======================================================================== WRITINGS OF J W MCGARVEY - VOLUME 1 by J.W. Mcgarvey ======================================================================== A collection of theological writings, sermons, and essays by J.W. Mcgarvey (Volume 1), compiled for study and devotional reading. Chapters: 99 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 00.00. McGarvey, J. W. - Library 2. 01.00.1. A Guide to Bible Study 3. 01.00.3. Statement of Purpose 4. 01.00.4. Introduction 5. 01.01. Definitions 6. 01.02. Divisions of the Old Testament 7. 01.03. The Original Text and Its Preservation 8. 01.04. Outline of the Pentateuch 9. 01.05. Israel's History From the Death of Moses to That of David 10. 01.06. The Reign of Solomon and the Divisions of the Kingdom 11. 01.07. The Two Kingdoms 12. 01.08. The Kingdom of Judah Continued 13. 01.09. Other Pre-Exilian Prophetic Books 14. 01.10. The Poetical Books 15. 01.11. The Books of Exile 16. 01.12. The Post-Exilic Books 17. 01.13. Divisions of the New Testament 18. 01.14. The Gospels and Acts 19. 01.15. The Epistles of Paul 20. 01.16. The Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse 21. 01.17. A Brief Review 22. 01.18. Questions for Each Chapter 23. 01.19. Appendix 24. 02.00. A Series of 52 Bible Lessons 25. 02.01. The Birth of John the Baptist 26. 02.02. The Birth of Jesus 27. 02.03. The Genealogy of Jesus 28. 02.04. Genealogy of Jesus 29. 02.05. The Genealogy of Jesus 30. 02.06. The Ministry of John 31. 02.07. The Ministry of John Continued 32. 02.08. The Baptism of Jesus 33. 02.09. From the Baptism of Jesus to the Imprisonment of John 34. 02.10. Ministry of Jesus in Galilee 35. 02.11. The Miracles of Jesus 36. 02.12. The Parables of Jesus 37. 02.13. The Death of Jesus 38. 02.14. Death of Jesus Continued 39. 02.15. The Burial of Jesus 40. 02.16. The Resurrection of Jesus 41. 02.17. Resurrection of Jesus Continued 42. 02.18. Resurrection of Jesus Continued 43. 02.19. Resurrection of Jesus Continued 44. 02.20. Review of the History of the Resurrection 45. 02.21. The Apostolic Commission 46. 02.22. The First Gospel Sermon 47. 02.23. Conversion of the Eunich 48. 02.24. Saul's Conversion 49. 02.25. The Conversion of Cornelius 50. 02.26. The Conversion of Cornelius Continued 51. 02.27. Conversion of Lydia 52. 02.28. Conversion of the Jailer 53. 02.29. Thessalonica and Berea 54. 02.30. Review of Cases of Conversion 55. 02.31. Prayer 56. 02.32. Prayer 57. 02.33. Prayer 58. 02.34. Prayer 59. 02.35. Praise 60. 02.36. The Lord's Supper 61. 02.37. The Lord's Treasury 62. 02.38. Money Getting and Money Loving 63. 02.39. Public Worship 64. 02.40. Preaching and Teaching 65. 02.41. The Support of Preachers 66. 02.42. Husband and Wife 67. 02.43. Worldly Amusements 68. 02.44. Worldly Amusements Continued 69. 02.45. Worldly Amusements Continued 70. 02.46. Worldly Amusements Continued 71. 02.47. Personal Offenses 72. 02.48. Withdrawing from the Disorderly 73. 02.49. The Resurrection of the Dead 74. 02.50. The Judgment 75. 02.51. Hell 76. 02.52. Heaven 77. 03.00. Chapel Talks 78. 03.000. Preface by Fanning Yater Tant 79. 03.01. The Beginning and the End 80. 03.02. Your Room-Mate 81. 03.03. A Grade of Ninety 82. 03.04. Why Do You Want to Preach? 83. 03.05. Selecting a Subject 84. 03.06. The Thief on the Cross 85. 03.07. Jesus, Lover of My Soul 86. 03.08. The Study and Selection of Hymns 87. 03.09. Lord, Teach Us to Pray 88. 03.10. Prayer and Premeditation 89. 03.11. Paul's Prayer for Two Churches 90. 03.12. Paul's Prayers for His Friends 91. 03.13. Lying 92. 03.14. Poor Preachers 93. 03.15. Action in the Pulpit 94. 03.16. Repentance 95. 03.17. How to Be Respected 96. 03.18. Robert Milligan 97. 03.19. Robert Graham 98. 05.00. Commentary on Acts 99. 05.000. Introduction ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: 00.00. MCGARVEY, J. W. - LIBRARY ======================================================================== McGarvey, J. W. - Library McGarvey, J. W. - A Guide to Bible Study McGarvey, J. W. - A Series of 52 Bible Lessons McGarvey, J. W. - Chapel Talks McGarvey, J. W. - Commentary on Acts McGarvey, J. W. - Jesus and Jonah McGarvey, J. W. - Preacher’s Methods McGarvey, J. W. - The Old Faith Restated McGarvey, J. W. - Treatise on the Eldership S. A BATCH OF QUESTIONS. S. A CASE IN POINT. S. A CHRONOLOGICAL PUZZLE. S. A CHURCH INSPECTED. S. A COMMON MISTAKE. S. A CONVERSATION. S. A CRITICAL PARADOX. S. A CURIOSITY IN CRITICISM. S. A GOOD SUGGESTION. S. A LAWYER IN THE ARENA. S. A MODERN PROPHET ON THE PROPHETS. S. A MODERN REDACTOR. S. A NEW APOLOGETIC. S. A NEW DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT. S. A PROBLEM IN HIGHER CRITICISM. S. A REACTION IN CRITICISM. S. A SERMON BY A "CRITIC." S. A SPECIMEN. S. A STEP TOWARD ROME. S. A SURE CURE FOR UNBELIEF. S. A SYMPOSIUM ON "PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY." S. A TEST CASE OF LITERARY CRITICISM. S. A THIN ARGUMENT. S. A TRIBUTE TO THE BIBLE. S. A VERY SERIOUS INQUIRY. S. ABBOTTISMS. S. AN INFIDEL TRACT. S. AN OLD PUZZLE. S. AN OMNISCIENT PROFESSOR. S. ARCHDEACON FARRAR AND HIGHER CRITICISM. S. AS A LAWYER SEES IT. S. BAPTISM. S. BELIEVING A LIE. S. BRIGGS’ CHOICE. S. CASES OF CONVERSION: CORNELIUS. S. CASES OF CONVERSION: LYDIA. S. CASES OF CONVERSION: PAUL. S. CASES OF CONVERSION: THE EUNUCH. S. CASES OF NON-CONVERSION: AGRIPPA. S. CASES OF NON-CONVERSION: FELIX. S. CATCH-PHRASES. S. CENTER SHOTS FROM HASTINGS. S. CHANGING THE NARRATIVE. S. CHEDORLAOMER’S EXPEDITION. S. CHEYNE ON DAVID AND GOLIATH. S. CHICKEN COCKS BANISHED. S. CHURCH FINANCES. S. Church Government S. CONDITIONS OF FORGIVENESS. S. CONTRADICTIONS. S. Coöperation in Mission Work S. COUNTING NOSES. S. COURTESY IN CONTROVERSY. S. CRITICISM AND THE BOOK OF GENESIS. S. CRITICISM AND WITTICISM. S. CRITICISM IN GERMANY. S. CRUMBS FOR UNBELIEVERS. S. DAVID’S CHARGE RESPECTING JOAB AND SHIMEI. S. DEATH OF JUDAS. S. DEBORAH DISHONORED. S. DEBORAH SLANDERED. S. DEBORAH’S FORTY THOUSAND. S. DID HE SUFFER THE PENALTY? S. DIVINE HEALING AGAIN. S. DIVINE PROVIDENCE: JOSEPH. S. DIVINE PROVIDENCE: QUEEN ESTHER. S. DR. YOUNG, OF DANVILLE. S. DRIVER ON DEUTERONOMY. S. EPITAPH OF AN AGNOSTIC. S. EVOLUTION AND MIRACLES. S. EVOLUTION AND SACRIFICE ONCE MORE. S. EXIT ABRAHAM. S. FAITH. S. FARRAR’S DANIEL. S. FELLOWSHIP IN UNBELIEF. S. FREE THOUGHT AND LIBERTY OF SPEECH. S. FREEDOM IN TEACHING. S. GENESIS ACCORDING TO JESUS. S. GEO. F. MOORE ON JUDGES. S. GOD IS NOT MOCKED. S. GOMER. S. HAMMURABI VS. MOSES. S. HELL AND THE DEVIL. S. HERESY-HUNTING. S. HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE BIBLE. S. HOSPITALITY TO NEW TRUTH. S. HOW FAR? S. HOW IT IS DONE. S. HOW SHALL WE SPELL THE NAME? S. HOW WAS THE JORDAN CUT OFF? S. HUNTING A PLACE FOR THE BIBLE. S. IN ONE SPIRIT. S. INERRANCY. S. INSPIRATION OF INVERACITY. S. INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. S. INSPIRATION. S. INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM. S. IS IT A QUOTATION? S. IS THERE A DOUBLE ACCOUNT OF CREATION? S. IS THERE A LORD’S SUPPER? S. JAEL’S FEAT. S. JESUS AND JONAH" IN SCOTLAND. S. JESUS ON Psalms 110:1-7. S. JOB AND AMENI. S. JOSHUA AND THE LAW OF MOSES. S. JOSHUA’S COMMAND TO THE SUN AND MOON. S. JOSHUA’S SPEECH TO THE SUN AND MOON. S. KINGS AND CHRONICLES. S. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION. S. LESSONS FROM THE MONUMENTS. S. LITERARY VS. HISTORICAL CRITICISM. S. LYMAN ABBOTT ANALYZED. S. LYMAN ABBOTT AND EVOLUTION. S. LYMAN ABBOTT ON SACRIFICE. S. MARY MAGDALENE. S. McGIFFERT’S APOSTOLIC AGE. S. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. S. MYTH AND FICTION IN THE BIBLE. S. NAME THE PROPHETS. S. NOT SIMILARLY SITUATED. S. OF HIMSELF? OR OF SOME OTHER MAN? S. OLD TRUTH AND NEW TRUTH. S. OLD, YET EVER NEW. S. ONE OF THE ASSURED RESULTS. S. OPHIR AND ALMUG-TREES. S. PARALLEL CASES. S. PAUL’S FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS. S. PLAIN QUESTIONS AND PLAIN ANSWERS S. PRAYER: ITS EFFICACY. S. PRESIDENT HARPER ON SACRIFICE. S. PRESIDENT HARPER’S COMPLAINT. S. PROFESSOR BRIGGS ON METHUSELAH. S. PROFESSOR BRIGGS ON THE GIFT OF TONGUES. S. PROFESSOR HOMMEL’S PROTEST. S. PROFESSOR KENT SLANDERS GIDEON. S. PROFESSOR SANDAY ON BIBLICAL INSPIRATION. S. PROFESSOR WILLETT ON CREATION. S. QUESTIONS. S. RANDOM TALK BY AN INFIDEL. S. RATIONALISM’S CLAIM TO EXCLUSIVE SCHOLARSHIP. S. REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. S. REMEMBER ME. S. REPENTANCE. S. ROBBING JOSHUA. S. SHALL WE LET HIM ALONE? S. SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT. S. SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT: OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. S. SINGULAR AND PLURAL. S. SLASHING AT THE TEXT. S. SOME CHOICE EXTRACTS. S. SOME CRUDITIES OF CRITICISM. S. SOME QUESTIONS. S. STILL ANOTHER BOOK FROM PROFESSOR GREEN. S. TERTIUS. S. THAT JERUSALEM DECREE. S. THAT SENSATION IN NEW YORK. S. THE ALPACAS. S. THE AMERICAN BIBLE LEAGUE. S. THE AUTHORSHIP OF ACTS. S. THE AUTHORSHIP OF HEBREWS. S. THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE. S. THE CRY, "BACK TO CHRIST." S. THE DARKNESS OF ATHEISM. S. THE DATES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS. S. THE DEBT ACKNOWLEDGED. S. THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD. S. THE GHOST OF GALILEO. S. THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF. S. THE HIGHER CRITICS CRITICIZED. S. THE ISSUE WRONGLY STATED. S. THE JERUSALEM CHURCH. S. THE LEGENDS OF GENESIS. S. THE LETTER THAT KILLETH. S. THE LORD’S SUPPER IN LUKE S. THE NEW BIBLE AND THE CHILDREN. S. THE NEW CRITICAL METHOD. S. THE PENDING CONTROVERSY. S. THE PRAYER OF NABONIDUS. S. THE QUESTION OF INERRANCY. S. THE RED SEA AFFAIR. S. THE REMISSION OF SINS. S. THE REPROACH OF CHRIST. S. THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS. S. THE REVIEWERS OF HOMMEL. S. THE RIVER JORDAN. S. THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION. S. THE SIGN OF JONAH. S. THE SLAUGHTER OF THE MIDIANITES. S. THE SONG OF SONGS. S. THE THEOLOGY OF HYMNS. S. THE TIME OF THE PUBLIC ENTRY. S. THE TITLE "PHARAOH." S. THE UNITARIANS. S. THE WAY IT GOES AT YALE. S. THE WISDOM OF THE WISE. S. THIS MAN HATH DONE NOTHING AMISS. S. THOSE THREE YEARS IN ARABIA. S. TRINE IMMERSION. S. UNION IN DIVISION. S. WAS THE QUESTION BEFORE HIM? S. WASHINGTON GLADDEN ON LYMAN ABBOTT. S. WELLHAUSEN’S BATTLE AT THE RED SEA. S. WELLHAUSEN’S WRATH KINDLED. S. WHAT DID MOSES DO? S. WHAT DID PAUL MEAN? S. WHAT OF IT? S. WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT? S. WHAT WAS PROVED BY MIRACLES. S. WHAT WOULD BE LEFT? S. WHEN THOU COMEST IN THY KINGDOM. S. WHO IS AN INFIDEL? S. WHY ABRAM WENT TO CANAAN. S. WHY OMITTED BY MOSES? S. WHY PAUL WENT TO JERUSALEM. S. WISER THAN PETER. S. WORDS WITHOUT MEANING. S. WOULD THEY DO AS WELL? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: 01.00.1. A GUIDE TO BIBLE STUDY ======================================================================== Hand-book Series for the Bethany C. E. Reading Courses + A Guide to Bible Study BY J. W. McGARVEY, PRESIDENT COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE IN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. EDITED BY HERBERT L. WILLETT LEADER OF BIBLE STUDY IN THE BETHANY C.E. READING COURSES. + Published by The Reading Committee 798 Republic Street Cleveland, Ohio Copyright 1897 by J. Z. TYLER, Chairman. Printed by the Julia A. Andrews Fund. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: 01.00.3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ======================================================================== The National Convention of the Disciples of Christ, held in Springfield, Illinois, October 16-23, 1896, adopted the following recommendations: "1. That this convention approve the ideas of adding, within certain limits, the educational feature of the Christian Endeavor Societies among us. This added educational feature shall include helps for the systematic reading of the Bible, a selected course of reading concerning missions in general, and our own missions in particular, and thorough instruction as to the origin, the principles, and the history of our own movement for the restoration of New Testament Christianity. 2. That this convention approve of the purpose to provide a series of hand-books for our young people covering the field not already satisfactorily covered." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: 01.00.4. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== The indications of a revival of interest in the study of the Bible are numerous and encouraging. They are to be found in the increase of private and devotional reading of the Scriptures, the improvement of lesson helps for the Sunday School, the more conscientious preparation of the lesson among teachers in such schools, the increase of exegetical preaching, the organization of courses of Bible study in young people’s societies in nearly all religious bodies, the increase of correspondence Bible work, the creation of Biblical departments in colleges and universities, the establishment of Biblical instruction in connection with state universities, and the organization of clubs and circles for the study of Biblical literature as possessing equal attractiveness with English and other literatures. The study of the Bible is absolutely necessary to the development of the Christian life. The facts which the Scriptures present are basis of faith in the Christ and in the whole series of providential events which prepared the way for his final disclosure of the life and purposes of God. Only by acquaintance with these facts and the prophetic, devotional, and horatory discourses and meditations to which they gave occasion is one able to understand the Old and New Testaments as the records of our holy faith. The necessity of a daily return to the Scriptures as a means of spiritual nourishment and culture is the more apparent when one notes the fact that a great part of our religious life is made up of activities. This is true of the young people, whose organizations with their various committees and departments lay emphasis on service; it is true of the maturer members of the church, before whom is constantly placed the responsibility for the active ministries to which the gospel calls; and particularly is this true of missionary workers, pastors, teachers and others whose lives are consecrated to Christian service. Where the visible ministries of the church are so largely devoted to the expenditure of spiritual vitality there must be some means of nourishment and recuperation. This is provided in the reading and study of the Word of God, and the atmosphere of prayer in which these privileges should be enjoyed. The nourishment of the Scriptures is as necessary to the spiritual life as that of food to the body. This hand-book is designed to afford suggestion and assistance to those who desire a fuller and more accurate knowledge of the Bible. It gives a brief summary of facts regarding the making and the purpose of the Bible; its chief divisions; short sketches of the various books, serving as introductions to their study; and various other material of an interesting and helpful sort to the reader and student of the Bible. The book has its purposes and its limitations. The former has been noted. The latter was set by the desire to put all the material into such a brief and convenient form that the little volume could be in reality what its name implies, a hand-book, constantly kept at hand for reference and suggestion. A few suggestions as to a method of Bible reading and study may be found profitable. 1. Use the Revised Version of the Bible if possible. It is much superior to the Authorized or King James Version, not only because of its better interpretation of particular words and passages, but because the translators of 1881-1884 availed themselves of many principles of interpretation unknown to those of 1611. The Revised Version is not perfect, but it is a long advance over its predecessor and is gradually coming to take its place with those who desire to possess the best version of the Scriptures. There may be a feeling of reluctance on the part of those who have long used the older translation at the thought of giving up its familiar phrases, but one who has before him the most of his career as a Bible student cannot afford to deprive himself of the advantages resulting from the used of the Revised Version. 2. The Bible should be studied with a good map at hand for constant reference showing the localities, which were the scenes of the events recorded. If possible some good work on Biblical Geography should be at hand. One is never able so thoroughly to realize any event of which the Bible speaks, i. e., to make it real to himself, as when he visits the spot in person, or by the assistance of good description of the place, or possesses even a map to show its location and relation to other localities. Almost any good edition of the Bible, either of the Authorized or the Revised Version, contains a set of maps. They should be constantly used till the student is thoroughly acquainted with Biblical localities. 3. Some general plan of Biblical chronology should be used for frequent reference. No system thus far devised is altogether satisfactory, because the writers of the Bible were not particularly concerned about dates and give them usually in relation to other events, so that one is often able only to approximate the real time of an event. The chronology employed in the margin of the Authorized Version was that of Archbishop Ussher, and has been found quite unsatisfactory in many particulars as judged by light thrown, especially on Old Testament events, by recent researches among the records of nations with which Israel came into contact. An outline chronology of the leading periods and events in the Biblical history is given in the appendix to this handbook. Exactness of date is neither possible nor necessary in many cases, but a plan of dates relatively correct should be mastered by every student. 4. The gradual character of the Biblical revelation should be firmly impressed in the beginning of any study of the Scriptures. The divine purposes were disclosed only as they could be understood. A nation was chosen to be the channel of that revelation, and its education was to that end; not for its own sake, but for the world. The Old Testament is the record of that national discipline. Not everything could be taught at once, but only step by step could advance be made. Progress is seen through the whole of the Old Testament dispensation in the disclosure of truth and its embodiment in character, in preparation for the appearance of the Christ. The New Testament is the record of his manifestation to the world; of the gradual spread of the Gospel, and of the helps to the progressive realization of the Christian life. 5. The student should seek such familiarity with the books of the Bible that their names, groupings and contents can be instantly recalled. These items are all important. The knowledge of the names of the books of the Bible in their order is indispensable and easily acquired. To assist in the possession of this knowledge, and to render it still more accurate and detailed, it should be remembered that the Old Testament books fall into three groups, which, speaking in general terms, may be called (I) historical, 17; (II) poetical, 5; (III) prophetic, 17; 39 in all. In the New Testament there are also three groups; (I) historical, the Gospels and Acts, 5; (II) didactic, the Epistles, 21; (III) apocalyptic, Revelation, 1; 27 in all, a total of 66 in the Bible. Then in the study of a particular book its plan and contents may be secured. The ability to "think through" a book, i. e., to recall the general line of through its chapters, is the only knowledge that can satisfy the real Bible student. 6. The memorizing of portions of Scripture is a practice that should be followed, and whose results will be most satisfactory both as a means of a better understanding of the Bible and as aids to the religious life. The habit of committing to memory a passage of Scripture daily is easily acquired, and presently the mind is stored with the most precious utterances of the ages. 7. References in the New Testament to passages in the Old Testament should be carefully searched out, and incidents narrated in different places should be compared. This may be done with the aid of the references found in the Authorized Version, but unfortunately the system there adopted often runs to fantastic lengths, references being sometimes given on the basis of quite superficial resemblance. One’s own references, neatly set down on the margins of his Bible in the light of careful study, will always be found the most helpful. 8. In short, the ability to do one’s own study and come upon one’s own results is the goal of all methods. Notes of work done should be made. Condensations and paraphrases of passages may be made with profit. "A lead pencil is the best of all commentators." A note-book should be in constant use. Results may be written on the margin of the Bible page in ink. Many systems of "Bible marking" have been devised. Few are of any value except to those who devise them; but any good method of preserving results, worked out by the student himself, will prove of value. 9. The use of any helps that may be within reach is advisable. But they should be used as helps, and not usurp the place of the Bible itself. After all, it is the Bible we are to study, and no mere study of books can compensate for a failure to study first and constantly the Book. 10. The use to be made of this hand-book will suggest itself to every student. In taking up the study of any book, read that book carefully. Then read the material on that book in the following pages. After this read the material on the other books of the same group, that the surroundings of the particular book may be obtained. From these readings a knowledge of its date, or that of its events, will be secured, which may be supplemented by the chronological material furnished in the appendix. Then read the book through at a single sitting if possible, to get its leading ideas. After this make an outline of its contents, and lastly turn to the questions on the book in the appendix and write out full answers to them. The results of such a use of this little book will render it of value to every one so using it, and will amply justify its preparation. HERBERT L. WILLETT. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: 01.01. DEFINITIONS ======================================================================== CHAPTER I. DEFINITIONS. The word Bible is derived from the Greek word biblos, which means book. Used as a title it means The Book, so called by the way of pre-eminence. This title is not found in the Bible itself; but it came into use among believers after the Bible was completed. The titles, Old Testament and New Testament, also came into use after the completion of the Bible. The books which pass under the latter title contain a new covenant which God made with men, while those under the former contain the old covenant which he made with Israel at Mount Sinai (Hebrews 8:6-13; Jeremiah 31:31-34). In the Latin Bible the word for covenant is translated Testamentum; and from this, at a time when the Latin Bible was the most read in Europe, the title Testament came into its present use. The title Scriptures, sometimes with the prefix Holy, is a New Testament title for the books of the Old Testament. In 2 Peter 3:16 it is also applied by implication to the Epistles of Paul; and it some came into use as a title for the whole Bible. The word means writings, and in its first sense it could be applied to any writings; but as the expression, The Book, came to mean one particular book, so the expression, The Scriptures, came to mean The Writings in the Bible. When the term Holy is prefixed, this still further distinguishes these writings. The apostles Paul and Peter both use the title "Oracles of God," for the Old Testament books, and Stephen calls them "The Living Oracles" (Romans 3:2; Hebrews 5:12; 1 Peter 4:11; Acts 7:38). By oracles is meant utterances of God; and these books were so called, because they contain utterances of God through inspired men. They are called living oracles; because of their abiding power in contrast with the deadness of heathen oracles. But if the Old Testament books are worthy of this title, still more are those of the New Testament; and consequently Papias, a Christian writer of the second century, applies it to Matthew’s book, saying, "Matthew wrote the Oracles." This is especially true of Matthew, because more than half of his book is composed of speeches made by Jesus. It is entirely proper then to speak of the whole Bible as The Oracles of God, or The Living Oracles. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: 01.02. DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER II. DIVISIONS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Every intelligent person knows that the Bible is not one continuous book, but it is made up of a number of books, differing from one another in subject matter and literary form. Some are books of history, some of prophecy, some of precept or doctrine, and some of poetry. They are also distinguished with reference to the time in which they were written, and the purposes which they were intended to serve. In order to read them intelligibly it is necessary to take notice of all these distinctions. The first five books (let the reader here commit their names to memory if he has not already done so), are commonly grouped under the title, The Pentateuch,1 a Greek word which means a five-fold book. Next we have twelve historical books, containing a connected history of Israel from the death of Moses to the restoration after the Babylonian captivity. The reader should commit their names to memory. Two of these, First and Second Chronicles, repeat large portions of the history given in other books, but they also furnish much additional information. In the middle of our Bible, next after the books last mentioned, we find five books, mostly poetry (commit their names to memory), which are placed without regard to their time of composition. In our Lord’s classification of the Old Testament as "the law, the prophets and the psalms," they are included under the latter title, because the book of Psalms was the best known of the five. It is now quite common among scholars to include Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes under the title, Wisdom Literature, because of the prominence given in them about wisdom and folly. These five books are grouped together because a likeness in subject matter and literary form distinguishes them from the others. It should be observed that the arrangement of the books in the Bible is the work of uninspired editors and publishers, and not of the inspired authors. The last division of all is composed of seventeen books which are styled prophetical (commit their names to memory). These, like the preceding division, are grouped together, because of their likeness in subject matter. Some of them were written after the Babylonian exile, and some long before it. They follow one another on the pages of the Bible without regard to the order of time. Nearly every one indicates in the opening verses the time of its composition by giving the names of the kings under whom its author lived and prophesied. This classification of the books of the Old Testament, if remembered, as it must be by all who wish to become proficient in Scripture knowledge, will enable the student at any time to readily turn to the part he wishes to read, whether law, history, poetry, or prophecy. Every part has its own peculiar value both for instruction and edification; and no part should be neglected. 1. Another arrangement includes in one group the first six books. This group, Genesis to Joshua, is usually called the Hexateuch.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: 01.03. THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS PRESERVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER III. THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND ITS PRESERVATION. The books of the Old Testament were all written, with unimportant exceptions to be mentioned hereafter, in the Hebrew tongue, which was the native tongue of the Hebrew nation. As the earliest of them were written more than three thousand years ago, and the latest more than two thousand years ago, it is proper to inquire, what assurance we have that our present books are the same as those in the original collection, and that they contain the same words. To give a full answer to these questions would require a whole volume as large as this, but can give the principal facts in a few lines. During the period from the first writing of the books till the invention of printing, all copies were made with the pen, and it has been found impracticable to copy books in this way without making some mistakes. These occur chiefly in the spelling of words, and in the omission or insertion of words not essential to the meaning of a sentence; but a few occurred which affect the sense, and which sometimes introduce contradictions of a book with itself, or with another book. Especially is this last the case with names and numbers, in which the copyist had no train of thought to guide him. This accounts for the discrepancies in numbers which every thoughtful reader has noticed between certain passages in Chronicles and the corresponding passages in the books of Samuel and Kings. After this process had continued until the error of copyists attracted the serious attention of Jewish scholars, a company of them drew up some very stringent rules to prevent such errors in the future. They counted the number of words in every book by sections, and marked the middle word of every section. Then they required every copyist, when he had copied the middle word, to count back and see if he had the right number of words. If he had, there was good assurance that he had omitted none and added none. If he had not, the part written was to be thrown away and a new copy made. These rules were adopted in the second century after Christ, and from that time forward no errors worth considering crept into the Hebrew Scriptures. When printing was invented, which was in the year 1448, and the Hebrew Old Testament was published in this form, which was in 1477, no more copies were written by hand, and the making of mistakes by copying came to an end; for when the types for a book are once set up correctly, all copies printed from them are precisely alike. The question whether any of the original books have been lost, or others added, is settled by the fact that a Greek translation of the Old Testament was made, beginning in the year 280 before Christ, which has come down to our day, and it contains the same books. There can be no reasonable doubt, therefore, that we now have the Old Testament substantially the same as when its several books were originally written. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: 01.04. OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH ======================================================================== CHAPTER IV. OUTLINE OF THE PENTATEUCH. Genesis through Deuteronomy (a) Genesis. It is a singular fact that many of the titles of the Hebrew books are Greek words. This grew out of the circumstance that the ancient Hebrews were not accustomed to giving titles to their books, but when they were translated into Greek, the translators, according to the custom in that language, gave titles to them. The title Genesis (creation) was given to the first book, because it begins with an account of creation. Starting with a brief account of creation, the first general division of this book gives a very few incidents in the history of our race till the birth of Abraham. This division includes the first eleven chapters. The events which it records are chiefly connected with the increasing wickedness of men by which God was constrained to destroy all except Noah’s family in the waters of a flood. After the account of the flood there follows an extremely brief account of the re-peopling of the earth by the descendants of Noah, and of their unwilling dispersion into different communities through the confusion of tongues. In the course of this brief record, we find two genealogies--that of Noah, which is traced back to Adam, and that of Abraham, which is traced back to Noah; and by means of the two we trace back to Adam the ancestry of Abraham. At the close of chapter eleven the narrative changes from a general history of men, to a biography of a single man. This biography of one man, who lived only one hundred and seventy-five years, occupies one and a half times as much space as the previous history of all men. We thus discover that the author’s main theme thus far is his account of Abraham, and that the preceding portion was tended chiefly as an introduction to this. The story of Abraham contains much that is interesting and edifying; and it should be studied in connection with the many references to it in the New Testament, which are all pointed out on the margin of any good reference Bible; but the chief interest in it to the mind of the author of Genesis, seems to be centered upon certain promises made to him by God. One was, that he would give to him and his seed the land of Canaan, in which he was then living as a stranger; another was, that his posterity should be as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands in the seashore; and another, that in him and in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. In connection with the second of these, he was commanded to circumcise all the males born in his house, or bought with his money, and was told that this ordinance should be observed by his posterity forever. This rite served to distinguish his posterity among men, so that it might be seen in subsequent generations that God’s promise was kept. These promises necessarily looked forward, and the author kept them in mind as he wrote the remainder of this and the other books of the Pentateuch. In connection with the first of these promises, God told Abraham that before his seed should possess the promised land, they should be in bondage in a foreign land four hundred years, but should come out a great nation, and then take possession of Canaan. The rest of the book is taken up with the various fortunes of his descendants, many of which are thrillingly interesting, till his grandson Jacob, with a family of sixty-eight living descendants, is led by a mysterious chain of providences to take up his abode in Egypt, preparatory to the fulfillment of the last mentioned prediction. The book closes with the death of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, through whose instrumentality the family had been brought into Egypt, and who in dying spoke of the promised return to Canaan, and gave his brethren charge to carry his bones with them for final burial in that land. A glance backward will now show the reader that the main design of the author of Genesis was to give the history of Abraham’s family down to the migration into Egypt; that the previous account of the whole world was preparatory to this; and all this was preparatory to an account yet to be given of the fulfillment of predictions and promises made to Abraham. We find that the author goes over in this short book nearly 2,500 years of the world’s history; and yet the book, if printed by itself, would be only a small pamphlet. (b) Exodus. This book is called Exodus (going out), because a prominent event in it is the departure of Israel out of Egypt. The name, like Genesis, is Greek. The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first traces the steps by which the Hebrews, whose coming into Egypt was warmly welcomed by the king, were finally brought into bondage; and those by which, under the leadership of Moses, they were delivered after a residence in that land of four hundred and thirty years. Nearly the whole world had at that time fallen into idolatry; and the method which God chose for the deliverance of Israel was also intended to make himself once more known to the Egyptians and the surrounding nations, while it also made him much better known to his own people. Moses was the first missionary to the heathen. The second part shows the wonderful way in which God sustained the people in the wilderness; how he led them to Mt. Sinai; and how he there entered into a covenant with them, and gave them a set of laws, civil and religious, to govern them as a nation. The third part describes a sanctuary, or place of worship which he caused them to erect, and which could be easily moved with them through all of their subsequent journeys. By these events was fulfilled the promise to Abraham, "That nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance;" for the fulfillment of the various promises to Abraham runs like a thread through all the subsequent history of his people. (c) Leviticus. This book is filled with a set of laws, regulating the sacrifices and purifications which were connected with the worship at the sanctuary, together with a few ethical precepts intended to cultivate holiness and righteousness among the people. It is because these ceremonies were to be administered by the priests the sons of Aaron and other Levites, that the book was named by the Greek translators, Leviticus. (d) Numbers. This name was given from the circumstance that the numbering of Israel twice by the command of God is recorded in it, the first numbering near the beginning, and the second near the close. The book gives an account of the journeyings and other experiences of Israel, during the period of about thirty-eight years, in which they were wandering from Mt. Sinai to the eastern bank of the river Jordan, whence they finally crossed over into Canaan. Many of their experiences were of the most thrilling character, rendering this a most interesting book. In the course of these events many new laws were given, God having reserved these to be given in connection with events which seemed to call for them, and to this make the enactment of them more impressive than it otherwise could be. It was a time of wonderful divine discipline, in the course of which the whole generation of grown persons who crossed the Red Sea perished, with the exception of two, and a new generation was brought up under the training of the Lord. These could be expected to serve God in their new home more faithfully than their fathers would have done. Even Moses and Aaron were among those who died in the wilderness. God had now, according to the promise to Abraham, brought them out of their bondage in Egypt and judged that nation. (e) Deuteronomy. This name means the second law. It was given because the Greek translators found in it a repetition of some laws previously given, and the enactment of some new laws. The main body of the book is made up of three discourses delivered by Moses in the plain of Moab over against Jericho, beginning on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, or just two and a half months before the close of forty years since the start out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 1:3). The first discourse, beginning with Deuteronomy 1:6, and closing with Deuteronomy 4:40, would be called, in our modern style, a historical sermon; for it consists in a rehearsal of all the leading events of the previous forty years, with practical lessons drawn from them, and exhortations based on them. It is an admirable specimen of that kind of preaching, and it should be studied as such by the preachers of the present day. The discourse is followed by a brief statement about the cities of refuge east of the Jordan, and this by a kind of introduction to the second discourse. The second discourse begins with chapter fifth, and closes with chapter twenty-sixth. In it Moses rehearses many of the laws which had been given in the previous years of the wanderings, beginning with the ten commandments; adds a few new statutes; and warmly exhorts the people to keep them all and to teach them diligently to their children. In this discourse, much more than in any other part of the Pentateuch, there is a constant appeal to the love of God as the one great motive to obedience; and the ground of that love is pointed out repeatedly in the unexampled goodness of God toward Israel. The third discourse, beginning with the twenty-seventh chapter and closing with the thirtieth, is prophetical; proclaiming a long and fearful list of curses which would befall the people if they should depart from the service of Jehovah, and of the blessings if they should be faithful to him. The last four chapters are occupied with the announcement of the approaching death of Moses; a formal charge to Joshua as his successor; a statement about his committing the law to writing and charging the Levites with its preservation; two poems; an account of his death; and some comments by a later writer on his career. These discourses and poems, like the exhortation which ends a long sermon, bring the Pentateuch to a most fitting conclusion; for they gather up and concentrate upon the heart of the reader all the moral power of the eventful history from Adam down, by way of exalting the name of Jehovah and filling the hearts of his people with gratitude. Especially was this so with the Israelites who saw in the past the unfolding of God’s gracious purposes toward them as declared in his promises to their father Abraham. When Moses disappeared from among them he left them with nothing but the narrow channel of the Jordan between them and the land of promise to which God had now, after dreary centuries, brought them in exact fulfillment of his word. The teaching of that fulfillment constitutes the unity of the Pentateuch. The time covered by the Pentateuch, according to the figures given on its pages, is 2,760 years. This is nearly twice as much time as is covered by all the rest of the Bible. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: 01.05. ISRAEL'S HISTORY FROM THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THAT OF DAVID ======================================================================== CHAPTER V. ISRAEL’S HISTORY FROM THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THAT OF DAVID. Joshua through Second Samuel While the twelve historical books which follow the Pentateuch give us, as we have said in a former chapter, an almost continuous history down to the close of the Old Testament period, the study of this history is facilitated by considering it according to the several distinct periods into which it naturally divides itself. We chose first, as best suiting our present purpose, the one named at the head of this chapter, and we shall set it forth by giving outlines of the several books in which the history is found. (a) Joshua. This book is so called, not because Joshua wrote it, although it is possible that he did so, but because it is he who figures most conspicuously in the transactions which it records. The book is divided into three distinct parts. The first, beginning where the Pentateuch left off with Israel on the east bank of the Jordan, describes their miraculous passage of the swollen river, and their conquests, in two great campaigns, of the whole land of Canaan, with the exception of a few tribes who were so weakened as not to hinder the settlement of the country by the Hebrews. This brought to a final fulfillment the promise to Abraham that God would give him this land as an inheritance for his posterity. This part includes the first twelve chapters. The second part, including chapters thirteen to twenty-two, gives the location of the several tribes, chiefly by naming the cities within their respective lots. These chapters might be called the Biblical Geography of Palestine. The student should here take up a good map and learn the location of every tribe, and of all the principal cities, mountains, plains, and waters. The closing part, twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters, is occupied with two farewell addresses delivered by Joshua, one of the civil office-holders of all Israel, and the other to a mass meeting of the whole people, and with a very brief account of the death and burial of Joshua, and of Eleazer the priest. It also mentions the burial of the bones, or mummy, of Joseph, which had been brought out of Egypt. Israel is now settled as a nation in the promised land, and the promises respecting that land which had been made to Abraham and repeated to Isaac and Jacob, are fulfilled. (b) Judges. This book opens with an account of the separate actions of the several tribes in driving out the Canaanites who were left in their territories after the death of Joshua, though it also contains a repetition of one conquest by the tribe of Judah which had been achieved before Joshua died. Then, in a kind of preface, the author occupies the rest of the first two chapters with a brief statement of the alternate apostasies and deliverances which make up the history in the rest of the book. These two chapters may be styled Part First. Then follows Part Second, chapters three to sixteen, in which sometimes one tribe and sometimes many fall into idolatry; are subdued or greatly harassed by their enemies until they repent and call upon God; are then delivered under the leadership of a Judge raised up by the Lord for the purpose; are kept in the fear of God until the Judge dies, when the same round of events is repeated to the twelfth time. There was no central government; but to answer the purposes of such when necessity required, Judges were providentially raised up and the accounts which we have of them here gave the name Judges to this book. The third part of the book, chapters seventeen to twenty-one, gives two incidents which have been passed over by the writer to avoid an interruption of the main thread of the history. The one shows how an idolatrous worship which was set up at Dan, and continued there for several centuries, was first inaugurated; and the other shows how the whole nation came together at an early day to punish a great crime, when the city and the tribe within which it had been committed refused to do so. The general design of the book of Judges seems to be to exhibit the working of both civil and religious law during the first three or four hundred years of Israel’s experiences under it. In both respects there had been a comparative failure, as is also true in the history of every nation both ancient and modern; but under this divine discipline many men and women of eminent virtues were developed. (c) Ruth. The romantic incidents of this beautiful story occurred while the Judges ruled in Israel (Ruth 1:1), and one of its purposes, the only one that appears till the closing paragraph brings out another, is to present a better phase of life under the Judges than we find in the book of Judges. This it does in a most charming manner. But at the close we ascertain that it was also intended to show that a woman of Moab was among the material ancestors of David, and to trace the interesting circumstances by which this was brought about. It could scarcely have been written before the reign of David; for it was David’s reign that gave public interest to his genealogy. (d) First Samuel. This book begins with the last of the Judges and closes with the death of the first king. It contains, therefore, an account of the change in the form of government. It shows how the political and religious degeneration, which had been going on in the latter part of the rule of the Judges, sank to its lowest point in the moral corruption of the priesthood, when the people came to abhor the sacrifices of Jehovah on account of the wickedness of the priests who offered them. It shows also that political degradation reached its lowest point with the degradation of religion; and that then the ark of the covenant, which was the symbol of God’s presence with Israel, was captured and taken away by their old enemies, the Philistines. This introduced an irregularity in the worship on the part of those who continued to serve God, and it led to a demand on the part of the people for a king to rule over them. This demand was treated as a sin of the people, because it was their own sins, and not an inherent defect in the form of government which God had given them, that brought about the failure. Nevertheless, God had foreseen this result, and had provided beforehand for it, and consequently he gave them a king in the person of Saul the son of Kish. In the meantime the prophet Samuel had brought about a great religious reformation among the people, and if Saul had proved to be a faithful servant of God, the affairs of the whole nation would in every way have been greatly improved. But though Saul was a skillful warrior, and fought many victorious battles, he turned away from God in many things, and his career ended in death on the battlefield. His reign closed, as did the rule of the Judges, in a defeat which left the people once more in subjection to the Philistines, once more illustrating the rule that righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a disgrace to any people. This is the lesson most strikingly taught by this portion of Israel’s history. The book also shows how God prepared another man in the person of David to take the place of Saul, and to reign more worthily than he did. It also strikingly exhibits the career of the greatest prophet who had thus far appeared in Israel since the days of Moses; for Samuel was not only an eminently good man, but he was also a successful ruler, and even a king-maker, seeing that under God he selected and anointed as kings both Saul and David; and until his death, which was mourned by the whole nation, both these men and all the people looked to him for counsel in every great crisis. From this time forward the special officers raised up from time to time to represent God are prophets, as under the preceding period they had been Judges. (e) Second Samuel. In the Hebrew Bible our two books of Samuel are but one; and in the English the history goes on from the one into the other without a break. The division was made for convenience in making references and in finding particular passages. Neither of them bears the name Samuel because Samuel wrote it; but because he figured so largely in starting the course of events which they record. He died before the events in First Samuel had all transpired. The present book opens with David’s accession to the throne, first over Judah, and after a seven-years war, over all Israel. The history had now reached the point at which another of the ancient promises of God began to be fulfilled; for it was promised to Jacob, "A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;" and Judah had been pointed out as the son of Jacob through whom this promise should be fulfilled; for in Jacob’s dying prophecy about his sons he had said, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh1 come." In fulfillment of this promise, David, a descendant of Judah by the genealogy recorded in the book of Ruth, was now a reigning king, and his posterity were to reign in succession after him. To show this was a leading design of the book. It also shows, by the career of David, even more strikingly than was seen in the career of Saul, that prosperity attends a king while he serves God, and adversity comes with disobedience; for this book, from the point at which it finds David on the throne, is divided into two very distinct parts, which may be styled, The Prosperous Part of David’s Reign (chapters v-x), and David’s Adversity (chapters xii-xxiv). The two parts are separated by the great sin which has been associated with David’s name from the day it was exposed until now. The same great lesson is taught in the careers of many men prominently connected with David. This makes the second book of Samuel one of the most profitable for reading and reflection of all the books of the Old Testament. This book also brings out the fact that the reign of David was a period of decided literary activity in Israel, for it publishes several of David’s poems, and it connects the history with the contents of the book of Psalms, many of the poems in which were composed by him. We learn also from the book of Chronicles, that the prophets Samuel, Nathan and Gad, were authors of works which jointly included all the acts of David, "first and last" (1 Chronicles 29:29-30). It is highly probable that at this period the books of Ruth and Judges, and much of the book of Samuel were written. The book of Jasher too, which is mentioned only twice, once to state that it contained an account of Joshua’s command to the sun and moon to stand still, and once to say that David’s lamentation over the death of Saul was written in it, was probably written at this time, seeing that it is not mentioned in connection with any later event. It was evidently a book of great value and authority, though it was allowed afterward to perish. During David’s reign the reader should not fail to observe that God’s chosen messengers to declare his will from time to time, in matters both of government and of morals, continued to exercise authority even over the king. This was especially true of Nathan and Gad, of whom we know little besides this. 1. The word rendered "Shiloh" is obscure. It may mean "Peace." Somewhat better renderings are "Till he come to Shiloh" (Joshua 18:1) or "Till he to whom it belongs shall come."--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: 01.06. THE REIGN OF SOLOMON AND THE DIVISIONS OF THE KINGDOM ======================================================================== CHAPTER VI. THE REIGN OF SOLOMON AND THE DIVISIONS OF THE KINGDOM. The subject of this chapter is set forth in the first twelve chapters of First Kings, and the first ten chapters of Second Chronicles. The account begins by showing that Solomon came near losing the throne and his life through a conspiracy of his older brother Adonijah, who, being the oldest living son of David, claimed the right to the throne, and was supported in this claim by such men as Joab and the high priest Abiathar. This conspiracy was undertaken before David’s death, and he was supposed to be so decrepit that he could not interfere. But he was aroused to activity by the combined efforts of the prophet Nathan and the mother of Solomon, and the conspiracy was nipped in the bud by the immediate anointing of Solomon. The young king’s choice of wisdom, when God gave him his choice as to what should be given him, is the key-note of the earlier part of his reign, and it brings into startling contrast the apostasy which characterized the last few years of his life. The chief event of his reign is the erection of the temple which replaced the old Tent of Meeting erected by Moses. This brought to an end, at least among the faithful, the irregular worship that had prevailed ever since the capture of the ark by the Philistines, and it enabled the priests to subsequently conduct the services according to all the provision of the law. After building the temple, and also a magnificent palace for himself, Solomon proceeded to inaugurate a complete system of fortification at strategic points in his kingdom, so that one or more of these would confront an enemy from whatever point he might attempt to march an invading army toward Jerusalem. It was probably this wise precaution, together with an alliance by marriage with the reigning king of Egypt, that preserved his kingdom in peace throughout his long reign of forty years. The literary activity which had sprung into being in the reign of David, reached its culmination in that of Solomon. He himself took the lead in it, by writing many poems and proverbs, and by discoursing on nearly all subjects which are now grouped under the general title of Natural History. Biographical writing was also cultivated, and the prophets, Nathan, Ahijah and Iddo are mentioned as writers of this class. Solomon was the first king of Israel to engage in commerce, and especially in the mining of the precious metals, which he found in rich abundance in a region called Ophir, whose mines were soon exhausted so that the place itself has ceased to be known. These enterprises brought him in contact with the outside world, and he became by far the most famous king who at any time reigned in Israel. His wealth bred a fondness for magnificence, and this led him to multiply wives, horses and chariots, and these again to complicity with the worship of idols. The prosperity of the kingdom under Solomon, as it was very largely secured by oppressive levies upon the working classes of his subjects, wrought out its own destruction, as the historian proceeds to relate after Solomon’s death. The people petitioned his son and successor to lessen the burdens imposed by the father; he answered them contemptuously, and ten of the tribes, under the leadership of Jeroboam, a bold man of the tribe of Ephraim, revolted and set up a rival kingdom. Once more was Israel taught that national prosperity was to be secured only by strict adherence to the will of God.1 1. The conduct of Ahijah the Prophet (1 Kings 11:29-35) in encouraging Jeroboam to revolt, indicates the feeling on the part of the prophets that the interests of true religion required a simpler form of national life than the splendors of Solomon’s reign encouraged.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: 01.07. THE TWO KINGDOMS ======================================================================== CHAPTER VII. THE TWO KINGDOMS. I Kings 1-12; II Chronicles 1-12. [The First Period of Hostility] [The Period of Reconciliation] [The Second Period of Hostility] From the division of the kingdom till the downfall of that of the ten tribes, called the kingdom of Israel, or the northern kingdom, while the other was the kingdom of Judah, or the southern kingdom, the author of the book of Kings treats their history alternately, while the Chronicler confines himself to the latter, except when the two come in contact. We should study this part of the history under the subdivisions into which it is naturally divided, and we must take into view the writings of the prophets as they come into contact with the history; for the latter constitute a very important part of the history of the times, and without them the narrative in Kings and Chronicles could be but imperfectly understood. This portion of the history divides itself into three distinct parts which we shall consider separately. They are first, a period of hostility between the two kingdoms; second, a period of friendly alliance; and third, a second period of hostility. 1. The First Period of Hostility. This period began with the division of the kingdom, and closed with an alliance between kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat, and it lasted about 78 years. At the beginning of this period Jeroboam established the worship of Jehovah under the image of golden calves at Bethel and Dan; ordained an annual festival at the former place, and made it unlawful for his subjects to go to Jerusalem to worship as the law of Moses required. The author of the book of Kings is careful to trace the continuance of this unlawful worship in the reigns of subsequent kings of Israel, and the evil consequences of it are plainly seen in the course of events. Within about fifty years four different dynasties came to the throne, each exterminating the male offspring of the predecessor, and each being pronounced more wicked than those that had gone before. Finally the religious degradation reached such a point that to the calf-worship inaugurated by Jeroboam was added the almost universal worship of Baal. In this crisis the greatest of all the prophets who have left no writings behind them, Elijah the Tishbite, appeared like a sudden thunderstorm on the scene, and gave a staggering blows to this pernicious system. In the meantime, the kingdom of Judah had progressed more satisfactorily. Adhering to the true God, and maintaining his worship according to the law, only four kings had come to the throne when the seventh began to reign in Israel. During a temporary apostasy of the people under Rehoboam, the country was overrun by an Egyptian army, and a heavy tribute was paid to get rid of it; but a return to the Lord brought a return to prosperity, and Jehoshaphat was reigning righteously over Judah while Ahab was in the midst of the wickedest reign that had been known in Israel. 2. The Period of Reconciliation. The two kingdoms so long hostile now became reconciled by the marriage of Ahab’s daughter Athaliah to Jehoram the son and heir of Jehoshaphat. The alliance emboldened Ahab to a military enterprise which he had not dared to undertake alone, and which resulted in the defeat of his army and the loss of his life. The whole story of his reign is full of instruction and warning. Jehoshaphat was rebuked by a messenger from God for helping those who were the enemies of God; but the friendly relations between his kingdom and that of Israel continued until the former reaped much bitter fruit therefrom. Athaliah proved a scourge to Judah, and in the third generation of Jehoshaphat’s descendants she attempted the extermination of the royal family. She came so near succeeding that only one infant was left to perpetuate the family of David, and to make possible the divine promise that he should never lack a son to sit upon his throne. This infant was saved at the sacrifice of Athaliah’s own execrable life, and then came to an end the alliance between Israel and Judah which had proved a continuous disaster to the latter. While such was the course of history in Judah, Israel had fared no better. Ahab’s son and successor, Ahaziah, reigned only two years. He made a feeble effort to revive Baal worship, and he also committed the fatal sin of his life by sending messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to inquire of him the result of an injury which he had received from a fall. Dying without a son, he was succeeded by his brother Jehoram, in whose reign the career of Elijah came to a glorious end, and the brilliant career of Elisha kept alive to some extent the fear of God among the people. More than once he saved the kingdom from subjugation by Benhadad the powerful king of Syria. Jehoram’s career ended in the extermination of the whole offspring of Ahab by the hand of Jehu. That the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, were sent to the more wicked of the two kingdoms, though a matter of surprise at first thought, was the very thing to be expected; for their mission was to rebuke sin, and where sin most abounded was their proper field of activity. By checking Baal-worship in the larger kingdom, where it originated, they brought it to a speedier end in the smaller kingdom to which it had spread. 3. The Second Period of Hostility. After the extermination of the house of Ahab in Israel, and the death of Athaliah in Judah, there was no more co-operation between the two kingdoms; but instead there were frequent wars as of old. The house of Jehu held the throne in the north longer than any other, and under Jeroboam II the kingdom reached its greatest power and prosperity since the days of Solomon. This king, by the prophetic guidance of the prophet Jonah, subdued the kingdom of Syria which had long oppressed his nation, and extended his dominions to the Euphrates, which was the northern boundary of the kingdom of David. The incidents recorded in the book of Jonah belong to this reign. It was in this reign, which was a long one, that the prophets Hosea and Amos uttered the prophecies which we find in their books. It is necessary to study these, in order to fully understand the condition of the people at the time; for while the account in the historical book of Kings touches upon political and military affairs, and this very slightly, the two prophets speak to the people of their sins; and in doing so they bring to light a state of irreligion and immorality in the midst of secular prosperity, which fills the reader with horror, and which is yet but the legitimate result of the experiences through which the ten tribes had passed since the division of the kingdom. It is also worthy of special notice that they predicted the downfall and ruin of the kingdom at the very time when, according to all human foresight, there was less prospect of such a disaster than at any previous period in its history. After the fall of the house of Jehu, which occurred in six months after the death of Jeroboam II, the kingdom hastened rapidly to the doom predicted for it by Hosea and Amos. A succession of five kings came to the throne in thirty-two years, all of whom but one were assassinated by their successors. In their rivalries they hired three successive kings of Assyria to interfere in their affairs, thus fairly inviting the rulers of that great Empire to come at last, as they did, and take the whole kingdom into captivity. Finally in the ninth year of the last of these assassins, Hoshea, the end came as described in 2 Kings 17:1-41. While Israel was thus going the downward road to destruction, Judah, having recovered somewhat from the damaging effects of the alliance with the house of Ahab, passed through a happier career, though not without some severe rebukes from the two prophets who were specially sent to Israel. Of the six kings who reigned during the time of the ten in Israel, two were faithful to God and his law, while three were unfaithful in many things, but far less so than the kings of Israel. The last of these good kings, Hezekiah, was in the sixth year of his reign when Israel was carried captive. The whole period of the separate existence of the two kingdoms, counted by adding together the reigns of the kings and making a proper reduction for the peculiar Hebrew method of counting, in 354 years, and the modern date of captivity of Israel is B.C. 721. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: 01.08. