Moral Courage: The Essential Qualification for Political Office

Posted on December 4, 2020 by The Editor

Luke 23:3,4, 13-16; John 19:4-15; Matthew 17:24

Pilate asked [Jesus], saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him.

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): The pitiable and miserable character of Pilate, the Roman Governor, begins to come into clear light from this point. We see him as a man utterly destitute of moral courage—knowing what was right and just in the case before him, yet afraid to act on his knowledge—knowing that our Lord was innocent, yet not daring to displease the Jews by acquitting Him—knowing that he was doing wrong, and yet afraid to do right. “The fear of man bringeth a snare,” Proverbs 29:25

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He seems to have gone backward and forward many times, desiring to save the life of Christ, but not having the moral courage to do it. Yet, to be just, we must admit that Pilate did more than wish. He spoke for Christ. But having spoken in His favour he did not proceed to action, as he was bound to have done. It is possible for a man to say with his tongue, “I find no fault in Him,” and then by his actions to condemn Jesus by giving Him up to die.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Talk is cheap, but actions speak louder than words.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Like all weak men, he was not easy in his conscience, and made a futile attempt to do the right thing, and yet not to suffer for doing it.

C. H. SPURGEON: Pilate spoke boldly enough and then retreated before the clamors of the crowd—and yet sometimes Pilate could be firm. When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, the priests begged Pilate to change the accusation which was written over His head, but he would not, but replied, “What I have written, I have written,” John 19:22. Why could he not have shown a little backbone when Jesus yet lived? He was not altogether such a weak, effeminate being as to be incapable of putting his foot down firmly. If he did so once, he might have done it before and so have saved himself from this great transgression.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Politicians consider not often what is just, but what is of use for the present purpose, be it right or wrong.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): They are very little interested about principles, any of them. Now that doesn’t say that we shouldn’t have politics, you’ve got to govern your country.  But oh, that we had politics which was concerned about truth, and about principles, about morality and living, and not merely pandering to the lusts and desires of men and women.

J. C. RYLE: Wretched and contemptible are those rulers and statesmen whose first principle is to please the people, even at the expense of their own consciences, and who are ready to do what they know to be wrong rather than offend the mob! Wretched are those nations which for their sins are given over to be governed by such statesmen! True godly rulers should lead the people, and not be led by them, should do what is right and leave consequences to God. A base determination to keep in with the world at any price, and a slavish fear of man’s opinion, were leading principles in Pilate’s character. There are many like him. Nothing is more common than to see statesmen evading the plain line of duty, and trying to shuffle responsibility on others, rather than give offence to the mob. This is precisely what Pilate did here. The spirit of his reply to the Jews is, “I had rather not be troubled with the case: cannot you settle it yourselves, without asking me to interfere?”

C. H. SPURGEON: There seems to be connected with politics in every country something that besmears the mind, and defiles the hand that touches it…You are told to regard the difference between right and wrong everywhere, except when you get into politics; then stick to your party through thick and thin. Right and wrong vanish at once. Loyalty to your leader—that is the point. Never mind where he leads you, follow him blindly. You are even told that you may do wrong because it is politically right. I hate such an argument!

ROBERT E. LEE (1807-1870): Politicians are more or less so warped by party feeling, by selfishness, or prejudices, that their minds are not altogether balanced.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): Not a few are lacking in moral courage. They know what they ought to be, and to do. But they have friends whose frown they dread, or companions from whose laugh they shrink. This is very common. And thus multitudes flee from the frown of man—to take shelter under the frown of God…Take heed against that flexibility of principle, purpose, and character, in reference to what is right—and obstinate perseverance in what is wrong. Be master of yourself. Have a will of your own—but be governed by your own convictions. Knowing what is right, do it, though you stand alone, and though the world laughs in chorus at you.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Pilate asked him, Art thou the king of the Jews? To which Jesus answered, Thou sayest it; that is, “It is as thou sayest, that I am entitled to the government of the Jewish nation…”—Or, “Thou sayest it; but canst thou prove it? What evidence hast thou for it?”

C. H. SPURGEON: If a man believes in anything it is always proper to put this question to him, “Why do you believe? What evidence have you that what you believe is certainly correct?”

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: There are two things equally distant from sound reason—to decide without evidence—and to remain undecided amid abundant evidence.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Thus the entire subject of evidence claims the attention of the reader, let his position be what it may. We are all prone to rush to hasty conclusions—to give place to baseless surmisings, and allow our minds to be warped and carried away by prejudice. All these have to be most carefully guarded against. We need more calmness, seriousness and cool deliberation in forming and expressing our judgement about men and things—Whenever any one brings a charge…we should insist upon his proving it or withdrawing his statement. Were this plan adopted, we should be delivered from a vast amount of evil speaking which is not only most unprofitable, but positively wicked, and not to be tolerated.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: The main trouble is that there are far too few Christian people, and that those of us who are Christian are not sufficiently salt. By that I do not mean aggressive; I mean Christian in the true sense.

D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): We want today men who will make up their minds to do what is right and stand by it if the heavens tumble on their heads…What we want, is men and women who have moral courage.

C. H. SPURGEON: Are there any Pilates here—persons who would long ago have been Christians if they had possessed enough moral courage?

 

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The Prophetic Symbolism of the Rainbow

Posted on November 27, 2020 by The Editor

Ezekiel 1:1, 26-28

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God…

Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Ezekiel had visions of God. Again and again in the Old Testament we have these marvelous Scripture passages that tell of men beholding God, and yet it says in John 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time.” What does it mean? It means that all of these were but theophanies. Men did not actually see God in His essential Being, but He manifested Himself to them—as a man to Abraham, as an angel to Daniel, as a marvelous appearance to Ezekiel.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): At length he says, “this was a vision of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah”—the glory of God was so beheld by the Prophet, that God did not appear as He really is, but as far as He can be beheld by mortal man.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): It was not the full glory of God—it was not the splendour of unveiled majesty.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Never forget, that amidst all the mysteries of this vision, the face of a man was held forth in it, and a voice was heard by the Prophet, which he distinctly observed. Surely, this could be no other than the Lord Jesus.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): The person of the Son is the glory of the Father, shining forth with a truly divine splendour. As the beams are effulgent emanations of the sun, the father and fountain of light, Jesus Christ in His person is God manifest in the flesh, He is light of light, the true Shechinah. The person of the Son is the true image and character of the person of the Father; and being of the same nature, He must bear the same image and likeness.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): His glory is as the only begotten of the Father; and Who is the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person, Hebrews 11:1-3.

