Can a Christian Be Too Righteous?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by The Editor

Ecclesiastes 7:16,17

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

GEORGE WHITEFIELD (1714-1770):  Righteousness over-much! May one say, is there any danger of that? Is it even possible? Can we be too good?

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): It must be confessed, that the sense of this passage is not obvious at first sight.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): One easily perceives how a premature death is the consequence of an excess of wickedness and folly; but, to make destruction a consequence of an excess or over-affectation of wisdom or righteousness, looks like propounding a riddle.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): “Be not righteous over much” is the sheet anchor of the profane, the ungodly, and the formalist!—We cannot wonder, therefore, that this should be one of their favourite texts—held in high estimation…It seems to admit of so many shades of interpretation, as if it would allow any man his own rule and standard. The insincere professor finds an excuse for loving the world in his heart, and meeting it halfway in his practice. He may have a plea for avoiding all the offence of the cross. He may revolt from the most spiritual doctrines and exercises of the Gospel. He has one answer at hand against every warning.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The world is in their hearts and they have no wish to get it out. They have heard some people say that all conversation about God, the soul and eternity is dull Puritan talk, so they have picked up an expression as parrots often do and they say, “No, we do not want to be Puritans. We do not care to be extra precise and righteous over much.”

CHARLES BRIDGES: Such is the rule, as expounded by the votaries of the world. But is it really possible to transgress it, so as to have too much of the substance of religion? We cannot have religious sentiments and principles too strong, if only they have a right object. We cannot love God too warmly, or honour Him too highly, or strive to serve Him too earnestly, or trust Him too implicitly; because our duty is to love Him with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind, and all our strength. And it is surely absurd to warn the carnal man against an excess of spirituality—the earthly-minded man against the over-much seeking of heavenly things.

C. H. SPURGEON: What, then, does it mean?

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): This is not meant of true and real righteousness—even moral righteousness—a man cannot be too holy or too righteous; but of a show and ostentation of righteousness, and of such who would be thought to be more righteous and holy than others, and therefore despise those who, as they imagine, do not come up to them; and are very rigid and censorious in their judgment of others, and very severe in their reproofs of them. And many there be, who, by an imprudent zeal for what they judge right, and which sometimes are mere trifles, and by unseasonable reproofs for what is wrong, expose themselves to resentment and danger.

CHARLES BRIDGES: Neither make thyself over-much wise—a wholesome practical rule! Avoid all affectation or high pretensions to superior wisdom. Guard against that opinionative confidence, which seems to lay down the law, and critically finds fault with every judgment differing from our own. The Apostle gives this warning with peculiar emphasis and solemnity—“This I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith,” Romans 12:3. The more humble thou art, the more wary and circumspect thou wilt be; and the more wary, the more safe. A question is put to give energy to the warning—“Why shouldst thou destroy thyself?” Men may be martyrs to trifles magnified unduly. They may bring needless trouble upon themselves, by making conscience of doubtful or subordinate matters.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Either by being too severe in observing, censuring, and punishing the faults of others beyond the rules of equity, without giving any allowance for human infirmity, extraordinary temptations, the state of times, and other circumstances. Or, by being more just than God requires, either laying those yokes and burdens upon a man’s self or others which God hath not imposed upon him, and which are too heavy for him, or condemning or avoiding those things as sinful which God hath not forbidden, which really is superstition, but is here called righteousness abusively, because it is so in appearance, and in the opinion of such persons.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): What is this spirit that condemns? It is a self-righteous spirit. Self is always at the back of it, and it is always a manifestation of self-righteousness, a feeling of superiority, and a feeling that we are all right while others are not.  That then leads to censoriousness, and a spirit that is always ready to express itself in a derogatory manner. And then, accompanying that, there is the tendency to despise others, to regard them with contempt.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Doubtless the contempt of the brethren, moroseness, envy, immoderate estimate of ourselves, and other sinful impulses, clearly show that our love is either very cold, or does not at all exist.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Utmost right may be utmost wrong. He is righteous over much that will remit nothing of his right, but exercise great censures for light offences; this is, as one said, to kill a fly upon a man’s forehead with a mallet.

CHARLES BRIDGES: And thus, unless the exercise of wisdom is tempered with humility and reverence, it may be “the pride that goeth before destruction,” Proverbs 16:18.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: We must remember that men who are equally honest may differ.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Be not opinionative, and conceited of thy own abilities. Set not up for a dictator, nor pretend to give law to, and give judgment upon, all about thee. Set not up for a critic, to find fault with every thing that is said and done.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): We are well aware that in this age of fleshly indulgence the majority are greatly in danger of erring on the side of laxity, yet in avoiding this sin, others are in danger of swinging to the other extreme and being “righteous over much.”

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: It seems to be the besetting sin of mankind and one of the most terrible results of the Fall, that there is nothing difficult as to maintain a balance. In correcting one thing we go to such an extreme as to find ourselves in an equally dangerous position…The light-hearted, glib Christian, and the morbid, ultra-sensitive, over-careful, hypochondriacal Christian are both wrong; and there are many such.

MATTHEW POOLE: Righteousness, as well as other virtues, avoids both the extremes, the excess as well as the deficit.

CHARLES BRIDGES: “Turn not to right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil, ” Proverbs 4:27…We have therefore valuable cautions against all extremes. It is wise for us to “make strait paths for our feet,” Hebrews 12:13—to preserve the mean of a sober scriptural righteousness—to cultivate “that gracious humility, which hath ever been the crown and glory of a Christianly-disposed mind.”

 

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The Pursuit of Happiness Part 1

Posted on September 4, 2020 by The Editor

Proverbs 16:20; Ephesians 3:14-17

Whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Men want happiness, where shall they go for it?

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): To inquiries after happiness, one answer only can be given. Every thing in the whole creation is forced to confess, “It is not in me, It is not in me.” It can be found in God alone.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “The depth saith, It is not in me, and the sea saith, It is not with me,” Job 28:14.  Men may dig into the bowels of the earth, and there find gold, silver, and precious stones; but these will not give them true happiness. Men may explore foreign countries, and by navigation connect as it were the most distant parts of the earth, and multiply the comforts and luxuries of life; but every voyage and every enjoyment proclaim, True happiness is not here.

C. H. SPURGEON: If the swallow were to fly straight for the north pole in the hope of finding a genial climate, he would not be more foolish than most men are in their supposed pursuit of happiness! Some fly to unchastity and lasciviousness and, in this way both wreck their bodies and damn their souls! Some fly to money-grubbing, raking up their gold and silver till they fancy that they are wealthy, whereas, often the more a man has of these things the more he craves, and it is a poor thing that makes us want more than we have any need of.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): “A man’s life,” therefore—his true happiness, “consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth,” Luke 12:15.

