ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, BY RUFUS WENDELL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY PREFACE. "WHAT the age demands," says TAYLER LEWIS, in his Vedder Lectures, "is a more intense study of the Holy Scriptures, accompanied by the earnest prayer: 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of THY law."" Among the "wondrous things" in the Bible, the pre-eminent place must be given to the recorded words of Him whose "name" is "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." "The words of the Lord Jesus Christ," says an anonymous writer, "must ever be regarded by His disciples as the central glory of the Bible, the most precious heritage of Humanity. The faithful who lived before His Advent, from the earliest ages of the world, looked to Him as the Desire of All Nations, and died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and embraced them.' The Christian Church, since His Advent and Ascension, have rested upon His Work and His Words as their healing for the past, their strength for the present, and their hope for the future." To gather these Divine sayings- THE WORDS OF OUR LORD — into a volume by themselves was a thought that first arose in my mind on a Lord's Day morning in February, 1873. The idea assumed at once the form of a purpose, the execution of which was entered upon immediately. Being intent, first of all, on finding out what proportion of the matter composing the four Gospels is made up of the Words of our Saviour, I sought the information by methods which yielded no satisfactory result. These were thrown. aside; and the only mode that would insure the desired accuracy, namely, that of counting the words, was adopted. A suitable copy of the New Testament having been procured, the work of bracketing the Speeches of our Lord, and of noting in the margin the number of words in each, was begun. While, however, this pleasant task was in course of accomplishment the scope of the projected book was essentially enlarged. It was seen that the Addresses to our Lord have an important as well as deeply interesting relation to many of His most memorable Discourses; and hence that their presence in the volume would materially augment its value. Moreover, the remaining Speeches of the Gospels and Acts-classed here as Miscellaneous were found to be, throughout, connected, either directly or remotely, with the person and mission of Jesus of Nazareth. As to the Addresses in the Apocalypse, it was perceived that, from "I am Alpha and Omega," at the opening of the Book, to "Surely I come quickly," at its close, they are indeed "The Revelation of JESUS CHRIST, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass." It was, therefore, determined to embrace in the compilation all the Speeches of the New Testament; and to the furtherance of this expanded plan my labor upon the work was thenceforth directed. In this volume, every Speech of the five historical books of the New Testament has a double occurrence. The mere statement of this fact is an intimation that the work embodies in its structure two radically distinct ideas. And this it does. The counting of the words, before it was far advanced, suggested that classification of the Speeches according to their length which is the dominant peculiarity of Book First. I believe that, in a variety of ways, the arrangement here alluded to will be found as useful as it is interesting and unique. Some of its advantages may properly be specified. And 1. Attention will be drawn to the Speeches by the very novelty of a grouping of them according to their length in words. "We never saw it on this fashion" will be, with many, apart from any question of utility, a sufficient reason for reading, and perchance pondering, inspired sayings which they have, for the most part, hitherto neglected in the New Testament narratives. And the novelty can in no case prove hurtful; since every Speech appears in its complete form, accompanied by a reference to its place in the Scriptures. 2. In the important matter of retention, the memory will here be greatly assisted by the sight. So many short Speeches brought together in so narrow a compass, with the accessory of clear, doubleleaded type, the eye seizes them with ease and rapidity; and thus one valuable aid to ready recollection is supplied. 3. It may be doubted whether, in the disposal of the Speeches, any other arrangement of them, in which regard was had to a plan, could furnish, in so small space, an equally ample variety of topics. For its suggestiveness, it is believed that this feature of Book First will be most highly prized by those who are most devoted to that intense and prayerful study of the Holy Scriptures which the venerated Professor LEWIS says the age demands. 4. The arrangement under consideration furnishes a captivating and efficient means of testing the extent and accuracy of one's knowledge of the historical portions of the New Testament. Take, for an illustration, the one-word Speeches in THE WORDS OF OUR LORD. Four in number, they are embodied in four narratives having a total of fifty-five verses and thirteen hundred and four words. In these narratives are twenty-nine Speeches containing a total of four hundred and seven words.