Matthew 7

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Matthew 7:1

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 39

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

The verses at which we have now arrived begin a new section of our Lord’s Sermon, and that it is by no means one of the simplest appears from the diverse treatment which it has received at the hands of the commentators. They are almost unanimous in allowing that our Lord’s prohibition “Judge not” cannot be understood in its widest possible latitude, yet as to how far and wherein it is to be modified there is little agreement. That Christ’s forbidding us to exercise and pass judgment upon others cannot be taken absolutely, few if any who are acquainted with the general tenor of God’s Word would deny, yet as soon as they attempted to define its limitations a considerable variety of opinions would be expressed. This should at once warn us against coming to any hasty conclusion as to the meaning of Mat 7:1, and guard us against being misled by the mere sound of its words. Yea, it should drive us to our knees, begging God graciously to subdue the prejudices of our hearts and enlighten our minds, and then diligently search the Scriptures for other passages which throw light upon the one now before us.

Not only is it very necessary for our own personal good that we spare no pains in endeavoring to arrive at a right understanding of these verses, for it is to our own loss that we misapprehend any portion of Holy Writ, as it will be to our own condemnation if we transgress this Divine commandment, but unless its meaning be opened unto us we shall be at a loss to repel those who would bring us into bondage by the corrupt use they make of it. There are few verses quoted more frequently than the opening one of Matthew 7, and few less understood by those who are so ready to cite it and hurl it at the heads of those whom they ignorantly or maliciously suppose are contravening it. Let the servant of God denounce a man who is promulgating serious error, and there are those-boasting of their broadmindedness-who will say to him, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Let the saint faithfully rebuke an offender for some sin, and he is likely to have the same text quoted against him.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” The word which is here rendered “judge” is one that occurs frequently in the New Testament, and it is used in quite a variety of senses. It is the one found in “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15), and in “judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?” (1 Corinthians 11:13), where “judge” means weigh carefully and form an opinion or consideration. It occurs in “thou [Simon, whom Christ asked, “Which of them will love Him most?”] hast rightly judged” (Luke 7:43), where it signifies inferred or drawn a conclusion. It occurs in “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord” (Acts 16:15), that is, “if you regard or account me so.” “Take ye Him and judge Him according to your law” (John 18:31) means, “put Him on trial before your court.” In Romans 14:3, “judge” has the force of despise, as is clear from the first member of the antithesis. “Doth our law judge any man before it hear him?” (John 7:51), where “judge” signifies condemn-its commonest signification. Which or how many of these meanings the word “judge” has in our text must be carefully ascertained and not hastily or arbitrarily assumed.

Now the first thing to do when prayerfully studying a passage on which opinions vary is to examine its context, first the remote and then the immediate. In this instance the “remote” would be the particular portion of the Word in which it occurs, namely the Sermon on the Mount. As we pass from one section to another in this Sermon, it is very important that we bear in mind our Lord’s dominant object and design therein, which was to show that He requires in the character and conduct of His disciples something radically different from and far superior to that religion which obtained among the Jews, the highest form of which they regarded the scribes and Pharisees as possessing. The keynote was struck by Christ when He told His hearers, “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). That which precedes and all that follows to the end of His discourse is to be pondered and interpreted in the light of that statement.

In the earlier chapters we called attention frequently to what has last been pointed out, and it must not be lost sight of as we enter upon the present division of our Lord’s address. That which pre-eminently characterized the Pharisees was the very high regard which they had for themselves and the utter contempt in which they held all who belonged not to their sect. This is evident from the words of Christ in Luke 18:9, where we are told, “He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others”; in what immediately follows we have contrasted the Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisees took it upon them to go up and down passing censorious and unjust judgment upon others, while blind to their own glaring faults. The disciple of Christ is to conduct himself in a manner exactly the reverse: unsparingly judging himself and refusing to invade the office of God where others are concerned.

The “more immediate context” of Matthew 7:1, is the verses which follow it. In order to obtain a right understanding of Mat 7:1, it is important to recognize that the next four verses are inseparably connected with it, that the five together form one complete section treating of the same subject. The contents of Mat 7:2 show plainly that we have a continuation of the theme of Mat 7:1, while the “and” at the beginning of Mat 7:3 and the “or” at the beginning of Mat 7:4 denote the same thing, while Matthew 7:5 contains our Lord’s application of the whole. The value of preserving the link between the later verses and the opening one lies in noting the threefold mention of “thy brother” in Matthew 7:3-5, and in observing what is there said of his state and the state of the one who takes him to task. If these details be kept in mind we shall be preserved from making an erroneous interpretation and application of Mat 7:1. As we must not too much anticipate what is to come we will leave these suggestions with the reader for him to ponder.

After carefully weighing both the remote and immediate contexts of our verse our next task is to search the Scriptures for all other passages treating of or bearing upon the subject of judging others. It is most essential that we do so if we are to be preserved from many erroneous ideas. Some statements of Holy Writ are presented in a very terse and contracted form, but elsewhere they are amplified and filled out: others are expressed in seemingly absolute terms, but elsewhere are modified and qualified. As an illustration of the latter, take the fourth commandment. The Sabbath day is to be kept holy: “in it thou shalt not do any work”; yet from the teachings of Christ we know that works of piety, of mercy, and of necessity are lawful on that day. So it is with our present text: unless we are very careful in our interpretation of it we shall prohibit what is elsewhere required, and be found censuring that which other passages commend.

“The capacity of judging, of forming an estimate and opinion, is one of our most valuable faculties and the right use of it one of our most important duties. ‘Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?’ (Luke 12:57) says our Lord; ‘judge righteous judgment’ (John 7:24). If we do not form judgments as to what is true and false, how can we embrace the one and avoid the other?” (John Brown). It is very necessary that we have our “senses exercised to discern [Greek “thoroughly judge”] both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14) if we are not to be deceived by appearances and taken in by every oily-mouthed impostor we encounter. It must not be thought that our Lord here forbade us to act according to the dictates of common prudence and to form an estimate of everything we meet with in the path of duty, nor even that He prohibited us from judging men’s characters and actions according to their avowed principles and visible conduct, for in this very chapter He bids us measure men by this rule, saying, “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20), and many duties to others absolutely require us to form a judgment of men, with respect both to their state and their conduct.

Unless we form estimates and come to a decision of what is good and evil in those we meet with we shall be found rejecting the one and condoning the other. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15): how shall we heed this injunction unless we carefully measure every preacher we hear by the Word of God? “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11): in order to obey this we are obliged to exercise a judgment as to what are “works of darkness.” “We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly” (2 Thessalonians 3:6): this compels us to decide who is “walking disorderly.” “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17): this requires us to determine who are guilty of such things. Thus it is abundantly clear that our Lord’s prohibition in Matthew 7:1, is by no means to be taken absolutely.

There are four kinds of judging which are lawful and required by the Word: two public and two private. First, ecclesiastical judgment. This belongs chiefly to the minister, who in preaching God’s Word judges men by admonishing their sins, and in his private dealings he must be faithful to their souls and rebuke where necessary. The judgment of the Church is exercised when it decides upon the credibility of the profession of one applying for membership: so too in the maintenance of discipline and exclusion of those who refuse to heed its reproofs. Second, civil government. This pertains to the magistrate, whose office it is to examine those charged with criminal offences, giving judgment according to the laws of the land, acquitting the innocent, sentencing those proved guilty. Legitimate private judgment is first where one man in a Christian manner reprehends another for his sins, which is required by the Lord (Leviticus 19:17) and second where the grosser faults of notorious offenders are condemned and others informed thereof that they may be warned against them.

“Judge not:” that which is here forbidden is unlawful judging of our fellows, of which we will instance a variety of cases. First, officiously or magisterially, which lies outside the prerogative of the private individual: this is assuming such an authority over others as we would not allow them to exercise over us, since our rule is to be “subject one to another and be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5). We are required both by the law of nature (which includes rationality and prudence) and the Scriptures to judge of things, and persons too, as we meet them in the sphere of duty, but to judge whatever lies outside of our path and province is forbidden. “Study to be quiet and to do your own business” (1 Thessalonians 4:11): if we give full and proper heed to this Divine precept we shall have little or no leisure left to pry into the affairs of others. That which our text prohibits is the passing beyond our legitimate sphere, that taking upon us to judge that which is not set before us for judgment, intruding into the circle of others: “let none of you suffer. . . as a busybody in other men’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15).

Second, “judge not” presumptuously, which is done when we treat mere suspicions or unconfirmed rumors as though they were authenticated facts, and when we ascribe actions to springs which lie outside the range of our cognizance. To pass judgment on the motives of another, which are open to none save the eye of Omniscience, is highly reprehensible, for it is an intrusion upon the Divine prerogative, an invading of the very office of God. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth” (Romans 14:4) places the Divine ban upon such conduct. A notable example of what is here interdicted is recorded in Job 1. When the Lord commended His servant unto Satan, saying “Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil?” the evil one answered, “Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land: but put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face” (Job 1:8-11), suggesting that Job only served God for the gain thereof. Thus to judge presumptuously the motives of another is devilish!

Third, “judge not” hypocritically. This form of unlawful judgment was particularly before our Lord on this occasion, as appears from the verses which immediately follow. The one who is quick to detect the minor faults of others while blind to or unconcerned about his own graver sins is dishonest, pretending to be very precise while giving free rein to his own lusts. Such two-facedness is most reprehensible in the sight of God, and to all right-minded people too. “Therefore thou art inexcusable O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyseIf; for thou that judgest doest the same things” (Romans 2:1). No matter what may be his social standing, his educational advantages, his religious profession, the one who is guilty of partiality, who censures in others that which he allows in himself, is inexcusable and self-condemned. That even true, yea, eminent, saints are liable to this grievous sin appears from the case of David, for when Nathan propounded the instance of the rich man sparing his own flock and seizing the one lamb of his poor neighbor’s, David’s anger was greatly kindled and he adjudged the transgressor as worthy of death, while lying himself under guilt equally heinous (2 Samuel 12:1-11).

Fourth, “judge not” hastily or rashly. Before thinking the worst of any person we must make full investigation and obtain clear proof that our suspicions are well grounded or the report we heard is a reliable one. Before the Most High brought upon the world the confusion of languages it is said that He “came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded” (Genesis 11:5), as though He would personally investigate their conduct before He passed sentence upon them. So again, before He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He said, “I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me” (Genesis 18:21). Thus God would teach us that before we pass sentence in our minds upon any offender we must take the trouble of obtaining decisive proof of his guilt. We are expressly commanded “judge not according to the appearance (John 7:24), for appearances are proverbially deceptive. Always go to the transgressor and give him an opportunity to clear himself: “he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Proverbs 18:13).

Fifth, “judge not unwarrantably, which is to go beyond the rule which is set before us. In God’s Word certain things are commended, certain things condemned, yet there is another class of things on which the Scriptures pronounce no verdict, which we term “things indifferent,” and to condemn anyone for using such things is to be “righteous over much” (Ecclesiastes 7:16). It was for just such offences that the apostle reproved some of the saints at Rome, who were sitting in judgment upon their brethren over different things as “meat and drink.” So too he admonished the Colossians who were being brought into bondage by the “Touch not, taste not, handle not of the “commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:20-23). The Holy Spirit points out that in such cases to judge a brother is to “speak evil of the law” (James 4:11), which means that he who condemns a brother for anything which God has not proscribed regards the Law as being faulty because it has not prohibited such things. “He who quarrels with his brother and condemns him for the sake of anything not determined in the Word of God, does there by reflect on His Word, as if it were not a perfect rule” (Matthew Henry).

Sixth, “judge not” unjustly or unfairly, ignoring everything that is favorable in another and fixing only on that which is unfavorable. It is often far from being an easy matter to secure all the materials and facts which in any case are necessary to form a judgment, yet to pronounce judgment without them is to run a serious hazard of doing another a cruel injustice. Many a one has rashly condemned another who, had he known all, might have approved or at least pitied him. Again, it is very unjust to censure one who has sincerely done his best simply because his effort falls short of what satisfies us. Much unjust judgment proceeds from a spirit of revenge and a desire to do mischief. When David sent his servants to comfort Hanun, the king of Ammon, upon the death of his father, that king suffered his nobles to persuade him that the servants of David were spies on an evil mission (2 Sam. 10): a horrible war was the outcome-behold how great a fire a little matter kindleth!

Seventh, “judge not” unmercifully. While on the one hand we are certainly not, as far too many today appear to think, obliged to regard one who holds fundamental error or one who is thoroughly worldly as a good Christian, yet on the other hand the law of charity requires us to put the best construction we can on doubtful actions, and never without proof ascribe good ones to evil principles or motives. God does not require us to call darkness light or evil good, nevertheless since we are so full of sin ourselves and so prone to err, we must ever be on our guard lest we call light darkness and good evil. We are not to go about with our eyes closed nor wink at sin when we see it, yet it is equally wrong for us to hunt for something to condemn and seize upon every trifle and magnify molehills into mountains. We are not to make a man an offender for a word, nor harbor suspicions where there is no evidence. Many a one has condemned another, where no ground for judgment existed, out of personal jealousy and ill will, which is doing Satan’s work. May the Lord graciously deliver both writer and reader from all these forms of unlawfully judging others.

Chapter 40

JUDGING OTHERS

“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). In the previous chapter we were obliged, so as not to exceed the usual length, to confine ourselves unto the first part of this brief verse. In it we sought to show what is here not forbidden, that there is a lawful judging which God requires us to exercise, both in public and in private. Then we pointed out no less than seven forms of unlawful judging, indicating that this prohibition of Christ’s is a very comprehensive one. Our apology, if such be needed, for entering into so much detail is, first, because these words “judge not” are so frequently misunderstood and misapplied; and second, because the sin which is here forbidden is a very grievous one and has become exceedingly common. Some Christians are more prone to it than others, one in one way and one in another.

It is a sin which may be committed in the house of prayer. When the minister is rebuking some evil or failure in some particular duty, there are often those present who will conclude he is addressing himself to some others in the congregation, which is one reason why so many reap so little from hearing the Word preached.

Now since it be wrong for us to judge one of our brethren or even our fellows presumptuously, hypocritically, hastily, unwarrantably, unjustly or unmercifully, how much more heinous must it be for us to give audible expression to the same and transmit it to others! Equally so is it for those who listen to us to repeat the same. “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people” (Leviticus 19:16): yet who among us can plead innocence therein? Alas, how many there are, now that the pulse of love beats so feebly, who take a devilish pleasure in spreading evil reports of fellow members and enlarging on the same. “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Proverbs 11:13). Equally reprehensible is it for us to censure and hold up to scorn those of another denomination, unless the Scriptures plainly condemn them. “Speak evil of no man’s (Titus 3:2) forbids us expressing anything to the discredit or disadvantage of another to anyone but to oneself, except where duty demands it-the putting others on their guard against an evil-doer or a doctrinal corrupter.

It should be pointed out that veracity is not the only virtue which needs to be exercised whenever we make report of the character and conduct of another. To say of such and such a person, “He possesses this or that virtue, but-well, least said, soonest mended,” is far worse than saying nothing at all, for such an utterance insinuates to our hearers that there is some grave evil in the party to whom we have alluded. We may say nothing but what is the truth, yet by the very manner in which we express ourselves suggest that a certain person is not to be trusted. Thus when David came to Ahimelech begging bread for his men and requesting some weapon, and the priest granted him the sword of Goliath (1 Sam. 21), Doeg, who witnessed the transaction, put his knowledge to a wicked use by reporting the same unto Saul, implying that Ahimelech had entered into a conspiracy with David against the king’s life; and the telling of the truth from such an evil motive and in such a manner cost the lives of eighty-five priests (1 Samuel 22:18): again we say, Behold how great a fire a little matter kindleth!

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” After the commandment there follows a reason which is designed to cause us to make conscience of forming and expressing unlawful judgments; or, more accurately speaking, the second part of the verse is a dissuasive, a warning against the sin forbidden at the beginning of it. But precisely what is the nature of this warning, exactly what did our Lord here have in mind? Nearly all the expositors see in it nothing more than a threat that we must be prepared for our fellows treating us just as we treat them: that if we asperse people, others will slander us; that if we be harsh and censorious in the estimates we form of our fellows, then we in turn shall receive unkind treatment, being paid back again in our own coin. On the other hand, if we be charitable and merciful, ready to think the best and slow to think the worst of any, then others will in turn deal gently and considerately with our reputation. In brief, that the words “that ye be not judged” signify lest ye be unlawfully and unfairly judged by men.

Now we do not believe this common interpretation of Christ’s warning gives the full or even the principal force of it, and that for several reasons. First, because the usual sense accorded it is one which has little weight with those who are walking with God. It is true there are many professing Christians who are greatly concerned about what others think and say of them, who are most anxious to shine in their eyes, who are very jealous of their own reputations and easily hurt if anyone slights them or speaks a word against them, yet all of this has its roots in pride and self-esteem. But one who is walking with God, who is painfully conscious of the plague of his heart, who in some measure at least sees himself as God sees him, is so thoroughly aware of his awful corruptions, his many inward and outward defects, that he knows quite well that the worst men can say against him falls far short of the estimate he has of himself. The one who unsparingly judges himself is unruffled by the criticisms of others.

When one is truly walking with God his only concern is what his Divine Master thinks of him. If he makes conscience of all that displeases Him, if he daily confesses to Him every known sin and begs Him to cleanse him from sins of ignorance and omission, if he be sincerely endeavoring to walk in the path of obedience, it will trouble him very little what other worms of the dust think or say about him. He is conscious of the fact that God knows his heart, that if only he has the approbation of the Lord this is worth infinitely more than the highest esteem of all mankind. Said the apostle Paul, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you” (1 Corinthians 4:3): their opinion mattered nothing, his responsibility was not unto them. “Yea, I judge not mine self,” he added: Christ alone is my Lord and Judge, by Him I stand or fall. Blessed liberty is it when we are delivered from being in bondage to the fickle opinions and estimates of man, who will one day cry Hosannah” and the next day “crucify.”

It is not that walking with God produces a spirit of egotism which causes one to have so high regard of himself that he considers he is outside the range of human judgment: no, far otherwise. Nor will he disdain a correction or admonition when he needs it: rather will he say with David, “Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my heady’ (Psalms 141:5). A truly humble soul will weigh before God the reproofs of the righteous. “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Proverbs 9:8), for he knows full well that “faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” “As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear” (Proverbs 25:12): alas, how few with an “obedient ear” are now left! But while welcoming needful reproofs and being thankful for the faithful dealings of those who wish him well, this is vastly different from being the prey of public opinion, fearful of being misunderstood, wondering what one and another will say of us, even while we are doing that which is right.

Second, we find it very difficult to persuade ourselves that when the Lord said “Judge not, that ye be not judged” He had reference to nothing else, nothing more solemn and searching than, Refrain from passing unlawful judgment upon others lest you meet with the same treatment at the hands of your fellows. Such a warning has little weight with the majority of professors and none at all with those who are walking in the fear of God, for where His fear possesses the heart it is delivered from the fear of man. Furthermore, it seems entirely out of accord with the whole tenor of His Sermon, with the searching character of all its details, that He should introduce and make so prominent (note Matthew 7:2) what is after all but a secular motive. In a discourse, one chief design of which was to make plain the spirituality of the Christian character in contrast with the worldly character of the Pharisee, Christ would surely employ a weightier dissuasive than the mere fear of suffering from the fickle judgments of fellow mortals.

Third, and what is more decisive, the idea that “judge not, that ye be not judged” means we shall in this matter reap in this world exactly as we sow-that if we defame others we also shall be defamed, that if we refrain from rashly and censoriously censuring others we shall ourselves be spared the experience-will not stand the test of Holy Writ. Apply it to the Lord Jesus Christ and the treatment which He met with from man: He never unjustly or unmercifully censured another, yet how frequently were false and cruel charges preferred against Him. Apply the principle to the life of the apostle Paul and see how completely it breaks down; can we suppose that God had employed him to write 1 Corinthians 13 had he been of a censorious, carping, pharisaical spirit? Yet he was “defamed” on every side and accounted “the offscouring of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:13)! No, such an explanation, such a theory, will stand neither the test of Scripture nor of Christian experience and observation today.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” In view of what has been pointed out we cannot avoid the conviction that many of the commentators unwittingly toned down this solemn portion of the Truth, blunting the sharp edge of the sword of the Spirit, for it seems clear to us that some vastly more awe-inspiring motive was in our Lord’s mind, a far weightier dissuasive from the sin forbidden than the treatment we shall meet with at the hands of our fellows. We are persuaded that what Christ here had reference to was not the judgments of men but the judgments of God, not the decisions of time but the verdicts of eternity. In reality it is but a sop for the conscience, a sewing of " pillows to all armholes” (Ezekiel 13:18), to tell people if they be guilty of transgressing this precept and unlawfully judging others that all they have to fear is being unrighteously judged by their fellows. But for Christ to declare that such conduct will meet with Divine judgment at the Awful Assize is a warning which may well make the most thoughtless to consider and the stoutest heart to quake.

But it should be pointed out that this warning of Christ’s is not to. be understood as meaning: If you be generous in the verdicts you pass upon others, God will be lenient in His judgment concerning you; that if you be harsh and cruel, God will deal severely with you. No, whatever our judgments of others may be, God’s judgment will be “according to truth” and that without “respect of persons” (Romans 2:2, Romans 2:11). Thus we understand our Lord to mean: Beware of forming wrong judgments of your brethren and fellow men, especially hasty and unmerciful ones, for all your judgments are to be reviewed in the searching light of God’s throne, and by those judgments you are yourselves to be then judged. Not that the judgments we form of each other are to be the sole test by which our profession will be weighed and our character tried, but that this will be one of the tests. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:37) will be another; our treatment of Christ’s brethren, as Matthew 25 plainly intimates, will be yet another. Take care then that your judgments of others be such as will endure the scrutiny of the Divine Judge, for if they are not they must lead to disapproval.

We are well aware of the fact that what we have said above is contrary to most of the teaching of the day even in orthodox circles. So much emphasis has been laid upon certain favorite verses that the balance of Truth has been lost here, as it has almost everywhere else. Such a statement as He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel” (Numbers 23:21) has been interpreted to mean that God looks not upon His people as they are in themselves but ever views them in Christ, and therefore sees them as without any sin. But such an idea is flatly contradicted by Holy Writ. God does take cognizance of our sins and plainly declares: “If His children forsake My law and walk not in My judgments; . . . If they break My statutes and keep not My commandments; . . .

Then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes” (Psalms 89:30-32). Believers are required to confess their sins, and both their forgiveness and cleansing are made contingent thereon (1 John 1:9). It is blessedly true that the believer has a perfect standing or status before God, yet that must not be made to swallow up his state and present case.

We would not for a moment consciously weaken the glorious force of “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), and “he that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [Greek “judgment “I; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Yet those verses must not be understood in such a way as to clash with other portions of God’s Word, such, for example, as “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God” (1 Peter 4:17). No born-again soul shall ever suffer the eternal judgment of God, for he has for ever passed beyond the reach of penal death or the curse of the Law, Christ having suffered the curse on his behalf. But though beyond the curse of the Law, Christians are subject to the government of God, and that government will not make light of wrongdoing nor relinquish its righteous requirements. Sin is no less sinful when committed by a believer than by an unbeliever, and unless it be repented of or put right before God in this life it will have to he put right in the Day to come. And who that loves holiness would wish it were otherwise? Many a breach between fellow Christians is never healed in this world: must not things be put right between them before they can spend eternity together in heaven?

Both the orthodox pulpit and what is regarded as sound literature convey the impression that no matter how grievously the Christian may have failed in his duty, he has nothing to fear so far as the next life is concerned, that however careless and fruitless he has been, unclouded bliss awaits him after death. But between death and eternity proper is the Day of Judgment! But the Truth is now so watered down and so accommodated to the carnal mind that the Lord’s people are led to believe complacently that so far as they are concerned that Day will be solely one of receiving rewards and words of praise. But this writer does not so read the Scriptures: he finds another class of passages which set forth quite a different aspect of the Truth, and though these passages be almost universally shelved, or “explained away” when pressed upon the attention of those claiming to be Christians, he dare not ignore them or fritter them down.

“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:10-11). We merely call attention to the bare fact that the judgment seat of Christ is here set before believers as a solemn motive to refrain from judging their brethren, a motive which will have no force if commendation is all they are to receive there; and that this warning is immediately followed with “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God”: that this rendering of accounts will be something more than a mere formality scarcely needs to be pointed out. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). This has reference to the adjudication of the labours of Christ’s servants, when their work will be subjected to the searching scrutiny of Divine holiness: “saved, yet so as by fire” certainly does not suggest a happy experience-not that we understand there is anything in these verses which furnishes the slightest support to the popish “purgatory.” Ministers would do well seriously to ponder this passage and turn it into earnest prayer.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). The “we” takes in the whole election of grace, all who are redeemed by Christ. That there will be something more than the handing out of bouquets is plainly intimated in “that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad.” An awe-inspiring description of Christ in His office of Judge (when inspecting and passing sentence upon His churches) is given in Revelation 1, where He is seen with “His eyes as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters” (Revelation 1:14-15). “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23): observe the solemn motive given for enforcing this solemn precept: “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons” (Colossians 3:24-25): that some will be “ashamed before Him” in that Day is clear from 1 John 2:28. May the Lord enable both writer and reader to live his life more and more with the judgment seat of Christ before him.

Matthew 7:2

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 41

FROM JUDGING OTHER

Matthew 7:2-4

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eve, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 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 eve?”

Two chapters have already been devoted to the opening verse of Matthew 7. Following our usual custom we first dealt with it in a topical manner. There is now so much confusion and misunderstanding of what is meant by that prohibition “Judge not” that we felt it was necessary to show at length what is not there forbidden and then point out what is reprehended, seeking to set before the reader the fact that God does not forbid us making use of the critical faculty with which He has endowed us, but rather that we are required to exert it and form an estimate of whatever we meet with in the path of duty-otherwise, how else shall we escape being deceived by false appearances and imposed upon by every impostor we meet? On the other hand, there are many forms of unlawfully judging others, against which we must be much on our guard, the principal of which we sought to describe. Second, we endeavoured to explain the first reason by which Christ enforced this prohibition-“that ye be not judged.” This is a far more solemn dissuasive than is commonly believed: referring not so much to the treatment we shall receive from our fellows, but of the Divine disapproval at the judgment seat of Christ.

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2). These words contain an amplification of the dissuasive employed by our Lord against unlawful judging at the close of the preceding verse. They warn us that there is One above whose eye is ever upon us and His ear open to every word we utter. If that solemn fact were more seriously laid to heart by us, it would act as a powerful restraint upon us. If we add to that weighty consideration the yet more awe-inspiring truth that we shall yet have to render an account unto God and that His dealings with us in that Day will be regulated by how we have dealt with our fellows, well may we take heed to our ways. “Your judging of others shall afford materials for your being judged, and the measure we have dealt out to others shall be employed, in part, as the ground of determining what measure shall be awarded us. It is just as if our Lord had said, Judging is a serious matter, for it brings after it a fearfully important consequence (John Brown).

Though the Christian stands in a radically and vitally different relation to God than the reprobate, yet both the regenerate and the unregenerate are alike the subjects of His righteous government, and He will no more wink at the sins of the one than He will at the sins of the other. True, the believer does not and will not suffer the penal consequences of his sins, for those were visited upon his gracious Substitute. True he will not have to answer for any of the sins he committed in the days of his unregeneracy, for they have all been “blotted out” by the precious blood of the Lamb and removed from before the face of God “as far as the east is from the west. Nor do we believe that those sins committed after he became a Christian, and which he has truly repented of and confessed to God, will come up before him at the judgment seat of Christ, for they are “forgiven” and from their unrighteousness he is “cleansed (1 John 1:9). Nevertheless, it seems clear to us from Scripture that those sins which the Christian has not repented of and confessed, and those wrongs against his brethren which are not put right in this life, must be reviewed and put right in the Day to come.

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Surely these words of Christ are very far from conveying the idea that His people may unlawfully judge others without fear of any unpleasant consequences attending such a course of conduct: that they mar unjustly, uncharitably and unmercifully pass judgment on their fellows, yea, upon their brethren, and then console themselves that they will not be called upon to give an account of such reprehensible behavior in the Day of Judgment. The fallacy of such a concept should at once appear in the light of all that is revealed of the Divine character. It is not so much a matter of appealing to specific statements of Holy Writ, as it is of bearing in mind the general Analogy of Faith: the ineffable holiness of God, the uniform dealings of Him who is no respecter of persons, the One whose throne is founded upon justice and judgment. It is the basic and broad principles of the Divine government which enable us to envisage its particular exercise and application to any given case.

In all of God’s dealings with His people grace and righteousness are outstandingly manifested, and never one without the other. It is by grace they are saved, yet that very salvation is the proof of Christ’s having satisfied every demand of Divine righteousness in their behalf. Though our God be “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), yet His grace reigns and is ever exercised toward us “through righteousness” (Romans 5:21) and never at the expense of it. Why then should it be thought strange if both the righteousness and the grace of God should be displayed when He deals with His own people at the judgment seat of Christ? While it be blessedly true that “grace” will be brought to us “at the revelation [second coming] of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13), yet will not the dark background of sin be needed in order that grace may shine forth the more illustriously? If the believer is confronted with his unrepented sins, will he not then perceive as never before that doom which he justly deserves and marvel at the grace which delivers him from such a doom? If his sins be. not brought up then, what need would there be that “he may find mercy of the Lord in that Day” (2 Timothy 1:18)!

In view of what has been said above it may be replied, But does not God visit upon His wayward people the governmental consequences of their sins in this life? Are they not made to reap here what they have sown? If they are harsh in their judgment of others does not the overruling and righteous hand of God so order things that they meet with similar treatment at the hands of their fellows? And even if that be not always the case, yet does not retribution smite them in their conscience, so that their peace is marred and their joy greatly diminished? Against this we have nothing further to say, except that God in His sovereignty may deal more gently with one than with another offender. But what we would point out is that there is nothing whatever said in this passage (nor, so far as we are aware, in any other) that the judgment which Christ announces as coming upon the offender is one that is limited to this life, and where He has not so qualified it, we dare not.

In reply to our last remark it may be asked what Scriptures we have which warrant the idea that the sins of believers are to be dealt with (or as we would prefer to express it “be reviewed and righted”) in the Day to come. Answer: In addition to those alluded to at the close of the preceding article we would cite, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season” (2 Timothy 4:1-2). In this passage the apostle is urging Timothy to persevere in the work to which he had been called, warning him that the time would come when sound doctrine would be objectionable to the hearers of it, when they should turn away their ears from the Truth unto fables: nevertheless, says Paul, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions” (2 Timothy 4:3-5). That pressing injunction was enforced by the solemn consideration brought before him at the beginning of the chapter: the living and the dead should be judged at the appearing of his Master. But how could that judgment be a powerful persuasive unto fidelity and diligence unless his ministry was to be thoroughly reviewed in that Day? Wherein lay its solemnity unless he would have to give a full account of his stewardship?

“So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12). This is a most weighty and solemn exhortation, one which professing Christians of this heedless generation need seriously and honestly to ponder. The “Law of Liberty” is a Divine appellation of the Moral Law (the ten commandments), as is made unmistakably clear by the immediate context. In James 2:9 believers are warned that if they have “respect to persons, that is, cherish and exercise a spirit of partiality, esteeming the wealthy member of the church more highly than the poorer ones (see James 2:1-5), they are guilty of sin, being “convinced [brought in guilty] of the Law as transgressors,” for the Law requires us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Those who committed this offence might deem it a trivial one, far less heinous than adultery or murder; so the apostle reminds his readers that the Law is a unit and its authority uniform, and therefore to break any part of it brings in the transgressor as guilty of breaking it as a whole (James 2:10-11).

From what had been affirmed in James 2:9-11 the apostle draws a seasonable exhortation, one which would be really startling unto many today if they pondered and believed it: the Lord’s people are bidden to conduct their lives now in the realization that they are yet to be judged by the Law, they should order their speeches and actions in the light of the Day to come if they would then survive the test of the Law. So far from the Christian having nothing to do with the Law, he is yet going to be examined by it, as to how near or how far short his behavior has come in meeting its requirements. For though believers have been delivered from the Law as a covenant of works, yet it is still their rule of conduct; though they have been freed from its terrors (its curse), they have not been freed from its requirements-obedience. To unbelievers that Law is a Law of bondage and death, but to those who have by grace been made partakers of the nature of the Lawgiver it is one of freedom and life: said David “I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts (Psalms 119:45).

Though the Law be one of liberty, it is not one of license: so far from it, the Law will be the rule of the Christian’s judgment and therefore is he bidden so to order his speech and conduct that he may endure its trial in the Day to come. Solemn indeed is it to know that our speeches, as well as our actions, shall come under the judicature of God. Still more solemn is the next verse: “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 2:13). Those who have dealt unmercifully with others shall find no mercy with God, but they who have acted leniently and charitably shall then receive fulfillment of that promise “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7)-their having dealt mercifully with their fellows is not the cause why God will then extend mercy towards them but is the evidence they will receive it. They who have been merciful will endure the test of the Law, for they shall not only find judgment tempered with mercy but overcome by it, for God will rejoice to deal mercifully with those who imitated Himself.

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2). In this amplification of the preceding sentence it seems to us our Lord declares that the more rigidly or strictly we judge others, the more strictly will God yet judge us. In other words, the more light we had, the more we expected and demanded that the conduct of others should square with our rule or measure up to the standard of our apprehension, then let us know that God will deal with us accordingly. There will be no room for us to plead ignorance, for we shall be judged by the very light we had and insisted that others should walk according to-compare Luke 12:47-48, for an illustration of this principle. As Matthew Henry’s commentary says on James 3:1, “Those who set up themselves for judges and censurers shall receive the greater condemnation. Our judging others will but make our judgment the more strict and severe. Those who are curious to spy into the faults of others and arrogate a power in passing censures upon them, may expect that God will be as extreme in marking what they say and do amiss.”

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?” (Matthew 7:3-4). These verses contain a second dissuasive from forming unlawful censures upon our brethren. Reduced to its simplest terms the reason may be expressed thus: no one is qualified or fit to censure another while he is himself an even greater offender. One would think this so obvious that there was scarcely need to state it, still less to urge it; yet experience proves that all of us are so corrupted by sin, so prone to act the part of a Pharisee, that we have real need to be warned thereon and to translate the warning into earnest prayer. Unless we take heed of the corruptness of our nature and are constantly on our guard against indulging depravity, breaking forth in this reprehensible and vile form, we shall soon find ourselves guilty of the very species of hypocrisy which our Lord here condemned, yea, it is much to be feared that if we reviewed the past and diligently examined ourselves, not one of us -could truthfully claim to be free from this fault.

The first thing taught by this parabolic utterance of Christ’s is that sin exerts a blinding influence. Most clearly is this evidenced by the unregenerate, for though blind to their own terrible condition they are quick to perceive the faults and failings of others. And regeneration does not free the believer from this evil tendency, for sin still indwells him, and just in proportion as he fails to judge himself unsparingly will he be inclined to censure others. The second thing intimated by Christ’s figurative language is that there are degrees of sin, as appears from the “mote” and the “beam,” just as when He charged the scribes and Pharisees with straining at a “gnat” and swallowing a “camel” (Matthew 23:34). Not that we may draw the conclusion that any sins are mere trifles, for there can be no such thing as a little sin against a great God, nevertheless there are degrees of heinousness and guilt in different transgressions, as is clear from Matthew 11:23-24; John 19:11; Hebrews 10:29. The contrast pointed by Christ is between one who allows some lust to prevail over him and yet presumes to criticize another for some infirmity or minor offence.

Our Lord’s questions “Why seest thou the mote?” and “How sayest thou to thy brother, Let me pull out” have the force of, With what face, with what honesty, can you act thus? Upon what ground do you set up yourself as a scrutinizer and critic of the actions of others? Does such a course of procedure issue from a good conscience? Here our Lord teaches us that our deeds and words, yea, our very thoughts also, must be conceived and uttered on a good ground and in a proper manner. In Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, we are forbidden to speak rashly in the house of prayer or utter anything which has not been duly weighed, and here our Saviour extends this rule to every thought of our hearts and word of our mouths which concern our brethren. For by “brother” here we understand a fellow member of the Household of Faith, which is what makes Christ’s admonition the more solemn and searching, for it is a far more serious offence to wrong a brother or sister in Christ than a worldling: in wounding the former we are wounding Christ Himself (Acts 9:1-4).

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye?” The majority of the commentators take the view that “brother” here has merely the force of “neighbour,” for they consider it is quite inadmissible to regard as truly regenerate one whom our Lord designates a “hypocrite”: whatever difficulty that may raise we shall deal with it when we come to Matthew 7:5. To us it seems clear that it is two Christians who are in view, from the circumstance that the “eye” mentioned is not altogether blind (which is spiritually the case with the regenerate) but merely contains some foreign substance which needs removing. Another thing suggested by the figure used by our Lord on this occasion is that the “eye” (the understanding or faculty of spiritual discernment) may be quite sound in itself though temporarily damaged or put out of action by the presence of an intruding particle: hence there is a tacit but real warning for us against being too ready to denounce the inward condition of a brother simply because of some outward act, which may be but the temporary result of neglect in watching and prayer, followed by a temptation from without.

The first thing which Christ here reprehends is what we may term the deliberateness and partiality of such conduct. The offender is pictured as one who is definitely on the lookout for blemishes in his brother, fixing his gaze on such: “why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye?” has the force of, How can you justify this wretched practice of so eagerly searching for and so fixedly concentrating upon his infirmities?-for a “mote” in the eye of another could only be detected by one who was watching him very closely. It is as though he is determined to overlook all that is good in his brother, fixing his unfriendly gaze upon the tiniest fault he can discern in him. This is indeed a deplorable state of soul to get into, one which we require to watch diligently and pray earnestly against. To overlook all that which the Spirit has wrought in another and to be occupied only with that which is of the flesh is displeasing to God, unfair to the brother, and highly injurious to our own good.

Far worse is such a course of conduct when we ourselves are guilty of much greater sins than the one we condemn in our brother, which is the principal thing which Christ is here condemning. The glaring impropriety of such a wretched procedure must at once be apparent to all fair-minded people. What right have I to complain at a tiny mote in another’s eye when I suffer a beam to remain in my own? To appear so very solicitous about the welfare of a brother as to be concerned over his minutest failings and anxious to correct his slightest faults, while I completely disregard my own sad and far worse state, is nothing but a species of downright hypocrisy. Thus it was with the scribes and Pharisees, who condemned Christ for healing the sick on the Sabbath and censured His disciples for plucking ears of corn on that day to appease their hunger and for eating with “unwashen hands,” yet themselves were guilty of encouraging men to hold their parents in contempt. But again we must remind ourselves that we too are Pharisees by nature, and so deeply corrupted are our hearts and so prone to this sin of rashly judging others that nothing but Divine grace-definitely and daily sought by us-can preserve us from the committal thereof.

Matthew 7:3

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 41

FROM JUDGING OTHER

Matthew 7:2-4

Matthew 7:4

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 41

FROM JUDGING OTHER

Matthew 7:2-4

Matthew 7:5

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 42

HELPING ERRING

Matthew 7:5

“Thou hypocrite, first cast Out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

The rule of conduct which the Word of God sets before us contains far more than a series of negative prohibitions, forbidding certain things: it also marks out a path to be walked in, setting forth positive directions of action. To be preserved from sinning is good, but to be impelled unto practical holiness is far better, the one being the means of the other. It is not sufficient for the branches of the vine to be kept free from blight and pests: they must produce fruit if they are to justify their existence. It is not enough for a garden to be clear of weeds: it must yield healthy vegetables if it is to be of service to its owner. So of the Christian: “be not overcome of evil” is only the first part of the duty laid upon him-“but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21) is what is especially required of us. An illustration of this important principle, so frequently inculcated by Christ and His apostles, appears in the passage now before us. Our Lord did not stop short by merely condemning the evil habit of unlawfully judging our brethren, but went on to give instructions as to how we should deal with those needing assistance, and particularly how we must deal with ourselves if we are to be qualified for a ministry of helpfulness unto others.

From what our Lord has said in the opening verses of Matthew 7 it might possibly be concluded that it is not permissible for us to admonish a brother or seek the amendment of his fault, yet further reflection should show us that that inference is entirely erroneous. Christ has plainly warned us, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17)-“fulfil” it not only in His mediatorial and atoning work, but in His teachings and by inspiring His followers to act according to the requirements of the Law (Romans 3:31; Romans 7:22). Now the Law had expressly enjoined, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him” (Leviticus 19:17), and therefore it must not be supposed for a moment that there was anything in the teaching of Christ which set aside that statute. It cannot be insisted upon too strongly today that there is not the slightest conflict between the Moral Law and the Gospel, but rather the most perfect harmony. It cannot be otherwise, since the Author of the one is equally the Author of the other, and He “changeth not.”

One of the most disastrous errors and follies of many preachers and “Bible teachers” fifty years ago, the terrible effects of which are now spread before those who have eyes to see, was their idea that during the Old Testament era God’s people were under the stern regime of Law unrelieved by Divine grace, and that Christ came here to set aside that harsh regime and bring in a much milder dispensation. Not so: Christ came here to “magnify the law, and make it honorable” (Isaiah 42:21). That Law needed no apology and no amendment, for it is “holy and just and good,” being “spiritual” (Romans 7:12-14). The sum of its requirements is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves: and every requirement of the Moral Law is enforced in the precepts of the Gospel. The great difference between the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations lies not in any change in the rule of conduct set before us, but in the more effectual motives by which that rule is now enforced and the Divine enablement which is now vouchsafed. As a nation Israel was unregenerate and therefore the Law was “weak through the flesh” (Romans 8:3); but Christians have received the spirit of “power” (2 Timothy 1:6) and a holy nature which delights in the Law.

“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him” (Leviticus 19:17). How different is the tenor of that from the maudlin sentimentality of this effeminate generation. Nowadays, one who seeks to be faithful to the standard of holiness and to his brethren is, in the vast majority of instances, regarded as “lacking in love.” People who speak thus have no idea of what spiritual love is. Spiritual love is no sickly sentiment but a holy principle. God is love, yet that prevents Him not from using the rod on His children when they require it, but rather moves Him to employ it. That parent who follows the line of least resistance, allowing the children to do as they please and never chastising them for their faults, is lacking in love towards his offspring; but he who truly seeks their good, lays aside his own feelings and inflicts corporal punishment when it is needed, is the father who evidences the most love. Genuine love is faithful, sets aside one’s own interests and feelings, and ever seeks to promote the well-being of the object of it.

Thus should it be between Christian brethren; thus it must be if obedience is rendered to the Divine precepts. It is not love which ignores a brother’s failings, which refuses to perform the unpleasant duty of seeking an amendment in his ways. No, it is a species of hatred, as Leviticus 19:17, plainly intimates, for there is no third quality between love and hatred, as there is no third alternative between right and wrong. If I really have my brother’s welfare at heart, then love itself requires that I wink not at his sins, but rather endeavour to save him from them-just as much as it would demand me warning him when I perceive the first wisp of smoke issuing from one of his windows: why wait till his house be half burned down before giving the alarm? Furthermore, to ignore the sins of one with whom I am intimate makes me (in some measure at least) a “partaker of them” (1 Timothy 5:22), as is intimated by the alternative rendering of the last clause of Lev 19:17 : “that thou bear not sin for him” (margin).

There was therefore nothing in Christ’s teaching in Matthew 7 which in any wise conflicted with Leviticus 19:17, but rather that which threw light thereon. It was not the act of admonishing a brother which He here forbade, but the wrong manner in which it may be done. This is clear from the verse at which we have now arrived: “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the beam out of thy brother’s eye.” Here our Lord makes known the course which we must follow if we are to be of real help to those in whose case the old saying is likely to prove true, “a stitch in time saves nine-helping to correct a man’s fault often saves from having to go to him about a much graver offence. But even here, the removing of a tiny particle from the eye of another is not one which any careless hand can successfully undertake, rather will such a hand irritate the other’s eye and make bad matters worse.

First a word needs to be said on the epithet used by Christ on this occasion. It looks back to the case described in Matthew 7:3-4, where this evil habit of rashly censuring others, to which we are all so prone, is represented as one steadily fixing his unfriendly gaze upon the mote that is in his brother’s eye while indifferent to the beam which is in his own-undertaking to correct some lesser fault in him while allowing a much graver sin in himself. What else could our holy Lord designate such a despicable person but a “hypocrite,” that is, the actor of a part, one pretending to be very zealous as to the requirements of holiness while himself living in neglect of and violating its plainest dictates? Uncompromising faithfulness would not permit of Christ’s using any milder term. Yet there is no more reason why we should conclude from this word that the one to whom it is applied was unregenerate than from His declaring to Peter “thou art an offence to Me” (Matthew 16:23) or His terming two of His disciples “fools” (Luke 24:25).

Had the one whom our Lord here addressed been an unregenerate soul, not only would He have refrained from designating the one whom He censured as “a brother,” but we can scarcely conceive of Him going to the pains of instructing one who was still dead in trespasses and sins what he must first do in order that he might “see clearly to cast out the mote out of his brother’s eye.” No, it appears to us that the Lord designated this careless believer who failed to judge himself unsparingly (though seeking to correct another) a “hypocrite” to express His detestation of such conduct, to let us know how it appears in His eyes, and therefore to bring home to our hearts the gravity of a practice which we are so ready to tolerate in ourselves. Nothing is more hateful to God than play-acting, and we are guilty of this very thing when we pose as faithful guardians of our brother’s interests while we are faithless in our personal dealings with God Himself; while nothing is more pleasing in His sight than honesty and sincerity, which is the opposite of hypocrisy.