C. H. SPURGEON: Some fancy that they shall find pleasure in the approbation of their fellow men, but before long they discover that the breath of man’s nostrils can never fill an immortal soul.

ADAM CLARKE: Men miss the mark of true happiness in aiming at sensual gratifications; which happiness is to be found only in the possession and enjoyment of the favour of God, from whom their passions continually lead them. He alone hits the mark, and ceases from sin, who attains to God through Christ Jesus.

CHARLES SIMEON: The Psalmist’s choice was the only one that could be made consistently with true wisdom: “There be many that say, Who will shew us any good! Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us,” Psalm 4:6.

ADAM CLARKE: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and wine increased,” Psalm 4:7. Thou hast given my soul what it wanted and wished for. I find now a happiness which earthly things could not produce. I have peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost; such inward happiness as they cannot boast who have got the highest increase of corn and wine; those two things in the abundance of which many suppose happiness to be found.

CHARLES SIMEON: But on the other hand, it is possible to speak of earthly things in terms more contemptuous than either the Word of God, or the experience of His people will justify. It is not uncommon for persons professing the Gospel, or even preaching it, to represent earthly things as altogether worthless. But who is there that finds them so? Who is there that does not experience pain from the want, and satisfaction from the supply, of them? Nor is this feeling at all unbecoming a real Christian: for Christians are men; and, consequently, susceptible of pain or pleasure from the want or the enjoyment of the things that are needful for the body.

C. H. SPURGEON: Such things are not to be overlooked.

CHARLES SIMEON: Let anyone be honest, and he will confess that he is not so independent of earthly things as to feel no comfort from the possession of them, and no grief at their loss.

C. H. SPURGEON: Temporal blessings are not trifles, for the miss of them would be a dire calamity.

CHARLES SIMEON: As for those who affect voluntary poverty and privations, they are no more really mortified to the world than others: they prefer the gratification of their spiritual lusts to merely corporeal indulgences: and whatever they take out of the scale of earthly pleasure, they put, in full proportion, into the opposite scale of pride and self-complacency. They entertain a notion that the mortification of their bodies is meritorious, and that it will raise them in the estimation of God and man; and, under this impression, they pour contempt on earthly comforts. But they only exchange one lust for another that is equally hateful in the sight of God. Their superstition contradicts the testimony of God Himself, who, both under the Old Testament and the New, promises earthly things under the notion of blessings. The whole Mosaic law was enforced with promises of temporal prosperity. Was not that an acknowledgment that temporal prosperity contributed to our comfort? Even under the New Testament dispensation, we are told that “godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come,” 1 Timothy 4:8; and, that “God hath given us all things richly to enjoy,” 1 Timothy 6:18, which shows that enjoyment is connected with the possession of them.

C. H. SPURGEON: Temporal gifts are a part of happiness, but still the heart and soul of happiness lies in the people being right with God, and having a full possession of Him.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): What more can be sought for by a mortal man than to enjoy his God, in Whom there is the fullness of all blessings?

C. H. SPURGEON: Verily the true Christian has a portion of happiness allotted to him here below which far excels all the voluptuous pleasures and intoxicating joys of sense! He has a right to be cheerful, a duty to rejoice evermore! The worldling boasts that he is happier than you are—it is a vain boast, an empty vaunt. His mirth—what does it consists of but quips, cranks, and wanton wiles? His joys but flash and crack and sparkle—like thorns that burn for a few minutes, and then turn to ashes. Their fun will never compare with your happiness! They may have more laughter, but you have more liveliness. They dissipate their spirits, while you renovate your strength! Gloom follows their glee, but your calm eventides forestall bright tomorrows, and your present serenity is the sure presage of a welcome eternity!

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): What more could be said?

JOHN CALVIN: God has offered Himself to you, and His bounty has ever been extended to you, as though He were a fountain from which you might draw enough to satisfy you.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Yea, happy is that soul whose God is the Lord! Reader! Is this your portion? Can you call God your Father, Jesus your Redeemer, God the Spirit your Teacher, Sanctifier, and the Glorifier of Jesus?

EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): Consider how much it would promote your present happiness to possess such a character. Where can happiness be found on earth, if not in such a family? “Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD,” Psalm 144:15.

 

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A Precept of Duty & A Promise of Payment

Posted on August 28, 2020 by The Editor

Proverbs 3:9, 10; Proverbs 11:25

Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): “Honour the Lord with thy substance” is a precept which makes it our duty to serve God with our estates. It is the end of our creation and redemption to honour God, to be to Him for a name and a praise―His honour we must show forth, and the honour we have for Him. We must honour Him, not only with our bodies and spirits which are His, but with our estates too, for they also are His.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Our time, our property, our influence, should all be considered His, and nothing as really ours, except the honour and happiness of employing it all for God.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): To ‘honour God with our substance’ is not necessarily to give it away for religious purposes, but to use it devoutly and as He approves. Christianity has more to say about the distribution, as well as the acquisition of wealth, than professing Christians, especially in commercial communities, practically recognize. This precept grips us tight, and is much more than a ceremonial regulation.

MATTHEW HENRY: Worldly wealth is but poor substance, yet, such as it is, we must honour God with it, and then, if ever, it becomes substantial, we must honour God “with our increase.” Where riches increase we are tempted to honour ourselves, Deuteronomy 8:17, and to set our hearts upon the world, Psalm 62:10; but the more God gives us the more we should study to honour Him. It is meant of the increase of the earth, for we live upon annual products, to keep us in constant dependence on God. As God has prospered us in everything, we must honour Him…“Thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth,” Deuteronomy 8:18.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): And do you think that He does so in order that we may gratify selfish lusts and indulge extravagant tastes? No, God’s bounty unto us is to be used in works of piety and charity—and not wasted upon luxuries and vanities! Christ still sits near the offering box, Mark 12:41, beholding how we drop in our money!

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Lay out thy estate not only to please and advance thyself or family, but also to glorify God; which is done by the payment of all those offerings and dues which God hath required; by giving according to thy abilities whatsoever is necessary for the support and advancement of God’s worship and service in the world; by free and liberal contributions to those whom God hath made His deputies, and, as I may say, the receivers of His rents, to wit, faithful ministers and good Christians, and all others who need and require thy help. The performance of these duties is here called an honouring of God―and partly because it is, a testimony of our respects to God, of our obedience to Him as our sovereign Lord, and of our thankfulness to Him as our chief Benefactor and Donor of all that we have, and of our belief of His promises made to the faithful practisers of this duty; which if they were believed, the most covetous persons would be the most charitable.

