Matthew 13:3-18

THAT MANY PERSONS FIND THE BIBLE HARD to understand will not be denied by those acquainted with the facts. Testimony to the difficulties encountered in Bible reading is too full and too widespread to be dismissed lightly.

In human experience there is usually a complex of causes rather than but one cause for everything, and so it is with the difficulty we run into with the Bible. To the question, Why is the Bible hard to understand" no snap answer can be given; the pert answer is...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 1:1-14

We ended yesterday by saying that the first step toward mental and spiritual health is self-renunciation and receptivity. I must be willing to acknowledge my need of Christ, stop striving to find happiness and instead receive Him into my life then, like the disciples we talked about the other day, I have reached the shore...

"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance." Matthew 13:12

When the LORD has given to a man much grace, He will give him more. A little faith is a nest egg; more faith will come to it. But then it must not be seeming faith, but real and true. What a necessity is laid upon us to make sure work in religion and not to profess much, and possess nothing! For one of these days the very profession will...

Matthew 13:1-9; Matthew 18-23

Jesus was always teaching. On this particular day His pulpit was a fishing boat, from which He spoke to the multitudes standing on the shore. Perhaps there was a sower somewhere in sight, walking on his field, carrying his bag of grain and slinging his seed broadcast. The sight may have suggested the parable.

Matthew 13:1-9; Matthew 18-23

Jesus was always teaching. On this particular day His pulpit was a fishing boat, from which He spoke to the multitudes standing on the shore. Perhaps there was a sower somewhere in sight, walking on his field, carrying his bag of grain and slinging his seed broadcast. The sight may have suggested the parable.

The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” § It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. § But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. § The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy...

He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. § It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. § I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. § We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that...

To you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, … “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” § The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.He who has ears to hear, let him hear! § Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. § The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. § If anyone wills to...

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. § It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus...