Mark 9:33














The selection of Peter, James, and John for exceptional association with Christ; the primacy of Peter suggested by the words of their Master on a certain occasion; and the spirit of the sons of Zebedee, shown in the request made by their mother, a little later, on their behalf (Mark 10:35-41), were circumstances that soon attracted the attention of the others, and gave rise to discussion as to relative superiority. In dealing with this unseemly dispute, our Savior showed -

I. THAT IT WAS A QUESTION THAT OUGHT NOT TO BE ASKED AMONGST CHRIST'S FOLLOWERS. (Vers. 33, 34.)

1. His question elicited no reply. They were ashamed that he should have detected them. It was evidently contrary to his spirit, as they felt, although they might be unable to explain.

2. That it is foreign to the genius of Christianity is further shown by the evils it has created within the Church. A vast percentage of the failures and scandals of Christians has arisen from this contention, whether carried on in silence or expressed, Nevertheless that it is deeply seated in human nature is shown by its persistency from age to age. A motive of action we are ashamed to confess when a sense of Christ's presence is upon us cannot be a right one. And in proportion as the presence of the Master's spirit is felt, it is suppressed or destroyed.

II. THE PRINCIPLE BY WHICH IT SHOULD BE SETTLED WHEN IT ARISES. (Ver. 35.) "If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all." This is, and probably was meant to be, slightly enigmatical. Without altering the future of the sentence ("he shall be") into the imperative ("let him be"), as some, without sufficient warrant, have done, it is still possible to read in it several distinct meanings. It might mean that that was to be the penalty of such presumption; that God would so regard presumptuous men; that this was a discipline to which they should subject themselves; that the avenue to official pre-eminence was the greatest serviceableness and humility; or, lastly, that the highest excellence in the kingdom of God is his who abases and forgets himself altogether in the benefit and advancement of others. It is in the last sense that Christ should be understood, if we are to take the general spirit of his teaching for our guide. In the Christian the Virtue and usefulness are ends in themselves, and not stepping-stones to external, official pre-eminence. At the same time, there is a colourable suggestion, supported by experience, in the first three interpretations. The second last is the spirit of the Roman curia, which in literal expression looks so like the precept it contradicts. The sitting down of Christ, and his summons to all, prove the importance of the lesson.

III. AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRINCIPLE. (Vers. 36, 37.) "A little child," perhaps one of Peter's family. He gives an example in his own behavior, simply and ingenuously, by embracing the child.

1. The lowliest in the kingdom of God should receive the purest sympathy and consideration. This is the most disinterested and unselfish service. The noblest deeds in God's world are of this kind: "Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). We can "receive" to the heart when we cannot to the home; to kindness and love when we cannot to great earthly advantage.

2. The motive which distinguishes this conduct from ordinary human tenderness and affection. It is to be "in my Name," i.e. "on account of me," impelled by my example and spirit, and for the sake of my cause. It is only a "grace" or quality of the regenerate nature as he inspires it.

3. So regarded, the object of our love and compassion is really the representative of Jesus and of God. Christ has thus commended the children and the poet to the care of his people. And their sympathies thus awakened and directed are to be looked upon not as supplementing the deficient provisions of the Divine love, but only, in our own degree and measure, expressing and executing the infinite, loving Will of "our Father in heaven." Herein, therefore, the lowliest service and the highest coincide. "See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). - M.

What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
What is the true child like?

I. HE IS UNCONSCIOUS OF HIMSELF; self-dissection or analysis is unknown to him.

II. HE LIVES IN THE PRESENT.

1. He never worries or is anxious about the future; sufficient to the day, for him, is the evil thereof.

2. So also, though always aspiring, he is never discontented in the ungrateful or peevish sense; sufficient likewise for the day is the good thereof; he would not have it otherwise.

III. HIS PLEASURES ARE SIMPLE, pure, natural, fresh from the hand of God. The least of His gifts, even a cup of cold water, has value in his eyes, so that he wastes not wilfully.

