{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3786", "width": "2437", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.\\nChap._lJ.ACopyright Soli...!-*\\nUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.", "height": "3417", "width": "2385", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2388", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3375", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3410", "width": "2381", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3415", "width": "2381", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "BOOKS BY\\nREV. DAVID GREGG\\nNew Epistles from Old Lands,\\nSuggested by a tour of the Holy Land. 12mo. 366\\npages. Illustrated* Cloth, $1.50.\\nMakers of the American Republic.\\nHistorical Studies of Colonial Times. 12mo. 405\\npages. Cloth, $1.50.\\nOur Best Moods* A series of discourses.\\n12mo. 362 pages. Frontispiece Portrait. Cloth, $1.25.\\nFacts that Call for Faith*\\nMasterly appeals on the great themes of eternal life.\\nJ2mo. 314 pages* Cloth, $1.00.\\nThe Heaven Life; or, Stimulus for Tv/o\\nWorlds.\\nJ2mo. 168 pages. Cloth, 75 cents.\\nThe Things of Northfield; and Other\\nThings which should be in every Church.\\nJ2mo* 144 pages* doth, 50 cents.\\nIdeal Young Men and Women. Addresses\\nto Young People.\\n12mo. 1 14 pages. Cloth, 50 cents.\\nTestimony of the Land to the Book or,\\nthe Evidential Value of Palestine.\\n12mo. Leatherette, 35 cents.\\nE. B. TREAT CO., 241-243 W. 23d St., N.Y.", "height": "3431", "width": "2386", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3433", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "THE PROMISED LAND, VIEWED FROM MOUNT NEBO.", "height": "3431", "width": "2402", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES\\nfrom OLD LANDS\\nBY\\nDAVID GREGG\\nM\\nPastor Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn.\\nAUTHOR OF\\nTESTIMONY OF THE LAND TO THE BOOK, OUR BEST MOODS,\\nMAKERS OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, FACTS THAT CALL\\nFOR FAITH, IDEAL YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN, ETC.\\nWritten in the light of modern researches, based upon the\\nAuthor s recent travels i)i the East.\\nILL USTRA TED\\nNEW YORK\\nB. TREAT COMPANY\\n241-243 West 23D Street\\nI 900\\n6", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "lT HE Lit****\\nOf CONG** 11\\nASH11I5I2S\\nTWO COPIES RECEIVED.\\nLibrary ofCfln\\nOffice of the\\nDtu2~lgoq\\neSi3Ur of Copyright\\nvV 6\\n48594\\nCopyright\\nBy E. B. TREAT COMPANY,\\n1899.\\nSECOND COPY,", "height": "3441", "width": "2364", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "PUBLISHER S NOTE.\\nThe title of this volume is happily taken from\\nthat of its first chapter, which is a sermon of sal-\\nutations from some of the ancient churches of the\\nEast, which the author delivered to his own\\npeople on his return from a six months journey\\nin Bible lands. The conception was so beautiful\\nand impressive that it was very naturally followed\\nby a series of other sermons which are here\\ngathered, under the same general title. They\\nwere all suggested and illustrated by different\\nscenes in the author s journeyings.\\nIt will be a new impression to many as they see\\nhow fully the doctrines of the Bible are taught by\\npicture and incident, by landscape and historic\\nmemorial. The contrast of the fertile plain of\\nSharon with the stony wilderness of Judea, the\\nsuggestive leaving of her waterpot by the\\nwoman who has learned that Christ has the living\\nwater, the herdsman of Tekoa whose concep-\\ntion of practical everyday righteousness makes\\nhim the prophet Amos, the idyllic story of Ruth\\nthe gleaner in the fields of Bethlehem, Mount\\nCarmel and its tragic companion of Baal and", "height": "3468", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "6 PUBLISHER S NOTE.\\nJehovah, the psalm-country of David and the\\nreverent praises sung in old-time churches, the\\nsacred mountains and lofty and far-reaching views\\nof the kingdom of God each of these has its\\nmessage to the devout heart, and a less eloquent\\ninterpreter than our author might find in the\\nNew Epistles from Old Lands, other epistles\\nin the same correspondence so pleasantly begun.\\nDr. Gregg has unusual skill in natural and\\nvivid description of scenes worth remembering,\\nwhile not forgetting to bring out a clear and\\nstrong religious lesson from what he describes,\\nand his sermons are not only bright and interest-\\ning, but among the most practical and wholesome.\\nAs here presented they will be a pleasant re-\\nminder to those who heard them, and will profit-\\nably reach a much larger number who will find\\nin them new appreciation and love of the Bible\\nand new spiritual insight and strength.", "height": "3444", "width": "2358", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS.\\nCHAPTER. PAGE\\nI. New Epistles from Old Lands, .17\\nII What God Is to His People, and What He\\nIs Not. 47\\nIII. The Things We Should Leave for Christ 75\\nIV. The Plumbline or, the Herdsmen of Tekoa ioi\\nV Why Not the Men as Well as the Women?\\nor, a Family from the Seashore of Gali-\\nlee, .127\\nVI. Mount Ebal a Voice of God, 157\\nVII. A Hebrew Idyl, or, a Study of the Book\\nof Ruth 185\\nVIII. The Hosanna-Day in the Life of Jesus\\nChrist, 211\\nIX. Mount Carmel, or, the Religion of God\\nPut to the Test and Found True, -237\\nX. Soul-Sight, or, a Story of Jericho, 261\\nXI The Songs of the Psalm-Country, 289\\nXII. The Prophets of the Holy Land, .317\\nXIII \u00e2\u0080\u0094The Sacred Heights of Palestine, or, the\\nUses of the Mountains, .341", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3410", "width": "2395", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\\nThe Promised Land, Viewed from Mount\\nNebo, Frontispiece.\\nPAGE\\nJerusalem from the Mount of Olives, 16\\nThe Wilderness of Judea, .46\\nThe River Abana Flowing Through Damas-\\ncus 54\\nThe Woman of Samaria with the Water-\\nPot, 74\\nThe Prophets Amos and Nahum, from the\\nFrieze, Boston Public Library, .100\\nThe Sea of Galilee with the Jordan Outlet. 126\\nThe Sea of Galilee Fishing Scene, 142\\nMount Ebal and Nablus (Shechem), .156\\nIn the Harvest Field of Boaz, .184\\nRoad Leading to Jerusalem Over Mount of\\nOlives to Gethsemane 210\\nMount Carmel and the Sea 236\\nThe Samaritan Inn on the Way to Jericho, 260\\nMount Lebanon and Its Surviving Cedars, 288\\nGroup of Prophets, from the Frieze, Boston\\nPublic Library 316\\nMount Hermon with Its Perpetual Snow, 340", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3403", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "PRELUDE.\\nHEN my people generously granted me a six\\nmonths absence for the purpose of educa-\\ntional and religious travel, I had no sooner\\nset sail than I was confronted with the question: What\\nwill you preach about the first Sabbath after your re-\\nturn? I knew that a vast audience would be present,\\nand that the coming home would be as great an event\\nas the going away was. The people would be filled with\\ninterest and expectation. The first service after my\\nreturn would be an occasion. A voice within said:\\nKeep that day in mind, plan for it, work for it, get\\nready for it This plan suddenly came to me, and\\nit seemed like an inspiration Gather salutations from\\nthe churches of Christ abroad, and bring these to your\\npeople. Make the first service after your return A\\nSalutation Service. This plan I carried out, and the\\nresult is this present sermon. Some of the churches\\nwhich I visited not only sent salutations, but offered\\nspecial public prayer for Lafayette Avenue Presbyte-\\nrian Church. My church, on my return, reciprocated\\nthis brotherly conduct by holding a special prayer\\nservice to commend to God these churches across the\\nsea.\\nDavid Gregg.", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2417", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3483", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3430", "width": "2344", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS\\nNew Epistles from Old Lands.\\nThe churches of Christ salute you. Rom. xvi. 16.\\nI denominate this service A Salutation Ser-\\nvice, because, when travelling in foreign lands, I\\nwas charged, by many churches and by many dis-\\nciples of Jesus, to bring you their loving greet-\\nings. Some of these greetings I bring in written\\nform. These epistles which I bring are voices\\nfrom across the sea, and they enable the churches\\nand friends there to speak for themselves and give\\ntheir own messages of good-will.\\nThe most interesting things which I saw abroad\\nwere the churches of Jesus Christ. As I travelled\\nfrom continent to continent, their salute was my\\ngreatest joy. When I stepped into new territory,\\nit was for them that I first searched. And this\\nis the glad fact which I have to tell you to-day\\nIn all my journeyings I was never able to get\\nout of sight of the Church of Jesus Christ. I\\nfound Christ s Church everywhere. I found it in", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "1 8 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe land of Calvin, and of Knox, and of Wesley,\\nand of Luther, and of Zwingli, and of Savonarola,\\nand of d Aubigne. I found it in the land of the\\nPharaohs, and in the land of Naaman, and in the\\nland of the Nazarene. I found it in the valley of\\nthe Jordan, on the slopes of Lebanon, and on the\\nshores of the Sea of Galilee. I found it in Jeru-\\nsalem, and in Bethlehem, and in Nazareth. I\\nfound it in places I least expected to find it.\\nTake Nazareth, for example. My experience\\nthere was striking. Before I left for the Orient\\nI said to myself, There is one place in Palestine\\nin which I greatly desire to preach, and that place\\nis Nazareth. I wished to preach there a sermon\\nwhich I had written upon the unbelief of Naza-\\nreth. That was the only manuscript sermon which\\nI took with me into the Orient. When I reached\\nCairo, the brethren of Egypt compelled me to\\npreach there and I had to take my only sermon.\\nAlas for my Nazareth plan I could not repeat\\nmy one sermon there, for the party I travelled with\\nheard it in Cairo. But the whole ordering was of\\nthe Lord. Nazareth has changed. The city, which\\nonce rushed Jesus to the brow of its hill to hurl\\nHim headlong to death, to-day honors Jesus. The\\nchurches of Jesus loom up there around the car-\\npenter shop where Jesus once worked as the de-\\nspised and rejected of men. Outside of lands\\ncommonly known as Christendom, Nazareth is the\\nmost Christian city that I visited in all my tour.", "height": "3436", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 19\\nThis was my Sabbath Day s experience in Naz-\\nareth In the morning I was wakened by the sweet\\nchimes of Sabbath bells rung in the belfries of the\\nGreek and Episcopal churches in different parts of\\nthe city. At eleven o clock I attended divine ser-\\nvice in the White Tent of our camp, which stood\\nby the side of the noted well called after the\\nmother of Jesus. In the early afternoon I walked\\nthrough the streets of the city and found every\\nstreet wrapped in sabbatic stillness. Not a shop\\nwas open, not a sign of traffic was visible. Greater\\nNew York has no such Sabbath keeping as that.\\nLondon, in Christian England, has no such Sab-\\nbath keeping as that. On one street I found a\\nbranch of the British Bible Society. On another\\nstreet a Christian dispensary. On another, a\\nChristian hospital. On another, a Sabbath-school\\ncrowded to the door, and there I heard the Naza-\\nrene children sing, in Arabic, the very hymns I\\nhave heard our Brooklyn children sing, and sing\\nthem to the same tunes. On another street I\\nfound worshippers going to and coming from an\\nopen church. In the latter part of the afternoon,\\nby special invitation, I attended a Christian wed-\\nding in the Greek church. I had previously vis-\\nited the bride and had made her a wedding present\\nin the shape of a gold coin; and hence I occupied\\nthe chief seat of honor on that occasion. As the\\nday passed into twilight the church bells rang\\nagain and chimed the Sabbath evening vespers.", "height": "3468", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "20 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nBut the Sabbath was not over in Nazareth. As\\nthe darkness settled over the historic hills of\\nChrist s old home, suddenly I saw a lighted cross\\nshine out in the air. I followed it, curious to\\nknow why it was there, and who put it there. It\\nlured me to a Christian home. It was a window\\nbuilt into the gable of a Nazarene s house. The\\nman was a Christian, and built this cross into his\\nhouse, that every time he lighted the lights of his\\nhome the symbol of his faith might shine out into\\nthe darkness and become his public testimony and\\nhis public declaration that Christ crucified is the\\nonly hope for his fellow-townsmen. When the\\ntime for our evening service in our White Tent\\ndrew near, and I was getting ready to preach, I\\nheard a Christian hymn sounding down the hill\\nover the housetops. It was the hymn, He is\\nRisen, and it was sung to the old familiar tune.\\nI followed the sound full of wonder, asking the\\nquestion, Who can these sweet singers be? As\\nthe result of my search, I found one of the most\\ncharming home-scenes I ever saw a young hus-\\nband and wife and two fair children. The chil-\\ndren nestled together in their crib, and the pa-\\nrents were crooning them to sleep with the hymn of\\nthe Christ of Nazareth. These parents had found\\nChrist in the English Church mission of their\\ncity, and could both speak English. I invited\\nthem to come to our tent service, but they in-\\nsisted that our whole camp should come to the", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 21\\nchurch in their house. This we did, and I\\npreached to them and to our camp and to the\\nneighbors hastily gathered in, an extempore ser-\\nmon which I had gathered from the fields of the\\nHoly Land, which a great scholar has called The\\nFifth Gospel.\\nI found the Church of Jesus Christ everywhere,\\nand in places where I least expected to find it.\\nThe Church is not local, it is universal.\\nFrom what I saw abroad, I am convinced of two\\nthings. The first is this The Church of Christ\\nhas been the one great power of the past which\\nhas enriched and ennobled and uplifted the world.\\nThe second thing is this If the world in the fu-\\nture is to have an ennobling and a purifying and\\nuplifting power, the Church must be that power.\\nI saw the world s great works of art and paint-\\ning and sculpture, and these led me to the Church.\\nIt was the Church that inspired them, and fos-\\ntered them, and brought them down to posterity.\\nThe great ambition of the geniuses of the past was\\nto so sculpture a piece of marble, so paint a can-\\nvas, so produce a musical composition, so rear a\\nvast structure that these masterpieces of theirs\\nmight be considered worthy of the acceptance and\\nuse of the Church. The great canvasses in the\\nVatican at Rome, and in the Pitti Palace at Flor-\\nence, are churchly canvasses. If the Church of\\nChrist had never existed, these would never have\\nbeen called into being. And what shall I say of", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "2 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe great cathedrals of the world, in most of which\\nI worshipped These are religion in stone these\\nare the voices of architecture crying, Hosanna to\\nthe Son of David. Blot out the Church of Christ\\nfrom the past of the world, and you leave little\\nreason why any man to-day should travel.\\nI had large fellowship with the churches of\\nChrist while absent from you, and here is a bud-\\nget of letters from these churches, the tangible\\nevidence of that fellowship.\\nIn presenting these salutations I wish you to\\nnote this that all continents of earth are gath-\\nered this morning within the four walls of this\\ntemple. They are here by representation. This\\nbudget of letters is the world in miniature. If\\nwe speak of the world as existing in cities Jeru-\\nsalem, and Athens, and Rome, and Cairo, and\\nBeyrout, and London, and Edinburgh are here.\\nIf we speak of the world as existing in countries\\nJudea, and Greece, and Italy, and Egypt, and Eng-\\nland, and Scotland are here. If we speak of the\\nworld as existing in continents, Europe and Asia\\nand Africa are here. If we speak of the world as\\nexisting in the Christian denominations of the\\nChurch Episcopalians, and Baptists, and Meth-\\nodists, and Presbyterians, and Congregationalists\\nare here.\\nI shall take up these letters geographically, be-\\nginning at Jerusalem.\\nA letter from Jerusalem That sounds apos-", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 2$\\ntolic. That is something like the Bible. With\\nJerusalem back of it, any letter written in the\\nname of Jesus ought to be an inspiration. The\\ncity itself is eloquent. It is the cradle of Chris-\\ntianity. Its voice is holy. On Mount Zion there\\nis but one voice heard and that voice declares that\\nthe holy hill is full of God, who was, and is, and\\nis to come. Jerusalem has always been the de-\\nlight of the muse of history. It is the theatre\\nwhere God, in the person of His son, acted out\\nthe great drama of redemption. It is the city of\\nthe prophets, and of the Psalmist, and of the tem-\\nple, and of the cross, and of the Resurrection, and\\nof Pentecost. The city has struck deep into the\\nlife of humanity. But has it no role to play in\\ncoming events Has it no future If not, what\\nmean those gatherings which are being held in\\nNew York, and in London, and in Basle, with\\ntheir plans for the purchase of Palestine as a home\\nfor the Jews I found the City of Jerusalem a\\ndifferent city from what it was twenty years ago.\\nJerusalem is again the city of the Jews. It has\\nsixty thousand of a population, and forty thousand\\nof these are the seed of Abraham. Twenty years\\nago there was only a handful of Jews in the Holy\\nCity. Old Testament prophecy is being fulfilled\\nbefore our very eyes Ye shall be gathered one\\nby one, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord.\\nI will take you, one of a city, and two of a fam-\\nily, and I will bring you to Zion.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "24 NEW EPISTLES EROM OLD LANDS.\\nI spent two Sabbaths in Jerusalem. The first\\nwas spent in prayer and in singing the songs of\\nthe cross on the supposed site of Calvary. A con-\\nverted Jewish rabbi directed our footsteps that\\nday. On the second Sabbath I preached in the\\nupper-room of the American consulate, and pre-\\nsided over the administration of the Lord s Sup-\\nper. The American and British consuls, with\\ntheir families, were there, and some sixty others.\\nMy introduction to the Lord s work in the Holy\\nCity was unique. It was on this wise Fifteen\\nminutes after I passed through the Joppa Gate, I\\nwas accosted by a little red-headed Jewish boot-\\nblack, Black your boots, sir. I asked him who\\ntaught him to speak English. He replied, I was\\ntaught in the Jewish Christian school. Take\\nme to that school and I will give the price of a\\nshine. He led me along the street over which\\nChrist carried the cross, then turned in the direc-\\ntion of the temple, and then into the Mission\\nHouse. Two large schools were in full opera-\\ntion. The work is carried on by the Church Mis-\\nsionary Society of England. Most of the Chris-\\ntian work in Palestine is carried on by this society.\\nThere is one notable exception, however; I mean\\nthe work at Tiberias which I visited when sailing\\nthe Lake of Galilee. The Tiberias work was\\nstarted by the saintly McCheyne and Bonar of the\\nFree Church of Scotland. I had the good fortune\\nto meet all the workers of Palestine at a reception", "height": "3438", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 25\\ngiven by the British consul in his home, and I\\nlearned that night that the Prayer Book has been\\ntranslated into Hebrew, also the New Testament;\\nand that at every Easter in Jerusalem four thou-\\nsand copies of the Bible are distributed to the pil-\\ngrims who crowd the city. As a result of my fel-\\nlowship with these brethren of Judea, I bring this\\nletter from the head of the Jewish work in Jeru-\\nsalem.\\nFrom the Church at Jerusalem.\\nMy Dear Brother: I send you greetings and\\nsalaams from myself and our Hebrew-Christian\\nbrethren in Jerusalem. I greatly enjoyed my conver-\\nsation with you at the English consulate in this city.\\nThank God, the work here has greatly prospered now\\nfor more than sixty years, for, though we have not a\\nlarge community here, on account of want of business\\nand trade, yet we are represented in all parts of the\\nworld, and notably in New York.\\nAs might be expected, we have much opposition\\nhere from the Jews, and just lately there has been an\\noutbreak of violence toward those who come to us, and\\nan endeavor, by physical force, to prevent the poor\\nfrom taking even medicines from us. But it is now\\nbroken down for a time. The Gospel goes on win-\\nning its way among the people, as in olden days, the\\npower of the Holy Ghost being manifested in the con-\\nversion of souls. We are working on in the city\\nwhere our Lord was crucified by Jews and Gentiles,\\nand we believe that the way is being prepared for the\\ncoming of Him who shall make it the City of the\\nGreat King.\\nWe send our greetings to your great church, remem-\\nbering that we have been privileged to have visits\\nfrom its two notable pastors, Dr. Cuyler and yourself.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "26 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nand while we pray for blessings upon you all, we ask\\nthat we, too, may be remembered in your prayers, that\\na great ingathering of Jews may take place in the\\nCity of Zion, and that we may be faithful witnesses\\nfor Him till he come. Pray for the peace of\\nJerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.\\nI am yours, in the Lord Jesus,\\nA. Hastings Kelk,\\nMinister of Christ Church, Mount Zion, Jerusalem.\\nMy second letter is a voice from Athens.\\nAthens There is a thrill in the very name. It\\nis the embodiment of antiquity. It is one of that\\nmarvellous trinity of cities which has made human\\nhistory great. The full trinity is Jerusalem,\\nAthens, Rome. Athens follows Jerusalem in the\\norder of time, and serves it by creating a univer-\\nsal language for Jerusalem s universal Gospel;\\nbut it antedates Rome in the order of time and\\nserves it by preparing the world for Rome s com-\\ning. In history Athens is set forth as Rome s\\nschoolmaster. Jerusalem, Athens, Rome these\\nthree cities are linked together in the cause of\\ncivilization; but especially are they linked to-\\ngether in the cause of the Gospel. This is the\\norder of service Jerusalem originates and formu-\\nlates the Gospel, it gives the world the cross.\\nAthens, the head of Greece, voices the Gospel in\\nits universal language, the Greek language, the\\nmost beautiful of all languages of the race, and\\npasses it round the world in fitly spoken words,", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES EROM OLD LANDS. 27\\nwhich the divine proverb says are like apples of\\ngold in baskets of silver. Rome opens highways\\nto the ends of the earth for the golden-worded\\nthoughts of Jesus, and then throws its universal\\nlaws around the standard-bearers of the cross, as\\nthey plant the cross in realms far and near.\\nAthens is associated with the greatest greatness\\nof the World. It is the place of great memories.\\nIts air is as full of historical presences as the\\nmellow autumn day is full of sunbeams. It is the\\nplace of great names. Here Solon made laws;\\nand Socrates constructed philosophy and Demos-\\nthenes delivered immortal orations and Aristotle\\nworked out a system of logic and Plato built his\\nacademy and Sophocles and Euripides constructed\\ntheir moral and sermonic plays in the theatre of\\n^Eschylus. It was here that Phidias and Praxiteles\\nsculptured and it was here that the famous archi-\\ntects of Greece threw into space the Parthenon,\\nthe despair of the architects in all ages. Who\\ncan tell what service Athens has rendered to the\\nworld through such men as these As one of our\\nmost evangelic scholars has said Greek culture\\nis the left arm of God visibly let down into his-\\ntory, just as Christian culture is the right arm of\\nGod visibly let down into history. Certain it is,\\nstanding on the Acropolis of Athens, that city of\\nmagnificent ruins, and looking at the great forms\\nof the past, which are visible to the mind s eye,\\nthe Acropolis commands the loftiest intellectual", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "28 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\noutlook of this whole globe. But the chief object\\nin Athens to us, who are Christians, is not the\\nAcropolis, with its Parthenon; not Socrates, not\\nPlato, not Aristotle; but Mars Hill, at the foot of\\nthe Acropolis, with Paul, the chief of the Apos-\\ntles, upon it, preaching Christ. Standing within\\nbow-shot of the prison where Socrates was mar-\\ntyred and within bow- shot of the platform where\\nDemosthenes orated, with the grove where Plato\\nhad his academy near him within touch of the\\nParthenon, with its transfigured splendor; with a\\ncity crowded with the statues of false gods at his\\nfeet; the temples of Minerva, and Jupiter, and\\nTheseus within the range of his voice, and almost\\nwithin the very sweep of his gesture, Paul pro-\\nclaimed the one living and true God to Athens,\\nand declared that it was absurd to think that the\\nGod of Heaven and earth should dwell in temples\\nmade with human hands. He dwelleth in the\\nfulness of his Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ.\\nPaul preached Jesus Christ to Athens. And was\\nhis voice heard, and is Christ known in Athens\\nto-day? By the use of the words of a friend, in\\nspeaking of Paul on Mars Hill, I answer the ques-\\ntion In a sea of temples, its waves toppling\\nwith mortal threats above his head, a solitary\\nswimmer, a stranger, a Jew, clings to the assertion\\nthat God dwelleth not in temples, and that asser-\\ntion after 1800 years outrides the hurricane.\\nI found a Christian church in Athens, and wor-", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 29\\nshipped in it, and partook of the Lord s Supper in\\nit. As if to perpetuate the memory of the great-\\nest event that ever took place there, it is called\\nafter the actor in that event it bears this name\\nThe Church of St. Paul. The sermon which\\nI heard in St. Paul s Church the Sabbath I was\\nin Athens, strange as it may seem, was nothing\\nother than the elucidation and the enlargement\\nand the completion of Paul s Mars Hill idea. It\\nwas Paul s sermon, with the ninteenth century put\\ninto it. The Episcopal rector who preached that\\nday wrote this letter to you. I give it in excerpt\\nform only\\nFrom the Church at Athens.\\n91 Rue Triti, Athens.\\nThe St. Paul s Episcopal Church of Athens, ex-\\npressing the close communion that should exist among\\nall the members of Christ s Church, however far apart,\\nsalutes the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, of\\nBrooklyn, N. Y. The holy day on which I write is\\nWhitsun-Day, and commemorates the marvellous out-\\npouring of the Spirit of Pentecost upon the Church of\\nJerusalem. That is the greatest blessing possible to\\nour Christian churches. Brethren of America, join\\nwith us, your brethren in Athens, in seeking the pres-\\nence and power of the Pentecostal spirit.\\nVery fraternally yours in Christ,\\nF. R. Elliot.\\nNow for the message from Cairo.\\nCairo was the first place in the Orient which I\\nvisited. There for the first time I set foot upon", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "3\u00c2\u00a9 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\na land in which Jesus actually had been. That\\nfact thrilled me all the time I was in Egypt. But\\nwhat saw I in Cairo? The Nile; the footprints\\nof the Pharaohs yes. The land of Goshen in the\\ndistance the gigantic pyramids yes. But that\\nwhich remains with me as greater than all, is what\\nI saw there of the work of Christ as carried on by\\nthe United Presbyterian Church of the United\\nStates. This is one of the best equipped mis-\\nsions in Christendom and one of the most blest.\\nThis Mission is the Church of Egypt. It covers\\nthe whole valley of the Nile. I had large fellow-\\nship with the brethren during my ten days stay in\\nthe land which is known as the cradle of civiliza-\\ntion. I was placed under a holy compulsion by\\nthe friends here and compelled to preach for them.\\nDr. Cuyler was the irresistible argument which\\nthey used. He had visited them and had preached\\nfor them, and I could not be the successor of Dr.\\nCuyler, at least in the valley of the Nile, if I re-\\nfused to preach. I preached the only sermon I\\nhad with me, and I am glad I did, for it seems to\\nhave satisfied the Egyptians. The report of that\\nsermon went as far as Jerusalem, for, on my re-\\nturn to America a letter from Jerusalem awaited\\nme asking for a copy of the sermon, coupled with\\na request that a ministerial brother might have\\npermission to preach it there in my name. It was\\nreported in Jerusalem by a young man who was in\\nthe audience at Cairo. The Egyptian Church has", "height": "3444", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 3*\\nwon over ten thousand souls to Christ and it has\\nset four hundred and fifty thousand Arabic Bibles\\nat work for God in that land where Joseph reigned\\nand where the infant Christ was saved from the\\nsword of Herod. These Bibles of which I have\\nspoken were printed for the Egyptian Church by\\nthe Presbyterian Publishing House at Beyrout.\\nThis is the Cairo letter\\nFrom the Church at Cairo, Egypt.\\nThe brethren of Cairo, and throughout Egypt, greet\\nwith heartiness the brethren of the Lafayette Avenue\\nPresbyterian Church of Brooklyn. Grace be unto\\nyou and peace from him, who was, and is, and is to\\ncome, and from the seven spirits which are before his\\nthrone. The workers for the Lord in the land which\\nsheltered the infant Jesus have been twice gladdened\\nby the visits of your beloved pastors, both of whom\\npreached for us. Dr. Gregg s sermon was just what\\nwe needed and think of it, the American vice-con-\\nsul was present to hear it! He has been years among\\nus without attending church. The subject was, The\\nGuilt and Hurt of Non-Faith. Why does not the\\ngreat Christian republic send out-and-out Christian\\nmen to represent it among the nations who own not\\nour Redeemer?\\nWhile we are on this line, suffer us to broaden our\\nthought and give a word of earnest exhortation to\\nChristians who travel. Brethren, bring all of your re-\\nligion with you when you come to Cairo. Make a\\ncovenant with your eyes not to see certain sights and\\nscenes for which Cairo is noted. It is the tourists\\nwho pay the bills of iniquity kept up among us. With\\nus the tourist is the heathen s sneer, and they often\\nthrow this sneer in our faces. For God s sake help\\nus, when you come among us. The world will never", "height": "3483", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "32 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nbe won to our faith until Christian missionaries are\\nfortified by Christian tradesmen, Christian consuls,\\nChristian sailors, Christian naval officers, and Chris-\\ntian tourists. We out here belong to the old-fashioned\\ntype of believers. We hold to the inerrancy of the\\nBible. We believe also in the Shorter Catechism\\nand teach it to our children, for without solid doctrine\\nsolid work is impossible. We love and cling to the\\nOld-Testament Psalms, and, because they are in-\\nspired, sing them, and them only, in worship. As\\nDr. Gregg said when he was among us It is heart-\\nwarming to hear the inspired songs of the souls which\\nwere first sung in the valley of the Jordan, and which\\ngraced the lips of Jesus Himself, echoed to-day with\\nsuch heartiness in the valley of the Nile. We ask\\nyou to join us in the use of these songs of God.\\nNow that you have suffered a word of exhortation,\\nallow us to speak a word of congratulation. We con-\\ngratulate you on your pastors. We know Dr. Cuyler\\nas a stanch Princetonian, and we know Dr. Gregg as\\nthe son of a stanch Covenanter. We can trust men\\nof these types. We know your zeal for the Lord and\\nhonor you for it. We feel strong in your strength\\nthough far away from you. Ever expecting much\\nfrom you, we commend you to God and to the word of\\nHis grace.\\nWe have now reached Rome. But allow me to\\nsay our letter is not from the Church of Rome\\n(so called). It is a letter from a church in Rome;\\nbut a church older than the Church of the Papacy.\\nIt is a letter from the Waldensian Church. The\\nstory of this Church, which comes straight from\\nthe Apostles, is the most moving story in all ec-\\nclesiastical literature. This is its story in brief\\nMissionaries sent from Rome, in the apostolic", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 33\\ndays, planted churches in the valleys of the Alps.\\nThese became the Waldensian churches. When\\nothers yielded to the Roman See, these spurned\\nthe yoke of the Church of the Seven Hills, and\\nkept their apostolicity intact. They were never\\nsubject to Rome. Rome changed, not they.\\nRome is the schismatic, not they. Rome was\\nguilty of apostasy, not they. If they are ancient,\\nRome is new. They are Rome s condemnation.\\nThis is the reason Rome has persecuted them, and\\nagain and again decreed their extermination. If\\nit had not been that the towering Alps were their\\nfortresses, they would have been speedily crushed\\nbut they were the children of the mountains, and\\nknew the fastnesses thereof and the narrow defiles,\\nthrough which to escape. The mountains built\\ntheir granite into them. They drank in glory and\\nmanhood and eternal fidelity from the snowy crests\\nand thunder-riven peaks, and from the Alpine\\nsky which was all silver and gold. Once the Ro-\\nman hierarchy captured this whole nation of God s\\npeople. The Roman Pontiff lied to them and\\nbroke faith with them and took them by guile.\\nHe slew all but three hundred or so. These\\nthree hundred he banished. He drove them forth\\ninto the cold world penniless. Geneva, the city\\nof Calvin, opened its gates to these exiles and res-\\ncued them. But the exiles of the Alps were home-\\nsick in Geneva. Out there beyond the lake was\\nMont Blanc, in its sunset glory, every day calling\\n3", "height": "3474", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "34 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthem home. Rather than die of homesickness,\\nthey planned to return home, or die in the attempt.\\nThe story of their return has no parallel for daring\\nand success. How they made the Alps echo with\\ntheir psalms of thanksgiving to God for bringing\\nthem back Out of this nucleus the Waldensian\\nchurches were again grown. Friends from abroad\\nhelped .them Cromwell helped them, and so did\\nFelix Neff and General Beckwith. These latter\\nbrought themselves and their fortunes to them,\\nand cast in their lot with the Waldenses, and by\\ntheir wealth gave them temples and gave them\\nschools. These were the men who kept the love\\nof liberty alive in Italy until the day that Gari-\\nbaldi and Victor Emmanuel championed the cause\\nof liberty and made Italy free. It was they who\\nraised the slogan cry, A free church in a free\\nstate. When Victor Emmanuel bored his way\\ninto the city of Rome through the thick walls\\nthereof, and smote into the dust the temporal\\npower of the Pope, the Waldensian s were in the\\nfront ranks of his army. One of these Walden-\\nsian soldiers was a colporteur, and in his knapsack\\nhe carried a bundle of Bibles into the Eternal\\nCity, and made the day not only a victory for Em-\\nmanuel and Garibaldi, but a victory for God s\\nWord. Prior to that, no Bible was allowed in the\\ncity of Rome. Since that the Bible has been\\nthere as a free Book.\\nThe letter from the Waldensian Church is writ-", "height": "3443", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 35\\nten by Dr. Prochet, a man who once preached in\\nthis pulpit, and proved himself an eminent scholar\\nby the way he pleaded the cause of his Church.\\nThe salutation of the letter is written in Latin\\nand reads\\nFrom the Waldensian Church at Rome.\\nThe Waldensian Church which is in the Eternal\\nCity salutes the angel and the elders and the brethren\\nof the Church of Lafayette which is in Brooklyn. We\\nhave heard of your faith and your zeal, and it seems\\ngood to us to send you fraternal greetings. Come\\nover and help us. Seniores etjratres of Lafayette Pres-\\nbyterian Church, the Master has lavished His blessings\\nupon you. He has given you selected servants to teach\\nyou the way of life. He has made His vivifying pres-\\nence felt among you. He has, in a word, given you\\nfive talents. May you, when you shall appear in the\\nglorious mansions, be able to say, Here, Lord, are\\nthe five talents which Thou hast given us; they have\\ngained five talents more. That is the wish, that is\\nthe ardent prayer offered by the old Apostolic Evan-\\ngelical Church of the Alps, now working in the Eter-\\nnal City for the purpose of taking Rome for Christ.\\nNow for a wholesale postponement A grand\\nletter from Beyrout What shall be done with\\nit The reading of it must be postponed. The\\nletters from old Scotland, one from Dr. Hugh\\nMcMillan, the Moderator of the glorious Free\\nChurch, the church of Chalmers and Guthrie and\\nCandlish one from Dr. Alexander Whyte, pastor\\nof the Free St. George s, Edinburgh, the successor\\nof Candlish what shall be done with these The", "height": "3483", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "$6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nreading of these must be postponed. Letters from\\nEngland from Thomas Spurgeon; from F. B.\\nMyer; from Dr. Newman Hall what shall be\\ndone with these The reading of these must be\\npostponed.\\nThere is one letter which I cannot postpone,\\nand that is the letter from the Wesley Chapel,\\nLondon, the church where Wesley himself\\npreached. I worshipped in that church two weeks\\nago to-day, and found it crowded from floor to\\nceiling. It will seat about twelve hundred people.\\nThe service which filled the church was The\\nEnglish Harvest Home.* It corresponds to our\\nThanksgiving Day. The church was decorated\\nwith fruits and flowers. These were arranged in\\nbeautiful designs upon a netting; and the netting\\nwas thrown around the pulpit and over the gal-\\nleries and along the frames of the windows. The\\nsermon, prayers, hymns, closing with the Hal-\\nlelujah Chorus, were all of the order of Harvest\\nHome. Oh, how those Wesleyan [Methodists did\\nsing Think of it Out from this church has\\ngone an influence that has made twenty millions\\nof Christians! They have just spent 12,000 in\\nmodifying this chapel, but they have not touched\\nthe old pulpit in which Wesley stood. It is ex-\\nactly the same as when he left it. This church is\\nThese letters were read at the Friday evening service and\\nspecial prayer was offered at this service for the churches which\\nsent the fraternal greetings.", "height": "3443", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 37\\njust the church to salute the saints the world over,\\nand in this way testify to the unity of the Church\\nUniversal. Everything about this chapel speaks\\nof the unity of the Church. There are ten beau-\\ntiful marble pillars in it which hold up the gal-\\nleries, and these are gifts from Christians living\\nin ten different nations of the earth. Besides, the\\nchapel stands right in the midst of the Church s\\ngreat dead. Back of the pulpit sleeps John Wes-\\nley. On his right hand is the grave of Adam\\nClarke, the great commentator; on his left hand\\nis Jabez Bunting, his famous successor. In the\\nfront of the chapel, on the other side of Bun Hill\\nRoad, are the graves of John Bunyan, Susannah\\nWesley, John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Isaac\\nWatts; and a few feet beyond this, in another\\ncemetery, rests George Fox, the founder of the\\nSociety of Friends. These all sleep in union\\naround the Wesley Chapel. Right from the midst\\nof this holy place, written on Wesley s table, comes\\nthis letter of greeting to those who are here this\\nmorning\\nFrom the Wesley Chapel, London.\\nThe church of John Wesley in England salutes the\\nchurch of John Knox in America, as perpetuated by\\nthe Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church of Brook-\\nlyn. Brethren in Christ, it was the genius of our\\ngreat leader Wesley to give the right hand of fellow-\\nship to all who love the Lord Jesus. Inheriting His\\nspirit, we also recognize and love all whom the Mas-", "height": "3472", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "$S NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nter recognizes and loves. We ask your sympathies\\nand prayers, and give you ours.\\nWherefore after we heard of your faith in the Lord\\nJesus, and love unto all the saints, we ceased not to\\ngive thanks, making mention of you in our prayers,\\nthat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of\\nglory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and\\nrevelation in the knowledge of Him; that ye may\\nknow wiiat is the hope of His calling, and what the\\nriches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints;\\nand what is the exceeding greatness of His power to\\nusward who believe, which He wrought in Christ,\\nwhom He has given to be the Head over all things to\\nthe Church, which is His Bodv, the fulness of Him\\nwho filleth all in all.\\nSuch are the salutations which I bring to this\\nbeloved church of ours. What is the meaning of\\nthese salutations What are their inculcations\\nAs I look at them, they come to us with the in-\\nspiration and the power which belong to watching\\neyes. They set before us large responsibilities.\\nThey magnify the duty of loyalty. They make us\\nthink of the oath which we took at the cross.\\nThey exalt the Church of Jesus Christ as God s\\nregenerating power in the world. They are voices\\nfrom across the sea. As talking voices, let me\\nset before you in numerical order the things which\\nthey say to us as a congregation. They put these\\nthings before us\\nI. We are known abroad. It is a pleasant thing\\nto be favorably known.\\nII. In the Christian churches abroad there are", "height": "3437", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS. 39\\ngreat expectations in the religious air relative to\\nus. Expectations are inspirations. They are tonic.\\nThey are an added force.\\nIII. There is an imperative duty laid upon us\\nto verify the knowledge of us that is abroad, and\\nto realize the expectations entertained for us.\\nThis is the point to expand as a fitting conclusion\\nof this Salutation Service. Who has laid this\\nduty upon us The churches abroad have. Who\\nhas laid this duty upon us Christ, who walks\\nin the midst of the golden candlesticks has, and\\nHe is the great Head of the Church.\\nCan we meet this duty? We can. How? I\\nwill tell you. (i) We must look after the power-\\nroom of the Church. (2) We must look after the\\nunit of the Church.\\nWhat is the power-room of the Church It is\\nthe prayer-room where we meet, each Monday\\nnight and each Friday night, to withdraw our-\\nselves from the world, to lay hold on the prom-\\nises, to dedicate ourselves afresh to God, and to\\nreceive afresh the spirit of Pentecost which carries\\nthe enduement of power. I believe that our great\\nneed as Christians is more separation from the\\nworld, more going apart to God to get His infill-\\ning. We need more prayer, more of the quiet\\nroom. The power-room of the factory is the quiet\\nroom of the factory. But out from this quiet room\\ngo the many lines of forces which turn the noisy\\nwheels and raise the crashing trip-hammers, which", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "40 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ndo the practical work and give results. Out of the\\nprayer-room of the Church comes our power. Who\\nare the spiritual men and women among us I do\\nnot mean the men and women who represent the\\nChurch in the circles of fashion, in the gayeties of\\nthe social life of the city, but the men and women\\nwho represent our Church by leading in helpful\\nprayer in the public conferences of the churches,\\nin the mission causes, in the large gifts to charity,\\nand in public Christian work? They are the\\nprayer-meeting men and women. I cannot ex-\\nplain how prayer works in securing the blessing,\\nbut I can assert that it does secure the blessing.\\nI can assert that no great man of the Book and no\\ngreat Church of the Book ever existed without\\nprayer. Moses was a man of power, but Moses\\nwas a man of prayer. Elijah was a man of power,\\nbut Elijah was a man of prayer. Jesus was a man\\nof power, but Jesus always took good care of the\\npower-room. He spent w r hole nights in prayer.\\nThe Church of Jerusalem was a Church of power\\nit gave the Gospel to the world but the Church\\nof Jerusalem was a Church given to prayer. That\\nChurch once spent ten consecutive days in one\\nprayer-service, and what was the result It re-\\nceived the Pentecostal baptism. I want the\\nLafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, here\\nand now, in this solemn presence, to resolve\\nthat from this time on it will be the Church\\nof Jerusalem over again. O God Thou know-", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "NEW EPISTLES EROM OLD LANDS. 41\\nest the power of Jerusalem s upper-room; make\\nthis Church, we pray Thee, a Jerusalem upper-\\nroom.\\nThey told me in London, three weeks ago, that\\non the first day of the great Indian mutiny an\\nEnglish officer, alone in his barracks for his men\\nhad deserted the flag ordered his bugler to try\\nthe effect once more of a call to arms. So out on\\nthe still evening air the bugler sent floating his\\ntrumpet note, Come to the colors Of all who\\nheard the old familiar note of authority, only one\\nman fell into the usual line and saluted the flag.\\nChrist, the Captain of salvation, has brought me\\nback from afar to this great camp of the army of\\nGod, and on this first Sabbath of my return he has\\ncommanded me to sound the Gospel trumpet of rally\\naround the cross. I send that call out into the\\nhallowed atmosphere of this Sabbath Day. You\\nhear it. Who will respond Who will respond\\nThat is the question of the hour, and multitudes\\nare waiting to hear the answer. The churches\\nacross the sea are waiting to hear. Who The\\ngrand men and women who have gone up to God\\nout of our midst are waiting to hear. Who The\\nHoly Spirit, the Spirit of Pentecost is waiting to\\nhear. Who Shall there be only one to answer\\nthe bugle call God forbid. Let us all answer\\nthe call Let every unit in this great Church\\nrespond. Therefore, brethren, seeing we are\\nencompassed about with so great a cloud of wit-", "height": "3474", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "42 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the\\nsin that doth so easily beset us; and let us\\nrun with patience the race that is set before\\nus, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher\\nof our faith.", "height": "3435", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE\\nAND\\nWHAT HE IS NOT.", "height": "3447", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "CY\\n-J", "height": "3494", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3403", "width": "2202", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "II.\\nWhat God Is to His People and What He\\nIs Not.\\nHave I been a wilderness unto Israel Jer. ii. 31.\\nThe glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers.\\nISA. xxxiii. 21.\\nThis sermon has a history. It is a product of\\nPalestine. It grew in the land where its text\\ngrew. I found it in the wilderness of Judea, not\\nfar from the city of Jerusalem. Prior to my visit\\nto the Holy Land I had never been in a wilderness.\\nBut on the morning of a bright May-day I started\\nfrom Jerusalem for a trip through the wilderness\\nthirty miles down to the Jordan valley and the\\nbanks of the Dead Sea. I was on my way to Jer-\\nicho. In this trip I reached the very heart of the\\nwilderness of Judea. It formed a great contrast\\nto what I had seen a few days before, when I rode\\nover the plain of Sharon, which was all abloom\\nwith flowers and richly freighted with waving har-\\nvests. The centre of the wilderness of Judea is\\nwildness itself. It is pure, unrelieved desolation\\nit is pastureless it is lifeless it is utterly unremu-\\nnerative it is devoid of every trace or suggestion\\nof the human. There is not even a black tent of", "height": "3447", "width": "2251", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "4\u00c2\u00a7 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\na swarthy Bedouin there. There are hills there,\\nbut they are bald, and smooth, and white, and\\nwithout a tint of verdure. There are great gorges\\nthere, black and yawning, rock-ribbed and stony.\\nThere are steep precipices there, which make the\\ntourist shudder as he rides along their slippery\\nedges. There is flying dust there, and, driven by\\nthe wind, it sweeps the place in blinding and\\nstifling clouds. There is great heat there, and\\nmost of the year the wilderness is like a burning\\noven. A man out there amid those stony hills is\\nas isolated as a man out in the midst of the great\\nwaves of mid-ocean with not a sail in sight. It is\\nthe land of silence. The perpetual stillness there\\nis overwhelming and oppressive. The sterile sol-\\nitudes are so deep and so lonely that they set one\\ntalking to his own soul for the sake of company\\nand relief. This is the one place of all the earth\\nfor God to talk to a man, and to talk effectively.\\nThere is positively nothing to interrupt; nothing\\nto break the attention of man. This is God s\\nauditorium, roofed by a wonderful sky, and grand\\nwith the grandeur of vastness. It was out here\\nthat Elijah lived and received his messages from\\nGod, messages which were straightforward and\\nwithout ornament, craggy and granite in their sub-\\nstance and form. It was out here that John the\\nBaptist separated himself to God, and here he be-\\ngan to preach the coming of the kingdom. It was\\nout here that Jesus Christ was tempted. On one", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "JVHA T GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 49\\nside of this wilderness Amos was born, and on\\nanother and. different side of it Jeremiah was\\nborn, and the visions of both of these prophets\\nhave the ruggedness of this wilderness in them.\\nThey both make the wilderness of Judea talk to\\nIsrael concerning God, and concerning God s deal-\\nings with His covenant people. It was out here,\\nwhile I was in the very heart of barrenness and\\nchaos and emptiness, that the text of this morning\\ncame to me. Have I ever been a wilderness to\\nthee? The question came with such force that\\nit seemed as though I heard an audible voice and\\nas though God Himself spake down from the skies.\\nFor a time I rode on in the stillness of the wilder-\\nness without saying a single word. I let God talk.\\nI allowed Him to amplify His question. Have\\nI been a barren God to you Have you planted\\nyour faith in Me, and reaped nothing Have you\\ncultivated your love toward Me and received no\\nlove in return? Has your fellowship with Me\\nyielded you nothing more than these broken, chas-\\nmic rocks have yielded the shepherds and the hus-\\nbandmen of Judea? As your God, am I to you as\\nthe things which you see around you blinding\\ndust, oppressive heat which weakens and makes\\nfaint, yawning chasm which affrights and terrifies,\\nperpetual emptiness which disappoints, a mighty\\nfield of unfruitful rocks bald and barren, unable\\nto give man the bread of life, able only to hold his\\nbones while they bleach in the sun, and crumble\\n4", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "5\u00c2\u00a9 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nto atoms, and blow away Am I only a wilder-\\nness to you You know now what a wilderness\\nis. Answer My question here in the heart of this\\nJudean desert. Answer it to your own soul,\\nanswer it to the world, answer it to Me.\\nHow did I deal with God s question How did\\nI frame my answer What did I say to God in\\nresponse? I will tell you. I threw God s ques-\\ntion up over the barren hills, to the crested edge\\nof the wilderness, to a little oasis there, where I\\nsaw a shepherd feeding his flock in the morning\\nas I started out on my wilderness trip and an an-\\nswer to God s question came back from that pic-\\nturesque scene in the form of the Twenty-third\\nPsalm\\nThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.\\nTurning that psalm into the song of my soul,\\nI sent it to God as my answer. I threw God s\\nquestion over to the summit of Mount Moriah, and\\nout from the old Temple of God came floating in\\nthe air the words of the Thirty-sixth Psalm\\nThy loving kindness, O Lord, is in the heavens.\\nThy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies.\\nThy righteousness is like the great mountains.\\nThy judgments are a great deep.\\nO Lord, thou preservest man and beast.\\nHow precious is thy loving kindness, O God!\\nTherefore the children of men put their trust under\\nthe shadow of thy wings.", "height": "3439", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 51\\nThey shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness\\nof thy house.\\nAnd thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy\\npleasures.\\nFor with thee is the fountain of life.\\nIn thy light shall we see light.\\nI turned these words also into the song of my\\nsoul that day, and sent the Thirty-sixth Psalm to\\nGod as my answer.\\nMount Nebo was in sight from the spot where I\\nwas, so I threw God s question up there to Moses,\\nand back from him came these words of the\\nNinetieth Psalm\\nLord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all gen-\\nerations.\\nI threw 7 God s question over to Mount Zion to\\nthe palace of David, the King of Israel, and from\\nhis harp of praise came back the One Hundred and\\nThird Psalm, and I made that the song of my soul\\nand sent the One Hundred and Third Psalm to\\nGod as my answer. Why should I not use these\\ninspired osalms as my answer I was in the psalm\\ncountry, wnere God s goodness grew these psalms,\\nand they answered the fitness of things. I threw\\nGod s question over to Bethlehem, and to Calvary,\\nand to the empty tomb, and to the Mount of Ol-\\nives, and back came the Gospels, and the eighth\\nchapter of Romans, and the fifteenth chapter of\\nFirst Corinthians, and, by an act of appropriating", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "52 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nfaith, I made these mine once more and sent them\\nto God as my answer. I was in the midst of these\\nhistoric and sacred places, I had seen them all that\\nvery day, and why should I not interrogate them\\nfor the answer which I knew they held Sum-\\nming up my answer into one short sentence, with\\nIsrael of old, I said Lord, thou hast been as a\\nRiver of Life unto me. A river of life is the\\nvery opposite of a wilderness. Israel of old said\\nThe glorious Lord will be unto us a place of\\nbroad rivers.\\nWe see now what God is not. He is not a wil-\\nderness to His people. The other question before\\nus is, What is He? Our text answers: He\\nis a River to His people.\\nDid I see illustrations of the value of the life-\\ngiving river while in yonder world of antiquity\\nI did. And what is remarkable, ofttimes I saw the\\nfertile river- valley and the bleak and blasted wil-\\nderness-region coexisting side by side. The strik-\\ning contrast emphasized to me the word wilder-\\nness and the word river. I saw the Nile and\\nthe fertile valley which it has made. Egypt is the\\ncreature of the Nile. Geographically Egypt is a\\nbroad tract of country, but so far as civilization is\\nconcerned the real Egypt is the comparatively nar-\\nrow strip of the valley of the Nile, broadening out\\nbelow Cairo into the Delta. On each side of the\\nrich valley there is an arid region of rocky and\\nsandy hills, on which scarcely a trace of vegetation", "height": "3433", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS P EOF IE. 53\\ncan be seen. The fertile valley is marked off from\\nthe desert as cleanly as if the dividing line had\\nbeen cut by a knife. That desert is a mighty sea\\nof yellow sand which the wind has tossed every-\\nwhere into wave shapes. It is crinkled and bil-\\nlowed, just like the ocean. It is out there that\\nthe bland Sphinx rears its mighty head, and the\\ngigantic pyramids keep perpetual watch. Take\\naway the Nile, and Egypt in a very short time\\nwould lapse into the great African desert. These\\nsands, which are forever dashing up against the\\nSphinx and the pyramids, would roll over this Eden\\nvalley and make it one sea of sand.\\nWhat is seen in Egypt is seen in Syria, viz.\\nfertility and desert side by side. The rich plain\\nof Damascus is surrounded by great sand hills as\\nbleak and as verdureless as the human eye ever\\nrested upon. The contrast sets off the beauty of\\nthe city of Damascus. It is a city of gardens, and\\nitself stands in the midst of a vast garden. It is\\nthe great White City of the Orient; and its mina-\\nrets and dome-shaped buildings, all white, give it\\nthe appearance of an island of pearls and opals\\ngleaming out of a sea of emerald. You know the\\ncharacteristics of this noted city. It is noted\\nfor its great antiquity and astonishing vitality.\\nIt is the oldest city of the world. It antedates\\nAbraham. Eliezer, Abraham s servant, was from\\nDamascus.