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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>M A T T H E W.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter, we have,
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I. The favour which Christ did to his countrymen in preaching the
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kingdom of heaven to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:1-2">ver. 1-2</A>.
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He preached to them in parables, and here gives the reason why he chose
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that way of instructing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:10-17">ver. 10-17</A>.
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And the evangelist gives another reason,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:34,35">ver. 34, 35</A>.
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There are eight parables recorded in this chapter, which are designed
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to represent the kingdom of heaven, the method of planting the gospel
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kingdom in the world, and of its growth and success. The great truths
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and laws of that kingdom are in other scriptures laid down plainly, and
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without parables: but some circumstances of its beginning and progress
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are here laid open in parables.
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1. Here is one parable to show what are the great hindrances of
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people's profiting by the word of the gospel, and in how many it comes
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short of its end, through their own folly, and that is the parable of
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the four sorts of ground, delivered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:3-9">ver. 3-9</A>,
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and expounded,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:18-23">ver. 18-23</A>.
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2. Here are two parables intended to show that there would be a mixture
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of good and bad in the gospel church, which would continue till the
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great separation between them in the judgment day: the parable of the
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tares put forth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:24-30">ver. 24-30</A>),
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and expounded at the request of the disciples
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:36-43">ver. 36-43</A>);
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and that of the net cast into the sea,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:47-50">ver. 47-50</A>.
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3. Here are two parables intended to show that the gospel church should
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be very small at first, but that in process of time it should become a
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considerable body: that of the grain of mustard-seed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:31,32">ver. 31, 32</A>),
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and that of the leaven,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:33">ver. 33</A>.
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4. Here are two parables intended to show that those who expect
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salvation by the gospel must be willing to venture all, and quit all,
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in the prospect of it, and that they shall be no losers by the bargain;
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that of the treasure hid in the field
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:44">ver. 44</A>),
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and that of the pearl of great price,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:45,46">ver. 45, 46</A>.
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5. Here is one parable intended for direction to the disciples, to make
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use of the instructions he had given them for the benefit of others;
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and that is the parable of the good householder,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:51,52">ver. 51, 52</A>.
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II. The contempt which his countrymen put upon him on account of the
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meanness of his parentage,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:53-58">ver. 53-58</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Mt13_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Parable of the Sower; Why Christ Taught in Parables; Of the Sower and the Seed.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea
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side.
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2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that
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he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on
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the shore.
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3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
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Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
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4 And when he sowed, some <I>seeds</I> fell by the way side, and the
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fowls came and devoured them up:
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5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:
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and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of
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earth:
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6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they
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had no root, they withered away.
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7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and
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choked them:
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8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,
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some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
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9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
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10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou
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unto them in parables?
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11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
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to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
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not given.
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12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
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more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
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away even that he hath.
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13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing
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see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
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14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which
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saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
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seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
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15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and <I>their</I> ears are
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dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any
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time they should see with <I>their</I> eyes, and hear with <I>their</I>
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ears, and should understand with <I>their</I> heart, and should be
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converted, and I should heal them.
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16 But blessed <I>are</I> your eyes, for they see: and your ears,
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for they hear.
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17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous
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<I>men</I> have desired to see <I>those things</I> which ye see, and have
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not seen <I>them;</I> and to hear <I>those things</I> which ye hear, and
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have not heard <I>them.</I>
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18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
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19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
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understandeth <I>it</I> not, then cometh the wicked <I>one,</I> and
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catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which
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received seed by the way side.
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20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is
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he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
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21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for
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when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by
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and by he is offended.
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22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that
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heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the
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deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
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unfruitful.
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23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
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heareth the word, and understandeth <I>it;</I> which also beareth
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fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
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thirty.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here Christ preaching, and may observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. <I>When</I> Christ preached this sermon; it was the same day that he
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preached the sermon in the foregoing chapter: so unwearied was he in
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doing good, and working the works of him that sent him. Note, Christ
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was for preaching both ends of the day, and has by his example
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recommended that practice to his church; we must <I>in the morning sow
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our seed, and in the evening not withhold our hand,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+11:6">Eccl. xi. 6</A>.
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An afternoon sermon well heard, will be so far from driving out the
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morning sermon, that it will rather clench it, and fasten the nail in a
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sure place. Though Christ had been in the morning opposed and cavilled
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at by his enemies, disturbed and interrupted by his friends, yet he
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went on with his work; and in the latter part of the day, we do not
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find that he met with such discouragements. Those who with courage and
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zeal break through difficulties in God's service, will perhaps find
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them not so apt to recur as they fear. Resist them, and they will
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flee.</P>
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<P>
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2. <I>To whom</I> he preached; there were <I>great multitudes gathered
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together to him,</I> and they were the auditors; we do not find that
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any of the scribes or Pharisees were present. They were willing to hear
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him when he preached in the synagogue
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:9,14"><I>ch.</I> xii. 9, 14</A>),
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but they thought it below them to hear a sermon by the sea-side, though
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Christ himself was the preacher: and truly he had better have their
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room than their company, for now they were absent, he went on quietly
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and without contradiction. Note, Sometimes there is most of the
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<I>power</I> of religion where there is least of the <I>pomp</I> of it:
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<I>the poor receive the gospel.</I> When Christ went to the
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<I>sea-side, multitudes</I> were presently <I>gathered together to
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him.</I> Where the king is, there is the court; where Christ is, there
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is the church, though it be by the sea-side. Note, Those who would get
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good by the word, must be willing to follow it in all its removes; when
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the ark shifts, shift after it. The Pharisees had been labouring, by
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base calumnies and suggestions, to drive the people off from following
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Christ, but they still flocked after him as much as ever. Note, Christ
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will be glorified in spite of all opposition; he will be followed.</P>
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<P>
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3. <I>Where</I> he preached this sermon.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) His meeting-place was the sea-side. He went out of the house
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(because there was no room for the auditory) into the open air. It was
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pity but such a Preacher should have had the most spacious, sumptuous,
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and convenient place to preach in, that could be devised, like one of
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the Roman theatres; but he was now in his state of humiliation, and in
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this, as in other things, he denied himself the honours due to him; as
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he had not a house of his own to live in, so he had not a chapel of his
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own to preach in. By this he teaches us in the external circumstances
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of worship not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of
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the conveniences which God in his providence allots to us. When Christ
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was born, he was crowded into the stable, and now to the sea-side, upon
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the strand, where all persons might come to him with freedom. He that
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was truth itself sought no corners (no <I>adyta</I>), as the pagan
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mysteries did. <I>Wisdom crieth without,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:20,Joh+13:20">Prov. i. 20; John xiii. 20</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) His pulpit was a ship; not like Ezra's pulpit, that was <I>made
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for the purpose</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+8:4">Neh. viii. 4</A>);
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but converted to this use for want of a better. No place amiss for such
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a Preacher, whose presence dignified and consecrated any place: let not
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those who preach Christ be ashamed, though they have mean and
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inconvenient places to preach in. Some observe, that the people stood
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upon dry ground and firm ground, while the Preacher was upon the water
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in more hazard. Ministers are most exposed to trouble. Here was a true
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rostrum, a ship pulpit.</P>
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<P>
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4. <I>What</I> and <I>how</I> he preached.
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(1.) <I>He spake many things unto them.</I> Many more it is likely than
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are here recorded, but all excellent and necessary things, things that
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belong to our peace, things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven: they
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were not trifles, but things of everlasting consequence, that Christ
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spoke of. It concerns us to give a more earnest heed, when Christ has
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so many things to say to us, that we miss not any of them.
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(2.) What he spake was in parables. A parable sometimes signifies any
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wise, weighty saying that is instructive; but here in the gospels it
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generally signifies a continued similitude or comparison, by which
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spiritual or heavenly things were described in language borrowed from
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the things of this life. It was a way of teaching used very much, not
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only by the Jewish rabbin, but by the Arabians, and the other wise men
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of the east; and it was found very profitable, and the more so from its
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being pleasant. Our Saviour used it much, and in it condescended to the
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capacities of people, and lisped to them in their own language. God had
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long <I>used similitudes by his servants the prophets</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:10">Hos. xii. 10</A>),
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and to little purpose; now he uses similitudes by his Son; surely they
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will reverence him who speaks from heaven, and of heavenly things, and
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yet clothes them with expressions borrowed from things earthly. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:12">John iii. 12</A>.
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So descending in a cloud. Now,</P>
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<P>
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I. We have here the general reason why Christ taught in parables. The
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disciples were a little surprised at it, for hitherto, in his
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preaching, he had not much used them, and therefore they ask, <I>Why
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speakest thou to them in parables?</I> Because they were truly desirous
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that the people might hear with understanding. They do not say, Why
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speakest thou to <I>us?</I> (they knew how to get the parables
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explained) but to <I>them.</I> Note, We ought to be concerned for the
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edification of others, as well as for our own, by the word preached;
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and if ourselves be <I>strong,</I> yet to <I>bear the infirmities of
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the weak.</I></P>
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<P>
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To this question Christ answers largely,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:11-17"><I>v.</I> 11-17</A>,
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where he tells them, that <I>therefore</I> he preached by parables,
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because thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to them
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who were willingly ignorant; and thus the gospel would be <I>a savour
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of life</I> to some, and <I>of death</I> to others. A parable, like the
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pillar of cloud and fire, turns a dark side towards Egyptians, which
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confounds them, but a light side towards Israelites, which comforts
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them, and so answers a double intention. The same light directs the
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eyes of some, but dazzles the eyes of others. Now,</P>
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<P>
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1. This reason is laid down
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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<I>Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
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heaven, but to them it is not given.</I> That is,
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(1.) The disciples had knowledge, but the people had not. You know
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already something of these mysteries, and need not in this familiar way
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to be instructed; but the people are ignorant, are yet but babes, and
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must be taught as such by plain similitudes, being yet incapable of
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receiving instruction in any other way: for though they have eyes, they
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know not how to use them; so some. Or,
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(2.) The disciples were well inclined to the knowledge of gospel
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mysteries, and would search into the parables, and by them would be led
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into a more intimate acquaintance with those mysteries; but the carnal
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hearers that rested in bare hearing, and would not be at the pains to
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look further, nor to ask the meaning of the parables, would be never
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the wiser, and so would justly suffer for their remissions. A parable
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is a shell that keeps good fruit <I>for</I> the diligent, but keeps it
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<I>from</I> the slothful. Note, There are mysteries in the kingdom of
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heaven, and <I>without controversy, great is the mystery of
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godliness:</I> Christ's incarnation, satisfaction, intercession, our
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justification and sanctification by union with Christ, and indeed the
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whole work of redemption, from first to last, are <I>mysteries,</I>
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which could never have been discovered but by divine revelation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:51">1 Cor. xv. 51</A>),
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were at this time discovered but in part to the disciples, and will
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never be fully discovered till the veil shall be rent; but the
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mysteriousness of gospel truth should not discourage us from, but
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|
quicken us in, our enquiries after it and searches into it.
