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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L U K E.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXI.</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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In this chapter we have,
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I. The notice Christ took, and the approbation he gave, of a poor widow
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that cast two mites into the treasury,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. A prediction of future events, in answer to his disciples'
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enquiries concerning them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>.
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1. Of what should happen between that and the destruction of
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Jerusalem--false Christs arising, bloody wars and persecutions of
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Christ's followers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:8-19">ver. 8-19</A>.
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2. Of that destruction itself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:20-24">ver. 20-24</A>.
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3. Of the second coming of Jesus Christ to judge the world, under the
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type and figure of that,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:25-33">ver. 25-33</A>.
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III. A practical application of this, by way of caution and counsel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:34-36">ver. 34-36</A>),
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and an account of Christ's preaching and the people's attendance on it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:37,38">ver. 37, 38</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Lu21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_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>Christ Commendeth the Poor Widow.</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 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts
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into the treasury.
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2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two
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mites.
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3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow
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hath cast in more than they all:
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4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the
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offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the
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living that she had.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This short passage of story we had before in Mark. It is thus recorded
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twice, to teach us,
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1. That <I>charity</I> to the poor is a <I>main matter</I> in religion.
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Our Lord Jesus took all occasions to commend it and recommend it. He
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had just mentioned the barbarity of the scribes, who devoured <I>poor
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widows</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+20:1-47"><I>ch.</I> xx.</A>);
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and perhaps this is designed as an aggravation of it, that the poor
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widows were the best benefactors to the public funds, of which the
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scribes had the disposal.
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2. That Jesus Christ has his eye upon us, to observe what we give to
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the poor, and what we contribute to works of piety and charity. Christ,
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though intent upon his preaching, looked up, to see what <I>gifts were
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cast into the treasury,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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He observes whether we give largely and liberally, in proportion to
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what we have, or whether we be sneaking and paltry in it; nay, his eye
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goes further, he observes whether we give charitably and with a willing
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mind, or grudgingly and with reluctance. This should make us afraid of
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coming short of our duty in this matter; men may be deceived with
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excuses which Christ knows to be frivolous. And this should encourage
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us to be abundant in it, without desiring that men should know it; it
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is enough that Christ does; he sees in secret, and will reward openly.
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3. That Christ observes and accepts the charity of the poor in a
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particular manner. Those that have nothing <I>to give</I> may yet
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<I>do</I> a great deal in charity by ministering to the poor, and
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helping them, and begging for them, that cannot <I>help</I> themselves,
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or <I>beg</I> for themselves. But here was one that was herself poor
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and yet <I>gave</I> what little she had to the treasury. It was but
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<I>two mites,</I> which make a farthing; but Christ magnified it as a
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piece of charity exceeding all the rest: <I>She has cast in more than
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they all.</I> Christ does not blame her for indiscretion, in giving
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what she wanted herself, nor for vanity in giving among the rich to the
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treasury; but commended her liberality, and her willingness to part
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with what little she had for the glory of God, which proceeded from a
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belief of and dependence upon God's providence to take care of her.
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<I>Jehovah-jireh--the Lord will provide.</I>
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4. That, whatever may be called <I>the offerings of God,</I> we ought
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to have a respect for, and to our power, yea, and beyond our power, to
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contribute cheerfully to. These have <I>cast in unto the offerings of
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God.</I> What is given to the support of the ministry and the gospel,
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to the spreading and propagating of religion, the education of youth,
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the release of prisoners, the relief of widows and strangers, and the
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maintenance of poor families, is given to the <I>offerings of God,</I>
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and it shall be so accepted and recompensed.</P>
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<A NAME="Lu21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu21_19"> </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>Judgments Predicted.</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 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with
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goodly stones and gifts, he said,
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6 <I>As for</I> these things which ye behold, the days will come, in
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the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that
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shall not be thrown down.
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7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these
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things be? and what sign <I>will there be</I> when these things shall
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come to pass?
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8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many
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shall come in my name, saying, I am <I>Christ;</I> and the time
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draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
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9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not
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terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end
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<I>is</I> not by and by.
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10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation,
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and kingdom against kingdom:
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11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and
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famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs
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shall there be from heaven.
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12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and
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persecute <I>you,</I> delivering <I>you</I> up to the synagogues, and into
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prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's
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sake.
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13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
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14 Settle <I>it</I> therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before
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what ye shall answer:
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15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your
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adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
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16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and
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kinsfolks, and friends; and <I>some</I> of you shall they cause to be
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put to death.
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17 And ye shall be hated of all <I>men</I> for my name's sake.
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18 But there shall not a hair of your head perish.
