Romans 11:8
as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day."
Sermons
Spiritual BlindnessJohn PercivalRomans 11:8
DespondencyJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
God Hath not Cast Off His PeopleJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
God's Church Wider than Man'sC. Short, M.A.Romans 11:1-10
God's PeopleJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
God's RemainderBp. Huntington.Romans 11:1-10
Grace and UnbeliefT.F. Lockyer Romans 11:1-10
Israel not Utterly RejectedC.H. Irwin Romans 11:1-10
Mistakes Concerning the Number of the RighteousW. Jay.Romans 11:1-10
The Answer of God to ElijahElnathan Parr, B.D.Romans 11:1-10
The Election of GraceR.M. Edgar Romans 11:1-10
The Glory Which Will Redound to God from the Conversion of the JewsJ. Harris, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
The Old Testament ScripturesJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
The Prophet's Complaint and God's AnswerJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
The Rejection of IsraelJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:1-10
The Remnant, the Admonition, and the HopeW. Tyson.Romans 11:1-10
Israel's FailureJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
Salvation by GraceJ. Owen, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
Seeking and Obtaining SalvationElnathan Parr, B.D.Romans 11:6-10
Spiritual BlindnessT. Robinson, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
The Christian Doctrine of Divine GraceR. W. Hamilton, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
The Hardened SinnerJ. Lyth, D,D.Romans 11:6-10
The Judgment Upon Israel IsJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
The Present Condition of the JewsJ. Lyth, D.D.Romans 11:6-10
The Spirit of SlumberElnathan Parr, B.D.Romans 11:6-10














Here the apostle, reflecting on the disobedience of the great majority of the Jewish people, and their consequent rejection, returns to the thought already expressed (Romans 9:27), that "a remnant shall be saved." He himself is a living proof, he says, that God hath not utterly cast away his people. "For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (ver. 1). But those who have been rejected have suffered the just and natural punishment of their own unbelief. Two practical lessons are here taught.

I. A WARNING TO THE UNCHARITABLE. Even in the most corrupt Churches there may be true believers. This lesson is practically illustrated by Elijah's mistaken or exaggerated view of the state of Israel in his time. "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal" (vers. 3, 4). How little Elijah knew of the true state of affairs! There is always a great danger, even amongst those who are most zealous for the truth, of depreciating or under-estimating the good that is in others. Want of charity to others may sometimes be found even in good men. Their very zeal leads them to depreciate others. If others do not come up to our standard of Christian doctrine, or Christian character, or Christian work, we are apt to imagine that they are not Christians at all. No doubt these other seven thousand servants of God were to blame for not having declared themselves more openly on the Lord's side. Had they taken their proper place, and done their duty, they would have encouraged Elijah's heart and sustained his hands; they would have made him feel that he was not alone in his efforts for the true and right; and they might even have prevented his flight. But there was no excuse for Elijah's wholesale condemnation of every one in Israel except himself. "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart." Especially in these latter days, when there are so many divisions amongst Christians, we need to cultivate that charity "which thinketh no evil," which "beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

II. A WARNING TO THE CARELESS. One of the great dangers of our time is indifference. Many who regularly attend our churches do so as a mere matter of custom or respectability. They hear the Word of God, but it has no power on their hearts, no influence upon their lives. The fate of rejected Israel is a solemn warning to the careless and indifferent (vers. 7-10). If we do not use our privileges, they will one day be taken from us. The neglect of talents or opportunities is as much a sin as the abuse of them. Men very soon become gospel-hardened. Hence the "more convenient season" to which they look forward never comes. They cease to think seriously about their souls; they cease to have any desire for salvation. The spirit of slumber comes upon them - that fatal sleep of spiritual indifference. Their eyes are darkened, and they do not see how fast they are hurrying to their own destruction. Oh, how it becomes us to urge upon men the present acceptance of the present offer of salvation, the present performance of the duties that lie at their door! - C.H.I.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace.
I. MAN IS THE OBJECT OF GRACE.

