Psalm 40:7














Lo, I come! Many questions might be asked as to this announcement. Who is this? Whence, and whither, and for what purpose, does he come? It is enough that we can identify the Speaker (Luke 24:44; Hebrews 10:5-7). Let us therefore ponder his words.

I. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE CHIEF THOUGHT OF HIS HEART. We see this in his earthly life. See him at his first Passover. When Joseph and Mary found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, his answer was, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He was but twelve, and yet, at that tender age, how intense his consciousness of the trust committed to him! So it was on his baptism at the Jordan (Matthew 3:15); in the temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4); at the well of Jacob (John 4:34); and onward to the end. Daily, hourly, constantly, to the last moment, it was his chief thought to do the will of him that sent him, and to finish his work (John 3:34; John 5:19; John 6:37). Evermore, as the will of the Father was revealed to him, it was accepted and obeyed in the spirit of love. The will of the Father was equally and truly the will of the Son. This is true freedom.

II. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE SECRET STRENGTH OF HIS HEART. It was said of Moses, "He endured as seeing him who is invisible." So it has been with God's servants in every age. The sense of the invisible, commerce and familiarity with the great unseen world, alliance with God, make men strong for duty. So it was in the highest sense with Christ. The will of God was the strength of his heart, because:

1. It harmonized with eternal righteousness. Our Lord knew he had the most absolute conviction, that in doing the will of God he was walking in the path of truth and righteousness. Hence he was' strong and brave (Isaiah 42:1-4).

2. It harmonized with the highest good of man. When men's hearts are not in their work, they soon weary. But when labour is congenial, it is no longer a task and a burden, but a delight. So it was with Newton in his love of truth; with Howard and Wilberforce and Livingstone, in their generous enthusiasm for humanity. And so it was in the most perfect way with our Lord. He came to save, and not to destroy.

"Good will to men and zeal for God
His every thought engross."

III. THE WILL OF GOD WAS THE SUPREME JOY AND SATISFACTION OF HIS HEART. Thus:

1. He enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God (John 15:10).

2. He perfectly filled up the plan of God for the development of his human nature. His life was the only life that answered perfectly to the will of God - with no defect to be supplied, no error to be corrected, no blemish to be remedied.

3. He accomplished the redemption of his people.

4. He glorified the Father. - W.F.

Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.
Among the many irrefragable proofs that we belong to a fallen race, is the misconstruction which men have put upon the clearest revelations of the Divine will. The Lord had appointed that, in their approaches to Him, the Israelites should offer sacrifices as an acknowledgment that their sins could not be remitted without the shedding of blood. The sacrifices both made clear expression of the fearful guilt of sin, and foreshadowed the atonement Christ should make for the transgressions of His people. But the Jews, as a nation, were not impressed with horror of sin, neither were their thoughts led forward to the promised Redeemer. In their shameful misconceptions of the Divine character, they often impiously imagined that, if any of them committed a trespass, he had no more to do than to kill a bullock or a sheep, in sacrifice, and his guilt would be forgiven him.

I. WHAT KIND OF ATONEMENT is required. It must be costly, for man's guilt is great. Hence —

1. It must be equivalent in value to the souls of the redeemed. Such is the stern doom of justice: else man cannot be saved.

2. There must be a connection between those for whom the atonement is offered and the party who suffers.

3. He who was to die for man must be innocent. No halt or maimed victim could be accepted in the ancient sacrifices: it must be perfect. But how could man furnish a perfect sacrifice for sin?

4. The victim must be willing. An involuntary, forced sacrifice would be cruel tyranny.

II. How ALL THE QUALITIES REQUISITE FOR A PERFECT ATONEMENT HAVE MET IN CHRIST.

1. There was sufficiency in value, for Christ was the Son of God.

2. He had connection with these for whom He died; for He was man as well as God.

3. He was perfectly innocent — "He did no sin."

4. He was a willing victim.

(George Innes.)