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19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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See here,
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I. With what admiration some spoke of the external pomp and
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magnificence of the temple, and they were some of Christ's own
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disciples too; and they took notice of it to him <I>how it was adorned
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with goodly stones and gifts,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The outside was built up with goodly stones, and within it was
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beautified and enriched with the <I>presents</I> that were offered up
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for that purpose, and were <I>hung up</I> in it. They thought their
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Master should be as much affected with those things as they were, and
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should as much regret the destruction of them as they did. When we
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<I>speak of the temple,</I> it should be of the presence of God in it,
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and of the ordinances of God administered in it, and the communion
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which his people there have with him. It is a poor thing, when we speak
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of the church, to let our discourse dwell upon its pomps and revenues,
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and the dignities and powers of its officers and rulers; for the king's
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daughter is all <I>glorious within.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. With what contempt Christ spoke of them, and with what assurance of
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their being all made desolate very shortly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>As for those things which you behold,</I> those dear things which
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you are so much in love with, <I>behold, the days will come,</I> and
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some now living may live to see them, <I>in which there shall not be
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left one stone upon another.</I> This building, which seems so
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beautiful that one would think none could, for pity, pull it down, and
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which seems so strong that one would think none would be able to pull
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it down, shall yet be utterly ruined; and this shall be done as soon as
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ever the spiritual temple of the gospel church (the substance of that
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shadow) begins to flourish in the world." Did we by faith foresee the
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blasting and withering of all external glory, we should not set our
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hearts upon it as those do that cannot see, or will not look, so far
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before them.</P>
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<P>
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III. With what curiosity those about him enquire concerning the time
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when this great desolation should be: <I>Master, when shall these
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things be?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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It is natural to us to covet to know future things and the time of
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them, which <I>it is not for us to know,</I> when we are more concerned
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to ask what is our duty in the prospect of these things, and how we may
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prepare for them, which it is for us to know. They enquire <I>what
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sign there shall be when these things shall come to pass.</I> They ask
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not for a <I>present</I> sign, to confirm the prediction itself, and to
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induce them to believe it (Christ's word was enough for that), but what
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the future signs will be of the approaching accomplishment of the
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prediction, by which they may be put in mind of it. These <I>signs of
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the times</I> Christ had taught them to observe.</P>
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<P>
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IV. With what clearness and fulness Christ answers their enquiries, as
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far as was necessary to direct them in their duty; for all knowledge is
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desirable as far as it is in order to practice.</P>
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<P>
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1. They must expect to hear of false Christs and false prophets
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appearing, and false prophecies given out
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Many shall come in my name;</I> he does not mean <I>in the name of
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Jesus,</I> though there were some deceivers who pretended commissions
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from him (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:13">Acts xix. 13</A>),
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but usurping the title and character of the Messiah. Many pretended to
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be the deliverers of the Jewish church and nation from the Romans, and
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to fix the time when the deliverance should be wrought, by which
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multitudes were drawn into a snare, to their ruin. They shall say,
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<B><I>hoti ego eimi</I></B>--<I>I am he,</I> or <I>I am,</I> as if they
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would assume that incommunicable name of God, by which he made himself
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known when he came to deliver Israel out of Egypt, <I>I am;</I> and, to
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encourage people to follow them, they added, "<I>The time draws
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near</I> when the kingdom shall be restored to Israel, and all who will
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follow me shall share in it." Now as to this, he gives them a needful
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caution
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(1.) <I>"Take heed that you be not deceived;</I> do not imagine that I
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shall myself come again in external glory, to take possession of the
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throne of kingdoms. No, you must not expect any such thing, for my
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kingdom is not of this world." When they asked solicitously and
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eagerly, <I>Master, when shall these things be?</I> the first word
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Christ said was, <I>Take heed that you be not deceived.</I> Note, Those
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that are most <I>inquisitive</I> in the things of God (though it is
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very good to be so) are in most danger of being imposed upon, and have
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most need to be upon their guard.
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(2.) "<I>Go you not after them.</I> You know the Messiah is come, and
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you are not to look for any other; and therefore do not so much as
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hearken to them, nor have any thing to do with them." If we are sure
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that Jesus is the Christ, and his doctrine is the <I>gospel, of
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God,</I> we must be deaf to all intimations of another Christ and
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another gospel.</P>
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<P>
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2. They must expect to hear of great commotions in the nations, and
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many terrible judgments inflicted upon the Jews and their neighbours.
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(1.) There shall be <I>bloody wars</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>Nation shall rise against nation,</I> one part of the Jewish nation
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against another, or rather the whole against the Romans. Encouraged by
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the false Christs, they shall wickedly endeavour to throw off the Roman
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yoke, by taking up arms against the Roman powers; when they had
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rejected the liberty with which Christ would have made them free they
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were left to themselves, to grasp at their civil liberty in ways that
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were <I>sinful,</I> and therefore could not be <I>successful.</I>
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(2.) There shall be <I>earthquakes,</I> great earthquakes, <I>in divers
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places,</I> which shall not only frighten people, but destroy towns and
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houses, and bury many in the ruins of them.
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(3.) There shall be <I>famines</I> and <I>pestilences,</I> the common
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effects of war, which destroys the fruits of the earth, and, by
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exposing men to ill weather and reducing them to ill diet, occasions
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infectious diseases. God has various ways of punishing a provoking
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people. The four sorts of judgments which the Old-Testament prophets so
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often speak of are threatened by the New-Testament prophets too; for,
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though spiritual judgments are more commonly inflicted in gospel times,
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yet God makes use of temporal judgments also.
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(4.) There shall be <I>fearful sights</I> and <I>great signs from
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heaven,</I> uncommon appearances in the clouds, comets and blazing
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stars, which frighten the ordinary sort of beholders, and have always
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been looked upon as <I>ominous,</I> and <I>portending</I> something
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<I>bad.</I> Now, as to these, the caution he gives them is, "<I>Be not
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terrified.</I> Others will be frightened at them, but be not you
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frightened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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As to the <I>fearful sights,</I> let them not be fearful to you, who
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look above the visible heavens to the throne of God's government in the
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highest heavens. <I>Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the
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heathen are dismayed at them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:2">Jer. x. 2</A>.
