PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Great Texts of the Bible — Volume 1
James Hastings · 160,791 words · 166 reading sections
Section 121
1. The fire on the altar, therefore, denotes that inner life of reverence and love, trust and consecration and loyalty towards God which constitutes the religious spirit and creates the truly religious character. 2. The fire on the altar is not the outward acts of devotion, but iJie spirit which expresses itself in th…
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^ So far as it is a sacred place, a vestal temple, a temple ol the hearth watched over by Household Gods, before whose faces none may come but those whom they can receive with love, — so far as it is this, and roof and fire are types only of a nobler shade and light, — shade as of the rock in a weary land, and light as…
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4. Divine grace is well typified by fire. There is nothing which gives such an idea of vital energy as fire. Of all forces, when you think of power, it is the most powerful. And this fire of Divine grace is kindled in the heart, and acts upon every portion of it It is the Divine life. It comes like light to the intelle…
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The ashes are our sins ; the things that day by day and hour by hour lie upon our consciences ; the things that we know are wrong. And whatever we do we must not allow these sins to lie upon our hearts ; we must get rid of them regularly, because, if we do not, just as the accumulating ashes would have smothered the fi…
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^ " It has been the greatest error of my life," said a great man in his old age, "not learning to avail myself as I should have done of the help of prayer." And what moral loss and failure proceed from this neglect ! It is an ethical as well as a religious mistake. Superficial are we in all our observation and experien…
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% The truth revealed in the Scriptures, indeed, is the instrumentality which the Holy Spirit employs for communication of the life of God to the soul. " Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth." And by the same instrumentality is this life sustained. The prayer of our Lord for His disciples was, " Sanctify the…
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^ Without uncharitableness, it may be said that much of our scepticism and unbelief is simply the scepticism of neglected souls and the unbelief of world-worn hearts. It is often remarked that, in our distracted and overcrowded life, it requires much efifort to keep our friendships with one another. But think you it re…
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^ A. Maclaren. LEVITICUS XVI. 22 355 be covered over (atoned) for you, to make you clean ; from all your sins before Jehovah, ye shall be cleansed." And while the prostrate multitude worshipped at the name of Jehovah, the high- priest turned his face towards them as he uttered the last words, " Ye shall be cleansed !…
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' 0. H. Sptirgeua. ' S»ying of llubammad. LEVITICUS XVI. 22 357 evil angels who formed unholy alliances with the " daughters of men " (Gen. vi 2, 4). But whatever the precise attributes with which Azazel was invested at the time when the ritual of Lev. xvi. was framed, there can be little doubt that the ceremonial wa…
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» T. O. 8«lby. LEVITICUS XVI. 22 359 transferred to a pair of victims, one of which was slain at the altar where its life was offered to an offended God, whilst the other was driven forth into the wilderness, carrying into inac- cessible places the burden placed upon it The principle needed fine definitions and caref…
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Best, weary heart! The penalty is borne, the ransom paid, For all thy sins full satisfaction made ! Strive not to do thyself what Christ has done. Claim the free gift, and make the joy thine own; No more by pangs of guilt and fear distrest, Best ! calmly rest ! IV. Sacrifice and Sepakation. Once a year the sins …
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And so the scapegoat bore the sins of the people into the land of separation. Leave it there, and come to Calvary. We seem to see the Scapegoat of the human family led by the hand of the "fit man." We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews that the Lord Jesus Christ, "hy the eternal Spirit" offered Himself to God. That sa…
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1M Come with Us. And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you : come thou with us, and we will do thee good : for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. And he said unto him, I will not go ; but I wil…
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^ The world is very much what you and I choose to make it. God intends it to be a place of discipline for the heirs of glory ; a place of preparation for heaven ; a place in which we may be trained and fitted for the high destiny to which He has called us — just what the wilderness was to Israel. Now, if we use the wor…
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^ Better to take Moses for our example when he prayed, as the ark set forward and the march began, " Eise up, 0 Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered," than to follow him in eagerly seeking some Hobab or other to show us where we should go. Better to commit our resting times to God with Moses' prayer when the ark ha…