I. It is intimated that, whenever the Messiah should come, THE SACRIFICES AND CEREMONIES OF THE MOSAIC LAW WERE TO BE SUPERSEDED BY HIM. Jewish writers contend for the perpetuity of the ceremonial as well as of the moral law; but in this they are opposed, both by Scripture and by fact.

1. As to Scripture (1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 1:7-15; Psalms 51:16,17; Isaiah 1:11, 12; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Daniel 9:27; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:13; Hebrews 10:17, 18).

2. Whether Messiah the Prince be come or not, sacrifice and oblation have ceased. We believed they virtually ceased when Jesus offered Himself a sacrifice, and in a few years after they actually ceased.

II. It is suggested that, whenever Messiah should come, THE GREAT BODY OF SCRIPTURE PROPHECY SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED IN HIM. "In the volume," etc.

1. The time when Messiah should come is clearly marked out in prophecy (Genesis 49:10; Haggai 2:6-9; Daniel 9:24-27).

2. The place where Messiah should be born, and where He should principally impart His doctrine, is determined (Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:2).

3. The house or family from whom Messiah should descend is clearly ascertained.

4. The kind of miracles that Messiah should perform is specified (Isaiah 35:5, 6).

5. It was predicted of Messiah that He should, as a King, be distinguished by His lowliness, entering into Jerusalem, not in a chariot of state, but in a much humbler style (Zechariah 9:9).

6. It is predicted of Messiah that He should suffer and die by the hands of wicked men (Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 52:14, 15, 53.; Daniel 9:26).

7. It was foretold that the Messiah, after being cut off out of the land of the living and laid in the grave, should rise from the dead.

8. It was foretold that the great body of the Jewish nation would not believe in Him; and that He would set up His kingdom among the Gentiles (Isaiah 53:1; Isaiah 49:4-6).

III. It is declared, that when the Messiah should come, THE WILL OF GOD WOULD BE PERFECTLY FULFILLED BY HIM. "I delight to do Thy will." The will of God sometimes denotes what He approves, and sometimes what He appoints. The first is the rule of our conduct, the last of His own; and both we affirm to have been fulfilled by Jesus.

(A. Fuller.)

I. THE SWEEPING AWAY OF THE SHADOW.

1. When the Son of God is born into the world, there is an end of all types by which He was formerly prefigured. When the heart is gone out of the externals of worship, they are as shells without the kernel. Habitations without living tenants soon become desolations, and so do forms and ceremonies without their spiritual meaning. Toward the time of our Lord's coming, the outward worship of Judaism became more and more dead: it was time that it was buried.

2. As these outward things vanish, they go away with God's mark of non-esteem upon them: they are such things as He did not desire. The spiritual, the infinite, the almighty Jehovah could not desire merely outward ritual, however it might appear glorious to men. The sweetest music is not for His ear, nor the most splendid robes of priests for His eye. He desired something infinitely more precious than these, and He puts them away with this note of dissatisfaction.

3. They were so put away as never to be followed by the same kind of things. Shadows are not replaced by other shadows.

II. THE REVELATION OF THY SUBSTANCE.

1. The Lord Himself comes, even He who is all that these things foreshadowed.(1) When He comes He has a prepared ear. The margin hath it, "Mine ears hast Thou digged." Our ears often need digging; for they are blocked up by sin. The passage to the heart seems to be sealed in the case of fallen man. But when the Saviour came, His ear was not as ours, but was attentive to the Divine voice.(2) He came also with a prepared body (Hebrews 10:5).

2. He who assumed that body was existent before that body was prepared. He says, "A body hast Thou prepared me. Lo, I come." He from old eternity dwelt with God: the Word was in the beginning with God, and the Word was God. He was before all worlds, and was before He came into the world to dwell in His prepared body.