R. K. (19th Century)*: “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” It holds good to this day. “Honour the Lord with thy substance” is a word we do well to remember. Will it not impoverish us? Not a bit.

MATTHEW HENRY: Here is a promise, which makes it our interest to serve God with our estates. It is the way to make a little much―and much more; it is the surest and safest method of thriving: “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty”…If we make our worldly estates serviceable to our religion we shall find our religion very serviceable to the prosperity of our worldly affairs. “Godliness has the promise of the life that now is,” 1 Timothy 4:8, and most of the comfort of it. We mistake if we think that giving will undo us and make us poor. No, giving for God’s honour will make us rich, Haggai 2:19

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): How wonderful is the Lord! He gives the property, gives the heart to use it aright, and recompenses the man for the deed though all the fruit was found from Himself!

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): God takes it for an honour; how should this prevail with us!

R. K. (19th Century): As to niggardly souls, what can we say of them?

A. W. PINK: It is miserliness which impoverishes, Proverbs 11:24―“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He that is covetous, angers the great Giver of all good, whose liberal soul cannot endure churls and misers.

ADAM CLARKE: Whatever God sends us in the way of secular prosperity, there is a portion of it always for the poor, and for God’s cause. When that portion is thus disposed of, the rest is sanctified; when it is withheld, God’s curse is upon the whole.

CHARLES SIMEON: God has said, that “what we give to the poor, we lend unto Him, and He will repay it again,” Proverbs 19:17…Very remarkable is His promise in relation to the present life: “Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again,” Luke 6:38.

MATTHEW HENRY: “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty.” He does not say thy bags, but thy barns; not thy wardrobe replenished, but thy presses: God shall bless thee with an increase of that which is for use, not for show or ornament―for spending and laying out, not for hoarding and laying up. Those that do good with what they have shall have more to do more good with.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): There is no presumption, or enthusiasm in looking for the literal fulfillment of the promise.

A. W. PINK: Of all the miracles performed by the Lord Jesus the feeding of the five thousand is the only one recorded by each of the four Evangelists. This at once intimates that there must be something about it of unusual importance, and therefore it calls for our most diligent study…They “filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten,” John 6:13. How this confirms what we have said about giving out to others. The loaves were augmented by division and multiplied by subtraction! We are never impoverished, but always enriched by giving to others. It is the liberal soul that is made fat. We need never be anxious that there will not be enough left for our own needs. God never allows a generous giver to be the loser. The disciples had more left at the finish than they had at the beginning!

JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): There was a man, some called him mad;

The more he gave, the more he had.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): John Bunyan’s quaint rhyme [from Pilgrim’s Progress,] is in itself a suited commentary on these verses. It was propounded as a riddle by Old Honest, and explained by Gaius: “He that bestows his goods upon the poor

Shall have as much again, and ten times more.”

____________

*Editor’s Note: No further information available as to the identity of R.K. 

 

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The Glorious Mysterious Change Yet to Come

Posted on August 21, 2020 by The Editor

Philippians 3:20,21; 1 John 3:2,3

Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” It is observable, that these are the words of John, who had not only so familiarly conversed with Christ on this sublime and delightful subject, but had seen His transfiguration when Moses and Elias appeared in such shining glory.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): John teaches the same thing as Paul in Colossians 3:3, where he says, “Your life is hid with Christ in God: when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

THOMAS COKE: In our present state, we are not capable of forming an adequate idea of our future selves, or of the glorious scenes which will present themselves to the view of the faithful hereafter; but when our Saviour shall be revealed from heaven, arrayed in all His glories, we are assured that our frail bodies shall be transformed into the likeness of His glorious body.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Very little is known respecting this. We can form no idea of spiritual and glorified bodies. We cannot imagine how extensive will be the capacities of the soul. We have very faint conceptions of perfect holiness and perfect happiness. Even one who had seen Christ transfigured, says, “It doth not appear.” Yet there are some things revealed to us. We shall see Christ, not merely by faith, but with our bodily eyes, Job 19:25-27; not veiled as formerly, but in all His glory.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Of that eternal glory, to which we are begotten and called by Christ Jesus, there are no images or similitudes with which we are acquainted here below, by which we can explain it. Nay, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of men to conceive, of the nature or extent of that glory which shall be revealed, 1 Corinthians 2:9. But this we know—that amidst all that want of conformity we now have to the person and image of our Lord, there will be then a likeness.

JOHN CALVIN: “We shall be like Him,” because He will make our vile body conformable to his glorious body, as Paul also teaches us in Philippians 3:21. And now, indeed, God begins to renew in us His own image, but in what a small measure! Except then we be stripped of all the corruption of the flesh, we shall not be able to behold God face to face. And this is also expressed here, “as He is.” John does not, indeed, say, that there is no seeing of God now; but, as Paul says, “We see now through a glass, darkly,” 1 Corinthians 13:12.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Now we see as in a glass obscurely, as an old man through spectacles, as a weak eye looks upon the sun; but in heaven we shall see Him as He is, so far as a creature is capable of that blissful vision.

CHARLES SIMEON: We shall resemble Him in all His imitable perfections. This resemblance will result from our sight of Him. Even “our bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” This shall be fully accomplished at the great day of His appearing. These things we may be said to “know.” We have already experienced the earnest of them in our hearts. When we believe in Him, we have views of Him which we had not before; these transform the soul into His image.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Those who have in a measure seen Him, are in a measure like Him.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): So certain are the apprehensions of faith, that when He shall appear—or, display His own glory in the appearance of His Son, who is then “to come in the glory of his Father,” Matthew 16:27, we shall be like Him, as it befits children to be unto their Father; His image shall then be perfected in us, which was defaced so greatly in the apostasy [of Adam’s fall], which is restored imperfectly in regeneration, (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10)—and which must be daily improved in progressive sanctification.

JOHN TRAPP: That is true hope that runs out into holiness. Faith and hope purge, and work a suitableness in the soul to the things believed and hoped for.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Those then who hope to live with Him must study the utmost purity from the world, and flesh, and sin; they must grow in grace and holiness. Not only does their Lord command them to do so, but their new nature inclines them so to do; yea, their hope of heaven will dictate and constrain them to do so—It is a contradiction to such hope to indulge sin and impurity. And therefore, as we are sanctified by faith, we must be sanctified by hope; that we may be saved by hope we must be purified by hope. It is the hope of hypocrites, and not of the sons of God, that makes an allowance for the gratification of impure desires and lusts.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Not that any man can purify or cleanse himself from sin. This is only owing to the grace of God and blood of Christ; nor that any man can be so pure and holy as Christ is, who is free from all sin, both original and actual…A true hope of that eternal happiness, which lies in likeness to Christ, and in the vision of Him, is only founded on His person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice: and this hope every man has not, only he who is born again; for this grace is implanted in regeneration, and bestowed upon them as a free grace gift.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): In the matter of holiness, how is it with our souls?