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IL The Pilgrim and his Friends. i. The Invitation. It is one of those kindly gracious invitations which abound throughout the Word of God. It is the invitation of one relative to another. By faith, Moses saw before him the Promised Land ; he realized it. " Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of …
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^ When the Church says " Come thou with us " to any who are hesitating and undecided, her face is heavenwards, her movement is in that way; she holds in her hand the roll of promise, the map of " the better country, even the heavenly," and sees her own title to possession written there as with the finger of God. She is…
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2. This argument is used by the Church. The Church says with assurance, Come with us and we will do thee good ; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. It says this with emphasis ; it says it pleadingly. It has blessings, promises, and powers, of which it is sure. It knows that men are in need of what it posse…
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IF I believe you will seldom get much good unless you are willing also to confer good ; those who are the nearest to the heart of the preacher, in all Christian service, will in all probability be most spiritually enriched under his ministry.^ 2. This argument also is used by the Church. It is a powerful ' 0. H. Spur…
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^ A. Maulareu. ' W. R. NicoU, Suiuiay Eveniv^g, 83. NUMBERS X. 29-31 385 ^ Think of the Church's task in its widest aspect — to claim the world for God, to let them that sit in darkness see the great light, anointed like the Church's Lord to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver…
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^ They did well, when they came to Moses, and said, " We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee." So far as I know, it is the only real expression of true sorrow and willing confession which we find in the wilderness story. "We have sinned." And if so, it is well worth while for us to notice…
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IV. The Good Effect. i. Life — "When he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived " (Num. xxi. 9). • Joseph Parker. 392 LOOK AND LIVE ii. Eternal Life — " that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life " (John iil 15). L A Pressing Danger, The danger is — (i.) Death from the bite of a serpent (Num. xxi. …
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IT Sin can have but one ending — death — death — death. The Boul that ainneth it shall die, so rings the warning of God. How foolishly we talk of it ! When it is the child, we say, " He is young, and will grow better." When it is the youth, we say, " Let him sow his wild oats, and he will settle down." Ah, what cruel f…
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» "Th» Dahi»t*n " ia Field'i Book of EcmUm. Wisdom, 121, 396 LOOK AND LIVE n. A Way of Escape. The way is — (i.) a brazen serpent lifted up on a pole ; (ii.) a Sin-bearer lifted up on the cross. L The Brazen Serpent 1. The command to make a brazen or copper serpent, and set it on some conspicuous place, that to l…
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3. That serpent, so like in many points to those which hurt the people, so like in colour, in form, in outward show, was yet unlike in one, and that the most essential point of all — in this, namely, that it was not poisonous, as they were ; that there was no harm or hurt in it, as there was in them. Exactly so the res…
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I feel a need divine That meeteth need of mine; No rigid fate I meet, no law austere. I see my God, who turns And o'er His creature yearns: Upon the cross God gives and claims the tear.' III. The Acceptance of the Offer of Escape. The offer of escape is accepted — (i.) by looking to the brazen serpent ; (ii.) by b…
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NUMBERS XXI. 8, 9 403 He is on our side in all our struggles to subdue and cast it oufc. ii. Believing in the Sin-bearer. 1. The brazen serpent was to be looked upon. The wounded persons were to turn their eyes towards it, and so to be healed. So Christ, lifted up on the Cross, is to be believed on, to be looked upo…
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» 8. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Screice, 16. ' H. Thorue. * J. J. Mackay. NUMBERS XXI. 8, 9 405 IV. The Good Effect. The effect is — (i.) life : " when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived " ; (ii.) eternal life : " that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life." I. Life. It does not seem possibl…
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NUMBERS XXI. 8, 9 407 in the sun," God's will must be his law, God's glory his light, God's presence his blessedness, God's love his inspiration and joy.^ IF I distinguish between Life, which is our Being in God, and Eternal Life, which is the Light of the Life, that is, fellowship with the Author, Substance, and For…
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412 THE DEATH TO DIE ever thou sayest unto me : come, therefore, I pray thee, and curse me this people." The spirit of avarice, awakened by the first embassy, had now got full possession of Balaam; and, therefore, though he made the most pompous protestations of his entire fidelity to God, and of the utter impossibil…
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3. The literal translation of the text is, " Let my soul (or my life) die the death of righteous men, and let my future be like that of one of them." The future, or last end (as our translation gives it) is a very general expression, and may mean anything that comes after. The authors of the old Greek version of the Se…
