Expository Thoughts
work" on the Sabbath, was not intended to prohibit works of necessity and mercy. The Sabbath was made for man's benefit, and not for his hurt. It was appointed to promote man's best and highest interests, and not to debar him of anything that is really for his good.
It requires nothing but what is reasonable and wise. It forbids nothing that is really necessary to man's comfort.
Let us pray for a right understanding of the law of the Sabbath. Of all the commandments that God has given, none is more essential to the happiness of man, and none is so frequently misrepresented, abused, and trampled under foot. Let us lay down for ourselves two special rules for the observance of the Sabbath. For one thing let us do no work which is not absolutely needful. For another, let us keep the day "holy," and give it to God. From these two rules let us never swerve. Experience shows that there is the closest connection between Sabbath sanctification and healthy Christianity.
Notes on 13:10-17
11. Crippled by a spirit. The nature of this woman's disease we are left to conjecture. It seems to have been some illness mysteriously connected with possession by an unclean spirit and caused by it.
There is no other instance precisely like it in the New Testament.
12. He called her forward. Our Lord performed this miracle without being asked. The widow at Nain is another example of this. In both instances the person to whom kindness was shown was a woman.
If our Lord does so much for a person when unsolicited, how much more will he do for those who call upon him in prayer.
14. "Six days for work." The bitterness and sarcasm of this unhappy speech are very remarkable. This is often the case with unconverted people. The nearer the kingdom of God comes to them, the more bitter and angry they become.
16. "A daughter of Abraham." This expression certainly appears to me to make it highly probable that this woman whom our Lord healed was a true believer. When Zacchaeus was converted, our Lord said the man was "a son of Abraham" (Luke 19:9). To think of this expression as only meaning a "daughter of Abraham according to natural descent—a Jewess" seems to me a tame and unsatisfactory interpretation.
"Whom Satan has kept bound." This is a remarkable expression. It appears that Satan is permitted to inflict bodily illness and disease.
See Job 1—2 and 1 Corinthians 5:5.
LUKE 13:18-21
PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED, AND THE YEAST
There is a peculiar interest belonging to the two parables contained in these verses. We find them twice delivered by our Lord, and at two distinct periods in His ministry. This fact alone should make us give the more earnest heed to the lessons which the parables convey. They will be found rich both in prophetical and experimental truths.
The parable of the mustard seed is intended to show the progress of the Gospel in the WORLD.
The BEGINNINGS of the Gospel were exceedingly small. It was like "a mustard seed cast into the garden." It was a religion which seemed at first so feeble, and helpless, and powerless, that it could not live. Its first founder was One who was poor in this world, and ended His life by dying the death of a malefactor on the cross. Its first adherents were a little company, whose number probably did not exceed a thousand when the Lord Jesus left the world. Its first preachers were a few fishermen and publicans, who were, most of them, unlearned and ignorant men. Its first starting point was a despised corner of the earth, called Judea, a petty tributary province of the vast empire of Rome. Its first doctrine was eminently calculated to call forth the enmity of the natural heart. Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness. Its first movements brought down on its friends persecution from all quarters. Pharisees and Sadducees, Jews and Gentiles, ignorant idolaters and self-conceited philosophers, all agreed in hating and opposing Christianity. It was a sect everywhere spoken against. These are no empty assertions. They are simple historical facts, which no one can deny. If ever there was a religion which was a little grain of seed at its beginning, that religion was the Gospel.
But the PROGRESS of the Gospel, after the seed was once cast into the earth, was great, steady and continuous. The grain of mustard seed "grew and became a great tree." In spite of persecution, opposition, and violence, Christianity gradually spread and increased. Year after year its adherents became more numerous.
Year after year idolatry withered away before it. City after city, and country after country, received the new faith. Church after church was formed in almost every quarter of the earth then known.
Preacher after preacher rose up, and missionary after missionary came forward to fill the place of those who died.
Roman emperors and heathen philosophers, sometimes by force and sometimes by argument, tried in vain to check the progress of Christianity. They might as well have tried to stop the tide from flowing, or the sun from rising. In a few hundred years, the religion of the despised Nazarene—the religion which began in the upper chamber at Jerusalem—had overrun the civilized world. It was professed by nearly all Europe, by a great part of Asia, and by the whole northern part of Africa. The prophetic words of the parable before us were literally fulfilled. The grain of mustard seed "became a great tree; and the birds of the air lodged in the branches of it." The Lord Jesus said it would be so. And so it came to pass.
Let us learn from this parable never to despair of any work for Christ, because its first beginnings are feeble and small. A single minister in some large neglected town-district—a single missionary amid myriads of savage heathen—a single reformer in the midst of a fallen and corrupt church—each and all of these may seem at first sight utterly unlikely to do any good. To the eye of man, the work may appear too great, and the instrument employed quite unequal to it. Let us never give way to such thoughts. Let us remember the parable before us and take courage. When the line of duty is plain, we should not begin to count numbers, and confer with flesh and blood. We should believe that one man with the living seed of God's truth on his side, like Luther or Knox, may turn a nation upside down. If God is with him, none shall stand against him. In spite of men and devils, the seed that he sows shall become a great tree.
The parable of the leaven is intended to show the progress of the Gospel in the heart of a BELIEVER.
The first beginnings of the work of grace in a sinner are generally exceedingly small. It is like the mixture of leaven with a lump of dough. A single sentence of a sermon, or a single verse of Holy
Scripture—a word of rebuke from a friend, or a casual religious remark overheard—a tract given by a stranger, or a trifling act of kindness received from a Christian, some one of these things is often the starting-point in the life of a soul. The first actings of the spiritual life are often small in the extreme—so small, that for a long time they are not known except by him who is the subject of them, and even by him not fully understood. A few serious thoughts and prickings of conscience—a desire to pray really and not formally—a determination to begin reading the Bible in private—a gradual drawing towards means of grace—an increasing interest in the subject of religion—a growing distaste for evil habits and bad companions, these, or some of them, are often the first symptoms of grace beginning to move the heart of man. They are symptoms which worldly men may not perceive, and ignorant believers may despise, and even old Christians may mistake. Yet they are often the first steps in the mighty business of conversion. They are often the "leaven" of grace working in a heart.