\\nIt has had vitality to live through millenniums.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "54 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nBabylon is a ruin, Nineveh is a ruin, but Damas-\\ncus still stands and shows no sign of decay. Rome\\nis called the Eternal City, but Damascus is twice\\nthe age of Rome. Its history goes back to the\\nworld s beginning and bids fair to go on to the\\nworld s end. It is noted for its great beauty. It\\nis called the Paradise of the East. It got this\\nname from the story of Mohammed. It is related\\nof him that, when he was a poor muleteer, he came\\non one of his journeys to the neighborhood of\\nDamascus. When he caught sight of the city,\\nlying in the midst of its bowers, he gazed on its\\nbeauty and turned away without entering it, ex-\\nclaiming Man can have but one Paradise, and\\nmy Paradise is fixed above. The prophet Jere-\\nmiah, in the name of a citizen of Damascus, calls\\nit the city of praises, the city of my joy. But\\nwhy speak thus in praise of Damascus That I\\nmay make this point Its beauty, its vitality, its\\nantiquity, its wealth are all due to one cause, viz.,\\nthe river Abana. Are not Abana and Pharpar,\\nrivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of\\nIsrael The Abana is the very life-blood of\\ngreat Damascus and of the whole surrounding fer-\\ntile plain. But for it the whole plain would match\\nthe bleak hills that loom around it. It is literally\\na river of life.\\nNaaman, the Syrian, was right when, physically,\\nhe pooh-poohed at the river Jordan in comparison\\nwith this river which made Damascus. There", "height": "3438", "width": "2341", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3408", "width": "2391", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3433", "width": "2342", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 55\\nwas no such river in all Israel. The Jordan was\\nno such river. I traced the Jordan, from the spot\\nwhere it ingloriously empties itself into the Dead\\nSea, up to its source in Dan, where it gushes al-\\nmost full size from the base of Mount Hermon,\\nbut I found it as nothing in comparison with the\\nAbana. It did not make Galilee, it did not make\\nJudea. It never created any civilization. It never\\nturned a mill-wheel. No great city was ever built\\non its banks. The valley through which it flows,\\nowing to its tropical heat, is malarious and drives\\nthe population to the adjacent highlands. It has\\nnever been anything for navigation. No fishing\\nindustry has ever been carried on in its waters.\\nIt has helped agriculture only in a limited way,\\nand that in Galilee. The Judean half of it might\\ndisappear without producing any serious loss to\\nthe civilization of Palestine. The civilization of\\nPalestine is found, not in its valley, but up on the\\ncentre tableland, hundreds of feet higher than\\nthe Jordan valley. The Jordan got its famous\\nhistory, not from its physical value, but from its\\nrelation to the God of Israel. It was a sacra-\\nmental river. It was as such that it made its\\nrecord. God made its waters life-giving to Naa-\\nman of Damascus. The touch of the sacred feet\\nof the priests and the mantle of Elijah gave it its\\nfame. John and Jesus made it holy water by con-\\nverting it into God s Baptistry Jesus Christ was\\nbaptized in it. It was the silver cord upon which", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "56 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nGod strung as golden beads the thrilling events\\nin the history of His covenant people.\\nJerusalem knew just what the Jordan was; that\\nit meant nothing to a great city that it meant\\nnothing to the surrounding country of a great city;\\nthat it produced nothing in civilization. Jerusa-\\nlem said to God, I have no Nile to make me as\\nEgypt. I have no Euphrates to make me as Baby-\\nlon. I have no Abana to make me as Damascus.\\nI have only this little Jordan; and it is nothing.\\nGod replied to Jerusalem I know it. You have\\nno Nile; no Euphrates; no Abana. I am your\\nNile; I am your Euphrates; I am your Abana.\\nI will be a River unto thee. I will make thee\\ngreat without the Nile; without the Euphrates;\\nwithout the Abana. Have I ever been a wilder-\\nness unto Israel\\nWhat God promised to be, that He was to Jeru-\\nsalem; its River; the Source of its life. What if\\nDamascus have the Abana is not God better than\\nthe Abana? Can Damascus, the Abana-made\\ncity, compare with Jerusalem, the God-made city\\nNotwithstanding the great age of Damascus, not-\\nwithstanding its large population in all times, we\\ncannot associate a single great action with Damas-\\ncus, or a single great action with any one born\\nin Damascus. I mean an action that has blessed\\nthe wide world. The associations of Damascus\\nare all of idolatry, cruelty, and bloodshed. You\\ncannot say that of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, with", "height": "3442", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. $7\\nGod in place of a river, has a better record than\\nthat.\\nIn Judea there were none of the natural condi-\\ntions of a great city; but God built Jerusalem\\nthere, and made it a great city. God made it the\\nleading city of the world for, far above and be-\\nyond Athens, and far above and beyond Rome, it\\ntaught the nations truth and justice, and gave to\\nmankind that which purifies and makes society\\nstrong and blessed. It became so grand, and\\nbeautiful, and estimable that it gave its name to\\nthat ideal city which men have all along been\\ntrying to build on this earth, viz., the New Jeru-\\nsalem, the City of God descending out of Heaven.\\nJerusalem was not impregnable, but, what was far\\nbetter, it was in charge of an invincible Provi-\\ndence. So long as its people were loyal to God,\\nit stood invincible.\\nMy fellow-men, you know the history of Israel,\\nand the relations of God A to that history. Answer\\nWas not God everything to that nation? You\\nknow how God talked with that nation, in the per-\\nson of Moses, on the threshold of its career. The\\nwords of Moses are familiar to you\\nIf thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of\\nthe Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his com-\\nmandments, thy God will set thee high above all na-\\ntions of the earth, and all these blessings shall come\\non thee. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and\\nblessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be\\nthe fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "5$ NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the\\nflocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket, and\\nthy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest\\nin, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.\\nThe Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up\\nagainst thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall\\ncome up against thee one way. and flee before thee\\nseven ways. The Lord shall bless thee in all that\\nthou settest thine hand unto. The Lord shall estab-\\nlish thee an holy people unto Himself. All people\\nof the earth shall see that thou art called by the name\\nof the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee.\\nThe Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure,\\nthe heaven to give rain unto thy land in its season,\\nand to bless all the work of thine hand, and thou\\nshalt lend unto many nations, and shalt not borrow!\\nYou know how these words were fulfilled. You\\nknow what God was to Israel when Israel trusted\\nGod. God was the equivalent of harvests infi-\\nnite harvests. God meant the early and the latter\\nrain. God meant the cedars of Lebanon, the\\nclothing of the mountains of Palestine; and the\\nRose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley, the\\nclothing of the lowlands and plains of Palestine.\\nGod meant progress, growth, victory. God was\\nthe equivalent of an all-around greatness. As\\nMoses said, Israel became so great under God that\\nshe gave to the world; never borrowed, never\\nreceived from the world. The world had nothing\\nto do in her making, but she had everything to\\ndo in the making of the world. L nder God,\\nshe gave the world principles, precedents, theolo-\\ngies, moral sciences, holy men, and magnificent", "height": "3431", "width": "2342", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 59\\nleaders. Thou shalt lend unto the nations, and\\nnot borrow She has given the world more than\\nEgypt, the cradle of learning, has given; more\\nthan Babylon, the centre of ancient wealth more\\nthan Tyre or Sidon, the creator of silks and col-\\nors more than robust Germany more than bril-\\nliant France more than sunny and tuneful Italy,\\nthe land of artists and architects; more than\\nChristian England, with its statesmen and schol-\\nars; and more than great America, the land of\\ncivil and religious liberty. The golden crops of\\nideas, and principles, and moralities, and spiritu-\\nalities, and religion, reaped from the harvest-fields\\nof Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, have nowhere as\\nyet been equalled in all the world. Thou shalt\\nlend unto the nations, and shalt not borrow\\nThis is the story of God in His relation to\\nIsrael, His covenant people, viz. He made Judea\\nthe land of righteousness, and truth, and peace,\\nand goodness, and uprightness, and salvation.\\nCertainly this is not the harvest of a wilderness.\\nHe made Jerusalem a city of magnificent fellow-\\nships, with holy and infinite ideas holy and infi-\\nnite purposes holy and infinite loves holy and\\ninfinite relationships; holy and infinite memories.\\nIt was the city of sublime faith in the one living\\nand true God. It was nothing short of a soul rap-\\nture. Certainly this is not the harvest of a wil-\\nderness. Look at the products of this land. It\\ngrew Abraham and the patriarchs Moses and the", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "60 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nprophets David and the psalmists John and the\\nevangelists; Peter and the Apostles Jesus Christ\\nand great Christendom; the Bible, the Book of\\nGod, and Christianity. Certainly, this is not the\\nharvest of a wilderness. These grand things can\\ngrow only upon the banks of the River of Life.\\nWe talk about the blessings which the Jew has\\ngiven the world, and we explain his fruitfulness\\nby saying that his was the aristocracy of brain, and\\nhis the aristocracy of blood. This is not the ex-\\nplanation. The true explanation is this The\\nJew has given to the nations of the world, and not\\nborrowed, because he has been the covenant-child\\nof God. God in the Jew made him a blessing\\nGod in his brain made him an Isaiah, with the roll\\nof prophecy in his hand and a John, with the\\nApocalypse in his hand. God was in his brain\\nthe indwelling God always expands the mind.\\nGod was in his blood God was in his civilization\\nGod was in his sacred writings God was in his\\nMessiah. God explains the Jew, and only God.\\nGod, not as a wilderness, but God as a River of\\nLife. Because God was what He was to his cove-\\nnant people, therefore He could challenge them\\nwith the question of the text, Have I been a\\nwilderness unto Isarel\\nMy fellow-men, God is dealing with us this\\nmorning just as of old He dealt with His ancient\\ncovenant-people. He is here with His old ques-\\ntion, and He puts it directly to us Have I ever", "height": "3433", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 6*\\nbeen a wilderness unto thee Have I been re-\\ngardless of your need of salvation Have I over-\\nlooked the fact that you are ignorant and need in-\\nstruction Have I been deaf to your entreaty\\nHave I been without sympathy in your time of\\naffliction Have I but half opened the door when\\nyou sought to return to My love and confidence\\nHave I starved you Have I led you amid stony\\nplaces? Have I been inhospitable to you when\\nyou looked up to Me for the Bread of Life, and for\\nnourishment What a power a simple question\\nis when used by the Lord. It is a witness against\\nthe soul it is an impeachment a challenge an\\naccusation an argument a criticism. When God\\nasks a question He pronounces a judgment. His\\nquestion searches us through and through. His\\nquestion carries its own answer. It is judicial,\\nand leaves us without defence before God.\\nBut why does God come this morning and ask\\nus the question of the text I suppose the rea-\\nson is We have minimized our God we have\\nunderestimated Him we have misrepresented\\nHim to ourselves; we have neglected Him; we\\nhave failed to apply to Him, and to make large\\nappropriations of Him. He questions us because\\nof our low thoughts of Him our murmurings\\nour dissatisfactions our lean and hungry looks\\nour low attainments our forgetfulness our shift-\\ning policies; and our worldly alliances. He sees\\nthat we are positively weary of Him, and that we", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "62 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nare limiting Him, and keeping Him from working\\nout His grand ideals in and through us.\\nBrethren, God is not a wilderness to us. We\\nhave been false and barren to ourselves but God\\nto us, never. Whenever we have let God into our\\nlives, and His blessed Son, and His sacred Book,\\nand His holy day, and His Eternal Spirit, we\\nhave had all things, and have abounded.\\nThat you may be helped to give a right answer\\nto God s question, let me mention at least three\\nthings relative to God in which there is not an\\natom of the wilderness.\\nI. His precepts, whereby He instructs us, are not\\na wilderness.\\nIt is, as the Psalmist says concerning His com-\\nmandments, Each thought of thine, a deep it\\nis We need His precepts as a guide, and in\\nno day more than in this day. There are others\\nspeaking to us from other books than the Bible.\\nThey are intellectual men, able men. They are\\npersons capable of treating great subjects in a\\ngreat manner. They have long ago discounted\\nMoses, and the prophets, and the psalmists, and\\nthe apostles. They have taken their own con-\\nsciousness as a guide. They exalt what they call\\ntheir spiritual instinct. They make that infal-\\nlible, in place of God s Word. The result is, they\\nare leading man away from God. Let me ask you,\\nIs man s instinct equal to God s omniscience? If\\nnot, then the time has not yet come to give up", "height": "3423", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPIE. 63\\nGod as our guide, especially in the things which\\npertain to eternity. It is said that in Norway, every\\nthree or four years, swarms of little animals, called\\nthe lemming, find their way to the coast, and swim\\nout to sea where they perish in great numbers.\\nA false trust in instinct, or, rather, in an experi-\\nence too narrow, seems to be the clew to this phe-\\nnomenon of collective suicide. Instinct is all\\nright within narrow lines. It is all right in swim-\\nming little Norway rivers and lakes but it is all\\ntoo inadequate when the lemmings reach the vast\\nocean, with its unknown areas. Let no one here\\nbe the victim of the overweening confidence of\\nman. Wait until God fails you wait until He\\nproves a wilderness, before you put in His place\\nany man, however gifted, as a leader in things\\nwhich pertain to the eternities. Israel may count\\nupon it that God will lead her safely to Canaan.\\n2. His promises, whereby He heartens and in-\\nspires us, are not a wilderness.\\nI need not stop to utter a single word of argu-\\nment in confirmation of this fact. The statement\\nis almost axiomatic. And yet, notwithstanding,\\nwe, many of us, are like wilderness people. Spir-\\nitually we are gaunt and lean, and half- starved.\\nWe are rich in promises, only we do not know it.\\nIn the Kingdom of God we are like the historic\\nIndian in the republic of America. This Indian\\nfound his way into one of our Western settle-\\nments. He was in search of food, for he was", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "64 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nstarving. A bright-colored ribbon was seen around\\nhis neck, from which there hung a small pouch.\\nHe was asked what this was, and he replied that\\nit was a charm given him in his younger days.\\nHe opened it and took out a worn and crumpled\\npiece of paper and handed it to the settlers for in-\\nspection. On examination, this crumpled piece of\\npaper was found to be a regular discharge from the\\nFederal army entitling him to a pension for life.\\nIt was signed by General Washington himself.\\nHere was a man with a duly signed promise secur-\\ning him ample provision for every emergency, and\\nyet he was wandering about hungry and helpless\\nand forlorn, begging bread to keep him from star-\\nvation. That is a picture of many Christians.\\nThey are poverty-stricken while holding in their\\nhands divine claims upon the very wealth of\\nHeaven. Take the promises to God and have\\nthem realized. Get them cashed in courage, in\\npeace of conscience, in assurance, and in divine\\ncommunion. Our need is receptivity power to\\nreceive God.\\n3. His Christ, by whom we are saved is not a\\nwilderness.\\nHe is the supremacy of God s revelation. As\\nthe Revealer of God, He has a name that is above\\nevery name. He shows us that the genius of God\\nis infinite love, infinite plentifulness. In Jesus\\nChrist, God gives to mankind universally. Christ\\nwas not local, He was universal. True, He walked", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 65\\nin Galilee and talked with the fishermen of that\\nplace but He talked to the universal soul. True,\\nHe sat on the hillside over across from Caper-\\nnaum, and, in a low, sweet voice, uttered those\\nwonderful Beatitudes of His; but at the same\\ntime He preached that immortal Sermon on the\\nMount to all future generations of men. True,\\nHe partook of a simple meal in an upper chamber\\nof Jerusalem, with nobody present save His twelve\\ndisciples; but it is just as true that around that\\nboard, in the vision of faith, there were ranged the\\nweary, and the penitent, and the bereaved of all\\nnations and of all centuries. We know what we\\nhave in Him pardon of sin, freedom from all\\ncondemnation, peace of conscience, ideals toward\\nwhich to grow, freedom from the fear of death,\\nand the purifying and uplifting hope of a blessed\\nimmortality. These are not the harvest of a wil-\\nderness. Strike Jesus Christ and His few months\\nof ministry in Palestine out of existence, and all\\nthe elements and facts which vivify society and\\nennoble our life disappear as the rays of light dis-\\nappear when the sun is quenched. Our chiefest\\nblessings radiate from His divine personality.\\nChrist is God at His best God in His fulness.\\nIn reaching God through Moses the lawgiver,\\nthrough David the sweet singer, through Isaiah\\nthe evangelical prophet, and then through Jesus\\nChirst the divine Son, we are like the traveller in\\nthe Alpine land making new and advancing dis-\\n5", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "66 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ncoveries of the beauties of the Alps. When he\\nreaches the first brave altitude, and gets his first\\nthrill from the vision about him, he says This is\\nthe place for me to live; I ll nestle my cottage on\\nyonder slope, and live with this prospect forever\\nbefore me. He pushes on, however. When he\\nreaches a few miles farther up he says No I\\nwas mistaken, this is the place for me; I will\\nbuild my home here the air is purer and more\\nexhilarating. The altitude is bolder, and the\\nlandscape is wider and finer in every feature. He\\nis exceedingly talkative. This is the place for\\nmy home. But still he pushes up and on until\\nhe reaches the very heart of the Alps. There is\\na wonderful glow in his countenance, as though\\nhe were standing face to face with God. But why\\nis he dumb and silent He has just reached the\\nJungfrau. Its figure is majestic; its purity is un-\\nspeakable. It has burst upon him in a glory he\\nnever dreamed of. He is enthralled; he is over-\\nawed. He is silent. He cannot analyze it; he\\ncannot put its beauty into words. There is no for-\\nmula for the Jungfrau. This is the fulness of the\\nglory of the Alps. This is the place above all\\nplaces for his home. My fellow-man, if you have\\nnot reached Jesus Christ in your knowledge, and\\nin your faith, and in your love, you have not yet\\nreached the Jungfrau in the Alps of truth. He\\nis the fulness of God. But if you have reached\\nHim in your knowledge, and in your faith, and in", "height": "3427", "width": "2365", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 67\\nyour love, you have found the true place for the\\nhome of your soul. Blessed is that man whose\\nlife is hid with Christ in God. Are you such an\\none Then my God shall supply all your need\\naccording to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.\\nIn the study of this morning we have found\\nwhat God is to His people and what He is not.\\nThe practical lesson contained in what we have\\nfound is this\\nWe should be like God. We should be to\\nothers what God is to us. Christ says, that all\\nto whom he gives the water of life, out of them\\nshall flow rivers of living water. That is, they\\nshall be rivers of life unto others.\\nA wilderness, or a river that is the question.\\nWhich are we? What are we as part of the\\nChurch of Christ What are we in the item of\\nprayer What are we as an inspiration to others\\nWhat is our faith? What is our love? Are we\\nfruitful or unfruitful? Do we enrich the home,\\nsociety, the body politic What do we give forth\\nfrom our Christian personality Sympathy, love,\\nexperience What are we doing with the things\\nof God? What are we making out of His gifts\\nfor the blessing of others God gives us Chris-\\ntianity with its precepts and principles what are\\nwe doing with it Are we turning it into the\\npractical and needed things of life forgiveness,\\ncharity, honesty, truthfulness, helping hands?\\nAre we concreting Christianity? Taking it out", "height": "3470", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "68 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof a creed and putting it into a life This is the\\nbest way to help others. This is what God ex-\\npects us to do. God always leaves a margin for\\nmen to work in and show their quality. He cre-\\nates stone, but He leaves it for man to build the\\nhouse. He grows the wool, but man must run the\\nloom and make the cloth. He gives the corn, but\\nman must grind it and bake it, if he would have\\nbread. Christianity comes to us as a germ, as un-\\nhewn stone, as uncarded wool, as unthreshed wheat\\nwhat are we doing with it to make it of practical\\nservice Christianity is the simple gamut. What\\nis the song into which we are converting it? Are\\nwe singing the song of salvation into the souls of\\nothers God is giving us wide margins in life\\nin which to work and to become blessings to oth-\\ners. Are we working Christianity out in a splen-\\ndid, fruitful life? There is such a thing as a\\nnoble discontent. I wish to see such a discon-\\ntent in you. Yet I do not wish to discourage you\\nwhile calling you to high and Godlike things. I\\nhear you say We cannot maintain the level of\\nthe life you are prescribing. True you cannot;\\nbut God in you can. Your sufficiency is in Him.\\nRobert Louis Stevenson the man of whom\\nMargaret Ogilvy was so jealous, because she was\\nafraid that he was out-distancing her son was\\nworking on the very night of his death on his new\\nand great work. He felt that he was outdoing\\nhimself, and an anxiety, such as yours, came into", "height": "3432", "width": "2365", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "WHAT GOD IS TO HIS PEOPLE. 69\\nhis heart which led him to ask this question:\\nHow shall I keep up the pitch Do not trou-\\nble yourselves about keeping up the pitch. It is\\nnot necessary nor possible to keep up the pitch\\nin Stevenson s sense. Men are not always equal.\\nShakespeare wrote baskets of rubbish; Words-\\nworth, pages of platitudes; Homer nodded many\\na time; Paul rabbinized. The human life of\\nChrist was not one level. He had His moods.\\nGethsemane was one mood His rejoicing at the\\nreport of the Seventy who came back saying,\\nLord, even the devils are subject to us in thy\\nname, was an altogether different mood. Cal-\\nvary was a whole series of alternating moods.\\nYour duty is to do the best you can to-day and\\ntrust to-morrow with God. The best at the time\\nthat is all either God or man can ask of you.\\nHow can I keep up the pitch? Stevenson was\\nanxious over-much; for that very night God re-\\nlieved him and crowned him with an everlasting\\ncrown. Be the best river of life to the world that\\nit is possible for you to be but do not worry as\\nto whether you shall dash in a cascade, or plunge\\nin a cataract, or overflow the banks in an irrigat-\\ning flood God will see to that. Flow where God\\nsends you flow as God gives you volume. Count\\nupon this fact the man who is always a river of\\nlife will never be a wilderness. God is a River\\nof Life, but never a wilderness. We, His people,\\nshould be like Him.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3417", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "THE THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR\\nCHRIST.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3423", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "A WOMAN OF SAMARIA WITH HER WATER-POT.", "height": "3482", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "III.\\nThe Things We Should Leave for Christ.\\nThe woman left her water-pot. John iv. 28.\\nI chose this text at the hour of noon, while\\nresting on the very spot where Jesus rested, and\\nwhere He talked with the Samaritan woman. I\\nchose it at Jacob s Well, on the very stone where\\nthe woman left her water-pot. There may be dis-\\ncussions as to other sites pertaining to Scripture\\nincidents, but there is no discussion whatever as\\nto the site of Jacob s well. This is the best\\nidentified spot in all Palestine. One visit by the\\nLord Jesus Christ made it forever famous, and\\nimpossible of being forgotten or mistaken. A\\nplain, unpretentious stone corridor surrounding a\\nvault-covered well, the mouth-stone of which has\\nbeen grooved by the ropes of ages such is Jacob s\\nwell. But it is more famous than the Parthenon\\nand older than the Pyramids. The well has been\\npurchased lately by the- Greek Church, and is kept\\nby one of its monks, who to-day solicits subscrip-\\ntions of all visitors for the laudable purpose of re-\\nstoring this spot to its ancient glory.\\nBetween the noontide of May nth and May", "height": "3447", "width": "2215", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "76 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\n1 2th I was highly favored as a traveller in the\\nHoly Land. During those hours I was permitted\\nto stand in three holy places, places which were\\nholy because they were places where God had es-\\npecially revealed Himself to the sons and daugh-\\nters of men. During these hours I lunched at\\nBethel, I tented at Shiloh, and I partook of a\\nnoon-day meal at Jacob s well. At Bethel God\\ndropped His spiritual ladder into Jacob s soul, and\\nlinked Heaven and earth together, and made the\\nplace to him the house of God and the gate of\\nheaven. At Shiloh God first set up his name\\nin Canaan and his tent in Israel. It was in the\\nholy tent of Shiloh that God spake to the boy\\nSamuel and called him to greatness. And here,\\nfor nearly four hundred years, the glorious She-\\nkinah shone above the mercy-seat between the\\ncherubim in the Holy of holies. But the greatest\\nrevelation of God was at Jacob s well for to Ja-\\ncob s well the Son of God Himself came. He\\nwas the true Shekinah, in whom dwelt all the ful-\\nness of the Godhead bodily. Here He held forth\\none noon -day, and by one grand talk revealed Him-\\nself as the long-looked for Messiah. This was\\nthe Word made flesh and dwelling among men.\\nThree such spots of revelation, seen in twenty-\\nfour hours Bethel, Shiloh, Jacob s well, all holy\\nplaces that was enough to make any twenty-four\\nhours a memorable day That outer May day was\\ngrand. The sun was shining in its strength, the", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 77\\natmosphere was clear and crystalline, the flowers\\nwere in full bloom, the vale of Shechem was\\nfreighted with the waving grain at the beginning\\nof barley harvest, the birds were warbling, the\\nbrooks were murmuring, the air was ringing with\\nthe voices of the children at play. The outer, the\\nnatural day was grand; but it was not half so\\ngrand as the inner, the spiritual day, which flooded\\nthe soul with the light of Heaven, and gave it ce-\\nlestial harvests, and drew for it refreshing water\\nfrom the River of Life which flows from beneath\\nthe throne of God.\\nThe first thing which I did on reaching Jacob s\\nwell was to drop a light eighty feet into the well\\nand verify the words, Sir, the well is deep.\\nThen I lowered a bucket and drew it up full of\\nthe historic water. Then I drank; and all the\\nwhile I thought of Jesus Ghrist and His gift of\\nthe Water of Life. After a refreshing draught,\\nI gave myself up to the reading of the fourth\\nchapter of the Gospel according to John, and to\\nre-living the scene of eighteen hundred years ago.\\nIt is wonderful what the influence of being there\\nis, and of reading there the words of Jesus. It\\ngives a new vividness to that great chapter, which\\nis so full of life and spiritual movement, and\\nwhich records, with such minuteness, the most\\nmarvellous conversation ever carried on by means\\nof human speech.\\nWhen I came to these words, The woman left", "height": "3447", "width": "2231", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "78 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nher water-pot, and went her way into the city, and\\nsaid to the men, Come, see a man which told me\\nall things that ever I did is not this the Christ\\nI said to myself, That shall be my text when I\\nstand again in the old pulpit and preach Jesus\\nChrist to my people.\\nSo far as this woman is concerned, that is the\\nclimax of the story of Jacob s well. She so finds\\nChrist, and .Christ so finds her, that everything at\\nonce becomes subordinate to Christ, and to the\\nwork of making Him known to a dying world.\\nIt is a very little item for the Bible to notice\\nthat she forgot her water-pot and, for the time\\nbeing, lost sight of her purpose in coming to the\\nwell but this little item reveals the whole char-\\nacter of the woman, and the new state into which\\nshe has been lifted, and the new ambition which\\nhas been put into her life, to sway it forever.\\nLittle things are used to make great revelations.\\nTo tell us that Paul was soundly converted the\\nBible says, Behold, he prayeth. To tell us that\\nthis woman is wholly absorbed by Christ, and is\\nChrist-filled and Christ-swayed, the Bible tells us,\\nThe woman left her water-pot. Little, unstud-\\nied acts reveal just what we are, and show what is\\nsupreme in our lives. The things which we un-\\nconsciously give up emphasize the things we have\\nnewly chosen. When we choose, with an all-ab-\\nsorbing choice, the higher things, we instinctively\\ngive up the lower things and we give them up", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 79\\nwithout hardship, without thought, and as a matter\\nof course.\\nBut let us get Jacob s well clearly before us,\\nwith its surrounding neighborhood for the neigh-\\nborhood is as much in the Gospel narrative as is\\nthe well itself. The whole region round about\\nJacob s well is rich in Biblical association, and the\\nwhole region, you will notice, is woven into this\\nconversation between Jesus and the Samaritan\\nwoman. I do not believe that there is another\\nconversation, or passage, or discourse, in all the\\nGospel, in which there are so many local allusions,\\nas are found in this conversation and the beauty\\nof it all is this these local allusions are not\\nmerely incidental, they are, every one of them,\\nhomiletical. The water is made a text so is the\\nmountain; so is the field, and so is the town.\\nThey are all used to bring out religious lessons\\nand convey soul-saving truths. Jesus makes every-\\nthing vocal, and by a chorus of voices proclaims\\neternal life. It is this which makes Jacob s well\\na place of such great interest. Places become in-\\nteresting to us because of what transpires at them.\\nFor example, the church to whose door Luther\\nnailed his theses is interesting to us; so is the\\nspot in Perth where John Knox preached the ser-\\nmon which set in motion the Reformation of Scot-\\nland so is the prison in which John Bunyan wrote\\nthe Pilgrim s Progress. In like manner, Jacob s\\nwell is of interest to us because there Christ first", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "So NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nproclaimed Himself the promised Messiah and\\noffered eternal life to the children of men.\\nReaching Jacob s well by the route from Jeru-\\nsalem is no easy task. Judea is the hill country,\\nand it is hard to travel. There are no made roads\\nanywhere. There is at best only a rough track.\\nSometimes this track runs over the dry bed of a\\nwinter torrent, which is filled with boulders and\\ncobble stones that roll under the horse s feet.\\nThe rough track is up one steep and down another\\nsteep and these steeps are bare rocks, smooth and\\nslippery and full of crevices, which keep one in\\nconstant fear of sprained ankles. When it is\\nwritten in the inspired narrative that after such\\na journey Jesus was wearied, the whole country\\nsays, That is true. The very roughness of the\\ncountry testifies to the truthfulness of the Book.\\nBut when you get to Jacob s well, you are through\\nwith the rough country. You at once strike the\\nvale of Shechem, which is an oasis in the wilder-\\nness, and is as beautiful and as full of fertility as\\nany chosen track of land can be. Here you strike\\nthe singing birds and the music of running waters.\\nJacob s well is on the end of a low spur, or\\nswell, running out from the northeastern base of\\nMount Gerizim. This spur is about thirty feet\\nabove the level of the plain, and commands quite a\\nview of the scenery around. Jesus, from this\\nslight altitude, could see everything which He\\nwove into the conversation. There was the great", "height": "3443", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. SI\\nmountain of Gerizim before Him, three thousand\\nfeet in height, with the Samaritan temple upon its\\nsummit; the glory of Samaria. I rode to the top of\\nthat mountain, and tied my horse to the ruins of\\nthat very temple which filled the eye of the Master.\\nIt was here that I had one of the finest views of\\nPalestine, and saw the greater part of the whole\\nland at one sweep of the eye. Palestine is noted\\nfor one thing, and that is its mountain- top views;\\nand every time one comes upon them they are an\\nuplift and a surprise. If it were not for these,\\ntravel there would be tame but, with these, travel\\nis a delight Almost every time one of these sub-\\nlime views burst upon my vision I looked abroad\\nand said: A wonderful land; historic for won-\\nderful men and wonderful thoughts and a wonder-\\nful life, and a wonderful God,\\nFrom the summit of Mount Gerizim, I looked\\ndirectly down upon the vale where Joshua once\\ngathered the tribes of Israel to listen to the read-\\ning of the blessings and the curses. There were\\nthree millions of people there that day. One mil-\\nlion and a half on the Ebal side and one million\\nand a half on the Gerizim side. Was there ever\\nan assembly on earth larger than that As, from\\nthe improvised pulpit in the center, each blessing\\nwas uttered and rang along the valley-auditorium\\nand up over the mountain galleries, the Gerizim\\npeople shouted a cheerful Amen. And as each\\ncurse was pronounced, in a similar way, the Ebal", "height": "3474", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "5:\\n*OJf OLD LANDS.\\npet me sr.tutea. .mum\\ncried me ar. ither. ike\\nin thunders rursmgs a\\nI have said that the si\\non which I stood, had on\\nthe Temple, which fillet\\nThus the mountains\\n5 :und mar.v waters,\\n_: ...:__ _ \u00e2\u0096\u00a0_\\nn:t all passed away. There is a community of\\nmem still in this place The ::mmnnity numbers\\nt:-day one hundred and twenty They wirsmp in\\na syrvamvue in Xablus. :r Sheahem, a t:wn a little\\never a mile fr:m Jacob s well. This synagugme I\\nvisited in :rder to see the eld Samaritan Penta-\\nteuch, sola have been written by Abishua. the\\nsin i: rninehas. the sin if E leaner, the sen of\\nAaron.. Every year the Samaritans celebrate the\\nPassover on Mount Gerizim, and slay their lambs\\nand sprinkle the people with the blood thereof.\\nBut I must not allow myself to get too far away\\nfrom Jacob s well. It is still full enough and deep\\nenough to supply us with sufficient streams of\\nthought for one service. Think of this old well,\\nand think of its long work of mercy Through\\nhundreds arc through thinsands if years at its\\nbrink have stood old men, little children, weary\\npilgrims, fair maidens, grim warriors, stately\\nsheiks, dust}- travellers all sorts and conditions\\nof the East arm of the West It gave forth its\\nwater to the good and to the bad. I have some-", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 8\\ntimes thought that it gave to the prophet of God\\nhis suggestive figure of God s blessing, viz., the\\nwells of salvation, which is often used in the\\nBook. I have sometimes thought, also, that it\\nsuggested that grand invitation of the Apocalypse,\\nwhich has in it the music of cool, sparkling, and\\nsatisfying water\u00e2\u0080\u0094 I mean these grand words\\nAnd the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And\\nlet him that heareth say, Come. And let him\\nthat is athirst come. And whosoever will, let\\nhim take the water of life freely.\\nMy fellow-men, the very presence of Jesus\\nChrist at this well, in the heart of Samaria, in\\nview of the hatred that existed between the Jews\\nand the Samaritans, is a revelation in itself, a mag-\\nnificent revelation of Jesus Christ. It shows the\\nbreadth of Christ and the intensity of His love,\\nand the wideness of His nature, and the all-com-\\nprehensiveness of His sympathy, and His great\\ndesire to save. Viewed rightly, it is an act incar-\\nnating those grand words of hope, God so loved\\nthe world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that\\nwhosoever believeth in him should not perish, but\\nhave everlasting life. I say to you who are here\\nthis evening, and who are students of the Book,\\nthat the revelation we get of Jesus Christ through\\nHis dealings with the Samaritans is no mean rev-\\nelation. It shows Him superior to all prejudice;\\nit reveals Him as the universal Saviour; it sets\\nHim forth as broad-minded and large-hearted.", "height": "3471", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "84 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nRemember how bitter the feud between the Jews\\nand Samaritans was. It was centuries old. It\\nwas religious. It was inherited. It was educated\\nhatred. It was backed up by the fathers. It was\\nso intense that the Jews had no dealings whatever\\nwith the Samaritans. In going from Judea to\\nGalilee they would not go through Samaria, but\\njourneyed round it, at great cost of labor and time.\\nNot one Jew in every thousand had ever seen Ja-\\ncob s well. They kept miles of prejudice between\\nthem and it, miles of bitter contempt and hatred.\\nThrough all this Jesus had to cut His way before\\nHe could reach Jacob s well, that He might offer\\nsalvation to the Samaritan woman and to the city\\nof Sychar. Even His own beloved John, the Dis-\\nciple of Love, once wanted Christ to call down fire\\nfrom Heaven and destroy a Samaritan village, be-\\ncause it was Samaritan enough and showed pluck\\nenough to refuse to receive those who had all\\nalong heaped contempt upon it. Christ refused\\nJohn the miracle of fire. That is in Christ s fa-\\nvor.\\nBut this was only one thing in His dealing with\\nthe Samaritans It was only the beginning. He\\nnever once recognized the bitter estrangement of\\nthe ages. On the contrary, He exalted the Samari-\\ntan above the Jewish priest and the holy Levite,\\nand gave the Samaritan the honor of being the\\nideal philanthropist of the world, the type of true\\nbenevolence for every age. This He did when He", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE EOR CHRIST. 85\\nuttered the Parable of the Good .Samaritan. Have\\nyou ever thought of the holy audacity which it\\nrequired to utter that parable That parable is\\nnothing short of the product of divine courage as\\nwell as of the impartial spirit which is no respecter\\nof persons, but which appreciates worth because it\\nis worth. Now, in the Scripture before us, Jesus,\\ncoming straight from the Temple, to the horror of\\nevery right-minded Pharisee, enters the territory\\nof Samaria, asks a favor of a Samaritan woman,\\noffers her the best gifts of Heaven, accepts of the\\nhospitality of the Samaritans, sleeps under their\\nroofs, eats at their tables, teaches in their streets,\\ntreats them as though they were as good as the\\nJews, and saves a whole city. In the Temple,\\nbetween the Court of the Gentiles and the Inner\\nCourt, was a marble screen, a curiously carved\\nfence, two feet high, beyond which no Gentile\\ncould venture. It was known as the middle wall\\nof partition. Had a Samaritan put his foot in-\\nside of that wall of partition he would have\\nbeen whirled away in a fury of rage, and stoned\\nto death in the twinkling of an eye. But here,\\nin this Scripture, is Jesus down in Samaria, tramp-\\nling into the dust that middle wall of partition.\\nHere He is, Himself the spiritual counterpart of\\nthe Temple, admitting Samaritans within the pale\\nof divine sympathy and love.\\nHave I told you all that pertains to Christ s\\ndealings with the Samaritans? Not all. One", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "86 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthing remains as. yet unref erred to. When the\\ncross and the tomb have been passed, when the\\nResurrection has taken place, and when on His\\nway to the Ascension He gives His disciples the\\ncommission to go into all the world and witness\\nfor Him among all nations, He mentions the Sa-\\nmaritans by name. He says to His disciples,\\nPreach salvation in my name to them. Ye\\nshall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and\\nin all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter-\\nmost parts of the earth. What is this but the\\ngolden text among all texts translated into life?\\nGod so loved the world, that he gave his only\\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him\\nshould not perish, but have everlasting life. My\\nfellow-men, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son\\nof God, through His dealings with the Samari-\\ntans, is a grand revelation. I do not wonder that\\nthis Samaritan woman felt the power of His great\\nlove, and yielded her heart and life to Him on the\\ninstant, and forgot all about rier mission to draw\\nwater from the well, and put in its place a rapid\\nmissionary tour to the city of Sychar.\\nI should like at this point to speak of Christ s\\ntreatise upon worship, in which He declares a uni-\\nversal God, accessible everywhere, and found in\\nall places by the pure in heart, and approachable\\nby all but for this I have no time. He issued\\nthe declaration of independence in the matter of\\nworship. He preached the doctrine of absolute", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 87\\nliberty of conscience from all thrall of place or\\ntradition in the matter of worship. He broadened\\nout the Holy of holies until it took in the wide\\nworld.\\nI should like at this point to speak of the estima-\\ntion in which Jesus holds the single soul. An au-\\ndience with just one immortal soul was an audience\\nto Him and an audience worthy of His very best.\\nThe most essential truths of His Gospel He\\npreached to audiences of one. There was only\\none man present when He preached the great doc-\\ntrine of the necessity of regeneration Nico-\\ndemus. There was only one woman present when\\nHe preached the great doctrine of the Resurrec-\\ntion Martha. There was only one Samaritan\\npresent when He preached His Messiahship for\\nthe first time the woman of Samaria.\\nI should like at this point to speak of this\\nwoman as the best type of a good listener. There\\nis a duty of listening and an art of listening.\\nGood listening makes good preaching. Too often\\nthe ear is preoccupied. Invisible speakers are\\naddressing it. It is under a spell. While the\\npulpit speaks, the pews are buying and selling;\\nyea, they do a little business sometimes even in\\nthe middle of the long prayer. Who would at-\\ntempt to deliver a message to a man a mile off?\\nYet there are some people in church to-night who\\nare three thousand miles off. Listen as though\\nyou were the only hearer. I should like to speak", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "88 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof the art of good listening, but I cannot. I\\nmust sweep everything aside and centre my\\nthoughts wholly upon this one fact of the story\\nof Jacob s well, viz., The woman left her water-\\npot.\\nYou understand the mental state of the woman.\\nShe was carried out of herself. She was lifted\\ninto a new life. She was face to face with One\\nwho met her highest ideals. She saw a new fu-\\nture. Her vision had a new outlook. Her water-\\npot, which was the symbol of her occupation and\\nher past life, grew to be nothing; Christ grew to\\nbe everything. She was Christ-entranced, and\\nChrist-absorbed, and Christ-controlled. The hori-\\nzon of her life was widened. She came to that\\nwell a mere water-carrier. She left it a Christian\\nmissionary with all the ardor of a new faith.\\nWhat does it signify this substituting Christ\\nfor the water-pot It signifies that when Christ\\ncomes into one s life as an enthusiasm He changes\\nthe standard of values. When Christ becomes\\nsupreme, other things, as a matter of course, take\\nsubordinate places. It signifies this great truth\\nThere are things which we should leave for Christ.\\nWe should be able to leave these things without\\na single regret. We should be able to leave them\\nwith enthusiasm, with joy, without so much as the\\ncost of a thought. This is what the Christ-ab-\\nsorbed do, but they are Christ-absorbed who do\\nit.", "height": "3431", "width": "2255", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 89\\nThree things which we should leave for Christ\\nare plainly suggested.\\nIn the first place, we should leave all fallible\\nguides for Him who is the infallible Guide.\\nIn leaving her water-pot at the well, and going\\nwith all haste to the city to tell others of her\\ngreat find, this woman left the Samaritan Penta-\\nteuch, the fathers, the traditions, the very things\\nwhich had been all in all to her; her standards,\\nher guides, and she put Christ in their place.\\nChrist was all in all to her now. Christ s teach-\\nings, and not the teachings of the fathers, were\\nher rule of faith and life now.\\nThere is a like change in our lives, if we have\\naccepted Christ in spirit and in truth. Fashion,\\nthe customs of the world, the criteria of society,\\npopular literature, the force which guided us in\\nthe days gone by, are all displaced, and Christ s\\nGospel, and Christ s example, are our inspiration.\\nWe have exchanged the fallible for the infallible.\\nIs there any one here who can question the advis-\\nability of such an exchange Do we not all know\\nthat we are the disciples of somebody? Why,\\nthen, not be the disciples of the best I can say\\ntruthfully to every one in this audience Some-\\nbody is your leader; somebody teaches you, and\\nyou follow. There is no need to argue this.\\nYou follow the man who edits that newspaper.\\nYou follow the author of that book. You follow\\nthe dictator of that political party. You follow", "height": "3447", "width": "2343", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "9 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthat iconoclast. You follow the fashion plate of\\nthat tailor. There is somebody who is an author-\\nity in every man s life. This is so with the athe-\\nist this is so with the agnostic. My point is,\\nchoose the best. And I offer you Christ as the\\nbest. Be a disciple of Him who is infallible. He\\nleads into the widest, and truest, and freest life.\\nHe comes directly from God and He leads directly\\nto God. Say to Him while you now abide in this\\nsacred presence To whom shall we go but unto\\nThee, for Thou hast the words of eternal life\\nWe should leave the fallible for the infallible.\\nIn the second place, we should give up our\\nprejudices, and, in the stead of these, we should\\nsubstitute the world-wide loves of Christ.\\nThis, also, the Samaritan woman did; and it\\nwas this that made a new woman of her, and gave\\nher a new and an immortal career. We have\\nshown you that there were no prejudices in Christ.\\nIf the prejudices of His kindred had ruled Him,\\nHe would never have been at Jacob s well. The\\nJacob s well episode would have been an utter im-\\npossibility. There were no prejudices in Him,\\nand the woman felt the electric and purifying\\ntouch of that life which had only love in it. I\\nknow of no chains which bind a man to small-\\nness in everything like the chains of preju-\\ndice. These make the narrow sectarian in church\\nlife; the bigot, the persecutor. These are the\\nantique grave clothes wrapped around the body", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 91\\nwhen it is prepared for the sepulchre, and they\\nmean death. They must be unloosed, and Laz-\\narus must be let go. The grandest work any man\\ncan do for us is to deliver us from our prejudices.\\nA gentleman on the other side of the Atlantic\\ntold me this incident, which serves me here as an\\nillustration. He said I was admiring, last\\nspring, a tree in full blossom. It was a miracle\\nof beauty. The gardener, seeing my rapture, said,\\nwith a shrewd, complacent air: Well, sir, I might\\nsay I gave the tree these beauties which you ad-\\nmire. Ah, how is that? He replied: For\\nseasons the tree bore nothing. I pruned its\\nbranches, but to no purpose. It occurred to me\\nto dig down and prune its roots. I did so. I\\nfound that the tap-root had struck into a coarse,\\nsour soil, and thence drew evil for the tree. This\\nI cut and set the tree free from the sour soil to\\nwhich the tap-root bound it, and you see the re-\\nsult. That is it. Prejudice is the tap-root that\\nburrows in the sour soil. He who cuts the tap\\nroot for us, and so sets us free from the unwhole-\\nsome, the mistaken, and the wrong to which we\\nare in bondage, does the best possible thing for\\nus. He gives us new life and new beauty of char-\\nacter.\\nJesus Christ does this for us. He made the\\nSamaritan woman a new woman, an attractive\\nwoman, the joy of all the ages; and He did this\\nby simply freeing her from her old-time preju-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "92 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ndices. The woman entered a grand life the very\\nmoment she surrendered her prejudices and sub-\\nstituted for them the broad loves of Christ. We\\nmust give up our prejudices for Christ.\\nIn the third place, we must leave all lower\\nthings and motives and ambitions and allow the\\nhigher Christ-like things and motives and ambi-\\ntions to take their places.\\nIn the case of the woman of Samaria the water-\\ncarrier became the missionary. That was an ex-\\nchange of the lower things for the higher. That\\nwas a decided advance in the ambitions of life.\\nAll Christians are like this woman when they are\\nfound of Christ. Matthew the Publican becomes\\nMatthew the Apostle. He forgets his money-\\ndesk. James and John forsake their nets and\\nfishing-boats. Augustine leaves the teaching of\\nphilosophy and takes to the preaching of the Gos-\\npel. Constantine stops building temples to idols\\nat Baalbec and uses the marvellous stones he has\\nquarried in building a basilica for the Master.\\nWhere men do the same things after conversion\\nwhich they did before conversion, new motives and\\nambitions are introduced into the doing of them\\nThese things have a new objective point. Busi-\\nness is made a medium of fellowship with God.\\nThe shop is consecrated and made a holy place.\\nGain is laid on the altar of divine service. Things\\nthat are questionable, which shadow the charac-\\nter, are forsaken for the glory of the Master. Un-", "height": "3429", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 93\\nholy pleasures lose their relish. Only those things\\nwhich elevate and lead Heavenward have the\\npower to enchant.\\nDo not say that I am putting painful restric-\\ntions upon men and women in preaching as I now\\ndo. If you are enchanted with Christ, I am\\npreaching pleasure, not pain. The woman of the\\ntext suffered nothing in leaving the water-pot.\\nThe higher things which we seek include all that\\nis good in the lower things which we leave.\\nThe people of Dublin tell this story of a poor\\nman who used to sweep the crossing of one of\\ntheir principal streets As he had swept the\\nstreets for years he became a well-known charac-\\nter to the hundreds who crossed and re-crossed\\nwhere he daily labored. He was weather-beaten\\nand illy clad. A prominent lawyer in the city, in\\nhis practice, came across a certain legacy for whom\\nno heirs were found. The name of the testator\\nhaunted his memory, and became a torment to\\nhim. It tormented him because he said to him-\\nself that is a familiar name to me, but I cannot\\nplace it. At length it came to him that is\\nthe name of the old street-sweeper; I wonder if\\nhe could be of the same family He studied\\nthe case up and found that he was. He was the\\nheir whom the court wanted. The facts of the\\ncase established, it became the duty of this lawyer\\nto make known to the old man his good fortune.\\nThe old man was hard at work when he went to", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "94 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nhim. There, in the middle of the street, he told\\nhim his story, and the old man stood, broom in\\nhand and mouth wide open in astonishment. This\\nis the way the story ends. So carried away with\\nthe pleasure and excitement of his good fortune\\nwas the old man that, unconsciously, he dropped\\nhis broom where he was standing and followed\\nthe attorney to enter on his new career. The\\nbroom He had always been careful of that be-\\nfore. The broom that had carried in it his live-\\nlihood. But he dropped it in the middle of the\\nstreet, and forgot it, and left it where the wheels\\nof traffic would break it to pieces. Do you won-\\nder at his treatment of the broom He is a rich\\nman now. Why should a rich man hold on to and\\ncarry around with him an old broom I tell you,\\nmy fellow-men, leaving the lower things of life\\nfor the higher things of Jesus Christ is only drop-\\nping the old broom because we have become rich\\nwith the riches of our God. There is nothing\\npainful in that. Our great concern should be to\\nbe absorbed in, and entranced by, Christ. Pain\\nin giving up things comes to us only when we are\\nnot absorbed and not entranced. It should be ours\\nto put the entrancement of Christ against the en-\\ntrancement of the world. It is because we are\\nentranced by the world that we cling to the lower\\nthings. Are you entranced by the world, or are\\nyou entranced by Christ? Make that the ques-\\ntion which you shall settle this Sabbath-day. It", "height": "3443", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "THINGS WE SHOULD LEAVE FOR CHRIST. 95\\nis a question for the young, and it is a question\\nfor the old. It is as much a question for the old\\nas it is for the young.\\nBunyan sets this forth in his immortal allegory.\\nThe masterpiece of his insight into life is just\\nthis He places the Enchanted Ground right near\\nto Beulah Land, almost at the end of the Celestial\\nroad, within eye-shot of the Celestial City itself.\\nIt is a master stroke of Satan, after a man has had\\nexperience, after he has come safely through the\\nSlough of Despond, and escaped from Doubting\\nCastle, and conquered Giant Despair, to take him\\nwith his vast experience and lock him up in the\\nenchantment of the world, in luxurious laziness,\\nand in inactivity. He retires him from religion.\\nHe makes a nonentity out of him. Are you talk-\\ning about giving up religious work stepping\\ndown and out of the post of responsibility Let\\nme tell you, you have reached the Enchanted\\nGround, and it is the place of the Christian s\\ngreatest temptation. If Satan gets you into that\\nground, you will never get to Beulah Land, al-\\nthough Beulah Land lies right over the line. I\\nsound the note of warning, Beware! Meet\\nthe enchantment of the world by giving yourself\\nup more and more to the enchantment of Christ\\nand His service.\\nI ask you to notice in closing how much de-\\npended upon the conversion of this one Samaritan\\nwoman, and upon the willing yielding of herself", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "96 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nup to Christ. The conversion of the whole city\\nof Sychar depended upon it. She carried in her\\ndecision the eternal destiny of a whole city. This\\nis a point for those who have not made an out-and-\\nout public decision for Jesus Christ. Your con-\\nversion does not stand alone and unrelated. No-\\nbody s conversion does. Does that not move you\\nIt moves me tremendously. Does the eternal des-\\ntiny of others hang upon my decision for Jesus\\nChrist Then I will decide for Jesus Christ right\\nhere and now. I will be saved for the sake of the\\nsalvation of others. I have put you in a solemn\\nplace, and, God helping me, I am not going to say\\na single word, or do a single thing, to help get\\nyou out of that solemn place, or to lessen your\\nsense of awful responsibility. You hold in your\\nhand the salvation or the non-salvation of others.