Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. Sermons
A learned and interesting book has been written upon 'The Decisive Battles of the World.' Often in the long history of mankind, the fate of races, of empires, as well as that of kings and heroes, has been settled upon the battle-field. Decisive conflicts often occur in the region of thought and belief, in the region of personal influence, where there is nothing to attract general attention. But even more overlooked and unnoticed is the perpetual Divine judgment which takes place in human life and human society; and even more forgotten is the day of judgment, which revelation assures us shall surely come. Not denying that there may be in this verse a reference to some special historical incident, we may yet take it as conveying a great and solemn truth applicable to the moral life of humanity. I. LAW AND RETRIBUTION ARE PRESENT AS PERPETUAL FACTORS IN HUMAN HISTORY. 1. Nations are judged by their works. What is stated in this chapter regarding Judah, Tyre, Sidon, and the Gentile nations that surrounded Palestine, is not true of them alone. God is the Ruler of the nations. National error and crime are visited by Divine penalties, and the nations that endure probation are exalted to honour and to sway. Hi§tory is now better understood than formerly, and it has become growingly evident that deep-seated moral causes underlie and explain the changes, the rise, the decline, the fall, of peoples. 2. Individual life is equally the province of God's retributive government. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" "The wicked shall not go unpunished." His prosperity shall not last for ever; it shall be seen that there is a Judge in the earth. We, indeed, have no right to set ourselves up as infallible interpreters of the ways of God; we have no right to infer from particular sufferings particular sins; but the fact of God's moral rule we cannot question, and we should never for a moment forget. II. THOUGH RETRIBUTION BE DEFERRED, ITS ACTION WILL NOT BE EVADED; FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR. 1. Men's conscience assures them that, although for a season they may escape the deserved penalties due to their misdeeds, a time of reckoning shall come, and that soon. 2. The reflections to which events constrain us, and which lead us to consider the course and order of Divine Providence, cannot but induce a belief that the inequalities of this world will be redressed hereafter; that although vice and virtue may not here meet with their recompense, that recompense will be accorded hereafter. 3. Revelation comes in to make the probability a certainty. The Hebrew prophets seem to point on to a day of the Lord, in which the inequalities of this life shall be corrected, in which the truth shall be made manifest, in which every man shall receive according to his works. Indeed, the future judgment occupied a more prominent position in the preaching and teaching of the apostles than it usually holds in Christian teaching at the present time. In that day, for which all days were made, multitudes shall be gathered in the valley of decision; the righteous Judge shall administer his awful functions in the sublimest publicity, and upon principles of unquestionable rectitude. Happy is the Christian who can look forward with equanimity and hope to the day when "every man shall receive his praise from God." - T. Multitudes in the valley of decision. These words were spoken in a time of deep depression. Joel says the sadness and gloom were mainly due to the indecision of the people, who did not know whether to trust foreign alliances or Jehovah. So they would have to be led into a valley of judgment, from which they would not emerge until they had come to a decision. In our day much of the prevailing darkness is due to indecision. We feel that things are wrong, but we are not exactly sure what is required to set them right. I. IN REGARD TO WHAT WE BELIEVE. There is peculiar difficulty in this generation, owing to the methods of modern inquiry and discussion. This is an age of specialism. Each branch of theology has its own special students. Each presses his own conclusions to the furthest limit. It is our duty to look for ourselves at the general lines of revealed truth, and to measure our relation to them. We must come to a decision with regard to Jesus Christ. Certainly — 1. Christ was the revealer of God. 2. He was the remover of barriers. 3. The guidance He gave us for our actual conduct was authentic.These three simple truths can be isolated from all disputed doctrines, and used as a test. The man who sincerely accepts these truths has found his way out of the valley of decision. II. IN REGARD TO WHAT WE DO. We can test ourselves by our conduct in business, in the family, in general society. There are various plain questions which we ask ourselves too rarely, although we all in the long run shall require to answer them. Do we always do our duty, or only when it suits our plans? Has our life any principle, any plan? We know the road in which we ought to wall are we walking in it? Do we always follow conscience? God often thrusts us into the darkest caves of the valley in order that we may learn our need for giving a plain answer to these questions. In the valley of decision you are bound to fix your faith in God and Christ, and to take the path of goodness. () There is something very wonderful, and very awe-inspiring in the thought of the multitudinous, the