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LECTURES

ON

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

BY WILLIAM KELLY.

LONDON:
G. MOERISH, 24, WARWICK LANE,
PATEBNOSTER BOW, E. C.
GLASGOW: R. L. ALLAN, T5, SAUCHIEHALL STREET.

nhlxo

PREFACE.

The book here offered to the reader consists of notes of
lectures on the earliest gospel. It has already appeared
in short detached portions. Given now as a whole and
in a corrected form, the author trusts that the volume
may prove a help to those who accept Scripture as the
word of God and have confidence in the gracious
guidance of the Holy Ghost, who is sent down from
heaven to glorify our Lord Jesus. Critical questions
have been sparingly discussed here : elsewhere they
may be entered into more fully ; for truth has nothing
to fear, much to gain, from the most thorough sifting,
if it be but competent and candid. On the present
occasion, however, direct interpretation has been the
aim, and the practical profit of souls.
Guernsey, Fe'b., 1868.

INTRODUCTION.

That the Spirit of God, when inspiring Matthew, had in view
the aspirations and wants of the Jews, the evidence of the
Messiahship of Jesus, and the consequeiices of His rejection both
for them and the Gentiles, is a truth which has forced itself on
most Christians who have examined the gospels with any dis
criminating care. So large and varied are the internal proofs
of such a design that the only wonder is how an intelligent
mind could dispute the facts or the inference. Yet we are told
that, had a Jewish aim been steadily kept before the Evangelists,
the visit of the Gentile Magi could not have been exclusively
related by Matthew, any more than the circumcision of Jesus
and His frequenting the passovers at Jerusalem could have been
exclusively related by Luke if he had written for Gentiles. The
objection has no force, when it is seen that the Spirit meant by
Matthew to trace the alienation ofthe Jews from such a Messiah
as their own Scriptures portray, not alone externally glorious,
but first as a diviue person though a man, intimating in His very
name that He was Jehovah, coming to save His people from
their sins and not merely from their enemies. (Chap, i.) What
a picture foUows in chapter ii. ! Jerusalem troubled at the
tidings of His birth, and distant Gentile Magi from the East

VI INTKODUCTION.
coming up to do Him homage. Is this the refutation of
Matthew's special design? What more beautiful illustration
of it could be looked for? And if Luke gives us the most
charming glimpses at the godly remnant of Israel, and the Lord
Jesus presented first in their midst with the most exact heed
to every requirement of the law, how does this set aside the
testimony of a gospel which teems with evidence that God gives
us there Christ as traced up to "Adam, which was the son of
God," not down from Abraham and David, the depositary of
promise and the stock of the kingdom in Israel ? Did the
objectors forget that the great Apostle of the Gentiles regularly
carried out the principle on which he insists — " to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek?" Doubtless in either case the inspired
writers reflected the richness of God's ways of grace, not the
technicality of a human routine.
It is evident also that the apparent discrepancies in the con
current accounts of the synoptic gospels must spring, either
from the infirmity of the human instruments or from the far-
reaching wisdom of the Spirit who impressed on each a special
design, and so inserted, suppressed, or variously presented the
same substantial fact or truth in pursuance of that design, never
giving anything but truth, yet only thus giving the whole truth.
Why does unbelief afiirm that such a difference of design is an
a priori theory ? The habitual testimony of each gospel must
decide this question. What can be more manifestly a priori,
than to impute, on such a ground as this, "^demonstrable his
torical inaccuracies" to the inspired historians of the weightiest
matters ever given to man to record ? If the sole method of
writing a life were that of simple sequence, there might be some
appearance of reason ; but some of the most famous biographies
among men depart in general or in part from the mere order of
occurrence. What would be thought of assailing their credit

INTEODUCTION. vii
for such a reason as this ? It is not so that scholars judge of
Suetonius compared with Tacitus. The fault lies in those who
object, not in Scripture.
It is to me certain that Matthew and Luke were led to follow
an exact order, one dispensational, the other moral ; that they -
are far more profoundly instructive than if one or other or both
had adhered to the very elementary manner of an annalist ; and
that it is a mere blimder therefore to characterize any resulting
difference of arrangement (such as Matthew viii. 28, &c., com
pared with Mark v. 1, &c., and Luke viii. 26, &c.) as a real
discrepancy. Let such defenders of the faith do their worst :
the Christian has nothing to fear, but only to believe, and he
shall, see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of the truth.
Undoubtedly a different arrangement consists with and sup
poses the same incident variously placed, and with deliberate
design, so as to bring out the truth more fully ; but how does
it prove a "real" discrepancy?
It is allowed on all hands that the Lord may have repeated
the same truth, as He often repeated similar miracles. But a
difference of design alone accounts for all the phenomena of the
gospels, and this not to the dishonour of the writers, but to the
praise of their true and divine Author. Eye-witness and
apostolicity fail to meet the case ; for two out of the four
Evangelists were neither. The foundation of the new building
consists of prophets as well as apostles ; and though God did
supply eye-witnesses, He proved His supremacy by furnishing
the most graphic details of our Lord's ministry by the very two
who had not seen what they describe with more life-like touches
than are found in those two who describe what they saw. So
false is this criterion even in the two Apostles, that John alone
does not give either the scene of the agony or that of the trans
figuration, yet he alone of the Evangelists was among the nearest

vm INTRODUCTION.
to both. He alone gives the fall of the armed band to the
ground, yet Matthew beheld it equally with himself. And
Matthew gives with the greatest fuhiess the prophetic discourse
on Olivet; John not at all, though he is the only Evangelist
who was present to hear it.
The Spirit's purpose is the true and only key in every in
stance. Thus, as to the inscription on the cross, nothing is
simpler than the perfection of each report for each gospel,
while it may be that the actual writing contained John's with
the addition of Matthew's opening words, the Holy Spirit ap
propriating each form to His aim in the respective gospels.
Plenary inspiration in no way excludes special design. The
true question is. Are we to attribute their differences of form to
the wisdom of God or to the weakness of man ? Again, dif
ference of reading is a question of human copies, not of the
inspired original. Lastly, the apostle insists not merely that
the men were inspired, but that the book — yea every scripture
— is divinely inspired.
There is the strongest evidence to prove that the Greek of
Matthew is the original and not a version, though possibly the
Evangelist may have also written it in Hebrew for tlie early
Church in Judea. This might lapse, and what was perma
nently needed abide.

LECTURES ON
THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

CHAPTER L
I HAVE thought it might be profitable to take up one of the
Gospels, and to trace, as simply as the Lord enables me, the
general outline of the truth revealed there. It is my desire to
point out the special object and design of the Holy Ghost, so
as to furnish those who value God's word, with such hints as
may tend to meet some of the difficulties that arise in the
minds of many ; and also to put in a clearer light great truths
that are apt to be passed lightly over. Here I may assume,
that the Spirit of God has not given us these accomits of our
Lord liable to the mistakes of men, but that He has, on the
contrary, kept His mighty unerring hand over those who in
themselves were men of like passions with us. In a word, the
Holy Ghost has inspired these accounts, in order that we might
have fuU certainty that He is their author ; and thus they are
stamped with His own perfection. As He has been pleased to
give us various accounts, so He has had a divine reason for
each of them. Li short, God has sought His own glory in this,
and has secured it.
Now there can be no question, to any one who reads the
Gospels with the smallest discernment, that the first is most
remarkably adapted to meet the need of Jews ; and that it brings
out the Old Testament prophecies and other scriptures, which
found their realization in Jesus. Consequently there are more
B

2 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
citations of scripture, as applying to our Lord's life and death,
in this gospel, than in all the others put together. .All this was
not a thing left to Matthew's discretion. That the Holy Ghost
used the mind of man in carrying out His own design is clear ;
but that He was pleased perfectly to guard and guide him in
what he was to give out, is what 1 mean in saying that God
inspired Matthew for the purpose.
Besides presenting our Lord in such a way as best to meet the
right or wrong thoughts and feelings of a Jew ; besides furnishing
the proofs more particularly wanted to satisfy his mind, it is
evident, from the character of the discourses and parables, that
the rejection of the Messiah by Israel, and the consequences of
it to the Gentiles, are here the great prominent thoughts in the
mind of the Holy Ghost. Hence there is no ascension scene in
Matthew. The Jew, if he had understood the Old Testament
prophecies, would have looked for a Messiah to come, suffer, die,
and be raised again " according to the scriptures." In Matthew
we have His death and resurrection, but there He is left ; and
we should not know, from the facts related by him only, that
Christ went up to heaven at all. We should know it was
implied in some of the words that Christ spoke ; but, in point of
fact, Matthew leaves us with Christ Himself still upon the earth.
The last chapter describes, not the ascension of Christ, nor His
session at God's right hand, but His speaking to the disciples
here below. Such a presentation of Christ was peculiarly that
which the Jews needed to know. It was more suitable to them
than to any other people on the earth.
And who was the agent employed, and with what fitness?
One of the twelve who companied with our Lord from the
beginning of His ministry till He was taken up from them.
So far, of course, he was an evidently competent witness
for the Jew, and far more suitable than Mark or Luke would
have been, who were not, as far as we know, personal companions
of the Lord. But there was this peculiarity — that Matthew was
a pubHcan, or taxgatherer, by profession. Although a Jew he
was in the employment of the Gentiles, which position would
make him specially odious to his countrymen. They would look

CSAPTER I. d
upon him with more suspicion even than upon a stranger. This
might make it appear, at first sight, the more extraordinary that
the Holy Ghost should employ such a one to give the account of
Jesus as the Messiah. But let us remember that there is another
pbj«ct all through the Gospel of Matthew ; that it is not only
the record of Jesus as the true Messiah to Israel, but that it
shews us His rejection by Israel, and the consequences of their
fatal unbelief: — all the barriers which had hitherto existed
between Jew and Gentile thrown down — the mercy of God
flowing out towards those who were despised, and blessing the
Gentile as readily and as fully as the Jew. Thus the admirable
propriety of employing Matthew, the publican, and its consist
ency with the scope of his task, are apparent.
These few remarks may help to evince that there was the
utmost fitness in the employment of the first of the four evan
gelists to do the work appointed for him. If it were our object
to examine the rest, it could just as easily be made manifest that
each had exactly the right work to do. As we proceed through
this gospel, you will be struck, I doubt not, by the wisdom which
chose such a one to give the account of the rejected Messiah,
despised by His guilty brethren after the flesh. But I shall
confine myself at present to shewing with what wisdom Matthew
introduces such an account of the Messiah. For many must
have been more or less arrested by the prefatory record of names,
and may, perhaps, have asked, What profit is there to be had
from a list like this ? But let us never pass over anything in
scripture as a light or even doubtful matter. There is a depth
of blessed meaning in the account Matthew gives us of the Lord's
genealogy. I must, therefore, dwell a little on the perfectly
beautiful manner in which the Spirit of God has here traced His
lineage, and direct attention briefly to the way in which it
harmonizes with the divine account of Jesus for the Jew, who
would be constantly raising the question, whether Jesus was
really the Messiah.
It will be observed that the genealogy here differs totally from
what we have in Luke, where it is not given at the beginning,
but at the end of chapter iii. Thus, in the latter gospel, we

4 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
learn a great deal about the Lord Jesus before His genealogy
appears. Why was this ? Luke was writing to the Gentiles,
who could not be supposed to be equally, or in the same way,
interested in His messianic relations. But when they had learnt
in some degree who Jesus was, it would be very interesting to
see what was His lineage as man, and to trace Him up to Adam,
the father of the whole human family. What raore suitable
than to link Him with the head of the race, if the object were
to shew the grace that would m out towards all mankind, the
-salvation-bearing grace of God that appears imto all men ? One
might put that word in Titus ii. as a sort of frontispiece to Luke's
Gosjjel. It is God's grace in the person of His Son, who had
become a man, connected as to humanity with the whole family
'of man, though the nature in Him was ever, only, and alto
gether holy.
But here we find ourselves on a narrower ground, circum
scribed to a certain family, the royal seed of a certain nation,
God's chosen peojDie. Abraham and Da-^'id are mentioned in the
-(^ery first verse. " Tlie book of the generation of Jesus Clirist,
the son of David, the son of Abraham." (Ver. 1.) Why are these
two names thus selected; and why put together here in this
brief summary ? Because all the hopes of Israel were bomid up
with what ^Tas revealed to these two persons. David was the
great head of the kingdom, the one in whom the true line of
Messiah's throne was founded. Saul was merely the fleshly kino-
whom Israel sought passingly for themselves out of their own
will. David was the king God chose, and he is here mentioned
as the forefather of the Lord's Anointed — "the son of David."
Abraham, again, was the one in whom it was said all the nations
of the earth should be blessed. Thus the opening words prepare
us for the whole of the gospel. Christ came with all the reality
of the kingdom promised to David's son. But if He were
refused as the son of David, still, as the son of Abraham there
was blessing not merely for the Jew but for the Gentile. He is
the true Messiah ; but if Israel will not have Him God will
during their unbelief, bring the nations, in many respects after
an exceptional sort, to taste of His mercy.

CHAPTEE I. ,")
Having given us this general view we come to particulars.
We begin with Abraham, tracing Jesus not up to him, but
down from him. Every Israelite would begin with Abraham,
and would be interested to follow the stages of the line from him
on whom they all hung. " Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac
begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren." (Ver. 2.)
This comprehensive notice, " Judas and his brethren," seems to
be of importance, and in more ways than one. It does not
consist with the notion that our evangelist in this part of the
chapter simply copies the records kept by the Jews. We may
be sure that men never register in this fashion. Yet it is
evidently in the strictest harmony with this gospel, for it gives
prominence to the royal tribe of whom was the Messiah (Gen.
xlix. 10), while it reminds the most favoured that others too'
long out of sight were not forgotten of God, now that He is
giving the genealogy of His Messiah.
"And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar." (Ver. 3.)
'What is the reason for bringing in a woman, for naming Tamar
here ? There were women of great note in the lineage of the
Messiah — persons whom the Jews naturally looked up to as holy
and honourable. What Jewish heart would not naturally glow
with strong feelings of respect in hearing of Sarah and Rebekah,
and the other holy and well-known women recorded in Old Testa
ment history ? But there is no mention of them here. On the
other hand, Tamar is mentioned. Why is it so? Grace lay
underneath this, most rebuking to the flesh, but most precious in
its way. There are four women, and only four, who appear in
the line, and upon every one of them there was a blot. It is not
that all the sources of reproach or shame were of the same kind.
But to a proud Jew, with all these women there was connected
what was humbling — something that he would have kept in the
dark. 0 wondrous way of God ! What can He not do ? How
striking that the Holy Ghost should not here attract attention to
those who would have brought honour in the eyes of Israel ! nay,
that He should single out these that a carnal Israelite would
have held in contempt ! The Messiah was to spring from a line
iai which there had been dismal sin. And where all that is in

6 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
man would try to hide this and keep it back, the Spirit of God
brings it plainly out, so that it shall stand not only in the eternal
records of the Old Testament history, but here rehearsed. These,
on whom there were such foul blots in the judgment of men, are
the only females brought specifically before us. What is man ?
and what is God ? What is man that such things should ever
have taken place ? And what is God that, instead of being
ashamed of it. He should have drawn the story out of obscurity
and set it in ftdl revealed light, emblazoned, if I may so say, on
the genealogy of His own Son ! Not at all as if the siii were
not exceeding sinful ; nor as if God thought lightly of the
privileges of His people — still less of the glory of His Son, or
what is due to Him. But God, feeling the sin of His own
people to be the worst of all sin, yet having introduced in this
very Messiah the only One who could save His people from their
sins, does not hesitate to bring their sin into the presence of the
grace that could and would put it all away. Did the Jew think
that this was a scandal or dishonour done to the Messiah ? From
that same seed their Messiah must spring, and from no other
line. It was narrowed to the house of David, and to the line of
Solomon, and they were in the direct line of Judah's son, Phares.
No Jew could get out of the difficulty. What are we not
taught by this ! If the Messiah deigns to link Himself with
stich a family — if God is pleased so to order things, that, out of
that stock, as concerning the flesh. His own Son, the Holy One
of Israel, was to be bom — surely there could be none too bad to
be received of Him. He came to " save his people from their
sins," not to find a people that had no sins. He came with all
power to save : He shewed grace by the very family whereof He
was pleased to be a — or rather the — -Branch. God is never
confounded ; neither, through grace, is he that believes because
he rests iipon what God is to him. We never can be anythino-
for God till we know that God is everything for us and to us
But when we know such a God and Father as Jesus reveals to
us, on one side full of goodness, and on the other, no darkness
in Him at all, what may we not expect from Him ? Who
might not now be born of God ? Who is there that such a God

CHAPTER L V
would reject ? Such a hint in Matthew i. opens the way for the
wonders of grace which appear afterwards. In one sense, no
man has such a position of ancient privileges as the Jew ; yet,
even as to the Messiah, this is the account that the Holy Ghost
gives of His lineage. No flesh shall glory in the presence of
the Lord.
But that is not all. " Phares begat Ezrom .... and Salmon
begat Booz of Rachab." (Ver. 3 — 5.) And who and what was she ?
A Gentile, and once a harlot ! But Rahab is taken out of all her
belongings — separated from everything that was her portion by
nature. And here she is, in this gospel of Jesus written for the
Jew — for the very people who despised and hated Him because
He would look upon a Gentile. Rahab was named for heaven
already, and no Jew could deny it. She was visited of God ;
she was delivered outwardly and inwardly by His mighty
grace, brought into, and made a part of, Israel on earth — yea,
by sovereign grace part of the royal line out of which the
Messiah must come, and out of which in point of fact Jesus,
who is God over all, blessed for ever, was born. Oh, what
marvels of grace dawn upon us, while we dwell even on the mere
list of names that unbelief would disparage as a dry if not
incorrect appendage to the word of God ! But faith says, I
caimot do without the wisdom of God. Certainly His wisdom
shines in all that He has written here. He that glories must
glory in the Lord.
Might it be thought that Rahab was called in at some distant
epoch ? But no : " Salmon begat Booz of Rachab, and Booz
begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse. And Jesse begat
David the king." Ruth, loving as she was, yet to a Jew was
from a source peculiarly odious. She was a Moabitess, and thus^
forbidden by the law to enter the congregation of the Lord to
the tenth generation. Even the Edomite or the Egyptian were
held in less abhorrence, and their children might enter in the
third generation. (Deut. xxiii. 3 — 8.) Thus was given a still
deeper testimony that grace would go out and bless the very
worst of the Gentiles. Whether the Jews like it or not, God
has Rahab, the once immoral Gentile, and Ruth, the meek

8 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
daughter of Moab, brought, not only into the nation, but into
the direct line from which the Messiah was to arise.
" And Jesse begat David the king, and David the king begat
Solomon of her [that had been the wife] of Urias." (Ver. 6.)
With only a few generations intervening, we have these three
women, who would, for one reason or another, moral or ceremonial,
have been utterly despised and excluded by the same spirit which
rejected Jesus and the grace of God. It was then no new thought
¦ — the divine mercy that was reaching out to gather in the outcast
of the Gentiles, that would look upon the vile to deliver and make
them holy. It was God's way of old. They could not read the
account He gives of their own Messiah's stock without seeing
that it was so. And that this was the divinely prescribed channel
no Jew could deny. They must all own that the Messiah was
to come in no other line than that of Solomon. Oh ! the grace to
us who know what we have been as poor sinners of the Gentiles,
what wretchedness was ours, and this because of guilt and sin I
" Such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God."
Hence the first words which introduce the Messiah give the
same blessed truth, if there was an ear to hear, or an eye to see,
what God had in store and was now pointing to in them. In the
case last mentioned there was something more humbling than in
any other. For though, of old, Tamar's story had been wretched,
yet were there other features, false and lustful and violent, which
met in her case that had belonged to Uriah. And this was so
much the more dismal because the chief guilt was on that man's
part whom God had delighted to honour, even " David the
king." Who knows not that it has drawn out the deepest and
most touching personal confession of sin ever inspired by the
Spirit of God ? Yet here again we find that he who had to do
with this tale of horrors, and whose utterance had been this psalm
of sorrowful confession, was the direct forefather of the Messiah.
So that, if the Jew looked to those from whom the Messiah had
sprung, such must He be according to His earthly ancestors.
But God records the blessed display of His wavs, both for the

CHAPTEE I. 9
winning of the hardest, proudest, and most sinful, and for the
unfailing comfort and refreshment of those who love Him.
I need not dwell particularly upon the names that follow. We
might see sin upon sin, stain upon stain, interwoven into their
various histories. It was one continuous tissue of that which
would cause a Jew to blush — what a man never would of himself
have dared to bring out about a king that he honoured. God,
in His infinite goodness, would not permit these things to slum
ber. Not a word is said of women who came after the scripture
record terminated ; but what Jew could gainsay the lively oracles
committed to them ? To leave out what a Jew gloried in, and
to bring in what he would have concealed through shame, and
all in tender mercy to Israel, to sinners, was indeed divine. We
may see from this that the mention of these four women is
particularly instructive. Man could not have originated it : our
place is to learn and adore. Every female that is named is one
that nature would have studiously excluded from the record, but
that grace has made most prominent in it. Thus the truth
taught thereby ought never to be forgotten, and the Jew who
wanted to know the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah might
learn here what would prepare his heart and conscience for such
a Messiah as Jesus is. He is a Messiah come in quest of sinners,
who would despise no needy one — not even a poor publican or a
harlot. The Messiah so thoroughly reflected what God is in His
holy love, and is so true to all the piu^oses of God, so perfect
an expression of the grace that is in God, that there never was
a thought, feeling, word of grace in His word, but what the
Messiah was come now to make it good in His dealings with
poor souls, and first of all with the Jew.
This, then, is the genealogy of Christ as given us here.
There are certain omissions in the list, and persons of some
learning have been alike weak and daring enough to impute a
mistake to St. Matthew, which no intelligent Sunday scholar
would have made. For a child could copy what was clearly
written out before him : and certainly Matthew could easily have
taken the Old Testament, and reproduced the list of names and

10 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
generations given us in the Chronicles and elsewhere. But there
was a divine reason for omitting the particular names of Ahaziah,
Joash, aud Amaziah, from verse 8 — three generations. Why is
it, we may be permitted to ask, that the Apostle Matthew drops,
of course by inspiration, some of the links of the chain ? The
Spirit of God was pleased to arrange the ancestry of our Lord
into three divisions of fourteen generations each. Now, as there
were actually more than fourteen generations between David
and the captivity, it was a matter of necessity that some should
be discarded, in order to equalize the series, and fourteen only
are therefore recorded. Indeed, if you examine the Old Testament
scriptures, you will find that it is not at aU uncommon in
genealogies to drop some of the links of the chain. More than
twice as many as in our verse are omitted in one place. (Ezra
vii. 3.) Now, it was Ezra himself who wrote that book; and,
of course, he knew his own descent far more familiarly than we
do. And if any of us, by comparison with other parts, can find
out the missing links, much more could he. And yet, in giving
his own genealogy (chap, vii.), the Spirit of God is pleased by
him to omit no less than seven generations. This is the more
remarkable, as no one could exercise his rights as a priest, unless
he could trace his line up to Aaron without any question as to
the succession. I have no doubt that there were special reasons
for the omission elsewhere, no less than in our Gospel ; but the
motives for it are a very different question. One of them I have
named. There were more than twice seven generations in at
least the second division ; and this may have been one reason
why the writer should omit several of them. But why these in
particular ? Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, kino- of Israel
and wife of Jehoram, had thus entered by marriage the royal
house of David ; and a sorrowful hour it was, indeed, for Judah.
For Athaliah, enraged at the premature end of her son king
Ahaziah, was guilty of a too successful attempt to destroy the
seed royal. But it could not be complete : for that family was
selected out of all the families of God's people, never to be entirelv
e.xtinguished till Shiloh came. There was but a single youthful
scion whom Jehoshabeath saved by concealment in the house of

CHAPTER I. 11
the Lord. The light was covered with a bushel for a time ; but
it was not put out. The then son of David appeared. It was
a time when Judah had fallen into manifold and ever deepening
evil. But as sUrely as that young Joash was brought out of his
darkness — as truly as the priest was there to anoint the king,
and the union of the two things accomplished the great purpose
of God ; so it will be whei\ the years of man's rebellion against
God are fiiU. He will come forth who has been long hidden
and forgotten, and all the enemies shall be trampled down ; and
then will Judah flourish indeed under the King, the true Son of
David. For all this was the type of the reappearing of the
true Messiah by and by. But my design is not so much to dwell
upon that now, as to enquire and suggest briefly why it is that
we have these few kings omitted. The answer seems to be, that
they sprang from Athaliah. Hence they were completely passed
over. We find God thus marking His resentment at the intro
duction of that wicked and idolatrous stock from the house of
Ahab, Athaliah's descendants are not mentioned even to the
third generation. This appears to be the moral reason why we
find three persons left out at this particular point. Then in
verse 11 we read, " And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren
at the time of the removal to Babylon." It is evident that the
method is summary, Jehoahaz whom the people made and who
reigned for but three months not being specified, and Jehoiakim
being often called by the same name as his son Jechonias.
But I will not dwell upon the minuter features of the gene
alogy. The word of God is infinite ; and, no matter what we
may have learned, it only puts us in a position to find out our
ignorance. When persons are altogether in the dark, they
think they know all that is to be known. But as we make real
progress, we acquire a deeper sense of how little we know ; and,
at the same time, niore patience with others who may know a
little less — and, very possibly, somewhat more. Spiritual intel
ligence, instead of puffing up the loving heart, produces an
increased feeling of our own littleness. Where it is not so, we
have reason to fear that the mind outruns the conscience, and
that both are far from being subject to the Holy Ghost.

19 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
The generations are divided into three different sections. The
first is from Abraham to David, the dawn of glory for the Jews.
When David " the king" was there, it was noon -time in Israel —
sadly chequered, it is true, and clouded through sin ; but still it
was noon of man's day in Israel. The second division is from
thence till the carrying away to Babylon. The third is from that
captivity until Christ. This last was clearly the evening history
of Israel's past. But that evening is not the close. It ends with
the brightest light of all — type of the day when at evening time
there shall be light. Just as the prophet Haggai speaks of the
house of God, as it then was, being as nothing in comparison of
its first glory, and says, " The glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts;" so a
greater than Solomon was here. Although there had been the
decline of the splendour of Israel, and Israel was now broken
and subject to the Gentiles, the recorded decline ends in the
birth of the true Messiah. Throughout the lingering on of
the captivity no persecution could destroy that chosen family ;
because Jesus, the Messiah of God, was to be born of it. The
moment that Jesus concludes His career here below, the chain
may seem for ever broken as regards the earth, but it is only to
be riveted to the throne of God in heaven. Jesus is there, alive
again for evermore. And Jesus shall come again, and the Jews
shall see and weep ; even those written in the book : and Jehovah
their king, even Jesus, shall reap in joy what He sowed in tears
and His own blood.
But let us look for a little at the remainino; view given us of
our Lord Jesus in this chapter. Joseph is made very prominent.
The genealogy itself is that of Joseph, not of Mary. On the
other hand, Mary is the principal figure of the two in Luke, and
there it is, I believe, Jier genealogy. Why is this ? It was of
necessity, for a Jew, that Jesus should be the heir of Joseph.
The reason is that Joseph was the direct lineal descendant of the
royal branch of David's house. There were two lines that came
down tmbroken to these days; the house of Solomon and the
house of Nathan. Mary was the representative of Nathan's

CHAPTER I. 13
family, as Joseph was of Solomon's. If Mary had been men
tioned without her connection with her husband, there would
not have been a legal right to the throne of David. It was
necessary that the Messiah should be bom, not merely of a
virgin, nor of a virgin daughter of David, but of one legally
united to Joseph, i.e., in the eye of the law, really his wife.
This is carefully recorded here for the special instruction of
Israel ; for an intelligent Jew would at once have asked that
question ; and everything must be fenced romid with holy
jealousy. Let people calumniate as they might, Mary must be
espoused to Joseph; else the Lord Jesus would not have a
proper title to the throne of David ; and, therefore, the stress
here is not laid upon Mary but upon Joseph, because the law
would have always maintained the claim of Joseph. On the
other hand, had Joseph been the real father, there could have
been no Saviour at all. As it is, the wonder of divine wisdom
shines most conspicuously, making Him legally the son of
Joseph, really the son of Mary, who, in the truth of His nature,
is the Son of God. And all three met and merged in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth. He must be the undisputed heir
of Joseph, accordmg to the law ; and Joseph was espoused
to Mary. The child must be born before Joseph ever lived
with Mary as his wife, and this we are carefully shewn here.
" Now the birth of Jesus Christ* was on this wise : when as
* The true reading in verse 18 is a matter of considerable difficulty.
ToC Se 'ItjctoE Xgiatov is not only in the Elzevir or Rec. Text, but it is read by
the Siuai, Wolfenbuttel (P), and Dubhn Rescript MSS., not to speak of the
mass of cursives. The Vatican (ia09) gives x. before 'I. But Cod. Bezse
Cant, (here defective in the Greek), if V7e may judge from its accompanying
Latin version, must have read X., and so the Vulgate, It., Sax., Curetonian
Syr., &c. Whatis more, Irenaeus expressly reasons (contra Hser. ui., c. xvi.
§ 2) on the phraseology of this verse agaiust the Valentinian doctrine that
Jesus vs^as but the vessel for the Christ, who at His baptism was imagined
to have descended into that human body bom of the virgin. This false
hood, destructive of our Lord's person, the good bishop of Lyons confronts
with the words of our gospel. " Non, sicut ipsi dicunt, Jesum quidem ipsum
esse, qui ex Maria sit natus, Christum vero qui desuper desoendit. Cseterum
potuerat dicere Matthseus: Jesu vero generatio sio erat, sed praBvidens

14 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to
Spiritus Sanctus depravatores et prasmuniens contra fraudulentiam comm
per Matthaium dit: Christi autem generatio sic erat." It is plain then, as
the Benedictine note says, that Irenseus did not read in his copy 'IriaoS as in
more modem manuscripts ; but Massuet is mistaken in thinking that
" Jesus," if added, wotild have increased the force of the argument. The
first verse of the chapter had coupled them together already, and Irenseus
had referred to this in the beginning of the section. The emphatic fact he
urges from the language of verse 18, as it stood in his manuscript, is the
generation of the Christ or Messiah. This was inconsistent with, and de
structive of, the Gnostic hypothesis.
I cannot but think this confirmed by the fact that d 'I. X. is nowhere else
found in genuine scripture. In the Received Text it occurs in Acts viii.
12, -37; Hebrews x. 10 ; 1 John iv. 3 ; and Revelation xii. 17. In every
instance the proof fails. Thus few even of the less important copies insert
the article before 'i- X. in the iirst ; and the second disappears in the best
authorities, being in aU probability a mere marginal gloss, though it crept in
at a very early epoch. In Hebrews x. 10 the article has no good authority
whatever. In John iv. 3, Christ should not be inserted (in the preceding
verse 'I. x. is anarthrous, as it is regularly). In the last all the uncials and
most others give simply " Jesus." Thus in fact, not only is the vulgar
reading in Matthew i. 18 unsupported by the language of scripture every
where else (the apparent parallels melting away when looked into), but it
seems to me that it is not even Greek, unless the object were to assert the
generation of Jesus as Christ, or the evangelist treated 'I. X. as practically
one word.
If verse 18 refer to verse 17 where the phrase is unquestionably
Tov Xpio-ToC, the order would be this. First, " Jesus Christ" is naturaUy
brought before us in verse 1, which winds up vdth verse 16, " Jesus that
is called Christ," and viith the summary that follows, which gives the dis
tinctive title, " the Christ" or Messiah, Then the portion that next com
mences unfolds the mysterious birth of this long-looked-for Messiah, whose
name when born is Jesus (chap. i. 21, 25 ; ii. 1). Bengel has given a sumlar
judgment, and Dr. TregeUes also.
Tischendorf omitted 'Irjo-oG in his seventh and as far as I can trace his
previous editions, but recurs to the common reading in his eighth (now
coming out in parts), moved especially by the Sinai MS.
That Bloomfield sees nothing to remark does not surprise me but it
certainly does that AHord passes it over sicco pede, even in the margin (save
of course the readings). Kiihnbl and Vater are equaUy sUent.

CHAPTER I. 15
make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream," &c. (Ver. 18 — 20.) Here
the angel appears to Joseph in a dream. In Luke the angel
appears to Mary. It is thus in Matthew, because Joseph
was the important person in the eye of the law ; and yet
the Messiah must not be, in point of fact, the son of Joseph.
All the wit of man could not have understood these ways before
hand ; all his power could not have arranged the circumstances.
If the law demanded that Jesus should be the heir of Joseph,
the prophet demanded that He should not be the son of Joseph.
God humbling Himself was the need of man ; man exalted was
the counsel of God. How was this, and far more, to be united
and reconciled in one person ? Jehovah Jesus is the answer.
" The angel ofthe Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife ; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."
(Ver. 20.)
God meets the scruples of the godly Israelite ; and signifies
that most distinguished honour which He had put upon Mary,
under a guise which for a season had clouded her and distressed
her. She was the very virgin God had predicted hundreds of
years before — " She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus." Here, again, Joseph was to be the one who
publicly acts ; while in Luke (chap. i. 31) Mary names. The
difference arises from the point of view the Holy Ghost gives us
of our Lord's person in the two gospels. In Luke He was
proving that Jesus, though divine, was very man ; a partaker of
humanity, apart from sin. In our case, it is sinful human
nature — in His case, it was holy. Therefore, in speaking of
Him simply as man, it is said in Luke, " Therefore also that
holy thing, which shall be bom of thee, shall be called the Son
of God." So He was most truly and properly a man — the
child of His virgin mother : and as such, too. He is called the
Son of God, In that gospel one great pojnt was to prove His
holy manhood; to shew how fully and fitly He could be a
Saviour of men, and take up the woes and wretchedness, and on

16 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the cross suffer for the sinfulness, of others — Himself the Holy
One. He was the Son of God, who had actually taken human
nature into His own person, who was perfectly and really a
man as much as any of us ; but a man without sin, yet holy,
and not merely innocent. Adam was innocent, Jesus was holy.
Holiness does not mean mere absence of evil, but inward power
according to God, and so power to withstand evil. When Adam
was tempted, he fell. Jesus was tried by every temptation, and
Satan exhausted his wiles in vain. All this, however, is most
suitable to the Gospel of Luke, where it is accordingly shewn
that the proper humanity of Jesus flowed from His birth (i.e.,
from His mother). His legal right to the throne of David flowed
from Joseph, and Joseph accordingly is the prominent personage
in the Gospel of Matthew.
But He had a title greater than any which Joseph could
transmit even from David or Abraham ; and this was to be at
tested in His name. His despised name of Jesus, Jehovah, the
Saviour. " Thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save
his people from their sins." Jehovah's people were His people ;.
and He should save them, not merely from their enemies, but
from their sins. What a testimony to Him and for them !
Blessed for any sinful soul to hear, how ' especially needed for a
people then inflated with boundless hopes of earthly aggrandise
ment in their expected Messiah !
Here, too, alone in any part of the Gospels, it is that
we hear of Jesus as " Emmanuel." This is equally instructive
and beautiful ; because the Jew was apt to forget it. Did he
look for a divine Messiah — for One who was God as well as man ?
Very far from it. Comparatively few ofthe Jews expected any
thing so astonishing as this. They craved and looked for a
mighty king and conqueror, yet still a mere man. But here we
find that the Holy Spirit, by their own prophet, Isaiah, besides
speaking of Him as man, takes care to shew that He was much
more than man, that He was God. (Ver. 22, 23.) Matthew
alone brings out this clear testimony of the great evano-ehcal
prophet — " God with us." So perfectly did God provide for
these poor Jews, and develop the neglected seeds of their pro-

CHAPTER I. 17
phecies, and reflect light on the obscure parts of their law ; so
that if a Jew rejected the Messiah, he did it to his own eternal
ruin. Besides being the son of David and Abraham, then. He
was God with us. Such was the true Messiah, and such the
witness produced to Israel. Could they reject Matthew's
history, if they received Isaiah's prophecy ? In vain they
worshipped God, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.
" Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of
the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew
her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son ; and he
caUed his name JESUS." (Ver. 24, 25.) Some of the best
authorities (the Sinai, Vat., &c.), omit "her firstborn," and so
present simply " a son." But there is no doubt that these
words are genuine in Luke ii. whence they may have been in
troduced here. The shorter form appears to me sufficient for
the purpose of our evangelist.
We have been tracing what would have been of peculiar
interest for a Jew ; but may we also find the blessing of these
truths for our own souls ! Whatever exalts Jesus, whatever
displays the grace of God and puts dovm the pride of man, is
pregnant with blessing for us. By the blessing of God, pursu
ing these lessons still farther, we shall find how the wisdom of
every word of His is justified as we wait on this most illustrious
testimony to Jesus the Messiah, to His rejection by Israel, and
to the blessings which thence flow out to us once poor Gentiles.

-*oj»;o.-

CHAPTER IL
I THINK we shall find in the chapter before us abundant confir
mation of the account I have already given of the Holy Ghost's
special design by St. Matthew. That is, we shall see proofs that
there is a most careful presentation of Jesus as the true Messiah
of God, and of His rejection as such by the Jews ; and that
God, at the same time, takes advantage of Israel's fall to work
out larger and deeper purposes.
The very first incident in the chapter illustrates it. Jesus was
born. We do not meet with the same interesting facts which
are given us in hvtke of the very early days of our Lord's infancy :
all are passed by, save that we have Christ presented as bom in
Bethlehem of Judea, the worship of the magi from the east,
and the flight into Egypt. The first fact that the Holy Ghost
gives us here is the affecting one that there was no heart for the
Messiah in Israel. And this was proved by the most significant
circumstances. " Jesus having been bom, in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
saying. Where is he that is bom King of the Jews ? For we
have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship (or do
homage to) him." We are not told how soon this was after His
birth. No doubt a considerable time had elapsed. People are
often deceived as to this in looking at the scene through the
notions of their infancy. We have all seen the pictures of the
Babe in the manger, and " the three kings" coming in to worship
Him. But the truth is, that the Lord was not just born, as such
associations would convey, when the magi arrived. For His
earliest, condition in this world we must consult, not Matthew,
but Luke.
Some might, it is trae, gather a wrong impression from the
Authorized Version of verse 1 : " Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the kino-." This
does not intimate that the visit followed immediately upon our
Saviour's birth, but leaves room for a time more or less con-

CHAPTEE n. 19
siderable afterwards. It simply means, that after He was born
these easterns came : many months, or upwards of a year, might
have intervened. What confirms this is, that the wise men had
first seen the star in the east, and most probably at the time of
our Lord's birth. After seeing the star, they had of course many
a preparation to make before they could set out, and then
a long way to travel ; and travelling in those days was a hard
and tedious matter in the eastern parts of the world. Even when
they arrive in Judea, they go up first to Jerusalem to enquire
there. All this supposes necessarily the lapse of no little time.
Their questions are answered by the scribes. Herod, hearing of
it, is troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. He gathers together
all the chief priests' and scribes of the people, and demands of
them where Christ should be born. They tell him in Bethlehem
of Judea, upon which he calls the wise men and sends them
there. All this took place before the scene of their worship.
They, when they had heard the king, departed. " And lo,
the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it
came and stood over where the young child was." We are not
to imagine, according to traditional notions, that the star tracked
the way before them to Jerusalem. They saw it in the east, and
connected the sight with the promised Messiah ; for at that time
the .prophecies about His speedy appearance had been spread
over a considerable part of the world. Many Gentiles were
expecting Him, especially in the east. And the greatest and
most opposed in the west were aware of such hopes. The last
man that was known in the east as a prophet, before the Gentiles
were broken in the presence of Israel, was Balaam. No doubt,
he was a wicked man ; but God took advantage of him to utter
the most remarkable predictions of Israel's coming glory. And
that very prophecy had closed with a reference to the Star that
should rise out of Jacob. And now, after many hundreds of
years had passed away, the traces of this prophecy still lingered
among the children of the east. It is unlikely, too, that Daniel's
prophecies in Babylon, especially that ofthe seventy weeljs, &c.,
were unknovpn, considering his position and the extraordinary
events of his day. We can understand that these prophecies

20 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
would not only be such as the children of Israel would treasure
up; but the knowledge of them might spread, especially in
those lands. Much might not be clearly understood. Still, they
looked for a wonderful personage to arise — a Star out of Jacob,
and a Sceptre out of Israel.
When these strangers, then, saw the star, they set forward
to Hi.s traditional capital, Jerusalem. It is clear that the star
was a meteor of some kind. As it shone in the east, they put
the fact of this remarkable phenomenon along with the expecta
tions of the coming king. And this the more, because the
leasterns were great observers of the heavens, and were therefore
more alive to any uncommon appearance. It may have recalled
the prophecy of Balaam. Certain it is that they soon started
fer Jerusalem, where universal report among the Gentiles main
tained that the great King was to reign. Having got there,
God meets them, and it is remarkable how He does so. It is by
His word, and His word interpreted by those who had not ithe
smallest interest of heart in the Messiah. They were quite right
in their interpretation ; they knew where Messiah was to be born.
The magi probably thought that Jerusalem was to be the spot ;
but they were told by the scribes that Bethlehem was the pre
dicted birthplace. Alas ! the very men who could answer so
pertinently, shewed the not less solemn because it is a common
fact, that it is possible to have a measure of clear knowledge of
scripture, and at the same time to have no love for Him of
whom all testifies. As to the magi, ignorant as they were, and
though they might have been in the dark as to other things, still
their desire was true, and God overruled all. Through these
Gentiles, indeed. He sent a testimony to Jerusalem as to the
birth of the Messiah. God knew how to accomplish this and to
rebuke, through their testimony, those who ought, above all, to
have watched for and hailed their own Messiah. If there was
a queen who came from the distant parts of the earth to see
king Solomon and to hear his wisdom who was the type of
Christ, so was it now. The Holy Ghost wrought on and for these
pilgrims from a far country to bring them in presence of the
true King. The scribes could answer the questions ; but there

CHAPTER II. 21
was no care for the Messiah, and it was for Him that these wise
men came. This at once detects the awful state that Jerusalem
was in. The effect of the tidings that God's King was bom is,
that, instead of seeking the promised One, instead of being-
filled with joy to hear of One whom they had not sought, they
were all troubled, from the king downwards. More particularly,
as we learn here, the chief priests and scribes are those whose
state demonstrates the utter heartlessness of the nation. They
had enough religious knowledge ; they had the key in their hand,
but they had no heart to enter in.
"Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men,
enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared."
(Ver. 7.) I would call your attention to that, because it con
firms what was said before. It was after the diligent enquiry of
the king from the wise men, that he had settled in his own mind
at what time the child must have been born. When they,
warned of God, had withdrawn themselves instead of returning
to Herod, he sent forth the cruel command to kill the children
in Bethlehem and all the coasts, " from two years old and under."
(Ver. 16.) In other words, he naturally inferred that there had
been a considerable lapse of time between the birth of Christ
and the giving of his wicked order.
If we turn hence to the Gospel of Luke, we shall see the
importance of this. We have there our Lord born, and born
just as Matthew shews, in the city of David ; but we are told
here the circumstances that account for this, for Bethlehem was
not the place where Mary and Joseph ordinarily dwelt. It was
a village to which they repaired because of the commandment of
the Roman emperor, who had sent forth a decree, that all the
world should be taxed or enrolled. They, being of the royal
family of the Jews, go to Bethlehem, which was the city of David.
Thus God brought to pass the accomplishment of the prophecy
of Micah through the decree of Ca3sar Augustus. Nothing was
farther from his thoughts than the result which his decree, in
God's providence, was to subserve — the birth of the Messiah
in the very place where prophecy demanded it. It appears
that the census was uot carried out then, but begun, and

22 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
then stopped for some time. For it is said in verse 2, " And
this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of
Syria," which was several years after. People, not under
standing this, have concluded that there was a mistake in Luke.
They knew that Cyrenius's government of Syria was subsequent
to Christ's nativity, and too hastily inferred that our evangeUst
laboured under the impression that the going up of Joseph
and Mary to Bethlehem took place in his time. But it is they
who err, I believe. The decree of Caesar Augustus did not
come into full operation or effect till then. It was just suffi
ciently carried out, when the order for enrolment was given, to
induce the parents, Joseph and Mary, to go up to the chief city
of their lineage; and that was enough. God's object was
accomplished. Joseph and Mary went there, and, while there,
her days were fulfilled, and she brought forth her firstborn son,
and " wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in the
manger." There we have a scene totally different from what we
had in Matthew, though this too was at Bethlehem. In all
probability they paid more than one visit to the place.
- What more natural to suppose, than that the parents should,
after such a miracle, re-visit the birthplace of the holy and royal
babe ? It was not far from Jerusalem, and we know that they
went there every year to the feast of the passover. I see no
reason to doubt that the visit of the magi took place at another
visit on the part of the parents to Bethlehem.
Mark how the circumstances recorded in Matthew differ from
those in Luke.
In Matthew, Jerusalem is all troubled bv the tidings of the
Messiah's birth, while strangers from afar come up to do homage
to the King of the Jews. They had seen His star ; they knew
it was the promised King, and now they are come to worship
Him. They are found at Jerusalem, and when they leave it, on
their way to Bethlehem, they are again encouraged of God.
The star which they had seen before in the east, re-appeared and
went before them till it came and stood over where the youno-
child was — plain evidence that the star had not accompanied
them all the way. And we shall find it true in our own

CHAPTER II. 23
experience, that where we act without appearances, we find all
that is necessary. God always takes particular care of those
who are true to the light, even though it be ever so little ; while
nothing is more abhorrent to Him than great pretensions to
light, without any heart for the true light, which is Christ.
We may observe that, of the reputed parents, Joseph is ever
made the prominent person here, as in chapter i. The vision,
given us in verse 13, was to Joseph. Nevertheless, the magi,
" when they were come into the house, saw the young child with
Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped /wm," not her.
Their homage was to Him. " And when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts ; gold, and frankincense,
and myrrh." They acknowledged Him, as poor strangers
whose greatest honour was to be owned of Him. Jerusalem is
outside all this. An usurper was there; an Edomite ruled.
And, as when Christ returns again to the earth, there will be a
false king in Jerusalem under the influence of the western
powers, and in conjunction with the religious heads of Israel,
so it was at His first coming. All was entirely opposed to the
recognition of Jesus.
In Luke we have quite another order of things. It is not so
much one acknowledged as a king, though He was a king ; but
He is seen there in the lowliest possible condition. The persons
that own Him are Jewish shepherds, who had the news made
known to them from heaven. The heavenly hosts sing — their
hearts, delight in the ways of God, in the Saviour^^for as such
had He been annomiced to them : " Unto you is born this day,
in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be the sign unto you ; ye shall find a babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger." This was the very
opening of our blessed Lord's life here below, evidently taking
place immediately after His birth. The incident of the homage
rendered by the magi was long subsequent. There is not the
slightest ground for confounding the two occasions. Each
gospel is true to its special purpose. It is a question of His
royal rights over Israel and the Gentiles in Matthew. Li Luke
we have the perfect lowliness, from His very birth, of the

24 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Saviour- Son of man ; the interest of heaven in the birth of the
earth-despised Christ the Lord, and none but the poor of the
flock, who have their hearts awakened to receive this blessed
One, alike the expression, and the means, and the substance of
divine grace. " Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people," or rather, " to all the people," for
it means the Jews. A much wider circle appears afterwards,
but it does not go beyond the Jews yet. The message was sent
to them in the first instance — to the Jew first, to apply the
words of St. Paul.
How beautifully these various accounts harmonize with the
gospels in which they are found ! In the one, the King, born
some time before, is seen in Bethlehem, but none welcome Him
save strangers from the east. From Matthew, we should not be
aware of the slightest recognition of the Saviour up to the time
of their coming. On the contrary, when the first breath of these
tidings is brought to Jerusalem, consternation was the result
in all. The king, the priests, the scribes, all are in a state
of ferment. Tliere was no heart for Jesus. But God always
will have a testimony. If the Jews will not have Him, the
Gentiles come, and grace it is that effects this. Unbelieving
Jews tell the magi where the King should be born. They at
once act upon it, and the Lord, meeting them on the w^ay, puts
them in presence of the King, to whom they present their gifts.
It is the Messiah of Israel, but rejected by Israel from His very
birth. Jerusalem is with the false king, and cares not to receive
Him. Those who were despised as dogs, whom the Jews them
selves had to instruct in the first lessons of prophecy, have the
glory of being the true recognizers of the claims of the Messiah.
Nothing more humbling. It is the Messiah come, and owned
by the ends of the earth ; but the Messiah slighted and rejected
of His own nation. " He came to his own, and his own
received him not." Of this we have proofs from the very first
in Matthew. And as it was true, so it was important that Israel
should know it. Here let them learn, through the earliest
of the evangelists, that it does not arise from any want of
evidence on His part. How did these Gentiles know ? And

CHAPTEE n. 25
where were the Jews that, during all this time, they had not
recognized their own Messiah ? It was a terrible tale, but the
truth was the strangest of all things in their ears. Such is
always the way of God. He does give a testimony, but man
dislikes it because it is of God. To recognize the person of
Christ was the difficulty. To see from scripture that their King
was to be bom in Bethlehem of Judah, was an easy thing ; it
did not test the conscience, nor put the heart to the proof. But
to own that the ignored and despised One, the child of Mary
and the heir of Joseph, was the Messiah — this was indeed hard
to the flesh. To those who had seen the sign of it in the
heavens ; to those who had looked for it in the midst of great
darkness, but who had their eye toward it, and who had no pre
occupations of heart to hinder them from bowing before His
glory ; aU was simple, and they hastened to do Him honour.
Now that He was born, they rejoiced at the thought, and they
came from far to have the joy of seeing Him and offering their
gifts at His feet.
"And being warned of God in a dream, that they should not
return to Herod, they departed into their own country another
way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying. Arise, and take
the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be
thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him." (Ver. 12, 13.) The unbelief that
refused the word of God, is now allowed to shew out how
thoroughly it was under the power of Satan, who proves him
self, as from the beginning, to be a liar first and a murderer
afterwards. But the purpose of Herod was revealed of God,
and Joseph, in obedience to His word, takes the young child
and his mother by night and departs into Egypt, " and was
there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Out of Egypt
have I called my son."
I have a little word to say about this prophecy, and the
application of it to our 'Lord. We shall have to take into
accomit many prophecies cited in Matthew, if it please God.

26 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
But the present quotation has evidently a remarkable character
attached to it. It may have been said in the letter about His
people. Israel was God's son, God's firstborn in Egypt. To
them pertained the adoption. The prophet Hosea, writing
seven hundred years after their departure from Egypt, does
not hesitate to apply this word to Israel ; and now the
same portion of Hosea is used of Christ, as that which fully
came within the intent of the inspiring Spirit. How is it, that
God's having taken Israel out of the land of Egypt should be
so illustrated in Christ's history ? Because Christ is the object
of the Holy Ghost in scripture. It matters not what may be
the place of His people : they may have troubles or deliverances,
but Christ must enter into all. There is no kind of temptation
(save, of course, of inward evil) that He has not known ; nor
of blessing on God's behalf that He has not proved. Christ
goes through the history of His pepple ; and on that princijDle it
is that such scriptures as these are applied to Him. Christ
Himself is carried into the very place that had been the furnace
of Israel. There it is that He finds His refuge from the false
king of Judea. What a picture ! Because of the anti-king
then reigning in Jerusalem, the true King must flee, and flee
into Egypt. Christ was the true Israel. Compare Isaiah xlix.
We see from this, that no miraculous power is put forth to
preserve Emmanuel. It was accomplishing the prophecies —
filling up the outline of desolation morally and nationally, that
the Holy Ghost had sketched many a long year before. God
was shewing how precious to Him was every footstep of His
Son. It might seem a trifling circumstance in itself that the
Lord was carried into Egypt and came out of it another day.
But whatever was the place of Christ — and His place was
wherever His people were in their sorrow — He will not permit
them to feel a pang without His sharing in it. He knows what
it is to be carried into Egypt, and that too in a far more painfd
way than Israel had experienced. For the bitterest trouble
of Christ was from His own people ; the most murderous blow
aimed at Him was by the king then sitting on the throne in
their midst. Failing in this, he sends forth and slays all the

CHAPTER IL 27
children " that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the time which he
had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying. In
Rama was the voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be
comforted, because they are not." (Ver. 16 — 18.) How clearly
we find that the Holy Ghost is here providing for the Jew the
proof that they were precious in His sight ; and that, if Christ
entered into their sorrows, they must not wonder if His presence
will bring upon themselves the bitterest suffering through their
rejection of Him. If Christ has the smallest connection with
Israel, they become tho object of Satan's animosity. It is
Herod, led on by Satan, who issued the order to slay their little
ones ; — -but the Messiah is taken away from the scene of
his rage. La Israel they have weeping and great mourning.
Such were some of the troubles that Israel bring upon them
selves ; and this is but a little picture of what will befall them
in the latter day.
" But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying. Arise, and
take the young child and his mother, and go into the land
of Israel ; for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and
came into the land of Israel." (Ver. 19 — 21.) It is sweet to
find " the land of Israel" occurring here. It was not merely
the country, as known among men, where poor Jews lived by
the permission of their Gentile lords. How few look on it as
the land " of Israel'^ now ! But God's thoughts are towards
His people in connection with the glory of His Son. If Jesus
had His earthly tie there — if Emmanuel were now born of the
virgin, why should not the land be called the land of Israel ?
It was the divine purpose completely to expel the foot of the
Gentile that was now treading it down. If the people would
only bow and receive Him to take His place as their King, how
blessed their lot ! But would Israel receive Jehovah-Jesus now
returning from Egypt ? There was no readiness for Him yet.

28 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
One Herod passed away ; another followed. Hence, when the
young child was taken back into the land of Israel, and when
Joseph heard " that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of
his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither : notwithstanding,
being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts
of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth ;
so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
He shall be called a Nazarene." (Ver. 22, 23.)
The method of citation is worthy of note here. Take note of
another and most striking turn which is given to the prophets ;
for we must observe that it is not one particular prophet, but
" the prophets," And by that we are to gather, not that any
one inspired writer said these words, but it is the spirit of the
prophets who do speak of Him. When we read in one prophet,
" They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the
cheek ;" in another, " He is despised and rejected of men ; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" and again, what
they should give Him for meat, and in His thirst for drink, and
how He should be taunted up to the last — we can understand
this application of the prophets. Thus, it was the well-under
stood language expressive of contempt in that day : He should,
in other words, be called a Nazarene. Nazareth was the most
scorned of places. Not only did the men of Judea proper look
down upon Nazareth, but the Galileans themselves despised, it,
though it was part of their own district. Later on we read of a
guileless Israelite, who, when he heard of Jesus being there,
exclaimed, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
Thus, if one spot in Palestine more than another would accord
with the rejection that was the portion of Christ, it was Naza
reth. Can there be a more wonderful picture than this of One
who, while He was the true King, was yet refused by His own
people ? Gentiles might have done Him reverence ; but His
own nation was indifferent. How little fruit was there to answer
to the culture that God had bestowed upon them ! But here was
the Blessed One who pursues His path of obedience unto death,
who would not shew His glory by protecting Himself. His
people went down into Egypt : He goes down there also. He

CHAPTEE II. 29
has to be called out of Egypt. That was His portion. He would
not screen Himself from the sorrows of His people : He would
share them all. When He does come forth, Israel is still un
prepared for Him. His parents turn to Nazareth once more,
Joseph having been again divinely instructed in a dream. This
is the last mention that we have of him in Matthew. Luke
gives us later circumstances; but Joseph wholly disappears
before our Lord entered upon His ministry.
When He is called out of Egypt, He cannot go to Jerusalem,
nor to Bethlehem either. He was to be despised and rejected :
the prophets had said so : their words must be accomplished.
Archelaus reigned in Judea : an usurper was still there. Joseph
turns aside at the warning of God to Nazareth. There Jesus
dwelt with them ; that the word of the prophets might be ful
filled, in our Lord's proving to the full what it was to be the
most despised of men. He knew it pre-eminently on the cross ;
but it was His all through. And this is the way that God
speaks of the Messiah to Israel. He shews what their hardness
of heart and unbelief would entail — even if it were to the
Messiah Himself coming, according to all that God had declared,
to that land and people. What a picture of man, and especially
of Israel, when such must be His portion ! He comes and
calls, but no answer greets Him. The unbelief of man hinders
the blessing of God. It was the sin of Israel that thus com
plicated the early history of the King. But future chapters
will shew that God would turn the very unbelief of Israel
into the means of blessing for the despised Gentiles, and
that if the Jews rejected the counsel of God to their own
perdition, the Gentiles would hear and receive all blessing in
the blessed One.
Thus, we find from the beginning of this wonderful book the
germs of all that the end will display. We find One who is
really the Messiah, ready to accomplish the promises and io
take the throne, but the people in no way ready for Him. Israel
were steeped in sin — they had no heart for Him. They were
full of their own king, their own ceremonies, their own light.
All was tumed to the exaltation of self. Hence Jesus is rejected

30 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
from the very first. This is the story of man. The after
chapters will shew us the glorious consequences which God,
in His grace, causes to flow even from the rejection of His
own Son. Upon that happier theme we may dwell on other
occasions.

CHAPTER IIL
We are now carried forward, from the return of our Lord into
the holy land, to the days when John the Baptist came insisting
upon the grand essential truth of repentance. But here John's
ministry is viewed entirely in connection with the Lord's relation
to Israel. It is interesting to compare the different ways in
which the gospels present John himself, as illustrating the
manner in which the Holy Ghost uses His own divine right to
shape and group the materials of our Lord's history according
to the exact object in view. A casual reader might scarcely
recognize that John the Baptist of the last gospel was the
Baptist of the first. The manner in which they are viewed, and
the discourses that are recorded, take their form from the par
ticular book in which the Holy Ghost has given them. This, so
far from being imperfection, is a part of that admirable method
in which God impresses the design which He has in view, and
which suits the place which each portion of scripture has to fill.
And what can be of deeper interest or more strengthening, than
to find that the very passages on which unbelief puts its finger
and alleges as proofs of the imperfection of scripture (varieties of
statement insuperable to the mind of man), on the contrary,
when viewed as part of God's plan for commending His beloved
Son, all assume their own place in this great scheme, which is
to the glory of Christ. This is the true key to all scripture ; and
if that key be of great value from Genesis to Revelation, there
is no place, perhaps, where its value is so conspicuous as in the
Gospels. In finding four different accounts of our Lord, each

chapter III. 31
presenting things in a different manner, the first thought of
man's heart is, that each succeeding gospel must add to or
correct what had gone before. But such thoughts only prove
either that the truth was never known, or that it has been for
gotten. Is it adequately borne in mind that God is the author
of the gospels ? Once admit that simple truth, and it would
be evidently blasphemous to suppose that He makes mistakes.
Look at the meanest thing that God has made, the minutest
insect that the microscope can discover upon the least blade of
grass : what does not fill the particular niche for which God
created it ? I do not deny that sin has brought all kinds of
derangements into the natural as well as into the moral world.
I admit that man's infirmities may appear even in the word of
God : first, in not keeping the sacred deposit free from all cor
ruption; and, then, in interpreting that word through some
feeble medium of his own ; and thus, one way or another,
hindering the pure revealed light of God.
I have made these few remarks because all readers may not
be equally familiar with the great truth of the difference of
design in the Gospels, and therefore I do not scruple to draw
attention to the immense help it furnishes to the miderstanding
of scripture, and especially of its apparent discrepancies.
In the chapter before us, John the Baptist is presented as
fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. He came " preaching in the
wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye : for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying. The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." In
Luke you wiU find that the prophecy is carried farther down.
More is given us than the words we have got here. " Every
valley shall be filled and every momitain and hill shall be brought
low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
ways shall be made smooth ; and all flesh shall see the salvation
of God." The range of Luke is wider. " Every valley
shall be filled," &c. " All flesh shall see," &c. I ask. Why is
that quotation continued farther there ? It is the more remark
able because usually Luke does not quote much from the Old

32 lectures on the gospel of MATTHEW.
Testament, as compared with Matthew. How comes it that
Luke departs in this particular instance from his habit? The
reason is obvious. His task was to shew the grace of God that
brings salvation and that has appeared to all men. The Holy
Ghost leads him therefore to fasten upon these words that dis
play the universal range of the Lord's goodness to man.
But there is another expression that I must dwell upon for a
little — " the kingdom of heaven." We are all familiar with it
as a phrase often used in scripture ; but possibly not many are
equally familiar with its force. Indeed, it is understood very
vaguely even by most Christians. To many it conveys the idea
of the Church, sometimes the visible and sometimes the invisible
church. By others again it is supposed to mean something tanta
mount to the gospel, or heaven itself at the end. The expression
is derived from the Old Testament, and that is the reason why it
appears in Matthew only. As we have already seen, our evan
gelist writes with a view to Israel, and therefore lays hold of a
phrase which is suggested by the Old Testament, and taken from
the prophecy of Daniel, who speaks of the days coming when
the heavens should rule. Before that (chap, ii.), we hear that
the God of heaven is to set up a kingdom that should never be
destroyed—the kingdom of heaven. And, again, in chapter vii.
we are told of the Son of man's coming, and of a universal
kingdom which is given Him. Chapter ii. does not give us the
person, but the thing itself: so that there might still have been
a kingdom without the revelation of the person in whose hands
it was held. But chapter vii. completes the circle, and shews us
that it is not merely the heavens ruling in the distance nor a
kingdom opening with judgment on earth ; but besides that,
there is a glorious Man to whom the rule of heaven wiU be
entrusted. The Son of man will not simply destroy what opposes
God, but will introduce a universal kingdom.
This kingdom John the Baptist came preaching. I do not
believe that he was at all aware of the particular form it was to
take first. He simply preached the kingdom of heaven as at hand,
himself the public and immediate forermnier of the Shepherd of

CHAPTEE III. 33
Israel, with the thoughts of a godly Jew, and a special witness
that the Messiah was there — that He was about to be manifested,
who would execute judgment upon the evil, and introduce good
in the power of God, and bring in the glory promised to the
fathers ; and that all this was about to be inaugurated and
established in the person of Christ here below. This, I believe,
was the general thought. And we shall find, subsequently, that,
for the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, John was not at all
prepared. This, too, it was that led to the twofold form taken
by the kingdom of heaven. While the old or Jewish view of a
kingdom established by power and glory, as a visible sovereignty
over the earth, is postponed, the rejection of Jesus on earth, and
His ascension to God's right hand lead to the introduction of
the kingdom of heaven in a mysterious form — which is, in point
of fact, going on now. Thus it has two sides. When Christ
went up to heaven and took His place as the rejected but
glorified One there, the kingdom of heaven began.
This is a view of the kingdom that we do not find in the Old
Testament. To it pertain the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, that were only opened out as the Lord was manifestly
rejected by Israel. Thus we see in Matthew xi. John sends two
of his disciples to ask, whether Jesus was really the Messiah,
or were they to look for another? Whether he was himself
staggered, or his disciples, or whether both were, it matters
little — such was the result. It sounds like an unbelieving
question to the Lord. He might well be astonished that Jesus
did not dehver the Jews, and bring in the glory for which
patriarchs had waited, and which prophets had predicted.
Strange that, instead of this. His messenger was in prison.
Himself and His disciples despised ! Our Lord at once referred
to these deeds of power and grace, which bespoke the presence
of God, acting in a new waj-, and introducing a power evidently
in grace— bringing in totally new thoughts, above the habits or
hopes of the most godly Jew. These they were to report to
John. But He goes farther, and says, "And blessed is he
whosoever shall not be offended in me." This, apparently,
conveys a rebuke to John, and implies that he had been, more or
D

34 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
less, stumbled. Yet it is beautiful to see how at once, after the
departure of the messengers, our Lord vindicates the Baptist
before the multitude. But, after pronouncing John to be the
most blessed among those born of women, He suddenly intro
duces a most startling truth, namely, that great as John was,
the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he. This
does not refer to the kingdom coming in power and glory,
because, when that day comes. Old and New Testament saints
must all be raised or changed to have their part in it ; as it is
said of those who are being called now, that they shall sit " with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." What
then does our Lord mean ? Does He not refer to some form of it
that John had not spoken of? And what was this ? He goes on
farther and says, " From the days of John the Baptist until
now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent
take it by force." What an extraordinary statement must this
have appeared to those who listened to it then ! The Lord is
contrasting the kingdom of heaven, in a public manifest form,
with that kingdom as opened to faith only^ — more blessed as
known to faith than to sight. As the Lord afterwards said to
Thomas, " Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed :
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
This holds good in every dealing of God. Abraham* was more
blessed when, though in the land of Canaan, he possessed it not,
than if it had all been actually his own. He gained a better
place in the ways of God from the very fiict of his not having
one foot of the land in possession. So with David. His reign
was morally far more glorious than that of Solomon. His heir
had the place of power ; but David had that which was unseen,
yet nearer to God. We never find that Solomon enters into
what was taught by the ark, whereas it was always the o-reat
attraction to David's heart. Solomon was found before the
great altar which the whole world could see. The ark was
within the holiest, where God sat. It was the throne of His
majesty in the midst of Israel. To it the heart of David ever
turned. The blessing of faith is always better than the blessing
of sight here below, how great soever this may be.

CHAPTER in. 35
There has been no time in the ways of God so blessed for a
soul as the ways of God now. To be born in the millennium is
not at aU to be compared with it. It is true that then all will
be in subjection to Christ, and the heart might say. Would that
we might be born then ! But even the believers found in that
day on the earth will not know what it is to enter within the veil,
or to have the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. Neither
will they know in the full sense the joy of the Holy Ghost, with
the privilege of being cast out and scorned by the world for
Christ's sake. So that, both in the matter of suffering and the
enjoyment of what Christ has gone through for us, and His
present glory in heaven, our present place is far beyond it. For
those who suffer now, it will be the best of heavenly blessings
then. But the peculiarity of the present time is this, that while
we are on earth, we are consciously dwellers in heaven. We
are not of the world, as Christ is not of the world. Our life
does not belong to it ; oiir blessing does not spring from it ; all
our portion is outside this world. And this is communicated to
us while we are in the world, to raise us above the world. It is
not, as with John here, going into the wilderness, a most sea
sonable and beautiful expression of what God thought of the
city of holiness, Jerusalem, where the priests themselves minis
tered. John retires from it all. He is outside it in sympathy :
the very act in itself declared that the wilderness is better than
the city, even though it contain God's temple. But what a
solemn declaration of the ruin, not only of the world, but of
the favoured people who were the great link between God and
men generally !
In this scene behold another thing altogether. It is not man
blest, and the earth brought also into blessedness under the
personal reign of Christ. But here the heavens were opened
upon the Lord Jesus. Never had they opened before upon any
one on earth, except as a sign of God's judgment. (Ezek. i.)
But here, first of all, the eye of heaven, ofthe Father, who is in
heaven, is directed upon the beloved One. By and by He takes
up His place in heaven, as the Man who had suffered for sins
and brought in the revealed righteousness of God.

36 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
lie kingdom of heaven then began. From the time that
Jesus goes up into heaven, till He comes back again, the New
Testament view of the kingdom of heaven runs on, and in that
sense, the privilege of the feeblest soul brought to the knowledge
of Christ now, transcends anything that ever entered into the
heart or mind of men, or even of saints, before the Lord died and
rose again. You may dwell upon the blessed walk of Enoch
and the bright faith of Abraham. But still this remains true —
" Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist ; notwithstanding he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." There is no honest
escape from the conclusion that has been drawn. If persons
argue. Is a little child believing in Jesus now more holy and
righteous than the blessed saints of old ? I answer. That is
another matter altogether. He ought to be. But that is not
what is said. The Lord lays down that " the least in the king
dom of heaven is greater than he." Li a word, it is not a
question of what men are ; but God is glorifying Christ. Upon
Him God, is putting honour and therefore gives such privileges
to the least one that believes in Him. Since His death and
resurrection, the worshippers once purged have no more con
science of sins. Think of what such a thing would have been
to an Old Testament saint ! Was there one that knew such a
place as this ? It could not be. They might look forward to it,
but they could not say that it was an accomplished fact. It
would have been contrary to the holiness of God, and positive
presumption for man, to have even the thought, till Christ came
and wrought the work that blotted sins completely out. Now it
is presumption not to take with confidence what Christ has done.
Remission of sins never was or could be thus known of old.
When we enter into the position in which we are set by the
work of Christ, it is not merely that we have remission : we are
made the righteousness of God in Christ ; we have a new life,
the risen life of Christ Himself. We stand in the relation of
sons of God, and are entitled by Christ Himself to say that His
God is our God, His Father is our Father. We are entitled to
Imow that we are one with Christ, and that there is not a single

CHAPTER III. 37
blessing or glory that God has conferred upon His beloved Son,
but what the Son shares with us. But glory conferred, I say ;
for of course there is His essential divine glory in which none
can participate. God never gave Christ to ,be God. Deity was
His own right from all eternity. He could not have Godhead
bestowed upon Him. But Christ became man, and as man He
was the Son of God ; He was not merely so as God. He was
the Son of God as born into this world, and as such He has
been raised up from the dead ; marked out as the Son of God
with power, by the resurrection of the dead, in virtue of which
Hs brings us into the same place before God that He Himself
has acquired. He has entirely delivered us from the place into
which He entered for us, enduring the wrath and judgment of
God. He brings us into the place to which He is not only
entitled Himself, but has acquired a title for us.
But John had no conception of such a compass of blessing.
To draw near to God, to hear Jesus saying " My God and
your God, my Father and your Father," could not enter into
his mind, if it were only because he was a saint in association
with what was then revealed. Such an one would be jealous of
going beyond thfe word of God before Christ uttered it. The
Jews looked uponihe kingdom as the state when Israel would be
blessed of God as a nation ; and even those that may have more
fully understood still looked for all the power of the kingdom
to be brought in, entirely independent of anything ou their part.
" But the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent
take it by force." The Lord shews that there is an action of
faith needed now ; that the kingdom of heaven here presented
demands the rupture of natural ties and the giving up of previous
associations. In the sense of power and glor)' introduced by a
personal Messiah upon the earth, John had already pressed on
consciences, that it was not a thing of mere ordinance or privi
lege by birth — that God would not be content except with
moral realities. And allow me to say, that it is a very solemn
thing indeed to claim the privileges of grace for that which is
contrary to the nature of God. I am not speaking now of the
lost one foimd by grace, to whom God gives a new life fresh

38 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
from Himself. But the effect of a soul's receiving life in the
person of Christ is, that there are produced feelings, thoughts,
judgments, and ways, acceptable to God and akin to His nature.
If a person is a child of God, he is like his Father ; he has a
nature suitable to God, a life that dislikes sin and is surely pained
by what is iniquitous in others, but more particularly in himself.
Many bad men are strong against evil in others ; they are weak where
it might touch themselves. But a Christian always begins with
self-judgment. That is the reason why, now that there was to
be a moral preparation for the Messiah, John preaches " repent."
Repentance is the soul's moral judgment of itself under the eye
of God, the soul's acceptance of His judgment of its state
before Him and bowing to it. John called upon them to repent
because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. " For this is he
that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice
of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight." This clearly implied two
things — that he was but a voice, pretending to nothing, and that
the work would be done by another. The voice only was on his
part, but the other, whose way he was preparing, was the Lord,
Jehovah Himself. " Prepare ye the way of Jehovah."
Then we have the account of John the. Baptist himself
" The same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern
girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild
honey :" all perfectly suitable to this summons to repentance.
As yet it is not grace introduced ; this belongs to the kingdom
of heaven, when it is fully brought in. But John did not know
it thus. He knew that the Messiah was coming, a Messiah who
would introduce the power of God and deliver His people. But
the deep unfolding of grace, the mighty victory which a suffer
ing Messiah would accomplish for the soul, and the way in
which God would be magnified most of all by the puttino- away
of sin by the death of His Son, were thoughts that must wait
for another season, not for utterance more or less but for ade
quate intelligence. No heart could be in sympathy with them
till the work was done." The ark of the Lord must stand still in
the waters of Jordan first. Not a foot can pass that way

CHAPTER HI. 39
scathless till the ark has passed in. God in Christ must be
before man. Most fittingly, therefore, John does not bring out
the fiilness of divine grace, but the moral call to repentance. It
is the Spirit of God producing a sense of what we are, but not
yet revealing the work of Christ and the fulness of grace there
is in Him. In the Gospel of John we do find the Baptist
speaking so as to imply a good deal more, when he uttered those
sweet and memorable words,- " Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world." How far he entered into
them, I cannot say. There is no necessity to suppose that he
comprehended all that was taught by them : many a child of
God does not even now. God might make use of them with great
power as a prophecy ; and the Holy Ghost, in His action in Old
Testament times, did not go beyond this in testimony. The
saints, then, had the Holy Ghost giving them faith in a coming
Messiah. Some, the prophets, were the Spirit's vessels in pre
dicting Him. But as to the personal enjoyment of communion,
such as results from the accomplishment of all, it never was, nor
could be, till the work was done.
John, accordingly, is found outside the religion of man, as
weU as outside his profanity. He was not in Rome, but he
was also away from Jerusalem ; and this, in the predicted
messenger of Jehovah, was a most solemn feature. " Then went
out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round
about Jordan, and were bajDtized of him in Jordan, confessing
their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to the baptism, he said unto them, 0 generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?" Here is a part of that truth which is exceedingly
startling, when we reflect upon it. The Pharisees were religi
ously the most influential in Israel. The Sadducees were the
loose, secular, self-indulgent class ; the Pharisees, those who
stood very firm for what they considered the truth. Yet when
John sees them both coming to his baptism, he says, " 0 genera
tion of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance" —
fruits of a kindred character. He maintains that the day of

40 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
ceremonialism, or of birthrights, was completely past. The
Pharisee might rest upon his religion ; the Sadducee upon the
fact that he was a child of Abraham. The desire to escape
wrath and to have part in the kingdom might be no more than
nature. Humbled souls suit the kingdom. Descent from the
fathers, the law, the promises even, may be tumed into a right
against God, who will not allow it, and can raise out of the
stones children to Abraham. But there must be, if they
attempted to draw near to God, ways of a nature morally
suitable to God. "Bring forth, therefore," he says, "fruits
meet for repentance." He is not explaining here how a sinner
is to be saved, or how God remits sins ; but that if persons take
the stand of having to do with God, there must be what becomes
His presence. So the Apostle says to the Hebrews, " Follow
peace and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
There he is not speaking of what is imputed, but of holiness
as a real practical thing. This is written to Christians : and the
Holy Ghost does not hesitate to insist upon it. So strong is the
tendency to reaction in human nature, that the very baptized
Jews who were pleading for the law might fall into the opposite
extreme, and think that sin is compatible with the salvation that
God gives through grace. But God never allows that His nature
can co-exist with sanctioned iniquity.
Here, then, was evidently a stern rebuke for the leading Jews.
But more than that, John adds, " And now also the axe is laid
to the root of the trees ;" that is to say, judgment is just at hand.
(Ver. 10.) " Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance." He does not go beyond this.
The remission of sins that he might speak of appears to me to
have been rather a question of the gov-ernment of God, than of
that complete putting away of sin which was the fruit of grace
when the work of atonement was done. But, even so, it was in
view of Messiah's advent.
" I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance ; but he
that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear : he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with

CHAPTER III. 41
fire." (Ver. 11.) There he brings together the two grand features
of the first and second comings of Christ. He did not know but
that both would go on together. All that might lie between the
two was hidden from his eyes. The Old Testament scriptures did
present the first and second advent of the Messiah, but not in
such a way as to convey the thought of two distinct epochs.
Even after the Lord's death and resurrection, the disciples did not
understand this. So John mingles these two things together — ¦
the baptizing with the Holy Ghost and with fire. We know
that the baptizing with the Holy Ghost is the power of God's
blessing in the kingdom of heaven as it now is. The baptism of
fire is that which will accompany the kingdom of heaven, as it
will be when Christ comes again. There is no such thing in
the word of God as the baptism of fire to designate what took
place at Pentecost. Baptism with fire is the application of the
judgment of God in dealing with men. Whereas the day of
Pentecost was the outpouring of the grace of God, and the
giving of the Holy Ghost to dwell in the saints of God, which
merely referred to the power of the Holy Ghost going forth so
as to bear testimony in such sort as would not bear a single evil
thing in the heart of men, even while it shewed out the grace
of God. This is Christianity — the most perfect love of God
shewn to a man that has no claim upon it : all his evil con
demned by the grace of God in the death of Christ ! And thus
it is that a man is made honest in the sight of God and men.
He can afford to be guileless about himself, because he knows
that God imputes nothing to him. When we read on the day
of Pentecost of the tongues being divided, it was to shew the
going forth of the testimony of God to the Gentile as well as to
the Jew. But when Matthew iii. speaks of our Lord's bap
tizing with fire, the allusion is not to these tongues of fire, but
to the execution of righteous judgment when Christ comes again.
This appears still more clearly from what follows : " Whose fan
is in his hand ; and he will throughly purge his floor, and
gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire." (Ver. 12.) It is not at all what He does
in saving a soul, but the very contrary. It refers to the time

42 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
when, men having refused the gospel, nothing remains but the
outpouring of vengeance upon them.
" Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be
baptized of him." (Ver. 13.) What a cluster of wonders !^ Jesus
coming to be baptized of John, who was avowedly preaching re
pentance and remission of sins. What could bring the Lord Jesus
there ? for He never confessed sins, and had none to confess. He
challeno-es even His enemies to convince Him of sm. A man
without sin — without the smallest particle of self in any form
or deo-ree — the lowliest and most blessed of men — the One who
judged everything according to God : and yet He comes to be
baptized ! John at once felt it — Jesus coming to be baptized
of him I To be baptized at all, but above all of him whose
baptism was that of repentance ! What is the clue to this?
It is grace — the source and the channel of everything in Jesus.
It was not the judgment of God that put Him there ; it was
not any need in Himself that brought Him there — nothing that
He had to acknowledge or confess ; but it was grace. For on
whom in Israel did God's eye look down with compassion ?
Upon those that were confessing their sins. Upon such does
His eye ever rest. For the next best thing to not being a
sinner at all is to confess our sins. We find that this is the
first great movement produced by the Holy Ghost in a sinner's
soul — the feeling of his true place in the sight of God. Here
was the blessed One ; and though not one thing naturally could
claim His presence, yet grace led Him there. And when John
was earnestly hindering Him, saying, " I have need to be bap
tized of thee, and comest thou to me ?" what blessed grace and
truth does not our Lord's answer unfold ! " Suffer it now ; for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." It is all righte-
ousness now to be fulfilled, and not merelv the doing of the
law. But now there was the righteousness of acknowledging
the true state in which even the best part of Israel lay. For if
there were any in Israel that shewed a feeling for God, it was
those who were baptized of John — those who repented in view
of the kingdom of heaven. They desired God's promises, and
thej! wished to be ready for the King. And the Lord's heart

CHAPTER III. 43
was there at once ; the sympathies of His soul were with those
that were humbling themselves in the sense of their sin before
God. The same principle is true of us, in proportion as the
Spirit of Christ is ungrieved in our souls. Wherever even it is
a question of acknowledging anything to man, who is the person
you can most open your heart to ? The most spiritual man :
he who is walking most above sin — his is the bosom to which
you can open out your sin more fully than to another. " If a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such
an one in the spirit of meekness." It was exactly the perfection
of the holiness of Christ that could enable Him so to act :
another might have feared appearances. If Christ had merely
been innocent, instead of holy, should we have found Him
there? Never. Holiness implies divine power against sin^
innocence merely the absence of sin. Thus we find our Lord in
the full consciousness of His own perfect holiness coming to the
baptism of John, and taking His place with those in Israel who
felt aright for God. Then John suffered Him. He was fulfil
ling all righteousness, not confessing sin; and His goodness
could associate John in it.
"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out
of the water : and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and
he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting
upon him ; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Does it not seem that
this wonderful testimony of God the Father was the consequence
of Christ's fulfilling all righteousness in the waters of Jordan ?
It was the answer of God to the place that Christ, in His
grace, had taken. It was God jealous for the glory of His Son,
who would not permit that a suspicion should rest upon this
loveliest and lowliest of acts. And, therefore, lest the full
grace of it should not be felt, how quick is God the Father to
say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom lam well pleased !"
Do not think He has sin. But if you are there. He is with you :
if the sheep are in the waters, the shepherd must enter them
too. The Father at once vindicates His Son : " This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It is not that He

44 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
was well pleased with that act merely, but it is the retrospective
expression of God's delight. It refutes all that the poor mind
of man might have — has — gathered out of this transaction. It
is always thus in the word of God. If there be, so to speak, a
locked door, the key is always behind it. If there is a heart
that counts upon God, and knows the perfection of His cha
racter, and is jealous over the honour of His beloved Son, God
is always with such. Man has endeavoured to take advantage
of the Lord's grace, thus taking His place with the godly in
Israel, in order to lower His jserson and His position even in
relation to God Himself. But when we read with chastened
spirits, what do we hear ? " This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." We shall by and by find the importance
of this in connection with what follows ; but I leave the subject
for the present. There is nothing in the whole compass of God's
word, so full of blessing to the believer, as the person of Christ
and His ways ; but it requires groat jealousy over self, and the
special guidance of the Holy Ghost : for who is sufficient for
these things ?

o»«>

CHAPTER IV.
There are two things that we may notice before our Lord is
tempted of the devil. The first is, that He is most emphatically
recognized as the Son of God by His Father ; secondly, that He is
anointed as man by the Holy Ghost. Now a similar thing is true
of the believer, of course in an inferior way. Still, the believer
is owned as a son of God, and has the Spirit of God given to
him before he becomes the proper object of the enemy's temp
tations. And this is an important distinction to bear in mind.
Strictly speaking, the relation which the sinner bears to the
enemy is not as subject to be tempted. He is a captive ; he is
led by the devil at his will. This is a very distinct thing from

CHAPTER IV. 45
temptation ; for it supposes a person thoroughly under the
power of Satan. We are tempted, when we are out of the
enemy's power, and because we are sons of God. Thus you see
all men have to do with Satan in one way or another. The
mass of mankind are his slaves ; but those delivered by the
power of God, those who, by grace, are God's children, become
the objects of his assault in the way of temptation. It is not so
much his power that such have to dread ; for when tbe soul has
received Jesus, Satan's power is really null and void ; it is
completely broken for the believer. And therefore it is that we
are warned rather against his wiles. In certain cases there
may be the suffering from his fiery darts ; but even this is not
his power, which is nothing to the believer, while he is looking
to Christ : he has only to resist, and the devil will flee from
him.. If he had really power, it is clear that Satan would not
flee. But he has none. He has lost it as regards the soul that
has received Christ. But then, while to faith the power of
Satan is a thing destroyed in the cross of Jesus, his wiles are a
very serious matter ; and we ought not to be ignorant of his
devices. Now God has been graciously pleased to give us his
manner of dealing with our blessed Lord. And that this is
intended for our use, and the great pattern and principle of the
temptations of Satan at any time, is clear from many obvious
and weighty considerations.
Besides, we know from the Gospel of Luke that, in the case
of our Lord, there was a very long-continued temptation of
Satan, of which we have no details. We are only told the fact
that Jesus was tempted of the devil during forty days. But
the great temptations, which the Holy Ghost has been pleased
to record for us, are those that took place at the end of the
forty days. May we not gather hence, that in the temptation
of our Lord there were two parts — first, that not common to
man, but peculiar to our Lord ? For we are subject to no such
circumstances as being driven into the wilderness for forty days.
But, secondly, we are exposed to such as are given us at the
close. The Lord seems to cast a veil over the first, and dis
closes carefully what, in principle, every child of God may be

46 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
tempted by some time or another. We shall see that these
three temptations, presented by Matthew and Luke in a different
order, give us an admirable insight into the ways of Satan
when he thus assails the children of God. But it is exceedingly
sweet to see, that, before Satan is allowed to tempt at all, the
blessedness of the Son's recognition by the Father is most fully
brought out. And, indeed, it is something akin which renders
anyone obnoxious to the hatred of Satan. The enemy is well
aware when God converts and quickens a soul hitherto dead in
trespasses and sins ; and at once he is prepared with his temp
tations. They need not, of course, come in the same order as
our Lord's ; but they seem to be, more or less, of a similar
character with those which are revealed.
It is clear that the first temptation grew out of our Lord's
actual circumstances. He had been all this time in the wilder
ness without food, and at the end of the forty days he was an
hungered. When Moses was without food on the mount for
the same time, he was with God and miraculously sustained.
But the wonderful thing here is, that the time was spent with
the enemy. None had ever been so, or will be so again. To be
all that while in presence of Satan, dependent on God, was the
greatest moral honour, though the severest trial, that man had
ever passed through. Throughout the Lord is seen as Son of
man, though also as Son of God.
The introductory notice shews us that temptation was going
on all the time our Lord was in the wilderness. " Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came
to him, he said. If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread." Whatever may be the aim of Satan,
this is one main part of his tactics — he insinuates a doubt, a
doubt of our own relationship with God. " If thou be the Son
of God." Now, search the word of God as you may, never
will you find His Spirit leading a soul to doubt. Nor can any
thing, indeed, be more opposed to His way than sanctioning
mistrust of God. And it shews the exceeding subtlety of Satan,

CHAPTER rv. 47
that he has actually made the children of God themselves to be
his instruments, not only by permitting doubts in themselves,
but helping to raise them in others, often on the mistaken plea,
that not to be confident with God is a sign of humility, and of a
desire to be lowly! But faith says, "We are always con
fident." Not that we are to shrink from self-examination : we
do find this pressed in scripture. Thus, in 1 Corinthians xi.
the believers are evidently exhorted to examine themselves, but
not with any idea of producing doubt. On the contrary — " Let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat ;" for the question
was about the Lord's Supper. If the right effect were hesita
tion, it would have been " let him not eat," in case of not finding
himself as he ought to be. But supposing he finds that which is
wrong within, is he not to eat ? Surely he is to look up to his
Saviour, and cast himself upon that grace which never can fail.
To think that there was no resource would be indeed to dis
honour Christ, and to deny His truth and love. " My grace is
sufficient for thee : my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Such is the word of the Lord. On the strength of His grace,
the believer is to examine himself in the thought of going to the
table of the Lord. It is not a question whether he is to go or
stay away : we do not find this in scripture. Nor do I find, on
the other hand, that, because I am a Christian, it is no matter
what state I may be in spiritually. But a man is to examine
himself, and so to eat. He is sure to find that which calls for
humiliation. It is important for a soul to draw near to God,
and to have His light cast upon all that is there. This will
give ground for humbling oneself, but never for staying away.
Such is what the Spirit of God lays down as a general rule
for the Lord's Supper. Of course, I am not speaking now
of cases of open sin, where the vindication of the Lord's
glory is required. These suppose a man's practising sin,
and not examining himself. But I am speaking now of the
ordinary walk of the child of God ; and what we read there is
careful enquiry as to what he fuids within himself, but "so let
him eat."
"If thou be the Son of God." Our Lord did not look like

48 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
it. There was nothing of such a character outwardly as to
carry necessary demonstration and bear down all question. If
• it had been so, there would have been no room left for faith at
all. Satan takes advantage of the lowliness of our Lord in the
place that He took as man. And, indeed, nothing could be
more singular than His being found in the wilderness, and, as
we read in Mark, with the wild beasts. If He was really the
Son of God, Maker of heaven and earth, what a place to be in
and led there by the Spirit, after the Father had spoken from
heaven and acknowledged Him to be His beloved Son ! But so
it was. And so it is now, in a lower sense, with the children of
God. For no matter how much blessed they may be of God,
or how truly owned as His sons, and having His Spirit dwellino-
within them, they also in their measure have their wilderness.
" As my Father hath sent me into the world, even so send I you
into the world." Not into some pleasant place where there is
no room for trial, but the very contrary. Because we belong to
God and to heaven, because we have the Holy Ghost sealino- us
unto the day of redemption, we have to encounter Satan, but
with the certainty that his power is broken, and that his wiles
are what we have to resist. This questioning the relationship
of Christ with God shews how truly Satan was at work. But
the Lord does not pronounce him to be Satan until open rebel
lion is manifested against God. When it is mere subtlety. He
does not call him Satan. There are two ways in which the
enemy is described in scripture. He is called Satan and the
devil. The latter is the term which implies his accusing cha
racter and also his wiles ; the former refers to his power as
adversary. We must wait, even when we suspect it is the power of evil
at work, before we pronomice it absolutely. For if there is
such a fact as the devil tempting, God also puts a soul to the
test, and this may be very sharp. Moreover, even God Himself
does not act till a thing is manifest. He shews wonderful
patience and most contrary to the haste of man. He comes down
to see whether the evil is so great, as in the case of Adam yea
of Sodom and Gomorrah. But it always remains true that

CHAPTER IV. 49
whatever God may be in other things, quick as He is to hear
the cry of His own in sorrow. He is exceedingly slow to judge ;
and there is nothing that more marks the knowledge of Christ
practically and the effect of it in our own souls, than where the
same thing is made true in us. Hastiness to judge is man's
way in proportion to his want of grace ; and patience is not a
question of knowledge but of love that lingers over another,
unwilling to pronounce till every hope is gone. There might
still be hesitation. The rising in the flesh, which looked so
threatening, might turn out after all to be only on the surface
and not deep-seated. So here we see patience even in our Lord's
dealing with the adversary. It is only when he thoroughly
makes manifest what he is, that the Lord Himself calls him
Satan. Only when he demands the worship due to God alone,
does our Lord say, " Get thee behind me, Satan." Then the
adversary flees instantly. But the Lord lets him thoroughly
discover himsejf first. This is divinely wise. Because, although
the Lord knew him to be Satan all the time, what pattern would
this be for us ? The Lord is here the blessed man in the pre
sence of Satan, shewing us how we have to carry ourselves in
the temptations that come upon us as saints of God.
And allow me to say another word with regard to temptation.
In the sense we have it here, it is entirely from without. Our
Lord never knew what it was to be tempted from within. He
was "in all points tempted like as we are." But the Holy
Ghost qualifies this by adding, " Yet without sin." It was not
merely that He did not yield to sin, but He never had the prin
ciple of it — ^never the least motion of any thought or wish contrary
to God. He never knew sin. It is there that we so differ.
We have cause of deep humiliation sometimes, because, besides
having to do with the devil without, we have got also an evil
nature within — what scripture calls the flesh (i.e.', self, the spring
of insubordination and of enmity against God). It is the foun
tain of unloving, wilful, ungodly desires in us ; that which
naturally never seeks God's will, save only in a spirit of fear ;
that which says, What will become of our souls if we do it not ?
but never seeks it as that which is loved : we never do till bom

50 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
of God. Even afterwards the same wicked principle is still
there ; but we have a new life implanted of God in our souls,
which delights in His will.
But although the temptations of our Lord, which we have
here, were from without, still Satan adapted them to the cir
cumstances in which our Lord then stood. He had been for forty
days without food, and the first word, therefore, of the tempter
is, " If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread. But he. answered and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out ofthe mouth of God." (Ver. 3, 4.) Our Lord refers to the
chapter of Deuteronomy that alludes to the manna, the daily
food of Israel, which involved dependence upon God, and
shewed that Israel did not need the resources of the world to
sustain them. They did not require some rich country to
supply them out of its abundant harvest ; neither did they
depend upon gold and silver. Israel, before they had a land to
cultivate and the means of gathering from it, were taught alone
with God. In the wilderness, where He had brought them out
as His first-born son. He puts them to the proof; and the
way of it was, whether they were content with God and
with the fare that God provided for them day by day. Alas !
they were not.
Here the scene is entirely changed. It is a man in the
wilderness, but Satan is there, and not God. In spirit He ever
dwelt with His Father ; for even when on earth He was " the
Son of man which is in heaven." He combined thus two things
in His own person. Day by day there He was, the man depen
dent upon God for everything. And this was the first great
temptation of the devil — the appeal to His earthly natural wants.
It was no sin to be hmigry ; but it would have been a sin to
have distrusted God because of the desert place. Did not God
know that there was no bread there ? and was it not His Spirit
who had led Him there? Had God told Him to leave the
wilderness, or to make the stones into bread ? He would not
use His own power, independently of the word of God. And it
is the constant mark of the way in which the Holy Ghost ener-

CHAPTER IV. 51
gizes in the children of God, that they do not use miraculous
power for themselves, nor for their friends. If we look at it in
the New Testament, we find Paul working miracles and using:
the power of God to heal the sick around. But was it ever used
for his own 'circle ? On the contrary, Paul leaves Trophimus
sick at Jliletus, and displays about him all the anxiety of one
who might never have had power to heal the body. When
Epaphroditus was sick, we see the exercise of a faith which
knew that the will of God, with acquiescence in it, was worth a
thousand miracles. Miracles had not in themselves the high
character of exercising the soul in dependence upon God. To
obey God, to submit to Him, to have confidence in Him, is
that of which human nature is incapable. Power alone never
reaches so high. Therefore, in the case of our Lord Him.self,
we never find that He puts His works of might on a level with
obedience. Nay, He even speaks of His disciples as those who
should do greater works than He Himself had done. Great as
had been His own works. He makes known to the disciples
themselves that they were to do greater. But obedience was what
characterized Christ : this never was found in a mere child of
Adam. Here, in the face of Satan, our Lord finds His strength,
not in doing miracles, or in any provision that He might have
made for Himself, but in the word of God. Hunger might
have legitimate wants, but here He was, tried in presence of
Satan, and He will not step out of the trial till it is over ; He
will not shift His circumstances or lift one finger for Himself:
He waits upon God. " Man shall not live," He answers, "by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God." God's word had led Him there, for the
Holy Ghost always acts by the word. He would not leave
the wilderness till God Himself intimated as much to Him.
This completely set aside Satan's temptations. But more : it
brought out the real secret of living in dependence upon God
day by day. For it is not a question here of imparting divine
life, but of how w« live when we have received it ; and the food
of the new life is the word of God. Of what immense impor
tance does not this shew it is to be growing in the knowledge of

52 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the written word, and having that word as our household bread
day by day, not merely reading it as a task or formal duty, but,
as it is indeed the divinely suitable provision for the child of
God ! It is good for every one to study it, because he needs it,
because it is in every way for the good of the soul day by day
to read it intelligently, heartily, as those that receive it from
God Himself. And God does not give that which the heart of
man cannot take in, but what is adapted to our daily wants.
" Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out ofthe mouth of God."
This, then, is the answer of our Lord to the first temptation.
Why should He turn the stones into bread ? He hung upon
God's word : His Father had not told Him to do so. He could
wait. So should it ever be with us. Where we have no clear
expression of the mind of God, it is always our place to wait till
we have. Sometimes it may shew our weakness that we do not
know the mind of God, and this is distasteful to us. Restless
ness would like to go somewhere or do something, but this is
not faith. Faith proves itself in waiting for God to manifest
His will.
The next temptation was not a personal one, but connected
with religion, as the first had been in respect of bodily wants.
We shall find that the order is different in Luke. But here,
in the second temptation mentioned, is what I may call the
religious temptation. The Lord had said that man should
"live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God." The devil then takes Him up into the holy city,
sets Him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and founds his temp
tation upon that very point in our Lord's answer — the word
of God. He says, as it were. Here is a word of God for you :
" He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their
hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone." Very true. It was God's word, and
evidently spoken of the Messiah. But what was Satan using it
for? He says, " If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down ;
for it is written, &c." This was making a move without God —
doing something by oneself. Scripture did not say, Cast thyself.

