PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Great Texts of the Bible — Volume 9
James Hastings · 191,666 words · 197 reading sections
Section 61
^ Bishop Stubba. 154 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE has been heard before, but how many of us are sufficiently superior to the conventional and artificial distinction of modern society really to believe in the honourableness of handicraft ? If people believe in it, why are they so anxious to escape from it ? Why is it …
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^ Assuming, as we reasonably may, that Joseph died some time before Jesus was thirty years old, we may find in this fact some new points of contact with the sympathy of Christ. The father being dead, Jesus as eldest son would become the head of the household. On Him would now devolve the charge of supporting Mary and t…
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II One does not look for a bird of paradise to be hatched in the nest of crossed sticks built by the rook, and these critics scarcely expected to see the brilliant Deliverer who had been the subject of prophecy for twenty centuries emerging from a cottage. The Hindus compare a pretender to a crow which has stuck a pome…
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^ Jesus has drawn very near to us in our generation. We have been made to feel Him as a Brother, as a living, breathing man, touched with all the feeling of our infirmities. Baci in the Gospels in their primal form we have gone, to let the old tale tell upon us in its simplicity. All this has been for the good. Jesus h…
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i6s i66 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE which sin has made. Christ's message to all is " Come unto me " (Matt. xi. 28); for He has "made peace through the blood of his cross." It is true that Christ has sometimes to say " Depart " (Luke xiii. 27), but His characteristic word is " Come." There are seven invitations, whi…
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6. The Invitation to the Dead (John xi. 43), " Come forth." — It was a call to Lazarus, and he obeyed it. "The hour is at hand when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth." But not like Lazarus, to spend a little time longer on the earth. The call to come forth from the grave will be follo…
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* Alfred Rowland. ST. MARK 171 Thro' burden and heat of the day How weary the hands and the feet That labour with scarcely a stay, Thro' burden and heat! Tired toiler whose sleep shall be sweet, Kneel down, it will rest thee to pray: Then forward, for daylight is fleet. Cool shadows show lengthening and grey, Co…
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Old things need not be therefore true, 0 brother men, nor yet the new: Ah, still awhile the old retain. And yet consider it again! Alas! the old world goes its way. And takes its truth from each new day; They do not quit, nor can retain, Far less consider it again. 3. It is necessary for the spirit. There are cases i…
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^ The injunction which insults me every time I travel by the Underground is " Please hurry on for the lift." The " please " is in diamond type, and you need a microscope to see it. The " hurry " you can read a mile away. Hurry, then, by all means, for we could not live if we did not kill ourselves to get some- where el…
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^ The wholesome and happy holiday should have its own proper occupation. As William Cowper sings — 'Tis easy to resign a toilsome place. But not to manage leisure with a grace; Absence of occupation is not rest, A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed. * G. H. Morrison. ST. MARK — 12 1/8 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE…
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^ In the most impressionable years of my life I came under the influence of a teacher who was philosopher, historian, and poet — the late Thomas Goadby, Principal of the Midland Baptist College. Nature he loved with a deep and tender and passionate love, and Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. She filled …
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^ When a man, by touching a button or turning a switch, causes an electric lamp, or a dozen or a hundred lamps, to flash into incandescence, it is plainly not from the switch or from the operator's finger that the light proceeds. By turning the switch ST. MARK 183 he merely makes the necessary contact between the wir…
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Baring-Gould (S.), Village Preaching, 2nd Ser., ii. 99. Deshon (G.), Sermons for the Ecclesiastical Year, 330. Ellerton (J.), Holiest Manhood, 78. Frinder (D.), Worship of Heaven, 48. Furae (C. W.), Sermons Preached at Richmond, 121. Gibbons (J. C), Discourses and Sermons, 391. Hare (J. C), Hirstmonceux Chapel Se…
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ST. MARK 189 dawned but slowly on His contemporaries. Kepeated miracles were requisite to gain any hearing whatever for the claims of the Nazarene ; and after all His miracles, except the last and most stupendous, there was always a residue of doubt which vented itself in the desire to see some sign of their own choos…
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3. Some admired hut did not adore. Perhaps this is all that these men of the DecapoHs meant when they said, "He hath done all things well." " It may be no more," says Hort, " than a rather unmeaning kind of applause, such as might have been given almost as readily to a conjuror as to the Saviour of men." This was certa…
