Comfort in affliction

1. Faith That God Is: Trial and PerseveranceNo. 19 · 1 April 1870 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Hebrews 11

   Taking Hebrews 11 as his starting point, the speaker says that faith in God as a rewarder of those who seek Him is a great consolation, and that trial, as with the prophets and Joseph, is the means by which God prepares men for the kingdom.

2. Patient Continuance in Well-Doing Through TrialNo. 32 · 1 December 1871 · 19 min read aloud

   Takes Romans 2:7 and argues that patient continuance is needed because the believer’s way implies something to endure and hope is often deferred.

3. Purity, Kindness and Sharing Christ’s SufferingsNo. 36 · 1 April 1872 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 2 Corinthians 1

   Taking Paul’s opening words in 2 Corinthians 1, the exhortation says that the peace Paul wished the Corinthians rests on purity, and that believers should take comfort only where they are walking in obedience, and repent where they are not.

4. Sonship in Christ and Longing for His ReturnNo. 40 · 1 January 1873 · 16 min read aloud

   Roberts contrasts the hopeless, mortal state of man in Adam with the sonship and fellowship with the Father offered through Christ, whom the breaking of bread sets before the brethren.

5. Full Assurance and the Mystery of God in ChristNo. 42 · 1 March 1873 · 22 min read aloud

   Expounding Colossians 2, Roberts describes the comfort Paul desired for the brethren, found chiefly in Christ and also in mutual faith, and argues that true love among believers rests on a shared full assurance of understanding rather than on sentiment.

6. Peter’s Comfort for Strangers Awaiting the InheritanceNo. 48 · 1 September 1873 · 22 min read aloud

   Turning from James to 1 Peter 1, Roberts presents Peter’s words as comfort for believers who are strangers and sojourners in the present world, urging them to gird up the loins of the mind, pass their sojourning in fear, be holy, and keep the Word in earnest memory.

7. Waiting for Christ: Delay, Patience and ComfortNo. 57 · 1 August 1874 · 17 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 10

   Argues that Christ’s allusions to his second coming presuppose a period of waiting, and that the apparent delay is no delay from the Lord’s point of view but a matter of our expectations, since the end and the time of the end are different things.

8. Reading the Word and Prayer: Rejoicing in GodNo. 59 · 1 October 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 21

   The speaker urges the brethren to use the present opportunity to examine themselves, since after the Lord’s arrival judgment will be too late to amend; mere sorrow and resolution do not help unless they lead to the word of God.

9. Paul’s Exhortation: Holiness, Love and Liberal GivingNo. 62 · 1 January 1875 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 32, 1 Thessalonians 4

   Taking comfort from the psalm read, the speaker turns to Paul’s example and to 1 Thessalonians, urging the brethren to abound more and more in a walk that pleases God.

10. God Exalted: Confidence from Psalm 46No. 64 · 1 April 1875 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 46

    Takes two points from Psalm 46: the confidence in God that sustains believers in trouble (verse 1) and the declaration ‘I will be exalted’ (verse 10).

11. Psalm 19: Creation’s Glory and the Coming KingdomNo. 65 · 1 May 1875 · 16 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 19 F. R. Shuttleworth

    Reads Psalm 19 as a hymn on the glory of God in creation, and holds that the unchanging order of nature points to the same power that will bring in new heavens and a new earth when the apostles’ words and the Sun of Righteousness again go forth.

12. Remarks on the Death of Brother AllsoppNo. 66 · 1 June 1875 · 19 min read aloud

    Spoken on learning of the sudden death of brother Allsopp, who led the singing; praises his usefulness, Scripture-reading and zeal, and suggests the loss may be like rain on the garden, sent so that the Word planted in believers may bear fruit.

13. Psalm 72: Christ’s Reign and Present TribulationNo. 70 · 1 October 1875 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 72, Luke 24

    Takes Psalm 72 and Luke 24 to show the double application of God’s promises, in which David’s covenant and Solomon’s reign foreshadow the greater reign of Christ, who will deliver the needy as no mortal ruler can, helped by immortal fellow kings and priests.

