Christ's
preaching was mostly practical; but, in this chapter, we have a prophetical
discourse, a prediction of things to come; such however as had a practical
tendency, and was intended, not to gratify the curiosity of his disciples,
but to guide their consciences and conversations, and it is therefore
concluded with a practical application. The church has always had particular
prophecies, besides general promises, both for direction and for
encouragement to believers; but it is observable, Christ preached this
prophetical sermon in the close of his ministry, as the Apocalypse is the
last book of the New Testament, and the prophetical books of the Old
Testament are placed last, to intimate to us, that we must be well grounded
in plain truths and duties, and those must first be well digested, before we
dive into those things that are dark and difficult; many run themselves into
confusion by beginning their Bible at the wrong end. Now, in this chapter,
we have, I. The occasion of this discourse, ver. 1-3. II. The discourse
itself, in which we have, 1. The prophecy of divers events, especially
referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter ruin of the Jewish
church and nation, which were not hastening on, and were completed about
forty years after; the prefaces to that destruction, the concomitants and
consequences of it; yet looking further, to Christ's coming at the end of
time, and the consummation of all things, of which that was a type and
figure, ver. 4-31. 2. The practical application of this prophecy for the
awakening and quickening of his disciples to prepare for these great and
awful things, ver. 32-51.
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the
temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings
of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the
mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world?
Here is,
I. Christ's quitting the temple, and his public work there. He had
said, in the close of the foregoing chapter, Your house is left unto you
desolate; and here he made his words good; He went out, and departed
from the temple. The manner of expression is observable; he not only
went out of the temple, but departed from it, took his final farewell of it;
he departed from it, never to return to it any more; and then immediately
follows a prediction of its ruin. Note, That house is left desolate indeed,
which Christ leaves. Woe unto them when I depart, Hos. ix. 12; Jer.
vi. 8. It was now time to groan out their Ichabod, The glory is departed,
their defence is departed. Three days after this, the veil of the temple
was rent; when Christ left it, all became common and unclean; but
Christ departed not till they drove him away; did not reject them, till they
first rejected him.
II. His private discourse with his disciples; he left the temple, but he did
not leave the twelve, who were the seed of the gospel church, which the
casting off of the Jews was the enriching of. When he left the temple, his
disciples left it too, and came to him. Note, It is good being where Christ
is, and leaving that which he leaves. They came to him, to be instructed in
private, when his public preaching was over; for the secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him. He had spoken of the destruction of the
Jewish church to the multitude in parables, which here, as usual, he
explains to his disciples. Observe,
1. His disciples came to him, to show him the buildings of the temple,
It was a stately and beautiful structure, one of the wonders of the world;
no cost was spared, no art left untried, to make it sumptuous. Though it
came short of Solomon's temple, and its beginning was small, yet its
latter end did greatly increase. It was richly furnished with gifts and
offerings, to which there were continual additions made. They showed Christ
these things, and desired him to take notice of them, either,
(1.) As being greatly pleased with them themselves, and expecting he should
be so too. They had lived mostly in Galilee, at a distance from the temple,
had seldom seen it, and therefore were the more struck with admiration at
it, and thought he should admire as much as they did all this glory
(Gen. xxxi. 1); and they would have him divert himself (after his preaching,
and from his sorrow which they saw him perhaps almost overwhelmed with) with
looking about him. Note, Even good men are apt to be too much enamoured with
outward pomp and gaiety, and to overvalue it, even in the things of God;
whereas we should be, as Christ was, dead to it, and look upon it with
contempt. The temple was indeed glorious, but, [1.] Its glory was sullied
and stained with the sin of the priests and people; that wicked doctrine of
the Pharisees, which preferred the gold before the temple that sanctified
it, was enough to deface the beauty of all the ornaments of the temple. [2.]
Its glory was eclipsed and outdone by the presence of Christ in it, who was the
glory of this latter house (Hag. ii. 9), so that the buildings had no
glory, in comparison with that glory which excelled.
Or, (2.) As grieving that this house should be left desolate; they showed
him the buildings, as if they would move him to reverse the sentence;
"Lord, let not this holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised
thee, be made a desolation." They forgot how many providences,
concerning Solomon's temple, had manifested how little God cared for that
outward glory which they had so much admired, when the people were wicked, 2
Chron. vii. 21. This house, which is high, sin will bring low. Christ
had lately looked upon the precious souls, and wept for them, Luke
xix. 41. The disciples look upon the pompous buildings, and are ready to
weep for them. In this, as in other things, his thoughts are not like
ours. It was weakness, and meanness of spirit, in the disciples, to be
so fond of fine buildings; it was a childish thing. Animo magno nihil
magnum--To a great mind nothing is great. Seneca.
2. Christ, hereupon, foretels the utter ruin and destruction that were
coming upon this place, v. 2. Note, A believing foresight of the
defacing of all worldly glory will help to take us off from admiring it, and
overvaluing it. The most beautiful body will be shortly worms' meat, and the
most beautiful building a ruinous heap. And shall we then set our eyes upon
that which so soon is not, and look upon that with so much admiration which
ere long we shall certainly look upon with so much contempt? See ye not
all these things? They would have Christ look upon them, and be as much
in love with them as they were; he would have them look upon them, and be as
dead to them as he was. There is such a sight of these things as will do us
good; so to see them as to see through them and see to the end of them.
Christ, instead of reversing the decree, ratifies it; Verily, I say unto
you, there shall not be left one stone upon another.
(1.) He speaks of it as a certain ruin; "I say unto you. I, that
know what I say, and know how to make good what I say; take my word for it,
it shall be so; I, the Amen, the true Witness, say it to you."
All judgment being committed to the Son, the threatenings, as well as the
promises, are all yea, and amen, in him. Heb. vi. 17, 18.
(2.) He speaks of it as an utter ruin. The temple shall not only be
stripped, and plundered, and defaced, but utterly demolished and laid waste;
Not one stone shall be left upon another. Notice is taken, in the building
of the second temple, of the laying of one stone upon another (Hag.
ii. 15); and here, in the ruin, of not leaving one stone upon
another. History tells us, that this was fulfilled in the latter; for
though Titus, when he took the city, did all he could to preserve the
temple, yet he could not restrain the enraged soldiers from destroying it
utterly; and it was done to that degree, that Turnus Rufus ploughed up the
ground on which it had stood: thus that scripture was fulfilled (Mic. iii.
12), Zion shall, for your sake, be ploughed as a field. And
afterward, in Julian the Apostate's time, when the Jews were encouraged by
him to rebuild their temple, in opposition to the Christian religion, what
remained of the ruins was quite pulled down, to level the ground for a new
foundation; but the attempt was defeated by the miraculous eruption of fire
out of the ground, which destroyed the foundation they laid, and frightened
away the builders. Now this prediction of the final and irreparable ruin of
the temple includes a prediction of the period of the Levitical priesthood
and the ceremonial law.
3. The disciples, not disputing either the truth or the equity of this
sentence, nor doubting of the accomplishment of it, enquire more
particularly of the time when it should come to pass, and the signs of its
approach, v. 3. Observe,
(1.) Where they made this enquiry; privately, as he sat upon the mount of
Olives; probably, he was returning to Bethany, and there sat down by the
way, to rest him; the mount of Olives directly faced the temple, and from
thence he might have a full prospect of it at some distance; there he sat as
a Judge upon the bench, the temple and city being before him as at the bar,
and thus he passed sentence on them. We read (Ezek. xi. 23) of the removing
of the glory of the Lord from the temple to the mountain; so Christ, the
great Shechinah, here removes to this mountain.
(2.) What the enquiry itself was; When shall these things be; and what
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Here are
three questions.
[1.] Some think, these questions do all point at one and the same thing--the
destruction of the temple, and the period of the Jewish church and nation,
which Christ had himself spoken of as his coming (ch. xvi. 28), and
which would be the consummation of the age (for so it may be read), the
finishing of that dispensation. Or, they thought the destruction of the
temple must needs be the end of the world. If that house be laid waste, the
world cannot stand; for the Rabbin used to say that the house of the
sanctuary was one of the seven things for the sake of which the world was
made; and they think, if so, the world will not survive the temple.
[2.] Others think their question, When shall these things be? refers
to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the other two to the end of the world;
or Christ's coming may refer to his setting up his gospel kingdom, and the
end of the world to the day of judgment. I rather incline to think that
their question looked no further than the event Christ now foretold; but it
appears by other passages, that they had very confused thoughts of future
events; so that perhaps it is not possible to put any certain construction
upon this question of theirs.
But Christ, in his answer, though he does not expressly rectify the mistakes
of his disciples (that must be done by the pouring out of the Spirit), yet
looks further than their question, and instructs his church, not only
concerning the great events of that age, the destruction of Jerusalem, but
concerning his second coming at the end of time, which here he insensibly
slides into a discourse of, and of that it is plain he speaks in the next
chapter, which is a continuation of this sermon.
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take
heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear
of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be
hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many
be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When
ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the
mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to
take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in
the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them
that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath
day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be
saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall
say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is
in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The disciples had asked concerning the times, When shall these things be?
Christ gives them no answer to that, after what number of days and years his
prediction should be accomplished, for it is not for us to know the times
(Acts i. 7); but they had asked, What shall be the sign? That
question he answers fully, for we are concerned to understand the signs
of the times, ch. xvi. 3. Now the prophecy primarily respects the
events near at hand--the destruction of Jerusalem, the period of the Jewish
church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of
Christ's kingdom in the world; but as the prophecies of the Old Testament,
which have an immediate reference to the affairs of the Jews and the
revolutions of their state, under the figure of them do certainly look
further, to the gospel church and the kingdom of the Messiah, and are so
expounded in the New Testament, and such expressions are found in those
predictions as are peculiar thereto and not applicable otherwise; so this
prophecy, under the type of Jerusalem's destruction, looks as far forward as
the general judgment; and, as is usual in prophecies, some passages are most
applicable to the type, and others to the antitype; and toward the close, as
usual, it points more particularly to the latter. It is observable, that
what Christ here saith to his disciples tends more to engage their caution
than to satisfy their curiosity; more to prepare them for the events that
should happen than to give them a distinct idea of the events themselves.
This is that good understanding of the time which we should all covet,
thence to infer what Israel ought to do: and so this prophecy is of standing
lasting use to the church, and will be so to the end of time; for the
thing that hath been, is that which shall be (Eccl. i. 5, 6, 7, 9), and
the series, connection, and presages, of events, are much the same still
that they were then; so that upon the prophecy of this chapter, pointing at
that event, moral prognostications may be made, and such constructions of
the signs of the times as the wise man's heart will know how to improve.
I. Christ here foretels the going forth of deceivers; he begins with a
caution, Take heed that no man deceive you. They expected to be told
when these things should be, to be let into that secret; but this caution is
a check to their curiosity, "What is that to you? Mind you your
duty, follow me, and be not seduced from following me." Those that are
most inquisitive concerning the secret things which belong not to them are
most easily imposed upon by seducers, 2 Thess. ii. 3. The disciples, when
they heard that the Jews, their most inveterate enemies, should be
destroyed, might be in danger of falling into security; "Nay,"
saith Christ, "you are more exposed other ways." Seducers are more
dangerous enemies to the church than persecutors.
Three times in this discourse he mentions the appearing of false
prophets, which was, 1. A presage of Jerusalem's ruin. Justly were they
who killed the true prophets, left to be ensnared by false prophets; and
they who crucified the true Messiah, left to be deceived and broken by false
Christs and pretended Messiahs. The appearing of these was the occasion of
dividing that people into parties and factions, which made their ruin the
more easy and speedy; and the sin of the many that were led aside by them,
helped to fill the measure. 2. It was a trial to the disciples of Christ,
and therefore agreeable to their state of probation, that they which are
perfect, may be made manifest.
Now concerning these deceivers, observe here,
(1.) The pretences they should come under. Satan acts most mischievously,
when he appears as an angel of light: the colour of the greatest good is
often the cover of the greatest evil.
[1.] There should appear false prophets (v. 11-24); the
deceivers would pretend to divine inspiration, an immediate mission, and a
spirit of prophecy, when it was all a lie. Such they had been formerly (Jer.
xxiii. 16; Ezek. xiii. 6), as was foretold, Deut. xiii. 3. Some think, the
seducers here pointed to were such as had been settled teachers in the
church, and had gained reputation as such, but afterward betrayed the truth
they had taught, and revolted to error; and from such the danger is the
greater, because least suspected. One false traitor in the garrison may do
more mischief than a thousand avowed enemies without.
[2.] There should appear false Christs, coming in Christ's name (v.
