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What a bitter "cup" it must have been to elicit, from a perfectly subject heart, the words, "let it pass from me." [Matthew 26:39] What perfect subjection there must have been when, in presence of so bitter a cup, the heart could breathe forth, "thy will be done!"

[Matthew 26:42]

He was treated as sin, upon the cross, that we might be treated as righteousness, in the presence of infinite Holiness.

He had to endure the hiding of God's countenance, that we might bask in the light of that countenance. He had to pass through three hour's darkness, that we might walk in everlasting light.

Have you seen the atoning blood of Jesus rolling away all your guilt and carrying it into the mighty waters of God's forgetfulness?

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The world has covered itself with the cloak of Christianity; but it is only in order that its hatred to Christ may work itself up into more deadly forms underneath.

The world still hates with an unmitigated hatred, the beloved One.

God can forgive all manner of trespass, but He cannot pass over a single jot or title. His grace is perfect, and therefore He can forgive all.

"If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." 1 Cor. 16.22.

Grace transforms the sinner from a curse into a blessing; from a moral plague, into a channel of divine mercy; from an emissary of Satan, into a messenger of God;…

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… from a child of darkness, into a son of the light; from a self-indulgent pleasure-hunter, into a self-denying lover of God; from a slave of vile, selfish lusts, into a willing-hearted servant of Christ; from a cold, narrow-hearted miser, into a benevolent minister to the need of his fellow man.

{German Writing}

Act. 20,28.

The blood of the Lamb [Revelation 12:11] cleanses us from all sin, and renders the believer clean enough to tread the sapphire pavement of the heavenly courts.

He like the good Samaritan, "came where we were." [Luke 10:33] He did not come half-way merely. He did not come nine-tenths of the way. He came all the way.

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Eternal praise be to God, what sin demanded, redeeming love freely gave; and now God is infinitely more glorified in the forgiveness of sin that He could have been had Adam maintained his original innocency. Such is the precious mystery of redemption.

My pardon no more depends upon my realization than upon any "works of righteousness that I have done;" [Titus 3:5] and it no more depends upon my works of righteousness than it does upon my crimes. In a word it depends, exclusively, upon the death and resurrection of Christ. How do I know it? God tells me. It is "according to the Scriptures."

Men who think they know all don't know all they think.

The chief interest in life with some people is that at the Bank.

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Spirits going about and saying that they are either blessed or damned are not souls of men. Luther.

Little infelicities magnified into front page importance by those concerned in order that their names may be brought prominently before the public.

The occasion calls for more than passing mention.

The former hunger for the heavenly manna is in many cases displaced by satiety.

God preserved our synod from the day on which it intends to jubilate and to celebrate without repentance and contrition for sins.

Each of us is to examine himself, and each is to go into the closet and pray to his God in secret.

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We cannot repent for other's sins, and to undertake to confess the sins of others is shameful hypocrisy "Thou art the man!"

[2 Samuel 12:7]

Indeed even Romanists and movie-show men and agents of spiritism have taken opportunity by the forelock to influence the minds of unsuspecting Protestant church-members, when called upon to address a congregation as is the custom in sectarian churches. Our fathers have been called over-careful and narrow and unprogressive, because they barred false teachers and incompetent persons from shepherding the tender lambs of Christ.

And yet there are weak-kneed Lutherans who admire the "liberal" and "broad" practice of certain sects in turning over their churches to supply shelter, warmth, and feeding-grounds for the worst vermin on earth.

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We cannot enter heaven "by the pass of a blameless life." We cannot rely upon our works but solely on Christ's merits.

plaque - (plac) plaque - (plêq)

Every "born-again" [John 3:3,7] child of God.

The movie-going church-member is usually the most disinterested when it comes to spiritual things. You will also find that the really spiritual and praying Christians are opposed to the movies both inside and outside of the Church.

With all their reason they are simply starting from nowhence and landing nowither.

To our way of thinking, that Creator who thought of every feather on every bird, of every drop in the ocean,…

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… of every grain of sand on the seashore, and mapped out the course for the heavenly bodies, and has created and preserved unto this day the sun that shines in the heavens, which no scientist has as yet explained, - that God is able to perform miracles.

May we rest content in care-free unconcern? We must not relax our vigilance.

Texas is haunted by the specter of K.K.K.

We must be on the alert.

It should receive a merited rebuke.

If self is my object, I must, of necessity, sink lower and lower every day; but if on the other hand, I set the Lord before me, I shall rise higher and higher as, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

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I grow in conformity to that perfect model which is unfolded to the gaze of faith in the sacred pages of inspiration. I shall, undoubtedly, have to prostrate myself in the dust, under a sense of how infinitely short I come of the mark set before me; but, then, I can never consent to the setting up of a lower standard, nor can I ever be satisfied until I am conformed in all things to Him who was my Substitute on the cross, and is my Model in the Glory.

