to "Bible know ledge, fetched in by prayer, and watered an affecting sermon, highly commended it to some, and being and aptest make demanded what he remembered of it, answered, "Truly, I reimpressions."-J. Stoughmember nothing at all; but only while I heard it, it made me ton. resolve to live better, and so by God's grace I will." To the b Dr. Hewlett. same purpose I have somewhere read a story of one who complained to an aged holy man that he was much discouraged from reading the Scriptures, because he could fasten nothing on his memory that he had read. The old man bade him take an earthen pitcher and fill it with water; when he had done it, he bade him empty it again and wipe it clean that nothing should humble and seremain in it; which, when the other had done, and wondered to rious."-Berridge. what this tended, "Now," said he, " though there be nothing of c Bp. Hopkins. the water remaining in it, yet the pitcher is cleaner than it was before; so, though thy memory retain nothing of the Word thou readest, yet thy heart is the cleaner for its very passage through." c b well with meditation, makes the mind 5-7. God.. consolation," patient Himself, giving patience unanimity and comfort to men. grant..likeminded, to have a disposi- in praising tion like His. according.. Jesus, acc. to His will and Christ example. with.. mouth, unanimously. Father.. Christ, His relation to Jesus the ground of His dearest relation to us. receive.. another, into love, help, etc.; notwithstanding minor differences. Christ. God, although we are very imperfect. Paul's prayer for the success of his words.-I. The title he gives to God-"The God of patience and consolation," that is a God that-1. Bears with us 2. Gives us patience and comfort. II. The mercy he begs of God 1. The foundation of Christian love and peace is laid in likemindedness; 2. This likemindedness must be according to Christ; 3. It is the gift of God. III. The end of his desire. That God may be glorified: 1. With unity; 2. As the Father of Christ.e a 2 Pe. ii. 9; 2 Co. i. 3; Phi. ii. 1, 3; 1 Co. i. 10. b Ac. iv. 32. c Jo. xiii. 34. d Jo. vi. 37; Ep. i. 6. weak "The Christian is welvenly Father, as well as the should he not be strong; why come to his Hea so to his bre thren? But, alas! here too true: ther than the brethren."-Gur nall. e M. Henry. Learning of Christ.-I observe Him [Christ] applying every accidental occurrence to His holy purposes, as it were by a kind the proverb is of Chemistry, separating the gross matter and subliming ordinary Better speak to affairs to heavenly doctrine; insomuch that there were scarcely the master than any common affair of life, such as eating, or drinking, or recrea- the man, the fation; no disease or infirmity of the body; no trade and occupa- child.' Those that tion, such as merchandise or husbandry; no building or planting, can be bold with ploughing or sowing; nay, not so mean employment as women's God, dare not be leavening their bread, grinding at the mill, or sweeping an house, free with their but He spiritualised them, and applied them to His designs. Now, if we would learn of Him, we might with great ease, and without all violence, surprise men into religion; and not only at every turn introduce pious discourse, but render the subject of it intelligible to the meanest capacities; and withal, by those sensible resemblances, give such lively touches upon the minds of men, as that what we delivered upon those occasions would stick and remain with them. And there is no great pains or skill required for the doing of this: the principal requisite to it is, a zeal of God's glory, and such a constant and fixed eye upon it as shall make us apprehensive of the opportunities that present selves." themselves, and then a little humility to condescend to the weak-son. ness of people. Which two things pre-supposed, a very small exer-ƒ Goodman. cise of fancy would draw the parallel and make the application; as any man will quickly find that will set himself about it. VOL. III. A A "Sincerity is like travelling on a plain beaten road, which commonly brings a his journey's end than bye-ways, in which men man sooner to often lose themTillot mercy of God to the Gentiles a Ma. xv. 24; Ac. iii. 25, 26; De. xviii. 15. b Jo. x. 16; Ga. iii. 28. c Ps. xviii. 43, 49. d Ahlfeld. "In this text we have night and day, darkness and light; what another bond foot. 8, 9. say, assert, affirm. Jesus.. circumcision," of the Jews, and preaching to them. for.. God, in order to establish and fulfil the Scriptures. confirm.. fathers, wh. promises related to the blessing of the nations. that.. mercy, the Jews having rejected the Messiah. as.. written, acc. to prophecy again. confess, bear witness to, glorify. sing.. name, sing Thy praises as their great deliverer. I will confess Thee among the Gentiles.-To the Gentiles also is granted eternal life, therefore-I. Believe on Christ, the Risen One; II. Extend the Church; III. Console thyself with the Lord's gracious assistance and promises. Christ will be confessed by him among the Gentiles.d Mercy, the disposition of God.