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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Luke I].</TITLE>
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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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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L U K E.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The narrative which this evangelist gives us (or rather God by him) of
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the life of Christ begins earlier than either Matthew or Mark. We have
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reason to thank God for them all, as we have for all the gifts and
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graces of Christ's ministers, which in one make up what is wanting in
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the other, while all put together make a harmony. In this chapter we
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have,
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I. Luke's preface to his gospel, or his epistle dedicatory to his
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friend Theophilus,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. The prophecy and history of the conception of John Baptist, who was
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Christ's forerunner,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:5-25">ver. 5-25</A>.
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The annunciation of the virgin Mary, or the notice given to her that
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she should be the mother of the Messiah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:26-38">ver. 26-38</A>.
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IV. The interview between Mary the mother of Jesus and Elisabeth the
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mother of John, when they were both with child of those pregnant
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births, and the prophecies they both uttered upon that occasion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:39-56">ver. 39-56</A>.
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V. The birth and circumcision of John Baptist, six months before the
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birth of Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:57-66">ver. 57-66</A>.
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VI. Zacharias's song of praise, in thankfulness for the birth of John,
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and in prospect of the birth of Jesus,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:67-79">ver. 67-79</A>.
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VII. A short account of John Baptist's infancy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:80">ver. 80</A>.
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And these do more than give us an entertaining narrative; they will
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lead us into the understanding of the mystery of godliness, God
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manifest in the flesh.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Lu1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_4"> </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 Evangelist's Preface.</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 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a
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declaration of those things which are most surely believed among
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us,
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2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning
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were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
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3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding
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of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
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most excellent Theophilus,
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4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things,
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wherein thou hast been instructed.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Complimental prefaces and dedications, the language of flattery and the
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food and fuel of pride, are justly condemned by the wise and good; but
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it doth not therefore follow, that such as are useful and instructive
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are to be run down; such is this, in which St. Luke dedicates his
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gospel to his friend Theophilus, not as to his <I>patron,</I> though he
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was a man of honour, to protect it, but as to his <I>pupil,</I> to
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learn it, and hold it fast. It is not certain who this Theophilus was;
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the name signifies a <I>friend of God;</I> some think that it does not
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mean any particular person, but every one that is a <I>lover of
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God;</I> Dr. Hammond quotes some of the ancients understanding it so:
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and then it teaches us, that those who are truly lovers of God, will
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heartily welcome the gospel of Christ, the design and tendency of which
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are, to bring us to God. But it is rather to be understood of some
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particular person, probably a magistrate; because Luke gives him here
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the same title of respect which St. Paul gave to Festus the governor,
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<B><I>kratiste</I></B>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:25">Acts xxvi. 25</A>),
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which we there translate <I>most noble Festus,</I> and here <I>most
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excellent Theophilus.</I> Note, Religion does not destroy civility and
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good manners, but teaches us, according to the usages of our country,
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to <I>give honour to them to whom honour is due.</I></P>
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<P>
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Now observe here,
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I. Why St. Luke wrote this gospel. It is certain that he was moved by
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the Holy Ghost, not only <I>to</I> the writing, but <I>in</I> the
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writing of it; but in both he was moved as a reasonable creature, and
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not as a mere machine; and he was made to consider,</P>
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<P>
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1. That the things he wrote of were things that were <I>most surely
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believed among all Christians,</I> and therefore things which they
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ought to be instructed in, that they may know what they believe, and
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things which ought to be transmitted to posterity (who are as much
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concerned in them as we are); and, in order to that, to be committed to
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writing, which is the surest way of conveyance to the ages to come. He
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will not write about things of <I>doubtful disputation,</I> things
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about which Christians may safely differ from one another and hesitate
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within themselves; but the things which are, and ought to be, most
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<I>surely believed,</I> <B><I>pragmata peplerophoremena</I></B>--<I>the
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things which were performed</I> (so some), which Christ and his
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apostles did, and did with such circumstances as gave a full assurance
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that they were really done, so that they have gained an established
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lasting credit. Note, Though it is not the foundation of our faith, yet
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it is a support to it, that the articles of our creed are things that
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have been long <I>most surely believed.</I> The doctrine of Christ is
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what thousands of the wisest and best of men have <I>ventured their
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souls upon</I> with the greatest assurance and satisfaction.</P>
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<P>
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2. That it was requisite there should be a <I>declaration made in
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order</I> of those things; that the history of the life of Christ
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should be <I>methodized,</I> and committed to writing, for the greater
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certainty of the conveyance. When things are <I>put in order,</I> we
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know the better where to <I>find them</I> for <I>our own</I> use, and
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how to <I>keep</I> them for the benefit of <I>others.</I></P>
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<P>
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3. That there were <I>many who had undertaken</I> to <I>publish</I>
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narratives of the <I>life of Christ,</I> many well-meaning people, who
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<I>designed</I> well, and <I>did</I> well, and what they published had
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<I>done good,</I> though not done by divine inspiration, nor so well
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done as might be, nor intended for perpetuity. Note,
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(1.) The labours of others in the gospel of Christ, if faithful and
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honest, we ought to <I>commend</I> and <I>encourage,</I> and not to
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<I>despise,</I> though chargeable with many deficiencies.
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(2.) Others' services to Christ must not be reckoned to supersede ours,
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but rather to quicken them.</P>
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<P>
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4. That the truth of the things he had to write was <I>confirmed</I> by
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the <I>concurring testimony</I> of those who were competent and
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unexceptionable witnesses of them; what had been published in writing
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already, and what he was now about to publish, agreed with that which
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had been delivered by word of mouth, over and over, by those who from
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the beginning were <I>eye-witnesses and ministers of the word,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note,
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(1.) The apostles were <I>ministers of the word</I> of Christ, who is
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<I>the Word</I> (so some understand it), or of the doctrine of Christ;
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they, having received it themselves, ministered it to others,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+1:1">1 John i. 1</A>.
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They had not a gospel to make as masters, but a gospel to preach as
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ministers.
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(2.) The <I>ministers of the word</I> were <I>eye-witnesses</I> of the
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things which they preached, and, which is also included,
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<I>ear-witnesses.</I> They did themselves <I>hear</I> the doctrine of
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Christ, and <I>see</I> his miracles, and had them not by report, at
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second hand; and therefore they could not but speak, with the greatest
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assurance, the things which they had <I>seen and heard,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:20">Acts iv. 20</A>.
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(3.) They were so <I>from the beginning</I> of Christ's ministry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He had his disciples with him when he wrought his <I>first miracle,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+2:11">John ii. 11</A>.
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They <I>companied with him all the time he went in and out among
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them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:21">Acts i. 21</A>),
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so that they not only heard and saw all that which was sufficient to
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confirm their faith, but, if there had been any thing to shock it, they
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had opportunity to discover it.
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(4.) The <I>written</I> gospel, which we have to <I>this day,</I>
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exactly agrees with the gospel which was <I>preached</I> in the
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<I>first days</I> of the church.
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(5.) That he himself had a <I>perfect understanding</I> of the
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<I>things</I> he wrote of, <I>from the first,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Some think that here is a tacit reflection upon those who had written
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before him, that they had not a <I>perfect understanding</I> of what
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they wrote, and therefore, <I>Here am I, send me (--facit indignatio
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versum--my wrath impels my pen</I>); or rather, without reflecting on
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them, he asserts his own ability for this undertaking: "It seemed good
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to me, having attained to the exact knowledge of all things,
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<B><I>anothen</I></B>--<I>from above;</I>" so I think it should be
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rendered; for if he meant the same with <I>from the beginning</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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as our translation intimates, he would have used the same word.
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[1.] He had diligently <I>searched</I> into these things, had
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<I>followed</I> after them (so the word is), as the Old-Testament
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prophets are said to have <I>enquired</I> and <I>searched
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diligently,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:10">1 Pet. i. 10</A>.
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He had not taken things so easily and superficially as others who had
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written before him, but made it his business to inform himself
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concerning particulars.
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[2.] He had received his intelligence, not only by tradition, as others
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had done, but by revelation, confirming that tradition, and securing
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him from any error or mistake in the recording of it. He sought it
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<I>from above</I> (so the word intimates), and from thence he had it;
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thus, like Elihu, he <I>fetched his knowledge</I> from afar. He wrote
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his history as Moses wrote his, of things <I>reported</I> by tradition,
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but <I>ratified</I> by inspiration.
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[3.] He could therefore say that he had a <I>perfect understanding</I>
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of these things. He knew them,
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<B><I>akribos</I></B>--<I>accurately,</I> exactly. "Now, having
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received this <I>from above,</I> it seemed good to me to communicate
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it;" for such a talent as this ought not to be buried.</P>
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<P>
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II. Observe why he sent it to <I>Theophilus:</I> "I wrote unto thee
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these things <I>in order,</I> not that thou mayest give reputation to
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the work, but that thou mayest be edified by it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
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<I>that thou mayest know the certainty of those things wherein thou has
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been instructed.</I>"
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1. It is implied, that he had been <I>instructed</I> in these things
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either before his baptism, or since, or both, according to the rule,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:19,20">Matt. xxviii. 19, 20</A>.
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Probably, Luke had baptized him, and knew how well instructed he was;
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<B><I>peri hon katechethes</I></B>--<I>concerning which thou hast been
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catechized;</I> so the word is; the most knowing Christians began with
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being catechized. Theophilus was a person of quality, perhaps of noble
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birth; and so much the more pains should be taken with such when they
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are young, to teach them the principles of the oracles of God, that
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they may be fortified against temptations, and furnished for the
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opportunities, of a high condition in the world.
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2. It was intended that he should <I>know the certainty of those
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things,</I> should understand them more clearly and believe more
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firmly. There is a <I>certainty</I> in the gospel of Christ, there is
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that therein which we may build upon; and those who have been well
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instructed in the things of God when they were young should afterwards
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give diligence to <I>know the certainty</I> of those things, to know
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not only what we believe, but why we believe it, that we may be able to
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give a <I>reason of the hope that is in us.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Lu1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu1_25"> </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>The Appearance of an Angel to Zacharias; The Birth of John Foretold; The Unbelief of Zacharias.</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>5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain
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priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife <I>was</I>
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of the daughters of Aaron, and her name <I>was</I> Elisabeth.
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6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
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commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
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7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and
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they both were <I>now</I> well stricken in years.
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8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's
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office before God in the order of his course,
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9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was
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to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
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10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without
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at the time of incense.
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11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on
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the right side of the altar of incense.
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12 And when Zacharias saw <I>him,</I> he was troubled, and fear fell
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upon him.
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13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy
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prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son,
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and thou shalt call his name John.
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14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice
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at his birth.
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15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall
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drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with
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the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
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16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord
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their God.
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17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias,
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to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
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disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people
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prepared for the Lord.
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18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know
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this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
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19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that
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stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and
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to show thee these glad tidings.
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20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak,
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until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou
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believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
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21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he
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tarried so long in the temple.
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22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they
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perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he
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beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
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23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his
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ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
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24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid
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herself five months, saying,
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25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he
|
|
looked on <I>me,</I> to take away my reproach among men.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The two preceding evangelists had agreed to begin the gospel with the
|
|
baptism of John and his ministry, which commenced about six months
|
|
before our Saviour's public ministry (and now, things being near a
|
|
crisis, six months was <I>a deal</I> of time, which before was but <I>a
|
|
little</I>), and therefore this evangelist, designing to give a more
|
|
particular account than had been given of our Saviour's conception and
|
|
birth, determines to do so of John Baptist, who in both was his
|
|
harbinger and forerunner, the morning-star to the Sun of righteousness.
|
|
The evangelist determines thus, not only because it is commonly
|
|
reckoned a satisfaction and entertainment to know something of the
|
|
original extraction and early days of those who afterwards prove great
|
|
men, but because in the beginning of these there were many things
|
|
miraculous, and presages of what they afterwards proved. In these
|
|
verses our inspired historian begins as early as the conception of John
|
|
Baptist. Now observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The account given of <I>his parents</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
They lived <I>in the days of Herod the king,</I> who was a foreigner,
|
|
and a deputy for the Romans, who had lately made Judea a province of
|
|
the empire. This is taken notice of to show that the sceptre was quite
|
|
departed from Judah, and therefore that now was the time for Shiloh to
|
|
come, according to Jacob's prophecy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:10">Gen. xlix. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The family of David was now sunk, when it was to rise, and flourish
|
|
again, in the Messiah. Note, None ought to despair of the reviving and
|
|
flourishing of religion, even when civil liberties are lost. Israel
|
|
enslaved, yet then comes the glory of Israel.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now the father of John Baptist was a priest, a son of Aaron; his name
|
|
<I>Zacharias.</I> No families in the world were ever so honoured of God
|
|
as those of Aaron and David; with one was made the covenant of
|
|
priesthood, with the other that of royalty; they had both forfeited
|
|
their honour, yet the gospel again puts honour upon both in their
|
|
latter days, on that of Aaron in John Baptist, on that of David in
|
|
Christ, and then they were both extinguished and lost. Christ was of
|
|
David's house, his forerunner of Aaron's; for his priestly agency and
|
|
influence opened the way to his kingly authority and dignity. This
|
|
Zacharias was <I>of the course of Abia.</I> When in David's time the
|
|
family of Aaron was multiplied, he divided them into twenty-four
|
|
courses, for the more regular performances of their office, that it
|
|
might never be either <I>neglected</I> for want of hands or
|
|
<I>engrossed</I> by a few. The eighth of those was that of <I>Abia</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+24:10">1 Chron. xxiv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
who was descended from Eleazar, Aaron's eldest son; but Dr. Lightfoot
|
|
suggests that many of the families of the priests were lost in the
|
|
captivity, so that after their return they took in those of other
|
|
families, retaining the names of the heads of the respective courses.
