Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight… I. VALLEYS MUST DE LEVELLED UP. 1. Inattention. 2. Apathy. 3. Despondency. II. EMINENCES MUST BE LEVELLED DOWN. 1. The mountain of pride must be reduced. (1) The pride that will not make full confession of sin. (2) The pride that will not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child. (3) The pride of reason that will not accept salvation until its mysteries are comprehended. (4) The pride of worldly professors. 2. The mountain of presumption must be depressed. (1) Sinners are presumptuous when, without forsaking their sins, they attempt to believe for salvation. (2) Professors arc presumptuous when they expect the work of God to revive in the Church without exerting themselves to promote a revival. (3) While we work as though everything depended upon working, we must trust as though everything depended upon trusting. 3. The hills of ingratitude must be brought low. III. THE CROOKED PLACES MUST BE STRAIGHTENED. 1. Prejudice. 2. Jealousy. 3. Censoriousness. 4. Covetousness. IV. THE ROUGH PLACES MUST BE SMOOTHED. 1. The ugly rock of Sabbath desecration must be removed. 2. That rut of drunkenness must be filled up. 3. Those sinks of immorality must be filled — lying, cheating, oppression, uncleanness. 4. The rough places of instability must be smoothed. (Prof. F. W. Macdonald, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; |