JOHN CALVIN: Since, then, it is certain that Jesus Christ was beheld by Ezekiel, He is Jehovah, that is—Eternal God; and although He is distinct from the person of the Father, yet He is entirely God, for the Father is in Him.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Here the Lord of life appears seated on His royal throne. “Above the firmament was the likeness of a throne;” the symbol of that universal dominion and eternal kingdom which, as God over all, the Lord Jesus essentially possesses; or which, as Mediator, He has received: “as the appearance of a sapphire-stone,” very glorious—“and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it;” even that divine Lord, Who in the fullness of time condescended to appear in fashion as a man.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Over the canopy on which this glorious personage sat there was a fine rainbow, which, from the description here, had all its colors vivid, distinct, and in perfection—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

JOHN CALVIN: What, then, is the object of this bow in the heavens?

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): It notes out the memorial of His covenant of grace; that as the rainbow was the sign of the covenant of nature, to put God and us in mind that He would not destroy the world any more by water, so this rainbow is to God a memorial of His covenant of grace to His church: “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee; this is to me as the waters of Noah; for as I have sworn that the waters should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn not to be wroth with thee,” saith God, in Isaiah 54:8,9. Which covenant is round about His throne, so to put Him in mind, in all His dispensations towards His church, to “remember His covenant.”—And therefore He also said, He will “ever be mindful of His covenant,” Psalm 111:5, and so of these mercies of His covenant—Let Him go forth any way in His dispensations towards His church, He may still be minded of mercy.

ADAM CLARKE: The rainbow is an illustrious token of mercy and love.

THOMAS GOODWIN: And His church, in all their intercourses with God, and all dispensations from God, and occasions of coming to Him, may be put in mind of mercy also, and His covenant of grace, to trust in it—that the prayers of the church may still pass from them through the rainbow, as all God’s dispensations to the church do come through the said rainbow.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The expectant eyes of the trustful man and the eye of God meet, as it were, in looking on the sign. On earth it nourishes faith; in heaven it moves to love and blessing. God can be reminded of what He always remembers. The rainbow reminds Him of His covenant by its calm light. Jesus Christ reminds Him of His grace by His intercession before the throne. We remind Him of His plighted faithfulness by our prayers.

MATTHEW POOLE: A like appearance of Christ you have in Revelation 4:2,3—“Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

MATTHEW HENRY: In John’s vision, He appeared with a rainbow, the seal of the covenant, about His throne; for it is His glory to be our Redeemer.

ROBERT HAWKER: That throne which John saw surrounded with a rainbow in Revelation 4 is accessible on every side. Jesus, the Lamb, is in the midst of it. He still hears prayers; still feeds the church which He hath purchased with His blood; still acts as a priest upon His throne, and wears thy nature—and He is infinitely more ready to take in petitions and bestow blessings than His people are to ask or receive.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): If we can see the “rainbow round about the Throne,” the token of God’s Covenant Love and Grace, then we can pray very differently from the way in which we would pray if we could only see the naked sword of Divine Justice brandished to and fro to keep us back from the holy God who would not have His peerless Majesty polluted by our sinful presence! Let us always remember that when we pray aright, we deal with God on terms of Grace—and answers to our petitions come to us not according to what we deserve, but according to His Infinite Mercy and Grace in Christ Jesus our Lord! The promise that the rainbow should be seen in the cloud in the day of rain has not been forgotten—nor shall any one of the promises of the Covenant ordered in all things, and sure, be forgotten by the God of Grace!

THOMAS COKE: The bow in the clouds is the refraction of the beams of the sun. Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, sits with the rainbow round about His throne, and therefore His people are safe from fear of evil. The sign of our security in the cloud, should ever awaken our thankfulness, and lead our minds from temporal promises thus fulfilled, to conclude the certainty of the eternal promises, which are yet in hope.

 

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Thankful Praise in a Time of Pestilence

Posted on November 20, 2020 by The Editor

Psalm 75:1

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.

Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The Chaldee supposes that this Psalm was composed at the time of the pestilence, when David prayed the Lord not to destroy the people, 2 Samuel 24:17.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): David gloried in the number of his people, and the Lord diminished them by pestilence, 2 Samuel 24:15.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): “Altaschith” signifies “destroy not.”

ADAM CLARKE: Some of the Jews suppose that Altaschith is the air of which this Psalm was to be set and sung.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): It might be called “a song of Asaph” because always sung by the sons of Asaph; or, it might be penned by Asaph who lived in David’s time.

THOMAS SCOTT (1747-1821): If Asaph wrote this psalm, it is probable that he did it by the desire of David.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): As to the author of it, this is a point which I am not inclined to give myself much trouble. Whoever he was, whether David or some other prophet, he breaks forth at the very commencement into the language of joy and thanksgiving.

MATTHEW HENRY: Unto thee, O God! do we give thanks for all the favours thou hast bestowed upon us; and again, unto thee do we give thanks; for our thanksgivings must be often repeated. Did not we often pray for mercy when we were in pursuit of it; and shall we think it will suffice once or twice to give thanks when we have obtained it? Not only I do give thanks, but we do, and I and all my friends. If we share with others in their mercies, we must join with them in their praises. “Unto thee, O God! the author of our mercies (and we will not give that glory to the instruments which is due to Thee only), we give thanks.

JOHN CALVIN: The verbs in the Hebrew are in the past tense; but the subject of the psalm requires that they should be translated into the future; which may be done in perfect consistency with the idiom of the Hebrew language…The repetition serves the more forcibly to express his strong affection and his ardent zeal in singing the praises of God.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): It is repeated to show the constancy, fervency, and sincerity with which this was performed: it may be rendered, “unto thee do we confess” sins committed against God, unworthiness to receive favours from Him, and His grace and goodness in bestowing them.

MATTHEW POOLE: “And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house,” 2 Samuel 24:17. He looked upon himself as the only transgressor, and his people as innocent, and as harmless as sheep; he thought of no sins but his own; these were uppermost in his mind, and lay heavy on his conscience; it grieved him extremely that his people should suffer on his account.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): It should cause all those who are called to positions of leadership to realize their great responsibilities.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): To those who object to the people’s being involved in David’s punishment as inconsistent with the divine justice, we reply, that the reader ought to be put in mind that kings may be punished in their regal capacities, for the errors of their administration, by public calamities; by famine, pestilence, foreign wars, domestic convulsions, or some other like distresses, which affect their people—indeed, this is nothing more than what continually happens in the common course of Providence.

MATTHEW POOLE: But they were not so innocent—it was not only for his, but for their sins, that this evil came.