\\nIf you decided for Christ you would carry with\\nyou the decision of every member of your house-\\nhold for Christ. You know that. You would\\ncarry with you the decision of your friend. You\\nknow that. You would carry with you the decis-\\nion of your business partner. You know that.\\nYou would carry with you the decision of your\\nfellow-clerk. You know that. If these do not\\nbecome followers of Jesus Christ, who will be re-\\nsponsible? If the woman of Samaria refuses\\nChrist, and if the city of Sychar goes out into\\neternity Christless, who will be responsible?\\nWho?", "height": "3425", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE,\\nOR\\nTHE HERDSMEN OF TEKOA.", "height": "3438", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3416", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS AMOS AND NAHUM. BY SARGENT.\\nFrom the Frieze, Boston Public Library.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3401", "width": "2225", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "IV.\\nThe Plumb- Line, or the Herdsmen of Tekoa.\\nAnd the Lord said unto me Amos, what seest thou? And\\nI said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a\\nplumb-line in the midst of my people Israel. Amos. vii. 8.\\nThe text is a drama. God and His prophet are\\nthe actors. This form of presenting truth is\\nchosen to make truth striking and effective. One\\nthing God is determined to do and that is, to get\\nhold of the mind of man to be listened to when\\nHe speaks. For this purpose He adopts all expe-\\ndients and all styles in presenting His revelations\\nto the human world. Sometimes He throws these\\ninto the form of poetry and gives them to man\\nclothed in the power of beauty. At other times\\nHe casts them into the form of thrilling history,\\nand in this way captures the attention. Some-\\ntimes He incarnates His message in a human life\\nat other times He puts it into the form of a pene-\\ntrating question, which carries it right into the\\nsoul. Sometimes He uses a picturesque parable;\\nat other times He works it into a drama. That is\\nwhat He does in our text; He works His message\\ninto a striking drama. He holds up a plumb-line", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "T02 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nand makes it talk to His people. Behold, I will\\nset a plumb-line in the midst of Israel.\\nDrama, as a medium of revelation and a method\\nof teaching, is very effective. It holds the atten-\\ntion it instructs it makes thought and fact clear\\nand tangible. Christ used it. He spake para-\\nbles; and what are parables but dramas, i.e. y men\\nand women dialoguing and acting their several\\nparts? Notice how large is the stage and how\\nmany are the actors in that pearl of parables,\\nthe parable of the prodigal son! Christ s\\ndramatization of truth was effective too. It not\\nonly held the attention of men, it moved them.\\nSometimes it moved them down to the very roots\\nof their being. Take as an illustration the Phari-\\nsees who vv-aited on Christ s ministry. It is writ-\\nten, And they perceived that he spake this par-\\nable concerning them. And did not that move\\nthem? Surely. So long as the truth remained\\na parable it was a picture which fascinated them\\nbut when it passed into an application, it at once\\nbecame a judgment a plumb-line an expose of\\ntheir conduct and character which moved them to\\nwrath. In the form of an application it was the\\nsting of fire touching their conscience. It an-\\ngered them. Certainly Christ s drama had a\\nmoving power on that day when the people of\\nNazareth seized Him bodily and rushed Him to\\nthe brow of the hill on which the city was built,\\nthat they might hurl Him headlong over it to His", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 103\\ndeath. As I rode up toward Nazareth, I found\\nmy eyes riveted upon that historic brow; and I\\nsaid to my soul Soul, there is the witness that\\nyour Master was a faithful and an effective\\npreacher. He moved people by His preaching.\\nHis sermons were pointed and direct. I was not\\nsatisfied until I was permitted to enter into the\\nsynagogue of Nazareth and see for myself the spot\\nwhere He preached in such a moving fashion, and\\nto read there in an audible voice the very scripture\\nwhich He once read to the people when He de-\\nclared Himself to be the promised Christ.\\nBut let us come back to the drama of the text.\\nThe actors are God and His prophet. God speaks\\nto the prophet, and the prophet replies to God.\\nThey talk confidentially and familiarly. Mark this\\nfact, God addresses the prophet by his name. He\\nsays, Amos, what seest thou He calls him\\nby name. This is the Lord concentrating Him-\\nself upon the individual and this God does with\\nevery child of His. He calls us each by name.\\nThere is always something tender when knowl-\\nedge comes to a knowledge of one s name. It is\\nthe familiarity of love. There is an off-hand nam-\\ning of a person which amounts to nothing; but\\nthere is another naming which amounts to a bap-\\ntism, yea, which is a holy sacrament. It means\\nthat we belong to God, and that God belongs to\\nus. It means that we are satisfied with God, and\\nthat God is satisfied with us. It means that God", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "104 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nand we are one in life and love and aim. The\\nplumb-line dropped into such a fellowship reveals\\nthat the straight-line in God and in us is one and\\nthe same straight-line i.e., God and we are one\\nin all things.\\nWho was this man called Amos who was so\\none with God that God called him by name, and\\nemployed him to speak -for Him in Israel? Very\\nlittle is known of the man. He wrote a very\\nsmall book of one hundred and forty-six verses,\\nand he is known only by and through that little\\nbook. The heroes and prophets of the Bible are\\ndivided into two classes; first, those who are\\nmighty through their personality, and second,\\nthose who are mighty through their writing.\\nAbraham, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha were mighty\\nforces in their day but so few of their prophetic\\nwords have been recorded for us that they are fig-\\nures rather than voices to us that is, they teach\\nby their lives rather than by their words. They\\ninfluence us as characters. It is different with\\nMoses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. These influ-\\nence us by their writings, which have come down\\nto us, as well as by their characters. Amos must\\nbe classified with these latter men of the Book.\\nHe influences us by his writing. In this writ-\\ning there are, however, one or two verses which\\nare autobiographic, and from these verses we\\nevolve the story of his life.\\nIn brief this is the story of the life of Amos:", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 1 05\\nHe was born at Tekoa, a hamlet twelve miles\\nsouth of Jerusalem, on the crest of the wilderness\\nof Judea. This is the wilderness of which I spoke\\nto you at large a few Sabbaths ago. Out on this\\nunmitigated wilderness, this chaos of hills, where\\nlife is reduced to poverty and danger, Amos devel-\\noped a manhood which was abstemious, and rugged,\\nand straight -forward, and full of beautiful simplic-\\nity. His wants were few, so his demands in life\\nwere few. On the windy uplands where he lived,\\nhis life was winnowed of everything that would\\npamper and weaken and make effeminate. He was\\nall man. He was a herdsman out on those wilds,\\nand he lived an out-door life. He had much time\\nwhich he could call his own, and had large oppor-\\ntunity to meditate and think and talk with God.\\nThere was nothing in the wilderness to bias his con-\\nclusions nothing to warp his judgment. Here\\nhe got those figures and parables which give vital-\\nity, and vividness, and strength to his messages.\\nYou see from all this that Amos was a layman.\\nThis made him the practical prophet which he\\nwas. He had no diploma, no certificate of stand-\\ning, no papers. He did not spend a single day\\nin the school of the prophets. He never went to a\\ntheological seminary. God is not dependent upon\\ntheological seminaries. If Harvard and Yale and\\nUnion will not give our young men the right type\\nof faith and training, God will go to Northfield\\nand pick out leaders from the country boys who", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "106 NEW ERISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nare there, and who are working their way into an\\neducation; and God will find in them men who\\nwill grandly lead Christendom. He has already\\nfound such men there. God wants men who know\\nno sophistry, who are single-hearted, straightfor-\\nward, practical, direct who possess a strong une-\\nquivocal faith in the Bible, and who have the\\ncourage of their convictions. If Bethel, with its\\ntheological seminary, has not such men to give\\nHis people, God will go to Tekoa and make a\\nprophet out of Amos the herdsman.\\nBut was there no work required and no work\\ndone in the making of Amos? Certainly there\\nwas work done. There v/as some long and hard\\nthinking done. Days and years were spent under\\nthe tuition of God. The times and their need\\nwere analyzed. The writings of Moses were mas-\\ntered. God s great principles which are operative\\nin the universe of social life were studied and\\nfathomed. Amos schooled and trained himself.\\nHe believed that Tekoa was on God s map, and\\nthat it was down on the route of God s march, and\\nthere amid the drudgery of his cowboy life he\\ntrained his conscience by communion with God,\\nand by the study of the law, so that when God s\\nhour struck, and the mask which concealed his\\ntrue and growing personality was drawn, discerning\\neyes saw in him a choice soul, a glowing genius, a\\nveritable prophet of Gud, the one man of all men\\nfor the hour. He was a moral standard in himself.", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 107\\nThe method of preaching righteousness which\\nAmos adopted was very simple. It was this he\\nformulated the great moral principles, which rule\\nin human life and which have the omnipotent God\\nback of them and he brought the facts of the life\\nof Israel alongside of these principles, and then\\nfrom the correspondence of principles and facts,\\nor from the lack of correspondence, he made clear\\nthe doom of Israel. When he announced that\\ndoom, his words were peals of thunder.\\nWe cannot but admire the tact of Amos in the\\nexecution of his task. It was his task to rebuke\\nIsrael for their sins. Israel constituted the north-\\nern kingdom Amos belonged to the southern\\nkingdom. The two kingdoms were rivals. To\\nget a hearing from one s rival required sagacity.\\nAmos possessed the requisite sagacity. He ap-\\nproached his purpose adroitly and by progressive\\nsteps. He began afar off. He began with Da-\\nmascus, and uttered his woe against its sins.\\nDamascus was an old enemy of Israel, and the\\npeople responded to the prophet s words, and said,\\nGood; he is a man of truth. The next day he\\nuttered his woes against Gaza, or Philistia. Phil-\\nistia was another enemy of Israel, and the proph-\\net s second woe was as pleasing as his first. It\\nincreased his fame. The next day Tyre, another\\nenemy of Israel, was denounced. The day follow-\\ning a fourth woe was hurled against a fourth foe,\\nagainst Edom. Then a fifth woe followed, the", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "ioS NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nwoe against Moab. The next day Amos was\\nbrave and took up and handled his own nation,\\nJudah, and denounced its sins. This won Israel\\ncompletely. They said this man Amos is as\\ngreat as Elijah; he is a veritable prophet of God.\\nYou can imagine that each day his audiences\\ngrew. Israel liked the way he handled other peo-\\nple s faults. The last day has now come, and it\\nis Israel s turn. This is the culminating point,\\nand toward it the prophet has all along been work-\\ning. He has the ear of the people now, and he\\neffectually delivers his message to them, and brings\\nthem face to face with their sins. He teaches us\\nhow to deal with men. He would be a good man\\nfor the pulpit of to-day.\\nAmos dealt directly with the people. Other\\nprophets dealt with the rulers of the people.\\nFor example, Nathan and Gad dealt with David;\\nElijah dealt with Ahab. Amos spake to the\\npeople. He met them face to face and openly in\\ntheir presence tested them by holy principles. He\\ndropped the plumb-line of principle right into\\nthe midst of their wealth, their social fashions,\\ntheir treatment of the poor, their spirit of worship,\\nand their ideals of religion. His ministry culmi-\\nnated one day at Bethel in the midst of the people.\\nThere was a great feast in process there, and to the\\nfeast Amos directed his steps. In the midst of the\\nthousands of Israel he enunciated principle after\\nprinciple, and arraigned fact after fact from the life", "height": "3445", "width": "2354", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 109\\nof Israel, and then made rousing and pointed appli-\\ncations. He swept the crowds with conviction.\\nThere was no answer to his sermon that day.\\nYou cannot answer a thunder-storm; anything\\nan opponent may say after a whirlwind is feeble.\\nThere was no attempt to answer him. Only this\\ntook place Amaziah, the priest, who was direct-\\ning the feast, stung by the brave and burning\\nwords of Amos, confronted Amos and used his\\njudicial authority, and in the name of the king\\nsilenced the prophet and cast him out of the\\nplace. That is the way he was answered, that is\\nthe way he was disposed of. The prophet was\\ngagged. All he could do now was what he did\\ndo, viz., sit down and write out his prophecy and\\nmake a book of it. Amos silenced, wrote a book.\\nHe was the first of all the prophets to write a\\nbook. The book which he wrote is the book\\nwhich gives us our text. His silencing by priest\\nAmaziah was not an unmixed evil. It impelled\\nhim to write his book, and by so doing to set the\\nexample to the other prophets of writing their\\nprophecies in books, and thus making them pow-\\ners for all time.\\nThe text is a fair exhibit of the way Amos\\npresented truth to the people. He dramatized.\\nIn the drama of the text, which might properly be\\ncalled The Drama of the Plumb-line, he intro-\\nduces God to Israel as the chief actor. He repre-\\nsents God as holding up a plumb-line before the", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "no NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\npeople and saying to them Behold, I will set a\\nplumb-line in the midst of Israel.\\nNow what is God s message to the world\\nthrough the plumb-line? That is our present\\nquestion. I answer, this is the message of the\\nplumb-line, viz. Man is a responsible creature.\\nHe is responsible to himself; he is responsible\\nto his fellow-men; he is responsible to his God.\\nHis responsibility is the most solemn fact in all\\nhis history. It is the greatest fact.\\nIt is so because he has to deal with God. God\\nfixes his responsibility. The omniscient God tests\\nhim his innermost thoughts, his principles, his\\nmotives, his purposes, his associations, his avo-\\ncations, his pleasures, his religion, and his char-\\nacter. God applies the plumb-line. Man is tested\\nby an unerring God, and by an unerring plumb-\\nline.\\nAre you afraid of this fact? Does it terrify\\nyou Do not be terrified you have no reason\\nto be afraid. God has a noble purpose in apply-\\ning the plumb-line. He wants to make you per-\\nfect; He wants to bring to light your defects that\\nHe may remove them. Every plumb-line has as\\nits objective point a perfect building, full of grace\\nand symmetry and strength. The decree of the\\nplumb-line is this Cl Let every building be so\\nerected that it shall be a safe dwelling-place for\\nman. Let any man be built according to God s\\nplumb-line, and he will be a veritable temple of", "height": "3435", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LIME. Ill\\nthe Holy Ghost, a perpetual dwelling-place of\\nGod. I used to be afraid of the testing of the\\nomniscient God, but one verse of the Bible has\\ntaken away this fear, viz., this verse: The Lord\\nsearcheth to know his people that he may do them\\ngood. God s omniscience is consecrated to the\\nservice of doing good to the children of men. We\\ntest God, we test Christ, we test the Bible why\\nshould we object to be tested in return by God,\\nand by Christ, and by the Bible?\\nMy fellow-men, you know what a plumb-line is.\\nIt is an architectural instrument. In architecture\\nit is indispensable. It is a simple cord with a\\nplummet on the end of it. When thrown out into\\nthe air it oscillates and vibrates and swings, and\\nsways to and fro until the plummet finally stops\\nand rests, and the cord which holds it forms a\\nstraight line. That is what every builder wants\\na straight line that he may run up the wall\\nwhich he is building alongside of the straight\\nline and have his wall straight. A bulging wall,\\na bowing wall, is a thing of weakness a straight\\nwall is a thing of strength. A straight line is a\\nsimple thing, but it is an essential thing in this\\nworld. A thousand things depend upon it. With-\\nout it the walls we rear would lose their balance.\\nWithout it there would be no fifteen and twenty\\nstoried houses in New York. Without it there\\nwould be no geometry but can any one calculate\\nwhat geometry has done for the world? There", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "H2 XE1V EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nwould be no measurement of distances. The\\nworld absolutely could not get along- without the\\nstraight line. It is part and parcel of the order\\nof creation. Things must be built on the perpen-\\ndicular, and must be kept on the perpendicular.\\nMy fellow-men, now that you know what the\\nplumb-line is, what do you think of the plumb-\\nline? I am anxious that the plumb-line shall\\nstand well in our estimation. It is introduced\\nhere by the text as a test, and is made to take part\\nin the work of inspection. This is likely to prej-\\nudice us against it. It is exalted as a critic in our\\nmidst. We are fond of criticism only when some\\none else is criticised. We are not fond of it when\\nwe are the party subjected to it. It is natural to\\nus to entertain hard thoughts of every critic who\\nbrings to bear his canons of criticism upon us per-\\nsonally. The plumb-line is a critic. What is\\nyour opinion of the plumb-line\\nPersonally, I highly prize the plumb-line, be-\\ncause I keep constantly in mind God s purpose\\nin judging us by it. He means to make us moral-\\nly and spiritually straight-up-and-down men and\\nwomen. He means to make us like His own holy\\nSelf. I classify the plumb-line with such things\\nas these the alphabet, the multiplication table,\\nthe grammar, the catechism, and the crucible. As\\na boy I worked hard in mastering the alphabet,\\nand the multiplication table, and the grammar, and\\nthe catechism. I hated the name of the man who", "height": "3435", "width": "2247", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 1 13\\nwrote the grammar, and set down the Westminster\\ndivines as a hard-looking set of old theological\\nfossils, with not a particle of love for children in\\ntheir stony hearts. I saw nothing to admire in\\nthe alphabet, and only recognized the separate\\nletters in it; because I hated each one of them\\nin their regular order. That was years ago. I\\nthink differently of these things now. The cate-\\nchism is a grand compendium of truth it is much\\nin little; it is truth systematized, truth analyzed,\\ntruth clarified by exact definition it is truth inter-\\npreted and truth arranged in a form that can be\\nremembered. The grammar reduces language to\\na science, masters it for us, and makes it usable.\\nThe alphabet opens a door into a thousand minds,\\nand introduces us to the thought of all genera-\\ntions. It captures the best thought of the world\\nfor us, and makes it visible and eternal. The al-\\nphabet means Homer s Iliad, the dramas of\\nShakespeare, the psalms of David, the writings\\nof the prophets, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\\nIt means all these grand things in an imperish-\\nable form.\\nThese are the things with which the plumb-\\nline is associated in my mind by natural affinity.\\nAnd they are all grand and serviceable. They\\nare all parts of the world s progress. They are\\nall able to speak in their own defence and give\\na laudable reason for their existence. The alpha-\\nbet says, I give perpetuity and circulation to the\\n8", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "ii4 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nbest thought of the world the Bible is my prod-\\nuct. The grammar says, I give speech its per-\\nfection. The catechism says, I give truth its\\nluminous definition. The multiplication table\\nsays I save labor and give men the mastery\\nover figures. The crucible says: I give the\\nworld pure gold, gold of the seventh refining to be\\nwrought into coin and jewelry and crowns. The\\nplumb-line says I give the world its architect-\\nure the Parthenon of Athens, St. Paul s of Lon-\\ndon, and St. Peter s of Rome. I bridge rivers and\\nchasms, and build homes and throw up into the\\nair glorious temples. I correct everything that is\\ncrooked and weak. I give the world the straight\\nline, and the straight line gives the world whole\\nsciences which are useful and indispensable.\\nVerily the plumb-line is a grand thing.\\nNow just as the physical plumb-line is a grand\\nthing in the physical world, the moral and spir-\\nitual plumb-line is a grand thing in the moral\\nand spiritual world. That is the point of our\\ntext. We need the spiritual plumb-line because\\nwe are prone to measure ourselves by wrong and\\ndefective standards. We have made substitutes\\nfor God s plumb-line. We use the imperfect\\namong our fellow-men as a plumb-line, and meas-\\nure by them. The large-feeling self-satisfied\\nPharisee measured himself by the publican who\\nstood afar off in the temple. God, I thank Thee\\nthat I am not as other men are or even as this", "height": "3435", "width": "2249", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 115\\npublican. Certain men in Christ s day took the\\nfashion set by aristocracy as the proper standa r d\\nthey asked Have any of the rulers believed on\\nhim We substitute the spirit of compromise\\nas a plumb-line we substitute public opinion. We\\nsubstitute the common law of the land. For ex-\\nample, if we want to evade an honest debt which\\nhas grown old, we plumb-line our conduct by the\\ncommon-law statute of limitation. By common\\nlaw our debt is outlawed so we claim we have no\\ndebt. In God s eyes that is a base swindle. Ac-\\ncording to God s law nothing can liquidate an\\nhonest debt but the actual payment of that debt.\\nBut let us limit our application of the drama of\\nthe plumb-line. The subject is too large for gen-\\neral treatment. Let us limit it to ourselves as a\\nchurch. Let us realize this one fact, viz. God is\\nhere dropping His plumb-line into our midst, and\\ntesting us as a Christian church. He wants to\\nshow us wherein we are defective; for He wants\\nto improve us, to correct us, to make us stronger\\nand more successful. He wants to get us ready\\nfor a magnificent future. He wants to give us a\\nnew life.\\nI hear you ask just here What is the plumb-\\nline which God uses in testing us as a church\\nThe question is pertinent. In the days of Amos\\nGod used great and everlasting principles as a\\nplumb-line. What does he use in our day Let\\nme hear you answer What do you think He uses", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "Il6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nOne replies, He uses the most successful church\\nin the community as His plumb-line. Another\\nreplies: He uses the Bible; that is His plumb-\\nline. Another says, He uses our opportuni-\\nties as a plumb-line. To whom much is given\\nfrom them also much shall be required. All of\\nthese answers are very good, but there is a better\\nanswer. The better answer is this Christ is\\nGod s plumb-line. He contains and sums up in\\nHimself all the excellences of all the other plumb-\\nlines, and adds to these all that is necessary to\\nperfection. Christ is God s straight line. Our\\nchurch is to be judged and tested by Jesus Christ\\nHis spirit, His life, His gospel, and His ideals\\nof a Christian church. He plumb-lined the seven\\nchurches of Asia, away back in the past and now,\\nthis very hour, He is plumb-lining us.\\nAre all things in our midst as Jesus Christ\\nwould have them If not, we are a weak church,\\n-notwithstanding our numbers, our wealth, and\\nour men noted in the community. Each single\\nthing in our midst that is not according to the\\nmind of Christ subtracts just so much from our\\nreal and lasting success. For success we must be\\naccording to the mind of Christ. A church that is\\nnot according to the mind of Christ is a bulging\\nwall, from which stone after stone will drop until\\nthe whole wall is levelled to the ground. Christ\\nis in our midst just now asking questions. Let us\\nreverently listen, and let us carefully gather up", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 117\\nand ponder the revelations which these test ques-\\ntions of His bring to light. Each question He\\nasks is the dropping of the plumb-line alongside\\nof our latest work.\\nThe first question which the Master asks is,\\nWhere is Amos My church should be full\\nof stalwart laymen thinking men who consider\\nthe signs of the times men who make a deep and\\nthorough study of the church itself, its defects,\\nits possibilities, its needs, its reputation, its influ-\\nence, and who willingly respond to the suggestions\\nand the demands which come out of such a study.\\nAmos is the man who puts the church first in his\\nlife. He is in business for the church. He fol-\\nlows his profession for the church. He selects\\nthe location of his home with reference to the\\nchurch. He arranges the engagements of his\\nsocial life so as not to conflict with the services\\nof the church. Where is Amos Which of you\\nmen is Amos\\nThe second question which the Master asks is,\\nWhere is your Pentecost A Pentecost should\\nbe a constant thing in every church. This is a\\npossibility. When the conditions are realized and\\ncomplied with, it is an actuality. To be filled\\nwith the Holy Ghost, and with power, is the birth-\\nright and privilege of every Christian. Brethren,\\nare you enjoying a Pentecost Are you person-\\nally full of the Holy Ghost and of power? Are\\nyou Pentecostal men and women? If you are,", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "n8 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthen why do you not live and work like Pente-\\ncostal men and women\\nThe third question which the Master asks is,\\nWhere are your converts If you have been\\nworking for converts, you have converts. My\\nearly church worked for converts, and it got three\\nthousand on one day and five thousand on another\\nday. The Church of God gets just what it works\\nfor. When it works for conversion and employs\\nthe means for conversions, it gets conversions.\\nWhen it aims simply to make itself a home for\\nthe well-to-do, a home for social life, a place for\\nmere entertainment and the feeding of the pride\\nof fellowship, it succeeds in that i. e., it becomes\\na mere club-house with its music and fine oratory,\\nits sociables and entertainments. It becomes a\\nrefined playhouse. When it aims at nothing, it\\ngets nothing. I have put this church into this\\ncommunity to save men. Where are your con-\\nverts? The primitive churches all had converts.\\nWhere are yours\\nBrethren, let us make this question of the Mas-\\nter a personal question. That is what it is. Let\\nus take it home each one to himself and herself.\\nIt is an individual question. The individuals\\nmake the church. It is the individual man who is\\nthe duplicate of Christ in the world. God is here\\nto-day calling, Amos Amos Amos\\nAmos! Amos what seest thou? Amos\\nwhat believest thou Amos what doest thou", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 119\\nAmos what contributest thou? Amos whom\\nsavest thou Amos where are thy converts\\nI have given you sons and daughters to bring up\\nfor me, where are they Are they one with you\\nin the Christian life I have given you brothers\\nand sisters I have given you business partners\\nI have given you friends and neighbors. Have\\nyou reproduced yourself in these? Where are\\nyour converts If you have associated with peo-\\nple and have not led them to Christ, you have\\ndone them more harm than good. If you have not\\nsecured their conversion, you have neglected them.\\nIf they have seen nothing in you that they desire,\\nnothing over and above and better than that which\\nthe world gives them, then either you have not\\ngot the true religion yourself or else you have mis-\\nrepresented the true religion to men. My fellow-\\nmen, be assured of this, viz. the men of the world\\nare moved Christward only by an anointed charac-\\nter and a transfigured life. But they are moved\\nby these. Personality influences. The Gospel\\nincarnated is a power. When you can show men\\nsomething in yourself, something noble and profit-\\nable and enriching something which they have not\\ngot something which Christ gave you, and which\\nChrist alone can give, they will go with you to\\nChrist, and they will join you in your Christian faith\\nand devotion. When you are what you ought to be\\nyou will have converts. Where are your converts\\nBut are there not some present in this service", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "120 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nwho as yet are out of Christ It seems to me\\nthere are. There is a question here for you.\\nThe plumb-line of God is laid to your life. Christ\\nasks you this testing question What more can\\nyou reasonably demand of me in order to faith and\\nacceptance And what more can you demand of\\nChrist What more can you reasonably ask He\\nhas given you His divine revelation; He has re-\\nvealed the Father unto you; He has brought life\\nand immortality to light; He has given you His\\nperfect and all- satisfactory human life; He has\\ngiven you His holy doctrines He has given you\\nHis cross which is the exhibit of God s infinite\\nlove; He has given you the proof of His resurrec-\\ntion from the dead He has given you Christen-\\ndom with its incomparable civilization. Name a\\nsingle other thing which He ought to give you, in\\norder to procure your faith! If you cannot name\\na single other necessary thing which He ought to\\ngive you, then you stand this day before all the\\nuniverse condemned, self-condemned, for your cold-\\nhearted, inexcusable sin of unbelief. For long,\\nlong years you have been putting Christ to the\\ntest, and have been perpetually keeping Him on the\\ndefensive; but now on this plumb-line-day Christ\\nmeets you and puts you on the defensive. Y\\\\~hat\\nyou need above all things is to be searched through\\nand through and this is what Christ is doing here\\nand now searching you through and through. He\\nis asking this searching question What more", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "THE PLUMB-LINE. 121\\ncan you reasonably demand of Me in order to faith\\nand acceptance?\\nI tell you openly and frankly there is nothing\\nmore that you can reasonably demand of Christ.\\nHe has given you all you need. You have now\\nall that the millions ever had who have believed\\nin Him. You have that which has made great\\nChristendom. As you value your immortal soul,\\nsearch yourself this day and find if you can ask a\\nsingle additional thing as an answer to Christ s\\nstraightforward question. Either the plumb-line\\nis wrong or you are. Which is wrong?\\nWhat shall be the result of the letting down of\\nGod s plumb-line into our midst this holy Sab-\\nbath Christ has been here and has questioned\\nus. What are we going to do with His questions\\nWe know the intent of His searching questions\\nare we going to allow them to accomplish this\\nintent? He means His questions to set into the\\nlight our defects. And then He means that we\\nshall give ourselves to the eradication of our de-\\nfects. He means His questions to act as a revela-\\ntion of our possibilities. The very things He\\nasks us if we have, we can have. The very things\\nHe asks us to be, we can be. The very things He\\nasks us if we have done, we can do. The very\\nblessings He asks us if we have received, we can\\nreceive. The holy ambitions which He asks us\\nif we entertain, we can entertain; and more,\\ncan realize. The converts which He asks us if", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "122 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nwe have secured, we can secure. We can be the\\nchurch He expects us to be, and we can each be\\nthe individual Gospel-power He expects us to be.\\nBrethren, above all things, that which we need\\nis just this To be searched and to be tested by\\nGod s straight line. It was God s thorough and\\neffective searching that made Abraham, and\\nMoses, and David, and Isaiah, and Amos, and\\nPeter, and John, and Paul. These men were per-\\npetually letting the white light of God shine upon\\ntheir characters, and upon their lives, and into the\\ninnermost recesses of their soul. God searched\\nthem often, and after every searching they took\\na new start in His cause. We are about to leave\\nthe temple, but do not let us leave this subject.\\nLet us continue the study of it through this whole\\nday and through this whole week. Let us go\\ninto our own lives with God s searchlight and\\nGod s plummet and as we search and discover, let\\nus eliminate and introduce, repent and resolve, re-\\nnounce and re-dedicate. Let us throw away the old\\nlife and enter upon the new life. The one thing,\\nthe one thing, the one thing we need is to be\\nsearched and searched and searched by Him whose\\neyes are omniscient, and whose supreme desire tow-\\nard us, His children, is that we shall be holy even as\\nHe is holy, and perfect as He is perfect. Search\\nme, O God, and know my heart try me, and know\\nmy thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way\\nin me, and lead me in the way everlasting.", "height": "3443", "width": "2232", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN AS WELL AS THE\\nWOMEN? OR, A FAMILY 123-26\\nFROM THE SEASHORE OF GALILEE.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3415", "width": "2241", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3492", "width": "2498", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3415", "width": "2233", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER V.\\nWhy Not the Men As Well As the Women\\nOr, A Family From the Seashore of Gali-\\nlee.\\nThen came to him the mother of Zebedee s children with her\\nsons, worshipping him. Matt. xx. 20.\\nMy text contains my subject by implication\\nrather than by direct statement. But it contains\\nmy subject. My subject is in the blank spaces\\nof the text. Here is Salome with her boys, James\\nand John, but no Zebedee. The wife in loyal al-\\nlegiance to Jesus, but the husband not. Zebedee s\\nsons magnificent Christians; but Zebedee, the fa-\\nther, outside of the church. As one writer says\\nZebedee was never found with his family among\\nJesus professed disciples. He alone of his fam-\\nily was not at the cross. Now why did he ab-\\nsent himself from Jesus Why did he leave all\\nthe religion of the home to be looked after by the\\nwife and mother? Why must the woman of the\\nhouse do all the praying, and all the public con-\\nfessing, and attend to the religious training of the\\nchildren, and maintain the character of the home\\nfor religion Why not the men as well as the\\nwomen?", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "128 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nI answer, there is no reason why not. Men\\nneed religion just as much as women do. And\\nthe religion of Jesus Christ is as fitted to men as\\nit is to women. Every man who follows in the\\nfootsteps of Zebedee shirks his duty, robs himself\\nof his privileges, throws an additional burden on\\nhis wife which she ought not to be compelled to\\nbear alone, and cheats religion of the moral influ-\\nence and power which it is possible for every\\nmanly character to generate and contribute. Men\\nhave not as yet gotten beyond Jesus Christ that\\nthey should stay apart from Him. Jesus Christ\\nis not unworthy of the homage of men He has\\nnot diminished in the least iota. There is noth-\\ning wrong, nothing lacking, relative to the power\\nof Jesus. His power is still here. It is here in\\nHis strong pictorial words it is here in His beau-\\ntiful and perfect life it is here in His superb\\nself-sacrifice; it is here in His cross. Jesus\\nChrist is still worthy to receive all honor and\\nglory and power and riches and wisdom and\\nblessing.\\nFor the benefit of the men who are not in open\\nallegiance to Jesus Christ, and who are not out-\\nand-out Christians, let us discuss briefly Zebedee\\nand his conduct. Let us look at the pros and the\\ncons in his case.\\nThere are some things to be said for Zebedee.\\nHe was the father of two of the grandest apostles.\\nWould that save him No. Only a man s per-", "height": "3441", "width": "2235", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 129\\nsonal faith in Christ can save him. If this be so,\\nthen what does it signify to say that Zebedee\\nwas the father of two of the grandest apostles of\\nJesus? How is this in his favor? It signifies\\nthat he was not an open opposer of Jesus. While\\nhe was an aloof, he was a friendly aloof.\\nYou have before your minds the story of the\\nway Jesus took his sons away from him. It is\\nthis Jesus at the beginning of His public min-\\nistry one day walked along the shore of the sea of\\nGalilee until He came to the boat-landing of Zeb-\\nedee. He found the boats in, and Zebedee was\\nthere, and his sons James and John and the hired\\nservants and they were all at work mending the\\nnets. Jesus made that journey with an object.\\nHe went especially to call James and John to a\\nlife of discipleship. When He reached there, He\\ntold His errand and invited the young men to\\njoin Him at once. We think of this visit of Jesus\\nand of this invitation as being a test to James and\\nJohn. We forget all about Zebedee. It was a\\ntest to him. It meant a dead loss to him. His\\nsons were full grown and capable of helping in the\\nbusiness. They were able to take many a load\\noff his shoulders. He needed them in the boats.\\nAnd then, besides, who was this Jesus who wanted\\nto take them away He had no career as yet. It\\nwas a great sacrifice for Zebedee to make, but he\\nmade it. When Jesus called his boys to leave\\nhim, he made no objection to their going with\\n9", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "13\u00c2\u00b0 NEW EP/STLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nJesus. Their call changed all his plans of life for\\nthem. The lake seemed lonely without them, but,\\nno matter, he let them go. He remained behind,\\nwilling to work for his family, and to pay the bills,\\nwhatever their religion might cost him. The\\napostles must have somebody to provide for their\\nliving expenses.\\nThis sets Zebedee out in a very favorable light.\\nYes, it does that is, if there be nothing more to\\nbe said that is, if this be the whole story. But\\nthis is not the whole story. This is where you\\nmen, who are simply friendly aloofs, make your\\nmistake. You stop reading here. You make this\\nthe whole story, and you congratulate yourself that\\nyou are like the head of the Zebedee family. You\\nare not unfriendly to Christ and His Church.\\nYou put no hindrance in the way of your wife s\\nreligion. You allow the boys to go with her, and\\nare rather glad to have them go. You furnish\\nmoney for the church collections, and pay the\\npew bills willingly. You toil at business for this\\nvery purpose. Thus you state your case, and you\\nsay This is the man I am and, to tell the truth,\\nI call my conduct quite fine. It would be quite\\nfine if that were the full statement of the case.\\nIt would be quite fine if there were not something\\na great deal finer. To go the full length of duty\\nis finer.\\nLet me now state the other side of the Zebedee\\ncase.", "height": "3447", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 131\\nHis failure to step forth and to be out and out for\\nChrist does not satisfy those who love him most, and\\nwho most wish for and pray for his salvation. It is\\nnot kind to them. It shadows him with a doubt.\\nIt leaves the way open for this question Not-\\nwithstanding he was a good man, a generous man,\\nand a financial supporter of the church through\\nhis wife yet, after all, did he really take Christ\\nfor his Saviour; did he really believe in Jesus\\nChrist to the saving of his soul? Was his atti-\\ntude toward Christ one of child- like humble trust,\\nor was it merely a patronizing attitude There is\\na vast difference between patronizing Jesus Christ\\nand trusting Jesus Christ as your Saviour. The\\nformer puts self first the latter puts Christ first.\\nA man may let his wife join the church, and his\\nchildren join the church; and he may willingly\\npay all the church bills of his family, and yet do\\nnothing more than patronize Christ. Now I leave\\nit to you Will patronizing Christ save a man\\nIf you were in Christ s place, would you consider\\nit an honor to be simply patronized, when you\\nknew that you were worthy of deep-souled love,\\nand homage, and the absolute self -surrender of\\nmen I leave this also with you for answer If\\nyou fail openly and fearlessly and constantly to\\nconfess your faith in Jesus Christ, is there not\\nroom for an interrogation point to be put opposite\\nyour name when your form lies.silent in the casket\\nand when your friends gather to take the last look", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "I3 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nIs there not room for a distressing doubt to spring\\nup in the hearts of those who love you best, and\\nwho want, above all things, to know that it is well\\nwith you forever? Is it not likely that this pain-\\nful thought may flash through their minds If\\nhe really believed in Jesus Christ, he would have\\nsaid so he would have confessed this belief as we\\nhave heard him confess other beliefs My fel-\\nlow-men, an open honest confession of your faith\\nin Jesus Christ is the greatest service of consola-\\ntion which you can render to your friends in anti-\\ncipation of the hour when they shall be called\\ntearfully to imprint the last kiss upon your cold\\nbrow. You can make it certain to them that\\nheaven is sure to you.\\nThere is another point in this line, viz. The\\nfailure of Zebedee to do his full duty by openly\\nallying himself to Christ and Christ s cause is an\\nimplied reflection on his wife. It discounts her\\nreligion and the power thereof. The Bible says\\nthat where the wife believes and the husband does\\nnot, that if the wife be true to Christ, and thor-\\nough in her faith, and complete in her consistency,\\nshe shall by her religion win her husband to Christ.\\nYou may praise your wife s religious character\\nby word of mouth, or you may write a nice letter\\nabout her religious life to a friend but it is in-\\nconsistent for you thus to praise her religious char-\\nacter while you dishonor her religion, that power\\nwhich built up her character. The only way you", "height": "3441", "width": "2241", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 133\\ncan honor her religion is by being religious your-\\nself. So long as she fails to win you, her religion\\nis discounted. Any man can see this. And any\\nman can see also that his standing aloof from his\\nwife s religion not only discounts her and her re-\\nligion in the eyes of the public, but it positively\\ninjures her in carrying out her religion in life as\\nshe ought. She would be vastly stronger, and\\nmore grandly consistent all around with the help\\nof your strength and by your example, if you\\nwere one with her in Christian faith and life.\\nHer heart is drawn between the church and the\\nhome. She is sometimes tempted to discredit her\\nown judgment in favor of the man s. The boys\\nin the family take the father s manlier views and\\nhabits, and stop Sabbath-school, and later on stop\\nattending church; and this, too, is against her, and\\nmakes religion a burden to her. When any one\\nfrom the home goes to church, it is mother and\\nthe girls and thus in that family religion is rep-\\nresented to be a thing altogether for women, and\\nnot a thing for men. I have heard Salome, that\\ngood woman who gave the Church two of its\\ngrandest apostles, blamed, and severely blamed, for\\nthe failure of her husband to become a confessed\\nChristian. I have heard her called an ambitious\\nwoman. I have heard it said that there was\\nnothing in her religion but family pride. She was\\nambitious for her boys, and had an eye to the main\\nchance, and joined the company of Jesus because", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "134 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof that. She was infatuated with the coming king-\\ndom and coveted right hand and left hand positions\\nin it for her family. Zebedee saw through her,\\nand weighed her correctly. He thought he could\\nmake more out of his boats than she was ever\\nlikely to make out of that coming visionary king-\\ndom, and so he stayed by his boats. Now if so\\ngood a woman as Salome has been thus discounted\\nand criticised because of her husband s non-confes-\\nsion, how do you think your wife will be rated in\\nview of your non-confession You may argue as\\nyou please, but your persistent non-confession puts\\nher at a disadvantage before the public.\\nThe chief thing against Zebedee is this He\\nbroke up the wholeness of his family in the Lord.\\nI want to lay great stress upon this point. For\\nwhat Zebedee did many men in our midst do and\\nit is a serious thing to do. It is a greater strike\\nat Christ, and at the cause of Christ on earth than\\nany one thinks. Do you not know that Christian-\\nity is a family religion Christ wants the whole\\nfamily, parents and children, brothers and sisters,\\nand what Christ wants that we should work for,\\nand that we ought to be able to secure. For with\\nChrist upon our side nothing is impossible. Let\\nus work in our homes until not a member there\\nshall be found Christless. Christ is in the midst\\nof the churches to-day asking not only for the in-\\ndividual man and woman who is there, but asking\\nfor the families of the church. Non-confessing", "height": "3438", "width": "2233", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 135\\nfather, do you hear that Non-confessing brother,\\ndp you hear that You who are Christians in the\\nhome, labor to give Christ the desire of His heart;\\ninvite the non-confessors in your households to\\nChrist talk with them, pray with them, tell them\\nwhat God has done for you, picture to them the\\njoy that will come into the home when the family\\nis unbroken in its faith and love Christward, and\\nwhen all can sing together the songs of Christ.\\nBe dead in earnest in pleading with those of your\\nown household, and let your earnestness rise up\\nto the point of agony. Earnestness is argument.\\nEarnestness is power. All through human life it\\nis the earnest man that is the influential man. It\\nis the men who are fire-pillars that lead. Now\\nthere is nothing so worthy of your earnestness and\\nfire as the immortal destiny of your loved ones.\\nWe do not emphasize as we should the family\\ncharacter of the true religion of God. This is a\\nmisfortune. Because, when we lose this view of\\nreligion as a covenant of God with the family, we\\nmiss one whole side of the revelation of God as\\nwe have this revelation in the Bible. God was\\nnot only the God of Abraham, but he was the God\\nof Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of the\\ntwelve patriarchs. Andrew and Peter were broth-\\ners so were James and John. Mary and Martha\\nwere sisters. The Phillipian jailor and his house-\\nhold came into the Christian church together, and\\nso did Lydia and her household. Christianity", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "I3 6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nwould be less than Judaism if it failed to reach\\nthe family and to make it the unit of the Church.\\nFor the Old Testament brought families as fami-\\nlies under the law of God. The old Hebrews went\\nup to offer sacrifices by families. No member of\\na Hebrew family thought of being absent from the\\npaschal meal, and, least of all, the head of the\\nhousehold. Christianity is not one whit behind\\nJudaism in anything. The true religion is pre-\\neminently a religion of the family. God wants re-\\nligion to run in the blood, and there is no reason\\nwhy it should not run in the blood. I am seeking\\nhouseholds to-day for the Lord Jesus Christ. I\\nam seeking for family altars. I am searching for\\nthe straggling members of our homes the belated\\nfather, the overdue brother, the lost son, those\\nwho, by their tardiness in confessing Christ, are\\nkeeping the family fragmentary and broken before\\nGod. I tell you, my fellow-men, that there is a\\ntremendous spiritual power in the presence and\\nthe united voice of an unbroken family in the\\nLord, as that family Sabbath after Sabbath fills\\nthe pew in the church, gathers around the Lord s\\ntable, and lives a peaceful, happy, God-fearing life\\nin the community. It is as near the perfection of\\nreligion as it is possible to reach outside the walls\\nof the new Jerusalem. If this be so, then it is an\\nawful thing for the one member, or the two mem-\\nbers of the family to remain apart from Christ, to\\nrefuse openly to confess Christ, and thus to nul-", "height": "3437", "width": "2247", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE ME IV? 137\\nlify or to hinder the power of the home for Christ\\nand God in the community. My brother-man,\\nthere is no personal life that you can live, no char-\\nacter that you can build up, no service that you\\ncan render to the community that can be substi-\\ntuted for that wholeness of the family in the Lord\\nwhich you prevent.\\nHow many families there are in our community\\nlike this family from the seashore of Galilee of\\nwhich Zebedee was the head. What was wrong\\nwith Zebedee? He broke the wholeness of his\\nfamily in the Lord. He let his wife Salome go\\nup to Jerusalem and minister unto the Lord he\\nlet his sons James and John become the apostles\\nof Jesus, but he did not join them. When Christ\\ncalled them he made no objection, but he did not\\njoin them. He did many commendable things,\\nbut the main thing he did not do; he did not join\\nhis family in following Christ.. He broke the\\nwholeness of his family in the Lord. There is\\nsomething sublime and majestic in the white-\\nhaired veteran Joshua standing before Israel and\\nconfessing with heroic determination As for\\nme and my house, we will serve the Lord. That\\ntestimony of a completed household for God moved\\nall Israel to renewed fidelity and inspired the\\nwhole nation that day with uplifted hands to give\\nthemselves afresh to God in a solemn holy cove-\\nnant. The confession of a whole household for\\nChrist that is confession in its highest and most", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "I3 8 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ninfluential form. Zebedee might have had that, if\\nhe only had been true to himself, and to Jesus\\nChrist, and to his family. But as it was, he broke\\nthe wholeness of his family in the Lord and weak-\\nened the power of all. I want to beget in your\\nsouls an enthusiasm for the family in its entire-\\nness for Jesus Christ, so that you may not rest\\nuntil you reach it in your homes. Every member\\nof the family for Christ Let that be our motto\\nand our watch-word. For this end let us live, and\\nfor this end let us confess Christ at home, and in\\nthe church, and everywhere. The family for\\nChrist Let that be our goal. But Zebedee, thou\\nman at the head of the pew, that goal can never\\nbe reached until, as the head of the family, you do\\nyour duty and lead your household in the confes-\\nsion of Christ.\\nThe Zebedee problem is now fairly before us\\nlet us deal with it. Let us answer the question\\nwhich it carries in it, viz. Why not the men as\\nwell as the women In dealing with the Zebedee\\nproblem, I wish first of all to set myself right with\\nour noble Christian women. Let there be no mis-\\nunderstanding here while we seek for men and\\nregret their absence, we do not undervalue the\\nwomen who have been true to Christ and His\\nChurch. In our efforts to win the men we are\\nnot valuing one above the other, we are simply valu-\\ning both. While we call for Zebedee, the man,\\nwe prize Salome, the woman, and the grand work", "height": "3429", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 139\\nwhich she has done. We delight in the number\\nof women in the church, and in their broadened\\ninfluence there during these later days. The more\\nwomen the better. If the men kept out of the\\nchurch entirely, we should be glad to keep the\\nchurch going solely for the women. We do not\\neven consider it a discredit to have it said that\\nreligion is good for women that is true, it is good\\nfor women. The Christian women of America are\\nnot the inferior part of America, they are decidedly\\nthe advanced part of America. They have finer\\nintuitional powers, and a quicker and a keener\\ninsight into what is true and good and beautiful\\nthan men have. They love higher things and\\npurer things than the men do. They are the con-\\nscience in the home and in society to a larger ex-\\ntent than men are. They take to religion more\\nquickly and more heartily than men do, because\\nthey have a finer, purer nature than men have\\nand because they have more of the courage of their\\nconvictions than men have, and because there is\\nmore hold-out in a woman s nature than there is\\nin a man s. There is more appreciation in a\\nwoman than in a man; she is more as a friend,\\nand more as a lover. It is no discredit to religion\\nto have her indorsement; and this we wish to as-\\nsert with all our might, even while we give our\\ncomplete selves up to the one sole work of secur-\\ning for religion the indorsement of those who are\\nmen. The tacit assumption that man is superior", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "140 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nto woman, because woman is religious and man is\\nnot, we denounce as an assumption and nothing\\nbut an assumption. The superiority is on the\\nother side. Woman plus religion; man minus re-\\nligion any one can tell which is the greater. I am\\nnot seeking men to-day so much because the Chris-\\ntian religion needs men, as I am seeking men be-\\ncause men need the Christian religion. The Chris-\\ntian religion could get along grandly with only the\\nwomen. If I were confined to a choice, I would\\nrather have Salome five times over than Zebedee.\\nI am seeking Zebedee, but I am seeking Zebedee\\nfor Zebedee s good. I will venture to say that\\nSalome was the better of the two. I will venture\\nto believe that she led in everything else, as she\\nled in religion, She placed her boys well in the\\nChurch, and I surmise that everything else that\\nwas well placed in that family was well placed be-\\ncause she placed it. It is said that John, her son,\\nwas acquainted with the high priest of the nation;\\nI take that as an evidence that she saw to it that\\nthe family were well associated and that they had\\nhigh fellowships and friendships. If Zebedee, her\\nhusband, had had the sense to fall in with her\\nplans, as her sons fell in with her plans, she would\\nhave made him as great in history as she made her\\nboys. What she made out of the boys shows what\\nshe had in her.\\nThis in my point While we seek for men, we\\ndo not wish the women to feel that we undervalue", "height": "3442", "width": "2247", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 141\\nthem or their great work in the church. We are\\ncompelled to lay the emphasis upon men, because\\nmen fail so largely to see their need, their oppor-\\ntunity, and their duty. It is my conviction that in\\nreligion there is no difference between men and\\nwomen that is, no difference in their needs. To\\nbe religious is to be manly just as much as to be\\nreligious is to be womanly. As I see life, men\\nand women have pretty much the same needs all\\naround. They sit down together at the same fam-\\nily table. They breathe the same tonic air of win-\\nter, and thrive in the same spring sunshine. They\\nadmire the same beauties of nature and are thrilled\\nalike by the same rapturous strains of music. Now\\nwhat is there to differentiate them in religion\\nNothing. As they enjoy the same earth, they\\nneed the same heaven. What is good for the con-\\nscience of one is good for the conscience of the\\nother. There is no sex in conscience any more\\nthan there is in God. The cross speaks alike to\\nboth. The duty of telling the truth in all their\\ndealings, in the parlor, in the store, in society, is\\nan equal duty with both. When both bend over\\nthe same coffin they need precisely the same vis-\\nion of heaven and the same hope of meeting their\\nloved ones before the throne of God as a source of\\ncomfort. Tell me, ye who are men, what one re-\\nligious want has woman that man has not And\\nwhat duty or right is binding on her that is not\\nbinding on you", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "14 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nBut I am asked by the men Is there not a\\ndifference between the life of men and women?