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Study 6: Secret Rebellion (2:17-3:8)
This study examines Paul's challenge to the Jewish people as a nation, as they then existed when his letter to church at Rome was written. He charges them with hypocrisy and ignorance. Hypocrisy, because they were law breakers though they sat in judgment of the Gentiles; Ignorance, because they were law perverters, substituting God's masterplan for the ages with that of their own. An application is drawn from this teaching in the modern context of denominationalism.
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Letter 2: To Elimelech—On Divine Sovereignty
My dear Elimelech, A clear apprehension of the sovereignty of God, and an habitual submission to it, will lay a firm foundation for your peace of mind, and afford you satisfactory solutions of the most mysterious things. I am aware that an aversion to this important doctrine is deeply rooted in our nature, and the very essence of the first transgression was a quarrel with Jehovah’s sovereignty; “ye shall be as Gods,” was the bait with which the tempter ruined mankind. This disposition to usurp Jehovah’s prerogative, discovers itself in every direction, and produces much of the distress, confusion, and guilt, which disgrace human nature, and agitate the whole creation of God: errors, doctrinal and practical, may be traced to this source, and even the…
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A Declaration Of Faith
The church of God should continually "contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3), and in these darkening and disastrous days, our testimony should not be like muffled bells, but clear and distinct. "The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle" (Ps 78:9). Was it cowardice, or expediency, or a fatal love of ease? We cannot but remember the words, "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men" (Ps12:1). "Faithful," that is, men of truth; "Amen men," as Luther called them. Openness, as opposed to reticency, straightforwardness, thoroughness and steadfastness are qualities absolutely needed now; courage is required to call things by their…
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June 21—Morning Devotion
"Men wondered at."—Zechariah 3:8 Men wondered at indeed, and every redeemed soul may truly say, I am a wonder unto many, a wonder to myself. Oh thou whose name is Wonderful! both thou and the children the Lord hath given thee, are for signs and wonders. Behold, my soul, how it was fulfilled in him whose name was Wonderful, and then thine astonishment will be the less that it should be fulfilled in his followers. I would contemplate thy person, blessed Jesus, and behold thee, not barely wondered at, but despised and rejected of men. The world gazed at thee, but saw no beauty nor form of comeliness in thee to desire thee. In thine offices also, how did the multitude despise thee as a…
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God’s Care Of His People
Dear Children,—I have thought that it might not be altogether unprofitable to devote a little time to the very remarkable subject of the passage of the children of Israel through the Red Sea. It is a circumstance that manifests God's great and glorious power in the deliverance of his own people Israel; but awful vengeance indeed in the destruction of their enemies. We find the children of Israel encamped in a valley between two high hills, or mountains. The Red Sea lay before them, the impassable mountains on either side, so that, to all human appearance, there is no way out of this place but the way by which they came, and that is now blocked by a host of enemies. Now, although they are…
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Notional Calvinism Versus Experimental Calvinism
Notional Calvinism is a plant of common growth in this our day of widely extended profession, whereas experimental Calvinism is just as scarce as ever it was. The former, like our present popular mode of travelling may be very perfect in machinery, but if the fire be wanting it is worse than useless. A bright morning ushered in the Sabbath of—. It was the anniversary of a place of worship, where the truth of God was sown in sorrow and watered with tears. The few who frequented it assembled at the usual hour, and the gathering was small. Numbers, however, have nothing to do with the operations of God’s Spirit, any more than instruments. It is nothing with Him to help, whether with many, or…
Further Study
The Two Preachers