The work of grace once begun in the soul will never stand still. It will gradually "leaven the whole lump." Like leaven once introduced, it can never be separated from that with which it is mingled. Little by little it will influence the conscience, the affections, the mind, and the will, until the whole man is affected by its power, and a thorough conversion to God takes place. In some cases no doubt the progress is far quicker than in others. In some cases the result is far more clearly marked and decided than in others. But wherever a real work of the Holy Spirit begins in the heart, the whole character is sooner or later leavened and changed. The tastes of the man are altered. The whole bias of his mind becomes different. "Old things pass away, and all things become new." (2 Cor. 5:17.) The Lord Jesus said that it would be so, and all experience shows that so it is.
Let us learn from this parable never to "despise the day of small things" in religion. (Zec. 4:10.) The soul must creep before it can walk, and walk before it can run. If we see any sign of grace beginning in a brother, however feeble, let us thank God and be hopeful. The leaven of grace once planted in his heart, shall yet leaven the whole lump. "He that begins the work, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6.)
Let us ask ourselves whether there is any work of grace in our own hearts. Are we resting satisfied with a few vague wishes and convictions? Or do we know anything of a gradual, growing, spreading, increasing, leavening process going on in our inward man? Let nothing short of this content us. The true work of the Holy
Spirit will never stand still. It will leaven the whole lump.
Notes on 13:18-21
Commentators have found many allegories in this parable: the mustard seed as Christ himself; the birds of the air as the corruption that came into Christ's church; the yeast as false teaching. I am quite unable to see the correctness in any of this. These two parables are meant to convey one great truth—the small beginning of grace in a heart, and the influence which it gradually acquires over the whole character. To this view let us adhere.
LUKE 13:22-30
THE NARROW DOOR
We see in these verses a remarkable question asked. We are told that a certain man said to our Lord, "Are there few that be saved?"
We do not know who this enquirer was. He may have been a selfrighteous Jew, trained to believe that there was no hope for the uncircumcised, and no salvation for any but the children of Abraham. He may have been an idle trifler with religion, who was ever wasting his time on curious and speculative questions. In any case, we must all feel that he asked a question of deep and momentous importance.
He that desires to know the number of the saved, in the present dispensation, need only turn to the Bible, and his curiosity will be satisfied. He will read in the sermon on the mount these solemn words, "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14.)—He has only to look around him, and compare the ways of the many with the word of God, and he will soon come to the conclusion, if he is an honest man, that the saved are few. It is a dreadful conclusion. Our souls naturally turn away from it. But Scripture and facts alike combine to shut us up to it. Salvation to the uttermost is offered to men. All things are ready on God's part. Christ is willing to receive sinners. But sinners are not willing to come to Christ. And hence few are saved.
We see, secondly, in these verses, a striking exhortation given. We are told that when our Lord Jesus Christ was asked whether few would be saved, He said, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." He addressed these words to the whole company of His hearers. He thought it not good to gratify the curiosity of his questioner by a direct reply. He chose rather to press home on him, and all around him, their own immediate duty. In minding their own souls, they would soon find the question answered. In striving to enter in at the strait gate they would soon see whether the saved were many or few.
Whatever others may do in religion the Lord Jesus would have us know that our duty is clear. The gate is strait. The work is great. The enemies of our souls are many. We must be up and doing. We are to wait for nobody. We are not to inquire what other people are doing, and whether many of our neighbors, and relatives, and friends are serving Christ. The unbelief and indecision of others will be no excuse at the last day. We must never follow a multitude to do evil. If we go to heaven alone, we must resolve that by God's grace we will go. Whether we have many with us or a few, the command before us is plain— "Strive to enter in."
Whatever others may think in religion, the Lord Jesus would have us know, that we are responsible for exertion. We are not to sit still in sin and worldliness, waiting for the grace of God. We are not to go on still in our wickedness, sheltering ourselves under the vain plea that we can do nothing until God draws us. We are to draw near to Him in the use of the means of grace. How we can do it is a question with which we have nothing to do. It is in obedience that the knot will be untied. The command is express and unmistakable— "Strive to enter in."
We see, thirdly, in these verses, a day of dreadful solemnity described. We are told of a time when "the master of the house shall rise and shut the door," when some shall "sit down in the kingdom of God," and others be "shut out" for evermore. About the meaning of these words there can be no doubt. They describe the second coming of Christ and the day of judgment.
A day is coming on the earth when the patience of God towards
SINNERS shall have an end. The door of mercy, which has been so long open, shall at last be shut. The fountain opened for all sin and uncleanness shall at length be closed. The throne of grace shall be removed, and the throne of judgment shall be set up in its place. The great assize of the world shall begin. All that are found impenitent and unbelieving shall be thrust out forever from God's presence. Men shall find that there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev.
6:16.)
A day is coming when BELIEVERS in Christ shall receive a full reward. The Master of the great house in heaven shall call His servants together, and give to each a crown of glory that fades not away. They shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and rest forever from warfare and work. They shall be shut in with Christ, and saints, and angels, in the kingdom of heaven, and sin, and death, and sorrow, and the world, and the devil, shall be eternally shut out.
Men shall see at last that "To him that sows righteousness there is a sure reward." (Prov. 11:18.)
We see, lastly, in these verses, a heart-searching prophecy delivered. Our Lord tells us that in the day of His second coming, "Many will seek to enter in at the strait gate, and shall not be able."
They will "knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us," but will find no admission. They will even plead earnestly, that "they have eaten and drunk in Christ's presence, and that he has taught in their streets." But their plea will be unavailing. They will receive the solemn answer, "I don't know you. Go away, all you who do evil."
Religious profession, and formal knowledge of Christ will save none who have served sin and the world.
There is something peculiarly striking in our Lord's language in this prophecy. It reveals to us the dreadful fact, that men may see what is right when it is too late for them to be saved. There is a time coming when many will repent too late, and believe too late—sorrow for sin too late, and begin to pray too late—be anxious about salvation too late, and long for heaven too late. Myriads shall wake up in another world, and be convinced of truths which on earth they refused to believe. Earth is the only place in God's creation where there is any infidelity. Hell itself is nothing but truth known too late.