1. The present dispensation is only the perfection of many, and grace is the characteristic of all. But the gospel is emphatically "the gospel of the grace of God." The Father is "the God of all grace." "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Spirit is the "Spirit of grace." This grace is uniformly stated as the cause of the electing purpose — the reason of our personal justification — the germ of the renovating process — the potent motive to all piety, as it is the prolific source of all favour.

2. The atonement is the effect of Divine grace. Jehovah is not merciful because Christ has died, but Christ has died because Jehovah was merciful.

3. "The grace which bringeth salvation," is, in no sense, impaired by any arrangements which had a reference to ourselves. Antecedent questions of justice and satisfaction could not injure the display of that love which was equally in the Father and the Son; which was equally evinced in inflicting and enduring death.

4. The death of the Cross is only a means to the most benevolent end. A benefaction is not commonly reduced in its value by its cost, nor a deliverance by its peril. Is the grace of God the greater, or the less, when encountering no difficulty, or when encountering it to overcome it? Is the grace of God more brightly, or more faintly glorious, when associated with moral principles, or when disregarding them?

5. The gospel, while it upholds the claims of the Divine law, has an exclusive bearing upon us as sinners. Let the awful negotiations between the Father and the Son — who are one — be whatever they were — the sinner has no righteousness or claim. Salvation is a question not of justice but of grace.

6. No blessing of the gospel is in any legitimate sense the subject of purchase. Christians are "the purchased possession"; they are "bought with a price." But the "sure mercies" of the covenant are free gifts. God was ready to forgive, but there was an impediment. The atonement removed that impediment and "the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ," now flows without check or restriction. "By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men."

II. THE GRACE, WHICH IS SO PRE-EMINENT, CANNOT BE CONFOUNDED WITH ANY INFERIOR OR INCONGRUOUS PRINCIPLE. Let us define —

1. Grace is free favour; it can be related to no right, and contained in no law. Whenever bestowed, it depends upon the mere will of him who exercises it. If there is any necessity for it, it "is no more grace."

2. Work is individual action or conduct, and implies those particular qualities which provoke praise or condemnation. This course of accountable behaviour is properly —(1) Personal. We all feel possessed of a something which we cannot transfer. Whatever we have taken part in still attaches to us. We reap what we have sown.(2) Work must be voluntary to be accountable. If I am compelled to do what I disapprove, the hand is mine, but that hand is only a mechanical instrument of another's will.(3) Work, therefore, goes to form the general character of the moral agent. A succession of works forms, a habit, a variety of habits mould a character. Such has merit or demerit.

3. But if this be the just delineation of work, it cannot be employed indiscriminately with grace. Grace is opposed to work as it —(1) Is extrinsic of the person. It reaches us from another source. Personal qualities it may inspire — but its origin is supernal and Divine.(2) Is independent of the volition, Man had no desire to be saved in this manner; it is the "kindness of God our Saviour," "who doeth as it pleaseth Him."(3) Most jealously and tenaciously challenges that merit and honour which virtuous and sinless obedience claims, and the Divine code awards. "To him that worketh, the reward is reckoned not of grace but of debt."

III. GRACE AND WORK ARE OFTEN VIOLENTLY TORTURED INTO AN UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. That system cannot reconcile itself to the idea of grace, which —

1. Proceeds upon the merits of human ronduct. Merit is a relation of justice, and not of favour.

2. Rests human acceptance on a foreknowledge of some attractive qualities of character. For whence do these originate? Foreknowledge is not potential. Who has smitten the rock, and melted it into streams of grief? Who has turned the "wilderness into the fruitful field"?

3. Reckons on the self-determining power of the human will. How is it, in conversion, that the will, which is but the bias of our tainted nature, elects the part of good, but by the grace of Him from whom all good proceeds?

4. Accounts the gospel as a provision of simple facility to man to save himself. By this view we are never to invoke Christ's righteousness and expiation, but when, after our most strenuous self-justifying efforts, we feel that a little more may be required to give our case its perfect recommendation.

5. Varies the universal freeness of the gospel by moral differences in man. Without distorting or forcing into one another the things which differ, Christianity surveys all men in their equal need of salvation, and in their ruin without it.

