PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Great Texts of the Bible — Volume 19
James Hastings · 162,584 words · 167 reading sections
Section 1
m^' THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE MAY 1 f? 1914 ED^D BV THE REV. M?^.,„^ ^^^ JAMES HASTINGS, D.D. EDITOR OF "THE EXPOSITORY TIMES" "THE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE "THE DICTIONARY OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPELS" AND "THE ENCYCLOPiKDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS" JAMES to JUDE NEW YORK CHARLES SG…
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(2) No one can read Holy Scripture without being struck by the variety of gifts which are bestowed by God. It was He who breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, so that man became a living soul. Wherever we see life — life in the plant, or in the bird that sings to us, or in the little child that is playing in…
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I asked for bread; God gave a stone instead. Yet, while I pillowed there my weary head. The angels made a ladder of my dreams, Which upward to celestial mountains led. And, when I woke beneath the morning's beams, Around my resting place fresh manna lay; And, praising God, I went upon my way. For I was fed. God answer…
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^ " When, Sir Walter," said Queen Elizabeth to that gallant knight, Ealeigh, who was persistently interceding for offenders, » Saxe Holm. " A. W. Robinson, The Voice of Jmj and Health, 82. JAMES I. 17 9 " when will you cease to be a beggar ? " " When your Majesty will cease to be a benefactor," was the reply. 3. Ev…
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* A. F. W. Ingram, Inlo the Fighting Line, 229. The Prayer of a Righteous Man. 13 Literature. Abbott (E. A.), Cambridge Sermons, 95. Banks (L, A.), The Great Promises of the Bible, 34. Boyd (A. K. H.), The Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson, 162. Cook (F, C), Church Doctrine and Spiritual Life, 89. Cornaby (W.…
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JAMES V. i6 17 I. The Force of Prayer. 1. It is strange that we understand so little about prayer ; with most people, including the greater part of the professedly rehgious, it is regarded simply as a sort of spiritual safety-valve, adapted to relieve the soul from strain and over-pressure ; is any afflicted, they s…
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(3) Intercession is also a great force because it brings into action the power of God ; just as the tribune's veto obtained its force from the fact that it was not spoken by him on his own responsibility. It was strong because armed with the strength of law ; it was strong, not with the strength of even a Tiberius Grac…
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^ I was reading, recently, an account by Bishop Boyd Vincent ^ J. R. Harris, Memoranda Sacra, 113. A. Murray, The Ministry of Intercession, 59. 22 THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN of a wonderful revival of religion throughout the whole American continent. It began with a humble lay missionary in New York, who started, …
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^ Dora Greenwell, Essays, 128. 2 L. A. Banks, The Great Promises of the Bible, 36. 24 THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN people themselves were ill and could not help us much. But the Korannas, good people, won our hearts by their devotion. They live in huts covered with mats and surrounded by a little wall, and when the…
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^ C. D. Lampen, Spiritual Power, 88. 26 THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN are brought before me, and I hear their voices and see them look and move almost plainer than I ever did when they were really with me so as I could touch them. And then my heart is drawn out towards them, and I feel their lot as if it were my own,…
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Would admire that I stand in debate! But the small turns the great If it vexes you, — that is the thing! Toad or rat vex the king? Though I waste half my realm to unearth Toad or rat, 'tis well worth!" So, I soberly laid my last plan To extinguish the man. Eound his creep-hole with never a break Ean my fires f…
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1. Blessed. — There is a distinction maintained in Scripture between " blessed " as applied to God, and " blessed " as applied to men. Although we are obliged to use the same term for both in our language, they are distinct in the Greek. That which is applied to God means to be pronounced blessed; that which is applied…
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I PETER I. 3 37 lips of God Himself that He will forgive sin, no human creature can be sure that sin will ever be forgiven.^ 11. The Means of our Living Hope. It is by means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that we obtain our living hope. But we are said not simply to obtain it but to be " begotten…
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^ This is one of the unique phrases of the Christian vocabulary. It is not to be found in systems of thought which are alien from the Christian religion. It is not to be found in the vocabulary of any of the modern schools which are severed from the facts and forces of the Christian faith. The emphasis of their teachin…