\\nIs not a life of trade, for example, altogether dif-\\nferent from a life of housekeeping in its needs?\\nI answer Yes, it is different different in stir and\\nbustle, different in breadth and variety, but in its\\ncall for religious principle, No, it is not different.\\nIn the call for exemplification of Christ and His\\nGospel, No. Many a man says to his wife, Oh,\\nit is all right and good and beautiful for you to\\nbe a Christian living here in the quietude of this\\nhome, but you are not in business, you do not rub\\nagainst the people I do. My life is an altogether\\ndifferent life. Mr. Zebedee, do you mean to tell\\nMrs. Zebedee, do you want Mrs. Zebedee to under-\\nstand, that you are not as true in your business as\\nyou are in your home, or as she is in her home;\\nand is that what you wish your boys to under-\\nstand? Do you wish to inculcate upon them\\nthat there is one morality for the home life and\\nanother morality for the business life That it\\nis right for a man to be a different man in differ-\\nent places If not, then what is the point of\\ncomparison between your wife in her home life\\nand you in your business life? I tell you that\\nbusiness without religion is soulless, conscience-\\nless, degrading, and destructive, and God s curse\\nrests on it, just as it rests on the home that is\\nwithout religion. But I am asked again by the\\nmen, Are you not altogether one-sided in laying", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3473", "width": "2503", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3421", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 1 43\\nall the blame at the door of us men, who are\\noutside of the pale of the church? Must not\\nsome one else share the responsibility with us in\\nour -non-confession? If, for example, there were\\nmore manly men in the pulpits, men of the broad,\\ngrand, fearless type which men like and respect,\\nmight we not be drawn to confession? Ah, that\\nis another question, and when you press me with\\nit, I say quickly and readily, Yes. Yes, there\\nought to be a higher type of men in the pulpit;\\nmen broader in every way. I have seen such\\nmen in the pulpit, men of large sympathies, men\\nnot afraid of thought nor of investigation; fair-\\nminded men, manly men, and every time I have\\nfound them in the pulpit I have found men in the\\npews and men at the communion table. Men do\\nnot find enough of manhood in the pulpit to draw\\nthem, not enough heroism in sermons to satisfy\\nthem. Given a Luther with his manhood back of\\nthe truth, with his straightforwardness, his refu-\\nsal of all compromise, and the result will be men\\nenough won by him to launch and make success-\\nful the great Reformation. An old woman in the\\npulpit is not going to fill the pews with stalwart\\nmen.\\nWhile I make this admission I press this point\\nalso You have direct access to Christ and can\\nfind Him irrespective of the pulpit. Here is His\\nBook, and He is in it. Deal with Him directly.\\nYou are not called upon to confess His ministers;", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "144 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nyou are only called upon to confess Him. But I\\nmust not allow myself to be switched off from my\\nsubject and side-tracked. I am dealing with you,\\nand not with delinquent, deficient ministers, and\\nnot even with defective overbearing churches. If\\nI were speaking to the churches, I should try and\\nbe as true in telling them their duty as I am in\\ntelling you your duty. I should tell them to avoid\\nthe coercing conscience and all assumed authori-\\nty. I should tell them not to put man-made\\ncreeds between men and Christ. Avoid over-be-\\nlief as well as under- belief. An over-plus in creed\\nis about as bad as a minus in creed. Get your\\ncreed down to a minimum and your grand life up\\nto a maximum. Over-statement of belief produces\\nunbelief. Lift up, exalt, press home the few sim-\\nples in religion, viz. the things which are essen-\\ntial, which are believable, usable, workable, and\\nwhich are absolute and certain, and give hypoth-\\neses, and far-fetched deductions, and elaborate\\ntheories, and complicated dogmas the go-by. Chris-\\ntianity is life insist upon that. Emphasize the\\nfact that religion consists not so much in putting\\nrestrictions upon a man as putting a noble power\\ninto a man to expand him and develop him. See\\nto it that the church meets the live wants of men,\\nand gives them the sympathy and fellowship that\\nare purifying and uplifting. When men can find\\nin a secular brotherhood more brotherliness by\\nillustration than they are able to discover in the", "height": "3445", "width": "2387", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 14$\\nChurch of Christ, you must expect that these or-\\nders and brotherhoods will gain recruits at the ex-\\npense of the Church. I should say all this and more\\nalso to the churches were I talking to them. But\\nI am not now talking to the churches, I am talking\\nto you, and I refuse to be switched off the track.\\nIn dealing with the Zebedee problem it is proper\\nto ascertain just how much of a problem the Zeb-\\nedee problem is. It is very easy to exaggerate\\nhere, to make it out that fewer men have been\\nconnected with Christianity than really have been.\\nIt is said that Sydney Smith, confronting his Edin-\\nburgh congregation, the larger part of which was\\nhabitually shawled and bonneted, was wont, as he\\nread the One Hundred and Seventh Psalm, to lay\\npeculiar emphasis and stress on the third word in\\nthe refrain Oh, that men would praise the Lord\\nfor His goodness and His wonderful works to the\\nchildren of men. Are all congregations like\\nSydney Smith s congregation While there have\\nnot been as many men connected with the cause\\nof Christ as we could desire, yet there har not\\nbeen a paucity of men. Christianity has always\\nhad men, and men belonging to the very front\\nrank of manhood. It began with men. There\\nare at least four men mentioned in the New Tes-\\ntament to every one woman. Thus it was in the\\napostolic times thus it was in sub-apostolic times.\\nThe writers of the Bible were all men. And what\\nsee we to-day Our general assemblies, our na-", "height": "3473", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "146 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ntional councils, our church congresses, our inter-\\nnational associations and conferences, grand sub-\\nstantial bodies of men leading the Church of God\\nand representing Christianity impressibly to every-\\nbody, Also our great educational institutions, our\\ncolleges and universities founded by Christian\\nmen, and manned by Christian men. To-day\\nAmerican statistics show us that a vast majority\\nof the young men in our colleges and universities,\\nthe coming leaders of thought, the coming centres\\nof influence in business and statesmanship, and in\\neducation, and in jurisprudence, and in our courts\\nand in our churches, are in living and open connec-\\ntion with some branch of the Christian Church.\\nIn this Galilean family there were two men to one\\nwoman in the Church. It is a mistake to exag-\\ngerate the absence of men beyond due proportion;\\nit is unfair to the men, and it is unfair to the\\nChurch. It leads the Church to believe that it\\nhas no right to expect the men to come into its\\nranks. Church of God, confirm not the men of\\nthe procrastinating spirit in their procrastination\\nby a lack of expectation with regard to them in the\\nperformance of their duty. The moment you give\\nit out by word or by example, or by letting them\\nalone, that you do not expect them to respond to\\nyour call or join your ranks, that moment you\\nweaken your grip upon men. That moment you\\nconcur in their false ideal. The expectation of\\nthe Church? There is a mighty power in that.", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN 147\\nIt surrounds men like an atmosphere. Have you\\nforgotten the thrill in the motto which Nelson sig-\\nnalled all through the British navy on the eve of\\nthe great battle England expects every man to\\ndo his duty! That expectation of the nation\\nmade every man in the British navy a Nelson, and\\ngave England a great victory. The expectation\\nof the Church is educational. It acts outside and\\nit acts inside. It leads us to press the Lord s de-\\nmands upon men, and it leads men manfully to\\nmeet the Lord s demands. Why not the men as\\nwell as the women There is no reason why not\\nand men to-day are beginning clearly to see this,\\nand are responding by the whole phalanx to the\\ncall of the Church. The best men you know are\\nin the Church of God, and there is no good reason\\nwhy they should not be. They are broad-minded\\nmen, they are the searchers after truth, they are\\nthe men you want near you in trouble, and they\\nare the men you trust. I was interested lately in\\nreading The Problem of Jesus, by George Dana\\nBoardman, of Philadelphia, and interested above\\nall in his chief argument for the Christ. What\\nis his chief argument for the Christ? This, viz.\\nThe men whom the Christ has made the shining\\nmen in the shining ranks of the Nazarene. He\\ncovers whole pages in his interesting book with\\nnothing but names, the names of men, names gath-\\nered from all the higher walks of life where brain\\nand character tell. Every name is like every well-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "14$ NEW EPISTLE 3 PROM OLD LANDS.\\ntuned, sweet-toned instrument, in tne grand orches-\\ntra which sets the walls of the building and the\\nhearts of the audience vibrating with simple strain\\nand thundering chorus.\\nPassing the college buildings of Cambridge,\\nEngland, a cynic one day accosted a gentleman\\ncoming out of the hallway, and sneeringly asked,\\nAnd what do you manufacture here The gen-\\ntleman accosted was one of the professors of the\\nuniversity. Recognizing the sneer and the unbe-\\nlief in the tones of the voice of the cynic, he re-\\nplied: We manufacture power, sir. And he\\nfollowed his answer with the simple recital of the\\nstory of Cambridge University, and with an enu-\\nmeration of the names of the men it had given\\nEngland and the world. In this way he literally\\nannihilated the cynicism of the man. He could\\nnot have chosen a more effective method of reply.\\nCambridge University has behind it no less than\\nsix centuries filled with its fine industries, and\\nwith the minds which it has developed and fur-\\nnished. From the days of Spenser, Dryden, and\\nMilton, down to Gray, Coleridge, Byron, Words-\\nworth, and Tennyson, what a procession of schol-\\nars has passed out of those portals Old Iron-\\nsides, Oliver Cromwell, once trod these halls and\\nso did Pitt, and so did Palmerston, and so did Wil-\\nberforce, and so did Macaulay. Lord Bacon read\\nby this window, and Herschell by that. It was\\nhere that Sir Isaac Newton pondered the problems", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 149\\nof the coming ages, and it was here, too, that Jer-\\nemy Taylor and Lightfoot joined themselves to\\nGod and fathomed the depths of His Holy Book.\\nCambridge University is known and honored\\nthrough her sons.\\nGeorge Dana Boardman, in his Problem of Je-\\nsus, follows the method of the Cambridge profes-\\nsor. He makes the disciples of Jesus argue for\\nJesus and prove Him worthy of faith, and love, and\\nhonor, and confidence. He points to the men\\nwhom Jesus has made; and these are the very best\\nmen of history. They are men of character and of\\nlarge and purified affection. They are men brim-\\nful of the finest mentality. They are the leaders\\nof thought and of glorious causes. They are the\\nscientists of the world, the poets, the religionists,\\nthe astronomers, the reformers, the educators, the\\nheroes, the philosophers, the philanthropists, the\\nartists, the musicians, the statesmen. Dr. Board-\\nman fairly wearies us with the great burden of\\ngreat names of the men whom Jesus has made,\\nand then he asks us, What are you going to do\\nwith the problem of Jesus?\\nMy brother man, the one argument why you\\nshould accept of Jesus Christ and ally yourself\\nwith Him and with His on-marching cause is Jesus\\nChrist Himself. You want truth; He is the\\ntruth. You want purity; He is purity. Men\\nsearched His life through and through, but found\\nno fault in Him. They were bitter men who made", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "150 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe search, and they wanted to find flaws, but there\\nwere no flaws. The man who crucified Him\\nwashed his hands before the crowd and said, I\\nfind no fault in Him. The man who betrayed\\nHim cried out in agony, I have sinned in that\\nI have betrayed innocent blood. Above all\\nthings you claim that you want manhood, manhood\\nto inspire you, manhood after which to pattern,\\nmanhood to reproduce, manhood to be proud of;\\nin Him you have manhood in its perfection. His\\nis the finest of fibre. In Him not an attribute of\\nmanhood is left out. From Calvary to this pres-\\nent hour the secret of His power has been this\\nWhat He is His full-orbed manhood. Men felt\\nHis power when He lived among them. They\\ntouched Him, and He touched them on every\\nside He walked with them, talked with them, ate\\nat their tables, sailed in their fishing-boats, feasted\\nwith them, but all the while they felt that there\\nwas a grandeur in Him that was not in them.\\nHis presence was electric. He made new men of\\nthem simply by being with them. See what He\\ndid for the rough fishermen of Galilee He so\\nrefined them and enlarged them and filled them\\nwith the truth of God that He set them on the\\nthrones of thought to rule the world, and from\\nthese thrones of thought they are ruling the world\\nin this latest and most enlightened century. What\\nChrist did for men in the apostolic days He is\\ndoing for men to-day He is bringing them to", "height": "3437", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "WHY NOT THE MEN? 151\\ntheir best selves. It is that you may be brought\\nto your best self that I am calling you to Christ.\\nI want all men to come, but especially do I want\\nthe men who are at the head of the families in\\nour community to come. I want them to have a\\nGod for themselves, and I want them also to have\\na God whom they can give to their children.\\nI was reading yesterday the Song of Moses,\\nwhich he wrote after the victory of the Red Sea.\\nIt is a grand production. In the reading I stopped\\nto ponder this one remarkable phrase which Moses\\nused, viz.: the phrase My father s God. Did\\nyou know that phrase was in that song? It is.\\nIt was Moses joy that his father had a God, and\\nthat joy was so great that it compelled expression in\\nthis his greatest composition, and on this the great-\\nest occasion of his life. It burst forth into song,\\nand Moses could not prevent it. The fact that\\nhis father had a God was counted a blessing equal\\nto the blessing of freedom just bestowed upon\\nthe whole nation of Israel, and it had to have a\\nplace in the Marseillaise of the Hebrew life. Fa-\\nthers in the households represented here to-day, are\\nyou going to leave your children a God in whom to\\ntrust and in whom to rejoice? A God to fill their\\nlife with song and with victory For your child\\nto be able to look up into heaven and say My\\nGod means much; it is majestic, it stirs his na-\\nture to its depths, it brings a great peace and power\\ninto his life; but for your child to be able to add", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "152 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nto that address to heaven and say not only My\\nGod, but also My father s God, that means\\nmuch more, very much more; it touches the ten-\\nderest chord of the human heart. It brings God\\nto the very cradle. It brings God to the fireside\\nof the old homestead. It brings God into the\\nvery core of the whole of the home life. There\\nis nothing a man can leave his children equal to\\nGod. Husbands and fathers, join your wives and\\nsons in their church life. Let the whole family\\nbe in the household of faith; Zebedee, Salome,\\nJames, and John Why not There is no reason\\nwhy not.", "height": "3423", "width": "2207", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3471", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3432", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "VI.\\nMount Ebal A Voice of God.\\nThen Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in\\nMount Ebal. Joshua viii. 30.\\nWhen I last read this Scripture which gives me\\nmy text, I read it on the summit of Mount Gerizim.\\nThe Bible was before me in the printed page, and\\nthe Bible was before me in every feature of the\\nbroad landscape. It makes the Bible a new book\\nto read it in its own land. My Gerizim-view of\\nPalestine was the first of those grand hill-top views\\nwhich keep constantly breaking in upon one s\\nsoul, as one rides through the Holy Land. From\\nthe summit of Gerizim you can actually see from\\nPisgah, which lifts its head on the other side of\\nJordan in the east, to Hermon, which lifts its head\\nin the north. You wonder how Moses, who was\\nnever in Canaan, could describe with such accuracy\\nGerizim and Ebal. Here is the explanation Their\\nsummits were visible from Pisgah. With them\\nbefore him in the distance, he planned the cere-\\nmony of the nation s dedication to God, which\\nJoshua carried out in the vale between these moun-\\ntains. On the summit of Gerizim I could take in", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "158 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe whole of the historic side of Mount Ebal, which\\nwas directly opposite, and the whole of the historic\\nvalley which ran at its base. It required no severe\\nplay of imagination to picture the holy scenes por-\\ntrayed by this Old-Testament Scripture. Down\\nin the centre of the little vale, where we tented at\\nnight, was the ark of the covenant, and around it\\nwere gathered the priests and Levites. On the\\nslopes of Gerizim were six tribes, a million and a\\nhalf of people, and on the slopes of Ebal were six\\ntribes, a million and a half of people. There has\\nnever been such another congregation gathered\\ntogether on earth for the worship of God. That\\ncongregation stands unrivalled in all history.\\nWhen the priests turned their faces and looked\\nGerizimward and uttered the blessings, a million\\nand a half of people responded Amen. When\\nthe priests turned their faces and looked Ebalward\\nand uttered the curses, a million and a half of\\npeople responded Amen. Those responses were\\nlike the sound of many waters and like the noise\\nof mighty thunders.\\nBy these solemn scenes God made these two\\nmountains vocal, and ever since each has been a\\nvoice of God uttering great moral principles even\\nthose principles which are shaping the destinies of\\nmen both for time and for eternity. God com-\\npelled the covenant nation to enter the promised\\nland by the gateway which lies between Gerizim\\nand Ebal, and upon these two mountains, which", "height": "3447", "width": "2358", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 159\\nare visible from all parts of the land, He wrote as\\nupon two pillars these everlasting facts demon-\\nstrated by universal history, viz.\\n1 Sow the good and you shall reap the good.\\n2. Sow the evil and you shall reap the evil.\\nThe first principle He wrote upon Gerizim, and\\nthe second principle He wrote upon Ebal. The\\ntwo mountains declare to the whole earth that\\nGod blesses and that God curses and that bless-\\nings and curses come according to the conduct of\\nman.\\nIt is popular in selecting a theme from this re-\\ngion of Palestine to select Gerizim as a subject,\\nand to use it as a symbol of the blessings of God.\\nThat is right; but that is not the whole of the\\nChristian tourist s duty. Ebal should not be neg-\\nlected. But for the most Ebal is neglected.\\nHence to balance things, I select Ebal and not\\nGerizim. Ebal has its symbolism. There is an\\nantipathy abroad against Ebal. That is wrong.\\nEbal does not deserve it. Ebal has a mission to\\nserve both Godward and manward, and that mis-\\nsion it nobly performs. My point is this Ebal\\nis just as real as Gerizim. The malediction is\\nabroad in human life just as really as is the bene-\\ndiction. And what is more, God is just as grand\\nand as praiseworthy in issuing the curses as He is\\nin issuing the blessings. According to this Scrip-\\nture an altar should be built on Ebal. Now an\\naltar is for the worship of God.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "160 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nWhat arrests my attention is this God ordered\\nthat the first great and national altar for His wor-\\nship in Canaan should be built on Mount Ebal.\\nAn altar on Mount Gerizim That would not\\nstrike us as anything odd or out of the way it is\\neasy, it is natural to worship God amid benedic-\\ntions and pleasing gifts. But an altar on Mount\\nEbal, the mountain of malediction worship offered\\nto God as the God of the curses that does strike\\nus as odd, and that does arrest our attention. It,\\nhowever, is instructive. It lays down this truth,\\nviz. God is to be worshipped for everything He\\ndoes, even His anathemas are causes for thanks-\\ngiving, and his curses are worthy of praise. The\\nHoly Spirit commands men to rear an altar and\\nworship God for all the dark sayings of His law,\\nwhich thunder His wrath and strike terror into the\\nguilty conscience and he bids men thus to sacri-\\nfice to God upon Ebal because there is not a curse\\nuttered upon that sacred mountain that .is in any\\nway unworthy of God. Christ was as much Christ\\nwhen He uttered the woes as when He uttered the\\nbeatitudes, and He was just as true to the interests\\nof mankind.\\nThat we may become interested in Ebal with\\nits altar, and that we may get some searching\\nthoughts for the day in which we live, let us take\\nup two things for our study, viz. The history of\\nthe altar and the symbolism of the altar.\\nI. The History of the Altar.", "height": "3438", "width": "2357", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 161\\nThe one point in the history upon which I wish\\nespecially to dwell is this The altar was prede-\\nsigned by the Lord Himself. The altar was not\\na suddden inspiration of Joshua. It was not\\nJoshua s idea at all; it was God s idea. Its plans\\nand specifications had been drawn up more than\\nforty years prior to the day of its erection. God\\ngave the plans to Moses and among the last things\\nwhich Moses made emphatic in the hearing of\\nJoshua was the building of this altar. The altar\\nwas predesigned. If you will, look over its his-\\ntory, you will find that everything pertaining to it\\nwas fore- arranged with great accuracy and with\\nprecise minuteness. God was very particular about\\nit. He specified the day it should be erected the\\nday on which the Hebrews crossed the river Jor-\\ndan. He specified the exact spot where it should\\nstand. It should stand on Mount Ebal.\\nThe most important thing about the altar on\\nMount Ebal as a predesigned work was the way\\nin which it was to be built. This also was speci-\\nfically indicated. To show this, let me quote from\\nthe plans and specifications. The plans read thus\\nThere shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy\\nGod of stones; thou shalt not lift any iron tool\\nupon them; thou shalt build the altar of the Lord\\nthy God of whole stones. Thou shalt not build\\nit of hewn stones, for if thou lift up thy tool upon\\nit, thou hast polluted it. This is peculiar, you\\nsay. Yes, it is. But it is instructive. Its object\\nii", "height": "3443", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "x62 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nis to lead the Hebrews to recognize that in their\\nrelations with God in the item of salvation, they\\ncannot give, but only receive they cannot design,\\nbut only execute. The lesson taught is the lesson\\nof subordination to God upon the part of man.\\nThe essential fact enunciated is that God is the\\nsole Author of the order of worship and of the\\nsystem of truth which should guide men in their\\nworship. My fellow-men, we must take our con-\\nceptions of God from God Himself. Unless our\\nconceptions of Him be true and right, our worship\\nwill necessarily be defective.\\nThat He should be the Author of the order of\\nworship and of the system of truth seems to be\\nnothing but common sense, when we remember\\nour ignorance of Him and recall the fact that truth\\nis not innate in us, but must be revealed to us.\\nI take great comfort from the fact that God\\ninstructs us in this matter, and that He explicitly\\ndirects us. Were it otherwise, we should be all\\nat sea. What rest and confidence could we have\\nin worship if God had not not given us laws gov-\\nerning us in worship That you may see the rest\\nand confidence which the appointment of God gives\\nin worship, take this one point. Look at the ine-\\nquality of worshippers as you see them in the old\\nHebrew tabernacle Some are rich and some are\\npoor. Some can offer hundreds of bullocks, and\\nstill have large herds left others never owned a\\nbullock and never will. If there were no divine", "height": "3433", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 163\\nregulation, what would the poor man do Could\\nhe stand by the side of the rich and offer his hum-\\nble gift from his small means without harrowing\\nmisgivings as to its acceptance Dare he put a\\npigeon or a turtle-dove by the side of his rich\\nneighbor s bullock, and feel that when the two of-\\nferings were put into the balances of heaven the\\nscales would be in exact poise Uninstructed, he\\ndare not but instructed, he dare. When God ar-\\nranges our worship, such perplexing questions as\\nthe inequalities of gifts are settled. The case of\\nthe poor is provided for as accurately as the case\\nof the rich, and in the divine arrangement God\\nproves that He is no respecter of persons. If\\nthere be a willing mind, He accepts according to\\nthat a man hath. In the balances of heaven a\\nconversation in a garret by the bedside of a pau-\\nper may outweigh the greatest sermon before the\\nnoblest audience. The timid tinkle of a widow s\\nmite may be heard further in heaven, and may\\nmake sweeter music in the ear of God than the\\nloud ring of the millionaire s golden coin. A tur-\\ntle-dove, and a measure of flour, and a wafer baked\\non the fire-plate of the poor are as acceptable to\\nGod as the finest of the herd offered by the rich.\\nNow, if we are dependent upon God for a revel-\\nation, it is only a trite thing for me to say that this\\nrevelation must come wholly from God, and must\\nbe accepted absolutely, and must be implicitly fol-\\nlowed by man. Clear as this may seem, man is", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "164 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nnot willing to submit in actual life to God s revela-\\ntion. He arrogates to himself the right to revise\\nGod s work, and he imagines that his revision is a\\nvast improvement upon God s original. See man\\nas he deals with this altar of God s planning\\nThere is the altar built of rough, uncouth boulders,\\nwithout symmetry or regularity, without artistic\\nbeauty or attractiveness. Man says to himself,\\nThis will never do there are possibilities of\\nbeauty and symmetry here, and the whole work\\nmust be reshaped. Every stone must be submit-\\nted to my chisel and mallet, and must be polished\\nand beautified, and made to fit and to square. My\\ninnate consciousness of the fitness of things is\\noffended; it dictates a change, and its dictation\\nmust be observed, for my innate consciousness is\\nthe highest known authority. Pointing to his\\nworks, he says, Behold how I have brought\\nbeauty and order and grandeur out of the crude\\nelements of nature Look at my temple, a gem\\nof art And at my mansion, and at my monu-\\nmental pillar This altar must be submitted to\\nme as these have been.\\nConfident of his own skill, he takes his mallet\\nand chisel and begins the work of reconstruction.\\nBut every time his mallet drives the chisel into\\nthe stone, every time a corner is chipped off, every\\ntime an angle is rounded, God s voice cries, Thou\\nhast polluted mine altar An altar of man s de-\\nsigning is worse than no altar. It is a polluted", "height": "3445", "width": "2233", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 165\\nthing in God s sight. A system of doctrine built\\nafter man s ideal is a bold and open rejection of\\nGod s system, and is far worse than a mere blank\\nit is a polluted thing in God s sight. An order\\nof worship substituted in place of God s order is\\nworse than no order. It is a polluted thing in\\nGod s sight. According to the divine ipse dixit\\nof this Scripture everything in the religious life,\\nin doctrine and in practice, which has not as its\\nwarrant a Thus saith the Lord, or its equivalent,\\nas a basis, is a polluted thing in God s sight.\\nWe are living in an age when men are alto-\\ngether too free with God s prerogatives when\\nthey too easily set Him aside, and substitute for\\nHis appointments their own fancies and concep-\\ntions. If it be true, as we find it in this Scrip-\\nture, that God demands men to worship Him and\\nto believe in Him according to His revelation, and\\nthat He is so particular that He tells them they\\nshall not even touch or change a single stone in\\nHis altar, then it is our duty to give this fact\\nprominence, and to run it up before men moun-\\ntain high. Then it is our duty to insist upon its\\nrecognition. This only is the safety of the Church.\\nThis only is the way to secure acceptance with\\nGod.\\nThe duty of the hour which God has laid upon\\nthe Church is to make her theological artificers,\\nand sculptors, and lapidaries understand that\\nthere are divine laws under which they must work,", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "166 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nThey must build with the stones of truth just as\\nGod has given them, whether these be angular, or\\nglobular, or conical, or cubic; whether they be\\nmassive or diminutive, porphyritic or sedimentary,\\nterrestrial or selenic. Especially must they be\\nmade to understand the restrictions of their trade,\\nwhen they come to deal and work with the stones\\non Mount Ebal. It is these stones that are not\\nto their mind. The stones found on Mount Geri-\\nzim they are willing to use without subjecting\\nthem to their chisel. These are some of the\\nstones of Gerizim which they accept, God so\\nloved the world that he gave his only begotten\\nSon. God shall wipe away all tears from all\\neyes. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit\\nthe kingdom prepared for you. These stones\\nare to their mind. But while they accept the\\nstones of Gerizim and build with them without\\nhammer and chisel, they will not accept of the\\nstones of Ebal and build with them without ham-\\nmer and chisel. It is wonderful what changes\\nthey do make upon the stones of Ebal by their\\nskilful chipping. When they have reduced them\\nto uniformity of size, and to the regularity of the\\ncube, you would not recognize them. Let me il-\\nlustrate\\nA friend of mine in New Jersey writes I once\\nfound a stone upon Mount Ebal, and being per-\\nplexed by it, I sent it to my neighbor. It was this\\nstone: And these shall go away into everlasting", "height": "3442", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 167\\npunishment. My neighbor did not know what to\\ndo with it. It was not to his liking and he could\\nnot make it to his liking. Finally the happy\\nthought came to him to send it to a famous relig-\\nious lapidary, who works in one of the theological\\nseminaries, and who makes a specialty of working\\nupon these stones as his only trade. He did send\\nit, and this workman worked upon it, and returned\\nit as beautiful as a beautiful ode. He thought\\nthat no man in his senses could teach that it\\nmeant just what it said. It was a poetic concep-\\ntion of great merit, and of great beauty to any one\\nwho had poetic receptivity. But was my Jersey\\nfriend satisfied? No. Why not? Because he\\nreasoned thus If this verse of Scripture, these\\nshall go away into everlasting punishment, be\\nnot a fact but only a poetic fiction, then its com-\\npanion verse of Scripture must also be no fact, but\\na poetic fiction, viz., The righteous shall go into\\nlife everlasting. To be consistent you must po-\\netize all around. Ah this is the trouble, and this\\nalways will be the trouble. The same skilful exe-\\ngetical stroke which strikes the reality out of the\\nworld below strikes the reality out of the world\\nabove.\\nI have given you the experience of my friend\\nfrom New Jersey, let me now give my own expe-\\nrience. It was in connection with a famous theo-\\nlogical lapidary in the city of New York. This\\ncelebrated divine gave a course of Sabbath even-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "1 68 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ning lectures upon the apostles of our Lord. Peter\\nand James and John were stones from Gerizim,\\nand were easily handled. But Judas Iscariot, he\\nwas a regular Ebal boulder, of the toughest and\\nmost unimpressible kind. The lecture upon Ju-\\ndas Iscariot was the lecture I went to hear. I was\\ncurious to witness the reputed ascension of Judas\\nto the skies. The lecturer of course put him up\\nthere. He built a magnificent heavenly palace for\\nJudas out of rhetoric and imagination. No man-\\nsion could be grander. He made it out to his\\nown satisfaction, that because Judas was the great-\\nest sinner, therefore his salvation would be the\\ngrandest exhibit of God s glorious grace. Then\\nhe dwelt upon the repentance and confession of\\nJudas, and declared that any kind of sorrow on\\naccount of sin meant eternal life. Rhetorically\\nconsidered it was a beautiful heavenly mansion\\nwhich he constructed. But when he finished it,\\nand when it stood forth in its grandeur and com-\\npleteness, I saw two bolts from God s word strike\\nit, and they struck it full and fair on the base.\\nThese bolts were hurled by the hand of divine\\ntruth. When the great cloud of smoke and dust\\nhad passed away, and the flying debris had settled,\\nand the atmosphere had become clear, I looked,\\nand there was not one stone of the beautiful man-\\nsion left upon another. One of the bolts which\\nstruck the fabric was this Godly sorrow work-\\neth repentance unto salvation not to be repenteth", "height": "3447", "width": "2250", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 169\\nof; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.\\nIt is not true that any kind of sorrow for sin\\nmeans eternal life the sorrow of the world on ac-\\ncount of sin means death. This was the Judas\\ntype of sorrow. The other bolt was this The\\nSon of man goeth as it is written of him; but\\nwoe unto that man by whom the Son of man is\\nbetrayed it had been good for that man had he\\nnever been born. Of no soul that ever reached\\nheaven with its indescribable glories could it be\\ntruthfully said, it had been good for that man\\nhad he never been born. When we begin to trim\\nthe stones of Ebal, and to build with the trimmed\\nstones, the result always is, we have a false theol-\\nogy, and a false worship, and a false life. We\\nmay admire our own work, but God cries down\\nfrom heaven, Thou hast polluted mine altar.\\nWhen we begin to make excuses for Judas Iscar-\\niot, and to palliate his crime, and to transfigure\\nhis life, and represent his ultimate destiny as one\\nand the same with that of John and Peter and the\\ngood apostles, we put a premium upon treason,\\nand inevitably multiply Judases in human society.\\nWould you like to go out of life a Judas Iscariot\\nGod has put the great and high mountain of Ebal\\nbetween man and evil, and it is a crime against\\nGod and against the human race to lower that\\nmountain even by so little as the removal of a\\nsingle pebble.\\nBut I must now take up my second point, viz.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "170 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nII. The Symbolism of the Altar of Ebal.\\nWhat is the great fact which this altar symbo-\\nlizes It is this\\nGod is to be worshipped for His words and\\ndeeds of judgment. Who shall not fear thee, O\\nLord, and glorify thy name for thou only art\\nholy all nations shall come and worship thee, for\\nthy judgments are made manifest. Rev. xv. 4.\\nI know that the human mind is prejudiced\\nagainst the judgments of God. I know that ex-\\nception is taken to the Bible because these are\\nfound written therein. I know that God is spoken\\nagainst because of these. This is the reason I\\ndeal with this subject and proclaim that God is to\\nbe worshipped because of these. This is the reason\\nI advocate building an alta-r upon Mount Ebal.\\nLet me set in order my reasons for holding that\\nGod should be worshipped for His words and deeds\\nof judgment.\\nI. My first reason is: God s dark words and\\ndeeds of judgment are needed and wholesome\\nwarnings.\\nWe value the promises of God and call them\\ngolden we should also value the warnings of God\\nand call them golden. The warnings are born of\\nGod s love just as surely as the promises are.\\nEvery warning of God is infinite love itself walk-\\ning before man as a guide to point out the hor-\\nrible pits into which men are liable to fall, and to\\nfence the yawning precipices over which men are", "height": "3441", "width": "2344", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 171\\nliable to walk. In a certain sense there is no dif-\\nference between God s warnings and promises.\\nEvery warning is a veiled promise. It says to\\nman, Avoid this way and I assure you that you\\nshall walk safely. Every Scripture warning is\\na lighthouse of God built on the rocks of perdi-\\ntion. We know the worth of lighthouses, and at\\nwhat cost they are erected. We know the honor\\ngiven those who design them. The architect of\\nthe Eddystone lighthouse will always live in his-\\ntory. Now what is every lighthouse out on the\\nperilous rocks of ocean? It is only a curse of\\nEbal crying amid the dangers of ocean, Woe to\\nthe ship that strikes this rock. And yet is there\\nnot a promise flung out into the darkness in every\\nbeam of light that flashes from the lighthouse\\nlamp Does not every ray carry a blessing to the\\nstorm-tossed mariner? There are voices in the\\nflashing beams of the lighthouse lamp, saying,\\nWhile here there is danger and death, out yon-\\nder there is safety, out yonder there is life.\\nThe service which the curse of God renders\\nman will bear investigation. It says that God is\\ninterested in man and desires his well-being. The\\ncurse is God s lance by which he means to cut\\naway all unsoundness from our moral nature and\\narrest corruption, The curse is God s chart which\\nbrings before us the rocks and shoals in our course\\nover the sea of life. It exposes the nature of sin\\nand explodes the theories of falsehood. The curse", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "172 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nis the voice of divine mercy crying, Turn ye,\\nturn ye, why will ye die Those who have fallen\\nunder the judgment of sin can tell us of the value\\nof God s warning. Why did Dives in his tor-\\nments ask Abraham to send one from the dead to\\nvisit his brethren on earth This was the reason\\nand the only reason that this messenger might\\ncry the warnings and repeat the anathemas.\\nThose who have heeded the voice of God can tell\\nus of the value of God s warning uttered in the\\ncurse. Let Nineveh speak. A denunciation of\\nGod saved that empire city. How accessible God\\nhas made salvation when man can enter it even\\nthrough the door of a curse as the thousands of\\nNineveh did? It is not the curse of God that\\nwe should denounce, but it is man s unbelieving\\ntreatment of the curse.\\nMy fellow-men, we need the curses of God with\\ntheir warnings, and we shall need them so long\\nas the dark realities of human history continue to\\nrepeat themselves and so long as sin continues to\\noperate and to produce woes. Is it true that an-\\ngels have lost their first estate Is it true that\\nEden has become a wreck? Is it true that the\\nDead Sea rolls its sullen waters over the sites\\nof the great cities of the plain Is it true that\\nancient Jerusalem is a heap of ashes and buried\\nstrata deep out of sight Is it true that the river\\nNile, which makes Egypt golden with a yellow\\nharvest, once ran blood under the judgment of", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 173\\nGod Is it true that there are sin-wrecked men\\nwalking the streets of New York carrying in their\\nsoul a future which is a terror to themselves Is\\nit true that the wages of sin is death If so, then\\nwe need the curses of God against every form of\\niniquity to warn us in time, and to ward us off\\nfrom the inevitable consequences of sin. There\\nought to be no trifling with sin, nor with the aw-\\nful destiny into which it inducts.\\n2. God should be praised for His words and\\ndeeds of judgment because these appeal to and use\\nthe element of fear in our nature for the purpose\\nof securing our safety.\\nThere is a popular prejudice against appealing\\nto fear. Advanced pulpiteers of to-day deprecate\\nit with all their might. They plainly tell us that\\nthey have no confidence in Christians who are\\nfrightened to Christ. They declare that we have\\ngotten away from the age when men can be driven\\ninto heaven by terror. That was a characteristic\\nof Calvin s age, and Edwards age, and Whitefield s\\nage. They say, We do not preach the doctrines\\nof Edwards or of Whitefield. True. But nei-\\nther do they move their audiences as Edwards\\ndid neither do they preach to the thousands as\\nWhitefield did. Their sole cry is Move man\\nby love. But what of the wrath to come, of\\nwhich Paul speaks when he says, Knowing the\\nterrors of the law we persuade men to flee from\\nthe wrath which is to come.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "174 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nIn neglecting to use the element of fear, these\\nteachers lose much. To me salvation is so impor-\\ntant that I feel justified in appealing to everything\\nin man that I may move him to accept of salva-\\ntion. To decry fear is one way of casting reflec-\\ntion upon God, who put fear in man upon the day\\nof creation, and who appealed to it and used it\\nwhile man was in Eden in the state of innocency.\\nThe very first recorded words of God to the human\\nrace were words addressed to fear In the day\\nthou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.\\nFear is a faculty, a talent, which belongs to man.\\nIt is one of God s grand gifts. We should be\\nmiserably constructed if we did not have it. We\\nshould be pierced by a thousand pains and inju-\\nries which we now escape. Fear plays a wide\\nand a useful part in our lives. Look at it in the\\nchild, which God has put into your hands for safe-\\nkeeping In your child s education there is noth-\\ning to which you appeal so frequently as to its\\nfear, and this appeal is the strongest evidence of\\nyour love. By an appeal to fear you teach it to\\navoid the fire, and the burning lamp, and the blaz-\\ning gas-jet. By an appeal to fear you teach it to\\nlet the sharp knife alone. By an appeal to fear\\nyou teach it to keep away from the steep stairs.\\nYour child has been born into a world of dangers,\\nand your education of it is full of warnings, and\\nevery one of these is the embodiment of love.\\nThis being so, what a contradiction of every-day", "height": "3445", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 1 75\\nlife is this cry against the appeal of fear when\\npreaching the Gospel to lost sinners What\\nsheer nonsense it is There can be no full spiri-\\ntual instruction without it. When all eternity\\nhangs upon this brief life which we are living, and\\nwhen thousands upon thousands are sinning away\\ntheir day of grace, it would be gross barbarism and\\ncruelty not to sound the alarm, and not to arouse\\nthe fears of the thoughtless. The preacher of to-\\nday, like the preacher of old, must stand in the\\nmidst of humanity and must ring out the same old\\nidentical words Let us therefore fear lest a\\npromise being left us of entering into his rest, any\\nof you should seem to come short of it.\\nI hold that we are to use love or fear in accord-\\nance with the conditions of the men with whom\\nwe deal. In Nineveh we should cry Yet forty\\ndays and Nineveh shall be destroyed. In Phila-\\ndelphia we should cry Him that overcometh will\\nI make a pillar in the temple of God. That is\\nthe way and that the method we employ in every-\\nday life.\\nLet me put two cases before you and ask you\\nfor your judgment. The first case In one of our\\nNew England villages a father was coming up the\\nstreet from his store to his home for dinner. He\\nthought he heard the voice of his baby girl calling\\nhim, Papa Papa Lifting his eyes toward the\\nroof of his house, there she was on the eaves of the\\nroof, with her hands outstretched toward her fa-", "height": "3436", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "I7 6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nther. She had climbed up on a table and had\\ncrawled out through the window and along the\\nroof. From her high place she spied her father\\nwalking up the street, and called his name and\\nwas ready to toss herself into his arms. She\\nthought she could do this; she knew no better.\\nWhat a sight to meet a father s eye At the\\nwindow appeared the mother as pale as death.\\nShe held in her hands a tempting orange, and put-\\nting into her voice all the sweetest tones of win-\\nning love she could command she called the child\\nby name and kept offering it the tempting bait un-\\ntil the little one crept to her and was safely folded\\nin her arms and kissed. That was love-saving.\\nThe second case The granite mills of Fall River\\nwere in flames. On the roof of the burning house\\nthere appeared a lone woman calling wildly for\\nhelp. She had fled from the flames below, and\\nwas safe now, but her safety was only for a few\\nmoments. The spectators saw this. They saw\\nwhat she could not see, the flames leaping up the\\nrear of the building to the very roof. They saw\\nthe inevitable crash of roof and all. Spreading a\\nstrong canvas before the building, and pointing to\\nthe flames that were sweeping toward the imper-\\nilled one, with united voice they cried to her:\\nLeap, quick, or you will miss your only chance\\nUnder the impulse of fear, which was intensified\\nby the earnest cry of the spectators, she did leap\\nand was saved. That was fear- saving. The two", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. 177\\ncases are before you now, what have you to say\\nYou say We approve of both. In the first case\\nlove was the proper motive to sway the child, and\\nin the second case fear was the proper motive to\\nsway the endangered woman. You would dis-\\ncount any man s judgment who would prate against\\nthe course of the crowd in making their appeal to\\nthe woman. All I have to say is that we ought\\nto bring into the sphere of religion the good judg-\\nment which sways us in the affairs of every-day\\nlife. In every-day life we act on certainties and\\nnot upon mere conjectures. We act upon what\\nwe know, and not upon what we do not know.\\nWe act under the impulse of fear, as well as under\\nthe impulse of love. We let the honest warning\\nsway us as well as the loving promise. Thus it\\nis in our secular life thus it ought to be in our\\nspiritual life.\\nI take this position, that whatever is in harmony\\nwith that which God put into human nature when\\nHe sent it forth from His hand perfect, whatever\\nis calculated to reach and develop it, is right and\\nneeded. We know that there is an affinity be-\\ntween certain medicines and foods and certain or-\\ngans and parts of the human body. This makes\\nit beneficial and necessary that certain foods and\\ncertain medicines shall be used. Their use is de-\\nmanded by the life and health of the body. As it\\nis with the body, so is it with the soul. God has\\nbuilt it up out of such elements as these, joy, hope,\\n12", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "17^ NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nlove, conscience, fear. Between these elements\\nand certain forms of truth there is a strong affinity.\\nThe promises appeal to hope and feed it, and make\\nit the spring of action. The commandments, the\\nstatements of duty, appeal to the conscience and\\nmove it. The story of the cross with its wonder-\\nful illustration of sacrifice appeals to love and\\nmoves man through love. The curses pronounced\\nagainst sin, the threatenings, the warnings, these\\nappeal to fear and move man through it. If it be\\nright to use the commandments, and the promises,\\nand the story of the cross, in order to move man\\nto accept of salvation if it be right to appeal to\\nthese because God has put these elements in the\\nsoul and has given truth in forms that have affini-\\nties for these elements, then it is right also to use\\nfear and appeal to it in order to move man, for\\nGod has put fear into the soul and has given us\\ntruth in a form adapted to fear.\\nI close with a simple illustrative story. In a\\nlonely valley in Scotland, at the base of a tall cliff,\\nthere lies a huge rock, which once fell from the\\nface of the precipice. It is worn and seamed by\\nthe action of time. A shepherd was passing, when\\nsuddenly the finger of God touched it, and rent\\nit from its ancient bed in the mountain-side.\\nTouched by the finger of God, it came leaping and\\nbounding from pinnacle to pinnacle, and fell where\\nit rests to-day. The shepherd who was beneath it\\nthen is beneath it now, ground to powder. What", "height": "3405", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "MOUNT EBAL A VOICE OF GOD. i79\\nwould not a warning have been to that shepherd\\nA timely warning, appealing to the element of fear\\nin him, would have been a messenger of love, sav-\\ning him from his awful death.\\nLike that man, we are in awful danger. God\\nsees our danger, and feels it as no one else can.\\nSo in love He has reared Mount Ebal, and from\\nits lofty summit He sends through the human\\nworld His saving cry of warning Turn ye\\nTurn ye for why will ye die, O house of Israel", "height": "3413", "width": "2207", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3394", "width": "2233", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL, OR A STUDY OF\\nTHE BOOK OF RUTH.", "height": "3422", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3425", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "A GLEANER FROM THE HARVEST FIELD OF BJAZ.", "height": "3487", "width": "2407", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3408", "width": "2233", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "VII.\\nA Hebrew Idyl, or A Study of the Book\\nof Ruth.\\nSo Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-\\nin-law, with her and they came to Bethlehem in the begin-\\nning of barley harvest. Ruth i. 22.\\nThe people of God possess a treasure in the\\nlittle book of Ruth. It is valuable for many rea-\\nsons.\\nThe book is valuable because it gives us one\\nimportant link in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.\\nRuth was one of the three Gentile mothers ad-\\nmitted into the line of Christ s humanity. It is\\ninteresting to trace how the different streams of\\nhumanity run into the ancestry of Jesus Christ.\\nHere the sinful life of Tamar flows through it.\\nYonder the life of Rahab the Jerichoite. Yonder\\nthe life of Bath-sheba. Here the life of Ruth.\\nDifferent elements of humanity entered into His\\nancestral line; so He is not the Son of one na-\\ntion, but the Son of many nations. He had Gen-\\ntile mothers and sisters and brothers, as well as\\nJewish mothers and sisters and brothers. He is a\\nman of the human race.\\nTo be made a mother of Jesus, even though a", "height": "3440", "width": "2244", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "1 86 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nfar-away mother, was to be crowned with one of\\nthe highest honors which God could bestow upon\\nwomanhood. It was to be made a sharer of the\\nblessedness which was pronounced upon Mary, the\\nblessed among women. Every one of the far-\\naway mothers in the Messianic line was as essen-\\ntial to the humanity of Christ as was Mary her-\\nself. The high honor of being one of the mothers\\nof Jesus was the honor which God conferred upon\\nRuth, the Moabitess, as a reward for her devotion\\nto one of God s people, and as a result of her\\nwhole-hearted consecration to God Himself. The\\nbook of Ruth, first of all, helps to complete the\\nlinks in the genealogical chain of Christ. With-\\nout a complete genealogy, it would be impossible\\nto prove the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth.\\nAnything, therefore, that helps to establish this\\nis vital and essential and fundamental.\\nThe book of Ruth is valuable for the moral in-\\nfluence which it originates among men. It sets\\nbefore men that, which is best in human nature\\nand makes it attractive. It places before us the\\nhighest ideals, and brings us under their assimilat-\\ning power. By means of it, Naomi and Ruth\\ncommunicate to us that which is best in them.\\nThey make us sympathetic. They help us to see\\nGod s overruling hand in the affairs of every-day\\nlife. They breathe into us the spirit of gratitude\\namid the bounties of life, and the spirit of courage\\namid the difficulties of life. They make us feel", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 1 87\\nthat the right will always He rewarded. So thrill-\\ning is their experience, so completely does it touch\\nus and move us in the best attributes of our na-\\nture, that it is a means of sanctification to us. It\\ndrives meanness out of us, and substitutes gener-\\nosity and large-heartedness and open-handedness.\\nIt educates us in appreciating and admiring the\\ntender, and the noble, and the sublime, .and the\\nGod-like. Anything that stirs our moral nature\\nto its depths, and makes us ashamed of our selfish-\\nness, and grufTness, and cruelty of disposition;\\nanything that begets within us wishes for the\\nhigher traits of character, and calls out purposes\\nof sacrifice for God and for others anything that\\noriginates within us an iron resolution to give rein\\nto that which is best in us is of incomparable\\nworth, and should be esteemed a divine blessing.\\nThe little book of Ruth does this. It inspires our\\ndaughters to be as Naomi and Ruth, grand women\\nand it inspires our sons to be as Boaz, men every\\ninch of them, frank and chaste and industrious;\\nconsiderate as employers, honest in business, care-\\nful of the rights of others above taking advantage\\nof the ignorant ardent as lovers, and faithful as\\nhusbands.\\nThe book has a literary value. It is a gem in\\nliterature. If we could trace back all the after\\ngems which genius has given to the world and\\nwhich have inspired the lives of men, we should\\ndoubtless discover that some influence begotten", "height": "3471", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "1 88 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nby this early gem originated them, either directly\\nor indirectly. As a gem, there is no artistic elab-\\noration in its style. There is no effort at fine\\nwriting but it is fine writing. The story writes\\nitself. No whip is laid to the imagination to im-\\npart gleam and lustre to it. The composition is\\nclear and simple and transparent. Its setting, too,\\nin the canon of Scripture is in its favor. Its lo-\\ncation heightens it by means of contrast, just as the\\nlowering black thunder-storm sweeping up the ho-\\nrizon in the west sets off by contrast the summit\\nof the mountain in the east which is all on fire\\nwith the light of the sun. To one who reads\\nthe Bible in course, the book of Ruth comes like\\na sudden yet sweet surprise. The sterner feel-\\nings of his nature have been roused by the turbu-\\nlent scenes of the book of Judges. Fierce battles,\\nprivate murders, and terrific slaughters have fol-\\nlowed each other in rapid succession. One of the\\nlast scenes that he dwelt upon was the violent\\ndeath of an unchaste woman, whose dismembered\\nbody was sent in bleeding fragments throughout\\nthe land, like the fiery cross of Scotland to call\\nmen to arms. This was followed by the slaughter\\nof a hundred thousand men. From such a succes-\\nsion of horrors, the reader comes upon the simple\\nand gentle story of Ruth, like one who emerges\\nfrom an Alpine gorge black with thunder clouds\\nand filled with the roar of mad torrents, upon a\\nlittle green pasturage slumbering in the embrace", "height": "3442", "width": "2227", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 189\\nof the hills, where the sun shines, and the bells\\nof the flock tinkle, and the brook sings its song.