5), assuming to themselves the name peculiar to him, and saying, I am
Christ, pseudo-christs, v. 24. There was at that time a general
expectation of the appearing of the Messiah; they spoke of him; as he
that should come; but when he did come, the body of the nation rejected
him; which those who were ambitious of making themselves a name, took
advantage of, and set up for Christ. Josephus speaks of several such
impostors between this and the destruction of Jerusalem; one Theudas, that
was defeated by Cospius Fadus; another by Felix, another by Festus.
Dosetheus said he was the Christ foretold by Moses. Origen adversus
Celsum. See Acts v. 36, 37. Simon Magus pretended to be the great
power of God, Acts viii. 10. In after-ages there have been such
pretenders; one about a hundred years after Christ, that called himself Bar-cochobas--The
son of a star, but proved Bar-cosba--The son of a lie. About
fifty years ago Sabbati-Levi set up for a Messiah in the Turkish empire, and
was greatly caressed by the Jews; but in a short time his folly was made
manifest. See Sir Paul Rycaut's History. The popish religion
doth, in effect, set up a false Christ; the Pope comes, in Christ's name, as
his vicar, but invades and usurps all his offices, and so is a rival with
him, and, as such, an enemy to him, a deceiver, and an antichrist.
[3.] These false Christs and false prophets would have their agents and
emissaries busy in all places to draw people in to them, v. 23. Then
when public troubles are great and threatening, and people will be catching
at any thing that looks like deliverance, then Satan will take the advantage
of imposing on them; they will say, Lo, here is a Christ, or there is
one; but do not mind them: the true Christ did not strive, nor cry; nor was
it said of him, Lo, here! or Lo, there! (Luke xvii. 21), therefore if
any man say so concerning him, look upon it as a temptation. The hermits,
who place religion in a monastical life, say, He is in the desert;
the priests, who made the consecrated wafer to be Christ, say, "He is en
toiV tameioiV--in the cupboards, in the secret
chambers: lo, he is in this shrine, in that image." Thus some
appropriate Christ's spiritual presence to one party or persuasion, as if
they had the monopoly of Christ and Christianity; and the kingdom of Christ
must stand and fall, must live and die, with them; "Lo, he is in this
church, in that council:" whereas Christ is All in all, not here or
there, but meets his people with a blessing in every place where he
records his name.
(2.) The proof they should offer for the making good of these pretences; They
shall show great signs and wonders (v. 24), not true miracles,
those are a divine seal, and with those the doctrine of Christ stands
confirmed; and therefore if any offer to draw us from that by signs and
wonders, we must have recourse to that rule given of old (Deut. xiii. 1-3), If
the sign or wonder come to pass, yet follow not him that would draw you to
serve other gods, or believe in other Christs, for the Lord your God
proveth you. But these were lying wonders (2 Thess. ii. 9),
wrought by Satan (God permitting him), who is the prince of the power of
the air. It is not said, They shall work miracles, but, They
shall show great signs; they are but a show; either they impose upon
men's credulity by false narratives, or deceive their senses by tricks of
legerdemain, or arts of divination, as the magicians of Egypt by their
enchantments.
(3.) The success they should have in these attempts,
[1.] They shall deceive many (v. 5), and again, v. 11.
Note, The devil and his instruments may prevail far in deceiving poor souls;
few find the strait gate, but many are drawn into the broad way; many will
be imposed upon by their signs and wonders, and many drawn in by the hopes
of deliverance from their oppressions. Note, Neither miracles nor multitudes
are certain signs of a true church; for all the world wonders after the
beast, Rev. xiii. 3.
[2.] They shall deceive, if it were possible, the very elect, v.
24. This bespeaks, First, The strength of the delusion; it is such as
many shall be carried away by (so strong shall the stream be), even those
that were thought to stand fast. Men's knowledge, gifts, learning, eminent
station, and long profession, will not secure them; but, notwithstanding
these, many will be deceived; nothing but the almighty grace of God,
pursuant to his eternal purpose, will be a protection. Secondly, The
safety of the elect in the midst of this danger, which is taken for granted
in that parenthesis, If it were possible, plainly implying that it is
not possible, for they are kept by the power of God, that the
purpose of God, according to the election, may stand. It is possible for
those that have been enlightened to fall away (Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6), but not
for those that were elected. If God's chosen ones should be deceived, God's
choice would be defeated, which is not to be imagined, for whom he did
predestinate, he called, justified, and glorified, Rom. viii. 30. They
were given to Christ; and of all that were given to him, he will lose none,
John x. 28. Grotius will have this to be meant of the great difficulty of
drawing the primitive Christians from their religion, and quotes it as used
proverbially by Galen; when he would express a thing very difficult and
morally impossible, he saith, "You may sooner draw away a Christian
from Christ."
(4.) The repeated cautions which our Saviour gives to his disciples to stand
upon their guard against them; therefore he gave them warning, that
they might watch ( v. 25); Behold, I have told you before. He
that is told before where he will be assaulted, may save himself, as the
king of Israel did, 2 Kings vi. 9, 10. Note, Christ's warnings are designed
to engage our watchfulness; and though the elect shall be preserved from
delusion, yet they shall be preserved by the use of appointed means, and a
due regard to the cautions of the word; we are kept through faith, faith in
Christ's word, which he has told us before.
[1.] We must not believe those who say, Lo, here is Christ; or, Lo,
he is there, v. 23. We believe that the true Christ is at the
right hand of God, and that his spiritual presence is where two or three
are gathered together in his name; believe not those therefore who would
draw you off from a Christ in heaven, by telling you he is any where on
earth; or draw you off from the catholic church on earth, by telling you he
is here, or he is there; believe it not. Note, There is not a greater enemy
to true faith than vain credulity. The simple believeth every word, and runs
after every cry. Memnhso apisein--Beware
of believing.
[2.] We must not go forth after those that say, He is in the desert,
or, He is in the secret chambers, v. 26. We must not hearken
to every empiric and pretender, nor follow every one that puts up the finger
to point us to a new Christ, and a new gospel; "Go not forth, for if
you do, you are in danger of being taken by them; therefore keep out of
harm's way, be not carried about with every wind; many a man's vain
curiosity to go forth hath led him into a fatal apostasy; your strength at
such a time is to sit still, to have the heart established with grace."
II. He foretels wars and great commotions among the nations, v. 6, 7.
When Christ was born, there was a universal peace in the empire, the temple
of Janus was shut; but think not that Christ came to send, or
continue such a peace (Luke xii. 51); no, his city and his wall are
to be built even in troublesome times, and even wars shall forward his work.
From the time that the Jews rejected Christ, and he left their house
desolate, the sword did never depart from their house, the sword of the Lord
was never quiet, because he had given it a charge against a hypocritical
nation and the people of his wrath, and by it brought ruin upon them.
Here is, 1. A prediction of the event of the day; You will now shortly hear
of wars, and rumours of wars. When wars are, they will be heard; for every
battle of the warrior is with confused noise, Isa. ix. 5. See how
terrible it is (Jer. iv. 19), Thou hast heard, O my soul, the alarm of
war! Even the quiet in the land, and the least inquisitive after new
things, cannot but hear the rumours of war. See what comes of refusing the
gospel! Those that will not hear the messengers of peace, shall be made to
hear the messengers of war. God has a sword ready to avenge the quarrel of
his covenant, his new covenant. Nation shall rise up against nation,
that is, one part or province of the Jewish nation against another, one city
against another (2 Chron. xv. 5, 6); and in the same province and city one
party or faction shall rise up against another, so that they shall be
devoured by, and dashed in pieces against one another, Isa. ix. 19-21.
2. A prescription of the duty of the day; See that ye be not troubled.
Is it possible to hear such sad news, and not be troubled? Yet, where the
heart is fixed, trusting in God, it is kept in peace, and is not afraid, no
not of the evil tidings of wars, and rumours of wars; no not the noise of Arm,
arm. Be not troubled; Mh qroeiqe--Be
not put into confusion or commotion; not put into throes, as a woman
with child by a fright; see that ye be not orate.
Note, There is need of constant care and watchfulness to keep trouble from
the heart when there are wars abroad; and it is against the mind of Christ,
that his people should have troubled hearts even in troublous times.
We must not be troubled, for two reasons.
(1.) Because we are bid to expect this: the Jews must be punished, ruin must
be brought upon them; by this the justice of God and the honour of the
Redeemer must be asserted; and therefore all those things must come to
pass; the word is gone out of God's mouth, and it shall be accomplished
in its season. Note, The consideration of the unchangeableness of the divine
counsels, which govern all events, should compose and quiet our spirits,
whatever happens. God is but performing the thing that is appointed for us,
and our inordinate trouble is an interpretative quarrel with that
appointment. Let us therefore acquiesce, because these things must come
to pass; not only necessitate decreti--as the product of the divine
counsel, but necessitate medii--as a means in order to a further end.
The old house must be taken down (though it cannot be done without noise,
and dust, and danger), ere the new fabric can be erected: the things that
are shaken (and ill shaken they were) must be removed, that the things
which cannot be shaken may remain, Heb. xii. 27.
(2.) Because we are still to expect worse; The end is not yet; the
end of time is not, and, while time lasts, we must expect trouble, and that
the end of one affliction will be but the beginning of another; or,
"The end of these troubles is not yet; there must be more judgments
that one made use of to bring down the Jewish power; more vials of wrath
must yet be poured out; there is but one woe past, more woes are yet to
come, more arrows are yet to be spent upon them out of God's quiver;
therefore be not troubled, do not give way to fear and trouble, sink not
under the present burthen, but rather gather in all the strength and spirit
you have, to encounter what is yet before you. Be not troubled to hear of
wars and rumours of wars; for then what will become of you when the famines
and pestilences come?" If it be to us a vexation but to understand
the report (Isa. xxviii. 19), what will it be to feel the stroke when it
toucheth the bone and the flesh? If running with the footmen weary
us, how shall we contend with horses? And if we be frightened at a little
brook in our way, what shall we do in the swellings of Jordan? Jer.
xii. 5.
III. He foretels other judgments more immediately sent of God--famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes. Famine is often the effect of war, and
pestilence of famine. These were the three judgments which David was to
choose one out of; and he was in a great strait, for he knew not which was
the worst: but what dreadful desolations will they make, when they all pour
in together upon a people! Beside war (and that is enough), there shall be,
1. Famine, signified by the black horse under the third
seal, Rev. vi. 5, 6. We read of a famine in Judea, not long after
Christ's time, which was very impoverishing (Acts xi. 28); but the sorest
famine was in Jerusalem during the siege. See Lam. iv. 9, 10.
2. Pestilences, signified by the pale horse, and death upon him,
and the grave at his heels, under the fourth seal, Rev. vi. 7,
8. This destroys without distinction, and in a little time lays heaps upon
heaps.
3. Earthquakes in divers places, or from place to place, pursuing
those that flee from them, as they did from the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah, Zech. xiv. 5. Great desolations have sometimes been made by
earthquakes, of late and formerly; they have been the death of many, and the
terror of more. In the apocalyptic visions, it is observable, that
earthquakes bode good, and no evil, to the church, Rev. vi. 12. Compare Rev.
vi. 15; xi. 12, 13, 19; xvi. 17-19. When God shakes terribly the earth
(Isa. ii. 21), it is to shake the wicked out of it (Job xxxviii. 13),
and to introduce the desire of all nations, Hag. ii. 6, 7. But here
they are spoken of as dreadful judgments, and yet but the beginning of
sorrows, wdinwn--of
travailing pains, quick, violent, yet tedious too. Note, When God
judgeth, he will overcome; when he begins in wrath, he will make
a full end, 1 Sam. iii. 12. When we look forward to the eternity of
misery that is before the obstinate refusers of Christ and his gospel, we
may truly say, concerning the greatest temporal judgments, "They are
but the beginning of sorrows; bad as things are with them, there are worse
behind."
IV. He foretels the persecution of his own people and ministers, and a
general apostasy and decay in religion thereupon, v. 9, 10, 12.
Observe,
1. The cross itself foretold, v. 9. Note, Of all future events
we are as much concerned, though commonly as little desirous, to know of our
own sufferings as of any thing else. Then, when famines and
pestilences prevail, then they shall impute them to the Christians, and make
that a pretence for persecuting them; Christianos ad leones--Away with
Christians to the lions. Christ had told his disciples, when he first
sent them out, what hard things they should suffer; but they had hitherto
experienced little of it, and therefore he reminds them again, that the less
they had suffered, the more there was behind to be filled up, Col. i. 24.
(1.) They shall be afflicted with bonds and imprisonments, cruel
mockings and scourgings, as blessed Paul (2 Cor. xi. 23-25); not killed
outright, but killed all the day long, in deaths often, killed so as
to feel themselves die, made a spectacle to the world, 1 Cor. iv. 9,
11.
