The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IVMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IV
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
But not only did the Son of God--Himself, as God, the Author of every
line of Holy Scripture--use the word of God as His only weapon against
the enemy, but He made it also the basis and the material of His
public ministry. When His conflict in the wilderness was over, "He
returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a
fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth, where He
had been brought up; and, _as His custom was_, He went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and _stood up for to read_"--_His custom
was to read the Scriptures publicly_. "And there was delivered unto
Him the book of the prophet Esaias." Here He puts His seal upon the
prophet Isaiah, as before upon the law of Moses. "And when He had
opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the
gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke iv.).
Let us turn now to that most solemn parable of the rich man and
Lazarus, at the close of Luke xvi., in which we have a solemn
testimony from the Master's own lips to the integrity, value and
surpassing importance of "Moses and the Prophets"--the very portions
of the divine Word which infidels impiously assail. The rich man in
torment--alas, no longer rich, but miserably and eternally
poor!--entreats Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brethren,
lest they also should come into that place of torment. Mark the reply!
Mark it, all ye infidels, rationalists, and skeptics! Mark it, all ye
who are in danger of being deluded and turned aside by the impudent
and blasphemous suggestions of infidelity! "Abraham saith unto him,
They have Moses and the Prophets; _let them hear them_." Yes; "hear
them"--hear those very writings which infidels tell us are not
divinely inspired at all, but documents palmed upon us by impostors
pretending to inspiration. Assuredly the rich man knew better;
indeed, the devil himself knows better. There is no thought of
calling in question the genuineness of "Moses and the Prophets;" but
perhaps "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Hear
the weighty rejoinder! "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses
and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from
the dead."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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