PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Ribband of Blue, and Other Bible Studies
Taylor, James Hudson, 1832-1905 · 16,067 words · 24 reading sections
Part 1
A Ribband of Blue AND OTHER BIBLE STUDIES By J. HUDSON TAYLOR. (A companion volume to "Union and Communion," and to "Separation and Service.") London CHINA INLAND MISSION, Newington Green, N. Morgan & Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C. A Ribband Of Blue. We would draw the attention of beloved friends to the ins…
736 wordsSECTION 2Part 2
We have a solemn example of presumptuous sin in the case of the man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. He was not--he could not be ignorant of GOD'S ordinance concerning the Sabbath. The gathering of sticks was not to meet a necessity; his case was not parallel with that of the poor man who perhaps had received…
199 wordsSECTION 3"RIBBAND OF BLUE."
GOD would have all His people wear a badge. Throughout their generations they were to make them fringes in the borders of their garments, and to put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue, that they might look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them, and might be a holy people, holy…
930 wordsSECTION 4INTRODUCTORY.
There is a prosperity which is not blessed: it comes not from above but from beneath, and it leads away from, not towards heaven. This prosperity of the wicked is often a sore perplexity to the servants of GOD; they need to be reminded of the exhortation, "Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, beca…
822 wordsSECTION 5Part 5
The child of GOD has no need of the counsel of the ungodly; if he love and study GOD'S Word it will make him wiser than all such counsellors. If he seek for and observe all the counsel of GOD, through the guidance of the HOLY SPIRIT, he will not walk in darkness even as to worldly things. The directions of GOD'S Word m…
869 wordsSECTION 6THE POSITIVE CONDITIONS OF BLESSING.
We have considered the things which are avoided by the truly blessed man. O, the miseries and the losses of those who fail to avoid them! We have now to dwell upon the special characteristics of the man of GOD, those which are at once the source of his strength and his shield of protection. "His delight is in the law …
897 wordsSECTION 7Part 7
But not only will the Bible become the Law of the LORD to him as teaching and illustrating what GOD would have him to be and to do, but still more as revealing what GOD Himself is and does. As the law of gravitation gives us to know how a power, on which we may ever depend, will act under given circumstances, so the La…
334 wordsSECTION 8THE OUTCOME IN BLESSING.
We next proceed to notice the remarkable promises in the third verse of this Psalm--one of the most remarkable and inclusive contained in the Scriptures:-- "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, "That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; "His leaf also shall not wither; "And whatsoever he doet…
862 wordsSECTION 9Part 9
The leaf of the tree is no mere adornment. If the root suggests to us receptive power in that it draws from the soil the stimulating sap, without which life could not be maintained, the leaves no less remind us of the grace of giving, and of purifying. They impart to the atmosphere a grateful moisture; they provide for…
740 wordsSECTION 10INTRODUCTORY.
In our meditations on the first Psalm we have dwelt on "Blessed Prosperity." But all GOD'S dealings are full of blessing: He is good, and doeth good, good only, and continually. The believer who has taken the LORD as his SHEPERD, can assuredly say in the words of the twenty-third Psalm, "Surely goodness and mercy shall…
697 wordsSECTION 11THE UNSEEN HEDGE.
The reply of Satan is noteworthy. He does not need to ask, "Which Job?" or, "Where does he live?" He had considered GOD'S servant, and evidently knew all about him. How came it that he was so well acquainted with this faithful man of GOD? It may have come about in this way: those subordinate spirits of evil who are evi…
581 wordsSECTION 12THE TESTING OF JOB
Reverting to the history of Job: the great accuser, having no fault to find with his character or life, insinuates that it is all the result of selfishness. "Doth Job fear GOD for nought." Indeed, he did not, as Satan well knew! Nor has anyone, before or since, ever feared GOD for nought. There is no service which pays…
172 wordsSECTION 13SATAN'S MALIGNITY.
And soon Satan showed the malignity of his character by bringing disaster after disaster upon the devoted man. By his emissaries he incited the Sabeans, and they fell upon the oxen and the asses feeding beside them, slaying the servants with the edge of the sword, suffering one only to escape--and this, not in any pity…
325 wordsSECTION 14GRACE SUFFICIENT.
But He who sent the trial gave also the needful grace, and in the words which we have already quoted, Job replied: "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the LORD." Was not Job mistaken? Should he not have said: "The LORD gave, and Satan hath taken away?" No, there was no mistake. The sam…
446 wordsSECTION 15DEEPER TRIALS.
Job's trial, however, was not completed, as we have seen, when his property was removed. When the LORD challenged Satan a second time: "Hast thou considered my servant Job ... ?" Satan has no word of commendation, but a further insinuation: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life ... touch hi…
358 wordsSECTION 16THE LOVING-KINDNESS OF THE LORD.
Nor was the blessing GOD gave to His servant a small one. During this time of affliction, which, perhaps, was not very prolonged, Job learned lessons, which all his life of prosperity had been unable to teach him. The mistakes he made in the hastiness of his spirit were corrected; his knowledge of GOD was deepened and …
767 wordsSECTION 17Part 17
In many respects we resemble the Queen of Sheba. Though of royal birth, she was doubtless, like the bride in the Song of Solomon, black, because the sun had looked upon her. The post which she was called to occupy was no easy one; in her own life, and in her duty towards others, she found many hard questions to which s…
901 wordsSECTION 18Part 18
To the Queen of Sheba, however, more was given than to those happy subjects or to those servants who served the king in their own land. To her was given, as an eye-witness of the majesty of the king, as a glad participant of his bounty, to return to the far-off land, and to testify to those to whom, if they had heard a…
856 wordsSECTION 19Part 19
This sacrifice was so real that Naomi, much as she loved her daughter-in-law, and desolate as she would be without her, felt she could not wish it for her own sake merely; but when Ruth said, "Thy people shall by my people, and thy GOD my GOD," she had no further doubt to suggest, and no further obstacle to put in her …
796 wordsSECTION 20Part 20
We will not prolong this meditation. He who comforted and blessed the lonely gleaner while the harvest lasted, became her husband when the harvest toil was past. It was thus the LORD recompensed her work. Israel was not blessed apart from her, for David the deliverer, and Solomon the glory of Israel, were born of the s…
190 wordsSECTION 21A NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS.
"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 25. "Ye were as sheep going astray." This is evidently addressed to believers. We were like sheep, blindly, willfully following an unwise leader. Not only were we following ourselves, but we in our turn h…
911 wordsSECTION 22Part 22
(2) Nahum i. 7, "The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."--He has a special knowledge of those who put their trust in Him. Though our trust at times is very poor, yet, if there be any trust at all in Him, we can say, "Help thou mine unbelief." He knows we want to tru…
923 wordsSECTION 23Part 23
We might naturally have thought that if there was one thing in the life of the LORD JESUS CHRIST which belonged to Him alone, it was His cross-bearing. To guard against so natural a mistake, the HOLY GHOST has taken care in gospel and in epistle to draw our special attention to the oneness of the believer with CHRIST i…
837 wordsSECTION 24Part 24
How pleasant to the heart of a true child to hear his father well spoken of, and to rejoice that he is the child of such a father. We feel that we can never thank GOD sufficiently for our privileged lot, who have been blessed with true and loving Christian parents. But if this be the case with regard to the dim and at …
882 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.