_Forasmuch as many have taken in hand_ ST. LUKE’S PREFACE These four verses arc a preface, and a very valuable preface, because they are a declaration from the author himself of the manner in which we are to regard his work. I. St. Luke gives us to understand that HE HIMSELF WAS NOT AN EYEWITNESS... [ Continue Reading ]
_A certain priest named Zacharias._ --Mark how immediately the historian betakes himself to the collateral line. Something very suggestive in this. No one life independent of other lives. As every text has its context, so every life has relationships and associations which must in some degree be un... [ Continue Reading ]
_Both righteous before God_ OBSERVANCE OF GOD’S ORDINANCES _“_By walking in the ordinances,” they walked likewise “in all the commandments of the Lord; “ that being the means whereby they did this. (_Bishop Beveridge._) PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES God communicates Himself with great variety to His sa... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they had no child_ VIRTUE REWARDED AFTER LONG TRIAL Observe here-- I. This holy pair, Zacharias and Elisabeth, were fruitful in holy obedience, but barren in children; a fruitful soul and a barren womb are consistent, and often meet together. This religious couple made no less progress in vi... [ Continue Reading ]
_While he executed the priest’s office_ THE PRIEST’S OFFICE The duties of the priests were many and various. It was their awful and peculiar honour to “come near the Lord” (Exodus 19:22). None but they could minister before Him in the Holy place where He manifested His presence: none others could... [ Continue Reading ]
_An angel of the Lord_ ANGELIC VISITS The angels will come to us when we are doing the Lord’s business--even though that business be routine, and we have become almost weary with its mechanical repetition, yet the radiant messenger can find us in our obscurity, and open before us new and enchantin... [ Continue Reading ]
_He was troubled_ TERRIFYING EFFECT OF SUPERNATURAL APPEARANCES Such has usually been the effect of supernatural appearances, even on good men, as is exemplified in Manoah, David, Paul, and others. 1. Man’s weakness is incapable of easily bearing the glory of such appearances. 2. His sinfulness n... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the angel said unto him, Fear not_ HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH KNOWN IN HEAVEN From the speech of Gabriel it is clear that _human _life, in its beginning’, course, purpose, and destiny, is known in heaven before it is manifested on earth. This is not the case with exceptional men only, but with all... [ Continue Reading ]
_Many shall rejoice at his birth_ AN IDEAL CHILD Could some parents foresee how wicked some of their children would become, instead of rejoicing, they would grieve at their birth; they would wish they had never been born. John, however, was to be a great comfort and honour to his parents. And man... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord_ TRUE GREATNESS What is greatness? Scarcely two persons among us would give the same reply to that question. All would admit that it denotes pre-eminence, but each would have his own preference as to the department in which it was to be manifested.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The hearts of the fathers to the children_ DRAWING LIGHTNING Science tells us that the best defence against lightning in a thunderstorm is found, not in defiance of it, but in a silent discharge of it. Go right towards it fearlessly with a pointed plantina wire, and it will follow a fixed law of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God_ “I AM GABRIEL. ” Names of angels The name Gabriel signifies “The mighty messenger of God.” The Bible knows of only two heavenly personages who are invested with a name: Gabriel (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21), and Michael (Daniel 10:13; Jude 1:9, &c.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_And hid herself five months_ MODESTY A RETIRING GRACE Desirous of plucking one of the elegant sea-anemones, you extend your hand; but, at the slightest touch, its beautiful coronet begins to curl, and incurve in the form of a cup. If further annoyed, the rim of this cup contracts more and more,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the virgin’s name was Mary_ THE ANNUNCIATION 1. The messenger sent from heaven to publish the news of the conception of the Son of Gad--an angel. An evil angel was the first author of our ruin; a good angel could not be the author of our restoration, but is the joyful reporter of it. 2. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_Call His name Jesus_ THE NAME “JESUS” Bernard has delightfully said that the name “Jesus” is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and joy in the heart. I rejoice in that expression on my own account, for it gives me my share of the delight, and leads me to hope that, while I am speaking, the sw... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest_ THE GREATNESS OF JESUS The title of “Great” is one which the wisdom of this world recognizes, though I am not sure that it always gives the title fairly. We have Alexander the Great, Charles the Great, Frederick the Great, and so on.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He shall reign--_ CHRIST’S EVERLASTING KINGDOM The everlasting kingdom. There is no reason to doubt that the right and true and the holy shall have the victory. All dominions hostile to Christ must give way. All kingdoms incompatible with His must be dissolved. The kingdoms of this world have... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee_ OF CHRIST’S INCARNATION These words are the angel’s answer to Mary, who, understanding the angel as speaking of a thing presently to be done before Joseph and she should come together, desires to know how she, being a virgin, should conceive. Here-- 1. The an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nothing shall be impossible_ GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE It certainly is not possible for us to be in a position where omnipotence cannot assist us. God hath servants everywhere; and, where we think He has none, His word can create a multitude. There are “ treasures hid in the sand,” and the Lord’s chosen... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold the handmaid of the Lord_ MARY’S QUIET ACCEPTANCE OF GREATNESS Nothing impresses us more than the calmness with which, after the first trouble was past, the virgin received the message of the angel. She was not dazzled nor excited by her glorious future. She was not touched by any vanity.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country_ THE HOME OF ZACHARIAS Juttah, an ancient priestly town, is held by the Greek Church to be the birthplace of St. John the Baptist, and as such it is the goal of pilgrimage to thousands of Greek Christians each year. Support to this view... [ Continue Reading ]
_And blessed is she that believeth,--_ BLESSEDNESS OF FIRMLY BELIEVING Doubting nothing! That is the secret of liberty, of efficiency, of success in every work which is undertaken by men: a confidence in the practicability, in the value of the work, in the Divine authority which imposes it upon us... [ Continue Reading ]
_My soul doth magnify the Lord_ MARY’S SONG Mary was on a visit when she expressed her joy in the language of this noble song. It were well if all our social intercourse were as useful to our hearts as this visit was to Mary. “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should he delivered_ THE NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST That which was miraculous at the beginning became natural towards the close. This is seen in the case of Elisabeth, as recorded in the fifty-seventh verse. True also of spiritual generation. Begins in my... [ Continue Reading ]
_What manner of child shall this be?_ GREAT EXPECTATIONS When a child is born (as we say) to the purple; when an heir to the throne is announced; or when we stand beside the cradle of some unconscious little successor to a great historic title, to a vast estate, or to accumulated wealth of other ki... [ Continue Reading ]
_And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost_ THE SONG OF ZACHARIAS I. Preliminary questions. In the opening portion of St. Luke’s Gospel, there is a definiteness of time, place, and circumstance, which makes us feel that we are not breathing in the air or looking through the deceptiv... [ Continue Reading ]
_Visited and redeemed His people_ VISITED 1. To visit is the work of one that comes to do a charitable office to a sick person, according to that place (Matthew 25:1.), “I was sick and ye visited Me.” So Christ came into this world because it languished of a sore disease. 2. To give a visit to a... [ Continue Reading ]
_As he spake_ ALL GOD’S PROMISES ARE FULFILLED Look over your lives, O Christians I and you cannot find one hour when God’s promises have failed you. Look over the history of His people, and it is full of promises fulfilled; but there is not a fragment of a broken promise to be found. When Elisha... [ Continue Reading ]
_The oath which He sware_ THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S OATH God doth not give it to make His word or promise sure and steadfast, but to give assurance and security to us of their accomplishment. Every word of God is sure and certain truth itself, because it is His; and He might justly require of us the b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Being delivered out of the hand of our enemies_ DELIVERED FROM THE HAND OF THE ENEMY While labouring among the wild tribes of the Druses, a messenger from one of their chiefs, whose influence it was important to secure, sent a message entreating Mr. Gobat to visit him. The latter, however, was un... [ Continue Reading ]
_All the days of our life_ THE HOLY AND THEIR HEAVENLY PROSPECTS True, all our lives long we shall be bound to refrain our soul and keep it low; but what then? For the books we now forbear to read, we shall one day be endued with wisdom and knowledge. For the music we will not listen to, we shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_To give knowledge of salvation_ SOURCE OF SALVATION All great rivers, unlike some great men who have begun life in lowly circumstances, boast a lofty descent. It is after the Alpine traveller has left smiling valleys beneath him, and toiling along rugged glens and through deep mountain gorges, r... [ Continue Reading ]
_Through the tender mercy of our God_ CHRIST’S ADVENT I. A VERY AFFECTING VIEW OF THE STATE OF MANKIND BEFORE CHRIST CAME. “Darkness and the shadow of death.” 1. Ignorant of the moral character of God. 2. Ignorant of the purity of God’s law. 3. Ignorant as to the evil nature and dreadful conseq... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the child grew_ JOHN’S SECLUDED LIFE Not in sandy deserts like those of Arabia, but in the wild, waste region south of Jericho and the fords of Jordan to the shores of the Dead Sea. This was known as Araboth or ha.Arabah. This region, especially where it approached the Ghor and the Dead Sea,... [ Continue Reading ]