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is graciously given to the disciples of Christ to be acquainted
|
|
with these mysteries. Knowledge is the first gift of God, and it is a
|
|
distinguishing gift
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:6">Prov. ii. 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
it was given to the apostles, because they were Christ's constant
|
|
followers and attendants. Note, The nearer we draw to Christ, and the
|
|
more we converse with him, the better acquainted we shall be with
|
|
gospel mysteries.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is given to all true believers, who have an experimental
|
|
knowledge of the gospel mysteries, and that is without doubt the best
|
|
knowledge: a principle of grace in the heart, is that which makes men
|
|
of quick understanding in <I>the fear of the Lord,</I> and in the faith
|
|
of Christ, and so in the meaning of parables; and for want of that,
|
|
Nicodemus, a master in Israel, talked of the <I>new birth</I> as a
|
|
blind man of colours.
|
|
|
|
[3.] There are those to <I>whom this knowledge is not given,</I> and a
|
|
man can <I>receive nothing unless it be given him from above</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:27">John iii. 27</A>);
|
|
|
|
and be it remembered that God is debtor to no man; his grace is his
|
|
own; he gives or withholds it at pleasure
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:35">Rom. xi. 35</A>);
|
|
|
|
the difference must be resolved into God's sovereignty, as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:25,26"><I>ch.</I> xi. 25, 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. This reason is further illustrated by the rule God observes in
|
|
dispensing his gifts; he bestows them on those who improve them, but
|
|
takes them away from those who bury them. It is a rule among men, that
|
|
they will rather entrust their money with those who have increased
|
|
their estates by their industry, than with those who have diminished
|
|
them by their slothfulness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Here is a promise to him that has, that has true grace, pursuant
|
|
to the election of grace, that has, and uses what he has; he shall have
|
|
more abundance: God's favours are earnests of further favours; where he
|
|
lays the foundation, he will build upon it. Christ's disciples used the
|
|
knowledge they now had, and they had more abundance at the pouring out
|
|
of the Spirit,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+2:1-13">Acts ii.</A>.
|
|
|
|
They who have the <I>truth</I> of grace, shall have the <I>increase</I>
|
|
of grace, even to an abundance in glory,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:18">Prov. iv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Joseph--he will add,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:24">Gen. xxx. 24</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Here is a threatening to him that has not, that has no desire of
|
|
grace, that makes no right use of the gifts and graces he has: has not
|
|
root, no solid principle; that has, but uses not what he has; from him
|
|
shall be <I>taken away</I> that which he has or seems to have. His
|
|
leaves shall wither, his gifts decay; the means of grace he has, and
|
|
makes no use of, shall be taken from him; God will <I>call in</I> his
|
|
talents out of their hands that are likely to become bankrupts
|
|
quickly.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. This reason is particularly explained, with reference to the two
|
|
sorts of people Christ had to do with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Some were willingly ignorant; and such were amused by the parables
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>because they seeing, see not.</I> They had shut their eyes against
|
|
the clear light of Christ's plainer preaching, and therefore were now
|
|
left in the dark. Seeing Christ's person, they see not his glory, see
|
|
no difference between him and another man; seeing his miracles, and
|
|
hearing his preaching, they see not, they hear not with any concern or
|
|
application; they understand neither. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There are many that see the gospel light, and hear the gospel
|
|
sound, but it never reaches their hearts, nor has it any place in them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is just with God to take away the light from those who shut
|
|
their eyes against it; that such as will be ignorant, may be so; and
|
|
God's dealing thus with them magnifies his distinguishing grace to his
|
|
disciples.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now in this the scripture would be fulfilled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is quoted from
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:9,10">Isa. vi. 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The evangelical prophet that spoke most plainly of gospel grace,
|
|
foretold the contempt of it, and the consequences of that contempt. It
|
|
is referred to no less than six times in the New Testament, which
|
|
intimates, that in gospel times spiritual judgments would be most
|
|
common, which make least noise, but are most dreadful. That which was
|
|
spoken of the sinners in Isaiah's time was fulfilled in those in
|
|
Christ's time, and it is still fulfilling every day; for while the
|
|
wicked heart of man keeps up the same sin, the righteous hand of God
|
|
inflicts the same punishment. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First.</I> A description of sinners' wilful blindness and hardness,
|
|
which is their sin. <I>This people's heart is waxed gross;</I> it is
|
|
<I>fattened,</I> so the word is; which denotes both sensuality and
|
|
senselessness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:70">Ps. cxix. 70</A>);
|
|
|
|
secure under the word and rod of God, and scornful as Jeshurun, that
|
|
<I>waxed fat and kicked,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:15">Deut. xxxii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
And when the heart is thus heavy, no wonder that the ears are dull of
|
|
hearing; the whispers of the Spirit they hear not at all; the loud
|
|
calls of the word, though the word be nigh them, they regard not, nor
|
|
are at all affected by them: <I>they stop their ears,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+58:4,5">Ps. lviii. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
And because they are resolved to be ignorant, they shut both the
|
|
learning senses; for their eyes also they have closed, resolved that
|
|
they would not see light come into the world, when the Son of
|
|
Righteousness arose, but they shut their windows, because they <I>loved
|
|
darkness rather than light,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:19,2Pe+3:5">John iii. 19; 2 Pet. iii. 5</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> A description of that judicial blindness, which is the
|
|
just punishment of this. "<I>By hearing, ye shall hear, and shall not
|
|
understand;</I> what means of grace you have, shall be to no purpose to
|
|
you; though, in mercy to others, they are continued, yet in judgment to
|
|
you, the blessing upon them is denied." The saddest condition a man can
|
|
be in on this side hell, is to sit under the most lively ordinances
|
|
with a dead, stupid, untouched heart. To hear God's word, and see his
|
|
providences, and yet not to understand and perceive his will, either in
|
|
the one or in the other, is the greatest sin and the greatest judgment
|
|
that can be. Observe, It is God's work to <I>give an understanding
|
|
heart,</I> and he often, in a way of righteous judgment, denies it to
|
|
those to whom he has given the hearing ear, and the seeing eye, in
|
|
vain. Thus does God choose sinners' delusions
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:4">Isa. lxvi. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and bind them over to the greatest ruin, by giving them up to their own
|
|
hearts' lusts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+81:11,12">Ps. lxxxi. 11, 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>let them alone</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:17">Hos. iv. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>my Spirit shall not always strive,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:3">Gen. vi. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> The woeful effect and consequence of this; <I>Lest at
|
|
any time they should see.</I> They will not see because they will not
|
|
turn; and God says that they shall not see, because they shall not
|
|
turn: <I>lest they should be converted, and I should heal them.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. That seeing, hearing, and understanding, are necessary to
|
|
conversion; for God, in working grace, deals with men as men, as
|
|
rational agents; he draws with the cords of a man, changes the heart by
|
|
opening the eyes, and turns <I>from the power of Satan unto God,</I> by
|
|
turning first <I>from darkness to light,</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:18">Acts xxvi. 18</A>).
|
|
|
|
2. All those who are truly converted to God, shall certainly be healed
|
|
by him. "If they be converted I shall heal them, I shall save them:" so
|
|
that if sinners perish, it is not to be imputed to God, but to
|
|
themselves; they foolishly expected to be healed, without being
|
|
converted.
|
|
|
|
3. It is just with God to deny his grace to those who have long and
|
|
often refused the proposals of it, and resisted the power of it.
|
|
Pharaoh, for a good while, hardened his own heart
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+8:15,32">Exod. viii. 15, 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
and afterwards God hardened it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:12,10:20"><I>ch.</I> ix. 12; x. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us therefore fear, lest by sinning against the divine grace, we sin
|
|
it away.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Others were effectually called to be the disciples of Christ, and
|
|
were truly desirous to be taught of him; and they were instructed, and
|
|
made to improve greatly in knowledge, by these parables, especially
|
|
when they were expounded; and by them the things of God were made more
|
|
plain and easy, more intelligible and familiar, and more apt to be
|
|
remembered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>).
|
|
|
|
<I>Your eyes see, your ears hear.</I> They saw the glory of God in
|
|
Christ's person; they heard the mind of God in Christ's doctrine; they
|
|
saw much, and were desirous to see more, and thereby were prepared to
|
|
receive further instruction; they had opportunity for it, by being
|
|
constant attendants on Christ, and they should have it from day to day,
|
|
and grace with it. Now this Christ speaks of,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] As a blessing; "<I>Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your
|
|
ears for they hear;</I> it is your happiness, and it is a happiness for
|
|
which you are indebted to the peculiar favour and blessing of God." It
|
|
is a promised blessing, that in the days of the Messiah <I>the eyes of
|
|
them that see shall not be dim,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:3">Isa. xxxii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
The eyes of the meanest believer that knows experimentally the grace of
|
|
Christ, are more blessed than those of the greatest scholars, the
|
|
greatest masters in experimental philosophy, that are strangers to God;
|
|
who, like the other gods they serve, <I>have eyes, and see not. Blessed
|
|
are your eyes.</I> Note, True blessedness is entailed upon the right
|
|
understanding and due improvement of the mysteries of the kingdom of
|
|
God. The hearing ear and the seeing eye are God's work in those who are
|
|
sanctified; they are the work of his grace
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+20:12">Prov. xx. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they are a blessed work, which shall be fulfilled with power, when
|
|
those who <I>now see through a glass darkly, shall see face to
|
|
face.</I> It was to illustrate this blessedness that Christ said so
|
|
much of the misery of those who are left in ignorance; <I>they have
|
|
eyes and see not;</I> but <I>blessed are your eyes.</I> Note, The
|
|
knowledge of Christ is a distinguishing favour to those who have it,
|
|
and upon that account it lays under the greater obligations; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:22">John xiv. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The apostles were to teach others, and therefore were themselves
|
|
blessed with the clearest discoveries of divine truth. <I>The watchmen
|
|
shall see eye to eye,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:8">Isa. lii. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] As a transcendent blessing, desired by, but not granted to, many
|
|
prophets and righteous men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Old-Testament saints, who had some glimpses, some glimmerings of
|
|
gospel light, coveted earnestly further discoveries. They had the
|
|
types, shadows, and prophecies, of those things but longed to see the
|
|
Substance, that glorious end of those things which they could not
|
|
steadfastly look unto; that glorious inside of those things which they
|
|
could not look into. They desired to see the great Salvation, the
|
|
Consolation of Israel, but did not see it, because the fulness of time
|
|
was not yet come. Note, <I>First,</I> Those who know something of
|
|
Christ, cannot but covet to know more. <I>Secondly,</I> The
|
|
discoveries of divine grace are made, even to prophets and righteous
|
|
men, but according to the dispensation they are under. Though they were
|
|
the favourites of heaven, with whom God's secret was, yet they have not
|
|
seen the things which they desired to see, because God had determined
|
|
not to bring them to light yet; and his favours shall not anticipate
|
|
his counsels. There was then, as there is still, a <I>glory to be
|
|
revealed;</I> something in reserve, <I>that they without us should not
|
|
be made perfect,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:40">Heb. xi. 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> For the exciting of our thankfulness, and the
|
|
quickening of our diligence, it is good for us to consider what means
|
|
we enjoy, and what discoveries are made to us, now under the gospel,
|
|
above what they had, and enjoyed, who lived under the Old-Testament
|
|
dispensation, especially in the revelation of the atonement for sin;
|
|
see what are the advantages of the New Testament above the Old
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:7,Heb+12:18">2 Cor. iii. 7, &c. Heb. xii. 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
and see that our improvements be proportionable to our advantages.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. We have, in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:1-23">these verses</A>,
|
|
|
|
one of the parables which our Saviour put forth; it is that of the
|
|
<I>sower and the seed;</I> both the parable itself, and the explanation
|
|
of it. Christ's parables are borrowed from common, ordinary things, not
|
|
from any philosophical notions or speculations, or the unusual
|
|
phenomena of nature, though applicable enough to the matter in hand,
|
|
but from the most obvious things, that are of every day's observation,
|
|
and come within the reach of the meanest capacity; many of them are
|
|
fetched from the husbandman's calling, as this of the sower, and that
|
|
of the tares. Christ chose to do thus,
|
|
|
|
1. That spiritual things might hereby be made more plain, and, by
|
|
familiar similitudes, might be made the more easy to slide into our
|
|
understandings.