The recollection of this passage should help us to set a right estimate on things around us. Money, and pleasure, and rank, and greatness, occupy the first place now in the world. Praying, and believing, and holy living, and acquaintance with Christ, are despised, and ridiculed, and held very cheap. But there is a change coming one day! The last shall be first, and the first last. For that change let us be prepared.
And now let us ask ourselves whether we are among the many or among the few? Do we know anything of striving and warring against sin, the world, and the devil? Are we ready for the Master's coming to shut the door? The man who can answer these questions satisfactorily is a true Christian.
Notes on 13:22-30
24. "Try to enter." The Greek word gives us our English word agonize. It implies great exertion and conflict. See Colossians 4:12; 1
Timothy 6:12.
Many "will try to enter and will not be able to." This time seems to me, most plainly, to be on the last day, when the door of mercy is shut forever. The whole context shows this, and the language used is parallel to that in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:11).
27. "Away from me, all you evildoers!" The similarity between this expression and Matthew 25:41 appears to show clearly that the time described is the second coming of Christ and the judgment day.
30. "There are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." This is a proverb which was literally fulfilled when the Gospel was first preached, and it has often been fulfilled since, both in churches and individuals. The Jews who were first became last, and the Gentiles who were last became first.
LUKE 13:31-35
JESUS' SORROW OVER JERUSALEM
Let us learn from these verses, how entirely our times are in God's hands. Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us this lesson by His reply to those who bade Him depart, because Herod would kill Him.
He said, "I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow." His time was not yet come for leaving the world. His work was not yet finished. Until that time came it was not in the power of Herod to hurt Him. Until that work was finished no weapon forged against
Him could prosper.
There is something in our Lord's words which demands the attention of all true Christians. There is a frame of mind exhibited to us which we should do well to copy. Our Lord, no doubt, spoke with a prophetic foresight of coming things. He knew the time of His own death, and He knew that this time was not yet come. Foreknowledge like this, of course, is not granted to believers in the present day. But still there is a lesson here which we ought not to overlook. We ought, in a certain measure, to aim at having the mind that was in Christ
Jesus. We ought to seek to possess a spirit of calm, unshaken confidence about things to come. We should study to have a heart "not afraid of evil tidings," but quiet, steady, and trusting in the Lord.
(Psalm 112:7.)
The subject is a delicate one, but one which concerns our happiness so much that it deserves consideration. We are not intended to be idle fatalists, like the Muhammadans, or cold, unfeeling statues, like the Stoics. We are not to neglect the use of means, or to omit all prudent provision for the unseen future. To neglect means is fanaticism, and not faith. But still, when we have done all, we should remember, that though DUTIES are ours, EVENTS are God's. We should therefore endeavor to leave things to come in God's hands, and not to be over-anxious about health, or family, or money, or plans.
To cultivate this frame of mind would add immensely to our peace. How many of our cares and fears are about things which never come to pass! Happy is that man who can walk in our Lord's steps, and say, "I shall have what is good for me. I shall live on earth until my work is done, and not a moment longer. I shall be taken when I am ripe for heaven, and not a minute before. All the powers of the world cannot take away my life, until God permits. All the physicians of earth cannot preserve it, when God calls me away."
Is there anything beyond the reach of man in this spirit? Surely not. Believers have a covenant ordered in all things and sure. The very hairs of their heads are numbered. Their steps are ordered by the Lord. All things are working together for their good. When they are afflicted, it is for their profit. When they are sick, it is for some wise purpose. All things are said to be theirs, life, death, things present, and things to come. (2 Sam. 23:5; Matt. 10:30; Psalm 37:23; Rom. 8:28; Heb. 12:10; John 11:4; 1 Cor. 3:22.)
There is no such thing as chance, luck, or accident, in the life of a believer. There is but one thing needful, in order to make a believer calm, quiet, unruffled, undisturbed in every position, and under every circumstance. That one thing is faith in active exercise. For such faith let us daily pray. Few indeed know anything of it. The faith of most believers is very fitful and spasmodic. It is for lack of steady, constant faith, that so few can say with Christ, "I must proceed on my way today and tomorrow, and not die until my work is done."
Let us learn, for another thing, from these verses, how great is the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ towards sinners.
We see this brought out in a most forcible manner by our Lord's language about Jerusalem. He knew well the wickedness of that city.
He knew what crimes had been committed there in times past. He knew what was coming on Himself, at the time of His crucifixion. Yet even to Jerusalem He says, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."
It grieves the Lord Jesus Christ to see sinners going on still in their wickedness. "As I live," are His words, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." (Ezek. 33:11.) Let all unconverted people remember this. It is not enough that they grieve parents, and ministers, and neighbors, and friends. There is one higher than all these, whom they deeply grieve by their conduct. They are daily grieving Christ.
The Lord Jesus is willing to save sinners. "He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He would have all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Pet
3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4.) This is a mighty principle of the Gospel, and one which severely perplexes narrow-minded and shallow theologians.
But what says the Scripture? The words before us, no less than the texts just quoted, are distinct and express. "I would have gathered your children," says Christ, "but you were not willing." The will of poor hardened unbelieving man, and not the will of Christ, is the cause why sinners are lost for evermore. Christ "would" save them, but they were not willing.
Let the truth before us sink down into our hearts, and bear fruit in our lives. Let us thoroughly understand that if we die in our sins and go to hell, our blood will be upon our own heads. We cannot lay the blame on God the Father, nor on Jesus Christ the Redeemer, nor on the Holy Spirit the Comforter. The promises of the Gospel are wide, broad, and general. The readiness of Christ to save sinners is unmistakably declared. If we are lost, we shall have none to find fault with but ourselves. The words of Christ will be our condemnation— "You will not come unto me, that you might have life." (John 5:40.)
Let us take heed, with such a passage as this before us, that we are not more systematic than Scripture. It is a serious thing to be "wise above that which is written." Our SALVATION is wholly of God. Let that never be forgotten. None but the elect shall be finally saved. "No man can come unto Christ except the Father draws him."
(John 6:44.) But our RUIN, if we are lost, will be wholly of ourselves.
