Expository Thoughts
Notes on 12:1-7
1. Jesus began to speak. Note that the following discourse contains many sayings which were spoken on other occasions. It is clear that our Lord repeated the same words in different places and taught the same lessons on different occasions. All teachers repeat their lessons over and over again, to fix the lesson in their hearers' minds. It is absurd to suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ did not do so.
"Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees." This warning reminds the church to be on guard against formalism and hypocrisy.
Few warnings have been so much needed and so often overlooked.
4. "Those who kill the body ....". The distinction between body and soul, and the separate existence of the soul after the body is dead, are clearly brought out in this passage. The use which martyrs have often made of this verse as they were killed is a striking and remarkable fact in church history.
5. "Fear him . . . has power . . . into hell." The reality and fearfulness of hell stand out awfully on the face of this verse. There is a hell after death. The state of the wicked person after this life is not annihilation. There is a hell which ought to be feared. There is a just
God who will firmly throw into hell the obstinately impenitent and unbelieving.
6. "Not one of them is forgotten by God." God's providential care over all his creatures is taught in this verse and the next one. Nothing was too little for God to create. Nothing is too little for God to preserve. Nothing that concerns God's people is too little for him to manage or for them to bring before him in prayer.
LUKE 12:8-12
We are taught, firstly, in these verses, that we must confess
Christ upon earth, if we expect Him to own us as His saved people at the last day. We must not be ashamed to let all men see that we believe in Christ, and serve Christ, and love Christ, and care more for the praise of Christ than for the praise of man.
The duty of confessing Christ is incumbent on all Christians in every age of the Church. Let us never forget that. It is not for martyrs only, but for all believers, in every rank of life. It is not for great occasions only, but for our daily walk through an evil world. The rich man among the rich, the laborer among laborers, the young among the young, the servant among servants—each and all must be prepared, if they are true Christians, to confess their Master. It needs no blowing a trumpet. It requires no noisy boasting. It needs nothing more than using the daily opportunity. But one thing is certain—if a man loves Jesus, he ought not to be ashamed to let people know it.
The difficulty of confessing Christ is undoubtedly very great. It never was easy at any period. It never will be easy as long as the world stands. It is sure to entail on us laughter, ridicule, contempt, mockery, enmity, and persecution. The wicked dislike to see any one better than themselves. The world which hated Christ will always hate true Christians. But whether we like it or not, whether it be hard or easy, our course is perfectly clear. In one way or another Christ must be confessed.
The grand motive to stir us up to bold confession is forcibly brought before us in the words which we are now considering. Our Lord declares, that if we do not confess Him before men, He will "not confess us before the angels of God" at the last day. He will refuse to acknowledge us as His people. He will disown us as cowards, faithless, and deserters. He will not plead for us. He will not be our Advocate. He will not deliver us from the wrath to come. He will leave us to reap the consequences of our cowardice, and to stand before the bar of God helpless, defenseless, and unforgiven.
What a dreadful prospect is this! How much turns on this one hinge of "confessing Christ before men!" Surely we ought not to hesitate for a moment. To doubt between two such alternatives is the height of folly. For us to deny Christ or be ashamed of His Gospel, may get us a little of man's good opinion for a few years, though it will bring us no real peace. But for Christ to deny us at the last day will be ruin in hell to all eternity! Let us cast away our cowardly fears.
Come what will, let us confess Christ.
We are taught, secondly, in these verses, that there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares that "unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven."
These dreadful words must doubtless be interpreted with scriptural qualification. We must never so expound one part of Scripture as to make it contradict another. Nothing is impossible with God. The blood of Christ can cleanse away all sin. The very chief of sinners have been pardoned in many instances. These things must never be forgotten. Yet notwithstanding all this, there remains behind a great truth which must not be evaded. There is such a thing as a sin "which shall not be forgiven."
The sin to which our Lord refers in this passage appears to be the sin of deliberately rejecting God's truth with the heart, while the truth is clearly known with the head. It is a combination of light in the understanding and determined wickedness in the will. It is the very sin into which many of the Scribes and Pharisees appear to have fallen, when they rejected the ministry of the Spirit after the day of Pentecost, and refused to believe the preaching of the apostles. It is a sin into which, it may be feared, many constant hearers of the Gospel nowadays fall, by determined clinging to the world. And worst of all, it is a sin which is commonly accompanied by utter deadness, hardness, and insensibility of heart. The man whose sins will not be forgiven, is precisely the man who will never seek to have them forgiven. This is exactly the root of his dreadful disease. He might be pardoned, but he will not seek to be pardoned. He is Gospelhardened and "twice dead." His conscience is "seared with a hot iron." (1 Tim. 4:2.)
Let us pray that we may be delivered from a cold, speculative, unsanctified head-knowledge of Christianity. It is a rock on which thousands make shipwreck to all eternity. No heart becomes so hard as that on which the light shines, but finds no admission. The same fire which melts the wax hardens the clay. Whatever light we have let us use it. Whatever knowledge we possess, let us live fully up to it. To be an ignorant heathen, and bow down to idols and stones, is bad enough. But to be called a Christian, and know the theory of the Gospel, and yet cleave to sin and the world with the heart, is to be a candidate for the worst and lowest place in hell. It is to be as like as possible to the devil.
We are taught, lastly, in this passage, that Christians need not be over anxious as to what they shall say, when suddenly required to speak for Christ's cause.
The promise which our Lord gives on this subject has a primary reference, no doubt, to public trials like those of Paul before Felix and Festus. It is a promise which hundreds in similar circumstances have found fulfilled to their singular comfort. The lives of many of the Reformers, and others of God's witnesses, are full of striking proofs that the Holy Spirit can teach Christians what to say in time of need.
But there is a secondary sense, in which the promise belongs to all believers, which ought not be overlooked. Occasions are constantly arising in the lives of Christians, when they are suddenly and unexpectedly called upon to speak on behalf of their Master, and to render a reason of their hope. The home circle, the family fireside, the society of friends, the communion with relatives, the very business of the world, will often furnish such sudden occasions. On such occasions the believer should fall back on the promise now before us. It may be disagreeable, and especially to a young
Christian, to be suddenly required to speak before others of religion, and above all if religion is attacked. But let us not be alarmed, and flurried, or cast down, or excited. If we remember the promise of Christ, we have no cause to be afraid.
Let us pray for a good memory about Bible promises. We shall find it an inestimable comfort. There are far more, and far wider promises laid down in Scripture for the comfort of Christ's people, than most of Christ's people are aware of. There are promises for almost every position in which we can be placed, and every event that can befall us. Among other promises, let us not forget that one which is now before us. We are sometimes called upon to go into company which is not congenial to us, and we go with a troubled and anxious heart. We fear saying what we ought not to say, and not saying what we ought. At such seasons, let us remember this blessed promise, and put our Master in remembrance of it also. So doing He will not fail us or forsake us. A mouth shall be given to us and wisdom to speak rightly— "The Holy Spirit shall teach us" what to say.