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH CONTINUED ======================================================================== CHAPTER VIII. THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH CONTINUED. II Kings 18-25; II Chronicles 29-36. This history of the kingdom of Judah, from the fall of Israel to its own fall, is found in II Kings, from the eighteenth chapter to the close, and in II Chronicles, from chapter twenty-nine to the close. Some of it is also found in the books of the prophets who wrote during that period, especially in those of Isaiah and Jeremiah. The time included was about 130 years, covering the reigns of eight kings. Of these two reigned only three months each, and one only two years. The first, Hezekiah, was a good king, the best who had reigned since the division of the kingdom. He was preceded, however, by two kings, Jotham and Ahaz, who were very wicked, and under their evil influence the people had become very corrupt. It was therefore with great difficulty that Hezekiah induced them once more to live according to the law of Moses. As a divine acknowledgment of his fidelity, his reign was signalized by one of the most remarkable deliverances which Israel at any time experienced. It was the miraculous destruction by night of a vast army under Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, who had invaded the land while prosecuting a war against Egypt, and demanded the surrender of Jerusalem. In Hezekiah’s reign the public career of the prophet Isaiah came to an end. He was called to be a prophet in the year that King Uzziah died, and his earlier prophetic discourses were devoted to denouncing the wickedness of the people under the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz. These should be read in connection with what is said in Kings and Chronicles of these two kings. While the latter books give the political history, Isaiah lifts the curtain from the state of society among the people, and shows how hideous it was. He was the constant supporter and adviser of Hezekiah in all his good undertakings, and many chapters of his book, up to the thirty-ninth, are to be studied in connection with Hezekiah’s reign. The last twenty-seven chapters look forward to the captivity of Judah, and the deliverance from it, while many passages in every part of the book look forward to the time of the Messiah. Hezekiah’s good reign was followed by that of Manasseh, the wickedest of all the kings that ever reigned in Jerusalem. His reign was a long one, continuing for fifty-five years. The true religion was utterly abolished, and all the forms of idolatry known among the surrounding nations were substituted. The temple of God was made the centre of these abominations. A whole generation of Jews grew up to mature years, and some to old age, without a chance to know the true God or to gain any knowledge of the Scriptures. Amon, the son and successor of Manasseh, continued in the ways of his father, adding two more years to this period of apostasy. When Josiah, the next king, came to the throne, he was only eight years old, and twelve more years were added to the period of darkness before he reached an age to vigorously attempt a reformation. By the providence of God, and perhaps through the agency of the prophet Zephaniah,1 he was at this time brought under such influences that he undertook to restore the true worship, and to abolish idolatry. In his eighteenth year, when the reign of darkness and ignorance had endured for seventy-five years, a copy of the law of God was found in the temple and from reading it both the king and the people were enabled to realize the terrifying sinfulness of themselves and their fathers. A heroic effort was made by the king to bring the people to repentance, and to restore them to the favor of God; and he appeared to be successful; but the prophet Jeremiah, who had begun to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah, and who lent all of his influence as a prophet to the support of the king, publicly denounced the reformation of the people as being feigned and not from the heart. The first twenty chapters of his book should be studied in connection with the history of Josiah’s reign, for they depict in most vivid colors the state of society and religion which had been and was still prevalent. He also predicted again and again the downfall of the kingdom in consequence of these sins. Josiah and Jeremiah were both young men when they began their joint labors for the salvation of the people, and no two young men ever fought a braver battle together with almost a whole nation combined against them. Josiah was the last king of Judah who tried to avert the doom that was coming upon the nation according to the words of many prophets. His own fate was a tragic one, for he was slain in a battle against the king of Egypt, who was marching an army through his territory to make war upon Assyria with whom Josiah was in a friendly alliance. Only twenty-two years lay between his death and the beginning of the predicted captivity, and these were occupied by the reigns of three of his sons and one grandson, all four of whom rejected the counsel of God given through Jeremiah, and persisted in the wickedness which now characterized nearly all the people. During the whole of this time Jeremiah was the most conspicuous man in the nation, not as the counsellor and supporter of the kings, as in the days of Josiah, but as the mouthpiece of God, crying out constantly against the wickedness of king and subjects. All of his book, from the twenty-first chapter to the close, should be carefully studied in connection with the reigns of these four kings. Unfortunately, these chapters are not arranged in chronological order in the book, but in the preface to almost every prophetic discourse he tells us under what king, and in what year of his reign it was delivered. No character depicted in the Bible was more heroic than that of Jeremiah, and the account of none is more thrillingly interesting. He has been called the weeping prophet, because of the deep distress which he felt for the woes which were coming upon his people, his predictions of which they would not believe. He also suffered much violence at their hands. The little book called Lamentations is an expression in poetry of his sorrow over Jerusalem when it finally fell into the hands of the heathen. 1. See page 60, 61. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: 01.09. OTHER PRE-EXILIAN PROPHETIC BOOKS ======================================================================== CHAPTER IX. OTHER PRE-EXILIAN PROPHETIC BOOKS. Micah || Nahum || Habakkuk || Zephaniah || Obadiah || Ezekiel || Joel In the preceding historical survey we have passed by several books which can better be considered in separate sections: 1. Prophetical Books. There are seven of these, and we shall name them in the order of time as nearly as that can be determined. (a) Micah. The ministry of this prophet ran through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah; and he was therefore a contemporary of Isaiah, who prophesied under the same kings. He called his book "The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morasthite, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." He predicts the downfall of both these cities, and rebukes the people sharply for the sins which are bringing destruction upon them. He also predicts the restoration of the people, and it is he who uttered the plain prediction respecting the birthplace of our Lord, which was quoted to Herod by the scribes when the wise men appeared in Jerusalem. As he prophesied for so long a time, it almost certain that his small book contains but a very small part of his prophetic utterances. (b) Nahum. This writer does not tell us when he prophesied; but his book is called "The burden of Nineveh," and it is a prediction of the downfall and desolation of that ancient city. It was uttered after the Assyrians, whose capital Nineveh was, had invaded Judah for the last time (Nahum 1:9-15); and this was done by Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah. Between this time and the fall of Nineveh, which occurred twenty years later (B. C. 625), Nahum prophesied; and this is as near as we can come to fixing his date. His little book opens with a magnificent tribute to the majesty and power of Jehovah, and his description of the battle scenes at the final siege of Nineveh is so vivid as to seem that of an eyewitness. (c) Habakkuk. This prophet, like Nahum, fails to tell us when he prophesied; but his opening sentences show that it was in a time of general lawlessness, and when the Chaldean invasion, which he predicts, would take place in the days of those to whom he spoke. This agrees with the wicked period near the close of Manasseh’s reign or the early part of that of Josiah, for this was a period of lawlessness, and it was separated from the Chaldean invasion not less than twenty-five years nor more than forty. At this time the Chaldeans were still under the dominion of the Assyrians, and there was no human prospect of their coming into supreme power. The prayer of Habakkuk, which occupies the latter half of his book, is one of the grandest and most devout effusions in the whole Bible. (d) Zephaniah. This prophet traces his genealogy back four generations to Hezekiah; and as the only noted man of that name was king Hezekiah, it is supposed that he belonged to the royal family. He prophesied in the reign of Josiah (Zephaniah 1:1); but in what part of his reign is not stated. If it was in the first thirteen years, he preceded Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:2), and that it was is almost certain when we consider the contents of his book; for he represents the people of Jerusalem and Judah at the time as engaged in various forms of idolatry (Zephaniah 1:4-6), all of which were abolished by Josiah in the twelfth year of his reign. The first two chapters and part of the third are devoted to denunciations of Jerusalem for its iniquities, and predictions of destructive judgments to be brought upon her therefore. Adjacent nations are also included, especially those who had been enemies to the Jews. The last half of the third chapter is devoted to a prediction of the final deliverance of Israel from the impending calamities, and of the prosperity which was to follow. As this rousing prophetic appeal was sounded in the ears of the people in the early part of Josiah’s reign, and came from the lips of a kinsman of the king, there can be little doubt that it greatly influenced the latter to undertake the reformation for which his reign is distinguished. The book should be read just after reading the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, and before reading that of Josiah. It gives an inside view of the state of society when Josiah, at twelve years of age, came to the throne, and it helps to account for the surprising fact that though his father and his grandfather had been given to idolatry, and to all manner of wickedness, he took the opposite course in overthrowing the idolatry which they had established, and in bringing the people back to the worship of Jehovah. (e) Obadiah. This very short book is entitled, "The Vision of Obadiah." Of the personal history of this prophet we have no information. The first part of the book (Obadiah 1:1-16) is a denunciation of Edom for the animosity which it had shown towards the Jews when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, and a prediction of punishment for this unnatural enemy toward a kindred people. It was written then, after that event, and before the predicted punishment. A similar denunciation of Edom by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 49:7-22) contains some of the same sentences employed by Obadiah, showing that one of these prophets copied from the other. As they wrote nearly at the same time, it can scarcely be determined which did the copying. The rest of the book is devoted to predicting a more complete overthrow of Edom by the Jews (Obadiah 1:17-21); and this was fulfilled after the return of the latter from the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel, who was also a contemporary of Obadiah, has a similar prediction (Ezekiel 25:12-14). There is nothing said of this hostility of Edom in any of the historical books; but it crops out only in the writings of these three prophets, but also in Psalms 137:1-9, written in the captivity, or soon after its close, in which the author says: "Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom The days of Jerusalem; Who said, Rase it, rase it, Even to the foundation thereof." (f) Ezekiel. This prophet, like Jeremiah, was a priest (Ezekiel 1:3). He was called to be a prophet in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, which corresponds with the fifth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Jerusalem. He was at the time among the captives in the land of the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 1:3), and he was doubtless one of those who were carried away with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar. When he began to prophesy, Jeremiah had already been engaged in the work about thirty years; and as Ezekiel was now thirty years old (Ezekiel 1:1), he had been brought up from infancy under the teaching of Jeremiah. He continued to prophesy until the 27th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel 29:17), and perhaps longer. His first six or seven years lapped over the last six or seven of Jeremiah, and during that period they were fellow workers, the one in Jerusalem and the other in the vicinity of Babylon, both foretelling the speedy downfall of the kingdom of Judah, and exhorting the people to repentance. The first half of Ezekiel’s book, or twenty-four of its forty-eight chapters, is devoted to these topics. He employs a great many very strange symbols, both in word and action, some of which are very difficult of interpretation; but he also teaches with great plainness of speech many lessons of extreme importance, not for his own age only, but for all generations of men. The reader will readily distinguish the chapters containing these lessons, and he should study them until they become very familiar. The latter half of the book contains predictions respecting the restoration of Israel and Judah, and their subsequent career in their own country. In this part there are descriptions and symbols still more mysterious than those in the first part, some of which have never been satisfactorily interpreted. Like the other prophets, he gives very little information about his personal history, and nothing is now known respecting the time or place of his death. Had he lived to be one hundred years old, he would have seen the end of the captivity; but as that is improbable, he most probably died in Babylon. (g) Joel. Nothing is known of the personal history of Joel except that he was the son of Pethuel (Joel 1:1). He does not say, like the majority of the prophets, in what reign or reigns he prophesied, and the indications of date in his book are so indefinite that commentators have differed very greatly as to the time in which he wrote, some placing him among the earliest, and some among the latest of the prophets. Fortunately, the value of the book to us does not depend upon its exact date. The first part of the book (Joel 1:1-11, Joel 1:17) contains a prediction of a visitation of locusts such as had not been known to previous generations in the land of Israel (Joel 1:2-3). The description is wonderfully vivid, made so in part by speaking frequently as if the scene were passing before the eyes of the prophet. The language employed in parts of the description is such that some interpreters have understood the whole as a symbolic representation of desolating armies of men. Next after this visitation the prophet foretells a prosperous condition of the country (Joel 2:18-27), and then he predicts the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost quoted the prediction as being then in part fulfilled (Joel 2:28-32; Comp. Acts 2:16-21). This is the most notable feature of Joel’s prophesying. It was given to him among the prophets to make the most distinct prediction of the great event which inaugurated the kingdom of God on earth. The rest of the prophecy is taken up with a prediction of God’s judgments on the nations surrounding Judah for the cruelties which they had visited on his people. It makes no mention of the kingdom of Israel; and this circumstance, together with the fact that all its local allusions have reference to Judah, shows that the prophet lived in the southern kingdom. There is no particular part of the history with which the book has any special connection, or on which it throws light. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: 01.10. THE POETICAL BOOKS ======================================================================== CHAPTER X. THE POETICAL BOOKS.1 Job through Song of Songs We have passed by this class of books, not because they are of later date than those mentioned in the last two sections, but because they could not be considered earlier without a break in the thread of the history. 1. Job. This is a poetical book with an introduction, or prologue, and a sequel or epilogue, in prose. The former gives the character and circumstances of the man, together with a vain attempt of Satan to prove that his motive in serving God was a selfish one. After the failure of Satan’s attempt, which left Job in a state of destitution and extreme suffering, three of his friends come to console him, and after a time of mournful silence, they enter into a debate with him as to the cause of his affliction. They unitedly assume that his sufferings were due to some secret sin of which he had been guilty, and they base their conclusion on the general proposition that God never afflicts the righteous. Job denies their proposition, and defends himself the best he can, until they have had three rounds of speeches, the friends speaking in regular rotation and Job answering each one separately. Then a younger man, named Elihu, whose presence had not been mentioned, makes a speech, and finally God himself speaks from a whirlwind. In the sequel God decides that Job was right on the question debated; commands the three friends to bring an offering to the altar that Job might intercede for them, and restores Job to double the earthly prosperity which he enjoyed before the trial began. The speeches are not limited in subject matter to the question in debate; but all of them take a wide range of thought, and they contain some of the most sublime and edifying poetry to be found in any literature. The question has been raised very often whether Job was a real or imaginary person; but it seems to be settled by the prophet Ezekiel and the apostle James, each of whom makes statements which imply the reality of his existence, his high character, his sufferings and his deliverance (Ezekiel 14:12-20; James 5:10-11). But while Job, and also his four friends, were real persons, their speeches were not delivered in the poetical form in which we have them, for this would be impossible without miraculous aid; and that they did not enjoy this appears from the fact that all of them said things for which they were censured. Doubtless the author of the book, who is unknown to us, with the argument for a starting point, worked the speeches into the form in which we have them. The times at which Job lived cannot be definitely determined, but it was before the time of Ezekiel who refers to him as an example of eminent righteousness. 2. The Psalms. A glance through this book in the Revised Version will show that it consists of five books in one, each ending with a doxology and an Amen. These five collections were made at different times, and by different compilers; for the Psalms were not all written at one time or in the lifetime of one man. One of them (Psalms 90:1-17) is ascribed to Moses, and some of them (e.g., Psalms 137:1-9) were as late as the Babylonian exile.2 Their dates and authorship are ascertained, so far as these can now be known, partly by the inscriptions printed above some of them, and partly by a comparison of their personal and historical allusions with the history of the people of Israel. The superscriptions are not a part of the text, but they are of very ancient date; and while they are not infallible, they are in the main, at least, reliable. By these, seventy-three Psalms are ascribed to David,3 and this has led to styling the collection as a whole the Psalms of David, the title being taken from the principal author. This title, however, is not a part of the sacred text. The title in the original text was the Hebrew word for Praises; and the Greek translators originated the title now in use. In order to read the Psalms with the greatest profit, every one which contains personal or historical allusions should be read in connection with the events alluded to. A good reference Bible will usually point these out to the reader; but it is better still to have such a knowledge of the historical books, that the events alluded to will be readily recalled by the allusions. The sentiments expressed in the Psalms came from the hearts of the authors, and they show the best effects of the law of Moses, and the experience of Israel on the souls of devout men under that dispensation. They were written under so great a variety of circumstances that they express the sentiment of godly men in almost any condition in which men find themselves to-day; and therefore they are adapted to our edification in all the varied scenes of life. One who is familiar with them can readily turn to such as will comfort him in any sorrow, cheer him in any despondency, and furnish expression to his deepest gratitude and most fervid thanksgiving. They are marked, however, by one defect as compared with the sentiments inculcated by Christ, and that is their occasional expression of hatred toward enemies. Under that dispensation war was tolerated, and this rendered it impossible to suppress hostile feelings towards the enemy; consequently the best of men felt at liberty to indulge and express these sentiments. In reading the Psalms we should carefully abstain from entering into such sentiments with the authors, and should pass them by as imperfections of a preparatory dispensation of the divine government. 3. Proverbs. A proverb strictly speaking, is a sentence which expresses briefly and strongly some practical truth. In this sense this book is not wholly made up of proverbs; for the first nine chapters contain a series of short poems of a different character, yet they are all full of practical lessons such as proverbs teach; and consequently, they are not out of place in a book bearing the general title of Proverbs. The second division of the book, beginning with chapter ten, has the heading "The Proverbs of Solomon," and here the proverbs properly speaking, begin. They extend to Proverbs 22:16, and constitute the largest division of the book, giving the name to the whole. These chapters contain 375 separate proverbs, only a small number in comparison with the 3,000 which Solomon is said to have composed (1 Kings 4:32). These proverbs are full of practical wisdom. From Proverbs 22:17 to the close of chapter 24, the matter and form are much the same as in the first part of the book. Then follow five chapters with the titles, "These also are Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." Thus the book was in part a growth. The last section of the book, Proverbs 31:1-31, is entitled, "The Words of King Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him." Who Lemuel was is not known. His words and the whole book, close with a description of "A Virtuous Woman," which presents an ideal of womanhood.4 4. Ecclesiastes. The printed title of this book is "Ecclesiastes or the Preacher;" but the title which it gives to itself is, "The Words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem" (Ecclesiastes 1:1). The Hebrew word rendered preacher, is Koheleth. This was rendered by the authors of the Septuagint, Ecclesiastes; and this, anglicized, gives us the word commonly used as the title of the book. Many scholars now use the Hebrew word when speaking of the book, and call it Koheleth. The preacher meant is undoubtedly Solomon; for he is the only son or descendant of David who reigned in Jerusalem, and whose experiences correspond to those mentioned in the text. There are some who doubt whether Solomon wrote the book, and some who are very positive that he did not; yet even these admit that whoever the writer was, he attempted to set forth the sentiment of Solomon, and wrote in his person. We might look upon the whole book as a sermon (and it would not be a very long one) in which the preacher sets forth the vanity, or emptiness of this life considered within itself. His text, to use a modern expression, is "Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2); and if this life ends all, we must admit the truth of the proposition. There are some passages in the book which are quite obscure, and some which have the appearance of being contradictory to others; but when we keep in view the author’s purpose of looking at this life as if it were our only state of existence these difficulties nearly all disappear. In the final conclusion the author says: "This is the end of all matter: All hath been heard; fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man; for God shall bring every work into judgment, and every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." This book should be read in connection with the life of Solomon, which is set forth in the books of First Kings and Second Chronicles. With this piece of history fresh in the memory, the beauty of the sermon will be more highly appreciated, and its power more seriously felt.5 5. The Song of Songs. The title which this short poem assigns itself is, "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s" (Song of Solomon 1:1). If there is any book in the Bible which found a place in it by a mistake or misjudgment of those who put the inspired book together, it must be this; for it is so totally unlike all the rest that it is difficult to see what connection it can have with the general design of the whole. Many interpreters have affected to find in it a parabolic meaning, and even a foreshadowing of the love of the Church of Christ; while others have regarded it as nothing more than a love-song with a very obscure connection of thought. According to either view it has afforded little edification to the great majority of Bible readers; and unless some significance can be found in it hereafter which has not yet been pointed out, it will continue to be but little read, and of but little practical value.6 It is somewhat difficult to classify accurately the books of this section. "Poetical" does not fully describe them, since Ecclesiastes is not poetry, and then other parts of the Old Testament material are poetic, especially Isaiah 40:1-31, Isaiah 41:1-29, Isaiah 42:1-25, Isaiah 43:1-28, Isaiah 44:1-28. Perhaps a division of these books may be made into "Wisdom Books," including Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, and "Devotional," in which latter class the Psalms would be placed.--W. Some students of the Psalms find in certain of them evidence of a date later than the return from Babylon, and in three or four (Psalms 44:1-26, Psalms 77:1-20, Psalms 79:1-13, Psalms 83:1-18) indications of origin in the Maccabean period.--W. It is usually agreed among scholars that whatever may have been the number of Psalms written by David, the following are certainly his in the order of the chief periods of his life: Psalms referring to his early life, either written then, or recollections of the period written later, Psalms 19:1-14, Psalms 8:1-9, Psalms 29:1-11, Psalms 23:1-6; his persecution by Saul, Psalms 11:1-7, Psalms 7:1-17; the ark brought to Zion, Psalms 24:1-10, Psalms 101:1-8, Psalms 15:1-5; David’s wars, Psalms 18:1-50, Psalms 21:1-13, Psalms 110:1-7, Psalms 9:1-20; David’s sin and repentance, Psalms 51:1-19, Psalms 32:1-11; Absalom’s rebellion, Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 4:1-8, Psalms 23:1-6, Psalms 63:1-11, Psalms 12:1-8.--W. [70-71] It will be seen that the book is made up of several sections, of which the oldest seem to be 10:1-20:16 and chapters 24-29. These are called collections of Solomon’s Proverbs. In addition there are the "Sayings of the Wise," Proverbs 22:17-24, "The Words of Agur," Psalms 30:1-33, "The Words of King Lemuel," Proverbs 31:1-9, the acrostic poem in praise of the Ideal Woman, Proverbs 31:10-31, and chapters 1-9, which were perhaps written by the compiler of the whole collection, who named the entire work the Proverbs of Solomon, thus using the wise King as the common denominator of all the material of which he was known to have set the pattern for later days. The relation of Solomon to the Proverb literature is the same as that of David to the Psalter. Each set in motion a type of literary activity to which others added through centuries.--W. There are many considerations that make the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes extremely improbable, and indicate that a writer in one of the latest periods of Old Testament history used Solomon as a character into whose mouth he could put the words which he desired to speak. He was troubled by the fact that nothing that one possesses or does seems to give satisfaction. He did not even consider a future life probable, for the hope of eternal life was only revealed in its fulness by Christ. The answer which Ecclesiastes makes to the problem of life is that one should receive all its good with thankfulness, and use wisely all that God gives.--W. It is a dramatic poem. The earlier interpretation made it an epithalamium, or marriage song, recording the love and marriage of Solomon and his queen. The later, and now generally accepted interpretation makes the heroine a maiden of Shulem or Shunem, whom King Solomon takes into his court and attempts by flattery and magnificent promises to separate her from her lover, to whom, however, she remains faithful and is at last restored. The book is a beautiful tribute to true and constant love, which no wealth can dazzle and no power can overawe. It is also a refreshing picture of the virtues to be found among the common people in an age of the greatest splendor and of growing corruption in the court of Solomon. The spiritual lessons of the book are not to be found in mystical allusions to Christ and the Church, but in the purity and constancy of love, lessons needed in no age more than our own.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: 01.11. THE BOOKS OF EXILE ======================================================================== CHAPTER XI. THE BOOKS OF EXILE1 Daniel and Esther We have now made mention of all the books of the Old Testament connected with events preceding the Babylonian exile. We come next to the two books concerned exclusively with events which occurred in the exile, the books of Daniel and Esther. 1. Daniel. This book, as also the experiences of Daniel himself spans the whole period of the captivity of Judah; for it begins in the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, eight years before the captivity of Jehoiachin (Daniel 1:1), and it ends in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, two years after the captivity of Judah ended (Daniel 10:1; Ezra 1:1-3). It indirectly represents itself as having been written by Daniel; for although he is spoken of in the first six chapters in the third person, as was common in historical narration, he speaks in the first person in the other six. He was connected with the royal family of Judah (Daniel 1:3), and it is probable that he and his companions were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar as hostages for the good conduct of Jehoiakim who was tributary to the Babylonians. He saw the beginning and the end of the Babylonian Empire, and he was more or less connected with the palace through the whole period. The events recorded in the first six chapters were evidently intended by the Lord for two distinct purposes: first, to keep the captive Jews from losing their faith in Jehovah; and second, to make the power and majesty of Jehovah known to the heathen population of the Babylonian Empire. The Jews must have been strongly tempted, when they saw the Holy City and God’s holy temple in ruins, and themselves transported into a foreign land by a heathen nation, to think either that Jehovah had abandoned them in violation of many promises made to their fathers, or that he was not able to cope with the gods of the great heathen empire. Either conclusion would cause them to fall in with the religion of their conquerors, and thus to forfeit all the good things which Jehovah had promised them. On the other hand, the conquerors, ascribing as they and all the heathen nations did, their victories to the superior power of the gods they worshipped, unavoidably reached the conclusion that their gods were far more powerful than Jehovah. But this false reasoning was corrected by the series of occurrences which are here recorded. The other six chapters of Daniel, all prophetic, made many clear revelations of the destiny provided for Israel; and, although some of them were obscure then, and are more or less so to this day, others were almost as intelligible as history, and proved a great source of comfort and encouragement to the Jews in the fierce conflicts through which they passed between the exile and the coming of Christ. 2. Esther. The events recorded in this book took place in the reign of Ahasuerus, otherwise called Xerxes. His Persian name, spelled in English letters, reads thus: Khshayarsha. The Greeks, in trying to render it into their language, got it Xerxes; and the Hebrews, Ahasuerus. The latter comes nearer the original, but European nations have adopted in common usage the Greek rendering. This king began to reign about fifty years after the decree of Cyrus permitting the Jews to return to their own land, and consequently, the events of the book, though they belong to the history of the Jews in exile, occurred between fifty and sixty years after the close of the seventy years predicted by Jeremiah. In other words, they occurred among those Jews who chose, after the proclamation of Cyrus, to remain in foreign lands. The book gives an account of a crisis in the history of the Jewish people. A decree was sent forth by the king that every Jew in his kingdom should be put to death on a certain day. The circumstance which led to the issuing of this decree, and the measures by which the calamity was averted, constitute the subject matter of the book, and they present a most remarkable series of divine providences. In Esther the name of God is not once mentioned. The reader is left to discover God’s hand for himself. 1. In addition to the books here named as belonging to the Exile Period, it will be remembered that portions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel came from the years of the captivity, and the whole of Isaiah, 40-66, deals with this situation.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: 01.12. THE POST-EXILIC BOOKS ======================================================================== CHAPTER XII. THE POST-EXILIC BOOKS. Ezra || Nehemiah || Haggai || Zechariah || Malachi || Inter-testamental Period The books written in Jerusalem after the return from the exile, now commonly called post-exilic, are five in number, viz: Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. We shall speak of them in this order. 1. Ezra. This book begins, as Chronicles left off, with the decree of Cyrus for the release of the captives and their return to their native land.1 It gives a little fuller account of this decree, and also an account of the return of the first caravan of Jews under the command of Zerubbabel, called also "Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah" (Ezra 1:8; Ezra 2:2; Ezekiel 3:8). He was the prince of Judah, in the sense that being a grandson of Jehoiachin, the last king, he would have been entitled to the throne if Israel had been an independent nation (1 Chronicles 3:17-19). The reader will be surprised to find, from this account, how small a number of the Jews saw fit to take advantage of the offer made to them by Cyrus. The rest had become satisfied to remain in foreign lands, where they were doubtless prosperous in the main, rather than return to a depopulated country, and go through the hardship of rebuilding their cities and homes. This reflects the more credit on the zeal and faith of those who did enter into this hard undertaking. The joy with which they made the journey had been depicted in the most glowing and hyperbolical imagery. Read in this connection chapters 49-52 of the book of Isaiah, and see in what rapturous strains the writer dwells upon this theme, returning to it again and again amid other topics of which he writes. All went well with the people in their efforts to rebuild the temple during the rest of the reign of Cyrus; but in subsequent reigns the Samaritans, as the mixed races were then called that inhabited the territory of the northern tribes, obtained a royal decree for the suspension of the work, and it was not till the second year of the reign of Darius that the work was renewed. Then the two prophets Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the people to renew the work, and they did so without waiting to hear from the king. Another effort was made to stop them, but when the king was heard from it was with a decree that the work should not be hindered. The account of these proceedings in chapters 1-4, is full of interest and instruction. The time from the return till the completion of the temple was twenty-one years, as is known from the intervening reigns of Persian kings. Between the sixth and seventh chapters of Ezra there is a gap of time of fifty-seven years, extending from the sixth year of Darius to the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 6:15; Ezra 7:8). In this interval Xerxes had reigned, and made his famous expedition into Greece, and the events of the book of Esther had taken place. Why Ezra leaves it blank is not known, but perhaps, on account of the troublous character of the times he had nothing special to record that was not already written in Esther. This book marks the division between the very distinct parts of the book of Ezra, the first six chapters giving the history of the caravan which returned under Zerubbabel until they had completed the temple, while the second part gives the personal labors of Ezra. He came to Jerusalem with a letter from the king and authorizing him to establish the law of God as the law of the land, and to enforce it if need be, by all the usual penalties of violated law (Ezra 7:25-26). This was a matter of supreme importance to the Jews; for hitherto they had been governed in civil matters only by the laws of Persia. Ezra, being a priest and a scribe, had by hard study specially qualified himself for this important task, and he proved himself eminently worthy of the confidence which the king reposed in him. He preserves a list of those who reformed under his entreaties, so that their sons and daughters after them might know that their fathers were among the true hearted who turned back to the Lord when rebuked for their sins. 2. Nehemiah. In the ancient Hebrew manuscripts the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written as if they were one; but the title, "The Words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah" (Nehemiah 1:1) clearly indicate the beginning of another book, and justify the separation which was made in the Greek translation at an early period. While the temple was rebuilt by Zerubbabel, it was the work of Nehemiah to rebuild the city walls. He went from Babylon for this purpose, thirteen years after Ezra went there to establish the law. That which moved him to the undertaking is set forth in the first chapter. The distress there depicted, which overwhelmed him on hearing that "the city, the place of his father’s sepulchres," was lying waste and its gates burned with fire, is accounting for if he had previously thought that since the return of so many captives the walls had been rebuilt; though it is supposed by some scholars that they had been rebuilt and had been again thrown down within the thirteen years just mentioned. It will be seen by reading these six chapters, that Nehemiah was equally zealous and self-sacrificing with Ezra, but quite different in his way. While the latter was a priest by descent, and a scribe by profession, Nehemiah held a civil office, being cup-bearer to the king; and he had no scruple, therefore, about asking the king for a military escort when he obtained permission to go to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:9). He acted as governor of the land for twelve years, yet he received no salary; he made no purchase of lands, though doubtless there was a tempting opportunity for speculation in them; he made his own servants work on the wall; and he fed at his table a daily average of one hundred and fifty men, Jews and visitors from other lands (Nehemiah 5:14-17). His expenditure must have amounted to a very considerable fortune. The other seven chapters of the book are occupied with some details of Nehemiah’s government of the people after the completion of the walls. At the end of his leave of absence from the king he came back to Babylon, and "after certain days" he came again to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:6; Nehemiah 13:6-7). During his absence intermarriages with the heathen had again sprung up, and other abuses crept in. The narrative closes without a hint as to the subsequent life or death of either Nehemiah or Ezra; and thus ends the history contained in the Old Testament. 3. Haggai. In this little book we are taken back in time to the second year of Darius, and the first day of the sixth month of that year (Haggai 1:1). There had been a failure of crops in the land, and the prophet came to Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest with "the word of the Lord," telling them that it was because the people had been building good houses for themselves, and neglecting to build the Lord’s house. The result was, that these men and the people were aroused, and began the work anew on the twenty-fourth day of the same month. This was before the issuing of the decree of Darius, giving them permission to renew the building (Haggai 1:1-5). Having the Lord’s permission and command, they went to work without waiting for that of the king. This much is set forth in the first chapter. About a month later, as we read in the second chapter, the word of the Lord came again to the prophet, promising that, although this house that they were building seemed to the old people as nothing when compared with Solomon’s, it should at a future day be filled with glory, and the latter glory of it should be greater than the former; "and in this place I will give peace, saith Jehovah of Hosts." This prediction had evident reference to the connection of Jesus and his apostles with that house; for by this its greatest glory was attained. About two months later, on the 24th of the ninth month of the same year, two other messages were brought by Haggai, the first reminding the people again that the crop failure was a punishment sent by the Lord, but promising that from that day forth he would bless them. The second was a personal message to Zerubbabel, promising him that while Jehovah was going to overthrow all the nations and kingdoms, he would take him and make him "a signet." As Zerubbabel was a lineal ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ, this seems to be an allusion to the high honor conferred on him in making him such. From this we see that the five brief messages which were sent by God through this prophet, were all delivered within the space of three months, and were all intended to encourage the people in the arduous labor of rebuilding the temple. 4. Zechariah. While Haggai began his prophesying in the sixth month of the second year of Darius, and closed it in the ninth month, Zechariah began in the eighth month of the same year. His first message was a very brief one, exhorting the people not be as the fathers had been, to whom the former prophets had spoken, but to take warning from the fate that befell them. Here is found that well known and beautiful passage, "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?" (Zechariah 1:1-6). About three months later, on the 24th day of the eleventh month, in the same year of Darius, he brought his second message, consisting of eight symbolical and very curious visions, all of which, interpreted to him by an angel, gave encouragement to the people with respect to the temple (Zechariah 1:1-6; Zechariah 1:15). Thus we see that the first work of Zechariah, like all the work of Haggai, was to co-operate with each other and with Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest, in pushing forward the reconstruction of the temple. This was necessary to the fulfillment of God’s purposes and promises respecting Israel and the coming kingdom of Christ. From the beginning of the seventh chapter to the close of the book the prophet is occupied with other themes, and his style rises at times to the grandeur which characterizes the finest passages in Isaiah.2 He rebukes all manner of sins, and calls powerfully to righteous living. He predicts the gathering of the ten tribes, and the downfall of those nations which oppressed Israel. He foresees calamities yet to befall Jerusalem, more disastrous than those of her recent experiences; but these are to be followed by a time of peace and holiness. In the midst of these predictions we find several passages which are quoted in the New Testament as being fulfilled in connection with the life of Jesus (Zechariah 11:12-13; Zechariah 13:1-7). 5. Malachi. As Nehemiah was the last of the Old Testament historians, Malachi was the last of the prophets; and they co-operated with each other; for while Malachi, unlike Haggai and Zechariah, does not give the date of his message, the contents of it show clearly that he spoke after the temple had been completed and the regular service therein had been renewed. As he makes no allusion to the troubles about rebuilding the walls, this work also seems to have been completed. And as he rebukes the people for intermarriage with the heathen, this agrees with the state of things when Nehemiah came the second time to Jerusalem, and broke up that practice. The book has the form of a single discourse by the prophet. He begins with the fact that God had loved Jacob and hated Esau, where the two brothers are put for the nations that sprang from them; and he predicts disaster yet to befall the latter (Malachi 1:1-5). He then rebukes the priests for treating with contempt the law of sacrifices, a corruption which grew out of their avarice (Malachi 1:6-11; Malachi 1:14). He next predicts the coming of the Messiah to the temple, and the work of purification and separation which he will execute (Malachi 2:17; Malachi 3:1-6). Turning back to his own time he rebukes the people severely for withholding their tithes and offerings, and for pretending that there was no profit in serving the Lord (Malachi 3:7-15). He predicts the final blessedness of those that feared the Lord, and the destruction of those who feared him not (Malachi 3:16-18; Malachi 4:1-3). As a most fitting close of the Old Testament, he looks back and says to the people, "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and judgments;" and then he looks forward to the work of John the Baptist, and says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." We have now given a brief introduction to every one of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, and we have come down to within about four and a half centuries of the birth of Christ, with which the New Testament begins. Of that interval we have no inspired history, and of much of it we have no history at all. The most than can now be known of it is derived from the books called The Apocrypha, some of which are edifying, some historical, and some fabulous. It would be well for the student to read them after becoming reasonably familiar with the Old Testament. Josephus gives a history of this period as he derived it from these sources. Some portions of it are thrillingly interesting, and a knowledge of it enables one to better understand the views and practices of the Jews in the days of Christ and the apostles.3 1. By comparing Ezra 1:1-3 with 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 it will be seen that the two books were evidently one originally, but were separated, perhaps by accident, in the middle of Ezra 5:3, and the earlier verses were copied from the II Chron. passage to make the beginning of what became a new book.--W. 2. The unity of the book of Zechariah is one of the open questions of Biblical study. Indications of a different horizon and authorship are found by some scholars in the sections 9-11 and 12-14.--W. 3. See list of apocryphal books in the Appendix.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: 01.13. DIVISIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER XIII. DIVISIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. The general divisions of the New Testament are well known. The four Gospels are biographical; Acts of the Apostles is historical; the Epistles, as their name indications, are epistolary, and the Revelation, or the Apocalypse as scholars generally prefer to style it, is descriptive and prophetic. The Gospels do not pretend to give a complete biography of Christ; but only a few such facts in his career as serve to establish his claim to be the Christ the Son of God; and a few specimens of his teaching and his predictions. One of them declares the first to be its purpose (John 20:31), and the contents of the others show that the same is true of them. John also shows the fragmentary character of his narrative by saying, in hyperbolical terms, that if all that Jesus did should be written, he supposes that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25.) The book of Acts is a general history of the church for about thirty years from its beginning; the Epistles are communications from certain of the Apostles, that is, from Paul, James, Peter, Jude, and John, all addressed to churches or to individual Christians; and the Apocalypse sets forth in the main the destiny of the church. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: 01.14. THE GOSPELS AND ACTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER XIV. THE GOSPELS AND ACTS. Matthew through Acts These are not the first books of the New Testament that were written; for, as we shall see later, some of Paul’s epistles preceded them; but they are first in the order of the events of which they speak, and for this reason they very properly occupy the first part of the book when all are printed in one volume. Having stated in the preceding section their general design, we shall now consider them separately. 1. Matthew. This writer introduces Jesus, in the first verse of the book, as "The son of David, the son of Abraham." By this title he designates him as the promised seed of David who was to sit upon David’s throne and reign forever, and he also keeps in mind the ancient promise to Abraham of a seed in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. In other words, this introduces him as the Messiah, or the Christ; and it shows that Matthew’s main purpose was to set forth the Messiahship of Jesus, rather than his divinity. With this agree the contents of the book; for while the Sonship of Jesus is by no means overlooked in the narrative, but is clearly and emphatically set forth, his Messiahship is the logical point chiefly aimed at; hence the many quotations from the Old Testament of predictions and types which were fulfilled in his person and in his work. Matthew has more of these than have all three of the other Gospels. In harmony with the same purpose Matthew devotes more of his space than any of the others to the teachings of Jesus, considerably more than half his book being made up of his formal speeches, besides many remarks made in the course of conversations with friends and foes. To such an extent is this true, that a Christian writer of the second century called his book "The Oracles," meaning thereby, divine utterances. This was an attempt to give a name to the book derived from the chief part of its contents. In consequence of this peculiarity of the book, as well as its location at the beginning of the volume, Matthew is more read by the people, and more familiar to them, than any of the other Gospels, or any other book, perhaps, in the Bible. The book naturally divided itself into three distinct parts: the first (Chapter 1 through 4:12) giving the genealogy of Jesus; his birth; some of the events of his infancy; his baptism and his temptation; the second, his ministry in Galilee (4:13-19:1); and the third, the events from his departure out of Galilee till his resurrection from the dead (19:1-28:20). The last division, though it occupies only six months of the three years and more of his ministry, fills nearly as much space as the account of the whole period preceding this, showing the importance attached by the author to the scenes connected with the last sufferings, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord.1 2. Mark. This writer was not an apostle, but he was the son of a certain woman in Jerusalem whose name was Mary, and whose house was a place of resort for the disciples (Acts 12:12). She was an aunt of Barnabas, seeing that Mark was his cousin (Colossians 4:10). Having grown up in Jerusalem, where his mother was prominent among the disciples, he must himself have been acquainted with the apostles, and probably with Jesus. It is said by early Christian writers that in writing his Gospel he gave the account of Jesus which Peter was in the habit of giving in his discourses; and there is much in his narrative to confirm this tradition, especially the fact that he tells plainly everything that Peter did or said which was not creditable to him, and omits nearly all that was. This is the way that Peter would do if he was as modest as we suppose him to have been. Mark introduces Jesus at once as the Son of God, saying in the first line of his book, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." This shows that his main purpose, logically, was to prove the divinity rather than the Messiahship of Jesus. In this he differs from Matthew; and in carrying out this plan he devotes a much larger per cent. of his space to miracles than does any other of the four, seeing that it is this, rather than prophecies fulfilled, that proves his divinity. He makes a different "beginning" from that of Matthew, in that he begins with the preaching of John the Baptist, and Matthew begins with the genealogy and birth of Jesus. No one who is familiar with Matthew can read Mark without noticing a striking similarity between them in the facts that they relate, and sometimes in the words that they employ; but on close comparison of the two it will be seen that in almost, if not quite all these instances, Mark has some additional items which distinguish his account from Matthew’s. The student should constantly keep his eye open for these; for they not only show the difference between the two writers, making each stand out before the mind by himself, but they are necessary to a full knowledge of the incidents with which they are connected. The same may be said in reference to events mentioned by three, or by all of the Gospel writers. Study all, and combine the particulars given by all. Mark’s book is divided into two parts, in the first of which he confines himself to the ministry in Galilee, as Matthew does in his second part; and in the second, after reporting a few conversations beyond the Jordan, he confines himself to the closing scenes in Jerusalem. To this second part, although the time included in it is only six months, he devotes seven out of his sixteen chapters, thus showing as Matthew does, that he regarded this as the part of the life of Jesus that was most important for his readers to be acquainted with.2 Luke and John follow the same plan. 3. Luke. The third Gospel differs from the first and second more than the latter do from each other. It records some events in common with the other two, but the plan of the author, as well as his subject matter, is quite different. In comparing his accounts with those of the other two, the differences sometimes appear much like contradictions, and so they have been pronounced by unfriendly writers. But it is never just to charge two or more writers with contradicting one another, which is the same as charging one or more of them with error, when there is any reasonable supposition that will permit all their statements to be true. Sometimes we have to study very carefully before we can find such a supposition, but as we are bound in justice to do it when we can, we must be slow to charge contradictions. This is a right rule in respect to all writers and speakers, and more especially should we observe it in respect to the inspired writers of the New Testament. Luke’s first part, like Matthew’s, is devoted to the infancy and the early life of Jesus, concluding with his temptation; and the amount of space which he gives to it about the same as Matthew’s, but he fills it with incidents nearly all of which are different from those given by Matthew. In order to learn all we can about this part of our Lord’s life, we have to study the first part of Luke and that of Matthew together; and it would be well for the student to do this before he reads farther in this Gospel. In the second part, Luke gives his attention, like Matthew and Mark, to the ministry of Jesus in Galilee, saying nothing about some visits to Jerusalem which we know from John’s Gospel were made during this period. This part extends from 4: 14 to 9: 62, less space than is given it by either Matthew or Mark. Then follows the part of Luke in which he gives the most new information, and the whole of it is both instructive and charming. It includes chapters ten to eighteen, more than either of the other parts. His last, or fourth part, like that of the other two Gospels, is devoted to the closing scenes of the last six months, and it includes his last six chapters. Luke was a physician, as we learn from Paul (Colossians 4:14); and as Paul in the same passage seems to distinguish him from "those of the circumcision" (Colossians 4:10; Colossians 4:14), it is inferred that he was a Gentile. If so he was the only Gentile who wrote any part of the New Testament. Like Mark, he was not an apostle; and consequently he did not write as an eye-witness; but he informs us, in the opening paragraph of his book, that he had obtained his information from eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, and that he had traced everything accurately from the beginning. As his book is addressed to one Theophilus, whose name is a Greek word, it appears that he intended it primarily for Greek readers. He addresses Theophilus by the title "most excellent," the usual Greek form of address to a man of high rank in the political world, from which it appears that at least a few such men had been brought into the church when Luke’s Gospel was written.3 All three of the Gospels which we have now noticed are supposed, to have been written not earlier than the year 60 A. D. 4. John. This fourth Gospel differs very greatly in its subject matter from the other three. The latter are so much alike, that they are styled by scholars, "Synoptic," that is, taking the same view. But John carefully avoided repeating what the others had written, so that he has very few events in common with them; and when he had he gives details which they had omitted. This difference is accounted for by the fact, that writing much later, he had seen what they wrote, and cared not to repeat it; while their similarity to one another is accounted for by their having written without seeing one another’s productions. They doubtless wrote those incidents in the life of the Savior which had been commonly related by the apostles in their preaching. John’s is the only Gospel which is chronological throughout. By counting the feasts of the Jews which Christ attended, all of which are mentioned in this Gospel, we ascertain that there were three years from the visit to Jerusalem mentioned in the second chapter, to the one at which he was crucified. If we could only ascertain how long it was from his baptism till that first visit, we would know the exact duration of his ministry; but at this point the chronology is not given. John begins with a very profound statement of the eternal and divine existence of Jesus before his advent into the world; and in harmony with this beginning he makes the divinity of the Lord throughout his book much more prominent than his Messiahship. In this he is like Mark; but unlike Mark he mentions comparatively few of the miracles; and he depends for his argument mainly on what Jesus said about himself. Consequently, we find Jesus in this Gospel saying much more about himself as the Son of God than in any or all of the others. One very remarkable fact about John’s Gospel is that all of the events which he records occurred on only about thirty days, although the time between the first and the last was more than three years. In Mark we find the incidents of only seven or eight days more, if we leave out the forty of the Temptation, and in Luke and Matthew, less than a hundred. Any one of the four, if printed separately, would make only a small tract. This is a very striking proof that these men were under the controlling power of the Holy Spirit; for we may safely say that no four men ever lived, who, with such a life to write about, would have written so little if they had been left to themselves.4 5. Acts of Apostles. This book most properly follows the four Gospels in our printed New Testament, not because it was written later; for it was written about the same time with the first three Gospels, and much earlier than the fourth; but because the facts recorded in it occurred next, and because this is its place from a logical point of view. It was after the resurrection of Jesus with an account of which each of the Gospels closes, that Jesus gave to the apostles their commission to go and preach, having forbidden them to do so while he was yet in the flesh. This book gives an account of their going in obedience to this command, and preaching to the world. Moreover, it shows how men under apostolic preaching, were brought to Christ and became members of his church; and as the Gospels are intended to convince men that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, which is the first step toward becoming a Christian, this book shows what other steps the apostles required them to take. For these reasons, this book which is occupied chiefly with accounts of cases of conversions, is the next book to read after reading the Gospels. This book also shows how churches were planted and organized by the apostles, and how some very important questions which arose among the disciples were settled; and in these particulars it is our inspiring guide for all time to come. Incidentally it records some of the noblest deeds of the early disciples for our encouragement, and some of the worst for our warning. Like the Gospels, the book of Acts omits much more than it records; for after a brief account of the activity of all the apostles in Jerusalem, it is occupied for a time with the labors of Peter chiefly, and then, at the thirteenth chapter it assumes the character of a biography by following the labors of the apostle Paul almost exclusively. This last feature was due, from a human point of view, to the fact that the author was more familiar with the labors of Paul than with those of any other apostle; and from the divine point of view, to the fact that Paul’s labors, after he became an apostle, were more abundant and more important than those of any other. From the nature of its contents, therefore, we find that the book is not the Acts of the apostles; but, as the proper form of its title, Acts of Apostles indicates, some of the acts of some of them. How few even of these acts it records, may be inferred from the consideration that though the period which it covers reaches from the resurrection of Christ to the year 63 A. D., about thirty years, all is compressed within the limits of a small pamphlet--another instance of the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. 1. The Gospel of Matthew was addressed primarily to the Jewish people, and therefore uses the Old Testament material bearing upon the life of Christ. It is the national Gospel, and its themes are Jesus the Messiah, the Teacher and the Rejected King.--W. 2. Mark’s Gospel has been called the Gospel of Power. Jesus is the worker of miracles, the incarnation of power. As such the book would commend itself to the Roman type of mind, in which power held the chief place.--W. 3. Luke’s Gospel is his introduction to the story of the Apostolic Church and the ministry of Paul which is given in Acts. It emphasizes the compassionate love of Jesus for humanity. It is the Gospel of Society.--W. 4. John’s Gospel is the universal Gospel, the Gospel of the Incarnation, the Gospel of Spiritual Insight. It is the Gospel of the heart of Christ as contrasted with the more objective writing of the Synoptists.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: 01.15. THE EPISTLES OF PAUL ======================================================================== CHAPTER XV. THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. Romans through Hebrews Paul was not only the greatest of the apostles in the extent of his labors and his sufferings, but he was the most voluminous of all the writers of the New Testament. His writings occupy nearly one-fourth of the whole book. They are not printed in the order in which they were written. They all circulated originally, as did all the books of the New Testament, as separate documents; and when they were collected into larger volumes, they were placed without regard to chronological order.1 We shall mention their dates, so far as these are known, when speaking of them individually; for it is important, before reading an epistle, to consider who wrote it, when and under what circumstances it was written, and to whom it was addressed. It is sometimes said by unfriendly writers, that Paul is the real author of Christianity, meaning that he made of that which was first preached a system which had not been intended by Christ. The charge is false, yet in the mind of the great Head of the Church it was allotted to Paul to elaborate, and to set forth much more fully than others did, the divine teachings of Jesus; and also to add much to the revelation of God’s will which was first announced by Jesus. No man can, therefore, fully understand the doctrine of Christ without the aid of Paul’s exposition of it. Hence the importance to every one of studying carefully his Epistles. 1. Romans. Although the Epistle to the Romans was not the first written by Paul, it is well that it is placed first, and next after Acts; for its chief subjects is a discussion of the grounds on which a sinner is justified before God, and it is well for the sinner, as soon as possible after he has turned to the Lord, to be made acquainted with this subject. Passing out of Acts into Romans is the forward step which he next needs to take. This epistle should be read in connection with the twentieth and twenty-first chapters of Acts, from which the reader can see that it was written in Corinth just before Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem was begun. Being written to a church containing in its membership a large number of well matured members with rich and varied experiences, its discussions of important themes are more profound than those in any other epistle. The chief theme of the epistle is the great doctrine of justification by faith. The apostle shows that the ground of our justification before God is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as distinguished from works of law. He was led to this discussion by the teaching of certain Jews that we are to be justified by keeping perfectly the law. To the propounding of his doctrine and the refutation of objections to it, the apostle devotes the first eleven chapters of his epistle, and the rest is given to exhortations and the recital of interesting experiences of himself and others. There are some things in the doctrinal part which are not adapted to the minds of children, but all can be read with profit the last part. 2. First Corinthians. Some remarks in the last chapter of this epistle, connected with the nineteenth chapter of Acts, show where the apostle was when he wrote it. The planting of the Corinthian church is described in the eighteenth chapter of Acts, and these two chapters in the latter book should be read before beginning the study of the epistle. Not much information can be obtained from those about the condition of the church when the epistle was written; for this we are dependent chiefly on the epistle itself. As we read the latter, we find, one after another, the circumstances in the condition of the church which called forth the epistle and suggested the topics which it treats. These are all of a practical character, corrective of various kinds of misconduct which had sprung up among the members of this church since Paul had left them. For this reason this is one of the most valuable of all the epistles for the regulation of the life and deportment of a church. 