6. Founds our duty upon a bestowment of grace.

IV. THE EFFECTS OF THESE OPPOSING PRINCIPLES.

1. How differently they explain Christianity! If work predominate over grace, the gospel is the republished law, and if the unabated law, is a message of despair; or if the extenuated law changes that glory into whatever is short-sighted and inconsistent; and in the prostration of that law, sinks the standard of our good, falls the pattern of our dignity. But let grace have the pre-eminence. What a change comes over the "great salvation"! It is pardon to the guilty, restoration to the undone. It never pauses until it has found out "our low estate," and never relaxes its effort until it has lifted us from it.

2. How oppositely they affect the mission of Christ! We honour grace in the degree to which we honour the mediation of Christ. But "if it be of works," at once the Saviour's mediation is degraded. For what did He "pour out His soul unto death"? According to this unworthy calculation — to follow in the train of the sinner who strives to save himself, ready to lend His aid, should occasion require it.

3. How inversely they influence the human mind.(1) Which of these two principles is the better fitted to inspire that humility of dependence which every relation of the creature, and much more every adjunct of the sinner, dictate? There is all the difference of claim and suppliance. "God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are"! "God be merciful to me a sinner"! The gospel repeats "By grace ye are saved"; it adds the reason, "blot of works, lest any man should boast."(2) But the spirit of grace, in contradistinction to work, is also the spirit of obedience.

(R. W. Hamilton, D.D.)

Some are all their days laying the foundation, and are never able to build upon it to any comfort to themselves or usefulness to others. And the reason is because they will be mixing with the foundation stones that are only fit for the building. They will be bringing their obedience, duties, mortification of sin and the like, into the foundation. These are precious stones to build with, but unmeet to be first laid to bear upon them the whole weight of the building. The foundation is to be laid in mere grace, mercy, pardon in the blood of Christ; this the soul is to accept of and rest in merely as it is grace, without the consideration of anything in itself, but that it is sinful and obnoxious to ruin. This it finds a difficulty in, and would gladly have something of its own to mix with it; it cannot tell how to fix these foundation stones without some cement of its own endeavours and duty; and because these things will not mix, they spend fruitless efforts about it all their days. But if the foundation be of grace, it is not at all of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. If anything of our own be mixed with grace in this matter, it utterly destroys the nature of grace, which, if it be not alone, is not at all.

(J. Owen, D.D.)

What
I.PARTIAL.

II.SELF-OCCASIONED (cf. Romans 9:31, 32).

III.A FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY uttered —

1. By Isaiah.

2. By David.

IV. IS A WARNING TO US.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

I.WHAT HE SOUGHT — righteousness.

II.HOW HE SOUGHT IT. Not by faith, but by works.

III.WHAT WAS THE RESULT?

1. The elect obtained it by faith.

2. The rest failed — were blinded.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

So many seek salvation and are not saved because they seek amiss. To seek that we may find, three things are to be observed.

I. THE TIME. "Seek first the kingdom of God." If thou seekest it not first but at leisure, it is a thousand to one thou shalt never find it. Usually men postpone this to their age: in their youth nothing but pleasure; old heads must not be set on young shoulders; but when they lie upon their death bed then send for the minister. Is this enough? I should marvel if God should be content with the dregs of thy life when the devil hath had the flower. There is an old saying — He that neglecteth the occasion, the occasion will neglect him, as it appeareth by the example of the five foolish virgins.

II. THE PLACE. He that hath lost a ring and seeks a mile from the place where he lost it is not likely to find it. Seek salvation where it is to be found: that is in Christ, in whom are all treasures. The Jews sought it in themselves and missed of it. But where is Christ to be found? In the house of God; not in an alehouse and the meetings of profane men.

III. THE MANNER.

1. Seek painfully, as the woman for her groat. The mine of gold lies not in the first spade, it lies deeper, it is well if after all pains we find it at the last.

2. Continue seeking; he that continues to the end shall be saved; it is worth all our pains though all should seek a thousand years, give not over till thou hast found. Israel sought for salvation, in the obedience of the law, but found it not; what shall, then, become of the wicked who seek not at all: of those who seek only vanities.