Notes on 12:8-12
10. "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man . . ." This verse is deep and mysterious. The distinction between speaking a word against the Son of Man and blaspheming against the Holy
Spirit should not be overlooked. The explanation is probably something of this kind: the sin against the Son of Man was committed by those who did not know Christ to be the Messiah and did not receive him or obey him but rejected him and crucified him.
Doubtless many of those who sinned in this way were pardoned, as, for example, on the Day of Pentecost after Peter preached. The sin against the Holy Spirit was committed by those who, after the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit and the full proclamation of the Gospel, persisted in unbelief and obstinate impenitence and were given over to a reprobate mind. These especially grieved the Spirit and resisted his work. That this was the state of many of the Jews appears from several places in the Acts, and especially Acts
28:25-28. See also 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16.
LUKE 12:13-21
PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL
The passage we have read now affords a singular instance of man's readiness to bring the things of this world into the midst of his religion. We are told that a certain hearer of our Lord asked Him to assist him about his temporal affairs. "Master," he said, "speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me." He probably had some vague idea that Jesus was going to set up a kingdom in this world, and to reign upon earth. He resolves to make an early application about his own pecuniary matters. He entreats our Lord's arbitration about his earthly inheritance. Other hearers of Christ might be thinking of a portion in the world to come. This man was one whose chief thoughts evidently ran upon this present life.
How many hearers of the Gospel are just like this man! How many are incessantly planning and scheming about the things of time, even under the very sound of the things of eternity! The natural heart of man is always the same. Even the preaching of Christ did not arrest the attention of all His hearers. The minister of Christ in the present day must never be surprised to see worldliness and inattention in the midst of his congregation. The servant must not expect his sermons to be more valued than his Master's.
Let us mark in these verses what a solemn warning our Lord pronounces against covetousness. "He said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness."
It would be vain to decide positively which is the most common sin in the world. It would be safe to say that there is none, at any rate, to which the heart is more prone, than covetousness. It was this sin which helped to cast down the angels who fell. They were not content with their first estate. They coveted something better. It was this sin which helped to drive Adam and Eve out of paradise, and bring death into the world. Our first parents were not satisfied with the things which God gave them in Eden. They coveted, and so they fell. It is a sin which, ever since the fall, has been the productive cause of misery and unhappiness upon earth. Wars, quarrels, strifes, divisions, envyings, disputes, jealousies, hatreds of all sorts, both public and private, may nearly all be traced up to this fountain-head.
Let the warning which our Lord pronounces, sink down into our hearts, and bear fruit in our lives. Let us strive to learn the lesson which Paul had mastered, when he says, "I have learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content." (Phil. 4:11.) Let us pray for a thorough confidence in God's superintending providence over all our worldly affairs, and God's perfect wisdom in all His arrangements concerning us. If we have little, let us be sure that it would be not good for us to have much. If the things that we have are taken away, let us be satisfied that there is a needs be. Happy is he who is persuaded that whatever is, is best, and has ceased from vain wishing, and become "content with such things as he has." (Hebrews
13:5.)
Let us mark, secondly, in these verses, what a withering exposure our Lord makes of the folly of worldlymindedness. He draws the picture of a rich man of the world, whose mind is wholly set on earthly things. He paints him scheming and planning about his property, as if he was master of his own life, and had but to say, "I will do a thing," and it would be done. And then he turns the picture, and shows us God requiring the worldling's soul, and asking the heart-searching question, "Whose shall these things be which you have provided?" "Folly," he bids us learn, nothing less than "folly," is the right word by which to describe the conduct of the man who thinks of nothing but his money. The man who "lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God," is the man whom God declares to be a "fool."
It is a dreadful thought that the character which Jesus brings before us in this parable, is far from being uncommon. Thousands in every age of the world have lived continually doing the very things which are here condemned. Thousands are doing them at this very day. They are laying up treasure upon earth, and thinking of nothing but how to increase it. They are continually adding to their hoards, as if they were to enjoy them forever, and as if there was no death, no judgment, and no world to come. And yet these are the men who are called clever, and prudent, and wise! These are the men who are commended, and flattered, and held up to admiration! Truly the Lord sees not as man sees! The Lord declares that rich men who live only for this world are "fools."
Let us pray for rich men. Their souls are in great danger.
"Heaven," said a great man on his death-bed, "is a place to which few kings and rich men come." Even when converted, the rich carry a great weight, and run the race to heaven under great disadvantages.
The possession of money has a most hardening effect upon the conscience. We never know what we may do when we become rich.
"The love of money is the root of all evil. While some have coveted after it, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim. 6:10.) Poverty has many disadvantages. But riches destroy far more souls than poverty!
Let us mark, lastly, in these verses, how important it is to be rich towards God. This is true wisdom. This is true providing for time to come. This is genuine prudence. The wise man is he who does not think only of earthly treasure, but of treasure in heaven.
When can it be said of a man, that he is rich towards God? Never until he is rich in grace, and rich in faith, and rich in good works!
Never until he has applied to Jesus Christ, and bought of him gold tried in the fire! (Rev. 3:18.) Never until he has a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! Never until he has a name inscribed in the book of life, and is an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ! Such a man is truly rich. His treasure is incorruptible.
His bank never breaks. His inheritance fades not away. Man cannot deprive him of it. Death cannot snatch it out of his hands. All things are his already—life, death, things present, and things to come. (1
Cor. 3:22.) And best of all, what he has now is nothing to what he will have hereafter.
Riches like these are within reach of every sinner who will come to Christ and receive them. May we never rest until they are ours! To obtain them may cost us something in this world. It may bring on us persecution, ridicule, and scorn. But let the thought console us, that the Judge of all says, "You are rich." (Rev. 2:9.) The true Christian is the only man who is really wealthy and wise.
Notes on 12:13-21
15. "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." Latimer's sermon on this text starts by repeating the words three times, and then he says, "And what if I should say nothing else?"
18. "'My barns.'" Note that the rich man says "my" barns, "my" grain, "my" goods with all the self-sufficiency and petty importance of one who knows only his own will and has no master other than his own selfishness.
19.. "'I'll say to myself.'" Basil remarks, "If this man had only had the sense of a hog, what other thing could have been said?"
20. "Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" The argument here seems to be similar to that found in Ecclesiastes 5:15 and Psalm 39:6. A person cannot possess his property a moment after he is dead. Grace is the only lasting possession.
21. "Not rich toward God." Many millionaires are paupers before God. They are not rich either in grace or faith or good works.
LUKE 12:22-31
WARNINGS ABOUT WORRY
We have in these verses a collection of striking arguments against over-anxiety about the things of this world.
At first sight they may seem to some minds simple and common place. But the more they are pondered, the more weighty will they appear. An abiding recollection of them would save many Christians an immense amount of trouble.
Christ bids us consider the RAVENS. "They neither sow nor reap.
They have neither storehouse nor barn. But God feeds them." Now if the Maker of all things provides for the needs of birds, and orders things so that they have a daily supply of food, we ought surely not to fear that He will let His spiritual children starve.
