Chapter 10
Chapter 10
There are two opposite ways to study the Bible. One way is to study it with a telescope, taking a grand sweep of a whole book and trying to find out God’s plan in it. The other way is to study it with a microscope, taking up a verse at a time, dissecting and analyzing it. For example, Genesis is the seed plant of the whole Bible; it tells us of life, death, and resurrection. It involves all the rest of the Bible.
Here is one way to look at the Bible with a telescope, seeing the whole forest at once. An Englishman once remarked to me, “Mr. Moody, did you ever notice that the book of Job is the key to the whole Bible? If you understand Job, you will understand the entire Bible!”
“No,” I said. “Why do you say that – ‘Job is the key to the whole Bible’? How do you make that out?”
He said, “I divide Job into seven sections. The first section is A perfect man untried. That is what God said about Job; that is Adam in Eden. He was perfect when God put him there. The second section is Tried by adversity. Job fell, as Adam fell in Eden. The third section is The wisdom of the world. The world tried to restore Job; the three wise men, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to help him. That was the wisdom of the world centered in those three men. You cannot find any such eloquent language or wisdom anywhere, in any part of the world, as those three men displayed, but they did not know anything about grace, and could not, therefore, help Job.”
That is just what men are trying to do, and the result is that they fail. The wisdom of man never made man any better. These three men did not help Job; they made him more unhappy.
I have heard many such things; Sorry comforters are you all. (Job 16:2)
The Englishman continued to explain his seven parts of Job to me. “Then in the fourth place,” said he, “in comes the arbiter or judge; that is Christ. In the fifth place, God speaks; and in the sixth, Job learns his lesson. And then down came Job flat on the dunghill. The seventh section is this, that God restores him.” Thank God, it is so with us, and our last state is better than our first.
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5-6)
The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters. (Job 42:12-13)
A friend of mine said to me, “Look here, Moody. God gave Job double of everything.” God had taken Job’s children to heaven, and He gave Job ten more. So Job had ten children in heaven and ten on earth – a good-sized family. So when our children are taken from us, they are not lost to us, but merely gone before us.
Now, let’s take that telescope approach through the four Gospels, beginning with Matthew. Men sometimes tell me when I go into a town, “Be sure and get such a man on your committee, for he has nothing to do and he will have plenty of time.”
I say, “No, thank you. I do not want any man that has nothing to do.” Christ found Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs. The Lord took someone He found at work and he went right on working. We do not know much about what he did, except that he wrote this gospel; but what a book! Where Matthew came from we do not know, and where he went we do not know. His old name, Levi, dropped with his old life.
Matthew writes about the Messiah of the Jews and the Savior of the world. His gospel contains the best account of the life of Christ. You notice that it is the last message of God to the Jewish nation.
Matthew does not speak of Christ’s ascension, but leaves Him on earth.
Mark gives His resurrection and ascension.
Luke gives His resurrection, ascension, and the promise of a Comforter.
John goes a step further and says that Jesus is coming back.
There are more quotations from the Old Testament in Matthew than in any of the other Gospels. I think there are about a hundred. Matthew was trying to convince the Jews that Jesus was the son of David, the rightful king. He talked a good deal about the kingdom, its mysteries, the example of the kingdom, healing the sick, the principles of the kingdom as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, and the rejection of the King. When anyone takes a kingdom, he lays down the principles upon which he is going to rule.
Now, let me call your attention to five great sermons in the gospel of Matthew. In these, you have a good sweep of the whole book:
1. The Sermon on the Mount. See how many things lying all around Him He brings into His sermon: salt, light, candle, coat, rain, closet, moth, rust, thieves, eye, fowls, lilies, grass, dogs, bread, fish, gate, grapes, thorns, figs, thistles, rock, and more.
