23 chapters
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Selected Chapters
23 chapters
I. Preached April 28, 1850. THE TONGUE.
I. Preached April 28, 1850. THE TONGUE.
“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”—St. James iii. 5-6. In the development of Christian Truth a peculiar office was assigned to the Apostle James. It was given to St. Paul to proclaim Christianity as the spiritual law of liberty
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II. Preached May 5, 1850. THE VICTORY OF FAITH.
II. Preached May 5, 1850. THE VICTORY OF FAITH.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”—1 John v. 4-5. There are two words in the system of Christianity which have received a meaning so new, and so emphatic, as to be in a way peculiar to it, and to distinguish it from all other systems of morality and religion; these two words are—the World, and Faith. We find it written in S
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III. Preached Whitsunday, May 19, 1850. THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT.
III. Preached Whitsunday, May 19, 1850. THE DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT.
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.”—1 Corinthians xii, 4. According to a view which contains in it a profound truth, the ages of the world are divisible into three dispensations, presided over by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the dispensation of the Father, God was known as a Creator; creation manifested His eternal power and Godhead, and the religion of mankind was the religion of Nature. In the dispensation of the Son, God manifested Himself to Humanity through
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IV. Preached May 26, 1850. THE TRINITY.
IV. Preached May 26, 1850. THE TRINITY.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—1 Thess. v. 23. The knowledge of God is the blessedness of man. To know God, and to be known by Him—to love God, and to be loved by Him—is the most precious treasure which this life has to give; properly speaking the only treasure; properly speaking the only knowledge; for all knowledge is valuable only so far as it converges towards
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V. Preached June 2, 1850. ABSOLUTION.
V. Preached June 2, 1850. ABSOLUTION.
“And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”—Luke v. 21. There are questions which having been again and again settled, still from time to time, present themselves for re -solution; errors which having been refuted, and cut up by the roots, re-appear in the next century as fresh and vigorous as ever. Like the fabled monsters of old, from whose dissevered neck the blood sprung forth and formed fresh heads
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VI. Preached June 9, 1850. THE ILLUSIVENESS OF LIFE.
VI. Preached June 9, 1850. THE ILLUSIVENESS OF LIFE.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”—Hebrews xi. 8-10. Last Sunday we touched upon a thought which deserves further development. God
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VII. Preached June 23, 1850. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
VII. Preached June 23, 1850. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST.
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.”—2 Corinthians v. 14, 15. It may be, that in reading these verses some of us have understood them in a sense foreign to that of the apostle. It may have seemed that the arguments ran thus—Because Christ died upon the cross for all , therefore all mus
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VIII. Preached June 30, 1850. THE POWER OF SORROW.
VIII. Preached June 30, 1850. THE POWER OF SORROW.
“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”—2 Corinthians vii. 9, 10. That which is chiefly insisted on in this verse, is the distinction between sorrow and repentance. To grieve over sin is one thing, to repent of it is another. The apostle rejoiced, not
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IX. Preached August 4, 1850. SENSUAL AND SPIRITUAL EXCITEMENT.
IX. Preached August 4, 1850. SENSUAL AND SPIRITUAL EXCITEMENT.
“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”—Ephesians v. 17, 18. There is evidently a connection between the different branches of this sentence—for ideas cannot be properly contrasted which have not some connection—but what that connection is, is not at first sight clear. It almost appears like a profane and irreverent juxtaposition to contrast fulness of the Spirit with fulness of wi
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X. Preached August 11, 1850. PURITY.
X. Preached August 11, 1850. PURITY.
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”—Titus i. 15. For the evils of this world there are two classes of remedies—one is the world's, the other is God's. The world proposes to remedy evil by adjusting the circumstances of this life to man's desires. The world says, give us a perfect set of circumstances , and then we shall have a set of perfect men. This principle lies at the root of the
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XI. Preached February 9, 1851. UNITY AND PEACE.
XI. Preached February 9, 1851. UNITY AND PEACE.
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”—Colossians iii. 15. There is something in these words that might surprise us. It might surprise us to find that peace is urged on us as a duty. There can be no duty except where there is a matter of obedience; and it might seem to us that peace is a something over which we have no power. It is a privilege to have peace, but it would appear as if there were no power of control within t
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XII. Preached January 4, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN AIM AND MOTIVE.
XII. Preached January 4, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN AIM AND MOTIVE.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”—Matthew v. 48. There are two erroneous views held respecting the character of the Sermon on the Mount. The first may be called an error of worldly-minded men, the other an error of mistaken religionists. Worldly-minded men—men that is, in whom the devotional feeling is but feeble—are accustomed to look upon morality as the whole of religion; and they suppose that the Sermon on the Mount was designed only to explain and
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XIII. Preached January 4, 1852. CHRISTIAN CASUISTRY.