We shall reap the fruit of our own choice. We shall find that we have lost our own souls. Linked between these two principles lies truth which we must maintain firmly, and never let go. There is doubtless deep mystery about it. Our minds are too feeble to understand it now. But we shall understand it all hereafter. God's sovereignty and man's responsibility shall appear perfectly harmonious one day. In the meantime, whatever we doubt, let us never doubt Christ's infinite willingness to save.
Notes on 13:31-35
32. "Today . . . tomorrow . . . the third day." I think this probably signifies a short space of time: "I am yet a little time with you, and during that time I shall continue my work, notwithstanding Herod's threats. And at the end of that time, and not before, I will finish my course by death." A similar way of speaking occurs in Hosea 6:2.
"I will reach my goal" (KJV: "I shall be perfected"). This is a remarkable expression. In the Greek it is in the present tense. The meaning seems to be, "I shall be perfected by my death: I shall finish the work which I came to do." The same word is applied to our Lord in Hebrews 2:10 and Hebrews 5:9.
33. "I must keep going." This seems to mean, "I must continue in the course I have begun. I must go on as I have hitherto."
34. "O Jerusalem . . ." This remarkable passage is found in St.
Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 23:37) at the very end of our Lord's ministry, in almost the same words. I cannot see any satisfactory explanation for this except that our Lord must have used the same words twice about Jerusalem in the course of his ministry.
"I have longed . . . but you were not willing." The Greek word in both these phrases is derived from the same word and is stronger than our English translation "wish" (KJV). It is literally, "I willed, and ye willed not!"
Few passages in the Bible throw the responsibility of the loss of the soul so distinctly on those who are lost: "Would I have . . . ye would not!" (KJV). Two wills are expressly mentioned: the will of Christ to do good, and the will of man to refuse good when offered.
35. "You will not see me again." I strongly support the view of the commentators who think that our Lord's words here are not yet fulfilled and that they refer to the last times, when the Jews after their last tribulation will look on him whom they pierced and will believe, at the time of his second coming in glory.
The triumphant entry into Jerusalem was a faint type, no doubt, of the honor which Christ will one day see in Jerusalem. But the Jewish nation, as a nation, never saw our Lord nor honored him as the Messiah during the whole time of his first coming. But "Look, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him" (Revelation 1:7).
Luke – Chap
LUKE 14:1-6
JESUS AT A PHARISEE'S HOUSE
Let us mark in this passage, how our Lord Jesus Christ accepted the hospitality of those who were not His disciples. We read that "He went into the house of one of the chief
Pharisees to eat bread." We cannot reasonably suppose that this Pharisee was a friend of Christ. It is more probable that he only did what was customary for a man in his position. He saw a stranger teaching religion, whom some regarded as a prophet, and he invited
Him to eat at his table. The point that most concerns us, is this, that when the invitation was given it was accepted.
If we want to know how our Lord carried Himself at a Pharisee's table, we have only to read attentively the first twenty-four verses of this chapter. We shall find Him the same there that He was elsewhere, always about His Father's business. We shall see Him first defending the true observance of the Sabbath-day—then expounding the nature of true humility—then urging on His host the character of true hospitality—and finally delivering that most relevant and striking parable—the parable of the great supper. And all this is done in the most wise, and calm, and dignified manner. The words are all words in season. The speech is "always with grace, seasoned with salt." (Coloss. 4:6.) The perfection of our Lord's conduct appears on this, as on all other occasions. He always said the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way. He never forgot, for a moment, who He was and where He was.
The example of Christ in this passage deserves the close attention of all Christians, and specially of ministers of the Gospel. It throws strong light on some most difficult points—our communion with unconverted people—the extent to which we should carry it—the manner in which we should behave when we are with them. Our Lord has left us a pattern for our conduct in this chapter. It will be our wisdom to endeavor to walk in His steps.
We ought not to withdraw entirely from all communion with unconverted people. It would be cowardice and indolence to do so, even if it were possible. It would shut us out from many opportunities of doing good. But we ought to go into their society moderately, watchfully, and prayerfully, and with a firm resolution to carry our Master and our Master's business with us.
The house from which Christ is deliberately excluded is not the house at which Christians ought to receive hospitalities, and keep up intimacy. The extent to which we should carry our communion with the unconverted, is a point which each believer must settle for himself. Some can go much further than others in this direction, with advantage to their company, and without injury to themselves.
"Every man has his proper gift." (1 Cor. 7:7.) There are two questions which we should often put to ourselves, in reference to this subject.
"Do I, in company, spend all my time in light and worldly conversation? Or do I endeavor to follow, however feebly, the example of Christ?" The society in which we cannot answer these questions satisfactorily, is society from which we had better withdraw. So long as we go into company as Christ went to the Pharisee's house, we shall take no harm.
Let us mark, secondly, in this passage, how our Lord was watched by His enemies. We read that when He went to eat bread on the Sabbath day, in the house of a Pharisee, "they watched
Him."
The circumstance here recorded, is only a type of what our Lord was constantly subjected to, all through His earthly ministry. The eyes of His enemies were continually observing Him. They watched for His halting, and waited eagerly for some word or deed on which they could lay hold and build an accusation. Yet they found none.
Our blessed Lord was ever holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from evil. Perfect indeed must that life have been, in which the bitterest enemy could find no flaw, or blemish, or spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing!
He that desires to serve Christ must make up his mind to be "watched" and observed, no less than His Master. He must never forget that the eyes of the world are upon him, and that the wicked are looking narrowly at all his ways. Specially ought he to remember this when he goes into the society of the unconverted. If he makes a slip there, in word or deed, and acts inconsistently, be may rest assured it will not be forgotten.
Let us endeavor to live daily as in the sight of a holy God. So living, it will matter little how much we are "watched" by an illnatured and malicious world. Let us exercise ourselves to have a conscience void of offence toward God and man, and to do nothing which can give occasion to the Lord's enemies to blaspheme. The thing is possible. By the grace of God it can be done. The haters of Daniel were obliged to confess, "we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." (Dan. 6:5.)