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IL Adoration. Having reached Adoration, we can use the words of the people of the Decapolis and say, " He hath done all things well : he maketh even the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." ^ Bam2'ton Lectures, 362. * J. G, Paton, Autobiogra2)hy, 32Q, ST. MARK — 13 194 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE 1. There is the…
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^ R. Browning, SaiU. ' H. T. Kerr. » Life and Sermons, 386. 196 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE Ah Lord, Lord, if my heart were right with Thine, As Thine with mine, then should I rest resigned, Awaiting knowledge with a quiet mind Because of heavenly wisdom's anodyne. Then would Thy Love be more to me than wine, The…
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^At Aix-la-Chapelle is the tomb of the great Emperor Charlemagne. He was buried in the central space beneath the dome ; but the manner of his burial is one of the most impressive sermons ever preached. In the death-chamber beneath the floor he sat on a marble chair — the chair in which kings had been crowned — wrapped …
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^ I remember some years ago being present at a meeting held ' The Gospel of Jvy, 269. ^ Bishop Gore. * E. Brewin. * E. W. Dale. ST. MARK . 203 in honour of an old teacher who was passing into retirement. A large company had gathered together, among them men who had made their mark in public life. Several of these r…
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^ The late George Eomanes, one who himself stood in the first rank of scientific knowledge, and who enjoyed a singularly large range of acquaintance among men of light, has put it on record in his posthumous thoughts about religion that he has found it in his own experience true, — and he passed the greater part of his…
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A man must live; we justify Low shift and trick to treasure high A little note for a little gold To a whole senate bought and sold By that self-evident reply. » Fanar, Life of Christ, i. 136. « R. W. Dale. 2o8 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE But is it 80 ? Pray tell me why Life at such cost you have to buy ? In what re…
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Sweet cares for love or friend Which ever heavenward tend, Too deep and true and tender to have on earth their end. These in the soul do breed Thoughts which, at last, shall lead To some clear, firm assurance of a satisfying creed.^ 2. If our faith is dim and variable, so was that of those who walked with Christ when…
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1 H. E. Thomas. 2i6 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE the message her own. In this sense it is most true that we believe in order that we may know. (2) It is a principle of power. For faith not only apprehends the unseen, but enters into vital union with it, and so wields, according to its strength, the powers of the worl…
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^ We do not say there are no others to help our unbelief. There are books and teachers and pastors and friends who help our unbelief. A Cambridge professor once declared that no student of his ever left the university without being permanently influenced by the study of Butler's Analogy. Walker's Philosophy of the Plan…
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iv. His Prayer. ** I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." 1. When we take the prayer in its entirety, it may seem to us a hrief and imperfect confession, and a prayer which it were needless for us to use. Certainly the words recorded by St. Mark were the expression of a weak, rudimentary faith : a confession due to in…
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^ Chief Justice Coleridge once confessed that his mind was sorely perplexed on the question of inspiration. He was told that " most of the men who had difficulties on that subject were too wicked to be reasoned with." We may be sure that this answer was as little pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom the man who …
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^ Bishop Westcott has said, " Faith is a principle of power." Yes, and Christ is the great Power which, as a magnet, draws all faith to Himself. It is to be in touch with Christ that gives faith power. Can peach renew lost bloom, Or violet lost perfume; Or sullied snow turn white as overnight? Man cannot compass it…
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2. Five things — putting together St. Matthew's and St. Mark's and St. Luke's narrative — five things our Saviour did with " the little children " who were brought to Him. He shielded them under unkindness, and through rebuke brought them to Himself. Next He took them in His arms, an act of simple love, His humanity pl…
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There are three things in the text — I. An Encouragement — " Suffer the little children to come unto me." II. A Reproof — " Forbid them not." III. A Eevelation — " Of such is the kingdom of God." ' Samxiel Cox. 2-,2 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE An Encouragement. The encouragement was to the mothers of the children…
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1 M. G. Tearso. / 234 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE the service of song, for the sake of the other sleepers. There was silence for a brief moment. Then it was broken again by the child's voice. "Father." "Yes, little lad." "Is your face turned this way ? " And, with his heart strangely stirred and warmed, the father …