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And, as to the <I>famines</I> and <I>pestilences,</I> you fall into the
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hands of God, who has promised to those who are his that <I>in the days
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of famine they shall be satisfied,</I> and that he will keep them from
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the <I>noisome pestilence;</I> trust therefore in him, and <I>be not
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afraid.</I> Nay, when you hear of wars, when without are fightings and
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within are fears, yet then <I>be not you terrified;</I> you know the
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worst that any of these judgments can do to you, and therefore be not
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afraid of them; for,"
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[1.] "It is your interest to <I>make the best of that which is,</I> for
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|
all your fears cannot alter it: <I>these things must first come to
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pass;</I> there is no remedy; it will be your wisdom to make yourselves
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|
easy by accommodating yourselves to them."
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[2.] "There is <I>worse behind;</I> flatter not yourselves with a fancy
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|
that you will soon see an end of these troubles, no, not so soon as you
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|
think of: <I>the end is not by and by,</I> not <I>suddenly.</I> Be not
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|
<I>terrified,</I> for, if you begin so quickly to be discouraged, how
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|
will you bear up under what is yet before you?"</P>
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<P>
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3. They must expect to be themselves for <I>signs</I> and
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<I>wonders</I> in Israel; their being <I>persecuted</I> would be a
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|
prognostic of the destruction of the city and temple, which he had now
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foretold. Nay, this would be the <I>first</I> sign of their ruin
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coming: "<I>Before all these, they shall lay their hands on you.</I>
|
|
The judgment shall begin at the house of God; you must smart first, for
|
|
warning to them, that, if they have any consideration, they may
|
|
consider, <I>If this be done to the green tree, what shall be done to
|
|
the dry?</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:17,18">1 Pet. iv. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
But this is not all; this must be considered not only as the
|
|
<I>suffering</I> of the <I>persecuted,</I> but as the <I>sin</I> of the
|
|
<I>persecutors. Before</I> God's judgments are brought upon them, they
|
|
shall fill up the measure of their iniquity by <I>laying their</I>
|
|
hands on you." Note, The ruin of a people is always introduced by their
|
|
sin; and nothing introduces a surer or sorer ruin than the sin of
|
|
persecution. This is a <I>sign</I> that God's wrath is coming upon a
|
|
people to the uttermost when their <I>wrath</I> against the servants of
|
|
God <I>comes to the uttermost.</I> Now as to this,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Christ tells them what hard things they should suffer for his
|
|
name's sake, much to the same purport with what he had told them when
|
|
he first called them to follow him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:1-42">Matt. x.</A>:
|
|
|
|
They should know the wages of it, that they might <I>sit down and count
|
|
the cost.</I> St. Paul, who was the greatest labourer and sufferer of
|
|
them all, not being now among them, was told by Christ himself what
|
|
<I>great things he should suffer for</I> his <I>name's sake</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:16">Acts ix. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
so necessary is it that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus should
|
|
count upon persecution. The Christians, having themselves been
|
|
originally Jews, and still retaining an equal veneration with them for
|
|
the Old Testament and all the essentials of their religion, and
|
|
differing only in ceremony, might expect fair quarter with them; but
|
|
Christ bids them not expect it: "No, they shall be the most forward to
|
|
<I>persecute you.</I>"
|
|
|
|
[1.] "They shall use their own church-power against you: <I>They shall
|
|
deliver you up to the synagogues</I> to be scourged there, and
|
|
stigmatized with their <I>anathemas.</I>"
|
|
|
|
[2.] "They shall incense the magistrates against you: they shall
|
|
<I>deliver you into prisons,</I> that you may be <I>brought before
|
|
kings and rulers for my name's sake,</I> and be punished by them."
|
|
|
|
[3.] "Your own relations will betray you
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>your parents, brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends;</I> so that you
|
|
will not know whom to put a confidence in, or where to be safe."
|
|
|
|
[4.] "Your religion will be made a capital crime, and you will be
|
|
called to <I>resist unto blood. Some of you shall they cause to be put
|
|
to death;</I> so far must you be from expecting honour and wealth that
|
|
you must expect nothing but death in its most frightful shapes, death
|
|
in all its dreadful pomp. Nay."