Let us mark, lastly, in this passage, how our Lord asserts the lawfulness of doing works of mercy on the Sabbath day. We read that he healed a man who had the dropsy on the Sabbath day, and then said to the lawyers and Pharisees, "Which of you shall have a donkey or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" This was a home-thrust, which could not be fended off. It is written, "They could not answer Him."
The qualification which our Lord here puts on the requirements of the fourth commandment, is evidently founded on Scripture, reason, and common sense. The Sabbath was made for man, for his benefit, not for his injury, for his advantage, not for his hurt. The interpretation of God's law respecting the Sabbath was never intended to be strained so far as to interfere with charity, kindness, and the real needs of human nature. All such interpretations only defeat their own end. They require that which fallen man cannot perform, and thus bring the whole commandment into disrepute.
Our Lord saw this clearly, and labored throughout His ministry to restore this precious part of God's law to its just position.
The principle which our Lord lays down about Sabbath observance needs carefully fencing with cautions. The right to do works of necessity and mercy is fearfully abused in these latter days.
Thousands of Christians appear to have trampled down the hedge, and burst the bounds entirely with respect to this holy day. They seem to forget that though our Lord repeatedly explains the requirements of the fourth commandment, He never struck it out of the law of God, or said that it was not binding on Christians at all.
Can any one say that Sunday traveling, except on very rare emergencies, is a work of mercy? Will any one tell us that Sunday trading, Sunday dinner parties, Sunday excursion-trains on railways, Sunday deliveries of letters and newspapers, are works of mercy?
Have servants, and shop-men, and engine-drivers, and coachmen, and clerks, and porters, no souls? Do they not need rest for their bodies and time for their souls, like other men? These are serious questions, and ought to make many people think.
Whatever others do, let us resolve to "keep the Sabbath holy."
God has a controversy with the churches about Sabbath desecration.
It is a sin of which the cry goes up to heaven, and will be reckoned for one day. Let us wash our hands of this sin, and have nothing to do with it. If others are determined to rob God, and take possession of the Lord's Day for their own selfish ends, let us not be partakers in their sins.
LUKE 14:7-14
PLACES OF HONOR
Let us learn from these verses the value of humility. This is a lesson which our Lord teaches in two ways. Firstly, He advises those who are bidden to a wedding to "sit down in the lowest place."
Secondly, He backs up His advice by declaring a great principle, which frequently fell from His lips— "Whoever exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted."
Humility may well be called the queen of the Christian graces. To know our own sinfulness and weakness, and to feel our need of Christ, is the very beginning of saving religion. It is a grace which has always been the distinguishing feature in the character of the holiest saints in every age. Abraham, and Moses, and Job, and David, and Daniel, and Paul, were all eminently humble men. Above all, it is a grace within the reach of every true Christian. All have not money to give away. All have not time and opportunities for working directly for Christ. All have not gifts of speech, and tact, and knowledge, in order to do good in the world. But all converted men should labor to adorn the doctrine they profess by humility. If they can do nothing else, they can strive to be humble.
Would we know the root and spring of humility? One word describes it. The root of humility is right knowledge. The man who really knows himself and his own heart—who knows God and His infinite majesty and holiness—who knows Christ, and the price at which he was redeemed—that man will never be a proud man. He will count himself, like Jacob, unworthy of the least of all God's mercies. He will say of himself, like Job, "I am vile." He will cry, like
Paul, "I am chief of sinners." (Genes. 32:10; Job 40:4; 1 Tim. 1:15.)
He will think anything good enough for him. In lowliness of mind be will esteem every one else to be better than himself. (Philip. 2:3.)
Ignorance—nothing but sheer ignorance—ignorance of self, of God, and of Christ, is the real secret of pride. From that miserable selfignorance may we daily pray to be delivered! He is the wise man who knows himself—and he who knows himself, will find nothing within to make him proud.
Let us learn, secondly, from these verses, the duty of caring for the poor. Our Lord teaches this lesson in a peculiar manner. He tells the Pharisee who invited Him to his feast, that, when he made "a dinner or a supper," he ought not to "call his friends," or relatives, or rich neighbors. On the contrary, He says, "When you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind."
The precept contained in these words must evidently be interpreted with considerable limitation. It is certain that our Lord did not intend to forbid men showing any hospitality to their relatives and friends. It is certain that He did not mean to encourage a useless and profuse expenditure of money in giving to the poor. To interpret the passage in this manner would make it contradict other plain Scriptures. Such interpretations cannot possibly be correct.
But when we have said this, we must not forget that the passage contains a deep and important lesson. We must be careful that we do not limit and qualify that lesson until we have pared it down and refined it into nothing at all. The lesson of the passage is plain and distinct. The Lord Jesus would have us care for our poorer brethren, and help them according to our power. He would have us know that it is a solemn duty never to neglect the poor, but to aid them and relieve them in their time of need.
Let the lesson of this passage sink down deeply into our hearts.
"The poor shall never cease out of the land." (Deut. 15:11.) A little help conferred upon the poor judiciously and in season, will often add immensely to their happiness, and take away immensely from their cares, and promote good feeling between class and class in society. This help it is the will of Christ that all His people who have the means should he willing and ready to bestow. That stingy, calculating spirit, which leads some people to talk of "the workhouse," and condemn all charity to the poor, is exceedingly opposed to the mind of Christ. It is not for nothing that our Lord declares that He will say to the wicked in the day of judgment, "I was a hungry and you gave me no food—I was thirsty and you gave me no drink." It is not for nothing that Paul writes to the Galatians, "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." (Matt. 25:42. Gal. 2:10.)
Let us learn, lastly, from these verses, the great importance of looking forward to the resurrection of the dead. This lesson stands out in a striking manner in the language used by our Lord on the subject of showing charity to the poor. He says to the Pharisee who entertained Him, "The poor cannot repay you—you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
There is a resurrection after death. Let this never be forgotten.
The life that we live here in the flesh is not all. The visible world around us is not the only world with which we have to do. All is not over when the last breath is drawn, and men and women are carried to their long home in the grave. The trumpet shall one day sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. All that are in the graves shall hear Christ's voice and come forth—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of damnation. This is one of the great foundation truths of the Christian religion. Let us cling to it firmly, and never let it go.