(2.) They shall be killed; so cruel are the church's enemies, that
nothing less will satisfy them than the blood of the saints, which they
thirst after, suck, and shed, like water.
(3.) They shall be hated of all nations for Christ's name's sake, as
he had told them before, ch. x. 22. The world was generally leavened
with enmity and malignity to Christians: the Jews, though spiteful to the
Heathen, were never persecuted by them as the Christians were; they were
hated by the Jews that were dispersed among the nations, were the common
butt of the world's malice. What shall we think of this world, when the best
men had the worst usage in it? It is the cause that makes the martyr, and
comforts him; it was for Christ's sake that they were thus hated; their
professing and preaching his name incensed the nations so much against them;
the devil, finding a fatal shock thereby given to his kingdom, and that his
time was likely to be short, came down, having great wrath.
2. The offence of the cross, v. 10-12. Satan thus carries on
his interest by force of arms, though Christ, at length, will bring glory to
himself out of the sufferings of his people and ministers. Three ill effects
of persecution are here foretold.
(1.) The apostasy of some. When the profession of Christianity begins
to cost men dear, then shall many be offended, shall first fall out
with, and then fall off from, their profession; they will begin to pick
quarrels with their religion, sit loose to it, grow weary of it, and at
length revolt from it. Note, [1.] It is no new thing (though it is a strange
thing) for those that have known the way of righteousness, to turn aside out
of it. Paul often complains of deserters, who began well, but something
hindered them. They were with us, but went out from us, because never truly
of us, 1 John ii. 19. We are told of it before. [2.] Suffering times are
shaking times; and those fall in the storm, that stood in fair weather, like
the stony ground hearers, ch. xiii. 21. Many will follow
Christ in the sunshine, who will shift for themselves, and leave him to do
so to, in the cloudy dark day. They like their religion while they can have
it cheap, and sleep with it in a whole skin; but, if their profession cost
them any thing, they quit it presently.
(2.) The malignity of others. When persecution is in fashion, envy,
enmity, and malice, are strangely diffused into the minds of men by
contagion: and charity, tenderness, and moderation, are looked upon as
singularities, which make a man like a speckled bird. Then they shall
betray one another, that is, "Those that have treacherously
deserted their religion, shall hate and betray those who adhere to it, for
whom they have pretended friendship." Apostates have commonly been the
most bitter and violent persecutors. Note, Persecuting times are discovering
times. Wolves in sheep's clothing will then throw off their disguise, and
appear wolves: they shall betray one another, and hate one another.
The times must needs be perilous, when treachery and hatred, two of the
worst things that can be, because directly contrary to two of the best
(truth and love), shall have the ascendant. This seems to refer to the
barbarous treatment which the several contending factions among the Jews
gave to one another; and justly were they who ate up God's people as they
ate bread, left thus to bite and devour one another till they were consumed
one of another; or, it may refer to the mischiefs done to Christ's
disciples by those that were nearest to them, as ch. x. 21. The
brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
(3.) The general declining and cooling of most, v. 12.
In seducing times, when false prophets arise, in persecuting times, when the
saints are hated, expect these two things,
[1.] The abounding of iniquity; though the world always lies in
wickedness, yet there are some times in which it may be said, that iniquity
doth in a special manner abound; as when it is more extensive than
ordinary, as in the old world, when all flesh had corrupted their way;
and when it is more excessive than ordinary, when violence is
risen up to a rod of wickedness (Ezek. vii. 11), so that hell seems to
be broke loose in blasphemies against God, and enmities to the saints.
[2.] The abating of love; this is the consequence of the former; Because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Understand it in
general of true serious godliness, which is all summed up in love; it
is too common for professors of religion to grow cool in their profession,
when the wicked are hot in their wickedness; as the church of Ephesus in bad
times left her first love, Rev. ii. 2-4. Or, it may be understood
more particularly of brotherly love. When iniquity abounds, seducing
iniquity, persecuting iniquity, this grace commonly waxes cold. Christians
begin to be shy and suspicious one of another, affections are alienated,
distances created, parties made, and so love comes to nothing. The devil is
the accuser of the brethren, not only to their enemies, which makes
persecuting iniquity abound, but one to another, which makes the love of
many to wax cold.
This gives a melancholy prospect of the times, that there shall be such a
great decay of love; but, First, It is of the love of many,
not of all. In the worst of times, God has his remnant that hold fast
their integrity, and retain their zeal, as in Elijah's days, when he thought
himself left alone. Secondly, This love is grown cold, but not dead;
it abates, but is not quite cast off. There is life in the root, which will
show itself when the winter is past. The new nature may wax cold, but
shall not wax old, for then it would decay and vanish away.
3. Comfort administered in reference to this offence of the cross, for the
support of the Lord's people under it (v. 13); He that endures to
the end, shall be saved. (1.) It is comfortable to those who wish well
to the cause of Christ in general, that, though many are offended, yet some
shall endure to the end. When we see so many drawing back, we are ready to
fear that the cause of Christ will sink for want of supporters, and his name
be left and forgotten for want of some to make profession of it; but even at
this time there is a remnant according to the election of grace, Rom.
xi. 5. It is spoken of the same time that this prophecy has reference to; a
remnant who are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but
believe and persevere to the saving of the soul; they endure to the
end, to the end of their lives, to the end of their present state of
probation, or to the end of these suffering trying times, to the last
encounter, though they should be called to resist unto blood. (2.) It is
comfortable to those who do thus endure to the end, and suffer for their
constancy, that they shall be saved. Perseverance wins the crown, through
free grace, and shall wear it. They shall be saved: perhaps they may
be delivered out of their troubles, and comfortably survive them in this
world; but it is eternal salvation that is here intended. They that endure
to the end of their days, shall then receive the end of their faith and
hope, even the salvation of their souls, 1 Pet. i. 9; Rom. ii. 7;
Rev. iii. 20. The crown of glory will make amends for all; and a believing
regard to that will enable us to choose rather to die at a stake with the
persecuted, than to live in a palace with the persecutors.
V. He foretels the preaching of the gospel in all the world (v. 14); This
gospel shall be preached, and then shall the end come. Observe here, 1.
It is called the gospel of the kingdom, because it reveals the
kingdom of grace, which leads to the kingdom of glory; sets up Christ's
kingdom in this world; and secures ours in the other world. 2. This gospel,
sooner or later, is to be preached in all the world, to every creature, and
all nations are to be discipled by it; for in it Christ is to be Salvation
to the ends of the earth; for this end the gift of tongues was the
first-fruits of the Spirit. 3. The gospel is preached for a witness
to all nations, that is, a faithful declaration of the mind and will of
God concerning the duty which God requires from man, and the recompence
which man may expect from God. It is a record (1 John v. 11), it is a
witness, for those who believe, that they shall be saved, and against
those who persist in unbelief, that they shall be damned. See Mark xvi. 16.
But how does this come in here?
(1.) It is intimated that the gospel should be, if not heard, yet at least
heard of, throughout the then known world, before the destruction of
Jerusalem; that the Old-Testament church should not be quite dissolved till
the New Testament was pretty well settled, had got considerable footing, and
began to make some figure. Better is the face of a corrupt degenerate church
than none at all. Within forty years after Christ's death, the sound
of the gospel was gone forth to the ends of the earth, Rom. x. 18.
St. Paul fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem, and round about unto
Illyricum; and the other apostles were not idle. The persecuting of the
saints at Jerusalem helped to disperse them, so that they went every
where, preaching the word, Acts viii. 1-4. And when the tidings of the
Redeemer are sent over all parts of the world, then shall come the end of
the Jewish state. Thus, that which they thought to prevent, by putting
Christ to death, they thereby procured; all men believed on him, and the
Romans came, and took away their place and nation, John xi. 48. Paul
speaks of the gospel being come to all the world, and preached to every
creature, Col. i. 6-23.
(2.) It is likewise intimated that even in times of temptation, trouble, and
persecution, the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached and propagated, and
shall force its way through the greatest opposition. Though the enemies of
the church grow very hot, and many of her friends very cool,
yet the gospel shall be preached. And even then, when many fall by
the sword and by flame, and many do wickedly, and are corrupted by
flatteries, yet then the people that do know their God, shall be
strengthened to do the greatest exploits of all, in instructing many; see
Dan. xi. 32, 33; and see an instance, Phil. i. 12-14.
(3.) That which seems chiefly intended here, is, that the end of the world
shall be then, and not till then, when the gospel has done its work
in the world. The gospel shall be preached, and that work carried on, when
you are dead; so that all nations, first or last, shall have either the
enjoyment, or the refusal, of the gospel; and then cometh the end,
when the kingdom shall be delivered up to God, even the Father; when
the mystery of God shall be finished, the mystical body completed, and the
nations either converted and saved, or convicted and silenced, by the
gospel; then shall the end come, of which he had said before (v.
6, 7), not yet, not till those intermediate counsels be fulfilled.
The world shall stand as long as any of God's chosen ones remain uncalled;
but, when they are all gathered in, it will be set on fire immediately.
VI. He foretels more particularly the ruin that was coming upon the people
of the Jews, their city, temple, and nation, v. 15, &c. Here he
comes more closely to answer their questions concerning the desolation of
the temple; and what he said here, would be of use to his disciples, both
for their conduct and for their comfort, in reference to that great event;
he describes the several steps of that calamity, such as are usual in war.
1. The Romans setting up the abomination of desolation in the holy place,
v. 15. Now, (1.) Some understand by this an image, or statue, set up
in the temple by some of the Roman governors, which was very offensive to
the Jews, provoked them to rebel, and so brought the desolation upon them.
The image of Jupiter Olympius, which Antiochus caused to be set upon the
altar of God, is called Bdelugma erhmwsewV--The
abomination of desolation, the very word here used by the historian, 1
Mac. i. 54. Since the captivity in Babylon, nothing was, nor could be, more
distasteful to the Jews than an image in the holy place, as appeared by the
mighty opposition they made when Caligula offered to set up his statue
there, which had been of fatal consequence, if it had not been prevented,
and the matter accommodated, by the conduct of Petronius; but Herod did set
up an eagle over the temple-gate; and, some say, the statue of Titus was set
up in the temple. (2.) Others choose to expound it by the parallel place
(Luke xxi. 20), when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies.
Jerusalem was the holy city, Canaan the holy land, the Mount Moriah, which
lay about Jerusalem, for its nearness to the temple was, they thought in a
particular manner holy ground; on the country lying round about Jerusalem
the Roman army was encamped, that was the abomination that made desolate.
The land of an enemy is said to be the land which thou abhorrest (Isa.
vii. 16); so an enemy's army to a weak but wilful people may well be called the
abomination. Now this is said to be spoken of by Daniel, the prophet,
who spoke more plainly of the Messiah and his kingdom than any of the
Old-Testament prophets did. He speaks of an abomination making desolate,
which should be set up by Antiochus (Dan. xi. 31; xii. 11); but this that
our Saviour refers to, we have in the message that the angel brought him
(Dan. ix. 27), of what should come at the end of seventy weeks, long after
the former; for the overspreading of abominations, or, as the margin
reads it, with the abominable armies (which comes home to the
prophecy here), he shall make it desolate. Armies of idolaters may
well be called abominable armies; and some think, the tumults,
insurrections, and abominable factions and seditions, in the city and
temple, may at least be taken in as part of the abomination making desolate.
Christ refers them to that prophecy of Daniel, that they might see how the
ruin of their city and temple was spoken of in the Old Testament, which
would both confirm his prediction, and take off the odium of it. They might
likewise from thence gather the time of it--soon after the cutting off of
Messiah the prince; the sin that procured it--their rejecting him, and the
certainty of it--it is a desolation determined. As Christ by his
precepts confirmed the law, so by his predictions he confirmed the
prophecies of the Old Testament, and it will be of good use to compare both
together.
Reference being here had to a prophecy, which is commonly dark and obscure,
Christ inserts this memorandum, "Whoso readeth, let him understand;
whoso readeth the prophecy of Daniel, let him understand that it is to have
its accomplishment now shortly in the desolations of Jerusalem." Note,
Those that read the scriptures, should labour to understand the scriptures,
else their reading is to little purpose; we cannot use that which we do not
understand. See John v. 39; Acts viii. 30. The angel that delivered this
prophecy to Daniel, stirred him up to know and understand, Dan. ix.
25. And we must not despair of understanding even dark prophecies; the great
New-Testament prophecy is called a revelation, not a secret.
Now things revealed belong to us, and therefore must be humbly and
diligently searched into. Or, Let him understand, not only the
scriptures which speak of those things, but by the scriptures let him understand
the times, 1 Chron. xii. 32. Let him observe, and take notice; so some
read it; let him be assured, that, notwithstanding the vain hopes with which
the deluded people feed themselves, the abominable armies will make
desolate.