|
|
|
|
2. That common actions might hereby be spiritualized, and we might take
|
|
occasion from those things which fall so often under our view, to
|
|
meditate with delight on the things of God; and thus, when our hands
|
|
are busiest about the world, we may not only notwithstanding that, but
|
|
even with the help of that, be led to have our hearts in heaven. Thus
|
|
the word of God shall talk with us, talk familiarly with us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:22">Prov. vi. 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The parable of the sower is plain enough,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:3-9"><I>v.</I> 3-9</A>.
|
|
|
|
The exposition of it we have from Christ himself, who knew best what
|
|
was his own meaning. The disciples, when they asked, <I>Why speakest
|
|
thou unto them in parables?</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimated a desire to have the parable explained for the sake of the
|
|
people; nor was it any disparagement to their own knowledge to desire
|
|
it for themselves. Our Lord Jesus kindly took the hint, and gave the
|
|
sense, and caused them to understand the parable, directing his
|
|
discourse to the disciples, but in the hearing of the multitude, for we
|
|
have not the account of his dismissing them till
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
you have heard it, but let us go over it again." Note, It is of good
|
|
use, and would contribute much to our understanding the word and
|
|
profiting by it, to hear over again what we have heard
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:1">Phil. iii. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
"You have heard it, but hear the interpretation of it." Note,
|
|
<I>Then</I> only we hear the word aright, and to good purpose, when we
|
|
understand what we hear; it is no hearing at all, if it be not with
|
|
understanding,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+8:2">Neh. viii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is God's grace indeed that gives the understanding, but it is our
|
|
duty to give our minds to understand.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Let us therefore compare the parable and the exposition.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The seed sown is the word of God, here called <I>the word of the
|
|
kingdom</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
the kingdom of heaven, that is the kingdom; the kingdoms of the world,
|
|
compared with that, are not to be called kingdoms. The gospel comes
|
|
<I>from</I> that kingdom, and conducts <I>to</I> that kingdom; the word
|
|
of the gospel is the word of the kingdom; it is the word of the King,
|
|
and where that is, <I>there is power;</I> it is a law, by which we must
|
|
be ruled and governed. This word is the seed sown, which seems a dead,
|
|
dry thing, but all the product is virtually in it. It is
|
|
<I>incorruptible seed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:23">1 Pet. i. 23</A>);
|
|
|
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it is the gospel that <I>brings forth fruit</I> in souls,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:5,6">Col. i. 5, 6</A>.</P>
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|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The sower that scatters the seed is our Lord Jesus Christ, either
|
|
by himself, or by his ministers; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
The people are God's husbandry, his tillage, so the word is; and
|
|
ministers are <I>labourers together with God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:9">1 Cor. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
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Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it must
|
|
light; only see that it be good, that it be clean, and be sure to give
|
|
it seed enough. The sowing of the word is the sowing of a people for
|
|
God's field, the <I>corn of his floor,</I>
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:10">Isa. xxi. 10</A>.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
(3.) The ground in which this seed is sown is the hearts of the
|
|
children of men, which are differently qualified and disposed, and
|
|
accordingly the success of the word is different. Note, Man's heart is
|
|
like soil, capable of improvement, of bearing good fruit; it is pity it
|
|
should lie fallow, or be like the field of the slothful,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:30">Prov. xxiv. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
The soul is the proper place for the word of God to dwell, and work,
|
|
and rule in; its operation is upon conscience, it is to light that
|
|
candle of the Lord. Now according as we are, so the word is to us:
|
|
<I>Recipitur ad modum recipientis--The reception depends upon the
|
|
receiver.</I> As it is with the earth; some sort of ground, take ever
|
|
so much pains with it, and throw ever so good seed into it, yet it
|
|
brings forth no fruit to any purpose; while the good soil brings forth
|
|
plentifully: so it is with the hearts of men, whose different
|
|
characters are here represented by four sorts of ground, of which
|
|
<I>three</I> are bad, and but <I>one</I> good. Note, The number of
|
|
fruitless hearers is very great, even of those who heard Christ
|
|
himself. <I>Who has believed our report?</I> It is a melancholy
|
|
prospect which this parable gives us of the congregations of those who
|
|
hear the gospel preached, that scarcely one in four brings forth fruit
|
|
to perfection. Many are called with the common call, but in few is the
|
|
eternal choice evidenced by the efficacy of that call,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+20:16"><I>ch.</I> xx. 16</A>.</P>
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|
<P>
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|
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|
Now observe the characters of these four sorts of ground.</P>
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|
<P>
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[1.] The highway ground,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:4-10"><I>v.</I> 4-10</A>.
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|
|
They had pathways through their corn-fields
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:1"><I>ch.</I> xii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the seed that fell on them never entered, and so the birds picked
|
|
it up. The place where Christ's hearers now stood represented the
|
|
characters of most of them, the sand on the sea-shore, which was to the
|
|
seed like the highway ground.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe <I>First,</I> What kind of hearers are compared to <I>the
|
|
highway ground;</I> such as <I>hear the word and understand it not;</I>
|
|
and it is their own fault that they do not. They take no heed to it,
|
|
take no hold of it; they do not come with any design to get good, as
|
|
the highway was never intended to be sown. They <I>come before God as
|
|
his people come, and sit before his as his people sit;</I> but it is
|
|
merely for fashion-sake, to see and be seen; they mind not what is
|
|
said, it comes in at one ear and goes out at the other, and makes no
|
|
impression.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> How they come to be unprofitable hearers. The
|
|
<I>wicked one,</I> that is, the devil, <I>cometh and catcheth away that
|
|
which was sown.</I>--Such mindless, careless, trifling hearers are an
|
|
easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is
|
|
the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, if
|
|
we take not care to keep it: as the birds pick up the seed that falls
|
|
on the ground that is neither ploughed before nor harrowed after. If we
|
|
break not up the fallow ground, by preparing our hearts for the word,
|
|
and humbling them to it, and engaging our own attention; and if we
|
|
cover not the seed afterwards, by meditation and prayer; if we give not
|
|
a <I>more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,</I> we are as
|
|
the highway ground. Note, The devil is a sworn enemy to our profiting
|
|
by the word of God; and none do more befriend his design than heedless
|
|
hearers, who are thinking of something else, when they should be
|
|
thinking of the things that belong to their peace.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The <I>stony ground. Some fell upon stony places</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
which represents the case of hearers that go further than the former,
|
|
who receive some good impressions of the word, but they are not
|
|
lasting,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, It is possible we may be a great deal better than some others,
|
|
and yet not be so good as we should be; may go beyond our neighbours,
|
|
and yet come short of heaven. Now observe, concerning these hearers
|
|
that are represented by the stony ground,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> How far they went.
|
|
|
|
1. They <I>hear the word;</I> they turn neither their backs upon it,
|
|
nor a deaf ear to it. Note, hearing the word, though ever so
|
|
frequently, ever so gravely, if we rest in that, will never bring us to
|
|
heaven.
|
|
|
|
2. They are <I>quick in hearing,</I> swift to hear, <I>he anon
|
|
receiveth it,</I> <B><I>euthys</I></B>, he is ready to receive it,
|
|
<I>forthwith it sprung up</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
it sooner appeared above ground than that which was sown in the good
|
|
soil. Note, Hypocrites often get the start of true Christians in the
|
|
shows of profession, and are often too hot to hold. He <I>receiveth it
|
|
straightway,</I> without trying it; swallows it without chewing, and
|
|
then there can never be a good digestion. Those are most likely to
|
|
<I>hold fast that which is good,</I> that <I>prove all things,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+5:21">1 Thess. v. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. They receive it with joy. Note, There are many that are very glad to
|
|
hear a good sermon, that yet do not profit by it; they may be pleased
|
|
with the word, and yet not changed and ruled by it; the heart may melt
|
|
under the word, and yet not be melted down by the word, much less into
|
|
it, as into a mould. Many <I>taste the good word of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:5">Heb. vi. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
and say they find sweetness in it, but some beloved lust is <I>rolled
|
|
under the tongue,</I> which it would not agree with, and so they spit
|
|
it out again.
|
|
|
|
4. They <I>endure for awhile,</I> like a violent motion, which
|
|
continues as long as the impression of the force remains, but ceases
|
|
when that has spent itself. Note, Many endure for awhile, that do not
|
|
endure to the end, and so come short of the happiness which is promised
|
|
to them only that persevere
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:22"><I>ch.</I> x. 22</A>);
|
|
|
|
they did run well, but something hindered them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+5:7">Gal. v. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> How they fell away, so that no fruit was brought to
|
|
perfection; no more than the corn, that having no depth of earth from
|
|
which to draw moisture, is scorched and withered by the heat of the
|
|
sun. And the reason is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They have <I>no root in themselves,</I> no settled, fixed principles
|
|
in their judgments, no firm resolution in their wills, nor any rooted
|
|
habits in their affections: nothing firm that will be either the sap or
|
|
the strength of their profession. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is possible there may be the green blade of a profession, where
|
|
yet there is not the root of grace; hardness prevails in the heart, and
|
|
what there is of soil and softness is only in the surface; inwardly
|
|
they are no more affected than a stone; they have no root, they are not
|
|
by faith united to Christ who is our Root; they derive not from him,
|
|
they depend not on him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Where there is not a principle, though there be a profession, we
|
|
cannot expect perseverance. Those who have no root will endure but
|
|
awhile. A ship without ballast, though she may at first out-sail the
|
|
laden vessel, yet will certainly fail in stress of weather, and never
|
|
make her port.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Times of trial come, and then they come to nothing. <I>When
|
|
tribulation and persecution arise because of the word, he is
|
|
offended;</I> it is a stumbling-block in his way which he cannot get
|
|
over, and so he flies off, and this is all his profession comes to.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) After a fair gale of opportunity usually follows a storm of
|
|
persecution, to try who have received the word in sincerity, and who
|
|
have not. When the word of Christ's kingdom comes to be the word of
|
|
Christ's patience
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:10">Rev. iii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
then is the trial, who keeps it, and who does not,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+1:9">Rev. i. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is wisdom to prepare for such a day.
