He casts forth His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast? Sermons
What can be lovelier than the glittering jewels with which the hoar-frost bedizens every leaf and spray of the woodland? Or the translucent azure of the glacier crevasses with their long pendants of lustrous ice? There are beautiful things in winter as well as in summer; and we need the cold, unearthly splendors of the one as much as the glowing, living charms of the other to educate our sense of God's greatness in his works. But beauty is everywhere in nature the flower of utility; and in the realms of frost this quality is most strikingly displayed (Hugh Macmillan). There is a short, but sharp winter-time in the Holy Land, extending from the middle of December to the middle of February. There are severe winds from the north and north-east, with heavy rains and frosts. Kings often had " winter houses." Even the seasons God has made to fit in with man's highest needs. Winter is the stillness and re-rooting of the year. It is as truly a busy time as any other time of the year, but the activities go on in secret, underground. So in man's religious life. He needs re-rooting times. Seasons when activity must give place to culture, in preparation for further and higher activities. Times of stillness, sickness, trouble, are the great winter-times for soul-rooting. The actual winter-time is a time of great opportunities for our religious life. 1. It may be a time of personal soul-culture. 2. It may be a time of intellectual nourishment. 3. It may be a time of social intercourse. 4. It may be a time of Christian work. It is the Church's best time for work. When telling what the Lord Jesus did in Solomon's porch, John says, "It was winter." lie did not suffer himself to be unduly affected by outward conditions, or hindered in his work by them. In winter he was still "about his Father's business." He mastered the cold to carry out good plans. Winter is, for us, full of temptations to self-indulgence. Are we mastering the temptations, and winning our winters for God? - R.T. Who can stand before His cold? : — In former days religious people were too much given to introducing the Deity directly into the workings of nature and the movements of history. The consequence was, that our forefathers made the Creator responsible for details, rather than for great leading principles and modes of action. In these last days there has been a marked recoil among thoughtful people from the old ideal. In certain intellectual quarters some have even gone to the other extreme; and, as usually happens in extremes, these cultured people of to-day have dropped into as great errors as their less cultured predecessors. As they represent Deity oftentimes, it would seem as if they had divorced Him from both nature and history; so that it is impossible to discover where His operation comes in, if it comes in at all. In the rich religious light of to-day it ought to be possible surely to bow before a God walking in the dignity of infinitely wise laws, and working in the silent majesty of infinite power; but also thinking, feeling, loving, in the interest of creatures on whom He has conferred a dignity first among living things. I. HIS COLD AS A SYMBOL OF POWER. The power that can, in a few hours, bridge over the mightiest rivers with a pavement secure and stable, in strength and smoothness surpassing far the grandest of engineering feats; the power that can split up the rocks of the mountains, like cordwood under the axe of the feller; the power that can laugh at all known human powers, or forces arrayed against it; that must surely be a fit emblem of Him who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and before whom the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers — Him who weigheth the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. May we have the true religious vision to see Him, and the ear to hear His voice. II. THE WISDOM DISPLAYED IN "HIS COLD." Water alone among bodies expands under cold. That anomaly explains how a small quantity of water getting deep down into the crevices of a mountain will, on freezing, split up its adamantine rocks as easily as a child sunders the petals of a buttercup. It explains why ice floats and does not sink; why the clayey soils so retentive of moisture are pulverized in winter, and made ready for the harrow in spring; why myriads of insects secreted in the soil are killed off in the torpid state where their parents thought they had found a secure nest for them against the rigours of the cold; and why cold is the best disinfectant if it be intense enough — destroying instantly the germs of disease as they appear in decaying vegetation, or foul garbage, or in impure drainage. What foul and hurtful thing "can stand before His cold"? The greatest blessing of all, however, is to be seen in the freezing of the flowing river. Because water expands under cold its specific gravity diminishes in the process of freezing, and so frozen water floats upon the unfrozen and heavier water below. By that means the ice-pavement is formed, which, on the one hand, is of immense value both to animals and man, and, on the other, preserves for the finny tribes their natural habitat intact. III. THE GOODNESS OF "HIS COLD." That standing exception of water alone expanding under cold, while other bodies contract, is not the least of many clear tokens of our almighty, all-wise Father's care and goodness in the operation of His cold. Indeed, we might call it the greatest material blessing we can enjoy in that connection, for it is essential to our very existence. Still, after all, it is in the spiritual blessings which the material blessings suggest that the best blessing lies for devout souls. What stimulus to our spiritual nature in the contemplation of the Deity putting forth His mighty power and exercising His mighty mind to protect and provide for His creatures, as well as to expand and elevate their thoughts by the grandeur of His power in the works of His providence. III. THE METHOD OF "HIS COLD." Silently in the stilly night, under the jewelled canopy of heaven, a giant's hand is