CHAPTER IV. 53
down, because God Has given His angels charge concerning
thee, lest thou should dash thy foot against a stone. The Lord
would not turn aside from scripture, because Satan had misused
it. He shews us, in the most instructive way, that we are not
to be moved from our stronghold because it may be turned
against us. Our Lord does not enter into nice distinctions, nor
analyze what Satan had said, but He has given us that which
ought to be, if I may so say, the standard mode of dealing for
every christian man. There are those who might have spiritual
discrimination to see that Satan was perverting the scripture
which he quoted; but many might not. The Lord takes a
broad ground in dealing with the adversary. He stands upon
what each Christian should know and feel, and this is, " It is
written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." He
cites a plain positive word of God which Satan was destroying
by the use he made of Psalm xci. Now that is the stronghold
of a believer who may have to do with one that reasons subtly
from scripture — " It is viTitten again." He can appeal to that
which is palpable and clear. It will be found that, where a
person systematically misapplies scripture, he destroys some
fundamental principle of the word of God. Whatever is false
is contrary to some plain passage of scripture. Now this is a
great mercy. The believer holds fast to what is sure ; he will
not quit what he does understand for something that he does not.
He may be perplexed by what the adversary is producing and
may only have a growing suspicion that he is wrong. But he
may say to himself, I never can give up what is beyond a doubt
for that which I do not know. In other words, he holds the
light and refuses the darkness.
It is thus, it seems to me, our Lord deals with Satan. He
could at once have set him aside on grounds of reasoning and
have shewn the perverted end to which Satan was applying
scripture; but He rather deals with him on moral grounds
which every Christian is capable of judging. Do I find a
scripture used for the purpose of making me distrust God ? At
once I take my stand on " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God." What is meant by this ? I am never to doubt the Lord

54 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
will be for me. If I do anything to prove Him, to see whether
He will be for me, this is at once unbelief and disobedience. It
is an allusion to Israel's history again and another quotation from
the book of Deuteronomy. Indeed our Lord quotes every
answer to the temptations, as has been long ago remarked, from
the book of Deuteronomy. You will find in Exodus xvii., that
the Israelites tempted the Lord by asking, Is He among us or
not ? Tbis does not mean that they provoked Him by idolatry
or refusal to do His will. It is not a question there of open sin,
but of mibelief of His goodness and presence — unbelief, in a
word, of God's being for us. This is exactly what our Lord
pleads. Cast Myself down in order to find that the scripture is
true and that the angels will bear Me up ! I do not need to do
such a thing ; I am very certain that, if I were cast down, the
angels would be there to sustain Me. — If you have a person
whom you suspect of dishonesty on your premises, you may
perhaps be disposed to test him in some way or other. But who
would think of testing one that he had full confidence in ? Now
that is exactly the import of our Lord's answer : " Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God." His soul resented the idea of trying
God, to see whether He would sustain His Son. God might
try Him ; Satan might put Him to the test ; but as to His
tempting the Lord, as if the Lord His God required to be put
to the proof, whether He would be true to His word — away
with such a thought ! — He would not hear of it for a moment.
The Lord still insists upon this — perfect confidence in God.
Such is the full expression of His plea.
The temptation which is second in Matthew, Luke gives
as the third. Why is this? Surely we ought not to read
scripture as if such differences were not intended to suo-o-est
enquiry. We have to take care that we do not misinterpret
scripture; but scripture is meant to be understood. I say of
these different orders in which the temptations are put, both are
right, both are inspired of God. If they were both intended
to report the temptation exactly as it took place, it is clear they
are not right, biit God had a much higher object. God wrote
for our instruction, and God has been pleased, in the different

CHAPTER IV. 55
gospels, to put the facts in the way that is most instructi-\-e.
Matthew simply gives the temptation historically, as it took
place. Therefore in Matthew we have notes of time : " Then
the devil taketh him up," &c. In Luke there is no such thought;
it is simply " and the devil," &c. This word at once prepares
us for it. It is clear, there were these different temptations,
but Luke puts them so as not to tell us the order in which
they occurred.
This is a general remark, true of the whole gospel of Luke,
that he habitually departs from the mere order of fact, to give
an arrangement suited to the design which he had in view.
As a whole, the Gospel of Luke is characterized by putting the
facts of our Lord's life in an order that suited the doctrine He
was teaching. Thus you will find in Luke, that even the
genealogy of our Lord is not given in its regular place ; there is
a departure from the mere natural series, and there is, instead, a
moral order. Take the case of the Lord's prayer : Luke puts
that iu a totally different place from Matthew, who gives it in
the wondrous discourse commonly called the sermon on the
mount ; and, as pray-er formed a most important part of the new
principles the Lord was bringing out, so it formed one of the
main subjects of the Lord's discourse, Luke reserves that
prayer till chapter xi., because our Lord is pointing out there
the grand means of spiritual life, how it is to be kept up and
sustained in the soul. And this he .shews us from the history of
Martha and Mary. (Chap, x.) Why was it that Jesus approved
of the path and walk of Mary rather than of Martha ? It is
not that He did not love them all, nor was it that Martha had
not a real personal love to the Saviour, and that her heart was
not true to Him. But there was an immense difference between
them. What and why was it? Luke gives us the moral
difference. When Martha was all busied with what she could
do for the Lord, to shew her love to Him, Mary was occupied
with the Lord Himself — seated at His feet, listening to His
word. The one was full of what she could do for Christ ; the
other, full of Christ Himself; and nothing that she could do was
of the smallest consequence in her eyes, compared with Christ

56 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Himself. Thus we find, in another instance, Mary breaking the
alabaster box to anoint the feet of Jesus, an action little accounted
of by others ; yet what she had done, should be recorded through
out the whole world. Our Lord brings out in Luke this great
point — the word of God, the waiting upon Jesus, being the first
great means of strengthening the new and spiritual life ; and,
therefore, immediately after this account of these sisters, we have
the request of the disciples to be taught how to pray. It really
took place long before ; but they are put together in that special
form by St. Luke in order to mark the connection of the word of
God with prayer.
So in the temptation, Luke departs from the order of fact and
gives us the moral sequence. Matthew simply names the facts
here as they took place. Luke puts them in the order of magni
tude, and rises from the natural trial to the worldly one, and then
to the religious temptation. For it is perfectly plain that the
temptation by the word of God was much harder for one who
valued His word above everything, than that which lay in
an appeal to natural wants or to worldly ambition. Therefore,
Luke keeps this temptation to the last. In Matthew it is not
so, but we have, in the third place, the temptation by the world.
" Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high moun
tain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them ; and saith unto him. All these things will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." (Ver. 8, 9.)
Here at once the devil was manifest. The very idea of present
ing any object of obeisance and worship between the soul and
God, was at once to detect that he was either the devil himself
or an instrument of the devil. The Lord, therefore, at once
pronounces him " Satan." " Then saith Jesus unto him. Get thee
hence, Satan : for it is written. That shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Ver. 10.) If it had been
an apostle, it would have been just the same. If such an one
had been so completely led away as to hint such a thing, the
Lord would have said " Satan" all the same. Is not this most
solemn with us in dealing with Christians even, who may
have become for the time instruments of Satan ? The Lord did

CHAPTER IV. 57
not hesitate on one occasion to say " Satan" to Peter himself,
and yet he was the chief of the twelve, the first in dignity
among the apostles of the Lamb. And yet our Lord Himself,
after He had put signal honour upon Peter and given him a
new name, does not hesitate to say " Satan" not less to Peter
than to the enemy himself. All this brings out an important
principle for our own ways in having to do even with a
child of God.
In answering the third and last temptation, our Lord still
confines Himself to the Book of Deuteronomy. Why ? Because
Deuteronomy is the book that regards Israel after they had
completely failed under the law, and when God brings in the
new principle of grace, and shews not the mere righteousness
of the law, but that which is of faith. This is the reason why
St. Paul also quotes from Deuteronomy for the same purpose.
It is the book that indicates the place of obedience, when it is no
longer a mere question of observance under the law. The Lord
Jesus is here taking that very place. He is not witnessing what
He could have done as a divine person. As such. He would
have taken ground where we could not follow Him. But
throughout this temptation He takes the posture that becomes
us and all that desire to follow Him. The only thing right
and becoming for a godly man, in meeting temptations, is the
ground of the obedience of faith : one thus stands in the confi
dence of what God is in His goodness. The Lord would on no
account swerve from what was the due and comely place for a
servant of God in Israel. If a person was godly, his place was to
confess and to be baptized with the baptism of repentance. Our
Lord at once finds Himself with such, though in His case it was
the fulfilling of righteousness ; while with us it is the acknow
ledgment of sin. He who alone could have taken His stand
upon legal righteousness, takes it as in every way vindicating
God, not upon the mere righteousness of man. Satan may put
temptation before Him in every form ; but it is of no use. His
only care is to vindicate God, and never to arrogate anything to
Himself The enemy was foiled, to God's glory, by an obedient
and dependent man.

58 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
I believe that the principles brought before us in this chapter
are of the greatest practical importance for the children of God.
The few remarks I have made may help to direct souls to the
value, practically, of these temptations of our Lord for guidance
in our own path. I therefore commend the whole subject to the
attention of the reader, as one that, although it may have come
before us many a time, and we may have often meditated upon
its practical value, may still claim our thought, as it will surely
repay our prayerful study.
It may be instructive to compare the different ways in which
the Holy Ghost introduces our Lord's ministry in the gospels.
And when I speak of His ministry, you wiU understand that I
mean His public service, for there was much appertaining
to the Lord — miracles performed, and remarkable discourses
uttered — before His ministerial course was formally entered on.
What I would desire now, with the blessing of God, to notice
is the wisdom with which He has given us a distinct view of
our Lord in each of these different inspired accounts. We may
reverently follow Him who has been pleased to furnish them so
variously — omitting certain statements in some, and presenting
them in others, altering now and then the order of narrating
events, to accomplish thus His purpose more perfectly. In
comparing these accounts we may see that the Holy Ghost
always preserves the grand design of each gospel, and this is the
basis of all just interpretation. We shall find, steadily keeping
in view what He is aiming at, that we have in this what was
really the principle on which the gcspels themselves were
written, and consequently what alone will enable any soul to
understand them aright.
Now, I have already shewn, to commence with the Gospel of
Matthew, that, throughout, the Holy Ghost is setting before us
the Messiah with the fullest proofs of His mission from God, but,
alas ! a suffering and a rejected One, and this specially by His
own people ; and among them rejected most of all by such as
humanly speaking, had most reason to receive Him. Were any
peculiarly remarkable for their righteousness in the estimate of

CHAPTER IV. 59
the nation ? If Pharisees were so, who so bitter against Him ?
Were any celebrated for their knowledge of scripture? The
scribes were those combined with the Pharisees against Him.
The priests, jealous of their position, would naturally oppose
One who brought out the reality of a divine power, administered
by the Son of man upon earth, in the forgiveness of sins. Now
all these things come out with striking force and clearness in
the Gospel of Matthew. But although we are not arrived at
these details as yet, still the main design of the Holy Ghost
discovers itself in the manner in which our Lord is presented as
entering upon His public ministry, in the portion that is now
before us.
First of all, no notice is taken in Matthew of all that passed
at Jerusalem. The Holy Ghost knew this perfectly well ; He had
nothing to learn about it. Humanly speaking, Matthew was as
likely to have known and enquired into the earlier circumstances
of our Lord, and particularly His connection with that city, as the
beloved disciple John. Yet of a great deal given in John not
a word appears in Matthew. In the fourth gospel we have a
deputation from Jerusalem to see John the Baptist first, and
then our Lord is acknowledged as Lamb of God and as He who
baptizes with the Holy Ghost. Then we have our Lord mak
ing Himself known to various persons, among them to Simon
Peter, after Andrew his brother had already been in the company
of the wondrous Stranger. Then Philip is called, who finds
Nathanael ; and thus the work of the Lord spreads from one soul
to another, either by the Lord attracting to Himself directly, or
through the intervention of those already called. All this is
entirely omitted here. Then, again, in John ii. is given the first
miracle or sign in which Christ set forth His glory — the turning
of water into wine ; after which our Lord goes up to Jeru
salem and executes judgment upon the covetousness that then
reigned even in the boasted city of holiness. We have also a
little incidental view of what our Lord was doing during this
time at Jerusalem. He was working miraculous signs there,
and many were believing on Him, though in a natural way.
Jesus, it is said, " did not commit himself unto them, because

60 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
he knew all men;" but He does open the great doctrine of
the new birth, and brings out the cross— Himself to be made sin
thus, as the serpent had been lifted up by Moses in the wilder
ness, that whosoever believed in Him " should not perish, but
have everlastino- life." All this took place before the circum
stances recorded by Matthew. When this is seen, it must strike
any observing reader of the word of God. It could not be that
these things were unknown to Matthew : they could not fail to
be named and dwelt on, if, apart from inspiration, you look at
him as a mere disciple. Andrew, Peter, and John, and the
rest would have conversed on their first acquaintance with the
Saviour over and over again. Yet Matthew does not say one word
about it, neither does Mark or Luke, but John does. Now,
when we examine the gospels themselves, we find the real
solution. It is not the ignorance of one evangelist, nor the
knowledge of another, that accounts either for the omissions or
for the insertions. God gives such an account of Jesus as would
perfectly impress the lesson He was teaching in each gospel.
Why does all we have noticed appear appropriately in John ?
Clearly because it falls in with the truth that is taught there.
In John we have the utter ruin of man — of the world — from
the outset. The first chapter shews us the practical evidence of
what Judaism was — the Lord not received by His own, however
duly coming, and thus calling His o-wn sheep by name, and
leading them out. For the testimony of John Baptist had no
abiding effect upon the mass; it might pass from mouth to
mouth, but it fell miheeded upon the ears of those that had no
faith : " ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." Now we
have the sheep individually' called by name, and one of them
receiving a new name, thoroughly in keeping with the character
of St. John's gospel. In Matthew we have none of these
striking incidents, because therein the Holy Ghost brings before
us Jehovah-Jesus, the Messiah, working miracles, accomplish
ing prophecy, expounding the kingdom of heaven, but in
want, despised, and the companion of such in Galilee ; for He
is not seen here as the Son of God, whether from everlastino- or
as born into the world ; but He Himself takes a place in

CHAPTER IV. 61
separation, to make good the great oracle that the prophet
Isaiah had been inspired of God to reveal hundreds of years
before. For you will remark that our Lord's leaving Nazareth
and coming to dwell in Capernaum is brought in here as the
fulfilment of that which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, " The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."
It was outside the regular allotment of Israel, in that part of
it which is yet to belong to Israel, which certain of the tribes
had taken possession of, though, strictly speaking, it was beyond
the proper limits of the promised land. The Lord goes through
Galilee of the Gentiles ; and in all that He was doing. He fulfiUed
the prophecy. The Jews ought surely to have known it. The
people which sat in darkness thus " saw great light ; and to
them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is
sprung up."
Now, if we turn to the prophet Isaiah, we shall find the
importance of this quotation somewhat more. It is part of
a grave prophetic strain, in which the Lord lays bare the
exceeding rebelliousness of Israel, and the judgments falling
upon His people, because they would not hearken to His voice.
His hand was stretched out against them. " For all this his
anger is not tumed away, but his hand is stretched out still."
(Isaiah v. 25.) In the midst of these dealings of God we have
in Isaiah vi. the glory of the Lord revealed. God is acting in
His own glory. Now we know that this glory is in the person of
Christ, as John xii. declares. The Lord announces accordingly
in Isaiah vii. that there was to be a birth wholly above nature.
It was no longer nor merely a glorious One sitting upon a high
throne, removed from men, yet men receiving a message of
mercy from Him in the midst of judgment. Chapter vii. reveals
the great fact of the incarnation. The King of glory, Jehovah
of hosts, was to become a Babe, born of a .virgin. The next
chapter reveals another fact. Israel no more cared for tbe
glorious Child of the virgin, than before for the warnings of God.
On the contrary, they despised and rejected Him. Consequently,
chapter viii. supposes a godly remnant more and more isolated

62 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
in the midst of a fearful state of things in Israel, who will then
be joined too with the Gentiles, saying, A confederacy. There
Israel are to take the place of utter unbelief; the inhabitants of
Judea will be the leaders in this rebellion against God. But in
the midst of it all, what is He doing ? " Bind up the testimony,
seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the
Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will
look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath
given me are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the Lord of
hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion." That is, there is a
most distinct declaration that God will be pleased to have
only a little remnant in the midst of His own people. When
Israel should reject the Messiah, a separated remnant appears
there, and the blessing would come at last in all the fulness
of this grace. Still it would be a small despised thing in
the beginning ; and this is exactly the circumstance that our
Lord now was bringing out in evidence. "And when they
shall say unto you. Seek unto them that have familiar spirits ....
Should not a people seek unto their God ? for the living to the
dead ? To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
And accordingly the prophecy goes on, " Nevertheless, the
dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at
the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land
of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light
[namely the Messiah] : they that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." He shews
afterwards in this prophecy that (while the Gentile affliction
upon the nation would be heavier than ever, and the Roman
oppression far exceed the Chaldean of old yet), the Messiah
would be there, despised and rejected of men, nay, of the Jews,
and that at this very time, when thus set at nought by the
people that ought to have known His glory, great light would
.spring up in the most despised place, in Galilee of the nations,
among the poorest of the Jews, where Gentiles were mixed up

CHAPTER rv. 63
with them — people who could not even speak their own tongue
properly. There should this bright and heavenly light spring
up ; there the Messiah would be owned and received. Thus we
can see how thoroughly this prophecy suits the gospel we are
considering. For what we have here is One who is Jehovah-
Messiah in the truest sense, a divine king, and not.a mere human
being ; but at the same time Messiah, while slighted by the nation
and despised by the leaders, making Himself known in grace
to those who were the most scorned in the outskirts as you go
out towards the Gentiles. What kings had looked for in vain,
what prophets had desired to see, it was for their eyes to look
upon. The Lord begins to separate Himself a remnant in Israel
in Galilee of the Gentiles. This completely keeps up and con
firms the object of Matthew from the first.
But there is more than this. " From that time Jesus began
to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand." (Ver. 17.) Now it is clear that this begins His public
preaching. The discourse to Nicodemus was entirely different.
Why have we nothing like the Samaritan woman in Matthew ?
How does it fit in with the Gospel of John ? Li Matthew the
subject is the accomplishment of the prophecies about the
Messiah. The object of God there was to shew that there was,
on His part, no failure of testimony, till the Baptist's work
closes. Jesus awaits this in Matthew. In John He waits for
nothing. He gives the grandest possible testimony about the
kingdom, not exactly of heaven, but of God ; the necessity of
a life that man has not naturally, that God alone can give ; and
the necessity of the cross as the expression of God's judgment
of sin in grace to sinners — to the world. So that the discourse
in John iii. consists of these two parts — a life given of God, that
never sins, that is perfectly holy ; and Jesus dying in atonement
for the sins of the old life which never could enter into the presence
of God. And though believers must have the new life, yet this
cannot blot out sin. Death is needed as well as life, and the
Saviour provides both. He is the source of life as the Son of God,
and He dies as the Son of man. And this is what He brings out
most profoundly in the beginning of John's gospel.

64 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
In Matthew, as I have said, we have Jesus waiting till the
testimony of John the Baptist is closed, and then He enters
upon His public ministry. These things are perfectly harmo
nious. If our Lord had been said to preach the kingdom of
heaven to Nicodemus, there might have seemed to be a contra
diction ; but He did not. He shewed the necessity of a new
birth for any who would see the kingdom of God. But in
Matthew He is looking at what, though from a heavenly source,
concerns the earth — the kingdom of heaven according to the
prophecy of Daniel. He therefore waits till His earthly fore
runner had fully done his task. The ministry of John is set
forth by Elias ; the forerunner must have done his work before
the Lord begins His own. Hence Matthew leaves out aU
allusion to anything public about Christ before John is cast into
prison. He presents to the Jews the kingdom of heaven as that
which was according to their prophets.
In the Gospel of Luke let us see how our Lord's ministry is
opened. Chapter iv. will suffice for my purpose. The Lord
returns in the power ofthe Spirit into Galilee, " and there went
out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he
taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came
to Nazareth where he had been brought up." This is a previous
scene ; He is not in Capernaum yet. Matthew leaves it all out.
This is the more striking because Luke was not one of those
personally with our Lord, while Matthew was. But unless you
believe that it is God who has guided the hand of every writer,
and put His own seal upon it, you are incapable of understanding
scripture ; you will add your own thoughts, instead of being
subject to the mind of God. What we want is to confide in
God, who is shedding on us His own blessed and infinite light.
Why does God give us this incident at Nazareth in Luke and
nowhere else ? Is it the Messiah ? No ; such is not the object
of Luke. Nor is it His ministry in the order in which it
occurred ; this you will find in Mark. But Luke, as well as
Matthew, changes the order of events, for the purpose of bring
ing out the moral object of each gospel. Luke gives us this
circumstance in the synagogue ; Matthew does not. If anyone

CHAPTER IV. 65
has read the Gospel of Luke with spiritual intelligence, what is
the uniform impression conveyed to the mind ? There is the
blessed Man anointed of the Holy Ghost, and who goes about
doing good. Indeed, this is precisely the way in which Peter
sums up the life of Jesus in the Acts, when preaching Him. to
Cornelius — " How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Ghost and with power ; who went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil ; for God was with
him." And then he gives an account of His wonderful work in
His death and resurrection, and its fruits to the believer.
Opening, then, the Gospel of St. Luke, what is the first
incident of our Lord's ministry recorded there ? At Nazareth,
the most despised village in Galilee, the place where our Lord
was sure to be scorned — in His own country, where He had
been living all the days of His private- life of blessed obedience
rendered to man and of dependence upon God — in this same
place He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood
up to read from the prophet Isaiah, where it was written,
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor : he hath sent me to heal
the broken-hearted,  to preach the acceptable year of
the Lord. And he closed the book." He stopped in the very
middle of a sentence. Why so ? For the most precious reason.
He was come here as a herald of grace, the minister of divine
goodness to poor .miserable men. There was judgment mingled
with mercy in the prophecy of Isaiah. The Gospel of Matthew
points out judgment upon the Jews and mercy to despised Galilee.
But here it is a larger thing. In Luke there is not a word
about judgment ; nothing appears but the fulness of grace that
was in Christ. He was come with all power and willingness to
bless : the Spirit of Jehovah was upon Him for the purpose.
He was sent to preach the acceptable year of the Lord — and
there and then He closed the book. He would not add the next
words, which announced " the day of vengeance of our God."
He most significantly stops before a word is said of that day.
As to the actual errand on which Jesus was come from heaven,
it was not to execute vengeance : this was only what man would,
F

66 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
by and by, compel Him to do by refusing grace. But He came
to shew divine love, flowing in a perfect unceasing stream from
His heart. This was what our Lord opened out here. Where
does such a scene as this suit ? Exactly the place where it,
occurs — the Gospel of Luke only. You could not transplant it
to Matthew, or even to John. There is a character about it that
pertains to this gospel and none other. Some of the circum
stances of our Lord's ministry are given in all the gospels, but
this is not ; because it flows in the current of St. Luke : and
there it is found, and there alone.
This will help to illustrate the characteristic and divinely-
arranged differences of the gospels. Harmonizing is the attempt
to squeeze into one mould things which are not the same. Thus,
if I may add a few words on the account in Luke, we have more
in corroboration. While they hung upon His lips to hear the
gracious words, as the Holy Ghost characterizes them, all eyes
fastened upon Him. " He began to say unto them. This day is
this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And they said. Is not this
Joseph's son ?" Such was their unbelief of heart. He was despised
and rejected of men ; not only of the proud men of Jerusalem,
but even at Nazareth. This is Luke's object, who demonstrates
the deeper thought still — that it was not only men who might be
built up in the law, but that the heart of man was against Him
wherever He was. Let it be at Nazareth, and let Him utter
the most gracious words that ever fell from the lips of man, still
scorn followed. " And he said unto them. Ye will surely say
unto me this proverb. Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever we
have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in thy country."
Evidently we learn, too, that the Lord had done many things
there, and things that had taken place previously to this : but
the Spirit of God records this first at length. The Lord accord
ingly brings in another thing that I must refer to. He takes
instances from Jewish history to illustrate the unbelief of the
Jews, and the goodness of God to the Gentiles. " I tell you of
a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when
the heaven was shut up  But imto none of them was
Elias sent, save unto Sarepta," &c. That is to say, He shews

CHAPTER IV. 67
that, in the unbelief of Israel, God turns to the Gentiles, and
that they should hear. There was" one grand point in Luke's
gospel — not only the display of the fulness of grace that was in
Jesus, but God going out to the Gentiles and this in mercy to
them. The first recorded discourse of our Lord's in Luke brings
out the very object of the gospel. Accordingly, when the Lord
uttered these words, " they were filled with wrath, and rose up,
and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of
the hill whereon their city was built^ that they might cast him
down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them,
went his way, and came down to Capernaum." And then we
have the Lord dealing with a man that 'was possessed with a
devil. This is the first miracle detailed here ; and it is only iu
the next chapter that we find our Lord calling Simon Peter,
Andrew, and the rest to follow Him ; all which is given with the
greatest possible care. At once we are struck with the difference.
For when we turn back to Matthew, there is not a word about
Nazareth, or the casting out of a devil from a man possessed ;
but simply our Lord, when He began to preach, was walking by
the sea of Galilee, and " saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter,
and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea ; for they were
fishers. And he saith unto them. Follow me, and I will make
you fishers of men." (Ver. 18, 19.) The accomit is given very
succinctly. The particulars are not found, but we do get them
in Luke, and, I presume, for this reason, that his is specially
the gospel where we see the moral analysis of the human heart.
There are two things specially brought out in Luke — what God's
heart is towards man, and what man's heart is naturally towards
God ; and, besides this, what he becomes through the grace of
God. Take the parable of the prodigal for instance. Have you
not there God's grace, and the wickedness of man's heart fully
brought out ; and then his coming to himself, and being lost in
the goodness of God towards him ? This is just the Gospel of
Luke, the sum and substance of the whole book. It is one
reason why you have the experience of Peter when first called
to service ; how the Lord met his fears, and fitted him to become
a fisher of men. And Peter is there made a prominent person :

68 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
such experience is worthless except in an individual. Experi
ence must be a thing between the soul and Christ; and the
moment it becomes vague or a matter of public notoriety, all is
gone ; it becomes then rather a snare for the conscience. There
is the danger of repeating what we have heard from others, or
of keeping back what is bad as to our own souls. It must be a
matter of individual conscience with the Lord. Hence Luke
gives us one individual singled out, aud the minute account of
what he passes through with the Lord.
This is not Matthew's point. There it is the rejected Messiah,
now that His forerunner is cast into prison, who will Himself
soon find that there is worse than a prison in store for Him. But
for all that, the Lord will accomplish the prophecies. He is, in
the most despised place, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah that
predicted the law bound up among His disciples, at the very time
that the Lord was hiding His face from Israel. Now He wants
to have persons who are suited to be the representatives of this
godly remnant in Israel. Therefore He calls first two brethren,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother. It would be a
mistake to suppose that this was our Lord's first acquaintance
with them. They knew the Lord long before. How do we
know this ? John tells us. If you examine the point, you will
find that all the incidents in the first four chapters of St. John's
Gospel occurred before this scene. The circumstances recorded
of our Lord in Jerusalem, in Galilee, and with the woman of
Samaria even, all took place before Simon and Andrew were
called away from their work. In order to call for a special
line of service, there is a second work of Christ necessary.
It is one thing for Christ to reveal Himself to a soul, it
is another to make that soul a fisher of men. There is a
special faith needed in order to act upon the souls of others.
The simple, saving faith that appropriates Christ for one's own
soul is not at all the same thing as understanding the call of
Christ summoning one away from all the natural objects of this
life to do His work. This comes out here. The Lord, in His
rejection, calls, and causes His voice to be heard by these four
men, and by others also. They had already believed in Him,

CHAPTER IV. 69
and had everlasting life ; but to have everlasting life merely is
compatible with a man's following a good deal with the world,
and being occupied with what contributes to his own ease here
below ; he remains a member of the society of men. Many that
are godly still continue mixed up with the world ; but in order
for the Lord to make them to be the companions of His own
service, and to fit them for carrying out His own objects. He
must call them away. But they have got a father: what is to
be done ? No matter ; the call of Christ is paramount to every
other claim. They were casting a net into the sea ; and He
saith unto them, " Follow me." But they might have caught
ever so much fish : what of that ? " They straightway left
their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he
saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their
nets; and he called them." (Ver. 20, 21.) No doubt it was a
struggle. They were mending their nets with their father when
the Lord called them ; but they immediately left their nets and
their father, and followed Him. And for this reason : They
now knew who Christ was, that He was the Messiah, the blessed
object of hope that God had from the beginning promised to the
fathers ; and now the children had it. He called them. Could
they not trust all they had in His hands, and confide in His
care for their father ? Surely they could. The very same faith
which gave them to follow Jesus, not alone as a giver of ever
lasting life, but as One to whom they now belonged as servants,
could enable them to confide all that they had pertaining to
them in this world into His keeping. Surely, if the Lord called
them. His call must be superior to their natural obligations.
This was an extraordinary ca.se. We do not find that persons
in general are called to such a work as this ; but, it may be,
there are occasions where the Lord has those that He summons
to serve Him in this special way. How could one be of use to
the souls of others, unless he have known somewhat of this trial
for his own soul ? The Lord is presented here as thus fbrm-
ing this godly remnant for Himself from the very beginning.
" Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are

70 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
for signs and for wonders in Israel." This was what the Lord
was now doing ; but it is not all. " Jesus went about all
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all
manner of diseases among the people. Aud his fame went
throughout all Syria ; and they brought unto him all manner of
sick people, that were taken with divers diseases and torments,
and those which were possessed with devils, and those which
were lunatic, and those which had the palsy, and he healed
them." (Ver. 23, 24.)
Now, mark, there is nowhere, except in Matthew, such a
series of the Lord's works and teaching compressed into a couple
of verses. In Matthew they are crowded into a cluster, before
we have the teaching commonly called the sermon on the mount.
Why is it that the ordinary current of the Lord's ministry is
brought before us here in this comprehensive form ? The Gospel
of Matthew is intended to shew that, after the Lord had called
these disciples, His general service is presented for the purpose
of proving the universal attention that was drawn to His doc
trine. The Lord had been giving a full testimony everywhere
through aU Syria. Persons had been attracted from all quarters ;
and the Holy Ghost then gives us the outline of the kingdom
of heaven in its objects and character. The circumstances are
so arranged by the Holy Ghost as to shew the universal attention
directed to it. When all are on tip-toe to hear Him, then the
Lord unfolds the character of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew
knew perfectly well that the sermon on the mount was really
uttered long after. He heard it himself Yet Matthew's own
call is not given till chapter ix. It was subsequently to the call
of the twelve disciples that our Lord took His place upon the
mountain ; but Matthew records it long before. The object is to
mark, not the time when our Lord uttered this discourse, but the
change announced. There were, first, all these mighty deeds
that witnessed to His being the true Messiah ; and then His
doctrine was perfectly brought out. The sermon on the mount
need not be considered, historically, as one continuous discburse,
but may have been divided into different parts. It is nowhere

CHAPTER v. 71
said that it was all uttered in strict consecution. We have only
the general fact that then He spoke thus on the mount, and
there He taught the people. It may have been broken up into
several discourses, with the circumstances giving rise to this
part or that omitted in Matthew. The human mind compares
these things together, and finding that in St. Luke different
portions of it are given to us in a different connection, while in,
Matthew all are given together, instead of confiding in the
certainty that God is right, jumps at once to the conclusion that
there is confusion in these scriptures. There is really perfection.
It is the Holy Ghost shaping all according to the object He has
before Him.
Another time I hope, if the Lord will, to enter carefuUj^ into
this most blessed discourse of our Lord's, to evince its grand
importance in itself, and its appropriateness in Matthew, where
alone we have it so fully. In Mark and John it is not given at
all, in Luke only in detached fragments, in Matthew as a whole.
But now I merely commend to you the subject we have been
looking at, trusting that the general remarks already made may
prove an incentive to further and prayerful examination. May
the hints thrown out help some to a more profitable reading of
God's word, and more intelligent entrance into His mind, besides
giving a key to difficulties in the gospels.

o>«o«-

CHAPTER V.
It has been already explained, though briefly, that one reason
which seems to have guided the Spirit of God, if we may
reverently venture so to speak, in putting the sermon on the
mount out of its historical place in Matthew, and giving it to us
before many of the events which, in point of fact, took place
subsequently, was this : that the whole gospel was written upon

72 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the principle of convincing Jews, first, who Jesus was, their
Messiah — a man, but Jehovah — the Lord God of Israel ; that
next, the fullest proofs were given what He really was as their
Messiah, according to prophecy, miracle, moral principles and
ways, both in His own person and in His doctrine.* In order
to give the greater weight to His doctrine, the Spirit of God, in
my opinion, has been pleased, first, to give as a general sketch
the deeds of miraculous power which roused universal attention.
The report went abroad everywhere, so that there was no possible
ground of excuse for unbelief to argue that there was not
sufficient publicity ; that God had not sounded the trumpet loud
enough for the tribes of Israel to hear. Far from that : through
out all Syria His fame had gone forth, and great multitude^
followed Him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and
Judea, and from beyond Jordan. All this is brought forward
here and grouped together at the end of chapter iv.
And just as there is this grouping of the miracles of Christ,
which might have been severed from one another by a long space
of time, so I apprehend the sermon on the mount was not
necessarily a continuous discourse, unbroken by time or circum
stances, but that the Holy Ghost has seen fit to arrange it so as
to give the whole moral unity of the doctrine of Christ as to
the kingdom of heaven, and specially so as to counteract the
earthly views of the people of Israel.
St. Luke, on the contrary, was inspired of the Holy Ghost to
give the questions that originated certain portions of the dis
course, and the circumstances that accompanied it ; and, again,
to keep certain parts of that discourse back, connecting them
with facts that occurred from time to time in our Lord's
ministry, the actual incidents being thus interwoven in moral
correspondence with any particular doctrine of our Lord. In
some places of Luke the Spirit of God takes the liberty,
according to His sovereign wisdom, of keeping back certain
* A third point, I may add here, of immense moment was to make
evident the consequences of His rejection by the Jews, not only to them
but to the GentUes — that is, the change of economy which turned on that
solemn fact.

CHAPTER V. 73
portions and bringing in a part here and there according to the
object He has in view. The great feature of Luke's gospel,
which runs through it from beginning to end, being its moral
aim, we can perfectly understand how suitable it was that, if
there were circumstances in Christ's life which were a sort of
practical comment on His discourse, there you should have the
discourse and the facts put together.
Now, as to the discourse itself, the Lord here clearly speaks
as the Messiah, the Prophet King of the Jews. But besides,
all through you will find that the discourse supposes the rejec
tion of the King. It is not brought clearly out yet, but this is
what underlies it all. The King has the sense of the true state
of the people, who had no heart for Him. Hence there is a
sweet tinge of sorrow that runs through it. That must ever
characterize real godliness in the world as it is : a strange thing
for Israel, and specially strange in the lips of the King, of One,
too, possessed of such power, that had it been a question of
using His resources. He could have changed all in a moment.
The miracles which accompanied His evei'y word, proved that
there was nothing beyond His reach, if Himself only were
looked at. But you will find in all the ways of God, that while
He always makes good His counsels, so that if He predicts a
kingdom, and takes in hand to set up a kingdom. He will
certainly accomplish it, since He never gives up a single thought
that has proceeded from His heart. Nevertheless, He first
presents the thought to man, to Israel because they were the
chosen race among men. Man has thus the responsibility of
receiving or rejecting that which is the mind of God, before
grace and power give it effect. But man always fails, no matter
what God's purpose may be. It is good, it is holy, it is true,
it is that which exalts Himself, it is that which abases the
sinner: this is enough for man. He feels that he is made
nothing of, and he rejects whatever does not gratify his vanity.
Man invariably sets himself against the thoughts of God :
consequently there is pain and sorrow — rejection of God Himself.
And the wonderful thing that the history of this world exhibits
is God' submitting to be rejected and insulted ; allowing poor

74 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
weak man, a worm, to repel His benign advances and refuse His
goodness, to turn everything that God gives and promises into
the display of his own pride and glory against the majesty
and will of God. You will find that all this, as it is the truth
about man, so the tinge of it runs through this blessed discourse
of our Lord. And when He is now bringing out (which is the
great purport of the early part of this chapter) the character of
the people who would suit the kingdom of heaven. He proclaims
that their character was to be formed by His own. If there
was men's dislike and contempt for what was of God, He
shews that those who really belong to Him must have a spirit
and ways flowing from knowledge of, and sympathy with. His
own. I only say sympathy here, because you will find that the
truth of a divine life given to the believer is not spoken of in this
discourse. Redemption never is touched upon, as it is not the
subject of the sermon on the mount. If a person, therefore,
wanted to know how to be saved, he ought not to look here with
the thought of finding an answer. It could not be found in it,
because the Lord is bringing out the kingdom of heaven and
the sort of people that are suitable to that kingdom. It is
clear that He is speaking of His own disciples, and therefore
is not, could not be, shewing how one that did not belong to Him
self could be delivered from such a position. He is speaking
a,bout saints, not about sinners. He could lay do-wn what is ac
cording to His heart ; not at all the way for a soul consciously
at a distance from God to be brought near. The sermon on the
mount treats not of salvation, but of the character and conduct
of those that belong to Christ — the true yet rejected King.
But when we examine these beatitudes closely, we shall find an
astonishing depth in them, and a beautiful order too.
The first blessedness, then, attaches to a fundamental trait which
is inseparable from every soul that is brought to God, and that
knows God. " Blessed are the poor in spirit." Nothing more
contrary to man. What people call " a man of spirit," is exactly
the opposite of being poor in spirit. A man of spirit is one who is
such as Cain was — a man deteri.iined not to be beaten ; a soul

CHAPTER V. 75
who would fight it out with God Himself There was a proud
spirited man that never would bend. Now he who is " poor in
spirit" is the very opposite of this. It is a person who is broken,
who is down, who feels that the dust is his right place. And every
soul that knows God must, more or less, be there. He may get
out of this place ; for although it is a solemn thing, yet it is easy
enough, to rise again, to forget our right place before God ; and
it is even a danger for those who have been brought into the
liberty of Christ. When there is earnestness of spirit, a man is
apt to be low, specially if not quite sure that aU is clear between
his soul and God. But when full relief is brought to his spirit,
when he knows the fulness and certainty of redemption in Christ
Jesus, if then he look away from Jesus and take his place
among men, there you will have the old spirit revived, the spirit
of man in its worst form : so terrible is the effect of a dejjarture
from God in order to mingle with men. The first in order the
Lord lays down as a sort of foundation, as being inseparable
from a soul that is brought to God : — he may not even know what
full liberty is, but there is this stamp that never can be absent
where the Holy Ghost works in the soul — and that is poverty
of spirit. It may be encroached on by others, or it may fade
away through the influence of false doctrine, or worldly thoughts
and practice, but still there it was, and there, in the midst of all
the rubbish, it is ; and God knows how to bring a man down
again, if he has forgotten his true place. " Blessed are the
poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Ver. 3.)
K He is speaking about the kingdom. He forthwith says these are
the people to whom it belongs. By the " kingdom of heaven"
He does not mean heaven : it never means heaven, but always
takes in the earth as under the rule of heaven. You will find
that many persons are in the habit of confounding these things.
" Theirs is the kingdom of heaven," they think means " theirs
is heaven." Whereas the Lord is not referring to heaven, but
to the rule of the heavens over an earthly scene. It refers to
the scene of the ruling Messiah — those who are poor in spirit
belong to that system of which He is the Head. He does not
speak of the Church here. There might have been the kingdom

76 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
of heaven and no Church at all. It is not till the sixteenth
chapter of this gospel that the subject of the Church is broached,
and then it is a thing promised and expressly distinguished from
the kingdom of heaven. There is not in all scripture a single
passage where the kingdom of heaven is confomided with the
Church, or vice versa. " Blessed are the poor in spirit : for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is the primary founda
tion, the broad characteristic feature of all that belong to Jesus. ,
¦' Blessed are they that mourn " is the second feature.
There is more activity of life, more depth of feeling, more
entrance into the condition of things around them. To be
" poor in spirit" would be true if there were not a single other
soul in the world ; he thus feels because of what he is in
himself; it is a question between him and God, that makes
him to be poor in spirit. But " blessed are they that mourn" is
not merely what we find in our own condition, but the holy
sorrow that a saint tastes in finding himself in such a world as
this, and, oh, how little able to maintain the glory of God ! So
that there is this holy sorrow very prominent indeed in the
second part. The first is the child of God experiencing the
earliest ^ rudimental feeling of holiness in his soul ; the second
is the sense of what is due to God — a feeling it may be of great
weakness, and yet of what becomes the honour of God, and
how little it is upheld by himself or others. " Blessed are they
that mourn: for they shall be comforted." (Ver. 4.) There is
not a single sigh that goes up to God but He treasures and
will answer it ; " ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves." Here, then,
we have the sorrowing of the godly soul.
But in the third case we come to that which is much deeper
and more chastened. It is a condition of soul produced by a
fuller acquaintance with God, and is especially the way in which
God elsewhere describes the blessed One Himself He was
"meek and lowly in heart;" and this was what the Lord said
after He had been groaning in spirit, for He knew what it was
to have a deeper sorrow than we have spoken of, over the
condition of men and the rejection of God that He witnessed

CHAPTER V. 77
here below. He could only say " Woe" to those cities in which
He had done so many mighty works ; and then Capernaum
comes in for the deepest condemnation, because the mightiest
works of all were done there in vain. And what could Jesus
do bht groan in spirit as He thought of such utter spurning of
God, and indifference to His own love? But at the same hour
we find He rejoices in spirit, and says, " I thank thee, 0
Father." Such is the blessed proof of matchless meekness in
Jesus. The same hour which sees the depth of His sorrow
over man sees also His perfect bowing to God, though at the
cost of everything to Himself. Conscious of this. He says,
" Come imto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me : for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall
find rest unto your souls." Now, then, I think I may be
bold to say that this meekness, which was found in its
absolute perfectness in Jesus, is also what the gradually
deepening knowledge of the ways of God, even in the sense
of the abounding wickedness of this world and of the failure
of what bears the name of Christ, produces in the saint of
God. For, in the midst of all that he sees around him, there
is the discerning of the hidden purpose of God that is going on
in spite of everything; so that the heart, instead of being
fretted by the evil which it witnesses and which it cannot set
aside, instead of the least feeling of envy at the prosperity of
the wicked, finds its resource in God — "the Lord of heaven and
earth" — an expression most blessed because it marks the
absolute control in which everything is held by God. Jesus is
the meek One, and those that belong to Jesus are trained to this
meekness also. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth." (Ver. 5.) The earth — why not heaven? The
earth is the scene of all this evil that had given occasion to such
sorrow and mourning. But now, having better learnt God's
ways, they can commit all to Him. Meekness is not merely
to have a sense of nothingness in ourselves, or to be filled with
sorrow for the opposition to God here below ; but it is rather
the calmness which leaves things with God, and bends to God,

78 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
and thankfully owns the will of God, even where naturally it
may be most trying to ourselves.
The fourth blessedness is much more active. "Blessed are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they
shall be filled." (Ver. 6.) Perfect soul-satisfaction they shall
have. Whatever was the form of the spiritual feeling of the
heart, there is always the perfect answer to it on God's part. If
there was sorrow, they shall be comforted ; if there was meekness,
they shall inherit the earth, the very place of their trial here.
Now, there is this activity of spiritual feeling, the going out
after what was according to God, and what maintained the will
of God, specially as made known to a Jew in the Old Testament.
Therefore it is called hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
We learn deeper principles in the New Testament still, which had
to be brought out when the disciples were able to bear them.
This closes what we may call the first section of the beatitudes.
You will find that they are divided, as the series of scripture
often are, iiito four and three. We have had four classes of
persons pronounced " blessed." All the traits ought to be
found in one individual, but some will be more prominent in one
than another. For instance, we may see great activity in one,
astonishing meekness in another. The principle of all is in
every soul that is born of God. In verse 7 we enter upon a
rather different class : and it will be found that the last three
have got a common character, as the first four have.
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
(Ver. 7.) As righteousness is the key note of the first four,
so grace is that which lies at the root of the latter three ; and,
therefore, the very first of them demonstrates not merely that
they are righteous, and that they feel what is due to God, but
they appreciate the love of God, and maintain it In the midst
of surrounding evil. Yea, there Is something more blessed
still, and what is that? "Blessed are the merciful." There
is nothing on which God more takes His stand (as the active
principle of His being In a world of sin) than His mercy.

CHAPTER v. 79'
Tlie only possibility of salvation to a single soul, is that there
is mercy in God ; that He is rich in mercy, that there is no
bound to His mercy ; that there is nothing in the heart of man,
if he only bows to His Son, which can hinder His constant
flowing spring of mercy. " Blessed," then, " are the merciful :
for they shall obtain mercy." It Is not merely a question of
the forgiveness of their sins, but of mercy in everything. It is
a blessed thing to hail the smallest sign of mercy, to take the
little and look for much more. " Blessed are the merciful."
They will find, not that there is not difficulty and trial, but
that though they shall know the cost of It, they shall know the
sweetness of it ; they shall taste afresh what the mercy of God
is towards their own souls, in the exercise of mercy towards
others. This is the characteristic feature of the new class of
blessing ; just as poverty of spirit was the introduction to the
first blessings, so mercy is to these.
The next is the consequence of this, as in the former class.
If a man does not think much of himself, men will take
advantage of him. If a man is bold and boastful and self-
exalting, saints may suffer it. (2 Cor. xi.) If he does well to
himself, men will praise him. (Ps. xlix.) But the contrary of
all this is what God works in the saint. No matter what he may
be, he is broken down before God : he learns the vanity of what
man is ; he is content to be nothing. And the effect is that he
suffers. Poverty of spirit will be followed by mourning. Then
there is the mee^aiess, as there is deepening acquaintance with
God, and withal the hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
But now It is mercy"; and the effect of mercy is not a compro
mising of the holiness of God, but a larger and deeper standard
of it. The fuller your hold of grace is, the higher will be
your maintenance of holiness. If you only regard grace as a
wretched selfish being, trying to find an excuse for sin, no doubt
it will be perverted. And so He speaks at once of the simple
normal effect of tasting of this spring of mercy. They are
" pure in heart." This is the next class, and it is, I believe, the
consequence of the first — of being merciful. " Blessed are the
pure in heart; for they shall see God." It is exactly what is

80 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
proper to God ; for He alone is pure absolutely. Thus also He
was perfectly reflected in His beloved Son. For not a single
thought or feeling ever sullied divine perfectness in the heart of
Jesus. In this case He is just telling out what He himself was.
How could He but put His own characteristics before those who
belonged to Him ? For indeed He is their life. It is Christ in
us that produces what is according to God by the Holy Ghost —
that blessed One, whose very coming into the world was the
witness of perfect grace and mercy on God's part ; for we know
God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son
for it. And He was there, a man — the faithful witness of the
mercy and of the purity of God. He, when He came with His
heart full of mercy towards the vilest, was yet the very fulness
and pattern of the purity of God in its perfection. " He that
sent me," He could say, "is with me;  for I do always
those things that please him." The only way of doing any
thing to please God is by the cherished consciousness of being
in the presence of God; and there is no possibility of this,
except as I am drawn there in the liberty of grace, and as
knowing that what Christ was to God, in His own person, is
given to me, as far as it could be, by redemption. Christ had,
of course, a title to be ever there, because of what He Himself
is : and we are there through faith of Christ, because of the
nearnefes that is given us, founded on the blotting out of our
sins through His blood. But this is not revealed here ; for the
Lord is rather unfolding the moral qualities of those that belong
to Him.
The third and closing form of these blessednesses is, " Blessed
are the peace-makers ; for they shall be called the children of
God." (Ver. 9.) Here we have the active side again, as we
saw an analogy in the closing one of the first four. These go
out making peace. If there is the smallest possibility of the
peace of God being brought into the scene, they are sure to find
out where it can be or may be ; and if it cannot be, they are
content to wait on God, and look up to Him, that He may
make this peace in His own time. And as this peace-making
can belong only to God Himself, so these saints that are enriched

CHAPTER V. 81
wth these blessed qualities of the grace of God as well as
His righteousness, with His active mercy, and its effects — are
equally found now characterized as peace-makers. " They shall
be called the children of God." Oh I this is a sweet title-
sons of God ! Is it not because it was the reflection of His own
nature — of what God Himself is ? They bore the stamp of God
upon them. There is no one thing that more indicates God
manifested In His children than peace-making. Tills was
what God was doing, what His heart is set upon. Here are
found men upon the earth who shall be called the sons of
God. What belonged to them naturally Is merged; and they
have a new title from God Himself.
Then foUow two blessings of exceeding Interest. They add
much to the beauty of the scene, and complete the picture in a
most striking way. " Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven:"
(Ver. 10.) This Is evidently to begin over again. ' The first
blessedness was, " Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven ;" and the next three were all marked by
righteousness. It is the first thing that God produces in a new-
bom soul. He who is awakened takes up God's cause against
himself. He is, in measure, broken down, poor in spirit ; and
God looks for him to grow In poverty of spirit to the last. But
here it is not so much what they were, as what their lot was
from others. The last two blessednesses speak of their portion
in the world from the hands of other people. The first four
are characterized by intrinsic righteousness — the last three by
intrinsic grace. These two, then, answer, one to the first four,
and the other to the last three. " Blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness' sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." This does not go beyond the blessed state of things
that the power of God will bring In over the earth in connection
with the Messiah. Being rejected, the kingdom of heaven is
His, only, as it were, with a stronger and deeper title — certainly
with the means of blessing by grace for the lost. A suffering
and despised Messiah is stlU dearer to the heart of God than if"
one could conceive Him received all at once. And If He does

82 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
not lose the kingdom because He was persecuted, neither do
they. " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous
ness' sake; for theirs Is the kingdom of heaven." Persecuted,
not merely by the Gentiles or by the Jews, but for righteous
ness' sake. Do not be looking at the people that persecute you,
but at the reason why you are persecuted. If it is because you
desire to be found in obedience to the will of God, blessed are
you. You fear to sin — you suffer for It. Blessed are they
which suffer for righteousness' sake :¦ they wiU have their por
tion under the Messiah Himself.
But now we have, finally, another blessedness. And mark
the change. " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely for my sake." This change to ye Is exceedingly precious.
It is not merely put in an abstract form — " blessed are they ;"
but it is a personal thing. He looks at the disciples there,
knows what they were to go through for His sake, and gives
them the highest and nearest place in His love. " Blessed are
ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you  for my
sake." It is not now for righteousness' sake, but " for my sake."
There is something still more precious than righteousness, and
that is Christ. And when you have Christ, you can have no
thing higher. Blessed Indeed to be persecuted for His sake !
The difference is just this : when a man suffers for righteous
ness' sake, it supposes that some evil has been put before him,
which he refuses. He would have perhaps to subscribe some
thing against his conscience, and he cannot do it nor would dare.
He is offered a tempting bait, but it involves that which he
knows is contrary to God. All is in vain : the tempter's object
is seen. Righteousness prevails, and he suffers. He not only
loses what is offered, but he is evil spoken of too. Blessed are
they who suffer thus for righteousness' sake ! But for Christ's
sake is a totally different thing. There the enemy essays great
execution. He tempts the soul with such questions as these : is
there any reason why you should speak about Jesus and the
gospel ? There is no need for being so zealous for the truth.
Why go out of your way so far for this person or that thing ?

CHAPTER V. 83
Now, in these cases it is not a question of a sin, open or covert.
For in the case of suffering for Christ's sake, it is the activity
of grace that goes out to others. It is not a question of righte
ousness, but answers to the last three of the seven beatitudes.
A soul that is filled with a sense of mercy cannot refrain his
lips. He who knows what God is could not be silent merely
because of what men think or do. Blessed are ye who thus
suffer for the sake of Christ's name ! The power of grace
prevails there. Too often alas ! motives of prudence come in :
people are afraid of giving offeuce to others — of losing Influence
for self — of spoiling the prospect of the children, &c. But the
energy of grace looks at all this, and still says, Christ is worth
infinitely more ; Christ commands my soul for this : I must
follow Him. Li suffering for righteousness' sake, a soul eschews
evil, earnestly and peremptorily, committing itself at all cost to
what is right ; but in the other. It discerns the path of Christ — '-
that which the gospel, the worship, or the will of the Lord calls
to, and at once throws itself with its whole heart on the Lord's
side. Then comes in the comfort of that sweet word, " Bles.sed
are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you .... for my
sake." For the Lord could not refrain the expression of His
soul's delight in His saints : " Blessed are ye . . . Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven." Observe
it is not now in the kingdom of heaven, but" " in heaven." He
identifies these with a higher place altogether. It is not only
the power of God over the earth, and His giving them a portion
here ; but it is taking them out of the earthly scene to be with
Himself above. " For so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you." What an honour to follow in earthly rejec
tion and scorn those who preceded us In special communion
with God — ^the heralds of Him for whom we suffer now ! We
may clearly, then, consider that these two final blessednesses,
the persecutions for righteousness' sake and for Christ's sake,
answer respectively to the first four blessings and to the
last three.
In Lulce, where we have these blessings brought before us, we
have none for righteousness' sake — only for His name's sake.

o4 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Hence in all the cases it is, " Blessed are ye." To some it may
seem a delicate shade, but the difference Is characteristic of the
two gospels. Matthew takes In the largest view, and specially
that view of the principles of the kingdom of heaven which
was suited to the understanding of a Jew, to bring him out of
his mere Judaism, or to shew him higher principles. Luke,
whatever the principles are, gives them all under the form of
grace, and treats them as our Lord's direct addresses to the dis
ciples before Him — " Blessed are ye." Even if he takes up the
subject of the poor, he drops the abstract form of Matthew, and
makes it all personal. Everything is connected with the Lord
Himself, and not merely with righteousness. This is exceed
ingly beautiful. And if we pursue, further, the next few verses
which give, not so much the characteristics of the people as
their general attitude in the world — the place In which they are
sec in the earth by God, we have it in a very few words, and
strongly confirming the distinction which has been drawn between
righteousness and Christ's name's sake. Also, if you examine
the First Epistle of Peter, you will find this remarkably corro
borated there also.
" Ye are the salt of the earth." Salt is the only thing that
cannot be salted, because it is the preservative principle itself;
but if this is gone, it cannot be replaced. " If the salt have
lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?" The salt of the
earth is the relation of the disciples here to that which already
had the testimony of God, and therefore the expression " earth"
or " land," which was specially true of the Jewish land then.
If you speak about the earth now, it is Christendom — the place
that enjoys, either really or professedly, the light of God's truth.
This is what may be called the earth. And this is the place
which will finally be the scene of the greatest apostasy ; for
such evil is only possible where light has been enjoyed and
departed from. In the Revelation, where the closing results of
the age are given, the earth appears in a most solemn manner ;
and then we have the peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues — what we should call heathen lands. But the earth

CHAPTEE V, 85
means the once-favoured scene of professing Christianity, where
there have been all the energies of the mind of men at work,
the scene where the testimony of God had once shed its light,
then alas ! abandoned to utter apostasy.
" Ye are the salt of the earth," They were the real preser
vative principle there : all the rest, the Lord intimates, were
good for Hothing. But more than that. He gives a solemn
warning that there is a danger that the salt should lose its
savour. He is not now speaking of the question of whether a
saint can fall away or not. People go with their own questions
to scripture, and pervert the word of God to suit their previous
thoughts. The Lord is not raising the question whether life is
ever lost ; but H« is speaking of certain persons who are in a
given position ; and among them there might be persons who
had taken it heedlessly or even falsely, and then there would be
the fading away of all that they had once possessed. He an
nounces their judgment — the most contemptuous possible — to be
passed upon that which took so high a place without reality.
And so it will be still more evidently yet.
" Ye are the light of the world." This is another thing.
Bearing in mind the distinction drawn in the series of the
beatitudes aud of the persecutions, we have the key to these two
verses. The salt of the earth represents the righteous principle.
This evidently involves the clinging to the eternal rights of
God and the maintenance before the world of what is due to
His character; but It was gone when what bore the name of
God fell below what even men thought proper. You can hardly
read a newspaper now but what you find scoff's against what is
called religion. AU respect vanishes, and men think that the
condition of Christians is a fair subject for ridicule. But now,
in verse 14, we have not only the principle of righteousness, but
©f grace — the outflowing and strength of grace. And here we
find a new title given to the disciples, as descriptive of their
public testimony — "the light of the world." The light is
clearly that which diffuses itself. The salt is what ought to. be
inward, but the light is that which scatters itself abroad. "A

86 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." There was a diffusion
of its testimony everywhere. Man does not light a candle to put
it under a corn measure, but on a candlestick, " and it giveth
light unto aU that are in the house." After this manner let your
light shine before men, " that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is In heaven." Mark it weU.
We have looked at these two striking sketches of the
testimony of believers here below, as the salt of the earth, the
preservative energy in the midst of profession ; and as the light
of the world going out in activity and love towards the poor
world ; and the danger of the salt losing its savour, and of the
light being put under a bushel. Now we find the great object
of God in this twofold testimony. It is not merely a question
of the blessing of souls, for there is not a word about evangeli
zation or saving sinners, but of the walk of saints. There is a
grave question that God raises about His saints, and this Is
about their own ways apart from other people. Calls to the
unconverted we find abundantly elsewhere, and none can exag
gerate their importance for the world ; but the sermon on the
mount Is God's call to the converted. It is their character,
their position, their testimony distinctively ; and If others are
thought of throughout, it is not so much a question of winning
them, as of the saints reflecting what comes from above. This
light Is what comes from Christ. It is not, let your good works
shine before men. When people talk about this verse, they are
Usually thinking about their own works, and when that Is the
case, there are generally no good works at all ; but even if there
were, works are not light. Light is that which comes from God
directly and purely without admixture of man. Good works
are the fruit of Its action upon the soul ; but it is the light which
is to shine before men. It is the disciple's confession of Him
self; that is the point before God. Confess Christ In everything.
Let this be the aim of your heart. It is not merely certain
things to be done. The light shining is the great object here,
though doing good ought to flow from it. If I make doing
good everything. It is a lower thought than that which is before
the mind of God. An infidel can feel that a shivering man

CHAPTER v. 87
needs a coat or a blanket. The natural man may be fully alive
to the wants of others ; but if I merely take these works and
make them the prominent aim, I really do nothing more than
an unbeliever might. The moment you make good works the
object, and their shining before men, you find yourself on
common ground with Jews and heathen. God's people are apt
thus to destroy their testimony. What so bad In the way of a
thing done professedly for God, as a work that leaves out Christ,
and that shews a man who loves Christ to be on comfortable
terms with those that hate Him ? This is what the Lord warns
the saints against. They are not to be thinking about their
works, but that the light of God should shine. Works will
foUow, and much better works than where a person is always
occupied with them. " Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which
is in heaven." (Ver. 16.) Let your confession of what God is
in His nature and of what Christ is in His own person and ways
— let your acknowledgment of Him be the thing that is felt by,
and brought before, men ; and then, when they see your good
works, they will glorify your Father which Is In heaven. In
stead of saying. What a good man such an one Is, they will
glorify God on his behalf. If your light shines, men then
connect what you do with your confession of Christ.
The Lord grant, then, that this, as it is the word and the
will of Christ, may be that to which we surrender ourselves,
and which we desire, above all things, for our own souls and for
those who are dear to us ; and if we see the forgetfulness of it
In any saints of God, may we remember them In prayer, and
seek to help them by the testimony of His truth which, if it
does not carry the heart with it, may at least, more or less, reach
the conscience, and be remembered another time !
We have seen our Lord's statement of the character and then
of the position proper to the heirs of the kingdom of heaven.
We have fomid Him pronouncing those "blessed" whom man
would have counted it folly to have so thought. Our Lord has
shewn us the perfect pattern of the same blessedness ; for what

88 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
could have sounded more unreasonable, specially to a Jew, than
to hear one deliberately and emphatically call those blessed and
happy, who were despised, scorned, hated, persecuted, yea,
thought ill of, and treated as malefactors? No doubt it was
expressly for righteousness' sake and Christ's sake. But then,
to the Jew, the coming and reception of the Messiah were ever
looked forward to as the crown of his joy — that most auspicious
event on which all was to turn for Israel, both as to the accom
plishment of God's promises made to the fathers, and the
fulfilment of the magnificent predictions which Involve the
overthrow of their enemies, and the humiliation of every Gentile
and the glory of Israel. And, therefore, to suppose that the
receiving of Him who was the Messiah would now entail
inevitable shame and suffering in the world, was, indeed, an
enormous shock to all their most cherished expectations. But
oiir Lord insists upon it, declaring such and such only to be
blessed — blessed with a new kind of blessedness far beyond what
a Jew could conceive. And this is part of the privileges into
which we, too, are brought by faith of Christ. The instruction
of our Lord, in the sermon on the mount, only comes out in
stronger forms now that He has taken His place in heaven. The
enmity of man has also come out to its full measure. It has
not been merely the world's enmity. The Jews themselves were
the bitterest persecutors of the children of God. And so the
last book of the New Testament shews us that those who take
the name of Jews, without the present living reality, would
remain to the end the most hostile to all true testimony of Christ
on the earth.
In the portion that follows, we enter on a most important
subject. If there was this new aud amazing kind of blessedness,
so foreign to the thoughts of Israel after the flesh, what was
the relation to the law of Christ's doctrine, and of the new state
of things about to be Introduced ? If Messiah came from God,
did not the law ? It was given by Moses, indeed, but from the
same source. If Christ brought in that which was so unexpected
even by the disciples, what would be the bearing of this truth
upon that which they had previously received through God's

CHAPTER V. 89
inspired servants, and for which they had His own authority ?
Weaken the authority ofthe law, and it Is clear that you destroy
the foundation on which the gospel rests, because the law was of
God, as certainly as the gospel. Hence came in a most weighty
question, especially for an Israelite : what was the bearing of
the kingdom of heaven, of the doctrine of Christ respecting it,
upon the precepts of the law ? The Lord opens this subject
(from verse 17 to the end of the chapter we have the question
entered into) with these words : " Think not that I am come to
destroy the law or the prophets." They might have thought so
from the fact of His having introduced something not mentioned
In either; but "think not," He says, "that I am come to
destroy the law or the prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfil." I take this word " fulfil" in Its largest sense. In
His own person the Lord fiilfiUed the law and the prophets, in
His own ways. In righteous subjection and obedience. His life
here below exhibited its beauty for the first time without fiaw.
His death was the most solemn sanction which the law ever did
or could receive ; because the curse it pronounced upon the
guilty the Saviour took upon Himself. Rather than God
should have dishonour there was nothing the Saviour would not
undergo. But, besides, our Lord's words warrant, 1 think, a
further application. There is an expansion of the law, or
SiKat'ujfia, giving to its moral element the largest scope, so that all
which was honouring to God in it should be brought out in its
fullest power and extent. The light of heaven was now let fall
upon the law, and the law interpreted, not by weak, failing men,
but by one who had no reason to evade one jot of its require
ments ; whose heart, full of love, only thought of the honour
and the wiU of God; whose zeal for His Father's house
consumed Him ; and who restored that which He took not away.
Who but He could expound the law thus, not as the scribes, but
in the heavenly light? For the commandment of God is
exceeding broad, whether we look at the end of aU perfection in
man, or the sum of it in Christ.
Far from annulhng the law, the Lord, on the contrary,
illustrated it more brightly than ever, and gave it a spiritual

90 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
application that man was entirely unprepared for before He came.
And this Is what the Lord proceeds to do In part of the wonderful
discourse that follows. After having said " Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or tittle shall In no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled," He adds, " Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever
do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom
of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
(Ver. 18 — 20.) Our Lord is going to expand the great moral
principles of the law Into commandments that flow from Himself,
and not merely from Moses, and shews that this would be the
great thing whereby persons would be tested. It would no
longer be a question of the ten words spoken on Sinai merely ;
but while recognizing their full value. He was about to open out
the mind of God in a way so much deeper than had ever been
thought of before, that this would henceforth be the great test.
Hence He says, when referring to the practical use of these
commandments of His, " Except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven" — an expression that has
not the smallest reference to justification, but to the practical
appreciation of and walking in the right relations of the
believer towards God and towards men. The righteousness
spoken of here is entirely of a practical kind. This wiU strike
many persons rather sharply. They may be somewhat perplexed
to understand how practical righteousness Is made to be the
means of entering into the kingdom of heaven. But let me
repeat, the sermon on the mount never shews us how a sinner is
to be saved. If there were the smallest allusion to practical
righteousness where a sinner's justification is concerned, there
would be ground to be startled ; but there can be none
whatever for the saint who understands and is subject to God's
will. God insists upon godliness in His people. "Without
holiness no man shall see the Lcjrd." There can be no question

CHAPTER V. 91
that the Lord shews in John xv. that the unfruitful branches
must be cut off, and that just as the withered branches of the
natural vine are cast into the fire to be burned, so fruitless pro
fessors of the name of Christ can look for no better portion.
Bearing fruit Is the test of life. These things are stated in the
strongest terms all through scripture. Li John v. 28, 29 it is
said, " The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, and shaU come forth ; they that have done
good unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil
unto the resurrection of damnation," or "judgment." Clearly,
there is no disguising the solemn truth that God will and must
have that which is good and holy and righteous In His own
people. They are not God's people at all who are not charac
terized as the doers of that which is acceptable in His sight. If
this were put before a sinner as a means of reconciliation with
God, or of having sins blotted out before Him, it would be the
denial of Christ and of His redemption. But only hold fast
that all the means of being brought nigh to God are found in
Christ — that the sole way by which a sinner is connected with
the blessing of Christ is by faith, without the works of the law
— only maintain this, and there is not the least inconsistency
nor difficulty In understanding that the same God who gives a
soul to believe in Christ, works in that soul by the Holy Ghost
to produce what is practically according to Himself For what
does He giv,e him the life of Christ and the Holy Ghost, if
only the remission of the sins were needed ? But God is not
satisfied with this. He imparts the life of Christ to a soul, and
He gives that soul a divine person to dwell In him ; and as the
Spirit is not the spring of weakness or of fear " but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind," God looks for suited ways
and for the exercise of spiritual wisdom and judgment in
passing through the present trying scene.
While they looked up with ignorant eyes to the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, our Lord declares that this sort
of righteousness will not do. The righteousness that goes
up to the temple every day, that prides itself upon long
prayers, large alms, and broad phylacteries, wiU not stand in

92 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the sight of God. There must be something far deeper and
more according to the holy, loving nature of God. Because
with all that appearance of outward religion, there might be
always, as there generally was in fact, no sense of sin, nor of
the grace of God. This proves the all-importance of being
right, first, in our thoughts about God ; and we can only be so by
receiving the testimony of God about His Son. In the case of
the Pharisees we have sinful man denying his sin, and utterly
obscuring and denying God's true character as the God of
grace. These things were rejected by the outward religionists,
and their righteousness was such as you might expect from
people who were Ignorant of themselves and of God. It gained
reputation for them, but there it all ended ; they looked for
their reward now, and they had it. But our Lord says to the
disciples, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righte
ousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shaU in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven."
Allow me to ask the question here, How is it that God
accomplishes this in regard to a soul that believes now?
There is a great secret that does not come out in this sermon.
First of all, there is a load of unrighteousness on the sinner.
How is that to be dealt with, and the sinner to be made fit for
and Introduced into the kingdom of heaven ? He is born
again ; he acquires a new nature, a life which as much flows
from the grace of God as the bearing of his sins hung upon the
cross of Christ. There is the foundation of practical righteous
ness. The true beginning of all moral goodness in a sinner,
as it has been said and as it deserves to be often repeated, is
the sense and confession of his lack of It, nay, of his badness.
Never have we anything right with God in a man till he gives
himself up as all wrong. When he Is brought down to this, he
is thrown upon God, and God reveals Christ as His gift to the
poor sinner. He is morally broken down, feeling and owning that
he is lost, unless God appears for him ; he receives Christ, and
what then? " He that believeth hath everlasting life." What
is the nature of that life? In Its character perfectly righteous
and holy. The man Is then at once fitted for God's kingdom.

CHAPTER v. 93
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God." But when he is born again, he does enter there.
" That which is bom of the fiesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit." The scribes and Pharisees were only
working on and by the flesh ; they did not believe that they
were dead in the sight of God ; neither do men now. But what
the believer begins with Is, that he Is a dead man, that he
requires a new life, and that the new life which he receives in
Christ is suitable to the kingdom of heaven. It is upon this
new nature that God acts, and works by the Spirit this practical
righteousness; so that it remauis in every sense true, "Except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall In no case enter Into the kingdom
of heaven."
But the Lord does not here explain how this would be. He
declares that what was suitable to God's nature was not to be
found in human Jewish righteou.sness, and that it must be for
the kingdom.
Now He takes up the law in its various parts, at least what
has to do with men. Here He does not enter into what touches
God directly, but first of all takes up that which flows from human
violence, and after this the great flagrant example of human
corruption ; for violence and corruption are the two standing
forms of human iniquity. Before the flood even such was the
condition of men : " The earth was corrupt before God, and the
earth was fiUed with violence." Here then In verse 21 we have
the light of the kingdom cast on the command, " Thou shalt
not kill: and whosoever shall kill shall be In danger of the
judgment." The law took "cognizance of this extreme form
of violence ; but our Lord gives length, breadth, height, and
depth to it. "But I say unto you, that whosoever Is angry
with his brother without a cause shall be m danger of the
judgment : and whosoever shaU say to his brother, Raca, shall
be in danger of the council : but whosoever shall say. Thou
fool, shaU be in danger of hell flre." (Ver. 22.) That is, our
Lord treats as now coming under the same categorj' with
murder in the sight of God every kind of violence, and feellno-

94 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
and expression, anything of contempt and hatred, whatever
expresses the iU-feeling of the heart, any putting down of
another, the will to annihilate others as far as character or
influence Is concerned : all this Is no better than murder in
God's searching eye. He is expanding the law ; He is shewing
now One who looks at and judges the feeling of the heart.
Therefore, it is not at all a question merely of the conse
quences of violence to a man — for there might be no very bad
effect produced by these words of anger, but they proved the
state of the heart ; and this is what the Lord is dealing with
here. " Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave
there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way : first be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
(Ver. 23, 24.) He is not yet manifesting the Christian in his
entire separation from the Jewish system. These words clearly
shew a connection with Israel, though the principle of a
Christian ; for the altar has no reference to the Lord's table.
" Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the
way with him ; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to
the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be
cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee. Thou shalt by no
means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing." (Ver. 25, 26.) I believe that Israel were guilty of
that very folly — Israel as a people — that they did not agree -with
the adversary quickly. There was the Messiah, and they, being
adversaries of Him, treated Him as their adversary and com
peUed God to be against them by their unbelief. The position
of Israel morally, in the sight of God, was very much the one
shewn us here. There was a murderous feeling in their heart
against Jesus. Herod was the expression of it at His birth and
It went through all the ministry of Christ ; as the cross proved
how utterly there was that unrelenting hatred in the heart
of the Jews against their own Messiah. They did not agree
with their adversary quickly, and the judge could only deliver
them to the officer to be cast into prison ; and there they
remain until this day. The Jewish nation, from their rejection

CHAPTEE V. 95
of the Messiah, have been shut out from aU the promises of God ;
as a nation they have been committed to prison, and there they
must remain till the uttermost farthing Is paid. In Isaj ah we have
the Lord speaking comfortably to Jerusalem : " Cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ¦
for she hath received ofthe Lord's hand double for all her sins."
Thus, while we come into His favour now, while we through
the grace of God receive the fulness of blessing through Christ
Jesus now, yet I cannot doubt that there is rich blessing in
store for Jerusalem. For God In His mercy will one day say to
her. You have had punishment enough : I do not mean to make
you any longer the witness of My vengeance on the earth.
And why is Israel not permitted to this day to amalgamate with
the nations?' There they remain, kept apart from all other
people by God. But God has in store for them His signal
mercy. " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem  for she
hath received at the Lord's hand double for aU her sins." Thlg
figure we find elsewhere beautifully set forth in the case of the
man guilty of blood, who fled to the city of refuge provided by
God. And the book of Numbers teaches that there the man
abode, out of the land of his possession, till the death, not of
the manslayer, but of the high priest that is anointed with oil.
The priesthood of our Lord is referred to there. When the
Lord has completed His heavenly people and gathered them in
where they do not need the activity of His intercession ; when
we are in the full results of aU that Christ has wrought for us,
the High Priest shaU then take His place, no longer at the right
hand of God, but as the Priest on His own throne. Then will
be the termination of His present heavenly priesthood, and blood-
guilty Israel wiU return to the land of their possession. I have
no doubt that this is the just application of that beautiful type.
I cannot understand what proper interpretation there could, be
of the death ofthe High Priest anointed with oil, if you appro
priate it to a Christian now ; but apply it to the Jew, and
nothing is plainer. Christ wiU terminate that character of
priesthood that He is engaged in for us now and will enter on
a new form of blessing for Israel.