“First cast out the beam out of thine own eye” means be faithful in dealing with yourself, unsparingly judging yourself before God, putting away out of your heart and life whatsoever you know to he displeasing unto Him. This is the grand remedy for the disease of unlawfully judging others, as it is the chief requirement if you are to be of any real help in ministering to your erring brethren. Not only is it utterly incongruous for one who is allowing and indulging in some flagrant lust to pose as being grieved over some infirmity in another, but one who is almost totally blinded spiritually (by arrogance and hypocrisy) is utterly incapable of performing such a difficult and delicate operation as the removal of a mote from his brother’s eye: one who is under the influence of any gross sin not only has his spiritual discernment obscured, but his spiritual sensibilities are so blunted that he is unable to sympathize with a suffering one: such a one is not only unfit to judge others, but thoroughly disqualified as a critic and censor of their minor failings.

Casting the beam out of my own eye signifies unqualified judging of myself before God (1 Corinthians 11:21). My first responsibility is to diligently examine my own heart, carefully consider my own ways, critically measure myself by the unerring standard of Scripture and honestly and constantly confess my many sins to God (Lamentations 3:40). If I am sincerely desirous of pleasing God in all things, I shall beg Him to show me what there is in my own life which is displeasing to Him (Psalms 139:23-24). If I truly long to show forth His praises (1 Peter 2:9), I shall not excuse my fleshly conduct, but shall condemn it and earnestly seek grace to forsake the same. And if I genuinely wish to be of real spiritual help unto my erring brethren, I shall rigidly purge myself of everything which would defeat such efforts. Only as I am unflinchingly faithful with myself can I hope to be of any assistance to others.

Clear vision is needed to locate and remove a “mote” from the eye of another, and clear vision comes only from my own close walking with Him who is light (Psalms 36:9; John 8:12). How much longer are we going to suffer the beam in our own eye?

One principal reason why we are so slow in casting the beam out of our own eye is that we fail to “perceive” it, as is intimated by Christ in Matthew 7:3. Obviously this does not mean that we are totally unaware of its presence, but rather that we fail to make conscience of the same. The expression “perceive it not” has reference to an act of the mind which follows upon the bare sight of anything. consisting of serious consideration and prolonged meditation. It is the word used in “consider the lilies” of the field (Luke 12:27): that is, not only look upon them but ponder them over in your mind. It is the word used in “a man that beholdeth his natural face in a glass” (James 1:23): that is, who gazes steadily at it and considers each feature. Thus, “perceive not” in Matthew 7:3, means a failure to consider and regard attentively.

If we are truly to perceive” the beam in our own eye, with the purpose of casting it out, we must make conscience of the same, seriously considering its heinousness in God’s sight, laboring to have our hearts affected by it. It should be obvious that we shall never voluntarily and deliberately eject from our hearts and lives that which we still love and cherish, and therefore we must labour to have our hearts so affected by our lusts and sins that we shall sorrow over and hate them.

The converse of this is that awful deadness of soul and security in sin, which if undisturbed is certain to lead to the most fearful if not fatal consequences. Proof of this appears in the case of the antediluvians, of whom Christ declared they “knew not until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:29): though they may have had some consciousness of their carnality and madness, yet they thought not seriously thereon, and so remained secure in their wickedness. A similar state of affairs existed in Israel in the days of Jeremiah: the Lord complained that the people made no conscience of their sins, remaining secure therein: “No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?” (Jeremiah 8:6). Nothing is more serious and fatal than to commit sins and refuse to be humbled by them, but instead to remain unconcerned. Sins must be laid to heart and sorrowed over before they will be forsaken and expelled.

In order to be helpful at this point, it is necessary to be explicit, so let us mention one or two things which are so often a “beam” in the eyes of God’s people. First, hypocrisy, which whenever it dominates the heart prevents all spiritual growth and fruit. Christians are guilty of allowing this vile weed to flourish far more than they are aware of. This is the case where we are more anxious to please men than the Lord; where we are more diligent in seeking to perform the external requirements of the first table of the Law than of the second-note how Christ pressed the commandment of the second table on the rich young ruler (Luke 18:20)-where we are more careful to please God in the outward action than we are with the strength of our hearts. Another great “beam” is spiritual pride, which also is most abhorrent unto Him with whom we have to do. This it is which makes us pleased with ourselves, self-confident, and to look down upon others.

It is an inward poison which prevents the health of grace within. It is that which marks Laodiceans (Revelation 3:17). Finally, any particular besetting sin or lust which is not resisted and mortified soon assumes the proportions of a “beam” and effectually blinds our judgment.

An important practical question which needs to be answered at this stage is, What course should be followed in order that we may feel the weight of these “beams” pressing upon our hearts? Surely it must be by counteracting that tendency within us to regard our sins lightly, to look upon our own constitutional faults as mere “motes,” and that must he done by faithfully examining them in the light of God’s Word. More particularly we ought to compare the sins of which we are guilty with the original transgression of Adam. Are we not tolerating things in our hearts and lives which are even greater evils than Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit considered in the act? Yet by that sin he not only brought death upon himself, but also upon all his posterity! Again, if we would perceive and feel the exceeding sinfulness of our sins we must view them in the light of Calvary, and observe the fearful price which had to be paid for the atonement of them. Finally, we must contemplate the heinousness and guilt of our sins in view of the lake of fire and brimstone, for nothing short of everlasting suffering is what they deserve.

It is only as we feel the dreadful weight of our sins and their enormity in the sight of the Holy One that we shall really cry out, “Hide Thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalms 51:9-10). But it is not sufficient that we sorrow over our sins and seek God’s forgiveness of them: we must labour to break them off and amend our evil ways, striving by all means that sin may be weakened in us more and more. It is the one who confesses and forsakes his sins who finds mercy (Proverbs 28:13): on the other band, “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me” (Psalms 66:18). Unless I cast the beam out of my own eye, how can I attend to the mote in another’s? Unless I disallow and mortify my lusts I am totally disqualified to rebuke sin in my brother. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. . .Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways” (Psalms 51:10-13); when thou art converted, [recovered] strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32)!

“And then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” In order to remove a “mote” from another’s eye one must be close to hum! Therein Christ intimates who are the ones we should seek to help by correcting their faults, namely those who are near to us and not strangers: those who are members of our own family, intimate friends, and those with whom we are in close church fellowship. Much harm has been done through ignoring this obvious and simple rule. My responsibility is first unto myself, then unto those bearing intimate ties: alas, not only do many think highly of themselves, but they allow sentiment to hinder faithful dealings with those dear unto them. But this necessity of closeness to one from whose eye I would remove a mote not only connotes a nearness of relationship, but also a moral nearness, winning a p lace in his affections and esteem; I cannot get close to another while standing on a lofty pedestal of assumed self-superiority!

No service calls for more prayer, delicacy of feeling, spiritual wisdom and meekness, than does this one. The motive impelling it must he love: the end in view the glory of God: our aim the recovery of an erring one. The eye is the most sensitive organ of the body and the most easily damaged. A steady and gentle hand s required to extract the foreign substance from it. Care should be taken in selecting the best time to approach an erring brother, so that the reproof is likely to be effectual: before Abigail admonished her husband for his churlish conduct unto David, she waited till the wine had gone out of his head (1 Samuel 25:36-37)-never correct one while he is in a towering rage. The nature of the fault in the erring one must be weighed: whether it proceed from human frailty or be some deliberate and high-handed sin, if we are to speak to him a word in season.” Pains should be taken to make him see that he is at fault, that he has acted contrary to God’s Word, for we are required to reprove and rebuke “with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2) and thereby deliver the admonition not in our own name but in God’s.

“Brethren, 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” (Galatians 6:1). Only he who “spiritual”-who allows not sin in himself, walks softly with God- is fit to approach a fellow believer for this necessary and difficult task. We are to remember that we are so united together in one family and fellowship that the wrongdoing of one concerns all, and that it is in the interests of the whole household of faith to seek the restoration of the erring one. Such restoration can only be per. formed “in the spirit of meekness”-gentleness and lowliness of heart-for harshness and arrogance repel, not win. Whatever fault he has committed, let us not forget that but for Divine grace we too would fall in the same way, as we acknowledge to God whenever we pray “lead us not into temptation.” What we say to him must not only be “a word in season” but “fitly spoken” (Proverbs 25:11)!

Finally, it should be pointed out that if we are to remove the mote from another’s eye he must he willing for us to do so-any spirit of resistance makes the operation impossible. The very figure used by Christ here plainly connotes that each of us should freely submit ourselves to brotherly correction-“submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). It is very reprehensible and evidences a sad state of soul when we resent and oppose the faithful admonitions of our Christian friends, like the Israelite said to Moses when he reproved him, “Who made thee a prince and judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14). “Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured” (Proverbs 13:18). “He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding (Proverbs 15:32). “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:5): though the song of fools may be more pleasant to our ears, yet the reproofs of the wise are more profitable to our souls, if we heed the same.

Matthew 7:6

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 43

Matthew 7:6

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

Our present verse brings before us the seventh and shortest division of our Lord’s Sermon, for it manifestly treats of a different branch of the Truth from any which has been dealt with in the previous sections. Though Christ’s language here be figurative (as so often in this address), it is far from being ambiguous, yet its force and purport were probably more easily perceived by His immediate audience than by us. With few exceptions it is the state of our hearts rather than the obscurity of its language which prevents our understanding the meaning of some portion in Holy Writ. Such is certainly the case here. It is greatly to be feared that there are many in Christendom today who are much averse from heeding this Divine precept, and therefore they pretend it is hard to be understood. None so blind as those who refuse to see.

How many smug professors in the churches today would be highly offended if the minister dealt with them in the same way as the Saviour did with the Canaanitish women, telling them, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs” (Matthew 15:26). Such discrimination does not at all suit this latitudinarian age.

“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” (Matthew 7:6). It must be admitted that most of the commentators appear to have experienced difficulty with this verse, not because they found its terms obscure, but in the fixing of their precise reference. It was not its interpretation which troubled them so much as its application. The method we propose to follow in our exposition of it is the following. First, to ascertain its precise relation to the context. Second, to ponder it in the light of our Lord’s own example, for most assuredly He ever practiced what He preached, and as we are called upon to “follow His steps” it is most necessary for us to examine the path He trod-here as everywhere.

Third, to point Out its application to the ministers of Christ, for it enunciates an important rule to regulate them in their dispensation of the Word. And fourth, to show how this rule applies to the private Christian. May the Spirit of Truth deign to guide our pen.

In examining the relation of our text to the context, we must take into account both its more remote and nearer context. As we have so often pointed out in this series of expositions, the principal key which unlocks to us the contents of this Sermon is found in our Lord’s words, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). It therefore behooves us to inquire, What was the teaching of the Law and the prophets concerning the subject treated of in our text? The first thing we learn there is that under the Law “dogs” and “swine” were unclean and unholy animals, the Israelites being prohibited from using them either for food or as sacrifices unto God, yea, they were not permitted to bring “the price of a dog [the money from selling one] into the house of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:18). Second, we should observe that the term “dog” was applied to persons of worthless character (1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Samuel 16:9; 2 Kings 8:13; etc.).

The sons of Aaron were required to “put difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean” (Leviticus 10:10), to maintain the line of demarcation which God had drawn between the sacred and the profane. They were commanded to exclude the heathen from participating in any of the religious privileges of God’s covenant people (Deuteronomy 23:3). In the days of Israel’s degeneracy God complained that “her priests have violated My Law and have profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 22:26): they had dealt with a latitude or “liberality” such as God had expressly forbidden. He had ordered that His priests should “teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 44:23). A most discriminating ministry was appointed unto Jeremiah, for the Lord required him to “take forth the precious from the vile” (Jeremiah 15:19): that is, draw the line between the godly and ungodly, addressing to each their distinctive and needed message. To Malachi it was promised, “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not” (Malachi 3:18).

Now, says Christ, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.” I have received no commission from My Father to break down the barriers He has erected, to obliterate the lines He has drawn. Rather am I come “to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17): to magnify the Law and render it honorable, to vindicate the prophets and make good their declarations. I am come to bring in the substance for the shadow, the reality for the typical, the vital for the ceremonial. I too shall discriminate between the clean and the unclean and p lace a fence between the holy and the unholy. Did Moses prohibit the people of God from intermarrying with idolators? Did he exclude the heathen from the sacred temple?

Did he declare that the food of the priestly family was “most holy” (Leviticus 10:12-15) and their exclusive portion or property? Then I likewise command you, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.”

Coming now to the closer context. Is there not clearly a link between our present text and what immediately precedes it? Did not Christ here intimate that something more than clear vision and a kind and steady hand was required if we are to succeed in removing a “mote” from another’s eye? As we pointed out at the close of the previous chapter, the one with an injured eye must be agreeable to submit if you are to help him; the one at fault be willing to receive an admonition. But many are not so: so far from it; they will resent your well-meant overtures and revile you for them-treading your admonitions under their feet and venting their fury upon you. “Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words” (Proverbs 23:9). Thus, having shown how to admonish, the Saviour now makes known who are to be admonished, or rather who are not to be. To reprove a son of Belial is wasted breath (1 Samuel 25:17).

In Matthew 7:5 the Lord had shown how an erring “brother” is to be dealt with-meekly and gently: the rebuke is to be given in a loving and humble spirit. But here in Matthew 7:6 Christ intimates that love must discriminate: all are not “brethren” and will not suffer a rebuke, no matter how graciously given. It is not sufficient then that we take care to be spiritually qualified for reproving another, but we must seek to make sure that there is some probability at least that our efforts will not be worse than lost upon the one we desire to help. Thus, after prohibiting evil-minded censures, Christ here warns against imprudent ones. “Reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee” (Proverbs 9:8). Here, then, is a necessary caution: zeal must be directed by knowledge and holy prudence. Not every person is a fit subject for reproof. Unreasonable men will scoff at the mildest criticism of their evil ways, and to quote Scripture to them only incites them to blasphemy and is casting pearls before swine.

But we may discover a further connection between our text and the verses preceding. In seeking to guard against hasty and harsh judgments we must also beware of abusing grace. If on the one hand we should watch against unjust and unmerciful censuring, on the other we must not be guilty of judging laxly and loosely. There are not only the “sheep” of Christ, but the “dogs” and “swine” of the world, and they are to be treated as such. When an open worldling or obviously carnal person applies for church membership, it would be quite wrong to silence God-fearing objectors with “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Grace must not be allowed to override the requirements of holiness so that the unclean are permitted to enjoy those privileges reserved for those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is through failure at this very point, through a false “charity,” by refusing to heed this command of Christ, that the grossest of evils have been tolerated in the House of God, until the mystical Babylon is “now a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”

Yet it must not be supposed that our text is to be restricted unto a prohibition against imprudent reproving: rather does it enunciate a general principle which is of wide application, for the better perception of which we now turn to ponder it in the light of our Lord’s own personal example. A very wide field is here open for investigation, yet we can only now call attention to a few of its most distinctive features. If the reader will examine the four Gospels afresh from this particular angle, he is likely to meet with some surprises and find there the reverse of what the teaching he has imbibed would lead him to expect. For example, would not the ordinary churchgoer of today suppose that the Lord Jesus spent most of His time in preaching the Gospel to the unsaved; that lie sought out the unchurched masses, endeavoring to arouse them from their unconcern; that He made it His business to go after the giddy worldling and convince him of the folly of his ways; that He proclaimed the love of God to every soul He could possibly make contact with? Then turn to the first four books of the New Testament and see whether or not this was so.

We do indeed read frequently that Christ taught both in the synagogue and in the temple, yet even there He never so much as once mentioned the love of God to sinners-though He had much to say about the Father’s love when He was alone with “His own.” He frequently spoke of His approaching death unto His disciples, but where did He ever preach the atonement in the hearing of the multitude? lit is true that He spoke often in the open air (though never on the streets!), yet it was to those who sought unto Him (Mark 2:13; Luke 6:17)-He never pressed His company on them (Mark 7:17). He spoke many things unto the multitudes in parables, yet the interpretation of them was reserved for God’s elect (Matthew 13:8-9, Matthew 13:11, Matthew 13:36). Our Lord was not transfigured before the gaze of the vulgar crowd, but only in the sight of a favored few. Nor was He seen by the unbelieving world after His resurrection. The grand prophecy of Matthew 24 and 25 was delivered in the hearing of none but believers. He never cast pearls before swine: even when Pilate asked Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37), He did not say, “I am the Truth,” nor did He explain to him the way of salvation.

But let us not be mistaken at this point. God forbid that we should be found writing anything which would deter exercised souls from seeking Christ, and giving them the impression that they would be unwelcome did they come to Him in their deep distress. Nothing is made plainer in the four Gospels than the glorious fact that the Lord Jesus is accessible to every poor sinner who feels his need of Him and that He is willing and ready to heal his soul. “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37) is His own blessed declaration. He declined not an invitation to eat with publicans and sinners, nor did He turn His back upon the leper who sought Him. But what we have directed attention to above is His attitude towards those who sought him not, to those who evidenced no interest in Him, to those who opposed Him. Read again the many recorded cases where the Pharisees antagonized Him: is there a single instance where He preached the Gospel to them? So with the Sadducees and lawyers who endeavoured to ensnare Him: He closed their mouths, but He never opened His heart to them or gave that which was holy unto dogs!

Third, our text enunciates an important principle for the minister of Christ to be regulated by-it is to be borne in mind that the first application of this Sermon is to ministers (Matthew 5:1-2). That rule may be stated thus: discrimination is to be exercised when dispensing the Word of God. Nothing is more urgently needed and seldom found today than a discriminating ministry, by which we mean a “taking forth the precious from the vile” (Jeremiah 15:19). In our congregations both of those classes are represented: those who are dear to God and those abhorred by Him. Now though you cannot distinguish by name yet you can by character. When addressing yourself to the people of God you should make it quite plain that the unregenerate have “no part or lot in the matter.” When preaching from the Divine promises it is necessary to describe the spiritual marks of those to whom such Divine dainties really belong-to those who are not conformed to this world, who deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Christ. The line of demarcation must be drawn so plainly that each hearer knows to which side of the line he belongs.

The Word of God has to be “rightly divided” (2 Timothy 2:15) if each hearer is to obtain his legitimate portion. When the pulpit seeks to expose the hypocrite care needs to be taken lest Christ’s little ones are stumbled, and when the minister seeks to comfort the distressed saints, the cordial must be expressly labeled so that the ungodly are not bolstered up in a false peace. Unless the minister exercises the most prayerful caution, he will be unable to escape that solemn charge, “with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life” (Ezekiel 13:22). Again, Matthew 7:6, is woefully contravened when those with the most barren profession are received into a church fellowship: the “judgment of charity” does not require of us to call darkness light. Laxity is as much an evil as censoriousness. Admitting to the Lord’s table open worldlings is a flagrant violation of our text. And how often is it disregarded in “funeral services and sermons”!

It is very necessary that this precept, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs” should be pressed upon the rank and file of God’s people. In certain circles it has been taught that as soon as a person has experienced the saving grace of God in his heart it is his bounden duty to preach Christ to all his acquaintances, to endeavour to become a “soul winner,” and that if he declines such “personal work” and evangelistic endeavour, it is because he is cold and selfish, indifferent to the eternal welfare of those around him. But where did Christ or any of His apostles bestow such a commission on any young convert? “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul” (Psalms 66:16). That qualification warns us against publishing the most sacred experiences of our hearts to all and sundry, for the unregenerate have no more capacity to appreciate the sovereign operations of the Spirit than swine have to rate pearls at their true value. But is not the young convert to “witness for Christ”? Assuredly, but how? “Ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9): a changed life, an unworldly walk, is the most effective “witness” of all! (see Matthew 5:16).

Zeal needs to be tempered with knowledge. The holy things of the Gospel are not to be bandied about indiscriminately: the precious secrets of His love which the Lord has revealed to us are not to be communicated to His enemies. If believers defy this Divinely imposed restriction, they must not be surprised at meeting with insults and incurring the ire of those upon whom they attempt to force the holy mysteries of the faith. Of the Pharisees Christ said, “Let them alone” (Matthew 15:14), not attempt to convert them from the error of their ways. “Of some have compassion, making a difference” (Jude 1:22): what a discriminating word is that! We are bidden to “Go from the presence of a fool” (Proverbs 14:7), and not lower our Christian dignity by arguing with him. But are we not bidden to “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us”?

Yes, when “asked” (cf. Proverbs 22:21), and then “with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15) and not with bombast and impudence. The epistles of the New Testament are to be read to “holy brethren” (1 Thessalonians 5:27), but we know of no warrant to read them to worldlings.

It has long impressed the writer that that which takes place in the secular sphere is but a shadowing forth of what has first happened in the spiritual realm. For many years past the majority of the preachers jettisoned the Divine Law, and in the utter lawlessness which fills the world today we have the inevitable repercussion. They concentrated on the promises but ignored the precepts, and in their failure to urge upon God’s children an obedient walk we have reaped the disobedience and uncontrollableness of the modern child. Women were given the place in the churches which Scripture prohibits (1 Corinthians 14:34), and in consequence a generation of self-assertive “he women” has arisen who ape men in almost everything. Today we have a plague of dogs-over three million in Great Britain-making the night hideous with their howls, befouling the pavements and consuming vast quantities of food, while human beings are strictly rationed. In the cities they have become a curse, and we believe that this is a Divine judgment upon the general disregard of Mat 7:6. It is a common sight to behold a child leading about a huge mastiff and silly women accompanied by two or three poodles. “Beware of dogs” (Phi 3:2). “For without are dogs” (Revelation 22:15)-excluded from the Holy City.

In conclusion let us note the practical instruction hinted by the figure of the “pearls.” First, it intimates what we should regard as our true riches, namely the contents of God’s Word, for they constitute the Christian’s precious treasure. “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her” (Proverbs 3:13-15). Second, it intimates wherein we should content ourselves in the calamities and casualties of this life. We may lose our health and wealth, our friends and fame, yet this treasure remains. Here is a lamp for the darkest night (Psalms 119:105): here is to be found comfort in the sorest affliction (Psalms 119:50): here are to be obtained songs for our pilgrimage (Psalms 119:54).

Third, it intimates how we are to use the Word. A person possessed of valuable pearls is at great pains to secure them; how much more so should we be with this Pearl of pearls-storing it in our memories, locking it in our hearts: “Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” (1 Timothy 3:9). This was David’s practice (Psalms 119:11), and Mary’s (Luke 2:51): may it be ours too.

Matthew 7:7

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 44

SEEKING GRACE

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened Unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-11 contain the eighth division of our Lord’s Sermon. Every commentator we have consulted thereon regards the passage as dealing solely with the subject of prayer: personally we deem such a view to be an undue narrowing of its scope. While the supplicating of God be undoubtedly the principal duty enjoined therein, it is not the only one. It seems to us that its theme is the seeking supplies of grace to enable the believer to live a spiritual and supernatural life in this world, and though such enablement is to be sought from the throne of grace, yet that does not render needless or exempt the Christian from diligently employing the other means of grace which God has appointed for the blessing of His people. Prayer must not be allowed to induce lethargy in other directions or become a lazy substitute for the putting forth of our energies in other duties. We are called upon to watch as well as pray, to deny self, strive against sin, take unto us the whole armor of God, and fight the good fight of faith.

What has been suggested above concerning the scope of our present passage will be the more apparent by viewing it in relation to its whole context. From Matthew 5:20, onwards, Christ had presented a standard of moral excellence which is utterly unattainable by mere flesh and blood. He had inculcated one requirement after another, which it lies not in the power of fallen human nature to meet. He had forbidden an opprobrious word, a malignant wish, an impure desire, a revengeful thought. He had enjoined the most unsparing mortification of our dearest members (Matthew 5:29-30). He had commanded the loving of our enemies, the blessing of those who curse us, the doing good unto those who hate us, and the praying for those who despitefully use and persecute us (Matthew 5:44). In view of which the Christian may well exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Such demands of holiness are beyond my feeble strength: yet the Lord has made them-what then am I to do?

Coming nearer still to our passage we find that in the opening verses of chapter 7 Christ gave two apparently contradictory commands. First, He says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”: abstain from forming harsh estimates and passing censorious censures on your fellows. Second, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs”: discriminate sharply between the clean and the unclean, that you may not be guilty of obliterating the line which God has drawn between the righteous and the wicked. But to steer safely between such rocks as these requires not only spiritual strength but spiritual wisdom, such wisdom as the natural man possesses not. What then is the poor believer to do? The Lord here anticipates this difficulty and meets this perplexity. He is well aware that, in our own wisdom and strength, we are incapable of keeping His commands, but He at once reminds us that the things which are ordinarily impossible to men can be made possible to them by God.

Divine assistance is imperative if we are to meet the Divine requirements. The Divine assistance is to be sought prayerfully, believingly, diligently and persistently, and if it be thus sought it will not be sought in vain. It was then for the obtaining of supplies of Divine grace and heavenly strength that our Lord now exhorted and encouraged His disciples. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). In the foregoing chapter Christ had touched upon the subject of prayer in a way of warning, but here He refers to it as the appointed channel for obtaining supplies of grace to obey those precepts which are so contrary to flesh and blood. First He had given instructions concerning the duty of prayer, but now He supplies gracious encouragements for the exercise of it. Nevertheless, it is clear from the general tenor of scripture that every other legitimate means must be employed if we are to obtain the strength and help we so much need.

“Ask, and it shall be given you.” Few texts have been more grossly perverted than this one. Many have regarded it as a sort of blank cheque which anybody, no matter what his state of soul or manner of walk may be, can fill in just as he pleases, and he has only to present the same before the throne of grace and God stands pledged to honour it. Such a travesty of the Truth would not deserve refutation were it not trumpeted about so extensively. James 4:3, expressly affirms, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” Such are those who seek this world first and then hope to make sure of the world to come. Such are those who beg for mercy but refuse to forsake their sins (Proverbs 28:9), who seek salvation in a way of their own devising-by a more flesh-pleasing method than that of the holy Gospel; or who come in their own name in contempt of the appointed Mediator. They “ask amiss” and receive not who make request for what God has not promised, or who seek formally and hypocritically without any deep-felt need of what they ask for.

Thus our text provides the minister of the Gospel with an admirable opportunity for heeding the exhortation of the previous verse and seeing to it that, in his interpretation and application, he refrains from giving that which is holy unto the dogs or casting pearls before swine. “Ask, and it shall be given you” is very far from affording carte blanche to all and sundry. It is a supplicating supplies of Divine grace which is here in view, and, moreover, there must be a right asking (and not an asking “amiss”) if such are to be obtained; but this right asking is impossible for the unregenerate, for not only are they totally incapable of asking in faith, but to seek for Divine grace is diametrically opposed to their very nature and disposition. Grace is the antithesis of sin, a holy principle, and since the natural man is wholly in love with sin, it is impossible that he should have any love for or desire after that which is radically opposed to sin. The thistle cannot bear grapes, nor can a heart at enmity with God pant after conformity to Him.

It needs then to be made unmistakably clear that right seeking after grace presupposes right desires for it, but the unregenerate are, in the habitual temper of their heart, strangers to all spiritual aspirations. To have genuine desires after the thing and an entire contrariety to it in the whole soul and at the same time is a direct contradiction. To that it may be rejoined, How then will you explain the anomaly of some worldlings having at times an apparently hearty desire after grace, so that they even persuade themselves they sincerely and earnestly long for it? Easily: it is because they are ignorant of the true nature of grace, unaware that it is a holy principle, and therefore they have framed a false image of it in their fancies, and for this fictitious “grace”-which makes light of sin, which grants an indulgence for the lusts of the flesh-they have a relish, for it is thoroughly in accord with their corrupt nature.

Many who sit under antinomian preaching are led to believe that God is willing to save sinners without them forsaking their idols, throwing down the weapons of their warfare against Him; without repentance. They know not that salvation is not only a passport to heaven, but that it is a first deliverance from the love and dominion of sin, that the grace of God which brings salvation is a holy principle that effectually teaches its subjects to “deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). Did these deluded people but distinctly apprehend the true character of grace, then their native contrariety thereto would be no longer hid from them. Did not the Pharisees verily believe they loved God and revered His Law? Yet they hated the Son of God, who was the express image of the Father, and came into the world to honour His Law; they must therefore have held erroneous notions of God and His Law, as many now do of His grace.

But if we plainly announce that no unregenerate person can lay claim to the promise of our text, will not such teaching take from the poor sinner all motive to pray unto God and do anything else? Such a question betrays either a woeful ignorance or else a declination to face the facts of the case. So long as the sinner remains in his natural condition he cares not one jot for God, nor will he engage in any religious duty except for what he thinks he will gain thereby. Let such a creature have a hundred motives to pray (excruciating pain of body, the suffering of a loved one, the approach of death, or pleadings of friends who assure him he has merely to ask God for mercy and he will receive it) and he will only serve self and not God at all. To tell the ungodly that such a promise as Matthew 7:7-8, belongs to them is to throw dust into their blind eyes, hiding from them the desperateness of their plight, glossing over the solemn truth that while they are wedded to their lusts they are the objects of God’s holy abhorrence and can have no access to Him.

Alas, where shall a faithful physician of souls be found today? The vast majority of those who occupy the modern pulpit, instead of using the lancet and knife and the Divine Law, please their unregenerate hearers with soothing syrup or anesthetics, preaching smooth things to them and crying “Peace, peace” when there is none. What encouragement can the thrice holy God, consistently with His honour, give to those who live solely for the pleasing of themselves? At most this: “Repent, and pray God . . if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22). The wickedness of man’s heart is such as no human language can depict, and unless man sincerely repents of the same there is no hope for him. The business of God’s servants is not to bestow false comfort, but to slay false confidence: not to persuade those who lie under the wrath of God that they may be delivered therefrom by betaking themselves to prayer, but faithfully and honestly to let their unsaved hearers know the worst of their case.

It is not without good reason that we find Matthew 7:6-7, in juxtaposition. The Saviour with His Divine omniscience foresaw the misuse which would be made of this precious promise, “Ask and it shall be given you,” and therefore He placed this emphatic warning immediately before it: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” Thus they are without excuse who have so sadly perverted this blessed promise of God’s Word. That which needs to be pressed upon promiscuous congregations today is the very same as Christ proclaimed in the hearing of “the multitudes” (Matthew 5:1; Matthew 7:28), namely the spirituality of Gods Law, the searching nature of its requirements, the breadth and depth of its holy demands as set forth in Matthew 5:17 to 7:5. Not until the hearer is humbled beneath the mighty hand of God, not until he sees how completely he has failed to meet the Divine requirements, not until he feels he is both “without excuse” and “without strength,” is he a fit subject for the comfort of our text.

And now we must address ourselves to the genuine Christian, the one in whom a miracle of Divine mercy and power has been wrought, the one whose self-complacency and self-sufficiency have been shattered, the one who has been given “repentance unto life.” Such a one has had his eyes opened to see that the Law of God is “holy, just and good” (Romans 7:12), that though it condemns and curses him yet it is righteous and excellent. Such a one has had communicated to him a love for that Law (Psalms 119:174) and therefore a longing to live in full conformity thereto. Yet such a one still finds himself utterly unable to measure up to the exalted standard set before him. Nay, he discovers to his grief that there is still a principle within him which is directly opposed to the Law, that when he would do good evil is present to prevent him. He finds to his perplexity and sorrow that indwelling corruption is stronger than all his resolutions not to yield thereto, that his lusts rage more fiercely than ever, that iniquities prevail over him. He is bewildered, staggered.

It is to such a one as we have just described, and to none other, that Christ says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. You need Divine power to subdue your raging lusts, you need Divine quickening to animate your feeble graces, you need Divine wisdom to solve your perplexities, you need Divine ointment for your wounds, so address yourself to “your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:11), spread before Him your need, acquaint Him with the longings of your soul, beg Him to relieve your wants, and you will not supplicate Him in vain. Ah, this is what genuine prayer, real prayer, is, my reader. It is not merely the formal or mechanical performance of a religious exercise; it is not simply the stringing together of pious expressions couched in eloquent language: rather is it looking outside of ourselves and seeking help from above. True prayer is artless, spontaneous, the irrepressible cry of a soul in need. Prayer is the voicing of urgent longing of soul; it is the heart turning to the Author of those longings for the satisfying of them.

“Ask.” How Divinely simple! Ask, as the hungry child does for its mother’s breast. Ask, as the starving beggar does for a crust of bread. Ask, as the lost traveler does the first one whom he meets. “Ask, and it shall be given you.” How Divinely encouraging! Ask of God, for He “giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not.” Ask, for He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). But “let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord” (James 1:6-7). To “ask in faith” is to ask with confidence in God, with reliance upon His veracity, laying hold of His promise, pleading it before Him and expecting an answer of peace. To “ask in faith” is to say humbly but boldly unto the Lord, Thou hast promised Thy child, “Ask, and it shall be given you”: I beg to remind Thee of that promise, now “do as Thou hast said” (2 Samuel 7:25).

But we hear more than one of our readers saying, I have asked, yet, alas, I have not received. Yea, my case is worse than it was before. So far from having more grace I have less; so far from increased strength I am weaker; so far from being granted victory over my lusts I am more frequently and woefully defeated than ever. Be it so, is that proof your prayers have not been heard? You prayed for more grace, may not the answer have been given in the form of increased light, so that instead of your case being worse now than it was formerly you perceive your sinfulness more clearly? And if that be so. is it not something to be thankful for? You prayed for overcoming grace, but possibly God saw you were in far greater need of humbling grace, and if He has granted you a measure of the latter so that you are farther out of love with yourself and brought more into the dust before Him, surely that is proof that your asking has not been in vain!

Yes, says the reader, that may be true, and God forbid that I should despise small mercies, but surely you would not have me rest content with such a Christ-dishonoring experience. Answer, you must not look upon humility and mourning over your corruptions as “small mercies”: they are distinguishing favors which mark you as belonging to another family than the self-righteous Pharisees and self-satisfied Laodiceans. It is much to be thankful for if God hides pride from you and keeps you low before Him. And what do you mean by your “Christ-dishonoring experience”? Are you aware that there is still a spirit within you which lusts after independence and self-sufficiency? Would you, if you could, attain to some experience wherein you would feel less deeply your dire need of Christ?

They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick! Christ is most honored when we prize most highly His sacrifice, when we avail ourselves most gladly of His cleansing blood, when we come to Him for healing and strength.

But is not Christ able to impart spiritual health as well as bestow spiritual healing? Assuredly He is. Then is it not my privilege to ask Him for spiritual health? Certainly, yet in subordination to His sovereign pleasure, for He knows the degree of health which will be best for you. But observe the terms of our text: something more than “asking” is required of thee-“seek, and ye shall find.” That word “seek” may be regarded two ways. First, as a higher degree of the former, an intensification of the “asking.” There must be an earnest and fervent asking if we are to obtain: “ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Second, it enlarges its scope: seeking is more extensive than praying. He who sincerely longs for grace to equip for spiritual duties must leave no stone unturned. The Word must be read, studied, memorized, meditated upon. The Word must be heard if a faithful minister be accessible. The writings of godly men of the past are often a great help. “While I was musing the fire burned.”

“Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The thought suggested to us by this clause is that grace is not to be come at easily. It is as though the earnest asker and diligent seeker is now confronted by a closed door. Even so, says Christ, be not discouraged and dismayed, continue your quest, “knock.” There are times when it seems as though God turns away from us, hides Himself, and we have no access to Him. This is to test our sincerity, to try our earnestness, to put us to the proof as to whether we long for His grace as much as we imagine. If we do, discouragements will only serve to redouble our efforts. When the four men who bore one sick of the palsy could not come near Christ because of the press, they broke through the roof and let down the bed whereon the man lay, and so far from Christ being displeased with their importunity, when He “saw their faith” He said unto the sick of the palsy “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mark 2:4-5). Faith refuses to be deterred and continues asking, seeking, knocking until its requests be granted.

Chapter 45

It is often helpful to compare passages with each other, for the very variations in them are found to be complementary and supplementary to one another. Markedly is this the case in connection with the four Gospels. The passage which is now before us in Matthew 7 is found also in Luke 11. There the context is a different one, and it is instructive to ponder the same. Luke 11 opens with one of the disciples asking the Lord “Teach us to pray.” This request is not made by a stranger but by one of His own followers, signifying that believers need to be Divinely taught this sacred art if they are to supplicate aright. This is a very humbling truth for the proud heart of man.

Prayer, which is the simplest and most spontaneous exercise of a Christian’s soul, is nevertheless an art which he is not by nature competent to perform. Nor can any human school qualify him for this holy task. None but the Lord can teach him-experimentally and effectually-how to obtain the ear of God and call down showers of blessing upon himself and others. Oh, that both writer and reader may be able to feel their deep need in this matter.

Nor let it be supposed that this request “Lord, teach us to pray” is suited only to the case of a babe in Christ. True it is a most appropriate and necessary petition for young believers to present, yet there is the less need of urging it upon them than there is upon some of their older brethren. Alas, how often added years are accompanied by increased pride and self-sufficiency. How many who have the gift of the gab, a ready flow of language, and are quick to memorize the expressions which others use in their devotions, would be hurt if you suggested that they had need to cry “Lord, teach us to pray.” Yet such is the case: the oldest and most experienced saint has need to be shown the way of the Lord more perfectly: “If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2). Growth in grace is not evidenced by growth in haughtiness, but in increased humility. The most deeply taught believer is the one most conscious of his need of teaching: a large part of wisdom consists of consciousness of ignorance.

The Lord answered this request of His disciple by graciously furnishing a brief directory and pattern, which we like to think of as the family prayer. Then He appeared to anticipate the questions: Will God really answer us? What is the actual design of this holy exercise: is it only designed for our inward good or does it really bring down blessings from above? Does it end with the benefit it works in us or does it truly move the hand of God? The reply, though in the form of a parable, is expressed with great clearness and force. As importunity does most surely affect men, so earnestness and persistency are sure to gain an answer from God.

It is not a vain thing to supplicate the mercy seat: our prayers are not lost on the air or expended merely upon ourselves. Asking is attended with receiving, seeking with finding, and knocking leads to opening. There is a connection established between Divine decree and believing prayer, between the requests that ascend from earth and the mercies which descend from heaven.

It seems strange that so many have missed the meaning of that plain parable in Luke 11. “And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” (Luke 11:5-8).

Now there is something more taught us in that parable than the need for and value of perseverance in prayer, namely encouragement to be earnest therein. Let us analyze its details. Why was the one sought unto displeased at the request presented to him? Because it was made not by a close relative, but simply a friend. Because the supplicant was not asking on his own behalf, but for someone else. Because it was presented at a most inopportune and inconvenient hour.

Because it concerned not an urgent and pressing need, but simply a matter of some bread. Who would think of knocking up someone at midnight in order to borrow food for another? Christ shows us the natural disposition of our selfish hearts under such circumstances: “Trouble me not … I cannot rise and give thee”; yet because the request was repeated and the suppliant would not accept a refusal, for the sake of importunity and not that of friendship the petitioner gained his request.

Though the specific conclusion was not here formally drawn by Christ-as it is in Luke 11:13 -how blessed it is for faith to do so. The One whom the Christian supplicates is more than a “friend,” namely his heavenly Father. So far from there being any reluctance in Him to supply the varied needs of His children, He “giveth liberally to all and upbraideth not” (James 1:5). Nor can we come to Him at any inopportune season, for He “slumbereth not, neither is weary”: at all times we may address the throne of grace. Moreover, it is our privilege to spread before Him our smallest needs. We would hesitate to ask a man of prominence and importance for a mere trifle, knowing he would be loath to be bothered therewith, but “in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God” is the royal invitation issued to the saint. Nor is it only our own needs we are to be concerned with: those of our friends also we may beg the Lord to relieve: thereby we honour Him, acknowledging Him to be Ruler over all, the universal Supplier.

Then our Lord plainly declared, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,” which is precisely the same as our present portion in Matthew’s Gospel. If the going to a mere friend, at an opportune time, asking for material bread for another, received a favorable answer, how much more will our heavenly Father, to whom there are no inconvenient seasons, grant spiritual succour to His own dear children! Here is the heart of God revealed as the ready and bounteous Giver, whose fullness cannot be exhausted and whose word to His people is “open thy mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalms 81:10). A wide door is here opened to the whole family of God, possibilities of blessing which we can scarcely conceive, free leave to covet earnestly the best things. No matter how enlarged our expectations may be, they cannot exceed the bounty of the Lord. But does this mean that the Christian may ask for anything he pleases and that God stands pledged to grant the same?

Are those absolute promises, without any qualification? No.

First, they are limited by our own unbelief, by the meagerness of our faith, which we impose upon them. And second, they are restricted by God’s benignity: the only guard He has placed upon those promises is that He will give us naught save that which is really for our “good” (Matthew 7:11). And how thankful we should be for this. In our ignorance and shortsightedness we often ask God for that which would be for our ill, but in His mercy God withholds it. Not so does He act with the wicked. Unbelieving Israel asked for flesh in the wilderness and God granted their request, “But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them” (Psalms 78:30-31).

A later generation desired a king and he was given them “in His anger” (Hosea 13:11). So too the demons had their request granted that they might enter into the herd of swine (Matthew 8:31-32).

It is most important that the above-noted qualification be kept in mind, for in some quarters the crudest ideas obtain on this subject. Taking Matthew 7:7-8, at its face value, some have deduced the absurd principle that we may have anything we please from God for the mere asking, providing we ask in faith, and by “asking in faith” they signify only a working themselves up to a firm persuasion that they shall have their petitions granted. But that one word “give good things to them that ask Him” at once disposes of such fanaticism. To “ask in faith” requires that we lay hold of and plead before God one of His own promises: it is not an expectation that He will grant everything we may demand, but an assurance that He will bestow whatsoever He is pledged to give. “If we ask anything according to His will [not our will, but His, as it is revealed in Holy Writ], He heareth us” (1 John 5:14), and we only ask “according to His will” when we ask in faith for these things He knows will be for our good.

“Prayer is a simple, unfeigned, humble, ardent opening of the heart before God, wherein we ask things needful or give thanks for benefits received” (John Bradford, the martyr). And what is it which the Christian, every Christian, is most urgently and constantly in need of, without which it is impossible to improve or use aright all other benefits and privileges? Is it not Divine grace: renewing grace, enlightening grace, empowering grace, sanctifying grace? What is knowledge worth unless it be sanctified to us? What do talents amount to unless they be spiritually directed? And for this grace we are to “ask”: ask from a felt sense of want, trustfully supplicating God for the supply thereof.

For that grace we are to “seek”: seek with care and diligence, as that which is missing and lacking, and which is felt to be of great value. For that grace we are to “knock”: that is, ask and seek, with earnestness and constancy, pressing our suit with fervour and persistency, persevering notwithstanding delays, oppositions and disappointments. Continuing in prayer till our request be granted.

There is an “asking” which is mere formality and accomplishes nothing: if the suppliant himself is scarcely able to remember an sour afterwards that which he petitioned for, how can he expect to receive answers? If an experienced mother knows the difference between a child’s asking for the mere sake of asking and making request out of a sense of urgent need, how infinitely less can we impose upon the Omniscient One. So also there is a “seeking” which is merely mechanical and obtains not: half-heartedness and slothfulness are not likely to be successful. We take very little pains in seeking for something we regard as a mere trifle, but when an object is valued highly and prized dearly then we hunt for it with real diligence. Yet something more than earnest asking and diligent seeking is required: “knocking” suggests an intensification of the one and a continuation of the other. If at first we don’t succeed, then try, try again. What a word is that: “Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, And give Him no rest” (Isaiah 62:6-7)!

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18). The walls of Jericho did not fall down the first time they were encompassed, nor did the beloved apostle obtain comforting assurance from the Lord the first or the second time that he besought Him for the removal of the thorn in his flesh. So far from its being a wrong thing for a Christian to make repeated request for the same object, it is required of him that he be importunate. If it be inquired, Why does God require such importunity from His people? several answers may be given. First and negatively, it is not that we have to overcome any reluctance on God’s side, for He is more ready to give than we are to seek blessings from Him, yea, to do for us far more exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Still less is it because He would tantalize us: “therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious” (Isaiah 30:18).

Second, from the positive side, that we may give proof of our earnestness. When someone makes request of us for anything and we find that a single refusal is sufficient to get rid of him, we conclude he was not very eager for it. But suppose a business man arrives late at his office and his chief clerk announces that a stranger has sought an interview, that he could not put him off, that he has waited for hours determined to gain his quest; then it is clear that he is eager and intent. Such intensity and perseverance are pleasing unto the Lord: when a soul can say with Jacob, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26), success is sure. “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Such importunity is required for the testing of our faith. An unbelieving heart is soon discouraged: either opposition from man or delay on the part of God, and the spirit of prayer is speedily quenched. Not so with the trusting one: faith reassures the soul, bidding it, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalms 27:14). How the faith of the Canaanitish woman was tried. First, she cried, “Have mercy on me O Lord,” and we are told, “He answered her not a word.” Then His disciples interposed and besought Him to send her away. Next He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But, nothing daunted, she renewed her petition, “Lord, help me”: to which Christ replied, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.” Yet even that did not dismay her: having asked and sought, she continued knocking, begging for the “crumbs.” “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matthew 15:28) was the triumphant outcome.