(Elnathan Parr, B.D.)

God hath given them the spirit of slumber
Blindness of mind and hardness is a spiritual lethargy, when neither the thundering noise of the law nor the sweet sound of the gospel can awake us.

1. The Greek word used by Paul from the Septuagint signifies pricking and compunction (see margin). This meaning may well be retained, dead sleep being called compunction by a figure; the effect being put for the cause because no compunction can awake it, or the cause for the effect because compunction is the cause of dead sleep in the mind.

2. There is a double compunction: one coming from sorrow for sin (Acts 2:37), another from envy and malice, which was in the Jews, because the gospel of Christ, whom they crucified, was as a dagger at their hearts. This compunction is the cause of such a deadness of mind that, as a man in a dead sleep hears and understands nothing, so an envious mind is impatient to hear or conceive anything for its good. Excess of grief brings a failing of the mind, and envy is a gnawing of the heart against our neighbour. When Stephen preached the Jews gnashed their teeth and stopped their ears. And when Paul preaches at Antioch the Jews rail and contradict, so that a man had as good speak to a dead man as unto them. expounds it as a nailing to their passion, whereby they are unmovable in their perfidiousness. Some translate it ecstasy, for envy makes a man beside himself, capable of no good instruction. calls it transpunction, as a vessel having a hole stricken through the bottom, holds not the liquor put in it.

3. The text teaches that God in His just judgment gives over such as are enemies to the gospel to be blinded, that they cannot convert (John 9:39; 2 Corinthians 4:3).

I. MANY IN WORLDLY THINGS ARE OF GREAT APPREHENSION AND JUDGMENT, AND YET AS BLIND AS BEETLES, VERY BLOCKS IN RELIGION. Eyes they have, they are no fools, yet they perceive not the things belonging to their peace. As bats and owls see best in the night, so their chiefest understanding is of worldly matters. As a mole within the ground is nimble and quick, but above the ground can make little shift, so talk or deal with these men of earthly matters, they are cunning, but speak of religion and you pose them as with a strange language. Achitophel, a great statesman, goes home in a dudgeon, and in a sullen fit hangs himself; could any idiot have done more foolishly? Pray that thy wit may be sanctified, otherwise thou mayest prove an enemy and be besotted with the worst folly. It is a fearful state to envy the gospel: such are given over to the devil to be blinded, and what will not the devil bring such unto? Needs must he go whom the devil drives: as he tumbled the swine into the sea, so will he thrust such into all iniquity.

II. TO HAVE EYES AND NOT TO SEE, to know the truth and to have no power to apply it to our consciences, IS FEARFUL. It is uncomfortable to be born bodily blind, much more is spiritual blindness uncomfortable. When Christ came nigh Jerusalem He wept over it for the blindness of the Jews. When He raised Lazarus He groaned in the spirit for the hardness of their hearts. A grievous plague must blindness of mind he when Christ so wept and groaned for them which were stricken with it, when He never cried Oh! for all His own bitter passions. Repent of thy malice to the Word that thou mayest see.

(Elnathan Parr, B.D.)

I. HIS MORAL CONDITION.

1. Insensible.

2. Blind.

3. Prejudiced.

II. THE CAUSE.

1. Resistance of grace.

2. Retributive justice.

III. THE CONSEQUENCES.

1. Misery.

2. Despair.

3. Death, unless God interpose in sovereign mercy.

(J. Lyth, D,D.)

I. THE RESULT OF LONG-CONTINUED DISOBEDIENCE.

II. A LITERAL FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. Instance —

1. Their moral insensibility, blindness, and prejudice.

2. Their exposure to plunder and misfortune.

3. Their intellectual deterioration.

4. Their servility and subjection to oppression.

III. A LESSON TO THE WORLD.

(J. Lyth, D.D.)

"My blindness came on very gradually. I first began to notice that I could not see so far as I used to do, and one morning when looking from the window I could only see across the road. As time went on I could see no further than the mantelpiece, and at length I had to grope my way about the room; and now no one knows what that darkness means but one who has experienced the same." As she concluded her sad story, I thought that was just like spiritual blindness. Some sin comes, and gradually obscures the light of God in the soul. By and by the darkness deepens, until at length it is darkness which may be felt. Only the removal of the cause of darkness will secure a return of light; and only when sin is forgiven and abandoned is it possible to walk in the light of God's countenance.

