Kingdom of God

1. Suffering Now, Doing Good, Meeting Christ UnafraidNo. 8 · 1 August 1868 · 29 min read aloud

   Beginning with the need to behold the High Priest by faith, the exhortation contrasts the disciples’ wish to call down fire (Luke 9) with Christ’s present work of saving and his coming work of destroying, illustrated by the plagues of Egypt.

2. Paul, Grecian Wisdom and the Spirit’s RevelationNo. 9 · 1 September 1868 · 29 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 2

   Expounding 1 Corinthians 2, the speaker argues that the chapter must be read against its setting: Paul preached Jesus Christ crucified, and the kingdom with him, to Corinthians trained in Greek philosophy, which taught that virtuous men would be saved and that the soul goes to a future state.

3. Why Christ’s Brethren Abstain from Parliamentary VotingNo. 12 · 1 January 1869 · 21 min read aloud

   Speaking during a general election, the speaker argues that political reformers cannot cure human misery: greater wealth would only increase wickedness, as in Sodom, and God has chosen the poor as heirs of His kingdom.

4. Prayer: Elijah, Brevity, and the Lord’s PrayerNo. 17 · 1 February 1870 · 33 min read aloud · Read: Philemon

   Starting from Paul’s references to prayer in Philemon, the speaker argues that acceptable prayer is brief, intelligent and reverent, citing Elijah’s short prayer at Mount Carmel against the long cries of the prophets of Baal.

5. Past, Present and Future in Spiritual LifeNo. 20 · 1 May 1870 · 23 min read aloud

   The speaker says three truths, the past, the present and the future, must be realised for an active spiritual life, and that in each the appearance is contrary to the truth.

6. Walking in the Light, Not Mere KnowledgeNo. 22 · 1 July 1870 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 John 1

   Taking 1 John 1 as an address to believers, the exhortation says the truth is meant to fill them with joy, but memory is weak and needs the stirring of apostolic letters.

7. Subjection to Rulers and Freedom from DebtNo. 33 · 1 January 1872 · 18 min read aloud · Read: Romans 13

   Taking Romans 13, the exhortation says that, since Christ’s kingdom is not yet established, believers must be obedient subjects of the existing governments, which God appoints and overrules, and must not take part in political movements or agitation.

8. Seek Things Above, Beware of CovetousnessNo. 43 · 1 April 1873 · 22 min read aloud

   Expounding Colossians 3, Roberts explains that believers baptised into Christ are risen with him and must set their affections on things above, which he distinguishes from the popular idea of going to heaven, since those things are to be brought to the saints at Christ’s coming.

9. The Son Greater Than Angels; Brethren of ChristNo. 45 · 1 June 1873 · 19 min read aloud

   Expounding Hebrews 1 and 2, Roberts argues that God’s final speaking by a Son, greater than the angels, the prophets and Moses, calls for the more earnest heed to what has been heard.

10. 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.

11. Humility, Prayer and Mercy: Principles of the KingdomNo. 61 · 1 December 1874 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 28, Daniel 2

    Noting that the events of Daniel’s image have run their course without us and that the end is near, the speaker says the question at Christ’s appearing will be whether our lives have been in harmony with the principles of the kingdom, which differ from the world’s wisdom.

12. 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.

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. Fellowship in Christ’s Sufferings and Coming GloryNo. 75 · 1 April 1876 · 39 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 99

    Contemplating the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, the speaker says Christ’s sufferings were largely mental, caused by a world indifferent to God, and that believers share them as pilgrims in an evil world; he contrasts the living sacrifice God requires with the penances of Charles V. and the early martyrs.

15. Finding Christ through the Word and BreadNo. 82 · 1 March 1877 · 22 min read aloud

    Christ is not found in daily surroundings or in nature, but through the preaching of the apostles’ written word and the breaking of bread, by which faith in him is created.

16. The Wedding Garment: Personal Righteousness Required of GuestsNo. 83 · 1 April 1877 · 20 min read aloud

    Taking the parable of the marriage feast, the speaker shows that the Gentiles of the highways and hedges are invited through Paul’s word, but that being called is not enough: the guest without a wedding garment is cast out.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. Israel’s Restoration and the Believer’s FightNo. 110 · 1 August 1879 · 32 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 43, Revelation 2, Revelation 3

    Beginning with the privilege of hearing God’s voice in the readings, the speaker says Isaiah shows that Israel’s calamities were God’s doing and not merely human prowess, and that the next chapter promises restoration.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. Salvation Is of the Jews: Israel RestoredNo. 125 · 1 November 1880 · 29 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 36

    Takes Christ’s words ‘Salvation is of the Jews’ to argue that there is no hope in natural directions, only in Christ, and that the Christ of the Bible cannot be separated from Israel’s history and land.

25. 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.

26. Appeal for Relief of Persecuted Russian JewsNo. 138 · 1 April 1882 · 24 min read aloud

    The exhortation proposes a collection that morning for the Jews suffering persecution in the Russian empire, on the ground of the general command to do good to all men and, above all, because they are Abraham’s descendants, the nation to whom the promises belong.