Such importunity is necessary for the developing of our patience. How sadly impatient we are! How angry when our wills are crossed! What fearful rebellion lurks and works in our hearts! Truly we are “like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,” fretful and resentful at every restriction placed upon the fulfillment of our desires. But patience must have her perfect work, and it is the trying of our faith which “worketh patience” (James 1:3).

Real faith is not destroyed by God’s delay: it knows He waits to be gracious, and therefore its possessor is enabled to “both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26). When Elijah had prayed that the long drought should be ended, he bade his servant go and look for the first portent of the coming rain, and when he returned saying, “there is nothing,” his master replied, “go again seven times” (1 Kings 18:43). Thus, by the proving of our earnestness, the testing of faith and the developing of patience, our souls are the better fitted to receive and can the more appreciate the Lord’s answer when it is vouchsafed.

But it is not for himself only that the Christian is earnestly, diligently and persistently to seek Divine grace, but for his brethren also. That is one reason why we referred to the parallel passage in Luke 11, where these Divine promises are immediately prefaced by the parable of one seeking the loaves on behalf of a needy friend. The lesson should be too plain to miss: because he was unable personally to supply that need, even though it was midnight, he went out and supplicated another on his friend’s behalf. Immediately following this Christ says: “Ask [on the behalf of your friend] and it shall be given you.” Be just as earnest in asking, just as diligent in seeking, just as importunate in knocking for grace to be given unto your needy brethren and sisters in Christ as you are in seeking it for yourself. They are bought with the same precious blood, and are members of the same family, and thus they have pressing claims upon your affections; and their need of Divine grace-to cleanse, to illumine, to fructify and sanctify-is as real, as great, and as urgent, as yours.

Ah, is it not at this very point we fail so lamentably! Is not our praying far too self-centered? Is there any wonder it is so ineffectual? If I am so little concerned about the spiritual well-being of my brethren and sisters at large, need I be surprised that the Lord refuses me the grace which I seek for my own soul? God will not put a premium upon selfishness. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Yes, not merely for myself and family, or for my own church and denomination, but for all the children of God which are scattered abroad.

And this not in a mere general way, and only once a week, but as definitely and diligently, fervently and constantly, as I present my own personal needs before the throne of grace. This is one of the chief lessons inculcated by the prayer Christ taught His disciples: “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven . . . give us . . . forgive us . . . deliver us”!

“We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14). And how can our love be better expressed than by making their case and cause our own case and cause before the mercy seat! “Epaphras . . . always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12). Ah, if we had more like Epaphras Zion would not long remain in its present languishing condition! If each of God’s people earnestly, trustfully and daily cried unto heaven on behalf of the whole household of faith, that feeble knees might be strengthened, backsliders reclaimed, graces quickened. fruitless branches purged, half-dead preachers revived, we should soon witness showers of blessing descending on the parched vineyard. God has not changed: His arm is not shortened: the promises of Mat 7:7-8, are as available to faith now as they were on the day of Pentecost. It is affections that have waned, the footstool of prayer which has been neglected. “Ye have not, because ye ask not.”

Was there ever a time when prayer for the Church collectively and its members individually was more urgently needed than now? We need frequently to remind ourselves that the most striking deliverances wrought in the past for God’s people are recorded chiefly as monuments of prevailing prayer. Such were the salvation of Israel at the Red Sea, wrought in response to the supplication of Moses (Exodus 14:15), the victory over Amalek at Rephidim (Exodus 17:12), the discomfiture of the Philistines in the days of Samuel-the “Ebenezer” then erected was less a monument of victory over powerful enemies than of the prophet’s prevailing prayer (1 Samuel 7:5, 1 Samuel 7:9, 1 Samuel 7:12)-the overthrow of the Moabites and Ammonites in the days of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:1-13, 2 Chronicles 20:17, 2 Chronicles 20:22-24), the remarkable deliverance from Sennacherib king of Assyria (Isaiah 37:15-20, Isaiah 37:35-37). Such examples of Jehovah’s readiness to show Himself strong on the behalf of those who count upon His intervention are recorded for our encouragement. Then ask, seek, knock.

Matthew 7:8

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 44

SEEKING GRACE

Matthew 7:7-8

Chapter 45

Are those absolute promises, without any qualification? No.

A later generation desired a king and he was given them “in His anger” (Hosea 13:11). So too the demons had their request granted that they might enter into the herd of swine (Matthew 8:31-32).

Matthew 7:9

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 46

SEEKING GRACE

Matthew 7:9-11

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask 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?”

Every Christian will grant that prayer is a bounden duty, that it is obligatory upon us to own our dependence upon the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, to seek from Him those things which we are in need of both temporally and spiritually, to acknowledge the Lord’s goodness and lovingkindness and render thanks for His manifold mercies. To fail at such a point is inexcusable, making us like unto those who live as though there were no God, rendering not unto Him that which is His undoubted due. Prayerlessness is not to be looked upon as an innocent infirmity, but as a sin of the deepest dye, which is to be penitently confessed. Christians will also grant that prayer is a precious privilege, for by this ordinance they may obtain an audience with the Majesty on high, delight themselves in the Lord, commune with the Beloved of their souls, unburden their hearts before Him and prove Him to be “a very present help in trouble.” Alas, that we prize this privilege so little and treat it so lightly.

Though it be free a lowed that prayer is a bounden duty and a precious privilege, yet the fact remains that many professing Christians are woefully slack in performing that duty and in availing themselves of that privilege. Why is this? Let them not add to the sill of prayerlessness the wickedness of seeking to throw the blame upon God, by saying that He has withheld from them the spirit of prayer, that He refuses them liberty of approach unto Him. That were to add insult to injury. We make an evil use of it when we appeal to God’s sovereignty in order to excuse ourselves from discharging our responsibilities. If we are not enjoying the light of God’s countenance it is because our sins have come in between as a thick cloud (Isaiah 59:2).

If we are not receiving good things at His hands, it is because our iniquities have withheld them (Jeremiah 5:24). If our hearts are cold and prayerless it is because we have grieved the Holy Spirit. The fault is wholly ours, and we must honestly own it.

Among the things that hinder a free and regular approach unto the throne of grace we may mention the workings of pride. Pride begets a spirit of independence and self-sufficiency. It goes against the natural grain to take our place in the dust and come before God as empty-handed beggars. True we did so at the beginning of our Christian experience, for then we had been emptied of self and brought to look entirely outside of self for deliverance. But alas, increased years are rarely accompanied by increased humility. As we become better versed in the letter of Holy Writ and more acquainted with the mysteries of our faith, a sense of self-sufficiency is apt to possess us. “Knowledge puffeth up,” and the more puffed up we are the less our sense of need and the more formal and infrequent our seeking after Divine grace.

A spirit of sloth is paralyzing to the prayer life. The soul loves its ease as well as the body, that is why we are exhorted to “watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7). And how forceful that word from the pen of such a one! It was at that very point Peter had first failed. The Lord had bidden him to “watch and pray”; instead, he went to sleep. Prayer is likened unto “striving” (Romans 15:30) “labouring fervently” (Colossians 4:12) and “wrestling” (Ephesians 6:12, Ephesians 6:18), and such exertions are not possible when lethargy has overcome us.

The power of unbelief quenches the spirit of prayer. Unbelief raises objections, is occupied with difficulties, and leaves God entirely out of its considerations. Only where faith is in healthy operation can we expect any success in this holy exercise. But flirting with the world, yielding to the lusts of the flesh or heeding the lies of Satan stifles the breath of faith, and then the soul is left to gasp in the foul atmosphere of unbelief.

Now in that section of the Sermon on the Mount which we are here considering, our Lord sets before His disciples one inducement after another to stimulate them unto prayer. First, He gives them a gracious invitation: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). Second, He assures them of an answer, by giving them a sure promise: “For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:8). Third, He draws an infallible inference from the Fatherhood of God: “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will be 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?” (Matthew 7:9-11).

In order to get the full force of Christ’s conclusion let us observe its premise: “If ye then, being evil.” First of all, observe how that brief sentence expresses the Divine estimate of fallen mankind. How those words abase the pride of man, affirming as they do the depravity and corruption of human nature. Philosophers and poets, preachers and politicians may prate all they please about the dignity and divinity of man, the nobility and grandeur of human nature, but they fly in the face of this solemn and inerrant verdict of the Son of God. Christ was not deceived by the fair profession and religious pretensions of those He met with, for when “many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did,” yet, “Jesus did not commit Himself unto them . . . for He knew what was in man” (John 2:23-25). This “if ye then, being evil” is yet more solemn and striking when we note that our Lord said it not to those who were open enemies, but unto His own disciples (see Luke 11:1-2, Luke 11:9, Luke 11:13)-by nature they were polluted.

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children.” Notwithstanding the fact that you not only do that which is evil but are yourselves evil-the fountain itself, from whence all actions issue, being poisoned-yet you are kind to your offspring. Parental love, by the wise and gracious arrangement of God, is one of the most powerful of all the active principles of the human heart and mind. No parent worthy of the name would refuse to supply the genuine needs of his little ones when he had it in his power to do so. He would neither turn a deaf ear to their cries nor mock them by bestowing what was useless and noxious instead of that which was requisite and beneficial for them. No, despite the ruin which the Fall has entailed, men and women still respond to the instincts of affection when they perceive that their offspring are in need, and use their best judgment to relieve the same; certainly those who are regenerate do so.

In what follows Christ drew a conclusion from this filial relationship: “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?” It is an argument deduced from the less to the greater, a species of reasoning frequently met with in the Scriptures. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him” (Psalms 103:13). “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee” (Isaiah 49:15). “I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Malachi 3:17). If godly parents respond to cries of need from their bairns (children), what may we expect from Him who is supremely excellent and kindly disposed unto His children? In knowledge, in wisdom, in benevolence, in power, in resources, our heavenly Father infinitely surpasses all earthly parents, and therefore we may petition Him with the fullest assurance that He will supply all our need. What conclusive reasoning is this! What persuasive appeal is here!

But let us attend next to the connection between this gracious and grand encouragement to seekers after Divine grace and that which immediately precedes. As we sought to point out in our last, there is a gradation or progressive development here in our Lord’s teaching on prayer-especially is this observable in Luke 11. First. there is the invitation (Luke 11:7), and then a reassuring promise (Luke 11:8). And now Christ disposes of an objection-a most foolish and wicked one, yet one which is nevertheless raised by some. A grave doubt is apt to arise in the distressed mind. True, God hears the petitions of His people, and as a general rule makes responses of mercy to them; but I am such an unworthy one, is He not therefore likely to be displeased at my prayers and so answer me in wrath instead of love?

Certainly I should deserve it: if confessing my vileness, God should judge me out of my own mouth and condemn me, what could I do? Ah, if we are afraid that God will give us something evil when we have asked Him for that which is good, then we are “evil” indeed.

A sense of sinfulness and the workings of unbelief cause you to fear that if you ask something good at the hands of God He will mock you with something evil, that instead of being gracious He will send you something in righteous judgment. Does the reader deem this far-fetched and suppose we are describing a very extreme and exceptional case? Then we ask, Have you never prayed about a certain matter, prayed earnestly, and the sequel has been that instead of things being improved they grew worse, instead of relief being granted difficulties increased and the pressure became more acute, until you were afraid to pray any further for such a thing? Have you begged God again and again to make you more patient, and the sequel has been such that it appeared the Lord had mocked you by taking away what little you had ?If such has not been your experience, we can assure you that not a few know something like unto it.

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (vv. 9, 10). Here is our Lord’s refutation of such an objection. He bids us ponder the conduct of earthly parents. Does a godly father deliberately mock his son when a reasonable request is made of him? Of course not.

Then is that son afraid to come to his parent and acquaint him with his need? No, he is assured that his parent is the very one above all others who has his interests most at heart and is more likely than anyone else to minister unto him. He has confidence in his father’s goodness; he trusts in his love, and therefore he hesitates not to apply unto him. True, in his ignorance the child may ask for something which is harmful, and then it is the wisdom and love of his parent which withholds it; but if he asks for that which is needful and beneficial, he will not receive that which is injurious in lieu of it.

The spiritual application is obvious. As the child trusts his parent, so must you your heavenly Father. “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?” As high as God is above us, so high is the certainty that He will not fail His beloved children. But to be more specific. You have perhaps been earnestly beseeching God for guidance, to lead you in a plain path, to make His way plain before your face. The result has been most discouraging. Difficulties have increased, you seem more hedged in than ever, you are now at your wits’ end to know what to do.

Well, do not judge God harshly and conclude He has given you a stone instead of bread! Your present lot is from the Lord, your circumstances are ordered by Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind. As Spurgeon says, “It may seem hard perhaps; but may it not be the crust of the bread for all that? Believe it to be so, but never suspect you are being treated ungenerously by your Father.”

Yet it appears to us that it is not so much of temporal mercies and providential blessings as of spiritual things our passage treats. We would therefore suggest that the “bread” stands for vital and indispensable graces, and the “fish” for comforting ones. Bread is the staff of life, and the graces of repentance and faith are necessary unto salvation. Here is a soul that has prayed definitely and sincerely for repentance. But he reads that Judas repented, yet perished nevertheless. He hears some faithful servant of God draw the line between legal bondage and evangelical repentance, between the sorrow of the world and “godly sorrow which worketh repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10), and he is deeply concerned, wondering whether he has so renounced sin, so detested it, so loathed it from the very bottom of his heart, as to warrant him concluding that he has indeed been granted “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:15). He therefore applies to the throne of grace crying, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

So far so good; but now let us take the sequel. That individual becomes better acquainted with the plague of his own heart and in the light of God discovers corruption within such as he was not conscious of before. Nay, indwelling sin now asserts itself with increasing power and iniquities prevail. He seeks deliverance, but it comes not, for the flesh remains unchanged to the end. He confesses his sins to God, but so frequently that it appears to become mechanical. It seems that his heart is as hard as a stone and he is ready to believe that he was deceived, that after all he is a stranger to genuine repentance.

Here, then, is the remedy for such a case. Where did you seek repentance? At the throne of grace, you answer. From whom, we ask; from some creature? No, you reply, from God. Then has He mocked you?

If you sought simply, definitely, sincerely, from a sense of need, has He given you a stone? Perish the thought. It is Satan who seeks to persuade you that God has suffered you to be deluded. Believe not his lie.

Take the grace of faith. We begged God for saving faith in His Son and believed that He answered us. We renounced all our own doings and trusted in the Lord Jesus. We saw Him in the glass of the Gospel dying, the just for the unjust, and we cast ourselves on His atoning sacrifice as the alone ground of our acceptance with God. But at times the question is raised in our minds, Is mine true saving faith or would it not be presumptuous for me to affirm that in Christ I am pardoned? There is an historical faith: is mine no better than that?

I read that “the devils also believe” (James 2:19): may not my faith be of that sort? Do I have the genuine grace of faith or am I only deluding myself? Come back to this touchstone, my friend: where did you seek your faith? Did you ask your heavenly Father to give it you? Have you not said to Him, If my faith be worthless, graciously work in me the faith of Thine elect? Then dare you conclude that instead of imparting faith by the Spirit’s operation He has put into your heart a carnal presumption and allowed you to be deluded?

Even a godly human parent would not act thus: how much less so the heavenly Father!

Take the grace of personal piety. You have longed for more holiness. You have asked God for more purity of heart. You have sought earnestly for a closer conformity to the image of His Son. You have knocked again and again at the throne of grace, beseeching that you might be sanctified wholly in spirit and soul and body. Great now is your dismay, for you find yourself more sinful than ever, indwelling corruption is increasingly active, and evil thoughts continually harass you.

Even so, once more we must bring you back to this: for what did you ask? where did you seek this blessing? If from some pretended priests and mediators, such as the poor papists have recourse to, you would indeed be deceived and disappointed. But if you sought from the great High Priest, the alone Mediator between God and men, it is impossible that He should have palmed off on you something which is evil. He has granted your request, though you perceive it not: the holier He makes you, the more dissatisfied you will be with yourself; the purer your heart, the more sensitive to the foulness which invades it.

Take the grace of hope. This is a virtue which stays the heart in seasons of distress, enabling the soul to look forward with firm expectation to better things in the future. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:24-25): the fulfillment of the promise is not yet visible, but hope causes us to wait confidently for the same. It was the grace of hope which moved Job to say, “When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). The furnace might be ‘hot, its flames most unpleasant to the flesh, the dross might sizzle (as when he cursed the day of his birth), but he had no doubt of the ultimate outcome. Ah, says the reader, I dare not cherish such an assurance: it would be presumptuous of me to do so!

What, presumption to expect your heavenly Father to answer your prayers? Presumption to expect Him to make good His promise: “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it” (Phi 1:6)? Oh, insult Him not with such mock humility, but trust Him to act like a Father unto you.

It is to be observed that in Luke 11 a third thing is mentioned: “Or if he shall ask for an egg [something which only the wealthy ate in those days], will he offer him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:12). This seems to carry the thought beyond asking for necessary or even comforting graces, even for what we might term spiritual luxuries, as faith grows and becomes bolder in seeking the highest enjoyments and enrichments of the Spirit. The application is not difficult. The mature Christian covets earnestly the best gifts. He begs that he may he drawn closer to Christ and enjoy more intimate communion with Him. And what form does the answer take?

More persecution from the world, more opposition from friends, more unkind treatment from brethren, which stirs up the flesh and casts down the soul. Ah, but do not your heavenly Father the injustice of concluding He has given you a scorpion instead of an egg: malign not His character thus! Rather charge yourself with ignorance and folly because you fail to realize that communion with Christ in this life consists largely in “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phi 3:10), which is the highest honour grace confers on His followers.

In closing let us point out that if we are to enter into the comfort and assurance of our passage faith must lay firm hold of the fatherly character and relation of God. So long as we view Him only as the stern Judge or as the most high Sovereign, we may expect little liberty of approach or assurance of answers. There must be a childlike confidence in His fatherly goodness and love, a believing He will give good things unto the members of His dear family. There must be a reliance upon His sufficiency. An earthly parent may “know how to give good gifts unto his children,” but straitened circumstances often prevent him carrying out his desires. Not so our heavenly Father: He not only “knoweth how,” but actually gives unto His children. Then doubt Him not and cease supposing He has substituted something worthless for genuine grace.

Matthew 7:10

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 46

SEEKING GRACE

Matthew 7:9-11

Here, then, is the remedy for such a case. Where did you seek repentance? At the throne of grace, you answer. From whom, we ask; from some creature? No, you reply, from God. Then has He mocked you?

Even a godly human parent would not act thus: how much less so the heavenly Father!

Matthew 7:11

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 46

SEEKING GRACE

Matthew 7:9-11

Here, then, is the remedy for such a case. Where did you seek repentance? At the throne of grace, you answer. From whom, we ask; from some creature? No, you reply, from God. Then has He mocked you?

Even a godly human parent would not act thus: how much less so the heavenly Father!

Matthew 7:12

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 47

THE GOLDEN RULE

Matthew 7:12

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

“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.” This single verse forms a distinct section, the ninth in this discourse of our Lord’s. Its theme is that of equity and justice, which must regulate us in our dealings with one another. Its very brevity evidences the Divine wisdom of Him who spoke as never man spoke, for who else could have condensed so much into so few words? The manner in which this rule is enforced manifests the fundamental unity of the two economies: so far from the Gospel setting aside the requirements of the Law it establishes the same (Romans 3:31). Analyzing our present verse we find it contains three things. First, a conclusion drawn from the context: “therefore.” Second, a commandment which presents to us a standard of complete unselfishness: “whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Third, a commendation of that standard: “for this is the law and the prophets.”

The opening “therefore” looks back to what Christ had said in the previous section (Matthew 7:7-11). In it we behold the Divine Teacher making a practical application of what He had just said upon prayer, intimating that privilege and duty are never to be divorced, that blessings from God are to enable us the better to discharge our responsibilities unto men. “Fitly is the law of justice subjoined to the law of prayer, for unless we be honest in our conversation, God will not hear our prayers (Isaiah 1:15-17;Isaiah 58:6-9; Zechariah 7:9-13). We cannot expect to receive good things from God if we do not fair things and that which is lovely and of good report among men. We must not only be devout, but honest, else our devotion is but hypocrisy” (Matthew Henry). Alas, that this is so little insisted upon by the pulpit today; alas, that the impression is generally created that we may expect an answer to our petitions regardless of how we treat our fellows: God requires a conscientious performance of all the duties of civil righteousness as well as that we be earnest in acts of piety.

“How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The connection between these two things, then, shows that in the practice of this golden rule Christians are to consider not only how they would be dealt with by men, but by God Himself, thereby elevating the precept high above the ethics of the heathen. Whatever usage we expect to meet with at the hands of God, the same in our measure must we dispense to others. How can we expect God to be merciful to us if we be merciless unto our neighbour? How can we expect Him to deal liberally with us if we are eaten up with selfishness? Let us not forget that whatever need others have of us, the same need have we of God.

According as we sow sparingly or bountifully, so will our reaping be (2 Corinthians 9:6). I am therefore to consider how God will deal with me if I am rigid, severe, and demand the uttermost farthing from those in my power.

It is also to be observed that a due regulation of our prayer life is indispensable if we are to be fitted for dealing properly with our fellows. All inordinate affection toward the world, which is the impulse that moves men to over-reaching practices, has its root in a distrust of God. “Were we daily to ask for all we want of Him, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and relying upon His promise to add other things as He sees them to be best for us, we should have no inclination to covetousness or injustice. But if instead of depending like sheep on the care of their shepherd we set off like beasts of prey to forage the world for ourselves, we shall often judge it to be wise and necessary to seize on that which equity forbids” (Andrew Fuller). It is only by dwelling in (not paying an occasional visit to) the secret place of the Most High that my heart will be prepared to act becomingly toward my neighbour. It is only by constant communion with Him who is both light and love that a spirit of righteousness and grace will actuate me in my relations with men.

“How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Consider the connection also in this manner: since your Father in heaven gives good things to you when you ask Him, make it your care to do good unto all who come within the sphere of your influence. “Be ye therefore followers [imitators] of God, as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1). Since God has dealt bountifully with you, practice generosity and liberality unto men. Let not your conduct be determined by how your fellows treat with you, but rather by how God treats with you. How immeasurably does this holy and gracious standard from Christ exceed “the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5:20)! How far had they departed from the Law and the prophets! Nor need we fear that the unregenerate will take such an unfair advantage of our magnanimity that we shall be the losers thereby: “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:8).

But how am I to determine what will be for the good of my neighbours? Thus: “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” This commandment consists of two parts: that which is to be ordered, namely our actions unto other men; the rule which is to regulate this, namely the law of justice and equity which is in every man by nature. Whatever you would desire and deem best for yourself were you in their place, that is what you must do unto others. Nothing less than such a standard of unselfishness is our rule of righteousness. “Christ came to teach us not only what we are to know and to believe, but what we are to do: what we are to do, not only toward God, but toward men; not only toward our fellow disciples, those of our own party and persuasion, but toward men in general, all with whom we have to do” (Matthew Henry). It is utterly vain to speak like angels when on our knees before God, if we act like devils in our transactions with men.

“The meaning of this rule lies in these three things. (1) We must do that to our neighbour which we ourselves acknowledge to be fit and reasonable, that the appeal being made to our own judgment, and the discovery of our judgment is referred to that which is our own will and expectation when it is our own case. (2) We must put other people upon the level with ourselves, and reckon we are as much obliged to them as they to us. We are as much bound to the duty of justice as they are, and they are as much entitled to the benefit as we. (3) We must in our dealing with men suppose ourselves in the same particular case and circumstances with those we have to do with, and deal accordingly. If I were making such a one’s bargain, laboring under such a one’s infirmities and afflictions, how would I desire and expect to be treated? And this is a just position, for we know not how soon their case may really be ours; indeed we may fear, lest God by His judgments should do to us as we have done to others, if we have not done as we would be done by” (Matthew Henry).

This golden rule is God’s witness in every human heart. Each one has so much regard for himself as quickly to feel when he is wronged, and to pass censure on the one injuring him. He has only then to apply this principle to his conduct unto others and the right or wrong of his actions must instantly appear. Hereby we are taught to abstain from everything which would injure our neighbour, either in his body, estate or good name-such as lying, slandering, dishonesty, oppression. Nature itself teaches men this, for would they have men defame, rob or oppress them? Then let them avoid such reprehensible practices toward others.

For the rule is not treat with men according as they deal with you, but act toward them as you would desire them to act toward you. It is the corruption of nature, the yielding to sinful inclinations, which moves men to seek their own temporal advantage and advancement by the loss and debasing of others. Alas, how far, far away is the world from God and His righteousness.

How this precept cuts at the very root of all the pretensions and sophistries used by men in their endeavors to justify crooked ways and practices. How often they plead, “We must live,” though they like not to think that in a short time they also must die-“and after death, the judgment”! Here these selfish creatures are reminded that their fellows also must live, and have rights equal to their own. However the unscrupulous may seek to excuse their dishonest tricks of the trade, unmerciful employers grinding the faces of their employees, harsh tyrants demanding their full pound of flesh from widows and orphans under the plea of “business is business,” let them come nearer home and inquire whether they would like to be dealt with thus were the positions reversed. “The money-lender may pretend he pleases the poor, but his help is no better than he is, that gives a draught of cold water to one that is in a burning fever, which seems pleasant at the first but after increases his sufferings” (W. Perkins). Were this rule heeded, the light weight, short change, and adulterated commodities would be unknown.

This rule applies not only to giving, but forgiving, for as long as we are in this world there will be infirmities and offences, and thus the mutual need of forgiving and receiving forgiveness. “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a complaint against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Colossians 3:13). If we resent the idea that others should require flawless perfection from us, then we must not demand it from them. If we desire that our fellows view our unwitting failures with the eyes of charity, then we must cultivate the same attitude. If we refuse to forgive those who trespass against us, God will not forgive us our trespasses (Matthew 6:15). “Take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others” (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22). The meaning is, be not over affected when others speak evil of you, for you know that you are not guiltless of that very thing; therefore, meekly forbear. The realization that the flesh is still in us, and the knowledge that we are compassed about with infirmities, should make us pardon those who wrong us.

Let us mention another direction in which this precept needs to be applied: where there are differences of religious opinion. Had this principle been acted upon, then persecution in all its manifold and cruel forms would have been unknown. Where is the man who would acknowledge it to be right and proper to persecute him for his conscientious convictions or for that conduct which is the necessary result of them? Then if he deems such punishment to be unmerited and unjust in his own case, by what principle can he regard such punishment as being deserved by his fellows? Religious controversies will obtain while ever men differ in their views, and regard the Truth as valuable, but they would be conducted very differently from what they are if those who engaged in them acted according to this golden rule. Imputation of unworthy motives, scurrilous language, personal abuse, malignant insinuations, and all the unworthy resorts by which polemical discussions are so generally marred would be thrown to the winds, and clear statement and fair argument take their place.

By this precept we are taught the secret of how to preserve a good conscience in all our dealings with men in the world. If we are regulated by this rule in our actings with others, our hearts will condemn us not. For many particulars, express precepts are given in the Scriptures telling us what to do and what not to do, and they are strictly to be observed by us. But where we lack any specific command from God, then we are to fall back upon this general rule and search our conscience as to how we would have men deal with us in a similar case or circumstance, and act accordingly with them. This will make us jealous of the reputation of our neighbour, prevent us making false and injurious statements and cause us to be cautious of heeding and circulating any evil reports. We should then treat others with the same courtesy and kindness as we would wish to be treated by them. We should refrain from subjecting them to those slights and neglects which, were we in their place and they in ours, we should feel unpleasant and undeserved.

“It is a peculiar excellence of this rule of our Lord that it not only shows us our duty, but its obvious tendency is to persuade us to perform it. It brings duty before the mind in a peculiarly inviting form. It not only enlightens the mind, but inclines the heart. Self-love is the great obstacle in the way of doing our duty to our neighbour. Our Lord makes even self-love become, as it were, the handmaid of justice and charity. Having led us to change places with our neighbour, to feel what are our rights, and how unreasonable it would be to withhold them, He then says, These are his rights, and you will be the unreasonable person to deprive him of them. We are made, as it were, to declare what is our neighbor’s due, when we suppose we are only considering what was our own; and we cannot, without the shame of conscious inconsistency, refuse to him what we clearly see, were we in his place, we should account it unreasonable and unjust to be deprived of” (John Brown).

From all that has been pointed out it follows that the breach of this rule is more evil in the case of one who has tasted personally the bitterness of unmercifulness and injustice at the hands of others than those who have not done so, because experience gives a truer and closer knowledge of things than a bare concept of them imparts. He who knows things by mere contemplation knows them at hand and feels the smart of them. Therefore conscience should work more in them by way of restraint because they know what it is to be oppressed or disgraced and remember how grievous it was when they lay under a wrong. “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21): the Hebrews knew from painful experience what it was to be friendless under heavy yoke and cruelly afflicted, and therefore should be the last people to oppress any strangers who came into their hands. Servants who have groaned under heavy tasks ought to make the kindest and most considerate masters and mistresses if Providence raises their station in the world.

It should also be pointed out that this rule, like all the Divine precepts, is spiritual, and concerns the inward man as well as the outward: bearing upon our thoughts as well as our words and actions. The whole Law of God is spiritual (Romans 7:14). “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalms 19:7): it is a guide riot only for the motions of the body, but also for the intents and workings of the heart. As is the first table, so is the second: “the second is like unto it” (Matthew 22:39). How so? It is as spiritual as the first, and therefore not only what I “do” but also what I think and purpose to do unto others is comprehended in it. As we saw in Matthew 5, Christ speaks of murder and adultery committed in the heart, by spiteful anger and revengeful thoughts, by wanton desires and imaginations.

Thus secret grudgings in our hearts against others are forbidden, that our affections be not alienated from them. Our neighbour is to be loved as ourselves, and therefore the justice and equity required by this rule is a righteousness which proceeds from a principle of love.

It will thus be seen that this golden rule is not only a guide to conduct but a revealer of sin to the saints, for who that knows his own heart will say that he measures up to it? Yet “Let all who habitually neglect or violate this law recollect that whatever be their profession they are not Christians. Even now Christ is saying to them ‘Why call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?’” (John Brown). How few real Christians there are, then, in the world. How many are most resolute in standing up for their own rights, yet have no regard for the rights of others; who are very strict in demanding prompt payment from their debtors, yet are exceedingly slack in meeting the dues of their creditors; who hotly resent being slandered, yet care nothing of other men’s names; who are very hurt when friends fail to sympathize with them in their trouble, vet are callously indifferent to the sorrows of their neighbours. It is vain to parade our orthodoxy in doctrine and prate about the communion we enjoy with Christ, while we pay little or no attention to this important precept. God will not accept our worship if our conduct unto our fellows contradicts our Christian profession.

“For this is the law and the prophets.” This clause contains a commendation of the preceding commandment. It is no strange and harsh task which I am setting before you, says Christ, but one which God has required from His people since the beginning. That golden rule is in fact a remarkable epitome of the second table of the Moral Law, an abridgment of the duties there demanded by it. “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” is a gathering up into one compendious maxim of all that the Old Testament teaches concerns our converse and commerce with men. That golden rule is the sum of what the Law and the prophets taught about the law of equity and justice between man and man. In this declaration “For this is the law and the prophets” Christ placed His imprimatur upon the authenticity and authority of the Old Testament scriptures, for our Lord had never backed up His own teaching with anything less than an appeal unto that which was and is the very Word of God. The doctrine of Moses and the prophets is of equal weight and worth as the doctrine of Christ.

Perhaps a brief amplification is called for by the last sentence above. If we compare Christ and Moses and the prophets, we must distinguish between their doctrine and their persons. The doctrine of Moses and the prophets is equal to the doctrine of Christ in two ways: first in certainty of Truth, for they spoke nothing other than the very Word of God, and Christ did no more. Second, in efficacy and authority for the binding of conscience, theirs being thus equal with His. Yet the person of Christ is infinitely above the persons of Moses and the prophets, for He is God incarnate, whereas they were but holy men; He is the Author and Fountainhead of Truth, whereas they were only the amanuenses and channels thereof. Therefore Christ’s doctrine more binds us to obedience than the doctrine of the Old Testament because the Person delivering it is of more excellency: this is forcibly argued in Hebrews 1:1-2; Hebrews 2:1 (“we ought to give the more earnest heed”); Hebrews 12:25 (” much more.”).

The Old Testament taught the imperative duty of seeking the good of our neighbour as emphatically and clearly as does the New. It plainly and repeatedly forbade the doing of anything which would in any wise injure him. “Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18). “If thou meet thy neighbour’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again” (Exodus 23:4): clearly that was enunciating the principle, do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. “Thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him. and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, and that which he wanteth” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8). “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth” (Proverbs 24:17). “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” (Proverbs 25:21). Thus we may perceive the error and senselessness of those who claim that the New Testament contains a higher morality and spirituality than the Old.

Matthew 7:13

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 48

THE WAY OF

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there he 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.”

The verses to which we have now come are closely connected with the previous sections of the Lord’s Sermon, in which He had described the character of those who were the subjects of His kingdom and had laid down the rules by which they must walk. Such teaching as He had given out was at direct variance with the popular views entertained by His hearers. The Jews supposed that they were all to be the subjects of the Messiah, simply from being the natural descendants of Abraham and because they bore in their flesh the mark of the covenant. But throughout this discourse the Lord Jesus had made it abundantly clear that something more essential than physical lineage and submission to ceremonial rites was required to make them spiritual heirs of the patriarch. There was a straiter gate which had to be entered than any privilege which natural birth gave admittance to, a narrower way to be traversed than that religious life mapped out by the scribes and the Pharisees. Only those are accounted the true children of Abraham who have his faith (Romans 4:16), who do his works (John 8:39), and who are vitally united to Christ (Galatians 3:29).

If the teaching of Christ was radically different from that in which the Jews of His day had been brought up, it is in equally sharp contrast with most of the concepts which now prevail in Christendom. If the Jews were completely ignorant of the high and searching requirements of God’s holiness it cannot be said that our own generation is any better informed. If they plumed themselves on being the children of Abraham, a large percentage of our people complacently assume that they are members of a “Christian nation.” If they believed that the rite of circumcision secured for them the favour of God, multitudes in our churches imagine that the sprinkling of water on the brow of an infant obtains for it a passport to heaven. And even in those circles which are better instructed, for the most part salvation is offered on much easier terms, far more acceptable to the natural man, than those prescribed by the incarnate Son of God. The analogy may be extended still farther, for if it was the religious leaders of Israel who most strenuously opposed our Lord, it is those now making the loudest claims to orthodoxy that are the bitterest antagonists of the Truth.

In support of our assertion that the doctrine of Christ is directly contrary to the ideas now so prevalent in Christendom, take His solemn and express declaration that few there be that find life, which, we shall see as we proceed, means that only a few will reach heaven. But who is there today that really believes this? Where is the place in which such a truth is boldly and plainly uttered? We know of none. On the contrary it is generally assumed, yea, said openly, that many, that “millions,” that the greater part of the human race will obtain eternal felicity. Let any man who “attends church” die, and no matter how worldly his life or how crooked his business dealings, do not his friends say with one consent “he is now at rest,” and is not the preacher expected to declare in his funeral sermon that the deceased is “better off”?

If anyone should dare to dissent is he not at once condemned for being “harsh and uncharitable”? The tree, forsooth, is not to be known by its fruits but by the label some parsonic (parson) gardener has attached to it.

The unwelcome but faithful objector may call attention to our Lord’s statement that His flock is a “little”-Greek “very little” -one (Luke 12:32), but the religious world will not listen to him. He must not challenge the Christian profession of his fellows. He must not look for perfect people in this world. We all have our failings, and though some believe differently from himself, yet their hearts are right, and though others may be slack in performing certain duties, let him remember that they claim to be trusting in the finished work of Christ, and therefore it is highly reprehensible for anyone to doubt them. So far from believing that only a few will reach heaven, the vast majority in Christendom today hold that somehow, in some way, the greater part of our fellows will get there. Hell, if there be such a place, is reserved for arch-criminals and villains, just as our prisons house only a small fraction of the population-the “unfortunates” and “misguided” ones.

And why is it that there are scarcely any left among us who really believe that only the few will reach heaven? There can only be one answer: because it is now generally held that heaven can be obtained on much easier terms than those prescribed by Christ. The adulterous generation in which our lot is cast are quite sure that heaven can be reached without treading the only way which leads there, that the kingdom of God can be entered without passing through “much tribulation” (Acts 14:22), that we may be disciples of Christ without denying self, taking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24). They do not believe that if their right eve offends it must be plucked out and if their right hand offends it must be cut off (Matthew 5:29-30). They do not believe that if they live after the flesh they shall die, and that only if through the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the body they shall live (Romans 8:13). They are fully persuaded that a man can serve two masters and succeed in “making the best of two worlds.” In short, they do not believe the gate is as “strait” nor the way as “narrow” as Christ declared it to be.

All we have to do in order to be saved is to respond to Christ’s gracious invitation and “come unto Him.” Ah, but that “all” is by no means the simple matter that many think and that so many evangelists falsely represent it to be. We have to turn our back upon the world and forsake our cherished sins in order to turn our face unto Christ, as the prodigal had to leave the far country, where he had spent his substance in riotous living, before he could come to the Father. Christ is the Holy One of God and will not be the minister of sin. Love for the things of this world closes the heart against Him. What caused the young man to go away from Christ sorrowing, after some fair show of willingness to be His disciple, but love of possessions? What restrained the invited guests from accepting the invitation to the marriage feast, but immoderate affection to the husbanding of a farm and proving of oxen (Matthew 22:5)? “Whosoever is under the government of this lust (covetousness) can no more believe in Christ than a man lying under a heap of rubbish or at the bottom of the sea can see the glory of the heavens.

The intentness of the eye on one object hinders it from the view of another” (S. Charnock).

When the Philippian jailer asked “What must I do to be saved?” all the apostle answered was “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Waiving now the fact that that was not the idle inquiry of one who was still in love with the world and taking his fill of its pleasures, but instead the distressed cry of one who was desperate, let it be pointed out that while believing in Christ is a simple and easy act considered in itself, yet it becomes a very hard and difficult thing to us by reason of the opposition made thereto by our inward corruptions and the temptations of Satan. To forgive our enemies and love those who persecute and despitefully use us is, considered as a notion of the mind, easy to be performed, but try and bring your heart to do the same and you will discover it lies beyond your own unaided powers. As a motion of the mind it is both simple and delightful to cast all our care upon Him who careth for us (1 Peter 5:7), yet a poor man, in ill health and the father of a big family, does not find it easy to perform. No heart can tear itself away from the world and hate beloved lusts without first experiencing the mighty operations of the Holy Spirit!’

“Enter ye in at the strait gate” says Christ at the beginning of our passage, and that this is far from being an easy thing to do appears from His word on another occasion: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24). That He should employ such an expression clearly implies the slothfulness and carelessness which characterize mere nominal professors, as it also denotes that there are real difficulties and formidable obstacles to be overcome. The Greek word there used for “strive” (agonizomai) is a very expressive and emphatic one, meaning “agonize.” It occurs again in 1 Corinthians 9:25, “and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things:” the reference is to the athletes who took part in the marathon races, willing to undergo the most self-denying discipline to be at their fittest, thereby hoping to win an earthly crown. This word rendered “strive” is translated “labouring fervently” in Colossians 4:12, and “fight” in 1 Timothy 6:2! Ah, my reader, becoming a Christian is not done simply by holding up your hand in a religious meeting or signing some “decision” card. Alas, that such multitudes have been deceived by these satanic catch-pennies.

“The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12), like an army storming a city and capturing the same. We have often read of earthly kingdoms being obtained by violence, but it seems surprising to hear of such means being used upon the kingdom of heaven. How are we to understand this? Why, thus: “violence” here does not signify unlawful assaults, but earnest deliberation. It is not an injurious violence like that which seizes earthly prizes, but a holy and industrious violence, intensity of desire and endeavour, persevering zeal which refuses a denial. It is a determination to master all difficulties, to break through all impediments and surmount every obstacle.

Such violence was necessary then: “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go n yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13), but did all they could to oppose them. So now: godless relatives and worldly companions will seek to deter the earnest seeker after Christ, but he must not be deterred if he would find. “The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers, but to be the rest of them that labour” (Matthew Henry).

“Enter ye in at the strait gate.” It is not enough to listen to preaching about this “gate,” nor to study its structure or admire the wisdom of its appointment: it must be entered. Sermons on repentance and faith in Christ avail us nothing unless they move our hearts to comply therewith. The Greek word here rendered “strait” signifies restrained, cramped, or better “narrow” as it is rendered in the R.V. And what is meant by this strait or narrow gate? A “gate” serves two purposes: it lets in and shuts out. This gate is the only avenue of admittance to that “way” which leads unto life, and all who enter not by it are eternally barred from the presence of God and the realm of ineffable bliss.

The second use of this “gate” is solemnly illustrated at the close of the parable of the virgins. The foolish ones lacked the necessary “oil” (the work of the Spirit in the heart), and when they sought to obtain it the Bridegroom came and “the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10), and though they besought Him to open it unto them, He answered “I know you not.”

What is denoted by entering this narrow gate? Chiefly three things. First, the acceptance of those teachings of truth, of duty, of happiness, which were unfolded by Christ: the honest and actual receiving into the heart of His holy, searching and flesh-withering instructions. Those teachings may be summed up in His emphasis upon the righteous claims and demands of God upon us and His insistence upon our depraved state and wicked enmity against Him. No one can become a Christian while he entertains any doubt upon the Divine inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, or while he refuses to bow to the verdict which God has pronounced upon him. We must know ourselves to be utterly lost before there can be any desire for salvation, and we must accept God’s sentence of condemnation upon us ere we know how guilty we are in His sight.

There can be no traversing the narrow way itself until we set to our seal that God is true when He declares we are “all as an unclean thing,” that there is “no soundness” in us. It is by relinquishing error, the lies of Satan, and receiving the Truth that we pass through the strait gate.

Second, the exercise of true repentance. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent” (Matthew 4:17). It was announced of His forerunner that he should “prepare the way of the Lord.” And how did he do so? By making ready a people to receive Him when He appeared before them as “the Lamb of God.” And in what did that readiness consist? This, that they repented, confessed their sins, and owned that death was their due by being buried in baptism in the Jordan by him (Luke 3:1-6). The Gospel is not less holy than the Law and therefore it requires that our hearts bewail our former transgressions of the Law and be firm and sincere in its resolution against all future sin. “You and your sins must separate, or you and your God will never come together. No one sin may you keep.

They must all be given up: they must be brought out like the Canaanitish kings from the cave and hanged up before the sun. You must forsake them, abhor them, and ask the Lord to overcome them” (C. H. Spurgeon). It is by abandoning our idols and the pleasures of sin that we pass through the strait gait.

Third, the complete surrender of ourselves to God in Christ. This will anticipate an objection which some may be ready to make: not the Lord Jesus “the Door” (John 10:9)? Yes, and He is so according to the three principal functions of His mediatorial office: He is “the Door” into God’s presence as He is Prophet, Priest and King. To believe savingly in Christ is to receive Him as Prophet to instruct us, as Priest to atone for us, and as King to rule over us. Only as His holy teachings are really accepted by a contrite heart is any soul prepared to place any value on His cleansing blood, and the sincerity of our acceptance of Him as Priest is evidenced by our readiness to submit to His royal sceptre, for like His types He is first the King of righteousness and after that the King of peace (Hebrews 7:2). Christ’s cleansing blood is available to none who are unwilling to throw down the weapons of their warfare against God: they must forsake their way if they would be pardoned (Isaiah 55:7).

Only by a serious dedication of ourselves unto God through Christ can we become enjoyers of the riches of His grace. It is by a complete surrender of ourselves unto God that we pass through the strait gate.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate.” Here were “duty repentance” and “duty faith” with a vengeance, for this exhortation is obviously addressed unto the unsaved: “Enter ye in” definitely implies they were yet outside. And unto whom was Christ speaking? Not to heathen idolaters, who were without any knowledge of the true God. No, it was to those who believed in Jehovah and who received the Scriptures as His very Word. It was to those who averred “we have one Father, even God” (John 8:41). Nevertheless, despite all their knowledge of the Truth and enjoyment of external privileges, they had never entered that gate which alone admitted to the only way which leadeth unto life This same exhortation is equally applicable and pertinent today unto multitudes of church members who, notwithstanding their profession and performances, have never been born again. In this exhortation Christ makes it plain to His ministers that He would have them recognize the responsibility of their hearers, and call upon the unregenerate to discharge their duties.

“For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” In those words our Lord advanced a reason or argument to enforce His previous exhortation. There is another gate than the “strait” one, altogether different therefrom, for it is “wide” and gives entrance into a broad way, but it leads to the bottomless pit. It is “the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:2), in which all its unregenerate citizens are found. It is the path of self-will and self-gratification. It is “wide” because those in it own no restrictions. They have broken down the commandments of God which were designed to be a hedge about them.

It is therefore a pleasant and easy way to the flesh, for no inquiry or diligent search has to be made in order to find it, no resolution and perseverance are called for in order to continue treading it, no self-denial has to be practiced to remain therein. A dead fish can float with the stream, but only a living one can swim against it: so the unregenerate mechanically follow this road, for there is nothing in them to resist the law of gravity. The going is smooth and easy because it is all downhill!