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A wand'rer I, oh ! living Lord ; I come, I cling to Thee ; My Brother loved, my God adored. Life, Eest and Home for me. III. The Nature of our Hope. 1. It is called " a living hope." In what sense is it living ? (1) It is the hope of a living man. — A dead man cannot think, cannot wish, cannot hope, neither can a…
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44 A LIVING HOPE millions. Once more, let it be repeated that it is belief in the literal physical resurrection which has immensely strengthened and confirmed men's hope in immortality. It was not in the least that as men looked on Jesus' grave their instincts told them that such human goodness had only been transplan…
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(2) It is a hope that assures us of the triumph of righteousness in the earth. — Everywhere, the Apostles saw men " rise on stepping stones of their dead selves " to higher things, to a new life, lifted out of the grave of an unholy career into a noble and saintly manhood. How was it accomplished? It was due, not to th…
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^ David Gregg, iu The Treasarij, July 1899, p. 248. - Sir .lolni Beaumont. I PETER I. 3 49 (4) It is a hope that glorifies death. — The Eesurrection does not merely proclaim immortality. It declares likewise that death leads to life. It assures us that death is the portal to eternity. Thus it glorifies death; it crow…
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53 54 LOVE AND JOY IN BELIEVING form of Christian love. He who loves his deliverer simply as a deliverer loves for the lowest of all reasons, merely because he has been rescued. But he who loves his Saviour for what that Saviour is, loves Him for the highest of all reasons, because He is Supreme Love, perfect Grace a…
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1 F. B. Meyer, Tried hy Fire, 39. 56 LOVE AND JOY IN BELIEVING preserve some natural semblance of Divine and infinite mystery. The passionate and exulting fondness of the mother for her babe, of the boy for his parent, of the young bridegroom for his bride, is drawn forth, not by the actual realities of its objects, …
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^ A. Maclareu. * James Stalker. * Matthew Arnold, Essays in Criticism, 1st Ser., 220. 58 LOVE AND JOY IN BELIEVING ^ The climax of every emotion is silence. The climax of anger is not the thunder, not the earthquake, not the fire, not even the still small voice ; it is the absence of any voice at all ; we say habitu…
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When he again sat upon his horse, he hardly knew how he had got there. He was overcome by excitement, his heart beat, he knew not whither he rode. But the Lord had kept His word. Sweetness, happiness, and joy streamed into his soul — flowed and kept flowing, although his soul seemed full and more full — like the clear …
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Many centuries had gone by, and the Temple still stood, after many vicissitudes, in something like its earliest grandeur, and on its ancient site, when Jerusalem, the Holy City, witnessed another and a different scene. In some humble dwelling, in one of its obscurer streets, a little company of worshippers was gathere…
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68 THE TEMPLE OF LIVING STONES Eock, Eock of Ages, Stone of the Corner — Angulare Funda- mentum. And we have indeed abundant Scriptures where He appears in all the glory and in all the power of Life. " I am he that liveth," " I am the life." But here only do the two truths meet in one magnificent witness to His worth …
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(2) There must be no deformity in the stones. — You have probably visited one or another of our cathedrals, and, if so, you may have noticed that a process of repair is always going on in some part of the building. Stones once thought good and sound have developed a flaw ; or under the influence of the rain and frost a…
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II. The Priesthood. St. Peter changes the figure from " a spiritual house " to " a holy priesthood." After saying, " Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house," he adds, " to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." To understand the meaning of th…
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In the Church of the living God we are all set to carve the beauty of the face of Christ, not on the rafters or walls of any cathedral, but on our own heart and life. Be it ours to do this work with such care and skill that, when our eyes are closed in death, men may look with reverence upon the beauty of the face our …
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1 J. W. Burgon, The Lives of Tivelve Good Men, i. 17. ■■* The Journal of John Wesley, ii. 8. I PETER II. 4, 5 "]"] the ideal that he proclaims with his lips aud cherishes in his heart and sets forth in his life ; by contributing to the creation of a Christian public opinion, and by impressing and (so far as may be) e…
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1. A large number of those who profess and call themselves Christians would fain blot out Calvary from the system of Christian morality. They would tell us that it was only an accident in the onward march of Divine revelation, that the Saviour's sufferings had in them nothing mediatorial, nothing atoning ; and, on the …
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^ Prebendary Cross. 84 A PROPITIATION AND A PATTERN ^ To-day I had a long and strange interview with a lady who has recently become a member of the congregation. . . . She aslced me if I had ever known a case of trial so severe as hers. " Yes," I replied : " numbers ; it is the case of all. Suffering is A'^ery common…