2. The means of preservation which thinking men should betake themselves to
(v. 16, 20); Then let them which are in Judea, flee. Then
conclude there is no other way to help yourselves than by flying for the
same. We may take this,
(1.) As a prediction of the ruin itself; that it should be irresistible;
that it would be impossible for the stoutest hearts to make head against it,
or contend with it, but they must have recourse to the last shift, getting
out of the way. It bespeaks that which Jeremiah so much insisted upon, but
in vain, when Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans, that it would be to
no purpose to resist, but that it was their wisdom to yield and capitulate;
so Christ here, to show how fruitless it would be to stand it out, bids
every one make the best of his way.
(2.) We may take it as a direction to the followers of Christ what to do,
not to say, A confederacy with those who fought and warred against
the Romans for the preservation of their city and nation, only that they
might consume the wealth of both upon their lusts (for to this very affair,
the struggles of the Jews against the Roman power, some years before their
final overthrow, the apostle refers, Jam. iv. 1-3); but let them acquiesce
in the decree that was gone forth, and with all speed quit the city and
country, as they would quit a falling house or a sinking ship, as Lot
quitted Sodom, and Israel the tents of Dathan and Abiram; he shows them,
[1.] Whither they must flee--from Judea to the mountains; not the
mountains round about Jerusalem, but those in the remote corners of the
land, which would be some shelter to them, not so much by their strength as
by their secrecy. Israel is said to be scattered upon the mountains
(2 Chron. xviii. 16); and see Heb. xi. 38. It would be safer among the
lions' dens, and the mountains of the leopards, than among the seditious
Jews or the enraged Romans. Note, In times of imminent peril and danger, it
is not only lawful, but our duty, to seek our own preservation by all good
and honest means; and if God opens a door of escape, we ought to make our
escape, otherwise we do not trust God but tempt him. There may be a time
when even those that are in Judea, where God is known, and his name
is great, must flee to the mountains; and while we only go out of the
way of danger, not out of the way of duty, we may trust God to provide a
dwelling for his outcasts, Isa. xvi. 4, 5. In times of public calamity,
when it is manifest that we cannot be serviceable at home and may be safe
abroad, Providence calls us to make our escape. He that flees, may fight
again.
[2.] What haste they must make, v. 17, 18. The life will be in
danger, in imminent danger, the scourge will slay suddenly; and therefore he
that is on the house-top, when the alarm comes, let him not come
down into the house, to look after his effects there, but go the nearest
way down, to make his escape; and so he that shall be in the field,
will find it his wisest course to run immediately, and not return to fetch
his clothes or the wealth of his house, for two reasons, First,
Because the time which would be taken up in packing up his things, would
delay his flight. Note, When death is at the door, delays are dangerous; it
was the charge to Lot, Look not behind thee. Those that are convinced
of the misery of a sinful state, and the ruin that attends them in that
state, and, consequently, of the necessity of their fleeing to Christ, must
take heed, lest, after all these convictions, they perish eternally by
delays. Secondly, Because the carrying of his clothes, and his other
movables and valuables with him, would but burthen him, and clog his flight.
The Syrians, in their flight, cast away their garments, 2 Kings vii.
15. At such a time, we must be thankful if our lives be given us for a
prey, though we can save nothing, Jer. xlv. 4, 5. For the life is
more than meat, ch. vi. 25. Those who carried off least, were
safest in their flight. Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator--The
pennyless traveller can lose nothing by robbers. It was to his own
disciples that Christ recommended this forgetfulness of their house and
clothes, who had a habitation in heaven, treasure there, and durable
clothing, which the enemy could not plunder them of. Omnia mea mecum
porto--I have all my property with me, said Bias the philosopher in his
flight, empty-handed. He that has grace in his heart carries his all along
with him, when tripped of all.
Now those to whom Christ said this immediately, did not live to see this
dismal day, none of all the twelve but John only; they needed not to be
hidden in the mountains (Christ hid them in heaven), but they left the
direction to their successors in profession, who pursued it, and it was of
use to them; for when the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea saw the ruin
coming on, they all retired to a town called Pella, on the other side
Jordan, where they were safe; so that of the many thousands that perished in
the destruction of Jerusalem, there was not so much as one Christian. See Euseb.
Eccl. Hist. lib. 3, cap. 5. Thus the prudent man foresees the evil,
and hides himself, Prov. xxii. 3; Heb. xi. 7. This warning was not kept
private. St. Matthew's gospel was published long before that destruction, so
that others might have taken the advantage of it; but their perishing
through their unbelief of this, was a figure of their eternal perishing
through their unbelief of the warnings Christ gave concerning the wrath to
come.
[3.] Whom it would go hard with at that time (v. 19); Woe to them
that are with child, and to them that give suck. To this same event that
saying of Christ at his death refers (Luke xxiii. 29), They shall say, Blessed
are the wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck. Happy
are they that have no children to see the murder of; but most unhappy they
whose wombs are then bearing, their paps then giving suck: they of all
others will be in the most melancholy circumstances. First, To them
the famine would be most grievous, when they should see the tongue of the
sucking child cleaving to the roof of his mouth for thirst, and
themselves by the calamity made more cruel than the sea monsters, Lam. iv.
3, 4. Secondly, To them the sword would be most terrible, when in the
hand of worse than brutal rage. It is a direful midwifery, when the women
with child come to be ripped up by the enraged conqueror (2 Kings xv. 16;
Hos. xiii. 16; Amos i. 13), or the children brought forth to their
murderer, Hos. ix. 13. Thirdly, To them also the flight would be
most afflictive,; the women with child cannot make haste, or go far; the
sucking child cannot be left behind, or, if it should, can a woman forget
it, that she should not have compassion on it? If it be carried along,
it retards the mother's flight, and so exposes her life, and is in danger of
Mephibosheth's fate, who was lamed by a fall he got in his nurse's flight. 2
Sam. iv. 4.
[4.] What they should pray against at that time--that your flight be not
in the winter, nor on the sabbath day, v. 20. Observe, in
general, it becomes Christ's disciples, in times of public trouble and
calamity, to be much in prayer; that is a salve for every sore, never out of
season, but in a special manner seasonable when we are distressed on every
side. There is no remedy but you must flee, the decree is gone forth, so
that God will not be entreated to take away his wrath, no, not if Noah,
Daniel, and Job, stood before him. Let it suffice thee, speak no more of
that matter, but labour to make the best of that which is; and when you
cannot in faith pray that you may not be forced to flee, yet pray that the
circumstances of it may be graciously ordered, that, though the cup may not
pass from you, yet the extremity of the judgment may be prevented. Note, God
has the disposing of the circumstances of events, which sometimes make a
great alteration one way or other; and therefore in those our eyes must be
ever toward him. Christ's bidding them pray for this favour, intimates his
purpose of granting it to them; and in a general calamity we must not
overlook a circumstantial kindness, but see and own wherein it might have
been worse. Christ still bids his disciples to pray for themselves and their
friends, that, whenever they were forced to flee, it might be in the most
convenient time. Note, When trouble is in prospect, at a great distance, it
is good to lay in a stock of prayers beforehand; they must pray, First,
That their flight, if it were the will of God, might not be in the
winter, when the days are short, the weather cold, the ways dirty, and
therefore travelling very uncomfortable, especially for whole families. Paul
hastens Timothy to come to him before winter, 2 Tim. iv. 21. Note, Though
the ease of the body is not to be mainly consulted, it ought to be duly
considered; though we must take what God sends, and when he sends it, yet we
may pray against bodily inconveniences, and are encouraged to do so, in that
the Lord is for the body. Secondly, That it might not be on the
sabbath day; not on the Jewish sabbath, because travelling then would
give offence to them who were angry with the disciples for plucking the ears
of corn on the day; not on the Christian sabbath, because being forced to
travel on the day would be a grief to themselves. This intimates Christ's
design, that a weekly sabbath should be observed in his church after the
preaching of the gospel to all the world. We read not of any of the
ordinances of the Jewish church, which were purely ceremonial, that Christ
ever expressed any care about, because they were all to vanish; but for the
sabbath he often showed a concern. It intimates likewise that the sabbath is
ordinarily to be observed as a day of rest from travel and worldly labour;
but that, according to his own explication of the fourth commandment, works
of necessity were lawful on the sabbath day, as this of fleeing from an
enemy to save our lives: had it not been lawful, he would have said,
"Whatever becomes of you, do not flee on the sabbath day, but abide by
it, though you die by it." For we must not commit the least sin, to
escape the greatest trouble. But it intimates, likewise, that it is very
uneasy and uncomfortable to a good man, to be taken off by any work of
necessity from the solemn service and worship of God on the sabbath day. We
should pray that we may have quiet undisturbed sabbaths, and may have no
other work than sabbath work to do on sabbath days; that we may attend upon
the Lord without distraction. It was desirable, that, if they must flee,
they might have the benefit and comfort of one sabbath more to help to bear
their charges. To flee in the winter is uncomfortable to the body; but to
flee on the sabbath day is so to the soul, and the more so when it remembers
former sabbaths, as Ps. xlii. 4.
3. The greatness of the troubles which should immediately ensue (v.
21); Then shall be great tribulation; then when the measure of
iniquity is full; then when the servants of God are sealed and secured, then
come the troubles; nothing can be done against Sodom till Lot is entered
into Zoar, and then look for fire and brimstone immediately. There shall
be great tribulation. Great, indeed, when within the city plague and
famine raged, and (worse than either) faction and division, so that every
man's sword was against his fellow; then and there it was that the hands of
the pitiful women flayed their own children. Without the city was the Roman
army ready to swallow them up, with a particular rage against them, not only
as Jews, but as rebellious Jews. War was the only one of the three sore
judgments that David excepted against; but that was it by which the Jews
were ruined; and there were famine and pestilence in extremity besides.
Josephus's History of the Wars of the Jews, has in it more tragical
passages than perhaps any history whatsoever.
(1.) It was a desolation unparalleled, such as was not since the
beginning of the world, nor ever shall be. Many a city and kingdom has
been made desolate, but never any with a desolation like this. Let not
daring sinners think that God has done his worst, he can heat the furnace
seven times and yet seven times hotter, and will, when he sees greater and
still greater abominations. The Romans, when they destroyed Jerusalem, were
degenerated from the honour and virtue of their ancestors, which had made
even their victories easy to the vanquished. And the wilfulness and
obstinacy of the Jews themselves contributed much to the increase of the
tribulation. No wonder that the ruin of Jerusalem was an unparalleled ruin,
when the sin of Jerusalem was an unparalleled sin--even their crucifying
Christ. The nearer any people are to God in profession and privileges, the
greater and heavier will his judgments be upon them, if they abuse those
privileges, and be false to that profession, Amos iii. 2.
(2.) It was a desolation which, if it should continue long, would be
intolerable, so that no flesh should be saved, v. 22. So
triumphantly would death ride, in so many dismal shapes, and with such
attendants, that there would be no escaping, but, first or last, all would
be cut off. He that escaped one sword, would fall by another, Isa. xxiv. 17,
18. The computation which Josephus makes of those that were slain in several
places, amounts to above two millions. No flesh shall be saved; he
doth not say, "No soul shall be saved," for the destruction
of the flesh may be for the saving of the spirit in the day of the Lord
Jesus; but temporal lives will be sacrificed so profusely, that one
would think, if it last awhile, it would make a full end.
But here is one word of comfort in the midst of all this terror--that for
the elects' sake these days shall be shortened, not made shorter than
what God had determined (for that which is determined, shall be poured
upon the desolate, Dan. ix. 27), but shorter than what he might have
decreed, if he had dealt with them according to their sins; shorter than
what the enemy designed, who would have cut all off, if God who made use of
them to serve his own purpose, had not set bounds to their wrath; shorter
than one who judged by human probabilities would have imagined. Note, [1.]
In times of common calamity God manifests his favour to the elect remnant;
his jewels, which he will then make up; his peculiar treasure, which he will
secure when the lumber is abandoned to the spoiler. [2.] The shortening of
calamities is a kindness God often grants for the elects' sake. Instead of
complaining that our afflictions last so long, if we consider our defects,
we shall see reason to be thankful that they do not last always; when it is
bad with us, it becomes us to say, "Blessed be God that it is no worse;
blessed be God that it is not hell, endless and remediless misery." It
was a lamenting church that said, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are
not consumed; and it is for the sake of the elect, lest their spirit
should fail before them, if he should contend for ever, and lest they should
be tempted to put forth, if not their heart, yet their hand, to iniquity.
