Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and NumbersMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. Pentateuch -- Commentaries; Bible. Pentateuch -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
If the unseen is ever to rule in men's lives, it must be through their
thoughts. It must become intelligible, clear, real. It must be brought
out of the flickering moonlight of fancy and surmises, into the
sunlight of certitude and knowledge. Dreams, and hopes, and
peradventures are too unsubstantial stuff to be a bulwark against the
very real, undeniable present. And such certitude is given through
faith which grasps the promises of God, and twines the soul round the
risen Saviour so closely that it sits with Him in heavenly places. Such
certitude is given by faith alone.
If the unseen is ever to rule in men's lives, it must become not only
an object for certain knowledge, but also for ardent wishes. The vague
sense of possible evils lurking in its mysteries must be taken out of
the soul, and there must come somehow an assurance that all it wraps in
its folds is joy and peace. It must cease to be doubtful, and must seem
infinitely desirable. Does anything but Christian faith engage the
heart to love, and all the longing wishes to set towards, the things
that are unseen and eternal? Where besides, then, can there be found a
counterpoise weighty enough to heave up the souls that are laden with
the material, and cleaving to the dust? Nowhere. The only possible
deliverance from the tyrannous pressure of the trifles amidst which we
live is in having the thoughts familiarised with Christ in heaven,
which will dwarf all that is on earth, and in having the affections
fixed on Him, which will emancipate them from the pains and sorrows
that ever wait upon love of the mutable and finite creatures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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