A Brother Beloved (Paul's Letter to Philemon)
There are many lessons in wisdom and courtesy we can learn from this very brief letter from friend to friend.

Be Ye Therefore Perfect (Matt. chapters 5-7, The Sermon on the Mount)
If we hear and do, we build on rock, and will stand forever. If we hear and do not, we build on sand-our house will collapse and fall. Let us consider some of these commands in order:

By Love Serve One Another (The Epistle To The Galations)

Come With Me, My Sister-Bride (Song of Solomon, Chapter 4
This Song is for teaching and/or for comfort. It is to teach us that these two spiritual qualities are what we must devote our lives to developing -- "Let us be glad and rejoice ... the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Bride hath MADE HERSELF READY" (Rev. 19:7).

Could Ye Not Watch One Hour? (Matthew chapter 26)
Judas was much more acute than the other simple disciples. He appears to have had the greatest natural ability and capacity and maturity. A man who, in such intimate contact, could maintain such perfect deception for three years was not an ordinary man.

Doth Job Fear God For Nought?
The great question of the book of Job is: Why do the righteous suffer? And the great lesson is: We must totally and unquestioningly trust God, and have implicit faith in His love, mercy and justice, regardless of any appearances or circumstances. He has a reason and a purpose in the suffering of His people: different reasons at different times, but all working toward their ultimate glorification -- often a reason (as here) that would be impossible for man ever to guess without knowing what was in God's mind.

God Gave Them Up (Romans 1 & 2)

Go Forth To Him Without The Camp (Heb. 13)
God did not just give Israel a bare command to leave the Law. Rather He gave, in this epistle, a beautiful, satisfying, reasoned explanation and revelation of the infinitely better way in Christ. This is the message of Hebrews -- how Christ so beautifully fulfills every type, answers every question, supplies every need.

Grace, Mercy and Peace from God (The First Epistle to Timothy)
The first epistle to Timothy, where we find Paul had left him at Ephesus to set all things in the ecclesia in order there, appears to fit best into the period between Paul's two imprisonments. It is full of instruction and enlightenment about ecclesial affairs.

He Must Increase: I Must Decrease (The work of John the Baptist)
It was a supreme test and trial for John to be confined to a dungeon while Jesus, whom he had announced as the Son of God and the long-promised Messiah, went about the country teaching, with no message for John, no hint of recognition of his plight, no explanation, no indication of what John could expect.

Holy and Blameless In Love
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Eph. 1:4)

I Am Ready To Be Offered (The Second Epistle to Timothy)
Paul's second letter to Timothy was written to strengthen and encourage him. Paul was a prisoner in Rome, about to be put to death for his service to Christ. Timothy was laboring in the Truth at some distant place. Paul appears to fear that Timothy was somewhat disheartened. Truly there was much to cause discouragement. Things were not going well with the Truth. They never have and never will. This the day of small things -- of trial and probation and darkness and faith.

In Labors More Abundant (2 Corinthians Chapters 11 and 12)

I Will Return To My First Husband (Hosea)
The book of the prophet Hosea is one of the most beautiful and powerful of the prophetic books. Hosea is the prophet of the love of God, the gentlest and tenderest of the prophets -- the John of the Old Testament. He speaks of the truest, and most patient, and deepest of loves in the face of the greatest of unfaithfulnesses.

Let A Man Examine HIMSELF
Our salvation depends on learning. We must learn what is wrong with ourselves -- wherein we do not correspond with the pattern that God requires in those He will alone accept.

Living Sacrifice
As one of us, our representative, he opened up the way of life. And we can follow him in that way to eternal life only by dying completely to ourselves and becoming a part of him, completely enclosed in him and covered by him. As a representative, a strong loving Elder Brother to lead the way and carry the weak, he manifested God's love and provision for man.

Love Shall Wax Cold
The latter days are to be days of unbelief. This is the testimony of prophecy. This is one of the great signs of the time of the end in the world and in the brotherhood.

My Sin Is Ever Before Me
The failures and successes of the man after God's own heart (David).

Not Ashamed To Be Called Their God (Light and Shade In the Life of Jacob)

Our Old Man Is Crucified With Him (Romans 6)
The predominant characteristic of this occasion is joyfulness. We are told that the awakening of a son of Adam to the love of God and the decision to become united to Christ is a cause of great joy in heaven. One more is added to the family of the sons of God, all knit together in the beauty of holiness.

The Bond of Perfectness
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (1 John 3:17)

The Fruit of the Spirit
Future peace must be our goal, as must also be future Joy. For the Joy that was set before him, Christ endured all things, and unless we in our lesser degree do the same, we shall be cast aside and forgotten in that day when "peace on earth" is at last an accomplished fact.

The Mind of Christ
The prize that we seek is infinitely beyond anything we can comprehend. For the devotion of a brief lifetime, God is offering us perfect joy for all eternity. The present is such an infinitesimal fraction of the future that it is the uttermost folly not to give up everything possible in the present in order to assure the future. This folly will be tragically apparent at the judgment seat.

The Psalms
The Psalms are much more than the emotional outpourings of a human mind. They speak freely and surely of prophecy and eternity, and the deep original causes and purposes which only the Spirit knows.

The Same Care For One Another: The Real Purpose of a Fraternal Gathering

The Serpent And The Rod
The following thoughts concern the incidents surrounding the one recorded failure of one of the greatest of the few great men that have ever lived.

The Shepherd Of The Sheep (John Chapter 10)
This is the mark of the True Shepherd, as hearing his voice is the mark of the true sheep. The True Shepherd "goes before" and leads the way. So Christ has experienced all things -- been "tempted and tried in all points like his brethren." He sets no path before them that he has not trod. The most secret and intimate of our personal struggles -- he has known them, and understands. He does not direct or instruct; he demonstrates and leads.

The Sword Shall Never Depart
David seems to stand out apart from all others in the history of Israel ... His life seems crowded with every variety of experience, and ranges from the purest God-fearing courage of his youthful encounter with Goliath to the ugly depths of adultery and murder.

This is The Whole Man
The book of Ecclesiastes is a book for deep study and meditation. It is concerned with the age-old search for happiness and satisfaction. What is good? What is real? What is worthwhile? What is the great purpose and meaning of life?

This Test of Love
Corinth was a large, thriving, modern city. The pride of life was far more catered for and excited than in the smaller, simpler communities where Paul labored.

Thy Speech Bewrayeth Thee
If any man among you SEEM to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. (James 1:26)

Shall A Child Be Born? (Abraham, A Man of Faith)
The example of Abraham would be valueless to us if his faith were something that took over mechanically like an automatic pilot and guided him without effort. It was something that he himself had to put to use by diligent application and prayerful effort. And he did, and won out, and so became the father of all who follow in his steps.

She Openeth Her Mouth With Wisdom (The Book of Proverbs)
The Proverbs emphasize -- perhaps more than any other book of Scripture -- the vital truth that the Gospel of salvation is a WAY OF LIFE. It concerns and must control ALL activities of the mind and body, if it is to mean anything.

Strong Crying And Tears
We know Jesus had to battle and overcome the diabolos in himself. This was the whole essence and power and meaning of his victory. Bro. Roberts points out that the mere impulse to do something God had prohibited is not in itself transgression. But the slightest entertaining of, or giving in to, that impulse -- even only in thought -- is transgression.

Woman, Why Weepest Thou?
Three elderly women, standing by the cross, witnessed that almost unendurable scene of agony and shame, with hopeless bewilderment and disappointed faith. Faith and Hope had fled, but Love remained.