|
|
|
|
(2.) When trying times come, those who have no root are soon offended;
|
|
they first quarrel with their profession, and then quit it; first find
|
|
fault with it, and then throw it off. Hence we read of <I>the offence
|
|
of the cross,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+5:11">Gal. v. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe, Persecution is represented in the parable by <I>the scorching
|
|
sun,</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
the same sun which warms and cherishes that which was well rooted,
|
|
withers and burns up that which wanted root. As the word of Christ, so
|
|
the cross of Christ, is to some <I>a savour of life unto life,</I> to
|
|
others <I>a savour of death unto death:</I> the same tribulation which
|
|
drives some to apostasy and ruin, works for others <I>a far more
|
|
exceeding and eternal weight of glory.</I> Trials which shake some,
|
|
confirm others,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:12">Phil. i. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe how soon they fall away, by and by; as soon rotten as they were
|
|
ripe; a profession taken up without consideration is commonly let fall
|
|
without it: "Lightly come, lightly go."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] The thorny ground, <I>Some fell among thorns</I> (which are a good
|
|
guard to the corn when they are in the hedge, but a bad inmate when
|
|
they are in the field); <I>and the thorns sprung up,</I> which
|
|
intimates that they did not appear, or but little, when the corn was
|
|
sown, but afterwards they proved choking to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
This went further than the former, for it had root; and it represents
|
|
the condition of those who do not quite cast off their profession, and
|
|
yet come short of any saving benefit by it; the good they gain by the
|
|
word, being insensibly overcome and overborne by the things of the
|
|
world. Prosperity destroys the word in the heart, as much as
|
|
persecution does; and more dangerously, because more silently: the
|
|
stones spoiled the root, the thorns spoil the fruit.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now what are these choking thorns?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First, The cares of this world.</I> Care for another world would
|
|
quicken the springing of this seed, but care for this world chokes it.
|
|
Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came in with sin,
|
|
and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their place to stop a
|
|
gap, but a man must be well armed that deals much in them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:6,7">2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and <I>their end is to be
|
|
burned,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:8">Heb. vi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
These thorns choke the good seed. Note, Worldly cares are great
|
|
hindrances to our profiting by the word of God, and our proficiency in
|
|
religion. They eat up that vigour of soul which should be spent in
|
|
divine things; divert us from duty, distract us in duty, and do us most
|
|
mischief of all afterwards; quenching the sparks of good affections,
|
|
and bursting the cords of good resolutions; those who <I>are careful
|
|
and cumbered about many things,</I> commonly neglect <I>the one thing
|
|
needful.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The deceitfulness of riches. Those who, by their care
|
|
and industry, have raised estates, and so the danger that arises from
|
|
care seems to be over, and they <I>continue hearers of the word,</I>
|
|
yet are still in a snare
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:4,5">Jer. v. 4, 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is <I>hard for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven:</I> they
|
|
are apt to promise themselves that in riches which is not in them; to
|
|
rely upon them, and to take an inordinate complacency in them; and this
|
|
chokes the word as much as care did. Observe, It is not so much riches,
|
|
as <I>the deceitfulness of riches,</I> that does the mischief: now they
|
|
cannot be said to be deceitful to us unless we put our confidence in
|
|
them, and raise our expectations from them, and then it is that they
|
|
choke the good seed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[4.] The good ground
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>Others fell into good ground,</I> and it is pity but that good seed
|
|
should always meet with good soil, and then there is no loss; such are
|
|
<I>good hearers of the word,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Though there are many that <I>receive the grace of God,</I> and
|
|
the word of his grace, <I>in vain,</I> yet God has a remnant by whom it
|
|
is received to good purpose; for God's <I>word shall not return
|
|
empty,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:10,11">Isa. lv. 10, 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now that which distinguished this good ground from the rest, was, in
|
|
one word, fruitfulness. By <I>this</I> true Christians are
|
|
distinguished from hypocrites, that they <I>bring forth the fruits of
|
|
righteousness; so shall ye be my disciples,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:8">John xv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does not say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no
|
|
thorns; but there were none that prevailed to hinder its fruitfulness.
|
|
Saints, in this world, are not perfectly free from the remains of sin;
|
|
but happily freed from the reign of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The hearers represented by the good ground are,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> Intelligent hearers; they <I>hear the word and understand
|
|
it;</I> they understand not only the sense and meaning of the word, but
|
|
their own concern in it; they understand it as a man of business
|
|
understands his business. God in his word deals with men as men, in a
|
|
rational way, and gains possession of the will and affections by
|
|
opening the understanding: whereas Satan, who is <I>a thief and a
|
|
robber, comes not in by</I> that <I>door, but climbeth up another
|
|
way.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Fruitful hearers, which is an evidence of their good
|
|
understanding: which <I>also beareth fruit.</I> Fruit is to every seed
|
|
its own body, a substantial product in the heart and life, agreeable to
|
|
the seed of the word received. We <I>then</I> bear fruit, when we
|
|
practise according to the word; when the temper of our minds and the
|
|
tenour of our lives are conformable to the gospel we have received, and
|
|
we do as we are taught.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> Not all alike fruitful; <I>some a hundred-fold, some
|
|
sixty, some thirty.</I> Note, Among fruitful Christians, some are more
|
|
fruitful than others: where there is true grace, yet there are degrees
|
|
of it; some are of greater attainments in knowledge and holiness than
|
|
others; all Christ's scholars are not in the same form. We should aim
|
|
at the highest degree, to bring <I>forth a hundred-fold,</I> as Isaac's
|
|
ground did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+26:12">Gen. xxvi. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>abounding in the work of the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:8">John xv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
But if the ground be good, and the fruit right, the heart honest, and
|
|
the life of a piece with it, those who bring forth but thirty-fold
|
|
shall be graciously accepted of God, and it will be fruit abounding to
|
|
their account, for <I>we are under grace, and not under the
|
|
law.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_31"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Mt13_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_36"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_37"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_38"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_39"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_40"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_41"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_42"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_43"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Parable of the Tares, the Mustard-Seed, the Leaven, &c..</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom
|
|
of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his
|
|
field:
|
|
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
|
|
the wheat, and went his way.
|
|
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit,
|
|
then appeared the tares also.
|
|
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him,
|
|
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then
|
|
hath it tares?
|
|
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants
|
|
said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
|
|
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root
|
|
up also the wheat with them.
|
|
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of
|
|
harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the
|
|
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the
|
|
wheat into my barn.
|
|
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom
|
|
of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took,
|
|
and sowed in his field:
|
|
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is
|
|
grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so
|
|
that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
|
|
33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is
|
|
like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures
|
|
of meal, till the whole was leavened.
|
|
34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables;
|
|
and without a parable spake he not unto them:
|
|
35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
|
|
saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things
|
|
which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
|
|
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house:
|
|
and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the
|
|
parable of the tares of the field.
|
|
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
|
|
is the Son of man;
|
|
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of
|
|
the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked <I>one;</I>
|
|
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the
|
|
end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
|
|
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire;
|
|
so shall it be in the end of this world.
|
|
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
|
|
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
|
|
do iniquity;
|
|
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
|
|
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
|
|
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
|
|
kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses, we have,
|
|
|
|
I. Another reason given why Christ preached by parables,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>All these things he spoke in parables,</I> because the time was not
|
|
yet come for the more clear and plain discoveries of the mysteries of
|
|
the kingdom. Christ, to keep the people attending and expecting,
|
|
preached in <I>parables, and without a parable spake he not unto
|
|
them;</I> namely, at this time and in this sermon. Note, Christ tries
|
|
all ways and methods to do good to the souls of men, and to make
|
|
impressions upon them; if men will not be instructed and influenced by
|
|
plain preaching, he will try them with parables; and the reason here
|
|
given is, <I>That the scripture might be fulfilled.</I> The passage
|
|
here quoted for it, is part of the preface to that historical Psalm,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:2">lxxviii. 2</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I will open my mouth in a parable.</I> What the Psalmist
|
|
David, or Asaph, says there of his narrative, is accommodated to
|
|
Christ's sermons; and that great precedent would serve to vindicate
|
|
this way of preaching from the offence which some took at it. Here is,
|
|
|
|
1. The matter of Christ's preaching; he preached <I>things which had
|
|
been kept secret from the foundation of the world.</I> The mystery of
|
|
the gospel had been <I>hid in God,</I> in his councils and decrees,
|
|
<I>from the beginning of the world.</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:9">Eph. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:25,1Co+2:7,Col+1:26">Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Cor. ii. 7; Col. i. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we delight in the records of ancient things, and in the revelation
|
|
of secret things, how welcome should the gospel be to us, which has in
|
|
it such antiquity and such mystery! It was <I>from the foundation of
|
|
the world</I> wrapt up in types and shadows, which are <I>now done
|
|
away;</I> and those secret things are now become such things revealed
|
|
<I>as belong to us and to our children,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:29">Deut. xxix. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The manner of Christ's preaching; he preached by parables; wise
|
|
sayings, but figurative, and which help to engage attention and a
|
|
diligent search. Solomon's sententious dictates, which are full of
|
|
similitudes, are called <I>proverbs,</I> or <I>parables;</I> it is the
|
|
same word; but in this, as in other things, <I>Behold a greater than
|
|
Solomon is here, in whom are hid treasures of wisdom.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The parable of the <I>tares,</I> and the exposition of it; they
|
|
must be taken together, for the exposition explains the parable and the
|
|
parable illustrates the exposition.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. The disciples' request to their Master to have this parable
|
|
expounded to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>Jesus sent the multitude away;</I> and it is to be feared many of
|
|
them went away no wiser than they came; they had heard a sound of
|
|
words, and that was all. It is sad to think how many go away from
|
|
sermons without the word of grace in their hearts. Christ <I>went into
|
|
the house,</I> not so much for his own repose, as for particular
|
|
converse with his disciples, whose instruction he chiefly intended in
|
|
all his preaching. He was ready to do good in all places; the disciples
|
|
laid hold on the opportunity, and <I>they came to him.</I> Note, Those
|
|
who would be wise for every thing else, must be wise to discern and
|
|
improve their opportunities, especially of converse with Christ, of
|
|
converse with him alone, in secret meditation and prayer. It is very
|
|
good, when we return from the solemn assembly, to talk over what we
|
|
have heard there, and by familiar discourse to help one another to
|
|
understand and remember it, and to be affected with it; for we lose the
|
|
benefit of many a sermon by vain and unprofitable discourse after it.