ROBERT HAWKER: When the holiest child of God takes a view of himself, and dissects the anatomy of his own heart, what an humbling prospect is before him. And when he contemplates the life of Him, of whom it is said, He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, what a striking dissimilarity instantly appears! Is it possible the child of God will say, as the question ariseth in the heart, that where there is so little conformity—yea, so much opposition—will there ever be a likeness and agreement? When these questions arise in the soul, I know no scripture more sweet and consolatory to silence fears, and strengthen faith and hope, than this very blessed verse: “We shall be like him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

CHARLES SIMEON: Our Lord has given us the fullest assurance of these things in John 17:22-24. Paul also leaves us no room to doubt.

C. H. SPURGEON: Discouragement and despair will not purify you, doubt and darkness will only make you worse than you were before; but the indulgence of this blessed hope that you are to be like Christ will help you to purify yourself, “even as he is pure.” Therefore, beloved, have hope in God. Remember that it is one of Satan’s tricks and snares to try to discourage you, but it is God’s will to increase your hope, for thereby you increase in purity.

 

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A Prescription For Restoring Spiritual Health

Posted on August 14, 2020 by The Editor

Lamentations 3:40; Psalm 119:37

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Have we never inwardly backslidden, so that if God had not for His own mercy’s sake restored us, we must have departed forever?

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW (1808-1878): Let the spiritual believer take only the history of a single week as the gauge of the general tenor of his life, and what a lesson for him of the downward, earthly tendency of his soul! In one short week, how have the wheels lessened in their turning; how has the timepiece of his soul lost its power; how have the chords of his heart become unstrung!

CHARLES SIMEON: Since all are “bent to backslide,” more or less, it is of great importance to inquire of what kind our backslidings are, and to see whether they are merely the infirmities of an upright soul, or the revolt of an apostate. It is indeed difficult to determine this with precision; yet something may be said to aid you in this inquiry.

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: Be very honest and diligent in ascertaining the cause of your soul’s deadness. The correct knowledge of this is necessary to its removal; and its removal is essential to the recovery of the inner life from its relapsed state. Is it indulged sin? Is it the neglect of private prayer? Is it worldliness, carnality, carelessness? Any one of these would so grieve the Spirit of God within you as to dry up the spirituality of your soul.

CHARLES SIMEON: Examine diligently the cause, the duration, and the effects of your backslidings. Those of the sincere arise from the weakness of their flesh, while yet their spirit is as willing as ever: but those of the hypocrite proceed from a radical disaffection to the ways of God. Those of the sincere continue but a little time, and are an occasion of greater diligence: those of the hypocrite remain, and become the habit of his soul. Those of the sincere humble him in the dust: those of the hypocrite produce a blindness of mind, a scarred conscience, and a hardness of heart.

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: Be not beguiled with the belief that the real recovery has taken place simply because that, conscious of your state, you acknowledge and deplore it in meaningless regrets. “The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing,” Proverbs 13:4 Observe that he has his desires, but nothing more, because with them he is satisfied. Let this not be your state.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): It is the great concern of those who have backslidden from God to hasten their return to Him…David, being convinced of his sin, poured out his soul to God in prayer for mercy and grace.

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: His prayer is for divine quickening. His anxious inquiry is, “What course am I to adopt when I find deadness in my soul, and cannot feel, weep, sigh, nor desire—when to read and meditate, to hear and pray, seem an irksome task—when I cannot see the Saviour’s beauty nor feel Him precious nor labour as zealously or suffer as patiently for Him as I would?” The answer is at hand: Look again to Jesus. This is the only remedy that can meet your case. Go directly to Christ; He is the Fountain; He is the living Well.

CHARLES SIMEON: There is no other way for our continuance in life than that by which we are first brought into a state of spiritual existence. As at the beginning it is said, “He that hath the Son of God hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life,” 1 John 5:12; so must it be said even to the end: for “all our fresh springs are in Him;”―Have we continually fresh sins to be forgiven? There is no way of being cleansed from them but by washing continually in “the fountain which has been once opened for sin and uncleanness,” Zechariah 13:1. Have we on account of our remaining corruptions continual need of fresh supplies of grace? There is no other source of grace but He: “It hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell,” Colossians 1:19. and “out of His fulness must we all receive, even grace for grace,” John 1:16.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “He restoreth my soul,” Psalm 23:3—Either when backslidden, and He brings it back again when led or driven away, and heals its backslidings; or rather, when fainting, swooning, and ready to die away, He fetches it back again, relieves, refreshes, and comforts with the discoveries of His love, with the promises of His word, and with the consolations of His Spirit, and such like reviving cordials.

CHARLES SIMEON: If you reply, “There is no hope for me, because I have once known the Lord, and have backslidden from him;” be it so; yet, as a backslider, hear what a gracious message He sends thee by the Prophet Jeremiah: “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings,” Jeremiah 3:2.

MATTHEW HENRY: Though our sins have been very great and very many, and though we have often backslidden and are still prone to offend, yet God will repeat His pardon, and welcome even backsliding children that return to Him in sincerity.

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: Seek earnestly and believingly until you possess more abundant life from Christ. Seek a gracious revival of the life of God in your soul. Seek a clearer manifestation of Christ, a renewed baptism of the Spirit, a more undoubted evidence of your conversion, a surer brighter hope of heaven. Thus seeking, you will find it―Oh, the joy of a revived state of the inner life of God! It is the joy of spring after the gloom and chill of winter. It is the joy of the sunlight after a cloudy and dark day―“Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved,” Psalm 80:19.

CHARLES SIMEON: Let us only examine the records of our own hearts, and call our own ways to remembrance; and there is not one of us who will not be ready to look upon himself as the greatest monument of mercy that can be found on earth.

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW: May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see that, while all emptiness exists in you, all fullness dwells in Jesus. There is a fathomless depth in the heart of Christ of love unchangeable, of grace all-sufficient, of truth immutable, of salvation from all sin and trial and sorrow. It is commensurate with your need and vast as His own infinity. Your grace can never be too low, your frame too depressed, your path too perplexing, your sorrow too keen, your sin too great, nor your condition too extreme, for Christ.