THOMAS COKE: Even supposing that they were free from all blame in this affair, can we conceive that they were so entirely free from all other transgressions, as that it was injustice in God to visit them with a pestilence? Is it not expressly said in the first verse of Second Samuel 24, that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel?”

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Nations never will be glad till they follow the leadership of Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd; they may shift their modes of government from monarchies to republics, and from republics to communes, but they will retain their wretchedness till they bow before the Lord of all.

JAMES HARRINGTON EVANS (1785-1849): We must learn the godly art of resigning ourselves to His leadership, content to be taken by a way that we know not. We have His promise, “I will guide thee with mine eye,” Psalm 32:8, and we must look Upward.

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546):  “In every thing give thanks,” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. To say this is easy, but in times of trial, when the conscience writhes in the presence of God, it is not so easy to do.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Dark seasons afford the surest and strongest manifestations of the power of faith.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Every bird can sing in a summer’s day, but in deep affliction to cover God’s altar, not with our tears, as Malachi 2:13, but with the calves of our lips, Hosea 14:2, this none can do but the truly religious…To believe in an angry God, as David; in a killing God, as Job; to stick to Him in deepest desertion, as the Church, Psalm 44:17,18; to trust in His name, and stay upon His word, where there is darkness and no light, as Isaiah 50:10; to cast anchor even in the darkest night of temptation, when neither sun nor stars appear, as Paul and his company, Acts 27:20, praying still for day, and waiting till it dawn—it is a virtue proper to true Christians, heartily, and not hollowly, to give God thanks for crosses, for it proceeds from the joy of faith, and some taste of God’s fatherly care of us in our corrections.

JOHN GILL: “For that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.” These words are a reason of the above thanksgiving, and are to be understood of God Himself, for His name is Himself; Who is near to His people, both in relation, being their Father, and as to presence, communion, and fellowship, which are matter of praise and thanksgiving; or His works and Word, by which He is known and made manifest.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): The Psalmist loves to dwell upon the precious name of the Lord. And when we consider the honour due to this holy name, and the regard the Lord hath in all ages manifested towards it, we may well join with the Psalmist in celebrating it.

JOHN TRAPP: ‘We celebrate thee, O God, we celebrate thee;’ both for mercies and crosses sanctified; for these also are to be reckoned upon the score of God’s favours.

C. H. SPURGEON: Some of us have a further reason for renewing our vows of love to our Lord, because we have lately risen from a sickbed.

AUGUSTINE (354-430): If good things befall thee, bless God, and they shall be increased; if evil things, bless God, and they shall be removed.

 

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Times Past, & Times Present

Posted on November 13, 2020 by The Editor

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11; Ecclesiastes 7:10

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): In every age, discontented men have been forward to make this inquiry; “What is the cause that the former days were better than these?” They make no endeavour to ascertain the correctness of their sentiments: but, taking for granted that they are right, they demand the reason of so strange a phenomenon.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): National changes may bring national declension. Increasing wealth and luxury may relax the tone of public morals. But—it may be asked—Is it not the ordinary habit of the old men of the generation to give undue worth and weight to the records of bygone days?

CHARLES SIMEON: Those who are now advanced in life, can remember, that, in their early days, the very same clamour was made by discontented men as at this hour: and, if we go back to every preceding generation, we shall find the same complaints respecting the deterioration of the times: but we shall never arrive at that time, when the people confessed themselves to be in that exalted state in which our imaginations place them.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): The same vices and virtues are now as ever, and ever were as they are; men in every age were born in sin, and were transgressors from the womb; from their infancy corrupt, and in all the stages of life; there were the same luxury and intemperance, and unnatural lusts, rapine and violence, in the days of Noah and Lot, as now; in Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the old world, as in the present age; and there were some few then, as now, that were men of sobriety, honesty, truth, and righteousness.

CHARLES SIMEON: What is the inquiry which is here discouraged?

CHARLES BRIDGES: Impatience often produces a querulous spirit—“How much brighter were the days of our fathers! Never shall we see the like again.” Yet be it remembered, we know the former days only by report. Present days are a felt reality. Under their pressure it is natural to believe, that the former days were better than these…The rebuke is evidently directed against that dissatisfied spirit, which puts aside our present blessings, exaggerates our evils, and reflects upon the government of God as full of inequalities, and upon His providence, in having cast us in such evil times…Yet, in a general view, “God has been always good, and men have been always bad,” and “there is nothing new under the sun.”

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Lay aside, therefore, these frivolous inquiries and discontented cryings out against the times, which, in some sense reflect upon God, the Author of times—for “can there be evil in an age, and He hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6); and bless God for our gospel privileges, which indeed should drown all our discontents.

CHARLES BRIDGES: “Murmurers and complainers” belong to every age. Leave God’s work to Him, and let us attend to our own work, which is—not so much to change the world, but to change ourselves—to “serve our own generation by the will of God.”

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Let us be thankful, too…And let us hold firmly to the far deeper truth that the future will be the same as the past, because God is the same. God’s yesterday is God’s tomorrow—the same love, the same resources, the same wisdom, the same power, the same sustaining Hand, the same encompassing Presence. “A thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years;” and when we say there is no new thing under the sun, let us feel the deepest way of expressing that thought is, “Thou art the same, and Thy steadfast purposes know no alteration.”

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Now the design of this is also to show the folly of the children of men in affecting things that are new, in imagining that they have discovered such things, and in pleasing and priding themselves in them. We are apt to nauseate old things, and to grow weary of what we have been long used to, as Israel of the manna, and covet, with the Athenians, still to tell and hear of some new thing, and admire this and the other as new, whereas it is all what has been. And to take us off from expecting happiness or satisfaction in the creature. Why should we look for it there, where never any yet have found it?

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): There is nothing in the world but a continued and tiresome repetition of the same things. The nature and course of the beings and affairs of the world, and the tempers of men’s minds, are generally the same that they ever were, and shall ever be; and therefore because no man ever yet received satisfaction from any worldly things, it is a vain and foolish thing for any person hereafter to expect it.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): But while the fashions of the world, with all its different pursuits, end in vanity; let the subject be considered as it relates to Christ, and here all things become certain, solid, and substantial.

MATTHEW HENRY: If we would be entertained with new things, we must acquaint ourselves with the things of God, and get a new nature; then “old things pass away, and all things become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

JOHN TRAPP: Get into Christ, that thou mayest be “a new creature,” 2 Corinthians 5:17. So shalt thou have a new name upon thee, Isaiah 62:2; a new spirit within thee, Ezekiel 36:27; a new alliance, Ephesians 2:14; new attendants, Psalm 91:11; new wages, and new work, Isaiah 62:11; a new commandment, 1 John 2:8; a new covenant, Jeremiah 31:33; a new way to heaven, Hebrews 10:20; and a new mansion in heaven, John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:8.