96 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
We have then the Lord closing this subject with the Hght that
the kingdom of heaven throws upon the sin of kiUing, and, the
extension of the sin to every expression of the heart's anger.
This is a very solemn thing when we know how little Importance
we attach to our words, and how apt we are to excuse any
explosion of strong feeling. They are clearly here shewn in
their full contrariety to the nature of God.
But there is another thing — the corrupt element that Is In the
heart of man — the heart lusting for that which It has not.
This is taken up in the next word of our Lord: "Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not
commit adultery : but 1 say unto you, that whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her
already In his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it
out and cast it from thee  And if thy right hand offend
thee, cut it off", and cast it from thee : for It is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast Into hell. (Ver. 27 — 30.) That Is, what
ever In our walk, or in our ways, or in our service, whatever it
might be that exposes a soul to the danger of yielding to these
unholy feelings, should never be spared. There must be the
excision of everything that is hurtful to the soul, the members
of the body, such as the eye and the hand being only used as
shewing the various ways in which the heart might be entangled.
The cutting off of these members sets forth a heart thoroughly
exercised in self -judgment ; not prompted to excuse itself by
saying that it had not actually committed the sin, but whatever
exposed to it must be given up. Following this, our Lord
denounces the easy dissolution of the tie of marriage : "It hath
been said. Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her
a writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever
shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced committeth adultery." (Ver. 31, 32.) Thus,
our Lord shews that though there might be the most serious
difficulties, still this human relationship receives the strongest

CHAPTEE v. 97
sanction of the Lord. Though an earthly relationship, the light
of heaven is thrown upon it, the sanctity of marriage held up,
and the possibility of allowing anything to interfere with its
holiness entirely put down by Christ, save only where there was
that which interrupted it in the sight of God, in which case the
act of separation would be only a declaration of Its being broken
by sin in the sight of God already.
The next case (ver 33 — 37) brings us into a different order of
things : it Is the use of the name of the Lord. Here the refer
ence is not to a judicial oath, i.e., an oath administered by a
magistrate. In some countries this might savour of heathenism
or popery, and no Christian ought to take such an oath. But
if the declaration were simply the authority of God introduced
by the magistrate to declare the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, I do not see that the Lord in any wise
absolves the Christian from his obligation to competent
authority. The matter here is expressly private communication
between man and man. " Swear not at aU ; neither by heaven,
for it is God's throne ; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool ;
neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not
make one hair white or black." None of these was a judicial
oath ; they were the asseverations of common life among the
Jews. If our Lord had meant to forbid the Christian from
taking judicial oaths, would He not have instanced the oath that
was usual In the courts of those days ? But it was not so. All
the oaths that He brings before us were what the Jews were in
the habit of using when their word was questioned by their
feUow-men, not what was employed before the magistrate. For
my own part, so far from thinking that a Christian Is doing
right in refusing a judicial oath, I believe that he Is doing wrong
not to take it, provided the magistrate required his testliriony,
and there be nothing to offend conscience in the form of the oath.
If the magistrate does not acknowledge God in the oath, still
the Christian is bound to acknowledge God in the magistrate.
He is one who is, to the Christian, a servant of God in the

98 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
outward things of this world. Even the Assyrian was the rod
of God, aU the while that he thought only of carrying out his
own purposes against Israel. Much more the magistrate, let
him be who or what he may, represents the truth of God's
external authority in the world, and the Christian ought to
respect this, more by far than the men of the world, and therefore
the oath, which simply demands the truth on the ground of that
authority, is a holy thing and not to be refused. The Christian,
doubtless, has no business with prosecuting another himself.
On the contrary, he owes it to Christ and His grace to let the
world, if it will, abuse him ; he may protest by word against it,
and then leave It with the Lord. When our Lord Himself
was dealt with mirighteously. He convicts the person of it,
and there it ends, as man would think, for ever. There is no
such thing as seeking to get present reparation of His wrongs.
So should it be with Christians. There may be the moral con
viction of those that do the wrong, but the taking it patiently is
acceptable with God.
There is no way In which the Christian so shews how much
he Is above the world, as when he seeks not the world's vindica
tion in anything. If we belong to the world, we ought all to be
volunteers. If the world is our home, a man is caUed upon to
do battle for it. But for the Christian this world is not the
scene of his interests, and why fight for what does not belong to
him ? If a Christian fight in and with the world (save his own
spli-ltual warfare), he Is a mere mercenary. It is the duty of
men, as such, to fight. If need be, and repel wrong ; and if the
Lord uses the world in order to put down revolution and make
peace, the Christian may well look up aud give thanks. It is a
great mercy. But the grand truth as to that, which the believer
has to get firmly settled In his own soul, is that " they are not
of the world." Up to what measure are they not of the world ?
"They are not of the world even as 7am not of the world.''
In John xvii., where our Lord repeats this wondrous word. He
speaks in view of going to heaven, as if He no longer were on
earth at all. Thus, in the spirit of one away from the world.
He says, " They are not of the Avorld, even as I am not of the

CHAPTEE v. 99
world." A little before He had said, " Now I am no more in
the world." His going up to heaven is what gives its character
to the Christian and to the Church. A Christian is not merely
a believer, but a believer caUed to the enjoyment of Christ while
He is in heaven. And, as Christ our Head is out of the world,
so the Christian is In spirit lifted above the world, and his
business is to shew the strength of his faith as above his mere
natural feeling. Nothing makes a man look so foolish as having
no side In this world. Christians do not like to be nonentities ;
they are apt to wish one way or another to have their influence
felt. But this is what the Lord delivers us from. It is natural
in men who are desperately clinging to the only scene they
possess of positive enjoyment or of real hope.
It Is below our calling, then, to indulge even in strong state
ments. " Let your communication be. Yea, yea ; nay, nay, for
whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." (Ver. 37.) It
is worthy of note, as a practical proof of the distinction here
drawn, how our Lord acted when He was before the High
Priest. He was silent till the high priest put the oath to
Him, then at once He answers. Who can doubt that He shews
us the right pattern there ?'
But He comes next to the case of any practical injury that
may be done us. It is not that it Is wrong for a man to punish
according to the injury that has been inflicted upon another.
" An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth " is perfectly
righteous ; but our Lord intimates that we ought to be much
more than righteous, we ought to be gracious ; and He presses
this as the climax of this part of the discourse. First, He had
strengthened the righteousness of the law, extended its depth,
and put aside Its license ; but now He goes farther. He shews
that there Is a principle in His own ways and life which teaches
the Christian that he is not to seek retaliation. " An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth : but I say unto you, that ye resist
not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn
to him the other also." It is clear the Lord has no reference
here to what governments have to do. The New Testament is
written for the Christian, for that which has a separate existence

100 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
and a pecuHar calling In the midst of earthly systems and peoples.
It belongs to those who are heavenly while they are walking
through the earth. We become such by the reception of Christ
now, and to such the Lord says, " Resist not evil ; but whoso
ever shaU smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also." There personal injury is meant. Perhaps the evil to
the person may be ever so intended and undeserved, but it has to
be overcome with good. Shew that you are willing to take
even more for Christ's sake. " And if any man will sue thee at
the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also."
There the law is evoked : that is, a man lays a claim, perhaps
falsely, to one part of your clothing, and if he will sue thee at
the law, and take away thy coat, " let him have thy cloak also."
Here It seems not exactly a man appealing to the law, but the
public officers themselves. "And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain." The great principle our Lord
marks is this — whether it is human violence, or the law applied
ever so hardly or tryingly — that while, according to the law, you
might go one step, according to the gospel you would go two.
Grace does twice as much as the law, whatever may be the point In
hand. It was never intended in any wise to supplant obligations
or to lower responsibilities, but, on the contrary, to give power and
force to everything that is righteous in the sight of God. The law
might say, " an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Here
there is not only the endurance of that which is positively wrong,
but grace that gives more than is asked. " The law was given
by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." And
this is one way of practically shewing how far we value grace.
It Is not a question of the mere letter of our Lord's words. If
you were to limit it merely to a blow on the face, it would be a
very poor thing ; but the word of Christ is that which conveys
to me the spirit that pleases God, and gives me the reality of
grace. And grace is not the vindication of self, nor the punish
ment of a wrong that is done, but the endurance of evil, and
the triumph of good over it. Christ is speaking of what a
Christian has to put up with from the world through which he
passes. He is to receive tribulation as the discipline which God

CHAPTER V. 101
sees to be good for his soul ; the great spectacle before men and
angels — that there are men on this earth who are allowed and
rejoice to suffer for Christ, because they have learned to give
up their own will, to sacrifice their own rights, and to suffer
wrongfully, looking onward to the day when the Lord will own
whatever has been their sorrow for His sake, and when all evil
shall be judged most solemnly at His appearing and kingdom.
Our Lord had said, in verse 42, " Give to him that asketh
thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou
away." It Is merely a particular example of a great general
principle that the Lord is insisting upon ; and as He had laid
bare the character of violence, so here of another thing — the
solicitation that addresses ItfBelf to the kindness of heart of a
christian man. " Give to him that asketh thee." Now, no
thing can be more certain than that this is a comely and a
gracious thing. But then it Is perfectly plain that the Lord
had not the least idea of pressing it as a moral principle upon
His people, that the thing was to be done heedlessly, and as
a mere gratification of their feelings, but with a conscience
towards God, Supposing a person came to ask you for some
thing, and you have reason to think that he would spend it
improperly, you must limit it. Why not ? He might say to
you. Did not the Lord enjoin, " Give to him that Asketh thee ?"
Certainly ; but the Lord has given me certain other words
of His, by which I judge as to the propriety of giving In each
-particular case. The asker might be going to do that which I
am sure would be absurd or wrong ; am I still to give ? or is
there not at once introduced another principle, namely, due
discrimination? From what I have reason to believe, perhaps
from what he that asks teUs me, I find out that he has plans of
his own which I believe to be worldly : am I to gratify his
worldliness ? It is clear that what the Lord has in view is real
need-; and as there was wont to be excessive indifference to this
among the Jews more particularly, as indeed such is apt to be
the case always and everywhere, the Lord not merely insists
upon the Christian helping his brother, but takes up the broadest
grounds, and urges the habit of generous giving, not, of course,

102 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
for anything we may get by it, but out of a present energetic
love according to God.
" Give to him that asketh thee." We all know that there
are those who would impose. This shuts up, and often hinders,
pity ; though it may be oftener stIU an excuse for It. The Lord
is o-uarding against the snare, and shews the great moral value,
for our own souls and for the glory of God, of habitual,
considerate, ungrudging, kindness towards the distressed in this
world. Not that I am alwaj's to give what a person asks, for he
may seek something foolish ; but stiU " Give to him that asketh
thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou
away." Do you count up how often you have been deceived?
Even then why be sore ? You are entitled, at the word of Jesus,
to do what you do to your Father. The receiver of your bounty
may apply it to a bad use : that is his responsibility. / am
bound to cultivate unsuspicious generosity, and this quite
independent of mere friendship. Even the publicans and
sinners are kind to those who are kind to them : human nature
in Its most degraded form is capable of this ; but what ought a
Christian to be ? Christ determines the position, conduct, arid
spirit of the Christian. As He was a sufferer, they are not to
resist evil. If there was need, the Lord's heart went out to it.
They might turn His love against Himself, and use the gifts of
His grace for their own purposes, like the man who was healed,
throwing aside the Lord's warning and the sense of His benefits.
But the Lord, perfectly knowing it all, goes on steadfastly in
His path of doing good, not in the mere vague thought of
benevolence to man, but In holy service of His Father. He did
His Father's will ; this was His meat and drink, and so it should
be ours. That is, there is not the slightest thought of binding
jiersons In a mere legal way, so that in every case absolutely we
are to give what is asked. This the flesh might do to the
uttermost without divine love, and without real profit. (1 Cor.
xiii. 3.) Spiritual wisdom, the word of God, must be used
by us to judge of each case on its own merits, and as be
fore God. But still the general principle Is to be taken in
its fullest extent. We are to cultivate this habit and the

CHAPTER V. 103
Spirit of mind that it flows from, looking up to its heavenly
pattern and Its source.
But now a word as to what follows. It Is most weighty, the
very pith and essence of that which concerns our relation
towards others here below ; the great active principle from
which aU right conduct flows. This is the question of the true
character and limits of love. " Ye have heard that it hath been
said. Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy."
(Ver. 43.) This was the expression that the Jews drew from
the general tenor of the law. There had been the sanction of
God for the extermination of their enemies ; and from that they
drew the principle, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despltefully use you, and persecute you." It
was not a question merely about loving the neighbour, which
was a duty of common righteousness ; but here was a thing that
no righteousness would ever have discovered, because it goes
beyond the law — it is grace. In a thousand practical instances,
the question is not whether the thing is right. We often hear
Christians asking. Is such a thing wrong ? But this is not the
sole question for the Christian. He is never at liberty to do
what is wrong, and most surely he does the thing that is right.
But supposing there is a wrong done him, what is to be his
feeling then ? If there is enmity to him in another, what is he
to cherish in his own heart? " Love your enemies .... do good
to them that hate you  that ye may be the children of
your -Father which is in heaven ;" thus thej^ shew that they
belonged to such a parentage in practical ways, " for he maketh
his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust  Be ye therefore perfect, even
as your Father which is in heaven Is perfect." (Ver. 44 — 48.)
This has no reference to the question of whether there is
sin in our nature or not. There is always the evil principle In
a man as long as* he lives here below. But what the Lord
insists on is this : Our Father is the perfect pattern in His
ways with His enemies now, and He calls upon us to be thorough

104 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
in that same grace and love in which our Father deals. It is
in pointed contrast with the Jew, or with anything that had
ever been introduced before. Abraham was not called to walk
in this way. He was, I believe, justified in arming his servants
for the recovery of Lot ; as were the Israelites in taking up the
sword against the Canaanites. But we are never so to feel or
act mider any circumstances. We are called on (as the rule of
christian life, as that which governs our thoughts and feelings
and ways, and supplies us with true feelings for our guidance
day by day) to walk upon the principle of gracious long-suffer
ing. We are in the midst of the enemies of Christ, of our
enemies too because of Him. It may not come out at once nor
always. Persecution may pass out of fashion, but the enmity
is always there ; and if God were only to remove certain re
straints, the old hatred would burst out with greater violence
than ever. Nevertheless, there is only one course open to the
Christian who desires to walk as Christ walked. " Love your
enemies," and this really, not by a show of smooth ways or
words. A Christian might Imow very well that, in certain cases,
to go and speak to an angry person would only draw out bitter
ness of wrath, and there the right course would be to keep
away ; but under all circumstances there should be all readiness
to seek the blessing of our adversary. To do real kindness,
even if it should never be known by a creature upon earth,
to the one who has injured me, is the only thing worthy of a
christian man ; and this we are called upon to do, specially
towards those who despise and persecute us. We ought to ask
the Lord to give us the opportunities of shewing love to those
that hate us. When the provocation occurs, we should have it
settled in our souls that the Christian is here for the purpose of
expressing Christ ; for, indeed, we are His epistle, known and
read of aU men. We ought to desire to reflect what Christ
would have done under the same circumstances. We are never
at liberty to indulge in anything else.
May the Lord grant that this may be true of our own souls
first in secret feehng with Him, and then as manifested lowlily
and unselfishly towards others. Let us remember that there is

CHAPTER VL 105
no battle for us that is ever decisive with others, but what is an
outward reflection of the secret victory over self with the Lord.
Begin there, and it is surely won in the presence of men, though
we may have to wait for it.

oJO^o

CHAPTER VL
Now we come to another thing. Chapter vi. begins with
what is higher even than what we have had. The various
exhortations of chapter v. brought out christian principle, in
contradistinction to what was required or allowed under the law.
Henceforth the law is dropped : there is no longer any allusion
to it expressly in our Lord's discourse. And the first principle
of all godliness comes out now in its sweetest shape, namely, the
having to do with our Father in secret ; who, if there is not
another soul that understands us, sees all that is passing within
and around us — hears us and counsels us, as, indeed. He takes
the deepest interest in us. Here we have what the Lord caUs
" our righteousness." It is not merely exhorting the saint
against the evil of his nature in every form, and exhibiting the
holiness that the Lord Introduces now. It was not enough to
familiarize the soul with the ways of love even in its outward
dealings with the worst of men. Now it Is our Father, and all
takes the form of righteousness. It is the Inner, divine relation
ship of the saint that comes out in this chapter — our spiritual
bonds with God our Father, and the conduct that ought to flow
from them. Hence says our Lord, " Take heed that ye do not
your righteousness before men to be seen of them." I take the
liberty of altering the word " alms" into " righteousness"
(ver. 1), which last a few of the very best authorities support.
There are, of course, always persons that differ here as elsewhere ;
but, at the same time, internal and spiritual reasons conflrm the
external grounds. Thus, if you use the word " alms" in the

106 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
first verse. Is there not a mere repetition in the next verse ? On
the other hand, take the word as "righteousness" (so the
margin), and all is plain. The context supports it. For it
will be observed, in the foUowing verses, our Lord divides
righteousness Into three distinct portions : first, alms-giving ;
next, prayer ; thirdly, fasting. That these are the three parts
of the righteousness of the saint, as viewed by our Lord in this
discourse, is evident. (1.) With regard to alms, which was a
very practical thing, the principle of mercy comes in, as it
might not in all cases of giving. It is a thing done seriously
and solemnly, and the heart is drawn out. It is done in the
sight of God. The universal admonition is this : " Take heed
that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them,
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."
" Therefore," fomided upon this exhortation, "when thou doest
thine alms," which was one branch of this righteousness, " do
not sound a trumpet before thee ;" alluding to certain ways
of notoriety and self-commendation then adopted by the Jews,
the spirit of which belongs to men at all times. There are few
things in which human vanity betrays itself more glaringly than
the desire to be knovm by alms-giving. And what is it that
brings the true deliverance from this snare of nature? " When
thou doest alms (observe. He now makes it entirely individual),
do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues, and In the streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth ; that thine alms may be in secret ; and thy Father which
seeiih in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." (Ver. 2 — 4.)
That is, it is not merely that one is not to blazon abroad what is
done, but not to oneself even. Not only another's left hand is
not to know what your right hand does, but ymir own left hand
ought not. Nothing can be more cutting than the Lord's words
to everything like self-gratulatlon. The grand point is this :
that all be done to our Father. It is not a question of duty
simply ; but our Father's love has been brought out, and this
is His will concerning us. He knows what is best, and we are

CHAPTER VL 107
ignorant of it. We might think to supply the greatest happi
ness by surrounding ourselves with what we most like ; but the
letting slip the means of personal enjoyment will open to us fresh
sources of blessing. Besides, what we ought to desire is, that
the alms may be " in secret : and thy Father which seeth In
secret, himself shall reward thee openly." We shall find this
repeated at every point of what is here called our "righteous
ness." Room Is ever made for the flesh where there is not the
cultivated habit of what Is done being between our Father and
ourselves. Nay, more, our Lord would have us dismiss the very
thought iiito the bosom of the Father, who will not forget it.
(2.) We have the same thing as to prayer. The allusion Is,
it would seem, to the practice, that every day, when a particular
hour came round, people were found praying in public rather
than miss the moment. It is clear that all this was, at best,
most legal, and opened the door for display and hypocrisy. It
utterly overlooks the grand truth which Christianity brings out
so fully, that to do things for testimony, or as a law, or in any
way for others to see, or for ourselves to think of, is totally
wrong. We have to do with our Father, and our Father in
secret. Therefore our Lord says, " Thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet; and, when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father, which
seeth In secret, shall reward thee openly." (Ver. 6.) This Is In
no way denying the propriety of public prayer ; but united sup
plication is not at all referred to here. In the case of the Lord's
Prayer, it was the prayer of those disciples each for himself, who
knew not how to pray, and who required to be Instructed in the
very first principles of Christianity. For this is part of what
the apostle calls " the word of the beginning of Christ" when he
says, " Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ
let us go on unto perfection ; not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the
doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resur
rection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will -we
do if God permit." The apostle allows that all these were very
important truths : but they are only Jewish principles (i.e., they

108 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
are truths that a person ought to have known before redemption
was accompUshed) and these did not bring in the fuU power of
Christianity. They were quite true, and will ever remain true.
There never can be anything to weaken the importance of re
pentance from dead works and faith towards God. But it is not
even said faith in Christ. No doubt faith Godward always abides ;
but still, till Christ died and rose, there was a great deal of truth
that even the disciples were not able to bear. Our Lord Himself
says so. Therefore the apostle teUs them, " Leaving the word of
the beginning of Christ" (that which Christ here below brought
out, and which was perfectly suited to the then state of the
disciples), " let us go on unto perfection." There is no such
thought as giving that up ; but, taking it as a truth settled and
that we do not always need to be repeating, assuming that as a
settled truth, let us go on to the understanding of Christ as He
now is, which is the meaning here of the word " perfection." It
is not a better state of our own flesh ; neither does it refer to any
thing that we are to be in a future life ; but to the fuU doctrine of
Christ, as He now Is, glorified and in heaven. I have not the
least doubt that it refers to the doctrine of Christ, as brought out
in this epistle. Christ is in heaven — there is His priesthood.
He has entered in by His own blood, having obtained eternal
redemption. It Is Christ as He is now above ; there you have
this perfection. In the same epistle he speaks of Christ as made
perfect through sufferings. Christ was always perfect as a
person ; He never could be anything else. Had there been any
flaw In Christ on earth. He must have been, like the offering
that had a blemish in it, incapable of being offered for us. In
the Jewish sacrifices, if the animal died of itself, it could not
even be eaten. So, as to our Lord, had there been the principle
of death in Him at all, if He were not the Uving stone in every
sense, without the smaUest tendency to death, never could He
be God's foundation, nor ours. He did, no doubt, suffer death
the willing victim on the cross ; but this was just because death
had no hold on Him. Every son of Adam has mortality at
work in him. The Second Man could say even here below
" I am the resurrection and the life." Such is the truth as to

CHAPTER VI. -109
Christ Himself. While it is perfectly true that Christ was
always morally perfect — perfect, too, not only in His divine
nature, but in His humanity — absolutely stainless and acceptable
unto God ; yet, for all that, there was a mountain of sin that
needed to be removed from us, and a new condition to be
entered, in which He could associate us with Himself.
He had taken upon Him human nature (not in its liability to
death, because that shews a connection with sin, but) in its
capacity of death, though incapable of sin ; and there is the line
that separates sound doctrine, as to Christ's person, from that
which is abominable and fatal. Anything that admits the
smaUest thought or touch of evil at once destroys His person.
But Christ was most truly a man, and so capable of dying for
us, or redemption never could have been accomplished. It was
through death that He was to annul the power of him who had
the power of death, that is, the devil. It is only now a question
of the wlU of God, and all the power of Satan will vanish into
smoke ; this the believer knows — at least he ought to know it.
It is the wiles of Satan that we have to guard against ; his
power is broken to faith as far as we are concerned. The means
by which Satan might seek to ensnare the soul must be watched
against, but his power, we know, is nuU. But this was not true
for any, till Christ had passed through death and resurrection ;
there was still that which was short of the full purpose of God.
Christ was not yet in the state that was entirely according to the
heart of God. He designs for man, for the saint, a condition
that death cannot touch, and we shall enter it risen or changed.
What God caUs salvation is not only the soul's pardon, but the
grace that sustains afterwards and the power that completes all
in the resurrection state. Even Christ, though absolutely sin
less, entered this state after death. He was made perfect
through sufferings ; He passed through this course of sufferings
into the blessedness in which He stands now as high priest before
God. And while all that Christ tahght while here on earth is
as true as it can be, because it was uttered by Him who is the
truth, yet was there a great deal that the disciples were not
yet able to appreciate or understand. The Lord told them so.

110 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
This was one of these things. One danger afterwards was, that
men would go back simply to what they had heard from the
Lord while He was upon earth. How subtle is the enemy,
turning the pretended honour of Christ Into His dishonour and
the hurt of His sheep ! Satan's aim in all is to keep their thoughts
still earthly and hinder them from apprehending the heavenly
calUng and position. Hence the object of the epistle written
to Hebrew Christians was for the purpose of leading them on
from what they clung to as the full truth. They were not
to give it up, but the apostle desired to lead them onward
into other truth. There is the same difficulty now in the minds
of many children of God. Among a large portion of them,
they are not beyond what a disciple ought to have been or to
have known before the cross, save in the recognition of the facts
of death, resurrection, and ascension, but without apprehension
of their bearing on the soul r and perhaps they would even
think It presumption to suppose that they could advance, or
that there is any further raifolding of God's grace. But why
have we got other truth ? We have not one word in the Bible
but what is absolutely necessary; and, if "the word of the
beginning of Christ" had been enough, God, with that economy
that marks His dealings, would not surely have added to the
bulk of the book He has graciously put into our hands : yet the
Holy Ghost has largely revealed further truth, accomplishing
thus the promise of our Lord, " He shaU lead you into all truth."
This was to be when they were capacitated, by virtue of the Holy
Ghost's presence and indweUing, to bear and enjoy the full
bringing out of the divine mind.
Upon the subject of the prayer I am going only to make a
few remarks now.* But again I would notice that it is entirely
individual. Many might unite in saying, " Our Father;" but,
although it was a soul in his own closet, still he would say " Our
Father," because he thinks of others, disciples, elsewhere. Yet
it is plain that the Lord does not anticipate the use of this
* Those who desire its exposition in detaU may be referred to " Thoughts
on the Lord's Prayer."

CHAPTEE VL 111
prayer, save in the closet and for the condition in which the
disciples were. We have no hint that it was employed formally
after the day of Pentecost. There were other wants and desires,
other expressions of affection toward God, brought out then,
into which the Holy Ghost would lead those who were passed
out of the condition of nonage by having Him sent into their
hearts, whereby they could cry, "Abba, Father." Such is the
key to the change, and the New Testament Is perfectly clear
upon It. (Compare Gal. iii. 23—26 ; iv. 1 — 7.)
However, let us look at the prayer itself; for nothing can be
more blessed, and all the truth of it, as of every other part of
the word of God, abides for us. " When ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking." (Ver. 7.) Now it is plain that
our Lord does not forbid repetition, but vain repetition. We
find our Lord Himself, when He was in an agony in the
garden, repeating the same words three times ; on certain occa
sions it may be most suitable for us, and according to His mind.
But vain, formal repetition, whether of words read out of a book
or sentences framed extemporarily. He does positively forbid.
Again, let me press the plain fact, that our Lord here is not
providing for the public wants of the Church ; still less do we
hear that it was so understood. There is not the smallest thought
of such a thing after the gift of the Holy Ghost, when the
Church, properly speaking, was formed and at work in this
world. So that while the Lord's Prayer was given as the most
perfect model of prayer, and was also intended to be used as it
stands by the disciples previously to the 'death of our Lord and
the gift of the Holy Ghost, yet it seems plain that afterwards it
was not to be so. The New Testament is, of course, the only
test of this. When we come to tradition, we shall find all sorts
of difficulty on this as on other subjects, but the word of God is
not obscure. In no way does it leave us uncertain as to what
God's mind is : else indeed the very purpose of a revelation
would be defeated. What then is the permanent use of the
prayer ? Why is it given in scripture ? The principle always
abides true. There is not a clause of that prayer, I believe.

112 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
but what one might prefer now, even to " forgive us our debts as
we forgive our debtors." For it is a mistake to suppose that it
puts the sinner upon the ground of prayer in order to acquire
forgiveness of his sins. Our Lord speaks of the believer — the
child of God. Our daily faults aud short-comings we need to
spread before our God and Father, as He encourages us to do
day by day. It is a question of His government who, without
respect of persons, judges according to the work of each ; and
hence He will not own the petition of one who cherishes an
unforgiving disposition towards others, even if they have done
us ever so grievous wrong.
This habit of self-searching and confessing to our Father is a
very important one in christian experience ; so that this clause I
believe to be as true and applicable at the present time as It was
to the disciples then. When the poor publican said, " God be
merciful to me a sinner," there we have another thing as appro
priate in his case, as this was to the child that lisped " Our
Father." Again, when the Holy Ghost was given, and the
child was able to draw near to the Father In the name of Christ,
you have something different still. The Lord's Prayer does not
clothe the believer with the name of Christ. What is meant by
asking the Father In that name ? Can it be merely saying " in
His name" at the end ofa prayer? When Christ died and rose
again. He gave the believer His own standing before God ; and
then to ask the Father in the name of Christ is to ask in the
consciousness that my Father loves me as He loves Christ ; that
my Father has given me the acceptance of Christ Himself
before Him, having completely blotted out all my evil, so as
to be made the righteousness of God in Christ. To pray in the
value of this Is asking in His name. (Comp. John xvi.) When
the soul draws near, consciously brought nigh to God, it may
be said to ask in His name. There is not a soul using the Lord's
Prayer as a form, that has a real understanding of what it is to
ask the Father in the name of Christ. They have never entered
into that great truth. Hence perhaps in their very next petition
they take the place of miserable sinners, deprecating the wrath
of God, and still under law. Is it possible for a soul that knows

CHAPTER VI. 113
what it is to stand before God as Christ is, to be thus syste
matically in doubt and uncertainty ? It was the case with the
Jew ; but if I am anything at all, I am a Christian ; and, as such,
my place is in Christ, and there is no condemnation : otherwise
there cannot be the spirit of adoption, or the exercised function
of priests to God. We are made priests to God by virtue of this
blessed standing ; and It is on earth that the testing time comes
in. The conscience is brought to this — you cannot walk with
Christ and with the world. Thus the question of heaven or
the world is raised. Now the Christian Is properly a man who
enters Into heavenly thoughts and relationships while he is
walking through this world. This is the vocation wherewith we
are called. Whether Christians know and do it or not, nothing
less does Christ look for from them. " They are not of the world,
even as I am not ofthe world." This is true from the time that
we receive Christ. From that moment we owe it to Christ, if
we would be true soldiers of His, to take our place as those who
are not of the world, even as He is not.
This wIU suffice to shew that, while the Lord's Prayer always
remains inestimably precious, yet was it given to meet the
individual wants of the disciples, and that the further revelation
of divine truth modified their condition, and would thus lead
Into another strain of desires, which, in fact, were not then given
expression to. It seems to me a happy reflection that It is our Lord
Himself who tells us this. " Hitherto have ye asked nothing in
my name." What do I gather from this? That one may use
the Lord's Prayer every day, and never have asked anything in
the name of Christ^ " Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my
name ; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. At
that day ye shall ask in my name." What day does this mean?
A future time ? No, but the present ; the day that the Holy
Ghost brought in when He came down from heaven. It is this
which is connected with that full revelation of truth which is so
essential to Christian joy and blessedness, and to the unworldly
and heavenly walk of the children of God ; and where the one is
not entered into, the other cannot be. There may be vigour of
faith, and personal love to Christ ; but for all that a soul will be
I

114 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
found to savour of the world in spirit and religious position till
he has entered into this blessed place that the Holy Ghost now
gives us of drawing near to God In the name of Christ.
I must now pass on to one of the most important practical
exhortations which our Saviour gives us in connection with
prayer — the spirit of forgiveness. He has known little of
prayer who does not know the hindrances which austerity of spirit
brings with it. This was one of the things that our Lord had
specially in view. " For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you : but if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses." (Ver. 14, 15.) He does not mean that the
disciples would not have their sins forgiven in the day of judg
ment, but speaks of forgiving trespasses as a matter of the
dally care and training of God. I may have a child guilty of
something that Is wrong, but does it therefore lose its relation
ship ? It is my child still, but I do not speak to it in the same
way that I would had it been walking in obedience. The father
waits till the child feels its sin. In the case of earthly parents,
we sometimes do not take sufficient notice of what is wrong, at
other times we may deal with things only as they touch ourselves.
We may correct, as it is said in Hebrews, " after our own
pleasure," but God for our profit. Our Father always keeps His
eye upon what Is most blessed for us, but for this very reason
He does betimes chasten us. " What son is he whom the father
chasteneth not ?" If we were not sons, we might perhaps get
off; but as surely as we are, the Father's rod comes upon us for
our wrongs, though we may think them little ; but though
painful for the present, if it be His will, we may be assured that
He will make the things that may seem most against us to be
unquestionably for us. To maintain the spirit of love, and
specially of love towards those that wrong us, costs somewhat ;
but blessing will be ours in the end, and Indeed also by the way.
(3.) We now come to the subject of fasting. I believe there
is a real value In fastuig, that few of us know much about. If,
on particular occasions which call for special individual prayer,

CHAPTER VI. 115
one were to unite fasting with it, I have no doubt the blessing
of it would be felt. Here there is humbling of spirit expressed.
There are prayers which are most suitably accompanied by
standing, others by kneeling. Fasting is one of those things in
which the body shews its sympathy with what the spirit is
passing through ; it is a means of expressing our desire to be
low before God, and in the attitude of humiliation. But lest
the flesh should take advantage of even what is for the morti
fying of the body, the Lord enjoins that there should be means
taken rather not to appear unto men to fast than to permit any
display. For although a true Christian would shrink from
putting on false appearances, the devil would cheat him into
doing it unless he is very jealous in self-watchfulness before God.
" Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face ;
that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father
which is in secret ; aud thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly." (Ver. 17, 18.)
Then follow the exhortations with regard to the things of
this life. And, first of all, as to the laying up of treasures upon
earth, the Lord brings In a principle, not of natural Interest, but
of spiritual wisdom and freedom from care, which the soul enjoys
that does not want anything here below. Supposing there is
something that one very much values upon earth, there Is pro
portionate fear lest the thief, or some corroding thing, should
spoil our treasure. Very different is that which the Lord
enjoins that we should seek : " Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves
treasures in. heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Ver. 19,
20) — a most solemn test for examining ourselves by. " For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Ver 21.)
We may detect where we are by that which our thoughts chiefly
rest upon. If they are heavenward, blessed are we ; but if
earthward, we shall find that those very things upon which our
hearts are set will prove a sorrow one day or another. The

116 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Lord traces all this to one grand root— you cannot serve two
masters. You have not got two hearts, but one ; and your
heart will be with that which you value most. Everything is
thus followed up to its source: God on the one hand, and
mammon on the other. Mammon is what sums up the lusts of
the heart of man as to all things here. It may manifest itself
in different forms; but this is the root — covetousness. "Ye
cannot serve God and mammon." " Therefore I say unto you,
Take no thought [be not anxious] for your life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall
put on." The great point is indifference to present things, or,
rather, a peaceful trust about them ; not because we do not
value the mercies of God, but because we have confidence In our
Father's love and care about us. So the Apostle Paul shews us
the most beautiful expression of this when he says, " I have
learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
He had known changes of circumstances — what it was to have
nothing, and what It was to have abundance ; but the great
point was his thorough content with God's portion for him.
' This was not a thing that he passed through lightly, but he had
learned It. It was a matter of attainment — of judging of things
in the light of God's presence and love. The blessing is, to be
looking onward with this thought — our Father deals with
us now with a view to glory; as the apostle adds, " My God
shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by
Christ Jesus." How sweet that is! '^ My God" — the God
that I have proved, whose affection I have tasted. I can count
upon Him for you as well as for me ; and He " shall supply aU
your need," not merely according to the riches of His grace,
but " according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." He has
taken you as Christians from this world : He is going to have
you the companions of His Son above ; and He deals with you
now according to your place and position then. Whatever is
suitable to this great plan of His glory and love, the Lord will
give us to prove the consequence of that.
May the Lord strengthen us, that we may accept this with
thankful hearts, knowing that we are not our own masters ! Tlie

CHAPTER VL 117
Lord will preserve us fi-om the dangers, the snares, the pains,
which haste or wilfulness on our part as to outward things brings
with it. He shews us in this chapter the exceeding folly of it,
even as to the body. He takes an instance from the outward
world, as to the utter uselessness of It ; and shews how God may
be confided in to accomplish His own purposes best. And more
than that : He reminds us that these outward things, on which
we are tempted to lay such great stress, are only the objects that
the Gentiles seek after. A Gentile was a term used in speaking
of a man without God, in contrast with a Jew who had God in
an outward manner In this world. A Christian is a man who
has God in heaven. " Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things." Therefore, as our Father knows
this, why should we doubt Him ? We do not distrust our earthly
father ; much less then should we doubt our heavenly Father.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you." It is not that
we are to seek them — to seek first the kingdom of God, and then
these things ; but seek ye first the kingdom of Gt)d and His
righteousness, and all the rest will come. There is no seeking
about it, except of what pertains to 'God and to His righteous
ness. "Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow; for the
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." That is. He
prepares us for this, that the anxiety which dreads an evil thing
on the morrow is nothing but unbelief. When the morrow comes,
the evil may not be there ; If it comes, God will be there. He
may allow us to taste what it is to Indulge in our own wills ; but
if our souls are subject to Him, how often the evil that is
dreaded never appears ! When the heart bows to the will of
God about some sorrow that we dread, how often the sorrow is
taken away, and the Lord meets us with unexpected kindness
and goodness ! He Is able to make even the sorrow to be all
blessing. Whatever be His will, it is good. " Sufficient unto
the day is tho evil thereof."

CHAPTER VIL
We now come to a very distinct portion of our Lord's discourse.
It is not so much the establishing ofthe right relations of a soul
with God our Father — the hidden Inner life of the Christian.
But now we have the mutual relations of the disciples with one
another, their conduct towards men, the different dangers which
they have to dread, and, above all things, the sure ruin for every
soul that names the name of Christ, if hearing and not doing
His sayings. The wise man hears and does. And so the
chapter closes. I would desire to dwell a little upon these
various points of instruction which our Lord brings before us.
Of course it wiU not be possible to enter thoroughly Into all ;
for, I need not say, the sayings of our Lord are peculiarly
pregnant with profoundness of thought. There Is no portion of
God's word where you find a more characteristic depth than here.
The point with which the Lord Jesus opens is this. He had
before this shewn fully that we are to act in grace as children of
our Father ; but that was more particularly with the world, with
our enemies, with persons that wrong us. But then a serious
and practical difficulty might elsewhere arise. Supposing that
among the wrong-doers were some that bore the name of Christ,
what then ? How are we to feel about and to deal with them ?
No doubt there is a difference, and a very weighty one. Still
there Is a thing that we have to take care of, before we touch the
question of another's conduct ; and that is, to watch against the
spirit of censoriousness in ourselves, the habit or tendency to
impute evil motives in that which we do not know, and which
does not meet the eye. We all know what a snare this Is to the
heart of man ; and that it is more particularly the danger of
some, through natural character and unwatchfulness as to the
allowed habit. There is more discernment in some than in
others, and such ought peculiarly to watch against it. It is not
that they are to have their eyes shut to what is evU ; but they

CHAPTER VIL 119
are not to suspect what is not uncovered, nor to go beyond the
evidence God gives. This is a most important practical safe
guard, without which it is impossible to walk together according
to God. People may be together as so many separate units,
without any real sympathy or power to enter into the sorrows
and difficulties and trials, and, it may be, the evil of '^thers.
All that has a claim upon the heart of a disciple. Even that
which Is wrong calls upon love to find out God's way of dealing
with what is contrary to God. For the essence of love is, that
it seeks the good of the object that is beloved, and this without
reference to self. It may have the bitterness of knowing that it
is not loved in return, as the Apostle Paul knew, and this too in
early days, with real Christians, yea, with persons singularly
endowed by the Spirit of God. And yet God has been pleased
to give us these solemn lessons of what the heart is, even In
saints of God.
Under aU circumstances, 'this great truth is obligatory on the
conscience : " Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Ver. 1.) No
principle, on the other hand, could be more easily abiised by the
selfishness of man. Were a j)erson going on in an evil course,
and using this passage to deny the title of brethren to judge his
conduct, it is clear that he betrays a want of conscience and of
spiritual understanding. His eye is blinded by self, and he is
merely turning the Lord's words into an excuse for sin. The
Lord did not, in any wise, mean to weaken the holy judgment
of evil ; on the contrary. He, in due time, binds this solemnly
upon His people: "Do not ye judge thern that are within?"
It was the fault of the Corinthians that they did not judge those
that were in their midst. It is plain, therefore, that there is a
sense in which I am to judge, and another In which I am not.
There are cases where I should be siniiing against the Lord If
I did not judge; and there are cases where the Lord forbids it,
and warns me that to do so Is to bring judgment upon myself.
This is a very practical question for the Christian — where to
judge and where not to judge. Whatever comes out plainly —
what God presents to the eye of His people, so that they know
it for themselves, or hear of it on testimony which they cannot

120 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
doubt — that they are surely bound to judge. In a word, we are
always responsible to abhor that which is offensive to God,
whether known directly or indirectly ; for " God is not mocked,"
and the children of God ought not to be govemed by mere
technicalities, of which the cunning craft of the enemy can
easily take advantage.
But what does our Lord mean here : " Judge not, that ye be
not judged ?" He refers not to that which is plain, but to what
is concealed ; to that whereof, if It did exist, God was not
pleased to lay the evidence before the eyes of His people. We
are not responsible to judge what we do not know ; on the con
trary, we are bound to watch against the spirit of surmising
evil. It may be that there is evil, and of the gravest character,
as in the case of Judas. Our Lord said of him : " one of you
hath a devil;" and purposely kept the disciples in the dark
about the particulars. Just remark, by the way, that it is only
the Gospel of John which shews us that our Lord's knowledge
of Judas Iscariot was that of a divine person. He says it long
before anything came out. In the other gospels all is reserved
till the eve of His betrayal ; but John was led by the Holy
Ghost to remember how the Lord had told them it was so from
the beginning : and yet, though He knew it, they were only to
confide In His knowledge of it ; for if the Lord bore with him,
were not they to do the same ? If He did not give them direc
tions how to deal with the evil, they were to wait. That is
always the resource of faith, which never hurries, especially in
so solemn a case. " He that believeth shall not make haste."
We need not trouble ourselves about that avhich is not certain.
All is open to God, all is in His hands ; and we can confide in
Him. Patience is the word, until the Lord's time for dealing
with that which is contrary to Him. The Lord lets Judas
manifest himself thoroughly ; and then it was no question of
bearing with the traitor. While there are certain cases of evil
that we are to judge, there are questions He does not ask the
Church to solve. The worst of all are those that go out, not
those who are put out. What more condemns a man than that
he cannot stay In the presence of the Lord, even on earth ? Of

CHAPTER VIL 121
course, no evil can consist with the Lord's presence in heaven ;
nor can it, in the long run, on earth. " They went out from us,
but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, they would
no doubt have continued with us ; but they went out, that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us." These
are characterized as being antichrists. It was not merely evil
of a moral sort, but against Christ personally, and thus directly
struck at the foundation of everlasting truth. "They went
out." Thus, wherever there is that which is decidedly contrary
to Christ's personal glory. He deals with it. There may be
cases, as In 2 John, which it becomes the saints to deal with
too ; but we generally find that such go out. God prefers, if I
may so say, that Himself should dispose of them, even here
below. They could not continue in the Lord's presence, though
it were simply by the power of the Spirit of God that His pre
sence was made known upon earth. But while there are these
cases where the saints judge, and where the Lord judges, still
there remains the word, " Judge not, that ye be not judged."
We must guard against imputing motives, or pronouncing upon
the absolute state of a person before God.
We have to take care that we go not before God, lest we
might find ourselves in detail, if not in the main, against God.
We must not break that which is bruised, by yielding to
embittered personal or party feelings. What a danger this is !
The inevitable effect of a judging spirit Is that we get judged
ourselves. The soul whose habit is censorious is universally ill
spoken of. " With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged."
Then He puts a particular case : " Why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is
in thine own eye?" (Ver. 3.) That is, that where this prone-
ness to judge is, there Is another thing found still more
serious : it is habitually unjudged evil in the spirit of a professor
or saint of God which makes a person restless, and desirous of
proving others to be wrong too. " Or how wilt thou say to thy
brother. Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ; and, behold,
a beam is in thine own eye ?" (Ver. 4.) The mote of course
was but little, but it was made a great deal of, and the beam, an

122 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
enormous thing, was passed by. It was the Lord bringing out,
in the most emphatic way. His own truth, and the danger of a
suspicious judicial spirit. And He shews that the way to deal
rightly, if we desire the good of His people and their deliverance
from evil, is to begin with self-judgment. If we really wish
to have the mote out of our brother's eye, how is it to be done ?
Let us begin with the grave faults we know so little corrected -w-r
and confessed in ourselves : and this is worthy of Christ. What
is His way of dealing with it ? Does He say of the mote in
our brother's eye. Bring it to the judges? Not at all; you
must probe yourselves. The soul is to begin there. When I
judge the evil that my conscience knows, or that, if my
conscience does not know now, it may learn in God's presence
— if I begin with this, I shall then see clearly what concerns
others ; I shall have a heart fitted to enter into their circum
stances, an eye purged from that which makes the heart oblique,
and which unfits the heart to feel with God about it. " Thou
hjrpocrlte, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; and
then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thyi
brother's eye." (Ver. 5.) This may be found In a believer In
principle, though when the Lord says, " Thou hypocrite," He
alludes to the evil In its full form ; but even in ourselves, we
know it In measure, and what can be more opposed to simplicity
and godly sincerity ? The Lord shews that this very thing leads
to the most hateful evil that can be found under the name of
Christ — a hypocrite — a thing that even the natural conscience
writhes under and rejects. " Thou hypocrite, first cast out the
beam out of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Often and often
have we found that, when the beam is gone, the mote is not
to be seen, having already disappeared. This is a great comfort;
and where the heart is set upon the Lord, would we be sorry to
find ourselves mistaken about our brother ? Should I not rejoice
to find the grace of the Lord in my brother, if I discover in
self-judgment myself only to be wrong? This may be painful
to one, but the love of Christ in the believer's heart is gratified
to know that Christ is spared this further dishonour.

CHAPTER TIL 123
This, then, is the first great principle our Lord here enjoins.
The habit of judgment is to be watched against earnestly ; and
this, too, because it brings bitterness upon the spirit that
indulges it, and unfits the soul for being able to deal rightly
with another : for we are set in the body, as St. Paul shews,
for the purpose of helping one another ; and we are all
members one of another. The Lord is Inculcating the spirit
of grace, that seeks the good of others even if it be In self-
condemnation. But there is another thing. In watching against hasty and
harsh judgment, there might be the abuse of grace. And the
Lord immediately couples this with the former — " Give not that
which Is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again
and rend you." We must carefully remember that the Lord is
not here speaking about the gospel going out to sinners. God
forbid that we should not carry out the grace of God to every
quarter under heaven, because nothing less than this ought to
be the desire and effort of every saint of God. All ought to do
it ; that is, to have the spirit of active love going out after
others, energetic desires for the salvation and the blessing of
souls : for it were a sad shortcoming, if it went not beyond
souls being brought to Christ. ' The only thought worthy of a
Christian is the glory of Christ ; and therefore should one be
seeking to grow up Into Christ In all things, to know and to do
the will of God. In this verse, the Lord is not taking up the
question of the gospel going out indiscriminately ; for we know
that, if there be a difference, the gospel best suits those who
have been dogs ; which. In the language of the Jews, was a
figure of all that is abominable. " Such were some of you ; but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
The apostle had been speaking just before about thieves,
drunkards, extortioners, &c. It might have been asked. Is not
the wickedness of one man greater than that of another ? On
an earthly platform, one might say. Much every way ; but God
does not, in saving souls, make these distinctions. So, speaking

124 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
of believers, when Jews, St. Paul says, they were " children
of wrath, even as others." There may have been highly moral
characters among them. Did this dispose them better towards
God's grace? Alas! where the soul finds a justification of
itself in what it is, nothing can be more dangerous. It Is a
hard thing for a man who feels this to bow to the truth that he
can only enter heaven upon the ground of a publican and a
sinner. But so it must be, if the soul is to receive salvation
from God through the faith of Jesus.
The Lord, then. Is not in any wise restraining the gospel from
going out to every quarter ; but He speaks of the relations of
His own people with those that are walking unholily. The
Christian is not to treat the worldly man on common ground ;
he is not to bring out for him the special treasures that are the
Christian portion. The gospel is to be lavished ; it Is the riches
of God's grace to the world. But, besides the gospel, I have the
special affections of Christ to the Church, His lordship as regards
His servants. His priesthood, the hope of His coming again, &c.
If you were to talk about these things, which we may, perhaps,
call the pearls of the saint, with those who are evidently not
Christians, you are on wrong ground. If you were to Insist
upon- the duties of the faithful in worldly company, then It is
giving that which is holy unto the dogs. There is blessed
provision for the dog : there Is that which the Lord intends for
it — the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And such Is
the great grace of God toward us, that the crumbs which fall to
our portion, poor dogs of the Gentiles as we were, are the best.
What is there like that which flows from the Lord's grace?
Whatever may be the benefits promised to the Jew, the grace of
God has brought out in the gospel fuller blessing than ever was
promised to Israel. What can Israel ever learn, compared to
the mighty deUverance of God that we know now ? The con
sciousness of being in a moment completely cleansed from all
sin, and having the righteousness of God for ours at once and
for ever in Christ ; present access to Him as Father through
a rent veil ; and made His temple through the Holy Ghost
dwelling in us. As the Lord Himself said to the woman of

CHAPTER VII. 125
Samaria, " If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee. Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of
him, and he would have given thee living water." Where
Christ is received now, by whomsoever it may be, there is this
fulness of blessing. We have not even to go to the well now,
for the well Is within the believer. " The water that I shall
give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into
everlasting life." So that I may see in many a word of God
how wide and perfect is His grace, while It forbids certain things
being thrown indiscriminately among worldly persons, as not
being suited objects. Any act that implies fellowship between a
believer and an unbeliever is false. Take, for Instance, the
question of worship, and the habit of calling the whole round
of devotions worship. But worship supposes communion with
the Father and the Son, and with each other in it. There Is
not, nor can be, real communion in the usual forms of prayer.
Lideed, you will find that evangelical people do not generally
care for the prayers, but bear with them for the sake of the
sermon. But the system which, founded on an easy rite which
pretends to regenerate all, unites believers and unbelievers in
one common form and calls it worship, is casting what Is holy
unto dogs. Is it not a thinly-disguised attempt to put the sheep
and dogs upon the same ground ? In vain ! You cannot unite
before God the enemies of Christ, and those that belong to Him.
You cannot mingle as one people those that have got life and
those that have not. The attempt to do so is sin, and always
ends In failure and disappointment, as well as in the constant
dishonour of the Lord. AU effort to have a worship of this
mixed character Is going in the very teeth of the sixth verse.
On the other hand, preaching the gospel, where it is kept dis
tinct from worship, is right and blessed. When the day of judg
ment comes upoH this world, where does the worst stroke fall ?
Not upon the openly profane world, but upon Babylon, because
Babylon is the confusion of what is of Christ with evil — the
attempt to make communion possible between light and darkness.
There is what we are responsible for, as the apostle says, " Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and

126 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
that ye receive Uot of her plagues." It is the being partaker of
her sins that is the grave affair with God. It is the acceptance
of a common ground upon which the Church and the world can
join ; when the very object of God, and that for which Christ
died, was that He might have a separate people unto Himself;
so as to be, by their very consecration unto God, a light in
this world ; not a witness of pride, saying, " Stand by, I am
holier than thou;" but Christ's epistle, that tells the world
where the living water is to be found, and bids them come :
" Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
The light of the Church, reflected from Christ, shines upon the
living water that Christ gives to him that will. Where we do
not confound the religion of the world with the worship that
goes up to God from His people, there you will also have the
true line of demarcation — where we ought to judge and where
we ought not. There will be active service towards the world
with the gospel, but yet the careful separation of the Church
from the world. This is also true individually. If there were
only a single saint in the place, he is not to cast his pearls before
swine ; and if It be an assembly, they have to guard against It
corporately. What a test is this for the heart I Thus persons
take advantage of the word of God that says, " If an unbeliever
bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go," &c. ; but take
care how you go, and for what. If you go self-confident, you
will but dishonour Christ; if to please yourself, this is poor
ground ; If to please other people, it is little better ; if it were
really to serve God and please our neighbour for his good to
edification, it would be with pain to oneself, with reverence, I
may say, and godly fear, lest one might forget the living God,
and that He is a consuming fire. For the God of the believer
is a consuming fire ; He is such in His dealings with us, and let
us thank Him for It. He does not spare our evil any more
than He wishes us to spare it. There may be occasions when
the love of Christ might constrain a soul to go and bear a testi
mony to His love in a worldly company ; yet if we know how
easily words may be said, and things done, that imply commu
nion with that which Is contrary to Christ, there would be fear

CHAPTER VII. 127
and trembling ; but where there is self-confidence, there never
can be the power of God.
But now the Lord, having finished the subject of the abuse
of judgment and the abuse of grace, indicates the necessity of
intercourse with God ; and this is very particularly in connec
tion with what we have been seeing. " Ask, and it shall be
given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and It shall be
opened unto you." (Ver. 7.) Here we have different degrees,
increasing measures of earnestness in pleading with the Lord :
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Ver. 8.)
And then He gives them an argument to encourage them in
this : " What inaii is there of you, whom, if his son asked
bread, will he give him a stone ? or if he asks a fish, will he
give him a serpent ? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask
him?" (Ver. 9 — 11.) There Is a very Interesting difference in
the passage that answers to this in Luke xi., where, instead of
saying, " give good things to them that ask him," it Is said,
" How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him ?" The Holy Spirit was not yet
given ; it was not that He did not act in the world, but He
was not yet personally imparted, because that Jesus was not
yet glorified. Scripture says this expressly. Thus, until the
time when He was poured out from heaven, it was quite right
to pray for the Spirit to be given : and the Gentiles in particu
lar being persons that were ignorant about it, this is expressly
mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, which especially contemplates
the Gentiles. For who can read that gospel without having the
conviction that there is a careful eye upon those that have a
Gentile origin ? It was written by a Gentile and to a Gentile ;
and all through it traces the Lord as Son of man, a title which
links itself, not with the Jewish nation properly and peculiarly,
but with aU men. This is the great want of man — the Holy
Spirit which was about to be given, and He is the great power
of prayer, as it is said, " Praying in the Holy Ghost." St.

128 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Luke was led to specify that special good thing which those that
pray would need in order to give them energy in prayer.
But returning to Matthew, we have the whole passage wound
up by this word : " Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this Is
the law and the prophets." (Ver. 12.) This is in no way
dealing -with men according to their ways, but the contrary. It
is saying, as it were, " You who know the heavenly Father, who
know what His grace to the evil is, you know what is comely
in His sight ; always act upon that. Never act merely according
to what another does towards you, but according to what you
would that another should do to you. If you liaA^e the slightest
love in your heart, you would desire that they should act as
children of your Father." Whatever another person may do,
my business is to do to them what I would that they should
do to me ; namely, to act in a way becoming the child of a
heavenly Father. " This Is the law and the prophets." He is
giving them exceeding breadth, extracting the essence of all
that was blessed there. There was this which was clearly the
gracious wish of a soul that knew God, even under the law ; and
nothing less than this could be the ground of action before God.
But now we come to dangers. There are not only brethren
that try, but now He says, " Enter ye in at the strait gate : for
wide Is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruc
tion, and many there be which go In thereat : because strait Is
the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
(Ver. 13 — 15.) There is a moral connection between the two
things. One main feature of that which is false is the attempt
to make the gate large, and the road broad : to deny the special
manner in which God calls souls to the knowledge of Himself
There is not an arrangement in the religious world that does not
interfere with this. Take, for instance, the parcelling out of
those that belonged to God into different companies, as if they
were the sheep of man — what people do not scruple to call " our
church," or "such an one's flock." God's rights. His claims

CHAPTER vn. 129
His caUing a soul to walk In responsibility to Himself, are all
set aside by such a state of feeling. We never find even an
apostle saying, " my flock." It is always " the flock of God,"
because this brings in responsibility to God. If they are His
flock, I must take care that I do not lead them astray. It must
be the object of my soul, in having to do with a Christian, to
bring his soul into direct connection with God Himself, to say,
This is one of God's sheep. What a change would this make in
the tone and ways of pastors, if it were viewed as the flock of
God ! It is the business of the true servant to keep them in the
narrow path on which they have entered.
But there is also the broad-road-golng world, who think that
they can belong to God by profession of Christ and trying to
keep the commandments. There has been the widening of the
gate, the broadening of the road, in connection with which the
Lord says, " Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
There may be true teachers sent from God ; but they suffer
with the false ones, if they are mixed up with the world. Being
all bound together for common objects, whether they belong to
God or not, those that are really true are often drawn of the
rest into what they know to be wrong. And remember another
solemn thing. The Aeyil never would be able to accomplish any
plan in Christendom, if he could not get good people to join the
bad In it. Unbelief constantly uses as an excuse, " such a good
man is here ; " " the excellent Mr. — does that. " But is the opinion
and conduct of a Christian to be the criterion by which I judge ?
If so, there is nothing I may not fall into : for what evil thing is
there that a man, and even a believer, has not done ? You know
what David had to confess before the Lord. There is nothing
too bad ; and this is the way that the devil takes to keep other
persons quiet in evil. Presumption has nothing to do with the
matter, nor is it enough to cite good men. The only question
for the Christian Is the will ofthe Lord; and therefore it becomes a
matter of searching into scripture. The sole standard for the believer
is the written word of God; and this is the special security In these
last days. When Paul was leaving the Ephesian saints, it was
K

130 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
to God and to the word of His grace that he commended them.
Grievous wolves might enter In among them, not sparing the
flock; aud of their own selves men might arise, speaking
perverse things ; but the sole safeguard, as a rule of faith and
conduct for the saints, is God's holy writ.
Mass is the most wicked act of the most corrupt thing under
the sun ; but if the grace of God could enter there, and work
by His Spirit, spite of the elevated host, who shaU put limits ?
But is this a reason why I should go to a Roman Catholic chapel,
or pray to the virgin? God, in His sovereign grace, can go any
where ; but If I desire to walk as a Christian, how am I to do it ?
There Is but one standard — the will of God ; and the will of God
can only be learnt through the scriptures. I cannot reason from
any amount of blessing there, nor from any apparent weakness
here. Persons might be allowed to seem very weak, for the
express purpose of shewing that the power is not in them, but
in God. Although the apostles were such mighty men, they
were often allowed to appear feeble Indeed in the eyes of others.
It was that which exposed Paul to be thought not an apostle by
the Corinthians, though they, of all men, ought to have known
better. All this shews that I cannot reason either from blessing,
that God's grace may work, or from the weakness of God's
children. What we want is that which has no fault at all, and
this is the word of God. I need it for my rule as a christian
man, and as walking together with all saints. If we act upon
that word, and nothing else, we shall find God with us. It wUl
be called bigotry ; but this is part of the reproach of Christ.
Faith will always appear proud to those who have none ;
but it wiU be proved in the day of the Lord to be the only
humility, and that everything which is not faith is pride, or no
better. Faith admits that he who has it is nothing — that he
has no power nor wisdom of his own ; and he looks to God.
May we be strong in faith, giving glory to Him.
But, again, " Ye shaU know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit." The Lord does not here speak simply of men

CHAPTER VIL 131
being known by their fruits, but of false prophets. (Ver. 15 —
20.) " Ye shall know them by their fruits." Where grace is
denied, the holiness is hollow, or, at best, legal. Wherever
grace is really held and preached, you wiU find two things —
much greater care in what concerns God, than where it is not
equally knovra ; and also greater tenderness, forbearance, and
patience in what merely touches man. Winking at sin is one
thing, but unscriptural severity is very far from divine righte
ousness, and may co-exist with the allowance of self in many a
form. There are certain sins that call for rebuke ; but it is only
in the gravest cases that there ought to be extreme measures.
We are not left to make laws about evil for ourselves : we are
under responsibility to another, even to our Lord. We ought
not in this to trust ourselves, but to learn the wisdom of God, and
confide in the perfectness of His word ; and our business Is to
carry out what we find there. Let the help come from where it
may, if we can thus but follow the word of God more fully, we
ought to be exceedingly grateful.
Solemn, most solemn, are the words that follow, as the Lord's
eye scans the field of profession. " Not every one that saith
unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;
but he that doeth the wiU of my Father which is In heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not pro
phesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ?
and in thy name done many wonderful works ? And then
wiU I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me,
ye that work iniquity." (Ver. 21 — 23.) The Lord shews the
stablUty of His word, for the obedient heart, from the figure of
a man building upon a rock ; He shews also, as none but He
could, the end of every one who hears and does not His sayings :
but I must not enter upon this now.
The Lord grant that our hearts may be towards Himself! We
shall be able to help one another, and we shall be helped of His
own grace. Weak as we are, we shall be made to stand. Aad
if through unwatchfulness we have slipped, the Lord will
graciously set us upon our feet again.
May He grant us singleness of eye !

CHAPTER VIIL
I CAN well miderstand a man who received and revered the Bible
as the word of the living God, finding himself at fault when he
closely examines the gospels, which recount the Lord's ministry,
A casual reader might find no difficulty ; but at first, nothing
would be more probable than that he who carefully compared
the different accounts might be perplexed — I will not say
stumbled, because he has too much confidence in the word
of God. In comparing the gospels, he finds that they differ
very considerably in the way in which the same facts are
recorded in different gospels. He finds one arrangement in
Matthew, another in Mark, and a third in Luke ; and yet all
these he is sure are right. But he cannot make out how. If the
Spirit of God really Inspired the different evangelists to give a
perfect history of Christ, there should at the same time be these
apparent discrepancies. He is obliged to cast himself upon
God, and to enquire whether there be not some principle which
can account for these changes of position, and for the different
mode in which the same circumstances are displayed. The
moment that he thus approaches these gospels, light will dawa
upon his soul. He begins to see that the Holy Ghost was not
merely giving the testimony of so many witnesses, but that
while they thoroughly agree at bottom, the Holy Ghost had
assigned a special office to each of them, so that their writings
present the Lord in various and distinct attitudes. It remains
to enquire what are these several points of view, and how they
may both give occasion to and explain the Variety of statement
that Is undoubtedly to be found therein.
I have already shewn that in the Gospel of Matthew the Holy
Ghost has been depicting Jesus in His relationship to Israel,
and that this accounts for the genealogy given us in chapter i.,
which quite differs from what we have in the Gospel of Luke.
It is speciaUy His genealogy as Messiah, which is, of course,

'CHAPTER Tin. 133
hnpoTtant and interesting to Israel, who looked for a Ruler
of the seed of David. At the same time the Holy Ghost took
particular care to correct the narrow worldly thoughts of the
Jews ; and shews that while He was, according to the flesh,
of the seed of Israel, He was also the Lord God ; and if Em
manuel and Jehovah, His special work, as a divine person, was
to save His people from their sins. He may go out far beyond
that people, and bless Gentiles no less than J'ews ; but saving
from sins was cleariy an expectation of Christ that ought to
have been gathered from the prophets. The Jews -expected
that when Messiah came, it would be to be exalted over them as
a nation ; that they 'consequently would become the head, and
the Gentiles the tail. All this they had rightly inferred from
the prophetic word, but there was a great deal more that they
had not discerned. Messiah is bent upon their spiritual, as well
as their natural, blessing ; and all present hopes must fade away
before tbe question of sin, yea, their sins. Jesus accepts His
rejection from them, and effects on the cross for them that very
redemption which they thought so little about.
How thoroughly, too, it falls in with the Gospel of Matthew,
that we should have a long discourse like that of the sermon on
the mount, without interruption ; the whole being given us as a
continuous word from our Lord. All interruptions, if there
were any, are carefully excluded ; so as to bring Him out on the
mount In pointed antithesis to Moses, by whom God was bringing
in an earthly kingdom : but now it is because He manifests the
heavenly King, contrary to everything the Jews were expecting.
The Holy Ghost proceeds in this gospel to give us the facts
of our Lord's life stiU in connection with this great thought.
The Gospel of Matthew is the presentation to Israel of Jesus as
their divine Messiah, their rejection of Him in that character,
and what God -would do in consequence. We shaU see whether
the facts that are given us even in this chapter do not bear upon
this special aspect of our Lord. From the Gospel of Mark, it
would be impossible to collect it in the same way. In Matthew,
the mere order of history is here neglected, and facts are brought
together that took place months apart. It is not at all the

134 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW,
object of the Holy Ghost by Matthew, or even Luke, to give the
facts in the order In which they happened, which Mark does.
Those that examine the Gospel of Mark with care wIU find
notes of time, expressions such as " immediately," &c., where
things are left vague in the other gospels. The phrases of rapid
transition, or of Instant sequence, of course bind together the
different occurrences thus brought into juxtaposition. In
Matthew this Is entirely disregarded ; and of all the chapters in
the gospel, there is not one, perhaps, that so entirely sets aside
the mere succession of dates, as the very one before us. But
if this be so, to what are we to attribute it ? Why, we may
reverently ask, does the Holy Ghost in Matthew disregard the
order in which things foUowed one another ? Was it that
Matthew did not know the time in which they occurred ? If he
had been only a man writing a history for his own pleasure,
could he not have ascertained with tolerable certainty when it
was that each fact occurred ? And when he first had published
his statement, would anything have been easier than for the
other evangelists to follow, and give their accounts in accord
ance with his ?
But the contrary is the case. Mark takes up a different line
of things, and Luke another, while John has a character to
himself. On the very face of it we are driven to one of two
suppositions. Either the evangelists were as careless men as
ever wrote accounts of their Master, giving different accounts as
if to perplex the reader ; or it was the Holy Ghost who presented
the facts in various waj's, so as to illustrate the glory of Christ
far more than what mere repetition would have accomplished.
The latter I believe to be the truth. Any other supposition
is as irrational as irreverent. For, even supposing that the
apostles had written different accounts and had made mistakes,
they could very easily have corrected each other's mistakes:
but the reason why no such correction appears was not human
error or defect, but divine perfection. It was the Holy Ghost
who was pleased to shape these gospels in the particular form
most calculated to bring out the person, mission, or various
relations of Christ. The Gospel of Mark proves that the healing

CHAPTER VIIL 135
of the leper took place at a different time from what you might
have gathered from this chapter — in fact, long before the sermon
on the momit. In chapter i, we have the Lord described, as
preaching in their synagogues through all Galilee, and casting
out devils : " and there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and
kneeling down to him, and saying unto him. If thou wilt thou
canst make me clean." (Mark i. 40 — 45.) Now, no intelligent
man doubts this is the same story as in Matthew viii. But if
we read the next chapter of Mark, what is the first thing men
tioned after this ? " Again he entered into Capernaum after
some days, and it was noised that he was in the house .... and
they come unto him, brInglDg one sick of the palsy, which was
borne of four." Clearly here we have a fact, the cure of the
paralytic man, which Matthew does not give us till chapter ix.,
after a storm which Mark describes in chapter iv. , and after the
case of the demoniac, which only appears in chapter v. ; so that
it is perfectly plain that one of the two evangelists must have
departed from the order of history ; and as Mark, by his strict
notes of time, evidences that he does not, Matthew must be con
cluded to have so done. In Mark iii. we have our Lord going
up the mountain, and calling the disciples to Him ; and there
is the place accordingly in this gospel where the sermon on the
mount would, if inserted at all, come in. Thus, it was con
siderably after what took place in Matthew viii. 2 — 4 that the
sermon on the mount was uttered : but Mark does not give us
that sermon, because his great object was the gospel ministry
and characteristic works of Christ ; and therefore the doctrinal
expositions of our Lord are left out. Where brief words of our
Lord accompany what He did, they are given ; but nothing more.
It may make what I have been saying still plainer, if in Mark
i. we observe, further, the actual order. Simon and Andrew
are called, in verse 16 ; James and John, verse 19 ; and straight
way, having gone to Capernaum, He entered on the sabbath day
into the synagogue, and taught. There we have the man with
the unclean spirit : the fact took place a little after the final call of
Andrew and Simon, of James and John. The unclean spirit was
cast out ; " and immediately his fame spread abroad through-

136 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OP MATTHEW.
out all the region round about Galilee. And forthwith, when
they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the
house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But
Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell
him of her," &c. Hence we have positive certainty, from God's
own word, that the healing of Peter's wife's mother took place
a short time after the call of Peter and Andrew, and consider
ably before the healing of the leper. Carrying this back to our
chapter in Matthew, we see the importance of it ; for here the
healing of Peter's mother-in-law only appears in the middle of
the chapter. The cleansing of the leper is given first, then the
healing of the centurion's servant, and after that, of Peter's
wife's mother; whereas, from Mark, we know for a certainty
that Peter's wife's mother was healed long before the leper.
Looking at Mark again, we find that, on the evening of the
same sabbath, after He had healed Peter's wife's mother,
" they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that
were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered
together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of
divers diseases, and cast out many devils  And in the
morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and
departed into a solitary place, and there prayed," which is clearly
the same scene alluded to in Matthew viii., and would come In
after verse 17. The fact of His going to the desert and praying
is not mentioned here; but it took place at the same time.
Then, in Mark, we have His going into Galilee, preaching in
their synagogues and casting out devils ; and after that. He
heals the leper. What I draw from this is that, as Mark tells
us the very day on which these things happened, we must take
him for a witness of their order as to time. When I go back
to Matthew, do I find that there is any intimation of the time
in which these events took place ? Not a word. It is simply
said, " When he was come down from the mountain, great mul
titudes followed him," (Ver. 1,) and then we have the healing
of the leper. There is nothing to prove that the leper came at
that particular time. AU that is said is, " And behold, there came
a leper," &c. — an Old Testament form of expression. Whether

CHAPTEE VIIL 137
the healing of the leper took place before He came down, or
after, we are not told here. From Mark we infer that the ser
mon on the mount was given long after ; and that the healing of
Peter's wife's mother took place before the healing of the leper.
Why, let us ask, would it not have suited this Gospel of
Matthew to put the healing of Peter's wife's mother first, then
the leper, and lastly the centurion ? For you will find that in
the order of time this was really the succession. The centurion
came up after the sermon was over, and Christ was in Caper
naum ; the leper had been healed a considerable time before,
and Simon's mother-in-law earlier yet.
But what is the great truth taught by these facts as they are
arranged In the Gospel of Matthew? The Lord is met by a
leper. You know what a loathsome thing leprosy was. Noto
riously, it was not only most offensive, but hopeless, as far as
man was concerned. It Is true that in Leviticus we have
ceremonies for the cleansing of a leper, but who could give a
ceremony for the cure of a leper ? who take away that disease
after it had once infected a man ? Luke, the beloved physician,
gives us the notice that he was "full of leprosy;" the other
evangelists do not state anything but the simple fact that he was
a leper. This was enough. Because, to the Jews, the question
was whether there was any leprosy at all : if such it was, they
could have nothing to say to him tiU he was cured and
cleansed. The Spirit of God uses leprosy as a type of sin, in
all the loathsomeness that it produces. Palsy brings out the
thought of powerlessness. Both are true of the sinner. He is
without strength, and he is unclean in the presence of God.
Jesus heals the leper. This at once Illustrates the power of
Jehovah-Jesus upon earth, and more than that ; for it was not
merely a question of His power, but of His grace. His love.
His willingness to put forth all His might on behalf of His
people. For the whole people of Israel were like that leper.
The prophet Isaiah had said so long before ; and they were not
better now. The Lord repeats the sentence of Isaiah: " Make
the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy," &c.,
and this leper was a type of the moral condition of Israel in the

138 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
presence of the Messiah. But, whether few or many, let thera
only present themselves in all their vlleness before the Messiah,
and how would the Messiah deal with them ? The Messiah is
there. He has got the power ; but the leper is not sure of His
will. " Lord," he says, " if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean." We may remember the distress of the king of Israel
in the days of Elisha, when the king of Syria sent Naaman to
him that he might be recovered of his leprosy — how, when he
had read the letter, " he rent his clothes, and said. Am I God,
to kill and to make alive, that' this man doth send unto me to
recover a man of his leprcsy ?" Only God could do it : every
Jew knew this ; and this is what the Holy Ghost is desirous of
shewing. We have had the testimony that Jesus was a man,
and yet Jehovah — able to save His people from their sins. But
here comes out His presentation to Israel in particular cases,
where the Holy Ghost, instead of giving a mere general and
historical outline, as in chapter iv. , singles out special instances,
for the purpose of Illustrating the Lord's relation to Israel, and
the manifested effects of it. The leper is the first case,
where we have, as it were, the microscope applied by the Spirit
of God, that we may see clearly how the Lord carried Himself
toward Israel ; what ought to have been the place of Israel ; and
what was their real conduct. At once, when the leper acknow
ledges His power and confesses His person, " Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean ;" when it was merely the question of
His will, and of His affections, immediately there comes the
answer of divine love as well as power : " I will ; be thou clean ;
aud immediately his leprosy was cleansed." He put forth His
hand, and touched him. It was not only God, but God manifest
in the flesh — One who entered fully into the poor leper's anxiety,
yet proved Himself paramount to the law. His touch — it was
that of Jehovah. He was God. The law could only put the
leper at a distance ; but if God gives a law, He is superior in
grace to the law that He gives. The heart of this leper
trembled, afraid lest the blessed Lord should be unwilling to
bless him ; but He puts forth His hand, He touches him : none
else could, none else would. The Lord's touch, instead of

CHAPTER VIIL 139
contracting defilement to Himself, banishes defilement from the
leper. Immediately he is cleansed. Jesus then says to him,
" See thou tell no man ; but go thy way, shew thyself to the
priest, and' offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony
imto them." There was no desire that he should publish what
Jesus was : God might tell His works. He says, " See thou
tell no man ; but go, shew thyself to the priest," &c. Nothing
could be more blessed. It was not yet the time for the Lord to
be set aside. Jesus waits. The cross must come in before the
law could be set aside in any way. We are delivered from the
law by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the great
doctrine of the Epistle to the Romans — that we are dead to the
law, of course in His death, that we might " be married to
another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God." Up to the resurrection of Christ
from the dead, there is the most careful guarding of the law.
After resurrection, saints passed into another relationship with
Him who was risen from the dead. Here we find there was
a sedulous maintenance of the claims of God's law ; and it
always was so until the cross. Therefore He says, " Go, shew
thyself to the priest." Also, had the man gone telling it to
every one instead of to the priest, the great enemy might have
found means to misrepresent the work, to deny the miracle, to
try and make out that he was not the man who had been a
leper. Alas ! was it the wish of man's heart to shew that Jesus
had not wrought such a miracle ? But Jesus says, " Go, shew
thyself to the priest." Why? Because the priest would just
be himself the authentic witness that Jesus was Jehovah. The
priest that knew the man was a leper before, that had pronounced
hira unclean, that had put him outside, would now see that the
man was cured. Who had done It ? None but God could heal
the leper. Jesus, then, was God ; Jesus was Jehovah. The
God of Israel was in the land. The priest's mouth would be
obliged to confess the glory of Christ's person, " Offer the
gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them." When
had there been the offering of that gift ? They had no power to
heal the leper, and thus could not offer the gift. So that Jesus

140 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
had bowed to the obligations of the law, and yet had He done
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh. But here was one who was God, and " God sending His
own Son In the likeness of sinful flesh." God Himself, and
God's own Son withal. He was here working this mighty work
that proved His dignity ; and He made the priest himself to be
the witness of it.
But now we are to hear a different tale — Jesus enters into
Capernaum. When, we are not told. It had no connection
with the story of the leper ; but the Holy Ghost puts them
together, because It brings in the Gentiles, We haA'C had the
Jew set forth in the history of the leper and the gift Moses com
manded for a testimony to Israel. But now there is a centurion
that comes and tells about his servant ; and this brings in a new
kind of confession of the Lord altogether. Here there is no
touching — no connection with Christ after the flesh. Hence it
is rather the way In which the Gentile knows Christ. The Jew
looked for a Christ that would put forth His hand — a Saviour
personally present among them — bringing In this divine power,
and healing them; as the scripture had said, " I am the Lord
God that healeth thee." And here He was come ; but they did
not know Him so. And the next witness, that we have brought
together in Matthew but nowhere else, is the centurion ; because
God would shew that the natural children of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob were going to be cut off. They would not worship Him
as the poor leper did. The testimony to the priest would be disre
garded. They become more and more opposed to His claims. God
says, as It were, If you Jews will not have my Son, I will send
a testimony to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles will hear. Upon
the rejection of Jesus by the Jew, upon Israel's refusal of Him
who had proved Himself to be their Jehovah-God In forgiving
aU their Iniquities and healing all their diseases, what then
follows ? The door of faith is opened to the Gentiles.
Thus, we have the story of the centurion, which is taken
out of its place and put here purposely. And even In the
details of the history there are very noticeable differences. You
have not the embassy of the Jews in connection with the

CHAPTER VIIL 141
centurion. This is left out in Matthew, but inserted in Luke.
Thus, while Matthew's gospel gives everything that might be
calculated to meet the conscience of Israel, it abstains from
giving that which they might have prided themselves on. It was
wholesome for the Gentiles that they should hear of the embassy
of this good man. He was like the Gentile laying his hand
upon the skirt of him that was a Jew, taking his place behind
Israel, But his faith goes beyond this; for we find that he
comes and beseeches the Lord, and brings out his own personal
faith in the most blessed manner. When Jesus says to hira,
" I will corae and heal him," at once his heart is manifest. He
answers, " Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come
under my roof." For just as he, the centurion, could say to
one, " Go, and he goeth ; to anpther, Come, and he cometh ;
and to his servant. Do this, and he doeth it," how much more
could the Lord " speak the word only, and my servant shaU be
healed ?" Jesus had indeed authority over all diseases ; but
was It merely a question of His putting His hand upon the
leper ? Not at aU. He had only to utter the word, and it was
done. The centurion assumes the grand truth that Jesus was
God (not merely Messiah), and therefore fuU of ability to heal.
In short, he looks at Him in a still higher way, not as One
whose presence must be connected with the putting forth
of power, but as One who had only to speak the word, and it was
done. This brings in the character of the word of God, and
the absence of Jesus from those who now profit by His grace.
Such is our position. Jesus is away and unseen. We hear
His word, lay hold of it, and are saved. This is the beautiful
way in which we are here given the different bearing of the Lord
on the Jew and on the Gentile ; but we learn, moreover, that the
blessing would be refused by Israel, and the Gentiles would
become the objects of mercy ; as It is said here, " Verily I say
unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and
west, and shaU sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob In
the kingdom of heaven." (Ver. 10, 11.) That is, many Gentiles
come ; neither is this aU : " But the children of the

142 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
kingdom" — meaning the natural children, of course — those
that were the seed, but not the children of Abraham in a strict
sense— the children of the kingdom that were so by birth,
but who had no faith at aU — these should be " east out into
outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
The Jews as a nation were going to be rejected. There would
only be a Une of believing ones ; but the mass of Israel should
be rejected until the fulness of the Gentiles should be come in.
Thus we have here a wonderful view of our Lord, and this
exactly in accordance with the general strain of the Gospel
of Matthew. We have Jesus proving Himself to be Jehovah-
Jesus, ready to heal, wherever there was faith ; but where was
it ? The leper might represent the godly remnant ; but as to
the mass of Israel, we have their doom pronounced here, and
that too In the very same incident which proves that the grace
of God which Israel refused would make a larger channel for
itself to run In. The Gentiles should partake of the mercies
which the Jews rejected. This is just what is here put to
gether in these two stories. Jesus gives proof to Israel that
He was a divine Messiah. If they scorned it, the Gentiles
would hear. But then there Is another thing of great import
ance, and which shews why the healing of Peter's wife's mother
is kept in this gospel till after these events, although Mark
gives it before. Mark furnishes the history of the mlnlstiy
of Christ as it happened. Why does not Matthew the same ?
Divine wisdom is stamped upon this, as upon everything in the
word of God. I believe It is reserved by Matthew for this
place, because Israel might have the idea that, when the mercy
of God flowed out to the Gentiles, His heart might be turned
away from them. The maid was not dead, but sleeping : this is
the state of Israel now. And as surely as the Lord did raise
her up, so surely wiU He In a future day awaken the sleeping
daughter of Zion. We have got better blessing and higher
glory-now. But it is necessary for the truth of God's word that
Israel should be blessed too ; because, if God could break His
word to Israel, I cannot trust His word to me. Now God
positively promised the eventual final glory of Israel on the

CHAPTEE VIIL 143
earth. The only thing needed is that we should not confound
these things; that we should not be ignorant either of the
Scripture or of the power of God.
In this case we have an incident brought before us which
proves that (though the Lord knew the unbelief of Israel and
predicted it ; and though He knew also that the Gentiles were
to come in now by faith) His heart could not but linger over
Israel. Therefore, as I think, the Holy Ghost, to illustrate
this, brings in here the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. Li
this third incident, the healing of Peter's wife's mother. He
did it, I think we may infer, for Peter's sake, whatever may
have been the other reasons. It is a natural relationship, and
you will find that the great scene for this is Israel. Peter was
the. apostle of the circuracision ; so that I have not a question
that one of the reasons why this event is brought in here is to
shew that the unbelief of Israel would not finally alienate the
Lord's heart. There He was, still heaUiig all their diseases, as
was witnessed even to the crowd around her door, " that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet,
saying. Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses."
The Lord, when He wrought a miracle, entered in spirit into
the circumstances of him whom He was relieving. If the miracle
brought out His divine power, there was also the divine sym
pathy that entered into the depth of the need that He relieved.
Afterwards we have the Lord preparing to go to the other
side. But this gives occasion for certain persons to be brought
out in their true character and ways, and for the Lord to mani
fest His own. Now when did this happen ? This brings out a
most peculiar feature of the Gospel of Matthew, and shews how
entirely the Holy Ghost was above the mere routine of dates.
Look at the Gospel of Luke, and you will find that the conver
sation with these men, which is recorded here, took place after
the transfiguration. In Luke ix. we are told that after the
transfiguration had taken place, the Lord stedfastly set His face
to go to Jerusalem ; and then, in verse 57, it is said, " It came
to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto
him, Lord, I wiU follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And

144 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Jesus said unto him. Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
And he said unto another, FoUow me. But he said. Lord,
suffer me first to go and bury my father." (Luke ix. 57 — 62.)
Now, am I too bold in thinking that this was the same incident
that we have recorded in Matthew ? It would not be reasonable
to suppose that our Lord should have the same things repeated
at different times ; nor could we fairly conceive of two distinct
persons copying one another so exactly. But mark its import
ance, if this be so. It took place a very long time after, and yet
it is put in here by Matthew. Why ? Because it illustrates
this — that while the Lord had all this love in His heart toward
Israel, spite of their unbelief, there was no heart in Israel
towards Him. What was His condition now? He had not
even where to lay His head. What a thing for the Messiah of
Israel to be obliged to say, when a man offered to follow Hira,
" The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
This Is the first time where He uses the expression " Son of
man." It is no longer " Son of David." " Son of man" is
the title of Christ as rejected or glorified. There is no ques
tion which of the two it was here. Even His own people will
not have Him. And He is going away to the other side — He
must leave them. He has done it now, as we know. But this
man proposes to follow Him. The Lord knew all that was in
his heart. The man was a mere carnal Jew, who thought by
foUowing Jesus to get a good place with the Messiah. The
Lord teUs him He had no place to give him. There was not
even a nest for the Messiah. What was there for the fiesh,
offering to follow Christ, to find ? The Lord unveils his heart,
proves its utter corruption, shews it to be the more dreadful
because the Lord Himself had not even the meanest spot that
even the meanest and most mischievous creature He had
made might possess. Had not the foxes their holes, and the
birds of the air their nests ? But the Son of man had not even
where to lay His head. If the flesh should pretend to foUow
our Lord, it only meets with a rebuke. To a disciple who had

CHAPTEE VIII. 145
said, " Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father," the
Lord could say again, " FoUow me, and let the dead bury their
dead." (Ver. 21, 22.) Mark the difference. Where the caU
of Christ is, there may be great reluctance, trial felt, and strug
gling on the part of nature ; still the word is, " Follow me."
When you get a thoroughly carnal man in the presence of the
gospel, there is not this backwardness — none of this trial. He
thinks it is all beautiful, but it does not lay hold of his soul ;
and very soon circumstances occur to draw his heart away to
other things, and at last the man sinks down again to his own
level. But where the Lord does say, " Follow me," how often
the soul, before or at the time, says, " Lord, suffer me first to go
and bury my father !" It is clear there was this natural rela
tionship, which had a very-serious claim. His father was lying
dead : he must go and bury him. One could hardly think of a
duty more peremptory than this. People raight say that a man
must make the burying of his father so urgent that everything
must give way to it. Not at all, says the Lord, Christ ought to
be stronger still. If the call of Christ is heard, even at the
very moment when the father lies dead, waiting for burial, we
must forego even this. The world may say. There Is a man that
talks about Christ, and yet does not love his father ; but we
must be prepared for this : and if we are not, it is because we
do not miderstand the value of the Christ that we have got.
You will find that natural ties and duties in this world are
always apt to come In as a hindrance between Christ and the
soul. The claims of nature are continually pressed upon one.
But no matter whether it be father or mother, or brother or
sister, or son or daughter, where the call of Christ is clear, take
care that you do not say. Suffer me to do such and such a thing
first. The word of Jesus is, " FoUow me, arid let the dead
bury their dead."
Then the Lord goes. We find Him entering into a ship, and
His disciples following Him. And thereon follows the history of
the tempest, and of the miracle that Jesus wrought in calming
the winds and the sea. Now when did this really take place ?
On the evening of the day when the seven parables of Matthew
L

146 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
xiii. were uttered, before the transfiguration, but long after the
other events mentioned in this chapter. Mark lets us know this
positively in the chapter that records the parables (Mark iv.) — the
very same that are given us in Matthew xiii., with this addition,
" With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they
were able to hear it ; but without a parable spake he not unto
them. And when they were alone [when they had entered into
the house, as it is given us in Matthew], he expounded all things
to his disciples. And the same day, when the even was come,
he saith unto them. Let us pass over unto the other side." Then
follows the same history that we had in the first gospel ; and
after they come to the other side, there is the man with the
legion of devils. There need not be a question that this is the
same scene that we have here, in verses 24 — 27, followed
by the healing of the men possessed with devils ; but brought
out in an entirely different connection. It did not really occur
till a considerable time after ; as the account of the conversation
of our Lord with more than one has been given here, though it
took place at a totally different part of the life and ministry
of Christ.
What follows from this ? That the Holy Ghost in Matthew
only gives us historical order where it falls in with the special
object of the gospel. All this marks the perfect wisdom of
God : and none but God would have thought of such a thing.
But how few think of it, or even understand it now ! Does it
not shew the slowness of our hearts to take in the full meaning
of the word of God ? What is the Lord teaching in these two
scenes ? He shews us here Himself alone with His disciples.
The godly part of Israel are now separated with Himself and
exposed to all that the enemies of God could do against them.
But it only serves to enlist the power of the Lord for them.
Everything is subdued at His bidding. So is it In our own
experience. There never is a dIflSculty, trial, or painful circum
stance in which we appear to be utterly overwhelmed by the
power of Satan in this world, but what, if our eye is towards
Christ, and we appeal to Him, we shall know His power most
truly put forth on our behalf When they realize whom they had

CHAPTEE VIII. 147
in the same boat with them and cry, saying, " Lord, save us ;
we perish," He arises and rebukes the wind and the sea. " And
there was a great calm." So that even the very shipmen mar
velled, saying, " What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey Him?" The disciples knew it in a still
deeper way, but the others were astonished.
But this is not all. It might evince what Christ Is for the
godly who were with Him. But there were two men, far indeed
from the Messiah, for they were among the tombs, possessed with
devils, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way
— just the picture of the most desperate power of Satan in the
world. One of them, as we are told elsewhere, went by the
name of Legion, because many devils were entered into him.
You could not have worse than this. The power of Satan was
stronger than all the fetters of men.
But the Lord is there. The devils believe and tremble. They
felt His presence. But the day was not come for Satan to be
dispossessed of his title over the world. ' As yet it was only the
time of the proof of the power to do It : but the full exercise of
that power was reserved for another day. I doubt not that our
evangelist gives the casting out of the demons as a witness of
Christ's power to deliver the Jewish remnant ; and therefore the
Holy Ghost, here only, names the two men : as, on the other
hand, the possessed herd of swine seems to represent the
destruction of the unclean mass of Israel in the latter day.
Then, again, the history brings out this also — that Satan has
power in a twofold way, not only in the dreadful excesses of
those who are completely under his Influence, but In the quiet
enmity of the heart that could lead others to go to Jesus, In
order to beseech Him to depart out of their coasts. What a
solemn thing it Is to know that the secret influence of Satan
over the heart, that creates the wish to get rid of Jesus, is even
more fatal, personally, than when Satan makes a man to be the
witness of his awful power ! But so it was then, and so it is
that men perish now.
That is the history of the men that wish Jesus to depart from
them. The Lord grant there may be that happy knowledge of

148 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Jesus, that entering uito what He is to us now, which gives the
soul calmness and rest in His love, and the certainty that there
is the real presence of Jesus with those that belong to Him ;
" I am with you alway, even unto the consummation of the
age." May we know what it is to have Jesus to take care of us,
and produce a great calm, whatever may be the effect of the
stirring up of Satan's power against us ! The Lord give us to
look at Jesus. If it be from my first knowledge of what sin is
to my last trial in this world, it is all a question of whether I
trust in myself or In Jesus.

ot«<o

CHAPTER IX.
Whoever attentively examines this chapter with the foUow
ing one can hardly fail to see that the proper break is at the
end of verse 25, the last three verses of chapter ix. forming
properly the introduction to chapter x. What we have in
chapter ix., as far as I have understood. Is the effect of the pre
sence of Jesus upon the religious leaders of Israel : I believe this
is the great subject. The chapter before gave us the outline
of the Lord's presence in Israel, and its results. That is, it was
a general picture ; and therefore we saw that the Holy Spirit
entirely neglects the mere historical order, putting together
passages in the life of Christ that were separated, in point of
fact, by months or even a year. There is not here the slightest
attempt on the part of the Spirit of God to present them as
they happened ; but on the contrary, the Holy Ghost goes out
of His way for the purpose of culling from different times and
places certain grand facts that illustrated the Messiah's presence
amidst His people. His rejection by Israel, and what the results
of this rejection would be. What we saw was that, first of all.
He was proved to be God, the God of Israel — Jehovah; to

CHAPTER IS. 149
whom the cleansing of leprosy was merely the question of His
wiU ; for even the leper did not doubt His power. " If thou
wilt, thou canst make me clean." None but God could do this.
Now none had so strong a feeling about this loathsome evil as a
Jew; because God Himself had laid down so carefully the
nature and proof of leprosy in His law. For it was a question
of hopeless uncleanness — the solemn emphatic lesson of how
horrible sin is, often in its effects and in itself. God can cure
and God can cleanse : nobody else can. It was not exactly a
case of forgiving, but of cleansing and putting away defile
ment. The Spirit of God reserved the question of forgiveness
(which is connected with the rights of God and with His judicial
character, as the cleansing of leprosy is more particulariy con
nected with His holiness) till the chapter we are about to look
at now. In the first of these chapters there was the broad
feature that Messiah was there, — God Himself in grace, and
not acting according to the law, which would have banished the
leper outside dwelling-place and people and His own presence.
A most wonderful fact to realize on earth and in Israel that a
person was there, as plainly God in His power as He was God
in His love ! The law merely laid down that whlcb was right,
but could give no power, save to condemn the unrighteous. It
must make the case of a sinner hopeless ; just because It Is
God's law, which law can never mix with sin. But here was
One who had given the law and yet was above the law. Evi
dently indeed, unless there be some principle in God paramount
to the law, there can be no rescue for the guUty. But grace is
that principle. And here was one who shewed in His acts and
words that He was in nothing raore manifestly God than in the
fulness of His grace. He touched the leper, and said, " I will ;
be thou clean." The state of this man was just the picture of
the true condition of Israel; and what the Lord did for the
solitary leper. He was equally willing to do for the whole nation ;
but " He came to his own, and his own received him not."
Would God then be baffled in His love ? If the Jew refused
Him, what of the Gentile ? They should hear ; and therefore
we have immediately foUowing the centurion and his servant.