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:32,De+6:6,7">Luke xxiv. 32; Deut. vi. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is especially good, if it may be, to ask of the ministers of the
|
|
word the meaning of the word, for <I>their lips should keep
|
|
knowledge,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:7">Mal. ii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Private conference would contribute much to our profiting by public
|
|
preaching. Nathan's <I>Thou art the man,</I> was that which touched
|
|
David to the heart.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The disciples' request to their Master was, <I>Declare unto us the
|
|
parable of the tares.</I> This implied an acknowledgement of their
|
|
ignorance, which they were not ashamed to make. It is probable they
|
|
apprehended the general scope of the parable, but they desired to
|
|
understand it more particularly, and to be assured that they took it
|
|
right. Note, Those are rightly disposed for Christ's teaching, that are
|
|
sensible of their ignorance, and sincerely desirous to be taught. He
|
|
will <I>teach the humble</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:8,9">Ps. xxv. 8, 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
but <I>will for this be enquired of. If any man lack</I> instruction,
|
|
<I>let him ask it of God.</I> Christ had expounded the foregoing
|
|
parable unasked, but for the exposition of this they ask him. Note, The
|
|
mercies we have received must be improved, both for direction what to
|
|
pray for, and for our encouragement in prayer. The first light and the
|
|
first grace are given in a preventing way, further degrees of both
|
|
which must be daily prayed for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The exposition Christ gave of the parable, in answer to their
|
|
request; so ready is Christ to answer such desires of his disciples.
|
|
Now the drift of the parable is, to represent to us the present and
|
|
future state of the kingdom of heaven, the gospel church: Christ's care
|
|
of it, the devil's enmity against it, the mixture that there is in it
|
|
of good and bad in the other world. Note, The visible church is the
|
|
kingdom of heaven; though there be many hypocrites in it, Christ rules
|
|
in it as a King; and there is a remnant in it, that are the subjects
|
|
and heirs of heaven, from whom, as the better part, it is denominated:
|
|
the church is <I>the kingdom of heaven</I> upon earth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Let us go over the particulars of the exposition of the parable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>He that sows the good seed is the Son of man.</I> Jesus Christ
|
|
is the Lord of the field, <I>the Lord of the harvest,</I> the Sower of
|
|
good seed. When <I>he ascended on high, he gave gifts to</I> the world;
|
|
not only good ministers, but other good men. Note, Whatever good seed
|
|
there is in the world, it all comes from the hand of Christ, and is of
|
|
his sowing: truths preached, graces planted, souls sanctified, are good
|
|
seed, and all owing to Christ. Ministers are instruments in Christ's
|
|
hand to sow good seed; are employed by him and under him, and the
|
|
success of their labours depends purely upon his blessing; so that it
|
|
may well be said, It is Christ, and no other, that sows the good seed;
|
|
he <I>is the Son of man,</I> one of us, that his terror might not make
|
|
us afraid; <I>the Son of man,</I> the Mediator, and that has
|
|
authority.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>The field is the world;</I> the world of mankind, a large
|
|
field, capable of bringing forth good fruit; the more is it to be
|
|
lamented that it brings forth so much bad fruit: the world here is the
|
|
visible church, scattered all the world over, not confined to one
|
|
nation. Observe, In the parable it is called <I>his field; the
|
|
world</I> is Christ's <I>field,</I> for <I>all things are delivered
|
|
unto him of the Father:</I> whatever power and interest the devil has
|
|
in the world, it is usurped and unjust; when Christ comes to take
|
|
possession, he comes whose right it is; it is his field, and because it
|
|
is his he took care to sow it with good seed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) <I>The good seed are the children of the kingdom,</I> true saints.
|
|
They are,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The <I>children of the kingdom;</I> not in profession only, as the
|
|
Jews were
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+8:12"><I>ch.</I> viii. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
but in sincerity; Jews inwardly, Israelites indeed, incorporated in
|
|
faith and obedience to Jesus Christ the great King of the church.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They are the good seed, precious as seed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:6">Ps. cxxvi. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The seed is the substance of the field; so the holy seed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:13">Isa. vi. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The seed is scattered, so are the saints; dispersed, here one and there
|
|
another, though in some places thicker sown than in others. The seed is
|
|
that from which fruit is expected; what fruit of honour and service God
|
|
has from this world he has from the saints, whom he has <I>sown unto
|
|
himself in the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:23">Hos. ii. 23</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) <I>The tares are the children of the wicked one.</I> Here is the
|
|
character of sinners, hypocrites, and all profane and wicked people.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They are the children of the devil, as a wicked one. Though they
|
|
do not own his name, yet they bear his image, do his lusts, and from
|
|
him they have their education; he rules over them, he works in them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:2,Joh+8:44">Eph. ii. 2; John viii. 44</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They are tares in the field of this world; they do no good, they
|
|
do hurt; unprofitable in themselves, and hurtful to <I>the good
|
|
seed,</I> both by temptation and persecution: they are weeds in the
|
|
garden, have the same rain, and sunshine, and soil, with the good
|
|
plants, but are good for nothing: the <I>tares are among the wheat.</I>
|
|
Note, God has so ordered it, that good and bad should be mixed together
|
|
in this world, that the good may be exercised, the bad left
|
|
inexcusable, and a difference made between earth and heaven.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) <I>The enemy that sowed the tares is the devil;</I> a sworn enemy
|
|
to Christ and all that is good, to the glory of the good God, and the
|
|
comfort and happiness of all good men. He is an enemy to the field of
|
|
the world, which he endeavours to make his own, by sowing his tares in
|
|
it. Ever since he became a wicked spirit himself, he has been
|
|
industrious to promote wickedness, and has made it his business, aiming
|
|
therein to counterwork Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now concerning the sowing of the tares, observe in the parable,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] That they were sown <I>while men slept.</I> Magistrates slept, who
|
|
by their power, ministers slept, who by their preaching, should have
|
|
prevented this mischief. Note, Satan watches all opportunities, and
|
|
lays hold of all advantages, to propagate vice and profaneness. The
|
|
prejudice he does to particular persons is when reason and conscience
|
|
sleep, when they are off their guard; we have therefore need to <I>be
|
|
sober, and vigilant.</I> It was in the night, for that is the sleeping
|
|
time. Note, Satan rules in <I>the darkness of this world;</I> that
|
|
gives him an opportunity to sow tares,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:20">Ps. civ. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was <I>while men slept;</I> and there is no remedy but men must have
|
|
some sleeping time. Note, It is as impossible for us to prevent
|
|
hypocrites being in the church, as it is for the husbandman, when he is
|
|
asleep, to hinder an enemy from spoiling his field.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The enemy, when he had sown the tares, <I>went his way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
that it might not be known who did it. Note, When Satan is doing the
|
|
greatest mischief, he studies most to conceal himself; for his design
|
|
is in danger of being spoiled if he be seen in it; and therefore, when
|
|
he comes to sow tares, he <I>transforms himself into an angel of
|
|
light,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:13,14">2 Cor. xi. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>went his way,</I> as if he had done no harm; <I>such is the way
|
|
of the adulterous woman,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:20">Prov. xxx. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe, Such is the proneness of fallen man to sin, that if the enemy
|
|
sow the tares, he may even go his way, they will spring up of
|
|
themselves and do hurt; whereas, when good seed is sown, it must be
|
|
tended, watered, and fenced, or it will come to nothing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] The tares appeared not till <I>the blade sprung up, and brought
|
|
forth fruit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is a great deal of secret wickedness in the hearts of men, which
|
|
is long hid under the cloak of a plausible profession, but breaks out
|
|
at last. As the good seed, so the tares, lie a great while under the
|
|
clods, and at first springing up, it is hard to distinguish them; but
|
|
when a trying time comes, when fruit is to be brought forth, when good
|
|
is to be done that has difficulty and hazard attending it, then you
|
|
will return and discern between the sincere and the hypocrite: then you
|
|
may say, This is wheat, and that is tares.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[4.] The servants, when they were aware of it, complained to their
|
|
master
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field?</I> No doubt he did;
|
|
whatever is amiss in the church, we are sure it is not of Christ:
|
|
considering the seed which Christ sows, we may well ask, with wonder,
|
|
<I>Whence</I> should <I>these tares come?</I> Note, The rise of errors,
|
|
the breaking out of scandals, and the growth of profaneness, are matter
|
|
of great grief to all the servants of Christ; especially to his
|
|
faithful ministers, who are directed to complain of it to him whose the
|
|
field is. It is sad to see such tares, such weeds, in the garden of the
|
|
Lord; to see the good soil wasted, the good seed choked, and such a
|
|
reflection cast on the name and honour of Christ, as if his field were
|
|
no better than <I>the field of the slothful, all grown over with
|
|
thorns.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[5.] The Master was soon aware whence it was
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>An enemy has done this.</I> He does not lay the blame upon the
|
|
servants; they could not help it, but had done what was in their power
|
|
to prevent it. Note, The ministers of Christ, that are faithful and
|
|
diligent, shall not be judged of Christ, and therefore should not be
|
|
reproached by men, for the mixtures of bad with good, hypocrites with
|
|
the sincere, in the field of the church. <I>It must needs be that such
|
|
offences will come;</I> and they shall not be laid to our charge, if we
|
|
do our duty, though it have not the desired success. Though they sleep,
|
|
if they do not love sleep; though tares be sown, if they do not sow
|
|
them nor water them, nor allow of them, the blame shall not lie at
|
|
their door.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[6.] The servants were very forward to have these tares rooted up.