-It makes, perhaps, but little the Gentiles were difference to me whether a river is supplying Brooklyn with water, as Gentiles; and what, as called. or whether it is supplied by a reservoir; but it does make a dif Set the contra- ference in respect to abundance and continuity. There is an old ries one against iron slave, the steam engine-the only slave that you have a right age, liberty-cor- to keep in bondage-and night and day it stands lifting and liftruption, glory..ing the supplies of water, and pouring them over into the RidgeBut it bears a wood reservoir. I know that there will be enough; but when you greater emphasis, to take it as are talking about endlessness, copiousness, what is this compared the Greek hath with that which I see every day under my chamber window, it into the li- where the whole ocean sweeps in and out, and, night and day, berty of the without pump, or steam, or any like mechanical force, is always glory of the children of there, as it was before there was a man on these shores, and as it God.'"-Light- will be after the last man shall have died in future ages? The copiousness, the abundance of the ever-flowing ocean, may fitly "Though justice represent the abundance of the Divine thought, and mercy, and be thy plea, con- goodness; whereas most men think of God as one from whom in the course of favours are obtained, if at all, by what may almost be called the justice, none of pleading of prayer, by the bringing to bear upon Him influences us should see sal-which at last persuade Him to grant the things asked for, so that, vation: we do when the persuasion stops, the supply stops. Many seem to think that prayer same is but an engine that lifts-abundantly lifts, it may prayer doth be-blessings upon the heads of those who employ it, but that, if teach us all to the engine stops for a moment, the reservoir will run dry. No! it is the eternal disposition of God to be full of love, and mercy, and kindness, and He inspires in you the impulses which lead you to go and ask Him for those things which you need. It is in His nature to supply our wants. This disposition it is that makes Him the God He is. Without it, there would not be any God such as He.e sider this-that, pray for mercy; and that render the deed of mercy."Shakespeare. e H. W. Beecher. Gentiles to praise the Lord a De. xxxii. 43. b Ps. cvii. 1. 10–12. again.. saith,a Moses in the O.T. foretelling the subjection of the Gentiles to God. and again, the Psalmist also. laud, old Eng. word=praise. and again, the Prophet, the Lawgiver, and the Psalmist one in this prediction. The world trusting in Christ.-I. The grand tendency of the Laud, fr. Lat. race. What creature is more dependent upon-1. Nature? 2. His laudare, to praise. own species? 3. God? than man? II. The evangelic provision for e Is. xi. 1. 10; Ps. it. To make all happy who depend upon Him, Christ should be cii. 15; Re. v. 5; -1. All-perfect in excellence; 2. All-sufficient in resources; 3. Unalterable in being, character, and capacity. All these, and d Dr. Thomas. more, He is. III. Its blessed future: 1. Spiritual peace; 2. Social "This glory of unity; 3. Moral elevation. Learn-(1) The world's need of the the Gospel may what Gospel; (2) The way to preach it.d xxii. 16. teach us admiration and The duration of praise.-Praise is the only part of duty in should deserves it find men, who the which we are at present engaged, which is lasting. We pray; but acceptance there shall be a time when prayer shall offer its last litany: we believe; but there shall be a time when faith shall be lost in even as it doth sight: we hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; but there shall with the blessed be a time when hope lies down and dies, lost in the splendour of angels, themselves." - Bp. the fruition that God shall reveal. But praise goes singing into Reynolds. heaven, and is ready, without a teacher, to strike the harp that is "Jerome, waiting for it, to transmit along the echoes of eternity the song of had often read the Lamb. In the party-coloured world in which we live, there Isaiah, and considered him very are days of various sorts and experiences, making up the aggrecarefully, says he gate of the Christian's life. There are waiting-days, in which, because Providence fences us round, it seems as if we cannot march, we cannot move, as though we must just wait to see what the Lord is about to do in us and for us; and there are watchingdays, when it behoves us never to slumber, but to be always ready for the attacks of our spiritual enemy; and there are warring-days, when, with nodding plume and with ample armour, we must go forth to do battle for the truth; and there are weepingdays, when it seems as if the fountains of the great deep within prophets." us were broken up, and as though, through much tribulation, we Reading. had to pass to heaven in tears: but these days shall all pass e Punshon. away by-and-by,-waiting-days all be passed, warring-days all be passed, watching-days all be passed; but "Our days of praise shall ne'er be past While life, and thought, and being last, name of an evangelist rather than and, indeed, he of a prophet; is oftener quoted throughout the New Testament than any one of the rest of the -W. 13, 14. now.. hope," the God who gives hope (see v. 5: so, benediction, "God of peace," God of glory," etc.). fill..joy, the fruit of etc. b C ii. 16. hope. peace, tranquillity, calm assurance. believing, faith a La. iii. 24; 2 Th. in Christ, the root of peace, etc. abound, etc.,d have a superabundance of hope. through.. Ghost, agency of Holy Spirit 6 Ro. xiv. 17. in promoting faith, etc. persuaded, well-assured, no flattery, c Ro. v. 1—5. sincere conviction. goodness, good dispositions. knowledge, d Ro. xii. 12. of Christian doctrine. admonish," instruct, put in mind of e Ro. i. 8. ii. 21. duty. The blessing given to the Church at Rome.