THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. given unto you; good (full and fair) measure,-pressed down, and shaken together, and running over (full even to overflow),—shall men through God's disposal give into your bosom (43) (your lap).—For with the same measure that ye mete withal (by the same rule which ye apply to others), it shall be measured to you againd by the even-handed justice of God. 97 d As I have done, so God hath requited me. Judg. i. 7. ingly shall reap also spar ingly; and he which reap also bountifully. 2 He which soweth spar soweth bountifully shall Cor. ix. 6. And He spake a parable (a proverb or similitude) unto them, urging them to adorn this doctrine by their practice, and warning them against the prevailing errors of the Jewish teachers: Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not certainly both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not usually above his master (his teacher), and cannot be expected to surpass him in attainments—so that if the watchman who leads be blind, the follower will be likely to participate in the effects of that blindness: but every one that is perfect and has been thoroughly instructed, shall resemble and perchance be fully advanced as his master.You must not then expect that your rebuke of a neighbour will have any weight or effect if you be deficient yourself: And, therefore, I say to such a person, Why beholdest thou the mote (How is it that thou art so quick to discover the little splinter) that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam (the much larger object) that is in thine own eye? Either how, with any appearance of justice, canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite!e cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, thou not thyself? thou and then shalt thou see clearly how to pull out the mote that that preachest a is in thy brother's eye. Discover, then, and amend your own steal? thou that sayest a glaring faults first; and when this is done, experience adultery, dost thou comwill render you better able, and you will also be disposed mit adultery? Rom. ii. with more tenderness and charity, to correct the infirmities of other men. CIRCUMSPECTION NEEDFUL IN TEACHING THE GOSPEL. • Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest man should not steal, dost thou man should not commit 21, 22. It is happened unto In your teaching bear in mind this proverb: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, lest they turn again and rend you; exercise due caution in your religious admonition of the profane, who may only spurn advice, and be the more exasperated to persecute you. Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet: press not holy mysteries upon those who are mire. 1 Pet. ii. 22. (43) Into your bosom.] This is an allusion to the long mantles which the Jews and other Orientals wore. Their mantles were girded with a girdle, and had large outer folds, the bosom or front part being so capacious as to admit of receiving a measure of corn or any other dry them according to the prohis own vomit again, and verb, The dog is turned to the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the article. The common people were accustomed so to use them (see 2 Kings iv. 39; Ruth iii. 15; Ps. lxxix. 12; Prov. vi. 27).-Thus also Livy (xxi. 18), sinus ex toga factus; and Horace (Sat. ii. 3, 71), nuces que ferre sinu laro. The same allusion occurs in Greek writers, as at Herodot, vi. 125. H 98 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and doctrine which ye have Rom. xvi. 17. spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John iv. 1. I know this, that after my departing shall griev ous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. obstinately and blindly immersed in sensual indulgences; upon such men holy things would only be thrown away, and their intrinsic value neither regarded nor perceived. THE WAY OF LIFE IS NArrow. Enter ye in (Strive ye to enter in) at the strait (the narrow) gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat because strait (how strait, MARG.) is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life Eternal, and how few there be that are able to find it! My disciples should regard this life as a journey: the road to death and the soul's perdition is that great highway frequented by the wicked and worldly-minded; while the path heavenwards is narrow, steep, and retired-along which a few solitary pilgrims are seen threading their way with difficulty, and only after renewed exertions, aided by a strength not their own, attaining the termination of it at last. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN KNOWN BY HIS Obedience. Beware of false prophets (false teachers), which come to you, as the good old prophets were accustomed to appear, offences contrary to the in sheep's clothing; having an outward form of godliness, learned, and avoid them. but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall be able Beloved, believe not to know them by their fruits; determining their professions every spirit; but try the by their practice -just as every tree is known, not by leaves, nor bark, nor blossom, but by his own fruit. Do men gather grapes of (from) thorns, or figs of (from) thistles ? [For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes, LUKE]. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree (a tree worn out, or of an inferior quality) bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree, so long as its quality lasts, cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. ("") Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Acts xx. 29. And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Not every one that with his lips only (4) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, &c.] It is generally admitted that these words of the Baptist (occurring Matt. iii. 10) are an interpolation from the earlier chapter of that Evangelist. Yet they present an appro priate and awful admonition, well connected here with the subject; and our Lord has twice introduced the same sentiment in another of His discourses (John xv. 2, 6). THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. saith unto Me, Lord, Lord,("") shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, attaining to that future state of happiness and glory which shall succeed the Messiah's reign on earth,but he alone shall have this reward that by his obedience proves his faith to be genuine, and habitually doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.i Many will say to Me in that Last Day, when all must be either received or rejected, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied and preached the Gospel in Thy name (*) and by Thy authority, and in (45) Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord.] Men have been ever prone to entertain the dangerous dogma, that if they do but believe, it is of no great consequence how they live; and, in some schemes of theology, Obedience is so placed, as though it were merely the unavoidable consequence of Faith (omitting to define that such Faith must be "true and lively"), -as something altogether subordinate to, rather than connatural and contemporaneous with it.