Song of Songs: The Greatest Love Story in the World

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 30        The Baffling of the Spirit               They assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not--Act 16:7               The Circumstances of the Hindrance Were Not Clear but the Message Was.              Paul was on his second missionary journey when he was hindered thus by the Spirit of his Lord. He had made up his mind to go northward to Bithynia when somehow he was divinely checked. How the door was thus shut on him we are not told: it is one of the wise reticence of Scripture. Perhaps he was warned by some prophetic voice or visited by irresistible conviction. On the other hand, if one prefer it so, we may think of the pressure of circumstance or health, for Paul would never ...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 27        Rhoda               And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate--Act 12:13-14               Her Name Meant "Rose" and She Was One Indeed              In visiting a sickroom where there is so much that speaks of suffering one is often met by a single spot of brightness. It is a flower that has been brought by loving hands to gladden and refresh the weary sufferer. The room is darkened to shut out the sunlight which might beat too fiercely on the aching head. The nurse as she moves upon her tender ministry does so with a noiseless fo...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 26        The Departing of the Angel               And they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him--Act 12:10               The Ministry of Prisons              In the verses that precede our text we have the familiar story of Peter's release from prison. Perhaps the story would have been still more familiar, and would have impressed itself still more vividly on Christendom, had it not been overshadowed by that other scene when Paul and Silas sang in the jail at Philippi. The world would have been a great deal poorer but for its prisons. We owe more to our prisons than we think. Shining virtues have been developed in them; miracles of heaven have been wro...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 21        The Revelation of Duty               Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.--Act 9:6               Sudden Conversion but Gradual Revelation              The first thing to be taught us in these words is how duty is gradually revealed. Our blessed Lord, in His knowledge of our hearts, never overloads His revelations. It is characteristic of the great apostle that he should instantly react on his experience. Vitality is measured by reaction--when we fail to react, then we are growing old--and Paul, vital to his fingertips, instantly reacted to the Lord--"Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do? Tell me now. Make my future plain. Show me the service I can render...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 20        Philip and the Ethiopian               And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert--Act 8:26               God Removed Philip from the Middle of Evangelistic Success              Philip was in the full tides of work for Christ when the message came from God that he must leave it. He had been preaching in Sebaste, the old city of Samaria, and his preaching had been crowned with wonderful success when suddenly there came the angel of the Lord with this summons to get southward towards Gaza. It was a strange command, swiftly and well obeyed. There was nothing of the spirit of Jonah abou...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 19        Elective Affinity               And being let go, they went to their own company--Act 4:23               After a Miracle, a Sermon, an Arrest and Release from Prison              The healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful of the Temple had stirred an intense excitement in Jerusalem. Like the church bell which summons people to church, it had attracted a crowd to the disciples. And Peter, who never saw a crowd but he longed for the opportunity to preach to it, began to preach--there were about five thousand gathered--and many of his hearers were converted. The priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees were very indignant at this powerful doctrine. They put an arrest on Pe...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 16        Cure of the Lame Man               And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple--Act 3:2               The Conversion of a Soul as Great a Miracle as Physical Healing              It is perhaps wrong to call this the first miracle after Pentecost, though it is generally thought of in that way. The boldness of the disciples after the fiery baptism, the conviction wrought upon the hearts of thousands, and the adding to the church, after one sermon, of a great multitude of men and women--all these, for such as have the eyes to see, are as truly miraculous an...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 11        The Reversions of Jesus               When he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me--Joh 21:19               The First Command              It is deeply significant to notice the reversions of our blessed Lord. The last command that Peter got (Joh 21:19) was the first that ever broke upon his ear. When Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee He saw Peter busy at his fishing. It was not the first time that they had met, as we learn from the Gospel of St. John (Joh 1:42). The Lord had met him and seen his latent strength and given him his new name of rock, but hitherto Peter had been free. It was of that our Lord was thinking when He said: Once thou "walkedst whither thou wouldest" (Jo...

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons Devotional For September 10        The Boat's Breadth               Cast the net on the right side of the ship--Joh 21:6               Turning Back to Old Tasks              There are few scenes in the Gospel more impressive than this scene in the early morning by the sea of Galilee. Not even the meeting between Christ and Mary in the garden is more touching or tender than this incident. Calvary was past; the night of darkness was ended; Jesus had risen and the awful strain was over. It is in such hours that men instinctively turn again to the common toils which the strain has interrupted, and in such an hour Peter said, "I go a fishing." So Peter and his comrades toiled all night, but for all their toil, their fishing was a ...