|
|
The wife of this Zacharias was of the daughters of Aaron too, and her
|
|
name was <I>Elisabeth,</I> the very same name with <I>Elisheba</I> the
|
|
wife of Aaron,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+6:23">Exod. vi. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
The priests (Josephus saith) was very careful to marry within their own
|
|
family, that they might maintain the dignity of the priesthood and keep
|
|
it without mixture.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now that which is observed concerning Zacharias and Elisabeth is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That they were a very religious couple
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They were both righteous before God;</I> they were so in his sight
|
|
whose judgment, we are sure, is <I>according to truth;</I> they were
|
|
sincerely and really so. They are righteous indeed that are so
|
|
<I>before God,</I> as Noah in his generation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:1">Gen. vii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
They <I>approved</I> themselves <I>to him,</I> and he was graciously
|
|
pleased to accept them. It is a happy thing when those who are joined
|
|
to each other in marriage are both <I>joined to the Lord;</I> and it is
|
|
especially requisite that the priests, the Lord's ministers, should
|
|
with their yoke-fellows be <I>righteous before God,</I> that they may
|
|
be <I>examples to the flock,</I> and rejoice their hearts. <I>They
|
|
walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord,
|
|
blameless.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their being <I>righteous before God</I> was evidenced by the
|
|
course and tenour of their conversations; they showed it, not by their
|
|
talk, but by their <I>works;</I> by the way they walked in and the rule
|
|
they walked by.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They were <I>of a piece</I> with themselves; for their devotions
|
|
and their conversations agreed. They walked not only in the
|
|
<I>ordinances</I> of the Lord, which related to divine worship, but in
|
|
the <I>commandments</I> of the Lord, which have reference to all the
|
|
instances of a good conversation, and must be regarded.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They were universal in their obedience; not that they never did in
|
|
any thing <I>come short</I> of their duty, but it was their constant
|
|
care and endeavor to <I>come up</I> to it.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Herein, though they were not <I>sinless,</I> yet they were
|
|
<I>blameless;</I> nobody could charge them with any open scandalous
|
|
sin; they lived <I>honestly</I> and <I>inoffensively,</I> as ministers
|
|
and their families are in a special manner concerned to do, that the
|
|
ministry be not blamed in <I>their</I> blame.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That they had been long <I>childless,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Children are a <I>heritage of the Lord.</I> But there are many of his
|
|
heirs in a married state, that yet are denied this <I>heritage;</I>
|
|
they are valuable desirable blessings; yet many there are, who are
|
|
<I>righteous before God,</I> and, if they had children, would bring
|
|
them up in his fear, who yet are not thus blessed, while the <I>men of
|
|
this world</I> are <I>full of children</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>and send forth their little ones like a flock,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:11">Job xxi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Elisabeth was <I>barren,</I> and they began to despair of ever having
|
|
children, for they were both now <I>well stricken in years,</I> when
|
|
the women that have been most fruitful <I>leave off bearing.</I> Many
|
|
eminent persons were born of mothers that had been long childless, as
|
|
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Samuel, and so here John Baptist, to make
|
|
their birth the more remarkable and the blessing of it the more
|
|
valuable to their parents, and to show that when God keeps his people
|
|
long waiting for mercy he sometimes is pleased to recompense them for
|
|
their patience by <I>doubling</I> the worth of it when it comes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The appearing of an angel to his father Zacharias, as he was
|
|
ministering in the temple,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:8-11"><I>v.</I> 8-11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Zechariah the prophet was the last of the Old Testament that was
|
|
conversant with angels, and Zacharias the priest the first in the New
|
|
Testament. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How Zacharias was employed in the service of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>executed the priest's office, before God, in the order of his
|
|
course;</I> it was his <I>week of waiting,</I> and he was <I>upon
|
|
duty.</I> Though his family was not built up, or made to grow, yet he
|
|
made conscience of doing the work of his own place and day. Though we
|
|
have not <I>desired mercies,</I> yet we must keep close to <I>enjoined
|
|
services;</I> and, in our diligent and constant attendance on them, we
|
|
may hope that mercy and comfort will come at last. Now it fell to
|
|
Zacharias's lot to burn incense morning and evening for that week of
|
|
his waiting, as other services fell to other priests <I>by lot</I>
|
|
likewise. The services were directed by lot, that some might not
|
|
decline them and others engross them, and that, the <I>disposal of the
|
|
lot</I> being <I>from the Lord,</I> they might have the satisfaction of
|
|
a divine call to the work. This was not the high priest burning incense
|
|
on the day of atonement, as some have fondly imagined, who have thought
|
|
by that to find out the time of our Saviour's birth; but it is plain
|
|
that it was the burning of the daily incense at the <I>altar of
|
|
incense</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
which was <I>in the temple</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
not in the most holy place, into which the high priest entered. The
|
|
Jews say that one and the same priest burned not incense twice in all
|
|
his days (there were such a multitude of them), at least never more
|
|
than one week. It is very probable that this was <I>upon the sabbath
|
|
day,</I> because there was a <I>multitude of people</I> attending
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
which ordinarily was not on a week day; and thus God usually puts
|
|
honour upon <I>his own day.</I> And then if Dr. Lightfoot reckon, with
|
|
the help of the Jewish calendars, that this course of Abia fell on the
|
|
seventeenth day of the third month, the month Sivan, answering to part
|
|
of May and part of June, it is worth observing that the portions of the
|
|
law and the prophets which were read this day in synagogues were very
|
|
agreeable to that which was doing in the temple; namely, the law of the
|
|
Nazarites
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+6:1-27">Num. vi.</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the conception of Samson,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:1-25">Judg. xiii.</A></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
While Zacharias was burning incense in the temple, <I>the whole
|
|
multitude of the people were praying without,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Lightfoot says that there were constantly in the temple, at the
|
|
hour of prayer, the priests of the course that then served, and, if it
|
|
were the sabbath day, those of that course also that had been in
|
|
waiting the week before, and the Levites that served under the priests,
|
|
and the <I>men of the station,</I> as the Rabbin call them, who were
|
|
the representatives of the people, in putting their hands upon the head
|
|
of the sacrifices, and many besides, who, moved by devotion, left their
|
|
employments, for that time, to be present at the service of God; and
|
|
those would make up <I>a great multitude,</I> especially on sabbaths
|
|
and feast-days: now these all addressed themselves to their devotions
|
|
(in mental prayer, for their voice was not heard), when by the tinkling
|
|
of a bell they had notice that the priest was gone in to burn incense.
|
|
Now observe here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the true Israel of God always were a <I>praying</I> people;
|
|
and prayer is the great and principal piece of service by which we give
|
|
honour to God, fetch in favours from him, and keep up our communion
|
|
with him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That <I>then,</I> when ritual and ceremonial appointments were in
|
|
full force, as this of <I>burning incense,</I> yet moral and spiritual
|
|
duties were required to go along with them, and were principally looked
|
|
at. David knew that when he was at a distance from the altar his prayer
|
|
might be heard <I>without incense,</I> for it might be directed before
|
|
God <I>as incense,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:2">Ps. cxli. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, when he was <I>compassing the altar,</I> the incense could not be
|
|
accepted <I>without prayer,</I> any more than the shell without the
|
|
kernel.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if our
|
|
hearts do not join in the worship, and go along with the minister, in
|
|
all the parts of it. If he burn the incense ever so well, in the most
|
|
pertinent, judicious, lively prayer, if we be not at the same time
|
|
<I>praying</I> in concurrence with him, what will it avail us?
|
|
|
|
(4.) All the prayers we offer up to God here in his courts are
|
|
acceptable and successful only in virtue of the incense of Christ's
|
|
intercession in the temple of God above. To this usage in the
|
|
temple-service there seems to be an allusion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+8:1,3,4">Rev. viii. 1, 3, 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
where we find that <I>there was silence in heaven,</I> as there was in
|
|
the temple, <I>for half an hour,</I> while the people were
|
|
<I>silently</I> lifting up their hearts to God in prayer; and that
|
|
there was an <I>angel,</I> the angel of the covenant, who offered up
|
|
<I>much incense with the prayers of all saints before the throne.</I>
|
|
We cannot expect an interest in Christ's intercession if we do not
|
|
<I>pray,</I> and pray <I>with our spirits,</I> and continue instant in
|
|
prayer. Nor can we expect that the best of our prayers should gain
|
|
acceptance, and bring in an answer of peace, but through the mediation
|
|
of Christ, who <I>ever lives, making intercession.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How, when he was thus employed, he was <I>honoured</I> with a
|
|
messenger, a special messenger sent from heaven to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There appeared unto him an angel of the Lord.</I> Some observe, that
|
|
we never read of an angel appearing in the temple, with a message from
|
|
God, but only this one to Zacharias, because <I>there</I> God had other
|
|
ways of making known his mind, as the Urim and Thummim, and by a still
|
|
small voice from between the cherubim; but the ark and the oracle were
|
|
wanting in the second temple, and therefore, when an express was to be
|
|
sent to a priest in the temple, an angel was to be employed in it, and
|
|
thereby the gospel was to be introduced, for <I>that,</I> as the
|
|
<I>law,</I> was given at first very much by the <I>ministry of
|
|
angels,</I> the appearance of which we often read of in the Gospels and
|
|
the Acts, though the design both of the law and of the gospel, when
|
|
brought to perfection, was to settle another way of correspondence,
|
|
more spiritual, between God and man. This angel stood <I>on the right
|
|
side of the altar of incense,</I> the north side of it, saith Dr.
|
|
Lightfoot, on Zacharias's right hand; compare this with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+3:1">Zech. iii. 1</A>,
|
|
|
|
where Satan stands at the <I>right hand</I> of Joshua the priest, to
|
|
<I>resist him;</I> but Zacharias had a good angel standing <I>at his
|
|
right hand,</I> to encourage him. Some think that this angel appeared
|
|
coming <I>out of the most holy place,</I> which led him to stand at the
|
|
right side of the altar.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. What impression this made upon Zacharias
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When Zacharias saw him,</I> it was a surprise upon him, even to a
|
|
degree of terror, for he was <I>troubled,</I> and <I>fear fell upon
|
|
him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though he was <I>righteous before God,</I> and <I>blameless</I> in his
|
|
conversation, yet he could not be without some apprehensions at the
|
|
sight of one whose visage and surrounding lustre bespoke him more than
|
|
<I>human.</I> Ever since man sinned, his mind has been unable to bear
|
|
the glory of such revelations and his conscience afraid of evil tidings
|
|
brought by them; even Daniel himself could not bear it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+10:8">Dan. x. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
And for this reason God chooses to speak to us by men like ourselves,
|
|
whose <I>terror</I> shall <I>not make us afraid.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The message which the angel had to deliver to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
He began his message, as angels generally did, with, <I>Fear not.</I>
|
|
Perhaps it had never been Zacharias's lot to <I>burn incense</I>
|
|
before; and, being a very serious conscientious man, we may suppose him
|
|
full of care to do it <I>well,</I> and perhaps when he saw the angel he
|
|
was afraid lest he came to rebuke him for some mistake or miscarriage;
|
|
"No," saith the angel, "<I>fear not;</I> I have no ill tidings to bring
|
|
thee from heaven. <I>Fear not,</I> but compose thyself, that thou
|
|
mayest with a sedate and even spirit receive the message I have to
|
|
deliver thee." Let us see what that is.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The <I>prayers</I> he has often made shall now receive an <I>answer
|
|
of peace: Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) If he means his particular prayer <I>for a son</I> to build up his
|
|
family, it must be the prayers he had formerly made for that mercy,
|
|
when he was likely to have children; but we may suppose, now that he
|
|
and his wife were both <I>well stricken in years,</I> as they had done
|
|
expecting it, so they had done praying for it: like Moses, it
|
|
<I>sufficeth them,</I> and they <I>speak no more to God of that
|
|
matter,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+3:26">Deut. iii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
But God will now, in giving this mercy, look a great way back to the
|
|
prayers that he had made long since for and with his wife, as Isaac for
|
|
and with his,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:21">Gen. xxv. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Prayers of faith are <I>filed</I> in heaven, and are not
|
|
<I>forgotten,</I> though the thing prayed for is not presently
|
|
<I>given</I> in. Prayers made when we were young and coming into the
|
|
world may be answered when we are old and going out of the world. But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) If he means the prayers he was <I>now making,</I> and offering up
|
|
with his incense, we may suppose that those were according to the duty
|
|
of his place, for the Israel of God and their welfare, and the
|
|
performance of the promises made to them concerning the Messiah and the
|
|
coming of his kingdom: "This prayer of thine is now <I>heard:</I> for
|
|
thy wife shall shortly conceive him that is to be the Messiah's
|
|
forerunner." Some of the Jewish writers themselves say that the priest,
|
|
when he burnt incense, prayed for the <I>salvation of the whole
|
|
world;</I> and now that prayer shall be heard. Or,
|
|
|
|
(3.) In general, "The prayers thou <I>now</I> makest, and all thy
|
|
prayers, are accepted of God, and <I>come up for a memorial</I> before
|
|
him" (as the angel said to Cornelius, when he visited him at prayer,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+10:30,31">Acts x. 30, 31</A>);
|
|
|
|
"and this shall be the sign that thou are accepted of God, Elisabeth
|
|
shall <I>bear thee a son.</I>" Note, it is very comfortable to praying
|
|
people to know that their <I>prayers</I> are <I>heard;</I> and those
|
|
mercies are doubly sweet that are given in answer to prayer.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He shall have a son in his old age, by Elisabeth his wife, who had
|
|
been long barren, that by his birth, which was <I>next</I> to
|
|
miraculous, people might be prepared to receive and believe a virgin's
|
|
bringing forth of a son, which was <I>perfectly</I> miraculous. He is
|
|
directed what name to give his son: <I>Call him John,</I> in Hebrew
|
|
<I>Johanan,</I> a name we often meet in the Old Testament: it signifies
|
|
<I>gracious.</I> The priests must <I>beseech God that he will be
|
|
gracious</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+1:9">Mal. i. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
and must so <I>bless the people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+6:25">Num. vi. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Zacharias was now praying thus, and the angel tells him that his prayer
|
|
is heard, and he shall have a son, whom, in token of an answer to his
|
|
prayer, he shall call <I>Gracious,</I> or, <I>The Lord will be
|
|
gracious,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:18,19">Isa. xxx. 18, 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. This son shall be the joy of his family and of all his relations,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall be another Isaac, thy laughter; and some think that is partly
|
|
intended in his name, <I>John.</I> He shall be a <I>welcome child.</I>
|
|
<I>Thou</I> for thy part <I>shall have joy and gladness.</I> Note,
|
|
Mercies that have been long <I>waited for,</I> when they <I>come at
|
|
last,</I> are the more acceptable. "He shall be such a son as thou
|
|
shalt have reason to rejoice in; many parents, if they could foresee
|
|
what their children will prove, instead of <I>rejoicing</I> at their
|
|
birth, would wish they had <I>never been;</I> but I will tell thee what
|
|
thy son will be, and then thou wilt not need to <I>rejoice with
|
|
trembling</I> at his birth, as the best must do, but mayest rejoice
|
|
with triumph at it." Nay, and <I>many shall rejoice at his birth;</I>
|
|
all the relations of the family will rejoice in it, and all its
|
|
well-wishers, because it is for the honour and comfort of the family,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:58"><I>v.</I> 58</A>.
