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Matthew Chapter 7
Commentary by Matthew Henry
This chapter continues and concludes
Christ's sermon on the mount, which is purely practical,
directing us to order our conversation rightly, both toward
God and man; for the design of the Christian religion is to
make men good, every way good. We have, I. Some rules
concerning censure and reproof, verses 1-6. II.
Encouragements given us to pray to God for what we need,
verses 7-11. III. The necessity of strictness in
conversation urged upon us, verses 12-14. IV. A caution
given us to take heed of false prophets, verses 15-20. V.
The conclusion of the whole sermon, showing the necessity of
universal obedience to Christ's commands, without which we
cannot expect to be happy, verses 21-27. VI. The impression
which Christ's doctrine made upon his hearers, verses 28,
29.
The Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 7:1-6 –
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and
with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine
own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull
out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in
thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out
of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 6 Give not that which
is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn
again and rend you.
Our Savior is here directing us how
to conduct ourselves in reference to the faults of others;
and his expressions seem intended as a reproof to the
scribes and Pharisees, who were very rigid and severe, very
magisterial and supercilious, in condemning all about them,
as those commonly are, that are proud and conceited in
justifying themselves. We have here,
I. A caution against judging verses
1, 2. There are those whose office it is to
judge-magistrates and ministers. Christ, though he made not
himself a Judge, yet came not to unmake them, for by him
princes decree justice; but this is directed to private
persons, to his disciples, who shall hereafter sit on
thrones judging, but not now. Now observe,
1. The prohibition; Judge not. We
must judge ourselves, and judge our own acts, but we must
not judge our brother, not magisterially assume such an
authority over others, as we allow not them over us: since
our rule is, to be subject to one another. Be not many
masters, James 3:1. We must not sit in the judgment-seat, to
make our word a law to every body. We must not judge our
brother, that is, we must not speak evil of him, so it is
explained, James 4:11. We must not despise him, nor set him
at naught, Romans 14:10. We must not judge rashly, nor pass
such a judgment upon our brother as has no ground, but is
only the product of our own jealousy and ill nature. We must
not make the worst of people, nor infer such invidious
things from their words and actions as they will not bear.
We must not judge uncharitably, unmercifully, nor with a
spirit of revenge, and a desire to do mischief. We must not
judge of a man's state by a single act, nor of what he is in
himself by what he is to us, because in our own cause we are
apt to be partial. We must not judge the hearts of others,
nor their intentions, for it is God's prerogative to try the
heart, and we must not step into his throne; nor must we
judge of their eternal state, nor call them hypocrites,
reprobates, and castaways; that is stretching beyond our
line; what have we to do, thus to judge another man's
servant? Counsel him, and help him, but do not judge him.
2. The reason to enforce this
prohibition. That ye be not judged. This intimates, (1.)
That if we presume to judge others, we may expect to be
ourselves judged. He who usurps the bench, shall be called
to the bar; he shall be judged of men; commonly none are
more censured, than those who are most censorious; every one
will have a stone to throw at them; he who, like Ishmael,
has his hand, his tongue, against every man, shall, like
him, have every man's hand and tongue against him (Genesis
16:12); and no mercy shall be shown to the reputation of
those that show no mercy to the reputation of others. Yet
that is not the worst of it; they shall be judged of God;
from him they shall receive the greater condemnation, James
3:1. Both parties must appear before him (Romans 14:10),
who, as he will relieve the humble sufferer, will also
resist the haughty scorner, and give him enough of judging.
(2.) That if we be modest and charitable in our censures of
others, and decline judging them, and judge ourselves
rather, we shall not be judged of the Lord. As God will
forgive those that forgive their brethren; so he will not
judge those that will not judge their brethren; the merciful
shall find mercy. It is an evidence of humility, charity,
and deference to God, and shall be owned and rewarded by him
accordingly. See Romans 14:10.
The judging of those that judge
others is according to the law of retaliation; With what
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, verse 2. The righteous
God, in his judgments, often observes a rule of proportion,
as in the case of Adonibezek, Judges 1:7. See also
Revelation 13:10; 18:6. Thus will he be both justified and
magnified in his judgments, and all flesh will be silenced
before him. With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you again; perhaps in this world, so that men may read
their sin in their punishment. Let this deter us from all
severity in dealing with our brother. What shall we do when
God rises up? Job 31:14. What would become of us, if God
should be as exact and severe in judging us, as we are in
judging our brethren; if he should weigh us in the same
balance? We may justly expect it, if we be extreme to mark
what our brethren do amiss. In this, as in other things, the
violent dealings of men return upon their own heads.
II. Some cautions about reproving.
Because we must not judge others, which is a great sin, it
does not therefore follow that we must not reprove others,
which is a great duty, and may be a means of saving a soul
from death; however, it will be a means of saving our souls
from sharing in their guilt. Now observe here,
1. It is not every one who is fit to
reprove. Those who are themselves guilty of the same faults
of which they accuse others, or of worse, bring shame upon
themselves, and are not likely to do good to those whom they
reprove, verses 3-5. Here is,
(1.) A just reproof to the
censorious, who quarrel with their brother for small faults,
while they allow themselves in great ones; who are
quick-sighted to spy a mote in his eye, but are not sensible
of a beam in their own; nay, and will be very officious to
pull out the mote out of his eye, when they are as unfit to
do it as if they were themselves quite blind. Note, [1.]
There are degrees in sin: some sins are comparatively but as
motes, others as beams; some as a gnat, others as a camel:
not that there is any sin little, for there is no little God
to sin against; if it be a mote (or splinter, for so it
might better be read), it is in the eye; if a gnat, it is in
the throat; both painful and perilous, and we cannot be easy
or well till they are got out. [2.] Our own sins ought to
appear greater to us than the same sins in others: that
which charity teaches us to call but a splinter in our
brother's eye, true repentance and godly sorrow will teach
us to call a beam in our own; for the sins of others must be
extenuated, but our own aggravated. [3.] There are many that
have beams in their own eyes, and yet do not consider it.
They are under the guilt and dominion of very great sins,
and yet are not aware of it, but justify themselves, as if
they needed no repentance nor reformation; it is as strange
that a man can be in such a sinful, miserable condition, and
not be aware of it, as that a man should have a beam in his
eye, and not consider it; but the god of this world so
artfully blinds their minds, that notwithstanding, with
great assurance, they say, We see. [4.] It is common for
those who are most sinful themselves, and least sensible of
it, to be most forward and free in judging and censuring
others: the Pharisees, who were most haughty in justifying
themselves, were most scornful in condemning others. They
were severe upon Christ's disciples for eating with unwashed
hands, which was scarcely a mote, while they encouraged men
in a contempt of their parents, which was a beam. Pride and
a lack of charity are commonly beams in the eyes of those
that pretend to be critical and nice in their censures of
others. Nay, many are guilty of that secret, which they have
the face to punish in others when it is discovered. Cogita
tecum, fortasse vitium de quo quereris, si te diligenter
excusseris, in sinu invenies; inique publico irasceris
crimini tuo--Reflect that perhaps the fault of which you
complain, might, on a strict examination, be discovered in
yourself; and that it would be unjust publicly to express
indignation against your own crime. Seneca, de Beneficiis.