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*f[ It is interesting to notice how, as his life went on, and his inspiration became more full, this Apostle came to understand, as being the very living and heart centre of his religion, the thing which at first was a stumbling-block and mystery to him. You remember that when Christ was here on earth, and was surround…
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II. The Example. *' Leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps." i. Christ is an example. 1. The word " example " in the text is a highly technical word. It was a word that was specifically employed by the old writers ^ to indicate the headline of a copy, given by the master for the pupil to imitate, to …
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And a certain aloofness of spirit is required. Of spirit, not of body. I am not to retire to any herifiitage or desert or solitary's cell. No arbitrary fences are to divide me from my neighbours. Yet, if I would be an epistle of Christ, I must hold on firmly to the heavenly life around the earthly life; my heart will m…
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^ The most intelligent Christians here cannot see why they should not have everything we have. They have no national costume, and every one of them would like to have clothes just like ours, from hat to shoes, regardless of the fact that they would be miserable in such dress. One of our elders made me fairly shudder, s…
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^ Golden Thoughts of Carmen Sylva, 35. I PETER 11. 21 95 tragedy at Whitehall, the most tragic, perhaps, all things con- sidered, in the history of our country, when, as the old poet Marvell says,— He nothing common did or mean Upon that memorable scene ; But with his keener eye The axe's edge did try, Nor Heav…
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would never have been the deep source of comfort and of inspira- tion which they have proved to thousands. The very knowledge that one who worked out the voyage of his life so truly and so firmly could so suffer and so declare his suffering, is calculated to console and strengthen many who endure partially his pain and…
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I PETER II. 21 99 bitter essence in the Cup of a Divine Person, but is distributed in the earthly vessels of ordinary people, and we stand aghast at the lot of the victims. Were our vision purged and power given us to detect spiritual effects, then we would understand, and cease to complain. We would see the hard cru…
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Christian experience it would seem to mar the force of his argu- 103 I04 THE ETHICS OF THE ATONEMENT ment. " It is better," he cries, " if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing." Why ? Because Christ gave you the great example ? There surely is the supreme motive for Christians. But no. He ca…
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(2) Bare our sins. — The word rendered " bare " has a singular fulness of significance ; it is a sacrificial term, constantly used in the Septuagint for offering sacrifice : here it includes two meanings. Our Lord took up our sins, and in His own body which He offered on the cross He expiated them. It must also be note…
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^ There are three great trees of the Bible, towering above all other trees, as the cedars of Lebanon tower above the humble shrubs. These are the tree of life in Eden, the tree of death on Calvary, and the tree of life in heaven. The first is the tree for the sinless, the second is the tree for the sinful, and the thir…
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1. Having died unto sins. — Every Christian is like Christ. He was born to die for our sins ; and we are born again to die to sin. Our death to sin is like His death for sin ; our new life is like His new life when He rose from the grave. Until we have died to sin, we have not begun really to live. We live truly only w…
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^ After the sins of the past have been blotted out, is it necessary to the perpetuity of atoning grace that others shall perpetually take their place ? A simple illustration may perhaps show the unreasonableness of this thought. Sins spring from sin, as the eruptions on the skin of a patient suffering from measles or s…
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1. St. Peter's Epistle might be called the Epistle of exhortation. It is a persuasive plea for a lofty, spiritual character. In this letter, the courageous though impetuous Peter, the practical Apostle, shows that he was capable of lofty flights, and that his conception of the Christian character was all-comprehensive …
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^ The redemptive suffering of Jesus is the suffering of His heart. The virtue of His Passion lay in the spirit that He manifested. The human and material environment of the Master's death has dominated our thought too much. I do not think that the material incidents of Gethsemane and Calvary were essential to our redem…
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4 The suffering of Christ reconciles men to God. — As a rivulet, after its toilsome, lonely progress past moor and forest, falls into the larger current of the river, as the river, after many windings and doublings, pours itself into the sea, so the soul, after the vain struggles of self-will, is reconciled to the rive…