27. 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.

28. Paul’s Shipwreck and the Resurrection TestimonyNo. 151 · 1 December 1883 · 19 min read aloud · Read: Acts 27

    Reflecting on the reading of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts, the speaker argues that the narrative is plainly true history, and that the charge against Paul, as stated by Festus, was that he affirmed Jesus, who was dead, to be alive.

29. The Jews God’s Monument: Helping IsraelNo. 152 · 1 January 1884 · 26 min read aloud

    The speaker says the ecclesia has the honour of uniting that morning to do good to Israel after the flesh, and that God’s friends must not add to the affliction of a people scattered as foretold.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. God Alone Is to Be ExaltedNo. 155 · 1 April 1884 · 22 min read aloud Robert Ashcroft and Robert Roberts

    Opens with an extract by R. Ashcroft arguing that all life and power come from God, that men wrongly exalt the creature, and that Scripture praises only spiritual qualities and never natural greatness.

33. Ezekiel’s Coming Glory and Abiding in ChristNo. 156 · 1 May 1884 · 24 min read aloud · Read: John 15

    Joins the morning’s two readings: Ezekiel’s vision of the restored land, temple and city, which is the ‘heavenly country’ and ‘city having foundations’ Abraham looked for, and Christ’s discourse in John about the vine and the branches.

34. 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.

35. Political Hopes Versus the Hope of IsraelNo. 160 · 1 September 1884 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 31

    Speaking at a meeting held in the Birmingham Town Hall, the speaker contrasts the political hope of the town’s public men and the religious hope of its sectarians with the hope of Israel, centred on Christ’s return and the kingdom of God.

36. Praising God: the Psalms and His PurposeNo. 177 · 1 April 1887 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Psalm 107

    Starting from the refrain of Psalm 107, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness”, the speaker argues that praise of God is reasonable, since the universe shows a Maker, and that revelation lets us praise Him knowing His purpose with us in Christ.

37. Three Windows: Israel’s Camp, Proverbs, ZaccheusNo. 178 · 1 May 1887 · 26 min read aloud · Read: Luke 19

    Beginning from the refreshing sameness of the things of God and the commanded means of preparation (breaking of bread, prayer, reading), the speaker treats the day’s three readings as windows on the divine work.

38. Life Without God: Darkness Needing the LightNo. 179 · 1 June 1887 · 30 min read aloud · Read: Ecclesiastes 3

    The exhortation takes Ecclesiastes’ “a time to be born and a time to die” as a reminder of mortal birth, of the coffin, and of the sentence of death under which all are born, and urges that remembering death makes for sober, godly living.

39. 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.

40. Ezekiel’s Three Visions of God’s GloryNo. 183 · 1 October 1887 · 26 min read aloud

    Taking the book of Ezekiel read that morning, the exhortation says it has a beginning, middle and end, in each of which the prophet witnesses the glory of the Lord: first in the vision by the river Chebar, then in the glory’s departure from Jerusalem, and finally in its return to the future temple.

41. Zechariah’s Candlestick Vision and the KingdomNo. 250 · 1 February 1894 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Zechariah 4

    Taking the morning’s reading from Zechariah 4, the speaker says prophecy is deliberately given in dark figures that must be searched out, and reads the waking of Zechariah as a figure of resurrection.

42. Isaiah 17 and Britain’s Place in ProphecyNo. 255 · 1 July 1894 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 17

    Taking Isaiah 17, the speaker says forgetfulness of God is the ultimate cause of human ruin, and that the desolation foretold of Damascus, Aroer and Ephraim is seen in Israel’s present state.

43. 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.

44. The Word’s Permanence and Jeremiah’s Faithful TestimonyNo. 257 · 1 September 1894 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Jeremiah 26

    The speaker marvels that the truth can be talked of week after week without loss of interest, while worldly pursuits fade like the flower of the field, because the Word of the Lord meets man’s real needs.

45. Fulfilled Prophecy of Tyre and the Overcoming LifeNo. 259 · 1 November 1894 · 22 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 25, Ezekiel 26, Ezekiel 27, Ezekiel 28

    The speaker says believers stand between the old man and the new, and that God alone can make all things new, which is why His words are to be trusted as true.

46. Isaiah’s Song of the Redeemed Righteous NationNo. 304 · 1 January 1899 · 23 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 26, Hebrews 10 Printed after his death

    Beginning from the fact that the Scriptures are God’s word and not man’s, the speaker takes the song of Isaiah 26 and shows from Isaiah 25 and 1 Corinthians 15 that it is to be sung in the day of Christ’s return and the resurrection.

47. David’s Humble Origin, Trial and CovenantNo. 305 · 1 February 1899 · 22 min read aloud Printed after his death

    The exhortation says the meeting helps us see beyond our present surroundings, backward and forward, and that the Scriptures supply the material for this.

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