 

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The Spiritual Blindness of the Jews

Posted on August 7, 2020 by The Editor

Romans 10:1-3; Romans 3:22—2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Corinthians 3:14-16; Romans 11:7,8,25

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe—For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day…For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): See how they went astray through inconsiderate zeal! for they sought to set up a righteousness of their own; and this foolish confidence proceeded from their ignorance of God’s righteousness.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): This the Jews submitted not to, because they had no true humble sense of themselves as sinners, nor did they care to acknowledge themselves as such; which submission to Christ’s righteousness requires and necessarily involves—and because they had an overweening opinion of their own righteousness, which they trusted to, and depended upon, imagining it to be blameless, and to contain all that the law required, and therefore they stood in no need of any other; and as for the righteousness of Christ, they had it in contempt; their carnal minds being enmity to Him, they were not subject to His righteousness.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): They are so proud that they will not submit to be saved by the righteousness of another, even though that other is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Yet this is the main point—the submission of our proud will to the righteousness of God.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714):  Unbelief is a non-submission to the righteousness of God.

JOHN CALVIN: The first step towards obtaining the righteousness of God is to renounce our own righteousness: for why is it, that we seek righteousness from another, except that necessity constrains us?

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): What is the real state of the case before us? They were not all unbelievers: several thousands of them had been converted to the Christian faith; though the body of the nation, and especially its rulers, civil and spiritual, continued opposed to Christ and His doctrine.

JOHN GILL: Israel—the body and bulk of that people, who sought for life and righteousness by their obedience to the law, which they in general were in quest of, and pursuit after, but did not obtain—for the thing was impracticable and impossible—no life nor righteousness are ever to be had by the law of works; they did not obtain life and righteousness, because they sought them in a wrong place and in a wrong way; they sought them not by faith in Christ Jesus, where they are only to be had, but by their own works, which fall abundantly short.

JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): What is the conclusion? It is this: that Israel in general hath not obtained justification; but those of them only who believe. And the rest were blinded by their own willful prejudice.

JOHN GILL: As they knew not the Messiah, so neither would they understand; they sinned willfully against light and knowledge; they shut their eyes against all that evidence and demonstration given of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah, by His doctrines and miracles…And they were also blinded by God Himself, so that they could not believe; for after all this, it was but just with God to give them up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart.

MATTHEW HENRY: Blindness and hardness are expressive of the same senselessness and stupidity of spirit. They shut their eyes, and would not see; this was their sin: and then God, in righteous judgment, blinded their eyes, that they could not see; this was their punishment.

JOHN CALVIN: He assigns a reason, why they are so long in blindness.

JOHN WESLEY: God hath at length withdrawn His Spirit, and so given them up to “a spirit of slumber,” Isaiah 29:10; which is fulfilled unto this day.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): They do not see that chain of prophecy, commencing with the promise of “the Seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent’s head,” Genesis 3:15, and gradually proceeding through all successive ages, with ever increasing clearness and precision, till it terminated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. In this respect the Jews of later ages are blinder than their forefathers. The Jews previous to the coming of Christ did so far understand the prophecies, that they knew of what tribe the Messiah was to be born, and what was to be the place of his nativity: they knew also, that the various prophecies which were cited by our Lord and his Apostles were cited according to their true import: for we do not find them on any occasion controverting the application of those passages to the promised Messiah. But Jews of later ages, seeing how demonstrably those passages prove the Messiahship of Jesus, have resorted to other interpretations, in order to weaken the force of the arguments with which they are pressed.

MATTHEW HENRY: Of all judgments spiritual judgments are the sorest, and most to be dreaded, though they make the least noise. Ever since Isaiah prophesied—or, rather, ever since the first preaching of the gospel—It is still true concerning multitudes of them, even to this day in which we live; they are hardened and blinded, the obstinacy and unbelief go by succession from generation to generation, according to their own fearful imprecation, which entailed the curse: “His blood be upon us and upon our children,” Matthew 27:25.

CHARLES SIMEON: But it shall not be always so: there is a time coming, “when that infatuated nation shall turn unto the Lord; and then the veil shall be taken away.”

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Blindness is happened to Israel in part only. They were not all blinded or hardened; or this blindness should not last always, but for a time.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): It is neither total nor perpetual.

MATTHEW POOLE: The latter sense agrees best with the word “mystery.” Secondly, another part of this mystery was, that this blindness of the Jews should continue till “the fulness of the Gentiles” came in.

JOHN GILL: Since the blindness of the Jews is not yet removed, it seems plain that the full number of God’s chosen ones among the Gentiles is not yet completed in regeneration; for as soon as ever they are all called and brought in, the vail will be taken away from the Jews, and they will be turned unto the Lord.

JOHN WESLEY: Israel, therefore, is neither totally nor finally rejected.

CHARLES SIMEON: How great will that “mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh,” appear to them, when they shall see, that that very Jesus, whom their fathers crucified, was indeed “the Lord of glory,” “Jehovah’s fellow,” “Emmanuel, God with us!” Then they will see, that every part of their ceremonial law was fulfilled and realized in Him: that He was the true Temple, “in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;” the altar, which sanctifieth all our gifts; the sacrifice, that taketh away the sins of the whole world; the priest, that offered that sacrifice, and is gone with his own blood within the vail, and ever liveth there to make intercession for us. Then they will see why God repeatedly gave that particular command to Moses, “See thou make all things according to the pattern shewn to thee in the mount.” Even the minutest point that was revealed to Moses, portrayed something in the character of Christ—all the offices of Christ, as Prophet, Priest, and King, together with all that He should do in the execution of them, was there delineated: and, when the completion and concentration of them all shall be made manifest to them, with what wonder and admiration will they exclaim, “O the depths both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

 

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Solomon’s Worldly Extravagance & His Son’s Stupidity

Posted on July 31, 2020 by The Editor

1 Kings 7:1,2,9-11; Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon….Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife…All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): Solomon surrounded himself with every kind of luxury, gathered large possessions, gave himself over to music and to women, allowing full reign to all his desires.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): He gave himself much to building, both in the city and in the country; and, having been at such vast expense in the beginning of his reign to build a house for God, he was the more excusable if afterwards he pleased his own fancy in building for himself; he began his work at the right end, Matthew 6:33; not as the people that “ceiled their own houses” while God’s house lay waste, Haggai 1:4; and it prospered accordingly. In building, he had the pleasure of employing the poor and doing good to posterity. We read of Solomon’s buildings, and they were all great works, such as became his purse, and spirit, and great dignity.

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): “I made me great works.”—magnificent works for my honour and delight.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): “I builded me houses”—palace after palace; the house of the forest of Lebanon; a house for the queen; the temple, besides many other buildings.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Houses and offices for his stores, for his servants, his horsemen, and chariots, I Kings 7:1; and in fine chariots and spacious buildings men take a great deal of pleasure, and promise themselves much happiness in dwelling in them, and in perpetuating their names to posterity by them, Psalm 49:11.