3. The human nature of Christ was taken on Him in order that He might be able to do for us that which God desired and required. An absolutely perfect righteousness He renders unto God; as the second Adam, He presents it for all whom He represents.

III. THE DECLARATION OF THE CHRIST MADE IN THE TEXT. "Lo, I come."

1. Observe when He says this. It is in the time of failure.

2. When our Lord comes, it is with the view of filling up the vacuum which had now been sorrowfully seen. He gives to man in reality what he had lost in the shadow.

3. When He appears, it is as the personal Lord — the Infinite Ego. Everything is stored up in His blessed person, and we are complete in Him.

4. Observe the joyful avowal that He makes. This is no dirge; I think I hear a silver trumpet ring out, "Lo, I come."

5. He comes with a word calling attention to it; for He is not ashamed to be made partaker of our flesh. Others have cried to you, "Lo, here! and Lo, there"; but Jesus looks on you, and cries, "Lo, I come." Look hither; turn all your thoughts this way, and behold your God in your nature ready to save you.

6. I hear in this declaration of the coming One a note of finality. He is the fulfilment of all the requirements of the human race, as well as the full amount of what God requires.

IV. THE REFERENCE TO PRECEDING WRITINGS. He says, "to, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." If I preached from the passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, I might fairly declare that in the whole volume of Holy Scripture much is written of our Lord and prescribed for Him as Messiah. Preaching as I am from the Psalms, I cannot take so long a range. I must look back and find what was written in David's day, and within the Pentateuch certainly; and whore do I find it written concerning His coming? The Pentateuch drips with prophecies of Christ as a honeycomb overflowing with its honey.

V. THE DELIGHT OF HIM THAT COMETH.

1. He came in complete subserviency to His Father. Though high as the highest, tie stooped low as the lowest.

2. He had a prospective delight as to His work (Proverbs 8:31).

3. He had an actual delight in His coming among men. To Him it was joy to be in sorrow, and honour to be put to shame. Do you think that lightens our estimate of His self-denial and disinterestedness? Nay, it adds weight to it. Some people fancy that there is no credit in doing a thing unless you are miserable in doing it. Nay, that is the very reverse. Obedience which is unwillingly offered and causes no joy in the soul, is not acceptable. We must serve God with our heart, or we do not serve Him.

4. Need I tell you what must be the delight, the heavenly joy of our Lord, now that the work is finished? He is now the focus, the centre, the source of bliss. What must be His own delight! We often say of the angels that they rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. What means the presence of the angels? Why, that the angels see the joy of Christ when sinners repent.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

The times when our Lord says, "Lo, I come," have all a family likeness. There are certain crystals which assume a regular shape, and if you break them, each fragment will show the same conformation; if you were to dash them to shivers, every particle of the crystal would be still of the same form. Now, the goings forth of Christ which were of old, and His craning at Calvary, and that great advent when He shall come a second time to judge the earth in righteousness, all these have a likeness the one to the other. But there is a coming of what I may call a lesser sort, when Jesus cries, "Lo, I come "to each individual sinner, and brings a revelation of pardon and salvation; and this has about it much which is similar to the great ones.

I. THE LORD CHRIST HAS TIMES OF HIS FIRST COMINGS TO MEN; "Then said I, Lo, I come." What are these times? Mayhap some here have reached this season, and this very day is the time of blessing when the text shall be fulfilled: "Then said I, Lo, I come." Go with me to the first record in the volume of the Book, when it was said that He should come. You will find it in the early chapter of Genesis.

1. Jesus said, "Lo, I come," when man's probation was a failure. "Adam being in honour continued not." At that point we read in the volume of the Book that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Then our Redeemer said, "Lo, I come." Hearken to me; you also have had your probation, as you have thought it to be.