14. God Our Sun and Shield: Comfort in TrialNo. 73 · 1 January 1876 · 30 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 84

    Taking the Eastern Question as a sign that the Lord is near, the exhortation turns to the comfort of Psalm 84, “The Lord God is a sun and shield”, and to the kindness of God shown in reconciling the world through Christ.

15. Why the Wicked Prosper: Jeremiah’s AnswerNo. 88 · 1 October 1877 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 12

    Starting from Jeremiah’s question why the way of the wicked prospers, and the same complaint in David and Habakkuk, the exhortation says the answer is that their prosperity is only for a season and will end when the kingdoms of this world become Christ’s.

16. Death of a Sister: Mourning, Hope and WarningNo. 91 · 1 January 1878 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 Thessalonians 4

    Spoken after the sudden death of a sister who had broken bread the Sunday before, it says that sorrow is for ourselves, since the dead in Christ are at rest, and that death teaches the wisdom of the house of mourning over the pursuit of present cares, riches and pleasures.

17. Comfort in God’s Promises: Faith Against FeelingsNo. 93 · 1 March 1878 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Zechariah 8

    Starting from the comfort the Scriptures give, the exhortation takes God’s question in Zechariah 8:6, ‘if it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant... should it also be marvellous in mine eyes?‘, and applies it to the believer’s hope of Christ’s return, the kingdom and bodily change.

18. The Creator of the Heavens and the Gospel HopeNo. 94 · 1 April 1878 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 96

    Starting from Psalm 96:5, “the Lord made the heavens,” the speaker says the starry heavens impress on us the greatness of God, and that even scientists find things that appear “made” at the lowest depth of investigation.

19. Remembering Christ Together with the FatherNo. 95 · 1 May 1878 · 23 min read aloud

    At the breaking of bread we are to remember Christ in all his aspects, including as the manifestation of the Father, who dwelt in him and whose love Christ himself declared.

20. Zion’s Dawn: Cyprus Protectorate and WatchfulnessNo. 99 · 1 September 1878 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 4

    Beginning from the heavy tidings against Zion in the portion of Jeremiah read that morning, the speaker turns to the promises of her comfort and restoration, and says the time of Jerusalem’s desolation is now past.

21. Paul’s Antioch Address and Israel’s HopeNo. 108 · 1 June 1879 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Acts 13 Robert Ashcroft

    Taking up Paul’s address at Antioch (Acts 13), the speaker says popular religion neglects the history of Israel, whereas the hope of believers rests on those histories being true.

22. God’s Mercy and the Forgiven Believer’s ConductNo. 111 · 1 September 1879 · 19 min read aloud

    Begins from the wisdom shown in creation and argues that the Bible, which makes everything of God, answers the self-evolution theory and settles the question of the Creator.

23. Baruch’s Sorrow and God’s Message to HimNo. 112 · 1 October 1879 · 19 min read aloud

    Takes Baruch, Jeremiah’s companion, as a sorrowing man, and shows from Jeremiah and James that the prophets were fellow-sufferers with believers today.

24. Proverbs 28: Contending, Prayer, Mercy, Lion and BearNo. 120 · 1 June 1880 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Proverbs 28

    Takes points from Proverbs 28 as read that morning. Verse 4 shows Christ and his brethren contending with the wicked, which the writer distinguishes from mere contentiousness, and says a believer should not expect to be well spoken of by the world.

25. Israel’s Destiny and the Patience Needed MeanwhileNo. 121 · 1 July 1880 · 23 min read aloud

    Begins from Israel as a nation ‘terrible from their beginning hitherto’, arguing that Israel’s conquest of Canaan and survival as a people can be explained only by God’s work with them, as part of a plan to make His name known and prepare the earth.

26. Life’s Brevity, God’s Mercy, and Husbands and WivesNo. 122 · 1 August 1880 · 23 min read aloud · Read: 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 3

    Begins from the passing of human generations and the vanity of present life, and sets against it the hope and ‘abundant mercy’ of 1 Peter 1, which promises relief from every present trouble.

27. Not All Israel: Children of the PromiseNo. 123 · 1 September 1880 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Romans 9

    Takes up Paul’s sorrow in Romans 9 over Israel’s estrangement from Christ, and compares the lot of believers among a nominally Christian community that disregards the truth, urging patience and separation.