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On the present occasion He encouraged the parents to bring their children to Him whatever their bodily or spiritual state might be. He did not say to them, " Take these children hence." He did not say, " They can get no good from me until they are older," He did not say, " Bring them back to me when they can understand…
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Just as I am, without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, 0 Lamb of God, I come. IL A Eepeoof. "When Jesus saw it, he was much displeased." It is a strong word that is used. This is the only time in the whole of the Gospel narrative that such a strong word is used of H…
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* C. H. Spurgeon. ST. MARK i4i inopportune moment. And so they pushed them back, and I dare say called out, " Keep back there ! He can't attend to you now. Don't you see that He is busy ? " (2) Doubt of the children's capacity to understand Jesus. — They regarded the child perhaps from the point of view of its intel…
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1 H. S. Dyer. ST. MARK 243 new hearts and right spirits, or else they will go astray as other children do.^ ^ A mother was knitting under the porch of her house one autumn afternoon. Her boy was playing with other children on the village green. Beyond the green was the river, and on the opposite bank of it was a woo…
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^ A. Maoleod. ST. MARK 245 of domestic life. Husband and wife, for example, learn, as the years go on, to repose the most absolute trust in one another. In a word, the bonds of trust which bind society together are forged in the first instance in the home.^ ^ I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn words of …
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^ " Educate children without religion, and you make a race of clever devils."' ^ Canon Ainger. * G. Milligan. ' Wellington. ST. MARK 247 (3) By neglect of their Place in Public Worship. — Are the Bervices of the sanctuary of such a character as to interest and benefit the young ? So long as the children sit quietly …
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1. Was it their Weakness and Dependence ? — Every child is, and must be, very weak. It is its nature to be weak. It could not be a little child if it were not weak. So it is with every child of God. His weakness is an essential part of his being what he is. He could not be a child of God if he were not weak. What is we…
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4. Was it their Receptivenessl — This seems to be implied in the further statement, " Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." It is the habit of a child to receive, and he has no difficulty in receiving. He began his course instinctive…
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254 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE conflict with wishes, and caprices, and fancies, and temper, and begins to fade out of the character even more rapidly than the natural grace of innocence. But that same readiness of obedience, that same instinctive impulse to obey superior bidding, the man has to learn if he has not b…
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1 M. G. Pearse. One Thing Thou Lackest. ST. MARK — 17 Literature. ^Andrews (F. E.), Yet, 92. -Arnold (T.), Sermons, v. 246. Churcli (R. W.), The Gifts of Civilisation, 39. Clayton (J. W.), The Genius of God, 90. Cobern (C. M.), The Stars and the Book, 60. Home (C. S.), The Soul's Awakening, 71. Keble (J.), Sermons …
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^ Many of the older expositors, from Victor of Antioch downward, wondered at this statement. It surprised them that our Saviour should be represented as loving one who was not prepared to give up all on earth for the sake of the Kingdom of ST. MARK 261 heaven. Hence various attempts were made to find in the expressio…
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J 0. J. Vaughan. ST. MARK 263 duty, tie can hardly find a hymn to make the blood move in his veins. He turns with satisfaction to Psalm i., where the doctrine and the practice correspond. The man who walketh in the law of the Lord, that man shall stand ; the man who does not walk in the law of the Lord, believe what …
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2. This " one thing " is nothing less than the crucifying of the old man (which in the case of this youth existed in the form of attachment to riches), and so is equivalent to " all things," inas- much as in the one thing all things are included. The entrance into this one thing is also the way to " perfection " (Matt,…
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' J. B. M. Grimea, 268 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE Kiches I hold in light esteem ; And love I laugh to scorn ; And lust of fame was but a dream That vanished with the morn: And if I pray, the only prayer That moves my lips for me Is " Leave the heart that now I bear, And give me liberty!" Yes, as my swift days…
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4. People secretly wonder at what seems the extravagance of our Saviour's demand. Yet it is not thought at all extraordinary that passion should do what this man had not heavenly love enough to do. Nature's love and nature's hate will alike empower a man to impoverish himself. And that a man should be able to spend his…