MATTHEW HENRY: The gospel puts “a new song into our mouths,” Psalm 40:3; Revelation 5:9. In heaven all is new—all new at first, wholly unlike the present state of things, a new world indeed, Luke 20:35; and all new to eternity, always fresh, always flourishing.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: And so, while we confront the future, we can feel that God being in us, and Christ being in us, we shall make it a far brighter and fairer thing than the blurred and blotted past which today is buried, and life may go on with grand blessedness and power until we shall hear the great voice from the Throne say, “There shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain, for the former things are passed away, Behold! I make all things new,” Revelation 21:4,5.

EDWARD REYNOLDS (1599-1676): Let the badness of the age in which we live make us more wise, more circumspect, more humble.

JEROME (340-420): Thou shouldst so live that thy last days may be thy best days, and the time present better to thee than the past was to those that then lived.

MAXINE COLLINS (1920-1984): I have but today, may I make it tell

Not in history books, but that I used it well

For Jesus.

Just today, yesterday is gone

Tomorrow yet to come;

And between them hung

Is that space, of time and place

That is this day, this hour, this minute

This one breath is all that I can claim

May its aim, be to proclaim:

Jesus.

 

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A Memoir of Edward Payson (1783-1827)

Posted on November 6, 2020 by The Editor

Proverbs 10:7; Psalm 37:37

The memory of the just is blessed.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): None of the saints ever affirmed that they had arrived to perfection, but have disclaimed it―such may be said to be perfect, that is, sincere, who have received the grace of God in truth, and have the truth and root of the matter in them; so Noah, Job, and others, are said to be perfect men; but not simply and absolutely in themselves, but as in Christ Jesus―by which they are justified from all sin, and are perfectly comely, and a perfection of beauty, through the comeliness of Christ put upon them.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): I would here offer a remark as to the word “perfect.” When Abraham was called upon to be “perfect,” in Genesis 17:1, it did not mean perfect in himself; for this he never was, and never could be. It simply, meant that he should be perfect as regards the object before his heart that his hopes and expectations were to be perfectly and undividedly centered in the “Almighty God.”

JOHN GILL: Though holiness is not perfect in this life, yet it will be in heaven; and there is a perfection of it in Christ—“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Such a man now enjoys a conscience peace, which passes the understanding of worldly men; and which he possesses in Christ, and from Him, amidst a variety of tribulations, arising from a view of interest in His blood and righteousness; and, generally speaking, he goes off the stage of life, if not triumphing, yet resigned to the will of God, and in a serene and tranquil frame of spirit, and even desiring to be gone, and to be with Christ.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): You have heard of holy Edward Payson, the American Divine, a man who walked with God in his ministry―Have you ever read of the deathbed of Payson? I cannot describe it to you. It was like the flight of a seraph… His last expressions were weighty sermons.

GEORGE OFFOR (1787-1864): During the last days of that eminent man of God, he once said, “When I formerly read John Bunyan’s description of the Land of Beulah,* where the sun shines and the birds sing day and night, I used to doubt if there was such a place; but now my own experience has convinced me of it, and it infinitely transcends all my previous conceptions.”

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): What a prelude of the celestial banquet must Payson have had, when he wrote the following letter to his sister.

EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): Were I to adopt Bunyan’s figurative language, I might date this letter from the land of Beulah, of which I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant. The celestial city is full in my view. Its glories beam upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the river of death, which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. The Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as He approached; and now He fills the whole hemisphere, pouring forth a flood of glory, in which I seem to float like an insect in the sun beams, exulting, yet almost trembling, while I gaze on this excessive brightness, and wondering, with unutterable wonder, why God should deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm. A single heart and a single tongue seem altogether inadequate to my desires—I need a whole heart for every separate emotion, and a whole tongue to express that emotion…

O, my sister, my sister! could you but know what awaits the Christian; could you know only so much as I know, you could not refrain from rejoicing, and even leaping for joy. Labours, trials, troubles, would be nothing—you would rejoice in afflictions, and glory in tribulations; and, like Paul and Silas, sing God’s praises in the darkest night, and in the deepest dungeon. You have known a little of my trials and conflicts, and know that they have been neither few nor small; and I hope this glorious termination of them will serve to strengthen your faith, and elevate your hope. And now, my dear, dear sister, farewell. Hold on your Christian course—but a few days longer, and you will meet in heaven, Your happy and affectionate brother, Edward.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: His language, his conversation, and his whole deportment were such as brought home and fastened to the minds of his hearers the conviction, that he believed, and therefore he spoke. So important did he regard such a conviction in the attendants on his ministry, that he made it the topic of one of his addresses to his clerical brethren, which he entitled, “The importance of convincing our hearers that we believe what we preach.”

C. H. SPURGEON: I remember that Payson, an exceedingly earnest and useful man of God, once did an amazing thing. He had been holding inquiry meetings and great numbers had been saved. At last, one Sunday, he gave out that he would have a meeting on Monday night with those persons who did not desire to be saved—and, strange to say, some twenty persons came who did not wish to repent or believe.

EDWARD PAYSON: Looking back on my sermons, I often wonder that God should ever have blessed a soul through them.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: During his ministry, his solicitude for the salvation of souls was so earnest, that Payson impaired his health by the frequency of his fastings and the importunity of his prayers.

C. H. SPURGEON: He was out one day with a brother minister who made a call at a lady’s house. The lady pressed them both to stay to tea. She was not a Christian woman, and Payson sat down and invoked the Divine blessing which he did in terms so sweet and full of holy unction that he impressed everybody. The lady waited upon him with great attention, and when he rose up to go, he said to her, “Madam, I thank you much for your great kindness to me, but how do you treat my Master?” A work of grace was worked in that lady by the question—she was brought to Jesus, and she opened her house for preaching—and a revival followed.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: Payson carried with him into his sick chamber all his undiminished earnestness for the salvation of souls. He directed a label to be attached to his bosom when dead, with the words, “Remember the words which I have spoken unto you, while I was yet present with you,” that they might be read by all who came to look at his corpse, and by them, he being dead, yet spoke. The same words at the request of his people, were engraved on the plate of his coffin, and read by thousands on the day of his internment.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): When a holy man ceases to live among his fellows, his soul becomes an inhabitant of another world, and is joined to “the spirits of just men made perfect,” Hebrews 12:23.