It is a crowded road, for “many there be which go in thereat.” It is the very width of it which renders it so attractive to the carnal mind. Here there are no “quota” limitations, no barring of “aliens,” no restrictions of color, caste or creed. There is plenty of room for all. Men may walk in the ways of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes, give rein to their lusts and full indulgence to their inclinations, and none shall hinder them. This broad road is thronged because all mankind are in it by nature, birth admitting them into the same; nor has anyone the slightest desire to desert it unless a miracle of grace be wrought upon him. Like Lot and his wife in Sodom every last one of us is so loath to leave the city of destruction that the Christian too had preferred to remain there and perish, unless the Lord had sent His messengers to “pluck” him as a brand from the burning. “Woe to the multitude of many people” (Isaiah 17:12) says God to this densely packed road.

It is a deceptive road, for few upon it have any idea of whither it is taking them. Those upon it believe they are following the wise course, for they regard as fools those who differ from them. We are only young once, life is short, let us have a gay time while it lasts; let us eat, drink and be merry seems to them the very dictates of common sense. Ah, it is “the way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). So sure are its travelers they are right that they conclude anyone is afflicted with “religious mania” who prefers the narrow way. Yet it is a fatal road, for it “leadeth to destruction,” hopeless and eternal destruction.

It conducts to the bottomless pit, the unquenchable fire, and the undying worm. It is the way of the ungodly, and Scripture expressly declares that “the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalms 1:6). And, my reader, that fatal way can only be abandoned by conversion, by a radical right about face, by turning from sin and self-pleasing and turning unto God and holy living.

Matthew 7:14

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 48

THE WAY OF

Matthew 7:13-14

The intentness of the eye on one object hinders it from the view of another” (S. Charnock).

Matthew 7:15

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 49

THE WAY OF -

Matthew 7:14-15

“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.”

As Christ was the antitype of Melchizedek and Aaron, the antitype of David and Solomon, so also was He the antitypical Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18) and Samuel, and therefore in the fulfillment of His commission He could say unto His hearers, “I set before you the way of life, and the way of death” (Jeremiah 21:8). This is precisely what He did in the verses before us: He likens our passage through life to a journey, a journey from time unto eternity. There are but two possible destinations unto which each of us is travelling, for we are treading the path which leads to heavenly bliss or the road which conducts to the eternal torments of hell. That we may ascertain which of those ways we are on, Christ gave a brief and clearly identifying description of each of them, defining the entrance thereto, the breadth thereof, and the numbers thereon. God has ordained two distinct places to be the final abodes of men after this life, and between them He has fixed a great gulf so that none can pass from the one to the other (Luke 16:26), and equally great is the distance and the difference between the ways leading to them and the character and conduct of those walking along the one and the other, for the former are the children of God, whereas the latter are the children of the Devil.

This drawing such drastic lines of discrimination, this definite and circumscribed classification, is not at all acceptable to those who traverse the spacious road leading to destruction. They pride themselves on their broadmindedness and liberality and resent anything which suggests that all is not well with them. They know their characters are not white, yet would not allow for a moment they were black, so persuade themselves they are a shade midway between. They may not be good enough for heaven, but they are quite sure they are not bad enough for bell. That is why the papish invention of a “purgatory” is so popular with multitudes of people, and just as they would fondly believe there is another place besides heaven and hell, so they like to think there is another class besides saints and sinners. But if our thoughts be formed according to the teaching of Holy Writ we are shut up to this inevitable and sole alternative, light or darkness, truth or error, Christ or Belial, holiness or sin, salvation or damnation.

Christ began this solemn and searching portion of His Sermon with the exhortation, “Enter ye in at the strait gate,” which we understand to mean: first, jettison all your own ideas and receive the Truth as a little child (Matthew 18:3), bowing to its sentence of condemnation. Second, abandon your course of self-pleasing, bewail your rebellion against God and set your heart firmly against sill. Third, surrender yourself to God’s righteous claims and yield yourself unreservedly to the Lordship of Christ. That exhortation is enforced by the following reason: “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” All who are unconverted proceed along it. “It hath in it various paths suited to men’s different humors and inclinations. The covetous and the spendthrift, the profligate and the hypocrite, the Antinomian and the Pharisee, the sons and daughters of pleasure and the grave designing politicians and proud philosophers, decent moralists and infamous debauchees, have their several paths and their select companies; they mutually despise and condemn each other, yet they all keep one another in countenance by agreeing to oppose the holy ways of the Lord” (Thomas Scott).

Yet pleasant as the broad way may be to the flesh and popular as it is with the masses, it ends in unutterable woe and everlasting torments. How necessary it is then, that each of us should give heed to that injunction, “Ponder the path of thy feet” (Proverbs 4:26). Men are ready enough to do so in temporal matters, why not so in spiritual? They do not enter a train or even a bus without first ascertaining where it is bound for: then why not pause and ask, Whither will this godless mode of life take me? In which direction are my feet pointed: heavenward or hellward? So immeasurable is the distance betwixt those two bodies, so vast is the difference between life and destruction, that we are called upon to exercise the utmost care and conscience in using every Divinely prescribed means for attaining the one and escaping the other. In the verses we are now considering Christ faithfully warns us that if we are to have a well-grounded hope of attaining the home of the blessed we must give heed to that commandment, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil” (Exodus 23:2).

There appears to have been some uncertainty in the minds of our translators concerning the exact relation between Matthew 7:14 and its immediate context, for it will be observed that they have suggested “How” as an alternative to its opening “Because.” In the preceding verse our Lord had given a brief but emphatic exhortation which He had followed with a solemn reason to enforce the same. What then is the precise force of Mat 7:14, which obviously returns to the original exhortation? If we take the marginal rendering, then Matthew 7:14 constitutes an exclamation, occasioned by what has been said of the broad way and the multitudes which choose to tread it. But if we take it as it reads, and which we regard as preferable, then Matthew 7:14 contains an amplification. First, informing us that entering in at the strait gate is not the end itself, but only a means thereto, for it gives entrance to the “narrow way” which has to be traversed if life is to be obtained. Second, it plainly announces that the walk thereon will be both difficult and lonely, for only the “few” succeed in finding it. And third, it offers encouragement or presents a powerful incentive by assuring its travelers that life lies at the end of it.

It seems to us there is yet another way of ascertaining the relation of Mat 7:14 to its context, and that is by linking it not with the whole of the preceding verse but with its last clause, thus: “and many there be which go in thereat, because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life.” Considered thus it is a word of explanation, informing us why the multitudes prefer the road which leads to destruction: the only alternative path repels them. The straitness of its entrance and the narrowness of its course present no attraction for the lovers of fleshly license and worldly pursuits and pleasures; on the contrary, the way which leads unto life is diametrically opposed to their ideas and inclinations. They may offer a hundred excuses why they seek not the narrow way, but the real one is that they have no heart for it. As a fish is out of its native element when brought from the water and placed on the land, so the unregenerate have no relish for godliness. None but those who have communicated to them a new nature will desire to tread the highway of holiness.

“Because strait [or “narrow”] is the gate.” We have already pondered this expression in the preceding article, yet so little is it understood and so much is it contradicted by the claptrap evangelism of our day that a further word on it is called for. Place by the side of it another of our Lord’s sayings: “That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom!” (Matthew 19:23). How far removed is that from the idea now so prevalent! Do not thousands who take the lead in tract distribution, open-air work, Gospel hall and mission hall services, suppose it is just as easy for a rich man to be saved as a poor one, seeing that all which either of them has to do is “simply believe the record which God has given of His Son.” Ah, my reader, the devils believe the whole of that record (James 2:19): believe in His deity (Matthew 8:29), His virgin birth, His atoning death, His triumphant resurrection, but does their belief make them any less devilish in character? So of the vast majority of those who profess to have received Christ as their personal Saviour; has their believing of the Gospel made them less carnal and worldly, more truthful with their fellows, more honest in their business dealings, less selfish; if it has not, what is such “believing” worth? Less than nothing.

If saving faith were nothing but an act of the mind, an assent to the Divine testimony, then it would be just as easy for a millionaire to be saved as a pauper. But it is “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10) and the heart is the seat of the affections, and how can a person hate what he loves or love what he hates? Can he do so by a mere “act of the will”? Of course not: It is contrary to nature. A miracle of grace has to be performed within him first, his heart must be “renewed,” radically changed, before its affections will move in a different direction. We are told that “the disciples were astonished at His words,” so they too were laboring under the delusion that salvation was a simple matter for anybody. “But Jesus answered again and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” Faith is an attitude of heart Godward, and where material wealth is made the heart’s sufficiency in connection with temporal supplies, how can it reverse its entire trend and trust God for spiritual and eternal things?

“It is easier [continued Christ] for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Now face the issue frankly, dear reader: does that declaration of the Lord Jesus denote that salvation is to be obtained cheaply, that anyone may be saved any time he is willing to be? Should it be answered, This is not a “salvation” passage, we reply, It most certainly is, for the disciples at once asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Mark 10:26). To which our Lord said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible.” How utterly erroneous then is the teaching that the matter of his salvation rests entirely with man’s will. They are deceivers of souls, blind leaders of the blind, who go around telling the ignorant and unwary that getting saved is an easy and simple thing. Not so, it is the most difficult thing of all; nay, with men it is impossible, and the sooner this be recognized the sooner we are likely to get down on our knees and cry to God in earnest for the supernatural operations of His Spirit.

Trusting in riches is far from being the only thing which hinders man from seeking God’s salvation. “How can ye believe,” said Christ on another occasion, “which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:44): the love of fame, seeking the approbation of our fellows, is another fatal obstruction. If the first three Gospels be read attentively (John’s Gospel is for Christians- John 1:16) it will be seen that the Lord Jesus was very far from teaching that the attainment of heaven is a simple matter. He insisted that right eyes have to be plucked out (cherished lusts mortified) and right hands cut off (beloved idols destroyed)- Matthew 5:29-30. He likened the Christian unto a “house” which has to withstand “floods” and “winds” beating upon it (Matthew 7:25). He declared that in order to be His disciple a man must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Instead of promising His followers a smooth voyage through this world, He said, “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?” (Matthew 10:25).

Instead of teaching that a single and isolated act of faith was sufficient to secure heaven, He said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Instead of seeking to rush men into believing, He bade them “sit down first and count the cost” (Luke 14:28).

The gate or entrance then is a “strait” one, for it will not admit those who are loaded with the weapons of rebellion against God, nor can they squeeze through who are walking arm in arm with the world. To enter that gate the heart has to be humbled, sinful pleasures have to relinquished, worldly companions abandoned, Christ has to be received in all His offices. And mark it well, this “gate” is but the entrance, giving admittance to the one and only path which leadeth unto life. That path Christ described as a “narrow way,” to intimate that it is no easier, wider or more pleasant than the gate itself. In 1 Thessalonians 3:4, the cognate term is rendered “suffer tribulation.” It is not on flowery beds of ease that the pilgrim is conducted to the Father’s house: rather does he have to force his way through briars and thorns which cut and tear the flesh. There is not one path for the Redeemer and another for the redeemed (John 10:4). His was a path of affliction and ours cannot be otherwise if we follow the example He has left us; and if we do not we shall not join Him on high.

“Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life.” As this way is entered by the heart’s sincere acceptance of Christ’s holy teaching, so it is traversed by the heart and life being constantly regulated thereby. They who tread this narrow way heed not the counsel of the ungodly (Psalms 1:2), lean not unto their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), and follow not “the customs of the people” (Jeremiah 10:3). Rather are the believer’s thoughts formed by the Scriptures and his conduct directed by its statutes, so that God’s Word becomes to him in fact and experience “a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path.” The narrow way is strictly marked and exactly defined in the Divine Charter, and along it the Christian must go without turning aside either to the right hand or the left (Proverbs 4:27). When he meets with an enemy that enemy must be overcome, or he will be overcome by him. The going is strenuous and arduous, for the whole of it is uphill. Let anyone who thinks otherwise read Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and see if that deeply taught soul pictured pilgrim’s course to the celestial city as all smooth sailing. Alas, that so much of the modern preaching is the very reverse of what is contained in that faithful and helpful work.

And why is the way such a “narrow” one? Because it is a single path, whereas the way of death is manifold, containing sundry avenues. Just as Truth is one, but error is a many-headed monster, so the highway of holiness is a single track in contrast with the numerous pavements in the broad road which leads to destruction. It is “narrow” because those on it are shut in by the Divine commands, which make all else forbidden territory. It is “narrow” because it excludes all fleshly license and lawless liberty. It is “narrow” because it can only be trodden by faith, and faith is not only opposed to sight but to sense, to self-will and self-pleasing.

It is “narrow” because all other interests have to be subordinated to the pleasing of God. Thus it is a way of difficulty and displeasure to corrupt nature, for our lusts are impatient of any restraint. It is natural to be more concerned about the body than the soul, to be absorbed with things present rather than with things to come, and this natural tendency is fed by habit and custom: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil” (Jeremiah 13:23).

Walking along the narrow way denotes a steady perseverance in faith and obedience to God in Christ. It signifies the overcoming of all opposition and the rejecting of all temptations to turn off into what Bunyan terms “Bypath meadow.” That narrow way must be followed no matter how much it may militate against my worldly interests. Our minds, our affections, our wills, our speeches and actions have all to be brought within the compass of God’s Holy Word, within the compass of both His Law and His Gospel. At ten fundamental points our liberty is circumscribed by the Law, nor is the Gospel any less strict. Our natural desire unto self-confidence and self-sufficiency, self-complacency and self-righteousness is sternly repressed by it. The duties which the Lord has enjoined must be discharged conscientiously and circumspectly.

Bounds are prescribed to our thoughts and affections: though certain things be lawful yet they are not expedient, and if things indifferent be used immoderately we sin therein. Good works are to be performed from a holy principle, in a holy manner, and with a holy design, and any failure therein is sin, for sin is a “missing the mark.”

The obedience of the Christian is very precise, for not only must the rule be strictly observed but the motive must be pure-the pleasing and glorifying of God. Even our prayers must be according to the Divine will or they are not answered. Those who walk thus are bound to be thought singular and peculiar. Their Lord has faithfully warned them beforehand, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not . . . the world hateth you” (John 15:18-19). And mark it well my reader, it was not the profane and heathen world that hated Christ, but the professing and religious world, and so it is still.

If by grace you are enable-I to tread the narrow way it will be church members, professing Christians, who will say, “Such strictness is not required. I cannot see why you wish to cut yourself from us.” If you refuse to imitate their laxity, they will sneer at your “holy preciseness” and mock at such “out-of-date puritanism.” Ah, journeying along the narrow way means swimming against the tide of popular opinion!

“Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life.” By “life” is meant that glorious state of unclouded fellowship with God, the heart’s being satisfied with Him, the realization of His unspeakable excellency and the fullness of joy there is in His immediate presence. Even now the real Christian has the promise, yea, the earnest, of it, but life in its fullness, in its unalloyed blessedness, in its ineffable consummation is yet future, as is clear from its being placed over against “destruction.” “And few there be that find it.” So let not the saint be discouraged because he finds his path so unpopular and a lonely one: his Master declared it would be so. This is one of the surest indexes that he is on the right road. And why is it that so few “find” it? Because so few diligently seek it. The great crowd of religious professors imagine they are already on it, and therefore they heed not that word, “Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).

We need to inquire for it. Where? In God’s Word, and then follow it, putting into practice what we already know.

Even when a servant of God describes the narrow way to professing Christians they heed him not, but charge him with teaching salvation by works and bringing souls into bondage, knowing not that the Gospel is the handmaid of the Law and not its enemy (Romans 3:31). Saving faith not only trusts in Christ but follows Him. It not only believes God’s promises but obeys His precepts. Saving faith is a fruitful thing, abounding in good works. It enables its possessor to endure trials, resist the Devil, and overcome the world (1 John 5:4). None tread the narrow way save those who make vital godliness their chief concern, the main business of life.

Hence we see why it is that the vast majority of our fellow men and women, yea, and of professing Christians also, will fail to reach heaven: it is because they prefer sin to holiness, indulging the lusts of the flesh to walking according to the Scriptures, self to Christ, the world to God, the broad way to the narrow. They are unwilling to forsake their sins, destroy their idols, turn their backs on the world, and submit to Christ as Lord.

Chapter 50

FALSE

Matthew 7:15

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

If there be any verse in Holy Writ where it is deeply important to observe (and heed!) its connection it is surely the one at which we have now arrived. It may appear to the casual reader that our Lord here began an entirely new subject, having little or no relation to what immediately precedes. It is true our present verse introduces a distinct section of His Sermon, yet it also bears directly on what He had just said. Having described most solemnly and searchingly the way of life, like a faithful Guide Christ went on to warn us against one of the chief impediments to walking in that way, namely false guides; those who under the pretence of offering us Divine directions therein will fatally deceive us if we give heed thereto. In every age, but never more so than in our own, multitudes of gullible souls have been allured into the broad road which leads to destruction by men professing to be teachers of the Truth and ministers of Christ, yet who had not His Spirit and who were none of His: blind leaders of the blind, who with their dupes fall into the ditch.

“Beware of false prophets.” The force of this exhortation will be the better perceived if we take to heart what is found in the Old Testament thereon, bearing in mind that history has ever repeated itself since human nature is the same in all ages. “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means” (Jeremiah 5:30-31). “Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them; they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought and the deceit of their heart” (Jeremiah 14:14) “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto Me as Sodom. . . . Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you, they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:14-16). “There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls, they have taken the treasure and precious things, they have made her many widows” (Ezekiel 22:25). False prophets were one of the chief factors in the apostasy and destruction of Israel, and these passages are recorded for our admonition and warning.

It must not be supposed that such deceivers passed away with the ending of the Mosaic economy. The Lord Jesus and His apostles announced that there should be false teachers in this Christian dispensation. Christ declared that “many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many,” yea, they would present such imposing credentials that “if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24). Paul, announced, “I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch” (Acts 20:29-31).

And again he said, “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). Peter foretold, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways” (2 Peter 2:1-2). John gave warning, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Immediately after the parable of the Sower Christ declared, “His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat” (Matthew 13:25), the one so closely resembling the other that He commanded, “Let both grow together until, the harvest,” when it will be seen there is no corn in the ears of the deceitful tares. By placing those parables in juxtaposition the Lord Jesus exposed the method and order of His adversary. “As Jannes and Jambres [the magicians of Pharaoh] withstood Moses” (2 Timothy 3:8) by their imitating his miracles, so when God sends forth His servants to preach the Gospel the Devil soon after prompts his emissaries to proclaim “another gospel”: when God speaks the Devil gives a mocking echo. Satan has found that he can work far more effectively by counterfeiting the Truth than by openly denying it, hence in every age “false prophets” have abounded, and therefore we should be neither surprised nor stumbled by their number or success in our own day. We fully agree with Andrew Fuller when he said, “As this word ‘beware of false prophets’ was designed for Christians of every age, the term rendered ‘prophets’ must here, as it often is elsewhere, be used of ordinary teachers.”

“Beware of false prophets” signifies in this dispensation, Be on your guard against false teachers, heretical preachers. There are no longer any “prophets” in the strict and technical sense of the term, though there are a few of God’s servants who in their gifts and special work approximate closely thereto. Those against whom we are here warned are men who have a false commission, never having been called of God to the service they engage in; they preach error, which is subversive of “the doctrine which is according to godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3); and the fruit they bear is a base imitation of the fruit of the Spirit. The chief identifying mark of the false prophets has ever been their saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is none (Jeremiah 23:17; Micah 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). They heal the wounds of sinners slightly (Jeremiah 8:11) and daub “with untempered morter” (Ezekiel 8:14; Ezekiel 22:28). They prophesy “smooth things” (Isaiah 30:10), inventing easy ways to heaven, pandering to corrupt nature. There is nothing in their preaching which searches the conscience and renders the empty professor uneasy, nothing which humbles and causes their hearers to mourn before God; but rather that which puffs up, makes them pleased with themselves and to rest content in a false assurance.

The general characteristic of “false prophets” is that they make vital godliness to he a less strict and easier thing than it actually is, more agreeable to fallen human nature, and thus they encourage the unregenerate to be satisfied with something which comes short of true grace. So the Pharisees did, notwithstanding all their strictness (Matthew 23:25). So the papists do, notwithstanding all their boasted austerities. So Arminians do, notwithstanding all their seeming zeal for good works. So the Antinomians do, notwithstanding their pretended superior light and joy, zeal and confidence. This is the common mark of all false teachers: rejecting the Divine way, they manufacture one to suit themselves, and however they may differ among themselves, they all agree to make the practice of piety and the Christian walk an easier thing than the Scriptures do, to offer salvation on cheaper terms, to make the gate wider and the way to heaven broader than did Christ and His apostles.

It is this which explains the secret of their popularity: “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them” (1 John 4:5). But of such Christ warns his people to “beware,” for they feed souls with poison and not with the pure milk of the Word.

“Which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” In those words Christ emphasized the danger of these false prophets: the character they assumed is well calculated to deceive the unwary. The Lord here alluded to a device employed by false prophets in former times who counterfeited the true servants of God by wearing their distinctive attire. Elijah, in regard to his garments, was called “a hairy man” (2 Kings 1:8), and therefore when John the Baptist came “in the spirit and the power of Elias” (Luke 1:17) we are told that he “had his raiment of camel’s hair” (Matthew 3:4). When then the agents of Satan posed as the true prophets they counterfeited their attire that they might more easily seduce the people, as is clear from Zechariah 13:4, where Jehovah declared that a day would come when the prophet should be ashamed of the vision he had prophesied and should no more wear “a garment of hair to deceive.” Thus by this evident reference Christ intimated the plausible pretences of the heretical teachers, the subterfuges which they would employ to conceal their real character and design, thereby stressing what dangerous persons they are and how urgent is the need for His people to be constantly on their guard against those who seek their destruction.

“Which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” They pose as being the very opposite of what they really are. They are agents of the evil one, yet claim to be the servants of the Holy One. Their place is on the outside, in the forests and mountains, yet. they intrude themselves within the fold. This intimates their great craftiness and seeming piety. People think they are teaching them the way to heaven, when in fact they are conducting them to hell. Often they are difficult to discover, for they “creep into houses and lead captive silly women” (2 Timothy 3:6), yea, even in apostolic times some of them successfully “crept in unawares” (Jude 4) into the assemblies of the saints.

It was of such Paul wrote when he said, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Though their clothing be “sheep’s,” yet they have the fierceness and cruelty of wolves.

In addition to their subtlety and plausibility, frequently accompanied by a most winsome personality and an apparently saintly walk, there is a real danger of our being deceived by these false prophets and receiving their erroneous teaching by virtue of the fact that there is that within the Christian himself which responds to and approves of their lies. How immeasurably this intensifies our peril! That which flatters is pleasing to the flesh; that which abases is distasteful. Paul complains of this very thing to the Corinthians. Some had evidently resented his plain speaking in the first epistle, wherein he had rebuked their sins, for in his second he wrote, “would to God ye could bear with me a little” (2 Corinthians 11:1). The Galatians first received the Gospel so gladly from him that they would have plucked out their eyes had that advantaged him (Galatians 4:15), yet soon after they imbibed deadly error from the Judaizers, and when the apostle took them to task for this he had to ask them, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). Thus it was with the multitudes in connection with our Saviour: acclaiming Him with their hosannas and less than a week later crying, “Away with Him, crucify Him,” so fickle and treacherous is the human heart.

What point does this give to our Lord’s command, “take heed what ye hear” (Mark 4:24). Corrupt nature is thoroughly in love with error and will more readily and eagerly receive false than true doctrine. Should any dispute our statement, we would refer them to “the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:31). Said Christ unto the Jews, “because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:45): what a commentary on fallen human nature-had He preached lies they had promptly received Him. Alas, what is man: he will run greedily after something new and sensational, but is soon bored by the old story of the Gospel. How feeble is the Christian, how weak his faith, how fickle and unstable the moment he is left to himself.

Peter, the most courageous and forward of the apostles in his profession, denied his Master when challenged by a maid. Even when given a heart to love the Truth, we still have “itching ears” for novelties and errors, as the Israelites welcomed the manna at first, but soon grew weary of it and lusted after the fleshpots of Egypt. Real and urgent then is our need to heed this command, “Beware of false prophets.”

It is time that we should now proceed to amplify the thought expressed in our opening paragraph. In the previous section of His Sermon Christ had contrasted the broad road and the many who tread it and the narrow way and the few who find it, adding immediately, “Beware of false prophets.” Now the narrow way, which leads unto life, is the way of salvation, and therefore the warning given us must have respect to those who teach or present an erroneous way of salvation, thereby placing the souls of their listeners in imminent peril, for to accept their false teachings is fatal. Thus the tremendous importance of our present passage is at once apparent. As the verse quoted from 2 Peter tells us, it is nothing short of “damnable heresies” which these false prophets promulgate. It is about salvation matters they treat, but damnation is the end of those who receive their lies, unless God intervenes with a miracle of grace and disillusions their dupes, which very rarely happens. It therefore behooves each of us seriously to ask, Have I been deceived by these false prophets?

Am I treading a way which “seemeth right” unto me but which God declares is the way o( “death” (Proverbs 14:12)? Yea, it behooves us sincerely amid earnestly to beseech God to make it unmistakably clear to us which “way” we are really treading.

Now it is the duty of God’s servants to provide help to exercised souls on this supremely important matter, to expose the lies of these “false prophets,” to make plain the way of salvation. This may best be done by defining and showing the relation of good works unto salvation, for it is at this point more than any other that the emissaries of Satan have fatally deceived souls. The principal errors which have been advanced thereon may be summed up under these two heads: salvation by works, and salvation without works. Romanists have been the chief promulgators of the former, insisting that the good works of the Christian have a meritorious value which entitles him to heaven. Thereby they rob Christ of much of His glory, bringing in something of ours in addition to His blood and righteousness to obtain acceptance with God. Romanists do not repudiate in toto either the grace of God or the redemption of Christ, but they nullify both by attributing saving efficacy unto the rites of their church, and the performances of the creature. Such an error is expressly repudiated by such scriptures as Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5.

Some of the propagators of the salvation-without-works error during the last century have assumed the garb of the orthodox and thereby obtained a hearing from many who had never listened to them had their real characters been suspected. They have gone to the opposite extreme and preached a “gospel” as far removed from the Truth as the Romish lie of salvation by works. They teach that while good works from Christians are certainly desirable yet they are not imperative, the absence of them involving merely the loss of certain “millennial” honours and not the missing of heaven itself. They have interpreted those words of Christ’s “It is finished” in such a way as to lull multitudes of souls into a false peace, as though He wrought something at the Cross which renders it needless for sinners to repent, forsake their idols, renounce the world before they can be saved; that “nothing is required from them but their simple acceptance of Christ by faith;” that once they have “rested on His finished work”-no matter what their subsequent lives-they are “eternally secure.” So widely has this fatal doctrine been received, so thoroughly have these “ravenous wolves” deceived the religious world by their “sheep’s clothing,” that with rare exceptions anyone who now denounces this deadly evil is to call down upon himself the charge of being a “Legalist” or “Judaizer.”

Before we endeavour to show the place which good works have in connection with salvation, let us quote a few sentences from a brief article we wrote in this magazine some years ago. “It is finished: do those blessed words signify that Christ so satisfied the requirements of God’s holiness that that holiness no longer has any real and pressing claims upon us? Did Christ ‘magnify the Law and make it honourable’ (Isaiah 42:21) that we might be lawless? Did He fulfil all righteousness to purchase for us an immunity from loving God with all our hearts and serving Him with all our faculties? Did Christ die in order to secure a Divine indulgence that we might live to please self? . . . Christ died not to make my sorrow for and hatred of sin useless. Christ died not to absolve me from the full discharge of my responsibilities unto God.

Christ died not so that I might go on retaining the friendship and fellowship of the world. . . . The ‘finished work’ of Christ avails me nothing if my heart has not been broken by an agonizing consciousness of my sinfulness. It avails me nothing if I still love the world (1 John 2:15). It avails me nothing unless I am a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

Since then salvation by works and salvation without works are equally opposed to God’s way of salvation, what is the place or relation which “good works” hold to the saving of a soul? Let us first define our terms. By “good works” we mean those operations of our hearts and hands which are performed in obedience to God’s will, which proceed from evangelical principles and which have in view the Divine glory. By “salvation” we include not only regeneration (which is simply the beginning of it in our experience) but sanctification and an actual entrance into heaven itself. Thus “godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10), unreserved surrender to the Lordship of Christ (Matthew 11:29; Luke 14:33), the obedience of faith (Romans 16:26; Hebrews 5:9), enduring to the end in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16), love to God (Matthew 24:12-13), and the way of holiness (Hebrews 3:15) are all “good works” and are indispensably necessary if we are to escape the everlasting burnings. The good Shepherd “goeth before” His sheep (John 10:4) and if they are to join Him on high they must “follow Him”-“leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). There is no reaching heaven except by treading the only path that leads there-the highway of holiness.

The subject we are now dealing with is far too important to be condensed into a few brief and general statements, therefore, as our present space is almost exhausted, we shall conclude with this paragraph and enter into more detail in our next chapter. That good works are neither the chief nor the procuring cause of salvation is readily admitted, but that they are no cause whatever, that they are simply “fruits” of salvation and not a means thereto, we as definitely deny. On the one hand good works must be kept strictly subordinate to the grace of God and the merits of Christ: on the other hand they must not be entirely excluded. It is the corn he sows which produces the crop, equally true that the fertility of the ground and the showers and sunshine from heaven are indispensable for a harvest; but given the finest seed, the richest soil, the most favorable season, would the farmer have anything to reap if he failed to plough his ground and sow his seed? But does that furnish room for the farmer to boast? Certainly not; who provided him with the seed and ground, who furnished him with health and strength, who granted the increase in his labours? Nevertheless, had he remained inactive there would be no crop.

Chapter 51

FALSE -

First a brief review of our last chapter. This warning against false prophets or preachers of error forms an appendage to our Lord’s teaching on the “strait gate” and “narrow way” in Matthew 7:13-14. The danger from these false prophets appears in the character they assume-their “sheep’s clothing” being thoroughly calculated to deceive the unwary. They are to be found in the circles of “the most orthodox” and pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. It is because there has been so little instruction upon the relation of good works to salvation that people fall such easy victims to these emissaries of Satan. At one extreme there are those (like the papists) who insist that salvation is procured by works, at the other extreme are those (boasting most loudly of their “soundness in the Faith”) who affirm salvation may be secured without works, and rare indeed is it to find anyone today who occupies the middle and true position. That middle position shows that Divine grace does not set aside human responsibility, that the Gospel is no opposer of the Law, and that the “finished work” of Christ has not rendered unnecessary or non-imperative good works on the part of those who are to reach heaven.

Are good works necessary in order to the obtaining of salvation? We answer-and are satisfied the Scriptures warrant our so doing- no and yes. In order to solve that paradox or remove the seeming contradiction we must first define the “good works,” then explain carefully what is meant by “necessary” and, last but not least, show what is connoted and included in “salvation.” To some of our readers it may appear that entering into such details as these is really a waste of time, as well as rendering complex and difficult that which is really simple and easy. Such people would answer our opening inquiry with a plain and emphatic No, concluding nothing more was required. They would cite “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9), and say that ended the matter. Yet it is one thing to quote a passage and another thing to have a right understanding of its terms.

Nevertheless, the language of Eph 2:8-9, appears to be so unambiguous and decisive that there seems to be no need to enter upon a laborious study of the subject of which it treats. Why then do we insist upon pressing the inquiry any further?

Why? Because many of the saints are confused thereon and need to have expounded unto them “the way of God more perfectly.” Why? Because there is a balance of Truth to be observed here as every-where, and if one half of it be ignored then the Truth is perverted and souls are deceived. Why? Because it is at this very point that the “false prophets” get in most of their pernicious and destructive work, and unless we are forewarned we are not forearmed. Why?

Because it is required of the Christian minister that he should declare “all the counsel of God” and not only favorite portions thereof. Why? Because if on the one hand the exaltation of good works to an unwarrantable place is to repudiate the grace of God, on the other hand the excluding of good works from the place Scripture assigns them is to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. Why? Because what the Word of God designates “good works” have well-nigh disappeared from Christendom and therefore there is an urgent need for pressing the same. Why?

Because vast numbers of professing Christians are fatally deceived thereon, going down to hell with a “lie in their right hand.”

The first answer we returned to the question, Are good works necessary in order to the obtaining of salvation? was No. Let us now proceed to explain and amplify. Most emphatically we affirm that no descendant of Adam can possibly perform any works which entitle him to God’s favorable regard. He can no more merit heaven by his own performances than he could create a world. Sooner might the sinner build a ladder which would obtain for him access to the dwelling place of the Most High than he could do any deeds of charity which earned for him an eternity of bliss. He enters this world a fallen and depraved creature and from earliest infancy he has defiled and befouled the garments of his soul: more readily then could he make white the skin of an Ethiopian than cleanse his garments from their stains without having recourse to the blood of Christ.

Turning over a new leaf will not erase the blots on the previous pages: if I could live sinlessly today that would not cancel the guilt of yesterday. I am a ten-thousand-talents debtor to God and have not a penny with which to discharge it, and therefore unless His sovereign grace takes pity upon me and gives me everything for nothing there is no hope whatever for me.

No doubt all of our readers would subscribe heartily unto the last paragraph, saying, That is just what I believe; and possibly a few would add: I trust you will not bring in something further that jars against it. Ah, suppose we were writing upon the righteousness of God, and dwelt on His equity and justice. How glorious the contrast between the Lord and most of earth’s potentates and authorities: they can be bribed or influenced unto dishonesty, but God is no respecter of persons, giving to each his due, ever doing that which is right. But then I must point out that pertains to His office as Judge and His administration of the Law; but He is also sovereign anti distributes His favors as He pleases, bestowing a single talent upon one, two on another, and yet five on another. At once the Arminian protests and says I have contradicted myself. Or, suppose I wrote upon the wondrous mercy and love of God, as displayed in creation, in providence and in grace: that His goodness and loving kindness are manifested on every side.

But I must also point out that God is holy and hates sin, and will yet consign to the everlasting burnings all who continue defying Him; and at once the Universalist says, Now you have spoilt the whole thing. Probably some will bring the same charge against the remainder of this chapter.

Above we have said that the language of Eph 2:8-9, appears to be so unambiguous and decisive that there seems to be no need to enter upon a critical examination of its terms-the same may be said of Joh 3:16, with like disastrous consequences. Every verse of Scripture requires prayerful and careful consideration, without which no man may expect rightly to apprehend it. “By grace are ye saved” does not stand alone as an absolute statement, but is immediately qualified by the clause “through faith,” and thus the salvation there referred to is no more extensive than what is received through faith. This at once shows that “saved” is not used in this verse in its widest latitude. Faith itself is a part of God’s “so-great salvation,” yet faith is not received “through faith.” Regeneration is also an essential part of salvation, yet so far from its coming to us through faith, faith is impossible till the soul is born again, Divinely quickened. Again, observe the restriction “by grace are ye saved,” not “by grace are ye and shall ye be saved through faith.” The tense of the verb necessarily limits the salvation here contemplated to that which the believer is in present enjoyment of-it does not include his future glorification and entrance into heaven itself.

What has just been pointed out evidences the importance of showing what is connoted and included by the word “saved” or “salvation.” First it should be pointed out that it is not used with one uniform sense and scope throughout the New Testament; sometimes it is employed with a wider signification, at others with a narrower. For instance, when we read, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13), the term “salvation” is to be understood in its widest latitude as comprehending all the benefits which pertain to redemption, all the gracious works of God toward and within us. But when we read, “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9), the word “saved” must be regarded in a more restricted sense, for it is distinguished from our effectual call. “Salvation” is both relative and personal, legal and experimental, what God has done for His people and what He works in them: the former takes in election, adoption, justification, acceptance in the Beloved; the latter embraces their regeneration. sanctification, preservation, and glorification.

As we must not confound what God has done for His people and what He is now doing in them, so we must distinguish between the Christian’s having a right or title to salvation and his actual possession of salvation. Faith in Christ secures an interest in all the benefits of salvation, whether in this world or in the world to come, but it does not convey a present participation in all of them. There is a salvation “in hope” (Romans 8:24), which is a legal right to that which is yet future in realization: and there is a salvation which is “obtained” now (2 Timothy 2:10). There are certain benefits which the believer has not only a title to, but which he as fully possesses now as he will in the future; such is his justification: he is as righteous now in the sight of the Divine Judge as he will be in heaven, only then there will be a fuller enjoyment of it. Even now we are “the sons of God,” but it is not yet made manifest all that favour carries with it (1 John 3:2). Perfect sanctification is prepared by grace in election from all eternity, yet none of the elect now on earth are fully sanctified in their experience. Thus we must distinguish between what is the believer’s by title and that which is accomplished by degrees and made good to him in time.

Once more, we must learn to distinguish sharply between the various causes and means of salvation. The original cause is the sovereign will of God, for nothing can come into being save that which He decreed before the foundation of the world. The meritorious cause is the mediatorial work of Christ, who “obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:22) for His people, purchasing for them all the blessings of it by His perfect obedience to the Law and His sacrificial death. The efficient cause is the varied operations of the Holy Spirit, who applies to the elect the benefits purchased by Christ, capacitating them to enjoy the same and making them meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. The ministerial cause and means is the preaching of the Word (James 1:21), because it discovers to us where salvation is to be obtained. The instrumental cause is faith, by which the soul receives or comes into possession of and obtains an interest in Christ and His redemption. Such distinctions as these are not merely technicalities for theologians, but are part of the faith once delivered unto the saints, and unless they apprehend the same they are liable to be deceived by any Scripture-quoting false prophet who accosts them.

The Christian’s title to salvation, that is to salvation as a whole and complete as it lay in the womb of God’s decree, is entirely by grace, for he has done and can do nothing whatever to earn the same. We are not saved for our faith, for since it also is the gift of God, wrought in us by the Spirit, it possesses no meritorious worth. We are saved by grace through faith because faith let in salvation, being the hand which receives it. Yet there is no salvation without faith: no one is saved until he believes. It is by grace through faith that we obtain deliverance from the curse of the Law and receive title to everlasting life and righteousness. As Thomas Goodwin pointed out in his masterly exposition of Eph 2:8 : “We are saved through faith as that which gives us the present right, or that which God doth give us as a Judge, when we believe, before faith hath done a whit of works; but we are led through sanctification and good works to the possession of salvation.” It must not be lost sight of that Ephesians 2:8-9, is at once followed by, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” It is sometimes said, because God has ordained it we shall walk in good works. That is true, but it is equally true that we must do so if heaven is to be reached.

Are good works necessary in order to the obtaining of salvation? Our answer was no and yes. Perhaps the reader is now better prepared to follow us in such a seemingly paradoxical answer. Certainly no works are required from us in order to induce God to show us favour. Nor are they necessary in order to our justification, for they constitute no part of that righteousness which we have before God. Nor do they procure for us a title to heaven.

But it is a great mistake to suppose that because good works are not necessary for one particular end they are not indispensable for any: that because they are not meritorious therefore they are useless. Not so. Good works are necessary. They are necessary in order to preserve us from that course and practice which conducts to hell. They are necessary in order to the glorifying of God and the magnifying of His grace. They are necessary in order to keep us in the only way that leads to heaven.

They are necessary in order to communion with the thrice holy God. They are necessary in order to prove the quality of our faith and the genuineness of our profession. They are necessary in order to the making of our calling and election sure. They are necessary in order to silence the detractors of the Gospel.

As there is no pardon until we forsake our wicked ways (Isaiah 55:7), no blotting out of our sins until we repent and turn unto God (Acts 3:19), so there is no entering into life except by treading the only way that leads thereto, and that is the path of obedience. So long as the Christian remains in this world he is in the place of danger: deliverance from hell is only the beginning of salvation, nor is it completed until heaven is reached. Between justification and glorification there is a fight to be fought, enemies to be conquered, a victory to be won, and the prize is only for the victor. “Conversion is a turning into the right road; the next thing is to walk in it. The daily going on in that road is as essential as the first starting if you would reach the desired end. To strike the first blow is not all the battle: to him that overcometh the crown is promised. To start in the race is nothing, many have done that who have failed; but to hold out till you reach the winning post is the great point of the matter.

Perseverance is as necessary to a man’s salvation as conversion” (C. H. Spurgeon).

In what sense are good works “necessary” unto salvation-necessary in order to final and complete salvation? First, they are requisite as the way in which that final salvation is attained. As a destination cannot be reached without journeying thither, neither can life be entered except through the strait gate and treading the narrow way: it is via the path of holiness that heaven is reached. Second, they are requisite as part of the means which God has appointed: they are the means of spiritual preservation. The only alternative to good works is evil ones, and evil works slay their perpetrator-sin is destructive: “if ye live after the flesh ye shall die” (Romans 8:13; and cf. Galatians 6:8).

Third, they are requisite as a condition of the possession of full salvation. Not a condition like a stipulation in a bargain, but as a connection between two things. As food must be eaten for the body to be nourished, as seed must be sown in order to a harvest, so obedience, equally as repentance and faith, precede the crowning. Fourth, as an evidence of the genuineness of faith: the fruit must manifest the tree.

Those who deny that good works are in any sense necessary to salvation appeal to the instance of the thief on the cross, arguing that in his case there was nothing more than a simple and single look of faith unto the Saviour. We might dispose of such an appeal by pointing out that his case is quite exceptional-for it is very rarely that God at once removes to heaven him who believes-and that it is not permissible to frame a rule from an exception. Instead, we meet the objector on his own ground and show that his assertion is erroneous. There was far more than a bare looking to the Saviour in his case. (1) He rebuked his companion: “Dost not thou fear God?” (Luke 23:40). (2) He repented of his sins: “we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds” (Luke 23:41)-he condemned himself, owning that death was his due. (3) He bore public witness to Christ’s sinlessness: “this man hath done nothing amiss.” (4) In the face of a hostile mob, he testified to Christ’s Lordship and Kingship: “Lord, remember me, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”

In his sermon on Ephesians 2:10, Manton says: “Our well-doing is the effect of salvation if you take it for our first recovery to God, but if you take it for full salvation or our final deliverance from all evil, good works go before it indeed, but in a way of order, not of meritorious influence. To think them altogether unnecessary would too much deprecate and lessen their presence or concurrence; to think they deserve it would too much exalt and advance them beyond the line of their due worth and value. The apostle steered a middle course between both extremes. They are necessary but not meritorious. They go before eternal life not as a cause but as a way. Let us now summarize it thus: God has made promise of salvation unto His people: Christ has purchased it for them: faith obtains title thereto: good works secure actual admission into the full and final benefits of redemption, and in order to empower the Spirit renews the believer day by day.”

It may appear to some of our readers that the preceding chapter of this series had no connection at all with Matthew 7:15, that instead of giving an exposition of the verse we wandered off to an entirely different subject and entered into a lot of technicalities which few are capable of understanding. Then let us remind such that we gave an exposition of Mat 7:15, in the previous chapter, at the close of which we asserted that it is particularly in the matter of the relation of good works unto salvation that the false prophets fatally deceive souls: one school or class of them teaching that salvation is by works, another insisting that it is entirely without works. The issue thus raised is such an important and vital one that it would be wrong to dismiss it with a few peremptory statements. Moreover, there is now such confusion of tongues in the religious realm, and the method followed by even the orthodox pulpit is so dreadfully superficial-“preaching” having quite supplanted teaching-that the Lord’s own people are in real need of instruction thereon, and such instruction demands diligence and study on the part of the one imparting, and concentration and patience from those who would receive. Truth has to be " bought” (Proverbs 23:23).

In the preceding chapter we sought to define and explain the relation of good works to salvation. First, we pointed out that they possess no meritorious value: by which we mean, they deserve nothing at the hands of God, that in no sense do they earn aught or contribute one mite to our redemption. Second, we insisted that they are necessary, yea, that without them salvation cannot be obtained. Not that any well-doing on our part is required in order to obtain acceptance with God, nor that they can atone for the failures and sins of the past. But rather that the path of obedience must be trod if the realm of unclouded bliss is to be reached. The doing of good works is indispensable in order to the securing of full and final salvation, that is in order to an actual entrance into heaven itself. We are well aware that such language will have a strange sound to some of our friends, that it will savor of “legality,” yet if Scripture itself expressly declares that Christ is “the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9), need we hesitate to employ the same plain language and press the force thereof?

That which we are here advancing is no departure from genuine orthodoxy, but the doctrine propounded by the soundest of God’s servants in days gone by. In the last article we quoted from Goodwin and Manton. Hear now the testimonies of other of the Puritans. “If we consider every gracious work of patience, love, meekness, we shall see blessedness is promised to them. Not that they justify, only the justified person cannot be without them. They are the ordained means in the use whereof we arrive at eternal life. It is faith only that receives Christ in His righteousness, yet this faith cannot be separated from an holy walk” (A.

Burgess, 1656). “Freedom from condemnation, from sin, for all the elect, which God Himself so plainly asserts (Romans 8:32-33) doth not in the least set thee free from the necessity of obedience, nor free thee from contracting the guilt of sin upon the least irregularity or disobedience” (John Owen, 1670). “Christ will save none but those who are brought to resign themselves sincerely to the obedience of His royal authority and laws” (Walter Marshall, 1692). Alas, that there has been so widespread a departure from the teaching of such worthies.