And now comes in the repeated caution, which was opened before, to take heed
of being ensnared by false Christs, and false prophets; (v. 23,
&c.), who would promise them deliverance, as the lying prophets in
Jeremiah's time (Jer. xiv. 13; xxiii. 16, 17; xxvii. 16; xxviii. 2), but
would delude them. Times of great trouble are times of great temptation, and
therefore we have need to double our guard then. If they shall say, Here
is a Christ, or there is one, that shall deliver us from the Romans, do
not heed them, it is all but talk; such a deliverance is not to be expected,
and therefore not such a deliverer.
VII. He foretels the sudden spreading of the gospel in the world, about the
time of these great events (v. 27, 28); As the lightning comes out
of the east, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. It comes in here
as an antidote against the poison of those seducers, that said, Lo, here
is Christ, or, Lo, he is there; compare Luke xvii. 23, 24.
Hearken not to them, for the coming of the Son of man will be as the
lightning.
1. It seems primarily to be meant of his coming to set up his spiritual
kingdom in the world; where the gospel came in its light and power, there
the Son of man came, and in a way quite contrary to the fashion of the
seducers and false Christs, who came creeping in the desert, or the secret
chambers (2 Tim. iii. 6); whereas Christ comes not with such a spirit
of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The
gospel would be remarkable for two things.
(1.) Its swift spreading; it shall fly as the lightning; so shall the gospel
be preached and propagated. The gospel is light (John iii. 19); and it is
not in this as the lightning, that it is a sudden flash, and away, for it is
sun-light, and day-light; but it is as lightning in these respects:
[1.] It is light from heaven, as the lightning. It is God, and not man, that
sends the lightnings, and summons them, that they may go, and say, Here
we are, Job xxxviii. 35. It is God that directs it (Job xxxvii. 3); to
man it is one of nature's miracles, above his power to effect, and of
nature's mysteries, above his skill to account for: but it is from above; his
lightnings enlightened the world, Ps. xcvii. 4.
[2.] It is visible and conspicuous as the lightning. The seducers carried on
their depths of Satan in the desert and the secret chambers, shunning the
light; heretics were called lucifugæ--light-shunners. But truth
seeks no corners, however it may sometimes be forced into them, as the woman
in the wilderness, though clothed with the sun, Rev. xii. 1, 6.
Christ preached his gospel openly (John xviii. 20), and his apostles on the
housetop (ch. x. 27), not in a corner, Acts xxvi. 26. See
Ps. xcviii. 2.
[3.] It was sudden and surprising to the world as the lightning; the Jews
indeed had predictions of it, but to the Gentiles it was altogether unlooked
for, and came upon them with unaccountable energy, or ever they were aware.
It was light out of darkness, ch. iv. 16; 2 Cor. iv. 6. We
read of the discomfiting of armies by lightning, 2 Sam. xxii. 15; Ps. cxliv.
6. The powers of darkness were dispersed and vanquished by the gospel
lightning.
[4.] It spread far and wide, and that quickly and irresistibly, like the
lightning, which comes, suppose, out of the east (Christ is said to ascend from
the east, Rev. vii. 2; Isa. xli. 2), and lighteneth to the west. The
propagating of Christianity to so many distant countries, of divers
languages, by such unlikely instruments, destitute of all secular
advantages, and in the face of so much opposition, and this in so short a
time, was one of the greatest miracles that was ever wrought for the
confirmation of it; here was Christ upon his white horse, denoting speed as
well as strength, and going on conquering and to conquer, Rev. vi. 2.
Gospel light rose with the sun, and went with the same, so that the beams of
it reached to the ends of the earth, Rom. x. 18. Compare with Ps. xix. 3, 4.
Though it was fought against, it could never be cooped up in a desert, or in
a secret place, as the seducers were; but by this, according to Gamaliel's
rule, proved itself to be of God, that it could not be overthrown,
Acts v. 38, 39. Christ speaks of shining into the west, because it
spread most effectually into those countries which lay west from Jerusalem,
as Mr. Herbert observes in his Church-militant. How soon did the
gospel lightning reach this island of Great Britain! Tertullian, who wrote
in the second century, takes notice of it, Britannorum in accessa Romanis
loca, Christo tamen subdita--The fastnesses of Britain, though inaccessible
to the Romans, were occupied by Jesus Christ. This was the Lord's doing.
(2.) Another thing remarkable concerning the gospel, was, its strange
success in those places to which is was spread; it gathered in multitudes,
not by external compulsion, but as it were by such a natural instinct and
inclination, as brings the birds of prey to their prey; for wheresoever
the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together (v.
28), where Christ is preached, souls will be gathered in to him. The lifting
up of Christ from the earth, that is, the preaching of Christ crucified,
which, one would think, should drive all men from him, will draw all men
to him (John xii. 32), according to Jacob's prophecy, that to him
shall the gathering of the people be, Gen. xlix. 10. See Isa. lx. 8. The
eagles will be where the carcase is, for it is food for them, it is a feast
for them; where the slain are, there is she, Job xxxix. 30. Eagles
are said to have a strange sagacity and quickness of scent to find out the
prey, and they fly swiftly to it, Job ix. 26. So those whose spirits God
shall stir up, will be effectually drawn to Jesus Christ, to feed upon him;
whither should the eagle go but to the prey? Whither should the soul go but
to Jesus Christ, who has the words of eternal life? The eagles will
distinguish what is proper for them from that which is not; so those who
have spiritual senses exercised, will know the voice of the good Shepherd
from that of a thief and a robber. Saints will be where the true Christ is,
not the false Christs. This is applicable to the desires that are wrought in
every gracious soul after Christ, and communion with him. Where he is in his
ordinances, there will his servants choose to be. A living principle of
grace is a kind of natural instinct in all the saints, drawing them to
Christ to live upon him.
2. Some understand these verses of the coming of the Son of man to
destroy Jerusalem, Mal. iii. 1, 2, 5. So much was there of an
extraordinary display of divine power and justice in that event, that it is
called the coming of Christ.
Now here are two things intimated concerning it.
(1.) That to the most it would be as unexpected as a flash of lightning,
which indeed gives warning of the clap of thunder which follows, but is
itself surprising. The seducers say, Lo, here is Christ to deliver
us; or there is one, a creature of their own fancies; but ere they are
aware, the wrath of the Lamb, the true Christ, will arrest them, and they
shall not escape.
(2.) That it might be as justly expected as that the eagle should fly to the
carcases; though they put far from them the evil day, yet the desolation
will come as certainly as the birds of prey to a dead carcase, that lies
exposed in the open field. [1.] The Jews were so corrupt and degenerate, so
vile and vicious, that they were become a carcase, obnoxious to the
righteous judgment of God; they were also so factious and seditious, and
every way so provoking to the Romans, that they had made themselves
obnoxious to their resentments, and an inviting prey to them. [2.] The
Romans were as an eagle, and the ensign of their armies was an eagle. The
army of the Chaldeans is said to fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat,
Hab. i. 8. The ruin of the New-Testament Babylon is represented by a call to
the birds of prey to come and feast upon the slain, Rev. xix. 17, 18.
Notorious malefactors have their eyes eaten out by the young eagles
(Prov. xxx. 17); the Jews were hung up in chains, Jer. vii. 33; xvi. 4. [3.]
The Jews can no more preserve themselves from the Romans than the carcase
can secure itself from the eagles. [4.] The destruction shall find out the
Jews wherever they are, as the eagle scents the prey. Note, When a people do
by their sin make themselves carcases, putrid and loathsome, nothing can be
expected but that God should send eagles among them, to devour and destroy
them.
3. It is very applicable to the day of judgment, the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ in that day, and our gathering together unto him, 2
Thess. ii. 1. Now see here,
(1.) How he shall come; as the lightning, The time was now at hand,
when he should depart out of the world, to go to the Father.
Therefore those that enquire after Christ must not go into the desert or the
secret place, nor listen to every one that will put up the finger to invite
them to a sight of Christ; but let them look upward, for the heavens must
contain him, and thence we look for the Saviour (Phil. iii. 20); he
shall come in the clouds, as the lightning doth, and every eye
shall see him, as they say it is natural for all living creatures to
turn their faces towards the lightning, Rev. i. 7. Christ will appear to all
the world, from one end of heaven to the other; nor shall any thing be hid
from the light and heat of that day.
(2.) How the saints shall be gathered to him; as the eagles are to the
carcase by natural instinct, and with the greatest swiftness and alacrity
imaginable. Saints, when they shall be fetched to glory, will be carried as
on eagles' wings (Exod. xix. 4), as on angels' wings. They shall mount up
with wings, like eagles, and like them renew their youth.
VIII. He foretels his second coming at the end of time, v.
29-31. The sun shall be darkened, &c.
1. Some think this is to be understood only of the destruction of Jerusalem
and the Jewish nation; the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars, denotes
the eclipse of the glory of that state, its convulsions, and the general
confusion that attended that desolation. Great slaughter and devastation are
in the Old Testament thus set forth (as Isa. xiii. 10; xxxiv. 4; Ezek. xxxii.
7; Joel ii. 31); or by the sun, moon, and stars, may be meant the temple,
Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, which should all come to ruin. The sign
of the Son of man (v. 30) means a signal appearance of the power
and justice of the Lord Jesus in it, avenging his own blood on them that
imprecated the guilt of it upon themselves and their children; and the
gathering of his elect (v. 31) signifies the delivering of a
remnant from this sin and ruin.
2. It seems rather to refer to Christ's second coming. The destruction of
the particular enemies of the church was typical of the complete conquest of
them all; and therefore what will be done really at the great day, may be
applied metaphorically to those destructions: but still we must attend to
the principal scope of them; and while we are all agreed to expect Christ's
second coming, what need is there to put such strained constructions as some
do, upon these verses, which speak of it so clearly, and so agreeably to
other scriptures, especially when Christ is here answering an enquiry
concerning his coming at the end of the world, which Christ was never shy of
speaking of to his disciples?
The only objection against this, is, that it is said to be immediately
after the tribulation of those days; but as to that, (1.) It is usual in
the prophetical style to speak of things great and certain as near and just
at hand, only to express the greatness and certainty of them. Enoch spoke of
Christ's second coming as within ken, Behold, the Lord cometh, Jude
14. (2.) A thousand years are in God's sight but as one day, 2
Pet. iii. 8. It is there urged, with reference to this very thing, and so it
might be said to be immediately after. The tribulation of those days
includes not only the destruction of Jerusalem, but all the other
tribulations which the church must pass through; not only its share in the
calamities of the nations, but the tribulations peculiar to itself; while
the nations are torn with wars, and the church with schisms, delusions, and
persecutions, we cannot say that the tribulation of those days is over; the
whole state of the church on earth is militant, we must count upon that; but
when the church's tribulation is over, her warfare accomplished, and what is
behind of the sufferings of Christ filled up, then look for the end.
Now concerning Christ's second coming, it is here foretold,
[1.] That there shall be then a great and amazing change of the creatures,
and particularly the heavenly bodies (v. 29). The sun shall
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. The moon shines with
a borrowed light, and therefore if the sun, from whom she borrows her light,
is turned into darkness, she must fail of course, and become bankrupt. The
stars shall fall; they shall lose their light, and disappear, and be as
if they were fallen; and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. This
intimates,
First, That there shall be a great change, in order to the making of
all things new. Then shall be the restitution of all things, when the
heavens shall not be cast away as a rag, but changed as a vesture, to
be worn in a better fashion, Ps. cii. 26. They shall pass away with a
great noise, that there may be new heavens, 2 Pet. iii. 10-13.
Secondly, It shall be a visible change, and such as all the world
must take notice of; for such the darkening of the sun and moon cannot but
be: and it would be an amazing change; for the heavenly bodies are not so
liable to alteration as the creatures of this lower world are. The days of
heaven, and the continuance of the sun and moon, are used to express that
which is lasting and unchangeable (As Ps. lxxxix. 29; xxxvi. 37); yet they
shall thus be shaken.
Thirdly, It shall be a universal change. If the sun be turned into
darkness, and the powers of heaven be shaken, the earth cannot but be turned
into a dungeon, and its foundation made to tremble. Howl, fir trees, if
the cedars be shaken. When the stars of heaven drop, no marvel if the everlasting
mountains melt, and the perpetual hills bow. Nature shall sustain
a general shock and convulsion, which yet shall be no hindrance to the joy
and rejoicing of heaven and earth before the Lord, when he cometh to
judge the world (Ps. xcvi. 11, 13); they shall as it were glory in
the tribulation.
Fourthly, The darkening of the sun, moon, and stars, which were made
to rule over the day, and over the night (which is the first dominion we
find of any creature, Gen. i. 16-18), signifies the putting down of all
rule, authority, and power (even that which seems of the greatest
antiquity and usefulness), that the kingdom may be delivered up to God,
even the Father, and he may be All in all, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28. The
sun was darkened at the death of Christ, for then was in one sense the
judgment of this world (John xii. 31), an indication of what would be at
the general judgment.