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*Editor’s Note: In John Bunyan’s allegorical Pilgrim’s Progress, the “Land of Beulah,” was a state of joy and peace experienced by a believer just prior to entering heaven, in anticipation of the delight and glory to come in communion with Jesus Christ; it is taken from Isaiah 62:4.

 

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The Battle Cry of the Protestant Reformation

Posted on October 30, 2020 by The Editor

Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:10,11

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): In the 16th century, God raised up Martin Luther to sound, with clarion voice, the battle-cry of the Reformation, “The just shall live by faith!”

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Luther taught in no uncertain terms that sinners are justified by faith, and not by works.

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): This doctrine is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): It was because Luther was led by God to proclaim that doctrine of justification by faith that we received the Protestant Reformation.

H. A. IRONSIDE: And it is the touchstone of every system since, that professes to be of God. If wrong here, they are bound to be wrong throughout. It is impossible to understand the gospel if this basic principle be misunderstood or denied: Justification by faith alone is the test of orthodoxy.

C. H. SPURGEON: Luther said that it was so difficult to get the doctrine of justification by faith into the minds of the Wittenbergers that he had half a mind to take the Bible and beat them over the head with it!

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Though volumes have been written upon the subject, I think it may be explained in few words. Every one must give an account of himself to God; and the judgment will proceed according to the tenor of His holy word: “By the law no flesh can be justified, for all have sinned,” Romans 3:19,20. But they who believe the Gospel will be “justified from all things,” Acts 13:39, for which the law would otherwise condemn them; and, as “they who believe not are condemned already,” John 3:18, so believers are already “justified by faith, and have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:1, in the present life. They plead guilty to the charge of the law; but they can likewise plead, that they renounce all hope and righteousness in themselves, and, upon the warrant of the Word of promise, put their whole trust in Jesus, “as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,” Romans 10:4, and this plea is accepted. “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him who justifieth the ungodly, His faith is counted for righteousness,” Romans 4:5, and his sins are no more remembered against him, Hebrews 8:12.

WILLIAM TYNDALE (1490-1536): The law is the key which shuts up all men under condemnation, and the gospel is the key which opens the door and lets them out.

H. A. IRONSIDE: It was the key that opened the door of liberty to Luther.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): When Luther was groaning under the power of sin, and saw not forgiveness, and sought relief by making promises and keeping under the body, one said to him, “Why do you distress yourself with these high thoughts? Look to the wounds of Jesus Christ, to the blood which He has shed for you: it is there you will see the mercy of God. Instead of torturing yourself for your faults, cast yourself into the arms of your Redeemer. Trust in Him, in the righteousness of His life, and in the expiatory sacrifice of His death.”

C. H. SPURGEON: Let us look to the Lord Jesus alone. As we see Jesus we shall see our salvation.

WILLIAM TYNDALE: Remember Christ is the end of all things. He only is our resting-place, and He is our peace. For as there is no salvation in any other name, so is there no peace in any other name. Thou shalt never have rest in thy soul, neither shall the worm of conscience ever cease to gnaw thine heart, till thou come at Christ; till thou hear the glad tidings, how that God for His sake hath forgiven thee all freely. If thou trust in thy works, there is no rest. Thou shalt think, I have not done enough. Have I done it with so great love as I should do?  Was I so glad in doing, as I would be to receive help at my need? I have left this or that undone; and such like. If thou trust in confession, then thou shalt think, Have I told all? Have I told all the circumstances? Did I repent enough? Had I as great sorrow in my repentance for my sins, as I had pleasure in doing them?

C. H. SPURGEON: Even if salvation by good works were possible, no man can ever be sure that he has performed enough of them to secure his salvation…One breakage of the perfect law of God involves transgression against the whole of it. In order to be saved by works, there must be absolutely perfect, and continuously perfect obedience to it, in thought, and word, and deed; and that obedience must be rendered cheerfully, and from the heart, for this is the pith of the first table—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Can you keep that?

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): This is the one true way of peace—justification by Christ…Remember there is no mediator but one—Jesus Christ. Remember there is no purgatory for sinners but one—the blood of Christ. Remember there is no sacrifice for sin but one—the sacrifice once made on the cross. Remember there are no works that can merit anything—but the work of Christ. Remember there is no priest who can truly absolve—but Christ. Stand fast here, and be on your guard. Give not the glory due to Christ, to another.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “And by him all that believe are justified,” Acts 13:39. This saying of Paul is the more to be heeded, saith an interpreter, because it is the very basis, foundation, and state of Christian religion, whereby it is distinguished from all other religions.

C. H. SPURGEON: True justification by faith is the surface soil, but then imputed righteousness is the granite rock which lies underneath it; and if you dig down through the great truth of a sinners being justified by faith in Christ, you must, as I believe, inevitably come to the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ as the basis and foundation on which that simple doctrine rests.

JOHN TRAPP: Jews, Muslims, Pagans, and Papists explode an imputed righteousness; as if we could not be justified by the righteousness of Christ apprehended by faith. The Papists, like king Saul, forbid us to eat of this honey, this precious comfort in Christ—justification by faith alone, as if hereby we should be hindered in our pursuit against sin; whereas indeed, it is the only strength and help against it. Hold fast therefore the faithful word, and transmit this doctrine safe and sound to posterity. It was Martin Luther’s great fear, that when he was dead, it would be lost again out of the world.

MARTIN LUTHER: If the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time.

 

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Vain Foolish Boasters

Posted on October 23, 2020 by The Editor

James 3:3; Proverbs 15:2,4; Psalm 94:4

The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.

The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness…A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He who praises himself writes himself down as a fool in capital letters…First of all, because it is extremely foolish to boast at all. Boasting never makes a man any the greater in the esteem of others, nor does it improve the real state of his body or soul. Let a man brag as he will, he is none the greater for his bragging, no, he is the less, for men invariably think the worse of him!

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): “Praise,” says an old expositor, “is a comely garment. But though thyself doth wear it, another must put it on, or else it will never sit well about thee. Praise is sweet music, but it is never tuneable in thine own mouth. If it cometh from the mouth of another, it soundeth most tuneably in the ears of all that hear it. Praise is a rich treasure, but it will never make thee rich, unless another tell the same.” Indeed—except as the vindication of our character, or as our Master’s honour connected with it, may require—nothing so degrades a man with his fellow-men, as setting out his own praise. For though every man is his own flatterer, yet men usually know how to estimate pride in others, while they cherish it in themselves.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): When men lift up themselves in pride and vain glory they are justly laughed at for their folly.

C. H. SPURGEON: Generally your boaster has nothing in him of true grit. The more of the solid there is in a man, the less does he act the balloon.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): The greatest boasters are usually the greatest cowards.