It is just because there has been such a grievous turning away from the Truth as it was formerly so faithfully and fearlessly proclaimed, by men not worthy to blacken their shoes, that so many today are ignorant of the very first principles of Christianity. It is because the pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters of the nineteenth century so wantonly lowered the standard of Divine holiness, and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind, that it has become necessary to labour what is really self-evident. Oh, the tragedy of it that at this late day we should have to write chapter after chapter in the endeavour to purge some of God’s people of the antinomian poison they have imbibed. As well may writer and reader hope to reach heaven without Christ as without good works: “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). Did the Lord Jesus work so arduously that His followers might be carried to glory on flowery beds of ease? Was the Saviour so active that His disciples might be idle? Did he become obedient unto death in order to exempt us from obedience?

Though it will retard our pace, yet because it is necessary to remove stumbling stones out of the way of those anxious to be helped, we must seek to resolve two or three difficulties which may arise in the minds of the Lord’s people. (1) It is likely to be objected that by such teachings we are making man in part at least his own savior. But need we be afraid to go as far as the language of Holy Writ goes? Was the apostle legalistic when he cried, “save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40)? Was the chief of the apostles derogating from the glory of Christ and the grace of God when he bade Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16)? But was not Timothy already a saved man when thus exhorted? Regenerated and justified, yes: fully sanctified and glorified, no.

Because we press the perseverance of the Christian (as well as his Divine preservation) do we make him his own keeper? Suppose we do, are we going beyond Scripture? Did not David say, “By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalms 17:4)? Did not Paul say, “I keep under my body” (1 Corinthians 9:27)? Does not Jude exhort us, “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21)?

It is against a dishonest one-sidedness that we so often protest in these pages. The singling out of certain passages and then closing the eyes against others has wrought untold damage. “Is there any doctrine which you almost think is a truth, but your friends do not believe it, and they might perhaps think you heretical if you were to accept it, and therefore you dare not investigate any farther? Oh, dear friends, let us be rid of all such dishonesty. So much of it has got into the church that many will not see things that are as plain as a pikestaff. They will not see, for truth might cost them too dear. They cover up and hide away some parts of Scripture which it might be awkward for them to understand, because of their connection with a church or their standing in a certain circle.” If C.

H. Spurgeon found it necessary to raise his voice against this reprehensible method of picking and choosing from the Word of God, how much more so is such a condemnation called for in this generation of dishonesty and hypocrisy.

(2) If good works be necessary in order to salvation, is not this putting us back again under the covenant of works, the terms of which were: “Do this and thou shalt live”? No indeed, nevertheless the fact must not be lost sight of that it has pleased God in all ages to deal with His people by way of covenant, and in the same way He will deal with them to the end of the world. It is very largely because covenant teaching has been given no place in modern “evangelism” that so much ignorance now obtains. How few preachers today could explain the meaning of “these are the two covenants” (Galatians 4:24). What percentage of Christians now living understand the “better covenant,” of which Christ is “the Mediator” (Hebrews 8:6) and wherein lies the difference between the “new covenant” (Hebrews 12:24) and the old one? How few apprehend the blessedness of those words, “The blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20). But let it not be overlooked that there are covenant duties as well as covenant blessings: there is a covenant for us to “make” with God (Psalms 1:5) and a covenant to “keep” (Psalms 25:10; Psalms 103:18).

The new covenant or covenant of grace was in its original constitution transacted between God and Christ as the Head of His people. That covenant is published in the Gospel, and the application of its benefits is made when we submit to its terms and fulfil its duties. It is worthy of note that the self-same thing which the apostle calls the “gospel” in Galatians 3:8, he terms the “covenant” in Galatians 3:17. Now a covenant is a compact or contract entered into by two or more parties, the one engaging himself to do or give something upon the fulfillment of a stipulation agreed upon by the other. Thus in the Gospel Christ makes known His readiness to save those who are willing to submit to His Lordship. Hence conversion is termed “the love of thine espousals” (Jeremiah 2:2), when the soul as it were signed the marriage contract, vowing to love none other than the Lord and to be faithful to Him unto death.

This giving of ourselves to Christ to serve and love Him is designated a “taking hold of the covenant” (Isaiah 56:6). And that covenant must be kept if we are to receive its benefits.

When defining the essence of the controversy between himself and his opponents, John Flavel stated it thus: “The only question between us is, Whether in the new covenant some acts of ours (though they have no merit in them, nor can be done in our own strength) be not required to be performed by us antecedently to (before) a blessing or privilege, consequent by virtue of a promise; and whether such act or duty, being of a suspending nature to the blessing promised, it have not the true and proper nature of a Gospel condition.” Mr. Flavel affirmed, his opponent (Mr. Carey) denied. In proof of the conditionality of certain of the new covenant blessings Mr. Flavel said, “We know not how to express those sacred particles, “if not,” “if,” “except,” “only,” and such like (Romans 10:9; Matthew 18:8; Mark 11:26; Romans 11:22; Colossians 1:22-23; Hebrews 3:6, Hebrews 3:14), which are frequently used to limit and restrain the benefits and privileges of the new covenant, by any other word so fit and so full as the word conditional.”

In considering the new and better covenant, we must distinguish sharply between the first sanction of it in Christ and the application of its benefits to His people. Few men more magnified the grace of God in his preaching and writings than did the Puritan, Thomas Boston, yet we find him saying (in his View of the Covenant of Grace): “He gives the rewards of the covenant in the course of their obedience. He puts His people to work and labour: but not to work in the fire for vanity as the slaves of sin do. They are to labour like the ox treading out the corn, which was not to be muzzled, but to have access at once to work and to eat. The service now done to Zion’s King hath a reward in this life as well as a reward in the life to come. By the order of the covenant there is privilege established to follow duty as the reward thereof, the which order is observed by the King in His administration. Accordingly He proposeth the privilege of comfort to excite to the duty of mourning (Matthew 5:4), the special tokens of heaven’s favour to excite unto a holy tender walk (John 14:21); in like manner to excite to the same holy obedience He proposeth the full reward in the life to come (1 Corinthians 9:24; Revelation 3:21).”

The new covenant requires obedience as really and truly as did the old, and therefore does God write the laws of the covenant on the hearts of those with whom He makes the new covenant (Hebrews 10:16). Those who enter into this covenant with God do approve of the whole Divine Law so far as they know it, declaring, “I esteem all Thy precepts” (Psalms 119:128). They have an inclination of heart towards the whole of God’s Law so far as they know it, saying: “I love Thy commandments above gold” (Psalms 119:127). They heartily engage to conform to the whole of God’s Law so far as they know it, exclaiming, “O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!” (Psalms 119:5). Where the Law is written on a person’s heart he will write it out again in his conversation. Their souls lie open to what of God’s Law they as yet know not, praying “Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts” (Psalms 119:27).

But now if many (we say not all) of the blessings and benefits of the new covenant are made conditional upon our obedience and fidelity, wherein does it differ from the old, or Adamic covenant, the covenant of works? Why, in these respects. First, under the old covenant, works were meritorious, entitling to the inheritance: had Adam kept the Law, he and all he represented would have entered life by legal right, whereas under the new covenant Christ purchased the inheritance for His people before a single thing was asked of them. Second, under the old covenant man had to work in his own strength alone; but under the new all-sufficient grace and enablement are available to those who duly seek it. Third, under the covenant of works no provision was made for failure: the obedience required must be perfect and perpetual (Galatians 3:10): whereas under the covenant of grace God accepts imperfect obedience, if it be sincere, because the blood of Christ hath made atonement for its defects and disobedience is pardoned when we truly repent of and forsake the same.

(3) If good works be necessary in order to final salvation, how is a poor soul to ascertain when he has done sufficient of them? Such a question is not likely to issue from a renewed heart, rather does he bemoan his unfruitfulness and unprofitableness. He feels he can never do enough to express his gratitude unto God for the unspeakable gift of His Son. Instead of begrudging any sacrifice he is called upon to make, or any hardship to encounter, by virtue of his being a Christian. he deems it the highest honour conceivable to serve such a Master and endure for His sake. But to the carping objector, we would say, Scripture declares: “For we are made par-takers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14). The soldiers of Christ are not granted any furloughs or “leave” in this life: they cannot take off their armor until the battle is over. They know not at what hour their Lord may come, and therefore are they required to have their loins girded and their lamps trimmed without intermission.

But it should be pointed out that it is not quantity but quality which God requires. A cup of cold water given to one of His little ones in the name of Christ is infinitely more acceptable to the Father than a million pounds donated by a godless magnate to social institutions. On the one hand it is written, “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15), on the other, “man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). That which issues from love to God, which expresses gratitude for His goodness, is what is well pleasing in His sight. Quality, not quantity. Is not this the point in that saying of Christ’s, “if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” (Matthew 17:20)?

What is smaller than a mustard seed and what larger than a mountain? the one seemingly feeble and paltry, the other ponderous and mighty. Ah, but the former is a living thing, the latter but a mass of inert matter; the former is energetic and growing, the latter stationary. It is quality versus quantity.

(4) If good works be necessary in order to final salvation, is there not ground thereon for boasting? Yes, if they be perfect and flawless, performed in our own strength, and we bring God into our debt thereby. Before giving the negative answer, consider the case of the holy angels in this connection. When Satan fell he dragged down with him one third of the celestial hierarchy, the remainder remained steadfast in their loyalty to God: did such fidelity puff them up? Throughout their entire history it could ever be said of them that they “do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word” (Psalms 103:20), yet nowhere in Holy Writ is there so much as a hint that they are proud of their obedience. On the contrary we find them veiling their faces in the Divine presence and crying one unto another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3), and falling before the throne on their faces and worshipping God (Revelation 7:11). How much less then may hell-deserving sinners, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, find anything in their own performances to afford self-gratulation.

Is there any danger that the doing of good works in order to final salvation will lead to boasting? No, none whatever, if we bear in mind that our best performances are but filthy rags in the sight of Him with whom the very heavens are not clean. No, not if we bear in mind that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think a godly thought (2 Corinthians 3:5), still less carry it out into execution; apart from Christ we can “do nothing.” No, not if we squarely face and honestly answer the question, “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). No, not if we heed that word of Christ’s, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you [which none of us ever did], say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). Yes, “unprofitable servants” so far as making God our Debtor is concerned. The very man who wrought more miracles than any for his Master declared. “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Again, the reader may be inclined to ask, But what bearing has all of this on Matthew 7:15? We answer, Much every way, as we shall (D. V.) seek to show in our next. Suffice it now to say that what we have been stressing in this and the preceding chapter is expressly repudiated by the “false prophets” of our day. They blankly deny that good works have any part or place whatever in our salvation, that believing the Gospel is all that is needed to ensure heaven for any sinner.

Our last two chapters of this series were devoted principally to showing the relation of good works unto final salvation, this being both pertinent and needful, forasmuch as many of the “false prophets” of our day expressly repudiate all that we therein insisted upon. They dogmatically affirm that “believing the Gospel is all that is needed to ensure heaven for any sinner.” And is it not so? Certainly not. First, it requires to be pointed out that there is an order in presenting the Gospel, and it is the business of those who preach to observe that order: unless they do so nothing but disorder will ensue and spurious converts will be the issue of their labors. If due attention be paid to the Word of God, it will not be difficult to discover what that order is: the proclamation and enforcing of the Divine Law precedes the publication of the Divine Gospel. Broadly speaking, the Old Testament is an exposition of the Law, while the New Testament sets forth the substance and benefits of the Gospel.

The Gospel is a message of “good news.” To whom? To sinners. But to what sort of sinners? To the giddy and unconcerned, to those who give no thought to the claims of God and where they shall spend eternity? Certainly not. The Gospel announces no good tidings to them: it has no music in it to their ears.

They are quite deaf to its charms, for they have no sense of their need of the Saviour. It is those who have their eyes opened to see something of the ineffable holiness of God and their vileness in His sight, who have learned something of His righteous requirements from them and of their criminal neglect to meet those requirements, who are deeply convicted of their depravity, their moral inability to recover themselves, whose consciences are burdened with an intolerable load of guilt and who are terrified by their imminent danger of the wrath to come, who know that unless an almighty redeemer saves them they are doomed, that are qualified to appreciate and welcome the Gospel. “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

Now the natural man has no realization of the desperate sickness of his soul. He is quite unconscious of what spiritual health consists of, namely personal holiness. Never having sincerely measured himself by the Divine standard, he knows not how far, far short he comes of it at every point. God has no real place in his thoughts and therefore he fails to comprehend how obnoxious he is in His sight. Instead of seeking to glorify the One who made and sustains him, he lives only to please self. And what is the means for enlightening him?

What is the sure “line and plummet” (Isaiah 28:17) for exposing the crookedness of his character? The preaching of God’s Law, for that is the unchanging rule of conduct and standard of righteousness. “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20)- its nature, as rebellion against God; its exceeding sinfulness as contrary to Divine holiness; its infinite evil, as deserving of eternal punishment.

“I had not known sin but by the law” (Romans 7:7) declares one who formerly had prided himself on his integrity and righteousness. God’s Law requires inward conformity as well as outward: it addresses itself to the motions of the heart as well as prescribes our actions, so that we are sinless or sinful just in proportion as we conform or fail to conform to the Law both internally and externally. Just so far as we have false ideas of God’s Law do we entertain false estimates of our character. Just so far as we fail to perceive that the Law demands perfect and perpetual obedience shall we be blind to the fearful extent of our disobedience. Just so far as we realize not the spirituality and strictness of the Law, that it pronounces a lascivious imagination to be adultery and causeless anger against a fellow creature to be murder, shall we be unaware of our fearful criminality. Just so far as we hear nothing of the awful thunders of the Law’s curse shall we be insensible to our frightful danger.

It has been rightly said: “The Gospel has such respect to the Law of God, and the latter is so much the reason and ground of the former, and so essential to the wisdom and glory of it, that it cannot be understood by him who is ignorant of the Law: consequently, our idea and apprehension of the Gospel will be erroneous and wrong just so far as we have wrong notions of God’s Law” (S. Hopkins). The excellency of the Mediator cannot be recognized until we see that the Law demands flawless and undeviating obedience on pain of eternal damnation, and that such a demand is right and glorious, and consequently that sin is infinitely criminal and heinous. The essential work of the Mediator was to honor and magnify that Law and make atonement for the wrongs done to it by His people. And they who repudiate this Law, or who view it not in its true light, are and must be totally blind to the wisdom and glory of the Gospel, for while they never see sin in its real odiousness and true ill-desert they are incapable of realizing or perceiving their deep need of the Divine remedy.

That salvation which Christ came here to purchase for His people consists first in the gift of His Spirit to overcome their enmity against God’s Law (Romans 8:7) and produce in them a love for it (Romans 7:22), and it is by this we may discover whether or not we have been regenerated. Second, to bring them to a cordial consent to the Law, so that each genuine Christian can say “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God” (Romans 7:25). Third, to deliver them from the curse of the Law by dying for their sins of disobedience against it, Himself bearing its penalty in their stead (Galatians 3:13). Consequently, they who are experientially ignorant of God’s Law, who have never heartily assented to it as “holy, just and good,” have never been sensible of sin in its true hideousness and demerits, have never been subject to a supernatural work of grace within them, are yet in nature’s darkness, strangers to Christ, still in their sins, having felt neither the strength of sin nor the power of the Gospel.

Again: the order which is to be observed in the presentation of the Gospel is exemplified in the appointment of John the Baptist. He was the forerunner of Christ, going before to “prepare His way” (Isaiah 40:3). John came “in the way of righteousness” (Matthew 21:32), crying “Repent ye” (Matthew 3:2). A saving faith in Christ must be preceded by and accompanied with a heart-felt sense of the true odiousness and ill-desert of sin. An impenitent heart is no more able to receive Christ than a shuttered window is able to let in the rays of the sun. None but the humbled, contrite, broken-hearted penitent is ever comforted by the Lord Jesus, as none but such will ever desire Him or seek after Him.

This is the unchanging order laid down by Christ Himself: “repent ye and [then] believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15): ye “repented not afterward that ye might believe” (Matthew 21:32) was His solemn affirmation. First “repentance toward God, and [then] faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21) was what the apostle testified to Jews and Gentiles alike.

It has often been said that nothing more is required of the sinner than to come to Christ as an empty-handed beggar and receive Him as an all-sufficient Saviour. But that assertion needs clarifying and amplifying at two points lest souls be fatally misled thereby. To come to Christ empty-handed signifies not only that I renounce any fancied righteousness of mine, but also that I relinquish my beloved idols. Just so long as the sinner holds fast to the world or clings to any fond sin he cannot thrust forth an empty hand. The things which produce death must be dropped before he can “lay hold on eternal life.” Furthermore, Christ cannot be received in part but only in the entirety of His person and office: He must be received as “Lord and Saviour” or He cannot be savingly received at all. There must be a submitting to His authority, a surrendering to His sceptre, a taking of His yoke upon us, as well as a trusting in His blood, or we shall never find “rest unto our souls.”

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). This verse is often quoted by the self-appointed “evangelists” of our day but it is rarely expounded. Instead of throwing all the emphasis on “received,” attention rather needs to be directed unto “received Him.” It is not “received it”-a mental proposition or doctrine-nor even received “His”-some gift or benefit-but “Him,” in the entirety of His person as clothed with His offices, as He is proposed in the Gospel. Such a “receiving” as is here spoken of implies an enlightened understanding, a convicted conscience, renewed affections-the exercise of love, an act of the will-choice of a new Master, the acceptance of His terms (Luke 14:26-27, Luke 14:33). It is at this last point that so many balk: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46), and therefore is the inquirer bidden to “sit down first and count the cost” (Luke 14:28). The order is first the person of Christ and then His gifts (Romans 8:32): thus God bestows and thus we receive.

Those, then, who declare that a bare believing of the Gospel is all that is needed to ensure heaven for any sinner are “false prophets,” liars and deceivers of souls. It also requires to be pointed out that saving faith is not an isolated act but a continuous thing. When the apostle contrasted genuine saints with apostates, he described them as “them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39): note well the tense of the verb-not “them that believed” one day in the past, but “them that believe” with a faith which is operative in the present. In this he was holding fast “the form of sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13) employed by his Master, for He too taught “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:15, and cf. John 3:18, John 3:36; John 5:24). In like manner another apostle says, “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom [not, ye “came,” but] coming, as unto a living stone” (1 Peter 2:4)-coming daily, as needy as ever.

Saving faith is not an isolated act which suffices for the remainder of a person’s life, rather is it a living principle which continues in activity, ever seeking the only Object which can satisfy it. Nor is it a thing apart, but a productive principle which issues in good works and spiritual fruits. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). A faith which does not bring forth obedience to the Divine precepts is not the faith of God’s elect. Saving faith is something radically different from a mere mental assent to the Gospel, believing that God loves me and that Christ died for me. The demons assent to the whole compass of Divine revelation, but what does it advantage them? Nor is the “faith” advocated by the false prophets of any more value or efficacy.

Saving faith, my reader, is one which “purifieth the heart” (Acts 15:9). which “worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6), which “overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). And such faith man can neither originate nor regulate. Has such a faith been Divinely communicated to you?

Now it is in their opposition to those aspects of the Truth we have been concerned with above that the false prophets may be identified. Not that their preaching is all cast in the same mould: far from it. As the servants of God are variously gifted-one to evangelize, another to indoctrinate, another to exhort and admonish-so Satan accommodates his emissaries to the different types of people they meet with. On the one hand, Romanists and other legalists teach that salvation is by obedience to the Law, that repentance and good works are meritorious; on the other hand, there are those who insist that the Law is entirely Jewish, that the Gentiles were never under it and have nothing to do with it. But just as the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Herodians differed widely the one from the other yet made common cause in antagonizing Christ, so the false prophets, though far from being uniform in their heterodoxy, nevertheless are one in opposing the Truth. Conversely, whatever be their distinctive gifts and spheres of service, the true ministers of God are always identifiable by their fidelity to the faith once for all, delivered to the saints.

It is particularly the more subtle and less suspected kind of false prophets we are here seeking to expose and warn against. For the last two or three generations “wolves in sheep’s clothing” have appeared in circles from which it might be expected that they had been excluded. They have deceived multitudes by their very seeming soundness in the faith. They have denounced “Higher Criticism,” and Evolutionism, Christian Science and Russellism. They have affirmed the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures and have made much of the mercy of God and the atoning blood of Christ. But they have falsified God’s way of salvation.

Christ bade His hearers “strive [agonize] to enter in at the strait gate” (Luke 13:24): these men declare such striving to be altogether unnecessary. He affirmed, “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”: they say that sinners may be saved without repentance. Scripture asks, “If the righteous scarcely be saved” (1 Peter 4:18): these men aver that salvation is easy for anyone. Scripture uniformly teaches that unless the believer perseveres in holiness he will lose heaven: these men insist that he will merely forfeit some “millennial crown.”

As one of the Puritans quaintly yet truly expressed it, “The face of error is highly painted and powdered so as to render it attractive to the unwary.” The false prophets, whether of the papist or the Protestant order, make a great show of devotion and piety on the one hand, and of zeal and fervour on the other, as did the Pharisees of old with their fasting and praying and who “compassed sea and land to make one proselyte” (Matthew 23:15). They are diligent in seeking to discredit those truths they design to overthrow by branding them “legal doctrines” and denouncing as “Judaizers” those who are set for the defence of them. “With good words and fair speeches they deceive the heart of the simple” (Romans 16:18). They speak much about “grace,” yet it is not that Divine grace which “reigns through righteousness” (Romans 5:21), nor does it effectually teach men to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” (Titus 2:11-12). With “cunning craftiness” they “lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14) souls who have never been established in the Truth and beguile with “enticing words” (Colossians 2:4), making a great show of quoting Scripture and addressing their converts as “beloved brethren.”

Many of the false prophets of Protestantism have popularized themselves by granting their deluded followers the liberty of preaching. As any reader of ecclesiastical history knows, it has been a favorite device of false prophets in all ages to spread their errors through the efforts of their converts, flattering their conceits by speaking of their “gifts” and “talents”: by multiplying lay preachers they draw after them a host of disciples. Such incompetent novices are themselves ignorant of the very A B C of the Truth, yet in their egotism and presumption deem themselves qualified to explain the deepest mysteries of the Faith. A great deal safer, and more excusable, would it be to put an illiterate rustic into a dispensary to compound medicines Out of drugs and spirits he understands not and then administer the same unto his fellows, than for young upstarts with no better endowment than self-confidence to intrude themselves into the sacred office of the ministry: the one would poison men’s bodies, but the other their souls.

“But such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel, of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). In all opposition to the Truth there is an agent at work which it belongs to the office of the Spirit of Truth to discover and unmask. If “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6) be preached rather than the Gospel of Christ, it is the fruit of satanic energy, the minds and wills of its promulgators being led captive by the Devil. Satan is the arch-dissembler, being the prince of duplicity as well as of wickedness. When he had the awful effrontery to tempt the Lord Jesus he came with the Word of God on his lips saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:6)!

Though Satan’s kingdom be that of darkness, yet his craft is the mimicry of light, and thus it is that his agents work by deception. They claim to be the “apostles [or “missionaries”] of Christ,” but they have received no call or commission from Him. Nor should we marvel at their pretence when we remember the hold which the father of lies has over men.

“Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:15). They are “deceitful workers,” for they pose as champions of the Truth and as being actuated by a deep love for souls. As sin does not present itself to us as sin nor as paying death for its wages, but rather as something pleasant and desirable, and as Satan never shows himself openly in his true colors, so his “ministers” put on the cloak of sanctity, pretending to be dead to the world and very self-sacrificing. They are crafty, specious, tricky, hypocritical. What urgent need, then, is there to be on our guard, that we be not imposed upon by every mealy-mouthed and “gracious” impostor who comes to us Bible in hand. How we should heed that injunction, “Prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Certain it is, my reader, that any preacher who rejects Gods Law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, who assures the giddy and godless that they are loved by God, who declares that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the will which every person has the power to perform, is a false prophet, and should be shunned as a deadly plague.

Matthew 7:16

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 54

FALSE

Matthew 7:15-20

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall 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. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). No idle or needless warning was this, but one which should be seriously taken to heart by all who have any concern for the glory of God or value their eternal interests. Our danger is real and pressing, for “false prophets” are not few in number but “many” (1 John 4:1), and instead of being found only in the notoriously heretical sects, have “crept in” among saints until they now dominate nearly all the centers of orthodoxy. If we are deceived by them and imbibe their lies the result is almost certain to be fatal, for error acts upon the soul as deadly poison does on the body. The very fact that these impostors assume “sheep’s clothing” and pose as the servants of Christ greatly increases the peril of the unwary and unsuspicious. For these reasons it is imperative that we should be on our guard.

But to be properly on our guard requires that we should be informed, that we should know how to recognize these deceivers. Nor has our Lord left us unfurnished at this vital point, as the succeeding verses show.

“Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Three questions are suggested by this statement, to which it is necessary for us to obtain correct answers if this rule here laid down by Christ is to be used by us to good advantage. First, what sort of knowledge is it that is mentioned? Is it relative or absolute? Is it the forming of a credible and reliable judgment of the teachers we sit under and whose writings we peruse, or is it an unerring discernment which precludes us from making any mistake? Second, how is this knowledge obtained? Is it a Divine endowment or a human acquirement?

Is it one of the spiritual gifts which accompanies regeneration, a sense of spiritual perception bestowed upon the Christian, or is it something after which we must labour, which can be procured only by our own diligence and industry? Third, what are the “fruits” brought forth by the false prophets? Are they their character and conduct, or is something else intended? Really, it is this third question which is the principal one to be pondered, but we will say a little upon the first two before taking it up.

The answer to the first question should be fairly obvious, for even in this day of human deification we have heard of none laying claim to infallibility except the arch-humbug at Rome. But though the knowledge here predicated be not an inerrant one, yet it is something much superior to a vague and uncertain one. In those words our Lord lays down a rule, and like all general rules we may make mistakes-both favorable and unfavorable-in the application of it. The knowledge which Christ here attributes to His people is such a persuasion as to inform them how they should act toward those who appear before them as preachers and teachers, enabling them to test their claims and weigh their messages. Though it does not always enable its possessor to penetrate the disguise worn by impostors, yet it is sufficient to arouse his suspicion and, if acted on, to preserve him from falling a prey to deceivers. It is a knowledge which fortifies the Christian from being beguiled by religious seducers.

And how is this knowledge procured? It is both obtained and attained: obtained from God, attained by practice. Spiritual discernment is one of the accompaniments of the new birth: necessarily so, for regeneration is a being brought out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. In that light the Christian is able to perceive things which previously were hidden from him, yet he must perforce walk with Him who is light if he is not to recede into the shadows. There are degrees of light, and the measure of our spiritual illumination decreases as distance increases between us and “the Sun of righteousness.” Moreover, sight is as essential as light for clear vision. The faculty of spiritual perception belongs to each soul renewed by the Spirit, yet faculties unemployed soon become useless to their possessors. When the apostle was contrasting unhealthy saints with the healthy (Hebrews 5:11-14) he described the latter as “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” The more we walk in the light and the more we exercise our spiritual faculties, the more readily shall we perceive the snares and stumbling stones in our path.

“Ye shall know them by their fruits.” False prophets are to he identified by what they produce. By their “fruits” we understand, principally, their creed, their character, and their converts. Is it not by these three things that we recognize the true prophets? The genuine servants of God give evidence of their Divine commission by the doctrine they proclaim: their preaching is in full accord with the Word of Truth. The general tenor of their lives is in harmony therewith, so that their daily walk is an example of practical godliness. Those whom the Spirit quickens and edifies under their preaching bear the features of their ministerial fathers and follow the lead of their shepherds.

Conversely, the ministers of Satan, though feigning to be the champions of the Truth, oppose and corrupt it: some by denying its Divine authority, some by mingling human tradition with it, others by wresting it or by withholding vital, portions thereof. Though their outward conduct is often beyond reproach, yet their inward character, the spirit which actuates them, is that of the wolf-sly, cruel, fierce. And their converts or disciples are like unto them.

The true prophet accords God His rightful place. He is owned as the King of kings and Lord of lords, as the One who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” He is acknowledged to be the sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, at whose disposal are all creatures and all events, for whose pleasure they are created (Revelation 4:11), whose will is invincible and whose power is irresistible. He is declared to be God in fact as well as in name: One whose claims upon us are paramount and incontestable, One who is to be held in the utmost reverence and awe, One who is to be served with fear and rejoiced in with trembling (Psalms 2:11). Such a God the false prophets neither believe in nor preach. On the contrary, they prate about a God who wants to do this and who would like to do that, but cannot because His creatures will not permit it. Having endowed man with a free will, he must neither be compelled nor coerced, and while Deity is filled with amiable intentions He is unable to carry them out. Man is the architect of his fortunes and the decider of his own destiny, and God a mere Spectator.

The true prophet gives Christ His rightful place, which is very much more than to be sound concerning His person. Romanists are more orthodox about the deity and humanity of Christ than are multitudes of Protestants, yet the former as much as the latter are grossly heterodox upon His official status. The true prophet proclaims the Lord Jesus as the covenant Head of His people, who was set up before the foundation of the world to fulfil all the terms of the covenant of grace on their behalf and to secure for them all its blessings. He sets forth Christ as the “Surety” and “Mediator” of the covenant (Hebrews 7:22; Hebrews 8:6), as the One who came here to fulfil His covenant engagements: “Lo, I come, to do Thy will, O God”-it was a voluntary act, yet in discharge of a sacred agreement. All that Christ did here upon earth and that which He is now doing in heaven was and is the working out of an eternal compact. Every. thing relating to the Church’s salvation was planned and settled by covenant stipulation between the Eternal Three.

Nothing was left to chance, nothing remained uncertain, nothing was rendered contingent upon anything the creature must do. About this glorious and fundamental truth the false prophets are completely silent.

It was to fit Him for His covenant engagements that the Surety became incarnate. It was to redeem His people from the curse of the Law that Christ was made under it, fulfilled its terms, endured its penalty in the room and stead of His covenant people. It was for them, and no others, that He shed His precious blood. Because He faithfully and perfectly discharged His covenant obligations, the Father has sworn with an oath that all for whom He acted shall be eternally saved, that not one of these shall perish, solemnly declaring that “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). God has made with Christ, and His people in Hint, “an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (2 Samuel 23:5). But the false prophets reverse all this.

They misrepresent the redemptive work of Christ as being a vague, indefinite, general, promiscuous thing, rendering nothing sure. They believe Christ shed His blood for Judas equally with Peter, and for Pilate as truly as Paul. They preach a salvation which is uncertain and contingent, as though it were for anybody or nobody as the caprice of men shall decide: Christ provided it and if we accept of it well and good; if not, He will be disappointed.

The true prophet puts man in his proper place. He declares that man is a depraved, ruined and lost creature, dead in trespasses and sins. He points out that man is alienated from God, that his mind is enmity against Him, that he is an inveterate rebel against Him. He shows this to be true not only of those in heathendom, but equally so of those born in Christendom: that “There is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10-11). He makes it clear that man is a total wreck, that no part of his being has escaped the fearful consequences of his original revolt from his Maker: that his understanding is darkened, his affections corrupted, his will enslaved. Because of what transpired in Eden man has become the slave of sin and the captive of the Devil.

He has no love for the true and living God, but instead a heart that is filled with hatred against Him; so far from desiring or seeking after Him, he endeavors by every imaginable means to banish Him from his thoughts. He is blind to His excellency, deaf to His voice, defiant of His authority and unconcerned for His glory.

The true prophet goes still farther. He not only portrays the sinner as he actually is, but he announces that man is utterly unable to change himself or better his condition one iota. He solemnly announces man to be “without strength,” that he cannot bring himself into subjection to the Divine Law or perform a single action pleasing to God (Romans 8:7-8). He insists that the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his spots more readily than they who are accustomed to do evil can perform that which is good (Jeremiah 13:1, Jeremiah 13:23). In short, he declares that man is hopelessly and irremediably lost unless a sovereign God is pleased to perform a miracle of grace upon him. But it is the very opposite with the false prophets.

They speak “smooth things” and flatter their hearers, persuading them that their case is very far from being as desperate as it really is. If they do not expressly repudiate the Fall, or term it (as the Evolutionists) a “fall upward,” they greatly minimize it, making it appear to be only a slight accident which may be repaired by our own exertions, that man is little affected by it, that he still has “the power to accept Christ.”

According as the fall of man be viewed and preached so will be the conceptions of men concerning the need and nature of redemption. Almost every Gospel truth will necessarily be colored by the light in which we view the extent of the fall. Take the truth of election: which is the deciding factor-God’s will or mine? Why, if I be in possession of freedom of will and am now on probation, everything must turn on the use I make of this all-important endowment. But can this be made to square with the Scriptures? Yes, by a little wresting of them.

It is true that false prophets hate the very word “election,” but if they are pressed into a corner they will try and wriggle out of it by saying that those whom God elected unto salvation are the ones whom He foreknew would be willing to accept Christ, and that explanation satisfies ninety-nine per cent of their hearers. The truth is God foreknew that if He left men to their pleasure none would ever accept Christ (Romans 9:29), and therefore He made sovereign and unconditional selection from among them. Had not God eternally chosen me, I certainly had never chosen Him.

The same holds true of regeneration. If the sinner be spiritually impotent and his case hopeless so far as all self-effort and help are concerned, then he can no more quicken himself than can a rotten corpse in the tomb. A dead man is powerless, and that is precisely the natural condition of every member of the human race, religious and irreligious alike: “dead in trespasses and sins.” The individual concerned in it contributes no more to his new birth than he did to his first. This was expressly insisted upon by Christ when He declared: “which were born not of blood [by descent from godly parents], nor of the will of the flesh [by their own volition], nor of the will of man [by a persuasive preacher], but of God” (John 1:13). There must be an act of Divine creation before anyone is made a new creature in Christ. But the false prophets represent man to be merely “bruised” or at most crippled by the fall, and insist that he may be born again simply by accepting Christ as his personal Saviour-a thing which none can do until he is brought from death unto life.

The genuine prophet trumpets forth with no uncertain sound the grand truth of justification. Rightly did Luther declare that “Justification by faith is the doctrine of a standing or falling church,” for those who pervert it corrupt the Gospel at its very heart. In view of man’s fallen and depraved condition, in view of his being a transgressor of the Divine Law, lying beneath its awful condemnation, the question was asked of old, “How then can man be justified with God?” (Job 25:4). To be “justified” is very much more than being pardoned: it is the declaration by the Divine Judge that the believer is righteous, and therefore entitled to the reward of the Law, but how is this possible when man has no righteousness of his own and is totally unable to produce any? The answer is that Christ not only bore in His own body the sins of God’s elect, but He rendered to the Law a perfect obedience in their stead, and the moment they believe in Him His obedience is reckoned to their account, so that each can say, “in the Lord have I righteousness and strength” (Isaiah 45:24). But the false prophets deny and ridicule this basic truth of the imputed righteousness of Christ.

The true prophet gives the Holy Spirit His rightful place, not only in the Godhead, as co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Son, but in connection with salvation. Salvation is the gift of the Triune God: the Father planned it, the Son purchased it, the Spirit communicates it. The genuine servant of God is very explicit in declaring that the work of the Holy Spirit is as indispensable as the work of Christ: the One serving for His people, the Other acting in them. It is the distinctive office of the Spirit to illumine the understanding of God’s elect, to search their conscience and convict of their ruined and guilty condition. It is His office to work repentance in them, to communicate faith unto them, to draw out their hearts unto Christ. The soundest and most faithful preaching in the world will avail nothing else unless the Holy Spirit applies iii in quickening power; the most winsome offers and persuasive appeals will be useless until the Spirit bestows the hearing ear.

The true prophet knows this, and therefore has he no confidence in his own abilities, but humbly seeks and earnestly prays for the power of the Spirit to rest upon him. But how different is it with deceivers of souls!

The genuine servant of God not only realizes the truth of that word, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6) in connection with the fruitage of his labours, but he is also deeply conscious of his own need of being personally taught by the Spirit. He has been made to feel his utter insufficiency to handle sacred things, and to realize that if he is to enter into the spiritual meaning of the Word he must be Divinely taught in his own soul. A mere intellectual study of the letter of Scripture cannot satisfy one who longs for a deeper experimental knowledge of the Truth, nor will he be contented with simply informing the minds of his hearers. As it is a tender conscience and a fuller heart-acquaintance with God and His Christ that he covets for himself, so it is to the conscience and heart of his hearers that he addresses himself. It is the opposite with the false prophets: they are occupied solely with the letter of Scripture, with outward profession: there is no deep probing, nothing searching in their messages, nothing to disturb the religious worldling.

Another mark by which many of the false prophets may be recognized is the disproportionate place they give to prophecy in their preaching and teaching. This has ever been a favorite device of religious charlatans, as those versed in ecclesiastical history are well aware. Nor should any observer of human nature be surprised at this. God has placed an impenetrable veil upon the future, so that none can know “what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). But man is intensely curious about coming events and gives a ready ear to any who pretend to be able to enlighten him. If on the one hand the irreligious will flock to palmists, astrologers and other fortune-tellers, the religious will crowd around anyone who claims to be able to explain the mysterious contents of the Apocalypse.

In times of war and national calamity the curious are easily beguiled by men with charts on the book of Daniel. The express prohibition of our Lord, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons” (Acts 1:7), should deter His people from giving ear to those who claim to have “light” thereon.

In this chapter we have not dealt with false prophets generally, but have confined ourselves to those who wear “sheep’s clothing,” whose attacks are made upon the flock of Christ. These are men who boast of their soundness in the Faith, and obtain a hearing among those who regard themselves as the cream of orthodoxy. Thus far we have dwelt upon their creed, on what they believe and teach: in our next we shall describe some of the distinguishing traits of their characters, and then point out that the type of converts they make also serves to identify them by the “fruit” they produce. Our design in entering into such detail is that young Christians may be furnished with a full-length photo of these deceivers, and to make it clear that we are not condemning such because they differ from us on one or two minor matters, but because they are thoroughly corrupt in doctrine. Furthermore, in all that has been before us it should be clear that we should labour diligently to become thoroughly acquainted with God’s Word for ourselves-or how shall we be fitted to detect these seducers of souls? Ponder Acts 17:11.

Chapter 55

During the days of His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus furnished full proof that He was the perfect Preacher as well as the model Man. That fact has not received the attention which it deserves, especially among those responsible for training the future occupants of our pulpits. We have perused numerous works on homiletics, but never came across one which attempted to analyze and summarize the methods followed by Christ in His public and private discourses. If the believer finds it necessary and beneficial to ponder the prayers of the Saviour in order that his devotional life may be directed and enriched thereby, surely the minister of the Gospel should feel it both essential and helpful to make a close study of how He approached and addressed both sinners and saints. If he does so he will discover the use Christ made of the Scriptures, the wealth of illustration He drew from the simplest objects of nature, the particular aspects of Truth on which He threw the most emphasis, the variety of motives to which He appealed, the different parts of man’s complex constitution to which He addressed Himself, the repetitions He deemed needful, the searching questions He so often asked, the homely comparisons He made, and the sharp contrasts He drew.

Even if the student confines his attention to the Sermon on the Mount he will perceive how wide was the range of this single Address, how numerous were the themes covered, how diverse the characters dealt with, and thus how many-sided is the work of the ministry. First the Lord depicted those upon whom the benediction of God rests, describing them according to their character and conduct. Next He defined the function and purpose of His servants: they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Then He declared His attitude unto the Law and the prophets and inculcated the basic law of His kingdom (Matthew 5:20). Next He expounded the spirituality of the Law and showed it demands conformity of heart as well as of action, displaying the high and holy standard which God will in no wise lower. This was followed by a warning against hypocrisy, especially in connection with prayer and fasting.

Treasures in heaven were contrasted with those on earth, and the futility of seeking to serve two masters shown. Expostulation was made against covetousness and carking care. The subject of judging others was opened up, spiritual ambition encouraged, and the golden rule enunciated. The ways of death and of life were faithfully drawn.

This brief summary brings us to our present passage, which opens with a solemn warning. It is not sufficient to enforce the Law and expound the Gospel. Nor has the pulpit completed its task by setting before believers their various duties and calling to the discharge thereof. There are enemies to be warned against. Doubtless it is a far more delightful task to expatiate upon the riches of Divine grace and the excellencies and glories of the Redeemer; but there are also other matters which need attention. If the example of Christ and His apostles is to be followed the saints are to be put on their guard against those who would seduce them, who with “cunning craftiness. . . lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).

Salvation is obtained by coming to the knowledge of the Truth (1 Timothy 2:4), and they who are deluded into believing a lie shall be damned (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). The very fact that eternal destiny is involved by what we believe is sufficient to show the deep seriousness of the issue here raised. He who has the care of souls must spare no pains in sounding the alarm.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Herein we behold their “cunning craftiness.” They do not appear in their true colors but are cleverly disguised. They pose as true friends of the Lord’s people when in reality they are their deadliest foes. They proclaim themselves to be genuine Christians, whereas in reality they are the emissaries of Satan. They feign themselves to be the teachers of the Truth, but their aim is to instill falsehoods. They work not outside in the profane world, but among the assemblies of the saints, pretending to he deeply taught of God, the champions of orthodoxy, men filled with love, earnestly seeking the good of souls.

Beware of them, says the great Shepherd of the sheep, for inwardly they are ravening wolves-fierce, merciless, seeking the destruction of the flock. Let that fact alarm you, arouse you to your danger and make you vigilant in guarding against it. Suffer not yourselves to be imposed upon.

And what is the best course to take in order to heed this solemn warning? What is the wisest policy to follow so as to be safeguarded from these murderers of souls? How shall we obtain the needed wisdom that we may be enabled to detect and identify these subtle dissemblers? Vitally important is it that we should obtain right answers to these questions. First, let us duly note the place where this warning occurs in our Lord’s sermon. It is found not at the beginning but near its close.

Is there not both instruction and comfort in that? Does it not intimate that if we have really taken to heart Christ’s teaching in the former sections we shall be fortified against the danger He here warns against? That if we earnestly heed His preceding exhortations, that if we diligently seek to cultivate inward holiness and endeavour to walk according to the rules given by our Master, that if we ourselves have a personal and experimental knowledge of what it is to be a real disciple of His, then we shall have little difficulty in recognizing the false ones?

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). That clearly states the principle to which we have alluded above. Our Lord’s language here is parabolic but its meaning is quite clear and simple. The activities of the body are directed according to the light received through the eye, and when that organ is sound and functioning properly, perceiving objects as they really are, the whole body is illuminated and enabled to discharge its duties, for we can then move with safety and circumspection. In like manner the faculties of the soul are principally directed by the dictates of the understanding, and where that is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and dominated by the Truth we shall be preserved from the snares of Satan and the stumbling-stones of the world. A “single eye” has but one object-God, the pleasing and glorifying of Him. “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” Thus the “single” eye is a holy one, being contrasted with that which is evil or carnal.

When the “eye” is occupied with Him who is Light, its possessor is able to distinguish between the things which differ and form a sound and right judgment both of persons and things. Our estimation of values is determined by whether our minds be Divinely illuminated or still in nature’s darkness. Where the soul is regulated by the Truth it will be endowed with a wisdom which enables its possessor to distinguish between good and evil; the understanding then becomes a faculty which discerns between the genuine and the spurious. “Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies” (Psalms 119:98). Habitual submission to the Divine authority brings its own reward in this life-part of which is a spiritual discretion which preserves from impostures. When the understanding is dominated by the Word the whole soul is “full of light,” so that all its faculties are under its beneficent influence: the conscience being informed, the affections turned to their legitimate object, the will moved in the right direction. In God’s light we “see light” (Psalms 36:9), perceiving the difference between good and evil, the things to be sought and those to be avoided.

“If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17). The fundamental condition for obtaining spiritual knowledge, discernment and assurance is a genuine determination to carry out the revealed will of God in our daily lives. “A good understanding have all they that do His commandments” (Psalms 111:10). Capacity to distinguish Truth from error consists not in vigor of intellect nor in natural learning, but in a sincere willingness and earnest desire to yield ourselves unto the Divine will. Where there is a genuine subjection to the Divine authority and a deep longing to please the Lord, even though it appears to be directly against our temporal interests and worldly prospects, and even though it involves fierce opposition from enemies and ostracism by our professed friends, there will be both spiritual discernment and assurance. Where the heart puts the glory of God before everything else it will be raised above and delivered from the prejudices of pride, self-love, carnal fears, and fleshly aspirations which cloud and bias the understanding of the unregenerate. “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3) is the sure promise.

Bagster’s Interlinear gives a more literal translation of Joh 7:17 : “If any one desire His will to practice he shall know concerning the teaching, whether from God it is.” The Greek word rendered “desire” signifies no fleeting impression or impulse but a deep-rooted determination. Certainty may be arrived at in connection with the things of God, but in order thereto the heart must first be right toward Him, that is surrendered to Him. Where there is a resolution to perform God’s will at all costs, there will be a capacity and an enablement to discern and embrace the Truth and to detect and refuse error. It is the state of our souls which makes us receptive to or repellent against the temptations and lies of the enemy: when the heart is yielded to God and conformed to His will, we have no difficulty in seeing through the deceits of Satan. It is those who are governed by self-will and devoted to self-pleasing who fall such easy victims to “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). The Truth frees from deception, but only as the Truth is appropriated and assimilated.

“Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Ah, but note well to whom this is said. The Lord does not predicate this of all who make a bare profession of faith: it is very far from being a knowledge common to all in Christendom. The “ye” is definitely restricted to God’s own people, to those who have entered the strait gate and are walking in the narrow way of the immediate context, True, even they need to be on their guard, but if they give heed to this warning of Christ, as assuredly they will, they shall at once recognize these impostors. Ye shall know them: but none other will. It is because the sheep “follow” the good Shepherd that “they know His voice,” and because they know His voice “a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:14-15).