Let us strive to live like men who believe in a resurrection and a life to come, and desire to be always ready for another world. So living, we shall look forward to death with calmness. We shall feel that there remains some better portion for us beyond the grave. So living, we shall take patiently all that we have to bear in this world.
Trial, losses, disappointments, ingratitude, will affect us little. We shall not look for our reward here. We shall feel that all will be rectified one day, and that the Judge of all the earth will do right.
But how can we bear the thought of a resurrection? What shall enable us to look forward to a world to come without alarm? Nothing can do it, but faith in Christ. Believing on Him, we have nothing to fear. Our sins will not appear against us. The demands of God's law will be found completely satisfied. We shall stand firm in the great day, and none shall lay anything to our charge. (Rom. 8:33.) Worldly men like Felix, may well tremble when they think of a resurrection.
But believers, like Paul, may rejoice.
Notes on 14:7-14
11. "Everyone who exalts himself." There is hardly any saying of our Lord's which is said more frequently as this sentence about humility.
14. "You will be repaid." These words deserve special attention. They confirm the doctrine of a reward according to deeds, though not on account of deeds, on the judgment day.
Our Lord is probably speaking here about the general judgment; the importance of deeds as an evidence of faith is the truth which he seeks to impress on our minds.
"The resurrection of the righteous." This is a remarkable expression.
I cannot think our Lord uses it in deference to a commonly held belief among the Jews, that the resurrection was the special privilege of the righteous. It seems to me far more probable that our Lord refers to the first resurrection, spoken about in the first section of Revelation 20. There is a resurrection which only the righteous will take part in—a resurrection which will be the special privilege of the righteous and will precede that of the wicked.
LUKE 14:15-24
PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET
The verses before us contain one of our Lord's most instructive parables. It was spoken in consequence of a remark made by one who was sitting at table with Him in a Pharisee's house. "Blessed," said this man, "is he that shall eat the feast in the kingdom of God."
The object of this remark we are left to conjecture. It is likely that he who made it was one of that class of people who wish to go to heaven, and like to hear good things talked of, but never get any further. Our Lord takes occasion to remind him and all the company, by means of the parable of the great supper, that men may have the kingdom of God offered to them, and yet may willingly neglect it, and be lost forever.
We are taught, firstly, in this parable, that God has made a great provision for the salvation of men's souls. This is the meaning of the words, "a certain man made a great banquet, and invited many." This is the Gospel.
The Gospel contains a full supply of everything that sinners need in order to be saved. We are all naturally starving, empty, helpless, and ready to perish. Forgiveness of all sin, and peace with God, justification of the person, and sanctification of the heart—grace by the way, and glory in the end—are the gracious provision which God has prepared for the wants of our souls. There is nothing that sinladen hearts can wish, or weary consciences require, which is not spread before men in rich abundance in Christ. Christ, in one word, is the sum and substance of the "great supper." "I am the bread of life." "Him that comes unto me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst." "My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." "He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood, has eternal life." (John 6:35-55, 56.)
We are taught, secondly, in this parable, that the offers and invitations of the Gospel are most broad and liberal. We read that he who made the supper "sent his servant at the time of the banquet to say to those who were invited, Come for all things are now ready."
There is nothing lacking on God's part for the salvation of man. If man is not saved, the fault is not on God's side. The Father is ready to receive all who come to Him by Christ. The Son is ready to cleanse all from their sins who apply to Him by faith. The Spirit is ready to come to all who ask for Him. There is an infinite willingness in God to save man, if man is only willing to be saved.
There is the fullest warrant for sinners to draw near to God by Christ. The word "Come," is addressed to all without exception. Are men laboring and heavy-laden? "Come unto me," says Jesus, "and I will give you rest." Are men thirsting? "If any man thirst," says Jesus, "let him come unto me and drink." Are men poor and hungry?
"Come," says Jesus, "buy wine and milk without money and without price." No man shall ever be able to say that he had no encouragement to seek salvation. That word of the Lord shall silence every objector— "Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out."
We are taught, thirdly, in this parable, that many who receive
Gospel invitations refuse to accept them. We read that when the servant announced that all things were ready, those who were invited "all with one consent began to make excuse." One had one trivial excuse, and another had another. In one point only all were agreed—they would not come.
We have in this part of the parable a vivid picture of the reception which the Gospel is continually meeting with wherever it is proclaimed. Thousands are continually doing what the parable describes. They are invited to come to Christ, and they will not come.
It is not ignorance of religion that ruins most men's souls. It is lack of will to use knowledge; or love of this present world. It is not open profligacy that fills hell. It is excessive attention to things which in themselves are lawful. It is not avowed dislike to the Gospel which is so much to be feared. It is that procrastinating, excuse-making spirit, which is always ready with a reason why Christ cannot be served today. Let the words of our Lord on this subject sink down into our hearts. Infidelity and immorality, no doubt, slay their thousands. But decent, plausible, smooth-spoken excuses slay their tens of thousands. No excuse can justify a man in refusing God's invitation, and not coming to Christ.
We are taught, lastly, in this parable, that God earnestly desires the salvation of souls, and would have all means used to procure acceptance for His Gospel. We read that when those who were first invited to the supper refused the invitation, "the master of the house said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." We read that when this was done, and there was yet room, "the master said unto his servant, Go out into the high ways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."
The meaning of these words can admit of little dispute. They surely justify us in asserting the exceeding love and compassion of God towards sinners. His patience is inexhaustible. If some will not receive the truth, He will have others invited in their stead. His pity for the lost is no pretended and imaginary thing. He is infinitely willing to save souls. Above all, the words justify every preacher and teacher of the Gospel in employing all possible means to awaken sinners, and turn them from their sins. If they will not come to us in public, we must visit them in private. If they will not attend our preaching in the congregation, we must be ready to preach from house to house.
