Daily Bible Readings

As many members of our church continue with their reading through the Bible in a year, I am greatly encouraged by the story of Hugh Binning. Binning was a highly intellectual scholar who became Professor of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow at the age of 19. For years he taught all the different philosophies, such as Plato, Aristotle, and others. Binning was a Christian. And on his death bed he made the following statement: "One line of the Bible is worth more than all the learning of men." So take to heart your daily readings of the Scriptures; you are indeed mining riches that are greater than gold.

William Haslam

Some in the congregation have asked for the illustration I have used regarding William Haslam. I quote from a commentary that I have written on Habakkuk that will be published within the next year by Evangelical Press (the Welwyn Commentary Series):

"Haslam was a pastor in Cornwall in the 19th century. And he was converted through his own preaching! He had been in the pastorate for a number of years, and one Sunday morning he was preaching on a text dealing with Jesus and the Pharisees. And as he spoke on the Pharisees, he suddenly realized, by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, that he was like one of the Pharisees. And he was converted in the pulpit. He didn't say anything at the time, but a visiting minister in the congregation stood up and said, 'The Pastor has been converted!' And immediately a wave of repentance and conversions came across the congregation that morning -- it was part of a revival that took place in Cornwell over the next few months. Oh, the mystery of the providence of God is salvation."

Bonar on the Spiritual State of Mankind

Horatius Bonar, in 1845, wrote the introduction to John Gillies, Historical Collections relating to Remarkable Periods of the Success of the Gospel. What he had to say about the spiritual state of the world in his day is enlightening: "The world is still sleeping its 'sleep of death.' It has been a slumber of many generations; -- sometimes deeper, sometimes lighter, -- yet still a slumber like that of the tomb, as if destined to continue till the last trumpet sound; and then there shall be no more sleep. Yet God has not left it to sleep on unwarned. He has spoken in a voice that might reach the dullest ears and quicken the coldest heart. Ten thousand times has He thus spoken and still He speaks. But the world refuses to hear. Its myriads slumber on, as if this sleep of death were the very blessedness of its being. Yet in one sense the world's sleep has never been universal. Never has there been an age when it could be said there is not one awake. The multitude has always slept, but there has always been a little flock awake. Even in the world's deepest midnight there have been always children of the light and of the day. In the midst of a slumbering world some have been in every age awake. God's voice had reached them, and His mighty power had raised them, and they walked the earth, awake among sleepers, the living among the dead."