\\nThe book has an historic value. It holds up a\\nlight in the midst of the nation of Israel in the\\ntimes of the Judges. It brings out one aspect of\\nthe times, viz. the religious feeling. For, not-\\nwithstanding the public corruption in certain of\\nthe tribes, there was a religious feeling pervading\\nthe nation as a body politic. Like the order of\\nthe Nazarite, and the song of Deborah, and the\\nprayer of Hannah, it reveals the reign of religion\\nin the homes of the people. It leads us to this\\ndiscovery, which no Bible student should overlook\\nin the study of the book of the Judges, viz, The\\nbook of Judges, in order to teach the bitterness\\nof sin, sets forth with great fulness the evils and\\nservitude which prevailed in different sections of\\nIsrael, but it passes over with a simple mention\\nthe periods of prosperity and fidelity during the\\ntimes of the Judges yet these periods were three\\ntimes as long as the periods of evil and servitude.\\nDuring at least three-fourths of the two hundred\\nyears and more covered by the period of the\\nJudges, the vast majority of homes in Israel were\\nGod-fearing homes. They were like the home\\nintroduced by the book of Ruth. Elimelech and\\nBoaz were types of the larger part of the manhood\\nof the nation, and Naomi was a type of the larger\\npart of the womanhood of the nation.\\nIn this Hebrew home we see a representation", "height": "3475", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "19\u00c2\u00b0 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof every virtue required in the domestic and social\\nlife of man. It redounds to the glory of the God\\nof Israel, that in the freedom in which His people\\nwere living during the period of the Judges, there\\nwas so much chastity, and justice, and love, and\\npropriety, and etiquette. Who were Naomi and\\nRuth and Boaz They were peasants. Yet how\\ncharming their eloquence, how pleasing their man-\\nners, and how full of wisdom and judgment they\\nare\\nIn opening the contents of the book of Ruth,\\nwe will present\\nI. The Story of the Book.\\nThe story is easily told. It is this In the\\ndays of the Judges there was a severe famine in\\nJudea. It was keenly felt in thousands of homes,\\nbut in one especially the home of Elimelech.\\nThe thought came to him to flee from want by\\nmoving over the blue mountains, which he could\\nsee in the far distance, to the plains beyond, in\\nthe land of Moab. His thought became a pur-\\npose, and his purpose became an act. He found\\nhimself in Moab, with Naomi, his wife, and Mah-\\nlon and Chilion, his sons. Ten years fled by; but\\nthey were years crowded with sad changes. Only\\nthe widowed Naomi lived through them. First\\nher husband died, and then her two sons, who had\\nmarried Moabitish maidens. Stricken by a treble", "height": "3434", "width": "2232", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 191\\nsorrow, she was left a stranger in a strange land.\\nShe was one of those who could say to God, All\\nThy waves and all Thy billows have gone over\\nme.\\nNaomi in Moab had not forgotten Palestine;\\nshe carried her fatherland and her early home in\\nher heart. In her sorrow she determined to go\\nback to these, and when she communicated her pur-\\npose to Orpah and Ruth, the widows of her la-\\nmented sons, they determined to go with her.\\nThese three widows were bound together by pe-\\nculiar bonds. They had bent over the same sick-\\nbed, and had moved in the same funeral proces-\\nsion, and had wept over the same grave.\\nOn the way to Judea, Naomi, overpowered with\\nthe thought that she was leading these two young\\nwomen away from home and into poverty, stopped\\nand urged them to return to their ancestors. It\\nwould be a lonely journey without them, but how\\ncould she ask them to share her dark future She\\npictured for them a new and a possible home in\\nMoab, and prayed, The Lord grant you that ye\\nmay find rest each of you in the home of her hus-\\nband. What a beautiful ideal she had of home\\nIt is only a wanderer who can talk or write ideally\\nabout home, sweet home. Home according to her\\nideal is a rest. There is something radically wrong\\nin the home which is not a rest. Home is a rest\\na rest for the husband, a rest for the wife, a rest\\nfor the children.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "I9 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nThe proposal of Naomi was a test to Orpah and\\nRuth. She dealt with her daughters-in-law as\\nChrist dealt with the man who hastily declared,\\nLord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou\\ngoest. Jesus turned to him and said, The foxes\\nhave holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the\\nson of man hath not where to lay his head.\\nEvery man who becomes a Christian is tried and\\ntempted in some such way. He comes to a piv-\\notal moment in his life, and upon it everything in\\nthe future depends. In this pivotal moment he\\nis called upon to balance the reasons for the rejec-\\ntion of the world and for the acceptance of Christ,\\nfor leaving Moab and going to Canaan. God tests\\nus to see if we ring true, or if we ring hollow.\\nCan you stand the test of God, O immortal soul\\nOrpah failed to stand the test. Like the citi-\\nzen from the City of Destruction, who accompan-\\nied Christian part way to the Celestial city, she\\nturned back with regrets and tears.\\nRuth stood the test and this is the fact which\\nthe book makes prominent. It sets before us her\\ndevotion and her reward. The more she was urged\\nto leave, the more she clung. Her devotion, under\\nthe test, grew until it broke forth into a passionate\\nand soul-stirring resolution, which she sealed with\\na solemn and self-imposed oath. In her resolu-\\ntion she made five distinct choices, and these five\\ndistinct choices we all make when we truly be-\\ncome Christians. These choices are the Chris-", "height": "3432", "width": "2235", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 193\\ntian s God, the Christian s pathway, the Chris-\\ntian s companions, the Christian s habitation, and\\nthe Christian s death.\\nWhen Naomi heard Ruth s resolution, she\\nceased to urge her to return to Moab And so\\nthey two went, until they came to Bethlehem.\\nEntering Bethlehem was a trying scene to\\nNaomi. The past rushed in upon her and over-\\nwhelmed her. Old friends gathered around her\\nby the score and scanned her face, and in surprise\\nat the changes which had come over her, asked,\\nIs this Naomi Those who had known her as\\na bride, and then as a mother, scarce knew her now\\nas a widow. She was so bent and wrinkled and\\ngray. It was when she read the change which\\nhad come over her, by reading the looks of sur-\\nprise and pity on the countenances of her early\\nassociates, that she said, Call me not Naomi, i.e.,\\nthe pleasantness of the Lord, but call me Mara,\\ni.e., Bitterness; for the Lord hath dealt bitterly\\nwith me. I have changed into another person;\\ncall me therefore by another name. It is a good\\nthing sometimes to go back to our associates of\\nearly days, that we may be made to feel the changes\\nthat have come upon us. We can see the differ-\\nence between our present and former selves, in their\\nunconcealed surprises. If we have grown better,\\nwe will recognize that in their looks of admira-\\ntion if we have grown worse we will be made to\\nfeel that by their looks of disappointment.\\n13", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "194 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LA .YDS.\\nIt was fortunate that these widows reached\\nBethlehem during barley harvest. According to\\nthe law of the land, they had the privilege of glean-\\ning in the fields. Ruth, ready-handed and willing-\\nhearted, at once went forth to glean, and God\\nguided her to fields where she not only succeeded\\nin securing some of the grain of the fields, but\\nwhere she succeeded in securing the owner of the\\nfields. By divine guidance, she entered both the\\nfield and the heart of Boaz. The first day of\\ngleaning was a grand success. It rejoiced both\\nRuth and Naomi. When the story of the day was\\ntold, Naomi recognized in Boaz an old kinsman.\\nThe success of the first day was again and again\\nrepeated. Ruth and Boaz met and talked, and\\nmet and talked, and the shuttle of respectful feel-\\ning shot and reshot between them, and wove the\\nweb of love.\\nIn the mean while, the brain of Naomi was not\\nsleeping. She studied both Ruth and Boaz, and\\nshe knew exactly how heart responded to heart.\\nThere is an immense amount of Naomi in the\\nbook. She is so largely in it that the book might\\nwith propriety be called the Book of Naomi.\\nNaomi knew that Boaz was a backward man for\\nif he had not been backward, the world would not\\nhave found him at his time of life a man without\\na wife. Reading his heart, and pitying his back-\\nwardness, she inaugurated a bold plan to usher in\\nhis marriage day. As a kinsman, the law of the", "height": "3434", "width": "2243", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 1 95\\nHebrews opened a direct way for him to enter\\ninto marriage with Ruth, and the plan of Naomi\\nwas to set the law at work.\\nThe story hastens to a conclusion. The law\\nworked well. The mother-in-law saw this one\\nday, when Ruth returned from a walk with Boaz\\nwith the whole story written on her face. As she\\ncame up to her, Naomi greeted her with the ques-\\ntion, Who art thou, my daughter? And Ruth\\nanswered her in accordance with the spirit of her\\nquestion, and told her who she was likely to be.\\nIn the original Hebrew there is wit in the ques-\\ntion not seen in our English translation. Who\\nart thou, my daughter? means, Art thou Mis-\\ntress Ruth Mahlon, or Art thou Mistress Ruth\\nBoaz Naomi was an old lady, but she was\\nkeen and wide awake. She was a woman of strong\\npoints all around.\\nThe book closes with Boaz making Ruth his\\nwife, and with the whole family rejoicing over the\\nchild Obed. Around this child all centre Na-\\nomi, the grandmother; Boaz, the father; Ruth,\\nthe mother. Even the neighbors gather to the\\nrejoicing, and with Naomi and Ruth bless the\\nLord that the day of storm closes with a sunset\\nof brilliant glory.\\nWith the story of the book before us, we are\\nready to take up", "height": "3447", "width": "2223", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "I9 6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nII. The Theme Which the Story Illustrates.\\nThe story illustrates this theme The value and\\nmission of our human loves or our earthly rela-\\ntionships a medium of mutual helpfulness. There\\nare three points presented by the book illustrating\\nthis theme\\ni. Life may be made beautiful and filled with\\ncomfort and influence by loving relationships.\\nThe history of human loves in this book estab-\\nlishes this point. Its friendships have taken hold\\nof the heart of the world, and have repeated them-\\nselves in varied forms in far-away lands. The\\nworld is always better for those who love, and who\\nleave behind them deeds and memories of love.\\nThe friendship between Ruth and Naomi is valu-\\nable in that it takes up the lowest relationship of\\nlife, and reveals how mutually helpful love makes\\nit, and what a sphere it can open for the play of\\nlove. What relationship is esteemed less than that\\nof mother-in-law In modern life it is the subject\\nof criticism and wit and satire. It has called out\\nthe bitterest and most unkind of all caricatures.\\nThe friendship between Naomi and Ruth exhibits\\nthe opportunity which even this relationship af-\\nfords for building up a beautiful character and for\\nrendering true service to immortal souls.\\nLook narrowly at what this friendship gave the\\nworld. It gave the world two beautiful charac-", "height": "3424", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 197\\nters. We do not know which to admire most\\nNaomi or Ruth; the model mother in-law or the\\ndutiful daughter-in-law. I suppose mothers-in-\\nlaw admire Ruth, and daughters-in-law admire\\nNaomi. There is no question about the worth of\\nRuth. But let us not forget that it was Naomi\\nwho made Ruth. If Naomi had not been what\\nshe was, Ruth would not have been what she was.\\nBoth of the daughters-in-law loved her; so she\\nmust have been lovable. Orpah could not leave\\nher without many tears and kisses, and Ruth could\\nnot leave her at all. Ruth s devotion is a beauti-\\nful testimony to Naomi s fidelity and unselfish-\\nness. A testimony like this all mothers-in-law\\nshould strive to have. The Naomi of to-day may\\nand should have her Ruth. Give me a Naomi\\nwho will talk her daughter-in-law up until the\\ncommunity is filled with her praises give me a\\nNaomi who deals in prayers for her daughter-in-\\nlaw give me a Naomi who takes an interest in\\nher daughter-in-law s home and comfort and pros-\\nperity; give me a Naom_ who is so self- forgetful\\nand condescending that she will even take care of\\nher daughter-in-law s little Obed and I will point\\nyou to a Ruth by her side full of devotion and of\\nlove. Age gives the mother-in-law the right to\\nlead in the exercise of love and sacrifice and good\\nfeeling.\\nThe book presents a second point, viz.\\n2. Loving relationships afford a sphere in which", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "19$ NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nto do religious work. Naomi, whose character was\\nrooted in religion, did effective work for God. She\\nbrought Ruth into the covenant of salvation. Ruth\\nknew nothing of Jehovah before she met Naomi\\nshe was her spiritual mother. Through Naomi\\nthe religion of God reached her heart. It was love\\nin the relationship that made religion a power and\\ngave force to Naomi s words. It is love back of\\nwords that always makes them a power. Even the\\nwords of a child are powerful when they are ad-\\ndressed to one who loves and who is related to it.\\nLet me illustrate. One of England s popular\\nlecturers was speaking on Personal Influence.\\nPointing to a little girl in her father s arms, he\\nsaid, Every one has an influence even that\\nchild is no exception. That s true! cried the\\nfather. At the close of the evening, he went to\\nthe lecturer and apologized for the interruption.\\nI could not help speaking, sir. I was a drunk-\\nard once, and my little child saved me. I took\\nher with me once to the drink-hall, and, hearing a\\nnoise within, she pleaded with me Father, do\\nnot go in. I told her to hold her peace. Please,\\nfather, do not go in. Hold your peace, I say\\nPresently I felt a hot tear from the child s eye\\nfall upon my cheek. I could not go a step far-\\nther, .sir. I turned around and went home, and\\nI have not touched the glass since. When you\\nsaid that the child had an influence, I could not\\nhelp speaking aloud, That s true. The story", "height": "3431", "width": "2246", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. *99\\nis simple, but it illustrates our point, viz. Rela-\\ntionship gives power to personal influence, and\\nmakes the Christian an effective worker. What\\nwas it that made the request and tear of that child\\nso powerful? Were they powerful because the\\nchild was a stranger? The very opposite. That\\nchild belonged to that father. Nature had bound\\nit to him by a thousand invisible bonds, until the\\nunion between him and it was so intimate that\\nits fears sent a shudder through his frame, and its\\ndesire moved his intellect and conscience and af-\\nfection toward sobriety.\\nHow did Naomi bring her religion to Ruth\\nShe did not carry in her hand the roll of the He-\\nbrew law and prophets she did what was better\\nshe carried it in her character. The spirit of\\nthe holy Book was in her heart, and she taught by\\nher life. No doubt she told the stories of Israel s\\nwonderful history, and stated and explained the\\ndoctrines of her religion but it was her life that\\nmade her God and her people attractive. It was\\nher life that led Ruth to say, Thy people shall\\nbe my people, and thy God my God. Striking\\nas this illustration given us by the book of Ruth\\nis, there are many parallels in God s word showing\\nthe sphere which relationships open for effective\\nreligious work. There is the story of Moses and\\nHobab, his brother-in-law. Moses said to him,\\nCome thou with us, and we will do thee good;\\nfor the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "200 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nHobab responded to the invitation, and dwelt\\namong the blessings. There is the story of An-\\ndrew bringing his brother Peter to Jesus. It is a\\nnotable fact that many of the apostles were related\\nby the ties of nature, and were bound together by\\nhuman loves. It is a notable fact also that the\\nChurch of Christ to-day is made up of the children\\nof believers and of those who have been born in\\nChristian households. It is a notable fact that\\nmany a man is held to faith in the Christian relig-\\nion simply by the holy character of a godly parent\\nor of a godly friend. Holy characters are the\\nheavenly clusters from the heavenly vines, which\\nmake it possible for us to believe in the heavenly\\nCanaan.\\nOne point more with reference to the theme of\\nthe book\\n3. Religion gives greater love and permanency\\nto our relationships. Our religion makes our\\nfriendships and loves as eternal as itself. Love,\\nwhich is the soul of friendship, is the fruit of\\nreligion. By this shall ye know that ye are my\\ndisciples: if ye love one another. Beloved, let\\nus love one another for love is of God, and every\\none that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.\\nGod did not come between Naomi and Ruth as a\\nbarrier to separate them their friendship reached\\nits perfection only when Ruth said, Thy God\\nshall be my God. Religion links us together\\nmore firmly, because it brings us into a new com-", "height": "3431", "width": "2226", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 201\\nmunity of interests, and because it makes each in-\\nterest a uniting bond. Each doctrine is a bond.\\nEach promise is a bond. Each similar experience\\nis a bond. We who are in the Christian faith are\\nbound together by a graduated scale of bonds, until\\nwe reach the perfection of unity in the bond of\\nthe Spirit.\\nWhen we form our friendships under the sanc-\\ntion of religion, we choose our companions for eter-\\nnity. Human love with religion is a grace of\\neternity. It is an immortal link, as strong in the\\nheavenly future as it is in the earthly present. In\\nheaven we do not lose sight of our friends. No.\\nTransformed into the glorious image of God, we\\nshall love them all the more because they are God-\\nlike. In heaven we do not lose our identity or\\nour personality. No. Moses and Elijah are Moses\\nand Elijah still. Abraham and Lazarus are Abra-\\nham and Lazarus still. In heaven we do not lose\\nour memories or our intellects. No. We shall\\nneed these in order that we may recognize God\\nand recall the blessings of redemption. If we\\nhave these, we can recognize our friends who on\\nearth shared with us the blessings of redemption.\\nIn heaven human communion is not lost nor de-\\nstroyed. No. Lazarus in Abraham s bosom shows\\nbeyond peradventure that there are human loves\\nthere. They shall come from the east and from\\nthe west, and from the north and from the south,\\nand shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and", "height": "3470", "width": "2345", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "202 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nJacob in the kingdom of heaven. We are truly-\\nrelated only when we can say to one another,\\nThy people shall be my people, and thy God my\\nGod.\\nA Caution and an Exhortation.\\nI have been speaking of the value of religious\\nfriendships, and of the way in which God blesses\\nmen through their godly friends. Let me, in clos-\\ning, utter a simple caution and a simple exhorta-\\ntion.\\ni A caution Do not rest under the delusion\\nthat God in some way will have mercy upon you\\nin the last day, despite your earthly life, because\\nof the interest which He has in your friends. This\\nbook gives no hint that there was hope for Orpah,\\nwho went back to her heathen life. God is merci-\\nful, yes but God is just also, and He cannot over-\\nride His justice. His justice requires Him to deal\\nwith every man personally. I think I hear the\\nhuman heart say, God, who honors human rela-\\ntionships and loves by using them as figures of the\\nrelationships between Him and His people, cannot\\nin the day of judgment break up the families of\\nHis own making. A separation would wrench the\\nheart of the saved as well as the heart of the lost.\\nThat thought does not trouble me. I believe,\\nwith the author of Gates Ajar, that if the Sa-\\nvior, who has done so much for man, who has\\nloved him with an infinite love, can say, De-", "height": "3447", "width": "2246", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 203\\npart His people, whose love is only finite at\\nits best, can acquiesce in the sentence of Him who\\nloves infinitely.\\n2. An exhortation Yield to the persuasion of\\nyour godly friends. God is seeking to win you\\nto Himself through them. God sent Naomi all\\nthe way to Moab to win Ruth. I want to enforce\\nthis practical exhortation by an illustration. My\\nillustration is drawn from the story upon which\\nThomas Moore, the Irish poet, has founded his Lalla\\nRookh. A prince was betrothed, according to the\\ncustoms of his times, to a princess of a distant\\nkingdom whom he had never seen. As the mar-\\nriage day drew near, he sent an escort to bring his\\nbride. Among the escort sent to while away the\\ntedium of the journey, there was one noted above\\nall the rest. He was gifted in all things, and\\nproved a delightful charmer. The princess felt his\\npower, and was drawn to him. Ere she was aware\\nof it, she awoke to the fact that he had won her\\nheart. Heroically she fought her affections, and\\nsought to chain them and keep them true to the\\nprince whom she was soon to meet as her hus-\\nband. Her pledge had been given him, and her\\nhonor for truth was on trial. It was a fearful in-\\nner conflict through which she passed; but she\\nproved true. When the journey was over, and\\nwhen the marriage day had fully come, she went\\nto the altar feeling that she was sacrificing her\\nvery life to her promise. But what a glad sur-", "height": "3442", "width": "2344", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "204 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nprise it was, and how her heart bounded with joy,\\nwhen, on being introduced to the prince, she dis-\\ncovered that it was he who had towered in the es-\\ncort, and in disguise had won her heart. O ye\\nfriends living in another land from the God-land,\\nGod desires you for Himself. He has sent you\\nthis word I have betrothed you to Myself. In\\nthe person of your godly friends and acquaintances,\\nHe has sent you an escort to lead you to His pal-\\nace. Trust them, yield yourselves to them, give\\nthem the best love of your heart. Do not be\\nafraid of robbing Christ by loving them and yield-\\ning to them. Let your desires go out to them,\\nand let your admiration delight itself in their\\nhabits and in their characters. When the mar-\\nriage day comes, on which you shall be inducted\\ninto the mansions as the bride of Christ, you will\\nfind that the principles and dispositions and habits\\nand ways which they embodied, and which won\\nyour heart, were all from God. You will find that\\nChrist Himself was in them, acting in them, and\\nlooking out at you through tnem. You will find\\nthat it was the Christ in them whom you loved.\\nHe it was who wooed you and won you, though\\nyou recognized Him not.\\nYe who are the subjects of friendly persuasion\\nand solicitude by the Naomis of God, act the part\\nof the beautiful and immortal Ruth. Covenant\\nwith God s people. Cast in your lot with theirs.\\nStart with them for Canaan, the land of promise.", "height": "3427", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "A HEBREW IDYL. 205\\nSay to them, Thy people shall be my people.\\nWhen you have done this, by and by you will take\\nthe final step, which carries heaven and eternal\\nlife in it, and will say, Thy God shall be my\\nGod. All who humbly begin with the people of\\nGod end with God and Christ for every holy con-\\nsistent life, lived by the multitudes of God s Nao-\\nmis, is a spiritual bridge over which immortal souls\\npass to Christ.", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3409", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DAY IN THE LIFE OF\\nJESUS CHRIST.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3422", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0220.jp2"}, "221": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3489", "width": "2495", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0221.jp2"}, "222": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3380", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0222.jp2"}, "223": {"fulltext": "VIII.\\nThe Hosanna-Day in the Life of Jesus\\nChrist.\\nAnd the multitudes that went before, and that followed,\\ncried, saying Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he that\\ncometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest!\\nMatt. xxi. 9.\\nThe week upon which we enter to-day is known\\nin the calendar of Christendom as Passion Week.\\nPassion Week is that week in the biography of\\nJesus which ends with the cross and the silent\\ntomb. It is the fullest week of all time. It is\\ncrowded to overflowing. Upon the part of Jesus\\nit is crowded with golden utterances and magni-\\nficent deeds and infinite sacrifices. Upon the part\\nof man it is crowded with wicked plottings, and\\ndenials, and betrayals, and treasons, and false\\noaths, and diabolical deeds. It shows divinity at\\nits best and it shows humanity at its worst.\\nBut it is not with the full week that we wish\\nto deal this morning. We wish to deal only with\\nthe first day of Passion Week. The first day of\\nPassion Week is called Palm Sunday. This is the\\nday which the Church is observing, and we wish\\nto join the Church in its observance.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0223.jp2"}, "224": {"fulltext": "2 12 _Y\u00c2\u00a3jr EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nTo celebrate any da}- that is worthy of a cele-\\nbration is a grand and an ennobling and a profit-\\nable thing. It is humanity bowing before some\\nthrilling thought, some inspiring fact, some glori-\\nous doctrine, which has found visibility in life, a\\nplace in history, or which has ensphered itself in\\nsome beneficent institution. Now, no soul can do\\nhomage to a grand thought, or fact, or doctrine, or\\ninstitution without being inspired and elevated\\nand made grand itself. Association with the grand\\nalways means assimilation to the grand. Espe-\\ncially is this so when the soul deals with Christ.\\nNo man can honor Christ or celebrate any great\\nfact in His life without receiving from Christ an\\nimpulse that will make him Christ-like. There\\nwere great events in His life which made the\\ndays upon which they occurred memorable, and\\nevery one of these days may be kept with soul\\nprofit. There was the day of His birth, with its\\nsinging angels, and shekinah light, and new star\\nthere was the day of His crucifixion, with its\\ndarkened heavens and quaking earth and rent\\nveil; there was the day of His resurrection, with\\nits empty tomb, and its thrilling rumors, and its\\nmeeting with the living Christ Himself. And\\nhere in this Scripture is the great hosanna-dav\\nwith its multitudes all on fire with enthusiasm,\\nand its typal events which are pictures of great\\nthings to come. Xo one can enter into the spirit\\nof these days without being blest Although Pas-", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0224.jp2"}, "225": {"fulltext": "THE HOSA NMA -DA Y. 213\\nsion Week closes with a black cloud, it opens with\\na sunburst. It is with the sunburst that we have\\nto deal at present. It began with a coronation of\\nthe Christ; a coronation which was a foregleam\\nof a better and a grander coronation slumbering\\nin the future.\\nLet us tell to our souls the story of that day,\\nand then draw from the story its hosanna lessons.\\nThe entrance of Jesus into the holy city amid\\nthe shouts of multitudes and the waving of palm\\nbranches and the songs of the children and the\\nhosannas of the multitudes was not an unexpected\\nthing. It was not a sudden occurrence. It was\\na result. Events had been working toward this\\nday for months. Prophecy foretold it. Christ\\nfore-knew it. The people were getting ready for\\nit. They were growing in their feelings toward\\nit. Behold how the people approach it in feel-\\ning They talk to one another about the young\\nman of Nazareth. They canvass His wonderful\\ndiscourses. They examine His miracles. They\\nsearch His holy life. The result is, they say to\\none another, The young man is a prophet.\\nAnd their hearts thrill with the thought that the\\nlong maintained silence which God has kept has\\nbeen broken once more, and there is some one at\\nlast to speak for God as Samuel spake, and as Eli-\\njah spake, and as Isaiah spake, and as Jeremiah\\nspake, and as Malachi spake. As they see more\\nof Jesus, and hear more from Him, their estimate", "height": "3447", "width": "2358", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0225.jp2"}, "226": {"fulltext": "214 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof Him advances. Looking one another straight\\nin the eyes, they put to one another this bold\\nquestion When the Messiah comes will he or\\ncan he do greater works than these which we see\\nthe young prophet do? They had seen Jesus\\nheal the sick, cleanse the leper, give sight to the\\nblind, and power to walk to the lame, and do other\\nsuch wonderful things. At last Jesus raised the\\nvery dead, and then at once the question about\\nHis Messiahship changes into a direct assertion.\\nInstead of asking, Is not this the Messiah\\nthey assert This is the Messiah. Now, it is only\\na single step from this assertion Jesus of Naza-\\nreth is the Messiah to the shout Hosanna to\\nthe Son of David. The people were ready for\\nthis hosanna-day, and that is the reason this ho-\\nsanna- day came.\\nNot only were the people ready, Jesus Himself\\nwas ready for it. This was a great step. Hith-\\nerto He discountenanced everything that looked\\nlike a hosanna- scene, -and the reason was the\\ntime had not yet come. The prior things in\\nGod s programme had to be done; the disciples\\nhad to be instructed, the people had to be got\\nready. Now he inaugurates the day Himself.\\nHe sends the two disciples for the colt, and when\\nit is brought, He mounts it of His own free will.\\nWhen the multitudes proclaim Him the Messiah,\\nHe publicly accepts the proclamation. Jesus\\nmeant now to make a public offer of Himself to", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0226.jp2"}, "227": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DAY. 215\\nJerusalem as king and Messiah, and He did. This\\nwas Jerusalem s great day. This was Jerusalem s\\ngreat offer. Had it accepted the offer, it might\\nhave continued unto this day the glory city of the\\nworld. This was the day to which Haggai pointed\\nwhen he spoke of the greater glory which would\\ncome to the temple. This was the red-lettered\\nday spoken of by Zechariah five hundred years be-\\nfore. It is not necessary to detail the events of\\nthe day. They are all before us on the historic\\npage the procuring of the colt, the carpeting of\\nthe highway with the garments of the people, the\\nwaving of the palm branches, the singing of the\\ndoxology, the finale of the grand Hebrew Hallel,\\nthe meeting of the two companies, the one carry-\\ning Jesus to the city, the other coming out from\\nthe city to meet Jesus; the stir which the proces-\\nsion made in Jerusalem the question which every\\none asked, Who is this the scowl on the faces\\nof the foes of the Master these details are all\\nhere and require no reproduction. We need only\\npoint out this fact All these things were in ac-\\ncordance with the mind of Christ, and received His\\napprobation.\\nDid He not know what they would result in\\nHe did. He saw Calvary in the scowl of these\\nfrowning rulers. Taking this step was Caesar\\ncrossing the Rubicon. You know the story of the\\nRubicon. The Rubicon was a little rivulet which\\nflowed between the boundary of Gaul and Italy.", "height": "3470", "width": "2359", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0227.jp2"}, "228": {"fulltext": "216 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nPlutarch tells us that Julius Caesar once led his\\narmy up to the margin of that rivulet, and paused\\nthere and debated, Shall I cross it I can cross\\nit. To cross it is a very little act, but it is big\\nwith significance. To cross it is an act of hos-\\ntility. It means a declaration of war. Shall I\\ncross it He did cross it, and war came, quick\\nand fierce. If Jesus Christ permit honor publicly\\nto be given Him, and if He allow Himself pub-\\nlicly to be escorted as King into Jerusalem, then\\nthere is no help for coming events.\\nThe inauguration of this hosanna-day is\\nCaesar crossing the Rubicon. Jesus knew that.\\nIt meant Calvary. Yes. But everything He did\\nmeant Calvary. To go to Calvary was what brought\\nHim into the world. Jesus without Calvary would\\nbe Jesus stripped of all His power to save; it\\nwould be Jesus without a single hosanna. He\\nHimself inaugurated Palm Sunday, because Palm\\nSunday inaugurated that week of time which\\nbrought the cross. He was hastening on to the\\ncross, for the cross was His goal. It was by the\\ncross that He was to purchase redemption. He\\nknew that the cross was due that very week.\\nTwo things arrest our attention in the scenes of\\nthis day. The first is the willingness with which\\nthe disciples obeyed Christ, and the second is the\\nfact that the children were among those who made\\nthe streets of Jerusalem and the walls of the tem-\\nple ring with His praises.", "height": "3442", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0228.jp2"}, "229": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DAY. 217\\nIt was lowly work which Jesus required these\\ntwo disciples to do when He sent them to bring\\nthe colt. Leading an ass along the public high-\\nway There are but very few in this community\\nwho would do that. But these two disciples did\\nit, and they did it willingly. In doing that they\\nhelped to fulfil one of the prophecies which estab-\\nlished the Messiahship of their Master. Had they\\nrefused to do that, they would have missed one of\\nthe grand opportunities of their life. Are you\\nwilling to humble yourself for Jesus Christ, and\\nto do humble things in His service? If not, you\\nare retarding the progress of His kingdom, and\\nare beating back the hosannas which are rising to\\nthe lips of men. When men everywhere become\\nwilling to sacrifice their pride and to do the humble\\nworks which must be done in the cause of Christ,\\nthen will Christianity have a universal hosanna\\ntime.\\nOne of the most interesting things in the scenes\\nof Palm Sunday was the singing of the children.\\nThey took up the refrain. They helped to make\\nthe triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem a suc-\\ncess. The Pharisees asked Jesus to silence them,\\nbut He refused. He said that their singing was\\nthe fulfilment of the prophecy. He said it was\\nthe perfection of praise. This was the highest\\nencomium He ever passed upon any worship of\\nearth. To Him the children s voices made the\\nsweetest music He had heard since He left the", "height": "3447", "width": "2364", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0229.jp2"}, "230": {"fulltext": "2i8 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nsplendors of heaven and the songs of the cheru-\\nbim and seraphim. Christ wants childhood. The\\nchildren should ever be in the temple praising\\nGod. The praise of the great congregation is\\nlacking if the voices of the children are not heard,\\nand that is one of the lessons of this hosanna-day.\\nThe song of the Christian congregation should be\\nlike the ringing of an anthem into the air as an-\\nthems are rung out into air by the bells in the\\ntower of the cathedral of Antwerp. In the shower\\nof bell notes that fall from the vast spire of that\\ncathedral are all kinds of notes. There are the\\ndeep great notes of the large bells which make\\nthe anthem roll through the atmosphere with the\\nintonations of the thunder. But beside these great,\\nsonorous notes there are the notes of the little\\nbells pealing out the very same anthem on a\\nhigher key. There are notes which are fine and\\nsweet; notes as small as a bird s warble. They\\nfill the air with crisp tinklings, which, however,\\nare as distinct as the louder notes of the great\\nbells. All have their individuality, and all are\\nneeded to make perfect the anthem which en-\\nchains the listener. In the great Christian Church,\\nChrist wants to hear the song of redemption sung\\nby the mature and deep voices of the men and\\nwomen but He wants at the same time to hear\\nthe higher-keyed voices of the boys and girls. It\\ntakes all hearts and all voices to make the praise\\nof the great congregation complete. Church of", "height": "3444", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0230.jp2"}, "231": {"fulltext": "THE HOSA NNA -DA Y. 219\\nGod, learn to look upon the children as Jesus\\nlooked upon them. Take them in your arms as\\nHe took them in His arms. Recognize their place\\nin praise as He recognized their place in praise.\\nSee in them the future as He saw in them the fu-\\nture. Stand forth as the defender of their rights\\nas He stood forth the defender of their rights. Be\\nto them ever a source of blessing, as He was to\\nthem ever a source of blessing.\\nBut let me now speak of the day which we\\ncelebrate and from which we are seeking lessons\\nin things that pertain to the kingdom of Jesus\\nChrist. I wish this morning to have you look at\\nthis hosanna-day under three aspects, and to see\\nthree useful things in it.\\nIn the first place this day is\\n1. A fulfilment of prophecy and thus a great\\nevidential force in proving the Messiahship of\\nJesus of Nazareth.\\nWhen the story of this day is told by the sacred\\npenman, these words are written, All this was\\ndone, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken\\nby the prophets. To me there are no words in\\nall Gospel history that are more significant than\\nthese. I am impressed by this fact also that they\\noccur again and again on the Gospel page. They\\nare the Gospel refrain.\\nMy fellow-men, we must never lose sight of the\\nvalue of this claim for Jesus Christ He is the\\nMessiah of prophecy. It is the foundation upon", "height": "3475", "width": "2384", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0231.jp2"}, "232": {"fulltext": "220 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nwhich rests the superstructure of Christology. It\\nheld the largest place in the apostolic preaching.\\nThe apostles had the same text for almost every\\nsermon, viz. Jesus of Nazareth is the promised\\nMessiah. Their sermons consisted in this, illus-\\ntrating and proving the fact by Comparing Christ s\\nlife with prophecy, and prophecy with Christ s\\nlife. They felt that when they had proved the\\nidentity of Jesus of Nazareth with the Messiah\\nof prophecy, they had secured all the prophets,\\nwith all their prestige and power, for the defence\\nof Christianity. They felt, too, that when they\\nhad proved this they had demonstrated that Jesus\\nof Nazareth was the most wonderful personage of\\nthe world. And so they had.\\nIf you would see what a personage the predicted\\nMessiah was, look at the influence which He ex-\\nerted in the Hebrew nation. The thought of His\\ncoming begat those pure and holy songs of the\\nsoul which the people delighted to sing songs\\nwhich elevated and transfigured the whole of life.\\nHis sublime character, which was painted in ad-\\nvance, and which glowed on the prophetic page,\\nacted as an inspiration in the minds of the purest\\ncitizens, and was taken by them as a model. Thus\\nthe life of Jesus Christ before it was actually lived,\\nwas the greatest moulding power in the world of\\nhumanity. For example, Moses built his grand\\nlife up under the inspiration of the predicted Mes-\\nsiah. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0232.jp2"}, "233": {"fulltext": "THE HO SA NNA -DA Y. 221\\nriches than all the treasures of Egypt. Is Jesus\\nof Nazareth this predicted personage Then you\\ncan see how wonderful a personage Jesus of Naza-\\nreth is. Brethren, we do not magnify as we should\\nthe Messiah of prophecy; we do not ponder as\\nwe should the great things predicted of Him;\\nhence for this reason, when we are told that Jesus\\nof Nazareth is the Messiah of prophecy, the declara-\\ntion does not thrill us as it is possible for it to do.\\nThe predicted Messiah is a clean-cut personage.\\nThere is no uncertainty about Him nor about His\\nlife. His career is marked out in a detailed pro-\\ngramme. Many of His utterances are anticipated\\nand recorded. In prophecy His birthplace is\\nnamed, His virgin mother described, His great\\ndeeds decreed, His treatment from men foretold,\\nHis enemies named, His death and burial nar-\\nrated, His resurrection from the dead foretold, and\\nthe marvellous progress of His cause promised.\\nI tell you, that in the greatest work of all time,\\nGod protected Himself and His people from all\\nimposture. He made it absolutely impossible to\\ncounterfeit the Messiah. Take one thing as an\\nillustration; take the cross which God put into\\nthe Messianic life The coming Messiah must be\\na suffering Messiah. God guarded the Messiah-\\nship against imposture by building an unscalable\\nmountain of agony around it. Impostors are not\\nfond of being mocked, of having their body cut\\nwith a scourge, of being nailed to a cross. The", "height": "3475", "width": "2381", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0233.jp2"}, "234": {"fulltext": "222 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ntrue Christ must go through all this. He must\\nutter the awful cry of abandonment. He must\\nshriek, I thirst. He must also, amid the ago-\\nnies of crucifixion, die with these calm words upon\\nHis lips, Father, into thy hands I commit my\\nspirit. Could any impostor do all this? The\\nquestion is idiotic. It is a blow that makes hu-\\nman reason stagger. No impostor could do all\\nthis if he would no impostor would do all this if\\nhe could. The way prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus\\nof Nazareth is perfectly marvellous.\\nLet me give you one case, a remarkable case, a\\ncase in which Jesus Himself was inactive, in which\\nHe was perfectly passive. I choose the incident\\nin which the soldiers, who knew nothing about\\nprophecy and cared less, figured. It was predicted\\nof the Messiah, who should be offered as a sacri-\\nfice for sin, that not a bone of His body should be\\nbroken. And yet it was predicted that He should\\ndie a violent death. At one time the prediction\\nwas in imminent danger. The Jews, anxious to\\nhave the bodies of the crucified Jesus and the\\nthieves taken down from the cross before their\\nSabbath began, asked Pilate to see that these vic-\\ntims on the cross should be despatched at once. To\\nsatisfy them Pilate gave commandment according\\nto their wish, and sent the soldiers to despatch\\nthem. The soldiers came first to the two thieves\\nwho were crucified with Jesus, and broke their legs\\nto hasten their death. Then they came to Jesus", "height": "3417", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0234.jp2"}, "235": {"fulltext": "THE HOSA NNA -DA Y. 223\\nto do likewise to Him. To their amazement they\\nfound that He was dead already, so instead of\\nbreaking His legs, one of the soldiers ran his spear\\ninto His side. Not a bone of His body was\\nbroken. His body ran an awful risk, but the risk\\nwas only intended to magnify the odd prediction\\nand its odder fulfilment. In this fulfilment of\\nprophecy Jesus was perfectly passive it was ful-\\nfilled by the Romans, who had no interest in proph-\\necy and besides no knowledge of prophecy, and by\\nthe Jews, who were the enemies of Jesus.\\nRight in this line the hosanna-day, with the tri-\\numphant entry into Jerusalem, comes in. His en-\\ntrance into Jerusalem, as He now enters it, proves\\nHis deity and establishes the correspondence be-\\ntween him and the Messiah, who looks out of the\\npage of prophecy. The true Messiah must enter\\nJerusalem as Jesus of Nazareth enters it on Palm\\nSunday. Thus it is written in the prophecy of\\nZechariah. Could a false Messiah fulfil this pre-\\ndiction Evidently not. Too many human wills\\nwould have to be consulted and manipulated.\\nEvery soul that shouts hosanna would have to\\nbe handled and made a willing actor in a mere\\nfarce and in a gross deception. There was no\\nway of securing this triumphal march other than\\nthe way in which it was secured. How was it se-\\ncured It was secured by the matchless character\\nof Jesus Christ. It was secured by the exhibition\\nof His divine power in raising Lazarus from the", "height": "3475", "width": "2374", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0235.jp2"}, "236": {"fulltext": "224 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ndead. It was this miracle that led the people to\\ncrown Christ. Jesus must raise Lazarus from the\\ndead, and this unprecedented act must electrify\\nthe crowd, before the crowd, moved by a common\\nand an irresistible impulse, shall decree His public\\ncoronation. If Jesus of Nazareth had not been\\nable to do the deeds of God, there never would\\nhave been the cry, Hosanna to the Son of David;\\nblessed is he that cometh in the name of the\\nLord hosanna in the highest\\nI wish you, in the second place, to look upon\\nthis hosanna- day as\\n2. A type of the enthusiasm which should char-\\nacterize the people of God in their service of Jesus\\nChrist.\\nThe one thing that reigned that day was enthu-\\nsiasm. There was feeling, and thrill, and deep life,\\nand outbursting emotion in the triumphal entry into\\nJerusalem, and Jesus approved of it all. I argue\\nfor the equipment of enthusiasm in the service of\\nChrist. I argue for emotion and plenty of emo-\\ntion. I argue for fervency of spirit, the spirit\\nburning, raised to the highest temperature of life\\nand heat, and radiating both light and heat. The\\nfaculties should be on fire for Christ. I argue for\\ngood old-fashioned Methodism, which in olden\\ntimes brought sinners to Christ by the hundreds.\\nI argue for natures aroused, and religion at a white\\nheat, and spiritual life full of efhcacy and power,\\nand goodness in which there is no languor, but in", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0236.jp2"}, "237": {"fulltext": "THE HO SA NNA -DAY. 225\\nwhich there is constant sparkle. There are higher\\nmoods and lower moods in the Christian life, just\\nas there are higher moods and lower moods in the\\nintellectual life. Every scholar knows that there\\nare such things as inspirational moods, when all\\nthe faculties awaken and kindle and glow, when\\nthe heart burns within, when the mind is auto-\\nmatic and works without a spur, when the mental\\nlife is intense, when all things seem possible, when\\nthe very best in the man puts itself unbidden into\\nthe productions of his pen, when the judgment is\\nquick and active, and the reason clear and farsee-\\ning, and the conscience keen and sensitive. These\\nare the moods we glory in. These are the moods\\nthat give the world its long-lived mental master-\\npieces. These are the moods we want to dedicate\\nto our religion. These are the moods which God\\ndemands. These are the moods which carry in\\nthem our strongest emotions. God demands our\\nemotions. No one can take the book of Psalms\\nand use it in the worship of God without seeing\\nthat God intends to call out emotion in His ser-\\nvice. The book throbs with intense feeling.\\nStrong hope, and burning love, and reverential\\nfear, and bounding joy, and soaring aspiration,\\nare all here.\\nThe icicle saint would make a poor rendering\\nof the One Hundred and Fiftieth Psalm. There\\nare verses of psalms all through the psalter that\\nare blazing fires. No heart can take them into\\nr 5", "height": "3447", "width": "2362", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0237.jp2"}, "238": {"fulltext": "226 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nits hidden depths without breaking forth into loud\\nhosannas.\\nI argue for man s best in the religious life.\\nMan is at his best when he is enthusiastic in his\\nChristianity. Enthusiasm is power, enthusiasm\\nis progress. Enthusiasm is a synonym for effec-\\ntiveness and courage and aggressiveness in the\\nLord s cause. What brought out the first open\\nconfession of Christ s deity before men? This\\nconfession Thou art the Christ the son of\\nthe Living God It was enthusiasm. What\\nbrought faith to this high degree of appropriation\\nthat it cried, My Lord and my God? It\\nwas enthusiasm. What gave to the Jerusalem\\nsinners that first gospel sermon on Pentecost which\\nconverted three thousand souls? It was enthu-\\nsiasm. What opened the gates of the Christian\\nChurch to the knocking Gentile world, and by one\\nbold act struck down the prejudices of a thousand\\nyears It was enthusiasm.\\nBy enthusiasm, when it is of eminent degree,\\nmen propel themselves upon others in matters of\\ntaste, of affection, and of religion. Iron cannot\\nbe welded at a low temperature. It must be red-\\nhot; when red-hot, then you can weld iron to iron.\\nSo you cannot weld natures to each other when\\nthey are at a low temperature. Mind cannot take\\nhold of mind, nor .faculty of faculty, when they are\\nnot in a glow. But when they are in a glow they\\ncan. When your mind is aroused with enthusi-", "height": "3444", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0238.jp2"}, "239": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DAY. 227\\nasm, it is then influential with my mind, and it is\\nscarcely any more a matter of my will whether I\\nshall follow or not. There is no other time when\\nmen have such power over their fellow-men as\\nwhen they are in their higher moods. Love and\\nfaith at a white heat are irresistible. One reason\\nwhy the apostles had such power wherever they\\nwent was that, having no fastidious taste or thought\\nabout anything, they had that telling, lunging\\npower which men like and feel. They were red-\\nhot all the time, hence everywhere men caught\\nfire at their sacred touch.\\nWe see this exemplified in society. Hundreds\\nand hundreds of men, who are rich in learning,\\nponderous in mental equipment, ample in philo-\\nsophical power, but who are low in degree of tem-\\nperature, labor all their life and achieve but little.\\nYou see right by the side of these men, men who\\ncan bear no comparison with them in native power\\nor in culture, but who have simplicity, straight-\\nforwardness, and, above all, intensity, who are\\neminent in accomplishing results.\\nThey know in whom they believe and in what\\nthey believe, and with one or two simple truths,\\nand with light and fire in the soul, they go forward\\nand achieve ten times more than men who are bet-\\nter equipped.\\nThere are people, I know, who have an antipathy\\nto enthusiasm and emotion in religion. They ob-\\nject that we cannot rely upon enthusiasm. They", "height": "3470", "width": "2374", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0239.jp2"}, "240": {"fulltext": "228 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nforget that if it spring from the grace of God it\\nhas an inexhaustible fountain. They back their\\nassertion by an appeal to this Scripture page.\\nThey say Here you see the true working of\\nenthusiasm. It is a bundle of shavings there is\\na blaze for a moment, and then you have nothing\\nbut cold dead ashes. It is a mere flame, and then\\nutter darkness. One hour, enthusiastic people cry\\nHosanna but the next hour they cry Cru-\\ncify The charge is a bold charge to bring\\nagainst the grace of Christian enthusiasm, and\\nthe appeal to Scripture is a bold appeal they are\\nboth mere assumptions and are utterly false. I\\ndeny that the hosanna people of Jerusalem ever\\ncried Crucify The charge that they did is\\nwithout a single line of Scripture as a basis.\\nPeter, and James, and John, and men of that\\nclass, did they cry Crucify Yet the hosanna\\npeople were made up of such. In a city in which\\nthere were gathered from all parts of the nation\\nnot less than two millions, there were certainly\\nenough people of diverse minds to create two par-\\nties diametrically opposed, without requiring us to\\nslander the grace of enthusiasm and circulate false\\nreports about the hosanna people. I stand by the\\nhosanna people, and fearlessly assert that there is\\nno proof against their integrity.\\nEnthusiasm That is what the Church needs.\\nIt is only the enthusiast who succeeds. This is\\nso in every sphere. Turn to the history of fine", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0240.jp2"}, "241": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DA Y. 229\\narts, and there you see the statement verified. It\\nis verified by the familiar story told of Correggio.\\nThe artist Correggio, when young, saw a painting\\nof Raphael. Long and ardently did the youth\\ngaze upon that picture. His soul drank in its\\nbeauty, as flowers drink moisture from the mist.\\nAs he looked upon it he awoke to a consciousness\\nof his own artistic power. Burning with the en-\\nthusiasm of enkindled genius, the blood rushing\\nto his brow, and the fire flashing from his eyes, he\\ncried out, And I also am a painter! That con-\\nviction carried him through his initial studies. It\\nblended his colors on his palette, and guided his\\npencil, and shone upon his canvas, until Titian\\non witnessing his productions exclaimed, Were\\nI not Titian, I would be Correggio\\nTurn to the history of the cause of Christ, and\\nthere also will you find the statement borne out.\\nWhat was Paul, the chief of Christian workers, but\\nan enthusiast? His letters are filled with trans-\\nports of joy and thanksgiving. It was enthusiasm\\nthat carried him through the trials which he bore\\nfor the name of Christ. It was enthusiasm that\\nplanned and executed the herculean tasks which\\nfill his biography. Rob Paul of his enthusiasm,\\nand you blot out of existence the churches of Cor-\\ninth, and Ephesus, and Galatia, and Thessolanica,\\nand Troas. Rob him of his enthusiasm and you\\nannihilate the epistles to the Romans, Corinth-\\nians, Ephesians, and the Pastoral epistles. Paul", "height": "3447", "width": "2366", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0241.jp2"}, "242": {"fulltext": "230 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nwas an enthusiast. His whole apostolic life was\\none unbroken hosanna to the Son of David.\\nIn the third place I would have you look upon\\nthis hosanna-day as\\n3. A picture of the great future coronal-day of\\nJesus Christ which is on the way.\\nI can only state this point, I cannot treat it in\\nany detail. I can only say that this world is going\\nto be some day a hosanna-world. All things are\\nworking for Christ, and the world is getting ready\\nfor His millennial reign. Some time there is going\\nto be one long continuous day of palm branches.\\nPalm Sunday has been duplicated and re-dupli-\\ncated ever since the triumphal entrance of Jesus\\ninto Jerusalem; and this reduplication is going\\nto continue until Jesus is ultimately and forever\\ncrowned on the grand day of final consummation.\\nThe world even now is full of hosannas to the\\nSon of David. The humble Christian school of\\nthe missionary in foreign lands is a hosanna sound-\\ning through the darkness of heathendom. The\\nphilanthropic institution that rises into sight all\\nover Christendom is a hosanna to the Son of\\nDavid echoing through civilization. The gor-\\ngeous cathedral standing like a mountain of beauty\\nis a hosanna to the Son of David worked into\\nstone and echoing itself in the realm of art. The\\nholy life of every disciple on every continent of\\nearth is a hosanna to the Son of David ring-\\ning throughout the world of humanity. These", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0242.jp2"}, "243": {"fulltext": "THE HOSANNA-DAY. 231\\nhosannas are going to be kept up until the end\\ncomes, and then all the universe of God s redeemed\\nis going to peal forth the grand Hallel in the hear-\\ning of eternity. This coming, climacteric scene is\\nthus pictured by Bickersteth in his Yesterday,\\nTo-day, and Forever:\\nThe Eternal Father puts upon the head of the Eternal Son\\nA crown, which in itself is many crowns.\\nAnd then, from amidst the Throne a voice\\nCommanding Hallelujah. And forthwith\\nFrom cherubim and burning seraphim,\\nAnd from the hierarchal presbytery,\\nAnd from the Bride, low at the Bridegroom s feet,\\nAnd from the principalities and powers,\\nAnd hosts of angels ranked in endless files,\\nAs sounds the roar of mighty multitudes,\\nOr rush of many waters in still night,\\nOr thunders echoing from hill to cloud,\\nArise that pealing coronation hymn\\nCrown him forever, crown him King of kings\\nCrown him forever, crown him Lord of lords\\nCrown him the glorious conqueror of hell\\nCrown him the everlasting Prince of Peace\\nCrown him Jehovah, Jesus Lamb of God,\\nHallelujah Hallelujah Amen.", "height": "3447", "width": "2372", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0243.jp2"}, "244": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3421", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0244.jp2"}, "245": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL, OR THE RELIGION\\nOF GOD PUT TO THE TEST AND\\nFOUND TRUE.", "height": "3447", "width": "2375", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0245.jp2"}, "246": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3437", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0246.jp2"}, "247": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3348", "width": "2461", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0247.jp2"}, "248": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3406", "width": "2225", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0248.jp2"}, "249": {"fulltext": "IX.