We must even not be ashamed to use a gentle violence. We must be instant in season, out of season. (2 Tim. 4:2.) We must deal with many an unconverted man, as one who is half-asleep, half out of his mind, and not fully conscious of the state he is in. We must press the Gospel on his notice again and again. We must cry aloud and spare not. We must deal with him as we would with a man about to commit suicide. We must try to snatch him as a brand from the burning. We must say, "I cannot—I will not—I dare not let you go on ruining your own soul." The men of the world may not understand such earnest dealing. They may sneer at all zeal and fervor in religion as fanaticism. But the "man of God," who desires to do the work of an evangelist, will heed little what the world says. He will remember the words of our parable. He will "compel men to come in."
Let us leave this parable with serious self-inquiry. It ought to speak to us in the present day. To us this invitation of the Gospel is addressed as well as to the Jews. To us the Lord is saying constantly, "Come unto the supper—Come unto me." Have we accepted His invitation? Or are we practically saying, "I cannot come." If we die without having come to Christ, we had better never have been born.
Notes on 14:15-24
18. "Began to make excuses." The various excuses which those who were invited made are types of the various worldly reasons with which men excuse themselves from accepting the offer of Christ's
Gospel. Note that everything mentioned is in itself innocent and lawful.
21. "The poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame." These words primarily describe the Gentiles, who were in this miserable condition when compared with the Jews. Second, they describe sinners to whom the Gospel is offered, all who see their sins and acknowledge their own spiritual need and poverty.
22. "There is still room." This seems to show that there is a greater willingness on God's part to save sinners than there is on the part of sinners to be saved. More grace is given than there are hearts willing to receive it.
LUKE 14:25-35
THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE
We learn, firstly, from this passage, that true Christians must be ready, if need be, to give up everything for Christ's sake.
This is a lesson which is taught in very remarkable language. Our Lord says, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
This expression must doubtless be interpreted with some qualification. We must never explain any text of Scripture in such a manner as to make it contradict another. Our Lord did not mean us to understand that it is the duty of Christians to hate their relatives.
This would have been to contradict the fifth commandment. He only meant that those who follow Him must love Him with a deeper love even than their nearest and dearest relatives, or their own lives. He did not mean that it is an essential part of Christianity to quarrel with our relatives and friends. But He did mean that if the claims of our relatives and the claims of Christ come into collision, the claims of relatives must give way. We must choose rather to displease those we love most upon earth, than to displease Him who died for us on the cross.
The demand which our Lord makes upon us here is peculiarly stringent and heart-searching. Yet it is a wise and a necessary one.
Experience shows, both in the church at home, and in the missionfield abroad, that the greatest foes to a man's soul are sometimes those of his own house. It sometimes happens that the greatest hindrance in the way of an awakened conscience, is the opposition of relatives and friends. Ungodly fathers cannot bear to see their sons "taking up new views" of religion. Worldly mothers are vexed to see their daughters unwilling to enter into the gaieties of the world. A collision of opinion takes place frequently, as soon as grace enters into a family. And then comes the time when the true Christian must remember the spirit of our Lord's words in this passage. He must be willing to offend his family, rather than offend Christ.
The line of duty in such cases is doubtless very painful. It is a heavy cross to disagree with those we love, and especially about spiritual things. But if this cross be laid upon us, we must remember that firmness and decision are true kindness. It can never be true love to relatives to do wrong, in order to please them. And, best of all, firmness accompanied by gentleness and consistency, in the long run of life, often brings its own reward. Thousands of Christians will bless God at the last day, that they had relatives and friends who chose to displease them rather than Christ. That very decision was the first thing that made them think seriously, and led finally to the conversion of their souls.
We learn secondly, from this passage, that those who are thinking of following Christ should be warned to "count the cost." This is a lesson which was intended for the multitudes who followed our Lord without thought and consideration, and was enforced by examples drawn from building and from war. It is a lesson which will be found useful in every age of the church.
It costs something to be a true Christian. Let that never be forgotten. To be a mere nominal Christian, and go to church, is cheap and easy work. But to hear Christ's voice, and follow Christ, and believe in Christ, and confess Christ, requires much self-denial. It will cost us our sins, and our self-righteousness, and our ease, and our worldliness. All—all must be given up. We must fight an enemy who comes against us with twenty thousand followers. We must build a tower in troublous times. Our Lord Jesus Christ would have us thoroughly understand this. He bids us "count the cost."
Now, why did our Lord use this language? Did He wish to discourage men from becoming His disciples? Did He mean to make the gate of life appear more narrow than it is? It is not difficult to find an answer to these questions. Our Lord spoke as He did to prevent men following Him lightly and inconsiderately, from mere carnal feeling or temporary excitement, who in time of temptation would fall away. He knew that nothing does so much harm to the cause of true religion as backsliding, and that nothing causes so much backsliding as enlisting disciples without letting them know what they take in hand. He had no desire to swell the number of His followers by admitting soldiers who would fail in the hour of need.
For this reason He raises a warning voice. He bids all who think of taking service with Him count the cost before they begin.
Well would it be for the Church and the world if the ministers of Christ would always remember their Master's conduct in this passage. Often—far too often—people are built up in self-deception, and encouraged to think they are converted when in reality they are not converted at all. Feelings are supposed to be faith. Convictions are supposed to be grace. These things ought not so to be. By all means let us encourage the first beginnings of religion in a soul. But never let us urge people forward without telling them what true
Christianity entails. Never let us hide from them the battle and the toil. Let us say to them "come with us"—but let us also say, "count the cost."
We learn, lastly, from this passage, how miserable is the condition of backsliders and apostates. This is a lesson which is intimately connected with the preceding one. The necessity of "counting the cost" is enforced by a picture of the consequences of neglecting to do so. The man who has once made a profession of religion, but has afterwards gone back from it, is like salt which has "lost its savor." Such salt is comparatively useless. "It is neither fit for the land, nor fit for the ash-heap—but men cast it out." Yet the state of that salt is a lively emblem of the state of a backslider. No wonder that our Lord said, "He that has ears to hear let him hear."
The truth which our Lord brings out in this place is very painful, but very useful and needful to be known. No man, be it remembered, is in so dangerous a state as he who has once known the truth and professed to love it, and has afterwards fallen away from his profession, and gone back to the world. You can tell such a man nothing that he does not know. You can show him no doctrine that he has not heard. He has not sinned in ignorance like many. He has gone away from Christ with his eyes open. He has sinned against a known, and not an unknown God. His case is well near desperate. All things are possible with God. Yet it is written, "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened—if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance." (Heb. 6:4-6.)