Christ bids us look at the LILIES. "They toil not, they spin not; Yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Now if God every year provides these flowers with a fresh supply of living leaves and blossoms, we surely ought not to doubt His power and willingness to furnish His believing servants with all needful clothing.
Christ bids us remember that a Christian man should be ashamed of being as anxious as a heathen. The "pagan world" may well be anxious about food, and clothing, and the like. They are sunk in deep ignorance, and know nothing of the real nature of God. But the man who can say of God, "He is my Father," and of Christ, "He is my Savior," ought surely to be above such anxieties and cares. A clear faith should produce a light heart.
Finally, Christ bids us think of the perfect knowledge of God.
"Our Father knows that we have need" of food and clothing. That thought alone ought to make us content. All our needs are perfectly known to the Lord of heaven and earth. He can relieve those needs, whenever He sees fit. He will relieve them, whenever it is good for our souls.
Let the four arguments now adduced sink deep into our hearts, and bear fruit in our lives. Nothing is more common than an anxious and troubled spirit, and nothing so mars a believer's usefulness, and diminishes his inward peace. Nothing, on the contrary, glorifies God so much as a cheerful spirit in the midst of temporal troubles. It carries a reality with it which even the worldly can understand. It commends our Christianity, and makes it beautiful in the eyes of men. Faith, and faith only, will produce this cheerful spirit. The man who can say boldly, "The Lord is my shepherd," is the man who will be able to add, "I shall not lack." (Psalm. 23:1.)
We have, secondly, in these verses, a high standard of living commended to all Christians. It is contained in a short and simple injunction, "Seek the kingdom of God." We are not to give our principal thoughts to the things of this world. We are not so to live as if we had nothing but a body. We are to live like beings who have immortal souls to be lost or saved—a death to die—a God to meet—a judgment to expect—and an eternity in heaven or in hell awaiting us.
When can we be said to "seek the kingdom of God?" We do so when we make it the chief business of our lives to secure a place in the number of saved people—to have our sins pardoned, our hearts renewed, and ourselves made fit for the inheritance of the saints in light. We do so when we give a primary place in our minds to the interests of God's kingdom—when we labor to increase the number of God's subjects—when we strive to maintain God's cause, and advance God's glory in the world.
The kingdom of God is the only kingdom worth laboring for. All other kingdoms shall, sooner or later, decay and pass away. The statesmen who raise them are like men who build houses of cards, or children, who make palaces of sand on the sea shore. The wealth which constitutes their greatness is as liable to melt away as the snow in spring. The kingdom of God is the only kingdom which shall endure forever. Happy are they who belong to it, love it, live for it, pray for it, and labor for its increase and prosperity. Their labor shall not be in vain. May we give all diligence to make our calling into this kingdom sure! May it be our constant advice to children, relatives, friends, servants, neighbors, "Seek the kingdom!" Whatever else you seek, "Seek first the kingdom of God!"
We have, lastly, in these verse, a marvelous promise held out to those who seek the kingdom of God. Our Lord Jesus declares, "All these things shall be added unto you."
We must take heed that we do not misunderstand the meaning of this passage. We have no right to expect that the Christian tradesman, who neglects his business under pretense of zeal for God's kingdom, will find his trade prosper, and his affairs do well. To place such a sense upon the promise would be nothing less than fanaticism and enthusiasm. It would encourage slothfulness in business, and give occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme.
The man to whom the promise before us belongs, is the Christian who gives to the things of God their right order and their right place.
He does not neglect the worldly duties of his station, but he regards them as of infinitely less importance than the requirements of God.
He does not omit due attention to his temporal affairs, but he looks on them as of far less moment than the affairs of his soul. In short, he aims in all his daily life to put God first and the world second—to give the second place to the things of his body, and the first place to the things of his soul. This is the man to whom Jesus says, "All these things shall be added unto you."
But how is the promise fulfilled? The answer is short and simple.
The man who seeks first God's kingdom shall never lack anything that is for his good. He may not have so much health as some. He may not have so much wealth as others. He may not have a richly spread table, or royal dainties. But he shall always have enough.
"Bread shall be given him. His water shall be sure." (Isaiah 33:16.)
"All things shall work together for good to those who love God."
(Rom. 8:28.) "No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11.) "I have been young," said David, "and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread." (Psalm 37:25.)
Notes on 12:22-31
24. "Ravens." Ravens are especially mentioned in Psalm 147:9 and Job 38:41 as objects of God's care. In the story of Elijah, the Holy
Spirit shows us the ravens providing for others as well as providing for themselves (1 Kings 17:6).
LUKE 12:32-40
WATCHFULNESS
Let us mark what a gracious word of consolation this passage contains for all true believers. The Lord Jesus knew well the hearts of His disciples. He knew how ready they were to be filled with fears of every description—fears because of the fewness of their number—fears because of the multitude of their enemies, fears because of the many difficulties in their way—fears because of their sense of weakness and unworthiness. He answers these many fears with a single golden sentence— "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Believers are a "little flock." They always have been, ever since the world began. Professing servants of God have sometimes been very many. Baptized people at the present day are a great company.
But true Christians are very few. It is foolish to be surprised at this. It is vain to expect it will be otherwise until the Lord comes again.
"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leads unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14.)
Believers have a glorious "kingdom" awaiting them. Here upon earth they are often mocked and ridiculed, and persecuted, and, like their Master, despised and rejected of men. But "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed." "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory." (Rom. 8:18. Coloss. 3:4.)
Believers are tenderly loved by God the Father. It is "the Father's good pleasure" to give them a kingdom. He does not receive them grudgingly, unwillingly, and coldly. He rejoices over them as members of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. He regards them as His dear children in Christ. He sees no spot in them. Even now, when He looks down on them from heaven, in the midst of their infirmities, He is well pleased, and hereafter, when presented before His glory, He will welcome them with exceeding joy. (Jude 24.)
Are we members of Christ's little flock? Then surely we ought not to be afraid. There are given to us exceeding great and precious promises. (2 Pet. 1:4.) God is ours, and Christ is ours. Greater are those that are for us than all that are against us. The world, the flesh, and the devil, are mighty enemies. But with Christ on our side we have no cause to fear.
Let us mark, secondly, what a striking exhortation these verses contain to seek treasure in heaven. "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." But this is not all.
A mighty, heart-searching principle is laid down to enforce the exhortation. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
The language of this charge is doubtless somewhat figurative. Yet the meaning of it is clear and unmistakable. We are to sell—to give up anything, and deny ourselves anything which stands in the way of our soul's salvation. We are to give—to show charity and kindness to every one, and to be more ready to spend our money in relieving others, than to hoard it for our own selfish purposes. We are to provide ourselves treasures in heaven, to make sure that our names are in the book of life—to lay hold of eternal life—to lay up for ourselves evidences which will bear the inspection of the day of judgment.
This is true wisdom. This is real prudence. The man who does well for himself is the man who gives up everything for Christ's sake.