|
|
"<I>Wilt thou that we go</I> and do it presently?" Note, The over-hasty
|
|
and inconsiderate zeal of Christ's servants, before they have consulted
|
|
with their Master, is sometimes ready, with the hazard of the church,
|
|
to root out all that they presume to be tares: <I>Lord, wilt thou that
|
|
we call for fire from heaven?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[7.] The Master very wisely prevented this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat
|
|
with them.</I> Note, It is not possible for any man infallibly to
|
|
distinguish between tares and wheat, but he may be mistaken; and
|
|
therefore such is the wisdom and grace of Christ, that he will rather
|
|
permit the tares, than any way endanger the wheat. It is certain,
|
|
scandalous offenders are to be censured, and we are to withdraw from
|
|
them; those who are openly <I>the children of the wicked one,</I> are
|
|
not to be admitted to special ordinances; yet it is possible there may
|
|
be a discipline, either so mistaken in its rules, or so over-nice in
|
|
the application of them, as may prove vexatious to many that are truly
|
|
godly and conscientious. Great caution and moderation must be used in
|
|
inflicting and continuing church censures, lest the wheat be trodden
|
|
down, if not plucked up. The <I>wisdom from above,</I> as it <I>is
|
|
pure,</I> so it is <I>peaceable,</I> and those who oppose themselves
|
|
must not be cut off, but instructed, and <I>with meekness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+2:25">2 Tim. ii. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
The tares, if continued under the means of grace, may become good corn;
|
|
therefore have patience with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(6.) <I>The harvest is the end of the world,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
This world will have an end; though it continue long, it will not
|
|
continue always; time will shortly be swallowed up in eternity. At the
|
|
end of the world, there will be a great harvest-day, a day of judgment;
|
|
at harvest all is ripe and ready to be cut down: both good and bad are
|
|
ripe at the great-day,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:11">Rev. vi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is <I>the harvest of the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+14:15">Rev. xiv. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
At harvest the reapers cut down all before them; not a field, not a
|
|
corner, is left behind; so at the great day all must be judged
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:12,13">Rev. xx. 12, 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
God has <I>set a harvest</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:11">Hos. vi. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it shall not fail,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+8:22">Gen. viii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
At harvest every man reaps as he sowed; every man's ground, and seed,
|
|
and skill, and industry, will be manifested: see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:7,8">Gal. vi. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Then they who <I>sowed precious seed, will come again with
|
|
rejoicing</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:5,6">Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
with <I>the joy of harvest</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:3">Isa. ix. 3</A>);
|
|
|
|
when <I>the sluggard, who would not plough by reason of cold, shall
|
|
beg, and have nothing</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+20:4">Prov. xx. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
shall cry, <I>Lord, Lord,</I> but in vain; when the harvest of those
|
|
who sowed to the flesh, shall <I>be a day of grief, and of desperate
|
|
sorrow,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+17:11">Isa. xvii. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(7.) <I>The reapers are the angels:</I> they shall be employed, in the
|
|
great day, in executing Christ's righteous sentences, both of
|
|
approbation and condemnation, as ministers of his justice,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:31"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
The angels are skilful, strong, and swift, obedient servants to Christ,
|
|
holy enemies to the wicked, and faithful friends to all the saints, and
|
|
therefore fit to be thus employed. <I>He that reapeth receiveth
|
|
wages,</I> and the angels will not be unpaid for their attendance; for
|
|
<I>he that soweth, and he that reapeth, shall rejoice together</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:36">John iv. 36</A>);
|
|
|
|
that <I>is joy in heaven in the presence of the angels of God.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(8.) Hell-torments are the <I>fire,</I> into which the <I>tares</I>
|
|
shall then be cast, and in which they shall be burned. At the great day
|
|
a distinction will be made, and with it a vast difference; it will be a
|
|
notable day indeed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] The tares will then be gathered out: <I>The reapers</I> (whose
|
|
primary work it is to gather in the corn) shall be charged first to
|
|
<I>gather out the tares.</I> Note, Though good and bad are together in
|
|
this world undistinguished, yet at the great day they shall be parted;
|
|
no tares shall then be among the wheat; no sinners among the saints:
|
|
then you shall plainly discern <I>between the righteous and the
|
|
wicked,</I> which here sometimes it is hard to do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:18,4:1">Mal. iii. 18; iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ will not bear always,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:1">Ps. l. 1</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. They shall <I>gather out of his kingdom all wicked things that
|
|
offend, and all wicked persons that do iniquity: when he begins, he
|
|
will make a full end.</I> All those corrupt doctrines, worships, and
|
|
practices, which have offended, have been scandals to the church, and
|
|
stumbling-blocks to men's consciences, shall be condemned by the
|
|
righteous Judge in that day, and consumed by <I>the brightness of his
|
|
coming;</I> all <I>the wood, hay, and stubble</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:12">1 Cor. iii. 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
and then <I>woe to them that do iniquity, that make a trade of it,</I>
|
|
and persist in it; not only those in the last age of Christ's kingdom
|
|
upon earth, but those in every age. Perhaps here is an allusion to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zep+1:3">Zeph. i. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I will consume the stumbling-blocks with the wicked.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] They will then be <I>bound in bundles,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sinners of the same sort will be bundled together in the great day: a
|
|
bundle of atheists, a bundle of epicures, a bundle of persecutors, and
|
|
a great bundle of hypocrites. Those who have been associates in sin,
|
|
will be so in shame and sorrow; and it will be an aggravation of their
|
|
misery, as the society of glorified saints will add to their bliss. Let
|
|
us pray, as David, <I>Lord, gather not my soul with sinners</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+26:9">Ps. xxvi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
but let it be bound in <I>the bundle of life, with the Lord our
|
|
God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:29">1 Sam. xxv. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They will <I>be cast into a furnace of fire;</I> such will be the
|
|
end of wicked, mischievous people, that are in the church as <I>tares
|
|
in the field;</I> they are fit for nothing but fire; to it they shall
|
|
go, it is the fittest place for them. Note, Hell is a furnace of fire,
|
|
kindled by the wrath of God, and kept burning by the bundles of tares
|
|
cast into it, who will be ever in the consuming, but never consumed.
|
|
But he slides out of the metaphor into a description of those torments
|
|
that are designed to be set forth by it: <I>There shall be weeping, and
|
|
gnashing of teeth;</I> comfortless sorrow, and an incurable indignation
|
|
at God, themselves, and one another, will be the endless torture of
|
|
damned souls. Let us therefore, <I>knowing these terrors of the
|
|
Lord,</I> be persuaded not to do iniquity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(9.) Heaven is the <I>barn</I> into which all God's wheat shall be
|
|
gathered in that harvest-day. <I>But gather the wheat into my barn:</I>
|
|
so it is in the parable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] In the field of this world good people are the wheat, the most
|
|
precious grain, and the valuable part of the field.
|
|
|
|
[2.] This wheat shall shortly be gathered, gathered from among the
|
|
tares and weeds: all <I>gathered together in a general assembly,</I>
|
|
all the Old-Testament saints, all the New-Testament saints, not one
|
|
missing. <I>Gather my saints together unto me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:5">Ps. l. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] All God's wheat shall be lodged together in God's barn: particular
|
|
souls are housed at death as a shock of corn
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:26">Job v. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
but the general in-gathering will be at the end of time: God's wheat
|
|
will then be put together, and no longer scattered; there will be
|
|
sheaves of corn, as well as bundles of tares: they will then be
|
|
secured, and no longer exposed to wind and weather, sin and sorrow: no
|
|
longer afar off, and at a great distance, in the field, but near, in
|
|
the barn. Nay, heaven is a <I>garner</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:12"><I>ch.</I> iii. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
in which the wheat will not only be separated from the tares of ill
|
|
companions, but sifted from the chaff of their own corruptions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In the explanation of the parable, this is gloriously represented
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
|
|
their Father. First,</I> It is their present honour, that God is their
|
|
Father. <I>Now are we the sons of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:2">1 John iii. 2</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>our Father in heaven</I> is King there. Christ, when he went to
|
|
heaven, went to his <I>Father, and our Father,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+20:17">John xx. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is our <I>Father's house,</I> nay, it is <I>our Father's</I> palace,
|
|
his throne,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:21">Rev. iii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The honour in reserve for them is, that they <I>shall
|
|
shine forth as the sun in that kingdom.</I> Here they are obscure and
|
|
hidden
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+3:3">Col. iii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
their beauty is eclipsed by their poverty, and the meanness of their
|
|
outward condition; their own weaknesses and infirmities, and the
|
|
reproach and disgrace cast upon them, cloud them; but then they shall
|
|
shine forth as the sun from behind a dark cloud; at death they shall
|
|
shine forth to themselves; at the great day they will shine forth
|
|
publicly before all the world, <I>their bodies will be made like
|
|
Christ's glorious body:</I> they shall shine by reflection, with a
|
|
light borrowed from the Fountain of light; their sanctification will be
|
|
perfected, and their justification published; God will own them for his
|
|
children, and will produce the record of all their services and
|
|
sufferings for his name: they shall shine as the sun, the most glorious
|
|
of all visible beings. The glory of the saints is in the Old Testament
|
|
compared to that of the firmament and the stars, but here to that of
|
|
the sun; <I>for life and immortality are brought to</I> a much clearer
|
|
<I>light by the gospel,</I> than under the law. Those who shine as
|
|
lights in this world, that God may be glorified, shall shine as the sun
|
|
in the other world, that <I>they</I> may be glorified. Our Saviour
|
|
concludes, as before, with a demand of attention; <I>Who hath ears to
|
|
hear, let him hear.</I> These are things which it is our happiness to
|
|
hear of, and our duty to hearken to.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Here is the parable of the <I>grain of mustard-seed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:31,32"><I>v.</I> 31, 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
The scope of this parable is to show, that the beginnings of the gospel
|
|
<I>would be small, but that its latter end would greatly increase.</I>
|
|
In this way the gospel church, <I>the kingdom of God among us,</I>
|
|
would be <I>set up in the world;</I> in this way the work of grace in
|
|
the heart, <I>the kingdom of God within us,</I> would be carried on in
|
|
particular persons.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now concerning the work of the gospel, observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That it is commonly very weak and small at first, <I>like a grain of
|
|
mustard-seed, which is one of the least of all seeds.</I> The kingdom
|
|
of the Messiah, which was now in the setting up, made but a small
|
|
figure; Christ and the apostles, compared with the grandees of the
|
|
world, appeared <I>like a grain of mustard-seed, the weak things of the
|
|
world.</I> In particular places, the first breaking out of the gospel
|
|
light is but as <I>the dawning of the day;</I> and in particular souls,
|
|
it is at first <I>the day of small things,</I> like a bruised reed.
|
|
Young converts are like <I>lambs</I> that must be <I>carried in his
|
|
arms,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:11">Isa. xl. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is a little faith, but there is much lacking in it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+3:10">1 Thess. iii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the <I>groanings</I> such as <I>cannot be uttered,</I> they are so
|
|
small; a principle of spiritual life, and some motion, but scarcely
|
|
discernible.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That yet it is growing and coming on. Christ's kingdom strangely got
|
|
ground; great accessions were made to it; nations were born at once, in
|
|
spite of all the oppositions it met with from hell and earth. In the
|
|
soul where grace is true it will grow really, though perhaps
|
|
insensibly. <I>A grain of mustard-seed</I> is small, but however it is
|
|
seed, and has in it a disposition to grow. Grace will be getting
|
|
ground, shining more and more,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+4:18">Prov. iv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Gracious habits confirmed, actings quickened, and knowledge more clear,
|
|
faith more confirmed, love more inflamed; here is the seed growing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That it will at last come to a great degree of strength and
|
|
usefulness; <I>when it is grown to</I> some maturity, <I>it becomes a
|
|
tree,</I> much larger in those countries than in ours. The church, like
|
|
<I>the vine brought out of Egypt,</I> has taken root, and <I>filled the
|
|
earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:9-11">Ps. lxxx. 9-11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The church is like a great tree, in which the fowls of the air do
|
|
lodge; God's people have recourse to it for food and rest, shade and
|
|
shelter. In particular persons, the principle of grace, if true, will
|
|
persevere and be perfected at last: growing grace will be strong grace,
|
|
and will bring much to pass. Grown Christians must covet to be useful
|
|
to others, as the mustard-seed when grown is to the birds; that those
|
|
who dwell near or under their shadow may be the better for them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:7">Hos. xiv. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Here is the parable of the <I>leaven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
The scope of this is much the same with that of the foregoing parable,
|
|
to show that the gospel should prevail and be successful by degrees,
|
|
but silently and insensibly; the preaching of the gospel is like
|
|
leaven, and works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. <I>A woman took</I> this <I>leaven;</I> it was her work. Ministers
|
|
are employed in leavening places, in leavening souls, with the gospel.
|
|
<I>The woman is the weaker vessel,</I> and we have this treasure in
|
|
such vessels.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The leaven was <I>hid in three measures of meal.</I> The heart is,
|
|
as the meal, soft and pliable; it is the tender heart that is likely to
|
|
profit by the word: leaven among corn unground does not work, nor does
|
|
the gospel in souls unhumbled and unbroken for sin: the law grinds the
|
|
heart, and then the gospel leavens it. It is <I>three measures of
|
|
meal,</I> a great quantity, for <I>a little leaven leaveneth the whole
|
|
lump.</I> The meal must be kneaded, before it receive the leaven; our
|
|
hearts, as they must be broken, so they must be moistened, and pains
|
|
taken with them to prepare them for the word, that they may receive the
|
|
impressions of it. The leaven must be <I>hid in the heart</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:11">Ps. cxix. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
not so much for secrecy (for it will show itself) as for safety; our
|
|
inward thought must be upon it, we must lay it up, as Mary laid up the
|
|
sayings of Christ,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:51">Luke ii. 51</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the woman hides the leaven in the meal, it is with an intention
|
|
that it should communicate its taste and relish to it; so we must
|
|
treasure up the word in our souls, that we may be sanctified by it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:17">John xvii. 17</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The leaven thus hid in the dough, works there, it ferments; <I>the
|
|
word is quick and powerful,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:12">Heb. iv. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The leaven works speedily, so does the word, and yet gradually. What a
|
|
sudden change did Elijah's mantle make upon Elisha!
