“This suspicion is born of want of fidelity in ministers. I saw, just now, outside the shop of a marine-store dealer, a placard which runs thus: ‘Fifty tons of bones wanted.’ ‘Yes,’ I said to myself, ‘mostly backbones.’ Fifty tons of them! I could indicate a place where they could take fifty tons, and not …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 46
INTRODUCTION: This next psalm was one of Martin Luther’s favorites, and was the inspiration for his hymn “A Mighty Fortress.” There were plenty of times during the Reformation when everything looked pretty black, and Luther would cheerfully say to Melancthon, “Come, Philip, let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm.” We have considered the importance of dogged …
An Epithalamium for the Church
Yesterday I preached on Psalm 45, a glorious wedding poem.
Why Some Sermons Are Half-Baked
“Heart fire is true fire. A housewife, who perseveres in the old method of making her own bread, does not want a great blaze at the mouth of the oven. ‘Oh, no!’ she says, ‘I want to get my faggots far back, and get all the heat into the oven itself, and then it becomes …
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 45
INTRODUCTION: Psalm 45 is an Epithalamium, which is to say, a wedding song. The way it is quoted in the New Testament makes it very clear that the ultimate fulfillment of this psalm is found in the marriage of Christ to the Church. This psalm is unlike any other, and is likely the wedding hymn …
Wisdom Accumulates
“A certain minister may quickly compose a sermon, but you must remember that this is the result of the labour of many years. Even he who, according to common parlance, speaks quite extemporaneously, does not really do so; he delivers what he has in previous years stored up. The mill is full of corn, and, …
Far Better Actually
“Better that Demas should forsake us, than that he should abide with us, and import the world into the church” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, p. 295).
Whom Every Word Offends
“One becomes somewhat indifferent when dealing with those whom every word offends. I notice that, when I have measured my words, and weighed my sentences most carefully, I have then offended most; while some of my stronger utterances have passed unnoticed. Therefore, I am comparatively careless as to how my expressions may be received, and …
Things Personal and Things in Trust
“Yield in all things personal, but be firm where truth and holiness are concerned. We must be faithful, lest we incur the sin and penalty of Eli. Be honest to the rich and influential; be firm with the wavering and unsteady” (Charles Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, p. 277).
Fifth Decade of Psalms/Psalm 43
INTRODUCTION: The 43rd Psalm is very similar to the one before it, and in a handful of manuscripts it is even included together with it. But rather than consider it as a detached portion of the 42nd Psalm, it is a simpler explanation to consider this as a supplement, composed with the previous psalm in …