2. When man's clever dealings with the devil had turned out a great failure.

3. When man's covering was a failure.

4. When all man's pleas were failures.

5. When man's religion had proved a failure.

II. CHRIST COMES TO SINNERS IN THE GLORY OF HIS PERSON. "Lo, I come." What does HE mean?

1. He means the setting of all else on one side.

2. Before Him there is a setting of self aside. Lo, he comes to clothe you from head to foot with His own seamless robe of righteousness. He annihilates self that He may fill all things.

3. Here is a glorious setting of Himself at our side and in our place. Jesus is now the one pillar on which to lean, the one foundation on which to build, the one and only rest of our weary souls.

4. He sets Himself where we can see Him; for he cries, "Lo, I come"; that is to say, "See Me come." He comes openly, that we may see Him clearly.

5. Our Lord sets Himself to be permanently our all in all. When He came on earth, He did not leave His work till He had finished it. Even when He rose to glory, He continued His service for His chosen, living to intercede for them. Jesus will be a Saviour until all the chosen race shall have been gathered home.

III. CHRIST, IN HIS COMING, IS HIS OWN INTRODUCTION.

1. Here our Lord is His own herald. "Lo, I come." He bids you look on Him when you beseech Him to look on you.

2. He comes when quite unsought or sought for in a wrong way. "Lo, I come," is the announcement of majestic grace which waiteth not for man, neither tarrieth for the sons of men.

3. Our Lord Jesus is the way to Himself.

4. He is the blessing which He brings.

5. He is His own spokesman.

IV. CHRIST, TO CHEER US REVEALS HIS REASONS FOR COMING.

1. It is His Father's will.

2. His own heart is set on you.

3. You have need, and He has love, and so He comes.

V. CHRIST'S COMING IS THE BEST PLEA FOR OUR RECEIVING HIM, AND RECEIVING HIM NOW. Receive Him! If you are in yourself sadly unready, yet He Himself will make everything ready for Himself. Shut not out your own mercy. A pastor in Edinburgh, in going round his district, knocked at the door of a poor woman, for whom he had brought some needed help; but he received no answer. When next he met her, he said to her, "I called on Tuesday at your house." She asked, "At what time? .... About eleven o'clock; I knocked, and you did not answer. I was disappointed, for I called to give you help." "Ah, sir!" said she, "I am very sorry. I thought it was the man coming for the rent, and I could not pay it, and therefore I did not dare to go to the door." Many a troubled soul thinks that Jesus is one who comes to ask of us what we cannot give; but indeed He comes to give us all things. His errand is not to condemn, but to forgive.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. SOME CASES IN WHICH THE CHRISTIAN DELIGHTS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD.

1. In the acts and offices of religious worship.

2. In the faithful discharge of those duties which he owes to his fellow-creatures.

3. In the good government of himself, and the practice of temperance and self-denial.

II. SOME OF THE CHIEF FRUITS OR EFFECTS OF IT.

1. Cheerfulness, an habitual vivacity and gladness of heart in the exercise of our moral and religious duties, both in the time of our wealth and in the time of suffering and tribulation.

2. A firm confidence in God's protection and goodness, a cheerful apprehension of His perpetual presence and overruling providence, and a deep-rooted persuasion of His merciful disposition towards us, and of the truth and excellence of His promises.

3. A humble but stedfast hope of everlasting happiness, grounded on His promises in Christ, and brought home to the mind of the believer in the way of just inference and reasonable collection.

(Bishop Bethell.)

I. WHY IT OUGHT TO BE A PLEASANT AND GRATEFUL THING TO CHRIST TO TAKE A BODY OF FLESH AND LAY IT DOWN BY DEATH AGAIN FOR THE REDEMPTION OF SINNERS.

1. It became Christ to go about this work with cheerfulness and delight, that thereby He might give His death the nature and formality of a sacrifice.

2. It ought to be so in regard of the unity of Christ's will with the Father's. The work of our redemption is called "the pleasure of the Lord" (Isaiah 53:10), and what was the Father's pleasure could not be displeasing to Him who is one with the Father.