|
|
|
|
All good people will rejoice that such a religious couple as Zacharias
|
|
and Elisabeth have a son, because they will give him a good education,
|
|
such as, it may be hoped, will make him a public blessing to his
|
|
generation. Yea, and perhaps many shall rejoice by an <I>unaccountable
|
|
instinct,</I> as a presage of the joyous days the gospel will
|
|
introduce.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. This son shall be a distinguished <I>favourite of Heaven,</I> and a
|
|
distinguished <I>blessing to the earth.</I> The honour of having <I>a
|
|
son</I> is nothing to the honour of having <I>such a son.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall be <I>great in the sight of the Lord;</I> those are great
|
|
indeed that are so in God's sight, not those that are so in the eye of
|
|
a vain and carnal world. God will <I>set him before his face</I>
|
|
continually, will employ him in his work and send him on his errands;
|
|
and that shall make him truly <I>great</I> and honourable. He shall be
|
|
a <I>prophet,</I> yea <I>more than a prophet,</I> and upon that account
|
|
as great as any that every were <I>born of women,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:11">Matt. xi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall live very much <I>retired</I> from the world, out of men's
|
|
sight, and, when he makes a public appearance, it will be very
|
|
<I>mean;</I> but he shall be <I>much,</I> he shall be <I>great, in the
|
|
sight of the Lord.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall be a Nazarite, set apart to God from every thing that is
|
|
<I>polluting;</I> in token of this, according to the law of
|
|
Nazariteship, he <I>shall drink neither wine nor strong drink,</I>--or,
|
|
rather, neither <I>old</I> wine<I> nor new;</I> for most think that the
|
|
word here translated <I>strong drink</I> signifies some sort of wine,
|
|
perhaps those that we call <I>made wines,</I> or any thing that is
|
|
<I>intoxicating.</I> He shall be, as Samson was by the divine precept
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+13:7">Judg. xiii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and Samuel by his mother's vow
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:11">1 Sam. i. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
a Nazarite for life. It is spoken of as a great instance of God's
|
|
favour to his people that he <I>raised up</I> of <I>their sons for
|
|
prophets,</I> and their <I>young men for Nazarites</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+2:11">Amos ii. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
as if those that were designed for prophets were trained up under the
|
|
discipline of the Nazarites; Samuel and John Baptist were; which
|
|
intimates that those that would be <I>eminent</I> servants of God, and
|
|
employed in <I>eminent</I> services, must learn to live a life of
|
|
self-denial and mortification, must be dead to the pleasures of sense,
|
|
and keep their minds from every thing that is darkening and disturbing
|
|
to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He shall be abundantly fitted and qualified for those great and
|
|
eminent services to which in due time he shall be called: <I>He shall
|
|
be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb,</I> and as
|
|
soon as it is possible he shall appear to have been so. Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those that would be filled with the Holy Ghost must be sober and
|
|
temperate, and very moderate in the use of wine and strong drink; for
|
|
<I>that</I> is it that fits him for <I>this.</I> <I>Be not drunk with
|
|
wine,</I> but <I>be filled with the Spirit,</I> with which that is not
|
|
consistent,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+5:18">Eph. v. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is possible that infants may be wrought upon by the <I>Holy
|
|
Ghost,</I> even from their <I>mother's womb;</I> for John Baptist even
|
|
then was <I>filled with the Holy Ghost,</I> who took possession of his
|
|
heart betimes; and an early specimen was given of it, when he <I>leaped
|
|
in his mother's womb for joy,</I> at the approach of the Saviour; and
|
|
afterwards it appeared very early that he was <I>sanctified.</I> God
|
|
had promised to <I>pour out his Spirit</I> upon the <I>seed</I> of
|
|
believers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:3">Isa. xliv. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and their first <I>springing up</I> in a dedication of themselves
|
|
betimes to God is the fruit of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Who then can forbid water, that they should not be baptized who for
|
|
aught we know (and we can say no more of the adult, witness Simon
|
|
Magus) have received the Holy Ghost as well as we, and have the
|
|
<I>seeds of grace</I> sown in their hearts?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+10:47">Acts x. 47</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He shall be instrumental for the conversion of many souls to God,
|
|
and the preparing of them to receive and entertain the gospel of
|
|
Christ,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] He shall be sent to the <I>children of Israel,</I> to the nation
|
|
of the Jews, to whom the Messiah also was <I>first</I> sent, and not to
|
|
the Gentiles; to the <I>whole</I> nation, and not the family of <I>the
|
|
priests only,</I> with which, though he was himself of that family, we
|
|
do not find he had any particular intimacy or influence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] He shall go before <I>the Lord their God,</I> that is, before the
|
|
Messiah, whom they must expect to be, not <I>their king,</I> in the
|
|
sense wherein they commonly take it, a <I>temporal prince</I> to their
|
|
nation, but <I>their Lord</I> and <I>their God,</I> to rule and defend,
|
|
and serve them in a <I>spiritual</I> way by his influence on their
|
|
hearts. Thomas knew this, when he said to Christ, <I>My Lord</I> and
|
|
<I>my God,</I> better than Nathanael did, when he said, <I>Rabbi, thou
|
|
are the king of Israel.</I> John shall <I>go before him,</I> a little
|
|
before him, to give notice of his approach, and to prepare people to
|
|
receive him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] He shall go <I>in the spirit and power of Elias.</I> That is,
|
|
<I>First,</I> He shall be such a man as Elias was, and do such work as
|
|
Elias did,--shall, like him, preach the necessity of repentance and
|
|
reformation to a very corrupt and degenerate age,--shall, like him, be
|
|
bold and zealous in reproving sin and witnessing against it even in the
|
|
greatest, and be hated and persecuted for it by a Herod and his
|
|
Herodias, as Elijah was by an Ahab and his Jezebel. He shall be carried
|
|
on in his work, as Elijah was, by a divine <I>spirit</I> and
|
|
<I>power,</I> which shall crown his ministry with wonderful success. As
|
|
Elias went <I>before</I> the <I>writing</I> prophets of the Old
|
|
Testament, and did as it were <I>usher</I> in that <I>signal</I> period
|
|
of the Old-Testament dispensation by a little <I>writing</I> of his own
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+21:12">2 Chron. xxi. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
so John Baptist went before Christ and his apostles, and introduced the
|
|
gospel dispensation by preaching the substance of the gospel doctrine
|
|
and duty, <I>Repent, with an eye to the kingdom of heaven.</I>
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He shall be that very person who was prophesied of by
|
|
Malachi under the name of Elijah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+4:5">Mal. iv. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
who should be sent <I>before the coming of the day of the Lord.</I>
|
|
Behold, I <I>send you a prophet, even Elias,</I> not Elias the Tishbite
|
|
(as the LXX. has corruptly read it, to favour the Jews' traditions),
|
|
but a prophet <I>in the spirit and power of Elias,</I> as the angel
|
|
here expounds it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[4.] He shall <I>turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their
|
|
God,</I> shall incline their hearts to receive the Messiah, and bid him
|
|
welcome, by awakening them to a sense of sin and a desire of
|
|
righteousness. Whatever has a tendency to <I>turn us from iniquity,</I>
|
|
as John's preaching and baptism had, will turn us to Christ as <I>our
|
|
Lord and our God;</I> for those who through grace are wrought upon to
|
|
shake off the yoke of sin, that is, the dominion of the world and the
|
|
flesh, will soon be persuaded to take upon them the yoke of the <I>Lord
|
|
Jesus.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[5.] Hereby he shall <I>turn the hearts of the fathers to the
|
|
children,</I> that is, of the Jews to the Gentiles; shall help to
|
|
conquer the rooted prejudices which the Jews have against the Gentiles,
|
|
which was done by the gospel, as far as it prevailed, and was begun to
|
|
be done by John Baptist, who came <I>for a witness, that all through
|
|
him might believe,</I> who baptized and taught Roman soldiers as well
|
|
as Jewish Pharisees, and who cured the pride and confidence of those
|
|
Jews who gloried in their having Abraham to their father, and told them
|
|
that God would <I>out of stones raise up children unto Abraham</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:9">Matt. iii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
which would tend to <I>cure</I> their enmity to the Gentiles. Dr.
|
|
Lightfoot observes, It is the constant usage of the prophets to speak
|
|
of the church of the Gentiles as children to the Jewish church,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:5,6,13,60:4,9,62:5,66:12">Isa. liv. 5, 6, 13;
|
|
lx. 4, 9; lxii. 5; lxvi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the Jews that embraced the faith of Christ were brought to join in
|
|
communion with the Gentiles that did so too, then the heart of the
|
|
fathers was turned to the children. And he shall <I>turn the
|
|
disobedient to the wisdom of the just,</I> that is, he shall introduce
|
|
the gospel, by which the Gentiles, who are now <I>disobedient,</I>
|
|
shall be turned, no so much to their fathers the Jews, but to the faith
|
|
of Christ, here called the <I>wisdom of the just,</I> in communion with
|
|
the believing Jews; or thus, He shall <I>turn the hearts of the fathers
|
|
with the children,</I> that is, the hearts of old and young, shall be
|
|
instrumental to bring some of every age to be <I>religious,</I> to work
|
|
a great reformation in the Jewish nation, to bring them <I>off from</I>
|
|
a ritual traditional religion which that had rested in, and to bring
|
|
them up to <I>substantial serious</I> godliness: and the effect of this
|
|
will be, that enmities will be slain and discord made to cease; and
|
|
they are at variance, being united in his baptism, will be better
|
|
reconciled one to another. This agrees with the account Josephus gives
|
|
of John Baptist, <I>Antiq.</I> 18. 117-118. "That he was a good man, and
|
|
taught the Jews the exercise of virtue, in piety towards God, and
|
|
righteous towards one another, and that they should convene and knit
|
|
together in baptism." And he saith, "The people flocked after him, and
|
|
were exceedingly delighted in his doctrine." Thus he turned the hearts
|
|
of fathers and children to God and to one another, by <I>turning the
|
|
disobedient to the wisdom of the just.</I> Observe, <I>First,</I> True
|
|
religion is <I>the wisdom of just men,</I> in distinction from the
|
|
<I>wisdom of the world.</I> It is both our wisdom and our duty to be
|
|
religious; there is both equity and prudence in it. <I>Secondly,</I> It
|
|
is not possible but that those who have been unbelieving and
|
|
<I>disobedient</I> may be turned to the <I>wisdom of the just;</I>
|
|
divine grace can conquer the greatest ignorance and prejudice.
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> The great design of the gospel is to bring people
|
|
<I>home</I> to God, and to bring them nearer to <I>one another;</I> and
|
|
on this errand John Baptist is sent. In the mention that is
|
|
<I>twice</I> made of his <I>turning</I> people, there seems to be an
|
|
allusion to the name of the Tishbite, which is given to Elijah, which,
|
|
some think, does not denote the country or city he was of, but has an
|
|
appellative signification, and therefore the render it Elijah the
|
|
<I>converter,</I> one that was much employed, and very successful, in
|
|
<I>conversion-work.</I> The Elias of the New Testament is therefore
|
|
said to <I>turn</I> or <I>convert</I> many to the Lord their God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[6.] Hereby he shall <I>make ready a people prepared for the Lord,</I>
|
|
shall dispose the minds of people to receive the doctrine of Christ,
|
|
that thereby they may be <I>prepared</I> for the comforts of his
|
|
coming. Note, <I>First,</I> All that are to be <I>devoted</I> to the
|
|
Lord, and <I>made happy</I> in him, must first be <I>prepared</I> and
|
|
<I>made ready</I> for him. We must be prepared by grace in this world
|
|
for the glory in the other, by the terrors of the law for the comforts
|
|
of the gospel, by the spirit of bondage for the Spirit of adoption.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Nothing has a more direct tendency to prepare people
|
|
for Christ than the doctrine of repentance received and submitted to.
|
|
When sin is thereby made grievous, Christ will become very
|
|
precious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Zacharias's unbelief of the angel's prediction, and the rebuke he
|
|
was laid under for that unbelief. He heard all that the angel had to
|
|
say, and should have bowed his head, and worshipped the Lord, saying,
|
|
<I>Be it unto thy servant according to the word</I> which thou hast
|
|
spoken; but it was not so. We are here told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What his unbelief spoke,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
He said to the angel, <I>Whereby shall I know this?</I> This was not a
|
|
humble petition for the confirming of his faith, but a peevish
|
|
objection against what was said to him as altogether incredible; as if
|
|
he should say, "I can never be made to believe this." He could not but
|
|
perceive that it was <I>an angel</I> that spoke to him; the message
|
|
delivered, having reference to the Old-Testament prophecies, carried
|
|
much of its own evidence along with it. There are many instances in the
|
|
Old Testament of those that had children when they were old, yet he
|
|
cannot believe that he shall have this child of promise: "<I>For I am
|
|
an old man,</I> and my wife hath not only been all her days barren, but
|
|
is now well <I>stricken in years,</I> and not likely ever to have
|
|
children." Therefore he must have a <I>sign</I> given him, or he will
|
|
not believe. Though the appearance of an angel, which had long been
|
|
disused in the church, was sign enough,--though he had this notice
|
|
given him in the temple, the place of God's oracles, where he had
|
|
reason to think no evil angel would be permitted to come,--though it
|
|
was given him when he was praying, and burning incense,--and though a
|
|
firm belief of that great principle of religion that God has an
|
|
almighty power, and with him <I>nothing is impossible,</I> which we
|
|
ought not only to <I>know,</I> but to teach others, was enough to
|
|
silence all objections,--yet, considering his own body and his wife's
|
|
too much, unlike a son of Abraham, he <I>staggered at the promise,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:19,20">Rom. iv. 19, 20</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How his unbelief was <I>silenced,</I> and he <I>silenced</I> for
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The angel <I>stops his mouth,</I> by <I>asserting</I> his
|
|
authority. Doth he ask, <I>Whereby shall I know this?</I> Let him know
|
|
it by this, <I>I am Gabriel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
He puts his name to his prophecy, doth as it were sign it with his own
|
|
hand, <I>teste meipso--take my word for it.</I> Angels have sometimes
|
|
refused to tell their names, as to Manoah and his wife; but his angel
|
|
readily saith, <I>I am Gabriel,</I> which signifies <I>the power of
|
|
God,</I> or the <I>mighty one of God,</I> intimating that the God who
|
|
bade him say this was able to make it good. He also makes himself known
|
|
by this name to put him in mind of the notices of the Messiah's coming
|
|
sent to Daniel by the <I>man Gabriel,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+8:16,9:21">Dan. viii. 16; ix. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>I am the same</I> that was sent then, and am sent now in pursuance
|
|
of the same intention." He is Gabriel, who <I>stands in the presence of
|
|
God,</I> an immediate attendant upon the throne of God. The prime
|
|
ministers of state in the Persian court are described by this, that
|
|
they <I>saw the king's face,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+1:14">Esth. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Though I am now talking with thee here, yet <I>I stand in the presence
|
|
of God.</I> I know his eye is upon me, and I dare not say any more than
|
|
I have warrant to say. But I declare <I>I am sent to speak to
|
|
thee,</I> sent on purpose to <I>show thee these glad tidings,</I>
|
|
which, being so well worthy of all acceptation, thou oughtest to have
|
|
received cheerfully."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The angel <I>stops his mouth</I> indeed, by <I>exerting his
|
|
power:</I> "That thou mayest object no more, <I>behold thou shalt be
|
|
dumb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
If thou wilt have a sign for the support of thy faith, it shall be such
|
|
a one as shall be also the punishment of thine unbelief; thou <I>shalt
|
|
not be able to speak till the day that these things shall be
|
|
performed,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thou shalt be both <I>dumb</I> and <I>deaf;</I> the same word signifies
|
|
both, and it is plain that he lost his hearing as well as his speech,
|
|
for his friends <I>made signs</I> to him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:62"><I>v.</I> 62</A>),
|
|
|
|
as well as he to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now, in striking him dumb,
|
|
|
|
[1.] God dealt <I>justly</I> with him, because he had objected against
|
|
God's word. Hence we may take occasion to admire the patience of God
|
|
and his forbearance toward us, that we, who have often spoken to his
|
|
dishonour, have not been struck dumb, as Zacharias was, and as we had
|
|
been if God had dealt with us according to our sins.
|
|
|
|
[2.] God dealt <I>kindly</I> with him, and very tenderly and
|
|
graciously. For, <I>First,</I> Thus he prevented his speaking any more
|
|
such distrustful unbelieving words. If he has <I>thought evil,</I> and
|
|
will not himself <I>lay his hands upon his mouth,</I> nor keep it as
|
|
with a bridle, God will. It is better not to speak at all than to
|
|
<I>speak wickedly.</I> <I>Secondly,</I> Thus he <I>confirmed</I> his
|
|
faith; and, by his being disabled to <I>speak,</I> he is enabled to
|
|
<I>think</I> the better. If by the rebukes we are under for our sin we
|
|
be brought to give more credit to the word of God, we have no reason to
|
|
complain of them. <I>Thirdly,</I> Thus he was kept from divulging the
|
|
vision, and boasting of it, which otherwise he would have been apt to
|
|
do, whereas it was designed for the present to be lodged as a secret
|
|
with him. <I>Fourthly,</I> It was a great mercy that God's words
|
|
should be fulfilled in their season, notwithstanding his sinful
|
|
distrust. The <I>unbelief of man</I> shall not <I>make the promises of
|
|
God of no effect,</I> they shall be <I>fulfilled in their season,</I>
|
|
and he shall not be for ever <I>dumb,</I> but only <I>till the day that
|
|
these things shall be performed,</I> and then thy <I>lips</I> shall be
|
|
<I>opened,</I> that thy <I>mouth</I> may <I>show forth God's
|
|
praise.</I> Thus, though God <I>chastens</I> the <I>iniquity</I> of his
|
|
people <I>with the rod,</I> yet his <I>loving kindness</I> he <I>will
|
|
not take away.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The return of Zacharias to the people, and at length to his family,
|
|
and the conception of this child of promise, the son of his old
|
|
age.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The people staid, expecting Zacharias to come out of the temple,
|
|
because he was to pronounce the blessing upon them in the name of the
|
|
Lord; and, though he staid beyond the usual time, yet they did not, as
|
|
is too common in Christian congregations, hurry away without the
|
|
blessing, but <I>waited</I> for him, marvelling that he <I>tarried so
|
|
long in the temple,</I> and afraid let something was amiss,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. When he came out, he was <I>speechless,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was now to have dismissed the congregation with a blessing, but was
|
|
dumb and not able to do it, that the people may be minded to expect the
|
|
Messiah, who can <I>command</I> the blessing, who <I>blesseth
|
|
indeed,</I> and in whom all <I>the nations of the earth are
|
|
blessed.</I> Aaron's priesthood is now shortly to be <I>silenced</I>
|
|
and <I>set aside,</I> to make way for the <I>bringing in</I> of a
|
|
<I>better hope.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He made a shift to give them to understand that he had <I>seen a
|
|
vision,</I> by some awful signs he made, for he <I>beckoned to
|
|
them,</I> and <I>remained speechless,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
This represents to us the weakness and deficiency of the Levitical
|
|
priesthood, in comparison with Christ's priesthood and the dispensation
|
|
of the gospel. The Old Testament speaks by signs, gives us some
|
|
intimations of divine and heavenly things, but <I>imperfect</I> and
|
|
uncertain; it <I>beckons to us,</I> but <I>remains speechless.</I> It
|
|
is the gospel that speaks to us articulately, and gives us a clear view
|
|
of that which the Old Testament was seen <I>through a glass
|
|
darkly.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He staid out the <I>days of his ministration;</I> for, his lot being
|
|
to <I>burn incense,</I> he could do that, though he was <I>dumb</I> and
|
|
<I>deaf.</I> When we cannot perform the service of God so well as we
|
|
would, yet, if we perform it as well as we can, God will accept of us
|
|
in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_38"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Birth of Christ Foretold.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
|
|
unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
|
|
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
|
|
house of David; and the virgin's name <I>was</I> Mary.