It is the obedient ear, and that only, which distinguishes between the voice of the true and the false shepherds. II the ear be attuned to the precepts of Scripture it will reject the sophistries of religious charlatans.

“Ye shall 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. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16-20).

In these words our Lord intimates that His people should have no difficulty in recognizing the false prophets: if they do but exercise ordinary precaution they will detect the imposture which is sought to be played upon them. The masqueraders are to be identified by their “fruits.” At a distance trees look very much the same, but a closer inspection of them enables us to distinguish the fruitful from the fruitless ones, and whether the fruit be wholesome or injurious. In like manner there needs to be a careful examination of those who appear before us as the servants of God, that the true ones may be distinguished from the counterfeit.

In the preceding chapter we suggested that there is a threefold reference in the “fruits” produced by the false prophets, namely their creed, their character, and their converts. Having dwelt therein at some length on the first, a few words now upon the second and third. The character of these men is clearly indicated by Christ’s descriptive words: “inwardly they are ravening wolves.” It was none other than the Lord of love who employed what this supercilious generation would term “harsh language.” Love is faithful as well as gentle, and it was love to His own which moved Christ to tear off their disguise and reveal these enemies of His flock in their real character. He who denounced the scribes and Pharisees as “hypocrites” and “blind guides,” and termed Herod “that fox” (Luke 13:32), hesitated not to brand these subtle deceivers as “ravening wolves.” When a bottle of deadly poison is placed among others containing healing lotions it needs to be plainly labeled.

That Christ here left an example for His servants to follow appears clearly from the instance of the apostle Paul. When taking leave of the elders of the Ephesian church, he warned them that “after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). In that last clause we have another mark of the false prophets. They are inveterate proselytizers. They continually obtrude themselves upon people’s attention.

They are ever creeping into houses, “leading captive silly women led away with divers lusts.” They are continually coaxing and wheedling folk to come to their meetings. But the true prophet never attempts guile or presses anyone to attend his services. No, he is content to follow his Master’s practice: “he that hath ears to hear let him hear,” and there he leaves it. When a place receives them not they “go their way” (Luke 10:10) instead of pleading and arguing and seeking to draw disciples “after them.”

“But inwardly they are ravening wolves.” What a solemn but suggestive and revealing word is that. The wolf, like the fox, is tricky and treacherous, subtle and sly, hence the words “cunning craftiness” in connection with the purveyors of error who “lie in wait to deceive” of Ephesians 4:14. They scruple not to employ the most dishonorable tactics and resort to tricks which honest men of the world would scorn to use. The wolf is cruel and merciless: so are these deceivers of souls. They prate about love, but they are full of hatred toward those who expose them. They are greedy, having voracious appetites, and false prophets are men of insatiable ambition, hungry for applause, avaricious. Jeremiah 23:32, speaks of their “lightness” or irreverence, and Zephaniah 3:4, also says, “their prophets are light and treacherous.” So far from being sober and solemn they are frivolous and frothy: it cannot be otherwise, for the fear of God is not upon them.

“By their fruits ye shall know them.” Not by their profession, nor their sanctimoniousness, nor their zeal, but their “fruits” we understand; third, the converts they make. Like produces like. The parent is more or less reproduced in his children. In Jeremiah 23:16, it is said of those who give ear to the false prophets, “they make you vain.” Egotistical themselves, their disciples are also conceited: proud of their letter-knowledge of the Scriptures, boastful of their orthodoxy, claiming to have light which those in the “man-made systems” are without. But their walk betrays them: no traces of humility, no mourning over sin, no experimental acquaintance with the plague of their hearts. They loudly boast of their assurance, but produce not the evidences on which scriptural assurance is based.

They prate about eternal security but refuse to examine their hearts and see whether they be in the faith. They have much to say about their peace and joy, but are strangers to the groanings of Romans 7. They boast that they are “not under the law” and give proof thereof in their characters and conduct.

In conclusion let us anticipate a question: why does God permit these false prophets which work such havoc in Christendom? This is a very solemn question, and we must restrict ourselves to what the Scriptures say by way of reply. “Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of the prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3). From those words it is clear that God suffers teachers of error for the same reason as He does persecutors of His people: to test their love, to try their fidelity, to show that their loyalty to him is such that they will not give ear unto His enemies. Error has always been more popular than the Truth, for it lets down the bars and fosters fleshly indulgence, but for that very reason it is obnoxious to the godly. The one who by grace can say “I have chosen the way of Truth” will be able to add “I have stuck unto Thy testimonies” (Psalms 119:30-31), none being able to move him therefrom.

“For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19). Error serves as a flail, separating the chaff from the wheat. Let some plausible and popular preacher come forward with an old error decked out in new clothes and empty professors will at once flock to his standard; but not so with those who are established in the Faith. Thus, by means of the false prophets, God makes it appear who are the ones who hold the Truth in sincerity: they are faithful to Him despite all temptations to turn away unto a “broader-minded” way. The genuine gold endures every test to which it is subjected. Thus too are the unregenerate “converts” revealed: the counterfeit gold will not withstand the fire.

Those who are attracted by a novelty do not wear but are soon carried away by some newer innovation. “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” (1 John 2:19). Thus, they who turn away from orthodoxy to heterodoxy must not be regarded as real Christians.

The false prophets are also ordained of God for the punishment of those who receive not the love of the Truth. “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Ahab could not endure Elijah and Micaiah, the servants of God, therefore he was suffered to follow the priests of Baal unto his destruction.

It is very clear from Matthew 24:5, Matthew 24:11, etc., that Israel’s rejection of Christ was followed by the appearing of many false christs in their midst who fatally deceived large numbers of the Jews. It was not until primitive and genuine Christianity had been jettisoned that the religious world was plagued by the monster of Romanism. A very large proportion of those found in the false cults of our day were once members of or regular attenders at churches which were more or less sound in the Faith. Beware, my reader, if you despise God’s Truth you will fall into love with Satan’s lies.

Matthew 7:17

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 54

FALSE

Matthew 7:15-20

Chapter 55

Matthew 7:18

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 54

FALSE

Matthew 7:15-20

Chapter 55

Matthew 7:19

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 54

FALSE

Matthew 7:15-20

Chapter 55

Matthew 7:20

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 54

FALSE

Matthew 7:15-20

Chapter 55

Matthew 7:21

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

“Not every one that saith Unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess Unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and heat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall he likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and heat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). With these words our Lord commenced the twelfth and final division of this notable Sermon. It was perhaps the most searching and solemn section in it. Here the One who cannot be imposed upon by any deceit makes known His inexorable demand for reality. Here the One who shall yet officiate as the Judge of all the earth declares that at the Grand Assize all who have deceived themselves and deluded others will stand forth in their real characters. Here the One who knows every thought and imagination of the heart, before whose omniscient eye all things are naked and opened, makes it crystal clear that lip service is worthless and that even the most imposing deeds count for nothing where vital and practical godliness is lacking. The more this passage be thoughtfully pondered the less surprised are we that so many seek to get rid of this Sermon by terming it “Jewish” and insisting “it is not for this dispensation.”

If it be true that Matthew 5-7 is more hated by our moderns than any other portion of God’s Word, it is equally true that none is more urgently needed by them. Never were there so many millions of nominal Christians on earth as there are today, and never was there such a small percentage of real ones. Not since before the days of Luther and Calvin, when the great Reformation effected such a grand change for the better, has Christendom been so crowded with those who have “a form of godliness” but who are strangers to its transforming power. We seriously doubt whether there has ever been a time in the history of this Christian era when there were such multitudes of deceived souls within the churches, who verily believe that all is well with their souls when in fact the wrath of God abideth on them. And we know of no single thing better calculated to undeceive them than a full and faithful exposition of these closing verses of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.

The relation of this passage to the context is easily determined. Taking the more remote one, this final section forms a fitting conclusion to the whole address, which, be it remembered, was delivered in the hearing of the multitude (Matthew 5:1; Matthew 7:28), though more immediately to His “disciples.” It was a most suitable climax. Christ had commenced by delineating the character of those who are approved of God, and He finished by describing those upon whom eternal judgment will fall. Herein we may see how the chief of the apostles patterned his ministry after the example of his Master. If on the one hand “love” constrained him, on the other hand it was by “the terror of the Lord,” that he sought to persuade men. Thus. when standing before Felix, “he reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment” so that the governor “trembled” (Acts 24:25). Alas, how little of this faithful dealing with souls is there in this degenerate day: how little probing of the conscience, how little plain speaking of the awful doom awaiting the ungodly, how little shaking them out of their fatal complacency.

If we look at the more immediate context we shall be increasingly impressed with the appropriateness of this solemn peroration. Our Lord had just uttered warning against the false prophets, who are to be recognized by the “fruits” which they bear, or in other words by the “converts” which they make, the disciples they draw after them. It is the antinomian beguilers who are there more specially in view, as is clear from our Lord’s words “which come to you in sheep’s clothing,” thereby concealing their real character. In like manner their adherents assume a sanctimonious pose and employ the most pious language, carrying a Bible with them wherever they go and being able to quote it freely. They refer to the Redeemer in most reverent terms, being particular to accord Him His title of “Lord.” Nevertheless, when weighed in the balances they are found wanting, for they are lacking in vital godliness. Their hearts are not renewed, their wills are not surrendered to God, their conduct corresponds not with their high pretensions.

It is the juxtaposition of Mat 7:19-20, which enables us clearly to perceive the scope of the latter. Though the Saviour had said in Matthew 7:16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” He repeats this identifying mark of these deceivers of souls in Matthew 7:20, and then immediately adds “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom.” The intimate connection then between these two sections of His Address is too plain to miss: the converts made by the false prophets are big talkers but little doers. They claim to be devoutly attached to Christ but their claim is invalid, being unsupported by the evidence which is necessary to give it credibility. Their fine talk is not corroborated by a Christian walk, and therefore it is insufficient to obtain for them an entrance into His kingdom. If the blind follow the blind both fall into the ditch. It takes something more than “sheep’s clothing” to make one a servant of Christ, and something more than lip service is needed before He will own anyone as a true disciple of His. It is empty and windy professors whom He here exposes.

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Let us consider first the application of these words to those who were immediately addressed. Many of the Jews were so impressed by the miracles wrought by Christ that they were disposed to be His disciples while ignorant of and in fact strongly opposed to His doctrine concerning salvation and the requirements of the kingdom of God. “When He was in Jerusalem at the passover in the feast day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them” (John 2:23-24). Nicodemus expressed the attitude of some of the more influential when he said “Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2). But so far from allowing Nicodemus to entertain the idea that an acknowledgment of Him as a “teacher sent from God” would secure for him the blessings He came to bestow, He told him frankly that except he were born again he could neither see nor enter the kingdom of God.

When Christ had fed the great multitude with the five loaves and two small fishes, so deeply were they impressed that we are told: “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did. said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” Yet “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force and make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone” (John 6:14-15). This it was which directly occasioned the searching declaration of the section which is now before us. Very far was He from taking advantage of a temporary and superficial bias of men in His favour: plain speaking and honest dealings characterized the whole of His transactions with His countrymen. It was to prevent them from imagining that their owning Him as Prophet, or even acknowledging Him as the Messiah in the sense that they understood the term, was sufficient that He here impressed upon His hearers that they must be actually and personally doers of God’s will before they were qualified to participate in the blessings of His spiritual and eternal kingdom.

While the verses before us were addressed first and locally to the Jews of Christ’s day, yet it is obvious that they have a far wider application, that they belong to the Gentiles of our day. As we have proceeded through this Sermon section by section, we have endeavoured to point out again and again and make clear the force and relevancy of our Lord’s words as they respected His immediate hearers and also their pertinency unto and bearing upon ourselves. There was nothing provincial or evanescent in the teaching of Christ: it was designed for all nations and for all generations, and by it all men will yet be judged (John 12:48). This declaration of Christ’s then is full of important instruction to all in every country and every age, wherever the Gospel is presented to the examination and reception of men. It was true at the beginning, it is just as true today, and will continue so long as the world lasts, that some, yea, many, will go no farther than a mere lip profession, and consequently will be excluded from the kingdom: and that only those who really perform the Divine will shall enter into the enjoyment of the blessings of Christianity.

This expression “the kingdom of heaven” need not detain us very long, for we have explained its meaning in previous chapters. As it is employed here it is synonymous with “the kingdom of God” in John 3:3, as a comparison of Mat 18:3, and Luke 18:17, clearly proves. It had reference to the new order of things introduced by the Messiah, being in contrast with and the successor of Judaism. That new order of things may be contemplated as beginning in this present life and perfected in the life to come, they being two aspects of the one economy: the former we designate the kingdom of grace and the latter the kingdom of glory. Most of the older commentators understood “the kingdom of heaven” in the verse now before us as referring to the second aspect, and therefore as being equivalent to the state of celestial blessedness: but personally we see no reason for this restriction. A mere lip profession fails to secure even a present participation in the peculiar privileges of Christianity, for it obtains neither reconciliation with God, the forgiveness of sins, nor an enjoyment of that holy happiness which is the portion now of those truly converted. It inevitably follows that those who enter not the kingdom of grace on earth will never enter the kingdom of glory in heaven.

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,” or as we find it in Luke 6:46, “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord. . .?” This expression is equivalent to acknowledging Christ as Teacher and Master, even owning Him as the Son of God, the alone Saviour of sinners. There is a designed emphasis in the “Lord, Lord,” for it is meant to express not merely profession, but a decided, open, habitual profession. Thus Christ here declares that a mere verbal acknowledgment of the truth concerning His person or a lip profession that we are His disciples, prepared to accept His teaching, however explicit, public, and often repeated that profession be, does not open the way to the enjoyment of the special blessings of His kingdom, unless it is proved to be the result of true repentance and sound conversion, and unless it be accompanied with a corresponding course of conduct in doing the will of the Father. An outward profession of the most orthodox religion is useless if it be joined not with vital godliness and sincere obedience. Even the demons owned Him as the “Son of God” (Matthew 8:29), but what did it avail them?

It scarcely needs to be pointed out that no entrance into the kingdom of God is possible unless Christ is owned as “Lord.” Unitarians and those “modernists” who deny that Christ is anything more than the ideal Man are certainly outside the pale of salvation. “The words before us obviously imply, what is very distinctly stated in other parts of Scripture, that a profession of discipleship and acknowledgment of our submission in mind and heart to Christ Jesus is absolutely necessary in order to our enjoying the privileges of discipleship. No person who does not call Christ ‘Lord, Lord’ can enter into the kingdom of God: no man who is ignorant of His claims, who treats these claims with neglect, who rejects these claims, or who though he may be all but persuaded that these claims are just, yet from worldly motives does not acknowledge them-no such person can participate in the peculiar blessings of His disciples, either on earth or in heaven” (John Brown, to whom we are indebted for some things above and in what follows). “Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am” (John 13:13). “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (2 John 1:9).

But while the necessity of owning Christ as Lord is clearly implied in His words here, the truth which they more directly teach is that profession, however necessary in connection with faith and obedience, cannot of itself secure a participation in the spiritual blessings of the new economy. No matter how loudly a man avows his acceptance of the teachings of Christ, unless he be a doer of the Word his avowals count for nothing. He who requires the heart will not be put off with shadows for the substance, the mere semblance for the reality, words instead of works. Empty compliments are not worth the breath which utters them. They who trust in a form of godliness which is devoid of its power are building their hopes upon a foundation of sand. Not only is a bare profession insufficient for the saving of the soul, but it is an insult to Christ Himself.

It is a horrible mockery to call Him Lord while we continue to do only what is pleasing to ourselves, to profess to obey Him while we treat His commands with contempt. It is obedience which marks men as His disciples and distinguishes them from the subjects of Satan.

Let us now describe the different types of professors. First, there are those who are simply nominal ones. They bear the name of “Christians” and that is all. They happen to have been born in a country where Christianity is the prevailing religion and where it is regarded as a mark of respectability to give some recognition and assent to it. A few drops of water were sprinkled upon them in infancy by a preacher and possibly they received some kind of instruction in the rudiments of religion during the days of their childhood. But after reaching maturity, excepting for an occasional visit to a church, probably at “Christmas” or “Easter,” that is as far as they go.

Yet if asked to declare themselves they readily affirm they are “Christians,” but that means little or nothing more than that they are not Jews, pagans or open infidels. Such persons usually are grossly ignorant of the very fundamentals of the Faith and often the lives of respectable heathen would put theirs to shame. Surely such people are outside the kingdom of God. They cannot participate in its blessings either on earth or in heaven: if they could, its blessings would not be spiritual ones.

Second, formal professors. This class is made up of those who regard themselves as much in advance of the ones in the former. They are able to repeat some catechism, or at least give a fairly intelligent account of both the doctrine and the laws of Christ. If not members of a church they are at least “adherents” and regular attenders at its services. They claim to be submissive to Christ’s authority and observe all the outward acts of worship which characterize His followers, but they know nothing of the blessedness of communion with the Lord, nor is His joy their strength. Their religion is but a mental assent to an orthodox creed and going through a round of external observances.

They evince no desire for the Truth to have a dominating power over their affections and wills, and most of them regard as deluded enthusiasts and canting hypocrites those who regard experimental godliness as the only genuine Christianity, and pant after a deeper acquaintance with God. It is plain that these, too, are outside the kingdom, being strangers to those operations of the Spirit which alone make us meet for it.

Third, deceived professors. “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Proverbs 30:12). Those in this class look with pharisaical pity upon those described above. These deem themselves better taught. They place no reliance upon infant sprinkling, no subscription to the soundest confession of faith, rather do they pride themselves upon an intellectual assent to the letter of Holy Writ. They are quite sure that Christ died for them and that they have accepted Him as their personal Saviour. None can shake their assurance.

Yet meekness and lowliness characterize them not, forbearing one another and forgiving one .another they are strangers to, the fruit of the Spirit and practical godliness are missing from their daily lives. Their associates address them as “Brother” or “Sister” and that suffices. But what does it profit me to have the reputation of being a wealthy man if I have not the wherewithal to purchase the necessities of life? What avails it to call me a healthy person if disease be eating away my very vitals? If Christ bars the door of the kingdom against me no personal assurance will give me entrance.

Fourth, hypocritical professors. The number in this class, we are fain to believe, is much smaller than in the preceding ones: for them there is some hope while life lasts, but for these we can see none. Hypocritical professors are those who deliberately assume a role: they are consciously playing a part. They know that they are not Christians, but for one reason or other are anxious to make their fellows believe they are so. Some of them belonged formerly to one of the other groups, to the third especially, then they discovered the emptiness of their profession or that they had been deceived; too dishonest to disclaim themselves as Christians they took increased pains to persuade others of their piety. Not content with a dull, formal round of duties, they put on the appearance of a deep interest in the things of God and of zeal in seeking to promote His cause.

This is incomparably the vilest of the four classes we have sketched. Such conduct is no less contemptible than irrational. God cannot be imposed upon and no affronts are likely to be more severely punished than dishonor done to His omniscience. The hypocrite’s portion will be the “outer darkness” where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Fifth, the genuine professor. This is the real Christian, who enjoys the blessings of the kingdom of grace here and will be admitted to the bliss of the kingdom of glory hereafter. He is described here according to his conduct or actions: “but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Two points need determining: what is here signified by the Father’s will, and what is meant by the doing of it? “The fundamental part of doing the will of God is revealed in these words: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him’ (Matthew 17:5). Where this is complied with, everything else follows” (J. Brown). The will of the Father is perfectly made known by the incarnate Word, for He is the final Spokesman of God (Hebrews 1:1-2), all judgment being committed unto Him (John 5:22).

The will of the Father is that we should forsake our sins, trust in His Son, take His yoke upon us, and follow Him; to do less and yet call Him our Lord is most horrible mockery. So perfect and intimate is the oneness of the Father and the Son that Christ goes on to say: “Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them,” is like one who builds his house upon a rock (Matthew 7:24 and cf. Luke 6:46).

What is meant by doing the Divine will? Obviously it does not connote a perfect or flawless performance thereof, for there is no Christian who has ever attained to such excellence in this life, though nothing short of this is the standard set before us (Matthew 5:48). It means that I have surrendered my heart and will to the claims of Christ, so that I truly desire Him to “reign over” me (Luke 19:14) and order my life. It means that I have subjected myself to His authority and that it is the prevailing bent of my mind and constant endeavour to please and honour Him in all things. It means that I genuinely aim to be both internally and externally conformed to His holy image, and that it is my greatest grief when I do those things which displease Him. It means I truly seek that my thoughts, affections and actions are regulated by His precepts.

It is not a sinless obedience which is here in view, but it is a sincere one. It is not a forced one, but prompted by love. It is not merely an external compliance with the Divine commands but a “doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6).

Chapter 57

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” In the preceding chapter we sought to supply an exposition of this verse: explaining the meaning of its terms, pointing out its bearing upon the Jews of that day, and its application unto our own. On this occasion we propose to deal with it more in a topical manner. Obviously the theme of this verse is the inadequacy of a mere lip profession of Christian discipleship, and since so many are fatally deceived at this very point we deem it advisable to devote another chapter to the subject. We shall now endeavour to show something of the attainments possible to the formalist and how near he may come to the kingdom of Christ without actually entering it. It is the third class of professors, the deceived ones, that we have chiefly in view. We shall seek to examine and test them at four simple but essential points and show of each one wherein they come short of that which is the experience and portion of the regenerate.

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

“Though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; . . . and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Nor is that an altogether unlikely case. Far from it. It is possible for the natural man to acquire a much fuller and more intelligent grasp of the Truth than that which is possessed by the majority of genuine Christians. If he be endowed with a competent intellect, if he has received a good education, if he closely applies himself to the study of Scripture (as he might to one of the arts or sciences), then he may become expertly proficient in a letter knowledge and notional understanding of the same. By patient industry he may master the Hebrew and Greek languages in which they were originally written.

By reading and rereading sound theological works he may secure a comprehension of the whole doctrinal system of Truth. By consulting able commentators he may obtain light upon perplexing passages. He may even arrive at an understanding of the “mysteries” of iniquity and of godliness, so that he is quite sound in the Faith. And if he be a fluent speaker, he may discourse upon Divine things so that none may legitimately take issue with his orthodoxy, yea, many may find his preaching instructive and helpful.

There are also very many unregenerate listeners who by waiting upon the ministry of the Word max’ obtain a wide knowledge thereof. A considerable number are possessed with an insatiable curiosity, or appetite, for the acquisition of religious information, and, by regular attendance at church, close attention to what they hear and the aid of retentive memories, become well instructed in spiritual things, especially where this be supplemented by the reading of a considerable amount of devotional literature. Though unregenerate obtain clear views of the whole Gospel scheme and those gifted with clear minds often grasp more of the profounder aspects of Truth than many of God’s own children are capable of understanding (for “not many wise men after the flesh” [1 Corinthians 1:26] are among His elect), and dig more deeply into the mines of Truth and make greater discoveries than do the saved. They may apprehend things so clearly as to satisfy their judgment and express their notions so distinctly to others as to convince, yea, to defend their beliefs so tellingly and argue about the same to such effect as to silence any who differ from them.

Nor is this knowledge limited to the doctrinal side of the Truth. They may attain unto well-proportioned conceptions of the Divine character and perfections and correct views of the person and work of Christ, the office and operations of the Holy Spirit. By sitting under the faithful preaching of God’s servants and by reading articles of a searching nature they may secure a good understanding of the experimental side of things. They may be quite clear upon the miracle of regeneration and be able to draw the lineaments of the new creature as true to life as though they had the image thereof in their own souls. They may be able to describe the work of grace as accurately as though they had an experience of it in their own hearts. They may depict the conflicts between the flesh and spirit as though such opposition were taking place within themselves.

They may speak as glowingly of the Christian’s graces as if they were the possessors of them. They may narrate the actings of certain graces under such and such a temptation as though they were recounting their own history. They may have the exact idea and true notion of all these things in their heads when there is nothing whatever of them in their hearts.

Yet in spite of all that we have predicated above of these unregenerate yet orthodox preachers and hearers, authors and readers, they are those who are “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7), that is to say they do not and cannot arrive at the saving knowledge of it. And why is this so? Because they lack the necessary faculty for its entrance. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). A saving knowledge of the Truth is impossible unto the unregenerate. There must needs be a suitability between the instrument and its task, between the agent and that which is to be apprehended. An animal is incapable of entering into what the human intellect may comprehend, and one who has no spiritual faculty is unable to receive spiritual things in a spiritual way. The natural man may acquire theoretical and notional knowledge of things, but he cannot obtain a spiritual or saving knowledge of them, for he is totally devoid of spiritual life.

Let us now attempt to answer the question, What is the essential difference between these two kinds of knowledge, wherein does a natural and notional knowledge of Divine things come short of a spiritual and saving knowledge of them? Consider the following: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee” (Job 42:5): we give not an exposition of those words, but use them illustratively of this contrast. One may listen for years to sermons but when the soul actually has Christ revealed in him (Galatians 1:16) he learns the tremendous difference there is between a hearsay knowledge of Him and a spiritual perception as He stands manifested to the soul as a living Reality. Let us endeavour still further to simplify by a human analogy. A child is born with such a filament over his eyes that he is quite blind. He receives a good education and loved ones seek to use their eyes on his behalf and take pains in describing to him some of the beauties and wonders of nature: by their word pictures he obtains clear concepts of many objects. But suppose a specialist performs a successful operation and vision is vouchsafed him: how vastly different his own sight of a glorious sunset from the previous notion he had formed of it!

No matter how carefully and accurately his friends have described a sunset to him, how vivid the contrast when he beheld one for himself! Equally real, equally radical, equally vivid is the difference between a second-hand knowledge of the Truth and a personal acquaintance and experience of its power. Following out the analogy a little farther: while blind, that man may have thought his friends exaggerated the grandeur of a sunset, but as soon as he has seen one for himself he knows that neither poet’s tongue nor artist’s brush could possibly do it justice. He may even have entertained doubts as to the thing itself, wondering if his friends were but drawing upon their imagination and seeking to amuse him with a fairy tale, but now all uncertainty is at an end. So with the regenerate soul and Christ: once his sin-blinded eyes are opened to behold the Lamb, he exclaims with one of old, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” A saving knowledge of Christ ravishes the soul and so draws the heart unto Him as to esteem all else as dross in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Him (Phi 3:8).

A Laplander may have read about honey, but not until he has eaten some does he really know what it is like. Nor does the soul truly know the Lord until he has “tasted that He is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3). The formalist knows God is omniscient, the Christian has an inward experience thereof, by His detecting to him the heart’s deceitfulness and discovering secret sins. The former knows God is almighty, but the latter has felt His omnipotency working within him: enabling him to believe (Ephesians 1:19), subduing his lusts, overcoming the world. The one kind of knowledge then is speculative, the other practical; the one is merely notional, the other experimental; the one is acquired second-hand, the other is communicated directly. He “hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Natural knowledge puffs up, but spiritual humbles and makes the soul painfully conscious of its spiritual ignorance. Observe how in Psalms 119 David prays no less than eight times “teach me.” Natural knowledge produces no spiritual fruit, and it is vain to boast of spiritual learning if it be not accompanied with a holy life.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

After their lengthy captivity in Babylon Israel were delivered from their love of idolatry, so that the Spirit said “thou that abhorrest idols” (Romans 2:22). Many there are who hate injustice and oppression, unmercifulness and cruelty, lying and dishonesty. Concerning sorrow for sin: Israel mourned alter their worship of the golden calf (Exodus 33:4) and “mourned greatly” (Numbers 14:39) after they had sorely provoked the Lord, and yet continued in their provocations (Numbers 14:44). Ahab expressed sore grief for his wickedness (1 Kings 21:27). As to resolution against sin, a strong case of such is seen in Balaam (Numbers 22:18, Numbers 22:38).

If the unregenerate may go thus far in a way of repentance, wherein do they fall short? If theirs be not “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18), where is it to be found? Saving repentance proceeds from sorrow for sin, whereas the sorrow of the formalist is defective at these points. First, they mourn not for sin itself, but over its consequences. Not as their deeds are contrary to God, a violation of His Law, opposed to His holy will, but because they involve unpleasant effects. Second, not for consequences in reference to God, but themselves: not because He is dishonored, His authority spurned, and the creature preferred above Him.

If they mourn because of His displeasure, it is rather for the effects of His anger. They care nothing about Satan being gratified and the cause of Christ reproached so long as they are not afflicted in their persons or estates. Third, they mourn not for all its consequences in reference to themselves: not as it defiles the soul, keeps at a distance from God, hardens the heart and renders it more incapable of holy duties, but only as it deprives of mercies and produces miseries.

Their hatred of sin is defective. It is not extended to all sin: they cannot say, “I hate every false way.” They may hate gross sins such as the state penalizes, but wink at lesser ones. They may hate open wickedness but not secret faults. They may abominate theft and uncleanness, yet make no conscience of pride and self-righteousness. They may hate those things which are cried down by people among whom they now live, and yet enter into the same heartily if they move to another part of the earth. They may hate an unprofitable sin, but refrain not from those which bring them in a revenue.

They may hate a sin which is contrary to their peculiar temperament, but not that which is agreeable to their constitution. They may hate others’ sin rather than their own, as Judas complained at the prodigality of Mary; but such hatred is directed rather against the persons than the sins of others. Their hatred is superficial. It is not with all their heart: it reaches not to the corruptions of their nature, nor is it accompanied with mortifying endeavors.

Their resolutions against sin are defective. In their rise. They issue not from a renewed heart, from a principle of holiness and love to Christ, but from apprehensions of unpleasant effects and future damnation. Or from the restraining power of God, which keeps them from purposing to sin rather than moves them to full resolution against it: so that their resolutions are negative rather than positive. Thus it was with Balaam, who said not “I will not” but “I cannot” (Numbers 22:18, Numbers 22:38)-he had a mind to, but the Lord prevented him. In their continuance.

Their good resolutions are not followed out to full execution, but are quickly broken. The cause from which they proceed is not constant, and therefore the effects are evanescent. They flow no longer when the spring from which they issue runs dry. That spring is but a momentary anguish or flash of fear, and when that vanishes their resolutions fail. Their goodness is but as “the morning cloud” and “early dew” (Hosea 6:4), which quickly disappear. David feared the danger of this when he prayed, “Keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee” (1 Chronicles 29:18).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Agrippa believed in the veracity of the prophets and received their testimony without question (Acts 26:26-27). They may have a faith which leads to the owning of Christ as their Lord and worshipping Him as such (Matthew 7:21). They may even have a faith which produces strong assurance: those who opposed Christ were quite sure they were “Abraham’s seed” and not the slaves of Satan (John 8:33-34).

Wherein does this faith come short of a saving one? Wherein is it defective? It is merely an intellectual assent to the letter of Scripture and not “with the heart” (Romans 10:10), so as to bring Christ into it (Ephesians 3:17), just as one may read and accredit a historical work and no spiritual effect be produced thereby. It is a faith which is “alone” (James 2:17), for it is unaccompanied by other graces. whereas a saving faith has as its concomitants love, meekness, holiness, perseverance, etc. Such a faith consents not to take a whole Christ: it will embrace Him as a Saviour, but is not willing for Him to reign over them as King. Those with such a faith desire Christ’s pardon but not His sceptre, His peace but not His yoke.

They will accept Him to deliver them from hell, but not to sanctify and cast out of their temples whatever God abominates. They are not willing to subscribe to Christ’s terms of discipleship, which are the denying of self, the taking up of the cross, and following Him whithersoever He leads: such terms they consider harsh and unnecessary.

The faith of the formalist and empty professor is a lifeless and barren one. “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). In that chapter the apostle points out. first, the worthlessness of a bare profession of charity. To give good words to a brother in need, bidding him, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,” yet withholding those things needful to him, is cruel hypocrisy (James 2:15-16); equally so is such a faith a mockery if we say we believe in the Holy One and a day of judgment and yet live impiously (James 2:17). Second, such a faith is inferior to that of the demons, for they “believe and tremble” (James 2:19), whereas empty professors are not afraid to mock God. Third, such a faith is radically different from that possessed and exercised by the father of all who believe, for he rendered unreserved obedience unto the Divine commands (James 2:21-24). A faith which does not purify the heart (Acts 15:9), work by love (Galatians 5:6), overcome the world (1 John 5:4), and bring forth fruit acceptable to God, will not conduct anyone to heaven.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Paul declares that, while unconverted, he was “blameless” as to his observance of the Law (Phi 3:6), and the rich young ruler affirmed of the commandments, “all these have I kept from my youth up” (Luke 18:21), nor did Christ charge him with idle boasting. They may practice great austerities in order to mortify the flesh, as some of the Gnostics had for their rule, “Touch not, taste not, handle not” (Colossians 2:21). A spirit of fanaticism may induce some of them to suffer martyrdom (1 Corinthians 13:3).

Wherein lies the defectiveness of the works of the unregenerate? First, in the state of the persons performing them. They are not reconciled to God and how can He accept aught from His enemies? The individual must first be reconciled to God before He will receive anything at his hands: “the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4). Second, in the root from which their actions proceed: their fruits are but the wild grapes of a degenerate vine: they must be renewed in the inner man before anything spiritual can be borne. Third, in the motive which prompts them, which is either servile fear or a spirit of legality rather than love; a dread of hell, or an attempt to gain heaven instead of from gratitude.

Fourth, in the end which they have in view, which is a selfish one instead of seeking to promote the Divine honour: it is to pacify God rather than glorify Him. Fifth, in the absence of Christ’s merits: their works are neither wrought for Christ’s sake nor offered in His name, and since none may come unto the Father but by Him (John 14:6) all their works are refused, as Cain’s offering was.

Chapter 58

There are few passages in all the Word of God which are more solemn than Matthew 7:21-23, and which are more calculated to induce the sober believer to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling. Certainly this writer regards it as much too important to skim over hastily. In these verses the Lord makes it known that there are those who regard themselves as genuine Christians merely because they have certain resemblances to the children of God, and who are even looked upon as such by others simply because of their outward conformity to the principles and ordinances of Christianity, and yet are denounced by Christ as “ye that work iniquity.” So presumptuous are they that they are firmly convinced heaven is theirs, yea, they are here represented as complaining to their Judge when He closes the door against them, putting in a plea for their claim at the bar of justice and arguing as though it were unfair that they should be excluded from the everlasting bliss of the righteous. Thus it is clearly implied that they lived and died in the full assurance that they were the objects of God’s approbation, that they were completely secured from the wrath to come.

Nor is this fatal delusion cherished by a comparative few, for our Lord here gives plain intimation that there are “many” who have implicit confidence in their salvation, but who will nevertheless hear from His lips those terrible words, “depart from Me.” How is their infatuation to be explained? The general answer would be, The deceitfulness of the human heart plus the sophistries of Satan. But on so deeply serious a matter as this we need something more than generalizations. When a thoughtful person learns that some dangerous disease is menacing the community, he wants to learn all he can about its nature, its symptoms, and especially the best means of prevention, of safeguarding himself against it. If we deem no pains and care too much in fortifying ourselves against a bodily disease, will the reader complain at the slowness of the writer’s progress if he endeavors to give a more specific and detailed answer to this weighty question: how shall we account for such a fatal confidence? We will seek to point out the grounds on which such a delusion rests, that we may avoid this woeful mistake.

I. Ignorance. In our last we showed at some length the insufficiency of a mere intellectual acquaintance with the letter of Scripture, but let it not be concluded therefrom that a notional knowledge of the Truth is of no value because it falls short of a saving one, still less derive encouragement for slothfulness. It is in the use of means that God is often pleased to meet with souls, and while they are reading and meditating on His Word to shine into their hearts. Scripture places no premium upon ignorance or indolence. Instead of asking, If such knowledge will not bring a man to heaven, to what purpose is it to labour after knowledge? rather say to yourself, How far must I be from heaven if I lack even that knowledge I What we brought out on the subject of a notional knowledge of the Truth in our last, instead of affording comfort to the ignorant should rather strike them with fear and trembling.

If so much knowledge will not secure salvation, then how much worse is my case when I am destitute of what even he possesses. If those who come so near to the kingdom as to be able to view it cannot enter, then what hope is there for those who are content to remain far off from it.

So near are the ignorant to hell that they are within the very shadow of it. “Darkness . . . and shadow of death” are joined together in Scripture (Matthew 4:16). Ignorance is spiritual darkness, the very shadow of eternal death. There is but a thin partition between those immersed in spiritual ignorance and hell itself. Hell is termed “the outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12) because ignorance is the inner darkness, the next room as it were to hell itself. Sad indeed is the condition of such. If those who come so near to Canaan as to obtain a taste of its wondrous fruits yet fall in the wilderness so that they never enter it, how can they expect to enter Canaan who refuse to stir out of Egyptian darkness?

One with much knowledge may possibly perish, but one who is quite ignorant of spiritual things shall certainly perish. When God makes mention of “a people of no understanding,” He at once adds, “therefore He that made them will not have mercy on them” (Isaiah 27:11). “Where ignorance is bliss ’tis folly to be wise” certainly does not hold good here.

We do not have to go as far afield today as what is termed heathendom: there are millions within Christendom, yea, countless thousands of churchgoers and members, who know not what is necessary to bring a soul to heaven. They know not that regeneration is imperative, that “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” that as a fish cannot live out of water because away from its own element, so man is totally unfit for communion with the Holy One until he be renewed within. They know not that there must be a new creation, a miracle of grace wrought in the soul to make fallen man a new creature, so that it can be said of him, “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The new Jerusalem is for new creatures. They know not that God must communicate to the heart a principle of holiness before there can be any holy affections, motions or fruits. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), and by nature man does not have the least grain of it.

So ignorant are the vast majority of those even in places reputed to be sound and orthodox that they know not that there must be the denying of self before anyone can become a follower of Christ: a repudiation of our own wisdom, righteousness, strength, desires, will, and interests. They know not that there must be a renunciation of the world before anyone can be a follower of Him who left the glories of heaven and entered the manger of Bethlehem: that we must be crucified unto the world and the world unto us or we shall never enter into the benefits and blessings purchased by the crucifixion of Christ. They know not that there must be a plucking out of right eyes and a cutting off of right hands, a mortifying of the flesh with its affections and lusts, so that we die daily. They know not that there must be a taking up of the cross if any man will come after Christ, which will cost him the loss of godless companions, the scorn of professors, many a tear and groan. They know not that the Christian life is a fierce wrestling (Ephesians 6:12), a continual fight, a race that has to be run with all our might if the crown is to be obtained. If they really knew these things they would not be nearly so confident of heaven when they are total strangers to the very things required of all those for whom heaven is intended.

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

They conduct themselves as atheists, acting as though there be no God, no day of reckoning, no lake of fire. They carry themselves as madmen, chasing shadows, playing with dynamite, sporting on the edge of the pit. They are indeed beside themselves (Luke 15:17), devoid of “the spirit . . . of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). If they were sane they would study God’s Word to discover its directions concerning salvation, and would test themselves by those directions.

Their very indifference and carelessness demonstrate the mass of our fellows to be practical atheists and spiritual lunatics. If they were sane they would be deeply concerned whether heaven or hell was to be their eternal abode. They would deem no trouble too great to ascertain which they were journeying unto, which their personal condition fitted them for. They would snatch a few of their swiftly passing hours and devote them to diligent inquiry and self-examination. They would not proffer idle excuses and postpone the task, but would promptly and earnestly set about it. Only those bereft of spiritual sense and reason would neglect a matter the issue of which is either everlasting life or everlasting death. But no; rather than seriously trouble themselves, they will complacently assume all is well with them and take it on trust that they are bound for heaven, when the only grounds they have for such trust are the lies of Satan and that which their own deceitful hearts prompt; and thus they rest the whole weight of eternity upon a cobweb and pin the everlasting concern of their souls upon a shadow.

What makes it more inexcusable is the fact that these same people are quite competent and painstaking over their temporal affairs. If a new position be offered them they make careful inquiries before committing themselves. If they purpose making an investment they go to much trouble in ascertaining the soundness of it. If they think of purchasing a property they make full investigations as to its title-deeds and value. But when it comes to eternal things they are dilatory and slipshod, half-hearted and lazy. They make no serious preparation to meet their God, and when His call comes it finds them wanting.

They are sluggards and therefore the sluggard’s portion and doom will be theirs. Thus, when men and women are so slack and careless about their souls, when they will not make serious and solemn inquiry about their state, we need not wonder that so many are so woefully mistaken as to promise themselves heaven when in reality nothing but hell is reserved for them.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

They do not believe that God is inexorably just so that He will “by no means clear the guilty,” but that every transgression and disobedience must receive a due recompense of reward, unless a sinless Substitute make atonement for them. They do not believe it is impossible to mock God with impunity, that as men sow they reap, so that if they sow to the flesh they must of necessity reap corruption. They do not believe that God is omniscient, that “His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” for if they did it would act as a curb upon them. They do not believe God is so strict that He will call us to account for “every idle word” and that He “weigheth the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2)-the springs of action, the motives which prompt. They do not believe He is ineffably holy, so that sins of thought as well as deed, of omission as well as commission, are hateful to Him. They do not believe that God is “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) so that this world and all its works will be burned up and that everyone whose name is not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. They do not believe that God is absolute sovereign, so that “He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Romans 9:18).

Even where there is sufficient light and conviction as to reveal to sinners that they come short of the Divine rule, and where they perceive that what the Word insists is necessary to salvation is not found in them, instead of abandoning their false hopes they persuade themselves that God is more merciful than the Scriptures represent Him to be. It is true, says the sinner, in such a case, that the way to heaven is a narrow one and that God’s kingdom can only be entered “through much tribulation” (Acts 14:22), but God will save me even though I fail here and there and I he lacking in this and that. It is true that God is merciful, yet for one sin He banished our first parents from Eden! It is true that God is merciful, but for one sin His curse descended upon Ham and his posterity. It is true that God is merciful, but for one sin Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt, Achan and his family were stoned to death, Gehazi was smitten with leprosy, Ananias and Sapphira became corpses. God is merciful, yet He sent the flood upon the world of the ungodly, rained fire and brimstone upon the cities of the plain, sent His angel and slew all the firstborn of Egypt and destroyed Pharaoh and his hosts at the Red Sea.

Though they allow themselves in this sin and that, though they are thoroughly self-willed and self-pleasing, they tell themselves that God is lenient. Though they ignore God’s righteous claims upon them and make no effort to meet His holy requirements, they comfort themselves with the thought that He is gracious. They refuse to allow that He is as strict and rigid as His faithful servants declare Him to be. They petulantly ask, Even though I be not so precise and puritanical as some are, shall I not be saved even as they? Though 1 come not up to their standard, yet God is very pitiful and knows how weak we are, and therefore He will lower the standard for me so that I may be saved as well as the best of them. Poor deluded souls, if that be all their hope, their case is indeed hopeless.

Will God be so merciful as to contradict Himself and go contrary to His Word? Must He show them so much mercy as to despise His own Truth and make Himself a liar? What cause have they to tremble who have nothing to bear up their hopes of heaven but downright blasphemy!

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

He who is outwardly religious deems himself vastly superior to the openly profane. Each one discovers some cause or other to say with the self-righteous Pharisee, “I thank God that I am not as this publican.” This is because they measure themselves by a wrong standard. Even a soiled handkerchief looks comparatively clean if it be placed on a miry road, but were it laid on newly fallen snow its uncleanness would soon be evident. So it is with those who are blind to their deplorable condition. But men are possessed with such a high estimate of themselves, and entertain such a good opinion of their souls’ condition, that even if they can be induced to measure themselves by the rule of God’s Word and examine their state they come to the work prepossessed, prejudiced in their own favour. Self-love will not suffer them to deal impartially with their souls.

When they read some condemnatory passage of Scripture they refuse to appropriate it: when they hear a particularly solemn and searching sermon they take it not home to themselves but apply it to some of their fellows. If they be awakened in some measure to the awfulness of sinning against God and alarmed at the fearful punishment reserved for such, this mood is only fitful and fleeting, for they quickly reassure themselves that no such guilt rests upon them. Sudden death may strike down some of their companions, but self-delusion blinds them to their own peril. A manifest judgment from God may fall upon their community, but they persuade themselves that they are in no danger of the wrath to come. The fact is that there are very few indeed who abandon all hope, give way to utter despair and conclude they will experience the everlasting burnings, and yet there is only a very little company who will escape them. The multitudes continue defying God, sinning with a high hand, and go on walking along the road which leads to the pit, and yet by one means or another each persuades himself he shall not enter there. “For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful” (Psalms 36:2).

Yes, the sinner “flattereth himself in his own eyes.” If he did not, he would be in terrible distress and anguish. He would not go on so cheerfully and gaily if he really believed himself in danger of hell. But he has too good an estimate of himself for that: he does not think he has ever done anything worthy of such a doom, he is sure he is not bad enough for such a place. Men flatter themselves that they do not live in vice, but are decent citizens and good neighbours. They can see no reason why God should be angry with them. They do not take His name in vain nor scoff at religion.

Yea, they flatter themselves that they have done much to commend themselves to Him and obtain His approbation. They read their Bibles occasionally and say their prayers. They attend church and contribute to its upkeep. They send their children to the Sabbath school. They resolve that later on they will be even better, out and out for Christ. but meanwhile they want to enjoy the world a little longer, “trust in themselves that they are righteous” (Luke 18:9) and are comparatively clean in their own sight, and yet they are not washed from their filthiness (Proverbs 30:12).