MATTHEW POOLE: “I made me gardens.”—“paradises” in Hebrew, gardens of pleasure.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): And herein perhaps he gratified Pharaoh’s daughter—the Egyptians took great pleasure in gardens—like as that king of Assyria did his wife with a garden that hung in the air, to his incredible cost.

MATTHEW HENRY: See his mistake: he enquired after the good works he should do, Ecclesiastes 2:3, and, in pursuit of the enquiry, applied himself to great works. Good works indeed are truly great, but many are reputed great works which are far from being good, wondrous works which are not gracious, Matthew 7:22.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Other evils of his which gradually crept in, were, the multiplying of gold and silver for himself; the multiplying of horses also, and that “from Egypt;” and, above all, the multiplying of wives. All of these things were forbidden in as plain and express a manner as could be conceived, Deuteronomy 17:16,17.

MATTHEW HENRY: Solomon took many women, so many that, at last, they amounted to 700 wives and 300 concubines…But this was not all: They were strange women, Moabites, Ammonites, etc., of the nations which God had particularly forbidden them to intermarry with, 1 Kings 11:2 and he tolerated and maintained his wives in their idolatry and made no scruple of joining with them in it—he built chapels for their gods.

CHARLES SIMEON: “God was angry with him,”—as well He might be; and He declared to Solomon that the kingdom of which he had rendered himself so unworthy, should be taken from him, and given to a servant of his.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): In mercy God deferred the execution of His sentence till his son’s reign, but left Solomon to lament the approaching desolations, when all the glory that he hoped to transmit to his posterity would be so eclipsed.

JOHN TRAPP: “I got me servants.” Too many by one—Jeroboam.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Jeroboam, while a young man, was employed by Solomon to superintend the improvements and buildings at Millo, 1 Kings 11:27; and had so distinguished himself there by his industry and good conduct as to attract general notice, and to induce Solomon to set him over all the labourers employed in that work, belonging to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

ADAM CLARKE: Jeroboam becomes his enemy, and the reason why, 1 Kings 11:26-28. Ahijah the prophet meets Jeroboam, and promises, in the name of the Lord, that God will rend Israel from the family of Solomon, and give him ten tribes. Solomon, hearing of this, seeks to put Jeroboam to death, who escapes to Egypt, where he continues till the death of Solomon.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Then comes Solomon’s son Rehoboam on the scene.

MATTHEW HENRY: The people desired a treaty with Rehoboam at Shechem, and he condescended to meet them there…The meeting being appointed, they sent for Jeroboam to come out of Egypt and be their speaker. “And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee,” 1 Kings 12:4,5.

ADAM CLARKE: They seem here to complain of two things—excessively laborious service, and a heavy taxation.

MATTHEW HENRY: Yet the complaint was groundless and unjust. Never did people live more at ease than they did, nor in great plenty. Did they pay taxes? It was to advance the strength and magnificence of their kingdom…Were many servile hands employed about them? They were not the hands of the Israelites…I know nothing in Solomon’s administration that could make the people’s yoke grievous, unless perhaps the women whom in his latter days he doted on, connived at oppressing them.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: No doubt, the luxury and splendour of Solomon’s brilliant reign had an underside of oppression. Probably the severity was exaggerated in these complaints—but there was enough truth in the complaint to make it plausible and effective for catching the people. At first it appears that Solomon employed none of the Israelites in any drudgery; but it is likely that, as he grew profane, he grew tyrannical and oppressive: and at the works of Millo he changed his conduct; and there, in all probability, were the seeds of disaffection sown…The oppression of forced labour and heavy taxation no doubt was the reason for the readiness with which the ten tribes rallied to Jeroboam’s flag.

MATTHEW POOLE: Heavy taxes and impositions—not only for the temple and his magnificent buildings, but for the expenses of his numerous court, and of so many wives and concubines, whose luxury and idolatry must needs be very costly.

JOHN TRAPP: Rehoboam, with one churlish breath, lost ten tribes. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger,” Proverbs 15:1.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Rehoboam’s disregard of the people’s terms was ‘a thing brought about of the Lord,’ but it was Rehoboam’s sin none the less: “And the king answered the people roughly…My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions,” 1 Kings 12:13,14.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Jeroboam withdrew the ten tribes from their allegiance to Rehoboam.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Notice also, that God is in events which are produced by the sin and the stupidity of men. This breaking up of the kingdom of Solomon into two parts was the result of Solomon’s sin and Rehoboam’s folly, yet God was in it—“This thing is from Me,” says the Lord, 1 Kings 12:24…Every sin has one twig in God’s rod appropriated to itself. Suffice it to say, that in God’s hand there are punishments for each particular transgression; and it is very singular to notice how in Bible history almost every saint has been chastened for the sin he has committed by the sin itself falling upon his own head.

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): And the sins of the fathers will be recompensed upon the children, if they walk in their fathers’ steps.

 

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The Scriptural Christian’s View of the World

Posted on July 24, 2020 by The Editor

1 John 3:16; 1 John 5:19

All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): We have here the Christian view of the surrounding world. I need not, I suppose, remind you that John learned from Jesus to use that phrase ‘the world,’ not as meaning the aggregate of material things, but as meaning the aggregate of godless men. If you want a modern translation of the word, it comes very near a familiar one with us nowadays, and that is “Society”—the mass of people that are not of God.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): “The whole world lieth in wickedness,” or, as it should read, “in the wicked one,” that is, Satan.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564):  Under the term world, the Apostle no doubt includes the whole human race. By saying that it lieth in “the wicked one,” he represents it as being under the dominion of Satan.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771):  The men of the world, the greater part of the inhabitants of it, are as they were when they came into it, not being born of God; these are addicted to sin and, wickedness; the bias of their minds is to it, they are set upon it, and give themselves up to it, are immersed in it, and are under the power of it: or “in the wicked one,”―Satan, “the god of this world,” 2 Corinthians 4:4; they are under his influence, and led according to his will, and they are governed by him, and are at his beck and command; and this is known by sad experience.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Do not the actions, tempers, propensities, opinions and maxims of all worldly men prove and illustrate this?

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: You have only to look around you to see that.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Look around, and see what are the dispositions and habits of all around us. Are not all “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” Ephesians 2:3, without affecting anything higher than the gratification of their own corrupt appetites?

ADAM CLARKE: Yes―their actions are opposed to the law of God; their conversations shallow, and false; their contracts forced, interested, and deceitful; their quarrels puerile, ridiculous, and ferocious; and their friendships hollow, insincere, capricious, and fickle―all the effect of their lying in the arms of the wicked one; for thus they become instinctive with his own spirit: and because they are of their father the devil, therefore his lusts they will do.

