“If gold ruste, what shal iren do?For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,No wonder is a lewed man to ruste;And shame it is, if a prest take keep,A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep.” (Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, ll. 500-504)
According to His Truth
INTRODUCTION:The background to this psalm is found in 1 Samuel 23, and it is a testimony to David’s faithfulness to God in the midst of much unfaithfulness to him. David had delivered Keilah from the Philistines, but the Lord told David that they would turn him over to Saul. He then went to the wilderness …
That’s One Lucky Verger
“They confuse those whom they ought to confirm, and stagger those whom they should establish. Bishop Blomfield tells us that a certain verger said to him, ‘Do you know I have been verger of this church fifty years, and though I have heard all the great sermons preached in this place I am still a …
But He Usually Doesn’t Mind
“At this time, when God raises up a man of original mind who strikes out a course for himself and follows it with success, it is usual to charge him with being eccentric” (Spurgeon, Eccentric Preachers, p. 14).
Mere Chips in the Porridge
“In all generations useful preachers of the gospel have been objected to by a portion of the community. Mere chips in the porridge may escape censure and mildly win the tolerance of indifference, but decided worth will be surrounded with warm friends and red hot foes. He who hopes to preach so as to please …
And Not for a Head Nod
“Preach for a verdict” (G. Campbell Morgan, Preaching, p. 140).
Making It Sharp
“The thoughts of ordinary men on most things not connected with their own profession, are very indifferent. Large numbers of persons who have been accustomed to read the Bible, and to listen to preaching all their lives, have the loosest possible acquaintance with the details of Biblical history, and their concepts of doctrinal truths are …
Functional Atheism
INTRODUCTION:This psalm is a variation of the fourteenth psalm, and makes a point important enough to be repeated. And that point is that this psalm applies to the whole human race, and not just to the tiny minority willing to claim their atheism openly. This is a psalm, not about atheism proper, but about the …
All on Fire
“I want to say something about the use of the imagination. That is, in my judgment, the supreme work of preparation . . . Perception is the grasp of the actual, memory preserves it, suggestion reproduces it, comparison weighs it, reason balances it, imagination sets it all on fire” (G. Campbell Morgan, Preaching, pp. 101-102).
The Fresh Test
“If we think of any minister who has maintained his virility and his freshness through long years, especially at one centre, I think I am right in saying that his ministry has been Biblical. The freshness of the Bible is eternal” (G. Campbell Morgan, Preaching, p. 63).