Let their table be made a snare. —Abuse of privileges: — David is speaking both as a prophet and as a type of the Messiah (Psalm 69:22, 23). His words are quoted and applied to Jesus (Romans 15:3; John 2:17; John 19:28, 29), and applied to Judas (Acts 1:20). Similar denunciations are to be similarly interpreted. They are not the utterances of personal or vindictive feeling, but the denunciations and predictions of God's Spirit.

I. TABLE. What would otherwise have been for good.

1. Daily and common mercies.

2. Spiritual privileges. Sin brings a curse which converts food into poison (Malachi 2:2). "Their table." A believer's table is spread for him by God (Psalm 23:5); the table of the unbeliever is regarded as his own.

II. SNARE. Cause of unexpected destruction. Their very mercies are an occasion of sin and misery. To faith the means of grace are salvation; to unbelief, a snare. Table a snare. When the gospel proves a savour of death unto death. The gospel table was spread first for the Jews (Matthew 22:28); the preaching of forgiveness began at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47), and being rejected proved a snare.

III. TRAP — a capture. The sinner caught in Satan's trap when he rejects the Saviour. Note the gradation — a snare for the foot, a trap for the whole body. The Old Testament falsely interpreted confirms the Jews in unbelief; the New Testament disbelieved becomes the occasion of deeper sin. In opposing the gospel the Jews filled up their sins (1 Thessalonians 2:16). In this sin the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermost. Their passover-table was made their trap. Multitudes thus caught in the siege of Jerusalem perished.

IV. STUMBLING-BLOCK — that which causes to fall into a snare or trap. The gospel when believed raises men to heaven; rejected it trips them into the bottomless pit. Christ a foundation to some, a stumbling-block to others (Romans 9:32, 33).

(T. Robinson, D.D.)

People
Benjamin, David, Elias, Elijah, Jacob, Paul, Romans
Places
Rome, Zion
Topics
Deep, Drowsiness, Ears, Hearing, Holy, Nothing, Says, Scripture, Sleep, Slumber, Spirit, Stupor, Writings, Written
Outline
1. God has not cast off all Israel.
7. Some were elected, though the rest were hardened.
16. There is hope of their conversion.
18. The Gentiles may not exult over them;
26. for there is a promise of their salvation.
33. God's judgments are unsearchable.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Romans 11:8

     2426   gospel, responses
     5064   spirit, emotional
     5159   hearing
     5534   sleep, spiritual
     6195   impenitence, results

Romans 11:1-12

     6710   privileges
     7135   Israel, people of God

Romans 11:1-18

     7125   elect, the

Romans 11:1-36

     4492   olive

Romans 11:7-8

     5135   blindness, spiritual

Library
June 19. "Who Hath First Given to Him, and it Shall be Recompensed unto Him Again" (Rom. xi. 35).
"Who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again" (Rom. xi. 35). The Christian women of the world have it in their power, by a very little sacrifice, to add millions to the treasury of the Lord. Beloved sisters, have you found the joy of sacrifice for Jesus? Have you given up something that you might give it to Him? Are you giving your substance to Jesus? He will take it, and He will give you a thousandfold more. I should rather be connected with a work founded on great sacrifice
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Trinity Sunday the Article of Faith on the Trinity.
Text: Romans 11, 33-36. 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. THE ARTICLE OF FAITH ON THE TRINITY. 1. This epistle is read today because the festival
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Trinity Sunday the Doctrine of the Trinity.
Second Sermon. Text: Romans 11, 33-36. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.[1] [Footnote 1: This sermon was first printed in 1535, at Wittenberg.] 1. This festival requires us to instruct the people in the dogma of the Holy Trinity, and to strengthen both memory and faith concerning it. This is the reason why we take up the subject once more. Without proper instruction and a sound foundation in this regard, other dogmas cannot be rightly and successfully treated. The other festivals of the year present
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Spiritual Blindness.
"As it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear."--ROMANS xi. 8. "Blindness in part is happened to Israel."--ROMANS xi. 25. It is a sad and painful reflection, and one which is continually forced upon us as we read the New Testament, that the long training and preparation of the Jews brought them at the last not to the acceptance but to the rejection of Jesus. They had been taught, generation after generation, that they
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Christianity Requires the Temper of Childhood.
MARK x. 15.--"Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." These words of our Lord are very positive and emphatic, and will, therefore, receive a serious attention from every one who is anxious concerning his future destiny beyond the grave. For, they mention an indispensable requisite in order to an entrance into eternal life. "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

