PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Great Texts of the Bible — Volume 18
James Hastings · 181,464 words · 186 reading sections
Section 1
-« .^I^'l.'^.^.x ,H35 V. 18 MAr 3 1 192b THE GREAT T'"^ OF THE BIBLE EDITED BY THE REV. JAMES 41ASTINGS, D.D. EDITOR OF "THE EXPOSITORY TIMES" "THE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE' "THE DICTIONARY OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPELS" AND "THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS " THESSALONIANS to HEBREWS NEW YORK CHARLES SG…
963 wordsSECTION 2Section 2
4 ASLEEP IN JESUS have lived in that other world years before they went there. Men have kept company with the souls there in closer association than with those who were beside them all the time. Multitudes who have doubted the immortality of the soul in their days of ease have, in days of distress and strain, by the b…
931 wordsSECTION 3Section 3
II. The New Aspect of Death. 1. There is nothing more marvellous in the history of Christianity than the change which it wrought in men's views of death. The change is one stamped into the very life of humanity, however it may be explained. Whereas men had previously thought of death as only a great darkness, or a dr…
917 wordsSECTION 4Section 4
Sin hath told lies of thee, fair angel Death, Hath hung a dark veil o'er thy seraph face. And scared us babes with tales of how, beneath. Were features like her own. But I, through grace Of the dear God by whom I live and move, Have seen that gloomy shroud asunder rent. And in thine eyes, lustrous with sweet intent, …
988 wordsSECTION 5Section 5
^ If we quit the living Christ, we quit all hold of the higher life. " If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." Heaven becomes a dumb picture ; and death • — euphemize it as we may — merely blank annihilation. We may say of our dear ones, as we lay them in the dust, that they ha…
928 wordsSECTION 6Section 6
•fl We may tell the story of the Christian's burial no longer in that brief hollow phrase which to the ancients seemed the tenderest allusion that could be made to the deceased, "Nou est," he is not; but in words like those of Bunyan's, so fragrant of heart's-ease and immortelle, — " The pilgrim they laid in a chamber …
969 wordsSECTION 7Section 7
^ H. C. G. Moule, Concerning Them Which are Aslee}), 18. I THESSALONIANS iv. 13, 14 15 be with those with whom we have had spiritual communion here ; we shall be with them as we have never been with them here. The bodily differences will be taken away, the prisons will be broken open, our souls will meet in close uni…
1,026 wordsSECTION 8Section 8
Let us answer this question first of all ; and then let us see what we can do to fulfil to the letter tlie Apostle's injunction. L Prayee is a Spiritual Attitude. 1. The chief, sometimes the one, idea we have of prayer is that it is petition, asking for certain things we want, some help we desire, or deliverance fro…
907 wordsSECTION 9Section 9
I am asked to explain that saying attributed to our Blessed Father St. Anthony, that he who prays ought to have his mind so fixed upon God as even to forget that he is praying. Here is the explanation in our Saint's own words. He says : " The soul must be kept steadfastly in this path (that, namely, of love and confide…
955 wordsSECTION 10Section 10
•[j The greatest thing any one can do for God and for man is to pray. It is not the only thing. But it is the chief thing. A correct balancing of the possible powers one may exert puts it first. For if a man is to pray right, he must first be right in his motives and life. And if a man be right, and put the practice of…
1,053 wordsSECTION 11Section 11
^ A. Maclaren. ^ C. H. Spurgeon. 26 CEASELESS PRAYER ^ Every morning he renewed bis touch with Christ so that he would not lose it through the busy hours. It was his habit to close every day by reporting to his Friend. Of this habit he said : " The disciples returned at evening and made a report to Christ of their wo…
920 wordsSECTION 12Section 12
I build the palace of my Lord the King Wherein Life makes her crimson offering. With rite of consecration and long praise. With weight of prayer and length of many days She makes her sacrament of suffering. ' Francis Paget, Bishop of Oxford, 354. 28 CEASELESS PRAYER The music of meet words and magical, That rise a…