-It must be allowed that, in some parts of St. Paul's Epistles, a certain stress appears to be laid upon Faith, (over and above the other parts of a religious character), in our Justification; and this seems to be, because the Gospel is pre-eminently a Covenant of Grace: Faith is so far of the higher character as peculiarly confessing to this; it is the frame of mind especially befitting sinners, and is said in a special way to justify us, because it glorifies God-witnessing that He accepts those, and those only, who feel their unworthiness of acceptance. But although Faith may seem to have, in St. Paul's writings, a certain prerogative of dignity, we must not forget that the more usual mode of doctrine, both with respect to our Lord (as shown throughout this Sermon on the Mount) and to His Apostles, is, to refer our acceptance to Obedience to the Commandments; and this manifestly, lest, in contemplating God's grace, we should forget our own duties. St. Paul himself, in frequent passages, corrects any misapprehension of his doctrine: at Heb. iii. 12, he uses unbelief and disobedience equivalently; at Rom. i. 5, he calls the belief of the Gospel "obedience to the faith" (see also Rom. x. 4); and by comparing 1 Tim. iv. 10 with Heb. v. 9, we find, that, while Christ is represented in the former as "the Saviour of them that believe," He is said, in the latter, to be "the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." -It is certain that, from a misapprehension of this Apostle's doctrine of Justification, flowed an extreme corruption of manners among certain sects of Christians in the first ages; and it was in order to guard the faithful against such pernicious errors, that the Seven Epistles called "Catholic" or General were afterwards written. St. Jude closes them with an earnest exhortation to contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints, especially marking out, as ordained for condemnation, those who wrested the doctrines of the Gospel as an apology for ungodliness (Jude 3, 4). When, therefore, St. Paul says, that man is "justified by faith without the works of the Law," we are to understand him to mean gratuitously on account of Christ's merits, and not meritoriously by obedience to any law whatWe are to apply that pardon to ourselves through faith. Faith is clearly the foundation, ever. because "Works done before the grace of God, and the inspiration of His Spirit, are not pleasant to God, as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ" (Art. 13). Yet though Works are plainly not the meritorious cause, nor a meritorious cause of our Justification, we must take care not to attribute it to some efficacy in Faith which is not in Works, since both are excluded from any meritorious efficiency in the matter. Faith is itself but a work: so St. Paul speaks of "the work of faith," and St. John calls it "the work which God hath commanded."—It is urged that Faith alone is necessary to Justification, because thereby we lay hold on the righteousness of Christ, and receive it by imputation: but no such operation of Faith is taught in Scripture, neither is it anywhere said that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believers. What the Scripture does say is this, that the believer's faith is imputed or counted to him for righteousness. In the passage which is so often put forward from St. Paul, Rom. iv. 22, the Apostle does not say that Abraham was saved by a righteousness not his own being imputed to him; but that the true and lively faith of that patriarch was reckoned to him instead of perfect obedience to the Law. And again, at Phil. iii. 9, the righteousness which the Apostle so emphatically renounces is a legal and pharisaical righteousness, not "that righte ousness which is through the faith of Christ:" he opposes an outward, natural righteousness to that which is inward, and wrought by the Spirit of God.-The doctrine of "Faith alone" should be guarded with circumspection, and again and again explained to be ineffectual without the fruits of Holiness. It is lamentable that by many it should be inculcated so exclusively, as to disparage, if not to condemn, the Christian virtues in utter disregard of St. Paul's solemn instruction to all Ministers of Christ: "This I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed be careful to maintain Good Works" (see Section XXIV., Note 5). (+) Have we not prophesied in Thy name?] That bad men may be employed in the work of Christ, we know from the case of Balaam, who uttered true prophecies under the Old Covenant; and by that of Judas, who had equal power with the twelve to heal diseases, under the New (see Section CIII., Note 4). There is no necessary connection between great powers and moral character, and God may employ whatever agency He may choose to carry forward His purposes in the world. The miracles said to have been wrought in the name of Jesus were wrought to confirm His doctrine, and not as in any way distinguishing the piety of those who may have been the mere instruments in doing them. 100 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. the power of Thy name cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful (miraculous) works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you (I will declare unto them plainly, I never acknowledged you as Mine); depart Depart from Me, all from Me, ye that work (that practise) iniquity !k ye workers of iniquity. Ps. vi. 8. them that are His. Let name from iniquity. 