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3. To Balaam's mind, however, as the context shows, the term " the righteous " had a special application. He meant " the righteous people," as they called themselves, the chosen nation. " Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be …
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^ " Now and then," says Peter Eosegger, " I take my soul out from its cage. I smooth its wings and brush away the dust. Then I throw it up, to see how high it can go. It flies up above the housetop, it circles round and round. It settles on a neighbouring tree. It looks up, but the sky is so far. It looks down, the ear…
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At end of Love, at end of Life, At end of Hope, at end of Strife, At end of all we cling to so — The sun is setting — must we go ? At dawn of Love, at dawn of Life, At dawn of Peace that follows Strife, At dawn of all we long for so — The sun is rising — let us go!^ 2. There was but One in this world to whom could fi…
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3. Balaam envied the prospects of the dying Hebrew ; but when we consider the blessedness of those who die " in the Lord," we feel that his old prayer is truer than ever. The earliest recorded example is that of St. Stephen. At his trial his enemies gnashed upon him with their teeth, but his Friend in heaven brought in…
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' Katharine Tynau Hiuksou. 426 THE DEATH TO DIE to pronounce a lucrative curse upon them. And this was the end of the man who had said, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his ! " In all history there is no more signal instance of the literal fulfilment of the most fearful impre- cati…
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428 THE DEATH TO DIE forsake the man ? What is that conversion which a man pro- fesses, when the nerves are unstrung, the frame prostrated, the mind enfeebled, the functions in disorder, the power to think, meditate, and pray reduced to a minimum by restlessness, fever, and pain ? Whatever may come of this in another …
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^ It is strange, at first sight, that those texts which warn men that their sins will be punished in this life are just the most unpleasant texts in the whole Bible ; that men shrink from them more, and shut their eyes to them more than they do to those texts which threaten them with hell-fire and everlasting death. St…
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^ In Greek history we read of a man named Ibycus who lived five centuries before the birth of Christ, and was a popular poet in his own generation. While travelling through an unfrequented region near Corinth, he was set upon by a band of robbers and mortally wounded. As he was on the point of expiring he saw a flock o…
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NUMBERS XXXII. 23 437 nobody suspects him. He moves in a good circle of society, and manages so to talk and so to act that no one entertains a suspicion of his being a hypocrite. Yet there is one who has followed the man like his shadow : there is one who has turned with every turning, and kept the track like a bloodh…
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The tender light Of peaceful evening, and the saintly night. Sweet still the scent of roses; only this, They hau a perfume then which now I miss. > J. H. Navniu. 'J. 0. Umbert. NUMBERS XXXII. 23 439 Yea, too, I can recall the night wherein Did first begin The joy of that intoxicating sin. Late was the day in April,…
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" Not God Himself can make undone." For that which has been, still must live, And 'neath the shallow Present last. Oh, who will sweet oblivion give, Who free us from the dreadful Past?* (2) Sin finds out the sinner not only by bitter memories of the past but also by an unhappy and ineffective present. It cripples an…
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^ A well-known theologian has argued against the identity of consequence and punishment in the following words : " Two men are equally guilty of drunkenness and profligacy. But one of them is a man of robust constitution : he has wealth and leisure. He sins and sins flagrantly; but he shoots in the autumn, hunts in the…
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(2) Take a less obvious sin. Take Resentfulness. Suppose that a man is natui'ally resentful and unforgiving. He may, in spite of this, have a great number of excellences, very high views, great self-devotion to God's service, great faith, great sanctity. I can fancy such a person almost arguing himself out of his own c…
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3. If it is a fact that sin has its punishment — if it be true that, go wherever I may, my sin follows me and will find me out — " How am I to be saved ? " I wiU tell you. You have, first of all, to find your sin out instead of waiting for sin to find » P. H. Wicksteed. 448 SIN THE DETECTIVE you. You say, " How can …
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The work of Christ does mainly these two things for us. It secures us the pardon of God, and it creates a new spirit within us. (1) It secures the pardon of God. — The pardon of God, though ^ Marcns Dods. GEN.-NUM. — 29 450 SIN THE DETECTIVE it does not check consequences or reverse natural law, gives us very diffe…
710 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.