Someone, in traveling through Israel, said that he did not think there was a solitary thing there that Christ did not use as an illustration. So many people these days are afraid to use common things, but don’t you think it is better to use things that people can understand than to talk so that people cannot understand you? Now, a woman can easily understand a candle, and a man can easily understand a rock, especially in a rocky country like Israel. Christ used common things as illustrations and spoke so that everyone could understand Him.
Christ did not have a reporter to go around with Him to write out and print His sermons, and yet the people remembered them. Never mind about fancy sentences and elegant words, but give your attention to making your sermons clear so that they stick. Use bait that your hearers will like. Some preachers spend more time trying to make nice outhnes than they do seeking God.
The law was given on a mountain, and here Christ lays down His principles on a mountain. The law of Moses applies to the outward acts, but this sermon applies to the inward life. As the sun is brighter than a candle, so the Sermon on the Mount is brighter than the law of Moses. It tells us what kind of Christians we ought to be: lights in the world and the salt of the earth, silent in our actions, but great in effect.
I say unto you occurs thirteen times in this sermon.
2. The second great sermon in Matthew was delivered to the twelve disciples in the tenth chapter. You find simple sayings in this sermon that are often quoted, such as “Shake the dust off your feet against them,” and “Freely you have received, freely give.”
3. The open-air sermon, found in Matthew 13. This sermon contains nine parables. It is like a string of pearls. You want the best kind of preaching on the street? You have to put what you say in a bright, crisp way if you expect people to listen.
You must learn to think on your feet. There was a young man preaching on the streets in London when an infidel came up and said, “The man who invented gas lights did more for the world than Jesus Christ.” The young man could not answer him and the crowd had the laugh on him. But another man got up and said, “Of course the man has a right to his opinion, and I suppose if he was dying he would send for the gas fitter, but I think I would send for a minister and have him read the fourteenth chapter of John,” and he turned the laugh back on the man.
4. The sermon of woes is the fourth great sermon in Matthew, and it is found in chapter 23. This is Christ’s last appeal to the Jewish nation. Compare these eight woes with the nine beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. The end of this sermon on woes is the most heartbreaking utterance in the whole ministry of Christ: Behold, your house is being left to you desolate (Matthew 23:38). Up to that time, it had been My Father’s house, or My house, but now it is your house. It was not long until the Roman leader Titus came and leveled the temple to the ground. Abraham never loved Isaac more than Jesus loved the Jewish nation. It was hard for Abraham to give up Isaac, but harder for the Son of God to give up Jerusalem.
5. Jesus’ fifth great sermon in Matthew was preached to His disciples. You can read it in Matthew chapter 24. How little did they understand Him! When His heart was breaking with sorrow, they drew His attention to the buildings of the temple.
In Matthew’s gospel, there is not a thing in hell, heaven, earth, sea, air, or grave that does not testify of Christ as the Son of God. Devils cried out, fish entered the nets under His influence, wind and wave obeyed Him.
Summary: Nine beatitudes, eight woes, nine consecutive parables, ten consecutive miracles, five continuous sermons, and four prophecies of His death.
As we move on to the gospel of Mark, notice that the four Gospels are independent of each other; none was copied from the other. Each is the complement of the rest, and we get four views of Christ, like the four sides of a house. Matthew writes for Jews. Mark writes for Romans. Luke writes for Gentile converts.
You don’t find any long sermons in Mark. The Romans were quick and active, and Mark had to condense things in order to catch them. You’ll find words like forthwith, straightway, and immediately occurring thirty-two times in this gospel. Every chapter but the first, seventh, eighth, ninth, and fourteenth begins with And, as if there was no pause in Christ’s ministry.
Luke tells us that Christ received little children, but Mark says He took them up in His arms. That makes it sweeter to you, doesn’t it?
Perhaps the high-water mark is the fifth chapter. Here we find three very bad cases – devils, disease, and death – beyond the reach of man, cured by Christ. The first man was possessed with devils. The people could not bind or chain or tame him. I suppose many men and women had been scared by that man. People are afraid of a graveyard even in daylight, but think of a live man being in the tombs and possessed with devils! He said, What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me (Mark 5:7). But Jesus had come to do him good.