XIII. Preached January 4, 1852. CHRISTIAN CASUISTRY.
“Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also he that is called
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XIV. Preached January II, 1852. MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY.
XIV. Preached January II, 1852. MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY.
“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep as though they wept not; and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.”—1 Corinthians vii. 29-31. The subject of our exposition last Sunday was an essential portion of this chapter. It is our duty to examine now the f
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XV. Preached January 11, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A FAMILY.
XV. Preached January 11, 1852. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH A FAMILY.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”—Ephesians iii. 14, 15. In the verses immediately before the text the Apostle Paul has been speaking of what he calls a mystery—that is, a revealed secret. And the secret was this, that the Gentiles would be “fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel.” It had been kept secret from the former ages and generations; it was a secret which the Jew had not suspected, had not eve
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XVI. Preached January 25, 1852. THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE.
XVI. Preached January 25, 1852. THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE.
“Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some, with conscience of the idol, unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is denied. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither if we eat are we the better; neither if we eat not are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge, sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the
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XVII. Preached May 16, 1852. VICTORY OVER DEATH.
XVII. Preached May 16, 1852. VICTORY OVER DEATH.
“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”—1 Cor. xv. 56, 57. On Sunday last I endeavoured to bring before you the subject of that which Scripture calls the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. The two points on which we were trying to get clear notions were these: what is meant by being under the law, and what is meant by being free from the law? When the Bible says that a man led by the Spirit
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XVIII. Preached June 20, 1852. MAN'S GREATNESS AND GOD'S GREATNESS.
XVIII. Preached June 20, 1852. MAN'S GREATNESS AND GOD'S GREATNESS.
“For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity, whose Name is Holy. I dwell in the high and holy place—with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.”—Isaiah lvii. 15. The origin of this announcement seems to have been the state of contempt in which religion found itself in the days of Isaiah. One of the most profligate monarchs that ever disgraced the page of sacred history, sat upon the throne of Judah. His court was filled with men who recommended themselves chiefly b
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XIX. Preached June 27, 1852. THE LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL USE OF LAW. (A FRAGMENT.)
XIX. Preached June 27, 1852. THE LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL USE OF LAW. (A FRAGMENT.)
It is scarcely ever possible to understand a passage without some acquaintance with the history of the circumstances under which it was written. At Ephesus, over which Timothy was bishop, people had been bewildered by the teaching of converted Jews, who mixed the old leaven of Judaism with the new spirituality of Christianity. They maintained the perpetual obligation of the Jewish law.—v. 7. They desired to be teachers of the law. They required strict performance of a number of severe observance
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XX. Preached February 21, 1853. THE PRODIGAL AND HIS BROTHER.
XX. Preached February 21, 1853. THE PRODIGAL AND HIS BROTHER.
“And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found.”—Luke xv. 31, 32. There are two classes of sins. There are some sins by which man crushes, wounds, malevolently injures his brother man: those sins which speak of a bad, tyrannical, and selfish heart. Christ met those with denunciation. There are other sins by which a man injures himself. Th
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XXI. Preached May 15, 1853. JOHN'S REBUKE OF HEROD.
XXI. Preached May 15, 1853. JOHN'S REBUKE OF HEROD.
“But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.”—Luke iii. 19, 20. The life of John the Baptist divides itself into three distinct periods. Of the first we are told almost nothing, but we may conjecture much. We are told that he was in the deserts till his showing unto Israel. It was a period probably, in which, saddened by the hollowness of all life in Is
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A SELECTION FROM THE NOTICES of MR. ROBERTSON'S SERMONS, and of the LIFE AND LETTERS OF F.W. ROBERTSON. By the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke, M.A.
A SELECTION FROM THE NOTICES of MR. ROBERTSON'S SERMONS, and of the LIFE AND LETTERS OF F.W. ROBERTSON. By the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke, M.A.
“For while hapless Englishmen complain in the papers, and in private, in many a varied wail, over the sermons they have to listen to, it is very apparent that the work of the preacher has not fallen in any respect out of estimation. Here is a book which has gone through as great a number of editions as the most popular novel. It bears Mudie's stamp upon its dingy boards, and has all those marks of arduous service which are only to be seen in books which belong to great public libraries. It is th
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A SELECTION FROM THE NOTICES BY THE PRESS OF“THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF THE LATE REV. F.W. ROBERTSON.”
A SELECTION FROM THE NOTICES BY THE PRESS OF“THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF THE LATE REV. F.W. ROBERTSON.”
“No book published since the ‘Life of Dr. Arnold’ has produced so strong an impression on the moral imagination and spiritual theology of England as we may expect from these volumes. Even for those who knew Mr. Robertson well, and for many who knew him , as they thought, better than his Sermons, the free and full discussion of the highest subjects in the familiar letters so admirably selected by the Editor of Mr. Robertson's Life , will give a far clearer insight into his remarkable character an
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