Luke 17:1 I. We understand from such a sentence as this, what a true, calm judgment of life the New Testament furnishes. It tells us the worst; it does not gloss things over. Its writers and teachers are not carried away by enthusiasm. They do not paint the world, even as it is to be in the light of... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:5 There is a twofold difficulty in this passage: (1) The manner in which Christ receives the prayer of the Apostles seems to be not such as we should have expected; and, (2) the connection of thought between the prayer for increase of faith and the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant is far... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:8 We want some method of investigating spiritual ideas which will give us enough of results to satisfy the intellect, not fully, but sufficiently to permit the spirit to go on in its course without the sacrifice of the intellect. For we are bound to educate and bring into play all the capab... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:10 Reliance on Religious Observances. Consider how this danger of over-reliance on religious observances is counteracted in the case of serious minds. I. The evil in question supposing it to exist is singularly adapted to be its own corrective. It can only do us injury when we do not know i... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:15 The Ten Lepers. There are, speaking broadly, three chief reasons for unthankfulness on the part of man towards God I. An indistinct idea or an under-estimate of the service that He renders us. II. A disposition, whether voluntary or not, to lose sight of our Benefactor. III. The notio... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:19 I. Of the unthankfulness which so seriously depresses and blights our whole modern Christian life, one reason, in many cases, is that we do not see our great Benefactor. I do not forget that some of us may feel true gratitude to those human friends who have been kind to us in years past,... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:20 Secrecy and Suddenness of Divine Visitations. I. It is impossible that the visitations of God should be other than secret and sudden, considering how the world goes on in every age. Men who are plunged in the pursuits of active life are no judges of its course and tendency on the whole.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:20 God's Kingdom Invisible. The true character of God's kingdom is ghostly and inward. It has its seat in the hearts of men, in their moral habits, in their thoughts, actings, and affections, in the form and the bias of their moral being; the visible forms we see are but the shadow of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:21 Let us consider the kingdoms which are not material, but of a finer substance than matter, and whose forces and powers are represented by other than materialistic ones. Of these kingdoms we mention three I. The kingdom of Mind. (1) Its creations are immortal; (2) its kings suffer no det... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:32 We have in this text a warning of a peculiar character; we see in it a type of the just wrath of God against those who, having been once mercifully delivered, shall afterwards fall back. Lot's wife was, by a distinguishing election of God, and by the hands of angels, saved from the overt... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:34 , LUKE 17:36 I. Our Lord in order to press upon us the great law of our self-determination, to help us to be honest with ourselves, carries us into the heart of things as they are in a startling fashion. He holds up to us three typical instances of sudden, sharp, and decisive separations... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 17:34 , LUKE 17:36 I. Our Lord in order to press upon us the great law of our self-determination, to help us to be honest with ourselves, carries us into the heart of things as they are in a startling fashion. He holds up to us three typical instances of sudden, sharp, and decisive separations... [ Continue Reading ]