But, [5.] Men's being so severe upon the faults of others,
while they are indulgent of their own, is a mark of
hypocrisy. Thou hypocrite, verse 5. Whatever such a one may
pretend, it is certain that he is no enemy to sin (if he
were, he would be an enemy to his own sin), and therefore he
is not worthy of praise; nay, it appears that he is an enemy
to his brother, and therefore worthy of blame. This
spiritual charity must begin at home; "For how canst thou
say, how canst thou for shame say, to thy brother, Let me
help to reform thee, when you take no care to reform
thyself? Thy own heart will upbraid thee with the absurdity
of it; thou wilt do it with an ill grace, and thou wilt
expect every one to tell thee, that vice corrects sin:
physician, heal thyself;" I præ, sequar--Go you before, I
will follow. See Romans 2:21. [6.] The consideration of what
is amiss in ourselves, though it ought not to keep us from
administering friendly reproof, ought to keep us from
magisterial censuring, and to make us very candid and
charitable in judging others. "Therefore restore with the
spirit of meekness, considering thyself (Galatians 6:1);
what thou has been, what thou art, and what thou wouldst be,
if God should leave thee to thyself."
(2.) Here is a good rule for
reprovers, verse 5. Go in the right method, first cast the
beam out of your own eye. Our own badness is so far from
excusing us in not reproving, that our being by it rendered
unfit to reprove is an aggravation of our badness; I must
not say, "I have a beam in my own eye, and therefore I will
not help my brother with the mote out of his." A man's
offence will never be his defense: but I must first reform
myself, that I may thereby help to reform my brother, and
may qualify myself to reprove him. Note, Those who blame
others, ought to be blameless and harmless themselves. Those
who are reprovers in the gate, reprovers by office,
magistrates and ministers, are concerned to walk
circumspectly, and to be very regular in their conversation:
an elder must have a good report, 1 Timothy 3:2, 7. The
snuffers of the sanctuary were to be of pure gold.
2. It is not every one that is fit
to be reproved; Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
verse 6. This may be considered, either, (1.) As a rule to
the disciples in preaching the gospel; not that they must
not preach it to any one who were wicked and profane (Christ
himself preached to publicans and sinners), but the
reference is to such as they found obstinate after the
gospel was preached to them, such as blasphemed it, and
persecuted the preachers of it; let them not spend much time
among such, for it would be lost labor, but let them turn to
others, Acts 13:41. So Dr. Whitby. Or, (2.) As a rule to all
in giving reproof. Our zeal against sin must be guided by
discretion, and we must not go about to give instructions,
counsels, and rebukes, much less comforts, to hardened
scorners, to whom it will certainly do no good, but who will
be exasperated and enraged at us. Throw a pearl to a swine,
and he will resent it, as if you threw a stone at him;
reproofs will be called reproaches, as they were (Luke
11:45; Jeremiah 6:10), therefore give not to dogs and swine
(unclean creatures) holy things. Note, [1.] Good counsel and
reproof are a holy thing, and a pearl: they are ordinances
of God, they are precious; as an ear-ring of gold, and an
ornament of fine gold, so is the wise reprover (Proverbs
25:12), and a wise reproof is like an excellent oil (Psalm
141:5); it is a tree of life (Proverbs 3:18). [2.] Among the
generation of the wicked, there are some that have arrived
at such a pitch of wickedness, that they are looked upon as
dogs and swine; they are impudently and notoriously vile;
they have so long walked in the way of sinners, that they
have sat down in the seat of the scornful; they professedly
hate and despise instruction, and set it at defiance, so
that they are irrecoverably and irreclaimably wicked; they
return with the dog to his vomit, and with the sow to her
wallowing in the mire. [3.] Reproofs of instruction are ill
bestowed upon such, and expose the reprover to all the
contempt and mischief that may be expected from dogs and
swine. One can expect no other than that they will trample
the reproofs under their feet, in scorn of them, and rage
against them; for they are impatient of control and
contradiction; and they will turn again and rend the
reprovers; rend their good names with their reviling, return
them wounding words for their healing ones; rend them with
persecution; Herod rent John Baptist for his faithfulness.
See here what is the evidence of men's being dogs and swine.
Those are to be reckoned such, who hate reproofs and
reprovers, and fly in the face of those who, in kindness to
their souls, show them their sin and danger. These sin
against the remedy; who shall heal and help those that will
not be healed and helped? It is plain that God has
determined to destroy such. 2 Chronicles 25:16. The rule
here given is applicable to the distinguishing, sealing
ordinances of the gospel; which must not be prostituted to
those who are openly wicked and profane, lest holy things be
thereby rendered contemptible, and unholy persons be thereby
hardened. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and
cast it to the dogs. Yet we must be very cautious whom we
condemn as dogs and swine, and not do it till after trial,
and upon full evidence. Many a patient is lost, by being
thought to be so, who, if means had been used, might have
been saved. As we must take heed of calling the good, bad,
by judging all professors to be hypocrites; so we must take
heed of calling the bad, desperate, by judging all the
wicked to be dogs and swine. [4.] Our Lord Jesus is very
tender of the safety of his people, and would not have them
needlessly to expose themselves to the fury of those that
will turn again and rend them. Let them not be righteous
over much, so as to destroy themselves. Christ makes the law
of self-preservation one of his own laws, and precious is
the blood of his subjects to him.
The Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 7:7-11 –
7 Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask
bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish,
will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to
them that ask him?
Our Savior, in the foregoing
chapter, had spoken of prayer as a commanded duty, by which
God is honored, and which, if done aright, shall be
rewarded; here he speaks of it as the appointed means of
obtaining what we need, especially grace to obey the
precepts he had given, some of which are so displeasing to
flesh and blood.
I. Here is a precept in three words
to the same purport, Ask, Seek, Knock (verse 7); that is, in
one word, "Pray; pray often; pray with sincerity and
seriousness; pray, and pray again; make conscience of
prayer, and be constant in it; make a business of prayer,
and be earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks alms." Those
that would be rich in grace, must betake themselves to the
poor trade of begging, and they shall find it a thriving
trade. "Ask; represent your wants and burdens to God, and
refer yourselves to him for support and supply, according to
his promise. Ask as a traveler asks the way; to pray is to
enquire of God, Ezekiel 36:37. Seek, as for a thing of value
that we have lost, or as the merchantman that seeks goodly
pearls. Seek by prayer, Daniel 9:3. Knock, as he that
desires to enter into the house knocks at the door." We
would be admitted to converse with God, would be taken into
his love, and favor, and kingdom; sin has shut and barred
the door against us; by prayer, we knock; Lord, Lord, open
to us. Christ knocks at our door (Revelation 3:20; Canticles
5:2); and allows us to knock at his, which is a favor we do
not allow to common beggars. Seeking and knocking imply
something more than asking and praying. 1. We must not only
ask but seek; we must second our prayers with our endeavors;
we must, in the use of the appointed means, seek for that
which we ask for, else we tempt God. When the dresser of the
vineyard asked for a year's respite for the barren fig-tree,
he added, I will dig about it, Luke 13:7, 8. God gives
knowledge and grace to those that search the scriptures, and
wait at Wisdom's gates; and power against sin to those that
avoid the occasions of it. 2. We must not only ask, but
knock; we must come to God's door, must ask importunately;
not only pray, but plead and wrestle with God; we must seek
diligently; we must continue knocking; must persevere in
prayer, and in the use of means; must endure to the end in
the duty.
