The Worlds Great Sermons, Volume 10

The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10 (of 10) - Drummond to Jowett, and General Index

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by Various, et al, Edited by Grenville Kleiser
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Title: The World's Great Sermons, Volume 10 (of 10)
Author: Various
Release Date: March 30, 2004 [eBook #11760]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE WORLD'S GREAT SERMONS
COMPILED BY
GRENVILLE KLEISER
Formerly of Yale Divinity School Faculty; Author of "How to Speak in Public," Etc.
With Assistance from Many of the Foremost Living Preachers and Other Theologians
INTRODUCTION BY LEWIS O. BRASTOW, D.D.
Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology in Yale University
IN TEN VOLUMES
VOLUME X DRUMMOND TO JOWETT
General Index
1908

CONTENTS
VOLUME X.
DRUMMOND (1851--1897). The Greatest Thing in the World
WAGNER (Born in 1851). I Am a Voice
GORDON (Born in 1853). Man in the Image of God
DAWSON (Born in 1854). Christ Among the Common Things of Life
SMITH (Born in 1856). Assurance in God
GUNSAULUS (Born in 1856). The Bible vs. Infidelity
HILLIS (Born in 1858). God the Unwearied Guide
JEFFERSON (Born in 1860). The Reconciliation
MORGAN (Born in 1863). The Perfect Ideal of Life
CADMAN (Born in 1864). A New Day for Missions
JOWETT (Born in 1864). Apostolic Optimism
Index to Preachers and Sermons
Index to Texts

DRUMMOND
THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Henry Drummond, author and evangelist, was born at Stirling, Scotland, in 1851. His book, "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," caused much discussion and is still widely read. His "Ascent of Man" is regarded by many as his greatest work. The address reprinted here has appeared in hundreds of editions, and has been an inspiration to thousands of peoples all over the world. There is an interesting biography of Drummond by Professor George Adam Smith, his close friend and colaborer. He died in 1897.

DRUMMOND
1851--1897
THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD[1]
[Footnote 1: Reprinted by permission of James Pott & Co.]
_Tho I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, &c._--I Cor. xiii.
Everyone has asked himself the great question of antiquity as of the modern world: What is the _summum bonum_--the supreme good? You have life before you. Once only you can live it. What is the noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?
We have been accustomed to be told that the greatest thing in the religious world is faith. That great word has been the key-note for centuries of the popular religion; and we have easily learned to look upon it as the greatest thing in the world. Well, we are wrong. If we have been told that, we may miss the mark. I have taken you, in the chapter which I have just read, to Christianity at its source; and there we have seen, "The greatest of these is love." It is not an oversight. Paul was speaking of faith just a moment before. He says, "If I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing." So far from forgetting, he deliberately contrasts them, "Now abideth faith, hope, love," and without a moment's hesitation the decision falls, "The greatest of these is love."
And it is not prejudice. A man is apt to recommend to others his own strong point. Love was not Paul's strong point. The observing student can detect a beautiful tenderness growing and ripening all through his character as Paul gets old; but the hand that wrote, "The greatest of these is love," when we meet it first, is stained with blood.
Nor is this letter to the Corinthians peculiar in singling out love as the summum bonum. The masterpieces of Christianity are agreed about it. Peter says, "Above all things have fervent love among yourselves." Above all things. And John goes further, "God is love." And you remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." Did you ever think what he meant by that? In those days men were working their passage to heaven by keeping the ten commandments, and the hundred and ten other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ said, I will show you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these hundred and ten things, without ever thinking about them. If you love, you will unconsciously fulfil the whole law. And you can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." If a man love God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is