3. This was necessary to magnify and commend the love of Jesus Christ to us, for whom He gave Himself. That He came into the world to die for us is a mercy of the first magnitude, but that He came in love to our souls, and underwent all His sufferings with such willingness for our sakes, this heightens it above all apprehension.

4. It was necessary to be so for the regulating of all our obedience to God according to this pattern, that seeing and setting this great example of obedience before us, we might never grudge nor grumble at any duty or suffering that God should call us to.

II. WHENCE IT CAME TO RE SO PLEASANT AND ACCEPTABLE TO JESUS CHRIST TO COME INTO THE WORLD AND DIE FOR POOR SINNERS.

1. That in His sufferings there would be made a glorious display and manifestation of the Divine attributes; yea, such a glorious display of them as was never made before to angels or to men, nor ever shall be any more in this world.(1) For though the wisdom of God had made itself visible to men in the creation of the world, yet there it shone, but in a faint and languishing beam compared with this.(2) The love of God had appeared before in our creation, protection and provision, yet nothing to what it doth in our redemption by the death of Christ.(3) God had given several sad marks of His justice before, both upon the angels that fell, and in the overthrow of Sodom, etc.; yet never was the exactness and severity of justice so manifested before, nor ever shall be any more, as it was at the death of Christ.

2. Another delightful prospect Christ had of the fruit of His sufferings was the recovery and salvation of all the elect by His death; and though His sufferings were exceeding bitter, yet such fruit of them as this was exceeding sweet; upon this account He assumed his name Jesus (Matthew 1:21), yea, and His human nature also (Galatians 4:4, 5).

3. The glory which would redound to Him from His redeemed ones to all eternity; for it will be the everlasting pleasant employment of the saints in heaven to be ascribing glory, praise and honour to the Redeemer.

( John Flavel.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Behold, Book, Prescribed, Recorded, Roll, Scroll, Volume, Written
Outline
1. The benefit of confidence in God
6. Obedience is the best sacrifice
11. The sense of David's evils inflames his prayer

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 40:7

     5515   scroll
     8475   self-denial

Psalm 40:6-8

     1512   Trinity, equality of
     5832   desire

Psalm 40:7-8

     2057   Christ, obedience
     8225   devotion
     8435   giving, of oneself

Library
Two Innumerable Series
'Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered ... 12. Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth me.'--PSALMS xl. 5, 12. So then, there are two series of things which cannot be
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Out of the Deep of Sin.
Innumerable troubles are come about me. My sins have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look up; yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me.--Ps. xl. 15. I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.--Ps. li. 3. I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord; and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.--Ps. xxxii. 6. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

The Master's Profession --The Disciple's Pursuit
WHO IS THE SPEAKER that gives utterance to these marvellous words? In the first instance they must be understood to proceed from our Lord Jesus Christ. By the Spirit of prophecy in the Old Testament they were spoken of him, and by the Spirit of interpretation in the New Testament they have been applied to him. Mark, then, how vehemently he here declares that he has fully discharged the work which he was sent to accomplish. When, in the days of his flesh, he was crying to his Father for preservation
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Brought up from the Horrible Pit
I shall ask you, then, at this time, to observe our divine Lord when in His greatest trouble. Notice, first, our Lord's behavior--"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry": then consider, secondly, our Lord deliverance, expressed by the phrase, "He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay," and so forth: then let us think, thirdly of the Lord's reward for it--"many shall see, and fear, and trust in the Lord":--that is His great end and object,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 28: 1882

"Lo, I Come": Application
The times when our Lord says, "Lo, I come," have all a family likeness. There are certain crystals, which assume a regular shape, and if you break them, each fragment will show the same conformation; if you were to dash them to shivers, every particle of the crystal would be still of the same form. Now the goings forth of Christ which were of old, and his coming at Calvary, and that great advent when he shall come a second time to judge the earth in righteousness, all these have a likeness the one
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