\\nMount Carmel, or the Religion of God Put\\nto the Test and Found True.\\nAnd when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and\\nthey said The Lord, he is the God the Lord, he is the God.\\nI. Kings xviii. 39.\\nThe convocation of Carmel was one of the most\\nmemorable events in the national life of Israel. It\\nwas also a supreme moment in the experience of\\nElijah, God s one solitary open witness in Israel.\\nThe questions to be decided were\\nWhich is the true religion? Who is the\\ntrue God, Baal or Jehovah?\\nYou know the antecedent history. Ahab, the\\nking of Israel, married a wicked woman named\\nJezebel. She was a Phoenician idolater, a worship-\\nper of Baal. She was an ancient Lady Macbeth.\\nShe was Lucretia Borgia and Catherine de Medici\\nin one. Through her slaughter of the prophets\\nof God, the true religion was dethroned in Israel,\\nand the corrupt, licentious religion of Baal was\\nsubstituted in its place. It was not to be ex-\\npected that the reigning God, Jehovah, who made\\nIsrael a nation, would submit to this, He had", "height": "3447", "width": "2388", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0249.jp2"}, "250": {"fulltext": "238 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nbetter things for Israel, and by righteous judg-\\nments He determined to bring His chosen people\\ninto these better things. He sent a famine into\\nthe land which lasted three years and a half.\\nDuring all that time the sun blazed in the heav-\\nens like a ball of fire. The atmosphere quivered\\nlike the air in a heated furnace. There was not\\na moist rock, nor a rill, nor a spring of water in\\nall the land. As we strike the famine, dismay\\nfills every heart and consternation sits on every\\nface. The cattle are crying, the children are\\ndrooping, and men and women, burning with a\\nred-hot fever, are fast becoming walking skele-\\ntons.\\nAs we try to reach an adequate idea of the scene\\nwe recall Mendelssohn s oratorio, Elijah. It\\nopens with a wondrous passage, which tries to\\nrepresent the despair of a whole nation perishing\\nfrom thirst. After giving vent to the despair,\\nfirst in sullen, restless murmurings, it pictures it\\nas gathering at length a terrible cumulative strength\\nwhich bursts forth in appalling cries of heart-rend-\\ning importunate agony. Only the genius of a\\nMendelssohn, who had at his command the world\\nof sound, dare try to picture a nation in the ago-\\nnies of thirst.\\nWhen judgment had wrought its perfect work,\\nand when the nation was ready to enter with\\ndownright earnestness into a search after a knowl-\\nedge of the true God, Elijah, the prophet, pro-", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0250.jp2"}, "251": {"fulltext": "MOUNT C ARM EL. 239\\nposed a convocation, and designated Carmel as\\nthe meeting place.\\nMount Carmel was the fittest stage for the pro-\\nposed drama. It was the central mountain of Pal-\\nestine. It gave the people a twofold view. As\\nthey looked westward and northward, says Dr.\\nRobinson, they could see the Mediterranean\\ndotted with the merchant ships of Tyre and Sidon\\nthe great strongholds of Baal. As they looked\\neastward and southward they could see the moun-\\ntains and villages of Israel, around which hung a\\nthousand hallowed associations and memories of\\nthe marvellous power and loving kindness of Jeho-\\nvah, the God of their fathers. Two maps unrolled\\nat their feet on the one side the map of the king-\\ndom of Baal, and on the other side the map of the\\nkingdom of Jehovah. This was the place of all\\nplaces where the claims of these two gods should\\nbe decided.\\nWhen the day of meeting came, he bravely\\nstepped upon the scene and opened his address\\nwith a searching question, which contained in it a\\ncharge of indecision and disloyalty, and a lack of\\ncommon sense. Edmund Burke said he did not\\nknow how to draw up an indictment against a\\nwhole nation; but Elijah did. Here is his indict-\\nment How long halt ye between two opinions\\nIf Baal be God, follow him; but if Jehovah be\\nGod, follow him. Ye cannot serve two masters\\nye cannot be Baalites and Jehovahites.", "height": "3447", "width": "2404", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0251.jp2"}, "252": {"fulltext": "240 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nUnder the prophet s charge of indecision and\\ndisloyalty, the Israelites were dumb. They were\\nspeechless from conscience. They were silent\\nfrom guilt. Thus it always is. Indecision and\\ndisloyalty in religion have no defence. God has\\nconstructed us with faculties which make decision\\na law of our very nature. On any important and\\nessential thing indecision is unrest and torment to\\na thinking, reasoning, conscientious man. I am\\ntalking to your inner life.\\nBut how shall Israel know who is the true God\\nThat is the question, and Elijah suggests a method\\nof arbitration for its answer. He suggests a test\\nof works. The tree is known by its fruit; a man\\nis known by his character; God is known by His\\nworks. God-like acts prove Deity. Elijah makes\\nthis proposition I stand alone as the prophet of\\nJehovah. Here are four hundred and fifty proph-\\nets of Baal, a mighty prayer power that is, if\\nBaal be a prayer-hearing god. Let them slay and\\ndress a victim and put it on an altar, and I will\\nslay and dress a victim and put it on an altar.\\nWe shall not put any fire under the altar. They\\nshall call upon Baal to send fire down from the\\nsky to consume their sacrifice; and I shall call\\nupon Jehovah to send fire down from the sky and\\nconsume my sacrifice. All this shall be done\\nopenly in your presence, and the god that answer-\\neth by fire, let him be god. This proposition\\nseemed so fair that the people accepted of it at", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0252.jp2"}, "253": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CAR MEL. 241\\nonce. They said, It is well spoken. And it\\nwas well spoken. You would have accepted of\\nthis method of arbitration and so would I.\\nAs we look at Elijah throwing down the gaunt-\\nlet, we see in him a hero full of magnificent faith\\nand boldness. But is he not too venturesome?\\nIs he not guilty of presumption Does he not\\ntake risks that are too awful? Is it not a.i un-\\nheard of thing for God to hurl fire from the skies\\nTo a man of little faith it would seem as though\\nElijah were putting the credit of Jehovah s wor-\\nship into fearful risk and imperilling everything\\nbut to Elijah s strong faith nothing was imperilled\\nexcept Baalism. The prophet of fire was not sur-\\nprised to see fire leap from the sky. He would\\nhave been surprised if God had withheld fire. He\\nwas not treading an unknown way. He was not\\nexpecting God to do an unprecedented thing. God\\noften had hurled fire from the skies. He rained\\na storm of fire upon the cities of the plains. He\\nthrew fire around the bush of the desert, and talked\\nfrom out of it with Moses. By fire He answered\\nthe transgressions of Nadab and Abihu. By fire\\nhe burnt up the rebellious Korah and his com-\\npany. By fire he answered Solomon at the dedi-\\ncation of the temple. Elijah knew all this. Je-\\nhovah had shown Himself to be the God who\\nanswers by fire, and Elijah had precedent upon\\nwhich to base his strong faith and grand venture.\\nBesides this, according to his own words, he was\\n16", "height": "3473", "width": "2387", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0253.jp2"}, "254": {"fulltext": "242 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nacting in all these matters under the bidding of\\nGod. He who follows a commandment of God\\nruns no risk. It is no risk for Gideon s three\\nhundred to hurl themselves against the countless\\nhosts of Midian. It is no risk for the Israelites\\nto attack the massive walls of Jericho with rams\\nhorns. It is no risk for the mother of Moses, in\\nthe exercise of her faith, to put her babe into the\\nwaters of the Nile. When the decrees of God\\nstand between us and danger, we are as safe as\\nGod Himself is.\\nI am not going to tell the story of the failure\\nof the prophets of Baal I stop only to say that\\nthey failed, and failed ignobly. In the end every\\nfalse thing fails. This is one of the axioms in the\\nmathematics of history; this is one of the certain-\\nties of the universe. A false face, a false charac-\\nter, a false credit, a false religion, will always\\nprove valueless in the day of testing and scrutiny.\\nI shall not spend time on the worthless prophets\\nI am concerned altogether with Elijah and his\\nreligion.\\nWe see Elijah now at his best. He rises to the\\noccasion. He is conscious of his solitariness, but\\nthat does not intimidate him. He knows that he\\nis alone, a single man against the political and\\nreligious power of the nation but he acts heed-\\nless of the fact that the majority is against him.\\nHis motto is, One man with God is a majority.\\nWith every eye resting upon him, and looking", "height": "3439", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0254.jp2"}, "255": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL. 243\\nhim through and through, he takes up the duty of\\nthe hour and plays his part like a man. Carefully\\nand reverently he gathers together the fragments\\nof the broken-down altar of Jehovah, and selecting\\ntwelve stones, he rebuilds the altar of God. As\\nthese actions were symbolical, he spake to the\\npeople through them. By the twelve stones,\\nwhich represented the twelve tribes of Israel, he\\ndeclared to the people that God s children should\\neverywhere be one in their worship. By the altar\\nitself, which was a parable in stone, he rebuked Is-\\nrael for worshipping any God save Jehovah. By\\nrepairing the old altar, instead of building a new\\none, he declared to the people that he was the re-\\nstorer of the law and of the true and ancient wor-\\nship of the fathers. Having finished the altar, he\\ndug a trench around it, then he slew a bullock and\\ndressed it, and laid it on the altar. After this, to\\nmake the miracle of igniting the sacrifice all the\\ngreater, and to put faith to the greatest strain, he\\nhad strong men carry large water- jars, full of wa-\\nter, and pour the water on the altar and on the sacri-\\nfice. They poured jarful after jarful until the\\ntrench was overflowing, and until everything was\\nsaturated and dripping.\\nWhen this was done, Elijah quietly knelt by the\\nunlit altar and made his appeal to Jehovah in\\nprayer. He talked with God as a child would\\ntalk with its father. His prayer was earnest.\\nThe whole fire and fervor of his great soul was", "height": "3475", "width": "2381", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0255.jp2"}, "256": {"fulltext": "244 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nin it still, it was not frantic, like the prayer of one\\nwho fears that he may not be heard. It was in-\\nstinct with the glory of God and the good of Is-\\nrael. There was no wild gesture in it, no multi-\\nplied cries, no vain repetitions; it was full of faith\\nand experience it was brief and to the point. He\\nasked God to manifest His existence, and to claim\\nthe homage that was His due he asked God to\\ncertify him as His prophet, and in this way win\\nback the hearts of the people. He did not ask\\nthat God would change the facts, but he did ask\\nthat God would make the facts apparent to the\\npeople. Clear and distinct his voice was heard,\\nand this was the prayer that fell upon the ears of\\nthe attentive throng Lord God of Abraham,\\nIsaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that\\nthou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant,\\nand that I have done all these things at thy word.\\nHear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may\\nknow that thou art the Lord God, and that thou\\nhast turned their hearts back again.\\nAs the prayer ascended, the fire fell. A bolt,\\ncharged with intense burning, flashed through the\\nsky. Every eye saw it and every soul felt the\\ndarting brightness of its Shekinah-like blaze. A\\nwave of heat followed it and swept over the multi-\\ntudes, and sensibly struck every cheek. When\\nthe heavenly bolt smote the altar, there was a\\nloud hiss as the fire and water met; then a swift\\ncloud of vapor floated up and out into the air;", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0256.jp2"}, "257": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL. 245\\nthen a thick cloud of smoke, into which the vic-\\ntim had been transformed, rolled heavenward and\\nthen the usual odor of burnt sacrifice filled the\\natmosphere. All this transpired in less time than\\nit takes to put the description of it into words.\\nWhen smoke and vapor passed away, nothing was\\nseen but the kneeling prophet of God. There was\\nneither sacrifice nor altar visible. Everything had\\nbeen consumed by the piercing, intense heat of the\\ndivine fire, which fell red-hot from the cloudless\\nsky. The very altar had been pulverized; the\\nvery stones had volatilized and had disappeared.\\nGod s work was a complete work, and the vindi-\\ncation of Elijah s religion was a complete vindi-\\ncation. Grandly was Elijah s faith crowned, and\\nthat in the presence of the people and to their\\ncomplete satisfaction.\\nIt is easy to forecast the effect of this wondrous\\nmiracle. The court and the priesthood trembled\\nconflicting emotions shot and reshot through the\\nsouls of the countless spectators the vast crowds\\nwere overawed; instantaneous conviction took\\nhold of the great majority. The people were\\ndeeply impressed, and a revulsion of feeling swept\\nover them and through them. They felt that the\\ngrand old days of the fathers had come back to\\ntheir nation. For a moment the silence of the\\ngrave hung over Carmel it was a portentous si-\\nlence. It was a silence like the silence before the\\nstorm-burst. It seemed a long, long silence, for", "height": "3447", "width": "2383", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0257.jp2"}, "258": {"fulltext": "246 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthere was terror in it. But it was not long. It\\nwas soon broken, broken instantaneously. For\\nthe convicted and converted people, swayed by\\nemotions which were bound to express themselves,\\nas one man lifted up their voices and cried Je-\\nhovah, He is God! Jehovah, He is God!\\nThat glad cry of faith rent the air and echoed\\nfrom summit to summit along the mountain range\\nof Carmel, and peak after peak caught up the\\nwords and threw them back Jehovah, He is\\nGod Jehovah, He is God\\nSuch is the history. Now what are the eternal\\nfacts embodied in this history. The eternal facts\\nembodied in it are three in number.\\nI. God s Religion will Bear Testing.\\nElijah tested it when he put Jehovah and Baal\\nside by side. Comparative theology is testing it\\nto-day. As the followers of Jesus Christ we can\\nput Christianity by the side of any of the ethnic\\nreligions without fear.\\nOur religion appeals to man as a rational being.\\nIt invites testing and scrutiny. But in testing and\\nscrutinizing it, it is only fair and reasonable that\\nwe should be honest and should have high aims.\\nWe must be earnest seekers of the truth. God\\ngives no promise to triflers and why should He?\\nMen do not declare and defend their grandest pur-\\nposes and principles before triflers. Nobody in", "height": "3433", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0258.jp2"}, "259": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL. 247\\nheaven or on earth has any respect for a trifler.\\nIf an architect were building a house on one of\\nour streets, he would not open his plans and speci-\\nfications to a curious lounger who happened to\\nhave time upon his hands to while away. Why\\nshould he But let a student of architecture, a\\nyoung man with a worthy object before him; or\\nlet a man who is in search of some one who may\\nbuild him just such a house, come to him, asking\\na true insight into the plans and specifications,\\nand the architect gives his whole mind and energy\\nto the task of opening up everything. He is not\\ndealing with a trifler. He is dealing with a man\\nwho is in earnest, and who is swayed by a worthy\\nobject. Christ deals with inquirers in a manner\\nsimilar to this. The Pharisees, heaping contempt\\nupon what He has said and done, come to Him\\nand ask for a sign from heaven. They are triflers.\\nThey do not come to Him in the right spirit.\\nThey ignore the many and convincing signs which\\nare all around them, and because of this, Jesus\\nsays to them, There shall no sign be given you.\\nYour spirit is wrong, your intention is wrong, you\\nare trifling with me. While He denies them,\\nsee how He treats humble followers and earnest\\nseekers after the truth Contrast His treatment\\nof the embassy which comes from John the Bap-\\ntist with His treatment of the proud and haughty\\nPharisees. He gives this embassy sign after sign.\\nHe multiplies miracles before their eyes. He", "height": "3447", "width": "2378", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0259.jp2"}, "260": {"fulltext": "248 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nheals the sick, He gives sight to the blind, He\\ncleanses the leper, He even raises the dead; and\\nthus overpowers them with proofs of His deity\\nand of His identity with the promised Messiah.\\nMan, in testing God and His religion, must be\\nhonest if his testing is to prove effective and\\nprofitable.\\nII. It is Every Man s Duty to Test God s\\nReligion.\\nReligion will bear the test; that is one point\\nIt is every man s duty to test religion honestly;\\nthat is another point. Have we all tested it\\nHave we dealt fairly and candidly and honestly with\\nChristianity? Has the Christian religion received\\nthe thought and study which are its due and which\\nthe interests of the immortal nature of man de-\\nmand? If you are not an out-and-out Christian,\\nso far as you are concerned, it has not. If you\\nare not an active member of the Christian Church,\\nso far as you are concerned, it has not. The great\\nduty of your life is yet before you, and to that\\nduty I call you, as Elijah called Israel. Test the\\nreligion of God.\\nThat you may be helped in your duty, let me\\nset your duty before you. Let me show you how\\nyou can and how you should test Christianity.\\ni. Test Christianity s Christ.\\nChrist is Christianity. He embodied His own", "height": "3441", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0260.jp2"}, "261": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL. 249\\nteachings and principles in His own life. He\\nlived His religion. He was truth. He was light.\\nHe was love. He was honesty.\\nYou have been dealing with His disciples; deal\\nwith Him. His disciples often misrepresent Him.\\nBy their imperfections, honest as their intentions\\nmay be, they obscure His glory and alter the tone\\nof His religion. Even the very best of His dis-\\nciples do so. A simple story from His biography\\nwill illustrate this. On one occasion mothers\\nbrought their children to have Him take them up\\nin His arms and bless them. But His leading\\ndisciples stood between Christ and the mothers,\\nsaying, Trouble him not; take the children\\naway. What a misrepresentation of Christ s in-\\nterest in children! Had that misrepresentation\\nof Christ prevailed it would have changed the\\nwhole destiny of the Christian religion. But\\nChrist did not let it prevail He corrected it on\\nthe spot. He uttered these precious words which\\nhave broadened His kingdom and enthroned Him\\nin the home Suffer the little children to come\\nunto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the\\nkingdom of heaven. If you want to know Chris-\\ntianity, deal with it first hand deal with its Christ.\\nHe stands as the great power and defence of our\\nreligion. Infidelity may build fortresses against\\nChristianity out of the inconsistencies of Chris-\\ntians; it may even spike the guns of apologists;\\nbut the holy and perfect character of Christ is a", "height": "3447", "width": "2388", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0261.jp2"}, "262": {"fulltext": "250 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nbulwark against which it dashes itself in pieces\\nevery time it clashes with it. I have all confidence\\nin Christ. There is not a man who will deal with\\nHim honestly and thoroughly but will feel the thrill\\nthat is in his life, and will be humbled before the\\nmajesty and purity and love of His unspotted na-\\nture. If you are not an open Christ-man the reason\\nis you do not know Christ; you have never put\\nyourself under His transforming influence.\\n2. Test Christianity s works.\\nSee what Christianity has done and is still doing\\nin the world. Compare Christian lands with pa-\\ngan lands. Ask yourself in which lands you would\\nprefer to live, and which civilization of all civiliza-\\ntions you would choose. Facts are lamps by which\\nwe see Christ and His religion. You choose the\\nproducts which Christ and His religion have given\\nthe world. Why not choose the cause of these\\nCan you give an intelligent reason why not?\\nStanding in the nineteenth century we can confi-\\ndently appeal to the products of the Gospel as a\\nproof of the worth of the Gospel and as an estab-\\nlishment of its claims.\\nThis is the way intelligent and fair-minded men\\njudge it. Let me quote just two instances. I am\\nglad of their testimony, for it is the testimony of\\ncandid students.\\nI quote from the words of Chauncey Depew, the\\nlately elected Senator from the State of New York,\\nwho so nobly answered Julian Hawthorne at one", "height": "3431", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0262.jp2"}, "263": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CARMEL. 25\\nof the meetings of the Nineteenth Century Club.\\nThese are his words\\nI confess I do not understand these evangels\\nof free thought, who claim to do so much for the\\nwide world through their scientific and sociologi-\\ncal associations. London has these associations,\\nbut the poor and needy and lost of London know\\nnothing about them. But they do know something\\nabout the churches of Christ. These evangels of\\nfree thought use a language of strange terms and\\nbeautiful generalities which convey no meaning\\nto me. They would tumble down my church and\\nbury my Bible and destroy all the foundations of\\nfaith, but they would offer in return only words\\nand terminologies as mixed as chaos and as vague\\nas space. I understand my Bible. I understand\\nChristian charity and Christian education. I un-\\nderstand the doctrine of fears and rewards, and\\nhow it arouses and keeps in exercise a healthy\\nconscience. I know what Christianity has done\\nand what it is doing. I know what the Christian\\nreligion has been to this nation, and what civiliza-\\ntion it produces when it is allowed a sway. A\\nbetter society never has been and never will exist\\nthan that in New England, for its first one hun-\\ndred and fifty years, when the whole life was\\ndominated by the family Bible.\\nHere is a candid man testing Christianity by\\nits works and his verdict is, The Lord, He is\\nGod.", "height": "3447", "width": "2370", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0263.jp2"}, "264": {"fulltext": "252 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nI quote next the words of our late minister to\\nEngland, James Russell Lowell. Being called\\nupon to make an after-dinner speech, it fell to his\\nlot to follow one who had indulged in flings at\\nCalvinism and the Bible. He was brave enough\\nto utter these words\\nWhatever defects and imperfections may attach\\nto a few points of the doctrinal system of Calvin,\\nthe bulk of which is simply what all Christians\\nbelieve, it will be found that Calvinism, or any\\nother ism that claims an open Bible and a cruci-\\nfied and risen Christ, is infinitely preferable to\\nany form of polite and polished scepticism which\\ngathers as its votaries the degenerate sons of he-\\nroic ancestors who, having been trained in a soci-\\nety and educated in schools the foundations of which\\nwere laid by men of faith and piety, now turn and\\nknock down the ladder by which they have climbed\\nup, and persuade men to live without God and\\nleave them to die without hope. When the mi-\\ncroscope of scepticism, having hunted the heavens\\nand sounded the seas to disprove the existence of\\na Creator, shall have turned its attention to human\\nsociety and found a place ten miles square where\\na decent man can live in decency, comfort, and\\nsecurity, supporting and educating his children\\nunspoiled and unpolluted, a place where age is rev-\\nerenced, infancy appreciated, manhood respected,\\nwomanhood honored, and human life held in due\\nregard; when sceptics can find such a place ten", "height": "3444", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0264.jp2"}, "265": {"fulltext": "MOUNT CAR MEL. 253\\nmiles square on this globe where the Gospel of\\nChrist has not gone and cleared the way, and laid\\nthe foundation and made decency and security pos-\\nsible, it will then be in order for the sceptical literati\\nto move thither and there ventilate their views. But\\nso long as these very men are dependent upon the\\nreligion which they discard for every privilege they\\nenjoy, they may well hesitate a little before they\\nseek to rob the Christian of his hopes, and human-\\nity of its faith in that Saviour who alone has given\\nto man the hope of life eternal, which makes this\\nlife tolerable and society possible, and robs death\\nof its terrors, and the grave of its gloom.\\nHere is another leader of thought testing Chris-\\ntianity by its works, and his verdict is, The\\nLord, He is God.\\nIII. When Men, by Honest Testing, find\\nthe Religion of God to be True, it is\\nTheir Duty Openly and Fearlessly\\nto Confess this to the World.\\nThere should be no delay in this duty. It should\\nbe performed at once. Elijah worked for instan-\\ntaneous conversion and instantaneous confession.\\nThis is apparently so, and yet what seems in-\\nstantaneous here was not, after all, instantaneous.\\nIn reality, this conversion of Israel was the result\\nof long years. The memories of the past were in\\nit. Years of reasoning and of appeal were in it.", "height": "3470", "width": "2385", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0265.jp2"}, "266": {"fulltext": "254 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nMen often say, during excitements of religious\\nfervor, that actions committed in haste will be\\nrepented of at leisure that it is not fair dealing\\nwith great multitudes to ply them with hymns and\\nprayers and preaching, and compel them to deter-\\nmine before they leave the house that they will\\nlive a Christian life. They claim that it is precipi-\\ntancy from which there will be a rebound. In the\\ngreat majority of cases it is not precipitancy. It\\nis simply bringing to a culmination the past relig-\\nious training and thinking of the man s past life.\\nIt is simply leading the man to do what all along he\\nhas felt it to be his duty to do. In an instant the\\nheart and conscience, and the whole moral sense\\nof the people, went out to the prophet but it\\nwould not have been so if Israel had not had its\\npast history and training. Elijah did not precipi-\\ntate things when he led the people into faith and\\ninto a public confession of their faith during a\\nsingle religious service.\\nThere are some here to-night to whom I would\\nspeak as Elijah spake to Israel. There are some\\nhere to-night whom I would urge to come out for\\nChrist right now. There are some here to-night\\nto whom I would cry, in the words of this Scrip-\\nture, Why halt ye? Why halt ye? Do\\nnot say, This is pushing things too rapidly.\\nThis would be a too hasty decision. Hasty de-\\ncision It is not possible for a single soul in this\\nhouse to make a hasty decision. Some of you", "height": "3444", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0266.jp2"}, "267": {"fulltext": "MOUNT C ARM EL. 255\\nhave been revolving this decision for five years\\nsome of you have been revolving it for ten years\\nsome of you have been revolving it for fifteen,\\ntwenty, twenty-five years. If you should decide\\nhere and now this very moment, it would only be\\nbringing the thought and purpose and conviction\\nof a long past to a legitimate and a grand climax.\\nA decision for God and Christ and the Church\\nupon your part, here and now, a hasty decision\\nThe thought is the suggestion of the arch enemy\\nof souls. Such a decision upon your part, here\\nand now, would be the most deliberate act of your\\nlife. O immortal soul, Christ has been waiting\\nfor you to own Him these many and long years.\\nYou have thought the matter over and over, and\\nthere is not one thing to be gained by thinking it\\nover any longer. By the absolute surrender of\\nyourself to Christ, join, this very hour, the multi-\\ntude of His convinced ones, and with the sacra-\\nmental hosts of God s elect send out your cry into\\nthe dome of humanity, The Lord, He is the\\nGod The Lord, He is the God", "height": "3447", "width": "2368", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0267.jp2"}, "268": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3429", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0268.jp2"}, "269": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF\\nJERICHO.\\ni7", "height": "3407", "width": "2343", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0269.jp2"}, "270": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0270.jp2"}, "271": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3481", "width": "2407", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0271.jp2"}, "272": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3404", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0272.jp2"}, "273": {"fulltext": "X.\\nSoul-Sight, or a Story of Jericho.\\nAnd Jesus asked him saying\\nWhat wilt thou that I shall do unto thee\\nAnd he said\\nLord, that I may receive my sight. Luke xviii. 41\\nWhy do I choose this text, and from it evolve\\nthis subject? Let me answer. One morning\\nwhile I was reading my daily lesson from the Book\\nin my tower studio, I came across this story of\\nBartimaeus. As I read it, I was suddenly startled\\nby a cry which rang through the air. It was a\\ncry with a quiver in it, and it sent a quiver through\\nme. Was it a real cry, or was it only the creation\\nof my brain It was a cry which leaped out from\\none of the verses of the chapter I was reading.\\nIt was the cry of the blind man who eighteen\\nhundred years ago begged on the highway near\\nthe city of Jericho. Twice it was uttered and\\ntwice I heard it Jesus thou Son of David have\\nmercy on me! Jesus thou Son of David have\\nmercy on me This cry which leaped from the\\nprinted page I read could not have been more mov-\\ning in its effect upon me if it had been uttered\\nby a living voice, and that voice the voice of", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0273.jp2"}, "274": {"fulltext": "262 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nBartimaeus himself. It made me one with that\\ncrowd which surged along the highway. It made\\nJesus real to me, it made the blind beggar real to\\nme, it made the miracle of healing real to me. I\\nread the story through, and then I read it a second\\ntime and a third time. After the third reading the\\nsuggestion came to me Why not take a thought-\\ntrip to Palestine and visit Bartimaeus, and get the\\nstory from his own lips The suggestion was\\nso pleasing that I took the first thought-ship that\\ncame along, and in five ticks of the clock I was\\nthere. At the first tick of the clock I was at\\nLiverpool, at the second I was at Alexandria, at\\nthe third I was at Joppa, at the fourth I was at\\nJerusalem, and at the fifth tick I was at Jericho.\\nI had no trouble in finding the house of Barti-\\nmaeus, for when on one of the streets of Jericho\\nI asked Where does Bartimaeus live The\\nfingers of no less than half a dozen bystanders\\npointed out his house, and no less than half a\\ndozen voices said in unison, Yonder is where he\\nlives! His home is right across the street from\\nthe house of Zaccheus\\nMy knock at the door was responded to by Bar-\\ntimaeus himself. I knew him at once. How?\\nThere was in his eyes, and in every feature of his\\nface, the play of the holy light of Jesus Christ.\\nLet Jesus Christ work in or on a man, and that\\nman receives at once an unmistakable transfigura-\\ntion.", "height": "3445", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0274.jp2"}, "275": {"fulltext": "SOUL- SIGHT, OR A STORY OFJERICHO. 263\\nI never had such a visit with any one as I had\\nwith that man. I never had any man shake hands\\nwith me as he shook hands with me. His greet-\\ning was cordiality itself, and the willing relation\\nof his story was an enthusiasm. He lives to talk\\nabout Jesus Christ and to tell what He did for\\nhim.\\nI can give you only a fragment of his story.\\nWhen he found out who I was, that I was a friend\\nof the Master, he asked me what I wished espe-\\ncially to know. In reply I said to him Barti-\\nmaeus, I wish you to tell of your blind experi-\\nence, then how you learned of Jesus, then your\\nexperience in passing from darkness to light, then\\nthe scene which most impressed you when you\\nreceived the power of vision but especially do I\\nwish to know from you if natural sight was the\\nonly sight that Jesus gave you\\nHe began his story in low, sweet, musical tones.\\nChrist had even wrought on his voice, and had en-\\nriched it with the tones of grace. He said You\\npeople of the nineteenth century have no idea\\nwhat blindness meant when Jesus found me blind\\nnear the gates of our city. Your age is the golden\\nage for blind men. Your inventions have broad-\\nened the universe for the sightless. They get\\nlight now through their finger tips. Books with\\nraised letters have opened new worlds to them.\\nIndustries within their reach have brought into\\ntheir lives the blessedness of work. By means of", "height": "3447", "width": "2355", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0275.jp2"}, "276": {"fulltext": "264 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe ability of doing something useful, the blind\\nare made conscious of their manhood and are en-\\nnobled. In the days of my blindness, it was all\\ndifferent from this, for Christ had not come. He\\nhad not as yet started the influences which pro-\\nduced this golden age for the blind. With me\\neverything was pitch-dark and unattractive. Then\\nblindness meant idleness, worthlessness, degrada-\\ntion, dull and wearing monotony. All I could do\\nwas to beg.\\nI was very fond of talking that was my only\\nsource of information. I asked my neighbors\\nwhat light was, and what sight was. I learned\\nthe names of the beauties of light the sun, the\\nmoon, the stars. They told me of the rainbow\\nwith its different tints, and of the sparkling water-\\nfall, and of the phosphorescent light of the ocean.\\nThey told me of the human face, and of the love-\\nlight in the eyes of friends, and I thought I un-\\nderstood these things but now I find that all of\\nmy conceptions were radically wrong. A man\\nmust see in order to know.\\nYou have asked me how I learned of Jesus\\nI am coming to that. It was when I first heard\\nof Jesus that I began to live. I never really lived\\nbefore that day. A friend told me about Him.\\nThis friend was very kind to me, and visited me\\nevery day, but for a whole week he utterly neg-\\nlected me. I was puzzled beyond measure at his\\nabsence. How had I offended him But he came", "height": "3445", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0276.jp2"}, "277": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 265\\nback to me. When I took him by the hand, I\\nknew that he was full of good news, and that he\\nhad some glad thing to tell me. He explained his\\nabsence. He had been away following Jesus, the\\nnew wonderful man of Galilee. He told me how\\nthe crowds pressed around the Master, how He\\nlooked, His age, His height, His complexion, the\\nestimation in which He was held by the people,\\nwhat the scribes and rulers thought of Him, the\\ntheories which were in the air about Him He\\nwas a prophet, He was Elijah come back to the\\nworld, He was the promised Messiah. He gave\\nme reports of His discourses, and repeated word\\nfor word His beautiful parables, and the beati-\\ntudes, and the prayer which He taught His dis-\\nciples. When he related to me the parable of the\\nprodigal son, I found myself weeping like a child.\\nIt completely melted me. I had never heard of\\nsuch love. It set me saying to myself, The\\nMaster must have a great heart. From that in-\\nstant there was a longing in my soul to hear Him\\ntalk. My heart was completely won. If I only\\ncould follow Him Such a man in my life would\\nmake me happy in spite of my blindness. My\\nfriend, you see, told me nothing about the great\\nmiracles which Jesus was working among the peo-\\nple. He kept that report until the last but it was\\nbound to come. He said to me, Bartimaeus, the\\nbest news has yet to be told. This marvellous man\\nof Nazareth is a great miracle worker. Then he", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0277.jp2"}, "278": {"fulltext": "266 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nrelated how Jesus had rebuked the fever and\\nhealed Peter s wife s mother. How He cured a\\nman with the palsy, how He had given strength\\nto a paralytic arm, how He had given a lame man\\nthe power to walk, how He had made deaf ears to\\nhear. A thrill of hope began to course through\\nme as I listened to these things. I said to myself,\\n1 The story is creeping up toward my need. He\\nhas cured feet, and legs, and arms, and ears He\\nis getting pretty close to the eyes. I wonder if\\nHe can give sight to the blind I did not speak\\nout my hope, but I thought it so loud that my\\nfriend seemed to hear my thoughts, for he imme-\\ndiately told me that Jesus had gone so far in His\\nworks of healing that He had given sight to one\\nman who had been born blind. What my friend\\nsaid after that I cannot tell you I had ears for\\nnothing else. One intense longing consumed me,\\none anxious cry kept repeating itself in my soul\\nOh, that Jesus would pass this way. I had an\\nintuition which told me that He would some day\\ncome my way. I looked upon this intuition as a\\npromise of God that He would send Him. Then\\nI began to prepare myself to meet Him. Then I\\ngot ready my cry for mercy f Jesus thou Son of\\nDavid have mercy upon me I shouted that cry\\nthrough my soul a thousand times, and as I shouted\\nit, I waited to hear the tramp of the multitudes,\\nand I was not disappointed. When my ears actu-\\nally heard the tramp of the crowd, instinctively,", "height": "3435", "width": "2258", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0278.jp2"}, "279": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 267\\nand before I knew it, that cry of mine rent the air\\nand reached the Master. There is one thing Jesus\\ncannot do, and that is, resist the cry for mercy so\\nHe commanded that I should be brought into His\\npresence. When they led me to Him, He asked\\nme, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee\\nand I answered, Lord that I may receive my\\nsight And He gave me the power of sight at\\nonce, there and then. There and then I saw His\\nface, the first human face I ever saw. There and\\nthen I looked up into the blue dome for the first\\ntime. There and then, for the first time, I saw\\nthe wide plain and the towering mountain in the\\ndistance. There and then I learned what the\\ngreen of the grass was, and what were the burning\\ncolors of the beautiful flowers. I was a new man,\\nand the world was a new world. What did I do?\\nAll that I could do was to sing praise, and sing\\npraise, and sing praise, and worship God, and wor-\\nship God, and worship God.\\nI must tell you of a strange experience which\\ncame to me, perhaps you forecast it. I mean my\\nexperience with reference to the coming of night,\\nfor all I have told you happened in the daytime.\\nI had forgotten that there was such a thing as\\nnight so the night fell upon me as a great grief.\\nAs the day faded away, I saw things dimly, and\\nI thought I was loosing my power of sight, and\\nwas going back to blindness again. The sensation\\ngave me a heart-break, and terror struck through", "height": "3469", "width": "2362", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0279.jp2"}, "280": {"fulltext": "268 XEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nmy soul. There was no cause for a heart-break\\nnor for terror God had a new joy for me. He\\nmeant that I should see the glories of the night.\\nAnd I did see them, and the sight was grand a\\nstarry vault, out-flashing constellations, the great\\ncity of the skies with blazing worlds for its street-\\nlamps, lighting up every highway and byway.\\nThen I knew that I was living amid the splendors\\nof God s overflowing love. Then I sang praise\\nagain, and worshipped God again.\\nYou have asked me, Did Jesus give you any-\\nthing besides natural sight, did He give you an-\\nother sight That He did. You may well ask\\nme that question, because there is another sight,\\nsoul-sight and as Jesus gave me both eye-sight\\nand soul-sight, I can tell you that grand as eye-\\nsight is, soul-sight is far grander. It gives a man\\na new world, the vast spiritual world, the world\\nof thought, the world of morals, the heavenly world,\\nthe eternal world, the world in which God lives\\nand moves and has His being.\\nI had many plans for life when eye-sight came\\nplans which centered in self and in high physical\\nenjoyment. I meant to enjoy travel with its grand\\nmountain and ocean scenery, I meant to live on\\nCarmel and Lebanon and Pisgah I meant to visit\\nAthens, with its sculpture and architecture; I\\nmeant to study the classics with their mytholo-\\ngies these eyes were going to do up the world of\\nbeauty and form. I was going to revel in sunsets", "height": "3441", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0280.jp2"}, "281": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 269\\nand sunrises, in the play of storm and in the flash\\nof the rainbow, in the spring freshness and the au-\\ntumnal glories. I had marked out great work for\\nthese eyes of mine. Such were my plans, but I for-\\ngot them. I forgot to make my natural sight my\\nall in all in living, because Jesus had given me\\nsoul-sight Jesus made me see God s love, and\\nwhen I saw that I determined to live for that.\\nJesus made me see my soul with its faculties and\\nits needs and its future, and when I saw my soul I\\ndetermined to live for that. Jesus made me see\\nmy fellow-men all candidates for eternity, all\\nhaving souls to be saved and when I saw my fel-\\nlow-men as He saw them, I determined to live for\\nthe salvation and the advancement of my fellow-\\nmen. Jesus made me see Himself, His nature,\\nHis mission, His cause in the world; and when I\\nsaw Him and His ambition and His glorious cause,\\nI determined to give myself wholly to Him and to\\nlive wholly for Him. I followed Jesus to Calvary,\\nand then to Olivet, and now that He has ascended\\nto the Father, I am living here to bear testimony to\\nHim as the Son of God and the Saviour of men.\\nThus I mean to live for Him until He comes to\\ntake me to that glorious world into which He has\\nentered, and which to the eyes of my soul is as\\nreal as the world in which I now am. In parting\\nwith you, my brother, let me sum up the lesson of\\nmy experience in receiving sight from God. It is\\nthis Soul-sight is everything. Seek it for your-", "height": "3447", "width": "2356", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0281.jp2"}, "282": {"fulltext": "270 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nself and do you tell your people to seek it for them-\\nselves.\\nMy fellow-men, here is where my subject comes\\nin soul-sight. For you and for me, who enjoy\\nnatural sight, here is where the prayer of the text\\ncomes in Lord, that I may receive my sight\\nThe text has a new meaning, a broader, grander\\nmeaning. Let us make the prayer of the text a\\nprayer to God for soul-sight. The Master is here\\nto-day, and His question is the old question\\nWhat wilt thou that I shall do unto thee As\\nthis man of Jericho tells us there is that which is\\ncalled soul-sight, let us ask Him for that.\\nThe miracles of Jesus Christ all have lessons in\\nthem. The miracle of the loaves and fishes means\\nthat Christ is the bread of life. The miracle of\\nthe resurrection of Lazarus means that Christ is\\nthe resurrection and the life. The miracle of giv-\\ning sight to the blind means that Jesus Christ\\nopens the eyes of the soul, and gives us soul-sight.\\nNo miracle of Jesus Christ is an end in itself;\\nevery miracle is a means to an end, every miracle\\nis a door opening into a great spiritual reality.\\nThe door out of this miracle opens into the great\\nfact that there is such a thing as soul-sight, and\\nthat we should seek and possess that. That is the\\nparamount blessing of life. As the Lord asks us\\nto-day, What wilt thou that I shall do unto\\nthee? let us reply, Lord that I may receive my\\nsight my soul-sight. The soul is the organ of", "height": "3446", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0282.jp2"}, "283": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 271\\nreception let us pray God for power to receive\\ninto the soul the things which belong to the soul.\\nThese physical eyes of ours are symbols. They\\nare the symbols of those faculties of mind and\\nheart and soul by which we recognize and pene-\\ntrate and reach the core of things, and acutely\\nperceive and apprehend verities, and grasp mean-\\nings, and discriminate and ascertain relations, and\\nweigh and measure and judge and decide, and find\\nout the real value and quality and essence of prin-\\nciples and purposes and propositions, and things\\nmoral and spiritual. Let us make the text a\\nprayer for the opening and the strengthening of\\nthese faculties, and for power to make a right use\\nof these faculties. Let us make it a prayer for\\nthe illuminated mind, and the enlightened con-\\nscience, and the sensitive heart, and the soul full\\nof intuitions. Let us desire soul-sight and then\\npray for it.\\nI hear you say: Desire soul- sight! Ah, that\\nis what I should have, but I have it not. Tell\\nme how to reach this desire for soul-sight, and how\\nto reach an appreciation of soul-sight. You must\\nhave some appreciation of soul-sight, you must\\nhave some desire for soul-sight, else you would\\nnot choose to preach on this great subject; tell\\nme how you reached these?\\nI have not as much appreciation and desire in\\nthis direction as I wish I had; but I have more\\nthan I had formerly. I have reached the little", "height": "3475", "width": "2361", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0283.jp2"}, "284": {"fulltext": "272 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ngrowth to which I. have attained, just as Barti-\\nmaeus reached his knowledge of natural sight, and\\nhis desire for natural sight. It was his talk with\\nothers that led him on. The possession by others\\ncreated within him a desire for a like possession.\\nBecause they saw, he wished to see. I have been\\nmade to realize how little soul-sight I possess by\\ndealing with others. The high attainments of\\nothers have made me cry out for like attainments.\\nI have been talking with the men who walk the\\npages of the Bible, and they have stirred me up.\\nThey have made me feel my defects, they have\\nmade me see my possibilities, they have made me\\nyearn to reach the things which they have reached\\nthey have breathed into me a new ambition which\\nhas fruited in the prayer Lord that I may receive\\nmy sight my soul-sight.\\nCome with me and let us visit these men, and\\nin this way learn what soul- sight is and what\\nsoul-sight does, and how attainable soul-sight is.\\nThe men of the Book are wonderful men, and they\\nhave been put into the Book to be our guides.\\nWhat they have reached we can reach. Can the\\nservant of Elisha reach the experience of Elisha\\nYes. In the midst of the armed hosts of Syria,\\nwhich hemmed in Elisha and his servant, Elisha\\nwas in the enjoyment of perfect peace. By his\\nsoul-sight he saw that God and the heavenly le-\\ngions were his defence. He saw a circle outside\\nand around the circle of Syrian soldiery that cir-", "height": "3436", "width": "2247", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0284.jp2"}, "285": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 273\\ncle was made up of the chariots of God, and these\\nchariots were holding the whole Syrian army as\\ncaptives. Elisha s servant had no soul-sight; he\\nsaw only with his natural eyes, and what his natu-\\nral eyes saw was this He and the prophet were\\nSyrian prisoners. Can the servant be lifted into\\nthe experience of the prophet, and into this sense\\nof security in God Yes, by prayer. The prophet\\nprayed that soul-sight might be given him Lord\\nopen the eyes of the young man that he may\\nsee; and God opened his eyes, and he saw the\\nmountain round about full of the chariots of God.\\nGod will give us soul- sight if we pray for it\\naright; and when soul-sight comes to us, we shall\\nsee the encircling providences of God about us and\\nabout the cause of God protecting His cause and\\nHis own with a sure protection. Let me tabulate\\nfor our instruction just what soul- sight did for\\nthese men of the Book\\nIn the first place\\nI. It enabled them to see God and to live as in\\nHis sight.\\nGod was the greatest reality in their lives. God\\nwalked with Adam in the cool of the day. God\\nvisited Abraham s tent, and partook of his hospi-\\ntality, and told him future things. The secrets of\\nthe Lord were Abraham s. God appeared to Moses\\nin the burning bush and in the quaking moun-\\ntain, and talked with him face to face until the\\ncountenance of Moses shone with the very light\\n18", "height": "3447", "width": "2351", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0285.jp2"}, "286": {"fulltext": "274 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nof God s countenance. God came to Elijah at the\\nbrook Cherith. It was God s ravens that fed him.\\nIt was the glory of God that Isaiah saw in the\\nvision of the temple. God dwelt in the hearts of\\nthe prophets. God inspired the psalmists and\\ntuned their harps. God fought in Joshua and in\\nGideon, and gave the Israelites their victories.\\nThese men of the Book never lost sight of God s\\nwill they always knew it, and they always lived\\nby it. These men never lost sight of God s prov-\\nidences His providences were more real to them\\nthan the laws of nature. They saw God at the\\nhead of all life. They talked to God every day,\\nand consulted Him in everything they did. A\\nGod-consciousness was the supreme thing in their\\nlives, and it was the power that made them what\\nthey were. In measuring my life by their life, I\\nfeel the large absence of God from my life yet I\\nadmire their life. It is a life I wish to duplicate.\\nI do not see God as they saw Him my conscious-\\nness of God is not as keen as theirs. God does\\nnot find in me the income and the outgo which\\nHe found in them. God is not my companion as\\nHe was theirs. Yet He should be. What is\\nwrong? I have not their soul-sight.\\nIs there for us a way of seeing God as there was\\nfor them There is a way. Blessed are the\\npure in heart for they shall see God. The pure\\nheart is man s God-seeing faculty. The pure\\nheart is the lens that makes God discernible.", "height": "3446", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0286.jp2"}, "287": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 275\\nGod is in everything pure He is in every pure\\nthought, in every pure plan, in every pure saying,\\nin every pure deed. He is in these, and He man-\\nifests Himself through these, just as the sun is in\\nand manifests itself in the sparkle of the diamond\\nand in the beauty of the flower. The heart is the\\nseat of human sympathies and of human affections.\\nNow it is through holy sympathies and purified af-\\nections that we see God. It is through the heart\\nthat we see God, and not through the intellect.\\nHere is an astronomer; he has searched the\\nskies over and over, and he says, I do not see\\nGod; I have searched until my brain is tired.\\nThe man leaves off thinking and puts his charts\\nand instruments away for the time and goes home.\\nAs he rests his brain by the fireside, he takes on\\nhis knee his sobbing child, who is breaking her\\nheart over some broken toy. He tries to comfort\\nher and make her happy i.e., he lets his heart\\nwork he lets his affections and sympathies have\\na play. Do you know that while he is doing that\\nhe is in a fairer way to see God than he was when\\nhe was sweeping the fields of space with his mighty\\ntelescope As he acts the part of a father, and\\ngives the sympathies and affections of his heart\\na play, the Father in heaven, and the story of the\\nGospel which tells us of the divine Father s love\\nbegins to seem less unreal to him nay, more, be-\\ngins to seem real and true. He is bringing the\\nright faculty to bear on God. Often a hard-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0287.jp2"}, "288": {"fulltext": "2 ]6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nheaded infidel, who has resisted skilful sermons,\\nis brought to faith in God by the conduct or by\\nthe lisped saying of his little child, about whom\\nhis heart is exercised. The little child on his\\nknee unlocks the door of his personality to God.\\nWe wonder at it, we marvel that this is his way to\\nGod but we need not. It is all according to the\\ntruest philosophy. The explanation of it is this\\nThe heart is the God-seeing faculty. In dealing\\ntenderly with his helpless little one, the father s\\nheart is active and alert and open, and God comes\\nthrough his heart into his life. That is the natu-\\nral way for God to come into any man s life. His\\nloving and tender dealing with his child purifies\\nhis heart, and he sees God. Ah, my wicked, hard-\\nheartedness is a shut door against God. I must\\nwith the psalmist prepare my heart to seek the\\nLord. There was one thing about these great\\nmen of the Book, who saw God and to whom God\\nwas everything, and that one thing was this they\\nwere all pure-hearted men and men of right sym-\\npathies. In this I want to be like them, for I\\nwant to see God.\\nWe are inquiring what soul-sight did for the\\nmen of the Book. Let me mention a second thing\\nwhich it did:\\n2. It enabled them to behold and recognize\\nJesus Christ in His true character.\\nThe men of the Book saw Christ in a way that\\nenabled Him to make an impression upon them", "height": "3435", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0288.jp2"}, "289": {"fulltext": "SO UL-SIGH 1 OR A S TOR Y OF JERICHO. 277\\nfar beyond the impression He makes upon me.\\nI wish to see the Master as they saw Him, and\\nto be assimilated to Him as they were assimilated\\nto Him. Of course I am speaking of the disciples\\nof Jesus. Not all the men who saw Him had\\nsoul-sight not all the men who looked into His\\nface and examined His life saw Him as He was.\\nThe Pharisees did not; Caiaphas did not; they\\nhad not soul-sight. The Pharisees saw in Him\\nBeelzebub; Caiaphas saw in Him a traitor to His\\ncountry. But the seeing of Peter, and Thomas,\\nand John, and Stephen, and Paul was altogether\\ndifferent. They had soul-sight. Peter saw Him\\nas the Son of God Thou are the Christ, the Son\\nof the living God. John saw Him as the glory\\nof the Father We beheld in him the glory of\\nthe Father full of grace and truth. Paul saw\\nHim as the incarnation of the fulness of the God-\\nhead He was the brightness of the Father s\\nglory and the express image of his person. In\\nHim dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.\\nSeeing Him thus, His disciples understood who\\nHe was and what His kingdom was, and, they ap-\\npreciated the honor of His service. Seeing Him\\nthus was the secret of their whole-hearted conse-\\ncration, and of their sacrifices, and of their labors.\\nSeeing Him thus, Jesus became to them the way\\nto God. Do you know how to get the best vision\\nof God You get it in Christ. He is the way\\nup to Pisgah with its enrapturing visions.", "height": "3472", "width": "2355", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0289.jp2"}, "290": {"fulltext": "278 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nYears ago a company of travellers out in the\\nRockies determined to climb a certain peak whose\\nsteep precipices told them that there was a grand\\nview from its summit. The climb was a tremen-\\ndous task. It was full of dangers. When they\\nhad climbed the steeps and reached the top, they\\nwere more dead than alive. The first thing they\\nsaw on the mountain-top was a fresh wagon-track,\\nand the leavings of a picnic party, which had just\\nleft the grand sights to which they had come. On\\nthe other side of the mountain there was a fine\\nroad which afforded an easy ascent. They were\\nignorant of this way. Men are climbing the\\nmountain to God by the toilsome way of nature\\nand science and human speculation ignorant of\\nChrist or else wilfully neglectful of Christ. Christ\\nis the way up, and He is a safe way and a sure\\nway. His own words are true I am the way,\\nthe truth, and the life. He that hath seen me\\nhath seen the Father. In Him are the thoughts\\nof God, and the love of God, and the saving pur-\\npose of God. When I stand by these disciples of\\nthe Book, and hear them talk of Christ, and preach\\nHis kingdom, and tell of His mission, and prove\\nHis deity, and go into raptures over His cross and\\nthe redemption which comes through His sacrificial\\ndeath, I feel how limited Christ is to me, and\\nhow low are the views which I have of Him and\\nHis. I have yet to begin to comprehend Him as\\nHe is I have yet to begin to take in the sweep of", "height": "3441", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0290.jp2"}, "291": {"fulltext": "SO UL- SIGH T, OR A S TOR V OF JERICHO. 