This book contain three sermons by Henry Drummond. The first two, "The Greatest Thing in the World" and "Pax Vobiscum" were excellent. In "The Greatest thing in the World," Rev. Drummond goes to 1 Corinthians 13 to show that love is the greatest thing and the ultimate thing in the Christian's life. If there is no love, there is no Christianity. He uses as an illustration the elder son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and his unloving attitude. He also shows from Matthew 25:31-46, where the judge separates the sheep from the goats, that the "goats" will be judged for sins of omission. It is what was NOT done that shows their unloving attitude and proof that they never knew Christ. The second sermon, "Pax Vobiscum," has Matthew 11:28-30 for a text. "Come unto Me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my Yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am Meek and Lowly in heart, and ye shall find Rest unto your souls. For My Yoke is easy and My Burden Light."Rev. Drummond says he once heard a sermon on this and thought it was full of delightful thoughts. But as he thought further on the sermon, he realized that the preacher never told them how to get this rest. He realized that the Christian virtues of rest, joy, peace, faith, love, etc. are often spoken of but rarely does anyone explain just how we are to obtain these virtues. He takes "rest" as an example and explains how it, like all the others, can be obtained by cause and effect. If we will only search the passages, we can see what will "cause" the "effect" of rest (or joy, peace, fait, love, etc.)The third sermon, "The Program of Christianity," was not as understandable as the other two. I really could not figure out most of what he was saying. The main thing I understood was that he was saying God uses men to accomplish His purposes. Overall, I would highly recommend that every Christian read this excellent Christian classic. At least read the first two sermons!
Like George MacDonald, Henry Drummond was a 19th century Scotsman who wrote books with a Christian theme. I read MacDonald because he was admired by an author whom I admire, C.S. Lewis. I read this book by Drummond because it impressed another man I admire, John D. Clemens, my grandfather. A few years ago my grandfather felt compelled to record some of the influences that helped him curb his temper. He put his recollections into a letter that he sent out to his extended family. I read this letter recently and discovered that this book by Henry Drummond had so impressed him that he intended to acquire enough copies to provide one to each of his descendants. Unfortunately he passed away before he could accomplish this goal. As a book buyer I found myself in the unique position of being able to carry out this wish of my late grandfather.Simply buying the books isn't enough to honor his legacy, however. His desire was that we read it and allow it to have a positive influence in our lives, as it did his. This book is a meditation on 1 Corinthians chapter 13, which is the apostle Paul's teachings regarding charity. Drummond asserts that love is greater than charity, as a whole is greater than one of its parts. Those who define charity as being the pure love of Christ will not need to make that distinction; Paul's charity and Drummond's love are interchangeable. Love is the greatest thing in the world according to them both. The book expounds on all of the aspects of love as defined by Paul. In regard to temper, Drummond says that it is the denial of love, and is therefore one of the most harmful sins, one that afflicts even the most noble characters. "The peculiarity of ill temper is that it is the vice of the virtuous." This book helped my grandfather rid himself of the vice of temper, and I intend to follow his example.
What do You think about The Supreme Gift (2014)?
This is a short little book about love. Unpacking the "love chapter", 1 Corinthians 13, Drummond points out the 9 virtues that we can practice to live out love as a way of life. He also draws on the life of Jesus and notes how most of what Jesus did was make people happy. There is also a good discussion that I liked on why it is better to give than to receive. Overall I liked the book and it is filled with a lot of good one liners, a very tweetable book. One of the best selling books the last couple of years has been "The Love Dare" which is a 40 day journey to show unconditional love to your love. If the Love Dare is the How to book of Love, I would say this book is "Why" book. Though this book is focused on loving all people in a selfless manner and the Love Dare is focused on relationship with your spouse or love interest, they both draw on the same source material, 1Corinthians 13, to demonstrate the practical application of loving the way Christ does. I highly recommend this book and would encourage you to read it as a devotional as you work through how to live out the 9 virtues that cultivate love in your soul.
—Tom
Jesus preached Sermons which made him God..Reaading Paaulo's books these days, it seems like he too is wanting to earn that spot real bad. Expecting a proper story line from paulo would be foolish as he is much of an ' OSHO' type writer..and he doesnt disappoint. The book starts with 'Love is ' & ends with ' Love is'. The author tires you with a long boring speech on love & nothing else in between..Its like reading a 50 page defination on love in a dictionary. There is no soul in the writing nor it touches you at any point..Even 5 yr old kids can write a more Interesting sermon on love..Its that bad !!
—Prity Malhotra
Although this book is written with a Christian theme I believe it sums up the majority of the world's religions. Ultimately, everything is tied together by love...the need to love, the need to be loved and all of the good that comes from/with love. I have always had an open view of religion believing they all are basically the same....be kind, do unto others as you want done to you, etc. this book and view on love says much the same....when love is broken down, it eliminates evil/badness/negativeness....whatever one wants to call it. If we could all just seek love above all else, we would not have hate, crime, theft, sadness, pain. I recommend this book as a fast read for anyone with an open mind/view.
—Karen