He makes the best of bargains. He carries the cross for a few years in this world, and in the world to come has everlasting life. He obtains the best of possessions. He carries his riches with him beyond the grave. He is rich in grace here, and he is rich in glory hereafter. And, best of all, what he obtains by faith in Christ he never loses. It is "that good part which is never taken away."
Would we know what we are ourselves? Let us see whether we have treasure in heaven, or whether all our good things are here upon earth. Would we know what our treasure is? Let us ask ourselves what we love most? This is the true test of character. This is the pulse of our religion. It matters little what we say, or what we profess, or what preaching we admire, or what place of worship we attend. What do we love? On what are our affections set? This is the great question. "Where our treasure is there will our hearts be also."
Let us mark, lastly, what an instructive picture these verses contain of the frame of mind which the true Christian should endeavor to keep up. Our Lord tells us that we ought to be "like men that wait for their Lord." We ought to live like servants who expect their Master's return, fulfilling our duties in our several stations, and doing nothing which we would not like to be found doing when Christ comes again.
The standard of life which our Lord has set up here is an exceedingly high one—so high, indeed, that many Christians are apt to flinch from it, and feel cast down. And yet there is nothing here which ought to make a believer afraid. Readiness for the return of Christ to this world implies nothing which is impossible and unattainable. It requires no angelic perfection. It requires no man to forsake his family, and retire into solitude. It requires nothing more than the life of repentance, faith, and holiness.
The man who is living the life of faith in the Son of God is the man whose "loins are girded," and whose "light is burning." Such a man may have the care of kingdoms on him, like Daniel—or be a servant in a Nero's household, like some in Paul's time. All this matters nothing. If he lives looking unto Jesus, he is a servant who can "open to Him immediately." Surely it is not too much to ask
Christians to be men of this kind. Surely it was not for nothing that our Lord said, "The Son of Man comes at an hour when you do not think."
Are we ourselves living as if we were ready for the second coming of Christ? Well would it be if this question were put to our consciences more frequently. It might keep us back from many a false step in our daily life. It might prevent many a backsliding. The true Christian should not only believe in Christ, and love Christ. He should also look and long for Christ's appearing. If he cannot say from his heart, "Come, Lord Jesus," there must be something wrong about his soul.
Notes on 12:32-40
32. "Your Father has been pleased." Our Lord lays special stress in this passage on the fatherly relationship of God with all believers as an antidote to too much anxiety.
33.. "Sell your possessions." This expression, if not confined to the apostles, but applied generally to all believers, must evidently be interpreted with some scriptural limitation. There is nothing in the Acts of the Apostles or in the New Testament letters which shows that believers in the early church were expected to sell all their property as soon as they were converted. On the contrary, St. Peter's words to Ananias seem to show that it was quite optional for converts to sell their property or keep it (Acts 5:4; see also 1 Timothy
5:8).
35. "Keep your lamps burning." Marriages often took place in the evening. It was the duty of the servants to meet the wedding party with lighted torches. This verse exhorts us to be always ready to meet the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, at his second coming.
37. "He will dress himself to serve." This is perhaps one of the most wonderful promises made to believers in the New Testament. It must probably be interpreted figuratively. It means that there is no limit to the honor and glory which the Lord Jesus will bestow on those who are ready to meet him at his second coming.
39. "What hour the thief was coming." This teaches that the day of the Lord will "come like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2) and that there is no safety for Christians except constant readiness for it.
LUKE 12:41-48
We learn from these verses, the importance of doing, in our Christianity. Our Lord is speaking of His own second coming. He is comparing His disciples to servants waiting for their master's return, who have each their own work to do during His absence. "Blessed,"
He says, "is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, shall find so doing."
The warning has doubtless a primary reference to ministers of the Gospel. They are the stewards of God's mysteries, who are specially bound to be found "doing," when Christ comes again. But the words contain a further lesson, which all Christians would do well to consider. That lesson is, the immense importance of a working, practical, diligent, useful religion.
The lesson is one which is greatly needed in the churches of Christ. We hear a great deal about people's intentions, and hopes, and wishes, and feelings, and professions. It would be well if we could hear more about people's practice. It is not the servant who is found wishing and professing, but the servant who is found "doing" whom Jesus calls "blessed."
The lesson is one which many, unhappily, shrink from giving, and many more shrink from receiving. We are gravely told that to talk of "working," and "doing," is 'legalistic', and brings Christians into bondage! Remarks of this kind should never move us. They savor of ignorance or perverseness. The lesson before us is not about justification, but about sanctification—not about faith, but about holiness. The point is not what a man should do to be saved—but what ought a saved man to do! The teaching of Scripture is clear and express upon this subject, A saved man ought to be "careful to maintain good works." (Tit. 3:8.) The desire of a true Christian ought to be, to be found "doing."
If we love life, let us resolve by God's help, to be "doing"
Christians. This is to be like Christ. He "went about doing good."
(Acts 10:38.) This is to be like the apostles, they were men of deeds even more than of words. This is to glorify God— "Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit." (John 15:8.) This is to be useful to the world— "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matt.
5:16.)
We learn, secondly, from these verses, the dreadful danger of those who neglect the duties of their calling. Of such our Lord declares, that they shall be "cut in pieces, and their portion appointed with the unbelievers." These words no doubt apply especially to the ministers and teachers of the Gospel. Yet we must not flatter ourselves that they are confined to them. They are probably meant to convey a lesson to all who fill offices of high responsibility. It is a striking fact that when Peter says at the beginning of the passage, "are you telling this parable to us, or to all?" our Lord gives him no answer. Whoever occupies a position of trust, and neglects his duties, would do well to ponder this passage, and learn wisdom.
The language which our Lord Jesus uses about slothful and unfaithful servants, is peculiarly severe. Few places in the Gospels contain such strong expressions as this. It is a vain delusion to suppose that the Gospel speaks nothing but "smooth things." The same loving Savior who holds out mercy to the uttermost to the penitent and believing, never shrinks from holding up the judgments of God against those who despise His counsel. Let no man deceive us on this subject. There is a hell for such an one as goes on still in his wickedness, no less than a heaven for the believer in Jesus. There is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. 6:16.)
Let us strive so to live, that whenever the heavenly Master comes, we may be found ready to receive Him. Let us watch our hearts with a godly jealousy, and beware of the least symptom of unreadiness for the Lord's appearing. Specially let us beware of any rising disposition to lower our standard of Christian holiness—to dislike people who are more spiritually-minded than ourselves, and to conform to the world. The moment we detect such a disposition in our hearts, we may be sure that our souls are in great peril. The Christian professor who begins to persecute God's people, and to take pleasure in worldly society, is on the high road to ruin.
We learn, lastly, from these verses, that the greater a man's religious light is, the greater is his guilt if he is not converted. The servant which "knew his master's will, but did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."
