Great Themes of the Bible
Uncleanness 235 (iii) '' Deceit" —which is wickedness covered and disguised, that it may be the more securely and effectually committed.
(iv) "Lasciviousness"'—that filthiness and foolish talking which the apostle condemns; the eye full of adultery, and all wanton dalliances.
(v) The "evil eye''—that is, the envious eye, and the covetous eye, grudging others the good we give them, or do for them (Prov. xxiii. 6); or grieving at the good they do or enjoy.
(vi) ''Pride''—exalting ourselves in our own conceit above others, and looking down with scorn and contempt upon others.
(vii) ''Foolishness'—imprudence, inconsideration; some understand it especially of vain-glorious boasting, which St. Paul calls foolishness (2 Cor. xi. 1, 19), because it is here joined with pride. I rather take it for that rashness in speaking and acting which is the cause of so much evil. Ill thinking is put first, as that which is the spring of all our commissions; and unthinking put last, as that which is the spring of all our omissions.
Of all these he concludes: (i) That they "come from within'', from the corrupt nature, the carnal mind, the evil treasure in the heart. Justly it is said that the "'inward part is very wickedness'', it must needs be so, when all this comes from within.
(ii) That '"'they defile the man''; they render a man unfit for communion with God; they bring a stain upon the conscience; and, if not mortified and rooted out, will shut men out of the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing shall enter.
7. Gop's GIFTS ARE NEVER UNCLEAN
Peter was of this company but seems not to have learnt these lessons (Acts x. 13ff.). The distinction of meats which the law made was intended to put a difference between Jew and Gentile, that it might be difficult for them to dine and sup with a Gentile, because they would have that set before them that they were not allowed to eat. Now they might fare as they fared, and therefore might eat with them, and be fellow-commoners with them.
Peter stuck to his principles, and would by no means hearken to the motion, though he was hungry. '"'Not so, Lord." Though hunger will break through stone walls, God's laws should be to us a stronger fence than stone walls, and not so easily broken through. And he will adhere to God's laws, though he has a countermand by a voice from heaven, "' Not so, Lord."
Temptations to eat forbidden fruit must not be parleyed with, but peremptorily rejected; we must startle at the thought of it: "'Not so, Lord." The reason he gives is, "For I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean." Hitherto I have kept my integrity in this matter, and will still keep it. If God by his grace has preserved us from gross sin unto this day, we should use that as an argument with ourselves to abstain from all appearance of evil. So strict were the pious Jews in this matter that the seven brethren, those glorious martyrs under Antiochus, chose rather to be tortured to death in the most cruel manner that ever was than to eat swine's flesh, because it was forbidden by the law. No wonder, then, that Peter says it with so much pleasure that his conscience could witness for him that he had never gratified his appetite with any forbidden food.
God, by a second voice from heaven, proclaimed the repeal of the law in this case. "'What God has cleansed, that call not thou common." He that made the law might alter it when he pleased and reduce the matter to its first state. God had, for reasons suited to the Old Testament dispensation, restrained the Jews from eating such and such meats, which, while that dispensation lasted, they were obliged in conscience to submit to; but He has now, for reasons suited to the New Testament dispensation, taken off that restraint. He has cleansed that which was before polluted to us; and we ought to make use of, and "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free"', and not call that common or unclean which God has now declared clean.
We ought to welcome it as a great mercy, that by the Gospel of Christ we are freed from the distinction of meats, which was made by the law of Moses, and that now "every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused'; not so much because hereby we gain the use of swine's flesh, hares, rabbits, and other pleasant and wholesome food for our bodies, but chiefly because conscience is hereby freed from a yoke in things of this nature, that we might serve God without fear. Though the Gospel has made duties which were not so by the law of Uncleanness 23) nature, yet it has not, like the law of Moses, made sins that were not so. 'Those who command to abstain from some kinds of meat at some times of the year, and place religion in it, call that common which God hath cleansed, and in that error, more than in any truth, are the successors of Peter.
Great Themes of the Bible
SERMON OUTLINE
UNCLEANNESS
THE Law oF THE OLD TESTAMENT
(a) The Law Proclaims the Purity of Marriage (b) The Law Warns Against Sexual Uncleanness (c) The Law Demands a Clean Life Tue TEACHING OF Our LorpD (Mark vii)
II.
(a) The Tradition of the Elders (b) The Practice of the Disciples (c) The Rebuke of Christ to the Pharisees (i) He reproves them for magnifying their tradition (ii) He reproves them for not honouring the Scriptures (d) 'The Teaching of Christ (i) Defilement comes not from unclean hands (ii) Defilement comes from an unclean heart THE REVELATION GIVEN TO PeETER (Acts x) (a) Peter Refuses to Eat '"Unclean"' Food (b) God's Word Abolishes the Ancient Law (c) The Gospel Abrogates Distinctions of Food