The World's Great Sermons, Volume 05: Guthrie to Mozley
Religion
The World's Great Sermons, Volume 05: Guthrie to Mozley
Sermons
their truth and their depth, and to no accidental matter connected
therewith. Then can the Word, which was in the beginning and now is,
find access to the innermost heart of man, and speak there as now
it seldom speaks. Then shall the Bible--which is a whole library
of the deepest and most earnest thoughts and feelings, and piety,
and love, ever recorded in human speech--be read oftener than ever
before,--not with superstition, but with reason, conscience, and
faith, fully active. Then shall it sustain men bowed down with many
sorrows; rebuke sin, encourage virtue, sow the world broadcast and
quick with the seed of love, that man may reap a harvest for life
everlasting.
With all the obstacles men have thrown in its path, how much has
the Bible done for mankind! No abuse has deprived us of all its
blessings. You trace its path across the world from the day of
Pentecost to this day. As a river springs up in the heart of a
sandy continent, having its father in the skies, and its birthplace
in distant unknown mountains; as the stream rolls on, enlarging
itself, making in that arid waste a belt of verdure wherever it
turns its way; creating palm groves and fertile plains, where the
smoke of the cottager curls up at eventide, and marble cities send
the gleam of their splendor far into the sky,--such has been the
course of the Bible on the earth. Despite of idolaters bowing to
the dust before it, it has made a deeper mark on the world than the
rich and beautiful literature of all the heathen. The first book
of the Old Testament tells man he is made in the image of God; the
first of the New Testament gives us the motto, Be perfect as your
Father in heaven. Higher words were never spoken. How the truths of
the Bible have blest us! There is not a boy on all the hills of New
England; not a girl born in the filthiest cellar which disgraces a
capital in Europe, and cries to God against the barbarism of modern
civilization; not a boy nor a girl all Christendom through, but
their lot is made better by that great book.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account