tance in prayer and preaching: but they may as well pretend to cast out devils as the apostles did, by virtue of the same as sistance which the apostles had; whereas these extraordinary gifts have long ceased. 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. lord. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Our Saviour here teaches all Christians, and absurd it is for them to expect kinder but especially ministers, how unreasonable usage from an unkind world than he himself met with. Are we greater, holier, or wiser than he? Why then should we expect better usage than he? Was he hated, persecuted, reviled, murdered, for the holi his life? Why then should any of us think strange of the fiery trial, as if some strange thing had befallen them? 1 Pet. iv. 12. Is it and the servant as his Lord, but must he not enough that the disciple be as his master, hope to be above him? Our Saviour goes on in a farther disco-ness of his doctrine and the usefulness of very of the world's hatred and enmity against the gospel, and the preachers of it; and gives all Christians in general, and his ministers in particular, to understand, that such is the enmity of the world against holiness, and the professors of it, that it will overcome and extinguish even the natural affections of the nearest and dearest relations towards each other. Grace teaches us to lay down our lives for the brethren, but corruption teaches a brother to take away the life of a brother; The brother shall deliver the brother to death. Yet observe, Our Saviour comforts his disciples that there will be an end of these sufferings; and assures them, that if their faith and patience did hold out unto the end, they should be saved. This is our comfort, that if our sufferings for Christ end not in our life-time, they will end with our lives. 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come. Our Saviour here directs his apostles to a prudent care for their own preservation, and allows them to flee in time of persecution; assuring them, that before they had gone through all the cities of the Jews, preaching the gospel, he would certainly come in judgment against Jerusalem, and with severity destroy his own murderers and their persecutors. Learn, That Christ allows his ministers the liberty of flight in time of persecution, that they may preserve their lives for future service. Surely it is no shame to fly, when our Captain commands it, and also practises it, Matt. ii. Christ by his own example has sanctified that state of life unto us, and by his command made it lawful for us. 21 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his 26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. Christ here exhorts his disciples to a free profession and open publication of the doctrine of the gospel, from this consideration, that whatever they say or do shall be brought to light, proclaimed and published to the world. I will make the excellency of your doctrine and the innocency of your lives shine as the light; your integrity in dispensing of it, and patience in suffering for it, shall redound to God's glory and your commendation, at the revelation of your Lord from heaven. As wicked men have cause to fear because their evil deeds shall be made evident, so good men have cause to rejoice because their goodness and good deeds shall be made manifest. Let it be our care to do good, and it shall be Christ's care to discover the goodness which we do, to vindicate it from miscon struction, and set it in its clearest light. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Observe here the following particulars, 1. An unwarrantable fear condemned; and that is, the sinful, servile, slavish fear of impotent man: Fear not him that can kill the body. 2. An holy, awful, and prudential fear of the omnipotent God commended: Fear him that is able to kill both body and soul. 3. The persons that this duty of fear is recommended to and bound upon-Christ's own disciples, yea, his ministers and ambassadors; they both may and ought to fear him; not only for his greatness and goodness, but upon the account of his punitive justice; as being able to cast both soul and body into hell, such a fear is not only lawful, but laudable, not only commendable, but commanded, and well becomes the servants of God themselves. This text contains a certain evidence that the soul doth not perish with the body; none are able to kill the soul, but it continues after death in a state of sensibility; it is granted that men can kill the body, but it is denied that they can kill the soul: it is spoken of temporal death; consequently then the soul doth not perish with the body, nor is the soul reduced into an insensible state by the death of the body; nor can the soul be supposed to sleep as the body doth till the resurrection; for an intelligible, thinking, and perceiving being, as the soul is, cannot be deprived of sensation, thought, and perception, any more than it can lose its being: the soul, after the death of the body, being capable of bliss or misery, must continue in a state of sensation. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. Observe here, 1. The doctrine which our Saviour preaches to his disciples: and that is the doctrine of divine providence; which concerns itself for the meanest creatures: even the birds of the air, and the hairs of our head, do fall within the compass of God's protecting care. 2. Here is the use which our Saviour makes of this doctrine; namely, to fortify the spirits of his disciples against all distrustful fears and distracting cares. Learn, That the consideration of the divine care and gracious providence of God over us and ours, ought to antidote our spirits against all distrustful fears whatsoever. If an hair from the head falls not to the ground without a providence, much less shall the head itself; if the very excretions of the body, (such are the hairs,) be taken care of by God, surely the more noble parts of the body, and especially the noblest part of ourselves, our souls, shall fall under his particular regard. 53 fess me before men, him will I confess 32 Whosoever therefore shall conalso before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Christ, in his account, is to deny him: and Observe here, 1. That not to confess to deny him, is to be ashamed of him. 2. That whosoever shall deny, disown, or be ashamed of Christ, either in his person, in his gospel, or in his members, for any fear or favour of man, shall with shame be dis owned, and eternally rejected by him at the dreadful judgment of the great day. Christ may be denied three ways; doctrinally, by an erroneous and heretical judgment; verbally, by oral expressions; vitally, by a wicked and unholy life. But woe to that soul that denies Christ any of these ways! send peace on earth: I came not to 34 Think not that I am come to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter36 And a man's foes shall be they of in-law against her mother-in-law. his own household. intentional aim of Christ's coming, and the We must distinguish here betwixt the accidental event of it. His intentional aim was to propagate and promote peace in the world; but through the corruption of man's is war and division: not that these are the nature, the accidental event of his coming genuine and natural fruits of the gospel, but occasional and accidental only. Note, That the preaching of the gospel, and setting up the kingdom of Christ in the world, though it be not the natural cause, yet it is the accidental occasion, of much of that war and tumult, of much of that distraction and confusion, which the world abounds with. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. shall lose it: and he that loseth his 39 He that findeth his life life for my sake shall find it. Note here, That by worthiness we are not CHAP. XI. AND it came to pass, when Jesus to understand the meritoriousness of the || cold is their charity who deny a cup of action, but the qualification of the person. cold water to the ministers and disciples He that cometh to Christ, (that is, will be of Christ! Learn, 1. That there is some his disciple,) must, by a deliberate act of special and eminent reward due to the the understanding, and well-advised choice faithful prophets of God above other men. of the will, prefer him before all the world, 2. That he that shall entertain a prophet, and his dearest relations whatsoever; not and do any good office for him, under that that our Saviour by these expressions doth || name, that is, for his office sake, shall be condemn natural love and affection, either partaker of that reward. 3. That the least to our relations or our own lives, but only office of love and respect, of kindness and regulates and directs it; and shows that charity, which we show to any of the miour first and chief love must be bestowed nisters or members of Jesus Christ for his upon himself. We may have tender and|| sake, Christ accounts it as done unto himrelenting affections towards our dear rela- self, and it shall be rewarded by himself. tions; but then the consideration of Christ's truth and religion must take place of these; yea, of life itself; nay, when these come in competition, we are to regard them no more than if they were the objects of our hatred. Luke xiv. 26. If any man hate not his father, &c. Learn hence, That all the disciples of Christ should be ready and willing, whenever God calls them to it, to quit all their temporal interests and enjoyments, even life itself, and to submit to any temporal inconvenience, even death itself; and all this willingly, cheerfully, and patiently, rather than disown their relation to Christ, and quit the profession of his truth and religion. 2. That such as for secular interest, and the preservation of temporal life, do renounce their profession of Christ and his religion, they do not only greatly hazard their temporal life, but expose their eternal life to the greatest danger. He that findeth his life shall lose it, &c. had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence, to teach and to preach in their cities. Our blessed Saviour having sent forth his twelve apostles in the foregoing chapter, to plant and propagate the gospel, we find him in this chapter following them himself in that great and necessary work: he departed to teach and to preach in their cities. Christ, the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls, sent not forth the apostles as his curates, to labour and sweat in the vineyard, whilst he took his ease at home; but he followed them himself; his word of command to them was, Præite, sequar; Go ye before, I will follow after. Note, 1. That