The lesson of these words is one of wide application. It demands the attention of many classes. It should come home to the conscience of every British Christian. His judgment shall be far more strict than that of the heathen who never saw the Bible. It should come home to every Protestant who has the liberty to read the Scriptures. His responsibility is far greater than that of the priest-ridden Romanist, who is debarred from the use of God's word. It should come home to every hearer of the Gospel. If he remains unconverted he is far more guilty than the inhabitant of some dark parish, who never hears any teaching but a sort of semi-heathen morality. It should come home to every child and servant in religious families. All such are far more blameworthy, in God's sight, than those who live in houses where there is no honor paid to the word of God and prayer. Let these things never be forgotten. Our judgment at the last day will be according to our light and opportunities.
What are we doing ourselves with our religious knowledge? Are we using it wisely, and turning it to good account? Or are we content with the barren saying, "We know it—we know it," and secretly flattering ourselves that the knowledge of our Lord's will makes us better than others, while that will is not done? Let us beware of mistakes. The day will come, when knowledge unimproved will be found the most perilous of possessions. Thousands will awake to find that they are in a lower place than the most ignorant and idolatrous heathen. Their knowledge not used, and their light not followed, will only add to their condemnation.
Notes on 12:41-48
42. "Wise manager." Paul uses this word (1 Corinthians 4:1) to describe the office of a minister. It would seem to show that ministers are primarily pointed at in our Lord's teaching in this parable.
48. "Entrusted with much." Our Lord lays down here a great principle in his kingdom as an appropriate conclusion to his parable.
Baxter remarks on this verse: "Great gifts are to be used with great diligence; and great trusts, and powers, and charges, are rather to be feared than sought. Little do the conquerors of the world, or those who strive for church preferments, believe and consider what duty, or what deep damnation, they labor for."
LUKE 12:49-53
NOT PEACE BUT DIVISION
The sayings of the Lord Jesus in these five verses are particularly weighty and suggestive. They unfold truths which every true
Christian would do well to mark and digest. They explain things in the Church, and in the world, which at first sight are hard to be understood.
We learn for one thing from these verses how thoroughly the heart of Christ was set on finishing the work which He came into the world to do. He says, "I have a baptism to undergo"—a baptism of suffering, of wounds, of agony, of blood, and of death. Yet none of these things moved Him. He adds, "How am I straitened until this baptism is accomplished!" The prospect of coming trouble did not deter Him for a moment. He was ready and willing to endure all things in order to provide eternal redemption for His people. Zeal for the cause He had taken in hand was like a burning fire within Him. To advance His Father's glory, to open the door of life to a lost world, to provide a fountain for all sin and uncleanness by the sacrifice of Himself, were continually the uppermost thoughts of His mind. He was pressed in spirit until this mighty work was finished.
Forever let us bear in mind that all Christ's sufferings on our behalf were endured willingly, voluntarily, and of His own free choice. They were not submitted to patiently merely because He could not avoid them. They were not borne without a murmur merely because He could not escape them. He lived a humble life for thirty-three years merely because He loved to do so. He died a death of agony with a willing and a ready mind. Both in life and death He was carrying out the eternal counsel whereby God was to be glorified and sinners were to be saved. He carried it out with all His heart, mighty as the struggle was which it entailed upon His flesh and blood. He delighted to do God's will. He was straitened until it was accomplished.
Let us not doubt that the heart of Christ in heaven is the same that it was when He was upon earth. He feels as deep an interest now about the salvation of sinners as He did formerly about dying in their stead. Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. There is in Him an infinite willingness to receive, pardon, justify, and deliver the souls of men from hell. Let us strive to realize that willingness, and learn to believe it without doubting, and repose on it without fear. It is a certain fact, if men would only believe it, that Christ is far more willing to save us than we are to be saved.
Let the zeal of our Lord and Master be an example to all His people. Let the recollection of His burning readiness to die for us be like a glowing coal in our memories, and constrain us to live to Him, and not to ourselves. Surely the thought of it should waken our sleeping hearts, and warm our cold affections, and make us anxious to redeem the time, and do something for His Praise. A zealous
Savior ought to have zealous disciples.
We learn, for another thing, from these verses, how useless it is to expect universal peace and harmony from the preaching of the Gospel. The disciples, like most Jews of their day, were probably expecting Messiah's kingdom immediately to appear. They thought the time was at hand when the wolf would lie down with the lamb, and men would not hurt or destroy any more. (Isaiah 11:9.)
Our Lord saw what was in their hearts, and checked their untimely expectations with a striking saying— "do you think that I have come to send peace on earth? I tell you, No, but rather division."
There is something at first sight very startling in this saying. It seems hard to reconcile it with the song of angels, which spoke of "peace on earth" as the companion of Christ's Gospel. (Luke 2:14.)
Yet startling as the saying sounds, it is one which facts have proved to be literally true. Peace is undoubtedly the result of the Gospel wherever it is believed and received. But wherever there are hearers of the Gospel who are hardened, impenitent, and determined to have their sins, the very message of peace becomes the cause of division.
Those who live after the flesh will hate those that live after the Spirit.
Those who are resolved to live for the world will always be wickedly affected towards those that are resolved to serve Christ. We may lament this state of things, but we cannot prevent it. Grace and nature can no more amalgamate than oil and water. So long as men are disagreed upon first principles in religion, there can be no real cordiality between them. So long as some men are converted and some are unconverted, there can be no true peace.
Let us beware of unscriptural expectations. If we expect to see people of one heart and one mind, before they are converted, we shall continually be disappointed. Thousands of well-meaning people now-a-days are continually crying out for more "unity" among
Christians. To attain this they are ready to sacrifice almost anything, and to throw overboard even sound doctrine, if, by so doing, they can secure peace. Such people would do well to remember that even gold may be bought too dear, and that peace is useless if purchased at the expense of truth. Surely they have forgotten the words of Christ, "I came not to send peace but division."
Let us never be moved by those who charge the Gospel with being the cause of strife and divisions upon earth. Such men only show their ignorance when they talk in this way. It is not the Gospel which is to blame, but the corrupt heart of man. It is not God's glorious remedy which is in fault, but the diseased nature of Adam's race, which, like a self-willed child, refuses the medicine provided for its cure. So long as some men and women will not repent and believe, and some will, there must needs be division. To be surprised at it is the height of folly. The very existence of division is one proof of Christ's foresight, and of the truth of Christianity.
Let us thank God that a time is coming when there shall be no more divisions on earth, but all shall be of one mind. That time shall be when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, comes again in person, and puts down every enemy under His feet. When Satan is bound, when the wicked are separated from the righteous, and cast down to their own place, then, and not until then, will be perfect peace. For that blessed time let us wait, and watch, and pray. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Our divisions are but for a little season. Our peace shall endure to eternity.
Notes on 12:49-53
49. "I have come to bring fire." I think this refers to persecutions, afflictions, dissensions, and strifes which were to accompany the introduction of the Gospel into the world. Fire is often used as a sign of trouble and affliction in Scripture. See Psalm 66:12; Isaiah 43:2.
