PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Horae Homileticae — Volume 19 of 21
Simeon, Charles, 1759-1836 · 235,702 words · 486 reading sections
412 Hebrews, Xl 27. [2327.
either for ourselves or our children : or, if we possess them, let us not seek our happiness in them, but in God alone. If we possess not his favour, though we had kingdoms in our possession, we are poor : but if he be our God, then, though bereft of every thing else, we are rich.] 2. How blessed they are who live…
359 wordsSECTION 3622327.] Faith Seeing The Invisible God. 41S
Heb. xi. 27. He endured, as seeing him who is itivisible. NOT any one of all the catalogue of worthies in the Old Testament, not even Abraham himself, stands higher than Moses ; who, when possessed of all that rank and affluence could confer on man, abandoned it all, that he might participate the lot of his op- p…
414 wordsSECTION 363414 Hebrews, Xi. 27. [2327.
its smallness ; or as bringing it near to us, notwithstanding its vast distance, within tlae reach of our visual organs. I mean not to say that there is any just comparison between these artificial aids and faith ; but, when we consider what we our- selves can effect by such helps, we may, without any great diffic…
413 wordsSECTION 3642327.1 Faith Seeing The Invisible God. 415
has required of us^" Thus it was that faith operated in the Hebrew Youths. In vain was the furnace lighted before them : they could not be diverted from their purpose to serve the Lord. Their reply to the enraged monarch was decisive : " Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace ; …
495 wordsSECTION 365416 Hebrews, Xi. 28. [2328.
from the love of Christ^. So, let the weakest of true believers be able to say, " I have set the Lord always before me ;" and he may confidently add, " Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved'"."] Let me now address, 1. The timid — [" Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall d…
313 wordsSECTION 366Mmcccxxviii.
MOSEs' FAITH IN RELATION TO THE PASSOVER. Heb. xi. 28. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn shotdd touch them. PERSONS, when speaking upon the comparative excellences of faith and works, are very apt to over- look the relation which they bear to eac…
416 wordsSECTION 367418 Hebrews, Xl 28. [2328.
[The whole account is given us in the twelfth chapter of Exodus. A lamb was to be killed by every family of the Hebrews. Its blood was to be poured forth into a bason, and to be sprinkled with hyssop upon the lintel and the side-posts of their doors ; (not upon the threshold ; for that sacred blood was not to be t…
735 wordsSECTION 368420 Hebrews, Xl 28. [2328.
We must also feast upon the flesh of this great Sacrifice, in token of the full confidence which we have in our safety through him, and as the means of deriving fresh supplies of strength from him. How strongly has our blessed Lord him- self inculcated this truth ; " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and …
653 wordsSECTION 369420 Hebrews, Xl 28. [2328.
i Exod. xii. 30. ^ 2 Pet. ii. 2—5. 2328.1 MOSEs' FAITH IN THE PASSOVER. 421 [Realize to yourselves one moment the different states of the Israelites and the Egyptians on that night, when the angel was spreading death and destruction all around him. Behold the consternation that pervaded all the families of Egypt ;…
509 wordsSECTION 3704<22 Hebrews, Xi. 30. [2329.
souls with the most lively joy, since then, and not till then, was their deliverance complete. But what was their redemp- tion when compared with that which tve have experienced, and which was completed as on this day, when our Lord and Saviour rose from the dead? Till then, he himself lay a captive in the grave :…
410 wordsSECTION 3712329.] Walls Of Jericho Cast Down By Faith. 423
Heb. xi. 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. HOW intelligent creatures should be affected by any principle, is easy to be conceived ; because the human mind is susceptible of the strongest impres- sions from every thing that is submitted to its consi- deration.…
417 wordsSECTION 372424 Hebrews, Xl 30. [2329.
for sin ; and that we should give up ourselves to Christ, to be washed by his blood, and to be renewed by his Spirit. In order to further this work within us, he has prescribed means to be used by us both in public and in private : in public, we must attend on his ordinances ; because, as he is peculiarly honoured…
660 wordsSECTION 373424 Hebrews, Xl 30. [2329.
