Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc00/v00350

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 10KB | 172 lines

00354
 #9-13 Christ shows that works of mercy are lawful and proper to
 be done on the Lord's day. There are more ways of doing well
 upon sabbath days, than by the duties of worship: attending the
 sick, relieving the poor, helping those who need speedy relief,
 teaching the young to care for their souls; these are doing
 good: and these must be done from love and charity, with
 humility and self-denial, and shall be accepted, #Ge 4:7|. This,
 like other cures which Christ wrought, had a spiritual meaning.
 By nature our hands are withered, and we are unable of ourselves
 to do any thing that is good. Christ only, by the power of his
 grace, cures us; he heals the withered hand by putting life into
 the dead soul, works in us both to will and to do: for, with the
 command, there is a promise of grace given by the word.

00359
 #14-21 The Pharisees took counsel to find some accusation, that
 Jesus might be condemned to death. Aware of their design, as his
 time was not come, he retired from that place. Face does not
 more exactly answer to face in water, than the character of
 Christ drawn by the prophet, to his temper and conduct as
 described by the evangelists. Let us with cheerful confidence
 commit our souls to so kind and faithful a Friend. Far from
 breaking, he will strengthen the bruised reed; far from
 quenching the smoking flax, or wick nearly out, he will rather
 blow it up into a flame. Let us lay aside contentious and angry
 debates; let us receive one another as Christ receives us. And
 while encouraged by the gracious kindness of our Lord, we should
 pray that his Spirit may rest upon us, and make us able to copy
 his example.

00367
 #22-30 A soul under Satan's power, and led captive by him, is
 blind in the things of God, and dumb at the throne of grace;
 sees nothing, and says nothing to the purpose. Satan blinds the
 eyes by unbelief, and seals up the lips from prayer. The more
 people magnified Christ, the more desirous the Pharisees were to
 vilify him. It was evident that if Satan aided Jesus in casting
 out devils, the kingdom of hell was divided against itself; how
 then could it stand! And if they said that Jesus cast out devils
 by the prince of the devils, they could not prove that their
 children cast them out by any other power. There are two great
 interests in the world; and when unclean spirits are cast out by
 the Holy Spirit, in the conversion of sinners to a life of faith
 and obedience, the kingdom of God is come unto us. All who do
 not aid or rejoice in such a change are against Christ.

00376
 #31,32 Here is a gracious assurance of the pardon of all sin
 upon gospel terms. Christ herein has set an example to the sons
 of men, to be ready to forgive words spoken against them. But
 humble and conscientious believers, at times are tempted to
 think they have committed the unpardonable sin, while those who
 have come the nearest to it, seldom have any fear about it. We
 may be sure that those who indeed repent and believe the gospel,
 have not committed this sin, or any other of the same kind; for
 repentance and faith are the special gifts of God, which he
 would not bestow on any man, if he were determined never to
 pardon him; and those who fear they have committed this sin,
 give a good sign that they have not. The trembling, contrite
 sinner, has the witness in himself that this is not his case.

00378
 #33-37 Men's language discovers what country they are of,
 likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the
 fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a
 corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams.
 Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal
 the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt
 communication. An evil man has an evil treasure in his heart,
 and out of it brings forth evil things. Lusts and corruptions,
 dwelling and reigning in the heart, are an evil treasure, out of
 which the sinner brings forth bad words and actions, to
 dishonour God, and hurt others. Let us keep constant watch over
 ourselves, that we may speak words agreeable to the Christian
 character.

00383
 #38-45 Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy
 desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not.
 Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their
 faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded
 them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from
 the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet
 Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As
 Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then
 came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave,
 and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not
 repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And
 we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon
 such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the
 Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who
 hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly
 converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he
 returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart
 is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to
 comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided
 enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean
 spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by
 faith in Christ.

00391
 #46-50 Christ's preaching was plain, easy, and familiar, and
 suited to his hearers. His mother and brethren stood without,
 desiring to speak with him, when they should have been standing
 within, desiring to hear him. Frequently, those who are nearest
 to the means of knowledge and grace are most negligent. We are
 apt to neglect that which we think we may have any day,
 forgetting that to-morrow is not ours. We often meet with
 hindrances in our work from friends about us, and are taken off
 by care for the things of this life, from the concerns of our
 souls. Christ was so intent on his work, that no natural or
 other duty took him from it. Not that, under pretence of
 religion, we may be disrespectful to parents, or unkind to
 relations; but the lesser duty must stand by, while the greater
 is done. Let us cease from men, and cleave to Christ; let us
 look upon every Christian, in whatever condition of life, as the
 brother, sister, or mother of the Lord of glory; let us love,
 respect, and be kind to them, for his sake, and after his
 example.
00396
 * The parable of the sower. (1-23) The parable of the tares.
 (24-30; 36-43) The parables of the mustard-seed and the leaven.
 (31-35) The parables of the hidden treasure, the pearl of great
 price, the net cast into the sea, and the householder. (44-52)
 Jesus is again rejected at Nazareth. (53-58)

 #1-23 Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less
 pressed, and be the better heard by the people. By this he
 teaches us in the outward circumstances of worship not to covet
 that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences
 God in his providence allots to us. Christ taught in parables.
 Thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to those
 willing to be taught, and at the same time more difficult and
 obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. The parable of the
 sower is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower is
 our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers.
 Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where
 it will light. Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much
 pains with it, brings forth no fruit to purpose, while the good
 soil brings forth plentifully. So it is with the hearts of men,
 whose different characters are here described by four sorts of
 ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are an easy prey to Satan;
 who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great
 thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, if we
 take not care to keep it. Hypocrites, like the stony ground,
 often get the start of true Christians in the shows of
 profession. Many are glad to hear a good sermon, who do not
 profit by it. They are told of free salvation, of the believer's
 privileges, and the happiness of heaven; and, without any change
 of heart, without any abiding conviction of their own depravity,
 their need of a Saviour, or the excellence of holiness, they
 soon profess an unwarranted assurance. But when some heavy trial
 threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give
 up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easier system.
 Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came in
 with sin, and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their
 place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that has much
 to do with them; they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and
 their end is to be burned, #Heb 6:8|. Worldly cares are great
 hindrances to our profiting by the word of God. The
 deceitfulness of riches does the mischief; they cannot be said
 to deceive us unless we put our trust in them, then they choke
 the good seed. What distinguished the good ground was
 fruitfulness. By this true Christians are distinguished from
 hypocrites. Christ does not say that this good ground has no
 stones in it, or no thorns; but none that could hinder its
 fruitfulness. All are not alike; we should aim at the highest,
 to bring forth most fruit. The sense of hearing cannot be better
 employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to
 ourselves that we may know what sort of hearers we are.