II. Here is a promised annexed: our
labor in prayer, if indeed we do labor in it, shall not be
in vain: where God finds a praying heart, he will be found a
prayer-hearing God; he shall give you an answer of peace.
The precept is threefold, ask, seek, knock; there is precept
upon precept; but the promise is sixfold, line upon line,
for our encouragement; because a firm belief of the promise
would make us cheerful and constant in our obedience. Now
here,
1. The promise is made, and made so
as exactly to answer the precept, verse 7. Ask, and it shall
be given you; not lent you, not sold you, but given you; and
what is more free than gift? Whatever you pray for,
according to the promise, whatever you ask, shall be given
you, if God see it fit for you, and what would you have
more? It is but ask and have; ye have not, because ye ask
not, or ask not aright: what is not worth asking, is not
worth having, and then it is worth nothing. Seek, and ye
shall find, and then you do not lose your labor; God is
himself found of those that seek him, and if we find him we
have enough. "Knock, and it shall be opened; the door of
mercy and grace shall no longer be shut against you as
enemies and intruders, but opened to you as friends and
children. It will be asked, who is at the door? If you be
able to say, a friend, and have the ticket of promise ready
to produce in the hand of faith, doubt not of admission. If
the door be not opened at the first knock, continue instant
in prayer; it is an affront to a friend to knock at his
door, and then go away; though he tarry, yet wait."
2. It is repeated, verse 8. It is to
the same purport, yet with some addition. (1.) It is made to
extend to all that pray aright; "Not only you my disciples
shall receive what you pray for, but every one that asks,
receives, whether Jew or Gentile, young or old, rich or
poor, high or low, master or servant, learned or unlearned,
they are all alike welcome to the throne of grace, if they
come in faith: for God is no respecter of persons." (2.) It
is made so as to amount to a grant, in words of the present
tense, which is more than a promise for the future. Every
one that asks, not only shall receive, but receives; by
faith, applying and appropriating the promise, we are
actually interested and invested in the good promised: so
sure and inviolable are the promises of God, that they do,
in effect, give present possession: an active believer
enters immediately, and makes the blessings promised his
own. What have we in hope, according to the promise, is as
sure, and should be as sweet, as what we have in hand. God
hath spoken in his holiness, and then Gilead is mine,
Manasseh mine (Psalm 108:7, 8); it is all mine own, if I can
but make it so by believing it so. Conditional grants become
absolute upon the performance of the condition; so here, he
that asks, receives. Christ hereby puts his fiat to the
petition; and he having all power, that is enough.
3. It is illustrated, by a
similitude taken from earthly parents, and their innate
readiness to give their children what they ask. Christ
appeals to his hearers, What man is there of you, though
never so morose and ill-humored, whom if his son ask bread,
will he give him a stone? verses 9, 10. Whence he infers
(verse 11), If ye then, being evil, yet grant your
children's requests, much more will your heavenly Father
give you the good things you ask. Now this is of use,
(1.) To direct our prayers and
expectations. [1.] We must come to God, as children to a
Father in heaven, with reverence and confidence. How
naturally does a child in want or distress run to the father
with its complaints; My head, my head; thus should the new
nature send us to God for supports and supplies. [2.] We
must come to him for good things, for those he gives to them
that ask him; which teaches us to refer ourselves to him; we
know not what is good for ourselves (Ecclesiastes 6:12), but
he knows what is good for us, we must therefore leave it
with him; Father, thy will be done. The child is here
supposed to ask bread, that is necessary, and a fish, that
is wholesome; but if the child should foolishly ask for a
stone, or a serpent, for unripe fruit to eat, or a sharp
knife to play with, the father, though kind, is so wise as
to deny him. We often ask that of God which would do us harm
if we had it; he knows this, and therefore does not give it
to us. Denials in love are better than grants in anger; we
should have been undone ere this if we had had all we
desired; this is admirably well expressed by a heathen,
Juvenal, Sat. 10.
Permittes ipsis expendere
numinibus,quid Conveniat nobis, rebusque sit utile nostris,
Nam pro jucundis aptissima quæque dabunt dii. Carior est
illis homo, quam sibi: nos animorum Impulsu, et cæca,
magnaque cupidine ducti, Conjugium petimus, partumque uxoris;
at illis Notum est, qui pueri, qualisque futura sit uxor.
Entrust thy fortune to the powers
above. Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant What
their unerring wisdom sees thee want: In goodness, as in
greatness, they excel; Ah, that we lov'd ourselves but half
so well! We, blindly by our headstrong passions led, Seek a
companion, and desire to wed; Then wish for heirs: but to
the gods alone Our future offspring and our wives are known.
(2.) To encourage our prayers and
expectations. We may hope that we shall not be denied and
disappointed: we shall not have a stone for bread, to break
our teeth (though we have a hard crust to employ our teeth),
nor a serpent for a fish, to sting us; we have reason indeed
to fear it, because we deserve it, but God will be better to
us than the desert of our sins. The world often gives stones
for bread, and serpents for fish, but God never does; nay,
we shall be heard and answered, for children are by their
parents. [1.] God has put into the hearts of parents a
compassionate inclination to succor and supply their
children, according to their need. Even those that have had
little conscience of duty, yet have done it, as it were by
instinct. No law was ever thought necessary to oblige
parents to maintain their legitimate children, nor, in
Solomon's time, their illegitimate ones. [2.] He has assumed
the relation of a Father to us, and owns us for his
children; that from the readiness we find in ourselves to
relieve our children, we may be encouraged to apply
ourselves to him for relief. What love and tenderness
fathers have are from him; not from nature but from the God
of nature; and therefore they must needs be infinitely
greater in himself. He compares his concern for his people
to that of a father for his children (Psalm 103:13), nay, to
that of a mother, which is usually more tender, Isaiah
66:13; 49:14, 15. But here it is supposed, that his love,
and tenderness, and goodness, far excel that of any earthly
parent; and therefore it is argued with a much more, and it
is grounded upon this undoubted truth, that God is a better
Father, infinitely better than any earthly parents are; his
thoughts are above theirs. Our earthly fathers have taken
care of us; we have taken care of our children; much more
will God take care of his; for they are evil, originally so;
the degenerate seed of fallen Adam; they have lost much of
the good nature that belonged to humanity, and among other
corruptions, have that of crossness and unkindness in them;
yet they give good things to their children, and they know
how to give, suitably and seasonably; much more will God,
for he takes up when they forsake, Psalm 27:10. And,
First, God is more knowing; parents are often foolishly
fond, but God is wise, infinitely so; he knows what we need,
what we desire, and what is fit for us. Secondly, God is
more kind. If all the compassions of all the tender fathers
in the world were crowded into the bowels of one, yet
compared with the tender mercies of our God, they would be
but as a candle to the sun, or a drop to the ocean. God is
more rich, and more ready to give to his children than the
fathers of our flesh can be; for he is the Father of our
spirits, an ever-loving, ever-living Father. The bowels of
Fathers yearn even towards undutiful children, towards
prodigals, as David's toward Absalom, and will not all this
serve to silence disbelief?