immeasurable multitudinousness, of created things. Infinite space is thronged with multitudes of worlds, and every world with multitudes of things. When we think Of the race of mankind, how vast and inconceivable are the multitudes of men. Each individual that has ever lived exists somewhere. Once born, they can never die. Yet these vast hosts lie easily enough within the reckoning of God. Known unto Him are the history and the character, the temptations and the opportunities, of every single individual of the vast whole of the human race, both quick arid dead. One by one each will personally appear before the personal God in the valley of decision. Where is this valley? Tradition identifies as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But the wady of the Kedron cannot properly be called a valley. Joel invented the name for "Jehovah's judgment." Christ never localised the seat of judgment, any more than He announced, the time of judgment. But what is judgment? It is not Christ our judge who decides the bliss of the blessed or the curse of the accursed.' The blessed are deciding their own blessedness when they cultivate holiness of character, and the cursed are deciding their own doom when they are forgetting God and living in sin. The valley of decision is the valley which each man treads in the road of life. It is here and now. Divine decision, or final judgment, is no swift, sudden, arbitrary act of God's; but a long, slow process performed by ourselves. In the valley of decision there is no standing still. () I. WHAT MAY BE UNDERSTOOD AS THE VALLEY OF DECISION FOR MAN. It is the whole life of man upon the earth. There is actually but a single question pro posed from God to man. As a wandering, rebellious creature, he is invited and commanded, to come back in the spirit and act of reconciliation unto God. Will he lay hold of the hope set before him? This is the great question of human life, and it is generally determined by man long before the last hours of his life have come. Many have settled this question for themselves, and so have passed out of the valley of decision. Others have decided, but have chosen death rather than life. These, too, have passed out of the valley of decision. We cannot therefore justly say that all men, now alive, are in the valley of decision. We must narrow down our view to those for whom the great question remains undecided. II. THE GREATER PORTION OF THOSE TO WHOM THE OFFERS OF ETERNAL LIFE ARE MADE ARE UNDECIDED. The great majority who listen to the Gospel are still in the valley of decision. A blessing and a curse are yet before them. III. THE GREAT DECISION MUST SPEEDILY BE MADE. "The day of the Lord is near." By that day we understand the time of final determination of the destiny of the children of men. Soon for every man, this day must certainly come at the period of death. Then this is the accepted time, and this is the day of your salvation. () Old Testament Anecdotes. It has been well said that in every life there is a turning-point, as in a fever, a turning point that brings either life or death. Napoleon said, "In every battle there are ten minutes on which hangs the fate of nations." Hundreds of soul battles are fought and won in a few minutes. Unspeakably solemn axe the silence and the quickness with which these spiritual battles are fought.() There is a fascination, even a terror, in the appearance of a great multitude. Where is the valley of decision? First of all, here in this world. The world all unconsciously to its teeming myriads is a valley of decision in which they gather together to certain ends and work out certain definite issues. What is being decided in this valley?1. Character. That strange stamp which gives to each one of us his own individuality, that personality which spreads itself over our likes and dislikes, that stamp whereby men can label us and catalogue us, and yet feel at the end that we elude classification. Circumstances are the material of life, good or bad. It is we who take up our circumstances, and out of them make habits, and habits decide or form our character in this valley of decision which we call human life. 2. Our own happiness or misery. Life was meant to be happy. But this is placed in our own hands for decision. 3. Eternity. The great decision is not, after all, the sudden thing we suppose it to be, except in very rare cases. Here in this world a decision may be altered, it may not be final. The prophet looks on to a day when the decision will be final; it is the great day of judgment at the end of the world. Is this a belief which is still a living and a practical one to you? Then judge yourselves that you may not be, in that day, judged of the Lord. () The matters between two armies are going to be finally decided: therefore the valley is called, "the valley of decision." This place is to-night a valley of decision. See some of the things you have to decide.1. Whether you will adhere to sin or renounce it. Not your pleasures, but your positive sins. You cannot become a child of God and adhere to any one of your transgressions. Will it pay you to keep your sin? Sin never pays. 2. Whether you will have Christ or refuse Him. There is no pardon or heaven without the friendship of Christ. And He is such a precious Jesus. 3. Whether you will have Christian associations or unchristian. Need not apologise for everything that is in the Church. There is some bad and much good in the Church. The fact that there are inconsistent Christians is nothing against Christianity, and nothing against the Church. Come, then, into the ranks of Church members. 