We must not be governed by a spirit of grasping covetousness, but rather by a spirit of large-hearted, genuine benevolence.

It is only as we ourselves are drinking at the exhaustless fountain of divine love and tenderness, that we shall be able to go on ministering to…

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… human need unchecked by the oft-repeated manifestation of human depravity. Our tiny springs would soon be dried up were they not maintained in unbroken connection with that ever-gushing source.

The believer is perfect in Christ; but in himself, he is a poor feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Hence, the unspeakable blessedness of having One who can manage all his affaires for him, at the right hand of the Majesty in the heaven - One who upholds him continually by the right hand of His righteousness - One who will never let him go - One who is able to save to the uttermost - One who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" [Hebrews 13:8] - One who will hear him triumphantly through all the difficulties and dangers which surround him; and finally, "present him faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."

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Blessed forever be the grace that has made such ample provision for all our need in the blood of a spotless victim and the intercession [Hebrews 7:25] of a divine High Priest! [Hebrews 3:1]

The descent of the Holy Ghost in Pentecostal power.

No power of the Spirit could do away with the fact that there was evil dwelling in the people of God. It might be suppressed and kept out of view; but it was there.

The church is not merely blessed by Christ, but with and in Christ.

The church's portion is to be the bride [Revelation 21:2] of the king, the partner of His throne, the sharer of His joys, His dignities, and His glories; to be like Him, and with Him, forever.

Below the level of the lowest street hoodlum.

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The thirsty soul that fells the barrenness and drought connected with a scene of empty religious formality, has only to flee to Christ and drink freely of His exhaustless springs, has so become a channel of blessing to others.

Cured by some quacksalver's nostrum.

The golden lamp diffused its light throughout the precincts of the sanctuary, during the dreary hours of night, when darkness brooded over the nation and all were wrapped in slumber.

Every seventh day was a sabbatic day [Exodus 23:12]; every seventh year was a sabbatic year [Exodus 23:11, 25:4]; and every seven times seven years there was a jubilee. [Leviticus 25:8-9]

These things are not the pencillings of imagination, or the flight of fancy, but…

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… the substantial verities of divine revelation.

No sooner had the trumpet's thrice-welcome sound fallen upon the ear, then the mighty tide of blessing rose majestically, and sent it refreshing undulation into the most remote corners of Jehovah's highly-favored land.

From the holy land the overflowing tide of gospel testimony emanated to the ends of the earth.

The manikins placed at the wheel of state by a prank of fortune.

They may strew sand in the eyes of their people, but they cannot alter not halt the giant stride of fate.

The little apes who imagine themselves the masters of Europe.

Whoever laughs last, it will not be France.

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The floodgates of abuse are unloosened against us.

Folston gave expression to the truth that no truly great deed is ever done by him who scans its possible consequences; We should do a thing because we feel and know that it is right.

An un-American Britophile.

He is verbose in defense of.

The best defense of a nation is not a forest of bayonets but the good-will of the world.

It is unsafe to warm a serpent in one's bosom!

The religion of some people comes in the form of spasms.

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We might have lived on, in everlasting youth, if it had not been for that thrice-cursed shaft of forbidden fruit.

An endless dying, the pang of death prolonged eternally, the woes and grief of dissolution made to last without an end, that, I say, is one of the most terrible pictures of hell, which is called the second death. [Revelation 2:11, 20:6,14, 21:8]

To the ungodly and unconverted death has only a black side.

The moment David said: "I have sinned against the Lord," the answer was, "The Lord hath put away thy sin." Divine forgiveness follows, with the most intense rapidity, human confession.

[2 Samuel 12:13]

Gal. 5,17. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

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This passage is often quoted to account for continual defeat, whereas it really contains the secret of perpetual victory. In verse 16 we read: "This I say, then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." This makes it all so clear. The presence of the Holy Ghost secures power. We are assured that God is stronger than "the flesh," and therefore where He is in conflict the triumph is secured. And be it carefully noted that Galatians 5,17 does not speak of the conflict between the two natures, the old and the new, but between the Holy Ghost and the flesh. This is the reason why it is added, "In order that ye may not do the things that ye would." If the Holy Ghost were not dwelling in us, we should be sure to fulfil the lust of the flesh; but inasmuch as He is in us to carry on the warfare, we are no longer obliged to do wrong, but blessedly enabled to do right.

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We may plume ourselves upon our progress in arts and science.

The most brilliant attractions and bewitching fascination of the world are the church of God and what the serpents and scorpions, and the ten thousand other dangers of the wilderness, were to Israel.

True, we should love our parents, our brethren, and our children. It is not that we should love these less, but we should love Christ more.