|
|
|
|
[5.] <I>"You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.</I>" This is
|
|
worse than death itself, and was fulfilled when the apostles were not
|
|
only <I>appointed to death,</I> but made a <I>spectacle to the
|
|
world,</I> and counted as the <I>filth of the world,</I> and the
|
|
<I>offscouring of all things,</I> which every body loathes,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:9,13">1 Cor. iv. 9, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were hated of <I>all men,</I> that is, of all bad men, who could
|
|
not bear the light of the gospel (because it discovered their evil
|
|
deeds), and therefore hated those who brought in that light, flew in
|
|
their faces, and would have pulled them to pieces. The wicked world,
|
|
which hated to be reformed, hated Christ the great Reformer, and all
|
|
that were his, for his sake. The rulers of the Jewish church, knowing
|
|
very well that if the gospel obtained among the Jews their usurped
|
|
abused power was at an end, raised all their forces against it, put it
|
|
into an ill name, filled people's minds with prejudices against it, and
|
|
so made the preachers and professors of it odious to the mob.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He encourages them to bear up under their trials, and to go on in
|
|
their work, notwithstanding the opposition they would meet with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] God will bring glory both to himself and them out of their
|
|
sufferings: "<I>It shall turn to you for a testimony,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Your being set up thus for a mark, and publicly <I>persecuted,</I> will
|
|
make you the more taken notice of and your doctrine and miracles the
|
|
more enquired into; your being brought <I>before kings and rulers</I>
|
|
will give you an opportunity of preaching the gospel to them, who
|
|
otherwise would never have come within hearing of it; your suffering
|
|
such severe things, and being so hated by the worst of men, men of the
|
|
most vicious lives, will be a testimony that you are good, else you
|
|
would not have such bad men for your enemies; your courage, and
|
|
cheerfulness, and constancy under your sufferings will be a testimony
|
|
for you, that you believe what you preach, that you are supported by a
|
|
divine power, and that the Spirit of God and glory rests upon you."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] "God will stand by you, and own you, and assist you, in your
|
|
trials; you are his advocates, and you shall be well furnished with
|
|
instructions,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Instead of setting your hearts on work to contrive an answer to
|
|
informations, indictments, articles, accusations, and interrogatories,
|
|
that will be exhibited against you in the ecclesiastical and civil
|
|
courts, on the contrary, <I>settle it in your hearts,</I> impress it
|
|
upon them, take pains with them to persuade them <I>not to meditate
|
|
before what you shall answer;</I> do not <I>depend</I> upon your own
|
|
wit and ingenuity, your own prudence and policy, and do not
|
|
<I>distrust</I> or <I>despair</I> of the immediate and extraordinary
|
|
aids of the divine grace. Think not to bring yourselves off in the
|
|
cause of Christ as you would in a cause of your own, by your own parts
|
|
and application, with the common assistance of divine Providence, but
|
|
promise yourselves, for I promise you, the special assistance of divine
|
|
grace: <I>I will give you a mouth and wisdom.</I>" This proves Christ
|
|
to be God; for it is God's prerogative to <I>give wisdom,</I> and he it
|
|
is that <I>made man's mouth.</I> Note, <I>First,</I> A <I>mouth</I> and
|
|
<I>wisdom</I> together completely fit a man both for services and
|
|
sufferings; <I>wisdom</I> to know what to say, and a <I>mouth</I>
|
|
wherewith to say it as it should be said. It is a great happiness to
|
|
have both <I>matter</I> and <I>words</I> wherewith to honour God and do
|
|
good; to have in the mind a <I>storehouse</I> well furnished with
|
|
things <I>new and old,</I> and a <I>door of utterance</I> by which
|
|
<I>to bring them forth. Secondly,</I> Those that plead Christ's cause
|
|
may depend upon him to give them <I>a mouth and wisdom,</I> which way
|
|
soever they are called to plead it, especially when they are brought
|
|
before magistrates for his name's sake. It is not said that he will
|
|
send an angel from heaven to answer for them, though he could do this,
|
|
but that he will give them a <I>mouth</I> and <I>wisdom</I> to enable
|
|
them to answer for themselves, which puts a greater honour upon them,
|
|
which requires them to use the gifts and graces Christ furnishes them
|
|
with, and redounds the more to the glory of God, who <I>stills the
|
|
enemy and the avenger out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.
|
|
Thirdly,</I> When Christ gives to his witnesses a <I>mouth and
|
|
wisdom,</I> they are enabled to say that both for him and themselves
|
|
which <I>all their adversaries are not able to gainsay or resist,</I>
|
|
so that they are silenced, and put to confusion. This was remarkably
|
|
fulfilled presently after the pouring out of the Spirit, by whom Christ
|
|
gave his disciples this <I>mouth</I> and <I>wisdom,</I> when the
|
|
apostles were brought before the priest sand rulers, and answered them
|
|
so as to make them ashamed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:1-6:15">Acts iv., v., and vi</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] "You shall suffer no real damage by all the hardships they shall
|
|
put upon you
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There shall not a hair of your head perish.</I>" Shall some of them
|
|
lose their heads, and yet not lose a hair? It is a proverbial
|
|
expression, denoting the greatest indemnity and security imaginable; it
|
|
is frequently used both in the Old Testament and New, in that sense.