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124 DEPTHS OF MERCY preached to those sinful men as He preached to sinful men in the time of His Incarnation. But the reference in verse 22 to the Ascension seems to suggest that the preaching took place after Christ's death. ^ The weighty authority of E. H. Charles may be invoked to prove that the interpretation whi…
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O the generations old, Over whom no church-bells tolled, Christless, lifting up blind eyes To the silence of the skies ! For the innumerable dead Is my soul disquieted. Hear'st thou, 0 of little faith, What to thee the mountain saith. What is whisper'd by the trees ? — " Cast on God thy care for these ; Trust Him…
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I PETER III. 18-22 129 and he could not compose the song. Agitated, disturbed, and conscience-stricken, he left the room. Eight days after he had forgotten the event, but he had not forgotten the song ; he took the zithern again, and began to finish the song — a song of an un- requited love. And he lifted up his eyes …
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1. A. Gurney, TJce Living Lard, 129. Human Anxiety and Divine Care. ««3 Literature. Arnold (T.), Sermons, ii. 1V3. Davies (D.), Talks with Men, Women and Children, vi. 382. Edmunds (J.), Sermons, 74. Ellis (J.), Golden Truths for Young Folk, 33. Earningham (M.), In Evening Lights, 9. Hort (F. J, A.), Village S…
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I I PETER V. 7 137 birds of care have built their nests, and where little can be heard but their importunate croakings.^ 2. But let us distinguish. There is a proper care, a care that is praiseworthy. The best Christians see that life is scarcely possible and certainly is not useful without some amount of pains. In …
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Be not much troubled about many things, Fear often hath no whit of substance in it, And lives but just a minute; While from the very snow the wheat-blade springs. And light is like a flower, That bursts in full leaf from the darkest hour. And He who made the night, Made, too, the flowery sweetness of the light. Be i…
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If we could cast our care on Thee, If we from self could rest ; And feel at heart that One above, In perfect wisdom, perfect love, Is working for the best.^ 2. We need have no fear that the abandonment of our anxieties will leave us unprovided or undefended. Better provision will be made for us than we could possib…
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^ The whole current of modern thought runs against this faith. It insists on the insignificance of man. It emphasizes the * George MacDonald. 144 HUMAN ANXIETY AND DIVINE CARE question which Pascal shuddered at. What are we, shut in and lost amidst these frightful wastes of space, encompassed by flaming and unknown …
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I PETER V. 7 147 go. (4) Fourthly, it is a trust that rejoices, that has " joy in God, whatever happens." I am certain that the child of God who really believes in this superintending care ought to have more joy ; I do not think anything ought to be able to drag us down if we believe it. This childlike trust ought to …
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This does not deny what has been described in the life of a Christian as a " continual exchange of care for peace," but it does strongly suggest that the strengthening sense of God's interest in us may depend on our having reached a point when we, by an act of the faith and will co-operating, definitely take up our bur…
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It is a demand for business vigilance in the realm of the Spirit. We are not to close our eyes and to allow our limbs to hang limp in the expectancy that the Lord will carry us like blind logs. He " made us of clay," but He " formed us men," and as men He purposes that we shall live and move and have our »53 154 THE …
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156 THE UNFOLDING OF CHARACTER decay together, so near is the affinity and sympathy between them. ^ Every added virtue strengthens and transfigures every other virtue. Every addition to character affects the colour of the entire character. Kuskin, in his great work, Modern Painters, devotes one chapter to what he cal…
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The writer, then, is not " preaching the Gospel " ; he is not making known to the ignorant what they have not heard, or urging on the wicked and impenitent what they have neglected ; he is not proclaiming pardon, mercy, reconciliation, and so on, to the miserable and the lost ; he is contemplating persons of another so…
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The Bishop then said that faith might begin in various ways. It might begin within or without ; but if it was to be a permanent thing, if it was to be supreme over life, then it must find its root at last within the soul. Faith must be a total, not a partial — a continuous, not a desultory — energy. Faith must be light…
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IL Virtue. 1. The word " virtue " cannot be taken here in the sense which it bears in ordinary use. As a general term it is employed to designate all excellence; — here, it is only one excellence out of many. It must stand, therefore, for something distinct and specific. It does so. It stands, according to the exact …
985 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.