150 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
But I will not repeat the facts of chapter viii. In the chapter
before us now, we have, not the general picture of God's presence
and its results in Israel, but its special bearings upon the
religious leaders of the people.
We begin again with the Lord's giving a remarkable case of
healing ; not the obvious case of leprosy, which ought to have
struck any Jew, but another equally illustrative. " He entered
into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city" (ver. 1)
— that is, Capernaum. Thus we are upon narrower ground now.
Capernaum was the place where the Lord lived and wrought
His mightiest miracles, and which for that very reason after
wards comes in for the most fearful woe that He could pronounce.
This is always the case; and a most solemn principle it is.
When the day ofthe Lord comes, the heaviest blow of judgment
will fall, not upon the dark parts of the earth, but upon the
favoured ones, where there has been most light, but alas ! most
unfaithfulness. For my own part, I do not doubt our own land
must suffer In a special measure ; but, above all, Jerusalem, and
Rome too, to which latter place the most remarkable of all the
epistles was written as laying dowai the foundations of Christi
anity, but where there has been the greatest departure. They
will come raider the judgment of God in a most emphatic man
ner, not only religiously but civilly. No matter who reigns, or
who may be put down, this must be the case wherever, in spite
of the special favours of God and the light of His word spread
abroad, persons have remained unfaithful, and have even become
more lax and superstitious or sceptical. The Lord will remove
those that are His before the judgment, and the rest will remain
to suffer His just displeasure. "As it was in the days of Noah,
so shall It be also in the days of the Son of man."
In this scene the Lord shews the moral necessity for such a
judgment. Nor was it merely in the land ofthe Gergesenes or
of Nazareth. But take the very best — the people who ought to
have known the scriptures more than others, whose very profes-^
sion it was to know and teach them — what was their estimate
of Jesus ? It is this which comes out in our chapter. " Behold
they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed r

CHAPTEE IX. 151
and Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy. Son,
be of good cheer :" a most blessed word, meeting the whole
case of the man ; a word to touch his aff'ections and meet his
conscience. " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee."
There was somewhat for heart and conscience. His sins ought
to have laid more heavily upon his heart than his palsy did upon
his body ; but this word met all his need. " And, behold,
certain of the scribes said within themselves. This man blas-
phemeth." (Ver. 3,) In this chapter, it Is not the scribe in his
vain fleshly confidence, professing to shew honour to Jesus ; but
the scribes are judging and condemning Him. To their view
Jesus was blaspheming, when He said " Thy sins be forgiven
thee." Awful delusion of the wickedness of man! "This
man blasphemeth !" And these were not ignorant people ; yet
they said within themselves, "This man blasphemeth!" But
"Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil
in your hearts ? For whether is easier, to say. Thy sins be for
given thee; or to say. Arise and walk?" And now He brings
out a word of His that shewed what ought at once to have told
upon a scribe, who would be familiar with the scriptures.
This is not the experience of a saint now, though we can take
it up in a most blessed sense. But when we come to such a verse
as that, " Who forgiveth aU thine iniquities, who healeth all thy
diseases," can we say that this is the way the Lord deals now
with Christians ? Where He forgives a person's iniquities, does
He necessarily heal all their diseases? Whereas here it is
evident that the Lord contemplated the union of the cure of
bodily diseases with the forgiveness of sins in the same people
and at the same time. When wIU this be ? When God takes
the government of the world into His own hands. When the
One who was crucified will be glorified — not only in heaven, but
here below ; when that day comes, the outward world, the body
of man, and particularly of God's own people Israel, will feel
the immediate effect. WhUe we can take the pith and spirit of
the Psalms, as far as they apply to our condition now, let us not
forget that there is much more in the Psalms that we cannot
adopt as applicable to ourselves. We cannot honestly say,

152 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
" Who forgiveth aU thine iniquities ; who healeth all thy
diseases." The diseases there do not mean sin, because this was
just spoken of separately. We have the forgiveness of iniquities,
and the healing of bodily distempers, both promised ; and so the
Lord accompUshes both here. He shews that, in His person and
by His ministry now in the midst of Israel, there was the witness
of the power to do both. That they might know that the Son
of man had "power on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to
the sick of the palsy). Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine
house. And he arose and departed to his house." There was a
proof of the reality of the forgiveness in the fact that the
disease was healed before their eyes. The union of these two
things ought forcibly to have struck a scribe. God's word had
united them, and this too with the reign of Jehovah. The soul
had been called upon to bless Jehovah, who should forgive
Israel's iniquities and heal their diseases. But who was this ?
He had spoken of Himself as the Son of man in the chapter
before : — " the Son of man," He had said, " hath not where to
lay his head." It is the title of a rejected Messiah, After
wards He is the glorious Son of man ; but He is the sufferer
before He enters into His glory. In this miracle we have the
strongest testimony of what the glory of His person was. He
had only to tell the palsied man, " Arise, take up thy bed, and
go unto thine house ;" and at once all powerlessness vanished
from Him, " and he arose and departed to his house."
This then was the Lord's answer to the blasphemy of the scribes
who charged Him with blasphemy. " But when the multitudes
saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such
power unto men." (Ver. 8.) Alas ! they did not know that it
was the power of God exercised by One who Himself was God.
They saw that He was the vessel of the power of God, and this
was aU ; and a man might be this, and not be God. The Lord
might be pleased to work miracles even by a bad man. So that,
while they gave glory to God who had given such power to a
man, there was no real faith in the person of Christ. But the
great object of the miracle is the bringing out of the true state
of heart in the ecclesiastical chiefs of the people. A solemn

CHAPTER IX. 153
judgment to apply any time begins to dawn with this chapter;
and before we have done with it, we shall find that the case is
closed, as far as they are concerned. Jehovah- Jesus was
intolerable to Israel; but, most of all, to those who had the
highest reputation for learning and sanctity.
The Lord passes from this scene, and sees " a man named
Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom : and he saith unto
him, FoUow me; and he arose and followed him." If we com
pare the gospels of Mark and Luke we find that both the palsied
man's case and the call of Levi took place long before many
of the circurastances that we have already had : but they are
reserved for two special purposes in Matthew's account. - They
are given at the beginning of Mark ii. as they happened in
order of time. Mark was undoubtedly led thus to act by the
Spirit of God, but Matthew puts them out of that order for the
purpose of giving large pictures, after a dispensational sort,
of our Lord's presence upon earth, and its consequences for
Israel ; and aU the facts that would bear upon their blindness
for a time and future restoration are grouped together.
But here we see the effect of His presence upon the religious
guides. Matthew's call was a most significant one ; and we find
that the Spirit of God led him to give his name here — the name
by which he was afterwards known both on earth and in heaven.
Matthew accordingly shews the grace of the Lord, spite of the
animosities of those scribes against Him, and the form that His
grace took in consequence of their unbelief. He goes out and
caUs Matthew as he was sitting at the receipt of custom. Other
people had brought the palsied man ; but Matthew does not
seem to have manifested faith before the summons of Jesus. It
was not Matthew who sought Jesus, but Jesus who called
Matthew. Matthew was busied only about the tax, of which he
was the licensed gatherer. The publicans were always classed
with the sinners, and the Lord goes and calls the publican
Matthew when he was In the very midst of the performance
of his office, sitting at the receipt of custom. Obedient to the
Messiah, Matthew not only follows Him at once, but invites Jesus

154 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
to sit at meat in the house. " And, behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why
eateth your Master with publicans and sinners ?" It was a
positive clear subversion of all propriety and order in the eyes
of a Jew. To sit down at meat without the least feeling of
contempt for these publicans and sinners was, indeed, strange in
the eyes of the Pharisees. What was the Lord doing ? He
was displaying God's grace increasingly, the more unbelief broke
out from the merely outwardly-religious people — persons who
had thoughts of God, but not founded upon His word (for men
may be ever so earnest out of their own minds and hearts, but
without the faith of God's elect). On the one hand, these men
proved their total unbelief In Jesus and His glory ; but, on the
other hand, God, in the person of Jesus, was going farther
in His grace and more counter to the thoughts of the religious
people in Israel. He calls Matthew, and He eats with these
publicans and sinners ; and when fault is found with it by the
Pharisees to the disciples, the Lord at once produces that
blessed word from the Old Testament, " I will have mercy,
and not sacrifice ; for I am not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance." He vindicates this call, and maintains
it, not as an exceptional case, but as a principle.
It was what God was come down to make good upon earth.
It Avas not the law, but grace now. This gives rise to something
further, and a very instructive word from the Lord is brought
before us here. The disciples were found fault with, because
they did not fast, like the disciples of John, and the Pharisees.
And the Lord gives this reason for It : " Can the children ofthe
bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?"
That is. He shews the absurdity of fasting, when the source of
all their joy was there. How utterly contrary would it have
been to their faith in Him, the Messiah, to submit to this mark
of sorrow and humiliation, in the presence of the spring of all
their joy and gladness ! But there was something deeper than
that to be learned. There was not only the presence of One
that the disciples understood, and that the others did not, but

CHAPTER IX. 155
the Lord shews that you cannot mingle the prescriptions that
flow from the law, with the principles and power of divine grace
(a most important principle, and the very one that Christendom
has practically destroyed). For what has brought about the
present state of Christendom ? Christianity" is the system of
grace in Christ maintained in holiness by the Holy Ghost among
those that believe. Christendom is the great house of profession,
where there are unclean vessels mingled with those that are
to honour ; where principles abound and reign that never came
from Christ, and that are adopted, some of them from Judaism,
others out of people's own wit without respect to the Bible. But
what the Lord shews is, that even If you take what God once
sanctioned under the law it will not do now. The same God
who tried Israel by the law has sent the gospel ; and It is the
gospel that He is sending now, and not the law. It is grace
that we have to do with. It is Christ risen and In heaven that I
am in relationship with, and not with the law. I am dead to the
law if I am a Christian. Christendom has forgotten and
departed from that; and, arguing from the premises that the
law is good, and the gospel also, they say. Will it not be much
surer to put them together? The result of this has been, that
what our Lord said could not be done, men have been aiming at
with the utmost diligence. They have tried to put the new wine
into old bottles — that is to say, into the receptacles of legal
principles which God has done with. He has brought in new
wine, and He wants new bottles.
The inner virtue and power of Christianity must clothe itself
with its own proper forms. The new garments were the due
manifestation of the gospel, which totally differs from ways
framed according to the law. Legalism was the old garb ; and
it was despising the goodness of God to merely patch up the
old one. And after all, it will never succeed. The attempt will
only make the old worse. This is what Christendom has done.
It has tried to mend the old garment with the new piece — to
bring a certain measure of christian morals into the old garment,
as a sort of improvement upon Judaism. And what has been
the result ? Besides, there is the pouring of the new wine into

156 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
old bottles. There is a certain measure of the preaching of
Christ, but it is all in connection with the old bottles.
These verses embrace both the outward development and the
inward power ; and shew that Christianity is entirely a new
thing, and one that cannot be mingled AvIth the law. If you
find a man who thinks he has got some righteousness of his own,
you can cut him down by the law. This is the legitimate use of
the law. He is really ungodly, and you use the law to prove
that he is so. But in the Christian, we ha\-e one who is godly ;
and the law, as St. Paul expressly insists, is not for him. I am
not to put the new wine into old bottles, nor the old into new.
This leads the Lord to bring out the entire newness of the con
duct and principles that flow from Himself and from His grace.
And all this Avas strongly opposed to the thoughts and prejudices
of the scribes and Pharisees, who came in afterwards with their
questions about fasts. Not that fasting is not a christian duty
(we already looked at this in chapter vi.) ; but, then, it must be
on christian principles, and not on Jewish ones.
Now we come to an incident of the deepest interest. A ruler
of the synagogue sends for our Lord to heal his daughter, then
comes and Avorshlps Him, saying, " My daughter is even iioAV
dead ; but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples."
(Ver. 18, 19.) That was exactly an illustration of the Lord's
attitude towards Israel. He was there with life in Himself.
Israel was like the maid that needed Him ; she had no life in
her : such was Israel's condition. But the Lord is at once
roused, and goes at the call of the ruler. He oAvns the claim
of faith, let it' be ever so feeble. The centurion knew that a
word would be enough ; but this Jewish ruler, with the natural
thougl^t of a Jew, wants the Lord to come to his house and lay
His hand upon his daughter that she might Ua'c. He connected
the Lord's personal- presence with the blessing that was to be
conferred upon his sick child; whereas we Gentiles walk by
faith, and not by sight. We believe in, and love. One that we
do not see. The Jews look for One whom they shaU see ; and

CHAPTER IX. 157
they will haA^e Him in this way. As Thomas, after eight days,
was aUowed to see the Lord, and to thrust His hand into His side,
and see In His hands the print of the nails, so will it ^e with
Israel. " They shall look upon me whom they have pierced."
Whereas we believe in Hira on whom we have not looked. So
that our position is a totally different one from that of Israel.
Now in this case the Lord hears the summons, and goes
at once to raise up the dead daughter of the Jewish ruler.
But while He is going, a woman touches Him. While the
Lord's errand is to Israel — and so it was, and it only remains
suspended — while He is on the way, whoever comes, whoever
touches, gets the blessing. No unbelief of scribes, no self-
righteousness of Pharisees, ever would or could hinder the Lord
in His mission of love. He was about to bring in new prin
ciples which would not mix with the law — grace that would go
out to all, and would meet the worst ; which is plainly set forth
by this woman who comes and touches Him. But first of all
you have the pledge of the resurrection of Israel ; for we haA^e
the warrant of the word of God for looking at the condition
of Israel as one of death. Look, for instance, at Ezekiel xxxvli.,
where Israel is compared to dry bones. " Son of man, these
bones are the whole house of Israel : behold, they say. Our bones
are dried, and our hope is lost .... behold, 0 my people, I will
open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves
.... and ye shall live, and I shaU place you in your own land."
So I believe in this miracle. It represents, not merely the con
version of dead sinners, but the raising of Israel as a nation.
The Lord was refused by the people who had the deepest
responsibility to receive Him ; but most surely as He raised up
that yoraig woman from the bed of death, so surely avIU He
restore Israel in a day that is coming. But meaiiAvhIle, who
ever comes gets the healing and the blessing. So It was with
this poor woman. The Lord not only gives her the conscious
ness that she is healed, but lets her know that His aff'ections
were thoroughly with her. " Daughter," He says to her, " be
of good comfort ; thy faith hath made thee whole." There was
at once the word of assurance. The Lord puts His seal upon

158 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
what her faith had done, though she had done it tremblingly.
Then, in due time, we have the raising up of the one who was
dead, in whom it was not a question of faith, but of the power
of God, and of His faithfulness to His own promise.
After this (ver. 27) we find that two blind men follow Him :
elsewhere only one of them is mentioned ; but I believe that
both are mentioned here for the same reason as we had the two
demoniacs. They cry and say to Him, " Thou Son of David,
have mercy on us." It Is the confession of Christ, as connected
with Israel. They address Him as Son of David. The Lord
asked them, " Believe ye that I am able to do this ? They said unto
him. Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying. Accord
ing to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened."
(Ver. 28 — 30.) Then came the dumb man possessed with a
devil : " and when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake ; and
the multitudes marvelled, saying. It was never so seen in Israel."
(Ver. 33.) I bellcA^e that all this is brought together for the
same purpose. The Lord was glA^ing type after type, and
pledge upon pledge, that Israel would not be forgotten, that
Israel would be raised out of death : let them be ever so blind,
they would see ; ever so dumb, they would speak. Let the Pha
risees and scribes be utterly unbelieving and blasphemous, and
ready to turn away all from Christ — let it be so now ; but death
would give way, blindness would be removed, speech would be
given to Israel, in a day that was coming. The very confession
of the multitude was, that it had never been so seen in Israel.
Let me repeat that, in thus applying these miracles of our
Lord, I am not at all denying the blessing of any part of these
for a soul now. But this is no reason to prove that the Lord
has not an ulterior view which we ought not to forget. " But
the Pharisees said, He casteth out devUs through the prince of
the devils." (Ver. 34.) What could be worse than this? Was
it not in principle blasphemy against the Holy Ghost ? Such
is the form which that sin took then. There was the power of
the Holy Ghost which wrought in Christ and through Him ; and
they attributed this power to Satan. There could not be any-

CHAPTER IX. 159
thing more determined than such hostility. They were not able
to deny the righteousness of the man, nor the facts of super
human energy ; but they might attribute the power that was
entirely above man, not to God, but to the adversary : and they
did so. Their ruin was coraplete and final. What more ter
rible ! Nothing could convince a man, where all these evidences
and appeals had been lavished upon him ; and the end of it all
was that, not the ignorant only, but the wise, the religious, and
the righteous according to the law, the Pharisees, the choicest
part to man's eye of the chosen nation — even they said, " He
casteth out devils through the prince of the devils."
Nothing more is needed. The Lord might send out a testi
mony through others; but as far as His own ministry was
concerned, it was virtually at an end. He sends out the twelve
immediately after, but it all comes to the same thing. The
Lord is utterly rejected, as we see in chapter xi. And then
chapter xu. gives the final pronouncing of the judgment on that
generation. That sin of which they had been guilty would
ripen into blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and could not be
forgiven them, either in this age or in that to come. The con
sequence is that the Lord turns from the unbelieving race and
introduces the kingdom of heaven, in connection with which He
gives us all the parables in chapter xiii. He takes the place of a
sower, no longer looking to gather fruit from Israel, and addresses
Himself to the new work In this world that He was about to un
dertake, which He still carries on to the present moment, thouo-h
now through the instrumentality of others. So that the beauty
of aU this arrangement of the gospel of Matthew cannot be sur
passed, though the other gospels are for their own objects equally
perfect. Each presents the facts of our Lord's history, so as to
give a distinct view of Christ's person or service, with the effects
of its display ; and we ought to understand them aU.
May the Lord grant that the effect of looking at these thino-s
may be not only that we may know the scriptures but Jesus
better ! This is what we have most of all to cultivate — that we
may understand the ways of God, the wonderful ways of His
loA'^e in Jesus.

CHAPTER X.
At the close of the chapter before, our Lord, in looking upon
the lost sheep of the house of Israel, speaks of them in deep
pity, as sheep without a shepherd. He was now feeling what
the Pharisees really were : not but what He knew it before ; but
the circumstances of their entire rejection of Himself, and their
hatred, coming out more and more decidedly, brought up before
His spirit the exposure of God's sheep. If their spirit was
implacable against Him in whom there was no sin, who was
God's own Son, the Shepherd of Israel, what must not be the
sorrowful lot of those who had infirmities and failures which
laid them open to the malice of those who cared not for them
for God's sake, who would have the keenest and most suspicious
eye for everything weak and foolish about them ! Let us always
remember the grace of the Lord, that even that which is humili
ating In us draws out nothing but His compassion. I am not
now speaking of sin, but of that which is infirm : for Infirmities
and sins are two different things. We do not want the Lord's
sympathy with evil. The Lord has suffered and died for our sin.
But we do want sympathy with us in our weakness, trembling,
liability to anxieties, cares, troubles : in all these things which
make us suffer here we do want sympathy ; and the Lord has
it fully with us. This was also the case with Israel. Uncon
scious of their miserable condition, Jesus calls upon the disciples,
in the love of His own heart, to pray the Lord of the harA^est
that He would send forth labourers into His harvest. It was
His harvest, and His labourers alone could gather. But imme
diately after, and this is remarkable. He shews that He is the
Lord of the harvest Himself ; and He sends forth labourers.
The next chapter lUustrates this, and beautifully evinces the
scope of Matthew, who portrays Him as the One who should save
His people from their sins — Emmanuel, God with us. Mark

CHAPTEE X. 161
the circumstances. This takes place upon His rejection by Israel.
His own ministry, full of grace as well as poAver, we have seen
fully exhibited, and terminating in the utter indifference of Israel
and the hatred of the religious leaders. Chapter viii. gives us
the people, and chapter ix. their guides, thus severally mani
festing themselves.
Now, chapter x. shews that Jesus, as Lord of the harvest,
sends forth labourers, and this too with full authority and power
glA'eii to thera. But, observe, it is still In special connection with
Israel ; and the Lord Is conscious from the beginning of rejec
tion by Israel, Meanwhile it is a Jewish mission of the twelve
Jewish apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I take
this quite literaUy, and not as if it were said of the Church,
which is never spoken of as lost sheep ; but the sheep of Israel in
their desolate condition are most aptly so described. Before the
Church is gathered, what we want is a Saviour. We Gentiles
were not sheep at all, but dogs, iu our evangelist's point of view.
(See chap, xv.) And after we haA'e been brought into the
Church, we are not and cannot be lost sheep. Whereas, these
poor of the flock are spoken of as lost sheep of the house of
Israel. For, up to this time, the work was not done by which
they could be put in the known position of salvation.
Again, when our Lord is sending them forth, It is said, " He
called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them power
against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner
of disease, and all raanner of sickness." (Ver. 1.) This was
peculiarly their mission. Not a word is said about preaching
what we call the gospel, or teaching the whole counsel of God;
but they were to go with Messianic poM^er against Satan, and
against bodily diseases, as a testimony to Israel. No doubt they
were to declare the kingdom of heaven. " As ye go," said our
Lord, " preach, saying. The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
(Ver. 7.) But the great characteristic feature of the mission,
was the conferring upon them power agaiust demons and dis
eases. The appropriateness of this, in connection with Israel,
is manifest. It was a bright evidence that the true King,
Jehovah, was there — One who was able Himself not only to
M

162 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
cast out deAdls, but to confer that power upon His servants.
Who but the King, the Lord of hosts, could do this ? It was a
testimony much greater than if the power had been confined to
His own person. The ability to impart power to others (which
was what Simon Magus, hoping to profit by it, so earnestly
coveted) God here shews to be In His oavii Son. Now, the
servants were to be sent out, and that in due order. There were
twelve of them in relation to the twelve tribes of the house of
Israel. We find afterwards the promise that they should sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. There
need be no question, therefore, that this was a Jewish mission.
When the Church was called, God broke In upon the mere
Jewish order, by calling an extraordinary apostle, with a special
view to the Gentiles — one who was called after Christ, dead and
risen, had taken His place at the right hand of God. Then
came In this new work in the caUing of the Church, and the
Apostle Paul became the characteristic minister of the Church,
though the twelve had their place too. But in this case, the
twelve apostles were (what Paul was not) the ministers of the
testimony to Israel of the kingdom of heaven. For, observe, the
strictest injunction was given them that they were not to go
outside the limits of Israel ; not even to visit the Samaritans,
nor to enter into the cities of the Gentiles. Their business was
solely with the lost sheep of the house of Israel : the most
positive proof that it means those of the Jews Avho had a sense
of sin, and who were willing to receive the testimony of the true
Messiah. With them, their business Avas exclusiA'ely. The
caUing of the Church was not referred to. This one thing Is
diligently kept in view by our Lord. It is the more remarkable,
because in this gospel we are told that, after He had died and
Avas risen, the Lord sent them out to the Gentiles ; but, then, it
was on the evident ground that death had come In. " I, If I be
lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Christ upon the cross
becomes the attractive centre for man, as well as the foundation
of all the counsels of God. Now In this case Ave have nothing
of the sort. The Lord's death is not even referred to. His
rejection is brought out, but nothing is said as to the building of

CHAPTER X. 163
a new structure. There was the waiting for still further rejection
before this could be disclosed, as in chapter xvi.
But here the Lord Jesus sends forth the twelve, and com
mands them, saying, " Go not into the way of the Gentiles,
and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not : but go rather
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach,
saying. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils : freely ye haA'e
received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor
brass in your purses ; nor scrip for your journey ; neither two
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves : for the workman Is worthy
of his meat." (Ver. 5 — 10.) That is, they were to go just as
they Avere, with the coat they had upon them, with the shoes
they had then on their feet. They were not to provide any
thing, or to lay up any store as a means of support during their
mission. This is not a universal rule for the servants of God at
all times. It was a peculiar mission, for a special time, and
Avith reference to Israel only. It was not the gospel of God's
grace, but of the kingdom : the two go together now ; but
then it was not so. Israel did not receive the testimony of the
kingdom ; an entire change comes in, and the kingdom of
heaven, as an actual fact, remains in suspension. The whole
calling of God, going out now to the Gentiles, comes in as a vast
parenthesis, between the sending out of this message and its
full accomplishment In the last days. Whatever the Lord sends
out must be accomplished, but nothing is perfectly fulfilled till
the Lord takes all in hand Himself
Everything that is to be taken up by Christ in power and
glory by and by is first committed to man. Thus man fails,
Israel as a nation breaks down, the Church has become worldly
and scattered. All wiU yet be to the praise of Christ Himself
Thus, no raatter what you look at in the ways of God, there is,
as a rule, the first presenting of the thing to raan, when it is made
to rest upon him, to see If he can bear the responsibility and
the glory ; and he cannot. But whatever man has failed In is
destined to rest upon the shoulders of Christ In the day of glory,
and aU will then come to perfection. Not one of these things

164 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
but what wiU shine out in far more than pristine brightness
when Jesus appears -in glory.
The twelve were sent out on this mission, and Instructed that
they were to be dependent upon Christ alone. He would
provide for them. They were to announce the kingdom of
heaven ; and He, the King, would undertake all charges.
They were to go with the fullest confidence in Him. Now,
although His servants are not to look to the world, or to use
human means of acting on men or saints ; and although they
may confidently look to God to provide for them, still they
are not put in the same circumstances as these disciples. The
difference is strongly sheAvii. Let us take, for instance, such a
command as this, " Into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter,
enquire who in It is worthy, and there abide till ye go thence."
(Ver. 11.) Think of a man going out with the gospel uow, and
asking. Who is worthy? He wants the unworthy. It Is a
totally different mission from that which followed after the
death and resurrection of Jesus. It was a mission to Israel :
and Jehovah wanted the excellent In the earth, those whose
hearts really desired the Messiah. Hence they were to ask who,
in any city, were worthy, and there to abide. "And when ye
come into an house, salute It ; and if the house be worthy, let
your peace come upon It ; but If It be not worthy, let your
peace return to you." (Ver. 12, 13.) This is not at aU the way
in which the gospel goes out now. On the contrary, it is peace
with God that the servant of Christ is entitled to proclaim to
His enemies. It is on the wretched, the outcast, the base, the
despised, on those who have got nothing at all, and whom God
brings down to take the place of being nothing, that His peace
now descends. The direct bearing ofthe gospel Is towards those
Avho are evidently despicable, and Anie, and forlorn : because the
gospel is the fulness of the grace of God where man has nothing
whatever to give to God. Nothing can be more, blessed.
Whether old or young, if they are broken down to feel that
they are utterly unfit for God, but that God has provided such a
SaAiour as His word declares He has, then I cannot trust Him
too fully or too simply. The essence of the gospel is this : It is

CHAPTER X. 165
AA'hat God gives to me, not what I owe to God. It is the gospel
of God — the gospel of His Son : but here it is the gospel of the
kingdom. You will constantly find this phrase in Matthew.
This gospel goes out to those that are worthy. If the house
were worthy, the peace of the messenger comes upon it ; and
if not, it returns. "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor
hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake
off the dust of your feet." (Ver. 14.) There was a spirit of
judgment upon them — " Verily, I say unto you. It shall be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of
judgment, than for that city" (ver. 15) : just because they had
the messengers of the kingdom coming to them with a gracious
message, and they would not receive them.
From verse 16 commences the Lord's warning of the cir
cumstances in which the gospel of the kingdom was to be
preached. " Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of
woh^es : be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doA'es."
That is, He calls for prudence, heaA^enly prudence, that God's
power would make safe — caUs them to be wise as serpents, but
at the same time simple as doves. There was to be the most
entire holiness ui the object and character of the prudence, and
that also which ought thoroughly to be fi-eQ of all just charge of
being injurious to men. " But beware of men ;" do not suppose
that, although you go forth with love in your hearts, you will
not meet with wolves. " Beware of men." The Jews them
selves are plainly intimated. " Beware of men ; for they will
deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
their synagogues ; and ye shall be brought before governors and
kings." (Ver. 17, 18.) This shews their degradation; but
although they were under the yoke of the Gentiles, they would
scruple at nothing, where it Avas a question of Christ's apostles.
They would be quite wiUIng to invoke Gentile authority where
it became a question of Christ's followers. They themselves
would drag them before the Gentile kings and governors,
abhorred as they were. But our Lord adds this gracious word
— " for my sake, for a testiraony against them and the Gentiles."
This is the only way in which the Gentiles come in. Israel

166 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
might thus summon the disciples of Christ before the Gentiles,
but God is taking care that this should turn for a testimony to
them and the Gentiles. Thus God turns the weapons of the
adversary against himself. " Surely the wrath of man shall
praise Thee : the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain." One
cannot but feel that such a truth as this, though It has special
application to apostles setting out on this mission, most surely
remains living for us. The pith of it abides eternally true. " But
when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall
speak ; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall
speak. For It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your
Father which speaketh in you." (Ver. 19, 20.) At the same
time He prepares them for the most heartless conduct on the
part even of relatives. The brother would know the habits of
his brother, the father would knoAV all about the child, and the
child about the father : all this would be turued against the
servants of Christ. " Ye shall be hated of all men" (It was uni
versal exposure) " for my name's sake ; but he that endureth to
the end shall be saA-ed." " But when they persecute you in this
city, flee ye into another : for verily I say unto you. Ye shall not
have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come"
(Ver. 23) — a, very remarkable statement. "Ye shall not have
gone over," or, as the margin has it, finished — " the cities of
Israel, till the Son of man be come." That exactly recalls the
expression that I made use of before : the Church is a great
parenthesis. The mission, of the apostles was abruptly ter
minated by the death of Christ. They still carried it out
afterwards for awhile, but it was terminated completely by the
destruction of Jerusalem : the whole thing was manifestly
removed for the time being, but not for ever. The calling of
the Church was the only thing that remained. When the Lord
has taken the Church out of the world to heaven, God will raise
up witnesses to the Messiah upon earth. The earth is reserved
for the Jew, when the Jew shall be converted ; because God will
never break His promise. God has declared that He would give
His land to His people, and He will do so. God must give
that land to that people, for His gifts and calling are without

CHAPTER X. 167
repentance. It is a necessary consequence of God's faithfiilness,
that the Jewish people are yet to be restored to their own land,
when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in. The calling of the
fulness of the Gentiles is the parenthesis that is going on now.
When this is over, the Lord resumes His links with Israel. They
will go back to the land in unbelief The testimony of the king
dom, which was begun in the time of our Lord by the apostles,
will be taken up In Jerusalem ; and In the midst of their
preaching, the Son of nian will corae, and then there will be a
new raeaiis used : " He will send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
do Iniquity ; and shall cast them into a ftirnace of fire  Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father." The Lord will accomplish fully in that day what was
committed to man, and what broke down through man's weak or
wicked hand. Then everything raider the Branch of Israel shall
be glorious. This is what, I concelA'e, goes along with the re
markable expression that they should not have gone over the cities
of Israel, till the Son of man came. The whole, period of the
Lord's turning aside to call In the Gentiles now is passed OA'er
in silence. He speaks of what was going out then, and of what
will be resumed in glory, passing over what is being done
meanwhile. In the latter part of the chapter He gives sweet motives
to encourage thera. " The disciple is not above his master,
nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple
that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord : if
they have caUed the master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of his household?" (Ver. 24, 25.)
He was proA^Ing this now, and they would have to feel it in their
turn. "Fear them not therefore." The first motive for not
fearing Is, I have traversed the same path ; My path is the only
right path through the world; do not be afraid. "Fear them
not ; for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and
hid that shall not be known." You will understand the reasons
and motives of people's unbelief another day, if not now. Every
one that knows the truth, and does not follow it, must haA'e a

168 LECTURES ON THE GOSPDL OF AIATTHEW.
dislike to those who do. As it was Avith Me, so wIU it be with
you: but do not be alarmed. Be fuU of good courage, and
persist in the te,stimony. "What I teU you in darkness, that
speak ye In light : and what ye hear In the ear, that preach ye
upon the housetops." (Ver. 27.) He encourages them to the
greatest openness and boldness. And uow comes in a second
admonition not to fear, on another ground : after all, what harm
can they do ? They cannot touch the soul ; nor can they even
touch the body, unless your heavenly Father allows it. " Fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul."
They cannot Injure you. There is nothing Avhich a believer has
to dread, except grieving and sinning against God. Therefore
He immediately adds, " Rather fear him Avhich is able to
destroy both soul and body In hell." You may know your own
deliverance ; but It is a fearful thing to apprehend what is before
God's enemies — the destruction of soul and body in hell !
" Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore ;
A-e are of more A-alue than many sparrows." (Ver. 29 — 31.)
That Is, the special care of our Father for His own children is
drawn from this, that even the very sparrow, though so despised
and trivial a bird among men, yet cannot fall to the ground
" without your Father." He might haA^e said, Without God ;
but He preferred to say, Your Father. All belongs to Him.
It Is all measured by Him — everything even in the outward
world — by our Father.
From verse 32 to the end of the chapter, Ave have the im
portance of the confession of Christ and the effects of it in this
world. The first great principle is this : " Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my
Father which Is in heaven. But Avhosoever shall deny me
before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in
heaA'en." (Ver. 32, 33.) We have had the Father's care; we
have now the Son's confession by and by. The Father's care
Is known upon earth, whatever may be the trial. The Son's con
fession of us will be in heaven, when all the scene of trial is over.

CHAPTER X. 169
Then He warns them that they must not be surprised if they
found the result of their testimony very painful — households
getting into confusion, members of a family at A'arlance one with
another. Do not be surprised. " Think not," He says, " that
I am come to send peace on earth." We know that the Lord
can give us peace always by all means : but He is speaking here
of the entrance of His testimony, througli His disciples, into a
world that hates Him. Inevitably, then, the two principles
come into collision. It Is not that He desires confusion, but it
is the natural eff'ect of the knowledge of Christ entering a house
where either the heads or the inferior members of it reject
Christ. As it is in the world, so in the house. There are those
that believe and those that believe not. " Think not that I
am come to send peace on earth : I came not to send peace,
but a sword." (Ver. 34.) Dream not that everything is going
to be triumphant. The day is coming when the Lord will cause
peace to flow as a river ; but He sheAvs that such is not the
character nor the eff'ect of His first coming. It will be so when
He comes again. But meanwhile It is not peace, but a sword.
It is the badge of war iioav, and must be so ; because of the
opposition which unbelief ahvays creates against the truth.
" For I am come to set a man at variance against his father,
and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of
his own household." (Ver. 35, 36.) The Lord boldly meets the
case. I am come to bring In my principle ; and let it be a
child, and he Is against his father. Now this Is the very thing
that turns out one of our severest trials — the effect that the
testimony of God has upon families. People- speak of house
holds being broken up, and kindred disunited. The Lord
already uses the same words, and strengthens us not to mind It.
" He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy
of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me,
is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and
foUoweth after me, is not worthy of rae. He that findeth his
life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall
find it." (Ver. 37 — 39.) He shews that He had come for

170 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
anything but giving us a path of ease in this world. On the
contrary, we must have trial, rejection, and scorn ; we must
make up our minds to suffer. But then He adds the other side,
"He that receiveth you, recelA^eth me; and he that receiveth
me, recelA-eth him that sent me." (Ver. 40.) There Avould be
those that would receive, as well as those that would reject.
" He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet" (that
is, as a prophet), if he kiieAv he was a servant of God, and
received him as such, in the face of shame and scorn, he should
have the same reward as a prophet himself " And he that
receiveth a righteous man In the name of a righteous man" —
other people might call him unrighteous, but he receives
him, not as a mere man, or as a friend or relative,
but as righteous, and he " shall receive a righteous man's
reward." He proved that his OAvn heart was right AA'itli God.
We always shew our real state of soul by the opinion we
pronounce. Supposing I speak or act unwarrantably against a
good man doing his duty, I shew that I am not with God in
that particular thing. On the other hand, if I have faith to
discern what is of God, and to take my part Avith him in the
face of general desertion, happy am I indeed. God alone
enables a man to do so. It thus remains true that we always
betray Avhere our hearts are, by our judgments of and conduct
toward others.
"And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little
ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I
say unto you, he shall In no AAise lose his roAvard." (Ver. 42.)
It would be the evidence and proof that the Spirit Avas at work
in his soul. The Lord Avas shewing him mercy, and his own
heart Avas drawn out In the path of mercy and of sympathy
with those Avho are of God in this world. He should In no
wise lose his reward. It Is the outward conduct springing fi-om
the Inward principle. In all these cases it is clearly the Jewish
mission of these disciples. I believe that we thus get the true
character of the chapter and the place it occupies in the gospel.
The point Is, the Lord, as the Lord of the harvest, not only
bidding them pray, but Himself anticipating the prayer.

CHAPTER XL 171
" Before they call, I will answer." The Lord is acting In the
very spirit of that which will be fully true in the last days.
He Is Himself sending forth the labourers. In Luke we are
told that He refers to this very mission, and asks, " When I
sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any
thing? and they said. Nothing." Then the Lord tells them
they were to provide themselves with purse, and scrip, and
sword : the very things which they were not to do before, they
were to do from that time. The Lord abrogates what He had
here enjoined, as far as the special circumstances were concerned.
His goodness and love to them, and their walking in wisdom
and harmlessness, would abide ; but the peculiar character of
this mission terminated at the death of Christ. It will, I con
ceive, be taken up again by others at a future day : but the
disciples actually sent out were soon to be called to a new work,
founded upon redemption and the resurrection of our Lord.

o>l«<^

CHAPTER XL
The chapter at which we are arrived is full of interest and
importance ; and specially inasmuch as it Is a kind of transition.
And that which gives occasion for the Spirit of God to bring
out and to illustrate the transition from the testimony to Israel
to the new order of things that our Lord was about to introduce,
is the fact that John the Baptist, In prison because of his own
rejection, is now found in the exercise of his personal faith,
responsibilltv, and patience. When he was simply fulfilling his
prophetic office, none could be more uiiAvaverlng than he In his
testimony to Christ. But it Is one thing for a man to preach
the truth, another thing for him to enjoy it. And even If he feel
the preciousness of what he teaches, there may be moments when
faith is put thoroughly to the proof, and when the strongest may ¦

172 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
know what it is to be "cast down, though not destroyed."
Certainly this was the case with John the Baptist. It was not
merely his disciples that were stumbled by his being in prison.
Infidels ask now. If scripture be truth, how is It that people do
not receive it ? Why is it not more widely spread ? I do not
deny that the bare geographical area which the profession of the
truth covers is larger now than it once Avas. But we kno-w that
at first there were many tens of thousands that foUowed the name
of the Lord Jesus in one city alone ; and the moral weight and
power was incomparably greater, for they walked in superiority
to the world. Still the great difficulty comes up again, and we
find that what works in the mind of a sceptic may be found
more or less disquieting the believer, because the, believer has
got that AA'hich is of nature in him still. Doubtless he has life
everlasting in Christ, but he has also In him what scripture calls
the fiesh ; and the fiesh is always an unbelieving thing. The
natural mind of man never has confidence in God. Hence it
came to pass that, blessed as John the Baptist was, yet does he
send his disciples Avith the query, " Art thou he that- should
come, or do we look for another?" Here we find the great
'iz'irence between the boldness of language that a man might
hold in his office as a prophet, and what he now uses when
-•3:-ything is dark around him. I do not mean that he doubted
tnoroughly, but there seems to have been a question that passed
through his mind, and a confirmation of faith was wanted ; a
raost instructive Instance of the solemn truth that there is no
good thing in man-. No doubt the most blessed things have
been wrought by man, but they have been wrought because the
power of Christ has rested upon him. But here we have this
favoured and otherwise faithful man putting such a question,
the very last that we might have expected. We may try and
make excuses for it ; but it remains true and plain that John the
Baptist, instead of answering with the confidence of faith the
question of his disciples, if it was such, has to send some of them
to Jesus, saying, " Art thou he that should come, or do we look
for another?" The Lord replies, "Go and shew John again
those things which ye do hear and see, &c. And blessed

CHAPTER XI. 173
is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Ver. 4, 6.)
Our Lord's answer evinces that It was not the disciples
merely, but himself also that was shaken. These are the
two parts of Christ's ministry — His words and His works,
" those things which ye do hear and see,'* the word always
haA'Ing the higher place of the two ; the works being what would
appeal rather to the senses ; whereas the word of Christ is that
which deals with the heart and conscience by the Spirit of God.
Still they were to go and tell John what they heard and saw.
And therein we have what the Old Testament had predicted
as signs and effects of the Messiah's power. We have not, I
believe, one case of curing the blind before Christ came. It was
a miracle which, according to Jewish tradition, was reserved for
the Son of David. He it was who, according to Isaiah xxxv.,
was to open the eyes of the blind. The Lord puts the blind
receiving their sight as the first outward miracle to indicate
that He was really the Christ that was to come. And what the
Lord puts last of all, but not the least weighty, is, that " the
noor have the gospel preached to them." What is it but a
' f-s ¦;-.-. ,a,,.;i'",r tender mercy of God, that while the
is more especially, if there be any
w misery, trial, contempt, in a selfish
woriai^ iiie liuiu aaas, "Blessed is he whosoever shall not
be offended in me." A remarkable word. It was easy to be
stumbled then. What a word of warning ! A man sent from
God for a witness, that all might believe in Christ ; and here,
when this very man Is put thoroughly to the test, the Lord has
to bear witness to him, instead of his bearing witness to the
Lord ! How constantly do we see man breaking down when he
is thus weighed ; but what a blessed thing that we have such a
God to deal with man, if He be only counted on ! Unbelief is
the only key to so extraordinary a state of things ; and this it Is
which was at work in the question put to our Lord by John.
But when these messengers departed, the Lord shews His
tender compassion and regard for him, and begins to vindicate the
same John who had shewn his feebleness under suffering and
protracted hope. He asks them, " What went ye out into the

174 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
wUderness to see?" A hard judgment might have concluded it
was but " a reed shaken with the wind," when John sent dis
ciples with the question just put. But no ; the Lord wIU not
allow it. He maintains the honour of John. He has gh-en a
little rebuke to John privately by his disciples ; but before the
multitudes He clothes him with honour. " But what went ye
out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?" It is In
courts that you look for the grandeur of the world. " Behold,
they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what
went ye out for to see ? A prophet ? Yea, I say unto you,
and more than a prophet" (ver. 8, 9) ; because John had a
peculiar place that no prophet had assigned to him — to be the
immediate forerunner of the Lord, a cotemporary herald of the
Messiah Himself. John not only was a prophet, but the pro
phets prophesied of John ; and the Lord says of him, " Verily I
say unto you. Among them that are born of women there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist." But mark the
word, for it is one of the most striking in this transitional
chapter : " Notwithstanding, he that is least In the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he." (Ver. 11.) What is the meaning ?
Our Lord first says that among those born of women there had
not risen a greater than John the Baptist, of course Himself
excepted. Here, then. He is speaking of John, not as compared
with Himself, but with others. He was the greatest born of
women ; " notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven Is greater than he." It means clearly that there was
a new order of things commencing. In which the privileges that
God's sovereign grace would confer (for it is uot a question
of man's forming his own scheme about these things) would be
so great, that the least in the dispensation about to open would
be greater than the greatest in aU the past. Of course this is
not as to their faith or as to anything in themselves ; neither
does it mean that a weak believer now is greater than a man
of mighty faith in times past; nor that some poor soul, anxious
and troubled about his acceptance, is in a healthier state than
those who could rejoice, like Simeon, in God their Saviour,
Yet the Lord does say that the greatest of those gone by is

CHAPTER XL 175
less than the least now. " He that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he," i.e., than John the Baptist.
" The kingdom of heaven" iicA'cr means heaven : they are
different ideas as well as expressions. " The kingdom of
heaven" always means that which, while it has Its source in
heaA^en, has its sphere over the earth. It may be applied, as it
often Is, to what is going on now ; or, as sometimes, to what
wUl go on when the Lord comes in glory, and brings His rule
in a manifested form to bear upon the earth. But the kingdom
of heaven always supposes the earth as the scene upon which
the privileges of heaven are made known. The Lord Jesus
sees Himself rejected; but God, in His grace, turns the fact
of the rejection of Jesus to the discovery and introduction of far
greater blessing than if Jesus had been received. Supposing
the Lord had been accepted by man when He came, He would
have blessed man, and kept him alh'e upon the earth : He would
have bound the devil, and brought in countless mercies for the
creature in general. Still, what would have been all that with
out the vindication of God in the matter of sin ? Neither moral
glory nor supreme love would have been shewn as they now are.
For what could it be more than divine energy barring out the
power of Satan? — a mere though all-powerful medicine, or
remedial raeasure, staying the power of evil and death in the
world ? But the death of Christ is, at once, the depth of man's
wickedness and the height of God's goodness ; for in the cross
the one proved his utter hatred and iniquity, the other His
perfect holy love. It was raan's unrighteousness that put Him
there — it was God's grace that brought Him there ; and Christ
risen from the dead takes His place as the beginning, the Head
ofa new creation, and displays it In His own person now, as a
matter of faith to thera that believe ; puts them, while thev are
still in this world, struggUng with the doA'Il, in this place of
blessing ; sheds the joy of redemption into their hearts, and fills
them with the certainty that they are born of God — their sins
being all forgiven — and that they are only waiting for Him to
come and crown the Avork of His love, when they shall be raised
from the dead and changed into His glory. It is true to faith

176 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
now, and will be true to sight by and by ; but it is true always
from the time it was introduced. It began with Christ's ascen
sion into heaven, and it will terminate by Christ's descent from
heaven, when He will bring in this power of the kingdom over
the earth. What, then, has the least believer got now ? Look
at saints of old. John the Baptist was resting upon promises.
Even he, blessed as he was, could not say. My sins are blotted
out, my iniquities are all gone. Before the death alid resurrec
tion of Christ, saints could only, but with joy, look forward to
this certainty, and say, It will be blessed Indeed ! They might
be sure that It was God's intention, but it hung upon a promise ;
it was not an accomplished thing. And, after all, if you were
in prison, you would know the difference between a promise to
bring you out and the fact of your liberty when fairly out.
This Is just the difference. John the Bajitlst could not say, nor
could the most advanced saint say, before the death of Christ,
My sins are all gone ; though he would and ought to say, I am
quite sure, that, when Messiah comes, everlasting righteousness
will be brought in, and an end of sins will be made. But here
appears the wonderful thing, that Messiah Is come and has done
the work. The atoning work is done ; and the consequence is,
that all who belleA^e are entitled to say, I have no longer a single
particle of sin upon me In the presence of God.
This is not true of some Christians in particular. I say it
about every Christian, and I want every Christian to say It
about himself; that Is, that every Christian should take the
place that God gives him in Christ. And what would be the
eff'ect of this ? Christians could not walk with the world in the
way they do ; nor could they use the language either that we
so constantly hear taken up.
What I find, then, in the word of God Is this : there was a
new dispensation about to open, in which the very least Is
invested with privileges that the greatest could not and ought
not to possess before. And this, because God sets infinite value
upon the death of His Son. It Is not only that there is the
promise of it, blessed as that Avas ; but God puts the greatest
possible honour upon the death of Christ. And, therefore, as

CHAPTEE xr. 177
With an earthly sovereign it is the custom to put particular
honour upon an epoch of special joy to himself ; if man can do
that about the birth of a child, still more how simple and
according to what faith may expect from God is it that He should
attach peculiar glory to that work of Christ by which redemption
has been accomplished, though it be in the death of His Son?
Now, everything is given ; and God can invite souls not to forget
their sins, or turn away their eyes from them ; but looking at
them fairly and ftiUy, before the cross of Christ, He can call
upon thera to say, " The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth
from all sin." This is the foundation of Christianity. Knowing
this, we must see how entirely evil is the place of a priest now ;
that is, of one particular mortal man put in a position to draw
near to God for others. Every Christian is a priest — man,
woman, or child, it does not matter. All Christians are not
ministers. This is another thing. Ministry and priesthood,
though so often confounded, have not one idea in common
between them. God gives this peculiar privilege now, that
every believer is a priest of God ; that is, he is entitled to draw
near into the holiest of all, with aU sin judged, all his iniquities
purged away, so that he may be thoroughly happy in the
presence of God while he is upon earth. I have given but a
small part of the privileges of the least in the kingdom of
heaven now. And remember this — aU the grand prerogatives
of Christianity are common privileges. One man may preach,
and another may not ; but this says nothing about the
privileges of the kingdom. There was something that belonged
speciaUy to Paul, as the servant of God, which others did not
possess : but any gifted one might preach, and there might not
even be life in the soul. Caiaphas might testify, and Balaam
too, and both utter true things ; and Paul is willing to take such
a place, and shews that he raight preach to others, and yet, if
regardless of holiness, be himself a castaway. Nothing can be
more simple. But this has nothing to do with the blessings I
have been speaking of as the portion of believers now.
The privileges of the kingdom are now the universal heritage
of the family of faith ; the least of them is greater even than
N

178 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
John the Baptist. Great efforts have been made to shake the
meaning of this verse. It has been taught that the least in the
kingdom of heaven is Jesus Himself !— Jesus, of course, in His-
humiUation, in His going to the cross. But what an utter
ignorance of the mind of God is there manifested by such a
remark ! For the kingdom of heaven was not yet come. It
was preached, but it was not yet actually set up. And Jesus,
far from being "the least" in that kingdom, was Himself the
king ; so that it would be derogatory to His person to call Him
even the greatest, not to speak of " the least," in the kingdom-
It would be want of reverence, as well as of inteUigence, to say
that He was In the kingdom at all : and perhaps it would be
more true to say that the kingdom was in Him ; for it was
morally, and as far as divine power went, in the person of our
Lord. " If I," says He to the Jews, " cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." It
was arrived in His person. He being the King, and having the
power thereof, it was there in Him. But if you look at " the
kingdom of heaven" as a state of things introduced into this
world, Christ had to go up to heaven first — a rejected king, no
doubt, but still as such to sit on the right hand of God — and
thereon the kingdom of heaven commenced. The kingdom was
not actuaUy established tiU Jesus went up on high. Then it
began, first spiritually, as by and by it will shine in power and
glory. Hence it is clear that in this chapter we stand upon the
confines of the past dispensation, and of the one that was about to
open. John the Baptist is on the scene, as the last and greatest
witness of that which was closing. Elijah was coming. But
Elijah had come now in the person of John the Baptist. John
was doing the moral work that was associated with Elijah's
mission ; preparing the day of the Lord, and making the way
for Himself. I do not say that Elijah may not come another
day, but that John was the then witness of Elijah's service. He
was come " In the spirit and power of Ellas :" and, as our Lord
says a little after, ''^ If ye will receive it, this is Ellas, which was
for to come." Such he was to faith. Like the kingdom of
heaven now, it is a testimony to the future kingdom when

CHAPTER XL 179
displayed in power and glory, John was to faith then what
Elias will be by and by. The kingdom of heaven is to faith
now what the kingdom of heaven will be to sight hereafter.
The Lord intimates that a dispensation of faith is coming in,
when the promises were not to be accomplished in the letter.
But just as John the Baptist was cast into prison — a tremen
dous trial for a Jew who looked at him as a great prophet to
usher in the Messiah in visible majesty, so he says here, " He
that hath ears to hear, let him hear." It has to be received by
the attentive ear of faith. How extraordinary it must have
appeared to Israel that the forerunner of the Messfeih should
be in prison, and the Messiah Hiraself afterwards nailed upon
the cross ! But before the outward glory comes, there must be
the suffering — yea, and redemption — effected. Hence, the least
now who has this blessing of faith, who enjoys these astonishing
privileges which the Holy Ghost is bringing out as the gift of
God's sovereign grace, is greater than John the Baptist. For
it is God's doing and giving and ordering. Judgment is His
strange work ; but grace is the deUght of God's heart. It is His
joy by Christ to bless the man that has not the smaUest claim
upon Him. And such is His work now. But what would be
the effect of this among the Jews ? Our Lord compares them
to capricious people, who would neither do one thing nor
another. If gladness is going on, they have no sympathy with
it; neither have they with sorrow. John the Baptist called
them to mourn : they had no heart for it. Then came Jesus,
bidding them, as it were, to rejoice at the glad tidings of great
joy : but they heeded Him not. They liked neither. John was
too strict, and the Lord too gracious, for them. They could not
bear either. The truth is, man disllkps God ; and there is no
greater proof of his ignorance of himself than that he does not
believe it. Whatever they might plead in the way of abuse
of John the Baptist, or of Himself, " Wisdom is justified of
her children."
Accordingly He shews how wisdom was justified, positively
and negatively. " He began to upbraid the cities wherein most
of his mighty works were done, because they repented not.

180 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! 
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted raito heaven, shalt be
brought doAm to heU : for if the raighty works," &c. (Ver. 20—
24.) What more solemn I They refuse the voice of heavenly
wisdom ; aud the result must be, a judgment more unsparing
than that which had of old made Sodom the monument of
God's vengeance. Was there one place, one city, in the land
more favoured than another ? It was Capernaum, where most
of His miracles were Avrought : and yet this very city should be
brought down to heU. Even Sodom, the most notorious and
depraved of all places, had not come under so fearfiil a sentence.
The Lord never visits in judgment tiU He has exhausted aU
means to see whether things are as bad as they looked. But
when He does judge, who shaU be able to stand ? Thus should
wisdom be justified, if I may venture so to say, by those that
are not her children.
But now comes the positive part. " At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and
earth." From " Woe, woe," Jesus could turn round and say,
" I thank thee, 0 Father." Not that the events recorded here
took place together. The whole scene about John the Baptist
occurred long before the Lord aUuded to the wise and prudent
rejecting Him and the babes recelAing Him. The gospel of
Lulie occasionaUy gives precise marks of time, and shews that
the Lord's reception of John's messengers was at an early
jperlod of His ministry, very shortly after the healing of the
centurion's servant ; whereas His thanldng the Father was
after the return of the seventy disciples who were sent out
on the final testimony, which is not mentioned in Matthew
at aU. The Holy Ghost in our gospel puts aside, in gen
eral, mere successions of time, and welds together events
separated by months or years, provided they illustrate the
great truth that it was His object here to bring out, viz., the
true Messiah, presented with adequate proofs to Israel, but
rejected ; and this tumed of God's grace to be the occasion of
better blessings than if the Lord had been received.
And while the solemn sight is before us of man's growing

CHAPTER XL 181
rejection Jesus says, " I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven
and earth" (It is not now any hopes limited to the earth, but
He is looked to as Lord of heaven and earth — the sovereign
disposer of aU things), " because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so. Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are
delivered unto me of ray Father." I may be refused the throne
of Israel ; the Jews may reject, the leaders despise Me : aU this
may be, but what is the result ? Not merely what was promised
to David or Solomon, but "aU things are delivered unto me of
my Father." Where, when, were such thoughts as these divulged
before ? Take the most wonderful prediction in the Psalms and
prophets, and where do you get anything like them? It Is
clearly the rejected Messiah who, when man refuses Hira,
submits to it. They strip Him of His robes of Messianic glory,
and what coraes out ? He is the Son of the Father, the Son of
God from all eternity, the blessed divine Person who could look
up and say, " Father." Refuse Him in His earthly dignity, and
He only shines in His heavenly one ; despise Him as a man,
and He is manifestly God.
" And no man knoweth the Son but the Father : neither
knoweth any raan the Father save the Son, and he to whom
soever the Son will reveal him." (Ver. 27.) He is revealing
the Father now. It is not merely that He is come to accomplish
the promises of God, but He is revealing the Father — bringing
souls into a deeper knowledge of God than was possible before.
" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest." (Ver. 28.) It is perfect grace : no restric
tion ; no setting the Jew In the foremost seat of honour. But
" Come unto me, all ye that labour." Jew or Gentile, it matters
not ; do you labour ? Are you miserable ? Can you find no
comfort' " Come unto me, aU ye that labour, .... and I avIU
give you rest." It Is without condition or qualification, if the
needy but go to Him. " Come unto me." This is the proof of
the Father's drawing — that I go to Jesus. ' "All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh unto
me I will in no wise cast out." It is the Son of the Father in

182 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
John; and Matthew here draws near, and we have the like
freedom of grace. For grace is always found most fuU and free
where the Son is brought out in all His glory. " Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light." (Ver. 29, 30.) Grace does not leave
men to do as they list, but makes Its object desire to do the will
of God. So, immediately after saying, " I wiU give you rest,"
He, our Lord, adds, " Take my yoke upon you" — ^not the
yoke of their fathers, but that of Jesus. God now reveals
Christ, and the Son is revealing the Father. Therefore He
says, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I ara
meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Mark the difference. In verse 28, it is " Come unto me, ....
and I will give you rest." There it is pure, absolute grace ; but,
" take my yoke upon you  and ye shall find rest to your
souls." He is saying, as it were. Now you have got to obey
Me, to be subject to Me, and the effect will be finding rest to
your souls. When the sinner goes in his wretchedness to Jesus,
the SaAdour gives him rest — yea, "without money and without
price." But if that soul does not follow on in the ways of
Christ, he becomes miserable, and loses the comfort he had at
first. Why ? He has not taken Christ's yoke upon him. The
terms on which the Lord gives rest to the sinner are, " Come
unto me," just as you are, "allje that labour and are heavy
laden." The terms on which tlie believer finds rest are, " Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly
in heart." The Lord thus secures His dignity, and keeps up
His moral government over His people. They are more dis
turbed than any, if not subject to Christ; they can neither
enjoy Him nor the world. If I have got such a blessing as
Christ, and yet am not bearing His yoke, God does not intend
that I should be happy. All else is a false happiness. The
only true enjoyment for our souls, now that we have got Christ,
depends on taking His yoke upon us, and learning of Him,
bound to Him as One that we have evermore to serve and to
worship.

CHAPTER XIL
CHAPTER XII. completes the picture of the transition begun in
chapter xi. and shews that, before God, the crisis was come.
The Lord might continue to become the object of stiU deeper
rejection, but the spirit that crucified Him had already mani
fested itself clearly. In the centre of this chapter we have 'the
warning of the unpardonable sin, not merely against the
Messiah, but against the Holy Ghost bearing His testimony
to the Messiah ; and, further, the fact that Israel, as a nation,
would be guilty of that sin, and hence be given up to the power
of Satan, beyond example in aU their sad history. So that the
evil for which God had aUowed them to be carried captive to
Babylon, was a little thing in comparison of the iniquity of
which they were now, in spirit, guilty, and into which they
were about to sink. This thoroughly closes the announcement
of the crisis ; and chapter xiii. introduces a new thing — the
kingdom of heaven about to be set up in its present mysterious
form, because of the rejection of the MessiaL
I must now proceed to shew how far aU the incidents in this
chapter strengthen the general idea, how far aU is in harmony
with the leading thought — the grand break between Christ and
Israel. Therefore it is that the Holy Ghost here does not
confine Himself to the mere order of time in which the events
took place. "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath-day
through the com, and his disciples were an hungered, and began
to pluck the ears of corn and to eat." (Ver. 1.) We are not to
Suppose that "at that time" means "at that exact moment."
It is a general term, embracing events somewhat connected,
though there might be months between them. It is not like
"immediately," or "forthwith," or "the week after," &o.
What did intervene we must gather from other gospels. If we
compare that of Mark, we find that the scene of the corn-fields
took place early in our Lord's ministry. Thus, in chapter ii.,

184 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
on the sabbath-day following the caU of Levi and the discourse
about fasting, we are told that " He went through the corn-
fields." Here we have this incident taken completely out of its
historical connection. Mark adheres rigorously to' the order of
events: Matthew departs from it in order to give the great
change consequent on the Messiah's rejection by Israel. Our
Lord's word of woe upon Chorazin and Bethsaida, and of their
blessedness who received Him, was spoken by no means early.
Here they are put together, because the object of the Holy
Ghost in the first gospel is to shew this change. Hence, what
would prove the change is selected and reserved for this place.
In short, the Holy Ghost is giving us an historical picture
apart from the mere date in which the events took place ; and
the events and discourses that illustrate the great transition are all
grouped together. The disciples passed through the corn, and
began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat, according to the
liberty aUowed them in the law. " When the Pharisees saw
it, they said unto him. Behold, thy disciples do that which is not
lawful to do on the sabbath-day." (Ver. 2.) Our Lord then
cites two incidents, one of thein a constantly-recurring fact
among the priests, the other recorded of their most conspicuous
king, David : both proving the sin and utter ruin of Israel.
What was the state of things when David was obliged to use
the shew-bread? Was it not because the true king was a
despised, persecuted mau — ^because the king of their oAvn hearts'
choice was there? It was the same thing now. The sin of
Israel profaned the holy bread. God would not accept aught
as holy frora people that were living in sin. No ceremonial is
worth a straw, if the heart does not honour Christ. Why were
the disciples reduced to pluck and eat the ears of corn ? Why
were the followers of the true King reduced to hunger ?
Besides, " Have ye not read in the law, how that on the
sabbath-days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and
are blameless?" (Ver. 5.) The priests did a very important
work upon that day. They oflfered sacrifices then, because
there was sin ; and the people's sin demands what, accord
ing to the letter of the law, would seem to a Pharisee

CHAPTER XII. 185
to be a breach of it. It does not matter what the law
may ordinarily claim, if you have sin on the part of God's
people, sacrifice cannot be deferred. Thus, whether you take
the particular instance of the Lord's anointed in Saul's day, or
the constant priestly service on the sabbath-day, one thing
accounted for all disorder, whether real or apparent — Israel were
sinners. They had aUowed the chosen of the Lord to be hunted
upon the mountains when he was there ; and a greater than
David was here. And so as to the priests and their work. There
was one infinitely greater than the temple there, Messiah Him
self: and what was not their indiff'erence, nay, their enmity,
towards Him?
But not only this ; there was another sabbath-day necessary
to complete the sketch. And now Jesus does work Himself;
and these two things are brought together here. " When he
was departed thence, he went into their synagogue ; and behold,
there was a man which had his hand withered; and they
asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-days ? that
they might accuse him." The Lord accepted the challenge.
" He said unto them, What man shaU there be among you that
shaU have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day,
wiU he not lay hold on it and lift it out?" (Ver. 11.) Of
course they would deUver the poor sheep out of the pit, because
it was their own sheep. They had no conscience about doing
what was to their own advantage because it was the sabbath-day.
And the Lord does not blame them ; but He presses this most
pungent conclusion upon them — " How much, then, is a man
better than a sheep ? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the
sabbath-days." (Ver. 12.) In a word, He shews us by this
second case that not only was Israel a guilty people respecting
the true Beloved, but besides that, they were a people who,
if they knew their oAvn condition, would oAvn themselves to be
like the man with the withered hand, and thus be wiUing to
receive and submit to Him. He was there in grace to accom-
pUsh all necessary healing. The Lord pressed upon them their
dismal condition. The whole nation before God was morally
as withered as that man's hand physically : not wiUing, alas ! to

186 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
be healed like him ; but as far as utter deadness before God was
concerned, such was their state. " Then saith he to the man.
Stretch forth thine hand ; and he stretched it forth, and it was
restored whole as the other." (Ver. 13.) Why is this recorded
here as having occurred on the sabbath-day ? Why especially
ill connection with the incident of the corn-field ? Li the first,
the Lord proves Israel's guilt in contrast with the sanctity of
the sabbath ; and in the second He declares Himself there to
work restoration CA-en on the sabbath. It is an account of all
importance ; because the Lord Is, as it were, tearing in pieces
the outward letter of the bond between Him and Israel, of which
the sabbath-day was a special sign.
I may here observe, the Lord's day differs essentially from
the sabbath-day ; and in the early Church there was scrupulous
care taken not to confound the two things. The sabbath and
the Lord's day are signs of wholly distinct truths. The first
owed its origin to God's hallowing His rest when creation was
done ; and it was the token that, when God would finish His
works, there would be a holy rest for man. Then sin came in,
and all was ruined. We do not hear a word about it (at least,
directly), till a people Is called out from among all others to
serve the true God, as His chosen nation. We have seen, in
the Old Testament as well as the New, how utterly they failed ;
and now the only hope of having a true sabbath is when Christ
Himself shall bring it in. When Adam sinned, death passed
upon all, and the rest of creation was broken. Then (after the
type of Christ in the manna, with the sabbath foUowing) came
in the law, which took up the sabbath, incorporated it in the
ten words and the statutes of Israel, and made it not only a
hallowed day, but a day of command, which was enjoined upon
them like the other nine words ; a day in which every Israelite
was bound, not only to abstain from work himself, but to give rest
to everything that was his. It was not a question of a spiritual
people. AU Israel were bound by it, and they shared its rest
along with their cattle. The Lord's day, on the other hand,
never was heard of till Christ rose from the dead. Thence issued
an entirely new order of things. Christ, the beginning, the

CHAPTER XII. 187
head of a new creation, rose from the dead on the first day of
the week. Thus, whUe the old world goes on, sin stUl at work,
and Satan not yet bound, God has wrought salvation, which He
is giving to CA^ery soul that believes. These recognize that Christ
risen is their Saviour, and that they consequently have new life
in Him. This, and much more than this, they come together to
acknowledge on the Lord's day. They " shew the Lord's death
tiU he come." Nothing can be plainer, in scripture, if our
desire is to know and follow the word of God. It was no
question whether people were Jews or Gentiles. Were they
Christians ? Had they Christ as their life and Lord ? If they
thankfully confessed Him, the Lord's-day was the day for them.
Such of the Christians as had been Jews continued to frequent
the synagogue on the sabbath. But this only shews the more
plaiiJy that it was not a mere change of day. To the Roman
saints, the apostle insists that the man who regarded the day, to
the Lord he regarded it ; and that the man who regarded it not,
to the Lord he did not regard it. Was this the Lord's day ?
No ; but Jewish days and fasts. The apostle would never treat
the Lord's-day as optionally to be regarded or not. Some of
these believers saw that they were delivered from the law, and
did not observe the Jewish feasts or fasts. The Gentiles, of
course, were not under the law at all. But some, at any rate,
of the Jewish believers still had a conscience about the ancient
holydays, and of them the apostle speaks. The Lord's day
never was and never will be a Jewish day. It has its OAvn
proper character stamped upon it ; and Christians, though not
under the law as Jews with the sabbath, are yet by grace caUed
on far more solemnly to use it for the Lord, as that which
summons them to meet together In the name of Jesus, In sepa
ration from this world, conscious of redemption and justification
through His death and resurrection. It is the type of the
blessing that the Christian has got, yet to be manifested in
glory. The world always confounds it, as do many Christians,
with the sabbath. One hears sometimes real believers, but
uninstructed, talk of the " christian sabbath :" this is, of
course, because they do not see their deliverance from the

188 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
law, and the consequences which flow from their belonging to
Him who Is risen from the dead. The apostle developes these
blessed truths.
Our Lord merely deals with the Jews here. He shews the crisis
then in progress. His disciples were not hindered from pluck
ing the ears of corn on one sabbath ; as on another He openly
wrought a miracle In the presence of aU (thus giving occasion
for the Pharisees who sought one against Him). It is true that
the works were works of mercy and goodness ; but there was no
manner of necessity for either, had there not been a purpose.
He could have spoken without doing a single thing. So with
the blind man in the Gospel of John. All the clay in the world
could not have cured him but for the power of our Lord. His
word would haA^e been enough ; but He does something Himself,
and makes the man do something else upon the sabbath. We
are told expressly, " It was the sabbath day when Jesus made
the clay and opened his eyes." The Lord was breaking the
seal of the covenant between Jehovah and Israel. The sabbath
sealed that bond, and was in Israel now worse than useless in
God's sight ; because the people who pretended to keep the sab
bath so carefully were the bitterest enemies of His Son. It was
utterly false to subject Him to the sabbath. The Son of man was
" Lord even ofthe sabbath day." He takes that ground boldly,
as we are here told (ver. 8), and the following sabbath performs
this miracle. The Pharisees felt that it was a death-blow to
their whole system, and they, gathering together, "held a
council against hira how they might destroy him." This was
the first conclave for the purpose of putting Him to death.
Jesus, knowing It, withdraws Himself from thence, " and great
multitudes followed him, and he healed them all :" a picture
of what He would do when Israel put Him to death. Thence
forth, the great work was to be among the Gentiles. The
prophet Isaiah is quoted in connection with this occurrence, to
shew what our Lord's character was : " Behold my servant,
whom I haA'e chosen ; my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew judo--
ment to the Gentiles: he shall not strive nor cry, neither

CHAPTER XIL 189
shall any man hear his voice in the streets : a bruised reed
shaU he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till
he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall
the GentUes trust."
The Lord was departing from Israel ; but this is not all.
There is a final testimony before He pronounces sentence upon
Israel : " Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil,'
blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind
and dumb both spake and saw." This was the condition in which
Israel was about to be, without an eye or a voice for Jesus : the
apt figure of the nation's condition, the Messiah unseen and His
praise unuttered in their midst. And here is the solemn thing.
The poor, the ignorant, aU the people, might cry, " Is not this
the Son of David ? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said.
This fellow doth not cast out devUs but by Beelzebub, the prince
of the devUs. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto
thera. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall
not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against
himself: how shall then his kingdom stand?" He condescends
to reason with them : " And if I by Beelzebub cast out dcAals,
by whom do your children cast them out ? therefore they shaU
be your judges. But if I cast out devUs by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God is come raito you." (Ver. 27, 28.)
But they were dumb ; they were blind. The man that
submitted to Jesus was healed; but the Pharisees were
consulting to slay the Son of David. The Lord answers them
yet more. He teUs them that now it was come to a point.
" He that is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad." (Ver. 30.) All depended upon
being and acting with Him; wherefore our Lord adds, "All
manner of sin and blasphemy shaU be forgiven unto men ; but
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven
tmto men." (Ver. 31.) The reason of it was this : not only the
Son of man was working these miracles, but the power of the
Holy Ghost was there too. Although Jesus might submit to
humiliation. He could not but assert the glory of God. The

190 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Holy Spirit, who was putting forth these mighty deeds, was
going to be poured out when Jesus should go away. The
unbelief that refused the testimony of the Spirit, when Jesus
was there, would be even stronger against it on His departrae.
The children of Israel would prove themselves to be like their
fathers. " Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers
did, so do ye." And what the consequence? They would be
guilty of the unpardonable sin, of rejecting (not only Jesus.
Himself, as a raan presented here, but) the power of the Holy
Ghost, whether working in Him then, or now by Him and
for Him.
It is the final rejection of the Spirit's testimony to Christ.
It was true when the Lord was here, but is stiU more com
plete now that He is in heaven. They refused Christ on
earth, and after He went up to heaven; when, through the
power of the Holy Ghost, His name alone caused the dead to
rise, and thus proved even more His glory than what He had
done personally when here below. Those who resisted such
testimony as this were evidently hopelessly lost in unbelief and
scorn of God in the person of His Son. Therefore our Lord
pronounces this blasphemy to be such as nothing can meet. It
is not ignorance which thus rejects Christ. A man may, in
that case, only want the light ; and when it comes, he may,
through grace, be enabled to received Him. But he who
refuses all divine testimony, and makes the displayed power of
the Holy Ghost the occasion of shewing his spite against
Jesus, is evidently lost for ever : he bears the unmistakable
stamp of perdition upon his brow. This was exactly the sin
into which Israel were fast falling. The Holy Ghost might be
sent down, and work even greater acts of power than the Lord
Himself had done ; it made no change in their heart. The un-
beUevIng race of Israel shall be forgiven, neither in this " age,"
nor in that which is to come. I am not particular about the
word " dispensation." It means a certain course of tirae, ruled
by particular principles ; but the point is, that neither in this
alwv, nor in that which is to come, could this sin be forgiven. The
age to come is that wherein the children of Israel are to be under

CHAPTER XIL 191
the Messiah's rule ; as now, and since the Babylonish captivity^
they have been under the rule of the GentUes. This sin should
be forgiven neither now nor then. As to all other Iniquity,
there was stiU a hope that what was not forgiven now might
be when the Messiah came. Granted that there is unlimited
forgiveness for every soul that receives Hira. But they refused
Him. They attributed the Spirit's power working in His person
to Beelzebub ; and that blaspheray would never be forgiven.
Such was the growuig danger of Israel. Rejecting the Messiah
thus, they are doomed. It was rejecting the Holy Ghost's
testimony ; and everything is made to turn upon this. To that
the Lord proceeds, as shewing the awful condition of Israel, and
the necessity for the coming change, A new work of God must
be brought in.
Hence the Lord pronounces them a generation of vipers.
" The tree," He says, "is knoAvn by his fruit." It was a bad
tree, and He did not expect anything but bad fruit from it.
" 0 generation of vipers," He adds, " how can ye, being CAdl,
speak good things ? For out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of the good trea
sure of his heart, bringeth forth good things; and an evil
man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil
things. But I say unto you, that every idle word [that is, I
suppose, everything betraying contempt for God] that men shaU
speak, they shaU give accorait thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy Avords
thou shalt be condemned." (Ver. 34 — 37.) What proves the
idleness of the word ? It is without reverence for God and His
Son. What God insists upon is testimony to Jesus. These
idle words betray the heart's rejection of Jesus, and slight the
Holy Ghost's testimony to Him. " By thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." It is
with the mouth that confession is made unto salvation ; and the
words that leave out Jesus prove that the heart prefers its sin to
Him. The words of the mouth evidence the state of the heart.
They are the outward expression of the feelings, and they shew
a man in one way as much as his conduct does in another. If

192 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the heart is evil, the words are evU, the conduct is evil : all
therefore comes into judgment.
After this, the Pharisees ask a sign, and the Lord gives them
a most significant one : but before that. He pronounces His
moral sentence on the nation : "An evil and adulterous gene
ration seeketh after a sign, and there shaU no sign be given to it
but the sign of the prophet Jonas." (Ver. 39.) What was the
special feature of Jonah as a prophet ? To whom did he pro
phesy ? He was sent away from Israel to the Gentiles ; and
more than that : before Jonah performed his message aright, he
must pass through the figure of death and resurrection. So
obstinate was he in not going where he was bidden, that the
Lord took care Jonah should be pitched out of the ship ; and
then He dealt with him as a dead man, and Avrought a great
work in his soul. Jonah, having passed through this most
remarkable type of death and resurrection, was now ready for
the message that the Lord gives him. This is the sign which
the Lord puts before the Pharisees. Such was the state of the
Jewish nation, that He must leave them and go to the Gentiles ;
and that, too, after death and resurrection in reality, and when
all the hopes of Israel were burled. The Lord has blessing in
store for His people by and by : but for the present all is lost
for Israel. They had rejected their Lord. God was going
now to occupy Himself with the Gentiles. Hence it is that
the instances used to confirm this are, first, the case of the
men of Nineveh, who repented at the preaching of Jonas ; " and
behold, a greater than Jonas is here." Then the Queen of
Sheba, also a Gentile, who did not merely repent because of
sin, but shewed an energy of faith, I may say, worthy of aU
note, without even a message sent to her. Such was the
ardour of her heart, and her desire after wisdom, that, hearing
of Solomon, she hastened in order to hear it from his own lips.
What a rebuke for Israel ! "A greater than Solomon is here ;"
and wisdom as much beyond Solomon's as the person of Jesus
was above that of Solomon. But they were an evU and
adulterous generation. They knew not that their Maker was
their husband : they despised Him ; and, adds our Lord, " The

CHAPTER XIL 193
queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation and shall condemn It." But now He proclaims what
will be their final condition. The link of Israel to Himself was
broken ; and for this blasphemous contempt of the Spirit's tes
timony to Jesus as the Son of man, they should be judged.
But that nation was also destined to be filled with the power
of Satan. This is what the Lord now shews. " When the
unclean spirit Is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry
places, seeking rest and findeth none." (Ver. 43.) Every
student of scripture will acknoAvledge that the unclean spirit
means idolatry. Are we to suppose that our Lord suddenly
breaks off from what He had been saying of the nation to treat
of mere individuals ? Clearly it is about Israel. And what is
the thought ? Israel never, as a nation, fell into Idolatry after
the return from Babylon as before. Not that they were better
men ; but the unclean spirit of Idolatry was no longer their
special temptation. There were new ways in which the devil
tempted them to sin, if not after the old sort. But the unclean
spirit is to go back to his house, and finds it swept and garnished.
Such it was when our Lord was here below. Israel had laid
aside their idolatrous habits ; they went to the synagogue every
sabbath-day ; and they were zealous enough to compass sea and
land to make a proselyte. There was the condition of the house,
empty, swept, and garnished. AU was apparently clean, and
nothing outwardly to shock the eye if you looked at It. " Then
goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits, more wicked
than himself, and they enter in and dwell there ; and the last
state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be
also unto this wicked generation." The unclean spirit is to return,
and not as before, but with the full power of Satan, with " seven
spirits more wicked than himself" More wicked than idolatry !
What can that be? "And they enter in and dwell there." It
is only the figure of a man used to illustrate the state of Israel.
The words that follow leave this without a doubt: "Even so
shall it be also to this wicked generation." The Lord takes the
instance of a man, but He applies it to the nation's condition.
The unclean spirit of idolatry was gone, and they had outwardly
o

194 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
purged themselves ; but the solemn warning is given that thd
unclean spirit must return, and bring with him seven spirits
more wicked than himself; and their last state be worse than
their first. And when is that to be ? It is the last state ; and
I believe that it has not arrived, but is reserved for the Jews
yet. The empty, swept, and garnished state existing then, may
be still going on. Humanly speaking, they may be moral.
They may not abandon the books of Moses, but take their stand
as worshipping none but the true God. This will go on for a
certain time, but not for ever ; for we know from scripture that
God has kept that nation for special purposes, first In judgment^
and then in mercy. By and by He will convert them and bring
them in and make them a holy, as they are the lineal, seed of
Abraham. But they are to fill up the cup of their iniquity first ;
and this is the principle that runs through all the ways of
God. Not first what is spiritual, but what is natural, and
afterwards that which is spiritual ; first Adam, and then Christ.
So in the case before us, Israel must shew the last results of
Satan's power over their souls, before God can convert a
remnant, and make it a strong nation. The last state spoken of
here regards the wicked generation ; the Lord will create a
future generation, " and so all Israel shall be saved."
But meanwhile, what was He going to do ? Was He merely
pronouncing judgment on Israel ? Far from It. While He yet
was speaking to the people, one came and told Him, " Behold,
thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak
with thee." (Ver. 47.) The Lord immediately takes this
opportunity to shew that He no longer acknowledged mere
relationships according to the flesh. He had special relationship
with Israel; " of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came."
He owns it no longer. They would not have Him. He had
shewn the end of all flesh. They become the tenement for the
devil in all his power ; their last state Is worse than their first.
But, says the Lord, I am going to have a new thing now, a
people according to My own heart. And so He stretches forth
His hand toward His disciples and says, " Behold my mother
and my brethren." His only true relations were those Avho

CHAPTER XIIL 195
received the word of God and did it. "Whosoever shall do
the wiU of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother." In a word, He renounced all
earthly connection for the present time — all relationship with
nature. The only tie He acknowledges now is relationship to a
heavenly Father, formed through the word of God received into
the soul.
Thus we have in this chapter the Lord closing with Israel, as
far as testimony is concerned. In the next chapter we shall find
what comes dispensationally of those new relations that the
Lord was about to unfold.

o:i«o

CHAPTER XIIL
At the close of the chapter before, our Lord disowned all the
natural ties which bound Him to Israel. I speak how simply
of His bringing it out as a matter of teaching ; for we know
that, historlcaUy, the moment for really and finally breaking
with them was the cross. But, minlsteriaUy, if we may so say,
the break occurred and was indicated now. He took advantage
of an aUusion to His mother and brethren to say who His real
kindred were — no longer those who were connected with Him
after the flesh : the only family He could own now were such
as did the wiU of His Father In heaven. He recognizes nothing
but the tie formed by the word of God received into the heart
and obeyed accordingly. The Holy Ghost pursues this subject
by recording, in a connected form, a number of parables which
were intended to shew the source, the character, the conduct,
and the issues of this new family, or at least of those who pro
fessed to belong to it. This is the subject of Matthew xiii. A
striking instance it is, how manifestly the Holy Ghost has
formed the materials into the particular shape in which we

196 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
actually have them,: for we know that our Lord spoke more
parables than are here glA^en. Comparing it with the gospel
of Mark, we find a parable that differs materially from any
which appears in Matthew. Iu Mark It is a person who sows
the ground and sleeps and rises- night and day, waiting for the
germination and the full groAvth and the ripening of the com,
and then himself gathers it in. This diverges very considerably
from all the parables of the earlier gospel ; yet we know from
Mark that the parable in question was uttered on the same day.
" With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as
they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not
unto them  And the same day, when the even was come,
he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side."
Just as the Holy Ghost selects certain parables in Mark which
are inserted, while others are left out (and the same in Luke), so
also was it the case in Matthew. The Holy Ghost is conveying
fully God's mind about the new testimony, commonly caUed
Christianity and even Christendom. Accordingly, the very
beginning of this chapter prepares us for the new scene. " The
same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side."
(Ver. 1.) Up to this time the house of God was connected
with Israel. There God dwelt as far as this could be said of the
earth ; He counted it as His habitation. But Jesus went out
of the house, and sat by the sea side. We all know that the
sea, in the symbolic language of the Old and New Testaments,
is used to represent masses of men, roAang hither and thither
outside, and not under the settled government of God. " And
great multitudes Avere gathered together unto him, so that he
went Into a ship and sat." From thence he teaches them :
" And the whole multitude stood on the shore." (Ver. 2.) The
very action of our Lord indicated that there was to be a very
wide-spread testimony. The parables themselves are not con
fined to the sphere of our Lord's previous dealings, but take in
a much more extensive range than anything which He had
spoken in past times. " He spake many things to them in
parables." (Ver. 3.) It is not intimated that we have all the
parables our Lord spoke; but the Holy Ghost here gives us

CHAPTEE XIII. 197
seven connected parables, all brought together and compacted
into a consistent system, as I shall endeavour to shew. The
Holy Ghost is clearly exercising a certain authority as to the
parables selected here, for we aU know that seven is the scriptural
number for that which is complete : whether It speak of good
or evil spirits — whether In one form or another — seven is re
gularly the number used. When the symbol of twelve is used,
it expresses completeness, not spiritual, but as to what has to
do with man. Where human administration is brought into
prominence for carrying out the purposes of God, there the
number twelve appears. Hence we have the twelve apostles,
who had a peculiar relation to the twelve tribes of Israel ; but
when the Church is to be presented, we hear again the number
seven — " the seven churches." However that may be, we have
seven parables here, a thing ordered of God for the purpose
of giving a complete account of the new order of things about
to begin — Christendom and Christianity, the true as well as
the spurious. »
The first question, then, that occurs is. How comes it that we
have this series of parables here and nowhere else ? Certain of
them are In Mark, and certain in Luke ; but nowhere, except In
Matthew, have we seven, the complete list. The answer is this :
Nothing can be more beautiful, or more proper than that they
should be given in a gospel presenting Jesus as the Messiah to
Israel; then, on His rejection, shewing what God would next
bring out. To the disciples, when their hopes were melting
away, what could be of deeper interest than to know the nature
and end of this new testimony ? If the Lord should send out
His word among the Gentiles, what would be the result ? Ac -
cordingly, Matthew's gospel is the only one that gives us a
complete sketch of the kingdom of heaven; as It also- glA'es us
the intimation that the Lord was going to found the Church. It
is only in Matthew that we have both brought out. This,
however, I reserve for another day ; but I must observe that the
kingdom of heaven is not the same thing as the Church, but
rather the scene where the authority of Christ Is owned, at
least outwardly. It may be real or not, but every professing

198 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Christian (not a Turk, or a Jew, or a Pagan, of course)^ is in
the kingdom of heaven. Every person who has, even in an
external rite, confessed Christ, is not a mere Jew or GentUe,
but in the kingdom. It is a very different thing from a man's
being born again and being baptized by the Holy Ghost
into the body of Christ. Whoso bears the name of Christ
belongs to the kingdom of heaven. It may be that he is only
a tare there, but stiU there he is. This is a very solemn thing.
Wherever Christ is outwardly confessed, there is a respon
sibility beyond that which attaches to the rest of the world.
The first parable clearly was true when our Lord was on
earth. It is very general, and would apply to the Lord in
person or In spirit. Hence it may be said to be always going
on ; for we find in the second parable the Lord presented again,
still sowing good seed : only here it is the " kingdom of heaven"
that is said to be like to a man who sowed good seed in his
field. The first is Christ's work In publishing the word among
men, Vhile He was here below. The second rather applies to
our Lord sowing by means of His servants ; that is, the Holy
Ghost working in them according to the will of the Lord while
He is above, the kingdom of heaven being then set up. This at
once furnishes an important key to the whole subject. But
inasmuch as the matter of the first parable is very general, there
is a great deal in all the moral teaching of it which applies as
truly now as when our Lord was upon earth. " A sower went
forth to sow" — a weighty truth indeed. It was not thus that
the Jews looked for their Messiah. The prophets bore witness
of a glorious ruler, who would establish His kingdom in their
midst. No doubt there were plain predictions of His suffering
as weU as of His exaltation. Our parable describes neither
suffering nor outward glory ; but a work carried on by the Lord,
of a distinct character from anything the Jew would naturally
draw from the bulk of the prophecies. Nevertheless, our Lord,
I conceive, was aUuding to Isaiah. It is not exactly the gospel
of grace and salvation to the poor, wretched, and guilty, but it
is One who, instead of coming to claim the fruits of the vineyard
set up in Israel, has to begin an entirely new work. A sower

CHAPTER XIIL 199
going forth to sow marks evidently the commencement of that
which did not exist before. The Lord is beginning a work not
previously known in this world. "And when he sowed, some
seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them
up." That was clearly the most desperate case of all. It was
null and void, not because of any fault of the seed, but from
the destructive agency of the fowls which devoured what was
soAvn. Next we have, " Some [that] fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth." There was a more
hopeful appearance in this case. The word was received, but the
ground was stony ; there was no depth of earth. Appearances
were very quick — "forthwith they sprung up." It is a serious
thing to think of souls who go forward at once. Nature
always brings to raaturlty in a very short time whatever it can
do in the things of God. There is little or no sense of sin.
All is taken in but too readily. " The plan of salvation" may
be thought to be excellent, the enlightenment of the mind
undeniable; but such an one has never measured his awful
condition in God's sight. The good word of God is tasted,
but the ground is stony. Conscience has nothing to do with
it. Whereas in a real work of heart, conscience is the soil
in which the word of God takes effect. There never can be a
real work of God without a sense of sin. This is a thing which
souls, drawn and attracted by the gospel, ought to weigh
earnestly : whether, in deed and in truth, they haA^e really
faced the blessed God who is speaking to thera about their ruin.
Where warm feelings are excited but sin is slurred over, it
is the case spoken of here — the word recelA'^ed at once, but
the ground stony. There Is no root because there is no depth
of earth ; consequently, " when the sun was up, they were
scorched, and because they had no root they withered away."
But, further, " Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung
up and choked them." This is another case; not exactly that
wherein the heart received the word at once. And, let me
repeat, that I have as little confidence in the heart as in the
head. The flesh differs in different Individuals. Some may

200 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
have more mind, and some more feeling. But neither can
savingly receive the Avord of God, unless the Holy Ghost acts
on the conscience aud produces the sense of being utterly lost.
Where this is the case. It is a real Avork of God, which sorrows
and difficulties will only deepen. Those that received the seed
among thorus, are a class devoured by the anxieties of this age,
and led aAvay by the deceitfulness of riches, which choke the
Avord, so that no fruit comes to perfection.
But noAv comes the good ground. " Other fell into good
ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some
sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear." (Ver. 8, 9.) The sower here Is the Lord Himself, yet
out of four casts of the seed, three are unsuccessful. It is only
the last case, where the sped bears ripe fruit ; and even there the
issue is chequered and hindered — " some an hraidredfold, some
sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." What a tale of man's heart and
the world ! that even where the heart does not refuse, but
receives the truth, it abandons just as quickly. The same will
that makes a man gladly receive the gospel, makes him drop it
in the face of difficulties. But, in some cases, the word does
produce blessed effects. It fell upon good ground, and brought
forth fruit In different degrees. " Who hath ears to hear, let
him hear." A solemn admonition to souls, to look well to It
whether or not they produce according to the truth they have
received. The Lord explains these things. But, first of all, the disciples
come and say unto Him, " Why speakest thou unto them in
parables ? He answered and said unto them. Because it is given
to you to knoAv the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them It is not given." The same parable would be just like the
cloud of Israel In a former day — full of light to those Avithin,
full of obscurity to those without. Thus it is with the sayings
of our Lord, So solemn was the crisis now, that it was not His
intention to give clearer light. Conscience Was gone. They had
the Lord in their midst, bringing In full light, and He was
refused, specially by the religious leaders of the nation. He had
uoAV broken with them. Here was the clue to His conduct : " To

CHAPTEE XIII. 201
you it is given to know," &c. It was. kept from the multitude,
and this because they had already rejected the clearest possible
proofs that Jesus was the Messiah of God. But, as He says
here, " Whosoever hath, to him shaU be given, and he shall have
more abraidance." Such was the case with the disciples. They-
had already received His person, and now the Lord would
supply with truth to lead them on. " But whosoever hath not,"
the Christ-rejecting Israel, "from him shaU be taken away
even that he hath." The Lord's bodily presence, already there,
and the evidence of miracle, would soon pass away. " There
fore speak I to them In parables : because they seeing, see not ;
and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand."
(Ver. 13.) That judicial sentence of darkness which Isaiah
had pronounced upon them hundreds of years before, was now
to be sealed, though the Holy Ghost still gives them a fresh
testimony. And this very passage is afterwards quoted to
mark that it is a finished thing with Israel. They loved
darkness rather than light. What is the good of a light to
one that shuts his eyes ? Therefore would the light be taken
away too. " But blessed are your eyes, for they see ; and your
ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them." (Ver. 16, 17.)
Then follows the explanation of the parable. We have the
meaning of " the fowls of the air" given us. It is not left to
any conjecture of our oavu. " When any one heareth the word
of the kingdom" (this was being preached then. It is not
exactly "the word ofthe gospel," but " ofthe kingdom") "and
understandeth it not," &c. In Luke It is not called " the word
of the kingdom," nor is It said, "understandeth it not." It is
interesting to observe the difference, because it shews the way
in which the Holy Ghost has acted in this gospel. Compare
Luke xiii. We find some of these parables first giveu us in
chapter viii. 11. " Now the parable is this. The seed is the
word of God" — not the word of the kingdom, but "of God."
There is, of course, a great deal in common between the ,two ;

202 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
but the Spirit had a wise reason for using the different expres
sions. It would have been rather giving an opportunity to an
enemy', unless there had been some good grounds for it. I
repeat that it Is " the word of the kingdom" in Matthew, and
" of God" in Luke. In the latter we have " that they should
believe," and in the former "that they should understand."
What is taught by the difference ? It Is manifest that, in
MatthcAV, the Holy Ghost has the Jewish people particularly in
His mind, although the word is going out to the Gentiles In
due time ; whereas, in Luke, the Lord had particularly the
Gentiles before Him. They understood that there was a great
kingdom which God was about to establish, and destined to
swallow up all their kingdoms. The Jews being already familiar
with the word of God, their great point was understanding
what God taught. They had His word already, though super
stition and self-righteousness never understood it. You might
be controverted, had you said to a Jew, You do not believe what
Isaiah says ; and a serious question came. Do you understand
it ? But if you looked at the Gentiles — they had not the lively
oracles, so that among them the question was believing what God
said ; and this is what we have in Luke. The point for a
Gentile was that, instead of setting up his own wisdom, he
should bow to what God said. Hence, you will observe, that,
looking at people who had not the word of God, and who were
to be tested by the gospel going out to them in due time, the
question was, believing something that had not been brought out
to them before. In Matthew, speaking to a people who had
the word already, the great thing was to understand it. This
they did not. The Lord shews that, if they heard with their
ears, they did not understand with their hearts. So that this
difference, when connected with the different ideas and objects
of the two gospels, is alike manifest, interesting, and instructive.
" When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not." Another solemn truth we learn from
this : — the great thing that hinders spiritual understanding is
religious prejudice. The Jews were charged with not under
standing. They were not idolaters, or open infidels, but had

CHAPTER XIIL 203
a system of religion in their minds in which they had been
trained from infancy, which darkened their intelligence of what
the Lord was bringing out. So it is now. But if among the
heathen, though you would find an evil state morally, yet at
least there would be that kind of barren waste where the word
of God might be freely sown, and, by grace, be believed. That
is not the case where people have been nurtured in ordinances
and superstition : there the difficulty is to understand the word.
" Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which
was soAvn in his heart." The answer to the fowls. In the first
parable, as we saw, is the wicked one taking away the word of
the kingdom as soon as it is sown. " But he that received the
seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word,
and anon with joy receiveth it." (Ver. 20.) There you have
the heart, moved in its affections, but without exercise of con
science. Anon with joy the word is received. There is great
gladness about it, but there all ends. It is only the Holy Ghost
acting upon conscience that gives what things are In God's
sight. " Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a
while ; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of
the word, by and by he is offended." (Ver. 21.) Then we have
the thorny ground : " He also that received seed among the
thorns is he that heareth the word ; and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful." (Ver. 22.) There is a case that might have seemed
promising for a time; but anxiety about this world, or the
flattering ease of prosperity here below, rendered him unfruitful,
and aU is over. " But he that received seed into the good
groimd is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it ;" (all
through it is spiritual understanding;) "which also beareth
fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred-fold, some sixty,
some thirty."
Now we come to the first of the similitudes of the kingdom
of heaven. The parable of the sower was the preparatory work
of our Lord upon earth. " Another parable put he forth unto
them, saying. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man

204 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
which sowed good seed in his field ; but while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way" (Ver. 24, 25)-^exactly what Is become of the profession
of Christ. There are two things necessary for the inroad of
evil among Christians. The first is, the unwatchfulness of the
Christians themselves. They get into a careless state, they
sleep ; and the enemy comes and sows tares. This began at an
early epoch in Christendom. We find the germs OA'en in the.
Acts of the Apostles, and still more in the epistles. 1 Thessa-
lonlans is the first inspired epistle that the apostle Paul wrote ;
and the second was written shortly after. And yet he tells
them that the mystery of iniquity was already at Avork ; that
there were other things to follow, such as the apostasy and the
man of sin ; and that when the lawlessness should be fully
manifest (instead of working secretly), then the Lord would
put an end to the lawless one and all concerned. The mystery
of Iniquity seems akin to the sowing of the tares spoken of
here. Some time after, " when the blade was sprung up, and
brought forth fruit" — when Christianity began to make rapid
strides in the earth, " then appeared the tares also." But it is
evident that the tares were sown almost immediately after the
-".od seed. No matter what the work of God is, Satan is
-¦ways close upon its heels. When man was made, he listened
v^ the serpent, and fell. When God gave the law, it was
broken even before It was committed Into the hands of Israel.
Such is alvt'ays the history of human nature.
So the mischief Is done in the field, and never repaired. The
tares are not for the present taken out of the field : there Is no
judgment of them. Does this mean that we are to have tares
in the Church ? If the kingdom of heaven meant the Church,
there ought to be no discipline at all : you ought to allow unclean
ness of flesh or spirit there, swearers, drunkards, adulterers,
schismatics, heretics, antichrists, as much as the rest. Here is
the importance of seeing the distinction between the Church
and the kingdom. The Lord forbids the tares to be taken out
of the kingdom of heaven : " Let both grow together until
the harvest" (ver. 30), that is, tiU the Lord come in judgment.

