SERMONS BY THE REV. JOHN MCNEILL. VOLUME I. LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET, W. 1890. а 100. e. 525 MARY AND MARTHA; OR, STABLE AND UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM. A Sermon DELIVERED ON SUNDAY EVENING, Nov. 10, 1889, BY THE REV. JOHN MCNEILL. "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house," &c.-LUKE x. 38. I SHOULD like at the outset to say that it is my desire in dealing with this simple village idyll to get as far away as possible from the unhappy discussion that has been started here to this effect: Was Martha really unconverted? Does the Lord mean to say at the end of the narrative, or does He mean to suggest, that only one of these sisters had really found the one thing needful, while the other had not? I think the better way will be for us to take the story as it comes, and try to gather what we can from the actors in it. The Lord, we are told elsewhere, loved Martha and Mary, and the story as it has been given to us was intended to teach us mainly the diversities and varieties of character that may exist, and that do exist, within the household of Faith |