28. Waiting Patiently and Watchfully Until He ComeNo. 129 · 1 March 1881 · 27 min read aloud

    Taking the words “until he come” from Paul’s remark on the breaking of bread, the speaker contrasts the first disciples, who had known Christ personally, with believers now, and says the Lord’s return is more nearly due than ever, though the exact time has been withheld.

29. Eating and Drinking Literally in the KingdomNo. 130 · 1 June 1881 · 24 min read aloud

    Starting from the Lord’s words that he would not drink of the fruit of the vine until he drank it new with his disciples in his Father’s kingdom, the speaker argues that the promise is to be taken literally, even though it also carries a wider significance.

30. The Truth, the Hope of Israel, and ComfortNo. 132 · 1 August 1881 · 23 min read aloud · Read: 2 John, 3 John, Isaiah 43

    Asked what is meant by ‘the truth,’ the speaker shows from John’s epistles and Paul’s words that it is the truth of the gospel, which is the hope of Israel, so linking John to the Isaiah chapter read that morning.

31. The Genealogy of Christ and Our ComfortNo. 136 · 1 December 1881 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Luke 3

    Starting from the genealogy of Christ read that morning, the exhortation says the unbroken line from Adam to Christ helps us to realize that life is short, and shows that Christ is of Adam’s race (needed for him to abolish death by his own death and resurrection) and heir to David’s throne.

32. Trusting God’s Promises Against Feeling and AppearanceNo. 140 · 1 June 1882 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Galatians 1

    Taking the opening of Galatians 1 as an antidote to the suspicion that the hope of the Gospel is too good to be true, the speaker argues that it rests on God and not on man.

33. Paul’s Faith in the Storm: ‘I Believe God’No. 153 · 1 February 1884 · 21 min read aloud

    Returning to Paul’s shipwreck, the speaker notes that an angel stood by Paul in the storm, and that Paul told the ship’s company that he believed God, that it would be as it was told him.

34. Light and Darkness: God’s Plan Behind SufferingNo. 154 · 1 March 1884 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Acts 15

    Beginning with the darkness of the world, and recent revelations of the misery of the London poor, the speaker takes comfort from James’s words that all God’s works are known to him from the beginning.

35. Jerusalem and Rome: Their Present State and FutureNo. 159 · 1 August 1884 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 54, Revelation 17, Revelation 18

    Taking the readings from Isaiah 54 and Revelation 17 and 18, the speaker contrasts two cities: Jerusalem, now desolate because God has forsaken her for a time, and Rome, which has long ruled the nations as the harlot of the Apocalypse.

36. Isaiah 40: Comfort for God’s PeopleNo. 181 · 1 August 1887 · 28 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 40

    Taking the morning’s reading of Isaiah 40, the exhortation argues that the comfort addressed to Jerusalem is for believers, who as Gentiles taken out for his name are now God’s people through believing and obeying the gospel.

37. Obadiah’s Vision and God’s Judgment of NationsNo. 249 · 1 January 1894 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Obadiah

    Taking the short prophecy of Obadiah against Edom, the exhortation says it is the vision that matters rather than the prophet, and explains why Esau was hated and Jacob loved and why the world hates those who love God.

38. Christ’s Rest for the Weary and ForgivenNo. 256 · 1 August 1894 · 23 min read aloud

    Beginning with the breaking of bread, the speaker says the ordinance keeps Christ in remembrance and shows, in his death, the condemnation of sin and the majesty of God.

39. Comfort for the Troubled; Rest at Christ’s ComingNo. 306 · 1 March 1899 · 21 min read aloud Printed after his death

    Taking Paul’s words of comfort to the Thessalonians, the exhortation distinguishes those who trouble, those who are troubled, and those who know not God.

40. Remembering the Living Christ PersonallyNo. 307 · 1 June 1899 · 18 min read aloud · Read: Revelation 13, Revelation 14 F. W. P.

    The exhortation contrasts the world’s gatherings with the remembrance of Christ at the table and urges each believer to dwell on Christ as a living person with whom he will deal individually.

41. The Purpose of God and Children of PromiseNo. 310 · 1 October 1899 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Romans 9 Printed after his death

    The speaker says the truth is for every-day use and is given in varied form so that it can be handled daily without weariness.

← All topics · All exhortations by year