3. Second Corinthians. By comparing 2 Corinthians 1:8-11; 2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 8:5-7 of the epistle, with Acts 19:23; Acts 20:1, we learn the place and the circumstances of the apostle when this epistle was written. He had heard through Titus, who is here mentioned for the first time, the effects of his first epistle to the same church, and this information led to the writing of the second. The condition of the church, together with the great peril through which the apostle had just passed in Ephesus, combined very greatly to depress his spirits; and consequently, this is the saddest of all the epistles in the New Testament. It reveals much more fully than any of the other epistles of Paul, or even the thrilling narratives in Acts, the depths of sorrow and suffering through which this great apostle was continually wading in the prosecution of his mission to the Gentiles. The inner life of Paul is more fully revealed here than elsewhere, and this gives the principal value to us of this admirable epistle.2 4. Galatians. There is little in this epistle to indicate the time or the place at which it was written. The surprise which the writer expresses that the Galatians should have turned so soon away from him to another gospel (Galatians 1:6), shows that it was written very soon after his last visit, but this is quite indefinite. He had come from Galatia to Ephesus, and after two years and three months there he went through Macedonia to Greece (Acts 18:23; Acts 19:1; Acts 19:21-22; Acts 20:1-2). Some scholars think that he wrote the epistle while yet in Ephesus, which was less than three years from the time he left the Galatians; and others, that he wrote it after he reached Corinth, which was a few months later. We know nothing of the Galatian churches except what we learn from the epistle; but from this we learn several very interesting facts as to their first reception of Paul and their present relation to him, and also the cause of their present alienation from him. These spring upon the reader of the epistle like flashes of light and sudden darkness, and we shall not anticipate them here. In opposition to certain false teachers who were nominal Christians and perverters of the truth, Paul teaches here, as in Romans, that the ground of our justification before God is obedient faith, and not works of law. The discussion is brief but conclusive, and he follows it with some admirable and always needed teaching and exhortations on the practical duties of Christian life. 5. Ephesians. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether this epistle ought to bear the title which it has; for there is a total absence of those personal greetings which abound in Paul’s other epistles addressed to churches which he planted; and this is unaccountable if he was writing to a church with which he had labored more than two years--longer than he stayed with any other. He also speaks of the faith of these brethren as if it was with him a matter of hearsay rather than of personal knowledge (Ephesians 1:15-16); and he refers to his own apostleship to the Gentiles as a matter of hearsay with them, if they had heard it at all (Ephesians 3:1-4). With these indications agrees the fact that in some very early manuscript copies of the epistle the words "at Ephesus" in the salutation (Ephesians 1:1) are not found. It is now most commonly supposed to have been written for a kind of circular letter, and sent to several churches, that at Ephesus among them; and that the name Ephesus got into some early copies from the fact that Ephesus was the principal of the cities for which it was intended. It was written while Paul was a prisoner in Rome (Ephesians 3:1; Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 6:18-20). The epistle opens with some very grand utterances about the eternal purpose and foreknowledge of God respecting Christ and his work of redemption, and also respecting the call of the Gentiles to be partakers with God’s ancient people in his grace. This part closes with the third chapter, and Paul’s prayer for the brethren addressed, which closes this chapter, is one of the most impressive passages in all his writings. It should be studied as a model of earnest prayer and lofty sentiment. The remainder of the epistle is of a practical character, having respect to the unity of the church, to its growth in every virtue, and to the details of Christian life on the part of all classes of disciples. Especially remarkable and valuable is the passage in the last chapter, in which the apostle runs a parallel between the pieces of armor worn by an ancient warrior, and the various duties and privileges of a Christian in his struggle against the power of darkness. Fighting and running foot races are favorite illustrations with Paul, because in each, as in the Christian life, a man has to be doing his best all the time to avoid being defeated. 6. Philippians. The account of planting the church at Philippi is given in Acts 16:6-40, and it should be read before beginning the study of this epistle. The fact that Paul was in bonds at the time of writing (Php 1:12-13); that the pretorian guard, which was the body guard of the Emperor kept at Rome, had all heard of his preaching (Php 1:13-14); and that he sends to the Philippians the salutation of some belonging to the household of Cæsar (Php 4:22), show very plainly that the epistle was written, as was Ephesians while Paul was a prisoner in Rome. This is the imprisonment mentioned at the close of Acts. The immediate occasion of his writing was the circumstance that a brother named Epaphroditus, having come from Philippi to Rome to bring a contribution for Paul’s necessities (Php 4:10-20), had been taken sick, and the Philippians had heard that he was very near the point of death; so Paul sent him back, and doubtless made him the bearer of this epistle (Php 2:19-30). The epistle is full of tender sympathy, and not a word of reproach to the church is found in it, but many words of warm commendation. 7. Colossians. This is another of the epistles of the imprisonment, of which there are four, viz: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. That Paul was in prison when he wrote is seen from his remarks in Colossians 4:2-4, and Colossians 4:18. He appears to have sent the epistle by the hand of Tychicus, who also bore Ephesians (Colossians 4:8; Ephesians 6:21-22), and this shows that they were both written and forwarded at the same time. This accounts for the fact of a very great similarity between the two epistles, greater than between any other two. The first chapter of this epistle contains one of the grandest exhibitions of the present glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to be found anywhere in the New Testament. It also abounds in stirring exhortations to Christian activity and zeal, all of which are enforced by the apostle’s own example. 8. First Thessalonians. In coming to this epistle we turn back in point of time, from Paul’s imprisonment mentioned at the close of Acts, to his first visit to Corinth, described in Acts 18:1-18; for it was during that visit that the epistle was written. His labors at Thessalonia are described in Acts 17:1-9. He went thence to Berea (Acts 17:10), thence to Athens (Acts 17:15), and thence to Corinth (Acts 18:1). There Silas and Timothy, whom he had left behind, overtook him (Acts 18:5); and in the epistle he says: "But when Timothy came even now unto us from you, etc.;" which shows that the epistle was written immediately on Timothy’s arrival, This, as we learn from the chronology made out from the book of Acts, was in the year 52; and this is the earliest of Paul’s epistles, and also the earliest book of the New Testament.3 The epistle shows that the Thessalonian church was suffered greatly from persecution, but that it was conducting itself in such a manner as to spread the light of the gospel abroad through surrounding communities (1 Thessalonians 1:2-10). These faithful disciples being but partly instructed in Christian teaching, were in trouble respecting their deceased brethren; and this led Paul to give them one of the plainest possible lessons about the resurrection of the dead, that by this information they might comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The same words have been a source of unspeakable comfort to the saints from that day to this, and they have served the purpose of a text on funeral occasions more frequently perhaps than any other passage in the Bible. 9. Second Thessalonians. This epistle seems have been written soon after the first to the same church; for the persecution mentioned in the first was still in progress (2 Thessalonians 1:2-3), and the condition of the church in general was unchanged. It was written, too, when the writer was solicitous about being delivered from "unreasonable and evil men," which agrees with the interval between his withdrawal from the synagogue in Corinth to the house of Justus and the assurance given him by the Lord that no one should set on him to harm him (Acts 18:5-10). The most conspicuous matters discussed in it are the fate of the wicked at the second coming of the Lord, and the coming of "the man of sin" here first mentioned by the apostle. It also contains some very plain and emphatic instructions as to how the church should deal with those members who walk disorderly; and in the close shows that Paul always wrote the salutations of his epistles with his own hand as a "token" of their genuineness. He was in the habit, as we have seen from Romans, of dictating his epistles to an amanuensis; but his autograph in the salutation identified them as his. 10. First Timothy. When Paul wrote this epistle he had left Timothy in Ephesus and gone into Macedonia (1 Timothy 1:3). During that portion of his life covered by Acts of Apostles he had never done this. He had only once gone from Ephesus into Macedonia, and then he had sent Timothy before him (Acts 19:21-22; Acts 20:1). As Acts follows his career until his imprisonment in Rome, where it closes, he must have made the visit to Ephesus here referred to, subsequent to that imprisonment. He must therefore have been released from that imprisonment, as he expected to be, and have gone abroad once more in his apostolic work. This epistle was especially intended for the instruction of an Evangelist, which Timothy was, in regard to his labors among the churches. Consequently, it should be studied exhaustively by every preacher of the gospel for his own guidance and edification. But much of the instruction given in it has reference to the duties of church officers; and therefore the epistle is a study for them as well as for preachers. Moreover, the private members of the churches cannot know how to demean themselves toward the officers and the preachers, without knowing what duties and what authorities are imposed upon the latter; therefore it is a study for all church members, having different special aims for different classes. For a knowledge of the practical detail of church organization, we are more dependent on this epistle than on any other. It would be wise for the student, in connection with this epistle, or with the second to Timothy, to take his concordance and find all the places in which Timothy’s name occurs, so as to become familiar with all that is written about him. He is one of the most interesting characters mentioned in the New Testament. 11. Second Timothy. Paul is once more a prisoner (2 Timothy 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:16-18; 2 Timothy 2:9); and it is the imprisonment which terminated in his death (2 Timothy 4:6-8; 2 Timothy 4:16-18). It is the last writing which we have from his pen, and this imparts to it that peculiar interest which always attaches to the final utterances of a man of God. It is devoted mostly to personal matters, all the great doctrines of the faith having been set forth in previous documents. The sadness of his situation is indirectly revealed, especially in the first chapter. The exhortations to Timothy, and to all the brethren, in the second chapter, are among the most stirring that Paul ever wrote; and the prediction of a great apostasy which chiefly occupies the third chapter, sounds almost like a wail of despair in regard to the church’s future; but the shout of triumph with which he greets his approaching death in the fourth chapter, has thrilled the souls of the saints as scarcely anything else in the Bible. If it so thrills us at the remote period, how must it have inflamed the hearts of Paul’s fellow-soldiers and of his thousands of converts! He was anxious to see Timothy once more before he died; he begged him to come to him before winter, and to bring a cloak which he had left at Troas, and which he would need in the fireless prison should cold weather come before his execution. He also wanted something to read, and he thought of doing some more writing; hence the request that Timothy should bring some books and parchments which he had also left at Troas (2 Timothy 4:13-21). No one can read this epistle thoughtfully without being better and wiser. 12. Titus. But little is known of Titus. He is not once mentioned in Acts; and all that we know of him is found in four of Paul’s epistles. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem at the time of the conference on Circumcision (Galatians 2:1); he was afterward sent by Paul from Ephesus on an important mission to Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 7:5-7; 2 Corinthians 8:16-23; 2 Corinthians 12:18); he was with Paul in the island of Crete after the release of the latter from Roman imprisonment, where he left him to set in order the things that were yet wanting in the churches planted there (Titus 1:5); and he was with Paul in Rome during his last imprisonment, but went thence to Dalmatia before Paul’s death (2 Timothy 4:10). He was still in Crete when this epistle was addressed to him (Titus 1:5); but was requested by Paul to come to Nicopolis as soon as another evangelist should come to take his place (Titus 3:12). The purpose of the epistle is very much the same as that of First Timothy; that is, to instruct Titus as an evangelist in regard to his labors among the churches, and at the same time to impart indirectly the same instruction to the churches. It is a study for young preachers, and not less so for all who would be useful in the church. Its first chapter, in connection with the third chapter of First Timothy, furnishes full instruction with reference to the qualifications required for elders of the church; and as all members are sometimes called upon to act in the selection of these officers, these passages should be familiar to all. 13. Philemon. This is one of the epistles of the imprisonment; that is, of the first imprisonment in Rome (Philemon 1:1; Philemon 1:13). It was written in behalf of Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, who had run away from his master, had landed in Rome, had turned to the Lord under Paul’s preaching, and for a while had been assisting Paul in his ministry (Philemon 1:10-15). Paul broadly suggests to Philemon the propriety of setting him free, and promises to pay out of his own purse anything that Onesimus may owe Philemon (Philemon 1:17-21). We learn indirectly from Colossians that Colosse was the home of Onesimus and therefore of Philemon his master. The latter was a man of great benevolence, and of apparent wealth. A church met in his house (Philemon 1:2-7). 14. Hebrews. This epistle has been generally regarded from the beginning as one of Paul’s; but from the second century to the present time many eminent scholars have doubted or denied its Pauline authorship. Three early writers, all born in the second century, but active in the early part of the third, may be regarded as the representatives of the opinions on the question until recent times. Origen said that the thoughts were Paul’s, but that the style was not. He was not able to decide who composed it. Clement of Alexandria was of the opinion that Paul wrote it in Hebrew, and that it was translated into Greek by Luke. He thought that the style was Luke’s, but the thoughts Paul’s. Tertullian ascribed it to Barnabas. In modern time Luther suggested that it might have been written by Apollos, and quite a number of recent scholars have revived and advocated this opinion. Perhaps the question will never be settled to the satisfaction of all. But though opinions may vary as to the person who wrote it, all believing scholars agree that it was written by some apostolic man, and that its contents are to be received a true and authoritative. The particular community to which it was addressed is left as obscure as the person who wrote it, though it is very clear from the contents that it was primarily intended for a community of Christian Jews, and ultimately for all such and for all believers. It was quite difficult in the first generation of the church to induce the Jews who became Christians to altogether give up those parts of their old religion which were set aside by the new; and some were found who were inclined to go back to Judaism after having accepted the Christian faith. It was for the benefit of these that the epistle was written. Its main line of argument shows the superiority of Christ as a priest over Aaron, and the superiority of his sacrifice of himself over the sacrifices of the law. It shows, indeed, not only the superiority of the former, but the priesthood of Aaron and the sacrifices of the law had been actually set aside to be observed no more. It shows also that all of the ritual of the law which depended on this priesthood and these sacrifices had passed away with them. While this was the immediate design of the book, its value was not exhausted in its effect on the Jews; for it contains many trains of thought and many practical exhortations which are adapted to all the instruction and edification of all classes of disciples in every age and country. Its exhortations, examples, and warnings, like its chief argument, are drawn almost exclusively from the books of the Old Testament, and no one is prepared to read it intelligibly who is not familiar with those books, and especially with the law of Moses. In studying it one must make almost constant reference, either by memory, or by the marginal references, or by a concordance, to the law books of Moses. Next to the epistle to the Romans, it is generally regarded as the most important epistle in the New Testament for setting forth the distinctive doctrines of Christ. 1. The order of the Epistles, in the collection, as of the Prophetic books, was determined not by date of writing, but a larger extent, by size.--W. 2. A lost epistle earlier than I Corinthians is mentioned (1 Corinthians 5:9) and perhaps another lost letter is referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:8, which passages do not seem to refer to I Corinthians.--W. 3. Unless, as many scholars think, the epistle of James is to be dated about the year 50 A. D., in which case it would be chronologically the first book of the New Testament.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: 01.16. THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES AND THE APOCALYPSE ======================================================================== CHAPTER XVI. THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES AND THE APOCALYPSE. James through The Apocalypse The reader has probably noticed that the first epistle of John, and the epistles of James, Peter and Jude are styled in our printed Testament, "General Epistles." The original of the word "general" is katholike, catholic, and from this word these epistles have for a long time been known as the Catholic Epistles. Second and Third John are included in the title, although addressed to individuals, because it was not desirable to classify them separately from the greater epistle by the same author. There are then seven Catholic Epistles, and we shall speak of them in order in which we now find them. 1. James. There were three eminent disciples by this name, James the son of Zebedee, James the son of Alphaeus, both apostles; and James the brother of the Lord. For reasons too elaborate to be given here, the last is now very generally understood to be the author of the epistle. From the time of Peter’s imprisonment by Herod, which occurred in the year of the Lord 44, till the death of James in the year 62, he seems to have resided continuously in the city of Jerusalem as the acknowledged head of that church in the absence of the apostles (Acts 12:17; Acts 15:13; Acts 21:17-18; Galatians 1:18-19; Galatians 2:9-12). The epistle is address to "the twelve tribes of the Dispersion," which means those of the twelve tribes dispersed in other countries than Palestine (James 1:1). The persons addressed, as the contents of the epistle show, were the Christian Jews of the Dispersion, and not the unbelievers. There were very few such Christians until the apostles had been preaching many years, and had made converts in many lands; consequently the date of this epistle must have been near the close of the life of James, but in what year it is now impossible to ascertain.1 The brethren addressed were suffering persecution, and the purpose of the writer is to encourage them to patient endurance of their afflictions. This purpose pervades the epistle. At the same time many warnings and admonitions are introduced that are appropriate to all times and places. The epistle is especially noted for the most elaborate lesson on the control of the tongue that is to be found in the Bible. It also touches briefly the subject of justification, showing that while, as Paul so abundantly teaches, we are not justified by works of law, yet those works which belong to the obedience of faith are necessary to justification. This epistle has always been admired for the smoothness and elegance of the style in which it is written, being superior in these particulars to any other New Testament document. 2. First Peter. Peter addresses in part the same disciples addressed by James. They are "sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia as Bithynia" (1 Peter 1:1). These were provinces in the western and northern parts of what we call Asia Minor, and they were included in the more general Dispersion addressed by James. It was by Paul and his fellow-laborers that these provinces had been evangelized. The main purpose of the epistle is the same as that of James, to encourage these brethren under the persecution which they were enduring, and to prepare them for others that were in their future. Nothing could be better adapted to the purpose than the tender words and earnest appeals which the writer employs. The sentiment throughout reflects a maturity of Christian character and experience which make Peter stand before the reader in a far better light than in the Gospels. One familiar with him there could hardly recognize him here--a striking proof of the transforming power of a Christian life. 3. Second Peter. In this the apostle addresses the same persons, and mainly for the same purpose (2 Peter 3:1-2). It is chiefly remarkable, however, for two predictions which it contains, the first in the second chapter respecting false teachers who were to arise in the church; and the second, in the third chapter, respecting the coming of Christ to judgment, and the destruction of the present heavens and earth. Many writers, both ancient and modern, have expressed doubts respecting the genuineness of this epistle; but their arguments have never succeeded in convincing the great mass of believers at any time. From its first to its last word it is worthy the pen of an apostle, and no epistle more positively affirms its own authorship. 4. First John. This epistle is not addressed to any particular class of disciples, and it is therefore in the strictest sense catholic or general. After an opening paragraph, in which the writer sets forth very emphatically the fullness of apostolic testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, the epistle is devoted to exhortations to shun sin, and incentives to the love of one another. The latter duty is more persistently set forth here than in any other portion of the New Testament; and this has led to styling the apostle John, The Apostle of Love. He was evidently a very old man when he wrote, for he addresses the disciples of all ages and classes as "Little children," "My little children." This places the epistle among the latest of the New Testament writings, but without fixing its date more definitely. There is some uncertainty whether it or the Gospel of John was the earlier. 5. Second John. In this brief note, the writer designates himself by the title, "The Elder." A man, in order to be known by this designation, must have been well known for an age advanced beyond that of any others with whom he was associated. John outlived by very many years all of the other apostles; and before his death he was probably the oldest living member of the church. This would naturally cause everybody to recognize him by this title, and especially all those with whom he was intimate. The chief person addressed in this note, "the elect lady," was a lady not only in our American sense of the word, but in the aristocratic sense of the old world; that is, she was a woman of rank. Such is the meaning of the Greek word rendered lady. As this lady and her children were not only people of rank, but also of great zeal and hospitality, corrupt men, such as the people call "religious tramps" in our day, got to seeking her hospitality, in order to make use of the fact of having been her guest to impose themselves on others. It was the main purpose of this epistle to caution her on this point. The apostle expected to visit here shortly, and this accounts for the brevity of the epistle. Incidentally, we learn that the epistle was written, not on parchment, but on paper. It was probably very soon copied on more enduring material or it might have perished. 6. Third John. Another brief note from "The Elder," addressed to a brother named Gaius, who seems to have been as much noted in the church as the "elect lady" of the second epistle, and for the same excellent qualities. He was particularly liberal in "forwarding on their way" such brethren as passed by him on their way to distant fields of labor. The purpose of the epistle was to commend him for this, and to warn him against a certain brother named Diotrephes, who "loved to have the pre-eminence," and had lifted himself up against even the authority of the apostle. He lets Gaius understand that he will deal with this reprobate according to his deserts when he visits that church. He has much to say to Gaius as he had to the "elect lady," but defers it until he can speak "face to face". These two personal notes are of great value in that they throw light at once upon the loving relations existing between the aged apostle and his faithful to co-laborers, both men and women, and upon the unruly conduct of unconverted or half converted men who even then had crept into the churches. This last circumstance prevents us from being surprised or disheartened when we see the same thing in our own day. 7. Jude. The real name of this writer, as we see from the first verse of the epistle, was Judas. The English translators probably adopted the improper name Jude, to prevent ignorant persons from thinking that it was Judas Iscariot. He calls himself "the brother of James," and it is now commonly believed among scholars that he means, brother of that James who was a brother of the Lord. If this is correct, he also was a brother of the Lord; but as the Lord had ascended to Heaven, it was more becoming to call himself brother of James than brother of the Lord. He declares it to be the purpose of his epistle to exhort the brethren to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, in view of the fact that many bad men had crept into the churches who were corrupting both the faith and the morals of the brethren. His denunciations of these characters remind us of some of the similar denunciations of bad men by the Old Testament prophets, and of our Lord’s denunciations of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. They resemble still more the second chapter of II Peter. He reminds the brethren that the apostles had predicted the appearance of such men, and that their coming was therefore not a matter of surprise. He closes with a benediction which is one of the most beautiful and appropriate to be found in any literature. 8. The Apocalypse. The word apocalypse means revelation; but as other books as well as this contain revelations, there is a little confusion in calling this the book of revelation; hence the preference among scholars for the untranslated title. There is still another objection to the printed title, "The Revelation of St. John the Divine;" for John was no more a saint, and no more a divine than any of the other apostles. The real title of the book, that is, the one given by the writer himself, is found in the first verse; "The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass; and he went and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bore witness of the word of God, and of the Testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw." As it was intended to show "things which must shortly come to pass," its contents must be in the main prophetic. This fully stated title is followed by a salutation to the "Seven churches of Asia," similar to the usual salutation of the epistles, and this by a doxology. Then the main body of the book opens with an account of the appearance to John on the island of Patmos, of the Lord Jesus himself in glory. The Lord commands him to write what he dictates, and there follow seven brief epistles from the Lord to the seven churches of Asia. The word Asia means the Roman province of which Ephesus was the principal city. By consulting any good map the reader will find the seven churches, or rather the cities in which they were located, almost in a circle. If this book was written about the year 96, as Irenaeus, a writer of the second century affirms, Jesus had now been in heaven about sixty-two years, and these seven churches had been in existence nearly forty years.2 After the experience of this long period the Lord dictates a letter to each of them to let them know how he regarded their conduct since they were planted, and to give them warnings and exhortations for the future. When the epistle to each was publicly read to the assembled members, the occasion must have been one never to be forgotten. In reading them we should keep in mind a comparison with our own congregation, and so far as the conditions are similar we should take to ourselves the same warnings, or commendations, as the case may be. After writing the words of the seven epistles as they fell from the lips of the Lord, John saw in a vision a door opened in heaven, and at the bidding of a voice he was caught up through it, and beheld a vision of the glory of God far transcending any vouchsafed before to any prophet or apostle. Then followed a vision of a book sealed with seven seals, which no one in heaven was found worthy to unseal except "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah," a well known title of our Lord Jesus Christ. When he took the book in his hand great glory was ascribed to him by all the inhabitants of heaven; and as he proceeded to open the seven seals there followed the opening of each a wonderful symbolic vision portending something to occur on earth (Chapters 4-7). When the seventh seal was opened seven angels stood forth with seven trumpets in their hands. They sounded their trumpets one by one, and there followed as many startling events (Chapters 8-11). The rest of the book (Chapters 12-22) is filled with a series of visions of quite a different character and too elaborate for description here, all terminating with a vision of the final judgment and of the New Jerusalem in which the saints are to dwell in the presence of God forever. Thus the Bible, which began with a vision of the creation of the present heavens and earth, in which sin was born and the Redeemer from sin was crucified, closes with a vision of a new heaven and a new earth where those redeemed from sin out of every nation, family and tongue, shall live perpetually in righteousness and bliss. The promise to Abraham has never been lost sight of since it was first announced in Ur of the Chaldees, and it is now fulfilled by the blessing which comes upon men of all nations through Abraham’s seed. 1. See note on page 114. 2. Many scholars believe the date of the apocalypse to have been about 68 A. D., shortly after the Neronian persecution, and during the earlier stages of the Jewish war, which culminated in the fall of Jerusalem (70 A. D.). This would make the apocalypse the earliest of the writings of John.--W. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: 01.17. A BRIEF REVIEW ======================================================================== CHAPTER XVII. A BRIEF REVIEW. The student who has followed us through this little book can now look back and see the Bible as no one can see it who has not pursued a similar course of study. He can plainly see, that there was a long period, that from Adam to Moses, when no part of our Bible was in existence, but when faithful men served God as best they could without a book to guide them. This period is called the Patriarchal Age of the World; and the system of religious faith and practice then in force, the Patriarchal Dispensation of Religion. The only established rites were sacrifice and prayer, until in Abraham’s family circumcision was added. Every head of the family acted as a priest for his own household. They were not without such a knowledge of God’s will as justified speaking of his "commandments, his statutes, and his law" (Genesis 26:5). These must have been very simple and elementary compared with the legislation which followed; yet under them were developed such men of faith as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, and others. If we wish to know what the Patriarchal religion was, we look for it to the book of Genesis and the book of Job as our chief sources of information; and secondarily to remarks on the subject of that religion to be found here and there in other books; but no one with any knowledge of the Bible would look there to find how to become a Christian and to love the life which Christ now requires. The reader can see, in the second place, that the form of religion instituted by God through Moses began with that prophet and continued until the public ministry of Christ. Under it many rites and ceremonies were added to the primitive prayer and sacrifice, and a new priesthood was appointed, the privilege of offering sacrifice, except under extraordinary circumstances, being limited to Aaron and his sons, and the places of offering being limited to those in which God would "place his name," or would appoint as the proper place from time to time. This was the Jewish dispensation, and it intervened between the Patriarchal and the Christian. If, then, one desires to know what religious ordinances characterized the Jewish religion, or what, in any particular, a man had to do to please God under that dispensation, he must go to the law of Moses, and to the examples of good men set forth in other Old Testament books than Job and Genesis. The ideas of God and of duty which regulated the lives of good men then are in the main the same which should regulate ours; but, as we have seen, there were many differences, sentiments and acts that were then thought to be right being known by us to be wrong. We cannot therefore take the teachings and examples of the Old Testament books as our guide, except so far as they agree with what we are taught in the New. In the third place, the reader can see that the New Testament introduces an order of things in the service of God that is in many respects entirely new. It requires faith in Jesus Christ, which was not required before; and the baptism which it requires, is unknown to the Old Testament. Remission of sins is offered to the penitent in the name of Jesus, churches are organized for worship and instruction, the death of the Lord is commemorated by a new ordinance styled the Lord’s supper; preachers are sent out everywhere to bring sinners to repentance and obedience; and a purer system of morals than was ever known on earth before is enjoined on all men. Finally, the hope of heaven and the fear of hell are held out before men in a clear light unknown before. All this is the result of having now a new high priest who has taken the place of Aaron’s sons, and a new sacrifice for sins in his death as our atonement. He has been made the head of all things for the church, and the judge of the living and the dead. If now a man under the present dispensation wishes to know what to believe in order to be saved, and where to find the evidence on which to rest his faith, he must go, not to Genesis, to Leviticus, to the Psalms, or to the Prophets, where he would learn only Patriarchalism or Judaism, but to the four Gospels which were written that we may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing we may obtain life through him (John 21:20-21). After being thus led to believe in Jesus, we must next read the book of Acts, which was written to teach us how believers were brought into the churches, receiving the forgiveness of their sins and a place among the redeemed. Here we find the cases of conversion which were directed by the inspired apostles, and were put on record as models for men in all time to come. Having compiled with the requirements here found, and become disciples of Christ in the full sense of the word, the epistles are next studied that a fuller knowledge may be obtained of the duties and privileges that pertain to a Christian life, and a more profound knowledge of the great principles of the divine government in accordance with which a sinner has attained to a condition so exalted. During the course of these studies the young disciple will have caught many glimpses of the glory and bliss yet to be revealed in the faithful, and on reading the last book of the Bible he sees broader and grander visions of the heavenly glory than he could have conceived before; and although many of the visions of rapture and of terror which pass before him are but imperfectly understood, he realizes all the more from this that the final fate of the wicked on the one hand, is wretched beyond conception, and that the bliss and glory of the saints rises far above the reach of human thought while in the flesh. Thus ends the book of God; and thus will end the life of every one who patiently learns its heavenly lessons and faithfully follows its infallible guidance. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: 01.18. QUESTIONS FOR EACH CHAPTER ======================================================================== QUESTIONS. Chapter 1. Definitions. Chapter 2. Divisions of the Old Testament. Chapter 3. The Original Text and Its Preservation. Chapter 4. Outline of the Pentateuch. Chapter 5. Israel’s History: From Moses to David. Chapter 6. The Reign of Solomon and the Divided Kingdom. Chapter 7. The Two Kingdoms. Chapter 8. The Kingdom of Judah Continued. Chapter 9. The Pre-Exilian Prophetic Books. Chapter 10. The Poetical Books. Chapter 11. The Books of Exile. Chapter 12. The Post-Exilic Books. Chapter 13. Divisions of the New Testament. Chapter 14. The Gospels and Acts. Chapter 15. The Epistles of Paul. Chapter 16. The Catholic Epistles and the Apocalypse. Chapter 17. A Brief Review. CHAPTER I. Define, as to origin and use, the words Bible, Testament, Scriptures, Oracles. CHAPTER II. What are the names and number of books in the Pentateuch? the historical group? the poetic or wisdom group? the prophetic division? CHAPTER III. 1. In what language was the most of the Old Testament written? 2. What was the earliest means of multiplying the Scriptures? 3. How might mistakes occur? 4. What method was employed to prevent this? 5. What change was effected by printing? 6. What proof that we have the genuine books of the Old Testament? CHAPTER IV. (a) Genesis. 1. How did the first Old Testament book receive its present name? 2. With what do the first eleven chapters deal? 3. What single character is next described? 4. Why is Abraham important in the history? 5. What promises were made to Abraham? 6. What descendants of Abraham are described in the remaining part of Genesis? 7. How long a period is covered by the events of this book? (b) Exodus. 1. What was the condition of Israel in Egypt? 2. What gives the book its title? 3. How and by whom were they delivered? 4. Describe the giving of the law and the building of the Tabernacle? (c) Leviticus. 1. To what subject is this book devoted? 2. How did it receive its name? 3. What kinds of sacrifices are enumerated in it? (d) Numbers. 1. How is this title appropriate to the book? 2. How long and at what places were the people in the wilderness? 3. What nations were conquered? 4. What is recorded of Balaam? (e) Deuteronomy. 1. Meaning of the title? 2. Why given? 3. Where is the scene laid? 4. What were the cities of refuge? 5. What is the substance of the blessings and curses? 6. What events were connected with the death of Moses? Make a list of the qualities of God’s nature which were most impressively revealed by the experiences of this period. CHAPTER V. (a) Joshua. 1. Why is this book so named? 2. What is the theme of the book? 3. Make a list of the battles recorded. 4. A list of the miracles. 5. Compare the character of Joshua with that of Moses in five particulars. (b) Judges. 1. From what does the book take its name? 2. What was the condition of the country as to (a) government, (b) relation of the Israelites to the Canaanites, (c) morals and religion? 3. How many Judges are described? 4. From what tribes do they come? 5. What did they accomplish? 6. How long a period is covered by this book? (c) Ruth. 1. With what book is this closely connected and yet in striking contrast? 2. What are the leading features of the narrative? 3. What were its purposes? (d) First Samuel. 1. Describe Samuel’s parentage, early life, call and the prophecy regarding Eli’s house. 2. What events led to Eli’s death? 3. How was the first king chosen? 4. What were the leading elements in his character? 5. Describe the decline of Saul and the rise of David. 6. Analyze Samuel’s character and influence in seven particulars. (e) Second Samuel. 1. Did Samuel write these books? 2. Who are the leading characters in this book? 3. What were the leading events in David’s life? 4. What were the consequences of David’s great sin? 5. What literary activity was begun during this period? 6. What prophets are mentioned? CHAPTER VI. 1. How was Solomon seated on the throne? 2. What was his choice? 3. What was the chief event of his reign? 4. What were the characteristics of Solomon’s reign as to (1) prosperity, (2) extent of dominion, (3) commerce, (4) court splendor, (5) taxation, (6) literary activity? 5. What was the sin of Solomon’s later years? 6. What was the cause of the division of the kingdom? CHAPTER VII. 1. What two kingdoms followed the united kingdom of Solomon? 2. In what books is this part of the history recorded? 3. What false worship did Jeroboam establish? 4. Name the kings of the Northern Kingdom (Israel). 5. Those of the Southern (Judah). 6. What great prophet arose? 7. What marriage reconciled the two kingdoms? 8. Describe the characteristics of (1) Ahab, (2) Jezebel, (3) Jehoshaphat, (4) Athaliah, (5) Jehu, (6) Elijah, (7) Elisha. 9. What heathen worship prevailed in the Northern Kingdom? 10. What descendant of Jehu enjoyed the most prosperous reign? 11. What foreign wars were waged during all this time? 12. What prophets lived in the time of Jeroboam II? 13. Describe the decline and fall of Israel. 14. In what year and by whom was it overthrown? CHAPTER VIII. 1. In what books is the story of the surviving kingdom of Judah told? 2. What was the character of the reign of (1) Jotham, (2) Ahaz, (3) Hezekiah, (4) Manasseh, (5) Josiah? 3. What may be said of the date and prophetic work of (1) Isaiah, (2) Jeremiah? 4. What were the occasion and character of the reformation under Josiah? 5. What was its success? CHAPTER IX. 1. What was the date of Micah? (See list of prophets in appendix). 2. What were the subjects on which he spoke? 3. Against what city did Nahum speak? 4. Date and theme of Habakkuk’s prophecy? 5. The subject of his prayer? 6. Date of Zephaniah and his relation to the reformation of Josiah? 7. Against what people did Obadiah speak, and for what crime? 8. Where and when did Ezekiel live? 9. Name some of symbols and visions of this book. 10. With what especially does the closing part deal? 11. What kind of a scourge does Joel describe? 12. What beautiful prophecy does he record? CHAPTER X. (a) Job. 1. How are the so-called prophetical books to be classified? 2. What is the theme of the book of Job? 3. What are its characters? 4. Name some of its most striking descriptions. 5. Is the book to be regarded as (1) fiction, (2) literal history, or (3) poetic elaboration of a real experience? (b) Psalms. 1. How many books of Psalms are there? 2. Who was the author of many of these Psalms? 3. Do the Psalms come from one period of the history, or several? 4. What events in David’s life may have been the occasion for Psalms? 5. What other authors are named in the book? 6. Of what are the Psalms the record? (c) Proverbs. 1. What is the character of the book of Proverbs? 2. What are its leading divisions? 3. What was Solomon relation to it? 4. What other persons are named as authors or collectors? 5. What is the chief value of the book? (d) Ecclesiastes. 1. What is the meaning of the title? 2. Who is made the subject of the book? 3. What may be said of its authorship? 4. What is the purpose of the book? (e) Song of Songs. 1. What is the literary character of this book? 2. Who are the leading persons? 3. What different views may be given of its value and its right to a place in the Bible? CHAPTER XI. 1. What is meant by the exile? 2. Who was Daniel? 3. How did he come to be in Babylon? 4. What are the leading events recorded in the book? 5. What was the purpose of their narration? 6. With what events does the book of Esther deal? 7. What are its leading characters? 8. What was probably the purpose? 9. What other literary materials belong to the same period? CHAPTER XII. (a) Ezra. 1. Of what is this book the continuation? 2. What events does it record? 3. What great enterprise engaged the people after the return from exile? 4. What hindrances arose? 5. Under whose direction was the Temple completed? 6. How was the law enforced? (b) Nehemiah. 1. With what other writing was the book originally connected? 2. What were Nehemiah’s office and experience in Persia? 3. What did he do after arrival in Jerusalem? 4. Describe his visit to Babylon and return. (c) Haggai. 1. What were the date and duration of this prophet’s work? 2. To what enterprise did he encourage the people? 3. What did he say were the results of their failure in this duty? (d) Zechariah. 1. How was the work of this prophet related to that of Haggai? 2. With what other themes than the rebuilding of the Temple is the book concerned? (e) Malachi. 1. What is the date of this prophet? 2. What sins does he rebuke? 3. What promises and predictions does he make? (f) Apocryphal Books What are the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament? (See list in Appendix). What is their value? With what period do they deal? CHAPTER XIII. 1. What are the divisions of the New Testament? 2. How many books in each? (See introduction.) 3. What are the characteristics of (1) the Gospels, (2) Acts, (3) the Epistles, (4) the Apocalypse? CHAPTER XIV. (a) Matthew. 1. What is known of the author? 2. How does he introduce Jesus? 3. Why does he make use of the Old Testament? 4. With what part of Jesus’ work does the book largely deal? 5. What are the general divisions of the book? 6. Make a list of its (1) discourses, (2) parables, (3) miracles. 7. To whom was it especially addressed? (b) Mark. 1. What is known of Mark? 2. From what apostle is it probable he received directions in the preparation of the book? 3. How is this indicated? 4. What is the purpose of the book? 5. Which element in Jesus’ work is largely recorded? 6. To what type of mind would the book specially commend itself? 7. Compare the list of miracles with Matthew’s. (c) Luke. 1. How can one account for the similarities found in these three Gospels? 2. The differences? 3. Where do all these Gospels lay the scene of most of Jesus’ work? 4. What are the divisions of Luke’s Gospel? 5. What do we know of the author? 6. To whom is the book addressed? 7. Compare the parables and discourses with those in Matthew. 8. What is the probable date of its composition? (See table in appendix). (d) John. 1. By what name are the first three Gospels known? 2. Why? 3. How does John’s differ from them? 4. What data are given by John, but omitted by the others? 5. What are the characteristics of John’s Gospel? 6. What is its value among the books of the New Testament? (e) Acts. 1. Who is its author? 2. Probable date? (See table in appendix). 3. What forms the theme of the book? 4. Give an outline of its leading events. 5. With what apostle’s work is the first part concerned? 6. The second part? 7. Make a list of its (1) leading persons, (2) discourses, (3) miracles, (4) places. 8. What were the requirements for membership in the church as disclosed by this book? CHAPTER XV. 1. In what particulars did Paul surpass the other apostles? 2. What was the relation which Paul bore to Christ and Christianity? 3. What determined the order of the Epistles? (a) Romans. 1. How many chapters in this book? 2. At what period in Paul’s life was it written? (See outline in appendix). 3. What is the great subject of this epistle? 4. What gave rise to the necessity for such an epistle? 5. In what chapters of the book are to be found (1) a terrible sketch of the sin of heathenism, (2) the grounds of Justification by Faith, (3) the confidence of Paul, (4) the great lessons of practical Christian life? (b) First Corinthians. 1. What were the date and place at which this book was written? 2. What were the facts regarding the founding of the church at Corinth? 3. What is shown to have been the condition of the church in the matter of (1) divisions, (2) disorders at the Lord’s Supper, (3) other troubles in the church? 4. What is the most beautiful chapter in the book, perhaps in the Bible? (c) Second Corinthians. 1. How long after the first letter to Corinth was this sent? 2. What may be learned from it regarding Paul’s opposers? 3. In what respect is this the most personal epistle Paul ever sent? 4. Were there other epistles to the church at Corinth now lost? (d) Galatians. 1. Where were the Galatian churches? 2. What may be said as to the date and place of this writing? 3. For what does Paul reprove the Galatians? 4. How is salvation to be secured? (e) Ephesians. 1. What doubts may be thrown on the title of this book? 2. When was the book written? 3. What is the general theme? 4. In what chapter is found (1) the statement as to the means of progress in the Christian life, (2) the model prayer, (3) the description of the Christian armor? (f) Philippians. 1. Where is the account of the planting of this church? 2. Where was Paul at the time of writing? 3. What was the occasion of its being written? 4. What persons was Paul going to send to Philippi? 5. Where is the passage regarding (1) the humiliation of Christ, (2) Paul’s thoughts of life and death, (3) the model discipline? (g) Colossians. 1. What were the four epistles of the first imprisonment of Paul? 2. Where was Colosse? 3. What are some of the leading characters of this epistle? (h) First Thessalonians. 1. How does this epistle stand in the order of Paul’s writings? 2. What events had transpired at Thessalonica? 3. What had occurred to trouble some of the disciples there? 4. What is the teaching of Paul on the subject of the resurrection? (i) Second Thessalonians. 1. What are the indications as to time? 2. What theme is uppermost in the epistle? 3. What are the practical instructions? (j) First Timothy. 1. Who was Timothy? 2. Where is he mentioned in Acts? 3. When was this epistle written? 4. What was the work of Timothy? 5. What workers in the church may especially profit by the teachings of this epistle? (k) Second Timothy. 1. What is Paul’s condition at this writing? 2. How does this epistle stand in the order of Paul’s letters? 3. What does the Apostle say regarding his approaching death? 4. What request did he make of Timothy? (l) Titus. 1. What is known of Titus? 2. In what duties does the epistle instruct him? (m) Philemon. 1. To which group of Paul’s epistles does this belong? 2. What persons are mentioned? 3. What is the request made of Philemon? (n) Hebrews. 1. Is this regarded as an epistle of Paul? 2. Who have been suggested as possible authors? 3. What is the probable date? 4. How does it represent the relation of Christianity to Judaism? 5. Where in it is to be found (1) the comparison of Aaron’s priesthood with that of Christ, (2) the statement regarding Melchizedek, (3) the roll call of the heroes of the faith? CHAPTER XVI. 1. What is meant by Catholic epistles? 2. How many are there? 3. Why are II John and III John included in this list? (a) James. 1. Which James was the author of this book? 2. To whom is the book addressed? 3. What was the probable date of its composition? 4. What was the purpose? 5. What does it say regarding (1) the tongue, (2) pure religion, (3) faith and works? (b) First Peter. 1. Where did the Christians addressed in this epistle live? 2. What does the apostle say regarding (1) the Word of God, (2) the corner stone, (3) baptism, (4) probability of persecution? (c) Second Peter. 1. What does the writer say of things to be "added?" 2. Of the transfiguration of Christ? 3. What warnings are uttered? (d) First John. 1. What is the order of John’s writings. (See table in the appendix). 2. What is the chief duty set forth in this epistle? 3. How does John address his readers? 4. Enumerate five points in the teachings of this epistle? (e) Second John. 1. To whom was this letter addressed? 2. For what purpose? (f) Third John. 1. What kind of a man does the epistle show Gaius to have been? 2. What is the value of these two brief letters? (g) Jude. 1. Who was the author of this writing? 2. What was the object of the epistle? 3. Why was this needed? (h) The Apocalypse. 1. What is the meaning of this word? 2. In what place among John’s writings does the book probably come? 3. Where was the author? 4. What seems to have been the purpose of the book? 5. What relation do the scenes and visions of the book bear to the events of the time; such as the persecution of the Christians by Nero and the destruction of Jerusalem? 6. What is John’s confidence as to the final issue of the struggle between the forces of evil and the church? CHAPTER XVII. 1. What characterized the patriarchal age? 2. The Mosaic age? 3. The Christian age? 4. What is the right division of the Scriptures? 5. What is the purpose of (1) the Gospels, (2) Acts, (3) the Epistles, (4) the Apocalypse? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: 01.19. APPENDIX ======================================================================== APPENDIX. Early Translations of the Scriptures. Translations of the Scriptures into English. Extra Canonical Books. Outline of the History of Israel. Leading Prophets of the Old Testament. Important Events in the Life of Christ. Outline of the Journeys and Labors of Paul. Chronological Order of New Testament Books. The following material is added for convenient reference on the part of the reader. It is purely outline in character, treating in brief terms of subjects on which every Bible student desires hints. Much other material might have been added, but it was thought desirable to widen the bounds of this part of the book.--W. I. EARLY TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. The Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament into Greek. Begun about 250 B. C. Translations of portions of the Old Testament into Greek by Aquila and Theodotian, 2nd century A. D. The Targums, free translations of the Old Testament into the popular language, the Aramaic, 2nd century A. D. The Old Latin Bible, Old and New Testaments (2nd century A. D.) out of which came the Vulgate of Jerome, the text used in the Roman Catholic Church. An Ancient Syriac Version, 2nd century. Two Egyptian Versions in different dialects, 3rd century. Peshito-Syriac, 4th century. Gothic Version, 4th century. Ethiopic Version, 4th century. Armenian Version, 5th century. II. TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES INTO ENGLISH. A paraphrase in poetry by Cædmon of Whitby, 680 A. D. Two versifications of the Psalms, about 700 A. D. The Gospel of John by Venerable Bede, finished May 27, 735 A. D. Exodus and the Psalms, Alfred the Great, 901 A. D. Two interlinear translations of portions of the Scriptures from the Latin Vulgate, about 950 A. D. A translation of the greater part of the Bible into Norman French, 1260. Four versions of the Psalms, and parts of the New Testament, 1350. John Wyclif; the first complete translation into English from the Vulgate; New Testament completed in 1380, the Old Testament in 1384. Tyndale; the first translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, 1525-1536. Coverdale; the first complete Bible ever printed. It was based on the Vulgate, Luther’s German Bible, and Tyndale, 1535. Matthew’s (really Roger’s) Bible. The first authorized version, 1537. Crammer’s, or the Great Bible, 1539. The Geneva Bible, published by the English exiles in Geneva, the first Bible with chapter and verse divisions, based on the Vulgate, 1557-1560. The Bishop’s Bible, 1564-1568. The Authorized, or King James Version, 1611. The Revised Version; New Testament, 1881; Old Testament, 1884. III. EXTRA CANONICAL BOOKS. In addition to the books that have been generally recognized among Protestants as worthy of a place in the Canon, or collection of Sacred books, which taken as a whole makes up the Bible, there are certain other books which had their origin in the period beginning after the time of Malachi, and closing with the Christian century. They are called the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, and while regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as having a place in the Canon, and by many Protestants as containing much profitable reading, their value is clearly below that of the books included in our Canon. They are as follows: I Maccabees. II Maccabees. Judith. Tobit. Psalms of Solomon. Esdras. Baruch. Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. Prayer of the Three Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon, apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel. The Prayer of Manasseh. The Wisdom of Solomon. The Epistle of Jeremiah. A similar class of literature grew up subsequently to the writings of the New Testament and connected with it. Among books of this class may be named the following: The Apocryphal Gospels. The Shepherd of Hermes. The Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians. Epistle of Barnabas. Paul and Thecala. IV. OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL. The purpose of this outline is to give only the general features of the History of Israel and their dates as nearly as they can be ascertained. Patriarchal Period: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, The Bondage (2000-1500 B. C. are the approximate limits of this period.) Exodus, Conquest and Establishment in Canaan: Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Samuel (1500-1050 B. C.) The United Kingdom: Saul, David, Solomon (1050-937 B. C.) Israel and Judah Revolt of the Ten Tribes (937 B. C.) Reformation under Jehu (842 B. C.) Destruction of Samaria (721 B. C.) Captivity of Judah (586 B. C.) The Exile in Babylon (586-534 B. C.) The Restoration: Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Ezra, Nehemiah (534-400 B. C.) Temple founded (534 B. C.) Work stopped (522 B. C.) Temple completed (515 B. C.) Ezra’s arrival (459 B. C.) Arrival of Nehemiah (433 B. C.) His second arrival (425 B. C.) Greek and Syrian rule (333-166 B. C.) Greek rule, Alexander (333-320 B. C.) Egyptian rule, the Ptolemies (320-314 B. C.) Syrian rule, the Selucidae (314-166 B. C.) The Maccabees; the struggle for liberty; Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan, Simon, John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus, Alexander Jannaeus, Alexandra (166-63 B. C.) Roman Dominion (63 B. C.-70 A. D.) Jerusalem taken by Pompey (63 B. C.) Maccabean governors (63-47 B. C.) Antipater, Roman Procurator (46-41 B. C.) Herod the Great, his son, tributary king (40-4 B. C.) Herods and Procurators (4 B. C.-70 A. D.) Destruction of Jerusalem by Romans and end of Jewish state (70 A. D.) V. LEADING PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. The approximate dates at which they lived are as follows: Moses (1500 B. C.); Samuel (1050); Elijah (875); Elisha (850); Jonah (770); Amos (760); Hosea (740); Isaiah (725); Micah (715); Nahum (660); Zephaniah (640); Habakkuk (610); Jeremiah (600); Obadiah (586); Ezekiel (585); Daniel (550); Haggai (525); Zechariah (525); Malachi (475); Joel (400?). VI. IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST. Preparatory Period (4 B. C.-26 A. D.) Birth of Jesus (4 B. C.) Jesus in the Temple (8 A. D.) Life in Nazareth (8-26 A. D.) Early Ministry, Judea (26-27 A. D.) Baptism, Temptation, First Disciples. Visit to Cana and Capernaum. First Passover, Nicodemus. Period of popular favor; Galilee (27-29 A. D.) John imprisoned; Samaria; Galilee. Rejection at Nazareth. Twelve chosen. Sermon on the Mount. Tours through Galilee; Parables and Miracles. Five thousand fed. The Bread of Life. Period of Opposition; Galilee, Judea and Perea (29-30 A. D.) The Great Confession; the Transfiguration. Departure from Galilee; the Seventy sent out. Lazarus raised; retirement to Perea. Return to Jerusalem; teachings on the way; Jericho, Zacchaeus; arrival at Bethany. The Final Week; Jerusalem (30 A. D.) Triumphal entry. Teaching and controversies in the Temple. Greeks at the feast; Discourse on the Last Days. The Passover; the Last Supper; Gethsemane. Arrest; examination; crucifixion; burial. Resurrection and Ascension (30 A. D.) Resurrection; appearances to the Disciples. Meetings with the Disciples in Galilee; forty days. The Ascension. VII. OUTLINE OF THE JOURNEYS AND LABORS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. Preparation. Birth and Early Life at Tarsus, Acts 21:39; Acts 22:3. Education at Jerusalem, Acts 22:3. Saul the Persecutor, Acts 8:1-3; Acts 22:4; Acts 26:11; Galatians 1:13; Galatians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Php 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:13. The Conversion, Acts 9:3-19; Acts 20:6-16; Acts 26:12-18. (35 A. D.) Arabia, Galatians 1:17. The return to Tarsus (38-43 A. D.) Damascus, Acts 9:19-25. (b) Jerusalem, Acts 9:26-30. (c) Tarsus, Galatians 1:21; Acts 9:30 The First Period of Missionary Activity (44-51 A. D.) Antioch the second center of Christianity, Acts 9:19-26. Famine in Jerusalem, Relief from Antioch, Acts 11:27 -xii: 25. The First Missionary Journey, with Barnabas; Cyprus; Antioch of Pisidia; Iconium; Lystra; Derbe; the return, Acts 13:1 -xiv: 28. The Consultation at Jerusalem, Acts 15:1-35. The Second Period of Missionary Activity (51-54 A. D.) Separation of Paul and Barnabas, Acts 15:36-40. The second Missionary Journey, with Silas; Galatia; Troas; Philippi; Thessalonica; Berea; Athens, Acts 15:41-17:34. Residence at Corinth, eighteen months, Acts 18:1-17. I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians written during this stay in Corinth (52-53 A. D.) Return to Antioch via Ephesus and Jerusalem, Acts 18:18-23. The Third Period of Missionary Activity (54-58 A. D.) Return to Ephesus from Antioch, Acts 18:23 -xix: 1. Galatians written (c. 55 A. D.) Residence in Ephesus three years, Acts 19:1 -xx: 1. I Corinthians written (57 A. D.) Journey via Troas to Macedonia, Acts 20:1-2; 2 Corinthians 2:12-13. II Corinthians written (57 A. D.) Second visit to Corinth, three months, Acts 20:2-3. Romans written at Corinth (57 or 58 A. D.) Return to Jerusalem via Troas, Miletus, Tyre, Caesarea, Acts 20:3 -xxi: 16. The Period of Imprisonment (58-63 A. D.) Arrest in Jerusalem, Acts 21: 17-23:35. (Pentecost, 58 A. D.) Imprisonment in Cæsarea, Acts 24:1 -xxvi: 32. (58-60 A. D.) The Voyage to Rome, Acts 27:1 -xxviii: 16. Imprisoned in Rome, Acts 28:16-31. (61-63 A. D.) Epistles of the First Roman Imprisonment; Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians (62, 63 A. D.) The Last Period; Conjectural (63-66 A. D.) Probable release; Journey to Spain (?). Ephesus, Macedonia, Crete, Troas. I Timothy and Titus written. Second Arrest, and return to Rome. II Timothy written. Martyrdom. VIII. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. While no arrangement of these books can be made with absolute confidence, the following dates are sufficiently reliable to serve the purpose of the Bible student. James, 50 A. D. I Thessalonians, 52-53. II Thessalonians, 52-53. Galatians, 55. I Corinthians, 57. II Corinthians, 57. Romans, 57-58. Philippians, 62-63. Colossians, 62-63. Philemon, 62-63. Ephesians, 62-63. Luke, 63. Acts, 64. I Timothy, 65. Titus, 65. II Timothy, 66. Mark, 66. Matthew, 67. Hebrews, 67. I Peter, 67-68. II Peter, 68. Jude, 68. Apocalypse, 68. John, c. 85. Epistles of John, 90-95. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: 02.00. A SERIES OF 52 BIBLE LESSONS ======================================================================== A SERIES ----OF---- FIFTY-TWO BIBLE LESSONS ----FOR THE USE OF---- Intermediate and Advanced Classes in the Sunday-School, ----BY---- J. W. McGARVEY, LEXINGTON, KY. A SERIES OF FIFTY-TWO BIBLE LESSONS LOUISVILLE, KY. GUIDE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO. 1889. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page Cover Publishers’ Preface 1. The Birth of John the Baptist. 2. The Birth of Jesus. 3. The Genealogy of Jesus. 4. Genealogy of Jesus. 5. The Genealogy of Jesus. 6. The Ministry of John. 7. The Ministry of John Continued. 8. The Baptism of Jesus. 9. From the Baptism of Jesus to the Imprisonment of John. 10. Ministry of Jesus in Galilee. 11. The Miracles of Jesus. 12. The Parables of Jesus. 13. The Death of Jesus. 14. Death of Jesus Continued. 15. The Burial of Jesus. 16. The Resurrection of Jesus. 17. Resurrection of Jesus Continued. 18. Resurrection of Jesus Continued. 19. Resurrection of Jesus Continued. 20. Review of the History of the Resurrection. 21. The Apostolic Commission. 22. The First Gospel Sermon. 23. Conversion of the Eunuch. 24. Saul’s Conversion. 25. The Conversion of Cornelius. 26. The Conversion of Cornelius Continued. 27. Conversion of Lydia. 28. Conversion of the Jailer. 29. Thessalonica and Berea. 30. Review of Cases of Conversion. 31. Prayer. 32. Prayer. 33. Prayer. 34. Prayer. 35. Praise. 36. The Lord’s Supper. 37. The Lord’s Treasury. 38. Money Getting and Money Loving. 39. Public Worship. 40. Preaching and Teaching. 41. The Support of Preachers. 42. Husband and Wife. 43. Worldly Amusements. 44. Worldly Amusements Continued. 45. Worldly Amusements Continued. 46. Worldly Amusement Continued. 47. Personal Offenses. 48. Withdrawing from the Disorderly. 49. The Resurrection of the Dead. 50. The Judgment. 51. Hell. 52. Heaven. PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. The demand for the FIFTY-TWO BIBLE LESSONS, prepared by J. W. MCGARVEY in 1874, for Intermediate and Advanced Classes continues unabated. Notwithstanding the increased popularity of the International Lessons, there are classes almost everywhere that prefer to confine their studies to the New Testament, to the skip-around method adopted by the committee selecting the International Series. These have found in the FIFTY-TWO LESSONS, the subjects and lessons filling up the full measure of their desires. The publishers, by permission of the author, have electro-plated its pages from new type, and now offer it to the Sunday-School world with confidence that it will abundantly satisfy every class that will adopt and study its lessons. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: 02.01. THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST ======================================================================== LESSON I.--The Birth of John the Baptist. LUKE’S INTRODUCTION.-- Luke 1:1-4. Does Luke claim to be an eye-witness of the things of which he writes? Luke 1:2. What source of information does he claim? Luke 1:2. What extent of information does he claim? Luke 1:3. What was his object in writing? Luke 1:4. ZACHARIAH’S VISION.-- Luke 1:5-22. Who and of what family were the parents of John? Luke 1:5. Meaning of "the course of Abia." See 1 Chronicles 24:1, 1 Chronicles 1:4-5, 1 Chronicles 1:10. Note.--Abia is the New Testament form of Abijah, having lost the j by coming through the Greek, which has no j. What was the character of John’s parents, and why is it mentioned? Luke 1:6. Their age, and why is it mentioned? Luke 1:7. Comp. Luke 1:18. What was Zachariah’s task as a priest? Luke 1:9. What did the people do while the incense was burning? Luke 1:10. What occurred in the temple? Luke 1:11-13. What was predicted of the position and habits of John? Luke 1:15. What of his influence with the people? Luke 1:16-17. What other conversation occurred? Luke 1:18-20. What was the effect on the people? Luke 1:21-22. What was the design of these miraculous events? When did these things occur? Luke 1:5. JOHN BORN AND CIRCUMCISED.