4. Whether you will have a Christian deathbed or an unbeliever's departure. There is a triumphant and there is an ignominious way of getting out of this life, and we come here to choose which it shall be. 5. Whether yours shall be a future world of sorrow or a future world of joy. () What is here called "the valley of decision" (i.e., of sharp judgment), is called in ver. 12 "the valley of Jehoshaphat" (God judgeth). This was locally the valley of Kedron; the later associations of this valley (Gethsemane was there) figuratively present a great spiritual crisis. The prophets show themselves to be taught of God in the breadth and extent of their visions. While speaking to their own nation only, they announce God's dealings with all the world. They look forward into the distant future — to the end of time. From time to time God specially interferes, either to enlighten and encourage His own when the adversary is too strong for them; or to overthrow those who are opposing His "will." The final interference is what is called "the day of the Lord." In this chapter is a vision, of the final judgment of mankind, and of that which is to precede it.1. The wickedness of the earth is full. 2. Drawn by a mighty influence, the enemies of God, to a place whither He has summoned them. 3. The powers of nature sink and fade before the presence of the glory of God. 4. But the Lord is the strength and hope of His own people. Note — (1)The great issues of good and evil which are working out in the world.(2)Contemplate the predicted end, the final victory of Christ and His people.(3)Decide on which side we take part in the conflict.() There is a day coming when all the uncertainties of life will be at an end, when every mask will drop off, when every hidden thing will be exposed to view, and the secrets of every life will be told. The prophet is here looking forward to an occasion of judgment, and every occasion of judgment must of necessity be an occasion of decision. But the work of judgment is by no means confined to the future. Wherever the Gospel message goes, wherever the truth of God is revealed to the understanding of man, there the work of judgment necessarily commences. Our Lord taught that it was in virtue of the relation in which men stood to the Son of Man that their position before God was to be decided. So it is still. The presence of Christ in His Spirit among us still must needs cause judgment. The first work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The word "convict" is a judicial term. It may be said of redemption itself, that the Divine mercy is ordained to flow into the human heart through judgment. Unconditioned mercy — mercy that does not come to me through the forms of judgment, and with the sanction of justice — might have a demoralising effect upon me. Ours is a Gospel of merely flowing through judgment. So then, not only does the Holy Ghost judge us when He first brings our sins to remembrance and pronounces us guilty, but in the very act of justifying us He still exhibits, in the most impressive manner, God's righteous judgment against sin; for it is through the Cross that grace flows forth to us, and the Cross is, above everything else, the place of judgment — the most amazing and impressive vindication that God could give of the majesty of law. We may say that every day of visitation from God to the soul of man is in some sense a lesser judgment day. On the last august occasion, the decision will lie simply and solely with the Judge. There will be no appealing from His judgment. Now, the decision lies with ourselves. It is the work of God the Holy Spirit to bring .all with whom He strives, into the valley of decision, the place of judgment. There are two ways out of this valley. Through the gate of life and through the gate of death.() Note the vast appearance that shall be in that great and solemn day.1. The judgment day, that day of the Lord, has all along been looked upon, and spoken of, as "nigh at hand." We ought to be always ready for it. 2. The day of judgment will be a day of decision, when every man's eternal state will be determined, and the controversy that has been long depending between the kingdom of Christ and that of Satan shall he finally decided, and an end put to the struggle. The Chaldee calls it, "the valley of the distribution of judgment." Marg. has "valley of threshing," carrying on the figure of the harvest. 3. Innumerable multitudes will be gathered together to receive their final doom in that day. O what vast multitudes of sinners will Divine justice be glorified in the ruin of at that day! () (Sermon to Children): — The text struck me when I was a lad. Children have a strange way of mixing up things, and I came to think of these words as in some way connected with a place near my native town. Away out on those wild cliffs, with the fierce Atlantic rolling in upon them, there is a valley which came to be in my mind a sort of "valley of decision."I. THE VALLEY OF DECISION IS A PLACE FOR SOBER THOUGHT. There is the little stream hurrying on between the banks, always hastening away to the great sea. Is not that just like our life? It is hurrying away to the great sea of eternity. II. A PLACE OF SOLEMN WARNING. Just under this little valley a merry party had come one day for a picnic. One young man slipped away to bathe. Suddenly, as the others