Patience and endurance

1. Righteousness, Judgment and Mercy: Present Works Decide DestinyNo. 7 · 1 July 1868 · 27 min read aloud · Read: Romans 2

   Taking Romans 2 as its subject, the exhortation says believers are called to righteousness, the doing of what God has commanded, and that the judgment will only disclose what each person’s daily life already is, so the present is what counts.

2. 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.

3. Gifts, Schism and Unity in the EcclesiaNo. 14 · 1 November 1869 · 23 min read aloud · Read: 1 Corinthians 12

   On 1 Corinthians 12, the speaker says the miraculous gifts have ceased but the chapter’s lessons still apply.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Reconciled to the World’s Rejection, Choosing ChristNo. 24 · 1 September 1870 · 33 min read aloud · Read: 1 John 3

   Taking 1 John 3 as its starting point, the exhortation says believers, as sons of God, must accept that the world knows them not, as it knew not Christ.

7. Pilgrims awaiting the times of refreshingNo. 26 · 1 March 1871 · 21 min read aloud · Read: Acts 2

   Taking up Peter’s call in Acts 2 and 3 to repent that sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing come, the speaker says believers will not know how they stand until the Lord comes and judges.

8. Watching for God’s three great interventionsNo. 27 · 1 May 1871 · 21 min read aloud

   The speaker reviews three occasions when God intervened in human affairs while most people noticed nothing: the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the coming of Christ, and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Lessons for Steadfastness from Sacred HistoryNo. 46 · 1 July 1873 · 28 min read aloud

    Roberts imagines travelling back eighteen centuries to Rome and then to Paul, a prisoner, letting Paul recount his conversion, and then traces Bible history back through the patriarchs and Noah to Eden.

13. Steadfast at the Table Amid Trials and ApostasyNo. 52 · 1 March 1874 · 20 min read aloud

    Notes that the world regards the breaking of bread with scorn, though the saints are now free to meet since the end of the Papal power.

14. The Sufferings of Christ in Psalm 69No. 53 · 1 April 1874 · 26 min read aloud

    Taking the breaking of bread as a reminder of Christ’s inner experience in the days of his flesh, the speaker reads Psalm 69 as the voice of Christ in his waiting, his hatred by the world without a cause, his burden of mortal nature, and his zeal for the Father.

15. 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.

16. Waiting for God: Obedience, Chastening and Scripture ReadingNo. 69 · 1 September 1875 · 25 min read aloud

    Starting from Jesus’ words about the blessedness of those who see and hear, says the blessedness is yet future, that present life is brief, and that the long reign of evil teaches God’s greatness and trains the sons of God through chastisement.

17. 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.

18. Russia’s War on Turkey and the Coming ChristNo. 85 · 1 June 1877 · 24 min read aloud

    Taking notice of Russia’s declaration of war against Turkey, the speaker says it is the event long looked for from Daniel, Ezekiel and John, and contrasts the situation with that of 1854, when Papal power, France, Turkey and the state of the Holy Land and of believers made the time not yet ripe.

19. 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.

20. Zephaniah’s Warning: Deism, Pride and PatriotismNo. 92 · 1 February 1878 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Zephaniah 2

    From the oracle of Zephaniah 2, the exhortation says that Scripture written about ancient peoples is for our instruction, and that the ‘men settled on their lees’ who think God does nothing, good or evil, hold what is now called Deism.

21. The Day of the Lord Comes as a ThiefNo. 97 · 1 July 1878 · 24 min read aloud · Read: 1 Thessalonians 5

    From Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, the speaker explains that the day of the Lord will come as a thief and a snare upon the unwatchful world, but not upon the brethren who watch and know the signs.

22. Not Sleeping as Others: Watching and EnduringNo. 98 · 1 August 1878 · 26 min read aloud

    Taking Paul’s call not to sleep as others do but to watch and be sober in view of the day of the Lord, the speaker likens the world’s unawareness to a sleeper robbed by a burglar.