IV. HE LOOKS FORWARD WITH BOUNDLESS HOPE TO A GREATER, MORE COMPLETE LIFE (i.e., to be "grown up").

V. HE KNOWS NOT HOW TO SNEER OR BE CYNICAL: but instinctively shrinks from a sneer as from a blow or a sting.

VI. HIS AVERSIONS AND DREADS ARE TRUE AND SYMBOLICAL (until, like his tastes and likings, made artificial by example and training). E.g. —

(1)Darkness and all that is black;

(2)bitterness, sourness, all that is acrid or sickening;

(3)all that wounds and kills.

VII. HIS OBEDIENCE IS NOT RELUCTANT, BUT FAITHFUL.

VIII. HIS HEART RESPONDS TO THE TOUCH OF TRUTH, if honestly and faithfully appealed to.

(Vita.)

Children are patterns of humility in these respects.

1. They are not so puffed up as older people with conceit of themselves, or of their own good parts and gifts; they do not think the better of themselves because they possess these advantages. nor do they boast of them.

2. They do not disdain or despise others, but think as well of them as of themselves, even if inferiors.

3. They are not ambitious in seeking after vain glory.

4. They are not given to strife and contention, but are of a quiet and peaceable disposition.

5. They do not envy the good fortune of others, but rejoice in each other's prosperity.

6. They are tractable to admonition and reproof, ready to submit to it, and easily reclaimed from a fault.

(G. Petter.)

I. The humility and trustfulness of children should be preserved by men.

II. They who have most power should render most service.

III. They who descend most in love will rise most in honour.

IV. God is served by obedience to Christ, and Christ by kindness to the least and lowest who belong to Him.

(J. H. Godwin.)

I. THOSE WHOSE CONDUCT IS BEFORE US ARE THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. Externally, really and spiritually; hence, this spectacle is one within the bosom of the Church.

II. THEY DISPUTED AMONG THEMSELVES BY THE WAY. How fitly did the College of Apostles foreshadow the state of the Church in after ages.

III. THE CAUSE OF DISAGREEMENT AMONG THEM — "Who should be the greatest." Worldly ambition was the rooter bitterness. The secret of most of the contentious of seeming Christians.

IV. CHRIST DID NOT INTERFERE TO PREVENT THESE CONTENDINGS.

V. CHRIST, THOUGH HE SUFFERED THEM TO END THEIR CONTEST, CALLED THEIR TO ACCOUNT. Divisions are most offensive to Him. He will call the sowers of division to account.

VI. TO THE INQUIRY OF CHRIST AS TO THE GROUNDS OF THEIR DISPUTE, THEY MADE AT FIRST NO ANSWER.

VII. CHRIST TAKES ADVANTAGE OF WHAT HAD OCCURRED, IN ORDER TO INCULCATE THE DUTY AND RECOMMEND THE GRACE OF HUMILITY. Beware of disputes, and therefore of pride. Cultivate true Christian greatness — Christ's example.

(Expository Discourses.)

I.What is it?

II.Proof that it is evil.

III.Means of cure.

I. AMBITION IS TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE DESIRE OF EXCELLENCE.

II. THAT AMBITION IS EVIL IN ITS NATURE, AND THEREFORE DEGRADING IN ITS INFLUENCE, IS EVIDENT.

1. Because it is inconsistent with our relation to God as creatures.

2. It is inconsistent with our relation to God as sinners.

3. Because Christ always reproved this desire of preeminence.

4. This trait of character did not belong to Christ.

5. We always approve of the opposite temper whenever we see it manifested.

6. It is inconsistent with our being governed by right motives and affections.

III. MEANS OF CURE.

1. Cultivating a sense of our insignificance and unworthiness.

2. Having our hearts filled with Christ.

3. By constantly refusing to yield to this evil desire; refusing to cherish it or to obey its dictates. By uniformly avoiding to seek the honour which comes from men.

(Chas. Hedge, D. D.)