The Sermon on the Mount.
12 Therefore all
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it.
Our Lord Jesus here presses upon us
that righteousness towards men which is an essential branch
of true religion, and that religion towards God which is an
essential branch of universal righteousness.
I. We must make righteousness our
rule, and be ruled by it, verse 12. Therefore, lay this down
for your principle, to do as you would be done by;
therefore, that you may conform to the foregoing precepts,
which are particular, that you may not judge and censure
others, go by this rule in general; (you would not be
censured, therefore do not censure), Or that you may have
the benefit of the foregoing promises. Fitly is the law of
justice subjoined to the law of prayer, for unless we be
honest in our conversation, God will not hear our prayers,
Isaiah 1:15-17; 58:6, 9; Zechariah 7:9, 13. We cannot expect
to receive good things from God, if we do not fair things,
and that which is honest, and lovely, and of good report
among men. We must not only be devout, but honest, else our
devotion is but hypocrisy. Now here we have,
1. The rule of justice laid down;
Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even
so to them. Christ came to teach us, not only what we are to
know and believe, but what we are to do; what we are to do,
not only toward God, but toward men; not only towards our
fellow-disciples, those of our party and persuasion, but
towards men in general, all with whom we have to do. The
golden rule of equity is, to do to others as we would they
should do to us. Alexander Severus, a heathen emperor, was a
great admirer of this rule, had it written upon the walls of
his closet, often quoted it in giving judgment, honored
Christ, and favored Christians for the sake of it. Quod tibi,
hoc alteri--do to others as you would they should do to you.
Take it negatively (Quod tibi fieri non vis, ne alteri
feceris), or positively, it comes all to the same. We must
not do to others the evil they have done us, nor the evil
which they would do to us, if it were in their power; nor
may we do that which we think, if it were done to us, we
could bear contentedly, but what we desire should be done to
us. This is grounded upon that great commandment, You shall
love thy neighbor as thyself. As we must bear the same
affection to our neighbor that we would have borne to
ourselves, so we must do the same good offices. The meaning
of this rule lies in three things. (1.) We must do that to
our neighbor which we ourselves acknowledge to be fit and
reasonable: the appeal is made to our own judgment, and the
discovery of our judgment is referred to that which is our
own will and expectation, when it is our own case. (2.) We
must put other people upon the level with ourselves, and
reckon we are as much obliged to them, as they to us. We are
as much bound to the duty of justice as they, and they as
much entitled to the benefit of it as we. (3.) We must, in
our dealings with men, suppose ourselves in the same
particular case and circumstances with those we have to do
with, and deal accordingly. If I were making such a one's
bargain, laboring under such a one's infirmity and
affliction, how should I desire and expect to be treated?
And this is a just supposition, because we know not how soon
their case may really be ours: at least we may fear, lest
God by his judgments should do to us as we have done to
others, if we have not done as we would be done by.
2. A reason given to enforce this
rule; This is the law and the prophets. It is the summary of
that second great commandment, which is one of the two, on
which hang all the law and the prophets, Chapter 22:40. We
have not this in so many words, either in the law or the
prophets, but it is the concurring language of the whole.
All that is there said concerning our duty towards our
neighbor (and that is no little) may be reduced to this
rule. Christ has here adopted it into this law; so that both
the Old Testament and the New agree in prescribing this to
us, to do as we would be done by. By this rule the law of
Christ is commended, but the lives of Christians are
condemned by comparing them with it. Aut hoc non evangelium,
authi non evangelici.--Either this is not the gospel, or
these are not Christians.
II. We must make religion our
business, and be intent upon it; we must be strict and
circumspect in our conversation, which is here represented
to us as entering in at a strait gate, and walking on in a
narrow way, verses 13, 14. Observe here,
1. The account that is given of the
bad way of sin, and the good way of holiness. There are but
two ways, right and wrong, good and evil; the way to heaven,
and the way to hell; in the one of which we are all of us
walking: no middle place hereafter, no middle way now: the
distinction of the children of men into saints and sinners,
godly and ungodly, will swallow up all to eternity.
Here is, (1.) An account given us of
the way of sin and sinners; both what is the best, and what
is the worst of it.
[1.] That which allures multitudes
into it, and keeps them in it; the gate is wide, and the way
broad, and there are many travelers in that way. First, "You
will have abundance of liberty in that way; the gate is
wide, and stands wide open to tempt those that go right on
their way. You may go in at this gate with all your lusts
about you; it gives no check to your appetites, to your
passions: you may walk in the way of your heart, and in the
sight of your eyes; that gives room enough." It is a broad
way, for there is nothing to hedge in those that walk in it,
but they wander endlessly; a broad way, for there are many
paths in it; there is choice of sinful ways, contrary to
each other, but all paths in this broad way. Secondly, "You
will have abundance of company in that way: many there be
that go in at this gate, and walk in this way." If we follow
the multitude, it will be to do evil: if we go with the
crowd, it will be the wrong way. It is natural for us to
incline to go down the stream, and do as the most do; but it
is too great a compliment, to be willing to be damned for
company, and to go to hell with them, because they will not
go to heaven with us: if many perish, we should be the more
cautious.
[2.] That which should affright us
all from it is, that it leads to destruction. Death, eternal
death, is at the end of it (and the way of sin tends to
it),--everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
Whether it be the high way of open profaneness, or the back
way of close hypocrisy, if it be a way of sin, it will be
our ruin, if we repent not.
(2.) Here is an account given us of
the way of holiness.
[1.] What there is in it that
frightens many from it; let us know the worst of it, that we
may sit down and count the cost. Christ deals faithfully
with us, and tells us,
First, That the gate is strait.
Conversion and regeneration are the gate, by which we enter
into this way, in which we begin a life of faith and serious
godliness; out of a state of sin into a state of grace we
must pass, by the new birth, John 3:3, 5. This is a strait
gate, hard to find, and hard to get through; like a passage
between two rocks, 1 Samuel 14:4. There must be a new heart,
and a new spirit, and old things must pass away. The bent of
the soul must be changed, corrupt habits and customs broken
off; what we have been doing all our days must be undone
again. We must swim against the stream; much opposition must
be struggled with, and broken through, from without, and
from within. It is easier to set a man against all the world
than against himself, and yet this must be in conversion. It
is a strait gate, for we must stoop, or we cannot go in at
it; we must become as little children; high thoughts must be
brought down; nay, we must strip, must deny ourselves, put
off the world, put off the old man; we must be willing to
forsake all for our interest in Christ. The gate is strait
to all, but to some straighter than others; as to the rich,
to some that have been long prejudiced against religion. The
gate is strait; blessed be God, it is not shut up, nor
locked against us, nor kept with a flaming sword, as it will
be shortly, Chapter 25:10.
Secondly, That the way is narrow. We
are not in heaven as soon as we have got through the strait
gate, nor in Canaan as soon as we have got through the Red
Sea; no, we must go through a wilderness, must travel a
narrow way, hedged in by the divine law, which is
exceedingly broad, and that makes the way narrow; self must
be denied, the body kept under, corruptions mortified, that
are as a right eye and a right hand; daily temptations must
be resisted; duties must be done that are against our
inclination. We must endure hardness, must wrestle and be in
an agony, must watch in all things, and walk with care and
circumspection. We must go through much tribulation. It is
hodos tethlimmene--an afflicted way, a way hedged about with
thorns; blessed be God, it is not hedged up. The bodies we
carry about with us, and the corruptions remaining in us,
make the way of our duty difficult; but, as the
understanding and will grow more and more sound, it will
open and enlarge, and grow more and more pleasant.
