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