Sermons on the International Sunday-School Lessons for 1876-19 (Volume 24); 1st - Series (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHRIST AND NICODEMUS John 3: 1-10 "Verily, verily, I say unto thce, Eaccept i man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of (Jod." Jesus' reply to the polite address of Nicodemus furnishes the key to their interview: "Verily, verily, I say unto thec, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This saying has been judged a hard one. It puzzled the first man who heard it, and it has disturbed a countless number since. Men have argued about it and twisted it one way or another till it has wrought mischief with their thinking and their acting. But the saying is too important to be neglected because some lives have stumbled over it. For it is a saying of Jesus, who is still "the truth" for us. And he speaks it to Nicodemus, who comes sincerely, if cautiously, to ask wisdom of the new rabbi. The Pharisee may not be a full disciple, teachable and trustful, but he is at least interested, respectful, well-disposed, and it is inconceivable that our Lord should try to mislead him. The answer is meant to be frank and helpful. And then the words deal with a matter of deepest concern. It is nothing less than God's will, the finding of it. the doing of it. The burden on the mind of this visitor to Jesus is like that which brought the other ruler to him? "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Perhaps the thought of Nicodemus has greater regard to the welfare of his nation, with which his own life is bound up. But it is one inquiry, at bottom, whether forthe individual or the whole Israel: how is God's favor to bo secured, his promise of blessing attained? It is the perennial question of the human heart to which Jesus addresses himself. It is to face the wistful look of an old and needy world that Jesus turns. No word he has to utter can be...