"To bring fire" was often used in the Old Testament to express the idea of sending trouble and affliction. See Lamentations 1:13; Ezekiel
39:6; Hosea 8:14; Amos 2:2, 5.
50. "A baptism." This baptism, clearly, is not of water or of the Holy
Spirit but of suffering. It is the same baptism of which our Lord said to James and John, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with" (Mark 10:39).
LUKE 12:54-59
The first thing which this passage teaches us is the duty of noticing the signs of the times. The Jews in our Lord's days neglected this duty. They shut their eyes against events occurring in their own day of the most significant character. They refused to see that prophecies were being fulfilled around those who were bound up with the coming of Messiah, and that Messiah Himself must be in the midst of them. The scepter had departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet. The seventy weeks of Daniel were fulfilled. (Gen. 49:10. Dan. 9:24.) The ministry of John the Baptist had excited attention from one end of the land to the other. The miracles of Christ were great, undeniable, and notorious. But still the eyes of the Jews were blinded. They still obstinately refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ. And hence they drew from our Lord the question— "How is it that you do not discern this time?"
It becomes the servants of God, in every age, to observe the public events of their own day, and to compare them with the predictions of unfulfilled prophecy. There is nothing commendable in an ignorant indifference to contemporary history. The true Christian should rather watch the career of governments and nations with a jealous watchfulness, and hail with gladness the slightest indication of the day of the Lord being at hand. The Christian who cannot see the hand of God in history, and does not believe in the gradual movement of all kingdoms towards the final subjection of all things to Christ, is as blind as the Jew.
Have we no signs of the times to observe? The question is soon answered. The history of the last seventy years is full of events which demand the prayerful attention of every servant of Christ. The things that have happened within these seventy years ought to send us to our watch towers, and raise in us great searchings of heart. The rise and progress of a missionary spirit among all Protestant Churches— the wide-spread interest felt about the Jews—the evident decay of the Mohammedan power—the shaking of all the kingdoms of Europe by the French Revolution—the extraordinary spread of knowledge and education—the astonishing revival of Romanism—the steady growth of the most subtle forms of infidelity—all these are facts which cannot be denied, and facts which ought to speak loudly to every well-informed Christian. Surely they deserve to be called signs of our times.
Let us remember the words of our Lord in the passage before us, and not err after the manner of the Jews. Let us not be blind, and deaf, and insensible to all that God is doing, both in the Church and in the world. The things of which we have just been reminded are surely not without meaning. They have not come on the earth by chance or by accident, but by the appointment of God. We ought not to doubt that they are a call to watchfulness, and to preparation for the day of God. May we all have an ear to hear, and a heart to understand! May we not sleep as do many, but watch and discern our time! It is a solemn saying in the book of Revelation— "If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come upon you." (Rev. 3:3.)
The second thing which this passage teaches us, is the immense importance of seeking reconciliation with God before it is too late. This is a lesson which our Lord illustrates by a parable or comparison. He compares us to a man on his way to a magistrate with an adversary, in consequence of a difference or dispute, and describes the course which such a man ought to take. Like him, we are upon our way to the presence of a Judge. We shall all stand at the bar of God. Like him, we have an adversary. The holy law of God is against us, and contrary to us, and its demands must be satisfied.
Like him, we ought to give diligence to get our case settled, before it comes before the Judge. We ought to seek pardon and forgiveness before we die. Like him, if we let our opportunity slip, the judgment will go against us, and we shall be cast into the prison of hell. Such appears to be the meaning of the parable in the passage before us. It in a vivid picture of the care which men ought to take in the great matter of reconciliation with God.
Peace with God is by far the first thing in religion. We are born in sin, and children of wrath. We have no natural love towards God.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is impossible that God can take pleasure in us. "The wicked his soul hates." (Psalm. 11:5.) The chief and foremost desire of everyone who professes to have any religion, should be to obtain reconciliation. Until this is done, nothing is done. We have got nothing worth having in Christianity, until we have peace with God. The law brings us in guilty. The judgment is sure to go against us. Without reconciliation, the end of our Life's journey will be hell.
Peace with God is the principal thing which the Gospel of Christ offers to the soul. Peace and pardon stand in the forefront of its list of privileges, and are tendered freely to everyone that believes on Jesus. There is One who can deliver us from the adversary. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Christ has blotted out the handwriting that was against us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The claims of our adversary are all satisfied by Christ's blood. God can now be just, and yet the justifier of every one that believes on Jesus. A full atonement has been made. The debt has been completely paid. The Judge can say, "Deliver them, I have found a ransom." (Job 33:24.)
Let us never rest until we know and feel that we are reconciled to God. Let it not content us to go to Church, use means of grace, and be reckoned Christians, without knowing whether our sins are pardoned, and our souls justified. Let us seek to know that we are one with Christ, and Christ in us—that our iniquities are forgiven, and our sins covered. Then, and then only, may we lie down in peace, and look forward to judgment without fear. The time is short. We are traveling on to a day when our lot for eternity must be decided. Let us give diligence that we may be found safe in that day. The souls that are found without Christ shall be cast into a hopeless prison.
Notes on 12:54-59
56. "You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky."
Our Lord's argument appears to be that the signs of his coming as the true Messiah were so clearly visible that it required no more discernment to see them than it did to forecast heat or rain from looking at the sky and winds. If the Jews would honestly and impartially consider the signs of their times, they could not avoid the conclusion that Christ was the Messiah. The truth was that they were not honest in their inquiries but prejudiced and unbelieving. He therefore calls them "hypocrites."
59. "You will not get out until . . ." This means, "You will never get out at all."
Luke – Chap. 13
LUKE 13:1-5
REPENT OR PERISH
The murder of the Galileans, mentioned in the first verse of this passage, is an event of which we know nothing certain. The motives of those who told our Lord of the event, we are left to conjecture. At any rate, they gave Him an opportunity of speaking to them about their own souls, which He did not fail to employ. He seized the event, as His manner was, and made a practical use of it. He bade His informants look within, and think of their own state before God. He seems to say, "What though these Galileans did die a sudden death?
What is that to you? Consider your own ways. Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish."
Let us observe, for one thing, in these verses, how much more ready people are to talk of the deaths of others than their own. The death of the Galileans, mentioned here, was probably a common subject of conversation in Jerusalem and all Judea. We can well believe that all the circumstances and particulars belonging to it were continually discussed by thousands who never thought of their own latter end. It is just the same in the present day. A murder—a sudden death—a shipwreck, or a railway accident, will completely occupy the minds of a neighborhood, and be in the mouth of every one you meet. And yet these very people dislike talking of their own deaths, and their own prospects in the world beyond the grave. Such is human nature in every age. In religion, men are ready to talk of anybody's business rather than their own.
The state of our own souls should always be our first concern. It is eminently true that real Christianity will always begin at home. The converted man will always think first of his own heart, his own life, his own deserts, and his own sins. Does he hear of a sudden death?