|
|
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, <I>thou that
|
|
art</I> highly favoured, the Lord <I>is</I> with thee: blessed <I>art</I> thou
|
|
among women.
|
|
29 And when she saw <I>him,</I> she was troubled at his saying, and
|
|
cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
|
|
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
|
|
found favour with God.
|
|
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
|
|
forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
|
|
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
|
|
Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his
|
|
father David:
|
|
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of
|
|
his kingdom there shall be no end.
|
|
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I
|
|
know not a man?
|
|
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost
|
|
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
|
|
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
|
|
born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
|
|
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a
|
|
son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was
|
|
called barren.
|
|
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
|
|
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto
|
|
me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here notice given us of all that it was fit we should know
|
|
concerning the incarnation and conception of our blessed Saviour, six
|
|
months after the conception of John. The same angel, Gabriel, that was
|
|
employed in making known to Zacharias God's purpose concerning <I>his
|
|
son,</I> is employed in this also; for in this, the same glorious work
|
|
of redemption, which was <I>begun</I> in that, is <I>carried on.</I> As
|
|
bad angels are none of the redeemed, so good angels are none of the
|
|
redeemers; yet they are employed by the Redeemer as his messengers, and
|
|
they go cheerfully on his errands, because they are his Father's humble
|
|
servants, and his children's hearty friends and well-wishers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. We have here an account given of the mother of our Lord, of whom he
|
|
was to be born, whom, though we are not to pray to, yet we ought to
|
|
praise God for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Her name was <I>Mary,</I> the same name with <I>Miriam,</I> the
|
|
sister of Moses and Aaron; the name signifies <I>exalted,</I> and a
|
|
great elevation it was to her indeed to be thus <I>favoured</I> above
|
|
all the daughters of the house of David.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. She was a daughter of the royal family, lineally descended from
|
|
David, and she herself and all her friends knew it, for she went under
|
|
the title and character of the <I>house of David,</I> though she was
|
|
poor and low in the world; and she was enabled by God's providence, and
|
|
the care of the Jews, to preserve their genealogies, to <I>make it
|
|
out,</I> and as long as the promise of the Messiah was to be fulfilled
|
|
it was <I>worth keeping;</I> but for those now, who are brought low in
|
|
the world, to have descended from persons of honour, is not worth
|
|
mentioning.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. She was <I>a virgin,</I> a pure unspotted one, but <I>espoused</I>
|
|
to one of the same royal stock, like her, however, of low estate; so
|
|
that upon both accounts there was (as it was fit there should be) an
|
|
equality between them; his name was Joseph; he also was <I>of the house
|
|
of David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:20">Matt. i. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ's mother was a <I>virgin,</I> because he was not to be born by
|
|
ordinary generation, but miraculously; it was necessary that he should
|
|
be so, that, though he must partake of the nature of man, yet not of
|
|
the corruption of that nature: but he was born of a <I>virgin
|
|
espoused,</I> made up to be married, and contracted, to put honour upon
|
|
the married state, that that might not be brought into contempt (which
|
|
was an ordinance in innocency) by the Redeemer's being born of a
|
|
virgin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. She lived in Nazareth, a <I>city of Galilee,</I> a remote corner of
|
|
the country, and in no reputation for religion or learning, but which
|
|
bordered upon the heathen, and therefore was called <I>Galilee of the
|
|
Gentiles.</I> Christ's having his relations resident there intimates
|
|
favour in reserve for the Gentile world. And Dr. Lightfoot observes
|
|
that Jonah was by birth a Galilean, and Elijah and Elisha very much
|
|
conversant in Galilee, who were all famous <I>prophets of the
|
|
Gentiles.</I> The angel was sent to her from Nazareth. Note, No
|
|
distance or disadvantage of place shall be a prejudice to those for
|
|
whom God has favours in store. The angel Gabriel carries his message as
|
|
cheerfully to Mary and Nazareth in Galilee as to Zacharias in the
|
|
temple at Jerusalem.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The <I>address</I> of the angel to her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
We are not told what she was doing, or how employed, when the angel
|
|
came <I>unto her;</I> but he surprised her with this salutation,
|
|
<I>Hail, thou art highly favoured.</I> This was intended to raise in
|
|
her,
|
|
|
|
1. A value for <I>herself;</I> and, though it is very rare that any
|
|
need to have any sparks struck into their breast with such design, yet
|
|
in some, who like Mary pore only on their <I>low estate,</I> there is
|
|
occasion for it.
|
|
|
|
2. An expectation of great news, not from abroad, but from above.
|
|
Heaven designs, no doubt, uncommon favours for one whom an angel makes
|
|
court to with such respect, <I>Hail thou,</I>
|
|
<B><I>chaire</I></B>--<I>rejoice thou;</I> it was the usual form of
|
|
salutation; it expresses an esteem of her, and good-will to her and her
|
|
prosperity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) She is dignified: "Thou art <I>highly favoured.</I> God, in his
|
|
choice of thee to be the mother of the Messiah, has put an honour upon
|
|
thee peculiar to thyself, above that of Eve, who was the mother of
|
|
<I>all living.</I>" The vulgar Latin translates this <I>gratiá
|
|
plena--full of grace,</I> and thence gathers that she had more of the
|
|
inherent graces of the Spirit than ever any had; whereas it is certain
|
|
that this bespeaks no other than the singular favour done her in
|
|
preferring her to conceive and bear our blessed Lord, an honour which,
|
|
since he was to be the <I>seed of the woman,</I> some woman must have,
|
|
not for <I>personal merit,</I> but purely for the sake of <I>free
|
|
grace,</I> and she is pitched upon. <I>Even so, Father, because it
|
|
seemed good unto thee.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) She has the presence of God with her: "<I>The Lord is with
|
|
thee,</I> though poor and mean, and perhaps now forecasting how to get
|
|
a livelihood and maintain a family in the married state." The angel
|
|
with this word raised the faith of Gideon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:12">Judg. vi. 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord is with thee.</I> Nothing is to be despaired of, not the
|
|
performance of any service, not the obtaining of any favour, though
|
|
ever so great, if we have <I>God with us.</I> This word might put her
|
|
in mind of the Immanuel, <I>God with us,</I> which a virgin shall
|
|
<I>conceive</I> and <I>bear</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:14">Isa. vii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and why not she?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) She has the blessing of God upon her: "<I>Blessed art thou among
|
|
women;</I> not only thou shalt be accounted so by men, but thou shalt
|
|
be so. Thou that art so <I>highly favoured</I> in this instance mayest
|
|
expect in other things to be <I>blessed.</I>" She explains this herself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>All generations shall call me blessed.</I> Compare it with that
|
|
which Deborah saith of Jael, another that was the glory of her sex
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:24">Judg. v. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The consternation she was in, upon this address
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>).
|
|
|
|
<I>When she saw him,</I> and the glories with which he was surrounded,
|
|
she was <I>troubled</I> at the sight of him, and much more <I>at his
|
|
saying.</I> Had she been a proud ambitious young woman, that aimed
|
|
high, and flattered herself with the expectation of great things in the
|
|
world, she would have been <I>pleased</I> at his saying, would have
|
|
been puffed up with it, and (as we have reason to think she was a young
|
|
woman of very good sense) would have had an answer ready, signifying so
|
|
much: but, instead of that, she is <I>confounded</I> at it, as not
|
|
conscious to herself of any thing that either <I>merited</I> or
|
|
<I>promised</I> such great things; and she <I>cast in her mind what
|
|
manner of salutation this should be.</I> Was it from heaven or of men?
|
|
Was it to amuse her? was it to ensnare her? was it to banter her? or
|
|
was there something substantial and weighty in it? But, of all the
|
|
thoughts she had as to <I>what manner of salutation it should be,</I> I
|
|
believe she had not the least idea of its being ever intended or used
|
|
for a prayer, as it is, and has been, for many ages, by the corrupt,
|
|
degenerate, and anti-christian ages of the church, and to be ten times
|
|
repeated for the Lord's prayer once; so it is in the church of Rome.
|
|
But her thoughtfulness upon this occasion gives a very useful
|
|
intimation to young people of her sex, when addresses are made to them,
|
|
to consider and <I>cast in their minds</I> what manner of
|
|
<I>salutations</I> they are, whence they come, and what their tendency
|
|
is, that they may receive them accordingly, and may always <I>stand on
|
|
their guard.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The message itself which the angel had to deliver to her. Some time
|
|
the angel gives her to <I>pause;</I> but, observing that this did but
|
|
increase her perplexity, he went on with his errand,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
To what he had said she made no reply; he therefore confirms it:
|
|
"<I>Fear not, Mary,</I> I have no other design than to assure thee that
|
|
<I>thou hast found favour with God</I> more than thou thinkest of, as
|
|
there are many who think they are more favoured with God than they
|
|
really are." Note, Those that have <I>found favour with God</I> should
|
|
not give way to disquieting distrustful fears. Doth God favour thee?
|
|
Fear not, though the world frown upon thee. Is he for thee? No matter
|
|
who is against thee.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Though she is a <I>virgin,</I> she shall have the honour of being a
|
|
<I>mother:</I> "<I>Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a
|
|
son,</I> and thou shalt have the naming of him; thou shalt <I>call his
|
|
name Jesus,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was the sentence upon Eve, that, though she should have the honour
|
|
to be the <I>mother of all living,</I> yet this mortification shall be
|
|
an allay to that honour, that <I>her desire shall be to her
|
|
husband,</I> and he <I>shall rule over her,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:16">Gen. iii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
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But Mary has the honour without the allay.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Though she lives in <I>poverty</I> and <I>obscurity,</I> yet she
|
|
shall have the honour to be the mother of the Messiah; her son shall be
|
|
named <I>Jesus--a Saviour,</I> such a one as the world <I>needs,</I>
|
|
rather than such one as the Jews <I>expect.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He will be very <I>nearly allied</I> to the <I>upper world.</I> He
|
|
<I>shall be great,</I> truly great, incontestably great; for he shall
|
|
be called <I>the Son of the Highest,</I> the Son of God who is <I>the
|
|
Highest;</I> of the same nature, as the son is of the same nature with
|
|
the father; and very dear to him, as the son is to the father. He shall
|
|
be <I>called,</I> and not <I>miscalled,</I> the <I>Son of the
|
|
Highest;</I> for he is himself <I>God over all, blessed for
|
|
evermore,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:5">Rom. ix. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those who are the children of God, though but by adoption and
|
|
regeneration, are <I>truly great,</I> and therefore are concerned to be
|
|
<I>very good,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:1,2">1 John iii. 1, 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He will be very <I>highly preferred</I> in the <I>lower world;</I>
|
|
for, though born under the most disadvantageous circumstances possible,
|
|
and appearing in the form of a servant, yet <I>the Lord God shall give
|
|
unto him the throne of his father David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
He puts her in mind that she was <I>of the house of David;</I> and that
|
|
therefore, since neither the <I>Salique law,</I> nor the right of
|
|
primogeniture, took place in the entail of his throne, it was not
|
|
impossible but that she might bring forth an heir to it, and therefore
|
|
might the more easily <I>believe</I> it when she was told by an angel
|
|
from heaven that she <I>should</I> do so, that after the sceptre had
|
|
been long <I>departed</I> from that ancient and honourable family it
|
|
should now at length return to it again, to remain in it, not by
|
|
succession, but in the same hand to eternity. His people will not
|
|
<I>give him that throne,</I> will not acknowledge his right to <I>rule
|
|
them;</I> but the <I>Lord God</I> shall give him a right to <I>rule
|
|
them,</I> and set him as <I>his king</I> upon the <I>holy hill of
|
|
Zion.</I> He assures her,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That his kingdom shall be <I>spiritual:</I> he shall <I>reign over
|
|
the house of Jacob,</I> not <I>Israel according to the flesh,</I> for
|
|
they neither came into his interests nor did they continue long a
|
|
people; it must therefore be a <I>spiritual</I> kingdom, the house of
|
|
Israel <I>according to the promise,</I> that he must <I>rule over.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] That it shall be eternal: he shall reign <I>for ever,</I> and
|
|
<I>of his kingdom there shall be no end,</I> as there had been long
|
|
since of the temporal reign of David's house, and would shortly be of
|
|
the state of Israel. Other crowns endure not <I>to every
|
|
generation,</I> but Christ's doth,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:24">Prov. xxvii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The gospel is the <I>last</I> dispensation, we are to look for no
|
|
other.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The further information given her, upon her enquiry concerning the
|
|
birth of this prince.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. It is a just enquiry which she makes: "<I>How shall this be?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
How can I now presently conceive a child" (for so the angel meant)
|
|
"when I <I>know not a man;</I> must it therefore be otherwise than by
|
|
ordinary generation? If so, let me now <I>how?</I>" She knew that the
|
|
Messiah must be born of <I>a virgin;</I> and, if she must be his
|
|
mother, she desires to know how. This was not the language of her
|
|
distrust, or any doubt of what the angel said, but of a desire to be
|
|
further instructed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It is a satisfactory answer that is given to it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) She shall conceive by <I>the power of the Holy Ghost,</I> whose
|
|
proper work and office is to <I>sanctify,</I> and therefore to sanctify
|
|
the virgin for this purpose. The Holy Ghost is called the <I>power of
|
|
the Highest.</I> Doth she ask how this shall be? This is enough to help
|
|
her over all the difficulty there appears in it; a divine power will
|
|
undertake it, not the power of an angel employed in it, as in other
|
|
works of wonder, but the power of <I>the Holy Ghost</I> himself.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) She must <I>ask no questions</I> concerning the way and manner how
|
|
it shall be wrought; for the Holy Ghost, as the <I>power of the
|
|
Highest,</I> shall <I>overshadow</I> her, as the <I>cloud</I> covered
|
|
the tabernacle when the glory of God took possession of it, to conceal
|
|
it from those that would too curiously observe the motions of it, and
|
|
pry into the mystery of it. The formation of every babe in the womb,
|
|
and the entrance of the spirit of life into it, is a mystery in nature;
|
|
none knows <I>the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are formed in
|
|
the womb of her that is with child,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+11:5">Eccl. xi. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
We were <I>made in secret,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:15,16">Ps. cxxxix. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Much more was the formation of the child Jesus a <I>mystery;</I>
|
|
without controversy, <I>great was the mystery of godliness, God
|
|
manifest in the flesh,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+3:16">1 Tim. iii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a <I>new thing created in the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:22">Jer. xxxi. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
concerning which we must not covet to be <I>wise above what is
|
|
written.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The child she shall conceive is a <I>holy thing,</I> and therefore
|
|
must not be conceived by <I>ordinary generation,</I> because he must
|
|
not share in the common corruption and pollution of the human nature.