sat singing on the rocks, one sprang up and pointed to their friend as he was being borne away by the current. He was drowning before their eyes. What is death but the sweeping in of the waves of eternity, bearing away one and another T Think of these things deeply and seriously. III. THE PLACE SUGGESTED OUR DANGER AND OUR DELIVERANCE. There was a huge, black, rounded cavern, called Ralph's Cupboard, in a steep, precipitous cliff, never accessible from the land, and scarcely ever to be entered from the sea. A smuggler, hard pressed by the coastguards, turned his boat towards this cave, caught the swelling wave, and was swept into what seemed the jaws of destruction, but to him was harbour of safety. We, too, have broken the law. We want a refuge. And the Bible says, "A man shall be as an hiding-place." Our only Safety is in Him, our only hope of escape is there. Yet all this will not make a place the valley of decision. When we have made up our mind, the day of the Lord is near. () Joel was a prophet in the older sense. He was a seer; he had visions. He had, indeed, a work to do for his own generation; but this was all to be impressed by the solemnity of the visions given to him. One of these visions we follow. In Eastern houses there is often a little upper chamber, available for prayer and meditation, and we may imagine Joel, in such a place, poring over the records of Divine law and Divine leadings, and bending in earnest supplication before his God. As he thinks and prays the daylight fades; gradually he becomes absorbed; other scenes open up before him; he sees more than the bodily eye can see; age after age passes in hurried march; dimly, indistinctly, he traces the progress of events as these ages roll on; and gradually he becomes aware of an extraordinary excitement. As the vision clears it is as though heaven were preparing for some grand event; the angelic warriors are girding on their armour, though evidently rather for a day of glory than a day of battle. The angelic attendants are preparing thrones of judgment, palms of victory, robes of beauty, crowns of glory, songs of triumph; and, strangely enough, also chains of darkness and of woe. Hell is moved. Out of its depths spirit after spirit is appearing to join the procession that is ever forming and passing on. The sea is moved, and casts out the dead that are in her. And even as the prophet watches, he sees the last midnight darkness pass away; gradually the grey of dawn streaks the skies, and at the moment when the sun first looks upon the hills, a mighty angel stands forth and cries — "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." The "day of the Lord" is yet to come. The day of the Lord's glory, when the multitude of the redeemed shall crown Him with many crowns. The day of the Lord's vindication, when He shall break down the rebellion of lost souls with the proofs of His forbearance, and the memory of His repeated calls. The day when the "wrath of the Lamb" must be revealed, and He shall come" in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of His Sort." There must be an end of this dispensation of redemption. There must be a completion of Christ's special administration. There must be the "day of the Lord." As Joel's vision gains distinctness, his attention is arrested by the people assembled on that day. Language fails him in attempting a description. All around, wherever the eye can reach, he sees people, people everywhere; and overwhelmed, he can only cry, — "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!" Few things make stronger impressions on us than the sight of a multitude of people. Many of the greatest wrongs the world has known have been committed under the passionate, unreasoning impulses of multitudes. Many of the most impressive Bible narratives concern multitudes. But if a multitude on earth can exert such power on us, what shall be the effect of multitudes to which our present earth-crowds form no comparison; multitudes in the day of the Lord; multitudes in the valley of decision? Numbers altogether fail for recording that multitude. Language altogether fails for describing it. Even imagination, in its highest flights, utterly fails worthily to conceive it. We may venture to contrast in one or two particulars the ordinary crowds of earth, and the multitudes in the valley of decision.1. In an earthly crowd the individual is lost in the multitude. In that multitude the number is lost in the individual. Each person will stand out distinct to view, as though he alone were placed before the Judge. And each individual will feel as though he were alone. It will be a time of awful self-consciousness. 2. In an earthly crowd there are almost infinite disguises. The people are not in reality what they seem. The dress of the gentleman too often covers the profligate; the lowly look, and humble clothes, often cover the self-righteous hypocrite. The garb of poverty often hides the noble and generous-hearted. In the valley of decision there are no disguises. All disguise drops off at death. Men's shrouds are pretty much alike; and even they soon rot and perish in the dampness of the grave. Men rise to judgment with no disguises upon them. Stern, unflinching truth shall dispel all mists, all doubts, and set our characters forth clear as in the sunlight. And what are the great distinctions which shall mark these "multitudes"? We notice the utter absence of all merely human distinctions. Riches — nothing. Poverty — nothing. Position — nothing. Fame — nothing. Knowledge — nothing. Character — everything. One test for everybody — righteous or wicked. The Scriptures do not satisfy our questionings concerning the precise terms of the decision at that assize, but they intimate that there will be a more general term, and a more particular one. The general term is thus expressed, — "Condemned already, because they,, believed not on the Son of God." The particular term is thus expressed, — We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." How these are to fit into each other, it is beyond any human power to explain. But we can see the two separate facts very clearly. Our life, in its minutest acts, has eternal issues. Everything we do, beyond its bearing on our present character, has its bearing on our eternal destiny, because on our eternal character. Our every-day conduct is, in sober reality, raising our mansion of eternal bliss, or preparing the dungeons of the eternal death. And the general test that is to decide in that great day is very simple. It is this — in Christ or out of Christ? The answer to that question settles all else. And that test may be put now. We shall come out upon that "day of the Lord" as though from a room where we had rested awhile upon a landing-place, from which steps wind upward into a place of beauty and delights; and from which other steps wind downwards into ever-deepening darkness. If out of Christ when you yield up the ghost, then you must be borne downwards, until it can be said of you, "The darkness took them." If in Christ now, and when the spirit parts with its earthly tabernacle, then, loving angel arms shall entwine you; loving angel songs shall cheer you; loving friends, long lost, shall beckon you; the loving Saviour shall Himself be with you, as you journey up the steps of glory everlasting; the gates of the golden palace shall be flung back for you, and with shouts of triumphant welcome, "the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." () Multitudes in the valley of judgment; multitudes come together that they may be examined, criticised in the light of heaven, judged by the standard eternal and unchangeable. Why not accept that as the basis of an appeal to human intelligence and human conscience? There is to be a time of judgment, when the right and the left shall be specifically distinguished; when the bad and the good shall be known one from the other, and separated for ever. Who undertakes this marvellous classification? Blessed be God, not man; thanks be unto heaven, we are to be judged by the Creator, not by the creature. What man could judge his brother? What does man know about his dearest friend? He knows nothing. We live upon appearances.()
People Grecians, Javan, Jehoshaphat, Joel, ZidonPlaces Edom, Egypt, Jerusalem, Philistia, Sidon, Tyre, Valley of Jehoshaphat, Valley of Shittim, ZionTopics Decision, Masses, Multitudes, ValleyOutline 1. God's judgments against the enemies of his people.
9. God will be known in his judgment.
18. His blessing upon the church.
Dictionary of Bible Themes Joel 3:14 4290 valleys
5279 crowds Joel 3:12-14 9220 day of the LORD Joel 3:14-15 4284 sun
4812 darkness, God's judgment Library The Gospel Day Seen in Prophecy.
Upon reading the account of man's creation in the first chapters of Genesis we conclude that he enjoyed perfect peace and happiness. From the beautiful description given there of the garden of Eden--man's abode--we understand that God was interested in his felicity. In the nature of created things he could retain this happiness only by obedience to the Creator's laws. By a subtle foe he was induced to transgress those laws and thus became acquainted with sin and sorrow. After the transgression he …
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day Whether the Judgment Will Take Place in the Valley of Josaphat?
Objection 1: It would seem that the judgment will not take place in the valley of Josaphat or in the surrounding locality. For at least it will be necessary for those to be judged to stand on the ground, and those alone to be raised aloft whose business it will be to judge. But the whole land of promise would not be able to contain the multitude of those who are to be judged. Therefore it is impossible for the judgment to take place in the neighborhood of that valley. Objection 2: Further, to Christ …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Post-Millennialism Refuted.
The post-millennial position rests largely upon a mis-translation. In Matt. 13:39 we read "The harvest is the end of the world," and again in Matt. 24:3--"And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Now the Greek word which is used in the above passages is entirely different from the one found in John 3:16--"God so loved the Kosmos." In the verses …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return The Battle of Armageddon.
The Battle of Armageddon! What extravagant speculations have been indulged concerning it! What unscriptural theories have been entertained respecting it! To begin with; this appears from the term employed. Nowhere in the Bible do we read of "The Battle of Armageddon." The Scriptural expression is "The Battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Rev. 16:14). This Battle of the great day of God Almighty will bring the Tribulation period to a close and will witness the return of Christ to the earth to …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return The Twelve Minor Prophets.