I. THE WORLD'S OPINION. The world's great men are usually great conquerors, or great philosophers, poets, etc. Many of them small men, viewed in their moral relations. Alexander wept for another world to conquer. "Greater is he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." See the world's great ones described (Matthew 20:25, 26). Haman was one such, yet a very little man. It is said there are three classes of great men.

1. Those who are born great.

2. Those who have greatness thrust upon them.

3. Those who achieve greatness. The world sees no greatness in lowliness.

II. THE DISCIPLES' WISH. Even they wished to be great. Not, indeed, after the world's fashion, but each one wanted to be above the rest. Each one might think he deserved to be first, or had qualities that fitted him for preeminence.

III. THE MASTER'S LESSON. Note —

1. The kindness of His manner. "Speak the truth in love."

2. The simplicity and clearness of illustration. Might have argued, but took a little child in His arms.

3. The nature of the lesson. Goodness is greatness.Learn:

1. Not to be deceived by the world's notions of greatness.

2. Not to give place to ambitious desires.

3. To aim after goodness, and let the greatness follow if it may.

(J. C. Gray.)

I. Let us begin with THE MISTAKE SOMETIMES MADE, WHICH WILL CERTAINLY NEED CORRECTION. Our Lord does not teach by any implication that children are sinless little creatures.

1. For the argument and illustration of the discourse He gave are all against such a supposition. According to the authorized version, Christ says that they are "lost," that the Son of Man needed to come to "save" them, and without the will of the Father they would "perish" (Matthew 18:11-14).

2. The story offers no proof of any innocence even in the child He chose. Ecclesiastical tradition, not reliable, states that this boy became afterwards the martyr Ignatius, and was in the subsequent persecutions thrown to the wild beasts at Rome. That is the best which could be said of him, and we do not know even so much to be true. Surely, he was never offered as a model child, and we do not suppose he was born unlike others.

II. So now let us inquire WHAT IS THE TRUE SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE OF THE PASSAGE. It is evident that our Lord was rebuking His disciples for a foolish dispute they had had "by the way." And he did this by commending to them a child-like disposition.

1. A child is remarkable for his considerateness of ethers. It is the hardest thing we ever try to do to teach our children to be aristocratic and keep up "style." They are instinctive in their fondness for what is agreeably human. It was asked of the good Cecil's daughter what made everybody love her? She thought a moment with a curious sort of surprise, then answered with her own kind of logic, "Because I love everybody."

2. A child is remarkable for his obedience to rightful authority. His subjection is instinctive as his charity is. He accepts the parental will as law. So his fidelity is spontaneous; he does not recognize any merit in it. He does the exact thing he was set to do. When the young girl in the class heard the teacher say, "How is the will of God done in heaven?" she answered, "It is done without anybody's asking any questions."

3. A child is remarkable for his contentment in the home circle. There is only one mother in the world, and where that mother is, there is home. Disturb him, wound him, frighten him, maltreat him, and his earliest wish is, "Please let me go home."

4. A child is remarkable for his persistency of trust. Children are the most logical creatures in the world. A lady asked the small daughter of the missionary Judson, "Were you not afraid to journey so far over the ocean?" And the reply was, "Why, no, madam: father prayed for us when we started!" Do a boy a real kindness, and nothing on earth can keep him from insisting to all the others that you are a kind man. Help him once, and he will keep coming with a pathetic sort of confidence that you like to help him. For one, having stumbled around a good deal in this muddle of a world, in which nobody seems to stick to anything, I am ready to say I know nothing more beautiful than the sweet forgiveness, and renewal of confidence, which a child shows when, having met a rebuff once and been turned away, it sits wondering and waiting, as if sure you would come round by and by and be good again.