908 wordsSECTION 13Section 13
^ Many of the fathers of the Church connect these verses with what they consider a saying of Jesus, one of the few which are reasonably attested, though it has failed to find a place in the written gospels. The saying is, " Show yourselves approved money-changers." The fathers believed that the Apostle uses a metaphor …
945 wordsSECTION 14Section 14
^ Faith, whatever else it may be or imply, involves definite and strong conviction. Conviction requires evidence. Evidence is the objective truth which compels assent. Subjectively and spiritually, faith in a Fiji islander may be the same as it is in a cultivated and reflecting man, but intellectually it cannot be the …
942 wordsSECTION 15Section 15
^ R. W. Corbet, Letters from a Mystic oj the Present Day, 112. 'A. Striudberg, Zones of the Sj)irU, 13. I THESSALONIANS v. 21 37 ^ A man has as much right to use his own understanding, in judging of truth, as he has a right to use his own eyes, to see hia way : therefore it is no offence to another, that any man uses…
961 wordsSECTION 16Section 16
^ J. G. Henderson. I THESSALONIANS v. 21 39 fashion, or diseases of vanity : it cannot be cramped in its conclu- sions by partialities and hypocrisies ; its visions and its delights are too penetrating, too living, for any whitewashed object or shallow fountain long to endure or supply. It clasps all that it loves so…
1,023 wordsSECTION 17Section 17
' J. A. i'loude. A Prayer for Sanctity. Literature. Abbott (L.), Signs of Promise, 274. Cairns (J.), Sanctification, 1. Chadwick (S.), Humanity and God, 67. Evans (T. S.), Body, Soul, and Spirit, 1. Fairbairn (R. B.), College Sermons, 282. Farrar (F. W.), The Witness of History to Christ, 129. „ „ Words of Tru…
951 wordsSECTION 18Section 18
^ Amiel's Journal (trans, by Mrs. Humphry Ward), 284. ^ W. R. NicoU, Ian Madaren : Life of the Rev. J. Watson, 383. I THESSALONIANS v. 23 47 see it — glorification, as some would almost seem to think he does. We must not put the standard too high ; we must not put it where it is altogether out of reach. He is not pr…
933 wordsSECTION 19Section 19
^ A. Kuyper, in Homiletie Revieio, Iv. 136. - John Brash : Memorials and Correspondence, 26. I THESSALONIANS v. 23 49 fication " and " consecration " we should say the latter represents the human and the former the Divine side of the same act or experience. "We "consecrate" ourselves when we yield ourselves up to Go…
927 wordsSECTION 20Section 20
I THESSALONIANS v. 23 51 della Stella by Fra Angelico for sweetness and love surpasses all of Ms age, while the Christ nestles into her neck and loves, and for a while, before the thorny way is opened to Him, tastes all love of earth." This is the painter of whom it is written that he was wont to say that the practice…
1,063 wordsSECTION 21Section 21
^ The soul opens upward to the Infinite and Eternal through the Spirit, with its capacity for God, and downward to the Finite and Temporal through the Body, with its capacity for material objects. The spirit stands for our heavenly aptitudes, the body for our earthly ones. By the one we are able to seek the things that…
1,064 wordsSECTION 22Section 22
^ How should I describe the relations to each other of these factors of our human fabric ? Should I call the body the sheath of the soul and the soul the sheath of the spirit. So saith the Latin father Tertullian. Or should I say that the body is the organ of the soul and the soul the organ of the spirit ? Or the first…
913 wordsSECTION 23Section 23
2. But not only does St. Paul say it is God that sanctifies us, he says also that it is " the God of peace." The use of this epithet is perhaps intended to teach us two truths. (1) It teaches us this great lesson, that sanctification, like every other blessing of redemption, comes to us from God through the atonement …
1,005 wordsSECTION 24Section 24
^ George MacDonald, Poetical JVcrks, ii. 322. 6o A PRAYER FOR SANCTITY David with reason cries out to Him : ' Have mercy on me, 0 Lord ; for I am weak.' " ^ 4. And what is the motive that ever urges us to this sanctifica- tion ? To St. Paul it is " the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." That great event is the most p…