-- Luke 1:23-25, Luke 1:57-64. When did Zachariah go home, and where was his home? Luke 1:23, Luke 1:39-40. How many were the days of his ministration? Ans.--As there were twenty-four courses of priests, each course served two weeks, and the other four weeks of the year were taken up with festivals, at which all the priests were present. What was the feeling of the neighbors when John was born? Luke 1:58. Comp. Luke 1:14. Describe the scene at his circumcision. Luke 1:59-64. When was it customary to name a child? Luke 1:59. What custom of Pedobaptists is copied from this? Note.--This is a trace of the mistaken idea that baptism took the place of circumcision. What was the effect of these events on the people? Luke 1:65-66. State in full the purpose of God in Zachariah’s dumbness. What effect must these events have had in John’s favor when he commenced his ministry? In Zachariah’s prophecy, concerning whom does he speak in verses Luke 1:67-75; of Jesus, or John? Why of the former on this occasion? Comp. Luke 1:76. What prediction did he then make concerning John? Luke 1:76. How was John to give the people knowledge of salvation? Luke 1:77. What more is said of John’s early life? Luke 1:80. Does it appear from this that he entered the priest’s office? In what deserts was he? Ans.--The term desert applies to the thinly inhabited portions of Judea, like the hill country in which John’s parents resided. This was an appropriate place for the early life of such a man as John. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: 02.02. THE BIRTH OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON II.--The Birth of Jesus. ANNOUNCEMENT TO MARY.-- Luke 1:26-40. State the place of residence, the family connection, and the espousal of Mary. Luke 1:26-27. Repeat the salutation of the angel. Luke 1:28. In what way was Mary highly favored and blessed? Does this salutation prove that she was sinless? In announcing the birth of Jesus, what did the angel say he should be and do? Luke 1:32-33. How would David be his father? Luke 1:32. Comp. Luke 1:27. By what power was the birth of Jesus to be accomplished, and why was he to be called the Son of God? Luke 1:35. How much older was John than Jesus? Luke 1:36. When the angel departed, what did Mary do? Luke 1:38-40. How long did she stay there? Luke 1:56. Note.--Mary’s hymn of thanksgiving in Luke 1:46-55 is well worthy of being committed to memory by the class. JOSEPH’S TROUBLE.-- Matthew 1:18-25. What did Joseph think of doing with Mary? Matthew 1:19. How did he learn what to do? What reason was given for naming the child Jesus? Matthew 1:21. Why was he to be called Emmanuel? Matthew 1:23. Where do you find the prediction of his birth here quoted? Matthew 1:23. Isaiah 7:14. In what condition was Joseph when the angel appeared to him? Matthew 1:24, Matthew 1:20. JESUS BORN IN BETHLEHEM.-- Luke 2:1-7. What caused Joseph and Mary to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Luke 2:1-5. Note.--The word taxed is not a correct translation in this passage. It should be enrolled. The decree of Cæsar was that a census of all the world, by which is meant all the Roman Empire, should be taken. When was this enrollment completed? Luke 2:2. Note.--Cyrenius was made governor ten or eleven years after the birth of Jesus, consequently the enrollment, although commenced a short time before his birth, was not completed till eleven or twelve years later. Why should the enrollment of Joseph and Mary take place at Bethlehem? Luke 2:4. Comp. 1 Samuel 17:12. Note.--As the Jewish law required the lands originally given to any family to remain in that family forever, and as Joseph and Mary were both of the family of David, their inheritance was at Bethlehem, and the family genealogy was kept there. There, then must their names be enrolled. What inconvenience did the parents of Jesus suffer? Luke 2:7. Does this imply that they could have paid for lodging in the inn if there had been room? THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE SHEPHERDS.-- Luke 2:8-20. Describe the appearance of the angel to the shepherds. Luke 2:8-9. Why did they watch their flock by night? Luke 2:8. What did the angel say to them? Luke 2:10-12. Why give them a sign by which to find the babe? Luke 2:12. What more did the shepherds hear? Luke 2:13-14. Was the song of the angels appropriate to the birth of Jesus; if so, why? What was immediately said and done by the shepherds? Luke 2:15-17. What did the people think, and what did Mary think? Luke 2:18-19. What more did the shepherds do? Luke 2:20. What kind of men were they? Does the history of the birth of Jesus furnish any proofs that he was the Son of God and the Christ? If so, what are they? Do you see any wisdom in the choice God made of the parents of Jesus? If so, in what particulars? Were the events connected with his birth still remembered when he began his public ministry? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: 02.03. THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON III.--The Genealogy of Jesus. MATTHEW’S LIST.-- Matthew 1:1-17. [The genealogy is one of the most important subjects in the gospels; let no teacher or pupil be discouraged by the apparent difficulty of understanding it.] THE TITLE. Repeat the first verse of this chapter. Is this the title of the whole book of Matthew, or only of this list of names? Ans.--Of the list of names; for the whole book is much more than a "book of the generation of Jesus." Why call so short a list of names a book? Ans.--In ancient times any written document, however small, was called a book. From whom does Matthew assert that Jesus descended? How far apart did Abraham, David and Jesus live? Ans.--From Abraham to David was about 900 years, and from David to Jesus about 1,100 years. FIRST DIVISION OF THE LIST.-- Matthew 1:2-6. What division of the list does Matthew make? See Matthew 1:17. Where did he find the names from Abraham to David? He found those of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Pharez and Hezron in Genesis, and the other eight in Ruth 4:18-22. They are also found in 1 Chronicles 1:1-54 - 1 Chronicles 2:1-55. What class of men were they? Ans.--They were all patriarchs, and David was also a king, the first king in the list. What two women are mentioned in the list? Matthew 1:5. Of what nations were they? See Joshua 2:1; Ruth 1:4. Did Jesus, then, have any Gentile blood? How many years were covered by these fourteen generations? See answer above. SECOND DIVISION OF THE LIST-- Matthew 1:6-11. Where did Matthew find these names? Ans.--They are found in the first and second books of Kings, and also in Second Chronicles. These books are filled up with the histories of these men. What class of men are they? Ans.--They were all kings who reigned over the kingdom of Judah. With what king and what event does this division take place? Matthew 1:11. Note.--The history of Jechonias’ captivity is found in 2 Kings 24:10-17, where he is called Jehoiachin. He was not the last king of Judah, for his uncle Zedekiah reigned eleven years after him, (2 Kings 24:17-18) but he was the last in the direct line of David’s offspring. Does Matthew, in this division, give the names of all the kings in the line from David to Jechonias? Ans.--No. He omits four; three between Joram and Ozias, or Uzziah, as he is called in the Old Testament (Matthew 1:8), and one between Josias and Jechonias (Matthew 1:11). The names of the three are Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah, whose history is found in 2 Chronicles 22:1-12, 2 Chronicles 23:1-21, 2 Chronicles 24:1-27, 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; and the name of the fourth is Jehoiakim, whose history is found in 2 Chronicles 36:1-18. Why did Matthew omit these? Ans.--In proving that one man is descended from another, it matters not how many names are omitted, provided those you give are correct. For example, if I wish to prove myself a descendant of Christopher Columbus, and can prove that my grandfather and his grandfather and his grandfather were descended from Columbus, I have gained my point, although I have left out half the names. So Matthew, desiring to quote only fourteen names in this division, to make it even with the first, leaves out four of the eighteen names found in the Old Testament. As Matthew leaves out three names between Joram and Uzziah, how can he say, Joram begat Uzziah? Ans.--In Jewish usage words of relationship were used in a wider sense than by us. For example, Leah is said to have borne to Jacob her sons, her grandsons, and her great grandsons (Genesis 46:8-15); and all the sons, grandsons and great grandsons of Jacob, are said to have "come out of the loins of Jacob." Uncles, nephews and cousins were called brothers, and instead of grandfather or ancestor, they used father. If we were to use such language, it would be untrue, but it was strictly true with the Jews, because they used the words in a different sense from what we do, and they understood each other in that sense. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: 02.04. GENEALOGY OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON IV.--Genealogy of Jesus. MATTHEW’S LIST, Matthew 1:1-17 --THIRD DIVISION, Matthew 1:12-16. What class of men are named in this list? Ans.--As they all sprang from Jechonias, the last king in David’s line, they were heirs of the throne; but they did not reign, because they were deprived of their inheritance. How many of these names are found in the Old Testament? 2 Chronicles 3:17-19; Neh. xxi: 1. Note.--Shealtiel and Zerubabel are the same as Salathiel and Zorobabel, being different forms of the same names. Why are only these two found in the Old Testament? Ans.--Because Old Testament history closed in the days of Zerubabel, Nehemiah, the latest of the Old Testament historians, being cotemporary with him. How many of these names were personally known to Matthew? Ans.--He knew Jesus and Joseph, and must have known also the name of Joseph’s father, Jacob: Matthew 1:16. How many, then, did he find in some other way? This question is answered by counting the names between Zorobabel, Matthew 1:12, and Jacob, Matthew 1:15. Where did he find these eight names? Ans.--The Jews kept the genealogies of all their principal families in the cities to which they belonged. We learn this from the Jewish historian Josephus. (Life of Josephus, Sec. 1, Against Appion, Book I., Sec. 7.) From the records of the family of David, Matthew got these names. Why were such genealogies kept? Ans.--They were kept by the priests and Levites, because none of these were allowed to hold office who could not prove themselves of the right tribe and family. They were kept by others, because lands when sold came back to the heirs every fiftieth year, and it was necessary for them to show their genealogy in order to get their property. (See Numbers 27:1-11; Numbers 36:1-12; Leviticus 25:23-28.) How does Matthew make fourteen names in this division of the list? Ans.--If we count the names it will be seen that Jechonias, who was counted as the last in the second division (Matthew 1:11), has to be counted as the first in the third list, in order to make the fourteen; and Matthew repeats his name (Matthew 1:12), to show that he counts him twice. Are there any omissions in this division? Ans.--There cannot be; for if there had been other names to make up the fourteen, Matthew would not have repeated the name of Jechonias for this purpose. THE DIVISIONS STATED. Matthew 1:17. Repeat Matthew’s statement of the divisions of his list. Matthew 1:17. Why does he say all the generations in the second division are fourteen, when we see that he leaves out four? Ans.--He means that all the generations which he has mentioned are fourteen; and this is true. Does this genealogy trace the blood of David to Jesus? To whom does it trace the blood of David? Does it prove, then, that Jesus was by blood a son of David? What, then, does it prove for Jesus? Ans.--It proves that he was a son of David in point of law, and the heir of David’s throne. How does it prove this? Ans.--As he was born after Joseph had married his mother, (Matthew 1:24-25) this made him legally the son of Joseph and the heir of Joseph; and as Joseph was heir to David’s throne, Jesus was the next heir after him. Why was it important to prove this? Ans. Because the Christ was to sit on David’s throne, and Jesus must be the heir of David in order to be the Christ. Acts 2:29-30. Does this genealogy prove that Jesus is the Christ? Ans.--No; it only proves that he was of the right lineage to be the Christ. Without this lineage he could not be the Christ; with it he might be, and Matthew proves in other parts of his book that he is. Why are the names in this list so different in form from the same names in the Old Testament? Ans.--Chiefly because the New Testament was written in Greek, which language lacks some of the Hebrew letters or sounds, and requires a different spelling and pronunciation of Hebrew names. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: 02.05. THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON V.--The Genealogy of Jesus. LUKE’S LIST-- Luke 3:23-38. How does Luke’s list differ from Matthew’s in the order of the names? How much farther back than Matthew does he trace the genealogy? Luke 3:34-38. Comp. Matthew 1:2. Where did Luke find the names from Abraham back to Noah? Luke 3:34-36. Comp. Genesis 11:10-26. What name does he give that is not found in our copy of Genesis? Luke 3:36. Comp. Genesis 11:12. Why did he insert this name? Ans.--Luke wrote in Greek and copied from the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, which has the name Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah. If the Greek translation is wrong in having this name, why did Luke copy it? Ans.--It is not certain that the Greek translation is wrong. It may be that the name has been accidentally lost out of the Hebrew copy. Where did Luke find the names from Noah to Adam? Luke 3:36-38. Comp. Genesis 5:1-32. Is there any difference between Luke’s list and Matthew’s from Abraham to David? Luke 3:31-34. Comp. Matthew 1:2-6. From which son of David does each writer trace the remainder of his list? Luke 3:31. Comp. Matthew 1:66. Was Nathan a king? Does Luke, then, like Matthew, trace the line by which David’s throne was inherited? In what names do the two lines of David’s posterity meet? Luke 3:27. Comp. Matthew 1:12. How could this be? Ans.--By the marriage of a descendant of Solomon to a descendant of Nathan. How could Salathiel be a son of Jechonias as Matthew says (Matthew 1:12), and at the same time a son of Neri, as Luke says, Luke 3:27? Ans.--The Hebrews used the? word son not only for what we call a son but for son-in-law, grandson, etc. He was the literal son of Jechoniah, as we know from the fact that Matthew traces the line of the inheritance which always descended to sons and not to sons-in-law. Being, then a son of Jechonias, he must have been what we call son-in-law to Neri. Where, then, did the intermarriage take place between the two dines of David’s offspring? Ans.--Salathiel, a literal descendant of Solomon, married a daughter of Neri, who descended from Nathan. Where do the two lines part again? Luke 3:27. Comp. Matthew 1:13. Why do they part here? Ans.--As Matthew traces the line of inheritance, Abiud, whom he selects, must have been the heir, and consequently the oldest son of Zorobabel; while Rhesa, whom Luke selects, was the progenitor of the remainder of Luke’s list. Where do the two lines meet again? Luke 3:23. Comp. Matthew 1:16. How could Joseph be the son of both Jacob and Heli? Ans.--In the same way that Salathiel was the son of both Jechonias and Neri. He was son, as we say, of Jacob, and son-in-law of Heli. Whose daughter, then, was Mary, the wife of Joseph? Through what line, then, did Jesus, the son of Mary, receive the blood of David? Through Luke’s or Matthew’s? As this line is traced from David’s son Nathan who was not a king, does it prove Jesus to be the heir of David’s throne? What, then, is the essential difference between these two genealogies? Ans.--Matthew traces the inheritance of David’s throne down to Jesus by a line which brought him none of David’s blood; while Luke traces blood of David to Jesus by a line which brought him no inheritance. By the two combined the proof is furnished that Jesus was the son and the heir of David according to God’s promise. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: 02.06. THE MINISTRY OF JOHN ======================================================================== LESSON VI.--The Ministry of John. HIS PERSONAL HABITS. In what part of Judea was John reared? Luke 1:80. When he entered on his ministry what was his food and dress? Matthew 3:4. What was the propriety of his camel’s hair clothing? Ans.--It was coarse raiment, and therefore well adapted to the life of self-denial which he led. Are locusts suitable for food? Ans.--Yes; they are eaten to this day by the poorer classes in Arabia. Did John ever drink wine or other intoxicating liquors? Luke 1:15. Quote what Jesus said of John’s habits compared with his own. Matthew 11:18-19. What was the wisdom of such a mode of life? Ans.--John’s mission was to preach repentance, and his mode of life, being a constant rebuke to the luxury and self-indulgence of the age, gave greater weight to his preaching. Why did not wisdom require Jesus to live the same way? Ans.--He came not to insist especially on any one duty, but to give proportionate instruction on all the duties of life, and therefore it was best for him to go to no extreme in his manner of living. HIS PREACHING. What was the chief subject of John’s preaching? Matthew 3:1-2. Quote a passage from his address to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 3:7-10. What is meant by the figure of the ax and the trees in the verse last quoted? Ans.--That, as each tree which did not bring forth fruit would be hewn down with the ax, so each man who did not bring forth the fruits of repentance would be punished. How did John explain to the people, the publicans, and the soldiers, what he meant by the fruits of repentance? Luke 3:10-14. Note.--The demand made of each party shows that a reformation of life was what he called "fruit meet for repentance." HIS TESTIMONY CONCERNING JESUS. What is said of John as a witness for Jesus? John 1:6-8. What testimony did he give before the baptism of Jesus? Matthew 3:11-12. Was this all, or is it only a specimen of his testimony? Luke 3:18. What questions were put to John about himself, and how did he answer them? John 1:19-27. Why did they think he was the Christ? Ans.--They were looking for the Christ to appear, and they naturally mistook for him so extraordinary a person as John. Repeat some more definite testimony of John. John 1:29-30. How did John know Jesus to be the Lamb of God? John 1:31-34. What took place the next day after this last testimony? John 1:35-40. What is the last testimony we have from John? John 3:28-30. What use did Jesus afterward make of John’s testimony? John 5:31-35. What use did Paul make of it? Acts 13:25. Why did the people think he was Elias? John 1:21. Ans.--Because it was predicted that Elias or Elijah would come before the day of the Lord. (Malachi 4:5.) Why did John say he was not Elias, when Jesus, in Matthew 11:14, says he was? Ans.--He denied being Elias in reality, but he was the one figuratively called Elias or Elijah by Malachi, because he was so much like that prophet. What prophet is the one called "that prophet" in the next question put to John? John 1:21. Ans.--It was a prophet predicted by Moses and really the Christ, though the Jews did not know this. Deuteronomy 18:15. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: 02.07. THE MINISTRY OF JOHN CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON VII.--The Ministry of John Continued. HIS BAPTISM. Mention all the places in which John baptized? See Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:4; John 1:28; John 3:23. When baptizing in the wilderness, was he away from the Jordan? Mark 1:1, Mark 1:5. When baptizing at Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, was he away from the Jordan? John 1:28. Ans.--Not necessarily; for one might be baptizing at Cincinnati, beyond the Ohio River, yet baptizing in the Ohio River. Did he go to Enon because there was not enough water in the Jordan? Ans.--No; for the Jordan is never too low for the purpose of immersion. He had some other reason for the change which is not stated. Why, then, the remark that there was much water at Enon? Ans.--Because there was much there as compared with other places away from the river. Do those who practice sprinkling for baptism habitually select a river, or a place where there is much water? What do you learn, then, from the places where John baptized? What is the meaning of John’s statement, Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water?" Ans.--The preposition translated with, always means in, except when the context requires it to be rendered with, and here it ought to be "in water." Was Jesus in the water when he was baptized? Mark 1:10. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN OF HIS BAPTISM. What did the persons baptized by John have to do before being baptized? Matthew 3:2-6. Did he, then, baptize any infants? What did he require them to do afterward? Acts 14:4. What was the general object of John’s baptism: John 1:31. For what particular blessing was each person baptized? Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3. Was this the only thing required for remission of sins? Ans.--No; the sacrifices for sin had still to be offered; for the law of Moses was still in force. John’s baptism was an addition made to the law, and a preparation for the kingdom of Christ. What is the difference between John’s baptism, and that practiced afterward by the apostles? Ans.--John did not baptize in the name of Jesus, nor into the name of Jesus, nor in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; nor did he promise the Holy Spirit to those baptized by him. Comp. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38. What baptism did Jesus and his disciples practice while John was baptizing? John 3:22-23. Ans.--John’s baptism. When did John’s baptism come to an end? Ans.--With his imprisonment. He, of course, ceased to practice it then, and we have no account that Jesus continued it. Did any one improperly continue it afterward? Acts 18:24-26. What was done with persons thus improperly baptized? Acts 19:1-5. HIS IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH. State the circumstances of John’s imprisonment? Mark 6:17-20. Why was not John more prudent than thus to offend Herod? What did Jesus do immediately after John’s imprisonment? Matthew 4:12. What message did John send to Jesus, and what was the answer? Matthew 11:2-6. Why was John in doubt on the subject? Ans.--Because he, like the other Jews, expected the Christ to be an earthly king, and Jesus made no effort in that direction. Repeat the eulogy that Jesus pronounced on John. Matthew 11:9-11. Describe the death of John. Mark 6:21-29. What evil practices are illustrated in this event? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: 02.08. THE BAPTISM OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON VIII.--The Baptism of Jesus. Where do you find the account of the baptism of Jesus? Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22. What was the age of Jesus at this time? Luke 3:23. Do we know anything of his history from his twelfth year (Luke 2:42) to his thirtieth? See Mark 6:3. At what period in John’s ministry was Jesus baptized? Luke 3:22. Does this mean that all the people whom John baptized were baptized before Jesus? Ans.-- No; for John afterward baptized at Enon. John 3:23. It means that all or nearly all John’s baptizing at the Jordan was then completed. Had Jesus been attending John’s preaching? or did he come directly from home to be baptized? Matthew 3:13. Repeat the conversation between John and Jesus. Matthew 3:14-15. What baptism by Jesus did John refer to? See Matthew 3:11. Why think that Jesus need not be baptized? Ans.--John baptized penitent sinners for remission of sins, and he knew that Jesus was not of this class. Did John know certainly at this time that Jesus was the Christ, or did he only think so? John 1:33. Meaning of the remark, "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness?" Ans.--Baptism was required by John’s preaching at the hands of every Jew, and if Jesus had neglected it he would have lacked that much of fulfilling all righteousness. Can any person now fulfill all righteousness without being baptized? What was the first movement of Jesus after he was baptized? Mark 1:10-16. Note.--The word translated out of in Matthew 3:10, usually means from, but in Mark 1:10, the correct Greek text has the preposition which always means out of. Had Jesus; then been in the water, and if so, what proof of immersion and what disproof of sprinkling do you find in the fact? What did Jesus do immediately after coming out of the water? Luke 3:21. What occurred while he was praying? Luke 3:21-22. Who saw the Holy Spirit descend? Matthew 3:16; John 1:33-34. If it was visible to John and Jesus, was it not also to the multitude? Why should the Holy Spirit have chosen the shape of a dove rather than that of some other bird? What power did Jesus exert by means of the Holy Spirit? Matthew 12:28. What is said of the voice from heaven? Matthew 3:17. In what form do Mark and Luke report these words? Why the different forms? Ans.--Luke and Mark generally use more specific and direct forms of expression for the same idea than Matthew, hence they use the second person in this case, while Matthew uses the third. What was the full meaning of this declaration from heaven? Ans.--It not only declared the fact that Jesus was God’s son, but that God was pleased with him in reference to the work of human salvation which he was about to commence. What connection had the baptism of Jesus with his ministry? What connection has our baptism with our Christian life? What correspondence in time between his reception of the Holy Spirit and its reception by all Christians? See Acts 2:38. Repeat all the particulars of the baptism of Jesus in regular order. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: 02.09. FROM THE BAPTISM OF JESUS TO THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN ======================================================================== LESSON IX.--From the Baptism of Jesus to the Imprisonment of John. What event in the life of Jesus occurred next after his baptism? Mark 1:12-13. How much time was thus occupied? Mark 1:13. Where do you find Jesus next after his temptation? John 1:28-29. How many days did he remain about the Jordan? John 1:29, John 1:35, John 1:39, John 1:43. What disciples did he gain at this time? John 1:41-49. What convinced Andrew and his companion? John 1:34-37. What convinced Simon? John 1:41-42. Why did Philip follow him when told to do so? John 1:44-45. Ans.--As Philip was of the same town with Andrew and Simon Peter, he had probably learned all that they knew about Jesus. What convinced Nathanael? John 1:48-50. How did these Galileans happen to be at the Jordan? As Andrew and his companions were disciples of John (John 1:37), what is probable as to the others? Where do you next find Jesus, and how long after the call of Nathanael? John 2:1-2. What was as the first miracle which Jesus wrought? John 2:3-11. Is the manufacture or use of wine, then, in itself sinful? Under what circumstances may either practice become sinful? Ans.--When its chief effect is to encourage drunkenness. What was the next movement of Jesus, and who were his companions? John 2:12. Was this the time that he took up his abode at Capernaum? Ans.--No; for he took up his abode there after John’s imprisonment (Matthew 4:12-13), and John was not yet in prison. See John 3:22-23. What was the next movement of Jesus? John 1:13. What was the first thing he did there, and what dispute had he in reference to it? John 1:14-22. Did he work any miracles at that time? John 1:23. What celebrated conversation occurred during his stay in Jerusalem? John 3:1-14. What did Jesus do next after this? John 3:22. What was his popularity at this time, compared with John’s? John 3:26. What was the immediate cause of his leaving Judea and going to Galilee? John 4:1-3. Why should this have caused his removal? Ans. The Pharisees were about to visit him with the same persecution which befell John, and this would have prevented him from quietly instructing the people. As the disciples of Jesus baptized others (John 3:2), what do you infer as to their having been baptized themselves? What route toward Galilee did Jesus take? John 3:4. Was there any other? Ans.--Yes: the Jews very often went up and down on the east of the Jordan, so as to avoid passing through Samaria, the people of which were unfriendly to them. What celebrated conversation occurred on this journey? John 3:5-28. How long did he remain among the Samaritans before he continued his journey to Galilee? 43. How long was it before harvest when he was in Samaria? John 3:35. When did the Jewish harvest begin? Ans.--During the passover week? which occurred between the 21st of March and the 21st of April. When was Jesus, then, in Samaria? How long had it been since he was at Jerusalem? Ans.--As he was at Jerusalem during the previous passover (John 2:23), and it was now but four months till the next passover, he had been away from Jerusalem about eight months. How long had it been since Jesus was baptized? Ans.--It is not certainly known, but as his temptation, his return to the Jordan, and his first visit to Galilee and back, all occurred before the passover, it is supposed that he was baptized from four to six months previous to the passover. Adding to this the eight months since that passover, we have about twelve or fourteen months from his baptism till his removal into Galilee. Where was John at this time? Matthew 4:12. How long, then, from the baptism of Jesus to the imprisonment of John? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: 02.10. MINISTRY OF JESUS IN GALILEE ======================================================================== LESSON X--Ministry of Jesus in Galilee. What portion of Matthew is devoted to the career of Jesus before he went into Galilee? Matthew 9:12. What portion to the time which he spent in Galilee? Matthew 19:1. What portion, then, to the remainder of his life? How is Mark’s narrative divided in these particulars? See Mark 1:14; Mark 10:1. How is Luke’s? See Luke 4:14; Luke 9:51. How much space does John give to the ministry in Galilee? John 6:1; John 7:10. In what passages, then, do you find the account of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee? Ans.--In Matthew 4:12 to Matthew 19:1; Mark 1:14 to Mark 10:1; Luke 4:14 to Luke 9:51, and John 6:1 to John 7:10. Where did the other events of his ministry occur? Ans.--Chiefly jelly about Jerusalem and on the farther side of the Jordan. What length of time did the ministry in Galilee occupy? Ans.--About twenty-two months. How is the calculation made? Ans.--He went there four months before the passover. See Lesson IX. He went to Jerusalem to that coming passover (John 5:1); then returned to Galilee and stayed till after the next passover (John 6:1-4), which makes twelve months more; and he finally left Galilee to go to the feast of tabernacles (John 7:2-10), which occurred six months after the passover. These sums added together, give the twenty months. Note.There is some uncertainty in this calculation, because it is not certain that the feast mentioned in John 5:1 was the passover; but the calculation is probably correct. How long was it from his departure out of Galilee till his death? Ans.--As he left there to attend the feast of tabernacles (John 7:2-10), and was crucified at the next passover (John 18:28), it was about six months. To what country, then, did he give the chief part of his ministry? Did he visit Jerusalem at all during this period? See John 5:1. Does either Matthew, Mark, or Luke mention this visit to Jerusalem? Ans.--They do not. Did Jesus during this period visit any places outside of Galilee, and if so, what places? See Mark 7:24; Mark 8:27. In what direction is each of these regions from Galilee? See the maps. What cities were chiefly favored by the miracles of Jesus? Matthew 11:20-23. Where were these cities? Ans.--Close together on the northwestern shore of the lake of Galilee. In what did the ministry in Galilee chiefly consist? Ans.--In speeches, conversations, and the working of miracles. In what words does Peter describe it? Acts 10:38. What is the longest and most celebrated speech which Jesus delivered in Galilee? Where does it begin and where does it end? In what pursuits were the Galileans engaged? Ans.--Almost entirely in agriculture. How did they compare in intelligence with the Jews of Judea? Ans.--They were generally less intelligent. Why, then, did Jesus spend most of his time here? Ans.--Because the people were more teachable than those of Judea, and were not so fierce in their opposition to him. What business was supplied by the sea of Galilee? Ans.--Fishing. It abounded in very fine fish. Is its water fresh or salt? Ans. Fresh: it is supplied by the Jordan, which runs in at its northern end, and passes out at the southern. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: 02.11. THE MIRACLES OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON XI.--The Miracles of Jesus. Quote one of the remarks of Jesus showing the object of his miracles. John 5:36. What, then, was that object? Had he not wrought miracles, would unbelief have been a sin? John 15:24. What, according to John, was the object of recording the miracles? John 20:30-31. Why are miracles necessary as proof that Jesus is the Son of God? Ans.--Because, if he had the power to do nothing more than man can do, he, could not have proved himself to be any more than a man. How do modern infidels answer the argument from miracles? Ans.--They say there is no sufficient proof of them, because the people who witnessed them were not scientific, and did not know how to test them. Is it true that those people were not scientific? Ans.--Yes; for nearly all of the sciences have been developed since then. How, then, can you decide whether the infidel objection is valid or not? Ans.--by examining the miracles to see whether a knowledge of science was necessary to testing their reality, and by observing how they were tested by the enemies of Jesus. For an example, describe the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Matthew 8:14-15. Did it require any knowledge of science to know that she was at first sick with the fever, or that when Jesus rebuked the fever it left her and she was well? Could a modern physician have tested the case any better than those persons who saw it? Describe the stilling of the tempest. Matthew 8:23-27. Did it require any science to know that there was a tempest, and that it ceased when Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea? Was there any room for mistake about the reality of this miracle? Describe the raising Lazarus. John 11:39-44. Could there have been a mistake as to his being dead? John 11:39. Could there as to his resurrection? John 11:44. Could there as to the fact that Jesus raised him by his word? John 11:43. Would science have been of any service at all in testing this miracle? Did the enemies of Jesus deny that he wrought miracles? John 11:47. Did they try to disprove the reality of any of them? Ans.--Yes; especially of the one recorded in the ninth chapter of John. Describe this miracle. John 9:1-7. When the man’s neighbors and others found that he could see what did they do? John 9:13 For what purpose? Ans.--To see what the Pharisees could say about the proof which it contained in favor of Jesus. What was the first question of the Pharisees? John 9:15. What evidence had they thus far that the man had ever been blind? Ans.--That of the neighbors who brought him. Was not this evidence sufficient? But what further evidence did the Pharisees demand? John 9:18-21. Would it have been possible to get more or better evidence than they now had? How did they try to get around it? John 9:24. Does not this verse show that they really believed the miracle had been wrought? How would scientific men of the present day have proceeded in this case? Ans.--Just as the Pharisees did. Knowing that the man could see, and being told that he was born blind, they would first inquire about the process of healing, to see whether the treatment employed could account for it. That being settled, they would demand satisfactory proof that the man was born blind, and when this was given they would be through with the investigation, and would know that a miracle had been wrought. State the various kinds of miracles wrought by Jesus. Ans.--Healing diseases; imparting sight, hearing, etc., to those who had never had them; casting out demons; controlling winds and water; raising the dead; prophesying, and telling the secrets of men’s lives and thoughts. Why so great a variety? Ans.--To show himself able to save men from every possible evil, and to be in possession of divine knowledge. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: 02.12. THE PARABLES OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON XII.--The Parables of Jesus. What is a parable? Ans.--It is a species of allegory. What is an allegory? Ans.--It is a discourse in which one object is described by describing another which is analogous to it. Are the two objects usually alike in every particular? Ans.--No; they are usually alike only in a few particulars, and sometimes they are the opposite of each other in most particulars. Repeat the parable of the unjust judge. Luke 18:1-8. In what particular is the dealing of God with his elect analogous to that of the unjust judge with the widow? Are the two alike in any other particulars? In what does the interpretation of a parable consist? Ans.--In ascertaining what subject is to be illustrated by it, and in designating the points of analogy between it and the object described in the parable. How do you ascertain the subject to be illustrated? Ans.--Sometimes it is stated, as when Luke says of the parable of the unjust judge, "He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:1. When the subject is not stated, how do you ascertain what it is? Ans.--Sometimes by observing the subject under discussion when it is introduced, and sometimes by the application made of the parable. Give an example of each of these methods. See Matthew 19:30. Comp. with Matthew 20:1, Matthew 20:16 for an example of the first, and Matthew 21:28-32 for an example of the second. After ascertaining the subject to be illustrated, how do you ascertain the points of analogy or likeness? Ans.--Sometimes they are stated by Jesus himself, and sometimes you must ascertain them by means of your own knowledge of the subjects to be illustrated. Give examples of the former method. Ans.--The parable of the sower, Matthew 13:3-9, which is explained in Matthew 13:18-23; and that of the tares, Matthew 13:24-30, explained in Matthew 13:36-43. When Jesus himself explains a parable, should we regard his explanation as sufficient? Ans.--We certainly should, for he knew best what his own meaning was. Can you name a remarkable departure from this rule? Ans.--In the parable of the tares the prohibition against pulling up the tares lest the wheat also should be pulled Up, Matthew 13:28-29, is usually made the most significant part of the parable, while Jesus, in his explanation, Matthew 13:37-42, does not mention it at all. Give an example of the second method of ascertaining the points of likeness. Ans.--The parable of the mustard seed, Matthew 13:31-32, in which is illustrated the great growth of the kingdom of heaven from a small beginning. How do you know that the shape and color of the mustard seed are not points of likeness? Recite the parable of the ten virgins. Matthew 25:1-12. What general subject is illustrated by it? Matthew 25:1. What particular aspect of the kingdom? Matthew 25:13. How did the foolish virgins show their folly? Matthew 25:3. How long did their lamps burn? Matthew 25:6-8. If the bridegroom had come early in the night, would they have been ready? Did their folly, then, consist in not making any preparation, or in not making enough? Did they make as much preparation as they thought necessary? How did the wise virgins show their wisdom? Matthew 25:4. Why was this wise? Ans.--Because they knew not how late the bridegroom might be, so they brought enough oil to last all night, and thus avoided all risk of not being ready. Do the foolish virgins represent sinners who make no preparation to meet the Lord? Do they represent apostates who are in the church for a time, and then abandon it? Whom do they represent? Ans.--Persons in the kingdom who make some preparation, as much as they think necessary, and remain at their posts, but whose preparation is insufficient. Whom do the wise virgins represent? Ans.--Persons who make so careful preparation that they run no risk of not being ready when the Lord comes. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: 02.13. THE DEATH OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON XIII.--The Death of Jesus. CONDEMNED BY THE SANHEDRIN. On what charge was Jesus pronounced worthy of death? Matthew 26:65-66. Was this charge proved by witnesses? Matthew 26:59-60. On what evidence did they pronounce him guilty? Matthew 26:63-64. If he was a mere man was he guilty of blasphemy? What made it wrong in the council to pronounce him guilty? What was the law of Moses in reference to blasphemy? Leviticus 24:16. Repeat the first verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew.. What need of this council after they had already condemned him to death? Ans.--The power of sentencing men to death was at that time in the hands of the Governor, Pontius Pilate, and the Sanhedrin had to obtain his consent before Jesus could be executed. They took counsel as to the best method of influencing Pilate. ARRAIGNED BEFORE PILATE. When the council was ended what did the chief priests and elders do? Matthew 27:2. Why did they bind him? When they reached the hall of Pilate what was their course? John 18:28. When Pilate came out what conversation occurred? John 18:29-31. What was fulfilled as a consequence of the fact that the Jews could not put him to death? John 18:32. Why this consequence? Ans.--Because, if the Jews had killed him he would have been stoned instead of being crucified, the latter mode of punishment being peculiar to the Romans. What was the first accusation brought against Jesus? Luke 23:2. What passed between Pilate and Jesus in regard to this accusation? John 18:33-38. What occurred when Pilate came back again to the people? Luke 23:4-7. What occurred in the presence of Herod? Luke 23:8-11. Why did not Jesus answer Herod’s questions? Luke 23:9. Ans.--Most likely to show a suitable contempt for the man who had slain John the Baptist, and was now asking questions through enmity and idle curiosity. What occurred between Pilate and Herod that day? Luke 23:12. What did Pilate then propose to the Jews? Luke 23:14-17. Why of necessity release a prisoner? Luke 23:17. Comp. John 18:39. Why would it gratify the people for him to release a prisoner? Ans.--Because the Romans always had some political prisoners, with whom the Jews were in sympathy. What answer did the people give? Luke 23:18. Who was Barabbas, and why did they ask for his release? Luke 23:19; Matthew 27:20. What did Pilate do next? Matthew 27:22-25. What did the soldiers of Pilate then do? Matthew 27:27-30. Why did the Roman soldiers thus treat him? Ans.--It was customary to scourge a criminal before crucifying him, and the other mistreatment was intended as a mockery of his claim to be a king. What other incident occurred while the trial before Pilate was going on? Matthew 27:19. When Jesus had been scourged, what did Pilate next do? John 19:2-5. What conversation did he then have with the Jews? John 19:6-7. What did Pilate do next? John 19:8-11. Why did Jesus not answer him? Ans.--He saw that Pilate was alarmed, and he was not willing to increase his alarm lest he should release him. What was the last argument of the Jews and its effect? John 19:12-13. What, then, was the final motive which induced Pilate to put Jesus to death? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: 02.14. DEATH OF JESUS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XIV.--Death of Jesus--Continued. JESUS LED TO GOLGOTHA. At what hour of the day, according to John, was Jesus delivered up by Pilate? John 19:14. At what hour, according to Mark, was he crucified? Mark 15:25. How do you reconcile the two statements? Ans. It is supposed that the numeral in John’s account has been accidentally changed by transcribers. As they led Jesus away, who bore his cross? John 19:17. Who else bore it a part of the way? Mark 15:21. Who were the Alexander and Rufus here mentioned as the sons of Simon? Ans.--They were evidently well known persons then, but they are unknown at present. By whom was he followed? Luke 23:27. What did Jesus say to the weeping women? Luke 23:28-31. What is meant by the question about the green tree and the dry? Luke 23:31. Ans.--A green tree is one that is alive and growing; a dry tree, one that is dead and decaying. Jerusalem was then like the green tree, and it was yet to be like the dry when about to be destroyed by the Romans. The remark, then, means, that if the women of the city were distressed by what was now going on, how much more in the more distressing time that was coming, as indicated in Luke 23:29-30. Who were led forth with Jesus? Luke 23:32. To what place did they lead him? Luke 23:33. What was the Hebrew name of the place, and why was it so called? Matthew 27:33. Whence the name Calvary? Ans.--It came into English from the Latin word calvaria, which means a naked skull. Is it proper to speak of Mount Calvary? Ans.--No; for it was not a mount. THE CRUCIFIXION. What did the Jews offer Jesus before they crucified him? Mark 15:23. Why did he not drink it? Ans.--It was an intoxicating drink, and supposed to be stupefying; but he was unwilling to take anything which would affect his mind. Describe the crucifixion, and the disposal of his garments. Luke 23:33-34. What caused them to cast lots in dividing the garments? John 19:23-24. What prayer did Jesus offer as they crucified him? Luke 23:34. Describe the mockings of the multitude. Luke 23:35-37. What was written over his head, and in what languages? Luke 23:38. What passed between Pilate and the Chief Priests about this title? John 19:21-22. State the different forms in which the four evangelists quote this inscription. Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19. How do you account for the differences? Ans.--Each quotes the idea expressed, and puts it in his own language. THE DYING THIEF. Repeat the conversation between the two thieves. Luke 23:39-40. Repeat that between the penitent thief and Jesus. Luke 23:41-42. Where is Paradise? Ans.--Jesus went that day into Hades; see Acts 2:26, Acts 2:29-31; consequently the Paradise here spoken of is the place of the righteous in Hades. The word is elsewhere applied to the eternal state. Revelation 2:7. It means a place of delight. What does Matthew say about the two thieves? Matthew 27:44. How is this reconciled with Luke’s account? Ans.--By supposing both to be true--that is, that they both reviled Jesus at first, but that one of them, after seeing the sun darkened, was convinced and changed his tone. THE DARKNESS AND THE END. Describe the darkness and the last cries of Jesus. Matthew 27:45-50. Why did they think he was calling for Elias? Ans.--His sufferings were so great, and his mouth was so dry from thirst, that he could not speak distinctly. What friends were standing by, and what did Jesus say to them? John 19:25-27. What was the effect of the scene on the centurion who commanded the soldiers? Luke 23:47. What is Matthew’s report of his remark? Matthew 27:54. How do you reconcile the two? Ans.--By supposing that both are true--that is, that he exclaimed first: "Certainly this was a righteous man;" and second: "Truly this was the Son of God." What events accompanied the last cry of Jesus? Matthew 27:51. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: 02.15. THE BURIAL OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON XV.--The Burial of Jesus. HIS SIDE PIERCED. What request did the Jews make of Pilate about the bodies of Jesus and the thieves, and why? John 19:31. Why break their legs? Ans.--So as to be sure that they would not recover. Describe the breaking of their legs? John 19:32-34. Why did the soldier pierce his side, as he was already dead? Ans.--We can see no reason for the act. What does John say about the certainty of this statement? John 19:35. Why asseverate it so positively? Ans.--Because it is unusual for blood and water to flow from the heart of a dead man. What Scripture was fulfilled by the omission to break his legs? John 19:36. Comp. Exodus 12:46. As this was written concerning the passover lamb, how was it fulfilled in Jesus? Ans.--That lamb was a type of Jesus, and the fact that no bone of it was broken was one of the points of analogy between it and Jesus. What was fulfilled by piercing his side? Luke 19:37. Comp. Psalms 22:16-17. JOSEPH’S REQUEST. Repeat Luke’s description of Joseph. Luke 23:50-51. What is meant by counselor? Ans.--A member of the Jewish council or Sanhedrin. What is meant by saying he "waited for the kingdom of God?" Comp. John 19:38. What is said elsewhere of the class of men to which he belonged? John 12:42-43. Repeat Mark’s account of Joseph’s request. Mark 15:43-45. Why does Mark say he went in "boldly?" Ans.--It was a bold act to step forward as a friend of Jesus when his enemies were triumphant and his former friends had nearly all deserted him. Though naturally a timid man, he had been aroused to boldness by the cruelty of the Jews toward Jesus. What would have been done with the body had he not called for it? Ans.--It would have been buried with those of the two thieves, in an ignominious manner. THE BURIAL. After obtaining Pilate’s consent, what did Joseph do? Mark 15:46. Who assisted Joseph? John 19:39. What do you know of the previous history of Nicodemus? John 3:2; John 7:32; John 7:45-52. What kind of man was he? Did he show as much boldness on this occasion as Joseph did? What assistance did he render to Joseph? John 19:39-40. What is said about the location of the sepulcher, and the use which had been made of it? John 19:41. What bearing had the proximity of the sepulcher on the burial? John 19:42. How did they close up the sepulchre? Mark 15:46. Why was this done? Ans.--Merely to protect the body against disturbance by beasts or birds. Most likely the stone was one which had been already fitted to the door of the sepulcher. Was the sepulcher dug down perpendicularly into the rock, or horizontally into the side of the cliff? Ans.--It was the latter, as appears from the stooping down in order to look into it. John 20:5-11. Who witnessed the burial? Matthew 27:61. What did they see, and what did they then do? Luke 23:55-56. Why prepare other spices besides those used by Nicodemus? Ans.--They wished to complete the process which Nicodemus had only begun. Why is it added that "they rested the Sabbath day?" Ans.--To show how faithful they were in observing the Sabbath; they would not violate it even to embalm the body of Jesus. THE SEPULCHER GUARDED. State the request of the chief priests and Pharisees concerning a guard for the sepulcher. Matthew 27:62-64. If this was the "next day," how long was it after the burial of Jesus? Ans.--It was most likely between sunset and dark the same evening; for that, according to the Jews, would be the next day, and the priests would not allow a single night to pass without the guard. If he was not to arise till "after three days," why wish a guard till only "the third day?" Ans.--The Jews used the expression "after three days" in a loose way as the equivalent of the expression "on the third day." This will be discussed more fully in a future lesson. What was Pilate’s answer, and what did they do? Matthew 27:65-66. Why seal the stone? Ans. To prevent the soldiers from allowing the body to be taken away: for the stone could not be removed without breaking the seal. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: 02.16. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS ======================================================================== LESSON XVI.--The Resurrection of Jesus. THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHER. Repeat Matthew 28:1. Who is the other Mary here mentioned? See Matthew 27:61, Matthew 27:56. What does John say as to the time of this visit? John 20:1. How do you reconcile John’s statement with Matthew’s? Ans.--When it "began to dawn" it was "yet dark." What does Luke say of the time? Luke 24:1. How does Mark state the time? Mark 16:2. How do you reconcile his statement with that of the others? Ans.--He speaks of the time when they arrived at the sepulcher, and the others of the time when they started. Is it unusual for persons to write or speak in this manner? Ans.--No. If a man should leave Lexington at daylight and walk out to Ashland by sunrise, one person might say he went to Ashland at daybreak, and another, thinking of the time when he arrived there, might say he went to Ashland at sunrise; and both would speak the truth. From what place did the women start? Ans.--Jesus and his company had been staying at Bethany at night during that previous week, and it is most likely they started from that place. Luke 21:37; Mark 11:11. Would it take them from daylight till sunrise to walk that distance? Ans.--Yes: it is about two miles. What question did the women ask each other as they approached the sepulcher? Mark 16:3. Did they know then that the stone had been sealed and a guard placed there? When they saw that the stone had been taken away, what did Mary Magdalene do? John 20:1-2. Describe how the stone had been rolled away. Matthew 28:2-4. Did the women see this? Ans.--No, for when they came in sight of the sepulcher the stone, as we have seen, was already rolled away? How, then, did this become known? See Matthew 28:11. What did the angel say to the women? Matthew 28:5-7. Where did this occur, and what was the appearance of the angel? Mark 16:5-7. What movement, then, did the angel make between the time that he sat down on the stone, and the time that the women saw him? Did they see the angel when they first went into the sepulcher? Luke 24:3-4. Did they see more than one? Why did Matthew mention only one? Ans.--It seems that one spoke for both, and Matthew mentions only the one who spoke, who was also the one that opened the sepulcher. What prophecy of Jesus did the angel bring to their remembrance? Luke 24:6-8. How many women were there in all? Luke 24:10; Mark 16:1. When they left the sepulcher what occurred? Matthew 28:8-10. PETER AND JOHN AT THE SEPULCHER. While the other women were in the sepulcher talking with the angel, where was Mary Magdalene? John 20:1-2. What did she say to Peter and John? John 20:2. How did she know that the body of Jesus was gone? Ans.--She did not know it certainly, but she thought so because she could see no reason for opening the sepulcher except to take away the body. Describe the visit of Peter and John to the sepulcher. John 20:3-10. What difference between the two men is here exhibited? John 20:4-6. When it said "they saw and believed" (John 20:8), what its referred to? Ans. The statement of Mary that the body had been taken away. Did they yet believe that Jesus had risen from the dead? John 20:9. How long was it after the women left the sepulcher when Peter and John reached it? Ans.--It could not have been long; perhaps not more than one or two minutes. APPEARANCE OF JESUS TO MARY MAGDALENE. When Peter and John went away, what next did Mary do? John 20:11-13. When had she returned to the sepulcher? As the angels were still in the sepulcher why did not Peter and John see them? What next occurred with Mary? John 20:14-17. Why did she not know Jesus at first? Was this appearance of Jesus to Mary before or after his appearance to the other women? Mark 16:9. How long before? Ans.--It could have been only a few minutes, or perhaps a few seconds; for the other women were still on their way to the other male disciples when he appeared to them. See Matthew 28:9. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: 02.17. RESURRECTION OF JESUS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XVII.--Resurrection of Jesus--Continued. THE STORY OF THE SOLDIERS. When the soldiers recovered from their fright, what did they do? Matthew 28:11. Repeat all that the soldiers had seen. Matthew 28:2-4. Had they seen Jesus? Why did they report to the chief priests rather than to Pilate? See Matthew 27:65-66. Repeat the contract which was made with the soldiers. Matthew 28:11-15. Why promise to persuade the governor? Ans.--Because a Roman soldier who went to sleep while on guard was liable to punishment with death. How, then, did the Jews account for the disappearance of the body of Jesus? Matthew 28:15. Is there any other way to account for it if his resurrection is denied? Why not suppose that his enemies took the body away? What was the expectation of the disciples in regard to the body? Mark 16:1. How did they feel when they found that it was gone? John 20:2-10; Luke 24:12. Is it possible, then, that they could even have wished to take it away? What is the probability that the soldiers would all have gone to sleep? If they had been asleep, how could the disciples have passed between them, rolled the stone away, and carried the body out, without waking them. If they were too sound asleep when the body was removed to hear men getting it away, could they know how it got away? What, then, does their story carry on its face? What should be regarded as the real testimony of the soldiers: this story, or the one which they first told to the chief priests? If we had no evidence except that of the soldiers, would it be probable or improbable that Jesus rose from the dead? SECOND AND THIRD APPEARANCES OF JESUS. When the women told what they had seen and heard, what did the male disciples think of it? Luke 24:8-11. When Peter saw the tomb empty, what did he think? Luke 24:12. Describe how Jesus joined company with two on their way to Emmaus. Luke 24:13-16. How were their eyes holder? Ans.--Partly by the state of their feelings, and partly by the effort Jesus made to keep himself concealed from them. Comp. Mark 16:12. How did he open conversation with them? Luke 24:17-19. What account did they give of what had occurred that morning? Luke 24:20-24.--Had any of the male disciples seen Jesus before these two left the city? Luke 24:24. What did Jesus then say to them? Luke 24:25-27. Describe the remainder of the interview. Luke 24:28-32. Why did he make as if he would go further? What opened their eyes? Why did their hearts burn as he talked with them? Ans.--Because he revived their hopes, and enabled them to understand more correctly the events which had transpired. Describe the next movement of the two men. Luke 24:33-35. What time in the day must it have been when they reached Jerusalem? Luke 24:29, Luke 24:13. Had the appearance of Jesus to Simon been before or since his appearance to them? Ans.--It is not certain which. FIRST APPEARANCE TO THE ELEVEN. While the eleven were yet talking with the two men from Emmaus, what occurred? Luke 24:36-37. What made his entrance into the room the more surprising to them? See John 20:19. What did Jesus say to them? Luke 24:38-39. Did he appear, then, in his natural body? How did he further satisfy them that it was he? Luke 24:40-43. What reference did Peter make to this in his speech in the house of Cornelius? Acts 10:40-41. What more did Jesus say and do during this interview? John 20:21-23. Did he send them at that time, or afterward? Did they receive the Holy Spirit then, or not till the day of Pentecost? See Acts 2:1-4. Why, then, did Jesus breathe on them, and say, Receive the Holy Spirit? Ans.--To assure them that it would be given them as promised. Comp. John 16:7. In what way were the apostles to remit and retain sins? Ans.--By prescribing the conditions on which sins would or would not be forgiven. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: 02.18. RESURRECTION OF JESUS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XVIII.--Resurrection of Jesus--Continued. SECOND APPEARANCE TO THE ELEVEN.-- John 20:24-31. When Jesus first appeared to the eleven, was Thomas with them? John 20:24. Repeat the conversation with Thomas when he returned. John 20:25. Why did he wish to see the nail prints and the spear wound? Ans.--He was afraid that some person precisely like Jesus would be palmed off on him for Jesus, and he knew that no one could imitate the holes through his hands and in his side. When did Jesus appear to the eleven again? John 20:26. What day of the week was the first appearance? John 20:19. What day, then, was the second appearance? Ans.--This was also the first day of the week; for with the Jews the time from a certain day in the week to the same day of the next week was called eight days. Describe the second interview with the eleven. John 20:26-29. How did Jesus get into the room? John 20:26. Is there any possibility that Thomas was deceived? What advantage to us can you see in the incredulity of Thomas? What does John say about other signs wrought by Jesus? John 20:30. What does he state as his object in writing? John 20:31. What then did John consider the real source of faith? APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE OF GALILEE. John 21:1-25. Where was the next appearance of Jesus? John 21:1. What is the sea of Tiberias? Ans.--This is another name for the sea or lake of Galilee; it was so called from the city of Tiberias, which was built by Herod the tetrarch on the southwest shore of the lake and was the capital of his tetrarchy. Name the disciples who were present on this occasion. John 21:2. Who were the sons of Zebedee? Was Nathanael one of the apostles? Ans.--He was not, unless, as some suppose, he was the one called Bartholomew. State how the seven happened to be at the lake. John 21:3. Was this intended as a single fishing excursion or a return to the business? What had caused the disciples to return into Galilee? Matthew 23:10. Why did they fish at night? Ans.--Because they were more likely to catch fish, and because they thus avoided the intense treat of the day. It was now hot weather, being but a short time before Pentecost, which came in June. Describe the appearance of Jesus to them in the morning. John 21:4-8. Why did John conclude that it was the Lord? John 21:7. Why did Peter leap into the sea? How far did he have to swim? John 21:8. What was said and done when they came to shore? John 21:9-13. Who provided the fire and food? John 21:9. If the "great fishes" weighed two pounds each, how many pounds were there? Is it surprising that the net was not broken? Was there any room to doubt that the person they saw was the Lord? John 21:12. What evidence had they besides his voice and his person? What does John say as to the number of times Jesus had now showed himself? John 21:14. Was this the third time he had been seen, or the third time he had appeared to the disciples as a body? What conversation passed between Jesus and Peter? John 21:15-17. "Lovest thou me more than" what? John 21:15. Ans.--More than the bread and fish they were eating, and the worldly things which these represented. Why was the question asked? To rebuke Peter for having gone back to his old business instead of waiting for the command of Jesus. What more did Jesus say to Peter, and what was meant by it? John 21:18-19. How did the remark signify what his death should be? Ans.--Because stretching forth a man’s hand was done in no kind of death except death by crucifixion. What was said about John? John 21:20-23. What is John’s concluding remark about the things which Jesus did? John 21:25. Why could the world not contain the books? Ans.--This is a hyperbolical expression to indicate the great number of books that would have to be written. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: 02.19. RESURRECTION OF JESUS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XIX.--Resurrection of Jesus--Continued. APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE. Matthew 28:16-20. How did the disciples know the place and time of this meeting? Matthew 28:16. What occurred when they first saw him? Matthew 28:17. Why did some doubt? Ans.--He probably appeared at a distance, and he had not yet spoken to them. When he came to them, what did he say? Matthew 28:18-20. What was the propriety of telling them that all power had been given him? Ans.--To show that he had the right to give the command which follows. What was the largest number of disciples who saw Jesus at one time after his resurrection? 1 Corinthians 15:6. When was this? Ans.--It is supposed to have been when he appeared on the mountain in Galilee: for that was an appointed meeting, giving opportunity for all who desired to be present, while all the other meetings recorded were unexpected. THE LAST APPEARANCE TO THE ELEVEN. Give Mark’s account of the last appearance to the eleven. Mark 14:14-18. How do you know that this was the last appearance? Matthew 28:19-20. Why did he upbraid them for their unbelief, seeing they now believed? Matthew 28:14. Ans.--It was for not believing those who told them of his resurrection before they themselves had seen him. Does Mark tell where this interview took place? Where according to Luke, did Jesus have this last interview with the eleven? Luke 24:50-52. Was this, then, the same as the one last mentioned by Mark? Does Luke clearly distinguish between the first and last appearance to the eleven? Ans.--No. He begins at verse 36 with the first interview, and continues it to verse 43, and then passes to the conversation which occurred just before his ascension at the close of the last interview. See Luke 24:44-51. How did Jesus satisfy his disciples that all things had happened to him according to God’s purpose? Luke 24:44-46. What was to be preached in his name, and where was the preaching to begin? Luke 24:47. Till when were they told to tarry at Jerusalem? Luke 24:49. Describe the departure of Jesus, and the subsequent conduct of the eleven? Luke 24:50-53. Is there any other account of the ascension of Jesus? See Acts 1:4-9. Repeat the description as there given. Acts 1:9-11. What two men were these, and how do you know who they were? Acts 1:9-11. What did they mean by saying he would come in like manner? After the angels had spoken, what did the disciples do? Acts 1:12-13. How did they return from the Mount of Olives, when the ascension took place (Luke 24:50) near Bethany? How much is a Sabbath day’s journey? Ans.--Seven-eighths of a mile. It was not the law, but Jewish tradition that fixed it. Where did the apostles now abide? Acts 1:13. Why does Luke here give us the names of the eleven again? Ans.--To show that all were at their posts waiting for the power from on high which the Lord had promised them. Did they spend the days shut up in their room, or only make it their home? Comp. Luke 24:53. How were they spending their time, and who were with them? Acts 1:14. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: 02.20. REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE RESURRECTION ======================================================================== LESSON XX.--Review of the History of the Resurrection. THE APPEARANCES OF JESUS. Did any man or woman see Jesus when he arose? Where and in whose presence did his first appearance take place? Mark 16:9; John 20:11-16. His second appearance? Matthew 28:9. His third appearance? Luke 24:13-15. His fourth appearance? Luke 24:33-34; 1 Corinthians 15:5. His fifth appearance? Luke 24:36. His sixth? John 20:26. His seventh? John 21:1-4. His eighth? Matthew 28:16-18. His ninth? 1 Corinthians 15:7. His tenth? Mark 16:14-19; Luke 24:50-51; 1 Corinthians 15:7. Is there any account of his visible appearance after his ascension? See Acts 9:4-5. 