1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later at the end of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Valley of Hinnom.
A great part of the valley of Kedron was called also the 'Valley of Hinnom.' Jeremiah, going forth into the valley of Hinnom, went out by the gate "Hacharsith, the Sun-gate," Jeremiah 19:2; that is, the Rabbins and others being interpreters, 'by the East-gate.' For thence was the beginning of the valley of Hinnom, which, after some space, bending itself westward, ran out along the south side of the city. There is no need to repeat those very many things, which are related of this place in the Old …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Great Assize
[i.e., The Last Judgment -- GL] [21] "We shall all stand before the judgement-seat of Christ." Rom. 14:10. 1. How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity! -- The general concourse of people of every age, sex, rank, and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighboring, but from distant, parts; criminals, speedily to be brought forth and having no way to escape; officers, waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions The Figurative Language of Scripture.
1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. 84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys under the figure of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts 15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be embodied …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible On the Various Names and Titles
Man is the total human or the mind; in Genesis: God made man after His own image and likeness. And in a bad part of the psalm: arise, o Lord, let not man prevail, here is flesh or the devil. [Gen. 1:27; Ps. 9:20(19)] The man is the spirit, that is, the mind; in the apostle: man is the head of woman. Man is the same in a bad part of Genesis: the virgin was fair of face and not known to any man, that is, the devil, who corrupts the mind greatly with imagining. [I Cor. 11:3; Gen. 24:16-18] The woman …
St. Eucherius of Lyons—The Formulae of St. Eucherius of Lyons Of the True Church. Duty of Cultivating Unity with Her, as the Mother of all the Godly.
1. The church now to be considered. With her God has deposited whatever is necessary to faith and good order. A summary of what is contained in this Book. Why it begins with the Church. 2. In what sense the article of the Creed concerning the Church is to be understood. Why we should say, "I believe the Church," not "I believe in the Church." The purport of this article. Why the Church is called Catholic or Universal. 3. What meant by the Communion of Saints. Whether it is inconsistent with various …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's Confession.
(at the Synagogue in Capernaum.) ^D John VI. 22-71. ^d 22 On the morrow [the morrow after Jesus fed the five thousand] the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea [on the east side, opposite Capernaum] saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone 23 (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate the bread after that the Lord had given thanks): 24 when the multitude …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel On Earthly Things
The earth is man himself; in the gospel: another has fallen into the good earth. The same in a bad part about the sinner: you devour the earth all the days of your life. [Mark 4:18; Genesis 3:14] The dry lands are the flesh of a fruitless man; in Ecclesiastes, to work in a dry land with evil and sorrow. [Ecclesiastes 37:3] The dust is a sinner or the vanity of the flesh; in the psalm: like the dust, which the wind blows about. [Ps. 1:4 Vulgate] The mud is the gluttony of sinners; in the psalm: tear …
St. Eucherius of Lyons—The Formulae of St. Eucherius of Lyons Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Or, a Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ, to his Poor Servant, John Bunyan
In this my relation of the merciful working of God upon my soul, it will not be amiss, if in the first place, I do in a few words give you a hint of my pedigree, and manner of bringing up; that thereby the goodness and bounty of God towards me, may be the more advanced and magnified before the sons of men. 2. For my descent then, it was, as is well known by many, of a low and inconsiderable generation; my father's house being of that rank that is meanest, and most despised of all the families in …
John Bunyan—Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Interpretation of Prophecy.
1. The scriptural idea of prophecy is widely removed from that of human foresight and presentiment. It is that of a revelation made by the Holy Spirit respecting the future, always in the interest of God's kingdom. It is no part of the plan of prophecy to gratify vain curiosity respecting "the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power." Acts 1:7. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God"--this is its key-note. In its form it is carefully adapted to this great end. …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished; …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Joel
The book of Joel admirably illustrates the intimate connection which subsisted for the prophetic mind between the sorrows and disasters of the present and the coming day of Jehovah: the one is the immediate harbinger of the other. In an unusually devastating plague of locusts, which, like an army of the Lord,[1] has stripped the land bare and brought misery alike upon city and country, man and beast--"for the beasts of the field look up sighing unto Thee," i. 20--the prophet sees the forerunner of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joel 3:14 NIV
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