Why is it that we have so much confusion in the professing church? Why such conflicting thoughts, feelings and opinions? Why such clashing one with another? Why such crossing of each others path? Simply from the lack of entire and absolute submission to the word of God. Our will is at work. We choose our own ways,…

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… instead of allowing God to choose for us. We want that attitude and temper of soul in the which all human thoughts, our own amongst them, shall be put down at what they are really worth; and God's thoughts shall rise into full unqualified dominion.

It is giving way beneath the battering ram of popular feeling.

Subjection to the voice of holy Scripture is what we need.

Rome points, with an air of triumph, to the numerous sects of Protestants, and Protestants likewise point to the numerous error, corruption, and abuses of Romanism. Thus the earnest seeker after truth hardly knows where to turn or what to think; while, on the other hand, the careless, the indifferent, the self-indulgent, and the world-loving are only too ready to draw a plea, from…

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… all that they see around them, for flinging aside all serious thought and concern about divine things; and even it, like Pilate, they sometimes flippantly ask the question, "What is truth?" [John 18:38] They, like him, turn on their heel without waiting for an answer.

It may, however, be argued, in reply, that it is the veriest Utopianism to seek to carry out such an idea, in the present conditions of things. Everything is in such a ruin and confusion that we are just like a number of children, who have lost their way in a wood, and are trying to make the best of their way home, some in large parities, some in groups of two and three, and some all alone.

We need not expect to discover what is true while our minds are beclouded by what is false.

God's marvelous, illimitable grace.

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We need a tender conscience. We do not mean a scrupulous conscience, which is governed by its own crotchets; or a morbid conscience, which is governed by its own fears. Both these are troublesome guests for anyone to entertain. But we mean a tender conscience, which is governed, in all things, by the word of God, and which refers, at all times, to His authority.

Acts 24,16.

The wages of Sin is "debt." [Romans 6:23]

"United they stand, divided they fall" is shown in Ireland, dividing patriots gives us pat riots.

It was a moment in the which they might have surrounded their own names with a halo of glory.

Women may be slaves to fashion, but their burdens are light nowadays.

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Man was made to turn his countenance upward, in contrast with the brute, who is formed to look downward. The Greek word for man signifies to turn the face upwards.

How often do we vainly imagine, and confidently assert, that the cloud which was guiding Israel is moving in the very direction which suits the bent of our inclination. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain movement, and we seek to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. Thus, instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is unbroken, and hence we cannot be guided aright, for the real secret of being rightly guided, guided of God, is to have our own will thoroughly subdued. "The meek will He guide in judgement; and the meek will He teach His way."

It is a melancholy delusion.

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The seat of our government is always being sat upon.

"Saw-fish often exceed 20 feet" - news item. So do seen-fish but caught-fish never.

Dr. Riley was given a statement signed by six members of the State college in which they took exception to the statement that Christianity and the theory of evolution are incompatible, as Dr. Riley had declared. No one can be an evolutionist and a Christian at the same time.

We are often in doubt and perplexity.

In full consonance with the counsels of God.

Faith brings in God, and therefore all is bright and easy. Unbelief always shuts God out, and therefore all is dark and difficult.

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Can it be possible that the triumphal singers by the Red Sea [Exodus 14:1-18] have become the infidel weepers at Kadesh? [Numbers 14:1-3]

Are not we, too, like Israel, prone to look at the difficulties which surround us, rather than at that blessed One who has undertaken to carry us right through them all, and bring us safely into His own everlasting kingdom?

The people did not like the truth then any more than now. Truth is never popular. There is no place for it in the world, nor in the human heart. Lies will be received; and errors in every shape; but truth never. There were six hundred thousand voices raised against two men who simply told the truth, and trusted in God. Joshua and Caleb [Numbers 14:6-10]

Dark, deadly, God-dishonoring, heart-depressing unbelief.

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Moses was not a self-seeker, he desired only God's glory and his people's good.

The "not" must be forever elided from the sentence.

You must pass through the narrow arch of time into the boundless ocean of eternity.

Men who have held thousands hanging entranced upon their lips, have passed away.

What would become of us if the provisions of divine grace were not adequate to meet the claims of divine holiness?

We are quick, earnest, energetic all alive, when self is concerned, but we are indifferent, sluggish, slow-paced, when Christ is concerned. May self…

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… and its interests sink and may Christ and His interests rise in our estimation every day.

We must have a tender conscience which ever yields a true response to the action of the word of God, that bows down, without a question, to its plain statements. Conscience may be compared to the regulator of a watch. It may happen that the hands of the watch get astray; but so long as the regulator has power over the spring, there is always the means of correcting the hands.

Independence and disobedience go together. They are utterly unchristian and unmanly. We find these two things in the first man, as we find the two opposites in the Second, Adam in the garden sought to be independent. He was not content…