|
|
He is spoken of emphatically, <I>That Holy Thing,</I> such as never
|
|
was; and he shall be called <I>the Son of God,</I> as the Son of the
|
|
Father by eternal generation, as an indication of which he shall now be
|
|
formed by the Holy Ghost in the present conception. His human nature
|
|
must be so produced, as it was fit that should be which was to be taken
|
|
into union with the divine nature.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. It was a further encouragement to her faith to be told that <I>her
|
|
cousin Elisabeth,</I> though stricken in years, was <I>with child,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here is an age of wonders beginning, and therefore be not surprised:
|
|
here is one among thy own relations truly great, though not altogether
|
|
so great as this; it is usual with God to advance in working wonders.
|
|
<I>Greater works than these shall ye do.</I> Though Elisabeth was, on
|
|
the father's side, of the <I>daughters of Aaron</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet on the mother's side she might be of the house of David, for those
|
|
two families often intermarried, as an earnest of the uniting of the
|
|
royalty and the priesthood of the Messiah. <I>This is the sixth month
|
|
with her that was called barren.</I> This intimates, as Dr. Lightfoot
|
|
thinks, that all the instances in the Old Testament of those having
|
|
children that had been long barren, which was above nature, were
|
|
designed to prepare the world for the belief of a virgin's bearing a
|
|
son, which was against nature. And therefore, even in the birth of
|
|
Isaac, Abraham saw Christ's day, foresaw such a miracle in the birth of
|
|
Christ. The angel assures Mary of this, to encourage her faith, and
|
|
concludes with that great truth, of undoubted certainty and universal
|
|
use, <I>For with God nothing shall be impossible</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, if nothing, then not this. Abraham therefore staggered not at the
|
|
belief of the divine promise, because he was strong in his belief of
|
|
the divine power,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:20,21">Rom. iv. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
No <I>word</I> of God must be <I>incredible to us,</I> as long as no
|
|
<I>work</I> of God is <I>impossible to him.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Her acquiescence in the will of God concerning her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
She owns herself,
|
|
|
|
1. A believing subject to the divine authority: "<I>Behold, the
|
|
handmaid of the Lord.</I> Lord, I am at thy service, at thy disposal,
|
|
to do what thou commandest me." She objects not the danger of spoiling
|
|
her marriage, and blemishing her reputation, but leaves the issue with
|
|
God, and submits entirely to his will.
|
|
|
|
2. A believing expectant of the divine favour. She is not only content
|
|
that it should be so, but humbly desires that it may be so: <I>Be it
|
|
unto me according to thy word.</I> Such a favour as this it was not for
|
|
her to slight, or be indifferent to; and for what God has
|
|
<I>promised</I> he will be <I>sought unto;</I> by prayer we must put
|
|
our <I>amen,</I> or <I>so be it,</I> to the promise. <I>Remember,</I>
|
|
and perform <I>thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou has caused me
|
|
to hope.</I> We must, as Mary here, <I>guide</I> our desires by the
|
|
word of God, and <I>ground</I> our hopes <I>upon</I> it. Be it unto me
|
|
<I>according to thy word;</I> just so, and no otherwise.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Hereupon, <I>the angel departed from her;</I> having completed the
|
|
errand he was sent upon, he returned, to give an account of it, and
|
|
receive new instructions. Converse with angels was always a transient
|
|
thing, and soon over; it will be constant and permanent in the future
|
|
state. It is generally supposed that just at this instant the virgin
|
|
<I>conceived,</I> by the <I>overshadowing power</I> of the Holy Ghost:
|
|
but, the scripture being decently silent concerning it, it doth not
|
|
become us to be <I>inquisitive,</I> much less <I>positive.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_50"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_52"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_53"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_54"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_55"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_56"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Interview of Mary and Elisabeth; The Song of Mary.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country
|
|
with haste, into a city of Juda;
|
|
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted
|
|
Elisabeth.
|
|
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the
|
|
salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth
|
|
was filled with the Holy Ghost:
|
|
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed <I>art</I>
|
|
thou among women, and blessed <I>is</I> the fruit of thy womb.
|
|
43 And whence <I>is</I> this to me, that the mother of my Lord
|
|
should come to me?
|
|
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in
|
|
mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
|
|
45 And blessed <I>is</I> she that believed: for there shall be a
|
|
performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
|
|
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
|
|
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
|
|
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for,
|
|
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
|
|
49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy
|
|
<I>is</I> his name.
|
|
50 And his mercy <I>is</I> on them that fear him from generation to
|
|
generation.
|
|
51 He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the
|
|
proud in the imagination of their hearts.
|
|
52 He hath put down the mighty from <I>their</I> seats, and exalted
|
|
them of low degree.
|
|
53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he
|
|
hath sent empty away.
|
|
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of <I>his</I>
|
|
mercy;
|
|
55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for
|
|
ever.
|
|
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to
|
|
her own house.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here an interview between the two happy mothers, Elisabeth and
|
|
Mary: the angel, by intimating to Mary the favour bestowed on her
|
|
cousin Elisabeth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
gave occasion for it; and sometimes it may prove a better piece of
|
|
service that we think to bring good people together, to compare notes.
|
|
Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The visit which Mary made to Elisabeth. Mary was the <I>younger,</I>
|
|
and younger with child; and therefore, if they must come together, it
|
|
was fittest that Mary should take the journey, not insisting on the
|
|
preference which the greater dignity of her conception gave her,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
She <I>arose,</I> and left her affairs, to attend this greater matter:
|
|
<I>in those days, at that time</I> (as it is commonly explained,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+33:15,50:4">Jer. xxxiii. 15; l. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
in a day or two after the angel had visited her, taking some time
|
|
first, as it is supposed, for her devotion, or rather hastening away to
|
|
her cousin's, where she would have more leisure, and better help, in
|
|
the family of a priest. She went, <B><I>meta spoudes</I></B>--<I>with
|
|
care, diligence,</I> and <I>expedition;</I> not as young people
|
|
commonly go abroad and visit their friends, to <I>divert</I> herself,
|
|
but to <I>inform</I> herself: she went <I>to a city of Judah in the
|
|
hill-country;</I> it is not named, but by comparing the description of
|
|
it here with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+21:10,11">Josh. xxi. 10, 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
it appears to be <I>Hebron,</I> for that is there said to be <I>in the
|
|
hill-country of Judah,</I> and to belong to the priests, the sons of
|
|
Aaron; thither Mary hastened, though it was a long journey, some scores
|
|
of miles.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Dr. Lightfoot offers a conjecture that she was to <I>conceive</I>
|
|
our Saviour there at Hebron, and perhaps had so much intimated to her
|
|
by the angel, or some other way; and therefore she made such haste
|
|
thither. He thinks it probable that Shiloh, of the tribe of Judah, and
|
|
the seed of David, should be <I>conceived</I> in a city of Judah and of
|
|
David, as he was to be born in Bethlehem, another city which belonged
|
|
to them both. In Hebron the promise was given to Isaac, circumcision
|
|
was instituted. Here (saith he) Abraham had his first land, and David
|
|
his first crown: here lay interred the three couples, Abraham and
|
|
Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and, as antiquity has held,
|
|
Adam and Eve. He therefore thinks that it suits singularly with the
|
|
harmony and consent which God uses in his works that the promise should
|
|
begin to take place by the conception of the Messias, even among those
|
|
patriarchs to whom it was given. I see no improbability in the
|
|
conjecture, but add this for the support of it, that Elisabeth said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>There shall be a performance;</I> as if it were not performed yet,
|
|
but was to be performed there.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It is generally supposed that she went thither for the confirming of
|
|
her faith by the sign which the angel had given her, her cousin's being
|
|
with child, and to rejoice with her sister-favourite. And, besides, she
|
|
went thither, perhaps, that she might be more retired from company, or
|
|
else might have more agreeable company than she could have in Nazareth.
|
|
We may suppose that she did not acquaint any of her neighbours at
|
|
Nazareth with the message she had received from heaven, yet longed to
|
|
<I>talk over</I> a thing she had a thousand time <I>thought over,</I>
|
|
and knew no person in the world with whom she could <I>freely</I>
|
|
converse concerning it but her cousin Elisabeth, and therefore she
|
|
hastened to her. Note, it is very beneficial and comfortable for those
|
|
that have a good work of grace begun in their souls, and Christ in the
|
|
<I>forming</I> there, to consult those who are in the same case, that
|
|
they may communicate experiences one to another; and they will find
|
|
that, as in water face answers to face, so doth the heart of man to
|
|
man, of Christian to Christian.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The meeting between Mary and Elisabeth. Mary entered into the house
|
|
of Zacharias; but he, being <I>dumb</I> and <I>deaf,</I> kept his
|
|
chamber, it is probable, and saw no company; and therefore she
|
|
<I>saluted Elisabeth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>),
|
|
|
|
told her she was come to make her a visit, to know her state, and
|
|
<I>rejoice with her</I> in her joy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now, at their first coming together, for the confirmation of the faith
|
|
of both of them, there was something very extraordinary. Mary knew that
|
|
Elisabeth was with child, but it does not appear that Elisabeth had
|
|
been told any thing of her cousin Mary's being designed for the mother
|
|
of the Messiah; and therefore what knowledge she appears to have had of
|
|
it must have come by a <I>revelation,</I> which would be a great
|
|
encouragement to Mary.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The babe <I>leaped in her womb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is very probable that she had been several weeks <I>quick</I> (for
|
|
she was six months gone), and that she had often felt the child stir;
|
|
but this was a more than ordinary motion of the child, which alarmed
|
|
her to expect something very extraordinary, <B><I>eskirtese</I></B>. It
|
|
is the same word that is used by the LXX.
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:22">Gen. xxv. 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
for the <I>struggling</I> of Jacob and Esau in Rebecca's womb, and the
|
|
mountains <I>skipping,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+114:4">Ps. cxiv. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>babe leaped</I> as it were to give a signal to his mother that
|
|
<I>he</I> was now at had whose forerunner he was to be, about six
|
|
months in ministry, as he was in being; or, it was the effect of some
|
|
strong impression made upon the mother. Now began to be fulfilled what
|
|
the angel said to his father
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he should be <I>filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's
|
|
womb;</I> and perhaps he himself had some reference to this, when he
|
|
said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:29">John iii. 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth greatly, because of the
|
|
Bridegroom's voice,</I> heard, though not by him, yet by his
|
|
mother.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Elisabeth was herself <I>filled with the Holy Ghost,</I> or a Spirit
|
|
of prophecy, by which, as well as by the particular suggestions of the
|
|
Holy Ghost she was filled with, she was given to understand that the
|
|
Messiah was at hand, in whom prophecy should revive, and by whom the
|
|
Holy Ghost should be more plentifully poured out than ever, according
|
|
to the expectations of those who <I>waited for the consolation of
|
|
Israel.</I> The uncommon motion of the babe in her womb was a token of
|
|
extraordinary emotion of her spirit under a divine impulse. Note, Those
|
|
whom Christ graciously visits may know it by their being <I>filled with
|
|
the Holy Ghost;</I> for, <I>if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
|
|
he is none of his.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The welcome which Elisabeth, by the Spirit of prophecy, gave to
|
|
Mary, the mother of our Lord; not as to a common friend making a common
|
|
visit, but as to one of whom the Messiah was to be born.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. She congratulates her on her honour, and, though perhaps she knew
|
|
not of it till <I>just now,</I> she acknowledges it with the greatest
|
|
assurance and satisfaction. She <I>spoke with a loud voice,</I> which
|
|
does not at all intimate (as some think) that there was a floor or a
|
|
wall between them, but that she was in a transport or exultation of
|
|
joy, and said what she cared not who knew. She said, <I>Blessed art
|
|
thou among women,</I> the same word that the angels had said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
for thus this will of God, concerning honouring the Son, should be done
|
|
<I>on earth</I> as it is <I>done in heaven.</I> But Elisabeth adds a
|
|
reason, <I>Therefore blessed art thou</I> because <I>blessed is the
|
|
fruit of thy womb;</I> thence it was that she derived this excelling
|
|
dignity. Elisabeth was the wife of a priest, and in years, yet she
|
|
<I>grudges</I> not that her kinswoman, who was many years younger than
|
|
she, and every way her inferior, should have the honour of conceiving
|
|
in her virginity, and being the mother of the Messiah, whereas the
|
|
honour put upon her was <I>much less;</I> she <I>rejoices</I> in it,
|
|
and is well pleased, as her son was afterwards, that she who <I>cometh
|
|
after her is preferred before her,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:27">John i. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, While we cannot but own that we are more <I>favoured</I> of God
|
|
than we deserve, let us by no means envy that others are <I>more
|
|
highly</I> favoured than we are.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. She acknowledges her condescension, in making her this visit
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to
|
|
me?</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) She calls the virgin Mary the <I>mother of her Lord</I> (as David
|
|
in spirit, called the Messiah Lord, <I>his Lord</I>), for she knew he
|
|
was to be <I>Lord of all.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) She not only bids her welcome to her house, though perhaps she
|
|
came in mean circumstances, but reckons this visit a great favour,
|
|
which she thought herself unworthy of. <I>Whence is this to me?</I> It
|
|
is in reality, and not in compliment, that she saith, "This was a
|
|
greater favour than I could have expected." Note, Those that are filled
|
|
with the Holy Ghost have <I>low thoughts</I> of their own merits, and
|
|
high thoughts of God's favours. Her son the Baptist spoke to the same
|
|
purport with this, when he said, <I>Comest thou to me?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+3:14">Matt. iii. 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. She acquaints her with the concurrence of the babe in her womb, in
|
|
this welcome to her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Thou certainly bringest some extraordinary tidings, some extraordinary
|
|
blessing, with thee; for <I>as soon as the voice of thy salutation
|
|
sounded in my ears,</I> not only my heart <I>leaped for joy,</I> though
|
|
I knew not immediately why or wherefore, but the <I>babe in my
|
|
womb,</I> who was not capable of knowing, <I>did so</I> too." He
|
|
<I>leaped</I> as it were <I>for joy</I> that the Messiah, whose
|
|
harbinger he was to be, would himself come soon after him. This would
|
|
serve very much to strengthen the faith of the virgin, that there were
|
|
such assurances as these given to others; and it would be in part the
|
|
accomplishment of what had been so often foretold, that there should be
|
|
<I>universal joy before the Lord, when he cometh,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+98:8,9">Ps. xcviii. 8, 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. She commends her faith, and encourages it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:45"><I>v.</I> 45</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Blessed is she that believed.</I> Believing souls are blessed souls,
|
|
and will be found so at last; this blessedness cometh <I>through
|
|
faith,</I> even the blessedness of being related to Christ, and having
|
|
him <I>formed in the soul.</I> They are <I>blessed</I> who
|
|
<I>believe</I> the word of God, for that Word will not fail them;
|
|
<I>there shall,</I> without doubt, <I>be a performance of those things
|
|
which are told her from the Lord.</I> Note, The inviolable certainty of
|
|
the promise is the undoubted felicity of those that build upon it and
|
|
expect their all from it. The faithfulness of God is the blessedness of
|
|
the faith of the saints. Those that have experienced the performance of
|
|
God's promises themselves should encourage others to hope that he will
|
|
be as good as his word to them also: <I>I will tell you what God has
|
|
done for my soul.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Mary's song of praise, upon this occasion. Elisabeth's prophecy was
|
|
an echo to the virgin Mary's salutation, and this song is yet a
|
|
stronger <I>echo</I> to that prophecy, and shows her to be no less
|
|
filled with the Holy Ghost than Elisabeth was. We may suppose the
|
|
blessed virgin to come in, very much <I>fatigued</I> with her journey;
|
|
yet she forgets that, and is inspired with new life, and vigour, and
|
|
joy, upon the confirmation she here meets with of her faith; and since,
|
|
by the sudden inspiration and transport, she finds that this was
|
|
designed to be her errand hither, weary as she is, like Abraham's
|
|
servant, she would <I>neither eat nor drink till she had told her
|
|
errand.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Here are the expressions of joy and praise, and God alone the object
|
|
of the praise and centre of the joy. Some compare this song with that
|
|
which her name-sake Miriam, the sister of Moses, sung, upon the
|
|
triumphant departure of Israel out of Egypt, and their triumphant
|
|
passage through the Red Sea; others think it better compared with the
|
|
song of Hannah, upon the birth of Samuel, which, like this, passes from
|
|
a family mercy to a public and general one. <I>This</I> begins, like
|
|
<I>that, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:1">1 Sam. ii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe how Mary here speaks of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) With great reverence of him, as <I>the Lord:</I> "<I>My soul doth
|
|
magnify the Lord;</I> I never saw him so <I>great</I> as now I find him
|
|
so <I>good.</I>" Note, Those, and those only, are <I>advanced</I> in
|
|
mercy, who are thereby brought to think the more <I>highly</I> and
|
|
<I>honourably</I> of God; whereas there are those whose prosperity and
|
|
preferment make them say, <I>What is the Almighty, that we should serve
|
|
him?</I> The more honour God has any way put upon us, the more honour
|
|
we must study to give to him; and <I>then</I> only are we accepted in
|
|
magnifying the Lord, when our <I>souls</I> magnify him, and <I>all that
|
|
is within us.</I> Praising work must be soul work.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) With great complacency in him as <I>her Saviour: My spirit
|
|
rejoiceth in God my Saviour.</I> This seems to have reference to the
|
|
Messiah, whom she was to be the mother of. She calls him <I>God her
|
|
Saviour;</I> for the angel had told her that he should be the <I>Son of
|
|
the Highest,</I> and that his name should be <I>Jesus, a Saviour;</I>
|
|
this she fastened upon, with application to herself: <I>He is God my
|
|
Saviour.</I> Even the mother of our Lord had need of an interest in him
|
|
as her Saviour, and would have been undone without it: and she glories
|
|
more in that happiness which she had in common with all believers than
|
|
in being his mother, which was an honour peculiar to herself, and this
|
|
agrees with the preference Christ have to obedient believers above his
|
|
mother and brethren; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:50,Lu+11:27,28">Matt. xii. 50; Luke xi. 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that have Christ for their God and Saviour have a great
|
|
deal of reason to rejoice, to <I>rejoice in spirit,</I> that is
|
|
rejoicing as Christ did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+10:21">Luke x. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
with spiritual joy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Here are just causes assigned for this joy and praise.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Upon <I>her own</I> account,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:48,49"><I>v.</I> 48, 49</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Her <I>spirit rejoiced in the Lord,</I> because of the <I>kind</I>
|
|
things he had done for her: his <I>condescension</I> and
|
|
<I>compassion</I> to her. <I>He has regarded the low estate of his
|
|
handmaiden;</I> that is, he has <I>looked</I> upon her <I>with
|
|
pity,</I> for so the word is commonly used. "He has chosen me to this
|
|
honour, notwithstanding my great meanness, poverty, and obscurity."