II. Its sure effects — If exercised to the end without wavering, it will surely issue in, 1. The believer's triumph — [Down fell the walls of Jericho at the appointed moment, and its garrison became an easy prey to the Jewish army. And what is there which the believer cannot effect under its influence ? " If he …
310 wordsSECTION 374426 Hebrews, Xi. 30. [2329.
in the eye of faith, it was impossible for him to fail. The issue is well known : the stripling slew the giant, and cut off his head with his own sword. And so shall the weakest strip- ling among the soldiers of Christ prevail, making the very weapons of his adversaries the means of advancing and com- pleting his …
490 wordsSECTION 3752329.] Walls Of Jericho Cast Down By Faith. 427
Christ for refuge, and living in the constant observance of pubhc and private ordinances, according to God's command, they are supine and careless, as if nothing at all was to be done by them as evidential of their faith. Now I would ask, what would have been the event, if the Jewish army had proceeded on this pla…
487 wordsSECTION 376428 Hebrews, Xl 31. [2330.
have any nearer prospects of success. But what if Israel had yielded to such discouragements, and ceased from their labours before their work was done ? True it is, that the precise time for the interposition of Jehovah was made known to them ; but it is concealed from you : nevertheless it is as much fixed in the…
297 wordsSECTION 3772330.] Rahab Concealing The Spies. 429
Heb. xi. 31. By faith the harlot Rahah -perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. FAITH is usually considered merely as an assent to testimony ; human faith having respect to human testimony, and divine to that which is divine. Hence the subject of faith is supposed to …
471 wordsSECTION 378430 Hebrews, Xl 31. [2330.
world, even the heavenly Canaan ; and called them to take possession of it as his special gift, through the merits and mediation of his Son Jesus Christ"^. The manner of taking possession of it also he has ordained, even by faith in Christ ; by whose blood they shall be justified, and by whose Spirit they shall be…
490 wordsSECTION 3792330.J Rahab Concealing The Spies. 431
But this part of our subject will come more pro- perly before us, whilst, in our further investigation of her faith, we shew, II. How it operated — From the instance to which the text directs our attention, we see, that it operated in a way, 1. Of holy fear— [Rahab did not merely participate the terror which had…
455 wordsSECTION 380432 Hebrews, Xi. 31. [2330.
shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty: for he is thy Lord God: and worship thou Him^." Our Lord's declaration to his followers is plainer still : " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple''.…
722 wordsSECTION 381434 Hebrews, Xl 31. [2330.
3. The transcendent honour of being brought into the nearest relation to Christ himself — [Who would have thought that this poor Canaanite, of an accursed nation, and once of an abandoned character, should be chosen of God to be an instrument of bringing into the world the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savio…
826 wordsSECTION 382436 Hebrews, Xl S2-35. [2331.
^ 1 John v. 4. X Acts xv, 0. y Tit. ii. 11, 12. 2 1 John ii. G. and iii. 3. Heb. xi. 32 — 35. ^nd ivhat shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae ; of David also, and Samuel, and of the pro- phets : who through faith subdued kingdoms, ivrougld rig…
600 wordsSECTION 3832331.] Power Of Faith. 4,37
many other prophets in their season. If it be asked, in wliat respect were these examples of faitli ? I answer, AH these exploits were done in obedience to a divine impulse, and i?i dependence on God's 'promised aid. But, without dwelling on the acts of these individual wor- thies, let us notice, rather, what my t…
445 wordsSECTION 384438 Hebrews, Xl 32—35. [2331.