Thirdly, The gate being so strait
and the way so narrow, it is not strange that there are but
few that find it, and choose it. Many pass it by, through
carelessness; they will not be at the pains to find it; they
are well as they are, and see no need to change their way.
Others look upon it, but shun it; they like not to be so
limited and restrained. Those that are going to heaven are
but few, compared to those that are going to hell; a
remnant, a little flock, like the grape-gleanings of the
vintage; as the eight that were saved in the ark, 1 Peter
3:20. In vitia alter alterum trudimus; Quomodo ad salutem
revocari potest, quum nullus retrahit, et populus impellit--In
the ways of vice men urge each other onward: how shall any
one be restored to the path of safety, when impelled
forwards by the multitude, without any counteracting
influence? Seneca, Epistle 29. This discourages many: they
are loath to be singular, to be solitary; but instead of
stumbling at this, say rather, If so few are going to
heaven, there shall be one the more for me.
[2.] Let us see what there is in
this way, which, notwithstanding this, should invite us all
to it; it leads to life, to present comfort in the favor of
God, which is the life of the soul; to eternal bliss, the
hope of which, at the end of our way, should reconcile us to
all the difficulties and inconveniences of the road. Life
and godliness are put together (2 Peter 1:3); The gate is
strait and the way narrow and up-hill, but one hour in
heaven will make amends for it.
2. The great concern and duty of
every one of us, in consideration of all this; Enter ye in
at the strait gate. The matter is fairly stated; life and
death, good and evil, are set before us; both the ways, and
both the ends: now let the matter be taken entire, and
considered impartially, and then choose you this day which
you will walk in; nay, the matter determines itself, and
will not admit of a debate. No man, in his wits, would
choose to go to the gallows, because it is a smooth,
pleasant way to it, nor refuse the offer of a palace and a
throne, because it is a rough, dirty way to it; yet such
absurdities as these are men guilty of, in the concerns of
their souls. Delay not, therefore; deliberate not any
longer, but enter ye in at the strait gate; knock at it by
sincere and constant prayers and endeavors, and it shall be
opened; nay, a wide door shall be opened, and an effectual
one. It is true, we can neither go in, nor go on, without
the assistance of divine grace; but it is as true, that
grace is freely offered, and shall not be wanting to those
that seek it, and submit to it. Conversion is hard work, but
it is needful, and, blessed be God, it is not impossible if
we strive, Luke 13:24.
The Sermon on the Mount.
15 Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
We have here a caution against false
prophets, to take heed that we be not deceived and imposed
upon by them. Prophets are properly such as foretel things
to come; there are some mentioned in the Old Testament, who
pretended to that without warrant, and the event disproved
their pretensions, as Zedekiah, 1 Kings 22:11, and another
Zedekiah, Jeremiah 29:21. But prophets did also teach the
people their duty, so that false prophets here are false
teachers. Christ being a Prophet and a Teacher come from
God, and designing to send abroad teachers under him, gives
warning to all to take heed of counterfeits, who, instead of
healing souls with wholesome doctrine, as they pretend,
would poison them.
They are false teachers and false
prophets, 1. Who produce false commissions, who pretend to
have immediate warrant and direction from God to set up for
prophets, and to be divinely inspired, when they are not so.
Though their doctrine may be true, we are to beware of them
as false prophets. False apostles are those who say they are
apostles, and are not (Revelation 2:2); such are false
prophets. "Take heed of those who pretend to revelation, and
admit them not without sufficient proof, lest that one
absurdity being admitted, a thousand follow." 2. Who preach
false doctrine in those things that are essential to
religion; who teach that which is contrary to the truth as
it is in Jesus, to the truth which is accordingly to
godliness. The former seems to be the proper notion of
pseudo-prophet, a false or pretending prophet, but commonly
the latter falls in with it; for who would hang out false
colors, but with design, under pretence of them, the more
successfully to attack the truth. "Well, beware of them,
suspect them, try them, and when you have discovered their
falsehood, avoid them, have nothing to do with them. Stand
upon your guard against this temptation, which commonly
attends the days of reformation, and the breakings out of
divine light in more than ordinary strength and splendor."
When God's work is revived, Satan and his agents are most
busy. Here is,
I. A good reason for this caution,
Beware of them, for they are wolves in sheep's clothing,
verse 15.
1. We have need to be very cautious,
because their pretences are very fair and plausible, and
such as will deceive us, if we be not upon our guard. They
come in sheep's clothing, in the habit of prophets, which
was plain and coarse, and unwrought; they wear a rough
garment to deceive, Zechariah 13:4. Elijah's mantle the
Septuagint calls he melote--a sheep-skin mantle. We must
take heed of being imposed upon by men's dress and garb, as
by that of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes,
Luke 20:46. Or it may be taken figuratively; they pretend to
be sheep, and outwardly appear so innocent, harmless, meek,
useful, and all that is good, as to be excelled by none;
they feign themselves to be just men, and for the sake of
their clothing are admitted among the sheep, which gives
them an opportunity of doing them a mischief ere they are
aware. They and their errors are gilded with the specious
pretences of sanctity and devotion. Satan turns himself into
an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:13, 14. The enemy has
horns like a lamb (Revelation 13:11); faces of men,
Revelation 9:7, 8. Seducers in language and carriage are
soft as wool, Romans 16:18; Isaiah 30:10.
2. Because under these pretensions
their designs are very malicious and mischievous; inwardly
they are ravening wolves. Every hypocrite is a goat in
sheep's clothing; not only not a sheep, but the worst enemy
the sheep has, that comes not but to tear and devour, to
scatter the sheep (John 10:12), to drive them from God, and
from one another, into crooked paths. Those that would cheat
us of any truth, and possess us with error, whatever they
pretend, design mischief to our souls. Paul calls them
grievous wolves, Acts 20:29. They raven for themselves,
serve their own belly (Romans 16:18), make a prey of you,
make a gain of you. Now since it is so easy a thing, and
withal so dangerous, to be cheated, Beware of false
prophets.
II. Here is a good rule to go by in
this caution; we must prove all things (1 Thessalonians
5:21), try the spirits (1 John 4:1), and here we have a
touchstone; ye shall know them by their fruits, verses
16-20. Observe,
1. The illustration of this
comparison, of the fruit's being the discovery of the tree.
