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As the youngest child in our family, it was customary for me to read the Christmas story in our home before we opened our gifts. As you might guess, I probably had my mind on the presents under the tree rather than on the words I was reading. Even so, I often was puzzled by the promise of the angel, “Peace on Earth.” Even back then I knew that there was little peace in the world.
I’m sure you know the story. The shepherds are tending their flocks on the outskirts of Bethlehem at night. They are startled when suddenly …
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Preached at the Sunday Morning Service of The Moody Church on February 8, 1953.
What is real, genuine Christian experience?
I might take an example from any chapter of the book of Philippians which would give us the secret of Christian experience. I could take chapter 1, verses 20 and 21: “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
I know we generally quote that as “for me to live is Christ,” but it is really, “for me …
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“I want you to know brethren, that what I have gone through has resulted in the furtherance of the gospel.”—Philippians 1:12 (Weymouth translation)
“What I have gone through.” What tremendously suggestive words these are, and how personal they are to everybody, but in so many different ways. Has there been for you a crushing bereavement which has broken your heart, or has it been a fiery trial of temptation that has threatened to make shipwreck of your testimony? Has it been a broken friendship, shattered hope, an unexpected and unwanted change in circumstances of life? Or some physical suffering, such …
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The question under consideration is an interesting one: “How do you know when you reach the point of no return in your Christian life?
I would say, to begin with, that the personal commitment of a life to the Lord Jesus is the only basis of salvation. Salvation is not a statement of doctrine; it is a surrender to a Person. Of course, you believe right, or you cannot live right. But you can believe right and still not be saved. Personal salvation must involve commitment, and you can find no other basis of salvation in the New Testament.
“What …
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Admittedly these chapters and the most of those to follow do not lend themselves readily to expository preaching. Yet we would not forget that “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable;” so we may be sure that these portions were written for our admonition and have in them precious lessons we cannot afford to pass over lightly.
In the opening verses of Joshua 11, we read of the second, and, as it turned out, the last great coalition of Canaanite nations that Joshua and the Lord’s host had to face before they could take possession of their promised inheritance. This time …
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The first Christmas carol was sung by angels.
Before the heavenly choir arrived, a single angel of the Lord appeared in the sky and hovered above a group of frightened shepherds who were guarding their flocks in the cool night air. However, it was not just the angel that surprised the shepherds—suddenly midnight was turned into midday. “The glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified” (Luke 2:9). The angel spoke to them, telling them not to be afraid but to receive with great joy the news they were hearing: “Today in the town of David a …
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Imagine you are having a regular day at home or at the office, and then without warning, you are in the presence of Christ with a new body and in an entirely different realm of existence. Incredibly, Jesus is beside you, friends who have died are there, and you find yourself mingling with an innumerable host of people, all suspended in midair. You are reunited with your mother, father and friends long since forgotten on Earth. But the focus is on your leader and Savior, King Jesus, who has returned as He promised: “And if I go and prepare a …
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“Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants”—Philippians 2:25
There are folk whose names appear only once or perhaps at the most twice in Scripture, yet whose character is just full of inspiration and comfort and help. Epaphroditus is one of these, and we might easily overlook him and forget about him altogether, because apart from the mention of his name in our text and in the 18th verse of the 4th chapter of this very letter, we don’t hear …
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(Excerpts from an address delivered at Watch Night meeting at the [Moody] Tabernacle by Mrs. J.D. Williams of C. & M.A. Bible School, St. Paul)
“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”—Philippians 4:6
Just two thoughts stand out in this verse for us in these few moments as we look into the Word: BE CARE FREE: BE PRAYER FULL. I believe as you have gone on in your Christian life you have found that nothing hinders prayer so much as anxiety; fretting and anxious care. Then, …
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“But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”—Matthew 6:33
Today we are considering the matter of putting first things first. There are so many things which press for a claim upon our time, our affections, our ambition and as long as this kind of competition continues, there can be no peace or harmony in the life. It is a great thing when one master aim grips the whole being as it did Paul in Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one …
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