279\\nHis influence in this world of ours; I have yet to\\nbegin to imagine the riches of His glory. My cry\\nto God to-day is for sight, soul-sight, to under-\\nstand Jesus Christ.\\nWe are inquiring what soul-sight did for the\\nmen of the Book. Let me mention a third thing\\nwhich it did\\n3. It gave them an insight into the fulness and\\nmeaning of the Holy Scriptures.\\nIf you wish to get an idea of the fulness of the\\nScriptures, and of the depths of thought which are\\nin them, watch the Master as He opens these;\\nfollow His eyes as they run through the holy\\npages. Where men see only the narration of sim-\\nple incidents, He sees deep revelations of great\\nspiritual facts. Take two illustrations. The first\\nis very familiar, the second is not so familiar.\\nThe first is His interpretation of God s word to\\nMoses at the burning bush I am the God of\\nAbraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. In the\\nheart of these words He sees the great doctrine of\\nimmortality. No man ever saw that doctrine there\\nbefore, but it was always there. Abraham, Isaac,\\nand Jacob must be still living somewhere and now,\\nbecause God is not the God of the dead, but the\\nGod of the living. Yet God calls Himself their\\nGod I am the God of Abraham, and of Isaac,\\nand of Jacob. The second illustration is the way\\nJesus refutes, by Scripture, the charge that God\\nis a narrow God, a local God, the God of one nation", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0291.jp2"}, "292": {"fulltext": "2 So NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nonly, that He is simply the God of the Jews, with\\nno sympathies for people outside of Judea. Jesus\\nsays, That is not so, and He points to an over-\\nlooked scripture which proves what he says. He\\ninterprets the story of the cure of Naaman.\\nThere were many lepers in Israel in the days of\\nGod s prophet, Elisha. If God were a God to the\\nJew, and to the Jew only, He would have cured\\nthe Jewish lepers, and only the Jewish lepers.\\nBut He cured not a single Jewish leper; He over-\\nleaped the bounds of Judea in His sympathy and\\ncured a Syrian leper, proving that He was not tied\\nto any one nation, but was the God of the whole\\nworld. That was a prelude for Christ s great\\nwords God so loved the world that he gave his\\nonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in\\nhim should not perish bat have everlasting\\nlife. I give these illustrations because from\\nthese two Scriptures Jesus brought forth truths\\nwhich no one else ever brought forth; but they\\nwere there all the time. It took soul-sight to\\nese them.\\nThis soul-sight which Jesus had in such power\\nHe gave His disciples. He opened their eyes\\nso that they understood the Scriptures.\\nWhen the soul-sight came, Peter saw Christ s\\nresurrection in the Sixteenth Psalm, and pointed\\nthis fact out in his sermon on the day of Pente-\\ncost; and Paul saw Christ s resurrection in the\\nwaving of the first fruits before the Lord, and", "height": "3429", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0292.jp2"}, "293": {"fulltext": "SO UL- SIGHT, OR A S TOR Y OF JERICHO. 2 8 1\\npointed this fact out in his epistle to the Corin-\\nthians.\\nIt was such soul-sight in dealing with the scrip-\\ntures that the Psalmist sought when he prayed to\\nGod centuries ago with the open Book of God in\\nhis hand Open thou mine eyes that I may be-\\nhold the wonderful things contained in thy law.\\nI thank God for this prayer; it fits my needs ex-\\nactly, and I offer it here and now to God. I want\\nto get more out of the Lord s Prayer, more out of\\nthe Ten Commandments, more out of the sermon\\non the mount, more out of the gospels, more out\\nof the apocalypse. I want to get more out of all\\nthese, because there is more in them than I have\\nyet reached. Standing before the open Book, I\\npray this day, Lord illumine the Word to me.\\nShow me the wealth of glory which lies beneath\\nthe old stories. Teach me the depth of experi-\\nence which is hidden in the songs of Zion. Raise\\nme to the height of aspiration compassed by the\\nwings of the prophets. Lift me to the summit of\\nfaith trod by the feet of the apostles. The won-\\nders are in thy law, but I cannot see them without\\nsoul-sight. Until I have soul-sight, they are like\\nthe well of water which Hagar did not behold;\\nlike the ram caught in the thicket which Abra-\\nham did not discern like the cake prepared on the\\nfire which Elijah did not recognize. Light up for\\nme the old texts, irradiate for me the time-worn\\nphrases, deepen for me the by-gone meaning, re-", "height": "3447", "width": "2341", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0293.jp2"}, "294": {"fulltext": "282 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nvise for me the inadequate readings, unlock for me\\nthe hidden doors, make the Book a new book to\\nme, the living voice of my God.\\nI am loath to drop this subject, but time is\\ninexorable and its command is, Get ready at once\\nto bring your sermon to a close. I wanted to\\nenumerate and to elaborate four other things, but\\nI cannot these things, viz. Soul-sight gave the\\nmen of the Book a true view of duty, a large and\\nrestful understanding of the providences of God,\\na recognition and a knowledge of self, and a clear\\nforesight into the future. The apocalypse of John\\nis a grand illustration of this last point. The re-\\nfrain of his writing is this I, John saw. I, John\\nsaw. One grand thing of the future rose before\\nhim after another grand thing of the future, until\\nthe future burst into this song of triumph The\\nkingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms\\nof our Lord and his Christ, and he shall rule\\nfor ever and ever. To the man who has soul-\\nsight the kingdom of Jesus Christ is eternal, and\\nblessings of Jesus Christ are eternal.\\nI have spoken of soul- sight as it plays its part in\\nthe men of the Book my sermon for the sake of\\nbalance needs my closing point, which is this\\nMen out of the Book have had large soul- sight\\nas well as the men in the Book, and this has made\\nthem grand in character and grand in life.\\nThis point brings soul-sight nearer to us. It is\\ntelling Bartimaeus that Jesus has actually given", "height": "3437", "width": "2249", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0294.jp2"}, "295": {"fulltext": "SOUL-SIGHT, OR A STORY OF JERICHO. 283\\nsight to one born blind. There is Milton writing\\nParadise Lost and Paradise Regained, the\\nproduct of soul-sight. There is Bunyan writing\\nThe Pilgrim s Progress, the product of soul-\\nsight. All of our libraries are full of books treat-\\ning of the great doctrines of God, and unfolding\\nthe great spritualities, and each book is the prod-\\nuct of soul- sight. There are our songs of praise\\nfull of visions seen by the eyes of the soul.\\nThere are the Paysons and the McCheynes of the\\npulpit seeing God for the people, and making the\\npeople see God for themselves. There are the\\nmartyrs going to the scaffold for Christ s sake and\\nsinging songs of triumph on the way. Such is\\ntheir power of soul- sight that they take their songs\\nout of the future. There are the missionaries of\\nthe cross, willingly accepting the sacrifices of a\\nlife in dark heathendom, because they see a king-\\ndom of God in every saved soul. There are the\\nChristian philanthropists of to-day who are giving\\nof their substance to build and support Christian\\ninstitutions, the sole mission of which is to keep\\nalive the knowledge of God and set into promi\\nnence the great spiritual realities of life. These\\nmen are guided by soul- sight. Soul-sight is a\\npossible thing. Do I want it? That is what I\\ndo want, for that will make God real to me, and\\nChrist real to me, and the Bible real to me. When\\nI once get God and Christ and the Word in me,\\nthen my life will begin to take on its glory and", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0295.jp2"}, "296": {"fulltext": "284 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nthen I shall begin to be in the world a light for\\nGod, a true witness for Christ, a second Bible, a\\nliving epistle of truth. Then I shall begin to\\nbe my best self, and to reach out and up to the\\nideal which the heavenly Father has for me as a son\\nof God. Then two worlds will be mine earth,\\nwith its magnificent opportunities, and heaven, with\\nits results and rewards.\\nHast thou said unto me, O Christ What wilt\\nthou that I shall do unto thee? This is my an-\\nswer, Lord that I may receive my sight soul-\\nsight.", "height": "3431", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0296.jp2"}, "297": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY.", "height": "3428", "width": "2225", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0297.jp2"}, "298": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3426", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0298.jp2"}, "299": {"fulltext": "D\\nco\\nCO\\nH\\nQ\\nz\\n2\\nO\\nz\\nCQ\\nW", "height": "3476", "width": "2432", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0299.jp2"}, "300": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3402", "width": "2202", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0300.jp2"}, "301": {"fulltext": "XL\\nThe Songs of the Psalm-Country.*\\nThe Book of Psalms. Acts i. 20.\\nMy text is almost two thousand years old, and\\nthe book to which it refers was at least half a\\nthousand years old when my text was first written.\\nThis makes its sacred songs two thousand five\\nhundred years of age. During this long, long pe-\\nriod, its songs have been serving God, and elevating\\nand blessing the souls of men.\\nTo me there is much that is fascinating in the\\nthought that the sacred songs of the ancient cove-\\nnant people of God have done holy duty for long\\nages. To sing them is to link ourselves with a\\nthousand generations of the grandest men and\\nThe most delightful experience which I had in travelling\\nthrough Palestine was the singing of the old Psalms of David. I\\nequipped myself for the journey by taking with me a copy of\\nRouse s metrical version. I had committed the larger part of this\\nversion to memory in boyhood, and then had sung this version and\\nthis version only in the service of praise. This version is full of\\nthe rough ruggedness of two and a half centuries ago. but it is\\none of the most literal translations of the Psalms extant. Be-\\nsides, in my case, its associations were of the tenderest order and\\nthis gave its rendering of the Psalms an additional meaning and\\npower. When I reached the different sacred localities, I sung\\nthe Psalms which pertained to these. Some of the Psalms I\\nx 9", "height": "3442", "width": "2355", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0301.jp2"}, "302": {"fulltext": "290 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nwomen that have ever lived. The prophets sung\\nthem, Christ sung them, the apostles sung them,\\nthe early Christian fathers sung them, the martyrs\\nsung them, and when we sing them we link our-\\nselves with the prophets, and with Christ, and with\\nthe early fathers, and with the sainted martyrs.\\nBut the Hebrew Psalms have had a wider life\\neven than this. They have had every manner of\\nuse, and that in every manner of life. With the\\nmusic of psalms the shepherds on the slopes of\\nLebanon and the ploughmen on the plains of\\nBethlehem cheered their toil. A psalm supplied\\nthe daily grace with which the early Christians\\nblessed their morning and evening meal. Martin\\nLuther made the Reformation march to the Forty-\\nsixth Psalm. Chrysostom in his exile, Wycliffe\\non his death-bed surrounded by enemies, Bunyan\\nsung over and over almost all of them received at least one\\nsinging. It is about this famous old Hymn-Book, which gives\\nus the songs of the soul, that I wish to speak in this discourse.\\nI wish you to see its grand distinguishing characteristics the\\nheight and the depth, the length and the breadth of its spiritual\\nthought the power it has been in the world the characters it\\nhas built up its glorious antiquity and its present freshness and\\nvitality. It is a book we should use, and use every day, that\\nfrom it we may get spiritual strength, and that by it we may be\\ntaught how to praise the One Living and True God. The truth\\nin these old songs is the old, tried truth of God, and is full of\\neverlasting beauty and grandeur and versatility. It is truth\\nwhich is as eternal in its energy as God Himself. It pours out\\nfrom these Psalms just as the sunshine pours out of the old sun\\nin the heaven, making new rainbows, putting fresh color into the\\ncloud-land, and pencilling new tints on the new-bloomed flowers.", "height": "3436", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0302.jp2"}, "303": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 291\\nin Bedford jail, all stayed their hearts and renewed\\ntheir courage by the use of the Psalms.\\nA verse of a psalm marks the lonely grave that\\nlies nearest to the North Pole. The northern-\\nmost grave on the surface of the earth is at Cape\\nBeechy, on the brow of a hill covered with snow.\\nIn it is buried a member of Captain Nares Eng-\\nlish expedition for the exploration of the country\\nabout the North Pole. As the dying man looked\\nout on the wide snow fields which stretched away\\ntoward the horizon, the purity about him became\\nthe emblem of the sinlessness for which his soul\\nlonged. A large stone covers the dead, and on\\na copper plate is engraved the verse which the\\ndying explorer chose, and which meets the eye of\\nthe Arctic explorer to-day\\nWash thou me, and I shall be whiter than\\nsnow.\\nA verse of a psalm is the motto of England s\\nproudest university. The Huguenots at Dieppe\\nmarched to victory chanting the Sixty-eighth\\nPsalm, and the same stately war-song sounded\\nover the fields of Dunbar when Cromwell s Iron-\\nsides won the day. The modern German army,\\nlike the old army of the fathers, sung Luther s\\nbattle hymn, the Forty-sixth Psalm, as late as the\\nwar of 1870. You know how that war started and\\nended it started with the cry raised by the proud\\nFrench, On to Berlin it ended with the counter-\\ncry raised by the Germans, On to Paris Well do", "height": "3475", "width": "2364", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0303.jp2"}, "304": {"fulltext": "292 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nI remember how I felt the thrill of both cries and\\nhow I rejoiced when the men who sung the Forty-\\nsixth Psalm made themselves the possessors of\\nParis. It was the fifth verse of the Thirty-first\\nPsalm with which our Lord and Master committed\\nHis spirit into the hands of the Father, and with\\nthe same verse of the same Psalm Stephen, and\\nBasil, and St. Barnard, and John Huss, and Co-\\nlumbus, and Luther, and Melancthon, and John\\nKnox bade farewell to earth and welcomed heaven.\\nThus the Psalms come to us with a power and\\nwith a sweetness which have grown with the ages.\\nThe breath of the Eternal is in them. While this\\nis true, there is in them also that which is highest\\nand best in man. They carry in them the inspi-\\nration of tender and uplifting associations. When\\nwe sing them we are linked to a multitude which\\nno man can number. There is no river of melody\\nwhich has made glad so many generations in the\\ncity of God as this river of ancient Hebrew\\nPsalmody.\\nMy text takes us right into the heart of the Old\\nTestament, and bids us love and admire and ap-\\npreciate the Old Testament. It does this because\\nthe Book of Psalms, which it exalts before us with\\nfavor, is the very heart of the Old Testament.\\nThe Old Testament, in its completeness, has flow-\\nered into the Book of Psalms.\\nThe Old Testament to-day seems to be having\\na checkered history. It is pre-eminently in dan-", "height": "3431", "width": "2249", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0304.jp2"}, "305": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSA LM- CO UN TR Y. 293\\nger of disparagement. It is made the target of\\nsharp criticism. Lordly and self-satisfied critics\\nare speaking hastily and erroneously about almost\\neverything that pertains to it. While this is true\\non the one hand, on the other hand it is equally\\ntrue that there never was an age when God gave\\nso many remarkable confirmations of the truth and\\nof the accuracy of the Old Testament. This is\\npre-eminently the age of exploration, and almost\\nevery month the pick and the spade are resurrect-\\ning new and startling witnesses which with one\\nvoice proclaim that the old Book is true. These\\nwitnesses are coming from their graves in Baby-\\nlonia and Assyria and Egypt. Whole libraries,\\nwhich we never knew had an existence, are being\\nunearthed, and the books of these ancient libraries\\nare telling the very same facts which this sacred\\nBook tells.\\nThe mission which God gave the Hebrews, the\\nOld-Testament covenant people, was largely a re-\\nligious mission. It was theirs to receive and de-\\nvelop the true religion for the whole world. It was\\ntheirs to prepare the world for and to produce the\\nChrist, the Saviour of the world. And this they\\ndid. This is the reason they are in the Holy Book\\nof God. If we are to understand the Christ, we\\nmust understand them and theirs. Especially\\nmust we understand their religion and their wor-\\nship. We might as well expect to understand\\nEngland and leave out the Established Church, or", "height": "3447", "width": "2349", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0305.jp2"}, "306": {"fulltext": "294 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS\\nunderstand Rome and leave out the Vatican as\\nexpect to understand the true religion and leave\\nout the Hebrews and their altar, and their sacri-\\nfices, and their priests, and their prayers, and their\\nsacred writings, and their songs of praise. Their\\nsongs of praise were the final and ultimate form\\nof their religion. The fact is, there is nothing\\ngrand in thought, nothing deep in feeling, nothing\\nsplendid in action, that does not inevitably run\\ninto song for expression. Religion always flowers\\nin the hymn-book. The hymn-book expresses a\\nman s creed, and feelings, and hopes, and ambi-\\ntions, and aims, and self. The hymn-book sets\\nbefore the worshipper the goal of the soul. Its\\nsongs echo among the heights of our possibilities,\\nand call us on and up. The great need of the\\nChristian Church is a hymn-book that has in it the\\nvery latest revelations of God, and the very latest\\ndiscovered truths, and the highest visions possible\\nto the soul, and the third-heaven experiences of\\nthose who are living the God-life here on earth.\\nOnly such a hymn-book can elevate man and build\\nhim up in the true and grand and the beautiful.\\nSuch a hymn-book is the Book of Psalms.\\nIn treating of the Book of Psalms I mean in a\\nbrief way to direct your thoughts to two of the\\nleading characteristics of this sacred Book. In the\\nfirst place\\ni. The Book of Psalms is an inspired book.\\nOld Testament and New Testament alike de-", "height": "3441", "width": "2259", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0306.jp2"}, "307": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 295\\nclare that these holy songs came by the Spirit of\\nGod. Those who know the Book best assent to\\nthis teaching. With them the doctrine of inspi-\\nration is needed to account for the Book. The\\nfact is, it is ignorance of the Bible that leads to\\nthe disparagement of the Bible. The men who\\nloudly mock at the claims of the Word of God do\\nnot really know the Word of God. This was ex-\\nhibited in London once in a club of infidels that\\nmet weekly for the express purpose of ridiculing\\nthe Bible. One night a member of the club, filled\\nwith a sense of humor and hungry for a practical\\njoke, took to the meeting a copy of the Book of\\nRuth, which he begged the privilege of reading.\\nHe first represented that it was a story which had\\njust been written. The members of the club lis-\\ntened with eager interest. The story held them\\nbreathless. It finished altogether too soon. Every\\none pronounced it sublime. They called it a mir-\\nacle of beauty. They prophesied for its author an\\nearthly immortality. You can imagine their cha-\\ngrin when they were told by the practical joker of\\nthe club that it was but a part of the Bible, that\\none Book which they all hated and fought, and\\nconsigned to everlasting oblivion as a mass of rub-\\nbish. Every time it is ignorance that disparages\\nthe Bible and that denies its inspiration. Those\\nwho know the Book best can account for it only\\nby the fact that it is from God, and that holy men\\nof old wrote as they were carried along by the", "height": "3472", "width": "2357", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0307.jp2"}, "308": {"fulltext": "296 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nHoly Ghost. Concerning the Book of Psalms\\nJohn Bright says I am willing to stake on the\\nsingle Book of Psalms the question whether there\\nhas been or has not been a revelation to man from\\nGod. Gladstone says: To the work which the\\nPsalms have accomplished, there is no parallel on\\nearth. This is a fair method and an easy method\\nwhich Gladstone sets before us, viz. Judge the\\nBook by what it has done, whether it be of God\\nor not. Judge the tree by its fruit.\\nSuppose I brought you a book which I claimed\\nhad recently been discovered among the treasures\\nof India, and which had been sent to me by the\\nfinder. The book is certainly a marvel. It is an\\nold book its age is between two and three thou-\\nsand years. It is a book of remarkable poems,\\nwritten by different authors covering a period of\\nno less than a thousand years. It is full of vivid\\npictures of olden times. In it the writers depict\\ntheir own life and experience. The human nature\\nin it is perfect. Hope and fear, and sorrow and joy,\\nand defeat and victory are here in thrilling form.\\nGreat and purifying doctrines are in it. In it are\\nperfect ideals of duty. God and man walk its pages\\nat their very best. It is full of thoughts which\\ninspire the purest and holiest life. In it are mes-\\nsages from God full of divinity and sublimity.\\nIn it are words which are balm to the bruised\\nheart, and comfort and new life to the broken in\\nspirit. Its sacred lyrics fill out the aspirations of", "height": "3440", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0308.jp2"}, "309": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OP THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 297\\nthe loftiest and holiest minds with words as pure\\nas their purest thought. Ever since the poems of\\nthe book were written, they have exerted the most\\nwonderful power over the hearts of men. Great\\narmies have stood bare-headed to sing them before\\ngreat battles, and have knelt down to repeat them\\nafter great victories. They have actually revolu-\\ntionized human lives and have made new and mag-\\nnificent creatures out of both men and women.\\nSuppose I could present you such a newly discov-\\nered book dug out of the antique vaults of India,\\nand could say all this for the book; there is not a\\nperson here but would say, Above all books I de-\\nsire to see that book, and to own it, and to get at\\nthe heart of it. If I should ask you Tell me\\nwhat, in your estimation, is the one word that best\\nexpresses the quality which has made this book\\nwhat it is to all these different men and times\\nYou would answer, That one word is inspira-\\ntion. If the poems be what you have described,\\nand have done what you have said, they are in-\\nspired, and they are fountains of inspiration for\\nthe reason that they are inspired. If I should say\\nHow can you be sure of this We cannot tell\\ncertainly who wrote them, we cannot tell when\\nthey were collected no man can put his finger\\nupon the time or the place when the book was first\\nsaid to be inspired: your answer would be, All\\nthis matters nothing. We should love to know\\nwho their authors were if that were possible; but", "height": "3447", "width": "2342", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0309.jp2"}, "310": {"fulltext": "29 8 NEW EPISTLES PROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe authors would gather lustre from the poem:,\\nand not the poems gather lustre from the authors.\\nIt is no matter when or where they were collected,\\nthe fact that they have been collected and that\\nthey stay collected is the most significant fact. If\\nthe most learned men of two thousand years ago\\nhad written in letters of gold that they were in-\\nspired, and if the tablets upon which they wrote\\nwere seen still among the treasures of the Vati-\\ncan, that would be nothing in comparison with the\\nseal of inspiration which they have in themselves\\nin the uplifting and comforting work which they\\nhave wrought in untold millions of the human\\nrace.\\nMy fellow-men, such a book is the Book of\\nPsalms, and such a work it has wrought among\\nmen. Here it is in all its marvellousness, and the\\nonly way I can account for it is by the fact that it\\nis a book inspired of God. It lifts men up to God\\nbecause it came down from God.\\nIn the second place\\n2. The Book of Psalms is a book that has grown\\nout of human life.\\nI have spoken of the divinity of the book, I\\nwish to speak now of the humanity of the book.\\nThe human in it, as well as the divine, is what\\ntouches, and moves, and sways, and captivates us.\\nA New York minister says, speaking in this line\\nWe ought to be grateful that it did not fall down\\nfrom heaven like the fabulous statue of Diana, nor", "height": "3431", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0310.jp2"}, "311": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 299\\nwas whispered into any man s ear by a dove after\\nthe fashion in which Mohammed said he received\\nthe Koran but God caused it to grow out of ac-\\ntual experience and human life. Each psalm had\\na close connection with the man who wrote it.\\nGod raised up full men, but men of like passions\\nwith ourselves, to give these songs of the soul and\\nof life to mankind. For example, He raised up\\nDavid to be a psalmist, as formerly He raised up\\nMoses to be a lawgiver. To make David a psalm-\\nist He led him through the round of all human\\nconditions that he might catch the spirit proper to\\nevery one and utter it according to truth. He\\nfound him objects for every affection, that the af-\\nfection might not slumber and die. By every va-\\nriety of function He cultivated his whole nature\\nand rilled his soul with wisdom and feeling. He\\ntook him to the camp and made him a conqueror,\\nthat he might be rilled with nobleness of soul and\\nideas of glory. He placed him in a palace that\\nhe might be filled with ideas of majesty and sover-\\neign might. He carried him to the wilderness and\\nplaced him in solitudes, that his soul might dwell\\nalone in the sublime conceptions of God and His\\nmighty works; and He kept him there for long\\nyears, with only a step between him and death,\\nthat he might be schooled to write the psalms of\\nabsolute dependence upon God and His provi-\\ndence. David s harp was full-stringed, and all\\nthe angels of joy and sorrow swept its chords as", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0311.jp2"}, "312": {"fulltext": "300 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthey passed. The. hearts of a hundred men strove\\nand struggled together within the narrow conti-\\nnent of David s single heart.\\nBut let me illustrate how the psalms in this sa-\\ncred psalter grow out of life and experience. For\\nexample, some of the psalms grow out of the tem-\\nple service. Watch one of these temple psalms\\ngrow.\\nThe psalmist enters the temple just as the\\npriest is about to offer an important sacrifice.\\nThe worshipper is leading to the altar the victim\\ndevoted to sacrifice. Noticing the beauty of the\\nanimal for it is a perfect animal he asks the\\npriest, O man of God, are all the animals offered\\nin sacrifice as noble-looking as this animal The\\npriest replies, Undoubtedly yes no animal that\\nhas a flaw or blemish in it, or on it, would be ac-\\ncepted. The animal must be absolutely perfect.\\nIt would be an insult to God to offer anything\\nelse. So particular is God that the animal shall\\nbe perfect that He commands me to search the\\nanimal through and through with the sacrificial\\nknife. God demands that everything that has to\\ndo with worship shall be true to the core. At-\\ntentively the holy psalmist listens to the conver-\\nsation of the priest, and instantly the conversation\\nis turned into a psalm to guide the thinking of all\\nages, and to inspire within all true worshippers a\\nconstant prayer for holiness. The psalm runs on\\nthis wise", "height": "3442", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0312.jp2"}, "313": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 301\\nBehold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts\\nWash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.\\nCreate in me a clean heart, O God\\nAnd renew a right spirit within me.\\nNoticing the Urim and Thummim on the breast-\\nplate of the priest, the psalmist asks, O man of\\nGod, is there any significance in these odd things\\nwhich thou dost treat so reverently and with such\\ncare The priest replies, Certainly. The\\nUrim means light and the Thummim means\\n1 perfection, and both together mean that God\\nwill guide His people in the way of light unto\\nfinal perfection, if they will but put themselves\\nunder His guidance.\\nAttentively the psalmist listens, and instantly\\nthis conversation also is turned into a psalm which\\nruns on this wise\\nLord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.\\nThou shalt guide me with thy counsel,\\nAnd afterward receive me to glory.\\nStanding before the high priest in his full pon-\\ntifical robes, the psalmist notices that on the hem\\nof his sacred robes there are little golden bells.\\nHe asks the holy man, Why, O holy man, are\\nthese bells on thy sanctuary robes, and why do\\nthey give forth their pleasant music? The high\\npriest answers, These bells are on my robes for\\nthe sake of the people. It is my duty as their\\nrepresentative to go into the holy place and ap-\\npear for them before God, and offer incense upon", "height": "3447", "width": "2255", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0313.jp2"}, "314": {"fulltext": "302 XEJV EPISTLES EROM OLD LAXDS.\\nthe altar of gold. The people remain without in\\nsilence, and bow their heads in worship. As I\\nmove about in the holy place performing my duty,\\nthe bells on my robes tinkle and send forth a\\nsweet music. As long as they keep ringing, the\\npeople know that I am safe, and that God is ac-\\ncepting my service and intercession on their be-\\nhalf. They are assured by the ringing bells that\\nGod is still their God and is pleased to dwell\\namong them as their king, and is willing to bless\\nthem. On hearing this the psalmist accompanies\\nthe high priest to the door of the tabernacle and\\njoins the throng of waiting worshippers without.\\nThe high priest goes within, and the psalmist wor-\\nshipping without hears the continual ringing of\\nthe golden bells. His soul thrills with the thought\\nthat God is receiving and blessing Israel in and\\nthrough the high priest, and he receives then and\\nthere a poetic inspiration, and out from his heart\\nleaps a song of praise. It is the Eighty-ninth\\nPsalm\\nBlessed is the people that know the joyful sound:\\nThey walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.\\nIn thy name do they rejoice all the day\\nAnd in thy righteousness are they exalted.\\nFor thou art the glory of their strength\\nAnd in thy favor shall our horn be exalted.\\nFor our shield belongeth unto the Lord\\nAnd our King is the Holy One of Israel.\\nFor example, some of the psalms grow out of\\nthe majestic scenes which are witnessed in na-", "height": "3427", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0314.jp2"}, "315": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 303\\nture. These set the human soul on fire, and out\\nsprings a psalm. Travellers tells us what a deep\\nmeaning these poems gather when you come to\\nstand in the very scenes where they were written.\\nThe great multitudes, for instance, stand in the\\nportico of the temple, and witness a thunder-storm\\ncome sweeping up from the Mediterranean. It\\nstrikes Lebanon, and the cedars bend and break\\nin the tempest. It drives down the hill of Her-\\nmon, roars through the wilderness, and at last\\nbreaks over Jerusalem in great torrents of rain.\\nThen the sun comes out again and all is still.\\nBut out of that thunder-storm there has come a\\npsalm. The mantle of inspiration has fallen on\\na psalmist in the witnessing crowd, and the Twenty-\\nninth Psalm pours from his heart, not as men sing\\nof the storm now, for to him God informs and fills\\nthe storm. The psalm runs on this wise\\nThe voice of the Lord is upon the waters:\\nThe Lord of glory thundereth\\nEven the Lord is upon many waters.\\nThe voice of the Lord is powerful\\nThe voice of the Lord is full of majesty.\\nThe voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars\\nYea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.\\nThe voice of the Lord cleaveth the flames of fire.\\nThe voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness\\nThe Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.\\nThe Lord will give strength to his people\\nThe Lord will bless his people with peace.\\nThe man quivers with a sense of the sublime,\\nand he puts a quiver into his psalm.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0315.jp2"}, "316": {"fulltext": "3 H NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nOn another occasion the psalmist stands one\\nstarry night under the open dome. He is face to\\nface with immensity. His mind plunges out into\\ninfinite depths, and up into infinite heights. The\\nuniverse is before him; the countless stars, un-\\nmeasured and immeasurable thoroughfares of glory,\\nsteeps of worlds, oceans of constellations, great\\nburning orbs which could swallow up our sun with-\\nout adding a perceptible beam to their splendor\\ngreat massive worlds which could swallow up our\\nearth without adding a perceptible sprinkle of dust\\nto their vast magnitude great starry kingdoms\\nwhose tremendous orbit is an infinity, and whose\\nrevolution is an eternity. The psalmist is over-\\nawed by the scene, and he pours his feelings into\\na psalm.\\nO Lord our Lord,\\nHow excellent is thy name in all the earth\\nWho hath set thy glory upon the heavens.\\nWhen I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,\\nThe moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained\\nThen say I What is man, that thou art mindful of him\\nAnd the son of man, that thou visitest him\\nFor example, psalms grow out of the religious\\nexperience of the writers. Here is one case.\\nDavid is converted, but he reaches conversion\\nthrough the bitter conviction of sin. It is a long\\nwhile before he can throw himself upon the mercy\\nof God and believe that there is pardon for him.\\nHe is too vile to be forgiven, he has gone too far", "height": "3438", "width": "2255", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0316.jp2"}, "317": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 305\\ninto sin. That is what he thinks, and the thought\\nplunges him into a horrible darkness. But at last\\nthe light breaks, and he sees that where sin\\nabounds grace doth much more abound. God\\ntakes away his sin and the result is, before he\\nknows it, he is putting the story of his conversion\\ninto a psalm the Fortieth Psalm. As the old\\nScotch version has it the psalm opens thus\\nI waited for the Lord my God,\\nAnd patiently did bear\\nAt length to me He did incline,\\nMy voice and cry to hear.\\n4 He took me from a fearful pit\\nAnd from the miry clay,\\nAnd on a rock He set my feet,\\nEstablishing my way.\\nHe put a new song in my mouth,\\nMy God to magnify\\nMany shall see it, and shall fear\\nAnd on the Lord rely.\\nFor example, psalms grow out of the daily avo-\\ncations of the writers. This is an instance David,\\nthe poet-shepherd, follows his flocks, guides them,\\ndefends them, seeks out new pastures for them,\\ntakes them through the grim passes where the\\nwild beasts lurk the valley of the shadow of\\ndeath. He never for a moment fails in his care\\nover them, and so at last, on some high day of his\\nsoul, an inspirational day, a day after he has had\\na hard time defending and caring for his charge,\\n20", "height": "3471", "width": "2338", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0317.jp2"}, "318": {"fulltext": "SO 6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\nthe thought comes to him that he himself is a\\ncharge to God, just as his flocks are a charge to\\nhim. The result is, out of this tender thought\\nof his dependence upon God springs a psalm, a\\npsalm which lights up his shepherd-life with the\\nbeauty of a holy and an instructive analogy\\nThe Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.\\nHe maketh me to lie down in green pastures\\nHe leadeth me beside the still waters.\\nHe restoreth my soul\\nHe leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name s sake.\\nYea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,\\nI will fear no evil, for thou art with me\\nThy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\\nThou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine\\nenemies\\nThou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over.\\nSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my\\nlife:\\nAnd I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.\\nThis psalm is a word-painting taken from a life\\nfilled with an intense sense of the constant pres-\\nence of God.\\nIn the third place\\n3. The Book of Psalms is a sifted and full book.\\nIt is true that there are only one hundred and fifty\\npsalms, but Athanasius tells us that the present\\nselection of one hundred and fifty was made out of\\nthree thousand psalms, which at that time were\\nsung on the hills and in the valleys of Judea.\\nTwo thousand eight hundred and fifty psalms re-", "height": "3435", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0318.jp2"}, "319": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 307\\njected out of three thousand Certainly the sift-\\ning was severe and certainly in the one hundred\\nand fifty we must have the very finest of the wheat.\\nI suppose that is just about the proportion of the\\nhymns written which are worth singing and worth\\npreserving for our praise. One hundred and fifty\\nout of three thousand My point is this These\\none hundred and fifty are very full. They have a\\nfulness of variety. Let me give but a fraction of\\ntheir variety. The Twenty-third Psalm is a solo.\\nThe Seventh Psalm is a prayer. The Forty-third\\nPsalm is a soliloquy. The Twenty-second Psalm\\nis The Story of the Cross. The Twenty-fourth\\nPsalm is an anthem. The One Hundred and\\nFirst Psalm is a Song of the Home. The One\\nHundred and Fourth Psalm is a tone-painting of\\nnature as seen from the summit of some Rigi.\\nThe Seventy-eighth Psalm is a recital of national\\nhistory. The One Hundred and Nineteenth\\nPsalm is a sermon on God s Law. And the One\\nHundred and Fiftieth Psalm is a grand hallellu-\\njah chorus with a full orchestra.\\nBut this enumeration of variety has to do only\\nwith the form in which we find the Hebrew\\npsalms what is more important is the fulness of\\nthe book in regard to thought and substance.\\nIn the book substance surpasses form. Here\\nwe find pure doctrine and pure life. The ideal\\nman is portrayed here, and in the midst of active\\nlife, as in the Fifteenth Psalm. You have here", "height": "3471", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0319.jp2"}, "320": {"fulltext": "308 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nalso the great fact of immortality. You have it in\\nsuch expressions as these\\n1 God will redeem my soul from the grave\\nFor he shall receive me.\\nAs for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness.\\nI shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.\\nThou wilt show me the path of life\\nIn thy presence is fulness of joy\\nAt thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.\\nThou shalt guide me with thy counsel,\\nAnd afterward receive me to glory.\\nWhom have I in the heaven but thee\\nAnd there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee.\\nMy flesh and my heart faileth\\nBut God is the strength of my heart,\\nAnd my portion forever.\\nThe book excels in its presentation of God, and\\nHis attributes, and His life. For pure praise it\\nleads all hymnology. When hymn-writers want\\nto put exalted praise into their hymns, they have\\nto go to the Praise Psalms of the Hebrews and bor-\\nrow from these. Reverence is of Hebrew birth.\\nNot only is God here, but Christ is here. In the\\nFortieth Psalm we have His incarnation pictured\\nIn the Twenty- second Psalm we have His cruci-\\nfixion pictured. Listen\\nThey gave me gall for my meat\\nAnd in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink\\nThe assembly of the wicked have enclosed me\\nThey pierced my hands and my feet.\\nThey look and stare upon me.\\nThey part my garments among -them\\nAnd cast lots upon. my vesture.", "height": "3430", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0320.jp2"}, "321": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 309\\nIf that be not the story of the cross, what is it\\nSo fully is Christ in the Book of Psalms that it\\ngives us the precise words which He uttered on the\\ncross His cry of soul-abandonment\\nMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\\nAnd the precise words which He uttered with\\nHis dying breath\\nFather, into thy hands I commit my spirit.\\nTo all this must be added the fact that the deep\\nspiritual life of the worshipping soul of man finds\\na large and ever-recurring place in the Book of\\nPsalms, Its psalms were the outgrowth of the\\nreligious experience of the Old-Testament wor-\\nshippers. They voiced their inner life. Where\\ncan you find purer thought, or more majestic sen-\\ntiment, or greater pathos of devotion, or deeper\\nconfession of sin, or more of the spirit of worship,\\nor a greater joy over pardon, or a loftier adoration,\\nor a clearer conception of God Name a single\\nholy principle that cannot be found in the Hebrew\\npsalms, or an aspiration, or a doctrine, or a noble\\ntype of life, or a blessed experience of the immor-\\ntal soul, or any subject whatever calling for praise.\\nFind me if you can a man in this New-Testament\\ndispensation who embodies or equals all that is\\ngrand and good in the old Hebrew psalter. There\\nis no such person on this side of the Gates of\\nPearl. The Old Hebrew psalmists took their harps", "height": "3473", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0321.jp2"}, "322": {"fulltext": "31 o NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nand boldly soared to the very walls of the celes-\\ntial city, and rivalled the songs of the choristers\\nwho strike their harps and sing under the holy\\nand musical shadow of the Tree of Life.\\nMy fellow-men, do I err in thus lauding the\\nBook of Psalms Mark what the book has done.\\nIt has given the world those heroes of faith men-\\ntioned in the Westminster Abbey of the Bible, the\\neleventh chapter of the Hebrews. The prophets\\nwere educated under it. It made Isaiah, and\\nDaniel, and Samuel. More than this, it refreshed\\nand satisfied the human nature of Jesus Christ.\\nI tell you we people of the nineteenth century\\nshould have a profound respect for the hymn book\\nwhich Jesus Christ used, and which satisfied and\\nbuilt up and made perfect His human nature.\\nIn closing let me ask you, How many of the\\npsalms in this wonderful book can you sing?\\nHow many of them can you make your own The\\nanswer to this question will gauge your spiritual\\nstanding, and will tell just where you are in the\\nreligious life. Can you sing the Fortieth Psalm,\\nthe psalm which celebrates conversion Can you\\nsing the Thirty-second Psalm, which expresses the\\njoy of the man who has been pardoned Can you\\nsing the One Hundred and Thirty-first Psalm, the\\npsalm which celebrates the incarnation of the\\ngrace of humility Can you sing the First Psalm,\\nthe psalm which describes a right life lived before\\nGod? Can you sing the Fifteenth Psalm, the", "height": "3430", "width": "2250", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0322.jp2"}, "323": {"fulltext": "THE SONGS OF THE PSALM-COUNTRY. 311\\npsalm which gives a vivid picture of the worship-\\nper who is accepted by the Lord? Can you sing\\nthe Twenty-third Psalm, the psalm of calm assur-\\nance in God? Into how many of these holy and\\ndivine psalms can you pour your religious experi-\\nence and find that mould and experience exactly\\ncorrespond? Brethren, let us aim more at climb-\\ning to the grand soul heights in God s landscape\\nof sacred and inspired psalmody. Let us prize\\nmore, and reverently use more this holy book of\\npraise, which begins with a Benediction and ends\\nwith a Hallelujah.", "height": "3475", "width": "2206", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0323.jp2"}, "324": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3422", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0324.jp2"}, "325": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND.", "height": "3447", "width": "2236", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0325.jp2"}, "326": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3423", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0326.jp2"}, "327": {"fulltext": "Si\\nu -2\\nN\\nX\\na\\nu", "height": "3491", "width": "2404", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0327.jp2"}, "328": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3416", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0328.jp2"}, "329": {"fulltext": "XII.\\nThe Prophets of the Holy Land.\\nSince the days that your fathers came forth out of the land\\nof Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my proph-\\nets, daily rising up early, and sending them. Jer. vii. 25.\\nThe prophets are not honored and used as they\\nshould be. And yet they are the grandest men of\\ninspiration and yet the principles which they ut-\\ntered are the everlasting principles which make\\nfor righteousness and yet many of their predic-\\ntions canopy the age in which we live, and are\\nworking themselves out into realities before our\\neyes and yet the golden promises which they ut-\\ntered in the name of God are the very things that\\nmake the future the golden age to Christian faith.\\nWhat would the future be to the Church of God\\nif the Seventy- second Psalm and the sixtieth chap-\\nter of Isaiah were never to be translated from the\\nprinted page into living facts\\nThe grandest period of the Church of Christ is\\nas yet an unrealized thing, and this is what we\\nmen of America are taught by the old Hebrew\\nprophets, who have painted the future of the Chris-\\ntian Church in their books of prediction. Each\\nprophet stands forth in his individuality, and is", "height": "3447", "width": "2220", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0329.jp2"}, "330": {"fulltext": "318 XEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nthe centre of a wide and interesting historic circle.\\nShining singly, each one is a brilliant star; but\\ngrouped together they are what De Costa calls a\\nsolar system of men of God. They were great\\nmen in the ages away back when contemporary\\nnations produced men of immortal renown. For\\nexample, when Homer was putting the story of his\\nnation into undying verse, and when Lycurgus was\\nframing laws for Sparta, Jonah was preaching the\\nmercy of God to the Gentiles and saving that great\\ncity Nineveh. He was making a history worthy\\nto be written by the pen of God. While Romulus\\nwas building Rome, Isaiah and Micah and Na-\\nhum were building up the kingdom of Judah in\\nrighteousness, and thus giving it perpetuity.\\nWhile zEschylus, the theologian of heathendom,\\nwas laying down the system of ethics for the\\nGreeks, Haggai and Zechariah were breathing\\nspiritual life into the Jews, and giving them the\\nnerve power and the heart force to lift their tem-\\nple from its ashes, and make it once more the pride\\nof Jerusalem. While Socrates, the reformer of\\nheathendom, was trying to purify his people, and\\nwhile he was dying as a martyr for his faith, Mal-\\nachi was putting the Jewish nation into the fur-\\nnace that he might burn out of it all the dross\\nand make it every whit pure gold. The Hebrew\\nprophets were grand men, and that in the ages\\nwhich produced grand men. They towered amid\\nconspicuous contemporaries, They were all of", "height": "3426", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0330.jp2"}, "331": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OP THE HOLY LAND. 319\\nthem magnificent personalities, from Samuel to\\nMalachi or, to sweep a broader field, from Enoch,\\nthe seventh from Adam to John the Baptist, to\\nwhom the great proud city of Jerusalem, rising\\nen masse, went out into the wilderness.\\nIn this study we wish to take only a general\\nsurvey. We simply want to climb the Arch of\\nTriumph and take a bird s-eye view of the Paris of\\nprophecy. We want simply to go to the summit\\nof Pisgah, and take an outward look over the shin-\\ning land. The one question which is to act as our\\nguide is\\nI. Who Were the Hebrew Prophets\\n1. The Hebrew prophets were the mouthpieces of\\nGod.\\nGod selected them, and God commissioned\\nthem and God put His messages into their hearts\\nand God impelled them to utter these messages.\\nGod made them predictors of the events of the\\nhidden future, and also preachers of the present\\ntruth and inculcators of present duty. When\\nthey uttered predictions or issued commandments,\\nthis was the solemn formula with which they be-\\ngan Thus saith the Lord. They were the in-\\ntimate friends of God, living near the gates of\\nheaven and overhearing the counsels of Jehovah.\\nThis the people recognized, and hence they re-\\nceived them as the oracles of heaven and the me-\\ndiums of divine communication. They were the", "height": "3470", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0331.jp2"}, "332": {"fulltext": "320 HEW EPISTLES .-ROM OLD LAXL\\nmedium of communication between God and the\\nHebrews, just as the Bible is the medium of com-\\nmunication between God and us. They were\\namong the people as moral dramatists, and as a\\npublic conscience, and as a walking law.\\nBecause they were the representatives of God\\namong the people, the sweep of their office was\\nvast, and the works which they performed were\\nmany and various. The guardianship of God is\\nuniversal, so their guardianship swept the whole\\nnation. They were national watchmen. They\\nwatched the throne with its king and its surround-\\ning princes. They watched the people in their\\npublic and private life. As the servant of God\\nthe prophet held himself ready to receive any com-\\nmission from God, and to do any work assigned by\\nGod. In the name of the Lord he anointed kings,\\nand in the name of the Lord he rejected and de-\\nposed them. In the name of the Lord he pre-\\ndicted famine and inaugurated revolutions and\\nbegan reformations. In the name of the Lord he\\ndenounced a corrupt priesthood and waged an un-\\nrelenting war against it.\\nHis office and its functions had to do with all\\nthe relations of life over which God has authority.\\nHence the old Hebrew prophet in his faithful per-\\nformance of duty revealed the unchangeable will\\nof God for man in all ages and in all spheres of\\nlife. Hence the Hebrew prophet will always be\\na living power in humanity.", "height": "3436", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0332.jp2"}, "333": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 32!\\n2. The Hebrew prophets were the children of\\nthe people.\\nThe prophethood was a democracy in a mon-\\narchy, and as such it asserted and guarded the\\nrights of the people. This was the reason the\\npeople stood by the prophets and sustained their\\nschools. Their schools were rooted in popular\\nesteem. The people looked upon them as from\\namong themselves, and as champions of the sover-\\neignty of the people, as well as of the sovereignty\\nof God. They were considered the people s de-\\nfence against priestcraft, and kingcraft, and all\\nwicked oppressors.\\nThis was the true view. The prophets were of\\nthe people and for the people. They were like\\ntheir God. God is the truest friend of the people.\\nThe popular and democratic and independent char-\\nacter of the prophets is seen in this. Although\\nthey wielded a great influence, yet they were not\\ninducted into office by any ecclesiastical authority.\\nThere was no prophetic succession. They were\\nnot even continuous, but were occasional. They\\nrose up here and there, by the impulse of their\\nnature, when God filled their nature with His own\\nSpirit. Only men of certain families could be\\npriests, but persons of all the families of the na-\\ntion could be prophets when divinely moved. That\\nthey might be of the people, and command the\\nlove and support of the people, God chose them\\nfrom all tribes. So democratic was the prophet-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0333.jp2"}, "334": {"fulltext": "322 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nhood that in two instances eminent prophets were\\nwomen; and one of them, Huldah, was of such\\nreputation that to her, though Jeremiah was still\\nalive and in full authority, King Josiah sent for\\nadvice in impending public danger. There is\\nalways a reason for the sway of power by a class,\\nand one reason for the sway of prophetic power in\\nPalestine was this The prophets were men from\\nthe people, and the people recognized them as\\ntheir kindred, and trusted them and loved them as\\nsuch. God knew the power of a democratic class,\\nand hence He .saw to it that His prophets consti-\\ntuted such a class.\\n3. The Hebrew propJiets were men of distinct\\nindividuality.\\nIn them we find diversity of individuality in\\nunion with oneness of aim, and of faith, and of\\nlife. Run through their pages and you will ever\\nsee the same protest for truth and justice and\\nmercy; the same messages of wrath for the op-\\npressor the cruel and the impious the same right-\\neous care for the widow and the fatherless and\\nthe stranger. While they bore the same messages\\nand preached the same principles and predicted\\nthe same grand coming events, still these mes-\\nsages and principles and predictions all received\\nthe stamp of their individuality, and worked among\\nthe people in beautiful diversity. They were like\\nthe same thrilling songs translated from the brain\\nof the master composer into living tones by means", "height": "3435", "width": "2245", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0334.jp2"}, "335": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 323\\nof the ringing cornet and the pealing organ and\\nthe sweet-voiced lute. The songs are one and are\\nperfect but they all bear and express the individ-\\nuality of the instrument which makes them vocal.\\nThere is as much variety among the prophets of\\nthe Old Testament as there is among the apostles\\nof the New Testament. The plaintive Thomas is\\nmatched by the plaintive Jeremiah. The lute na-\\nture of John is matched by the lute nature of Isa-\\niah. The heroism and logic of Paul are matched\\nby the heroism and logic of Elijah. The practi-\\ncal James is matched by the practical Micah.\\nThe traitor Judas finds his counterpart in the trai-\\ntor Balaam.\\nSo distinct is the individuality of the Hebrew\\nprophets that they can be easily characterized and\\nclassified. We can deal with them and designate\\nthem by their leading traits, as historians have\\ndealt with and have designated the great men of\\nthe world among the ancient nations. ^Eschylus\\nis called the theologian of heathendom. Plato\\nis called the prophet of heathendom. Epictetus\\nis called the saint of heathendom. There is a\\nclassification of the Hebrew prophets as clear and\\nas distinct as this classification of the heathen\\nsages. Among the Hebrew prophets we have\\nSamuel the organizer; Elijah the national re-\\nformer; Jonah the revivalist; Isaiah the theo-\\nlogian and nationalist; Jeremiah the individual-\\nist, the subjective preacher, the man who appeals", "height": "3447", "width": "2338", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0335.jp2"}, "336": {"fulltext": "324 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nto the conscience; Hosea the analyst; Micah\\nthe practical utilitarian; Ezekiel the priestly\\nritualist; Daniel the apocalyptist Haggai and\\nZechariah the reconstructionists.\\nBut why set forth the individualism of these\\nmen? To show that temperament and natural\\nconstitution should never be considered a barrier\\nto a religious life. In the Hebrew prophets all\\nmanner of temperaments were religious, and ren-\\ndered effective service to God and His cause. To\\nshow that our individuality is a gift from God to\\ngive variety to the truth, which should always be\\nembodied and incorporated in human life. When\\nwe spoil our individuality, and refuse to work for\\nGod along its line, we spoil one of God s plans\\nand in a degree we narrow divine truth and make\\nit monotonous.