You cannot always distinguish them by their bark and leaves,
nor by the spreading of their boughs, but by their fruits ye
shall know them. The fruit is according to the tree. Men
may, in their professions, put a force upon their nature,
and contradict their inward principles, but the stream and
bent of their practices will agree with them. Christ insists
upon this, the agreeableness between the fruit and the tree,
which is such as that, (1.) If you know what the tree is,
you may know what fruit to expect. Never look to gather
grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles; it is not in
their nature to produce such fruits. An apple may be stuck,
or a bunch of grapes may hang, upon a thorn; so may a good
truth, a good word or action, be found in a bad man, but you
may be sure it never grew there. Note, [1.] Corrupt,
vicious, unsanctified hearts are like thorns and thistles,
which came in with sin, are worthless, vexing, and for the
fire at last. [2.] Good works are good fruit, like grapes
and figs, pleasing to God and profitable to men. [3.] This
good fruit is never to be expected from bad men, and more
than a clean thing out of an unclean: they want an
influencing acceptable principle. Out of an evil treasure
will be brought forth evil things. (2.) On the other hand,
if you know what the fruit is, you may, by that, perceive
what the tree is. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit;
and a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, nay, it
cannot but bring forth evil fruit. But then that must be
reckoned the fruit of the tree which it brings forth
naturally and which is its genuine product--which it brings
forth plentifully and constantly and which is its usual
product. Men are known, not by particular acts, but by the
course and tenor of their conversation, and by the more
frequent acts, especially those that appear to be free, and
most their own, and least under the influence of external
motives and inducements.
2. The application of this to the
false prophets.
(1.) By way of terror and
threatening (verse 19); Every tree that brings not forth
good fruit is hewn down. This very saying John the Baptist
had used, Chapter 3:10. Christ could have spoken the same
sense in other words; could have altered it, or given it a
new turn; but he thought it no disparagement to him to say
the same that John had said before him; let not ministers be
ambitious of coining new expressions, nor people's ears itch
for novelties; to write and speak the same things must not
be grievous, for it is safe. Here is, [1.] The description
of barren trees; they are trees that do not bring forth good
fruit; though there be fruit, if it be not good fruit
(though that be done, which for the matter of it is good, if
it be not done well, in a right manner, and for a right
end), the tree is accounted barren. [2.] The doom of barren
trees; they are, that is, certainly they shall be, hewn
down, and cast into the fire; God will deal with them as men
use to deal with dry trees that cumber the ground: he will
mark them by some signal tokens of his displeasure, he will
bark them by stripping them of their parts and gifts, and
will cut them down by death, and cast them into the fire of
hell, a fire blown with the bellows of God's wrath, and fed
with the wood of barren trees. Compare this with Ezekiel
31:12, 13; Daniel 4:14; John 15:6.
(2.) By way of trial; By their
fruits ye shall know them.
[1.] By the fruits of their persons,
their words and actions, and the course of their
conversation. If you would know whether they be right or
not, observe how they live; their works will testify for
them or against them. The scribes and Pharisees sat in
Moses' chair, and taught the law, but they were proud, and
covetous, and false, and oppressive, and therefore Christ
warned his disciples to beware of them and of their leaven,
Mark 12:38. If men pretend to be prophets and are immoral,
that disproves their pretensions; those are no true friends
to the cross of Christ, whatever they profess, whose God is
their belly, and who mind earthly things, Philippians 3:18,
19. Those are not taught nor sent of the holy God, whose
lives evidence that they are led by the unclean spirit. God
puts the treasure into earthen vessels, but not into such
corrupt vessels: they may declare God's statutes, but what
have they to do to declare them?
[2.] By the fruits of their
doctrine; their fruits as prophets: not that this is the
only way, but it is one way, of trying doctrines, whether
they be of God or not. What do they tend to do? What
affections and practices will they lead those into, that
embrace them? If the doctrine be of God, it will tend to
promote serious piety, humility, charity, holiness, and
love, with other Christian graces; but if, on the contrary,
the doctrines these prophets preach have a manifest tendency
to make people proud, worldly, and contentious, to make them
loose and careless in their conversations, unjust or
uncharitable, factious or disturbers of the public peace; if
it indulge carnal liberty, and take people off from
governing themselves and their families by the strict rules
of the narrow way, we may conclude, that this persuasion
comes not of him that calls us, Galatians 5:8. This wisdom
not is from above, James 3:15. Faith and a good
conscience are held together, 1 Timothy 1:19; 3:9. Note,
Doctrines of doubtful disputation must be tried by graces
and duties of confessed certainty: those opinions come not
from God that lead to sin: but if we cannot know them by
their fruits, we must have recourse to the great touchstone,
to the law, and to the testimony; do they speak according to
that rule?
The Sermon on the Mount.
21 Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:
for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the
sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass,
when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were
astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one
having authority, and not as the scribes.
We have here the conclusion of this
long and excellent sermon, the scope of which is to show the
indispensable necessity of obedience to the commands of
Christ; this is designed to clench the nail, that it might
fix in a sure place: he speaks this to his disciples, that
sat at his feet whenever he preached, and followed him
wherever he went. Had he sought his own praise among men, he
would have said, that was enough; but the religion he came
to establish is in power, not in word only (1 Corinthians
4:20), and therefore something more is necessary.
I. He shows, by a plain
remonstrance, that an outward profession of religion,
however remarkable, will not bring us to heaven, unless
there be a correspondent conversation, verses 21-23. All
judgment is committed to our Lord Jesus; the keys are put
into his hand; he has power to prescribe new terms of life
and death, and to judge men according to them: now this is a
solemn declaration pursuant to that power. Observe here,
1. Christ's law laid down, verse 21.
Not every one that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven, into the kingdom of grace and glory. It
is an answer to that question, Psalm 15:1. Who shall sojourn
in thy tabernacle?--the church militant; and who shall dwell
in thy holy hill?--the church triumphant. Christ here shows,
(1.) That it will not suffice to
say, Lord, Lord; in word and tongue to own Christ for our
Master, and to make addresses to him, and professions of him
accordingly: in prayer to God, in discourse with men, we
must call Christ, Lord, Lord; we say well, for so he is
(John 13:13); but can we imagine that this is enough to
bring us to heaven, that such a piece of formality as this
should be so recompensed, or that he who knows and requires
the heart should be so put off with shows for substance?
Compliments among men are pieces of civility that are
returned with compliments, but they are never paid as real
services; and can they then be of an account with Christ?
There may be a seeming importunity in prayer, Lord, Lord:
but if inward impressions be not answerable to outward
expressions, we are but as sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal. This is not to take us off from saying, Lord, Lord;
from praying, and being earnest in prayer, from professing
Christ's name, and being bold in professing it, but from
resting in these, in the form of godliness, without the
power.
(2.) That it is necessary to our
happiness that we do the will of Christ, which is indeed the
will of his Father in heaven. The will of God, as Christ's
Father, is his will in the gospel, for there he is made
known, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: and in him
our Father. Now this is his will, that we believe in Christ,
that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, that we
love one another. This is his will, even our sanctification.
If we comply not with the will of God, we mock Christ in
calling him Lord, as those did who put on him a gorgeous
robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews. Saying and doing are
two things, often parted in conversation of men: he that
said, I go, sir, stirred never a step (Chapter 21:30); but
these two things God has joined in his command, and let no
man that puts them asunder think to enter into the kingdom
of heaven.
2. The hypocrite's plea against the
strictness of this law, offering other things in lieu of
obedience, verse 22. The plea is supposed to be in that day,
that great day, when every man shall appear in his own
colors; when the secrets of all hearts shall be manifest,
and among the rest, the secret pretences with which sinners
now support their vain hopes. Christ knows the strength of
their cause, and it is but weakness; what they now harbor in
their bosoms, they will then produce in arrest of judgment
to stay the doom, but it will be in vain. They put in their
plea with great importunity, Lord, Lord; and with great
confidence, appealing to Christ concerning it; Lord, does
thou not know, (1.) That we have prophesied in thy name?