CHAPTER XIIL 205
Were the kingdom of heaven the same as the Church, it would,
I repeat, amount to no less than this : that no evil, let It be ever
so flagrant or plain, is to be put out of the Church tiU the day
of judgment. We see, then, the importance of making these
distinctions, which too many despise. They are all-important
for truth and holiness ; nor is there a single word of God that
we can do without.
What, then, is the meaning of this parable ? It has nothing
to do with the question of Church communion. It is " the
kingdom of heaven" that is spoken of — the scene of the con
fession of Christ, whether true or false. Thus Greeks, Copts,
Nestorlans, Roman Catholics, as well as Protestants, are in the
kingdom of heaven ; not believers only, but also bad people
professing the name of Christ. A man, who is not a Jew nor a
Pagan, and who outwardly professed Christ's name, is in the
kingdom of heaven. He may be ever so immoral or heretical,
but he is not to be put out of the kingdom of heaven. But
would it be right to receive him at the table of the Lord?
God forbid ! The Church (i.e., the assembly of God), and the
kingdom of heaven are two different things. If a person falling
into open sin were in the Church, he ought to be put out of it ;
but you ought not to put him out of the kingdom of heaven. In
fact, this could only be done by taking away his life ; for that is
meant by the rooting up of the tares. And this is what worldly
Christianity did fall into, in no very long space of time after the
apostles were departed from the earth. Temporal punishments
were brought in for discipline ; laws were made for the purpose
of handing over the refractory to the subservient civil poAver.
If they did not honour the so-caUed church, they were not to be
suffered to live. Li this way, the very evil our Lord had been
guarding the disciples against came to pass : and the emperor,
Constantine, used the sword to repress ecclesiastical offenders.
He and his successors introduced temporal praiishraents to deal
with the tares, to try and root them up. Take the church of
Rome, where you have so thoroughly the confusion of the Church
with the kingdom of heaven : they claim, if a man is a heretic,
to hand him OA'-er to the courts of the world to be burnt ; and

206 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
they never confess or correct the wrong, because they pretend to
be infaUible. Supposing that their victims even were tares, this
is to put them out of the kingdora. If you root a tare from the
field, you kill it. There may be men outside profaning the
name of God ; but we must leave them for God to deal with.
This does not destroy christian responsibility towards those
who surround the Lord's table. You will find instructions as to
all this In what is written about the Church. " The field is the
world ;" the Church only embraces those believed to be members
of Christ's body. Take 1 Corinthians, where we have the Holy
Ghost shewing the true nature of ecclesiastical discipline.
Supposing there are professing Christians, guilty of any sin you
please ; such persons are not to be owned, while they are going
on in that sin, as members of Christ's body. A real saint raight
fall into open sin, but the Church, knowing it, is bound to
intervene far the purpose of expressing God's judgment about
the sin. Were they deliberately to aUow such an one to come
to the Lord's table, they would in effect make the Lord a party
to that sin. The question is not whether the person be couA-erted
or not. If unconverted, men have no business in the Church ;
if converted, sin is not to be winke^ at. The guilty are not to
be put out of the kingdom of heaven ; they are to be put out of
the Church. So that the teaching of the word of God is most
plain as to both these truths. It is wrong to use worldly
punishments to deal with a hypocrite, even when he Is detected.
I may seek the good of his soul, but this is no reason for
punishing him thus. But if a Christian is guilty of sin, the
Church, though caUed to be patient in judgment, is never to
suffer it ; but we are to leave guilty people, who are unconverted,
to be judged by the Lord at His appearing. This is the teaching
of the parable of the tares ; and it gives a very solemn view of
Christianity. As sure as the Son of man sowed good seed. His
enemy would sow bad, which would spring up along with the
rest : and this evil cannot for the present be got rid of There
is a remedy for evil which enters the Church, but not yet for
evil in the world.
This is the only gospel containing the parable of the tares.

CHAPTER XIIL 207
Luke gives the leaven. Matthew has the tares also. It particu
larly teaches patience for the present. In contrast with Jewish
judicial dealings, as well as with their just expectation of a
cleared field when the millennium arrives under the reign of
Messiah. The Jews would say. Why should we aUow enemies,
ungodly, heretics ? Even when our Lord was here below, and
some Samaritans received Him not, James and John wished to
command fire to come down from heaven to consume them.
Theirs was the natural thought of dealing with the tares at once,
but the Lord rebuked them for it. They did not know what
manner of spirit they were of; "for," He added, "the Son of
man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." This
illustrates our Lord's wUl about the tares. To kill them is
contrary to Christianity, all whose real power is of the Holy
Ghost, and not mere force.
But we have further instruction. " Let both grow together
until the harvest ; and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers. Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in
bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Ver. 30.) Thus the heavenly saints are to be gathered Into the
Lord's bam, to be taken out of the earth to heaven. But " the
time of the harA'est" implies a certain period occupied with the
various processes of ingathering. In that scene of " the
harvest," the Lord " wiU say to the reapers. Gather ye together
first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them." It is
not said that the wheat is to be bound in bundles in order to be
taken to heaven. There is no intimation that there is to be any
special preparatory work about the saints before they are taken
up. But there is such a dealing of God with the tares. The
angels are to arrange them in special ways, before the Lord
clears them out of the field. I do not pretend to say how that
wiU be, or whether the systems of associations in the present day
may not pave the way for the final action of the Lord as regards
the tares. But the principle of worldly association is growing
apace. When the time approaches for the judgment of the
quick, there will be the preliminary work, entrusted to the
angels, of binding the wicked In bundles to burn them. How

208 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
it AvIU be done I do not pretend to affirm, merely keeping to
what Is said in the chapter before me.
The parable of the wheat-field had fully shewn, what must
have been an unexpected blow to the thoughts of the disciples,
that the dispensation just opening would turn out as complete a
failure, as regards man's maintaining the glory of God, as the
past one. Israel had dishonoured God ; they had wrought, not
deliverance, but shame and confusion in the earth; they had
failed under law, and would reject grace so thoroughly that the
King would be obliged to send His armies to destroy those
murderers, and burn up their city. But it might not have, been
so clearly understood, that if there was to be a new work which
was to take the form of gathering disciples to the name of Jesus
by the word preached to them, it was by no means so clear that
this new work would be spoiled in the hands of man. As far
as the salvation of souls is concerned, it is independent of the
creature at any time. But Its trial by God turns out now, as
ever, a complete failure. Man came short of the glory of God
in Paradise, and outside he corrupted his way and fiUed the
earth with violence. Afterwards God chose a people to put them
to the test, and they broke down. And now came the noAV trial.
What would become of the disciples who professed the name of
Christ? The answer has been given: "While men slept, the
enemy sowed tares." And a solemn announcement declares
that no zeal on their part could remedy the evil. They might
be faithful and earnest themselves ; but the evil that has been
done by the introduction of the tares — false professors of Christ's
name — will never be eradicated. The Lord evidently speaks of
the vast field of christian profession, and of the sad fact that
evil was to be introduced from the very beginning ; and, once
brought in, it would never be turned out till the Lord Himself
returns to judgment, and by His angels gathers the tares in
bundles to burn them, while the wheat is gathered into the barn.
Thus we saw tares from a very early period were to be mino-led
with the wheat — not necessarily with the Church, for the field is
not the Church, but the world ; and the meaning is, that there
might be those bearing the name of Christ who were clearly

CHAPTER XIIL 209
wicked persons. We know that such people have managed to
get and even to keep a footing within a great deal that bears the
name of the Lord; but the field — mark it well — is not the
assembly, but the scen« of outward adhesion to Christ. If we
only think about the Church in reading Matthew xiii., we shaU
neA'er understand the chapter. " The field Is the world," the
sphere where the name of the Lord is professed, and extending
much beyond what could be called the Church. There might
be, there are, many persons, neither Heathens, nor Jews, nor
Mahometans, who would call themselves Christians, and yet
shew by their ways that there was no real faith in them. These
are caUed "tares." It Is not necessary that they should be
conscious hypocrites. They might or might not be ; but they
are unregenerate professors of the "one Lord," and "one
faith ;" baptized persons who have no appreciation of Christ, no
care for His glory — destitute, consequently, of life — not born of
water and the Spirit, but withal bearing the name of Christ,
and zealous, it may be, for the faith after an outward sort. These
are now found CA'erywhere in the western world, as once in the
east. There are many, whom nobody believes to be born of
God, who, nevertheless, would be shocked if they were regarded
as infidels. They acknowledge Christ as the Saviour of the
world, and as the true Messiah, but it is as entirely Inoperative
upon their souls, as theirs was who, in Jerusalem, believed in
Christ when they saw the miracles which He did. (John ii.)
Jesus does not commit Himself to such now any more than He
did then.
The next parable intimates that the evil would not be merely
the intermingling of a false profession, but something quite
different would surely follow. It might be connected with the
tares and grow out of them ; but another parable was required
in order to set it forth. Beginning with the smallest possible
nucleus, most humble as regards this world, there was to be
that which would assume vast proportions in the earth, which
would strike its roots deeply among the institutions of men, and
rise up into a system of vast power and earthly influence. This
is the mustard-seed springing into a great tree, into whose
p

210 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
branches the birds of the air come and lodge. These last the
Lord had already explained as the wicked one or his emissaries.
(Compare ver. 4 and 19.) We must never depart from the
meaning of a symbol in a chapter, unless there be some fresh
and express reason for it, which in this case does not appear.
Thus we have the smallest of all seeds that grow into anything
like a tree ; and from this exceedingly petty beginning there
comes a stem, with boughs sufficiently capacious to yield a
shelter and a home to the birds of the air. What a change
for the christian profession ! The destroyer Is now housed in
its bosom !
Then follows the third parable, and again of a different nature.
It is not a seed, good or bad. It Is not the small now becoming
lofty and large, a protective power In the earth, and for what ?
But here we find that there would be the spread of doctrine
within, assimilating to itself whatever came In its way.
" Leaven" is used in the Gospel of MatthcAv, as well as
occasionally elsewhere, for doctrine. For Instance, we have
" the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees," Avhich is called
" leaven." No doubt, there the Lord speaks of hypocritical
doctrine. The thought here is, not to characterize the doctrine,
whether good or evil, but rather, it would appear, to symbolize
that which spreads and permeates what is exposed to itself.
" The kingdom of heaven is like raito leaven, which a woman
took, and hid In three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened." (Ver. 33.) The three measures of meal are not
legitimately assumed to mean the whole world ; they are, I
suppose, a certain defined space that was devoted to the action
of the leavening doctrine, throughout which the doctrine spreads
effectively. Whether the result is a good or a bad state when
the whole is indoctrinated, we must judge by the word of God
in general, and not merely by a particular figure or expression.
It is not usual to find the truth make such Avay. We know
what the heart is, and we may infer that the doctrine which is
so thoroughly spread under the name of Christ must be very
far departed from Its original purity when It becomes welcome
to any considerable " masses" of men. We have, moreover

CHAPTER XIII. 211
seen the tares, which do not imply anything good, mingled with
the wheat. We have had the mustard-seed grown into a tree,
and strangely harbouring the birds of the air, which erst preyed
on the seed that Christ sowed. Again, whenever " leaven"
occurs symbolically in the word of God, it is never employed
save to characterize corruption which tends to work actively
and spread : so that the point here must not be assumed to be
the extension of the gospel. The meaning, I doubt not, is a
system of doctrine which fills and gives its tone to a certain
given mass of men. What sort of doctrine it is must be
decided by other considerations ; but leaven, assuredly, would
be an unwonted symbol of good. On the other hand, the
gospel is the seed — the incorruptible seed — of life, as being
God's testimony to Christ and His work. It may be taken
away, or trodden doAvn ; but wherever the gospel is lodged in
the heart, there it issues, through grace, in a new nature.
Leaven has nowhere and nothing to do with Christ or giving
Ufe, but expressly the contrary. Hence there is not the smallest
analogy between the action of leaven and the reception of life
in Christ through the gospel. I believe that the leaven here
sets forth the propagandism of dogmas and decrees, after that
Christendom became a great power in the earth (answering to
the tree, which was the case, historically, in the time of Con
stantine the Great). We know that the result of this was an
awful departure from the truth. When Christianity grew into
respectability in the world, instead of being persecuted and a
reproach, crowds of men were brought in. A whole army was
baptized at the word of command. Now the sword was used
to defend or enforce Christianity; more frequently earthly
reward and imperial favour might quicken the doAynfall of
heathenism. All this was, no doubt, that which prepared the
way for the spreading of the leaven ; but not for the sound
truth of God nor for His grace.
Observe, too, that thus the interpretation flows on harmoniously.
We have parables devoted to distinct things, which may have a
certain measure of analogy one to another, and yet set forth
distinct truths in an order which cannot but commend itself to

212 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW,
a spiritual, unprejudiced mind. Much depends on a due under
standing of that which is meant by the " kingdom of heaven."
Let us not forget that it is simply the authority of the Lord in
heaven, acknowledged upon the earth. Whoever may own it,
whether born of God or not, they are in the kingdom of heaven.
Some axe really renewed, AvhIle others have merely adopted
Christianity as a good creed and a sound moral code. When it
becomes a thing the Avorld takes cognizance of, as a civilizing
power in the earth, weighed In the scale of man's wisdom, It is
no longer the mere field sown with good seed, which the enemy
may spoil with bad, but the towering tree, and the wide and
deeply working leaven ; and such Is the very unexpected disclo
sure which our Lord makes — what the multitude might admire,
but the wise would understand. If the disciples looked for
everything going on according to the mind of Christ, they were
quite mistaken. They Avere informed that there was to be a
state of things wholly different from what they expected accord
ing to the prophets, who discoursed In glowing strains of a time
when there would be universal peace, blessing, and glory on
the earth. Here they find that, although the Messiah was come.
He was going away ; that, while He should be in the heavens,
the kingdom would be introduced in patience, not power —
mysteriousfy, and not yet to sight ; and that therein, conse
quently, the devil would be aUowed to work just as before, only
taking his usual advantage of the fresh truth revealed of God.
So far, then, these parables shew the gradual growth of evil.
First, there is the mingling of a little evil with a great deal of
good, as in the case of the wheat field. Then the rising up of
that which is high and mighty and Influential from the lowly
origin of early Christianity. Instead of having in the world
tribulation, the christian body becomes a patron or benefactor
in its exercise of authority, and hence the place to which the
most aspiring of the world betake themselves for what they
want. After that a great propagation of doctrine foUoAvs, when
the folly of Paganism and the narrowness of Judaism became
so much the more apparent to men, as their interests carried
them there also.

CHAPTER XIIL 213
Mark a change now. The Lord ceases to address Himself to
the multitude. Who could fail to see that the Lord was Him
self sowing the wheat ? Who could not perceive the growing
up of the mustard tree, and the spread of the leaven, when the
facts were there and the application made ? But the Lord now
turns aside from the multitude, who had been in view thus far.
As it is said, " All these spake Jesus to the multitude : and
without a parable spake he not unto them." But now Jesus
sends the multitude aAvay, and goes Into the house. I would
call your attention to this, because it divides the parables, and
inaugurates a distinct set. The parables which follow were not
such as man could see or enter into. Any one might take In
the others. It is the world's wisdom, that Christianity is an
institution to be proud of, but in creed, like another, involving
no moral responsibility — a leaven, in fact, that assimilates to
itself, either from birth, habits, colonization, &c. But although
these parables represent different aspects and states, the preach
ing of the word of the kingdom might be going on all the time.
This has a place to itself; just as among the Jews there are
many feasts, but the sabbath was a constantly recurring one,
repeated week after week. Here we come to a great distinction,
and there is a like analogy In those feasts, for they, too, are
divided. After the. passoA^er, aud the unleavened bread, with
the feast of Aveeks, following one another, you have an interrup
tion, after which come the feasts of trumpets, of atonement, and,
finally, of tabernacles. Also, as the apostle teaches, Christ our
passover has been sacrificed for us ; so that we have to cele
brate the feast of unleavened bread inseparably connected with
it. Nor Is this aU. We read In Acts ii., "When the day of
Pentecost was fully come." There you have the feasts that
are accomplished in us Christians. The feast of trumpets, the
day of atonement, arid the feast of tabernacles, it would be
absurd to apply to the Church ; their application (save what Ave
enjoy in the way of earnest by the Spirit) Is to the Jews. Thus,
as In the middle of Leviticus xxiii. the break indicates a new
order of subjects, so in this chapter there is another just as
marked ; and while the first parables apply to the outward pro-

214 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
fession of Christ's name, the final ones pertain especially and
intimately to what concerns real Christians. The multitude
could not enter into them. They were the secrets of the family,
and, therefore, the Lord calls the disciples within, and there He
unfolds all to them.
But before He enters upon the new ground. He gives us
further information touching the old. The disciples ask Him,
" Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field." (Ver.
36.) Ignorant as they might be, still they had confidence in
their Lord, and that what He had spoken He was willing to
explain. " He answered and said unto them. He that soweth
the good seed is the Son of man : the field is the world ;
the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the
tares are the children of the wicked one." (Ver. 37, 38.) The
Son of man and the wicked one, it has been well reraarked, are
opposed to each other. As in the Trinity, we knoAV there is a
suited part which each blessed Person bears in their work of
blessing, so the sad contrast appears in evil outside. As the
Father brings out specially His love, and separates from the
world through the revelation of it in Christ ; as you have the
Holy Ghost, in contrariety to the flesh, the great agent of aU
the Father's grace, counsels, and ways ; so scripture holds forth
Satan always acting as the grand personal antagonist of the
Son. The Son of God Is come that He might destroy the works
of the devil. The devil makes use of the world to entangle
people, to excite the flesh, stirring up the natural liking of the
heart for present honour and ease. In opposition to all this, the
Son of God presents the glory of the Father as the object for
which He was working by the Holy Ghost.
Discrimination runs strongly through the Lord's explanation
to the disciples in the house. In the first of the parables, the
good is thoroughly separate from the evil, but in the last of the
three all is merged into an undistinguished lump. At first,
however, all was plain. On the one hand, there is the Son
of man, and He sows the good seed, and the result is the
children of the kingdom. On the other hand, there is the

CHAPTER xm. 215
enemy, and he is sowing his bad seed, false doctrines, heresies,
&c. ; and the result of this is the children of the Avicked one.
The presence of Christianity in the Avorld has given the devil an
opportunity for making men a great deal worse than if there
never had been any fresh and heavenly revelation. The infidel
historian has put the result in an awful light — " the annals of
Christianity are the annals of hell." We know that this arises
from his confounding the nominal system, which is Babylon,
with the true Church. In God's sight, that which bears the
name of Christ is a more wicked thing than any other in the
world. There neA'er, elsewhere,, has been so much righteous
blood shed as at the hand of religion so-called. Is not this
solemn? What we have had, in popery is merely the full
carrying out of earthly religion. Every religious system of the
world tends to persecute whatever falls not in with it. This is
seen OA'^en now, where there is a measure of faithfulness to
Christ. The bitterness and opposition towards those who are
seeking to follow the Lord in our day is the sarae kind of thing
that broke out Into the horrors of the dark ages, and lingers
still in the holy office of the inquisition, when and where ever it
holds up its head.
To continue, however — " The harvest is the end of the world,
and the reapers are the angels." (Ver. 39.) " The world" in
verse 38 must not be confounded with " the world" in verse 39.
They are totally distinct words and things. " The world" in
verse 39 means tJie age. It is a course of time, and not a geo
graphical sphere. In verse 38 the sphere is intended, wherein
the gospel goes forth ; in verse 39 it is the space of time in
which the gospel Is either advancing or hindered by the enemy's
power. The harvest is the consummation of the age, that Is,
of the present dispensation (I.e., the time while the Lord is
absent, and the gospel is being proclaimed over the earth).
Grace is actively going forth now. The only means which God
employs to act upon souls are of a raoral or spiritual sort. The
angels introduce providential judgment, and deal with wicked
people to destroy them, while the gospel lays hold of poor

216 ¦ LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
sinners to save them. The Lord Intimates here that an end wiU
be put to the present sending out of the word of the kingdom,
and a day when the effects of Satan's working must be fully
doA'eloped and judged. " The reapers are the angels." We
have nothing to do with the judicial part, only with the spread
of the good ; the angels, with the judgment of the wicked. " As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned In the fire, so shall
it be in the end of this world." (Ver. 40.) The same word is
used for " world" in verse 40 as In A'erse 29. Unfortunately,
our version gives only the same English word in all.
Many scriptures shew a state of things to come at a future
time for the world, totally different from what the gospel
contemplates. I will refer to one or two in the prophets. Take
Isaiah xi., which speaks first of our Lord under the figure of a
branch out of the roots of Jesse. It is plain that this is true of
Christ, whether at His first or second advent. He was bom an
Israelite, and of the family of David. And again, as to the
Holy Ghost resting upon Him, we know that this was true of
Him when He was a man here below : but in verse 4 we find
another thing : " With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and
reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." If you argue
that this applies now, because in the kingdom of heaA^en the
Lord acts upon the souls of the meek, &c., I ask you to read a
few words more : " And he shall sraite the earth with the rod
of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked." Is the Lord doing this now? Clearly not. Is He
not sending a message of mercy throughout the earth ? Instead
of slaying the wicked with the breath of His lips, is He not
converting the wicked by the word of His grace ?— all in entire
contrast with what Is described here. The breath of His mouth
is sometimes applied to the gospel ; but let us see how this suits
Isaiah xxx. 33: "For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the
king it is prepared ; he hath made it deep and large : the
pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath of the Lord,
like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." I find there a
most valuable help to the understanding of chapter xi. What

CHAPTER XIII. 217
is He said to do with the breath of His mouth there ? He slays
the wicked one. " The breath of the Lord," as intefpreted by
the Holy Ghost, forces us to the conviction that it means the
execution of the Lord's judgment on the wicked. The Lord
Jesus came to save ; but the time is at hand when He shall
come to destroy. " He shall smite the earth with the rod of
his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked." The Revelation also gives us the key, where He is
seen with a sword proceeding out of His mouth. It represents
righteous judgment executed by the bare word of the Lord.
As He spoke the world into being. He will speak the wicked
into perdition. Taking this as the indubitable meaning of the
verse, what follows ? A state of things quite unlike Avfiat we
have now under the gospel : " Righteousness shall be the girdle
of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling
together ; and a little child shall lead them. And the coav and
the bear shall feed : their young ones shall lie down together ;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. . They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
All this is not contemplated now ; for whether we look at the
gospels or the epistles, when the Holy Ghost is speaking about
the preaching that goes on now, the eff'ect we have to anticipate
is this — some believing, but the great majority rejecting.
Besides, it Is added, that in the latter days perilous times should
come ; and that which is most prevalent in the last time is, not
the truth of Christ, but the lie of Antichrist (1 John Ii.) ; not
the triumph of the good, but of the bad, till the Lord puts to
His oAvn hand ; and this is what is reserved for His appearing
and kingdom. " He shall smite the earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
As the consequence we see all those blessed effects. The Lord
is not smiting the earth now. He has opened heaven — by and

218 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
by He will take the earth. In the Revelation you have the
vision of the mighty angel, with his right foot upon the sea, and
the left on the earth. It is the Lord taking the whole universe
under His own immediate government. Now the mystery of
iniquity is left unjudged. Evil is allowed to go on rampant in
the world. But this will not be for ever. The mystery of God
is to be finished. Then will begin this amazing change, " the
regeneration," as our Lord styles it, when the Spirit of God
shall be poured out, and the earth be full of the knowledge of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea. But till these times of
refreshing come frora the presence of the Lord, scripture calls
the intervening space the evil age. So in Galatians I. 4, not
the material world is meant, but the moral course of things,
that Is, "this present evil age." The new age, on the contrary,
will be glorious, holy, and blessed.
In the very next verse of Isaiah xi. we have the restoration
of God's ancient people foretold, the gathering in of all Israel
as well as of Judah. At the return from the Babylonish cap
tivity such was not the case. A very inconsiderable fraction of
Judah and Benjamin came back, and none beyond a few indi
viduals of Israel. The ten tribes are unlA^ersally called the lost
tribes; whereas, "it shall come to pass in that day, that the
Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the
remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, arid
from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elara,
and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the
dispersed of Judah from the four comers of the earth. The
envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah
shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, aud Judah
shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders
of the Philistines toward the west : they shall spoil them of the
east together ; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab,
and the children of Ammon shall obey thera. And the Lord
shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea" — a thing
that has never been done, nor anything like it. The Egyptian

CHAPTER XIIL 219
sea exists just as it was ; whereas, there would be outward
marks of the accomplishment of this prophecy, both spiritually
and physically, had it ever taken place. " And AvIth his mighty
wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it
in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And
there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which
shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day
that he came up out of the land of Egypt." Both in the
Egyptian sea and in the Nile there will be this great work of
God, outstripping what He did when He brought the people
out the first time by Moses and Aaron. This will be the age to
come ; but as to the present age, the tares and the wheat are to
grow together till the harvest, which Is the consummation of
this age ; and when it arrives, the Lord sends forth His
angels, " and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that offend, and thera which do iniquity." The severing then
takes place : the tares are gathered and cast into a furnace of
fire, and " then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdora of their Father." Mark the accuracy of the expres
sion, "then shall they shine forth ;" not "then shall they be
caught up." I believe they will have been caught up before
this epoch. " When Christ who is our life shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory." So that the meaning
is as plain as possible. It will be a new age, in which is no
mingling of the good and bad : but the gathering out of the
wicked for judgment closes this age, in order that the good may
be blessed In the next. The righteous here spoken of shine
forth as the sun, and are In a higher sphere ; but the heavens
and earth will then be a united system, though there be no
confusion of its several parts. There wiU be the heavenly and
the earthly glories. There will be those who shine above and
others destined to rich blessing below. It will be all one
kingdom ; but there will be the heavenly and the earthly things,
as the Lord distinguishes in John Hi. — " If I have told you
earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell
you of heavenly things ?"
So here, we have the upper region called the kingdom of the

220 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Father, and the lower the kingdom of the Son of man. " The
Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity." These are not even allowed to be on the earth, but
are cast into a furnace of fire. " Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Both are
"the kingdom of God." What a -glorious prospect I Is it not
a sweet thought that even this present scene of ruin and con
fusion is to be dellA'ered ? that God is to have the joy of His
heart, not only in filling the heavens with His glory, but in the
Son of man honoured in the very place where He was rejected ?
But let us now look at the next parable. " The kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which, when a
man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." (Ver. 44.) This
is the first of the new parables within the house. The Lord is
there shewing, not the state of things found under the public
profession of the name of Christ, but the hidden things, or those
which require discernment. It is a treasure hid in a field, which
a man finds and hides, and for joy thereof sells all that he hath
and buys the field. I am aware that it is the habit of persons
to apply this to a soul finding Christ. But what does the man
in the parable do ? He sells all that he has to buy the field.
Is this the way for a man to be saved? If so, salvation is "to
him that worketh." It becomes, then, a question not of faith,
but of a man giving up everything to gain Christ, which is not
grace, but the law carried to the greatest excess. When a man
has Christ, he would doubtless give up everything for Him. But
these are not the terms on which a man first receives Christ
for his soul's need. But this is not all. The whole field is
bought ; what do you make of that? " The field is the world."
Am I to buy the world In order to obtain Christ ? This only
shews the difficulties into which we fall, whenever we depart
from the simplicity of scripture. But where we reaUy search
and try the scripture by scripture, the meaning is made plain.
The Lord Himself confutes such an interpretation. He shews

CHAPTER XUL 22t
that there is One Man, and one only, who saw this treasure in
the midst of the confusion. Who ? It is the Lord — the Lord
who gave up all His rights in order that He might have sinners
washed In His blood and redeemed to God ; it was He bought
the world in order to acquire the treasure He valued. The two
things are distinctly presented in John xvii. 2, " As thou hast
glA'cn him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given hira." There Is the treasure —
"as many as thou hast given him." But "all flesh" is no
treasure at all. It is the outside thing that goes along with
the bargain, if I may speak thus familiarly ; but it is not the
treasure for His heart. He buys the whole, the outside world,
in order to possess this hidden treasure.
But, moreover, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a mer
chantman seeking goodly pearls ; who, Avheii he had found one
pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought
it." (Ver. 45, 46.) The parable of the hid treasure did not
sufficiently coiiA'ey what the saints are to Christ. For the
treasure might consist of a hundred thousand pieces of gold
and silver. And how would this mark the blessedness and
beauty of the Church? The merchantraan finds " one pearl of
great price." The Lord does not see merely the preciousness
of the saints, but the unity and heavenly beauty of the assembly.
Every saint is precious to Christ ; but " He loved the church,
and gave himself for it." That is what Is seen here — " One pearl
of great price." I do not in the least doubt that its spirit may
be applied to every Christian ; but I believe it is intended to
set forth the loveliness of the Church in the eyes of Christ. It
could not be fuUy said of a man awaking to believe the gospel.
If we consider a sinner before he has received Christ, is he
seeking goodly pearls ? Is he not rather feeding on husks with
the SAA'ine? Here it Is one who seeks "goodly pearls," which
no unconverted raan ever really sought. There is no possibility
of applying these parables except to the Lord Hiraself, or to
the working of His Spirit in His own people. How blessed it
is that, in the midst of all the confusion which the devil has

222 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. '
wrought, Christ sees the treasure of His saints, and the beauty
of His Church, spite of all Infirmities and failure !
Then we have all wound up by the parable of the net, which
is thrown into the sea. (Ver. 47 — 50.) It Is a figure used to
remind us that our energies and desires must be directed after
those Avho are floating about iu the sea of the world. The net
is cast Into the sea, and gathers of every kind, " which, when it
was full they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the
good Into vessels, but cast the bad away." Who are " they ?"
Never do we find angels gathering the good, but always sever
ing the AvIcked for judgment. The fishers were men, like the
servants in the first parable. But it is not only the gospel that
we have here. The net gathers in of every kind ; but is not
the putting the good Into vessels more ? is it not gathering
saints according to God ? It is shewn us that out of every
class, before the Lord returns in judgment, there was to be a
mighty operation of the Spirit through the fishers of men,
gathering saints together in a way quite unexampled. May not
the spirit of this be going on now ? The gospel is going out
with remarkable power over all lands. But there Is another
action — the gathering the good together and putting them into
vessels. This is not AA'hat takes place in heaven. The bad are
cast away ; but this is not the end of them. Another thing is
reserved for them — the furnace of fire. But we have this
additional information in the next verse, " The angels shaU
come forth, and sever the wicked frora araong the just." The
angels' business is always with the wicked ; the servants' with
the good. The seA'erlng of the wicked from among the just is
not the fishermen's work at all ; and their casting of the bad
away is not the same thing as the furnace of fire.
In commenting on chapters viii. and ix. of our gospel, some
striking instances of displacement have been already pointed
out. Thus the Incidents of crossing the lake in the storm
rebuked at last, of the cured demoniacs, of the raised daughter
of Jairus, and of the woman healed on the way, belong as

CHAPTER XIV. 223
matters of history to the interval between the parables we have
been lately occupied with and the despising of our blessed Lord,
which our evangelist proceeds to set down next in order.. I
th^i sought to explain the principle on which, as I believe, the
Holy Spirit was pleased to act in thus arranging the events, so
as most vividly to develop our Lord's Messianic ministry in
Israel with His rejection and its consequences. Hence it is
that, the intervening facts having been Inserted in that earlier
portion, the unbelief of Israel in presence of His teaching
naturaUy follows. He was in His own country and taught them
in their synagogues ; but the result, spite of astonishment at
His wisdom and mighty works, is the scornful inquiry, " Is not
this the carpenter's son ?  And they were offended in
him." A prophet He is, but without honour in His own
country and in His own house. The manifestation of glory
is not denied ; the vessel Is not received according to God's
will, but judged according to the sight and apprehensions of
nature. (Chap. xui. 54 — 58.)

o>e:«>

CHAPTER XIV.
Nor Is this the whole sad truth. About this time the twelve
were sent forth. This we have had in chapter x., forming part
of the special series of events transplanted into that part of the
gospel ; but, in point of time, it followed the fieshly judgment
which was now Messiah's portion. Their mission was beautifully
given before by Matthew, so as to complete the picture of Christ's
patient persevering grace with Israel, as well as to testify the
rights of His person as Jehovah, the Lord of the harvest. Here
consequently the fact is omitted, but the eff'ect appears. " At
that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and

224 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
said unto his servants. This is John the Baptist: he is risen
from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth
themseh^es in him." (Chap. xiv. 1, 2.)
This gives occasion to the Spirit of God to tell the tale
(ver. 3 — 12) of the extinction of John the Baptist's testimony
in his own blood. It was not only a blinded people, but in their
midst ruled a false and reckless king, who feared not first to
imprison, and finally to slay, that blessed witness of God. Not
that he did not fear the multitude (ver. 5) ; for his passions
would have impelled to do the deed ; not that he had not sorrow
and qualms when It came to the point (ver. 9) ; but what can
these restraints avail, in presence of the undiscerned wiles and
the unremoved power of Satan ? Bad as Herod was, he was
not without conscience, and the preaching of John had reached
it, so far at least as to render him uneasy. But the Issue was
what he might expect who knows that an enemy is behind the
scene, hating all that is of God, and goading man on to be his
own slave and God's foe, in the gratification of lust and the
maintenance of honour Averse than vanity. What an insight
into the world and the heart we have here from God ! And
with what holy simplicity all is laid bare which it would be
profitable for us to hear and Aveigh ! " Man being in honour
abideth not ; he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is
their folly ; yet their posterity approve their sayings. Like
sheep thej''' are laid in the grave ; death shall feed on them ; and
tlie upright shall have dominion over them in the morning." So
sang the Psalmist, and surely it was right and of God. " Aud
he (the king) sent and beheaded John in the prison; and his
head was brought In a charger and given to the damsel : and she
brought It to her mother." (Ver. 10, 11.) Such Is man, and
such woman, without God.
When word was brought to the Lord about John's death. He
marks His sense of the act at once — "he departed thence by
ship into a desert place apart : and when the people had heard
thereof, they foUowed hira." (Ver. 13.) There was no insensi
bility in Him, whatever His longsufferlng and grace. He felt
the grievous wrong done to God and His testimony and His

CHAPTER XIV. 225
servant. It was the harbinger of a storm still more violent and
a deed of blood darker far — the awful sin of His own rejec
tion. He would not hurry the moment, but retires. He was a
sufferer, a perfect sufferer, as well as sacrifice ; and while His
sufferings rose to their height in that most solemn hour, when
He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, it would be to
ignore much if we limited our thoughts and feelings of His love
and moral glory to His closing agony. The Lord, then, so
much the more felt the evil, because of His unselfish love and
unstained holiness. It is ever felt most in God's presence,
where He felt everything. The work of rejection goes on.
Did this deep sense, in His spirit, of the growing power
of evil in Israel interrupt the course of His love ? Far from it.
" And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was
moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick."
(Ver. 14.) Let murderous unbelief act as it may. He was
Jehovah, and present here below in humiliation, but in divine
power and grace.
The disciples poorly profit by His grace, and leave small
space for the display of His beneficent power. So, when it was
evening, they " cairie to him, saying. This is a desert place, and
the time is now past ; send the multitude away, that they may
go into the villages and buy themselves victuals." (Ver. 15.)
" Send the multitude away !" Away from Jesus ! What a
proposal ! The greatness of the strait, the urgency of the need,
the difficulty of the circumstances, which to unbelief are so
many reasons for men to do what they can, are to faith just so
much the more the plea and occasion for the Lord to shew what
He is. "Jesus said to them. They need not depart: give ye
them to eat." 0 the dulness of man ! — the folly and slowness
of heart in disciples to believe aU ! And yet, beloved friends,
have we not seen it ? Have we not proved the self-same thing
in ourselves ? What lack of care for others ! What measuring
of their wants, in the forgetfulness of Hira who has all power in
heaven and on earth, and who, in the same breath that assures
us of it, has sent us forth to meet the deepest necessities of sin-
darkened souls !
Q

226 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
" And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves and
two fishes." Ah ! were they, are we, so blind as to overlook
that it is not a question of what but wliom we have ? Jesus is
nothing to the flesh even of disciples.
He said, " Bring them hither to me." Oh ! for more sim
plicity in thus bringing every lack and every scanty supply to
Him whose it is to proAdde, not for us only, but for all the
exigencies of His love ; to . reckon on Him more habitually as
One who cannot act beneath Himself.
" And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass ;
and took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to
heaven, he blessed and brake : and gave the loaves to his dis
ciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat
and wer^ filled : and they took up of the fragments that remained
twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five
thousand men, beside women and children." (Ver. 19 — 21.)
How blessed the scene, and how the perfectness of Christ
shines through it all ! In nothing does He depart from grace,
spite of the recent display of murderous hatred in Herod; His
very retiring apart before it is but a further step in the path
of His sorrow and humiliation ; and yet there, in the desert, to
this great multitude, draAvii out by their wants, comes forth this
striking testimony. Should they not haA'e assuredly gathered
who and what He was ? Jehovah had chosen Zion — had desired
it for His habitation — had said. This is my rest for ever : here
will I dwell ; for I have desired it. But now an Edomite was
there, the slave of a ravening Gentile ; and the people would
have it so, and the chief priests would shortly cry. We have no
king but Csesar. Nevertheless, the rejected One spreads a
table in the wilderness, abundantly blesses ZIon's provision,
and satisfies her poor with bread. The miracle may not be the
fulfilment of Psalm cxxxii. 15, but it is the witness that He was
there who could, and yet will, fulfil it. He Is the Messiah, but
the rejected Messiah, as ever in our gospel. He satisfies His
poor with bread, but it is In the wilderness, whither He had
withdrawn apart from the unbelleAang nation and the wilful
apostate king.

CHAPTER XIV. 227
But now a change opens on our view. For " straightway
Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and go before
him unto the other side Avhile he sent the multitudes away.
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray : and when the evening was come, he was
there alone." (Ver. 22, 23.) The crown was not yet to flourish
upon Himself. He must leave His ancient people because of
their unbelief, and take a new position on high, and call out a
remnant to another state of things also. Rejected as Messiah
on earth. He would not be a king by the will of man to gratify
the worldly lusts of any, but go above and there exercise His
priesthood before God. It is an exact picture of what the Lord
has done. Meanwhile, if the masses of Israel (" the great con
gregation") are dismissed. His elect are ushered into a scene
of troubles In the absence of their Master during the night
of man's day. " The ship was now in the midst of the sea,
tossed with waves : for the wind was contrary." (Ver. 24.)
Such were some of the consequences of Christ's rejection.
Apart on high, and not in the wilderness. He prays for His
OAvn ; locally severed and yet in truth far nearer. He prays for
the disciples left alone to outward appearance. They are
" such as should be saved," the chosen ones, companions of His
own humiliation, while the nation despised Him.
" And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto
them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying. It is a spirit ;
and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying. Be of good cheer ; it is I : be not afraid. And
Peter answered him and said. Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water. And he said. Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid ;
and beginning to sink, he cried, saying. Lord, save me. And
immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,
and said unto him, 0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt?" (Ver. 25 — 31.) Without dwelling now on the moral
lesson, with which we are all more or less familiar, a few words

228 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
on the typical instructions conveyed by the passage may be
welcome. He will leave His Intercessional place above and rejoin His
disciples when their troubles and perplexity are deepest. The
mountain, the sea, storm and calm, darkness and light, are all,
as to security, alike to Christ ; but His taking part In the
distress is the terror of the natural mind. At flrst, even the
disciples " were troubled, saying. It is a spirit ; and they cried
out for fear," only hushed by the sign of His speedy presence.
This hardly goes beyond the circumstances and condition of the
Jewish remnant. If there be any part which does, it Is set
forth in Peter, who, on the word of Jesus, quits the ship (which
presents the ordinary state of the remnant), and goes to meet
the Saviour, outside all support of nature. It is our part to
cross the world by divine power ; for we walk by faith and not
by sight. The wind was not hushed, the waves as threaten
ing as ever. But had not Peter heard that word " Come ;"
and was It not enough ? It was ample from the Lord and
God of all. "And when Peter was come down out of the
ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus." As long as
Jesus and His word were before his heart, there was no failure
any more than danger. " But when he saw the wind bois
terous, he was afraid ; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying.
Lord, save me." Peter failed, as the Church has failed, to
walk toAvards Christ and with Christ ; but, as in his case,
so In ours, Christ has been faithful, aud has delivered us
from so great a death, and doth deliver ; in " whom we trust
that he will yet deliver." "And when they were come into
the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship
came and worshipped him, saying. Of a truth thou art the Son
of God." (Ver. 32, 33.) Jesus now rejoins the remnant, and
calm immediately follows, and He is owned there as Son of God.
Nor this only, for "they came into the land of Gennesaret.
And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they
sent out into all that country round about and brought unto
him all that were diseased ; and besought him that they might
only touch the hem of his garment ; and as many as touched

CHAPTER XV.

229

were made perfectly whole." (Ver. 34—36.) The Lord is now
joyfully received In the very scene where before He had been
rejected. It is the blessing and healing of a distressed and
groaning world, consequent on His return in acknowledged
power and glory.

«»;o

CHAPTER XV.
We find in this chapter striking evidence of the great change
which was now fast coming in through the rejection of Jesus by
Israel. For, first, we have certain religious guides, " Scribes
and Pharisees which were of Jerusalem," who had the best
spiritual opportunities of their nation, and who came clothed
with aU that savoured of antiquity and outward sanctity. These
men put the question to our Lord, " Why do thy disciples
transgress the tradition of the elders ? for they wash not their
hands when they eat bread." The Lord proceeds to deal with
conscience. He does not enter into an abstract discussion
about tradition; nor does He dispute with them as to the
authority of the elders; but He at once lays hold of the
plain fact, that, in their zeal for the tradition of the elders,
they were setting themselves point-blank against the clear,
positive commandment of God. This I believe to be the
invariable eff'ect of tradition, no matter with whom it may
be foraid. If we take up the history of Christendom and
consider any rule that ever was invented, it will be found to
carry those who follow it in opposition to the mind of God. It
may seem to be the most natural thing possible, and growing
out of the new circumstances of the Church ; but we are never
safe In departure from God's word for any other standard.
I am not now contending for the bare literal interpretation
of scripture. A certain course that the word of God binds upon

230 ' LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
His saints in dealing with one evil may not be their duty at
sorae other crisis. New circumstances modify the path the
Church ought to pursue. Were you to apply the directions
given forjudging immorality to fatal error touching our Lord's
person, you would have a very insufficient measure of discipline.
False doctrine does not touch the natural conscience as gross
conduct. Nay, you may too often find a believer drawn away
by his affections to make excuses for those who are fundamen
tally heterodox. AU sorts of difficulties fill the mind where the
eye is not really single. Many might thus be involved who did
not themselves hold the false doctrine. If I hold the principle
of dealing with none but him who brings not the doctrine of
Christ, it will not do ; for there may be others entangled with it.
What is any individual, what is the Church even,' in comparison
with the Saviour, the Son of the Father ? Accordingly, the
rule laid down by the Spirit for vindicating Christ's person from
blasphemous assailants or their partisans, is infinitely more
stringent than where it is a question of moral corruption, be it
ever so bad.
Again, there is a strong tendency to stereotype our own
previous practice, and when some fresh evil comes in to insist
on what was done before, or generally, without inquiring
afresh of God, and searching into His word in view of the
actual case before us and our own responsibility. The spirit of
dependence is needed in order to walk rightly with God. There
is in the written word of God that which wUl meet every claim ;
but each case should be a renewed occasion for consulting that
word in His presence who gave it. People like to be consistent
with themselves, and to hold fast former opinions and practices.
Our Lord, in this place, asserts that deference to mere human
tradition leads into direct disobedience of God's will. Washing
the hands might have seemed to be a most proper act. Nobody
could pretend that scripture forbade it; and, no doubt the
Jewish doctors could press its great significance. They might
very well argue how calculated it was to keep before their minds
the purity God insists on, and especially that we ought never to
receive anything from His hand without putting away aU defile-

CHAPTER XV. 231
ment from ours. They might reason thus to a people who loved
all outward routine. At all events they might say. What was
the harm of such a tradition ? What mischief could it do for
persons to wash their hands, while it might do so much good ?
But our Lord simply comes to this issue : " Why do ye also
transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" It
was not in spite of, but by, their tradition God was disobeyed.
This Is illustrated by si very important relationship in
Israel. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Epheslans, shews
us that the command to honour the father and mother was the
first commandment with promise. Other commandments had the
threat of death annexed to them ; but this commandment was
one that God singled out to crown with long life on the earth.
The apostle's reasoning is, that, if a Jewish child was not only
bound, but encouraged by such a promise, to venerate his parents,
how much more is a christian child now ? He was to obey them
in the Lord — not merely in the law, but in the Lord. This is
the Instance here also taken up, " God commanded, saying.
Honour thy father and mother ; and he that curseth father or
mother, let him die the death." That Is, on the one hand, the
honour was valued by God ; on the other, disrespect was deadly
in His sight. " But ye .say. Whosoever shall say to his father
or his mother. It Is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me, and shall not honour his father or his mother."
The Jews had brought in a cheat for their consciences by which
they might free themselves from the obligation to meet filial
duties. They had only to pronoraice the word, " It is a gift"
(Corban), and a parent might be forgotten ! Doubtless, it was
one of their authorized traditions, and for the priest's profit, but
it was as undoubtedly an unhallowed act in God's sight, and a
direct infringement of His command. " Thus have ye made
the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition."
This is a solemn thing to be remembered ; for it Is not merely
applicable to this class of human relationships, but if any will
take the trouble of examining every kind of religious rule
introduced, not only in popery, but in protestantism, they will
find the same thing invariably true. To add to scripture is

232 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
ruinous : it does not matter by whom it may be done, nor for
the holiest motive men may allege ; for God is jealous about it,
and will not have His word enlarged or amended. Revelation is
complete, and our simple business is to be obedient to the word
of God.
Thus it matters not what example any may propose. Take
one of the commonest possible — the choice of a minister.
People, Christians, say. We must send for ministers, and
choose between thera who is to be ours. I am willing to con
ceive care and conscience in exercising their judgment without
partiality or prejudice. But where is the warrant for choosing
any one whatever to preach the gospel, or to teach the Church ?
Is there one precept, one instance, in all the New Testament ?
Did God, then, not foresee the difficulties and the wants of con
gregations ? Surely He did. Why, then, is there absence , of
all such directions for them ? Because It was a sin to do it, not
only not His mind but contrary to it. There Is not a single
case, nor anythlrig like it, from the time the Holy Ghost was
sent down at Pentecost till the canon of scripture was closed.
And yet you have multitudes of churches spoken of in the
scripture. What, then, is a congregation to do when they
Avant a minister ? Why not search and see the scripture way
of meeting such a dilemma ? The difficulty arises from their
being in a false position already. The central truth of the
Church is the presence of the Holy Ghost. I am speaking now
of the Christian assembly, wherein the Spirit Is personaUy
present to act according to His own wiU in the midst of disciples
there gathered for the purpose of glorifying God and exalting
Christ. Where the meeting is thus carried on, the question of
choosing a minister could not arise. Where there are but three
meeting upon God's principles (that is, church-ground), it is, if
I may so say. Church, if not the Church. If there were three
thousand real saints met, but not on God's principles, they would
not be the Chra'ch nor Church either, though all members of
Christ. So that, if you take this common Protestant tradition
of choosing a minister, it is decisive. It puts the persons who
use it in distinct opposition to the word of God. It might be

CHAPTER XV. 233
good for a christian assembly to feel their weakness. There
might be none with any special gift among thera : some might
be able to help In worship and prayer, though not in preaching
or teaching. But the blessed comfort is that, even if there were
not some one specially gifted in the word, the Holy Ghost is
able to edify the saints without him. If the assembly could
have any amount of gift, and have it in a Avrong way, the bless
ing would be impaired, and the will and glory of God so far set
aside. But if there were not one with a special gift, there
might be real blessing, provided the eye were towards the Lord.
The object of the Holy Ghost is to put the souls of the saints in
direct connection with the Lord. God in His wisdom may be
pleased to "raise up none in a particular assembly, or He may
send there two, three, or more to minister. I do not believe
that any one man has sufficient gifts for the Church. The
notion of ha\dng a single person to be the exclusive organ of the
communications of God to His people is a wrong to them, and
above aU, to the Lord. In every respect it opposes and destroys
the will of God about His Church. There might seem to be a
great many good reasons why people should choose a minister,
but never listen to any apology for that which you do not find
in the, word of God. We are bad judges of what would be best
for us. Men may make great mistakes ; but faith goes upon
the groraid that God can make none. He provides for every
thing in His word. God is pressing that upon us at this very-
moment. At the Reformation the point was to get the Bible at
aU, so that there might be the possibility of poor souls learning
Christ for their salvation. But there nearly all that was known
of the truth ended. The Reformation never touched the true
question of the Church. The Reformers had to deal with a
very rough enemy. They had to blow up the masses of rock in
the quarry ; and we must not find fault if they could not fashion
the stones nor build them with equal skiU. But we ought not
to stop at their hewings.
Tradition ought never to be held in any shape whatever.
Here it was not mere following one another, but using tradition
to indulge hypocritical selfishness. " Ye hypocrites," says our

234 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Lord, " AveU did Esaias prophesy of you, saying. This people
draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips, but their heart is far from me." Those who pretended
such zeal for the law were destroying its very foundations all
the while. The father and mother stand at the head of the
relative precepts which have to do with men. Thus, by their
tradition, which allowed their dishonour, God's own authority
Avas made nuU and void-^and that, too, in the very highest
earthly relationships in Israel. Isaiah' shews that, as they had
got rid of the law by their tradition, so the prophets condemned
them. " In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men."
Having despatched this matter. He calls the multitude, and
says to them, " Hear and raiderstand : not that which goeth into
the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the
mouth, this defileth a man." It is the religious leaders chiefly
that occupy themselves with tradition. The great general snare
is denying the evil of men. The constant weapon which Satan
uses now is the idea that man is not so bad but moral culture
may improve him. The progress of the world Is astonishing,
they say. There are societies for promoting every philanthropic
object, even down to preventing cruelty to animals. Here is a
word that pronounces on these efforts of men in the gross.
" Not' that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that
which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." The real
secret of man's deplorable condition is his heart. This affects all
that comes out.
It is not In any wise what God made. Man noAV is merely a
corrupt creature, whose corruption is imparted to what he takes
in. Therefore mere restraining of the flesh is entirely useless in
God's sight and essentially false. The Lord says to the multitude,
" Not that which goeth into the mouth deflleth a man, but that
which cometh out ofthe mouth, this defileth a man." Observe,
He has done with the question of Jerusalem and of tradition.
He speaks of what touches human nature. Man is lost. But
no one thoroughly belicA-es this about himself, till he has found
Christ. He may believe he is a sinner, but does he beUeve he is

CHAPTER XV. 235
SO bad that no good can be got out of him ? Is not the preva
lent theory and effort to better man's condition ? But our Lord
declares here that it is not by what you put in, or what you
keep from man, that he is made better. The heart is bad ; and
till the heart Is reached, all else is vain. " But the word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart." God's way of
dealing with the heart ought to be the nearest thing to a
Christian. What so simple, so blessed, so mighty, as the gospel ?
Who says that, the gospel wants a handmaid ? The handmaid
has lost her mission and is discharged. As Hagar was sent out
of the house, so all that you get by Hagar is merely Ishmael —
the son bom after the flesh, that mocks the child of promise.
Man is not now in a state of probation. The trial has been
made. God has pronounced upon men that the flesh is utterly
worthless ; and yet raan is trying the question again, instead of
believing God.
The disciples carae to speak to our Lord about it. They did
not altogether relish what He had been saying. They carae
and said unto Him, " Knowest thou that the Pharisees were
offended after they heard this saying?" They might not be
offended themselves, but were disposed to sympathize with the
people who were. We might have thought the multitude would
be most offended. But no ; the Pharisees, standing upon
tradition, have no more notion of the true ruin of man's nature
in the sight of God than even the poor multitude in aU their
ignorance. Nothing so blinds the mind as tradition. The
Pharisees, then, were offended, and the disciples were trying to
act as mediators betAveen them and our Lord. But our Lord
answers still more sternly, " Every plant which my heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." There needs a
new life from God, not an improving of the old one. A plant
must be planted, then, and the heavenly Father must do
it. Every other plant shall be rooted up. " Let them alone :
they be blind leaders of the blind." We are not to spend our
time reasoning with these Pharisees : it is altogether vain. They
require first principles, and the work of God in their souls ; and
therefore all discussion is premature and thrown away. " Let

236 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
them alone : they be blind leaders of the blind." He did not
apply this to the multitude, but to the leaders that were
stumbled by the doctrine of man's total corruption. Such are
best left to their own dcA'Ices. " Let them alone." And if the
blind lead the blind, both shall faU into the ditch.
But the Lord does not leave the disciples where they were.
Peter answers and says unto Him, Declare unto us this parable.
This is evidently Instructive. What did he mean by calling it
a parable ? He did not understand it himself Here was one,
the very chief of the twelve apostles, and he cannot understand
what our Lord means when He tells them that man is altogether
wrong — his heart most of all ; that what comes out of him is
what is so bad, not that which goes in. And this is a parable !
The difficulty of scripture arises less from difficult language than
from unpalatable truth. Truth is contrary to people's wishes ;
and they cannot see it, because they do not like to receive it. A
man may not be always conscious of this himself, but it is the
real secret that God sees. The obstacle consists in man's dislike
of the truth. Peter says, " Declare unto us this parable. And
Jesus said. Are ye also yet without understanding?" Think
where a disciple was when he could find a dark saying in our
Lord's sentence upon man as utterly bad and worthless ! Do
ye not yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth,
goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But
those things that proceed out of the heart, they defUe the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. The source of
raan's evil is frora within. And, therefore, until there is a new
life brought In — till man is born again, of water and of the
Spirit, all is useless. " These are the things which defile a man :
but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." There
closes our Lord's most blessed and weighty instruction, shewing
that the day of outward forms was past, and that it was now a
question of the reality of man's state in the sight of God. And
this He brings out with the greatest possible clearness for the
disciples who could not understand : all very suggestive indeed
to us.

CHAPTER XV. 237
But now we find our Lord turning to a different thought.
He goes away from these scribes and Pharisees to the coasts
of Tyre and Sidon, that is, to the very extremity of the Holy
Land, and that particular quarter of the borders of it which had
been expressly the scene of the judgments of God. In chapter
xi. our Lord had referred to them, aud said, that it would be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than
for the cities where His mighty works had been done. They
were proverbial as the monuments of God's vengeance among
the Gentiles. There our Lord is met by a woman of Canaan
coming out of the same coasts. If there was one race In all
these borders more particularly under God's ban, it was Canaan.
" Cursed," said Noah, " be Canaan." Such a deep character of
evil had come in by the youth Canaan, who seems to have been
specially the leader of his father in his wickedness against his
grandfather Noah. " Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants
shall he be unto his brethren." And so, when Israel was brought
into the land, the Canaanites were to be exterminated without
mercy. They were persons whose abominations had gone up to
heaven with a cry for vengeance from God. Here this woman
came out of the coasts of Canaan, and cries unto Him, saying,
"Have mercy upon rae, 0 Lord, thou Son of David: my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (Ver. 22.) If we
could have conceived any case most of all opposed to what we had
before — scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem, full of learning and
outward veneration for the law — we have it in this poor woman
of Canaan.
The circumstances too were dreadful. Not only was it in
Tyre and Sidon, recalling the judgments of God, but the devil
had taken possession of her daughter. All these circumstances
together made the case to be as deplorable a one as could
be found. How was the Lord going to deal with her? The
Lord shews, in meeting her case, a great change in His ways.
We have seen the Jews pronounced hypocrites ; their worship
intolerable to God, and declared such through their own pro -
phets. For if the Lord pronounced these men to be hypocrites.
He did it out of the lips of their own prophet Isaiah. Noav

238 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
comes one that had not the smallest tie with Israel. In former
times, the obligation of Israel had been to kill the Canaanites.
How would the Messiah deal with her? She cries unto the
Lord, saying, " Have mercy on me, 0 Lord, thou Son of David ;
my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered
her not a word." Not a word !
Why was this ? She was on totally wrong groraid. What
had she to do with the son of David ? If the Lord had acted as
the Son of DaA'id, what could He have done with her except
order her to be executed ? Had the Lord merely been the son
of David, could He have given her the blessing He had In His
heart ? She appealed to Him as if she were one of a chosen
people who had claims on Him as their Messiah. Was it ever
promised that Messiah was to heal the Canaanites ? Not a word
about it. When the Messiah does come as Son of David, the
Canaanites will not be there. Look at Zechariah xiv., and you
will find that, when our Lord shall be king over all the earth,
" In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house
of the Lord of Hosts." So that it is plain that the judgments
Avhich were not thoroughly executed by Israel, because they
were unfaithful to the trust of the Lord, are to be executed by
and by when the Son of DaA'id will take His inheritance. This
woman was altogether confused about it. She had the convic
tion that He was much more than the Son of David, but she did
not know how to bring it out. It is, I think, in much the same
way that many persons now, anxious about their sins, have
tried the Lord's Prayer, and have asked the Father to forgive
them their sins as they forglA-e others. They go to God as
their Father, and ask of Him to deal with them as children.
But this is the very thing which is not yet settled. Are they
children ? Can they say that God is their Father ? They would
shrink from it. It is that which they chiefiy desire, but they
fear it is not so ; that is, they have no right to draw near to God
on the footing of a relationship which does not exist. So that
when persons are thus confused, they never get thorough
peace to their souls. Sometimes they are hoping they are
the children of God, sometimes fearing they are not, cast down

CHAPTER XV. 239
with the sense of the evil within them. The fact is, they do
not understand the matter at all. They are quite right in
wishing to turn to God, but they do not know how to do it.
They are not wiUing to go to God in all that they are — just
as they are — giving up all thought of having promises or
anything else. This shews the wrongness of an anxious soul
seeking after God on the ground of promises. A good deal is
said about sinners "grasping the promises;" but have you any
real title to grasp the promises ? Whom were they for ? In the
Old Testament they were for Israel ; in the New, for Christians.
But you are neither an Israelite nor a Christian. A soul brought
to that point is confounded.
It Is good for a soul to be brought to this : I have no claim
upon God for anything ; I am a lost sinner. If God shakes a
person from what they have no right to, if He strips them of
everything, it is for the purpose of giving them a blessing that
He has a right to give thera. People forget that now it is the
righteousness of God — God's right to bless through Christ
Jesus, according to all that is in His heart. It is no right of
theirs : sin has destroyed that. The cross has come in. Men are
lost. But they are afraid to confess the true ruin in which
they are found. This is what the Lord was dealing with in
the poor woman of Canaan. He was bringing her down to
feel that she had no right to the promises. As Son of David
He had promises. He was to do all kinds of things for Israel :
but where were any promises to the Canaanites? Thus, on
the ground of promise, on the ground of His being the Son of
DaA'id, it was impossible for the Lord to give her what she
asked. She did not understand this. She thought that If an
Israelite might go on the ground of promise, she might. But
it is a mistake. "All the promises of God in Him are yea,
and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." But who
are the " us ?" We who have the Lord Jesus. When we
have got Christ without a promise, then we have a Christ in
whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. We go to
Him as sinners, naked and bare, without the smallest help even
of a promise. But when we haA'e got Christ as sinners, then

240 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
we find that in this Blessed One all the promises of God are
found ours. But we find Him as lost sinners first, and there
are no such things as promises to lost sinners. Not a soul has
a right to a promise till he receives Christ ; and when we have
Christ, we have in Him all the promises. So God will deal
with Israel by and by ; not on any claims that they profess, for
He has allowed them to forfeit these by rejecting Christ now.
" For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might
have mercy upon all. 0 the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God !"
• The poor woman thus made it meet not to answer her. If
the Lord had spoken to her, it must have been with a rebuke.
It was grace and tenderness that led Him not to answer her :
He remains silent till she drops the ground that she had first
taken. But the disciples were not silent ; they wanted to get rid
of her importunity ; they did not like the trouble of her. " They
came and besought him, saying. Send her aAvay, for she crieth
after us." But the Lord confirms what has been already said as
to the wrongness of her plea. He says, as it were. She does not
belong to the house of Israel : I cannot give her a blessing on
the ground she takes, but I wiU not send her away without a
blessing. He stands for the special privilege of the sheep of
the house of Israel, and she was not a sheep. She could not
get the blessing on that ground. " He answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then
the poor woman " came and worshipped him, saying. Lord, help
me." She drops the words " Son of David." She no longer
uses the title which connects Him with Israel, but acknowledges
generally His authority. Now He answers her, though she
is not yet down low enough. When she appeals to Him as
Lord, which was a suitable title, He answers, " It is not meet
to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs." The
moment that this is uttered, aU the secret is out. " Truth
Lord," she says, " yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that faU from
their masters' table." She takes the place of being a dog. She
acknowledges that Israel was, in the outward ways of God, the
favoured people, as children eating of bread upon the table ;

CHAPTER XV. 241
whereas the Gentiles were but the dogs underneath. She
acknowledges it, and it is very humbling. People do not like
it now. But she is brought down to it. The Lord may, for the
purpose of leading us into deeper blessing, break us doAVii to the
very lowest point of the truth about ourselves. But was there no
blessing even for a dog ? She falls back upon this truth : Let it
be that I am a dog, has not God some blessing for me ? No one
could fancy that there ever were promises for dogs ! yet this
was the place she took. When she Is brought down from it, the
Lord gives her the full blessing. He even meets her with the
strongest approbation of her faith — " 0 woman, great is thy
faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." When He had
pronoraiced the sentence upon the nation of the Jews who were
only hypocrites, the Lord goes out to the Gentiles. Faith meets
with richest mercy. The faith, that penetrates through outward
circumstances, and bears the discovery that we have not yet got
doAvn to the lowly place we ought to take, only received
blessing deeper and more enduring than ever. The poor woman
was blessed even to her heart's content. "Be it unto thee even
as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that
very hour." This was grace ; and grace dealing with the most
extreme case of a Gentile under special curse Is that which
occupies the Lord on His turning away from Israel.
But there is raore than this. It is not the Lord retiring after
He has fed the multitude, but the Lord coming down from the
mountain in sovereign goodness. " Jesus departed from thence,
and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee ; and went up Into a moun
tain and sat down there." (Ver. 29.) It Is now the Lord, who
had been away visiting the Gentiles, when the multitude can
approach Him. " Great multitudes came unto him, having
with thera those that were larae, blind, dumb, maimed, and
many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed
them : insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw
the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the larae to walk,
and the blind to see : and they glorified the God of Israel."
(Ver. 30, 31.) I consider that this is a picture of Israel feelinxy
their real condition. They are coming to Jesus, looking to
R

242 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Him, and saying, as it were, " Blessed is he that cometh in the
name of the Lord." They are to speak thus by and by; and
the Lord declared they should not see Him tUl they shoidd
say. Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.
What they saw in Jesus led them to glorify the God of Israel.
Thus the Lord will have relations with Israel. They come, not
now in controversy, but as a poor, maimed, blind, and miserable
multitude ; and the Lord heals them all. But this is not all.
He feeds them as well as heals them ; and we have the beautiful
miracle of the loaves.
But mark the diff"ereiices. In a former case, the disciples
were for sending the multitudes away ; and the Lord allowed
them to shew out their unbelief. In the present instance, it Is
Christ Himself who thinks of them and purposes to bless them.
" I have compassion," says He, " on the multitude, because they
continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat : and
I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way."
(Ver. 32.) You may remember that it is said in Hosea vi.,
"After two days will he revive us, and the third day he will raise
us up, and we shall live in his sight." It is the adequate time
of the trial of the people. Literally, It was the time our Lord
lay in the grave. But it is connected also with the future
blessing of Israel. " I will not send them away fasting lest
they faint by the way. And his disciples say unto him.
Whence should we have so much bread In the wilderness, as to
fill so great a multitude ?" How slow they are to learn the
resources of Christ, as before to learn the worthlessness of
man! "Jesus saith raito them. How many loaves have ye?
And they said. Seven, and a few fishes." (Ver. 34.) It is not
now five loaves and twelve baskets full left ; but with seven
loaves they begin, and with seven baskets full they end. The
reason is this : seven is always the number of spiritual com-
pleteuess in scripture, and this is intended to shew the
fulness with which the Lord makes the blessing to flow to
His people — the fulness of provision that they have in Him.
" He took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks.
and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples

CHAPTER XVL 243
to the multitude." (Ver. 36.) I conceive that this is the
picture of the Lord providing amply for the Jews — for the
beloved people of His choice, whom He never can abandon, to
whom He must accomplish His promises, because He Is the
faithful God. Here the Lord, out of His oavii heart, is pro
viding for their refreshment fully, even for their bodily refresh
ment. This will be the character of the millennial day, when
not only the soul wIU be blessed, but when every kind of mercy
wiU abound, God vindicating His earth from the hand of
Satan, who had long defiled it. Even here below, there will be
the flowing out of dlA'ine compassion toward them, and giving
them all they need. In the seven loaves before they ate, and
the seven baskets of fi'agments taken up after they had
eaten, you have the idea of completeness, an ample store, as for
the present, so for wants to come.

oj*:c>

CHAPTER XVL
In the last chapter, which introduces a new part of the subject
of St. Matthew, we saw that the two great pictures Introduced
were, flrst, the hypocritical disobedience of those who boasted
of the law completely exposed out of their own prophets, as
well as by the touchstone of the Lord Himself; and, secondly,
the true nature of grace shcAvn to one whose circumstances de
manded nothing but' sovereign mercy if she were to be blessed
at all. I need not enter more into a chapter already looked at ;
but I would recall also the particular manifestation at the close
of the Lord's patient and perfect grace towards Israel, spite of
the condition of the Jewish leaders. If He compassionated the
Gentiles, His heart still yearned over the people, and He shewed
it by repeating the great miracle of feeduig thousands in the

244 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
wilderness, though this was not intended to be the figure of His
dispensational retirement from earth, which, as we saw (chap.
xiv.), followed the first miracle of feeding the multitudes — the
type of our Lord's occupation at the right hand of God.
Now we have another picture quite distinct from the last,
though akin to it. It Is not the flagrant disobedience of the law
through human tradition, but the source of all disobedience —
unbelief Hence, in the language employed by the Holy Ghost,
there is only a shade of difference between the words unbelief
and disobedience. The former is the root of which the latter is
the fruit. HaAiiig shewn us the gross systematic violation of
God's law, even by those who were religious leaders in Israel,
and having convicted them of it, even about the highest earthly
relationships which that law bound and encouraged them most
of all to honour, a deeper principle Is now brought out. All that
disobedience of God flowed from unbelief of Himself, and, con
sequently, misapprehension of their own moral condition. These
two things always go together. Ignorance of self flows from
ignorance of God ; and Ignorance of both ourselves and God is
proved by despising Jesus ; and what is true in full of the
worldly man or the unbeliever partially applies to Christians who
in any measure slight the will and person of the Lord. All
these are only the workings of that heart of unbelief, of which
the apostle warns even believers. The grand provision against
this, the operation of the Holy Ghost, In contrast with the
working of the natural mind of man, comes out here plainly.
" The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting,
desired that he would shew them a sign from heaA'en." (Ver. 1.)
They were beginning the same story over again ; but now it is
higher up the source, and, of course therefore, worse in principle.
It is an awful thing to find opposed parties with one onlj- thing
that- unites them — dislike of Jesus ; persons M'ho could haA-e
torn each other to pieces at another time, but this Is their
gathering point — tempting Jesus. "The Pharisees also with
the Sadducees came, and tempting," &c. There was nothing in
conflict between the scribes and Pharisees, but a wide chasm
leparated the Sadducees and Pharisees. Those Avere the free-

CHAPTER XVI. 245
thinkers of the day, these the champions who stood up for
ordinances and for the authority of the law. But both joined
to tempt Jesus. They desired a sign from heaven. The most
significant token, that God ever gave man was before them In
the person of His Son, who eclipsed all other signs. But such
is unbelief, that it can go into the presence of the full mani
festation of God, can gaze at a light brighter than the sun at
noonday, and there and then ask God to give a farthing candle.
But Jesus " answered and said unto them. When it is evening,
ye say. It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the
morning. It will be foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and
loAvring. 0 ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky ;
but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Ver. 2, 3.)
Their own moral condition was the sign and proof that judgment
was imrainent. Doubtless, for those who could see, there was
the fair weather, the day-spring from on high that had A'isited
them in Jesus. They saw it not ; but could they not discern the
foul weather ? They were in the presence of the Messiah, and
were asking Him who consummated all signs in His person to
give them a sign from heaven ! The God that made heaven and
earth was there, but the darkness comprehended it not. " He
came to his own and his own received him not." Nothing could
be more awful, but they were utterly blind ; they could discern
physical changes, but they had no perception of moral and
spiritual features actually then before them.
How truly " a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh
after a sign ; and there shall no sign be given unto It but the
sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed."
(Ver. 4.) Such was His word to them. Men constantly err
as to the character of Jesus. They imagine that He could use
no strong language and feel no anger ; but yet there it is in the
word, written in the Ught. It is the same thing now as ever.
Unbelief is always blind, and betrays its blindness most against
Jesus. The same kind of unbelief that could not then discern
who and what Jesus was sees not now Jesus coming, and discerns
not the signs of the times nor of their own impending ruin.
It is the moral condition of men, no matter where they are, only

246 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the more remarkably manifested where the Ught of God is. If
England be now the focus where God's light is more displayed
than in any other place, it is this which makes aU the more
glaring the unbelief of men, who perhaps are engaged in His
work, who are professing to help it on, one way or another, and
at the same time are utterly careless as to whether they are
walking according to His will revealed in the Bible. Clearly we
have no right merely to foUow the word of God in what suits us,
but the word of God as a whole, for our own souls first, and for
all the children of God next, as far as in us lies. This is what
we have gravely to consider. If we cannot act upon people's
consciences, at least let us keep our own raisullied >ourselA'es.
There is always the question of personal allegiance to the
Saviour, and this is what puts us to the test above all. Precept
is most weighty when commended by our OAvn example.
Here we have our Lord who does not hesitate to touch the
CAdl Avitli unsparing hand. He was the perfect fulness of loA'e :
but do men remember He is the one who said, "wicked and
adulterous generation," " generation of vipers," &c. ? It flows
from true love. If men would but think so, and bow to the truth
that convicts them. To submit, at God's word, to the truth in
this world is to be saved ; to be convicted of the truth only in
the next world is to be lost for ever. Christ was the Faithful
Witness ; He brought God face to face with man, and caused
His perfect light to shine upon them. Why, then, could not
He grant them a sign ? God, full of love as He is, never does
anything to the disparagement of Him who made Himself
known. Jesus can meet a soul in its ruin ; He may eat with
publicans to shew that He is able to recelA^e sinners and forgive
sins to the uttermost ; but He wiU never glA^e any sign to satisfy
the unbeUef which rejects Jesus. These Pharisees and Saddu
cees did not hear His voice of grace. They listened only with
their outward ears ; but they were compelled to hear their own
sentence from the Judge of aU the earth : aud shaU not He do
right? "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign." Had Jesus not been there, to ask for a sign would not
have been so wicked ; but His presence made it audacious

CHAPTER XVI. 247
unbelief and frightful hypocrisy. It was flying in the face
of what God had already vouchsafed, and asking for something
altogether inconsiderable in the presence of His best gift. So
now, the death and resurrection of Christ is preached to a soul
that turns away from it. He says, salvation is not so easy a
thing as all that ; / must do something myself. It is asking
a sign, and this not even from heaven, but from his OAvn heart.
And what is his heart ? God declares that from his heart pro-
jjeeds everything that is wicked. Yet he still clings to the fatal
delusion, that some good thing must be got out of that which
God pronounces only and always evil: and so he turns away
from Jesus and God's righteousness in Hira, which has been
perfectly brought out, because Jesus is risen and at the right
hand of God. When you find very high religious pretensions
along with disparagement of Jesus, what can be more offensive
to God ? "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign ; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of
the prophet Jonas." And what was this? The sign of one
that disappeared from the earth, that passed into the figure of
death away from the Jewish people, and after a while was given
back to them. It was the symbol of death and resurrection,
and our Lord immediately acted upon it. He " left them and
departed." He would pass under the power of death; He
would rise again, and would carry the message, which Israel
had despised, to the poor Gentiles.
But there are other forms of unbeUef ; and the next scene
(ver. 5) is with His disciples: so true is it that what you
find working in its grossest shape in an unconverted man
may be traced, in another way perhaps, in believers. " Jesus
said unto them. Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Ver. 6.) They did not
understand Him ; they reasoned among themseh'es ; and when
ever Christians begin so to reason, they never understand
anything. " They reasoned among themselves saying. It is
because we have taken no bread." (Ver. 7.) There is such
a thing, of course, as sound and solid deduction. The dif
ference is that Avrong reasoning always starts from man and

248 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
tries to rise to God, while right reasoning starts from God
towards man. The natural mind can only infer from the
experience of men Avhat they think or feel, and thus forms
within a sort of image of what God must be. This Is the basis,
the aim, and the character of human speculation In divine
things ; whereas God is the source, strength, and guide of the
thoughts of faith. How do I know God ? In the Bible, which
is the revelation of Christ from the first of Genesis to the end of
the Apocalypse. I see Him there, the key-stone of the archj
the centre of all scripture speaks of; and unless the connection
of Christ with everything is seen, nothing is understood aright.
There is the first grand fallacy, the leaving out of God's
revealing Himself in His Son. It is not the light behind the
veil as under the Jewish system, but infinite blessing now that
God has come to man and man is brought to God. In the life
of Christ I see God drawing uigh to man, and In His death man
brought nigh to God. The veil is rent ; all is out, of man on
the one hand, and of God on the other, as far as God is pleased
to reveal Himself to man In this world. All stands in the
boldest relief in the life and death of Christ. But disciples are
apt to be very dull about these things now as ever ; and so when
He warned them about the leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees, they thought that He was merely speaking of
something for daily life — very much like what we see at
the present time. But our Lord " said unto them, 0 ye
of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because
ye have brought no bread?" (Ver. 8.) Why did they not
think/ of Christ ? Would they have troubled themselves about
loaves if they had thought of Him ? Impossible ! But what
may there not be in a belleA'er's heart, even before Him
in whose hands is the earth and the fulness thereof? They
M'ere anxious, or thought Him so, about bread ! " Do ye not
yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five
thousand, and how many baskets ye took up ? Neither the
seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye
took up ? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it
not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven

CHAPTER xv:. 249
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees ? Then understood they
how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but
of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Ver.
9 — 12.) And this is what disciples even now often misappre
hend. They do not understand the hatefuluess of unsound
doctrine. They are alive to moral evil. If a person gets drunk
or falls Into any other gross scandal, they know, of course, it is
very wicked ; but if the leaven of evil doctrine work, they do
not feel It. Why is it that disciples are more careful of that
which mere natural conscience can judge, than of doctrine
which destroys the foundation of everything both for this world
and for that which is to come ? What a serious thing that
disciples should need to be warned of this by the Lord, and
even then not understand ! He had to explain it to them.
There was the working of unbelief among the disciples, making
the body the great aim, and not seeing the all-importance of
these corrupt doctrines which menaced souls in so many insidious
forms around them.
But there is another way and scene In which unbelief works.
This chapter is the dissection of the root of many a form of
unbelief. " By faith we understand," says the apostle to the
Hebrews. The worldly man tries to understand first and then
to believe ; the Christian begins with the feeblest understanding,
perhaps, but he believes God : his confidence is in One above
himself; and thus out of the stone there is raised up a child
unto Abraham. The Lord now questions the disciples as to the
real gist of aU the matter, whether among Pharisees, Sadducees,
or disciples themselves. " He asked his disciples, saying. Whom
do men say that I, the Son of man, am ?" It is now Christ's
person which coraes out ; and this, I need hardly say, is
deeper than all other doctrine. " Whom do men say that I,
the Son of man, am ? And they said. Some say that thou
art John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others, Jeremias, or
one of the prophets." (Ver. 13, 14.) There are so many
opinions among men, unbelief argues, that certainty is im
possible. Some say one thing and some another: you talk
of truth and scripture ; yet, after all, it is only^owr view. But

250 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
what says faith? Certainty, from God, is our portion, the
moment that we see Avho Jesus is. He is the only remedy that
banishes difficulty and doubt from the mind of man. " He
saith unto them. But whom say ye that I am?" (Ver. 15.)
This was for the purpose of bringing out now what is the pivot
of man's blessing and God's glory, and becomes the turning
point of the chapter. Among these very disciples we are to
have a blessed confession from one of them — the power of God
working in a man who had been rebuked for his want of faith
before, as he was Indeed just after. When we are reaUy broken
down before God about our little faith, the Lord can reveal
some deeper higher view of Himself than we ever had before.
The disciples had been relating the various opinions of men :
one said He was Elias ; another, John the Baptist. " But
Avhom say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Ver. 16.)
Most glorious confession ! In the Psalms He is spoken of as
the Son of God, but very differently. There it is as One
dealing with the kings of the earth, who are called upon to take
care how they behave themselves. But the Son of the living
God ! The Holy Ghost now lifts up the veil to shew that the
Son of the living God iiiA'olves depths far beyond an earthly
dominion, howsoever glorious. He is the Son of that living
God who can communicate life even to His enemies. " Jesus
answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona;
for fiesh and blood hath not rcA'caled It raito thee, but my
Father which Is in heaven. And I say also unto thee," &c.
First, there is the Father revealing ; and the moment Christ
hears Himself confessed as the Son of the living God, He also
sets His own seal and honours the confessor. It is the assertion
of One who at once rises up to His own intrinsic dignity.
" And I also say unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church ; and the gates of heU shall not
prevaU against it." He gives Simon a new name. As God
had given to Abraham, Sarah, &c., because of some fresh mani
festation of Himself, so does the Son of God. It had been
prophetically announced before ; but now comes out for the first

CHAPTEE XVI. 251
time the reason why it was affixed to him. " Thou art Peter,
and upon tliis rock I will build my church." What rock ? The
confession Peter had made that Jesus was the Son of the living
God. On this the Church is built. Israel was govemed by a
law ; the Church is raised on a solid and imperishable and
divine foundation — on the person of the Son of the living God.
And when this fuUer confession breaks from the lips of Peter,
the answer comes, Thou art Peter — thou art a stone — a man
that derivest thy name from this rock on which the Church
is built.
In the early chapters of the Acts, Peter always speaks of
Jesus as the holy child (or servant) Jesus. He speaks of Him
as a man who went about doing good ; as the Messiah slain by
the wicked hands of men, whom God raised up from the dead.
Whatever Peter might know Jesus to be, yet when preaching to
the Jews, he presents Him to them simply as the Christ, as the
predicted Son of David, who had walked here below, whom they
had crucified and God had raised again. Then, at Stephen's
martyrdom, a new term is used about the Lord. That blessed
witness looks up and says, "I see the heavens opened, and the
Son of man standing on the right hand of God." It is not now
merely Jesus as the Messiah, but " the Son of man," which
implies His rejection. When He was refused as the Messiah,
Stephen, finding that this testimony was rejected, is led of God
to testify of Jesus as the exalted Son of man at God's right
hand. When Paul is converted, which is given in the very
next chapter but one, he goes straightway and preaches " Christ
in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God." He did not
merely confess Him, but preached Him as such. And to Paul
was entrusted the great work of bringing out the truth about
"the church of God."
So here, when the Lord hears Peter's confession. He says,
" Upon this rock I wUl build my church." You understand the
glory of my person ; I wiU shew you the work I am going to
accomplish. Mark the expression. It is not, I have been
buUding ; but I will build my Church. He had not built it yet,
nor begun to build it : it was altogether new. I do not mean

252 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
by this that there had not before been souls believing in Him
and regenerate of the Spirit ; but the aggregate of the individual
saints that were born of God from the beginning to the end of
time it is an error to call " the Church." It is a common notion
which, I ara bold to say, has not got one thread of scripture to
give even the appearance of truth to it. The expression in Acts
vii. 38, " The church in the wilderness," means the whole
congregation — the mass of Israel — the greater part of whose
carcases feU in the wilderness. Can you call that " the church
of God?" There were only a foAV believers among them. People
are decelA'ed in this by the sound'; The word, " Church in the
wilderness," merely means the congregation there. The very
same Avord is applied to the confused assembly in Acts xix.,
which would have torn Paul to pieces. If it were translated
like Acts vii., it would be the " Church in the theatre," and
the blunder Is obvious. The word that Is translated " church"
simply means assembly. To find out what is the nature of the
assembly, we must examine the scriptural usage and the object
of the Holy Ghost. For you might have a good or bad
assembly : an assembly of Jews, of Gentiles, or of God's
assembly distinct from either and contrasted with both, as can
be readily and undeniably seen in 1 Corinthians x. 32. Now it
is this last alone which we mean, i.e., God's assembly, when we
speak of " the Church."
What then, to return, does our Lord intimate when He says,
" Upon this rock I will build my church ?" Clearly something
that He was going to erect upon the confession that He was the
Son of the living God, whom death could not conquer, but only
give occasion to the shining forth of His glory by resurrection.
" Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
hades" — the power of death — "shall not prevail against it."
This last, does not mean the place of the lost, but the condition
of separate spirits, " And I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven," The Church and the kingdom of heaven
are not the same thing. It Is never said that Christ gave the
keys of the Church to Peter. Had the keys of the Church or
of heaven been given to him, I do not wonder that the people

CHAPTER XVI. 253
should have imagined" a pope. But "the kingdom of heaA'en"
means the new dispensation now taking place on earth. God
was going to open a new economy, free to Jews and Gentiles,
the keys of which He committed to Peter. One of these keys
was used, if I may so say, at Pentecost when he preached to
the Jews, and the other when he preached to the Gentiles. It
was the opening of the kingdom to people, whether Jews or
Gentiles. " I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bomid
in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven." (Ver. 19.) The eternal forgiveness of sins
has to do with God only, though there is a sense in which for
giving was committed to Peter and the other apostles, which
remains true now. Whenever the Church acts in the name of
the Lord and really does His will, the stamp of God is upon
their deeds. "My church," built upon this rock, is His body —
the temple of belieA^ers built upon Himself. But " the kingdom
of heaven" embraces every one that confesses the name of
Christ. This was begun by preaching and baptizing. When a
man is baptized, he enters " the kingdom of heaven," CA-eii if he
should turn out a hypocrite. He will never be In heaven, of
course, if he is an unbeliever ; but he is in " the kingdom of
heaven." He may either be a tare In the kingdom of heaven,
or he may be real wheat ; an evil or a faithful seiwant ; a foolish
virgin or a wise one. The kingdom of heaven takes in the
whole scene of christian profession.
But we have seen, when Christ speaks of " My church," it is
another thing. It is what is built upon the recognition and
confession of His person, and we know that he that believes
"that Jesus is the Christ is bom of God." And again, "He
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God overcometh the
world." He has got the first workings of life In him if he
acknowledges Jesus as Christ ; but there is a deeper power of
the Holy Ghost in acknowledging Him as Son ; and the higher
the acknowledgment of Christ, the more spiritual energy in going
through this world and overcoming it. If one believer Is more
spiritual than another, it is because he understands the person

254 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
of Christ better. All power depends upon the appreciation of
Christ. Mark our Lord's words first : " Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but
my Father which is in heaven." Christ must be found outside
the Church and before it; Christ must be discerned first and
foremost by the individual soul ; Christ and what He is must,
before and above all, be revealed to the heart by the Father.
He may employ persons who belong to the Church as instru
ments, or may directly use His own word. But, whatever the
means employed, it is the Father revealing the glory of the
Son to a poor sinful man ; and when this is settled with the
individual, Christ says, " Upon this rock I will build my
church." Faith in Christ is essentially God's order and way
before the question of the Church comes in. This is one great
controversy between God and the mystery of iniquity which Is
now working in this world. The aim of the Holy Ghost is to
glorify Christ ; whereas that of the other is to glorify self. The
Holy Ghost is carryuig on this blessed revelation that the Father
has made of the Son; and when the individual question is
settled, then comes the corporate privilege and responsibility —
the Church.
It is not, therefore, enough to say, I have got Christ, infinitely
blessed as that Is. If I know that He is the Son of God, I
ought to believe also that He is building His Church. Do I
know my place there ? Am I found walking in the light of
Christ — a living stone ever In my place in that which He is
building — in healthy action as a member of His body, of His
flesh, and of His bones ? The building of the Church is going
on here. It was here that salvation was wrought, and here It is
that the Church is being built upon this rock ; and the gates of
hades, flie invisible state or separate condition, shall not prevail
against it. Death may come in, but the gates of hades shaU not
prevaU against it. The Lord says In the Revelation, that He
has the keys of death and hades. The death of the beUever, the
Christian, is In the hands of Christ : all is changed now. And
He is the Lord both of the dead and of the living ; death is not
our Lord, but Christ. " Whether we live, we live unto the Lord •

CHAPTER XVL 255
and whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether, therefore,
we live or die, we are the Lord's." The Lord has absolute
command OA'er us : and therefore death Is robbed of all that
makes it so terrible, even to the believer who is looking at it
with unbelieving eyes. The Lord here says that the gates of
hades shall not prevail against His Church. The book of the
ReA'elation at the close brings us its blessed light. That book
which people commonly talk about as the most obscure in the
Bible is the very one to which we are most deeply indebted for
light upon this and other parts. There you have the Lord with
the keys of death and hades. He gaA'o the keys of ihe kingdom
of heaven to Peter, because he it was who Avas to preach to Jews
and Gentiles. The keys did their office ; the door was flung
open on the day of Pentecost first, and afterwards yet more
Avidely when the Gentiles were brought in.
But, further, we have internal administration committed to
Peter, both binding and loosing, authority vested in him by
Christ to act publicly here below, with the promise of ratifica
tion above. "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
boraid in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven." That Is first said to Peter ; and I
presume, from what we have in Matthew xviii. 18 (" Verily I
say unto you. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound
in heaven : and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shaU be loosed
in heaven") that the binding and the loosing belong to the other
disciples : not, unless I am mistaken, to the apostles only, but
to the disciples as such. Compare also the charge in John xx.
19 — 23. On that principle people are received into the
christian Church, and on that principle wicked people are put
away till restored on the acceptance of their repentance. The
Church does not forgive sins as a matter of eternal judgment, of
course, which God alone has the power to do. But it is called of
God to judge a person's state for reception into, or exclusion from,
the circle which confesses the name of Christ here below. In
Acts V. Peter bound their sin on Ananias and Sapphira.
This does not necessarily prove that they were lost ; but the sin
was bound upon them and brought present judgment. Peter

256 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF .MATTHEW.
was not, nor Paul, at Corinth ; and there the Lord acts Himself,
laying His hand upon the guilty : some were weak and sickly,
and some falling asleep. Their sins were indeed retained; but
this does not decide against their final salvation — rather, indeed,
the contrary. When they were judged of the Lord, they were
chastened, that they should not be condemned with the world
(that is, that they should not be lost). They might be taken
away by death, and yet be saved in the day of the Lord. The
Church puts away a wicked person. The man at Corinth, whom
they were told to excommunicate, was guilty of appalling sin ; but
he was not lost. He was delivered unto Satan for the destruction
of the flesh, that the spirit might " be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus." In the next epistle we find this person so over
whelmed with sorrow on account of his fall, that they were
charged to confirm their love to him. Nothing is more simple
than the binding and loosing which people often make so
mysterious. The only sins that the Church ought to judge are
those that come out so palpably as to demand public repudiation
according to the word of God. The Church is not to be a petty
tribunal of judgment for everything. We ought never to claim
the assembly's intervention except about the oa'II that is so plain
as to be entitled to carry the consciences of all along with it.
This I take to be the meaning of binding and loosing. The
former is applied when a soul comes under public discipUne
before the Church, and the latter when he humbles himself and
is formally restored. Eternal forgiveness of sins is another
thing altogether. Therein popery has shewn its wickedness —
confounding remission in this world with the absolute and
eternal forgiveness which God reserves in His own power.
Protestantism has thrown away the other truth — the Church's
boraiden duty to judge sins in this present life.
" Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
that he was* the Christ." What a remarkable change is here !
Peter had confessed Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living
God : now the Lord charges them that they Avere not to tell any
* The word "Jesus" is omitted by the best authorities, which internal
considerations e-yidently confirm.