laid upon" rippling stream and solid land. Then, without the slightest sound of contending forces, or cry of pain, the vastest display of power under the mighty heaven is presented to thoughtful mortals, when the morning breaks, and eager life, awaking to its daily toil, finds the throne of the ice-king set up once again. What need we more impressive to inform us of a present divinity than such a feat of Divine workmanship? What a sublime consistency in work proclaiming abroad the sublime worker! All silent might; resistless power revelling in silence. What a lesson here also of the Divine majesty! No noisy demonstration in His grandest works; no straining after effect; no giant-like effort to secure success. In all His wide dominion self-confident, self-possessed, and modest, the great God marches silently through all the seasons working wonders as He goes. () "Not we," say the frozen lips of Sir John Franklin and his men, dying in Arctic exploration. "Not we," answer Schwatka and his crew, falling back from the fortresses of ice which they had tried in vain to capture. "Not we," say the abandoned and crushed decks of the "Intrepid," the "Resistance," and the "Jeannette." The highest pillars of the earth are pillars of ice — Mont Blanc, Jungfrau, the Matterhorn. The largest galleries of the world are galleries of ice. Some of the mighty rivers are at this moment lying in captivity of ice. The greatest sculptors of the ages are the glaciers, with their arm and hand and chisel and hammer of ice. The cold is imperial, and has a crown of glittering crystal and is seated on a throne of ice, with a footstool of ice and sceptre of ice. One-half of the industries of our day are employed in battling the inclemency of the weather. The furs of the North, the cotton of the South, the flax of our own fields, the wool of our own flocks, the coal from our own mines, the wood from our own forests, all employed in battling these inclemencies, and still every January, with blue lips and chattering teeth, answers, "None of us can stand before His cold." I am glad that the God of the frosts is the God of the heat; that the God of the snow is the God of the white blossoms; that the God of January is the God of June. The question as to how shall we warm this world up is a question of immense and all-encompassing practicality. In this zone and weather there are so many fireless hearths, so many broken window panes, so many defective roofs that sift the snow. Coal and wood and flannels and thick coats are better for warming up such a place than tracts and Bibles and creeds. Kindle that fire where it has gone out. Wrap something around those shivering limbs. Shoe those bare feet. Hat that bare head. Coat that bare back. Sleeve that bare arm. It is useless to preach to bare feet, and to empty stomachs, and to gaunt visages. Christ gave the world a lesson in common sense when, before preaching the Gospel to the multitude in the wilderness, He gave them a good dinner. It is the powerful heater — is the glorious furnace of Christian sympathy. The question ought to be, instead of how much heat can we absorb? how much beat can we throw out? Warm greeting, warm prayers, warm smiles, warm Christian influence. There are such persons. We bless God for them. We rejoice in their companionship. I have been for twenty-seven years studying how to make the Church warmer. Warmer architecture, warmer hymnology, warmer Christian salutation. All outside Siberian winter, we must have it a prince's hothouse. The only institution on earth to-day that proposes to make the world warmer. Universities and observatories, they all have their work. They propose to make the world light, but they do not propose to make the world warm. Geology informs us, but it is as cold as the rock it hammers. The telescope shows where the other worlds are, but an astronomer is chilled while looking through it. Chemistry tells us of strange combinations, and how inferior affinity may be overcome by superior affinity; but it cannot tell how all things work together for good. Worldly philosophy has a great splendour, but it is the splendour of moonlight on an iceberg. The Church of God proposes warmth and hope — warmth for the. expectations, warmth for the sympathies. Oh, I am so glad these great altar fires have been kindled I Come in out of the cold. Come in, and have your sins pardoned. Come in by the great Gospel fire-place. That is the way the cold world is going to be warmed up by the great Gospel fire-place. All nations will come and sit down at that banquet. While I was musing the fire burned. "Come in out of the cold, come in out of the cold!" () People Jacob, PsalmistPlaces JerusalemTopics Blast, Casteth, Casting, Casts, Cold, Crumbs, Forth, Fragments, Hail, Hurls, Ice, Icy, Morsels, Pebbles, Raindrops, Sends, Stand, WithstandOutline 1. The prophet exhorts to praise God for his care of the church
4. His power and wisdom
6. His mercy
7. His providence
12. To praise him for his blessings upon the kingdom
15. For his power over the elements
19. And for his ordinances in the church
Dictionary of Bible Themes Psalm 147:1-17 4060 nature Psalm 147:16-18 4854 weather, God's sovereignty Psalm 147:17-18 4828 hail Library Healing for the Wounded
We will not delay you by a preface, but will come at once to the two thoughts: first, here is a great ill--a broken heart; and secondly, a great mercy--"he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Man is a double being: he is composed of body and soul, and each of the portions of man may receive injury and hurt. The wounds of the body are extremely painful, and if they amount to a breaking of the frame the torture is singularly exquisite. Yet God has in his mercy provided means …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855Christ's Hospital
"He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."--Psalm 147:3. Often as we have read this Psalm, we can never fail to be struck with the connection in which this verse stands, especially its connection with the verse that follows. Read the two together: "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names." What condescension and grandeur! What pity and omnipotence! He who leads out yonder ponderous orbs …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892 The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Anxious About Earth, or Earnest About the Kingdom
