.H35
V. 14
^'
THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
^
^ MAP 3 1 1926'
THE GREAT T OF THE BIBLE
EDITED BY THE REV.
JAMES 'Hastings, 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 "
II CORINTHIANS and GALATIANS
NEW YORK
CHARLES SGRIBNER'S SONS EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK
1913
CONTENTS
TOPICS.
2 Corinthians.
Comfort ....
The Yea and the Amen
The Triumph of the Vanqtjished
The Liberty of the Spirit
Transformed by Beholding
An Eternal Weight of Glory
The Seen and the Unseen
Walking by Faith
The Constraint of Love
In Christ a New Creation
The New and the Old.
Ambassadors for Christ
The Sinless Made Sin .
Sorrow ....
The Liberality of Christ
The Captivity of Thought
Power in Weakness
The Apostolic Benediction
1
27 47 63 79 103 117 129 145 161 187 203 219 241 253 271 287 307
Galatians.
The Inner Revelation .
The Spiritual Life
The Mission of the Son
True Religion
The Fruit op the Spirit
Burdens .
Sowing and Reaping
Weariness in Well-Doino
Glorying in the Cross .
The Marks of Jesus
329
347 361 381 395 411 429 445 467 479
VI
CONTENTS
TEXTS. 2 Corinthians.
I.
I.
II.
III.
III.
IV.
IV.
V.
V.
V.
V.
V.
V.
VII.
VIII.
X.
XII.
XIII.
3,4
20
14- IG
17
18
17
18
7
14, 15
17
17
20
21
10
9
5
9
14
3
29 49 65 81 106 119 131 147 163 189 205 221 243 255 273 289 309
Galatians.
I. 15, 16
II. 20 . IV. 4, 5 .
V. 6 .
V. 22, 23 VI. 2, 5 . VI. 7 . VI. 9 . VI. 14 .
71. 17 .
331 349 363 383 397 413 431 447 469 481
Comfort.
2 COR. & GAL. — I
Literature.
Beeclier (H. W.), Eenry Ward Beecher in England, 205.
Black (H.), Christ's Service of Love, 52.
Brent (C. H.), The Consolations of the Cross, 1.
Brooks (P.), Sermons, 1.
Denney (J.), The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Expositor's Bible), 10,
Hall (C. C), TJie Gospel of the Divine Sacrifice, 179.
lUingworth (A. L.), The Resurrection and the Life, 105.
Jenkinson (A.), A Modern Disciple, 239.
Kitto (J. F.), in Religion in Common Life, 82.
Little (W. J. K.), Sermons in Manchester, 282.
Meyer (F. B.), Present Tenses, 74.
New (C), Sermons Preached in Hastings, 83.
Newman (J. H.), Sermons Preached on Various Occasions, 106.
„ „ Parochial and Plain Sermons, v. 300.
Kaleigh (A.), Thoughts for the Weary, 68. Romanes (E.), Tho'nghts on the Collects, 30. Smith (H. W.), The God of all Comfort, 26.
Spurgeon (C. H.), My Sermon Notes : Romans to Revelation, 233. Stewart (A.), in The Divine Artist, 41. Thompson (J. R.), Burden Bearing, 107. Williams (I.), Sermons on the Epistles and Gospels, iii. 256. Wilson (S. L.), Helpful Words for Daily Life, 363. Christian World Pulpit, xviii. 211 (W. J. Cuthbertson) ; xxi. 147 (H.
W. Beecher) ; xxx. 193 (H. W. Beecher) ; Hi. 70 (W. H. Harwood) ;
Ivii. 214 (G. Body); Ixxi. 187 (G. C. Britton) ; Ixxviii. 113 (N.
Boynton) ; xxiv. 392 (H. W. Beecher). British Congregationalist, Sept. 1, 1910 (N. Boynton). Examiner, November 2, 1905 (J. H. Jowett). Homiletic Review, lix. 312 (A. Menzies). National Preacher, xxi. 77 (J. P. Thompson). Sunday Magazine, 1905, p. 792 (C. S. Home).
Comfort.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort ; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. — 2 Cor. i. 3, 4.
1. Of what the heart is full the mouth will speak, and St. Paul begins this letter to the Corinthians, not, as he generally does, with compliments to the converts on their achievements and position, but with reflections on the weight of suffering that has been cast on him, what it means, and what purpose it serves. This is the theme of the whole Epistle ; it is full from beginning to end of sorrow, which to the Christian turns into joy, weakness that is strength, defeat that passes into triumph. The circum- stances of the Apostle when he wrote it amply explain how he was led to such thoughts. He had been looking quite recently into the face of death ; in what happened to him at Ephesus he thought his end had come, and that he was to be hurried out of the world without seeing the appearance of Christ, on which he had set all his hope ; and, on the other hand, the Corinthians, for whom he had done so much, from whom he hoped so much, had proved very disloyal to him. They had given ear to every kind of charge against him, had thought him weak and fickle, dishonest and designing, the preacher of an obscure and fanciful gospel, a visionary, a failure. Crushed by external calamity, disappointed, humbled, and embittered in the relations with his converts, driven to seek defences for his personal conduct and for the truth and substance of the message for which he had spent everything, he was led to think of the dark problem of suffering, and to ask why so much had been given him to bear, and what end his toil served. Of the Bible writers who have dealt with this great subject, the Apostle Paul must be reckoned not the least.