[By it has " righteousness been wrought," in its utmost extent. Not only has political righteousness been given for the government of kingdoms, as to Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah, but moral righteousness, in a degree never produced by any other principle under heaven. Where do we find such cha- racters as those recor…
464 wordsSECTION 3852331.3 Power Of Faith. 439
US may yet be called, before we die. But, if faith will enable men to bear up under such sufferings as we read of in the Scriptures of truth, how much more will it qualify us for sus- taining the common evils of life ; yea, and enable us to " glory in tribulation," so far as God shall see fit to subject us to its …
736 wordsSECTION 3862331.3 Power Of Faith. 439
3. To obtain its increase — [Very remarkable is the answer given by the Disciples to an injunction which they had received relative to the for- giving an offending brother. When he told them, that if a brother should offend seven times in a day, and as often repeat his acknowledgments, they should renew to him the…
304 wordsSECTION 387442 Hebrews, Xl 38. [2332.
god's estimate of his people. Heb. xi. 38. Of ivhom the world was not worthy. THESE words are introduced in a parenthesis ; and are intended to obviate an objection, which might weaken, if not make void, the foregoing statement. The Apostle has been insisting upon the operations and fruits of faith; and has adduc…
650 wordsSECTION 388442 Hebrews, Xl 38. [2332.
[God regards the saints as " his peculiar treasure above all people upon the face of the earth." In his estimation they are as lights in a dark world, and as " salt" which keeps the great mass of the ungodly from utter putrefaction*^. Nay further, he sends them as leaven to diffuse piety all around them®, and to i…
419 wordsSECTION 389444 Hebrews, Xi. 38. [2332.
world, insomuch that " if those days of trouble had not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved : but for the elect's sake those days were shortened s." And if only ten righteous men had been found in Sodom, both that city, and all the other cities of the plain, would have been spared. Who can tell then wha…
790 wordsSECTION 390446 Hebrews, Xl 39, 40. [2333.
4. To exert ourselves in bringing others to a par- ticipation of the benefits which we enjoy — [" Our light is not to be put under a bed, or under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that all around us may receive the benefit." The importance of this in relation to the bless- ings of civilization is generally acknowle…
281 wordsSECTION 3912333.] Benefit Of Christian Dispensation. 447
THE ADVANTAGES ENJOYED UNDER THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION. Heb. xi. 39, 40. These all, having obtaitied a good report through faith, received not the j)romise : God having jyro- vided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. WHEN we hear or read of the saints of old, we excuse our…
608 wordsSECTION 392448 Hebrews, Xl 39, 40. [2333.
" a better resurrection" to life eternal. And what a testimony has he given in the record which is contained in this chapter ; a record which will transmit their names with honour to the end of time !] But, that we may form a just estimate of our bless- ings, I will proceed to shew, II. What " better thing he has…
411 wordsSECTION 3932333.] Benefit Of Christian Dispensation. 449
the light which we enjoy •■. The prophets themselves did not understand their own prophecies, as we do^. Not even John the Baptist, who pointed out Jesus as " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," had such just conceptions of him as we have : in this respect " even the least believer that is to …
459 wordsSECTION 394Mmcccxxxiv.
be in the clay of judgment to see such an one as Rahab, an accursed Canaanite and a harlot, admitted into the kingdom of heaven, and you yourselves cast out! I pray you avail yourselves of the advantages which you enjoy ; and let them not issue in your heavier condemnation. The promise of Christ's coming to judge …
841 wordsSECTION 395452 Hebrews, Xii. 1, 2. [2334.
friends, much more shall we by such animating considerations as these.] Together with this earnest exhortation, the Apostle gives us, II. Directions to ensure success — 1. We must put away whatever obstructs our pro- gress— [They who are about to run a race need not be reminded of the necessity there is to cast…
737 wordsSECTION 396454 Hebrews, Xii. 3. [2335.
Address — 1. To those who have never yet begun to run — [Were it optional with you whether you would have any interest in this race or not, we might leave you to your choice : but you are of necessity entered upon the lists, and must have all the shame and misery of failure, if you run not so as to obtain the pri…
485 wordsSECTION 397Mmcccxxxv.