2 Tim. ii. 19. Therefore, hear the conclusion of the whole matter: The Lord knoweth Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth these sayings of every one that nameth the Mine, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is of Christ depart like. He is like a wise man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid his foundation on a rock: and the rain descended and the floods came ("") and the winds blew, and the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and yet could not shake it; it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.—And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the shifting sand,-without a foundation, on the earth: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat vehemently upon that house; and immediately it fell, and great was the fall of it, and the ruin that ensued was great. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended all these sayings, that the people were astonished at His doctrine: And they were aston- for He taught them as One having Divine authority 1 (48)———— rather as the enacter than an interpreter of God's Law-and not as the Scribes, who, in support of their vain disputes this Man. John vii. 46. and their unscriptural traditions, appealed only to human ished at His doctrine, for His word was with power. Luke iv. 32. Never man spake like authority. (47) The rain descended and the floods came.] In Judea the rains were very violent, and, in the hilly country, formed into torrents which resembled rivers. Even houses could not resist their impetuous course on their way to the plains, unless very securely built.-The application of this instructive story is easy: We must build for Eternity: amidst the storms of life we must have a secure foundation upon which to rest, and the only secure foundation which can give a real interest in Christ, is Obedience founded on Faith. None will be accepted on account of their zeal, or their rare and wonderful gifts, or even their faith, if they are "workers of iniquity." We must first come to Christ; next we must attentively hear His sayings; and then we must do them. He who thus proves, by his conduct, that Christian principles are well-grounded and deeply-rooted in the heart, will,-whatever tempest or trial may assail,-remain unshaken and unmoved. (48) He taught them as One having authority.] We find our Saviour's teaching often introduced with the announcement, "I say unto you;" and some of His solemn admonitions with words yet more impressive: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Such expressions show a consciousness of His dignity and high office. The Jews had never been accustomed to such language, for none of the prophets, nor John the Baptist, had presumed to use anything like it; and it was never afterwards employed by any of the Apostles.-The astonishment of the people on this occasion, which the Evangelist goes on so particularly to note, was by no means the astonishment of mere surprise and ignorance: it was the astonishment of those who were listening to an extraordinary Teacher expected to appear in their own age and country, though they had not exactly known when. NOW SECTION XLII. THE CENTURION'S SERVANT HEALED AT CAPERNAUM. Matt. viii. 1, 5-13. Luke vii. 1-10. when Jesus had ended all His sayings in the audience (the hearing) of the people, and when He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him; and He entered again into Capernaum. And a certain Centurion's servant,() who was dear (a valuable servant) unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he (the Centurion) heard of Jesus,-who had at a distance cured a nobleman's son of this same town,--he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews [he came unto Him,(*) MATT, -or, approached Him by petition through the elders], beseeching Him that He would come and heal his servant; and saying, Lord, my servant lieth quite disabled at home, sick of the palsy, and grievously tormented. And when they came to Jesus and had delivered this message, they besought Him instantly (earnestly), saying, that he was worthy of the favour for whom He should do this: for, added they, he loveth our nation, and he hath, at his own charge, built us a synagogue. And Jesus saith unto him (or, sent him word), I will come and heal him.-Then Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house, the Centurion sent forward friends to meet Him; and at length coming up answered for himself and said, Lord, trouble not Thyself to come further, for I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself at first worthy to come unto Thee; but speak the word only [say in a word, LUKE], and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set (placed) under the authority of a Tribune, my superior officer, having in like manner soldiers under me, obedient to my command: And I say to (1) A certain Centurion's servant.] The Centurions were Roman military officers, having (as the name implies) the command of a company consisting of a hundred men. They were stationed in the different towns of the provinces to preserve order. This centurion was no doubt a Pagan by birth, and had become a proselyte. That he should promote the erection of a synagogue was not strange, as Augustus published a decree in favour of these places of worship, praising them highly as schools of wisdom and virtue. It is remarkable that this is not the only Centurion whose praise is in the Gospel. The just and devout Cornelius was selected to be the first-fruits of the Gentile harvest; a Centurion preserved the life of Paul; and a Centurion declared of the dying Jesus, when deserted by His friends, and rejected by His nation, that He was the Son of God. (2) He came unto Him.] The Jews have a saying, "The messenger of a man is as himself;" and the Greeks and Romans were accustomed to represent that which was done by any one for another as done by the person himself: Quod facit per alium, facit per se." This accounts for the seeming difference in this place between the narratives of St. Matthew and St. Luke. In Scripture this mode of speaking is frequent: thus Solomon speaks by his servants (1 Kings v. 2,7); and John the Baptist by his messengers (Matt. xi. 2, 3); Christ preached to the Ephesians by the Apostles (Eph. ii. 17), and to the old world by Noah (1 Pet. iii. 19). He is also. said to baptize by His disciples (John iv. 1, 2) |