The Hardening of Nations.
"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were hardened."-- Rom. xi. 7. St. Paul's word, at the head of this article, is strikingly impressive, and its content exceedingly rich and instructive. It clearly announces the fact that the hardening is not exceptional or occasional, but universal, affecting all, who, being in contact with the divine Love, are not saved by it. The last limitation is necessary, for of the heathen it can not be said that they are hardened. Only they can be hardened who
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Of Holy virginity
Of Holy Virginity. [De Virginitate.] Translated by Rev. C. I. Cornish, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford Retr. ii. 23. "After I had written on the Good of Marriage,' it was expected that I should write on Holy Virginity; and I did not delay to do so: and that it is God's gift, and how great a gift, and with what humility to be guarded, so far as I was able I set forth in one volume. This book begins," &c. c1. We lately put forth a book "of the Good of Marriage," in which also we admonished and admonish
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Now this Election the Apostle Demonstrating to Be...
17. Now this election the Apostle demonstrating to be, not of merits going before in good works, but election of grace, saith thus: "And in this time a remnant by election of grace is saved. But if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace." [2672] This is election of grace; that is, election in which through the grace of God men are elected: this, I say, is election of grace which goes before all good merits of men. For if it be to any good merits that it is given,
St. Augustine—On Patience

History of Arian Opinions.
Arius's own sentiments; his Thalia and Letter to S. Alexander; corrections by Eusebius and others; extracts from the works of Asterius; letter of the Council of Jerusalem; first Creed of Arians at the Dedication of Antioch; second, Lucian's on the same occasion; third, by Theophronius; fourth, sent to Constans in Gaul; fifth, the Macrostich sent into Italy; sixth, at Sirmium; seventh, at the same place; and eighth also, as given above in §8; ninth, at Seleucia; tenth, at Constantinople; eleventh,
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Epistle Xliii. To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops.
To Eulogius and Anastasius, Bishops. Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. When the excellent preacher says, As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles I will honour my ministry (Rom. xi. 13); saying again in another place, We became as babes among you (1 Thess. ii. 7), he undoubtedly shews an example to us who come after him, that we should retain humility in our minds, and yet keep in honour the dignity of our order, so that neither should our humility be
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Beatific vision. (Continued. )
In the Beatific Vision our intellect is glorified, and our thirst for knowledge completely satisfied. Man was created with a thirst for knowledge which can never be satiated in this world. Sin, which greatly weakened and darkened his mental faculties, has not taken away his desire and love for knowledge. And the knowledge which he acquired by eating the forbidden fruit, rather increased than satisfied his thirst. But all his efforts to reach the perfection of knowledge, even in the natural order,
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

The Sovereignty of God in Operation
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be the glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). Has God foreordained everything that comes to pass? Has He decreed that what is, was to have been? In the final analysis this is only another way of asking, Is God now governing the world and everyone and everything in it? If God is governing the world then is He governing it according to a definite purpose, or aimlessly and at random? If He is governing it according to some purpose, then
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Reprobation Asserted: Or, the Doctrine of Eternal Election and Reprobation Promiscuously Handled, in Eleven Chapters.
WHEREIN THE MOST MATERIAL OBJECTIONS MADE BY THE OPPOSERS OF THIS DOCTRINE, ARE FULLY ANSWERED; SEVERAL DOUBTS REMOVED, AND SUNDRY CASES OF CONSCIENCE RESOLVED. BY JOHN BUNYAN OF BEDFORD, A LOVER OF PEACE AND TRUTH. 'What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.'--Romans 11:7 London: Printed for G. L., and are to be sold in Turn-stile-alley, in Holbourn. Small 4to, 44 pages. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. This valuable tract
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Original and the Actual Relation of Man to Law.
ROMANS vii. 10.--"The commandment which, was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." The reader of St. Paul's Epistles is struck with the seemingly disparaging manner in which he speaks of the moral law. In one place, he tells his reader that "the law entered that the offence might abound;" in another, that "the law worketh wrath;" in another, that "sin shall not have dominion" over the believer because he is "not under the law;" in another, that Christians "are become dead to the law;" in
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

