and Particular Baptist Churches is a solemn fact, and one that presses itself upon our attention daily with increased force. A cursory glance at the low state of many of our pastorless churches, and their united and constant appeal for Pastors (and in some instances "Supplies”), warrant us in giving publicity to our long pent-up thoughts and feelings on the matter. This we do, not for any personal aggrandisement, but for the glory of God and general good of the Denomination. The demand for Pastors and occasional preachers of the right kind has for many years been greater than the supply. It is therefore quite time that legitimate steps were taken to meet the needs of…
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Public Worship
One of the many painful evidences of spiritual declension in numbers of our Churches today is the indifference of not a few professed Christian friends to the public means of grace. A great many persons do not accustom themselves to attend public worship more than once on a Lord's-day, and rarely, if ever, on a week evening; and others still more indifferent enter the courts of the Lord only once or perhaps twice in the course of a month, and mostly not then till after the service has begun. A lover of the house of God who always used to attend public worship with great punctuality, and took care to be in time, was once asked how it was she could always come so early.…
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July 10—Morning Devotion
"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."—Colossians 1:17 How doth the apostle mean that Jesus is before all things? Not as God only, for then the observation would have been needless; and not as man only, for then how could all things consist by him? What is it then, my soul? Is it not as Mediator, both God and man? And was not Christ thus set up from everlasting? Not openly revealed indeed, neither openly manifested in a body of flesh, until the fulness of time; but secretly, and in the divine counsels. What a blessed thought for the redeemed to exercise their rapturous meditations upon! And is it not this which the apostle hath said;" He is the image…
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July 1—Morning Devotion
"Because of the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth."—Song of Solomon 1:3 Why, my Lord, is thy name so truly blessed, but because thou hast so endeared it to thy redeemed, by every tie which can gain the affections. Didst thou, even before I had being, enter into suretyship engagements for me, that thou wouldest redeem me when fallen, that thou wouldest take my nature, live for me, die for me, become a sacrifice for me, shed thy blood for me, wash me in thy blood, clothe me with thy righteousness, justify me before God and thy Father, become my Advocate, High Priest, Intercessor, betroth me to thyself here in grace, and everlastingly unite me to thyself in glory…