"Lo, I Come": Exposition
"Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in (the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." WE HAVE, in the use made of the passage by the inspired apostle, sufficient authority for applying the quotation from the fortieth psalm to our divine Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With such a commentary, we
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Some General Uses from this Useful Truth, that Christ is the Truth.
Having thus cleared up this truth, we should come to speak of the way of believers making use of him as the truth, in several cases wherein they will stand in need of him as the truth. But ere we come to the particulars, we shall first propose some general uses of this useful point. First. This point of truth serveth to discover unto us, the woful condition of such as are strangers to Christ the truth; and oh, if it were believed! For, 1. They are not yet delivered from that dreadful plague of
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"He Hath Put a New Song in My Mouth, Even Thanksgiving unto Our God. " -- Psalm 40:3.
A NEW YEAR'S MORNING SONG. "He hath put a new song in my mouth, even thanksgiving unto our God." -- Psalm 40:3. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody, This new year's morning, call me from my sleep; A new, sweet song is in my heart for Thee, Thou faithful, tender Shepherd of the sheep; Thou knowest where to find, and how to keep The feeble feet that tremble where they stray, -- O'er the dark mountains -- through the whelming deep -- Thy everlasting mercy makes its way. The past is not so dark as
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

A New Song
"He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God."--Ps. xl. 3. R. Rolle, 1349. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 I know not the song of Thy praises, Till Thou teach it, my God, to me-- Till I hear the still voice of Thy Spirit, Who speaketh for ever of Thee-- Till I hear the celestial singing, And learn the new song of Thy grace, And then shall I tell forth the marvels I learnt in Thy secret place. Thy marvels, not mine, far surpassing All thoughts of my heart must they be-- I can but declare
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Life of St. Vincent de Paul
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL c. 1581-1660 By F.A. [Francis Alice] Forbes "Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day." --Psalm 40:2 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
Frances Alice Forbes—Life of St. Vincent de Paul

Introduction to Expositio Fidei.
The date of this highly interesting document is quite uncertain, but there is every ground for placing it earlier than the explicitly anti-Arian treatises. Firstly, the absence of any express reference to the controversy against Arians, while yet it is clearly in view in §§3 and 4, which lay down the rule afterwards consistently adopted by Athanasius with regard to texts which speak of the Saviour as created. Secondly, the untroubled use of homoios (§1, note 4) to express the Son's
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

