tents. Should sinners thereafter in turning to God fear that the heinousness of their guilt put them beyond the pale of divine mercy, the example of Paul, who was the foremost sinner known, would save them from despair. If he could experience forgiveness, there must be hope for all. This is undeniably the Apostle's logic (vss. 12-16). But how can a man, who has maintained a pharisaic strictness of life, who was confessedly free from the grosser crimes of murder, uncleanness, drunkenness and the like, justly pronounce himself the chief of sinners? That problem is solved by the designation ßpróτns which the Apostle applies to himself. Our gauge of sin differs from that of the Divine Judge. With us, the injury done to a fellow-man, or the outward effects on one's self, determines the gravity of sin; with God, the attitude of man's heart toward the revelation of Himself. The perfection of God's revelation is Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. When, now, Paul realized who it was that he had so violently withstood, and what was involved in blaspheming, persecuting and despising the Holy One, he felt that he stood in the front rank of sinners. Enmity reaches its supreme bitterness in contempt. We can endure to be reviled, we can submit to violence, wrong, persecution, but what noble mind can bear to be despised? That is the outermost stage of malevolence and that is what Paul confesses himself guilty of toward the Son of God. He had held Him in derision. In his hatred of the Crucified he had gone the full length. Of all the ungodly he stood πршrós, and as πρῶτός he obtained mercy. Had our translators been just to the designations with which the grand renewed man characterizes his former state, there would never have been any occasion for the unjust charge that has been often made against his extravagant and exaggerated self-accusation of being the chief of sinners. PAUL AT CORINTH. WHEN Paul came to Corinth he had to encounter a philosophic skepticism as arrogant, a materialism as intense, and an æstheticism as exacting as any modern minister is tempted to accommodate or indulge. His course was to take no notice of these things, and to attempt no adaptation to them. He resorted to no "excellency of speech or of wisdom;" that is, to no oratorical embellishments or philosophic subtleties-declaring to the Corinthians simply the testimony of God. I determined, said he, not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified; and I was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling; and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Paul's description of what his preaching was not, would (from a favorable source) be accepted by many modern pulpits as a brilliant ideal of what preaching should be in these remarkably similar days. And yet, the Lord stood by him one night, in the midst of his weakness and fear and much trembling, and said: Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee. "For I am with thee." Is that the secret of pulpit power? Or is it getting posted and accomplished in the latest phases of philosophic discussion ?-W. C. Conant SERMONIC SECTION. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SCRIP- BY J. A. BROADUS, D.D. [BAPTIST], And from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Jesus christ.-2 Tim.. iii: 15. WHATEVER We may say, it is to be admitted that there are wide and potent differences among the races of mankind. The Galatians who received Paul so joyfully, with such impulsive affection, and a few years afterwards had turned away from him, were the same Gauls whom Cicero described not long before, the same as the Gallic races of mankind to-day, impulsive and changeable; and no small part of what we prize most in our civilization is to be discerned in our German forefathers, as Tacitus describes them in a beautiful little treatise he wrote about the manners, customs and character of the Germans. And then many other elements of our civilization, the things that contribute most to make our life desirable, come to us from the great classic nations of antiquity. Grecian philo ophy, Grecian art, Grecian poetry and eloquence, have made their mark on all that we delight in; and Roman law and the Roman genins for government have much to do with what is best in our law and government. And yet, when you have made allowance for all these, ample and cordial allowance for race characteristics, and for the effect of all that is Grecian and all that is Roman, who can deny that a large part of what we prize most and enjoy most in our life of to-day has not been explained from any of those sourcesthat it comes from the Bible, that it comes from Christianity? There are many men who think they are so re fined, now that they have gotten above Christianity, and yet it is Christianity that gave them the said refinement. Now, if that is true, it ought never to be out of place nor beyond our sympathies to speak of the Bible-the Bible that has done so much for all that we like best in our homes, and our social life, and our public institutions - the Bible that has been the comfort and joy of many of those we have loved best in other days-the Bible that is the brightest hope of many of us for time and for eternity-the Bible that gives the only well-founded hope for mortal, and yet immortal man, in regard to the great future. "Thou hast known the holy Scriptures." That did not mean the same thing for Timothy, exactly, as for us. It meant our Old Testament; for of course when Timothy was a child the New Testament was not yet in existence. How do I know that it meant our Old Testament? How do I know that our Old Testament is a book of Divine origin? Is there any way to prove that, which is not dependent upon scholarship, which can be easily stated?apart, I mean, from its internal evidence of its own inspiration, wisdom, power, and blessing. I know it in this way. The term "Scripture" or "Scriptures," was a technical term, just as it is among us, When a man among the Jews spoke of "the Scripture," when Jesus said, "The Scripture cannot be broken," everybody understood that it meant a certain well-known and well-defined collection of sacred writings known to all their hearers. Jesus and His Apostles have testified that they are divine. Now do I know that they were? Yes; I know from outside sources, very varied and ample. I know from the great Jewish historian and scholar, [Many of the full sermons and condensations published in this REVIEW are printed from the authors' manuscripts; others are specially reported for this publication. Great care is taken to make these reports correct. The condensations are carefully made under our editorial supervision.