He will say to himself, "Should I have been found ready, if this had happened to me?" Does he hear of some dreadful crime, or deed of wickedness? He will say to himself, "Are my sins forgiven? and have I really repented of my own transgressions?" Does he hear of worldly men running into every excess of sin? He will say to himself, "Who has made me to differ? What has kept me from walking in the same road, except the free grace of God?"
May we ever seek to be men of this frame of mind! Let us take a kind interest in all around us. Let us feel tender pity and compassion for all who suffer violence, or are removed by sudden death. But let us never forget to look at home, and to learn wisdom for ourselves from all that happens to others.
Let us observe, for another thing, in these verses, how strongly our Lord lays down the universal necessity of repentance.
Twice He declares emphatically, "Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish."
The truth here asserted, is one of the foundations of Christianity.
"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All of us are born in sin. We are fond of sin, and are naturally unfit for friendship with God. Two things are absolutely necessary to the salvation of every one of us. We must repent, and we must believe the Gospel.
Without repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus
Christ, no man can be saved.
The nature of true repentance is clearly and unmistakably laid down in holy Scripture. It begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before God. It shows itself before man by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a habit of deep hatred for all sin. Above all, it is inseparably connected with lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Repentance like this is the characteristic of all true Christians.
The necessity of repentance to salvation will be evident to all who search the Scriptures, and consider the nature of the subject.
Without it there is no forgiveness of sins. There never was a pardoned man who was not also a penitent. There never was one washed in the blood of Christ who did not feel, and mourn, and confess, and hate his own sins. Without it there can be no fitness for heaven. We could not be happy if we reached the kingdom of glory with a heart loving sin. The company of saints and angels would give us no pleasure. Our minds would not be in tune for an eternity of holiness. Let these things sink down into our hearts. We must repent as well as believe, if we hope to be saved.
Let us leave the subject with the solemn inquiry—Have we ourselves repented? We live in a Christian land. We belong to a Christian Church. We have Christian ordinances and means of grace.
We have heard of repentance with the hearing of the ear, and that hundreds of times. But have we ever repented? Do we really know our own sinfulness? Do our sins cause us any sorrow? Have we cried to God about our sins, and sought forgiveness at the throne of grace?
Have we ceased to do evil, and broken off from our bad habits? Do we cordially and heartily hate everything that is evil? These are serious questions. They deserve serious consideration. The subject before us is no light matter. Nothing less than life—eternal life—is at stake! If we die impenitent, and without a new heart, we had better never have been born.
If we never yet repented, let us begin without delay. For this we are accountable. "Repent you, and be converted," were the words of Peter to the Jews who had crucified our Lord. (Acts 3:19.) "Repent and pray," was the charge addressed to Simon Magus when he was in the "gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity." (Acts 8:22.) There is everything to encourage us to begin. Christ invites us. Promises of Scripture are held out to us. Glorious declarations of God's willingness to receive us abound throughout the word. "There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents." Then let us arise and call upon God. Let us repent without delay.
If we have already repented in time past, let us go on repenting to the end of our lives. There will always be sins to confess and infirmities to deplore, so long as we are in the body. Let us repent more deeply, and humble ourselves more thoroughly, every year. Let every returning birthday find us hating sin more, and loving Christ more. He was a wise old saint who said, "I hope to carry my repentance to the very gate of heaven."
Notes on 13:1-5
2. "Worse sinners." Clearly, our Lord's informants believed that these sudden deaths were special judgments and that if someone died suddenly, he must have committed some special sin. Our Lord corrects this false view. It is not right to believe that God is angry with a man because he removes him suddenly from the world.
4. "The tower in Siloam fell." We know nothing about the details of this event.
3, 5. "Unless you repent." The repetition of this sentence shows the general importance of repentance and the great need in which the Jews in particular stood of it. Ford quotes a saying of Philip Henry's which is worth reading: "Some people do not like to hear much about repentance. But I think it is so necessary, that if I should die in the pulpit, I would wish to die preaching about repentance; and if I should die out of the pulpit, I would wish to die practicing it."
LUKE 13:6-9
THE BARREN FIG TREE
The parable we have now read is peculiarly humbling and heartsearching. The Christian who can hear it and not feel sorrow and shame as he looks at the state of Christendom, must be in a very unhealthy state of soul.
We learn first from this passage that where God gives spiritual privileges He expects proportionate returns.
Our Lord teaches this lesson by comparing the Jewish Church of His day to a "fig tree planted in a vineyard." This was exactly the position of Israel in the world. They were separated from other nations by the Mosaic laws and ordinances, no less than by the situation of their land. They were favored with revelations of God, which were granted to no other people. Things were done for them that were never done for Egypt, or Nineveh, or Babylon, or Greece, or Rome. It was only just and right that they should bear fruit to God's praise. It might reasonably be expected that there would be more faith, and penitence, and holiness, and godliness in Israel than among the heathen. This is what God looked for. The owner of the fig tree "came seeking fruit."
But we must look beyond the Jewish Church if we mean to get the full benefit of the parable before us. We must look to the Christian churches. They have light, and truth, and doctrines, and precepts, of which the heathen never hear. How great is their responsibility! Is it not just and right that God should expect from them "fruit?"
We must look to our own hearts. We live in a land of Bibles, and liberty, and Gospel preaching. How vast are the advantages we enjoy compared to the Chinese and Hindoo! Never let us forget that God expects from us "fruit."
These are solemn truths. Few things are so much forgotten by men as the close connection between privilege and responsibility.
We are all ready enough to eat the fat and drink the sweet, and bask in the sunshine of our position both as Christians and Englishmen— and even to spare a few pitying thoughts for the half naked savage who bows down to stocks and stones. But we are very slow to remember that we are accountable to God for all we enjoy; and that to whomsoever much is given, of them much will be required. Let us awake to a sense of these things. We are the most favored nation upon earth. We are in the truest sense "a fig tree planted in a vineyard." Let us not forget that the great Master looks for "fruit."
We learn, secondly, from this passage, that it is a most dangerous thing to be unfruitful under great religious privileges.
The manner in which our Lord conveys this lesson to us is deeply impressive. He shows us the owner of the barren fig tree complaining that it bore no fruit— "These three years I come seeking fruit and find none." He describes him as even ordering the destruction of the tree as a useless cumberer of the ground— "Cut it down; why cumbers it the ground?" He brings in the dresser of the vineyard pleading for the fig tree, that it may be spared a little longer— "Lord, let it alone this year also." And He concludes the parable by putting these dreadful words into the vinedresser's mouth— "If it bears fruit, well—and if not, then after that you shall cut it down."
There is a plain warning here to all professing churches of Christ.
If their ministers do not teach sound doctrine, and their members do not live holy lives, they are in imminent peril of destruction. God is every year observing them, and taking account of all their ways. They may abound in ceremonial religion. They may be covered with the leaves of forms, and services, and ordinances. But if they are destitute of the fruits of the Spirit, they are reckoned useless cumberers of the ground. Except they repent, they will be cut down.
