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A Bruised Reed And A Smoking Flax
FOR A COMPLETE ORDER OF WORSHIP, INCLUDING BIBLE READING, HYMNS AND SERMON...
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All Our Times Appointed
None of us chose the time when we were born and none of us will choose the time when we shall die. These times are divinely appointed and nothing can ever alter them. Neither did we choose the circumstances in which we were born; neither can we choose the circumstances in which we shall die. All these things are divinely appointed. The wise man says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.”
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The Lord’s Gracious Visits
I think this is a most beautiful chapter, the Lord’s appearance to Zacharias, to Elisabeth, to Mary, the wonderful things that were spoken. Everything seems to be a loving foreshadowing of the blessed truths of the Saviour’s birth that immediately follows in the next chapter. There are quite a few fear nots appear, and that is what the Lord’s people need: “Fear not.”
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He Restoreth My Soul
With gratitude and joy, every believer has daily cause to address his soul in the words spoken to Naomi at the birth of Obed: ‘Blessed be the Lord, who hath not left thee this day without a kinsman or redeemer, whose name is famous in Israel, who shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life.’ Ruth 4:14,15. To the glory of Jesus be it ever remembered, that life once received from him can never be lost. The soul once quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over it; for it is delivered from sin, the cause of death. Partaking
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Not By Might
This must surely be one of the best-known chapters in the minor prophets, and surely this verse that I have read out to you must be one of the most important words in the whole of the Old Testament. There is so much in it; there is everything it. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Let me just remind you of the background to this chapter. God’s ancient people were in great trouble, great sadness, and especially their governor Zerubbabel, both personally and also concerning the state of Israel at that time. It seemed they were disappointed. It seemed there was no answer. It seemed they had failed. It seemed their enemies had prevailed. It seemed…
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The Lord’s Dwelling Place
This is a wonderful chapter, but the second half of it seems completely different. Really, it is an account of the Lord Jesus calling five unworthy sinners to the knowledge of Himself, five unworthy sinners who all later became disciples, and every case completely different. If you carefully look at them, in one case it was John the Baptist’s preaching; in another it was Andrew’s personal testimony; in another it was the Lord Jesus speaking Himself. It is that point which has been emphasised so much here in recent times, and rightly so: the mysterious sovereignty of God in calling sinners by grace. There are no two cases alike. Wherever the Lord works in sinners’ hearts, they are all led to the same place: a…