Fifthly, The glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus, who will then
show himself as the Brightness of his Father's glory, and the express
Image of his person, will darken the sun and moon, as a candle is
darkened in the beams of the noon-day sun; they will have no glory, by
reason of the glory that excelleth, 2 Cor. iii. 10. Then the sun
shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded, when God shall appear, Isa.
xxiv. 23.
Sixthly, The sun and moon shall be then darkened, because there will
be no more occasion for them. To sinners, that choose their portion in this
life, all comfort will be eternally denied; as they shall not have a drop of
water, so not a ray of light. Now God causeth his sun to rise on the earth,
but then Interdico tib sole et luna--I forbid thee the light of the sun
and the moon. Darkness must be their portion. To the saints that had
their treasure above, such light of joy and comfort will be given as shall
supersede that of the sun and moon, and render it useless. What need is
there of vessels of light, when we come to the Fountain and Father of
light? See Isa. lx. 19; Rev. xxii. 5.
[2.] That then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven (v.
30), the Son of man himself, as it follows here, They shall see the Son
of man coming in the clouds. At his first coming, he was set for a
Sign that should be spoken against (Luke ii. 34), but at his second
coming, a sign that should be admired. Ezekiel was a son of man set for a
sign, Ezek. xii. 6. Some make this a prediction of the harbingers and
forerunners of his coming, giving notice of his approach; a light shining
before him, and the fire devouring (Ps. l. 3; 1 Kings xix. 11, 12), the
beams coming out of his hand, where had long been the hiding of his power,
Hab. iii. 4. It is a groundless conceit of some of the ancients, that this
sign of the Son of man, will be the sign of the cross displayed as a banner.
It will certainly be such a clear convincing sign as will dash infidelity
quite out of countenance, and fill their faces with shame, who said, Where
is the promise of his coming?
[3.] That then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, v. 30.
See Rev. i. 7. All the kindreds of the earth shall then wail because of
him; some of all the tribes and kindreds of the earth shall mourn; for
the greater part will tremble at his approach, while the chosen remnant, one
of a family and two of a tribe, shall lift up their heads with joy, knowing
that their redemption draws nigh, and their Redeemer. Note, Sooner or later,
all sinners will be mourners; penitent sinners look to Christ, and mourn
after a godly sort; and they who sow in those tears, shall shortly reap in
joy; impenitent sinners shall look unto him whom they have pierced,
and, though they laugh now, shall mourn and weep after a devilish sort, in
endless horror and despair.
[4.] That then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven, with power and great glory. Note, First, The judgment of
the great day will be committed to the Son of man, both in pursuance and in
recompence of his great undertaking for us as Mediator, John v. 22, 27. Secondly,
The Son of man will at that day come in the clouds of heaven. Much of the
sensible intercourse between heaven and earth is by the clouds; they are
betwixt them, as it were, the medium participationis--the medium of
participation, drawn by heaven from the earth, distilled by heaven upon
the earth. Christ went to heaven in a cloud, and will in like manner come
again, Acts i. 9, 11. Behold, he cometh in the clouds, Rev. i. 7.
A cloud will be the Judge's chariot (Ps. civ. 3), his robe (Rev. x. 1), his
pavilion (Ps. xviii. 11), his throne, Rev. xiv. 14. When the world was
destroyed by water, the judgment came in the clouds of heaven, for the
windows of heaven were opened; so shall it be when it shall be destroyed by
fire. Christ went before Israel in a cloud, which had a bright side and a
dark side; so will the cloud have in which Christ will come at the great
day, it will bring both comfort and terror. Thirdly, He will come
with power and great glory: his first coming was in weakness and great
meanness (2 Cor. xiii. 4); but his second coming will be with power and
glory, agreeable both to the dignity of his person and to the purposes of
his coming. Fourthly, He will be seen with bodily eyes in his coming:
therefore the Son of man will be the Judge, that he may be seen, that
sinners thereby may be the more confounded, who shall see him as Balaam did,
but not nigh (Num. xxiv. 17), see him, but not as theirs. It added to
the torment of that damned sinner, that he saw Abraham afar off.
"Is this he whom we have slighted, and rejected, and rebelled against;
whom we have crucified to ourselves afresh; who might have been our Saviour,
but is our Judge, and will be our enemy for ever?" The Desire of all
nations will then be their dread.
[5.] That he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, v.
31. Note, First, The angels shall be attendants upon Christ at his
second coming; they are called his angels, which proves him to be
God, and Lord of the angels; they shall be obliged to wait upon him. Secondly,
These attendants shall be employed by him as officers of the court in the
judgment of that day; they are now ministering spirits sent forth by him
(Heb. i. 14), and will be so then. Thirdly, Their ministration will
be ushered in with a great sound of a trumpet, to awaken and alarm a
sleeping world. This trumpet is spoken of, 1 Cor. xv. 52, and 1 Thess. iv.
16. At the giving of the law on mount Sinai, the sound of the trumpet was
remarkably terrible (Exod. xix. 13, 16); but much more will it be so in the
great day. By the law, trumpets were to be sounded for the calling of
assemblies (Num. x. 2), in praising God (Ps. lxxxi. 3), in offering
sacrifices (Num. x. 10), and in proclaiming the year of jubilee, Lev. xxv.
9. Very fitly therefore shall there be the sound of a trumpet at the last
day, when the general assembly shall be called, when the praises of God
shall be gloriously celebrated, when sinners shall fall as sacrifices to
divine justice, and when the saints shall enter upon their eternal jubilee.
[6.] That they shall gather together his elect from the four winds.
Note, At the second coming of Jesus Christ, there will be a general meeting
of all the saints. First, The elect only will be gathered, the
chosen remnant, who are but few in comparison with the many that are only called.
This is the foundation of the saints' eternal happiness, that they are God's
elect. The gifts of love to eternity follow the thought of love from
eternity; and the Lord knows them that are his. Secondly, The angels
shall be employed to bring them together, as Christ's servants, and as the
saints' friends; we have the commission given them, Ps. l. 5. Gather my
saints together unto me; nay, it will be said to them, Habetis
fratres--These are your brethren; for the elect will then be equal to
the angels, Luke xx. 36. Thirdly, They shall be gathered from
one end of heaven to the other; the elect of God are scattered abroad
(John xi. 52), there are some in all places, in all nations (Rev. vii. 9);
but when that great gathering day comes, there shall not one of them be
missing; distance of place shall keep none out of heaven, if distance of
affection do not. Undique ad cœlos tantundem est viæ--Heaven is equally
accessible from every place. See ch. viii. 11; Isa. xliii. 6;
xlix. 12.
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Parable
of the Fig-Tree; Awful Predictions; The Duty of Watchfulness;
The Good and Evil Steward.
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32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When
his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is
nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say
unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be
fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the
days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and
took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one
shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this, that
if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he
would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye
think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and
wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them
meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his
lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto
you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and
if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants,
and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that
servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an
hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
We have here the practical application of the foregoing prediction; in
general, we must expect and prepare for the events here foretold.
I. We must expect them; "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree, v.
32, 33. Now learn what use to make of the things you have heard; so observe
and understand the signs of the times, and compare them with the predictions
of the word, as from thence to foresee what is at the door, that you may
provide accordingly." The parable of the fig-tree is no more than this,
that its budding and blossoming are a presage of summer; for as the stork
in the heaven, so the trees of the field, know their appointed time.
The beginning of the working of second causes assures us of the progress and
perfection of it. Thus when God begins to fulfil prophecies, he will make an
end. There is a certain series in the works of providence, as there is in
the works of nature. The signs of the times are compared with the
prognostics of the face of the sky (ch. xvi. 3), so here with
those of the face of the earth; when that is renewed, we foresee that
summer is coming, not immediately, but at some distance; after the branch
grows tender, we expect the March winds, and the April showers, before
the summer comes; however, we are sure it is coming; "so likewise ye,
when the gospel day shall dawn, count upon it, that through this variety of
events which I have told you of, the perfect day will come. The things
revealed must shortly come to pass (Rev. i. 1); they must come in their
own order, in the order appointed for them. Know that it is near."
He does not here say what, but it is that which the hearts of his disciples
are upon, and which they are inquisitive after, and long for; the kingdom
of God is near, so it is expressed in the parallel place, Luke xxi. 31.
Note, When the trees of righteousness begin to bud and blossom, when God's
people promise faithfulness, it is a happy presage of good times. In them
God begins his work, first prepares their heart, and then he will go on with
it; for, as for God, his work is perfect; and he will revive it in
the midst of their years.
Now touching the events foretold here, which we are to expect,
1. Christ here assures us of the certainty of them (v. 35); Heaven
and earth shall pass away; they continue this day indeed, according to
God's ordinance, but they shall not continue for ever (Ps. cii. 25, 26; 2
Pet. iii. 10); but my words shall not pass away. Note, The word of
Christ is more sure and lasting than heaven and earth. Hath he spoken?
And shall he not do it? We may build with more assurance upon the word
of Christ than we can upon the pillars of heaven, or the strong foundations
of the earth; for, when they shall be made to tremble and totter, and shall
be no more, the word of Christ shall remain, and be in full force, power,
and virtue. See 1 Pet. i. 24, 25. It is easier for heaven and earth to
pass, than the word of Christ; so it is expressed, Luke xvi. 17. Compare
Isa. liv. 10. The accomplishment of these prophecies might seem to be
delayed, and intervening events might seem to disagree with them, but do not
think that therefore the word of Christ is fallen to the ground, for that
shall never pass away: though it be not fulfilled, either in the time or in
the way that we have prescribed; yet, in God's time, which is the best time,
and in God's way, which is the best way, it shall certainly be fulfilled.
Every word of Christ is very pure, and therefore very sure.
2. He here instructs us as to the time of them, v. 34, 36. As to
this, it is well observed by the learned Grotius, that there is a manifest
distinction made between the tauta
(v. 34), and the ekeinh
(v. 36), these things, and that day and hour; which
will help to clear this prophecy.
(1.) As to these things, the wars, seductions, and persecutions, here
foretold, and especially the ruin of the Jewish nation; "This
generation shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled (v.
34); there are those now alive, that shall see Jerusalem destroyed, and the
Jewish church brought to an end." Because it might seem strange, he
backs it with a solemn asseveration; "Verily, I say unto you.
You may take my word for it, these things are at the door." Christ
often speaks of the nearness of that desolation, the more to affect people,
and quicken them to prepare for it. Note, There may be greater trials and
troubles yet before us, in our own day, than we are aware of. They that are
old, know not what sons of Anak may be reserved for their last encounters.
(2.) But as to that day and hour which will put a period to time, that
knoweth no man, v. 36. Therefore take heed of confounding these
two, as they did, who, from the words of Christ and the apostles;
letters, inferred that the day of Christ was at hand, 2 Thess. ii. 2.
No, it was not; this generation, and many another, shall pass,
before that day and hour come. Note, [1.] There is a certain day and
hour fixed for the judgment to come; it is called the day of the Lord,
because so unalterably fixed. None of God's judgments are adjourned sine
die--without the appointment of a certain day. [2.] That day and hour
are a great secret.
|
Prudens
futuri temporis exitum
Caliginosa nocte premit Deus.
But Heaven has wisely hid from human sight
The dark decrees of future fate,
And sown their seeds in depth of nights.--HORACE.
|
No man knows it; not the wisest by their sagacity, not the best by
any divine discovery. We all know that there shall be such a day; but none
knows when it shall be, no, not the angels; though their capacities for
knowledge are great, and their opportunities of knowing this advantageous
(they dwell at the fountain-head of light), and though they are to be
employed in the solemnity of that day, yet they are not told when it shall
be: none knows but my Father only. This is one of those secret
things which belong to the Lord our God. The uncertainty of the
time of Christ's coming, is, to those who are watchful, a savour of life
unto life, and makes them more watchful; but to those who are careless,
it is a savour of death unto death, and makes them more careless.
II. To this end we must expect these events, that we may prepare for them;
and here we have a caution against security and sensuality, which will make
it a dismal day indeed to us, v. 37-41. In these verses we have such
an idea given us of the judgment day, as may serve to startle and awaken us,
that we may not sleep as others do.
It will be a surprising day, and a separating day.
1. It will be a surprising day, as the deluge was to the old world, v.
37-39. That which he here intends to describe, is, the posture of the world
at the coming of the Son of man; besides his first coming, to save, he has
other comings to judge. He saith (John ix. 39), For judgment I am come;
and for judgment he will come; for all judgment is committed to him, both
that of the word, and that of the sword.