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): Pride leads them on to belittle the work of other men and to applaud their own.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Self-love makes men unreasonable, and ever teacheth them to turn the glass to see themselves bigger, others lesser, than they are.

MARTIN LUTHER: By men’s boasting of what they have done, they become nothing else but dregs.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “Vain talkers”—Empty boasters of knowledge, rights, and particular privileges; all noise, empty parade, and no work. A bragging man, who does not fulfill his promises, is like clouds which appear to be laden with vapour, and like the wind which, though it blow from a rainy quarter, brings no moistness with it. So the vain boaster; he is big with promise, but performs nothing.

WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): Least doers are the greatest boasters.

C. H. SPURGEON: A boaster and a liar are much about the same thing—these proverbs are but specimens of many just observations upon the vice of bragging. It would be hard to tell where a boast ends and a lie begins: it is like the distinction between a snake and its tail. Boasters are hardly conscious of their own falsehoods, for they have talked themselves into believing their own bombast.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Ungodly men love to boast of themselves…Rather than pass unnoticed, the ungodly will boast of their iniquities and excesses.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): The fool condemns himself with his own mouth by his vain boasting.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): It is insanity which evokes wonder, as well as sin which deserves rebuke.

C. H. SPURGEON: “I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly,” Psalm 75:4. The Lord bids the boasters boast not, and commands the mad oppressors to stay their folly. If the wicked were not insane, they would even now hear in their consciences the still small voice bidding them cease from evil, and forbear their pride. “And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn. Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck,” Psalm 75:4,5. He bids the ungodly stay their haughtiness. The horn was the emblem of boastful power; only the foolish, like wild and savage beasts, will lift it high. For their abounding pride there is a double rebuke. Would to God that all proud men would obey the word here given them.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight,” Psalm 5:5. By the “foolish” are meant not such who are so in a natural, but in a moral sense—wicked and ungodly men. The word used comes from a root which signifies to “praise;” and may design such as are praisers of themselves, proud boasters; who are elated with their own excellencies, with their wisdom, strength, honours, riches, and righteousness, and treat all others with contempt.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): It is all vanity.

C. H. SPURGEON: There is many a man without the fear of God who blusters and bullies as if everybody had to be his slave…Big boasters should heed the word of the wise man, “Let not him that girds on his harness boast himself as he that takes it off,” 1 Kings 20:11.

JOHN TRAPP: God delights to cross such vain boasters, and to confute their confidences.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision,” Psalm 2:4. He has them perfectly under his control, holds them in a chain when they think themselves most at liberty, appoints the bounds beyond which they cannot pass, and can in a moment check them, and make them feel his hook and bridle, when in the height of their career.

C. H. SPURGEON: Impudence before God is madness. The out-stretched neck of insolent pride is sure to provoke His axe. Those who carry their heads high shall find that they will be lifted yet higher, as Haman was upon the gallows which he had prepared for the righteous man.

CHARLES BRIDGES: “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth,” Proverbs 27:1. How awfully has boasting been put to shame! Abner promised a kingdom, but could not ensure his life for an hour, 2 Samuel 3. Haman plumed himself upon the prospect of the queen’s banquet, but was hanged like a dog before night, Esther 5:12; 7:1-10.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: What an end to all human pride and boasting!

JOHN NEWTON: Let us beware of boasting.

JOHN TRAPP: Virtue is no braggart.

C. H. SPURGEON: We do not like boasters, but we would encourage every child of God to boast in the Lord as much as he pleases. “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD,” Psalm 34:2.—We may boast of the Lord, in Himself, His manifestations of Himself, His relationship to us, our interest in Him, and our expectations from Him.

SIR RICHARD BAKER (1568-1644): Can any boasting be greater than to say, “I can do all things?” Yet in this boasting there is humility when I add, “in Christ that strengtheneth me,” Philippians 4:13. For though God likes not boasting, yet He likes this boasting, which arrogates nothing to ourselves, but ascribes all to Him.

MATTHEW HENRY: It is not vainglory to glory in the Lord.

 

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The Christian Voter’s Responsibility

Posted on October 16, 2020 by The Editor

Exodus 18: 20,21

Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): This text is part of the sagacious advice which Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, gave him about the sort of men that he should pick out to be his lieutenants in civic government.

EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): God has plainly described the characters we ought to choose for rulers and magistrates. He has also told us, that “when the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but that when the wicked bear rule the people mourn,” Proverbs 29:2. If then, we choose different men for our rulers, we slight God’s counsels and disobey His commands.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Look first, at the ideal of a politician set forth here—run over the details. They must be ‘able men,’ or, as the original has it, “men of strength.” The statesman is not one that puts his ear down to the ground to hear the tramp of some advancing host, and then makes up his mind to follow in their paths; he is not sensitive to the varying winds of public opinion, nor does he trim his sails to suit them, but he comes to his convictions by first-hand approach to, and meditation on, the great principles that are to guide, and then holds to them with a strength that nothing can weaken, and a courage that nothing can daunt. ‘Men of strength’ is what democracies like ours do most need in their leaders.

EDWARD PAYSON: He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in “the fear of God.”

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: “Such as fear God.” There is the secret of strength…He that would govern others must first be lord of himself, and he only is lord of himself who is consciously and habitually the servant of God. So that whatever natural endowment we start with, it must be heightened, purified, deepened, enlarged, by the presence in our lives of a deep and vital religious conviction.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Thirdly, “Men of Truth;” men whose veracity may be depended upon, who may be absolutely confided in and trusted, and, consequently, will never deviate from the paths of justice.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “Truth” is opposed not only to deception and gross falsehoods, but to popularity hunting, flattering promises, and other crooked arts.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: “Hating covetousness;” or, as it might be rendered, “unjust gain.” “Clean hands,” Psalm 24:4, and that not only from the vulgar filth of wealth, but from the more subtle advantages which may accrue from a lofty position, are demanded of the leader of men. Such is the ideal. The requirements are stern and high, and they exclude the vermin that infest “politics” as they are called, and cause them to stink in many nostrils. The self-seeking schemer, the one-eyed partisan, the cynic who disbelieves in ideals of any sort, the charlatan who assumes virtues that he does not possess, and mouths noble sentiments that go no deeper than his teeth, are all shut out by them. The doctrine that a man may do in his public capacity things which would be disgraceful in private life, and yet retain his personal honour untarnished, is blown to atoms by this ideal.

EDWARD PAYSON: Now, my friends, it becomes us to inquire to whom is the prevalence of these vices to be ascribed?