|
|
Nay, the expression seems to intimate, not only (to allude to that of
|
|
Gideon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+6:15">Judg. vi. 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
that her <I>family</I> was poor in Judah, but that she was the <I>least
|
|
in her father's house,</I> as if she were under some particular
|
|
contempt and disgraced among her relations, was unjustly neglected, and
|
|
the outcast of the family, and God put this honour upon her, to balance
|
|
abundantly the contempt. I the rather suggest this, for we find
|
|
something toward such honour as this put upon others, on the like
|
|
consideration. Because God saw that Leah <I>was hated,</I> he <I>opened
|
|
her womb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:31">Gen. xxix. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
Because Hannah was provoked, and made to fret, and insulted over, by
|
|
Peninnah, therefore God gave her a son,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:19">1 Sam. i. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whom men wrongfully depress and despise God doth sometimes, in
|
|
compassion to them, especially if they have borne it patiently, prefer
|
|
and advance; see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+11:7">Judg. xi. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
So in Mary's case. And, if God <I>regards her low estate,</I> he not
|
|
only thereby gives a specimen of his favour to the whole race of
|
|
mankind, whom he <I>remembers in their low estate,</I> as the psalmist
|
|
speaks
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+136:23">Ps. cxxxvi. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
but secures a lasting honour to her (for such the honour is that God
|
|
bestows, honour that fades not away): "<I>From henceforth all
|
|
generations shall call me blessed,</I> shall think me a happy woman and
|
|
highly advanced." All that embrace Christ and his gospel will say,
|
|
<I>Blessed was the womb that bore him and the paps which he sucked,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:27">Luke xi. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Elizabeth had once and again called her <I>blessed:</I> "But that is
|
|
not all," saith she, "all generations of Gentiles as well as Jews shall
|
|
call me so."
|
|
|
|
[2.] Her <I>soul magnifies</I> the Lord, because of the
|
|
<I>wonderful</I> things he had done for her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He that is mighty has done to me great things.</I> A <I>great</I>
|
|
thing indeed, that a <I>virgin</I> should <I>conceive.</I> A
|
|
<I>great</I> thing indeed, that Messiah, who had been so long promised
|
|
to the church, and so long expected by the church, should now at length
|
|
be born. It is the <I>power of the Highest</I> that appears in this.
|
|
She adds, <I>and holy is his name;</I> for so Hannah saith her song,
|
|
<I>There is none holy as the Lord,</I> which she explains in the next
|
|
words, <I>for there is none beside thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:2">1 Sam. ii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
God is a Being <I>by himself,</I> and he manifests himself to be so,
|
|
especially in the work of our redemption. He that is <I>mighty,</I>
|
|
even he <I>whose name is holy,</I> has <I>done to me great things.</I>
|
|
Glorious things may be expected from him that is both <I>mighty</I> and
|
|
<I>holy;</I> who <I>can do every thing,</I> and <I>will</I> do every
|
|
thing <I>well</I> and <I>for the best.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Upon the account of <I>others.</I> The virgin Mary, as the mother
|
|
of the Messiah, is become a kind of public person, wears a public
|
|
character, and is therefore immediately endued with another spirit, a
|
|
more public spirit than before she had, and therefore <I>looks
|
|
abroad,</I> looks <I>about her,</I> looks <I>before her,</I> and takes
|
|
notice of God's various dealings with the children of men
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.), as Hannah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:3">1 Sam. ii. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.). In this she has especially an eye to the coming of the Redeemer
|
|
and God's manifesting himself therein.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is a certain truth that God <I>has mercy in store,</I> mercy in
|
|
reserve, <I>for all that have a reverence for his majesty,</I> and a
|
|
due regard to his sovereignty and authority. But never did this appear
|
|
so as in sending his Son into the world to save us
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His mercy is on them that fear him;</I> it has always been so; he
|
|
has ever looked upon <I>them</I> with an eye of <I>peculiar favour</I>
|
|
who have looked up to him with and eye of <I>filial fear.</I> But he
|
|
hath manifested this <I>mercy,</I> so as never before, in sending his
|
|
Son to bring in an everlasting righteousness, and work out an
|
|
everlasting salvation, for them that fear him, and this <I>from
|
|
generation to generation;</I> for there are gospel privileges
|
|
transmitted by entail, and intended for perpetuity. Those that <I>fear
|
|
God,</I> as their Creator and Judge, are encouraged to hope for
|
|
<I>mercy in him,</I> through their Mediator and Advocate; and in him
|
|
<I>mercy</I> is settled upon all that <I>fear God,</I> pardoning mercy,
|
|
healing mercy, accepting mercy, crowning mercy, <I>from generation to
|
|
generation,</I> while the world stands. In Christ he <I>keepeth mercy
|
|
for thousands.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] It has been a common observation that God in his providence puts
|
|
<I>contempt</I> upon the <I>haughty</I> and <I>honour</I> upon the
|
|
<I>humble;</I> and this he has done remarkably in the whole economy of
|
|
the work of man's redemption. As God had, with his <I>mercy</I> to her,
|
|
shown himself <I>mighty</I> also
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:48,49"><I>v.</I> 48, 49</A>),
|
|
|
|
so he had, with his <I>mercy on them that fear him, shown strength</I>
|
|
likewise <I>with his arm.</I> <I>First,</I> In the course of his
|
|
providence, it is his usual method to cross <I>the expectations of
|
|
men,</I> and proceed quite otherwise than they promise themselves.
|
|
<I>Proud men</I> expect to carry all before them, to have their way and
|
|
their will; but he <I>scatters them in the imagination of their
|
|
hearts,</I> breaks their measures, blasts their projects, nay, and
|
|
brings them low, and brings them down, by those very counsels with
|
|
which they thought to advance and establish themselves. The
|
|
<I>mighty</I> think to secure themselves by might <I>in their
|
|
seats,</I> but he <I>puts them down,</I> and overturns their seats;
|
|
while, on the other hand, those of <I>low degree,</I> who despaired of
|
|
ever advancing themselves, and thought of no other than of being
|
|
<I>ever low,</I> are wonderfully <I>exalted.</I> This observation
|
|
concerning <I>honour</I> holds likewise concerning <I>riches;</I> many
|
|
who were so poor that they had not bread for themselves and their
|
|
families, by some surprising turn of Providence in favour of them, come
|
|
to be <I>filled with good things;</I> while, on the other hand, those
|
|
who were rich, and thought no other than that to-morrow should be as
|
|
this day, that their mountain stood strong and should never be moved,
|
|
are strangely impoverished, and <I>sent away empty.</I> Now this is the
|
|
same observation that Hannah had made, and enlarged upon, in her song,
|
|
with application to the case of herself and her adversary
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:4-7">1 Sam. ii. 4-7</A>),
|
|
|
|
which very much illustrates this here. And compare also
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:33-41,113:7-9,Ec+9:11">Ps. cvii. 33-41; cxiii. 7-9;
|
|
and Eccl. ix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God takes a pleasure in <I>disappointing</I> their expectations who
|
|
promise themselves <I>great things</I> in the world, and in
|
|
<I>out-doing</I> the expectations of those who promise themselves but
|
|
<I>a little;</I> as a <I>righteous</I> God, it is his glory to
|
|
<I>abase</I> those who <I>exalt</I> themselves, and strike terror on
|
|
the secure; and, as a <I>good</I> God, it is his glory to exalt those
|
|
who humble themselves, and to speak comfort to those who fear before
|
|
him. <I>Secondly,</I> This doth especially appear in the methods of
|
|
gospel grace.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. In the <I>spiritual honours</I> it dispenses. When the proud
|
|
Pharisees were rejected, and Publicans and sinners went <I>into the
|
|
kingdom of heaven</I> before them,--when the Jews, who <I>followed after
|
|
the law of righteousness,</I> did not attain it, and the Gentiles, who
|
|
never thought of it, attained to righteousness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:30,31">Rom. ix. 30, 31</A>),--when
|
|
|
|
God chose not the <I>wise men after the flesh,</I> not the
|
|
<I>mighty,</I> or the <I>noble,</I> to preach the gospel, and plant
|
|
Christianity in the world, but the <I>foolish</I> and <I>weak</I>
|
|
things of the world, and things that were despised
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+1:26,27">1 Cor. i. 26, 27</A>)--then
|
|
|
|
he <I>scattered the proud,</I> and <I>put down the mighty,</I> but
|
|
<I>exalted them of low degree.</I> When the tyranny of the chief
|
|
priests and elders were brought down, who had long <I>lorded it over
|
|
God's heritage,</I> and hoped <I>always</I> to do so, and Christ's
|
|
disciples, a company of poor despised fishermen, by the power they were
|
|
clothed with, were made to <I>sit on thrones,</I> judging the twelve
|
|
tribes of Israel,--when the power of the four monarchies was broken,
|
|
and the kingdom of the Messiah, that <I>stone cut out of the mountain
|
|
without hands,</I> is made to <I>fill the earth,</I>--then are the
|
|
<I>proud scattered,</I> and those of low degree <I>exalted.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. In the <I>spiritual riches</I> it dispenses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:53"><I>v.</I> 53</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those who see their need of Christ, and are importunately desirous
|
|
of righteousness and life in him, he <I>fills</I> with <I>good
|
|
things,</I> with the <I>best things;</I> he gives liberally to them,
|
|
and they are <I>abundantly satisfied</I> with the blessings he gives.
|
|
Those who are weary and heavy-laden shall find rest with Christ, and
|
|
those who thirst are called to <I>come to him and drink;</I> for they
|
|
only know how to value his gifts. <I>To the hungry soul every bitter
|
|
thing is sweet,</I> manna is angels' food; and to the <I>thirsty</I>
|
|
fair water is <I>honey out of the rock.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Those who are rich, who are not <I>hungry,</I> who, like Laodicea,
|
|
think they have <I>need of nothing,</I> are full of themselves and
|
|
their own righteousness, and think they have a sufficiency in
|
|
themselves, those he <I>sends away</I> from his door, they are not
|
|
welcome to him, he sends them <I>empty</I> away, they come <I>full of
|
|
self,</I> and are sent away <I>empty of Christ.</I> He sends them to
|
|
the <I>gods whom they served,</I> to their own righteousness and
|
|
strength which they trusted to.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] It was always expected that the Messiah should be, in a special
|
|
manner, the strength and glory of his people Israel, and so he is in a
|
|
peculiar manner
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:54"><I>v.</I> 54</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He hath helped his servant Israel,</I> <B><I>antelabeto</I></B>. He
|
|
hath taken them by the hand, and <I>helped them up</I> that were fallen
|
|
and could not help themselves. Those that were sunk under the burdens
|
|
of a broken covenant of innocency are <I>helped up</I> by the blessings
|
|
of a renewed covenant of grace. The sending of the Messiah, on whom
|
|
<I>help</I> was <I>laid</I> for poor sinners, was the greatest kindness
|
|
that could be done, the greatest help that could be provided for his
|
|
people Israel, and that which magnifies it is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> That it is <I>in remembrance of his mercy,</I> the
|
|
mercifulness of his nature, the mercy he has in store for <I>his
|
|
servant Israel.</I> While this blessing was deferred, his people, who
|
|
waited for it, were often ready to ask, <I>Has God forgotten to be
|
|
gracious?</I> But now he made it appear that he had not forgotten, but
|
|
<I>remembered, his mercy.</I> He remembered his former mercy, and
|
|
repeated that to them in <I>spiritual</I> blessings which he had done
|
|
formerly to them in <I>temporal</I> favours. <I>He remembered the days
|
|
of old. Where is he that brought them up out of the sea,</I> out of
|
|
Egypt?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:11">Isa. lxiii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He will do the like again, which that was a type of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> That it is <I>in performance of his promise.</I> It is
|
|
a mercy not only designed, but declared
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:55"><I>v.</I> 55</A>);
|
|
|
|
it was <I>what he spoke to our fathers,</I> that the Seed of the woman
|
|
should break the head of the serpent; that God should dwell in the
|
|
tents of Shem; and particularly to Abraham, that <I>in his seed all the
|
|
families of the earth shall be blessed,</I> with the best of blessings,
|
|
with the blessings that are <I>for ever,</I> and to the seed that shall
|
|
be for ever; that is, his <I>spiritual</I> seed, for his carnal seed
|
|
were <I>cut off</I> a little after this. Note, What God has spoken he
|
|
will perform; what he hath spoken to the fathers will be performed to
|
|
their seed; to their seed's seed, in blessings that shall last for
|
|
ever.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> Mary's return to Nazareth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:56"><I>v.</I> 56</A>),
|
|
|
|
after she had continued with Elisabeth about <I>three months,</I> so
|
|
long as to be fully satisfied concerning herself that she was <I>with
|
|
child,</I> and to be confirmed therein by her cousin Elisabeth. Some
|
|
think, though her return is here mentioned before Elisabeth's being
|
|
delivered, because the evangelist would finish this passage concerning
|
|
Mary before he proceeded with the story of Elisabeth, yet that Mary
|
|
staid till her cousin was (as we say) <I>down and up again;</I> that
|
|
she might attend on her, and be with her in her lying-in, and have her
|
|
own faith confirmed by the full accomplishment of the promise of God
|
|
concerning Elisabeth. But most bind themselves to the order of the
|
|
story as it lies, and think she returned again when Elisabeth was near
|
|
her time; because she still affected retirement, and therefore would
|
|
not be there when the birth of this child of promise would draw a great
|
|
deal of company to the house. Those in whose hearts Christ is formed
|
|
take more delight than they used to do in <I>sitting alone</I> and
|
|
<I>keeping silence.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_57"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_58"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_59"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_60"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_61"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_62"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_63"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_64"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_65"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_66"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Birth of John the Baptist.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>57 Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered;
|
|
and she brought forth a son.