Now this here is applicable,
(1.) To temporal judgments, particularly that which was now hastening
upon the nation and people of the Jews; though they had fair warning given
them of it, and there were many prodigies that were presages of it, yet it
found them secure, crying, Peace and safety, 1 Thess. v. 3. The siege
was laid to Jerusalem by Titus Vespasian, when they were met at the passover
in the midst of their mirth; like the men of Laish, they dwelt careless when
the ruin arrested them, Judg. xviii. 7, 27. The destruction of Babylon, both
that in the Old Testament and that in the New, comes when she saith, I
shall be a lady for ever, Isa. xlvii. 7-9; Rev. xviii. 7. Therefore the
plagues come in a moment, in one day. Note, Men's unbelief shall not make
God's threatenings of no effect.
(2.) To the eternal judgment; so the judgment of the great day is
called, Heb. vi. 2. Though notice has been given of it from Enoch, yet, when
it comes, it will be unlooked for by the most of men; the latter days, which
are nearest to that day, will produce scoffers, that say, Where is the
promise of his coming? 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4; Luke xviii. 8. Thus it will be
when the world that now is shall be destroyed by fire; for thus it was when
the old world, being overflowed by water, perished, 2 Pet. iii. 6, 7. Now
Christ here shows what were the temper and posture of the old world when the
deluge came.
[1.] They were sensual and worldly; they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage. It is not said, They were killing and
stealing, and whoring and swearing (these were indeed the horrid crimes of
some of the worst of them; the earth was full of violence); but they
were all of them, except Noah, over head and ears in the world, and
regardless of the word of God, and this ruined them. Note, Universal neglect
of religion is a more dangerous symptom to any people than particular
instances here and there of daring irreligion. Eating and drinking
are necessary to the preservation of man's life; marrying and giving in
marriage are necessary to the preservation of mankind; but, Licitus
perimus omnes--These lawful things undo us, unlawfully managed. First,
They were unreasonable in it, inordinate and entire in the pursuit of the
delights of sense, and the gains of the world; they were wholly taken up
with these things, hsan trwgonteV--they
were eating; they were in these things as in their element, as if they
had their being for no other end than to eat and drink, Isa. lvi. 12.
Secondly, They were unreasonable in it; they were entire and intent
upon the world and the flesh, when the destruction was at the door, which
they had had such fair warning of. They were eating and drinking, when they
should have been repenting and praying; when God, by the ministry of Noah,
called to weeping and mourning, then joy and gladness. This was to
them, as it was to Israel afterwards, the unpardonable sin (Isa. xxii. 12,
14), especially, because it was in defiance of those warnings by which they
should have been awakened. "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we
die; if it must be a short life, let it be a merry one." The
apostle James speaks of this as the general practice of the wealthy Jews
before the destruction of Jerusalem; when they should have been weeping
for the miseries that were coming upon them, they were living in pleasure,
and nourishing their hearts as in a day of slaughter, Jam. v. 1, 5.
[2.] They were secure and careless; they knew not, until the flood came,
v. 39. Knew not! Surely they could not but know. Did not God,
by Noah, give them fair warning of it? Did he not call them to repentance,
while his long-suffering waited? 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. But they knew not, that
is, they believed not; they might have known, but would not know. Note, What
we know of the things that belong to our everlasting peace, if we do
not mix faith with it, and improve it, is all one as if we did not know it
at all. Their not knowing is joined with their eating, and
drinking, and marrying; for, First, Therefore they were sensual,
because they were secure. Note, the reason why people are so eager in the
pursuit, and so entangled in the pleasures of this world, is, because they
do not know, and believe, and consider, the eternity which they are upon the
brink of. Did we know aright that all these things must shortly be
dissolved, and we must certainly survive them, we should not set our eyes
and hearts so much upon them as we do. Secondly, Therefore they were
secure, because they were sensual; therefore they knew not that the
flood was coming, because they were eating and drinking; were so taken up
with things seen and present, that they had neither time nor heart to mind
the things not seen as yet, which they were warned of. Note, As security
bolsters men up in their brutal sensuality; so sensuality rocks them asleep
in their carnal security. The knew not, until the flood came. 1. The
flood did come, though they would not foresee it. Note, Those that will not
know by faith, shall be made to know by feeling, the wrath of God
revealed from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness. The
evil day is never the further off for men's putting it far off from them. 2.
They did not know it till it was too late to prevent it, as they might have
done if they had known it in time, which made it so much the more grievous.
Judgments are most terrible and amazing to the secure, and those that have
made a jest of them.
The application of this, concerning the old world, we have in these words; So
shall the coming of the Son of man be; that is, (1.) In such a posture
shall he find people, eating and drinking, and not expecting him. Note,
Security and sensuality are likely to be the epidemical diseases of the
latter days. All slumber and sleep, and at midnight the bridegroom comes.
All are off their watch, and at their ease. (2.) With such a power, and for
such a purpose, will he come upon them. As the flood took away the sinners
of the old world, irresistibly and irrecoverably; so shall secure sinners,
that mocked at Christ and his coming, be taken away by the wrath of the
Lamb, when the great day of his wrath comes, which will be like the
coming of the deluge, a destruction which there is no fleeing from.
2. It will be a separating day (v. 40, 41); Then shall two be in
the field. Two ways this may be applied.
(1.) We may apply it to the success of the gospel, especially at the first
preaching of it; it divided the world; some believed the things which
were spoken, and were taken to Christ; others believed not, and
were left to perish in their unbelief. Those of the same age, place,
capacity, employment, and condition, in the world, grinding in the same
mill, those of the same family, nay, those that were joined in the same
bond of marriage, were, one effectually called, the other passed by, and
left in the gall of bitterness. This is that division, that separating fire,
which Christ came to send, Luke xii. 49, 51. This renders free
grace the more obliging, that it is distinguishing; to us, and not to the
world (John xiv. 22), nay to us, and not to those in the same field, the
same mill, the same house.
When ruin came upon Jerusalem, a distinction was made by Divine Providence,
according to that which had been before made by divine grace; for all the
Christians among them were saved from perishing in that calamity, by the
special care of Heaven. If two were at work in the field together, and one
of them was a Christian, he was taken into a place of shelter, and had his
life given him for a prey, while the other was left to the sword of the
enemy. Nay, if but two women were grinding at the mill, if one of them
belonged to Christ, though but a woman, a poor woman, a servant, she was
taken to a place of safety, and the other abandoned. Thus the meek of the
earth are hid in the day of the Lord's anger (Zeph. ii. 3), either in
heaven, or under heaven. Note, Distinguishing preservations, in times
of general destruction, are special tokens of God's favour, and ought so to
be acknowledged. If we are safe when thousands fall on our right hand and
our left, are not consumed when others are consumed round about us, so that
we are as brands plucked out of the fire, we have reason to say, It is of
the Lord's mercies, and it is a great mercy.
(2.) We may apply it to the second coming of Jesus Christ, and the
separation which will be made in that day. He had said before (v.
31), that the elect will be gathered together. Here he tells us,
that, in order to that, they will be distinguished from those who were
nearest to them in this world; the choice and chosen ones taken to glory,
the other left to perish eternally. Those who sleep in the dust of the
earth, two in the same grave, their ashed mixed, shall yet arise, one to be
taken to everlasting life, the other left to shame and everlasting
contempt, Dan. xii. 2. Here it is applied to them who shall be found
alive. Christ will come unlooked for, will find people busy at their usual
occupations, in the field, at the mill; and then, according as they
are vessels of mercy prepared for glory, or vessels of wrath prepared for
ruin, accordingly it will be with them; the one taken to meet the Lord
and his angels in the air, to be for ever with him and them; the other
left to the devil and his angels, who, when Christ has gathered out his own,
will sweep up the residue. This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners
that others shall be taken from the midst of them to glory, and they left
behind. And it speaks abundance of comfort to the Lord's people. [1.] Are
they mean and despised in the world, as the man-servant in the field, or the
maid at the mill (Exod. xi. 5)? Yet they shall not be forgotten or
overlooked in that day. The poor in the world, if rich in faith, are heirs
of the kingdom. [2.] Are they dispersed in distant and unlikely places,
where one would not expect to find the heirs of glory, in the field, at
the mill? Yet the angels will find them there (hidden as Saul among the
stuff, when they are to be enthroned), and fetch them thence; and well may
they be said to be changed, for a very great change it will be to go
to heaven from ploughing and grinding. [3.] Are they weak, and unable of
themselves to move heavenward? They shall be taken, or laid hold of,
as Lot was taken out of Sodom by a gracious violence, Gen. xix. 16. Those
whom Christ has once apprehended and laid hold on, he will never lose his
hold of. [4.] Are they intermixed with others, linked with them in the same
habitations, societies, employments? Let not that discourage any true
Christian; God knows how to separate between the precious and the vile, the
gold and dross in the same lump, the wheat and chaff in the same floor.
III. Here is a general exhortation to us, to watch, and be ready
against that day comes, enforced by divers weighty considerations, v.
42, &c. Observe,
1. The duty required; Watch, and be ready, v. 42, 44.
(1.) Watch therefore, v. 42. Note, It is the great duty and
interest of all the disciples of Christ to watch, to be awake and keep
awake, that they may mind their business. As a sinful state or way is
compared to sleep, senseless and inactive (1 Thess. v. 6), so a
gracious state or way is compared to watching and waking. We
must watch for our Lord's coming, to us in particular at our death, after
which is the judgment, that is the great day with us, the end of
our time; and his coming at the end of all time to judge the world, the great
day with all mankind. To watch implies not only to believe that our Lord
will come, but to desire that he would come, to be often thinking of his
coming, and always looking for it as sure and near, and the time of it
uncertain. To watch for Christ's coming, is to maintain that gracious temper
and disposition of mind which we should be willing that our Lord, when he
comes, should find us in. To watch is to be aware of the first notices of
his approach, that we may immediately attend his motions, and address
ourselves to the duty of meeting him. Watching is supposed to be in the
night, which is sleeping time; while we are in this world, it is night
with us, and we must take pains to keep ourselves awake.
(2.) Be ye also ready. We wake in vain, if we do not get ready. It is
not enough to look for such things; but we must therefore give
diligence, 2 Pet. iii. 11, 14. We have then our Lord to attend upon, and
we must have our lamps ready trimmed; a cause to be tried, and we must have
our plea ready drawn and signed by our Advocate; a reckoning to make up, and
we must have our accounts ready stated and balanced; there is an inheritance
which we then hope to enter upon, and we must have ourselves ready, made
meet to partake of it, Col. i. 12.
2. The reasons to induce us to this watchfulness and diligent preparation
for that day; which are two.
(1.) Because the time of our Lord's coming is very uncertain. This is the
reason immediately annexed to the double exhortation (v. 42, 44); and
it is illustrated by a comparison, v. 43. Let us consider then,
[1.] That we know not what hour he will come, v. 42. We know
not the day of our death, Gen. xxvii. 2. We may know that we have but
a little time to live (The time of my departure is at hand, 2 Tim.
iv. 6); but we cannot know that we have a long time to live, for our souls
are continually in our hands; nor can we know how little a time we have to
live, for it may prove less than we expect; much less do we know the time
fixed for the general judgment. Concerning both we are kept at uncertainty,
that we may, every day, expect that which may come any day; may never boast
of a year's continuance (James iv. 13), no, nor of tomorrow's return, as if
it were ours, Prov. xxvii. 1; Luke xii. 20.
[2.] That he may come at such an hour as we think not, v. 44.
Though there be such uncertainty in the time, there is none in the thing
itself: though we know not when he will come, we are sure he will
come. His parting word was, Surely I come quickly; his saying,
"I come surely," obliges us to expect him: his saying
"I come quickly." obliges us to be always expecting him;
for it keeps us in a state of expectancy. In such an hour as you think
not, that is, such an hour as they who are unready and unprepared, think
not (v. 50); nay, such an hour as the most lively expectants perhaps
thought least likely. The bridegroom came when the wise were slumbering. It
is agreeable to our present state, that we should be under the influence of
a constant and general expectation, rather than that of particular presages
and prognostications, which we are sometimes tempted vainly to desire and
wish for.
[3.] That the children of this world are thus wise in their generation,
that, when they know of a danger approaching, they will keep awake, and
stand on their guard against it. This he shows in a particular instance, v.
43. If the master of a house had notice that a thief would come such a
night, and such a watch of the night (for they divided the night into four
watches, allowing three hours to each), and would make an attempt upon his
house, though it were the midnight-watch, when he was most sleepy, yet he
would be up, and listen to every noise in every corner, and be ready to give
him a warm reception. Now, though we know not just when our Lord will
come, yet, knowing that he will come, and come quickly, and without
any other warning than what he hath given in his word, it concerns us to
watch always. Note, First, We have every one of us a house to keep,
which lies exposed, in which all we are worth is laid up: that house is our
own souls, which we must keep with all diligence. Secondly, The day
of the Lord comes by surprise, as a thief in the night. Christ
chooses to come when he is least expected, that the triumphs of his enemies
may be turned into the greater shame, and the fears of his friends into the
greater joy. Thirdly, If Christ, when he comes, finds us asleep and
unready, our house will be broken up, and we shall lose all we are worth,
not as by a thief unjustly, but as by a just and legal process; death and
judgment will seize upon all we have, to our irreparable damage and utter
undoing. Therefore be ready, be ye also ready; as ready at all times
as the good man of the house would be at the hour when he expected the
thief: we must put on the armour of God, that we may not only stand in that
evil day, but, as more than conquerors, may divide the spoil.
