Resources by Macleod, Kenneth D.

Satan makes great efforts to keep sinners in his kingdom. His evil hope is that they will continue to dishonour God for the rest of their lives and spend eternity still under his power. Thus Paul refers to the evil work of ‘the god of this world’: he ‘hath blinded the minds of them which […]

It was a perfect world, and a perfect universe, that God made. The whole work of creation was a clear demonstration of his greatness – in particular, of his infinite power and his infinite wisdom. As soon as the angels were created they could look at what God had done and at once discern a […]

John Newton first went to sea at the age of just 11. His godly mother had died when he was only 6 and his father was a ship’s captain. After that first voyage he kept on going to sea, and over the years he had many adventures and many difficulties, but his own foolishness lay […]

When Paul was in prison in Rome, he presumably had many needs. The Church in Philippi, now an organised body with ‘bishops and deacons’, took a special interest in him and sent to him ‘once and again’ what they felt would be useful. In his present circumstances, Paul was not able to repay them; he […]

When the Lord Jesus was in this world, he went about doing good. In particular, he healed large numbers of people who were suffering from every kind of illness and disability. Even when ‘great multitudes followed him’, ‘he healed them all‘ (Matt. 12:15). Reports of these miracles spread everywhere and, as Jairus watched his 12-year-old […]

Sin is everywhere around us in a fallen world. We come in contact with it constantly; the media bring some particularly-awful examples of it to our attention again and again. And no matter where we look, in any part of the earth, we will find sin and its terrible consequences staring us in the face. […]

So Paul told the Corinthians (1 Cor. 7:29). And that brief statement had huge implications for the way that believers in Corinth were to live. It would seem that much of the advice the Apostle gave them in this chapter – for instance, not to marry – was relevant to what he calls ‘the present […]

As we approach the end of 2009, the religious and moral outlook in Britain remains bleak. God continues to be very largely ignored by Government and people. Year after year, legislation pours out of Parliament but never, it seems, is it considered remotely possible that God may have declared his mind on some aspect of […]

4. ‘God Has Given Me All Things’1 We have been considering some of the many passages throughout the Bible where, although the doctrine of creation may not be developed to any great extent, it is clearly assumed to be true and is made the foundation of some further thoughts. It should thus be clear that […]

3. The Consistent Scripture Testimony1 In the Old Testament period, when God’s revelation was largely confined to the Jews, we might not expect many instances of them communicating the truth about their God to Gentiles. Yet we do have the example of Jonah when the seamen quizzed him about his background; he told them: ‘I […]

It was the first day of July 1866. As John Kennedy stood ready to preach on that Sabbath, in the pulpit of his Dingwall church, he gave out as his text: ‘For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better’ (Phil. 1:23). […]

God is infinite; he therefore has supreme authority over all his creatures, and it is their duty to submit absolutely to him in everything he requires. Adam and Eve showed this degree of respect for God immediately after the creation; they submitted completely to him in all their thinking, in their entire motivation, and in […]

2. ‘Through Faith We Understand . . .’1 There can be no doubt that the theory of evolution functions as a strong bulwark for the kingdom of Satan today. Most people in Britain and elsewhere stand firmly in opposition to the claims of the God of heaven, and they are strengthened in doing so by […]

Events in 1732 made Ebenezer Erskine consider the time ‘a day of trouble’. Twenty years had passed since Parliament had reimposed patronage on the Church of Scotland. This meant that the right to nominate a minister for a vacant congregation lay with, normally, a local landowner. Now the 1732 General Assembly had agreed, in the […]

1. ‘Much of the Power and Wisdom of God’1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ With these words the Bible begins. The doctrine of Creation must therefore have considerable significance in relation to the whole revelation which God has given in the Scriptures. Manifestly, the first two chapters of Genesis focus […]