preaching of the gospel is a great and necessary work, incumbent upon all the ministers of Christ, let their dignity and pre-emi40 He that receiveth you, receivnency in the church be what it will. None eth me; and he that receiveth me, of the servants are above their Lord. 2. receiveth him that sent me. 41 He That if there be a distinction betwixt teachthat receiveth a prophet, in the name ing and preaching, (as some apprehend,) of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's they are both the work of Christ's minisreward; and he that receiveth ters, who are obliged from their Master's a example to perform both: teaching is in righteous man, in the name of a righ-order to the conversion of sinners, and teous man, shall receive a righteous preaching in order to the edification of man's reward, 42 And whosoever saints. shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, He shall in no wise lose his reward. Here in the close of the chapter, our blessed Saviour encourages his apostles to faithfulness in their office, by assuring them that he should reckon and esteem all the kindness shown to them as done unto himself: and to encourage the world to be kind to his disciples and ministers, he assures them that even a cup of cold water should meet with a liberal reward. How 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? It was not for John's information that he sent his disciples to Jesus, but for their satisfaction, that he was the true and promised Messiah; John was assured of it himself by a sign from heaven at our Saviour's baptism, chap. iii. 17. But John's disciples, out of great zeal to him their master, envied Christ himself, and were unwilling to believe any person greater than their master: therefore John, out of a pious design to confirm his disciples in their belief of Jesus being the true Messias, sends them to our Saviour to hear the doctrine which he taught, and to see the miracles which he wrought. Learn hence, What a pious desire there is in such as know Christ experimentally themselves, to bring all that belong to them to a saving acquaintance with him. Archbp. Tillotson, Vol. V. 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Observe here, 1. The way and means which our Saviour takes for the conviction and satisfaction of John's disciples, that he was the true Messias: he appeals to the miracles wrought by himself, and submits the miracles wrought by him to the judgment of their sense; Go and show John the miracles which you hear and see. Observe, 2. The miracles themselves; The blind receive their sight, the lume walk, the deaf hear, &c. Christ was all this in a literal sense, and in a mystical sense also; he was an eye of understanding to the ignorant, a foot of power to the weak; he opened an ear in deaf hearts to receive the word of life; and the poor are evangelized, that is, turned into the spirit and temper of the gospel; the rich hear the gospel, but the poor receive it, that is, they feel the powerful impressions of it; as we say, such a one is Italianized, when his carriage is such as if he were a natural Italian. The passive verb Eura denotes, non actum predicationis, sed effectum evangelii predicati: the good effect which the gospel had upon the hearts and lives of the poor, transforming them into the likeness of itself. Learn, It is a blessed thing, when the preaching of the gospel has such a powerful influence upon the minds of men, that the temper of their minds and the actions of their lives are a lively transcript of the spirit and temper of the holy Jesus. Note, That as it was prophesied of the Messias, that he should preach the gospel to the poor, Isa. Ixi. 1. accordingly they were the poor whom Christ preached unto; for the Pharisees and rabbies neglected them as the people of the earth, John vii. 49. And Grotins says that they had a proverb, That the Spirit of God never rests but upon a rich man. Besides, the Pharisees' and rabbies' doctrines, which they preached, were vain traditions, allegorical interpretations, and cabalistical deductions, which transcended the capacities of the vulgar, so that they could profit very little by repairing to their schools and by hearing their interpretations of the law; and therefore our Saviour, in the close of this chapter, calls the people off from them to learn of him, ver. 28. Come unto me, &c. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Our Saviour here, by pronouncing them blessed that are not offended in him, doth intimate the misery of those who stumble at him, and to whom he is the Rock of offence. Some are offended at the poverty of his person, others are offended at the sublimity and sanctity of his doctrine. Some are offended at his cross, others are offended at his free grace; but such as, instead of being offended at Christ, believe in him, and bottom their expectations of heaven and salvation upon him, are in a happy and blessed condition: blessed is he that shall not be offended in me. 7 And, as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? a man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 But what went ye out for to see? a prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Our Saviour having given satisfaction to John's disciples, next enters upon a large commendation of John himself. Where observe, 1. The persons whom he