III. Thus, now, having studied the real meaning of this incident, let us try to find out ITS PRACTICAL BEARING.

1. In the first place, consider how it would modify our estimates of human greatness. Here is the point at which our Lord meant His instruction should be felt earliest. These disciples had been contending about preeminence. Perhaps Peter began the jealous dispute, reminding them that he kept the house where Jesus was entertained. Perhaps John asked him to remember the place Jesus usually gave him at the table. Perhaps Andrew suggested that Simon might as well bear in mind that he had led him to Jesus down in Bethabara. Perhaps Matthew hushed them imperiously, declaring that none of them were business men as he had been. And perhaps James insisted that age and experience had some rights in the reckoning of precedence. Thus they worked themselves up into a passion. All this petulance was met by the spectacle of a tranquil little boy, who possibly wondered how he came to be put into show: and while they were looking curiously at him, Jesus said, calmly: "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

2. Next, let us consider bow this teaching would modify our aims for attainment. We need more of this child spirit in our hearts. Does anyone ask how it may be attained? In the old fable which the Hebrews used to teach their children about the fallen angels, they said that the angels of knowledge, proud and wilful, were cast down hopelessly into hell; but the angels of love, humble and tearful, crept back once more into the blessed light, and were welcomed home.

3. Again, let us consider how these words of Christ would modify our intellectual processes of study. Yes: but the Bible says do this thing like a child. Study with your faith rather than your intellect. A man needs conversion, not conviction. Our Lord here reverses human terms of counsel. We say to a child, "Be a man," but Jesus says to a man, "Be a child." That is the way to enter the kingdom.

4. Once more: let us consider how this doctrine will modify our formulas of belief. There is something for the great divines to learn also. Do we never force our theories beyond the confines of the gospel? A child's theology is frequently wiser for real human need than a man's. It often comes to pass that when a mature intellect has been worrying itself into most discouraging confusion, it is startled by the keen penetration and almost oracular deliverance of an infant trust. Ask one of our young girls, "What is God?" Perhaps she will give answer, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." And perhaps she will reply, "God is my father in heaven." For all availableness to deep experience of need, some of us think that, little as this seems to say, really it says more than the other does. Faith cannot climb up on the north side of a doctrine in the shade. She took her notion out of the prayer, and not out of the catechism; that is all. These great formulas ought to be explained in the very warmth and light of the figures and relationships of the gospel.

5. Let us consider likewise how Christ's teaching would modify our advice to inquirers. Some of those who claim to be honest seekers after truth completely invert the order of relation between belief and duty. Much of the difficulty they profess to find in the gospel is irrelevant in the matter of obligation, and entirely illogical in the matter of faith. Any sensible child is aware that its father's relationship by marriage, social standing in the community, form of daily occupation, political influence in the party, or citizenship by naturalization, has nothing to do with the question of its own obedience to his just commands. To reckon how much money he owes or owns, does not come before minding what he says. But inquirers will often insist on having the Trinity made clear, before they will take up repentance. They say they are stumbled about praying, because they cannot understand the Incarnation. Now the child spirit knows that taking the yoke comes even before learning of Christ (see Matthew 11:29). Jesus says, Do My will (John 7:17).

6. Finally, let us consider how this teaching will modify our tests of experience in grace. It is only a strange perversity which makes us seem to prefer the more subtle evidences of a change of heart. Here a plain test is proposed. The last result, the positively completed picture, of regeneration, is found in a child's temper and disposition. Anyone ought to know whether he possesses that or not. He can find out. His life will answer his questions, when possibly he cannot exactly find out about so mysterious a thing as his heart. Nobody is going to be excluded from heaven because he cannot find out his election or his regeneration, if he is holy, and truly believes in Christ, "as this little child."

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last (Mark 5:35). There is no way in which men are surer to outwit themselves than in looking out for themselves over everybody else. The poorest servant in the world is the one who always puts himself before his employer. The poorest place to buy anything is where the dealer never regards the interest of his customers. He is less than nothing as a friend who gives his friend the second place in his plans and course. No politician can be a leader while it appears that he cares only for his own advancement, and nothing for the voters. What would a soldier be worth whose aim was to look out for his own safety and comfort in times of service and battle? And if this principle be applicable in other fields, how much more does it apply to Christian service! He who is intent on what he can gain out of his religion, will be behind the poorest servant of Christ who is a servant in truth as well as in name. Self-seeking is self- destroying in the kingdom of God.