There be others, many such, who flatter themselves that they are genuine Christians. They persuade themselves that they have repented of their past, believed the Gospel, and that their sins are forgiven. Consequently when they hear or read anything solemn it makes no impression upon them. Self-love and self-esteem blind them to their true condition. They are Laodiceans who say, “I am rich [spiritually] and increased with goods [have made considerable progress and grown in grace] and in need of nothing,” but as the Lord declares, “and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). And nothing shakes them out of their self-complacency.

They continue flattering themselves “until their iniquity be found to be hateful”-until they are disillusioned in hell. As a blind man cannot judge of colors, so prejudiced in their own favour are the self-righteous that it is impossible for them to judge of the complexion of their souls, whether the image of God or the image of the Devil be stamped upon it. As one has well said, “Satan blinds one eye and self-love closes the other,” and the deceitfulness of sin seals both, and thus they assure themselves that they are on the way to heaven when they are on the high road to hell. Doubtless a number of such will read this very article and be quite unsearched by it, sure that it pertains not to their case.

A closing word to Christian readers. Since the four things described above are the principal ones among the more immediate causes of deceit concerning the state of the soul, then how sincerely ought the regenerate to examine themselves at these points and seek to make sure they are not imposing on themselves. How they should “cease from man” and search the Scriptures without bias to ascertain the general tenor of their teaching as to what God requires if they are to dwell with Him for ever, not confining themselves to such verses as John 3:16, and Romans 10:13, but comparing such as Isaiah 55:7; Acts 3:19; Hebrews 5:9, so as to obtain a full answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” How cautiously and conscientiously should we examine ourselves, testing the grounds of our hope, determining whether or not there really is in us that which meets God’s terms, whether or not our righteousness exceeds that of the religious formalist (Matthew 5:20). Nor can such a task be discharged hurriedly: “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10)-with what earnestness should we give ourselves to this work!

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Yes, “knoweth Me,” the living God, and not a fantasy devised by your own sentiment. To believe in a God who has no existence save in their own imagination is the case with multitudes in the churches today. “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace” (Job 22:21). To cherish the image of a fictitious god entails a fictitious peace. Eternal life is to “know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3): how we should labour after such a knowledge of Him! Finally if self-love and esteem effectually hinder an impartial examination of myself, if it he the case with a host of my fellows that “a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isaiah 44:20), how earnestly should I cry to God to grant me an honest heart which desires to know the truth and nothing but the truth about my case.

Chapter 59

What is the relation between our present verses and the one immediately preceding? Matthew Henry gives the following as his analysis of Mat 7:21-23 : “(1) Christ here shows by a plain remonstrance that an outward profession of religion, however remarkable, will not bring us to heaven, unless there be a correspondent conversation. (2) The hypocrite’s plea against the strictness of this law, offering other things in lieu of obedience. (3) The rejection of this plea as frivolous.” Personally we think William Perkins perceived more clearly the connection between Matthew 7:22-23 and Matthew 7:21 : “In these two verses Christ returns to explain and confirm the first conclusion of the former verse concerning those professors that shall not be saved. The words contain two parts: first, a description of the persons by their behavior; secondly, a declaration of their condemnation.” For our own part we regard the verses which are now to be before us as containing an exemplification and amplification of what had been affirmed in the preceding one, showing that the most gifted and eminent professors will not be treated as exceptions if they fail to meet the fundamental requirement of God’s kingdom.

In the previous verse Christ had declared, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord. Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven”: something far more important and radical than a mere lip profession is needed in order to participate in spiritual blessings, even a full surrendering of ourselves unto Christ and a performing of the Divine will from the heart. But now the Lord went on to affirm something still more solemn and searching: “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me ye that work iniquity.” Here it is not simply the rank and file of those claiming to be the followers of Christ who are in view, but the most influential ones among them, their leaders and preachers. Nor does He single out a few exceptional cases, but declares that there are “many” who have occupied positions of prominence and authority, who wrought mighty works in His name, but so far from enjoying His approbation are denounced by Him as workers of iniquity.

First, it should be pointed out that the gifts and works of these men are described according to the nature of those which obtained in Bible times. Strictly speaking there is no such thing as “prophesying” today, nor has there been for eighteen centuries past. A prophet was the mouthpiece of God. Under an afflatus of the Holy Spirit he gave forth a Divine revelation. In other words, he spoke by Divine inspiration. It was not an ordinary and natural gift, but an extraordinary and spiritual one.

It was withdrawn when the Canon of Scripture was completed, for in His written Word we now have the Divine will fully revealed, containing as it does a complete and perfect rule of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Consequently, any person who now poses as a Divine prophet, claiming to have a special message from God, is either an impostor or a fanatic: an emissary of Satan seeking to beguile the unwary, or a neurotic who suffers his enthusiasm to run away with him, or an egoist who desires to direct attention to himself and occupy the limelight.

Because a man spoke by Divine inspiration in Bible times it was no proof that he was regenerate. Here, as everywhere else, God exercised His sovereignty, employing as His mouthpiece whom He pleased. Thus we find Balaam, the soothsayer, uttered some remarkable predictions concerning Israel, the Messiah Himself, and the judgments which should overtake various nations; all of which were fulfilled. We are told that “the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth” (Numbers 23:5), that he “knew the knowledge of the most High” and “saw the vision of the Almighty” (Numbers 24:6), yet he “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15) and perished amid the enemies of the Lord (Numbers 31:8). So also of the apostate king of Israel it is written, “the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied,” so that it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10:10-11). More remarkable still is the case of Caiaphas, the man who delivered up the Redeemer into the hands of Pilate, for of him we are told: “And this spake he not of himself [but by Divine inspiration]: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (John 11:51-52).

“And in Thy name have cast out devils” or “demons.” This was another of the supernatural gifts or powers bestowed upon men at the beginning of the Christian era, and yet it was not confined to the regenerate. It is at least open to doubt whether the man mentioned in Luke 9:49, was such, for there we are told that “John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in Thy name and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.” But a clearer case to the point is that of the betrayer of our Lord. In Matthew 10:1, we are expressly told that “when Christ had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out,” and one of that company was Judas Iscariot! Had Judas failed to perform this feat his fellow apostles had at once had their suspicions aroused, and when the Saviour announced, “One of you shall betray Me,” instead of asking, “Lord, is it I?” had at once known He referred to Judas. “And in Thy name done many wonderful works” or “works of power,” miraculous works-the Greek word occurring again in Matthew 11:20, in connection with Christ’s “mighty works.” This power too was conferred upon Judas.

If it should be asked, Why should God so remarkably endow the unregenerate, even using them as His mouthpieces? several answers might be returned. First, as has been intimated above, in order to exemplify God’s uncontrollable sovereignty over and ownership of all men. He can employ His creatures as He pleases and select as His agents and instruments whom He will and none can say Him nay. Second, to display His invincible power. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord . . . He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1), and if the king’s heart, so every man’s; but how little is that realized today. Balaam was but a puppet in His hands, unable to resist His will.

Caiaphas was the enemy of Christ and yet compelled to utter a remarkable prophecy about Him! Third, to evince that supernatural gifts and endowments-though highly esteemed among men-are not the most precious of His bestowments: something infinitely more valuable is reserved for the objects of His everlasting love. What comparison is there between Balaams prophecy and the “new song” in the mouths of the redeemed, between the miracles performed by Judas and being made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?

Our Lord thus plainly intimates that men may conduct themselves as His commissioned servants-acting in His name-that they may be endowed with the most remarkable gifts, that they may perform supernatural works, and yet not be saved. It was so at the beginning of this dispensation; it is so now. It would be a great mistake to draw the conclusion that because our Lord describes these unregenerate professors according to the terminology of the first century, when ministers were endowed with extraordinary gifts and exercised supernatural powers, that it has no direct bearing on leaders among professing Christians in this twentieth century. Because verse 22 depicts conditions which no longer obtain in kind that is no proof that it has no immediate application unto men of prominence in the religious realm today. Rather should we reason that, if such a fearful warning was needed at the beginning of this era, when men were so wonderfully gifted, how much more pertinent is it to those of lesser talents and abilities in this degenerate generation!

The modern equivalent of prophesying in the name of Christ would be preaching in His name: the casting out of demons would find its present counterpart in the deliverance of Satan’s slaves chronicled by our “city missions”-such as the reforming of drunkards, reclaiming of fallen women, recovering of drug addicts; while the “wonderful works” may be taken as referring to the costly buildings termed “churches” with their huge memberships, and the sensational achievements of “missionaries” in heathen lands. Not that we wish to imply that all engaged in such activities are unregenerate; nevertheless, after close observation and personal contact with many of these workers, we seriously doubt whether more than a small percentage of them have really been born again. Nor should this at all astonish us. Our Lord Himself distinctly declared of “many” of those serving in His name, “I never knew you,” and if that were true of those who wrought during the palmiest days of the Christian era, why should it be thought strange that such a state of affairs pertains now that Christendom is so apostate?

Here then is what is most solemn of all in this awe-inspiring passage: that there will be many preachers, Christian leaders and workers-and in view of our Lord’s use of the word in verse 13, probably the great majority of them-who will be shut out of heaven. Sad and awful as this is, yet from our observation in many sections of Christendom and from what generally obtains we cannot say it surprises us. Among the young men accepted as students for the ministry is there any larger percentage of regenerate ones than of the young men making a Christian profession who enter not the ministry? We are far from believing they are all hypocrites. Doubtless there are many thousands who select the ministry as their avocation because of the social prestige and financial remuneration it affords. But large numbers of youths who receive the Word “with joy” (Matthew 13:20) mistake their religious enthusiasm and fervour for a call from God and love for souls, and having more zeal than knowledge, and friends who encourage rather than counsel caution, they make the great mistake.

Once the young man is accepted as a student for the ministry his regeneration is (with very rare exceptions) tacitly assumed. And what is there then which is in any wise calculated to open his deceived eyes? Some of the denominations require him to spend years at a university in order to obtain a degree, and there his time and energies are strenuously occupied with subjects that contain nothing whatever for the soul, but only that which is apt to foster intellectual conceit. One who has mistaken carnal ambition and enthusiasm for a call from God is not likely to find a course in sociology, psychology, logic, philosophy, etc., likely to disillusion him. And even when the young man is not required to enter a university, he has to take a course in “divinity.” In other words he is introduced to the sacred study of theology as a subject on which to exercise his intellectual powers, as a text book over which he must pore and whose contents he must master in order to pass examinations thereon. The result is that in the vast majority of cases he is so sickened therewith that after his ordination he never again opens a theological treatise.

Nor is there any more hope, humanly speaking, that his eyes may be opened to his lost condition after he has been ordained and called to a charge. If he is to “make good” therein such a multitude of duties demand his attention that there is little opportunity for the careful examination of his own soul. There are so many departments of the church he has to superintend, so many sermons and addresses he must prepare each week, so many calls to make, that he has little leisure for self-introspection. He is so occupied with the concerns and needs of others that attention to the ministerial injunction “take heed unto thyself” (1 Timothy 4:16) is crowded out. It is greatly to be feared that thousands of ministers today have ground to lament “they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept” (Son 1:6). But whatever be the contributing causes and occasions of this tragic fatality, the fact remains that the Divine Judge is yet going to say unto many of those who preached and wrought in His name, “I never knew you.”

“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). There are five things here which claim our attention, though utterly insufficient is any mortal to do them justice. First, the time-mark: “then.” Second, the character in which Christ is here viewed: as the Judge of men. Third, the solemn verdict announced: “I never knew you.” Fourth, the fearful sentence imposed: “depart from Me.” Fifth, the real character of religious formalists: “ye that work iniquity.” It would not he possible to assemble together five things of greater gravity and moment than these. And what human pen is competent to comment upon subjects so awesome? Oh, that both writer and reader may approach the same with becoming reverence and solemnity.

“And then” looks back to the ‘in that day’ of the previous verse. It is the day of final retribution, when “every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:13). It is “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5), “because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world. . . by that Man whom He hath ordained” (Acts 17:31). Who can conceive of the consternation which will possess the hearts of impenitent rebels, of unmasked hypocrites, of disillusioned formalists, as they are compelled to stand with an assembled universe before the dread tribunal? Then will the books be opened, the secrets of all hearts disclosed, the hidden things of darkness brought to light. Then shall each one who has trampled upon the Divine Law, rejected the only Mediator, and done despite to the Spirit of grace, stand forth in his true colors, stripped of the disguise with which he imposed upon his fellow creatures. “The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him” (Job 20:27). They will be speechless with guilt, utterly overwhelmed, unable to “stand in the judgment” (Psalms 1:5).

“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” The Speaker is the Lord Jesus, ye not as presenting Himself as the Saviour of sinners, but rather officiating as their Judge, pronouncing their doom. In this solemn passage our Lord gave plain intimation that He was more than man, that He is none other than the Arbiter of every man’s eternal state, from whose decision there can be no appeal. Amazing indeed was the contrast between His lowly appearance and external circumstances and this language of conscious majesty and power. While delivering this sermon on the mount Christ appeared before men’s eyes as a Galilean peasant, yet both the tone and tenor of it proclaimed Him to be none other than Immanuel, God manifest in flesh. No wonder we are told that “when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29) And it is before this very Judge that both writer and reader must yet appear!

“I never knew you.” This does not mean that Christ was totally unacquainted with their persons, that He was not cognizant of their character and conduct. No, rather does it signify that He did not approve of or accept them. When it is said, “The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous” (Psalms 1:6), it is to be understood that He is pleased with the same. Here then is the awful verdict: “I never knew you”; no, not even when you were preaching and working in My name. You may have deceived yourselves and those to whom you ministered, but it was impossible to impose upon Me. In His “I will profess unto them,” He seems to speak ironically: you have professed much, made free use of My name, maintained your standing as leaders in the Church-so now hear My profession! “I never knew you” makes it quite clear they were not such as had fallen from grace, as it also looks back to eternity past: they had never been born again, never evangelically repented, never believed savingly, and had not been among the favored company upon whom His approbation rested before the foundation of the world.

“Depart from Me.” Here is the fearful sentence imposed. They may have been highly respected in the churches, but they are objects of abhorrence to the Lord Christ. They frequently had His name on their lips, but since He dwelt not in their hearts they are totally disqualified for the celestial courts. “If the most admired and useful preacher on earth had no better evidence of his conversion than his abilities and success as a preacher, he would preach to others and be himself a castaway” (T. Scott). “Depart from Me” is the announcement of their just condemnation. They had been near to Him by their profession and by the position they held in the Church, but now they must go to the only place for which they are fitted, which is banishment from the Holy One. Herein we discover the force of that terrible expression “the second death” (Revelation 21:8): it is not extinction of being or the annihilation of the soul, but eternal separation from Christ, alienation from the life of God; it is a being “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), cut off for ever from the Bestower of blessing, tormented in the lake of fire.

“Ye that work iniquity.” How different is the Divine estimate from the human! These preachers and leaders pleaded that they had wrought many “wonderful works,” but because they had not proceeded from renewed hearts, because they had been done to win the applause of their fellows, rather than for the glory of God, the One who cannot be imposed upon declares they are “works of iniquity.” Ah, my reader, we may look upon and admire the outward show, but the One who will yet judge us “looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), and therefore “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15)-even the righteousnesses of the natural man are but “filthy rags” in His sight.

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

In view of the chapters preceding this one there is no need for us to make a lengthy application here. The chief lesson for us to take to heart from the above is the utter insufficiency of the most imposing gifts. Yet how many there are who suppose that the exercise of unusual abilities in the church is evidence of great spirituality. As uncommon natural endowments are by no means always accompanied by moral worth, so the presence of abnormal powers is no proof of regeneration. We must learn to distinguish between the performing of wonderful works and the possession of spiritual graces, for the former is no guarantee of the latter. Showy talents may raise a man above his fellows, even above genuine Christians, but unless he is indwelt by the Spirit of God what are they worth? “Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries. . .and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).

Then let us search ourselves and see whether or not we have something better than those to whom Christ will yet say, “I never knew you.” A principle of holiness within evidenced by a godly walk without is infinitely to be preferred above the power to cast out demons and heal the sick. To commune with God in private is an inestimably grander privilege than to speak with tongues in public.

Chapter 60

Verses 24-27 form the conclusion of our Lord’s Address. Upon them Spurgeon said, “These were the closing words of our Say jour’s most famous sermon upon the mount. Some preachers concentrate all their powers upon an effort to conclude with a fine thing called a peroration, which being interpreted means a blaze of rhetorical fireworks, in the glory of which the speaker subsides. They certainly have not the example of Christ in this discourse to warrant them in the practice. Here is the Saviour’s peroration, and yet it is as simple as any other part of the address. There is an evident absence of all artificial oratory.

The whole of His hill-sermon was intensely earnest, and that earnestness was sustained to the end, so that the closing words are as glowing coals, or as sharp arrows of the bow. Our Lord closes not by displaying His own powers of elocution, but by simply and affectionately addressing a warning to those who, having heard His words, should remain satisfied with hearing, and should not go forth and put them into practice.”

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). Simple as that language is, many have misunderstood its meaning and missed its import. No two of the commentators give a uniform exegesis of these verses, and though there is more or less substantial agreement with the older and soundest expositors, yet even among them there is considerable difference of opinion. When we consult more recent writers thereon, especially those who may be broadly classed as belonging to the “fundamentalist school,” while there is much more of a saying of the same thing, yet we are personally convinced it is a saying of the wrong thing. A critical examination of the view they have taken obliges one to point out that they have read into this passage what is not there, that they have utterly failed to bring out what is there, and this because they have missed the scope of our passage through ignoring its context.

According to the antinomian interpretation of this passage our Lord ought to have said, “Whosoever believeth the Gospel and trusts in My atoning blood, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and everyone who endeavors to heed My precepts and then trusts in his own good works to obtain for him acceptance with God, I will liken unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.” But in the verses before us, Christ said nothing of the sort. And why? Because He was dealing with something more solemn and searching than what constitutes the ground of a sinner’s acceptance with God. It is perfectly true, blessedly true, that every sinner who exercises a saving faith in the sacrifice of Christ is a wise man, and that he is eternally secure; as it is equally true that anyone who relies upon his own obedience to the Divine commandments in order to obtain a passport into everlasting bliss is a fool, as he will prove in the day of testing. But we say again, Christ is not here speaking of either the object or ground of saving faith, but of something far more probing and revealing, and we throw everything into the utmost confusion if we confound the two things.

Before we are ready to weigh the terms of our passage we must first ascertain and determine its scope, and that calls for a careful noting of its context. In the verses immediately preceding it is clearly the testing of profession which is in view, the making evident of the reality which lies behind all surface appearances, and in this closing section Christ continues to show what it is which distinguishes the genuine and living Christian from a nominal and lifeless one. In some passages the “house” or home is a figure of the place of affection and rest, but here it is viewed as a shelter and refuge from the storm. The stability and security of a house depend ultimately on the strength of its foundation. For if that be faulty, no matter how good the materials of which it is composed or how reliable the workmanship of those engaged in its construction, when a hurricane strikes it will fall. This obvious fact has been grasped by all the commentators, but as to what our Lord signified by the “rock” foundation there is wide difference of opinion.

Probably the passage which occurs most readily to the minds of many of our readers in this connection is Isaiah 28:16, “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation,” and from Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:5-7, we know that that precious “stone” and “sure foundation” is Christ Himself. Yet we make a great mistake if we suppose that every New Testament passage containing the word “foundation” looks back to Isaiah 28:16, or refers to the same thing. Not so. “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth [loveth, and therefore preserveth] them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:19): as the contrast with the preceding verse denotes, the “foundation” here signifies the Divine decree or foreordination, which cannot be overthrown. “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20) refers to the ministerial foundation, the Truth proclaimed. Hebrews 6:1, speaks of “the foundation of repentance from dead works,” for one has not made a start in practical godliness until that has been laid. Thus there is a need for the teacher here who is qualified to distinguish between things that differ.

There is one other passage which it is important to consider in this connection, namely “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, hat they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Why is this passage so infrequently cited and still more infrequently expounded and enforced? For every time allusion is made to it, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11) is quoted twenty times. Is that handling the Word honestly? No, it is not, and the churches have suffered greatly because of such unfaithfulness in the pulpit. This passage, be it noted, is addressed to the minister of the Gospel. specifying one of the duties his office obligates him to perform, but has one preacher in a hundred, during the past fifty years, conscientiously discharged it? Have not the vast majority toadied to their wealthy members and withheld from them that which they most needed?

But does this passage teach that we are required to perform deeds of charity for the purpose of acquiring “merit” before God and thereby purchase for ourselves His favorable regard, or, as one has expressed it, “raise a cloud of gold-dust which will waft us to heaven”? Certainly not: there is nothing here which fosters the fatal delusion of papists. Nevertheless, there is important instruction which we cannot afford to ignore. It is Christians that are “rich in this world” who are to be thus charged: “Be not high-minded,” affecting yourselves to be superior to the poor of the flock, “nor trust in uncertain riches,” which may speedily disappear, “but in the living God,” who changes not, and is your true Portion; “Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy,” but not to squander on overindulgence; “That they do good” with what God has loaned to them, faithfully discharging their stewardship; “Laying up for themselves a good foundation” in their conscience, a reliable basis for their hope, a sure ground of assurance, thereby confirming their personal interest in Christ, for “good works” are the evidences of the genuiness of our faith.

“Laying up in store for themselves [not “before God”] a good foundation against the time to come”: whether it be adversity that overtakes you through financial reverses, so that those you have aided will be the readier to assist you; or a bed of lingering illness, so that you may not have the additional anguish of a conscience accusing you of selfishness and callousness; or the hour of death itself, that you may have the comfort of knowing you have discharged your stewardship faithfully and that the poor call you blessed; or the day to come, when “they that have done good” will come forth “unto the resurrection of life” (John 5:29) and their “good works” will be owned and rewarded by the Judge of all the earth. “That they may lay hold on eternal life”: obtaining a firmer conscious grip on the same, for the “good works” of the Christian are so many testimonies of his portion in heaven. Having our affections set upon Christ and our true riches in Him, let us act like wise merchants, not grasping at shadows and uncertainties, but using for His glory and the good of our fellows what He has entrusted to us, thereby laying up for ourselves “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20) and acquiring additional confirmation that we already possess the “earnest” of “eternal life.” The “house” of such a one is built upon a “rock”!

It will be seen from the last four paragraphs that the term “foundation” is found in different connections, that it is not always used to denote precisely the same thing, and therefore that its significance in a particular verse must be sought by ascertaining the scope and meaning of the passage in which that verse occurs; and that is no task for the “novice,” but rather for the experienced expositor. What, then, is the scope (the dominating subject and design) of Matthew 7:24-25? As already stated, it is the testing of profession, a furnishing proof of the reality or worthlessness of the same. Rightly did Andrew Fuller point out: “Our Lord is not discoursing on our being justified by faith, but on our being judged according to our works, which, though consistent with the other, is not the same thing, and must not be confounded with it. The character described is not the self-righteous rejecter of the Gospel, but one who, though he may hear it and profess to believe it, yet brings forth no corresponding fruit. It is not a passage suited to expose the errors of Romanists, but one which needs to be pressed upon Antinomians-they who hold only believe, and all is well.”

Our passage opens with the word “Therefore,” which indicates our Lord was drawing a conclusion from what He had just been saying. In the preceding verses He was certainly not describing work-mongers, those who trusted in their good deeds and religious performances to gain them acceptance with God. Rather is He there calling upon His hearers to enter in at the strait gate (Matthew 7:13-14), warning against false prophets (Matthew 7:15-20), denouncing an empty profession. In the verse immediately before (Matthew 7:23), so far from presenting Himself as the Redeemer, tenderly wooing sinners, He is seen as the Judge, saying to the hypocrites “depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Thus to say the least, this would be a very strange point in His discourse at which to abruptly introduce the Gospel of the grace of God and announce that His own finished work is the only saving foundation for sinners to rest their souls upon: this would give no meaning whatever to the opening “therefore.” Moreover, in what at once follows, instead of speaking of our need of trusting in His atoning blood, Christ shows how indispensable it. is that we render obedience to His precepts.

John Brown, the renowned Scottish expositor, brought out quite clearly the force of our Lord’s “Therefore” both in reference to what preceded and to what follows. “Surely, if not every one who calls Christ ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he only who does the will of His Father which is in heaven’; if to all workers of iniquity, even although they shall have prophesied and cast out devils, and done many wonderful works in the name of Christ,’ it shall at last be said by our Lord, declaring by His judgment the final state of men, ‘depart from Me: I never knew you’; then it certainly follows that he who hears and does our Lord’s sayings is a wise man, and that he who hears them and does them not is a fool. The one saves, the other loses, the salvation of the soul, the happiness of eternity.” As Matthew Henry also pointed out, “The scope of this passage teaches us that the only way to make sure work for our souls and eternity is to hear and do the sayings of the Lord Jesus.” They who think they are savingly trusting the blood of Christ while disregarding His commands are fatally deceiving themselves.

In many respects Matthew 7:24-27, is closely analogous to Matthew 25:1-12. Both passages treat of professing Christians. In each case those professors are divided into two classes, called the “wise” and the “foolish.” In each case these radically different characters had something in common: in the former, both are likened unto builders and each erects a house: in the latter, both are termed “virgins” and both go forth to meet the Bridegroom with lamps in their hands. In each case the latter is found wanting when put to the proof and meets with irretrievable disaster: in the former when the storm bursts the house of the fool falls, in the latter when the Bridegroom arrives the fool faces a closed door. In each case the difference between the two classes was nothing external, but that which lay out of sight-the faulty “foundation” of the former and the lack of oil “in their vessels” with the latter. We have compared these two passages together not only to note the interesting correspondence which exists between them, but chiefly because the latter throws light upon the former and helps to fix its interpretation.

Let us duly note what Christ does not here say of the one He terms wise, “he that heareth these sayings of Mine and understandeth them,” nor even “he that heareth these sayings of Mine and believeth in Ale”: what He did say goes much farther than that. There are multitudes who believe in Christ who do not put His precepts into practice. In the same way that there are millions in India who believe in Buddha, millions in China who believe in Confucius, millions in Africa who believe in Mohammed, so vast numbers in Christendom believe in Christ. And because “they believe in Christ” they suppose that all is well with them and that when they die they will go to heaven. Nor are there many now left on earth who are likely to disillusion them. The great majority of the preachers in this apostate age are only adding to the number of the deceived, by telling them that all God requires of them is to believe in the Gospel and receive Christ as their personal Saviour. They quote such passages as John 3:16, and Acts 16:31, which contain the word “believe,” but are guiltily silent on the many verses which insist on repentance, forsaking of sins, denying of self, and which call to obedience.

How often, for example, we hear quoted, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [or creation]” (Galatians 6:15), especially by those who (rightly) wish to show that neither the ceremonial ordinances of Judaism nor baptism and the Lord’s supper of Christianity are of any worth in the justifying of sinners before God. So, too, though not quite so frequently, we are reminded that “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6), that is out of gratitude to God for His unspeakable Gift and not from a legal motive which works only for what it may obtain. But how very rarely is this one ever mentioned: “Circumcision is nothing. and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Corinthians 7:19). That which concerns our submission to the Divine authority, our walking in subjection to His will, is studiously kept in the background: such partiality is most reprehensible. It is only by placing these three verses side by side that we obtain a complete and balanced view. We are not vitally united to Christ unless we have been born again; we are not born again unless we possess a faith which “worketh by love”; and we have not this saving faith unless it is evidenced by a “keeping of God’s commandments.”

No wonder there is now so much dishonesty among those in the pew when there has been such dishonesty in the pulpit. The unsaved are frequently told, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13), but who is faithful enough to tell them that none ever did or could savingly “call upon” Him out of an impenitent heart? Fewer still will remind them that Christ is “the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9). In like manner, when addressing those who profess to be Christians, how many preachers give great prominence to the comforting promises of God, but say little about His holy requirements. There is also a certain class of Calvinists who are fond of citing “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” but they fail to add “ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13-14), which is the surest identifying mark of those for whom Christ died. There are thousands who glibly talk of their love for Christ, but how rarely are they reminded. “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4).

In the passages before us Christ continues to insist upon the imperative necessity of practical godliness. The regard or disregard which we pay to His precepts in this life He likens unto building our house on a sound or a worthless foundation, and the issue thereof in the Day of testing is compared to a tempest which puts to the p roof our labours. Only those who have actually done that which lie enjoined, who have rendered sincere obedience to His laws, will endure the test. He who has heard Christ’s sayings and talked about repentance but has never repented, he who has admired the statutes issued by Christ but never rendered personal submission to them, shall be put to utter confusion in the hour of crisis. For the last time in this sermon our Lord enforced what may be termed its text: “except your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” It is not sufficient to eulogize the practical righteousness which He taught: it must be embodied and expressed in our personal character and conduct. Saving faith is a practical persuasion of the truth of Christ’s teaching which is followed by a wholehearted obedience to His authority.

Chapter 61

A pondering of Mat 7:24-27, suggests the need of our seeking to supply answers to the following questions. First, what is the force of the opening “Therefore”? Second, who are represented by the “wise” and the “foolish” men? Third, what is denoted by the “rock” and the “sand” on which they build? Fourth, what is signified by the “house” which each one erects? Fifth, what is portrayed by the hurricane which bursts upon the “house” and tests its security?

Simple as these questions are, the replies returned thereto will determine the soundness or unsoundness of any exposition given to the passage. In seeking our answers recourse must also be had unto the parallel passage in Luke 6:47-49, which supplies a number of additional details. The best analysis of these verses we have met with was furnished by one of the earliest of the Puritans, W. Perkins, 1590. He focused attention on three things: the duty inculcated-obedience; the property of this duty-wisdom; the reward-security. The three parts of this wisdom lay in digging deep, in securing a rock foundation, and in building thereon.

First, the force of the opening “Therefore.” In addition to the more general remarks made thereon in the previous article let us now point out that Christ was here drawing a plain but searching conclusion from His solemn statement in Matthew 7:21-23. There He had declared that not everyone who renders lip-service to His Lordship shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of the Father as made known by the Son; yea, that the many who substitute preaching and performing wonderful works for actual obedience to His commands, He will yet say unto such, “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Then He at once added, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” Is not the connection, then, between the two passages unmistakably indicated? Is not our Lord’s design and meaning in the verses now before us crystal clear? In Matthew 7:21-23 Christ is viewed in His office of Judge, testing professors, making known unto us who it is that will survive the fiery trial of that dread Day; and in Matthew 7:24-27 He reveals the path which must be trod if that Day is to be wisely and successfully anticipated.

In the Day of testing, not what we have said but what we have done in obedience to the Divine will shall alone be accepted as evidence: not the profession we have made, but the verification we have given of it in our Christian walk; not the doctrines we believed, but the fruits they bore in our daily lives. It will be useless to plead that we possessed extraordinary gifts and employed them in “Christian service,” that we were leaders in the churches and did much in the name of Christ, if we wore not His yoke and followed not the example He has left us. Real practical godliness is the only thing which will be approved in that Day. Personal holiness is little esteemed here, but it will be everything there (Hebrews 12:14). In that Day the Judge of all the earth will “give to every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12). Therefore, the man who acts wisely now is the one who makes conscience of the commandments of Christ, who regulates his conduct by them; conversely, the one who disregards the revealed will of God and follows a course of self-pleasing, no matter what garb of religion he wears, is playing the part of the fool, as he will yet discover to his eternal undoing.

The answer to our second question has largely been anticipated in what we wrote in the preceding chapter. The “wise” man is the one who “heareth these sayings” of Christ, who “cometh to” Him (Luke 6:47), which involves turning his back upon the world and forsaking the service of Satan, and who “doeth them.” “These sayings of Mine” are emphatic, having particular reference to the principles Christ had enunciated and the precepts He had inculcated in the previous sections of this Sermon on the Mount. We have to go unto other parts of the New Testament to learn Christian doctrine, but here we have described Christian practice. Some, like Tolstoi, have magnified this Sermon to the disparagement of the Epistles; others, like the Dispensationalists, have exalted the Epistles above the Sermon: the one is as reprehensible as the other. One part of Scripture must not be pitted against another part. Both this Sermon and the Epistles are essential parts of the revealed will of God. “Who have, in every age, uprightly and unreservedly, obeyed these sayings of our Lord, except they who have firmly believed the doctrines of the Gospel as more clearly and fully revealed in the apostolic epistles?” (T. Scott).

The “wise” man, then, is the one who comes to Christ, hears His instructions and does them. To do that which He has commanded includes, first, a believing of them, that is a definite appropriation of His precepts, a taking of them home to myself. It involves an understanding of them, and that calls for humility and meekness of mind rather than keenness of intellect; a meditation upon Christ’s words and a crying unto Him, “that which I see not teach Thou me.” It involves a making conscience of them, the realization that these sayings of Christ contain not only good counsel which it is my wisdom to heed, but that they are His imperative requirements which I disregard at my peril. It involves an actual putting of them into practice so that I abstain from those things which He forbids and perform those duties which He specifies: “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17). “All the sayings of Christ: not only the laws he has enacted, but the truths He has revealed must be done by us. They are a light not only unto our eyes, but to our feet, and are designed not only to inform our judgments but to reform our hearts and lives” (Matthew Henry).

We regard the word “doth” as the all-important one in our present passage, and care needs to be taken lest we improperly limit its meaning. To “do” our Lord’s sayings includes very much more than the mere outward performance of those actions which He requires. Our whole inner and outer man must be conformed to them; our character must be moulded by them, our affections must be regulated, our wills governed, and our habits of thought dominated by them, as well as our actions being in accord with them. The Word of Christ must “dwell in” us, and that “richly” (Colossians 3:16), and that calls for a definite process of spiritual horticulture. We must “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness” if we are to “receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls” (James 1:21). Note well that expression “the engrafted Word”: that which is addressed to us must be rooted in us, planted in the soul, drawing all the sap of the stock to itself-“all that is within us” serving the Word.

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

From what has been said above it will appear how intimately related are the several answers unto those questions we formulated in the opening paragraph, how that they necessarily grow naturally out of each other. Cannot the reader now decide for himself what is denoted by this “rock” on which our Lord represents the wise man as building his house? Bearing in mind the scope of our passage and its relation to the context, does not the first half of Mat 7:24 furnish a decisive index to the meaning of the second half? It is “these sayings” of Christ, understood, believed and obeyed, which are the “rock” here. “These sayings are the dictates of eternal truth and righteousness, and the everlasting mountains shall be sooner rooted up than any one of these shall be falsified. This is the foundation on which the wise builder places his edifice: not his own conjectures or reasonings, nor the arguments and reasonings of other men, but the ’true and faithful sayings of God’” (J. Brown)-to which may be added, and not following the carnal desires of our own hearts. If the reader still insists that the “rock” here is Christ Himself, we reply, If so, Christ considered as Prophet and not as Priest, as Lord and not as Saviour, as Teacher and not Redeemer.

There should be little difficulty in determining what is signified by the “house” which the builder here erects upon the “rock” or “sayings” of Christ, though a certain latitude should be allowed as to how it be stated. The principal definitions made by the best of the expositors are: the profession he makes, the character that is formed, the hope which is cherished. When analyzed these three expressions or things differ little in essence. The profession made is valid only if it be verified by a character which is formed by the whole range of Christ’s teaching in this Sermon, a character which is displayed by conduct in accordance therewith. So too the hope cherished by the believer, the assurance he possesses, that God has accepted him in the Beloved, is but presumption, a mere carnal confidence, unless it be grounded upon this “rock,” that is unless the one claiming such a hope be possessed of that character which alone warrants the expectation of everlasting bliss. Furthermore, the cherishing of a good hope, the possession of a peaceful assurance that I am a child of God, is an essential p art of a character which is formed by an appropriation and assimilation of the “sayings” of Christ.

This figure of the building of a house to represent the formation of a Christian character under the teaching of Christ is employed frequently in the Acts and Epistles. When taking leave of the elders of Ephesus Paul commended them to God and the Word of His grace “which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32). The Colossian saints were exhorted, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him” (Colossians 2:7-8); while Jude bade the saints be “building up yourselves on your most holy faith” (Jude 1:20). The same word here rendered “built” is also translated “edify.” Thus, “Follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify another” (Romans 14:19); “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification” (Romans 15:2). “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying” (Ephesians 4:29). “Wherefore comfort [or “exhort “] yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Timothy was instructed, “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith” (1 Timothy 1:4). How careful we should be in our converse with each other that what we say be of a spiritually constructive character and not destructive.

The “house,” then, may be taken first for the profession made, which is yet to be put to the proof in the day of testing. Or more definitely it represents the character of the one making a Christian profession; and by “character” we include the whole frame of his beliefs, sentiments, affections, and active habits. Having by the faith of the Truth found the only sure foundation, he erects on it an edifice of thoughts, feelings and volitions. He is moulded according to “that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17). He is not regulated by his own carnal desires, nor the opinions and examples of his fellows, but by the sure and authoritative precepts of Christ. Accordingly he cherishes a “hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2) and it is a “good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16), for it is based upon a reliable foundation, grounded on the precepts and promises of the Lord; which precepts have been laid hold of and translated into practice, and which promises have been mixed with faith and made our own. Such a hope will prove both “sure and stedfast” in the hour of testing.

From all that has been before us on the different points it will be seen that everything goes back to and turns upon the word “doeth”: that strikes the keynote of the verse, and therefore its dominant theme is our practical compliance with the Divine will. The importance which God attaches to and the value which He places upon obedience comes out plainly in the words of His prophet, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). To keep strictly to the path of the Divine commandments is more pleasing unto God than any of the outward forms of religion or the most liberal contributions to His earthly cause. Well did T. Scott point out with regard to the Levitical sacrifices, “their value was entirely from the appointment of God, and they were not acceptable except offered in obedience to Him, and with a penitent, believing and pious mind. When therefore they were substituted in the place of true piety or trusted in as meritorious when the means were used to compensate for the neglect of the end, they became an abomination, however costly and numerous they were.” So now.

The same insistent emphasis upon obedience was made by Christ. When interrupted in His talking to the people by one who informed Him that His mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with Him, He made answer by stretching forth His hand “toward His disciples” and saying, “Behold My mother and My brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:46-50). It was as though He said, Those that are nearest and dearest to Me, spiritually speaking, are My “disciples,” and they are described as the ones who comply with the Divine will. Again, when a certain woman said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bare Thee and the paps which Thou hast sucked,” He replied, “Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:27-28). The ones on whom the benediction of God rests are they who keep His Word-in their hearts, as their most precious possession; in their minds, by frequent meditation; in their lives, as the rule of practice.

Conscientious souls are likely to be troubled at this point, sensible that their obedience is so imperfect and faulty. It remains therefore that we should endeavour to set their fears at rest and attempt to show more definitely what Christ did not signify and what He did imply by “whoso heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them.” Our Lord did not mean that His disciples perpetually and flawlessly perform His precepts, for He does not remove from them the carnal nature at their regeneration, nor does He grant them such a measure of His grace in this world as to enable them to render a sinless obedience. God could have done both had He thought well, but it has pleased Him to exalt imputed righteousness rather than inherent in this life. Not only does every saint fail to render that obedience which is required by God’s Law as a whole, but he does not obey any single commandment perfectly, for every duty we perform, yea, our highest act of worship, is marred by sin. In the most holy men corruption deprives them of the purity that ought to be there, and lusts fight against the perfect holiness they desire and strive after (Romans 7:18-21; Galatians 5:17).

Christians perform the sayings of Christ sincerely though not perfectly, in spirit and in truth, though not in the letter and full execution. When Christ said to the Father of His apostles, “They have kept Thy word” (John 17:6), He did not mean they had done so as flawlessly and excellently as He had Himself done. And when we read “hereby we do not know that we know Him if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3), consistency requires us to understand it that as we only “know Him” in part in this life (1 Corinthians 13:12) so we only “keep His commandments” in part. Where there is a genuine willingness (Romans 7:18; Hebrews 13:18; 1 Timothy 6:18), God accepts it for the deed (2 Corinthians 8:12). Because His people have His Law written in their hearts (Hebrews 10:16), because they delight in it with their inner man (Romans 7:22), because they truly desire to obey it fully (Psalms 119:5), and pray earnestly to that end (Psalms 119:35), and repent of and confess their disobedience (Psalms 32:5), God is pleased-according to the terms of the covenant of grace, and for Christ’s sake-to accept their imperfect obedience and account it as a keeping of His Law.

To prevent wrong conclusions being drawn from the last paragraph two things need to be pointed out. First, it must not be inferred that God has lowered His standard in order to meet our infirmities: that standard is par excellence and shall never be altered. But the Surety of God’s people fully conformed to it and His perfect obedience is reckoned to the account of those who savingly believe on Him, so that imputatively they are flawlessly righteous in the sight of the Law. Inherently they are righteous in the sense that they fully approve of the Law, delight in it, and sincerely set themselves to an unreserved obedience of the whole of it; and thus “the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them” (Romans 8:4). Yet because of their remaining depravity they fail to realize their desires (Phi 3:12), mourn over and confess their sinful failures, and are forgiven for Christ’s sake. In this life they are more active in seeking from God the remission of their failures than they are in offering to Him that which is faultless. Some of the old writers were wont to say that the present perfection of a Christian consists in a penitential acknowledgment of his imperfection.

Second, the nature and scope of this sincere but imperfect obedience needs to be amplified and honestly stated. (1) The Christian’s compliance with “these sayings” of the Lord is internal and spiritual as well as external. If any man should respond to every positive and negative precept of Christ in his outward conduct and yet his inner man be not affected and influenced by them, it would be like a body minus a soul-a corpse. As someone has aptly expressed it, obedience of soul is the soul of obedience. It is at this point, especially, that the righteousness of the saints exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, for while they rested wholly on their outward obedience of the Law, within they were full of unmortified lusts. The Law is “spiritual” (Romans 7:14) and requires spiritual compliance thereto. The only worship God will accept is that which is “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Nevertheless, our obedience is not to consist solely of spiritual meditation and contemplating the mortification of our lusts and the cultivation of our graces: there must be an external walking in the Truth also.

(2) Sincere obedience is impartial, extending to the whole Law as it is explained in the precepts and exhortations of both the Old Testament and the New. To affect much devotion unto the things pertaining to God and then evince an utter lack of conscience and equity in things pertaining to men is horrible hypocrisy. The Pharisees were notorious in this: they made long prayers, yet devoured widows’ houses; they fasted twice a week, yet laid burdens on their disciples grievous to he borne; they tithed, yet taught that neither father nor mother was to be relieved if men had placed their substance under a vow to God. Oh, my reader, your attendance at “early morning communion” or “the breaking of bread” is a vile mockery if you are unscrupulous and grasping in your dealings with men. Your psalm singing and lauding of the person and perfections of Christ are a stench in God’s nostrils if you lie and thieve. On the other hand, however honest and truthful with your fellows, if you rob God of the submission, devotion and praise which are His due, your heart is rotten. Of the parents of the Baptist it is written, “They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6).

(3) Sincere obedience is universal, by which we mean it includes things to be believed as well as practiced, and hence it is termed “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). God’s commandments must not be limited to the prohibition of wickedness, but extended also to false doctrines. If the Epistles be read attentively it will be found that the apostles were as emphatic and stern in their denunciation of teachers of errors as of lascivious livers, and that they pressed the necessity of a sound and holy faith as vehemently as they did a good and pure conscience. A sincere heart is set against heresies as definitely and diligently as against sinful conduct, and sinful conduct as heresies. One who is opposed to ungodliness but indifferent about false doctrines may justly suspect the soundness of his heart; while one who denounces false doctrine but tolerates wickedness in himself or his family has serious reason to question the validity of his profession. Christians are given no more license in matters of faith than of deportment. Stubborn heretics are to be cast out of the church equally with the openly immoral.

This chapter is already long enough, so we must postpone our answer to the fifth question-What is portrayed by the hurricane which bursts upon the “house” and tests its security?-till we consider Matthew 7:27.

Chapter 62

“And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall he likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and heat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:26-27). It is scarcely necessary to point out that our Lord was here using parabolic language, but what is the force of the figure He employed? What is signified by this building a house upon the sand? Clearly He had in view those who claim to be His followers, but whose profession has no reality behind it: a class of people who expect to go to heaven, but whose hopes rest upon a faulty foundation; those who trust in something which will fail them in the hour of testing. Unspeakably solemn, then, are these verses, containing that which should cause every reader who values his soul to tremble at them, and to re-examine himself with sevenfold thoroughness, to discover whether or not they describe his own perilous condition.

For the last time in this Sermon our Lord enforced the text on which it is based: “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” (Matthew 5:20). Wherein lay the defectiveness of their “righteousness”? First, there was a total neglect of their internal condition: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27)-there was no mortification of their lusts. Second, they failed to put first things first: “Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23). Third, they wrought for their own glory, from a principle of self-interest: “But all their works they do for to be seen of men” (Matthew 23:5) and not for the purpose of obeying and honoring God. Fourth, they practiced not what they preached: “they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:3)-their talk was all right, but their walk was all wrong.

Spirituality of soul, purity of heart, integrity of conduct, the scribes and Pharisees had no regard for. They were forward in fasting, praying at street corners, and giving of alms ostentatiously, but it was all done with the object of enhancing their reputation among men. And in their religion we have an exemplification of what is the natural persuasion of men the world over, namely that a religion of external performances will suffice to ensure a blissful eternity. Undoubtedly there are many who would in words deny this, but who in their works substantiate it. They bring their bodies to the house of prayer, but not their souls; they worship with their mouths, but not “in spirit and in truth.” They are sticklers for immersion or early morning communion, yet take no thought about keeping their hearts with all diligence. They boast of their orthodoxy, but disregard the precepts of Christ.