It was so with the Jewish Church forty years after our Lord's ascension. It has been so since with the African Churches. It will be so yet with many others, it may be feared, before the end comes. The axe is lying near the root of many an unfruitful Church. The sentence will yet go forth, "Cut it down."
There is a plainer warning still in the passage for all 'unconverted professing Christians'. There are many in every congregation who hear the Gospel, who are literally hanging over the brink of the pit.
They have lived for years in the best part of God's vineyard, and yet borne no fruit. They have heard the Gospel preached faithfully for hundreds of Sundays, and yet have never embraced it, and taken up the cross, and followed Christ. They do not perhaps run into open sin. But they do nothing for God's glory. There is nothing positive about their religion. Of each of these the Lord of the vineyard might say with truth, "I come these many years seeking fruit on this tree and find none. Cut it down. It cumbers the ground."
There are myriads of respectable professing Christians in this plight. They have not the least idea how near they are to destruction.
Never let us forget that to be content with sitting in the congregation and hearing sermons, while we bear no fruit in our lives, is conduct which is most offensive to God. It provokes Him to cut us off suddenly, and that without remedy.
We learn, lastly, from this parable, what an infinite debt we all owe to God's mercy and Christ's intercession. It seems impossible to draw any other lesson from the earnest pleading of the dresser of the vineyard— "Lord, let it alone this year also." Surely we see here, as in a glass, the loving kindness of God, and the mediation of Christ.
Mercy has been truly called the darling attribute of God. Power, justice, purity, holiness, wisdom, unchangeableness, are all parts of God's character, and have all been manifested to the world in a thousand ways, both in His works and in His word. But if there is one part of His perfections which He is pleased to exhibit to man more clearly than another, beyond doubt that part is mercy. He is a God that "delights in mercy." (Micah 7:18.)
Mercy founded on the mediation of a coming Savior, was the cause why Adam and Eve were not cast down to hell, in the day that they fell. Mercy has been the cause why God has borne so long with this sin-laden world, and not come down to judgment. Mercy is even now the cause why unconverted sinners are so long spared, and not cut off in their sins. We have probably not the least conception how much we all owe to God's long-suffering. The last day will prove that all mankind were debtors to God's mercy, and Christ's mediation.
Even those who are finally lost will discover to their shame, that it was "of the Lord's mercies they were not consumed" long before they died. As for those who are saved, covenant-mercy will be all their plea.
And now are we fruitful or unfruitful? This, after all, is the question that concerns us most. What does God see in us year after year? Let us take heed so to live that He may see in us fruit.
Notes on 13:6-9
8. "Sir, leave it alone." Euthymius and Theophylact consider that the interceding vineyard-dresser is an emblem of Christ himself.
Matthew Henry says correctly that "had it not been for Christ's intercession, the whole world would have been cut down."
LUKE 13:10-17
A CRIPPLED WOMAN HEALED
We see in these verses a striking example of diligence in the use of means of grace. We are told of a "woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could not straiten up." We know not who this woman was. Our Lord's saying that she was "a daughter of Abraham," would lead us to infer that she was a true believer. But her name and history are hidden from us. This only we know, that when Jesus was "teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath," this woman was there. Sickness was no excuse with her for tarrying from God's house. In spite of suffering and infirmity, she found her way to the place where the day and the word of God were honored, and where the people of God met together. And truly she was blessed in her deed! She found a rich reward for all her pains. She came sorrowing, and went home rejoicing.
The conduct of this suffering Jewess may well put to shame many a strong and healthy professing Christian. How many in the full enjoyment of bodily vigor, allow the most frivolous excuses to keep them away from the house of God! How many are constantly spending the whole Sunday in idleness, pleasure-seeking, or business, and scoffing and sneering at those who "keep the Sabbath holy!" How many think it a great matter if they attend the public worship of God once on Sunday, and regard a second attendance as a needless excess of zeal akin to fanaticism! How many find religious services a weariness while they attend them, and feel relieved when they are over! How few know anything of David's spirit, when he said, "I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!" (Psalm
122:1; Psalm 84:1.)
Now what is the explanation of all this? What is the reason why so few are like the woman of whom we read this day? The answer to these questions is short and simple. The most have no heart for God's service. They have no delight in God's presence or God's day.
"The carnal mind is enmity against God." The moment a man's heart is converted, these pretended difficulties about attending public worship vanish away. The new heart finds no trouble in keeping the Sabbath holy. Where there is a will there is always a way.
Let us never forget that our feelings about Sundays are sure tests of the state of our souls. The man who can find no pleasure in giving
God one day in the week, is manifestly unfit for heaven. Heaven itself is nothing but an eternal Sabbath. If we cannot enjoy a few hours in God's service once a week in this world, it is plain that we could not enjoy an eternity in His service in the world to come. Happy are those who walk in the steps of her of whom we read today! They shall find Christ and a blessing while they live, and Christ and glory when they die.
We see, secondly, in these verses, the almighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that when He saw the suffering woman of whom we are reading, "He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And He laid
His hands on her." That touch was accompanied by miraculous healing virtue. At once a disease of eighteen years' standing gave way before the Lord of Life. "Immediately she was made straight and glorified God."
We need not doubt that this mighty miracle was intended to supply hope and comfort to sin-diseased souls. With Christ nothing is impossible. He can soften hearts which seem hard as the nether mill-stone. He can bend stubborn wills which "for eighteen years" have been set on self-pleasing, on sin, and the world. He can enable sinners who have been long poring over earthly things, to look upward to heaven, and see the kingdom of God. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He can create, and transform, and renew, and break down, and build, and quicken, with irresistible power. He lives, who formed the world out of nothing, and He never changes.
Let us hold fast this blessed truth, and never let it go. Let us never despair about our own salvation. Our sins may be countless. Our lives may have been long spent in worldliness and folly. Our youth may have been wasted in soul-defiling excesses, of which we are lamentably ashamed. But are we willing to come to Christ, and commit our souls to Him? If so, there is hope. He can heal us thoroughly, and say, "you are loosed from your infirmity."
Let us never despair about the salvation of others so long as they are alive. Let us name them before the Lord night and day, and cry to Him on their behalf. We may perhaps have relatives whose case seems desperate because of their wickedness. But it is not really so.
There are no incurable cases with Christ. If He were to lay His healing hand on them, they would be "made straight, and glorify
God." Let us pray on, and faint not. That saying of Job is worthy of all acceptation— "I know that you can do everything." (Job 42:2.)
Jesus is "able to save to the uttermost."
We see, lastly, in these verses, the right observance of the Sabbath day asserted and defended by our Lord Jesus
Christ. The ruler of the synagogue in which the infirm woman was healed, found fault with her as a breaker of the Sabbath. He drew down upon himself a stern but just rebuke— "You hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to watering?" If it was allowable to attend to the needs of beasts on the Sabbath, how much more to human creatures! If it was no breach of the fourth commandment to show kindness to oxen and donkeys, much less to show kindness to a daughter of Abraham.
The principle here laid down by our Lord is the same that we find elsewhere in the Gospels. He teaches us that the command to "do no