commended him before; not John's own disciples, for they had too high an opinion of their master already, and were so much addicted to John that they envied Christ for his sake; see John iii. 26. Behold, Christ baptizeth, and all men come unto him. It was a great eyesore that Christ had more hearers and followers than John; therefore not before John's disciples but before the multitude, Christ commends John; for as John's disciples had too high, so the multitude had too low, an opinion of him; possibly be cause of his imprisonment and sufferings. There was a time when the people had high thoughts of John, but now they undervalued him. Learn thence, The great uncertainty of popular applause: the people contemn to-day whom they admired yesterday; 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Our Saviour having highly commended John in the foregoing verses, here he sets bounds to the honours of his ministry, adding, That though John was greater than all the prophets that went before him, seeing more of Christ than all of them, yet he saw less than them that came after him. The meanest evangelical minister that preaches Christ come, is to be preferred before all the old prophets, who prophesied of Christ to come. That minister who sets forth the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, is greater in the kingdom of heaven, that is, has an higher office in the church, and a more excellent ministry, than all the prophets, yea, than John himself. The excellency of a minis try consists in the light and clearness of it. Now though John's light did exceed all that went before him, yet it fell short of them that came after him; and thus he that was least in the kingdom of grace on earth, much more he that is least in the kingdom of glory in heaven, was greater than John. Not that the meanest Christian, but the meanest evangelical prophet, or preacher of the Christian doctrine, is greater than John; partly in respect of his doctrine, which is more spiritual and heavenly; partly in respect of his office, which was to preach Christ crucified and risen again; and partly in respect of divine assistance, for John did no miracle, but the apostles that succeeded him went forth, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Add to this, that the Holy Ghost fell not upon John, and he spake not by any extraordinary inspiration of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, as the apostles did; and thus he that was least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John. he who to-day is cried up, to-morrow is trodden down. The word and the ministers are the same; but this proceeds from the fickleness and inconstancy of the people: nothing is so mutable as the mind of man, nothing so variable as the opinion of the multitude. Observe, 2. The time when our Saviour thus commended John; not in the time of his prosperity and greatness, when the people flocked after him, and Herod got him to court and reverenced him; but when the giddy multitude had forsaken him, and he was fallen into disgrace at court, and had preached himself into prison: now Christ vindicates his innocency, maintains his honour, proclaims his worth, and tells the people that the world was not worthy of such a preacher as John was. Learn thence, That Christ will stand by, and stick fast to, his faithful ministers, when all the world forsake them. Let the world slight and despise them at their pleasure, yet Christ will maintain their honour, and support their cause; as they bear a faithful witness to Christ, so Christ will bear witness to their faithfulness for him. Observe, 2. The commendation itself. Our Saviour commends John, 1. For his constancy: he was not a reed shaken with the wind; that is, a man of an unstable and unsettled judgment, but fixed and steadfast. 2. For his sobriety and high measure of mortification: he was no delicate, voluptuous person, but grave, sober, and severe; he was mortified to the glory and honour, to the ease and pleasures, of the world. John wrought no miracles; but his holy conversation was as effectual as miracles to prevail with the people. 3. For his humility: he might have been what he would: the people were ready to cry him up for the Messiah, the Christ of God: but John's lowly spirit refuses all; he confessed, and denied not, saying, I am not the Christ, but a poor minister of his, willing, but not worthy, to do him service. This will commend our ministry to the consciences of our people, when we seek not our own glory, but the glory of Christ. 4. Our Saviour commends John for his clear preaching and revealing of Christ to the people: he was more than a prophet, ver. 9. because he pointed out Christ more clearly and fully than any before him. The ancient prophets saw Christ afar off; John beheld him face to face: they prophesied of him; he pointed at him, saying, This is he. Whence learn, That the clearer any ministry is in discovering of Christ, the more excellent it is. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Our Saviour goes on in commending John's ministry from the great success of it: it had that powerful influence upon the consciences of men, that no soldiers were ever more violent and eager in the storming and taking a strong hold, than John's hearers were in pursuing the kingdom of heaven. Never any minister (before) dis |