|
|
58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had
|
|
showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
|
|
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to
|
|
circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the
|
|
name of his father.
|
|
60 And his mother answered and said, Not <I>so;</I> but he shall be
|
|
called John.
|
|
61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is
|
|
called by this name.
|
|
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him
|
|
called.
|
|
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His
|
|
name is John. And they marvelled all.
|
|
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue
|
|
<I>loosed,</I> and he spake, and praised God.
|
|
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all
|
|
these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country
|
|
of Judæa.
|
|
66 And all they that heard <I>them</I> laid <I>them</I> up in their
|
|
hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand
|
|
of the Lord was with him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses, we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The birth of John Baptist,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:57"><I>v.</I> 57</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though he was conceived in the womb by miracle, he continued in the
|
|
womb according to the ordinary course of nature (so did our Saviour):
|
|
<I>Elisabeth's full time came, that she should be delivered,</I> and
|
|
then <I>she brought forth a son.</I> Promised mercies are to be
|
|
expected when the <I>full time</I> for them is come, and not
|
|
before.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The great joy that was among all the relations of the family, upon
|
|
this extraordinary occasion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:58"><I>v.</I> 58</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Her neighbours and her cousins heard of it;</I> for it would be in
|
|
every body's mouth, as next to miraculous. Dr. Lightfoot observes that
|
|
Hebron was inhabited by priests of the family of Aaron, and that those
|
|
were the cousins here spoken of; but the fields and villages about, by
|
|
the children of Judah, and that those were the <I>neighbours.</I> Now
|
|
these here discovered,
|
|
|
|
1. A <I>pious</I> regard to God. They acknowledged that <I>the Lord had
|
|
magnified his mercy to her,</I> so the word is. It was a mercy to have
|
|
her reproach taken away, a mercy to have her family built up, and the
|
|
more being a family of <I>priests,</I> devoted to God, and employed for
|
|
him. Many things concurred to make the mercy <I>great</I>--that she had
|
|
been long barren, was now old, but especially that the child should be
|
|
<I>great in the sight of the Lord.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. A <I>friendly</I> regard to Elisabeth. When she rejoiced, they
|
|
<I>rejoiced with her.</I> We ought to take <I>pleasure</I> in the
|
|
prosperity of our neighbours and friends, and to be thankful to God for
|
|
<I>their</I> comforts as for our own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The dispute that was among them concerning the naming him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:59"><I>v.</I> 59</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>On the eighth day,</I> as God has appointed, they <I>came
|
|
together,</I> to <I>circumcise the child;</I> it was here, in Hebron,
|
|
that <I>circumcision</I> was first instituted; and Isaac, who, like
|
|
John Baptist, was born <I>by promise,</I> was one of the first that was
|
|
submitted to it, at least the chief eyed in the institution of it. They
|
|
that rejoiced in the birth of the child came together to the
|
|
circumcising of him. Note, The greatest comfort we can take in our
|
|
children is in <I>giving them up to God,</I> and recognizing their
|
|
covenant-relation to him. The baptism of our children should be more
|
|
our joy than their birth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now it was the custom, when they circumcised their children, to <I>name
|
|
them,</I> because, when <I>Abram</I> was circumcised God gave him a new
|
|
name, and called him <I>Abraham;</I> and it is not unfit that they
|
|
should be left <I>nameless</I> till they are by name <I>given up to
|
|
God.</I> Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. <I>Some</I> proposed that he should be called by his father's name,
|
|
<I>Zacharias.</I> We have not any instance in scripture that the child
|
|
should bear the father's name; but perhaps it was of late come into use
|
|
among the Jews, at it is with us, and they intended hereby to do honour
|
|
to the father, who was not likely to have another child.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The <I>mother</I> opposed it, and would have called him <I>John;</I>
|
|
having learned, either by inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as is most
|
|
probable), or by information in writing from her husband, that God
|
|
appointed this to be his name
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:60"><I>v.</I> 60</A>);
|
|
|
|
He shall be called <I>Johanan--Gracious,</I> because he shall introduce
|
|
the gospel of Christ, wherein God's grace shines more brightly than
|
|
ever.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The <I>relations</I> objected against that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:61"><I>v.</I> 61</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>There is none of thy kindred,</I> none of the relations of thy
|
|
family, <I>that is called by that name;</I> and therefore, if he may
|
|
not have his father's name, yet let him have the name of some of his
|
|
kindred, who will take it as a piece of respect to have such a <I>child
|
|
of wonders</I> as this named from them." Note, As those that <I>have
|
|
friends</I> must <I>show themselves friendly,</I> so those that have
|
|
relations must be <I>obliging</I> to them in all the usual regards that
|
|
are paid to <I>kindred.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. They appealed to the <I>father,</I> and would try if they could
|
|
possibly get to know his mind; for it was his office to <I>name the
|
|
child,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:62"><I>v.</I> 62</A>.
|
|
|
|
They <I>made signs</I> to him, by which it appears that he was
|
|
<I>deaf</I> as well as <I>dumb;</I> nay, it should seem,
|
|
<I>mindless</I> of any thing, else one would think they should at first
|
|
have desired him to write down his child's name, if he had ever
|
|
communicated any thing by writing since he was <I>struck.</I> However,
|
|
they would carry the matter as far as they could, and therefore gave
|
|
him to understand what the dispute was which he only could determine;
|
|
whereupon he made signs to them to give him a <I>table-book,</I> such
|
|
as they then used, and with the pencil he wrote these words, <I>His
|
|
name is John,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:63"><I>v.</I> 63</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, "It shall be so," or, "I would have it so," but "It is so." The
|
|
matter is determined already; the <I>angel</I> had given him that name.
|
|
Observe, When Zacharias could not <I>speak,</I> he <I>wrote.</I> When
|
|
ministers have their mouths stopped, that they cannot preach, yet they
|
|
may be doing good as long as they have not their hands tied, that they
|
|
cannot write. Many of the martyrs in prison wrote letters to their
|
|
friends, which were of great use; blessed Paul himself did so.
|
|
Zacharias's pitching upon the same name that Elisabeth had chosen was a
|
|
great surprise to the company: <I>They marvelled all;</I> for they knew
|
|
not that, though by reason of his deafness and dumbness they could not
|
|
<I>converse together,</I> yet they were both guided by <I>one and the
|
|
same Spirit:</I> or perhaps they <I>marvelled</I> that he wrote so
|
|
distinctly and intelligently, which (the stroke he was under being
|
|
somewhat like that of a palsy) he had not done before.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He thereupon recovered the use of his speech
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:64"><I>v.</I> 64</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His mouth was opened immediately.</I> The time prefixed for his
|
|
being silenced was <I>till the day that these blessed things shall be
|
|
fulfilled</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
not <I>all the things</I> going before concerning John's ministry, but
|
|
those which relate to his birth and name
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>).
|
|
|
|
That time was now expired, whereupon the restraint was taken off, and
|
|
God gave him the <I>opening of the mouth again,</I> as he did to
|
|
Ezekiel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:27"><I>ch.</I> iii. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Lightfoot compares this case of Zacharias with that of Moses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:24-26">Exod. iv. 24-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Moses, for distrust, is in danger of his life, as Zacharias, for the
|
|
same fault, is <I>struck dumb;</I> but, upon the circumcision of his
|
|
child, and recovery of his faith, there, as here, the danger is
|
|
removed. Infidelity closed his mouth, and now believing opens it again;
|
|
<I>he believes, therefore he speaks.</I> David lay under guilt from the
|
|
conception of his child till a few days after its birth; then <I>the
|
|
Lord takes away his sin:</I> upon his repentance, he shall not die. So
|
|
here he shall be no longer dumb; <I>his mouth was opened, and he spoke,
|
|
and praised God.</I> Note, When God opens our lips, our mouths must
|
|
<I>show forth his praise.</I> As good be without our speech as not use
|
|
it in <I>praising God;</I> for then our tongue is most <I>our glory</I>
|
|
when it is employed for <I>God's glory.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. These things were told all the country over, to the great amazement
|
|
of all that heard them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:65,66"><I>v.</I> 65, 66</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sentiments of the people are not to be slighted, but taken notice
|
|
of. We are here told,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>these sayings were discoursed of,</I> and were the common
|
|
talk all about the <I>hill-country of Judea.</I> It is a pity but a
|
|
narrative of them had been drawn up, and published in the world,
|
|
immediately.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That most people who heard of these things were put into
|
|
consternation by them: <I>Fear came on all them that dwell round
|
|
about</I> there. If we have not a <I>good hope,</I> as we ought to
|
|
have, built upon the gospel, we may expect that the tidings of it will
|
|
fill us with <I>fear.</I> They believed and trembled, whereas they
|
|
should have believed and triumphed.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It raised the expectations of people concerning this child, and
|
|
obliged them to have their eye upon him, to see what he would come to.
|
|
They <I>laid up these</I> presages <I>in their hearts,</I> treasured
|
|
them up in mind and memory, as foreseeing they should hereafter have
|
|
occasion to <I>recollect</I> them. Note, What we hear, that may be of
|
|
use to us, we should <I>treasure</I> up, that we may be able to bring
|
|
forth, for the benefit of others, things new and old, and, when things
|
|
come to perfection, may be able to look back upon the presages thereof,
|
|
and to say, "It was what we might expect." They said <I>within</I>
|
|
themselves, and said <I>among</I> themselves, "<I>What manner of child
|
|
shall this be?</I> What will be the fruit when these are the buds, or
|
|
rather when the <I>root</I> is out of such a <I>dry ground?</I>" Note,
|
|
When children are born into the world, it is very uncertain what they
|
|
will prove; yet sometimes there have been early indications of
|
|
something great, as in the birth of Moses, Samson, Samuel, and here of
|
|
John. And we have reason to think that there were some of those living
|
|
at the time when John began his public ministry who could, and did,
|
|
remember these things, and relate them to others, which contributed as
|
|
much as any thing to the great flocking there was after him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> It is said, <I>The hand of the Lord was with him;</I>
|
|
that is, he was taken under the special protection of the Almighty,
|
|
from his birth, as one designed for something great and considerable,
|
|
and there were many instances of it. It appeared likewise that the
|
|
Spirit was at work upon his soul very early. As soon as he began to
|
|
speak or go, you might perceive something in him very extraordinary.
|
|
Note, God has ways of operating upon children in their infancy, which
|
|
we cannot account for. God never made a soul but he knew how to
|
|
sanctify it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_67"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_68"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_69"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_70"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_71"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_72"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_73"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_74"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_75"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_76"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_77"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_78"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_79"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu1_80"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Song of Zacharias.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and
|
|
prophesied, saying,
|
|
68 Blessed <I>be</I> the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and
|
|
redeemed his people,
|
|
69 And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house
|
|
of his servant David;
|
|
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have
|
|
been since the world began:
|
|
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand
|
|
of all that hate us;
|
|
72 To perform the mercy <I>promised</I> to our fathers, and to
|
|
remember his holy covenant;
|
|
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
|
|
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of
|
|
the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
|
|
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of
|
|
our life.
|
|
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
|
|
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his
|
|
ways;
|
|
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the
|
|
remission of their sins,
|
|
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring
|
|
from on high hath visited us,
|
|
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and <I>in</I> the
|
|
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
|
|
80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in
|
|
the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the song wherewith Zacharias <I>praised God</I> when his
|
|
<I>mouth</I> was <I>opened;</I> in it he is said to <I>prophesy</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:67"><I>v.</I> 67</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so he did in the strictest sense of <I>prophesying;</I> for he
|
|
foretold things to come concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, to which
|
|
all the prophets bear witness. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How he was qualified for this: <I>He was filled with the Holy
|
|
Ghost,</I> was endued with more than ordinary measures and degrees of
|
|
it, for this purpose; he was divinely inspired. God not only
|
|
<I>forgave</I> him his unbelief and distrust (which was signified by
|
|
discharging him from the punishment of it), but, as a <I>specimen</I>
|
|
of the <I>abounding</I> of grace towards believers, he <I>filled
|
|
him</I> with the <I>Holy Ghost,</I> and put this honour upon him, to
|
|
employ him for his honour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What the matter of his song was. Here is nothing said of the
|
|
private concerns of his own family, the rolling away of the reproach
|
|
from it and putting of a reputation upon it, by the birth of this
|
|
child, though, no doubt, he found a time to give thanks to God for
|
|
this, with his family; but in this song he is wholly taken up with the
|
|
kingdom of the Messiah, and the public blessings to be introduced by
|
|
it. He could have little pleasure in this <I>fruitfulness</I> of his
|
|
<I>vine,</I> and the <I>hopefulness</I> of his <I>olive-plant,</I> if
|
|
herein he had not foreseen the <I>good of Jerusalem, peace upon
|
|
Israel,</I> and <I>blessings</I> on both <I>out of Zion,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+128:3,5,6">Ps. cxxviii. 3, 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Old-Testament prophesies are often expressed in <I>praises</I> and
|
|
<I>new songs,</I> so is the beginning of New-Testament prophecy:
|
|
<I>Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. The God of the whole earth shall
|
|
he be called;</I> yet Zacharias, speaking of the work of redemption,
|
|
called him the <I>Lord God of Israel,</I> because to Israel the
|
|
prophecies, promises, and types, of the redemption had hitherto been
|
|
given, and to them the first proffers and proposals of it were now to
|
|
be made. Israel, as a chosen people, was a type of the <I>elect of
|
|
God</I> out of all nations, whom God had a particular eye to, in
|
|
sending the Saviour; and therefore he is therein called the <I>Lord God
|
|
of Israel.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now Zacharias here blesses God,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. For the work of <I>salvation</I> that was to be wrought out by the
|
|
Messiah himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:68-75"><I>v.</I> 68-75</A>.