'And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25. And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26. If ye then be not able to do that thing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture The Chorus of Angels
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour and glory, and blessing! I t was a good report which the queen of Sheba heard, in her own land, of the wisdom and glory of Solomon. It lessened her attachment to home, and prompted her to undertake a long journey to visit this greater King, of whom she had heard so much. She went, and she was not disappointed. Great as the expectations were, which she had formed from the relation made her by others, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 The Sermon of the Seasons
"Oh, the long and dreary Winter! Oh, the cold and cruel Winter!" We say to ourselves, Will spring-time never come? In addition to this, trade and commerce continue in a state of stagnation; crowds are out of employment, and where business is carried on, it yields little profit. Our watchmen are asked if they discern any signs of returning day, and they answer, "No." Thus we bow our heads in a common affliction, and ask each man comfort of his fellow; for as yet we see not our signs, neither does …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886 The Room was Like and Oven
Sunday, 8.--We were at the minster [21] in the morning and at our parish church in the afternoon. The same gentleman preached at both; but though I saw him at the church, I did not know I had ever seen him before. In the morning he was all life and motion; in the afternoon he was as quiet as a post. At five in the evening, the rain constrained me to preach in the oven again. The patience of the congregation surprised me. They seemed not to feel the extreme heat or to be offended at the close application …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley What God Is
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We have here something of the nature of God pointed out to us, and something of our duty towards him. "God is a Spirit," that is his nature, and "man must worship him," that is his duty, and that "in spirit and in truth," that is the right manner of the duty. If these three were well pondered till they did sink into the bottom of our spirits, they would make us indeed Christians, not in the letter, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Peace
Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I Pet 1:1. Having spoken of the first fruit of sanctification, assurance, I proceed to the second, viz., Peace, Peace be multiplied:' What are the several species or kinds of Peace? Peace, in Scripture, is compared to a river which parts itself into two silver streams. Isa 66:12. I. There is an external peace, and that is, (1.) (Economical, or peace in a family. (2.) Political, or peace in the state. Peace is the nurse of plenty. He maketh peace in thy borders, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity That it is Profitable to Communicate Often
The Voice of the Disciple Behold I come unto Thee, O Lord, that I may be blessed through Thy gift, and be made joyful in Thy holy feast which Thou, O God, of Thy goodness hast prepared for the poor.(1) Behold in Thee is all that I can and ought to desire, Thou art my salvation and redemption, my hope and strength, my honour and glory. Therefore rejoice the soul of Thy servant this day, for unto Thee, O Lord Jesus, do I lift up my soul.(2) I long now to receive Thee devoutly and reverently, I desire …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ Prayer.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PRAYER. WHAT is prayer? A sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God hath promised. The best prayers have often more groans than words. Alas, how few there be in the world whose heart and mouth in prayer shall go together. Dost thou, when thou askest for the Spirit, or faith, or love to God, to holiness, to saints, to the word, and the like, ask for them with love to them, …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan Concerning Peaceableness
Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9 This is the seventh step of the golden ladder which leads to blessedness. The name of peace is sweet, and the work of peace is a blessed work. Blessed are the peacemakers'. Observe the connection. The Scripture links these two together, pureness of heart and peaceableness of spirit. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable' (James 3:17). Follow peace and holiness' (Hebrews 12:14). And here Christ joins them together pure in heart, and peacemakers', …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Letter xvi to Rainald, Abbot of Foigny
To Rainald, Abbot of Foigny Bernard declares to him how little he loves praise; that the yoke of Christ is light; that he declines the name of father, and is content with that of brother. 1. In the first place, do not wonder if titles of honour affright me, when I feel myself so unworthy of the honours themselves; and if it is fitting that you should give them to me, it is not expedient for me to accept them. For if you think that you ought to observe that saying, In honour preferring one another …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux The Preface to the Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. Exod 20: 1, 2. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments? The preface to the Ten Commandments is, I am the Lord thy God.' The preface to the preface is, God spake all these words, saying,' &c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70), but here God spake in his own person. How are we to understand that, God spake, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments. …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Psalm 147:17 NIV
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