Edward Hoare

“ It should teach us, in the first place, the proper limits of human inquiry with reference to the Gospel. We must never forget that the human understanding has its own most important sphere of action, and that its enlightened exercise is essential to the right reception of the truth of God. We are not at liberty, for example, to shut up the understanding, and deliver ourselves blindfold to the guidance of any church which may call itself infallible, but we are bound as thinking men to examine the credentials of its assumed infallibility. ”

“ Having learned that it is the Book of God, we must next inquire what it teaches, and being satisfied that it contains the truth, we must proceed to examine what the truth is which it contains. But this truth being once ascertained, the understanding must immediately give place to faith, and the inquiring spirit must simply believe what the inspired Word is found to teach him. The Gospel is the power of God, and therefore the human mind must be prepared to find in it many things altogether beyond its range. ”

“ We must look forward therefore to the time when his struggle will be over, and his victory perfected in Christ; when his ransomed spirit shall take its place in the great multitude, who stand in the presence, and behold the glory of the Lord. How many are there that have stood beside the open grave, grieving, and bitterly grieving, for the loss of those over whose remains it was about to close! ”

“ And so with reference to the great principles of the Reformation, those principles so inexpressibly dear to the heart of every scriptural believer, there may be much to alarm in all we see around us; in the many adversaries, some open, and some secret; some in undisguised opposition to the truth, and some professing it, it is much to be feared, for the unhallowed purpose of betraying it. ”

“ There is a time coming when there shall be no division in the family, nor any great gulf between the brethren assembled before the throne, and the brethren still struggling upon earth; but when the whole of God’s elect shall be gathered; when the Jew, the European, the African, and the New Zealander, will all be assembled into one company, to bow before one throne, to speak one language, and to join in one universal hymn of praise to the one Author of their eternal life. ”

“ Thus, for example, our finite minds are unable to comprehend the great mystery of the incarnation, or how one person can be at the same time both God and man; but such a difficulty is no stumbling-block to the believer, for though by reason he cannot understand it, yet he finds it written in the Scriptures, and by faith he receives it, for the Gospel is the power of God. ”

“ And who can realize the joy of that wonderful day, when all shall be gathered, so that no single individual of the whole family shall be absent, and all shall be perfected, so that throughout the whole multitude there shall not be found a single spot or stain of sin—when the whole corruption of our nature shall be gone, the whole effect of that corruption gone likewise, and the whole church of God created anew in the perfect likeness and image of the Lord? ”

“ He is saved, for he is born to be a conqueror; so that although there may be a deep struggle in the secrets of his heart, and many a strong temptation alluring him from his course, and exerting such a power over his soul, that he trembles at times lest he should be plunged again into the abyss of sin; yet through it all he comes forth a conqueror, and the Scriptures are proved true, which declare without reserve, “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” ”

“ He is saved, for he has a new life bestowed on him, which all the powers of death shall never be able to extinguish, for he is “born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” ”

“ To avoid a similar error we must bear in mind that the Gospel, being Divine in its origin, is likewise superhuman in its arrangements, and we must adhere strictly to the great principle of diligent investigation when we want to know what God has taught us, and of simple faith when we have once discovered the vast truths revealed to us by His Spirit. ”

“ If a man is possessed of great intellectual attainments, he is never found to be ashamed of them! If he is successful in the accumulation of wealth, he is never known to be ashamed of that; if he is remarkable for worldly wisdom, he is never tempted to be ashamed of that ”

“ There may be many hindrances, for example, in the way of the Jews’ conversion, and much to dishearten the devoted labourer in the dense masses of our manufacturing population, but who need be discouraged when he strives to preach a Saviour, and remembers that his simple message is the mighty power of an omnipotent God? ”

“ It is the most perfect display of the most perfect and holy of His attributes. If it be inquired which is the greatest of all His holy attributes, it will not be found to be His omnipotence or His omniscience, but that in which all the rest are summed up by the inspired Word, when it says, “God is love.” And if, again, it be inquired how p. 9this crowning attribute has been most abundantly exhibited, we shall not find our answer either in creation or in providence, but in “the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” ”

“ Or suppose it had been written, “to every one that loves:” we must then have turned our thoughts inwards for a strict scrutiny of our own affections, and although we desired with the whole heart to love the Lord, we should have found there so much of cold apathy, that we should have been compelled to the conclusion that the great salvation could never be for us. ”

“ Or suppose that the common low standard of the world had been adopted, and the text had been written, “to every one that does all in his power to deserve it:” where, we ask, is that man who has even fulfilled this low requirement, and who would not through his manifold defects and deficiencies, be for ever excluded from the covenant? ”

“ They are a class of persons for whom we should feel the most tender sympathy. Many of them are compelled to leave their country on account of poverty; and then, settling in some distant settlement, are wholly cut off from their wonted enjoyment of the means of grace. ”

“ If it p. 4were the work of man we should of course expect to find the whole within the compass of man’s intellect; but as it is the power of God, His own plan and His own purpose, we must be prepared to meet with deep and unfathomable truths, bearing some proportion to His infinite and unfathomable attributes. ”

“ He passes through life like other men, engaged in interests, afflicted by its sorrows, and p. 7partaking of its joys. You meet him in society, and you observe no marked distinction, except in his character. ”