Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc00/v01900

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 6KB | 104 lines

01902
 #21,22 Christ did not confess sin, as others did, for he had
 none to confess; but he prayed, as others did, and kept up
 communion with his Father. Observe, all the three voices from
 heaven, by which the Father bare witness to the Son, were
 pronounced while he was praying, or soon after, #Lu 9:35; Joh
 12:28|. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
 upon him, and there came a voice from heaven, from God the
 Father, from the excellent glory. Thus was a proof of the Holy
 Trinity, of the Three Persons in the Godhead, given at the
 baptism of Christ.

01904
 #23-38 Matthew's list of the forefathers of Jesus showed that
 Christ was the son of Abraham, in whom all the families of the
 earth are blessed, and heir to the throne of David; but Luke
 shows that Jesus was the Seed of the woman that should break the
 serpent's head, and traces the line up to Adam, beginning with
 Eli, or Heli, the father, not of Joseph, but of Mary. The
 seeming differences between the two evangelists in these lists
 of names have been removed by learned men. But our salvation
 does not depend upon our being able to solve these difficulties,
 nor is the Divine authority of the Gospels at all weakened by
 them. The list of names ends thus, "Who was the son of Adam, the
 son of God;" that is, the offspring of God by creation. Christ
 was both the son of Adam and the Son of God, that he might be a
 proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam, and might
 bring the sons of Adam to be, through him, the sons of God. All
 flesh, as descended from the first Adam, is as grass, and
 withers as the flower of the field; but he who partakes of the
 Holy Spirit of life from the Second Adam, has that eternal
 happiness, which by the gospel is preached unto us.
01920
 * The temptation of Christ. (1-13) Christ in the synagogue of
 Nazareth. (14-30) He casts out an unclean spirit and heals the
 sick. (31-44)

 #1-13 Christ's being led into the wilderness gave an advantage
 to the tempter; for there he was alone, none were with him by
 whose prayers and advice he might be helped in the hour of
 temptation. He who knew his own strength might give Satan
 advantage; but we may not, who know our own weakness. Being in
 all things made like unto his brethren, Jesus would, like the
 other children of God, live in dependence upon the Divine
 Providence and promise. The word of God is our sword, and faith
 in that word is our shield. God has many ways of providing for
 his people, and therefore is at all times to be depended upon in
 the way of duty. All Satan's promises are deceitful; and if he
 is permitted to have any influence in disposing of the kingdoms
 of the world and the glory of them, he uses them as baits to
 ensnare men to destruction. We should reject at once and with
 abhorrence, every opportunity of sinful gain or advancement, as
 a price offered for our souls; we should seek riches, honours,
 and happiness in the worship and service of God only. Christ
 will not worship Satan; nor, when he has the kingdoms of the
 world delivered to him by his Father, will he suffer any remains
 of the worship of the devil to continue in them. Satan also
 tempted Jesus to be his own murderer, by unfitting confidence in
 his Father's protection, such as he had no warrant for. Let not
 any abuse of Scripture by Satan or by men abate our esteem, or
 cause us to abandon its use; but let us study it still, seek to
 know it, and seek our defence from it in all kinds of assaults.
 Let this word dwell richly in us, for it is our life. Our
 victorious Redeemer conquered, not for himself only, but for us
 also. The devil ended all the temptation. Christ let him try all
 his force, and defeated him. Satan saw it was to no purpose to
 attack Christ, who had nothing in him for his fiery darts to
 fasten upon. And if we resist the devil, he will flee from us.
 Yet he departed but till the season when he was again to be let
 loose upon Jesus, not as a tempter, to draw him to sin, and so
 to strike at his head, at which he now aimed and was wholly
 defeated in; but as a persecutor, to bring Christ to suffer, and
 so to bruise his heel, which it was told him, he should have to
 do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own
 head, #Ge 3:15|. Though Satan depart for a season, we shall
 never be out of his reach till removed from this present evil
 world.

01933
 #14-30 Christ taught in their synagogues, their places of public
 worship, where they met to read, expound, and apply the word, to
 pray and praise. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit were
 upon him and on him, without measure. By Christ, sinners may be
 loosed from the bonds of guilt, and by his Spirit and grace from
 the bondage of corruption. He came by the word of his gospel, to
 bring light to those that sat in the dark, and by the power of
 his grace, to give sight to those that were blind. And he
 preached the acceptable year of the Lord. Let sinners attend to
 the Saviour's invitation when liberty is thus proclaimed.
 Christ's name was Wonderful; in nothing was he more so than in
 the word of his grace, and the power that went along with it. We
 may well wonder that he should speak such words of grace to such
 graceless wretches as mankind. Some prejudice often furnishes an
 objection against the humbling doctrine of the cross; and while
 it is the word of God that stirs up men's enmity, they will
 blame the conduct or manner of the speaker. The doctrine of
 God's sovereignty, his right to do his will, provokes proud men.
 They will not seek his favour in his own way; and are angry when
 others have the favours they neglect. Still is Jesus rejected by
 multitudes who hear the same message from his words. While they
 crucify him afresh by their sins, may we honour him as the Son
 of God, the Saviour of men, and seek to show we do so by our
 obedience.