* Now let the attempt be made to recall minutely all the circumstances connected with each of the speeches "Go," "Come," "Mary," "Ananias." When the memory's resources have been exhausted in the pleasant exercise, let the narratives be again consulted for the purpose of ascertaining how much is needed in the way of supplement, and how much in the way of correction. For the ends here had in view, the volume should ever be at hand in the household; and it will have a no less appropriate place in the Christian social circle. In either sphere, it can be made largely profitable and entertaining without the drawback of an inconvenient formality. 5. This is a book for the Family; and the feature of it now commended can be made, in a strikingly interesting way, available in promoting a knowledge and love of the Bible on the part of youth. As might be supposed, this hint relates especially to Christian. parents, whose revealed obligation it is to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." In that work, faithfully performed, no subordinate place will be assigned to the inspired Word. "From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) Help children to become familiar with what the Bible says, and you will be helping them to know what the Bible means. And, as an arrest to modern tendencies, it ought to be urged that this duty may not lawfully be transferred from the domestic circle to the Sunday School. It is binding upon the Parent; and should be with loving zeal attended to daily, and at home. A New England pastor, in a recent public address, uttered these weighty words: "The preacher of the future age must return, in a very emphatic sense, to true Biblical preaching. Thus only can he perpetuate and extend his power over the century. Human formulas of even divine truth may fail; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever,' and one living truth is better than a thousand dead formulas. He must be intrenched in that "Go"; Matt. viii. 28-34; 7 verses, 195 words, 3 speeches, 38 speech words. "COME": Matt. xiv. 22-33; 12 verses, 246 words, 7 speeches, 49 speech words. "MARY": John xx. 1-18; 18 verses, 413 words, 8 speeches, 104 speech words. ANANIAS: Acts ix. 1-18; 18 verses, 450 words, 17 speeches, 216 speech words. Word filled with it. He must be the impersonation of the Word." None too strongly said; and one beneficent effect of the prevalence of the kind of preaching here insisted upon would assuredly be to raise the Bible to a position of vastly increased influence at the fireside. The converse, however, is also true. Exalt the Scriptures, by whatever means, to their rightful place in the affections of the hearers of preaching; so that they, as newborn babes, shall desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby (1 Peter ii. 12), and the pulpit will feel the quickening power of such an awakening. The "return, in a very emphatic sense, to true Biblical preaching" will, in that event, come as the response to a demand felt to be none the less cogent because not uttered in words. The Lord "hasten it in his time.” But to the matter in hand. Book First of this compilation contains 1,446 Speeches; and these average only forty-two words and a fraction in length. The plan upon which they have been numbered, classified, and grouped can be easily explained to the child. Now let him, Bible in hand, be asked to inform himself as fully as possible respecting the speech "Go." He will regard the task as an easy one; and it is well that he should so regard it. But the fact is, its performance requires him to read attentively seven verses of narrative; with a view to reporting what it was that led to the command "Go," and what afterward took place as a result. He will encounter, moreover, two additional Speeches one of 22 and one of 15 words - concerning which he has not been requested to give any account. They nevertheless make their impression on his memory; and their substance, if not their very words, he will endeavor to reproduce: and when, at a later stage of his progress, each of them becomes in its turn the Speech he is to inquire about, he will not fail to be agreeably surprised at finding himself already in possession of a tolerably complete knowledge of the narrative. Having to go over it thrice, and each time simply to learn the circumstances accompanying the utterance of one brief Speech, the narrative, in its minute details, will become indelibly stamped on his mind; with never so much as a suspicion on his part that he has had a hard lesson to learn. Commending the child for whatever of success he has achieved in his first effort, let him take up the next Speech in order— "Come." The twelve verses which he will now read will introduce to his notice six new Speeches; each of which will leave an impress more or less distinct, though read once only. But, as no two of the six fall in the same group, our young Bible student will, pursuant |