|
|
Some think that it refers to the preservation of the lives of all the
|
|
Christians that were among the Jews when they were cut off by the
|
|
Romans; historians tell us that not one Christian perished in that
|
|
desolation. Others reconcile it with the deaths of multitudes in the
|
|
cause of Christ, and take it figuratively in the same sense that Christ
|
|
saith, <I>He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.</I> "Not a
|
|
hair of your head shall perish but," <I>First,</I> "I will take
|
|
<I>cognizance</I> of it." To this end he had said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:30">Matt. x. 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The hairs of your head are all numbered;</I> and an account is kept
|
|
of them, so that none of them shall perish but he will miss it.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> "It shall be upon a <I>valuable consideration.</I>" We
|
|
do not reckon that <I>lost</I> or <I>perishing</I> which is laid out
|
|
for good purposes, and will turn to a good account. If we drop the body
|
|
itself for Christ's name's sake, it does not perish, but is well
|
|
bestowed. <I>Thirdly,</I> "It shall be abundantly recompensed; when you
|
|
come to balance profit and loss, you will find that nothing has
|
|
perished, but, on the contrary, that you have great gain in present
|
|
comforts, especially in the joys of a life eternal;" so that though we
|
|
may be losers for Christ we shall not, we cannot, be losers by him in
|
|
the end.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[4.] "It is therefore your duty and interest, in the midst of your own
|
|
sufferings and those of the nation, to maintain a holy sincerity and
|
|
serenity of mind, which will keep you always easy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>In your patience possess ye your souls;</I> get and keep possession
|
|
of your souls." Some read it as a promise, "You <I>may</I> or
|
|
<I>shall</I> possess your souls." It comes all to one. Note,
|
|
<I>First,</I> It is our duty and interest at all times, especially in
|
|
perilous trying times, to secure the possession of our own souls; not
|
|
only that they be not destroyed and lost for ever, but that they be not
|
|
distempered now, nor our possession of them disturbed and interrupted.
|
|
"<I>Possess your souls,</I> be your own men, keep up the authority and
|
|
dominion of reason, and keep under the tumults of passion, that neither
|
|
grief nor fear may tyrannize over you, nor turn you out of the
|
|
possession and enjoyment of yourselves." In difficult times, when we
|
|
can keep possession of nothing else, then let us make that sure which
|
|
may be made sure, and keep possession of our souls. <I>Secondly,</I> It
|
|
is by patience, Christian patience, that we keep possession of our own
|
|
souls. "In suffering times, set patience upon the guard for the
|
|
preserving of your souls; by it keep your souls composed and in a good
|
|
frame, and keep out all those impressions which would ruffle you and
|
|
put you out of temper."</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judgments Predicted.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then
|
|
know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
|
|
21 Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and
|
|
let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not
|
|
them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
|
|
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which
|
|
are written may be fulfilled.
|
|
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give
|
|
suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the
|
|
land, and wrath upon this people.
|
|
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be
|
|
led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
|
|
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be
|
|
fulfilled.
|
|
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in
|
|
the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
|
|
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
|
|
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
|
|
those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of
|
|
heaven shall be shaken.
|
|
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud
|
|
with power and great glory.
|
|
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up,
|
|
and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Having given them an idea of the times for about thirty-eight years
|
|
next ensuing, he here comes to show them what all those things would
|
|
issue in at last, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter
|
|
dispersion of the Jewish nation, which would be a little day of
|
|
judgment, a type and figure of Christ's second coming, which was not so
|
|
fully spoken of here as in the parallel place
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:1-51">Matt. xxiv.</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet glanced at; for the destruction of Jerusalem would be as it were
|
|
the destruction of the world to those whose hearts were bound up in
|
|
it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He tells them that they should see Jerusalem besieged, <I>compassed
|
|
with armies</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
the Roman armies; and, when they saw this, they might conclude that
|
|
<I>its desolation was nigh,</I> for in this the siege would infallibly
|
|
<I>end,</I> though it might be a long siege. Note, As in mercy, so in
|
|
judgment, when God begins, he will make an end.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He warns them, upon this signal given, to shift for their own
|
|
safety
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Then let them that are in Judea</I> quit the country and <I>flee to
|
|
the mountains; let them that are in the midst of it</I>" (Of Jerusalem)
|
|
"<I>depart out,</I> before the city be closely shut up, and" (as we say
|
|
now) "before the trenches be opened; and let not them that are in the
|
|
countries and villages about enter into the city, thinking to be safe
|
|
there. Do you abandon a city and country which you see God has
|
|
abandoned and given up to ruin. <I>Come out of her, my people.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He foretels the terrible havoc that should be made of the Jewish
|
|
nation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Those are the days of vengeance</I> so often spoken of by the
|
|
Old-Testament prophets, which would complete the ruin of that provoking
|
|
people. All their predictions must now be fulfilled, and the blood of
|
|
all the Old-Testament martyrs must now be required. <I>All things that
|
|
are written must be fulfilled</I> at length. After days of patience
|
|
long abused, there will come <I>days of vengeance;</I> for reprieves
|
|
are not pardons. The greatness of that destruction is set forth,
|
|
|
|
1. By the inflicting cause of it. It is <I>wrath upon this people,</I>
|
|
the wrath of God, that will kindle this devouring consuming fire.
|
|
|
|
2. By the particular terror it would be to women with child, and poor
|
|
mothers that are nurses. <I>Woe to them,</I> not only because they are
|
|
most subject to frights, and least able to shift for their own safety,
|
|
but because it will be a very great torment to them to think of having
|
|
borne and nursed children for the murderers.
|
|
|
|
3. By the general confusion that should be all the nation over. There
|
|
shall be <I>great distress in the land,</I> for men will not know what
|
|
course to take, nor how to help themselves.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He describes the issue of the struggles between the Jews and the
|
|
Romans, and what they will come to at last; in short,
|
|
|
|
1. Multitudes of them <I>shall fall by the edge of the sword.</I> It is
|
|
computed that in those wars of the Jews there fell by the sword above
|
|
eleven hundred thousand. And the siege of Jerusalem was, in effect, a
|
|
military execution.