Yes, it may be so; Balaam and Caiaphas were overruled to
prophesy, and Saul was against his will among the prophets,
yet that did not save them. These prophesied in his name,
but he did not send them; they only made use of his name to
serve a turn. Note, A man may be a preacher, may have gifts
for the ministry, and an external call to it, and perhaps
some success in it, and yet be a wicked man; may help others
to heaven, and yet come short himself. (2.) That in thy name
we have cast out devils? That may be too; Judas cast out
devils, and yet was a son of perdition. Origen says, that in
his time so prevalent was the name of Christ to cast out
devils, that sometimes it availed when named by wicked
Christians. A man might cast devils out of others, and yet
have a devil, nay, be a devil himself. (3.) That in thy name
we have done many wonderful works. There may be a faith of
miracles, where there is no justifying faith; none of that
faith which works by love and obedience. Gifts of tongues
and healing would recommend men to the world, but it is real
holiness or sanctification that is accepted of God. Grace
and love are a more excellent way than removing mountains,
or speaking with the tongues of men and of angels, 1
Corinthians 13:1, 2. Grace will bring a man to heaven
without working miracles, but working miracles will never
bring a man to heaven without grace. Observe, That which
their heart was upon, in doing these works, and which they
confided in, was the wonderfulness of them. Simon Magus
wondered at the miracles (Acts 8:13), and therefore would
give any money for power to do the like. Observe, They had
not many good works to plead: they could not pretend to have
done many gracious works of piety and charity; one such
would have passed better in their account than many
wonderful works, which availed not at all, while they
persisted in disobedience. Miracles have now ceased, and
with them this plea; but do not carnal hearts still
encourage themselves in their groundless hopes, with the
like vain supports? They think they shall go to heaven,
because they have been of good repute among professors of
religion, have kept fasts, and given alms, and have been
preferred in the church; as if this would atone for their
reigning pride, worldliness, and sensuality; and want of
love to God and man. Bethel is their confidence (Jeremiah
48:13), they are haughty because of the holy mountain
(Zephaniah 3:11); and boast that they are the temple of the
Lord, Jeremiah 7:4. Let us take heed of resting in external
privileges and performances, lest we deceive ourselves, and
perish eternally, as multitudes do, with a lie in our right
hand.
3. The rejection of this plea as
frivolous. The same that is the Law-Maker (verse 21) is here
the Judge according to that law (verse 23), and he will
overrule the plea, will overrule it publicly; he will
profess to them with all possible solemnity, as sentence is
passed by the Judge, I never knew you, and therefore depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.--Observe, (1.) Why, and upon
what ground, he rejects them and their plea--because they
were workers for iniquity. Note, It is possible for men to
have a great name for piety, and yet to be workers of
iniquity; and those that are so will receive the greater
damnation. Secret haunts of sin, kept under the cloak of a
visible profession, will be the ruin of the hypocrites.
Living in known sin nullifies men's pretensions, be they
ever so specious. (2.) How it is expressed; I never knew
you; "I never owned you as my servants, no, not when you
prophesied in my name, when you were in the height of your
profession, and were most extolled." This intimates, that if
he had ever known them, as the Lord knows them that are his,
had ever owned them and loved them as his, he would have
known them, and owned them, and loved them, to the end; but
he never did know them, for he always knew them to be
hypocrites, and rotten at heart, as he did Judas; therefore,
says he, depart from me. Has Christ need of such guests?
When he came in the flesh, he called sinners to him (Chapter
9:13), but when he shall come again in glory, he will drive
sinners from him. They that would not come to him to be
saved, must depart from him to be damned. To depart from
Christ is the very hell of hell; it is the foundation of all
the misery of the damned, to be cut off from all hope of
benefit from Christ and his mediation. Those that go no
further in Christ's service than a bare profession, he does
not accept, nor will he own them in the great day. See from
what a height of hope men may fall into the depth of misery!
How they may go to hell, by the gates of heaven! This should
be an awakening word to all Christians. If a preacher, one
that cast out devils, and wrought miracles, be disowned of
Christ for working iniquity; what will become of us, if we
be found such? And if we be such, we shall certainly be
found such. At God's bar, a profession of religion will not
bear out any man in the practice and indulgence of sin;
therefore let every one that names the name of Christ,
depart from all iniquity.
II. He shows, by a parable, that
hearing these sayings of Christ will not make us happy, if
we do not make conscience of doing them; but that if we hear
them and do them, we are blessed in our deed, verses 24-27.
1. The hearers of Christ's word are
here divided into two sorts; some that hear, and do what
they hear; others that hear and do not. Christ preached now
to a mixed multitude, and he thus separates them, one from
the other, as he will at the great day, when all nations
shall be gathered before him. Christ is still speaking from
heaven by his word and Spirits, speaks by ministers, by
providences, and of those that hear him there are two sorts.
(1.) Some that hear his sayings and
do them: blessed be God that there are any such, though
comparatively few. To hear Christ is not barely to give him
the hearing, but to obey him. Note, It highly concerns us
all to do what we hear of the saying of Christ. It is a
mercy that we hear his sayings: Blessed are those ears,
Chapter 13:16, 17. But, if we practice not what we hear, we
receive that grace in vain. To do Christ's sayings is
conscientiously to abstain from the sins that he forbids,
and to perform the duties that he requires. Our thoughts and
affections, our words and actions, the temper of our minds,
and the tenor of our lives, must be conformable to the
gospel of Christ; that is the doing he requires. All the
sayings of Christ, not only the laws he has enacted, but the
truths he has revealed, must be done by us. They are a
light, not only to our eyes, but to our feet, and are
designed not only to inform our judgments, but to reform our
hearts and lives: nor do we indeed believe them, if we do
not live up to them. Observe, It is not enough to hear
Christ's sayings, and understand them, hear them, and
remember them, hear them, and talk of them, repeat them,
dispute for them; but we must hear, and do them. This do,
and you shall live. Those only that hear, and do, are
blessed (Luke 11:28; John 13:17), and are akin to Christ.
Chapter 12:50.
(2.) There are others who hear
Christ's sayings and do them not; their religion rests in
bare hearing, and goes no further; like children that have
the rickets, their heads swell with empty notions, and
indigested opinions, but their joints are weak, and they
heavy and listless; they neither can stir, nor care to stir,
in any good duty; they hear God's words, as if they desired
to know his ways, like a people that did righteousness, but
they will not do them, Ezekiel 33:30, 31; Isaiah 58:2. Thus
they deceive themselves, as Micah, who thought himself
happy, because he had a Levite to be his priest, though he
had not the Lord to be his God. The seed is sown, but it
never comes up; they see their spots in the glass of the
word, but wash them off, James 1:22, 24. Thus they put a
cheat upon their own souls; for it is certain, if our
hearing be not the means of our obedience, it will be the
aggravation of our disobedience. Those who only hear
Christ's sayings, and do them not, sit down in the midway to
heaven, and that will never bring them to their journey's
end. They are akin to Christ only by the half-blood, and our
law allows not such to inherit.