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+19:20">1 Kings xix. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It works silently and insensibly
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+4:26">Mark iv. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet strongly and irresistibly: it does its work without noise, for so
|
|
is <I>the way of the Spirit,</I> but does it without fail. Hide but the
|
|
leaven in the dough, and all the world cannot hinder it from
|
|
communicating its taste and relish to it, and yet none sees how it is
|
|
done, but by degrees <I>the whole is leavened.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Thus it was in the world. The apostles, by their preaching, hid a
|
|
handful of leaven in the great mass of mankind, and it had a strange
|
|
effect; it put the world into a ferment, and in a sense turned it
|
|
<I>upside down</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+17:6">Acts xvii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and by degrees made a wonderful change in the taste and relish of it:
|
|
the savour of the gospel was <I>manifested in every place,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+2:14,Ro+15:19">2 Cor. ii. 14; Rom. xv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was thus effectual, not by outward force, and therefore not by any
|
|
such force resistible and conquerable, but by <I>the Spirit of the Lord
|
|
of hosts, who works, and none can hinder.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Thus it is in the heart. When the gospel comes into the soul,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It works a change, not in the substance; the dough is the same,
|
|
but in the quality; it makes us to savour otherwise than we have done,
|
|
and other things to savour with us otherwise than they used to do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:5">Rom. viii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It works a universal change; it diffuses itself into all the
|
|
powers and faculties of the soul, and alters the property even of the
|
|
members of the body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:13">Rom. vi. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] This change is such as makes the soul to partake of the nature of
|
|
the word, as the dough does of the leaven. We are delivered into it as
|
|
into a mould
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+6:17">Rom. vi. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
changed into the same image
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:18">2 Cor. iii. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
like the impression of the seal upon the wax. The gospel savours of
|
|
God, and Christ, and free grace, and another world, and these things
|
|
now relish with the soul. It is a word of faith and repentance,
|
|
holiness and love, and these are wrought in the soul by it. This savour
|
|
is communicated insensibly, for <I>our life is hid;</I> but
|
|
inseparably, for grace is a <I>good part that shall never be taken
|
|
away</I> from those who have it. When the dough is leavened, then to
|
|
the oven with it; trials and afflictions commonly attend this change;
|
|
but thus saints are fitted to be bread for our Master's table.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_50"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Mt13_52"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Various Parables.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a
|
|
field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy
|
|
thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
|
|
field.
|
|
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
|
|
seeking goodly pearls:
|
|
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and
|
|
sold all that he had, and bought it.
|
|
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was
|
|
cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
|
|
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down,
|
|
and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
|
|
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall
|
|
come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
|
|
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be
|
|
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
|
|
51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things?
|
|
They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
|
|
52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe <I>which is</I>
|
|
instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man <I>that
|
|
is</I> a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure
|
|
<I>things</I> new and old.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have four short parables in these verses.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That of the <I>treasure hid in the field.</I> Hitherto he had
|
|
compared <I>the kingdom of heaven</I> to small things, because its
|
|
beginning was small; but, lest any should thence take occasion to think
|
|
meanly of it, in this parable and the next he represents it as of great
|
|
value in itself, and of great advantage to those who embrace it, and
|
|
are willing to come up to its terms; it is here likened <I>to a
|
|
treasure hid in the field,</I> which, if we will, we may make our
|
|
own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Jesus Christ is the true Treasure; in him there is an abundance of
|
|
all that which is rich and useful, and will be a portion for us: <I>all
|
|
fulness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:19,Joh+1:16">Col. i. 19; John i. 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>treasures of wisdom and knowledge</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+2:3">Col. ii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
of righteousness, grace, and peace; these are laid up for us in Christ;
|
|
and, if we have an interest in him, it is all our own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The gospel is the field in which this treasure is hid: it is hid in
|
|
the word of the gospel, both the Old-Testament and the New-Testament
|
|
gospel. In gospel ordinances it is hid as the milk in the breast, the
|
|
marrow in the bone, the manna in the dew, the water in the well
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+12:3">Isa. xii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>the honey in the honey-comb.</I> It is hid, not <I>in a garden
|
|
enclosed,</I> or <I>a spring shut up,</I> but <I>in a field,</I> an
|
|
open field; <I>whoever will, let him come, and search the
|
|
scriptures;</I> let him dig in <I>this field</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:4">Prov. ii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
and whatever royal mines we find, they are all our own, if we take the
|
|
right course.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. It is a great thing to discover the treasure hid in this field, and
|
|
the unspeakable value of it. The reason why so many slight the gospel,
|
|
and will not be at the expense, and run the hazard, of entertaining it,
|
|
is because they look only upon the surface of the field, and judge by
|
|
that, and so see no excellency in the Christian institutes above those
|
|
of the philosophers; nay, the richest mines are often in grounds that
|
|
appear most barren; and therefore they will not so much as bid for the
|
|
field, much less come up to the price. <I>What is thy beloved more than
|
|
another beloved?</I> What is the Bible more than other good books? The
|
|
gospel of Christ more than Plato's philosophy, or Confucius's morals:
|
|
but those who have <I>searched the scriptures,</I> so as in them to
|
|
find Christ and <I>eternal life</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:39">John v. 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
have discovered such a treasure in this field as makes it infinitely
|
|
more valuable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Those who discern this treasure in the field, and value it aright,
|
|
will never be easy till they have made it their own upon any terms. He
|
|
that has found this treasure, hides it, which denotes a holy jealousy,
|
|
<I>lest we come short</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:1">Heb. iv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>looking diligently</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15">Heb. xii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
lest Satan come between us and it. He rejoices in it, though as yet the
|
|
bargain be not made; he is glad there is such a bargain to be had, and
|
|
that he is in a fair way to have an interest in Christ; that the matter
|
|
is in treaty: their <I>hearts</I> may <I>rejoice,</I> who are yet
|
|
<I>but seeking the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:3">Ps. cv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
He resolves to <I>buy this field:</I> they who embrace gospel offers,
|
|
upon gospel terms, buy this field; they make it their own, for the sake
|
|
of the unseen treasure in it. It is Christ in the gospel that we are to
|
|
have an eye to; we need not go up to heaven, but Christ in the word is
|
|
nigh us. And so intent he is upon it, <I>that he sells all to buy this
|
|
field:</I> they who would have saving benefit by Christ, must be
|
|
willing to part with all, that they may make it sure to themselves;
|
|
must <I>count every thing but loss, that they may win Christ, and be
|
|
found in him.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That of <I>the pearl of price</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:45,46"><I>v.</I> 45, 46</A>),
|
|
|
|
which is to the same purport with the former, of the treasure. <I>The
|
|
dream is thus doubled, for the thing is certain.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. All the children of men are busy, <I>seeking goodly pearls:</I> one
|
|
would be rich, another would be honourable, another would be learned;
|
|
but the most are imposed upon, and take up with counterfeits for
|
|
pearls.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Jesus Christ is a <I>Pearl of great price,</I> a Jewel of
|
|
inestimable value, which will make those who have it rich, truly rich,
|
|
rich toward God; in having him, we have enough to make us happy here
|
|
and for ever.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. A true Christian is a spiritual <I>merchant,</I> that seeks and
|
|
finds this pearl of price; that does not take up with any thing short
|
|
of an interest in Christ, and, as one that is resolved to be
|
|
spiritually rich, trades high: <I>He went and bought that pearl;</I>
|
|
did not only bid for it, but purchased it. What will it avail us to
|
|
know Christ, if we do not know him as ours, <I>made to us wisdom?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:30">1 Cor. i. 30</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. Those who would have a saving interest in Christ, must be willing to
|
|
part with all for him, leave all to follow him. Whatever stands in
|
|
opposition to Christ, or in competition with him for our love and
|
|
service, we must cheerfully quit it, though ever so dear to us. A man
|
|
may buy gold too dear, but not this pearl of price.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That of the <I>net cast into the sea,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:47-49"><I>v.</I> 47-49</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Here is the parable itself. Where note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The world is a vast sea, and the children of men <I>are things
|
|
creeping innumerable, both small and great,</I> in that sea,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:25">Ps. civ. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Men in their natural state are <I>like the fishes of the sea</I> that
|
|
have no ruler over them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:14">Hab. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The preaching of the gospel is the casting of a net into this sea,
|
|
to catch something out of it, for his glory who has the sovereignty of
|
|
the sea. Ministers are <I>fishers of men,</I> employed in casting and
|
|
drawing this net; and <I>then</I> they speed, when at Christ's word
|
|
they let down the net; otherwise, they <I>toil and catch nothing.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) This net gathers of every kind, as large dragnets do. In the
|
|
visible church there is a deal of trash and rubbish, dirt and weeds and
|
|
vermin, as well as fish.
|
|
|
|
(4.) There is a time coming when this net will be full, and drawn to
|
|
the shore; a set time when the gospel shall have fulfilled that for
|
|
which it was sent, and we are sure it shall not return void,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:10,11">Isa. lv. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The net is now filling; sometimes it fills faster than at other times,
|
|
but still it fills, and will be drawn to shore, when the <I>mystery of
|
|
God shall be finished.</I>
|
|
|
|
(5.) When the net is full and drawn to the shore, there shall be a
|
|
separation between the good and bad that were gathered in it.