|
|
|
|
2. The rest shall be <I>led away captive;</I> not into <I>one</I>
|
|
nations, as when they were conquered by the Chaldeans, which gave them
|
|
an opportunity of keeping together, but <I>into all nations,</I> which
|
|
made it impossible for them to <I>correspond</I> with each other, much
|
|
less to <I>incorporate.</I>
|
|
|
|
3. Jerusalem itself was <I>trodden down of the Gentiles.</I> The
|
|
Romans, when they had made themselves masters of it, laid it quite
|
|
waste, as a <I>rebellious and bad city, hurtful to kings and
|
|
provinces,</I> and therefore hateful to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He describes the great frights that people should generally be in.
|
|
Many frightful <I>sights</I> shall be <I>in the sun, moon, and
|
|
stars,</I> prodigies in the heavens, and here in this lower world, the
|
|
<I>sea and the waves roaring,</I> with terrible storms and tempests,
|
|
such as had not been known, and above the ordinary working of natural
|
|
causes. The effect of this shall be universal confusion and
|
|
consternation <I>upon the earth, distress of nations with
|
|
perplexity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Hammond understands by the <I>nations</I> the several governments
|
|
or tetrarchies of the Jewish nation, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee; these
|
|
shall be brought to the last extremity. <I>Men's hearts shall fail
|
|
them for fear</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<B><I>apopsychonton anthropon</I></B>--<I>men being quite
|
|
exanimated,</I> dispirited, <I>unsouled,</I> dying away for fear. Thus
|
|
those are <I>killed all the day long</I> by whom Christ's apostles were
|
|
so
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:36">Rom. viii. 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, they are all the day long in fear of being killed; sinking
|
|
under that which lies upon them, and yet still trembling for fear of
|
|
worse, and <I>looking after those things which are coming upon the
|
|
world.</I> When <I>judgment begins at the house of God,</I> it will not
|
|
end there; it shall be as if all the world were falling in pieces; and
|
|
where can any be secure then? The <I>powers of heaven shall be
|
|
shaken,</I> and then the pillars of the earth cannot but tremble. Thus
|
|
shall the present Jewish policy, religion, laws, and government, be all
|
|
entirely dissolved by a series of unparalleled calamities, attended
|
|
with the utmost confusion. So Dr. Clarke. But our Saviour makes use of
|
|
these figurative expressions because at the end of time they shall be
|
|
literally accomplished, when the <I>heavens shall be rolled together as
|
|
a scroll,</I> and all their powers not only shaken, but broken, and the
|
|
<I>earth</I> and <I>all the works that are therein</I> shall be burnt
|
|
up,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:10,12">2 Pet. iii. 10, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
As that day was all terror and destruction to the unbelieving Jews, so
|
|
the great day will be to all unbelievers.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. He makes this to be a kind of <I>appearing of the Son of man: Then
|
|
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great
|
|
glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
The destruction of Jerusalem was in a particular manner an act of
|
|
Christ's judgment, the judgment committed to the Son of man; his
|
|
religion could never be thoroughly established but by the destruction
|
|
of the temple, and the abolishing of the Levitical priesthood and
|
|
economy, after which even the converted Jews, and many of the Gentiles
|
|
too, were still hankering, till they were destroyed; so that it might
|
|
justly be looked upon as <I>a coming of the Son of man, in power and
|
|
great glory,</I> yet not visibly, but <I>in the clouds;</I> for in
|
|
executing such judgments as these <I>clouds and darkness are round
|
|
about him.</I> Now this was,
|
|
|
|
1. An <I>evidence</I> of the first coming of the Messiah; so some
|
|
understand it. Then the unbelieving Jews shall be confined, when it is
|
|
too late, that Jesus was the Messiah; those that would not see him
|
|
coming in the power of his grace to <I>save them</I> shall be made to
|
|
see him coming in the power of his wrath to <I>destroy them;</I> those
|
|
that would not have him to <I>reign over them</I> shall have him to
|
|
<I>triumph over them.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. It was an <I>earnest</I> of his second coming. <I>Then</I> in the
|
|
terrors of that day they shall <I>see the Son of man coming in a
|
|
cloud,</I> and all the terrors of the last day. They shall see a
|
|
<I>specimen</I> of it, a faint resemblance of it. If this be so
|
|
terrible, what will that be?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. He encourages all the faithful disciples in reference to the
|
|
terrors of that day
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>When these things begin to come to pass,</I> when Jerusalem is
|
|
besieged, and every thing is concurring to the destruction of the Jews,
|
|
<I>then</I> do you look <I>up,</I> when others are looking down, look
|
|
heavenward, in faith, hope, and prayer, and <I>lift up your heads</I>
|
|
with cheerfulness and confidence, <I>for your redemption draws
|
|
night.</I>"
|
|
|
|
1. When Christ came to destroy the Jews, he came to redeem the
|
|
Christians that were persecuted and oppressed by them; <I>then had the
|
|
churches rest.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. When he comes to judge the world at the last day, he will
|
|
<I>redeem</I> all that are his, from all their grievances. And the
|
|
foresight of that day is as pleasant to all good Christians as it is
|
|
terrible to the wicked and ungodly. Their death itself is so; when they
|
|
see that day approaching, they can <I>lift up their heads with joy,</I>
|
|
knowing that <I>their redemption draws nigh,</I> their removal to their
|
|
Redeemer.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. Here is one word of prediction that looks further than the
|
|
destruction of the Jewish nation, which is not easily understood; we
|
|
have it in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>:
|
|
|
|
<I>Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of
|
|
the Gentiles be fulfilled.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. Some understand it of what is past; so Dr. Hammond. The Gentiles,
|
|
who have conquered Jerusalem, shall keep possession of it, and it shall
|
|
be purely Gentile, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, till a
|
|
great part of the Gentile world shall have become Christian, and then
|
|
after Jerusalem shall have been rebuilt by Adrian the emperor, with an
|
|
exclusion of all the Jews from it, many of the Jews shall turn
|
|
Christians, shall join with the Gentile Christians, to set up a church
|
|
in Jerusalem, which shall flourish there for a long time.