1,036 wordsSECTION 25Section 25
We might be ready to think that, if ever there was a minister of Jesus Christ who was raised above the need of his people's prayers, that minister was St. Paul. He was endowed, both by nature and by grace, beyond the measure of ordinary men. Whether as a man or as a servant of the Lord Jesus, he towers above the level …
957 wordsSECTION 26Section 26
68 PRAYER AND PROGRESS their own prayers. Having sown the seed of prayer, they should expect the harvest of profitable service. ^ You may be sure that in my hermitage by the unseen brook Cherith I do not cross my arms in daily and nightly supplication without enfolding you all in them; and may I say again, like John …
1,065 wordsSECTION 27Section 27
^ There is an expression in Titus ii. 10 analogous to this glorifying of the Word — " adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." It is only too possible for us to disgrace the gospel ; but it is in our power also, by every smallest action we do, to illustrate it, to set it off^ to put its beauty in the tr…
980 wordsSECTION 28Section 28
^ One great qualification for successful labour is power to get the truth home to the heart not to " deliver " it. I wish the word had never been coined in connexion with Christian work. " De- liver " it, indeed — that is not in the Bible. No, no ; not deliver it ; but drive it home — send it in — make it felt. That is…
1,020 wordsSECTION 29Section 29
2, We do not indeed care to inquire how prayer affects the will of God. It is enough for us to know that our God is a God who, seen under the conditions of human life, answers prayer. It is not for us to prescribe, it is not for us to know, the seasons which answer to the fitting accomplishment of the Father's purpose.…
902 wordsSECTION 30Section 30
Greenliougli (J. G.), The Mind of Christ in St. Paul, 27. Hare (A. W.), The Alton Sermons, 124. Jenkins (E. E.), Life and Christ, 195. Knight (H. T.), The Cross, the Font, and the Altar, 20'. Liddon (H. P.), Advent in St. Paul's, 233. Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Philippians, etc., 316. „ „ Paul's Prayers, 192. …
980 wordsSECTION 31Section 31
Let us consider, first, the way in which the Apostle commends the great saying to us — it is (1) "faithful," and (2) "worthy of I TIMOTHY I. 15 81 all acceptation." Next, let us look at the saying itself. And, then, let us see how St. Paul adds his own fervent Amen to it : " of whom I am chief." I. The Apostle's Co…
973 wordsSECTION 32Section 32
^ M. G. Pearse. I TIMOTHY I. 15 S^ same temptations as he had, only the difference was that my will was to do good and abstain from evil ; that this was not a natural, but a changed will, given me by God ; and although I certainl}' did things of which I did not approve yet it grieved me when I did, and that I was con…
957 wordsSECTION 33Section 33
I TIMOTHY I. 15 85 fool, king and clown, all need the same air to breathe, the same water to drink, the same sun for light and warmth, and all need the same Christ for redemption from the same sm. 1\,: safety from the same danger, for snatching from the same deatft. This gospel is a gospel for the world, and for every…
1,029 wordsSECTION 34Section 34
^ How did life originate upon this planet ? The grass, trees, flowers, birds, animals, whence came they ? What was the origin of the first mysterious seeds which held within themselves these various forms of life and beauty ? Lord Kelvin believes that meteoric stones are seed-bearing agents, and that it is not im- prob…
1,007 wordsSECTION 35Section 35
^ Christ often explained the purpose of His coming in other words. He had come, He said, to show the Father and to do the Father's will. He had come to be the Light of the world and to give men life more abundantly. He had come to be the servant of all, and to set men an example that they should follow His steps. He ha…
915 wordsSECTION 36Section 36
* F. Beyan, Hymns of Ter SUegen, 133. 92 A FAITHFUL SAYING of estrangement and alienation, and making us imagine that we are outcast from His Presence. It obscures the fact of our fellow- ship with Him, and destroys the freedom of our mutual inter- course. This is part of the essential curse of sin, the inevitable ou…