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared,” Job 34:30. By “hypocrite” is not meant a common hypocrite in religion, but an hypocrite in politics, who pretends to great humanity and goodness, to a tender care of the people, and a preservation of them in their rights and liberties, and promises to support and establish the constitution, and observe the laws of the nation, with a show of zeal for the religion professed in it.

EDWARD PAYSON: Subjects who have the privilege of choosing their own rulers and magistrates, make themselves partakers of all their sins, when they give their votes for vicious or irreligious characters. I hope, my hearers, it is not necessary to assure you that this remark has no party political bearing. In making it, I certainly do not mean to censure one party more than another, nor do I intend the most distant allusion to any of our rulers or magistrates; for I am taught not to speak evil of dignities. I merely state it as an abstract principle, which cannot be denied, without denying the truth of Scripture, that when we vote for vicious or irreligious men, knowing them, or having good reason to suspect them to be such, we make ourselves partakers of their sins.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): When we become Christians, we do not cease to have the rights and privileges which citizenship has bestowed on us. Let us, whenever we shall have the opportunity of using the right of voting, use it as in the sight of Almighty God, knowing that for everything, we shall be brought into account and for that among the rest, seeing that we are entrusted with it.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Though we cannot be great, let us be honest; and though we cannot be brilliant, let us be genuine.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): A man may be a pious patriot, without degenerating into a malignant partisan.

C. H. SPURGEON: Be not a thick and thin supporter of a doubtful cause. Do not vote wrong is right to serve your party.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The religion of God says, we must not do evil that good may come, Romans 3:8.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): The Bible is my system of politics. There I read, that “the Lord reigns,” Psalm 97:1; that no wisdom, understanding, counsel, or power, can prevail without His blessing, Proverbs 21:30; that as “righteousness exalteth a nation, so sin is the reproach,” and will even totally be “the ruin of any people,” Proverbs 14:34.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): The general duty which these words should teach us is very plain. We are to observe carefully the public events of the times in which we live. We are not to be absorbed in politics, but we are to mark political events.

C. H. SPURGEON: And let us remember that we are our own governors, to a great degree, and that if at the next election we should choose wrong governors, we shall have nobody to blame but ourselves, however wrongly they may afterwards act, unless we exercise all prudence and prayer to Almighty God to direct our hearts to a right choice in this matter.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): “Consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds,” Judges 19:30. Let every man retire into himself, and weigh the matter impartially and fully in his own thoughts, and seriously and calmly consider it, without prejudice on either side, before he speaks upon it. Let them freely talk it over, and every man take advice of his friend, know his opinion and his reasons, and weigh them. Then let every man speak his mind, and give his vote according to his conscience.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The nation, of which you are members, demands it of you.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: To judge righteously, to vote honestly, is as much worship as to pray.

 

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The Thankful Leper

Posted on October 9, 2020 by The Editor

Luke 17:11-19

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.

And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Let us mark, firstly, in this passage, how earnestly men can cry for help when they feel their need of it.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): Ten men with a common need lifted a cry of agony in petition.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Hereby it appeared that they were in earnest, and would not go away, nor let Christ go without a blessing.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): Cold prayers will not seize the prize.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): We must pray with fervency, importunity, reiteration, if we would prevail with God! We must say, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” The Lord loves that kind of pleading!

J. C. RYLE: How is it, again, that many true believers often pray so coldly? What is the reason that their prayers are so feeble, and wandering, and lukewarm, as they frequently are? The answer once more is very plain. Their sense of need is not so deep as it ought to be. They are not truly alive to their own weakness and helplessness, and so they do not cry fervently for mercy and grace…The conduct of the ten lepers is very instructive.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Their cry indicates some knowledge. They knew the Lord’s name, and had dim notions of His authority, for He is addressed as Jesus and as Master. They knew that He had power to heal, and they hoped that He had “mercy,” which they might win for themselves by entreaty. There was the germ of trust in the cry forced from them by desperate need. But their conceptions of Him, and their consciousness of their own necessities, did not rise above the purely physical region, and He was nothing to them but a healer. Still, low and rude as their notions were, they did present a point of contact for Christ’s “mercy,” which is ever ready to flow into every heart that is lowly, as water will into all low levels.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): They had heard that the Lord Jesus healed immediately other people of all kinds of diseases. He had cleansed many lepers by a word or a touch. He had said to one, “I will; be thou clean,” and the leper was cleansed. But the Lord does not deal with everyone in the same way…So the Saviour said to these men, “Go show yourselves unto the priests,” implying that ere they reached the priest they would be cleansed. There would be no use to show themselves to the priest if they were still leprous, for in that condition there was nothing he could do for them…They knew what His words implied: they would be cleansed. And so they turned to go as He had commanded.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Whilst they were in the way, they at once found themselves entirely healed of their disease; as Christ very likely gave them reason to believe they should; whereby His power was seen in it; and it was a clear case that it was owing to Him, and not the priests, that they had their cleansing.

MATTHEW HENRY: How rich Christ is in doing good. Here was a cure by wholesale, a whole hospital healed with one word’s speaking—and but one of them returned to give thanks.

J. C. RYLE: The words that fell from our Lord’s lips upon this occasion are very solemn: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: A tone of surprise as well as of sadness can be detected in the pathetic double questions.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): We might think it almost incredible that of the ten lepers cleansed by Christ, only one returned to give glory to God; yet observation shows it was sadly true to life.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: The nine might have said, “We are doing what the Healer told us do; to go back to Him would be disobedience.”—How like us all it is to hurry away clutching our blessings, and never cast back a thought to the giver!

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): What ingratitude is there in the human heart! We are amazed at the conduct of the ungrateful lepers. We are ready to suppose that nothing could induce us to act like them. Yet we may see in them a true picture of the world at large. How many temporal mercies have we experienced through our whole lives! What continuance of health, or deliverances from sickness! What freedom from want, or relief in the midst of it! What comfort in the society of our friends and relatives! Yet how little have we thought of Him, Who bestowed these blessings! How many spiritual mercies too have we received from God! What provision has been made for the healing of our souls! The Son of God Himself has suffered, that He might “heal us by His stripes:” and offers of pardon and salvation have been proclaimed to us in His name; yea, we have been promised a deliverance from the leprosy of sin, and have been entreated to become children and heirs of God. Are not these mercies which demand our gratitude? Yet what returns have we made to our adorable Benefactor?

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Let us learn that this complaint is brought generally against all of us, if we do not at least repay the divine favours by the duty of gratitude.

