Look Inside: Maclaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture

We recently released a brand-new series for the Olive Tree App entitled Expositions of Holy Scripture. This series consists of a number of volumes of sermons by the 19^th century Baptist minister Alexander Maclaren. We’d like to share with you a little bit more about the author of these Expositions, why we’ve adapted them for use in the Olive Tree App, and how you can benefit from his sermons in your own study of the Scriptures. First, let’s learn more about Alexander Maclaren.

Who was Alexander Maclaren?

Alexander Maclaren was born in Scotland in 1826. He would live to the age of 84 before dying on May 5, 1910 in Edinburgh. While the beginning and end of his life took place in Scotland, most of his life was spent in England where he went to college and later served as a pastor. He excelled in his studies and became quite proficient in Hebrew and Greek, which he maintained through daily devotions in the original languages.

In comparing Maclaren to some of his contemporaries, F. B. Meyer spoke highly of Maclaren. He wrote, “As an expository preacher none of them equaled Maclaren of Manchester, and no other sermons were so widely read the world around . . . Dr. Maclaren is said with truth to have changed the whole style of the British pulpit, and to have influenced it more (than) any of his predecessors.”

Why Adapt His Sermons for the Olive Tree App?

It is the impact of such a man that makes his writings appealing for us to adapt and make available in the Olive Tree App. Our formatting team has been working hard and making as many of his sermons available. We now have hundreds of his sermons covering many of the books of the Bible available for the first time. Before we show you some samples from his sermons, here’s how some have described his expositions and preaching style.   

Tim Perrine writes,

“Broadly evangelical in nature, Maclaren’s sermons are not historical – rarely referring to the current events of his day – allowing them to retain their interest and power since he first gave them. Expositions of Holy Scriptures is thus highly practical and lively. It makes a wonderful companion to more textually oriented commentaries. To read Expositions of Holy Scripture is to be in the presence of one of the greatest preachers of the last few centuries.”

Ernest H. Jeffs describes Maclaren’s preaching in this way,

“The charm of Maclaren’s preaching was intellectual and artistic. It lay in the logical closeness and firmness of his exposition, architectural culmination of proof and argument, warmth and richness of his metaphor and illustrations; and under all this was the stern challenge to righteousness and repentance, breaking into sunshine, so to speak, when the emphasis changes from the God who judges to the Jesus who redeems.”

Study Scripture with Maclaren’s Expositions

The Olive Tree App is a wonderful tool you can use to study Scripture. One of the best features of our app is the Resource Guide. The Resource Guide assists you in studying Scripture by allowing you to access related content in your Olive Tree library that meshes with the Scripture passage you have open in the main window. Here’s an example of how this looks. Notice that Maclaren’s Expositions show up in the commentary section with a number of references tagged to the Bible passage in the main window.

When you tap on Maclaren’s Expositions, the content from that resource will appear and you can immediately begin reading his sermons right alongside the text of Scripture.

We don’t have the space in this blog post to show you all that Maclaren has to offer in his Expositions of Holy Scripture, but here’s a couple samples to whet your appetite. If you find this particularly edifying, then make sure to visit our store and pick up this new series for your Olive Tree Library!

“In the revelation of grace—we have a far deeper, nobler, more blessed conception of the divine nature than in law. It is great to think of a righteous God, it is great and ennobling to think of One whose pure eyes cannot look upon sin, and who wills that men should live pure and noble and Godlike lives. But it is far more and more blessed, transcending all the old teaching, when we sit at the feet of the Christ who gives, and who pardons, and look up into His deep eyes, with the tears of compassion shining in them, and say: ‘Lo! This is our God! We have waited for Him and He will save us.’”

Maclaren’s sermon on John 1:17 entitled “Grace and Truth”

“We should be saved from many unworthy conceptions of the future life, if we held more steadfastly to the great truth that God Himself is the portion of the inheritance. The human spirit is too great and too exacting to be satisfied with anything less than Him, and the possession of Him opens out into every blessedness, and includes all the minor joys and privileges that can gladden and enrich the soul . . . We are ‘heirs of God,’ and only as we possess Him, and know that we are His, and He is ours, are we ‘rich to all intents of bliss.’”

Maclaren’s sermon on Colossians 1:12 entitled “Thankful for Inheritance”

Get Maclaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture

Maclaren’s Expositions of Holy Scripture are available now for the first time on Olive Tree. Visit our store through the link below and start studying the Scriptures with one of the 19^th century’s most prominent expositors!