901 wordsSECTION 37Section 37
" Speaking of sins," said the friend, " there is a fault that I have often noticed in you." And he told him of his fault. " Liar ! " said the man, and smote him on the mouth.^ (2) Was it, then, ignorance of life, or of human nature, that led St. Paul so to speak of himself ? That was hardly possible. He lived when t…
952 wordsSECTION 38Section 38
(4) St. Paul is not therefore boasting of his sin. He is, on the contrary, glorying in his salvation. If Christ came just to save sinners, he says, in effect. Why that means me ; for that is what I am. There is a sense, then, no doubt, in which he can be said to be glad that he can claim to be a sinner. Not because he …
902 wordsSECTION 39Section 39
Marjoribanks (T.), The Fulness of the Godhead, 30. Martin (S.), Fifty Sermons, 73. Martjn (H. J.), For Christ and the Truth, 139. Milne (W.), Looking unto Jesus, 11. Plummer (A.), The Pastoral Epistles (Expositor's Bible), 130. Sanday (W.), Inspiration, 1. Swann (N. E.), New Lights on the Old Faith, 40. Tyndall …
963 wordsSECTION 40Section 40
I TIMOTHY III. i6 103 Now it is well to understand that the word in the New Testa- ment has no such sense. It means a thing once hidden, but now brought to light. It means a new discovery. It does not at all imply that the matter, when once revealed, is difficult of under- standing. It may be a very simple and element…
953 wordsSECTION 41Section 41
^ A. Plnmmer, The Pastoral Ejnstles, 133. I TIMOTHY III. i6 105 ^ For many years the great Alexandrian MS. was supposed to read Tlieos, 05, and scholars who examined it were confident they saw the line across the middle of the 0. It now turns out — and the discovery is a curious one — that the supposed line is really…
1,180 wordsSECTION 42Section 42
^ Soon after he had announced to his family his decision to take orders, he wrote to a cousin : — " ' What are the little things we fight for,' says Archbishop Leighton, ' compared with the great things of God ? ' There is so much to do in the Church about which no one could doubt, that it little matters differing on …
915 wordsSECTION 43Section 43
^ No one has yet discovered the word Jesus ought not to have said, none suggested the better word He might have said. No action of His has shocked our moral sense ; none has fallen short of the ideal. He is full of surprises, but they are all the surprises of perfection. You are never amazed, one day by His greatness, …
999 wordsSECTION 44Section 44
112 THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS voluntary manifestation of the person to whom it refers. " Shewed Himself to angels " would not be a correct translation, but would be a true paraphrase of the meaning of the words. Fresh light now begins to shine on these familiar words. They tell us not merely that during the earthly li…
933 wordsSECTION 45Section 45
Before the coming of the Messiah the Gentiles and Jews were two peoples ; a wall of partition kept them apart ; and the Jews imagined that the Gentiles were excluded from the covenant mercies of Jehovah, that they were for ever to remain "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the cove- nants of pro…
929 wordsSECTION 46Section 46
"When it is considered that Christianity was a stumbling-block to the Jew, and foolishness to the Greek ; that, instead of pander- ing to the lusts and passions of men, it waged eternal war against them ; and that at its introduction it was opposed to the religious views and customs of the whole civilized and barbarous…
945 wordsSECTION 47Section 47
2. The ascension was, so to speak, the last sacrament of Christ's life on earth. It closed by completing the manifestation of the Son of God. Hitherto the disciples had walked with Jesus, had talked with Him, had seen Him, had touched Him, and the visible and personal presence of Christ had been ever with them ; hencef…
1,047 wordsSECTION 48Section 48
Bodily exercise, St. Paul says, profiteth somewhat, or rather (as E.V.) is profitable for a little. It is as if an old man were writ- ing to a young man to-day, and should begin by saying: "Do not neglect your bodily health; take exercise daily; go to the gymnasium." But spiritual exercise, this writer goes on, has thi…
905 wordsSECTION 49Section 49
