Life at Bethany; Or, the Words and Tears of Jesus (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X. FAITH AND UNBELIEF. "Free was the offer, free to all, of life And salvation; but the proud of heart, Because 'twas free, would not accept; and still To merit wished; and choosing, thus unshipped, TJncompassed, unprovisioned, and bestormed, To swim a sea of breadth immeasurable, They scorned the goodly bark, whose wings the breath Of God's eternal Spirit filled for heaven, That stopped to take them in, and so were lost." In two sublime senses, at least, the miracles of Jesus differed essentially from those wrought by the prophets of Israel and the apostles of Christianity. Their miracles were not their own acts, but the manifestation of the power of God through them; while His were wrought solely by His own might and in His own name. Moreover, theirs, for the chief part, were miracles of a most terrible retribution: destruction was their prime characteristic. Witness most of those wrought by the first leader of Israel and the stern prophet of Horeb; and indeed of those by the weeping prophet, who was "set over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to plant." Nay, even the apostles of Jesus Himself wrought miracles of the same awful character, as in the instance of Ananias and Sapphira his wife, and Elymas the sorcerer. And this might have been the character of His also. Possessing all power in heaven, and earth, and hell, and with all manner of resources at His command, it were as easy for Him to destroy as to save. Instead of feeding the multitude with bread created on the instant for their famishing nature, He might have cursed them with intenser want. Instead of restoring the sick to health, and the dead to life, He might have smitten the whole family of man with all the varieties of disease and death. Instead ...