CHAPTEE XVI. 257
man that He was the Christ — not that He was " the Son of the
living God." What is the meaning of this? It was as good
as saying, It is too late ; I am rejected as the Christ, or the
Messiah, the Anointed of Jehovah. He is refused by Israel, and
He accepts the fact. But mark another thing : " From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he
must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again
the third day." (Ver. 21.) If you compare it with Luke, it
comes out more distinctly. There we are told (chap. ix. 20),
"He said unto them. But whora say ye that I am? Peter
answering said, The Christ of God." Is not this striking?
" The Christ of God." " The Son of the' living God" Is not
mentioned in Luke: consequently, nothing is said about the
building of the Church. How perfect is scripture ! The two
things go together. But In Luke it is said, " He straitly
charged them, and comraanded thera to tell no man that thing
(i.e,, to teU no man that He was the Christ of God), saj'ing,
The Son of man must suffer many things," &c. He does not
forbid them to teU this. There is a great distinction between
"the Christ" and "the Son of man." The latter is the title
of Christ, first as rejected, and then as exalted in heaven. This
is the turning point in Christ's ministry — where He forbids the
disciples to tell that He was the Christ. The meaning is that
Christ drops His Jewish title. He speaks of His Church.
Before it comes. He says, " Upon this rock I will build my
church." From that time He begins to shew unto them how
that He must " go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of
the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised again the third day." Luke adds that "He must first
suffer," &c. All this is connected with the building of the
Church, which began to be built after Christ rose from the
dead, and took His place in heaven. Li Epheslans the Church
is not CA'en named tUl after Christ's resurrection and His taking
a new place in heaven have been brought out. We had God
choosing the saints in Christ Jesus, but not the Church. Elec
tion is an individual thing. He chose us — you aud me, and all
s

258 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the other saints of God, wherever they are. He chose ua that
" we should be holy and without blame before him in love."
But when Paul has introduced Christ's death and resurrection,
he says that God "gave him to be the head over aU things to
the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fiUeth all
in all." Christ was not so given till He was at the right hand
of God. There His headship commences. His Sonship was from
everlasting ; He was a man in this world ; and He was made
Head of the Church, after having accomplished redemption.
The Avord of God is wiser than men : what men call foolishness
is really the wisdom of God. It Is our duty to glA^e up our own
theories, as much as the notions of other men. We must always
bring ourselves up to the standard of God's word — not be
always correcting other people, but ourselves. The word of
God is what He has Avritten for this purpose : it is, no doubt,
very useful for others, but we must honestly use it for our
hearts first. When the children of Israel were going to make
war with the Canaanites, the Lord appears and lets them know
that they must take the knife to themselves before the sword
against others.
But mark the solemn fact that is here recorded. Immediately
after Simon had made this glorious confession of the Lord Jesus,
he is called, not Peter, but Satan ! How could this be ?
Because he savoured not the things that were of God, but those
that were of men. He had not said one improper word
according to human judgment. He had not even indulged in
haste, as was often his wont. The Lord never called mere
excitement " Satan;" but He so called Peter because he sought
to turn Hiraself away from suffering and death. The secret
was this : that he neither fully felt what sin was nor what the
grace of God was. He stood in the way of the Lord's golno- to
the cross. Was it not for Peter that He was going there ? Had
Peter thought of this, would he have said " Be it far from
thee. Lord?" (Ver 22.) It was man; and when it is man
thwarting Christ, He pronounces it Satan. "He tumed and
said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art an off'ence
unto me : for thou saA^ourest not the things that be of God but

CHAPTER XVI. 259
those that be of men." (Ver. 23.) Peter thus feeling and
acting is the true foundation of the mystery of iniquity ; not
Peter confessing what was taught not by flesh and blood but
by God.
Our Lord turns to the disciples and puts before them that
not merely is He going to the cross, but they must be prepared
to foUow Him there. If I am to be in the true path of Jesus,
I must deny myself and take up the cross and follow — not the
disciples — not this church or that church, but — Jesus Hiraself.
I must go in the very teeth of what Is pleasing to my heart
naturaUy. I must be found compassed by shame and rejection
in this present evil world. If not, depend upon it, I am not
following Jesus ; and remember, it is a dangerous thing to
believe In Jesus without following Him. The Lord shews that
it must be a man losing his life as it were. At the present time
much confession of Christ is comparatively an easy matter.
There is little opposition or persecution. How It proves what
the heart is ! People imagine that the world is changed, and
they talk of progress and enlightenment. The truth is, Christians
are changed ; the world is but restrained in the display of its evil.
" He that letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."
When that day comes, it will not be merely the usual spirit of
hatred that animates the world, but God sending men a strong
delusion that they should believe falsehood, and should thus be
ready to receive the antichrist, the man after their own hearts.
I am not foreboding woes and troubles of my OAyn imagination,
but what we flnd in the word of God. There is a great calm
before an earthquake. The cry is of peace and safety, but there
approaches fast this time of dissolution of all that men count
settled and secure. That we. Christians, shall be taken up to be
with our Saviour before that day comes, I have no doubt. We
must look at the bright side — the coming of Jesus to take us to
be in the Father's house. But for the little while that we are
here, the important thing to remember is, that, as Jesus must
needs go to the cross for our deliverance, each Christian has got
his cross too. Do we desire this to be true of ourselves ? If so,
Ave shall be sure to find it out. Let us ask ourselves whether

260 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
we desire to be found taking up our cross and following Jesus;
" If any man wiU come after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross and follow me. For whosoever wiU save his Ufe
shall lose it ; and whosoever wiU lose his Ufe for my sake shaU
find it," (Ver. 25.)
What lessons for our souls! The flesh easily arrogates
superiority over the Spirit; and indulgence to the path of
ease comes in (though of Satan) under the specious plea of love
and kindness. Is the cross of Christ our glory? Are we
AvUling to suffer in doing His wUl ? What a delusion is present
honour and eiijoyment !

0>0<o

CHAPTER XVIL
The chapter we have been last looking at, has shewn us
Jesus rejected as Christ or Messiah, confessed as the Son of the
llAdng God, and about to return in glory as the Son of man.
But along with the glory in which He is to come and reward
each according to his works, Ave have His suffering : not merely
rejection, but His being put to death — raised, no doubt, the
third day, but still the suffering Son of mau, and, as the Son of
man, returning in glory. Following up the subject of His
Father's glory, in which He declares He is to come with His
angels and judge in His kingdom, we have now a picture given
on the holy mount : a picture most striking, and this in a two
fold point of vieAV. The glory, as we saw, of the kingdom,
depends upon His being the Son of man, the exalted man who
had erst suffered, and into whose hands all glory is committed —
who had, at every cost, retrieved the honour of God, and is to
make eff'ectual the blessing of man : who, by virtue of His
suffering, has already brought to nought the power of Satan

CHAPTER XVII. 261
for those who believe, and who eventually, when the kingdom
comes, is to expel Satan altogether, and bring in that for which
God has been waiting — a kingdom prepared from the foundation
of the world. Accordingly, " After six da;^s" (type of the
ordinary term of work here below), " Jesus taketh Peter,
James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high
mountain apart." (Ver. 1.) That is. He takes chosen witnesses ;
for it was merely a testimony to the kingdom — not exactly the
kingdom, but the sample of it that He had referred to when He
said, " There be some standing here, which shall not taste of
death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
The point there is the Son of man coming, rather than the
kingdom itself; and what foUows in our chapter Is only a partial
view of it, as Illustrative of the glory of the rejected Son of
man. But partial though it be, nothing could be more blessed,
saA^e the thing Itself; and faith brings us into a very real present
realizing of that which is to be. It Is " the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The kingdom, of
course, of which our Lord spoke, is not yet arrived. When it
is said, " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God," He appears to speak
of a kingdora which we do enter now. For St. John does
not present it as a thing of mere outward manifestation, but
gives a deeper revelation of the kingdom, as It is true now,
into which every one that is born of God comes, and which shall
yet be displayed with its heavenly and its earthly things. But
St. Matthew, who takes up the Jewish part, or Old Testament
jirediction of the kingdom, sketches us the presentation of the
Son of man coming in His kingdom.
The Lord, accordingly, fulfilling His word, takes these
disciples "up Into an high mountain apart, and was trans
figured before them. And his fe,ce did shine as the sun, and
his raiment was white as the Ught." (Ver. 2.) The sun is
the image of supreme glory, as that which rules the day.
^'Aiid behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias
talking with him." (Ver. 3.) Moses was the personage by
whom the law was given; Elias, the grand sample of the

262 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
prophets, who recalled the people to a broken law. They
were thus the pillars of the Jewish system, to whom every true
Israelite looked back with the deepest feelings of reverence :
one of them singled out as the only Jew taken to heaven, with
out passing through death ; the other, lest he should become an
object of worship after his death, having the singular honour of
being buried by the Lord. These two appear in the presence of
our Lord. They were known to be Moses and Elias : there
seems to have been no difficulty in recognizing them. So, in
the resurrection-state, the distinction of persons will be kept up
thoroughly. There will be no such thing as that kind of same
ness which blots out the peculiarities of each. Though there
will be the termination of earthly relationships, and no peculiar
links will survive in heaven which connected one with another,
no matter how closely, on earth ; yet each will retain his own
individuality — with this mighty difference, of course, that all
saints will bear the Image of the heavenly. All men are after
the pattern of the earthly now ; for we all in the body resemble
fallen Adam now, yet are we not all lost in one common undis-
tingulshable throng.' We each have our own proper character
and our peculiar conformation of body. So in glory each will
be known for Avhat he is. Moses and Elias are seen as glorified,
but as Moses and Elias still; and the Lord is transfigured
in their midst. " Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make
here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for
Elias" (ver. 4) ; shewing that he perfectly well knew which was
Avhich. " While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over
shadowed them : and, behold, a voice out of the cloud which
said. This is my beloved Son, in AA'hom I am Avell pleased. Hear
ye him." (Ver. 5.)
Herein, I conceive, lies tlig depth of the Avhole passage.
Peter, meaning to do honour to his Master but in a human
way — Peter, still savouring in a measure the things of
men and not of God, proposes to put his Master on common
ground with the heads of the law and of the prophets. But
it must not be. The Father at once breaks silence. New

CHAPTER XVII. 263
revelations were about to follow, and indeed were being made.
Whatever might be the value of Moses, whatever the special
charge of Elias, who were they, and what, in presence of the
Son of God? The Son may make nothing of Himself; but the
Father loves the Son. Peter would put Him on a level with the
most honoured of mankind ; but the Father's purpose is that
every knee shall bow to Him — that aU men shall honour the
Son, even as they honour the Father. Man never does this, seeing
simply man in the Son, in Uo adequate way honouring Hira Ayith
divine homage. Faith does ; for it sees God in the Son, hears
God in Him, and also finds Him in the peculiarly blessed
relationship of Father. For if Jesus were conceived to be simply
God, and not the Son, it would be an incomparably less blessed
revelation than that which we actually haA^e. If such a thing
could be, as divine nature without the blessed relationship of
sonship before the Father, we should lose the very sweetest part
of our blessing. For it is not barely the deity of Jesus that has
to be owned — though this lies at the bottom of all truth ; but
the eternal relationship of the Son with the Father. Not merely
was He Son in this world : it is most dangerous to limit the
Souship of Christ thus, for it Is from all eternity. People
reason, that because He is called Son, He must have a beginning
in time, subsequently to the Father. All such argumentation
ought to be banished from the soul of a Christian. The
scripture doctrine has no reference to priority of time. He is
eaUed Son in respect of affection and intimate nearness of rela
tionship. It is the pattern of the blessed place into which grace
brings us through raiioii with the Lord Jesus Christ, though of
course there be ineffable heights and depths beyond in Him.
But if we are simple about it, we gather from it the deepest joy
that is to be found in the knowledge of the true God — and that
in His Son.
The Father, then, interrupts the word of Peter, and answers
Himself. The bright cloud that overshadowed them, Peter weU
knew to be the cloud of Jehovah's presence : but the Father
adds, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
It is not, This is your Messiah — though, of course, He was so ;

264 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
but He brings out the grand New Testament revelation of
Jesus. He reveals Him as His own beloved Son ; and, further,
asserts His unqualified delight in Him. " This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him" — this last also
a statement of all importance. What was Moses, and what EUas
now ? They are entirely left out in the Avords of the Father. I
need not say that every one who heard Jesus was the Son of
God would be very far from despising Moses and Elias. They
who understand grace have a far deeper respect for the law than
the man who muddles grace and law together. The only ftdl
way to value anything that is of God is in the intelligence of
His grace. I do not understand myself nor God till I know His
grace ; and I cannot know His grace, except as I see it in the
person of His Son. " The law was given by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ." He was fuU of grace and
truth. The Father therefore directs attention to Him. He says,
" Hear ye him." It is no longer. Hear Moses, or Hear Ellas,
but " Hear ye him." Could anything be more startling to a
Jew ? All must give place to the Son. The dignity of the others
is not denied, nor their due position slighted. To assert the glory
of the sun that shines every day is in no way to despise the stars.
God made Moses to be what he was, and Elias received in like
manner what He saw fit ; but what were they compared with
His Son ? How plain and sad that men should be at this present
monient making two tabernacles — one for Moses (if not for
Elias), and one for the Lord Jesus ! What Peter was rebuked
for doing is what men have continued to do. They talk about
God being the unchangeable God. But He who ordained the
night made the day ; aud as surely as He once spake the law.
He has now sent the gospel. I see there the display of the
glory of God, shewing out now one part of His character and
now another. This Is not changing. God gives us to see His
different attributes, and His various wisdom, and His infinite
glory ; but I must see each in Its own sphere, and understand
the intent for which God has given each. Moses and Elias were
the two great cardinal points of the Jewish system ; but now

b

CHAPTER XVII. 265
there is One who eclipses all that system — Jesus, the Son of
God; and in presence of Him not even the representatives of
the laAv or the prophets are to be heard. There is a fulness of
truth that comes out in the Son of God; and if I want to
understand the mind of God, as it concerns me now, I must
hear Him. This was most difficult for a Jew to enter into : and,
indeed, it was, if possible, niore important for him to heed the
call than for anyone else ; because he had already a religion based
upon the law and the prophets. Now the beloved Son of God,
in whom the Father Himself expresses His perfect satisfaction,
is commended to aU. " Hear ye him." As Jesus, the Son of
God, is the object of the Father's infinite love, so He is the
means of that same love reaching even to us. If I see Him to
be the beloved Son of the Father, ray soul rests upon Him and
enters into communion with the Father. " Truly our fellowship
is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." What is
fellowship ? It is our having common joy in a common object
which we share with one another. Our joy now we share with
the Father and with the Son. The Father bids me hear the
Son, and the Son declares the Father. We have fellowship with
the Father who points out to our hearts Him in whom He
Hiraself delighted ; we have fellowship with the Son, inasmuch
as He makes known to us the Father. How shall I know the
Father ? — how know His feelings ? But by one way. I look at
His Son, and have now seen the Father. The Son speaks, and
I have heard His voice also. I know how He acts — His love
can go out to the very vilest. Such was Christ ; and Uow, I am
sure, such is the Father also. I know what -God the Father is
when I follow the Son and listen to the Son, It is the Father
He is revealing, not Himself: the Son came to make known what
the Father is in a world that knew Him not. Even those
who had faith, what thoughts had they about the Father ? We
have only to look at the disciples, to see that there was no
answer to the Father's heart, and no sympathy with it.
Although they were born of God, up to this time it was just
what Philip said, " Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us."
Not that he did not divinely know Jesus as the Messiah ; but he

266 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
had not entered into the blessedness of what He was as the Son
revealing the Father. It was only after the Holy Ghost came
down after the Son's departure to heaven, that they acquired
the consciousness of the grace wherein they stood. So, yet
more, the Apostle Paul says, "Though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." To
know Christ at the right hand of God — to appreciate what He
is there, is to know Him far better than if we had heard every
discourse, and seen every miracle, of His upon earth. The Holy
Ghost brings it out more and more fully through His word. I
am not saying now how far we enter practically into what the
Holy Ghost is teaching, because this must after all, and
rightly, depend on the measure of our spirituality. But the
Holy Ghost is here to take of the things of Christ and shew
them to us — to make His glory known and His sufferings, as it
is the Father's delight that He should be known. But there
Avere many things that they could not then bear. When the
Holy Ghost was come. He should lead thera into all truth.
Such is the object of the Father. He takes advantage of the
very glory of Jesus, seen as Son of man, to shew that a still
deeper glory attaches to Him. The kingdom of Christ by no
means exhausts the glory of His person : and it is as connected
with His deeper glory that the existence of the Church Is brought
out. So the confession of His Sonship elicited the word " Upon
this rock will I build my church." This is the pith of the New
Testament revelation — it is the Father revealing His Son, and the
Spirit enabling us to receive what the Son is, both as the image
of the invisible God, and as Introducing us into fellowship with
the Father. It is not God merely known as such, but the Father
in the Son made known by the Holy Ghost. Hence It is, then,
that here, in a gospel especially Avritten for Jewish believers, the
Holy Ghost takes particular pains to mark this. (Compare the
close of chap, xi.) When Peter would have put the Son of God
on an equal ground with the most exalted aud favoured ser
vants of God, a higher object is brought out. When before Him,
Moses and Elias rejoice to take the place of servants merely.
The Son is commended of God to us as the One whom we are

CHAPTER XVIL 267
to hear. This is a truth of all importance, in order to a soul's
getting thoroughly settled on christian ground. Christians
are often afraid of distinguishing between the ways of God and
shrink from accepting the full place of our Lord. But to give
Jesus His rightful glory is the first duty of the soul ; even as
the Father Himself proclaims it. He spoke of Jesus as God
the Father speaking of God the Son. We want more singleness
of eye, a more fervent spirit, and greater intelligence, to give
increasing honour to the Son of God. All heresy has for its root
the slighting of Christ. So, one man makes doing good his
object, another the gospel, another the Church, each rising
perhaps above the other ; but he is practicaUy nearest to God
Avho makes everything a question of Christ. This is the highest
spirituality, because it is the most simple reproduction of God's
own mind, feelings, and word.
The disciples, confounded by what they heard, faU on their
faces and are sore afraid. There was no communion with
it yet. For the present they enter into it but slightly, though
it was afterwards recalled to them by the Spirit of God. "And
Jesus came and touched them, and said. Arise, and be not
afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no
man, save Jesus only." (Ver. 7, 8.) The heavenly Aisloii had
passed away for a time : they were on the raorait alone with
Jesus. What a joy that, if it A^anish, He abides !
Let us just refer briefly to the account of this scene as given
ill the other gospels. In Mark' Ix. we haA-e this same vision of
glory, and it is opened In a similar manner. I am not now
going to enter into all the points of difference, for there are
several. But what was chiefly on my mind was this : In what
the Father says about Christ, the words " in whom I am well
pleased" are left out. The emphatic point, forgotten nowhere,
is that He was the Son ; and in Mark, as in Matthew, He Is the
Son (not a servant only, though truly such) who is to be heard.
But the Holy Ghost by Matthew adds " in whom I am well
pleased." The satisfaction of the Father in the Son is given as
the ground why He should be heard, as the full expression of
His mind. In Luke we have another thing. " Behold, there

268 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias." (Luke
ix 30 ) They are caUed " men" here in a distinct manner,
this gospel having been written more particularly in view of
man at large. These men " appeared in glory, and spake ot his
decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." There we
have the subject of their conversation- a thing of the deepest
interest for us to learn. The death and suff'erlngs of Jesus are
the great theme on which men in glory converse with Himself,
the Son of God. And Jerusalem, yea, Jerusalem, would be
the place of His death instead of welcoming Him to reign !
But then we find the sad traits of human weakness : Peter and
they that were with him were heavy with sleep. There again
we find the Father's aff'ection for His Son. The highest glories
of Judaism wane— the Son is to be heard. The moral features
are prominent throughout.
Now there is another thing to be observed. John leaves out
the transfiguration altogether ; because his proper work was to
dweU, not upon Christ's outward manifestation to the world as
Son of man in His kingdom, but on His eternal glory as the
only-begotten Son of God ; or, as he says himself, " We beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father."
In 2 Peter we have a most interesting aUusion to this scene.
It is said there, " He received from God the Father honour and
o-lory" (2 Peter i. 17) — confirming the remark, that this scene
does not shew us so much His essential glory, as that which
He received from God the Father — " when there came such a
voice to him from the exceUent glory" (or the cloud, which was
the known external symbol of Jehovah's majesty), " This Is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But, mark, " hear
ye him" is omitted here. This is very striking. In the three
gospels, not one of them omits the words " hear ye him." In
the Second Epistle of Peter they are omitted. Matthew gives
us the fuUost account. All that God the Father said, " This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear j-e him."
But the others, that is, Mark and Luke, give " This Is my
beloved Son : hear him ;" whUe Peter himself, who was an
eye-witness of the scene, omits the words "hear him." Mat-

CHAPTER XVII. 269
thew shews us the complacency of the Father in Jesus, for the
purpose of specially raising the hearts of the Jewish disciples
above His mere place as Messiah to the Father's peculiar
delight in Him as the Son ; and this as a ground for valuing
His word above aU. Peter leaves out " hear ye him," because
now (the revelation of Jesus having come out) the point that
remains is the Father's delight in Jesus. I do not pretend to
say how far the inspired writers Imew all the mind of God in
such a thing : they wrote as moved by the Holy Ghost,
There are two ways, I would observe, of looking at these
diff'erences in the accoraits that are given us : the one is the
infidel view, and the other the christian. The infidel way is to
suppose that Matthew, Mark, aud Luke did their best as men ;
but that they sometimes made mistakes. Now Infidelity is always
the most foolish thing in the world. It is not only unworthy
of God, but, I repeat, also as absurd as possible when the facts
are quietly looked into. How came It to pass that the man who
wrote the first gospel gave this scene the most fully ? If he
had written after the others, I could conceive his remembering
and registering what the others had forgotten ; but Matthew
gives both the first and minutest accorait. Mark and Luke
leave out some parts, and Peter leaves out what they had aU
put in — " hear him." Such criticism, therefore, is not raerely
pride of heart, but it is the folly of spoilt children agauist the
word of God.
But, again, let us look at it in the other way. We are
ignorant; we know nothing as we ought to know. Let us
beUeve that what God says is perfect — that everything He has
given us in His word is perfect ; and that in the very differ
ences there is a divine object. Matthew, writing to those who
were under Jewish prejudices, brings out the Father's good
pleasure in Jesus as His Son, which is the grand means of lift
ing up the soul frora earth. And as it was the Evangelists who
were the first to bring out this new and blessed truth, they all
put in " hear him." But Peter, writing long after, makes the
person of the Son to be the prime object, and not His revelation.
What does Peter mean to teach us, Avhen he says that no pro-

270 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
phecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation ? You
cannot understand prophecy if you take it merely piecemeal and
by itself A prophecy confined to particular circumstances and
persons loses its chief value. Christ is the substance of pro
phecy. It is His glory that the prophecies bring out. They
are not connected merely with England or France or any other
comitry you may choose ; but you must see the connection of
the prophecies with Christ : when you do, you have a sure light.
God is thinking of His beloved Son, and commending His Son
to us. He wants to have our hearts filled with His Son, and
not with thoughts about our country or great men. The Son
of God is the object of the Father. This is what the Holy
Ghost is insisting upon here. He shews that prophecy is a
lamp which shines in a dark place, but not when it is scA-ered
from the object of God. Take it in connectioii with its due
aim, and all is bright ; but connect it with self, and you turn
the very prophecy of God into a false light which will lead you
astray. Let me, therefore, settle it in my heart, that I am to
trust In every word of God ; to lay uji and consider each word
and thought, confiding in the Holy Ghost to lead me into all
truth. I must wait upon God to see what the particular design
and object of the Holy Ghost is : " God is faithful who has
called us unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Aud if He has called us into fellowship with His Son, what will
He not tell us about His Son ? The Son is before Him ; and
the Lord grant that He may be before us !
As the disciples came down from the mount, the Lord charges
them, saying, " Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man
be risen again from the dead." (Ver. 9.) It was no longer a
question of testifying to the kingdom of Christ. This was
rejected. The A'ision was for the disciples, for strengthening
their faith in Jesus. The Lord was occupying Himself with the
souls of believers, not with the world. There is always a period
when testimony of an outward kind may close. You may
remeraber the time when Paul separates the disciples that were
at Ephesus frora the multitude and leads them into what more
particularly concerned them. Now for the present time till the

CHAPTER XVIL 271
Holy Ghost was given, till the Lord was risen from the dead,
and power came from on high to make these things a fresh
starting-point, it was of no use to speak of them any further.
" His disciples asked hiin, saying. Why then say the scribes
that Ellas must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things; but I
say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him
not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed." (Ver.
10 — 12.) He shews that to faith Elias was come. If the nation
had received the word, Elias would have come in person, accord
ing to the prophecy in Malachi ; but the nation refusing Jesus,
the disciples were Instructed to regard the testimony of John
the Baptist as being virtually that of Ellas. This accords with
the statement that we have in chapter xi., where It was said,
" If ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come ;"
shewing that it was not Elias actually and literally, but the
spirit and power of Elias in the person of John the Baptist.
The Messiah is coming in glory by and by, and Elias Is coming
too. But the Messiah was come in weakness now, and humilia
tion ; and His forerunner had been put to death. It was Elias
who was come in the person of the suffering John the Baptist,
and his testiraony was despised. The disciples are let into the
secret of this : " Elias is corae already, and they have done
unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son
of man suffer of them. Then the disciples raiderstood that he
spake unto them of John the Baptist." (Ver. 12, 13.)
But now another thing is noticed. The working of Satan is
in no wise put aside by the effect of the glory of Jesus being
revealed upon the mountain. At the foot of that same moun
tain where the Lord displayed the glory of the kingdom, Satan
displayed his power. It was not broken yet. The kingdom
was only a matter of testiraony. The disciples failed to draw
on the resources of Christ to put down the power of the enemy.
It came out thus : A raan comes to the Lord, kneeling doAvn
to Him and saying, '^ Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is
lunatic and sore vexed ; for ofttimes he falleth Into, the fire, and
oft mto the water." (Ver. 15.) The most opposite trials were

272 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
thus brought together. " And I brought him to thy disciples,
and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said,
0 faithless and perverse generation, how long shaU I be with
you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
And Jesus rebuked the devU, and he departed out of him. And
the child was cured from that very hour." (Ver. 16 — 18.) And
when the disciples wanted to know how it was that they could
not cast him out, He tells them " Because of your unbelief."
It. is a wonderful thing, but nothing can be more sure, than that
unbelief is at the root of the difficulties Satan foists in. He
has lost his power over those that have faith. A believer could
never, if walking with the Lord, fall under anything of the sort.
We must distinguish a slip into sin from falling into the power
of Satan ; which latter I believe to be his Infiuence In sapping
all confidence in the goodness of God. Hence, when a raan is
put aAvay from the Church, he is delivered unto Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, though the aim be that the spirit may
be saved in the day of the Lord. Whenever a person is really
and rightly put away from the table of the Lord (until there is
a restoration of spirit, which can only be when the snare of
Satan is defeated), exceeding power is acquired over the soul.
But here we have It as to the body. This child is described as
a lunatic and sore vexed. But unbelief entirely misses the
power of God, which ought to haA'e been at the command of the
disciples. "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye
shall say unto this mountain. Remove hence to yonder place."
(Ver. 20.) The very least working of faith in the soul is so far
available for present difficulties. The power of the world, the
settled power of anything here, which is what the mountain
sets forth, would completely disappear before the faith of the
disciples. " Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer
and fasting." (Ver. 21.) There must be dependence iu the
conflict with the power of evil. It was Christ's moral glory ; it
is one secret of strength. The assumption of power because of
association with Jesus simply fails and turns to shame. There
must also be self-emptiness, and self-denial, that God may act.
When Jesus descends, all Satan's power is broken and vanishes.

CHAPTER XVIL 273
Then comes another declaration of His suff'erings, but I will
not dwell upon this now, beyond remarking that, as in chapter
xvi. 21, we had His sufi"ering through the Jews (elders, chief
priests, and scribes), so here it is rather Gentile rejection: " The
Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men."" This
foUows the manifestation of His glory as Son of man, while the
other foUowed the confession of His stiU d-eeper glory as Son
of God.
Li conclusion, let us look at the beautiful tale of the piece of
' money demanded for the temple. Peter there answers quickly
according to his usual warmth of character. When the tax-
gatherer carae, who was connected with the temple, and the
usual fee was demanded, Peter answered very hastily, that of
course his Master would pay th« tribute. His mind went not
beyond their Jewish position. But our Lord anticipates Peter
when they come to the house, and says to hira, " What thinkest
thou, Simon? of whom" do the kings of the earth take custom
or tribute, of their own children or of strangers?" It was not
that any king of the earth was demanding tribute now of them ;
here the payment was for Jehovah's temple. Peter answers
truly enough. Of strangers. Then Jesus says to him, " Then
are the children free." Nothing can be more beautiful. For
the truth taught us here is that, whatever be the glory of the
kingdom which is coming, whatever the power of Satan which
disappears before the word of Jesus, whatever the faith which
can remove mountains, nothing can take the Son of God out of
the place of grace. It may be that there is no claim, no right to
ask — the children are free. It would be an absurdity to suppose
that amoug the kings of the earth, the children would come
under the same circumstances as strangers in tbe payment of
tribute. They are exempt. Jesus takes that place, and most
sweetly too He puts it in a general form. The principle of it
would be true of others, as well as of Himself: the children
were to be free. He puts it in the broadest form, in order to
give an idea of the place of blessing into which the children
of the kingdom would be brought — the children of Him in
T

274 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
whose name this demand might be made. " Jesus saith unto
him. Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we
should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and
take up the fish that first cometh up ; and when thou hast
opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money ; that take,
and give unto them for me and thee." (Ver. 27.) This is the
great wonder of Christ, and the practical wonder of Christianity,
that while we have the consciousness of glory, and ought to
pass through this world as sons of glory as well as sons of God,
for this very reason the Lord calls us to be the humblest and
meekest, taking no place upon the earth : I do not mean
claiming no place for Christ. It is our business to live for
nothing but for Christ and the truth : but where it is a question
of ourselves, to be wlUuig to be trampled on and counted as
the filth of the world and the offscouring of all things. Flesh
and blood cannot like it ; but it is the power of the Spirit of God
raising us above nature. It is not hastiness of feeling ; stIU less
is it persons talking about their rights or anything of the kind.
Here we haA^e the consciousness that the children were free — •
fulness of privilege their portion, but at the same time, "lest
we should offend them, go thou to the sea .... thou shalt find
a piece of money : that take, and glA'-e unto them for me and
thee." This is the place of a Christian : not contending for
anything that pertains to ourselves, yet earnest for what
pertains to God ; but In what concerns ourselves, the willingness
to suffer. See the manner in which our Lord provides for all
demands for this tribute. He directs Peter how to find the
piece of money, and says, " That take, and glA^e unto them for
me and thee." What a joy to think that Jesus associates us
Avith Himself, and Himself provides for everythiug if we would
only let Him ; that Jesus, who proves Himself in this very thing
to be God the Creator, displayed divine knowledge, haAdng the
command even of the restless deep ; and as such working this
most extraordinary miracle (making a fish to provide the money
needed to pay the tax of the temple), should thus give us a
place AVith Himself, and undertake for all our need. Nothing
can more beautifully shew us how, with the consciousness of

CHAPTER XVIIL 275
glory, our place should ever be that of the bending and lowliness
of Christ. How blessedly the Son stooped to be the servant,
and leads the children into the same path of grace !
The Lord grant us to know how to reconcile these two things.
We can only do it so far as our eye Is uponc Christ.

O^^O-

CHAPTER XVIIL
In chapter xvi. we had two subjects connected with the revela
tion of the Lord's person to Simon Peter : one of them entirely
new, or for the first time divulged ; the other the familiar subject
of the kingdom of heaven. We shall find in the chapter before
us that these two topics are again brought together, but of
course not conforaided or identified. We are called to see the
kingdom and the Church in their practical bearing. We heard
already that the Lord was to build the Church upon the rock of
the confession- of His person — " Upon this rock I wiU build my
Church," Afterwards, He proraised to give the keys of the
kingdom of heaven to Peter. Now we find, and I think con
nected with our Lord's shewing the practical principle which
actuated Himself, the consciousness of glory, and of the abso
lute command of all that He had made (for He was the Lord
of heaven and earth, if He paid the tribute of the temple) : It
was not a question of rights. Had it been a mere matter of
right, the children were free : He was the Lord ofthe temple, so
that there was no claim possible on that ground. But " lest we
should offend them" &c.
It is plain, then, that grace gives up its rights ; at least,
it does not seek to claim and exercise them for the present.
And in the very consciousness of the possession of all glory, it
can bow in this evil world. Butj then, carefully observe that
what it teaches the soul that understands it is iieA^er to yield

276 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
God's rights, but our ovra. We must be as uiibendmg as a flint
wherever God is in question. Grace never surrenders the true
holiness, the claim or will of God ; in fact, it is the only thing
that, as far as man Is concerned, strengthens any soul to value
them, or assert them, or walk in them : and grace does this. It
is God's own way from the gospel upwards. " What the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con
demned sin In the flesh." The practical lesson follows — " that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." That which the law
claimed, but noA'er produced. Is accomplished by the power of
grace acting upon the heart of man. Christ does not so much
demand as give the power. It is all of His goodness. And
grace consists not merely in forgiving sins, but in giving power
to be and to do that which is entirely contrary to nature and
above it. The law never even sought this. The law addressed
itself to man as he was, supposed him to be a sinner, to have evil
lusts and passions, and forbade them ; but what more could it
do? It claimed the heart of man, the very last thing he would
or could give. He might give his body to be burned, and all his
goods to feed the poor, but never his heart to love God. I am
speaking now of man as mau. When you speak of a Christian,
what makes him a Christian ? Not the law, which never made
a Christian since the world began, nor ever was Intended so to
do. It condemns a man, because he is a sinner and does not
like to obey God : but it does not even hold out what a Christian
ought to be. It never proclaims that a man should forego his
rights, and be willing to suffer : a Christian is one who does this,
being called to go far beyond what the law asked ; and If he does
not, he Is not walking as a Christian. So that. In both AA'ays,
looking at the law, whether as dealing with an ungodly man It
cannot save him ; and in dealing with a godly man, it never puts
before him the full character of the holiness Christ enjoins.
What, then, is It God has given the Christian ? If he is not
under the law, under what is he ? He is under Christ, raider
grace ; under Christ as the very fuhiess of grace and truth.

CHAPTEE XVIIL 277
This is what comes out here. And it is a very beautiful
feature of the chapter we are about to look at just now. We
find the grace of the gospel Is the pattern of the spirit that is to
actuate the Church and its members in everything that merely
concerns ourselves. There is often a great practical difficulty
that people do not understand. While you are called upon to
walk in nothing but grace, as to your own relations with God,
it is a misuse of grace to suppose it to be an allowance of eA'Il or
indifference to it. Grace, on the contrary, while it meets a man
in his ruin, and forgives hira, spite of his sins, imparts a power
that he had not before, because it reveals Christ, strengthens the
soul, gives a new life, and acts upon that life so as to carry him
forward in the obedience as well as in the enjoyment of Christ.
Our Lord shews that this ought to govern everything. But,
first, we have the spirit that befits us. "At the same time
came the disciples unto Jesus, saying. Who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven ?" This furnishes opportunity for our
Lord to indicate the spirit that becomes the kingdom of heaven.
" Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him In the midst
of them, and said. Verily I say unto you, except ye be con
verted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven." (Ver. 3.) Now this is what is wrought
in a soul when it is converted : there is a new life given, CA-en
Christ. Hence there is much more than entire change. That
would be very far short of the truth as to a Christian. Of
course the Christian is a changed man, but then the change is
because of something still deeper. A Christian is a man born
again, possessing a life now that he possessed not before. I
do not mean merely that he lives after a new sort, but that
he has a new Ufe glA'cn to him that he had not as a man.
It is in this way that he becomes a little child. Then this
new life has to be cultivated and strengthened. Our natural
life as men grows up, or it may be checked and hindered by
various circumstances. So it is with the spiritual life, though
it be external.
Our Lord shews here what is the characteristic moral feature
that suits the kingdom of heaven; and this in opposition to

278 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Jewish thoughts of greatness. They were still thinking of the
kingdom of heaA^en, according to certain Old Testament deline
ations of it. When David came to the kingdom, his foUowers
that had been faithful before were exalted according to their
previous worth. You have the three great chiefs, and then
thirty other warriors, and. so on ; all of them having their place
determined by the way In which they had carried themselves in
the day of trial. The disciples came with similar thoughts to
our Lord,. full of what they had done and suffered. Peter gets
rebuked for this A'ery thing afterwards. The same spirit broke
out on many occasions, even at the last supper. Our Lord here
uses It for shewing that the spirit He loves in His disciples is to
be nothing — to be without a thought of self, in a spirit of lowli
ness, dependence, and trust, that does not think about itself.
This is the natural feeling of a little one. It may be spoilt ;
but naturally it looks up to its parents, and thinks there Is
nobody like them ; and as long as the child is unsophisticated,
so it goes on. Li the spiritual child, this self-forgetfulness is
exactly the right feeling. The little child is the standing witness
of true greatness in the kingdom of heaven. Li our Lord
Himself this Avas shewn fully. The wonder was that He who
knew everything, who had all power and might, could take the
place of a little child ; and yet He did. And indeed you may
be sure that the lowliness of a child is in no wise incompatible
Avitli a person being deeply taught in the things of God. It is
not a lowliness that shews Itself in phrases or forms, but the
reality of meekness that confides not In itself but in the living
God ; and this has the respect which God Himself loves there
should be toward those around it. Perfect humility was just as
much a feature of our Lord Jesus, as the consciousness of His
glory. The two things may well go together ; and you canuot
have becoming christian humility unless there be the conscious
ness of glory. To behave ourselves lowlily, as children of God,
is the beautiful thing the Lord is here putting before us.
" Whosoever therefore shaU humble himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Ver. 4.) It
is not merely the becoming like little children, as begotten ot

CHAPTEE XVIIL 279
God, and brought into the family, but there is here the practical
work of humbling ourselves. But then comes another thing :
not only the humbling ourselves, but how we feel towards
others; " WhosoeA'er shall receive one such little child in my
name, receiveth me." (Ver 5.) Whatever may be the lowliness
of the Christian, he should be viewed with all the glory of
Christ, which is meant by receiving him in the name of Christ.
It is a person that does not defend his rights, nor assert his
glory in any way, but Is wlUIng to bend and make way for any
one ; and yet conscious of the glory that rests upon him. There
may be the very opposite of this — " Whoso shall off'end one of
these Uttle ones which believe in me." What is meant by this?
Anything calculated to shake their confidence in Christ, to put
a stumbling-block In their way. It does not mean anything said
in faithful love to their soul. People may take off'ence at this ;
but it Is not what Is spoken of here. It is what tends to shake the
confidence of the little one in God Hiraself. " Whoso shall
offend one of these little ones that believe in rae, it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that
he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Ver 6.) These
things are constantly occurring in the world. Therefore, says
the Lord, " Woe raito the world because of offences ; for it must
needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh." (Ver, 7.) What is to be done? The Lord
shews ill two forms the way to guard against these stumbling-
blocks. The first is this — I must begin with myself. This is
the most important means of not stumbling another. " Where
fore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off" and cast
them from thee." It may be In one's service, or in one's walk ;
but if hand or foot become the occasion of stumbling (something
in which the enemy takes advantage against God), deal resolutely
and at once with the evil thing. "It is better for thee to enter
into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two
feet to be cast into everlasting fire." (Ver. 8.)
The Lord always puts the full result of evil before the souL
In speaking of the kingdom of heaven. He takes into account
that there may be persons in it false as weU as true. He there-

280 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
fore speaks generally. He does not pronounce upon them and
say. If you really belong to the kingdom, you have nothing to
fear. But He looks at the kingdom of heaven ; and there are
persons who enter that kingdom, some of whom may be truly
born of God, others not. The Lord solemnly puts before them,
that such as are indifferent about sin are not bom of God at all.
It is impossible for a soul to be regenerate, and habitually care
less about that which grieves the Holy Ghost. Therefore He
puts before them the certainty of such being cast into ever
lasting fire. Of no one who is born of God could this be
said. But as there may be in the kingdom of heaven a false
profession as well as a true, so a grave thing for the believer to
look well to is, that he do not allow sin in any of his members.
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast It from
thee : it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather
than having two eyes to be cast Into hell-fire." (Ver. 9.) It
may cost ever so much, but God is not a hard master ; none is
so tender and loving. And yet it is God giving us His full
mind by the Lord Jesus,, who shews us that this is the only way
of dealing with that which may become an occasion of sin.
(Compare Eph. v. 5, 6.)
The first great source of offence to others, and which must be
first remoA'-ed, is that which is a stumbling-block to our own
souls. We must begin with self-judgment. But there is also
the despising the little ones that belong to God. " Take heed,"
therefore our Lord says, " that ye despise not one of these little
ones : for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always
behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son
of man is come to save that which was lost." (Ver. 10, 11.) A
beautiful word ; specially as here it is evidently so broadly stated
by our Lord, as to take in a real literal little child as Avell as
the little ones that believe in Him. I believe this chapter was
meant to give encouragement touching little ones. The plea on
which our Lord goes is, not that they were innocent, which is
the way In which they are so often spoken of among men but
that the Son of man carae to save that which was lost. It sup
poses the taint of sin, but that the Son of man came to meet it :

CHAPTER XVIII. 281
so that we are entitled to have confidence in the Lord, not merely
for our own souls, but for the little ones too.
But our Lord goes farther. " How think ye ? If a man have
an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not
leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and
seeketh that which is gone astray ? and if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you. He rejoiceth more of that sheep than of
the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not
the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these
little ones should perish." (Ver. 12 — 14.) No doubt we can
embrace all those that are saved on the same principle, and St.
Luke does so in another chapter. The Gospel of Luke shews us
(chap. XA'.) this very parable applied to any sinner. But here
the Lord is taking it up in connection with the foregoing,
namely, right feelings for one who belongs to the kingdom
of heaA'cn. Starting from a little child, whom He sets in the
midst. He carries the thought of the little one all through this
part of His discourse. And now He closes with the p'roof, in
His oAvn mission, of the interest which the Father takes in these
little ones.
But more than this. He now applies it to our practical con
duct. Supposing your brother does you wrong, something that
may be very hard to bear, perhaps ; an evil word, or an unkind
action done against you — something that you feel deeply as a
real personal trespass against you : the man has done it delibe
rately, and of course it is a great sin. Nobody knows it but
himself and you. What are you to do ? At once this great
principle is applied. When you were ruined and far from God,
what met your case ? Did God wait till you put away your sin ?
It never would have been done at all. God sent His own Son
to seek you, to save you. " The Son of man came to seek and
to saA'e that which was lost." This is the principle for you to
act upon. It Is not merely that' this is the way in which God
acted. You belong to God; you are a child of God. Your
brother has wronged you : go you to him, and seek to set him
right. It is the activity of love which the Lord Jesus now
presses upon His disciples. They are to seek the deliverance, in

282 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the power of divine love, of those who have wandered from God.
It Is not the flesh feeUng its wrong, and resenting what has been
done against itself. The law would enable even a Jew to judge
this. But now it is grace, and grace does not shroud itself up
in its OAvii dignity, and wait till the offender has come and
humbled himself and owned the wrong. The law executes
punishment upon the guilty. If I have to do with the law at
all, I am a lost man. But now another has come in — not the
law, but the Son of man, the Saviour of the lost. Nor is this
all. I Avant you. He says, to be walking after the same prin
ciple, to be vessels of the same love. As you have received
your life from me, so I want your walk to be characterized by
grace, going out after that which has sinned against God — grace to
seek the man that has gone astray. This is a great difficulty,
unless the soul is fresh in the love of God, and enjoying what
God is for him. How does God feel about the child that has
done wrong ? It is the loving desire to have him right. When
the child is near enough to know the Father's heart, he goes out
to do the Father's will. It may have been a wrong done against
him, but he does not think about that. It is his brother who
has slipped Into evil, and he sorrows over him. It Is a real
desire of heart to have the person righted who had gone astray ;
and this, too, not in order to vindicate self, but that his soul
may be restored to the Lord.
" MoreoA^er" (says the Saviour) "if thy brother shall trespass
against thee, go and tell him his fault betAveen thee and him
alone. ' ' (Ver. 15.) He could not bear that another should know it.
It Is not here the case of a sin known to a great many, but some
personal trespass only known to you two. Go, then, to him,
and tell him his fault between you and him alone : — a thing, no
doubt, very contrary to the flesh, which would ever demand that
the offender should first come and humble himself, or which would
act on the worldly groraid of not troubling itself about the man,
but let him go from bad to worse. Love seeks the good even
of the one that has done ever so wrong. " If he shall hear thee,
thou hast gained thy brother." Love is bent on gaining the
brother. It is always so to him that understands and feels

CHAPTEE XVKL 283
with Christ. It is not the offender, but thy brother that is the
thought before the heart. " Thou hast gained thy brother."
" But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two
more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
may be established." (Ver. 16.) Is it possible for him to resist
one or two who come to him, witnesses of the love of Christ ?
He has refused Christ pleading by one ; can he refuse Christ
now that He pleads by more? He Is sought again. Will
he refuse? It maybe, alas! that he avIU. "And if he shall
neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church." The church
means the assembly of God in the place to which these all
belonged. "If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the
church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto
thee as an heathen man and a publican." (Ver. 17.) It does
not raean what pepple call "a" church now; there Is no such
thing in the word of God. Scripture never knows anything but
God's Church ; the chufches scripture recognizes were simply
His assembly in each city or analogous place. And therefore
all the terms of men that have been brought in through
departure from His mind are entirely unknoAvn In scripture.
"A church," separate from others and independent, has no war
rant except In the will of man. Every christian person Is bound
not only to have done with these names, but with the thing
itself, because God is looking for reality, and we are bound to
act upon the truth of Goi His will is that we should not
belong to a church of the world or a voluntary association of our
own. Nothing is more simple than for a Christian to act as a
Christian. It is only pleasing the flesh whenever we depart out
of the path of God. It is evident that this passage contemplates
a known assembly to which these persons belonged. It was
the Church — the only assembly which we are called upon to
acknowledge in the place we live in.
The assembly, then, are told of the guilty person's fault.
The thing has been solemnly investigated and pressed home ;
and the church now pronounces upon it. The church warns
and entreats this man, but he refuses to hear ; and the conse
quence is — " Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a

284 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
publican." A most solemn issue! A man who is called a
brother in the A'erse before is to me as an heathen man and a pub
lican now. We are not to suppose that the man was a drunkard
or a thief; but what he has shewn is a hardness of self-wiU and
a spirit of self-justification. It might have arisen out of small
circumstances ; but this unbending pride about himself and his
own fault is that on which God may pronounce him to be
regarded as an heathen man and a publican : that is, you must
no more acknowledge him in his impenitent state as a Christian.
And yet it may spring mainly from the spirit of justifying
ourseh-es when we are wrong. In the case of drunkenness, or
anything of that kind, there would be no necessity for adopting
any such mode of dealing with it. If there were not the least
question on the mind of any one as to the sin, the duty of the
church is clear : the person is put away. He might not have
been seen by a number of persons ; there is no absolute need
for this. Nor would there be reason in such a case for going
one at a time, and then one or two more. This is only where it is
unknoATO to any one but the individual against whom the tres
pass has been done. But the Lord shews here how, out of a
little spark, a great fire may be kindled. The end of this
personal trespass might be that the church are convinced the
man displays not a trace of christian life in his ways. " Let
him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." " VerUy
I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shaU bind on earth shaU be
bound in heaven." It is not a mere question of agreement.
What gives validity is that It is done in the name of the Lord.
(See 1 Cor. v. 4.) " Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shaU
be bound in heaven, and AA'hatsoever ye shaU loose on the earth
shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that If two of you
shall agree on the earth as touching anything that they shaU
ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is In heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together raito my name
there am I in the midst of them." Whether for discipline or
for making requests of God, the Lord lays down this great prin
ciple, that where two or three are gathered together unto His
name. He is in the midst of them. Nothing could be more

CHAPTER XVIII. 285
sweet and encouraging. And I am persuaded that the Lord
had in view the present ruin of the Church, when there
might be ever so few gathered aright. No company of saints
is thus gathered, unless it assemble in obedience to the word
of God and nothing else — founded and carried out according
to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, Any sect may contain
good people and have good preaching ; but these things do not
make it to be the Church. Unless it be upon the foundations
of the word of God, subject to the Lord by the energy of the
Holy Ghost, it is not such.
But a person may ask. Do you mean to say that any are upon
that ground ? I can only say that the Christians who fall back
on scripture, owning the faithful presence of the Spirit in the
assembly on earth, are taking an immense deal of trouble for a
delusion if they are not. They are very foolish In acting as they
do, unless they are sure that it is according to the mind of God.
Ought you to have raore doubt how Christians should meet to
gether for worship or mutual edification, and that you are doing
so, than about any other directions In the word of God ? Not being
restrained by rules, there is nothing for it but the word of God;
and there is the most entire liberty to carry out that Word.
But while one speaks thus confidently, on the other hand, ought
we not to take a very low place ? When members of Christ's
body are scattered here and there, humiliation alone becomes
us, and this not because of others' ways only but our own.
For what have we been to Christ and the Church ? It would be
very wrong to call ourselves the church ; but if we were only
two or three meeting in the name of Christ, we should have the
same sanction and blessing as if we had the twelve apostles
with us. If through unbelief and weakness the church at large
were broken up and scattered, and If, in the midst of all this
confusion, there were only two or three who had faith to act
upon the Lord's will, for them the word would still be true,
"Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there
am I in the midst of them." The whole thing is wound up
with this grand truth. It is the presence of Christ that gives
sanction to their acts. If the church has fallen into ruin, the

286 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
business of those who feel this is to depart from known evil :
"cease to do evil; learn to do weU." We always come to first
principles when things get astray. This is the obligation of a
christian man. He is never to go on doing what he knows Is
wrong. Where a man makes up his mind to do even a little wrong,
he is an Antinomian. If people think they may sin in the worship
of God, they deceive themselves. "God is not mocked."
There is one other thing that I must close AvIth; Peter says
to our Lord, ' ' How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him ? till seven times ?" We had instruction how we
were to act in the case of a personal trespass. But Peter raises
another question. Sufiposing my brother sins against me over
and over, how often am I to forgive him ? The answer is, "I
say not unto thee. Until seven times, but raitil seventy times
seven." In the kingdom of heaven — not under the law but
under the rule of the rejected Christ — fijrglveness is unlimited.
How wonderful ! to think that holiness, the deeper holiness that
Christianity reveals. Is at the same time that which feels with
the deepest possible love, and which goes out with it to others.
So we find here. "I say not unto thee, Until seven times,"
which was Peter's idea of the largest grace, " but until seventy
times seven." Our Lord insists that there realfy was no end to
forgiveness. It is always to be flowing out. But remember
this, it is a sin against you : it is a person that does wrong to
you. We are not to forgive a wrong done to the Lord till the
Lord has forglA^en it ; and the Lord only forglA^es upon con
fession of sin. I am not now speaking of the grace that
meets a man in his unconverted state : the case here is that of a
brother. When a man is converted, he has to confess his sins
day by day. It shews a wretched state of soul if a person
breaks down in his daily path without confession to God. But
what we learn here is that, if it is some sin done against you
personally, and it is a question how often you are to forgive,
the answer is, " Till seventy times seven." God will never be
outdone in His perfect love ; but even a man upon earth is
called to forgive after this truly divine pattern.

CHAPTER xvin. 287
" Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain
king which would take accorait of his servants." (Ver. 23.)
And then we have two servants brought before us. The king
forgives one of them who had been very guilty (who owed him
ten thousand talents : practically, a debt that never could be
paid by a servant). The king forgives hira. The servant goes
out from the presence of the king after the debt was remitted,
and he meets a fellow-serA^ant who owes him a hundred pence —
a small sum indeed in comparison of that which had just been
forgiven to himself. Yet he seizes his fellow-servant by the
throat, saying, " Pay me that thou owest." But the king hears
of it through the sorrow of the feUow-servants, and summons
the guilty man before him. What is taught by this ? It is a
comparison of the kingdom of heaven : and these comparisons
refer to a state of things established here below by God's wIU.
While we may take the principle to ourselves, much more is
taught than this. Taken in the large way, the servant that
owes the ten thousand talents represents the Jew, who was pecu
liarly favoured of God, and yet had contracted the enormous
debt that he never could pay. When the Jews had completed
this debt by the death of the Messiah, a message of forgiveness
was sent them — " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out." The Holy Ghost presses on
them a message of repentance. They had only to do so, and
their sins would be blotted out : God would send the Messiah
again, and bring in the tiraes of refreshing. The Holy Ghost
answered the prayer of our Lord upon the cross, and Peter
was entitled to tell them that they were forgiven. " I wot,
brethren," he says to them, " that through ignorance ye did it,
as did also your rulers ;" even as the Lord had said, " Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." That does not
mean a personal forgiveness, but a national one, which required
their faith and repentance. Thus the servant had heard the
sound of forglA'^eness to himself, but he had no understanding
of it. He goes out and casts a fellow-servant into prison for
what was comparatively a very small debt. This is the way in
which the Jews acted towards the Gentiles. After rejecting the

288 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
message of mercy for themselves, the Jews followed the Apostle
Paul wherever he went, in order to stir up hatred against him.
When the apostle told them he was sent to the Gentiles, the
word was, " Away with such a fellow from the earth." That
answers to the catching of the fellow-servant by the throat. It
was the hatred of the Jew toward the Gentile. And thus all
the debt that God had forgiven them became fastened upon
them. The lord says to the servant, " 0 thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me : shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy feUow-servaiit, even
as I had pity on thee ? And his lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto
him." (Ver. 32—34.)
I do not doubt that you may apply this to an individual
who has heard the gospel, and who does not act according to it.
The principle of it Is true now of any mere professor of the
gospel In these days, who acts like a worldly man. But taking
it on the broader historical scale, you must bring In the dealings
of God with the Jews and the Gentiles. The Gentile had no
doubt treated the Jew badly : but what was all his debt com
pared with that which God had forgiven the Jew ? The Jew
therefore is cast into prison ; and he will not leave it until he
has paid all that was due. The day is coming when the Lord
will say that Jerusalem has received of His hand double for all
her Sins. Jehovah in His grace will count that Jerusalem has
suffered too much. He will apply to them the blood of Christ,
which can outweigh the ten thousand talents and more. But
the unbelieving generation of Israel are cast into prison, and
will never come out ; the remnant will, by the grace of God ;
and the Lord wiU make of the remnant a strong nation.
Meanwhile, for us the great principle of forgiveness is most
blessed, and a thing that we have need to remember. We have
specially to remind our souls in the case of anything that is
against ourselves. May we at once look steadfastly at what our
God and Father has done for us ! If we can, in the presence
of such grace, be hard for some trifling thing done against
ourselves, let us bethink ourselves how the Lord judges here.

CHAPTER XIX. 289
Sometimes a soul goes on weU for a time. But if there is not
life from God, a slight circumstance happens which brings out
a man's true state; and then you have such a turning back
from Christ as proves that there is nothing of grace in the man's
soul. For where there is life and a heart for Christ, taking the
place of self, the warning of God is heeded.
May the Lord grant that His words may not be in vain for
us, that we raay seek to remember the exceeding grace that has
abounded towards our souls, and what God looks for from us !

<»}•;<?

CHAPTER XIX. ,
Thus far the Holy Ghost was pleased to give us the Lord's
announcement of the Church and the kingdom of heaven. We
haA'e seen them, not only as distinct though connected objects in
chapter xvi., but also (in chap, xviii.) the practical ways which
suit them. It was necessary also to bring out the relation of
the kingdom to God's order in nature. There are certain
relationships which God has established entirely apart from the
new creation, some of which may be carried on when a soul
enters the new creation. The believer is still a man here below,
although as a Christian he is called not to act on human prin
ciples, but to do the will of God ! It was therefore of much
importance to know how the new things affect the recognition
of that which had been already set up in nature. Accordingly,
this chapter largely reveals the mutual relations of what is of
grace and what is in nature. I am of course using the word
"nature" now, not in the sense of "the flesh," i.e., as expres
sive of the principle and exercise of self-will, but of that which
God ordained in this world before sin came in — what God,
consequently, would have to survive all the ruin here below.
Now the man that understands grace alone can enter into and
u

290 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
thoroughly recognize the outward natural order in the world.
Grace never leads a person to slight anything God has introduced,
it matters not what it might be. Take for example the law, and
what a profound error to suppose that the gospel weakens or
annuls God's law ! On the contrary, the Apostle Paul teaches
in Romans Hi., " By faith we establish the law." If I am on
legal ground, there is terror, anxiety, darkness ; the dread of
meeting God as a judge : the law keeps up all these thoughts as
long as I am there ; and very properly. If I, a sinner, am
under It, I reap the bitter consequences in a sense of condemna
tion and guilt. I shall not know what confidence in God's love
to ray soul is. I may have hopes betimes, very much more
frequently fears ; perhaps a sort of excitement of joy overcoming
one for awhile ; but this soon passes away, and the reaction is
greater than before. Hence it is only the man who knows that
he Is saved by grace, and who is entirely lifted above the region
to which the law applies its deathstroke, who can gravely, yet
in peace, look at all, because he is in Christ before God and
above all condemnation. A believer can do it, just because he
is not under law ; if he were, " As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse." That is, if he has to do with the
law himself for his own walk and communion, and not only his
standing before God, he must be miserable, the more so in
proportion as he Is honest in referring the law to his own case.
The attempt to be happy under the law is a most painful struggle,
with the danger too of deceiving ourselves and others. From
all this grace delivers the soul, setting it on a new ground, out
side the spirit of the world, the ways of men, and nature too
even in its best estate. But it Is not at all as if the believer did
not honour and admire all God has laid down. He can look
with delight and see the wisdom and holiness of God that shine
in His every arrangeraent and all His moral government. StiU
it is very plain the law is a testimony to what God forbids or
wishes, but not the revelation of what He Is. This you cannot
find outside Christ. However the law holds up the standard of
that which God demands of man. It shews His intolerance of
evil, and the necessary judgment of those who practise it. But

CHAPTER XIX. 291
we should be helplessly aud hopelessly miserable if this were all ;
and it is only when the soul has laid hold of the grace of God
that it can take pleasure In His ways.
This chapter, then, surveys the relationships of nature in the
light of the kingdom. The first and most fundamental is that
of marriage. "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting
him, and saying unto hira. Is it lawful for a man to put away his
wife for every cause?" (Ver. 3;) There you have the conduct
of such as are on legal ground. There is really no respect for
God, no genuine regard for His law. The Lord at once vindi
cates from the word the institution and the sanctity of marriage :
" Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female ?" (Ver, 4.) That is. He shews
that it is not a mere question of what came in by the law, but
He goes to the sources. God had first established it;, and, far
from dissolving the tie as men list, He made a single pair, and
therefore only to be the one for the other. All other relation
ships were expressly to be light in comparison of this closest tie
— even union. " For this cause shall a man leave father and
mother, and shall, cleave unto his wife ; and they twain shall be
one flesh." (Ver. 5.); Next to the relationship of, marriage is
the tie ofa child to its parents. Still it is said, " For, this. «ause
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife." It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of
marriage as a natural institution. Who would talk of a child
leaving his father and mother for any cause ? The Pharisees
even would not think of such, a thing. The conclusion is
irresistible : " What therefore God hath joined together, let not
man put asunder," (Ver. 6.)^ They were ready with an answer,
of course, ,eveii to our Lord Himself: ," Why did Moses then
command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her
away?" (Ver. 7.) There was really no such command: a
divorce was simply allowed.
Thus, even where men boast of the law most loudly, it is
only grace that gives a man to understand it. The very teachers
of the law never understood what it meant, nor whereof they
affirmed. So the Apostle Paul reproaches those that desired to

292 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW,
be its doctors in his day. But our Lord draws the distinction
with the most perfect truthfulness. Moses suffered certain things
not according to the original archetypal intention of God. Nor
should this be matter of wonder ; for the law made nothing
perfect. A solemn word this : which says, not that the law
was anything but what was good, but that it, made nothing
perfect. It was good in itself, but it could not impart goodness.
The law might be perfect for its own object, but it perfected
nothing, nor was it ever the intention of God that it should.
But more than this — there were certain concessions contained
in the law which did not at aU express the divine mind ; for
God therein was dealing with a people after the flesh. The law
does not contemplate a man as born of God ; Christianity does.
So far as there were men of faith during the law, they were of
course born of God. But the law itself drew no line between
regenerate and unregenerate : at least, it addressed aU Israel,
and not believers only, and hence suffered certain things in view
of the hardness of their hearts. So that our Lord, while
intimating a cei^ain consideration of Israel's condition in the
flesh, at the same time vindicated God's law from the corrupt
deductions of these selfish Pharisees. " From the beginning it
was not so. And I say unto you. Whosoever shall put away his
wife, except It be for fornication, and shall marry another,
committeth adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put
away doth commit adultery." (Ver. 8, 9.) There our Lord
adds what was not in the law, and brings out the full mind of
God touching this relationship. There is but one just cause for
•which it may be dissolved ; or rather, marriage must be dissolved
morally in order to terminate as a matter of fact. In case of
fornication, the tie is aU gone before God. Such a union is
incompatible with that sin ; and then the putting away of the
wife merely proclaims before others what has already taken place
in His sight. All is raade perfectly clear. The righteousness of
the law is estabUshed as far as it went, but it stops short of
perfection by admitting in certain oases a less evil to avoid a
greater. And then we have our Lord supplying the needed
truth— going up to the very beginning, and on to the end also.

CHAPTEE XIX. 293
Thus it is that Christ, the true light, alone and always introduces
the perfect mind of God, supplying all deficiencies and making
all perfect. This is the aim, work, and eff'ect of grace. Never
theless, " His disciples say unto him. If the case of the man be
so with his Avife, it is not good to marry." (Ver. 10.) Alas I
the selfishness of the heart even in disciples. It was so much
the custom then to dismiss the wife because of petty dislike, &c.,
that it shocked them to hear the Lord insisting on the indisso-
iubility of the marriage tie.
But, says the Lord, " All men receive not this saying, save
they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs which
were so bom from their mother's womb ; and there are some
eraiuchs which were made eunuchs of men ; and there be eunuchs
which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive It." (Ver.
12.) There, I apprehend, He is shewing that whatever may be
the sanctity of the institution of marriage naturally, there is in
the last, or spiritual instance, a power of God that can raise
people above it. The Apostle Paul was acting in the spirit of
this verse, when he gives us his own judgment as one 'that had
obtained mercy of the Lord to be falthfiil. Doubtless he was
called to a remarkable work, which would have made due
attention to family relationship out of the question. His
business lay and took him everywhere. Wherever there were
churches to take care of, wherever souls cried, Come hither and
help us, nay, far beyond the caUs of saints or men, the Holy
Ghost laid it on his devoted heart. A work which might
sumraon him at a moment's notice to the ends of the earth
would hardly have consisted with the care that devolves upon a
husband and father. Had it been sought to unite the two,
either the natural relationships must have been neglected, or the
work of the Lord could not haA'e been so thoroughly done.
Hence the wise and gracious judgment of the apostle, not
imposed as a command, but left to weigh on the spiritual mind.
The last of the three classes in the verse is figuratively expressed :
it means, plainly, the living unmarried for God's glory. But
mark, it is a gift, not a law, much less a caste. Only such

294 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
receive it " to whom it is given." It is put as a privilege. As
the apostle presses the honourableness of marriage, he was the
last to lay the smallest slur on such a tie ; but he also knew that
there was a higher and all-absorbing love, an entrance, in its
measure, into the affections of Christ for the Church. Still this
is not an Imposed obligation, but a special call and gift of grace
in which he rejoiced to glorify his Master. The appreciation of
the love of Christ to the Church had formed him in Its own
pattern. Observe here, it is " made themselves eunuchs for the
kingdom of heaven's sake" — that order of things which depends
on Christ no-w in heaven. And hence, strong in the grace that
shines In Him at the right hand of God, they to whom it is
given walk above the natural ties of life ; not, I need not say,
despising them ; honouring and calling all honour to them, yet
individually surrendering themselves to that goodly portion
which shall not be taken from them.
But there Is another aspect of nature that comes before us —
that of children ; and something that is apt to be despised.
What in this world so helpless, such a picture of utter weakness
and dependence, as a babe'? " Then were there brought unto
him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and
pray." (Ver. 13.) The disciples thought It an annoyance or a
liberty, and " rebuked them. But Jesus said. Suffer little
children, and forbid them not, to come unto me ; for of such
is the kingdom of lieaA'en. And he laid his hands on them, and
departed thence." (Ver. 14, 15.) So completely were met aU
the demands of love, CAren where the desire seemed ever so
unseasonable. For why should the Lord of heaven and earth
occupy Himself with putting His hands upon little ones ? But
the Lord would hear no miscalled reason : Ioa'c never does, being
in truth above all reasons. Charity, it Is Avritten, never falleth :
therefore surely not His, who, if appealed to, cannot refuse those
who confide in it. He laid His hands on them and blessed them.
The unworthy thoughts of the disciples were set aside, who
thought babes unworthy of His notice. Ah! hoAV little they
knew Him, long as they had been with Him. Was it not

CHAPTER XIX. 295
worthy of Him so to bless the very least in man's eyes ? The
disciples, because their own hearts feebly entered into and
enjoyed the grace of God, disdained the act of those who
brought their babes to Jesus. But it was right: they knew
enough to give them confidence in His love. They were quite
sure He would not despise the little ones, nor refuse His blessing ;
nor did He. How important a lesson for our souls Is this ! It
need uot be one connected with ourselves ; it might be another's
child. Do we claim the Lord for it ? What Is His feeling ?
He is great. He is mlghfy ; but He desplseth not any. Before
His glory there is not so much difference between a world and
a worm. The world is a mere cipher, if God measures by
Himself But if He does, then He may look upon that which
is a worm and no man ; and there may be the object of His
deepest love and care. Our Lord looked at these babes, 0 with
what interest I What was the globe compared with the destiny
of a little babe blessed of Jesus ? Each had a soul : and what
was its value ? What to be a vessel of grace in this world, and
of glory in the bright eternal day ? The disciples did not enter
into these thoughts ; and if any of us haA'C in any measure, do
we not often forget them ? How little our souls are able to
interweave the coming glory with the scenes of present misery
in daily life, and to act unwaveringly now on that which we
believe will be manifested then ! Can we take pleasure In infir
mities as well as distresses for Christ's sake ? It is in weakness
that His strength is made perfect. We must be made nothing
of, if we are indeed to be strong. Let us bear the same thing
in mind if we have to do with those we are in danger of
despising, Jesus not only blessed the babes, but rebuked the
disciples, who had misrepresented Him, Had they not given
the impression of a Rabbi ? But He says, " Suffier little children,
and forbid them not, to come unto me ; for of such is the
kingdom of heaven." 0 what a withering word for the pride of
religion ! Were the disciples " of such" at that moment, or at
least in that act ? Had they not declared themselves practically
outside the kingdom by the spirit shewn towards the babes and
those who brought them ?

296 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
But this is not aU. A young man, as it is said, " came and
said unto him. Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I
may have eternal life ?" It is not now a question of marriage,
or of a babe ; but of one who combined in his person every
quality that was estimable; and in his circumstances every
advantage that the natural heart could desire : of one who not
only had aU that men think productive of happiness in this
world, but also most sincere in desiring to know and do the will
of God. His was evidently a lovely natural character. And,
further, he was attracted by, and came to, Jesus. What did
the Lord say to him ? From another Gospel, Jesus, we know,
loved him ; and this, not because he belieA'ed in and followed
Jesus, for alas ! we know he did not. There are various forms
of divine love, beside that which embraces us as returned
prodigals. This man went away sorrowful from Jesus : no
person has a right to add that he ever came back glad to Jesus.
I do not say that he did not, but scripture does not say he did ;
and scripture, as it cannot be broken, so neither must it be
added to. While we have a special love for the children of
God, and ought only to value in the things of God that which
is of the Holy Ghost, it does not follow thaj; we are not to
admire a fine mind or a beautiful character naturaUy. If we do
not, it only proves that we do not understand the mind of God
as here displayed in Jesus. Even as to creation, am I to look
coldly, or not at all, at a river or a mountain, the sea, the sky,
plains, valleys, forests, trees, flowers, that God has made? It
is a total mistake that spirituality renders dull to His outward
works. But am I to set my mind upon these sights ? Are we
to travel far and wide for the purpose of visiting what all th©
world counts worthy to be seen ? If in my path of serving
Christ a grand or beautiful prospect passes before me, I do not
think that He whose handiwork it is calls me to close my eyes
or mind. The Lord Himself draws attention to the lilies of the
field brighter than Solomon in aU his glory. Man admires that
which enables him to Indulge his self-love, his ambition, in this
world. That is merely the flesh. But as to the beautiful
morally or in nature, grace, instead of despising, values all that

CHAPTEE XIX. 297
is good in its own sphere, and does homage to the God who thus
displayed His wisdom and His power. Make the creature the
object, and there is the flesh abusing the truth of God. To
admire when they are brought before us is a very different thing
from making them our pursuit and our life. Grace despises
neither what is in creation nor what is in man. If I see
benevolence, I admire it : it is a bad thing if I do not. This
young man the Lord loved, when certainly as yet there was no
faith at all. He went away from Jesus in sorrow : what believer
ever did since the world began ? His sorrow was because He
was not prepared for the path of faith. Jesus desired him to
follow Him, but not as a rich man. He would have been
delighted to do " some great thing ;" but the Lord laid bare
self in his heart. He knew that (spite of all that naturally, and
even tested by the law, was so beautiful in him) there was, if
tested by Himself, self-importance at the bottom — the flesh
turning these very advantages into a reason for not following
Jesus. But self must be brought down. As nothing at all, he
must foUow Jesus, making Him to be his all in all, or it is a
mockery. " Good Master," said he, "what good thing shall I
do that I raay have eternal life ?" He had not learned the first
lesson a Christian knows — ^what a convicted sinner is learning :
that he is lost. He had no such idea in his mind. By being
with Christians, one may adopt their language and thoughts ;
but he is sure before long to bring out something which betrays
that he has no real understanding of the matter. The youth
shewed that he had never felt his own ruin. He assumed that
he was capable of doing good. The sinner Is like the leper in
Leviticus xiii., who could not bring an offering to God, but only
remain outside, crying, " Unclean, unclean." The young man
had no sense of sin. His word is not " What must I do to be
saved?" but " What good thing must I do to have eternal life?"
He regarded eternal life as the result of a man's doing good.
He had been doing the law ; and, as far as he knew, he never
broke it.
Our Lord says to him, "Why callest thou me good? There
i? none good but one ; that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into

298 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
life, keep the commandments." He may take him up on that
ground. This man had no idea that the One to whom he was
speaking was God Himself He merely went to Him as a good
man. Noav, on this footing the Lord would not allow Himself
to be called good. As far as the man's own perception of His
person was concerned. He was no more than man, and therefore
not entitled to be called good : God alone is. Had he known
Christ to be what He was and is — a divine person. He would
not haA^e refused, I conceive, to be so addressed. But in such a
ease, would the young man have put the question at all ? The
Lord therefore first simply deals with him on his own ground.
" If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He
saith unto hira. Which ? Jesus said. Thou shalt do no murder ;
thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt
not bear false witness ; honour thy father and thy mother ; and
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself " (Ver. 17 — 19.) The
Lord quotes the commands that relate to human affairs — the
second table of the law, as it is called. " All these," says the
yoraig man, " have I kept from my youth up : what lack I
yet ?" (Ver. 20.) But says the Lord, " If thou wilt be perfect,
go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure In heaven; and come and foUow me." (Ver. 21.)
And what then ? " When the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." (Ver. 22.)
He loved his possessions better than he loved Jesus. This gave
our Lord an opportunity for unfolding another truth ; and one
most startling to a Jew, Avho regarded wealth as a sign of the
blessing of God. It was in a similar spirit that the friends
of Job also acted, though they were Gentiles ; for, in truth, it is
the judgment of fleshly righteousness. They thought that God
must be against Job, because he had got into unheard-of trial.
The Lord brings out, in view of the kingdom of heaven the
solemn truth, that the advantages of the flesh are positive
hindrances to the Spirit.
" Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you
that a rich man shall hardly" (that is, with difficulty; not
he cannot, but "shall hardly") "enter into the kingdom of

CHAPTER XIX, 299
hea\-en." (Ver. 23.) Emphatically He repeats it, "Again I
say unto you. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle" (beyond nature, of course) " than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved ?"
(Ver. 24, 25.) The Lord's answer was perfect. " Jesus beheld
them, and said unto them. With men this Is impossible; but
Avith God all things are possible." (Ver. 26.) If it was a
question of man's doing anything to get into the kingdom,
riches are only so much a burden that hinders him ; for vain
man would carry his riches with him. And so it is with all
else counted desirable. Whatever I have good In myself,
whether it be moral ways, position, or what not — these are
but impediments as far as concerns the kingdom, and make it
impossible, yes, utterly impossible, to man. But with God
(and we may bless Him for it) all things are possible, no matter
what the difficulty. Therefore God chooses in His grace to call
all sorts and conditions of people. We read of a person called
out of Herod's court ; we read of saints in Csesar's household.
A great company of the priests believed ; so did Barnabas, the
Levite, with his houses and lands ; nay, above all, Saul of
Tarsus, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. All these diffi
culties only gave God the opportunity to assert His own power
and grace.
When Peter heard how hard it was for the rich to be saved,
he thought it time for him to speak of what they had given up
for the Lord's sake, and to learn what they should get for it.
" Behold, we have forsaken all, and have followed thee. What
shall we have therefore ?" How painfully natural was this !
"Jesus said unto them. Verily I say unto you that ye which
have foUowed me, in the regeneration, Avhen the Son of man
shaU sit upon the throrie of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
(Ver. 28, 29.) There is nothing the believer does or suffers but

300 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
what wIU be remembered in the kingdom. While this is most
blessed, it is also a very solemn thought. Our ways now,
though they have nothing to do with the remission of our sins,
are yet of all consequence as a testimony to Christ, and will
bear very decidedly on our future place in the kingdom. We
must not use the doctrine of grace to deny that of rewards ; but,
even so, Christ Is the sole motive for the saint. We shall receive
for the things done in the body according to that Ave have done,
AA'hether it be good or bad, as the Lord shews plainly here. The
twelve had followed the rejected Lord, albeit His own grace had
given them the power. It was not they who had chosen Him,
but He had chosen them. They are now cheered by the
assurance that in the blessed time of the regeneration, when the
Lord will work a grand change In this world (for asHe raakes a
sinner regenerate before he is raised from the dead, so He will,
as it were, regenerate the world before the new heavens and
earth are fully brought in), their work and suff'erings will not
be forgotten of Him.
Remember that what is spoken of here does not refer to
heaven : there is still better work in heaven than judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. Yet is it a glorious destiny reserved for
the twelve apostles during the reign of Christ over the earth. A
similar glory is destined for other saints of God, as we read in
1 Corinthians vi. 2, " Know ye not that the saints shall judge
the world ?" There it is used to shew the incongruity of a saint
seeking the world's judgment in a matter between himself and
another. This ought always to be the uppermost thing in the
mind of the Christian — to keep himself entirely apart from the
world, true to the objects for which Christ has called him. StIU,
judging the world can hardly be what we shall do In heaven, but
what we shall corae out of heaven with the Lord to do as to the
earth. You never can lose sight of a single truth of God with
out loss to the soul. It is a lower truth, but we cannot do
without it. We raust always draw our weapons from the quiver
of the Lord and may be sure His arrows alone are effectual.
As to aU the natural relationships and advantages of this life
if lost for His name's sake, the losers shall receive an hundred

CHAPTER XX. 301
fold and inherit everlasting life. The Gospel of John speaks of
eA'erlastIng life as a thing that we possess now : the others speak
of it as future. We have got the principle of it now in Christ,
and we shall have its fulness in glory by and by. " But many
that are flrst shall be last, and the last shall be first." What a
hint to Peter to take care ! A self-righteous claim is a ready
snare and soon finds its level under the raighty hand of God.
The leaving of all, if valued, lost all Its value. Thus, many who
began to run well turned aside from grace to law ; and Peter
himself was blamed by the last (but first) of the apostles, as we
know from the Galatians.
The Lord make His grace the strength of our hearts ; and if
we have suffered the loss of any or of all things, may we still
count them dung that we may win Him !

«>»:<>

CHAPTER XX.
The last chapter closed with the important doctrine that in the
kingdom the Lord will remember all suffering and service here
for His name's sake. But it is evident that, though this be an
undoubted truth of scripture, referred to in the epistles of St.
Paul, and elsewhere in the New Testament, it is one which the
heart would be ready to abuse to self-righteousness ; and that a
person might soon forget that all is of grace, and might ' be
disposed to make a claim upon God by reason of anything
which He had enabled a soul to do. Hence a parable is added
which brings in a totally different principle, where the promi-
iieiit thought is the sovereignty of God, for the express purpose,
I think, of guarding against such effects. For God is not
unrighteous to forget our work and labour of love which we
may have shewed toward His name. But, then, there will be a
danger in our remembering it. It does not follow, because God

302 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
wIU not forget what His people do for Him, that His people are
to remember it themselves. We have but one thing to think of
and set before our souls — Christ Himself : as the Apostle Paul
said, "This one thing I do; forgetting those things that are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before" —
not forgetting what we have done wrong :. the very reverse of
this will be even in glory. When there is not a vestige of
humiliation more, we shall have a more lively sense than ever
of our manifold failures ; but not as producing one feeling
of doubt, or fear, or unhapplness. Such thoughts, would be
contrary to the presence of God. It Is a good, thing for the
believer, holding fast his full blessing, to think of what he is —
to humble himself day by day in the sight of God ; always
remembering that true humiliation is on the ground of our being
children of God. If we take the place of being stlU in our
sins, and needing to start afresh, as it were, over and over
again, there noA'er can be proper christian experience or pro
gress. There is a great difference- between the humUiation of
a sinner and that of a saint, who, while he has an evil nature,
has also a new nature in Christ. Humility Is always right ;
but when we draw near in worship to God, it is no proof of this
humility to be speaking about ourselves as poor sinners. We
come together to enjoy Christ, to set forth what God is ; and
after all, can there be a doubt that this, involving as it does the
consciousness of our nothingness, really shews the deepest and
most genuine humility ? A person who had some office about
the queen, and who had proper respect for her, would be think
ing of her, not of himself. How much more when we are in
the presence of God ! This ought to fill our souls with loy in
the worship of the Lord. What is comely for the saint, what
is most acceptable to God, Is not the constant bringing in of our
selves In one way or another, right as this may be. In a certain
sense, in our closet. But the praise of God for what He is
above all, in the knowledge of His Son and of His -work is the
great end of aU the dealings of God with His children.
This will be a test for the soul. Where there is a conscious
ness of habitual carelessness and lack of dependence, with their

CHAPTER XX. 303
sad results, there will not be a preparedness of heart for worship.
In such circumstances the Spirit makes the conscience active,
instead of drawing out the heart. What does not the Lord
deserve from us ? When we go to praise Him, breaking bread
in His name, it is not because we can take comfort from any
thing but Himself ; and this will not arrest, but strengthen, our
self-judgment. What is the word of God, and what is the Holy
Ghost for ? Is it not that we should be growing up into Christ
in aU things ? The proper thought connected with the Lord's
table is that I am going to meet with Christ, to praise Him,
together with His saints : and this keeps a check upon our
spirits, and brings before our souls what a thing it is to raeet
with Christ, and to be found in His presence. Worship is the
soul finding itself in the presence of God In the Spirit. By
and by we shall have perfect worship in heaA'en. Now we have
it only in part, even as we know but in part. But in principle
the worship of the believer is a heavenly thing, even while
accompUshed on the earth, as we ourselves are said to be
" heavenly" also. What we have to forget is, not our short
comings — to be indifferent or light about them; but "let a
man discern or examine himself:" it is the inward discernment
ofthe soul. And what then? "So let him eat." That Is,
the Christian, even If conscious that he has forgotten the Lord
during the week, is not to distrust Him. What is he to do ?
To go to the Lord's table as if it were no matter at all ? This
would be sin. Is he, then, to stay away ? Neither the one nor
the other. What, then, can he do ? He is to judge himself, to
confess his fault, to humble himself before God; and "so let
him eat." This is God's way. A person staying away does not
mend matters. I am as good as saying I ara not a Christian
at all, if I keep away from the Lord's table; or I have been
behaving so badly that others would consider me not a Christian
if they knew it. Constantly bringing it before the soul is one
of God's ways for preserving from sin. But let it be done in
the spirit of self-judgment at home, so that we praise Avhen we
come together in the name of the Lord.
Li order to keep up this sense of grace, the Spirit of God

304 J.ECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
recurs in this chapter to the soA-erelgnty of God ; the counter
active to the self-righteousness that is to be found even in the
heart of a disciple. Peter might say " We have left aU and
followed thee," and the Lord might assure him that it would
not be foro-otten ; but He immediately adds the parable of the
householder. Here you find, not the principle of rewards, or
God's righteous recognition of the service done by His people,
but His own rights, His own sovereignty. Hence there are no
differences here — no one is specially remembered because he had
won souls to Christ, or left aU for Christ. The principle is this
that, while God wiU infaUibly own every service and loss for the
sake of Christ, yet He maintains His own title to do as He
will. There might be some poor soul brought to the knowledge
of Christ at the day of his death. Now, God the Father claims
His own title to give what He may please ; he may have done
no work, but God's title is reserved to give to those who have
not wrought anything at all — as you may think — just what is
o-ood in His own eyes. This is a very different principle from
what we had in the last chapter, and exceedingly counter to the
mind of raan. " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire
labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."
(Ver. 1, 2.)
The common application of this parable to the salvation of
the soul is a mistake. For this Is that which Christ wrought
for, suffered for, and lives for, independently of man. The poor
sinner has just to give hiraself up to be saved by Christ. When
brought to an end of itself, acknowledging that it deserves
nothing but hell, how sweet that God brings before such a soul
that Jesus Christ (and this is a faithful saying) came into th'e
world to save sinners ! When content to be saved as nothing
but a sinner, and by nothing but Christ, there and then only is
true rest given of Hira. Wherever we have to contribute our
part, it wUl be only uncertainty, and doubts, and difficulties.
And where does the salvation of God shine forth? Christ
alone is salvation. The man that is saved contributes nothing

CHAPTER XX.

305

but his sins. But Ged is deUghted (and not the less because it
is the fruit of His grace) to hear a poor sinner acknowledge that
Jesus is worthy to bring him, freed from sin, to heaven. But
in this parable the question is not this. There Is nothing in it
about believing in Christ or His work. It is positive work that
is done. There you may think. Surely the Lord wiU reward th&
work according to its kind and degree. This we have seen ::
but there is another principle not always understood — God.
reserves in His own hand the right to do as He pleases, and He
never makes a mistake. It may seem hard that a man should
be toiling for fifty years, and that another, brought in just at
the close of his life, should be honoured in heaven as much as
himself. But God is the only righteous, the only wise,, judge of
what is for His o-wn glory. If He please. He will put all upon
an equal footing. He will reward the work that is done, but
He will give as He wiU.
" When he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the
third hour and saw others standing idle in the market-place ; and
said unto them. Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is
right I wiU give you. And they went their way." (Ver. 2 — 4.)
It is not grace in the sense of salvation here. " Whatsoever is
right I will give you." It is God that judges what is becoming.
" Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did
likewise." And, singular to say, " about the eleventh hour he
went out." What a heart this teUs ! What infinite goodness !
that God, who recognizes every service and suffering done for
Himself, yet keeps intact the prerogative of going out at the
last moment to bring in souls, and occupy them with what might
seem to be a little service ! But He can give grace to do that
little well. "About the eleventh hour he went out and found
others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all
the day idle ? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired
us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and
whatsoever is right, that shaU ye receive. So when even was
come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward. Call the
labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto
X

306 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the first." (Ver. 6—8.) "Beginning from the last" in the
perfect wisdom of God. And why is it that "the last" are
made so much of in this parable ? What makes it the more
striking is that. In the close of the preceding chapter, it was
not so. There, " many that are first shall be last, and the last
shaU be first." But here the last are always spoken of first. So
the steward is told to begin from the last unto the first. And
again, when the master of the vineyard has to speak himself, it
is the same thing : " the last shall be first, and the first last."
It is the sovereignty of grace in giving as He pleases ; not alone
in saving, but in rewarding in the time of glory ; for this is
what is spoken of. Of course the last received their wages
thankfully. But when the first heard about it, they began to
think themselves entitled to more — they who had borne the
burden and heat of the day. But the master reminds them that
all was a settled thing before they entered upon their work. In
their selfishness, they forgot both the terms and the righte
ousness of him with whom they had to deal. If, out of the
liberality of his heart, the householder was pleased to give
others, who had worked the twelfth part of what they had done,
as much as he gave themselves, what was that to them ? It
was his affair entirely. God maintains His own rights. And
it is of the greatest importance for our souls that we hold to the
rights of God in everything. Persons avIU argue as to whether
it is righteous for God to elect this person or that. But if you
go upon the ground of righteousness, all are lost, and lost for
ever. Now, if God is pleased to use His mercy according to
His wisdom, and for His glory, among these poor lost ones,
Avho is to dispute with Him ? " Who art thou, 0 man, that
repliest against God?" God is entitled to act according to
Avhat is In His heart : and " shall not the judge of all the earth
do right?" Is He entitled to act from Himself? He cannot
act frora man on the grounds of righteousness. There is no
foundation on which He can thus deal; and it is entirely a
question of His own good pleasure. And we must remember
that there is not a man that is lost but rejects the mercy of God,
despises it, or uses it for his own selfish purposes in this world.

CHAPTER XX. 307
The man that is saved is the only one that has a true sense of
sin, the only one that gives himself up as lost really unto God;
but then he faUs back upon His infinite mercy in Christ to save
a lost sinner.
In the case we have here, when the first came and complained
to the goodman of the house, he answered them, " Friend, I do
thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me for a penny ?
Take that thine is, and go thy way ; I will give unto this last
even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will
with mine o-wn? Is thine eye evU, because I am good?"
(Ver. 13 — 15.) There comes out the whole secret. Man, yea,
a professing disciple of the Lord, a labourer in His vineyard,
may be disputing because he is to have no more than another
who, in his opinion, has done little as corapared with himself.
It was the sarae principle that raade the Judaizers so jealous
about the Gentiles being brought in. So, says the Lord, " the
last shall be first, and the first last." I would just ask. Why in
the last chapter is it " Many that are first shall be last, and the
last first," and here " The last shall be first, and the first last?"
In speaking about rewards, according to the work done, the
failure of man is intimated ; for indeed weakness soon shews
itself " The first shall be last." But in this new parable is the
sovereignty of God that never fails. Consequently here " The
first shall be last, and the last first." " Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present evU world." There was a first,
we may say, who becarae last — a labourer for the Lord, who had
not given up Christianity, but grown tired of the path of unre
mitting service for Christ. If, instead of honour now, the
thousands of those who are engaged in the service of Christ
were to receive only scom and persecution, there would be no
slight thinning of their ranks. The present retum should be
shame and suffering. This must be looked for by him who
inteUigently seeks to serve faithfully the Lord in this world.
Demas may have been a believer; but the trial and reproach, the
love of ease and other things all came strongly over his spirit, and
he abandoned the service ofthe Lord. " All seek theit own, not
the things that are Jesus Christ's :" there is a simUar principle.