Multitudes of professing Christians abstain from external acts of violence, yet hesitate not to rob their neighbours of a good name by spreading evil reports against them. They contribute regularly to the “pastor’s salary,” but shrink not from misrepresenting their goods and cheating their customers, persuading themselves that “business is business.” They have more regard for the laws of man than those of God, for His fear is not before their eyes.

After dwelling at such length in the previous chapter on the “wise” builder, there should be little difficulty in identifying the various groups which are commonly classified as the “foolish.” They are all those, no matter what their profession and pretensions, who do not the “sayings” of Christ. Even F. W. Grant, in his brief notes on this passage, said: “He who puts His sayings livingly into practice shall build a house that will endure the storm. None else and nothing else will”: though we are very much afraid that scarcely two out of a hundred of those wont to read his Numerical Bible really believe any such thing. In Luke’s account of the “wise” builder an additional item is added: “Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock” (Luke 6:47-48). The “foolish” ones failed to “dig deep.” As this is the vital point which distinguishes the two classes let us endeavour to show what is signified by this “digging deep.”

If ever there was a time when these words “digged deep” needed to be pressed upon the notice of professing Christians it is today. We are living in an age characterized by superficiality and shallowness, when religion itself has degenerated into a mere surface thing. There is no deep ploughing, no spade work, no foundation exercises, no brokenness of heart. If I have never mourned over my waywardness, I have no solid ground for rejoicing. “Want of depth, want of sincerity, want of zeal in religion-this is the want of our times. Want of an eye to God in religion, lack of sincere dealing with one’s soul, neglect of using the lancet with our hearts, neglect of the search-warrant which God gives out against sin, carelessness concerning living upon Christ; much reading about Him, much talking about him, but too little feeding upon His flesh and drinking of His blood-these are the causes of tottering professions and baseless hopes.” If Spurgeon found occasion for making such complaint as far back as 1870, how sadly conditions have worsened since then!

A saving apprehension or laying hold of Christ is not the simple thing so many suppose. Man must be humbled into the dust before he will, as a beggar, betake himself to the Redeemer. The Divine Law is the appointed schoolmaster to drive sinners to Christ, but so many people play truant-run away from school. Not a few attempt to build upon Christ, but there has been no proper foundation-work, and so in the day of testing the floods of opposition and persecution come in between their hearts and Christ, and temptations part them to the overthrow of their profession. By nature our hearts are so filled with self-love and self-pity that there is no room for Christ. Many are willing to receive Him for His benefits who have no love for His person and no resolution to bow to His Lordship, which is like a woman marrying a man solely for his money. Observe Paul’s order: “For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phi 3:8-9)-first Christ Himself and then His righteousness!

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

Ask to have it burnt into you. Why is it that people give up the doctrines of grace if they fall in with eloquent advocates of free will? Why is it that they renounce the orthodox creed if they meet with smart reasoners who contradict it? Because they have never received the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit so as to have it sealed in their hearts. . . . It is one thing to have a creed, it is quite another thing to have the Truth graven upon the tables of the heart. Many fail here because Truth was never made experimentally their own.”

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

Christ died a tormenting death, in pains and agonies, and we must so die to sin that we “suffer in the flesh” (1 Peter 4:1). Christ died a lingering death, and so does sin languish little by little, mortification upon mortification, dying “daily.” Alas, how few dig deep enough to come to the denying of self!

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

Third, when it is kindly entertained: Christ complained to the Jews, “ye seek to kill Me, because My word hath no place in you” (John 8:37). Fourth, when it is deeply rooted, settled in the affections, so that it becomes the “engrafted word” (James 1:21). The Word must not be studied out of curiosity, or for the object of teaching others, nor for our comfort, but with this prime end in view: that it may deliver us from sin-storing our minds with what is holy, resisting Satan’s temptations with an, “It is written,” its promises sustaining us in times of trial.

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

If they had ever felt the Spirit’s wounding and killing sword of conviction, they would flee from sin as from a lion. Truly forgiven sinners dread the appearance of evil as burnt children dread the fire. Superficial repentance always leads to careless living. Pray earnestly for a broken heart” (Spurgeon).

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Let us now describe several kinds of “foolish” builders. First, they build “upon the sand” whose hope is based upon a round of religious performances. The one who counts upon church membership, church attendance, the saying of prayers and the reading of the Bible as being all that is needed to ensure for him an entrance into the everlasting kingdom is resting on a broken reed. That was the case with the Pharisees. They fasted and tithed, made long prayers and were most punctilious in attending to ceremonial rites, but they were outside the pale of God’s mercy. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) no matter how zealous he be in attending “communions,” how liberal in supporting “missionaries,” or how “faithful to the cause.” Until I have a heart which receives Christ as my Prophet, Priest and King, which unfeignedly loves Him, which obeys Him, there is no hope for me.

Second, they build “upon the sand " whose hope is based on visions, dreams and happy feelings. There is a class in Christendom, larger than some suppose, whose trust reposes in those very things. Ask them to tell you their experience, inquire what ground they have for concluding that God has met with them in saving grace, and they will relate to you so me mysterious vision, some remarkable dream, some voice which spoke to them, many years ago, saying “thy sins be forgiven thee,” which produced an ecstasy of joy and assurance which nothing can shake. Now we will not positively affirm that they were deluded into imagining such things, yet we would point out that Satan transforms himself as an “angel of light” and can produce remarkable impressions. Whatever remarkable experience you met with in the past, unless you are now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ and sincerely endeavoring to perform His precepts, you are trusting in what will fail you in the Day to come.

Third, they build “upon the sand” whose hope is based on a “faith in Christ” which produces no obedience to Him. Unto such He searchingly says, “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). A mere intellectual assent to the Gospel or a belief in the historical Christ is worthless, for it brings forth no spiritual fruits. To hear and acquiesce and then perform not is a mocking of God. As there were many who “believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did” to whom the Saviour “did not commit Himself” (John 2:23-24), so there are thousands today who non-savingly “believe in Christ” yet have not “the root of the matter” (Job 19:28) within them. The faith of God’s elect is one which in a vital and practical way is “the acknowledging the truth which is after godliness” (Titus 1:1), which issues in “purifying their hearts” (Acts 15:9), which “worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6) and which “overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). Only such a faith will suffice for time and eternity.

Fourth, they build “upon the sand” whose hope rests on a merely intellectual knowledge of the Truth. The difference between theoretical and practical knowledge is one both of kind and of degree. Theoretical knowledge is fluctuating and evanescent, constantly subject to alteration; but practical knowledge is deep-rooted and permanent. Once I have experienced the burning effects of fire no sophistical arguments can persuade me it is harmless. Once I have tasted that the Lord is gracious none can convince me that He is not. The difference between the two is apparent also from the effects produced.

Pilate had a theoretical knowledge that it was contrary to the evidence before him to condemn Christ to death, but when the issue of his own interests with Caesar was raised (John 19:12) his practical judgment determined him to save his prestige. One who has a theoretical acquaintance with the precepts may talk well about them, but only one with a practical knowledge will walk according to them. One with a theoretical knowledge of the Truth may admire it, but only one with a practical knowledge thereof would die for it.

Fifth, they build “upon the sand” who make not conscience of confessing sin. There is a radical difference between the unregenerate and the regenerate in this matter. The former, being dead toward God and having but light thoughts upon sin, are not weighed down by it; but to the latter it is their heaviest burden, and therefore are they thankful to unbosom themselves unto the Lord. Christ has bidden them pray to their Father “forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4). Scripture warns them, “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper” (Proverbs 28:13), and so David proved: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long”; but eventually he said, “I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Psalms 32:3-5). After his sad fall, Peter went out and “wept bitterly.” Read through the second half of Romans vii and observe how keenly distressed Paul was by indwelling corruption. The believer has a sensitive conscience and keeps short account with God; but the conscience of the unbeliever is calloused, and he neither mourns over nor confesses his sins.

To sum up. No matter what experience I have had, or what be the character and strength of my faith, or how deep and steady be my assurance, or how eminent my gifts, unless any or all of these issue in a life of practical obedience to Christ they will avail nothing when death overtakes me. And that is no harsh verdict of ours, but the decision of the Son of God: “every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.” Not that the Christian will “do” them perfectly-“For in many things we offend all” (James 3:2)-though he ought to, and must not excuse but rather mourn over and confess his failure. No, the obedience of the Christian is not a faultless one, yet it is real and actual. It is not flawless, yet it is sincere. It is the genuine desire, resolution and endeavour of the Christian to please Christ in all things, and it is his greatest grief when he displeases Him. Lord, “Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments; for therein do I delight” (Psalms 119:35).

Chapter 63

It now remains for us to ascertain what is signified by the hurricane which struck the “house” of the “wise” and of the “foolish” builder. Concerning that of the former it is said, “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:25). Identically the same thing is narrated in connection with the latter, except in regard to the outcome: “it fell, and great was the fall of it.” After having entered into such detail concerning the “wise” and the “foolish” man, the “digging deep” of the former and this fatal omission by the latter, the foundation of “rock” and that of “sand,” and the “house” which each one erected, there should be little difficulty in discovering the general drift of what is denoted by the storm: though the language used be figurative, its purport is obvious. By means of the storm the strength and stability or the weakness and insecurity of the “house” was demonstrated.

The hurricane was that by which the work of each man was put to the proof and his wisdom or folly made evident. Thus it is clear that once more what is here before us is the testing of profession and the making manifest of its worth or worthlessness. This had been the dominating theme of our Lord’s Sermon from Matthew 7:13, onwards. The “strait gate” and “the narrow way” correspond to the digging deep and the foundation of rock, while the “wide gate” and “broad way” correspond to the omission of digging deep and the foundation of sand. In like manner we may see in the “wise” builder the “good tree” which brings forth “good fruit,” and in the “foolish” builder the “corrupt tree” with its “evil fruit.” In the “he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” we have the one whose house stands firm, while in the many to whom Christ will say, “I never knew you, depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” we have those whose building is overthrown by the storm.

We must not, however, conclude that nothing more is signified by our Lord in this figure of the storm bursting upon the house than the testing of Christian profession, though scarcely any of the commentators seem to have seen anything further in it. Surely due attention to the immediate setting, to say nothing of the more remote or general context, requires us to enlarge our viewpoint. Consider the outcome of the storm. In the case of the “wise man” it beat upon his house in vain: in spite of all its fury, his building stood firm. And why? Because it was founded upon a “rock.” And what did that purport?

Why, that the wise man was something more than a hearer of the Word, namely a doer of it, one who heeded its warnings, who responded to its exhortations, who performed its precepts, whose character and conduct were moulded and regulated by its teachings. This, and nothing but this, is what Christ insists upon at the beginning of our passage: “Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.”

Among the “sayings” of Christ are some peculiarly distasteful to flesh and blood, yea, at direct variance with the inclinations of fallen human nature. To pluck out right eyes and cut off right hands, to love our enemies, bless them which curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use and persecute us, is not so simple as it may sound-see, then, the appropriateness of our Lord’s similitude of “digging deep” when portraying such tasks. To distribute our alms and perform our devotions in secret, to expressly ask the Father to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors-being told that if we forgive not neither shall we be forgiven-to take no anxious thought for the morrow but to have a heart freed from carking care, to have such confidence in the providential bounty of God that we trustfully count upon Him supplying our every need, are duties which will tax our abilities to the utmost. True, but we shall not be the losers by practicing such precepts.

“And it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock”: that is what we desire to lay hold of in this connection. Here is encouragement indeed. Instead of being so occupied with the narrowness of the way, cast your eye forward to the glorious goal to which it conducts you-even life. Instead of being so concerned about the painfulness of the work of mortification, think rather of what it is the appointed means of saving you from-even from being “cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Instead of complaining about the difficulties of obedience, consider its rich compensation. God has definitely assured us that in the keeping of His commandments “there is great reward” (Psalms 19:11), such as “the answer of a good conscience,” peace of soul, the enjoyment of His approbation.

It is this aspect of the Truth which Christ is here pressing upon our attention: the one who does His “savings” is assured of safety in the day of testing and trial. The “house” of such a one will not, cannot, be overthrown by the storm. Is not that a recompense well worth striving for?

Throughout this Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus had presented a most exalted and unique standard of morality and spirituality, one which calls for real self-sacrifice on the part of those who sincerely endeavour to measure up to it and perform the duties it enjoins. But here He shows how great is the reward of those who submit themselves unto His yoke. In the stability and security of the wise man’s “house” we have depicted one of the principal fruits of an obedient walk: the actual doing of these “sayings” of Christ delivers from the fatal assaults of the Devil, the world and the flesh. This consideration ought to move us to perform obedience readily and gladly, for this is a benefit which no human monarch can bestow. Neither wealth, education nor social prestige can confer security on the soul-rather do such things generally occasion destruction to their possessors. Neither human wit nor strength of resolution can procure preservation in the hour of trial and tribulation: nothing hut the keeping of Christ’s Word will obtain it, but that does. How this promise should encourage us and stimulate unto unreserved obedience!

The force of the figure which was here used by Christ would he more impressive to His immediate hearers than to those of us who live in strong houses and in those parts of the earth where devastating floods and tornadoes are seldom or never experienced. “In Judea, as in other oriental countries, the rains are periodical. When they descend, they often descend in torrents, and continue to do so, with unabated violence, for a number of days. In consequence of this, the most trifling mountain brook becomes a mighty river-a deluge rushing down with dreadful impetus from the high grounds to the plains, converting them into one wide waste of waters. The huts of the inhabitants, generally formed of clay hardened in the sun, are exposed to great danger. They are often literally melted down by the heavy rains or overturned by the furious gusts of wind; and, when not founded on the solid rock, undermined and swept away by the resistless torrent. In such a country, it is the part of a wise man to take good care that the foundation on which he builds his habitation be solid.

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Spurgeon was right when he said, “Whether your religion be true or false, it will be tried; whether it he chaff or wheat the fan of the great Winnower will surely he brought into operation upon all that lies on the threshing floor. If thou hast dealings with God, thou hast to do with a ‘consuming fire.’ Whether thou be really or nominally a Christian, if thou comest near to Christ He will try thee as silver is tried. Judgment must begin at the house of God, and if thou darest to come into the house of God, judgment will begin with thee.” It is God’s will that whosoever takes upon him the profession of His name shall he tried and proved. Adam and Eve were tempted and tried by Satan. God made trial of Abraham when He bade him take his only and dearly loved son and offer him up for a burnt offering on mount Moriah (Gen. 22). For the trial of his faith and patience He gave Job and all that he had, except his life, into Satan’s hand. God left Hezekiah to himself to try him and make known what was in his heart, when the ambassadors of Babylon came to inquire of him what wonders God had done in the land of Israel (2 Chronicles 32:31).

It will he gathered from the above that we do not accept the view of those who restrict this trial of the “house” to the hour of death or the day of judgment. It is true that at death “the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) and that it then enters paradise or is consigned to the abode of the damned. At the Grand Assize the worth or worthlessness of the profession will he made manifest to an assembled universe. But we can see nothing in our present passage which requires us to limit the meaning of this storm unto the final testing, while on the other hand there is much in Scripture which makes it clear that both real and empty profession is, in a variety of ways but in different degrees, put to the proof in this life. When our Lord announced of His apostles “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). which desire was granted, He expressed that which applies to all His people. It is as requisite that the faith of the saints should be tried by afflictions as gold is tried in the fire (1 Peter 1:7).

When the apostle said to believers, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12), he was referring unto an experience which is met with in this life, and one which, as his language denotes, is by no means exceptional. For example, for a Jew belonging to an orthodox family to make public profession of the Christian faith has always involved dishonor and disgrace; his family disinherit and disown him, and in the sight of all his brethren he is regarded as “the offscouring of all things.” In the first two centuries A.D., being a Christian frequently involved forfeiture of citizenship, the “spoiling of his goods” and being cast unto the lions, or at least living in caves “destitute and afflicted.” Yet notwithstanding such trials the faith of God’s elect remained unshaken. During the past century the Lord’s people, and especially His servants, have been tested in a more subtle manner: they have had to suffer the reproach of credulity and simple-mindedness, of being hopelessly behind the times, because they refused to believe the agnostic scientists and the theories of “modern scholarship”-sensitive natures find such reproaches harder to bear than physical sufferings. In this day, the test is to resist the seductions of an alluring world, to refuse to compromise.

Having generalized so much upon the verses before us, it is time that we turned to examine more closely their several details. First, “And the rain descended.” This may be taken as a figure of the providential trials and adverse dispensations by which those bearing the name of Christ are put to the proof. “These rains typify afflictions from heaven. God will send you adversities like showers, tribulations as many as the drops of the dew. Between now and heaven, oh, professor, you will feel the pelting storm. Like other men, your body will be sick; or if not, you shall have trial in your house: children and friends will die, or riches will take to themselves wings and fly like an eagle. You must have trials from God’s hand, and if you are not relying on Christ, you will not be able to bear them.

If you are not by real faith one with Christ, even God’s rains will be too much for you” (C. H. Spurgeon). The response of the heart, the manner in which we act in times of adversity, reveals our state; if unregenerate, our unbelieving heart will betray itself by acting as the worldling does-seeking to drown our sorrow amid carnal pleasures, or sinking in despair.

Second, “and the floods came,” or as Luke 6:48, says, “the floods arose.” Thus it is a thing of the earth which is here in view, namely opposition from the world. By this also must the professor be tested, to demonstrate whether or not his claim to being a Christian is genuine. It is true that in former days the floods of persecution raged more furiously than they do now; nevertheless, they are far from having totally subsided. The world’s opposition assumes many forms: sometimes it is ridicule-and how often have the gibes and sneers of the ungodly tumbled down the “houses” of those who made a fair show in the flesh! Cruel mockings are still used against the people of God. In other cases it is reproach and slander, the “cold shoulder,” boycotting, and only those who have a rock foundation will bear up under them. Not that the ones exposed always drop their profession entirely: far from it-often they retain the name of Christian, but compromise and walk arm-in-arm with the world to escape its persecutions.

Third, “and the winds blew and beat upon the house.” Here it is “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) who is at work: in other words, it is Satan assaulting the one who claims to be saved. At times he will Cast a cloud of despondency over the human spirit, assailing with artful insinuations and blasphemous suggestions, particularly so when God’s providences seem to be all against us, seeking to fill the soul with doubts of the Divine goodness and faithfulness. At other times he seeks to beguile with error, and only those established in the Truth will withstand him. He employs various tactics, according as he approaches in the form of a serpent or seeks to terrify as the roaring lion. He attracts by the world, appeals to the carnal nature, and only those whose “treasure” is really in heaven scorn his gilded baubles. He suggests a compromise, the making the best of both worlds, the serving of two masters, and none save they who have truly “received Christ Jesus the Lord” (Colossians 2:6) resist him.

The Lord plainly teaches us in this passage that he who takes upon him the Christian profession must expect a stormy passage through this world. He who is Truth incarnate painted no false and flattering picture of what Christian discipleship involves, but faithfully warns us that severe testings and trials await those who profess to he His followers. So far from being carried to heaven on “flowery beds of ease,” they may expect to meet with fierce opposition from the world, the flesh and the Devil. He who was despised and rejected of men, tempted of the Devil, hated by the world, opposed by the religious leaders, deserted by those who should have stood by Him, has said, “the disciple is not above his Master.” “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), and they who deny this are false prophets. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12), yet that very persecution shall be made to work together for their good.

“And it fell not.” Here are consolation and compensation indeed. Severely assaulted and shaken their “house” may be, but overthrown it shall not be. And why? “For it was founded upon a rock,” that is to say the profession was a genuine one, and, therefore, one which endures and survives every testing. It is no comfortable thing to live through such an experience as this hurricane: Ah, but dwell upon the happy issue. It is no pleasant experience to meet with the sneers of acquaintances, the loss of friends, the opposition of the world and the enmity of Satan, but is it not worth all these and much more if, like the three Hebrews, we come forth from the fires unharmed? While I do Christ’s “sayings,” Satan can gain no advantage over me: while I tread the path of obedience the “flesh” is denied and cannot bring about my ruin. Neither in this life, the hour of death, nor the day of judgment will the “house” of such a one fall.

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:27). Here is the solemn contrast. Here is the fearful outcome for the one who erects his house upon the sand. Here is the certain fate of all who rest their hope and base their confidence on a worthless foundation. Here is the fearful ruin which overtakes the empty professor. He who makes no conscience of Christ’s “saying,” joins not practice to profession, who refuses to walk in the path of the Divine commandments, is headed for eternal damnation.

An empty professor may withstand the lighter gusts of opposition in days of peace and prosperity, but he is not at all likely to survive the temptations of the times in which our lot is cast, as witness the multitudes now making shipwreck of the faith they once affirmed. And even those who continue to call themselves Christians but refuse the Master’s yoke will find in the hour of death that they have no refuge from the judgment awaiting them.

Sometimes God exposes those who have made an eminent profession by sending them such anguish of conscience and foretastes of hell that at the end they are exposed to all around them. A notable example of this was Francis Spira in the seventeenth century. For weeks he lay groaning on his couch, not from physical pain but from anguish of soul, and though numbers of God’s servants spoke to and prayed with him, no relief was obtained. Said he to the ministers and friends around his bed, “Take heed of relying on that faith which worketh not a holy and unblamable life, worthy of a believer. Credit me, it will fail. I have tried it.

I presumed I had gotten the right faith. I preached it to others. I had all places of Scripture in memory that might support it. I thought myself sure, and in the meantime lived impiously and carelessly. And behold now the judgment of God hath overtaken me: not to correction, but to damnation.” He felt the fires of God’s wrath burning in his soul as few have ever experienced them in this world, and expired thus. His house “fell” and great was the fall of it.

What has been before us should dispel the influence of the world, move us to self-judgment, and warn us against a superficial use of God’s Word. If we allow Satan’s world so to ensnare us that, for the sake of enjoying it, we consent to ignore Christ’s rules for separation from evil and holiness of life, then dire will be the consequences. Such a passage as this ought to bring home to us both the heinousness and madness of our acts of disobedience, cause us contritely to confess the same, and entreat the Lord’s pardon while it may yet be obtained. Finally, we would press upon our readers that the will of God, the standard He has appointed, cannot be known by mere casual and occasional glances at the Bible. Too many are but text-mongers, singling out favorite passages which appeal to them. It is only by carefully and earnestly searching the Scriptures, by a systematic and continuous pondering of them, that we can discover “all the counsel of God.” Those who do so will have their souls sustained by grace and upheld by the power of Christ in the day of trial, and will have no regrets for so employing their time and energies when the hour of death is upon them.

Matthew 7:22

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:23

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:24

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:25

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:26

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:27

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 56

TESTED

Matthew 7:21-27

Chapter 57

Knowledge. It is plain from the teaching of Holy Writ that there are two distinct orders or types of knowledge of spiritual and Divine things, and that the difference between them is not merely one of degree but of kind, a radical and vital difference. There is a knowledge of God and of His Word which is a saving one, but there is also a knowledge of the same Objects which-though it may be accurate and extensive-is a non-saving one. Thus it is of vast importance that everyone who values his soul should be properly informed as to the essential differences between these two kinds of knowledge, so that he may diligently examine himself and ascertain which of them is his. That the above distinction is no arbitrary one, no imaginary one of ours, is evident from many passages. When the apostle declared that the Colossian saints “knew the grace of God in truth” (Colossians 1:6) he was employing discriminating language, for there are others who know the grace of God only in theory. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3), which is a saving knowledge. “When they knew God they glorified Him not as God,” but became idolators and were abandoned of Him (Romans 1:21-24): that was a non-saving knowledge of God.

Repentance. There are four principal acts and exercises in repentance: confession of sin, hatred of sin, sorrow for sin, resolution against sin; and each of these may be and has been performed by the unregenerate. Cain cried out at the weight and grievousness of his sin saying, “My punishment [or “iniquity”] is greater than I can bear” (Genesis 4:13). Pharaoh acknowledged his sin and condemned himself for it (Exodus 9:27), so did Israel when they had provoked the Lord (Numbers 14:40), so did Saul (1 Samuel 15:14), so did Judas (Matthew 27:3). As to hatred of sin, Jehu detested the idols of Baal and destroyed them, yet his heart was not upright (2 Kings 10:26-31).

Faith. We read of those who “stay themselves [rely] upon the God of Israel” (Isaiah 2:1), yet it was “not in truth, nor in righteousness” (Isaiah 48:1), for they were obstinate and their neck “as an iron sinew.” There are those who have a faith so like unto a Justifying one that they themselves take it to be the very same and even Christians regard it as the faith of God’s elect. Simon Magus, for example, “believed” (Acts 8:13), and gave such a profession of it that Philip and the local church received him into their fellowship and privileges. Those who received the Seed into stony ground did “for a while believe” (Luke 8:13), and according to its description it differed nothing from saving faith except in its root-the difference not being evident but lying underground. The unregenerate may have a faith which receives unquestionably the Bible as the Word of God, for the Jews entertained no doubts that the Scriptures were the very oracles of God.

Good works. The unregenerate may make an exceedingly fair show on the practical side of religion, that is in their deportment, both in their addresses to God and dealings with men, in public and private alike. They may go far in their external conformity to the rule of righteousness and visible compliance with the revealed will of God, both as to moral and positive precepts. The outward carriage of the Pharisees, by Christ’s own testimony, was “beautiful” (Matthew 23:27) and among their fellows they were esteemed as exceptionally holy men. Such may not only abstain from all gross sins but meet all the external requirements of morality and piety.

Chapter 58

Negligence and slothfulness. Those who do have a vague and general idea of the things mentioned above are too indolent to lay them to heart, make them their chief concern and prayerful meditation, that they may understand them more clearly. Even if they know them they will not take the pains seriously to examine their state by them: they will not go to the trouble of comparing their hearts with the Divine rule. So little interested are they in their eternal welfare that they will not spare a few hours to inquire solemnly whether or not they measure up to what the Word of God requires of them. Alas, for the wretched carelessness of the vast majority concerning their souls and everlasting state.

Misapprehensions of God. Where people are in ignorance and where they are too sottish to make any real and serious effort to dispel their ignorance, false conceptions of the Divine character are certain to obtain. True there are degrees of ignorance and therefore there are considerable differences in the erroneous ideas men form of God. But those formed by the unregenerate, whether they be the gross ones of the heathen or the more refined ones of Christendom, are alike false. Viewing God through the blurred lens of depraved hearts and minds they fashion Him as one suited to their corrupt inclinations. They invent a God who treats sin lightly, who looks with indulgence upon their waywardness, who is willing to accept a few religious performances as sufficient compensation for all their debt. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” is the charge which He prefers against them, but adds: “I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalms 50:21).

Self-love and self-esteem. This is as prolific and powerful a cause of self-deception as any of those mentioned above. Sinners compare themselves with their fellows and award themselves the first prize every rime. He who is immoral regards himself as better than those who grind the poor and rob the widow. He who is a liar and a thief prides himself that he is no murderer.

Chapter 59

“Deeds of greatness as we deemed them

He will show us were but sin;

Cups of water we’d forgotten

He will tell us were for Him.”

Not only the gross external crimes, but pride and presumption and the religious performances of hypocrites are “works of iniquity.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Thereby ye are “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This, and nothing short of this, is what constitutes a genuine “conversion.”

Chapter 62

He “digs deep” who does not enter upon a Christian profession hurriedly and lightly, but instead “sits down and counts the cost” (Luke 14:28). There are some who say they are saved before they have any feeling sense that they are lost. There are others who profess to receive Christ who yet have no realization of the claims of His sceptre. There are those who present themselves for baptism who know nothing about the terms of Christian discipleship. Such people rush into a profession of religion, and in most cases rush out of it again. They receive the Word “with joy” rather than with painful convictions of sin, but they have “not root in themselves” and so “dureth for a while” only (Matthew 13:20-21), Hence it was that when one said unto Him, “I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest,” Christ told him that he had not “where to lay His head”; and when another lightly said, “I will follow Thee,” He answered, “No man, having put his hand to the plough [and ploughing is no easy work!], and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:58-62); while to His apostles He gave the warning “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32).
He “digs deep” who labours to be emptied of self-righteousness, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency. The sinner needs first to be convicted of his utter inability to come to Christ-that God must give him a heart which is willing to receive Him as King to rule over him. Observe how the Lord Himself pressed this fact upon His hearers: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44)-but who believes that today when the “free will” of man is so much cried up! “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Why should I seek unto the great Physician for strength when I have no consciousness of my weakness, for cleansing while I am quite unaware of my foulness? Only God can subdue our innate pride and self-complacency, and in order thereto there must needs be ardent wrestlings of soul with Him that He would graciously put forth His power and overcome that in me which rises up against Him.
He “digs deep” who strives after an experimental and inward knowledge of the Truth. A mere notional or theoretical acquaintance with it will not suffice him. He longs to have a practical knowledge of the Truth so that it becomes deeply rooted within him, so that it finds a home in the “hidden parts” (Psalms 51:6). Truth has to be bought (Proverbs 23:23), and the wise builder is quite willing to pay the necessary price-sacrificing worldly interests so to do. As Spurgeon said, “Seek an inwrought experience of Divine Truth.

He “digs deep” who balks not at the work of mortification, who follows Christ as the grand Exemplar of mortification. What the Saviour suffered in His pure flesh by way of expiation, those who would be saved must suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification. It is true the flesh in us is reluctant, as was the holy humanity of Christ, saying, “let this cup pass from Me,” but the spirit is willing, crying “Father, Thy will be done” even in the crucifixion of my dearest lusts. Christ died a violent death, and sin must not die an easy and comfortable one. His body was nailed to the tree till His soul was separated from it, and the body of sin must be so nailed till the soul of sin-the will and love of it- depart.

He “digs deep” who endeavors to hide God’s Word in his heart so that he may be kept from sinning against Him (Psalms 119:11). By “hiding” is not here meant concealing but treasuring, so that it may be preserved. To so “hide” means, first, to obtain a spiritual understanding of it-and for that, diligence and labour are required (Proverbs 2:1-4). Only then does “wisdom” enter the heart and knowledge become pleasant unto the soul (Proverbs 2:10). Second, when it is assented unto by faith, otherwise it will quickly vanish: “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2).

He “digs deep” who sincerely endeavors to have his heart sensibly affected by the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Since sin be that abominable thing which God hates, that which occasioned the death of Christ, and that which is the cause of all his own misery, the believer seeks to obtain a deeper horror for and hatred of sin. To this end he frequently reminds himself of and meditates upon the fearful tragedy which the first sin introduced into Eden, how that it corrupted at its source the stream of human nature. He constantly ponders the fact that all the sorrow and suffering in the world is the immediate effect of sin. He essays to view sin in the light of eternal punishment. “When I meet with professors who talk lightly of sin, I feel sure that they have built without a foundation.

He “digs deep” who makes diligent search and thorough examination within to make sure that God has written His Word on his heart (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10). He is so concerned about his eternal welfare, so aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart, that he dare not take anything for granted. He is determined to prove his own self, that a supernatural work of grace has been truly wrought within him. He spares no pains to measure himself by the Word to see whether the fruits of regeneration are really being brought forth in the garden of his soul. He earnestly seeks the Divine assistance in the all-important matter, crying to God, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psalms 26:2): let me not be mistaken, but graciously make known to me my real condition, and if I be one of Thy redeemed cause Thy blessed Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of Thine. And if the seeker be sincere and importunate his quest will not be in vain, neither will his request fall upon deaf ears.

Chapter 63

He who attends to this precaution is likely to find the advantage of doing so, and he who neglects this precaution is likely to pay dear for his folly” (J. Brown).

Matthew 7:28

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 64

Matthew 7:28-29

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Once more we have been permitted and enabled to complete a lengthy though pleasant task, for after writing sixty-three chapters on Matthew 5-7 our present business is to pen the closing one. Those three chapters record what is commonly designated our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Really, it is far more than a sermon, being what might well be termed the Messiah’s manifesto, the magna charta (or “constitution”) of His kingdom, for therein He unfolded the laws and conditions under which alone we can enter His kingdom. In our second chapter we pointed out that, in keeping with its character and design, this address had twelve divisions-the governmental number. They may be expressed thus:

The character of those on whom the Divine blessing rests (Matthew 5:3-11).

The ministerial office (Matthew 5:12-16).

The spirituality and authority of the Moral Law (Matthew 5:17-48).

Practical righteousness or good works (Matthew 6:1-19).

Warning against covetousness (Matthew 6:20-34).

Unlawful judgment (Matthew 7:1-5).

Unlawful liberality (Matthew 7:6).

Seeking grace (Matthew 7:7-11).

The golden rule (Matthew 7:12).

The way of salvation (Matthew 7:13-14).

False prophets (Matthew 7:15-19).

Profession tested (Matthew 7:20-27).

In the verses which are to be before us we are informed of the effect which our Lord’s sermon had upon the large concourse that heard it. This writer often closes his eyes and seeks to visualize the various scenes presented in Holy Writ. On this occasion the incarnate Son of God, but known only as “Jesus of Nazareth” to the Jews at that time, sat down upon the mountain side-perhaps on some slight eminence, that all might see and hear Him the better. Follow Him then throughout the whole of Matthew 5-7 and attempt to enter into the feelings of His audience. Remember there was no halo of glory about His head, that to their eyes He appeared simply as a Galilean peasant. Yet again and again He sets over against “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time” His imperative and imperial “But I say unto you.” He denounced the Pharisees as “hypocrites.” He declared that in the Day to come He would say unto the empty professors, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” He closed by insisting that men’s eternal destiny would be regulated by how they complied with “these sayings of Mine.”

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Here is made known to us the impression which our Lord’s discourse produced upon its auditors. They were amazed, and well they might be. The Speaker had not graduated from the rabbinical schools, nor had He been granted a “preaching license” by the Sanhedrin; yet He declared, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Then He added, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” He went on to declare that causeless anger was incipient murder and that those who indulged in lustful glances were guilty of adultery. He bade them, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.” He made it evident that it was not merely good advice or salutary counsel He was offering them, but rather was issuing peremptory demands. It was as the King of righteousness He spoke.

The crowd was astonished both at the matter and manner of His preaching, for He spoke with weight, a majesty, an earnestness which carried conviction. They were filled with a temporary wonderment: yet it is not said that they repented or believed on Him or became His disciples. We too admire the matchless wisdom of His discourse, maintaining as it did throughout a perfect balance of Truth. We are made to marvel at its scope: that He covered so much ground in so brief a space, containing that which was suited to all classes and conditions of men, be they lost or saved, babes or fathers in Christ. We are made to tremble at the fearful solemnity of its utterances: the repeated reference to “hell” and “hell fire.” We are solemnized as we learn from its final section that in the Great Assize the Preacher of this sermon will personally officiate as the Judge of men, pronouncing sentence of doom upon those who conform not to the Divine will. No wonder that, on another occasion, the officers sent by the Pharisees to arrest Christ returned without Him, saying “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46).

“The people were astonished at His doctrine.” Have we not good reason to be astonished that they were not much more than “astonished”? Ought they not to have been brought to His feet in worship, perceiving it was more than man who addressed them? Ought they not to have been convicted and converted by His teaching: made deeply sensible of bow far, far short they fell of such a standard of holiness, turning to Him in contrition and crying Out for mercy? Alas, what is man, even when he hears the Truth from the lips of Truth incarnate! Capable of being impressed by a Divine message when it falls on his ears from without, but incapable of perceiving his own inward depravity and wretchedness in the light of that message. How true it is that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3), no, not even when it is brought nigh to him by the King Himself. Then let us not be surprised when only temporary effects are produced under the most faithful and earnest preaching; rather let us be deeply thankful if the message has found an abiding home in our heart.

It may be asked, Why did not Christ put forth His Divine power and turn the hearts of His hearers unto Himself? If three thousand were converted under the Pentecostal sermon of Peter (Acts 2:41), why were not a similar number at least brought from death unto life by this address of the Saviour’s? Most certainly He could, had He so pleased, have imparted to the whole of that multitude a saving knowledge of the Truth. Then why was He not pleased to do so? Why should the apostles perform “greater works” (John 14:12) than He wrought? Because He had taken upon Him the “form of a servant” (Phi 2:7), and therefore did He aver, “I came down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38).

The exercise of His Divine attributes was entirely subordinated unto the will of the Father. Not only did He refuse to work miracles on His own behalf (Matthew 4:3-4), but He only put forth His power for the good of others as He had orders to do so from above. This lovely perfection of Christ’s, which is the glory of His mediatorial holiness, has not received anything like the attention which it justly calls for.

The obedience of Christ was the absolute conformity of His entire spirit and soul to the mind and will of the Father, His ready and cheerful performance of every duty and every thing which God commanded Him. As He Himself declared, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me” (John 4:34). Familiar as are these words to the saints, how few have perceived the fullness of Christ’s obedience or recognized that His every act during the thirty-three years He tabernacled among men was distinctly and designedly an act of submission to God. But this will be the more plainly seen if the reader traces through the four Gospels that oft-repeated expression, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by- the prophet,” and then ponders the import of those words. The whole of Christ’s course had been marked out for Him. Thus it was that “He came and dwelt in Capernaum” (Matthew 12:12-14).

It was not the force of circumstances which drove the Lord Jesus to select that place as His ministerial headquarters, nor was it out of personal inclination: that town had been selected by God for Him long before He came to earth, and it was in subjection to the Divine will that He went there. Christ made obedience to the Father the one great business of His life.

His miracles of mercy were wrought in obedience to the Father’s revealed will. “When the even was come they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word: and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet” (Matthew 8:16). How striking is the particular aspect of Truth here made known to us! Christ was tender, sympathetic, full of compassion, yet the first and deepest motive which moved Him to heal the sick was that the will of God might be done. In the volume of the Book it was written of Him, and therefore did He say, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God” (Psalms 40:7-8). A striking and beautiful illustration of this is found in John 11. Lazarus was taken seriously ill, and his sisters sent the Saviour an urgent message, saying: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick” (John 11:3).

Then we read, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,” yet the very next thing recorded is “when He had heard therefore that Lazarus was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.” Mysterious delay! But the mystery was solved by His own declaration, “this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God” (John 11:4). Not even His affection for those sorely tried souls would move Him to respond to their appeal until the Father’s hour had arrived.

In like manner, Christ’s saving of sinners was in order to the rendering of obedience to God. “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:37-38). What a view does this present to us of the redemptive work of Christ! How it magnifies His blessed submission unto the One who had commissioned Him! Here then is the explanation why He put not forth His own Divine power to convert the whole of His hearers by this Sermon on the Mount: because He had no word from the Father so to do. Admire then and adore the Lord of glory as He so perfectly discharged His office as Servant.

What an example of entire submission to God has He left us. Does the reader desire that we press the question a stage farther back and ask, Why was it the Father’s pleasure that His incarnate Son should so often suspend the exercise of His Divine attributes and restrain from putting forth His own power? Surely if no other answer was available than what has been pointed our above, it would be sufficient: to display the perfect oneness between the Son and the Father, to evidence that the Former would not act independently of the Other, to manifest His moral perfections and thereby leave His people an example.

But there were other reasons why it was fitting that a veil should be cast over the Divine glory of the incarnate Son. This was the season of His humiliation, when He came not to rule over the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, but to have “not where to lay His head.” He had entered the place of subserviency, of obedience, yea, He had become “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phi 2:8). And in order thereto it was necessary that He should come unto His own and that His own receive Him not (John 1:11), yea, that He should be “despised and rejected of men.” He had descended from heaven to earth in order that He should be “taken, and by wicked hands crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23), yet at the same time offer Himself as a sacrifice to God, as a sin-offering on behalf of His people. It was not then the season for Him to convert men en masse, to overthrow Satan’s kingdom and deliver his captives. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die before the fruit thereof is brought forth (John 12:24). In due time God would exalt Him “with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to [the spiritual] Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31), for then would “the rod of His strength” go out of Zion and His people be made willing “in the day of His power” (Psalms 110:2-3).

Again, by cloaking His Divine power, yet at the same time acting as a Minister of the circumcision for the Truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy (Romans 15:8-9) an admirable test was made of men. Though He stopped short of renewing their hearts, yet by acting as the final Spokesman of God (Hebrews 1:1-2), by speaking to men as they had never been spoken to before, Christ addressed Himself to the responsibility of His hearers. The Light shone in midday splendor, but the darkness comprehended it not. And why? Because men loved darkness rather than light. Thereby their real character was unmistakably revealed: as incorrigibly and inveterately opposed to God, steeled against Him even when speaking to them through His own Son.

Nor could they plead lack of clear evidence that Christ was the Messiah Himself, for the miracles He wrought unequivocally established His credentials. Thus, in their not being converted by such a Sermon as this, they were left “without excuse.” Christ, then, put not forth His power to regenerate them, first, because He had no commission from the Father so to do; second, because it was not the time for Him to exercise His royal prerogative; third, because by leaving His auditors to the exercise of their own wills, their accountability was put to the proof and their utter depravity demonstrated.

But further: the Father was pleased that His Son should restrain the power of His Godhead even from His public ministry that it might be more clearly evidenced when His term of obedience had expired, that He was vested with all-sufficient unction and invincible might. After His resurrection Christ affirmed “all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), and on the day of Pentecost after the public descent of the Holy Spirit Peter announced, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), where “made” has not the force of “constituted” but signifies made manifest, for it was from Christ that the Spirit had been given (Acts 2:33). God would have it made known unto His people that the Mediator, being ascended, was not only “set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,” where He is “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3), ruling as King in His royal office, but also that He governs His Church by His Word and Spirit (Revelation 3:1). it was for this reason, when promising the apostles that they should do “greater works” than He had wrought, that He added by way of proof “because I go unto My Father” (John 14:12)-there to rule His people and remain until His enemies are made His footstool.

Finally, there appears to us to be yet another and more solemn reason why (so far as the inspired narrative informs us) not one soul was born again through the instrumentality of this Sermon. We cannot shake off the conviction that here in Matthew 5-7 we have, as it were, a miniature tableau, a typical representation and anticipation of the Great Assize. Christ seated on the mount was a figure of His taking His place on the throne of judgment. Encircled by His disciples and the “multitudes” before Him gives a picture of the dread Day to come. The contents of this Sermon reveal both the order of procedure which will then be followed and the grounds on which the verdicts will be passed: “His own” vindicated by the benediction (the “Blessed are ye” pronounced upon them) and all the others weighed and found wanting in the balance of the very laws which He here enunciated. The effect upon the people will be the same. For though the visible appearance of Christ in that day will be very different, though He will be seen with “His eyes as a flame of fire” and wearing “many crowns” (Revelation 19:12), yet none shall he brought to repentance and faith by such a sight “Astonished” they may well be as they learn who it is they despised and rejected, overwhelmed with horror they will be as they hear His “Depart from Me ye cursed into everlasting fire,” but saved by such a spectacle and sentence none will be.

“For He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” Apparently no deeper impression was made on the people than a sense of wonderment, which caused them to draw an invidious distinction between Christ and the scribes, who dwelt mainly on “the traditions of men” and such matters as tithing mint and cummin and the ceremonial washings of pots and pans. That Christ should teach with authority was intimated in prophecy, when it was announced that Jehovah would put His own words in His mouth and that He should speak unto Israel all that had been commanded Him (Deuteronomy 18:18). It is remarkable that even His enemies bore witness, “Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of . . . Truth, neither carest Thou for any man” (Matthew 22:16). “Though Christ were here in a mean and base state, yet He would not suffer His calling to be condemned, but gets grace thereto” (W. Perkins, 1590, to whom we have been indebted in the course of these expositions). Herein Christ has left His servants an example, for the minister of the Gospel is bidden to “exhort and rebuke with all authority” (Titus 2:15), which he can do only as he cleaves closely to the Word and exhorts in the name of Christ.

Let our closing reflection be this: the words of “authority” in Matthew 5-7 are addressed as directly to us as to those who first heard them! By its precepts and rules our conduct must be directed: by its promises and encouragements our souls are to be sustained, for in these very scales shall we be weighed in the Day of testing and adjudication. To us this Sermon comes with even greater authority than to those who heard it preached in Palestine, for in moving His apostle by the Spirit to register the same as a permanent record of His will He speaks to us from heaven. Hence the force of that exhortation, “See that ye refuse not Him that [not “hath spoken” but] speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25). Then let us earnestly seek grace to be something more than “astonished” with this Sermon, namely receive it into our hearts and minds and incorporate it into our daily walk.

Matthew 7:29

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount

Chapter 64

Matthew 7:28-29

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

The character of those on whom the Divine blessing rests (Matthew 5:3-11).

The ministerial office (Matthew 5:12-16).

The spirituality and authority of the Moral Law (Matthew 5:17-48).

Practical righteousness or good works (Matthew 6:1-19).

Warning against covetousness (Matthew 6:20-34).

Unlawful judgment (Matthew 7:1-5).

Unlawful liberality (Matthew 7:6).

Seeking grace (Matthew 7:7-11).

The golden rule (Matthew 7:12).

The way of salvation (Matthew 7:13-14).

False prophets (Matthew 7:15-19).

Profession tested (Matthew 7:20-27).

A.W. Pink's Exposition of Scripture

Arthur Walkington Pink (1886–1952) was an English-born itinerant Bible teacher and author who spent much of his life in relative obscurity, publishing his Studies in the Scriptures magazine to a small readership. After his death, Pink's works experienced a remarkable resurgence and he is now …

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