-I. A benediction Ga. v. 22. pronounced: filled-1. With what-" joy and peace in believ-92 Pe. i. 12; 1 Jo. ing;" 2. By whom-" the God of hope;" 3. To what end— "that ye may abound," etc. II. A fact stated: 1. The high estimate which Paul held concerning the Roman converts; 2. The reminder which was needed by them, so as they should not forget God's grace. III. A great progress in Christian knowledge implied. The Romans were-1. Filled with all knowledge; 2. Able to admonish their own erring fellow-Christians. h He. x. 24, 25. heaviness of but so, as a sepa a Joy an evidence of the truth of religion.-How I long for my bed! Not that I may sleep-I lie awake often and long! but to hold sweet communion with my God. What shall I render unto Him for all His revelations and gifts to me? Were there no historical evidence of the truth of Christianity, were there no well-established miracles, still I should believe that the religion be removed from propagated by the fishermen of Galilee is Divine. The holy joys it brings to me must be from heaven. Do I write this boastingly, i J. Hanson. brother? Nay, it is with tears of humble gratitude that I tell Bapa Padmanji, of the goodness of the Lord."-Rejoicing in Christ.-A more de-an Indian native vout communicant at the table of the Lord, says Dr. Doddridge, it."-Hooker. convert. the colour of faces look like "Some people in his Life of Colonel Gardiner, has, perhaps, seldom been anythink black is where known. Often have I had the pleasure to see that manly heaven, and that, countenance softened into all the marks of humiliation and conthe more they trition on these occasions; and to discern, in spite of all his can make their efforts to conceal them, streams of tears flowing down from his midnight, the eyes, while he has been directing them to those memorials of his more evidence Redeemer's love. And some, who have conversed intimately with they have of him after he came from that ordinance, have observed a visible grace. But God, abstraction from surrounding objects, by which there seemed sun and the reason to imagine that his soul was wrapped up in holy contemplaflowers, never tion. And I particularly remember, that when we had once spent a sent me to pro-great part of the following Monday in riding together, he made a lie as that. We an apology to me for being so absent as he seemed, by telling me are told to re- that his heart was flown upwards, before he was aware, to Him joice in the whom having not seen he loved; and he was rejoicing in Him Lord always.'"with such unspeakable joy, that he could not hold it down to creature converse. who made the claim to you such Beecher. Paul an Apostle to the Gentiles a Ep. iii. 7, 8. b 2 Co. v. 18. c Is. lxvi. 20. 15, 16. nevertheless, the goodness and knowledge of the believer do not remove him fr. the need of instruction. boldly, the Christian teacher can be bold with good and wise men. Such always desire to be better than they are. grace.. God," His favour by wh. I have this Apostleship. That Gentiles,* grace has both made me a preacher, and has sent the Gospel to d Ep. v. 25-27; you. ministering .. God, not only preaching, but putting 2 Th. ii. 13, 14. Churches in order, etc. offering, thing offered, prayer, praise, "There was need labour. sanctified, the Gentiles being cleansed fr. idolatry, of a greater degree of illumina-sin, etc. to be 'fellow tion to certify Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, a masterpiece of Divine the Apostles that wisdom.-I. According to human ideas, everything seemed the Gentiles were adverse: 1. His condition of life-born a Jew-educated a Phariheirs and parsee. 2. His disposition-(1) Before conversion, a zealot for the takers of the law; (2) After conversion, an adherent to his people (see cap. ix. promises of to xi.). 3. The will of men—(1) The rage of the Jews. He was Christ,' than the bare putting much persecuted by them; (2) The doubts of the brethren at first. them in mind of II. But God's wisdom triumphed over all these obstacles: 1. He those short hints appointed Paul, and had predestined him, to be an Apostle for our Saviour had the Gentiles from all eternity; 2. He equipped him by external given them concerning this mat- and internal providences; 3. He accredited him by the great terwould amount fruits of his labour.e to."-Louth. e Gerok. what an anima mire besides. The minister's joy.