William Harrell Resources

Both Scripture and sanctified experience teach us that our Lord is a most sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 4:15, 16). Because our Redeemer has been tempted in all ways as we are, He can understand as a Man the pressures of our temptations and sympathize accordingly with us. It is, however, remarkable that there is not […]

David declares that our Lord is a God of deliverances, to whom belong escapes from death (Psa. 68:20). Some of those escapes can be quite narrow, as David himself experienced. At one time only a mountain stood between a murderous Saul with his army and a fleeing David and his company (1 Sam. 23:26). At […]

If we truly belong to the Lord, we should show resemblances to our heavenly Father. What our God is in Himself and how He thinks and acts toward us should with increasing prevalence characterize our own attitudes and actions toward the Lord and His people. Of course there is this great difference between the attitude […]

Scripture reveals to us all that is necessary to make us wise unto salvation. The Word of God opens the eyes of our hearts, not so much to matters that can be apprehended by the right use of man’s reason (though Scripture is supremely reasonable), but to matters that are beyond the grasp of reason […]

The pastor of a large evangelical church once remarked: My church is so well organized and efficiently run that the Holy Spirit could depart today and ten years would pass before anyone missed Him. The pastor declared this not as a boast, but as a lamentation. There is something quite wrong with a people who […]

Rightly did wise Solomon declare that God made men upright, but they have sought out devices (Eccl. 7:29). The devices, subtleties, and complexities in which fallen man boasts and upon which he relies were no part of the first man whom God made and declared to be very good before his fall. It was when […]

We all perhaps would have to admit that we do not pray as often as we should. That admission, while it may shame and grieve us, would probably not surprise us. However, what may surprise us is the fact that few, if any of us, pray as often as we think we do. This is […]

Despite what the Westminster Confession’s Larger Catechism declares about the Scriptures principally teaching us what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man (LC #5), we can find ourselves greatly tempted to believe that godly duty for the Christian is at best not necessary, and at worst a dreadful concept […]

Have you no words? Ah! Think again,Words flow apace when you complain,And fill your fellow-creature’s earWith the sad tale of all your care. Were half the breath thus vainly spentTo heaven in supplication sent,Your cheerful song would oftener be,Hear what the Lord has done for me! William Cowper, 1731-1800 We all are familiar with complaints. […]

Perhaps it is because there is a greater than usual concentration of angels, or perhaps it is due to the ministry of the Holy Spirit quickening the graces of our new natures, or perhaps it is because our faith is so much more sharply focused, or most likely because of all of these things, there […]

There abounds in many churches and in much Christian educational material pictorial representations of Jesus. These pictures of our Lord are considered by many as helpful teaching tools for children, and as devotional aids for adults. If they do serve these purposes, could they be wrong? This is a question that has risen to some […]

Towards the end of his epistle, the writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers to lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin that so easily entangles us (Heb.l2:1). Within this single exhortation, we are told something about how easy and how difficult it is for us to deal with our residual sin. We do well seriously […]

We are familiar with our Lord’s teaching concerning the speck we can so readily see in our brother’s eye and the log in our own eye to which we remain oblivious. Though the word is not used in that illustrative teaching, the concept of control is clearly at the heart of our Lord’s message. Jesus […]

It may seem strange to learn that the Bible has very little teaching regarding the maintenance of bodily health. Some understand the Levitical food laws as given to instruct us in proper nutrition and hygiene. However, those laws were given with moral and spiritual considerations in mind, the hygienic benefit there from being merely a […]

It is a remarkable thing to note that after all of the centuries mankind has had to sin, the way men deal with their sins has never changed. The first man, Adam, foolishly tried to conceal his shame, his sin, and even himself from the Lord. His fig-leaf covering was first applied in a feeble […]

Forgiveness is no minor aspect of the Christian life. It is an incalculable blessing that we receive from the Lord when we exercise saving faith and repentance. By divine forgiveness, the Lord imputes no iniquity to us, but rather counts us to be as righteous as His beloved Son (Psa. 32:2). The forgiveness of our […]

When King Artaxerxes detected a sad face on Nehemiah, he asked his Hebrew cupbearer what was making him sad. The question struck fear into Nehemiah, for to appear unhappy before those ancient oriental kings was taken by them as a dishonor to them-a practical indication that they were not as capable of absolute rule, in […]

On American television there is a commercial advertisement that is representative of a growing number of such commercials. The camera pans several people doing different, ordinary things, such as walking, talking on the phone, or simply standing. Then the product being advertised is named and appears in writing on the television screen: Valtrex. The announcer […]

The first Psalm declares to us that the way of blessing is found by a person’s delighting in the law of the Lord (Ps. 1:2). In the long Psalm, the writer declares: “O, how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Ps. 119:97). Yet, an increasing number of pastors in our […]

The Christian has been redeemed and regenerated not only to commune with Christ, but also to communicate Christ to others. Such communion with and communication of the Lord are two things that God has joined together and that no man should tear asunder. The one issues from the other. If we do not have vital […]

Our Lord has wonderfully designed His kingdom for sinners. Not only does He call us, just as we are, into the kingdom of God, but He has made provision for us to grow out of the dregs of our sin and into His likeness. The efficient cause behind such sanctifying growth is the Holy Spirit, […]

Ian Hamilton, the pastor of the Cambridge Presbyterian Church in England, and William Harrell, the pastor of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia are old friends. Both adopt the Scottish tradition of writing a monthly letter to their congregations, and independently of one another the following were the letters they wrote in the past weeks […]

At a recent Wednesday night adult Christian Education Class, the elder leading the study played for us a recorded sermon on Romans 6:11 preached on a Friday night in December 1958 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. We were surprised and amused to hear at one point Dr. Lloyd-Jones mention that their Friday night series would be suspended […]

Who, when given a choice between experiencing joy or sorrow, would choose sorrow? It is natural and completely understandable that we should prefer pleasure to pain. The benefits of delight are numerous. Those who are cheerful usually enjoy more sound physical and emotional health than do those bearing the burden of affliction. The joyful ones […]

The sons of Korah tell us that God is our refuge and strength, and an abundant help to us in trouble (Ps. 46:1). Likewise, Solomon tells us that the name of the Lord is a strong tower into which the righteous run to find safety (Pr. 18:10). The Apostle Paul takes these conceptions further when […]