Let us ponder these things well. The subject is one which is not sufficiently considered. Let us never be afraid of beginning to serve
Christ. But let us begin seriously, thoughtfully, and with a due consideration of the step we take. And having once begun, let us pray for grace that we may persevere, and never fall away.
Notes on 14:25-35
26. "Comes to me and does not hate." The word hate in this verse must clearly be taken comparatively. The following quotation from Pearce deserves reading: "Besides the proof from Matthew 10:37, that the word 'hate' here means 'love less,' it may be added that in Matthew 6:24 the word 'hate' is used in the same way. Also, when we read in Romans 9:13, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,' the meaning is that I have loved Jacob more than Esau. That this is no arbitrary interpretation of the word 'hate,' but one agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, appears from what is said in Genesis 29:30-31, where Leah being 'hated' is explained by Rachel being loved more than Leah. See also Deuteronomy 21:15-17."
34. "Loses its saltiness." This striking and solemn saying about the salt that "loses its saltiness" is found on three occasions in the Gospels (see also Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50). The sinfulness of sins against light and knowledge and the possibility of being given over to a reprobate mind are fearful points to ponder. People seem to forget that there is such a thing as an unpardonable sin, and that if salt has once lost is saltiness, it cannot be seasoned again.
The Bible teaches that no sinner is so unlikely to be saved as the person who after making a strong spiritual profession of faith falls away and returns to the world. There is no heart so unlikely to be changed as the heart which once professed to love the Gospel but later becomes cold and indifferent.
LUKE 15:1-10
THE PARABLES OF THE LOST SHEEP, AND THE LOST COIN
The chapter which begins with these verses is well known to Bible readers if any is in the Scriptures. Few chapters perhaps have done more good to the souls of men. Let us take heed that it does good to us.
We should first observe in these verses, the striking testimony which was borne to our Lord by His enemies. We read that when "all the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Him, the Scribes and Pharisees murmured, saying, This man receives sinners, and eats with them."
These words were evidently spoken with surprise and scorn, and not with pleasure and admiration. These ignorant guides of the Jews could not understand a preacher of religion having anything to do with wicked people! Yet their words worked for good. The very saying which was meant for a reproach was adopted by the Lord
Jesus as a true description of His office. It led to His speaking three of the most instructive parables which ever fell from His lips.
The testimony of the Scribes and Pharisees was strictly and literally true. The Lord Jesus is indeed one that "receives sinners."
He receives them to pardon them, to sanctify them, and to make them fit for heaven. It is His special office to do so. For this end He came into the world. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He came into the world to save sinners. What He was upon earth He is now at the right hand of God, and will be to all eternity. He is emphatically the sinner's Friend.
Have we any sense of sin? Do we feel bad, and wicked, and guilty, and deserving of God's anger? Is the remembrance of our past lives bitter to us? Does the recollection of our past conduct make us ashamed? Then we are the very people who ought to apply to Christ, just as we are, pleading nothing of our own, making no useless delay.
Christ will receive us graciously, pardon us freely, and give us eternal life. He is One that "receives sinners." Let us not be lost for lack of applying to Him that we may be saved.
We should observe, secondly, in these verses, the remarkable figures under which our Lord describes His own love towards sinners. We read that in reply to the taunting remark of His enemies He spoke three parables—the parables of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, and the prodigal son. The first two of these parables are now before us. All three are meant to illustrate one and the same truth. They all throw strong light on Christ's willingness to save sinners.
Christ's love is an active, working love. Just as the shepherd did not sit still bewailing his lost sheep, and the woman did not sit still bewailing her lost money, so our blessed Lord did not sit still in heaven pitying sinners. He left the glory which He had with the Father, and humbled Himself to be made in the likeness of man. He came down into the world to seek and save that which was lost. He never rested until He had made atonement for our transgressions, brought in everlasting righteousness, provided eternal redemption, and opened a door of life to all who are willing to be saved.
Christ's love is a self-denying love. The shepherd brought his lost sheep home on his own shoulders rather than leave it in the wilderness. The woman lighted a candle, and swept the house, and searched diligently, and spared no pains, until she found her lost money. And just so did Christ not spare Himself, when he undertook to save sinners. "He endured the cross, despising the shame." He "laid down His life for His friends." Greater love than this cannot be shown. (John 15:13. Heb. 12:2.)
Christ's love is a deep and mighty love. Just as the shepherd rejoiced to find his sheep, and the woman to find her money, so does the Lord Jesus rejoice to save sinners. It is a real pleasure to Him to pluck them as brands from the burning. It was His "food and drink," when upon earth, to finish the work which He came to do. He felt straitened in spirit until it was accomplished. It is still His delight to show mercy. He is far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved.
Let us strive to know something of this love of Christ. It is a love that truly passes knowledge. It is unspeakable and unsearchable. It is that on which we must wholly rest our souls, if we would have peace in time, and glory in eternity. If we take comfort in our own love to Christ, we are building on a sandy foundation. But if we lean on Christ's love to us, we are on a rock.
We should observe, lastly, in these verses, the wide encouragement which our Lord holds out to repentance.
We read these striking words, "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents." We read the same thought again after a few verses— "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents." The thing is doubled, to make doubt impossible. The idea is repeated, in order to meet man's unbelief.
There are deep things in these sayings, beyond doubt. Our poor weak minds are little able to understand how the perfect joy of heaven can admit of increase. But one thing, at any rate, stands out clearly on the face of these expressions. There is an infinite willingness on God's part to receive sinners. However wicked a man may have been, in the day that he really turns from his wickedness and comes to God by Christ, God is well-pleased. God has no pleasure in the death of him that dies, and God has pleasure in true repentance.
Let the man who is afraid to repent, consider well the verses we are now looking at, and be afraid no more. There is nothing on God's part to justify his fears. An open door is set before him. A free pardon awaits him. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9.)
Let the man who is ashamed to repent, consider these verses, and cast shame aside. What though the world mocks and jests at his repentance? While man is mocking, angels are rejoicing. The very