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): Yea, as Christ is said to be in us, and we in Christ mutually; so of the world it is said, that the devil is in them, and that they are in the devil.

CHARLES SIMEON: If we would have our judgment still more according to truth, let us look within our own hearts, and see what horrible abominations are harboured there. We know nothing of others, but by their words and actions: but we have a juster criterion within our own bosoms: we may search into our own thoughts and desires; we may discern the base mixture that there is in all our motives and principles of action—Yes, in our own hearts there is an epitome of all the evil that is in the world: and, if we know any thing of ourselves, we shall stand amazed that God should look upon such a world as this, and give His only dear Son to save those who so richly merited His hottest indignation…And who is it that has made the difference between you? Must you not say, “By the grace of God I am what I am?”

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: The solemn alternative opens before every one of us―either I am “of God,” or I am “in the wicked one.” Now, the more a man is conscious that he himself, by faith in Jesus Christ, has passed into the family of God, and possesses the life that comes from Him, the more keen will be his sense of the evil that lies round him, and of the contrast between the maxims and prevalent practices and institutions and ways of the world, and those which belong to Christ and Christ’s people. So the more we feel the sharp contrast between the blessedness of the Divine life which we believe ourselves to possess, and the darkness and evils of the world that lies around us, the more we should sorrow, and the more we should sympathize, and the more should succour be ours. Look on the world as Christ looked on it. There must be no contempt; there must be no self-righteousness; there must be no pluming ourselves on our own prerogatives. There must be a sorrow caught from Him, and a tenderness of pity, like that which forced itself to His eyes as He gazed across the valley at the city sparkling in the sunshine, or such as wrung His heart when He looked upon the multitude as sheep without a shepherd.

CHARLES SIMEON: Look around you and see how many even of your own friends and relatives are yet in bondage to their sins; whilst you have been delivered with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Work for the deliverance of your brethren from the alien tyrant. Notice the difference between the two clauses in the text. “We are of God;” that is a permanent relation. “The world lieth in the wicked one;” that is not necessarily a permanent relation. The world is not ‘of ’ the wicked one; it is “in” him, and that may be altered―“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil,” 1 John 3:8; and for that purpose He has called us to be His servants. Brethren, for ourselves let us remember that we cannot better help the world to get away from the alien tyrant that rules it, than by walking in the midst of men, with the aureola of this joyful confidence and certitude around us.

WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): Let us be His witnesses. Let us testify from our own experience.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): No man can look around upon a world like this without sorrow if he possesses the Spirit of Christ. Yet we are made to rejoice as we think of the goodness of the Lord.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Our eyes are far too apt to look below, or to look within, or to look around, but it is wisdom on our part to look up. There is always something blessed to see upward, especially when we look up to Him who dwells in the highest heavens—our Father, our Saviour, our Comforter. There is little down here that is worth looking at, but there is everything for our comfort when we look up.

 

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Light on the Beauty of Holiness & the Colours of the Rainbow

Posted on July 17, 2020 by The Editor

Matthew 17:1,2; Psalm 27:4—2 Chronicles 20:21

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD—And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Light is used throughout Scripture as a synonym for infinite holiness, purity, and perfect righteousness.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The Scripture uses light as an emblem for God in His holiness.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): He is “glorious in holiness,” Exodus 15:12; His holiness is His glory. It is that attribute which angels adore, Isaiah 6:3.

JOSEPH LE CONTE (1823-1901): Shall I call holiness an attribute? Is it not rather the glorious combination of all His attributes into one perfect whole?

JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): Holiness is more, for it is the beauty of the Divine Being Himself; not so much a separate attribute of His nature, as the perfection of all His attributes. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” 1 John 1:5.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): In light, all the colours are blended. A perfectly white substance combines all the colours of the rainbow merged in true proportion…God’s attributes are like the amazing crystal shining out with its clear white light, but which may be divided into all the colours of the prism, each different and all beautiful.

JOSEPH LE CONTE: From the insufferable white light of the Absolute they all seem to diverge and separate into prismatic hues, so they all seem again to converge and meet and combine in the dazzling white radiance of His holiness. This, therefore, is rather the intense whiteness, purity, clearness, the infinite lustre and splendour of His perfect nature, like a gem without flaw, without stain, and without colour. All of His attributes are glorious, but in this we have a combination of all into a still more glorious whole. It is for this reason that it is so frequently in Scripture associated with the Divine beauty. The poetic nature of the Psalmist is exalted to ecstasy in contemplation of the “beauty of holiness,” the “beauty of the Lord.” Beauty is a combination of elements according to the laws of harmony; the more beautiful the parts or elements, and the more perfect the harmonious combination, the higher the beauty. How high and glorious, therefore, must be the beauty of this attribute which is the perfect combination of all His infinite perfections!

ANDREW GRAY (1805-1861): The colours of the rainbow are beautiful, when taken one by one. But there is a beauty in the rainbow which consists in their blended radiance. In like manner do the several perfections, which unite in the nature of God, produce a glorious beauty. Holiness is beautiful; mercy is beautiful; truth is beautiful. But, over and above, there is a beauty which belongs to such combinations and harmonies as the Psalmist describes, when he tells us, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other,” Psalm 85:10; “Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep,” Psalm 36:5,6.

C. H. SPURGEON: The dazzling radiance of God is too glorious for our mortal eyes, but each Revelation teaches us more of His beauty and perfectness.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): God, it is true, is, in His essence, invisible: “He dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto; and no man hath seen him, or can see him,” 1 Timothy 6:16…Behold then, I say, that Almighty God, is become visible to us in the person of His Son: as it is said, “No man hath seen God at any time: the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him,” John 1:18.

WILLIAM DAWSON (1773-1841): As all the colours of the rainbow meet in one sunbeam, so all the perfections of God as perfectly unite, and more beautifully shine forth, in the person and offices of Jesus Christ.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): It is worthy of note that when the white light is broken into its varied parts we have just seven colours, as seen in the rainbow…Seven is the number of perfection, and we do not reach perfection till we come to Christ.

MATTHEW HENRY: The great truth which we declare, is that “God is light,” “dwells in the light,” and “covers Himself with light,” Psalm 104:2. Therefore when Christ would appear in the form of God, He appeared “in light,” the most glorious of all visible beings, the first-born of the creation, and most nearly resembling the eternal Parent…All His body was altered, as His face was; so that beams of light, darting from every part through His clothes, made them white and glittering—Christ is “the Light,” John 1:5; while He was in the world, He “shined in darkness,” and therefore “the world knew him not,” John 1:10, John 9:5.