-Christian brethren, you are dear to my soul. Your households are dear to me. I cannot visit you as a pastor. "A Christian I am sufficiently advanced to know, if anything can be indicated should let all see by Providence, that I am a preacher, not a pastor. It would be tion there is in exceedingly pleasant to me to do that other much-needed labour. Christianity I wish I could, but I cannot. I am to be your teacher, and I am above all that the to do my work among you and in this community by the power world may ad- of Christ and Him crucified. I bear you in my thoughts and in Christianity my prayers day by day. Your children-those that I know, and should be the those that I do not know, except in the general and remote sense boast, as well as of knowledge-are very dear to me, and I preach with them in comfort, of our hearts.". Dr. my mind. I am endeavouring to do that by you which I shall not be afraid to face when, before long, you and I shall stand in the presence of Christ. I would rather have one smile from Christ than to have the acclamation of a world. I would rather that He, pointing to you, should say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant," than to have anything of which my imagination can conceive. And that is what I am trying to labour for./ Young. f H. W. Beecher. a labours 17-19. I.. therefore, in my office, and the fruit of my the extent labours. glory.. Christ, I boast not of myself: the blessing of his on Christian work is through Christ. things.. God, nothing a Ro. xi. 13; i. 5. else will I glory in. dare, venture, presume. speak things, they are so great and numerous. Christ me,d He has 6 Ga. vi. 13. done much by other workers. to.. obedient, this, the end of c Ac. xxi. 19. their work, as of mine. word.. deed, in profession and practice. d Ga. ii. 8; 1 Co. signs.. wonders, a sign to teach; a wonder to excite atten- xv. 10. tion. Illyricum, Rom. prov. in Europe, on E. shore of Adriatic.ge Litton on Mirafully, widely, successfully. cles, 15. e ix. 26; Cyprus, Paul, the preacher to the Gentiles.-I. His indefatigable industry f Jerus., Ac. ix. and zeal. II. His great success. III. The wonderful power the 28, 29; Antioch, Gospel had on men's lives. It produced a change of 1. Religion; xiii.7, 8; A. in Pisi2. Conversation; 3. Life. IV. The reason for this wonderful dia, xiii. 14, 44— success. Learn (1) Zeal in God's service; (2) To hope for 48; Iconium, xiv. success. 1; Lystra, Derbe, xiv. 6, 7; Perga, Ephesus, Asia, cedonia, xx. 3; Greece, xx. xix. 1-10; Ma Truth in preaching. When Dr. Kane was in the Arctic regions, xiv. 25; Pisidia, he cut a piece of ice clear as crystal, in the form of a convex xiv. 24; Phrygia, lens, held it up to the sun's rays, and, to the surprise of the Galatia, xvi. 6; Philippi, xvi. 12, natives, set in a blaze some dry wood which had been gathered. 13; Thessalonica, So an unconverted preacher may be the medium by which the xvii. 1-4; Berea, truth may be brought to other hearts, and kindle them with the xvii. 10-12; Athens, xvii. 16, holy flame of Divine love. My word shall not return unto me etc.; Corinth, void.”—Similes of preaching.-There was a shield in which xviii. 1-11; the maker wrought his name, so that it could be effaced only by the destruction of his work; and so should the name of our glorious Immanuel be inwrought through the texture of our instructions, that their very consistency shall be dependent on the diffusion of that one blessed name throughout their length and breadth. On entering the cathedral towns of England, the towers, or the spire, of the mother-church, or minster, are seen shooting i Dr. Hagany. up into the sky, far above all the other buildings, public or private, secular or sacred; and so let Jesus, the Church's Lord, King, and Saviour, have the pre-eminence above the whole city of topics and themes, Divine and human, which may be méetly grouped around His name; He casting His sanctifying shadow over all. g Ptolemy, Geog. ii. 17. W. Burkitt. k Evang. Mag. 20, 21. not.. named, a work of supererogation. lest.. he preached foundation," and seem to snatch the praise fr. him; or act in a sub- where others had not ordinate capacity, or imply a censure on another's work. written,' he took the Scriptures for his guide. to.. spoken, and a 2 Co. x. 15, 16. who therefore most needed a preacher. see, the grace and glory of 6 Is. lii. 15. Christ. understand, the Gospel, and learn that there is mercy c Is. lxv. 1. for them. “The ἀλλοτριο officious meddler The objects worthiest of men's efforts and ambition.-TO-I. ETίσкOTоs was the Bring the greatest glory to God and to Jesus Christ. II. Impart in another man's the greatest amount of happiness to man. III. Act with the greatest uprightness and courtesy to all.d Success in preaching." The last time I was with Mr. Grimshaw, as we were standing together upon a hill near Haworth, and surveying the romantic prospect around us, he expressed himself to the following purport, and I believe I nearly retain his very words, for they made a deep impression upon me while he spoke. -'When I first came into this country, if I had gone half a day's journey on horseback towards the east, west, north, and south, I could not have met with or hear of one truly serious person; charge; a busy bishop in another man's diocese; an intrusive presbyter in another's parish, thrusting his sickle into another man's harvest."-Norris. d T. Robinson. |