The History of the Psalter
[Sidenote: Nature of the Psalter] Corresponding to the book of Proverbs, itself a select library containing Israel's best gnomic literature, is the Psalter, the compendium of the nation's lyrical songs and hymns and prayers. It is the record of the soul experiences of the race. Its language is that of the heart, and its thoughts of common interest to worshipful humanity. It reflects almost every phase of religious feeling: penitence, doubt, remorse, confession, fear, faith, hope, adoration, and
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Life Hid and not Hid
'Thy word have I hid in my heart.'--PSALM cxix. 11. 'I have not hid Thy righteousness in my heart.'--PSALM xl. 10. Then there are two kinds of hiding--one right and one wrong: one essential to the life of the Christian, one inconsistent with it. He is a shallow Christian who has no secret depths in his religion. He is a cowardly or a lazy one, at all events an unworthy one, who does not exhibit, to the utmost of his power, his religion. It is bad to have all the goods in the shop window; it is just
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How when Tribulation Cometh we must Call Upon and Bless God
Blessed be thy name, O Lord, for evermore, who hast willed this temptation and trouble to come upon me. I cannot escape it, but have need to flee unto Thee, that Thou mayest succour me and turn it unto me for good. Lord, now am I in tribulation, and it is not well within my heart, but I am sore vexed by the suffering which lieth upon me. And now, O dear Father, what shall I say? I am taken among the snares. Save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour,(1) that Thou mightest
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Like one of Us.
"But a body Thou hast prepared Me."-- Heb. x. 5. The completion of the Old Testament did not finish the work that the Holy Spirit undertook for the whole Church. The Scripture may be the instrument whereby to act upon the consciousness of the sinner and to open his eyes to the beauty of the divine life, but it can not impart that life to the Church. Hence it is followed by another work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the preparation of the body of Christ. The well-known words of Psalm xl. 6, 7: "Sacrifice
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Eligius, Bishop of Noyon.
THE life of this pious bishop is so much the more worthy our consideration, on account of his having passed many years in the position of an ordinary citizen, before he entered on the clerical office; because his life may thus afford us a picture of the pious citizens of his time. Eligius was born at Chatelàt, a mile from Limoges, A. D. 588. His family had been Christian for many generations, and he received a pious education, [8] the result of which extended throughout his life. In his youth,
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! G reat and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole , if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Out of the Deep of Doubt, Darkness, and Hell.
O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night unto Thee. Oh! let my prayer enter into Thy presence. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto Hell. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of darkness, and in the deep.--Ps. lxxxviii. 1, 2. If I go down to Hell, Thou art there also. Yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee; but the night is as clear as the day.--Ps. cxxxix. 7, 11. I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Of Internal Acts
Of Internal Acts Acts are distinguished into External and Internal. External acts are those which bear relation to some sensible object, and are either morally good or evil, merely according to the nature of the principle from which they proceed. I intend here to speak only of Internal acts, those energies of the soul, by which it turns internally to some objects, and averts from others. If during my application to God I should form a will to change the nature of my act, I thereby withdraw myself
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Distinction Between Exterior and Interior Actions --Those of the Soul in this Condition are Interior, but Habitual, Continued, Direct, Profound, Simple, and Imperceptible --Being a Continual
The actions of men are either exterior or interior. The exterior are those which appear outwardly, and have a sensible object, possessing neither good nor evil qualities, excepting as they receive them from the interior principle in which they originate. It is not of these that I intend to speak, but only of interior actions, which are those actions of the soul by which it applies itself inwardly to some object, or turns away from some other. When, being applied to God, I desire to commit an
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

The Mystery
Of the Woman dwelling in the Wilderness. The woman delivered of a child, when the dragon was overcome, from thenceforth dwelt in the wilderness, by which is figured the state of the Church, liberated from Pagan tyranny, to the time of the seventh trumpet, and the second Advent of Christ, by the type, not of a latent, invisible, but, as it were, an intermediate condition, like that of the lsraelitish Church journeying in the wilderness, from its departure from Egypt, to its entrance into the land
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Period ii. The Church from the Permanent Division of the Empire Until the Collapse of the Western Empire and the First Schism Between the East and the West, or Until About A. D. 500
In the second period of the history of the Church under the Christian Empire, the Church, although existing in two divisions of the Empire and experiencing very different political fortunes, may still be regarded as forming a whole. The theological controversies distracting the Church, although different in the two halves of the Graeco-Roman world, were felt to some extent in both divisions of the Empire and not merely in the one in which they were principally fought out; and in the condemnation
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

"That the Righteousness of the Law Might be Fulfilled in Us. "
Rom. viii. 4.--"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." God having a great design to declare unto the world both his justice and mercy towards men, he found out this mean most suitable and proportioned unto it, which is here spoken of in the third verse,--to send his own Son to bear the punishment of sin, that the righteousness of the law might be freely and graciously fulfilled in sinners. And, indeed, it was not imaginable by us, how he could declare both in the salvation
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Man after God's Own Heart
"A man after mine own heart, who shall fulfil all my will."--ACTS xiii. 22. A BIBLE STUDY ON THE IDEAL OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE No man can be making much of his life who has not a very definite conception of what he is living for. And if you ask, at random, a dozen men what is the end of their life, you will be surprised to find how few have formed to themselves more than the most dim idea. The question of the summum bonum has ever been the most difficult for the human mind to grasp. What shall a man
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

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