|
|
|
|
2. Others understand it of what is yet to come; so Dr. Whitby.
|
|
Jerusalem shall be possessed by the Gentiles, of one sort or other, for
|
|
the most part, till the time come when the nations that yet remain
|
|
infidels shall embrace the Christian faith, when the kingdoms of this
|
|
world shall become Christ's kingdoms, and then all the Jews shall be
|
|
converted. Jerusalem shall be inhabited by them, and neither they nor
|
|
their city any longer trodden down by the Gentiles.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu21_38"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judgments Predicted.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all
|
|
the trees;
|
|
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own
|
|
selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
|
|
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know
|
|
ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
|
|
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away,
|
|
till all be fulfilled.
|
|
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not
|
|
pass away.
|
|
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
|
|
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this
|
|
life, and <I>so</I> that day come upon you unawares.
|
|
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the
|
|
face of the whole earth.
|
|
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be
|
|
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
|
|
pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
|
|
37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at
|
|
night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called <I>the
|
|
mount</I> of Olives.
|
|
38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the
|
|
temple, for to hear him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here, in the close of this discourse,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Christ appoints his disciples to observe the signs of the times,
|
|
which they might judge by, if they had an eye to the foregoing
|
|
directions, with as much certainty and assurance as they could judge of
|
|
the approach of summer by the budding forth of the trees,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:29-31"><I>v.</I> 29-31</A>.
|
|
|
|
As in the kingdom of nature there is a chain of causes, so in the
|
|
kingdom of providence there is a consequence of one event upon another.
|
|
When we see a nation filling up the measure of their iniquity, we may
|
|
conclude that their ruin is nigh; when we see the ruin of persecuting
|
|
powers hastening on, we may thence infer that <I>the kingdom of God is
|
|
nigh at hand,</I> that when the opposition given to it is removed it
|
|
shall gain ground. As we may lawfully prognosticate the change of the
|
|
seasons when second causes have begun to work, so we may, in the
|
|
disposal of events, expect something uncommon when God is already
|
|
<I>raised up out of his holy habitation</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:13">Zech. ii. 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
then <I>stand still and see his salvation.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He charges them to look upon those things as neither
|
|
<I>doubtful</I> nor <I>distant</I> (for then they would not make a due
|
|
impression on them), but as <I>sure</I> and very <I>near.</I> The
|
|
destruction of the Jewish nation,
|
|
|
|
1. Was <I>near</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.</I> There
|
|
were some now alive that should see it; some that now heard the
|
|
prediction of it.
|
|
|
|
2. It was <I>sure;</I> the sentence was irreversible; it was a
|
|
<I>consumption determined;</I> the decree was gone forth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Heaven and earth shall pass away</I> sooner than any word of mine:
|
|
nay, they certainly shall pass away, but <I>my words shall not;</I>
|
|
whether they <I>take hold</I> or no, they will <I>take effect,</I> and
|
|
not one of them <I>fall to the ground,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:19">1 Sam. iii. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He cautions them against security and sensuality, by which they
|
|
would unfit themselves for the trying times that were coming on, and
|
|
make them to be a great surprise and terror to them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Take heed to yourselves.</I> This is the word of command given to
|
|
all Christ's disciples: "<I>Take heed to yourselves,</I> that you be
|
|
not overpowered by temptations, nor betrayed by your own corruptions."
|
|
Note, We cannot be <I>safe</I> if we be <I>secure.</I> It concerns us
|
|
at <I>all</I> times, but especially at <I>some</I> times, to be very
|
|
cautious. See here,
|
|
|
|
1. What our <I>danger</I> is: that <I>the day</I> of death and judgment
|
|
should <I>come upon us unawares,</I> when we do not <I>expect</I> it,
|
|
and are not <I>prepared</I> for it,--lest, when we are called to meet
|
|
our Lord, that be found the <I>furthest</I> thing from our thoughts
|
|
which ought always to be laid <I>nearest</I> our hearts, lest it
|
|
<I>come upon us as a snare;</I> for so <I>it will come upon</I> the
|
|
most of men, who <I>dwell upon the earth,</I> and mind <I>earthly
|
|
things only,</I> and have no converse with heaven; to them it will be
|
|
<I>as a snare.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:12">Eccl. ix. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
It will be a <I>terror</I> and a <I>destruction</I> to them; it will
|
|
put them into an inexpressible fright, and hold them fast for a doom
|
|
yet more frightful.