(H. Clay Trumbull.)

This means, for My sake, and it includes

(1)because they belong to Christian parents;

(2)because they partake of the nature which Christ took upon Him;

(3)because they belong to the race which Christ redeemed;

(4)because, like Christ, they are poor;

(5)because, Christ may be honoured in their after-life.Such children are received in Christ's Name, not only in orphanages or in Sunday schools, but by many of the Christ-loving poor, who have children of their own, and yet take into their homes some poor waif or stray, and cherish it as their own flesh and blood, for no reward except the Lord's approval.

(M. F. Sadler.)

The grace of this promise seems almost incredible. What an honour would any Christian have esteemed it, if he had been permitted to receive Christ under his roof for a single hour, and yet that receiving might have been external and transitory; but the Lord here undoubtedly promises that to receive a little one in His Name is to receive Him effectually.

(M. F. Sadler.)

People
Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, John, Peter
Places
Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Galilee, High Mountain
Topics
Arguing, Capernaum, Caper'na-um, Discussing, Disputed, Question, Questioning, Reasoning, Road, Talking, Yourselves
Outline
1. Jesus is transfigured.
11. He instructs his disciples concerning the coming of Elijah;
14. casts forth a deaf and mute spirit;
30. foretells his death and resurrection;
33. exhorts his disciples to humility;
38. bidding them not to prohibit such as are not against them,
42. nor to give offense to any of the faithful.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 9:33

     5505   roads

Mark 9:33-34

     5834   disagreement
     5924   quarrelsomeness

Mark 9:33-35

     2045   Christ, knowledge of
     5857   fame
     6134   coveting, prohibition

Mark 9:33-36

     8353   tolerance

Mark 9:33-37

     2036   Christ, humility
     2378   kingdom of God, characteristics
     5489   rank
     5554   status
     8205   childlikeness

Library
February 2 Evening
One star differeth from another star in glory.--I COR. 15:41. By the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all.--Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Lament Over Our Faithlessness
'He answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?'--Mark ix. 19. There is a very evident, and, I think, intentional contrast between the two scenes, of the Transfiguration, and of this healing of the maniac boy. And in nothing is the contrast more marked than in the demeanour of these enfeebled and unbelieving Apostles, as contrasted with the rapture of devotion of the other three, and with the lowly submission and faith of Moses and Elias.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Omnipotence of Faith
Jesus said unto him, If them canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.'--Mark ix. 23. The necessity and power of faith is the prominent lesson of this narrative of the healing of a demoniac boy, especially as it is told by the Evangelist Mark, The lesson is enforced by the actions of all the persons in the group, except the central figure, Christ. The disciples could not cast out the demon, and incur Christ's plaintive rebuke, which is quite as much sorrow as blame: 'O faithless
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Unbelieving Belief
'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.'--Mark ix. 24. We owe to Mark's Gospel the fullest account of the pathetic incident of the healing of the demoniac boy. He alone gives us this part of the conversation between our Lord and the afflicted child's father. The poor man had brought his child to the disciples, and found them unable to do anything with him. A torrent of appeal breaks from his lips as soon as the Lord gives
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Unanswered Question
'What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?'--Mark ix. 33. Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death? Note-- I. The variations of feeling common to the disciples and to us all: one moment 'exceeding sorrowful,' the next fighting for precedence. II. Christ's divine insight into His servants' faults. This question was put because He knew what the wrangle had been about. The disputants did not answer, but He knew without an answer, as His immediately
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salted with Fire
Every one shall be salted with fire.'--Mark ix. 49. Our Lord has just been uttering some of the most solemn words that ever came from His gracious lips. He has been enjoining the severest self-suppression, extending even to mutilation and excision of the eye, the hand, or the foot, that might cause us to stumble. He has been giving that sharp lesson on the ground of plain common sense and enlightened self-regard. It is better, obviously, to live maimed than to die whole. The man who elects to
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Salt in Yourselves'
'Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.'--Mark ix. 50. In the context 'salt' is employed to express the preserving, purifying, divine energy which is otherwise spoken of as 'fire.' The two emblems produce the same result. They both salt--that is, they cleanse and keep. And if in the one we recognise the quick energy of the Divine Spirit as the central idea, no less are we to see the same typified under a slightly different aspect in the other. The fire transforms into its own substance
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'This is My Beloved Son: Hear Him'
'And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him.'--Mark ix. 7. With regard to the first part of these words spoken at the Transfiguration, they open far too large and wonderful a subject for me to do more than just touch with the tip of my finger, as it were, in passing, because the utterance of the divine words, 'This is My beloved Son,' in all the depth of their meaning and loftiness, is laid as the foundation of the two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus Only!
'They saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.'--Mark ix. 8. The Transfiguration was the solemn inauguration of Jesus for His sufferings and death. Moses, the founder, and Elijah, the restorer, of the Jewish polity, the great Lawgiver and the great Prophet, were present. The former had died and been mysteriously buried, the latter had been translated without 'seeing death.' So both are visitors from the unseen world, appearing to own that Jesus is the Lord of that dim land, and that
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Transfiguration
'And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. 3. And His raimemt became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Receiving and Forbidding
'And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35. And He sat down, and called the Twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36. And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, 37.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