|
|
|
|
This it is that <I>fills him,</I> when he is <I>filled with the Holy
|
|
Ghost,</I> and it is that which all who have the <I>Spirit of
|
|
Christ</I> are <I>full of.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) In sending the Messiah, God has <I>made a gracious visit</I> to
|
|
his people, whom for many ages he had seemed to neglect, and to be
|
|
estranged from; he hath <I>visited them</I> as a friend, to take
|
|
cognizance of their case. God is said to have <I>visited</I> his people
|
|
in bondage when he <I>delivered</I> them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:16,4:31">Exod. iii. 16; iv. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
to have <I>visited</I> his people in famine when he <I>gave them
|
|
bread,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:6">Ruth i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
He had often sent to them by his prophets, and had still kept up a
|
|
correspondence with them; but now he himself made them a
|
|
<I>visit.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He has <I>wrought out redemption</I> for them: <I>He has redeemed
|
|
his people.</I> This was the errand on which Christ <I>came into the
|
|
world,</I> to redeem those that were sold <I>for</I> sin, and sold
|
|
<I>under</I> sin; even God's own people, his Israel, his son, his
|
|
<I>first-born,</I> his <I>free-born,</I> need to be <I>redeemed,</I>
|
|
and are undone if they be not. Christ redeems them by <I>price</I> out
|
|
of the hands of God's justice, and redeems them by <I>power</I> out of
|
|
the hands of Satan's tyranny, as Israel out of Egypt.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He has fulfilled the <I>covenant of royalty</I> made with the most
|
|
famous <I>Old-Testament prince,</I> that is, David. Glorious things had
|
|
been said of his family, that on him, as a <I>mighty one, help</I>
|
|
should be <I>laid,</I> that <I>his horn should be exalted,</I> and his
|
|
<I>seed</I> perpetuated,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:19,20,24,29">Ps. lxxxix. 19, 20, 24, 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
But that family had been long in a manner <I>cast off</I> and
|
|
<I>abhorred,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:38">Ps. lxxxix. 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now here it is glorified in, that, according to the promise, the
|
|
<I>horn</I> of David should again be <I>made to bud;</I> for,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+132:17">Ps. cxxxii. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
he <I>hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his
|
|
servant David</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:69"><I>v.</I> 69</A>),
|
|
|
|
there, where it was promised and expected to arise. David is called
|
|
God's <I>servant,</I> not only as a good man, but as a king that
|
|
<I>ruled for God;</I> and he was an instrument of the <I>salvation</I>
|
|
of Israel, by being employed in the <I>government</I> of Israel; so
|
|
Christ is the <I>author of eternal redemption to those</I> only <I>that
|
|
obey him.</I> There is in Christ, and in him only, <I>salvation for
|
|
us,</I> and it is a <I>horn of salvation;</I> for,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It is an <I>honourable</I> salvation. It is <I>raised up</I> above
|
|
all other salvations, none of which are to be compared with it: in it
|
|
the glory both of the Redeemer and of the redeemed are advanced, and
|
|
their <I>horn exalted with honour.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is a <I>plentiful salvation.</I> It is a <I>cornucopia--a horn
|
|
of plenty,</I> a <I>salvation</I> in which we are blessed with
|
|
<I>spiritual</I> blessings, in <I>heavenly things,</I> abundantly.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It is a <I>powerful salvation:</I> the strength of the beast is in
|
|
his <I>horn.</I> He has raised up such a salvation as shall <I>pull
|
|
down</I> our spiritual enemies, and <I>protect</I> us from them. In the
|
|
<I>chariots</I> of this <I>salvation</I> the Redeemer shall go forth,
|
|
and go on, <I>conquering and to conquer.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He has fulfilled all the precious promises made to the church by
|
|
the most famous <I>Old-Testament prophets</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:70"><I>v.</I> 70</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets.</I> His doctrine of
|
|
salvation by the Messiah is confirmed by an appeal to the prophets, and
|
|
the greatness and importance of that salvation thereby evidenced and
|
|
magnified; it is the same that they spoke of, which therefore ought to
|
|
be expected and welcomed; it is what they <I>enquired and searched
|
|
diligently after</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:10,11">1 Pet. i. 10, 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
which therefore ought not to be slighted or thought meanly of. God is
|
|
now <I>doing</I> that which he has long ago <I>spoken of;</I> and
|
|
therefore <I>be silent, O all flesh, before him,</I> and attend to him.
|
|
See,
|
|
|
|
[1.] How <I>sacred</I> the prophecies of this salvation were. The
|
|
prophets who delivered them were <I>holy prophets,</I> who durst not
|
|
deceive and who aimed at promoting holiness among men; and it was the
|
|
<I>holy God</I> himself that <I>spoke by</I> them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] How <I>ancient</I> they were: ever <I>since the world began.</I>
|
|
God having promised, when the world began, that the <I>Seed of the
|
|
woman should break the serpent's head,</I> that promise was echoed to
|
|
when Adam called his wife's name <I>Eve-Life,</I> for the sake of that
|
|
Seed of hers; when Eve called her first son <I>Cain,</I> saying, <I>I
|
|
have gotten a man from the Lord,</I> and another son, Seth,
|
|
<I>settled;</I> when Noah was called <I>rest,</I> and foretold that God
|
|
should dwell in the tents of Shem. And it was not long after the new
|
|
world began in Noah that the promise was made to Abraham that in his
|
|
Seed the <I>nations of the earth</I> should be <I>blessed.</I>
|
|
|
|
[3.] What a wonderful <I>harmony</I> and <I>concert</I> we perceive
|
|
among them. God spoke the same thing by them all, and therefore it is
|
|
said to be <B><I>dia stomatos</I></B>, not by the <I>mouths,</I> but by
|
|
the <I>mouth,</I> of the prophets, for they all speak of Christ as it
|
|
were with <I>one mouth.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now what is this <I>salvation</I> which was prophesied of?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> It is a <I>rescue</I> from the malice of <I>our
|
|
enemies;</I> it is <B><I>soterian ex echthron hemon</I></B>--<I>a
|
|
salvation out of our enemies,</I> from among them, and <I>out of the
|
|
power of them that hate us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:71"><I>v.</I> 71</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is a salvation from sin, and the dominion of Satan over us, both by
|
|
corruptions within and temptations without. The carnal Jews expected to
|
|
be delivered from under the Roman yoke, but intimation was betimes
|
|
given that it should be a redemption of another nature. He shall
|
|
<I>save his people from their sins,</I> that they may not have dominion
|
|
over them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:21">Matt. i. 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> It is a <I>restoration</I> to the <I>favour of
|
|
God;</I> it is to <I>perform the mercy promised to our forefathers,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:72"><I>v.</I> 72</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Redeemer shall not only break the head of the serpent that was the
|
|
author of our ruin, but he shall <I>re-instate</I> us in the <I>mercy
|
|
of God</I> and <I>re-establish</I> us in <I>his covenant;</I> he shall
|
|
bring us as it were into a paradise again, which was signified by the
|
|
<I>promises</I> made to the patriarchs, and the <I>holy covenant</I>
|
|
made with them, <I>the oath which he sware to our father Abraham,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:73"><I>v.</I> 73</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. That which was promised to the fathers, and is performed to us, is
|
|
<I>mercy,</I> pure mercy; nothing in it is owing to our <I>merit</I>
|
|
(we deserve wrath and the curse), but all to the <I>mercy</I> of God,
|
|
which <I>designed</I> us grace and life: <I>ex mero motu--of his own
|
|
good pleasure,</I> he loved us because he would love us.
|
|
|
|
2. God herein had an eye to <I>his covenant,</I> his <I>holy</I>
|
|
covenant, that covenant with Abraham: <I>I will be a God to thee and
|
|
thy seed.</I> This his seed had <I>really forfeited</I> by their
|
|
transgressions; this he <I>seemed to have forgotten</I> in the
|
|
calamities brought upon them; but he will now <I>remember</I> it, will
|
|
make it appear that he remembers it, for upon that are grounded all his
|
|
returns of mercy:
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:42">Lev. xxvi. 42</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Then will I remember my covenant.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> It is a qualification for, and an encouragement to, the
|
|
service of God. Thus was <I>the oath he sware to our Father
|
|
Abraham,</I> That he would <I>give us</I> power and grace to <I>serve
|
|
him,</I> in an acceptable manner to him and a comfortable manner to
|
|
ourselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:74,75"><I>v.</I> 74, 75</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here seems to be an allusion to the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt,
|
|
which, God tells Moses, was in pursuance of the covenant he made with
|
|
Abraham
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:6-8">Exod. iii. 6-8</A>),
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and that this was the design of his bringing them out of Egypt, <I>that
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they might serve God upon this mountain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+3:12">Exod. iii. 12</A>.
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Note, The great design of gospel grace is not to discharge us from, but
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to engage us to, and encourage us in, the service of God. Under this
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notion Christianity was always to be looked upon, as intended to make
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us truly religious, to admit us into the service of God, to bind us to
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it, and to quicken us in it. We are <I>therefore</I> delivered from the
|
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iron yoke of sin, that our necks may be put under the sweet and easy
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yoke of the Lord Jesus. <I>The very bonds which he has loosed do bind
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us faster unto him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+116:16">Ps. cxvi. 16</A>.
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We are hereby enabled,
|
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1. To serve God <I>without fear</I>--<B><I>aphobos</I></B>. We are
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<I>therefore</I> put into a state of <I>holy safety</I> that we might
|
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serve God with a <I>holy security</I> and <I>serenity of mind,</I> as
|
|
those that are <I>quiet from the fears of evil.</I> God must be served
|
|
with a <I>filial fear,</I> a reverent obedient fear, an awakening
|
|
quickening fear, but not with a <I>slavish fear,</I> like that of the
|
|
slothful servant, who represented him to himself as a <I>hard
|
|
master,</I> and unreasonable; not with that fear that has
|
|
<I>torment</I> and <I>amazement</I> in it; not with the fear of a legal
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|
spirit; a <I>spirit of bondage,</I> but with the boldness of an
|
|
evangelical spirit, <I>a spirit of adoption.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. To serve him in <I>holiness and righteousness,</I> which includes
|
|
the whole duty of man towards God and our neighbour. It is both the
|
|
intention and the direct tendency of the gospel to renew upon us that
|
|
image of God in which man was at first made, which consisted <I>in
|
|
righteousness and true holiness,</I>
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:14">Ps. l. 14</A>.
|
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3. To serve him, <I>before him,</I> in the duties of his
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|
<I>immediate</I> worship, wherein we present ourselves <I>before the
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|
Lord,</I> to serve him as those that have an eye always upon him, and
|
|
see his eye always upon us, upon our inward man, that is serving him
|
|
<I>before him.</I>
|
|
|
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4. To serve him <I>all the days of our life.</I> The design of the
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|
gospel is to engage us in constancy and perseverance in the service of
|
|
God, by showing us how much depends upon our not drawing back, and by
|
|
showing us how Christ <I>loved us to the end,</I> and thereby engaged
|
|
us to <I>love him to the end.</I></P>
|
|
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<P>
|
|
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2. He <I>blessed God</I> for the work of <I>preparation</I> for this
|
|
salvation, which was to be done by John Baptist
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:76"><I>v.</I> 76</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou child,</I> though now but a child of eight days' old, shalt be
|
|
called <I>the prophet of the Highest.</I> Jesus Christ is <I>the
|
|
Highest,</I> for he is <I>God over all, blessed for evermore</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:5">Rom. ix. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
equal with the Father. John Baptist was <I>his prophet,</I> as Aaron
|
|
was Moses's prophet
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+7:1">Exod. vii. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
what he said was as his mouth, what he did was as his harbinger.
|
|
Prophecy had now long ceased, but in John it <I>revived,</I> as it had
|
|
done in Samuel, who was born of an aged mother, as John was, after a
|
|
long cessation. John's business was,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) To prepare people for the salvation, by preaching repentance and
|
|
reformation as great gospel duties: <I>Thou shalt go before the face of
|
|
the Lord,</I> and but a little before him, to <I>prepare his ways,</I>
|
|
to call people to make room for him, and get ready for his
|
|
entertainment. Let every thing that may obstruct his progress, or
|
|
embarrass it, or hinder people from coming to him, be taken away: see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:3,4">Isa. xl. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let <I>valleys be filled,</I> and <I>hills</I> be brought
|
|
<I>low.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) To give people a general idea of the salvation, that they might
|
|
know, not only what to do, but what to expect; for the doctrine he
|
|
preached was that the <I>kingdom of heaven</I> is at hand. There are
|
|
two things in which you must know that this salvation consists:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] The <I>forgiveness</I> of what we have <I>done amiss.</I> It is
|
|
salvation <I>by the remission of sins,</I> those sins which stand in
|
|
the way of the salvation, and by which we are all become liable to ruin
|
|
and condemnation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:77"><I>v.</I> 77</A>.
|
|
|
|
John Baptist gave people to understand that, though their case was sad,
|
|
by reason of sin, it was not desperate, for pardon might be obtained
|
|
<I>through the tender mercy of our God</I> (the <I>bowels of mercy,</I>
|
|
so the word is): there was nothing in us but a <I>piteous case</I> to
|
|
recommend us to the divine compassion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] <I>Direction</I> to <I>do better</I> for the time to come. The
|
|
gospel salvation not only encourages us to hope that the works of
|
|
darkness shall be forgiven us, but sets up a clear and true light, by
|
|
which we may order our steps aright. In it <I>the day-spring hath
|
|
visited us from on high</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:78"><I>v.</I> 78</A>);
|
|
|
|
and this also is owing to the <I>tender mercy of our God.</I> Christ is
|
|
<B><I>anatole</I></B>--<I>the morning Light,</I> the <I>rising Sun,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+4:2">Mal. iv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
The gospel brings <I>light</I> with it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:19">John iii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
leaves us not to wander in the darkness of Pagan ignorance, or in the
|
|
moonlight of the Old-Testament types or figures, but in it the day
|
|
dawns; in John Baptist it began to break, but increased apace, and
|
|
<I>shone more and more to the perfect day.</I> We have as much reason
|
|
to welcome the gospel day who enjoy it as those have to welcome the
|
|
morning who had long waited for it. <I>First,</I> The gospel is
|
|
<I>discovering;</I> it shows us that which before we were utterly in
|
|
the dark about
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:79"><I>v.</I> 79</A>);
|
|
|
|
it is to <I>give light to them that sit in darkness,</I> the <I>light
|
|
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;</I>
|
|
the day-spring <I>visited</I> this dark world to <I>lighten the
|
|
Gentiles,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:18">Acts xxvi. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> It is <I>reviving;</I> it brings light to them that
|
|
sit <I>in the shadow of death,</I> as condemned prisoners in the
|
|
dungeon, to bring them the tidings of a <I>pardon,</I> at least of a
|
|
<I>reprieve</I> and opportunity of procuring a pardon; it proclaims the
|
|
<I>opening of the prison</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+61:1">Isa. lxi. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
brings the <I>light of life.</I> How pleasant is that light!
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> It is <I>directing;</I> it is to <I>guide our feet in
|
|
the way of peace,</I> into that way which will bring us to peace at
|
|
last. It is not only a light <I>to our eyes,</I> but a light <I>to our
|
|
feet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:105">Ps. cxix. 105</A>);
|
|
|
|
it guides us into the way of making our peace with God, of keeping up a
|
|
comfortable communion; that <I>way of peace</I> which as sinners we
|
|
have wandered from and <I>have not known</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:17">Rom. iii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor could ever have known of ourselves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:80">last verse</A>,
|
|
|
|
we have short account of the younger years of John Baptist. Though he
|
|
was the son of a priest, he did not, like Samuel, go up, when he was a
|
|
child, to minister before the Lord; for he was to prepare the way for a
|
|
better priesthood. But we are here told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Of his <I>eminence</I> as to the <I>inward man:</I> The <I>child
|
|
grew</I> in the capacities of his mind, much more than other children;
|
|
so that he <I>waxed strong in the spirit;</I> had a strong judgment and
|
|
strong resolution. Reason and conscience (both which are the candle of
|
|
the Lord) were so strong in him that he had the inferior faculties of
|
|
appetite and passion in complete subjection betimes. By this it
|
|
appeared that he was betimes <I>filled with the Holy Ghost;</I> for
|
|
those that are strong in the Lord are <I>strong in spirit.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Of his <I>obscurity</I> as to the <I>outward man:</I> He <I>was in
|
|
the deserts;</I> not that he lived a hermit; cut off from the society
|
|
of men. No, we have reason to think that he went up to Jerusalem at the
|
|
<I>feasts,</I> and frequented the synagogues on the sabbath day, but
|
|
his constant residence was in some of those scattered houses that were
|
|
in the wilderness of Zuph or Maon, which we read of in the story of
|
|
David. There he spent most of his time, in contemplation and devotion,
|
|
and had not his education in the schools, or at the feet of the rabbin.
|
|
Note, Many a one is qualified for great usefulness, who yet is buried
|
|
alive; and many are so long buried who are designed, and are thereby in
|
|
the fitting, for so much greater usefulness at last; as John Baptist,
|
|
who was <I>in the desert</I> only <I>till the day of his showing to
|
|
Israel,</I> when he was in the thirtieth year of his age. Note, There
|
|
is a time fixed for the <I>showing</I> of those favours to Israel which
|
|
are reserved; <I>the vision</I> of them <I>is for an appointed time,
|
|
and at the end it shall speak, and shall not lie.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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