The word here translated " exercise " is the word for gymnastic training. A man is to grow strong and sound and agile by spiritual athletics. He is to exercise his spirit. He is to practise godliness. He is to practise self-denial, for instance. He is to habituate himself to pray and to think. He is to cultivate his gi…
960 wordsSECTION 50Section 50
^ J. Bryce, Studies in Contemporary Biogra^iliy, 351. 128 THE VALUE OF GODLINESS give pleasure to others will yet be found sufficient. One would not want anything else to live for in a world filled with such action. It would be sufficient happiness. Christ saw that men were smothered under the incidents of life ; tha…
976 wordsSECTION 51Section 51
I THESS.-HEB. 9 130 THE VALUE OF GODLINESS whose presence did not bring constraint but rather a perfect ease, and was an evocation of all that was best and finest in those near them.i 3. Now exercise means effort, often painful effort. No athlete is crowned unless he strives ; and he that striveth for the mastery- i…
1,084 wordsSECTION 52Section 52
^ In the early part of 1868, a Christian business man wrote to me for advice in his peculiarly difficult business affairs. His letter showed that he had a desire to walk in the ways of the Lord, and to carry on his business to the glory of God ; but his circum- stances were of the most trying character. I therefore wro…
948 wordsSECTION 53Section 53
3. "That which is to come." The promise of heaven does not throw the interest of life wholly into the future ; it rather brings the future to us than tells us coldly to tarry for the future. " Heavenly things " are of the highest secular value. For as health lightens labour and makes pleasure keener, so a cheerful good…
901 wordsSECTION 54Section 54
Only this can light the grave, Thou hast died : — and Thou wilt save :— Thou by lying low in earth Hast assured our second birth, Bidding in the sunless tomb Amaranthine roses bloom. If the spirit shivering shrink From annihilation's brink, Through the soul like sunshine come, " Death is but another womb : Born t…
1,001 wordsSECTION 55Section 55
I TIMOTHY VI. lo 143 reputations in the dark. For gold they defraud the hireling of his wages, and grind the faces of the poor, and wring the means of personal luxury from rotting houses or infamous pursuits. Gold corrupts trades and professions into that commercial standard which is often little better than systemati…
915 wordsSECTION 56Section 56
^ He never disparaged wealth, or slighted the qualities by which it is acquired. He did not tell men that it is a sin to make money, or to take pleasure in making it. He knew how strong a force wealth exerts ; how it fascinates and enthralls ; how the passion for it, if left uncontrolled, takes possession of a man's wh…
1,191 wordsSECTION 57Section 57
III. The Fruit of the Love of Money. 1. Wherever the consuming love of wealth is allowed to dwell, men become alienated from their God. They are " led astray from the faith." That is always the first thing that happens. When * George Eliot, &ila^ Mamer. ' J. A. Kerr Bain, The People of tht Fiigrim<tg«, ii. 379, 14…
900 wordsSECTION 58Section 58
"Sad losses have ye met, But mine is heavier yet, For a believing heart hath gone from me." " Alas ! " these pilgrims said, "For the living and the dead, For fortune's cruelty, for love's sure cross, For the wrecks of land and sea ! But, howe'er it came to thee, Thine, stranger, is life's last and heaviest loss. …
969 wordsSECTION 59Section 59
^ After all, what is wealth ? My noble and severe parent had it in goodly quantity, but it cannot be said that it made him happy. He was far from being a happy man. And so it is with many people. I remember when I was a youth at Lii-chow that riches and promotions seemed as very gifts of the Celestial Regions. But I ha…
987 wordsSECTION 60Section 60
Our charities, the offerings which we offer to God, too often cost us nothing, and therefore, as a consequence, they profit us nothing ; they help us little or not at all in the way to heaven ; nay, rather, in their littleness serve only as an acknowledgment that we recognize a duty which yet we are refusing to fulfil.…
1,001 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1910); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.