|
|
Hypocrites and true Christians shall then be parted; the good shall be
|
|
gathered into vessels, as valuable, and therefore to be carefully kept,
|
|
but the bad shall be cast away, as vile and unprofitable; and miserable
|
|
is the condition of those who are cast away in that day. While the net
|
|
is in the sea, it is not known what is in it, the fishermen themselves
|
|
cannot distinguish; but they carefully draw it, and all that is in it,
|
|
to the shore, for the sake of the good that is in it. Such is God's
|
|
care for the visible church, and such should ministers' concern be for
|
|
those under their charge, though they are mixed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Here is the explanation of the latter part of the parable, the
|
|
former is obvious and plain enough: we see gathered in the visible
|
|
church, <I>some of every kind:</I> but the latter part refers to that
|
|
which is yet to come, and is therefore more particularly explained,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:49,50"><I>v.</I> 49, 50</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>So shall it be at the end of the world;</I> then, and not till then,
|
|
will the dividing, discovering day be. We must not look for the net
|
|
full of all good fish; the vessels will be so, but in the net they are
|
|
mixed. See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The distinguishing of the wicked from the righteous. The angels of
|
|
heaven shall come forth to do that which the angels of the churches
|
|
could never do; they shall <I>sever the wicked from among the just;</I>
|
|
and we need not ask how they will distinguish them when they have both
|
|
their commission and their instructions from him that knows all men,
|
|
and particularly knows them that are <I>his,</I> and them that are
|
|
<I>not,</I> and we may be sure there shall be no mistake or blunder
|
|
either way.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The doom of the wicked when they are thus severed. They shall be
|
|
<I>cast into the furnace,</I> Note, Everlasting misery and sorrow will
|
|
certainly be the portion of those who live among sanctified ones, but
|
|
themselves die unsanctified. This is the same with what we had before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:42"><I>v.</I> 42</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Christ himself preached often of hell-torments, as the
|
|
everlasting punishment of hypocrites; and it is good for us to be often
|
|
reminded of this awakening, quickening truth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Here is the parable of the <I>good householder,</I> which is
|
|
intended to rivet all the rest.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The occasion of it was the good proficiency which the disciples had
|
|
made in learning, and their profiting by this sermon in particular.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He asked them, <I>Have ye understood all these things?</I>
|
|
Intimating, that if they had not, he was ready to explain what they did
|
|
not understand. Note, It is the will of Christ, that all those who read
|
|
and hear the word should understand it; for otherwise how should they
|
|
get good by it? It is therefore good for us, when we have read or heard
|
|
the word, to examine ourselves, or to be examined, whether we have
|
|
understood it or not. It is no disparagement to the disciples of Christ
|
|
to be catechised. Christ invites us to seek to him for instruction, and
|
|
ministers should proffer their service to those who have any good
|
|
question to ask concerning what they have heard.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They answered him, <I>Yea, Lord:</I> and we have reason to believe
|
|
they said true, because, when they did not understand, they asked for
|
|
an explication,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
And the exposition of that parable was a key to the rest. Note, The
|
|
right understanding of one good sermon, will very much help us to
|
|
understand another; for good truths mutually explain and illustrate one
|
|
another; and <I>knowledge is easy to him that understandeth.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The scope of the parable itself was to give his approbation and
|
|
commendation of their proficiency. Note, Christ is ready to encourage
|
|
willing learners in his school, though they are but weak; and to say,
|
|
<I>Well done, well said.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He commends them as <I>scribes instructed unto the kingdom of
|
|
heaven.</I> They were now learning that they might teach, and the
|
|
teachers among the Jews were the scribes. Ezra, who <I>prepared his
|
|
heart to teach in Israel,</I> is called <I>a ready scribe,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+7:6,10">Ezra vii. 6, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now a skilful, faithful minister of the gospel is a scribe too; but for
|
|
distinction, he is called a scribe <I>instructed unto the kingdom of
|
|
heaven,</I> well versed in the things of the gospel, and well able to
|
|
teach those things. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those who are to instruct others, have need to be well instructed
|
|
themselves. If the priest's lips must keep knowledge, his head must
|
|
first have knowledge.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The instruction of a gospel minister must be in the <I>kingdom of
|
|
heaven,</I> that is it about which his business lies. A man may be a
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great philosopher and politician, and yet if not instructed to the
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kingdom of heaven, he will make but a bad minister.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He compares them to a good householder, who <I>brings forth out of
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his treasure things new and old;</I> fruits of last year's growth and
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|
this year's gathering, abundance and variety, for the entertainment of
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his friends,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+7:13">Cant. vii. 13</A>.
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See here,
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[1.] What should be a minister's furniture, <I>a treasure of things new
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|
and old.</I> Those who have so many and various occasions, have need to
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|
stock themselves well in their gathering days with truths new and old,
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|
out of the Old Testament and out of the new; with ancient and modern
|
|
improvements, <I>that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:16,17">2 Tim. iii. 16, 17</A>.
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|
Old experiences, and new observations, all have their use; and we must
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|
not content ourselves with old discoveries, but must be adding new.
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|
Live and learn.
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|
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|
[2.] What use he should make of this furniture; he should <I>bring
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|
forth:</I> laying up is in order to laying out, for the benefit of
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|
others. <I>Sic vox non vobis--You are to lay up, but not for
|
|
yourselves.</I> Many are full, but they have no vent
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+32:19">Job xxxii. 19</A>);
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|
|
|
have a talent, but they bury it; such are unprofitable servants; Christ
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|
himself received that he might give; so must we, and we shall have
|
|
more. In bringing forth, things new and old do best together; old
|
|
truths, but new methods and expressions, especially new affections.</P>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="Mt13_53"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_54"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_55"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_56"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_57"> </A>
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<A NAME="Mt13_58"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Contempt of Christ by His Countrymen.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
|
|
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>53 And it came to pass, <I>that</I> when Jesus had finished these
|
|
parables, he departed thence.
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|
54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in
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|
their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said,
|
|
Whence hath this <I>man</I> this wisdom, and <I>these</I> mighty works?
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|
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called
|
|
Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
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|
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath
|
|
this <I>man</I> all these things?
|
|
57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A
|
|
prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in
|
|
his own house.
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|
58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their
|
|
unbelief.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
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<P>
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|
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|
We have here Christ in his own country. He went about doing good, yet
|
|
left not any place till he had finished his testimony there at that
|
|
time. His own countrymen had rejected him once, yet he came to them
|
|
again. Note, Christ does not take refusers at their first word, but
|
|
repeats his offers to those who have often repulsed them. In this, as
|
|
in other things, Christ was like his brethren; he had a natural
|
|
affection to his own country; <I>Patriam quisque amat, non quia
|
|
pulchram, sed quia suam--Every one loves his country, not because it is
|
|
beautiful, but because it is his own.</I> Seneca. His treatment this
|
|
time was much the same as before, scornful and spiteful. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How they expressed their contempt of him. When he <I>taught them in
|
|
their synagogue, they were astonished;</I> not that they were taken
|
|
with his preaching, or admired his doctrine in itself, but only that it
|
|
should be his; looking upon him as unlikely to be such a teacher. Two
|
|
things they upbraided him with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. His want of academical education. They owned that he had wisdom, and
|
|
did mighty works; but the question was, Whence he had them: for they
|
|
knew that he was not brought up at the feet of the rabbin: he had never
|
|
been at the university, nor taken his degree, nor was called of men,
|
|
<I>Rabbi, Rabbi.</I> Note, Mean and prejudiced spirits are apt to judge
|
|
of men by their education, and to enquire more into their rise than
|
|
into their reasons. "<I>Whence has this man these mighty works?</I> Did
|
|
he come honestly by them? Has he not been studying the black art?" Thus
|
|
they turned that against him which was really for him; for if they had
|
|
not been wilfully blind, they must have concluded him to be divinely
|
|
assisted and commissioned, who without the help of education gave such
|
|
proofs of extraordinary wisdom and power.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The meanness and poverty of his relations,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:55,56"><I>v.</I> 55, 56</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) They upbraid him with his father. <I>Is not this the carpenter's
|
|
son?</I> Yes, it is true he was reputed so: and what harm in that? No
|
|
disparagement to him to be the son of an honest tradesman. They
|
|
remember not (though they might have known it) that this carpenter was
|
|
<I>of the house of David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:27">Luke i. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>a son of David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:20"><I>ch.</I> i. 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
though a carpenter, yet a person of honour. Those who are
|
|
willing to pick quarrels will overlook that which is worthy and
|
|
deserving, and fasten upon that only which seems mean. Some sordid
|
|
spirits regard no branch, no not the Branch from the stem of Jesse
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+11:1">Isa. xi. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
if it be not the top branch.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) They upbraid him with his mother; and what quarrel have they with
|
|
her? Why, truly, <I>his mother is called Mary,</I> and that was a very
|
|
common name, and they all knew her, and knew her to be an ordinary
|
|
person; she <I>was called Mary,</I> not <I>Queen Mary,</I> nor <I>Lady
|
|
Mary,</I> nor so much as <I>Mistress Mary,</I> but plain <I>Mary;</I>
|
|
and this is turned to his reproach, as if men had nothing to be valued
|
|
by but foreign extraction, noble birth, or splendid titles; poor things
|
|
to measure worth by.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) They upbraid him with his brethren, whose names they knew, and had
|
|
them ready enough to serve this turn; James, and Joses, and Simon, and
|
|
Judas, good men but poor men, and therefore despised; and Christ for
|
|
their sakes. These brethren, it is probable, were Joseph's children by
|
|
a former wife; or whatever their relation was to him, they seem to have
|
|
been brought up with him in the same family. And therefore of the
|
|
calling of three of these, who were of the twelve, to that honour
|
|
(James, Simon, and Jude, the same with Thaddeus), we read not
|
|
particularly, because they needed not such an express call into
|
|
acquaintance with Christ who had been the companions of his youth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) His sisters too are all with us; they should therefore have loved
|
|
him and respected him the more, because he was one of themselves, but
|
|
therefore they despised him. They were <I>offended in him:</I> they
|
|
stumbled at these stumbling-stones, for he was set for <I>a sign that
|
|
should be spoken against,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:34,Isa+8:14">Luke ii. 34; Isa. viii. 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. See how he resented this contempt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:57,58"><I>v.</I> 57, 58</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. It did not trouble his heart. It appears he was not much concerned
|
|
at it; he <I>despised the shame,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:2">Heb. xii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Instead of aggravating the affront, or expressing an offence at it, or
|
|
returning such an answer to their foolish suggestions as they deserved,
|
|
he mildly imputes it to the common humour of the children of men, to
|
|
undervalue excellences that are cheap, and common, and home-bred. It is
|
|
usually so. <I>A prophet is not without honour, save in his own
|
|
country.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Prophets should have honour paid them, and commonly have; men of
|
|
God are great men, and men of honour, and challenge respect. It is
|
|
strange indeed if prophets have not honour.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Notwithstanding this, they are commonly least regarded and
|
|
reverenced in their own country, nay, and sometimes are most envied.
|
|
Familiarity breeds contempt.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It did for the present (to speak with reverence), in effect, tie his
|
|
hands: <I>He did not many mighty works there, because of their
|
|
unbelief.</I> Note, Unbelief is the great obstruction to Christ's
|
|
favours. <I>All things are</I> in general <I>possible to God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:26"><I>ch.</I> xix. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
but then it is <I>to him that believes</I> as to the particulars,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+9:23">Mark ix. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
The gospel is <I>the power of God unto salvation,</I> but then it is to
|
|
<I>every one that believes,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:16">Rom. i. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
So that if mighty works be not wrought in us, it is not for want of
|
|
power or grace in Christ, but for want of faith in us. <I>By grace ye
|
|
are saved,</I> and that is a mighty work, but it is <I>through
|
|
faith,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:8">Eph. ii. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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