\\n4. The Hebrew prophets were men who had, back\\nof their words, a fine type of character.\\nUsing italics, we would say, they were men.\\nTheir personality will bear the severest investiga-\\ntion. Their characters will stand the fiercest fires\\nof the crucible. Some men of high professions\\nare but bushels of chaff; they were bushels of\\nwheat. Some men are but bundles of shavings\\nthey were solid timber. They were men of ad-\\nvanced views concerning personal purity and dig-\\nnity and there was a striking and noted concord-\\nance between their views and their lives. They\\nwere honest men, and fearless men, and liberal", "height": "3435", "width": "2246", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0336.jp2"}, "337": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 325\\nmen, and self-denying men. Their personality\\nshone with spiritual graces and holy traits. When\\nduty required sternness, and when nothing else\\nwould do, they were stern. On such occasions not\\nthe priest, nor the king, nor the people had any\\nterror for them. On such occasions they stood\\nbefore the world in their solitary grandeur. But\\nsternness was put on as a duty; it was not the\\nhabit of their life. The habit of their life was\\ngentleness and lovableness and humility. The\\nHebrew prophet was the sweetest-spirited man in\\nthe whole kingdom. He was the man whom the\\npeople delighted to have near them, and to partake\\nof their hospitality. This is what the Shunam-\\nmite woman teaches us when she builds a chamber\\nupon the wall for Elisha. When men possess and\\nexert a tremendous power in the world and push\\nthe cause of God on to success, there is always an\\nexplanation of their power and success. The ex-\\nplanation of the power and success of the old\\nHebrew prophets was this Back of their warn-\\nings and counsels and confession of faith was\\na royal and magnificent moral and spiritual per-\\nsonality. They were men. They were pure and\\nlovable characters. They were self-abnegating\\nand consecrated heroes, who put their lives and\\nall their possessions into their creed.\\nThere is a lesson just here, and there is a ques-\\ntion just here. The lesson is this For the fur-\\ntherance of the cause of God, we must have men", "height": "3474", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0337.jp2"}, "338": {"fulltext": "326 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nas well as principles we must have character as\\nwell as creed. The question is this What is our\\npersonality doing for the cause of God Is it at-\\ntracting men or repelling men? There are multi-\\ntudes of grand principles and creeds in the world,\\nbut they meet with little or no success, and the\\nreason is this They are not married to men, men\\nof the Hebrew-prophet stamp. They are crippled\\nand thrown into disrepute by the weak personality\\nof their professed advocates. There is no use in\\ntalking, you cannot make even holy and heavenly\\nprinciples effective without and apart from effec-\\ntive men. Men are to principles what the cannon\\nis to the cannon ball. Men with no larger calibre\\nthan a toy pistol cannot hurl against the fortress\\nof the foe principles which are the size of cannon\\nballs. For the victory of the truth we want men\\nmen with a large calibre of faith and a large cali-\\nbre of liberality.\\nOne of England s greatest statesmen was asked\\nby a friend if he thought a certain measure would\\npass through the Parliament? His quick reply\\nwas It will not. His friend began to dispute\\nhis decision, and to forecast and to reason with\\nhim as to the righteousness of the cause. The\\nstatesman replied I acknowledge that the cause\\npossesses all that you claim for it, and I believe\\nthat it ought to succeed but nevertheless it will\\nnot, and the reason is, it has not the right kind of\\nmen as its advocates. They have not the charac-", "height": "3428", "width": "2237", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0338.jp2"}, "339": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 327\\nter and the consistency that hold the respect of\\ntheir fellow-men. Brethren, principles are not\\neverything; creed is not everything. Principles\\nand creeds of the very best type are lying all\\naround us, utterly powerless, because they are di-\\nvorced from the right personality and the right\\ncharacter.\\nI know professed Christians who claim that\\ntheir church has the creed of creeds. In relig-\\nious matters they are as big-feeling and as self-\\nimportant as old Diotrephes, who, in the days of\\nthe Apostle John, wanted to make all the slates\\nfor the Church. They are so stiff with orthodoxy\\nthat they are brittle. They are sectarian to the\\nlast atom of their orthodox body. They are not\\nonly in a rigid Church, but more than that, they\\nare bitter partisans in the most rigid party of their\\nrigid Church. Their constant cry is, Stand by\\nthe principles of the Church. So heavily do their\\nprinciples weigh upon their souls that they have\\ngrown stern and unattractive and severe. Now,\\nwhat of these men Well, I have seen them ac-\\ncept and tenaciously hold positions at the head of\\npractical interests connected with their congrega-\\ntions, interests that were vital to their congrega-\\ntions, interests where the principles which they\\nprofessed to believe could best be disseminated,\\nand yet they allowed these interests to dwindle\\nunder their leadership into insignificancy. But\\nthey could not help this. Yes, they could. Five", "height": "3485", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0339.jp2"}, "340": {"fulltext": "328 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nhundred dollars a year well expended would have\\nput life into these schemes committed to them,\\nand would have given character and power to their\\nprinciples and to their congregations. But they\\ndid not have five hundred dollars to contribute,\\nand it would have been a mortification for them to\\nhave handed these interests over to others who\\nhad. But they did have five hundred dollars\\nwhich they could have contributed, they had tens\\nof thousands upon tens of thousands stored away.\\nYou men with your tens of thousands and fifties\\nof thousands accumulated, and banked, and stocked,\\nand invested, you want to marry your thousands\\nto your principles. You want to tell your souls\\nthat these thousands belong to God, and that\\nthey are just so much Church money. If you\\nare large talkers and high professors of a high\\ncreed, then you must be large givers. Common\\nhonesty and common consistency require this. If\\nfrom your accumulated thousands you give only\\nhundreds during the year to the support of your\\nboasted principles, your creed is too large for your\\nmoral and spiritual personality. You are nothing\\nmore than a toy pistol with a quarter of an inch\\ncalibre. Use your little calibre for firing paper\\nwads of mere conjecture concerning truth, but\\nattempt not to handle or hurl God s great cannon\\nballs of principles, given from the armory of heav-\\nen for respectable guns. Toy pistols and cannon\\nballs are a grotesque and an absurd mismatch.", "height": "3440", "width": "2236", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0340.jp2"}, "341": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 329\\nLiberality is the test of a man s creed. The prin-\\nciples of God must have men to impel them be-\\nfore they can be effective. What the modern\\nChurch wants above all things to-day is a large\\nenforcement of men. We have the principles of\\nGod formulated and expressed by the unerring\\nSpirit of Inspiration, and glowing upon the pages\\nof the holy word what we need is a reproduction\\nof men after the type of the old Hebrew prophets,\\nwho will and who can put a telling and magnifi-\\ncent personality back of God s principles.\\nSuch are some of the characteristics of the old\\nHebrew prophets. They were, all of them, the\\nmajor prophets and minor prophets, heroes of God.\\nWe should bless God for them, for they have\\nnot ceased to serve the world. By their writ-\\nings they still live and still inspire humanity.\\nWe feel their faith, and their heroism, and their\\nloyalty. They shame our timid treasons. They\\nteach us how to be true witnesses. They put into\\nour hands forged thunder bolts to hurl against the\\nstrongholds of sin and Satan. When we want to\\ncall sin by its right name, and to administer to it\\nits merited rebuke, we are compelled to open their\\nbooks and quote their words. Their characters\\nstand before us, the embodiment of everything\\nmorally solid and praiseworthy. The prophet\\npower is still a power in the world, and it will con-\\ntinue to be unto the end of time.\\nThere are some practical points which we should", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0341.jp2"}, "342": {"fulltext": "33\u00c2\u00b0 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ngather from this study. They are^such as these:\\ni A human life becomes great only as God is\\nadmitted into it.\\nThe prophets were great but the prophets were\\nmen of God. God and His rule in the universe\\nwere realities to them. Loyalty to God was their\\nmotto in life. They recognized the rights of God,\\nand the crowning of God was their supreme pur-\\npose. The surrender of self to God was their\\ndaily exercise. They kept constantly saying to\\ntheir souls, We are the Lord s and we are sepa-\\nrated from the world. This separation unto God\\nmade them the exponents of the possibilities of\\nGod-fearing men. God was to their life what the\\nvital sap is to the life of the tree. The tree when\\nfilled with vital sap is robed in leafy glory, and\\nis crowned with desirable fruit; but when the vi-\\ntal current is taken out of it, it becomes black and\\nbarren and crumbles away. Put God into a\\nman s life, and he becomes a Samuel, a Micah, a\\nJeremiah. Put God into a man s life, and he be-\\ncomes a Paul, a Stephen, a Luther, a Calvin, a\\nKnox. What men in history can compare with\\nthese men of God, or with their kindred in the\\ndifferent ages God is knocking at the doors of\\nyour nature by His gospel and by His Spirit.\\nHave you opened the doors of your nature to God\\nHow much of your thinking does He control?\\nWhat place has He in your plans What propor-\\ntion of your time does He control What en-", "height": "3437", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0342.jp2"}, "343": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 33 1\\nthronement has His law in your heart? What\\nproportion of your substance do you give Him?\\nIf others were writing of you, could they call you\\na man of God If God spoke of you, could\\nHe speak of you as He spoke of the prophets and\\ncall you His servant If we are not as the proph-\\nets, it is not God s fault. It is our fault because\\nwe are keeping God out of .our lives. We may if\\nwe will, says the Apostle Paul, be filled with all\\nthe fulness of God. If we were, our lives would\\nbe different.\\n2. We owe the truth a lovable personality.\\nSuch a personality the prophets gave the truth.\\nIn them we find that a grand personality is the\\ngrandest of all possible things. There is nothing\\nthat can make the truth so powerful. The truth\\nis like a perfect composition in music. Perfect\\nas the piece of music is, everything depends upon\\nthe way the notes are lifted from the printed page\\nand translated into sound, and upon the kind of\\ninstrument which is used in rendering it. Let it\\nbe rendered by a spluttering banjo, and it will\\nsound more like a farce than a grand masterpiece.\\nBut let it float out into the stillness of the night\\nfrom the soft flute, or let the solemn- toned organ\\nbreathe it into the atmosphere, and it thrills the\\nsoul and brings credit to the genius of the musi-\\ncal composer. Let the personality that corre-\\nsponds with the lute and organ give the truth of\\nGod to the world. Only through it can the world", "height": "3469", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0343.jp2"}, "344": {"fulltext": "33^ EW epistles from old laxds.\\nbe moved by the truth and be led to appreciate the\\nGod of truth. Truth is like light. Light can be\\nintensified and doubled in power by the right\\nkind of a reflector. Even so the truth can be in-\\ntensified by a proper reflector. A lovable person-\\nality is a proper reflector. A lovable personality\\nis more powerful than any page of Scripture. It\\nis the page of Scripture reflected. It is more\\npowerful than the keenest and most logical and\\nmost eloquent sermon. You are familiar with the\\nstory of the minister s eloquent sermon, and the\\nsexton s lovable and holy personality. You re-\\nmember which was the more powerful for Christ.\\nThere was a man in the congregation at which the\\nminister preached for six full months. He was a\\nman of influence and a scholar and the minister\\nfelt that to win him to Christ would be to win a\\ngreat trophy for his Lord. He took up the salient\\nfeatures of the gospel and set these forth with all\\nthe logic and force he could command. At last\\nthe man yielded to Christ, and the minister felt\\namply repaid for his long persistent work. Curi-\\nous to know how the man was reached and what\\nsermon struck the mark, he asked the man to name\\nthe sermon. The reply which he received was this\\nXo sermon reached me. I was won by the\\nsweet Christian disposition and life of the sexton.\\nI felt that I would like to be one with him in dis-\\nposition, and I accepted of his Christ, because I\\nsaw what his Christ did for him.", "height": "3432", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0344.jp2"}, "345": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 333\\nGive me lovable men to carry the truth of God\\nto the world, large-paying men, open-handed men,\\nthe men of the heart, self-denying men, men who\\nwill attract and not repel give me these, and you\\nmay have all the close-fisted, loud-talking, high-\\nprofessing men.\\nBut we need not go back to the Hebrew proph-\\nets to learn the value of a lovable personality, or\\nto see that such a personality is requisite to give\\nlongevity and force to the thoughts of genius, or\\nto give the man of genius himself a claim to great-\\nness and respect. The disclosure which Mr.\\nFroude has made of the private life of Thomas\\nCarlyle demonstrates this. I have nothing to say\\nof the propriety of these disclosures, pro or con,\\nbut I have this to say These disclosures have\\nshattered the image which the public generally had\\nof the character of Carlyle. They have demon-\\nstrated that even the unregenerate world will dis-\\ncount a man whose private life is a farce and libel\\non humanity. Whether right or wrong in his ex-\\nposures, Mr. Froude has struck the keynote of the\\nnineteenth and twentieth century, viz. that round-\\nness of character, not merely intellectual attain-\\nments, not alone the energies that go to make up\\ndistinction, is the true test of a man s worth to the\\nworld, the sum and substance of true greatness.\\nA great will, a great intellect, a great moral force\\nturned outward upon mankind, and never inward\\nupon self, is a travesty on true greatness. It is a", "height": "3447", "width": "2224", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0345.jp2"}, "346": {"fulltext": "334 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nreproach to any man to preach morality and re-\\nform and advancement while the platform upon\\nwhich he stands is mouldy and decayed with pri-\\nvate spleen, inconsiderateness, unkindness, and\\nuncharitableness in the smallest details of private\\nlife. The setting forth of the true personality of\\nThomas Carlyle by Froude has thinned Carry le s\\naudience and lessened his influence, because first\\nof all the people demand and will have a noble\\npersonality in those whom they choose as leaders.\\nOur times join with the times of the prophets in\\ndeclaring that the crown of all things in this world\\nis a loving and noble personality. This must be\\ngiven if thought would live. This must be given\\nto the truth if the truth would become mighty and\\nwould prevail.\\n3. Let us remember that great is our responsi-\\nbility because great are our privileges.\\nWe have the words and the example of the\\nprophets. They teach us what we may be. They\\nteach us how to live. The man who lives in the\\nschool of the prophets owes the world a ripe Chris-\\ntian scholarship. He is under moral obliga-\\ntion to be prophet- like. But we have more than\\nthe prophets. We cannot think of the fact that\\nGod has spoken through them without recalling to\\nmemory the opening words of the Epistle to the\\nHebrews God, who at sundry times, and in\\ndivers manners, spake unto the fathers by the\\nprophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us", "height": "3425", "width": "2246", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0346.jp2"}, "347": {"fulltext": "THE PROPHETS OF THE HOLY LAND. 335\\nby his Son We are the disciples of Jesus and\\nhe that is least in His kingdom is greater than the\\ngreatest of all the prophets. He is living in\\ngreater times, he sees greater sights, he is within\\nreach of greater possibilities.\\nWe go into raptures over the times in which\\nwe live, and this is right but let us remember\\nthat our greater times, which are crowded with\\ngreater privileges, are crowded also with greater\\nresponsibilities. The greatness of our responsi-\\nbilities should lead us to great reliance upon\\nJesus Christ, who alone can prepare us for meeting\\nour responsibilities.", "height": "3473", "width": "2193", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0347.jp2"}, "348": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3418", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0348.jp2"}, "349": {"fulltext": "THE SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE;\\nOR, THE USES OF THE MOUNTAINS.\\n22", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0349.jp2"}, "350": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3427", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0350.jp2"}, "351": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3415", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0351.jp2"}, "352": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3397", "width": "2241", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0352.jp2"}, "353": {"fulltext": "XIII.\\nThe Sacred Heights of Palestine; or, The\\nUses of the Mountains.\\nThe mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but\\nmy kindness shall not depart from thee, saith the Lord who hath\\nmercy on thee. Isa. liv. 10.\\nWe should dwell long enough in the midst of\\nthe mountains, with their white heights, and their\\nrocky massiveness, and their unscalable altitudes,\\nto learn that they play an indispensable part in the\\neconomy of life. They are forces of God perpetu-\\nally working upon the lines of mercy. They are\\nnature s bank vaults packed full of inestimable\\nriches. They are the great reservoirs in which\\nGod stores His waters in the form of the crystal\\nglacier. Out of them God pours forth those riv-\\ners of life which roll through the continents. The\\nAmazon is the child of the Andes the Rhine is\\nthe child of th\u00c2\u00ab Alps; the Mississippi is the child\\nof the Rockies; the Nile is the child of Ruwen-\\nzori. Thus it is all through this broad earth it is\\nmountain, then glacier, then river, and then man\\nwith his civilization dwelling upon the banks of\\nthe river.", "height": "3447", "width": "2216", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0353.jp2"}, "354": {"fulltext": "34 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nBut all this is physical, and pertains to the\\nphysical use of the mountains. All this is sim-\\nply physical geography. The mountains have a\\nhigher use than the physical. They are of use\\nas view-points from which man may see and pon-\\nder and admire the beauties and sublimities and\\nimmensities of nature, and get the corresponding\\nlessons. This use brings the mountains into the\\nhigher life of man. It makes them sublime prob-\\nlems in stone gateways into the realms of\\nthought moral and aesthetic powers. Placing us\\nright in the midst of the picturesqueness of nature,\\nthe mountains produce food for the intellect and\\nfor the heart. They show us fascinating and en-\\nchaining beauty, and then when they have put us\\nunder the spell of beauty they say to us, O man,\\nmatch this beauty of matter with beauty of mind\\nand soul. God wants beautiful lives.\\nBeauty is part of the gospel of the world. God\\ntalks to us through beauty, as we all know. Beauty\\nin nature is a distinct appeal to us over and above\\nall utilities and economies. We know that every\\ntouch of beauty is for the human eye, and is a\\nthought of God for us. There is not a point of\\ngold on the insect s wing, nor a curve, nor a color\\nin the leaf but is there for us to look at, that the\\nhigher life in us may be awakened, and that we\\nmay be made to love beautiful things, so that we\\nmay rise from the love of beautiful things to the\\nlove of beautiful ideas, and from the love of beau-", "height": "3434", "width": "2245", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0354.jp2"}, "355": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 343\\ntiful ideas to the love of beautiful persons, and\\nfrom the love of beautiful persons to the love of a\\nbeautiful self. The mountains have been called\\nnature s symbols of personality, her word of de-\\ncision, vigor, outlook, serenity, and self-respect.\\nWhat we say of the vision of beauty which the\\nmountains bring us, we may say also of the vision\\nof immensity which the mountains bring us. It\\nis an influential thing to stand face to face with\\nimmensity, as one does when one looks out from a\\nmountain summit. When we stand face to face\\nwith immensity we breathe deeply, we live broadly,\\nwe bound up and out, we aspire, we soar. The\\nvision of immensity evokes the play of imagination.\\nIt drives trifles out of our thoughts and makes\\nus long for the fellowship of the great. It lifts us\\nout of our limitations and starts within us the\\nthrobbing of unreached possibilities. It acts as a\\nrevelation of self, and calls us to a life befitting\\nself. It demands of the world of humanity moun-\\ntain men with snow-white souls, and with charac-\\nters towering toward the moral and spiritual alti-\\ntudes of God. A mountain-top with its vision is\\nwhere a man projects himself forward in life, and\\non in life, and up in life. It is the place where\\nhe makes large plans. In shaping our thoughts I\\nask you to consider two uses of the mountains of\\nGod.\\ni. The mountains are of use as pedestals for\\ngreat historical facts.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0355.jp2"}, "356": {"fulltext": "344 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nWhere shall we look for the illustration and\\nconfirmation of this point Everywhere. Do we\\nopen the books of mythology There it is. Yon-\\nder are the white heights of Olympus holding up\\nto universal view the great deeds of Jupiter and\\nthe gods. Do we open the book of romance There\\nit is. There is William Tell on one of the spurs\\nof Switzerland, and before him his own boy hold-\\ning the target on his head. It was a shot for life\\nwhich Tell made when his arrow struck the apple\\non his boy s head without deviating a hair s breadth\\nfrom his aim. The story of William Tell has\\nplanted the seed of liberty in the heart of every\\nboy in the Swiss republic. Do we open the biog-\\nraphies of our great men There it is. In human\\nbiography the mountains are connected with the\\ndeepest thoughts and holiest ambitions of lead-\\ning men. When they would wrestle with giant\\nproblems they betake themselves to the mountains,\\nthat the depths of their souls may be stirred by\\ncontact with the depths of great nature. Goethe\\nstudied in the heart of the Alps and so did Mad-\\nam de Stael; and so did thousands of others of\\nthe children of genius. Zoroaster, Moses, Mo-\\nhammed, Christ these all legislated from moun-\\ntains. Do we open the book of religious history\\nWe see the same thing, viz. great facts on moun-\\ntain pedestals. The Alps tell the tales of the\\nWaldenses, the Highlands of Scotland tell the\\ntales of the Covenanters, and the hills of New", "height": "3431", "width": "2248", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0356.jp2"}, "357": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 345\\nEngland tell the tales of the Pilgrims and\\nPuritans.\\nThus by a general survey, we see that moun-\\ntains are thrones in history upon which sceptred\\nevents sway the thoughts and hopes and destinies\\nof men. The gods of mythology rule from Olym-\\npus, and the Muses from Parnassus. Rome rules\\nfrom her seven hills, and Athens from her Acrop-\\nolis, and Memphis from her Pyramids.\\nBut it is not my intention to go through the\\npages of general history in order to illustrate my\\npoint I purposely make the point in order that I\\nmay get into the Bible. How the holy mountains\\njut up in majesty and grandeur from the pages of\\nthe Book As we see them in the Book they are\\neloquent historians. The Bible shows us that\\nthere was not a noted mountain in Palestine upon\\nwhich God did not put some important event. He\\nmade every hill talk of something calculated to\\nmagnify Himself or His truth, or else call out\\nlove to Him, or else strengthen faith in Him, or\\nelse magnify and enforce duty. It would seem as\\nthough the mountains were made for the events to\\nwhich they are married.\\nTake Sinai It was just fitted for the giving of\\nthe law. Its summit was high enough to be\\nwrapped around with the thick cloud which was\\nJehovah s chariot; and the plain before it was\\nbroad enough to hold the millions of Israel in\\nsuch a way that they could see everything and hear", "height": "3481", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0357.jp2"}, "358": {"fulltext": "346 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\neverything. And then there were peaks enough\\naround, subordinate peaks, to catch and echo the\\nthunder which pealed forth and which was intended\\nto give majesty to the marvellous scene. Stop\\nand in imagination follow just one thunder peal\\nas it issues from Sinai The one peal explodes\\nright above the summit, and then the terrible roar\\nruns out on lines in every direction. Some lines\\nrun through the valleys, and you hear a deep rum-\\nble other lines strike the surrounding crests, and\\ncrag throws the voice to crag until the awful peal\\nis echoed and repeated, duplicated and reduplicated,\\na thousand times with deafening and awing effect.\\nSo completely adapted was Mount Sinai as a\\ntheatre to the scene that was enacted upon it that\\nI believe God away back in the creative era gave\\nthe subterranean forces which heaved the moun-\\ntain into its snowy altitude definite instructions\\nhow to heave it, and how to shape it, and how to\\nsurround it. He told all the elements to work\\ntoward the day of the giving of the law. After\\nthe giving of the law, he told Sinai to stand just\\nwhere it was to the end of time and proclaim to\\nmankind what God had done on that wonderful\\nday, and what God had spoken.\\nAs God used Sinai so He used Calvary. The\\nCross of Jesus Christ must be seen to the ends\\nof the earth, and this fact God symbolized by put-\\nting it upon a mountain height. I believe that\\nthe one great mission of Calvary was to hold up", "height": "3428", "width": "2244", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0358.jp2"}, "359": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 347\\nthe Cross of Jesus Christ, and become the divine\\naltar upon which the great sacrifice for the sin of\\nthe world should be offered. When Jesus Christ\\ncompleted His saving work there, God said to Cal-\\nvary, Remain forever and hold in your solid rocks\\nthe yawning fissures made by the earthquake when\\nJesus Christ was crucified, and tell mankind how\\nheaven and earth alike were stirred to their depth\\nby the wonderful tragedy. My fellow- men, before\\nyou can annihilate the holy law of God, you must\\npulverize Sinai before you can destroy the Cross\\nof Christ you must uproot Calvary.\\nYou see that the facts which God puts on the\\nmountain pedestals are the very facts which man\\nneeds to know. They are such things as these,\\nthe Law and the Gospel. Because of this use\\nwhich God makes of mountains, there are some\\nmountains standing on earth that seem almost con-\\nscious beings, and their presence affects us like a\\nliving personality. If they could but speak and\\ntell what they have seen and felt, they would fill\\nthe listener with awe, and they would inspire him\\nwith faith. By the laws of association they do\\nspeak. They rise before us as perpetual sacra-\\nments of hope. They proclaim God s interest in\\nhuman life, and declare that He who has done\\ngreat things for man in the past will do great\\nthings for man in the future. He will put other\\nfacts on other mountain pedestals until every\\nmountain summit of the universe shall become a", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0359.jp2"}, "360": {"fulltext": "34^ NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nhistoric memorial shaft and a witness to the over-\\nrule of God.\\nAs you turn the pages of God s Book, I would\\nhave you notice the fulness of human history, and\\nespecially the fulness of human history in the\\nline of the covenant of redemption, as that his-\\ntory is read from the mountain tops of Scripture.\\nYou can decipher the story of the deluge from\\nthe sides of the rainbowed Ararat and the story\\nof the exodus and the organization of Israel into\\na nation from the sides of Sinai and the story of\\nthe great reformation from the sides of Carmel,\\nand thus on. But we must enter the biography\\nof Christ if we would see how complete mountain-\\ntop history is. There is a mountain-top gospel,\\nand a mountain- top biography of Christ. Take\\nfive mountains that jut up in Christ s experience.\\nThe mountain of Temptation, and Hattin from\\nwhich He delivered the Sermon on the Mount and\\nHermon, and Calvary, and Olivet. These set forth\\nthe man Christ Jesus His immaculate holiness\\nwhich is proof against all the wiles of the Evil\\nOne; His sublime principles and golden beati-\\ntudes His inherent and divine glory, which flashes\\nthrough His body as through a crystal and transfig-\\nures Him and shows Him to be the brightness of\\nthe Father s glory and the express image of His\\nPerson; His atoning sacrifice for sin on the cross;\\nand His ascension to heaven to rule in majesty\\nat the right hand of the throne for His people.", "height": "3441", "width": "2252", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0360.jp2"}, "361": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 349\\nWeave these great five facts together and you have\\nthe biography of Jesus Christ in all of its grand\\nessentials. There is a fifth gospel, a gospel in\\naddition to the four which you have in the New\\nTestament, and that fifth gospel is the gospel ac-\\ncording to the sacred mountains. My fellow-men,\\nbefore you can obliterate the story of Jesus Christ\\nfrom this earth in which He so sublimely lived,\\nyou will have to grind out of sight and forever\\nerase from Palestine the sacred mountains where\\nHe was tempted, and where He preached His\\nwonderful sermon and where He was transfigured,\\nand where He died and where He ascended.\\nThere is one other thought which I wish to ex-\\nalt before our minds in speaking of the mountains\\nof Palestine which hold up great historical facts.\\nIt is a practical thought. It is this These\\nmountains which are in the Bible should be within\\nus they are mountains which should be in our\\nlives. We never can become mountain men until\\nthey are in us and in our lives. There should be\\na Calvary within us for the crucifixion of self\\nfor they that are Christ s have crucified the flesh\\nwith the affections and lusts thereof. Carmel\\nstands for reform, Moriah for sacrifice, Pisgah for\\nvision, Zion for worship, Hermon for transfigura-\\ntion, Hattin for truth, Olivet for the gate of\\nheaven. Now these are the very things which\\nwe need in life reformation, sacrifice, truth,\\ntransfiguration, nearness to heaven. What moun-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0361.jp2"}, "362": {"fulltext": "35\u00c2\u00b0 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LAXDS.\\ntains have you in your life The mountains which\\nMoses had 5 which Elijah had 3 which Christ had?\\nHave you been reformed have you been trans-\\nfigured have you been crucified 3 To all these\\nheights of duty and privilege the mountains of\\nGod are calling you this day. They are preaching\\nto you in God*s name by means of and through the\\ngreat historical facts which they lift up facts\\nwhich stand for human duty, human possibility,\\nhuman aspiration, and human achievement. They\\nbid you live away up in the heights of your own\\nbeing; that is, to live in a constant transfiguration\\nfor every height of your soul is a mountain of\\ntransfiguration a snowy Hermon, where prayer\\nand communion with the divine Father cause\\nthe outflashing of all that is best within man. I\\nhave reached my second point, it is this\\n2. The mountains are of use as symbols open-\\ning up to us and illustrating high and right con-\\nceptions of God.\\nThis is by far the grandest use of mountains.\\nThey are Bibles of stone, and as such they give\\nus God and God s thoughts. God is the great\\nneed of man, and that which brings God to man\\nand helps toward a perfect fellowship between\\nGod and man renders man the finest and most\\neffective sen-ice. God brought into a man s life\\nmakes man, redeems man, transforms man into the\\ndivine image, and glorifies his entire being. See-\\ning that the mountains are an alphabet designed", "height": "3428", "width": "2253", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0362.jp2"}, "363": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 35 1\\nto spell out and describe God to our souls, let us\\nsee if we cannot get some truths about God from\\nand through the mountains.\\nTo do this we must call to our help the divine\\nwriters. It will be much for us to do if we do\\nnothing more than think over after them their\\ngreat thoughts. Many of them use the mountains\\nas symbols of God. They see in them pictures of\\nthe very attributes of God.\\nFor example, looking up at their massive and\\nunchangeable forms the psalmist says, \\\\ey are\\nsymbols of God s righteousness. Thy righteous-\\nness is like the great mountains thy judgments\\nare a great deep O Lord, thou preservest man\\nand beast. Such is the vision of David when\\nhe expects God to defend him from evil and be-\\nfriend the right. He casts himself upon the right-\\neousness of God, and makes his appeal to it. And\\nas he does so the righteousness of God towers be-\\nfore his faith as firm and as massive and as reliable\\nas the mountains, Thy righteousness is like the\\ngreat mountains. We poor sinful creatures na-\\nturally shrink from the thought of righteousness\\nbut after all it is a grand thing that there is such\\na thing as the righteousness of God, and that the\\nmountains are not more steadfast than it is. This\\nrighteousness is ours, and is on our side, and is\\nour defence. What would this world of ours do\\nif it were not for the righteousness of our God\\nTyranny would grind it under its iron heel op-", "height": "3446", "width": "2235", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0363.jp2"}, "364": {"fulltext": "35 2 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\npression and wrong would rob it and enslave it,\\nand all manner of cruel crime would deluge it with\\nblood. There is nothing that I more wish to see\\nmarch up and down and through this earth of ours\\nthan God s righteousness. It means the overthrow\\nof iniquity; it means the defence of human rights\\nirrespective of race or color; it means civil and\\nreligious liberty. Evil might as well clash against\\nthe embedded granite of the mountain as clash\\nwith the righteousness of God. God s righteous-\\nness forever blocks the way of all evil.\\nFor example, the prophet Isaiah uses the moun-\\ntains as steps upon which he may climb into a\\nfirm faith in God s power. To him they shadow\\nthe attribute of God s omnipotence. They are\\nthe embodiment of power. It took power to put\\nthem where they are, and by the power of their\\nmight they hold their places against all opposing\\nforces. The storms which sweep our earth in\\nmajesty are vivid forms of power, and they terrify\\nus but the storms split themselves into a thou-\\nsand harmless parts every time they strike the\\ncorners of the immovable mountains. The prophet\\nis constantly throwing himself back upon the power\\nof his God. He solves all perplexing problems in\\nIsrael by the power of God. And the mountains\\nwhich God weighs in His scales, he tells us are\\nmeasures by which we may begin. to form concep-\\ntions of God s omnipotence. To him Lebanon\\nsays, The power of God is infinite. He tells", "height": "3421", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0364.jp2"}, "365": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 353\\nmen everywhere God is our refuge and strength,\\na present help in every time of trouble. God\\nstands round about His people as the mountains\\nstand round about Jerusalem.\\nThus we see from the way the divine writers\\nspeak of the mountains that nature not only wit-\\nnesseth to the existence of God, but in some re-\\nspect also it witnesseth to the character of God.\\nIts striking features are similitudes of God s maj-\\nesty and glory and power. It is as Paul teaches,\\nWe learn of the invisible things of God by the\\nthings which God has made.\\nBut our text teaches us a fact in advance of\\nanything we have yet reached. It teaches us that\\nGod Himself interprets the mountains, and that\\nHe makes them symbolize the greatest of all\\nknown facts, viz. His infinite and unchangeable\\nlove toward the children of men. He says to us\\nThe mountains have been in all ages, and are to\\nyou to-day the symbols of eternity, they are as\\nnear to eternal existence as anything nature has:\\nbut my love is more eternal. For the mountains\\nshall depart, and the hills be removed, but my\\nkindness shall not depart from you saith the Lord\\nwho hath mercy upon you.\\nThis is wonderful. This makes nature talk to\\nus of divine love. And what is strange, this old\\nmessage of God, written in the old book of proph-\\necy in the Old Testament, is the very latest mes-\\nsage which science is bringing to man and prov-\\n23", "height": "3487", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0365.jp2"}, "366": {"fulltext": "354 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\ning with elaborate arguments. Science to-day\\nis making the earth ring with this cry, God is\\nlove. It points us to beauty as it is everywhere\\nin nature and says, That is love, and a witness\\nof love. A world that is lovely can only proceed\\nout of a will that loves. Now the will that works\\nin nature always guides its labors into paths which\\nmake for final loveliness. Why is beauty shot\\ninto the dead and crumpling leaf of the autumn\\ntree Because God is love. Why is the scarred\\npeak. of the thunder-riven mountain lichened with\\ninfinite skill until its far-away altitudes gleam like\\nbattlements of gold Because God is love. Why\\nis it that the vast depths of the dome overhead are\\ntinted with tender azure and not with appalling\\nblack Because God is love. Why is it that the\\nappalling storms break into rainbows which display\\nthe whole gamut of color Because God is love.\\nScience points not only to the presence of\\nbeauty in nature as a proof of God s love it points\\nus to the marvellous way in which nature provides\\nus with food and says, Here again, O man, is the\\nlove of God. Take, for example, honey, which\\nmay be called the climax of food. The bees that\\nmake the honey work among hundreds of strange\\nsubstances. Thousands of bees work, and they\\nmeet thousands of poisonous plants, but not a\\nsingle bee is deceived, and in perfect confidence\\nwe eat the fruit of their labor, involving millions\\nof selections; and yet we know that if one bee", "height": "3430", "width": "2257", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0366.jp2"}, "367": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 355\\nmade a mistake our life would pay the penalty. If\\nwe can trust the instinct of the bee, ought we\\nnot to be able to trust the God who gave it its\\nunerring instinct The bee has yet to make the\\nfirst mistake and gather poison into the cell in-\\nstead of honey. The very bee with its pure deli-\\ncious honey teaches that God is love and that God\\nis wisdom, and that His love and wisdom are such\\nthat they can be counted upon, for God changeth\\nnot.\\nAll this is on the surface. Nature has deeps,\\nand science to-day is searching into the deeps of\\nnature and bringing up the proof from these that\\nGod is love, and that everything in nature culmi-\\nnates in love in God s love to man.\\nIn the latest book of science which I have read,\\nthere is a chapter which is called the Evolution\\nof Motherhood. The chapter is wonderful for its\\ngenius. It says human motherhood stands at the\\nhead of all motherhood, and at the head of crea-\\ntion also; it is the last of God s creative works.\\nWhen God made Eve He went no further in the\\nevolution of things. Everything below led up to\\nEve. There is a growth of motherhood down in\\nthe regions below the human. There is a mother-\\nhood down there that knows nothing about its\\nchildren it dies before its children begin to\\nlive. The butterfly deposits its larvae on the leaf\\nof the tree, but before its offspring in the larvae\\nbecome caterpillars, and then butterflies, the but-", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0367.jp2"}, "368": {"fulltext": "35 6 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nterfly which deposited the larvae has long been\\ndead. There is in nature a marked and distinct\\ngrade from the butterfly motherhood up to human\\nmotherhood, which lives with and loves its chil-\\ndren. When God brought the human mother into\\nexistence He quit evoluting. He said I have\\ngiven the world motherhood, and in motherhood I\\nhave given the world love in the highest possible\\nhuman form, and that is enough. Let love take up\\nthe task of progress, and build up humane institu-\\ntions, and fill the earth with tender and upbuilding\\nassociations, which will make a heaven out of\\nearth.\\nBut what is the chief teaching of our text/\\nThis. The character of God s love to man. And\\nwhat is the character of God s love to man? It is\\nunchangeable and eternal. It is a love that out-\\nlives the mountains. A love as long-lived as the\\nmountains would be a very satisfactory love, but\\nnot satisfactory enough to suit God. The moun-\\ntains stand for geological ages, and geological ages\\nare long, long ages. But geological ages, long as\\nthey are, and symbols of eternity as they are, are\\nnot long enough for the cravings and the plans of\\nGod s love as He deals with His people. An Eng-\\nlish theologian writes We should read these\\nwords, The mountains shall depart and the hills\\nbe removed with the tone of scornful disbelief.\\nIt is an impossibility for mountains to depart. So\\nis a change in God s love impossible. That is", "height": "3438", "width": "2255", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0368.jp2"}, "369": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 357\\nthe truth about God s love, but it is not the\\ntruth about the mountains. The mountains shall\\ndepart. The mountains are changing. Let us be\\nscientifically correct. Scientific correctness only\\nmagnifies the love of God. Glaciers starting from\\nthe snow heights are grinding down the mountain\\nsummits and pulverizing them. The actions of\\nheat and cold and water are splitting and disin-\\ntegrating the rocks up in the cold altitudes.\\nMany a mountain is only a skeleton of what it was\\nwhen it was first heaved from the bosom of the\\nearth. The Alleghanies were once three thousand\\nfeet higher than they are to-day. There are spots\\nwhere the falling debris of the mountain keeps\\nus up an almost continual cannonade. There are\\ntons and tons of rock dust being carried down to\\nthe plains by the rivers issuing from the moun-\\ntains. There are constant avalanches which em-\\nbody land-slides and giant boulders and these are\\nhurled into the valleys. There is a ruinous crum-\\nbling going on all the time. There is not a moun-\\ntain on this earth but God has inscribed upon it\\nDust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.\\nBut this crumbling is infinitesimal. It will take\\nages upon ages to level the great heights. Oh,\\nyes. That is the point for God says, When\\nthese ages upon ages have come and gone, and\\nwhen they have done their work, and when there\\nshall be no more mountains, my love will be still\\nwearing the dew of its youth and will only be", "height": "3478", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0369.jp2"}, "370": {"fulltext": "35 8 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nseeing the sunrise of its day. The mountains\\nshall depart and the hills be removed, but my\\nkindness shall not depart from thee, said the Lord\\nwho hath mercy upon thee. Brethren, this is\\nthe meaning of that monosyllabic description of\\nGod which the Apostle John gives us when he\\nsays: God is love. He is love that never\\nchanges.\\nDo I believe this teaching? I do. Why? I\\nbelieve it because John believed it. But John was\\ncarried away by a young enthusiasm when he ut-\\ntered it. No, he was not. And that is the beauty\\nof it. It was an old enthusiasm that spoke in\\nJohn, and not a young enthusiasm. It was a tried\\nenthusiasm. When John penned those words he\\nwas an old man. If you wish to know what John\\nwent through, read the Apocalypse. That lets you\\ninto his life. His life was a life of pain and strug-\\ngle; filled with visions of dark desolations, of an-\\ngels who smite with swords, of phials of wrath that\\npour out plagues of thunders and lightnings. His\\nlife was tapering to a close, widowed of all its old\\nfamiliar friends. He had felt the fury of kings,\\nlooked into the face of the mad mob, swooned at\\nthe terrors predicted. He had known all that\\ncould crush, and sting, and dishearten, and deaden,\\nand dismay and yet at the close of this prolonged\\nexperience of life he pronounces with a sure heart\\nand an invincible confidence as the sum of all his\\nlearning this God is love. Let any man be", "height": "3429", "width": "2253", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0370.jp2"}, "371": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 359\\nable to speak out of a life such as that, and from\\nsuch an experience bear testimony to the unchange-\\nableness of God s love, and I am bound to believe\\nhim.\\nDo I believe the teaching of the text? I do.\\nWhy? Because wherever I see love in its pure\\nform I find that from its very nature it is un-\\nchangeable. Look at it in the human sphere.\\nYears ago a wealthy gentleman in England en-\\ngaged himself to a woman of fine position and of\\nlarge natural gifts. He left for California. While\\nthere fortune favored him until he fairly rolled\\nin wealth. But stay The wheel of fortune one\\nday turned the wrong way, and he found himself\\na beggar. The man, most noble in his love, sent\\nback by the next mail a few lines to his fiancee\\nreleasing her from her engagement. He would\\nnot have her marry a beggar. He had wooed and\\nwon her as a man of fortune, and he now sent\\nback her release. Some months previous to this\\nhe had sent her a nugget of gold, which he him-\\nself had dug from the earth. When she received\\nher release she took that nugget of gold and had\\nit changed into a circlet, a ring. This ring she\\nsent to him on the first outward-bound ship. It\\nwas her answer. Engraved in the inner margin of\\nthe ring was this inscription Ruth i. 16, I?\\nOpening his Bible at Ruth i. 16, 17, he read her\\nmessage Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re-\\nturn from following after thee for whither thou", "height": "3478", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0371.jp2"}, "372": {"fulltext": "360 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LA XL S.\\ngoest I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will\\nlodge thy people shall be my people, and thy\\nGod my God where thou diest will I die, and\\nthere will I be buried the Lord do so to me and\\nmore also if aught but death part thee and me.\\nThat was human love, yet it was unchangeable.\\nI believe that if human love at its best is un-\\nchangeable, divine love must be infinitely un-\\nchangeable and it is.\\nDo I believe in the teaching of the text? I\\ndo. Why? Because it is love s only self -pro-\\ntection to be true and unchangeable. It is the\\nonly way love can be happy. Every time love\\nbecomes fickle and proves unfaithful to its ob-\\nject, it suffers for its fickleness and unfaithful-\\nness tenfold more than the object against which\\nit sins. Now it does not stand to reason that\\nlove, especially the love of God, is going to in-\\nflict upon itself a grievous injury. Last month\\na young man was arrested for some trivial offence\\nin the city of New York, and convicted and sent\\nto the island. He sent a plea to his father to\\ncome to his rescue. But the father turned a deaf\\near to the entreaty of his son. In his anger he\\ndetermined to let him take care of himself and\\nlearn through humiliation that the way of the\\ntransgressor is hard. The father s pride had been\\ninjured, and pride buried his love. When the son\\nreached the Island and found what a filthy place it\\nwas, he made a second appeal to his father telL", "height": "3436", "width": "2228", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0372.jp2"}, "373": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 3 61\\ning him that he would not allow his dog to be put\\nin sucn a place. The father was still deaf to his\\nson s appeal saying he has made his bed and he\\nmust sleep in it. Forsaken by the one man on\\nall the earth who should have befriended him, that\\nboy made a desperate effort to escape. But he ut-\\nterly failed, he was not a skillful enough swimmer\\nand the next morning his body was washed life-\\nless upon the shore of the Island. But what of\\nthe father who was untrue to his love? The last\\nI heard of him, he was on the verge of insanity\\ncrazed with grief and suffering from a broken\\nheart. The one cry that is on his lips to-day is\\nthis, I would give the world if I had gone to my\\npoor boy. God is not going to wound His own\\nlove God is not going to break His own heart by\\ngoing back upon His covenant ones. His love\\nwill always remain unchangeable, because it must\\nbe true to itself. God s own happiness requires\\nan unchangeable love upon His part. There is no\\nbond to trueness stronger than that.\\nDo I believe in the teaching of the text? I\\ndo. Why? Because of what God s love had al-\\nready done. It has given His Son. It has built\\nCalvary. It has overlooked the wicked treatment\\nit has received from man in the past. It can\\nnever be treated by man worse than it has been\\ntreated. Men can do nothing more wicked than\\ncrucify Jesus Christ. Yet notwithstanding the\\ncrime of the crucifixion, God continues to love.", "height": "3447", "width": "2229", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0373.jp2"}, "374": {"fulltext": "362 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nWhen I wish to thrill my soul with a picture of\\nGod s unchangeable love I open the book and read\\nthe parable of the prodigal son. That is a picture\\nof God s love. The unchangeable love of the\\nFather is the pith of that whole parable. Is there\\nnothing that can change the father s love? Put\\nthe question to the parable and see. The son\\nmakes a decided fool of himself, and that is pretty\\nbad but still the father loves. He spends his\\npatrimony on harlots. That is awful but still\\nthe father loves. He expatriates himself and\\ncasts in his lot among swine and serves an uncir-\\ncumcised gentile and feeds gentile swine, and\\nmakes himself loathed and abominable to the heart\\nof every true Jew. That is awfulness added to\\nawfulness still the father loves. He goes down,\\ndown, down in the scale of crime and ingratitude\\nand disgrace until he touches the bottom of all that\\nis mean and sensual and devilish but still the fa-\\nther loves. When the father sees him a wreck of\\nwhat he once was wending his way home, he cries\\nout so that all the neighborhood hears him My\\nboy shall have the kiss, and the embrace of wel-\\ncome, and the best robe, and the ring, and the\\nfatted calf, and the feast, and the old recognition\\nof sonship in the community. That parable is\\nonly a drama in words.\\nThere is a drama in real life which sets forth\\nthe infinitude and eternity and the unchange-\\nableness of God s love. This drama of life is", "height": "3432", "width": "2256", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0374.jp2"}, "375": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 363\\nthe story of the Christ, God s unspeakable gift.\\nIn that Christ-drama God does more than act\\nthe part of the father in the prodigal son. In\\nthe parable the father waits until the son re-\\nturns but in Jesus Christ the divine Father can\\nnot wait for the son s return, but in Christ He\\ngoes after him into the far country and brings him\\nback. Was not that the way it was with you?\\nDid you seek God, or did God seek you And\\nwhen He found you, did He give you up on the\\nfirst refusal, or upon the second, or upon the\\nthird? You resisted, He persevered. It was\\nwith you as it was with the Scotchman who said,\\nIt took two to convert me. When asked what\\nhe did, he said I did everything I could against\\nmy conversion, and God Almighty did the rest.\\nThe rest was everything. Because God has done\\nso much for us already, I believe with Paul that\\nHe who hath begun the good work of salvation\\nin us will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ.\\nThat is, until we shall see Christ and shall be\\ntransformed by the sight into His glorious like-\\nness.\\nI have only one word in closing, and it is this\\nThis fact which God makes the mountains teach\\nus, His unchangeable love, is just the fact to set\\nbefore our souls as we work with God for the sal-\\nvation of men. It is also just the view of God to\\npresent before men. You never will have atheism\\ndriven out of the world until you present to the", "height": "3487", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0375.jp2"}, "376": {"fulltext": "364 NEW EPISTLES FROM OLD LANDS.\\nworld such a God as men will want to have live\\nand reign.\\nThe God of love is such a God. Then also,\\nthis is just the God who stimulates workers\\namong the lost and rebellious. If God be a God\\nwho continues to love, then we shall not fail in\\nour work on God s part. If God had not loved\\nIsrael, and if He had not kept on loving Israel,\\nIsrael would never have reached the land of\\npromise. Why even Moses gave Israel up. But\\nhe took up his work anew when he found that God\\nrefused to give them up. God s love said To\\nCanaan I have started My covenant people, and to\\nCanaan they shall go. Why, such is God s love\\nthat it saves away beyond our faith. There was\\nnot a man in all the spirit-filled Christian Church\\nof the early apostolic class that believed Saul of\\nTarsus could be saved. There was not one with\\nfaith sufficient to pray for his conversion. God\\nfound him, and God was the only one who had\\nfaith to go after him. When he was converted\\nthe Church did not believe it, and Barnabas the\\nson of consolation was the only man in all Jeru-\\nsalem who was bold enough to step forward and\\ngive him the right hand of fellowship.\\nOh, the inspiration that comes from the unchang-\\ning love of God It enables us to say with enthu-\\nsiasm I will work for the salvation of sinners,\\nbecause God wants sinners saved, and because\\nGod loves sinners. In Christian work our hope", "height": "3437", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0376.jp2"}, "377": {"fulltext": "SACRED HEIGHTS OF PALESTINE. 365\\nis in God. God loves the lost, therefore we labor\\nin God s name and in God s power to save the\\nlost. God cares for the lost, therefore we care\\nfor the lost. Inspired by the love of God That\\nis our equipment.", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0377.jp2"}, "378": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0378.jp2"}, "379": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0379.jp2"}, "380": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3434", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0380.jp2"}, "381": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3447", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0381.jp2"}, "382": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3430", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0382.jp2"}, "383": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3470", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0383.jp2"}, "384": {"fulltext": "DEC 2 1899", "height": "3423", "width": "2299", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0384.jp2"}, "385": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3475", "width": "2222", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0385.jp2"}, "386": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n021 066 379 4", "height": "3705", "width": "2409", "jp2-path": "newepistlesfromo00greg_0386.jp2"}}