1 Corinthians 15:8; Revelation 1:12-18. How many times, then, was Jesus seen after his resurrection? SUFFICIENCY OF THE PROOF. Are the accounts of the evangelists in regard to the resurrection credible? Ans.--They certainly are as to what was stated by the witnesses; for they could have no reason for misrepresenting what the various witnesses claimed to have seen and heard. Did the witnesses, or any of them, claim to have seen him only at a distance, or in a dim light? Mention some of the circumstances which show how well they saw him, if the story is true. When he did appear to them at a distance, or under such circumstances as not to be recognized at first, how was it before the interview was concluded? Mention some instances of this kind. What other sense besides sight was employed in testing his personality? Did they hear his voice under a sufficient variety of circumstances to be certain they were not mistaken? Supposing the possibility of their being deceived as to his form and countenance and voice, was there any other circumstance which must have rendered deception impossible? See John 20:25-27. Is there any possibility, then, that the eleven were mistaken? If these witnesses were not mistaken, on what other supposition can the story be untrue? Had they any motive to tell this story, if it were not true? If it were not true, would they have told it with so little regard to verbal agreement among themselves? What motives had they not to tell the story: that is, what would their love of money, their love of popularity, and their love of life have prompted them to do? Is it possible, then, that they were deliberately and willfully lying when they gave their testimony? If they were neither false nor mistaken, what must be our conclusion as regards the resurrection of Jesus? VALUE OF THE RESURRECTION. What did the resurrection of Jesus prove? Romans 1:4. What would we been the value of all that he did in life had he not risen from the dead? 1 Corinthians 15:17-29. If he did arise, what does this fact prove in reference to what he taught? What does it prove in reference to what he authorized the apostles afterward to teach? What bearing has it, then, on the truth of the New Testament? As he endorsed the Old Testament, what bearing does his resurrection have on the truth of that book? What, then is the most conclusive proof of the divine origin and authority of the whole Bible? What bearing has Christ’s resurrection on our resurrection? 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: 02.21. THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION ======================================================================== LESSON XXI.--The Apostolic Commission. MATTHEW’S VERSION. Repeat the commission as given by Matthew. Matthew 28:18-20. What is a commission? Ans.--It is a document which commits to a person some official authority. Was any authority committed to the apostles in the words just quoted? if so, what are the items of it? Had they not baptized and preached before? See John 4:2; Matthew 10:7. What new authority, then, was committed in the commission? Ans.--They were now to baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, which they had not done before; and they were to go to all nations, instead of being confined, as before, to the Jews. Comp. Matthew 10:5. In Matthew’s version, what is mentioned for the apostles to do, and what for those to whom they preached? What is the difference between the teaching mentioned in Matthew 28:19, and that mentioned in Matthew 28:20? Ans.--The last is teaching the practical duties of Christian life; the first is improperly translated teaching, it should be disciple, or make disciples; and it refers to that preaching before baptism by which sinners are made disciples. What is the force of the promise: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world?" Ans.--It guaranteed to the apostles not merely the presence, but the help of Christ in their work. MARK’S VERSION. Repeat the commission as given by Mark. Mark 16:16-18. What were the apostles here told to do? What is the difference between "preach the gospel to every creature," and "disciple all nations?" What duty of the apostles mentioned by Matthew is omitted by Mark? What conditions of salvation are mentioned? Mark 16:16. If it were equally true that He that believeth and is not baptized shall be saved, could you account for baptism being mentioned in this way? Under this commission is there any promise of salvation to the unbaptized, and could the apostles, without transcending it, make any such promise? In a parallel passage in Luke, what other duty of sinners is mentioned? Luke 24:47. What is the difference between the remission of sins there mentioned, and the salvation mentioned by Mark? Combining all the items of the commission as given by the three evangelists, what were the apostles to do, what were sinners to do, and what were the baptized to do? THE PROMISED SIGNS. What signs did Jesus say should follow the believers? Mark 16:17-18. How long did he say they should follow? How many persons among the believers did he say should work these signs? If, then, we find that they were wrought by a portion of the disciples in every country, and that they continued for a number of years, would it be true that they followed the believers? What is the truth as to the generality of these signs in the apostolic age? Did they continue throughout that age? Was it expected by the apostles that they would be permanent? See 1 Corinthians 13:8. Is it any objection to Christianity that these signs are not now wrought? If miracles had continued would they now be regarded as extraordinary, or only as ordinary events? Is it wise, then, that they ceased? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: 02.22. THE FIRST GOSPEL SERMON ======================================================================== LESSON XXII--The First Gospel Sermon. TARRYING IN JERUSALEM. Where were the apostles told to begin preaching under their commission? Luke 24:47. When were they to begin? Luke 24:49. What power from on high was this? Comp. Acts 1:5-8. Why was Jerusalem selected as the place? Ans.--Because it was the place where Jesus was condemned; it was the place where the most successful beginning could be made; and it had been prophesied that the word of the Lord should go forth from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:2-3. Why receive the Holy Spirit before beginning? Ans.--To give them infallible guidance, and to enable them to prove by miracles their divine authority. How long did they wait? Acts 1:3. Comp. Acts 2:1. THE APOSTLES INSPIRED. Acts 2:1-21. What first occurred to the apostles on the day of Pentecost? Acts 2:1-4. What effect had this on the multitude? Acts 2:6-8. How many countries were represented there? Acts 2:9-11. What was their question after they saw that it was a miracle? Acts 2:12. What did some say? Acts 2:13. Were they in earnest? How did Peter explain the miracle? Acts 2:15-18. Was there any other explanation that could be given? What did it prove for the apostles? How, then, were the people bound to receive all else that they might say? PETER’S DISCOURSE. What four distinct statements did Peter first make concerning Jesus? Acts 2:22-24. In the quotation from David, Acts 2:25-28, which of these was he aiming to prove? But in the words quoted, David speaks in the first person, as if he were speaking of himself; how does Peter meet this difficulty in Acts 2:29-31 Having proved from David that the Christ was to rise, what is Peter’s next proof? 32. Were they merely ordinary witnesses, or were they inspired witnesses? What does Peter next assert concerning Jesus? Acts 2:33. How does he show that this also was predicted? Acts 2:34-35. What is the conclusion of his argument? Acts 2:36. What is it to be Lord, and what to be Christ? Ans.--The former asserts his divinity, and the latter his identity as the Messiah foretold by the prophets. QUESTION, ANSWER AND EXHORTATION. What was the effect of Peter’s discourse? Acts 2:37. In the remark, "When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart," to what cause is the effect ascribed? What did they mean by the question, "What shall we do?" Repeat Peter’s answer. Acts 2:38-39. For what were they to repent and be baptized? Can the expression "for the remission of sins" be understood as meaning "because your sins are remitted?" Is it a fact that their sins were already remitted? If they were, would the persons still have been pricked in the heart? Would they have been told to repent? What was promised to those who would repent and be baptized? Acts 2:38. Was this the promise of inspiration such as the apostles possessed; or of that gift of the Spirit which all enjoy who repent and are baptized? To whom is this promise extended besides those on Pentecost? Acts 2:36. What children are meant? Ans.--As it was a conditional promise, only those are meant who were old enough to comply with the conditions, and who would do so--that is, those who would repent and be baptized. Is the foregoing report of Peter’s speech all that he said, or only a synopsis of it? Acts 2:40. What was the substance of his exhortation? Acts 2:40. How could they save themselves? How did they save themselves? Acts 2:41. What saving is here meant? Comp. Acts 2:38. Why is this sermon by Peter called the first gospel sermon? Was a sermon ever preached before under Apostolic Commission? Was Christ ever preached before as having died and arisen again? Was he ever preached before as having ascended to heaven and having sent down the Holy Spirit? Could the gospel have been preached except in promise before this time? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: 02.23. CONVERSION OF THE EUNICH ======================================================================== LESSON XXIII--Conversion of the Eunuch. Acts 8:26-40. What was the official position of the eunuch? Acts 8:27. Where had he recently been, and what was he now doing? Acts 8:27-28. Was he an Ethiopian by blood, or a Jew living in Ethiopia? Ans.--He was the latter, for Gentiles had not yet been received into the church. Repeat the passage in Isaiah which he was reading. Acts 8:32-33. Where is this found in the book of Isaiah? Isaiah 53:7-8. What question was on his mind in reference to this passage? Acts 8:34. Do you suppose that God looked with approval on the man thus engaged? What had the angel of the Lord done for him a short time previous? Acts 8:26. What was the object of the angel’s command? By whom was the angel sent to Philip? When Philip got into the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, what did he see before him? Acts 8:27. How did he happen to get there just as the chariot did? How did he overtake the chariot, and what caused him to do so? Acts 8:29-30. What conversation first took place between Philip and the eunuch? Acts 8:30-31. Why could he not understand it? Ans.--It was fulfilled in the death of Jesus and therefore men who did not know the history of Jesus and his death could not explain it. Why did Philip ask him if he understood the passage? Ans. In order to see whether the man was a believer in Jesus or an unbeliever, How did Philip know what passage he was reading? When Philip took a seat in the chariot, how did he proceed? Acts 8:35. What made the passage a suitable text? How was Philip’s preaching interrupted? 36. What had Philip preached to him? Acts 8:35. How then had he learned that it was his duty to be baptized? When we preach Jesus fully, is baptism a part of the sermon? What more was said? Acts 8:37. What of the genuineness of this verse? Ans.--It has been decided by scholars that it is an interpretation put in because it was supposed that Philip would not baptize the man without a confession of his faith. What was then done? Acts 8:38-39. What was done before the baptism, and what after? Where, then, were they when the baptizing was done? Would they have gone into the water if baptism had been sprinkling? How did the eunuch feel after he was baptized? Acts 8:39. What was the cause of his rejoicing? If his sins had been forgiven before he was baptized, would he not have rejoiced at that time? At what time, according to this example, can a sinner properly rejoice in the forgiveness of his sins? What beings took part in the conversion of the eunuch? Acts 8:26-29. What part did the angel perform? What part did the Holy Spirit perform? What part did Philip perform? Acts 8:27, Acts 8:30, Acts 8:35, Acts 8:39. Would the parts performed by the angel and by the Holy Spirit have converted the man without that performed by Philip? Through what means did all that was done by the angel and the Holy Spirit reach the mind and heart of the eunuch? Acts 8:35. Into what country was the gospel sent by this man’s conversion? In what way does this incident illustrate the importance of studying the word of God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: 02.24. SAUL'S CONVERSION ======================================================================== LESSON XXIV--Saul’s Conversion. HIS EARLY HISTORY. What was Saul’s birth-place? Acts 12:3. Of what Jewish tribe and sect was he? Php 3:5. What mechanical trade did he learn? Acts 18:3. Where and from whom did he receive his education? Acts 22:3. Describe his connection with the death of Stephen? Acts 7:58 - Acts 8:1. How did he proceed after Stephen’s death? Acts 8:3. What does he himself say of the extent of these cruelties? Acts 26:9-11. HIS JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. In what passages have we partial accounts of Saul’s conversion? Acts 9:1-19; Acts 22:1-10; Acts 26:9-20. What was the purpose of his journey to Damascus? Acts 9:2. How does Luke describe his feelings at this time? 1. What was the object of the letters he desired? Describe his interview with Jesus. Acts 9:3-6. In what sense was Saul persecuting Jesus? Why did not Jesus himself tell him what to do? What was the effect of the vision on Saul? Acts 9:8-9. What had blinded him? Acts 22:11. What did he not neither eat nor drink? What was he doing? Acts 9:11. Was Saul now a believer in Jesus? What had convinced him? Was he penitent? What made him so? What three statements are made in reference to his companions? Acts 9:7; Acts 22:9; Acts 26:14. How is it that they "stood speechless" (7), when they all fell to the ground? Acts 26:14. Ans.--They all fell at first, but all except Paul, not hearing their names called, got up and ran to a safe distance, and there stood speechless. How do you reconcile the two statements about their hearing the voice? Ans.--They heard the sound of the voice, but, on account of the distance to which they fled, they did not hear the words that were spoken. ANANIAS SENT TO HIM. What did the Lord say to Ananias in a vision? Acts 26:10-12. What was the reply of Ananias? Acts 26:13-14. What did the Lord then say? Acts 26:15-16. What was the character of Ananias? Acts 22:12. What did Ananias then do? Acts 9:17-18. Describe more particularly how Ananias gave Saul his eye-sight. Acts 22:13. What did Ananias say to him about being baptized? Acts 22:16. How could he wash away his sins in being baptized? In what sense did Ananias come that Saul might "be filled with the Holy Spirit"? Ans.--The Holy Spirit was promised to those who were baptized (Acts 2:38), and he came to baptize him in order that he might receive the Holy Spirit. What was Saul sent to Damascus for? Acts 22:10. What was he told to do? Acts 22:16. When a man, then, is a penitent believer, like Saul, what is he to do? When did Saul receive comfort and cease his fasting? Acts 9:18-19. When then, did he consider his sins forgiven; before or after his baptism? As his misery continued up to the time of his baptism, did he receive the Holy Spirit before he was baptized? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: 02.25. THE CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS ======================================================================== LESSON XXV.--The Conversion of Cornelius. Acts 10:1-48. HIS VISION OF AN ANGEL. Acts 10:1-8. What was the office of Cornelius? Acts 10:1. What is meant by "the Italian band?" Ans.--A band, or, as the Romans called it, a cohort composed of Italian soldiers. What was the character of Cornelius? Acts 10:2. Being of heathen parentage, by what means had he became so faithful a servant of God? Ans.--He had doubtless learned the true religion from the Jews. Describe his interview with the angel. Acts 10:3-6. What was Cornelius doing when the angel appeared to him? Acts 10:30. If his prayers were heard, why was he not already saved? Did God answer his prayers by an immediate forgiveness of his sins? What answer did he send to him? Acts 10:5-6. If, then, God should audibly hear the prayers of an unconverted man at this day, what according to this example, would be the answer? When the angel disappeared what did Cornelius do? Acts 10:7-8. PETER PREPARED FOR THE MESSAGE. Acts 10:9-24. Describe Peter’s vision on the housetop. Acts 10:9-16. What time of day was this, and how long after Cornelius had started the messengers? Acts 10:9. What was Peter’s objection to eating animals? Acts 10:14. What effect did the answer have (Acts 10:15) on the old distinction between clean and unclean meats? Did Peter at first fully understand the vision? Acts 10:17. What occurred while he was thinking about it? Acts 10:17-20. How did the men happen to arrive just after the vision passed away? What then passed between Peter and the messengers from Cornelius? Acts 10:21-22. When did he go with the men? Acts 10:23. For what purpose did some of the brethren go with him? Ans.--As this was the first time the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles, they went as witnesses of what would be done. Acts 11:12. MEETING OF PETER AND CORNELIUS. Acts 10:24-33. What congregation had Cornelius collected? Acts 10:24. Of what character must you suppose these kinsmen and near friends to have been? Describe the meeting between Peter and Cornelius. Acts 10:25-26. Do you suppose that Cornelius intended to worship Peter as a God? Ans.--No; the word translated "worship" here means to prostrate one’s self, as the ancients did in the presence of one greatly their superior. What explanation did Peter give of going into the house of a Gentile? Acts 10:27-29. How does he now understand the vision? Acts 10:28. What reason did Cornelius give for sending him? Acts 10:30-33. How many days had it actually been since the angel appeared to him? Comp. Acts 10:3, Acts 10:9, Acts 10:23-24. Why, then, did Cornelius say it was "four days ago?" Ans.--The Jews always counted the first and last days partly included in any series as whole days, and Cornelius spoke according to this custom. What did Cornelius say was the purpose of his friends in coming together? Acts 10:33. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: 02.26. THE CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XXVI.--The Conversion of Cornelius Continued. PETER’S SPEECH. Acts 10:34-43. Repeat Peter’s introduction. Acts 10:34-35. When had Peter learned that God was no respecter of persons? Acts 10:28. According to Acts 10:35, what is he a respecter of? What does Peter say of the knowledge which his hearers already had of the word of God? Acts 10:37. Where does he locate the beginning of Christ’s preaching? Acts 10:37. How does he describe the good works of Jesus? Acts 10:38. What does he assert of himself and others? Acts 10:39. What does he say of the death and resurrection of Jesus? Acts 10:39-40. What of the witnesses of his resurrection? Acts 10:41. Is it not an argument against the resurrection, that Jesus appeared only to chosen witnesses? Ans.--It would be if the witnesses were chosen because they would be inclined to bear false testimony; but they were chosen because they knew Jesus perfectly, and could not be deceived as to his person. Others who did not know him so well would not have been so competent witnesses. What is the next point in Peter’s speech? Acts 10:42. What command of Jesus is here referred to? Mark 16:15-16. What does he then state as the condition of remission of sins? Acts 10:43. Whose testimony to this does he give besides his own? Acts 10:43. What is the force of "through his name" in this verse? Ans.--In stating that the believer shall receive remission of sins through his name, Peter means that he shall receive it when he comes into connection with his name, and this is done when one is baptized into his name. Comp. Acts 10:48. THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN. Acts 10:44-48. What occurred to interrupt Peter’s speech? Acts 10:44. What did the six companions of Peter think of this? Acts 10:45. How did they know the Holy Spirit had fallen on them? Acts 10:46. What did Peter say? Acts 10:47-48. Did Peter think that the Holy Spirit baptism made water baptism unnecessary? As Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before baptism, ought not this to be the case now? Ans.--No: for it was the miraculous gift of the Spirit which he received, and this is not now given; the gift of the Spirit promised to all comes after baptism. See Acts 2:38. Does not the fact that he received the Holy Spirit before baptism prove that his sins were forgiven before baptism? Ans.--It does not, because the miraculous gift of the Spirit has no connection with the forgiveness of sins. For what purpose was this miraculous gift imparted to Cornelius and his friends? Ans.--We are to learn this from the use which Peter made of it: he used it at first to prove to the Jewish brethren with him that Gentile believers ought to be baptized, Acts 10:47; and he used it afterward to convince the Jewish brethren in Jerusalem of the same thing. Acts 11:15-17. Why was this baptism in the Spirit not repeated? Ans.--Because when Christians were once convinced that Gentiles were to be baptized on the same conditions as Jews, they never needed to be convinced again, and therefore there was no need of repeating the miracle. Did any one besides Cornelius and his friends ever receive the Holy Spirit before baptism so far as we read in Acts of the Apostles? If it had been necessary to salvation would it not have occurred in every case of conversion? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: 02.27. CONVERSION OF LYDIA ======================================================================== LESSON XXVII.--Conversion of Lydia-- Acts 16:6-15. CHARACTER OF LYDIA. Was Lydia a worshiper of God before her conversion? Acts 16:14. According to what religion did she worship? What was her habit on the Sabbath day? Acts 16:13. Who united with her in this worship? Acts 16:13. What women do you suppose these were? Ans.--Most likely women of the Jewish faith like herself, who assisted her in business. What was Lydia’s business? Acts 16:14. Purple what? Ans.--Purple cloths, an article for clothing highly prized and very costly. Was Lydia at home in Philippi? Acts 16:14. How far was Thyatira from Philippi? Ans.--About three hundred miles, and on the other side of the Ægean sea. What had brought her so far from home? Ans.--To sell her goods which were manufactured and dyed in Thyatira, a city noted for the skill of its inhabitants in dyeing. What kind of a city was Philippi? Acts 16:12. What its meant by saying it was "a colony?" Ans.--It was inhabited by Italians, who had been colonized there by Augustus Cæsar. He took away the lands of many Italians to give them to his soldiers, and sent the dispossessed owners to other countries, where he gave them other lands. Why did not the women go to the synagogue on the Sabbath instead of going to the river bank to pray? Ans.--There seems to have been no synagogue there. As the Romans did not stop business on the Sabbath, how could she afford to do it? What does this show in regard to her faithfulness? What, excuse could she have made for neglecting the Sabbath worship, and continuing her business? When she heard Paul preach what did the Lord do for her? Acts 16:14. What is meant by opening her heart? Ans.--This is an expression for the idea that some narrow or selfish feeling has been removed and a nobler one put in its place. If Lydia’s heart needed opening, there was of course something wrong in it; was it that she was totally depraved? If you knew a woman as good as she would you not think that her heart is right? Is any one’s heart right whose life is not right? Comp. Matthew 15:18-19. What, then, was the matter with Lydia’s heart? Ans.--It was, like the hearts of nearly all pious Jews, full of Jewish prejudice, such as tempted her to reject the gospel which presented an entirely different Savior from the one they expected. In what, then, did the opening consist? It is said that the Lord opened her heart; (Acts 16:14) is it said that he did so by a direct operation of the Spirit? What had the Lord to do with Paul’s preaching? Where would Paul have been at this time, if he had had his own way? Acts 16:6-7. Who prevented him from going to Asia and Bithynia, and why? How and where did Paul first learn that God wanted him in Macedonia in preference to those other countries? Acts 16:8-10. What enabled the ship to sail in a "straight course?" Acts 16:11. What had the Lord done, then, which led Luke to emphasize the fact that the Lord had opened Lydia’s heart? What did she do as soon as her heart was opened? Acts 16:14. Does this mean that she listened, or had she listened before? Acts 16:13-14. What is one of the things she attended to? Acts 16:15. How much did Lydia at first lack of being a Christian? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: 02.28. CONVERSION OF THE JAILER ======================================================================== LESSON XXVIII--Conversion of the Jailer. Acts 16:16-34. State the circumstances which brought Paul and Silas into the company of the jailer at Philippi. Acts 16:16-23. As the girl was telling the truth, and speaking in favor of the apostles, why did they not let her alone? Acts 16:17-18. If Paul would not receive the testimony of evil spirits, ought we? If Paul had been pleased with the testimony of the evil spirit, what would have been thought of the relation between him and it? Why did not Paul cast out the demon at first, instead of bearing the evil "many days?" Acts 16:18. Comp. Acts 16:19. Did the owners of the girl tell their real complaint against Paul and Silas? Acts 16:20-21. Why not? Ans.--It would have been showed that they could cast out demons, and this would have given them credit in the city. Why did the magistrates command that they should be beaten? Acts 16:22. Why was the jailer called for? Acts 16:23. How did he dispose of them for the night? Acts 16:24. What were the stocks, and why put their feet in them? Ans.--They were pieces of timber with grooves in them in which the legs of men were fastened so that they could not be moved. The object was to torture them as well as to keep them more securely. What occurred in the prison at midnight? Acts 16:25-26. Why did the apostles not pray sooner? Would you have been in a good enough humor to pray, if you had been treated as they were? Why did their singing occur after their praying? Ans.--Prayer, when we are in distress, makes us more cheerful, so that we can sing. Why mention that "the prisoners heard them?" What was the cause of the earthquake. etc.? Acts 16:26. When the jailer awoke, what did he do? Acts 16:27. Why was he going to kill himself? Ans.--He expected to be disgraced, and probably put to death for allowing his prisoners to escape, and it was considered more honorable among the Romans to commit suicide than to die by the hands of an executioner. What saved him from suicide? Acts 16:28. How could Paul see what he was about to do? What did the jailer then do and say? Acts 16:20-30. Into what place did he spring, and out of what did he bring Paul and Silas? How did he know anything about salvation? See Acts 16:17-18. What had caused his sudden interest in the subject? What was the answer of Paul and Silas, and what next was done? Acts 16:31-32. Why did they speak to him the word of the Lord? What next occurred? Acts 16:33-34. To what place did he take them? 33. Was it outside or inside the house? Acts 16:34. Did Paul, then, require the jailer anything more than to believe? Why did the jailer set food before them? Why did he rejoice? Was his rejoicing before or after his baptism? When, then, did he consider himself forgiven? If the jailer had undertaken to tell his experience, what would it have been according to this account? It is sometimes said that the jailer was baptized in the jail; what does the text prove about this? Acts 16:30-34. Even if he had been baptized in the house would this prove that he was not immersed? As "he and his all" were baptized, does not this prove that there were infants baptized? Acts 16:34. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: 02.29. THESSALONICA AND BEREA ======================================================================== LESSON XXIX--Thessalonica and Berea. Acts 17:1-14. Describe the release of Paul and Silas from prison in Philippi. Acts 16:35-39. What was the force of their being Romans?--Ans. It was a capital crime to scourge a Roman citizen, as the magistrates had scourged Paul and Silas. Why was not Paul willing to be thrust out privately? Ans.--It would injure his reputation by causing persons to think that he was justly scourged and imprisoned. After bidding farewell to the disciples in Philippi, (Acts 16:40) where did Paul and Silas next go? Acts 17:1. Why go to a place where was a synagogue of the Jews? What is said of Paul’s preaching in that synagogue? Acts 17:2-3. How do you suppose he spent his time between the Sabbath days? See 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8. According to verse 3, what line of argument did Paul pursue? Ans.--He first proved that the Christ must, according to the prophesies, have suffered death and risen again, and then he showed that Jesus must be that Christ. What class of persons constituted the converts? Acts 17:4. Who are meant by "devout Greeks"? Ans.--Greeks who, like Cornelius, had become converts to the Jewish religion. Why were these more easily convinced than the Jews? What was done by the unbelieving Jews? Acts 17:5-7. How much truth was there in the charge of saying there is another king? How had the apostles turned the world upside down? Why were the people and the rulers troubled? Acts 17:8. Ans.--Because they feared that an insurrection was threatened which might cause bloodshed and suffering. What was done with Jason and the other brethren? Acts 17:9. After the uproar, what was done with Paul and Silas? Acts 17:10. Why by night? Why go into the synagogue again? What comparison is made between the Jews of Berea and those of Thessalonica? Acts 17:11. How should men act toward the word in order to be noble? What was the result of this course on the part of the Berean Jews? Acts 17:12. To what does Luke attribute their belief; to the direct power of the Holy Spirit, or to their searching the Scriptures? What difference in the relative number of Jews and Greeks who believed, here and in Thessalonica? Acts 17:12. Comp. Acts 17:4. What terminated the labors of Paul in Berea? Acts 17:13-14. What did Silas and Timothy do and why? Acts 17:14. Did Paul preach the same gospel in these two cities? Is there evidence that God and the Holy Spirit worked more for the Bereans than for the Thessalonians? Why, then, did the latter believe more readily than the former? Acts 17:11. When the gospel, at the present day, is more successful in one place than in another, is the difference to be traced to what God does, or to what men do? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: 02.30. REVIEW OF CASES OF CONVERSION ======================================================================== LESSON XXX--Review of Cases of Conversion. BAPTISM. How many and what cases of conversion are particularly described in Acts of Apostles? See Acts 2:1-41; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 9:1-18; Acts 10:1-48; Acts 16:6-15; Acts 16:16-34. What was the last thing done in each of these cases? Was the process of conversion completed in any case without baptism? Is there evidence that any of the converts experienced the joy of pardon before baptism? Is there evidence that any of them experienced it immediately after baptism? and if so, what is it? See Acts 8:39; Acts 9:18-19; Acts 16:33-34. REPENTANCE. What command next preceded that to be baptized? Acts 2:38. In how many of the cases is there direct evidence of repentance? Acts 9:9; Acts 16:33. Why is there no mention of repentance in the cases of the eunuch, Cornelius and Lydia? Ans.--They were living in daily repentance for their daily sins, and there was no especial occasion for them to repent when they believed in Christ. Would the failure to mention repentance in any case imply that in that case there was no repentance? FAITH. What was the first thing required of the eunuch and of the jailer? Acts 8:37; Acts 16:31. Was this the first obedience rendered by those on Pentecost, by Saul and by Lydia, if so, show that it was. As in some cases faith is not mentioned, why not conclude that it was not always necessary? Those on Pentecost were commanded to repent and be baptized, faith not being mentioned; Saul was required to be baptized, neither faith nor repentance being mentioned; and the jailer was told to believe, neither repentance nor baptism being at first mentioned; how do you account for these differences? The thief on the cross was saved without baptism; how do you account for this? WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. What was the promise in reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit? Acts 2:38. Does this promise place it before or after baptism? Was it received in any of the cases we are considering before baptism? Is the case of Cornelius the only exception? Was the gift in this case the ordinary, or the miraculous gift? Is it a precedent for us? and if not, why not? In what way did the Holy Spirit work on the day of Pentecost? Acts 2:4-37. In what way in the case of the eunuch? Acts 8:29-35. How in the case of Cornelius, with the exception mentioned above? Acts 10:19-20, Acts 10:34. How in the case of Lydia? Acts 16:6-7, Acts 16:9, Acts 16:13. What instrumentalities then did the Spirit use in converting those persons? What may we conclude are the instrumentalities he now employs? MINISTRY OF ANGELS. What work of angels is mentioned in these cases of conversion? Acts 8:26; Acts 10:3-6. In what was the work of the angels in these two cases the same, and in what did it differ? If there had been any ordinary means by which Philip could have been sent to the eunuch, or Cornelius could have been directed to send for Peter, do you suppose an angel would have appeared? In what cases, then, may we conclude that the ministry of angels is employed? Repeat Paul’s remark on the subject of their ministry. Hebrews 1:14. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: 02.31. PRAYER ======================================================================== LESSON XXXI--Prayer. A DUTY TO PRAY. Repeat some words of Jesus, in which prayer is enjoined as a duty. Matthew 7:7; Matthew 26:41; Luke 18:1. Some words of Paul to the same effect. 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Php 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:1. Some words of James. James 5:13. Is prayer more frequently spoken of in the Scriptures as duty, or as a privilege? Does the fact that it is a privilege make it any the less a duty? Is it a sin to neglect it? AN ANSWER PROMISED. Quote some words of Jesus containing the assurance that prayer will be answered. Matthew 7:7-8. What is meant by seeking and knocking, in this passage? Ans.--They are figurative expressions for prayer. Quote other promises of Jesus. Mark 11:24; John 16:23. Quote one from James. James 5:16. One from Peter. 1 Peter 3:12. One from John. 1 John 5:14-15. Is God able to fulfill such promises as these? Can one who believes the Bible doubt that he will do it? Is there any more reason to doubt these promises than any others in the Bible? EFFECTS OF PRAYER. What does Paul say about being careful? Php 4:6. What does the word careful here mean? Ans.--It means full of care. How does Paul direct us in the remainder of this verse to free ourselves from care? What does he say will be the consequence of this? Php 4:7. What is meant by the peace of God? Ans.--The peace which God bestows on us. If, then, we let our requests be made known to God in everything, what will be the effect on our own minds? If Christians are full of care, what does it prove in regard to their prayerfulness? If we pray for any particular virtue, will this help us to acquire said virtue? If we pray for the spiritual good of any person, that person knowing that we thus pray for him, is it likely to do him good? Are these results on ourselves and on others the promised answers of prayer? Ans.--No; they are the natural effects of prayer. What do you understand by an answer to prayer? Ans.--Something that God does for us or for others because we pray for it. If, then, the only benefit derived from prayer is the good effect on the person who prays, and on others who hear the prayer, is there any real answer to prayer? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: 02.32. PRAYER ======================================================================== LESSON XXXII--Prayer. FAITH OF THE APOSTLES IN PRAYER. In which way do men more clearly show their faith, by words or by actions? In what way did the apostles decide between Joseph and Matthias as the successor to Judas? Acts 1:23-26. Is there any way of deciding questions that is more uncertain than casting lots? Repeat the prayer which they offered before they drew the lots. Acts 1:24-25. How did they expect the Lord to show which he had chosen? Did they then believe that God would cause the lot to fall this way or that? Did they believe that he would do this in answer to their prayer? When the lot fell on Matthias what did they believe was the cause of it? If God controls such matters as the casting of lots, what is there that he does not control? When Peter and John had been arrested and commanded not to preach any more in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18), what did they do on being released? Acts 4:23. When the other apostles heard the story, what did they all do? Acts 4:24. In their prayer what did they ask the Lord to do? Acts 4:29-30. Why did they wish the Lord to behold the threatenings of the Jews? Did they then believe that God would, in answer to their prayers, do something to protect them? When Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans, on what journey was he about to start, and for what purpose? Romans 15:25. How had he obtained the means of ministering to the saints? Romans 15:26. What prayer did he ask the brethren to offer to God for him? Romans 15:30-32. Did he then believe that their prayers would help him to escape from his enemies? Have we an account of the journey to Jerusalem here referred to? Ans.--Yes; it is found in Acts 20:3, to Acts 21:16. After he got to Jerusalem did he fall into the hands of the unbelievers? Acts 21:27-31. State how he was delivered from them. Acts 21:31-34. Was the prayer of himself and his Roman brethren answered? How much of it? Romans 15:31. How much of it was yet to be answered? Romans 15:32. Was this part also answered? Ans.--Yes; the remainder of the book of Acts shows that it was, and that it was answered by a series of remarkable events and hair breadth escapes. [The student should here read from Acts 21:36, to the end of the book to see how Paul was finally brought from Jerusalem to Rome, in answer to his prayer.] While Paul was a prisoner in Rome, what prayer did he ask the Ephesians to offer for him? Ephesians 6:18-19. Did he believe that their prayers, offered for him at Ephesus would be of service to him in Rome? What prayer did he ask the Colossians to offer for him, about the same time? Colossians 4:2-4. What confidence did he express in the prayers of the Hebrew brethren? Hebrews 12:18-19. As the apostles were inspired men, were they mistaken in what the, believed and taught? As they showed by both word and action that they believed in the answer of prayer, what does this prove on the subject? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: 02.33. PRAYER ======================================================================== LESSON XXXIII--Prayer. ON WHAT CONDITIONS PRAYER IS ANSWERED. What does Jesus say in reference to the connection between belief and the answer of prayer? Mark 11:24. If, then, we pray for anything, not believing that we will receive it, will the prayer be answered? What does the apostle James say on the same subject? James 1:5-7. What, then, is the first condition on which prayer is answered. What does James give as a reason why some of the prayers of his brethren were not answered? James 4:3. If we ask God for anything, merely to gratify our lusts or passions, do we ask amiss? Will such prayers be answered? What should be our purpose in asking anything from God? If he were to grant prayers which are offered for an improper purpose, would it do us good, or harm? When we think of praying for any particular thing, what ought we to ask ourselves in regard to our purpose? What, then is the second condition of the answer to prayer? Repeat what John says on this subject. 1 John 5:14-15. What condition is named here? 1 John 5:14. What is meant by "according to his will?" Ans.--According to what God knows to be best both for us and for others. Would it be right for a prayer to be answered which is not best for us and for others? What, then, is the third condition of the answer to prayer? Name all three of the conditions which have thus far been mentioned. In what way do we learn what is God’s will? Ans.--We learn it in part from the Bible, and in part from the order which God has established in nature. Should we pray for anything that is contrary to Bible teaching? Should we pray, then, for sinners to be pardoned before they are baptized? In order to always pray according to God’s will, as revealed in the Bible, what knowledge is necessary? Would it be praying according to God’s will to ask for rain without a cloud? How do you know? Is it right to pray for anything that is contrary to the established order of things? If God can give us rain and health by a miracle, would it appear easier or harder for him to give them without a miracle? When we pray for anything which we know its according to God’s will, and which we desire for a pure purpose, can we believe that we will receive it? Are the conditions of acceptable prayer then such as we can generally comply with? Can you give an example of an apostolic prayer that was not answered? 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. When Paul found that it was not the will of God to take away the thorn, did he pray for it any longer? What did God give him in place of what he desired? 2 Corinthians 12:9. Was this better or worse for him? 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. What then does God sometimes do, instead of granting what we wish? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: 02.34. PRAYER ======================================================================== LESSON XXXIV--Prayer. FORGIVENESS AND PERSEVERANCE. When we pray for the forgiveness of our sins, on what condition will it be granted? Matthew 6:14-15. Is this forgiveness the formal declaration to the offender that you forgive him, or is it the freeing of your heart from resentment? On what condition are we required to formally forgive an offender? Luke 17:4. In what case, then, is forgiveness a condition of the answer of prayer? Repeat the parable of the unjust judge. Luke 18:1-8. What did Jesus mean to teach by this parable? Luke 18:1. Suppose that we should conclude that what we are praying for is not according to God’s will; should we continue praying for it? But if we believe it is according to his will, and if we desire it for a right purpose, yet after praying for a time, we do not obtain it, what should we do? Is prayer for the salvation of our friends an example of this? Give other examples. PLACE AND MANNER OF PRAYER. What does Jesus say about the proper place for private prayer? Matthew 6:5-6. If a man chooses a place for his private prayers where others can see him, what is the object? As this is the way that hypocrites do, how can you be sure that such a person is not a hypocrite? What sin does the Savior for guard us against by this precept? What do you think of the propriety of bowing down for secret prayer when you take your seat in a house of worship? What of the preacher’s doing so when he enters the pulpit? After what manner does Jesus teach us to pray? Matthew 6:9-13. Is this model prayer a long one? Are there any repetitions in it? Has it many high sounding words? How, then, should our prayers be in regard to length, repetitions, and simplicity of speech? PRAYER IN THE FAMILY. Is family prayer expressly named in the New Testament? Quote 1 Peter 3:7. What prayer would be hindered by husbands mistreating their wives? What does Paul say about where we should pray? 1 Timothy 2:18. This clearly requires men to pray in every suitable place. How are fathers commanded to bring up their children? Ephesians 6:4. Can they do this well without leading the family in prayer? What, then, do you think is the duty of parents in this particular? WHO SHOULD PRAY. What is one of the objects of public prayer? 1 Corinthians 14:14-17; 1 Corinthians 14:26. Should any one be invited to pray, then, who cannot pray to edification? Who is to be the judge, the person himself, or the brethren? How are they to learn whether he can pray to edification? As we are required to pray in faith, can an unbeliever offer an acceptable prayer? As it is the prayer of a righteous man that availeth much, will the prayer of a wicked man avail? Can a sinner expect his prayers to be heard while he refuses to obey God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: 02.35. PRAISE ======================================================================== LESSON XXXV--Praise. What does the Apostle James say in reference to prayer and singing? James 5:13. What feelings, then, more appropriately find expression in prayer, and what in song? What are psalms? Ans.--They are poetical compositions intended for singing and expressive of God’s praise. Does James here refer especially to the Psalms of David? Ans.--No: his language is unlimited, and therefore it includes all psalms. Does he refer to private singing, or singing in the congregation? Can you give an apostolic example of prayer and singing such as James mentions. See Acts 16:25. Was singing a part of the public worship in the days of the apostles? 1 Corinthians 14:26. When Paul says, in this passage, "Every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue," etc., what does he mean Ans.--That some had one of these, and some another. Did they have hymn books at the beginning? How, then, did they get songs to sing? Ans.--They evidently sang such songs as were taught to them by those who knew old Jewish songs that were suitable, or who composed new ones. In what way does Paul say we should sing? 1 Corinthians 14:15. What is meant by singing with the spirit? If we sing without thinking of the meaning of the song, do we sing with the spirit? If we do not try to make the sentiment of the song our own, do we sing with the spirit? What two things are necessary, then, to singing with the spirit? What is it to sing with the understanding? Ans.--As explained by the next verse, it means to sing so as to be understood. For whose benefit are we to sing besides our own? Does the benefit, either to ourselves or others, lie in the music alone? What is the real advantage of singing over or merely reciting the words of the song? Repeat what Paul says to the Ephesians about singing. Ephesians 5:18-19. What is meant by "speaking to yourselves?" Ans.--It here means speaking to one another. What is the difference between psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? Ans.--The difference is not very clearly defined: they are all songs of a religious character. What is meant by "singing and making melody in the heart?" Ans.--Singing with the voice and accompanying this with corresponding feeling in the heart. Repeat what Paul says to the Colossians on this subject. Colossians 3:16. What benefit to one another is mentioned here? How do we teach one another in songs? How do we admonish one another? Where Paul uses the expression, "singing with melody in the heart," in Ephesians, what expression does he use here? What is it to sing with grace in the heart? Ans.--Grace in God is favor to us; in us, it is thankfulness towards him. Here it means singing with thankfulness in the heart. Could we know that singing would be acceptable worship if God had not so informed us? As we are dependent on what he reveals for our knowledge of acceptable worship, ought we to do anything in worship for which we have not a Thus saith the Lord? Have we any authority in the New Testament for instrumental music in the worship? Were instruments employed in the Jewish worship? As they were employed in the Jewish worship and omitted in the Christian worship, what does this show as to God’s will in the matter? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: 02.36. THE LORD'S SUPPER ======================================================================== LESSON XXXVI--The Lord’s Supper. Repeat Matthew’s account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper Matthew 26:26-28. When he said, "This is my body," what did he mean? What is the Roman Catholic doctrine on this subject? Ans.--That the bread was actually the body of Christ, and the wine actually his blood. How could the disciples know that the bread had not been actually turned into his body? Ans.--Because after he said, "This is my body," they saw his body and the bread both there; and after they had eaten the bread his body was still there. After Jesus had said of the wine, "This is my blood" (Matthew 26:28), what does he still call it? Matthew 26:29. Was it still wine, then? When Jesus says (Matthew 26:27), "Drink ye all of it," does he mean that all must drink, or that they must drink all the wine? Ans. He means that all must drink. Repeat Luke’s account of the institution of the supper. Luke 22:19. What command does he quote that is not mentioned by Matthew? How would this enable them to remember Christ? What would be the advantage of remembering him? Repeat Paul’s account of the same event. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25. Did Paul get his account from some of the apostles, or directly from the Lord himself? 1 Corinthians 11:23. What additional remark does Paul make in regard to the design of the supper? 1 Corinthians 11:26. To whom do we "show the Lord’s death," to the church or the world? What then, is the chief object of the Lord’s Supper, as regards the church, and what as regards the world? What abuse of the Lord’s supper does Paul rebuke in the Church at Corinth? 1 Corinthians 11:20-22. What effect did these meetings have on the disciples? 1 Corinthians 11:17. What was their particular fault as regards the supper? Ans.--Instead of eating it as the Lord’s supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), they ate it as "their own supper" (1 Corinthians 11:21), that is, as a supper to satisfy their appetite. What did Paul say to them about eating and drinking unworthily? 1 Corinthians 11:27. How did he tell them to guard against this? 1 Corinthians 11:28. If, upon self-examination, we think of sins of which we have not repented, what should we immediately do? If we are not thoroughly penitent concerning our sins, should we partake at all? What will be our fate if we die in such a condition? Is it right to decline the supper because somebody else has sinned? Does the fact that we must examine ourselves, prohibit the church from debarring persons whom it knows to be unworthy? Should any one be allowed to partake who would not be received as a member? If members are unworthy to partake, ought they to be kept in the church? What does Paul further say of eating and drinking unworthily? 1 Corinthians 11:29. What is meant by not discerning the Lord’s body? Ans. Not eating the loaf as the Lord’s body, and with that reverence and self-examination which is required. The Corinthians were guilty of this in making it "their own supper." What was the effect of this evil practice in Corinth? 1 Corinthians 11:30. Does this mean physical sickness and death or spiritual weakness and torpor? Ans.--It certainly includes the latter, and many commentators think it also includes the former. What day of the week did the disciples meet to break the loaf? Acts 20:7. Is this mentioned as if it were a regular custom? As Paul rebuked the Corinthians for coming together not to eat the Lord’s supper, what does this show as to the object of coming together? 1 Corinthians 11:20. As the object of coming together on the first day of the week was to break the loaf, and as they came together every first day, how often did they break the loaf? Have we any right to depart from this apostolic practice? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: 02.37. THE LORD'S TREASURY ======================================================================== LESSON XXXVII--The Lord’s Treasury. Describe the liberality of the first Christians in Jerusalem. Acts 4:32-35. Did they make an equal distribution of all their property, or did they give to persons only as they had need? Acts 4:35. As distribution was made only to persons needing help, how fast were the sales of property made, and how long did they continue? If a church at the present day should find that it could not relieve its poor without selling property, what would be its duty? State the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. Acts 5:1-2. What did they expect to gain by their lie? When a man exaggerates by representing his contributions as being greater in proportion to his means than they are, what sin does he commit? What do you suppose was the practical object of punishing Ananias and Sapphira so fearfully? Ans.--To give a warning in the beginning against lying and corrupt practices in connection with the Lord’s treasury. Repeat the rule which Paul gave to the churches in Galatia and at Corinth about the collection for the saints. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. Was this rule given in the form of a general precept concerning all contributions, or only as a special precept for that particular collection? What does it show as to the apostle’s judgment concerning the most suitable time at which to make our contributions? Does it prohibit us from also contributing at other times? According to what ratio does Paul tell the Corinthians to give? 1 Corinthians 16:2. Does this mean that they must give each Lord’s day according to their prosperity the previous week, or according to the entire ability with which the Lord has blessed them? Quote another saying of Paul on the subject of the amount we should give. 2 Corinthians 8:13. According to this passage, if a man gives without a willing mind, is the gift acceptable to God? If he declines to give when able, because his mind is not willing, does he sin? Does the sin lie in not giving, or in not being willing? When man is not willing to give when he ought to give, what is his character? Quote another statement of Paul on the same subject. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. According to this passage, in what ratio will a man reap the blessings attached to giving? What fact does Paul mention to encourage us on this point? 2 Corinthians 9:8. Repeat again what is said about cheerful giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7. If a man give grudgingly, will his money go as far in feeding the poor as if he had given cheerfully? What is the disadvantage, then, of giving grudgingly? What does Paul say about the living of those who preach the gospel? 1 Corinthians 9:14. On what principle does he justify this rule? 1 Corinthians 9:11. Did Paul himself exercise this right of support, or waive it? 1 Corinthians 9:12. For what other object, then, are we to give to the Lord’s treasury besides providing for the poor? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: 02.38. MONEY GETTING AND MONEY LOVING ======================================================================== LESSON XXXVIII--Money Getting and Money Loving. Quote the Savior’s precept about laying up treasures. Matthew 6:19-20. What reason does he give for this precept? Matthew 6:21. What assurance does he give in reference to all things needful for the body? Matthew 6:33. He says, (Matthew 6:25) "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat," etc.; what does he mean? Ans.--The Greek word rendered "take no thought," means "be not anxious;" and the meaning is that we are to be free from anxiety about these matters, trusting in God to bless our labors. What does Paul say about laboring to accumulate? Ephesians 4:28. Suppose that none of us had more property than merely to supply the bodily wants of our families, what would become of the poor? And what means would there be for spreading the gospel? Can we make money too fast, or make too much of it, if we use it for these purposes? Repeat what Paul says in regard to contentment in money matters. 1 Timothy 6:6-8. How do you reconcile this with the idea of accumulating something to give away? Ans.--He here speaks of what we are to provide for ourselves, apart from what we give away. Does the teaching of this passage allow us to make provision for old age? Ans.--It certainly does, to the extent of insuring food and raiment when we shall no longer be able to work for it. What does Paul say about "those who will be rich?" 1 Timothy 6:9-10. What does he mean by "they who will be rich"? Ans.--"Will" here has the meaning of purpose or intention. The class described are those who, instead of being content with a competency, set their hearts on becoming rich. Why do such persons fall into the fearful evils which Paul here mentions? Ans.--For the reasons stated in the tenth verse, that the love of money is the root (rather a root) of all evil, and these persons are given to the love of money. What charge does Paul give in the same chapter to the rich? 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Were there, then, some rich persons in the church? What is the best way, according to this passage, for a rich person to provide for the time to come? 18. Is it a blessing or a curse to be rich, if we use wealth in this way? State what Jesus says about the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom of God. Matthew 19:23-24. Does this mean that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom? Matthew 19:26. Wherein lies the difficulty? Ans. We learn from the example of the rich young man (Matthew 19:21-22) and from Mark 10:21, that is because they are apt to "trust in riches." How does Paul confound us to treat covetous members of of the church? 1 Corinthians 5:11-13. Suppose that a man is able to give to the poor and to the support of the gospel, and will not do it, what is his character? In carrying out Paul’s precept, who is to judge whether a man is covetous, the church or the man himself? If a man’s brethren, then, think he is covetous, what ought he to think? Does any church give, on the average, more than it ought? If a man, then, gives less in proportion to his ability than the average of his brethren, does he give enough? What valid excuse can a church give for retaining covetous men in the membership? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: 02.39. PUBLIC WORSHIP ======================================================================== LESSON XXXIX--Public Worship. State what the first Christians did in regard to the apostles’ doctrine, etc. Acts 2:42. What is meant by the apostles’ doctrine? Ans.--Their teaching. Was this teaching delivered in public or in private? What was their custom, then, in regard to public meetings? Where were these meetings held, and how often? Acts 2:46. What meeting of the disciples was customary on the Lord’s day? Acts 20:7. Will you quote a precept, from Paul on the subject of assembling ourselves together? Hebrews 10:24-25. What object in assembling is here particularly named? Hebrews 10:25. What direction did Paul give to the church in Corinth and the churches in Galatia, in regard to the first day of the week? 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. What, then, was another duty which they attended to on the Lord’s day? What does Paul say as to the various exercises in the public meetings? 1 Corinthians 14:26. What exercises are mentioned in this passage that were not miraculous? What is stated as the object of all? What is meant by "edifying?" Ans.--It means building up, and contains a comparison of the spiritual growth of the church to the building up of a house. Will you now name all the objects for which the disciples came together? See again Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 14:26. Are public meetings necessary to these ends? What does a disciple lose by neglecting the meetings of the church? Can one who desires to grow in grace afford to lose all this? If one feels inclined to neglect the public worship, what does this prove as to his spiritual condition? If a disciple neglect the meeting for breaking the loaf how does he treat the Savior? As the assembling together is for mutual benefit, how does he treat his brethren? How does he treat the precepts of the apostles? How does he treat himself? Against how many parties, then, does such a person sin? What is the duty of the church toward such a sinning member? As the early churches had other meetings besides those on the Lord’s day (Acts 2:46), may we now do the same? When the church resolves to meet at other times, what is the duty of each member? Can a member innocently neglect prayer-meetings and protracted meetings? How does a real Christian feel in reference to all meetings of the church? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: 02.40. PREACHING AND TEACHING ======================================================================== LESSON XL--Preaching and Teaching. What is the difference between preaching and teaching? Ans.--Preaching is that which is addressed to sinners for their conversion, and teaching is the instruction of the disciples. To whom were the disciples commanded to preach? Mark 16:16. Whom were they commanded to teach? Matthew 28:19-20. Note.--The word translated "teach" in Matthew 28:19 of this passage means to make disciples. The word "teach" in Matthew 28:20 is correct. On whom was the duty of preaching the gospel first enjoined? Mark 16:14-15. What command was given to Timothy on this subject? 2 Timothy 4:1-2. What was Timothy? 2 Timothy 4:5. What is an evangelist? Ans.--The word means a preacher of the gospel. Did any others besides apostles and evangelists preach the gospel? Acts 8:1, Acts 8:4. Mention one of those who thus preached? Acts 8:5. What was Philip before this? Acts 6:3-5. What did he become by virtue of going about preaching? Acts 21:8. Is the privilege of preaching the gospel confined to any one class of persons? May women preach to public audiences? 1 Corinthians 14:34. Who are the official teachers in the congregations? 1 Timothy 3:1-2; Titus 1:5, Titus 1:9. Is it also a part of the evangelist’s duty to teach? 1 Timothy 4:13. What teaching, is enjoined on Christian women? Titus 2:3-4. Give an instance of a Christian woman who taught a preacher? Acts 18:24-26. Is there any limitation, then, to the private teaching that women may do? According to these Scriptures, is it her privilege to teach in the Sunday-school? If such is the privilege of Christian woman, what is that of the men? What provision was made for the perpetuation of public teachers in the church? 1 Timothy 2:2. As this duty was enjoined on Timothy, what is implied in reference to the duty of other evangelists? If a preacher, then, or a Christian teacher, gather about him a number of "faithful" men and teach them the Scriptures with a view to making them teachers, is this Scriptural or unscriptural? What would you say, then, of a school for instructing those who desire to teach and preach? Which would be the more judicious method, to have such schools in sufficient number, or to have each preacher become a teacher of the few whom he might gather about him? If it is the duty of preachers and elders to teach the disciples, what duty does this impose on the disciples? If, then, we neglect to hear their teaching, do we commit sin? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: 02.41. THE SUPPORT OF PREACHERS ======================================================================== LESSON XLI--The Support of Preachers. What has the Lord Jesus ordained in reference to the temporal support of preachers? 1 Corinthians 9:14. With what provision of the law of Moses is this ordinance compared? 1 Corinthians 9:13. Note.--A part of almost every gift and sacrifice presented at the altar, and sometimes the whole of it, was given to the priest. What argument does Paul use in the context to show the propriety of this ordinance?--Verses 1 Corinthians 9:7, 1 Corinthians 9:11.. When did Jesus ordain that they who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel? Matthew 10:5, Matthew 10:9-10. Did he tell the apostles not to provide gold, silver, etc., because they were not to have any of these things, or because it was the duty of those for whom they preached to supply them? Were the apostles, under their first commission, sufficiently provided for by the people? Luke 22:35. Were they, under their second commission, to act on the old rule of not providing for themselves? Luke 22:36. Why the difference? Ans.--By their first commission they were sent only to the Jews who well understood the duty of supporting the religious teachers; but under the second, they were sent to the Gentiles who knew no such obligation. How did Paul act in regard to this ordinance of the Lord Jesus? 1 Corinthians 9:15, 1 Corinthians 9:18. Did he receive any compensation from the churches? Php 4:10, Php 4:14, Php 4:18. How could he do this consistently with what he says in the passage first quoted? Ans.--He accepted what was voluntarily given, but he did not use his liberty to claim a support. What reason did he give the Thessalonians for thus acting? 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9. What reasons did he give to the elders of the church at Ephesus? Acts 20:34-35. What reason does he give to the Corinthians? 1 Corinthians 9:18. Would such reasons justify a preacher of the present day in declining a support, if they existed now in the same force? How should a preacher decide whether to give his whole time to preaching and study, or to devote a part of it to secular business as a means of support? Ans.--As Paul decided it, by considering what is best for the cause of Christ under existing circumstances. In ordaining that they who preach the gospel shall live by the gospel, on whom did Jesus place the obligation to pay the preacher? In what proportion, according to justice, does this obligation rest on the members of the church? What rule in this particular does Paul lay down about giving to the poor? 1 Corinthians 16:2. If we should give to the poor according as the Lord has prospered us, how should we give for other purposes? Is it any man’s privilege to give more than his due proportion? 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:3. If any brother refuses to give his due proportion, what is the duty of the church? Who, in the first instance, is to judge how much each one should give? When the question is raised whether a particular brother is giving as much as he ought, who is the judge of this question? Is there any prescribed method of giving for the support of preaching? Whose privilege is it, then, to decide what method shall be adopted, that of each congregation? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: 02.42. HUSBAND AND WIFE ======================================================================== LESSON XLII--Husband and Wife. What does Paul say about being yoked together with unbelievers? 2 Corinthians 6:14. Does the yoke refer especially to marriage? Is there any yoke more intimate than that of the marriage bond? Is marriage, then, included in the precept? What limitation does Paul place on the marriage of Christian widows? 