-ED.] Josephus, who expressed himself very distinctly as to the sacred books of the Jews, and declares that no man would venture to add to the number or to take away from them. I know from the Jewish writings of a later period, embodying their traditions of the New Testament time and of earlier times, including the Talmud, in which the collection of sacred writings is precisely our Hebrew Old Testament, neither more nor less. I know from Christian writers of the second century, and of the third century, who made it a specialty in Palestine itself to ascertain what were the sacred books of the Jews in the time of Christ, and who definitely stated the result to be our Old Testament. Now I am not pinning my faith to the Jews and saying that these books were divine because the Jews thought so. I am trying to ascertain what books they were which Jesus and the Apostles declared to be divine, and I learn beyond a doubt that the Jews who heard them understood without fail and without exception that it meant precisely what we call the Old Testament. And there is a clear statement of the matter, which cannot be gainsaid and which leaves no occasion for doubt. A man may say, "Well, I see a good many things in the Old Testament that I don't see any use in, that I don't see the good of, some things that I object to." But hold! The founder of Christianity and His inspired Apostles have spoken about them, and whether you understand everything in the Old Testament or not, they have declared that the Scripture cannot be broken; that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable; that the holy Scriptures (the Old Testament) are able to make wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. There is a great deal of wisdom in this world. It is wonderful that mankind, considering how foolish they are, should be so wise; and oh! it is wonderful that mankind, considering how wise they are, should be so foolish. There is a great deal of wisdom in the world; wisdom that commands the admiration of all who are fitted to appreciate it. Men are so wise about their business affairs! Just look at the great business schemes and the grand business combinations! How easily men discern the new openings for business which new inventions and discoveries offer to them! How clearly we ordinary people see, after a while, what some extraordinary man saw years before, and seized upon it and made himself one of the great business men of the time by his wisdom! I was reading, only yesterday, the life of Sir Moses Montefiore, embracing something of the life of the first great English Rothschild, and was reminded how wise those men were in understanding their times in the beginning of the century, during the Napoleonic wars, in seeing deeper into the probabilities than great statesmen saw. There is a great deal of wisdom in the world; and this makes it all the sadder to think how few, comparatively, seem to be wise unto salvation. Nay, these wonderful human endowments and energies of ours seem even to be directed toward wisdom unto sin. Men take their splendid powers and prostitute them in the service of wickedness. The longing to know evil is so intense in human nature! What is the early story in the dim light of the first history of mankind? We do not know much about it. We can ask a thousand questions about it that no one can answer. But this much we see clearly: A fair woman in a beautiful garden, gazing upon a tree and its fruit, and the thought suggested that it is a tree to be desired, to make one wise; eat of that, and they will be independent of God, they will be themselves as God, knowing good and evil for themselves-good and evil--and not having to ask Him for guidance. She takes and eats, and gives to her husband, and he eats in flat, bold defiance of the great Father's prohibition. And their eyes were opened - opened unto sin, opened unto shame. And ever sincewhy, it is just wonderful to watch your own children and see how early they show a keen relish for knowing about wrong things; how they will get off with some villainous servant or off with some bad schoolmate, and get themselves told a lot of things that it would be so much better for them never to hear of. They do so want to know the bad things! The growing boys are so curious about places that are characteristically places of evil. Wise unto sin! There are a great many things it is better never to know. There are things about which ignorance is bliss; yea, and ignorance is wisdom. There are things of which those who know least are the wisest people, and those who know most are the most foolish people. It is a matter to be thankful for, and in a good sense proud of, if a man can say, that as to the popular forms of outbreaking vice he never knew anything about them; that he never entered a place of debauchery; that he does not know the names of the instruments of gaming; that he does not know the taste of intoxicating liquors. Happy the man who can humbly declare to a friend such blessed ignorance, such wise ignorance as that. 66 While men are so busy in being wise unto sin, how desirable, surely, that we should be wise unto salvation. My friends, let us wake up a little. We sleep, we dream along through life. We say, "O yes, yes, I believe that there is another life, a future." "You believe it is eternal?" "Yes, I believe it is an eternal life." "And you believe in God?" "Yes, I believe in God." "And you believe in Jesus Christ?" "Well, yes; I suppose that is all so." And yet, living in this brief, fleeting, uncertain life, in this strange world, and admitting all these things to be true, and not wise unto salvation, and not praying to be wise unto salvation! "The holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." That is the way in which they do it-through faith