"Wash You, Make You Clean; Put Away the Evil of Your Doings from Before Mine Eyes; Cease to do Evil,"
Isaiah i. 16.--"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil," &c. There are two evils in sin,--one is the nature of it, another the fruit and sad effect of it. In itself it is filthiness, and contrary to God's holiness; an abasing of the immortal soul; a spot in the face of the Lord of the creatures, that hath far debased him under them all. Though it be so unnatural to us, yet it is now in our fallen estate become, as it were, natural, so that
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

God's Works of Providence
Rom. xi. 36.--"For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever, Amen."--Psal. ciii. 19.--"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all."--Matt. x. 29.--"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." There is nothing more commonly confessed in words, than that the providence of God reaches to all the creatures and their actions, but I believe there is no point of religion
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Because of Its Bearing Upon the Gentiles.
This aspect of our subject has not received the attention which it deserves. It has been assumed by some that the present dispensation is the time when God is blessing the Gentiles and that in the Millennium the Jews will be the special objects of God's favor. It is true that in the Millennium Israel shall enter into the enjoyment of their inheritance and that at that time they shall occupy the chief position, governmentally, among the nations, but it is a mistake to suppose that the Gentiles will
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

Christ a Complete Saviour:
OR, THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, AND WHO ARE PRIVILEGED IN IT. BY JOHN BUNYAN Advertisement by the Editor. However strange it may appear, it is a solemn fact, that the heart of man, unless prepared by a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, rejects Christ as a complete Saviour. The pride of human nature will not suffer it to fall, as helpless and utterly undone, into the arms of Divine mercy. Man prefers a partial Saviour; one who had done so much, that, with the sinner's aid, the work might be
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Some General Uses.
Before we come to speak of some particular cases of deadness, wherein believers are to make use of Christ as the Life, we shall first propose some useful consequences and deductions from what hath been spoken of this life; and, I. The faith of those things, which have been mentioned, would be of great use and advantage to believers; and therefore they should study to have the faith of this truth fixed on their hearts, and a deep impression thereof on their spirits, to the end, that, 1. Be their case
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Work of the Holy Spirit Distinguished.
"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."--Gen. i. 2. What, in general, is the work of the Holy Spirit as distinguished from that of the Father and of the Son? Not that every believer needs to know these distinctions in all particulars. The existence of faith does not depend upon intellectual distinctions. The main question is not whether we can distinguish the work of the Father from that of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but whether we have experienced their gracious operations.
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

I Fear, I Say, Greatly for Thee, Lest...
39. I fear, I say, greatly for thee, lest, when thou boastest that thou wilt follow the Lamb wheresoever He shall have gone, thou be unable by reason of swelling pride to follow Him through strait ways. It is good for thee, O virgin soul, that thus, as thou art a virgin, thus altogether keeping in thy heart that thou hast been born again, keeping in thy flesh that thou hast been born, thou yet conceive of the fear of the Lord, and give birth to the spirit of salvation. [2142] "Fear," indeed, "there
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Concerning the Ministry.
Concerning the Ministry. As by the light or gift of God all true knowledge in things spiritual is received and revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and received in the heart, by the strength and power thereof, every true minister of the gospel is ordained, prepared, and supplied in the work of the ministry; and by the leading, moving, and drawing hereof ought every evangelist and Christian pastor to be led and ordered in his labour and work of the gospel, both as to the place where, as to
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The Angel's Message and Song
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD . And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

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