1 Corinthians 7:39. If it is the duty of Christian widows to marry "only in the Lord," what of Christian maidens? Were there any Christians in the days of the apostles married to unbelievers? 1 Corinthians 7:12-13; 1 Peter 3:1. Did a Christian, then, lose character in the church by being married to an unbeliever? If not, how do you reconcile this with what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, just quoted? Ans.--No doubt most of the marriages with unbelievers took place before either party was a Christian: and when otherwise, although such marriage was discouraged, after it took place a divorce was not allowed, and the party remained in the church. In such marriages what duty is enjoined on the believing wife? 1 Peter 3:1-2. In such cases, who is the person most especially responsible for the conversion of the unbelieving husband? Can a Christian woman thus situated best influence her husband by joining with him to some extent in worldly practices, or by maintaining a strict religious deportment? In such marriages, can the believing party properly seek a divorce from the unbelieving? 1 Corinthians 7:12-13. If the unbelieving party sees fit to abandon the believer, is the believer then free? 1 Corinthians 7:15. What is the duty of the husband to his wife? Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 3:7. What prayers does Peter here refer to, and how might they be hindered? What is the duty of the wife her husband? Ephesians 5:22-23. What is Christ’s law in regard to divorce? Matthew 5:32; Mark 10:12. If a woman should leave her husband and not marry another, would this be adultery? Do you think a woman is sometimes justifiable in such a course? Wherein, then, lies the chief sin; in the separation, or in the subsequent marriage? Should any one be retained in the church who marries contrary to this law, and refuses to dissolve the unlawful connection? Does the fact that the civil law allows such marriages effect the matter so far as the church is concerned? What does Paul say about husband and wife living apart for a time by consent? 1 Corinthians 7:5. What does he mean by "defraud" in this verse? Ans.--Depriving each of the society of the other and of the usual enjoyments of married life. Can such temporary separation be justified on account of incompatibility, or is it confined to purposes of religious improvement? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: 02.43. WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS ======================================================================== LESSON XLIII--Worldly Amusements. What sins are Christians most likely to commit; those called little sins, or those called great ones? When a Christian falls away from the church, with what sins does he generally begin his downward course? Against what class of sins, then, should we be most on our guard? What sins are regarded as comparatively harmless, those which afford amusement, or those which spring from passion? Why is this? How do Christians frequently regard sins which are common among respectable people of the world? Is any wrong practice really less sinful because it is practiced by respectable persons? But is it more dangerous from being thus practiced? Is it proper for the church to condemn anything which the Scriptures do not condemn? If a practice is condemned by name in the Scriptures, can it be innocent in us? But are all the sinful practices of the present day named in the Scriptures? How can we know that these are sinful? Ans.--We can know it by the fact that they belong to classes of things condemned in the Scriptures, or that they violate some principle of action enjoined in the Scriptures. DANCING. Quote the first passage in the New Testament which mentions dancing? Matthew 11:17. What dancing was this? Ans.--It was that of children at their play, mimicking the professional dancers, as they mimicked the mourners at a funeral. Quote the next passage in which it is mentioned. Matthew 14:6. What kind of dancing was this? Ans.--It was an imitation of the professional dancers who danced for the amusement of others. Was the family of Herod religious, or very wicked? Did this dance result in good or evil? Is it an example to be imitated, or one to be avoided? Quote the next mention of dancing. Luke 15:25. What kind of dancing was this? Ans.--It was that of hired dancers, who danced to music made by themselves, or an imitation of these; for the Jews never danced for their own amusement, but sometimes employed others to dance before them. Was the prodigal’s father, in whose house this dancing was done a Christian? What was he? Ans.--Most likely a Jew who did not believe in the Savior. Does the fact that Jesus mentions dancing in this parable without condemning it, prove that it is innocent? Ans.--No; for he thus mentions various things which we know to be wrong (Luke 16:3-8; Luke 18:5), and Paul draws illustrations from such practices as fighting and racing. 1 Corinthians 9:23-26. Is dancing mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament? Ans.--It is not. Is it spoken of, then, in a way to commend it as an innocent practice? What means had the disciples, to whom Jesus thus mentioned it, of knowing whether it was right or wrong? Ans.--Only the teaching of the Old Testament, and the other two sources of knowledge mentioned in this lesson. Was our modern mode of dancing known to the ancients? Ans.--No; among the Jews and Greeks there was no dancing of men and women together. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: 02.44. WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XLIV--Worldly Amusements. DANCING. What is the first instance of dancing mentioned in the Old Testament? Exodus 15:20-21. Was this a dance for amusement or a religious dance? What is the second instance? Exodus 32:19. What was the purpose of this dance? Exodus 32:4-6. What is the next instance? Judges 11:34. Why did Jephthah’s daughter dance? Ans.--She was rejoicing like Miriam, over the victory won by her father. State the next mentioned instance of dancing. Judges 21:21-23. On what occasion was this? Ans.--It was at the yearly "feast of the Lord" (Judges 21:19), and was connected with the worship. State the next instance. 1 Samuel 16:6-8. In all these instances who were the dancers; men and women, or women alone? Were any of them dances for mere amusement? Mention an example of a man engaged in dancing. 2 Samuel 6:14-16. When Michal reproved David for this dancing what excuse did he give for it? 2 Samuel 6:21. Was it, then, a religious dance, or a dance for mere amusement? What is said in the Psalms about this kind of dancing? Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4. Solomon says "there is a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:5): what according to these examples from the Old Testament, was that time? What does Job say about dancing? Job 21:11-12. Does he refer to wicked persons, or to the good? See Job 21:7. Whose children, then, danced for amusement, in his day? From all the foregoing Scriptures what do you learn as to the kind of dancing that was approved by good people in the Old Testament period? Is there any indication that dancing for mere amusement was approved? Is there any account of the dancing of men and women together? Can any dancing mentioned in the Old Testament be used to justify our modern dancing? How could the disciples of Jesus know, when he mentioned the dancing at the return of the prodigal son, that he did not approve it? Ans.--Because they had learned from the Old Testament that dancing for amusement was not customary among the good. Among what works does Paul class "revelings?" Galatians 5:19-21. What does he say of those who practice such things? Galatians 5:21. What is the Greek word translated "revelings," and what is its exact meaning? Ans.--It is komos, and it is the name of a particular kind of night frolic among the Greeks, of which music, and dancing, and singing formed the chief part. Are not modern dancing parties very much like this? As the revelings and all "such things" are forbidden, how can we excuse dancing parties? Note.--These "revelings" or komoi, were the only practices among the ancients which very closely resembled our modern dancing parties; and as they were condemned, dancing parties are condemned with them. And it is fair to suppose that they would have been condemned by name if they had been in existence at that time. What does the Apostle Peter say of these "revelings?" 1 Peter 4:3. While dancing is not condemned in the New Testament, is it not true that a practice of which dancing was a part is condemned? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: 02.45. WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XLV--Worldly Amusements. DANCING. What class of persons are and ever have been most addicted to dancing; the righteous or the wicked? What churches have tolerated dancing most freely, the more worldly churches, like the Roman Catholic or the more spiritual churches? Among individual church members, which are more given to dancing, the pious or the worldly minded? Judging, then, by these facts, is dancing a practice pertaining more properly to the world, or to the church? What does Paul say of being conformed to the world? Romans 12:2. Can Christians engage in dancing without violating this precept of the apostle? How does Jesus tell us to judge of men who appear to be good? Matthew 7:16-17. If men are to be judged by their fruits, are not the practices of men to be judged in the same way? Can any practice be a good one whose uniform tendency is irreligious? Does the practice of dancing tend to make persons who are accustomed to it more religious, or less religious? Does dancing, ever excite evil passions? Does it ever lead to intemperance? Does it lead to any waste of time or money? How does it often affect the health? If it produces these evil fruits, can it, according to the Savior’s rule, be a good thing? How is a dancing Christian usually regarded by both the pious and the ungodly of the community? Is dancing, then, a practice in good repute for Christians? What rule does Paul give in regard to things of good repute? Phil. iv: 8. If some matter of duty should come into bad repute, would this passage justify us in neglecting it? Will it allow us to engage in anything of bad repute for mere amusement? What rule does Paul give in regard to the effect of our conduct on our brethren? Rom. xiv: 21. Is he here speaking of things which duty requires of us, or of the things which we can omit if we choose? If, then, my brethren are offended by my dancing, what does this rule require of me? How does Paul state this rule in another place? 1 Corinthians 8:13. How could eating meat cause a brother to offend? See 1 Corinthians 8:10-11. Note.--Eating meat which had been offered to an idol is the practice referred to. There was no harm in it considered in itself (1 Corinthians 8:4), but if it emboldened a weak brother to eat the meat in honor of the idol, it was wrong because it led this weak brother into sin. Suppose, then, that dancing were not sinful in itself, how must we regard it when we see harm to others grow out of it? Does it not lead some weak persons into the sins mentioned above in this lesson? If a disciple, by any practice, conforms to the world, is brought into bad repute as a Christian, gives offense to his brethren, and sets an example likely to ruin others, is he walking orderly or disorderly? What does Paul command in reference to those who walk disorderly? 2 Thessalonians 3:6. Should persons who persist in dancing, and cannot be persuaded to abandon it, be retained to the church? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: 02.46. WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS CONTINUED ======================================================================== LESSON XLVI--Worldly Amusement. THEATER GOING. What does Paul say about partaking in other men’s sins? 1 Timothy 5:22. If men engage in an evil practice, and we encourage them either by our presence or our money, do we partake of their sins? What kind of characters are the most of men and women connected with theatrical troupes, negro minstrels, and circuses? Judging of these things by the characters of those connected with them, have they a good, or a bad effect on character? Note.--It is a well known fact that with only a few exceptions the persons connected with those establishments are either very corrupt in their morals at the start, or soon become so. When Christians encourage such exhibitions by their presence and their money, are they not becoming partakers of other men’s sins? What classes of persons are most addicted to theater going, the pious, or the ungodly? Is it properly classed as a worldly amusement? Can Christians indulge in it without conforming to the world, thus violating Romans 12:2? Is it good repute for a Christian to be seen at such places? Can he go without giving offense to his brethren? What is there about these exhibitions to make them corrupting? Ans.--1st. In most of them there are improper sentiments and practices exhibited by the actors. 2d. The dress of both sexes, especially that of the women, is usually immodest, tending to incite impure thoughts and feelings. 3d. Mingling in the presence of such scenes with the rude crowd which generally attend them, is demoralizing. Suppose that a young person does not think that these exhibitions are corrupting, while the great majority of those who are older and more experienced do; by whose judgment should he be governed? See 1 Peter 5:5. What is the judgment of such persons? Ans.--It is almost universally agreed among preachers and pious persons in our cities, that a large number of young persons of both sexes are being constantly brought to ruin by theater-going. Some regard it as the most corrupting practice that is tolerated in decent society. How did the early Christians regard theater-going? Ans.--It is not mentioned in the Scriptures, but the early Christians after the time of the apostles were very strenuous in opposition to it, as we learn from Church history. Can a disciple attend the theater without giving offense to pious brethren and sisters? Are there any grounds on which dancing is condemned which do not equally require us to condemn theater going? What can be said of card-playing, billiard-playing, and attending running or trotting races? Ans.--They all come under the same condemnation with dancing and theater-going. This can be seen by going back over this and the last three lessons, and applying the argument to each of these practices. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: 02.47. PERSONAL OFFENSES ======================================================================== LESSON XLVII--Personal Offenses. When we are conscious of having offended or injured a brother, what is our duty? Matthew 5:23-24. With what parable does Jesus enforce this duty? Matthew 5:25-26. How does it bear on the case? Ans.--The parable is taken from an adversary at law, who has a just complaint against you, as the offended brother has; and agreeing with the adversary represents repairing the wrong done to your brother; while the punishment inflicted by order of the judge represents the eternal punishment of those who refuse to repair the wrong done. What does James say on the subject of confessing faults? James 5:16. Does he mean that you shall confess to everybody, or that you shall confess to him against whom the fault is committed? Suppose the fault is not against a particular person, but against the church as a whole, to whom should the confession be made? Does this passage require confession to the priest, as the Roman Catholics teach? On what condition will God forgive our offenses? 1 John 1:9. When a brother has trespassed against us what are we to do? Matthew 18:15. What is the object of going? In what manner therefore must we approach him? If, after a proper effort, you fail to gain the brother, what must you do next? Matthew 18:16. What is the object of taking one or two more with you? Is it merely to have their testimony, or is it also to bring their influence to bear on the offender? Ans.--The remark in the next verse, "if he shall neglect to hear them," shows that it is the latter also. If these two efforts fail what is next to be done? Matthew 18:17. What does Jesus say to show the fearfulness of offending a brother? Matthew 28:6. Will the fate here indicated befall him who makes proper amends for offenses given? What does Jesus say about the continuance of offenses in the church? 7. Why is it that they must needs be? Ans.--Because Christians are so imperfect that they will occasionally offend one another. What does Jesus proceed to say about the sacrifice one should give rather than to give offense? Matthew 28:8-9. Note.--The word translated "offend thee" in the two verses, means "cause thee to offend." Is it right for one brother to go to law against another? 1 Corinthians 6:1-7. Before whom should these difference be settled? 1 Corinthians 6:1-4. In 1 Corinthians 6:4, does Paul mean that we shall always set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church, or that we shall do this rather than to go to law? What class of persons in the church are to be preferred for this purpose? 1 Corinthians 6:5. What facts does Paul state, to show that the saints are competent to judge? 1 Corinthians 6:2-3. Do you know what he refers to in these statements? Is it necessary to know in order to see the force of his argument? Suppose that a brother has a claim on another, and either party refuses to let brethren decide it, what should be done? Ans.--The church should take action against the one who refuses, for disobeying the word of God. Suppose that a brother has a claim against another, and the brethren all refuse to act as arbitrators in the case, what may he then do? Ans.--In that case the church refuses to do her duty, and the brother has no alternative but to lose his claim or go to law. Suppose the debt is acknowledged, but the brother refuses or neglects to pay? Ans.--He should be excluded from the church, and then he may be sued at law. Suppose the church refuses or neglects to exclude him? Ans.--Then the church commits a sin, and the claimant may go to law if he chooses to do so; for in this case he does not sue a brother, but one who has forfeited his rights to that title. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: 02.48. WITHDRAWING FROM THE DISORDERLY ======================================================================== LESSON XLVIII--Withdrawing from the Disorderly. What does Jesus say of the branch that bears not fruit? John 15:5. What is meant by the branch? What does he further say on the same point? John 15:6. If a man in the church, then, does no good, what does God do to him? Does this refer to formal exclusion from the church, or to spiritual separation from Christ? Which of these must take place first? Repeat the language of Jesus concerning the trespasser who repents not. Matthew 18:15-17. If the person in question should be to you as a heathen and publican, how should he be to the other members of the church? Does this imply his exclusion from fellowship? What command does Paul give in reference to withdrawing from the disorderly? 2 Thessalonians 3:6. What tradition does Paul refer to? Ans.--His oral instruction while he was in Thessalonica. Every one was disorderly who walked not after that tradition. What particular class of disorderly persons in Thessalonica? 2 Thessalonians 3:14. What oral instruction had he given concerning them? 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Eat what? Ans.--The Lord’s supper, and the food provided by charity; for this is the only eating that the church had control of. What command and exhortation is addressed to such persons? 2 Thessalonians 3:12. What of those who should disobey the epistle then written by Paul? 2 Thessalonians 3:14. If this is right in regard to one of the epistles, what of the others? In thus dealing with a man, what caution must we observe? 2 Thessalonians 3:15. If it is proper to withdraw from a man who will not work, how of those who are guilty of still grosser sins? Mention a case of disorder which occurred in the church at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 5:1. What judgment did Paul pronounce in this case? 1 Corinthians 5:3-6. What is meant by delivering him to Satan? 1 Corinthians 5:5. Comp. 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:13. How does Paul show the propriety of this course by the figure of leaven? 1 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 5:7. What classes of persons does he mention, with whom we must not eat? 1 Corinthians 5:11. What eating is means? Ans.--Certainly the Lord’s supper, and perhaps also an ordinary meal. Are such persons to be retained in the church, or to be put away? 1 Corinthians 5:13. What would be the propriety of retaining in the church persons with whom we will neither eat nor keep company? What class of persons does Paul command Titus to reject, and why? Titus 3:10-11. What is a heretic? Ans.--It is a schismatic, or one who causes division in the church. Why is such a man "condemned of himself?" Ans.--His own act of causing division condemns him. What does Paul say to the Romans in regard to similar characters? Romans 15:17-18. Who are the constituted rulers and teachers of the church? 2 Timothy 3:2-5; Titus 1:9. Who are to take the oversight? 1 Peter 5:1-2. How are the members required to act toward these rulers, and why? Hebrews 12:17. Whose duty is it, then, to judge in cases of discipline? Who are the more competent to judge; properly qualified elders? or the whole mass of the congregation? Is the fellowship to be withdrawn by the elders alone, or by the assembled congregation? 1 Corinthians 5:4. When a person is Scripturally excluded from the church, how does God regard the transaction? Matthew 18:18. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: 02.49. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD ======================================================================== LESSON XLIX--The Resurrection of the Dead. What were the opinions of the Sadducees and the Pharisees in reference to the resurrection of the dead? Acts 23:8. On what ground did the Sadducees deny it? Ans.--They held that it was not taught in the Old Testament, and that it would involve strife in regard to marriage. See Matthew 22:23-28. Did any of the Old Testament saints actually believe in a resurrection? Hebrews 11:35. Will you quote a passage from the Old Testament in which the resurrection is plainly predicted? Daniel 12:2. What does Paul say as to the connection of life and immortality with the gospel? 2 Timothy 1:10. How could this be true, if the future life was taught in the Old Testament? Ans.--The Old Testament taught it obscurely; but the gospel brought it into clear light. Who, according to Paul, was the first to rise from the dead? Acts 26:23. How does he express the same idea in another place? 1 Corinthians 15:20. How can this be true, seeing that Christ himself raised persons from the dead, and that some were raised from the dead by the Old Testament prophets? Ans.--Christ was the first who rose to die no more. All the others died a second time. Quote a statement from Jesus which affirms the resurrection of the dead. John 5:28-29. According to this passage who is it that will raise the dead? When will the resurrection take place? 1 Corinthians 15:23. Who will be the first to rise? 1 Thessalonians 4:16. As soon as the dead saints arise, what will become of the living saints? 1 Thessalonians 4:17. What shall occur to the living saints before they are caught up? 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. What will be heard in the sky just previous to the resurrection? 1 Thessalonians 4:16. What shall become of the earth and the visible heavens? 2 Peter 3:10. How did the scene appear to John in vision? Rev. xx: 11. By whom will Jesus be accompanied? Matthew 25:31. From these passages state the order of the events accompanying the resurrection of the just? When will the wicked be raised before, or after the saints? Will they be raised before or after the destruction of the world? Ans. Revelation on the subject is not clear: it is supposed by many that the living wicked will be burned up in the conflagration of the world, and that then all the wicked will be raised and called to the judgment. State the points of difference between the bodies we now have, and those which we will have in the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. What shall our resurrected bodies be like? 1 John 3:2. Describe how Jesus appeared to the eyes of John. Revelation 1:13-15. If the souls of the righteous are happy between death and the resurrection, what need is there for a resurrection? Ans.--The soul of man, having been created to exercise its powers of action and enjoyment through a body, cannot attain to its highest bliss and glory without a body. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: 02.50. THE JUDGMENT ======================================================================== LESSON L.--The Judgment. Quote what Jesus says about a judgment of this world? John 12:31. To what did he refer? Ans.--To God’s decision against the world’s treatment of his Son. Quote what Peter says about a judgment of the house of God? 1 Peter 4:17. Does God execute judgment, then, in this world? Quote a passage which shows that there will be a judgment after death? Hebrews 9:27-28. To how many is it appointed to die? To how many, then, is the judgment appointed? What words of Jesus show the universality of the judgment? Matthew 25:32. Quote a statement made by Paul to the same effect. 2 Corinthians 5:10. What did Jesus say of his own generation and the Ninevites in the judgment? Luke 11:32. When will the Ninevites rise up with that generation? After what event, then, will the judgment take place? With what event in the history of the present heavens and earth does Peter connect the day of judgment? 2 Peter 3:7-10. What was its connection with the destruction of the earth and the resurrection of the dead in John’s vision? Revelation 20:11-13. Will the judgment then, take place immediately after death, or not until the resurrection of the dead and the end of the world? What is the condition of the wicked between death and the resurrection? Luke 16:22-24. Was the rich man really in hell? Ans.--No. The word rendered "hell" in this passage is hades, and represents the disembodied state. He was in the torments which wicked spirits endure between death and the resurrection. If wicked spirits are thus punished before the resurrection, what propriety is there in judging them afterward? Ans.--The object of the judgment is not to try men and find out what they deserve, for that God knows; but to make known his decision and give the reason for it. See Matthew 25:34-35; Matthew 25:41-42. This is the reason why all men and angels are to be present. By what standard are men to be judged? Revelation 20:12. What books are referred to? Ans.--The books of the Bible, and the book containing the names of those who are to be saved. (See verse 15.) Have not all men acted contrary to the things written in the books? How, then, can any be saved? What has God promised in reference to the sins of his people? Hebrews 8:12. Will sins that have been forgiven, then, be taken into account in the judgment? What, then, is our greatest need, in order to be prepared for the judgment? What judgment does Paul mention among the principles of the doctrine of Christ? Hebrews 6:1-2. Is the eternal judgment one which is to be going on eternally, or one whose rewards and punishments are to be eternal? What judgment then, is the one referred to? What duty did Jesus enforce by referring to the judgment? Matthew 11:20-22. What duty did Paul enforce by it in addressing the Athenians? Acts 17:30-31. What exhortation does Peter draw from it? 1 Peter 3:14. Is it right, then, for preachers to refer to it in order to bring sinners to repentance, to persuade Christians to be faithful? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: 02.51. HELL ======================================================================== LESSON LI--Hell. How many Greek words are translated "hell" in the New Testament? Ans.--Three. Are they correctly translated? Ans.--No; one of them, hades, means the place of disembodied spirits. Name the places where this word occurs. Matthew 11:23; Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:15; Luke 16:23; Acts 2:31; Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13-14. Was the rich man (Luke 16:23) in hell, then, or only in hades? Is it hell, or only hades, that is to give up her dead and be cast into the lake of fire, as is stated in Revelation 20:13-14? Is it the soul and body both, or only the soul, that goes into hades? Are both of the other words properly rendered hell? Ans.--No; one of them is Tartarus, and means the place into which the fallen angels have been cast down. How often does this word occur? Ans.--Only once: in 2 Peter 2:4. In all other passages where the English word "hell" occurs, what is the original? Ans.--Gehenna. Is it the soul alone, or the soul and body both, which are to be cast in hell? Matthew 10:8. Quote what Jesus says of hell in Mark 9:43-48. If the fire of hell "never shall be quenched," what is the duration of that punishment? Will it, then, like hades, give up its dead and be destroyed? What is meant by the statement in the passage just quoted, "their worm dieth not?" Ans.--The internal suffering of the lost is compared to a worm eating within us forever. As the soul and body both are to be cast into hell, when do men enter it, before or after the resurrection? When does hades come to an end? Revelation 20:13-14. What is the connection, then, between the end of hades and the beginning of hell? Will you now repeat the points of difference that we have found between hades and hell? Is the lake that burned with fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.) to be understood literally or figuratively? Ans.--It is to be understood literally as having been seen in John’s vision, but whether it is the real punishment, or only a symbol of it we do not know. If it is a symbol, what is its meaning? Ans.--It means that the suffering of hell is comparable to being cast into such a lake. In what other language is the final punishment represented? Matthew 25:30. How do you know that this passage refers to the final punishment? Ans.--From the fact that it is to take place when the Lord comes to reckon with his servants (Matthew 25:19), which will be at the final judgment. What is meant by "outer darkness?" Ans.--Darkness outside of all light. What feelings are represented by weeping and gnashing of teeth? If a person were in perpetual darkness, and surrounded by weeping and gnashing of teeth, could any condition be more wretched? Could any torture be greater than a lake of fire and brimstone? Can we conceive, then, of greater wretchedness and torture than the wicked are to suffer in hell? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: 02.52. HEAVEN ======================================================================== LESSON LII--Heaven. To what was the term heaven first applied? Genesis 1:8. What is its most usual meaning in the Bible? Ans.--In a very large majority of instances it means the atmosphere or the sky. Quote some passages which show that the word heaven is used for the place where God dwells. Matthew 5:16, Matthew 5:45-48, etc. Quote some which show that Jesus has gone into heaven. Acts 1:9-13; Acts 7:55; Hebrews 9:24. Quote proof that the angels dwell in heaven. Matthew 18:10, Matthew 18:22-30. Where will the saints obtain their final reward? Matthew 5:12; Hebrews 10:34; 1 Peter 1:4. How did the word heaven, which first meant the atmosphere, or sky, come to have this other meaning? Ans.--Things that are revealed have to receive their names from among the words already in use among men, and there was no word in human speech so full of beauty and glory as the word heaven, so it was taken to represent the glorious abode of God, the angels, and the saints. What is to become of the present heaven and earth? 2 Peter 3:10. What shall take their place? 2 Peter 3:13. Describe this change as it appeared in vision to John. Revelation 20:11; Revelation 21:1. After the new heaven and the new earth appeared, what did John see next? Revelation 21:2. Will the new Jerusalem, then, descend from the present heaven on the present earth, or from the new heaven to the new earth? What was the appearance of that holy city? Revelation 21:10-14. Of what material did the walls appear to be built? Revelation 21:18. What were the foundations? Revelation 21:14-19. What of the gates and streets? What shall and who shall not be allowed to enter it? Revelation 21:27. What river and what tree were shown to John? Revelation 22:1-2. What shall be the state of those that dwell there? Revelation 21:4. Do we enter this blessed abode before or after the resurrection? Revelation 20:12; Revelation 21:1. When did Jesus ascend to heaven, before or after his resurrection? Acts 1:3-8. Where was his soul while his body was in the sepulcher? Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31. Note.--The proper word here is not hell but hades. Are souls of the righteous happy or unhappy while they are in hades? Luke 16:22-25. What is the difference between the happiness in hades and that in heaven? Ans.--It is a difference only in degree. Will you answer the Savior’s question, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" What shall a man profited, if he shall lose the whole world, and gain his own soul? Are any of us likely to gain the whole world? Are there any that will lose all of the world that we have? What, then, shall we try to gain? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: 03.00. CHAPEL TALKS ======================================================================== CHAPEL TALKS Delivered Before the Student Body of THE COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE In 1910 and 1911 by JOHN WILLIAM McGARVEY President, The College of the Bible Lexington, Kentucky. LUFKIN, TEXAS THE GOSPEL GUARDIAN COMPANY 1956 CONTENTS Title Page. Table of Contents. Preface by Fanning Yater Tant No. 1--The Beginning and the End. No. 2--Your Room-mate. No. 3--A Grade of Ninety. No. 4--Why Do You Want to Preach? No. 5--Selecting a Subject. No. 6--The Thief on the Cross. No. 7--Jesus, Lover of My Soul. No. 8--The Study and Selection of Hymns. No. 9--Lord, Teach Us to Pray. No. 10--Prayer and Premeditation. No. 11--Paul’s Prayer for Two Churches. No. 12--Paul’s Prayers for His Friends. No. 13--Lying. No. 14--Poor Preachers. No. 15--Action in the Pulpit. No. 16--Repentance. No. 17--How to Be Respected. No. 18--Robert Milligan. No. 19--Robert Graham. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: 03.000. PREFACE BY FANNING YATER TANT ======================================================================== PREFACE These chapel addresses were delivered to the students of The College of the Bible in the school year 1910-1911, the last year that Brother McGarvey taught. They reflect the mellowed wisdom and kindly tolerance of the years, and are spiced with that delightful touch of humor which was a McGarvey trademark. When McGarvey died on October 11, 1911, he was the acknowledged leader of the conservative scholarship of the world in the field of Biblical criticism. His technical equipment in this field was second to none; even the liberals and modernists with whom he crossed swords respected his unique talents and his superb ability in both Old Testament and New Testament criticism--particularly the former. In view of the controversial nature of most of his writings, these chapel addresses are wonderfully revealing. Here was one whom controversy did not sour, and whose kindly humorous comments on college life are all the more significant because of the background from whence they came. The publishers and the reading public are deeply indebted to Mr. Roscoe M. Pierson, Librarian of the Bosworth Memorial Library of The College of the Bible, for rescuing these chapel talks from obscurity and perhaps permanent loss. Discovering the manuscripts quite by chance in the midst of material about to be cast aside, he recognized both their historical value and their intrinsic worth, and saved them from destruction. All who read this volume will be grateful for their preservation. — Fanning Yater Tant January, 1956 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 79: 03.01. THE BEGINNING AND THE END ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 1 THE BEGINNING AND THE END Solomon makes the rather striking declaration that "The end of a thing is better than the beginning". This, like many other oriental aphorisms that we find in the Bible, though universal in form, is not so in meaning and application. There are many things of which the beginning is better than the end. Take, for example, the beginning of a bad habit. It begins often with a great deal of pleasure and gratification to him who indulges it, and without much fear or apprehension to the person’s friends; but it often ends in disgrace. How much worse, in that case, is the end than the beginning. In business undertakings it is often the case that the enterprise begins with bright prospects before it, everything cheering and hopeful, but ends in disaster, perhaps in bankruptcy. We might specify many other examples. Marriage begins, O, how hopeful. You cannot find words to express the delights of the young couple when they are first united in matrimony, looking forward with all the skies above them cheering them on. But, how often the end is worse than the beginning, ending in divorce, or suicide, or both, and sometimes in murder. You can scarcely count the number of things in human experience the end of which is worse than the beginning. Often the whole life, beginning with wealth, health, friends and brightest prospects, ends in disgrace. Often when a thing that is good and wise is undertaken, the question whether the end is to be better than the beginning, is determined by the way the enterprise is conducted; consequently, the wise king adds a qualifying claim to the one I have quoted, saying, "A patient spirit is better than a proud spirit". If a man undertakes anything that is desirable, good and wise, whether its end shall be better than its beginning, depends upon its being accompanied with the proper spirit, a spirit that is patient; and this does not mean a spirit that is lazy and inactive, but one that perseveres in its undertaking--patient in the way of enduring without discouragement all of the hardships through which it must pass in order to accomplish the ends it has in view. Now, all of you have made a beginning--the beginning of a new college session. Shall the end of this session be better than the beginning? The beginning to most of you is very pleasant. To those who are old students, as we call them, it is a renewal of friendships, the reuniting of fellowship that has been slightly suspended for a time, the renewal of very special enjoyment. There are very few enjoyments in this life equal to these of college students. I remember very well remarking to my roommate as we were walking along the bank of the Buffalo at Bethany, "We are spending the happiest days we will ever know". "Oh", he said, "why do you think so?" "Why, here we are with no cares, no labors or anxieties, but to rise every morning, get our lessons, and recite them. We will never see such a time as this again." I believe that is true. You have entered once more the beginning of a new session in that kind of enjoyment. You may have your little troubles and anxieties, but they are like summer clouds which make very little shadow and quickly pass away. What will be the end of the session? If it ends as you have hoped, and as your friends have been wishing, the end will be far better than the beginning. Better, because it will find your mind loaded with a large amount of valuable information which you will have accumulated during the year, and will find it invigorated, better prepared for future achievements, and you will be looking out from a broader horizon on the affairs of life. How much better the end than the beginning depends upon the patient spirit which Solomon mentions. It will require all of the patience that you can have with the help of your friends and the help of God, to go through the session in such manner as to say with deep satisfaction, "The end is better than the beginning". And so in regard to the whole college course. The beginning to the young man or young woman on first entering college is usually bright, cheerful and hopeful. Often it is that these bright hopes are dashed to the ground before the first session ends; and before the diploma is gained the undertaking is abandoned, and the person drops back into the kind of life, sometimes bad, sometimes a little useful, sometimes like a drop of water in the sea--the life to which you would have gone if you had never opened the door of the college. Again, that depends upon the patient spirit with which the whole course of study in the college curriculum is pursued from time to time. Of course, you now hope that in this case the end is going to be better than the beginning. I hope so too. The same is true even of Christian life. How delightful is the Christian’s beginning! How naturally he joins with all of his heart in singing that blessed hymn, "How happy are they who their Saviour obey, And have laid up their treasures above! Tongue cannot express the sweet comfort and peace Of a soul in its earliest love." Is it possible that the end of that life is going to be better than the beginning? Sometimes it ends in failure for the want of this persevering, patient, spirit of which Solomon speaks, and sometimes we may imagine that inasmuch as death, the most horrible calamity in the minds of most men that can befall a human being, will end the Christian career in this world . . . . we may be tempted at times to think that even in that case the end will be worse than the beginning; but looking at it in the light of the Gospel, we see that death is only the last step in the pilgrim’s upward journey to Heaven. So the end, though it be in death, is better than the beginning. How much better was the death of Stephen, though he died under the stones hurled at him by his old friends and neighbors, than any experience he had had in his previous Christian life. "Sadly we sing, and with tremulous breath, As we stand by the mystical stream, In the shadow and by the dark river of death; Yet death is no more than a dream. Only a dream; only a dream, And glory beyond the dark stream ! How peaceful the slumber ! How happy the waking! For death is no more than a dream." "The end of a thing is better than the beginning." Note: At the time Brother McGarvey delivered this he himself stood only one year and twelve days this side that "dark river of death." This address was delivered Sept. 24, 1910 and he died Oct. 6, 1911. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 80: 03.02. YOUR ROOM-MATE ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 2 YOUR ROOM-MATE My subject this morning, is, Your Roommate. Nearly all of you have roommates; and I think it well that you do. Some have taken roommates for life. I have nothing for them this morning, though I may have hereafter. I hope they all considered that matter carefully before making the choice, and I hope they may never be disappointed. Solomon says, "As iron sharpeneth iron (when they are rubbed together, you know) so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend". That, however, depends upon the supposition that both the man and his friend are either iron, or, still better, steel. If you are steel and your friend is lead there will be no sharpening. The apostle Paul says, "Evil company corrupts good manners"--"evil communications" in the old version, but "evil company" in the revised. (English Revised Version of 1884--Editor’s note) But if this was true, why were not Paul’s own manners corrupted? He was in evil company a large part of his time. So evil, that sometimes they tied him to the whipping post and gave him thirty-nine; sometimes they cast him into prison; sometimes they stoned him; and finally they put him to death. Why didn’t that evil company corrupt his good manners? Evidently, because he was stronger in good than they were in evil. He could not be subdued. Now if your roommate is a new one, a stranger to you, I have no doubt you have been watching him with both eyes. You are wondering what kind of a roommate it is that you have fallen in with. You are watching to see whether he is kind-hearted or fractious; whether he is cleanly or filthy. For if you are like me you would almost as soon sleep with a blacksnake as with a man who does not keep his person clean. You are watching to see whether he will take up his share of the little work that is necessary to keep the room clean, the books in order, and the room cheerful in general. You are watching him with a hawk’s eye, and perhaps you have not yet fully made up your mind about him. Don’t forget though that he has a room-mate too, and that he is watching you as sharply as you are watching him. It is a mutual thing. And by remembering this, when you find a fault in him you will ask yourself, Is he finding the same kind of a fault in me? And you will resolve that he shall not find it. And thus the two pieces of iron or steel will be sharpening one another, and it will be a very rich and happy experience to both. So in regard to Paul . . . . Whether you find him good or evil as a man we will call upon you to do as Paul did. If you find him good, you will sharpen him as he is sharpening you. If you find him evil as Paul found so many with whom he came in contact, whether he corrupts your good manners or not will depend upon your strength; whether you are strong enough, not only to resist the evil influence, but also to overcome it, as Paul did with so many whom he turned to the Lord. My own experience may be a little help to you just here. In my college career I had three roommates. Two of them proved to be gentlemen of the first water--Christian gentlemen. And it is scarcely possible for a man to be a gentleman without being a Christian. I found in them everything that I could hope to find in the way of gentlemanly deportment, companionship and mutual help. And as a result of it I carry a delightful remembrance of them which I think will never end while eternity passes. They both have long since gone to the "kingdom of love where the soul wears its mantle of glory"; but the remembrance of them is a treasure in my mind that helps me now, as it helped me then. They were true steel; and, whether I was iron or steel, they sharpened my countenance, and I trust that I sharpened theirs. That is a blessed experience. There is scarcely anything in the life of a young man more delightful than such companionship. My other roommate was habitually the best dressed young man in the college. He was a man of elegant manners. He had been reared in an eminent family. He was athletic and greatly admired by the ladies. I had no fault to find with him in our general intercourse in the room. But he turned out to be a thief. He knew that I had received some money in bank bills, as money was sent in those days before the invention of money orders. He knew that I had it put away, and he knew my hiding place. One day I missed it. I hunted everywhere for it but could not find it. I told my friends of my loss. It came to be the common talk about McGarvey losing his money. A shrewd young man in the next room to ours said to me one day, "Mac, I can tell you where your money is". I said, "Where?" "Pete has it". I said, "What makes you think Pete has it?" He said, "Because I can see it in his face every time anything is said about it. " He was so positive about it that I took his suggestion and we went into his trunk, and sure enough we found the very bills that had been sent to me. That was evidence too plain to be doubted. Now the question was, What was to be done. Should I go on being the roommate of a thief? And if it ever came out, as such things will, shall I be known to have roomed a certain length of time knowingly with a thief? And shall the college, if the matter comes to the faculty as it certainly will sooner or later, can the college afford to harbor a thief? If he is expelled it will come to his father and mother. After advising with one of the professors, my friend and I decided that the best way was to take the money and then confront him with the theft; and that I should do it. He was able to have whipped me: but, relying on the old adage that a thief is a coward, I decided to undertake it. He was out when I went to our room. I sat down and waited for him. When he came in I locked the door, and made the charge. I was relieved to see that he did not get mad and show fight. At first he denied it, but when he saw what the evidence was, he confessed. And O, the mortification and shame that filled that man’s countenance when he learned that he was known to have stolen his roommate’s money! I told him that for the sake of his family I would not expose him; that I would keep it a secret as long as I could. I thought here was a case like some that the apostle Paul dealt with; there must be a separation. He must go home that very day--not allow the sun to go down on him in Bethany, for fear that the knowledge of the theft might come to some officer of the law who would have him arrested and tried for the penitentiary. In the second place, on account of his family. If this should come to the knowledge of the faculty and he should be expelled from college for stealing his roommate’s money, what a shock it would be to his father and mother. He saw the wisdom of my advice and he left college that afternoon. I do not recollect that I have ever heard from him since. I do not know whether he is alive or dead. This is an example in which separation without any compromise was imperative. With the other two a mutual friendship was established, the memory of which will live as long as life shall last and on into eternity. I counsel you, then, every one of you who has a roommate, to cultivate that kind of association one with the other. If you forget all the advice that I shall give you while you are here, and all that Brother Crossfield will give you, remember this, and you will thank God and thank us for trying to put this into your minds, and will congratulate yourselves for putting it into your daily lives. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 81: 03.03. A GRADE OF NINETY ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 3 A GRADE OF NINETY My subject this morning is, A Grade of Ninety. No apostle gives encouragement to a personal or selfish ambition. On the contrary, all inspired teachers enjoin humility as a cardinal virtue and teach us that in honor we should prefer one another. Yet the apostle Paul in his greatest epistle says to the brethren, "Take thought for things that are honorable in the sight of all men". Now one of these things is a high grade of scholarship during your college career. That is honorable in the sight of your professors, it is honorable in the sight of your fellow students, and it is honorable in the sight of all now and hereafter who may know of it. It is honorable because it gives proof of faithful, industrious labor, and proof of fair mental capacity. It is honorable when you are through with your college labors, because it also gives promise of success and usefulness in time to come. You can not very easily over-estimate the value of a good grade of scholarship all through your college course, both for the value of that which secures it, and for the promise it gives through all life to come. Unfortunately, there are many students in college who have not this ambition, as I may style it. They are not moved greatly by the desire for being honored in the sight of men. They are content to be groundlings. They drag along in a go-easy way, so long as they can without suffering for it, and come out in the end just as it may happen. Now such young men will never amount to anything. They will be groundlings as long as they live. Then take thought for the things that are honorable in the sight of all men, that is that will cause them to honor you and respect you. These groundlings have curious excuses for thus being content to thus drag along. One man will say, "I have not the capacity to succeed in certain studies; they are beyond, or outside of, or apart from my mental capacity". So they try to excuse themselves for getting low grades in these studies and will dodge it entirely if they can. But let somebody else say that; let somebody else say, "That man Jones is a good sort of a fellow, but he has not the capacity to manage the classes he is in", and it will make you as mad as fury. You are not willing for anybody else to make that excuse for you. That shows that you have at least a little ambition. Men who do not desire the esteem and respect of their fellow men, have no respect for themselves; and perhaps society would be better off without them. Never admit that you have not the mental capacity for anything, until you have tried it, and tried it faithfully. Never admit that you can not see as far into a millstone as the man who pecked it. But what is a man to do if he feels that he is really defective in some line of study? Acknowledge this and give it up? No. He must labor at it with all his might and strength and never give it up. Did you ever dream of fighting with giants? or with wild beasts? I have. But I always awoke before they killed me. Did you ever dream of falling from a great height? I have. But I always awoke before I hit the ground. So, in whatever struggle you make against the giants of learning, don’t let them kill you, or dash you down. Wake up before that disaster comes upon you. I often think of one dream that I had when I was a student. Algebra was the great "pons assinorum" to me, especially Quadratic Equations. I remember that one night I struggled alone in my room with a problem of which I could not get the equation, I worked at it until I was worn out and sleepy. I went to bed with my mind all distracted with it. Along toward daylight I dreamed that I was up and at work at it again. In some mysterious way my mind, although I was asleep, continued to work at it, and at last I found the equation; I knew I had it because it met all the conditions of the problem. This excited me so that I awoke; and for fear that I would forget some of the figures before morning, I got out of bed, lit my candle, the only light we had in those days, and wrote the equation on my slate. I then went back to bed and dropped off into a sound sleep. I slept until daylight and awoke refreshed. As soon as I was dressed I took my slate and worked out the problem before breakfast. You don’t know how elated I was. I felt like saying, give me another. I felt as if I could work anything. I do not mention this to boast of my work, but to show what can be done by application. My mind when severely taxed, would not rest even in my dreams. Labor then after that fashion. Hard as algebra was for me, I never made a failure at the blackboard. One day I would have made a failure but for what appeared an accident. There were two problems in the lesson that day that I could not solve. I had worked hard all the time that I could give to them and had failed. If the professor had called me to the board that day I could not make the statement that I now make, that I never made a failure at the board. Somehow the professor anticipated our trouble, and did not send anybody to the board, but called our attention to the fact that those two problems were not clearly stated. I believe that compilers of algebras make the statements of some problems just as obscure as they can for the purpose of testing the capacity of students and making them work hard. But, during the afternoon of that day a classmate and I went out on the slope of the mountain which rises back of the college, and worked on those problems until nearly sunset. We succeeded, and we went to the class next day feeling elated. Now that is the way to work, and if you work in that way you will not be a failure. Then again, to attain a grade of ninety or above that, requires not only hard labor and very hard labor on the part of some students, but also constant attendance upon your recitations. Do not stay away from your recitation because you have not learned all the lesson. But go, without failure, keeping both eyes and both ears open. Something may drop from the lips of the professor or of some student, that will throw a flood of light on the dark places in the lesson, and give you what you lacked of being prepared. Remember this when you are in a difficulty and profit by it. There is another consideration that I will mention which you must keep in mind while "taking thought for things honorable in the sight of all men": Avoid bad habits. By these I do not mean habits of dissipation only, but all habits that would hinder your best mental labor. Do not eat too much. Do not sit too long at your books without exercise out of doors. Out of doors exercise is necessary to a clear mind. So when, after sitting a long time your book drops out of your hand, jump right up and run out of doors. Do not try to study when you are half asleep. Now by pursuing this method of work you may attain a grade of ninety or more in all your classes, and you may be sure to be of some account to the world. Guizot, the great French historian and statesman, made this estimate of the students of the universities of Europe. He said that one third of them died prematurely from bad habits contracted while they were students, one third from overwork while they were students, and that the other third governed Europe. That was in Europe. In this country it is a little different. The first and second classes are not so numerous, because faculties take better oversight over their students. In Germany they take none, as in nearly all other European countries. But it is true in this country as in that, that many who are energetic during their college course die early from overwork and from bad habits formed while they are in college. There are some, however, who "take thought of things honorable in the sight of all men," while they are in college, and they are the men who make our laws and write them, who hold high offices in the general government and in the state governments, and who stand at the top in the professions of law and medicine, and in the pulpit; and everywhere else where men are wanted to guide and control their fellowmen. One of the greatest deficiencies in our government today is the lack of such men. When a man of high attainments is needed for any position it is like hunting for a needle in a haystack to find him. Prepare yourselves then; for "in the harvest there is work to do" and only those will be called upon to do it, who have taken thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 82: 03.04. WHY DO YOU WANT TO PREACH? ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 4 WHY DO YOU WANT TO PREACH? A considerable number of you expect to preach tomorrow. What for? It will cost some labor and anxiety on your own part and some trouble to the audience which you expect to come and hear you; and what for? On your own part, what is it for? Just to fill an appointment? Well, that is very important. If a man has an appointment he ought to fill it, especially if he is a preacher. I have felt this duty pressed upon me all my life as a preacher. I recollect that I had an appointment once thirty miles from home and I expected to reach the place on horseback. When Saturday morning arrived the thermometer registered eighteen degrees below zero. Then the question arose whether I ought to risk being frozen by going to that appointment. But I mounted my horse and went. When I was within a half-mile or so of the village I met with a number of brethren who had been gathering ice for their icehouses. They told me that they were not looking for me. I answered, "Whenever I have an appointment, you look for me". That has been the rule of my life, and I mention it so that it may help any of you who have been just a little careless. It is very important to always be prompt in filling your appointments. But is that all? Is that the only reason you have for expecting to preach tomorrow? If so, for what purpose did you make that appointment? What did you expect to accomplish? and what do you now expect to accomplish by filling that appointment? "Well," perhaps some one will say, "I expect to be a preacher; I expect preaching to be my life work and I want to be practicing on it all I can." But if that is all, why not save trouble and time by practicing in your room? Get as large a mirror as you can and practice before the mirror. You can see then whether your hair is combed and parted just right; you can see if your necktie is on straight; you can watch your gesticulations and see if your hands are in just the right position, and if they go right. And so on. Why not practice before the mirror? Some preachers do that. It is actually the truth that some preachers do that. Or you might do the way brother Jones did. He had an appointment with a church, a country church. He went out on Saturday and put up with a brother. Along in the evening a negro girl was sent to the spring for a bucket of water. She came running in and said "Mister, Mister, there is a crazy man out there in the pasture." They thought it might be some one who had escaped from the asylum. So the whole family, dogs and all, went running out to the pasture. When they got there they found brother Jones practicing his sermon among the trees. Now I don’t know but what that is as good a way to practice as on the people. Perhaps some one will say, "I expect to make preaching my life work and I want to be at it." Why do you expect to make preaching your life work? What is that for? Is it in order that you may have an easy time in life? If that is the case then you are a lazy fellow. And as soon as you get into the work and the people find out that you are in that work just to have an easy time they will not ask you to come and preach for them any more. You say your purpose is to have an easy time in life. An easy time in what way? Not to have to plow corn and dig potatoes? To ride about in a carriage driven by the best people in the community, and wherever you go to have chicken pie for dinner? If that is your purpose, as soon as the people find out they will not kill any more chickens for you. They will set you down to corn bread and bacon and beans. Well, what is it for? In order that you may get rich? There is not a man in the country green enough to think that is the way to get rich. And if there was a man thinking that he was going to be a preacher in order to get rich, he is too big a fool to be a preacher. And as soon as the people find out that that is even one of your motives for preaching that will be the end of your preaching. There is not a man, woman or child in the country who wants to hear a preacher who is preaching for the money, and that one of his chief aims. Well, what is it for? That you may become a popular man in your community? You notice that good preachers are popular men. Respectable men love them and nice good women love them, and everybody is ready to welcome him into their homes and to give him the hand of welcome anywhere. If you are preaching for popularity, you may think you can keep people from finding it out. Well, you can’t keep people from finding it out, and as soon as they do you will be the most unpopular man in the community. Well, what is it for? The apostle Paul gave the purpose of the work of the preacher when he wrote to Timothy. He said, "By so doing you will save both yourself and them that hear you." How save himself? Because when a man has reached the conclusion no matter how it came into his mind, that it is his duty to preach and make that his business he will be lost if he does not do it. Just as neglect of duty in any other matter will bring down the wrath of God in the day of judgment. If there is any of you who really and conscientiously believes that God wants you to preach the gospel, do it at the peril of your soul. This means that Timothy and every other man that preaches will save himself and every other man who believes. What business is it of mine to save other people if I can only save myself? If you are a good swimmer and should find yourself out in the water by the side of a sinking steamer where people are going down all around you and you should boldly swim to the shore without trying to help anybody, they ought to tumble you back in the ocean when you get there, for you could have saved somebody and you did not. And here we are in the great sea of the world. There are thousands going down. We see them every day. If the preacher does not save some of them, I do not think it is possible for him to be saved himself. What would men and angels think of a man going home to heaven who has been a preacher and has not brought one single soul with him? I think that if you were to take a vote on it all men and angels would vote to send him back. They would say, "He is not fit for our country". Now if that is your purpose in preaching, to "Save yourself and them that hear you", it is a worthy one. Now you are all ready to say that there is no other purpose equal to it. I think that if I should be so fortunate as to find myself in heaven and look around and realize that I am here at last, that I have been able to pass and have obtained the grace of God in the forgiveness of my sins, and here I am in heaven. Now that would be heaven to me. But if, while I am congratulating myself, some Christians whom I knew in the world should come up to me and greet me and say, "The fact that I am here in heaven today is due to you. It is what I heard from what you preached, from the example that you set before me that turned me away from my sins to my savior." Now that would be a higher heaven than the other. And if in addition to that, while I am receiving the congratulations of that brother, the Lord should pass by . . . . and pronounce a blessing upon me, that would be the highest heaven of all. Preach, then, tomorrow and every time you preach so that you may save both yourself and them that hear you. Keep these thoughts in mind. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 83: 03.05. SELECTING A SUBJECT ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 5 SELECTING A SUBJECT Many of you expect to preach tomorrow. What will be your subject? A good many years ago some one on Saturday put this question to brother __________. He had prepared a sermon on Satan and when he was asked, "Brother __________ what are you going to preach about tomorrow?", he said, "I am going to give them the devil." Now that seemed pretty rough. Yet that was one phase of Christ’s own preaching, and we are to follow Him. He said more about the devil, the eternal judgment and the punishment of the wicked than any one of his apostles, and I rather think he said more than all of them put together, so far as we find their words in the New Testament. How should you determine what to preach, what subject to preach on, tomorrow and all the time hereafter? Perhaps some of you are prepared to answer, "I have but one sermon." Well, the thing is, if that is all and that one is worth preaching, go on and preach it. A man can scarcely preach a sermon that is anything like what a sermon ought to be without doing good. So, if you have only one, don’t be afraid to preach that one. And if you have to preach twice before you get another, preach the same sermon twice, but make an improvement on it every time. Once I heard Moses E. Lard, preaching in the old Main Street church, announce a subject on which he had preached five times before to that congregation. He said, "It may surprise you that I have announced to you a subject upon which I have preached five times before, but, if it has taken me twenty years to study and work up this sermon I don’t think there is any danger of your learning all that is in it by hearing it only five times." Then he went on and delivered it. I watched the audience, and I think they were as deeply interested in it as though that were the first time they had ever heard it. But how is a man to determine what subject to preach on, if he has a number of sermons? Shall he say, "Well, a certain one that I have will enable me to show off what little learning I have and I will give them that." That would be to preach yourself instead of preaching Christ. Shall he say, "A certain one that I have will enable me to show off as a preacher better than any of the others. I will give them that tomorrow?" Well, that is doing the same thing. That is to preach yourself instead of preaching Christ. I think that the principle on which we are to determine the selection of the subject depends upon what preaching is for. "To save yourself and those who hear you." That sermon, then, of all that you are able to preach tomorrow, by which you can have the greatest hope of saving somebody in the audience, and thereby save yourself, is the one you ought to preach tomorrow and so every other time you are called upon to preach. But, what have you got to do in order to save men? Well, you have got to make them believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins. These are two very great undertakings. Which is the greater? There is a very common mistake among preachers in thinking that the great task is to inspire men with faith. But it is easy for men to believe in this country. It is very difficult for a young man or a young woman growing up in this country to become an unbeliever. A good many try it. A good many young men and young women try to shake off all the impression that the gospel has made on their minds and hearts. And they think sometimes that they have accomplished it. But let some disease seize you, death come near, and the grave seem to yawn, what will that infidelity do? In nine cases out of ten it passes away. It is not very difficult for them now to believe. But how about repentance? To bring men to repentance as written in the gospel is the great task at which the Savior himself made a comparative failure. We are told that he upbraided the cities because they repented not and showed that it would be more tolerable in the day of judgement for Sodom and Gomorrah because Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented if they had had the chance of these cities. The skillful general, in invading a city, directs his heaviest artillery against the strongest fortifications of his foe. And so in the most difficult task of the preacher, bringing men to repentance, against that stronghold he should direct his heaviest artillery. To that he should devote his mind, his thoughts and his efforts in the pulpit and in the study and thus save the greater number. The apostle Paul says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance-evidently by the power of a sense of gratitude to God for his goodness. Well, then, any effort that you may make to impress upon men’s minds and consciences the goodness of God to them individually is one of the means by which to bring them to repentance. We are also told in the Old Testament and in the New that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. That is not as popular a thought in the modern pulpit as it was in the pulpit of generations past. The idea of preaching the fear of God, the terror of the judgement and of hell is becoming unpopular. Not so with the apostles. We are told that God is love and that is true, but it is equally true that God is a consuming fire. He is one thing to the one class and another to the other. Every thing that you can do to make men fear God and to thus turn them to repentance is the best thing and the most important thing in this country in saving their souls. And to neglect that is to neglect the most important thing. The apostle Paul gives his estimation of that when he says to his brethren, "I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, and I call you to witness that I am free from the blood of all men." Had he withheld anything that would have been profitable to their souls, he considered that he would have been guilty of the blood of men. I advise you, then, young men, to keep this thought in view. When preaching was my chief business in life, before my whole soul became immersed in teaching, many a time have I wished and prayed above all other things that I asked for the power to bring men to repentance. I felt that that was my greatest weakness, my greatest failure. I could interest men generally. I never had much trouble in that way. I could see that men were paying attention to what I was saying. I often had my eye upon some individual in the audience whom I was trying and praying to bring to repentance, but all in vain. I very well remember a man who moved to the community where I was preaching. He was a very proud man in his feelings and in his family connections. He had married an humble, but most excellent Christian young woman who was a member of the Christian church. He had been so trained that he had a supreme contempt for what was known as the Campbellites. He had been brought up in a Presbyterian family, as I remember. His wife had brought her church letter with her when she moved, but before she got a chance to put it in he got hold of it and hid it. He would not go to church with her. Finally she managed to find where he had hid her letter. And one Sunday when he was gone she came and put in her membership. He was too much of a gentleman to make any fuss or outcry about it, but there they lived without very often darkening the door of the church. Finally she managed to invite me to go with her to supper on Sunday evenings. He was too much of a gentleman to let his wife go off to meeting with the preacher and have to come home by herself. So he would go to church with us. Well I never succeeded in bringing that man to repentance, but in the course of a year or two I heard of his debating on religious questions with men in his store, for he was a merchant, and always taking our side of the argument. This gave me some hope that he might be brought to repentance, but he was still impervious. Months and perhaps years went on and God took hold of him. He loved his wife as well as any man ever did I suppose. She was taken sick and grew worse and worse until she died. A few weeks after her death he was at church and when the invitation was given he came forward weeping vehemently to make the good confession. See how much it took to bring that man to repentance. You may witness in your congregations many a man like that. Do your best with any such man and leave the results to God. But keep this in mind all the time, that there are men in your congregations that will die in their sins and be condemned if you do not bring them to repentance. There are men in the audience outside of the church, men in a miserable condition. If you would bring home many sheaves with you as we have just sung, keep this in mind and labor to this end in preparing every sermon that you preach. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 84: 03.06. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 6 THE THIEF ON THE CROSS The thief on the cross, as we commonly style him, is almost as widely known as Jesus. But no man knows his name or his father’s name or any of the details of his career. He is known almost exclusively by the single brief sentence which he uttered in his dying hour. That well known sentence is, "Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." In the earlier part of the six hours which he hung upon the cross he had united with his fellow thief in reproaching Jesus. They hear the reproaches cast upon him by the multitude and, in the expressive language of our old version, "cast the same in his teeth." And one of them said, "If thou art the Christ, save thyself and us." But the one of whom I speak, after his mind had no doubt run with immense sweep over many things, as a man’s mind often does in extreme peril, and after his heart had perhaps passed through some changes of sentiment, called out to the other, saying, "Dost thou not even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." What an acknowledgment!! How few criminals in the agonies of the gallows or other punishment fully acknowledge, however severe the torture they are suffering, that it is the due reward for their deeds. That was honesty. "This man", he says, "has done nothing amiss". How did he know Jesus had done nothing amiss? He had not heard the trial before Pilate, for he was closely confined in prison when that was going on. How did he know, then, so that he could say in his dying hour that Jesus had done nothing amiss? We must remember that he had not always been in prison. Up to a few days or weeks before, he had been roaming about as a free man, practicing his diabolical business of highway robbery. This led him often, no doubt, to the synagogues and in the open where men went to hear Jesus to find out who in that crowd had money, so that he could rob them on their way home. But while thus engaged he saw the miracles wrought by Jesus and he heard those wonderful speeches made to the multitude, but, like many a sinner of the present day, while his mind was convinced his heart was not moved. But now that eternity was right by him, and the very next step will be right into it, every thing appears very different. And after rebuking his fellow robber that even the fear of God did not keep him in his dying hour from reproaching a fellow sufferer and that wrongfully, he turns to Jesus. I suppose his former life had taken out of him his polish and politeness. So he simply says, "Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." I think that if I were convicted of highway robbery, and were suffering death either on the cross or on the gallows, I would not want to be remembered. I would ask my friends and kindred to forget my name and my existence. Don’t let my grandchildren know who their grandfather was. Never write my name down. Try to forget it. And if I thought of my God and had any request to make of him, I would say, "O Lord, let me drop into eternal oblivion." Why does this highway robber want to be remembered? and why does he beg Jesus, "remember me"? He had never conferred any favor upon Jesus, for which he should be remembered. And if Jesus should remember him not, but forget him in the day of final judgment and rewards, possibly he might think there was a chance for his escape. Why didn’t he ask Jesus to forget him and let him be left out? His mind seems to have been very active. Perhaps he had been naturally a man of very active brain. And I suppose he meant in that petition, not remember me the robber, but remember me the penitent robber, knowing that he was a penitent robber, and knowing, I suppose, that Jesus knew that he wanted to be remembered as the penitent robber. And how could he perceive that Jesus would yet come in his kingdom, when he sees him very near his last moments on the cross and knows that life will be extinct in a few moments? How did he perceive that Jesus would come in his kingdom? and when? A very distinguished infidel writer mentions this circumstance and says, if that account is true, which he did not believe, it would represent the dying thief as having more faith than any one of the apostles. For when he was nailed to the cross every one of them gave up hope, and remained in blank despair until the third morning. Well, he did have a faith in Jesus which none of the apostles had. He believed from the evidence that he had seen and heard, that Jesus spoke the absolute truth, and that when he declared that he was going to set up a kingdom, he would do it in spite of death and hell. It would be sure to be done. But why believe this kingdom was to be set up in some future time after he was dead and buried? In the first place, it was a singular conviction of his mind that Jesus would be able to do anything after he was dead. And what good will his remembering me do after I am dead and gone to hell? A wondrous faith! And yet after all, that request of his is not very different from that which every dying man should make. Jesus, remember me a sinner? If he does I am gone. No matter whether I have been a robber or a genteel sinner, I am gone. But, Jesus, remember me a penitent sinner, and I can hope for an answer similar to that that was given to this dying stranger. Remember me a penitent sinner. For we have faith that Jesus regards penitent sinners, that he will remember them in mercy, that he will remember them for their everlasting good, blotting out their sins. How strange and singular it was that, when the Lord of glory was put to a cruel death by cruel men on false charges, that two highway robbers, condemned justly to death and acknowledging their guilt, were crucified one on his right and the other on his left. How striking an illustration of the fact that he came to this world to save sinners is this fact that he was crucified between two thieves and saved one of them. And observe, too, that the answer that Jesus gave to the poor wretch was greater than he had requested him to give. "Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." He did not know when that was to be. It was in the vague future. But the answer was, as you remember "This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." I wish I could have seen the face of that robber after he had heard that sentence. I would love to have seen whether it seemed to remove his pangs or not. I am sure that it did, not only lessen the pangs of his soul, but the pains of his body also. He died in less pain because he felt assured that the last breath on earth would be but the entrance into paradise with Jesus. How strange and unexpected a sight it must have been to men and angels that Jesus when he came up after the conflicts of life here, had a companion with him and that companion was a thief. It seems to me that all heaven must have been astonished at that sight. But what about the other robber who was as close to Jesus as this one? Jesus had not a word to say to him. No response to any of his reproaches, no comfort for his future. He allowed that man to die alone, and to go, as soon as death overtook him, as all impenitent sinners must go. What a contrast we have here between the penitent and the impenitent. And what an appeal there is here to all of you who know the truth and to many of you who are going to preach the truth, to gather up all the knowledge of God and of all the good things that you can find to get men to repent of their sins, so that if they live they may live penitent sinners and if they die, die penitent sinners. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 85: 03.07. JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 7 JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL In common with many millions of the saints, we love to sing, "Jesus, lover of my soul." But what is there about my soul that Jesus should love it? If it were pure and spotless like the soul of an angel, we would expect him to love it. I am a very partial judge of my own soul; and yet I never carefully look into it without finding fault with it, and sometimes feeling very deeply mortified at the sight. How, then, is it that he who looks with perfect justice and fairness upon everything and every being can love my soul? That is a very serious question. Did the poet not make a mistake in writing this line? I think we can discover at least two reasons for supposing that he did not. In the first place, real, genuine pity for a being in distress or misfortune partakes of the nature of love: and Jesus certainly pities my soul when he sees how much wretchedness it has to endure, when he sees its lost condition, without God and without hope in the world, but for his love. Really the most pitiable object we can think of is the soul of a man in its natural condition, unredeemed by the blood of Christ. He certainly does pity us, and that is next akin to loving us. He loves us because of our pitiable condition. Then, I think we can discover another reason. He loves us because of what he hopes and intends to make of us by and by. We are told by the apostle Paul that Jesus "loved the church and gave himself for it", suffered and died for it, is the idea, "that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." That is what he intends to make out of us. We may fall out with the church. Men often become so disgusted with it as to leave it and hurl anathemas upon it. Not so with Jesus. With all its faults and defects he intends to make out of it a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing upon the robes which it shall wear. And I am one member of that church. And if he loves the church in anticipation of what it is to be, what he is to make of it, he may love my soul among others for what he is to make of me as well as through pity for what I am now. If you go into the workroom of a sculptor you will see him hammering and chiseling on a block of marble which appears to you to be nothing but a block of marble. But take up a hammer and begin to work on it yourself and he will soon push you away. He would almost as soon you would strike him as to strike that block of marble. For he sees in it, instead of that rough block, the form of an angel that he intends to carve out of it. He keeps his mind and his heart on that which is to be developed by his skill and labor and that makes him love that block, and take good care of it. He has had to pay a large sum of money to have it quarried and shipped to where he is working on it. So with our blessed Lord, He sees in your soul and in mine a being yet to be made perfect; and he works on it with his hammer and chisel, cutting away its sins, imperfections and superfluities, that he may show to angels in the coming days the blessed work of his hands. This is the second, I think, and perhaps the chief reason why He loves my soul. I think the author’s hymn, grand as it is, comes short of the reality in the second line. "Let me to thy bosom fly." Why, if he loves your soul, why ask him to let you fly to his bosom? That is the very thing he desires. It is the very thing he is crying out to get you to do. It is not right to ask him to let you do what he is constantly pleading with you to do. Your soul should say, "I will go to Jesus. All the billows of sin and the tempests of passion shall not keep me away. He loves me. He longs for my embrace. I am going to him. I will fly to his bosom." This is the feeling that has to be aroused in sinners before they can come to Jesus and be saved. In your preaching to dying men, do not inspire in them the idea that they must beg and plead with Jesus to let them come. Tell them that Jesus, because he loves their souls, is begging them and pleading with them to come to him. Make them feel that they must go to Jesus in spite of all that hinders them. When you inspire men with that feeling, no long and passionate pleading on your part will be necessary. In all this hymn, which is considered one of the best in all literature, there is much food for the thought of a dying soul. Brethren, study hymns. In doing so you will fill your mind with the choicest thoughts, the loftiest sentiments, the deepest emotions, and the most soul-stirring love of the men of God of all ages. And thus you may realize, that from day to day, and from year to year, you are coming nearer to what Jesus intends to make of you because he loves you. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 86: 03.08. THE STUDY AND SELECTION OF HYMNS ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 8 THE STUDY AND SELECTION OF HYMNS I have said a few words to you on a number of occasions, about the importance of studying hymns and the proper selection of hymns to suit occasions. Sometimes an improper selection of a hymn leads to very deplorable results. I was informed of one instance in which, on a funeral occasion, the selection of the hymns was left to the young man who led the singing. He selected one that started right, but just as the pallbearers started off with the corpse they sang, "Believing we rejoice to see the curse removed." That service ended with more tittering than tears. In order that you may make appropriate selections you must know your hymn book--not only the first stanza of every hymn that is worth singing, but the whole of it. You must know all those that are worth singing if you would make your selections wisely. The elements of a good hymn may be stated thus: First, and most important of all, its sentiments must be scriptural. There is a hymn in one of our church hymnals which has been sung a great deal, the second stanza of which confidently looks forward to the time when that old boatman familiar in Greek mythology who used to row people across the river Styx, will safely row the Christian across the river of death. Now that is heathenish, but it is in a Christian hymn book. First, then, let me say again, and emphasize it, See to it that the sentiments of every hymn you select to sing in the church are scriptural. Second, a good hymn is good poetry. Those of you who have gone pretty well along in the course of English, ought to know what good poetry is. You have been taught what it is. But it will require on your part a good deal of thought and study in addition to what you get from your professor, in order to give you that fine taste which will enable you to see the fine elements of poetry in a hymn. I do not think that there is one of the hymns that have become permanently popular that is not good poetry. Not only is good poetry essential, but there is a sentiment among uncultivated people that demands it. Some hymns acquire popularity and usefulness for a short time by means of the fine music set to them, even though they are only a jingle of rhymes: but they soon pass away. When, then a hymn is found to contain scripture sentiment and good poetry, in order to be effective as a hymn it must be sung to appropriate music, music that expresses finely the sentiments of the hymn. Now no man can be successful in the selection of hymns to suit occasions from day to day and from week to week, who does not devote a great deal of attention and careful study to hymns. There are hymns which, instead of being good poetry, are nothing but lines of prose with a rhyme at the end of them, and not always good rhyme at that. I will read you a couple of instances of this kind. Number 526 in our hymnal: the second stanza: "Thrice blest is he to whom is given the instinct that can tell That God is on the field, when He is most invisi-" - - bell, it ought to be. If it be true as was said a long time ago by some wise man and repeated again and again by others, that, if you will allow a man of good judgement to select the songs of a people, he may care very little who makes their laws, then it can not be a matter of minor importance to select wisely the songs of the church. There are a great many people, and especially children, who obtain their religious sentiments more from the hymns they are taught to sing than from the Scripture which they read or hear from the pulpit. And when sentiments are thus formed, whether just right or just wrong, it is almost impossible in later years to eradicate them. This is another indication of the importance of the careful study of hymns. I have said that those hymns which have been long popular, and have had strong hold upon the minds and hearts of the people, have, all of them, been characterized by those qualities of a good hymn which I have mentioned. For example, that one which Matthew Arnold pronounces the finest hymn in the English language: "When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast Save in the death of Christ, my Lord; All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all." I do not know that Matthew Arnold was correct in thinking that the finest hymn in the English language, but certainly it has in it all the elements of a good hymn. Take as another example that old hymn that should have made the name of its author immortal. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, who died a few days ago, made her name famous by the composition of one song that has attained the name of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. We have a battle hymn. Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb, And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His name? You all know the rest of it. Then there is another hymn, not sung so often, but equally fine, which might be called the Christian’s call to arms. Soldiers of Christ arise, And put your armor on, Strong in the strength which God supplies, Thro His eternal Son. Strong in the Lord of Hosts, And in His mighty power, Who in the strength of Jesus trusts, Is more than conqueror. Stand, then, in His great might, With all His strength endued, And take to arm you for the fight, The panoply of God. Leave no unguarded place, No weakness of the soul, Take every virtue, every grace, And fortify the whole. That having all things done, And all your conflicts past, You may o’ercome through Christ alone And stand entire at last. Such hymns as these two arouse all the energy and courage that is in the soul of a man who loves the Lord. Then, we have our marching hymns; not one, but many; especially that one which we sing so often in this chapel: "Come we that love the Lord, And let our joys be known, Join in the song with sweet accord, And thus surround the throne, Let those refuse to sing, Who never knew our God; But children of the heavenly king, May speak their joys abroad. The hill of Zion yields, A thousand sacred sweets, Before we reach the heavenly fields, Or walk the golden streets. Then let our songs abound, And every tear be dry: We’re marching thro Immanuel’s ground, To fairer worlds on high." That hymn is a fine piece of poetry and it is sung to the music of a very fine march. I wonder that some composer has not taken it in hand and made of it a grand march for a brass band. I think it would be a good thing right now for us to rise and sing it. But there are times that come over the disciples of Christ quite different from these indicated in these exulting stanzas. They are times of gloom and tears, when we need the tenderest words of divine sympathy. Our hymn writers have not left us without comfort in times like these. What is more consoling than the lines in which we sing our Lord’s own invitation to the weary and heavy laden, beginning with the stanza, "Come unto me when shadows darkly gather, When the sad heart is weary and distressed Seeking for comfort from your heavenly Father, Come unto me, and I will give you rest". We love to sing of our final triumph over death and the grave, and some of our best hymns are devoted to this inspiring theme. I wish we could bring back into general use that inimitable composition in which the resurrection of our Lord and our own resurrection are so beautifully and triumphantly set forth that it should hold a place, as it once did, in every hymn book: "The angels that watched round the tomb Where low the Redeemer was laid, When deep in mortality’s gloom, He hid for a season his head, That veiled their fair face while he slept, And ceased their harps to employ". (Is there anything more beautiful than this?) "Have witnessed his rising, and swept Their chords with the triumphs of joy. Though dreary the empire of night, I soon shall emerge from its gloom, And see immortality’s light Arise on the shades of the tomb. Then welcome the last rending sighs, When these aching heart-strings shall break, When death shall extinguish these eyes, And moisten with dew the pale cheek. No terror the prospect begets, I am not mortality’s slave; The sunbeam of life, as it sets, Leaves a halo of peace on the grave." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 87: 03.09. LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 9 LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY There is a considerable amount of time devoted to teaching young ministers how to preach, but comparatively little in teaching them how to pray. There is a common impression that prayer is not a subject for instruction--that all that is needful for one to be filled with warm emotions, and then let the tongue loose and let it run at random. The result of this is, that there is a great deal of praying done which reaches higher than the ceiling, and a great deal that does not reach that high. It is a waste of breath. Such was not the conception of Jesus and the apostles. We find the apostles coming to Jesus once, after he had concluded a season of prayer and saying to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." This shows that John the Baptist had made prayer a subject of instruction to his disciples. The twelve remembered, doubtless, what John had taught; and not only so, but they remembered what Jesus himself also had taught in the sermon on the mount, that instructive passage in the sixth chapter of Matthew. They knew what John had taught them and they knew the main lesson on the subject which their own master had given; why were they not content with these? Why did they still come to the Master and request him, "Lord, teach us to pray"? I do not know why, unless it was from the fact that they observed him devoting more time to prayer than they did, or even than did the hypocrites who stood on the corners of the streets with uplifted hands to pray, and stood in the synagogue to pray while others were seated. They had known him to retire into a mountain alone and pray there all night; and there was not one of them that could do that. On one occasion, you remember, three of them went up into a high mountain with him to pray, and while he continued praying they dropped upon the ground and fell asleep. And later, while he was praying in the terrible agonies of Gethsemane, the same three were there and fell asleep, and he waked them up three times. It was impossible for them, and I presume to say it has been impossible since for any man to pray all night. Some may imagine that they had done it, but perhaps they had been asleep more than once and forgot it when they reported that they had prayed all night. Evidently the disciples thought that there was a secret in prayer which he had not revealed to them and that he could teach them what it was, so that they could pray as long as he did. What an earnest desire on their part is manifested in this request! They were doubtless very much surprised at his answer. He simply repeated to them that little prayer which he had taught them @ the sermon on the mount, commonly called the Lord’s prayer, adding to it, however, a parable teaching that they should be importunate in prayer and never cease asking until they had obtained. They must be like the man who came to a neighbor at midnight, aroused him, and begged him to give him three loaves of bread, as company had come in and he had no bread to set before them. The neighbor answered, I am in bed with my children and can not get up to give it to you. But the other continued importuning him, until at last he arose and gave him all he wished. He did not give them any new secret of prayer by which they could pray a long time, or it night, but only that they should be importunate in prayer. If you examine all the instruction that you will find directly and indirectly given, you will find that Jesus never taught the disciples prayers, although he prayed a long time himself. He never taught his own example in this. There was a secret in his mind and heart which they did not possess and which we do not possess, that made it peculiar to him to remain long in prayer. When we remember who he was and whom he addressed, we sometimes wonder that he ever prayed at all. We have two prayers on record which he taught. One I have already referred to, called the Lord’s prayer. Have you ever observed how brief that prayer is in point of time of delivery? Look at your watches while I recite it to you. (Recites the Lord’s prayer, not hurriedly, and then says.) Less than one-half minute. Now think of that. I read in addition to the prayer itself, "Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever", which has proven to be an interpolation. If you test what is called the intercessory prayer in the fifteenth chapter of John, which is his longest prayer on record, you will find that you can read in deliberately in three minutes. The apostle Paul quotes in various epistles quite a number of prayers that he made for churches and for individuals. The longest of them is the one in the third chapter of Ephesians, and that can be read very deliberately in less than one and one-half minutes. What a rebuke, now, this is to the long prayers that we have sometimes heard in the pulpit, and the stories that we have read about the number of hours every day noble men of whom we read felt compelled to spend in prayer. There is a story told, and it is repeated by the great Canon Farrar in one of his works, about James, the Lord’s brother, that he spent so much time on his knees praying that the skin and flesh became thick and hardened like the knees of a camel. James had too much respect for the teaching of his master to do a thing of that sort. This is a tale gotten up by the monks of the dark ages--a result of their own superstitious practice. I have sometimes gotten so weary in listening to a long prayer in church that I have been tempted to take my seat before it was finished; and I think it would be a good lesson to some long-winded preacher to open his eyes and see the whole congregation sitting reading their hymnals because they got so worn out listening to his long prayer. What is the reason for public prayer in an assembly? Is it not for edification and for the worship of God? It is not for the preacher to express his individual desires, but it is for the edification of the church, and it should be something in which all the audience can unite with him. And if he continues until their knees begin to tremble and their minds begin to wander, there is no edification. On the contrary, they are liable to forget before the end of the long thing, anything edifying that had been said at the beginning. Whenever the audience begins to wish that the man leading in prayer would stop, he has already gone farther than he ought. I think this habit grew out of the idea, that when we get up in church to pray we ought to pray for everybody and everything. It is true that some preachers try to cut that short by asking the Lord to "bless all for whom it is our duty or privilege to pray," but it is better to remember that if the Lord permits you to live you will have a chance to pray again next Sunday. And if you can pray for some of the people and the good things today, then if you live until the next week you may go the rounds; and if you don’t live somebody else may take it up in your place. I have a good deal more to say on this subject, but I must postpone it for future lectures of this kind. In the meantime, think solemnly and reverently on the subject of your prayers. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 88: 03.10. PRAYER AND PREMEDITATION ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 10 PRAYER AND PREMEDITATION The apostle Paul, in addressing the church which he praised most of all, said, "We know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered", or rather "with inarticulate groanings". This ignorance was not absolute. Both he and those to whom he was writing did know to some extent how to pray. They knew from the instruction which Jesus gave on that subject, from what they found in the recorded prayers of accepted men. But they and all deeply earnest Christians found moments when the heart was heavily burdened with longings and desires which they could not find words to express; and I suppose it is to these that the apostle refers when he speaks of "inarticulate groanings". Such moments, if our prayers were addressed to a man, would be a failure. But, being addressed to God, the Spirit of God within us knows what we mean when we can not say what we mean or what we desire; and thus he relieves us of what would otherwise be a very serious infirmity. This fact, however, does not excuse us from making intelligent use of that knowledge which has been imparted to us through the teachings and examples of the sacred Word. The very fact that instruction has been given to us on this subject, implies the duty on our part of reflection and meditation on our prayers, so that we may apply to them the instruction which has been given. We take a good deal of time and hard labor sometimes in premeditating our sermons so as to determine as best we can what we should say on a given occasion to a given audience. If that is true, how much more would it appear that we should premeditate what we should say to God on a given occasion when we are to express to him the wants and aspirations of _a whole audience of worshippers. If we do not premeditate our sermons, we are apt to speak a good deal of nonsense. And is it not nonsense to indulge in random talk to the Lord? Are we not likely to do somewhat as did the old farmer who prayed, "O Lord, bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more." If he had premeditated on what he was about to say to the Lord he would never have said what he did. So of that Confederate soldier of whom General Gordon relates that in the time of our civil war was called on to pray in a soldiers’ prayer meeting. He said, "O Lord, we pray thee to help us. We need thy help and we need it badly. We pray thee, O Lord, to take a right view of this war and be on our side." If he had premeditated, his prayer would have taken a different shape. If we offer our prayers in public, or in the prayer meeting, or in the family, without premeditating, without thinking what we should pray for, we shall either fall into the habit of saying over and over and over again on different occasions the same prayer, or else we will offer some foolish prayer. I have known some preachers, and quite a number of elders and deacons who officiate in the prayer meeting, to fall into this habit, so that the young people in the audience learn to repeat the good brother’s prayer and laugh about it. Now when a man drops into this habit, he loses the sympathy of the audience and becomes wearisome to them. He has fallen into a habit which makes his own mind inactive. Such prayers may not weary the Lord, but they certainly weary everybody else. If you were going to meet King George, of England, and knew that you would be expected to talk with him for a time, you would be very much concerned as to what you were going to say to him. You would settle it in your mind how you were going to address him. If you did not you might find yourself saying, "Good morning Mister George. How are Mistress George and the children?" But, if you were going to meet him tomorrow, you would spend the whole of this day thinking what would be the proper thing to say; and you would get advice from others who had spoken to kings. Now, if you are going to address the great God and father of us all, and to do so in behalf of a large audience of praying people, will you rush right into his presence without premeditating beforehand how you will address him? You would consider yourself unfit to offer a prayer if you did that. Not one of you would be guilty of it. If you would fairly premeditate you would ask yourself, what, on the occasion of tomorrow, would be the most suitable subject on which to address my Lord and Savior? You would consider the wants and wishes and necessities of the congregation. And in that way your prayer would be in harmony with the instructions that have been received in the scripture, and the prayer would be edifying to the audience. All could say Amen. Paul exhorts those who pray in the congregation not to pray in an unknown tongue so that the brethren would not be able to say Amen. While I was a student in Bethany College, I heard of the prayer offered by an old brother in Western Pennsylvania, not far from the place where General Braddock was defeated and his army almost exterminated by the Indians. While this incident was still fresh in the minds of the people, an old brother who had fallen into the habit of making very long prayers in the family, always mentioned Braddock’s defeat. He had a boy who had heard his father pray so much that he knew his prayer by heart. One night the boy had a visitor about his own age, and they kneeled during the prayer close together. The home boy fell asleep and the visitor awakened him. He asked in a whisper, "Has father got to Braddock’s defeat yet?" "No." "Well, then I can take another nap." There are a great many prayers that are of this character for the want of premeditation. Have you thought of this? Or have you had a strange kind of feeling that, while it is all right to think through my sermon beforehand, it is rather irreverent to think beforehand through my prayers. What I have said, and what your own minds will suggest, is enough to show you that this want of premeditation is unwise if not irreverent. The most solemn thing that a man can do is to stand before an audience of praying people, with some among them who never pray, there offer the common petitions and supplications of a whole multitude. There is a very heavy responsibility lying on the man who does this. And I do not think you should be any less anxious about what you should pray for and how you should pray for it, than you are about what you should preach and how you should preach it. One of the great difficulties I have in preparing these addresses is to find time to condense them into the allotted time. Isocrates, the Greek orator, at one time spoke much longer than he was in the habit of speaking. And one of his friends asked him why he spoke so long. He answered, "I didn’t have time to make it any shorter." He didn’t have time to reflect upon what he was going to say, and make it so mature as to be brief. You will find this difficulty in your own experience. You rise with nothing particular on your mind that you want to say, and you keep on stalking until everybody wishes you would quit. And so with respect to your prayers. One is often called on to lead in prayers very unexpectedly. You have no time to reflect what you should pray for before beginning. On such occasions you have this relief: You know that there are certain spiritual wants and aspirations that are common to all worshipers, and if you present any of these you will not have gone amiss in respect to the present audience. When you enter an assembly in which it is probable that you will be called on to lead in prayer, begin at once to reflect on the prayer appropriate to the occasion, and offer it in silence. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 89: 03.11. PAUL'S PRAYER FOR TWO CHURCHES ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 11 PAUL’S PRAYER FOR TWO CHURCHES I have undertaken to set forth before you the apostle Paul as a man of prayer. We have studied Paul in various aspects of his character and career, but perhaps we have never taken up a special study of his example as a man of prayer. In the brief address last given I called your attention to his habit of prayer and to some special examples that are recorded historically by Luke without giving the words that he uttered. I propose now to call attention to some that are mentioned by him himself. Of course we find these in his epistles, and more of them in the first epistle to the Thessalonians than in any of his longer epistles. You remember that he had been scourged and imprisoned in Philippi and treated shamefully, as he afterwards expressed it. He went to Thessalonica, about 100 miles west and there in the course of three weeks, or including three Sabbath days spent in the synagogue he reasoned with the people setting forth that the Christ must needs suffer death and come forth from the dead, and that the Jesus whom he proclaimed unto them was the Christ, The result of his labor in those three sabbaths and perhaps the twelve intervening days was that some of the Jews of Thessalonica, a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and of the chief women not a few, believed. This remarkable success excited the jealousy of those Jews who believed not. And, being in a foreign city, where they had to be very careful how they conducted themselves, they were afraid to do any violence openly; so they stirred up the people by slander and lies of the basest kind. Taking to themselves certain "vile fellows of the baser sort," they assaulted the house of Jason who had been entertaining Paul and Silas: but not finding them there for some cause which is not explained, they took Jason and certain other brethren and dragged them before the rulers of the city, crying, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason bath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." Now that charge put before magistrates who knew nothing of the subject, caused a persecution at once against the whole church. They dragged this man Jason before the magistrates and put him under bonds to keep the peace. In the meantime the brethren had sent Paul and Silas away by night. It is a humiliating thing for a man of sensitive feelings to have to leave a place between two days. It is generally the way in which thieves and robbers and criminals in general leave the places of their crimes. You remember that he went down to Berea where he had great success until some of these foreign Jews followed him there and stirred up trouble. He went from there to Athens where he stayed quite a while and where he had good success. From there he went to Corinth where he remained about eighteen months. Now on leaving Thessalonica he left the church which they had planted there under the persecution that followed the trouble stirred up by those foreign Jews. In writing to them afterwards he said, "You have heard what things the church in Jerusalem suffered at the hands of the Jews," and he draws a parallel between their own sufferings and those which caused the church at Jerusalem to be dispersed. A report of this reached him at Athens, and he said, "I have desired again and again to come to you, but Satan hindered." It is a remarkable declaration--that the devil hindered him from returning to Thessalonica. I presume that it was because the devil kept up that persecution and would have stirred up the people to greater violence and cruelty if Paul had gone back there. So, not daring to do this, on account of the evil it would bring upon the disciples, he sent Timothy back there and he remained in Athens until Timothy returned. Timothy went to "establish them and strengthen them in the faith and comfort them". Now that brings us the subject of his prayer. In the beginning of the epistle he says, "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." This shows that in all of his prayers he made mention of that body of disciples, with thanksgiving to God on their account. "We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers"; showing [43] that in every prayer that he offered he had remembrance of that church. What an earnest, devoted man he was. How deep his sympathies for his brethren in their suffering. And how earnestly he plead with God on their behalf. Here is an example for every preacher. It does good, or else the inspired apostle would not have engaged in it. If you know of a single disciple who is suffering at the hands of the enemies of God, there is an example for you. He tells them, farther on, what he particularly prayed for when he was remembering them in his prayers and giving thanks to God for them. "Now may our God and father himself direct our way to you and remove Satan out of the place where he is hindering us from coming to you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men." That "all men" included those persecuting Jews; and his prayer is, that the disciples may abound and increase in love not only toward one another, but toward "all men", including those who were persecuting them. "Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus, direct our way unto you: and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you; to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all of his saints". The expression, "All of his saints" includes those who had departed to where Jesus is. And as the word saints means holy ones, he probably refers to the coming of the holy angels; and his prayer is that the Thessalonian saints may be established in holiness. Then he has another prayer for them which he mentions. "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." He next shows his faith in prayer, not only in his own prayers, but in those of others, by adding, "Brethren, pray for us." What was the use of their praying for him? There was a use for it. There was something good in it. He expected as a result of their praying for him that blessings would come to him which he would not otherwise receive. I will next call your attention to his prayer for another church which had been established by other hands than his. He tells the Romans that he had had for many years a longing desire to visit them and be among them. I expect some of you young preachers would like to go to New York City, or to Boston, or over to Chicago, to serve some great. church with its great building, its great organ and choir, and great men sitting there to hear you. Well, why? Curious ambition, or what motive? Certainly the apostle Paul’s desire to visit Rome was not of that kind. He tells them that he has desired to visit them for many years in order that he may impart to them some spiritual gift; not in order that he might say, as some now do, I have preached in Rome, or Boston, or New York, or Chicago, but that he might impart unto them some spiritual gift, and that he might enjoy for a time their fellowship and that they might enjoy his. Now that is a pure and noble purpose. When he said I am not ashamed of the gospel, and I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome, he does not mean that he is such a good preacher that he is not ashamed to preach in Rome; but he says, "I am a debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome." But notice his prayer in regard to them. "For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if by any means now at length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you." Notice that. "I make mention of you always in my prayers." Not praying God’s blessing, as sometimes is said, upon all for whom it is our duty or privilege to pray, the world over; but mentioning unceasingly the church of Rome; not because they were in the midst of any great persecution, but because, situated where they were, their fame as disciples of Christ had spread abroad over the whole earth. "First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world." Everywhere this church had become known and was spoken of. Their faith was published. He thanks God for that and then he, unceasingly in all of his prayers, prays God that he may come to them and impart to them some gift of the Spirit. That was constant. These prayers were offered in Corinth, where he labored for eighteen months. There is another noble expression of the apostle at the close of this epistle--a doxology. "Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith: to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 90: 03.12. PAUL'S PRAYERS FOR HIS FRIENDS ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 12 PAUL’S PRAYERS FOR HIS FRIENDS In my last address I called your attention to Paul’s prayers for two churches--that at Thessalonica, which suffered severer persecution than any other of the churches that he planted; and the one at Rome, whose fame for faith and obedience had spread throughout the Roman empire. He prayed for these most fervently, mentioning both of them in every prayer. The same is true of the church at Philippi and the church at Corinth. We have his own words for his constant remembrance of these four churches in every prayer, naming them and offering, doubtless, for each such supplications as he knew they most needed. We have no right to suppose that these were the only churches of which he constantly made mention in his prayers. There was Berea, and Ephesus, and some others. He was a man of prayer, then, upon whom was laid the care of all the churches, mentioning all these congregations to the Lord in all his prayers. He was worthy of being entrusted with the "care of all the churches". And he who is worthy to be given the care of a single church can not too earnestly and too often pray for it. But Paul did not confine this constant remembrance of others to congregations. He extended it also to individuals. He says to Timothy, "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications, night and day longing to see thee, remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:" He had left Timothy in a flood of tears when he last parted from him and those tears were constantly on his mind, and with that constant memory went up his petitions for that young man. And so in regard to Philemon, a man whom he had never seen so far as the record goes, but of whom he had heard much: He says, "I thank my God always, making mention of thee in my prayers, hearing of thy love and of the faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints." Such a man as that he could not forget when he bowed his knees before God in prayer. Thus we see the mind and heart and memory of this praying man, loaded with the wants, the dangers, the necessities of a large number of persons. For if he prayed thus for Timothy and Philemon, what about Priscilla and Aquila, who once laid down their necks to save his life; or Epaphroditus, or any other of the heroes of the faith whom he loved with all his heart, and who were bound to him by cords of steel? Thus he prayed for the churches with which he was connected, and for individual saints both male and female whom he had known who were his fellow-servants, and whose names were written in the Book of Life. Not only so, but he did not falter in that precept which was taught in the sermon on the Mount--"Love your enemies." His own countrymen had caused his expulsion from Antioch and Iconium; and more recently from Thessalonica which he had to leave by night. They had also on five occasions stripped him of his garments and given him thirty-nine lashes on his naked back. If there ever was a people whom a man might hate, and whom any one of us would hate, it was the Jews in their dealings with Paul. But in the epistle to the Romans he makes a statement which would be unthinkable with common men, "I have great heaviness and unceasing sorrow in my heart: for I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." If he had said, "I have unceasing wrath in my heart," it would not have surprised us; and in the same epistle he says "My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they may be saved." Brethren, who is it in the church today that thus prays for those who hate him? He goes farther than even this. "I could even wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh:" He did not say, I wish it, but I could wish it. I think if he had said, I do wish it, he would have done wrong. I cannot think of myself as wishing myself accursed from Christ for anyone, however near he might be related to me. It is possible that when he said he could wish this, he would have failed had he been put to the test. But those expressions show a devotional and self sacrificing spirit almost equal to that of the Christ himself. (When Paul reached the end of his pilgrimage you would naturally expect to read there some splendid prayers, but not a word of it. When he was ready to lay down his neck that the sharp sword of the executioner might sever his head from his body, he did not spend his last hours in prayer. He had reached the point where prayer is turned to praise, faith to sight and sight to full fruition. He says to Timothy, "The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing." So instead of spending his last hours in prayer, calling on faithful men to pray around his bed and comfort him, as, we in our weakness often do, he left this world with a shout of triumph. This now is the way in which this man of God passed through trials and sufferings at the hands of men, often at hands of those who should have been his friends, and gave up his life in the service of his master. I commend his character and example for your imitation. The more earnest your prayers for others, the more pleasing you will be in the sight of God. It is singular that in the record of his prayers you find him recording only one which he offered for his own personal welfare. He had been so exalted by revelations from heaven, that it was necessary for him to receive an affliction which would be humiliating. He calls it a thorn in the flesh, an emissary of Satan to buffet him. To buffet means to smite you in the face. What could be more irritating than to have an enemy stand by you and frequently smite you in the face? And what could be more humiliating in the presence of others looking on? He says, Three times I have prayed God to remove this from me. That prayer was never answered. Paul says, "He said to me, My grace shall be sufficient for you." Instead of taking it away God gave him grace to bear it. And we are to suppose that he had to endure it to the day of his death. He learned, however, to say, "When I am weak, then I am strong." And in this connection he makes a statement that is as incredible as that about the Jews. "I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake:" God gave him in answer to that prayer, not the relief for which he petitioned, but that strange feeling which relieves those who reach it by prayer from the pain of suffering and the shame of affliction, so that he no longer felt humiliated as he once did, but on the contrary, he says, "I take pleasure." What a strange pleasure! He took pleasure in afflictions which he had prayed God three times to relieve him from without being relieved. How great a soul was that! How unconquerable the spirit. How devoted to God, to Christ and to humanity! Let him be your example next to the example of your Lord and Savior. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 91: 03.13. LYING ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 13 LYING My subject this morning is lying. Let nobody charge that I have selected this subject because it is especially appropriate to my audience. I do not think any of you will ever lie unless you get caught in a very tight place. Lying is, and has been for a long time, one of the most common sins of humanity; so much so, that David said in one of his psalms, "I said in my haste that all men are liars", and some wag added to it that when he got out of his haste he ought to have said the same thing. But there has been a great deal of improvement since then, especially in some portions of the world. In heathen countries and in some Christian countries lying is not considered very base. I recollect that the dragoman we had on my trip through Palestine would lie at any time and was not the least ashamed of it. He would tell us some big lie and when we caught him in it he would not blush or apologize. He called himself a Syrian Christian. Even preachers have been known to be liars. I remember one very unique illustration of this. While I was still living in Missouri a preacher from Kentucky began to move about there and make some reputation. Another preacher stated that he was a common liar. He heard of it and immediately brought charges against his accuser before a board of elders. At the appointed time he came with his saddlepocket full of documents in his own defense and made it appear that he had been grossly slandered. It happened that Raccoon John Smith was in town and was invited to meet with these elders. After the accused had gotten through reading his many documents, he said, "Brethren, here is Bro. John Smith. I am willing for him to tell you what kind of a man I am. He has known me for many years." John Smith arose and said, "Well, Brother Wiley, I never heard any of the brethren speak any harm of you, except that you would lie. They said that you did not lie to do anybody any harm, but just for the love of it". That was the last appeal. He took up his documents and went his way in peace. There are various kinds of lies. The worst kind is malicious lying, as when a man tells a lie for the purpose of injuring another’s reputation, property or by causing unjust punishment to be inflicted; that is undoubtedly the worst kind of lying, the motive of malice being the worst part of it. It was lies of that kind that were told against Jesus, by witnesses that had been suborned; and afterwards the same kind of suborned witnesses told the same kind of lies against Stephen and had him stoned to death. You remember also that Naboth was stoned to death by Jezebel’s order upon the testimony of liars who had been suborned. This is the kind of lying that is specified in the seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." And the punishment under the only civil law that God ever gave to a nation was very severe. A man falsely testifying against his neighbor was punished with the same penalty that would have been inflicted upon the neighbor had he been found guilty, whether stripes or fines or death. If a man falsely charged his neighbor with a crime for which the penalty was death, then this false witness was put to death. And I can but think that this was a very just law. And that statute as in many other instances shows that the law of Moses was in many ways in advance of the laws of the United States. Now, if a man is convicted of having testified falsely, he is fined; and if he has any money the fine is collected, and if not he goes scott free. Sometimes, in an aggravated case, he is sent to the penitentiary for a few months. The law of Moses dealt more justly with liars than does the law of this country. There is another kind of lies that might be called harmless. That is, they do no harm and are not intended to do any harm to anybody else. They are much more common than malicious lies. They are very common with some people, one of whom would be very much insulted if you were to call him a liar. He would knock your teeth down your throat if he could. There is nothing more insulting to the average man than to be called a liar, and yet this kind of lying is very common, so common that people make easy names for it. They call such lies, fibs, or white lies, or something of that sort to make light of them. The biggest lie of this kind that I have ever heard of was told by a man who said once he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and just as the ship got out of the harbor a man jumped overboard and swam beside the ship all the way to Liverpool. It seems that he and another man had made a wager to see which could tell the biggest lie. The other man spoke up and said, "Did you see that, sir?" "Yes Sir, I saw it with my own eyes." "Well, I am glad you did, for I am the man who did the swimming." I don’t know which one got the wager. Now those two men did not intend to harm anyone with those two big lies. It was all for fun, and yet as big a lie as you could think of. A lie is a lie, whether told for fun, or for malice, or just for the love of telling it. Then there is another kind of lies that might be styled selfish lies, lies told for the benefit of the one who tells them. This is the kind of lies told by people engaged in trading, and especially horse-trading. It is commonly thought that horse-traders are the biggest liars in the world. I do not know whether they excel some men who sell you goods over the counter. And sometimes those who are buying are as guilty as those who are selling. This is the kind of lie that Ananias and Sapphira told. That was a selfish lie. It was in order that they might keep a part of that money and at the same time have credit for giving all of it. You know the result. God took them in hand. They dropped dead at the apostles’ feet, Ananias first and then Sapphira. He was the starter of the club that now bears his name. It is very common now for a man who is guilty of this kind of lying to be charged with belonging to the Ananias club. But any man who is guilty of anything that he is ashamed of and lies to hide it, is guilty of this kind of lying as well as he who lies to make money. And it is nearly always the case that a person that will do a mean thing will lie to hide it. And then he will tell another to hide that one and another to hide that and another to hide that and so on, and they seldom get to the truth except when forced to confess it. What about these men that commit murder? They are arraigned before the magistrate and they plead not guilty, swearing that they are not. Then they go to the Circuit Court and there they swear they are not guilty. They employ the best legal talent to argue that they are not guilty, and hire false witnesses to testify in their favor to convince the jury that they are not guilty. And when they are convicted and sentenced to death they send for the priest or a half-witted preacher to come and pray with them until they get religion. Then on the scaffold they hold out their example to young men and warn them; and claim to be ready to die; and call upon their friends to meet them in heaven. This kind of lying is the result of cowardice. A man is afraid for it to be known what he has done, and through a mean, sneaking cowardice lies about it. That is not the worst kind of lying, but it is mean and sneaking. A sheep-killing dog would not be guilty of it if he understood these matters. Now what the Law of Christ says about liars you read in Revelation 21:8 "But for the fearful, and unbelieving and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars," the only one in the list which is emphasized, "their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." There is where Christ places liars, without discriminating the different kinds of lies that they tell. All liars, whatever kind of lies they tell shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. While none of you may be liars, of course you are not and I hope you never will be, still it is very important for you as preachers of the gospel to know how to treat this sin in the presence of the people so as to give all the young people and all the old, a high ideal of truthfulness, and to build up a body of people who are strong in the truth. The apostle Paul exhorts us to put on the whole armor of God, and the very first thing in that armor is to be "girded about the loins with truth". The man who never lies, the man who always speaks the truth, and who has resolved that, whatever comes, he will speak the truth, is not afraid. He can stand up before the accusing world and never have a fear of what man may do to him. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 92: 03.14. POOR PREACHERS ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 14 POOR PREACHERS My subject this morning is Poor Preachers. You will observe at once that the expression is ambiguous. It may mean men who do poor preaching, or it may mean preachers who are poor men. For the former class I have very little respect, because they could all do better preaching if they would. But the latter class includes nearly all preachers. It is true that the Bishop of Durham, of the established church of England, is said to have a fixed income of $80,000.00 a year; but the average salary of a preacher in the United States is set down as $583.00--quite a difference. You remember that when John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Jesus to inquire of him, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" he replied, "Go and tell what you see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them," closing up the list with the statement that the gospel is preached to the poor. He could just as truly have added, if he had seen fit, that it was also preached by the poor. He himself was poor in this world’s goods, for you know that on one occasion he said, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man bath not where to lay his head." And the men whom he sent out to preach were all poor men. Peter and John were going up to the temple one day and met a beggar at the Beautiful gate, who was a cripple and who reached his hand for a pittance. Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none,"--not even enough to give a pittance to a poor beggar. But after attracting his attention very forcibly, he said, "Such as I have I give thee." Then he raised him up and told him to stand up and walk, which he did. Some twenty-five or thirty years ago when we had about two hundred preachers in the state of Kentucky, I took pains to find out in regard to those whom I did not know personally how many of them were the sons of wealthy men, not millionaires, but such men as pass in rural sections as rich men. Out of all that number there were only two that were rich men’s sons-one in a hundred. That tells the story in regard to Kentucky. On another occasion when chapel was more largely attended than it is today I called upon all students whose expenses at college were being paid by their parents to stand, and out of nearly a hundred only nine stood up. That showed that not only was the preaching done by the poor, but it was the sons of the poor that were preparing to be the next generation of preachers. This has been the case all the way back to the beginning. So we can say of this as the Episcopalians so often say in their prayerbook of another subject, "As it was from the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." The question has often been raised, whether this is well or ill in the history of preaching, and the position has been taken by a great many writers in this country when contemplating the fact that fewer young men are preparing for the ministry than formerly, that the cause is the prospect of poverty awaiting those who intend to be preachers. Young men, it is said, are not willing to take the risk of poverty and that keeps them out of the ministry. Now I do not know to what extent this is true, but to the extent that it is true, I regard it as a blessing to the church and to the world rather than a curse. Any young man who declines preparing himself for the ministry for this reason is not fit to enter upon it. And to the extent that the anticipation of poverty keeps men out of the ministry it keeps out those who would be an encumbrance, a dead weight, and a disadvantage. They are not fit to go into the pulpit who are controlled by this consideration. This consideration proves a blessing to the church in keeping out of the ministry those who would only be an encumbrance. It also enables the church to gather the best material to make preachers of men--who have the spirit that animated the Lord and the apostles, who were not going into the ministry for the purpose of earthly gain or for any kind of selfish consideration, but for the love of Christ and fallen, wretched humanity. If the ministry that we have were made up more largely of men of the latter description the church would be stronger than it is today. And if it could easily cast out of itself all those of the other class, the reduction in numbers would be an increase in power. Sometimes young men at college preparing for the ministry feel the burden of poverty pretty keenly. Rising early in the morning and going out for a two or three miles walk without breakfast to deliver the daily paper, is not an easy task. And a great many other things which students do to work their way are burdensome, and in many instances no doubt become discouraging. Young men with weak wills and less devotion than is desirable faint under it and give up the task. But those who are thus burdened not only have a great many examples and patterns in the New Testament to lift up their hearts, but they are sure at last of the love and respect of God and men, and of the privilege of doing great good in the world. Then let us bear bravely on. We can be like the old woman who was bedridden for many years and yet was always cheerful. When asked how she bore up so well, she said, "Well, you don’t know how much comfort I have derived from that blessed passage which reads "Grin and bear it." (Laughter). So take the old woman’s text. Whenever you are inclined to discouragement just say to yourself, "Grin and bear it." That will strengthen you. And by this means you will see that such a struggle develops character; it strengthens a man’s purpose; it makes him more and more dependent upon the Lord; and makes him throw himself more and more on the good providence of God. It is making out of him the very kind of a man that he hopes to be bye and bye, although he did not bargain to go through with it. It is a blessing, then, in keeping out of the pulpit unfit men and bringing into it men who will be ready to discharge its high obligations. And do not think that you are alone in these experiences. You will find them wherever you find men preparing for the ministry. I received a letter just the other day from a young man within one year of graduation who tells me he has made his own expenses thus far partly by waiting on the table of a dental college, and partly by washing spittoons. And one of the most distinguished preachers of the present day, who occupies the pulpit formerly occupied by Henry Ward Beecher, worked his way through college as the janitor. How many of you would like that place? How many of you would be willing to change places with Will or George? Many of the greatest and most useful men have come up through great tribulation to the position which they now occupy. Then, go on with your work. Do not give it up. Go on with your studies until you have completed them. Resolve, that, with the help of God, you will never be the man to do poor preaching, but that you will always be a poor man to do the best preaching of which you are capable. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 93: 03.15. ACTION IN THE PULPIT ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 15 ACTION IN THE PULPIT I purpose to speak this morning on Action in the Pulpit. It is not my purpose to trespass upon the ground occupied by the professors of Homiletics and Vocal Expression, but unfortunately too many of our students go out of college and go to preaching without taking these two courses. And then, those who do take those courses frequently need to be reminded again and again of the things learned from the professors and the text book. As the prophet said long ago, "Line upon line, line upon line; precept upon precept, precept upon precept," here a little and there a little, we still have to do a great deal of repeating in order to beat things into the minds of some people. You have all heard more than once what Demosthenes said about this matter. On being asked what was the first thing in oratory, he said, "Action". "What is the second thing?" "Action". "What is the third?" "Action". But do not be mistaken and think that Demosthenes meant that action was all--that action without thought is oratory. We know from the contents of his great addresses that he meant this: when you appear before an audience with a speech in your head, from this point forward everything depends on action, including the voice as well as the hands. What would the grandest speech that he ever delivered have amounted to, if he had stood up before a Greek audience and held it in his hands, or laid it on the table and read it to them? He knew very well that such a speech as that would never arouse the people to war against Phillip. The bema on which he spoke is still preserved in Athens; it is a solid block of stone with nothing on which to lay a book or a manuscript. Having then, the thought, the first and the second and the third thing with him was action. Neither did Demosthenes mean to affirm that every kind of action a man might indulge in is first or second or third in oratory but appropriate action. Action that is appropriate to the thoughts which the orator desired to drive home to the minds and hearts of his hearers; for this is the value of action in the pulpit or on the rostrum. Jesus was an orator. The highest type of oratory ever heard on earth was his. Unlike Demosthenes, he did not depend on action. He took his seat on the side of the mountain with the multitude stretched out before him. Or he sat in a boat at the edge of the water and spoke to the multitude stretched out before him on the shore. But Jesus had words to speak so far superior to any that Demosthenes or any other orator ever offered, that he depended upon them for the effect of his speeches; and it was not in vain. The apostle Paul, so far as we have learned from Luke, indulged in little action when speaking; but that action had a telling effect. When he stood before a strange audience in Antioch of Pisidia, having been called out of the audience by the ruler of the synagogue, who said to him and Barnabas, "Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on," he stood up in the midst of the audience and "beckoned with his hand" before he uttered a word. Every man knew what that gesture meant. They knew that the stranger had something to say to them that he thought worth hearing, so they listened. And once when a mob had taken him, and was beating him, and would have killed him, he was rescued by Lysias the chief captain and his band of soldiers; and was being taken into the castle. When he came up on the stairs leading into the castle, he begged the officer to allow him to speak to the people. They were crying out, "Away with such a man from the earth." The officer allowed him to speak and Paul "beckoned with his hand". That looks like a very simple act, and it was. But there was something about that simple action that quelled that mob in a moment; and in the language of Luke, "There was a great silence." Then he made them a speech. A man who would get up before an audience in the present day and make no more gesticulation than that, would scarcely be considered an orator. But it had its effect and it might have it again. There was another thing in the oratory of Paul so striking that it impressed Luke and he wrote it down. When Sergius Paulus was listening with great interest to Paul’s preaching and Bar-Jesus contradicted with great vehemence what he was saying, Luke says that Paul "fastened his eyes" upon the man. And that action, which would scarcely be called an action, was accompanied by the words, "O full of all guile and all villainy, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" No doubt that fastening the eyes upon him drove home the words in a fashion that no motion of the hands or arms could have effected. And again, when standing before the Sanhedrin whither he was brought by Lysias, he was there as a man accused of things worthy of death. The mob said, "Away with such a man from the earth." Very naturally the Roman officer expected him to have a down-cast countenance like a man guilty of wrong doing. There was silence for awhile, and not a man rose up to accuse him. He, though the accused, had to begin the proceedings. "Looking steadfastly on the council", he said, "Men and brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience to this day." That was bold. That was not the language of one who was guilty of wrong doing. He wore the calm, majestic, beaming face of an innocent man. How pusillanimous and contemptuous was the reply made by the chief priest: "Some of you who are standing near him, Smite him on the mouth." It was done; yet with that calm face still beaming upon them he said, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. Sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?" And the chief captain saw the Jewish court torn all to pieces by the power of the man charged with things worthy of death. I wish I could have seen Paul’s face. There was something in the cast of his eye and the expression of his countenance that was well calculated to overawe the wrong doers. These are the only two characteristics of his action that are recorded, but these are enough to show mastery, self-reliance, and an overpowering force of character and manner. The best method I know of for a young man to acquire suitable action in the pulpit, or for an old man, for that matter, is to first find the faults of which you are guilty and correct them. The action that is left will be natural and effective like the actions of children at play. I suggest as the first fault, that of the posture which you assume before the audience. Do not stand flat on both feet alike. (Speaker here assumed the faulty position described). That is the weakest attitude a man can assume. If a man should strike you in that attitude, he would knock you over with a touch. Do not appear as though you were not sure where you stand; but stand in an easy, natural position. Your body will then be free, and you can use the hands and arms naturally. Perhaps I might mention as the second correction, don’t keep your hands in your pockets while speaking. Keep your hands out of your pockets. How often you see a man in the pulpit (Illustrates). Then he thinks he ought to make a gesture (Illustrates, taking his hands out of his pockets and swinging them in a gesture, then nervously fumbling them back into pockets. ) (Laughter) How many times I have seen that! Now you will find, if you have already gotten into that habit, that the best way to break it up, is to break it up everywhere else. At home, in your room, out in company, and especially before ladies, do not cram your hands down in your pockets. Do not come in on a cold day and get up to the fireplace and (Illustrates, cramming hands in pockets). That is about as awkward a thing as you can do. And if the habit is so fastly fixed upon you that you can’t break it up, have somebody to sew those pockets up, or put some tight buttons on them. I guess that strikes a good many. Well, I hope you will feel it. Then do not indulge in studied gesticulation. I have seen young gents when they were delivering a memorized speech, coming to a place where they thought they ought to make a gesture. (Here the speaker stiffly brought his right hand to the center of his body, raised it very precisely along the median line of the body to about the height of the chin, then pushed it slowly off in a direction to the right, forward and upward, closely following the whole movement with his eyes.) (Great laughter) That smells of the looking-glass, and is--I was going to say, very disgusting to an intelligent hearer. Then, do not indulge in violent gesticulation. How often you see a man--(Here the speaker went through with several rounds of the pugilistic demonstrations often seen in the pulpit and on the platform) or with his Bible--(Here the speaker illustrated the violent and nervous handling of the Bible). Now that does not mean anything. I saw during our Educational Congress here, a man using this kind of gesticulation (Illustrates). He kept that up for half an hour. And what did it mean? Was he aiming to drive home some thought? I could not see it. Then do not indulge in anything like laziness. Do not lean on the pulpit this way (Illustrates) or this way (Illustrates). I was very much surprised when I was teaching Homiletics, before Prof. Jefferson came, to find that though the author of our text book specified such faults as lying on the pulpit, when I heard him preach afterwards, this is what he did. (Illustrates by lying on the pulpit). (Much laughter). That looks as if you were lazy--as if you had not gotten stirred up any by the thoughts you are uttering to stir up others. I close with this. If you want to see gesticulation in as near perfection as you will ever see it, watch little children three or four years of age, engaged in animated conversation. And if you do any imitating, imitate them rather than full grown men. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 94: 03.16. REPENTANCE ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 16 R E P E N T A N C E There are certain considerations in regard to repentance, which it is exceedingly important for us to keep in mind. Among all the conditions of pardon and eternal life, it is the most difficult to bring about. When you look through the record of the Savior’s earthly ministry, you find that he induced a great many to believe in Him--so many that, in the latter part of his career, it is said by one Apostle, "many of the chief rulers believed, yet they did not confess him for fear of the Pharisees, lest they be excluded from the Synagogue." These chief rulers were probably the rulers of the Synagogue, but the Pharisees had a large majority in nearly all of the synagogues, and could easily exclude their rulers when they desired to do so. But when you search for those who repented under the Lord’s preaching, you will find but few. If you can point out any failure in His personal ministry, it was the failure to bring men who heard him to repentance. Consequently, we find that when he was about to leave Galilee, he upbraided the cities in which most of his mighty works had been wrought, because they repented not. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." His inability to bring those who saw most and heard most of His ministry to repentance, is a startling fact. And so it is with preachers today, the world over. When you go out preaching among the people of this country, you will not find it very difficult to induce your hearers to believe the truth concerning Christ, and, when they are prepared in mind and heart for baptism, you will not find it at all difficult to persuade them to submit to that. Even in the dead of winter, when thick ice must be removed in order to immerse them. You will find no difficulty, provided they have repented and desire to obey the Lord; but how difficult it is to induce men to repent! Sinners outside the church and sinners inside the church cling to their sins, and it appears impossible in many instances to bring them to repentance. As regards faith, the majority of sinners in this country find it very difficult to be infidels when they try to be. You meet with many a man who claims to be an infidel and seems to take pride in it; but if you watch him closely for a long time, you will find that he is merely trying to be an infidel, and this is demonstrated by the fact that when great danger, or great sorrow, or death comes close to him, the infidelity passes away, and the man who had scoffed at the idea of religion turns pale, and trembles, and calls upon some earnest Christian to kneel at his bedside and pray for him. That occurrence is almost as common as the claim of infidelity. If, then, when you are addressing your congregation, you make a desperate effort to induce them to believe, very likely the majority of them are saying to you, "I believe as firmly as you do; and you are wasting your time trying to induce me to believe." I recollect when I once felt that way myself. When a youth, I often listened to an old Presbyterian preacher, whom I very highly esteemed, who believed in justification by faith alone, and often insisted that as soon as you believe that Jesus Christ is your personal Saviour your sins are all gone--you are happy in the Lord. I said to myself, and I said to my companions. "I believe just as firmly as that old brother does, but it has not had such an effect on me. He is certainly mistaken". But when you come to an effort to induce men to repent of their sins, there you stagger, in a multitude of cases from week to week and from year to year with the same hearers before you. Why is this? I suppose it is accounted for by two considerations. First, the pleasures of sin--the pleasures that certain sins bring to the sinner dance before his eyes while he hears you, and being unwilling to give up these pleasures, he refuses to repent. Second, repentance has to do with the will, the stubborn will of a man, and a man’s will is backed up by his pride. His pride and his self-will together stand against you and enable him to cast off all of the appeals that you make. So he lives on in impenitence. When preaching was my work, I thought to myself many times, and I think I said it many a time to others, that of all the gifts which I crave, if I had my wish, the first would be that I might have the power to bring men to repentance by my preaching. These being the facts of the case, what should we preach? What should we make the subjects of our addresses to the ungodly? A military man in battle brings his heaviest artillery to bear against that which is the strongest part of the enemy’s defense. It is idle to bring the light artillery to bear against the strongest fortification. The great battleships which men are now constructing with the twelve inch balls that they hurl are employed against these vessels that are covered over with iron twelve inches thick and against the strongest of fortified walls. The preacher, too, should level his heaviest artillery, his strongest appeals, against that part of the fort of his enemy, that is comparable to the thickest armor of fort and battleship. What is that but impenitence? I am afraid that many preachers make a mistake here. There are some who seem to plan their sermons to gather up the greatest amount of oratorical beauty which they can array, with the aim chiefly in their mind of pleasing their audiences, that they can go away delighted with the preacher. That is a very foolish idea. One of the Kings of France, Louis XV, I believe, who was a very wicked man, had two court preachers, both of them very eminent men. He was asked one day which of them he preferred to hear, or rather, what was his estimate of the two preachers. He answered, "When I hear such a one (naming him), I am left thinking, what a wonderful man that is. When I hear the other, I am left thinking what a miserable sinner I am." "Which of the two do you prefer?" Wicked man as he was, he said, "I prefer the latter, because he makes me feel like being a better man. The other makes me admire him, the latter makes me despise myself." Oh, what a difference between the two preachers! One exerting all of his powers to make his hearers feel their sinfulness. Now, make your choice. But, seeing that it is so difficult to induce men to repent, perhaps you would like for me to suggest you something about the way to succeed. I wish I could tell you a way by which you could always succeed. It has been a great failure in my own life as a preacher. I have been perhaps unusually successful in convincingly hearers of the truth of what I had to present to them, but I have made a failure in trying to bring them to repentance. I suggest that, inasmuch as the Apostle Paul tells us that the goodness of God brings men to repentance, you struggle in your sermons to bring to bear every fact exhibiting the goodness of God to bad men, if, perchance, through the gratitude that you stir in their hearts you may induce them to repent. And inasmuch as Jesus in his appeal to the cities in which he had done his great works, warned them of the examples of Nineveh and Sodom, to bring them to repentance, his method must be wise, although it may fail. Gather out of the Scriptures as you study them--gather together in your memory, everything that you find there, every fact, every precept, which properly considered, ought to cause men to repent. Then, bring these to bear upon them with all of the power you have: but, in preparing your sermons, do not forget to prepare them for those to whom you speak and the difficulties in their way. Have this in your mind while you are trying to decide what subject you will take and how you will treat and frame every sentence and every line of thought with a view to effecting this great triumph. Thus you will be able to save some. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 95: 03.17. HOW TO BE RESPECTED ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 17 HOW TO BE RESPECTED Paul said to Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth." To despise the youth of a preacher means, I think, to disregard his preaching because he is a young man. And that is no uncommon thing in the experience of preachers at the present day. There is a great demand among the churches for young preachers with many, because it requires less money to support them. But very often the young preacher finds that he is despised on account of his youth. It shows itself chiefly when the young man proposes some changes or improvements in the church which the older men and women have not been accustomed to, and they turn upon him and say, "Why you are a young man just out of college, and do you presume to teach us?" Or the young preacher finds it necessary in discharging his duty toward God to rebuke some of the abuses that ought to have been rebuked before; then they despise his youth. The young people, when he urges upon them the importance of propriety and sobriety, say, "Why you are no older than we are. If it were some older preacher we would listen to him." And thus, in various ways, the young preacher finds himself despised on account of his youth. The question naturally arises, inasmuch as young men can not at once make themselves older, what is a young preacher to do? If he is told to let no man despise his youth, his answer naturally is, How in the world can I avoid it? Well, Paul gives Timothy a recipe for that: "Be thou an example to them that believe". Well, in what way shall I be an example to the believers? In what particulars? Paul points out five of the particulars which he seems to think sufficient to accomplish the purpose. "Be an example in word, in manner of life, in faith, in love, in purity." How to be an example in word. Does this refer merely to the preached word? Of course that must be included, because that is the most important word that the young preacher, or an old one either, ever speaks. Be an example in that respect, so that whatever you say in the pulpit, no man can despise. Be a good example for others to follow who stand to speak to the congregation. Of course it is to be free from thoughtlessness, frivolity and worldliness, and from everything that would detract from effectiveness in making men better and wiser. "In manner of life." That refers to conduct. To conduct, not only in public and in the congregation but in society. "Manner of life"! That includes nearly everything that the young preacher does except when he is asleep. If his manner of life is such as to be an example to the believers, one that they ought to imitate, they can not despise him in that particular. The next item is faith. "Be an example in faith." Suppose the young preacher indicates by word or action that his faith is shaky--his faith in the Bible, his faith in Christ, his faith in the things that are revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Suppose it is discovered by the congregation, that his faith in anything of importance from Genesis to Revelation is very doubtful. Then all thoughtful persons, old and young, will despise his youth. They will say, This young fellow they have set up to lead us and be an example to us, and help us on in the way we should go, while he is wobbling like a lame man on that straight and narrow path himself. Then, next to faith, the apostle says love. Be an example in love. Of course that refers primarily to the love of God, secondly to the love of the brethren, and the sisters--love of all good persons, and also to the love of sinners whom he is trying in love and earnestness to save from their sins. There is another kind of love, however, that I think was scarcely included in Paul’s intention in writing to Timothy. In those days you know that what we call "love affairs" among young people were scarcely known. The father and the mother of the two parties managed all those arrangements themselves, without trusting to the immature judgment of the young people. They could not trust a young man to pick out his wife, nor a girl to decide between her suitors. There was too much responsibility in the rearing of children and in the discharge of the duties of married life to be left to the judgment of the young people. But that is included in the word love, and we may safely conclude that the apostle would have a young preacher to be an example to the believers in his love affairs. He must not be a flirt. If he happens to be popular with the other sex, he must not allow his popularity to lead him into flirting. That is dishonest and mean. He cannot be an example before the younger people of the church if they find him to be a man of that kind. He must be an example in these things, in honesty and sincerity, as he loves God, that he may benefit and save the people. Then he also says, "an example in purity." That word, unlimited, means purity in thought, words, conversation, action; so that the man throughout his whole being is a pure man. Now the young preacher who makes himself an example to the believers in these five particulars, is an admirable young man. No man is going to despise him on account of his youth. Every man and every woman who considers him sees in him an example for themselves to follow, instead of an inexperienced young man for them to despise and look down upon. I can not think of any other way to keep people from despising your youth. Now, brethren, everyone of you will be exposed to the danger which Paul apprehended that Timothy might incur, and for which he gave this warning. How are you going to meet it? Will you bristle up when the old folks begin to criticize you, and say, These old people never have been to college and I have? I have been to the Bible college, and I know, and I know too that they don’t know. What effect will that have? The very opposite. And when the young people begin to criticize him, what will he say? Will he say, I know I am not older than they are, but I know a good deal more than they do? I am here to "give it to them" and I am going to give it to them! If so, he may keep on giving it to them until at the end of his engagement with that church, they let him go. They despised his youth. But if a man is an example to the believers in these five particulars, such a thing as that can never occur, Such a man is prized very highly by the believers; and they are thanking God for sending him to them. And they are constantly predicting what a great man he is going to be when he gets older. And that young man, instead of becoming discouraged because he is young, is conscious of the fact that he is getting older every day, and consequently all these troubles about being young pass away. I bespeak for that young man as he grows older an ever increasing love and respect from his people. Laying aside the matter of your success as a preacher, this is the way to get to heaven. This is the way to live a life that will be praised of men when it is ended, that will have the approval of good men while you are living it, that will have the final approval of God. Now, brethren, let me impress upon you with all the emphasis I can command the words, "Let no man despise thy youth, but be an example to them that believe in manner of life, in faith, in love, in purity." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 96: 03.18. ROBERT MILLIGAN ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 18 ROBERT MILLIGAN It is my purpose to devote the last two addresses of this session to an account of the two men represented by the first two portraits above our rostrum. These portraits were not hung there merely to ornament the room, although they are somewhat more ornamental than the bare walls would be, but for the purpose of imparting important lessons to the students of our college. Our college, brief as its career has been, has outworn two presidents and pretty nearly finished the third. The lives of these two men are sources of great inspiration for good, such as is needed to stimulate the minds of young men preparing to preach the Word. Robert Milligan was a native of the North of Ireland, the Protestant portion of Ireland, that portion in which my own father was born and brought up. His ancestors were Scotch, as his name indicates, and from them he received the Scotch Presbyterian faith in which he was educated. His father moved to this country when he was a child and settled in North East Ohio, which was then almost a wilderness. The farmers had great difficulty and toil in clearing their lands of the heavy growth of timber. Robert, when he was a boy, was brought up to that kind of work. He was characteristically industrious and enthusiastic, and into everything that he did he threw all his strength. To such a disposition this hard work of clearing lands proved too much, and enfeebled his constitution for life. He was educated in a private school taught by a distinguished graduate of Edinborough University. Then having reached his majority, and having become a communicant in his father’s church, he looked out for work to do. He had chosen teaching as his profession and he found employment in it here in Bourbon county; in the little village of Flat Rock. In teaching, he had young men in his classes from our brotherhood, who have now as they had then the prevailing numbers in Bourbon county. These young men, knowing him to be a Presbyterian, and being better instructed in the word of God than Presbyterians in general, threw before him a great many puzzling questions about the Scriptures, and especially about baptism. His strict conscientiousness and his desire to know the truth and to espouse it, led him, under these questions of the boys, to undertake the reexamination of all the grounds of his faith and his baptism; and as is true of hundreds of other such men, he was convinced by his careful research of his own Good Book that he ought to be immersed and unite with the Disciples, which he did. After teaching thus for two years at Flat Rock, he started to go to Yale, to extend his own education, but in passing through Washington, Pennsylvania, where he had some friends, he was importuned by them to stay there and graduate in Washington College. The main inducement for him to stay there, was the fact that there was a little congregation of Disciples about a mile from town who were very much in need of a leader and teacher. So they besought him to stay with them and they prevailed. This opportunity for usefulness was a far stronger inducement to him than the greater education at the more famous institution. Such was his success as a student, that the very next year after his graduation, he was given a professorship which he held for twelve years. Then was exhibited another mark of his conscientiousness. He learned that it was the will of those who had charge of the college to put it under the Presbyterian Synod. That was done in order to make it strictly a Presbyterian college. He was not willing to remain in a college the owners of which wanted it to be strictly Presbyterian, while he was not of that faith himself. He offered his resignation. He was urged to remain and assured that his change of view made no difference. But it made a difference with him, and he did not stay. He differed from many preachers and teachers, who when they get into a good place stay there at the cost of any kind of a strife or division. He was now offered a professorship in the Indiana University, located at Bloomington. He accepted it. There he lived for two years. But Indiana at that time, in its early settlement, was full of malaria. Chills and fever prevailed very greatly and in some places fatally. The ill health of his family constrained him to resign. He then accepted a chair that he had been offered repeatedly in Bethany College. Alexander Campbell had heard of him and formed his acquaintance. He esteemed him very highly from the first; and when he knew him well, he longed for his assistance in the management of the students of Bethany College. Finally he prevailed. When he came to Bethany there was what we might call a revolution. He instituted a system of work for the religious good of the students, such as had never been known before in that institution. All the students admired Alexander Campbell and wondered at his greatness; but in a little while every one learned to love Professor Milligan. He was their friend. He was their companion as much as his duties would permit. He had labored there for five years when Kentucky University having arisen into prominence and looking about for a president, selected him. They selected him for the name he had won by his work in Bethany College. It was very hard for them to get him to accept the presidency, but he finally did and moved to Harrodsburg. The same kind of work was done here as a president as had been done there as a professor. Then when the University was moved to this city, he came with it. When The College of the Bible was organized, in its very beginning he was chosen as president. Nobody thought of anyone else. In the year 1875 he breathed his last. Every virtue and every grace which he had exhibited in his previous life was here exhibited more fully. No student ever spent a year in The College of the Bible or in the College of Arts, that did not have a passionate love for President Milligan. As a scholar he was not eminent, but his scholarship was such that with the earnest care and diligence with which he entered into every question he was required to handle, he was accurate and sure. As a preacher he was not brilliant nor oratorical, but always deeply impressive. As a teacher he was one of the most successful. He was clear in his utterances and required the members of his classes to be clear in theirs. He never fell into the fault of many teachers, of doing the talking in the classroom himself when it was time for the students to do it. When a young man stood up to recite to him he had to depend upon himself to get through; or else, when he could not get through without help, with a very kind word and a nod, "That will do, my brother" he had to sit down. And very few students ever passed through his classes without having a reasonably thorough knowledge of the subject. His chief distinction was as a man, a Christian man, a man with every virtue and every grace that adorns a Christian character. It was this characteristic, or these, that made him almost the idol of those whom he instructed. Who can estimate the value of the work of such a man as that, though he died, as we may say, prematurely at 61 years of age. How many souls he started in the right path! How many crude minds he filled with vital truth and with correct knowledge, and sent out into the great field of work to sow the seeds of righteousness and eternal life. No man can count the number of these. When I think of him personally, I remember him as one of the warmest friends I ever had on earth. I think of him now as one of the best friends I now have in heaven. If it were in his power to do me any good during the remainder of my sojourn here, I know he would do it. But ’twere vain for me to call on him for it, seeing there is one greater than he who has it in his power to do what he will for his servants, and he promises to do the very best for me that is possible. Brethren, keep the characters and careers of such men before you. One of the characteristics of a Christian, as Paul defines it, is to be "a lover of good men". Be lovers of good men. That makes you seek to imitate them. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 97: 03.19. ROBERT GRAHAM ======================================================================== Chapel Address -- No. 19 ROBERT GRAHAM The second portrait above, as you all know, represents the second president of this college. Physically, he was the contrast of Robert Milligan. An Englishman by birth, he grew up with the solid frame and muscle of a typical Englishman. A carpenter by trade, from his boyhood, his diligent work at that trade hardened the muscles which nature gave him, so that he was a model of strength. When he was in college on one occasion a proud, aristocratic and mischievous student, while at the breakfast table, hurled a biscuit, a hard biscuit, at the poor man who was the waiter, and hit him a severe blow on the cheek. The poor fellow walked up to him and slapped his jaw. That was a terrible outrage, for a servant boy to strike an aristocratic boarder. The latter jumped up and ran after the fellow as he went out at the kitchen door, and a lot of his comrades followed him like a mob. Bob Graham, as they called him, was sitting at the far end of the table, next to the kitchen door. He saw the whole affair and just as these men drew near he jumped up, clenched his fists and shouted, "Stand back, gentlemen! Fair play! One at a time!" None of them wanted to come in contact with those fists: so they went quietly back to their seats at the table. That was Robert Graham when he was a young man. And the idea of fair play, "a square deal", and justice to all, high and low, characterized him as long as he lived. He was very popular with the students, and this incident did not make him any less so. He told me more than once that he had never taken any exercise for health. He took plenty of it when he was a carpenter, he thought to do him all his life. He told me this on seeing how diligently I had to work to keep my body strong. He also said to me, knowing how frequently I was sick, that he fully expected to outlive me several years. He died five years younger than I am now. Such is the uncertainty of life. It was his skill and industry as a carpenter in early life and until after he was married, that led him to become a scholar and a preacher. Mr. Campbell needed the services of a good carpenter at Bethany. This young man was recommended very highly by some brethren, and he sent for him. He was so well pleased with him in every way, that he advised him to give up his carpenter’s trade, come to college, and become a preacher. Mr. Campbell was the editor and publisher of the only hymn book of our people at that time, and he devoted the profits of this publication to the education of young men for the ministry. By this means he enabled Robert Graham to accept his advice. Robert took his place among the best of the students. He was still there and in his senior year when I went to Bethany. It was the custom then in Bethany, on account of the scarcity of professors, to assign some of the freshman classes to a few of the choicest of the graduating class. They worked, of course, without compensation, but with a good deal of benefit to themselves. I was at first put under him in my Latin, and he was one of the best teachers I have ever had. A. R. Benton, since then the eminent scholar’s teacher of Indianapolis, was my professor in Greek. When Brother Graham graduated Mr. Campbell sent him out on a collecting tour through the Southwest. A great many people had become indebted to him for the Millennial Harbinger, for hymn books, and other things. So he sent Robert Graham through Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and some portions of Texas to hunt up these debtors, and to preach the gospel as he went. He traveled on horseback. This tour led him to observe the state of society and the prospects of the people in those thinly settled regions. He decided to locate at Fayetteville and build a college. He did so. In erecting the building he himself was the architect and the superintendent of the work. It was very strange to those farmers and rough mechanics to see a college man working as a carpenter, excelling them all in skill. And when heavy timbers were to be carried on hand-spikes, they were amazed to see this college man holding the hand-spike against the men among them. So he won popularity, finished his college, and had a large patronage. In the meantime he was not neglecting the spiritual wants of the people. He traveled far and wide on horseback through the forests and over the mountains, to reach distant appointments, where at a stand built in the forest, for the audiences would be too large for any of the log school-houses or meeting-houses, he would preach, usually protracting his sermon from one and one-half to two hours, and sometimes exceeding two hours. Notwithstanding that, some of the brethren would come to him and say, "I rode twenty (often thirty or forty) miles to hear you preach today, and it does not seem to me to pay to ride so far to hear so short a sermon. Then, after meeting he would ride home, often riding far into the night, in order to be in his place at the college next morning when the bell rang. So he worked until the civil war came on. Then, his college in the confusion of the time was burned down, and the young men whom he might have expected to come to his college were all enlisted in the army. So he saw that his work in Arkansas was done. Through some friends he was invited to come to Cincinnati, and he came to preach to one of our leading congregations there. After laboring there for a short time he moved to Harrodsburg as a professor in Kentucky University. Not long after that he was called to San Francisco. A few brethren there, anticipating that there would be built the great metropolis which it has since become, wanted to organize a church that would grow with the city. He went and preached for what was called then and is called now the First Christian church in San Francisco. It was not large and never has grown very large. The work was very hard and discouraging, but he struggled with it heroically until he was called back to be president of the College of Arts of this institution. There were no railroads then across the Rocky Mountains and no one dreamed that there ever would be. The journey was made by the ocean and in sailing vessels. He remained president of the College of Arts until Hamilton College was organized, when he was made president of that, and served it faithfully until he was called to the presidency of The College of the Bible after the death of Robert Milligan. He was an untiring worker, ready to go without his dinner any day when there was pressing work to be done. He showed such interest in the work at all times that he won the high praises of the board of Curators and of all connected with the institution. Finally, old age with its infirmities began to come upon him. When he was seventy-five years of age he resigned the presidency, retaining his professorship. Another year or two of labor compelled him to resign his professorship. He went to Pittsburg to visit a friend, and from there the news came of his death. His remains were brought here and laid away in God’s land out there where there is a host of good men and women sleeping until the resurrection morning. I was sick in bed when he died, with a very severe attack of La Grippe and the doctor and my family and friends kept the news from me. He was brought here, Brother Loos preached his funeral and he was buried before I knew anything about it. My friends feared that if I should learn of his death it would be to me in my feebleness like the last feather on the camel’s back. I knew nothing of it until a day or two after his burial, when some one carelessly left the daily paper lying on my bed. I reached after it and thought I would see what was going on. The very first thing my eye fell upon was the account of the death of President Graham. I was not so shocked as my friends feared; for I had expected it. He had not only a strong body, but a strong voice. He could make the remotest man in those vast crowds in the forests of Arkansas hear him. When he let that voice out to the full measure it rumbled almost like distant thunder. His thoughts were good, his language fine, his power as a preacher eminent. He was an excellent teacher in every department which he undertook to teach. Two characteristics of his life stood out very admirably, his economy and his liberality. One day he showed me a little ten cent memorandum book which he drew out of his pocket and said, "I can trace every dime that has come into my hands for years by my little memorandums and tell where it came from and where it went. I was very much astonished, for one of the hardest things for me to do, has ever been to keep a memorandum of expenses with any degree of satisfaction. Most of men who are that close and exact about their money matters are penurious, but he was very far from being so. On leaving San Francisco when he had paid all the passage expenses of his family he had about three hundred dollars in gold that he had saved up. He handed it to the treasurer of the church and told him to use it for the good of the church. When he got home one dollar (or fifty cents, I have forgotten which) was all that he had left. When he left Arkansas in the midst of the Civil War, the college having burned down, he had no property. He needed some money however, to get away from there. He went to some of the wealthy brethren and asked them to loan him enough for his purpose without security, for he had nothing to give as security. They let him have all he wanted, and he came to Cincinnati. When he was president of Hamilton College he corresponded with these brethren in regard to the payment of this money. The government had issued the paper money called "greenbacks" and had made this legal tender, in payment of all debts; and "greenbacks" were so much below par at that time that it took one dollar and eighty cents to buy one dollar in gold. These brethren told him that he might pay his debts to them in greenbacks and they would be satisfied. He said, "No brethren, I will not pay in greenbacks. The money I borrowed from you was worth one hundred cents on the dollar and I will pay you back in the same kind of money." And he stuck to that, although they urged him to take advantage of the greenbacks, and paid every cent of it in gold. Now that was the characteristic in business of the man who was the second president of this college. Brethren, when I look forward to the future I always wonder what is to be the future of The College of the Bible. I always recollect with thankfulness the prayers of these two men. They are a great consolation. In the Old Testament how often after David had died and gone, it is said under the reign of wicked kings, that Jehovah spared the people for David’s sake. And I am sure that for Robert Milligan’s and Robert Graham’s sake, God will spare The College of the Bible a long time, even if it should begin to prove unworthy. —THE END— ======================================================================== CHAPTER 98: 05.00. COMMENTARY ON ACTS ======================================================================== A COMMENTARY ON ACTS OF APOSTLES, WITH A REVISED VERSION OF THE TEXT. BY J. W. M c G A R V E Y. SEVENTH EDITION LEXINGTON, KY.: TRANSYLVANIA PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO. 1872. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 99: 05.000. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== I N T R O D U C T I O N. It is necessary to the successful study of any literary production, that the exact design of the author should be known and kept constantly in view. It would be doing great injustice to the author of Acts, to suppose that he undertook this work without having before him some one leading object, which should serve as the connecting thread of the narrative, and according to which all the historic details should take place and form. The conjecture of commentators as to what this leading object is are various and somewhat conflicting. "The writer’s object," says Dr. Hackett, "if we are to judge of it from what he has performed, must have been to furnish a summary of history of the origin, gradual increase, and extension of the Christian Church, through the instrumentality, chiefly of the Apostles Peter and Paul. This is rather a statement of what he has performed than of the object for which he performed it. The same defect attaches to Dr. Alexander’s conjecture. He says: "The book before is a special history of the planting and extension of the Church, both among Jews and Gentiles, by the gradual establishment of radiating centers, as sources of influence, at certain salient points throughout a large part of the empire, beginning at Jerusalem and ending at Rome. That the history does exhibit these facts is certainly true, but that there is behind this a design for the accomplishment of which these facts are stated, must be equally true. The author’s design is equally misunderstood by Bloomfield and others with him, who say that it was "to give an authentic account of the communication of the Holy Spirit, and of the miraculous powers and supernatural gifts bestowed by the Spirit," and "to establish the full claim of the Gentiles to be admitted into the Church of Christ. It is true that the history establishes the claim of the Gentiles to admission into the Church, and also contains an account of the descent and work of the Holy Spirit, yet neither of these can be regarded as the leading thought around which the contents of the volume adjust themselves. Mr. Barnes, in the midst of some detached statements upon this subject, has approached the true idea in the following characteristic remark: "This book is an inspired account of the character of true revivals of religion." But the true idea is still more nearly approached by a writer in Kitto’s Encyclopedia who says: "Perhaps we should come still closer to the truth if we were to say that the design of Luke, in writing Acts, was to supply, by select and suitable instances, an illustration of the power and working of that religion which Jesus had died to establish." It is correctly assumed by Dr. Hackett, in the words above quoted, that we are to judge of a writer’s design by what he has performed. Bearing in mind the distinction between the work done and the design for which it is done; a slight glance at the contents of this book will reveal to us a design which has escaped the notice of all the above-named writers. Much the greater part of Acts may be resolved into a detailed history of cases of conversion, and of unsuccessful attempts at the conversion of sinners. If we extract from it all cases of this kind, with the facts and incidents preparatory to each and immediately consequent upon it, we will have exhausted almost the entire contents of the narrative. All other matters are merely incidental. The events of the first chapter were designed to prepare the apostles for the work of converting men; the gift of the Holy Spirit to them and to others was to qualify them for it; the admission of the Gentiles was an incident connected with the conversion of Cornelius, and others after him; the conference, in the fifteenth chapter, grew out of these conversions; and the long account of Paul’s imprisonment in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome, with his sea-voyage and shipwreck, constitute but the connected history of his preaching to the mob in Jerusalem, to the Sanhedrim, to Felix, to Festus, to Agrippa, and to the Jews and Gentiles in Rome. The episode in the twelfth chapter, concerning the persecutions by Herod, and his death, is designed to show that, even under such circumstances, "the word of God grew and multiplied." All the remainder of the history consists, unmistakably, in detailed accounts of conversions. Such being the work performed by the author, we may readily determine his design by inquiring, Why should any cases of conversion be put upon the record? Evidently, it was that men might know how conversions were effected, and in what they consisted. The cases which are recorded represent all the different grades of human society; all the different degrees of intellectual and religious culture; all the common occupations in life, and all the different countries and languages of the then known world. The design of this variety is to show the adaptation of the one gospel scheme to the conversion of all classes of men. The history of a case of conversion, necessarily embraces two distinct classes of facts: First, the agencies and instrumentalities employed in effecting it; second, the changes effected in the individual who is the subject of it. In the pursuit of his main design, therefore, the author was led to designate specifically all these agencies, instrumentalities, and changes. He does so in order that his readers may know what agents are employed, and how they work; what instrumentalities must be used, and how they are applied; and what changes must take place, in order to the Scriptural conversions of a sinner. The chief agent employed in the conversion of men is the Holy Spirit. It is this fact which led the author to detail so minutely the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the various gifts and influences by which his work was accomplished. He thus teaches the reader what part this divine agent performed in the conversion of sinners, and how he performed it. Another important agency employed was the personal labor of the apostles and inspired evangelists. The manner in which their part of the work was performed is carefully described, in order that men of every age and country, whose business it is to perform the part corresponding to theirs, may learn, from their example, how to perform it scripturally. But Peter and Paul were the chief laborers of that generation, and for this reason their names occupy the prominent position assigned them. It is well known that the recital by men of the process of their conversion is well calculated both to teach sinners the process through which they must struggle in order to conversion, and to stimulate them to undertake it. Men are taught more successfully and influenced more powerfully by example than by precept. Many religious teachers of the present day, having discovered the practical workings of this principle in human nature, depend much more, in their efforts to convert sinners, upon well-told experiences than upon the direct preaching of the Word. The success which has attended this policy should admonish us that these experiences of conversion recorded in Acts are by no means to be lightly esteemed as instrumentalities for the conversion of the world. They possess, indeed, this advantage: that, in contrast with all the conversions of the present day, they were guided by infallible teaching, and were selected by infallible wisdom from among thousands of others which had occurred, because of their peculiar fitness for a place in the inspired record. They have, we may say, twice passed the scrutiny of infinite wisdom; for, first all the conversions which occurred under the preaching of inspired men were directed by the Holy Spirit; and, second, if any difference existed between those put on record and the others, the Holy Spirit, by selecting these few, decided in their favor as the best models for subsequent generations. If a sinner seeks salvation according to the model of modern conversions, he may be misled; for his model is fallible at best, and may be erroneous; but if he imitate these inspired models, it is impossible for him to be misled, unless the Holy Spirit itself can mislead him. Moreover, in so far as any man’s supposed conversion does not accord with these, it must be wrong; in so far as it does accord with them, it must be right. If it be asked why we may not as well take for our model the cases of conversion which occurred under the former dispensation, or during the life of Jesus, the answer is obvious. We do not live under the law of Moses, or the personal ministry of Jesus, but under the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, just previous to his ascension, committed the affairs of his kingdom on earth into the hands of twelve men, to be guided by the Holy Spirit, who descended shortly after he ascended; and now all that we can know of present terms of pardon must be learned through the teaching and example of these men. If, then, the conditions of pardon under any preceding dispensation be found to differ from those propounded in Acts, in all the points of difference the latter, and not the former, must be our guide. These are the last, and certainly the most elaborately detailed communications of the Divine will upon the subject, and belong peculiarly to the new covenant under which we live. If God has made them to differ, in any respect, from those under the old covenant, he teaches us, by this very difference, that he has thus far set aside the old through preference for the new. In the following pages it is made a leading object to ascertain the exact terms of pardon as taught by the apostles, and the precise elements which constitute real conversion to Christ. The present is pre-eminently a missionary period of the Church. None has been more so, except the age of the apostles. Especially is it distinguished by success in the conversion of sinners in professedly Christian lands. Hence, it is a demand of the age that the true method of evangelizing the world should be known and read of all men. But the true method can be found only in the labors of inspired apostles and evangelists, and the record of these labors is found only in the book of Acts. A failure to understand and to appreciate this book has been, and still is, a most prolific source of confusion and error in the popular presentation of the gospel. But failing to discover its chief design, sinners are far more frequently directed to the Psalms of David for instruction upon the subject of conversion than to this book, which was written for this express purpose. There is, therefore, no one book in the entire Bible to which the present generation of Bible readers so much need to have their attention specially directed. We have endeavored, in this volume, to set forth the labors of these inspired preachers as the true and infallible guide of the modern evangelist. Another peculiarity of the present age is, the unlimited range given to speculations concerning the agency of the Holy Spirit in human redemption. A subject, into which investigation should never have been pushed beyond the simple facts and statements of revelation, has thus become a most fruitful source of philosophical vagaries and of unbridled fanaticism. Whatever differences may appear among the many erroneous theories upon the subject, they all agree in the conception of a direct impact of the Spirit of God upon the spirit of man, by which the latter is enlightened and sanctified. This conception is not only common to them all, but it is the fundamental conception in each one of them. Under the influence of it, the more contemplative theorist receives new revelations, or "speaks as he is moved by the Holy Ghost;" the more enthusiastic calls for outpourings of the "Holy Spirit and of fire," dances, shouts, and falls in spasms; while the transcendentalist, receiving still further measures of the Spirit, points out mistakes made by the inspired apostles, and exposes defects in the character of Jesus. Among the prevailing Protestant sects, a common theory of spiritual influence serves almost as a bond of union. It sometimes makes them almost forget the conflicts of past ages, melts down the cold barrier of separating creeds, and brings hereditary enemies together, to worship, for a time, at a common shrine. It is made the standard of orthodoxy; and to him who devoutly swears by it, it serves, like charity, to cover a multitude of sins, while to him who calls it in question, and contents himself with the very words of Scripture; it is a ban of excommunication. A difference on all other subjects is tolerated, if there is agreement on this; an agreement on all other subjects can be no bond of union, if there is a difference on this. In public discourse all other topics are made subordinate, and even the preaching of Christ, which was the work of the apostles, has been supplanted by preaching the Holy Spirit. Various as are the conclusions of these theorists, they all have a common tendency to disparage the Word of God. Precisely as a man learns to depend upon internal admonitions for his religious guidance will he feel less dependence upon the written Word. Hence it is that the masses of the people, who are under the influence of these teachings, are so deplorably ignorant of the Bible. To call back the mind of the reader from all such vagaries to the revealed facts and simple apostolic statements upon this important subject, is another leading object of the following work. We will find that the book of Acts presents, in living form and unmistakable simplicity, the work of the Holy Spirit. Some sixteen of the twenty-eight chapters of Acts are devoted almost exclusively to the labors of the Apostle Paul. Whatever can be known of this most heroic and successful of all the apostles must not only be interesting to every reader, but also highly instructive, as an example of faith in Christ in its higher development. Some of the most interesting facts in his history, and those which throw the greatest light upon his inner life, are not recorded by Luke, but may be gathered from incidental remarks in his own epistles. In this obscure position, they must ever escape the notice of ordinary readers. It is proposed, in this volume, to give them their chronological place in the narrative, thus filling up the blanks which Luke’s design caused him to leave, and rounding out to some fullness and symmetry the portraiture of this noblest of all human subjects of Scripture biography. We have already assumed, in accordance with the universal judgment of competent critics, that Luke is the author of Acts. For the evidences on which this judgment is based, I refer the reader to works devoted to this department of Scripture study. It appears, from his being distinguished by Paul, in Galatians 4:11-14, from those "of the circumcision," that he was a Gentile, but of what country is not certainly known. He was a physician by profession, and is styled by Paul "the beloved physician." This encomium, together with the fact that he shared with Paul many of the labors of his life, was his ever-present companion in his imprisonment, even his only companion in the closing scenes of his life; and that we detect his presence or absence in the scenes of the narrative only as he used the pronoun we or they to describe the party, are circumstances which indicate a character marked by great courage and endurance, yet softened by extreme modesty and warm affections. That he was a most enthusiastic admirer of Paul is evident both from the devotion with which he clung to his side, and from the vividness with which every peculiar expression of countenance and gesture of the apostle impressed his memory. He frequently records the sweeping motion of the hand with which Paul arrested the attention of an audience, and the glance with which he fixed his eyes upon the enemies of the truth. Yet, notwithstanding this personal admiration, so just is his sense of propriety that he never pauses for a moment to express his admiration for the wonderful developments of character which he portrays. In this, however, he but imitates a distinguishing peculiarity of all the inspired writers. The book of Acts embraces a period of about thirty years--from the ascension of Christ, A. D. 33, to the end of the second year of Paul’s imprisonment at Rome, A. D. 63. In the latter part of the year 63, or the beginning of 64, while Luke was still with Paul in Rome, it is most likely that the work was published. For the historical connection and chronology of particular events described in the work, the reader is referred to the body of the Commentary. It was no part of my original design to undertake a revision of the English text of Acts, but I hoped that, ere this time, an improved version of the whole New Testament would be put into the hands of the public by the American Bible Union. No final revision of Acts, however, having appeared from that Society, or from any other source, up to this writing, I am constrained to content myself with such a revision of the text as I have been able to prepare during the progress of the work. I have aimed to preserve, in general, the language of the common version. Where the propriety of a change would be obvious to the reader of the Greek, or depends merely upon taste, no notes are given to justify it. In cases where a defense seemed to be needed, the reader will find it, either in the body of the work or in foot-notes. I beg the critical reader, however, to remember that the revision is designed not for general adoption, but simply for the purpose to which it is applied in this Commentary, and that, even here, it is a secondary part of the undertaking. In the execution of the work, I have aimed to make not merely a book of reference, but a volume to be read consecutively through, with the interest which belongs to the narrative. In order to this end, I have aimed to make a prominent the author’s connection of thought throughout; and, in order to render it the more instructive, wherever the text presents important issues connected with the great religious questions of the day, I have taken time to elaborate the argument as freely as the space which I had allotted myself would admit. ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/writings-of-j-w-mcgarvey-volume-1/ ========================================================================