July the Ninth Scholars in Christ's School
"He taught His disciples." --MARK ix. 30-37. And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God. There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee and me. But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom, but for place.
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Lenten Fast.
"This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer."--ST. MARK ix. 29. You remember the narrative from which I have taken this verse. Jesus, as we read, had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and when He was come to the multitude, a certain man besought him saying, "Have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic and sore vexed, and I brought him to Thy disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus rebuked the devil, and the child was cured from that hour. Thereupon His disciples
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

The Child in the Midst.
"And He took a child and set Him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me."--ST. MARK ix. 36, 37. It is one of the characteristics of our time, one of its most hopeful and most encouraging signs, that men are awaking to higher and purer conceptions of the Christian life and what it is that constitutes such a life. We
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Of Hell
"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:48. 1. Every truth which is revealed in the oracles of God is undoubtedly of great importance. Yet it may be allowed that some of those which are revealed therein are of greater importance than others, as being more immediately conducive to the grand end of all, the eternal salvation of men. And we may judge of their importance even from this circumstance, -- that they are not mentioned once only in the sacred writings, but are repeated
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

A Caution against Bigotry
"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name: and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not." Mark 9:38, 39. 1. In the preceding verses we read, that after the Twelve had been disputing "which of them should be the greatest," Jesus took a little child, and set him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, said unto them, "Whosoever shall receive one of these little children in My name, receiveth
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Faith's Dawn and Its Clouds
In the text there are three things very clearly. Here is true faith; here is grievous unbelief; here is a battle between the two. I. Very clearly in the text there is TRUE FAITH. "Lord, I believe," says the anxious father. When our Lord tells him that, if he can believe, all things are possible to him, he makes no demur, asks for no pause, wishes to hear no more evidence, but cries at once, "Lord, I believe." Now, observe we have called this faith true faith, and we will prove it to have been so.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

The Child in the Midst.
And he came to Capernaum: and, being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Absolute Surrender
"And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that
Andrew Murray—Absolute Surrender

Thoughts Upon Striving to Enter at the Strait Gate.
AS certainly as we are here now, it is not long but we shall all be in another World, either in a World of Happiness, or else in a World of Misery, or if you will, either in Heaven or in Hell. For these are the two only places which all Mankind from the beginning of the World to the end of it, must live in for evermore, some in the one, some in the other, according to their carriage and behaviour here; and therefore it is worth the while to take a view and prospect now and then of both these places,
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Three Tabernacles
And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. MARK ix. 5. Caught up in glory and in rapture, the Apostle seems to have forgotten the world from which he had ascended, and to which he still belonged, and to have craved permanent shelter and extatic communion within the mystic splendors that brightened the Mount of Transfiguration. But it was true, not only as to the confusion of his
E. H. Chapin—The Crown of Thorns

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