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^ One afternoon in the year 1210, as Pope Innocent ill., surrounded by a sumptuous retinue of prelates, was walking on the terrace of the Lateran, a company of mendicants laid at his feet the articles of a new association. At their head was a young man who, but a few years before, had been foremost in every scene of me…
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4. The ruler who came to Jesus was young, and the gospel which Jesus preached to him is peculiarly appropriate to the young. There is a gospel oijlattery which is sometimes preached to the young. It dwells on the innocence of youth. It speaks of early life as beautiful in its sinlessness. It encourages the idea of natu…
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979 28o THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE I. The words mean first of all that we are to pray and ask for things. Now this involves (1) the recognition of our need of them, and (2) the utterance of that need. i. That we recognise our Need. 1. This seems to be expressed in the text itself according to the Authorized Vers…
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11. Thai we give Utterance to it. 1. The desire of the heart must become the expression of the lips. Our Lord more than once asked those who cried to Him for mercy, " What wilt thou ? " He wanted them to 1 1 say what they desired. To speak it out roused their whole I being into action, brought them into contact with …
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^ In this same time our Lord shewed me a spiritual sight of His homely loving. I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us: He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us, claspeth us, and all encloseth us for tender love, that He may never leave us ; being to us all-thing that is good, as to mi…
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, ^ There is an old legend of two sheildis of the desert. The ; one sheikh had many date palms. He insisted on having his ' own way with the trees. When the boughs seemed dry, he asked ; for rain, and the rain fell. When the boughs seemed too moist, he asked for sunshine, and the fierce heat came. When the trees '…
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Be not afraid to pray — to pray is right. Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray, Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay; Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. Far is the time, remote from human sight, 1 When war and discord on the earth shall cease; 'Yet every prayer for universal peace Avails …
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ST. MARK 291 received it. Patience perseveres in prayer until the gift bestowed in heaven is seen on earth.^ ^ In 1886, the China Inland Mission under the care of Dr. Hudson Taylor had a force of two hundred missionaries. In a conference for Bible study and united prayer these missionaries were led to unite in prayer…
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Into the night I breathed a prayer like a soaring fire ; — So to the wind-swept cliff the resonant rocket streams, And it struck its mark, I know ; for I felt my flying desire Strain, like a rope drawn home, and catch in the land of dreams. What was the answer? This — the horrible depth of night. And deeper, as ever …
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3. The question ought to be of equal importance to the very large number of people in our day who believe in salvation by the keeping of the Law, or, as they would put it, by living good ST. MARK 299 lives. What they believe in is a fair average goodness. They are fully aware of the distinction between right and wron…
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» E. F. Horton. ST. MARK 301 They asked Akiba, Eabbi wise and good, "Which is the weightiest text in all the law?" He answered slowly and with heart-felt voice, "Thou shalt thy neighbour love e'en as thyself." " There is a weightier still," Ben Asai said, "'This is the book that tells of Adam's race.' For that decla…
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2. This is the first, the absolutely first, commandment, ex- pressing that which is of the first, the absolutely first, importance ; expressing that, indeed, without which no other commandment can in any sense that God accepts be said to be obeyed at all. Before': we do anything else, and in everything else we do, our …
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^ The object of Moses in declaring the unity of God was to guard the Jews against idolatry ; my object in dwelling on it is to 1 D. J. Burrell. ST. MARK — 20 306 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE claim from you the consecration of all your powers. A simple illustration will make both these points clear. Polygamy is contr…
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ir. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. 1. If any man — a little weary of the modern cant about charity — should ask, " Why does Christ lay so much stress on love ? why does He declare the commandments which enjoin love of God and man to be the two commandments which include all others ? " the answer is plain and clear.…
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^ Maternal love is an instinct ; but there are instincts which breathe the divine.* Pour out thy love like the rush of a river. Wasting its waters for ever and ever. Through the burnt sands that reward not the giver; Silent or songful thou nearest the sea. ^ Edward White. ^ Golden Thoughts of Carmen Sylva, Queen of …
945 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.