(2.) Because the issue of our Lord's coming will be very happy and
comfortable to those that shall be found ready, but very dismal and dreadful
to those that shall not, v. 45, &c. This is represented by the
different state of good and bad servants, when their lord comes to reckon
with them. It is likely to be well or ill with us to eternity, according as
we are found ready or unready at that day; for Christ comes to render to
every man according to his works. Now this parable, with which the
chapter closes, is applicable to all Christians, who are in profession and
obligation God's servants; but it seems especially intended as a warning to
ministers; for the servant spoken of is a steward. Now observe what
Christ here saith,
[1.] Concerning the good servant; he shows here what he is--a
ruler of the household; what, being so, he should be--faithful
and wise; and what, if he be so, he shall be eternally-blessed.
Here are good instructions and encouragements to the ministers of Christ.
First, We have here his place and office. He is one whom the Lord
has made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season.
Note, 1. The church of Christ is his household, or family, standing in
relation to him as the Father and Master of it. It is the household of
God, a family named from Christ, Eph. iii. 15. 2. Gospel ministers are
appointed rulers in this household; not at princes (Christ has
entered a caveat against that), but as stewards, or other subordinate
officers; not as lords, but as guides; not to prescribe new ways, but to
show and lead in the ways that Christ has appointed: that is the
signification of the hgoumenoi,
which we translate, having rule over you (Heb. xiii. 17); as overseers,
not to cut out new work, but to direct in, and quicken to, the work which
Christ has ordered; that is the signification of episkopoi--bishops.
They are rulers by Christ; what power they have is derived from him, and
none may take it from them, or abridge it to them; he is one whom the
Lord has made ruler; Christ has the making of ministers. They are
rulers under Christ, and act in subordination to him; and rulers for
Christ, for the advancement of his kingdom. 3. The work of gospel ministers
is to give to Christ's household their meat in due season, as stewards, and
therefore they have the keys delivered to them. (1.) Their work is to
give, not take to themselves (Ezek. xxxiv. 8), but give to the family
what the Master has bought, to dispense what Christ has purchased.
And to ministers it is said, that it is more blessed to give than to
receive, Acts xx. 35. (2.) It is to give meat; not to give law
(that is Christ's work), but to deliver those doctrines to the church which,
if duly digested, will be nourishment to souls. They must give, not the
poison of false doctrines, not the stones of hard and unprofitable
doctrines, but the meat that is sound and wholesome. (3.) It
must be given in due season, en kairw--while
there is time for it; when eternity comes, it will be too late; we must work
while it is day: or in time, that is, whenever any opportunity
offers itself; or in the stated time, time after time, according as the duty
of every day requires.
Secondly, His right discharge of this office. The good servant, if
thus preferred, will be a good steward; for,
1. He is faithful; stewards must be so, 1 Cor. iv. 2. He that is trusted,
must be trusty; and the greater the trust is, the more is expected from
them. It is a great good thing that is committed to ministers (2 Tim.
i. 14); and they must be faithful, as Moses was, Heb. iii. 2. Christ counts
those ministers, and those only, that are faithful, 1 Tim. i. 12. A
faithful minister of Jesus Christ is one that sincerely designs his master's
honour, not his own; delivers the whole counsel of God, not his own
fancies and conceits; follows Christ's institutions and adheres to them;
regards the meanest, reproves the greatest, and doth not respect persons.
2. He is wise to understand his duty and the proper season of it; and in
guiding of the flock there is need, not only of the integrity of the heart,
but the skilfulness of the hands. Honesty may suffice for a good servant,
but wisdom is necessary to a good steward; for it is profitable to
direct.
3. He is doing; so doing as his office requires. The ministry is a
good work, and they whose office it is, have always something to do; they
must not indulge themselves in ease, nor leave the work undone, or
carelessly turn it off to others, but be doing, and doing to the purpose--so
doing, giving meat to the household, minding their own business, and not
meddling with that which is foreign; so doing as the Master has
appointed, as the office imports, and as the case of the family requires;
not talking, but doing. It was the motto Mr. Perkins used, Minister
verbi es--You are a minister of the word. Not only Age--Be doing;
but Hoc age--Be so doing.
4. He is found doing when his Master comes; which intimates, (1.)
Constancy at his work. At what hour soever his Master comes, he is found
busy at the work of the day. Ministers should not leave empty spaces in
their time, lest their Lord should come in one of those empty spaces. As
with a good God the end of one mercy is the beginning of another, so with a
good man, a good minister, the end of one duty is the beginning of another.
When Calvin was persuaded to remit his ministerial labours, he answered,
with some resentment, "What, would you have my Master find me
idle?" (2.) Perseverance in his work till the Lord come. Hold fast
till then, Rev. ii. 25. Continue in these things, 1 Tim. iv. 16;
vi. 14. Endure to the end.
Thirdly, The recompence of reward intended him for this, in three
things.
1. He shall be taken notice of. This is intimated in these words, Who then
is that faithful and wise servant? Which supposes that there are but
few who answer this character; such an interpreter is one of a thousand,
such a faithful and wise steward. Those who thus distinguish
themselves now by humility, diligence, and sincerity in their work, Christ
will in the great day both dignify and distinguish by the glory conferred on
them.
2. He shall be blessed? Blessed is that servant; and Christ's
pronouncing him blessed makes him so. All the dead that die n the Lord are
blessed, Rev. xiv. 13. But there is a peculiar blessedness secured to them
that approve themselves faithful stewards, and are found so doing. Next to
the honour of those who die in the field of battle, suffering for Christ as
the martyrs, is the honour of those that die in the field of service,
ploughing, and sowing, and reaping, for Christ.
3. He shall be preferred (v. 47); He shall make him ruler over all
his goods. The allusion is to the way of great men, who, if the stewards
of their house conduct themselves well in that place, commonly prefer them
to be the managers of their estates; thus Joseph was preferred in the house
of Potiphar, Gen. xxix. 4, 6. But the greatest honour which the kindest
master ever did to his most tried servants in this world, is nothing to that
weight of glory which the Lord Jesus will confer upon his faithful watchful
servants in the world to come. What is here said by a similitude, is the
same that is said more plainly, John xi. 26, Him will my Father honour.
And God's servants, when thus preferred; shall be perfect in wisdom and
holiness to bear that weight of glory, so that there is no danger from these
servants when they reign.
[2.] Concerning the evil servant. Here we have,
First, His description given (v. 48, 49); where we have the
wretch drawn in his own colours. The vilest of creatures is a wicked man,
the vilest of men is a wicked Christian, and the vilest of them a wicked
minister. Corruptio optimi est pessima--What is best, when corrupted,
becomes the worst. Wickedness in the prophets of Jerusalem is a horrible
thing indeed, Jer. xxiii. 14. Here is,
1. The cause of his wickedness; and that is, a practical disbelief of
Christ's second coming; He hath said in his heart, My Lord delays his
coming; and therefore he begins to think he will never come, but has
quite forsaken his church. Observe, (1.) Christ knows that they say
in their hearts, who with their lips cry, Lord, Lord, as this servant
here. (2.) The delay of Christ's coming, though it is a gracious instance of
his patience, is greatly abused by wicked people, whose hearts are thereby
hardened in their wicked ways. When Christ's coming is looked upon as
doubtful, or a thing at an immense distance, the hearts of men are fully
set to do evil, Eccl. viii. 11. See Ezek. xii. 27. They that walk by
sense, are ready to say of the unseen Jesus, as the people did of Moses when
he tarried in the mount upon their errand, We wot not what is become of
him, and therefore up, make us gods, the world a god, the belly a
god, any thing but him that should be.
2. The particulars of his wickedness; and they are sins of the first
magnitude; he is a slave to his passions and his appetites.
(1.) Persecution is here charged upon him. He begins to smite his fellow
servants. Note, [1.] Even the stewards of the house are to look upon all
the servants of the house as their fellow servants, and therefore are
forbidden to lord it over them. If the angel call himself fellow
servant to John (Rev. xix. 10), no marvel if John have learned to call
himself brother to the Christians of the churches of Asia, Rev. i. 9.
[2.] It is no new thing to see evil servants smiting their fellow servants;
both private Christians and faithful ministers. He smites them, either
because they reprove him, or because they will not bow, and do him
reverence; will not say as he saith, and do as he doeth, against their
consciences: he smites them with the tongue, as they smote the prophet, Jer.
xviii. 18. And if he get power into his hand, or can press those into his
service that have, as the ten horns upon the head of the beast, it goes
further. Pashur the priest smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, Jer.
xx. 2. The revolters have often been of all others most profound to make
slaughter, Hos. v. 2. The steward, when he smites his fellow servants,
does it under colour of his Master's authority, and in his name; he says, Let
the Lord be glorified (Isa. lxvi. 5); but he shall know that he could
not put a greater affront upon his Master.
(2.) Profaneness and immorality; He begins to eat and drink with the
drunken. [1.] He associates with the worst of sinners, has fellowship
with them, is intimate with them; he walks in their counsel, stands in their
way, sits in their seat, and sings their songs. The drunken are the merry
and jovial company, and those he is for, and thus he hardens them in their
wickedness. [2.] He does like them; eats, and drinks, and is drunken;
so it is in Luke. This is an inlet to all manner of sin. Drunkenness is a
leading wickedness; they who are slaves to that, are never masters of
themselves in any thing else. The persecutors of God's people have commonly
been the most vicious and immoral men. Persecuting consciences, whatever the
pretensions be, are commonly the most profligate and debauched consciences.
What will not they be drunk with, that will be drunk with the
blood of the saints? Well, this is the description of a wicked minister,
who yet may have the common gifts of learning and utterance above others;
and, as hath been said of some, may preach so well in the pulpit, that it is
a pity he should ever come out, and yet live so ill out of the pulpit, that
it is a pity he should ever come in.
Secondly, His doom read, v. 50, 51. The coat and character of
wicked ministers will not only not secure them from condemnation, but will
greatly aggravate it. They can plead no exemption from Christ's
jurisdiction, whatever they pretend to, in the church of Rome, from that of
the civil magistrate; there is no benefit of clergy at Christ's bar.
Observe,
1. The surprise that will accompany his doom (v. 50); The Lord of
that servant will come. Note, (1.) Our putting off the thoughts of
Christ's coming will not put off his coming. Whatever fancy he deludes
himself with, his Lord will come. The unbelief of man shall not make that
great promise, or threatening (call it which you will), of no effect. (2.)
The coming of Christ will be a most dreadful surprise to secure and careless
sinners, especially to wicked ministers; He shall come in a day when he
looketh not for him. Note, Those that have slighted the warnings of the
word, and silenced those of their own consciences concerning the judgment to
come, cannot expect any other warnings; these will be adjudged sufficient
legal notice given, whether taken or no; and no unfairness can be charged on
Christ, if he come suddenly, without giving other notice. Behold, he has
told us before.
2. The severity of his doom, v. 51. It is not more severe than
righteous, but it is a doom that carries in it utter ruin, wrapt up in two
dreadful words, death and damnation.
(1.) Death. His Lord shall cut him asunder, dikotomhsei
auton, "he shall cut him off from the land of
the living," from the congregation of the righteous, shall separate him
unto evil; which is the definition of a curse (Deut. xxix. 21), shall
cut him down, as a tree that cumbers the ground; perhaps it alludes to the
sentence often used in the law, That soul shall be cut off from his
people; denoting an utter extirpation. Death cuts off a good man, as a
choice imp is cut off to be grafted in a better stock; but it cuts off a
wicked man, as a withered branch is cut off for the fire-cuts him off from
this world, which he set his heart so much upon, and was, as it were, one
with. Or, as we read it, shall cut him asunder, that is, part body
and soul, send the body to the grave to be a prey for worms, and the soul to
hell to be a prey for devils, and there is the sinner cut asunder. The soul
and body of a godly man at death part fairly, the one cheerfully lifted up
to God, the other left to the dust; but the soul and body of a wicked man at
death are cut asunder, torn asunder, for to them death is the king of
terrors, Job xviii. 14. The wicked servant divided himself between God
and the world, Christ and Belial, his profession and his lusts, justly
therefore will he thus be divided.
