DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9552#0113
to the christian public.
99
mother." Luke ,ch. viii. ver. 21: "My mother and
my brethren are these which hear the word of God and
doit." Ch. xi. ver. 27, 28: "Blessed is the womb
(said a certain woman to Jesus) that bare thee, and the
paps which thou hast sucked : but he said, Yea, rather
blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep
it." John, ch. xv. \ er. 10: "If ye keep my command-
ments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept
my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. "
What then are those sayings, the obedience to which
is so absolutely commanded as indispensable and all-
sufficient to those who desire to inherit eternal life ?
The)'' are no other than the blessed and benign moral
doctrines taught in the sermon on the mount, (contained
in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Matthew,) which
include therefore every duty of man, and all that is
necessary to salvation ; and they expressly exclude
mere profession or belief, from those circumstances
which God graciously admits as giving a title to eternal
happiness. Neither in this, nor in any other part of
the New Testament can we find a commandment
similarly enjoining a knowledge of any of the mysteries
or historical relations contained in those books. It is
hesides plainly stated, that but a very small portion of
the works of Jesus have been handed down to vis by
the Evangelists. John says at the conclusion of Ins
gospel, ch. xxi. ver. 25, " There are &lso many other
things which Jesus did, the which if they should be
written ever)- one, I suppose the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written. " On the
other hand we cannot doubt, that the whole spirit of his
doctrines has been faithfully.and fully recorded, the
99
mother." Luke ,ch. viii. ver. 21: "My mother and
my brethren are these which hear the word of God and
doit." Ch. xi. ver. 27, 28: "Blessed is the womb
(said a certain woman to Jesus) that bare thee, and the
paps which thou hast sucked : but he said, Yea, rather
blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep
it." John, ch. xv. \ er. 10: "If ye keep my command-
ments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept
my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. "
What then are those sayings, the obedience to which
is so absolutely commanded as indispensable and all-
sufficient to those who desire to inherit eternal life ?
The)'' are no other than the blessed and benign moral
doctrines taught in the sermon on the mount, (contained
in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Matthew,) which
include therefore every duty of man, and all that is
necessary to salvation ; and they expressly exclude
mere profession or belief, from those circumstances
which God graciously admits as giving a title to eternal
happiness. Neither in this, nor in any other part of
the New Testament can we find a commandment
similarly enjoining a knowledge of any of the mysteries
or historical relations contained in those books. It is
hesides plainly stated, that but a very small portion of
the works of Jesus have been handed down to vis by
the Evangelists. John says at the conclusion of Ins
gospel, ch. xxi. ver. 25, " There are &lso many other
things which Jesus did, the which if they should be
written ever)- one, I suppose the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written. " On the
other hand we cannot doubt, that the whole spirit of his
doctrines has been faithfully.and fully recorded, the