30§ LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
We have our Lord next shewn going up to Jerusalem ; and
now He prepares thera for stiU greater trouble. " Behold, we
go up to Jerusalera ; and the Son of raan shaU be betrayed unto
the chief priests and the scribes ; and they shaU condemn him
to death, and shaU deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to
scourge, and to crucify him : and the third day he shall rise
again." (Ver. 18, 19.) And yet even after this, so selfish is
the heart of raan, the mother of Zebedee's children comes to
Him with her sons, who were among the apostles themselves.
She pays her worship to Him and desires a certain thing of
Him. "And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith
unto him. Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy
right hand and the other on the left, in thy kingdom." (Ver.
21.) Now comes out another principle; for, indeed, so perfect
is the humiliation of Christ, such the self-abandonment of the
only One who had a perfect knowledge of all things and a right
to everything by His personal glory, that He says, I have no
place to give you in My kingdom. It is not Mine to give, save
as my Father may desire. But I have something to give yori
now : and what is It ? Suffering. Yes, suffering is what Christ
gives His servants now, and this as the highest privilege. When
the Apostle Paul was converted, he asks at once, " What wilt
thou have me to do ?" The Lord tells him what great things he
should suffer for His name's sake. Suffering all is better than
doing anything. It is the best portion a saint can have in this
world. The highest honour we can have here is suffering with
and for Christ. This our Lord lets the mother of Zebedee's
children know, when she asks for a place for her sons on His
right hand and on His left in His kingdom. " Jesus answered
and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of
the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the
b aptism that I am baptized with ? They say raito him, We are
able." (Ver. 22.) He took in two different kinds of suffering:
the cup, which is inward suffering; and the baptism, which
expresses what we are immersed into outwardly. The two
include every kind of trial, inward and outward. He is not
here speaking about the cross in atonement, for there can be no

CHAPTER XX. 300
fellowship in this. But there might be the cross in rejection,
though not as atonement. There may be the sharing of what
Christ suffered from man, but not of what He suft'ered from
God. When He was suff'ering for sin on the cross. He drops
relationship, and bows in infinite grace to the place of judgment.
He is made sin. He reaUzes what it is to be forsaken of God,
making Himself responsible for the sins of men. He says
therefore in that terrible moment on the cross, " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me?" With this we have nothing
to do — no rejection because of sin. God forsook Jesus that He
might not forsake us. There never can be God forsaking a
Christian, or even hiding Himself from him. There is no such
thing in scripture since the death of Christ as God hiding
Hiraself from a believer. We have not a promise merely, but
the accomplishment of it. The first principle and present point
of the gospel is perfect forgiveness and reconciliation. We
are brought nigh unto God through the blood of Christ and
forgiven all trespasses.
The Lord then says that they knew not what they were
seeking, and asks if they were able to drink of the cup that He
should drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that He was
baptized with. They say imto Him, We are able. They did
not know what they said, any more than what they asked. For
after this, when our Lord was only in danger of death, we find
that they all forsook Him and fled. As for one of these two sons
of Zebedee, if he did venture into the hall of judgment, it was
merely, as it were, under the high priest's robe, that is, on the
plea of being known to hira. When Peter followed on his own
ground, it was only to shew his utter weakness. In presence of
such a cup as this, and such a baptism, the Lord says, " Ye shall
indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I
am baptized with" (not Ye are able) : " but to sit on my right
hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to
them for whom it is prepared of my Father." (Ver. 23.) I
would just remark that the words which are put in in italics mar
the sense very much. They are inserted without warrant. Leave
them out, and the sense is better. It was His to give to those

310 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
only to whom the Father destined it. Christ is the adminis
trator of the rewards of the kingdom. He says. As I am now
the servant in suffering, so I shall be In the glory. In every
thing Christ is the One who wUl turn all things to the glory of
God. Every knee shall bow to His name, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord ; but then it will all be to the
glory of God the Father. " And when the ten heard it, they
were moved with indignation against the two brethren." A
good deal of our indignation is no better than theirs. Their own
pride was wounded. No doubt it seemed a very right thing to
put down these two brethren who were so full of themselves.
But why were they thus indignant ? Because they too were full
of themselves. Christ was not filled with indignation. It was
a sorroAV to Him : but they were moved with hot feeling against
the two brethren. We have to take care. Often where Ave seek
to pull down those that seek to exalt themselves, there is self on
our part too. Supposing, too, we take one who has fallen into
sin. There is often a good deal of strong feeling about it : but Is
this the best way of shewing our sense of sin ? Those who feel
most for God have always the deepest feeling for poor sinners,
and for saints who have slipped away from God. " If a man
be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an
one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also
be tempted."
" But Jesus called them unto him, and said. Ye know that
the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them ; and
they that are great exercise authority upon them." (Ver. 25.)
He put His finger upon that A^ery love of greatness In themselves.
They were loud in condemning it in James and John ; but the
feeling with which it was condemned betrayed that they had the
same thought in their own hearts. He says, " It shall not be so
among you : but whosoever wUl be great among you, let him be
your minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him
be your servant." There is a diff'erence between the two words.
The word translated " minister" means a servant, but not
necessarily a slave, though a person who might be hired. But
in verse 27 it is a bondman or slave. Do you want to be really

CHAPTER XX. 311
great according to the principles of my kingdom ? Go down as
low as you can. Do you want to be the greatest ? Go down
the lowest of all. Whoever has least of self is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. For " the Son of raan came not to' be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many." (Ver. 28.) He took the lowest place of aU, and
gave His life a ransom for many. Blessed for ever be His name !
The last verses properly belong to the next chapter, which is
the approach of our Lord to Jerusalem from the way of Jericho.
And it is necessary to take the two chapters together, to have
the proper connection of all that the Holy Ghost has given us
here. But I cannot close even this part of the subject without
recalling attention to the principles of the kingdom of God as
shewn us by Christ Himself. And what a wonderful call it is
for self-renouncing service ! What a joy to think that every
thing that now is a trial will be found as a joy In that kingdora !
There are those who raay think that they are favoured with few
opportunities for serving the Lord — who are shut out from what
their hearts would desire. Let us remember that He who knows
everything reserves His right to give as He will to His own and
of His own. He will do the very best according to His heart.
Our one business now Is to think of Him who carae, not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom
for many. That is our prime call and need — to be Christ's
' servants in serving each other.
In the transfiguration we had a picture of the coming
kingdom; Christ, the head and centre, with representatives
of its heavenly and earthly things ; on one side, Moses and
EUas glorified; and on the other, the three disciples in their
natural bodies. This was a turning point in the history of our
Lord's course which John passes by, but it is given fully in the
other three gospels. The cross, now that sin exists, is the founda
tion of all glory. There could be nothing stable or holy without
it. It is the sole channel -through which flows to us aU our
blessing ; and Christ's decease, we know from Luke, was the
theme on the holy mount. But John gives us nothing of that

312 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
scene. The reason is because he is occupied with Christ as the
Son ; we find there, not the human side, but the deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His rejection by Israel, and Israel conse
quently rejected by God, are assumed from the beginning of
John's gospel : as we read, " He came to his own, and his own
received him not." Now, the transfiguration does not bring
out the deity of Christ, but His glory as exalted Son of man,
owned withal as Son of God. This was a sample of the glory
of the Lord in His future kingdom, with the types of some
risen, and of others in their natural state. So will it be by and
by. John does not shew us the mount, but the Father's house.
This is for the Church. The world may see the glory, more or
less, as foreshcAvn on the mount, but this is not our best portion.
We look for that blessed hope and the appearing of the glory.
Our hope is Christ, to be with Him in the many-mansioned
Father's house — a hope which is far beyond any blessing of the
kingdom. Neither will it be displayed. The secrets of love
and comraunion which the Church will have with Christ in the
Father's house can never be the subject of manifestation to the
world. Who now could or would publish the tenderest feelings
of his heart ? Doubtless the glory, the external pomp, and the
place of power which the Church wIU possess in the coming
kingdom will be displayed ; for these form sOme of the chief
features in the millennial reign. We shaU reign with Christ,
¦the glory of the Bridegroom enveloping, as it were, the Bride.
If we discriminate what the scriptures distinguish, we may find
a marked distinction between the proper position and hopes of
the Church, and the glories of the kingdom, however real,
which all the glorified share, when it is established in power.
Thus the mount of transfiguration holds an important place in
the three -synoptic gospels, as shcAving Christ in the capacity
of Messiah, Servant, and Son of man. As such, He will be
displayed after the pattern in the mount, and accordingly, the
three evangelists, who present Christ in these three aspects, give
us the transfiguration. Further, the thought of present recep
tion by the Jews had been entirely given up, and the new thing
begins to be announced immediately before it. Christ must

CHAPTER XX. 313
suffer and die : and those who follow Him during His rejection
will be in the kingdom, but not as subjects ; they will be kings
with Him when He reigns. When responsibility and even
individual privileges come in, " the kingdom" is the thought;
but when our corporate place is intended, " the Church" is
-spoken of (Matt, xvi., xviii.)
Here, in this chapter (xxi.), and from verse 30 of chapter xx.,
a preface to it, we have the last formal presentation of the king,
though not with the thought of being received ; but in order to
the filling up of man's iniquity and the accomplishment of the
counsels of God, He presents Himself as such. We find first,
that He is on His way to Jerusalem and sees two blind men
who cry unto Him, " Have mercy upon us, thou Son of
David !" If they knew nothing of the irapending crisis, they
notwithstanding were completely in the spirit of the scene.
The Holy Ghost was acting upon them, that they might bear
testimony to Jesus, who was now for the last time to be publicly
presented as Heir to the throne. What a picture ! The seeing
ones, in their blind hardness of heart, rejecting their own
Messiah, though owned of Gentiles as the born King of the
Jews ; and the poor blind ones, through faith, loudly confessing
Him the true King. Perhaps their principal — their one — desire
may have been to be healed of their blindness. Be it so ; but
God at any rate gave to their faith the proper object and the
just confession for that moment, for He was guiding the scene.
His hand was upon the spring ; and whatever was the thought
of the blind men in crying after the Lord, God's design was
that there should be a suited testimony rendered to His king,
the " Son of David." A Jew would well understand all that
was impUed in the title. What a condemnation of Pharisees
who had rejected Christ ! The highest point of view is by no
means always that which is most proper ; a lower one is some
times far more right. Thus the confession of Christ as " Son
of David" was more in keeping here than if they had said,
" Thou Son of God." This may sound strange where the
various titles have not been weighed ; but in hailing Him

314

LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.

according to His Jewish glory, they uttered that which Avas in
unison with what God was then doing.
And now, let me ask rcA'crently, Why should the resurrection
of Lazarus be omitted iu the first three gospels ? Man, if these
accounts had been his work, would not haA'e omitted it: he
would deem the insertion of it in each gospel as necessary for a
full and truthful account. Besides, it would have been thought
far too important an item to be left out under any consideration.
The omission of so stupendous a miracle, in Matthew, Mark,
and Luke, points out clearly that it is the Spirit of God who
wrought sovereignly and writes by each with a special purpose.
If so, all which men call inconsistencies and imperfections finds
no place here, unless God can make mistakes, which none will
say. It was a part of the special purpose of God to omit the
miracle ; for He only presents those facts which suit His design
in each gospel. Now this miracle of raising Lazarus does not
shew us Christ as the Messiah, or the Servant, or the Son of man,
but as the Son of God, who gives life and raises the dead— a
grand point of doctrine in John v. and there alone found in the
gospels. There were other miracles of raising from the dead in
the other gospels ; but the truth of His Sonship and present
glory in communion with the Father is not in these others the
prominent one. It is not, therefore, as Son of God that He
appears in thera. Take for instance the raising the widow's son
at Naln. What are the circumstances brought into emphasis
there ? He was the only son of his mother, and she was a
widow. Luke, or rather the Spirit, is careful to note this ; for
it is what gives point to the touching story. " He restored
him to his mother." It is the Lord's human sympathy, the
Lord as Son of man, which is the object here. True, He must
have been Son of God, or He could not have thus raised the
dead. If the Godhead, and relation to the Father, of Him who
was made flesh, had been the only truth to shew, the attendant
circumstances need not have been narrated ; the Gospel of John
might have sufficed, as it does, to display eminently the Lord
Jesus as the Son.
AU this manifests the extreme perfectness of the word of God

CHAPTER XX. 315
in these gospels. When the mind is subject to Him this Is seen,
and He teaches those who submit themselves and confide in
Him. There is a blind man healed in John ix. ; but it is not
these near Jericho who appealed to Jesus ; but as Jesus passed
by. He saw a man blind from his birth. Rejected of men. He
was going about, seeking for objects on whom to bestow His
blessing ; the Son acting in grace and truth, who, unsought,
saw the deep need and dealt accordingly. It was an opportunity
of working the works of God. He waits for nothing, goes to
the man, and the work is done, though it was the sabbath-day.
How could the Son of God rest in the presence of sin and
wretchedness, whatever religious pride might feel ? The Lord
leaves hira not until he can say " Son of God," and worships.
Moreover, we may say, John never mentions a miracle simply
for the display of power, but in order to attest the divine glory
of Christ. In Matthew it is the rejected Messiah. Here (chap.
XX.) the thought is, that, being despised by the nation, God raakes
two blind men bear testimony to Him as Son of David ; and this,
in the well-known spot of Israel's triumphant power, and alas !
also of rebeUious unbelief entailing a curse, now of the Messiah
come in grace, and with equal ability and readiness to bless.
The place (near Jericho) was accursed. But if Jesus has
come as Messiah, although the Jews reject Him, He shews
Himself to be Jehovah — not only Messiah under the law, but
Jehovah above it ; and so He blesses them even at Jericho, and
they foUowed Him. This was the place that Israel should have
taken : they ought to haA'e knoAvn their King. The two blind
men were a witness for Him and against them. There was a
competent testimony — two witnesses : "In the mouth of two,"
&c. Mark and Luke, whose object was not to bring out testi
mony valid according to the law, mention only one. There is,
of course, no contradiction In this. One thing is certain, that
they were both healed in the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem.
Luke mentions simply the vicinity Jericho — not as He was come
nigh, but as He was nigh, which would be equally true when
He left the place. The Authorized Version has increased the
difficulty unwittingly.

316 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. The Jews weU knew
what was prophesied concerning this mountain ; they ought to
have entered into the spirit of what the Lord was doing.
The sending for the colt shews the Lord as Jehovah, who has
a perfect right to all. " The Lord [Jehovah] hath need of hira."
What more thorough than His knowledge of circumstances in
the womb of the future ? How evident His control over the
owner's mind and feeling ! Meek as He was, sitting upon an
ass, the King of Zion according to the prophet, He was indeed
as surely Jehovah as Messiah coming in His name — the " need"
as amazing as the glory of His person. But the Lord goes
onward to Jerusalem. And the multitude cry, " Hosanna to
the Son of David!  Behold, thy King cometh." They
apply Psalm cxviii. to Messiah, and they were right. They
might be very unintelligent, and perhaps many of them joined
later in the fearful cry, " His blood be upon us," &c. ; but here
the Lord guides the scene. He comes to the city ; but He is
unknown: His own citizens know Him not. They ask, "Who
is this ?" So little understanding had the multitude, who had
just been saying " Hosanna to the Son of DaAdd !" that they
answer, " This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee."
But though they only see Jesus of Galilee, yet He shews Him
self as King, and takes a place of authority and power. He
enters into the temple, and overthrows the tables of the money
changers, &c. This may certainly be looked at as a miraculous
incident ; for it was astonishing that He whom they knew only
as the prophet of Nazareth should so boldly enter their temple,
and drive out all who were desecrating it. But they turn not
upon Him. The power of the God of the temple was there,
and they flee, their consciences doubtless echoing the Lord's
words, that they had made His house a den of thieves. But
here we see, not only the testimony of the crowd to the kingship
of Jesus, but the response to it, as it were, in the act of Jesus.
As if He had said, " You hail me as King, and I will demonstrate
that I am." Accordingly, He reigns, as it were, in righteous
ness, and cleanses the defiled temple. Into what a state had the
Jews not faUen ! A clear testimony it was to them what Jesus

CHAPTER XXI. 317
thought about them ; for what more severe condemnation than
" ye have made it a den of thieves ?" There were two cleans-
ings — one before our Lord's public ministry, and the other at
its close. John records the first, Matthew the last. In our
gospel it ¦ is an act of Messianic power, where He cleanses His
own house, or, at least, acts for God, as His King. In John it
is rather zeal for the injured honour of His Father's house —
" Make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." A
collateral reason why John tells us of the first cleansing In the
beginning of his gospel is, that he assumes the rejection of
Israel at once. Hence their rejection by Christ, set forth in
this act, was the inevitable consequence of their rejection of
Him : and this is the point frora which John sets out when he
begins with the ways of the Lord before His ministry.
But now the blind and the larae corae to Him to be healed.
" He healed their diseases and forgave their iniquities." Both
these classes were the hated of David's soul — the eff'ect of the
taunt upon David's soul. How blessed the contrast in the Son
of David ! He turns out the selfish religionists from the temple,
and receives there the poor, blind, and larae, and heals them —
perfect righteousness and perfect grace.
On the one hand, there are the voices of the children crying,
" Hosanna," &c. — the ascription of praise to Him as King, the
Son of David ; on the other, there is the Lord acting as King,
and doing that which the Jews well knew had been prophesied
of their King. He was there the confessed King ; but not by
the chief priests and scribes, who took umbrage, wilfully and
knowingly rejecting Him — " we will not have this man to reign
over us." Naturally, therefore, they seek to stop the mouths of
the children, and ask Jesus to rebuke them : " Hearest thou not
what these say ?" But the Lord sanctions their praises : " Have
ye never heard. Out of the mouth of babes," &c. (Ver. 16.)
The power of Jehovah was there, and there was a mouth to
own it, though only in babes and sucklings. It is a wondrous
scene. The Lord here quotes from Psalm viii. , where He is seen
as Son of man after His rejection as Son of David in Psalm ii.
et seq. In Psalm viii. we have the suffering and exaltation of

318 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
the Son of man. Herod and Pontius PUate, the Gentiles and
Israel, gather, and do their worst. Refused, then, as the
Messiah, He takes the higher place of Son of man, humbled
first and then glorified. The blind raen owned Him in the
first and the babes in the last and deeper way. What has not
God wrought !
He left them — a significant and solemn act. They rejected
Him, and He abandons thera, turning His back upon the
beloved city.
As to the fig-tree, Mark says that the tirae of figs was not
yet. Many have been perplexed at this, thinking that the Lord
sought figs at a tirae when there could be none. The meaning
is, that the time was not come for the gathering of figs ; and
consequently, if the tree had been in bearing, the Lord must
have found figs thereon, for the tirae to gather them — the time
of figs — was not yet. There ought to have been a show of fruit,
but there was no appearance, save of leaves — outward profession.
It was thoroughly barren. The Lord pronoimces a curse upon
it, and presently it withered away. Looking at Mark xi. 12,
you will see how Matthew disregards time ; for the circumstance
occupied two days, which he puts together without distinguish
ing. The sentence on the fig-tree was an emblematic curse
upon the people, inasmuch as it was the national tree. The
Lord found nothing but leaA-es, and the word is that henceforth
no fruit shall grow upon it for ever. The nation had failed in
fruit to God, when they had every means and opportunity for
glorifying and serAung Him ; and now all their advantages are
taken away, and it is not possible for them as the old stock.
The remnant even now is excepted who believe in Christ, and so
is " the generation to come." The disciples wondered ; but the
Lord says to them further, " If ye shall say to this mountain [the
mountain symbolizing Israel's poUtical place among the nations,
as exalted among them]. Be thou cast into the sea," &c. This
has been done. Not only is there no fruit borne for God, but
Israel, as a nation, has vanished — cast iuto the sea — scattered,
and to appearance lost in the mass of people — trodden down and
oppressed under the feet of the Gentiles.

CHAPTER XXL 319
Here, then, in these miracles and scenes is a remarkable
witness of the Lord's last presentation to the Jews, and an
equally striking picture of the judgment of God on Jerusalem
and the Jews because of their rejection of the Messiah, who,
according to Daniel ix., was cut off and had nothing, only to
have all things by and by far more gloriously ; and if we suffer,
we shaU also reign with Him.
To the question about His authority, our Lord answers the
chief priests and the elders of the people by inquiring their
thought of John's baptism. He appeals neither to miracles nor
prophecy, but to conscience. How evident the accomplishment
of the ancient oracles in His person, life, ministry ! How full
the testimony of signs and wonders wrought by Him ! Yet
their question proved how vain all had been, as His question
proved either their dishonesty or their incompetency. In either
case, who were they to judge ? Little did they think that they
iand every other class in Israel, who successively sought to
canvass the Lord of glory, were in truth but discovering their
own distance and alienation from God. So indeed it ever is.
Our judgments of others and of all things, above all of what
concerns Christ, are the unfailing gauge of our own condition ;
and equally are we laid bare, whether right or wrong, by our
refusal to judge. In this instance (ver. 23 — 27) the want of
conscience was manifest — nowhere so fatal as in religious guides.
" They reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say,
From heaven ; he will say unto us. Why did ye not then believe
him ? But if we shaU say. Of men ; we fear the people ; for all
hold John as a prophet." God was not in their thoughts ; and
thus all was false and wrong. And if God be not the object,
self is the idol, and what more debasing ? These chief priests
were, at the bottom of their hearts, the abject slaves of the
people over whose faith or superstition they had dominion.
" We fear the people." This at least was true. "And they
answered Jesus and said. We cannot tell." This was as clearly
false, the merest shift of men who preferred to aUege their
incapacity to judge in their own sphere rather than own what

320 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
they knew must convict them of fighting against God. They
could teU, but would not, because of the felt consequences. In
the hands of Satan they are the main energy of evil and enemy
of good', their private interests being always opposed to the real
interests of God's people. Blind guides by their own acknow
ledgment ! Infinitely worse the blindness, which, govemed by
no motive higher than present advantage and self-importance,
overlooked God manifest in the flesh and threw away, as incre
dulity ever does, riches greater by far than the treasures in
Egypt ! To such as these the Lord with ineffable dignity
declines to render an account of His authority : He had often
borne witness to it before. To ask it of Him, now, furnished of
itself the best proof that an answer was useless. How explain
colour to men who never saw ? to men who would not see, if
they could ?
But our Lord does more. In the parable of the two sons
commanded to work in the vineyard (ver. 22 — 32) He convicts
these religious leaders of being worse before God than the most
despised classes in the land. " Verily I say unto you, that the
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before
you. For John carae unto you in the way of righteousness, and
ye believed him not," &c. Decent lip-homage forms — " I go, sir,
and went not" — such was the religion of those who stood highest
in the world's estimate of that day. Self-will was unbroken and
unjudged. As for people who disgraced the decencies of society
in riotous or otherwise disreputable ways, they were more
accessible to the stirring searching appeals of John. Their very
open and unrestrained evil exposed them to his righteous rebuke ;
and in fact, they, not the respectable deA'otees, "bellcA'cd him."
Such as made a fair shoAv in the flesh were not prepared to
withdraw the veil of a fair reputation without from a godless
self-pleasing course and character within ; and as they rejected
the counsel of God against themselves at John's summons, so
they would not follow the example of the poor outcasts now
repentant. Deaf to the call of righteousness, they were just as
hardened against the operations of God's grace, even where it
was most conspicuous. " And ye, when ye had seen it, repented

CHAPTER XXI. 321
not afterward, that ye might believe him." Repentance awakens
the sense of relationship to God as the One sinned against. The
resolutions of nature begin and end in " I go, sir." The Spirit
of God produces the deep and overwhelming conviction that all
has been evil against Him, with neither room for, nor desire of,
excuse. But it is lost for worldly religion, which, resisting
aUke God's testimony arid the evidence of conversion in others,
sinks into increasing darkness and hostility to God. The
ordained Judge of living and dead pronounces these proud self-
complacent men worse than those they deemed the worst. They
were no judges now : nay, they were judged.
But next the Lord sets forth, not merely man's conduct toward
God, but God's dealing with man, and this in a two-fold form :
first, in view of human responsibility as under law ; and secondly,
in view of God's grace under the kingdom of heaven. The
former is developed in the parable of the householder (ver.
33' — 41), the latter in that of the king's marriage-feast for his
son. (Chap. xxii. 1 — 14.) Of these let us now look at the first.
"Hear another parable:. There was a certain householder
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and
digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to
husbandmen, and went into a far country : and when the time
of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen,
that they might receive the fruits of it." (Ver. 33, 34.) It is a
picture founded on, and filling up the sketch in, Isaiah v. — a
picture of God's painstaking dealings in Israel. " What could
have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done In
it ?" Then He looked for fruit. All had been settled by His
directions, every outward advantage afforded by His goodness
and power under Moses, Joshua, &c. There was definite
arrangement, abundant blessing, ample protection, and adequate
assertion of His rights by the prophets. " And the husband
men took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and
stoned another." (Ver. 35.) There was full patience too.
" Again, he sent other servants more than the first : and they
did unto them likewise." (Ver. 36.) Was there a single possi
bility that remained, a hope however forlorn? " Last of all,
Y

322 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
he sent unto them his son, saying. They wiU reverence my son."
(Ver. 37.) Alas ! it was but the crowning of their iniquity
and the occasion of bringing out their guilt and hopeless ruin.
For " when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among
themselves. This is the heir : come, let us kill him, and let us
seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him
out of the vineyard, and slew him." (Ver. 38, 39.) They
recognized the Messiah then, but only so as to provoke their
malice and worldly lusts. " Let us kiU him and let us seize on
his Inheritance." It was not only lack of fruit, persistent
refusal of all the just claims of God and robbing Him of every
due return, but the fullest outbreak of rebellious hatred, when
tested by the presence of the Son of God in their midst.
Probation Is over; the question of man's state and of God's
efforts to get fruit from His vineyard is at an end. The death
of the rejected Messiah has closed this book. Man — the Jew —
ought to have made a becoming answer to God for the benefits
so lavishly showered on him ; but his answer was — the cross.
It is too late to talk of what men should be. Tried by God
under the most favourable circumstances, they betrayed and
shed the innocent blood ; they killed the Heir to seize on His
inheritance. Hence judgment is now the only portion man
under law has to expect. " When the lord therefore of the
vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?"
Seared as the poor Jews were, they could not but confess the
sad truth : " He will miserably destroy those wicked men," &c.
(Ver. 41.) The wickedness of the husbandmen failed to achieve
its oAvn selfish end, as surely as it had never rendered fruits
meet for Him whose provident care left men without excuse.
But the rights of the householder were intact ; and if there was
still "the lord of the vineyard," was He indifferent to the
accumulated guilt of wronged servants and of His outraged
Son ? It could not be. He must, themselves being the
witnesses, avenge the more summarily, because of His long
patience and incomparable love so shamefully spurned and
defied. Others would have the vineyard let to them, who
should render Him the fruits in their seasons.

CHAPTER XXI. 323
Thus the death of Christ is viewed in this parable, not as the
groundwork of the counsels of God, but as the climax of man's
sin and the closing scene of his responsibility. Whether law or
prophets or Christ sought fruit for God, all was vain, not because
God's claim was not righteous, but because man — aye, favoured
man, with every conceivable help — was incorrigible. In this
aspect the rejection of the Messiah had the most solemn
meaning; for it demonstrated, beyond appeal, that man, the
Jew, was good for nothing if weighed in divine scales. It was
not only that he was evil and unrighteous, but he could not
endure perfect love and goodness In the person of Christ. Had
there been a single particle of divine light or love in men's
heart, they would have reverenced the Son ; but now the full
proof stood out, that human nature as such is hopelessly bad ;
and that the presence of a divine person, who deigned In love to
be of themselves as man, gave only the final opportunity to
strike the most maUcious and insulting blow at God Himself.
In a word, man was now shewn and pronounced to be LOST.
" If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin : but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth
me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the
works which none other man did, they had not had sin : but now
have they both seen and hated both rae and my Father."
Christ's death was the grand turning-point in the ways of God ;
the moral history of man, in the raost important sense, termi
nates there.
" Jesus saith unto them. Did ye never read in the scriptures,
The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the
head of the corner : this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous
in our eyes ?" (Ver. 42.) It was the revealed conduct of those
who took the lead in Israel — so revealed in their own scriptures.
MarveUous doing on the Lord's part ! — in manifest reversal of
such as set themselves up, and were accepted, as acting in His
name : yet to be marvellous in Israel's eyes, when the now-
hidden but exalted Saviour comes forth, the joy of the people,
who shall then welcome and for ever bless their once-rejected
King : for truly His mercy endures for ever. MeanwhUe His

\

324 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
lips utter the sentence of sure rejection from their high estate :
" therefore say I unto you. The kingdom of God [not of heaven,
for this they had not] shall be taken frora you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Ver. 43.) Nor was
this all : for " whosoever shall faU on this stone [Himself in
humiliation] shaU be broken ; but on whomsoever it shaU fall
[i.e., consequent on His exaltation] , it will grind him to powder."
(Ver. 44.) Thus, He sets forth the then ensuing stumbles of
unbelief; and further, the positive execution of destructive
judgment, whether individual or national, Jewish or Gentile, at
His appearing in glory. (Compare Daniel ii.)
It is in all respects a notable scene, and the Lord, now
draAving to the conclusion of His testimony, speaks Avith piercing
decision. So that, spiritually impotent and dull as the chief
priests and Pharisees might be, and couched as His words were
in parables, the drift and aim were distinctly felt. And yet,
whatever their murderous will, they could do nothing tiU His
hour was come ; for the people in a measure bowed to His word,
and took Him for a prophet. He brought God in presence of
their conscience, and their awe feebly answered to His words
of coming woe.

ot»;o

CHAPTER XXIL
We are not positively informed that the parable of the marriage
feast was uttered at this time. It is introduced in so general a
manner that one could weU conceive it the same as that which
Luke, with more definite marks of time, presents in the four
teenth chapter of his gospel. However this may have been
nothing can exceed the beautiful propriety of its occurrence
here, as the sequel to the latter part of Matthew xxi. For, as
the vineyard sets forth the Lord's righteous claim from Israel

CHAPTER XXIL 325
on the ground of what He had entrusted to them, so the
wedding sets forth the new thing, and hence is a comparison of
" the kingdom of heaven" — not now fruit sought as a debt due
to God from man, but God displaying the resources of His own
glory and love in honour of His Son, and raan invited to share.
We have nothing properly here of the Church or assembly, but
the kingdom. Consequently, though the parable goes beyond
the Jewish economy, so elaborately treated in the preceding
portion, and Christ's own personal presence on earth, it does not
take in corporate privilege, but indlA^dual conduct, as variously
affected by God's astonishing mercy, and this in A'iew of and
flowing from the place of Christ as glorified on high. The
characteristic point is that it is an exposition, not of Israel's
ways toward the Lord, but of the King's ways who would
magnify His Son ; though here, as before, unbelief and rebel
lion never fail to meet their just recompense. It had been
proved that God could not trust man : would man now trust
God, and corae at His word, and be a partaker of His delight
jn His Son?
It is raanifest that here we are no longer on Old Testaraent
ground, with its solemn prophetic warnings. " The kingdom
of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage
for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were
bidden to the wedding ; and they would not come." (Ver. 2, 3.)
Our Evangelist, true to his plan and the design of the Holy
Ghost, presents this striking picture after that of the Messiah's
rejection. What would be the fresh intervention of God ? and
how received of man, especially Israel? In Luke, I may
mention by the way, the dispensational connection does not
appear ; but the Spirit gives rather a view of what God is to
mankind generaUy, and even puts it as " a certain man" making
a supper with imexampled generosity, not the " King" acting
for the glory of " His Son." Li both gospels the parable
represents, not righteous requirement as under the law, but the
way in which grace goes out to the Jew first and also to the
Gentile. He " sent forth his servants to call them that were
bidden [Israel], but they would not come." The kingdom was

326 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
not come, but announced, whUe the Lord was here below.
" Again, he sent forth other servants, saying. Tell them which
are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and
my fatllngs are killed, and all things are ready : come unto the
marriage." (Ver. 4.)
Mark the difference. On the first mission of the servants
He did not say "All things are ready;" but only on the
second, when Christ meanwhile was dead and risen, and the
kingdom was actually established on His ascension. It is the
gospel of the kingdom after His work, as compared with this
gospel before it. Thus the two messages are distinguished, the
rejection of Christ and His death by the grace of God being
the turning-point. Matthew alone giA'cs us this striking diff'er
ence ; Luke at once begins, with equal propriety for his task,
with " Come ; for all things are now ready," dwelling, with a
detail unknown to Matthew, on the excuses made by the heart
for despising the gospel.
The King, then, was active and His honour at stake in having
a feast worthy of His Son. Not even the cross of His Son
turned Him aside from His great purpose of making His people
happy near Himself. On the contrary, if grace works, as it
does, the interrupted message is renewed with new and infinitely
more urgent appeals to the invited ; and now by other servants
beyond the twelve and the seventy. So we have in the begin
ning of Acts (II. — ^vi.) the special announcement to Israel as
the children of the covenant — " to them that were bidden."
The first sending out, then, was during the life of the Messiah
to call the privileged people ; afterwards, there was the second
and specific testiraony of grace to the same people when the
work of redemption was done.
What was the effect? "They made light of it, and went
their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandise."
(Ver. 5.) God was not in their thoughts, but a man's own
field or his trade ; and, alas ! as God increases in the testimony
of His grace, raan grows bolder in his slight and opposition,
"And the remnant took his servants and entreated them
spitefully and slew them." (Ver. 6.) This is what you find

CHAPTER XXIL 327
in measure in the Acts of the Apostles. The message is disre-'
garded in the earlier chapters ; in chapters vii., xii., the servants
are outraged and slain. The issue is then foreshown — judgment
on the Jews and Jerusalem. " When the king heard thereof he
was wroth ; and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those
murderers, and burned up their city." (Ver. 7.) Who does
not see there the fate of the Jewish nation, and the destruction
of their city ? In Luke this is not found in the parable : how
suitable to Matthew, I need not point out.
But God will have His house fiUed with guests, and if those
peculiarly favoured would not corae, and even incurred wrath
to the utterraost, divine grace will not be outdone by human
wilfulness, but evil must be overcome of good. " Then saith he
to his servants. The wedding is ready; but they which were
bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage." (Ver. 8, 9.)
There is the indiscriminate dealing with any and every soul
under the gospel. " So those serA'ants went out into the high
ways, and gathered together all, as raany as they found, both
bad and good ; and the wedding was furnished with guests."
(Ver. 10.) The gospel goes out to men as they are, and, wher
ever received, produces by grace that which is according to
God, instead of demanding it. Hence all are welcome, bad and
good, a dying thief or a woman that was a sinner, a Lydia or a
Cornelius. The question was not their character, but the feast
for the King's Son ; and to this they were freely called. Grace,
far from asking or finding, gives fitness to stand before Him
in peace.
Yes, there is produced a necessary indispensable fitness. A
wedding-garment is due to the wedding-feast. This the King,
of His own magnificent bounty, provided, and it was for each
guest to wear it : who that honoured the King and the occasion
would not ? The servants did not look for such garments out
side : they were not worn on the highways, but within at the
wedding. Nor was it the point for the guests to appear in
their best. It was the King's affair to give. Come who might,
there was enough and to spare : "all things were ready."

328 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
This is the great essential truth of the gospel. So far from
looking for anything in man agreeable to God, the glad tidings
come on His part on the express ground that all is ruined,
wretched, guUty, on the sinner's part. " Let him that is athirst
come ; yea, whosoever will."
But where the heart is not right with God, it never submits
to His righteousness ; man, in this case, prefers to stand on his
own foundation. Either he thinks he can raise a claim on God
by being or doing something, or he ventures within, careless
both of himself and God. Such was the man who was found
of the king without the wedding-garment. It was to despise
the holiness as well as the grace of God, and proved that he was
utterly a stranger to the feast. What did he think of, or care
for, the feelings of the King bent upon the glorifying of His
Son ? For this is the true and real secret : God lavishes mercy
on sinners for the sake of His Son. Opportunity is thus given
to put honour on His name. Does my soul bow to it and Him ?
It is sah^atlon. The heart may go through much exercise, but
the only key to His astonishing goodness to us is God's feeling
toward His Son. If I may venture so to speak, the Lord Jesus
has put God the Father under obligation to Himself. He has so
lived and died to glorify God at all cost, that God (I say it
reverently) is bound to shew what He Is by reason of His Son.
Hence that remarkable expression of St. Paul's epistles, " the
righteousness of God." It is no longer man's righteousness
sought by the law, but God being righteous in Christ, when
man has been proved to haA'e utterly and in every way failed.
Because of the infinite value of the cross, God loves to put
honour on Christ; and if a soul do but plead His name, it
becomes a question of God's righteousness justifying him freely
of His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
How strikingly was the truth shewn by the King's dealing
with the Christ-despising intruder! "And when the king
came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on
a wedding-garment." (Ver. 11.) At once this was the ground
of action. No question was started of what the man had been
or done. The servants were warranted to bring in bad as weU

CHAPTER XXIL 329
as good, " Such were some of you," says the apostle. Indeed,
this man may have been the most correct, moral, and religious
of the company, like the young ruler who left the Lord in
sorrow. But, whether he were a hardened sinner or a self-
righteous soul, one thing we know for certain — he had not on a
wedding-garment. This at once arrested the King's eye. He
looked at the simple fact : had the guests on a wedding-
garment ? This man had not. What was its meaning ? It
told a tale the most damning possible ; it was setting at nought
the King's grace — it was openly dishonouring His Son.
The wedding-garment is Christ. This guest therefore came
before the king without Christ. He did not put on Christ,
There might be ever so sincere efforts to be holy and righteous,
but it was all and only himself, not Christ, and that is ever
lasting ruin and eondemnation to a sinner. Whereas, if we
suppose the very chief of sinners justifying God by accepting
Christ as the sole raeans for a lost soijl to stand before Him, this
is what exalts God and His grace. It is as if a man were
broken down enough in his thoughts of himself by God's reve
lation of what He is in Christ, to look up and say, I cannot
trust myself, I cannot trust what I have been nor even what I
desire to be to Thee, but I can trust fuUy what Thou art to me
in the gift of Thy Son. Such confidence jn God produces deep
loathing of self, real uprightness of soul, as well as diligence of
heart and desire to do the will of God. There is nothing so
humbling, and strengthening withal, as the heart's rest In God's
grace toward us in Christ. .
The man was not blamed for not bringing a new robe, no
matter how splendid, of his own. On the contrary, what made
his case so hopelessly evil was his indifference to the munificent
proAdsion of the king. Why should not his own robe do as well
as the king's ? He knew not, believed not, that nothing from
earth suits His divine presence — only what is purchased by th^
precious blood of Jesus. He had po sense of the grace which
invited him, nor of the holiness that befits the presence of God.
The king accordingly says to him " Friend, how camest thou in
hither, not having a wedding-garment ? And he was speechless,"

330 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
(Ver. 12.) He may have been ever so weU attired, he may have
liked the feast and the guests ; but he thought nothing of the King
nor his Son, and had not a word to say when the solemn challenge
came. He was in spirit and before God entirely outside the feast ;
else he would have felt the absolute need of an array in keeping
with the Kiug's joy and the Son's bridals. And judgment cast
him out of that scene for which he had no heart, where the un
believing, if it be in the hopeless wretchedness of remorse and
self-reproach, must honour the Son. It is not merely govern
mental vengeance, such as that which providentially slew the
murderers and fired their city, but full final judgment on him
who abused grace by presuming to draw near to God without
putting on Christ — who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctificatlon, and redemption. This man shewed
manifestly that he had no part nor lot in the matter ; and by
and by judgment will simply execute by power what is according
to the truth now. "Then said the king to the servants [or
attendants, not the bondmen of verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10], Bind
him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into the
outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Was this most solemn sentence rare because one man only is
here instanced ? Nay, verily ; " for many are called, but few
chosen." (Ver. 13, 14.)
Thus terminated the double trial of the nation, first, on the
ground of their responsibility as under the law, and next, as
tested by the message of grace. The rest of the chapter judges
in detail all the various classes in Israel who successively sought
to judge and ensnare the Lord, bringing into relief their posi
tion and winding up all with a question which they could
not answer without understanding His position and withal His
glorious person.
" Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their
disciples with the Herodians." What an alliance ! The partisans
of strict Judaism and the law, and the political time-servers of
that day whom the former hated cordially, join in flatterino-
Jesus to ensnare Him by the question of Jewish title against the

CHAPTER XXII. 331
Gentile. Would He, the Messiah, gainsay the hopes and
privileges of Israel as a nation ? If not, how escape the charge
of treason against Csesar ? Diabolical craft was there, but divine
wisdom brings in the truth as to God and man, and the difficulty
A-anishes. It was the rebeUion of the Jews against Jehovah
which gave occasion to His subjecting them to their heathen
lords: their Avrong made nothing wholly right. Were they
humbled because of it and seeking the resources of God's grace ?
Nay, they were proud and boastful, and at that moment in deadly
opposition, mingled with malignant craft, plotting against their
OAvn — His — Messiah. " Tell us, therefore : what thinkest thou ?
Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cffisar or not ? But Jesus
perceived their Avickedness and said, Why tempt ye me, ye
hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money." They brought a
denarius, owned Csesar's image and superscription, and heard the
unanswerable sentence, " Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."
Had the Jews honoured Him, they had never been in bondage
to man ; but now, being so through their OAvn sin and folly, they
were bound to accept their humiliation. Neither Pharisee nor
Herodian felt the sin ; and if one felt the shame which the other
gloried in, the Lord, while forcing them to face the real position
to which their iniquity had reduced them, pointed out that
which, if made good in their souls, would be the speedy
harbinger of a divine deliverance.
" The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that
there is no resurrection and asked him, saying, Moses said," &c.
(Ver. 23 — 33.) Thus unbelief is as false and dishonest as
pretended huraan righteousness ; and if one could be in league
with Herodians and affect loyalty to Csesar, so could the other
plead Moses as if the inspired word had plenary authority over
their conscience. But the Lord, as He laid bare the hypocrisy
of those who stood high as religionists, equally detected what
the sceptic never suspects, that their difficulties flow not merely
from overlooking the power of God, but from downright igno
rance, whatever may be their self-complacency and conceit.
" Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, hot the power of God."

332 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Faith, on the contrary, sees clearly, just as it counts on God
according to the revelation of Himself He has made in the word.
As to the particular point in question, our Lord, not content
with tracing their sophism to the sheerest misapprehension of
the resurrection-state, proves (and from Moses too, without going
further) that the resurrection of the dead is an essential radical
part of God's scheme and truth. Luke was inspired to convey
an additional statement as to the intermediate living of the
separate spirit. But in our gospel the one point is that the
dead rise, because God declared Himself the God of the fathers
after their death ; and confessedly He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. They must therefore rise to live again. If
He were their God in their state when He spoke to Moses, He
must be the God of the dead, which the Sadducee had been the
first to deny. It was the raore important so to reveal Himself
to Moses, who was in due time to bring in the conditional
system of the law, with its visible rewards and punishments and
the sure ruin of all who through unbelief clung to it and present
things, despising the promises which hang on " the Seed" and
resurrection. Thus, infidelity is made unwittingly to bring out
from Christ with divine clearness the power and purpose of God
revealed in scripture, and this on the ground chosen to create
difficulty. And God's purpose to bless Israel fully in resurrection-
power is asserted, after He had shewn the necessary dealing with
their sin in subjecting thera meanwhile to the Gentile.
But if the Pharisees retired with wonder, they were far from
subdued ; and indeed they bestir themselves afresh when their
sceptical rivals were put to silence. They assemble together,
when a lawyer " tempts" Him, but in fact only elicits a perfect
suraraary of practical righteousness. They talked and terapted :
Jesus was the expression of all the perfectness of law and
prophets, and far, far more, the image of God Himself in grace
as weU as righteousness here below : not as Adam, who rebeUed
against God — not as Cain, who loved not his neighbour, but
slew his brother. (Verses 34^40.)
. And now, finally, it was the Lord's place to ask them the
question of questions, not only for a Pharisee, but for any soul :

CHAPTER XXIII. 333
"What think ye of Christ? "WTiose Son is he?" He was
David's Son, most true ; but was this the truth, the whole truth ?
" How, then, does David in spirit caU him Lord, saying,
Jehovah said unto my Lord ? " &o. How was He both — David's
Son and David's Lord ? It was the simple trath, the key to all
scripture, the way, the truth, the life, the explanation of His
position, the only hope for theirs. But they were dumb. They
knew nothing, and could answer nothing. " Neither durst any
man from that day forth ask him any more questions."

oSOio.

CHAPTER XXIIL
The last chapter had silenced those who pretended to most light.
Not believing in Christ they were destitute of the only key to
scripture, and Psalm ex., bright as its testiraony is to their own
Messiah, was a thick cloud, not only to Egj'ptians now as of old,
but to Israel. They saw not His glory, and were therefore
hopelessly puzzled how to understand that David, speaking by
the Spirit, should caU his son his Lord.
Li this chapter (xxiii.) the Lord pronounces the doom of the
nation, and most of aU, not of those man would chiefly denounce,
not of the openly lawless, licentious, or violent, nay, nor of the
ease-loving sceptical Sadducees, but of those who stood highest
in general esteem for their religious knowledge and sanctity.
And so it always is when we flnd a dealing of God with His
people. Conscience, man, the very world, can with more or less
exactness judge of immoral grossness. God sees and eschews
what looks fair to human eyes and is withal false and unholy.
And the word of God is explicit that so it is to be. The heaviest
woes yet in store for this world are notfor heathen darkness, but,
as for rebellious Judaism, so for corrupt Christendom, for the

334 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
spot where most truth is known and the highest privileges
conferred, but alas ! their power despised and denied. It is not
that God when He arises to judge will leave the pagan nations
unpunished. They shall not go without punishment, but surely
drink of the cup. Yet " hear this word that the Lord hath
spoken against you, 0 children of Israd, against the whole
family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying. You
only have I known of all the families of the earth : therefore I
will punish you for aU your iniquities." Ea'CU so is it now with
the professing Gentile ; and the fuller the light bestowed, and
the richer the grace of God revealed in the gospel, they are only
so much the graver reasons for unsparing judgments on Christen
dom, when the knell of divine vengeance toUs for those on earth
who know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord sees not as man seeth, whether in grace or
in judgment : for man looks on the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks on the heart. No otherwise did Jesus speak
in the scene before us.
It is remarkable, however, that in the flrst instance He spoke
" to the multitudes and to his disciples." They were yet to a
great extent viewed together — this till the death and resurrection
of Christ ; and even then the Holy Ghost slowly breaks one old
tie after another, and only utters His last word to the Jewish
remnant (then Christian of course) by more than one witness
not long before the destruction of Jerusalem. But even in
principle separation there was not, nor could be, till the cross.
Hence the fatal error of some who argue from that which was
done in Israel before the death of Christ to neglect and overthrow
the holy union, apart from the world, to which believers are
called since that momentous day. The foundation for it was not
even laid, the middle wall of partition still subsisted ; and though
the faith that pierced through to the deeper glory of the Lord's
person noA^er failed to reap a rich reward and the fullest Avelcome,
yet would it have been premature, and indeed contrary to God's
order as yet, to have led the Jews outside the camp, or to have
gathered them and the Gentiles into one body, before the cross.
The more solemn the sentence of God pronounced or executed

CHAPTER XXIIL 335
the greater and more wondrous is the display of His long-
suffering. And if He call us to patience, how astonishing is
His own ! How truly in His case patience has its perfect work !
But what shall we say of the spirit that abuses His patience
toward that which He is going to judge, to a denial of the truth,
equally sure, of His sensitive love and jealous care over such as
stand in Christ in the most intimate nearness of relationship to
Hiraself? He does speak peace to His saints ; but let them not
turn again to foUy.
It was, then, part of our Lord's Jewish mission to say that
" the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : all therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do." (Ver.
3, 4.) But there was the careful warning against making the
scribes and Pharisees in anywise personal standards of good and
evil. " Do not ye after their works ; for they say and do not."
They were in themseh'es beacons, patterns of wrong, not of
right. (Ver. 4 — 7.) Still not only are the disciples classed with
the multitude ; but in the very strongest denunciations of these
religious guides, they are bound as yet by the Lord to acknow
ledge those who sat in Moses' seat. There they were in fact,
and the Lord riiaintains, instead of dissolving, the obligation to
own them and whatever they set forth, not of their own tradi
tions but from the law. This was to honour God Himself, spite
of the hypocrites, who only sought man's honour for theraselves,
and it affords no warrant for false apostles or their self-deceived
successors now. For the apostles had no seats like that of
Moses ; and Christianity is not a system of ordinance or formal
observance like the law, but, where real, is the fruit of the
Spirit through life in Christ, which is formed and fed by the
word of God.
It has been urged, confidently enough of late and in quarters
where one might have hoped for better things, that, as the
saints in Old Testament times looked for Christ, and eternal life
was theirs by faith, though they were under the law, so we who
now believe in Christ are nevertheless and in the same sense
under the law like them, though like them we are justified by
faith. Now, plausible and even fair as this may seem to some,

336 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
I have no hesitation in pronouncing it extremely evil. It is a
deliberate putting souls back into the condition frora which the
work of Christ has extricated us. The Jews of old were placed
under the law for the wise purposes of God, till the promised
Seed came to work a complete deliverance ; and the saints in
their midst, though they rose above that position by faith, were
all their lifetime subject to bondage and the spirit of fear.
Christ has set us free, by the great grace of God, through His own
death and resurrection ; and we have thereon received the Spirit
of sonship whereby we cry, Abba, Father, And yet, spite ot
the plainest testimony of God to the momentous change brought
about by the coming of His Son, and the accomplishment of
His work, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is openly, seri
ously proposed, as if it Avere part of the faith once delivered to
the saints, that this wondrous working and display of divine
grace should be set aside, with their results to the believer, and
that the soul should be replaced under the old yoke and in the
old condition ! Doubtless this is precisely what Satan aims at,
an effort to blot out aU that is distinctive of Christianity
by a return to Judaism. Only one may be amazed to find
so barefaced an avowal of the matter in men professing evan
gelical light.
The true answer, then, to such misunderstandings of Matthew
xxiii. and misapplications of similar portions of holy writ, is
that as yet our Lord was adhering (and so He did to the last
moment) to His proper Messianic mission ; and this supposed
and maintained the nation and the remnant under the law, and
not iu the delivering power of His resurrection. Which of the
disciples could yet say " Henceforth know we no man after the
flesh : yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet
now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things have passed away ;
behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to hiraself by Jesus Christ, and hath
given to us the ministry of reconciliation." Now, on the con
trary, this is the normal language of the Christian. It is not a
question of special attainment nor of extraordinary faith, but

CHAPTER XXIII. 337
of simple present subjection to the fuU christian testimony in
the New Testament. And this I may add, that what the law
was to the Jew, the word of God in all its extent is to the
Christian, specially that part which was founded on and followed
Christ dead, risen, glorifled, and sending down the Holy Spirit.
Even were we Jews, the old tie is dissolved by death, and we
are married to another, even to Christ raised from the dead.
Thus to have the law as weU as Christ for our guide and rule is
like having two husbands at one time and is a sort of spiritual
adultery. Subject even to one another in grace, we are to heed
no authority save God's in the things of God.
Surely also we can and ought to take the moral profit of our
Lord's censure of the scribes and Pharisees : for what is the
heart ! We have to beware of imposing on others that which
we are remiss to observe ourseh'es. We have to watch against
doing works to be seen of men. We have to pray against the
allowance of the world's spirit — the love of pre-eminence, both
within and without. (Ver. 4 — 7.)
The truth is that here, as everywhere, the power of the truth
and blessing depends on a hearty acquiescence in Christ's glory
in one form or another, and our participation consequently in
His thoughts and feelings. Hence the word is, " Be not ye
called Rabbi ; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye
are brethren. And call no one your father upon the earth ; for
one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called
masters ; for one Is your Master, even Christ." (Ver. 8 — 10.)
The question here is not of the various gifts Avhich the Lord
confers by the Holy Ghost on His members in His body the
Church, but of religious authority in the world and a certain
status and respect by virtue of ecclesiastical office or position.
This were to govern divine things on the principle of men and
to reward the fruit of God's grace, if it be anything real, with
that which appeals to, and gratifies the base selfishness of, the
heart. Thus, while asserting the authority of the law in the
sphere for which it was given, there is gradually increasing
soA^erlty in the exposure of the moral worthlessness of those who
turned it to their own exaltation. But there is no development
z

338 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
as yet of the blessed provision His love would make, when He
was ascended, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. But the
great moral principle of the kingdom (which is always true, I
need hardly say) is enforced here. " He that is greatest among"
you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself shaU be
exalted." (Ver. 11, 12.) The cross and the heavenly glory
would but deepen the value and significance of these words of
the Saviour; but even before either and independently of the
new order of things in the Church, they bore His stamp and
were current for the kingdom.
In marked contrast with this pattern of true seiwlce for the
disciples were the scribes and Pharisees, on whom the Lord
next proceeds to pronounce eight solemn woes. (Ver. 13 — 33.)
What else could He say of men who not only entered not the
kingdora of heaven, but hindered those disposed to enter?
What else could be due to those who sought religious influence
over the weak and defenceless for gain ? Granted that their
proselyting zeal was untiring, what was the fruit in souls before
God ? Were not the taught as usual the truest index of such
teachers, as being more simple and honest after the flesh, uiire-
serA'ed as to their ways and aim and spirit ? Then there Is the
laying bare the nice hair-splitting as to outward distinctions,
which really overlooked the patent authority of God ; and the
insisting on the pettiest exactions to the neglect of the plainest
everlasting raoral truth. Next is detected, the effort after
external look, whatever might be the impurity within ; and this
both in their labour and in their lives and persons, which were
full of guile and self-will, crowned by affected great veneration
for the prophets and the righteous who had suffered of old, and
no longer acted on the conscience. This last gave them the
more credit. There is no cheaper, nor, in the Avorld, more
successful raeans of gaining a religious reputation, than this
show of honour for the righteous who are dead and gone,
especially if they connect themselves with them in appearance,
as being of the same association. The succession seems natural,

CHAPTER XXIII, 339
and it sounds hard to charge those who honour the dead saints
in this day with the same rebellious spirit Avhich persecuted and
slew them in their own day. But the Lord would put them to
a speedy and decisive test, and prove the real bent and spirit
of the world's religion. " Wherefore, behold, I send unto you
prophets, and Avise men, and scribes ; and sorae of them ye shaU.
kill and crucify ; and some of them shaU ye scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute them frora city to city ; that upon,
you raay come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharlas son of
Barachias, whom ye slew between the teraple and the altar."
(Ver. 34, 35.) It was morally the same race and character all
through. In righteous government adds the Lord, " Verily I
say raito you, AU these things shall corae upon this generation."
(Ver. 36.) Thus should be judged the full measure, begun by
their fathers and completed by themselves. Hypocrites they
were on all the counts of which the Lord accused them, and as
guilty as the worst of their predecessors, they would soon prove
themselves in the very point of their self-complacency. Ser
pents indeed they were — a viper-brood. How could such escape
the judgment of hell ?
Yet how touching here is the Lord's lament over the guilty
city. His own city: " 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets," &c. (Ver. 37.) His glory shines out more than
ever ; the rejected Messiah is In truth JehoA^ah. He would have
gathered (and how often !) but they would not. It was no
longer His house nor His Father's, but theirs, and it is left unto
thera desolate. Nevertheless, if it be a most solemnly judicial
word, there is hope in the end. " For I say unto you. Ye shall
not see rae henceforth, till ye shall say. Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord." (Ver. 39.) Israel are yet to
see their king, but not till they, at least a goodly reranant of
them, are converted to welcome Him in Jehovah's name.

o««o

CHAPTER XXIV.
We see in this prophecy of our Lord a remarkable confirmation
of a great principle of God — that He never opens out the future
of judgments on the rebellious, and of deliverance for His own
people, till sin has so developed itself as to manifest total ruin.
Take the very first instances in the Bible. When was it said
that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head?
When the woman was beguiled, and the man in transgression
through the wiles of the enemy ; when thus sin had entered the
world, and death by sin. Again, the prophecy of Enoch, given
us by Jude, was uttered when the term of God's patience with
the then world was almost closed, and the flood was about to
bear Avltness of His judgment on man's corruption and violence.
Thus, Avhether we look at the first prediction of Christ before
the expulsion from Eden, or at the testimony of the Lord's
coming to judge before the deluge, prophecy thus far evidently
comes In when man has wholly broken down. So, next, we find
Noah, when there was confusion and failure In his ovra family
and in himself too, led of the Holy Ghost into a prophetic
summary of the whole world's history, beginning with the doom
of him who despised his father, even though it were to his own
shame, and proceeding with the blessing of Shem and the portion
of Japhet. So, later on, with the prophecies of Balaam and of
Moses, " yea, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those that
follow after ;" for Samuel's is that striking epoch which the Noav
Testament singles out as the commencement of the great line of
tlie prophets. And why ? It Avas the day when Israel openly
abandoned God as their king, consummating the sin which their
heart conceived in the desert, when they souo-ht a captain in
order to return into Egypt. It Avas a proud crisis in Israel
Avhose blessedness lay in being a people separated from all
around by and to Jehovah their God, who would surely have
provided them a' king of His own choice, had they waited

CHAPTER XXIV. 341
instead of choosing for themselves, to His dishonour and their
own sure degradation and sorrow, in order to be like the nations.
The sarae principle equally and conspicuously applies to the
time when the great prophetic books were written — Isaiah, Jere
miah, and the rest. It was when all present hope had fled, and
David's sons wrought no deliverance, but rather at last a deeper
curse through their towering iniquity and profane insults of the
true God, who was thus morally forced to pronounce the nation
Lo-amrai — "not ray people." Before, and during, and after
the captivity, the Spirit of prophecy laid bare the sin of king,
and priests, and prophets, and people, but pointed the heart to
the coming Messiah and the new covenant. And Him we have
seen,. in our Gospel, actually come, but growingly and utterly
rejected by Israel, and all their own promises and hopes In Him ;
and now in the near prospect of His own death at their hands,
in itself thevf worst of deaths. He takes up this prophetic strain.
" And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple." For
Avhat was it now? A corpse, and no more, " Behold, «/0Mr
house is left unto you desolate." "And his disciples came to
him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus
said unto them. See ye not all these things ? Verily I say unto
you. There shall not be left here one stone upon another which
shall not be thrown down." (Ver. 1, 2.) The hearts of believers
then, as too often now, were occupied with present appearances,
and the great show of grandeur in God's service ; the halo of
associations was bright before their eyes. But Jesus passes
sentence on all that even they admired on the earth. Iri truth,
when He left the temple,' all was gone which gave it value in the
sight of God. It is ever thus.' Outside Jesus, what is there in
this world but vain show or worse ? And how does the Lord
deliver His own from the power of tradition and every other
source of attraction for the heart? He opens out the com
munications of His own mind, and casts the light of the future
on the present. How often worldliness unjudged in a Christian's
heart betrays itself by Avaiit of relish for God's unfolding of what
He is going to do ! How can I enjoy the coming of the Lord If
it is to throw down much that I am seeking to build up in the

342 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
world? A man, for instance, may be trying to gain or keep a
status by his ability, and hoping that his sons may outstrip
himself by the superior advantages they enjoy. On some such
idea is founded aU human greatness ; it is " the world," in fact.
Christ's coming again is a truth which demolishes the whole
fabric ; because, if we really look for His coming as that which
may be fi-om day to day — if we realize that we are set like
servants at the door with the handle In hand, waiting for Him
to knock (avo know not how soon), and desiring to open to Him
immediately ("blessed are those servants!") — if such is our
attitude, how can we have time or heart for that which occupies
the busy Christ-forgetting world ? Moreover, we are not of the
world, even as Christ is not ; and as for means and agents to
carry on its plans and ends, there never was nor will be a lack
of men to do its work. But we have a higher business, and it is
beneath us to seek the world's honours. Let our outward
position here below be ever so menial or trying, what so glorious
as in it to serve the Lord Christ ? And He is coming.
In the cross I see God humbling Himself — the only One of
all greatness making nothing of Himself for my soul — the only
One who commands aU becoming a servant of the very vilest.
A person cannot receive the truth of the cross without haA'Ing
in measure his walk in accordance with the spirit of it. Yet
saints of God have regarded the cross, not so much as that
power by which the world is crucified unto them and they unto
the Avorld, but rather as the remedy by which they are set free
from aU anxiety, in order to make themselves a comfortable
place in the world. The Christian ought to be the happiest of
men ; but his happiness consists not in Avhat he has here, but in
Avhat he knows that he wUl haA-e with Christ. Meanwhile, our
service and obedience are to be formed according to the spirit
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man's evil and God's
grace thoroughly came out in the cross ; all met there : and it
is founded upon this great truth that it is said so often in
scripture, " The end of aU things Is at hand ;" because all was
brought out In moral Avays and in dispensational dealings be
tween God and man.

CHAPTEE XXIV. 343
Connected with this, our Lord does not as yet unfold here
the portion of us Christians, but takes up the disciples where
they were. They were believing godly Jews. Their associ
ations connected Christ and the temple together. They knew
that He was the Messiah of Israel, and they expected Him
to judge the Romans and gather all the scattered ones of
the seed of Abraham from the four winds of heaven. They
looked for all the prophecies about the land and the city to be
accomplished. There was no thought in the minds of the
disciples at this time of Jesus going to heaven and staying there
for a long time — of the scattering of Israel, and the Gentiles
being brought in to the knowledge of Christ. Consequently
this great prophecy on the mount of Olives starts with the
disciples and with their condition. Their hearts were too much
occupied with the buildings of the temple. But the Lord, now
rejected, announces that " there shaU not be left here one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down." (Ver. 2.) This
excited greatly the desire of the disciples to understand how
such things were to come to pass. They were aware from the
prophecies that there was a time of dismal sorrow for Israel,
and they did not know how to put this together with their
predicted blessing. They ask Him, therefore, " When shall
these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming aud
of the end of the world ?" (Ver. 3.)
"Thy coming" means "the Lord's presence with them on
earth ;" and " the end of the age" is a totally different word
from that translated " world" elsewhere : it means here the end
of the time during which our Lord should be absent from them.
They wished to know the sign of His presence with them. They
knew there could never be such desolation if their Messiah was
reigning over them. They wished to know when the time of
sorrow should come, and what should be the sign of His own
presence tlia,t should close it and bring In unending joy.
"And Jesus answered and said unto them. Take heed that no
man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Ver. 4, 5.) In the
epistles of Paul it is never exactly such a thought as warn-

344 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
ing persons against false Christs. For there the Holy Ghost
addresses us as Christians ; and a Christian could not be de
ceived by a man's pretensions to be Christ. It is most appro
priate here, because the disciples are viewed in this chapter, not
as the representatives of us Christians now, but of future godly
Jews. We, as Christians, have nothing to do with the destruc
tion of the temple ; it does not affect us in any way. These
disciples were regarded as the godly remnant of the nation, who
Avere looking for the Messiah to bring in glory. The Lord,
therefore, warns them that if any should arise among them,
saying, I am Christ, they were not to believe them. The time
was corae when the true Messiah ought to appear. And He
had appeared, but Israel had rejected Him ; they refused to bow
to Him, hardening themselves in the lie that our Lord could not
be the promised One. But Israel had not given up the hope
of the Messiah yet, and this exposes them to the delusion spoken
of here (i.e., to persons saying, I am Christ). At any rate, the
rejection of the true Christ lays them open to the reception of
a false Christ. Our Lord had warned them of this. " I am
come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." If a messlah
were to come full of self and Satan, the nation should be given
up to receive the false, as a just retribution for having rejected
the True. The disciples were the representatives of godly Jews,
and were warned of what should befall their nation. But take
the epistles of John and what have you there ? " Beloved,
believe not every spirit." Why ? Because the great thing that
the Church is distinguished by is the presence of the Holy
Ghost ; and the deceit which Ave have to watch against is false
spirits, not false Christs, though there are many antichrists.
How are we to do God's will ? How are we to be directed
to what will honour Him ? The Holy Ghost alone can o-ulde
us in a right path, and He acts by the word of God. I must
find myself meeting, according to the scriptures, where what Is
of man is disaUowed, and what is of God is freely and fully
acknowledged. We are bound to see whether all that we are
doing will bear the full searchlugs of the scriptures ; if not let

CHAPTER XXIV. 345
US stop at once. Never allow a single thing which you believe
to be contrary to the written word. " Cease to do evil." " To
him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
Supposing I only know that what I am engaged in is wrong, but
that I see nothing further, I must stop. God gives me no fresh
light before me if I am doing what is wrong. I may have to re
main in my charaber, and not see what next ; but wherever I see
evil, I am bound by it. We can never go on in evil, hoping for
more light. What is the walk of faith ? A believer may seem
to go blindfold, but he has God for his guide. He does not see
before him, but he has the eye and heart and hand of One who
does. It is God who guides. He shews me His wiU for
that one step, and when I have taken it. He will shew
me the next. It is a question of honouring God. When we
have done this in any particular step, the Lord opens a further
path for us.
Our Lord does not warn against false spirits here, because He
is not speaking to the disciples on the ground of Christianity. By
a Christian, I raean a believer since the Holy Ghost was poured
out frora on high. He is not a bit more a saint than a man called
to the knowledge of God before ; but he has special privileges
founded on accomplished redemption, and also enters more fully
into the truth of God as revealed In Christ. The disciples did not
know this blessing yet ; and the Lord takes them as examples
of a believing remnant in the latter day. The danger of Chris
tians is grieving the Holy Ghost — nay, listening to false spirits.
" Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are
of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the
world." These are persons in whora an evil spirit wrought.
There are false prophets now, and evil spirits work in them.
In these days, faith both in the Holy Ghost and in Satan's
power is very much weakened. People only look at the man ;
whereas scripture makes a great deal of God and of Satan.
What gives Satan power over a professor of the name of Christ
is the allowance of sin. Satan has not one atom of power
against a child of God who is looking to Jesus ; but where
self is allowed, Satan can come and make a resting-place for a

346 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
season. If a believer could not be a false prophet, there
might be a temporary power of the enemy over his soul.
Here it Is a question of false Christs, because our Lord was
going to speak to the disciples about Jewish circumstances and
hopes, though He afterwards turns to christian subjects. The
prophecy consists of three great parts. The Jewish remnant
have their history thoroughly described ; then comes the portion
of Christians, and afterwards that of the Gentiles. The prophecy
divides itself into these three sections. Why are the Jews, we
may ask, first brought forward? The disciples were not yet
taken out of their Jewish position : only when Christ was
crucified was the wall of partition broken down. Our Lord's
intention was to take up a Jewish remnant and shew that there
would be a company in the latter day on the same ground as
these disciples — the Christian would come In between. This we
have described in the latter part of the chapter, and in the
greater part of chapter xxv. Then we have the GentUes, " all
nations," gathered before the Son of man. Such is the thread
of connectioii between the parts of this great discourse.
" Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and
shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars ; see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Ver. 5, 6.) Observe,
there are two great moral warnings given by our Lord. First,
they were to beware of a true hope falsely applied. He guards
them against the attractions of false Christs, who would take
advantage of the fact that the Jews ought to be looking for
Christ, and they would pretend to be Christ. But, besides,
there Is the fear that would be excited by the enemy, who
knows how to bring in a iioav deceit suited to another set
of circumstances. Verse 6, therefore, guards them against
alarms: "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars." We
have nothing to do with these. Where do you find that the
Holy Ghost warns the Christian about trouble from wars and
rumours of wars ? Do we find anything about it in the Epistles,
where the Christian Church is properly brought out ? Am I
then denying the importance of the Lord's prophecy? God

CHAPTER XXIV. 347
forbid ! But the portion we are looking at does not refer to
Christians as they now are, but to the Jewish disciples as they
then were and as they will be. Our caUing takes place after
our Lord went to heaven and before He returns in glory ,
whereas the Jewish remnant will be found in the latter day on
similar ground and with hopes like those the disciples had whom
our Lord was here addressing. We do not arrive at a clear
knowledge of anything by denying the great landmarks of God.
If we want to put things rightly together in the word of God,
we must notice what and to whom He speaks. If I, a Gentile,
take up the language of a Jew, a great mistake is made ; or if a
Christian adopt the language of either Jew or Gentile, there is
again an equal mistake. Therefore it is that such stress is laid
on "rightly dividing the word of truth." We find various
ways of God according to His sovereign will about those with
whom He is dealing, and we must take care to apply His word
aright. Here we have disciples having a peculiar calling in a
particular land, the land of Judea ; and if they heard of wars
and rumours of wars, they were not to be troubled. " For all
these things raust come to pass ; but the end is not yet."
Mark the diff'erence in the language of scripture. Do we ever
find the apostles saying. The end is not yet, for us ? On the
contrary, it is said of us (1 Cor. x.), " Upon whom the ends of
the world are come." So again, speaking about the cross of
Christ, it is written (Heb. Ix. 26), " Now once, in the end ofthe
world ;" whereas, when the Lord is predicting about the Jewish
remnant, " the end is not yet." And this, because many things
must yet be accomplished before the Jews can come into their
blessing. But for Christians, all things even now are ours in
Christ ; the blessing is never put off, though we await the crown
at His coming. Again, many parts of scripture speak of scenes
of anguish before the Lord's coming ; others make Christians to
be expecting Christ at any time. These scriptures cannot be
broken nor contradict one another ; and yet they must do so. If
they applied to the same people.
PracticaUy, too, the difference is immensely important ; for
the Christian is not of the world, even as Christ is not, which

348 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
could not be equally said of the Jewish body yet to be called in
the latter day. For us " wars and rumours of wars" ought not
to be a source of trouble, any more than of interest on either
side of this world's combatants. Surely they should be an
occasion of holy concern and Intercession in the spirit of grace,
and this for all engaged. The Jewish remnant, on the contrarj'-,
AvIU not be separated after this heavenly manner ; and the
earthly struggles which will then rage in and round the land
cannot but affect them nearly : so that they will need especially
to cherish confidence in the Saviour's words, and not be troubled
as if the issue were a doubtful one, or themselves forgotten in
that dark day. They must wait patiently; "for nation shall
rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom ; and there
shall be famine, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows."
It is evident that the language is only applicable in its full
force to Jews — believing ones, no doubt, but still Jews in the
midst of a nation judicially chastized for their apostasy from
God and rejection of their own Messiah.
Besides, the Lord prepares the Jewish disciples or remnant
for their own special trials, partially true after His own departure
till Jerusalem disappeared, and once more to be verified before
Jerusalem is fully oAvned after the destruction of the Antichrist.
" Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill
you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations [or the Gentiles] for
my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another." (Ver. 9, 10.)
There should be false profession among them, and hatred of the
true even among themselves ; and not only troubles without :
" And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold ; but he that shaU endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved." Thus there is a certain defined period of endurance —
an end to come, as truly as there was a beginning of sorrows.
But what trial, and darkness, and suffering, and scandal before
that end come ! When our Lord speaks, as In the Gospel of
John, of the Christian's lot. He never names either a beo-innlno-

CHAPTER XXIV. 349
or an end, but rather implies that tribulation should be expected
throughout his career. " In the world ye shall have tribulation."
And such is the constant language and thought in the epistles,
where beyond question our calling is supposed.
Then follows a 6ial sign. " This gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a AvItness unto all nations ;
and then shall the end come." (Ver. 14.) The gospel of God's
grace is not the same as the gospel of the kingdom. Both
should be preached — that God Is saving souls of His mere
faA'our now through Christ ; and that there is a kingdora which
He is going to establish by His power shortly, which is to
embrace all the earth. Before the end come, there will therefore
be a special testimony of this coming of the Lord, as He here
intimates. So In Revelation xiv. an angel is seen by John in
the prophetic vision, having the everlasting gospel to preach to
the dwellers on earth and to every nation, and saying with a
loud voice. Fear God and give glory to Him ; for the hour
of His judgment is come ; and worship Him that made heaven,
and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Now it
cannot be so said that the hour of His judgment is come ; for it
is, on the contrary and expressly, the day of His grace and
salvation. Clearly, therefore, the inference is that, just before
the close of this age, there will be a remarkable energy of the
Spirit in the midst of the Jews ; and from that very people who
rejected Jesus of old, messengers of the kingdora shall go forth
touched by His grace to announce the speedy fall of divine
judgment and the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens in
power and glory. Who so suited, in God's mercy, to proclaim
the returning Messiah, as some of the A'ery nation who of old
had nailed Him to the cross, among all the proud Gentiles
AA'hose then representatlA'C inscribed it with " This is Jesus, the
King of the Jews ?" The testimony shall go forth universally.
How humbling for Christendom I What has become of the
East ? What of the West ? Mahometanism ! Popery I with
Paganism too still prevalent over vast tracts of Asia and Africa.
And yet christian men close their eyes to the plainest and most
solemn facts and boast of the triumphs of the gospel ! No : the

350 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Gentiles have been wise In their own conceits, though grace has
wrought where God has pleased, spite of all ; but it is reserved
for other witnesses, when the falling away shaU have been
complete in Christendom and the man of sin revealed, to pro
claim the coming kingdom in all the habitable earth.
In verse 15 the Lord goes back In point of time and shews us,
not general tokens of the approach of the end and that which
should distinguish the end in general from the earlier throes of
Israel ; but here we have circumstances of the most definite
character, which may be applied perhaps partially to what
occurred before the fall of Jerusalem under Titus, but which
can only be fulfilled In the future of Israel if we duly heed the
peculiarity of the scene, the connection of the prophecy, and,
above all, the consummation in which all is to terminate.
First, then, our Lord points to a Jewish prophet. " When
ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
readeth, let him understand,)" &c. (Ver. 15.) The parenthesis
warns that the prediction might be misunderstood — at any rate
demanded attention. Two passages of the prophecy (chap. xi.
31 and xii. 11) speak of this abomination ; but I haA'e no hesi
tation in affirming that the former was a foreshadowing of the
doings of Antiochus Epiphanes centuries before Christ, and that
the latter is the one referred to here and still unaccomplished.
Entirely distinct from the epoch of Antiochus, Daniel xii. speaks
of another idol which brings desolation in its train, and this
expressly " at the time of the end." " Many sliaU be purified,
and made white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly ;
and none of the wicked shall understand; but the Avise shall
understand." In this we have another link of connection
AvIth our Lord's words — " whoso readeth, let him understand."
"And frora the time that the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken
aAvay and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there
shall be a thousand, two hundred and ninety days." Thus,
beside the idolatrous evil imposed by the notorious king of the
north long before the Lord appeared, Daniel looks onward to a

CHAPTER XXIV. 351
similar evil at the close of Israel's sorrows, the destruction of
which immediately precedes their final deliverance. " Blessed
is he that waiteth." As to this last, our Lord cites the Jewish
prophet, and casts further light on the selfsame time and cir
cumstances, when Daniel himself shall re-appear in his lot.
The conclusion is clear and certain : our Lord in verse 15
of Matthew xxiv. determines the allusion to be to that part
of Daniel which Is yet future, not to what was history when He
stood on the mount of Olives. I am aware that some have
confounded the matter with what we read in Daniel viii. and ix.
But " the transgression of desolation" is not the same as "the
abomination of desolation ;" nor can we absolutely identify " the
last end of the indignation" with " the time of the end." (Com
pare Isaiah x.) The distinctions of scripture are, as much to be
noted as the points of resemblance and of contact. The last
verse of Daniel ix. might seem to have stronger claims. There
we have a covenant confirmed for one week ; and then in the
midst of the week sacrifice and oblation are made to cease ; after
which, because of the protection given to abominations or idols,
there is a desolator " even until the consummation and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (i.e., Jerusalem).
I have thus given what I conceive to be the true sense of this
important passage, because when it is stated with precision, the
supposed resemblance to "the abomination of desolation" dis
appears. A desolator who comes because of the wing (i.e.,
protection) of abominations is very distinct from the abomina
tion that makes desolate, or the idol which is yet to stand in the
sanctuary. With the setting up of this abomination the date
of one thousand two hundred and ninety days Is connected.
Even for those who understand this of so many years, it is
impossible to apply the prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem
or its temple by the Romans. Had it been so, the period of
blessing must long ere this have arrived for Israel. Has the
prophecy then failed ? No ; but the readers haA^e failed in under
standing it. We must correct, not the language of scripture,
but our interpretations : we must go back to God's word again
and again, and see whether we have not mistaken our bearings.

352 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
The truth is, that the understanding of Daniel xii. is of all
moment for reaping due profit from Matthew xxiv. In its first
verse we have a plain landmark : " At that time shall Michael
stand up, the great prince AvhIch standeth for the children of thy
people." There can be no just doubt that Daniel's people means
the Jews, and that a raighty intervention on their behalf is
intimated ; but, as usual, not without the severest trial of faith.
For "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time." This our Lord has
unquestionably in view in verse 21: "then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be." There cannot be two tribula
tions for the same people, each of which is greatest : both
statements refer to the sarae trouble. Now Daniel is positive —
that " at that time thy people (the Jews) shall be dellA^ered."
Who can pretend that Michael stood up for Israel against Titus
any more than Nebuchadnezzar? Does not everybody kiioAV
that at that time, far from being delivered, they were completely
A'anquished by the Romans, and that those who escaped the
sword were sold as slaves and scattered over the world ? God
was then against, not for, Israel ; and, as the king in the parable,
He was wroth, sent forth His armies, destroyed those murderers
and fired their city. Here, on the contrary, the unequalled hour
of sorrow Is just before their deliverance on God's part, not
before their captivity.
Carrying this back to our chapter, the sight of the desolating
idol in the holy place Is the signal for flight. " Then let thera
which be In Judsea flee into the mountains." (Ver. 16.) There
is no thought of a sign to Christians as such, but to Jewish
disciples in the holy land; and this that they may instantly
retire from the scene of danger. " Let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take anything out of his house :
neither let him which is in the field return back to take his
clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them
that give suck in those days !" (Ver. 17 — 19.) It has been
tried to find in this the warning on which some fled to. Pella in
the interval after the Roman lieutenant surrounded the city and

CHAPTER XXIV. 353
before the final sack raider the victorious commander. But this
arises from confounding Luke xxi. 20 — 24, with Matthew xxiv.
15 — 21 ; whereas they are demonstrably distinct, spite of a
measure of analogy between them. It perfectly fell within the
province given of the Spirit to the great Gentile evangelist to
notice the past Roman siege, as well as the present supremacy of
the nations which tread down Jerusalera till their times are
fulfilled. Matthew, however, had his oavu proper task in giving
the grand future crisis, at least from verse 15. And it is evident
that, as the abomination in the holy place differs widely from
armies compassing Jerusalem, so there was araple space for the
most leisurely departure from the menaced city (yes, for the
most impeded and infirm of either sex to go) after Cestlus Gallus
withdrew. I conclude therefore, that by Matthew our Lord
gives us what bears on the time of the end, by Luke what
refers to the past, and the present too, cursorily, as well as the
future. Matthew, for instance, could uot speak like Luke, of
Jerusalem being trodden down of the Gentiles, because he is
here occupied only with the horrors which immediately precede
Israel's blessing and deliverance. Luke has both an earlier and
a later tirae of trouble : Matthew, from verse 15, leaves that and
confines hiraself to this.
" But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on
the sabbath-day : for then shall be great tribulation such as was
not since the beginning of the woild to this tirae, no, nor CA^er
shall be." (Ver. 20, 21.) How considerate the Lord Is! And
how surely His disciples in that day may count on His care,
that their petitions wUl be answered, so that, urgent as their
flight must be, neither the inclement season nor the day of
JewLsh rest shall hinder ! Here again is another proof that not
Christians but His Jewish foUowers are here contemplated.
Holy as is the Sabbath, I haA'e no hesitation in saying that the
Lord's-day, with which the Church has to do, is founded on a
deeper sanctity. The believer has now to beware, on the one
hand, of confounding the Sabbath with the Lord's-day ; and, on
the other, of supposing that, because the Lord's-day is not the
Sabbath, it may therefore be tumed to a selfish or worldly
AA

354 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
accorait. The Sabbath is the holy memorial of creation and of
the law ; as the Lord's-day is of grace and of the new creation In
the resurrection of the Saviour. As Christians we are neither
of the old creation nor under the law, but stand on the totally
different ground of Christ dead and risen. The Sabbath was
for man and the Jew, the last day of the week, and one simply
of rest to be shared with the ox and the ass. This is not the
Christian idea, which begins the week with the Lord, gives the
best to Him in worship, and Is free to labour for Him to all
lengths in the midst of the world's sin and misery.
Thus we have, at every step, a fresh testimony to the real
bearing of the prophecy. For us the holy place is in heaA^eu,
not in Jerusalem ; for us it is no question of escaping some
unexampled tribulation, but of being prepared for and rejoicing
in it always ; for us, gathered out of all nations and tongues,
the mountains round Judea are no suited hiding-place; nor
could the winter or the Sabbath-day be a just source of alarm.
Every word is for us to ponder and profit by ; but the OAadence
unmistakably points to a converted body of Jews in the latter
day, not standing in Church light and privilege, but having
Jewish hopes, and, while awaiting the Messiah, warned how to
escape the deceits and overwhelming trouble of that day. It Is
a question of flesh being saved (ver. 22), and not of feUowshIp
with Christ's suff'erings and conformity to His death, so as,
whatever the cost, to have part in the resurrection from among
the dead. Hence, too, there is no thought here of Christ's
coming to receive us to Himself and to give us mansions where
He is In the Father's house, but of His presence in glory to
destroy enemies, to judge what was dead and offensive to God,
and to deliver the scattered elect of Israel. For their sake
those days of terror should be shortened. With this agree the
warnings in verses 23—28 : " Then If any man shall say unto
you, Lo, here Is Christ, or there ; believe it not. For there
shaU arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew o-reat
signs and wonders," &c. (Ver 23, 24.) Coidd such a delusion
be addressed even to the simplest Christian who waits for the
Son of God from heaven ? Yet it is very intelligible if we

CHAPTER :^xiv. 355
think of these future JcAvIsh disciples, who might expect some
thing akin from a prediction such as Zechariah xiv., where we
find that the Mount of Olives is the appointed spot on which
Jehovah-Messiah is yet to stand. We can well conceive rumours
for such saints that Christ was in the desert or in the secret
chambers' : they might deceive those who expected to meet the
Lord on earth, not those who know that they are to join Him
and the risen ones in the air. (1 Thess. iv. ; 2 Thess. ii.) The
manner of His presence for delivering the Jews is then raade
kiioAvn as the guard against their deceits : " For as the
lightning cometh," &c. The figures (ver. 27, 28), which
illustrate the presence of the Son of man, convey the thought
of sudden terrible manifestation, and of rapid inevitable judg
ment on what is then but a lifeless body before God, whatever
may have been its pretensions. Nothing similar appears,
wherever, beyond controversy, scripture describes the descent
of the Lord to receive His risen saints. And what is the result
of thus misapplying these A'erses ? The revolting interpretation
that " the carcase" means Christ, and " the eagles" the trans
figured saints, or the converse, calls for censure, not comment.
Nor is it needful to refute the claim set up for the Roman
standards. Applied to Israel, all is simple. The carcase repre
sents the apostate part of that nation ; the eagles or vultures
are the figure of the judgments that fall upon it. It is not
only, then, that there will be the lightning-like display of
Christ in judgment ; but the agents of His wrath shall know
where and how to deal with that which is abominable in God's
sight. The allusion is to Job xxxix. 30.
" Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened," &c. (Ver. 29 — 31.) I can hardly be asked
to notice the old effort to apply these verses to the Roman
triumph OA'er Jerusalem. On the face of it, could this be said
to be " immediately after the tribulation ?" or was It not rather
the crowning of Jewish sorrow, not the glorious reversal of
their sufferings by a divine deliverance ? Whatever prodigies
Josephus reports were rather during the tribulation he records ;
whereas the signs spoken of here, literal or figurative, are to

356 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
follow " the tribulation of those days" (i.e., the future crisis of
Jerusalem). No ; One incomparably greater than Titus is
here; and an event Is announced in connection with that poor
people, which will change the face and condition of all nations.
" Then shall aU the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shaU
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
The elect throughout are the chosen seed of Israel. (Ver. 22, 24,
31. Compare Isaiah Ixv.) Others elect there are, no doubt ;
but wp must ever interpret by the context ; and this in the
present case seems to rae clear and conclusive. The Son of man
in heaven, and seen there, is, I conceive, the sign to those on
earth. This fills all the tribes with mourning ; and Christ
visibly comes to judgment. Other scriptures shew that the
heavenly saints have been already translated, and are then to
accompany their Lord ; but here nothing of this appears. It
would have been premature. Besides, the object of this
portion of the prophecy is to shew His coming for the relief
and ingathering of His elect out of Israel. Hence, it is as Son
of man (that is, judicially, see John v. 27) that He is present ;
and, hence, too. His angels He sends with loud trumpet-sound.
" And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet
shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish
in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt,
and shall worship the Lord In the holy mount at Jerusalem."
(Isaiah xxvii. 13.) It Is the proclamation, not alone of the
acceptable year of the Lord, but of the day of God's vengeance.
" And ye shall be gathered one by one, 0 ye children of Israel."
The four winds in connection vs'Ith Israel are no difficulty,
but rather the contrary. (See Zech. II. 6.) As the Lord had
scattered and spread them abroad " as the four winds of the
heaven," so now are His chosen ones to be gathered in.
The generai outline and the special view of the Jewish por
tion have been given thus far in chapter xxiv. This is next
illustrated, both from nature, (ver. 32 — 35) and from scripture

CHAPTER XXIV, 357
(ver. 34 — 36), and closed by a suitable application. (Ver.
42—44.)' " From the fig-tree learn the [or, its] parable." (Ver. 32.)
What is the peculiar significance and propriety of the fig-tree
here ? It is the well-known symbol of the Jewish nationality.
Thus we saw it, in chapter xxi. bearing nothing but leaves —
that generation given up to the curse of perpetual fruitlessness,
whatever grace may do for the generation to come. In Luke xxi.
the word is, " Behold the fig-tree and all the trees." Why
this striking change ? Because the Holy Ghost all through,
and notably iu that chapter, introduces "the Gentiles." Luke
takes in a larger scope than Matthew, and expressly treats
of Jerusalem's sorrows -in connection with "the times of the
Gentiles." Hence the difference even in the illustrative
figures. Here it is the tree, not withered away, but with
signs of vitality, " When its branch has now become tender
and the leaves are shooting, ye know that summer is nigh ; so
likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is
nigh by the doors" (i.e., the end of this age, and the beginning
of the next under Messiah and the new covenant). And how
solemnly the Saviour warns that " this generation," this Christ-
rejecting race in Israel, shall not pass till all these things be
fulfilled! The notion that all was fulfilled in the past siege of Jeru
salem, founded on a narrow and unscriptural sense of that
remarkable phrase, is from not hearing what He says unto the
disciples. In a genealogy (as Matt, I.), or where the context
requires it (as Luke I.) a life-time might be meant ; but where
is it so used in the prophetic scriptures. Psalms, &c. ? The
meaning herein is rather raoral than chronological, as for
instance in Psalm xii. 7, " Thou shalt keep them, 0 Lord, thou
shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." The words
" for ever" prove a prolonged force ; and accordingly the passage
intimates that Jehovah shall preserve the godly frora their evil,
vain, flattering, lawless, oppressors (ver. 2 — 5) — from " this
generation" for ever. It is the distinct and conclusive refuta
tion of those who would limit the phrase to a short epoch or a

to

358 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
man's lifetime. So, in Deuteronomy xxxii. 5, 20, we find
generation similarly used, not to coiiA'ey a period, but to express
the moral characteristics of Israel. Again, in the Psalms we
have not only " this generation," but " the generation to
come," and neither confined to a mere term of thirty or a
hundred years. (Compare also Prov. xxx.) But what may
make the case the plainer is the usage in the synoptic gospels.
Thus, in Matthew xi. 16, " Whereunto shall I liken this gene
ration ?" means such as then Uved, characterized by the moral
cajjrlciousness which set them in opposition to God's testi
mony, Avhatever it might be, in righteousness or in grace. But
evidently, though people then alive are primarily In view, the
moral identity of the same features might extend indefinitely,
and so from age to age it would still be " this generation."
Compare Matthew xii. 39, 41, 42, 45, Avhich last verse shews
the unity of the " generation" in its final judgment (not yet, I
believe, exhausted) with that which emerged from the Baby
lonish captivity. Again, note chapter xxiii. 36, " Verily I say
uuto you. All these things shall come upon this generation."
This generation shall not pass till all the predictions of judg
ment, &c., Christ uttered shall be fulfilled. (Chap, xxIa^. 34.)
As it is plain from what has been already shewn — Indeed, most
of all from the plain scripture itself — that much remains to be
accomplished: "this generation" still subsists and mutit till all
is over. Aud how true it is ! There the Jews are, the Avonder
of every thoughtful mind, not merely a broken, scattered, and
withal perpetuated race, not only distinct, spite of mighty effort
from without to blot them out, and from within to amalgamate
AvIth others, but with the same unbelief, rejection, and scorn
of Jesus, their own Messiah, as ou the day He j^ronounced their
doom. All these things — He warned of their earlier and their
latest sorrows — must come to pass, before that wicked genera
tion shall disappear. " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away." That which Incredulity counts
most stable, the scene of its Idolatry or of Its self-exaltation,
shall vanish ; but the words of Christ, let them be about Israel
or others, shall abide for ever.