C. H. SPURGEON: Like the drops of a luster, which reflect a rainbow of colours when the sun is glittering upon them and each one, when turned in different ways, from its prismatic form shows all the varieties of colour, so the mercy of God is one and yet many, the same yet ever changing, a combination of all the beauties of love blended harmoniously together.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN: But we need all the seven prismatic tints to make the perfect white light—the bright light of holiness.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Some think the rainbow serves to put in mind both the destruction of the old world by water, through its watery colours, and of the present world by fire, through its fiery ones.

STEPHEN CHARNOCK (1628-1680): His justice is part of His holiness.

A. W. PINK: God magnified His justice, for when sin—by imputation—was found upon His Son, He called for the sword to smite Him, Zechariah 13:7. He magnified His holiness: His hatred of sin was more clearly shown at the Cross than it will be in the lake of fire. He magnified His power by sustaining the Mediator under such a load as was laid upon Him. He magnified His truth by fulfilling His covenant engagements and bringing forth from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep, Hebrews 12:20. He magnified His grace by imputing to the ungodly all the merits of Christ. This, then, was the prime purpose of God in the Atonement: to magnify Himself…A dark background it was indeed, but a dark background is required to bring out the white light of Divine holiness.

CHARLES SIMEON: See then in Him, and in His cross, not some perfections only, but all, even all the perfections of the Godhead shining in their utmost splendour.

MATTHEW HENRY: One sun enlightens the whole world, so does one Christ, and there needs no more. Christ in calling Himself the light expresses, what He is in Himself—most excellent and glorious. And what He is to the world—the fountain of light, enlightening every man. What a dungeon would the world be without the sun! So would it be without Christ by Whom “light came into the world,” John 1:19.

WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): And thou art going into the dark, as soon as thou turn thy back upon Him.

JOHN ANGELL JAMES: Holiness is light, as well as truth.

 

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The Ninth Plague – Egyptian Darkness

Posted on July 10, 2020 by The Editor

Exodus 10:21-23

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): We cannot but think that this particular plague had something in it more than ordinarily instructive.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): “He sent darkness, and made it dark,” Psalm 105:28. It was no natural or common darkness.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): And a most dreadful plague it was, and therefore is put first of the ten in Psalm 105:28; and in the destruction of the spiritual Egypt it is produced by the fifth vial, which is poured out upon the “seat of the beast,” Revelation 16:10.

THOMAS S. MILLINGTON (1821-1906): A darkness “which may be felt.”—more oppressive and intolerable the longer it continued; “felt” upon their bodies as a physical infliction, and “felt” even more in their souls in agonies of fear and apprehension; such a darkness as that which, the fifth angel pours out upon the seat of the beast: “Whose kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds,” Revelation 16:10,11.

JOHN WESLEY (1703-1791): We may observe concerning this plague that it was a total darkness.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): It is easily interpreted. God is Light: darkness is the withdrawal of light. Therefore, this judgment of darkness, gave plain intimation that Egypt was now abandoned by God. Nothing remained but death itself. The darkness continued for three days—a full manifestation of God’s withdrawal.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): We have darkness presented in four different ways in Scripture. There is the natural darkness, “having the understanding darkened,” Ephesians 4:18. This darkness is natural to all men. No man by nature understands God.

CHARLES SIMEON: The ungodly man is truly in darkness with respect to every thing that is of a spiritual nature. He neither does, nor can, comprehend any thing of that kind, for want of a spiritual discernment.

A. W. PINK: “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble,” Proverbs 4:19, and this because they are “without God in the world,” Ephesians 2:12.

H. A. IRONSIDE: In the second place, we have willful darkness. Our Lord Jesus said, “This is the condemnation”—not that men were born sinners, but “that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” John 3:19. Men are therefore responsible when they reject the light that comes to them. That is the condemnation. That is willful darkness.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost,” 2 Corinthians 4:3. Why should the apostle Paul put an if upon its being hid? all mankind are in a lost and perishing condition through sin; though some will not be lost eternally, whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and who by the Spirit are brought to believe in Christ; but there are others who will be lost for ever; to these the Gospel is hid; they are such, who are left to the native blindness of their minds, and are given up to a reprobate mind, and to judicial darkness.

H. A. IRONSIDE: The solemn result of willful darkness is judicial darkness. In Jeremiah 13:16 we read, “Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.” Does a God who is Light sometimes cause darkness? Yes, if men deliberately reject and turn their backs on the light. Pharaoh rejected the light. He hardened himself against God, and God hardened him in his sins…When people refuse light, the light is withdrawn, and they are given up to judicial darkness.

CHARLES SIMEON: Truly in relation to the future world he is in darkness, even in “a darkness that may be felt.” If he reflect at all, he can feel nothing but “a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation to consume him,” Hebrews 10:27, and has no prospect but that of “the blackness of darkness for ever,” Jude 1:13.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): And there is no darkness so gross or so terrible as that judicial darkness which settles down upon the heart governed by self-will while professing to have light from God—“because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And “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.—How awful is this! How solemnly it speaks to the whole professing church! How solemnly it addresses the conscience of both the writer and the reader of these lines! Light not acted upon becomes darkness—Matthew 6:23 “If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

MATTHEW HENRY: Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it…It was a righteous thing with God thus to punish them. Pharaoh and his people had rebelled against the light of God’s word, which Moses spoke to them; justly therefore are they punished with darkness, for they loved it and chose it rather. The blindness of their minds brings upon them this darkness of the air. Never was a mind so blinded as Pharaoh’s, never was the air so darkened as Egypt’s.

A. W. PINK: Finally, this three days of dense darkness upon Egypt utters a solemn warning for all who are now out of Christ.

H. A. IRONSIDE: If you persist in loving darkness rather than light God may some day say, “If you want the darkness you may have it,” and you will enter into the darkness forever. That is the doom of those who have refused the light—eternal darkness!

MATTHEW HENRY: Let us dread the consequences of sin; if three days’ darkness was so dreadful, what will everlasting darkness be?

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life,” John 8:12. Let this saying sink down into our hearts. It is weighty and full of meaning…He only is the true Light Who came into the world to save sinners, Who died as our substitute on the cross, and sits at God’s right hand.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Hence it follows, that out of Christ there is not even a spark of true light.

A. W. PINK: Unsaved reader, if you continue in your present course, if you go on slighting the mercy of God, if you refuse to heed His warning to flee from the wrath to come, you shall be finally cast into “the outer darkness,” Matthew 8:12. Neglect, then, thy soul’s salvation no longer. Turn even now unto Him who is “the Light of the world,” and “in His light thou shalt see light,” Psalm 36:9.

 

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