Christ's patience under sufferings. Heb. xii. 3. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye he ivearied and faint in your winds. THINGS are good or evil in this life chiefly by comparison : the happiest of men is unhappy in com- parison of Adam in Paradise; and the most miser…
497 wordsSECTION 398456 Hebrews, Xii. 3. [2335.
And who amongst us has not on many occasions betrayed the same weakness ? [We have borne up with fortitude perhaps against some trials, which have been light and transient; but how have we sustained those which were heavy, complicated, and of long continuance ? When our troubles have arisen from those who were ou…
782 wordsSECTION 399458 Hebrews, Xii. 4- 13. [2336.
We may improve this subject, 1. For our humiliation — [How should we be ashamed of our readiness to shrink from the cross, and to complain when it is laid upon us ! What if we should be called to lay down our lives for Christ, as ^ ver. 4. thousands have been before us ? How should we endure that trial ? " If we…
290 wordsSECTION 400Mmcccxxxvi.
AFFLICTIONS THE FRUIT OF GOd's LOVE. Heb. xii. 4 — 13. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation tvhich speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him : for whom the Lord loveth h…
580 wordsSECTION 401460 Hebrews, Xii. 4—13. [2336.
we know, be yet permitted to inflict : " We have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Instead therefore of complaining of the heaviness of our trials, we have reason rather to be thankful for the lightness of them : and, if we faint when they are so light, how shall we support them when they come up…
830 wordsSECTION 402462 Hebrews, Xii. 4—13. [2336.
4. Our sufferings, how grievous soever they may appear at the time, are all sent for our eternal good — [Whilst we have the feelings of humanity, chastening, of whatever kind it be, cannot but be grievous to us at the time: but after it has produced its proper effects, " it yields the peaceable fruits of righteou…
830 wordsSECTION 403464^ Hebrews, Xii. 4—13. [2336.
The Apostle having instructed the Hebrews in the true nature and end of their sufferings, suggests some further considerations, II. For their direction and guidance — These also we shall consider as addressed to us ; and in correspondence with them we would say to all sufferers of the present day, 1. Yield not t…
669 wordsSECTION 404The Necessity Of Holiness.
And this is the very direction given to us also by God himself: " Ponder the path of thy feet ; and let all thy ways s Ps. xxxvii. 12, 13. * Ps. xxxvii. 14, 15. " Isai.viii.l2 — 14. ^ Ps. xi. 1 — 4. y 1 Pet. iii. 13. ^ igai. xxxvii. 22. a Eph. vi. 10. ^ Isai. lix. 8. be established : Turn not to the right hand, no…
409 wordsSECTION 4054G6 Hebrews, Xii. 14. [2337.
We shall, I. Ascertain the nature of holiness — Holiness is a conformity of heart and life to the revealed will of God — But, to enter more fully into the subject, it implies, 1. That we love the whole will of God — [There is not any thing that more truly characterizes a Christian than this : it draws a line of…
670 wordsSECTION 4064G8 Hebrews, Xii. 14. [2337.
This is in no respect the case with others. They are satis- fied with their present state : they are not conscious of their defects ; and therefore they feel no longings for higher attain- ments. They are like a painted sun upon the canvass, while the true Christian " grows up into Christ in all things as his livi…
677 wordsSECTION 4072338.] Danger Of Despising The Gospel. 469
This may at least be sufficient to illustrate the declaration in the text; perhaps we may add also, to vindicate it. Not that any declaration of God is to be judged of by the reasons a Col. i. 12. wliich fallible men may assign in vindication of it : his word is the same, whether we believe it or not ; nor shall o…
304 wordsSECTION 408470 Hebrews, Xil 15—17. [2338.