2. These two sorts of hearers are
here represented in their true characters, and the state of
their case, under the comparison of two builders; one was
wise, and built upon a rock, and his building stood in a
storm; the other foolish, and built upon the sand, and his
building fell.
Now, (1.) The general scope of this
parable teaches us that the only way to make sure work for
our souls and eternity is, to hear and do the sayings of the
Lord Jesus, these sayings of his in this sermon upon the
mount, which is wholly practical; some of them seem hard
sayings to flesh and blood, but they must be done; and thus
we lay up in store a good foundation for the time to come (1
Timothy 6:19); a good bond, so some read it; a bond of
God's making, which secures salvation upon gospel-terms,
that is a good bond; not one of our own devising, which
brings salvation to our own fancies. They make sure the good
part, who, like Mary, when they hear the word of Christ, sit
at his feet in subjection to it: Speak, Lord, for thy
servant hears.
(2.) The particular parts of it
teach us many good lessons.
[1.] That we have every one of us a
house to build, and that house is our hope for heaven. It
ought to be our chief and constant care, to make our calling
and election sure, and so we make our salvation sure; to
secure a title to heaven's happiness, and then to get the
comfortable evidence of it; to make it sure, and sure to
ourselves, that when we fail, we shall be received into
everlasting habitations. Many never mind this: it is the
furthest thing from their thoughts; they are building for
this world, as if they were to be here always, but take no
care to build for another world. All who take upon them a
profession of religion, profess to enquire, what they shall
do to be saved; how they may get to heaven at last, and may
have a well-grounded hope of it in the mean time.
[2.] That there is a rock provided
for us to build this house upon, and that rock is Christ. He
is laid for a foundation, and other foundation can no may
lay, Isaiah 28:16; 1 Corinthians 3:11. He is our Hope, 1
Timothy 1:1. Christ in us is so; we must ground our hopes of
heaven upon the fullness of Christ's merit, for the pardon
of sin, the power of his Spirit, for the sanctification of
our nature, and the prevalence of his intercession, for the
conveyance of all that good which he has purchased for us.
There is that in him, as he is made known, and made over, to
us in the gospel, which is sufficient to redress all our
grievances, and to answer all the necessities of our case,
so that he is a Savior to the uttermost. The church is built
upon this Rock, and so is every believer. He is strong and
immovable as a rock; we may venture our all upon him, and
shall not be made ashamed of our hope.
[3.] That there is a remnant, who by
hearing and doing the sayings of Christ, build their hopes
upon this Rock; and it is their wisdom. Christ is our only
Way to the Father, and the obedience of faith is our only
way to Christ: for to them that obey him, and to them only,
he becomes the Author of eternal salvation. Those build upon
Christ, who having sincerely consented to him, as their
Prince and Savior, make it their constant care to conform to
all the rules of his holy religion, and therein depend
entirely upon him for assistance from God, and acceptance
with him, and count every thing but loss and dung that they
may win Christ, and be found in him. Building upon a rock
requires care and pains: they that would make their calling
and election sure, must give diligence. They are wise
builders who begin to build so as they may be able to finish
(Luke 14:30), and therefore lay a firm foundation.
[4.] That there are many who profess
that they hope to go to heaven, but despise this Rock, and
build their hopes upon the sand; which is done without much
pains, but it is their folly. Every thing besides Christ is
sand. Some build their hopes upon their worldly prosperity,
as if they were a sure token of God's favor, Hosea 12:8.
Others upon their external profession of religion, the
privileges they enjoy, and the performances they go through
in that profession, and the reputation they have got by it.
They are called Christians, were baptized, go to church,
hear Christ's word, say their prayers, and do nobody any
harm, and, if they perish, God help a great many! This is
the light of their own fire, which they walk in; this is
that, upon which, with a great deal of assurance, they
venture; but it is all sand, took weak to bear such a fabric
as our hopes of heaven.
[5.] That there is a storm coming,
that will try what our hopes are bottomed on; will try every
man's work (1 Corinthians 3:13); will discover the
foundation, Habakkuk 3:13. Rain, and floods, and wind, will
beat upon the house; the trial is sometimes in this world;
when tribulation and persecution arise because of the word,
then it will be seen, who only heard the word, and who heard
and practiced it; then when we have occasion to use our
hopes, it will be tried whether they were right, and
well-grounded, or not. However, when death and judgment
come, then the storm comes, and it will undoubtedly come,
how calm however things may be with us now. Then every thing
else will fail us but these hopes, and then, if ever, they
will be turned into everlasting fruition.
[6.] That those hopes which are
built upon Christ the Rock will stand, and will stand the
builder in stead when the storm comes; they will be his
preservation, both from desertion, and from prevailing
disquiet. His profession will not wither; his comforts will
not fail; they will be his strength and song, as an anchor
of the soul, sure and steadfast. When he comes to the last
encounter, those hopes will take off the terror of death and
the grave; will carry him cheerfully through that dark
valley; will be approved by the Judge; will stand the test
of the great day; and will be crowned with endless glory, 2
Corinthians 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8. Blessed is that servant,
whom his Lord, when he comes, finds so doing, so hoping.
[7.] That those hopes which foolish
builders ground upon any thing but Christ, will certainly
fail them on a stormy day; will yield them no true comfort
and satisfaction in trouble, in the hour of death, and in
the day of judgment; will be no fence against temptations to
apostasy, in a time of persecution. When God takes away the
soul, where is the hope of the hypocrite? Job 27:8. It is as
the spider's web, and as the giving up of the ghost. He
shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand, Job 8:14,
15. It fell in the storm, when the builder had most need of
it, and expected it would be a shelter to him. It fell when
it was too late to build another: when a wicked man dies,
his expectation perishes; then, when he thought it would
have been turned into fruition, it fell, and great was the
fall of it. It was a great disappointment to the builder;
the shame and loss were great. The higher men's hopes have
been raised, the lower they fall. It is the sorest ruin of
all that attends formal professors; witness Capernaum's
doom.
III. In the two last verses, we are
told what impressions Christ's discourse made upon the
auditory. It was an excellent sermon; and it is probable
that he said more than is here recorded; and doubtless the
delivery of it from the mouth of him, into whose lips grace
was poured, did mightily set if off. Now, 1. They were
astonished at this doctrine; it is to be feared that few of
them were brought by it to follow him: but for the present,
they were filled with wonder. Note, It is possible for
people to admire good preaching, and yet to remain in
ignorance and unbelief; to be astonished, and yet not
sanctified. 2. The reason was because he taught them as one
having authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes
pretended to as much authority as any teachers whatsoever,
and were supported by all the external advantages that could
be obtained, but their preaching was mean, and flat, and
jejune: they spoke as those what were not themselves masters
of what they preached: the word did not come from them with
any life or force; they delivered it as a school-boy says
his lesson; but Christ delivered his discourse, as a judge
gives his charge. He did indeed, dominari in conscionibus--deliver
his discourses with a tone of authority; his lessons were
law; his word a word of command. Christ, upon the mountain,
showed more true authority, than the scribes in Moses’ seat.
Thus when Christ teaches by his Spirit in the soul, he
teaches with authority. He says, Let there be light, and
there is light.
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