Next is the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34). If she had been living today, I suppose she would have tried every medicine in the market. We would have declared her a hopeless case and sent her to the hospital. Someone has said, “There was more medicine in the hem of His garment than in all the drugstores in Israel.” She just touched Him and was made whole. Hundreds of others touched Him, but they did not get anything. Can you tell the difference between the touch of faith and the ordinary touch of the crowd?
Thirdly, Jairus’s daughter raised from the dead (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43). You see the manifestation of Jesus’ power increasing, for when He arrived, the child was dead, and He brought her to life. I do not doubt but that way back in the secret councils of eternity, it was appointed that He should be there just at that time. I remember once being called to preach a funeral sermon, and I looked through the four Gospels to find one of Christ’s funeral sermons; but do you know, He never preached one? He broke up every funeral He ever attended. The dead came to life when they heard His voice.
We now come to Luke’s gospel. You notice his name does not occur in this book or in Acts. You will find Luke’s name used three times: in Colossians, 2 Timothy, and Philemon. He keeps himself in the background. I meet numbers of Christian workers who are ruined by getting attention. We do not even know for certain whether Luke was a Jew or a Gentile.
The first we see of Luke is in Acts 16:10: When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. He did not claim to be an eyewitness to Christ’s ministry, nor did he claim to be one of the seventy (Luke 10). Some think he was, but he does not claim it. It is supposed that his gospel was from Paul’s preaching, the same as Mark’s was from Peter’s. It is also called the Gospel of the Gentiles, and is supposed to have been written when Paul was in Rome, about twenty-seven years after Christ. One-third of this gospel is left out of the other Gospels. Luke opens with a note of praise: You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth (Luke 1:14). It closes the same way: And they, after worshipping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God (Luke 24:52-53).
Canon Frederic Farrar has pointed out that we have a sevenfold gospel in Luke:
1. It is a gospel of praise and song. We find here the songs of Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, the angels, and others.
Read what the Rev. James Caughey wrote about Simeon in his book Helps to a Life of Holiness and Usefulness:
What Simeon wanted was to see the Lord’s Christ. Unbelief would suggest to him, “Simeon, you are an old man; your day is almost ended; the snow of age is upon your head; your eyes are growing dim, your brow is wrinkled, your limbs totter, and death cannot be at a great distance, and where are the signs of his coming? You are resting, Simeon, on a phantom of the imagination – it is all a delusion.”
“No,” replies Simeon, “I shall not see death till I have seen the Lord’s Christ. Yes, I shall see him before I die.”
But unbelief would again suggest, “Remember, Simeon, many holy men have desired to see the Lord’s Christ, but have died without the sight.”
“Yes,” says Simeon, “I shall see the Lord’s Christ.”
I imagine I see Simeon walking out on a fine morning along one of the lovely valleys of Israel, meditating on the great subject that filled his mind. He is met by one of his friends, who says, “Peace be with you. Have you heard the strange news?”
“What news?” asks Simeon.
“Do you know Zacharias the priest?”
“Yes, very well.”
“According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense in the temple of the Lord, and the whole multitude of the people were praying outside. It was the time of incense, and there appeared unto him an angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense, and told him that he would have a son, who would be called John. The angel said that the son of Zacharias would be great in the sight of the Lord; he should neither drink wine nor strong drink, and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his infancy. He would go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord, and make ready a people prepared for the Lord. The angel was Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. Because Zacharias did not believe the angel, he was struck mute.”
“Ah!” says Simeon. “That is an exact fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6: Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. This is the messenger of the Lord, to prepare the way; this is the forerunner; this is the morning star; the day’s dawn is not far off; the great Messiah is on His way. He is near. I will not see death till I have seen the Lord’s Christ. Hallelujah! The Lord will suddenly come to His temple” (Malachi 3:1).