CHAPTER XXIV. 359
But if all be thus sure and unfailing, the Father alone knows
the day and hour. (Ver. 36.) Ample and distinct signs the
Saviour had announced already, and the wise shall understand ;
"but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none ofthe wicked
shall understand." "But as the days of Noah, so shall the
coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were
before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the
ark, and knew not till the flood carae and took them all away ;
so shall the coming of the, Son of man be." (Ver. 37 — 39.)
Here is another testimony that our Lord in this position speaks
of the Jewish disciples of the latter day (represented by those
AA'ho then surroraided Him), and not of the Church. For His
illustration Is taken from the preservation of Noah and his house
through the waters of the deluge; whereas the Holy Ghost,
through Paul, illustrates our hope according to the pattern of
Enoch, caught up to heaven, entirely apart from the scenes and
circumstances of judgment here below.
Moreover, when the Son of man thus comes in judgment of
living men here below, it will not be, as when the Romans or
others took Jerusalem, Indiscriminate slaughter or captivity ;
but whether in the open country or the duties of home, whether
men or women, there will be righteous discernraent of individuals.
" Then shall two be In the field, the one is taken and the other
is left ; two women grinding at the mill, the one is taken and
the other is left." (Ver. 40, 41.) The meaning clearly is, that
one is taken away judicially, and the other left to enjoy the
blessings of His reign, who shall judge God's people with righte
ousness and His poor with judgment. It is the couArerse of our
change, when the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we, the
living who remain, shall be caught up together to meet the Lord
in the air ; for those who are left in our case are left to be
punished with everlasting destruction from His presence. But
the Lord will also have an earthly people. He waits till the
heavenly saints are gathered to Hira above, and then begins to
sow, if I may thus speak, for earthly blessing, in which case His
coming as Son of man wUl be for the removal of the wicked.

360 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
leaving the righteous undisturbed in peace. " There shall be a
handful of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains ;
the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon ; and they of the city
shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall endure
for ever : his name shall continue as long as the sun : and men
shall be blessed in him : all nations shaU call him blessed.
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth won
drous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever : and
let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen."
" Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour (or day*)
your Lord is coming." The dealings with Israel, ending with
the rescue of the just In their midst, involved, we saw, the judg
ment of the self-secure unconscious world. Accordingly, in
these transitional verses (42 — 44) we have an allusion to a wider
sphere than the Jews or their land, in which the godly remnant
Avould be found — protected, but still there. God would know
how to deliver the godly out of temptation. There they are,
however, surrounded by snares and foes, but preserved : a totally
different position from ours, who will be then above In the
sovereign grace and wisdom of our Saviour. " But know this,
that if the householder had known in what watch the thief was
coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered
his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready : for in
an hour when ye think not the Son of man is coming." I
suppose that if we are to apply " the goodman," or proprietor,
of the house strictly, the enemy is meant as the prince of this
world, who will be surprised by the sudden day of the Lord as
a thief But the object is evidently a practical Avarning to the
godly on earth to be ready. They had been comforted in vIoav
of trouble and violence; they had been set on their guard
against the religious deceits of the old serpent ; they had been
solemnly assured of the stability of the Lord's words in the very
point where Gentile conceit has misled even true believers ; they
• 'Hfifpa, day (instead of the common reading 3po, " hour"), has excellent
authority. Besides the external e-vidence, consider the chain of verses 42
— 44, day, watch, hour. As to verse 44, ths authorities for " day" in verse
42 agree with the rest in. reading " hour."

CHAPTER XXIV. 361
are now exhorted to vigilance and readiness for their coming
Lord, that they might not only escape the fowlers, but stand
before the Son of man.
From verse 45 of chapter xxiv. to chapter xxv. 30, we enter
on the parables which pertain to Christendpm only, and not to
the Jewish remnant. Hence here we haye so distinct a portrai
ture of profession, true and false. Whenever we touch what is
properly christian, God we find dealing with the heart and
conscience. He is calling out and forming those who are to be
the companions of His Son in heavenly glory. Therefore
nothmg is passed by ; all is judged of God in its real light.
Hence, too, there is no limit here of either place or people.
Christianity is above time, and of and from heaven, though it
may be divulged in fact on earth during the gap in the dispen
sations of God made by the rejection of Israel for a season. It
is a revelation of grace floAvIng from Him who now speaks not
from earth but heaven. It is not, I need hardly insist, that evil
is slighted. No mistake can be raore profound or fatal than
that grace implies levity about sin. On the contrary, grace is
the very strongest condemnation of all evil, as it is indeed not
the mere claira of what raan ought to be toward God, but the ,
revelation of what God is toward man in the judgment of his
sin in the cross of Christ. Therefore it is the fullest display
of divine hatred and judgment of evil, but this In Christ, so as
to save the most guilty who believe, at the cost of His own Son,
the Saviour. When dealing with His earthly people under the
law, many things were allowed for the hardness of their heart,
which never had His sanction. But it is precisely where the
complete display of grace shines, as it does now, that their evil
is not borne with but judged. Such is Christianity in principle
and in fact. And hence It is that, for the true Christian, all
the time for his earthly sojourn is a season of self-judgment ; or
if he fail in this, the assembly is bound to judge his ways ; and
if they faU, the Lord judges him and them, hollly but in grace,
that they should not be condemned with the world. False pro
fession He may expose now if He see fit, but the end of it we

362 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
see here in all these three parables. Grace never winks at ca'II ;
and if evil takes advantage of grace for its own purposes, the
issue is frightful, and will be manifestly so at the coming of
the Lord.
And this leads me to remark that the Lord's coming has a
two-fold character. First of all, there is His coming in full
grace, entirely apart from all question of our service, and conse
quently of special rewards in the kingdom In which we are to be
manifested along with Christ. But we must bear in mind that
this manifestation to the world in the future kingdom is far
from being the highest part of His glory or even ours, as it does
not elicit the deepest exercise of His grace. In receiving us to
Himself, on the other hand, all Is purely from Himself. It is
His own love who would thus have us with and as Himself
Thus we find St. John puts the coming of Christ in his gospel
(chapter xiv.), nor am I aware that it is ever treated otherwise
there. In the Revelation we find both ways. In the first
chapter the testiraony is, " Behold, he coraeth with the clouds,"
&c. Plainly there is no trace of the saints caught up there, but
" every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him ; and
all kindreds ofthe earth shall wail because of him." The Bride
noAvhere appears in the scene, but rather what is public and
affects the world unlA^ersally, and especially the blood-guilty
Jew.; and all are mourning. But the last chapter could not
close without letting us know that there is, spite of all evil
and woe and judgment, such an one as the Bride awaiting her
heavenly Bridegroom. No sooner does He announce Himself
the root aud offsjDrlng of David, the bright and morning star,
than the Spirit and the Bride say. Come. Here we have the
intimate intercourse of heart between the Lord and the Church.
It is impossible for any one not born of God to say " Come,"
though there may be those who are so born and yet ignorant of
their full privilege of union with Christ. And for them, I
doubt not, gracious provision is made in the word " Let him
that heareth say. Come." But In no case can the world or an
unforglveii soul take up such a call ; to such it would indeed be
the madness of presumption, for to them His coming must be

CHAPTER XXIV. 363
sure and endless destruction. Again, it is not merely saving
flesh, or deliverance out of misery and danger by the overthrow
of their enemies : the Holy Ghost iiCA'cr puts the aspect of Christ's
coming for us in any such light. We shall have rest, and those
who trouble us shall have tribulation in the day of His appearing ;
but we go to meet the Saviour, and to be with Him for ever ;
and meanwhile, it is our sweet earthly privilege to suffer for His
sake now. We are left for awhile in a world where everything
is against us because against Him, and we belong to Him. But
we know that He waits to come for us, and we wait for Him
from heaven ; and while the waiting lasts, we expect nothing but
suffering from the world, but are happy in it, assured that glory
in heaven and the cross on earth go together. The cup of trial,
the reproach and scorn of raen, may be less at one time than
another. This is for our Father to give as He sees fit. But if
we look for aught else as our natural portion here as Christians,
we are faithless to our calling. Rejection Is ours because we are
His: "therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not."
As the Bridegroom, then, the Lord has nothing but love in
His heart to the Bride. Nor is there a question of any save His
OAvii. He has told them He is coming ; and the greater the
power of the Spirit in the soul, the more ardently does the
Bride say " Come." How incongruous here that other eyes
should see ! or that wailing throngs should intrude into or
witness such a meeting ! Scripture does not so speak.
The Jew, the world, which refused the true Christ, avIU
receive the Antichrist. This is what men wait for and will fall
into ; and in the midst of their delusion and apparent triumph
the Lord will come In judgment. But when He thus comes, it
will not be alone. Others, His saints, appear along with Him
in glory. This is what we see in Revelation xvii., and with
detail in chapter xix. Not angels only, but His saints follow
Him out of heaven, clothed in white linen, and on white horses,
according to the striking figures of the Apocalypse. The saints
had been In heaA'en before the day of the world's judgment.
They must have been remoA'cd from earth to heaven before this,

364 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
in order to follow Him out of heaven and be with Him when
that day dawns. And this could only have been through His
coming to receive them to Himself. Hence, again, it appears
that His coming has a double character, according to the object
of each of its steps or stages. He comes to gather above His
saints, dead or living, and presents them in the Father's house,
that where He is, there they may be also. In due time after
wards He brings them with Him, judging the beast and the
false prophet, the Jews, and the Gentiles, as well as every false
profession of His name. This is still His coming, or state of
presence : only now it is (what the former act, when He takes
us to be with Him, is ncA'er called) His appearing, the shining
forth of His coming (2 Thess. ii. 8), His revelation, and His day.
With this second act of the Lord's coming, or His day, is
connected the appraisal of our service, and the assigning of
reward for work that has been done. For all must be mani
fested before the judgment-seat of Christ, and each must receive
the things done in the body, whether good or bad. Some find a
difficulty in bowing to both truths ; but If subject to the word,
we shall overlook neither the common blessedness of the saints
in the full grace of the Saviour at His coming, nor the recogni
tion of individual faithfulness, or the lack of it, in the rewards
of the kingdom. When we read of the many mansions, we are
not to dream of one being more glorious than another. The
truth conveyed Is that we are to be as near and dear as sons can
be in the Father's presence, through, the perfect love and work
of the Son. In this point of view I see no diff'erence whatever.
All are brought absolutely nigh, all loved with the love where
with Christ was loved, and having His portion as far as can be
for the creature. But ara I therefore to deny that " every man
shall receive his oavu reward according to his own labour?" or
that in some cases the work will abide, as in others it will be
burnt ? or that, as the parable teaches, one servant may receive
ten cities, and another five ?
It wiU be found accordingly, that there is a close connection
in scripture between Christ's day or appearing and present
exhortations to fidelity. Thus, Timothy is exhorted to keep the

CHAPTEE XXIV. 365
commandment without spot, unrebukable until the appeanng
of our Lord Jesus. So thet apostle, in 2 Timothy iv., speaks
of the " crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, shall give me at that Aay : and not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing." The results of faithful
ness, or of unfaithfulness, are only manifest then. It is the day
of display before the world ; and " when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory."
Hence it is as awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus that the
apostle speaks of the Corinthian saints as coming short in no
gift, and at once brings in the thought of His day. So Christ's
day is the blessed end and solemn test of all in writing to the
Phlllppians. Of the Epistles to the Thessalonians I need say
the less, as they present in the clearest way both these truths.
Returning now to the first of the three parables which refer
to the christian profession, I vvould make the general remark
from what we have been examining, that while the words
" appearing," " day," &c., are special and never used, I think,
except where responsibility is concerned, the word " coming" is
general, and though applicable, if the context so require it, to
the case of responsibility, is in itself of wider character and is
used therefore to express our Lord's retum in nothing but
grace. In other words, ' the appearing, day, or revelation of
Christ is still His coming or presence ; but His coming does not
necessarily raean His appearing, revelation, or day. He may
come without appearing, and I believe that there is proof from
scripture that so it is when He receives us to Himself on high ;
but His appearing is that further stage of His coming again,
when every eye shall see Him.
" Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whora his lord
hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due
season ?" It is not a question of evangelizing here, but of care
for the household. The principle of trading outside with the
Master's gifts will corae by and by (chap. xxv. 14 et seq.) ;
but here the great thing is that, as the Lord loves His saints
(" whose house are we") so He makes much of faithful or
faithless service within that sphere. For I need not say that

366 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
faithfulness to the Lord involves no denial of ministry. Ministry
when real is of God ; but the mode in which it is exercised is
often wrong and unscriptural. Ministry is not Jewish, but
characteristic of Christianity. But it is a thing very apt to lose
its true character. Instead of being Christ's servants in His
household, many sink into the agents of a particular body. In
such a case it always flows from the church or denomination.
Real ministry is from Christ and Him alone. Therefore the
apostle says he was the servant or bondman of Jesus Christ,
never deriving his mission from the Church or being responsible
for his work to it. The gospel and the Church were the
spheres of his service (Col. I.), but its giver and his Lord was
Christ Himself exclusively. It appears to me that this Is
necessary, in order that ministry should be recognized as
divine ; and nothing but divine ministry is owned in scripture,
rtor should be by God's people now. This, then. Is the first
thing our Lord insists on, that the faithful and wise serA'ant
whom the Lord makes ruler over His household be found doing
His work, caring for what is so near to Christ. It is a most
painful proof of the low estate of the Church in these days that
such service is regarded as the waste of precious ointment. So
completely have even God's children fallen from the thought
of true ministry that they think it Idleness or proselytism to
attend to those that are within. Why not preach to those
Avithout, say they, and seek to bring such to the knowledge
of Christ? But this is not the first thing our Lord presses.
The " faithful and wise servant" had to do with those within :
his object was to give thera their meat in due season ; and the
Lord pronounces that servant blessed. " Blessed is that servant
whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." Others
might raise questions as to his title ; but He simply says. If I
find you " so doing," blessed are you. The great point is to be
doing His will. It is not title or position, but doing the work
Avhich the Lord wishes to be doue.
But now comes the other side of the picture. " But and if
that evil servant shall say in his heart. My lord delaA'eth his
coming ; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants and to eat

CHAPTER XXIV. 367
and drink with the drunken." (Ver. 48, 49.) There you have
the great danger of the professed servants of Christ in this
world. First, wronging the fellow-servants by assuming an
arbitrary place. Authority is right where it is exercised under
obedience to Christ. No change of circumstances or condition
alters the truth that the Lord remains Head of the Church, and
raises up His servants at all times to carry out His wishes with
authority. But here it is man's will, where the servant takes
the place of the Master, and begins to smite his fellow-servants.
Secondly, along with that, there is evil communication with the
world. It is not said that he is himself drunken; but there
is association with the world. " Evil coramunications corrupt
good manners." Where the thought of the Lord is gone,
ministry loses its true character. There will be oppression
towards those within, and evil comraerce with those without.
" The lord of that servant shall corae in a day when he
looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and
shaU cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(Ver. 50, 51.) It supposes that the servant still pursues the
same course, and is found there when the Lord comes — ^hls
heart thoroughly with the world. He began by saying in his
heart. My Lord delayeth His coming. This is far raore than
wrong thoughts about the coraing of the Lord, which some
saints might hold, without this scripture applying to them.
If there were, on the other hand, persons professing to look
for the Lord's coming and acting as if they did not believe
it, they are much more like the servant saying in his
heart, My Lord delayeth His coming. What the Lord judges
is not a mere mistake or doctrinal blunder ; but it is the state
of the heart — content that Christ should stay away. If we are
desiring something great and of esteem among men, how can
we say, "Come?" His coming would spoU aU our schemes.
We may talk about the Lord's coming and be leamed about
prophecy; but the Lord looks at the heart and not at the
appearance. He sees where, let the profession be ever so loud
or high, souls cleave to the world and do not want Him.

CHAPTER XXV.
" Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten
virgins." We have here the general aspect of those who bear
the name of Christ. The kingdom of heaven here implies a
certain economy at a given point of time. " Tlien shall the
kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom," (Ver. 1.)
" Their lamps" set forth the light of profession. They were
Avitnesses for the Lord, and their calling was to raeet the Saviour,
That was to be the attitude of the Christian from the first, going
forth to meet the Bridegroom. Christianity does not mean that
its professors remain where they are and so look for Christ, but
that they leave everything in order to go out and meet the
Bridegroom. Some of the early believers were Jews, and some
were Gentiles ; but they abandoned for Christ their previous con
nections, their position in the world, and all that they hitherto
valued. They had a new object ; they knew that the only
blessed one in the sight of God was the Saviour ; they were
waiting for Him, who is in heaven, and they go out to meet
Him who has promised to come again. ^ This is the true expec
tation of the Christian. There ought to be no fixing of dates,
but the certain hope that the Lord is coming we know not
when. The stronger such a hope is in our hearts, the more
completely separated shall we be from the plans and projects
of this world.
"And five of them were wise and five were foolish." (Ver.
2.) The kingdom of heaven becoraes a thing of profession. As
in the case of the servants, there was an evil as well as a faithful
servant, so here we have five AA'Ise and five foolish virgins.
" They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with
them." They were persons who had the lamp of profession but
no oil. Sorae have thought that they were Christians who failed
in looking for the Lord to come. But I belicA'e this to be false

CHAPTER XXV. 369
because the foolish proved their foUy in this — that they took no
oil in their lamps. What does this imply ? Oil is the type of
the Holy Ghost. We read in 1 John ii. of the " unction of the
Holy Ghost." Will any one maintain that there are real Chris
tians who have not this " unction?" The wise virgins set forth
true believers, the foolish ones mere professors ; these took the
name of Christ, but there was nothing that could fit them for
the presence of Christ. Our power of enjoying Christ is
entirely by the Holy Ghost. The nature of man may admire
Christ, but only at a distance, and without an awakened or a
purged conscience. There is no living link of relationship
between the heart of man and Christ ; and therefore man
crucified Him. These foolish virgins, having no oil in their
lamps, shewed that they possessed nothing that could enable
thera to welcorae Christ. The Holy Ghost alone can fit men to
stand in the confession of His name to do His work. The oil
was that which fed the lamp, and these foolish virgins had none.
" But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While
the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." (Ver. 4,
5.) They aU dropped practically the hope of Christ's coming :
there was no difference in that. There were true Christians
and false, but all were in this respect asleep. Thus, while the
original calling of Christians was to wait for Christ's return,
united by the Holy Ghost, yet was there to be a universal slumber
as to expecting Christ. But the Lord adds, "At midnight
there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom coraeth, go ye
out to raeet hira." (Ver. 6.) Plainly, that cry was the move
ment of the Holy Ghost Himself. It was the power and grace
of God which sent it out by the means that He saw fitting. We
are not told how, but it plainly reveals a general moA'ement
among christian professors — a revival of the truth of the coming
of the Lord. " Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their
lamps." (Ver, 7.) The cry affected even those who had not the
Holy Ghost dweUing in them.
But now comes out the solemn difference. " The foolish said
unto the wise. Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out,"
or rather, " are going out." They had lit their wicks, but there
BB

370 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
was no oil. The light of natural strength bums soon and rapidly,
but there is nothing that implies the Spirit of God— they had
never had oil. " But the wise answered, saying. Not so ; lest
there be not enough for us and you ; but go ye rather to thera
that sell and buy for yourselves." I need not say that the
terms on which God seUs and man buys the Holy Ghost are
" without money and without price;" but the great point is,
that every soul must have to do with God. The beUever listens
and bows to God in this world ; the unbeUever will quail before
God in the next world. Grace compels souls to come In and to
have to do with Him now, in this world ; but if I refuse to
face God about my sins here below, I ara lost for ever. Now
is the day of salvation ; and it is only a delusion of the devil to
persuade the heart to defer it to a more convenient season. If I
go to God about my sins, and because I believe that Jesus is a
Saviour, I shall find, not merely Jesus the Son of God, but
the Holy Ghost given, by whom I shaU be able to enjoy the
Saviour. The wise had this oil, and they could await the
coming of the Lord in peace. But the foolish ones are unac
quainted with His grace. And to whora do they go ? Not to
those who sell without money and without price. " While they
Avent to buy, the bridegroom came ; and they that were ready
Aveiit in with him to the marriage : and the door was shut."
Afterwards, as we see in the painful picture of the foolish
virgins, they come, saying, " Lord, Lord, open to us. But he
answered and said. Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour."
The words " wherein the Son of raan cometh" have no sufficient
claim to follow in the verse. This Is no particular view of mine,
but it is the judgment of every competent person who has
examined the original testimonies to the word of God. When
the Lord is coming in the way of judgment. He is spoken of as
Son of man. Here He is introduced as the Bridegroom, and if
the Avords " Son of man" were really read here, it would be
hard Indeed to account for them. How plain that you cannot
add anything to scripture without spoiling It ! Our Lord here
appears in an aspect of grace towards His saints, and this is one

CHAPTER XXV. 371
yeason why you have no description of the judgment about to
fall upon the foolish virgins. The displayed execution of divine
vengeance would be incongruous with His title of Bridegroom.
No doubt, even here the door is shut ; and our Lord tells the
foolish virgins when they appeal to Hira to open, " I know you
not ;" but He thereon iraraediately turns the fact to the spiritual
profit of His disciples : " Watch, therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour." (Ver. 1 — 13.)
Then coraes another parable. "For the kingdora of heaven
[or, literally, ' For he,' or, ' it'] Is as a raan travelling into a far
country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them
his goods. And unto one he gave fiA'e talents, to another two,
and to another one : to every man according to his several
ability: and straightway took his journey." (Ver. 14, 15.)
There our Lord is represented as leaving this world and going
to a far country. This is a very remarkable Avay in which our
Lord is presented here. In Matthew His home is supposed to
be on the earth, because He is the Messiah who came to His
OAvn, even if His own received Him not. As the rejected
Messiah He leaves His home, and goes, the suffering but glori
fied Son of man, to tbe far country, which is clearly heaven :
and while He is gone there. He has His servants to whom He
has committed certain of His goods, and with these they are to
labour. " Then he that had received the five talents went and
traded with the same, and made thera other five talents." (Ver.
16.) Here you have another kind of ministry. It is not
serving the household and giving them meat in due season. It
is trading, or going out to others. This also is a characteristic
of Christianity. In Judaism there was no such thing as the
Lord sending His servants here and there to gain souls ; but
when the Lord Jesus left this world and went up to heaven. He
thus sent thera out. He left them His goods to trade withal.
It Is the activity of grace that goes out to seek sinners, and
spread the testimony of the truth of God among saints.. This
also Is the thing to which our Lord calls us, according to our
several ability. The character of the gift put at our disposal is
suited in the Giver's wisdom to the object and vessel. There Is

372 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
soA-erelgnty, but all is wisely ordered. How could it be other
wise, seeing that it is the Lord who calls ? It is here, too, that
Christendom has so completely failed. Were a man now to
beo-in to preach and teach without some human sanction, many
would regard It as a piece of assumption if not presumption.
Whereas, in truth. If I look for authority to preach from the
churches, established or voluntary, I shall be sinning against
Christ. Any appointment by men for such a purpose is unau
thorized, and opposed to the mind of Christ ; and those whom
they would consider acting irregularly, are, in reality, in the
lowly path of obedience, and will find their vindication in the
great day. It Is entirely a question between Christ and His
own servants. He gives one to be a prophet, another an evan
gelist, another a pastor aud teacher. (Eph. iv.) But there are
tAVo tilings in the servant — both of them of importance. He
gave them gifts, but it was according to their several ability.
The Lord does not call any one to be His servant who has not
an ability for the trust belonging to himself. The servant must
have certain natural and acquired qualifications, beside the power
of the Spirit of God, He gave them talents — to one fh'e, to
another tAVO, and to another one. Here you have the energy
of the Holy Ghost — the power that the Lord gives from on
high, over and above the choice of each man " according to his
several ability."
It is plain from this that there are certain qualities in the
servant. Independent of the gift that the Lord puts into him.
His natural powers are the vessel that contains the gift, and
wherein the gift is to be exercised. If the Lord calls a man to
be a preacher, there is- supposed a natural aptitude for it. Again,
the gift may be increased. First, there is the ability of the man
before and when he is converted ; next, the Lord gives hira a
gift that he never possessed before ; thirdly. If he does not stir
up his gift, there may be a weakening, if not loss. He may
become unfaithful, and may lose power. -But if a man waits
upon the Lord, there may, on the contrary, be increased power
given to him. Many think that the one qualification of the
servant of God is that of the Spirit. This is, of course, essential.

CHAPTEE XXV. 373
and most blessed; but it is not all. The truth of God is,
that Christ gives gifts ; but He gives them " according to
the ability''' of the individual. The raiion of the two facts,
the ability of the servant and the sovereignly-bestowed gift-
given him to trade with, it is of all-importance to keep dis
tinctly in view.
But .to proceed — "After a long time the lord of those
servants cometh . and reckoneth "with them. And so he that had
received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, thou dellveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have
gained beside them five taleats more. His lord said unto him.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant." (Ver 19 — 21.) In
chapter xxiv. it was the "faithful and wise" servant; here,
"thou good and faithful servant." Both are called faithful.
But where It was a question of the household, wisdoiri Avas
needed, Li exercising a gift outside the house, it was a question
of being good. What Is meant by this ? What is the source
of all grace in the servant of the Lord ? The appreciation of
God's goodness. This comes out by contrast in the case of the
slothful servant. An unconverted man might have a gift from
the Lord. The slothful servant was clearly one that never had
ilfe from God : and what proved it was, that he did not believe
in the goodness of the Lord : he had no confidence in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus. I ought to have a divine sense of my
sins. I eaniiot have too deep an abhorrence of sin ; but this
ought never to raake me limit or doubt the grace of God.
" Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." And
what is true at first remains true all through the christian path,
I may become sluggard — raay be disappointed, alloAving circura
stances to hinder me ; but whateA^er may be my oavu fault or the
Avrong of others, this is no reason for giving up^ confidence in
Christ. There is no trial but what He can turn to greater
blessing than even If it did npt exist. When things are happy,
we cau trust Him ; but if they are miserable, are we to say,
There is no hope? Never! The Lord says to us, " Overcome
«vll with good." And does not the Lord act upon this Himself?
Does He not hold to it, that there is grace enough in Him to

374 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW,
meet any case, be it ever so bad ? It is the secret of power,
that the soul holds to His grace.
It Avas In the clean contrary of this that the ca'II servant
shewed what he was. He says to the Saviour, " Lord, I knew
thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not
soAvii, and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I Avas-
afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth : lo, there thou
hast that is thine. His lord ansAvered and said unto him, Thou
wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where
I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed." (Ver. 24 —
26.) Christ takes hira upon his own ground: for with the
froward He can shew Himself froAvard. If the servant judges
Him to be hard. He can say. On your own ground you ought to-
have done just the contrary : why did you not make the best
use of what I gave you ? " Thou oughtest therefore to have put
my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury." (Ver. 27.) According ta
his self-defence, he had utterly failed : and so it is always. The
man who talks about the justice of God cannot, for an instant,
stand before It, while he who casts hiraself humbly upon the
grace of God will be found to walk soberly, righteously, godly,
in this present evil world. The denier of the goodness of God
is invariably a bad man himself The Lord grant that Ave may
make no excuses for ourselves, but feel and confess that He is
full of grace and truth ! He cannot allow what Is contrary to
His nature ; but there is always grace in Him to meet the soul
that goes to Him about its sin, and spreads it before God in the
desire of being delivered from It. And so, in the matter of our
service also, whether we have two talents or five, and use them
for Him, the Lord will return it to our souls again, and give us
in the day that is coming to hear those blessed words, "Well
done, thou good and faithful servant; thou bast been faithful
OA^er a few things. I will make thee ruler OA'cr many things ;
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," (Ver. 14 — 30.)
We now approach a subject, vIoAved, I apprehend, with much
prejudice — perhaps Avith more than most in the Avord of God.

CHAPTER XXV. 375
It has been perverted, and, I grieve to add, commonly perverted,
even by those who love the Saviour, have faith in the value
of His blood, and own both the general blessedness of those that
belong to Him and the sure doora of those that despise Him.
But although on these fundamental truths all Christians raust
be in the main agreed, when we come to inquire what the Lord
intended us to gather from His taking His seat upon the throne
of His glory ; when Ave would ascertain who the parties are that
the Lord has before Him in this scene, and what the special
destiny of the blessed is, we come into the region, not of uncer
tainty, but of the most various opinions. The root of the
difficulty may be traced generally to one thought — the anxiety,
even of Christians, to find that which bears upon their own lot.
Not being thoroughly at rest touching their acceptance, there is
ordinarily a disposition to warp scripture, partly to escape what
they dread, and partly in order to gather comfort for their
troubled souls. The greater part of God's children are, more or
less. In spirit, under the law : and wherever such are honest In
this condition, they raust be ralserable. There are coraparatlvely
few who know the fulness of deliverauce in Christ ; few who
know what it Is to be dead to the law and married to another,
even to Hira who is risen from the dead. They may hear and
repeat the words of scripture, thinking they raean soraething
good ; but the riches of the blessing of being dead to the laAv
and united to a risen SaAdour, very few appreciate. This is the
reason why so many are not in a state to understand the word
of God. Not enjoying in peace their own position in Christ,
they are hankering after what may console or secure them.
This leads them to seize upon every promise, with small regard
to the objects God had in view ; and to dwell too exclusively on
what raay be called the covenant raercy of God, without heeding
seriously His admonitions and His warnings. Their desire
is, that out of the words of comfort in scripture they may find
some solid ground of assurance for their oavu souls. When,
therefore, as here, the Lord speaks of certain Gentiles as
" sheep," they think it means us, because we are so called
elsewhere, as in John x. They find these are blessed of the

376 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Father, and thence conclude that it can be no other than our
hope. Again, certain are here spoken of as " brethren" of the
King. Who can these be but ourselves — Christians ? For all
we, unquestionably, are brethren, and He is not ashamed to call
us brethren. In this superficial way scripture is misraider-
stood, and the very comfort that souls are grasping after as
surely eludes thera. Wherever we turn aside the edge of the
word of God, and appropriate indiscriminately what is said
of persons in a wholly different position, there Is loss. The
sovereign grace of God has so arranged everything that the best
portion for us is what God has given. We cannot mend the
counsels of God, nor add to the riches of His grace. If we
know the love that God has to us in Christ, we know the best
thing that we can find In earth or heaven. The moment we lay
hold of this, and see how greatly we are blest, we cease from the
anxiety that each good word of God should converge on ourselves ;
we see His infinitely greater object, even Christ, and we can
delight in others being blest even in what we have not. This is
most important practically — that we should be so satisfied with
God's love to us and the portion He has glA'eii us in Christ, as
to rejoice in all that He is pleased to give to others. Are Ave
not sure our Father withholds nothing from us but what would
'interfere with our blessing ? So reading this parable or pro
phetic description, we are under no constraint. We can examine
it with other scriptures, and see whom the Lord has In view,
and inquire what their portion is to be.
" When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his
glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations." (Ver.
31, 32.) Here are proofs enough of what the time and circum
stances are of which our Lord speaks. He is taking His seat
upon His own throne as the Son of man. He is gatherino-
before Him all the nations. When will this be? Here, at
least, it will not be contended that something past is in question.
The Lord Jesus is not even yet seated upon His oaati throne.
When on earth He had no throne ; when He went to heaven
He sat down on His Father's throne, as says Revelation iii. 21

CHAPTER xxv. 377
" To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my
Father in his throne." According to this promise when it shall
be fulfilled. He must have left His Father's throne and sat down
on His own throne. It is a future thing. All scripture that
touches on our Lord's actual place, shews that He is now seated
on the Father's throne. But scripture also shews that He is to
sit on His own throne, and this is Avhat we have here. All
things in heaven and in earth shall be put under the govern
ment of the Lord Jesus. He will be the head of all glory,
heavenly and earthly. Of which does this portion speak ? Are
there any circumstances, with which our Lord surrounds His
throne, that make the answer plain ? " Before him shall be
gathered all nations." Are nations in heaven? Clearly not.
Who can imagine so gross a thing? When the boundary Is
crossed that separates the things seen from the unseen, no such
earthly sight lowers or distracts the worship above. When
men are risen from the dead, they will no longer be known
as English or French ; these national distinctions for them
terminate. Their future lot is decided according to their recep
tion or rejection of Jesus in the present life. This future throne
of the Son of man is accordingly connected with a time-state on
the earth. The more every word is weighed, the more this will
be evident to the unbiassed.
K we compare it, in the next place, with a resurrection scene,
their distinctiveness will be apparent. In Revelation xx. 11, " I
saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was
found no place for them." There can be no question about this
throne. It can have nothing to do with the earth, because the
text itself teUs us that the earth and heaven fled away. I learn
at once the positive contrast between Matthew and Revelation.
In the latter only do we hear a word about heaven and earth
fleeing away ; in the former only we have very plain indications
that the Lord is taking His throne in the government of the
earth and of men living on it, not judging the dead when the
kingdom is about to be given up. Those gathered before Him

378 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
here are " all the nations" — a terra never used about the dead
or the risen, but only applied to men while still going on here
below, and indeed applied only to a part of living men — the
Gentile portion, as distinct frora the Jews. For we have already
had the Jews in chapter xxiv., and now we see the Gentiles ; as
between the two were the Christians.
Thus, nothing can be more orderly than the whole coiinectlon
of this prophecy on the mount. The Jews came first, as indeed
the disciples themselves still were such ; then the parables of the
house servant, the virgins, and the talents, which describe the
christian position, soon to be developed, when Jerusalem should
reject the Holy Ghost. Lastly, another section closes all :
neither Jews nor Christians, but " all the nations," or Gentiles,
to whom the testimony of the kingdora is to be sent out, and
among whom the Holy Ghost will work (Satan working too,
lest they should be brought out of darkness into God's mar
vellous light). Ill Revelation xxii. Ave find another throne,
unconnected AvIth the earth, which, indeed, ere this will have
fled away. In Matthew we had nations, but in the Revelation
they too have disappeared. Satan had previously gone out to
deceive the nations AvhIch are in the four quarters of the earth ;
and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Hence, though there were nations just before the great white
throne, they had been completely destroyed by a divine judg
ment. In their disappearance frora the earth the final throne
is seen, and before the face of Him who sat upon it earth and
heaven fled away. Thus time was done with, all present circum
stances were closed, the wicked men of the earth having been
killed by God's judgment : thereon follows the great white
throne. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand  "
Thus you see the character of this throne at once. Not a
living man is there in natural life. Every one before it had been
previously dead. I am not speaking now of those that had been
changed or raised into the likeness of Christ long previously.
Every one called before this throne had been dead some time ago.
The nations Avere destroyed by the judgment of God, and were,
like others before them, but dead men : these are now raised

CHAPTER XXV. 379
from the dead, summoned for judgment before the great white
throne. In Matthew xxv. not a single dead man is spoken of,
in Revelation xx. not a single living man. In Matthew the
persons called before the throne are " all the Gentiles" or
nations, in Revelation none but " the dead, small and great."
No matter what they might have been before, they all stand
alike, sraall and great, before the throne. " And the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life ;
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books according to their works." When we come to look
closely into Matthew xxv. the principle of judgment is not
according to works generally, but only a particular test is pressed
upon them — faithful or unfaithful treatment of the king's
brethren. "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were In them ;
and they were judged every man according to their works."
There is not a word about this in Matthew xxv. ; and indeed the
expression of " nations" involves, without a question, the in
ference that there was not a dead or risen man among those so
spoken of. It is the judgment of those commonly called "the
quick," and they are dealt with according to the very special
prinolple of their behaviour to the messengers of the gospel of
the kingdom. This will shew that it is a grand error to suppose
that all the judgments in the word of God mean one and the
sarae thing. We must leave room for diff'erences here as else
where. In what indeed do we find absolute sameness of God's
ways ? Who says that there will be sameness In heaven ? There
is certainly nothing like it on earth. God shews Himself
capable, according to His love and insight into all men, to enter
into and meet every difficulty and to bring out His own perfec
tions in dealing with aU that comes before Him.
Gathering up the contrast of Revelation xx., let us turn to
the closing scene in Matthew, xxv. The title " Son of man"
at once prepares you for a judgment connected with the earth
and with persons Uving there. No doubt the Son of man comes
in the clouds of heaven, but He comes to judge the world and
people on it. It may be even said of churches dr assemblies, as

380 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Jn Revelation i. ; but whatever the object of the judgment, it is
the Lord judging persons still alive upon the earth and not
the dead.
" And before him shall be gathered aU nations : and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
frora the goats." It is a careful and divine discrimination — not
a mere act of vengeance which deals with masses, in which all
might be overwhelmed in common ruin. He separates them
one from another. At the great white throne the dead stand all
together : there is no question or need of separating them there.
But here there Is a mingled company. Such a mixture Is never
found in heaven or heU, but only on the earth. Thus every
clause gives proof that our Lord speaks of a judgment of the
living on the earth. He separates them " as a shepherd divideth
his sheep from the goats." It foUows that the persons meant by
" the sheep" and " the goats" are respectively the righteous and
the ungodly among the nations then living on the earth, when
our Lord comes to judge in His quality of Son of man. It is
not noAv what we have seen in chapter xxiv., where He shines
suddenly like lightning. Here it is the calm, peaceful, but raost
soleran judgment, with everlasting results, according to the
discrimination Avhich the Lord makes between individuals. When
the judgment of the dead takes place before the great white
throne, the heavens and earth are fled away ; so that before then
the Lord must have corae, or He neA'er can come to the earth
as it is now, and as we all confess He shaU come. The eternal
separation avIU haA'e taken place before the new heavens
and earth.
Our Lord is here found separating the godly from among the
ungodly of these llA'ing nations ; and He disposes of thera
according to the manner set forth by His own lips. " Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." (Ver. 34.) However blessed they
are. He does not describe thera as children of their Father. I
do not deny that they are children of God ; but He says,
" children of my Father." No doubt the words said to them

CHAPTER XXV. 381
are very precious ; but do they reach up to the height of the
blessing the grace of God has given us in Christ now ? There
is nothing here about being chosen in Christ before the foraida-
tion of the world — ^blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Here they are called to inherit the
kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.
When God laid the foundations of the earth. He was looking
onward to this blessed tirae. Satan's getting power over man
was only a fearful interruption, but not one whose consequences
the Lord could not overmaster and purge out : He means to do
it. He means to have this world the scene of incomparably
greater blessedness than now it is of misery through Satan's
rrilsrule. He means to give the kingdom of this world to His
Son. The Lord Jesus will have a higher glory, yea, wUl haA'e
the whole universe put under Him. And His blood has pur
chased us for His bride. He had a right in His own glory to
everything ; but He laid down His life that there might be a
righteous title to give it to whom the Father would.
Again, let it be noted that there is not a word about His bride
here — nothing that supposes such a position in these blessed ones
of the Gentiles. He speaks as " the King," and He is never
spoken of as such in His relation to the Church. In Revela
tion XV. the expression " King of saints" should be " King
of nations," quoted from the words of Jeremiah. It is a title
we can rejoice in, but it is not His relationship to us. We are
called by grace to be the members of His body, of His flesh,
and of His bones. Here, in His capacity of King, then, the
Lord severs the righteous Gentiles of his day from their
unrighteous fellows — " Corae, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
(Ver. 34.) When Epheslans i. speaks of our being chosen
before the foundation of the world, it means a choice indepen
dent of the scene of creation, in connection with which these
blessed Gentiles have their portion. Our place may be rather
said to be with Hira who created all. God has " chosen us in
Christ before the foundation of the world." The world may
disappear ; but our blessing is identified with Himself We are

382 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OP MATTHEW.
made one with Him who spake the world into being. The thief
on the cross asked of our Lord, " Remeraber me when thou
comest in thy kingdora." But our Lord says, " To-day shalt
thou be with me In paradise." To be with Christ — with Christ
at once — with Christ in paradise, are each better things than
the kingdora that we, too, shall inherit. Christ Himself is far
beyond all the glory displayed in and to the world. This is
what our Lord gives to faith ; and confidence in His loA'e ever
receives more than It asks from Him.
The blessing, on the other hand, given to these godly ones
from among the Gentiles, is the inheritance of the kingdom
prepared for them by the Father from the foundation of the
world. The Lord gives thera the key to it all — that which
shewed they were possessors of eternal life : " I was an hrai-
o-ered, and ye gaA'e me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me In : naked, and ye
clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and
ye came unto me." (Ver. 35, 36.) Observe what they answer;
" Then shall the righteous answer him, saying. Lord, when saw
we thee an hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee
drink?" (Ver. 37.) And could a Christian, understanding the
membership of the body of Christ, say such a thing to our
Lord? Above all, could he say it In heaven, where we shall
know even as we are known ? Impossible. The fact is, how
ever, that the scene does not speak about saints in heaven at all.
The time of wondering ignorance will be past, I need hardly
say, when we are in the resurrection state. But there will be
godly Gentiles on the earth then. " When saw Ave thee a
stranger, and took thee in ? or naked, and clothed thee ? Or
when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?"
(Ver. 38, 39.) They are very far from full Intelligence, and
evidently in their natural bodies stiU. And the Lord is instruct
ing them even after He appears In glory. When He, having
come, is as King seated upon His throne, we, raised from the
dead, shall surely still cast our crowns before Him ; but there
will be no need of light on pur part In that day. It Is undeni
able that the righteous here do require to be instructed. Hence

CHAPTER XXV. 388
there is a positive contrast between the heavenly Church and
these future " sheep" of the Lord from among the nations.
HowcA'er blessed this scene may be, still it is the Lord as Son
of man judging all nations and blessing the 1-ighteous from
among them, who were ignorant, up to that moment, that In
shewing acts of love and kindness towards Christ's messengers,
it was so much done towards Christ Himself. Their last lesson
was the first that a heavenly saint learnt — indeed, even then but
a small part of it, as I conceive. When Paul was struck down
on the road to Daraascus, what was the truth that startled his
soul ? "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." Only just
awakened, yet that was made known to him which these Gen
tiles only partially hear when they stand before the throne of
the Son of man. Paul was taught of the Lord that to persecute
the saints living on the earth was to persecute Christ in
heaven : they and Christ are one. It Is evident that these
Gentile sheep set forth men still in the condition that requires
and receives instruction from Christ.
But this is not all. " The king shall answer and say unto
them. Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one ofthe least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
(Ver. 40.) Who are " these my brethren ?" We have had the
sheep and goats — the Gentiles righteous and the unrighteous ;
but who are the King's brethren ? Men whom the Lord will send
out before He comes in the glory of the kingdora ; men sent to
announce that He is coraing in His kingdom. The sheep shewed
them love — care — sympathy in their sorrows. So that these
brethren of the King must have been exposed to tribulation
before the King appears. The conclusion is obvious that, in that
day, the ground on which He will deal with the nations will be
this — " How did you behave to my messengers?" The King's
messengers, immediately before He appears in glory, will go
forth preaching the gospel of the kingdora everywhere; and
when the King takes His throne, those that received the gospel
of the kingdora among the nations are recognized as " sheep,"
and the despisers perish as "goats." Those that honour tho
message treat the messengers well — caring for them, and identi-

384 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
fylng themselves with them — " companions of them that were so
used." The Lord remembers this, and counts what was done to
His messengers as done to Himself. There is no opening of
books here : all turns on this siraple issue. They were arrested
by the message Avhen summoned to receive the true King who
Avas coming. Their souls were wrought upon by the Spirit, and
they treated the messengers AvIth love and honour. The Lord
stakes all upon this — If you have honoured My messengers, it
proA'es your faith in Me. It will be as truly the work of the
Holy Spirit as our entrance into the far fuller testiraony of His
love now. Their astonishraent before His throne, at having done
anything to Him in the person of His brethren, proves that they
were not in the christian position, though truly believers.
But who Avere these brethren ? From general principles of
scripture and the special teaching of this prophetical discourse
I have little doubt that the king's brethren in this case will be
godly Israelites, employed by the Lord, after the Church has
been caught up to heaA'en, to be the heralds of the coming King
and kingdora. We know that the Church is to be taken away
before the tirae of the last great tribulation. " Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to
try them that dwell upon the earth." But here there are saints
found on the earth — not kept from the hour of temptation, but
living on the earth during it, and preaching this gospel of the
kingdom. And according to the way in which they were
received, the nations will be cursed or blessed. There was
no gospel of the kingdom preached before or after the flood,
and it is the gospel of the grace of God that is, in general,
being preached now. The gospel of the kingdom is often con
founded with this.
Here we find the King upon His earthly throne. The Church's
portion is heavenly. I have no doubt, therefore, that the King's
brethren are a class distinct from the Church, but Avhom, alono-
AvIth the Church, Christ owns as His brethren. There are some
blessings the Jewish saints wiU have that neither you nor I will
possess ; there are others we shall have that they avIU not enjoy.

CHAPTER XXV. 385
All depends upon this — What does God say ? Whatever He
reveals ought to have absolute authority over us.
But we have also another and a very solemn back-ground to
the scene to glance at : " Then shaU he say also unto them on
the left hand. Depart from rae, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels." (Ver. 41.) Observe, He
does not say. Cursed of my Father, answering to " Blessed of
my Father." God hates putting away. So when the awful
moment comes for the curse to be pronounced on these wicked
GentUes, it is, " Depart from rae, ye cursed." I believe it is
the deepest sorrow to God, and throws aU the onus of destruction
on those whose own sin it was, who rejected His love and
holiness and glory in rejecting His Son. " Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and hls^
angels." In the other case the kingdom was said to be " prepared-
for you:" not so when speaking about the curse. Hell was not
prepared for poor guUty man. He deserves it ; but it was
prepared for the devil and his angels. Where the souls rejected
the testimony. He does pronounce them cursed. It is His place.
He is the King, the Judge. But whether it be the great white
throne, or this earthly throne, it is " everlasting fire, prepared
for the devU and his angels." There was no hope of deliverance
for these fallen angels — no redemption for them. They AvilfuUy
and without a tempter departed frora God. Man was tempted
by an enemy ; and God feels for guilty man, drawn away by a
mightier, if not more guilty, rebel than himself How solemn
to think that it was prepared for others, and that men share It
with these rebeUious spirits ! It was not in the heart of God to
make a heU for miserable man : it was prepared for the devil
and his angels. But there were those who preferred the devil
to God ; and to such He says, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the dcA'Il and his angels." The
same test is applied to thera as to the godly before. For good
or ill, the question wiU be the treatraent of the King and of
His messengers, or rather of Him in them.
To us, although the same principle is involved, yet, in one
way, what is yet deeper comes in. AU turns upon — What
cc

386 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
think ye of Christ ? Do you believe on the Son of God ? " He
that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of
God hath not life." (1 John v.) The sinner is obliged to face
the person of the Son of God, and it becomes an urgent, all-
absorbing, eternal question that must be decided by the soul —
Do I prefer Christ to the world? Do I prefer Christ or self?
The Lord grant that we may be wise, and know how to find In
Christ not only the wisdom but the power of God. For the
sarae blessed One who gave us life gives us power for every
practical difficulty. " This is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith."

oM«o

CHAPTER XXVI.
The Lord had rendered His testimony, as the Faithful Witness,
in deeds as well as words. He had finished all the sayings which
proclaimed Him to be the Prophet like unto Moses, but incom
parably greater withal, who was henceforth to be heard on peril
of eternal ruin. The hour approached, the solemn hour of His
sufferings ; and Jesus passes into It in spirit, with a calm dignity
found only in Him. (Ver. 2.)
The resolve of the religious guides was to put the Lord to
death. The chief priests, the scribes, the elders, were all of one
mind : they assembled at the high-priest's palace, they con
sulted, they plotted ; but after aU, as usual, if they consummated
their infamy, they did unwittingly the will of God, and accom
plished the words of Christ to His disciples, not their own
subtly concocted plan of wickedness. They said to each other,
" Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar amono- the
people" (ver. 5) ; but He said to His disciples, " Ye know that
after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of mart
is betrayed to be crucified." (Ver. 2.) Did they Avish to kill
Him ? They must do it then. Man has his wickedness, and

CHAPTER XXVI. 387
God has His way. But little did either the friends or the foes
of Jesus know how the determinate counsel of God was to be
brought to pass. A traitor from within the innermost circle, fit
instrument for Satan's scheming malice, must lift up his heel
against the Saviour, the leader of that adulterous and noAv
apostate generation into the pit of perdition. But the eneray
loves to degrade morally his victims ; and the beautiful offering
of love (fruit of the Holy Ghost in her who poured the A'ery
precious ointment frora the alabaster box on the head of Jesus)
gave occasion to the basest motives in Judas, and the final
success of the tenjpter over a soul, spite of the constant seeing
and hearing of Christ, long Inured to secret guilt. (Ver. 6 — 16.)
I am compelled through circumstances to glance but cursorily
at these final but most fertile as well as affecting scenes. Yet
let us not fail to observe, first for our warning, how easy it is
for eleven good men to be led astray by the fair pretences of one
bad man, who was influenced by evil feelings unknown to them.
Alas ! too, the flesh in all, even in the regenerate, remains ever
the same hateful and hating thing ; and there is no good for the
believer save where Christ is the object and the means. Next,
for our joy, how sweet to find that love to Christ is surely vindi
cated of Him and has the Spirit's guidance in the weakest one,
spite of the raurmurs of those who seem CA'er so high and
strong ! Thirdly, if a saint manifested her estimate of Jesus so
lavishly in the judgment of utilitarian unbelief, what was His
A'alue in the eyes of the bribing priests and of the betrayer ?
" And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."
(Ver. 15.) A slave's price was enough for the despised Lord of
all ! (Compare Bxod. xxi. 32 ; Zech. xi. 12, 13.)
Still the Lord pursues, in the face of all. His path of love and
holy calm ; and when the disciples enquire His pleasure as to
the place for eating the paschal feast. He speaks as the conscious
Messiah, let Him be ever so rejected : " Go into the city to such
a man, and say unto him, The Master saith. My time is at hand ;
I wUl keep the passover at thy house with my disciples." (Ver.
17, 18.) As the twelve were eating. He tells out the grief of

388 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
His heart : " Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall
betray me" (ver. 21) ; which fails not to eUcit the reality of
their affections and their deep grief. If Judas imitated their
enquiry of innocence, fearful that his own silence would detect
him, and, it may be, counting on ignorance because of the
Lord's generality of expression (" one of you"), he only thereby
hears his doom brought personally home. (Ver. 21 — 25.) Pro
phecy was accomplished, but woe to that man that betrayed the
Son of man !
Nothing, however, arrests the flow of His own love. " And
as they were eating, Jesus took bread and brake it, and gave it
to the disciples, and said. Take, eat ; this is my body. And he
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it : for this is my blood of the new testament,
which Is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Ver. 26 —
28.) The bread, but especially the cup, set forth the Messiah.
not alive on earth, but rejected and slain. The broad truth is
given here, as by Mark, in " this Is my body," without dweUIng
on the grace which gave it ; it is the truth in itself, without
accessories seen elsewhere. Stress is laid on " my blood of the
new covenant that was shed for many," because the refusal of
the Messiah by Israel and His death opened the way for others
outside — for Gentiles ; and it was iraportant for our evangelist
to note this. Luke has it " shed for you" (i.e., for the believers
in Jesus); Matthew adds, "for the remission of sins," in con
trast with the blood of the old covenant, which held forth its
penal sanction. This they were also here called, all of them
emphatically, to drink. The blood in Exodus xxiv. sealed on
the people their promise of obedience to the law under menace
of death : here all drink the witness, in the Saviour's blood, of
their sins blotted out and gone. " But," adds He, " I say unto
you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until
that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's king
dom." (Ver. 29.) He is henceforth separated from joy with
them till the Father's kingdom come : then He will resume His
association with delight In His people here below. The godly

CHAPTER XXVI. 389
haA'e to drink His blood with thankful praise now : by and by
He vviU drink the wine of joy new with us in the Father's
kingdom. Till then He is the heavenly Nazarite ; and so con
sequently should we be in spirit.
After partaking ofthe supper, they sung a hymn (how blessed
at such at a time!) and repaired to Olivet. (Ver. 30.) With
the ineffable grace and serenity which reign throughout, the
Lord lets them know the trial which should befall and shake
them all that very night, and this according to the written word,
even as that which He had shewn of Himself. (Compare ver.
24 and 31.) The flesh had proved its worth in the goodly
price it set on Jesus ; it now proves the value of its self-
confidence and courage on His behalf (" All ye shall be offended
because of me," Ac.) ; and he proved it most glaringly for
others and bitterly for hiraself who most trusted his own love
for the Saviour. (Ver. 32 — 35.) Thus the end of the trials
would be to confirm their faith and deepen their distrust of self,
making Christ their all in everything; and He, risen, would go
before them into Galilee, resuming in resurrection-power the
relationship which He had with them there in the days of
His flesh.
The next scene (ver. 36 — 46) though equally perfect in its
display of Jesus and equally humbling in its exhibition of the
choicest of the apostles, shews us the picture, not of complete
and holy calm in the full knowledge of all that awaited Hiraself
and His disciples, but of anguish to the uttermost and of death
realized in all its horrors as before God. What an insight
Gethsemane gives us of Him, Jehovah-Messiah though He was,
as the raan of sorrows and acquainted with grief! Who ever saw,
affliction as He ? It was not only that Jesus knew the cross in
atonement as none other did or could, that He alone bowed His
head under the fuU unsparing judgment of God when made sin
for us ; but He underwent, beyond all others, the antlcipative
pressure of death on His soul as th© power of Satan, and this
perfectly, but only the more painfully for all that, because He
took it from His Faiher's and not from the enemy's hand. Yet

390 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
it Is the A'ery reverse of insensibility — but strong crying and
tears to His Father now, as afterwards to God as such when it
was a question of actual sin-bearing on the tree. " And he
took with hira Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to
be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them. My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death ; tarry ye here and
watch with me." (Ver. 37, 38.) When the cross carae, there
was no such call to disciples to watch with Hira. He was alone,
absolutely, essentially, for us, that is, for our sins, with none
of men or angels in any way or raeasure (morally speaking) near
Him, when God forsook and hid His face frora Him on whose
head met all our iniquities. It was here, on the other hand,
pleading as a Son with His Father, when " he went a little
farther and fell on his face [prostrate in His earnestness] and
prayed, saying, 0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
frora me : nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Ver. 39.)
He watched, and prayed, and entered not into temptation, though
tempted in all points as we are. But He finds the disciples
asleep : they could not watch with Him one hour. " The spirit
Indeed is wiUing, but the flesh is weak." And so it was again
and again with them, till He bade them sleep, but warned them
that the hour was at hand, as was the traitor.
But the same flesh which drags down to sleep, when the Lord
called to watch and pray, is zealous enough with carnal weapons,
when Judas came with his deceitful kiss and a multitude fol
lowing (ver. 47 et seq.), though it preserved not from, but
rather led Into, either forsaking the Master or denying Him.
Jesus, thoroughly suffering before His Father, is all dignity and
peace before man, and goes forward to meet His will at their
wicked hands, laying bare in the simplest meekest words the
base evil of Judas, the rash weakness of His inconsiderate
defender, and the scriptural key to His approaching death, spite
of His title to command legions of angels, and in face of an
inconsistent multitude. He was, after all, a prisoner for the will
of God, and not of man.
Before Caiaphas (ver. 57 — 75) He is counted guilty of death,

CHAPTER XXVIL 391
but this not because the falsehood of the witnesses succeeded, but
because of His own confession of the truth. He was the Son of
God ; but, come in fulness of grace and truth as He was, hence
forth should they see Him, the Son of man, sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaVen — His present
position and His manifestation when He comes in power and
glory. Yet In the midst of His rejection and contumely at the
hands of high and low araong His own outward people, Jesus
causes His raighty word to be remembered by poor Peter, bold
now in denying Him — cursing and swearing Peter. "And he
went out and wept bitterly," 0 what a servant, and what a
Lord!

oMWo

CHAPTER XXVIL
All through this gospel the Holy Ghost bears in mind very
particularly our Lord's relations with Israel. Hence in the
preceding chapters, where we had the destruction of Jerusalem
foretold, care was taken to bring out also the preservation of a
godly remnant of Israel, as a fact which would be of special
comfort to His own people. And, just as we have seen in that
prophetic testimony, so in the narrative of the crucifixion what
comes out peculiarly in Matthew's gospel is the part which
Israel takes In the wondrous scene — their accomplishment of
what was written in the law and Psalms and prophets touching
their rejection of their own Messiah. Our evangelist wrote
with a very express view to the Jews, and hence it was of the
greatest importance to convince them, by his testimony, that
God had accomplished the promises In the sending of the
Messiah, whom Israel's unbelief had refused and crucified by
Gentile hands on the tree. What would be the special value
of quoting the law and prophets to Gentiles ? The Old Testa
ment scriptures formed a book of which the heathen had the
scantiest knowledge. We do find references to these scriptures
ill Luke, just enough to give a link, but that is all. But

392 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Matthew, while writing for all souls, has Israel in full vle-w.
Hence the Lord is so distinctly and carefully presented as
Messiah in this gospel ; but, at the very first, enough is
intimated to shew His rejection. In the subsequent details we
see not only broad predictions accomplished, but the way in
which enmity is brought out. The guilt of the religious leaders
is prominent. In this world religious evil works the part that
is specially offensive to God. The devil cannot give effect to
his ends here below unless he brings in the name of God to
sanction what is done by raan.
Hence here the active people are the priests. "When the
morning was come" — they rise early to accomplish their design.
And, mark, it Is said, "all the chief priests," Ac. This shews
the utter ruin and blindness of the nation. It was a most
startling fact, and a capital one for a Jew to understand (for a
Jew knew that the priesthood was instituted and ordered of
God), that those who ought to have been the sure guides of the
people were their misleaders in the greatest of all sins. Were
not the sons of Aarori divinely chosen ? Was not the succession
duly raalntainpd ? Were not the Jews a people called out from
the rest of the world to own the true God and His law ? Most
true ; but what were they and their heads now about ? Led
or leaders, they had played the chief part in crucifying the
Christ. These were the men Avho had the best light of any
nation ; but all the use man made of the light vras to become
more hardened and embittered in rejecting the Son of God.
"And Avhen they had bound hira, they led hira away, and
delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor." (Ver, 2.)
Whatever Ave find the Gentiles doing here, God takes care to
point out that the Jews Avere not only the secret conspirators,
but openly guilty also.
"Then Judas, which had betrayed him," &c. (Ver. 3.)
"And they said. What is that to us? see thou to that."
(Ver. 4.) Awful jiicture of what Satan brings about in a
wretched human heart ! Only the farther from Jesus morally,
because he was the nearer externally. Most of all guilty are
those who have the greatest outAvard privileges, Avhile the truth

CHAPTER XXVII. 393
of God does not govern the soul. We see, too, the mockery
of Satan — the way in 'which he cheats his victims even in this
world. Judas did not expect that Jesus would die. He had
known the Lord in imminent peril before ; he had seen Him
when the people took up stones to cast at Him, hiding Himself,
going through the midst of them and passing on His way. He
knew how Jesus could walk on the sea — how He could conquer
all the obstacles of nature ; and why not the raging storm
of human passion and violence ? But Judas was deceived,
whatever his calculations may have been ; he yielded to covet
ousness ; he bargained for the blood of Jesus — and Jesus came
to die. To his horror he found it too true. And Satan, who
had led him on by his love of money, leaves him without a
single hope in black despair. He goes to the priests; but
miserable comforters were they all to the miserable despairing
soul. Confession of sin, without giving God confidence for
His grace, is worthless. Cleave to God, my soul, and give
Him credit for what He is in Christ. But there Is no faith
Avhere Jesus is not loved : and Judas had neither. Jesus was a
forgotten object before His soul, and this proved that there was
no Ufe In him. AH the outward nearness he had enjoyed before
was only a greater weight to sink him into perdition. What a
thing is the end of sin even in this world, sin against Jesus !
Judas brings the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders with the confession, " I have sinned in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood." They could not deny the truth
of this ; but with utter heartlessness they say " What is that
to us ? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of
silver In the temple, and departed, and went and hanged
himself" (Ver. 4, 5.) Many an one sells Jesus virtually, if not
literally. Let every soul look to it, that his sin be not in some
Avay akin to that of Judas. If God is caUing sinners to a
knowledge of His Son, it is an awfiil thing to reject him ; it is
seUIng Jesus for some object in this world, which either we seek
to attain, or love too well to part with. In Judas, this came
out in its worst form ; but perdition is not confined to him who
is the son of perdition.

394 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
"And the chief priests took the silver pieces," &c. Con
science would have told them that theirs was the guilt of bribing
Judas to betray Jesus. But another thing becomes evident
here. Religion without Christ only gives persons the means of
cheating their souls into the belief that they are doing God
service. They said, "It is not lawful for us to put them into
the treasury, because it is the price of blood." Here was
religion ; but where was conscience in giving the money for
Jesus ? " And they took counsel, and bought with them the
potter's field to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was
called. The field of blood unto this day." (Ver. 7, 8.) They are
obliged thus to perpetuate their own wickedness. Ajid this is
exactly a picture of what the people, once holy, had now become
— the chief priests the pattern of what the nation was. A field
of blood that land remains to this day, a field " to bury strangers
ill." Israel being cast out of their own land, it is left to others,
if only to be buried there.
But it is not now the chief priests and elders, nor the Avretched
condition of Judas, nor the perpetuation of Israel's wickedness,
foretold by the prophet, that occupies us. It is our Lord Himself,
standing before the governor. He acknowledges the power of
the world, when Pilate asks Hira, "Art thou the king ofthe
Jews ?" To the chief priests and elders He answers nothing.
Pilate, struck by the silence and moral dignity of his prisoner,
desires His release, sees through the malice of the people, and
proposes to them a choice, such as was the governor's custora.
" Whora will ye that I release raito you?" But he had to find
out the hatred with which men regarded Jesus : there is no
person or thing the malice of man does not prefer to Him. God
takes care, too, that there should be a home testimony to the
conscience of the governor. His wife sent a message, saying,
" Have thou nothing to do with that just man ; for I have suffered
many things this day in a dream because of him." (Ver. 19.)
This, which is recorded only in Matthew, disturbed Pilate the
more. All of it God ordered that man's iniquity in rejecting
Jesus should be evident and without excuse. Then observe the
solemn lesson : " The chief priests and elders persuaded the

CHAPTER XXVII. 395
multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus."
(Ver. 20.) The greater the moral advantages, where there is
not simple faith in God, the greater the hatred of Jesus. The
reception or rejection of Jesus now is the same thing in principle,
though, no doubt, the circumstances of the world are changed.
Persons may know just enough of Jesus for their souls' salva
tion and experience little of the world's rejection ; but if I really
cling to a crucified but now glorious Christ, I must know what
it is to have the scorn and hatred of the World. If the world
rejected Him, I must be prepared for the sarae thing. We
cannot have both heaven and earth. The cross and the glory go
together. The Lord presented hopes of blessing on earth to
Israel if they had received Hira ; but they refused, and this
brought in the cross of Jesus. God knew it was inevitable,
and this because of man's wickedness. Then God brings In
heavenly glory, and we raust prepare for as ranch as man chooses
to do in the present state of society. It is a lie of Satan's
that raan is altered for the better during the last eighteen
hundred years ; the feeling of the human heart is always the
same, though there may be tiraes when it coraes to a crisis.
The very people, who "wondered at the gracious words that
proceeded out of his mouth," the same day sought to cast Jesus
down hfeadlong. And what was it that brought out their enmity ?
The assertion of God's true grace. Man cannot endure it —
the thought that His salvation is the same perfect eternal
salvation for the worst of sinners as for any. " Is it possible,"
he says, " that I, who have tried to serve God for so raany
years, should be treated like a drunkard, a swindler, or a
harlot?" He turns round on God, and becomes His open
enemy. But, after all, there is no question of justice to man in
the salvation of a sinner. It must be grace, if God saves any,
and He shews this. Nor is it merely a partial remedy, for
there is no case so desperate that His grace cannot reach.
" Pilate saith imto them. What shall I do then with Jesus
who is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be

396 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
crucified." (Ver. 22.) Here we see the unrighteousness of these
religious men. If Pilate seemed, at least, too sensible to act thus,
Ave shall see what his righteousness amounts too. He asks,
" Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more,
saying. Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took
water," &c. (Ver. 23, 24.) There we see what the world's
righteousness is. We have seen what the chief priests were ;
now we learn the unrighteousness of the Roman. There can
not be true righteousness unless God governs. We have all
failed — I must therefore be saA'ed by another ; for God shews all
measured, weighed, and found wanting. One person alone In
this scene is found full of wisdom, patience, goodness — perfect
in every way. When it was the time to speak. His word is
spoken ; when It was the time to be silent. He holds His peace.
He was God upon earth, and all His ways perfect. But this
is not the great point here. The Gospel of John speciaUy
dcA'clopes the Deity of our Lord, as that of Luke His humanity.
In Matthew we see Hira as Messiah ; therefore Pilate asks Him
here, " Art thou the King of the Jews ?" When Pilate had
" washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent
of the blood of this just person : see ye to it" (as if that could
relieve him of the fearful guilt he was perpetrating) ; all the
people answered and said, " His blood be on us and on our
children." And there the dark fatal stain abides to this day.
Others are guilty too, but the favoured Jew above all. " When
he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." See
what the righteousness of the judge is ! This was he who had
just before called Jesus a just man. And now come the soldiers.
They are, and must all be proved, guilty. Not a class or con
dition of man but evinces its hatred of God in the person of
His Son — failing most, too, in that which was their pride. For
what base cowardice is that which tramples down One who
suffers unresistingly ! " And they stripped him, and put on
him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a croAvn of
thorns, they put it on his head  and they spit upon hira,
and took the reed, and smote him on the head," &c. (Ver. 28 —

CHAPTER XXVII. 397
31.) But this was not all. " As they came out, they found a
man of Cyrene, Simon by name ; him they compelled to bear
his cross." (Ver, 32.) What excesses of human tyranny follow
the rejection of Jesus !
" They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gaU." (Ver.
34.) We must not confound this circumstance with that
mentioned in John, where the Lord says, " I thirst." In
Matthew's narrative, it was the stupefying draught administered
to prisoners before they suffered ; and this the Lord would not
drink. Whereas, in John, the Lord, while on the cross,
remembers, as it were, a scripture as yet imfulfiUed. Here
then He is regarded, not as One who did not suffer, but withal
as the absolute Master over aU circumstances. Alive therefore
to the honour of scripture, and a word which had not received
its accomplishment. He says, " I thirst." " And they filled a
sponge with vinegar  and put it to his mouth." He
did drink the vinegar then. But here, on the contrary, " When
he had tasted thereof, he would not drink." (Ver. 34.) He
wished no alleviation from man. "And they crucified him,
and parted his garments, casting lots," &c. (Ver. 35.)
The superscription differs in the various gospels. We raust
reraeraber that Pilate wrote it in three different languages.
One gospel (Mark) does not profess to give anything but the
substance of what was written, the accusation or charge against
Him; in the others, the Holy Ghost gives the words. And
what appropriateness is here ! " This is Jesus the King of the
Jews." (Ver. 37.) The great thing for the Jew was the iden
tifying of their Messiah and King with Jesus. In Luke the
word " Jesus" ought to be omitted, as in the best authorities.
It is reaUy, " The King of the Jews, this !" and means " this
fellow," a term of contempt, the point there being " He is
despised and rejected of men. Here, " He came to his own,
and his own received him not ;" because, though the Gentile
shares the guilt, it is the Jew who leads Pilate to condemn Him
to death. In John, we haA'e, characteristically, the fuUest form
of all — " Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews." The
reason is, that it unites two things in our Lord, not anywhere

398 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
else so brought into juxtaposition — the most complete humilia
tion and the highest glory. He by whora aU things were made,
God Hiraself, was a raan of " Nazareth." The beauty of this
must appear to any spiritual mind. Throughout John's gospel
the Lord is both higher and lower than anywhere else.
" The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the
same in his teeth." (Ver. 44.) They found tirae to reA'ile Jesus
too, venting their bodily anguish in mockery of the Son of God.
Oh ! beloved friends, was there ever such a scene ? We have
looked at man's part, but what was God doing there? "About
the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani ? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me?" (Ver. 46.) We haA'e full evidence that this
was not the exhaustion of nature. " And when he had cried
again with a loud voice, he yielded up the ghost." (Ver. 50.)
Our Lord died a willing victim. Man might wIU, and be the
instrument of. His death. A man He became that as a raan He
might die : but He marks it in its every circumstance so as to
shew that He was there who could as easily have swept away a
world as of old He laid down by a word the foundations of
heaven and earth. " He yielded up the ghost ; and, behold, the
veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom ;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent." (Ver. 50, 51.)
Nature was made to yield its testimony above and below ; and
the darkness over the land was no raere eclipse. The Jewish
systera, too, yielded its solemn witness in the rent veil. Unrent,
it had been the syrabol that man could not draw near to God.
Under the law it can never be. God dwelt then in the thick
darkness. But in the death of Jesus there is the expression of
full grace. God and man may now meet face to face. The
blood is sprinkled upon and before the mercy-seat, and man
is invited to draw near boldly. Why should it not be? It
is due to that precious blood. God in Him had come down
from heaven to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself For
every soul that believes, it is done. The Jewish system might
linger on, like a corpse waiting so many days for burial ; but the
rending of the a'cU was the soul scA'cred from the body. Thus

CHAPTER XXA'II. 399
there Avas witness on every hand — the earth and the heaven, the
law and the unseen world. Jesus has the keys of Hades and of
death. The very graves were unlocked when Jesus died, if the
bodies of the saints did not rise till after His resurrection. He
was Himself the firstfruits, and the power of life was brought in
through His resurrection. What testimony could be raore cora
plete ? The centurion set to watch (heathen as, no doubt, he
was,) " feared greatly, saying. Truly, this was the Son of God."
"And many women were there beholding afar off," &c. But
where were the disciples ? Oh, what withering condemnation
of aU boasted strength ! They had forsaken Jesus and fled ;
but here were these women, contrary to their natural timidity,
" out of weakness made strong," beholding, even though afar
off. In Joseph of Arimathea, we see a man who had a great
deal to lose : a rich man and a counsellor, before he was a
secret disciple of Jesus ; but now God brings him to a point
when you might least expect it. With the death of Jesus
before his eyes, he goes to Pilate, begs His body, and, having
laid it in his new tomb, rolls a great stone to the door of the
sepulchre. If apostles and disciples fled, God can, and does,
raise up testimony for His name's sake.
We have traced the history of self in this chapter. If we
had all the riches, the learning, the power of this world, these
could not make us happy. But Jesus can. Yet let us remember
that we are in an enemy's country, which has shewn its
treachery to our Master. If we do not feel that we are passing
through the camp of those who crucified Jesus, we are in danger
of falling into some ambuscade of the eneray. The Lord grant
us that calraness of faith which is not occupied with itself, but
with Him who His own self bare our sins in His own body on
the tree I

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The special purpose of this gospel appears in the account of the
Lord's death and resurrection as plainly as elsewhere. Hardly
any portion, indeed, more strikingly illustrates it than the chapter
before us. Thus, on the face of it, we see nothing of the ascen
sion. If we had only Matthew xxviii., should we have known
as a fact that the Lord went up to heaven at aU ? It is im
possible, without a special purpose, that the apostle could have
omitted an event so glorious and interesting. Not that this
omission is a defect in Matthew's narrative ; on the contrary, it
is a part and proof of its perfection, when the scope is under
stood. Were the ascension scene introduced here, it would be
mere patchwork, and out of keeping with the history that closes
in our chapter. Yet even now it is one of the points that
learned men stumble over. Neglecting the evidence of design
they reason a priori, and consequently cannot understand why
such an event should be left out by our evangelist. Evidently
they do not believe, in any full sense, that God wrote these
gospels ; else they would conclude that the fault lay in their
ignorance and misreasoning. A simple-hearted believer rests
satisfied that the oraisslon In Matthew is as perfect as the inser
tion in Luke ; everything is as it should be in the word of God,
as He wrote it. And the notion that anything is now wanting
which Matthew ever wrote as a conclusion Is contrary to all
evidence, external and internal.
Before closing, I shall endeavour to shew how its presence
here would be incongruous, and detract from the beauty of the
picture God was supplying; on the other hand, its presence
where It does occur elsewhere is, I need hardly add, equally
beautiful and necessary. Events are selected in connection with
the Imraedlate subject. Taking the chapter as it comes, we see
that the Holy Ghost here confines Himself to a Messiah risen
from the dead, who meets His disciples in Galilee, outside the

CHAPTEE XXVIIL 401
rebellious city. In other parts of this gospel the ascension is
implied or assumed, as in chapters xiii. 41 ; xvi. 27, 28 ; xxii.
44 ; xxiv., XXV., and, above all, xxvl. 64. It was, therefore,
not omitted ignorantly, nor has any accident robbed us of it in
the original. I only say this as entirely refuting the foolish
and irreverent reasoning of men, chiefly moderns.
" In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn," &c.
(Ver. 1.) This Avas not the morning of the resurrection-day,
but the evening previous to it. We, with our western notions
of time, raight think only of the early twilight, but it means
simply that the week was drawing to its close. And evening,
we must remember, to a Jewish mind, commenced the new day.
An exactly similar phrase occurs in Luke xxiii. 54, where the
Jewish sense cannot be doubted. The Holy Ghost does not
continue the description of this visit of the Avomen to the
sepulchre. There is no real ground for connecting the circum
stances of the first three verses of this chapter.* The first
merely presents the devotedness of these holy women. When
the disciples had gone to their own homes, these females, spite
of natural fears at such a place and time, could not stay away.
They had prepared spices for embalming the body, but rested
the sabbath-day (as we read in Luke) according to the com
mandment. " It was just getting dusk" is the real thought here.
It was the twilight after the sabbath. Their hearts lingered
round the grave, bound up with Jesus.
"And, behold, there was a great earthquake," &c. This
occurred afterwards ; how long is not said. We have simply a
narrative of events, without defining the intervals of time, but
one after another, in these early verses. We must not confound
the visit of the women here (in verse 1) with their visit on the
morning of the first day mentioned by Mark and in our verse 5,
&c. The Lord was not on this last occasion in the sepulchre.
* This is quite in keeping with what we have found in Matthew else
where. The reader can compare Kal iSoi (" and behold") in chapter viii. 2
Avith the same in chapter xxvui. 2. The true connection is in the object of
the narrator, not in mere time. There is no ground to suppose the women
witnessed the earthquake : the soldiers, I believe, alone did.
DD

402 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
But the angel, descending and roUIng away the stone, had
nothing directly to do with the Lord's rising. No such inter
position was in any way necessary to Him. God raised Him,
and He Himself rose. Such is the scriptural doctrine of the
resurrection. This angelic action was, I suppose, to call the
attention of men to what God had done, and the more fully to
set aside the deceits or the reasonings of enemies. So the
angel's Avord is " Corae, see the place Avhere the Lord lay."
One remarkable consequence of the resurrection is always
pressed. The angel says " Fear not ye." That mighty act of
God is intended for ever to dispel the alarm of those who
bellcA'C in Jesus, by giving them the certainty of His inter
vention on their behalf Up to the adyeiit and resurrection of
Jesus there was a measure of darkness and uncertainty, however
great the kindness and mercy shewn by God. The resurrection
left all the world apparently undisturbed ; but what was the
great resulting truth and blessing for the people of God ? To
faith it is the triumph of God over the last efforts of sin and the
power of Satan. No doubt death is stiU in the world, pursuing
its ravages. What, then, is the resurrection to yciu? says the
caviller. Everything, if Christ is my life. I ara entitled to
haA'e the comfort of it ; my soul Is welcome to drink Into the
joy of it, though ray body does not yet share the deliverance.
God has shewn me in the cross of Christ the perfect witness of
suffering for sin. Man believes not that He is the Son, and
cannot understand how God could allow His best beloved to
suffer. Others too had Cried to God, and spite of all their
faults, they had been heard ; yet in the extremity of Christ's
sufferings, and spite of His grace and glory and the Father's
love to Him, He cries and was not heard I For truly He was
not, till all the billows of divine wrath closed OA'er His head^ —
the spotless victim wreathed with our sins. But now the crisis -
is come, and all is changed. It raight have seemed to the world
that all was over with the claims of Jesus. He had died on the
cross, and by His own confession forsaken of God. Was all as
safe as man or the devil could desire ? On the third day God
interferes : Jesus rose from the dead, and all the power of earth

CHAPTEE XXVIII. 403
and heU was shaken to its centre. Resurrection settled every
thing in peace for the believer. Every cause for fear and selfish
sorrow was burled In the grave of Christ. Every blessing over
flows In Him risen. How much is made of this in the Epistles !
Nothing is more fundamental or raore insisted on. Vague
thoughts of God's faithfuhiess, love, &c., would not be enough
for the solid comfort of God's people. Many who see little
more have only glimpses of joy. In order to have full settled
peace they must be founded on the basis to which God points —
the death and resurrection of Jesus. If His death meets all
my evil. His resurrection is the spring and pattern of the new
life and acceptance, above sin and death and judgment, which
grace has given me in Him.
The course of the world was not interrupted by the Lord's
resurrection. Men slept as usual, and rose as if nothing had
happened. Yet was it the greatest work of power that God had
ever wrought, yea (founded on the deepest suffering that ever
was endured) it was the greatest work He ever will do ; and I
say this looking on to the day when everything shall be made
new according to His glory. These are but consequences of
Christ's resurrection, but applications of the power put forth
therein. And if the world was Indifferent to it, what should It
be to us ? Say not it is a little thing because it is as yet a
matter of faith. Into the midst of this scene of weakness and
death the mighty power of God has entered and been here put
forth in the resurrection of Christ. God does, and could do, no
more to blot out sin : it has been put away by the sacrifice of
Christ. But one thing abiding ought to make the soul afraid of
God — even sin. Now Jesus was treated as if He were covered
with it, and it were all His own. If it was to be removed. He
must bear it thoroughly : He did so, and now it is gone ; and
we rest upon what God tells us of Him and it. This is what
tests the soul's confidence In God. Am I willing to trust God
when I cannot trust myself? Sin brought in distrust of God ;
but the gift, death, and resurrection of Christ, more than restore
what was lost, and establish the soul in such a knowledge of
God as no angel ever did or can possess. What my soul

404 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
wants Is, not that God should be too merciful to destroy me
because of my sins, but a full deliverance with a full judgment
of sin. (Rom. viii. 1, 3.) We cannot have fellowship with God
except on the ground of sin being taken away righteously.
Jesus crucified has abolished sin before God for those who be
lieve. To believe God about the death of His Son because of
sin, our sin, is to take God's part against ourselves. Before
Him to acknowledge ourselves lost sinners is repentance toward
God and inseparable from faith.
Perfect love is In Himself, and comes out of the depth of His
own holy being. God became a man that He might go through
the whole moral question of sin : that done in Christ is the
triumph of grace. No wonder then that the angel could say,
" Fear not ye." The resurrection shews every hindrance gone.
The angel acknowledges Him as Lord-", but what a blessing to be
able to say aur Lord ! What a joy thus to own that risen One
who M'as crucified, as entitled in everything to command ! No
doubt what made His work of value was that He was God Him
self — One who, while He was a man, was infinitely above man —
a daysman — One who could lay His hand upon both. The angel
intimates this, that in the presence of a risen Saviour there was
nothing for the most timid believer to fear. Oi^ ^^ other hand.
Acts xvii. 31 says, " He [God] hath appointed a day, in the
which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man
whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance to all
men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." If I do not
trust to a risen Saviour for the dellA'crance of my soul, I par
ticipate in the guilt of His death. If I have not fled for refuge
to Him, I belong to the same firm, as it were, that crucified
Him. But by faith in His blood I am washed from this guilt.
How just that the provision of grace, which signs the believer's
deliverance, should, if despised, become the dead weight that
sinks the world ! If I believe Him, I know it was man that
crucified Jesus ; and not raerely profane man — the guilt pervades
all. And there is one only door of deliverance for any, and this
is Jesus crucified. " Fear not ye." There is no need of alarm,,
for He is risen. God was waiting for this. " I know that ye

CHAPTEE XXA'III. 405
seek Jesus," &c. It was the heart set upon Jesus that was
A'alued. It had ever been in the mind of God to blot out sin ;
but now it was all gone. He who was full of holy love In giving
Jesus to die, now raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him
glory, that our faith and hope might be in God. If my faith
and hope are in God, my delight is in Christ ; if in myself,
Christ becomes to me a cipher, and I justly perish for ever. If
I have not Christ for my rest and delight, for my Saviour and
Lord here, I must by and by quail before Him as ray Judge.
And now, returning to the woraen, they were to go and teU
His disciples that Jesus was risen frora the dead, and went
before them into Galilee. In Luke there is no notice of Galilee,
but He joins the two disciples going to Eraraaus; and when
they returned to Jerusalem the same CA'cnlng, they " found the
eleven gathered together  saying. The Lord is risen Indeed,
and hath appeared to Simon." Jesus Himself appears in their
midst. All circumstances there have Jerusalem as their centre.
In Matthew the great point pressed is the meeting-place assigned
in Galilee. And why ? Is it not remarkable on the face of It
that one should give the raeeting of Jesus with His disciples in
Jerusalera, another in Galilee? Has not God some truth to
teach me hereby ? We are apt to measure the importance of a
truth by its results to ourselves ; but the true standard is its
bearing on the glory of God. The way in which God gives us
His truth after aU, too, is the best for us. Throughout the
Gospel of Matthew Jesus Is found in Galilee. Jerusalem refuses
Him, was troubled at His birth, and cast Hira out unto death,
eA'en the death of the cross. " We did esteera hira stricken,
sriiitten of God, and afflicted," exactly describes their feeling.
They looked in the Messiah for something suited to their eartlily
idea ; they vented their disappointment in the rejection of the
Son of God. In accordance with this, then, Matthew records
that the scene of His living labours and Jewish scom was
where He manifested Himself as risen, after the house of Israel
rejected Him — Galilee. He shews Himself anew in despised
GaUlee of the Gentiles, when aU power is given to Him in

406 LECTUEES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
heaven and earth ; and there He glA'CS the godly remnant from
His ancient people their great commission.
"And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met
them," &c. In John, where Mary stretches out her hand to the
Lord, He says " Touch me not." How comes it that here, when
the women came aud held Him by the feet, our Lord does not
forbid It ? A totally different truth is thus set forth by these
acts. The great hope of Israel was to have Christ in their
midst. But to us the absence of Christ on high, while we go
through our time of trial, is just as characteristic as His presence
will be to them. John speaks fully of our Lord's going away :
another scene of glory entirely distinct from this world is brought
out there. Hence the teaching Implied is, as it were. You may
have been looking as Jews for a scene where I shaU be personaUy
present, but instead of this I tell you of My present place on
high and the many mansions that I go to prepare for you in My
Father's house. He reveals to them a heavenly hope totally
distinct from His reigning over His people In this world. But
in Matthew we are sheAvn Jesus rejected by Jerusalem, yet
found in Galilee, even after His resurrection. Whatever His
power and glory now, and the corafort aud blessing to His own,
He is still, as regards the Jews aud Jerusalem, the rejected and
despised Messiah. Hence it is that on this occasion He confirms
the message of the angel, saying to the women, " Be not afraid :
go tell my brethren that they go into GaUlee,- and there shall
they see me." (Ver. 10.)
The governor wielded the power of the Roman kingdom : but
who were they that secretly instigated him? The false re
ligionists of their day — the priests, utterly blinded of the devil.
Always without sirapllcity of heart, they assembled together
with the elders and took counsel ; and those who bribed a
treacherous disciple with "thirty pieces of silver" to put Christ
to death, gave " large money" now to deny the truth of His
resurrection. Such is man, such is the world ; and, solemn to
fiay, such is its highest and proudest phase. Such it was then : is
the moral complexion altered now ? If we read the Bible aright.

CHAPTEE XX\51IL 407
We shall find in it not only the record of the past, but the
divine lesson-book of the present and the future. May Ave
read it for our own souls ! Certain it is that the Jews, and
especially the religious chiefs, took the lead in evil and in opposi
tion to God, before Christ's death (chap, xxvi., xxvii.), while He
lay in the grave (chap, xxvii. 62 — 66), and after He rose agaln,
(Chap. xxviii. 11 — 15.) But raibelief is after all as weak against
God, as faith is mighty with and by Him. Their own guard
became the clearest, most unwitting, and least suspected witness
of the resurrection. What a testimony was the alarm of the
soldiers, added to the doubts of His own disciples ! It becarae
more than unbelief now ; it was a deliberate, wilful lie ; and
there rest the Jews " until this day." Their fears raised up,
without meaning it, a sure testimony to Jesus ; their enmity
leads them on now to reject what they knew was the truth, even
if they perished everlastingly.
" Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a
mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they
saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted." (Ver. 16,
17.) And yet these doubters were disciples. How good is God !
how above the thoughts of nature ! Man would have held
back the fact. Why say that sorae of His disciples doubted ?
would it not sturable others ? But it is profitable to know the
depth of our unbelieving hearts — to see that, even in the presence
of a risen Jesus, " some doubted." No matter what His love to
His chUdren, God never hides from them, nor makes light of,
their sins.
" And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth ; and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world." Now it appears to
me that, with such a word as this, the ascension scene would be
incongruous. What more unsuitable, after He had said, " Lo,
I ara with you alway," than the details of His going back to
heaven ? But there the curtain drops. Otherwise it would not
have left the unbroken blessedness of this promise to ring on the
heart. Thus, the keeping out of view His departure seems to m^e to
crown the beauty of the parting promise, and of the whole gospel.

408 LECTURES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
Why not here " repentance and remission of sins ?" why not
"preach the gospel to every creature?" What is the peculiar
fitness of this conclusion of Matthew ? The Lord, rejected as
the Jewish Messiah, opens out fresh dealings of God with men.
Before, they were not to go even to Samaritans ; but here an
entirely new sphere is opened. It is no longer God having His
peculiar dwelling-place in one nation ; it is now this larger
thought — " Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations, baptizing
thera in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." (Ver. 19.) Baptisin is here in contrast with
circumcision, and the fuller revelation of the Godhead is con
trasted with the name Jehovah, by which God was known to
Israel. " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever /have
commanded you." This falls in with the sermon on the mount,
where the Lord says, in contrast with them of old time, " But
/ say unto you." He was the Prophet like unto Moses whom
God had promised to raise up, and to whom they were bound to
hearken. What special guidance is this for Jewish disciples !
They were to teach all things that Jesus had coraraanded. He
was the beloved Son of God who now was to be heard pre
eminently. It was not a question of putting the Gentiles under
the law, which has been the ruin of Christendom, the denial of
Christianity, and the deep dishonour of Christ Himself.
And here all closes. The disciples were about to enter on a
troubled scene ; but " Lo, I [Jesus] am with you all the days,
unto the consummation of the age." And this was and is enough
for faith. The Lord grant that we may confide our souls, both
for this age and for ever, to that word which shall stand when
heaven and earth pass away !

oWKo

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