23. Judgment on Moab and the Love of ChristNo. 109 · 1 July 1879 · 29 min read aloud · Read: Isaiah 15, Isaiah 16

    The speaker commends fixed Scripture readings as the basis of exhortation, then draws from the burden of Moab the lesson that pride and contempt of Israel bring judgment, which the world’s like sins will bring at Christ’s coming, so that believers must not be one with the world.

24. 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.

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. 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.

27. 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.

28. Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians: Knowledge and FruitfulnessNo. 136 · 1 January 1882 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Colossians 1

    Taking the first chapter of Colossians, the exhortation says Paul gave thanks for the brethren because of their love to all the saints on account of the hope laid up for them, and that this is the love believers should have, not an attachment to personal qualities.

29. Putting On the Whole Armour of GodNo. 143 · 1 October 1882 · 30 min read aloud

    Taking Paul’s exhortation to put on the whole armour of God, the exhortation says believers are in a life-and-death battle against the inherited sentence of death, the carnal mind, unbelief, ignorance, and the love of the world.

30. Paul at Athens: God Near, Judgment ComingNo. 145 · 1 December 1882 · 31 min read aloud · Read: Acts 17

    Standing with Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17), the exhortation defends reasoned argument for the faith, provided it is done in love, and contrasts the restless search for novelty in speculative philosophy with the satisfaction the truth gives.

31. The World’s Hatred of the Sons of GodNo. 148 · 1 August 1883 · 22 min read aloud

    Taking John’s words that believers are called the sons of God, the speaker says the world knows them not because it knew not Christ.

32. Waiting for God: Manna Instead of Flesh-potsNo. 148 · 1 September 1883 · 23 min read aloud · Read: Matthew 9

    The speaker asks the hearers to look at their lives as they will appear in retrospect, and urges them to live now so that the judgment seat of Christ will find them faithful, taking the Scriptures alone as guide.

33. Brethren of the Prophets: Bearing Their TestimonyNo. 149 · 1 October 1883 · 22 min read aloud

    Starting from James’s appeal to the prophets as examples of affliction and patience, the speaker says they were not men free from distress, and cites Ezekiel, sent to a rebellious house and told to eat a roll of lamentation and woe.

34. Wisdom Applied: Seeking Life and Bearing the CrossNo. 158 · 1 July 1884 · 25 min read aloud · Read: Proverbs 8

    Takes the parable of wisdom in Proverbs 8 and says that God’s wisdom is seen in all creation, while human wisdom is the right use of knowledge to secure life, so that a man who lives only for the present is a fool.

35. Why Do We Break Bread? Remembrance and HopeNo. 161 · 1 October 1884 · 25 min read aloud · Read: 2 Kings 5, Lamentations 1, Lamentations 2, 1 Corinthians 14

    Imagining a stranger who asks why the ecclesia meets to break bread, the speaker explains who Christ was, why he died and why he is remembered, and says the weekly meeting renews faith against the passing things of this world.

36. Overcoming the Old Man by Reading the ScripturesNo. 162 · 1 November 1884 · 22 min read aloud

    The speaker says the apostolic call to ‘overcome’ is a war in the mind between the old man, the natural state, and the new man, formed by divine ideas.

37. Light from Job, Jonah and HebrewsNo. 175 · 1 February 1887 · 27 min read aloud

    Taking the morning’s three readings as the “words” of God that give light, the speaker finds in Job a rich man who used wealth faithfully and a pattern of patience toward God in unexplained trouble, which God uses to teach dependence and which is the preliminary discipline of those who will inherit the kingdom.

38. Why the Prophets Condemn and Judgment ApproachesNo. 184 · 1 November 1887 · 24 min read aloud · Read: Ezekiel 20, Luke 18

    The exhortation asks why the prophets, unlike other national writers, are full of condemnation of Israel, and answers that they spoke by divine impulse because Israel had set God aside, and that it is reasonable for God’s will to be law since all things are of Him.

39. 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.

40. 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.

← All topics · All exhortations by year