Heb. xii. 15 — 17. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trou- ble you, and thereby many be defiled ; lest there be any for- nicator, or j)rofane person, as Esau, xoho for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he wo…
498 wordsSECTION 4092338.1 Danger Of Despising The Gospel. 471
and for garments that they may be clothed*^." It suffers none to bring any price in their hands, but requires them to receive every thing " without money and without priced" Nor does it merely require this of men at their first conversion : it pre- scribes the same humiliating system to the latest hour of our live…
493 wordsSECTION 41047^ Hebrews, Xii. 15—17. [2338.
loliolly consumed on the altar'. It enjoins us '* neither to live unto ourselves, nor die unto ourselves ;" but both in life and death to be altogether at the Lord's disposal, for the accom- plishment of his will, and for the promotion of his glory "\ Now to this measure of holiness we have by nature a deep and ro…
675 wordsSECTION 41147^ Hebrews, Xii. 15—17. [2338.
2. By ungodly practices — [Grievous have been the falls of many who have professed religion ; and shocking the scandals which have at times pre- vailed in the Christian Church. Evils, which obtained amongst the ignorant and licentious Gentiles, were indulged, and vindi- cated, by them after they had embraced the G…
262 wordsSECTION 412474 Hebrews, Xii. 15—17. [2338.
Church : and it requires continual watchfuhiess over our own hearts, and over each other too, to prevent the more frequent recurrence of similar apostasy. To all then I would recom- mend the example of St. Paul, who " kept his body under, and brought it into subjection, lest, after having preached to others, he hi…
431 wordsSECTION 413Mmcccxxxix.
they ever so difficult or self-denying, tliey are not worth a thought in comparison of " the grace that shall be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The wise merchant- man parted with all for the pearl of great price. Do ye the same: and determine through grace, that whatever it may cost, you will …
409 wordsSECTION 414476 Hebrews, Xii. 18—25. [2339.
renounced. In the foregoing part of the epistle, this subject is treated at large : and, in the words which we have read, there is a kind of recapitulation of it, purposely introduced, in order to confirm the Hebrews in a steady adherence to the faith which they had embraced, and to shew them the dreadful danger …
336 wordsSECTION 4152339.1 Exceeding Excellence Of Christianity. 477
mount to which those who believe in Christ are come : " they are come to Mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," a place not visible to mortal eyes, nor like to any place which mortal hands have formed : it is a place formed by Almighty God for his own immediate resi- dence, and for the fu…
468 wordsSECTION 416478 Hebrews, Xii. 18—25. [2339.
Spirit," with which beHevers in Christ are sealed; whicli assvires them of their adoption into God's family, and their everlasting fruition of his glory : it seals them, not for a time only, but unto the day of redemption ; and is to them, not a seal only, but a pledge and earnest and foretaste of heaven itself*. …
399 wordsSECTION 4172339.] Exceeding Excellence Of Ciirlstian Ity. 479
Acknowledge also the justice of it — [Think how the Christian covenant has been delivered : not by a terrific voice, uttered from a cloud by a Being that was invisible, but by the Lord Jesus Christ himself descending from the highest heavens to make it known to us in the mild accents of love and mercy. Think too o…
453 wordsSECTION 418Mmcccxl.
even after they have for some time maintained, in appearance at least, an upright walk and conversation. But beware lest ye be in any wise hindered in running the race that is set before you : difficulties ye must meet with, both within and without : and it is well that you do meet with them ; for how else shall y…
655 wordsSECTION 419482 Hebrews, Xii. 22, 24. [2340.
This speaks to us incomparably better things than the blood of Abel — [Great as the expressions of God's love to Abel were in consequence of the sacrifice which that righteous man had offered, they were not to be compared with those which we receive through Christ. There was no inherent virtue in his sacrifice ; …
658 wordsSECTION 420482 Hebrews, Xii. 22, 24. [2340.
[It is not every nominal Christian, that has approached God in this way : " all are not Israel who are of Israel." The outward form indeed which was observed by Moses is not re- quired under the Christian dispensation ; nor need we feel his terror, in order to obtain his comforts : but we must seriously draw nigh …
383 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical edition (1833); scan/OCR from Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.