|
|
|
|
2. What our <I>duty</I> is, in consideration of this danger: we must
|
|
<I>take heed lest our hearts be overcharged,</I> lest they be burdened
|
|
and overloaded, and so unfitted and disabled to do what must be done in
|
|
preparation for death and judgment. Two things we must watch against,
|
|
lest our hearts be overcharged with them:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) The indulging of the appetites of the body, and allowing of
|
|
ourselves in the gratifications of sense to an excess: <I>Take heed
|
|
lest you be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness,</I> the
|
|
immoderate use of meat and drink, which burden the heart, not only with
|
|
the guilt thereby contracted, but by the ill influence which such
|
|
disorders of the body have upon the mind; they make men dull and
|
|
lifeless to their duty, dead and listless in their duty; they stupify
|
|
the conscience, and cause the mind to be <I>unaffected</I> with those
|
|
things that are most <I>affecting.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The inordinate pursuit of the good things of this world. The heart
|
|
is overcharged with the <I>cares of this life.</I> The former is the
|
|
snare of those that are given to their pleasures: this is the snare of
|
|
the men of business, that <I>will be rich.</I> We have need to guard on
|
|
both hands, not only lest at the time when death comes, but lest <I>at
|
|
any time</I> our hearts should be thus overcharged. Our caution against
|
|
sin, and our care of our own souls, must be <I>constant.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He counsels them to prepare and get ready for this great day,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here see,
|
|
|
|
1. What should be <I>our aim:</I> that we may be <I>accounted worthy to
|
|
escape all these things;</I> that, when the judgments of God are
|
|
abroad, we may be preserved from the malignity of them; that either we
|
|
may not be involved in the common calamity or it may not be that to us
|
|
which it is to others; that in the day of death we may escape the sting
|
|
of it, which is the wrath of God, and the damnation of hell. Yet we
|
|
must aim not only to <I>escape that,</I> but to <I>stand before the Son
|
|
of man;</I> not only to stand <I>acquitted</I> before him as our Judge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+1:5">Ps. i. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
to have boldness in the day of Christ (that is supposed in our
|
|
<I>escaping</I> all those things), but to <I>stand before him,</I> to
|
|
attend on him as our Master, to stand continually before his throne,
|
|
and serve him day and night in his temple
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+7:15">Rev. vii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
always to <I>behold his face,</I> as the angels,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+18:10">Matt. xviii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The saints are here said to be <I>accounted worthy,</I> as before,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+20:35"><I>ch.</I> xx. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
God, by the good work of his grace in them, <I>makes them meet</I> for
|
|
this happiness, and, by the good will of his grace towards them,
|
|
<I>accounts them worthy</I> of it: but, as Grotius here says, a great
|
|
part of our worthiness lies in an acknowledgment of our own
|
|
unworthiness.
|
|
|
|
2. What should be our <I>actings</I> in these aims: <I>Watch therefore,
|
|
and pray always.</I> Watching and praying must go together,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+4:9">Neh. iv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that would escape the wrath to come, and make sure of the joys to
|
|
come, must <I>watch</I> and <I>pray,</I> and must do so always, must
|
|
make it the constant business of their lives,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To keep a guard upon themselves. "Watch against sin, watch to
|
|
every duty, and to the improvement of every opportunity of doing good.
|
|
Be awake, and keep awake, in expectation of your Lord's coming, that
|
|
you may be in a right frame to receive him, and bid him welcome."
|
|
|
|
(2.) To keep up their communion with God: "<I>Pray always;</I> be
|
|
always in an habitual disposition to that duty; keep up stated times
|
|
for it; abound in it; pray upon all occasions." Those shall be
|
|
accounted worthy to live a life of praise in the other world that live
|
|
a life of prayer in this world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:37,38">last two verses</A>
|
|
|
|
we have an account how Christ disposed of himself during those three or
|
|
four days between his riding in triumph into Jerusalem and the night in
|
|
which he was betrayed.
|
|
|
|
1. He was <I>all day teaching in the temple.</I> Christ preached on
|
|
week-days as well as sabbath days. He was an indefatigable preacher; he
|
|
preached in the face of opposition, and in the midst of those that he
|
|
knew sought occasion against him.
|
|
|
|
2. At night he went out to lodge at a friend's house, in the mount of
|
|
Olives, about a mile out of town. It is probable that he had some
|
|
friends in the city that would gladly have lodged him, but he was
|
|
willing to retire in the evening out of the noise of the town, that he
|
|
might have more time for secret devotion, now that his hour was at
|
|
hand.
|
|
|
|
3. Early in the morning he was in the temple again, where he had a
|
|
morning lecture for those that were willing to attend it; and the
|
|
people were forward to hear one that they saw forward to preach
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They all came early in the morning,</I> flocking to the temple, like
|
|
doves to their windows, <I>to hear him,</I> though the chief priests
|
|
and scribes did all they could to prejudice them against him.
|
|
Sometimes the taste and relish which serious, honest, plain people have
|
|
of good preaching are more to be valued and judged by than the opinion
|
|
of the witty and learned, and those in authority.</P>
|
|
|
|
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