Hi all,
I was going through this writing of R.L. Stevenson.
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/bible_books/?view=book&book=612
But I am not able to understand what he is coming to say. If somebody there has the time to read it and understand, can you please tell me what is the gist of it?
NOT urgent. Thanks.
Angelin
Very wordy...keeps on talking long after he is done. SIGH.
Are you not glad the Bible does not speak like that? It is brief, to the point. The wordy people are those who work to interpret it. A lesson for all of us, right?
God bless - hope you get the answer to your question.
My goodness. The way I talk is so far removed from that kind of speech that I hardly understood a word. One thing I did pick up was this: being moral means nothing. Just because I don't do wrong does not mean that I have attained anything. Lots of people are not murderers or adulterers, but they are still lost. It isn't what you don't do that makes us Christ like, it is what you DO do that makes us Christ like.
There was some other stuff in there, but it was HARD to understand.
Seems to be saying that if you have problems in sinful areas you will need to completely abstain. Then he's also talking about the frailty of life and how quick it can disappear. But then it might be too late because at the end of life
you will have done nothing with your soul.
Also seems to be saying that if you don't have Christ but are a moral person what good is this?
He may have Puritan leanings.
It was hard to decipher compared to todays teachings where you get 5 stories from the pulpit just to explain a simple matter.
Thanks all. Appreciate you taking time to look through it.
I guess its not really necessary to understand what he is trying to say. It's a pity that sometimes simple things are made to look so complex. And yeah, I am glad that the Bible uses simple language and keeps it to the point. One lesson learnt - "Life is short. Keep things simple!" ;)
Kind of reminds me of a conference I attended once. There were a few saintly speakers present, one of whom was in his nineties and oozed of godly wisdom. He opened the morning session which was excellent. Another fellow spoke in the afternoon who was obviously trying to impress with lofty words and lengthy ramblings. About 15 minutes into his teaching the morning speaker who was sitting on the front row yelled "Brother, I'm sorry but I don't understand a word you are saying". :-)
Priceless.
I guess it’s like this. When a person merely wants to show off his knowledge, language skills etc., he throws a lot of hard words, complex sentences, irrelevant musings etc. But when a person sincerely wants to communicate something which he thinks is of great importance to the hearer, he takes every effort to make it as simple as possible so that the hearer will get the message and be benefited. Like Jesus using parables.
I am not saying that all high-level works are mere show offs. But if the message does not reach the intended audience, what is the use? We need to pray for wisdom from above for effective communication.
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