MATTHEW HENRY: Those who have received mercy from God should publish it to others, that they may praise God too, and be encouraged by their experiences to trust in Him.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): But the most remarkable feature to be noticed in this miracle, as it related to this man, is that the Lord Jesus said unto him, his faith had made him whole. How is this? The whole ten were healed by Christ: and was there then anything special in this man’s case?

MATTHEW HENRY: When he “saw that he was healed,” instead of going forward to the priest, to be by him declared clean, and so discharged from his confinement, which was all that the rest aimed at, he turned back towards Him who was the Author of his cure, Whom he wished to have the glory of it, before he received the benefit of it. He appears to have been very hearty and affectionate in his thanksgivings: “With a loud voice he glorified God,” acknowledging it to come originally from Him.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The simple reason is, Those who have much forgiven will love much, Luke 7:47.

ROBERT HAWKER: They were all healed of the leprosy of the body; but this man only of both leprosy of the soul and body. And hence the different effects. When the ten felt their cure, nine of them had all they desired, all they asked for. But in this man, grace entered his soul, and healed a far deeper and more dreadful leprosy there; and, therefore, led by that awakening grace in the heart, he had forever done with Jewish priests and legal sacrifices, and fled to Christ the Author and Finisher of his salvation. Reader! if my views be right, we see at once the effect of distinguishing grace.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): He was as earnest in his praises as he had been in his prayers…Hearty thanks must be given to God: such as cometh not from the roof of the mouth, but the root of the heart.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: A grateful heart knows that to express its gratitude is the highest duty, and is necessary for its own relief.

 

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Autumn Reflections

Posted on October 2, 2020 by The Editor

John 15:2,6; Isaiah 64:6

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit…If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): We are about to let autumn preach…Falling leaves are nature’s sermons.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Man in his best estate is only like an autumn leaf. “There is none abiding.” The highest position, the loudest profession, may all end in following Jesus afar off, and in basely denying His name. Spurious cases may arise; counterfeit conversions may take place. Persons may seem to run well for a time and then break down. The blossoms of spring time may not be followed by the mellow fruits of autumn.

C. H. SPURGEON: Remember, Brethren, that decays in Divine Grace and backsliding are usually very much like the fall of the autumn leaves. You are watching the trees, for now they are beginning to indicate the coming fall. They evidently know that their verdant robes are to be stripped from them for they are casting off their first loose vestments. How slowly the time of the brown leaf comes on! You notice here and there a tinge of the copper hue, and soon the gold leaf or the bronze is apparent. Week after week you observe that the general fall of the leaves is drawing nearer, but it is a matter that creeps slowly on. And so with backsliders. They are not put out of the visible Church all at once. They do not become open offenders all at once. The heart, by slow degrees, turns aside from the living God and then, at last, comes the outward sin and the outward shame.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “The strangers shall fade away,” Psalm 18:45. Like the leaves of trees in autumn, when they fall and perish; to which hypocrites and nominal professors are compared―carnal professors who had no true grace in them; and so dropped their profession, and became like trees whose fruit withered; or like trees, in the fall of the year, which are without fruit, and shed their leaves.

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): They fall as leaves in the autumn, in the declension of their years, before the winter of old age comes, and seldom or never continue till then.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Jude employs other metaphors for the same end, that they were trees fading, as the vigour of trees in autumn disappears. He then calls them trees unfruitful, rooted up, and twice dead, Jude 12; as though he had said, that there was no sap within, though leaves might appear.

JOHN GILL: This is to be understood not of true believers and real members, for these are rooted in the love of God, and in Christ, and have the root of the matter in them, the true grace of God; and therefore, though they meet with many blustering storms, yet do not cast their leaf of profession—“Whose leaf shall not fade,” Ezekiel 47, as the leaves of trees in autumn do, and drop off and fall.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): The trees of the Lord, though they seem dry trees, are “full of sap,” Psalm 104:16.

JOHN GILL: True believers, as they take up a profession on principles of grace, they hold it fast without wavering; their root, seed, and sap, remain, and so never wither and die in their profession; indeed there may be, as there often are, decays and declensions in them.

C. H. MACKINTOSH: True believers may fail in many things. They may stumble and break down in their course. They may have ample cause for self-judgment and humiliation, in the practical details of life. But, allowing the widest possible margin for all these things, the precious doctrine of final perseverance remains unshaken―yea untouched, upon its own divine and eternal foundation: “I give unto my sheep eternal―not temporary or conditional―life, and they shall never perish,” John 10:28. Yet so it is. People may argue as they will, and base their arguments on cases which have come under their notice, from time to time, in the history of professing Christians; but, looking at the subject from a divine point of view, and basing our convictions on the sure and unerring word of God, we maintain that all who belong to the “us” of Romans 8:1-39, and the “sheep” of John 10:1-42, are as safe as Christ can make them, and this we conceive to be the sum and substance of the doctrine of final perseverance.

C. H. SPURGEON: And there are some whose ripe and mellow experience has the peacefulness of autumn about it…We like to let our eyes rest upon that beautiful lake in the distance, or that forest browning with the tints of autumn, or that green hill, or that sky checkered with a thousand hues as the sun is setting.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): I remember once standing by the side of a little Highland loch on a calm autumn day, when all the winds were still, and every birch tree stood unmoved, and every twig was reflected on the steadfast mirror, into the depths of which Heaven’s own blue seemed to have found its way. That is what our hearts may be, if we let Christ put His guarding hand round them to keep the storms off, and have Him within us for our rest.

C. H. SPURGEON: Our sins are countless as the drops of dew in these autumn mornings when every leaf is wet, for every tree is weeping tears of sorrow over the dying year. Yet when the sun has risen, with a little of its heat, the moisture of the dew is gone—as if it had never been. Our sins are countless—but the removal of our transgressions is complete when the infinite love of Jesus shines upon us and God in His Son has reconciled us by His atoning blood!—Oh, to make the autumn of your life and the coming winter of your last days into a new spring and a blessed summer—this is to be done by laying hold of Christ now!

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: But the man who does not trust Jesus “is like the troubled sea which cannot rest,” but goes moaning round half the world, homeless and hungry, rolling and heaving, monotonous and yet changeful, salt and barren—the true emblem of every soul that has not listened to the merciful call, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”—I saw a forest fire this last autumn, and the great pine-trees stood there for a moment in pyramids of flame, and then came down with a crash. So that hereafter will be to godless men.

C. H. SPURGEON: In the social economy of life, a man may be of some use however bad he may be; but a man who is in the nominal Church of Christ, and yet does not bring forth fruit unto God, is of no use whatsoever. There is nothing to be done with him but to gather him up with the autumn leaves, and the decaying stalks of vegetation, to be burned in the corner outside the wall.

 

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