which is in Christ Jesus: for the holy Scriptures of the Old Testament are never half understood except as they are seen in the light of Christ Jesus. They all pointed forward to Christ Jesus; they all found their fulfil ment, the key of their interpretation, in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament history is not merely a history of some wandering patriarchs and of a strange, wayward people of wonderful powers and wonderful propensities to evil. It is not merely a history of Israel. The Old Testament is a history of redemption, of God's mightiness and mercies, and of a chosen nation, all along toward the promised, long-looked-for time when God's Son should come to be the Savior of mankind. And we cannot understand the Old Testament, except we read it in its bearing upon Christ, as fulfilled in Him. I remember once a neighboring professor sent us invitations to his house for a summer evening, saying that he had a century plant which seemed about to bloom, and asking us to come and watch with them till it blossomed. It was a delightful occasion, you may fancy. With music and conversation we passed on through the pleasant summer evening hours, on till past midnight. Then we gathered around and gazed upon the plain, wonderful thing that had lived longer than any of us had lived, and now, for the first time, was about to blossom for the admiration of beholders. And oh! I think sometimes that Jesus Christ was the blossoming Century Plant, the beauteous Millennium Flower. All the long story of Israel meant Him; and if you do find many things in the Old Testament that you do not see the meaning of, remember that they all pointed forward toward Him. Then, besides, the Scriptures not only have to be understood through Him, but they make us wise unto salvation only through faith in Him; because if we do not believe what the Scriptures say concerning Him, how can they have their full power over us? They have a certain power, just as the moon when it is eclipsed, yet has some light shining upon it, reflected from the atmosphere of the earth, so the people, who do not themselves believe in the Scriptures, and do not believe in Christ Jesus with living faith, get much benefit reflected from the Christian people around them, and the Christian homes in which they grew up, and the Christian atmosphere they breathe; but they never get the full benefit which the Bible is able to give, except through personal faith in Christ Jesus. Ah! that dark lie in the garden would never have brought its baneful results for our race of mortals, if she had not believed it. A lie rejected is a lie powerless; a lie believed is ruin. And so truth rejected cannot have its full effect upon us. How can we get the benefit of the Scripture if we do not believe in Him who is the centre and the heart and the essence and the life of Scripture, even Christ Jesus? There is another line of thought here: "And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Happy Timothy! His mother and his grandmother had shown an unfeigned faith, to which the Apostle himself testified. From a child they had trained him to know the holy Scriptures; and in his early youth he had met the blessed Apostle and learned from him the faith which is in Christ Jesus, and thus had become wise unto salvation. Happy Timothy! Happy every growing child that has devout people around to point it toward the knowledge of God's Word. My friends, we who are growing old, what do we live for in this world, but for the young who are growing up around us? What would be the use of life to us, if it were not in the hope of making the life of those whom God hath given us, and those who spring up under our view, brighter and better and purer and worthier? And we ought not to think it a small matter to train the growing children-in our homes, in the Sunday-school, as we meet them in society, wherever we can reach them with influence-to know the holy Scriptures. You are not doing enough if you merely tell your children sometimes, "You ought to read the Bible." and perhaps scold a little because the child does not read the Bible; that is not half enough. Ah! we ought to set the child the ex ample of reading the Bible, as some of us neglect to do. We ought to make the children see, by our own daily assiduity, our own living interest, that we believe in reading the Bible and get good out of it. We ought to talk about what is in the Bible; we ought to point out to the child this or the other portion that is suited to his age and character and wants. We ought to talk to the child about what he is reading, to show him the application of this or that text to his daily life. Out of the abundance of a heart that is full of the knowledge of God's Word, our mouth ought to speak often in the conversation of the family, so as to make the child feel that the Bible has gone into our soul, and that it shows itself in the glance of our eye and in the tone of our voice and in the tenor of our life. Are. there many of us that do that? Dear children! There come times when our hearts grow soft and tender toward them, and we feel that we could die for them if that would do them any good; and yet here is something by which we could promote their highest, noblest, eternal welfare, and-we do not have the time! Happy Timothy, who, ere he became grown, learned the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Happy every one who from a child has known the holy Scripture, has learned early-and, God be thanked, the earlier the better -to give the young heart to Christ Jesus and dedicate the young life to His. blessed service, and now is going on, trying to persuade others to love and serve Him too. Ah! there are many who from a child have known the holy Scriptures, and they are passing on into mature life; they are wise about a great many earthly things, and some of them are gray-headed and wrinkled, and some of them tottering toward the end-not yet, oh, not yet wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus! There are many peculiar circumstances. about growing old: the parents gone, long ago; may be the brothers and sisters all gone, and one stands alone, like some pine smitten of the lightning in the field-alone of what was once the |