Simeon pondered these things in his heart, and time rolled on. I imagine I see Simeon again on his morning meditative walk. He is again accosted by one of his neighbors, who says, “Well, Simeon, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“A company of shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem was watching their flocks; it was the still hour of night, and the mantle of darkness covered the world. A bright light shone around the shepherds, a light above the brightness of the midday sun. They looked up, and just above them appeared an angel glowing in all the lovely hues of heaven. The shepherds became greatly terrified, and the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people (Luke 2:10).
“This is the Lord’s Christ. I will not see death until I have seen the Lord’s Christ.” Then Simeon probably says to himself, “They will bring Him to the temple to circumcise Him.” Away goes Simeon, morning after morning, to see if he can get a glimpse of Jesus.
Perhaps unbelief suggests to Simeon, “You had better stay at home this wet morning. You have been there so many mornings and have not seen Him; you can miss this one day.”
“No,” says the Spirit, “you must go to the temple.” Away goes Simeon to the temple. He would no doubt select a good post of observation. Look at him there, leaning his back against one of the pillars of the temple; how intently he watches the door! He sees one mother after another bringing her infant to the temple to be circumcised. He surveys the face of every child.
“No,” says he, as his eye scans the countenance, “that is not Him, and that is not Him”; but at length he sees the virgin Mary appear, and the Holy Spirit told him that this baby was the long-expected Savior. He grasps the child in his arms and presses Him to his heart, and exclaims, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30).
2. Luke is a gospel of thanksgiving. They glorified God when Jesus healed the widow’s son at Nain, when the blind man received sight, etc.
3. It is a gospel of prayer. We learn that Christ prayed when He was baptized, and nearly every great event in His ministry was preceded by prayer. If you want to hear from heaven, you must seek God in earnest prayer. There are two parables about prayer: the friend at midnight (Luke 11:5-8) and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8).
4. Here is another thing that is made prominent, namely, the gospel of womanhood. Luke alone records many loving things Christ did for women. The richest jewel in Christ’s crown was what He did for women. A man once tried to tell me that Muhammad had done more for women than Christ had. I told him that if he had ever been in Islamic countries, he would be ashamed of himself for making such a remark.
5. This is the gospel of the poor and humble. When I speak to a rough crowd on the street, I generally teach from Luke. Here are the shepherds, the peasants, and the incident of the rich man and Lazarus. This gospel tells us he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted (Isaiah 61:1). It is a dark day for a church when they do not want the common people. George Whitefield labored among the miners, and John Wesley among the common people. If you want the poor, let it be known that you want them to come.
6. Luke is a gospel to the lost. The woman with the seven devils and the thief on the cross illustrate this, as do the parables of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, and the lost son.
7. It is a gospel of tolerance.
Luke shows us how Jesus won the lost. He who is wise wins souls (Proverbs 11:30). Do you want to win people to Jesus? Do not try to tear down their prejudices before you begin to lead them to the truth. Some people think they have to tear down the scaffolding before they begin work on the building. An old minister once invited a young brother to preach for him. The latter scolded the people, and when he got home, he asked the old minister how he had done. The old minister said he had an old cow, and when he wanted a good supply of milk, he fed the cow; he did not scold her.
Christ reached the publicans because nearly everything He said about them was in their favor. Look at the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14). Christ said the publican went down to his house justified rather than that proud Pharisee.
How did He reach the Samaritans? Take the parable of the ten lepers. Only one returned to thank Him for the healing, and that was a Samaritan. Then there is the parable of the good Samaritan. It has done more to stir people up to philanthropy and kindness to the poor than anything else that has been said on this earth for six thousand years.
If you want to reach people who do not agree with you, do not take a club to knock them down and then try to pick them up. When Jesus Christ dealt with the erring and the sinners, He was as tender with them as a mother is with her sick child.